LUDWICK.--Now here's a man half ruined by ill luck, As true a man as breathes the summer air. LAUNCELOT.--Ill luck, erratic1 jade2! but yesterday She might have made him king! -- OLD PLAY. CHAPTER XIII. IN THE TOMBS
The Author's Summer Residence--The Egyptian Prison--Without and Within--A Picture--Sunshine in Shadow--Joe Wilkes and his unique Proposal--Gloomy Prospects--The face at the cell-window.
There is not a pleasanter place in the world for a summer residence than Blackwell's Island! The chief edifices3 are substantial, and the grounds are laid out with exceeding care. The water-scape is delightfully5 invigorating, and the sojourners at this watering-place are not of that transient class which one finds at Nahant, Newport, and other pet resorts. Indeed, it is usual to spend from six to eight months on the "Island," and one has the advantage of contracting friendships which are not severed6 at the first approach of the "cold term"--for the particulars of which "cold term," see that funny old savant of Brooklyn Heights, who has a facetious7 way of telling us that it has been raining, after the shower is over.--Bless him! Such institutions as "Blackwell's Island" are godsends to the literati. A poor devil of an author, who has a refined taste for suburban8 air, but whose finances preclude9 his dreaming of Nahant, has only to mix himself up in a street fight, or some other interesting city episode, to be entitled to a country-seat at the expense of his grateful admirers! Owing to a little oversight10 on his part, the author of this veracious11 history took a passage for "Blackwell's Island" a trifle earlier in the season than he had anticipated; and it is at that delightful4 region these pages are indited12. But the Tombs--heaven save us from that! There are many pleasanter places in New-York than the Tombs; for that clumsy piece of Egyptian architecture--its dingy13 marble walls, its nail-studded doors and sickening atmosphere--is uncommonly14 disagreeable as a dwelling15. Many startling tragedies have been enacted16 there--scenes of eternal farewells and lawful17 murders. I could not count on my fingers the number of men who have entered its iron gates full of life, and come out cold, still and dreadful! It was here that Mortimer was brought. Within, all was sombre and repulsive18. Without, there was hum of voices, and the frosty rails which ran in front of the prison creaked dismally19 as the heavy freight cars passed over them; but these sounds of life were not heard inside. The cell of Mortimer and its occupants, the morning after his arrest, presented a scene of gloomy picturesqueness20. Through a grated window, some six feet from the stone floor, a strip of sunshine came and went, falling on Mortimer, who leaned thoughtfully against the damp wall. The room, if we may call it one, was devoid21 of furniture, with the exception of a low iron bedstead, whose straw-stuffed mattress22 and ragged23 coverlid suggested anything but sleep. Daisy Snarle was standing24 with downcast eyes near the door which a few minutes before had closed on its creaking hinges, and outside of which the jailor stood listening. The long, dark lashes25 were resting on her cheek; the pearls of the necklace, which gleamed here and there in the queenly braid, looked whiter by contrast with Daisy's chestnut26 hair. In one hand she had gathered the folds of her shawl, the other hung negligently27 at her side. From beneath the skirt of her simple dress, peeped one of the loveliest feet ever seen, and her whole attitude was unconsciously exquisite28. She had just ceased speaking, and the faintest possible tinge29 of crimson30 was on her cheeks. "Daisy, you are one of God's good angels, or you would never have come to me in this repulsive place." Daisy's eyes were still bent31 on the floor. "Speak to me again, Daisy," said Mortimer, taking her hand. "Your voice gives me heart, and your words make me forget everything but you." Daisy lifted her dreamy hands, and said, softly:--"They could not find it." "Could not find what, Daisy?" "The necklace," said Daisy, smiling. "No," she continued, in a low, musical voice, "they searched in all the rooms, in all the trunks--turned over your papers and mother's work-basket--but they could not find it." And Daisy smiled again. "Where was it, Daisy?" "Here!" And Daisy, smiling all the while, lifted Mortimer's hand in hers, and placed it on the braid of hair. Mortimer started. "O, Daisy! Daisy! why did you do that?" The little foot tapped gently on the stone floor. "Because," said Daisy, dropping her eyes, "because, when I read your note yesterday, I doubted you for a moment: but when I looked at the portrait in your room, I believed you; and I hid the necklace in my hair, and came to ask your pardon." "Let any misfortune come to me, darling!" said Mortimer, touched with this ingenious act, "let come what will, I am strong! As sure as little Bell looks down from Heaven, you do not wear a stolen necklace. How it came into my hands I cannot tell, without wronging the dead. But, Daisy, it was imprudent for you to run this risk." "Oh, no; they hunted for something hidden, and could not see what was before their eyes," replied Daisy, giving a quick, low laugh, and then she grew thoughtful again. "But if they had seen it, Daisy?" "Well." "You would have been implicated32 in this unhappy affair to your certain ruin, without benefiting me. You must leave the necklace here." "But