On the forenoon of this same day, Thursday, there had been a gathering3 in the office of the Thessaly Banner of Liberty. It was the publication day of the paper, but for once it went to press without enlisting4 even the most careless scrutiny5, let alone the solicitude6, of its editor-proprietor. He had more serious business on hand. Closeted with him in the little editorial room, whose limited space had rarely before been so taxed, were Beekman, Ansdell, the District Attorney, the Sheriff, and the younger of the dead man’s two New York partners, a shrewd, silent, long-faced man. Seth had desired to be of the party but his brother had sent him off, to return after dinner.
These men gravely discussed some subjects with which our readers are familiar, and some now first brought to light. John had a letter from Annie, sent by hand the previous evening, detailing the strange things Milton had said to her about the black mare7. Ansdell and Mr. Hubbard, the partner, recited how they had discovered that Albert Fairchild, on the preceding Monday, sold $16,000 worth of government bonds, and the abortive8 effort he made to so arrange the transfer that it would not be traced. Beekman recalled how the black mare had balked9 on the edge of the gulf10 the day after the murder—for they all thus characterized it now. Later, the Coroner came in by appointment, and in the presence of the dreaded11 District Attorney was meekness12 itself. He even heard that two physicians were to go out with the party, and make an examination, without taking offence.
After the noon-day dinner the gathering was reinforced by the two doctors and by Seth, the latter devoured14 by curiosity and vexed15 at being kept so long in the dark. Soon after, all of the party save the Sheriff made their way to the Fairchild house, driving by twos or threes, and at intervals16, to avoid exciting suspicion. It was after the arrival of the last division that Ansdell met Isabel, and advised her to stay away from the house for a time.
The two surgeons and the Coroner went silently into the parlor, and closed the door behind them. In the living-room Ansdell, Hubbard, John, and the District Attorney took chairs around the stove, having given word that Milton, who was off on the other side of the hill, arranging the sale of some apples, should be sent in to them when he arrived, which could not be very long now. In the kitchen, opening back from the living-room as this in turn did from the parlor, Seth and Beekman sat with the three women of the household.
These latter had been told that something was going on, or rather had inferred it from being forbidden to leave the room, and were agog17 with puzzled excitement. They had no clue, save a vague understanding that important personages were in the front portions of the house, but Alvira and Melissa stole unhappy glances toward Seth, in uneasy fear that the worst suspicions born of Samantha’s recital18 were to be realized in fact. Aunt Sabrina, sitting with her shawl wrapped about her gaunt shoulders, and with her feet on a piece of wood in the oven, did not know of this story which gave point to the other women’s anxiety, but was in misery19 between a deep yearning20 to learn what had happened, and a pessimistic conviction that it must be another addition to the Fairchilds’ load of calamities21.
They heard Milton drive up presently, and hail Dana with instructions to put the horse out, and a query22 concerning the several strange vehicles under the shed. Then he came into the kitchen, stamping his feet with the cold, and walking straight to the stove to warm his hands. It was growing dark in the low room, and he did not recognize Beekman.
Seth delivered his errand, saying that his brother John wished to see Milton, as soon as he returned, in the living-room. The hired man gave the speaker a curious glance, and, after a moment or two of hand warming, went in to learn what was wanted.
Almost as he closed the door behind him, the Sheriff entered the kitchen from the outside, and after an interrogative glance toward Beekman, which the latter answered by a nod, drew up a chair leisurely23 by the stove.
“Who’d a thought it ’d a turned out so cold, ‘fore the moon changed?” he asked of the company collectively. “Hev yeh got any cider abaout handy? ’N’ a daoughnut, tew, ef yeh don’t mine.”
While Melissa was in the cellar, the Sheriff, who was a Spartacus man and a stranger to both Seth and the females, asked of Beekman: “What did yeh agree on fer a sign?”
“Th’ shakin’ of th’ stove.”
