G9 PS \5GR Eg Class 2S_A5:^. Book . B'G Gopyri^htN" ,10 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. ^OGG P'TIT MATINIC MONOTONES ONE letter was for a woman ; and as I with difficulty de- ciphered the cramped w^riting, — "iMrs.AbbieTrefethen," — a great hand reached over my shoulder and snatched it away irom me as a pale, thin-faced woman pushed her way through the men, saying, "Give it to mel " (Page 12.) P'TIT MATINIC AND OTHER MONOTONES GEORGE WHARTON EDWARDS M author of "thumb-nail sketches" WITH MANY DRAWINGS AKD DECORATIONS BY THE AUTHOR THE CENTURY CO. PUBLISHERS NEW YORK : M DCCC XC IV ?^ Copyright, 1894, by The Century Co. THE DEVINNG PRESS. " For freshest ivits I know will soon be wearie Of any book^ howsoever it be, Except it have odd matter strange or merrie, Well sauc'd ivith fiction, A?td glaired all luith gleeT MIRROR FOR MAGISTRATES. CONTENTS PAGE ARRIVAL OF THE MAIL . i 1 n c vv ivu-v^rv DRUSIL'S FAIRF' . . . . 24 THE NEW JUSTICE . . . 33 THE HEAD OF OL' GULL . 43 THE WOOING OF HISE . 58 THE PRODIGAL . . . . 72 OLD GRIMES'S MASTER- PIECE 85 A DISTURBER OF FAITH 102 P'TIT MATINIC MONOTONES THE ARRIVAL OF THE MAIL "When ye git the split in George's Island over ag'in' Gran' Mahac, then ye can call it jest half-way to ' P'tit Mati- nic'.' '^ Thus said the venerable bucaneer on the wharf at Port Cleeve, standing in the mist and haze of a July downpour, in tar- paulins and sou'wester of the palest yellow. " Mind ye that the buoy on the outer ledge 's shifted a half p'int to theeast'ard, so that ye '11 hev to make the cock hills over the day-mark." This last was addressed to the melancholy person whom T had induced to set me on P'tit Matinic'. " But I carn't see what 'n the ol' Harry ye want out to sech a place, eighteen miles from no- where, when ye might stop where ye be, comfortable and com/^;Yable, right here to the Gut, an^ a new hotel an' fixin's, with a pianny and a cupeler, an' all manner," — a pause to see if these superior attrac- tions might not weaken my re- solve, — " but if ye will go, why, ye will, I cal'late; an' there 's the mail for the island, an' ye can jest tell 'em that it 's laid here so long that it 's got kinder fly-spotted, — but I cal'late that they won't mind that, — an' ye might say that salt 's riz, an' mackerel 's bringin' eighteen 'n' harf for ones." As we dropped down the har- bor in the drizzle, his grumbling voice died away, and before he 2 became a blur against the gray wall of the fish-house I saw him raise his hands to his face, and form a speaking-trumpet with them, and faintly came to us, '^ The — red buoy — shifted — day-mark." I might perhaps have been flattered at his mani- fest concern for my comfort did I not have a lively conscious- ness that it was born of certain experiences in which a half-gal- lon jug, w^hich I had procured from Boston especially for such purposes, figured heavily ; and this jug now occupied a con- spicuous position under the thwart of the boat before me, and was fast vanishing from his sight. Good old Captain Fussle ! " Albion Truro Fussle, master pilot, captain of a square-rig- ger, sir, thirty years; none of your blanked [shocking exple- tive] schooners ! " was his form of introduction, at the end of 3 which he was quite purple — no, violet — in the face, to such an extent was his pride aroused. Good old Captain Fussle, I say, but for your opposition to P'tit Matinic' I should perhaps never have known its delights. As to P'tit Matinic', I doubt if you can find it on the map, lying as it does a mere speck at sea, ten miles from the nearest point of land, and eighteen miles from any town. We were now beyond the harbor. Here was the dull blue sea under the dull gray sky. The wind blew fresh, the rain fell, a soft^ thin moisture rose from the sea, and met a soft, thin, gray cloud descending from above. The long, even rollers of the Atlantic stole slowly, deliberately, even sul- lenly, from the level plain beyond, growing to the eye perceptibly as they came. The water was thickly streaked with 4 tawny froth; the base of the high, impassable rocky coast was marked by a broad hne of yellow foam. No bird was visible in the air, no ship on the sea. There were no Kving creatures but our- selves. Behind us the towering, oppressive, liver-colored rocks, and before us the foam-mantled, blanched blue sea, and in my ears a murmur as though the leaves of a hundred thousand trees were rustling and tossing in the wind. Night fell, and over the bow was seen a pale yellow glow from some lighthouse low down on the purple horizon. On our right a line of surf rose and fell regularly, and my com- panion, pointing to it, briefly remarked : " George's Island 's opened up. We 're harft way, an' I 'm dum glad." I thought over all that I had heard of P'tit Matinic', of the quiet law- lessness of its people, of the many wrecks upon its bold shores, of the mysterious lights upon its headlands. I fished for new matter about P'tit Matinic' in the brain of the youth who was steering the boat for me^ who, I found, was stu- dying for the ministry in a per- functory sort of way, in the intervals of " la wbstering," road- mending, and barbering for the Gut, as Port Cleeve was uni- formly and affectionately called by the inhabitants. I had evi- dently fallen in his estimation since consenting to his terms and undertaking the trip. Lis- ten to him. " Some folks carn't sense when they 's well off. This wa'n't no kind of a chamce to come over to P'tit Matinic'. 'S'pose you know they ain't no boardin'- house nor nawthin' there ? Ain't no store, neither. Ain't no doc- tor ; ain't no minister. Folks is all cousins, an' they ain't a pooty woman on the island. Hey? Oh, yes; that's the Duck Rock. When we git off 'n it we mostly blows a horn to tell 'em that we got the mail aboard. I hain't never been ashore once, but them that has says that they hain't nawthin' there ter see — 'thout it 's salt fish." " How often does the mail go out from Port Cleeve ? " I asked. " Hey ? Oh, yes ; from the Gut. Oh, when they 's a vessel parsin' this way, they generally takes it aout; they ain't no one wants to go to P'tit Matinic' spe- cial 'tic'ler bad, less they carn't help goin\ Did I tell you th' wa'n't no minister ? Well, they ain't. An' they buries the dead folks in the rocks top the hill. Hey ? Oh, yes; they got plenty of good medder-land, but jest out of peskiness, I cal'late, they sot the buryin'-ground top the hill, where they ain't nawthin' but stun. ^'Hey? Oh, yes; they 's a goodhghthouse. There 'tis over the bow. Second-class Fresnel lens into it — come from Frarnce, I heard tell; an' a whistling-buoy, an' a fog-horn. But land ! when it fogs up, an' they see a good charnce, I 've heard say that they don't blow her ; but if any complaint 's made ag'in' it, why, the hull passel of folks — hun- dred and thirteen census gives — '11 swear 't was goin' reg'lar. " Hey ? Oh, yes ; they 's all wrackers, men, wimming, and chuldering. I heard say they '11 strip a wrack so slick you carn't find the calkin\ But say, ye must n't believe all ye hear, must ye? '' Hey ? Oh, yes ; they 's a church. But I call it scand'lous, sech a church as I hear tell they got. They 's a chandyloor in her come out of the wrack of the Ken- nebec ; carpet too; and the sills that supports it come out of the wrack of the Guv^ner Beebus^ what broke up over on Gran' Mahac ; and the suller, I heard say, is chock-full of — mind your head,now,when theboomcomes round ! I 'm goin' to fetch in on this tack." P'tit Matinic' now lay just a- head. There appeared to be two islands, as well as I could see, by the line of foam, one smaller than the other, and midway between was a small rocky ledge over which the waves broke. In my ears sounded the vari- ous movements of the orchestra of the sea — the shrill silver hiss of the long waves toppling in curving cascades, and running swiftly up the dark face of the rock in pale green tongues of light. There was the roar and rattle of loose boulders torn from the hold of the kelp by the pow- erful out wash of the water. Afar off sounded the deep note of the whistling-buoy. There was no light visible save the beam of 10 the revolving light on the hill above. " Hey ? " said my Protean pi- lot, in answer to a question yelled at him above the noise of the swiftly running water. '' Oh, yes; be there in 'bout ten min- utes now. Jest hand me that conch-shell from under the seat, an' I '11 give 'em a blast. There — guess that '11 fetch somebody. Oh, yes ; the houses is all about us now, but folks is all turned in, I reckon." And as he spoke a light shone out of the blackness beyond and above, and the smoothness of the water proved that we were inside the ledge. "Hello-o-o-o the I-s-1-a-n-d!" was answered after an interval somewhere from above by," Hel- lo-o-o-o the boat ! " " Come down and catch a line, will you ? Got the m-a-i-1 an' a passenger for ye." Twinkling lights shone out now from various points, and 11 soon I discovered a sort of stag- ing to which we made fast. In a few moments I had mounted to the platform, and was surrounded by uncouth-looking men in oil- skins. The faces, as they were lighted here and there by the smoky lanterns, seemed lowering and forbidding. " Got the mail, be ye ? " said one, stepping forward, and hold- ing the lantern to my face. "Come into the fish-houp.e out 'n the wet." I produced the small dusty parcel of mail, and, calling out the names by the aid of one of the lanterns, distributed it from the head of a salt-cask. One let- ter was for a woman ; and as I with difficulty deciphered the cramped writing, — '' Mrs. Ab- bie Trefethen," — a great hand reached over my shoulder and snatched it away from me as a pale, thin-faced woman pushed 12 her way through the men, say- ing, " Give it to me I " " No, no, Abbie," said the man who had snatched it from me, holding it away behind his back ; " let me read it. 