1 7 \ O -
 
 Forward House
 
 IN UNIFORM BINDING. 
 
 FORWARD HOUSE. A Romance. By William Scoville 
 
 Case. 
 
 A TRUCE, and Other Stories. By Mary Tappan Wright. 
 A MAN WITHOUT A MEMORY, and Other Stories. By 
 
 William Henry Shelton. 
 
 MARSENA, and Other Stories. By Harold Frederic. 
 A POUND OF CURE. A Story of Monte Carlo. By 
 
 William Henry Bishop. 
 
 TALES OF THE MAINE COAST. By Noah Brooks. 
 SALEM KITTREDGE, and Other Stories. By Bliss Perry. 
 * ** Each One Volume, 16mo. Price, $1.00.
 
 Forward House 
 
 A Romance 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM SCOVILLE CASE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER S SONS 
 1895
 
 PS 
 
 
 C 
 
 Copyright, 1895, by 
 Charles Scribner s Sons 
 
 TROW DIRECTORY 
 I .G AND BOOKBINDING COMPAN
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 / 
 
 The Lady of the Lantern, . 
 
 / Overhear a Colloquy, ...... 14 
 
 III 
 I Entertain a Visitor, ...... 24 
 
 IV 
 In Wlncb a Bottle Figures, .... 55 
 
 I Yield a Point, ........ 46 
 
 V
 
 VI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 We Call upon Colonel Forward, . . 56 
 
 I ll 
 A Fight in the Dark, 67 
 
 vm 
 
 I Pass a Night in the Woods, ... 79 
 
 IX 
 
 TJ)e Villains Destroy my House, . . 91 
 
 X 
 I Return to Forward House, . . . 102 
 
 XI 
 Larimer Explains, 114 
 
 vi
 
 Contents 
 
 XII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Ad-vent of Mister Hawk, . . . 727 
 
 XIII 
 
 I Meet Mrs. Forward and my Story 
 Ends, 142 
 
 vu
 
 FORWARD HOUSE 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LANTERN 
 
 FOR the better part of my life I have lived 
 by the sea, and the love I bore her as a 
 boy has strengthened with my years. I love 
 ner dignity and the majesty of her anger, and 
 I love her moods, for they are mine. But she 
 has trusted me with no confidences, and has 
 held me at arm s length. She has turned her 
 gray face to me when I have fled to her, miser 
 able and lonely, yet there is no happiness be 
 yond the murmur of her voice. And though I 
 am neither a sailor nor a sailor s son, and can 
 see from my perch on the point rocks farther 
 than a boat has ever carried me, I have often 
 crept from my bed on dark nights, when the 
 wind was rising and the surf boomed along the 
 shore, and climbed the cliff to hear and feel 
 the storm. And I have lain there sometimes, 
 turning my cheek to the stinging slap of the
 
 Forward House 
 
 spray, until morning shamed me and I slunk 
 back, lest the sea should laugh at my weakness 
 for her. 
 
 It is an almost forgotten coast here where I 
 live alone a narrow point of land that thrusts 
 obtrusively out to sea, ignored by the railroads, 
 shunned by commerce, and, I thank God, still 
 unfound and unpolluted by the summer way 
 farer. The plot of ground that I call my own 
 is meagre enough, but my house stands on a 
 lonely stretch of road with the ragged end of 
 the cape half a mile eastward, and the dead 
 fishing village of East Crag as far behind the 
 hill on the west, guarding the little bay on 
 the north shore. A hundred yards behind my 
 house the pines begin and cover the slope from 
 there to the water -side nearly a mile away, 
 while across the road before me is open ground, 
 rising to the hill that skirts the southern coast 
 of the cape, and here is a dense and untrimmed 
 wood. No living creature, so far as I know, is 
 kin of mine in our small sense of the word, and 
 I have lived too long in the world to claim a 
 broader kinship with the men about me. But 
 I am on very good terms with my books, and 
 I love the neighbors that Nature sends me to 
 nest in my trees and burrow in my garden. I 
 love them all, and they trust me. I love the
 
 The Lady of the Lantern 
 
 woods and the smell of the earth, but more 
 than all else, I love the sea. 
 
 From my front porch I can see both east and 
 west along the disused road that was the trod 
 den path of the hardy fishing folk to their look 
 out on the point when East Crag was a bigger 
 place with ships at sea. All that is past now, 
 and the road serves only me, as my avenue to 
 the village when I have to go that way, and to 
 the ocean when my mood draws me to her. 
 From here I look to the sea s edge on one side, 
 and to the crest of the hill where the road dives 
 abruptly down into the village on the other. 
 But my present house is not so artfully hidden 
 by the trees and the shrubbery as the old one 
 was, for when that was standing, no summer 
 passer on the road would observe it even by 
 day, unless he chanced to see the polished brass 
 knocker of my front door flash through the 
 leaves when the sun struck it. I used in those 
 days to sit in absolute concealment on my front 
 steps in the dark of summer evenings. 
 
 Late one August night I sat there smoking 
 my pipe and listening to the restless grieving 
 of the sea, when a light rose out of the dark 
 ness and flickered unsteadily on the crest of the 
 village hill. It swayed gently to and fro to the 
 motion of a rapid walker, and dropped slowly 
 
 3
 
 Forward House 
 
 to the level of my eyes, so that I knew it for a 
 lantern. Now and then it paled as a sudden 
 gust of wind swept up the road, and once it dis 
 appeared altogether at a furious blast, as though 
 the bearer had turned back to the wind and 
 waited for the lull to follow. The action was 
 significant, for it takes a mighty blast to turn 
 an East Crag fisherman in his tracks, and I was 
 not surprised when the light appeared again 
 and the figure had come nearer, to see the 
 skirts of a woman. Now travel by my house 
 is rare enough by day, and there is none by 
 night still, a stray man by way of diversion 
 would not have stirred me greatly even at that 
 hour, but a solitary woman flitting noiselessly 
 along the road at one o clock in the morning, 
 whose only conceivable destination was the 
 lonely rock beyond, pricked my curiosity. She 
 came on swiftly until about a hundred yards 
 away, when she stopped, and lifting the lantern 
 level with her face, turned down the light and 
 hid the lantern in the folds of her skirt so I 
 knew she was no stranger to the place and 
 meant to avoid observation from my house. 
 The thing was quickly done, but in that instant, 
 and even at that distance, my keen sight noted 
 both her youth and the whiteness of her face. 
 In the dark that followed, I bent my head to
 
 The Lady of the Lantern 
 
 catch the rustle of her skirts as she passed, but 
 I heard no sound save the thunder of the sea, 
 and after an interval of waiting I saw her light 
 sparkle again far along the road, and lessen as it 
 zigzagged toward the cliff. 
 
 I cannot well describe the impression that 
 the incident made upon me, and though I am 
 loath to believe myself a greater coward than 
 most men, I confess to no slight satisfaction at 
 that moment that the woman s first thought 
 was to avoid me. Whoever she was and what 
 ever her mission, she had plainly some reason 
 for concealment, and the fatal characteristic of 
 her sex had shown in her compromising cau 
 tion. Had she come in darkness, I had never 
 known her presence, or had she even held 
 boldly by her light, I dare say my curiosity 
 would have waned with her passing, and I had 
 given her no second thought. But the very 
 act by which she courted secrecy, advertised 
 her presence and set a seal of mystery upon it 
 that I was not proof against. I laid aside my 
 pipe, took up my hat, and followed her. 
 
