Datasets:

contemmcm

/

victorian_authorship

like 0

sentimental pilgrimage when my offers of attendance had been many times refused i saw that i was wasting my time but i could not abandon my design i must appear to as an important agent in the business or where would be my claim on her gratitude i must see her or how could i that she owed lord richard s attentions to my management i was determined to impress this view of myself upon my pretty cousin s mind i made up my mind to see her without delay since my friend refused my arm as a guide to the presence of his beloved i must go to her alone it was certainly more difficult i had allowed so long a time to since i lord richard and i my last visit to that tumble down abode where i spent so many happy days of boyhood that i feared an attack of natural and not shyness when i knocked anew at that well known but shabby door however i trusted to that tact which had never failed me yet fate seemed to be against me i made three journeys to my cousin s house at different hours of the day and three times was i refused i began to think â incredible as it appeared â that the young woman who had charge of the door had been ordered never to admit me one day being in a holiday humour i determined to play my good cousins a trick i felt that our old familiarity fully so harmless a joke i engaged a young to me up with the tide i left the boat at the end of the lane which passes tom s door and coming to the corner of the garden in a shady place i mounted an old iron railing and looked cautiously over the wall a lofty row of sweet peas was between me and the house smiling at the pleasant trick which reminded me of boyish days in that happy garden i slipped softly over the wall and dropped noiselessly down to the grass the little garden was old fashioned and by no means well kept through the tangled wilderness of sweets i slipped like a serpent i remembered how i used to play at being a red indian among those green paths and hedges i just stopped myself in time two people were sitting on an old seat though one of them was blind i lord richard and knew the quickness of his ear i held my breath and crouched low in the tangled grass every word â every gesture remains on my memory i could not have moved to save my life i was â as the say â rooted to the spot luckily it was a spot whence through a tiny peep hole in the hedge i could command a perfect view of the faces of the actors lord richard and my little cousin were seated side by side on the old stone seat which looked as if it might have come in its old age from the shadow of trees in a villa garden of rome even then the charm of the place and of the hour was not lost on me but in a moment all my mind was busy with the strange pair before me the first thing to be noted was the air of well tried friendship which was common to the man of the world and to the young girl they might have been friends for years was like a child as if she would amuse her companion and yet with this there was a little air of protection almost which was enough she seemed to have taken charge of him she went on talking until it struck me that she was half afraid to stop â afraid of what he might say in his turn he for his part seemed in no hurry to speak he sat with his face turned straight to the place where i lay i could scarcely assure myself that he at least could not see me and he listened to his pretty little comrade with that broad smile of contentment which was worth a king s for its persuasion i lord richard and of simplicity at last it seemed as if she could think of no more to say she was silent but the blush on her cheek grew deeper she looked at him once or twice quickly and as often turned away her face as if she forgot that he could not see the pretty trouble in her lips and eyes i had never seen my little cousin look so pretty ah boyish fancies ah memories of foolish childhood what says the wait till you come to forty year lying there in the grass i remembered how i had tried to kiss when i came home one summer day from school and how in her pretty she had my ears with that little sun brown hand how pretty she looked as she sat on that old gray moss stained seat there was suppressed excitement in her face and a look in her eyes as if she was not far from tears she must have known how pretty she looked probably some of the trouble in her face was due to the sad thought that this was wasted on the eligible at her side there was a pause i seemed to hear the tiny insects in the air â almost to hear the beating of my heart at last moved as if she could bear the silence no longer he put out his hand with its new uncertain movement and laid it on hers and yet he did not speak at last with a great sigh how i love you he said it was splendidly done it was effective he must have felt the trembling of her hand for he took his own great hand away and laid it for

3Edith Wharton

a across his eyes i ought not to have said it i lord richard and i io ought not to have dreamed it i ought not to have dreamed of laying this burden â and here he stopped short as if something his speech it is an old but an excellent effect she said nothing but her little hand came trembling to his which had fallen limp upon his knee there was a light of pity in her face which made it like an angel s if he had been a rosy and she a newly awakened by love she could not have looked more perfectly as if she on him it was feminine no man could have thrown himself so utterly into the situation at her touch lord richard turned to look at her and in an instant a cry came from him sharply â ah god i cannot see her he cried and now i could see that her eyes were full of tears she bent her little brown head and kissed his big hand and her tears fell on it then his face flushed with triumph he had gained his end he put out his arm towards her where she was half withdrawn and when he touched her soft brown hair he drew her head against his shoulder i was too late and i knew it they had played the little comedy without me it was an unlucky day for me what are you doing there i heard the fierce whisper close above my head and a nervous hand was on my collar dragging me backward it was tom it was an awkward situation i had neither time nor breath for explanation i returned to london full of melancholy thoughts i lord richard and l i have forgiven both my friend and my cousin what is the use of resentment lord richard did not withdraw from me his political patronage to his influence and that of his family i owed my seat for as a public man i was worth in the eyes of my friend i may add that i have done no to his choice i flung myself with all my energy if i may use the expression into the strife of parties by my own efforts and by a use of machinery of which i confess myself proud i have gained for myself a place in which i am independent of all aristocratic patronage i have made myself a fl ee man and moreover a rising one it is as a private individual that i cannot but regard my friend and my friend s wife with a gentle regret though without with neither lord richard nor could i preserve a pleasant intercourse it was no fault of mine i was eager to be on the footing of a cousin in the house but all my efforts to be were vain the husband indeed received me with laughter â almost with of laughter but the wife was so cold that at last i could not her show of this little lady whom we had all thought so soft was cold and hard as steel i did not grudge her the victory which she had won she had played her cards well she was quite right to secure a husband whose blindness was more than for by his high position and comparative wealth if she could have been made to think that she owed her prize to me lord richard and l io â things would have been different between us as it was if i were a vain man i could not but attribute the attitude of hostility which she preserved towards me to some lurking resentment at the ease with which i had stifled my boyish fancy for her the strange prejudices of women are often to be explained by of my cousin tom â heaven help him â i have seen little i met him once not long after the marriage and as he spoke to me of the happiness of his little girl i saw real tears in his eyes as i believe that he was originally by no means eager for the match so too do i believe that he now regards it with the warmest sympathy as a love match on both sides i could almost envy my cousin s unique simplicity poor tom the on the links chapter i tells how i in sea wood and beheld a light in the i was a great solitary when i was young i made it my pride to keep aloof and suffice for my own entertainment and i may say that i had neither friends nor acquaintances until i met that friend who became my wife and the mother of my children with one man only was i on private terms this was r of in scotland we had met at college and though there was not much liking between us nor even much intimacy we were so nearly of a humor that we could associate with ease to both we believed ourselves to be but i have thought since that we were only sulky fellows it was scarcely a companionship but a in s exceptional violence of temper made it no easy affair for him to keep the peace with anyone but me and as he respected my silent ways and let me come and go as i pleased i could his presence without concern i think we called each other friends the on the links iii when took his degree and i decided to leave the university without one he invited me on a long visit to and it was thus that i first became acquainted with the scene of my adventures the mansion house of stood in a bleak stretch of country some three miles from the shore of the german ocean it was as large as a and as it had been built of a soft stone

3Edith Wharton

liable to in the eager air of the it was damp and within and half without it was impossible for two young men to lodge with comfort in such a dwelling but there stood in the northern part of the estate in a wilderness of links and blowing sand hills and between a plantation and the sea a small or of modem design which was exactly suited to our wants and in this speaking little reading much and rarely except at meals and i spent four winter months i might have stayed longer but one march night there sprang up between us a dispute which rendered my departure necessary spoke hotly i remember and i suppose i must have made some he leaped from his chair and me i had to fight without exaggeration for my life and it was only with a great effort that i mastered him for he was near as strong in body as myself and seemed filled with the devil the next morning we met on our usual terms but i judged it more delicate to withdraw nor did he attempt to me the on the links it was nine years before i the neighborhood i that time with a cart a tent and a cooking stove all day beside the wagon and at night whenever it was possible in a of the hills or by the side of a wood i believe i visited in this manner most of the wild and desolate regions both in england and scotland and as i had neither friends nor relations i was troubled with no correspondence and had nothing in the nature of head quarters unless it was the office of my from whom i drew my income twice a year it was a life in which i delighted and i fully thought to have grown old upon the march and at last died in a ditch it was my whole business to find desolate comers where i could camp without the fear of interruption and hence being in another part of the same i me suddenly of the on the links no passed within three miles of it the nearest town and that was but a village was at a distance of six or seven for ten miles of length and from a depth varying from three miles to half a mile this belt of barren country lay along the sea the beach which was the natural approach was full of indeed i may say there is hardly a better place of concealment in the united kingdom i determined to pass a week in the sea wood of and making a long stage reached it about on a wild september day the country i have said was mixed sand hill and the on the links ii links links being a name for sand which has ceased drifting and become more or less covered with turf the stood on an even space a little behind it the wood began in a hedge of elders huddled together by the wind in front a few tumbled sand hills stood between it and the sea an of rock had formed a for the sand so that there was here a in the coast line between two shallow and just beyond the tides the rock again out and formed an of small dimensions but strikingly designed the were of great extent at low water and had an infamous reputation in the country close in shore between the and the it was said that they would swallow a man in four minutes and a half but there may have been little ground for this precision the district was alive with and haunted by which made a continual about the on summer days the outlook was bright and even but at in september with a high wind and a heavy surf rolling in close along the links the place told of nothing but dead and sea a ship beating to on the horizon and a huge of wreck half buried in the sands at my feet completed the of the scene the â it had been built by the last proprietor s uncle a silly and prodigal â presented little signs of age it was two stories in height italian in design surrounded by a the on the links patch of garden in which nothing had but a few coarse flowers and looked with its windows not like a house that had been deserted but like one that had never been by man was plainly from home whether as usual in the cabin of his or in one of his fitful and extravagant appearances in the world of society i had of course no means of the place had an air of solitude that even a solitary like myself the wind cried in the chimneys with a strange and wailing note and it was with a sense of escape as if i were going indoors that i turned away and driving my cart before me entered the skirts of the wood the sea wood of had been planted to shelter the cultivated fields behind and check the of the blowing sand as you advanced into it from elders were succeeded by other hardy shrubs but the timber was all and it led a life of conflict the trees were accustomed to swing there all night long in fierce winter and even in early spring the leaves were already flying and autumn was beginning in this exposed plantation inland the ground rose into a little hill which along with the served as a sailing mark for when the hill was open of to the north vessels must bear well to the eastward to clear ness and the in the lower ground a ran among the trees and being with dead leaves and clay of its own carrying spread out every t and the on the links there and lay in pools one or two

3Edith Wharton

ruined cottages were dotted about the wood and according to these were foundations and in their time had sheltered pious i found a den or small hollow where there was a spring of pure water and there clearing away the i pitched the tent and made a fire to cook my supper my horse i farther in the wood where there was a patch of the banks of the den not only concealed the light of my fire but sheltered me from the wind which was cold as well as high the life i was leading made me both hardy and i never drank but water and rarely ate anything more costly than and i required so little sleep that although i rose with the peep of day i would often lie long awake in the dark or watches of the night thus in sea wood although i fell asleep by eight in the evening i was awake again before eleven with a full possession of my faculties and no sense of or fatigue i rose and sat by the fire watching the trees and clouds tossing and overhead and to the wind and along the shore till at length growing weary of i quitted the den and strolled towards the borders of the wood a young moon buried in mist gave a faint illumination to my steps and the light grew brighter as i walked forth into the links at the same moment the wind smelling salt of the the pa on the links open ocean and carrying of sand struck me with its full force so that i had to bow my head when i raised it again to look about me i was aware of a light in the it was not stationary but passed from one window to another as though some one were the different apartments with a lamp or candle i watched it for some seconds in great surprise when i had arrived in the afternoon the house had been plainly deserted now it was as plainly occupied it was my first idea that a gang of thieves might have broken in and be now s which were many and not ill supplied but what should bring thieves to and again all the shutters had been thrown open and it would have been more in the character of such gentry to close them i dismissed the notion and fell back upon another himself must have arrived and was now and the i have said that there was no real affection between this man and me but had i loved him like a brother i was then so much in love with solitude that i should none the less have his company as it was i turned and ran for it and it was with genuine satisfaction that i found myself safely back beside the fire i had escaped an acquaintance i should have one more night in comfort in the morning i might either slip away before was abroad or pay him as short a visit as i chose the on the links but when morning came i thought the situation so that i forgot my shyness was at my mercy i arranged a good practical jest though i knew well that my neighbor was not the man to jest with in security and beforehand over its success took my place among the elders at the edge of the wood whence i could command the door of the the shutters were all once more closed which i remember thinking odd and the house with its white walls and green looked and in the morning light hour after hour passed and still no sign of i knew him for a in the morning but as it drew on towards noon i lost my patience to say the truth i had promised myself to break my fast in the and hunger began to me sharply it was a pity to let the opportunity go by without some cause for mirth but the appetite prevailed and i my jest with regret and from the wood the appearance of the house affected uie as i drew near with it seemed unchanged since last evening and i had expected it i scarce knew why to wear some external signs of habitation but no the windows were all closely the chimneys breathed no smoke and the front door itself was closely therefore had entered by the back this was the natural and indeed the necessary conclusion and you may judge of my surprise when on turn il the on the links ing the house i found the back door secured my mind at once to the original theory of thieves and i blamed myself sharply for my last night s i examined all the windows on the lower story but none of them had been with i tried the but they were both secure it thus became a problem how the thieves if thieves they were had managed to enter the house they must have got i reasoned upon the roof of the where used to keep his battery and from thence either by the window of the study or that of my old bedroom completed their entry i followed what i supposed was their example and getting on the roof tried the shutters of each room both were secure but i was not to be beaten and with a little one of them flew open as it did so the back of my hand i remember i put the wound to my mouth and stood for perhaps half a minute it like a dog and mechanically gazing behind me over the waste links and the sea and in that space of time my eye made note of a large some miles to the north east then i threw up the window and climbed in i went over the house and nothing can express my there was no sign of

3Edith Wharton

disorder but on the contrary the rooms were unusually clean and pleasant i found fires laid ready for lighting three prepared with a luxury the on the links ii quite foreign to s habits and with water in the and the beds turned down a table set for three in the dining room and an ample supply of cold game and vegetables on the shelves there were guests expected that was plain but why guests when hated society and above all why was the house thus stealthily prepared at dead of night and why were the shutters closed and the doors i all traces of my visit and came forth from the window feeling and concerned the was still in the same place and it flashed for a moment through my mind that this might be the red earl bringing the owner of the and his guests but the vessel s head was set the other way chapter tells of the landing from the i returned to the den to cook myself a meal of which i stood in great need as well as to care for my horse whom i had somewhat neglected in the morning from time to time i went down to the edge of the wood but there was no change in the and not a human creature was seen all day upon the links the in the was the one touch of life within my range of vision she the on the links apparently with no set object stood off and on or lay to hour after hour but as the evening deepened she drew steadily nearer i became more convinced that she carried and his friends and that they would probably come ashore after dark not only because that was of a piece with the of the preparations but because the tide would not have flowed sufficiently before eleven to cover and the other sea that fortified the shore against all day the wind had been going down and the sea along with it but there was a return towards sunset of the heavy weather of the day before the night set in pitch dark the wind came off the sea in like the firing of a battery of cannon now and then there was a flaw of rain and the surf rolled heavier with the rising tide i was down at my among the elders when a light was run up to the of the and showed she was closer in than when i had last seen her by the dying daylight i concluded that this must be a signal to s associates on shore and stepping forth into the links looked around me for something in response a small ran along the margin of the wood and formed the most direct communication between the and the mansion house and as i cast my eyes to that side i saw a spark of light not a quarter of a mile away and rapidly approaching from its course it appeared to be the light of a lantern carried by a person who followed the wind the on the links of the path and was often staggered and taken by the more violent i concealed myself once more among the elders and waited eagerly for the new comer s advance it proved to be a woman and as she passed within half a rod of my i was able to recognize the features the deaf and silent old dame who had nursed in his childhood was his associate in this affair i followed her at a little distance taking advantage of the innumerable heights and hollows concealed by the darkness and favored not only by the nurse s but the uproar of the wind and surf she entered the and going at once to the upper opened and set a light in one of the windows that looked towards the sea immediately afterwards the light at the s was run down and extinguished its purpose had been attained and those on board were sure that they were expected the old woman resumed her preparations although the other shutters remained closed i could see a glimmer going to and fro about the house and a of sparks from one chimney after another soon told me that the fires were being kindled and his guests i was now persuaded would come ashore as soon as there was water on the it was a wild night for boat service and i felt some alarm mingle with my curiosity as i reflected on the danger of the landing my old acquaintance it was true was the most eccentric of w the on the links men but the present was both and to consider a variety of feelings thus led me towards the beach where i lay on my face in a hollow within six feet of the track that led to the thence i should have the satisfaction of the and if they should prove to be acquaintances greeting them as soon as they had landed some time before eleven while the tide was still low a boat s lantern appeared close in shore and my attention being thus awakened i could perceive another still far to violently tossed and sometimes hidden by the the weather which was getting as the night went on and the perilous situation of the upon a lee shore had probably driven them to attempt a landing at the earliest possible moment a little afterwards four carrying a very heavy chest and guided by a fifth with a lantern passed close in front of me as i lay and were admitted to the by the nurse they returned to the beach and passed me a third time with another chest larger but apparently not so heavy as the first a third time they made the and on this occasion one of the carried a leather and the others a lady s trunk and carriage

3Edith Wharton

bag my curiosity was sharply excited if a woman were among the guests of it would show a change in his habits and an from his pet theories of life well calculated to fill me with surprise when he and i the on the links dwelt there together the had been a temple of and now one of the detested sex was to be under its roof i remembered one or two particulars a few notes of and almost of which had struck me the day before as i surveyed the preparations in the house their purpose was now clear and i thought myself dull hot to have perceived it from the first while i was thus reflecting a second lantern drew near me from the beach it was carried by a whom i had not yet seen and who was conducting two other persons to the these two persons were unquestionably the guests for whom the house was made ready and straining eye and ear i set myself to watch them as they passed one was an unusually tall man in a hat over his eyes and a cape closely and turned up so as to conceal his face you could make out no more of him than that he was as i have said unusually tall and walked feebly with a heavy stoop by his side and either clinging to him or giving him i could not make out which â was a young tall and slender figure of a woman she was extremely pale but in the light of the lantern her face was so by strong and changing shadows that she might equally well have been as ugly as sin or as beautiful as i afterwards found her to be when they were just abreast of me the girl made some remark which was drowned by the noise of the wind the on the links hush said her companion and there was something in the tone with which the word was uttered that thrilled and rather shook my spirits it seemed to breathe from a bosom laboring under the terror i have never heard another syllable so expressive and i still hear it again when i am feverish at night and my mind runs upon old times the man turned towards the girl as he spoke i had a glimpse of much red beard and a nose which seemed to have been broken in youth and his light eyes seemed shining in his face with some strong and unpleasant emotion but these two passed on and were admitted in their turn to the one by one or in groups the returned to the beach the wind brought me the sound of a rough voice crying off then after a pause another lantern drew near it was alone my wife and i a man and a woman have often agreed to wonder how a person could be at the same time so handsome and so repulsive as he had the appearance of a finished gentleman his face bore every mark of intelligence and courage but you had only to look at him even in his most amiable moment to see that he had the temper of a slave captain i never knew a character that was both and to the same degree he combined the vivacity of the south with the sustained and deadly of the north and both traits were plainly written on his face the on the li s which was a sort of danger signal in person he was tall strong and active his hair and complexion very dark his features handsomely designed but spoiled by a menacing expression at that moment he was somewhat paler than by nature he wore a heavy frown and his lips worked and he looked sharply round as he walked uke a man with apprehensions and yet i thought he had a look of triumph all as though he had already done much and was near the end of an achievement partly from a scruple of delicacy â which i dare say came too late â partly from the pleasure of startling an acquaintance i desired to make my presence known to him without delay i got suddenly to my feet and stepped forward said i i have never had so shocking a surprise in all my days he leaped on me without a word something shone in his hand and he struck for my heart with a dagger at the same moment i knocked him head over heels whether it was my quickness or his own uncertainty i know not but the blade only my shoulder while the and his fist struck me violently on the mouth i fled but not far i had often and often observed the of the sand hills for protracted or stealthy advances and and not ten yards from the scene of the down again upon the grass the lantern had fallen and gone out but what was my astonishment to the on the links see slip at a bound into the and hear him bar the door behind with a of iron he had not pursued me he had run away whom i knew for the most and daring of men had run away i could scarcely believe my reason and yet in this strange business where all was incredible there was nothing to make a work about in an more or less for why was the secretly prepared why had landed with his guests at dead of night in half a gale of wind and with the scarce covered why had he sought to kill me had he not recognized my voice i wondered and above all how had he come to have a dagger ready in his hand a dagger or even a sharp knife seemed out of keeping with the age in which we lived and a gentleman landing from his on the shore of his own estate

3Edith Wharton

even although it was at night and with mysterious circumstances does not usually as a matter of fact walk thus prepared for deadly the more i reflected the further i felt at sea i the elements of mystery counting them on my fingers the secretly prepared for guests the guests landed at the risk of their lives and to the imminent peril of the the guests or at least one of them in and seemingly terror with a naked weapon his most intimate acquaintance at a word last and not least strange from the man whom he had sought to murder and the on the links j ing himself like a hunted creature behind the door of the here were at least six separate causes for extreme surprise each part and parcel with the others and forming all together one consistent story i felt almost ashamed to believe my own senses as i thus stood with wonder i began to grow painfully conscious of the injuries i had received in the round among the and by a path regained the shelter of the wood on the way the old nurse passed again within several yards of me still carrying her lantern on the return journey to the mansion house of this made a seventh suspicious feature in the case and his guests it appeared were to cook and to do the cleaning for themselves while the old woman continued to the big empty among the there must surely be great cause for when so many were confronted to preserve it so thinking i made my way to the den for greater security i trod out the embers of the fire and lit my lantern to examine the wound upon my shoulder it was a trifling hurt although it somewhat freely and i dressed it as well as i could for its position made it to reach with some rag and cold water from the spring while i was thus busied i mentally declared war against and his mystery i am not an angry man by nature and i believe there was more curiosity than resentment in my heart but war i certainly de the on the links and by way of preparation i got out my revolver and having drawn the charges cleaned and it with scrupulous care next i became about my horse it might break loose or fall to and so betray my camp in the sea wood i determined to rid myself of its neighborhood and long before dawn i was leading it over the links in the direction of the village chapter iii tells how i became acquainted with my wife for two days i round the by the surface of the links i became an in the necessary these low and shallow running one into another became a kind of cloak of darkness for my but perhaps pursuit yet in spite of this advantage i could learn but little of or his guests fresh provisions were brought under cover of darkness by the old woman from the mansion house and the young lady sometimes together but more often singly would walk for an hour or two at a time on the beach beside the i could not but conclude that this was chosen with an eye to for the spot was open only to the but it suited me not less the highest and most of the the on the links sand hills immediately and from these lying flat in a hollow i could overlook or the young lady as they walked the tall man seemed to have disappeared not only did he never cross the threshold but he never so much as showed face at a window or at least not so far as could see for i dared not creep forward beyond a certain distance in the day since the upper floor commanded the of the links and at night when i could venture farther the lower windows were as if to stand a siege sometimes i thought the tall man must be confined to bed for remembered the of his gait and sometimes i thought he must have gone clear away and that and the young lady remained alone together in the the idea even then displeased me whether or not this pair were man and wife i had seen abundant reason to doubt the friendliness of their relation although i could hear nothing of what they said and rarely so much as a decided expression on the face of either there was a distance almost a in their bearing which showed them to be either or at enmity the girl walked faster when she was with than when she was alone and i conceived that any inclination between a man and a woman would rather delay than the step moreover she kept a good yard free of him and her umbrella as if it were a barrier on the side between them kept closer and i the on the links as the girl retired from his advance their course lay at a sort of across the beach and would have landed them in the surf had it been long enough continued but when it was imminent the girl would change sides and put between her and the sea i watched these for my part with high enjoyment and approval and chuckled to myself at every move on the morning of the third day she walked alone for some time and i perceived to my great concern that she was more than once in tears you will see that my heart was already interested more than i supposed she had a firm yet airy motion of the body and carried her head with grace every step was a thing to look at and she seemed in my eyes to breathe sweetness and distinction the day was so agreeable being calm and with a tranquil sea and yet with a and vigor in

3Edith Wharton

the air that contrary to custom she was tempted forth a second time to walk on this occasion she was accompanied by and they had been but a short while on the beach when i saw him take forcible possession of her hand she struggled and uttered a cry that was almost a scream i sprang to my feet of my strange position but ere i had taken a step i saw bare headed and bowing very low as if to and dropped again at once into my a few words were and then with another bow he left the beach to re the on the links i i turn to the he passed not far from me and i could see him flushed and lowering and cutting savagely with his cane among the grass it was not without satisfaction that i recognized my own in a great cut under his right eye and a considerable round the for some time the girl remained where he had left her looking out past the and over the bright sea then with a start as one who throws off and puts energy again upon its she broke into a rapid and decisive walk she also was much by what had passed she had forgotten where she was and i beheld her walk straight into the borders of the where it is most abrupt and dangerous two or three steps farther and her life would have been in serious when i slid down the face of the sand hill which is there and running half way forward called to her to stop she did so and turned round there was not a tremor of fear in her behavior and she marched directly up to me like a queen i was and clad like a common sailor save for an egyptian round my waist and she probably took me at first for some one from the village after bait as for her when i thus saw her face to face her eyes set steadily and upon mine i was filled with admiration and astonishment and thought her even more beautiful than i had looked to find her nor could i think enough of one who the on the links acting with so much boldness yet preserved a air that was both quaint and engaging for my wife kept an old fashioned precision of manner through all her admirable life â an excellent thing in woman since it sets another value on her sweet what does this mean she asked you were walking i told her directly into you do not belong to these parts she said again you speak like an educated man i believe i have a right to that name said i although in this disguise but her woman s eye had already detected the oh she said your you you have said the word betray i resumed may i ask you not to betray me i was obliged to disclose myself in your interest but if learned my presence it might be worse than disagreeable for me do you know she asked to whom you are speaking not to mr s wife i asked by way of answer she shook her head all this while she was studying my face with an embarrassing then she broke out â you have an honest face be honest like your face sir and tell me what you want and what you are afraid of do you think i could hurt you i the on the links believe you have far more power to injure me and yet you do not look unkind what do you mean â you a gentleman â by like a spy about this desolate place tell me she said who is it you hate hate no one i answered and i fear no one face to face my name is â frank i lead the life of a vagabond for my own good pleasure i am one of s oldest friends and three nights ago when i addressed him on these links he me in the shoulder with a knife it was you she said why he did so i continued the interruption is more than i can guess and more than i care to know i have not many friends nor am i very susceptible to friendship but no man shall drive me from a place by terror i had in sea wood ere he came i camp in it still if you think i mean harm to you or yours madam the remedy is in your hand tell him that my camp is in the den and to night he can me in safety while i sleep with this i my cap to her and scrambled up once more among the sand hills i do not know why but i felt a prodigious sense of injustice and felt like a hero and a while as a matter of fact i had not a word to say in my defence nor so much as one plausible reason to offer for my conduct i had stayed at out of a curiosity natural enough but and though there was another motive growing in along with the first the on the links it was not one which at that period i could have properly explained to the lady of my heart certainly that night i thought of no one else and though her whole conduct and position seemed suspicious i could not find it in my heart to entertain a doubt of her integrity i could have my life that she was clear of blame and though all was dark at the present that the explanation of the mystery would show her part in these events to be both right and needful it was true let me my imagination as i pleased that i could invent no theory of her relations to but i felt none the less sure of my conclusion

3Edith Wharton

because it was founded on instinct in place of reason and as i may say went to sleep that night with the thought of her under my pillow next day she came out about the same hour alone and as soon as the sand hills concealed her from the drew nearer to the edge and called me by name in guarded tones i was astonished to observe that she was deadly pale and seemingly under the influence of strong emotion mr she cried mr i appeared at once and leaped down upon the beach a remarkable air of relief her countenance as soon as she saw me oh she cried with a hoarse sound like one whose bosom has been lightened of weight and then thank god you are still safe she added i knew if you were you would be here was not this strange so swiftly and wisely does the on the links prepare our hearts for these great life long that both my wife and i had been given a on this the second day of our acquaintance i had even then hoped that she would seek me she had felt sure that she would find me do not she went on swiftly do not stay in this place promise me that you will sleep no longer in that wood you do not know how i suffer all last night i could not sleep for thinking of your peril peril i repeated peril from whom from not so she said did you think i would tell him after what you said not from i repeated then how from whom i see none to be afraid of you must not ask me was her reply for i am not free to tell you only believe me and go hence â believe me and go away quickly quickly for your life an appeal to his alarm is never a good plan to rid of a spirited young man my obstinacy was but increased by what she said and i made it a point of honor to remain and her solicitude for my safety still more confirmed me in the resolve you must not think me inquisitive madam i replied but if is so dangerous a place you yourself perhaps remain here at some risk she only looked at me reproachfully the pa on the links you and your father i resumed but she interrupted me almost with a gasp my father how do you know that she cried i saw you together when you landed was my answer and i do not know why but it seemed satisfactory to both of us as indeed it was the truth but i continued you need have no fear from me i see you have some reason to be secret and you may believe me your secret is as safe with me as if i were in i have scarce spoken to anyone for years my horse is my only companion and even he poor beast is not beside me you see then you may count on me for silence so tell me the truth my dear young lady are you not in danger mr says you are an honorable man she returned and i believe it when i see you i will tell you so much you are right we are in dreadful dreadful danger and you share it by remaining where yon are ah said i you have heard of me from and he gives me a good character i asked him about you last night was her reply i pretended she hesitated i pretended to have met you long ago and spoken to you of him it was not true but i could not help myself without betraying you and you had put me in a difficulty he praised you highly and â you may permit me one question â does this danger come from i asked r the on the links from mr she cried oh no he stays with us to share it while you propose that i should run away i said you do not rate me very high why should you stay she asked you are no friend of ours i know not what came over me for i had not been conscious of a similar weakness since i was a child but i was so by this retort that my eyes pricked and filled with tears as i continued to gaze upon her face no no she said in a changed voice i did not mean the words it was i who offended i said and i held out my hand with a look of appeal that somehow touched her for she gave me hers at once and even eagerly i held it for awhile in mine and gazed into her eyes it was she who first tore her hand away and forgetting all about her request and the promise she had sought to ran at the top of her speed and without turning till she was out of sight and then i knew that i loved her and thought in my glad heart that she â she herself â was not indifferent to my suit many a time she has denied it in after days but it was with a smiling and not a serious denial for my part i am sure our hands would not have lain so closely in each other if she had not begun to melt to me already and when all is said it is no great since by her own she began to love me on the morrow and yet on the morrow very little took place the on the links she came and called me down as on the day before me for lingering at and when she found i was still began to ask me more particularly as to my arrival i told her by what series of accidents i had come to witness their

3Edith Wharton

and how i had determined to remain partly from the interest which had been in me by s guests and partly because of his own attack as to the former i fear i was and led her to regard herself as having been an attraction to me from the first moment that i saw her on the links it my heart to make this confession even now when my wife is with god and already knows all things and the honesty of my purpose even in this for while she lived although it often pricked my conscience i had never the to her even a little secret in such a married life as ours is like the rose leaf which kept the princess from her sleep from this the talk into other subjects and i told her much about my lonely and wandering existence she for her part giving ear and saying little although we spoke very naturally and on topics that might seem indifferent we were both sweetly agitated too soon it was time for her to go and we separated as if by mutual consent without shaking hands for both knew that between us it was no idle ceremony the next and that was the fourth day of our acquaintance we met in the same spot but early in the morning with much familiarity and yet much the on the timidity on either side when she had once more spoken about my danger â and that i was her excuse for coming â i who had prepared a great deal of talk during the night began to tell her how i valued her kind interest and how no one had ever cared to hear about my life nor had i ever cared to relate it before yesterday suddenly she interrupted me saying with vehemence â and yet if you knew who i was you would not so much as speak to me i told her such a thought was madness and little as we had met i counted her already a dear friend but my seemed only to make her more desperate my father is hiding she cried my dear i said forgetting for the first time to add young lady what do i care if he were in hiding twenty times over would it make one thought of change in you ah but the cause she cried the cause it is she faltered for a second â it is disgraceful to us chapter iv tells in what a startling manner i learned that i was not alone in sea wood this was my wife s story as i drew it from her among tears and sobs her name was it sounded very beautiful in my ears i the pa on the links but not so beautiful as that other name of which she wore during the longer and i thank god the happier portion of her life her father had been a private banker in a very large way of business many years before his affairs becoming disordered he had been led to tr dangerous and at last criminal to himself from ruin all was in vain he became more and more cruelly involved and found his honor lost at the same moment with his fortune about this period had been his daughter with great though with small encouragement and to him knowing him thus disposed in his favor turned for help in his extremity it was not merely ruin and nor merely a legal condemnation that the unhappy man had brought on his head it seems he could have gone to prison with a light heart what he feared what kept him awake at night or recalled him from slumber into frenzy was some secret sudden and attempt upon his life hence he desired to bury his existence and escape to one of the islands in the south pacific and it was in s the red early that he designed to go the picked them up upon the coast of wales and had once more deposited them at till she could be and for the longer voyage nor could doubt that her hand had been as the price of passage for although was neither unkind or he had shown the on the links i i himself in several instances somewhat in speech and manner i listened i need not say with fixed attention and put many questions as to the more mysterious part it was in vain she had no clear idea of what the blow was nor of how it was expected to fall her father s alarm was and physically and he had thought more than once of making an surrender to the police but the scheme was finally abandoned for he was convinced that not even the strength of our english could shelter him from his he had had many affairs with italy and with resident in london in the later years of his business and these last as fancied were somehow connected with the doom that threatened him he had shown great terror at the presence of an italian seaman on board the red earl and had bitterly and repeatedly accused in consequence the latter had protested that that was the seaman s name was a capital fellow and could be trusted to the death but mr had continued ever since to declare that all was lost that it was only a question of days and that would be the ruin of him yet i regarded the whole story as the of a mind shaken by calamity he had suffered heavy by his italian transactions and hence the sight of an italian was hateful to him and the principal part in his nightmare would naturally enough be played by one of that nation the on the links what your father wants i said is a good doctor and some medicine but mr objected your mother he is by losses and yet he

3Edith Wharton

shares in this terror i could not help laughing at what i considered her simplicity my dear said i you have told me yourself what reward he has to look for all is fair in love you must remember and if your father s terrors it is not at all because he is afraid of any italian man but simply because he is with a charming english woman she reminded me of his attack upon myself on the night of the and this i was unable to explain in short and from one thing to another it was agreed between us that i should set out at once for the village as it was called look up all the newspapers i could find and see for myself if there seemed any basis of fact for these continued the next morning at the same hour and place i was to make my report to she said no more on that occasion about my departure nor indeed did she make it a secret that she clung to the thought of my as something and pleasant and for my part i could not have left her if she had gone upon her knees to ask it i reached before ten in the for in those days i was an excellent and the distance as i think i have said was the on the links little over seven miles fine walking all the way upon the turf the village is one of the on that coast which is saying much there is a church in a hollow a miserable haven in the rocks w here many boats have been lost as they returned from fishing two or three score of stone houses arranged along the beach and in two streets one leading from the harbor and another striking out from it at right angles and at the comer of these two a very dark and cheerless tavern by way of principal hotel i had dressed myself somewhat more to my station in life and at once called upon the minister in his little beside the he knew me although it was more than nine years since we had met and when i told him that i had been long upon a walking tour and was behind with the news readily lent me an of newspapers from a month back to the day before with these i sought the tavern and ordering some breakfast sat down to study the failure it had been it appeared a very case thousands of persons were reduced to poverty and one in particular had blown out his brains as soon as payment was suspended it was strange to myself that while i read these details i continued rather to with mr than with his victims so complete already was the empire of my love for my wife a price was naturally set upon the banker s head and as the case was and the public indignation thoroughly aroused the the on the links unusual figure of was offered for his capture he was reported to have large sums of money in his possession one day he had been heard of in spain the next there was sure intelligence that he was still lurking between and liverpool or along the border of wales and the day after a would announce his arrival in or but in all this there was no word of an italian nor any sign of mystery in the very last paper however there was one item not so clear the who were charged to the failure had it seemed come upon the traces of a very large number of thousands which figured for some time in the transactions of the house of but which came from nowhere and disappeared in the same mysterious fashion it was only once referred to by name and then under the x x but it had plainly been floated for the first time into the business at a period of great depression some six years ago the name of a distinguished royal personage had been mentioned by in connection with this sum the cowardly â such i remember was the expression â was supposed to have escaped with a large part of this mysterious fund still in his possession i was still brooding over the fact and trying to torture it into some connection with mr s danger when a man entered the tavern and asked for some bread and cheese with a decided foreign accent said i the on the links i s was the reply i said it was unusually far north to find one of his at which he shrugged his shoulders and replied that a man would go an to find work what work he could hope to find at i was totally unable to conceive and the incident struck so upon my mind that i asked the landlord while he was counting me some change whether he had ever before seen an italian in the village he said he had once seen some who had been on the other side of ness and rescued by the from haven no said i but an italian like the man who has just had bread and cheese what cried he yon black fellow wi the teeth was he an i yon s the first that ever i saw an i dare say he s like to be the last even as he was speaking i raised my eyes and casting a glance into the street beheld three men in earnest conversation together and not thirty yards away one of them was my recent companion in the tavern parlor the other two by their handsome sallow features and soft hats should evidently belong to the same race a crowd of village children stood around them and talking in imitation the looked singularly foreign to the bleak dirty street in which they were standing and the dark gray heaven that them

3Edith Wharton

and i confess my incredulity received at that moment a shock from which it never recovered i might the on the links son with myself as i pleased but i could not argue down the effect of what i had seen and i began to share in the italian terror it was already drawing towards the close of the day before i had returned the newspapers at the and got well forward on to the links on my way home i shall never forget that walk it grew very cold and boisterous the wind sang in the short grass about my feet thin rain showers came running on the and an immense mountain range of clouds began to arise out of the bosom of the sea it would be hard to imagine a more dismal evening and whether it was from these external influences or because my nerves were already affected by what i had heard and seen my thoughts were as gloomy as the weather the upper windows of the commanded a considerable spread of links in the direction of to avoid observation it was necessary to the beach until i had gained cover from the higher sand hills on the little when i might strike across through the hollows for the margin of the wood the sun was about setting the tide was low and all the uncovered and i was moving along lost in unpleasant thought when i was suddenly to perceive the prints of human feet they ran parallel to my own course but low down upon the beach instead of along the border of the turf and when i examined them i saw at once by the size and of the impression that it was a stranger to me and to those in on the links the who had recently passed that way not only so but from the of the course which he had followed near to the most formidable portions of the sand he was as evidently a stranger to the country and to the ill of beach step by step i followed the prints until a quarter of a mile further i beheld them die away into the south eastern boundary of there whoever he was the miserable man had perished one or two who had perhaps seen him disappear wheeled over his with their usual melancholy the sun had broken through the clouds by a last effort and colored the wide level of with a dusky purple i stood for some time gazing at the spot chilled and by my own reflections and with a strong and commanding consciousness of death i remember wondering how long the tragedy had taken and whether his screams had been audible at the and then making a strong resolution i was about to tear myself away when a gust than usual fell upon this quarter of the beach and i saw now whirling high in the air now lightly across the surface of the sands a soft black felt hat somewhat in shape such as i had remarked already on the heads of the i believe but i am not sure that i uttered a cry the wind was driving the hat and i ran round the border of the to be ready against its arrival the gust fell dropping the hat for a while the pa on the links upon the and then once more landed it a few yards from where i stood i seized it with the interest you may imagine it had seen some service indeed it was than either of those i had seen that day upon the street the was red stamped with the name of the maker which i have forgotten and that of the place of manufacture this it is not yet forgotten was the name given by the to the beautiful city of then and for long after a part of their the shock was complete i saw imaginary upon every side and for the first and i may say for the last time in my experience became overpowered by what is called panic terror i knew nothing that is to be afraid of and yet i admit that i was heartily afraid and it was with a sensible reluctance that i returned to my exposed and solitary camp in the sea wood there i ate some cold which had been left over from the night before for i was to make a fire and feeling strengthened and reassured dismissed all these fanciful terrors from my mind and lay down to sleep with composure how long i may have slept it is impossible for me to guess but i was awakened at last by a sudden blinding flash of light into my face it woke me like a blow in an instant i was upon my knees but the light had gone as suddenly as it came the darkness was intense and as it was blowing ttie on the links great guns from the sea and pouring with rain the noises of the storm effectually concealed all others it was i half a minute before i regained my self possession but for two circumstances i should have thought i had been awakened by some new and vivid form of nightmare first the of my tent which i had shut carefully when i retired was now and second i could still perceive with a that excluded any theory of the smell of hot metal and of burning oil the conclusion was obvious i had been awakened by some one flashing a bull s eye lantern in my face it had been but a flash and away he had seen face and then gone i asked myself the object of so strange a proceeding and the answer came pat the man whoever he was had thought to recognize me and he had not there was yet another question and to this i may say i feared to give

