Elster's Folly by Mrs. Henry Wood (buy e reader .TXT) 📕

"Call Me Pike," Came The Feverish Interruption. "Never That Other Name

Again,  My Lord; I've Done With It For Ever. As To A Better Place--I Shall

Have That Soon Enough."

"You Wanted To Say Something To Me,  Mr. Hillary Said."

"I've Wanted To Say It Some Time Now,  And To Beg Your Lordship's Pardon.

It's About The Late Earl's Death."

"My Brother's?"

"Yes. I Was On The Wrong Scent A Long Time. And I Can Tell You What

Nobody Else Will."

Lord Hartledon Lifted His Head Quickly; Thoughts Were Crowding

Impulsively Into His Mind,  And He Spoke In The Moment's Haste.

"Surely You Had Not Anything To Do With That!"

"No; But I Thought Your Lordship Had."

"What Do You Mean?" Asked Lord Hartledon,  Quietly.

"It's For My Foolish And Wicked And Mistaken Thought That I Would Crave

Pardon Before I Go. I Thought Your Lordship Had Killed The Late Lord,

Either By Accident Or Maliciously."

"You Must Be Dreaming,  Pike!"

"No; But I Was No Better Than Dreaming Then. I Had Been Living Amidst

Lawless Scenes,  Over The Seas And On The Seas,  Where A Life's Not Of Much

Account,  And The Fancy Was Easy Enough. I Happened To Overhear A Quarrel

Between You And The Earl Just Before His Death; I Saw You Going Towards

The Spot At The Time The Accident Happened,  As You May Remember--"

"I Did Not Go So Far," Interrupted Hartledon,  Wondering Still Whether

This Might Not Be The Wanderings Of A Dying Man. "I Turned Back Into The

Trees At Once,  And Walked Slowly Home. Many A Time Have I Wished I Had

Gone On!"

"Yes,  Yes; I Was On The Wrong Scent. And There Was That Blow On His

Temple To Keep Up The Error,  Which I Know Now Must Have Been Done Against

The Estrade. I Did Suspect At The Time,  And Your Lordship Will Perhaps

Not Forgive Me For It. I Let Drop A Word That I Suspected Something

Before That Man Gorton,  And He Asked Me What I Meant; And I Explained

It Away,  And Said I Was Chaffing Him. And I Have Been All This Time,  Up

To A Few Weeks Ago,  Learning The True Particulars Of How His Lordship

Died."

Lord Hartledon Decided That The Man's Mind Was Undoubtedly Wandering.

But Pike Was Not Wandering. And He Told The Story Of The Boy Ripper

Having Been Locked Up In The Mill. Mr. Ripper Was Almost A Match For Pike

Himself In Deceit; And Pike Had Only Learned The Facts By Dint Of Long

Patience And Perseverance And Many Threats. The Boy Had Seen The Whole

Accident; Had Watched It From The Window Where He Was Enclosed,  Unable To

Get Out,  Unless He Had Torn Away The Grating. Lord Hartledon Had Lost All

Command Of The Little Skiff,  His Arm Being Utterly Disabled; And It Came

Drifting Down Towards The Mill,  And Struck Against The Estrade. The Skiff

Righted Itself At Once,  But Not Its Owner: There Was A Slight Struggle,  A

Few Cries,  And He Lay Motionless,  Drifting Later To The Place Where He

Was Found. Mr. Ripper's Opinion Was That He Had Lost His Senses With The

Blow On The Temple,  And Fell An Easy Prey To Death. Had That Gentleman

Only Sacrificed The Grating And His Own Reputation,  He Might Have Saved

Him Easily; And That Fact Had Since Been Upon His Conscience,  Making Him

Fear All Sorts Of Things,  Not The Least Of Which Was That He Might Be

Hanged As A Murderer.

This Story He Had Told Pike At The Time,  With One Reserve--He Persisted

That He Had Not _Seen_,  Only Heard. Pike Saw That The Boy Was Still

Not Telling The Whole Truth,  And Suspected He Was Screening Lord

Hartledon--He Who Now Stood Before Him. Mr. Ripper's Logic Tended To The

Belief That He Could Not Be Punished If He Stuck To The Avowal Of Having

Seen Nothing. He Had Only Heard The Cries; And When Pike Asked If They

Were Cries As If He Were Being Assaulted,  The Boy Evasively Answered

"Happen They Were." Another Little Item He Suppressed: That He Found The

Purse At The Bottom Of The Skiff,  After He Got Out Of The Mill,  And

Appropriated It To Himself; And When He Had Fairly Done That,  He Grew

More Afraid Of Having Done It Than Of All The Rest. The Money He

Secreted,  Using It When He Dared,  A Sixpence At A Time; The Case,  With

Its Papers,  He Buried In The Spot Where His Master Afterwards Found It.