'T ain't from Jorn, I tell ye. I know his writin' : wa' n't we shipmates to- gether ? " " Let me have it," she said wildly. " I will have it ; 't is mine ! " " I know 't is, Abbie." "I tell you I will have it: " The woman's eyes fairly blazed from beneath the shawl which covered her head and shoulders. Thefishermen surrounded her. I could not see what happened. But after an interval there came a curious sound, as of one catch- ing one's breath. The group parted, and I saw two of the men carrying a limp form through the door into the night. One of the men took off his tar- paulin hat, wiped his forehead, 13 and with an ai)ologeti(: note in his voice, and a wave of his hand in the direction of the door, said : " Ye see, Abbie's man he was lost down ter the Gran' Banks six month' ago. We 've all knowed it for a spell, but did n't dast tell Ab ; an' the letter ye fetched was from the captain, tellin' her of the edzact happen- in' and ingclosin' a draft for his pay. An' Ab she 's kind of eg- citable by nature^ and that 's how — but " — w ith a rapidly brightening manner — " be ye cal'latin' to stop on here the night ? Ye be ? Then come right up to the house." This was my introduction to P'tit Matinic'. Through the window at the foot of my bed I had a ghmpse of a long stretch of hillside with mottled patches of sunburned grass, and gray rock upon which blazed a peculiar orange moss that I have never seen elsewhere. Over this hillside filed long lines of figures black against the grass, and bearing rolled-up sail, kegs, and various marine impedi- menta. Against the sky and the sea beyond appeared the masts of a schooner, with black figures at work. Dreamily watching, I awoke to the fact that some- thing unusual was going on. The figures were men chop- 15 ping and cutting away the rig- ging. I now saw women and children sitting in a row on the hillside; and hastily dressing, I passed through the kitchen, where the remains of a meal were strewn in disorder on the table, and made my way over the hill. 16 There lay a schooner of, say, eighty tons, high and dry on the rocks, with the men swarming over it Hke ants, stripping it of every article of value. I made out the figure of mine host com- ing toward me, with his arms full of crockery. " Schooner come ashore last night after ye 'd got to bed; thought ye was fagged, or I 'd 'a' wakened ye. Heaow ? Oh, no ; they wa' n't any one lost his life ; all got off clear. " Heaow ? Where be they ? Oh, they cal'lated 't wa' n't com- fortable for 'em here, so they jest set off. Heaow ? Oh, no, we don't drive no one off, but we just kind o' p'inted out the way for 'em to git clear o' the peen- alties of comin' ashore 'thout bein' arsked; and they cal'lated 't was more healthy for 'em over to the main. Hed your break- fast ? No ? Well, now, jest step along up to the house 'th me, 2 17 and we 11 have a bite. Or hed you drudier stop and see 'em parsel off the goods ? All right; stop it is." The men had arranged along the hillside the sails, rigging, galley stove, pots and pans, two chests and several barrels, and the general wreckage; and mine host, who was still dressed in yel- low tarpaulins and high boots, and the character of whose beard suggested the idea that he had dipped his chin in a can of black paint, prepared a number of straws of unequal lengths, which he offered to one after the other of the line of stolid-looking men who had arranged themselves in a row. " Long straw, first choice," he announced. " Got her," cried out a sing- ular-looking squattily built in- dividual, who seemed all boots and hat, stepping forward and critically eying the piles of wreckage. There were murm-urs 18 among the men. " Take the gear, Jim," said one. '' Gear 's wuth thutty dollars, if it 's wuth a cent." " Don't ye, Jim," cried another; and then ensued a 19 pandemonium of suggestions^ until he who had offered the straws bawled out, " Can't ye luff Jim make hees own choice ? " Jim finally, after critically scru- tinizing each pile, acknowledged the superiority of feminine judg- ment ]3y referring the matter to his " woman," who promptly selected the cooking-stove, the china, and two green chests, contents unknown. Then selec- tion went on until all was ap- portioned, and nothing was left but the hull, over which an un- fortunate dog that had been left by the crew ran frantically up and down as if in protest against the looting. The sea was rising, and long rollers began to come in, beat- ing against the side of the ill- fated schooner, which trembled and groaned with every shock. " Heaow ? Oh, she missed stays. The captain allowed he made the point, but did n't know 20 21 where she was : said the horn wa' n't agoin'; but I know bet- ter. Made the point, tried to come around, and she would n't mind the rudder, and the sea jest hove her up on the ledge. Launched her boat, but the sea stove it, and ye can see the pieces over there in the cove. Heaow ? Oh, yes ; the mate he swum ashore with a line, and we hauled 'em all off. There 's her log there ; ye can read it if ye like. B'longed down St. John's way. Heaow ? Oh, no, they wun't no one bother her now ; we has wracks — but hoi' on; who be ye, and what be ye ? " Painter, eh ! What kind ? Oh, picters ! Where be ye from ? Ye don't say ! York, eh? Well, now — say, I want ye ter paint me and Maria Liz. Kin ye do it ? And heave on plenty of rings and gold chains and fixin's, and, say, you need n't git on this pimpil 'side the 22 nose ; that 's kind of aggravatin' to Maria Liz. Sho ! Picter- man, eh ? You don't say! Well, now, should n't wonder if you made a good thing of it on here ! " 23 There was commotion on the Middle Beach, for you must know there are three beaches, so called, — the Southern, the Mid- dle, with which we are now con- cerned, and the Eastern. These are simply pockets of disinte- grated mussel-shells, cast up by the sea, in clear spaces between the rocks. On the Middle Beach was gathered an excited throng of men, women, and children, all talking at once, and at times pointing toward a knot of men bent over the well, thelong sweep of which was describing eccen- tric curves and angles in the air 24 In the confusion I could gather little to explain the unwonted ex- citement and activity on the part of the men, who for the most part are given to a practice which may be described as " laying back," and which one presently discov- ers to be the gentle art of doing nothing. To all interrogations the one reply accorded was, ^' She 's daoun in the well " ; which was at once contradicted by another, in a vigorous " Hain't neither ! " " Sh' is too ! " 25 '[ Hain^t neither, I tell ye ! " It was not until the well had been sounded and prodded for half an hour, — first by the men, then by the women, and finally by an adventurous youth who climbed down into it with widely spread legs, — that one Maria Liz appeared at the top of the lane, and, wildly waving her arms, announced in a grating,na- sal voice, '^ I found 'er in un'er the baid ! '^ and then there was an excited scramble among the women to see who should reach the house first. It then came out that — " Ye see, Drusir she 's set ag'in' egs- travagant livin', bein' drefful clus and savin' — an' her folks alius wuz before her. Why, I 'mem- ber her paa 'way back in '62." And here followed a history of the author of Drusil's being, with which I will not delay the narrative in hand. " Well, an' that 's heaow she 26 came by her clus ways ; and now Fairf — Fairf ' 's drefful open- handed, Fairf ' is. Ye see, Fairf he 's had a good charnce to see- coor as fine a yoke of cattle as I ever see, an' I Ve seen — " Here was interpolated a descrip- tion of a certain yoke of cattle that the speaker had seen at the Lewiston Fair. "Well, Fairf he 27 goes to Drusir, and he up and tells her of the steers, a-p'intin' toward the advarntages into 'em, and 'lows that t' would be a good thing for him to take the lawbster money, as was sot by, and go and git 'em short-hand. Well, b' jolly, Drusil' she bucked ag'in' it, and sot up such a waxy opposin' of it, that Fairf ' he gin up and took out of the house, and baited two tub of trawl gear before he dast go nigh her ag'in. But them steer they kind of ha'nted Fairf's mind, and he could n't git shet of thinkin' of their silky hides and long outda- cious horns of 'em ; and then he see the profit that they was into 'em, with the luggin' of the win- ter wood, an' the haul in' of stone for the new wharf, an' it rankled into hees brains so thet he got so het up with the idee of losin' 'em, that for once he up gear and run before the wind to suit himself — and, b' jolly, he went 28 I and got the lawbster money out the cupboard, and went over ter Georgetown and bought the steers, an' never let on to Drusil'. Well, sir, he did; and he come back an' no one never knowed nawthin' about it; for Fairf 's drefful silent when he sots out to be. Well, sir, yesterday the steers come. Ye see them when they hove them off 'n the schooner in the harbor, did n't ye ? Neaow, ain't they handsome ? Well, Drusil' she see them too^ out the winder, but of course she never mistrusted that Fairf he had anythin' in 'em. Well, when Fairf he sot eyes on 'em ag'in he was jest a-bustin' with pride into him, but he was afeard to tell Drusil', so he ups and goes out trawlin', first a-sendin' one of the boys up to tell Drusil' that the steers was a present to her. Well, sir, believe it, Drusil' she never opened her haid, but just sot and looked as if she had 29 a-knowed it all along — but just as soon as the boy had got clear of the house, she writ a piece on a paper sayin' that Fairf hed de- ceited her, and thet she hud hove 30 herself into the well, and pinned it into the lookin'-glass so that Fairf when he come in would see it. Well, sir, bimeby Fairf he kind of sneaked in with a pail of water, to pass things off pe'ce- able; but they wa' n't no Drusil' around, and no supper sot out. Things looked dismal. Fairf he kind of peeked around and bimeby he see the piece writ on the paper stickin' in the look- in'-glass; he read it, and, b' jolly, he sot up a confusion — for Fairf he 's drefful soft-hearted, and that piece was enough to skeer any man ; neaow wa' n't it ? " Fairf he took out to the well and acted like a crazy man; and, b' jolly, we was all pooty spent, as ye see. Well, bimeby Maria Liz (drefful hand for pokin', is Maria Liz) she was a-pokin' around in the house, and she heard hard breathin', and, says she, it give her such a turn as she had n't had sense the night 31 she mistook the lordnum for the Jamaiky ginger. " Bimeby she peeked under the bed in the accit [attic], and — there was Drusil'. " B' jolly, she had n't been near the well either once — " Them 's the ways of wim- min," he added philosophically. "Well," I said, "and what about the steers ? " "Oh yes! well, FairP he 'lowed that he 'd sell 'em out of hand, but if you '11 believe it, Drusir she 's just as sot up with 'em now as Fairf was before, and won't hear of a-partin' with 'em — an' them 's the ways of wimmin," said he, giving a hitch to his oilskin trousers. 