“Close the door, Vincent,” he said.
I turned to do so, and almost immediately I heard a quick step behind me. A mirror on the wall warned me of my danger. I sprang aside just in time to avoid a vicious thrust of the patroon’s sword.
“Coward!” I cried. “From behind.”
“What have you to say of ‘from behind?’ I strike cowards and dogs from behind when they won’t show their faces—why not spies as well? Answer me that, Michael Le Bourse.”
So he, too, had found me out. I dare say he had overheard my conversation with his daughter from some secret passage. He stood before me now, glaring at me with pent up passion.
“Draw your sword, Mike. You have an Irish name, but a fool’s wit. Don’t you see the humor of it? The Earl and I must wait a while. But you 332and I, our time has come. You shall never have my daughter while I live. Draw, man, draw, or I’ll spit you like a dog.”
Our swords were out and crossed in the twinkle of an eye. He fought wildly, bent2 upon taking my life, and careless of his own. His all depended on it, yet he was man enough not to call for help. I meanwhile stood upon the defensive3 and nothing more.
Had we both been in earnest it would have been short shrift for the patroon. I had the advantage, both in years and strength, as well as in skill with my weapon. From the first I was as cool as if drilling on parade. My very coolness seemed to exasperate4 him further. After a few passes his manner began to change. I saw the scared look in his face and the flush of blood that always came before one of his mad seizures5. Then he began to grow unsteady. The swiftness of his blows redoubled. He left his body unguarded twenty times. I could, had I been so minded, have run him through with my eyes shut. Still he fought on with blind desperation.
Then we heard someone coming down the hall. There was a woman’s cry of terror. The next moment Miriam, unmindful of her own danger, dashed between us and caught her father in her arms.
She gave me one glance of withering6 contempt.
“On top of all you would murder him before my eyes. Be gone.”
333I went out and down the corridor, minded to go back to Yorke. At the door two guards stopped me and turned me back. Miriam had told me that I was a prisoner in the house; this confirmed what she had said and showed that my chance of escape was gone.
“We have strict orders,” said one of the guards who turned me back, “No one is to pass out.”
I tried both of the other doors with the same ill success. But I did not care much, I was so miserable7. I felt that the end had come, and that it mattered little how the blow fell. I went to my room—that was not guarded away from me. As I closed the door I bethought me of the second of Louis’s packets, which was still in my pocket unopened. I took it out and broke the seal. As my eyes fell upon the writing, I could not repress a cry at the startling news that was contained in the first line.
“Sir Evelin Marmaduke is starving to death in the cave beneath the Hanging Rock.”
Sir Evelin Marmaduke, he whom all the city mourned as dead? Could he be still alive? Louis’s narrative8 was short and clear.
“Colonel Fletcher granted the Marmaduke estate to Patroon Van Volkenberg upon the death of Sir Evelin. One day his boat was caught in the tide about Hell Gate. The patroon and I discovered him, half drowned and unconscious, upon the shore. The patroon wanted to let him die, but I insisted otherwise. So he was imprisoned9 in the 334cave beneath the rock. By accident Ruth Le Bourse discovered our secret. We tried to keep her silent. But she would not consent. I repent10 now that we handled her so roughly, but she is better off.”
Brief as the narrative was, how clear it made everything. I remembered the many tales I had heard from Annetje Dorn of victuals11 disappearing from the larder12 at the dead of night; and of comings and goings from the patroon’s part of the house in the small hours. But what could I do? He was starving to death and must be rescued at once. The doors below were all shut tight to me. I fell to cursing my luck and the villainy of the patroon. I raged back and forth13 like a tiger in a cage. What could be done? Suddenly the answer came. The door swung open and Miriam stood before me. Her haughty14 bearing was all gone. Her eyes were red with weeping.
“I come to be forgiven,” were her first words.
“I did not mean to kill him.”
“I know it; forgive me. He has been talking in his madness and I know all. God forgive me; how I have been deceived. Will you go with me to the Hanging Rock?”
I followed her outside my door to where stood Annetje. The three of us proceeded through the crooked15 halls. At the outer door we were stopped by the guards.
335“Not go out?” cried Miriam. “Out of my way! I am mistress here.”
The men gave back—there was no gainsaying16 her when her spirit was fully17 aroused—and we passed out. She bore herself with a fierce calmness that was terrible to see. I wondered whether she could stand the strain produced by this shattering of her idol18; or whether she would go mad.
“Do you know why we are going?” she asked in a low, painful voice.
“Spare me,” I replied. “I know it all.”
“How long have you known it?”
“But just now. I learned it from a paper that Louis left behind.”