 The moon had long ago gone down, and no 
 stars were out. The night was dark, but I 
 knew every inch of the road, and held my way 
 in the teeth of the rising wind until I came to 
 the foot of the cliff. The light was stationary 
 
 5
 
 Forward House 
 
 now, pricking the gloom above me at the very 
 edge of the sea, and I stopped to watch it. To 
 tell the truth, I had no great desire to get to 
 closer quarters, and when I realized that the 
 woman had gone as far as she could, I was con 
 tent to remain in the background. Indeed, as 
 I stood there I began to feel an uncomfortable 
 sense of shame. What business had I med 
 dling with the matter ? Had not I, of all 
 men, learned my lesson too well for that ? I 
 even turned to retrace my steps, but I was ar 
 rested half-way by a movement of the light, 
 which waved slowly from right to left twice. 
 Before it had completed the second arc, I was 
 startled by a sound in the road behind, and an 
 instant later a man rushed past me so close 
 that I could hear his breathing. I traced his 
 stumbling progress up the hill, by the light 
 beyond, which his body hid every now and 
 then so that it looked like a star wading 
 through cloud. Then I heard him hailing 
 angrily as he came nearer it, and a woman s 
 answering cry, and with that the light went 
 out altogether and I heard and saw no more. 
 
 But I had lost my caution when the woman 
 
 screamed, and was running madly up the hill, 
 
 nor did I stop until something tripped me at the 
 
 top, and I sprawled my length upon the turf. 
 
 6
 
 I lay there listening and staring about me with 
 eyes grown accustomed to the darkness, but I 
 heard nothing above the roar of the wind and 
 waves, and saw only the black outline of the 
 wood against the sky, to one side, and the pale 
 tops of the breakers fifty feet below. And 
 then, as my eyes went seaward, I saw what 
 chilled my marrow, for out of the wilderness 
 beyond a light flashed again and waved slowly 
 from right to left. Then it disappeared. For 
 a moment I thought the woman had gone clean 
 out to sea, but my reason came back to me 
 when, after a little groping, I found what had 
 tripped me, and it proved to be a lantern the 
 metal of which was still hot. So putting two 
 and two together, I realized that the last light 
 had probably been an answering signal from 
 some ship just off shore. With a burning curi 
 osity, and without reckoning on the likelihood 
 of a personal encounter with people whose 
 business I was making my own, I began ex 
 ploring the place in the dark. It was useless 
 to try to relight the lantern in the fierce wind 
 that was blowing, and I groped about on my 
 hands and knees in a widening circle. On my 
 second trip around, my hand closed upon a 
 small bottle with a glass-stopper, and near it on 
 the turf I hit upon a tobacco-pipe.
 
 I do not now remember that I hesitated to 
 appropriate this property, and I have often 
 wondered since that I made no more ado about 
 pocketing it. At any rate, I put both bot 
 tle and pipe away, and continued my search 
 until I had almost fallen into the sea from 
 going too near the edge of the cliff. Then I 
 picked myself up, and with stolen property un 
 der my coat, thanked God for my narrow es 
 cape from drowning, and went my way unmo 
 lested. I stopped under the lee of the hill to 
 light the lantern, and then set off for home. 
 But I walked slowly, for I had wrenched my 
 ankle by the fall I got, and I had just reached 
 the level road again when a man seemed to 
 rise up out of the ground at my feet. At that 
 instant the wind swept down the road so strong 
 that it nearly blew my light out and we could 
 see each other only dimly. My heart beat rather 
 high, for I thought I had come to a reckoning 
 with the woman s pursuer, but the man s first 
 words reassured me and showed me my mistake. 
 
 " For God s sake," he shouted angrily, 
 "why are you dawdling along in this fashion. 
 I ve watched that lazy light for the last fifteen 
 minutes as you crawled down the hill, and I m 
 half dead with waiting for you. Where is the 
 woman 
 
 8
 
 The Lady of the Lantern 
 
 He stopped and fell back with an oath as the 
 light flashed up again and he saw my face. 
 
 " Who the deuce are you? " he stammered, 
 and what are you doing here ? 
 
 "I m on the highway," said I, hotly, " and 
 minding my own business." 
 
 " I m not so sure of that," the man retorted, 
 glancing at the lantern which I carried, " and 
 unless I m much mistaken you ve got my lantern 
 in your hand." 
 
 " I found it where the lady left it," said I. 
 " If it s yours, you shall have it, but I ll have 
 a look at you first, and may be the coroner 
 will thank me for it ; " and with that I held it 
 up and let the rays fall on him. 
 
 He fell back livid, and I saw the face of an 
 old man with white mustache and eyebrows. 
 It was a fine military face, and one that I knew 
 well in common with all the country for miles 
 around. I was no less shocked at the disclos 
 ure than at the man s way of taking my action, 
 for after an instant of silent rage, he launched 
 out into a torrent of abuse the like of which I 
 have never heard. 
 
 " And now," said he, when he had exhausted 
 himself and his vocabulary, " give me my lan 
 tern. I ve wasted both time and speech on 
 you. Go your way, and see to it that you 
 
 9
 
 Forward Home 
 
 keep out of mine. I don t ask you why you 
 are prowling here with my lantern, but I swear 
 if I find you dogging me, I ll throw you into 
 the sea. 
 
 He snatched his lantern and started up the 
 hill. 
 
 "One moment," said I, and I planted my 
 self with determination in his path. " My wit 
 is too slow to keep pace with as fast a tongue 
 as yours, but you have called me a thief, and 
 that very plainly." 
 
 "And if I have," said he, but somewhat less 
 aggressively, I thought, " you are lucky to have 
 got off so easily. You can scarcely grumble at 
 the terms if I am willing to ask no questions." 
 
 " Be damned for your terms and for your 
 impudence," I answered, wrathfully. "You 
 shall hear what I have to say before you stir out 
 of your tracks." 
 
 He looked surprised, and I saw his disen 
 gaged hand dive into a pocket, but my blood 
 was up and he might have emptied an arsenal 
 into me without standing off the explanation I 
 had started on. I told him how I chanced to 
 be there and what had led to it, and his brow 
 cleared as I went on. 
 
 "And now," said I, in conclusion, "I am 
 ready for an apology." 
 10
 
 He drew his hand from his pocket, and some 
 thing came with it, and when his arm dropped 
 to his side I saw the steel of a pistol glisten. 
 But he was man enough to admit his error, and 
 after his fashion he did it well. 
 
 " See here," he said. " You caught me at 
 a disadvantage, and I lost my temper damn 
 ably. It s a weakness I m forever doing pen 
 ance for, and I offer you a sincere apology. 
 Now, I don t know you from Adam, and I don t 
 know what you have seen or heard beyond 
 what you choose to tell. I have blundered into 
 an indiscretion with a stranger, and you are on 
 the edge of a personal matter of my own, and 
 something which is none of your business. I do 
 not use the phrase offensively," he added hur 
 riedly, "but God knows the mess is none of 
 yours, and if I have been grossly imposed upon, 
 I shall not mend the matter by taking you into 
 my confidence. I mistook you for another 
 man, as you were quick enough to see, and 
 then I suspected yourself. I take your word and 
 you must take mine. And let me remind you 
 before we say quits, that it is a gentleman s part 
 to hold his tongue and encourage forgetfulness 
 sometimes. Why, man," he burst out impa 
 tiently, " you do not even know my name " 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Colonel Forward," I 
 ii
 
 Forward House 
 
 interrupted, with dry emphasis, and he swore 
 again under his breath as I spoke "but I 
 will make you no promise. I take your apol 
 ogy, for you are speaking like a man now, and 
 you are dealing with one. I am no meddler, 
 and I know enough of the double edge of gossip 
 to give it a wide berth. I can say no more 
 than that, and if you are a wise man you will 
 be content." 
 
 " There are more ways than one to make a 
 man forget," he said, coolly, with a significant 
 movement of his arm , and then he thrust the 
 pistol fiercely in his pocket, and held out his 
 hand. " That was a cowardly speech," he 
 said impulsively, " and as unworthy of me as 
 the thought which prompted it. I am not a 
 coward, but I am an old man and sorely put 
 upon, and you must not misjudge me." 
 