32 At the top of the village, if one might so designate the col- lection of ancient houses hud- dled together beneath the grave- yard on the hill, there lives the important personage of P'tit Matinic*. His freehold consists of a yellow two-storied house, a hennery^ a half-ownership in a fish-house, with its accom- panying privileges, a pair of wheels, forming part of an ox- cart, and the only ones, by the way, on the island. (I wish I could tell the story of the wheels right here, and an interesting one it is, too, but I started to 3 33 describe the " Squire," and I must do so without more ado.) A pair of wheels, I say, and a better-half much given to gossip, and the pursuit of her own in- clinations, one of w^hich is the boiling of soap-fat, to the un- speakable disgust of her consort. He first attracted my atten- tion in the store, wherein are dis- cussed nightly the affairs apper- taining to P'tit Matinic'. He is perhaps between fifty and sixty, of large and muscular frame, nearly six feet in height, with a face as grave as can well be im- agined — in color it is a reddish violet ; his shirt collar is gener- ally open, and displays a neck at the base of which is visible a patch of crisp, iron -gray hair. At all times he wears a white shirt, in contradistinction to the other men; and from his ears dangle fine gold rings. In an- swer to my inquiry, it was made plain that he was Simon Tarbox, 34 the educated man of P'tit Ma- tinic', the arbiter of all disputes, from whose decision there could be no appeal. Here, seated up- on a salt-cask in the store, he gravely smokes his pipe. Here he decides all matters referred to him, and plays the part of judge, as I have explained, in settling certain disputes between the islanders, which might other- wise breed ill-feeling. Now it happened that I had been in- trusted with a rather delicate mission to P'tit Matinic'. Ac- cording to law a justice was ne- cessary upon the island ; and as I came through Port Cleeve, I was asked to find the proper man on the island, and ask him to stand for election to that im- portantoffice. Therefore, shortly after my arrival, I called upon Simon, stated my mission, and my confidence that he was the man of all men for the office of justice of the peace of P'tit 35 Matinic' Grand Mahac plan- tation. How shall I describe the expression that crept over that violet visage, as the full import of my words dawned up- on him, or the courtly wave of the hand with which he bade me be seated, or the bearing which he assumed in anticipation of the legal robes soon to be his ? Begging to be excused a mo- ment, he left the room, returning soon after with an enormous gold chain^ with pendent seals stretched across his bosom, and a pair of brilliant-hued carpet- slippers upon his feet; it was then I noticed that one of his eyes was blue, and the other brown, and that the pupil of the blue eye was very large, and vertical, giving an indescribable appearance to his otherwise ab- solutely expressionless face. Be- tween us we arranged for a public meeting at the school- house the next day, where and 36 when his election would doubt- less be consummated. A placard was prepared and posted in the store, and the next day the men straggled up the hill by twos and threes, and soon the room was filled. Simon and 1 occupied the platform, where we prepared the slips of paper of yellow and blue for the vo- ters, yellow denoting the ayes and the blues any possible op- position. Finally all was ready, and 'Fon' Smivvins and 'Lan' Levenseller were appointed to distribute and collect the votes. Simon stood up and exhorted each and all to conceal his vote^ roll it up in a ball, and drop it in the box when it was passed around. The votes were cast in silence; the sunHght streamed through the small windows, throwing halos about some of the heads, bringing into relief certain horny hands with tat- tooed emblems thereon, and attracting attention to certain other flaring ears of vermilion illuminated by stray beams. The voting was over and counted; only one blue paper pellet was cast, and Simon Tar- box was elected justice of the peace of P'tit Matinic' Grand Mahac plantation. He arose, fumbled the mas- sive chain in an impressive man- ner for a moment, cleared his throat, and, gazing at the ceil- ing, began : " Fellow- citizens, — ahem, — we, — ahem — are gathered here — ahem — wh at are we gathered here for? We are gathered here to exercise — ahem — our rights. What rights? Ahem — why our rights as free citizens of this island — ahem. Ahem ! You have been arsked to vote for a justice, — ahem, — and you have so done, so help you God. You have been arsked to select a man for that office, and you 38 3a have seelected and eelected, ahein^ — and that ^s all there is to it. I don't say that ye have done well, but, b' jolly, you could n't have done no differ- ent, and no better ; and now to finish in conclusion, — ahem, — I don't want no hard feelings to- ward the cuss that hove in that blue paper. I cal'late I know who he is, but bein' justice of the peace, I wun't take no 'count of it now, but if he ever comes before me in a criminal capac- ity, he '11 discover me to be the instrument of Jestice with power into it. "And I want to say that I 'm desirin* to see the youth of this island grow up good citizens, — ahem, — that is to say, ef they don't, they '11 find me onto 'em, b' jolly ; and I want to see this island obeyin' the laws and regu- lations according to the author- ities, — ahein^ — as laid down in Blackstone." Here ensued an 40 impressive pause, during which the speaker gazed severely at 'Lan' Levenseller,who squirmed in his seat, and, becoming con- scious that his left leg, which was elevated in an easy position on the back of the bench before him, was not entirely respectful in its attitude, stealthily took it down and hid it beneath its fellow-member, a proceeding which was regarded with judi- cial severity by the candidate, as a recognition of the proprie- ties which should obtain upon such an occasion. This breach upon the part of the unlucky Levenseller was witnessed by the assembled P'tit Matinicus- ses, and duly commented upon for months afterward. To add to the discomfiture of the un- fortunate 'Lan', the candidate pointed his finger at him, slowly and impressively repeated, "As laid down in Blackstone," and cleared his throat with a tre- 41 mendous AHEM. *'And now I pronounce Mr. Simon Tarbox, Esquire, Justice of the Peace of P'tit Matinic', and if any has got anything to say ag'in' it, let him say it now, or f'rever holt his peace, so be it." Apparently no one had any- thing to say, and the new justice sat down heavily, and spat upon the stove. Then the men with- drew from the school-house, and filed slowly down the hill to the store. 42 I HAD known rock-bound P'tit Matinic' for many years, and thought that most of her se- crets were mine : her bold coast- Hne ; her heights ; her wooded hill; and the schisms and petty quarrels of her people were plain to me. My painting had long since ceased to interest them, and had left only a mild wonder in their minds that one who seemed to show sense in other particulars, should give himself up to such a childish pursuit. Their discussions of men and things in the store were free' and uninterrupted by my pres- ence — indeed they even per- 43 mitted me to take part in their symposiums. Now, one of my favorite walks and haunts was, and is, Gull Head, or Ol' Gull, as it is com- monly called. In form it is not unlike the head of the bird for which it is named. I should say that it is two hundred feet high, and about as wide. It projects out into the sea, and is con- nected with the island by a thin, narrow neck of grass-covered rock. In an easterly storm the shat- tered waves leap upon it, bound- ing, hissing in irresistible fury tow^ard its bald crest; but are arrested and poured down the sides ere they reach it. Viewed from behind, it is not unlike the back of some huge marine monster, rising from the sea, or, say, a creature of the barnacle 'kind. In color it is a deep pur- plish brown, dark blue in the hollows and ridges, growing 44 lighter on the top from the presence of certain veins of mica, which are decorated with orange of the patches of pecuHar lichen. In no season year are the top or sides of Ol' Gull ever quite dry, but always 45 damp and treacherous to the foot. If one fell there, it was certain death, for there was nothing to catch on the sides : and once in the sea, the mighty rollers of the Atlantic would grind and dash one's life out in a very few minutes, as I have seen them grind the body of a sheep that strayed too near the slippery side, and went rolling and bounding into the pale green, boiling surf It was growing foggy upon the day of which I write, the loneliness of the place was abso- lute, for the town is on the other side of the island, over the crest of the hill, and thus out of sight. A few gulls were wheeling and crying in the air above. Nothing else broke the stillness, save the boom of the sea, spurning and writhing among the hollows be- neath or Gull. I had overheard some talk about a cave under .the rock upon one ' occasion. ^'V-^s. when unobserved by the speak- ers; there was evidently some- thing about it that was not in- tended for other ears — for when I made my presence known, there was an embarrassed si- lence. What I heard was this : " I tell ye, Sim Breeson '11 get ketched at it 'fore long, an' we '11 all be into it," said one, bring- ing dow^n his hand on his knee, with a sounding slap. " Oh, durn gitten' ketched ! " said another. " Gull cave can't be found ; revenoo ain't never bin here, as I know on, and I 've lived here man and boy now sixty years, come next Lawb- sterin'. S' long as it's drinked here, an* ain't sold, in short of ■ — " Seeing me — " Oh yes,salt 's riz, — and riz, — an' '11 continoo to raise t'll ye can't see it fer the height of it " ; and with that a pause, during which one after the other slouched away. This it was that made me 47 search for the cave. There are many such on P'tit Matinic' — some were reported unexplored. It was safe to enter one only at low tide, and then only for a few moments. If you were caught in another a minute after the tide, you must stay in its chill maw for five hours; to still an- other only at the full tides : this was the information imparted to me by the patriarch ; but in it all was no mention of a cave under or Gull. It was a good ten minutes' walk over the crest of the hill from the town to the narrow neck that separated the main body of the island from Ol' Gull. As I reached it, I thought I saw a green dory below ; but I dis- missed the idea at once, for it seemed that no boat could live for a moment where my fancy pictured it ; the rock here as it descends to the water is smooth and rounded as the back of a 48 hand, abrupt nowhere save where it descends giddily to the boihng surf. As I lay on the side of the rock, idly studying the ac- tion of thewater,a piece of wreck- age, the knee of a ship it was, came in on the breast of the long Atlantic roller, and glided to- ward and under the rock. I was sure it went under, for there was no shock or recoil where it should have reached the face of the rock, only a stealthy gliding mo- tion — ^out of sight. What if this was the mouth of the cave ? Why could I not by means of a rope fastened to my w^aist, and to the rock above, descend and satisfy my surmise ? In half an hour, I had made my way to the village, secured a piece of rope, and was again in the mist on the brow of the rock; in ten minutes more, I was slowly creeping down the face of or Gull toward the water. Suddenly the rock fell away at an angle, and be- 4 49 neath this the water surged and flowed into an opening. I could see a steady inpour as each roller came up; but no outcome. I grew giddy as the water lifted its surface toward me, and fell away again with mechanical regularity. It was ebb-tide, and I knew I had to wait only an hour or two, to discover w^hether there was a foothold there or not ; as to the return to the top of or Gull, I had no thought,— with my feet securely braced in a deep cleft in the rock, I half sat, half reclined. The water fascinated one ; it rose and fell with seeming indo- lent, purposeless indift'erence. With a suddenness that was startling, a dory, painted green, shot out of the fog ; there was a trawl tub in the bow ; and a little white buoy, with a