3Edith Wharton

an answer if he had recognized me what would he have done my fears were immediately diverted from myself for i saw that i had been visited in a mistake and i became persuaded that some dreadful danger threatened the it required some nerve to issue forth into the black and intricate thicket which surrounded and the den but i my way to the links with rain beaten upon and by the and fearing at every step to lay my hand upon some lurking adversary the darkness was so complete that i iso the on the links might have been surrounded by an army and yet none the wiser and the uproar of the gale so loud that my hearing was as useless as my sight for the rest of the night which seemed long i the vicinity of the without seeing a living creature or hearing any noise but the concert of the wind the sea and the rain a light in the upper story through a in the and kept me company till the approach of dawn chapter v tells of an interview between and myself with the first peep of day i retired from the open to my old among the there to await the coming of my wife the morning was gray wild and melancholy the wind before sunrise and then went about and blew in from the shore the sea began to go down but the rain still fell without mercy over all the wilderness of links there was not a creature to be seen yet i felt sure the neighborhood was alive with foes the light that had been so suddenly and flashed upon my face as i lay sleeping and the hat that had been blown ashore by the wind from over were two speaking of the peril that and the party in the the on the links i l it was perhaps half past seven or nearer eight before i saw the door open and that dear figure come toward in the rain i was waiting for her on the beach before she had crossed the sand hills i have had such trouble to come she cried they did not wish me to go walking in the rain i said you are not frightened no said she with a simplicity that filled my heart with confidence for my wife was the as well as the best of women in my experience i have not found the two go always together but with her they did and she combined the extreme of fortitude with the most and beautiful virtues i told her what had happened and though her cheek grew visibly paler she retained perfect control over her senses you see now that i am safe said i in conclusion they do not mean to harm me for had they chosen i was a dead man last night she laid her hand upon my arm and i had no she cried her accent thrilled me with delight i put my arm about her and strained her to my side and before either of us was aware her hands were on my shoulders and my lips upon her mouth yet up to that moment no word of love had passed between us to this time i remember the touch of her cheek which was wet and cold with the rain and many a time since when she has been washing her face i have kissed it again for the sake of that the on the links morning on the beach now that she is taken from me and i finish my pilgrimage alone i recall our old loving kindness and the deep honesty and affection which united us and my present loss seems but a trifle in comparison we may have thus stood for some seconds â for time passes quickly with lovers â before we were startled by a peal of laughter close at hand it was not natural mirth but seemed to be affected in order to conceal an feeling we both turned though i still kept my left arm about s waist nor did she seek to withdraw herself and there a few paces off upon the beach stood his head lowered his hands behind his back his nostrils white with passion ah he said as i disclosed my face that same said i for i was not at all put about and so miss he continued slowly but savagely this is how you keep your faith to your father and to me this is the value you set upon your father s life and you are so with this young gentleman that you must brave ruin and decency and common human caution miss i was beginning to interrupt him when he in his turn cut in you hold your tongue said he i am speaking to that girl that girl as you call her is my wife said i and my wife only leaned a little nearer so that i knew she had affirmed my words the on the links your what he cried you lie i said we all know you have a bad temper and i am the last man to be irritated by words for all that i propose that you speak lower for i am convinced that we are not alone he looked round him and it was plain my remark had in some degree his passion what do you mean he asked i said one word he swore a round oath and looked at us from one to the other mr knows all that i know said my wife what i want to know he broke out is where the devil mr comes from and what the devil mr is doing here you say you are married that i do not believe if you were would soon divorce you four minutes and a half i keep my private for my friends it took somewhat longer

3Edith Wharton

said i for that italian he looked at me for a moment half and then almost asked me to tell my story you have too much the advantage of me he added i complied of course and he listened with several while i told him how i had come to that it was i whom he had tried to murder on the night of landing and what i had subsequently seen and heard of the well said he when i had done it is here at the on the links last there is no mistake about that and what may i ask do you propose to do i propose to stay with you and lend a hand said i you are a brave man he returned with a peculiar i am not afraid said i and so he continued i am to understand that you two are married and you stand up to it before my face miss we are not yet married said but we shall be as soon as we can cried and the bargain d â n it you re not a fool young woman i may call a a with you how about the bargain you know as well as i do what your father s life depends upon i have only to put my hands under my coat tails and walk away and his throat would be cut before the evening yes mr returned with great spirit but that is what you will never do you made a bargain that was unworthy of a gentleman but you are a gentleman for all that and you will never desert a man whom you have begun to help said he you think i will give my for nothing you think i will risk my life and liberty for love of the old gentleman and then i suppose be best man at the wedding to wind up well he added with an odd smile perhaps you are not altogether wrong but ask the on the links here he knows me am i a man to trust am i safe and scrupulous am i kind i know you talk a great deal and sometimes i think very foolishly replied but i know you are a gentleman and i am not in the least afraid he looked at her with a peculiar approval and admiration then turning to me do you think i would give her up without a struggle frank said he i tell you plainly you look out the next time we come to blows will make the third i interrupted smiling aye true so it will he said i had forgotten well the third time s lucky the third time you mean you will have the crew of the red earl to help i said do you hear him he asked turning to my wife i hear two men speaking like said she i should despise myself either to think or speak like that and neither of you believe one word that you are saying which makes it the more wicked and silly she s a cried but she s not yet mrs i say no more the present is not for me then my wife surprised me i leave you here she said suddenly my father has been too long alone but remember this you are to be friends for you are both good friends to me the on the links she has since told me her reason for this step as long as she remained she declares that we two would have continued to quarrel and i suppose that she was right for when she was gone we fell at once into a sort of stared after her as she went away over the sand hill she is the only woman in the world he exclaimed an oath look at her action i for my part leaped at this opportunity for a little further light see here said i we are all in a tight place are we not i believe you my boy he answered looking me in the eyes and with great emphasis we have all hell upon us that s the truth you may believe me or not but i m afraid of my life tell me one thing said i what are they after these what do they want with mr don t you know he cried the black old had funds on a deposit â two hundred and eighty thousand and of course he it away on stocks there was to have been a revolution in the or but the revolution is off and the whole s nest is after we shall be all lucky if we can save our skins the i exclaimed god help him indeed amen said and now look the on the links here i have said that we are in a fix and frankly i shall be glad of your help if i can t save i want at least to save the girl come and stay in the and there s my hand on it i shall act as your friend until the old man is either clear or dead but he added once that is settled you become my rival once again and i warn you â mind yourself done said i and we shook hands and now let us go directly to the fort said and he began to lead the way through the rain chapter vi tells of my introduction to the tall man we were admitted to the by and i was surprised by the completeness and security of the a of great strength and yet easy to supported the door against any violence from without and the shutters of the dining room into which i was led directly and which was feebly illuminated by a lamp were even more fortified the were strengthened by bars and cross bars and these in their turn were kept in position by a

3Edith Wharton

system of and some on the floor some on the roof and others in fine against the opposite wall of the apartment it was at once a solid and the on the links well designed piece of and i did not seek to conceal my admiration i am the engineer said you remember the in the garden behold them i did not know you had so many talents said i are you armed he continued pointing to an array of guns and pistols all in admirable order which stood in line against the wall or were displayed upon the thank you i returned i have gone armed since our last encounter but to tell you the truth i have had nothing to eat since early yesterday produced some cold meat to which i eagerly set myself and a bottle of good by which wet as i was i did not scruple to profit i have always been an extreme man on principle but it is useless to push principle to excess and on this occasion i believe that i finished three quarters of the bottle as i ate i still continued to admire the preparations for defence we could stand a siege i said at length ye â es a very little one per â it is not so much the strength of the i it is the double danger that me if we get to shooting wild as the country is some one is sure to hear it and then â why then it s the same thing only different as they say by law or killed by there s the choice it is a devilish bad thing to have the law against the on the links you in this world and so i tell the old gentleman up stairs he is quite of my way of thinking speaking of that said i what kind of person is he oh he cried the other he s a fellow as far as he goes i should like to have his neck wrung to morrow by all the devils in italy i am not in this affair for him you take me i made a bargain for s hand and i mean to have it too that by the way said i i understand but how will mr take my intrusion leave that to returned i could have struck him in the face for this coarse familiarity but i respected the as i am bound to say did and so long as the danger continued not a cloud arose in our relation i bear him this testimony with the most satisfaction nor am i without pride when i look back upon my own behavior for surely no two men were ever left in a position so and as soon as i had done eating we proceeded to inspect the lower floor window by window we tried the different now and then making an change and the strokes of the hammer sounded with startling through the house i proposed i remember to make but he told me they were already made in the windows of the upper story it was an anxious business this inspection and left me down hearted there were two doors and five l o the on the links windows to protect and counting only four of us to defend them against an unknown number of foes i communicated my doubts to who assured me with unmoved composure that he entirely shared them before morning said he we shall all be and buried in for me that is i could not help shuddering at the mention of the but reminded that our enemies had spared me in the wood do not flatter yourself said he then you were not in the same boat with the old gentleman now you are it s the for all of us mark my words i trembled for and just then her dear voice was heard calling us to come upstairs showed me the way and when he had reached the landing knocked at the door of what used to be called my uncle s bedroom as the founder of the had designed it especially for himself come in come in dear mr said a voice from within pushing open the door admitted me before him into the apartment as i came in i could see the daughter slipping out by the side door into the study which had been prepared as her bedroom in the bed which was drawn back against the wall instead of standing as i had last seen it boldly across the window sat the banker little as i had seen of him by the shifting light of the lantern on the links i the on the links l l had no difficulty in him for the same he had a long and sallow countenance surrounded by a long red beard and side whiskers his broken nose and high cheek bones gave him somewhat the air of a and his light eyes shone with the excitement of a high fever he wore a skull cap of black silk a huge bible lay open before him on the bed with a pair of gold spectacles in the place and a pile of other books lay on the stand by his side the green curtains lent a shade to his cheek and as he sat propped on pillows his great stature was painfully and his head till it his knees i believe if he had not died otherwise he must have fallen a victim to consumption in the course of but a very few weeks he held out to me a hand long thin and hairy come in come in mr said he another protector â â another protector always welcome as a friend of my daughter s mr how they have rallied about me my daughter s friends may god in heaven bless and reward them for it i gave him

3Edith Wharton

my hand of course because i could not help it but the sympathy i had been prepared to feel for s father was immediately by his appearance and the unreal tones in which he spoke is a good man said worth ten so i hear cried mr eagerly ii the on the links so my girl tells me ah mr my sin has found me out you see i am very low very low but i hope equally penitent we must all come to the throne of grace at last mr for my part i come late indeed but with humility i trust fiddle de said roughly no no dear cried the banker you must not say that you must not try to shake me you forget my dear good boy you forget i may be called this very night before my maker his excitement was pitiful to behold and i felt myself grow indignant with whose opinions i well knew and heartily as he continued to the poor sinner out of his humor of repentance my dear said he you do yourself injustice you are a man of the world inside and out and were up to all kinds of mischief before i was bom your conscience is like south american leather â only you forgot to tan your liver and that if you will believe me is the seat of the annoyance rogue rogue bad boy said mr shaking his finger am no if you come to that i always hated a but i never lost hold of something better through it all i have been a bad boy mr i do not seek to deny that but it was after my wife s death and you know with a it s a different thing sinful â i won t say no but there is a we the on the links shall hope and talking of that â hark he broke out suddenly his hand raised his fingers spread his face with interest and terror only the rain bless god he added after a pause and with indescribable relief for some seconds he lay back among the pillows like a man near to fainting then he gathered himself together and in somewhat tremulous tones began once more to thank me for the share i was prepared to take in his defence one question sir said i when he had paused is it true that you have money with you he seemed annoyed by the question but admitted with reluctance that he had a little well i continued it is their money they are after is it not why not give it up to them ah replied he shaking his head i have tried that already mr and alas that it should be so but it is blood they want that s a little less than fair said you should mention that what you offered them was upward of two hundred thousand short the is worth a reference it is for what they call a cool sum frank then you see the fellows reason in their clear italian way and it seems to them as indeed it seems to me that they may just as well have both while they are about it â money and blood together by george and no more trouble for the extra pleasure is it in the i asked it is and i wish it was in the bottom of the the on the links sea instead said and then suddenly â what are you making faces at me for he cried to mr on whom i had unconsciously turned my back do you think would sell you mr protested that nothing had been further from his mind it is a good thing retorted in his manner you might end by us what were you going to say he added turning to me i was going to propose an occupation for the afternoon said i let us carry that money out piece by piece and lay it down before the door if the come why it s theirs at any rate no no cried mr it does not it cannot belong to them it should be distributed pro among all my come now said none of that well but my daughter moaned the wretched man your daughter will do well enough here are two and i neither of us beggars between whom she has to choose and as for yourself to make an end of arguments you have no right to a and unless i m much mistaken you are going to die it was certainly very cruelly said but mr was a man who attracted little sympathy the on the links and although i saw him and shudder i mentally the rebuke nay i added a contribution of my own and i i said are willing enough to help you to save your life but not to escape with stolen property he struggled for awhile with himself as though he were on the point of giving way to anger but prudence had the best of the my dear boys he said do with me or my money what you will i leave all in your hands let me compose myself and so we left him gladly enough i am sure the last that i saw he had once more taken up his great bible and with tremulous hands was his spectacles to read chapter vii tells how a word was cried through the window the recollection of that afternoon will be on my mind and i were persuaded that an attack was imminent and if it had been in our power to alter in any way the order of events that power would have been used to rather than delay the critical moment the worst was to be anticipated yet we could conceive no extremity so miserable as the suspense we were the on the links now suffering i have never been an

3Edith Wharton

eager though always a great reader but i never knew books so as those which i took up and cast aside that afternoon in the even talk became impossible as the hours went on one or other was always listening for some sound or peering from an upstairs window over the links and yet not a sign indicated the presence of our foes we over and over again my proposal with regard to the money and had we been in complete possession of our faculties i am sure we should have condemned it as unwise but we were with alarm grasped at a straw and determined although it was as much as mr s presence in the to carry my proposal into effect the sum was part in part in bank paper and part in circular notes to the name of james we took it out counted it enclosed it once more in a despatch box belonging to and prepared a letter in italian which he tied to the handle it was signed by both of us under oath and declared that this was all the money which had escaped the failure of the house of this was perhaps the action ever by two persons to be sane had the despatch box fallen into other hands than those for which it was intended we stood convicted on our own written testimony but as i have said we were neither of us in a condition to judge and had a thirst for the on the links action that drove us to do something right or wrong rather than endure the agony of waiting moreover as we were both convinced that the hollows of the links were alive with hidden upon our movements we hoped that our appearance with the box might lead to a and perhaps a compromise it was nearly three when we issued from the the rain had taken off the sun shone quite cheerfully i have never seen the fly so close about the house or approach so to human beings on the very one heavily past our heads and uttered its wild cry in my very ear there is an omen for you said who like all was much under the influence of superstition they think we are already dead i made some light but it was with half my heart for the circumstance had impressed me a yard or two before the gate on a patch of smooth turf we set down the despatch box and waved a white handkerchief over his head nothing replied we raised our voices and cried aloud in italian that we were there as to arrange the quarrel but the stillness remained unbroken save by the sea and the surf i had a weight at my heart when we and i saw that even was unusually pale he looked over his shoulder nervously as though he the on the links feared that some one had crept between him and the door by god he said in a whisper this is too much for me i replied in the same key suppose there should be none after all look there he returned nodding with his head as though he had been afraid to point i glanced in the direction indicated and there from the northern comer of the sea wood beheld a thin column of smoke rising steadily against the now sky i said we still continued to talk in whispers it is not possible to endure this suspense i prefer death fifty times over stay you here to watch the i will go forward and make sure if i have to walk right into their camp he looked once again all around him with eyes and then nodded to my proposal my heart beat like a hammer as i set out walking rapidly in the direction of the smoke and though up to that moment i had felt chill and shivering i was suddenly conscious of a glow of heat over all my body the ground in this direction was very a hundred men might have lain hidden in as many square yards about my path but i had not practised the business in vain chose such as cut at the very root of concealment and by keeping along the most convenient commanded several hollows at a time it was not long before i was the on the links rewarded for my caution coming suddenly on to a mound somewhat more elevated than the surrounding i saw not thirty yards away a man bent almost double and running as fast as his attitude permitted along the bottom of a i had one of the from his as soon as i sighted him i called loudly both in english and italian and he seeing concealment was no longer possible straightened himself out leaped from the and made off as straight as an arrow for the borders of the wood it was none of my business to pursue i had learned what i wanted â that we were and watched in the and i returned at once and walking as nearly as possible in my old footsteps to where awaited me beside the despatch box he was even paler than when i had left him and his voice shook a little could you see what he was like he asked he kept his back turned i replied let us go into the house frank i don t think i m a coward but i can stand no more of this he whispered all was still and about the as we turned to re enter it even the had flown in a wider circuit and were seen flickering along the beach and sand hills and this loneliness terrified me more than a regiment under arms it was not until the door was that i could draw a full inspiration and relieve the weight that lay upon my bosom and i exchanged a steady glance

3Edith Wharton

and i i the on the links suppose each made his own reflections on the white and startled aspect of the other you were right i said all is over shake hands old man for the last time yes replied he i will shake hands for as sure as i am here i bear no malice but remember if by some impossible accident we should give the slip to these i ll take the upper hand of you by fair or foul oh said i you weary me he seemed hurt and walked away in silence to the foot of the stairs where he paused you do not understand me said he i am not a and i guard myself that is all it may weary you or not mr i do not care a rush i speak for my own satisfaction and not for your amusement you had better go upstairs and court the girl for my part i stay here and i stay with you i returned do you think i would steal a march even with your permission frank he said smiling it s a pity you are an ass for you have the of a man i think i must be to day you cannot me even when you try do you know he continued softly i think we are the two most miserable men in england you and i we have got on to thirty without wife or child or so much as a shop to look after â poor pitiful lost devils both and now we clash about a girl as if there were not several millions in the united kingdom ah frank frank the the on the links one who loses his throw be it you or me he has my pity it were better for him â how does the bible say â that a were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the depth of the sea let us take a drink he concluded suddenly but without any levity of tone i was touched by his words and consented he sat down on the table in the dining room and held up the glass of to his eye if you beat me frank he said i shall take to drink what will you do if it goes the other way god knows i returned well said he here is a toast in the meantime the remainder of the day was passed in the same dreadful and suspense i laid the table for dinner while and prepared the meal together in the kitchen i could hear their talk as i went to and fro and was surprised to find it ran all the time upon myself again us together and rallied on a choice of husbands but he continued to speak of me with some feeling and uttered nothing to my prejudice unless he included himself in the condemnation this awakened a sense of gratitude in my heart which combined with the of our peril to fill my eyes with tears after all i thought â and perhaps the thought was vain â we were here three very noble human brings to perish in defence of a banker the on the links before we sat down to table i looked forth from an upstairs window the day was beginning to decline the links were utterly deserted the still lay untouched where we had left it hours before mr in a long yellow took one end of the table the other while and i faced each other from the sides the lamp was brightly trimmed the wine was good the although mostly cold excellent of their sort we seemed to have agreed all reference to the impending catastrophe was carefully avoided and considering our tragic circumstances we made a party than could have been expected from time to time it is true or i would rise from the table and make a round of the and on each of these occasions mr was recalled to a sense of his tragic glanced up with ghastly eyes and bore for an instant on his countenance the stamp of terror but he hastened to empty his s wiped his forehead with his handkerchief and joined again in the conversation i was astonished at the wit and information he displayed mr s was certainly no ordinary character he had read and observed for himself his gifts were sound and though i could never have learned to love the man i began to understand his success in business and the great respect in which he had been held before his failure he had above all the talent of society and though the on the links i never heard him speak but on this one and most occasion i set him down among the most brilliant i ever met he was relating with great and seemingly no feeling a shame the of a commission merchant whom he had known and studied in his youth and we were all listening with an odd mixture of mirth and embarrassment when our little party was brought abruptly to an end in the most startling manner a noise like that of a wet finger on the interrupted mr s tale and in an instant we were all four as white as paper and sat tongue tied and motionless round the table a i said at last for i had heard that these animals make a noise somewhat similar in character be dâ d said hush the same sound was repeated twice at regular intervals and then a formidable voice shouted through the shutters the italian word mr threw his head in the air his eyelids quivered next moment he fell insensible below the table and i had each run to the and seized a gun was on her feet with her hand at her throat so we stood waiting for we thought the hour of attack was certainly come but second

3Edith Wharton

passed after second and all but the surf remained silent in the neighborhood of the quick said upstairs with him before they come the on the links chapter viii tells the last of the tall man somehow or other by hook and and between the three of us we got upstairs and laid upon the bed in my uncle s room during the whole process which was rough enough he gave no sign of consciousness and he remained as we had thrown him without changing the position of a finger his daughter opened his shirt and began to wet his head and bosom while and i ran to the window the weather continued clear the moon which was now about full had risen and shed a very clear light upon the links yet strain our eyes as we might we could distinguish nothing moving a few dark spots more or less on the expanse were not to be identified they might be crouching men they might be shadows it was impossible to be sure thank god said is not coming to night was the name of the old nurse he had not thought of her till now but that he should think of her at all was a trait that surprised me in the man we were again reduced to waiting went to the fireplace and spread his hands before the red embers as if he were cold i followed him the on the links mechanically with my eyes and in so doing turned my back upon the window at that moment a very faint report was audible from without and a ball shivered a pane of glass and buried itself in the two inches from my head i heard scream and though i whipped instantly out of range and into a comer she was there so to speak before me to know if i were hurt i felt that i could stand to be shot at every day and all day long with such marks of solicitude for a reward and i continued to her with the tenderest caresses and in complete forgetfulness of our situation till the voice of recalled me to myself an air gun he said they wish to make no noise i put aside and looked at him he was standing with his back to the fire and his hands clasped behind him and i knew by the black look on his face that passion was boiling within i had seen just such a look before he attacked me that march night in the adjoining chamber and though i could make every allowance for his anger i confess i trembled for the consequences he gazed straight before him but he could see us with the tail of his eye and his temper kept rising like a gale of wind with regular battle awaiting us outside this prospect of an strife within the walls began to me suddenly as i was thus closely watching his expression and prepared against the worst i saw a the on the links change a flash a look of relief upon his face he took up the lamp which stood beside him on the table and turned to us with an air of some excitement there is one point that we must know said he are they going to butcher the lot of us or only did they take you for him or fire at you for your own they took me for him for certain i replied i am near as tall and my head is fair i am going to make sure returned and he stepped up to the window holding the lamp above his head and stood there quietly death for half a minute sought to rush forward and pull him from the place of danger but i had the selfishness to hold her back by force yes said turning coolly from the window it s only they want oh mr cried but found no more to add the she had just witnessed seeming beyond the reach of words he on his part looked at me his head with a fire of triumph in his eyes and i understood at once that he had thus his life merely to attract s notice and me from my position as the hero of the hour he snapped his fingers the fire is only beginning he said when they warm up to their work they won t be so particular the on the links a voice was now heard us from the entrance from the window we could see the figure of a man in the moonlight he stood motionless his face uplifted to ours and a rag of something white on his extended arm and as we looked right down upon him though he was a good many yards distant on the links we could see the moonlight glitter on his eyes he opened his lips again and spoke for some minutes on end in a key so loud that he might have been heard in every comer of the and as far away as the borders of the wood it was the same voice that had already shouted through the shutters of the dining room this time it made a complete and clear statement if the traitor were given up all others should be spared if not no one should escape to tell the tale well what do you say to that asked turning to the bed up to that moment the banker had given no sign of life and i at least had supposed him to be still lying in a faint but he replied at once and in such tones as i have never heard elsewhere save from a patient and us not to desert him it was the most hideous and abject performance that my imagination can conceive enough cried and then he threw open the window leaned out into the night and in a tone

3Edith Wharton

of exultation and with a total forgetfulness of what was due to the presence of a lady poured the on the links out upon the a string of the most abominable both in english and italian and bade him be gone where he had come from i believe that nothing so delighted at that moment as the thought that we must all perish before the night was out meantime the italian put his flag of into his pocket and disappeared at a leisurely pace among the sand hills they make honorable war said they are all gentlemen and soldiers for the credit of the thing i wish we could change sides â you and i frank and you too my darling â and leave that being on the bed to some one else tut don t look shocked we are all going post to what they call eternity and may as well be while there s time as far as i m concerned if i could first and then get in my arms i could die with some pride and satisfaction and as it is by god i ll have a kiss before i could do anything to interfere he had rudely embraced and repeatedly kissed the resisting ik girl next moment i had pulled him away with fury and flung him heavily against the wall he laughed loud and long and i feared his wits had given way under the strain for even in the best of days he had been a and a quiet now frank said he when his mirth was somewhat appeased it s your turn here s my hand good bye farewell then seeing me stand rigid and indignant and holding to my side â the on the links man he broke out are you angry did you think we were going to die with all the airs and graces of society i took a kiss i m glad i had it and now you can take another if you like and square accounts i turned from him with a feeling of contempt which i did not seek to as you please said he you ve a in life a you ll die and with that he sat down in a chair a rifle over the knee and amused himself with snapping the lock but i could see that his of light spirits the only one i ever knew him to display had already come to an end and was succeeded by a sullen humor all this time our might have been entering the house and we been none the wiser we had in truth almost forgotten the danger that so our days but just then mr uttered a cry and leaped from the bed i asked him what was wrong fire he cried they have set the house on fire was on his feet in an instant and he and i ran through the door of communication with the study â the room was illuminated by a red and angry light almost at the moment of our entrance a tower of flame arose in front of the window and with a report a pane fell on the carpet they had set fire to the lean to out house where used to nurse his l o the on the hot work said let us try in your old room we ran thither in a breath threw up the and looked forth along the whole back wall of the piles of fuel had been arranged and kindled and it is probable they had been with oil for in spite of the morning s rain they all burned bravely the fire had taken a firm hold already on the out house which blazed higher and higher every moment the back door was in the centre of a red hot the we could see as we looked upward were already for the roof and was supported by considerable beams of wood at the same time hot and choking volumes of smoke began to fill the house there was not a human being to be seen to right or left ah well said here s the end thank god and we returned to my uncle s room mr was putting on his boots still violently trembling but with an air of determination such as i had not hitherto observed stood close by him with her cloak in both hands ready to throw about her shoulders and a strange look her eyes as if she were half hopeful half doubtful of her father well boys and girls said how about a sally the oven is it is not good to stay here and be baked and for my part i want to come to my hands with them and be done the on the links l l there is nothing else left i replied and both and mr though with a very different added nothing as we went downstairs the heat was excessive and the roaring of the fire filled our ears and we had scarce reached the passage before the stairs window fell in a branch of flame shot through the and the interior of the became lit up with that dreadful and glare at the same moment we heard the fall of something heavy and in the upper story the whole it was plain had gone alight like a box of matches and now not only sky high to land and sea but threatened with every moment to and fall in about our ears and i cocked our mr who had already refused a put us behind him with a manner of command let open the door said he so if they fire a she will be protected and in the meantime stand behind me i am the my sins have found me out i heard him as i stood breathless by his shoulder with my pistol ready off prayers in a tremulous rapid whisper and i confess

3Edith Wharton

horrid as the thought may seem i despised him for thinking of in a moment so critical and thrilling in the meantime who was dead white but still possessed her faculties had the from the front door another moment and she had pulled it open and moonlight illuminated the on the links the links with confused and lustre and far away against the sky we could see a long trail of glowing smoke mr filled for the moment with a strength greater than his own struck and myself a back in the chest and while we were thus for the moment from action lifting his arms above his head like one about to he ran straight forward out of the here am i he kill me and spare the others his sudden appearance i suppose our hidden enemies for and i had time to recover to seize between us one by each arm and to rush forth to his assistance ere anything further had taken place but scarce had we passed the threshold when there came near a dozen reports and flashes from every direction among the hollows of the links mr staggered uttered a weird and cry threw up his arms over his head and fell backward on the turf cried the invisible and just then a part of the roof of the fell in so rapid was the progress of the fire a loud vague and horrible noise accompanied the and a vast volume of flame went soaring up to heaven it must have been visible at that moment from twenty miles out at sea from the shore at and far inland from the peak of the most eastern summit of the the on the links hills although god knows what were his had a fine at the moment of his death chapter ix tells how carried out his threat i should have the greatest difficulty to tell you what followed next after this tragic circumstance it is all to me as i look back upon it mixed and ineffectual like the struggles of a in a nightmare i remember uttered a broken sigh and would have fallen forward to earth had not and i supported her insensible body i do not think we were attacked i do not remember even to have seen an and i believe we deserted mr without a glance i only remember running like a man in a panic now carrying altogether in my own arms now sharing her weight with now for the possession of that dear burden why we should have made for my camp in the den or how we reached it are points lost for ever to my recollection the first moment at which i became definitely sure had been suffered to fall against the outside of my little tent and i were tumbling together on the ground and he with contained ferocity was striking for my head with the butt of his revolver the on the links he had already twice wounded me on the and it is to the consequent loss of blood that i am tempted to attribute the sudden clearness of my mind i caught him by the wrist i remember sa ring you can kill me afterwards let us first attend to he was at that moment uppermost scarcely had the words passed my lips when he had leaped to his feet and ran towards the tent and the next moment he was straining to his heart and covering her unconscious hands and face with his caresses shame i cried shame to you and giddy though i still was i struck him repeatedly upon the head and shoulders he his grasp and faced me in the broken moonlight i had you under and let you go said he and now you strike me coward you are the coward i retorted did she wish your kisses while she was still sensible of what she wanted not she and now she may be dying and you waste this precious time and abuse her helplessness stand aside and let me help her he confronted me for a moment white and menacing then suddenly he stepped aside help her then said he i threw myself on my knees beside her and loosened as well as i was able her dress and but while i was thus engaged a grasp descended on my shoulder keep your hands her said the on the links fiercely do you think i have no blood in my veins i cried if you will neither help her yourself nor let me do so do you know that i shall have to kill you that is better he cried let her die also where s the harm step aside from that girl and stand up to fight you will observe said i half rising that i have not kissed her yet i dare you to he cried i do not know what possessed me it was one of the things i am most ashamed of in my life though as my wife used to say i knew that my kisses would be always welcome were she dead or living down i fell again upon my knees parted the hair from her forehead and with the dearest respect laid my lips for a moment on that cold brow it was such a caress as a father might have given it was such a one as was not from a man soon to die to a woman already dead and now said i i am at your service mr but i saw to my surprise that he had turned his back upon me do you hear i asked yes said he i do if you wish to fight i am ready if not go on and save all is one to me i did not wait to be twice but stooping again over continued my efforts to revive her the on the links she still lay white

3Edith Wharton

and lifeless i began to fear that her sweet spirit had indeed fled beyond recall and horror and a sense of utter desolation seized upon my heart i called her by name with the most en â i and beat her hands now i laid her head low now supported it against my knee but all seemed to be in vain and the still lay heavy on her eyes i said there is my hat for god s sake bring some water from the spring almost in a moment he was by my side with the water i have brought it in my own he said you do not grudge me the privilege i was beginning to say as i her head and breast but he interrupted me savagely oh you hush up he said the best thing you can do is to say nothing i had certainly no desire to talk my mind being swallowed up in concern for my dear love and her condition so i continued in silence to do my best towards her recovery and when the hat was empty returned it to him with one word â more he had perhaps gone several times upon this errand when her eyes now said he since she is better you can spare me can you not i wish you a good night mr and with that he was gone among the thicket i made a fire for i had now no fear of the the on the links who had even spared all the little possessions left in my and broken as she was by the excitement and the hideous catastrophe of the evening i managed in one way or another â by persuasion encouragement warmth and such simple as i could lay my hand on â to bring her back to some composure of mind and strength of body day had already come when a sharp sounded from the thicket i started from the ground but the voice of was heard adding in the tranquil tones come here and alone i want to show you something i consulted with my eyes and receiving her permission left her alone and out of the den at some distance off i saw leaning against an elder and as soon as he perceived me he began walking i bad almost overtaken him as he reached the outskirts of the wood look said he pausing a couple of steps more brought me out of the foliage the light of the morning lay cold and clear over that well known scene the was but a blackened wreck the roof had fallen in one of the had fallen out and far and near the face of the links was with little patches of burnt thick smoke still went straight upwards in the air of the morning and a great pile of ardent filled the bare walls of the house like coals in an open grate close by the the on the links a lay to and a well boat was pulling vigorously for the shore the red earl i cried the red earl twelve hours too late feel in your pocket frank are you armed asked i obeyed him and i think i must have become deadly pale my revolver had been taken from me you see i have you in my power he continued i you last night while you were nursing but this morning â here â take your pistol no thanks he cried holding up his hand i do not like them that is the only way you can annoy me now he began to walk forward across the links to meet the boat and i followed a step or two behind in front of the i paused to see where mr had fallen but there was no sign of him nor so much as a trace of blood said he continued to advance till we had come to the head of the beach no farther please said he would you like to take her to house thank you replied i i shall try to get her to the minister s at the of the boat here on the beach and a sailor jumped ashore with a line in his hand wait a minute lads cried and then lower and to my private ear you had better say nothing of all this to her he added the on the links on the contrary i broke out she shall know everything that i can tell you do not understand he returned with an air of great dignity it will be nothing to her she expects it of me good bye he added with a nod i offered him my hand excuse me said he it s small i know but i can t push things quite so far as that i don t wish any sentimental business to sit by your hearth a white haired wanderer and all that quite the contrary i hope to god i shall never again clap eyes on either of you well god bless you i said heartily oh yes he returned he walked down the beach and the who was ashore gave him an arm on board and then off and leaped into the bows himself took the the boat rose to the waves and the oars between the pins sounded crisp and measured in the air they were not yet half way to the red earl and i was still watching their progress when the sun rose out of the sea one word more and my story is done years after was killed fighting under the colors of for the of r l the of saint until quite recently anyone who chanced to stroll out of towards evening by the and thence past the to the dusty evil smelling of saint would have been pretty sure to meet him between four and five o clock during the winter months and a few hours later

3Edith Wharton

when the long hot summer had set in it was his habit to walk up and down the stretch of high road which borders the sea there pausing sometimes to look across the blue waves towards france or up at dame d rising dark on its hill top against the fiery sunset his tall thin figure his hollow cheeks his drooping grey moustache his coat with its scrap of red ribbon in the button hole and something in his manner of carrying his head and his cane which can only be described as a sort of â all these things were apt to arrest the attention of the stranger if such a person looked hard at him he would return the gaze half timidly half and would probably end by raising his old but carefully brushed hat and saying bon in a high voice he was willing upon slight en the of saint i i to enter into conversation and would upon the beauty of the weather and the charm of the surrounding scenery and similar commonplace topics with a good deal of courteous an country â a divine climate figure to yourself that i came here twenty years ago and that i have not yet been able to tear myself away what would you have â when one becomes old one to value tranquillity above all things but if by any chance his grew inquisitive asked where he lived produced a card case or showed other signs of wishing to keep up the acquaintance thus begun he would take alarm his would cease he would draw his heels together lift his hat again and he would say with a low bow j ai de le bon with which he would retire hurriedly it was not that he had any desire to conceal either his name or his place of abode m was well known to all the inhabitants of saint and any one of the dirty children playing on the beach or of the black women lounging in the or of the men playing in their shirt sleeves before the s could have shown you his house â a white villa with all its closed standing in a neglected garden and shut in by rusty iron gates upon the side posts of which the inscription l in thin black letters was barely that amount of information m would have to nobody the of saint but he dreaded the society of his fellow creatures as much as he loved it because he had once been hospitable and could be hospitable no longer time has moved so fast during the last and changes have been so many that probably only a very few people recollect m as he used to be in the days of his prosperity â those good old days before the war when an imperial official could afford himself a pretty villa in the as well as his house in the town and could even go so far as to invest his cash in a farm far away on the plain which everybody said was sure to pay in that happy republican era saint was as lovely a retreat as any official could wish for and the guests at the merry breakfast parties which used to take place at the several times a week were wont to swear as they looked out upon the roses in the garden and upon the sea glittering through a belt of palms and that m was the dog in africa he did not contradict them his opinion indeed quite with theirs he had a sufficient income congenial employment a charm ing daughter and if anything had been lacking to complete his happiness the want was supplied when after somewhat he was able to announce s to that aristocratic personage the de perhaps he a little too much over this latter piece of good fortune perhaps m de s name was rather too frequently upon his lips and perhaps his the of saint friends sometimes laughed at him in their sleeves if so he was unconscious alike of ridicule and of having given cause for it for there never lived a more innocent or creature but all this is ancient history there are no more breakfast parties at saint now and such of the as have not been pulled down are inhabited by nobody knows whom saint itself is lovely no longer the hand of modem has fallen heavily upon it pouring forth cars and on to its highway its beach with and rubbish and making its shores hideous with mean where that strange and being the french dwells cheerfully in an atmosphere of dust and possibly this sad did not affect m as much as it might have done his own been less complete he fell with the fall of the empire and on losing his appointment discovered as many others have discovered under similar circumstances that he had been somewhat in making no provision for a rainy day when france was lying under the heel of the and every able man was for active service m went off to fight for his country with the rest he committed his daughter to the care of a lady friend of his for his friends were still numerous then and departed with his usual cheerfulness but he came back a good deal aged and broken only to find that his farm had been during the the of saint ne and that his had leaving neither money nor address behind him this was a rather serious calamity for the old gentleman had calculated that the sale of the farm and stock would help him out considerably with the dot of whose marriage was now about to be it was not in the least likely that m de and his family would consent to any of the large sum agreed upon and a at the hour if it had not broken s heart would assuredly have

3Edith Wharton

gone very near to breaking her father s he passed through some weeks of mental agony but somehow or other the money was at the required date the marriage took place the bride and bridegroom left for france and m might have sung had it not been the will of heaven that he should live a good many years longer in a world which cannot have possessed many attractions for him it was now that the began to deserve its name and that its owner who with his old servant only occupied three of its rooms began to be known as the the was conferred upon him not by his former acquaintances who had all gone away or had forgotten his existence but by the neighbours who watched his proceedings and manner of life with a certain curiosity neither from him nor from did they gain any information as to his circumstances but if a man gives no orders to the the of saint butcher and seldom troubles the it is tolerably safe to conclude that his purse is as empty as his stomach all saint was aware that m did not sit for hours on the rocks with a fishing rod in his hand merely pour se which was s explanation of that habit of his it was notorious that with the lent lasted all the year round and if he could keep body and soul together with a few red such from the harvest of the sea were not him by his fellow citizens he will not be very fat when old to eat him up they were wont to say with grim that he would be eaten up eventually none of them doubted m that wealthy hebrew and powerful had risen from the smallest of to his present high estate by nothing else than by eating people up and that the poor was already in his was by tâ he fact that m was the only visitor who ever rang the door at the he was fond of calling there on saturday after performing his religious duties at the and was often to be seen walking about the deserted garden with m whose gait at such times had no at all these visits it was true had gone on for a matter of ten years and the was not yet devoured but that proved nothing m had his plans and his fancies you could never tell for certain what he meant to do with you the only thing of the of saint which you might feel quite sure was that when once you had fallen into his you would not escape from them again until death or ruin set you free one fine saturday afternoon in january this personage was sitting in m s garden he had carried out a wooden chair from the house because the weather was hot and he was neither as young nor as thin as he had once been m was standing beside him leaning on his stick my friend the jew was saying with the thick utterance of his nation i have been very good to you i have had patience â ah what patience i have had m returned m who was a good deal agitated i have paid you interest regularly â and ah what interest i have paid are you going to say now that i have made you pay high interest shouted the other that would be perfect â nothing more than that would be wanting oh see what you gain by generosity i â not only are you kept out of the use of your money not only do you miss opportunities of making your fortune from sheer want of capital but those whom you have robbed yourself to serve turn upon you and cut you to the heart with their ingratitude will you never learn to be just to yourself m was very fat very dirty and very ugly his complexion and features were those of the the of saint variety of his race but he had adopted the european costume as he thus himself there was a mixture of cunning and sincerity in his tone which might have seemed enough if his victim had been in a mood to appreciate the comic side of things but poor m had never felt less inclined to laugh in his life listen m he said after a pause you will not have long to wait for your money when the has come for me you will get everything could you not allow me to die in my old house your old house but it is not your house it is mine and precisely what i complain of is that it is old you have not treated me well my friend you have cheated me by allowing this place to fall into ruins and what is it worth now as security i am told that it is worth more than it was when i borrowed the money of you answered the old man hesitatingly ah m you should not say such things you are trying to deceive one who has been very kind and with you and you think that because he has shown so much weakness he must be a fool now that is very wrong for i am as well aware as you are that house property in saint commands a lower price in the market than it did some years ago and the new road cried m eagerly you forget the new road which is to cut through the middle of my garden it has been surveyed the of saint ne already and only a few days ago i received the plans and a letter asking me to state what i should require as compensation i believe i might ask a large sum for it will destroy my privacy would you like to see the papers and he drew them from his pocket with trembling

3Edith Wharton

fingers but m waved them aside ah the road is not made yet they are always talking about roads and never beginning them as for compensation i can tell you if you do not know what that means you will make your demand you will be informed that it is excessive the road will then be declared to be a measure of public utility and you will have to accept what is given you it is not by that transaction that you will â make your fortune my dear friend now it was by no means unlikely that this would be fulfilled in the case of a humble proprietor like m but a very different result was to be anticipated in the event of the passing into the hands of m who had means of bringing pressure to bear upon the authorities which were not open to his unlucky for the rest he added with an air of indifference you can easily keep possession of this old ruin if you hold to it you have only to pay me what you owe me but unless i am paid in three weeks time i must enter upon possession in your place you have had ample warning my dear friend it is for you to make your arrangements the of saint and without further words m took his leave for some minutes after his departure the old man stood still on the same spot tracing wavering lines in the dust with his stick of what is thinking asked a voice behind him which caused him to start and turn round my good he replied at once assuming a mien you would never guess is it not absurd that at my time of life i am beginning to feel the want of a change yes decidedly i shall give up the after all it is too large a house for you and me and the neighbourhood is not what it was and â there are great advantages in living in the town i do not say in the european quarter which is expensive and but in the town where the air is naturally purer owing to the greater height need not give himself the trouble to invent histories broke in the old woman whose yellow wrinkled face wore an expression of mingled anger and pity i heard all that passed between and that animal of a jew â and to i write to madame la you would never do such a thing as that pardon me that is what i am going to do ever since s marriage it has been one pretext after another to keep the truth from her and prevent her from seeing you you would not go over to france because you were afraid of the sea sickness you could not receive her o the of saint here because you were having the house and painted â though heaven knows whether we have ever had a sight of paper or paint brush then the children were bom then m le had business to attend to and then this and then that â what do i know but now it is time that there was an end of all these excuses you do not know what you propose you would break my daughter s heart supposing always that she has one said the old woman supposing that she has a heart that a heart what do you mean with all the respect that i owe to i will permit myself the observation that i would not have allowed ten years to go by without seeing my father whether he was his house or not i know why you say that you want to frighten me and you think that i will send for my daughter to convince myself that she has not changed but you are mistaken i shall never doubt her and i will not have her distressed and put to shame i swear to you that if you tell of my difficulties i will never forgive you she shall be told nothing about them then since you are so obstinate answered the old woman sullenly nevertheless she posted the following brief before she went to bed madame la â i have the regret to inform you that is failing rapidly in health the of saint and if you wish to see him again in this world i think you would do well to your visit to no longer the flitted quietly from saint without waiting for his three weeks period of grace to run out he had decided to sell such furniture as remained to him and he thought it would be well to get the over before m who was more given to seizing property than to it became the owner of the he hired three small rooms in one of the few european houses which have been built near the or a quarter standing high in a physical sense and somewhat low in a moral one m affected to be delighted with it it was occupation enough only to sit at the window all day long he declared the view over the port and the bay the purple mountains of in the distance and nearer at hand the dazzling white houses the of the of and glimpses of narrow streets through which jews and veiled ladies in their white trousers and high shoes kept passing and â all these things he did not fail to point out to who professed herself unable to discover the elements of beauty or interest in any one of them it was a little to be sure to climb up these steep streets from the french town but that inconvenience as m observed might be disposed of by the simple expedient of not going down to the french town the of saint he had however to descend thither once a week to get his letters â or rather his letter from