 I had taken his hand, and as he spoke my 
 pity went out to him. 
 
 " We will call the account settled," said I, 
 " unless I can help you." 
 
 "No, no," he answered, brusquely, drop 
 ping my hand, and recovering his old manner. 
 " Believe me, I have no use for you whatever. 
 You would much better go straight home and 
 take a sleeping-powder and now let me bid 
 you good-morning." 
 
 12
 
 The Lady of the Lantern 
 
 I was chagrined, but we saluted each other 
 with elaborate civility, and I stood aside to let 
 him pass. And as he went by with his head so 
 stiff in the air, the pity I had volunteered died 
 a sudden and violent death, and I vowed he 
 was a bumptious old fool. When I reached my 
 gate and looked behind me, the Colonel s lan 
 tern was half-way up the cliff, and from the 
 bobbing and plunging of the light I knew that 
 between the wind and the roughness of the 
 road he was having a hard time to keep his 
 way.
 
 II 
 
 I OVERHEAR A COLLOQUY 
 
 THE net result of my interference that 
 night had been a pointed snub from 
 the biggest man in the county. I thought on 
 this with considerable disgust, but I drew a 
 sort of negative consolation from the fact that 
 Colonel Forward had not recognized my face, 
 or if he had, had made no sign. 
 
 My sleeping-room occupied the whole front 
 part of my small house, on the second floor, 
 and its windows gave upon the road and upon 
 either side as well. As I was getting into bed, 
 a gleam of light danced across my wall, and I 
 looked out. The Colonel, homeward bound, 
 was trudging past alone. There was dejection 
 in his gait, and I was petty enough to rejoice 
 at the thought that his errand had failed of its 
 purpose whatever that might have been. And 
 with that thought I tried to go to sleep. 
 
 I had not yet succeeded when I was aroused 
 by sounds in the road, and I stole out of bed 
 
 14
 
 / Overbear a Colloquy 
 
 and to the window. I could distinctly hear a 
 man s voice high with anger, and the pleading 
 tones of a woman pitched in a lower and con 
 ciliating key. They grew louder as I stood 
 there, and soon I heard the sound of their shoes 
 as the pair approached from the cliff; and so 
 marked was the difference that I could almost 
 see the swinging stride of the man and the 
 half-run of his companion as she struggled to 
 keep up with him. Then the wind brought me 
 scraps of their talk, and I did not scruple to 
 listen the more keenly for that. 
 
 " Before God," said the man, " I ll have no 
 more of this if you don t do as I tell you. 
 Haven t I banked everything on this and all 
 for you ? 
 
 The woman s quick retort had something of 
 bitterness in it, and I saw why he had hesitated 
 on his last words. 
 
 "All for me ! " she said, and her gentle 
 blood showed in her speech. " Oh, Richard, 
 Richard, have I not sinned enough but you 
 must set this against me ? Heaven knows I 
 have no thought or care that is not yours. Do 
 you think it was nothing for me to turn on that 
 old man 
 
 "Well, well," he interrupted, impatiently, 
 " I know all that, but we have no time to talk 
 
 15
 
 Forward House 
 
 of it now. I know how bravely you have done 
 for me against him, but we are still in the 
 woods and there is more to do." 
 
 " I do not see " she began, and I won 
 dered how any man could resist the sweetness 
 of her voice, when he broke in upon her 
 roughly : 
 
 " Then thank God that one of us can see. 
 Your foolishness has cost us heavily to-night. 
 You shouldn t have been caught by the old 
 man, to begin with, and you ought to have 
 known better than run away with a lighted lan 
 tern. Of course he would follow the light." 
 
 I heard her sobbing quietly. They had 
 halted in front of the house. 
 
 "Then," he added, his anger seeming to 
 increase as he dwelt upon the subject, " as if 
 that were not enough, you must begin waving 
 the damned thing before I came up with you, 
 when I had repeatedly told you that that signal 
 meant we were not ready for the boats and 
 would stay ashore ! 
 
 " Oh, Richard, don t," she cried. " I know 
 what a blunderer I am, and how I hinder you, 
 but I do the best I can." 
 
 " Molly, Molly," said he, gently, " I know 
 that you re the dearest, truest little woman on 
 earth, and I ought to be shot for wounding you. 
 
 16
 
 / Overbear a Colloquy 
 
 I thought so, too. I did not know the 
 merits of the thing, but I felt I could have 
 fought for that woman, and my fingers itched 
 for a twist at the man s collar. But he was 
 clearly beside himself, for after that outburst of 
 tenderness his anger got the better of him 
 again. 
 
 " It was all so foolish, so foolish ! " he said. 
 " Even that wasn t enough, but you must do 
 the thing up brown, as a woman always does, so 
 you put your light out and threw your lantern 
 away, after first forgetting to have any matches 
 about you. Who ever heard of a woman with 
 a match ! " 
 
 He stopped and laughed loudly but whether 
 at his own humor or the woman s distress I do 
 not know. She called to him in alarm. 
 
 "At least," she said, with some spirit, "I 
 am not fool enough to shout the whole country 
 on our track. 
 
 You are right there, at any rate, he said, 
 quickly checking himself, " and I am the fool. 
 But if I m to take your word, there isn t a house 
 within hearing of this one, and if we ve got to 
 wake this man up we may as well do it by 
 laughing at each other as by swearing at 
 him." 
 
 "So," thought I, "you re after me," and 
 
 17
 
 Forward House 
 
 I reached out for my revolvers that lay ready 
 on the dressing-table. I began to have qualms 
 of conscience about the glass bottle and the 
 pipe, but the woman quelled them the next 
 moment. 
 
 " Is there no other way? " she said. "It is 
 no great hardship to spend the rest of the night 
 out there. It will be daylight anyway before 
 you can get me aboard, and this man will be 
 suspicious of us if we wake him up at this hour 
 for a lantern and a match. What excuse can I 
 make him ? 
 
 " Take your own way," the man said, 
 bluntly, " and forgive me if I am harsh, but 
 for God s sake go and have it done with." 
 
 While I wondered what to do, I heard her 
 fumbling with the gate latch. They were still 
 a minute and then she gave a little cry. 
 
 " Oh, Richard," she said, with such real 
 distress in her voice that I was near calling out 
 to her myself, " I have lost one of the bottles. 
 There were three, and I have only two in my 
 pocket. 
 
 He gave a great oath and started back the 
 road they had come. She called to him to 
 wait, but he seemed frenzied on his new errand 
 and forgetful of the one that had brought them 
 to my door, and ran swiftly on. I heard the 
 18
 
 / Overhear a Colloquy 
 
 girl crying softly there in the dark, and my 
 tongue broke its bonds. 
 
 "Madam," said I, gently, "if you will let 
 me help you " 
 
 I might have gone on to offer her the bottle 
 I had picked up, had not she interrupted me in 
 her terror. 
 
 " No, no," she cried, hardly above a whis 
 per, running close under the window in her 
 eagerness as she spoke ; " no, not a word more. 
 I do not know what you have heard " 
 
 " I will not deny," I began; but she burst 
 in again. 
 
 Do not tell me what you have heard, she 
 begged, "and as you value your life and pity 
 me, forget that you have heard anything." 
 
 " I would rather " I began again, thinking 
 of Colonel Forward, but she did not let me finish. 
 
 " Sir," said she, " you do not know me and 
 I do not know you, but you are a man, and a 
 kind one by your voice. Do a woman this 
 one act of kindness. Forget all that you have 
 heard, or persuade yourself that you have 
 dreamed it and never tell the dream. Please 
 God, you shall never see my face, and never 
 again hear my voice. I on my side will forget 
 that you have spoken to me. And that the 
 confidence may be more to you, let me tell 
 
 19
 
 Forward House 
 
 you that the sound of your kind voice has been 
 blessed to me this night." 
 