black dot on it, that I knew at once for the patriarch's. Even if these had not been present, I should 50 have recognized the squarely built figure in the yellow oil- skins, rowing with its back to- ward me, directly at the face of the rock. I was on the point of calling out to him when some- thing tied my speech. The dory leaped forward, the figure turned its head ; had he lifted his eyes he would have seen me in the cleft. I shrank back as well as I could without well knowing why. The man rested on his oars for an instant, the swell came from beyond, and as it lifted the dory, the man rowed with all his strength under the rock beneath me. It was plain that nothing could be done before the tide fell; if there was any way of entering the cave, other than by water, the falhng tide would show it. Far off to the south- ward, the sails of the mackerel fleet showed faintly, for the fog had passed to the north and east, 51 and the sea was unruffled, save that the long, clean-backed roll- ers which swept slowly shore- ward staggered a little as they passed over the sunken ledges. Eastward, where the sky was lead-colored, long fangs of fog hung twisting and writhing, torn by the fresh southwest breeze, and deep from the bowels of the rock beneath me came a sound like a smothered snore as the water entered the opening, a sound like the hushed breathing of some hidden monster. The tide was slowly falling : in an hour there would be a fall of ten feet, and if there was a way into the cave over the kelp- covered rock, it would be at my command ; if not, well, I could try. . . . Distinctly I heard a shout from above, then the slack rope attached to my waist was twitched. I slowly and carefully turned in the cleft, and, looking upward, there against the sky 52 was the patriarch, fumbhng with the end of my Une, which I had made fast to a small projection. " Come up ! " he called out, mo- tioning with his hand. Up I went, hand over hand, and reached the projection upon which he sat, breathless with the climb. " Ye want to spit on yer hands alius when ye handles rope- yam," he said, sententiously. (Pause.) " Say, mackerel 's riz, see it into the paper. D' ye cal'late they 's gitten any ? " pointing toward the sails of the fleet gathered on the horizon. I ignored the question. " Ye don't say ? Down there, eh ? Is, eh ? Cave ? Sho now ! " I intimated that I had seen him enter the cave in the dory, and that I was bound to explore it myself. He looked me over slowly, and then once more stu- died the position of the mack- erel fleet offshore. Suddenly 53 he turned and brought his large, red, tattooed hand down on my knee. '' Say, son, d* ever you hear tell of the beast called the elephant, that 's got a nose hitched to his head four foot long? Ye did. Well now, I cal'late a nose like that ain't healthy onto a human; to be shore, it 's drefful handy for pok- in'^ — on a animal, — but on a human created by Godlemighty, it 's onnatural. Say, son, says I , 't ain't healthy on a human, mark my w^ord. Say, son, what be ye up to anyway ? Ye hain't rev- enoo, be ye ? " The hand on my knee tightened, and the gray eyes grew more piercing. "Hain't? Well, I '11 take yer word for it ; but take my advice, as is giv'n kindly — about the elephant's nose, and keep clear of or Gull. " Say, son, have a cigar, will ye? 'T ain't bad." He fumbled in the breast of his tarpaulin, 54 ^CevPfi.- «j^)&^£ and brought forth a silver case, worn, but of pure workmanship. " They 's fresh, if ye Hkes fresh ones/' It was an Emanuel Gar- cia about six inches long, and of as fine flavor as I have ever tasted. "Good? Oh,yes,pootygood. Got some down to the house a leetle better. Say, son, hev a taste ? " Again the fumbling hand in the pocket, and a silver flask was produced, the exact counterpart of the cigar-case. " Take a swig ? In the foggy weather it 's handy to have clus by ye; but I don't bawther it much. Beyeajedgeoflicquor ? No ? " in a disappointed tone, taking the flask from me ; then, " Well, let 's be goin' ; ther' ain't no more to see. Show 's over here, curtain 's down, and lights gitten put out. Guess ye be a picter man, after all ; and say, come over to the house to-night; I 'd like to show ye a picter, and 56 git yer opinion onto it consider- ing its merits." He unfastened the end of the rope from the place where I had tied it, and with a circular motion w^ell known to sailors cast it free, and it fell into the water below and sank from sight. Then, taking my arm ostenta- tiously in his, we carefully made our way back to the village. As we parted he said, with a pecu- liar emphasis, " Better for ye to be seen coming back with me, son." That night I was sitting in his house looking in astonishment at the picture of a fresh, fair young girl in a gray gown, exquisitely painted, and signed — Carolus Duran ; and looking up in sur- prise, I saw the patriarch brush his hand across his eyes. '•Gosh ee!" he said; ''that cordial wxnt the wrong way. Hey ? Oh, that 's my Polly. She 's in Europe." 57 " She asked me ; yes, she did, sir, arsked me fair. " Hise turned the copper bolt which he was beating out hot upon the face of the anvil, and,eyeing it critically, gave it a couple of tentative taps with the hammer. Hise, other- wise known as Benjamin Harri- son Levenseller, blacksmith of P'tit Matinic', was the genius of the island. ^' Why, sir," to me said the nimble Breeson upon one occasion, he of the prodi- gious boots and hat, " Hise — you let Hise take and git him a good nice dolf, and I don't car' what ye want, he '11 make it out for ye on th' anvil, Hise will ; 58 but gosh ! he cam't talk none to speak of 'thout it 's in meetin' ; and then when he gits deaown on his knees, b' jolly, th' ain't no one else kin have a chamce, 'cause he 's a-goin' through it all from Genesis ter i? 75 " Oh, yus," said she, " they was alius ihinked well of, though th' waant no force into them, and waant never used to no sort of thinkin' for 'emselves, a-run- nin' off over to the main an' a-gittin' merried thout never thinkin' heaow they was goin' to git a mess o' vittles fer one mouth, let alone two. They waant neither of 'em any deeper than a pint maisure, an' folks did say they was both off, their parents bein' first cousins as my mother told me many a time, an' that bein' contrairy to the law in these parts ; but ef I draw'd my last breath a-sayin' of it, 1 'd say that they was the lovein'est upright-dealin'est folk as you ever see. Oh, yus — they 's hed chil'en — a sight of 'em, too — they 's all laid up yon- der in buryin' -ground — that is, all but Sime. Sime he run away to sea — shipped down St. John's way, but we hain't never 76 77 heard nothin' of him sense as I knows on; reg'lar reeprobate, too, Sime was — alius a torment of Beelzybub 'fore he run away. 'T was after that thet they both went kind of looney, and had a shawk both of 'em to once, an' nawthin' to live on neither of 'em, an' they Uvin' in that ol' house thet was ready to drop down on 'em come any gale of wind, so I says to Lon' I says, we better git 'em over here 'fore sech happens — an' sakes, I did feel queer to have 'em here a-settin' each side of the chim- ley a-mumbhn and a-winkin' to each other an' never knowin' nawthin' es was a-goin' on, but I says to Lon', I says -— ef we had n't a-went for 'em they would n't a-come an' we could n't let 'em git taken over to the teown farm. 'Course they was a' expense — but I cal'late thet we air called to succor them as they ain't no way of succorin' 78 theirselves. So here they 've set with us, for the larst fifteen years. Summers, when the days air long, they 'd set eaout there on the platform an' Unc' Lin' ud jest hist them cahco flags of his that I made him on the pole every time a schooner 'd parse — he a-thinkin' thet perhaps Sime was on her a-comin' back, an' a-sayin' with his face all drawed up, thet he could n't hev his boy come into the harbor 'thout signalin' on him. Then the schooner 'd parse on, an' Unc' Lin' 'd look a-kind o' forlorn, an' haul deaown his colors, and set there a-thinkin', tell Sally sh€ 'd 'gin to paw and fondle him. I never see no sech fondlin' as them two 'd hev — they was the great- est two to fondle as ever 1 see I But you jest let on that you thought Sime was a' ongrateful son, and you 'd hear some swear- in' from Unc' Lin', I cal'late. He 'd allow thet they was a 79 home-comin' for the prodigal, and that he was goin' to git ready the fatted calf for him — fatted calf, when they hed n't a cheer nor a bite but what was given to 'em in charity ! An' Lon' 'ud say, ahind his breath, so 's not to hurt their feehn's, ' Ef I c'd ketch thet Sime, I 'd lam him so 's his elbers 'd knock dust eaout 'n his kneepans.' Thet 's what Lon' 'd do, too. But you 'd jest orter 'a' heard Lon' set an' cawdle old Unc' and Aunt Sal- ly. Lon' a-tellin' them heaow Sime 'd come back soon to 'em, with hees pawkets a-bust- in' with money, an' a-comfortin' of 'em, and then goin' eaout int' the fish-house an' a-cussin' that Sime fer a good-fer-naw- thin' squab. I tell ye, church- woman that I be, I enjyed it, tho' I don't darst let Lon' know as I approve of hard langwidge — knowin' as I do the ways of men — and us so nigh thet there 80 loose town of St. George, thet 's wuss' 'n any Sawdom. " Well, we begun to notice thet the old couple got weaker every day, ontell finally they waant able ter set eaoutdoors, tell one day the freighter from St. John come into th' harbor, and one o' them young limbs o' Beelzybub come a-runnin' into th' house a-hollerin' eaout thet Sime hed ben heard of. Old Unc' Lin' heard the name of Sime — and 'fore we know'd there they come out the house both of 'em, an' they par'lyzed, too, a-holtin' on to each other's hands, an' Unc' Lin' a-hollerin' fer joy, ' Where 's Sime ? ' an' then thet brat o' Satan tell'd him thet Sime 'd been in St. John, and hed shipped ag'in an' hed n't sent no w^ord. They just dropped both of 'em — hed another shawk, I cal'late, fer they never spoke neither on 'em, but jest laid in the baid 6 81 side by side where we kerried 'em. Well, thet 's heaow they lay until this mornin*, 'n when I went ter 'em ter give 'em their breakfasts, Unc' Lin' he kind o' roused up an' he eaout with ' Sime — when — Sime — comes — 'but he never got no further, for he dozed off like, and did n't take no more no- tice, but parsed away peaceful, an' 'pears as if old Sally parsed away the same moment, fer when I looked over at her, she was a-smilin' like she heard somethin' pleasant, an' I cal'- late she hed, too. Elder says as heaow folks as is a-parsin' alius hears heavingly chunes. Would ye like to see them ? " I accepted the invitation, and entered the darkened room where the old couple lay. Very calm and gentle were the still, white faces. . . . From the window I saw a crowd of men coming up the hill toward the 82 house. Some distance before them Avalked a shorty heavily built man. After an interval I heard his voice in the kitchen. " I was up to the old house/' 83 he said. " I find it all fallen in, an' the weeds a-growin' there. A little gal tells me thet I '11 find the old folks here." '' Why, Sime Levenseller, is