3Edith Wharton

the post office for during all the years that they had been separated his daughter had never omitted to write to him on sundays and he had of course been careful not to mention his change of address to her he had not been long established in his new abode when he returned from one of these with a scared face he said holding out an open letter in his shaking hands here is who to me her arrival for the day after to morrow what is to be done is it possible cried the old servant with every appearance of profound surprise it is as i tell you a sudden decision she says â a long promised visit â and i am to engage rooms for them at an hotel ah would you believe that i am such an old fool that i can hardly contain myself for joy but she must suspect nothing â mind that â she must suspect nothing after all concealment will be easier than if we were living at saint still i shall explain that i am changing my house and that i have taken lodgings in the meantime they will not ask to see the lodgings i hope i shall place them at an hotel at which is more healthy than the town and â farther away all will arrange itself and the old gentleman who had got over his first feeling of alarm rubbed his hands it is impossible to tell at what hour the steamer the of saint from will reach sometimes when the weather is fine it will enter the harbour at midnight more often it comes in at five o clock in the morning and sometimes not until several hours later there is thus considerable difficulty about going on board to welcome friends from europe and no sensible person thinks of attempting such a thing the proof that m was not a sensible person is that he spent the whole of the night which preceded his daughter s arrival in trotting up and down the and trying to keep himself warm for the best of all possible reasons he had not brought a great coat with him and if he neither caught his death of cold nor dropped from fatigue it was probably because the special providence which is said to watch over children and extends a little of its care to foolish old men whose daughters are about to be restored to them after a separation of ten years the sky and the sea were losing their delicate hues and the glow upon the snowy mountains showed that sunrise was near when the wished for steamer in sight and m hastened to secure a boat he felt none the worse for his long his only regret was that he was not shaved but perhaps would not notice that in other respects he felt that he was looking his best his coat had been carefully brushed and at the the red ribbon of the of honour was in his button hole an boy had polished his boots beautifully for a the of saint sou and had bought him a perfectly new pair of grey cotton gloves not much appearance of here i think murmured m complacently as he hurried up the of the steamer and gazed eagerly among the passengers in search of the one whom he hoped to meet he could not see her anywhere there was a stout lady who resembled her a little yes certainly that tall solemn man was m de and here sure enough was the stout lady flinging her arms round his neck arid exclaiming but papa do you not recognise me then it was a moment of profound emotion when the were over m took a clean handkerchief from his pocket shook it out and blew his nose loudly after which he proceeded to wipe his eyes not being in the least ashamed to let people see that he was shedding tears of joy he began to bustle about upon as many of his daughter s as she would let him take he hurried her and her husband into the boat and accompanied them to the shore where he had ordered a carriage to be in waiting for them when he was seated in the latter with his back to the horses m de having allowed him to take that place after some slight protest he entered upon a confused explanation of his inability to receive them at the you come at an unlucky moment â if your coming at any moment could be called unlucky i am in the act of moving from my old house and i could the of saint not ask you to the rooms which i have taken in the town â though to be sure they are very comfortable for a single man for the rest you will find yourselves in a better air and a more fashionable quarter at sup our poor saint is much changed since you saw it last madame de who had not been listening to him very attentively caught up his last words but everything is changed she exclaimed this row of fine stone buildings which look as if they had been picked up in paris and dropped here by mistake â what do they call it de la r â it was de once and it was not half as long and the which we used to think so gay â how narrow and dark and dirty it has grown and can this be â this vulgar which might be an quarter of ah yes everything is changed everything except you papa she added with a slight laugh you are always the same the old gentleman was delighted with this compliment he rubbed his hands and chuckled and nodded at his son in law who said with grave politeness in truth m you appear to me to be in excellent

3Edith Wharton

health and yet he was as much changed outwardly as and madame de it is true that in thought and speech he was exactly what he had always been and perhaps that was what his the of saint ter had meant she sighed after she had spoken thinking perhaps of a certain whom she vaguely remembered to have known long ago and of whom this return to once familiar company and scenes reminded her the world moves on and we must needs move with it it is only who at the end of ten years can boast that they have lost nothing of their former identity when he had conducted his beloved travellers to the door of their hotel m made as though he would have withdrawn but they insisted upon it that he should remain and breakfast with them and in truth his consent was not very difficult to obtain the to which he presently sat down was not precisely a marvel of skill but such as it was it was by far the most ample and the best served meal that he had of since s marriage the three glasses of champagne which he permitted himself brought the colour into his withered cheeks and excited his brain something of the rather noisy of those years before the war came back to him and broke out every now and then in an odd fitful way like of an old air played out of tune after breakfast while he was sitting in the garden with his son in law smoking a and his black coffee he exclaimed suddenly it is a dream the good breakfast the in the shade the sunshine the purple on the wall yonder â you both â all as it used to be ah mon ami do not speak you might wake me the of saint m de who could hardly be expected to share the of this singular old person with whom he had never been very intimate smiled he was quite willing to remain silent having indeed nothing particular to say and it was reserved for to speak the word which should recall her father to she came out of the house by and by and leaning over his chair said pleasantly now papa we shall take you for a drive we are going down to saint to see the old home it is too bad of you to have abandoned it m fell from the seventh heaven at once and landed on earth somewhat heavily not to saint he exclaimed in consternation not now at all events for it is exactly to day that there is a little sale â some of the old furniture â useless things no no my dear child you must not go there it would distress you madame de however was not to be her father did not dare to say too much lest he should arouse her suspicions but during the long drive down the hill through the town and out again by the western gate he was uneasy and feeling that there was danger ahead and being conscious of one especial danger to which he hardly liked to give definite expression even in thought at length they reached the villa where the was in full swing they met the coming away bearing chairs and and what not o the of saint they walked up through the garden and madame de uttered shrill cries of astonishment at the aspect of all that had once been so trim and well cared for but to these m paid no heed for there â just as he had feared â stood m before the door his hat on the back of his head and his hands in his pockets and m was by no means to be put off with a hasty bow he did not return the salute he took one dirty hand out of his pocket and shook his forefinger within a few inches of his alarmed s nose with a gesture of reproof oh m he exclaimed what a hard man of business you are to sell every stick at the last moment and leave me only the bare walls it is not well to treat an old friend so â no it is not well another time m whispered the old man in great â any other time i shall be most happy to talk with you but i you to leave me now do you not see that i have my daughter with me m responded to this appeal by removing his hat with a flourish and bowing low to madame de who was contemplating him in blank amazement madame la said he if you will permit me to advise you you will make your poor father a little allowance and not trust him with capital the best of men madame but extravagant â terribly extravagant i have been obliged to the of saint claim this house after waiting in vain for my money for many many years i might have claimed the furniture perhaps but that i i am a by the affair madame and if m were to repay me and take possession of his house again he would make a bad bargain for the property alas is worth next to nothing the meaning of this speech was that m who knew that the new road would be made and that the result would be highly advantageous to him as owner of the was in a mortal fright lest madame de should propose to pay off her father s debt but if madame de had any such intention she did not it she turned away without a word of reply to the jew and said come papa let us go back to the hotel m followed her hanging his head like a naughty child fain would he have crept away home and hidden his shame but that was not to be you will

3Edith Wharton

return and dine with us papa madame de said in a somewhat severe tone and he did not refuse of course there must be an explanation of course his daughter would insist upon making some provision for him in his old age of course too she would feel hurt at his having concealed his want from her for so long almost he regretted that he had seen her again the happy dream of the morning was likely to be paid for dearly but at any rate she could not suspect that he had himself in order io the of saint to provide her with her she must suppose that he had been extravagant that he had made unlucky speculations â anything rather than the truth he had ample time in which to some fresh scheme of for when the hotel at was once more reached m and madame de who had spoken little during the return drive left him alone in their sitting room saying that they needed a little rest before dinner the old man sat for some time there gazing before him and with his lean fingers upon the table he was wondering whether was displeased with him and whether after all he might not be able to persuade her that he needed no assistance suddenly a door in some other part of the house caused that which separated madame de s bedroom from the sitting room to come it was only a that thus opened and the two persons who were conversing on the other side of the door did not notice what had occurred their voices were plainly audible i consider that i have every right to be annoyed m de was saying i am not more than another but when a man gives his daughter three hundred thousand on her it is reasonable to expect that he will leave at least as much when he dies i have counted upon this succession i have come here at great inconvenience because it was represented to me that there was a probability of â of its falling in before long and the of saint what do i find why not only that your father is in the best of health but that he is in the worst of circumstances and that so far from anything from him i shall most likely be asked to contribute to his support it will not be for long eh who knows it is that never die but we need not give much five thousand a year would ce i think five thousand are you aware madame that you are asking me to rob your children there was a long sigh and then madame de s voice said it must be confessed that this is rather hard upon us both m waited to hear no more he stole noiselessly out of the house and trotted away as fast as his tottering legs would carry him he was down to the town before he found out that his strength was well nigh exhausted he dropped on to one of the benches by the road side and there sat until long after sunset an object of some curiosity to the by one or two of whom stopped to ask him whether he was ill he replied to them by a bewildered stare and a few muttered words he was in fact not quite certain whether he was ill or not the moon had risen and the town was bathed in white light and black shadow when at length he climbed to his lodging where was impatiently awaiting him the of saint well she said has the day been good yes he answered it has been a good day a happy day â a very happy day but it has come to an end now and i am a little tired i think he drew the one arm chair which the room possessed to the open window and sank into it resting his elbow on the sill and looking out upon the of white roofs beneath him and the silvery path of moonlight on the sea i have had many happy days he murmured one must not ask too much of life i remember in the time of the war there was a young fellow killed by a of a shell beside me and it brought the tears into my eyes it seemed so sad so cruel that he should be sent out of the world when the world was still full of pleasant things for him for he was rich and he had a great number of friends a mistake my good we make many mistakes of one kind and another but the worst mistake of all is to live too long for that fault there is no pardon the old servant wanted him to go and lie down but he said no he thought he would sit still for a little and enjoy the moonlight and so she left him when she came in early in the morning to sweep the room she was astonished to find her master still in the same attitude but she ejaculated indignantly what does this mean have you not been to bed then the of saint ne he did not reply his head was turned away and she thought he must have fallen asleep it was only when she drew nearer and bent over him that she saw that he was dead w e the history of an evening a dull and tiresome october afternoon was passing away in what was too plainly a fit of the to admit of hopes being entertained even by the most sanguine that it would have any pleasant or termination wednesday is not the worst day in the week for events to happen upon there is no possible reason why a startling piece of news should not reach one s ear on a wednesday â why a of interesting letters should

3Edith Wharton

not arrive by the post on a wednesday â why an unexpected turn of good fortune should not befall one on a wednesday but somehow upon this particular wednesday the idea of anything to break the monotony of its seemed absolutely preposterous to one at least of the persons with whom we have to do â the mistress of castle a lonely mansion on the coast mrs was an invalid who whatever she might have been in the bloom of her youth and health was with shattered nerves and temper of every outward influence more especially when it was of a or nature on the mat tie the history of an evening day in question she was so much by the ceaseless of the wind varied as it was merely by the rattle of the passing showers which drifted from time to time overhead that by five o clock she was only anxious to get rid of the remaining hours of daylight and try what closed shutters large fires and candles could do towards restoring the aspect of things around her to that comfort which aided so materially her own cheerfulness the notion of comfort was certainly somewhat at with the outward appearance of the thin grey tower with its modem wings which according to the fashion of the district was dignified by the of castle there was little of grandeur still less of beauty in its appearance the site was poor the country around barren â in short the former who had himself on the handsome manner in which he had restored and enlarged the old place would have done his better service by it to the ground and building another in its stead troublesome ill constructed however as the mansion was it was to its present owner by association and possession and consequently by the aid of thick curtains double doors carpets and endurance his wife contrived to exist and even to be satisfied with her home her standing grievance â namely her being unable to accompany her daughters into society â did not perhaps her existence as much as she would fain have had it supposed that it did to lie on her sofa in the little sitting room which was l the one really luxurious apartment in the house â to keep herself warm in winter and cool in summer â to trifle with her and amongst her correspondence with intervals of as her husband and children went in and out of the chamber â this was the sort of routine which to confess the truth suited mrs to a hair s breadth and it was scarcely more from necessity than from that she had softly and by gentle sunk into it but then it was necessary to the preservation of her spirits and general that the machinery of the family and household should work smoothly that should not be allowed to or to annoy â whilst at the same time agreeable were especially valued as giving a to the languid hours whether the letter which was put into her hand as daylight on the day whose length and she had repeatedly was to prove a source of pleasure or of trouble remained to be seen but at the moment of receiving it the lady was certainly roused to curiosity more than curiosity more than mere ordinary interest was visible on the countenance of the tall girl by her side whose eyes by turns regarded the sheet and the expression on her mother s face and who betrayed by the varying colour in her cheek and by the nervous clasping and of her hands a certain anxiety and agitation which she was endeavouring otherwise to conceal fortunately for the history of an evening the attempt she was not exposed to the scrutiny of a keen observer for if s face had declared what was passing in s bosom it would have been a sad piece of work mrs would have jumped off her sofa in surprise and bewilderment and the letter and all it contained but never mind let us confine ourselves to what really did happen and not away our time in idle conjectures the weather having been so and the day monotonous to both mother and daughter a little event out of the common a trifling incident of this kind was exactly the right thing coming at the right time â and at the first brush the parent appeared to be the more eager of the two in discovering its nature but no sooner had the contents of the note been mastered and its object understood than she into her usual state of nervous and i wish or were here she said so tiresome of them to be out just when they are wanted i knew something would be sure to happen when they were out of the way it always does her companion was silent what o clock is it nearly five mamma they will surely be here soon but what is to be said you see what your aunt wants â you to go there with the rest to night and take s place at the dinner table i suppose you will have to go you would like to go l yes mamma ridiculous to send over at such an hour it gives one no time to consider the door opened what an answer wanted exclaimed mrs with the startled air of one to sudden demands but how can i send one stop a moment â speak what is to be done what do you mean mamma said her daughter gently what is it that don t you see my dear you understand miss is not come in yet the man must wait his orders is to be back immediately ma am i don t think the young ladies can be in yet awhile ma am as he spoke glanced at miss whose elder sisters were the and whom he in common

3Edith Wharton

with the rest of the household had as yet scarcely learned to take into account only a few months before she had returned to them from her foreign school almost a stranger and in what ways and to what extent she might be depended upon had yet to be found out himself had carried the fair maid in his arms as a baby and was jealous as a parent of her dignity and her honour â but he was not sure that she was to be trusted with the ink bottle on the present occasion lady to whom a note had to be written was a person of great importance to the household and miss was just miss who never the history of an evening ig put herself forward never was sent for when visitors were in the drawing room never was taken into council on any matter of consequence â from whom in short nothing was expected but dutiful acquiescence in all things that might be ordained by the ruling powers as she stood meekly by offering no suggestion and his mistress alike what was to be done mrs was the first to speak having naturally the most at stake whatever might think she was not going to get off her sofa and set herself to the task of writing just when she was feeling particularly low and nervous and wretched â startled too â anything sudden was always so tiresome and startling must surely be able to pen a few words that would not disgrace her â on whose education so much had been spent and who was as it were just off the irons she felt all at once that it was foolish to have hesitated and without permitting herself to reflect further or even to consult the grey headed who stood waiting with her eye observed decidedly then my dear you must go to the writing table she need not have feared however that any would be offered had come to the same conclusion as his mistress ere he respectfully withdrew for although he shook his head wisely outside the door and no great things of the performance now to be gone through he felt that the emergency was extreme the groom was impatient the light was going under such circumstances and since â although he stopped at every window along the gallery to peer out in hopes of seeing miss and miss â they were not anywhere in view the risk must be run now said her mother brightening up in spite of herself at the novelty of the proceeding have you got proper paper don t put too much on one page my love a note should never be compressed and a few lines are all that is needed just to say that my poor head is so bad to day that i have made you my correspondent since your sisters are out and stop a moment please mamma write it nicely my dear your aunt is a great observer of little things yes mamma i am ready now then you must thank her and say i am very happy that you should accept her kind invitation i cannot understand her asking you nevertheless added mrs for certainly one of the young or would have filled s place better than you you cannot fill a man s place how can you hand well well i won t speak and it does not signify either it is your aunt s own affair if her table is how are you getting on my love how she was getting on the youthful could scarcely tell herself pretty well she thought her the history of an evening fingers might tremble and her heart beat but the page before her was neither blotted nor with some complacency she surveyed the whole ere she carried it to the sofa for inspection and watched for the effect it would produce much as she had been wont to anticipate the so fair and even an exercise would have won at school it was this gentle glow of self approval manifested in her daughter s countenance which checked the my dear child just rising to the parent s lips she looked at looked at the letter and looked up again with a smile all at once the fair young face was with colour is it not right mamma will it not do well my love ye â es it will do i it is not a very good note you know â not like s or s notes but your aunt will understand to make and perhaps she may not look at it much â turning the sheet over in her hands then with a start my child you have correspondent with one r i give it me mamma quick i can put that in easily softly my love don t be in too great a hurry yes you can slip it in very well in the corner â at least you must do it as well as you can you would not like to write it over again come here let me show you all these little sentences at the end â all this part â believe me your affectionate niece ma ttie â should be in distinct short lines â not running into one another as you have made them do do you understand then here again â turning to the page before â you should have begun afresh here â make a new start with a large m a note or a letter ought not to be filled up like a copy book of course i could not see to direct you in this respect and the phrases are all very well â you have said exactly what i told you but these trifling points the knowing where to stop and where to begin â and your lines should be a great deal further apart besides â all this is

3Edith Wharton

of importance to the look of the thing and let me tell you my dear that to write a good note should be one of a woman s chief accomplishments but what am i to do sighed let it go for this time unexpectedly rejoined her mother who having had the satisfaction of pointing out the defects felt as many other people would that they were not worth further trouble remember what i said for another occasion my love and now ring for tea i am to send this dear me yes there is no help for it such into were not uncommon to the speaker it must go i suppose what are you doing now directing the envelope mamma is that still to be done then could you not just take out a fresh sheet and but no i am so tired i really cannot go over it all again no i the history of an evening cannot look at the direction my head too much take it down stairs yourself like a good child and don t let me have in and out of the room more than can be helped the door was scarcely heard to close behind the departing messenger it slid so softly into its but once outside it was the flight of a terrified bird that brought to the bottom of the great staircase across the hall along the passages till she found her object she guessed would not be far to seek and sure enough though her light footsteps left no sound he caught the rustle of her dress and emerged from a doorway ere she had considered by what means to summon him the letter was now taken from s hands and scarce a minute elapsed ere her listening ear caught the sound of a horse s hoofs pass beneath the window where she stood on the watch and she saw the groom despatched by lady trot quickly out of sight a sigh of ecstasy burst from her lips a wonderful well nigh impossible thing had come to pass an event which she could not have stirred hand or foot to bring about had been brought about for her a mystery she could not had been accomplished a miracle had been wrought all this and nothing less it seemed to this simple maiden because the most ordinary common thing in the world had happened what more natural than that her brother having failed she should be summoned by her aunt to supply his deficiency what more likely than that she should be permitted to do so what need of this fear this this emotion on so a subject and why should care to go at all the night was dark and wild â the circle at lady s would in all probability prove formal and â formidable moreover to one so shy and unused to society it would have been much more easily understood much more in accordance with the young s character if she had shrunk from and the ordeal it would â and yet it had seemed as if her very heart would break if she had had to send a refusal underneath that passive exterior veins were throbbing and swelling that gentle acquiescence hid a passion of entreaty she had so envied the elder ones who had been preferred before her had so patiently borne her and so proudly hidden her desire that the present reaction was almost too much to none had a whisper of her secret been confided and how childish would one and all have deemed her knowing nothing â how much how infinitely worse than childish â a fool a â had the truth come out that was to be there â the handsome haughty stiff the pride and object and worry of his mother s the incomprehensible cousin â what should that have been to any of the fair they had been deeply annoyed â at least the history of an evening and had for the youngest sister knew nothing of such matters â because a ridiculous rumour had got abroad and been from one to the other founded on the mere fact of s hav ing been seen galloping across the floating sands which lay between and the castle whereas he ought to have gone round to his uncle s door by the road at the head of the bay suppose he had chosen the path â suppose he were a rider who risked his neck without much thought of its value â was that to say that he would not as readily have done the same had the dangerous route led him to any other goal he had brought a fragment of pink sea weed from the in the heart of the bay and had taken it with a burst of tears this had been unfortunate foolish she had been spoken to and told how absurd she was and kept away from from that time she had also been to avoid her cousin to speak coldly to him withdraw herself from his company when accident brought him to the castle and in all respects show that what had so happened was merely the effect of the shock consequent on finding that any one â any one â had been so thoughtless and had had so narrow an escape all this had done and no further blame had in consequence attached itself to her but now was going away and going as she felt under an impression so false that if he left at this time according to his present ma intentions all was over that ever might have been between them once she had felt nearly sure she was beloved but of late coldness had coldness and reserve formality â so that the at length had become complete and one at least had well nigh of anything ever happening to break it down but might not have this one chance more might

3Edith Wharton

she not just see him hear him be in his presence once again the went forth â no and alone accepted their aunt s hospitality and not a word or sign gave the little sister when she heard it hard as her fate was she had borne it bravely but none the less had the disappointment been bitter and to find herself once more without act or effort of her own within a few hours of meeting her cousin within his own halls filled her with amazement and strange delight no wonder that had over run her frame as she stood in patient silence during her mother s deliberation could never speak but she could keenly feel it was not the decision she had had to fear however it was the delay and that we shall presently explain mrs being by the state of her health from leaving her own apartments had known nothing of what had passed between and his cousin she saw gentle quiet composed as ever and fancied that her youngest daughter whose temper and disposition she had hardly so far had an opportunity of studying was the history of an evening j by nature silent and reserved as she had certainly shown herself to be under the before mentioned since the parent had nothing whereof to complain she asked no questions and was vouchsafed no information there being no occasion for her to be enlightened at least so thought and and they had their own reasons for s gallantry had annoyed them to the full as much as had its effect upon their sister and they had been even more out of temper with their friend and gossip than with either for it was who referring to the feat had alleged that people talked and that it was given out everywhere that sir was engaged to one of his cousins this was the more provoking since there neither was nor ever had been any truth in such a statement and the idea was with indignation â but it was not repeated at home would think it did not signify what people said mamma would show that there was something wrong before aunt added we should be prevented going to ourselves concluded both and that settled the matter for they liked going to very much if not quite so much as did and as they came home along the shore from their walk to the village on the afternoon in question they were in high good humour at the prospect of spending the evening there they had thought themselves obliged to go out stormy as the weather was that a few little odds and ends of messages trifles that were wanted by one and another would not be properly attended to unless they took upon themselves the task was no good they did not think of asking her to undertake the business and on no account would they have out a carriage a carriage being needed so soon again that is to say they wanted the walk to some of their spirits and to the roses in their cheeks for the evening when lady s messenger arrived at the castle it was not far from the hour when the return of the two might be looked for and it was the knowledge of this which made all the time spent by mrs in considering the question and pointing out the errors of s one of trial to her daughter in every gust of wind she fancied she heard her sisters footsteps at the door and once admitted to the deliberation their influence was everything with their mother by she knew what scale it would weigh down in the present instance and that her chance might go to the winds once raised her voice or her eyebrows â but the note was written and the man gone joy joy no one could now recall him the were coming from an opposite direction and by the time they knew anything of the matter the answer the history of an evening would be in her aunt s hands and she might snap her fingers at all interference but she must calm the flutter in her breath arid shade the light within her eye none must suspect what she would hide even from herself if she could at all would be easy she was not afraid of once in s presence â the very thought that he was near was enough to silence and to â but beforehand an speech a look of happiness might attract fatal attention mrs however was still alone when returned to the my tea i am so thirsty child she began your sisters really need not have stayed so long it is past five now and getting quite dark i don t like their being out at this hour it is only dark in this room mamma it is quite light outside will not have been able to match my wool i am sure i she will it is not a difficult blue to get more difficult than you think there are so many shades nowadays i wish i had told her to bring another case of needles if i should lose this needle to night i should not know what to do it is my last i have not another anywhere dear how stupid of me not to think of that before when she was actually going to the needle shop now i shall have a whole evening doing nothing ttie you must just not lose your needle mamma said gaily poor child she could not but be gay do what she would everything was now in her eyes as bright as in her mother s all was sombre and her conviction of the daylight s having lasted and of her sisters successful would have extended itself to further cheerfulness on any other subject started she could not up needles but she could say you

3Edith Wharton

must just not lose yours as though such words had a charm to retain it the invalid however was not to be from her mood i do not drop it on purpose my dear but you know what a sad helpless creature i am of an evening when i have had all the of the day to go through and if it should slip through my fingers how am i to find it again i cannot hunt it up myself and has no eyes if i send for her it me altogether it is rather hard that i am to be left to alone for my entire evening this was to be expected it was only wonderful that the want of a companion during the hour which she spent in the sitting room after dinner before retiring for the night had not presented itself as a misery before i had thought to have had you at least pursued mrs in accents conveying you are not much but still you are better than nothing i had been looking forward to hearing the end of the book is reading to me but i suppose now that is gone you will all three want to the history of an evening go everywhere i shall have to give in for i dislike of all things making myself a drag upon my children but i must say my hours of solitude are the most trying part of all my ill health but dear mamma it happens so seldom that you have any you know we hardly ever go out at all and you have never once been without one of us before you would not like it yourself was silent bending over the tea table and by and by the influence of a strong and steaming cup began to appear my head is really better the invalid allowed and perhaps it was as well that the others did not come in till i could better bear their voices be sure you keep the warm they will not like to find things uncomfortable mamma there is a little rose in that glass â it is not doing much good there not doing much good said mrs laughing what good should it do what do you mean child it would be just the thing for my hair to night if you do not want it very much is that it no i do not want it very much at least i think i can exist without it bring the glass to me here continued the speaker raising herself on her elbow this pretty bunch of scarlet and that spray of will suit you better than the rose but we want some green this piece of â i almost grudge the m but however it will not be wasted â take them now my love that is as pretty a as you could have thank you thank you mamma i declare you have quite a colour to day have i mamma you are generally pale and this morning i fancied you particularly pale i wondered if your head too ached now go and dress my dear for you will want help and there is not so very much time can go to you first so as not to interfere with your sisters they did not come in until the room had been silent for nearly a quarter of an hour they had been round the garden and after returning from their walk having like a fancy for wearing natural flowers in their hair and they now appeared laden with fresh scented blossoms even cried gaily i do think we manage well mamma i would leave these with you only i have nothing else to wear i did remember some for your glass mamma here they are but where are all the flowers gone inquired she in surprise they were only gathered this morning a has carried them off if i had known you were going to the i might have waited to see what you brought in but i gave them all to to what did want to do with them the history of an evening to wear them to night as you and do but is not going to night mamma indeed she is a little event happened whilst you were out your aunt sent over a special messenger to invite her she is wanted to fill s place at the dinner table and she is to go the voice was s but so changed was it from the jovial of its tone on her first appearance that it sounded in her mother s ears perfectly appalling in an instant mrs took the alarm she had done the wrong thing and there was now no escape for her instead of having the pleasure of the details of the little event â instead of being able to dwell upon her difficulties in the matter of the note on lady s civility and the groom s impatience with the of one who had not often the chance of being a â she was to be brought to the bar and called on sharply for her defence in her confusion and astonishment the poor lady i did not like to refuse she murmured uneasily i â i really did not know what to say did you accept the invitation for her mamma it was whose accents now expressed answer me that without further i well i allowed her to write for herself and to say she would go she said she would go yes a solemn silence ensued during which the par ent s heart in spite of herself she could not stand it if i had had a minute to think her nervous apology ran if i had not been hurried so i might have managed to hit upon some excuse but the man was waiting and insisted and was no help to me one way or another she

3Edith Wharton

never is poor child i was left entirely to myself and yet i was told the answer must be sent immediately it was all so quickly done â in such a bustle why were you so late in coming home you two if you had only been here we could not tell that we should be wanted said gloomily but i am sure i wish with all my heart we had been then she glanced at and there was a passing aside â what is to be done if i had only had time the people have no right to rush at one in that impetuous way demanding answers on the spot it makes one shake all over i have been uncomfortable ever since â at least i was just down when you came in to stir it all up over again my head has been so bad this afternoon it is no pleasure to me i can tell you she added with some spirit to have only a lonely evening before me i do not send away for my own good mamma why did you not think of that before cried it would have been the very thing to say added her sister the history of an evening mrs looked troubled i don t know i m sure she said your aunt would immediately have et me down as selfish not if had written it herself if she had said that she could not think of leaving you â at least that we could not think of your being left entirely by yourself â aunt would have understood at once but would have been disappointed did she say so you know she never does say anything no don t remember that she expressed any wish on the subject but i think she was willing â i am sure she was quite to go it is so seldom that she cares about being taken anywhere that i was really glad she should have the treat that is it mamma it is a treat mamma i do think you ought to know likes to go to because â because she and what exclaimed mrs bolt upright on her sofa headache and forgotten oh nothing much mamma nothing at all much but she is foolish about him at least she behaved rather once and i am not quite sure that if anything of the sort happened the second time she might not do the same again anything of what sort then followed s version of the ride across the and the favour which had been told to wear in her breast and which had made mat tie her cry but of course added the sister she was very much ashamed and has been on her guard ever since as is going away we thought there was no need to say anything â it will all be forgotten before they meet again but for s own sake i am sorry she is to see him again just now has she ever seen him since only once or twice and then she kept away from where he was and they hardly spoke to each other at all it will be different to night he will be able to find her out if he wishes and she cannot well keep out of his way i don t feel sure that she desires to keep out of his way observed if i were certain of that i should not mind her going so much you see mamma pursued the it is a pity to make too much of it meant nothing but was startled and thought him a sort of hero and you know she is sensitive and easily upset really she i don t think she was so much to blame as appeared but i would stop her going to night said with resolution you would now mrs looked from one to the other to make sure that both were in earnest â that in the midst of all these new thoughts and ideas she still retained sense enough to understand aright certainly there was no the expression on either daughter s face they were fine looking the history of an evening girls with abundance of hair high noses and determined well shaped mouths who was chestnut and had a small and tender lip was not more unlike the older pair in her shrinking varying temperament than in the contrast her features presented to their large calm faces by emotion it was certain neither of the two now under scrutiny would at any time be carried away but at the present moment they were roused as much as their mother ever remembered to have seen them it was not becoming they did not look the better for it as did but it answered its purpose the parent was mastered in time the subdued their pope forced from her a decree and compelled her to name a meantime within her large dimly lighted chamber s toilet was proceeding stepping from mirror to wardrobe from table to cupboard she a tune in the pauses directing the maid and to her fingers all went well the glossy locks were knotted up the fragrant blossoms in and out between them the white robe was on and the pearls were clasped round the soft young throat completely arrayed she stood and no fairer form had ever been reflected in the ancient pier glass than that which like a pensive lily with hanging head almost too satisfied to look paused for a last survey in front oh to night to night whispered a voice within the young girl s bosom what may to night ma ttie bring what will to night do who would ever have dreamed that there was to be such a to night to such a morning a tap at the door started was it the wind was it the rattling of the old which age had loosened

3Edith Wharton

or was it a quick imperative voice without demanding the latter blushing she turned from the mirror ashamed to be detected in such a contemplation and went quickly forward as the door opened it was not bolted you need not have waited the handle is stiff that is all oh it is a pity that you are dressed s eyes were raised in gentle wonder a pity she had let them fall on the ground modestly awaiting the glance which perhaps even her eldest sister might to such a toilet and she could not understand that her cares and pains should produce only a pity mamma will tell you i think she wishes to see you at once i am in a hurry said with a haste that was curious all things considered i cannot stop to talk is gone to our room â what is it but was gone the gloves and handkerchief just gathered into her sister s hand fell beneath the table something of evil and even that something was enough it was an effort to collect herself and go down stairs you are dressed that is a pity i was afraid the history of an evening you would be said mrs using almost the same words as her daughter had done but in a tone of more regret i am really sorry you should have had the trouble my dear for on second thoughts i think it right to my permission for you to go this evening it had been agreed on during the council that no reason was to be given â that nothing about at least was to be said i had not fully considered the question continued the speaker kindly and yet with a definite purpose and strength in her present resolution that had not been apparent in the former â i was taken by surprise seized upon all at once taken advantage of oh mamma well well my dear i did not mean hy you it was s fault and your aunt s and â and altogether i seemed to have no choice your sisters when they came in were quite astonished to find that i had been prevailed on to consent â they thought it quite unwise and though i wish that you had not had all the trouble of making ready â looking so nice too she could not resist adding â still i am afraid my love i must send you to take off your things again she paused for a reply but in front of her stood a marble statue dumb and motionless do you not understand pursued mrs with a touch of irritation aunt murmured for on this ma ttie rock she had built for security what would â she â say will explain it to her both your sisters think that i ought not to be left alone on such a evening they will show that it was natural i should not think of my own comfort said the invalid with the complacency of one who considered herself in that respect and you are so young no one would expect you to be as thoughtful for me as the two who have been more at home and know what a poor broken down creature i am â broken down in every way even this wind tries my nerves almost more than i can bear putting her hand to her forehead twice her to speak and twice the trembling lips refused their office but at length a low sound caught the parent s ear well she said mamma well my dear well what is it i hear you let me go this once mrs stared this was in plain terms more than she had for it had been hitherto so easy to govern and direct this child that the idea of the child ever suggesting far less on a thing for itself had never for a moment entered any one s head what did you say she inquired let me go this once if you please mamma that i shall not said her mother with the history of an evening i dear mamma the eyes were swimming and one large drop slipped from the lash on which it hung and stole down the cheek no more could be spoken at such a moment to cry for this to make so much of such a paltry sacrifice i am really hurt it is the last thing i should have expected many a sick parent has to urge her children to leave her side for the sake of their own health but mine require to be to stay with me just this once dear mamma don t speak like that you know i like to sit with you and read to you and play to you and you know i never did think it any sacrifice â but to night i want â oh i want to go why should you want to go what is there about an ordinary dinner party to make it an object of desire to any one am not going and though of course i should like as well as others to do as they do and take part in what they enjoy you do not see me making a fuss and complaining that i cannot if you would allow me i will not allow you after this after your showing so much and self will in the matter i should consider myself quite to blame if i gave way now you need not stand there any longer i am not going to have any on the matter it is for me to decide on such a point and your duty is to obey without hesitation go at once and take off your things ie mamma â â really i could not have believed it of you i desire you to go and you stand as still as a stone i never would have

3Edith Wharton

thought that you of all people would be the one to whom i should have to speak twice i shall say no more but i am much disappointed by the way in which you have behaved to night then left mrs had seldom in her life been so with any one she was as has before been hinted a feeble minded person who was seldom interested in much beyond her own petty comforts or complaints â timid by nature yet jealous of maintaining such power over the family and household as she could by any means keep within her grasp she was neither unkind nor selfish provided it cost no effort she could agree to a request cheerfully and listen to an account with patience but the moment an adverse wind blew she yielded to its blast â she was at the mercy of any dominant power it had been distasteful to her beyond measure to find that there had been passages â scenes between the cousins whereof she had known nothing a of this sort was precisely what she could smart under and moreover the consciousness of not having herself behaved with strict integrity of having been and during the interview with the elder sisters had found vent in an extra display of authority when she had the history of an evening been called on anew to face the younger they should one and all set her at as they had done she would have one at least under her maternal sway and though and had as usual made this sway their cat s could not know she flattered herself that they had done so we may be allowed to suspect knew very well but that is not to our purpose and then mrs was really vexed by what she had heard sir might of course had he so chosen have sought an alliance with his cousins it would have been perhaps satisfactory if he had â done so but since nothing of the kind had ever been attempted and since up to the present time they had all got on so together it was really too tiresome of a of a school girl to come home and introduce an element of discord between the sober what should she know of in three months and had been intimate with him for years had stayed at his hunting box where lady presided during the spring months and met him every other night in town for several seasons â yet to them he was only an escort a good humoured influential cousin good for tickets to shows and â a man whom they liked to be seen with but whom they had not the smallest ambition to be with unless they were seen they tried to believe that he admired them and was proud of them but there was sufficient uncertainty on the point to provoke effort to a ttie make them more than ordinarily particular as to their appearance and manners when he was present at least however he should not amuse himself with he had never attempted anything of the sort with either of the grown up miss and they had no idea of his paying their sister the compliment of gallantry that meant nothing if there a secret of jealousy at her having attracted an attention even a passing attention which their charms had failed to inspire at least the fair did not themselves suspect as much they felt that they had done the right thing as to the point now at issue and attired themselves for the evening with the peaceful consciousness that the desired end had been attained but we need not say anything to your father observed mrs to the first who came down after the interview above it chanced to be â in and ribbons and jewels more ample fuller blown than ever and as she spoke the mother surveyed the finery doubtfully had looked different to be sure what suited would hardly have been the thing for and the simple folds of a white frock which did well for slim eighteen were not perhaps calculated to set off the form of robust five and twenty there was so much of this particular five and twenty moreover such a neck and bust and arms and shoulders that the fully trimmed and the history of an evening ling train could not be said to be but nevertheless the effect was not so pleasing as it ought to have been had necessity compelled the mother to desire that it and all its should be it is certain that she would not have ejaculated that looking so nice too which escaped ere she was aware when passing the decree upon her youngest no fears nor doubts however disturbed the herself satisfaction shone in her eye showed itself in the tones of her voice and even influenced the tenor of her reply she agreed with her mother and spoke of her sister as poor i went to her room just now she said and she was so quiet that i should not have thought she had minded only i saw that she had thrown all her things â her nice white muslin and all in a heap on the floor and her hair was loose over her shoulders that was temper there was no need to have touched her hair she might at least have let me have the pleasure of seeing it nicely arranged she need not have thought it wasted you did not give any reason for stopping her mamma none whatever i said exactly what you and told me â nothing that she could have minded â nothing at least that she ought to have minded i could not believe my ears when she actually tried to make me alter my decision afterwards ttie did she do that she did indeed what did she say mamma she begged to go that was all quite enough

3Edith Wharton

too for one who never asks to be taken anywhere it showed me immediately that i was right â that you and were right in me to put a stop to it i am really sorry for her mamma don t say any more about it it will do no good and i am sure have had enough of the subject i wish now you would all get away as quickly as possible and let us settle down to our quiet evening i we shall be quite happy together your father has brought in the parcel from the library it was kind of him to call for it and it will be quite an interest to to see what we have got i am looking forward to her reading aloud â it will keep the dismal howling of the wind out of my ears already she was impatient to begin i do wish you were all out of the way now she proceeded could you not go down to the drawing room and wait there the going in and out and the talking of many people in this little room always me very well mamma i will go down with the very next person that appears but i may stay till some one does may i not this room is so nice and warm with a little shiver have you enough quite mamma thank you the history of an evening you will not get blown about at either house that is one good thing the entrance to is as well sheltered as our own better at least it was better until papa built up that oh we shall be quite out of the wind going in and out of the but i wish we had not to drive along the shore road the tide is so high to night that the waves are breaking right over the rocks indeed said mrs languidly she was not going to drive along the shore road herself and the waves seemed a good way from her pillows oh here are papa and at last now then good bye go down to the drawing room everybody what is the carriage there that s right then do shut the door the cold air coming in from the passage one all over put your on girls quickly but where is inquired her husband she will be here directly as soon as you are gone we shall have our little dinner together is she not going with us not to night she will go another night i wish her to go to night said mr decidedly call your sister and say we are waiting papa â paused looking round for support and at the look a voice was raised from the sofa it is impossible my dear said the mother if i had known that you wished it before â but ma ttie now it is too late she is not thinking of going she is not dressed nor â nor anything then she must dress and tell her to be quick the carriage is at the door it can wait a few minutes do as i desire you to such a tone even must submit and without a word she left the room but who shall describe the shock of mingled feelings which that message gave oh how bitterly did now repent her ill advised haste her passionate weeping get ready to go now when every single part of her attire would have to be put on afresh â when her hair all as it was would in itself require care pains attention â and when the flowers lay broken on the floor now was she dreaming her trembling feet refused their office as she rose in bewildered consternation and down upon the chair she sank again could she ever with such a beating heart and such fingers begin from the beginning once more and herself within the time permitted seemed an age in coming and oh miss cried the maid take a good half hour your hair alone and there s your dress to lace and the bows to tie and even then â bless me bless me which latter murmured under the speaker s breath was called forth by a vision of the pale tear stained face beside her as contrasted with its glowing freshness when last seen so short a time before the history of an evening i can be ready indeed i can oh what need to brush my hair all over put it up as it was or â or any way you can oh my flowers my pretty flowers oh why did mamma change so often why did she insist on my as she did tell papa i will be ready immediately dear kind papa please and my gloves i had them one minute ago another messenger in haste and breathless a voice at the door saying if miss s ready she is to come if not miss is to come immediately coachman sa rs the tide is still rising and the horses will be frightened if the waves come too near master says he can t wait another minute it s of use miss said with the calmness of despair we couldn t be ready not if we tried never so for a quarter of an hour i must go you see added hurriedly don t go on trying it is of no use i wish papa had let it alone get on get on whispered the youthful mistress to her maid as the two were left behind never mind what they say i shall be in time yet are you nearly done oh this dreadful gown how far have you got you must be half way i can be collecting my things if you jump about like that miss i can t find the holes well but tell me the moment you reach the what is that v it