Seth had been annoyed all day at the pains taken by John to keep the facts of the enterprise now in hand from him, and he displayed so much of this pique24 in the glance he now cast from the Sheriff to Beekman, that the latter felt impelled25 to speak:
“P’raps you disremember my askin’ yeh ’t’ other day ’baout whether yer brother had much money on him that night. Well, we’ve settled thet point. He did hev’—’n’ ’twas a considerable sum tew—‘baout sixteen thaousan’ dollars.”
“No!” Seth’s exclamation26 was of incredulous surprise.
“Yes, sixteen thaousan’. We knaow it.”
“Oh! I remember now,” said Seth, searching his impressions of the night. “I remember that when I said he might fail to be nominated, he slapped his breast two or three times as if he had something in the pocket. By George! I wonder——”
“Yeh needn’t waste no more time wond’rin’. Thet was it! ’N’ d’yeh knaow what he was goin’ to dew with thet money? No, yeh daon’t! He was agoin’ to buy me! I wouldn’t say this afore aoutsiders; I dunnao’s I’d say it to yeou ef your paper wa’n’t so dum fond o’ pitchin’ into me fer a boss, ’n’ a machine man ez yeh call it, ’n’ thet kine o’ thing. Yer brother hed th’ same idee o’ me thet your paper’s got. He was wrong. They tell me ther air’ some country caounties in th’ State where money makes th’ mare gao. But Jay ain’t one of ’em. Yer brother wanted to git into Congress. Ther was nao chance fer him in New York City. He come up here ’n’ he worked things pooty fine, I’m baoun’ to say, but he slipped up on me. Bribes27 may dew in yer big cities, but they won’t go daown in Jay. I don’t b’lieve they’s ez much of it done anywhere ez folks think, nuther.”
“But this money, then, was——”
“Lemme go on! P’raps this ’d never be’n faound aout, ef yer brother hadn’t made mistake number tew in pickin’ aout the wust ’n’ meanest cuss in th’ caounty to be his gao-between. I kin13 tell mean cusses when I see ’em, ’n’ this feller he had was jest the dirtiest scalawag I ever did see. I kin stan’ a scoundrel in a way ef he’s bright abaout it, but this was a reg’lar, natchul born fool. Somehaow in th’ kentry, these men don’t seem to hev no sense. Ef they’re goin’ to rob a man, or set his barns afire, or kill him, they dew it in the darnedest, clumsiest saort o’ way, so they’re sure to git faound aout the minute anybody looks an inch beyond his nose into th’ thing. It makes a man ashamed to be a kentry-man to see th’ foolish way these here blockheads git caught, ev’ry time.”
The women had been listening intently to this monologue28. They looked at one another now, with the light of a strange new suspicion in their eyes.
“Who is this man? Who are you talking about?” Seth asked eagerly.
At that moment the sound of a stove being shaken vigorously came from the living-room. The Sheriff rose to his feet, and strode toward the door of this room.
“I’ll shaow him to yeh in th’ jerk of a lamb’s tail,” he said.
The conversation in the living-room, after Milton entered, had been trivial for a time, then all at once very interesting. He had been disagreeably surprised at finding three men with John, but had taken a seat, his big hands hanging awkwardly over his knees, and had been reassured29 somewhat by the explanation that Mr. Hubbard, the dead man’s partner, was anxious to hear all he could about the sad occurrence. The District Attorney he did not know by sight, and he did not recognize Ansdell, who stood looking out of the window, softly drumming on the panes30.
Milton told a lot of details, about Albert’s return, about hitching31 up the grays for him, about how the news was received at the Convention and the like, all recited with verbose32 indirectness, and at great length. Once he stopped, his attention being directed to a slight sound in the parlor, and looked inquiry33. John promptly34 explained that it was the undertaker, and the hired man went on.
At last the District Attorney, who had hitherto been silent, asked quietly:
“You went back to the stable—to your own room—after Mr. Fairchild drove away?”