thet you ? " I heard the woman cry out. " Where be they ? where be they?" The hoarse voice grew louder. There was silence for a moment, in which the clock could be heard ticking loudly. Then the woman drew the man into the room — her apron was held to her face. " Sime," she said, brokenly, dropping his hand. " Do ye understand ? — they 're tired out a-waitin' fer ye — there they be a-layin' down on the baid." And I followed her from the silent room, and softly closed the door. 84 ^jpMM M W// if Sl^^^^^iP^^^^^ JyU\ Old Grimes, we called him, although that was not his name. The sign on the door of his stu- dio, in that gray old building on Washington Square, was N. P. Gummidge — fancy a painter with a name such as that! — Portraits. But in reality he painted rehgious subjects^ such as " Moses Smiting the Rock," " Noah Contemplating the Ark," " Lazarus in the Tomb " — things black with umber and bitumen and dreadful in drawing. It was a curious and pathetic figure that presented itself every 85 morning, and mounted the stairs to the upper floor where were the studios in that portion of the Old University Building which had previously served as the chapel. A figure in a long, well-worn, gray coat, with a pail of water in one hand, and a parcel wrapped in yellow grocer's paper in the other. A figure surmounted by a patriarchal head, covered with a silk hat of an ancient model that had evidently been re- cently wiped with a wet cloth — so disreputably shiny was its luster. Beneath its faded brim shone kindly youthful eyes. His manners were those of the old school. Unfailingly polite and considerate even to the ill-man- nered janitor, who never lost the opportunity of bullying him. From laughing at him strug- gling up the steep stairs with his pail of water, we finally got to helping him by turns, and so gained his confidence and friendship. " You young fellows," he would say, as some one of us assumed his burden at the bot- tom of the stairs — " you young fellows are away ahead of me. I can't understand your rain- bow colors. I can't do it. I am trying to catch up to you — but it 's like chasing the will- o'-the-wisp. My things are so dark. Yours are so light and fresh ; light wath sunlight, and fresh as air. But all the same I don't like them ; they are too dazzling. I can't see old Mo- ther Nature in that light — but I am at something now that wall astonish you, / thhik. No ! I won't show it until I carry out my idea, then perhaps the world — but wait — I '11 show^ you my ' Lazarus,' if you like. Come in and see it. /like it. I 've got something in it that is fine." Then the pathetic figure wath its 87 one shoulder higher than the other would lead us into the studio, — thick with dust, — ht- tered with his cooking-utensils, brushes, pans, bottles, and im- mense canvases, — would bid us be seated, with old-fashioned courtesy, apologizing for the state of his apartment, and ex- cusing its disorder by dignified imprecations upon a certain mythical person who had not arrived that morning to put his place in order. It was both lu- dicrous and pathetic to see him take up his palette and brushes, and strike an attitude before his wretched studies, which were both out of drawing and of atro- cious color. " What do you think of that bit of color, gen- tlemen ? Don't you think that pretty good, eh ? That cheek, now; I find something inde- scribably beautiful in that, — its freshness, if you like, — and in the quiver of Mary's lip ; that 's Mary — no, no, not that one — here, that other 's the Magda- len. Now, I think that bit of color, eh ? quivers, don't it, eh ? a master stroke ! Now where would you send it, eh ? To the S. A. A.,ortheN. A. D.? You know that I have not sent any- thing in so long that perhaps they 've forgotten me." So he would stand, wagging his head from side to side, making all the time a smacking noise with his lips, as if he tasted the fancied delicious qualities of the colors he had laid on. " But my figure of Christ, ha, ha ! None of you young fellows have seen that. There it stands behind that drapery. No, no one shall see it until I have com- pleted it. All I want is the face — \ki^ face — all else is finished. I want a model for the face. Grand and beautiful it is. But I want the face. When that is finished I '11 show it; 't will be 89 Gummidge^s masterpiece. 'T will be as famous as — well, never mind — you young fellows can- not understand enthusiasm as I understand it. You are content ; and, mind you, I feel for what you are doing, — your lightness 90 and brightness, and all that; but I feel also that you want largeness of thought, so we '11 not quarrel. You '11 do your ef- fects, your impressions, and I '11 admire them, and stick to my own methods. Now, I must fin- ish my St. Peter for your ex- hibition ; so get along with you all, and God bless you." The last day for the collec- tion of pictures for the exhibi- tion would arrive and find Old Grimes in a state of feverish ex- citement, walking up and down the hall. He would accompany the porters down the long stairs with one hand on the frame of his awful daub of a picture, brushing away lovingly, now and then, some fancied particle of dust, and again guiding the men around some sharp turn of the stairs for fear that the frame would be injured, and finally following its course with eager eyes, as it was placed in the 91 van with others bound for the Academy. Poor Old Grimes ! His pic- tures always came back to him, refused by the jury. '' Great Scott ! Boys, look here — an- other Grimes! " would be heard at the Academy as the huge black canvas was brought up the steps. And it would be promptly stopped then and there, and sent below with a mark on its back, in red chalk. And so it was year by year. Ju- ries came and went, but Old Grimes carried in his pail of water winter and summer, and painted on. We never referred to the pic- ture after it was first placed in the van. It came back to him in due season, but it passed by closed studio doors — closed out of respect for the feelings of Old Grimes, who for a period thereafter would be silent and melancholy. But he would 92 speedily recover, and begin again upon some new and par- ticularly atrocious scheme of color and drawing, which was promptly painted over the late unsuccessful Moses or Aaron, or some such attempt. But it was over the figure of Christ that his enthusiasm never faltered. It was, as he often told us, to be his masterpiece — " Gummidge's masterpiece " he called it — this it was under- stood he had labored over ever since we first knew him. // stood in the corner of his studio with a dingy white cheese-cloth cur- tain before it, — and w^henever we would enter his studio he never failed to drop the curtain, to conceal it. He was always talking of it. When one met him on the stairs in the morning, and helped him up with the inevitable pail of water, he always had some in- cident to relate, in which the 93 missing face of his picture fig- ured. " I thought, young friend, that I saw the face this morn- ing, — but alas ! when I drew nigh, there were sordid hnes in it. Originally it had been Christ-like, I am sure, but life — life — and the passions had changed it — the purity had passed as the scent of the rose. So I am forced to seek again, — but I will yet find the face, I am sure I shall yet see it, — and theji I shall finish my masterpiece. No, you cannot help me, young friend; I must see it for myself, even as I must paint it myself. So I may not show it to you un- til it is finished. Then you shall see it — all the world shall see Gummidge's masterpiece." Then he would begin to draw aimless lines on the canvas be- fore him with a piece of char- coal, and fidget about to show that he desired to be alone. Poor old man ! It was a piti- 94 ful sight — the thin bony hand holding the charcoal trembling in the strong north light from the skylight above, — a hand transparent and yellow, with fine, long, tapering fingers ; and the eager, sallow face, with its straggling gray hair and beard falling over the threadbare vel- vet coat, with its careless blotches of dry paint upon the left arm. One day, upon comparing notes, we found that Old Grimes had not been seen for several days ; and while w^e were talk- ing, Middletone, at once the most talented and the idlest fel- low I ever knew, came into the studio, and with a show^ of feel- ings of which no one had hith- erto suspected him, burst forth, " Look here- — they say that Old Grimes is to be turned out be- cause he has n't paid his rent for a year ; now I ain't going to let it be done. If we fellows can't settle it some way with the 95 agent, so that he need n't be bothered in his room, I 'm go- ing to let him have mine. I never do anything anyway, so it won't matter. The old man is all broken up; sick in bed; I saw him this morning. I 've sent f®r a doctor for him. I don't be- lieve he 's had enough to eat for months past." We went up in a body to Old Grimes's studio — there on a small iron bed, beside the huge curtained canvas of the master- piece, which none of us had ever seen, lay the thin figure of the old man, — the face drawn and the eyes closed. His fingers were picking, picking, unceas- ingly at the thin blanket that covered him. Middletone took one of the thin, yellow, parch- ment-like hands in his as the doctor entered hurriedly and, with a nod to us, seated himself beside the bed, methodically set- ting down his hat and case of 96 medicine beside him, and wip- ing his eye-glasses. " So," he said, turning up the Hds of the sunken eyes, and peering into them. " Bring that lamp a little nearer — thanks." An interval of silence in the room as the doctor bared the shrunken breast and applied his ear. " You had best send for his friends," said he, replacing the bed-clothing, and rising to his feet. " The old man will not last through the night. There is total collapse, and I doubt if he will regain consciousness. Insufficient nourishment and old age. Eh! No relatives or friends outside the building ? " he said, turning and looking at the gaunt figure stretched beside him. " Well, there 's nothing more that I can do, so I '11 wish you good night, gentlemen. My fee? Oh, that 's all right. The old man has nothing, you say. I tried to paint once myself. You 7 97 are good fellows, you painters; good night to you all." We sat by Old Grimes's bed by turns that night. Toward morning he stirred restlessly, and I moistened his lips with water. " The face of Christ," he mumbled. '^ The face! They cannot refuse it, once I find it. It will be a masterpiece. So strong, so mild ! " he repeated, feebly waving his hand, and motioning as though he was using the charcoal. A fine sleet dashed against the large skylight. The noise of a passing carriage in the street below aroused the old man. He slowly opened his eyes, and, gazing about him, they finally rested on my face. "So," he said, after glancing at me for a moment, '' this is the end, is it ? Well, 't is time." The clock feebly ticking in the corner, and the sleet ratding on the skylight, were the only 98 sounds that followed. I was dozing, — perhaps I slept, — I am not sure. Suddenly