3Edith Wharton

was the carriage rolling away from the front door mrs rather enjoyed her dinner after that she explained that if she had only known her husband s wishes in time she would not have her permission and would not have sent her daughter to she also that if had not been over impetuous in her commands her toilet might have been effected for the second time without difficulty finally she considered that everybody had been to blame and that she who had tried to please all had been for her efforts it was certainly hard that her husband who so seldom took any part in family matters should have been vexed and put out by what had happened she could not understand his caring about such a trifle at all and still less his well i suppose i can make it all straight but i wish it had not happened with unusual discretion she did not confide the above remark to her companion aware that it might be upon more than would be advisable but confined herself to general subjects after a passing word of to s in coming at once when summoned to the meal instead of waiting for further alterations in her appearance it could do her pretty dress no more harm to wear it on this quiet occasion than to take it out and have it crushed among a crowd of people she liked to see her children nice and so the history of an evening seldom had that pleasure that really it did her good â and so on and so on but alas after dinner the headache returned so that even books and music could not be thought of with any satisfaction no she must go to bed she was very sorry it was now that they might have had a nice cheery evening together but it was of no use bearing up any longer and don t sit up late yourself little one the parent as she left the room you will not have above an hour or two alone for it is nearly eight now â you might have come into my room but i must try to get a sleep don t go on with the story to yourself that would be too bad of you when we are both so much interested i think i shall take it with me laughing to put it out of the way for fear you should be tempted good night dear that wind but i don t think it is quite so bad as it was not a sound now broke the silence in the house save the dull moaning of the blast without and the occasional of a shower on the window panes the servants were too far off in own regions for voice or laugh to penetrate the passages above and in the weird stillness which prevailed the striking of the hour by the great clock outside made the solitary start she started still more when immediately following the last note of eight there rang through the house the sharp imperative peal of the great door bell at such an hour on such a night who could be thus seeking tenants did occasionally come of an evening when business obliged them to speak to her father and a message from the farm was a thing of frequent occurrence but such visitors or were usually conveyed through the back door and even the sent up by the village found their way into the house without passing through the entrance hall what could it be the others returned no the road was never even in the and if anything had happened to the horses news must have been heard of it long before they had had time to reach and come back again calculated but what should the carriage return for there was a carriage she made out as in some curiosity she hung over the staircase listening and peering through the open door into the how very odd it must be their carriage of course and what was it doing there come for her i was leisurely ascending the staircase ere the thought had had time to do more than dart into the listener s mind â ere she had had a minute wherein to its merits and school herself for its if necessary and once more in that evening she had to learn that the wheel of fortune had turned sir s carriage come to fetch you miss by master s orders said the old man with cheerful sympathy in his eye and tone her hopes to find you in the drawing room when they come out from dinner the history of an evening and accordingly a pale silent girl was sitting in a distant recess of the great drawing room at listening or to listen to a companion of her own age pretty who was bearing her company when cast his eyes around to see whether the day was like to be his own or not he came in last of all the from the he stood still in the doorway as though he had no particular desire to enter further pulling his long moustache and speaking to no one but something in the gesture in the pause and halt meant to that her cousin had seen her next she became aware and that without once raising her head or turning from her companion that he was coming how do you do said what a long way off from everybody you two have flown did you come here to escape from us all miss continued he pleasantly after a while how good it was of you not to have been singing before we came in i was afraid we had been missing a great deal may we hope you will now â ah â delight us all with a ballad it was too late another lady had been prevailed upon have you

3Edith Wharton

seen these new prints the polite host covered his defeat we have only just got the book my mother is taken with them in fact lady had already inflicted the volume on all present and it had at length been made over to die girls they bad gone through the whole set and everything that could be said had already been exhausted between them but under sir s guidance to be sure they were nothing to commence the task afresh he was bent on finding entertainment for both directing his attentions to but keeping by the other s side yet he scarcely spoke to leaning across her even to point out beauties to her companion and she began at last to wonder whether she was really happy or wretched and to with herself as to whether she had not better take the first opportunity of rising and leaving a seat which although by her cousin s side yet brought her no closer to him at length the sounds of music ceased miss is tired said shutting the book briskly and she is not in voice to night we must not allow her to be again now it is your turn and he rose resolutely addressing naturally she stood up also a table which had been drawn in front of the for the heavy book to lie upon was pushed aside by the gentleman â pushed right in front of his cousin that miss might pass by the more conveniently and in the movement a clumsy accident occurred â a valuable of lady s was thrown down and broken oh dear cried both the horror stricken in consternation pray go on implored the more hardened of the history of an evening don t stop or it will be noticed i will pick up the pieces in the name of charity miss rush to the piano and save me from my mother miss obeyed and the coast was clear at last said very softly help me will you she stooped in search of the fragments and he like a took the same moment for stooping also at the risk of the two heads crashing together was it that which made her start and the china fall from her hand again no it was not a blow but a whisper from her cousin i must see you for a moment alone i must speak to you tonight the song began go into my mother s little room said with his back to the company and his head still bent over the broken jar go out at this door and no one can see â you won t refuse me wait till you hear i will be with you immediately how she got out or whether she were really unobserved or not as she stole away never knew declared afterwards that she did it admirably but then he allowed at the same time that he had neither looked nor cared he knew she went and that was enough for him he found his own way out by the principal entrance at the other end of the room taking as it were a casual stroll towards it with a word here and s a word there to one and another of the company whom chance threw m his way and then his opportunity to escape when all were engaged within a very few minutes he was keeping his but the light was so partial in the little room only a single bar of having shot through the window that to the first survey no figure was anywhere within he stopped short i am here she was nearly hidden from his view by the curtain even when her voice directed him where to look her dress might have been one of its folds in the deep shadow where she stood i am here but she did not turn round nor move towards him the waves were over the rocks below but there was no longer the angry roar of a flowing tide to aid their the wind had subsided with its ebb and a sullen swell had succeeded to the tumult of the waters even so was s breast heaving with departed passions and bitterness all these were over now she scarcely trembled â she was calm solemn wrapped in a sort of trance â a sense of wondering awe held her still and the beating of her heart what had happened or what was going to happen she could but dimly realize yet was she neither confused nor bewildered only conscious of a deep strange peace and then of a voice in her ear a presence by her side some the history of an one holding her in his aims why my darling did not away she only turned very white and sank gently forwards before she was caught and and ce even fainting people can do without water when it is not to be had it is to be presumed that considered this to be a case in which that mi t be with he did not go in search of it he tried other means and so successful were these that tears were flowing and cheeks were blushing rosy red again long ere he had done and so much had to be said and vowed and sworn and the speaker was so fervent and impetuous in his mode of saying it and so resolute in claiming his right to add appropriate accompanying actions that his fair companion was in no danger of reality for again but indeed you gave me a fright when first i saw you to night said at last i could not understand that pale sorrowful face i thought we had dragged you here against your will why â did your father not tell you all about it my father said raising her eyes who else did he â did you not know i him this afternoon got his consent

3Edith Wharton

im the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty his great powers his manner and the experience which i had had of his many extraordinary qualities all made me and backward in crossing him yet that afternoon whether it was the which i had taken with my lunch the science of or the additional produced by the extreme deliberation of his manner i suddenly felt that i could hold out no longer which is it to day i asked or he raised his eyes languidly from the old black letter volume which he had opened it is he said a seven per cent solution would you care to try it no indeed i answered my constitution has not got over the campaign yet i cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it he smiled at my vehemence perhaps you are right he said i suppose that its influence is physically a bad one i find it however so and to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment but consider t i said earnestly count the cost your brain may as you say be i â the sign of four roused and excited but it is a and morbid process which increased change and may at last leave a permanent weakness you know too what a black reaction comes upon you surely the game is hardly worth the candle why should you for a mere passing pleasure risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed remember that i speak not only as one comrade to another but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent he did not seem offended on the contrary he put his finger tips together and leaned his elbows on the arms of his chair like one who has a relish for conversation my mind he said at give me problems give me work give me the most or the most intricate analysis and i am in my own proper atmosphere i can dispense then with the science of artificial but i the dull routine of existence i for mental exaltation that is why i have chosen my own particular profession or rather created it for i am the only one in the world the only i said raising my eyebrows the only consulting he answered i am the last and highest court of appeal in detection when or or jones are out of their depths â which by the way is their normal state â the matter is laid before me i examine the as an expert and pronounce a s opinion i claim no credit in such cases my name figures in no newspaper the work itself the pleasure of finding a field for my peculiar powers is my highest reward but you have yourself had some experience of my methods of work in the hope case the sign of four yes indeed said i cordially i was never so struck by anything in my life even embodied it in a small with the somewhat fantastic title of a study in scarlet he shook his head sadly i glanced over it said he honestly i cannot congratulate you upon it detection is or ought to be an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and manner you have attempted to tinge it with which produces much the same effect as if you worked a or an into the fifth proposition of but the romance was there i remonstrated i could not with the facts some facts should be suppressed or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them the only point in the case which deserved mention was the the science of curious reasoning from effects to causes by which i succeeded in it i was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him i confess too that i was irritated by the which seemed to demand that every line of my should be devoted to his own special doings more than once during the years that i had lived with him in baker street i had observed that a small vanity my companion s quiet and manner i made no remark however but sat nursing my wounded leg i had had a bullet through it some time before and though it did not prevent me from walking it ached wearily at every change of the weather my practice has extended recently to the continent said after awhile filling up his old root pipe i was consulted the sign of four last week by le who as you probably know has come rather to the front lately in the french service he has all the power of quick but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher of his art the case was concerned with a will and possessed some features of interest i was able to refer him to two parallel cases the one at in and the other at st louis in which have suggested to him the true solution here is the letter which i had this morning acknowledging my assistance he tossed over as he spoke a sheet of foreign i glanced my eyes down it catching a profusion of notes of admiration with stray and de force all to the ardent admiration of the frenchman the science of he speaks as a pupil to his master said i oh he my assistance too highly said lightly he has considerable gifts himself he possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the ideal he has the power of observation and that of he is only wanting in knowledge and that may come in time he is now my small works into french your works i oh didn t you know he cried laughing

3Edith Wharton

yes i have been guilty of several they are all upon subjects here for example is one upon the distinction between the ashes of the various in it i a hundred and forty forms of cigar and pipe tobacco with coloured plates the difference in the ash it is a point which is lo the sign of four continually turning up in criminal trials and which is sometimes of supreme importance as a clue if you can say definitely for example that some murder had been done by a man who was smoking an indian it obviously your field of search to the trained eye there is as much difference between the black ash of a and the white of bird s eye as there is between a and a you have an extraordinary genius for i remarked i appreciate their importance here is my upon the tracing of footsteps with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of paris as a of here too is a curious little work upon the influence of a trade upon the form of the hand with of the hands of sailors cork and diamond that is a matter of great the science of ii practical interest to the scientific â especially in cases of bodies or in discovering the of but i weary you with my not at all i answered earnestly it is of the greatest interest to me especially since i have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it but you spoke just now of observation and surely the one to some extent the other why hardly he answered leaning back in his and sending up thick blue wreaths from his pipe for example observation shows me that you have been to the street post office this morning but lets me know that when there you despatched a right i said i right on both points but i confess that i don t see how you arrived at it it was a sudden impulse upon the sign of four my part and i have mentioned it to no one it is simplicity itself he remarked at my surprise â so simple that an explanation is superfluous and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of observation tells me that you have a little mould to your just opposite the street office they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth which lies in such a way that it is difficult to avoid treading in it in entering the earth is of this peculiar tint which is found as far as i know nowhere else in the neighbourhood so much is observation the rest is i how then did you the why of course i knew that you had not written a letter since i sat opposite to you i the science of all morning i see also in your open desk there that you have a sheet of and a thick bundle of what could you go into the post office for then but to send a wire all other and the one which remains must be the truth in this case it certainly is so i replied after a little thought the thing however is as you say of the simplest would you think me impertinent if i were to put your theories to a more severe test on the contrary he answered it would prevent me from taking a second dose of i should be delighted to look into any problem which you might submit to me i have heard you say that it is difficult for a man to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it in such a way that a trained observer might read it now i have here a watch which has recently come into my possession would you the sign of four have the kindness to let me have an opinion upon the character or habits of the late owner i handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart for the test was as i thought an impossible one and i intended it as a lesson against the somewhat tone which he occasionally assumed he balanced the watch in his hand gazed hard at the dial opened the back and examined the works first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful i could hardly keep from smiling at his face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back there are hardly any he remarked â the watch has been recently cleaned which me of my most suggestive facts you are right i answered it was cleaned before being sent to me in my heart i accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent m the science of excuse to cover his failure what could he expect from an watch though unsatisfactory my has not been entirely barren he observed staring up at the ceiling with dreamy eyes subject to your i should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother who inherited it from your father that you gather no doubt from the h w upon the back quite so the w suggests your own name the date of the watch is nearly fifty years back and the are as old as the watch so it was made for the last generation usually to the eldest son and he is most likely to have the same name as the father your father has if i remember right been dead many years it has therefore been in the hands of your eldest brother i the sign of four right so far said i anything else he was a man of habits â very and careless he was left with good prospects but he threw away his chances lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity and finally taking to

3Edith Wharton

drink he died that is all i can gather i sprang from my chair and impatiently about the room with considerable bitterness in my heart this is unworthy of you i said i could not have believed that you would have descended to this you have made inquiries into the history of my unhappy brother and you now pretend to this knowledge in some fanciful way you cannot expect me to believe that you have read all this from his old watch it is unkind and to speak plainly has a touch of in it u i i the science of my dear doctor said he kindly pray accept my apologies the matter as an abstract problem i had forgotten how personal and painful a thing it might be to you i assure you however that i never even knew that you had a brother until you handed me the watch then how in the name of all that is wonderful did you get these facts they are absolutely correct in every particular ah that is good luck i could only say what was the balance of probability i did not at all expect to be so accurate but it was not mere guess work no no i never guess it is a shocking habit â destructive to the logical faculty what seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large may depend for example i began by stating that your i i the sign of four brother was careless when you observe the lower part of that watch case you notice that it is not only in two places but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects such as j or keys in the same pocket surely it is no great feat to assume that a man who treats a fifty guinea watch so must be a careless man neither is it a very that a man who one article of such value is pretty well provided for in other respects i nodded to show that i followed his reasoning it is very customary for in england when they take a watch to scratch the number of the ticket with a pin point upon the inside of the case it is more handy than a as there is no risk of the number being lost or there f are no less than four such numbers visible â the science of to my on the inside of this case â that your brother was often at low water secondary â that he had occasional bursts of prosperity or he could not have the pledge finally i ask you to look at the inner plate which contains the look at the thousands of all round the hole â marks where the key has slipped what sober man s key could have those but you will never see a s watch without them he winds it at night and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand where is the mystery in all this it is as clear as daylight i answered i regret the injustice which i did you i should have had more faith in your marvellous faculty may i ask whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present none hence the i cannot live without brain work what else is there â the sign of four to live for stand at the window here was ever such a dreary dismal world see how the yellow fog down the street and across the houses what could be more hopelessly and material what is the use of having powers doctor when one has no field upon which to exert them crime is commonplace existence is commonplace and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth i had opened my mouth to reply to this when with a crisp knock our landlady entered bearing a card upon the brass a young lady for you sir she said addressing my companion miss mary he read hum i have no recollection of the name ask the young lady to step up mrs don t go doctor i should prefer that you remain n chapter ii the statement of the case miss entered the room with a firm step and an outward composure of manner she was a young lady small dainty well and dressed in the most perfect taste there was however a and simplicity about her costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means the dress was a sombre and and she wore a small of the same dull hue relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion but her expression was sweet and amiable and her the sign of four large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic in an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate i have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature i could not but observe that as she took the seat which placed for her her lip trembled her hand quivered and she showed every sign of intense inward agitation i have come to you mr she said because you once enabled my employer mrs to a little domestic she was much impressed by your kindness and skill mrs he repeated thoughtfully i believe that i was of some slight service to her the case however as i remember it was a very simple one she did not think so but at least you cannot say the same of mine i can hardly the statement of the case imagine anything more strange more utterly inexplicable than the situation in which i find myself rubbed his hands and his eyes he leaned forward in his chair with an expression

3Edith Wharton

of extraordinary upon his clear cut hawk like features state your case said he in brisk business tones i felt that my position was an embarrassing one you will i am sure excuse me i said rising from my chair to my surprise the young lady held up her hand to detain me if your friend she said would be good enough to stop he might be of service to me i into my chair briefly she continued the facts are these my father was an officer in an indian the sign of four ment who sent me home when i was quite a child my mother was dead and i had no relative in england i was placed however in a comfortable boarding establishment at and there i remained until i was seventeen years of age in the year my father who was senior captain of his regiment obtained twelve months leave and came home he to me from london that he had arrived all safe and directed me to come down at once giving the hotel as his address his message as i remember was full of kindness and love on reaching london i drove to the and informed that captain was staying there but that he had gone out the night before and had not returned i waited all day without news of him that night on the advice of the manager of the hotel i communicated with the police and next morning we advertised the statement of the case in all the papers our inquiries led to no result and from that day to this no word has ever been heard of my unfortunate father he came home with his heart full of hope to find some peace some comfort and instead she put her hand to her throat and a choking sob cut short the sentence the date asked opening his note book he disappeared upon the rd of december â nearly ten years ago his luggage remained at the hotel there was nothing in it to suggest a clue â some clothes some books and a considerable number of from the islands he had been one of the officers in charge of the guard there had he any friends in town only one that we know of â major the sign of four of his own regiment the th the major had retired some little time before and lived at upper we communicated with him of course but he did not even know that his brother officer was in england a singular case remarked i have not yet described to you the most singular part about six years ago â to be exact upon the th of may â an advertisement appeared in the times asking for the address of miss mary and stating that it would be to her advantage to come forward there was no name or address i had at that time just entered the family of mrs in the capacity of by her advice i published my address in the advertisement column the same day there arrived through the post a small box addressed to me which i found to contain a the statement of the case very large and pearl no word of writing was enclosed since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box containing a similar pearl without any clue as to the they have been pronounced by an expert to be of a rare variety and of considerable value you can see for yourselves that they are very handsome she opened a flat box as she spoke and showed me six of the finest pearls that i had ever seen your statement is most interesting said has anything else occurred to you yes and no later than to day that is why i have come to you this morning i received this letter which you will perhaps read for yourself thank you said the envelope too please post mark london s w the sign of four date july hum man s thumb mark on corner â probably best quality paper at sixpence a packet particular man in his no address be at the third pillar from the left outside the theatre to night at seven o clock if you are bring two friends you are a wronged woman and shall have justice do not bring police if you do all will be in vain your unknown friend well really this is a very pretty little mystery i what do you intend to do miss that is what i want to ask you then we shall most certainly go â you and i and â yes why dr is the very man your correspondent says two friends he and i have worked together before but would he come she asked with something appealing in her voice and expression the statement of the case i shall be proud and happy said i fervently if i can be of any service you are both very kind she answered i have led a retired life and have no friends whom i could appeal to if i am here at six it will do i suppose you must not be later said there is one other point however is this handwriting the same as that upon the addresses i have them here she answered producing half a dozen pieces of paper you are certainly a model you have the correct let us see now he spread out the papers upon the table and gave little darting glances from one to the other they are disguised hands except the letter he said presently but there can be no question as to the see how the irrepressible greek e will break out and see the of the final s they are the sign of four undoubtedly by the same person i should not like to suggest false hopes but is there any resemblance between this hand and

3Edith Wharton

that of your father nothing could be more unlike i expected to hear you say so we shall look out for you then at six pray allow me to keep the papers i may look into the matter before then it is only half past three au then au said our visitor and with a bright kindly glance from one to the other of us she replaced her pearl box in her bosom and hurried away standing at the window i watched her walking briskly down the street until the gray and white feather were but a speck in the sombre crowd what a very attractive woman i exclaimed turning to my companion he had lit his pipe again and was leaning the statement of the case back with drooping eyelids is she he said languidly i did not observe you really are an â a calculating machine i cried there is something positively in you at times he smiled gently it is of the first importance he said not to allow your judgment to be by personal qualities a is to me a mere a in a problem the qualities are to clear reasoning i assure you that the most winning woman i ever knew was hanged for three little children for their money and the most man of my acquaintance is a who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the london poor in this case however i never make exceptions an exception the rule have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting the sign of four what do you make of this fellow s it is and regular i answered a man of business habits and some force of character shook his head look at his long letters he said they hardly rise above the common herd that d might be an a and that an e men of character always their long letters however they may write there is in his s and self esteem in his i am going out now i have some few to make let me recommend this book â one of the most remarkable ever it is s of man i shall be back in an hour i sat in the window with the volume in my hand but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer my mind ran upon our late visitor â her smiles the i the statement of the case deep rich tones of her voice the strange mystery which her life if she were seventeen at the time of her father s disappearance she must be seven and twenty now â a sweet age when youth has lost its self consciousness and become a little by experience so i sat and mused until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that i hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest upon what was i an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker account that i should dare to think of such things she was a a â nothing more if my future were black it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to it by mere will o the of the imagination o chapter iii in quest of a solution it was half past five before returned he was bright eager and in excellent spirits a mood which in his case with fits of the depression there is no great mystery in this matter he said taking the cup of tea which i had poured out for him the facts appear to admit of only one explanation what you have solved it already well that would be too much to say i have discovered a suggestive fact that is all it is however very suggestive the details are still to be added i have just found on consulting the back of the times that â in quest of a solution major of upper late of the th died upon the th of april i may be very but i fail to see what this suggests no you surprise me look at it in this way then captain the only person in london whom he could have visited is major major having heard that he was in london four years later dies within a week of his death captain s daughter receives a valuable present which is repeated from year to year and now in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman what wrong can it refer to except this of her father and why should the presents begin immediately after s death unless it is that s heir knows something of the mystery and desires to make compensation have you any the sign of four alternative theory which will meet the facts but what a strange compensation and how strangely made why too should he write a letter now rather than six years ago again the letter speaks of giving her justice what justice can she have it is too much to suppose that her father is still alive there is no other injustice in her case that you know of there are difficulties there are certainly difficulties said but our expedition of to night will solve them all ah here is a four and miss is inside are you all ready then we had better go down for it is a little past the hour i picked up my hat and my heaviest stick but i observed that took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket it was clear that he thought that our night s work might be a serious one in quest of a solution miss was muffled in a dark cloak and her sensitive face was composed but pale she must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were yet her self control was perfect and she

3Edith Wharton

readily answered the few additional questions which put to her major was a very particular friend of papa s she said his letters were full of allusions tp the major he and papa were in command of the troops at the islands so they were thrown a great deal together by the way a curious paper was found in papa s desk which no one could understand i don t suppose that it is of the slightest importance but i thought you might care to see it so i brought it with me it is here unfolded the paper carefully and the sign of four smoothed it out upon his knee he then very examined it all over with his double it is paper of native indian manufacture he remarked it has at some time been pinned to a board the upon it appears to be a plan of part of a large building with numerous halls and passages at one point is a small cross done in red ink and above it is from left in faded pencil writing in the corner is a curious like four crosses in a line with their arms touching beside it is written in very rough and coarse characters the sign of the four â small dost no i confess that i do not see how this bears upon the matter yet it is evidently a document of importance it has been kept carefully in a pocket book for the one side is as clean as the other in quest of a solution it was in his pocket book that we found it preserve it carefully then miss for it may prove to be of use to us i begin to suspect that this matter may turn out to be much deeper and more subtle than i at first supposed i must my ideas he leaned back in the cab and i could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intently miss and i in an about our present expedition and its possible but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey it was a september evening and not yet seven o clock but the day had been a dreary one and a dense fog lay low upon the great city mud coloured clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets down the strand the lamps were but misty of the sign of four diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon the pavement the yellow glare from the shop windows streamed out into the air and threw a shifting radiance across the crowded i there was to my mind something and ghost like in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light â sad faces and glad haggard and merry like all human kind they flitted from the gloom into the light and so back into the gloom once more i am not subject to impressions but the dull heavy evening with the strange business upon which we were engaged combined to make me nervous and depressed i could see from miss s manner that she was suffering from the same feeling alone could rise superior to petty influences he held his open upon his knee and from time to time he down figures in quest of a solution and in the light of his at the theatre the crowds were already thick at the side in front a continuous stream of and were rattling up their of shirt men and be be women we had hardly reached the third pillar which was our before a small dark brisk man in the dress of a coachman us are you the parties who come with miss he asked i am miss and these two gentlemen are my friends said she he bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and questioning eyes upon us you will excuse me miss he said with a certain dogged manner but i was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police officer the sign of four i give you my word on that she answered he gave a shrill whistle on which a street led across a four and opened the door the man who had addressed us mounted to the box while we took our places inside we had hardly done so before the driver whipped up his horse and we plunged away at a furious pace through the streets the situation was a curious one we were driving to an unknown place on an unknown errand yet our invitation was either a complete â which was an inconceivable â or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey miss was as resolute and collected as ever i endeavoured to cheer and amuse her by reminiscences of my adventures in but to tell the truth i was myself so excited at our situation and so curious as to in quest of a solution our destination that my stories were slightly involved to this day she declares that i told her one moving anecdote as to how a looked into my tent at the dead of night and how i fired a double tiger at it at first i had some idea as to the direction in which we were driving but soon what with our pace the fog and my own limited knowledge of london i lost my bearings and knew nothing save that we seemed to be going a very long way was never at fault however and he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by by streets row said he now square now we come out on the bridge road we are making for the side apparently yes i thought so now we are on the bridge you can catch glimpses of the river the sign of four we

3Edith Wharton

did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretch of the thames with the lamps shining upon the broad silent water but our cab dashed on and was soon involved in a of streets upon the other side road said my companion road lark hall lane place robert street cold harbour lane our quest does not appear to take us to very fashionable regions we had indeed reached a questionable and forbidding neighbourhood long lines of dull brick houses were only relieved by the coarse glare and brilliancy of public houses at the corner then came rows of two each with a of miniature garden and then again interminable lines of new staring brick buildings â the monster which the giant city was throwing out into the country at last the cab drew up at the third house in in quest of a solution a new terrace none of the other houses were inhabited and that at which we stopped was as dark as its neighbours save for a single glimmer in the kitchen window on our knocking however the door was instantly thrown open by a servant clad in a yellow white loose fitting clothes and a yellow there was something strangely in this oriental figure framed in the commonplace doorway of a third rate dwelling house the you said he and even as he spoke there came a high voice from some inner room show them in to me it cried show them straight in to me chapter iv the story of the bald headed man we followed the indian down a sordid and common passage ill lit and worse furnished until he came to a door upon the right which he threw open a blaze of yellow light streamed out upon us and in the centre of the glare there stood a small man with a very high head a of red hair all round the fringe of it and a bald shining which shot out from among it like a mountain peak from fir trees he his hands together as he stood and his features were in a perpetual jerk â now smiling now but never for an instant in repose nature had given him a lip and a too the story of the bald headed man visible line of yellow and irregular teeth which he strove feebly to conceal by constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face in spite of his he gave the impression of youth in point of fact he had just turned his year your servant miss he kept repeating in a thin high voice your servant gentlemen pray step into my little a small place miss but furnished to my own liking an of art in the howling desert of south london we were all astonished by the appearance of the apartment into which he invited us in that sorry house it looked as out of place as a diamond of the first water in a setting of brass the richest and of curtains and draped the walls back here and there to expose some richly mounted painting or oriental the carpet was i the sign of four of and black so soft and so thick that the foot sank pleasantly into it as into a bed of moss two great tiger skins thrown it increased the suggestion of eastern luxury as did a huge which stood upon a mat in the corner a lamp in the fashion of a silver dove was hung from an almost invisible golden wire in the centre of the room as it burned it filled the air with a subtle and mr said the little man still and smiling that is my name you are miss of course and these gentlemen this is mr and this dr a doctor eh cried he much excited have you your might i ask you â would you have the kindness i have grave doubts as to my if you would be so very good the i may the story of the bald headed man rely upon but i should value your opinion upon the i listened to his heart as requested but was unable to find anything amiss save indeed that he was in an ecstasy of fear for he shivered from head to foot it appears to be normal i said you have no cause for uneasiness you will excuse my anxiety miss he remarked i am a great sufferer and i have long had suspicions as to that i am delighted to hear that they are had your father miss refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart he might have been alive now i could have struck the man across the face so hot was i at this and off hand reference to so delicate a matter miss sat down and her face grew white to the lips the sign of four i knew in my heart that he was dead said she i can give you every information said he and what is more i can do you justice and i will too whatever brother may say i am so glad to have your friends here not only as an escort to you but also as witnesses to what i am about to do and say the three of us can show a bold front to brother but let us have no â no police or officials we can settle everything satisfactorily among ourselves without any interference nothing would annoy brother more than any he sat down upon a low and at us with his weak watery blue eyes for my part said whatever you may choose to say will go no further i nodded to show my agreement i the story of the bald headed man that is well that is well said he may i offer you a glass of miss or of i keep no other shall i open a no well then i trust that you

3Edith Wharton

have no objection to tobacco smoke to the of the eastern tobacco i am a little nervous and i find my an invaluable he applied a to the great bowl and the smoke merrily through the we sat all three in a with our heads advanced and our upon our hands while the strange little fellow with his high shining head puffed uneasily in the centre when i first determined to make this communication to you said he i might have given you my address but i feared that you might disregard my request and bring unpleasant people with you i took the liberty therefore of making an â h the sign of four ment in such a way that my man might be able to see you first i have complete confidence in his discretion and he had orders if he were dissatisfied to proceed no in the matter you will excuse these precautions but i am a man of somewhat retiring and i might even say refined tastes and there is nothing more than a policeman i have a natural shrinking from all forms of rough i seldom come in contact with the rough crowd i live as you see with some little atmosphere of elegance around me i may call myself a patron of the arts it is my weakness the landscape is a genuine and though a might perhaps throw a doubt upon that there cannot be the least question about the i am partial to the modern french school you will excuse me mr said miss but i am here at your i the story of the bald headed man request to learn something which you desire to tell me it is very late and i should desire the interview to be as short as possible at the best it must take some time he answered for we shall certainly have to go to and see brother we shall all go and try if we can get the better of brother he is very angry with me for taking the course which has seemed right to me i had quite high words with him last night you cannot imagine what a terrible fellow he is when he is angry if we are to go to it would perhaps be as well to start at once i ventured to remark he laughed until his ears were quite red that would hardly do he cried i don t know what he would say if i brought you in that sudden way no i must prepare you the sign of four by showing you how we all stand to each other in the first place i must tell you that there are several points in the story of which i am myself ignorant i can only lay the facts before you as far as i know them myself my father was as you may have guessed major john once of the indian army he retired some eleven years ago and came to live at lodge in upper he had in india and brought back with him a considerable sum of money a large collection of valuable and a staff of native servants with these advantages he bought himself a house and lived in great luxury my and i were the only children i very well remember the sensation which was caused by the disappearance of captain we read the details in the papers the story of the bald headed man and knowing that he had been a friend of our father s we discussed the case freely in his presence he used to join in our speculations as to what could have happened never for an instant did we suspect that he had the whole secret hidden in his own breast that of all men he alone knew the fate of arthur we did know however that some mystery some positive danger our father he was very fearful of going out alone and he always employed two prize to act as at lodge who drove you to night was one of them he was once light weight champion of england our father would never tell us what it was he feared but he had a most marked aversion to men with wooden legs on one occasion he actually fired his revolver at a wooden legged man who proved to be a harmless for orders the sign of four we had to pay a large sum to hush the matter up my brother and i used to think this a mere whim of my father s but events have since led us to change our opinion early in my father received a letter from india which was a great shock to him he nearly fainted at the breakfast table when he opened it and from that day he to his death what was in the letter we could never discover but i could see as he held it that it was short and written in a hand he had suffered for years from an enlarged but he now became rapidly worse and towards the end of april we were informed that he was beyond all hope and that he w shed to make a last communication to us when we entered his room he was propped up with pillows and breathing heavily he us to lock the door and j r to come upon either side of the bed then i the story of the bald headed man grasping our hands he made a remarkable statement to us in a voice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain i shall try and give it to you in his own very words i have only one thing he said which upon my mind at this supreme moment it is my treatment of poor s orphan the cursed which has been my sin through life has withheld from her the treasure half at least of which should have

3Edith Wharton

been hers and yet i have made no use of it myself so blind and foolish a thing is the mere feeling of possession has been so dear to me that i could not bear to share it with another see that tipped with pearls beside the bottle even that i could not bear to part with although i had got it out with the design of sending it to her you my sons will give her a fair share of the treasure but send her nothing â not even the sign of four the â until i am gone after all men have been as bad as this and have recovered i will tell you how died he continued he had suffered for years from a weak heart but he concealed it from every one i alone knew it when in india he and i through a remarkable chain of circumstances came into possession of a considerable treasure i brought it over to england and on the night of s arrival he came straight over here to claim his share he walked over from the station and was admitted by my faithful old lai who is now dead and i had a difference of opinion as to the division of the treasure and we came to heated words had sprung out of his chair in a of anger when he suddenly pressed his hand to his side his face turned a dusky hue and he fell backwards cutting his head the story of the bald headed man against the corner of the treasure chest when i stooped over him i found to my horror that he was dead for a long time i sat half distracted wondering what i should do my first impulse was of course to call for assistance but i could not but recognise that there was every chance that i would be accused of his murder his death at the moment of a quarrel and the in his head would be black against me again an official inquiry could not be made without bringing out some facts about the treasure which i was particularly anxious to keep secret he had told me that no soul upon earth knew where he had gone there seemed to be no necessity why any soul ever should know i was still pondering over the matter when looking up i saw my servant lai in the doorway he stole in and bolted the door behind him do not fear o the sign of four he said no one need know that you have killed him let us hide him away and who is the wiser i did not kill him said i lai shook his head and smiled i heard it all said he i heard you quarrel and i heard the blow but my lips are sealed all are asleep in the house let us put him away together that was enough to decide me if own servant could not believe my innocence how could i hope to make it good before twelve foolish in a jury box lai and i disposed of the body that night and within a few days the london papers were full of the mysterious disappearance of captain you will see from what i say that i can hardly be blamed in the matter my fault lies in the fact that we concealed not only the body but also the treasure and that i have clung to s share as well as to my own i wish you therefore to make put the story of the bald headed man i your ears down to my mouth the treasure is hidden in at this instant a horrible change came over his expression his eyes stared wildly his jaw dropped and he in a voice which i can never forget keep him out i for christ s sake keep him out we both stared round at the window behind us upon which his gaze was fixed a face was looking in at us out of the darkness we could see the of the nose where it was pressed against the glass it was a bearded hairy face with wild cruel eyes and an expression of concentrated my brother and i rushed towards the window but the man was gone when we returned to my father his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat we searched the garden that night but found no sign of the intruder save that just under the window a single was the sign of four visible in the flower bed but for that one trace we might have thought that our had up that wild fierce face we soon however had another and a more striking proof that there were secret at work all round us the window of my father s room was found open in the morning his and boxes had been and upon his chest was fixed a torn piece of paper with the words the sign of the four across it what the phrase meant or who our secret visitor may have been we never knew as far as we can judge none of my father s property had been actually stolen though everything had been turned out my brother and i naturally associated this peculiar incident with the fear which haunted my father during his life but it is still a complete mystery to us the little man stopped to his and puffed thoughtfully for a few the story of the bald headed man moments we had all sat absorbed listening to his extraordinary narrative at the short account of her father s death miss had turned deadly white and for a moment i feared that she was to faint she rallied however on drinking a glass of water which i quietly poured our for her from a upon the side table leaned back in his chair with an abstracted expression and the drawn

3Edith Wharton

low over his glittering eyes as i glanced at him i could not but think how on that very day he had complained bitterly of the of life here at least was a problem which would tax his sagacity to the utmost mr looked from one to the other of us with an obvious pride at the effect which his story had produced and then continued between the of his overgrown pipe my brother and i said he were as you the sign of four may imagine much excited as to the treasure which my father had spoken of for weeks and for months we dug and in every part of the garden without discovering its whereabouts it was to think that the hiding place was on his very lips at the moment that he died we could judge the splendour of the missing riches by the which he had taken out over this my brother and i had some little discussion the pearls were evidently of great value and he was averse to part with them for between friends my brother was himself a little inclined to my father s fault he thought too that if we parted with the it might give rise to gossip and finally bring us into trouble it was all that i could do to persuade him to let me find out miss s address and send her a detached pearl at fixed intervals so that at she might never feel destitute the story of the bald headed man it was a kindly thought said our companion earnestly it was extremely good of you the little man waved his hand we were your he said that was the view which i took of it though brother could not altogether see it in that light we had plenty of money ourselves i desired no more besides it would have been such bad taste to have treated a young lady in so a fashion le au crime the french have a very neat way of putting these things our difference of opinion on this subject went so far that i thought it best to set up rooms for myself so i left lodge taking the old and with me yesterday however i learn that an event of extreme importance has occurred the treasure has been discovered i instantly the sign of four communicated with miss and it only remains for us to drive out to and demand our share i explained my views last night to brother so we shall be expected if not welcome visitors mr ceased and sat on his luxurious we all remained silent with our thoughts upon the new development which the mysterious business had taken was the first to spring to his feet you have done well sir from first to last said he it is possible that we may be able to make you some small return by throwing some light upon that which is still dark to you but as miss remarked just now it is late and we had best put the matter through without delay our new acquaintance very deliberately up the of his and produced from behind a curtain a very long the story of the bald headed man with collar and this he tightly up in spite of the extreme of the night and finished his attire by putting on a cap with hanging which covered the ears so that no part of him was visible save his and face my health is somewhat fragile he remarked as he led the way down the passage i am compelled to be a our cab was awaiting us outside and our programme was evidently for the driver started off at once at a rapid pace talked incessantly in a voice which rose high above the rattle of the wheels is a clever fellow said he how do you think he found out where the treasure was he had come to the conclusion that it was somewhere indoors so he worked out all the space of the r f the sign of four house and made everywhere so that not one inch should be for among other things he found that the height of the building was seventy four feet but on adding together the heights of all the separate rooms and making every allowance for the space between which he ascertained by he could not bring the total to more than seventy feet there were four feet for these could only be at the top of the building he knocked a hole therefore in the and plaster ceiling of the highest room and there sure enough he came upon another little garret above it which had been sealed up and was known to no one in the centre stood the treasure chest resting upon two he lowered it through the hole and there it lies he the value of the jewels at not less than half a million sterling i the story of the bald headed man at the mention of this gigantic sum we all stared at one another open eyed miss could we secure her rights would change from a to the richest in england surely it was the place of a loyal friend to rejoice at such news yet i am ashamed to say that selfishness took me by the soul and that my heart turned as heavy as lead within me i stammered out some few halting words of and then sat downcast with my head drooped deaf to the of our new acquaintance he was clearly a confirmed and i was conscious that he was pouring forth interminable trains of symptoms and imploring information as to the composition and action of innumerable some of which he bore about in a leather case in his pocket i trust that he may not remember any of the answers which i gave him that night o the sign of four declares that he overheard me

3Edith Wharton

him against the great danger of taking more than two drops of oil while i recommended in large as a however that may be i was certainly relieved when our cab pulled up with a jerk and the coachman sprang down to open the door this miss is lodge said mr as he handed her out chapter v the tragedy of lodge it was nearly eleven o clock when we reached this final stage of our night s adventures we had left the damp fog of the great city behind us and the night was fairly fine a warm wind blew from the westward and heavy clouds moved slowly across the sky with half a moon peeping occasionally through the it was to see for some distance but took down one of the from the carriage to give us a better light upon our way lodge stood in its own grounds and was round with a very high the sign of four stone wall with broken glass a single narrow iron door formed the only means of entrance on this our guide knocked with a peculiar like rat who is there cried a voice from within it is i you surely know my knock by this time there was a grumbling sound and a and of keys the door swung heavily back and a short man stood in the opening with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his face and twinkling eyes that you mr but who are the others i had no orders about them from the master no you surprise me i told my brother last night that i should bring some friends the tragedy of lodge he t been out o his room to day mr and i have no orders you know very well that i must stick to i can let you in but your friends they must just stop where they are this was an unexpected obstacle looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner this is too bad of you he said i them that is enough for you there is the young lady too she cannot wait on the public road at this hour very sorry mr said the porter folk may be friends o yours and yet no friends o the master s he pays me well to do my duty and my duty i ll do i don t know none o your friends oh yes you do cried i don t think you can have forgotten me don t you remember the amateur who fought three the sign of four rounds with you at s rooms on the night of your benefit four years back not mr roared the prize god s truth how could i have you if instead o there so quiet you had just stepped up and given me that cross hit of yours under the jaw i d ha known you without a question ah you re one that has wasted your gifts you have you might have aimed high if you had joined the fancy you see if all else fails me i have still one of the scientific professions open to me said laughing our friend won t keep us out in the cold now i am sure in you come sir in you come â you and your friends he answered very sorry mr but orders are very strict had to be certain of your friends before i let them in the tragedy of lodge inside a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge of a house square and all plunged in shadow save where a struck one corner and in a garret window the vast size of the building with its gloom and its silence struck a chill to the heart even seemed ill at ease and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand i cannot understand it he said there must be some mistake i distinctly told that we should be here and yet there is no light in his window i do not know what to make of it does he always guard the premises in this way asked yes he has followed my father s custom he was the favourite son you know and i sometimes think that my father may have told him more than he ever told me that the sign of four is s window up there where the strikes it is quite bright but there is no light from within i think none said but i see the of a light in that little window beside the door ah that is the housekeeper s room that is where old mrs sits she can tell us all about it but perhaps you would not mind waiting here for a minute or two for if we all go in together and she has had no word of our coming she may be alarmed but hush what is that he held up the lantern and his hand shook until the circles of light and wavered all round us miss seized my wrist and we all stood with hearts straining our ears from the great black house there sounded through the silent night the and most pitiful of sounds â the tragedy of lodge the shrill broken of a frightened woman it is mrs said she is the only woman in the house wait here i shall be back in a moment he hurried for the door and knocked in his peculiar way we could see a tall old woman admit him and sway with pleasure at the very sight of him oh mr sir i am so glad you have come i am so glad you have come mr sir we heard her until the door was closed and her voice died away into a muffled our guide had left us the lantern swung it slowly round and peered keenly at the house and at the great rubbish heaps which the