 She was standing in the walk, and I could 
 dimly see her form in the darkness, and her up 
 turned face. 
 
 " I will promise you," said I, more moved 
 by her voice and manner than I had supposed it 
 possible for me to be by any woman, " and may 
 God help and pity you, whoever you may be." 
 
 I had hardly spoken when the man hallooed 
 from the road beyond. She started in alarm. 
 
 " Good-by," she said, "and Heaven bless 
 you ! " and she was gone. 
 
 I stood and listened to the quick patter of 
 her feet as she left my door, and as the distance 
 widened between us, that sound was merged in 
 another that rose faintly from the sea and 
 waxed as it came. The rain was falling and 
 the storm had come. 
 
 When I awoke from my sleep later in the day, 
 a hopeless northeaster was raging, and the rain 
 was beating furiously through my open win 
 dows. As I put on my coat, a bulging pocket 
 reminded me of the mysterious bottle, and I 
 took it out and examined it. There was noth 
 ing peculiar or interesting about the thing, and 
 I was disappointed at that after the fuss the man 
 had made over its loss. It was a small bottle 
 20
 
 with a glass stopper, as I have said, and about 
 half full of a coarse substance that looked like 
 sand. The pipe was even less interesting, 
 though it was a pretty piece of briar, and as 
 black as ebony from use. I carried them 
 downstairs with me and put them away on the 
 top shelf of a little cupboard of my library, 
 where I kept my pipes and tobacco. 
 
 But the ample leisure of a day indoors gave 
 me opportunities for speculating upon my ad 
 venture, which I could not well avoid. And 
 though I had not the slightest clue to go on, I 
 found myself building up the most elaborate 
 theories to account for the strange actions of 
 the three trespassers upon my solitude. 
 
 My own habits of life, as I have said before, 
 brought me few acquaintances, those only to 
 whom I was driven by my necessities, and some 
 few whom chance had led to me. In neither 
 class was Colonel Forward. I knew him for 
 my next neighbor, living just over the hill 
 toward the village, and I had seen his picture 
 in the school histories, for he had achieved 
 some reputation in his chosen calling. He was 
 a haughty old gentleman, according to all ac 
 counts, who since his retirement from the army 
 had lived almost as much of a solitary as my 
 self, and for any likelihood of a casual acquaint-
 
 Forward House 
 
 ance between us he had as well lived in Guinea 
 as on East Crag. That feature of his life and 
 character had always interested me, and I had 
 often wondered why, with wealth and influence 
 at his command, he chose to isolate himself 
 from all but the few retainers who made his 
 grounds their home. I fancied that the death 
 of his wife some years before had left this mark 
 upon him. 
 
 Now that I thought the matter over, his man 
 ner at our meeting encouraged the idea that he 
 and the strange pair whom he was pursuing 
 when I came upon him, were confederates in 
 one scheme. But on the other hand, the bear 
 ing of the man and woman, when they stopped 
 under my window in the night, was open only 
 to the construction that they were avoiding be 
 ing seen in the neighborhood, and most of all 
 by the Colonel himself. Up to that time the 
 thought of connecting the stiff old soldier with 
 crime or dishonorable intrigue would have been 
 repugnant to me under any circumstances. But 
 I suppose the sting of personal resentment had 
 its weight, for when I thought of his railing 
 words and his threatening attitude, I was filled 
 with suspicion and distrust. 
 
 As to the woman, I cannot even now tell 
 you what I thought of her or where my im- 
 
 22
 
 / Overbear a Colloquy 
 
 pressions lay. I somehow felt myself her 
 sworn champion after our strange interview. I 
 blindly pitied her, and hated those whom I 
 thought her persecutors with a fervor that may 
 have been ill-judged, but certainly had its rise 
 in the better instincts of my nature, as our hates 
 so often have. 
 
 But it was her companion around whom the 
 greatest interest centred, after all. So far, he 
 was to me only a big voice out of the dark. I 
 tried to picture what such a man should look 
 like, and I longed to see him. 
 
 In this idle fashion I let the forenoon pass, and 
 I had taken up and dismissed the mysterious 
 trio a hundred times, for a guess, when I turned 
 in sheer weariness to my library window. A 
 strange man in sailor rig was standing in the 
 walk looking curiously toward my house. The 
 sight of me at the window cured his indecision, 
 and instead of retreating he turned boldly to 
 the door. My instinct told me that here was 
 the man I had been waiting for, and I knew 
 that when he spoke I should hear the voice that 
 had drawn me out of bed the night before. 
 And at that a load fell from my mind, for I 
 felt that so long as I could keep him by me, I 
 might see her again. Indeed, I had not known 
 up to that moment how long the day had been. 
 
 23
 
 III 
 
 I ENTERTAIN A VISITOR 
 
 I HEARD him scrape the mud from his 
 boots, but I had the door open before his 
 hand had reached the knocker. He passed by 
 me into the hall without a word, though I 
 fancied he looked surprised at the genuineness 
 of the welcome. When I had closed the door 
 again, he opened his mouth. 
 
 " You are the master here ? " says he. 
 
 "I am," I promptly answered, taking my 
 cue from the familiar voice. " You look cold 
 and wet. Come in where it s warm." 
 
 "You re the right sort," said he, heartily, 
 " and I will. I ve been out on the rocks for 
 ten hours, and I m soaked to the marrow." 
 
 I had brought him into the library as I 
 spoke, and pushed up a chair before the little 
 fire that was burning on my hearth. He 
 dropped into it with a sigh. 
 
 "Will you take it neat," I asked, touching 
 a matter that I knew lay next his heart, "or 
 shall I make it hot, with a little sugar ? 
 24
 
 / Entertain a Visitor 
 
 He looked at me with open admiration. 
 
 "Raw," he murmured, and as I fetched a 
 bottle and a glass, " Do they breed many of 
 your sort here?" he added, with a kind of 
 roar. " God bless you for a man after my 
 own heart ! You re the first I ve met on this 
 damned coast, and I want to shake hands." 
 
 He got on his feet as he spoke, and I saw 
 what had escaped me before, that he was near 
 done with exhaustion. He swayed unsteadily, 
 and would have fallen if I had not supported him 
 and dropped him gently back into his chair. 
 Yet all this time I could have knifed him for 
 dread of what he had done to the girl, for he 
 had not been in the best of humor when she 
 had run to meet him the night before. 
 
 " Never mind that now," I said, soothingly. 
 "Take your drink and keep your thanks till 
 you ve got your nerve back." 
 
 I may have overdone the hospitality, for in 
 stead of answering me he looked up with a 
 scowl. 
 
 "None of that," he growled, suspiciously. 
 " What are you up to, anyway ? It strikes 
 me you re just a little bit too good." 
 
 " From your manner, I am," said I, with a 
 touch of temper, " and I shall be glad to see 
 your back when I ve made you a man again. 
 
 25
 
 Forward House 
 
 Just now I m doing what I would do by any 
 vagabond who fell in my way." 
 
 He sat up in his chair and looked me 
 straight in the eyes, and I stared back at him 
 without flinching. He was a powerfully built 
 man, of perhaps forty-five, with a handsome 
 face bronzed by exposure, a short light beard 
 and mustache, and that certain mark of breed 
 ing that nothing can wholly erase. Just now 
 his clean-chiselled features were a bit drawn, 
 though even in his distress he looked every 
 inch the sailor that he was. But his eyes were 
 his strong point, and I have yet to see the pair 
 that will match them for expression. They 
 were blue or gray or green, fire, stone, or water, 
 as the mood behind them changed, and I swear 
 they were all these things in as many seconds 
 as he looked at me. But they softened in an 
 instant, and he held out his hand for the glass. 
 