I opened my eyes. The bed was empty. I sprang to my feet with an ex- clamation. There among the huge canvases, before the cur- tain which hid the masterpiece, stood the tottering figure of Old Grimes. I rushed to his side. " Charcoal," he said, fee- bly. '' Give me a piece of char- coal. I — I 've almost seen the face. I think — I can — draw it — in all its purity." I gently persuaded him to return to bed. The lamps, flickering feebly, illuminated the vast height of the studio ; here and there a carved corbel thrust itself forward among the dark canvases that had accu- mulated in all the long years that Old Grimes had sought his ideal. Above the Gothic arches met, and in the dark blue spaces between them, faint gold stars seemed to twinkle ; for this had originally been part of the chapel of the Old University. The deep blue of the painted spaces seemed limitless in the dim light of the lamp. Now and then the squeak of a forag- ing mouse sounded among the canvases. Old Grimes had been breathing heavily, now he raised himself on the bed, and, Hfting his arms, cried out, " I saw it. It will be my masterpiece. Give me — my — palette — my brushes — some one — " I propped him up in the bed with pillows, placed his palette in the hollow of his left arm, and gave him his brushes, as Middletone entered the studio. " Call the fellows," I said : " the old man's sands are almost run out." We grouped ourselves about the bed, watching the feeble motions of the dying painter's 100 hand describing lines in the air before him. Then the hand holding the brush fell upon the blanket — he raised his head, his eyes opened with . an up- ward gaze into the dim blue starry space above us, a smile of joy illumined the thin lips. ''I see it — there — gentlemen — there — the face of Christ. There — at last — I 've found the face of Christ ! " And so Old Grimes's w^ork was done. 101 ^^=^'^^^^^^, — ^^^"-^"^ 7¥(P/jfa/i^/.aL.. The 7:15 train from Bruges for Ostend had left the station and was fast gathering momen- tum; a fine rain was falling, and through the mist the tall poplars that lined the way loomed up dark and gloomily, and the red-tiled roofs of the peasant cottages seemed to run together in a warm blur of color. I had settled myself against the cushions for the ride of an hour's duration, had lighted a cigar and given my- self up to the retrospection of the events of the day, when the head and body of a man, hat- 102 less, and breathless, and dis- heveled, was thrust through the window and hung there staring for an interval. ''Help!" came the voice, thickly, and without giving myself time for thought, I seized him by the arms and dragged him through the open half of the door. He sank upon the cushions, and we eyed each other. " In Heaven's name, man, how came you on the footboard ? " I said ; " who are you and what are you about ? " He gave a long sigh, pushed the hair from his fore- head. " First of all," he said, in English, "have you a spare hat ? Let me make myself pre- sentable, and I will satisfy you." I gave him my traveling-cap, which he placed jauntily upon his head ; he brushed his clothes with the whisk-broom I handed him from my traveling-case, and arranged his cravat by the aid of a small mirror which he 103 took from an inner pocket of his coat. His clothing was of good quality, and his patent- leather shoes, which he had daintily flicked with his hand- kerchief on the seat opposite, were evidently of recent pur- chase. When he had made him- self presentable, he said, with an easy manner : " Now, sir, let me explain myself. I am a traveler, like yourself, and I got into trouble with the authorities of Bruges. I have had a ter- rible experience, as you will see. Yesterday afternoon, while walk- ing in the graiide place (I had only arrived there in the morn- ing), I found a portfolio of let- ters and documents. There was no one about who seemed likely to have dropped them, that is, no one but a group of peasants, so I took them to the little inn at which I had my dinner — perhaps you know it, the Panier d'Or. Yes, there, sitting at the 104 table, I examined the contents of the portfoHo, which — I may as well tell you at once — were papers and documents relative to the meetings of a certain branch of the socialist club, the headquarters of which the au- thorities have been seeking for some time. The documents gave many names and addresses of citizens of Bruges, Ghent, and Alost, as well as a resume of the business transacted at the meetings, the last of which took place the previous evening. Instantly, as you may imagine, I was in a cold perspiration, since the mere possession of such documents is a crime against the State and — and — well, I may as well say, that I do not care to come in contact wath the secret service for good reasons. After having mastered the contents of the papers, which were of the gravest char- acter, I saw at once that there 105 was but one way open to me — to destroy the portfolio. So I engaged a room, and at once began to burn the papers by means of a candle. In my agi- tation I neglected to lock the door, and as the papers were burning in the wash-bowl the proprietress entered with some towels. She demanded at once to know what I was about, and I rather incoherently and con- fusedly explained that I was burning some old letters. She became very angry and de- manded that I take them down to the kitchen and place them in the fireplace. This I did, to the amazement of the cook, who, I saw, regarded me with great suspicion. When I was satisfied that they were quite consumed, I walked out upon the grande place again, after asking the direction to the Hospice of St. Jean, which I wished to visit in order to ex- 106 amine the Alemlinc pictures, which, as you doubtless know, are very famous." I nodded. '^Ah, then you are perhaps an amateur — an art-lover like my- self? " Again I nodded, keep- ing my eyes on his. '^ Well," he said, after a pause, and. as I fancied, a little uneasily ; " but you are an Englishman, or per- haps an American ? " " The lat- ter/' I replied; "get on with your story." " Excuse me," he said ; " where was I ? Oh, yes — well — I — ah —I — I got the direction and walked down one of the side streets, — you know Bruges, — one of the streets on the canal. Several times I thought I was followed, so I turned twice on my tracks and assured myself that I was mis- taken. Looking behind me while passing over one of the bridges, I saw a young girl come down the narrow street I had just left. Her carriage w^as 107 so graceful that I stopped and waited for her to pass me. She wore one of the long cloaks affected by the peasantry, but as she passed me I saw that her face was one of singular beauty. She looked, however, as if she had been crying^ for her eye- lids were red and swollen; but I fancied that, as I caught her eyes, she half smiled at me. While I was wondering if I was right,— for these peasants are models of virtue, and not given to flirtation in any man- ner, — she half turned at the end of the bridge, and made a motion to me with her hand to follow. I was thunderstruck, my dear sir, but, nothing loath, I followed. She did not look behind again until she reached a high-walled and narrow lane which led between the ancient sculptured houses; then she stopped and made an unmis- takable sign, and smiled in a 108 manner which completely cap- tivated me. I looked about; on all sides were the tall^ gloomy houses of the long-dead wealthy burghers, now sileat and unoccu- pied; between them lay the canal as still as a mirror, with patches of green ooze covering its dark face; now and then a small stone or a piece of mortar dropped into it with a liquid splash, but hardly disturbing its smooth surface. Not a soul was to be seen on the street on either side, nor was there a sound to be heard save the clock in the belfry sounding a jangle of sweet- toned bells. When I reached the entrance to the passageway she was at some distance, but I was soon near her again. Now she waited for me in the shadow of a door- way. She did not wait for me to speak, but said with a pretty patois, ' What will mynheer think of me to speak to him in this manner ? ' ' Think ? ' I said ; ' I think you are adorable.' She blushed at this, and, seem- ingly with an effort, continued, ' Oh, mynheer, 1 am in trouble ; will mynheer help a poor girl ? ' ' But say how,' I exclaimed in her language as well as I was able. She put out her hands to me, little fluttering hands like white birds, which I caught in both of mine. I looked into her eyes; she met my glance, and then burst out crying. Then in an instant she sprang away from me. ' Be here at nine at this very spot, bring the portfoHo with you, and I will tell you how you can serve me,' she said. ' Don't follow me now — it is dangerous for us both — and don't fail me to-night.' With this she ran swiftly up the passage and I was alone. Bring the portfolio I Here was an adventure, sure enough ; it all dawned upon me in a moment. 110 This young girl was the means of communication between the members of the sociahst club. She had lost the portfolio which 1 found, and had destroyed. " I wandered along the canal, carefully noting the particular opening where I was to meet the charming girl. It was but five o'clock, and how was I to employ the intervening time ? You will beheve, sir, that all the glories of the Memlincs had left me, and my mind was filled with the vision of this lovely girl in her distress. I dimly remember drinking a glass of wine in an es- tai7ii7iet somewhere — and pe- rusing a paper, the contents of which made no impression on my mind, and at nine sharp I was in the opening as I had promised — " '' Tickets," said the guard, noisily unlocking the door and entering the carriage. "Ah, guard,'' said my mysterious com- panion easily, " I have dropped 111 my ticket from Bruges some- where, and have been unable to find it." " Eh ? yes, Ostend, with my fi-iend here." The guard looked at him search- ingly for an instant, then as if satisfied, gave him a slip of green paper. " By the way, Fred^^ he said, addressing me, " give him a franc for me, w^ll you ? " I gave the franc, and wdth many bows the man closed and latched the door. We were alone again. "Pardon the lib- erty I took," said my vis-a-vis, " but there was no time to lose; if I had not pretended that we were traveling together, I would have been put ofi" the train — or made a prisoner — I will repay in some manner your enforced kindness." I waved the matter aside, and recalled him. to his story. Again I noted the curious hesitation in his manner, as if he was unable to resume the thread of his nar- U2 rative, but I attributed it to nervousness and the natural ex- citement under which he un- doubtedly labored. "I — ah — oh yes — I was saying — " " That nine o'clock found you in the passageway?" I interrogated. He looked confused for an in- stant, I thought, and passed his hand over his eyes, keeping it there for an interval. The train bounded along, swaying now to one and again to the other side, the chains underneath the tracks clanked to the revolutions of the wheels. Outside it