3Edith Wharton

grounds miss and i stood together and her hand was in mine a wondrous subtle thing is love for the sign of four here were we two who had never seen each other before that day between whom no word or even look of affection had ever passed and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other i have at it since but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that i should go out to her so and as she has often told me there was in her also the instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection so we stood hand in hand like two children and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us what a strange place t she said looking round it looks as though all the in england had been let loose in it i have seen something of the sort on the side of a hill near where the had been at work and from the same cause said the tragedy of lodge these are the traces of the treasure you must remember that they were six years looking for it no wonder that the grounds look like a gravel pit at that moment the door of the house burst open and came running out with his hands thrown forward and terror in his eyes there is something amiss with he cried i am frightened my nerves cannot stand it he was indeed half with fear and his feeble face peeping out from the great collar had the helpless appealing expression of a terrified child come into the house said in his crisp firm way yes do pleaded i really do not feel equal to giving directions we all followed him into the housekeeper s o the sign of four room which stood upon the left hand side of the passage the old woman was pacing up and down with a scared look and restless picking fingers but the sight of miss appeared to have a soothing effect upon her god bless your sweet calm face she cried with an hysterical sob it does me good to see you oh but i have been sorely tried this day p our companion patted her thin work worn hand and murmured some few words of kindly womanly comfort which brought the colour back into the other s cheeks master has locked himself in and will not answer me she explained all day i have waited to hear from him for he often likes to be alone but an hour ago i feared that something was amiss so i went up and peeped through the you must go up mr â you must go up and look the tragedy of lodge i for yourself i have seen mr in joy and in sorrow for ten long years but i never saw him with such a face on him as that took the lamp and led the way for s teeth were chattering in his head so shaken was he that i had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs for his knees were trembling under him twice as we ascended whipped his out of his pocket and carefully examined marks which appeared to me to be mere of dust upon the which served as a stair carpet he walked slowly from step to step holding the lamp low and shooting keen glances to right and left miss had remained behind with the frightened housekeeper the third flight of stairs ended in a straight passage of some length with a great picture the sign of four in indian upon the right of it and three doors upon the left advanced along it in the same slow and way while we kept close at his heels with our long black shadows streaming backwards down the corridor the third door was that which we were seeking knocked without receiving any answer and then tried to turn the handle and force it open it was locked on the inside however and by a broad and powerful bolt as we could see when we set our lamp up against it the key being turned however the hole was not entirely closed bent down to it and instantly rose again with a sharp of the breath there is something devilish in this said he more moved than i had ever before seen him what do you make of it i stooped to the hole and in the tragedy of lodge horror moonlight was streaming into the room and it was bright with a vague and radiance looking straight at me and suspended as it were in the air for all beneath was in shadow there hung a face â the very face of our companion there was the same high shining head the same circular of red hair the same countenance the features were set however in a horrible smile a fixed and unnatural grin which in that still and room was more to the nerves than any or so like was the face to that of our little friend that i looked round at him to make sure that he was indeed with us then i recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were this is terrible i said to what is to be done the door must come down he answered the sign of four and springing against it he put all his weight upon the lock it and groaned but did not yield together we flung ourselves upon it once more and this time it gave way with a sudden snap and we found ourselves within s chamber it appeared to have been fitted up as a a double line of bottles was drawn up upon the wall opposite the door and the table was over with test and in the

3Edith Wharton

corners stood of in baskets one of these appeared to or to have been broken for a stream of dark coloured liquid had out from it and the air was heavy with a peculiarly tar like a set of steps stood at one side of the room in the midst of a litter of and plaster and above them there was an opening in the ceiling large a the tragedy of lodge enough for a man to pass through at the foot of the steps a long of rope was thrown carelessly together by the table in a wooden arm chair the master of the house was seated all in a heap with his head sunk upon his left shoulder and that ghastly inscrutable smile upon his face he was stiff and cold and had clearly been dead many hours it seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion by his hand upon the table there lay a peculiar instrument â a brown stick with a stone head like a hammer rudely lashed on with coarse beside it was a torn sheet of note paper with some words upon it glanced at it and then handed it to me you see he said with a significant raising of the eyebrows the sign of four in the light of the lantern i read with a thrill of horror the sign of the four in god s name what does it all mean i asked it means murder said he stooping over the man ah i expected it look here he pointed to what looked like a long dark thorn stuck in the skin just above the ear it looks like a thorn said i it is a thorn you may pick it out but be careful for it is poisoned i took it up between my finger and thumb it came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind one tiny speck of blood showed where the had been this is all an mystery to me said i it grows darker instead of clearer n the contrary he answered it the tragedy of lodge by every instant i only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case we had almost forgotten our companion s presence since we entered the chamber he was still standing in the doorway the very picture of terror wringing his hands and moaning to himself suddenly however he broke out into a sharp cry the treasure is gone he said they have robbed him of the treasure there is the hole through which we lowered it i helped him to do it i was the last person who saw him i left him here last night and i heard him lock the door as i came downstairs what time was that it was ten o clock and now he is dead and the police will be called in and i shall be suspected of having had a hand in it oh yes i am sure i shall but you don t think so gentlemen surely you don t think that the sign of four it was i is it likely that i would have brought you here if it were i oh dear oh dear i know that i shall go mad he jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of frenzy you have no reason for fear mr said kindly putting his hand upon his shoulder take my advice and drive down to the station to report the matter to the police offer to assist them in every way we shall wait here until your return the little man obeyed in a half fashion and we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark chapter vi gives a demonstration now said rubbing his hands we have half an hour to ourselves let us make good use of it my case is as i have told you almost complete but we must not on the side of over confidence simple as the case seems now there may be something deeper it simple r i ejaculated surely said he with something of the air of a professor to his class just sit in the corner there that your may not matters now to work i n the first place how did these folk the sign of four come and how did they go the door has not been opened since last night how of the window he carried the lamp across to it muttering his observations aloud the while but addressing them to himself rather than to me window is on the inner side is solid no hinges at the side let us open it no water pipe near roof quite out of reach yet a man has mounted by the window it rained a little last night here is the print of a foot in mould upon the sill and here is a circular muddy mark and here again upon the floor and here again by the table see here this is really a very pretty demonstration i looked at the round well defined muddy that is not a said i it is something much more valuable to us it is the impression of a wooden stump you see here on the sill is the boot mark a heavy gives a demonstration boot with a broad metal heel and beside it is the mark of the timber toe it is the wooden legged man quite so but there has been else â a very able and efficient ally could you scale that wall doctor i looked out of the open window the moon still shone brightly on that angle of the house we were a good sixty feet from the ground and look where i would i could see no nor as much as a in the it is absolutely impossible i

3Edith Wharton

answered without aid it is so but suppose you had a friend up here who lowered you this good stout rope which i see in the corner securing one end of it to this great hook in the wall then i think if you were an active man you might swarm up wooden leg and all you would depart of course in the same fashion and your ally would draw up the sign of four the rope it from the hook shut the window it on the inside and get away in the way that he originally came as a minor point it may be noted he continued the rope that our wooden legged friend though a fair was not a professional sailor his hands were far from my more than one blood mark especially towards the end of the rope from which i gather that he slipped down with such that he took the skin off his hand this is all very well said i but the thing becomes more unintelligible than ever how about this mysterious ally how came he into the room yes the ally repeated there are features of interest about this ally he lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace i fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground in the annals of crime in this gives a demonstration country â though parallel cases suggest themselves from india and if my memory serves me from how came he then the door is locked the window is inaccessible was it through the chimney the grate is much too small he answered i had already considered that possibility how then i persisted you will not apply my he said shaking his head how often have i said to you that when you have the impossible whatever remains however improbable must be the truth we know that he did not come through the door the window or the chimney we also know that he could not have been concealed in the room as there is no concealment possible whence then did he come he came the hole in the roof i cried the sign of four of course he did he must have done so if you will have the kindness to hold the lamp for me we shall now extend our to the room above â the secret room in which the treasure was found he mounted the steps and seizing a with either hand he swung himself up into the garret then lying on his face he reached down for the lamp and held it while i followed him the chamber in which we found ourselves was about ten feet one way and six the other the floor was formed by the with thin and plaster between so that in walking one had to step from beam to beam the roof ran up to an and was evidently the inner shell of the true roof of the house there was no furniture of any sort and the accumulated dust of years lay thick upon the floor â here you are you see said gives a demonstration putting his hand against the sloping wall this is a which leads out on to the roof i can press it back and here is the roof itself sloping at a gentle angle this then is the way by which number one entered let us see if we can find some other traces of his individuality â he held down the lamp to the floor and as he did so i saw for the second time that night a startled surprised look come over his face for myself as i followed his gaze my skin was cold under my clothes the floor was covered thickly with the prints of a naked foot â clear well defined perfectly formed but scarce half the size of those of an ordinary man i said in a whisper a child has done this horrid thing he had recovered his self possession in an instant i was staggered for the moment he said the sign of four but the thing is quite natural my memory failed me or i should have been able to it there is nothing more to be learned here let us go down what is your theory then as to those i asked eagerly when we had regained the lower room once more my dear try a little analysis yourself said he with a touch of impatience you know my methods apply them and it will be instructive to compare results i cannot conceive anything which will cover the facts i answered it will be clear enough to you soon he said in an off hand way i think that there is nothing else of importance here but i will look he whipped out his and a measure and hurried about the room on his knees measuring comparing examining with his long thin nose only a few inches gives a demonstration from the and his eyes gleaming and deep set like those of a bird so swift silent and were his movements like those of a trained picking out a scent that i could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made had he turned his energy and sagacity against the law instead of them in its defence as he hunted about he kept muttering to himself and finally he broke out into a loud crow of delight we are certainly in luck said he we ought to have very little trouble now number one has had the misfortune to tread in the you can see the outline of the edge of his small foot here at the side of this evil smelling mess the has been cracked you see and the stuff has out what then i asked why we have got him that s all said the sign of four he i know a dog that would follow that scent to the world s end

3Edith Wharton

if a pack can track a across a how far can a specially trained hound follow so a smell as this it sounds like a sum in the rule of three the answer should give us the but i here are the representatives of the law heavy steps and the of loud voices were audible from below and the hall door shut with a loud crash before they come said just put your hand here on this poor fellow s arm and here on his leg what do you feel the muscles are as hard as a board i answered quite so they are in a state of extreme far exceeding the usual or coupled with this of the face this smile or gives a demonstration as the old writers called it what conclusion would it suggest to your mind death from some powerful vegetable i answered some like substance which would produce that was the idea which occurred to me the instant i saw the drawn muscles of the face on getting into the room i at once looked for the means by which the poison had entered the system as you saw i discovered a thorn which had been driven or shot with no great force into the you observe that the part struck was that which would be turned towards the hole in the ceiling if the man were erect in his chair now examine this thorn i took it up and held it in the light of the lantern it was long sharp and black with a glazed look near the point as though some substance had dried â the sign of four upon it the blunt end had been trimmed and rounded off with a knife is that an english thorn he asked no it certainly is not with all these you should be able to draw some just but here are the so the forces may beat a retreat as he spoke the steps which had been coming nearer sounded loudly on the passage and a very stout man in a gray suit strode heavily into the room he was red faced and with a pair of very small twinkling eyes which looked keenly out from between swollen and he was closely followed by an in uniform and by the still here s a business he cried in a voice here s a pretty business but who are all these why i gives a demonstration loi the house seems to be as full as a i think you must recollect me mr jones said quietly why of course i do i he it s mr the remember you v l never forget how you us all on causes and and effects in the jewel case it s true you set us on the right track but you ll own now that it was more by good luck than good guidance it was a piece of very simple reasoning oh come now come never be ashamed to own up but what is all this bad business i bad business stern facts here â no room for theories how lucky that i happened to be out at over another case i was at the station when the message arrived what d you think the man died of the sign of four oh this is hardly a case for me to over said no no still we can t deny that you hit the nail on the head sometimes dear me door locked i understand jewels worth half a million missing how was the window fastened but there are steps on the sill well well if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter that s common sense man might have died in a fit but then the jewels are missing ha i have a theory these flashes come upon me at times â just step outside and you mr your friend can remain â what do you think of this was on his own confession with his brother last night the brother died in a fit on which walked off with the treasure how s that on which the dead man very consider gives a demonstration got up and locked the door on the inside hum there s a flaw there let us apply to the matter this was with his brother there was a quarrel so much we know the brother is dead and the jewels are gone so much also we know no one saw the brother from the time left him his bed had not been slept in is evidently in a most disturbed state of mind his appearance is â well not attractive you see that i am weaving my web round the net begins to close upon him you are not quite in possession of the facts yet said this of wood which i have every reason to believe to be poisoned was in the man s where you still see the mark this card inscribed as you see it was on the table and beside i the sign of four it lay this rather curious stone headed instrument how does all that fit into your theory it in every respect said the fat house is full of indian brought this up and if this be poisonous may as well have made use of it as any other man the card is some â a blind as like as not the only question is how did he depart ah of course here is a hole in the roof with great activity considering his bulk he sprang up the steps and squeezed through into the garret and immediately afterwards we heard his voice that he had found the trap door he can find something remarked his shoulders he has occasional of reason ny a pas des si x qui out de i gives a demonstration you see said jones down the steps again facts are better than

3Edith Wharton

theories after all my view of the case is confirmed there is a trap door communicating with the roof and it is partly open it was i who opened it oh indeed you did notice it then he seemed a little at the discovery well whoever noticed it it shows how our gentleman got away yes sir from the passage ask mr to step this way â mr it is my duty to inform you that anything which you may say will be used against you i arrest you in the queen s name as being concerned in the death of your brother there now didn t i tell you cried the poor little man throwing out his hands and looking from one to the other of us io the sign of four don t trouble yourself about it mr said i think that i can engage to clear you of the charge don t promise too much mr don t promise too much snapped the you may find it a harder matter than you think not only will i clear him mr jones but i will make you a free present of the name and description of one of the two people who were in this room last night his name i have every reason to believe is small he is a poorly educated man small active with his right leg off and wearing a wooden stump which is worn away upon the inner side his left boot has a coarse square sole with an iron band round the heel he is a middle aged man much and has been a these few indications may be of some assistance to you coupled with the fact that there is a good deal gives a demonstration of skin missing from the palm of his hand the other man ah i the other man asked jones in a voice but impressed none the less as i could easily see by the precision of the other s manner is a rather curious person said turning upon his heel i hope before very long to be able to introduce you to the pair of them a word with you he led me out to the head of the stair this unexpected occurrence he said has caused us rather to lose sight of the original purpose of our journey i have just been thinking so i answered it is not right that miss should remain in this stricken house no you must escort her home she lives with mrs in lower so it is not very far i will wait io the sign of four for you here if you will drive out again or perhaps you are too tired by no means i don t think i could rest until i know more of this fantastic business i have seen something of the rough side of life but i give you my word that this quick succession of strange surprises to night has shaken my nerve completely i should like however to see the matter through with you now that i have got so far your presence will be of great service to me he answered we shall work the case out and leave this fellow jones to over any mare s nest which he may choose to when you have dropped miss i wish you to go on to no lane down near the water s edge at the third house on the right hand side is a bird s is the name you will see a holding a young rabbit in the window knock old gives a demonstration up and tell him with my compliments that i want at once you will bring back in the cab with you a dog i suppose yes a queer with a most amazing power of scent i would rather have s help than that of the whole force of london i shall bring him then said i it is one now i ought to be back before three if i can get a fresh horse and i said shall see what i can learn from mrs and from the indian servant who mr tells me sleeps in the next garret then i shall study the great jones s methods and listen to his not too delicate die was is always chapter vii the episode of the barrel the police had brought a cab with them and in this i escorted miss back to her home after the fashion of women she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was weaker than herself to support and i had found her bright and placid by the side of the frightened housekeeper in the cab however she first turned faint and then burst into a passion of weeping â so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night she has told me since that she thought me cold and distant upon that journey she little guessed the struggle within my breast or the effort of self the episode of the barrel iii restraint which held me back my sympathies and my love went out to her even as my hand had in the garden i felt that years of the of life could not teach me to know her sweet brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences yet there were two thoughts which sealed the words of affection upon my lips she was weak and helpless shaken in mind and nerve it was to take her at a disadvantage to love upon her at such a time worse still she was rich if s were successful she would be an was it fair was it honourable that a half pay surgeon should take such advantage of an intimacy which chance had brought about might she not look upon me as a mere vulgar fortune i could not bear to risk that such a thought should cross her mind

3Edith Wharton

this treasure like an barrier between us the sign of four it was nearly two o clock when we reached mrs s the servants had retired hours ago but mrs had been so interested by the strange message which miss had received that she had sat up in the hope of her return she opened the door herself a middle aged graceful woman and it gave me joy to see how tenderly her arm stole round the other s waist and how was the voice in which she greeted her she was clearly no mere paid but an honoured friend i was introduced and mrs earnestly begged me to step in and to tell her our adventures i explained however the importance of my errand and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case as we drove away i stole a glance back and i still seem to see that little group on the step â the two graceful clinging figures the half opened the episode of the barrel door the hall light shining through stained glass the and the bright it was soothing to catch even that passing glimpse of a tranquil english home in the midst of the wild dark business which had absorbed us and the more i thought of what had happened the and darker it grew i the whole extraordinary of events as i rattled on through the silent streets there was the original problem that at least was pretty clear now the death of captain the sending of the pearls the advertisement the letter â we had had light upon all those events they had only led us however to a deeper and far more tragic mystery the indian treasure the curious plan found among s baggage the strange scene at major s death the of the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the dis the sign of four the very singular to the crime the footsteps the remarkable weapons the words upon the card corresponding with those upon captain s â here was indeed a in which a man less singularly endowed than my might well despair of ever finding the clue lane was a row of shabby brick houses in the lower quarter of i had to knock for some time at no before i could make any impression at last however there was the of a candle behind the blind and a face looked out at the upper window go on you drunken said the face if you kick up any more row tu open the and let out forty three dogs upon you if you ll let one out it s just what i have come for said i the episode of the barrel go on the voice so help me gracious i have a in this bag an i ll drop it on your if you don t hook it but i want a dog i cried i won t be argued with shouted mr now stand clear for when i say three down goes the mr i began but the words had a most effect for the window instantly down and within a minute the door was and open mr was a lean old man with stooping shoulders a neck and glasses a friend of mr is always welcome said he step in sir keep clear of the for he ah naughty naughty would you take a at the gentleman this to a which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars â ii the sign of four of its cage don t mind that sir it s only a it t got no so i gives it the run o the room for it keeps the down you must not mind my bein just a little short wi you at first for i m at by the children and there s many a one just comes down this lane to knock me up what was it that mr wanted sir he wanted a dog of yours ah that would be yes was the name lives at no on the left here he moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered round him in the uncertain shadowy light i could see dimly that there were glancing glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every and corner even the above our heads were lined by solemn fowls who lazily shifted their weight the episode of the barrel from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their proved to be an ugly long haired creature half and half brown and white in colour with a very clumsy gait it accepted after some hesitation a lump of sugar which the old handed to me and having thus sealed an alliance it followed me to the cab and made no difficulties about accompanying me it had just struck three on the palace clock when i found myself back once more at lodge the ex had i found been arrested as an and both he and mr had been marched off to the station two guarded the narrow gate but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the s name was standing on the with his hands in his pockets smoking his pipe ii the sign of four ah you have him there said he good dog then jones has gone we have had an immense display of energy since you left he has arrested not only friend but the the housekeeper and the indian servant we have the place to ourselves but for a upstairs leave the dog here and come up we tied to the hall table and the stairs the room was as we had left it save that a sheet had been draped over the central figure a weary looking police in the corner lend me your bull s eye said my companion now tie this

3Edith Wharton

bit of card round my neck so as to hang it in front of me thank you now i must kick off my boots and stockings just you carry them down with you i am going to do a little climbing and dip my handkerchief the episode of the barrel into the that will do now come up into the garret with me for a moment we up through the hole turned his light once more upon the footsteps in the dust i wish you particularly to notice these he said do you observe anything about them they belong i said to a child or a small woman apart from their size though is there nothing else they appear to be much as other not at all look here this is the print of a right foot in the dust now i make one with my naked foot beside it what is the chief difference your toes are all cramped together the other print has each toe distinctly divided quite so that is the point bear that the sign of four in mind now would you kindly step over to that window and smell the edge of the wood work i shall stay over here as i have this handkerchief in my hand i did as he directed and was instantly conscious of a strong smell that is where he put his foot in getting out u you can trace him i should think that will have no difficulty now run downstairs loose the dog and look out for by the time that i got out into the grounds was on the roof and i could see him like an enormous glow worm crawling very slowly along the ridge i lost sight of him behind a of chimneys but he presently reappeared and then vanished once more upon the opposite side when i made my way round there i found him seated at one of the corner that you he cried the episode of the barrel yes this is the place what is that black thing down there a water barrel top on it yes no sign of a ladder no confound the fellow it s a most place i ought to be able to come down where he could climb up the feels pretty firm here goes anyhow there was a of feet and the lantern began to come steadily down the side of the wall then with a light spring he came on to the barrel and from there to the earth it was easy to follow him he said drawing on his stockings and boots were loosened the whole way along and in his the sign of four hurry he had dropped this it my as you doctors express it the object which he held up to me was a small pocket or woven out of coloured and with a few beads strung round it in shape and size it was not unlike a case inside were half a dozen of dark wood sharp at one end and rounded at the other like that which had struck they are things said he look out that you don t yourself i m delighted to have them for the chances are that they are all he has there is the less fear of you or me finding one in our skin before long i would sooner face a bullet myself are you game for a six mile certainly i answered your leg will stand it oh yes the episode of the barrel here you are good old smell it smell it he pushed the handkerchief under the dogs nose while the creature stood with its legs separated and with a most cock to its head like a the of a famous then threw the handkerchief to a distance fastened a stout cord to the s collar and led him to the foot of the water barrel the creature instantly broke into a succession of high tremulous and with his nose on the ground and his tail in the air off upon the trail at a pace which strained his and kept us at the top of our speed the east had been gradually and we could now see some distance in the cold gray light the square massive house with its black empty windows and high bare walls up sad and forlorn behind us our course led right across the grounds the sign of four in and out among the and with which they were and the whole place with its scattered dirt heaps and ill grown shrubs had a look which with the black tragedy which hung over it on reaching the boundary wall ran along eagerly underneath its shadow and stopped finally in a corner by a young where the two walls joined several bricks had been loosened and the left were worn down and rounded upon the lower side as though they had frequently been used as a ladder up and taking the dog from me he dropped it over upon the other side there s the print of wooden leg s hand he remarked as i mounted up beside him you see the slight of blood upon the white plaster what a lucky thing it is the episode of the barrel that we have had no very heavy rain since yesterday the scent will lie upon the road in spite of their eight and twenty hours start i confess that i had my doubts myself when i reflected upon the great traffic which had passed along the london road in the interval my fears were soon appeased however never hesitated or but on in his peculiar rolling fashion clearly the smell of the rose high above all other do not imagine said that i depend for my success in this case upon the mere chance of one of these fellows having put his foot in the i have knowledge now which would enable me to

3Edith Wharton

trace them in many different ways this however is the and since fortune has put it into our hands i should be if i neglected it it has however prevented the case from becoming the pretty little the sign of four intellectual problem which it at one time promised to be there might have been some credit to be gained out of it but for this too palpable clue there is credit and to spare said i i assure you that i marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case even more than i did in the hope murder the thing seems to me to be deeper and more inexplicable how for example could you describe with such confidence the wooden legged man my dear boy it was simplicity itself i don t wish to be theatrical it is all patent and above board two officers who are in command of a guard learn an important secret as to buried treasure a map is drawn for them by an englishman named small you remember that we saw the name upon the in captain s possession he had signed it in the episode of the barrel behalf of himself and his associates â the sign of the four as he somewhat called it aided by this the officers â or one of them â gets the treasure and brings it to england leaving we will suppose some condition under which he received it now then why did not small get the treasure himself the answer is obvious the is dated at a time when was brought into close association with small did not get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves and could not get away but this is mere speculation said i it is more than that it is the only which covers the facts let us see how it fits in with the major remains at peace for some years happy in the possession of his treasure then he receives a letter from india which ia the sign of four gives him a great fright what was that a letter to say that the men whom he had wronged had been set free or had escaped that is much more likely for he would have known what their term of imprisonment was it would not have been a surprise to him what does he do then he guards himself against a wooden legged a white man mark you for he mistakes a white for him and actually fires a pistol at him now only one white man s name is on the the others are or there is no other white man therefore we may say with confidence that the man is identical with small does the reasoning strike you as being no it is clear and well now let us put ourselves in the the episode of the barrel place of small let us look at it from his point of view he comes to england with the double idea of what he would consider to be his rights and of having his revenge upon the man who had wronged him he found out where lived and very possibly he established communications with some one inside the house there is this butler lai whom we have not seen mrs gives him far from a good character small could not find out however where the treasure was hid for no one ever knew save the major and one faithful servant who had died suddenly small that the major is on his in a frenzy lest the secret of the treasure die with him he runs the of the guards makes his way to the dying man s window and is only from entering by the presence of his two sons mad with hate however against the dead â the sign of four man he enters the room that night his private papers in the hope of discovering some relating to the treasure and finally leaves a of his visit in the short inscription upon the card he had doubtless planned beforehand that should he the major he would leave some such record upon the body as a sign that it was not a common murder but from the point of view of the four associates something in the nature of an act of justice and of this kind are common enough in the annals of crime and usually afford valuable indications as to the criminal do you follow all this very clearly now what could small do he could only continue to keep a secret watch upon the efforts made to find the treasure possibly he leaves england and only comes back at intervals then comes the episode of the barrel r the discovery of the garret and he is instantly informed of it we again trace the presence of some in the household with his wooden leg is utterly unable to reach the lofty room of he takes with him however a rather curious associate who gets over this difficulty but his naked foot â into whence come and a limp for a half pay officer with a but it was the associate and not who committed the crime quite so and rather to s disgust to judge by the way he stamped about f when he got into the room he bore no grudge against and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and he did not wish to put his head in a there was no help for it however the savage instincts of â the sign of four his companion had broken out and the poison had done its work so small left his record lowered the treasure box to the ground and followed it himself that was the train of events as far as i can them of course as to his personal appearance he must be middle aged and must be after serving

3Edith Wharton

his time in such an oven as the his height is readily calculated from the length of his stride and we know that he was bearded his was the one point which impressed itself upon when he saw him at the window i don t know that there is anything else the associate ah well there is no great mystery in that but you will know all about it soon enough how sweet the morning air is see how that one little cloud like a pink feather from some gigantic the episode of the barrel now the red rim of the sun itself over the london cloud bank it shines on a good many folk but on none i dare bet who are on a stranger errand than you and i how i small we feel with our petty and in the presence of the great forces of nature are you well up in your paul fairly so i worked back to him through y that was like following the brook to the parent lake he makes one curious but profound remark it is that the chief proof of man s real greatness lies in his perception of his own it you see a it power of comparison and of appreciation which is in itself a proof of nobility there is much food for thought in you have not a pistol have you i have my stick it is just possible that we may need â the sign of four something of the sort if we get to their i shall leave to you but if the other turns nasty i shall shoot him dead he took out his revolver as he spoke and having loaded two of the chambers he put it back into the right hand pocket of his jacket we had during this time been following the guidance of down the half rural villa lined roads which lead to the metropolis now however we were beginning to come among continuous streets where and were already and women were taking down shutters and brushing door steps at the corner public houses business was i just beginning and rough looking men were emerging rubbing their sleeves across their after their morning wet strange dogs sauntered up and stared at â us as we passed but our j the episode of the barrel looked neither to the right or to the left but trotted with his nose to the ground and an occasional eager which spoke of a hot scent we had traversed and now found ourselves in lane having borne away through the side streets to the east of the oval the men whom we pursued seemed to have taken a curiously road with the idea probably of escaping observation they had never kept to the main road if a parallel side street would serve their turn at the foot of lane they had edged away to the left through bond street and miles street where the latter street turns into knight s place ceased to advance but began to run backwards and forwards with one ear cocked and the other drooping the very picture of then he round in circles the sign of four looking up to us from time to time as if to ask for sympathy in his embarrassment what the deuce is the matter with the dog growled they surely would not take a cab or go off in a perhaps they stood here for some time i suggested ah it s all right he s off again said my companion in a tone of relief he was indeed off for after round again he suddenly made up his mind and darted away with an energy and determination such as he had not yet shown the scent appeared to be much than before for he had not even to put his nose on the ground but at his and tried to break into a run i could see by the gleam in s eyes that he thought we were the end of our journey our course now ran down nine elms until we came to and s large the episode of the barrel timber yard just past the white eagle tavern here the dog frantic with excitement turned down through the side gate into the where the were already at work on the dog through and down an alley round a passage between two wood piles and finally with a triumphant sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand on which it had been brought with tongue and eyes stood upon the looking from one to the other of us for some sign of appreciation the of the barrel and the wheels of the were with a dark liquid and the whole air was heavy with the smell of and i looked at each other and then burst simultaneously into an fit of laughter chapter viii the baker street what now i asked has lost his character for he acted according to his lights said lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber yard if you consider how much is about london in one day it is no great wonder that our trail should have been crossed it is much used now especially for the of wood poor is not to blame we must get on the main scent again i suppose yes and fortunately we have no the baker street distance to go evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of knight s place was that there were two different running in opposite directions we took the wrong one it only remains to follow the other there was no difficulty about this on leading to the place where he had committed his fault he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a fresh direction we must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the barrel

3Edith Wharton

came from i observed i had thought of that but you notice that he keeps on the pavement whereas the barrel passed down the no we are on the true scent now it tended down towards the river side running through place and prince s street at the end of broad street it ran right down to the water s edge where there the sign of four j was a small wooden wharf led us to i the very edge of this and there stood ing looking out on the dark we are out of luck said they i have taken to a boat here i several small and were lying about in the water and on the edge of the wharf we took round to each in turn but though he earnestly he no sign close to the rude landing stage was a small brick house with a wooden out through the second window smith was printed across it in large letters and underneath boats to hire by the hour or day a second inscription above the door informed us that a steam was kept â a statement which was confirmed by a great pile of upon the looked slowly round and his face assumed an ominous expression the baker street this looks bad said he these fellows are than i expected they seem to have covered their tracks there has i fear been management here he was approaching the door of the house when it opened and a little curly headed lad of six came running out followed by a red faced woman with a large in her hand you come back and be washed jack she shouted come back you young for if your father comes home and finds you like that he ll let us hear of it dear little chap said what a rosy young rascal now jack is there anything you would like the youth pondered for a moment rd like a said he nothing you would like better rd like two better the answered after some thought the sign of four here you are then catch i â a fine child mrs smith lor bless you sir he is that and forward he gets a most too much for me to manage specially when my man is away days at a time away is he said in a disappointed voice i am sorry for that for wanted to speak to mr smith he s been away since yesterday morning sir and truth to tell i am to feel frightened about him but if it was about a boat sir maybe i could serve as well i wanted to hire his steam why bless you sir it is in the steam that he has gone that s what me for i know there ain t more coals in her than would take her to about and back if he d been away in the i d ha thought for many a time a job has taken him as far as graves the baker street end and then if there was much there he might ha stayed over but what good is a steam without coals he might have bought some at a wharf down the river he might sir but it weren t his way many a time heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags besides i don t like that wooden legged man wi his ugly face and talk what did he want always knock in about here for a wooden legged man said with bland surprise yes sir a brown monkey faced chap that s called more n once for my old man it was him that roused him up and what s more my man knew he was for he had steam up in the i tell you straight sir i don t feel easy in my mind about it but my dear mrs smith said the sign of four his shoulders you are yourself about nothing how could you possibly tell that it was the wooden legged man who came in the night i don t quite understand how you can be so sure his voice sir i knew his voice which is kind o thick and he tapped at the â about three it would be show a leg says he time to turn out guard my old man woke up jim â that s my eldest â and away they went without so much as a word to me i could hear the wooden leg on the stones and was this wooden legged man alone couldn t say i am sure sir i didn t hear no one else i am sorry mrs smith for i wanted a steam and i have heard good reports of the let me see her name the sir the baker street ah she s not that old green with a yellow line very broad in the beam no indeed she s as trim a little thing as any on the river she s been fresh painted black with two red streaks thanks i hope that you will hear soon from mr smith i am going down the river and if i should see anything of the i shall let him know that you are uneasy a black you say no sir black with a white band ah of course it was the sides which were black good morning mrs smith there is a here with a we shall take it and cross the river the main thing with people of that sort said as we sat in the sheets of the is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you if you do they will instantly shut up like an if you listen to them the sign of four under protest as it were you are very likely to get what you want our course now seems

3Edith Wharton

pretty clear said i what would you do then i would engage a and go down the river on the track of the my dear fellow it would be a colossal task she may have touched at any wharf on either side of the stream between here and below the bridge there is a perfect of landing places for miles it would take you days and days to them if you set about it alone employ the police then no i shall probably call jones in at the last moment he is not a bad fellow and i should not like to do anything which would injure him but i have a fancy for working it out myself now that we have gone so far the baker street w could we then asking for information from worse and worse our men would know that the chase was hot at their heels and they would be off out of the country as it is they are likely enough to leave but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry jones s energy will be of use to us there for his view of the case is sure to push itself into the daily press and the will think that is off on the wrong scent what are we to do then i asked as we landed near take this drive home have some breakfast and get an hour s sleep it is quite on the cards that we may be to night again stop at a telegraph office we will keep for he may be of use to us yet we pulled up at the great peter street the sign of four post office and despatched his wire whom do you think that is to he asked as we resumed our journey i am sure i don t know you remember the baker street division of the police force whom i employed in the hope case well said i laughing this is just the case where they might be invaluable if they fail i have other resources but i shall try them first that wire was to my dirty little lieutenant and i expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast it was between eight and nine o clock now and i was conscious of a strong reaction after the successive of the night i was limp and weary in mind and fatigued in body i had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on the baker street nor could i look at the matter as a mere abstract intellectual problem as far as the death of went i had heard little good of him and could feel no intense to his the treasure however was a different matter that or part of it belonged to miss while there was a chance of recovering it i was ready to devote my life to the one object true if i found it it would probably put her for ever beyond my reach yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that if could work to find the i had a stronger reason to urge me on to find the treasure a bath at baker street and a complete change me up wonderfully when i came down to our room i found the breakfast laid and pouring out the coffee here it is said he laughing and pointing iso the sign of four to an open newspaper the energetic jones and the have fixed it up between them but you have had enough of the case better have your ham and eggs first i took the paper from him and read the short notice which was headed mysterious business at upper about twelve o clock last night said the mr of lodge upper was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play as far as we can learn no actual traces of violence were found upon mr s person but a valuable collection of indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father has been carried off the discovery was first made by mr and dr who had called at the house with mr brother of the de the baker street ceased by a singular piece of good fortune mr jones the well known member of the police force happened to be at the police station and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm his trained and experienced faculties were at once directed towards the detection of the with the gratifying result that the brother has already been arrested together with the housekeeper mrs an indian butler named lai and a porter or named it is quite certain that the thief or thieves were well acquainted with the house for mr jones s well known knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove that the could not have entered by the door or by the window but must have made their way across the roof of the building and so through a trap door into a room which the sign of four communicated with that in which the body was found this fact which has been very clearly made out proves that it was no mere the prompt and energetic action of the officers of the law shows the great advantage of the presence on such occasions of a single vigorous and mind we cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wish to see our more and so brought into closer and more effective touch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate isn t it gorgeous said grinning over his coffee cup what do you think of it i think that we have had a close ourselves of being arrested for the crime so

3Edith Wharton

do i i wouldn t answer for our safety now if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy the baker street at this moment there was a loud ring at the bell and i could hear mrs our landlady raising her voice in a wail of and dismay by heavens i said half rising i believe that they are really after us no it s not quite so bad as that it is the force â the baker street as he spoke there came a swift of naked feet upon the stairs a clatter of high voices and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street there was some show of discipline among them despite their tumultuous entry for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant faces one of their number taller and older than the others stood forward with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a little the sign of four got your message sir said he and brought em on sharp three bob and a for tickets here you are said producing some silver in future they can report to you and you to me i cannot have the house invaded in this way however it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions i want to find the whereabouts of a steam called the owner smith black with two red streaks black with a white band she is down the river somewhere i want one boy to be at smith s landing stage opposite to say if the boat comes back you must divide it out among yourselves and do both banks thoroughly let me know the moment you have news is that all clear t yes nor said the old scale of pay and a guinea to the the baker street boy who finds the boat here s a day in advance now off you go he handed them a shilling each and away they down the stairs and i saw them a moment later streaming down the street if the is above water they will find her said as he rose from the table and lit his pipe they can go everywhere see everything i expect to hear before evening that they have spotted her in the meanwhile we can do nothing but await results we cannot pick up the broken trail until we find either the or mr smith could eat these scraps i dare say are you going to bed no i am not tired i have a curious constitution i never remember feeling tired by work though idleness me completely i am going to smoke and to think over this queer business to which my fair the sign of four has introduced us if ever man had an easy task this of ours ought to be wooden legged men are not so common but the other man must i should think be absolutely unique that other man again i have no wish to make a mystery of him to you anyway but you must have formed your own opinion now do consider the toes never by boots naked feet stone headed wooden great small poisoned what do you make of all this a savage i exclaimed perhaps one of those indians who were the associates of small hardly that said he when first i saw signs of strange weapons i was inclined to think so but the remarkable character of the caused me to my views some of the inhabitants of the indian the baker street are small men but none could have left such marks as that the proper has long and thin feet the wearing has the great toe well separated from the others because the is commonly passed between these little too could only be shot in one way they are from a blow pipe now then where are we to find our savage south american i he stretched his hand up and took down a volume from the shelf this is the first volume of a which is now being published it may be looked upon as the very latest authority what have we here islands situated miles to the north of in the bay of hum hum what s all this moist climate coral port island cotton woods ah here we are i the the sign of four of the islands may perhaps claim the distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth though some prefer the of africa the indians of america and the the average height is rather below four feet although many full grown may be found who are very much smaller than this they are a fierce and people though capable of forming most devoted when their confidence has once been gained mark that now then listen to this they are naturally hideous having large heads small fierce eyes and distorted features their feet and hands however are remarkably small so and fierce are they that all the efforts of the british officials have failed to win them over in any degree they have always been a terror to the the baker street with their stone headed clubs or shooting them with their poisoned arrows these are invariably concluded by a feast nice amiable people if this fellow had been left to his own devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn i fancy that even as it is small would give a good deal not to have employed him but how came he to have so singular a companion ah that is more than i can tell since however we had already determined that small had come from the it is not so very wonderful that this should be with him no doubt we shall know all about it in time look here you look regularly done lie down there on the sofa and see if i can put you

3Edith Wharton

to sleep i o the sign of four he took up his from the corner and as i stretched myself out he began to play some low dreamy melodious air â his own no doubt for he had a remarkable gift for i have a vague remembrance of his gaunt limbs his earnest face and the rise and fall of his bow then i seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound until i found myself in with the sweet face of mary looking down upon me chapter ix a break in the chain it was late in the afternoon before i woke strengthened and refreshed still sat exactly as i had left him save that he had laid aside his and was deep in a book he looked across at me as i stirred and i noticed that his face was dark and troubled you have slept soundly he said i feared that our talk would wake you â i heard nothing i answered have you had fr sh news then unfortunately no i confess that i am surprised and disappointed i expected something definite by this time has ii i the sign of four just been up to report he says that no trace can be found of the it is a provoking check for every hour is of importance can i do anything i am perfectly fresh now and quite ready for another night s no we can do nothing we can only wait if we go ourselves the message might come in our absence and delay be caused you can do what will but i must remain on guard then i shall run over to and call upon mrs she asked me to yesterday on mrs asked with the twinkle of a smile in his eyes well of course on miss too they were anxious to hear what happened i would not tell them too much said a break in the chain women are never to be entirely trusted â not the best of them i did not pause to argue over this sentiment i shall be back in an hour or two i remarked ah right good luck but i say if you are crossing the river you may as well return for i don t think it is at all likely that we shall have any use for him now i took our accordingly and left him together with a half sovereign at the old s in lane at i found miss a little weary after her night s adventures but very eager to hear the news mrs too was full of curiosity i told them all that we had done however the more dreadful parts of the tragedy thus although i spoke of mr s death i ii â i the sign of four said nothing of the exact manner and method of it with all my however there was enough to and them it is a romance t cried mrs an injured lady half a million in treasure a black and a wooden legged they take the place of the conventional or wicked earl and two knight to the rescue added miss with a bright glance at me why mary your fortune depends upon the issue of this search i don t think that you are nearly excited enough just imagine what it must be to be so rich and to have the world at your feet it sent a little thrill of joy to my heart to notice that she showed no sign of at the prospect on the contrary she gave a toss of her head as though the a break in the chain matter were one in which she took small interest it is for mr that i am anxious she said nothing else is of any consequence but i that he has behaved most kindly and throughout it is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and charge it was evening before i left and quite dark by the time i reached home my companion s book and pipe lay by his chair but he had disappeared i looked about in the hope of seeing a note but there was none i suppose that mr has gone out i said to mrs as she came up to lower the blinds no sir he has gone to his room sir do you know sir sinking her voice into an impressive whisper i am afraid for his health i the sign of four why so mrs well he s that strange sir after you was gone he walked and he walked up and down and up and down until i was weary of the sound his footstep then i heard him talking to himself muttering and every time the bell rang out he came on the stair head with what is that mrs and now he has off to his room but i can hear him walking away the same as ever i hope he s not going to be ill sir i ventured to say something to him about medicine but he turned on me sir with such a look that i don t know how ever i got out of the room i don t think that you have any cause to be uneasy mrs i answered i have seen him like this before he has some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless i tried to speak lightly to our worthy j a break in the chain landlady but i was myself somewhat uneasy when through the long night i still from time to time heard the dull sound of his tread and knew how his keen spirit was against this involuntary at breakfast time he looked worn and haggard with a little of feverish colour upon either cheek you are knocking yourself up old man i remarked i heard you marching about in the night no i could not