 "You ve a sharp tongue," said he, with a 
 weak laugh, "but I guess you re about right, 
 and here s my regards," and he gulped down 
 whiskey enough to have made my head swim. 
 Then, with a sigh that was half sob and half 
 laugh, he fell back in his chair and closed his eyes. 
 
 I turned to the window and gave him a 
 chance to pull himself together, which he was 
 not slow to improve. 
 
 26
 
 / Entertain a Visitor 
 
 "I m a new man," says he, presently, " or 
 rather, I m myself again after that whiskey of 
 yours, and now I wish you d overlook my rude 
 ness. I m not in the habit of walking unin 
 vited into men s houses, and if you ll take my 
 apology and believe how honestly I thank you 
 for your kindness, I ll go." 
 
 He had got up as he spoke, and I was fright 
 ened for a moment lest I really lose him. 
 
 "You ll stay here as long as you please," 
 said I, quickly, "and until you get back 
 strength enough to fight your way out, you ll 
 stay as long as I please. 
 
 He shot me an odd look at that, but he 
 laughed good-naturedly as he pushed his chair 
 closer to the fire and sat down again. 
 
 " Now," said I, seizing my opportunity, 
 "I m not only the master here, but I m the 
 cook and the house-keeper and the chamber 
 maid. You can reach the whiskey, and I ll 
 go out and get us a bit of dinner." 
 
 " I won t lie," said he, with a sigh. " I ve 
 eaten nothing but spray for nearly twenty-four 
 hours. 
 
 All the time I was busying myself in the 
 kitchen, I was planning openings for a conver 
 sation that should get me somewhere ; yet for 
 the life of me I could think of nothing satisfac- 
 27
 
 tory unless I plumped straight to the point, and 
 that, I saw, was more likely than not to make 
 matters worse than ever. 
 
 He was standing at the window with a low 
 ering face when I went in to call him to din 
 ner, but he brightened when he saw me, and 
 he was the promptest guest at table that I have 
 ever entertained. 
 
 It had been long since I wished to see a 
 woman in my house, but the recollection of 
 that girl s voice stuck to me, and I pictured 
 her shivering on the rocks while this fellow ate 
 his fill indoors. Perhaps there was a dash of 
 sentiment in my reflections, for I was not so 
 very old as years go, you must remember. In 
 deed, I thought it was nip and tuck between 
 my guest and me on that score, though he 
 probably had a little the advantage. 
 
 " There is more than enough for us both," I 
 said, tentatively. "It is a pity we have no 
 guest at hand." 
 
 "Had I known your hospitality last night," 
 he said, with a laugh, " I might have helped you 
 out. As it is, I have no hunger but my own 
 to look out for to-day." 
 
 It was the man s tone of relief that set me at 
 my ease, for I knew he had the woman in his 
 mind, and I was sure he could not have spoken 
 28
 
 / Entertain a Visitor 
 
 so if she were in danger, or if he had dealt 
 badly by her. I did a foolish thing. 
 
 " Here is her health," said I, and reached 
 my glass out to clink his. 
 
 " What the devil do you mean ? " said he, 
 springing from his chair and glaring at me. 
 " Whose health? " 
 
 I saw my error, and for once my wit was 
 awake. " The hostess who should have pre 
 sided here were I the lucky man I could wish to 
 be," said I, coolly. 
 
 He dropped into his chair and lifted his 
 glass to his lips. 
 
 " With all my heart," says he, eagerly, and 
 drank deep. I held my tongue after that, and 
 he ate his dinner with the coarse relish of a 
 man half starved. 
 
 "This is the first time to-day," he began, as 
 we arose from the table, " that I ve had an ap 
 petite for smoke. You don t mind a pipe ? " 
 
 And when I shook my head, he fished a jack- 
 knife and a piece of plug tobacco from his 
 pocket, and whittled off enough to fill a pipe. 
 But when he came to the next stage I saw that 
 something was wrong, for I had watched him 
 with a purpose of my own. 
 
 He felt in each of his pockets by turn, and 
 then nervously by twos, and finally in all of
 
 Forward House 
 
 them all at once, or so it seemed, as a man will 
 when he has reached the critical point of search 
 for something lost. So I asked him what was 
 amiss, though I very well knew. 
 
 "Why," said he, quite crestfallen, "I ve 
 lost my pipe." 
 
 " Then you ve fallen in with the right man," 
 I said, "for I m strong on pipes. Will you 
 have a clay or a briar or a meerschaum ? 
 
 " You don t understand," he said, a little im 
 patiently. " I ve no great stock of sentiment, 
 but that pipe was an old friend. I ve had it 
 Lord knows how long. I may have left it on 
 his table," he added, more to himself than to 
 me ; and then abruptly, Do you know Col 
 onel Forward, of East Crag?" 
 
 " I have met him," I replied. 
 
 "And is he a friend of yours ? " 
 
 " No," said I, " and I distrust him." 
 
 But my thrust did not have the effect that I 
 had anticipated, for the sailor looked mightily 
 pleased at this reply. 
 
 " Good," said he, roundly. " I like you the 
 better for that." 
 
 " But what has Colonel Forward to do with 
 the matter ? " I could not help asking. 
 
 " I have not said he had anything to do 
 with it," the man answered, sharply. " As for 
 
 30
 
 / Entertain a Visitor 
 
 the pipe, I dare say I ve dropped it on the 
 rocks, and I ll look for it later. Meanwhile, if 
 you ve an old briar you can spare, I ll trouble 
 you for it." 
 
 I saw from his manner that he was not to be 
 drawn out further, so I held my peace, and we 
 lighted our pipes. The conversation lagged, 
 and I left him for a little while. When I re 
 turned he had fallen asleep. I sat and watched 
 him for an hour, and though he often stirred at 
 the noise of the storm, he never once opened 
 his eyes, and I was glad for him to get the rest 
 that I saw he so sorely needed. 
 
 Suddenly, above the howl of the wind a gun 
 boomed to the east. To a dweller on that 
 coast there is no such ominous and dismal sound 
 in a storm as this. It is like a fire-bell in the 
 night, but a hundred times more doleful and 
 significant. To the south of us and nearly a 
 mile off shore, a wicked reef shows at low water, 
 and cuts off that side of the cape from the ap 
 proach of ships. There is a light on the reef, 
 but in thick weather the coasters from the north 
 sometimes lose their bearings and crash into the 
 Crag, where the water is deep enough to float a 
 war ship close in shore. My trained ear told 
 me that the sound came from the east. 
 
 However soundly the sailor had slept, he was 
 
 3 1
 
 Forward House 
 
 on his feet as quickly as I, broad awake and 
 quivering with excitement. 
 
 " Did you hear that," he cried, " or was I 
 dreaming ? 
 
 " It was no dream," said I, already running 
 for my storm coat, and as I spoke I heard the 
 sound again. 
 
 " They re off the Crag," I shouted back to 
 him, but he had pulled his cap down firmly, and 
 was turning up the collar of his coat. 
 
 " By God ! " said he, " then it s all right ! " 
 And before I could join him he was tugging 
 madly at the front door. 
 
 It seemed to me that it was all wrong, but I 
 had no chance to tell him so, even if I had 
 thought it worth my while. He was a better 
 runner than I, and he had the start of me, be 
 sides which I had my weak ankle to favor, so 
 that when I got into the road, he was a hundred 
 yards away, running like a deer toward the 
 Crag. 
 
 I followed him as well as I could, but he 
 kept his lead, and when I reached the cliff he 
 was pacing back and forth upon the very verge 
 of it and scanning the sea, or as much of it as 
 his eyes commanded, for the. rain and spray 
 made it impossible for us to see much farther 
 than the breakers at our feet. 
 