was quite dark; occasionally we passed a blur of mellow light, coming from some cottage beside the railway. I became suddenly con- scious that my fellow- traveler was watching me through the fingers of the white hand which shaded his eyes from the over- head hght. At length I could stand it no longer. " Well," I said, ^^ what then, — what hap- 8 113 pened in the passageway ? " '^ I beg your pardon," he said. " I am so confused, that for an instant I fear I lost myself. I was in the passageway promptly at nine. It was very dark and the houses loomed up blackly on all sides — there was no light save that from a lamp at the corner before a shrine of the Virgin, but the glass was so dirty that its rays but served to emphasize the shadows. I seemed to hear rustling or a certain movement near me, and really I became alarmed, but my desire to see the charmiing girl was so great that it over- came my caution. At length there came a grating sound from some door or window near at hand; then I was conscious of the presence of some one near by; then a voice whispered, ^ Go farther up the passage — third door to your left.' I did so, and had no sooner gained the doorway than it was opened and I felt myself pulled inside, and the door closed noise- lessly. I put out my hand and felt the folds of a coarse cloak, and the outline of a well-formed arm — a sort of indefinable per- fume w^as all about me as from the hair of a woman, and, for- getting all save the memory of the beautiful girl for whom I had braved possible dangers, I put out both my hands toward her in a sort of intoxication. I felt her for an instant at my side — then she swiftly moved away from me — I w^as certain that it was she, and in that sweet instant her breath and her loose hair touched my face. ' Make no noise,' she whispered, 'or we are both lost — follow me quietly — here— my hand in yours — now beware of the step when I squeeze your fingers. I shall not speak again, nor must you until I bid you; come.' 115 " She drew me swiftly along the passageway; I was con- scious of openings from time to time, for currents of air swept across my face from either side. Then we came to a staircase which was of stone, and wound about a central shaft ; I know not how many steps we climbed — I was only conscious of those soft, warm fingers clasped about mine, the touch of her sweet gar- ments, and the intoxicating near- ness of her. I could have gone on with her forever thus, for I was in love, man — do you un- derstand me ? — 7nad with love, or call it what you like. This girl, of whom I had had but one brief glimpse, had produced in me a feeling that had never been mine before. There are those so cold by nature that naught save money will quicken their pulses. These should not be called men, it seems to me; yet there are such, even as there are women so bar- 116 ren of attraction that no men will seek them. But there are men — and such am I — by nature head- strong and impetuous, to whom a wish is a law, and the law a chain which drags them on even to a recognized destruction. " I had raised my foot for an- other step when I found that we were on a sort of landing-place. She still held my hand in hers. ' We are at the doorway,' she whispered in my ear, inclining toward me in the effort so that she leaned against me. I caught her in my arms; I placed my lips to hers, which seemed to meet mine. One moment I lingered there in paradise, my soul fairly reeling ; then with a sigh she put me from her, and straightened her arms, which rested upon my breast, so that she was at their length away from me. 'The port- folio,' she whispered softly ; ' give it to me — the portfolio.' I gasped. I had not once thought 117 of it. * I have not brought it with me ; in fact, I have destroyed it with its contents.' ' Destroyed it ! ' she almost shrieked. ' When ? Where ? ' She seized me with a grasp so strong that I should never have believed her capable of it. '' * Sacrenom de Dieic ! Imbe- cile I You have undone me. Know you that your life is not worth a styver ? Here, come in here with me and tell me in- stantly.' I fancied I heard other sounds below, such as heavy breathing, and the shuffling of feet on the stairway ; and I felt a blast of cold air rush up the stairs even as I was thrust by her into a doorway, and the door closed. ^ Now,' she said, after an interval, '• tell me when and how the portfolio was destroyed, and, first of all, did you read it ? Can you read the Greek ? ' I told her of the finding of the portfolio, and of my subsequent actions, 118 as I have related them to you, and while I was speaking, there came a soft hght into the room, which I saw was quite small and square, hardly more than six feet either way, with a door at either end. Up near the ceiling was an opening from which came the light, evidently from a lamp which was placed beyond the opening and in another apart- ment. " The girl's hood had fallen back, and her face was once more visible, but it was distorted with passion — in her hand she held a knife. * Fool,' she said, ' pig of an Englishman, you will rue this day — I am of a mind — but no, the brotherhood shall deal with you — stay where you are — move a step and it will be your end.' She reached and unlatched the opposite door — there she paused look- ing back at me — never have I seen a more beautiful girl. The 119 color was in her cheeks, her lips were parted, her eyes flashed; yet as they met mine they melted — they softened, and filled with tears. In spite of the danger which I realized I was now in, I cared for nothing in the sight of that girPs tears. I caught her in my arms again, and again our lips met — and she was gone. I heard bolts, bars, and chains rattle at each side of me ; then subdued con- versation in men's voices — a paroxysm of terror came over me. For the first time I real- ized the peril I was in. In the presence of the girl I forgot all save that she was near; but now the situation came before me clearly, and I saw that I was entrapped. I rushed to the door, I beat upon it, I shouted, I yelled. I tore at the ring, but it was fast; I tried the other door through which the girl had passed, but it resisted every 120 effort I could make. Finally, panting with my endeavors^ my hands bruised and bleeding, I sank upon the floor. How long I lay there I do not know. At length I foresaw^ that I must put my wdts to w^ork and look at the matter clearly. Here were the facts — I had become pos- sessed accidentally of important socialist papers, the contents of which I had mastered ; I had destroyed these ; this act was witnessed by the proprietress and the domestics of the inn. It had evidently been reported that I had found the portfolio, and I was decoyed to this place in the hopes that I would bring the papers, and there I was to be either bound to secrecy or made away with ; probably the latter. ' Where was I ? ' I tried to remember the route over which I had passed. Surely, I must be near the Palace of the Francs. Suddenly I heard the 121 chimes from the Beffroi ; they sounded quite near — so near, indeed, that I could hear the pecuhar hitch which some of the hammers give after the note is struck upon the bell, and the hum in the tower, some octaves lower, was distinctly audible. Voices came from the door be- yond, through which I had en- tered; there seemed to be a discussion; I held my breath for very terror, during which I distinctly heard the girl's voice excitedly remonstrating with some one ; then the heavy tread of feet down the stone steps and overhead as well. A shde in the door opened quickly, and the girl's voice spoke to me — ' Quick ! for your life cling to the bolt on the door — there is a ring on the inside — stand on the stone sill of the door and cling to the ring — don't look behind yoVi^ pour V amour de DieuJ I obeyed, and even 122 as I grasped the ring there came a harsh grating sound of machinery from below some- where, and in horror I saw the whole floor swing perpen- dicularly upon an axle, and my hat disappear in the blackness of the opened shaft. I heard water running somewhere. In- stantly it swung back and set- tled into place with a sharp clang. My hair Avas on end, and a cold sweat dropped from my finger ends ; my eyeballs ached with the terror I felt ; I sank upon my knees and dark- ness swept away my senses. Cold air blowing in my face revived me; I could not un- derstand, for a moment, what had happened ; I was only con- scious that T was being car- ried along by the arms and legs. I opened my eyes, and saw the quiet night sky with some few stars twinkling far above. There was whispering 123 among the men who carried me ; they stopped and laid me on my back on the stones of the passage ; one of the men walked ahead, while the others stood listening. I heard the chimes again, but this time they seemed far off. Suddenly one came run- ning back — ' Hist,' he said in French, ' the police ; they are coming down by the canal,' and something else which I did not catch ; then they seemed to melt away in tbe darkness of the pas- sage. I sat up ; then in my weak- ness I crawled to one side in the shelter of the wall, and felt with my hand a sunken place used to light some cellar, and in this I crawled, finding that it would just hold me. No sooner was I safely hidden than the sound of feet walking quickly in unison was near at hand, and then a number of men passed and I caught the glint of side- arms. When they had gone I 124 crawled forth from the open- ing and ran — ran wildly down the passage, where, I did not care so that I escaped; I came to a wall, over which I sprang and caught the gleam of the stars reflected in the canal. On I ran until I came to a bridge ; I passed over it and under an avenue of tall poplars; I climbed a fence near a high tower, and half fell, half rolled, down an embankment, nearly stunned by the shock. I put out my hands, they touched cold metal, and I realized that I was upon the railway -track. In the dis- tance I saw a brilHant Hght which seemed moving ; it came nearer and nearer, with a rum- bhng noise. It was the train. I w^aited until it was abreast of me and then sprang upon the foot-board. A window was open and — here I am." Again he passed his hand through his hair, and then shaded his eyes. 125 I looked at him for some mo- ments in silence. " Can you," I said, " remember any part of the documents or papers which you found and destroyed ? Give me an idea of the matter which they contained." '' Give me a moment's time," he rephed, '^ and I will try to give you the exact wording of one of the papers." His hand still concealed part of his face — the other hand drummed lightly upon his knee. " Considering," he began at last, " that ignorance, forgetful- ness, or contempt of the rights of man, are the sole causes of public grievances and the cor- ruption of government, we here- by declare : '' First — That the great end of society is general happiness. " Secondly — That no form of government is good any further than it secures that object. " Thirdly — That all civil and 126 political authority is derived from the people. "Fourthly — That equal ac- tive