"Her grandson, Brick, was at the cabin two or three times," said Mr. Bergan, "when you were too ill to allow his admittance. He is here now, and very anxious to see you. May he come in?"
Brick, being admitted, burst into tears. He was glad to see his beloved master, but his heart and mind were heavily burdened. When he had last seen his grandmother, she had told him that she was going on a long journey, and should not return; but she had charged him solemnly to say nothing of this communication to anybody but Bergan; who, she averred3, would return in good time. Then he was to bid him, in her name, to "seek and find;" she had added, that he would know where to look.
Bergan started up with a face of alarm. "I must go at once," he ex claimed; "I am afraid it is already too late!"
"But you are not strong enough," remonstrated4 Mr. Bergan. "Tell us where to look, we will go in your stead."
"I would gladly do so, if I knew how," answered Bergan, "but I am not certain that I can find the place myself; I never saw it but once, and then it was in the night. At the worst, however, we can cut a way into it. Come, uncle; come, Hubert, you will both be needed; and we ought to have a doctor, too. The secret—for there is one—has long been kept, but it must needs out now; and it is as well that it should, the day of such things is over."
The carriage was ordered, and having set down the three gentlemen at the Hall, went after Doctor Gerrish.
Bergan, meanwhile, sought for the hidden spring. It required some time and thought before he found and pressed it. The secret chamber5 being then exposed to view, Rue was discovered sitting at the massive secretary, in a large arm-chair, with her head bowed on her folded hands. She was dead; Doctor Gerrish affirmed that she had been so for some days. Ample provision of food and water was near; she had died a perfectly6 natural and peaceful death, from the infirmities of old age. It was apparent that she had deliberately7 chosen this spot for her death-chamber. But why? That was a mystery.
It was soon solved. As they gently raised the body to lay it on the same bed where her master, and so many of his race had slept their last sleep before her, a folded paper dropped from her clasped hands, and fell at Bergan's feet. He picked it up, glanced at it, and laid it on the desk without a word. There was that in his face, however, which made Hubert also look at it; and straightway he held it up to view with the triumphant8 exclamation9:
"The lost will, gentlemen, the lost will! Bergan, let me be the first to congratulate you."
It was easy to understand now, that, feeling her last hour at hand, and knowing that no will left anywhere in the Hall, or in her own cabin, would be likely to escape Doctor Remy's destructive touch, she had taken this method of fulfilling her master's last command:
"See that Harry10 has Bergan Hall. Give this will into his own hands, and no one's else. I trust none of them but you."
Well might he trust her! Almost a century of loyal service had she given to him and his house, ready at any time, if need be, to lay down her life for their sake. Well might Bergan give her tender, honorable burial, and cause to be graven deep on her tombstone:
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
*****
Hubert Arling wooed and won Coralie Youle. His strong likeness11 to his brother first found him favor in her eyes; by and by, she would have been amazed to be told that she had ever cared for him, except on his own sufficient account.
Diva Thane and Astra Lyte went to Italy, for some years, to give Astra's genius fit food and training. The direction of its future labors12 was settled. She would spend her life and strength in the service of Christian13 art, trying to lose all thought of self in that of consecration14, and counting her work successful, though it never left her studio, nor brought her either money or fame, if only it lifted the minds of those who contemplated15 it to a point above itself, to a loftier standard of living, a clearer conception of the beauty of holiness, a more earnest aspiration16 after the glory that "shall be." On her return, she brought with her a Saint Christopher that satisfied even Carice. The giant was kneeling before the Wondrous17 Child, who had at once so burdened him, and so strengthened him to bear; his face was full of awe18 and love; he recognized his Lord; he had found the King who alone was worthy19 of his service, and whom alone he was content to serve.
As for Diva, there are sisters of charity, who wear no distinctive20 garments, save patience and faith. A gentleman once said to Bergan, admiring her stately beauty, "She should be a queen." "She is a queen," was the quick reply, "a queen according to the Gospel pattern, 'Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.'"
In due time, Bergan restored the old Hall, although not without reducing somewhat of its ostentatious size by cutting down the long wings, and with no extravagant21 outlay22. He had learned that the inevitable23, and probably healthful, tendency of property in this country, is to division. The larger and costlier24 the dwelling25, beyond a certain extent, the more sure it is to prove too heavy a burden for some inheritor, and the less likely to go down in a direct line. The man who would have his name live, must link it with some institution more imperishable than a family home. First of all, therefore, Bergan took care to embody26 in carven stone and jewelled glass that fair vision which he had seen on his first visit to the Berganton church. This being done, we may be sure that his more personal dreams of happiness and honor came true, also.
A fair and gracious wife and mother was Carice! She never lost the flower-like grace and purity of her girlhood, nor her rare power of seeing straight to the central truth of things. "It is said that I have lost a year of my life," he once remarked; "it is the year that I count most truly saved."
Richard Causton, having learned, through his forced abstinence during his long, lonely watch over Bergan, that existence was possible without alcoholic27 stimulant28, and being helped by Bergan's steady friendship and countenance29, made a determined30 effort at reformation, and succeeded, though not without a sore struggle, and many lapses31. The last of his backslidings was made memorable32 by the following incident.
Going too near the edge of the excavation33 aforementioned, he slipped and fell over, displacing some of the sand at the foot of the bank by his weight, which had also been much washed by a recent heavy rain. Struggling to his feet, he was horrified34 to see a skeleton hand pointing at him from the base of the precipice35. He fled, without stopping to look behind him; but his story set other and acuter minds to work, as well as, a little later, two or three careful spades; and the body of Edmund Roath was exhumed36, and the mystery of his disappearance was explained. The sand had suddenly caved in, under his weight, and buried him, as he fell. His flight had been short, in one sense; far, very far, in another. Had he witnessed such a termination to another's career, he would, doubtless, have termed it Chance, or Fate; but those who stood around his dead, shrunken body, with its sunken eyes and its uplifted hands, looked awe-stricken in each other's faces, and solemnly whispered, "Providence37." Nevertheless, some simple souls murmured that he had escaped just punishment. "Do you think so?" asked Mr. Islay. "So would not he who said 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' Be thankful, rather, that justice to the guilty is so tempered with mercy to the innocent. An earthly scaffold would not have added one straw's weight to the despair of that miserable38 soul, when he stood on the brink39 of death, and knew that his failure was complete for time and eternity40, but it would have been a heavy burden to certain gentle hearts. It is they who have escaped, not he. Where the cords of his sins do not hold a man to a godly sorrow, they must needs hold him to a righteous retribution."
Richard Causton's old age had something of the mellow41 sweetness of a late, frost-bitten apple, such as is occasionally plucked from the tree in midwinter. He lived to teach Bergan's eldest42 son many of his favorite proverbs, in their many tongues, but he constantly impressed upon him that the truest, most significant, most solemn of them all was one from Holy Writ43:
"HE SHALL BE HOLDEN WITH THE CORDS OF HIS SINS."
THE END.
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1
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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3
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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10
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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consecration
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| n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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aspiration
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| n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出 | |
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17
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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20
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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21
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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costlier
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| adj.昂贵的( costly的比较级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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embody
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| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
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27
alcoholic
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| adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者 | |
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28
stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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29
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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30
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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31
lapses
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| n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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32
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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33
excavation
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| n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地 | |
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34
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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35
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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36
exhumed
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| v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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38
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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39
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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40
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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41
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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42
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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43
writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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