With All This Upon The Young Man's Conscience,  No Wonder He Was A Little

Confused And Contradictory In His Statements To Pike: No Wonder He

Fancied The Ghost Of The Man He Could Have Saved And Did Not,  Might Now

And Then Be Hovering About Him. Pike Learned The Real Truth At Last; And

A Compunction Had Come Over Him,  Now That He Was Dying,  For Having

Doubted Lord Hartledon.

"My Lord,  I Can Only Ask You To Forgive Me. I Ought To Have Known You

Better. But Things Seemed To Corroborate It So: I've Heard People Say The

New Lord Was As A Man Who Had Some Great Care Upon Him. Oh,  I Was A

Fool!"

"At Any Rate It Was Not _That_ Care,  Pike; I Would Have Saved My

Brother's Life With My Own,  Had I Been At Hand To Do It. As To

Ripper--I Shall Never Bear To Look Upon Him Again."

"He's Gone Away," Said Pike.

"Where Has He Gone?"

"The Miller Turned Him Off For Idleness,  And He's Gone Away,  Nobody Knows

Where,  To Get Work: I Don't Suppose He'll Ever Come Back Again. This Is

The Real Truth Of The Matter As It Occurred,  My Lord; And There's No More

Behind It. Ripper Has Now Told All He Knows,  Just As Fully As If He Had

Been Put To Torture."

Lord Hartledon Remained With Pike Some Time Longer,  Soothing The Man As

Much As It Was In His Power And Kindly Nature To Soothe. He Whispered A

Word Of The Clergyman,  Dr. Ashton.

"Father Says He Shall Bring Him To-Night," Was The Answer. "It's All A

Farce."

"I Am Sorry To Hear You Say That," Returned Lord Hartledon,  Gravely.

"If I Had Never Said A Worse Thing Than That,  My Lord,  I Shouldn't Hurt.

Unless The Accounts Are Made Up Beforehand,  Parsons Can't Avail Much At

The Twelfth Hour. Mother's Lessons To Me When A Child,  And Her Reading

The Bible As She Sits Here In The Night,  Are Worth More Than Dr. Ashton

Could Do. But For Those Old Lessons' Having Come Home To Me Now,  I Might

Not Have Cared To Ask Your Forgiveness. Dr. Ashton! What Is He? For An

Awful Sinner--And It's What I've Been--There's Only Christ. At Times I

Think I've Been Too Bad Even For Him. I've Only My Sins To Take To Him:

Never Were Worse In This World."

Lord Hartledon Went Out Rather Bewildered With The Occurrences Of The

Morning. Thinking It Might Be Only Kind To Step Into The Clerk's,  He

Crossed The Stile And Went In Without Ceremony By The Open Back-Door.

Mrs. Gum Was Alone In The Kitchen,  Crying Bitterly. She Dried Her Eyes

In Confusion,  As She Curtsied To Her Visitor.

"I Know All," He Interrupted,  In Low,  Considerate Tones,  To The Poor

Suffering Woman. "I Have Been To See Him. Never Mind Explanations: Let

Us Think What We Can Best Do To Lighten His Last Hours."

Mrs. Gum Burst Into Deeper Tears. It Was A Relief,  No Doubt: But She

Wondered How Much Lord Hartledon Knew.

"I Say That He Ought To Be Got Away From That Place,  Mrs. Gum. It's Not

Fit For A Man To Die In. You Might Have Him Here. Calne! Surely My

Protection Will Sufficiently Screen Him Against Tattling Calne!"

She Shook Her Head,  Saying It Was Of No Use Talking To Willy About

Removal; He Wouldn't Have It; And She Thought Herself It Might Be Better

Not. Jabez,  Too; If This Ever Came Out In Calne,  It Would Just Kill Him;

His Lordship Knew What He Was,  And How He Had Cared For Appearances All

His Life. No; It Would Not Be For Many More Hours Now,  And Willy Must Die

In The Shed Where He Had Lived.

Lord Hartledon Sat Down On The Ironing-Board,  The White Table Underneath

The Window,  In The Old Familiar Manner Of Former Days; Many And Many A

Time Had He Perched Himself There To Talk To Her When He Was Young Val

Elster.