citizenship, and the equal enjoyment of all property what- soever, is the inalienable right of men — minors, criminals, and insane persons excepted. '^Fifthly — That these con- ditions cannot be arrived at, nor these rights enjoyed under the present government. Therefore be it "Resolved — That the man Leopold, the present head, the man Breukeleer, the man Ten Borg, the man Duykinck, being responsible and recognized as such by our order, be removed by such means as shall herein be set down." "Enough," said I; "and this was in what language ? " " Greek characters, but the language was French. There was much other matter, but it was in a different cipher and 127 contained in envelops which bore Swiss, Russian, and Amer- ican postmarks." ''And now, sir," I said, " tell me who you are, and something which shall establish further your claim to assistance." " My name," he replied, look- ing me full in the face, "is W. Louis Saalberg. I am a musi- cian — my place of business is Union Square, New York — you must have heard of the Saalberg concerts. I have n't a card about me, for I was rob- bed of all my money and all my papers by the Socialists from whose hands I have just escaped, but if you will give me a trifling loan and change of linen until I can reach my banker in Paris — Munro — you know^ — " "How much do you want ? " I added. " Oh, a small sum will do me — say a hundred francs. But of 128 course I will give you my note for the amount." What would you, sir or mad- am, have done in my place ? I think I can answer for you. I gave him the money. His man- ner in taking it was that of a gen- tleman ; there was no evidence of shame or low-born cringing; he was manly and attractive. He had a fine musical voice capable of varied intonation ; his eyes were of singular and piercing brightness ; his face was regular and, yes, handsome, — such a face as we call aristocratic, — also possessed of the greatest vivacity ; some might say it was restless and excitable, but after the- tale he had just told this might be forgiven. The cold sen- tences which I have written down cannot, I feel, in the small- est degree represent the fervor of his speech or the vehemence of his tones. The words poured out like a torrent, and he looked 9 129 as if he wished them, hke a tor- rent, to sweep away whatever there was of doubt in their truth. We were now rapidly approach- ing Ostend, and were passing by long lines of empty carriages and goods wagons. The lights of Ostend shone against the sky to our right as we swung around the long curve by which the town is approached, and finally we drew up in the station. " Sir," said my companion, " if you do not object to my company, I will gladly go with you to your hotel. I am a perfect stranger in Os- tend, having reached the con- tinent by w^ay of Flushing from England. Then again, I am hardly presentable to go to an hotel alone. So I will ask you to bear with me a little longer." I attended to the formality of paying for his ticket at the book- ing window, and, calling a cab, I bid the red-vested Fleming drive us to the "Empereur" on 130 the Digue. As we turned the corner from the station there shone a red glare in the sky, which seemed to grow rapidly brighter, and to be near at hand. My companion gazed at the glare carelessly until a sudden turning brought us full in view of a burning house — one of the old ones, of which there were still a few left in the town, such as have those queer stuccoed fronts and red-tiled roofs which are pierced with windows. We both jumped from the cab, and ran to the edge of the crowd — which was rapidly gathering as crowds do, coming up apparently from between the very stones of the street. The lower part of this house was occupied by a dealer in fish and oil, and it was said that a great quantity of such was stored there. The fire was burn- ing rapidly by reason of these materials, and was already visi- ble in the rooms above. The 131 narrow street, quite filled with the peasants, seemed unable to contain another person, when the absurd fire-engine, drawn by the equally absurd fire-guard, arrived, and added to the con- fusion. While they dallied, the house was already past hope of safety. Where were the occu- pants ? we asked the peasants ; were they saved ? None seemed to know. It was apparent that in a few moments the roof would fall in, and now the fire was so hot, that no fireman would place his ladder against the walls where the flames licked upward. Suddenly a woman appeared at the topmost window; she held a bundle in her arms and screamed in despair. Then the crowd be- low shouted, groaned, and cried. Others called out to her to jump. Still others called for the ladders, and rushed about looking in the gutters, as if they were commonly kept there. Some wrung their 132 hands and prayed, and others near us talked incoherently to themselves. It was a fearful sight. My companion sprang forward beating back those who stood in his way. He caught up a ladder unaided, and, it seemed to all with superhuman strength, placed it against the wall. So great was the heat that the paint dripped from it in burning clots, and it smoked its whole length. He ran up the ladder like a sailor — seized the tiles at the edge, clambered to the window, and in an instant had pulled the woman out. She still clung to the bundle. You could hear the peasants gasp for breath, and their faces were pale even in the glow of the burning oil. He seized the woman in one arm, and with the free hand steadied himself against the tiles ; then his foot sought the smoking ladder rung — it gave way — he knelt, nearly losing his balance — then 133 looked behind him. The flames now burst from the window and the roof and lapped them. The man, leaning there with the wo- man grasped in his left arm, put up his hand and brushed away the hair from his forehead with the same motion he had used in the train. Then in a moment he had stooped at the edge of the blistering tiles, reached the second rung of the ladder, and the next moment was at the bot- tom with his burden, which I helped take from him. The lad- der, consumed by the fierce heat, fell in three flaming fragments. Then a shout sprang from the peasants. The woman was un- hurt, and the bundle proved to be her baby. They were hur- ried away by friends. As for my companion, his hands were scorched and blistered by the burning ladder, and his hair singed; it was wonderful that he could have done what he did 134 without other mjury. I wrung his hand again and again in ad- miration as we walked away through the cheering crowd to our cab, he with hanging head as if for fear of recognition, and seemed chiefly concerned about liis hands. I voiced aloud my admiration of what he had done, but he said simply and with a sigh when we wxre in the cab, " Sir — only remember it when you feel called upon to judge me harshly." I did not under- stand his meaning then — I do now. When we were in the hotel, and the proprietor was greeting me, I noticed that he scrutinized my companion in a peculiar manner, but it quickly passed from my mind. The crowd of peasants had accom- panied us to the very door, and were calling out and busily re- lating the incidents of the fire to those whom they met. My companion was shown to 135 a room next to that which I oc- cupied. I sent him clean cloth- ing and other needful articles. Indeed, I would have shared with him what I had willingly, such was my esteem for him for what he had done in the face of death. I was proud of him. I ordered that night as good a dinner as the Empereur could furnish, and that means much, but my companion was strangely silent, eating but little, and drink- ing lightly of the fine burgundy I had ordered in his honor. After the meal he asked me to excuse him for the rest of the evening, saying that he would retire early. As we walked from the dining- room arm in arm, my compan- ion started, and following his gaze I saw the proprietor in earnest conversation with two military-looking men, and my companion turned abruptly and said, " I think I will take a breath of air for a moment — will 136 meet you in the smoking-room," walked quickly to the vestibule, donned the hat I had loaned him, and passed out of sight. The proprietor came to meet me. " Monsieur," he said ner- vously, "do you know with whom you have been dining ? " " With Mr. W. L. Saalberg of New York," I said without irritation, for I well knew the landlord. " Not so, monsieur. At least that may be the name he goes by at present, but he is a noto- rious character, — one i\Iyer, — a gambler and confidence-man, whom these ofiicers know well, and of whom I warn you. I thought I had seen him be- fore, but as he w^as with you, I, of course, could hardly believe it possible. It would be well to examine your belongings, and see if he has taken anything. He will not return here." I no- ticed that the two military-look- ing men had disappeared. As 137 we went up to my room I told the landlord in a few words the happenings of the evening. " Monsieur should know that in all probability there was not a word of truth in it all," he said when he had heard me through. ^^And monsieur is lucky to have gotten off so luckily and so cheaply." I am ashamed to say that I agreed with him when he said this, even w^hile I spoke in ad- miration of his magnificent act of courage. At which the land- lord shrugged his shoulders — as one who w^ould believe no good of such. So do we add to the bad name of a dog, and for- get his good qualities. " To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." I saw my companion no more — but early next morning when I awoke^ there on the floor before the door was a folded paper. It 138 covered a hundred-franc note, and read as follows : Dear and Good Sir; With some trouble I get this and the contents to you. When you are reading it I will be on my way to London. I am not per- haps as I seemed — I say perhaps, fori ////;/y^ you believed in me,par- ticularly after the fire. I, there- fore,because of this belief and your great kindness, feel that I must confess to you that all I told you on the train was false — yes, a lie. I am a liar — this is not nice to read, is it ? but neither is it easy to write. I confess that I was going to get all I could out of you and then pass on elsewhere. This was my first thought, but after talking with you, and after the words you used to me after the fire, I felt that I must get away from you as quickly as possible for your own sake. I have no right to ask a favor of you, but I should like you to think of me as you saw me on the ladder. Good-by, The Companion from Bruges. 139 What more is to be said ? I had my full portion of faith in humanity, you see. Every man for his lifetime has so much of that faith dealt out to him. Some spread it over threescore years; spread it thinly, too. Others have at it in a lump. Perhaps I had mine that way. You can't eat your cake and still possess it, nor may you ask for more when you have consumed your ration, more 's the pity. What do you think of it all anyway ? Was this man worthless ? 140 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 012 074 039 8 C7