I won't!" This time the pretty little foot was set firmly on the flagging. The jailor, who had been an attentive33 listener to the foregoing conversation, thrust his hands into the capacious pockets of his overcoat with the bearing of a man who is completely satisfied. "I knowed it," he said, emphatically; "the boy is misfortunate somehow, and the young girl's a trump--she is. Lord help 'em! But time's up, and I must stop their talk." With this the man tapped on the door. Mortimer held Daisy in his arms for a moment, and then sat down on the bed. Daisy was gone, and it seemed as if the sunlight had gone with her, the cell grew so gloomy to the prisoner. "Young man," said the jailor, with a solemn look, "the young lady is very unprudent to go circumventing34 round with that necklace twisted up on the top ov her skull--she is." Mortimer groaned36. "You heard all, then, and you will betray us!" "Part ov what you say is true," returned the man, bluntly, "and part isn't. I heard yer talk, but my name isn't Joe Wilkes ef I blow on yer!" Mortimer looked at the ruddy, honest face of Joe Wilkes, and gave him his hand. "I believe you, my good man." That individual appeared to be turning something over in his mind which refused to be turned over. "Them keys, young man," he said at length, drawing forth37 from his pocket a bunch weighing some four pounds, "opens the door at the end ov the passage, and this one opens the street gate; now jist take that bit ov wood and bang me on one side ov my hed--not savagely38, you know, but jist enough to flatten39 me, and make me look stunned--like----" At this novel proposition Mortimer broke into a loud laugh, but Mr. Wilkes was in earnest, and insisted on being "flattened40." "I couldn't think of it, Mr. Wilkes!" cried Mortimer, weak with laughter; "I couldn't strike you systematically41; I should be certain to demolish42 your head." And Mr. Wilkes retired43, perforce, with the air of an injured man. Mortimer sat on the edge of the bed reflecting on the strange chain of circumstances which had placed him in his present position, and boldly facing the fact of how little chance he had of escaping Mr. Flint's malice44. The excitement attending his arrest had passed away, and the reality of his utter helplessness came full upon him. For himself he dreaded45 little, for no punishment for a supposed crime, however disgraceful, could make him guilty; but a prolonged imprisonment46 would leave Daisy and Mrs. Snarle without means of support. This caused him more anxiety than the thought of any suffering attendant on his conviction. More than this troubled him. It was Daisy's devotion. He had, indeed, wished her to believe him innocent, but his generous mind revolted at holding her to promises made in happier moments. He could not make Daisy his wife while a blemish47 remained on his honor; and the circumstances relative to the forged check, with which the reader is conversant48, he could not think of revealing, for Snarle's dying words haunted him strangely. While Mortimer was thus meditating49, two hands grasped the iron bars of the window, which was directly opposite the bed, and a moment afterwards a man's head threw a shadow into the cell. Mortimer, absorbed in thought, had failed to notice it. The first expression of the face was that of mere50 curiosity; this was followed by a startled look, and then an intense emotion distorted the features. The face grew deathly pale, and the eyeballs glowed into the cell, more resembling those of a wild-cat than a human being's. A deep groan35 came from the window, and the head disappeared instantaneously. Mortimer looked up and glanced around the narrow room suspiciously, and then smiled to think how his fancy had cheated him. The face was Edward Walters.
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1
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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preclude
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| vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍 | |
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oversight
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| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
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veracious
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| adj.诚实可靠的 | |
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indited
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| v.写（文章，信等）创作，赋诗，创作( indite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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picturesqueness
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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negligently
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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circumventing
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| v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的现在分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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flatten
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| v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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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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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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