"Only Fancy What My Life Has Been,  My Lord," She Said. "People Have

Called Me Nervous And Timid; But Look At The Cause I've Had! I Was Just

Beginning To Get Over The Grief For His Death,  When He Came Here; And To

The Last Hour Of My Life I Shan't Get The Night Out Of My Mind! I And

Jabez Were Together In This Very Kitchen. I Had Come In To Wash Up The

Tea-Things,  And Jabez Followed Me. It Was A Cold,  Dark Evening,  And The

Parlour Fire Had Got Low. By Token,  My Lord,  We Were Talking Of You; You

Had Just Gone Away To Be An Ambassador,  Or Something,  And Then We Spoke

Of The Wild,  Strange,  Black Man Who Had Crept Into The Shed; And Jabez,

I Remember,  Said He Should Acquaint Mr. Marris,  If The Fellow Did Not

Take Himself Off. I Had Seen Him That Very Evening,  At Dusk,  For The

First Time,  When His Great Black Face Rose Up Against Mine,  Nearly

Frightening Me To Death. Jabez Was Angry At Such A Man's Being There,  And

Said He Should Go Up To Hartledon In The Morning And See The Steward.

Just Then There Came A Tap At The Kitchen Door,  And Jabez Went To It.

It Was The Man; He Had Watched The Servant Out,  And Knew We Were Alone;

And He Came Into The Kitchen,  And Asked If We Did Not Know Him. Jabez

Did; He Had Seen Willy Later Than I Had,  And He Recognized Him; And The

Man Took Off His Black Hair And Great Black Whiskers,  And I Saw It Was

Willy,  And Nearly Fainted Dead Away."

There Was A Pause. Lord Hartledon Did Not Speak,  And She Resumed,  After A

Little Indulgence In Her Grief.

"And Since Then All Our Aim Has Been To Hide The Truth,  To Screen Him,

And Keep Up The Tale That We Were Afraid Of The Wild Man. How It Has

Been Done I Know Not: But I Do Know That It Has Nearly Killed Me. What

A Night It Was! When Jabez Heard His Story And Forced Him To Answer All

Questions,  I Thought He Would Have Given Willy Up To The Law There And

Then. My Lord,  We Have Just Lived Since With A Sword Over Our Heads!"

Lord Hartledon Remembered The Sword That Had Been Over His Own Head,  And

Sympathized With Them From The Depths Of His Heart.

"Tell Me All," He Said. "You Are Quite Safe With Me,  Mrs. Gum."

"I Don't Know That There's Much More To Tell," She Sighed. "We Took The

Best Precautions We Could,  In A Quiet Way,  Having The Holes In The

Shutters Filled Up,  And New Locks Put On The Doors,  Lest People Might

Look In Or Step In,  While He Sat Here Of A Night,  Which He Took To Do.

Jabez Didn't Like It,  But I'm Afraid I Encouraged It. It Was So Lonely

For Him,  That Shed,  And So Unhealthy! We Sent Away The Regular Servant,

And Engaged One By Day,  So As To Have The House To Ourselves At Night. If

A Knock Came To The Door,  Willy Would Slip Out To The Wood-House Before

We Opened It,  Lest It Might Be Anybody Coming In. He Did Not Come In

Every Night--Two Or Three Times A-Week; And It Never Was Pleasant; For

Jabez Would Hardly Open His Mouth,  Unless It Was To Reproach Him. Heaven

Alone Knows What I've Had To Bear!"

"But,  Mrs. Gum,  I Cannot Understand. Why Could Not Willy Have Declared

Himself Openly To The World?"

It Was Evidently A Most Painful Question. Her Eyes Fell; The Crimson

Of Shame Flushed Into Her Cheeks; And He Felt Sorry To Have Asked It.

"Spare Me,  My Lord,  For I _Cannot_ Tell You. Perhaps Jabez Will: Or Mr.

Hillary; He Knows. It Doesn't Much Matter,  Now Death's So Near; But I

Think It Would Kill Me To Have To Tell It."

"And No One Except The Doctor Has Ever Known That It Was Willy?"

"One More,  My Lord: Mirrable. We Told Her At Once. I Have Had To Hear All

Sorts Of Cruel Things Said Of Him," Continued Mrs. Gum. "That He Thieved

And Poached,  And Did I Know Not What; And We Could Only Encourage The

Fancy,  For It Put People Off The Truth As To How He Really Lived."

"Amidst Other Things,  They Said,  I Believe,  That He