“You must have known many other things. I begin to understand why you have not betrayed us long ago. I have misjudged you. Forgive me, but there is small time for undoing19 now. Let me take your hand. Come, we must run; it is a matter of minutes now. He may die while we are coming.”
When we reached the cave Miriam produced a key which she had secured from her father. It fitted the door of the cave which had been walled up and turned into a dungeon20. Within, upon short examination, we discovered Sir Evelin. He was a fearful sight; thin, lank21, nothing but skin and bones. He was so weak that he could neither speak nor walk. He looked blankly into the lantern like one who cannot see. Annetje poured a spoonful of 336liquor which he took mechanically, but he showed no sign of intelligence.
“Oh, this is terrible, terrible, terrible,” sobbed23 Miriam.
I lifted him up—he was as light as a child—and carried him to the landing. We loosened a boat and got ready to take him to Yorke by river.
“Good-by,” said Miriam. “You and Annetje must attend to this. My place is with my father.”
“Miriam,” I cried, taking her hand.
“No, no,” she said, putting me back, “not now. Go at once and save his life.”
I began to remonstrate24, but she would not hear a word. Soon we were aboard the boat, and then in a minute we were out upon the black river, where we could no longer see the silent figure on the shore. Annetje held Sir Evelin’s head in her lap and shielded his face from the chill wind. I worked the oars25. Before long we were abreast26 of the first scattered lights of the town north of the wall.
Ever since I had left Yorke, I had kept the two keys the governor had given me. I resolved now to go to the little postern gate in the west palisade rather than to rouse the watch at the city gate in the wall. Ever since the fright over an invasion of the French, these gates had been locked, and I feared difficulty and delay from an attempt to enter in that manner. So, by way of the postern, we got him speedily to Marmaduke Hall. But the mistress was not at home.
337“Where is she?” I asked.
“At the governor’s ball.”
Ah, yes; I, too, had been invited to that ball, and by the governor himself. So I set out at once for the fort, to see the Earl and to warn my lady of her husband’s safety.
As was natural they refused me entrance at the gate because I had no card of introduction. But I still possessed27 the other key that the governor had given me on the night before I set out from New York upon my adventures at the manor-house. In five minutes I was inside the fort with the wicket gate locked behind me. As I approached the governor’s house, I thought of what an unusual request I was about to make, and whether the guard would deliver it or not. The earnestness of my manner, however, must have affected28 him, for he did my bidding after a little persuasion29. Soon he returned with an answer that the Earl would see me. He conducted me to an inner room, and a moment later the governor appeared.
He recognized me at once. “Ah, St. Vincent, I am glad to see you. You are a welcome guest.”
There was a cordiality in his manner that an observer would not have suspected. I was surprised myself, for he thought me a follower30 of the patroon. In later times I understood him better. Whatever faults he may have had, Earl Bellamont was a gentleman to the heart.
338I put my finger upon my lips and glanced about the room.
“Leave the room,” said the Earl to the guard who had accompanied me. “What is it that you have to say that requires such secrecy31?”
“My name is not St. Vincent, sir. I am Michael Le Bourse.”
His astonishment32 knew no bounds, and it grew as I told my tale. As soon as I had finished he broke out with an expression that showed how he always thought of others before himself.
“We must send Lady Marmaduke home at once.”
He dispatched a messenger to fetch her from the ball room. He told her what had happened with a gentleness that won my heart more than anything he had ever done before. She had but one word to say.
“Let me go to him; take me to my husband.”
“Accompany her, Le Bourse. At midnight, when this ceremony is over, return to me. I shall leave orders at the gate for your admission.”
We set out immediately in a chair. Lady Marmaduke spoke33 hardly a word. Now and then she tapped the side of the chair impatiently, and often there came a struggling sob22. But she gave no other sign of her great fear lest she come too late.
Thanks to kind Annetje’s care, Sir Evelin was much improved. He was able to recognize his wife when she appeared, and I was glad to note that 339the blank expression in his eyes had gone somewhat. I waited till it was time to return to the fort. The mistress saw me for a moment before I went.
“Tell him that all is well. And for you, my Michael, you have my gratitude34 beyond the power of words. Now go. I shall hear your tale through to-morrow.”
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1
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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2
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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exasperate
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| v.激怒，使（疾病）加剧，使恶化 | |
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seizures
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| n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物 | |
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withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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7
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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8
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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9
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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11
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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13
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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14
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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15
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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16
gainsaying
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| v.否认，反驳( gainsay的现在分词 ) | |
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17
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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18
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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19
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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20
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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23
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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24
remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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25
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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27
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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28
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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29
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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30
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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31
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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32
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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33
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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34
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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