 32
 
 / Entertain a Visitor 
 
 Did you hear it again?" he roared into 
 my ears as I came up. I shook my head. 
 
 "Two guns," he bawled. " Then it s all 
 right, and there ll be merry hell before morn 
 ing," and he shouted with laughter that I could 
 fairly hear above the din of the storm. 
 
 I believed the man was mad, and fell back 
 out of his way. No thought but of a stranded 
 ship and a drowning crew had come to me at 
 the sound of the guns, and the horror of it and 
 of his shocking flippancy lay upon my face as I 
 looked at him. He saw the look upon my face 
 and the laugh died out of his. 
 
 "What s the matter with you, man?" he 
 shouted, coming a step nearer. 
 
 " Stand off," I cried, backing down the hill. 
 " Are you a fiend or a mad man, that you can 
 make sport at a time like this ? 
 
 " Stuff," said he, in a changed voice. " I 
 keep forgetting that you know nothing about all 
 this. No, I m neither mad nor a fiend. But I 
 know a man at East Crag who ll be both before 
 to-morrow morning, and I ve beaten him this 
 day. I swear, if you were a day younger and 
 our acquaintance an hour older, I d make you 
 dance with me here on the turf. But come 
 down out of the wind now, and I ll ease your 
 old-maid mind." 
 
 33
 
 Forward House 
 
 And with that he seized me by the arm, and 
 half dragged me down the hill. I thought he 
 would have stopped when we reached the level, 
 but he kept on without a word until we came 
 to the house. 
 
 34
 
 IV 
 
 IN WHICH A BOTTLE FIGURES 
 
 HE shook himself when we got inside 
 again, and stalked furiously back and 
 forth across the room for some minutes,- appar 
 ently forgetful both of me and of his promise. 
 I watched him from a corner and at length he 
 took his old seat before the fire. 
 
 " And you think I m crazy, eh, old lady?" 
 says he, turning toward me. "Well, maybe, 
 may be, but whether or no, it s fitter that we 
 should know what to call each other, and my 
 name is, let us say Nicholson." 
 
 "That is as it may be," I answered, a bit 
 piqued at the name he had given me and the 
 obvious concealment of his own. " I am John 
 Hunt to you and to everybody else." 
 
 " So much by way of introduction," he said, 
 ignoring my sneer. " And now, Mister Hunt, 
 you may set your mind easy about that ship. 
 I know her well, and her cunning skipper," I 
 
 35
 
 thought the man balked at the word, and a 
 shadow crossed his face; but he went on, 
 " I know what the two guns mean, and it isn t 
 danger. There s no wreck, and no drowning 
 crew, and no misery aboard her, you can wager. 
 The misery s all ashore," he added, and here 
 again there was the faintest touch of bitterness 
 in his voice ; but he smiled grimly and gave me 
 a patronizing look that prompted me to pull him 
 down a bit. 
 
 " I m glad to hear it," said I, still nettled ; 
 " and suppose now you tell me what became of 
 the young lady." 
 
 If ever a man was disconcerted it was he. 
 He started clean out of his chair with an oath, 
 and then asked me, with a fine assumption of 
 indifference, what the deuce I meant. I saw I 
 was in for it at last, and told him as much as I 
 chose, with such reservations as my caution and 
 my promise to the lady suggested and among 
 these I made no reference to the glass-stoppered 
 bottle. 
 
 He seemed a good deal put out at my knowl 
 edge of the matter, but he carried it off very 
 well, and when I came to relate my meeting 
 with Colonel Forward, he pursed his lips and 
 whistled. From that point his embarrassment 
 was lost in his newly aroused interest. When I 
 
 36
 
 Iii Which a Bottle Figures 
 
 had finished, I gave him his pipe, which he took 
 rather sheepishly, I thought. 
 
 "So it was you," he said, with a bad look 
 in his eyes, " who alarmed us last night and 
 got our lantern. Well, well, let it go," and 
 he laughed, uneasily. 
 
 " I wish I had known it was you, and not 
 the old man pawing around on the cliff there," 
 he said again, after a little pause but from his 
 manner I was truly glad he had not been unde 
 ceived. Then he added, with a manifest effort 
 to keep pleasant : 
 
 " Well, so much the better. You shall both 
 make it up to me, depend upon that." 
 
 He scowled at the fire a moment, and then 
 the wrinkle left his forehead and he chuc 
 kled. 
 
 And all the time I was thinking myself so 
 damned smart, said he, you had this in you. 
 That toast, now 
 
 " To be quite frank," I interrupted, " it 
 was to the lady of the lantern." 
 
 " Umph," said he, swallowing hard as 
 though my phrase disagreed with him. " Well, 
 Mister John Hunt, you may quiet your fears if 
 they lie in that quarter. She s a dear girl, is 
 Molly, and she s not likely to suffer through 
 me." 
 
 37
 
 Forward House 
 
 He was eying me queerly as he spoke, and 
 perhaps I looked sceptical, for he frowned sud 
 denly, and got on his feet with an oath that I 
 need not repeat. 
 
 "See here," said he, swaggering before me 
 in an attitude that I liked no more than the 
 challenge in his wicked eyes. " Look me in 
 the face straight in the eyes, now. My name 
 is Nicholson. Do you hear, Mister Hunt ? 
 Nicholson ! 
 
 He waited, and I thought his eyes shifted a 
 bit as I looked him full in the face. Yet he 
 looked for all the world as though he would 
 like nothing better than for me to give him the 
 lie then and there ; but I frankly did not know 
 the man, and such doubts as I had I did not 
 scruple to put behind me. Under the cir 
 cumstances, I would have called him Saint Pe 
 ter, had he so much as suggested it, and never 
 asked him for credentials. Indeed, my eager 
 ness to take him at his own valuation must have 
 been apparent, for he turned away with an im 
 patient laugh as he stopped speaking. 
 
 There, there," said he, "I m upset, and 
 that s a fact. Damn it, man, why couldn t 
 you have minded your own business and let the 
 girl go without following her; " and then, as if 
 he had said too much, " about those For- 
 
 33
 
 In Wlricb a Bottle Figures 
 
 wards," he added, hastily. "Do you know 
 the family? " 
 
 I shook my head, but he looked incredu 
 lous. 
 
 " How long have you lived here? " said he. 
 
 " Twenty years," I answered. 
 
 "What! " says he, sharply, "you have 
 lived here longer than Colonel Forward him 
 self " he looked suspiciously down at me 
 again " and you mean to tell me that you 
 don t know your next neighbor, and more or 
 less of his business ? No, no, no, man. That 
 won t do, you re a contradiction in terms." 
 
 It was one way of calling me a liar, and not 
 a very polite way at that. I felt my cheeks 
 flaming as I stood up and faced him. 
 
 "You ve gone too far," said I, "and I ll 
 submit to your bullying no longer. You and 
 your Forwards are one to me, and I m heartily 
 sick of the sight of you. By the help of God 
 and the absence of womankind, I ve been away 
 from gossip half my life, and if a silly woman 
 with a lantern " 
 
 He stopped me with a quick gesture. 
 
 " You forget yourself," said he, with a dig 
 nity that confused me. " Confine your abuse 
 to me." 
 
 The rebuke brought me down. 
 
 39
 
 Forward House 
 
 "You re right," said I, cooling in an in 
 stant, "and I thank you for reminding me; 
 but I ve no abuse for anyone." 
 
 "I am heartily glad, " he replied, with no 
 trace of irony. 
 
 " But," I went on, "I say once for all that 
 I do not know the Forward brood. I never 
 spoke to the old man before last night, and I 
 want never to speak to him again. I only ask 
 that God keep me shut of him and his, and you 
 may all go hang for any interference from me. 
 I ve no stomach for meddling further with 
 you. 
 
 He bowed, gravely. 
 