3Edith Wharton

sleep he answered this infernal problem is me it is too much to be by so petty an obstacle when all else had been overcome i know the men the everything and yet i can get no news i have set other at work and used every means at my disposal the whole river has been searched on either side but there is no news nor has mrs smith heard of her i the sign of four husband i shall come to the conclusion soon that they have the craft but there are objections to that or that mrs smith has put us on a wrong scent no i think that may be dismissed i had inquiries made and there is a of that description could it have gone up the river i have considered that possibility too and there is a search party who will work up as far as if no news comes to day i shall start off myself to morrow and go for the men rather than the boat but surely surely we shall hear something we did not however not a word came to us either from or from the other there were articles in most of the papers upon the tragedy they all appeared to be rather hostile to the unfortunate no fresh i a break in the chain details were to be found however in any of them save that an was to be held upon the following day i walked over to in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies and on my return i found dejected and somewhat he would hardly reply to my questions and busied himself all the evening in an analysis which involved much of and of ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment up to the small hours of the morning i could hear the of his test which told me that he was still engaged in his experiment in the early dawn i woke with a start and was surprised to find him standing by my bedside clad in a rude sailor dress with a jacket and a coarse red round his neck i the sign of four l am off down the river said he i have been turning it over in my mind and i can see only one way out of it it is worth trying at all events surely i can come with you then said i no you can be much more useful if you will remain here as my representative i am to go for it is quite on the cards that some message may come during the day though was about it last night i want you to open all notes and and to act on your own judgment if any news should come can i rely upon you most certainly i am afraid that you will not be able to wire to me for i can hardly tell yet where i may find myself if i am in luck however i may not be gone so very long i shall have news of some sort or other before i get back a break in the chain i had heard nothing of him by breakfast time on opening the standard however i found that there was a fresh allusion to the business with reference to the upper tragedy it remarked we have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that mr could have been in any way concerned in the matter he and the housekeeper mrs were both released yesterday evening it is believed however that the police have a clue as to the real and that it is being by mr jones of scotland yard with all his energy and sagacity further may be expected at any moment that is satisfactory so far as it goes thought i friend is safe at any the sign of four rate i wonder what the fresh clue may be though it seems to be a form whenever the police have made a blunder i tossed the paper down upon the table but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column it ran in this way lost â whereas smith and his son jim left smith s wharf at or about three o clock last tuesday morning in the steam black with two red black with a white band the sum of five pounds will be paid to anyone who can give information to mrs smith at wharf or at baker street as to the whereabouts of the said smith and the this was clearly s doing the baker street address was enough to prove that it struck me as rather ingenious because it might be read by the a break in the chain without their seeing in it more than the natural anxiety of a wife for her missing husband it was a long day every time that a knock came to the door or a sharp step passed in the street i imagined that it was either returning or an answer to his advertisement i tried to read but my thoughts would wander off to our strange quest and to the ill and pair whom we were pursuing could there be i wondered some radical flaw in my companion s reasoning might he not be suffering from some huge self deception was it not possible that his and mind had built up this wild theory upon premises i had never known him to be wrong yet the keenest may occasionally be deceived he was likely i thought to fall into error through the over refinement of his logic â his pre the sign of four for a subtle and explanation when a and more common place one lay ready to his hand yet on the other

3Edith Wharton

hand i had myself seen the evidence and i had heard the reasons for his when i looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances many of them trivial in themselves but all tending in the same direction i could not disguise from myself that even if s explanation were the true theory must be equally and startling at three o clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell an voice in the hall and to my surprise no less a person than mr jones was shown up to me very different was he however from the and professor of common sense who had taken over the case so confidently at upper his expression was downcast a break in the chain and his bearing meek and even good day sir good day said he â mr is out i understand yes and i cannot be sure when he will be back but perhaps you would care to wait take that chair and try one of these cigars thank you i don t mind if i do said he his face with a red handkerchief and a and well half a glass it is very hot for the time of year and i have had a good deal to worry and try me you know my theory about this case i remember that you expressed one well i have been obliged to it i had my net drawn tightly round mr sir when pop he went through a hole in the middle of it he was able to the sign of four prove an which could not be shaken from the time that he left his brother s room he was never out of sight of or other so it could not be he who climbed over roofs and through trap doors it s a very dark case and my professional credit is at stake i should be very glad of a little assistance we all need help sometimes said l your friend mr is a wonderful man sir said he in a and confidential voice he s a man who is not to be beat i have known that young man go into a good many cases but never saw the case yet that he could not throw a light upon he is irregular in his methods and a little quick perhaps in jumping at theories but on the whole i think he would have made a most promising officer and i don t care who knows it i have had a wire from him this morning by which i understand a break in the chain that he has got some clue to this business here is his message he took the out of his pocket and handed it to me it was dated from at twelve o clock go to baker street at once it said if i have not returned wait for me i am close on the track of the gang you can come with us to night if you want to be in at the finish this sounds well he has evidently picked up the scent again said i ah then he has been at fault too exclaimed jones with evident satisfaction even the best of us are thrown off sometimes of course this may prove to be a false alarm but it is my duty as an officer of the law to allow no chance to slip but there is at the door perhaps this is he a heavy step was heard ascending the stair with a great and rattling as from a man who was sorely put to it for the sign of four i breath once or twice he stopped as though the climb were too much for him but at last he made his way to our door and entered his appearance to the sounds which we had heard he was an aged man clad in garb with an old jacket up to his throat his back was bowed his knees were and his breathing was painfully as he leaned upon a thick his shoulders heaved in the effort to draw the j air into his lungs he had a coloured round his chin and i could see little of his face save a pair of keen dark eyes by white brows and long gray altogether he gave me the im of a respectable master who had fallen into years and poverty what is it my man i asked he looked about him in the slow fashion of old age a break in the chain is mr here said he no but i am acting for him you can tell me any message you have for him it was to him himself i was to tell it said he but i tell you that i am acting for him was it about smith s boat yes i knows well where it is an i knows where the men he is after are an i knows where the treasure is i knows all about it then tell me and i shall let him know it was to him i was to tell it he repeated with the obstinacy of a very old man well you must wait for him no no i ain t goin to lose a whole day to please no one if mr ain t here then mr must find it all out for himself i don t care about the look of either of you and i won t tell a word â i o the sign of four he towards the door but jones got in front of him wait a bit my friend said he you have important information and you must not walk off we shall keep you whether you like or not until our friend returns the old man made a little run towards the door but as jones put his broad back up against it he recognised the of

3Edith Wharton

resistance pretty sort o treatment this he cried stamping his stick i come here to see a gentleman and you two who i never saw in my life seize me and treat me in this fashion you will be none the worse i said we shall you for the loss of your time sit over here on the sofa and you will not have long to wait he came across sullenly enough and seated himself with his face resting on his hands jones and i resumed our cigars and a break in the chain i i our talk suddenly however s voice broke in upon us i think that you might offer me a ci r too he said we both started in our chairs there as sitting close to us with an air of quiet amusement f i exclaimed you here but where is the old man here is the old man said he holding out a heap of white hair here he is â wig whiskers eyebrows and all i thought my disguise was pretty good but i hardly expected that it would stand that test ah you rogue t cried jones highly delighted you would have made an actor and a rare one you had the proper cough and those weak legs of yours are worth ten pound a week i thought i knew the of your eye though you didn t get away from us so easily you see the sign of four i have been working in that get up all day said he lighting his cigar you see a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me â especially since our friend here took to some of my c so i can only go on the war path under some simple disguise like this you got my wire yes that was what brought me here how has your case it has all come to nothing i have had to release two of my prisoners and there is no evidence against the other two never mind we shall give you two others in the place of them but you must put yourself under my orders you are welcome to all the official credit but you must act on the lines that i point out is that agreed entirely if you will help me to the men well then in the first place i shall want a fast police boat â a steam â to be at the westminster stairs at seven o clock a break in the chain s that is easily managed there is always one about there but i can step across the road and to make sure then i shall want two men in case of resistance there will be two or three in the boat what else when we secure the men we shall get the treasure i think that it would be a pleasure to my friend here to take the box round to the young lady to whom half of it belongs let her be the first to open it eh it would be a great pleasure to me rather an irregular proceeding said jones shaking his head however the whole thing is irregular and i suppose we must wink at it the treasure must afterwards be handed over to the authorities until after the official investigation certainly that is easily managed one i the sign of four other point i should much like to have a few details about this matter from the lips of small himself you know i like to work the details of mv cases out there is no objection to my having an interview with him either here in my rooms or elsewhere as long as he is guarded t well you are master of the situation i have had no proof yet of the existence of this small however if you can catch him i don t see how i can refuse you an interview with him that is understood then t perfectly is there anything else only that i insist upon your dining with us it will be ready in half an hour i have and a brace of with something a little choice in white â you have never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper chapter x the end of the our meal was a merry one could talk exceedingly well when he chose and that night he did choose he appeared to be in a state of nervous exaltation i have never known him so brilliant he spoke on a quick succession of subjects â on miracle plays on on on the of and on the of the future â handling each as though he had made a special study of it his bright humour marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days jones proved to be a soul in his hours of and faced his dinner with the sign of four the air of a on for myself i felt elated at the thought that we were the end of our task and i caught something of s gaiety none of us alluded during dinner to the cause which had brought us together when the cloth was cleared glanced at his watch and filled up three glasses with port one said he to the success of our little expedition and now it is high time we were off have you a pistol i have my old service revolver in my desk you had best take it then it is well to be prepared i see that the cab is at the door i ordered it for half past six it was a little past seven before we reached the westminster wharf and found our awaiting us eyed it i the end of the is there anything to mark it as a yes that green lamp at the side then take it off the small change was made we stepped on board and the

3Edith Wharton

ropes were cast off jones and i sat in the stern there was one man at the one to tend the engines and two police forward where to asked jones to the tower tell them to stop opposite to s yard our craft was evidently a very fast one we shot past the long lines of loaded as though they were stationary smiled with satisfaction as we a river steamer and left her behind us we ought to be able to catch anything on the river he said well hardly that but there are not many to beat us the sign of four we shall have to catch the and she has a name for being a i will tell you how the land lies you recollect how annoyed i was at being by so small a thing yes well i gave my mind a thorough rest by plunging into a analysis one of our greatest has said that a change of work is the best rest so it is when i had succeeded in the which i was at work at i came back to our problem of the and thought the whole matter out again my boys had been up the river and down the river without result the was not at any or wharf nor had it returned yet it could hardly have been to hide their traces though that always remained as a possible if all else failed i knew that this man small had a certain degree of the end of the low cunning but i did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate that is usually a product of higher education i then reflected that since he had certainly been in london some time â as we had evidence that he maintained a continual watch over lodge â he could hardly leave at a moment s notice but would need some little time if it were only a day to arrange his affairs that was the balance of probability at any rate it seems to me to be a little weak said i it is more probable that he had arranged his affairs before ever he set out upon his expedition no i hardly think so this of his would be too valuable a retreat in case of need for him to give it up until he was sure that he could do without it but a second consideration struck me small must have felt that the peculiar appearance the sign of four of his companion however much he may have top him would give rise to gossip and possibly be associated with this tragedy he was quite sharp enough to see that they had started from their under cover of darkness and he would wish to get back before it was broad light now it was past three o clock according to mrs smith when they got the boat it would be quite bright and people would be about in an hour or so therefore i argued they did not go very far they paid smith well to hold his tongue reserved his for the final escape and hurried to their lodgings with the treasure box in a couple of nights when they had time to see what view the papers took and whether there was any suspicion they would make their way under cover of darkness to some ship at or in the downs where no doubt they had the end of the already arranged for passages to america or the colonies but the they could not have taken that to their lodgings quite so i argued that the must be no great way off in spite of its i then put myself in the place of small and looked at it as a man of his capacity would he would probably consider that to send back the or to keep it at a wharf would make pursuit easy if the police did happen to get on his track how then could he conceal the and yet have her at hand when wanted i wondered what i should do myself if i were in his shoes i could only think of one way of doing it i might hand the over to some or with directions to make a trifling change in her she would then be removed to his shed or yard and so be effectually concealed while at the the sign of four same time i could have her at a few hours notice that seems simple enough it is just these very simple things which are extremely liable to be overlooked however i determined to act on the idea i started at once in this harmless seaman s and inquired at all the yards down the river i drew blank at fifteen but at the sixteenth â s â i learned that the had been handed over to them two days ago by a wooden legged man with some trivial directions as to her there ain t naught amiss with her said the there she lies with the red streaks at that moment who should come down but smith the missing owner he was rather the worse for liquor i should not of course have known him but he out his name and the name of his i want her to night at eight the end of the o clock said he â â eight o clock sharp mind for i have two gentlemen who won t be kept waiting they had evidently paid him well he was very flush of money shillings about to the men i followed him some distance but he subsided into an so i went back to the yard and happening to pick up one of my boys on the way i stationed him as a over the he is to stand at the waters edge and wave his handkerchief to us when they start we shall be lying off

3Edith Wharton

in the stream and it will be a strange thing if we do not take men treasure and all you have planned it all very neatly whether they are the right men or not said jones but if the affair were in my hands i should have had a body of police in s yard and arrested them when they came down which would have been never this man the sign of four small is a pretty shrewd fellow he would send a on ahead and if anything made him suspicious he would lie snug for another week but you might have stuck to smith and so been led to their hiding place said i in that case i should have wasted my day i think that it is a hundred to one against smith knowing where they live as long as he has liquor and good pay why should he ask questions they send him messages what to do no i thought over every possible course and this is the best while this conversation had been proceeding we had been shooting the long series of bridges which span the thames as we passed the city the last rays of the sun were the cross upon the summit of st paul s it was twilight before we reached the tower the end of the that is s yard said pointing to a of and on the side gently up and down here under cover of this string of he took a pair of night glasses from his pocket and gazed some time at the shore see my at his post he remarked but no sign of a handkerchief suppose we go down stream a short way and lie in wait for them said jones eagerly we were all eager by this time even the and who had a very vague idea of what was going forward we have no right to take anything for granted answered it is certainly ten to one that they go down stream but we cannot be certain from this point we can see the entrance of the yard and they can hardly see us it will be a clear night and plenty of light we must stay where we are â the sign of four see how the folk swarm over yonder in the they are coming from work in the yard dirty looking but i suppose every one has some little immortal spark concealed about him you would not think it to look at them there is no a probability about it a strange is man calls him a soul concealed in an animal i suggested is good upon the subject said he remarks that while the individual man is an puzzle in the he becomes a certainty you can for example never what any one man will do but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to individuals vary but remain constant so says the but do i see a handkerchief surely there is a white flutter over yonder the end of the yes it is your boy i cried i can see him plainly and there is the exclaimed and going like the devil full speed ahead engineer make after that with the yellow light by heaven i shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of us she had slipped unseen through the and passed behind two or three small craft so that she had fairly got her speed up before we saw her now she was flying down the stream near in to the shore going at a tremendous rate jones looked gravely at her and shook his head she is very fast he said i doubt if we shall catch her we catch her cried between his teeth heap it on make her do all she can if we burn the boat we must have them the sign of four we were fairly after her now the roared and the powerful engines and like a great heart her sharp steep cut through the still river water and sent two rolling waves to right and to left of us with every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing one great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long flickering of light in front of us right ahead a dark upon the water showed where the lay and the of white foam behind her spoke of the pace at which she was going we flashed past merchant vessels in and out behind this one and round the other voices hailed us out of the darkness but still the thundered on and still we followed close upon her track pile it on men pile it on cried looking down into the engine room while the the end of the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager face get every pound of steam you can i think we gain a little said jones with his eyes on the i am sure of it said i we shall be up with her in a very few minutes at that moment however as our evil fate would have it a with three in tow in between us it was only by putting our hard down that we avoided a collision and before we could round them and recover our way the had gained a good two hundred yards she was still however well in view and the uncertain twilight was settling into a clear night our were strained to their utmost and the frail shell and the fierce energy which was driving us along we had shot through the pool past the west india down the the sign of four long reach and up again after the isle of dogs the dull in front of us resolved itself now clearly enough into the dainty jones turned our search light upon her so that we could plainly see the figures upon her

3Edith Wharton

deck one man sat by the stern with something black between his knees over which he stooped beside him lay a dark mass which looked like a dog the boy held the while against the red glare of the furnace i could see old smith stripped to the waist and coals for dear life they may have had some doubt at first as to whether we were really pursuing them but now as we followed every winding and turning which they took there could no longer be any question about it at we were about three hundred paces behind them at black wall we could not have been more than two hundred and fifty i have the end of the loi many creatures in many countries during my career but never did sport give me such a wild thrill as this mad flying down the thames steadily we drew in upon them yard by yard in the silence of the night we could hear the panting and of their machinery the man in the stern still crouched upon the deck and his arms were moving as though he were busy while every now and then he would look up and measure with a glance the distance which still separated us nearer we came and nearer jones to them to stop we were not more than four boat behind them both boats flying at a tremendous pace it was a clear reach of the river with barking level upon one side and the melancholy upon the other at our hail the man in the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clenched fists at us cursing the while in a the sign of four high cracked voice he was a good sized powerful man and as he stood himself with legs i could see that from the downwards there was but a wooden stump upon the right side at the sound of his angry cries there was movement in the huddled bundle upon the deck it straightened itself into a little black man â the smallest i have even seen â with a great head and a shock of tangled hair had already drawn his revolver and i whipped out mine at the sight of this savage distorted creature he was wrapped in some sort of dark or blanket which left only his face exposed but that face was enough to give a man a sleepless night never have i seen features so deeply marked with all and cruelty his small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light and his thick lips were back from his teeth which the end of the grinned and at us with half animal fury fire if he raises his hand said quietly we were within a boat s length by this time and almost within touch of our i can see the two of them now as they stood the white man with his legs far apart shrieking out curses and the dwarf with his hideous face and his strong yellow teeth at us in the light of our lantern it was well that we had so clear a view of him even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short round piece of wood like a school ruler and clapped it to his lips our pistols rang out together he whirled round threw up his arms and with a kind of choking cough fell sideways into the stream i caught one glimpse of his menacing eyes amid the white the sign of four of the waters at the same moment the wooden legged man threw himself upon the and put it hard down so that his boat made straight in for the southern bank while we shot past her stern only clearing her by a few feet we were round after her in an instant but she was already nearly at the bank it was a wild and desolate place where the moon upon a wide expanse of marsh land with pools of water and beds of vegetation the with a dull ran up upon the mud bank with her bow in the air and her stern flush with the water the fugitive sprang out but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the soil in vain he struggled and not one step could he possibly take either forwards or backwards he in impotent rage and kicked into the mud with his other foot but his struggles only bored his wooden the end of the pin the deeper into the bank when we brought our alongside he was so firmly that it was only by throwing the end of a rope over his shoulders that we were able to haul him out and to drag him like some evil fish over our side the two father and son sat sullenly in their but came aboard meekly enough when commanded the herself we hauled off and made fast to our stern a solid iron chest of indian stood upon the deck this there could be no question was the same that had contained the ill treasure of the there was no key but it was of considerable weight so we transferred it carefully to our own little cabin as we slowly up stream again we flashed our in every direction but there was no sign of the somewhere in the dark at bottom of the thames lie o the sign of four the bones of that strange visitor to our shores see here said pointing to the wooden we were hardly quick enough with our pistols there sure enough just behind where we had been standing stuck one of those which we knew so well it must have between us at the instant we fired smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion but i confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to

3Edith Wharton

us that night chapter xi the great treasure our captive sat in the cabin opposite to the iron box which he had done so much and waited so long to gain he was a reckless eyed fellow with a of lines and wrinkles all over his mahogany features which told of a hard open air life there was a singular about his bearded chin which marked a man who was not to be easily turned from his purpose his age may have been fifty or for his black curly hair was thickly shot with gray his face in repose was not an one though his heavy brows and chin gave him as i had lately seen a terrible o the sign of four expression when moved to anger he sat now with his hands upon his lap and his head sunk upon his breast while he looked with his keen twinkling eyes at the box which had been the cause of his it seemed to me that there was more sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance once he looked up at me with a gleam of something like humour in his eyes well small said lighting a cigar i am sorry that it has come to this and so am i sir he answered frankly don t believe that i can swing over the job i give you my word on the book that i never raised hand against mr it was that little hell hound who shot one of his cursed into him i had no part in it sir i was as grieved as if it had been my blood relation i the little the great treasure devil with the slack end of the rope for it but it was done and i could not undo it again have a cigar said and you had best take a pull out of my for you are very wet how could you expect so small and weak a man as this black fellow to mr and hold him while you were climbing the rope you seem to know as much about it as if you were there sir the truth is that i hoped to find the room clear i knew the habits of the house pretty well and it was the time when mr usually went down to his supper i shall make no secret of the business the best defence that i can make is just the simple truth now if it had been the old major i would have swung for him with a light heart i would have thought no more of him than of smoking this cigar but it s cursed hard that i should be io the sign of four over this young with whom i had no quarrel whatever you are under the charge of mr jones of scotland yard he is going to bring you up to my rooms and i shall ask you for a true account of the matter you must make a clean breast of it for if you do i hope that i may be of use to you i think i can prove that the poison acts so quickly that the man was dead before ever you reached the room that he was sir i never got such a turn in my life as when i saw him grinning at me with his head on his shoulder as i climbed through the window it fairly shook me sir td have half killed for it if he had not scrambled off th it was how he came to leave his club and some of his too as he tells me which i dare say helped to put you on our track though how you kept on it is more than i can tell i don t the great treasure in feel no malice against you for it but it does seem a queer he added with a bitter smile that i who have a fair claim to half a million of money should spend the first half of my life building a in the and am like to spend the other half digging at it was an evil day for me when first i clapped eyes upon the merchant and had to do with the treasure which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it to him it brought murder to major it brought fear and guilt to me it has meant slavery for life at this moment jones thrust his broad face and heavy shoulders into the tiny cabin quite a family party he remarked i think i shall have a pull at that well i think we may all congratulate each other pity we didn t take the other alive â the sign of four but there was no choice i say you must confess that you cut it rather fine it was all we could do to her all is well that ends well said but i certainly did not know that the was such a smith says she is one of the on the river and that if he had had another man to help him with the engines we should never have caught her he he knew nothing of this business neither he did cried our prisoner â not a word i chose his because i heard that she was a we told him nothing but we paid him well and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel the at outward bound for the well if he has done no wrong we shall see that no wrong comes to him if we are pretty quick in catching our men we are not the great treasure so quick in them it was amusing to notice how the jones was already beginning to give himself airs on the strength of the capture from the slight smile which played over s face i could

3Edith Wharton

see that the speech had not been lost upon him we will be at bridge presently said jones and shall land you dr with the treasure box i need hardly tell you that i am taking a very grave responsibility upon myself in doing this it is most irregular but of course an agreement is an agreement i must however as a matter of duty send an with you since you have so valuable a charge you will drive no doubt yes i shall drive it is a pity there is no key that we may make an first you will have to break it open where is the key my man ai the sign of four at the bottom of the river said small shortly hum i there was no use your giving this unnecessary trouble we have had work enough already through you however doctor i need not warn you to be careful bring the box back with you to the baker street rooms you will find us there on our way to the station they landed me at with my heavy iron box and with a bluff genial as my companion a quarter of an hour s drive brought us to mrs s the servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor mrs was out for the evening she explained and likely to be very late miss however was in the drawing room so to the drawing room i went box in hand leaving the obliging in the cab she was seated by the open window the great treasure dressed in some sort of white material with a little touch of scarlet at the neck and waist the soft light of a shaded lamp fell upon her as she leaned back in the basket chair playing over her sweet grave face and with a dull sparkle the rich of her luxuriant hair one white arm and hand drooped over the side of the chair and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy at the sound of my she sprang to her feet however and a bright flush of surprise and of pleasure coloured her pale cheeks i heard a cab drive up she said i thought that mrs had come back very early but i never dreamed that it might be you what news have you brought me i have brought something better than news said i putting down the box upon the table and speaking and though my heart was heavy within me i i the sign of four have brought you something which is worth all the news in the world i have brought you a fortune she glanced at the iron box is that the treasure then she asked coolly enough yes this is the great treasure half of it is yours and half is s you will have a couple of hundred thousand each think of that an of ten thousand pounds there will be few richer young ladies in england is it not glorious i i think that i must have been rather my delight and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations for i saw her eyebrows rise a little and she glanced at me curiously if i have it said she i owe it to you no no i answered not to me but to my friend with all the the great treasure will in the world i could never have followed up a clue which has even his genius as it was we very nearly lost it at the last moment pray sit down and tell me all about it dr said she i briefly what had occurred since i had seen her last s new method of search the discovery of the the appearance of jones our expedition in the evening and the wild chase down the thames she listened with parted lips and shining eyes to my recital of our adventures when i spoke of the dart which had so narrowly missed us she turned so white that i feared that she was about to faint mt is nothing she said as i hastened to pour her out some water i am all right again it was a shock to me to hear that i had placed my friends in such horrible peril that is all over i answered it was i the sign of four nothing i will tell you no more gloomy details let us turn to something brighter there is the treasure what could be brighter than that i got leave to bring it with me thinking that it would interest you to be the first to see it it would be of the greatest interest to me she said there was no eagerness in her voice however it had struck her doubtless that it might seem upon her part to be indifferent to a prize which had cost so much to win what a pretty box she said stooping over it this is indian work i suppose yes it is metal work and so heavy she exclaimed trying to raise it the box alone must be of some value where is the key small threw it into the thames i answered i must borrow mrs s the great treasure there was in the front a thick and broad wrought in the image of a sitting under this i thrust the end of the and twisted it outward as a the sprang open with a loud snap with trembling fingers i flung back the lid we both stood gazing in astonishment the box was empty i no wonder that it was heavy the was two thirds of an inch thick all round it was massive well made and solid like a chest constructed to carry things of great price but not one or of metal or lay within it it was absolutely and completely empty the treasure is lost said miss calmly as i listened to the words and

3Edith Wharton

realized what they meant a great shadow seemed to pass from my soul i did not know how this treasure had weighed me down until the sign of four now that it was finally removed it was selfish no doubt wrong but i could realize nothing save that the golden barrier was gone from between us thank god i ejaculated from my very heart she looked at me with a quick questioning smile why do you say that she asked because you are within my reach again i said taking her hand she did not withdraw it because i love you mary as truly as ever a man loved a woman because this treasure these riches sealed my lips now that they are gone i can tell you how i love you that is why i said thank god then i say thank god too she whispered as i drew her to my side whoever had lost a treasure i knew that night that i had gained one chapter xii the strange story of small a very patient man was that in the cab for it was a weary time before i rejoined him his face clouded over when i showed him the empty box there goes the reward said he gloomily where there is no money there is no pay this night s work would have been worth a each to sam brown and me if the treasure had been there mr is a rich man i said he will see that you are rewarded treasure or no the shook his head however the sign of four it s a bad job he repeated and so mr jones will think his proved to be correct for the looked blank enough when i got to baker street and showed him the empty box they had only just arrived the prisoner and he for they had changed their plans so far as to report themselves at a station upon the way my companion in his arm chair with his usual expression while small sat opposite to him with his wooden leg cocked over his sound one as i exhibited the empty box he leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud this is your doing small said jones angrily yes i have put it away where you shall never lay hand upon it he cried it is my treasure and if i can t have the i ll take good care that no one strange story of small else does i tell you that no living man has any right to it unless it is three men who are in the and myself i know now that i cannot have the use of it and i know that they cannot i have acted all through for them as much as for myself it s been the sign of four with us always well i know that they would have had me do just what i have done and throw the treasure into the thames rather than let it go to or kin of or it was not to make them rich that we did for you ll find the treasure where the key is and where little is when i saw that your must catch us i put the away in a safe place there are no for you this journey you are deceiving us small said jones sternly if you had wished to throw the treasure into the thames it would j the sign of four have been easier for you to have thrown box and all easier for me to throw and easier for you to recover he answered with a shrewd look the man that was clever enough to hunt me down is clever enough to pick an iron box from the bottom of a river now that they are scattered over five miles or so it may be a harder job it went to my heart to do it though i was half mad when you came up with us however there s no good over it had in my life and ive had downs but i ve learned not to cry over milk this is a very serious matter small said the if you had helped justice instead of it in this way you would have had a better chance at your trial justice r the ex a pretty justice whose is this if it is not ours where is the justice that i should strange story of small give it up to those who have never earned it look how i have earned it twenty long years in that fever ridden swamp all day at work under the tree all night chained up in the filthy huts bitten by with by every cursed black faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man that was how i earned the treasure and you talk to me of justice because i cannot bear to feel that i have paid this price only that another may enjoy it i would rather swing a score of times or have one of s in my hide than live in a s cell and feel that another man is at his ease in a palace with the money that should be mine small had dropped his mask of and all this came out in a wild whirl of words while his eyes blazed and the together with the impassioned movement of his hands i could understand as i the sign of four saw the fury and the passion of the man that it was no or unnatural terror which had possessed major when he first learned that the injured was upon his track you forget that we know nothing of all this said quietly we have not heard your story and we cannot tell how far justice may originally have been on your side well sir you have been very fair spoken to me though i can see

3Edith Wharton

that i have you to thank that i have these upon my wrists still i bear no grudge for that it is all fair and above board if you want to hear my story i have no wish to hold it back what i say to you is god s truth every word of it thank you you can put the glass beside me here and til put my lips to it if i am dry i am a man myself born strange story of small near i dare say you would find a heap of living there now if you were to look i have often thought of taking a look round there but the truth is that i was never much of a credit to the family and i doubt if they would be so very glad to see me they were all steady chapel going folk small farmers well known and respected over the country side while i was always a bit of a at last however when i was about eighteen i gave them no more trouble for i got into a mess over a girl and could only get out of it again by taking the queen s shilling and joining the rd which was just starting for india i wasn t destined to do much however i had just got past the goose step and learned to handle my when i was fool enough to go swimming in the luckily for me my company john was in the water at â the sign of four the same time and he was one of the finest in the service a took me just as i was half way across and off my right leg as clean as a surgeon could have done it just above the knee what with the shock and the loss of blood i fainted and should have been drowned if had not caught hold of me and for the bank i was five months in hospital over it and when at last i was able to limp out of it with this timber toe to my stump i found myself out of the army and for any active occupation i was as you can imagine pretty down on my luck at this time for i was a useless though not yet in my twentieth year however my misfortune soon proved to be a blessing in disguise a man named white who had come out there as an wanted an to look strange story of small after his and keep them up to their work he happened to be a friend of our colonel s who had taken an interest in me since the accident to make a long story short the colonel recommended me strongly for the post and as the work was mostly to be done on horseback my leg was no great obstacle for i had enough knee left to keep a good grip on the saddle what i had to do was to ride over the plantation to keep an eye on the men as they worked and to report the the pay was fair i had comfortable quarters and altogether i was content to spend the remainder of my life in planting mr white was a kind man and he would often drop into my little and smoke a pipe with me for white folk out there feel their hearts warm to each other as they never do here at home well i was never in luck s way long the sign of four suddenly without a note of warning the great broke upon us one month india lay as still and peaceful to all appearance as or the next there were two hundred thousand black devils let loose and the country was a perfect hell of course you know all about it gentlemen â a deal more than i do very like since reading is not in my line i only know what i saw with my own eyes our plantation was at a place called near the border of the north west provinces night after night the whole sky was alight with the burning and day after day we had small companies of passing through our estate with their wives and children on their way to where were the nearest troops mr white was an obstinate man he had it in his head that the affair had been exaggerated and that it would blow over as suddenly as it had strange story of small sprung up there he sat on his drinking and smoking while the country was in a blaze about him of course we stuck by him i and who with his wife used to do the and the managing well one fine day the crash came i had been away on a distant plantation and was riding slowly home in the evening when my eye fell upon something all huddled together at the bottom of a steep i rode down to see what it was and the cold struck through my heart when i found it was s wife all cut into ribbons and half eaten by and native dogs a little farther up the road himself was lying on his face quite dead with an empty revolver in his hand and four lying across each other in front of him i up my horse wondering which way i should turn but at that moment i saw thick smoke curling up from the sign of four white s and the flames beginning to burst through the roof i knew then that i could do my employer no good but would only throw my own life away if i in the matter from where i stood i could see hundreds of the black with their red coats still on their backs dancing and howling round the burning house some of them pointed at me and a couple of bullets sang past my head

3Edith Wharton

so i broke away across the fields and found myself late at night safe within the walls at as it proved however there was no great safety there either the whole country was up like a swarm of bees wherever the english could collect in little bands they held just the ground that their guns commanded everywhere else they were helpless it was a fight of the millions against the hundreds and the strange story of small part of it was that these men that we fought against foot horse and were our own picked troops whom we had taught and trained handling our own weapons and blowing our own calls at there were the rd some two troops of horse and a battery of a corps of clerks and merchants had been formed and this i joined wooden leg and all we went out to meet the at early in july and we beat them back for a time but our powder gave out and we had to fall back upon the city nothing but the worst news came to us from every side â which is not to be wondered at for if you look at the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it is rather better than a hundred miles to the east and about as far to the south from every point sign of four on the compass there was nothing but torture and murder and outrage the city of is a great place with and fierce of all sorts our handful of men were lost among the narrow winding streets our leader moved across the river therefore and took up his position in the old fort of i don t know if any of you gentlemen have ever read or heard anything of that old fort it is a very queer that ever i was in and i have been in some rum corners too first of all it is enormous in size i should think that the must be acres and acres there is a modern part which took all our garrison women children stores and everything else with plenty of room over but the modern part is nothing like the size of the old quarter where nobody goes and which is given over to the and the strange story of small it is all full of great deserted halls and winding passages and long twisting in and out so that it is easy enough for folk to get lost in it for this reason it was seldom that anyone went into it though now and again a party with might go exploring the river along the front of the old fort and so it but on the sides and behind there are many doors and these had to be guarded of course in the old quarter as well as in that which was actually held by our troops we were short handed with hardly men enough to man the angles of the building and to serve the guns it was impossible for us therefore to station a strong guard at every one of the innumerable gates what we did was to a central guard house in the middle of the fort and to leave each gate under the charge of one white man and two or three natives i the sign of four was selected to take charge during certain hours of the night of a small isolated door upon the south west side of the building two were placed under my command and i was instructed if anything went wrong to fire my when i might rely upon help coming at once from the central guard as the guard was a good two hundred paces away however and as the space between was cut up into a of passages and i had great doubts as to whether they could arrive in time to be of any use in case of an actual attack well i was pretty proud at having this small command given me since i was a raw and a game legged one at that for two nights i kept the watch with my they were tall fierce looking and by name both old fighting men who had strange story of small borne arms against us at they could talk english pretty well but i could get little out of them they preferred to stand together and all night in their queer for myself i used to stand outside the looking down on the broad winding river and on the twinkling lights of the great city the beating of drums the rattle of and the and of the drunk with and with bang were enough to remind us all night of our dangerous neighbours across the stream every two hours the officer of the night used to come round to all the posts to make sure that all was well the third night of my watch was dark and dirty with a small driving rain it was dreary work standing in the hour after hour in such weather i tried again and again to make my talk but without much success at two in the morning the the sign of four rounds passed and broke for a moment the weariness of the night finding that my companions would not be led into conversation i took out my pipe and laid down my to strike the match in an instant the two were upon me one of them snatched my up and it at my head while the other held a great knife to my throat and swore between his teeth that he would plunge it into me if i moved a step my first thought was that these fellows were in league with the and that this was the beginning of an assault if our door were in the hands of the the place must fall and the women and children be treated as

3Edith Wharton

they were in maybe you gentlemen think that i am just making out a case for myself but i give you my word that when i thought of that though i felt the point of the knife at my throat i strange story of small opened my mouth with the intention of giving a scream if it was my last one which might alarm the main guard the man who held me seemed to know my thoughts for even as i myself to it he whispered don t make a noise the fort is safe enough there are no rebel dogs on this side of the river there was the ring of truth in what he said and i knew that if i raised my voice i was a dead man i could read it in the fellow s brown eyes i waited therefore in silence to see what it was that they wanted from me listen to me said the taller and of the pair the one whom they called you must either be with us now or you must be silenced for ever the thing is too great a one for us to hesitate either you are heart and soul with us on your oath on the cross of the christians or your body this night shall be thrown into the sign of four the ditch and we shall pass over to our brothers in the rebel army there is no middle way which is it to be â death or life we can only give you three minutes to decide for the time is passing and all must be done before the rounds come again how can i decide i said i you have not told me what you want of me but i tell you now that if it is anything against the safety of the fort i will have no with it so you can drive home your knife and welcome it is nothing against the fort said he we only ask you to do that which your countrymen come to this land for we ask you to be rich if you will be one of us this night we will swear to you upon the naked knife and by the oath which no was ever known to break that you shall have your fair share of the a quarter of strange story of small the treasure shall be yours we can say no fairer but what is the treasure then i asked i am as ready to be rich as you can be if you will but show me how it can be done you will swear then said he by the bones of your father by the honour of your mother by the cross of your faith to raise no hand and speak no word against us either now or afterwards i will swear it i answered provided that the fort is not then my comrade and i will swear that you shall have a quarter of the treasure which shall be equally divided among the four of us there are but three said i no dost must have his share we can tell the tale to you while we wait them do you stand at the gate j the sign of four and give notice of their coming the thing stands thus and i tell it to you because i know that an oath is binding upon a and that we may trust you had you been a lying though you had sworn by all the gods in their false temples your blood would have been upon the knife and your body in the water but the knows the englishman and the englishman knows the then to what i have to say there is a in the northern provinces who has much wealth though his lands are small much has come to him from his father and more still he has set by himself for he is of a low nature and his gold rather than spend it when the troubles broke out he would be friends both with the lion and the tiger â with the and with the company s soon however it seemed to him that the white men s strange story of small day was come for through all th land he could hear of nothing but of their death and their overthrow yet being a careful man he made such plans that come what might half at least of his treasure should be left to him that which was in gold and silver he kept by him in the of hi palace but the most precious stones and the pearls that he had he put in an iron box and sent it by a servant who under the guise of a merchant should take it to the fort at there to lie until the land is at peace thus if the won he would have his money but if the company conquered his jewels would be saved to him having thus divided his he threw himself into the cause of the since they were strong upon his borders by his doing this mark you his property becomes the due of those who have been true to their salt â the sign of four this pretended merchant who travels under the name of is now in the city of and desires to gain his way into the fort he has with him as my foster brother dost who knows his secret dost has promised this night to lead him to a of the fort and has chosen this one for his purpose here he will come presently and here he will find and myself awaiting him the place is lonely and none shall know of his coming the world shall know of the merchant no more but the great treasure of the shall be divided among us what say you to it r in the life of a

3Edith Wharton

man seems a great and a sacred thing but it is very different when there is fire and blood all round you and you have been used to meeting death at every turn whether the strange story of small merchant lived or died was a thing as light as air to me but at the talk about the treasure my heart turned to it and i thought of what i might do in the old country with it and how my folk would stare when they saw their ne er do coming back with his pockets full of gold i had therefore already made up my mind however thinking that i hesitated pressed the matter more closely consider said he that if this man is taken by the he will be hung or shot and his jewels taken by the government so that no man will be a the better for them now since we do the taking of him why should we not do the rest as well the jewels will be as well with us as in the company s there will be enough to make of us rich men and great chiefs no one can know about the matter for here we are cut off from j the sign of four all men what could be better for the purpose say again then whether you are with us or if we must look upon you as an enemy i am with you heart and soul said i it is well he answered handing me back my you see that we trust you for your word like ours is not to be broken we have now only to wait for my brother and the merchant does your brother know then of what you will do i asked the plan is his he has devised it we will go to the gate and share the watch with the rain was still falling steadily for it was just the beginning of the wet season brown heavy clouds were drifting across the sky and it was hard to see more than a a deep moat lay in front of our door but the water was in places nearly dried up strange story of small and it could easily be crossed it was strange to me to be standing there with those two wild waiting for the man who was coming to his death suddenly my eye caught the of a shaded lantern at the other side of the moat it vanished among the mound heaps and then appeared again coming slowly in our direction here they are i i exclaimed you will challenge him as usual whispered give him no cause for fear send us in with him and we shall do the rest while you stay here on guard have the lantern ready to that we may be sure that it is indeed the man the light had now stopping and now advancing until i could see two dark figures upon the other side of the moat i let them scramble down the sloping bank splash through the mire and the sign of four climb half way up to the gate before i them who goes there said i in a subdued voice friends came the answer i uncovered my lantern and threw a flood of light upon them the first was an enormous with a black beard which swept nearly down to his outside of a show i have never seen so tall a man the other was a little fat round fellow with a great yellow and a bundle in his hand done up in a shawl he seemed to be all in a quiver with fear for his hands as if he had the and his head kept turning to left and right with two bright little twinkling eyes like a mouse when he out from his hole it gave me the to think of killing him but i thought of the treasure and my heart set as hard as a flint within me when he saw my white face he gave a little strange story of small of joy and came running up towards me your protection he panted your protection for the unhappy merchant i have travelled across that i might seek the shelter of the fort at i have been robbed and beaten and abused because i have been the friend of the company it is a blessed night this when i am once more in safety â i and my poor possessions what have you in the bundle i asked an iron box he answered which contains one or two little family matters which are of no value to others but which i should be sorry to lose yet i am not a beggar and i shall reward you young and your governor also if he will give me the shelter i ask i could not trust myself to speak longer with the man the more i looked at his fat the sign of four frightened face the harder did it seem that we should him in cold blood it was best to get it over take him to the main guard said i the two closed in upon him on each side and the giant walked behind while they marched in through the dark never was a man so round with death i remained at the with the lantern i could hear the measured tramp of their footsteps sounding through the lonely suddenly it ceased and i heard voices and a with the sound of blows a moment later there came to my horror a rush of footsteps coming in my direction with a loud breathing of a running man i turned my lantern down the long straight passage and there was the fat man running like the wind with a of blood across his face and close at his heels bounding like a tiger strange story of small the great black