“Yes, ’n’ went to bed.”
“Did you hear any one enter the stables afterward35?”
“No, nary a soul.”
“There is a black mare in the stables, used under the saddle. Was she taken out that night?”
“Not thet I knaow of. Why?”
“Well, there seems to be a pretty positive story that she was. She was seen on the road, in fact, late that night, coming from the ravine. The rider was not recognized, but the mare was. How do you account for that?”
“Tain’t none o’ my business to ’caount for it.” Milton did not like the tendency of the conversation.
“No, I know that, but we are interested in finding out. I don’t think you know me—I am the District Attorney—and I shall take particular pains to find out.”
A gulf suddenly yawned before Milton’s feet, and he made a prompt, bold attempt to leap it. “I didn’t like to say nothin’ ’baout it, bein’ as it’s in th’ fam’ly”—he cast an uneasy glance at John here—“but Seth Fairchild rides th’ mare a good deal. I did hear somebody saddlin’ th’ mare, but I took it fer granted it was him, ’n’ sao I didn’t git up. It’d be jes like him, I said to myself, to go ridin’ in th’ moonshine. He’s thet sort of a feller, naow ain’t he, John?”
The sound of his own voice frightened Milton as he went on, and his closing appeal to the brother for corroboration36 carried the nervous accent of fear. John did not answer, but rose and walked over to join Ansdell at the window.
“Of caourse,” Milton began, in a lower voice, to which he sought to give a confidential37 tone, “I don’t wan’ to say nothin’ agin Seth. Of caourse, he’s John’s brother, ‘n’——”
The words were cut short by the rolling back of one of the parlor doors, and the entrance of the three doctors. The Coroner, who came last, pulled the door shut again. The older of the other two came to the District Attorney and said, with deliberate distinctness:
“We are both prepared to swear that Mr. Fairchild’s death was caused by a gunshot wound in the head.”
It was then that John sprang to the stove, and shook its grate vehemently38.
At sight of the Sheriff, who advanced upon him with a directness which left no ambiguity39 as to his purpose, Milton rose excitedly from his chair, cast a swift scared glance around the company, and then, while the handcuffs were being snapped upon his wrists, began to whimper.
“I didn’t do it! It’s a put-up job! It’s them brothers o’ his thet allus hankered after his money, ’n’ naow they got it they’re tryin’ to put the thing on me. ’N’ his wife, tew, thet stuck-up city gal40, she——”
“Come naow, yeou better shut up,” said the Sheriff sententiously. “Th’ more yeh say th’ wuss it’ll be fer yeh.”
Most of the men present averted41 their gaze during the brief period of alternate threats and cringing42, of rough curses and frenzied43 fawning44 on the Sheriff, the District Attorney, and even the Coroner, which ensued; but Mr. Hubbard watched it all carefully with evident interest.
“That is a very curious type of criminal,” he said, as the Sheriff and his prisoner left the room; “very curious indeed! I never saw a murderer before who had so little nerve, and funked so absolutely when he was confronted with detection. Why, I’ve seen men, guilty as guilty could be, who would deceive even their own lawyers. But such a simpleton as that—he’s not worth his rope.”
“That is because you are a city man,” explained the District Attorney. “You don’t know the kind of murderers we raise here in the country. The chances are that your city assassin would be tortured by remorse46, if he escaped discovery, and that he committed the deed in a moment of passion. But the rural murderer (I am speaking of native Americans, now) plans the thing in cold blood, and goes at it systematically47, with nerves like steel. He generally even mutilates the body, or does some other horrible thing, which it makes everybody’s blood boil to think of. And so long as he isn’t found out, he never dreams of remorse. He has no more moral perspective than a woodchuck. But when detection does come, it knocks him all in a heap. He blubbers, and tries to lay it on somebody else, and altogether acts like a cur—just as this fellow ’s doing now, for instance.”
