This evidence he found most difficult to secure. For months he had watched the handsome foreigner with the patience of a hound. He had taken particular pains to hold Jennie's friendship in order to be thrown with Socola on every possible occasion. His men from the Secret Service Department had followed Socola's every movement day and night with no results.
He pretended the most philosophic1 acceptance of the situation and bantered2 the lovers with expressions of his surprise that an early marriage had not been announced.
Socola received the Captain's professions of friendship with no sign of suspicion. He read Dick's mind as an open book. He saw through his pretentions and the tragic4 purpose which underlay5 his good-natured banter3. He knew instinctively6 that his movements were watched and moved with the utmost caution. For a time he found it impossible to visit the house on Church Hill. Detectives were on his heels the moment he turned his steps to that hill.
The boarding house in which he lived was watched day and night. And yet so carefully had he executed his work the men who were hounding him were completely puzzled. They could not know, of course, that Socola had chosen as his secretary a man in the Department of State. This man he had involved in his conspiracy7 so completely and hopelessly from the first interview that there was no retreat. He had risked his own life on his judgment8 of character the day he made his first proposition. But his estimate had proven correct. The fellow blustered9 and then accepted the bribe10 and entered with enthusiasm into his service.
Through this clerk the wily director of the Federal Bureau of Information was compelled now to communicate with Miss Van Lew. Socola had secured his services in the nick of time. He had been an old friend of the Van Lew family before the war, their people were distantly related and no suspicion could attach to his visits to her house unless made at an unusual hour.
It was nearly a year from the day he began his watch before Captain Welford succeeded in connecting the stenographer11 in the Department of State with the woman on Church Hill.
He had been quietly studying "Crazy Bet" for months. From the first he had accused this woman of being a spy. The older men in the Department laughed. Miss Van Lew was the standard joke of the amateurs who entered the Service. The older men all knew that she was a harmless fool whose mind had been unbalanced by her love for negroes and her abolition12 ideas.
With characteristic stubbornness Dick refused to accept their decision and set about in his own way to watch her. She was in the habit now of making more and more frequent trips to Libby Prison, carrying flowers and delicacies13 to the Northern prisoners. Dick had observed the use of an old fashioned French platter with an extremely thick bottom. He called the attention of the guard to this platter.
The keen ears of the woman had heard it mentioned. The double bottom at that moment was harmless. The messages she had carried to the prisoners had all been taken from their hiding place and the platter returned to her through the bars.
She hurried home before the guard could make up his mind to examine the contrivance. The next day Dick was on the watch. The Captain whispered to the guard who halted "Crazy Bet" at the door.
"I'll have to examine that thing," he said sharply.
"Take it then!" she said with a foolish laugh.
She slipped the old shawl from around it and suddenly plumped the platter squarely into the guard's hands. The double bottom that day was filled with boiling water.
"Hell fire!" the guard yelled, dropping the platter with a crash.
He blew on his fingers and let her pick it up and pass on.
The woman had fooled the guard completely, but she had not been so successful with Dick. The trick was too smoothly14 done. No woman with an unbalanced mind would have been capable of it.
With extraordinary care the Captain followed her through the crowded streets and saw her pass Socola in front of the Custom House. No sign of recognition was made by either, but he saw the stenographer stoop and pick up something from the edge of the sidewalk.
He would have thought nothing of such an act had he not been following this woman on whom his suspicions had been fixed15. He leaped at once to the truth.
Miss Van Lew had dropped a cypher message and Socola had taken it.
He watched her again the next day, and, suddenly turning the corner of an obscure street, saw Socola speak to her in low quick tones, raising his voice on his appearance to an idle conventional greeting.
He passed them without apparently16 noticing anything unusual and hurried to his office with his suspicions now a burning certainty. He had only to wait his opportunity to trap his quarry17 in the possession of a dispatch that would send him to the gallows18.
His evidence was not yet sufficient to ask for his arrest. It was sufficient to convince Jennie Barton whose loyalty19 to the South was so intense she would not walk on the same side of the street with Miss Van Lew.
He rushed to the Barton house.
Jennie saw before he spoke20 that he bore a message of tragic import.
"What is it, Dick?" she asked under her breath. "Why do you look at me so?"
"Jennie," he began seriously, "you are sure that you love the South?"
"Don't ask me idiotic21 questions," she answered sternly; "what are you driving at?"
"If I prove to you that the man to whom you have pledged your love is an impostor—"
She lifted her head in a gesture of cold protest.