 " Have you quite done?" he asked, polite- 
 
 iy. 
 
 " No," said I, with a silly inspiration to do 
 something smart, and I stalked across the room 
 and whipped open the door of my little cup 
 board. " There s this besides. I ve some 
 thing here that belongs to you, and you d bet 
 ter take it now." 
 
 I took the glass-stoppered bottle from the 
 shelf, and wheeled around to him again. He 
 had been watching me with a half-interested 
 look, but the change that came over his face 
 when he saw the bottle swinging in my hand 
 was wonderful to see. 
 
 40
 
 In Which a Bottle Figures 
 
 " Stop, you reckless fool," he shouted. 
 " Put it clown put it down carefully care 
 fully ! Good God, man, you handle it as if it 
 were sawdust. Put it down, I say ! " 
 
 Instead of approaching me, he was backing 
 away with a celerity that would have been 
 amusing had his terror not been so shockingly 
 manifest. His face was the color of the stuff in 
 the bottle, and I looked at him in dismay. 
 Something of his alarm communicated itself to 
 me, and when he saw me place the bottle cau 
 tiously on the table as he had ordered, the blood 
 came into his face again and he drew a long 
 breath. 
 
 " Put it back in the cupboard," said he, 
 with more coolness. "Put it back and let it 
 stay there, and mind how you handle it ; " and 
 as I gingerly replaced it on the shelf and closed 
 the door, " Now," said he, " you may tell me 
 where you got that bottle, if you please, and 
 why the devil I ve not known of this sooner." 
 
 We had changed places again. His anger was 
 rising, and mine had lost itself in the shock of 
 his surprising behavior. So I told him how 
 I had found the bottle, and for having kept it 
 from him, I made such excuses as I could. For 
 a moment he did not speak, but stood as if de 
 liberating whether to let it pass or to knock me
 
 Forward House 
 
 down. Then his rage left him and I saw he 
 was for peace. 
 
 " You gave me a start," says he, nervously, 
 " but we ll call it square, since no harm s done. 
 And now I caution you to let that stuff 
 alone. It is mine, as you suspected, but 
 it s safer in that closet of yours than in my 
 pocket. Leave it there until I ask you for it. 
 I swear," he added, drawing a deep breath of 
 relief, " I thought for a minute you were for 
 throwing it in the fire." 
 
 " And if I had," said I, " what then ? " 
 
 He stared at me blankly, and opened his 
 mouth to speak, but thought better of it and 
 began humming an old hymn. 
 
 " Are you a Christian? " he asked, breaking 
 off as suddenly as he had begun, and cocking 
 his head on one side as he spoke. And when 
 I looked puzzled, he broke into loud laughter 
 and dropped back into the chair he had left. 
 
 "Well, well," he said, "we won t go into 
 that. Perhaps your future s not secure, and 
 theology isn t my strong point. But I owe 
 you a word about myself 
 
 ""And the young lady," I interrupted. 
 
 " Upon my soul," he said, with a frown, 
 "you re bold enough about some things. 
 Mister Hunt. Let me assure you that the 
 42
 
 ///. Which a Bottle Figures 
 
 young lady, my my niece, is quite safe, quite 
 safe, or I d not be loafing here. She s out of 
 reach, thank God. And if you ll take my ad 
 vice, you ll let that information suffice you until 
 I choose to speak of her again." 
 
 There was a strange mixture of sincerity and 
 hesitation about this speech, and while I did 
 not doubt that the woman had been sent 
 aboard the ship, I had my own views about her 
 being this man s niece. Each time she had 
 addressed him during that brief dialogue be 
 fore my house, she had called him Richard. 
 But I had made no mention of that little ex 
 cursion of theirs remembering my promise 
 to her. I did not answer him, and he watched 
 me curiously as though he half suspected me of 
 keeping something back. 
 
 "First of all," he said, after a pause, "do 
 you suppose that anyone but the Colonel and 
 yourself saw us last night ? " 
 
 " No," said I, " and I will stake all I have 
 that I am right. There is no lonelier bit of 
 road on the coast than this, and since the fish 
 ing people abandoned their old look-out on the 
 Crag, there has been no travel worth mention 
 ing this side of Forward House. 
 
 " Excellent," he said, rubbing his hands to 
 gether, and resuming his good humor suddenly 
 
 43
 
 Forward House 
 
 as if a pleasant thought had struck him. " I 
 envy you your place here," he continued with 
 a sigh, and looked at me narrowly. I did not 
 see the bearing of his remark, and as I made 
 no reply to it, he came out boldly. 
 
 " Mister Hunt," says he, " I m a hard- 
 pressed man, and I want some help. You ve 
 been good to me so far, but I ve more to ask." 
 He sat up in his chair and leaned toward me. 
 " There s a wrong being done and you have 
 already shown your sympathy for the poor 
 girl who is to suffer by it," and he paused 
 as if to note the effect of that speech upon 
 me. " This is what I have to ask," he added, 
 quickly, " that you will let me sleep under 
 your roof to-night." 
 
 I have always lent myself readily to imposi 
 tion, and there was a zest about this affair that 
 tickled my fancy and stirred my blood. 
 
 "Stay and welcome," said I, "but I ll 
 make you no pledges. Whatever I can 
 do " 
 
 "You ll do for the girl," he said, with a 
 laugh I didn t like. And before I could re 
 monstrate or finish the speech he had taken 
 out of my mouth, he went on, " Thank 
 you, Mister Hunt. You have a chivalrous 
 soul." 
 
 44
 
 In Which a Bottle Figures 
 
 I blush to think how ready I was to enter 
 tain him, but it does me good to remember 
 that, however mistakenly I acted, I believed 
 that I was serving her. 
 
 45
 
 I YIELD A POINT 
 
 OF the yarn which Nicholson finally spun 
 me that afternoon as we sat drying by 
 my fire, I have now no adequate remembrance. 
 In the main it was a smooth and creditable per 
 formance, but it has no place in the story I am 
 telling, and for two reasons : It purported to 
 be the man s history, which is no affair of mine, 
 and it was chiefly a lie. I am tempted to tran 
 scribe it as a tribute to his ingenuity, for its 
 skilful blending of truth and untruth to serve a 
 temporary emergency, reveals to my mind the 
 hand of a master. 
 
 The remarkable part of it was that he said as 
 little as possible about his business on East 
 Crag and the actors in the performance of the 
 night before. So when he paused near the 
 end of his tale to refill his pipe, I could not 
 conceal my disappointment and my impatience. 
 
 " I am greatly entertained," said I, politely, 
 "but you were to tell me something of the 
 46
 
 / Yield a Point 
 
 young lady and the old man from Forward 
 House." 
 
 "Was I?" says he, apparently in honest 
 surprise. " Well, I ll say this much of Col 
 onel Forward he s a misguided man, Mister 
 Hunt, to say no worse of him. In my cooler 
 moments I acquit him of the greater blame, and 
 believe him a tool in the hands of scoundrels," 
 and he went on filling his pipe. 
 
 I gave him a chance to say more, but when 
 I saw he had no disposition to do so, I spoke 
 again. 
 
 " And on that vague speech," said I, " you 
 rely on my help against him in an affair where 
 all the presumptions are against you. It won t 
 do, Mister Nicholson if that be your name 
 I must know more, or 
 
 " Or? " he repeated quietly, as I hesitated. 
 
 " Or I wash my hands of the business," 
 said I. 
 
 "That seems a simple operation," he an 
 swered, "but how do you purpose to do it? 
 No, no. You ll do no such thing, Mister 
 Hunt. Believe me, you ll go further yet, and 
 under no compulsion, either." 
 
 He was looking quite calmly at me, and as 
 he saw me about to speak, he raised his hand 
 with a slight gesture of remonstrance. 
 