A hubbub48 of shrieks49 and sobs50 rose from the kitchen as he finished this sentence, and they with one accord moved toward the door.
The Sheriff, with an eye to his promise to the two men in the kitchen, had led the livid and slinking wretch51 out to the centre of the room, where the dim candles had now been lighted, and, forcing him to hold up his hands so that the manacles might be fully45 visible, said to Seth:
“Here yeh air! I said I’d shaow him to yeh! Here is the whelp thet did th’ mischief52. Look at him!”
There was a second of dead silence, as the several listeners took in the significance of his words, and of the spectacle.
The silence was broken by an inarticulate, indescribable cry from Aunt Sabrina. Then came with startling swiftness a confusion of moving bodies, of screams, and the rattling53 of the handcuffs’ chain, which no one could follow. When the intervention54 of the Sheriff and Beekman had restored quiet, it was discovered that the old lady, with an agility55 of which none could have supposed her capable, had snatched a potato knife from the table, and made a savage56 attempt to wreak57 the family’s vengeance58 upon Milton. She had not succeeded in inflicting59 any injury, save a slight cut on one of his pinioned60 hands, and Seth now with some difficulty persuaded her to leave the room.
It fell to Alvira’s lot to bind61 up the bleeding hand—for Melissa, undertaking62 the task, was too nervous and trembling to perform it.
A little dialogue, in hushed whispers, which only imperfectly reached even the sentinel Sheriff, ensued:
“Sao this is what yeh’ve come tew!”
“It’s all a lie!”
“Oh, don’t tell me! Ef you’d be’n contented63 with yer lot in life, ’n’ hadn’t tried to swell64 yerself up like a toad65 in a puddle66, this wouldn’t a happen’d. But nao, yeh poor fewl, yeh must set yerself up to be somebody! ’N’ naow where air yeh?”
Words with which to answer rose to Milton’s bloodless lips, but he could not give them utterance67. He could not even look at her, but in a dazed way stared at the hand, which he held so that she could wind the bandage in spite of the gyves.
“I didn’t use to think yeh was aout-’n-aout bad,” she continued, more slowly; “they was a time when yeh might a made a decent man o’ yerself—ef yeh’d kep’ yer word to me.”
This time he did not make an effort to answer.
The task of sustaining the talk alone was too great for her. The tears came into her eyes, and blinded the last touches to the bandage. As it was completed, the Sheriff put his hand roughly on the prisoner’s shoulder. The meaning of this movement spread over her mind, and appalled68 her. With a gesture of decision she stood on tiptoe, lifted her face up to Milton’s, and kissed him. Then, as he was led away, she turned to the onlookers69, and said defiantly70, between incipient71 sobs:
“I daon’t keer! Ef t’ was th’ last thing I ever done in my life, I’d dew it. We was—engaged—once’t on a time!”
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1
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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2
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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3
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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4
enlisting
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| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的现在分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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5
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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6
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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8
abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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9
balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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11
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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12
meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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13
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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14
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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15
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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16
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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17
agog
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| adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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24
pique
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| v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气 | |
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25
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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27
bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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28
monologue
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| n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白 | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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hitching
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| 搭乘； （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的现在分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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32
verbose
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| adj.用字多的；冗长的；累赘的 | |
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33
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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34
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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35
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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36
corroboration
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| n.进一步的证实，进一步的证据 | |
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37
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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38
vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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39
ambiguity
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| n.模棱两可；意义不明确 | |
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40
gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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41
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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42
cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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43
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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44
fawning
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| adj.乞怜的，奉承的v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 )；巴结；讨好 | |
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45
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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46
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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47
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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48
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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49
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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50
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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51
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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52
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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53
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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54
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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55
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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56
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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57
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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58
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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59
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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60
pinioned
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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62
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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63
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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64
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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65
toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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66
puddle
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| n.(雨)水坑，泥潭 | |
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67
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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68
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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69
onlookers
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| n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 ) | |
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70
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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71
incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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