"I thought we had settled that question."
"But you must listen to me," he went on with calm persistence22. "If I prove to you that this man is a Federal spy—"
Jennie broke into a laugh.
"I can't get mad at you—you're such a big clumsy goose—"
"I said if I prove it—"
There was no mistaking the fact that he was in dead earnest.
The girl's face went white and her eyes took on a hard glitter.
"Now, Dick Welford, that you've said it—you've got to prove it—"
The Captain lifted his hand solemnly.
"I'll prove it. You know Miss Van Lew, the old abolitionist on Church Hill?—"
"I don't know that such a creature walks the earth."
"You've heard of her?"
"Yes."
"You know that she is a traitor23 to her own people?"
"I've heard it."
The Captain paused and looked straight at her with searching gaze.
"I just ran into Socola talking to this woman—"
"Is that all?"
"No."
"What else?"
"Yesterday I saw them pass each other on Main Street. Socola stooped and picked up something from the pavement—"
"Something she dropped?"
"I'm sure of it—"
"But you didn't see her drop it?"
"No—"
"How can you be so absurd!"
"You don't believe what I tell you?"
"But it proves nothing—"
"To me, it's as plain as day—"
"Because you hate him. I'm ashamed of you, Dick."
"Mark my words, I'll prove it before I'm through."
"I'll give you the chance now—that's his knock on the front door—"
"I'd rather not make my accusation24 to-day—"
"You've made it to me."
"You're a loyal Southern girl. I had the right to make it to you."
The girl laughed.
"And I'll demand of him an explanation—"
Before he could protest Socola walked into the room and grasped Jennie's hand.
"Captain Welford," she laughed, "has just accused you of hobnobbing with the enemy on the streets—what explanation can you offer?"
"Need I explain?" he asked lightly.
"Miss Van Lew is a suspicious character."
"That's my excuse, I fear. She is a character. I've been curious to know if she is really sane25. I stopped her on the street and asked her a question. Is it forbidden in Richmond?"
He spoke with easy convincing carelessness.
Jennie smiled.
"Captain Welford evidently thinks so—"
"And you?"
"I am quite satisfied with your explanation—"
Dick took a step closer and faced his enemy.
"Well, I'm not Signor Socola—if that's your name—"
"Dick!" Jennie interrupted angrily.
The Captain ignored the interruption, holding the eye of the man he hated.
"You spoke to that woman in low quick tones—"
"Your imagination is vivid, Captain—"
Dick squared his jaw26 into Socola's face.
"It's vivid enough to see through you. I'm going to wring27 your neck before we're through with this thing—"
Jennie thrust her trembling figure between the two men and confronted Dick.
"Jennie thrust her trembling little figure between the two men and confronted Dick." "Jennie thrust her trembling little figure between the two men and confronted Dick."
"How dare you insult the man I love in my presence, Dick Welford?"
"Because I love the South better than my life and you do, too, Jennie Barton—"
The girl's eyes flashed with rage.
"Leave this room, sir!"
Dick still faced Socola.
"Get out of this town to-night—or I'll wring your neck, you damned spy!"
"Leave this room, Dick Welford!" Jennie repeated.
The Captain turned and left without even a glance over his broad shoulders.
"I couldn't strike him in your presence, dear," Socola apologized.
"You behaved splendidly. I'm proud of your perfect poise28 and mastery of yourself. Our Southern men splutter easily."
Socola took her hand and pressed it.
"You don't believe this?"
"I'd sooner doubt my own heart—I'd sooner doubt God—"
"I'll prove to you that I'm worthy29 of your love," he murmured gently.
He knelt that night and tried to ask God to show him the way. His heart was rising in fierce rebellion at the deception30 into which he had entrapped31 himself. And yet never had his country's need been so bitter and the service he was rendering32 so priceless. He rose at last with face stern and pale. He would fight to the end.
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1
philosophic
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| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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2
bantered
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| v.开玩笑，说笑，逗乐( banter的过去式和过去分词 )；（善意地）取笑，逗弄 | |
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banter
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| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
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4
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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underlay
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| v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的过去式 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起n.衬垫物 | |
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6
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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7
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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8
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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9
blustered
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| v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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10
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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11
stenographer
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| n.速记员 | |
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abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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13
delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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14
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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15
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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16
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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17
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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18
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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19
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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20
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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21
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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24
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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25
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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26
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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27
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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28
poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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29
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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30
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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31
entrapped
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| v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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