3Edith Wharton

bearded with a knife flashing in his hand i have never seen a man run so fast as that little merchant he was gaining on the and i could see that if he once passed me and got to the open air he would save himself yet my heart softened to him but again the thought of his treasure turned me hard and bitter i cast my between his legs as he past and he rolled twice over like a shot rabbit ere he could to his feet the was upon him and buried his knife twice in his side the man never uttered moan nor moved muscle but lay where he had fallen i think myself that he may have broken his neck with the fall you see gentlemen that i am keeping my promise i am telling you every word of the business just exactly as it happened whether it is in my favour or not he stopped and held out his hands for the and water which the sign of four had for him for myself i confess that i had now conceived the utmost horror of the man not only for this cold blooded business in which he had been concerned but even more for the somewhat and careless way in which he it whatever punishment was in store for him i felt that he might expect no sympathy from me and jones sat with their hands upon their knees deeply interested in the story but with the same disgust written upon their faces he may have observed it for there was a touch of defiance in his voice and manner as he proceeded it was all very bad no doubt said he i should like to know how many fellows in my shoes would have refused a share of this when they knew that they would have their throats c it for their pains besides it was my life or his when once he was in the strange story of small fort if he had got out the whole business would come to light and i should have been court and shot as likely as not for people were not very at a time like that go on with your story said shortly well we carried him in and i a fine weight he was too for all that he was so short was left to guard the door we took him to a place which the had already prepared it was some distance off where a winding passage leads to a great empty hall the brick walls of which were all crumbling to pieces the earth floor had sunk in at one place making a natural grave so we left the merchant there having first covered him over with loose bricks this done we all went back to the treasure it lay where he had dropped it when he the sign of four was first attacked the box was the same which now lies open upon your table a hung by a silken cord to that carved handle upon the top we opened it and the light of the lantern gleamed upon a collection of gems such as i have read of and thought about when i was a little lad at it was blinding to look upon them when we had our eyes we took them all out and made a list of them there were one hundred and forty three diamonds of the first water including one which has been called i believe the great and is said to be the second largest stone in existence then there were ninety seven very fine and one hundred and seventy some of which however were small there were forty two hundred and ten sixty one and a great quantity of cats eyes and other stones the very names of which j did strange story of small not know at the time though i have become more familiar with them since besides this there were nearly three hundred very fine pearls twelve of which were set in a gold by the way these last had been taken out of the chest and were not there when i recovered it after we had counted our treasures we put them back into the chest and carried them to the to show them to then we solemnly renewed our oath to stand by each other and be true to our secret we agreed to conceal our in a safe place until the country should be at peace again and then to divide it equally among ourselves there was no use dividing it at present for if gems of value were found upon us it would cause suspicion and there was no privacy in the fort nor any place where we could keep them we carried the box therefore into the same the sign of four hall where we had buried the body and there under certain bricks in the best preserved wall we made a hollow and put our treasure we made careful note of the place and next day i drew four plans one for each of us and put the sign of the four of us at the bottom for we had sworn that we should each always act for all so that none might take advantage that is an oath that i can put my hand to my heart and swear that i have never broken well there s no use my telling you gentlemen what came of the indian after took and sir relieved the back of the business was broken fresh troops came pouring in and made himself scarce over the frontier a flying column under colonel came round to and cleared the away from it peace seemed to be settling upon the country and we four strange story of small were beginning to hope that the time was at hand when we might safely go off with our shares of the plunder

3Edith Wharton

in a moment however our hopes were shattered by our being arrested as the of it came about in this way when the put his jewels into the hands of he did it because he knew that he was a man they are suspicious folk in the east however so what does this do but take a second even more servant and set him to play the spy upon the first this second man was ordered never to let out of his sight and he followed him like his shadow he went after him that night and saw him pass through the doorway of course he thought he had taken refuge in the fort and applied for admission there himself next day but could find no trace of this seemed to him so strange that he spoke about it to a s the sign of four of guides who brought it to the ears of the a thorough search was quickly made and the body was discovered thus at the very moment that we thought that all was safe we were all four seized and brought to trial on a charge of murder â three of us because we had held the gate that night and the fourth because he was known to have been in the company of the murdered man not a word about the jewels came out at the trial for the had been and driven out of india so no one had any particular interest in them the murder however was clearly made out and it was certain that we must all have been concerned in it the three got for life and i was condemned to death though my sentence was into the same as the others it was rather a queer position that we found ourselves in then there we were all strange story of small four tied by the leg and with precious little chance of ever getting out again while we each held a secret which might have put each of us in a palace if we could only have made use of it it was enough to make a man eat his heart out to have to stand the kick and the of every petty jack in office to have rice to eat and water to drink when that gorgeous fortune was ready for him outside just waiting to be picked up it might have driven me mad but i was always a pretty stubborn one so i just held on and my time at last it seemed to me to have come i was changed from to and from there to island in the there are very few white at this settlement and as i had behaved well from the first i soon found myself a sort of privileged person i was given a hut in hope town which is a small place on the slopes of â o the sign of four mount and i was left pretty much to myself it is a dreary fever stricken place and all beyond our little was with wild natives who were ready enough to blow a poisoned dart at us if they saw a chance there was digging and and planting and a dozen other things to be done so we were busy enough all day though in the evening we had a little time to ourselves among other things i learned to dispense for the surgeon and picked up a of his knowledge all the time i was on the look out for a chance of escape but it is hundreds of miles from any other land and there is little or no wind in those seas so it was a terribly difficult job to get away the surgeon dr was a fast sporting young chap and the other young officers would meet in his rooms of an evening and play cards the where i strange story of small used to make up my was next to his sitting room with a small window between us often if i felt i used to turn out the lamp in the and then standing there i could hear their talk and watch their play i am fond of a hand at cards myself and it was almost as good as having one to watch the others there was major captain and lieutenant brown who were in command of the native troops and there was the surgeon himself and two or three prison officials old hands who played a nice sly safe game a very snug little party they used to make well there was one thing which very soon struck me and that was that the soldiers used always to lose and the to win mind t say there was anything unfair but so it was these prison had done little else than play cards ever since they had been the sign of four at the and they knew each other s game to a point while the others just played to pass the time and threw their cards down anyhow night after night the soldiers got up poorer men and the poorer they got the more keen they were to play major was the hardest hit he used to pay in notes and gold at first but soon it came to notes of hand and for big sums he sometimes would win for a few just to give him heart and then the luck would set in against him worse than ever all day he would wander about as black as thunder and he took to drinking a deal more than was good for him one night he lost even more heavily than usual i was sitting in my hut when he and captain came stumbling along on the way to their quarters they were bosom friends those two and never far apart the major was about his losses strange story of small it s all up he was saying as

3Edith Wharton

they passed my hut i shall have to send in my papers i am a ruined man nonsense old chap said the other him upon the shoulder had a nasty myself but that was all i could hear but it was enough to set me thinking a couple of days later major was â strolling on the beach so i took the chance of speaking to him i wish to have your advice major said i well small what is it he asked taking his from his lips i wanted to ask you sir said i who is the proper person to whom hidden treasure should be handed over i know where half a million worth lies and as i cannot use it myself i thought perhaps the best thing that i could do would be to hand it over to the the sign of four proper authorities and then perhaps they would get my sentence for me half a million small he gasped looking hard at me to see if i was in earnest quite that sir â in jewels and pearls it lies there ready for anyone and the queer thing about it is that the real owner is and cannot hold property so that it belongs to the first comer to government small he stammered to government but he said it in a halting fashion and i knew in my heart that i had got him you think then sir that i should give the information to the governor general said i quietly well well you must not do anything rash or that you might repent let me hear all about it small give me the facts i told him the whole story with small changes so that he could not identify the strange story of small places when i had finished he stood stock still and full of thought i could see by the of his lip that there was a struggle going on within him this is a very important matter small he said at last you must not say a word to anyone about it and i shall see you again soon two nights later he and his friend captain tan came to my hut in the dead of the night with a lantern i want you just to let captain hear that story from your own lips small said he i repeated it as i had told it before it rings true eh said he it s good enough to act upon captain nodded look here small said the major we have been talking it over my friend here and i and we have come to the con the sign of four that this secret of yours is hardly a government matter after all but is a private concern of your own which of course you have the power of of as you think best now the question is what price would you ask for it we might be inclined to take it up and at least look into it if we could agree as to terms he tried to speak in a cool careless way but his eyes were shining with excitement and why as to that gentlemen i answered trying also to be cool but feeling as excited as he did there is only one bargain which a man in my position can make i shall want you to help me to my freedom and to help my three companions to theirs we shall then take you into and give you a fifth share to divide between you hum said he a fifth share that is not very tempting strange story of small it would come to fifty thousand apiece said i but how can we gain your freedom you know very well that you ask an impossibility nothing of the sort i answered i have thought it all out to the last detail the only bar to our escape is that we can get no boat fit for the voyage and no provisions to last us for so long a time there are plenty of little and at or which would serve our turn well do you bring one over we shall engage to get aboard her by night and if you will drop us on any part of the indian coast you will have done your part of the bargain if there were only one he said none or all i answered we have sworn it the four of us must always act together you see said he small is a the sign of four man of his word he does not from his friends i think we may very well trust him it s a dirty business the other answered yet as you say the money will save our handsomely well small said the major we must i suppose try and meet you we must first of course test the truth of your story tell me where the box is hid and i shall get leave of absence and go back to india in the monthly relief boat to inquire into the affair not so fast said i growing colder as he got hot i must have the consent of my three comrades i tell you that it is four or none with us nonsense he broke in what have three black fellows to do with our agreement black or blue said i they are in with me and we all go together strange story of small well the matter ended by a second meeting at which and dost were all present we talked the matter over again and at last we came to an arrangement we were to provide both the officers with of the part of the fort and mark the place in the wall where the treasure was hid major was to go to india to test our story if he found the box he was to leave it there to send out a small

3Edith Wharton

for a voyage which was to lie off island and to which we were to make our way and finally to return to his duties captain was then to apply for leave of absence to meet us at and there we were to have a final division of the treasure he taking the share as well as his own all this we sealed by the most solemn oaths that the mind could think or the lips utter i sat up all night with paper and ink the sign of four and by the morning i had the two all ready signed with the sign of four â that is of and myself well gentlemen i weary you with my long story and i know that my friend mr jones is impatient to get me safely in i ll make it as short as i can the villain went off to india but he never came back again captain showed me his name among a list of passengers in one of the mail boats very shortly afterwards his uncle had died leaving him a fortune and he had left the army yet he could stoop to treat five men as he had treated us went over to shortly afterwards and found as we expected that the treasure was indeed gone the scoundrel had stolen it all without carrying out one of the conditions on which we had sold him the secret from that day i lived only for strange story of small vengeance i though of it by day and i nursed it by night it became an overpowering absorbing passion with me i cared nothing for the law â nothing for the gallows to escape to track down to have my hand upon his throat â that was my one thought even the treasure had come to be a smaller thing in my mind than the of well i have set my mind on many things in this life and never one which i did not carry out but it was weary years before my time came i have told you that i had picked up something of medicine one day when dr was down with a fever a little was picked up by a gang in the woods he was sick to death and had gone to a lonely place to die i took him in hand though he was as as a young snake and after a couple of months i got the sign of four him all right and able to walk he took a kind of fancy to me then and would hardly go back to his woods but was always hanging about my hut i learned a little of his from him and this made him all the of me â for that was his name â was a fine and owned a big of his own when i found that he was devoted to me and would do anything to serve me i saw my chance of escape i talked it over with him he was to bring his boat round on a certain night to an old wharf which was never guarded and there he was to pick me up i gave him directions to have several of water and a lot of nuts and sweet potatoes he was and true was little no man ever had a more faithful mate at the night named he had his boat at the wharf as it chanced however there was strange story of small one of the guard down there â a vile who had never missed a chance of insulting and me i had always vowed vengeance and now i had my chance it was as if fate had placed him in my way that i might pay my debt before i left the island he stood on the bank with his back to me and his on his shoulder i looked about for a stone to beat out his brains with but none could i see then a queer thought came into my head and showed me where i could lay my hand on a weapon i sat down in the darkness and my wooden leg with three long i was on him he put his to his shoulder but i struck him full and knocked the whole front of his skull in you can see the split in the wood now where i hit him we both went down together for i could not keep my balance but when i got up i found him still lying the sign of four quiet enough i made for the boat and in an hour we were well out at sea had brought all his earthly possessions with him his arms and his gods among other things he had a long spear and some nut with which i made a sort of a sail for ten days we were beating about trusting to luck and on the we were picked up by a which was going from to with a cargo of they were a rum crowd and and i soon managed to settle down among them they had one very good quality they let you alone and asked no questions well if i were to tell you all the adventures that my little and i went through you would not thank me for i would have you here until the sun was shining here and there we drifted about the world some strange story of small thing always turning up to keep us from london all the time however i never lost sight of my purpose i would dream of at night a hundred times i have killed him in my sleep at last however some three or four years ago we found ourselves in england i had no great difficulty in finding where lived and i set to work to discover whether he had realized the treasure or if he still had it

3Edith Wharton

i made friends with who could help me â i name no names for i don t want to get anyone else in a hole â and i soon found that he still had the jewels then i tried to get at him in many ways but he was pretty sly and had always two prize besides his sons and his on guard over him one day however i got word that he was dying i hurried at once to the garden mad that he should slip out of my like that and looking through the window â the sign of four i saw him lying in his bed with his sons on each side of him i d have come through and taken my chance with the three of them only even as i looked at him his jaw dropped and i knew that he was gone i got into his room that same night though and i searched his papers to see if there was any record of where he had hidden our jewels there was not a line however so i came away bitter and savage as a man could be before i left i me that if i ever met my friends again it would be a satisfaction to know that i had left some mark of our hatred so i down the sign of the four of us as it had been on the and i pinned it on his bosom it was too much that he should be taken to the grave without some token from the men whom he had robbed and we earned a living at this time by my exhibiting poor at and other such strange story of small places as the black he would eat raw meat and dance his war dance so we always had a of after a day s work i still heard all the news from lodge and for some years there was no news to hear except that they were hunting for the treasure at last however came what we had waited for so long the treasure had been found it was up at the top of the house in mr s i came at once and had a look at the place but i could not see how with my wooden leg i was to make my way up to it i learned however about a trap door in the roof and also about mr s supper hour it seemed to me that i could manage the thing easily through i brought him out with me with a long rope wound round his waist he could climb like a cat and he soon made his way through the roof but as ill luck would have the sign of j our it was still in the room to his cost thought he had done something very clever in killing him for when i came up by the rope i found him about as proud as a very much surprised was he when i made at him with the rope s end and cursed him for a little i took the treasure box and let it down and then slid down myself having first left the sign of the four upon the table to show that the jewels had come back at last to those who had most right to them then pulled up the rope closed the window and made off the way that he had come i don t know that i have anything else to tell you i had heard a speak of the speed of smith s the so i thought she would be a handy craft for our escape i engaged with old smith and was to give him a big sum if he got us safe to our strange story of small ship he knew no doubt that there was some screw loose but he was not in our secrets all this is the truth and if i tell it to you gentlemen it is not to amuse you â for you have not done me a very good turn â but it is because i believe the best defence i can make is just to hold back nothing but let all the world know how badly i have myself been served by major and how innocent i am of the death of his son a very remarkable account said a fitting wind up to an extremely interesting case there is nothing at all new to me in the latter part of your narrative except that you brought your own rope that i did not know by the way i had hoped that had lost all his yet he managed to shoot one at us in the boat he had lost them all sir except the one which was in his blow pipe at the time o the sign of four ah of course said i had not thought of that is there any other point which you would like to ask about asked the i think not thank you my companion answered well said jones you are a man to be humoured and we all know that you are a of crime but duty is duty and i have gone rather far in doing what you and your friend asked me i shall feel more at ease when we have our here safe under lock and key the cab still waits and there are two downstairs i am much obliged to you both for your assistance of course you will be wanted at the trial good night to you good night gentlemen both said small you first small remarked the wary jones as they left the room til take strange story of small particular care that you don t club me with your wooden leg whatever you may have done to the gentleman at the well and there is the end of our little drama i remarked after we

3Edith Wharton

had sat some time smoking in silence i fear that it may be the last investigation in which i shall have the chance of studying your methods miss has done me the honour to accept me as a husband in he gave a most dismal groan i feared as much said he i really cannot congratulate you i was a little hurt have you any reason to be dissatisfied with my choice i asked not at all i think she is one of the most charming young ladies i ever met and might have been most useful in such work as we have been doing she had a decided genius the sign of four that way witness the way in which she preserved that plan from all the other papers of her father but love is an thing and whatever is is opposed to that true cold reason which i place above all things i should never marry myself lest i bias my judgment i trust said i laughing that my judgment may survive the ordeal but you look weary yes the reaction is already upon me i shall be as limp as a rag for a week strange said i how terms of what in another man i should call alternate with your fits of splendid energy and vigour yes he answered there are in me the of a very fine and also of a pretty sort of a fellow i often think of those lines of old die war und der strange story of small by the way d of this business you see that they had as i a in the house who could be none other than lai the butler so jones actually has the honour of having caught one fish in his great haul the division seems rather unfair i remarked you have done all the work in this business i get a wife out of it jones gets the credit pray what remains for you for me said there still remains the bottle and he stretched his long white hand up for it v the end st bride street london st bride ex london f october s catalogue of standard and popular works by the best authors h rider haggard s novels crown w cloth elegant price s illustrated d s wife by h rider haggard with thirty four illustrations by and charles â mr rider haggard ii at his best in s the are really admirable â pall cloth elegant with sixteen full page price s d mr s will by h rider haggard â mr s will as a story is excellent it is told with a vigour which carries one straight through it â crown z tf cloth extra boards with price dr d the witch s head by h rider haggard that mr rider haggard has very considerable powers as a was evident from his book dawn but is still more evident from the witch s head it is far above the average â academy b h rider haggard s r â â â cheaper edition crown price illustrated d dawn by h rider haggard author of the witch s head s wife mr s will etc with sixteen full page illustrations drawn by j by ex of paris dawn is a novel of merit above the average from the first page the story the mind and the expectations this we repeat a striking and original novel breathing an elevated tone throughout â times it is wonderfully interesting even fascinating â a story of great power and decided genius â crown cloth extra price j d illustrated d the curse of game s hold by g a author of m p etc etc with numerous illustrations by charles a tale of thrilling adventure and peril in the author s well known style â interesting full of adventure and well written â academy crown cloth elegant price j d illustrated d just a love story by l t author of engaged to be married etc with numerous full page illustrations crown cloth extra price s d a v the mystery of mrs by mrs author of harry etc as a study of character the story shows in a marked degree some of the author s happiest gifts â st james s crown cloth price y d three notable stories love and peril to be or not to be the by the of k t mrs alexander and thomas hardy they are all good specimens of their noble and notable authors the of the three tales each good in itself has the happiest effect and the volume will doubtless find many readers â crown w cloth extra price s d hints on and management of the table ma translated from the french of le by mary author of little dinners etc etc with preface by the crown cloth extra price s illustrated d high hall a sporting story by sir h author of hard held etc etc with full page illustrations by g by et of paris crown cloth extra price s a suggestion by large crown cloth elegant price p d illustrated d a sage of sixteen by l b author of the baby s grandmother mr smith etc with numerous illustrations by j e her story is delightful to read and without a word has a fine lesson not only for girls but even more perhaps for older readers â b third edition crown cloth extra price j i babe in by frank author of â dr a â clever and well worth reading the salvation army scenes are excellent â it is impossible to refrain from frank upon the life like sketches he has produced a book like this should be read by all there are fragments in it of which and would not be ashamed â cheaper edition cloth extra price d illustrated royal wanderings in and about the ancient capital of england by rev a g m

3Edith Wharton

a author of the village of palaces the of m r etc with numerous text and full page illustrations drawn on the spot by c g â the illustrations by mr are charming and the book altogether a pretty one â imperial i mo cloth gilt side price s d illustrated d⠞ an indian by general e f of the staff corps author of reminiscences of sport in india etc with full page illustrations from original drawings made by the author and miss c g withal the book is admirably written and with numerous sketches which do credit to the artistic skill of general and miss â county gentleman vo cloth extra price s d of the home by harry a finely conceived and indeed delightful poem of the affections â i mc extra d a story of english country life by francis francis author of sporting sketches wi h pen and pencil by lake and river etc etc with illustrations on steel by john coloured by hand when it is said that it is written by the late mr francis francis and illustrated by john assurance has been given of a handsome and book â s magazine cheaper râ wn w extra price crown cloth boards price s d td one of the royal by the crown a price y d d hard held a sporting novel being a to and by sir h for cheaper edition see page crown cloth extra price j d d and the painter a romance of our time second edition with preface by john bell an clever book mr bell is often not seldom provoking but rarely dull â world it is the sort of book the description of which as very clever is at once inevitable and inadequate the theme is politics and and the treatment for the most part the streak of humorous which shows through the several of the story is both curious and pleasing in the author s method is not unlike lord s â l b s novels new uniform edition mrs s work is always well done she has a great power of distinctness and variety to her characters â cloth extra price j d each with mr smith a part of his life a work of quite extraordinary talent which will at once win for its a high place among contemporary â echo the baby s grandmother the baby s grandmother is in its way a work of genius it is long since we have read so bright and oo brilliant a novel â spectator cousins cousins is a charming story it is long since we have read a book which we can so cordially recommend to our readers â vanity fair is by great skill and greater delicacy â times troublesome daughters is delightful it with gaiety it is very original and very natural â dealing with the passions of men and women and not with the of the or the artificial of society it preserves a purity of tone and a dignity of method not too often found in the novels of the day â dick one of the best studies of humble life that has appeared for many years â academy the history of a week â to be followed by other works by the same author the standard library grown p cloth extra artistic price y d each d the by w e mr has never had a happier thought for a novel nor worked out his idea more than in this bright story it is thoroughly picturesque and sparkling â will be enjoyed by everybody who reads it and everybody ought to read it â observer the by s in every sense the is one of mr s best and most original stories â morning post â the story is told with the author s accustomed skill and with all his in â saturday review a good novel of an exciting sort it is a thoroughly book and the study of dialect is â daily telegraph the sign of pour by a the philosopher in slippers views of life and society by the author of three essays by w e the announcement of a new novel by mr is the assurance of a fresh literary treat and the reader who takes np will find it his most sanguine expectations â the play of character and the interest of the plot are maintained to the end â daily news â â a decidedly interesting book the characters are careful studies world the standard continued z a cloth extra each in london by f w robinson author of grandmother s money etc the story is written in a forcible style and the murder which the plot depends is not only contrived with skill but treated in a manner which is strikingly original â little by f w robinson little is a splendid story â spectator the of mary smith by f w robinson the of mary smith is a capital book â academy harry by mrs this book is very clever and entertaining the characters are good and every page in those touches of true and subtle observation in which mrs â pall f w robinson s prison series crown cloth extra price x d each with x the of jane female prison characters female life in prison these volumes are of general interest every variety of t of the female prisoner is described and every event of prison life is detailed in these pages the are extraordinary and interesting and many are very touching â morning post crown extra price s d d a tale of moving accidents by flood and field by r n author of old etc etc this tale of moving accidents by flood and field is from first to last unusually interesting none of captain s classical sea stories contain more exciting experiences â post picture cover s gilt s d under fourteen flags being the life

3Edith Wharton

and adventures of general a soldier of fortune by captain w d l we should recommend every one who has exhausted ma me and other favourite writers to procure under fourteen flags and can promise that whoever does so in search of amusement and excitement will not have spent his money in vain â world crown cloth extra price s d old by r n few better novels have made their appearance lately the author writes vigorously and well â crown cloth extra price s cl duke s by j r author of white and red etc a fair of historical â times this work has been selected and approved by the london school board as a school prize crown tv cloth extra price s d d the romance of a by th translated by m young m has succeeded in ancient egyptian life and scenes the of tragic events with the brightness of a love episode n new two shilling novels by popular authors price picture boards s cloth s d by henry author of a modem greek heroine etc a way widow the author pleases from the outset his brighter pages are almost as as the painful interest of his more tragic ones and altogether the story is and thrilling â by author of etc a modem this novel deserves praise for its and ease of style and for the simple force with which its main characters are presented â by author of harry red etc a fair the interest does not halt for a moment in these pages full of incident and adventure related if not quite in the author s best manner with the brightness and ease which never him â morning post ii new two shilling aâ i crown v price s or td d by james author of the house on the no etc thb haunted church the reader is carried on from start to finish with that never flag in the interest they excite and that when folly unfolded reveal a plot conceived and well worked out â s journal by joseph author of john s double the abbey murder etc the gay world to those who have not yet made acquaintance with the gay world all that can be said is that the sooner they do so in these latter days of fiction a story of such interest is not often to be met with world by author of in the old a lady s tour in driven before the storm a powerful novel the story has a strong and interesting plot and will probably be widely read in its new and cheaper form by a street mystery the favourable opinion formed of this startling tale on its first appearance is confirmed by a second reading â a â which in itself to prove the superiority of the story to the ordinary run of fiction â morning post by paul lis translated by mrs the story is alive to the last and much sincere vigorous writing interest and expectation to the end â new two shilling crown iv picture boards s cloth gilt s d by l b and other stories they show the ease and grace of the author s style and have that pre eminent quality of that comes of cleverness which is never and art whidi has become second nature â by all or nothing mrs is one of the few lady of the day who write far too little but who when they do write write as if they respected themselves and their public equally it is in all points one of mrs s best books â by the hon or of from b to end in touches of nature and descriptions and the story carries us on without a semblance of through striking scenes until we close the volume in something not unlike at the art and genius of the man who wrote it â review by the author of st s the blue ribbon the reader will be both pleased and interested in this story it in picturesque sketches of incident and character dialogue and touches of pathos and quiet good sense which will surely make it popular â little miss those who like the lighter class of fiction will find this novel to their taste and it will well serve to while away an hour or so of a railway journey â r circular the descriptions are as pretty as a painting and as tender as a poem â literary world i i i â i i ii i m â â â â â â â i iâ new two shilling ol â crown prices boards s cloth s d a house party by doctor jacob by m hard held by sir h records of a stormy life by mrs stormy waters by robert s wife by the son of his father by mrs by mrs a princess of by charles in a storm by a jack s daughter by miss young love and war by violet two lilies by queen by by m s novels a cheap uniform edition crown price picture boards s s d half j d each s and are very human â lady s dame dame is a charming conception â spectator my lady it would be well indeed if fiction generally could be kept up to this level â academy intensely dramatic in incident and sensation â daily telegraph like s kiss a pretty story full of plot pathos and character â standard written with considerable skill â all lovers of the divine art of music should read it as it contains words on art matters which must fire their zeal and foster noble feelings the story is full of interest â musical review a fascinating story full of interest throughout â saturday review a secret full of pathetic and charming love passages â the world s crown w price picture boards s cloth s d half x

3Edith Wharton

each a novel of a refined order that must hold the attention of the reader it is very well written and has all the elements of popularity â ufe after long grief and pain the moral of the story is sound the dialogue is smart and lively the style clear and vigorous throughout â daily telegraph two bad blue eyes as a literary of the emotions of the lovers of our day is by no means below the average of her literary neighbours in the present volume she has depicted a female st exposed to long and terrible temptations yet arriving at the goal of virtuous marriage with the man of her choice â and the real attraction of the book lies in s especial g â the of the and feelings of youth â m my lord conceit s books are so well known now that it does not need a critic to tell the public that her style is good and the story she tells an one her present story has these good points and the merit besides of refinement in a great degree â review is a work of more than average merit the plot is neither deep nor intricate but is both attractive and entertaining and the language is graceful and at times poetic â c l s novels a cheap uniform edition crown price future j cloth gilt j d miss writes easily and well and she has the gift of her characters describe themselves by their dialogue which is bright and natural â in the snow there are here all the elements of tragedy miss s scenes are of a dramatic kind â daily news the s undoubtedly a clever and well written story a book which contains a good deal that is interesting and a reserve of something still better â times beneath the wave certain to become popular the story is cleverly told there a strong interest in each chapter â s weekly news c s rival some of the characters especially that of the clever worldly are very cleverly drawn â standard lady s pride we recommend lady s pride to any one who has the and unable to cure it wishes to forget it the tale is especially calculated to take the reader s attention away himself â literary world quite true possesses that one merit in a novel without which all others are apt to be of little avail â it is exceedingly interesting â the broken seal the mystery is maintained with a skill which would not disgrace that master of this form of craft â mr â daily news s â crown price picture boards s cloth gilt s d s widow miss has a very good story to tell and very well she tells it â z hidden in my heart the i ot is well constructed it is an absorbing tale which has the to become popular â morning post r â â w s novels crown vo picture s cloth gilt s d love the world home the secret seven the woman in the stolen will the black flag s daughter left to the world j b â those marked thus are will be ready in february hunted to death perils of a pretty girl grey the three red â mary hay s novels crown price picture boards s cloth gilt s d â old s money hidden perils victor and m the motto the s love for her dear sake s venture missing under the will bid me discourse s secret a wicked girl one shilling n b â those marked thus are will be ready in february f e m novels price picture s gilt s d half is d each id red hood â we l in reading this pure story that a mind speaks to our mind that it is not a mere telling an idle tale to be forgotten in an hour â sunday times beneath the wheels it may be affirmed that a larger of mysteries has seldom or never been heaped into one novel before while the author may be on having provided a satisfactory key for every one of them â love s crosses the author has written a fervent love story with passages of great warmth and including a most â b st john s novels crown price picture s sailor snow ship my daughter the daughter of the sea e s s novels crown price picture boards s cloth gilt s d half j d only an on dangerous with a curse a death ring er mrs john s novels crown vo price picture y s cloth gilt s d half j mr nobody parted lives both in the wrong recollections of a country doctor hiss e s novels crown price picture s cloth gilt d half m restored a true marriage son and heir until the day breaks mrs h s novels crown price picture s cloth gilt s d half d i pure worth winning â r mrs power o s novels cr wn price s cloth gilt s d y d won a beggar on horseback various authors works i crown price picture boards s cloth s d age by p a the nick of time by w t by e p the morals of by mrs britain s slaves by george s by the trial the up of the lord chief justice and matrimony by colonel the black band or mysteries of midnight illustrated by s select shilling novels by popular authors crown paper cover is cloth is d each d the of a smile by l b a romance by nurse s mistake by the pretty sister of by mrs by m p the by john a o the by mrs alexander the queen s by d the haunted fountain by favour and fortune by the author of jack s daughter dark street by f w robinson a wicked

3Edith Wharton

girl by mary hay m p by g a the of north liberty by the abbey murder by joseph select shilling my paper cover is is d each d a mere child by l b love until death by r the queen s token by mrs a rainy june by don by john s double by joseph james s fate by s visions by and by beforehand by l t this series will be exclusively reserved to the works of well known authors other volumes are in course of preparation and will be published at short intervals price paper cover is d laying down the cards by the mrs price paper cover is cloth is d d a fatal by the weird story is related in thrilling style and has in it the elements of popularity among lovers of literature literary world one shilling price paper cover ix illustrated doubt second edition by james s little â mr little may be heartily congratulated on his artistic and powerful story â opinion price paper is d the crime of the golden by rock â faithfully represents the at the gold when the first began â c circular price paper cover is d against the grain by c t c james the reader will thoroughly enjoy the â academy price paper cover is d in the shadow of death by sir price paper cover is d mad love or an artist s dream translated from the russian of crown vo paper cover is d galloping days at the by charles james a hearty laugh may be got out of galloping days there is real comedy in this sketch â academy new edition price paper cover is cloth is d d at what cost by author of called back etc twenty fifth thousand price paper cover is cloth is d d a romance of art and love by no man or woman of sense can say that it is anything but a good book and a book to read â court and society review iâ s one shilling â c with ml illustrations â price paper cover is l the wife s sacrifice by d translated by h the story is a very exciting one full of strong and start ling incidents so that the reader is carried along breathless â people price paper cover is d the princess by de jest a better shillings worth to while away the of a railway journey could scarcely be wished for â liverpool price paper cover is is d of pearl written by herself uniform with of pearl price is d of rose written by herself price paper cover is d baffled by b a really clever story full of strong character drawing and exciting incident and as a whole excellent change for a shilling â society price paper cover is cloth is d d or rural felicity by frank e author of our town price paper cover is cloth is d d innocent or guilty by price paper cover is cloth is d d the silent shore by john it is really admirably written and from first to last it has strong dramatic interest it may fairly take its place among the best stories of the kind â one shilling hotel â continued price paper cover is three lucky shots by park it is an extremely good story of the type the incidents are natural the plot is together in a workman like manner and the book is altogether very pleasant reading â review price paper cover is d musical by gray a smart in form of the of musical agents told in a bright and telling fashion â society price paper cover is cloth is d d the s daughter a simple and tale of m life humour is not wanting and the love making will please by its â s e paper cover is cloth is d d the poems for by mrs author of and poems etc mrs s verse is easy and flowing and her poetry and vigorous there is nothing in this volume that is not deserving of praise â crown paper cover price is the great of london with map of the estates by frank m a i recommend this book to all who wish to understand the working of the great landlord system in the metropolis â truth we commend the study of this book to every tenant interested in the power by the ground landlord â daily chronicle price paper cover is d imprisoned in the house of for by john this is a well written and account of the experience of a well known and dramatic critic written during a period of temporary obscurity within the walls of her majesty s prison at â lad s si s indian tales author s cheap paper d is first series of border white second series of the desert chief flying last of the third series flower indian fourth series the bee hunters queen of the fifth series chief hero rebel chief sixth series the pearl of the trail hunter seventh series of the s daughter tiger eighth series gold indian chief red track ninth series the treasure of pearls red river half breed each series also in volume form price cloth gilt s d the carefully and by b st john price paper covers d cloth limp is d how to live on a shilling a week by one who has tried it the author shows how it can be done as exhibiting possibilities the suggestions are interesting â news of the world cheaper edition price paper cover d d the poems for by mrs author of and poems etc a most charming little volume containing many pieces that are suitable for and are by this time widely known and appreciated â lady s attractive pictures and stories for young children beautifully coloured toy books with stories written by miss f m carefully printed on paper in

3Edith Wharton

thej captain of the and other tales by a author of etc london green and co and new york east w street all rights reserved z z o l ⠞ mar to my friend major general a w as a slight token of my admiration for his great and as yet services to little volume is preface for the use of some of the following tales i am indebted to the courtesy of the of temple bar london society and the boys own paper a con an m d contents â â the captain of the pole star j s statement the great experiment the man from that little square box john s a literary john the parson of s the ring of i io the captain of the pole star being an extract from the singular journal of john m ray student of medicine september ii a â si n long e still lying to amid enormous ice fields the one which stretches away to the north of us and to which our ice anchor is attached cannot be smaller than an english county to the right and left unbroken sheets extend to the horizon this morning the mate reported that there were signs of pack ice to the southward should this form of sufficient thickness to bar our return we shall be in a position of danger as the food i hear is already running somewhat short it is late in the season and the nights are beginning to this morning i saw a star twinkling just over the fore yard the first since the beginning of may there is considerable discontent among the crew many of whom are anxious to get back home to be in time for the season when labour always commands a high price upon the scotch coast as yet their displeasure is only signified by sullen countenances and black looks but i heard from the second mate this afternoon that the captain op the pole star they contemplated sending a to the captain to explain their grievance i much doubt how he will receive it as he is a man of fierce temper and very sensitive about anything approaching to an of his rights i shall venture after dinner to say a few words to him upon the subject i have always found that he will from me what he would resent from any other member of the crew island at the north west corner of is visible upon our quarter â a rugged line of rocks by white which represent it is curious to think that at the present moment there is probably no human being nearer to us than the in the south of â a good nine hundred miles as the crow flies a captain takes a great responsibility upon himself when he risks his vessel under such circumstances no has ever remained in these till so advanced a period of the year p m â l have spoken to captain and though the result has been hardly satisfactory i am bound to say that he listened to what i had to say very quietly and even when i had finished he put on that air of determination which i have frequently observed upon his face and paced rapidly backwards and forwards across the narrow cabin for some minutes at first i feared that i had seriously offended him but he the idea by sitting down again and putting his hand upon my arm with a gesture which almost amounted to a caress there was the captain of the â pole star depth of tenderness too in his wild dark eyes which surprised me considerably look here doctor he said i m sorry i ever took â i am indeed â â and i would give fifty pounds this minute to see you standing safe upon the it s hit or miss with me this time there are fish to the north of us how dare you shake your head sir when i tell you i saw them blowing from the â this in a sudden burst of fury though i was not conscious of having shown any signs of doubt two and twenty fish in as many minutes as i am a living man and not under ten foot now doctor do you think i can leave the country when there is only one infernal strip of ice between me and my fortune if it came on to blow from the north to morrow we could fill the ship and be away before the frost could catch us if it came on to blow from the south â well i suppose the men are paid for their lives and as for myself it matters but little to me for i have more to bind me to the other world than to this one i confess that i am sorry for you though i wish i had old who was with me last voyage for he was a man that would never be missed and you â you said once that you were engaged did you not yes i answered snapping the spring of the which hung from my watch chain and holding up the little of curse you he springing out of his seat a whale is measured among not by the length of its body but by the length of its the captain of the pole star with his very beard with passion what is your happiness to me what have i to do with her that you must her photograph before my eyes i almost thought that he was about to strike me in the frenzy of his rage but with another he dashed open the door of the cabin and rushed out upon deck leaving me considerably astonished at his extraordinary violence it is the first time that he has ever shown me anything but courtesy and kindness i can hear him pacing excitedly up

3Edith Wharton

and down overhead as i write these lines i should like to give a sketch of the character of this man but it seems to attempt such a thing upon paper when the idea in my own mind is at best a vague and uncertain one several times i have thought that i grasped the clue which might explain it but only to be disappointed by his presenting in some new light which would upset all my conclusions it may be that no human eye but my own shall ever rest upon these lines yet as a study i shall attempt to leave some record of captain a man s outer case generally gives some indication of the soul within the captain is tall and with dark handsome face and a curious way of his limbs which may arise from or be simply an of his excessive energy his jaw and whole cast of countenance is manly and resolute but the eyes are the feature of his face they are of the very darkest bright and the captain of the â pole star j eager with a singular mixture of in their expression and of something else which i have sometimes thought was more allied with horror than any other emotion generally the former but on occasions and more particularly when he was thoughtfully inclined the look of fear would spread and until it imparted a new character to his whole countenance it is at these times that he is most subject to fits of anger and he seems to be aware of it for i have known him lock himself up so that no one might approach him until his dark hour was passed he sleeps badly and i have heard him shouting during the night but his cabin is some little distance from mine and i could never distinguish the words which he said this is one phase of his character and the most disagreeable one it is only through my close association with him thrown together as we are day after day that i have observed it otherwise he is an agreeable companion well read and entertaining and as gallant a seaman as ever trod a deck i shall not easily forget the way in which he handled the ship when we were caught by a gale among the loose ice at the beginning of april i have never seen him so cheerful and even as he was that night as he paced backwards and forwards upon the bridge amid the flashing of the lightning and the howling of the wind he has told me several times that the thought of death was a pleasant one to him which is a sad thing for a young man to say he cannot be the captain of the pole star much more than thirty though his hair and moustache are already slightly some great sorrow must have overtaken him and his whole life perhaps i should be the same if i lost my â god knows i think if it were not for her that i should care very little whether the wind blew from the north or the south to morrow there i hear him come down the companion and he has locked himself up in his room which shows that he is still in an mood and so to bed as old would say for the candle is burning down we have to use them now since the nights are closing in and the steward has turned in so there are no hopes of another one september i th â calm clear day and still lying in the same position what wind there is comes from the south east but it is very slight captain is in a better humour and to me at breakfast for his he still looks somewhat however and that wild look in his eyes which in a would mean that he was â at least so our chief engineer remarked to me and he has some reputation among the portion of our crew as a and of it is strange that superstition should have obtained such mastery over this hard headed and practical race i could not have believed to what an extent it is carried had i not observed it for myself we have had a perfect of it this voyage until i have felt inclined to serve out of and with the saturday allowance of the first the captain of the pole star symptom of it was that shortly after leaving the men at the wheel used to that they heard plaintive cries and screams in the wake of the ship as if something were following it and were unable to overtake it this fiction has been kept up during the whole voyage and on dark nights at the beginning of the seal fishing it was only with great difficulty that men could be induced to do their spell no doubt what they heard was either the creaking of the chains or the cry of some passing sea bird i have been fetched out of bed several times to listen to it but i need hardly say that i was never able to distinguish anything unnatural the men however are so positive upon the subject that it is hopeless to argue with them i mentioned the matter to the captain once but to my surprise he took it very gravely and indeed appeared to be considerably dis by what i told him i should have thought that he at least would have been above such vulgar all this upon superstition leads me up to the fact that mr our second mate saw a ghost last night â or at least says that he did which of course is the same thing it is quite refreshing to have some new topic of conversation after the eternal routine of bears and which has served us for so many months the ship is

3Edith Wharton

haunted and that he would not stay in her a day if he had any other place to go to indeed the fellow is honestly frightened and i had to give him the captain of the pole star and of this morning to steady him down he seemed quite indignant when i suggested that he had been having an extra glass the night before and i was obliged to him by keeping as grave a countenance as possible during his story which he certainly in a very straight forward and matter of fact way was on the bridge he said about four bells in the middle watch just when the night was at its darkest there was a bit of a moon but the clouds were blowing across it so that you couldn t see far from the ship john m the came aft from the head and reported a strange noise on the bow i went and we both heard it sometimes like a crying and sometimes like a in pain i ve been seventeen years to the country and i never heard seal old or young make a sound like that as we were standing there on the head the moon came out from behind a cloud and we both saw a sort of white figure moving across the ice field in the same direction that we had heard the cries we lost sight of it for a while but it came back on the port bow and we could just make it out like a shadow on the ice i sent a hand aft for the and m and i went down on to the pack thinking that maybe it might be a bear when we got on the ice i lost sight of m but i pushed on in the direction where i could still hear the cries i followed them for a mile or maybe more and then running round a i came right on to the top of it the captain of the pole star standing and waiting for me seemingly i don t know what it was it wasn t a bear any way it was tall and white and straight and if it wasn t a man nor a woman i ll stake my it was something worse i made for the ship as hard as i could run and precious glad i was to find myself aboard i signed articles to do my duty by the ship and on the ship i ll stay but you don t catch me on the ice again after that is his story given as far as i can in his own words i fancy what he saw must in spite of his denial have been a young bear erect upon its hind legs an attitude which they often assume when alarmed in the uncertain light this would bear a resemblance to a human figure especially to a man whose nerves were already somewhat shaken whatever it may have been the occurrence is unfortunate for it has produced a most unpleasant effect upon the crew their looks are more sullen than before and their discontent more open the double grievance of being from the fishing and of being detained in what they choose to call a haunted vessel may lead them to something rash even the who are the oldest and among them are joining in the general agitation apart from this absurd outbreak of superstition things are looking rather more cheerful the pack which was forming to the south of us has partly cleared away and water is so warm as to lead me to believe that we are lying in one of those branches of the gulf stream lo the captain of the pole star which run up between and there are numerous small and about the ship with abundance of so that there is every possibility of fish being sighted indeed one was seen blowing about dinner time but in such a position that it was impossible for the boats to follow it september a â had an interesting conversation with the chief mate mr upon the bridge it seems that our captain is as great an to the and even to the owners of the vessel as he has been to me mr tells me that when the ship is paid off upon returning from a voyage captain and is not seen again until the approach of another season when he walks quietly into the office of the company and asks whether his services will be required he has no friend in nor does any one pretend to be acquainted with his early history his position depends entirely upon his skill as a seaman and the name for courage and coolness which he had earned in the capacity of mate before being with a separate command the unanimous opinion seems to be that he is not a and that his name is an assumed one mr thinks that he has devoted himself to for the reason that it is the most dangerous occupation which he could select and that he courts death in every possible manner he mentioned several instances of this one of which is rather curious if true it seems that on one occasion he did captain of the pole star it not put in an appearance at the office and a substitute had to be selected in his place that was at the time of the last russian and war when he turned up again next spring he had a wound in the side of his neck which he used to endeavour to conceal with his whether the mate s that he had been engaged in the war is true or not i cannot say it was certainly a strange coincidence the wind is round in an direction but is still very slight i think the ice is lying closer than it did yesterday as far as the

3Edith Wharton

eye can reach on every side there is one wide expanse of white only broken by an occasional or the dark shadow of a to the south there is the narrow lane of blue water which is our sole means of escape and which is closing up every day the captain is taking a heavy responsibility upon himself i hear that the of potatoes has been finished and even the are running short but he preserves the same countenance and the greater part of the day at the crow s nest sweeping the horizon with his glass his manner is very and he seems to avoid my society but there has been no repetition of the violence which he showed the other night p m â my deliberate opinion is that we are commanded by a madman nothing else can account for the extraordinary of captain it is fortunate that i have kept this journal of our voyage s it will serve to justify us in case we have to put him the captain of the pole star under any sort of restraint a step which i should only consent to as a last resource curiously enough it was he himself who suggested and not mere as the secret of his strange conduct he was standing upon the bridge about an hour ago peering as usual through his glass while i was walking up and down the the majority of the men were below at their tea for the watches have not been regularly kept of late tired of walking i leaned against the and admired the mellow glow cast by the sinking sun upon the great ice fields which surround us i was suddenly aroused from the reverie into which i had fallen by a hoarse voice at my elbow and starting round i found that the captain had descended and was standing by my side he was staring out over the ice with an expression in which horror surprise and something approaching to joy were for the mastery in spite of the cold great drops of perspiration were down his forehead and he was evidently fearfully excited his limbs like those of a man upon the verge of an fit and the lines about his mouth were drawn and hard look he gasped seizing me by the wrist but still keeping his eyes upon the distant ice and moving his head slowly in a direction as if following some object which was moving across the field of vision look i there man there between the now coming out from behind the far one i you see her â ou see her there still i the captain of the pole star j flying from me by god flying from me â and gone he uttered the last two words in a whisper of concentrated agony which shall never fade from my remembrance clinging to the he endeavoured to climb up upon the top of the as if in the hope of obtaining a last glance at the departing object his strength was not equal to the attempt however and he staggered back against the saloon where he leaned panting and exhausted his face was so livid that i expected him to become unconscious so lost no time in leading him down the companion and stretching him upon one of the in the cabin i then poured him out some brandy which i held to his lips and which had a wonderful effect upon him bringing the blood back into his white face and his poor shaking limbs he raised himself up upon his elbow and looking round to see that we were alone he beckoned to me to come and sit beside him you saw it didn t you he asked still in the same subdued tone so foreign to the nature of the man no i saw nothing his head sank back again upon the cushions no he wouldn t without the glass he murmured he couldn t it was the glass that showed her to me and then the eyes of love â the eyes of love i say don t let the steward in i he ll think i m mad just bolt the door will you the captain of the pole star r i rose and did what he had commanded he lay quiet for a while lost in thought apparently and then raised himself up upon his elbow again and asked for some more brandy you don t think i am do you he asked as i was putting the bottle back into the after tell me now as man to man do you think that i am mad i think you have something on your mind i answered which is exciting you and doing you a good deal of harm right there lad he cried his eyes sparkling from the effects of the brandy plenty on my mind â plenty i but i can work out the latitude and the and i can handle my and manage my you couldn t prove me mad in a court of law could you now it was curious to hear the man lying back and coolly arguing out the question of his own perhaps not i said but still i think you would be wise to get home as soon as you can and settle down to a quiet life for a while get home eh he muttered with a sneer upon his face one word for me and two for yourself lad settle down with â pretty little are bad dreams signs of madness sometimes i answered what else what would be the first symptoms pains in the head noises in the ears flashes before the eyes the c apt am of the pole star ah what about them he interrupted what would you call a delusion seeing a thing which is not there is a delusion but she was there he groaned to himself

3Edith Wharton

she was there and rising he the door and â walked with slow and uncertain steps to his own cabin where i have no doubt that he will remain until to morrow morning his system seems to have received a terrible shock whatever it may have been that he imagined himself to have seen the man becomes a greater mystery every day though i fear that the solution which he has himself suggested is the correct one and that his reason is affected i do not think that a guilty conscience has anything to do with his behaviour the idea is a popular one among the officers and i believe the crew but i have seen nothing to support it he has not the air of a guilty man but of one who has had terrible usage at the hands of fortune and who should be regarded as a martyr rather than a criminal the wind is round to the south to night god help us if it blocks that narrow pass which is our only to safety situated as we are on the edge of the main pack or the barrier as it is called by the any wind from the north has the effect of out the ice around us and allowing our escape while a wind from the south blows up all the loose ice behind us and us in between two god help us i say again i ih â sunday and a day of rest my i the captain of the â pole star fears have been con firm ed and the thin strip of blue water has disappeared from the southward nothing but the great motionless ice fields around us with their weird and fantastic there is a silence over their wide expanse which is horrible no of the waves now no cries of or straining of sails one deep universal silence in which the murmurs of the and the of their boots upon the white shining deck seem and out of place our only visitor was an fox a rare animal upon the pack though common enough upon the land he did not come near the ship however but after surveying us from a distance fled rapidly across the ice this was curious conduct as they generally know nothing of man and being of an inquisitive nature become so familiar that they are easily captured incredible as it may seem even this little incident produced a bad effect upon the crew yon ay an sees nor you nor me i was the comment of one of the leading and the others nodded their acquiescence it is vain to attempt to argue against such superstition they have made up their minds that there is a curse upon the ship and nothing will ever persuade them to the contrary the captain remained in seclusion all day except for about half an hour in the afternoon when he came out upon the i observed that he kept his eye fixed upon the spot where the vision of yesterday had appeared and was quite prepared for another outburst the captain of the pole star but none such came he did not seem to see me although i was standing close beside him divine service was read as usual by the chief engineer it is a curious thing that in vessels the church of england prayer book is always employed although there is never a member of that church among either officers or crew our men are all roman or the former since a is used which is foreign to both neither can complain that the other is preferred to them and they listen with all attention and devotion so that the system has something to recommend it a glorious sunset which made the great fields of ice look like a lake of blood i have never seen a finer and at the same time more weird effect wind is round if it will blow twenty four hours from the north all will yet be well september i ih â to day is s birthday dear it is well that she cannot see her boy as she used to call me shut up among the ice fields with a crazy captain and a few weeks provisions no doubt she the shipping list in the every morning to see if we are reported from i have to set an example to the men and look cheery and but god knows my heart is very heavy at times the is at nineteen to day there is but little wind and what there is comes from an quarter captain is in an excellent humour i think he he has seen some other omen or vision poor fellow during the night for he b i the captain of the pole star or came into my room early in the morning and down over my whispered it wasn t a delusion it s all right i after breakfast he asked me to find out how much food was left which the second mate and i proceeded to do it is even less than w e had expected forward they have half a full of three barrels of salt meat and a very limited supply of coffee beans and sugar in the after hold and there are a good many luxuries such as salmon mutton c but they will go a very short way among a crew of fifty men there are two barrels of flour in the store room and an unlimited supply of tobacco altogether there is about enough to keep the men on half for eighteen or twenty days â certainly not more when we reported the state of things to the captain he ordered all hands to be and addressed them from the i never saw him to better advantage with his tall well knit figure and dark animated face he seemed a man born to command and he discussed

3Edith Wharton

the situation in a cool sailor like way which showed that while the danger he had an eye for every of escape my lads he said no doubt you think i brought you into this fix if it is a fix and maybe some of you feel bitter against me on account of it but you must remember that for many a season no ship that comes to the country has brought in as much oil money as the old pole star and every one of you has had his share of it you can leave our wives behind you in the captain of the pole star comfort e other poor fellows come back to find their on the parish if you have to thank me for the one you have to thank me for the other and we may call it we ve tried a bold venture before this and succeeded so now that we ve tried one and failed we ve no cause to cry out about it if the worst comes to the worst we can make the land across the ice and lay in a stock of which will keep us alive until the spring it won t come to that though for you ll see the scotch coast again before three weeks are out at present every man must go on half share and share alike and no favour to any keep up your hearts and you ll pull through this as you ve pulled through many a danger before these few simple words of his had a wonderful effect upon the crew his former was forgotten and the old whom i have already mentioned for his superstition led off three cheers which were heartily joined in by all hands september i th â the wind has round to the north during the night and the ice shows some symptoms of opening out the men are in a good in spite of the short allowance upon which they have been placed steam is kept up in the engine room that there may be no delay should an opportunity for escape present itself the captain is in spirits though he still that wild expression which i have already remarked upon this burst of cheerfulness me more than his former gloom i cannot understand it i think i mentioned in an the captain of the pole star early part of this journal that one of his is that he never any person to enter his cabin but upon making his own bed such as it is and performing every other for himself to my surprise he handed me the key to day and requested me to go down there and take the time by his while he measured the of the sun at noon it is a bare little room containing a and a few books but little else in the way of luxury except some pictures upon the walls the majority of these are small cheap but there was one water colour sketch of the head of a young lady which arrested my attention it was evidently a portrait and not one of those fancy types of female beauty which sailors particularly affect no artist could have from his own mind such a curious mixture of character and weakness the languid dreamy eyes with their drooping lashes and the broad low brow by thought or care were in strong contrast with the clean cut prominent jaw and the resolute set of the lower lip underneath it in one of the corners was written m b set that any one in the short space of nineteen years of existence could develop such strength of will as was stamped upon her face seemed to me at the time to be incredible she must have been an extraordinary woman her features have thrown such a over me that though i had but a fleeting glance at them i could were i a them line for line upon this page of the journal i wonder i the captain of the pole star what part she has played in our captain s life he has hung her picture at the end of his berth so that his eyes continually rest upon it were he a less reserved man i should make some remark upon the subject of the other things in his cabin there was nothing worthy of mention â uniform coats a small looking glass tobacco box and numerous pipes including an oriental â which by the â bye gives some colour to mr s story about his in the war though the connection may seem rather a distant one p m â captain just gone to bed after a long and interesting conversation on general topics when he chooses he can be a most fascinating companion being remarkably well read and having the power of expressing his opinion forcibly without appearing to be i hate to have my intellectual toes trod upon he spoke about the nature of the soul and out the views of and upon the in a manner he seems to have a leaning for and the doctrines of in discussing them we touched upon modern and i made some joking allusion to the of upon which to my surprise he warned me most against the innocent with the guilty and argued that it would be as logical to brand christianity as an error because who professed that religion was a villain he shortly afterwards bade me good night and retired to his room the captain of the pole star the wind is up and blows steadily from the north the nights are as dark now as they are in england i hope to morrow may set us free from our frozen september â the again thank heaven that i have strong nerves i the superstition of these poor fellows and the accounts which they give with the utmost earnestness and self conviction would any man

3Edith Wharton

not accustomed to their ways there are many of the matter but the sum total of them all is that something has been flitting round the ship all night and that m of and peter of saw it as also did mr on the bridge so having three witnesses they can make a better case of it than the second mate did i spoke to after breakfast and told him that he should be above such nonsense and that as an officer he ought to set the men a better example he shook his head but answered with characteristic caution aye na doctor he said i ca it a i say i my faith in sea an the like though there s a as claims to ha seen a that and i m no easy feared but maybe your ain would run a bit if instead o it in ye were wi me last night an seed an like shape white an here there an it and ca ing in the darkness like a bit that lost its ye would na be ready to the captain of the pole star put it a to wives then i m i saw it was hopeless to reason with him so contented myself with begging him as a personal favour to call me up the next time the appeared â a request to which he with many expressive of his hopes that such an opportunity might never arise as i had hoped the white desert behind us has become broken by many thin streaks of water which it in all directions our latitude to day was â n which shows that there is a strong drift upon the pack should the wind continue favourable it will break up as rapidly as it formed at present we can do nothing but smoke and wait and hope for the best i am rapidly becoming a when dealing with such uncertain as wind and ice a man can be nothing else perhaps it was the wind and sand of the deserts which gave the minds of the original followers of their tendency to bow to these have a very bad effect upon the captain i feared that it might excite his sensitive mind and endeavoured to conceal the absurd story from him but unfortunately he overheard one of the men making an allusion to it and insisted upon being informed about it as i had expected it brought out all his latent in an exaggerated form can hardly believe that this is the same man who philosophy last night with the most critical and judgment he is pacing backwards and forwards the captain op the pole star j upon the like a tiger stopping now and again to throw out his hands with a yearning gesture and stare out over the ice he keeps up a continual to himself and once he called out but a little time love â but a little time i poor fellow it is sad to see a gallant seaman and accomplished gentleman reduced to such a pass and to think that imagination and delusion can cow a mind to which real danger was but the salt of life was ever a man in such a position as i between a captain and a ghost seeing mate i sometimes think i am the only really sane man aboard the vessel â except perhaps the second engineer who is a kind of and would care nothing for all the in the red sea so long as they would leave him alone and not his tools the ice is still opening rapidly and there is every probability of being able to make a start to morrow morning they will think i am when i tell them at home all the strange things that have befallen me p m â i have been a good deal startled though i feel now thanks to a stiff glass of brandy i am hardly myself yet however as this handwriting will testify the fact is that i have gone through a very strange experience and am beginning to doubt whether i was justified in every one on board as because they professed to have seen things which did not seem reasonable to my understanding i am a fool to let such a trifle me the captain of the pole and yet coming as it does after all these it has an additional significance for i cannot doubt either mr s story or that of the mate now that i have experienced that which i used formerly to at after all it was nothing very alarming â a mere sound and that was all i cannot expect that any one reading this if any one ever should read it will with my feelings or the effect which it produced upon me at the time supper was over and i had gone on deck to have a quiet pipe before turning in the night was very dark â so dark that standing under the quarter boat i was unable to see the officer upon the bridge i think i have already mentioned the extraordinary silence which in these frozen seas in other parts of the world be they ever so barren there is some slight of the air â some faint hum be it from the distant haunts of men or from the leaves of the trees or the wings of the birds or even the faint rustle of the grass that covers the ground one may not perceive the sound and yet if it were withdrawn it would be missed it is only here in these seas that stillness itself upon you in all its reality you find your straining to catch some little murmur and eagerly upon every accidental sound within the vessel in this state i was leaning against the when there arose from the ice almost directly underneath me a cry sharp and shrill upon

3Edith Wharton

the silent air of the night beginning as it seemed to me at a note such as the captain of the pole star never reached and mounting from that ever higher and higher until it in a long wail of agony which might have been the last cry of a lost soul the ghastly scream is still ringing in my ears grief grief seemed to be expressed in it and a great longing and yet through it all there was an occasional wild note of exultation it out from close beside me and yet as i glared into the darkness i could discern nothing i waited some little time but without hearing any repetition of the sound so i came below more shaken than i have ever been in my life before as i came down the companion i met mr coming up to relieve the watch doctor he said maybe that s wives did ye no hear it maybe that s a what d ye think o t i was obliged to to the honest fellow and acknowledge that i was as puzzled by it as he was perhaps to morrow things may look different at present i dare hardly write all that i think reading it again in days to come when i have shaken off all these associations i should despise myself for having been so weak september a â passed a restless and uneasy night still haunted by that strange sound the captain does not look as if he had had much repose either for his face is haggard and his eyes i have not told him of my adventure of last night nor shall l he is already restless and excited standing up sitting down and apparently utterly unable to keep still a fine lead appeared in the pack this morning as i the captain of the pole star had expected and we were able to cast off our and steam about twelve miles in a west sou direction we were then brought to a halt by a great as massive as any which we have left behind us it bars our progress completely so we can do nothing but anchor again and wait until it breaks up which it will probably do within hours if the wind holds several were seen swimming in the water and one was shot an immense creature more than eleven feet long they are fierce animals and are said to be more than a match for a fortunately they are slow and clumsy in their movements so that there is little danger in attacking them upon the ice the captain evidently does not think we have seen the last of our troubles though why he should take a gloomy view of the situation is more than i can since every one else on board considers that we have had a miraculous escape and are sure now to reach the open sea i suppose you think it s all right now doctor he said as we sat together after dinner hope so i answered we mustn t be too sure â and yet no doubt you are right we ll all be in the arms of our own true loves before long lad won t we but we mustn t be too sure â we mustn t be too sure he sat silent a little swinging his leg thoughtfully backwards and forwards look here he continued it s a dangerous place this even at its best â a the captain of the dangerous place i have known men cut off very suddenly in a land like this a slip would do it sometimes â a single slip and down you go through a crack and only a on the green water to show where it was that you sank â it s a queer thing he continued with a nervous laugh but all the years i ve been in this country i never once thought of making a will â not that i have anything to leave in particular but still when a man is exposed to danger he should have everything arranged and ready â don t you think so r certainly i answered wondering what on earth he was driving at he feels better for knowing it s all settled he went on now if anything should ever befall me i hope that you will look after things for me there is very little in the cabin but such as it is i should like it to be sold and the money divided in the same proportion as the oil money among the crew the i wish you to keep yourself as some slight remembrance of our voyage of course all this is a mere precaution but i thought i would take the of speaking to you about it i suppose i might rely upon you if there were any necessity most assuredly i answered and since you are taking this step i may as well r â you you i he interrupted youve all right what the devil is the matter with you there i didn t mean to be but i don t like to hear a young fellow that has hardly began life l the of the pole star about death go up on deck and get some fresh air into your lungs instead of talking nonsense in the cabin and encouraging me to do the same the more i think of this conversation of ours the less do i like it why should the man be settling his affairs at the very time when we seem to be emerging from all danger there must be some method in his madness can it be that he suicide i remember that upon one occasion he spoke in a deeply manner of the of the crime of self destruction i shall keep my eye upon him however and though i cannot upon the privacy of his cabin

3Edith Wharton

i shall at least make a point of remaining on deck as long as he stays up mr my fears and says it is on the s little way he himself takes a very rosy view of the situation according to him we shall be but of the ice by the day after to morrow pass two days after that and sight in little more than a week i hope he may not be too sanguine his opinion may be fairly balanced against the gloomy precautions of the captain for he is an old and experienced seaman and his words well before uttering them â â â â â the long impending catastrophe has come at last i hardly know what to write about it the captain is gone he may come back to us again alive but i fear me â i fear me it is now seven o clock of the morning of the th of september i have spent the the captain of the pole star â â whole night the great ice in front of us with a party of in the hope of coming upon some trace of him but in vain i shall try to give some account of the circumstances which attended upon his disappearance should any one ever chance to read the words which i put down i trust they will remember that i do not write from conjecture or from but that i a sane and educated man am describing accurately what actually occurred before my very eyes my are my own but i shall be for the facts the captain remained in excellent spirits after the conversation which i have recorded he appeared to be nervous and impatient however frequently changing his position and moving his limbs in an way which is characteristic of him at times in a quarter of an hour he went upon deck seven times only to descend after a few hurried paces i followed him each time for there was something about his face which confirmed my resolution of not letting him out of my sight he seemed to observe the effect which his movements had produced for he endeavoured by an over done laughing at the very smallest of jokes to quiet my apprehensions after supper he went on to the once more and i with him the night was dark and very still save for the melancholy of the wind among the a thick cloud was coming up from the and the ragged which it threw out in front of it were drifting across the face of the moon the captain of the pole star which only shone now and again through a in the the captain paced rapidly backwards and forwards and then seeing me still him he came across and hinted that he thought i should be better below â which i need hardly say had the effect of my resolution to remain on deck i think he forgot about my presence after this for he stood silently leaning over the and peering out across the great desert of snow part of which lay in shadow while part glittered in the moonlight several times i could see by his movements that he was referring to his watch and once he muttered a short sentence of which i could only catch the one word ready i confess to having felt an feeling creeping over me as i watched the loom of his tall figure through the darkness and noted how completely he fulfilled the idea of a man who is keeping a a with whom some vague perception began to dawn upon me as i one fact with another but i was utterly unprepared for the by the sudden intensity of his attitude i felt that he saw something i crept up behind him he was staring with an eager questioning gaze at what seemed to be a wreath of mist blown swiftly in a line with the ship it was a dim body devoid of shape sometimes more sometimes less apparent as the light fell on it the moon was in its brilliancy at the moment by a of cloud like the of an coming coming cried the in a voice tub captain of the pole star of tenderness and compassion like one who a beloved one by some favour long looked for and as pleasant to bestow as to receive what followed happened in an instant i had no power to interfere he gave one spring to the top of the and another which took him on to the ice almost to the feet of the pale misty figure he held out his hands as if to clasp it and so ran into the darkness with outstretched arms and loving words i still stood rigid and motionless straining my eyes after his retreating form until his voice died away in the distance i never thought to see him again but at that moment the moon shone out brilliantly through a in the cloudy heaven and illuminated the great field of ice then i saw his dark figure already a very long way off running with prodigious speed across the frozen plain that was the last glimpse which we caught of him â perhaps the last we ever shall a party was to follow him and i accompanied them but the men s hearts were not in the work and nothing was found another will be formed within a few hours i can hardly believe have not been dreaming or suffering from some hideous nightmare as write these things down p m â just returned dead beat and utterly tired out from a second unsuccessful search for the captain the is of enormous extent for though we have traversed at least twenty miles of its surface there has been no sign of its coming to an end the frost has been so severe of late that the snow is frozen the

3Edith Wharton

captain of the pole star as hard as granite otherwise we might have had the footsteps to guide us the crew are anxious that we should cast off and steam round the and so to the southward for the ice has opened up during the night and the sea is visible upon the horizon they argue that captain is certainly dead and that we are all our lives to no purpose by remaining when we have an opportunity of escape mr and i have had the greatest difficulty in persuading them to wait until to morrow night and have been compelled to promise that we will not under any circumstances delay our departure longer than that we propose therefore to take a few hours sleep and then to start upon a final search september th evening â i crossed the ice this morning with a party of men exploring the southern part of the while mr went off in a direction we pushed on for ten or twelve miles without seeing a trace of any living thing except a single bird which fluttered a great way over our heads and which by its flight i should judge to have been a the southern extremity of the ice field away into a long narrow spit which projected out into the sea when we came to the base of this the men halted but i begged them to continue to the extreme end of it that we might have the satisfaction of knowing that no possible chance had been neglected we had hardly gone a hundred yards before m of cried out that he saw something in front c the captain of the pole star of us and began to run we all got a glimpse of it and ran too at first it was only a vague darkness against the white ice but as we along together it took the shape of a man and eventually of the man of whom we in search he was lying face downwards upon a frozen bank many little of ice and feathers of snow bad drifted on to him as he lay and sparkled upon his dark seaman s jacket as we came up some wandering puff of wind caught these tiny in its and they whirled up into the air partially descended again and ž caught once more in the current sped rapidly away in the direction of the sea to my eyes it seemed but a snow drift but many of my companions that it started up in the shape of a woman stooped over the corpse and kissed it and then hurried away across the i have learned never to ridicule any man s opinion however strange it may seem sure it is that captain had met with no painful end for there was a bright smile upon his blue pinched features and his hands were still outstretched as though grasping at the strange visitor which had summoned him away into the dim world that lies beyond the grave we buried him the same afternoon with the ship s around him and a thirty two pound shot at his feet i read the burial service while the rough sailors wept like children for there were many who owed much to his kind heart and who showed now the affection which his strange ways had during the captain of the pole star his lifetime he went off the grating with a dull sullen and as i looked into the green water saw him go down down down until he was but a little flickering patch of white hanging upon the outskirts of eternal darkness then even that faded away and he was gone there he shall lie with his secret and his sorrows and his mystery all still buried in his breast until that great day when the sea shall give up its dead and come out from among the ice with the smile upon his face and his arms outstretched in greeting i pray that his lot may be a happier one in that life than it has been in this i shall not continue my journal our road to home lies plain and clear before us and the great ice field will soon be but a remembrance of the past it will be some time before i get over the shock produced by recent events when i began this record of our voyage i little thought of how i should be compelled to finish it i am writing these final words in the lonely cabin still starting at times and i hear the quick nervous step of the dead man upon the deck above me entered his cabin to night as was my duty to make a list of his effects in order that they might be entered in the official log all was as it had been upon my previous visit save that the picture which i have described as having hung at the end of his bed had been cut out of its frame as with a knife and was gone with this last link in a strange chain of evidence i close my of the voyage of the the captain of the pole star note by dr john m ray senior â i have read over the strange events connected with the death of the captain of the pole as in the journal of my son that everything occurred exactly as he describes it i have the fullest confidence and indeed the most positive certainty for i know him to be a strong and man with the regard for still the story is on the face of it so vague and so improbable that i was long opposed to its publication within the last few days however i have had independent testimony upon the subject which throws a new light upon it i had run down to to attend a meeting of the british medical association when

3Edith Wharton

i chanced to come across dr p an old college of mine now at in upon my telling him of this experience of my son s he declared to me that he was familiar with the man and proceeded to my no small surprise to give me a description of him which remarkably well with that given in the journal except that he depicted him as a younger man according to his account he had been engaged to a young lady of singular beauty upon the coast during his absence at sea his had died under circumstances of peculiar horror j s statement in the month of december in the year the british ship into having in tow the which had been picked up in latitude â â w there were several circumstances in connection with the condition and appearance of this abandoned vessel which excited considerable comment at the time and aroused a curiosity which has never been satisfied what these circumstances were was up in an able article which appeared in the the curious can find it in the issue for january unless my memory me for the benefit of those however who may be unable to refer to the paper in question i shall a few which touch upon the leading features of the case we have ourselves says the writer in the been over the and have closely questioned the officers of the on every point which might throw light on the affair they are of opinion that she had been abandoned several days or perhaps weeks before being picked up the official log which was found in the cabin states that the vessel sailed from boston to j s statement starting upon october it is however most imperfectly kept and affords little information there is no reference to rough weather and indeed the state of the vessel s paint and the idea that she was abandoned for any such reason she is perfectly no signs of a struggle or of violence are to be detected and there is absolutely nothing to account for the disappearance of the crew there are several indications that a lady was present on board a sewing machine being found in the cabin and some articles of female attire these probably belonged to the captain s wife who is mentioned in the log as having accompanied her husband as an instance of the of the weather it may be remarked that a of silk was found standing upon the sewing machine though the least roll of the vessel would have it to the floor the boats were and upon the and the cargo consisting of and american was untouched an old fashioned sword of curious was discovered among some lumber in the and this weapon is said to exhibit a on the steel as if it had been recently wiped it has been placed in the hands of the police and submitted to dr the for inspection the result of his examination has not yet been published we may remark in conclusion that captain of the an able and intelligent seaman is of opinion that the may have been abandoned a considerable distance from the spot y s statement at which she was picked up since a powerful current runs up in that latitude from the african coast he his inability however to advance any which can reconcile all the facts of the case in the utter absence of a clue or grain of evidence it is to be feared that the fate of the crew of the mane will be added to those numerous mysteries of the deep which will never be solved until the great day when the sea shall give up its dead if crime has been committed as is much to be suspected there is little hope of bringing the to justice i shall this extract from the by quoting a from boston which went the round of the english papers and represented the total amount of information which had been collected about the she was it said a of tons burden and belonged to white white wine of this city captain j w was an old servant of the firm and was a man of known ability and tried he was accompanied by his wife aged thirty one and their youngest child five years old the crew consisted of seven hands including two coloured and a boy there were three passengers one of whom was the well known on consumption dr who was a distinguished for in the early days of the movement and whose where is thy brother exercised a strong influence on public opinion before the war the other passengers were mr j j ha k s statement a writer in the employ of the firm and mr a half caste gentleman from new all have failed to throw any light upon the fate of these fourteen human beings the loss of dr will be felt both in political and scientific circles have here for the benefit of the public all that has been hitherto known concerning the and her crew for the past ten years have not in any way helped to the mystery i have now taken up my pen with the intention of telling all that i know of the ill fated voyage i consider that it is a duty which i owe to society for symptoms which i am familiar with in others lead me to believe that before many months my tongue and hand may be alike incapable of conveying information let me remark as a preface to my narrative that i am joseph doctor of medicine of the university of and ex consulting physician of the hospital of many will doubtless wonder why i have not proclaimed myself before and why i have suffered so many conjectures and to pass could the ends of justice have been served in any way by my revealing the facts in my

3Edith Wharton

possession i should have done so it seemed to me however that there was no possibility of such a result and i attempted after the occurrence to state my case to an english official i was met with such offensive incredulity that i determined never again to y s statement expose myself to the chance of such an can excuse the of the liverpool magistrate however when i reflect upon the treatment which i received at the hands of my own relatives who though they knew my character listened to my statement with an indulgent smile as if the delusion of a this upon my led to a quarrel between myself and john the brother of my wife and confirmed me in my resolution to let the matter sink into oblivion â a determination which i have only altered through my son s in order to make my narrative intelligible i must run lightly over one or two incidents in my former life which throw light upon subsequent events my father william k was a preacher of the called brethren and was one of the most respected citizens of like most of the other of new england he was a determined opponent to slavery and it was from his lips that i received those lessons which tinged every action of my life while i was studying medicine at university i had already made a mark as an advanced and when after taking my degree i bought a third share of the practice of dr of i managed in spite of my professional duties to devote a considerable time to the cause which i had at heart my where is thy brother co considerable attention y statement when the war broke out i left and accompanied the th new york regiment through the campaign i was present at the second battle of bull s run and at the battle of finally i was severely wounded at and would probably have perished on the field had it not been for the kindness of a gentleman named who had me carried to his house and provided me with every comfort thanks to his charity and to the nursing which i received from his black i was soon able to get about the plantation with the help of a stick it was during this period of that an occurred which is closely connected with my story among the most of the who had watched my couch during my illness there was one old who appeared to exert considerable authority over the others she was exceedingly attentive to me and i gathered from the few words that passed between us that she had heard of me and that she was grateful to me for her oppressed race one day as i was sitting alone in the in the sun and whether i should grant s army i was surprised to see this old creature towards me after looking cautiously around to see that we were alone she in the front of her dress and produced a small leather bag which was hung round her neck by a white cord she said bending down and the words into my ear me die soon me very old y s statement woman not stay long on s plantation you may live a long time yet i answered you know i am a doctor if you feel ill let me know about it and i will try to cure you no wish to live â wish to die i m to join the heavenly host here she into one of those half in which indulge but me have one thing must leave behind me when i go no able to take it with me across the that one thing very precious more precious and more holy than all thing else in the world me a poor old black woman have this because my people very great people they was back in the old country but you cannot understand this same as black folk could my give it me and his give it him but now who shall i give it to poor no child no relation nobody all round i see black man very bad man black woman very stupid woman nobody worthy of the stone and so i say is who write books and fight for coloured folk â he must be good man and he shall have it though he is white and can know what it mean or where it came from here the old woman in the leather bag and pulled out a black stone with a hole through the middle of it here take it she said pressing it into my hand take it no harm come from anything good keep it safe â lose it and with a warning gesture the old away in y son s statement the same cautious way as she had come looking from side to side to see if we had been observed i was more amused than impressed by the old woman s earnestness and was only prevented from laughing during her by the fear of her feelings when she was gone i took a good look at the stone which she had given me it was intensely black of extreme hardness and oval in shape â just such a flat stone as one would pick up on the if one wished to throw a long way it was about three inches long and an inch and a half broad at the middle but rounded off at the the most curious part about it were several well marked which ran in over its surface and gave it exactly the appearance of a human ear altogether i was rather interested in my new possession and determined to submit it as a specimen to my friend professor of the new york upon the earliest opportunity in the meantime i thrust it into my pocket and rising from my chair

3Edith Wharton

started off for a short stroll in the the incident from my mind as my wound had nearly healed by this time i took my leave of mr shortly afterwards the union armies were everywhere victorious and on so that my assistance seemed unnecessary and i returned to there i resumed my practice and married the second daughter of the well known wood in the course of a few years i built up a good connection and j s statement acquired considerable reputation in the treatment of complaints i still kept the old black stone in my pocket and frequently told the story of the dramatic way in which i had become possessed of it i also kept my resolution of showing it to professor who was much interested both by the anecdote and the specimen he pronounced it to be a piece of stone and drew my attention to the fact that its resemblance to an ear was not accidental but that it was most carefully worked into that shape a dozen little points showed that the had been as accurate as he was skilful i should not wonder said the professor if it were broken off from some larger statue though how such hard material could be so perfectly worked is more than i can understand if there is a statue to correspond i should like to see it so i thought at the time but i have changed my opinion since the next seven or eight years of my life were quiet and summer followed spring and spring followed winter without any in my duties as the practice increased i admitted j s as partner be to have one fourth of the profits the continued strain had told upon my constitution however and i became at last so that my wife insisted upon my consulting dr smith who was my at the hospital that gentleman examined me and pronounced the of my left to be in a state of me at the same time to go through a j ha ba st a course of medical and to take a long my own disposition which is naturally restless me strongly in favour of the latter piece of advice and the matter was by my meeting young of the firm of white white who offered me a passage in one of his father s ships the which was just starting from boston she is a snug little ship he said and the captain is an excellent fellow there is nothing like a sailing ship for an invalid i was very much of the same opinion myself so i closed with the offer on the spot my original plan wa that my wife should accompany me on my travels she has always been a very poor sailor however and there were strong family reasons against her exposing herself to any risk at the time so we determined that she should remain at home i am not a religious or an man y but oh thank god for that i as to leaving my practice i was easily reconciled to it as my partner was a and hard working man i arrived in boston on october and proceeded immediately to the office of the firm in order to thank them for their courtesy as i was sitting in the counting house waiting until they should be at liberty to see me the words suddenly attracted my attention looked round and saw a very tall gaunt man who was leaning across the polished mahogany counter asking some questions of the clerk j statement at the other side his face was turned half towards me and i could see that he had a strong dash of negro blood in him being probably a or even nearer akin to the black his curved nose and straight hair showed the white strain but the dark restless eye mouth and gleaming teeth all told of his african origin his complexion was of a sickly yellow and as his face was deeply with small the general impression was so as to be almost when he spoke however it was in a soft melodious voice and in well chosen words and he was evidently a man of some education i wished to ask a few questions about the he repeated leaning across to the clerk she sails the day after to morrow does she not yes sir said the young clerk awed into unusual politeness by the glimmer of a large diamond in the stranger s shirt front where is she bound for how many of a crew seven sir passengers yes two one of our young gentlemen and a doctor from new york no gentleman from the south asked the stranger eagerly no none sir is there room for another passenger â y s accommodation for three more answered the clerk i ll go said the i ll go i ll engage my passage at once put it down will you â mr of new the clerk filled up a form and handed it over to the stranger pointing to a blank space at the bottom as f mr stooped over to sign it i was to observe that the fingers of his right hand had been off and that he was holding the pen between his thumb and the palm i have seen thousands slain in battle and assisted at every conceivable operation but i cannot recall any sight which gave me such a thrill of disgust as that great brown like hand with the single member from it he used it enough however for dashing off his signature he nodded to the clerk and strolled out of the office just as mr white sent out word that he was ready to receive me i went down to the that evening and looked over my berth which was extremely comfortable considering the small size of the vessel mr whom i had seen in the morning

3Edith Wharton

was to have the one next mine opposite was the captain s cabin and a small berth for mr john a gentleman who was going out in the interests of the firm these little rooms were arranged on each side of the passage which led from the main deck to the saloon the latter was a comfortable room the done in oak and mahogany with a rich carpet j s statement and luxurious i was very much pleased with the and also with the captain a bluff sailor like fellow with a loud voice and manner who welcomed me to the ship with and insisted upon our a bottle of wine in his cabin he told me that he intended to take his wife and youngest child with him on the voyage and that he hoped with good luck to make in three weeks we had a pleasant chat and parted the best of friends he warning me to make the last of my preparations next morning as he intended to make start by the midday tide having now all his cargo i went back to my hotel where i found a letter from my wife awaiting me and after a refreshing night s sleep returned to the boat in the morning from this point i am able to quote from the journal which i kept in order to vary the monotony of the long sea voyage if it is somewhat bald in places i can at least rely upon its accuracy in details as it was written from day to day october â cast off our at half past two and were out into the bay where the left us and with all sail set we along at about nine knots an hour i stood upon the watching the of america sinking gradually upon the horizon until the evening haze hid it from my sight a single red light however continued to blaze behind us throwing a long track like a trail of blood upon the water and it is still visible as i write though reduced to a mere speck the captain is in a bad humour for d j s statement two of his hands disappointed him at the last moment and he was compelled to ship a couple of who happened to be on the the missing men were steady fellows who had been with him several voyages and their non appearance puzzled as well as irritated him where a crew of seven men have to work a fair sized ship the loss of two experienced is a serious one for though the may take a spell at the wheel or the decks they are of little or no use in rough weather our cook is also a black man and mr has a little servant so that we are rather a community the john promises to be an acquisition for he is a cheery amusing young fellow strange how little wealth has to do with happiness he has all the world before him and is seeking his fortune in a far land yet he is as happy as a man can be is rich if i am not mistaken and so am i but i know that i have a and has some deeper trouble still to judge by his features how poorly do we both contrast with the careless clerk october â mrs appeared upon deck for the first time this morning â a cheerful energetic woman with a dear little child just able to walk and young on it at once and carried it away to his cabin where no doubt he will lay the seeds of future in the child s stomach thus medicine doth make of us all the weather is still all that could be desired with a fine fresh breeze y s statement from the west sou west the vessel goes so steadily that you would hardly that she was moving were it not for the creaking of the the of the sails and the long white in our wake walked the quarter deck all morning with the captain and i think the keen fresh air has already done my breathing good for the exercise did not fatigue me in any way is a remarkably intelligent man and we had an interesting argument about s observations on ocean currents which we terminated by going down into his cabin to consult the original work there we found rather to the captain s surprise as it is not usual for passengers to enter that unless specially invited he for his intrusion however pleading his ignorance of the of ship life and the good natured sailor simply laughed at the incident begging him to remain and favour us with his company pointed to the the case of which he had opened and remarked that he had been admiring them he has evidently some practical knowledge of instruments as he told at a glance which was the most of the three and also named their price within a few dollars he had a discussion with the captain too upon the of the compass and when we came back to the ocean currents he showed a thorough grasp of the subject altogether he rather upon acquaintance and is a man of decided culture and refinement his voice with his conversation and both are the very of his face and figure y statement the observation shows that we have run two hundred and twenty miles towards evening the breeze up and the first mate ordered to be taken in the and top gallant sails in expectation of a windy night i observe that the has fallen to twenty nine i trust our voyage will not be a rough one as i am a poor sailor and my health would probably derive more harm than good from a stormy trip though i have the greatest confidence in the captain s and in the of the vessel

3Edith Wharton