 47
 
 Forward House 
 
 "Wait," says he. "Do you know what 
 I ve saved that girl from? Well, they ve kept 
 her prisoner in that old barrack against her 
 will, and they would have forced her to marry 
 a bigger villain than the old man, if I hadn t 
 interfered. For her I have risked and suffered 
 much, and now I ve saved her, and what 
 further reckoning I have at that house shall be 
 done to-night." 
 
 But I was not listening. I had no ears for 
 anything after that speech about the marriage. 
 
 " Force her to a marriage? " said I, angrily. 
 "Why, man, what business " and there I 
 stopped myself and reddened, for I saw him 
 smiling at my wrath. 
 
 "Who is he?" said I, swallowing my an 
 ger. 
 
 "Have you heard of the old man s sailor 
 son?" he asked after a pause, and he did not 
 turn his face my way. 
 
 " No," I answered. 
 
 "Well," said he, quietly, "I ve said 
 enough." 
 
 " The damned villain," said I, and the man 
 turned toward me again with a stranger look on 
 his face than I had yet seen rest there. 
 
 "Yes, all of that," says he, with a smile; 
 "all that, Mister Hunt, and more besides. I 
 
 48
 
 / Yield a Point 
 
 know him well, and I speak from the heart 
 when I say his sins appall me. 
 
 He leaned toward the fire and knocked the 
 ashes from his pipe on the hearth, and some 
 thing in his face, as the light shone on it, 
 checked the question that was on my tongue. 
 
 " Hunt," said he, suddenly, jumping from 
 his chair, "God bless your clever old heart! 
 You re a good fellow, and I ll not do it, I ll 
 not do it." 
 
 He was greatly agitated, and I stared stupidly 
 at him as he approached me. He seized one of 
 my hands in both his own and looked in my 
 face, and his was white as snow. 
 
 How slight a thing sometimes makes or mars 
 a noble purpose ! At that instant, I knew the 
 man s better instincts were on top, but the 
 puzzled look in my face drew his attention, and 
 as he looked, he laughed. And there was the 
 turning point, for under that laughter his reso 
 lution melted. He flung my hand from him 
 and walked to the window. And he stood there 
 looking out on the road and drumming on the 
 casement with his fingers. 
 
 "Mister Hunt," says he, without changing 
 his position, " I m calling on Colonel Forward 
 to-night. 
 
 I made no answer. 
 
 49
 
 "And I want a witness," he went on pres 
 ently, and still I did not reply, for I knew what 
 he was coming to. 
 
 " You are my reliance," he said again, slow 
 ly, "and I think he would hear reason from a 
 neighbor, where he would have only curses for 
 me." 
 
 Mindful of my own experience with the old 
 gentleman, I had views on this point, but as I 
 raised my head to reply, the white door of the 
 cupboard stared back at me and I thought of 
 the bottle inside. A dreadful suspicion flashed 
 across my mind, and while I was still battling 
 it, the man spoke again. 
 
 "It is for the girl s sake," he said, still 
 drumming with his fingers, and I shivered as I 
 fitted his answer to my unspoken thought. 
 
 "No," said I, with an oath, "I ll have no 
 more to do with it. I ll tell you what it is 
 it s murder, and you ll hatch no schemes here." 
 
 He sprang away from the window and faced 
 me. 
 
 "What! " he shouted, and came upon me 
 bristling with rage. " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean the poison in that bottle," said I, 
 standing up to him ; and at that his wrath 
 collapsed again, and he stepped back and sur 
 veyed me with a look of pity. 
 
 50
 
 / Yield a Point 
 
 " Heavens ! " said he, with evident relief. 
 " What a detective you would make, Mister 
 Hunt ! Poison ! " and he laughed. "And I 
 suppose you think I m planning to cram that 
 stuff down the old man s throat, and that I 
 want you along to see me do it ! God bless my 
 soul, how funny you are ! " 
 
 " What is it, then ? " I said, doggedly, and 
 paid no heed to his sarcasm. 
 
 "The stuff in the bottle? A tonic, man," 
 he said, dryly. " Good for the nerves. But 
 see that you let it alone, and I ll take my oath 
 it shall never be nearer Colonel Forward than 
 it is this minute." 
 
 "That s all very well," I persisted, "but 
 you are keeping something back from me " 
 
 " How in the world did you divine it? " he 
 interrupted, with mock seriousness. 
 
 "Will you tell me what that bottle is, and 
 how you came by it? " said I. 
 
 " No, Mister Hunt," he answered, promptly, 
 "I won t; but I ll tell you that it shall cut no 
 figure to-night. Will that do you ? 
 
 "Since I m not going with you," said I, 
 "it s the same to me whether it cuts a figure 
 or not." 
 
 I had reckoned on bringing him to terms, 
 and I was chagrined at his reply.
 
 Forward House 
 
 " You shall do as you please," says he, care 
 lessly. " I ve said all I can, and if you don t 
 choose to help us further, at least I must not be 
 ungrateful for what you ve done already." 
 
 He held out his hand, and as I took it, 
 "Good-by," he said. "I thank you, Mister 
 Hunt, arid do you watch that bottle until I 
 call for it." 
 
 And when I found speech to answer him, he 
 had passed out, and the front door was slam 
 ming behind him. 
 
 I think he had some confidence that I would 
 follow him, for he loitered in the yard as if 
 loath to go, in spite of his zeal to leave my 
 house. But at the first I was glad to be rid of 
 him, and I watched him with satisfaction from 
 my window as he finally turned into the road 
 and strode away toward Forward House. But 
 when he disappeared from view, I felt that 
 with him had gone great possibilities. Until 
 then I had kept my adventure well in hand, 
 but here was a most inglorious ending of what 
 had promised much. I dwelt again on what 
 he had told me and on the woman s plight, 
 and my heart misgave me. I wished I had 
 temporized with him. And that mood shaded 
 off into a burning curiosity to know more than 
 I already knew. I longed to look once more
 
 / Yield a Point 
 
 upon that bottle, and dared not take it from 
 the shelf. 
 
 He had been gone not upward of fifteen min 
 utes, before I was straining my eyes for some 
 sign of him returning, and when the time had 
 stretched to half an hour, I was waiting on the 
 door-step. A little later, alas, I had put on 
 my hat and was walking in the road ! 
 
 It had grown dusk, and I could barely see 
 the top of the hill beyond. I glued my eyes 
 to that point and waited hoping, and finally, to 
 my great delight, an indistinct something 
 moved in the road and gained outline as it ap 
 proached. I knew the man s strong walk, and 
 presently Nicholson had come up to me. He 
 did not speak, but stopped beside me and peered 
 in my face. Perhaps he was reassured by what 
 he saw; but his voice when he addressed me 
 was full of dejection, and he had the manner 
 of one suffering from keen disappointment. 
 
 "I am repulsed," said he. "It s no use, 
 Mister Hunt, he will not see me alone." 
 
 " Have you been there, then ? " I asked. 
 
 " And where have you been ? " he questioned 
 by way of answer and looking sharply at me the 
 while. 
 
 " No farther than you see me now," I said, 
 and the sharp look left his face. 
 
 53
 
 "Yes," says he, with a sigh, dropping his 
 eyes, " I ve been there, and it was a fruitless 
 errand. I am one man against the hosts of 
 hell." 
 
 His bitterness grew on him as he spoke. 
 
 " Come in," said I, seizing his arm. " Come 
 in and take a drink. You need it." 
 
 He came, as a matter of course, and when 
 we had got inside the house again, dropped 
 moodily into his chair. 
 
 " I can get no speech with him," he began, 
 presently, "and I must give it up;" and he 
 buried his face in his hands. 
 
 His bowed figure was inexpressibly sad to me 
 in the firelight, and the man s manner touched 
 me. 
 
 " Come, come," said I. "I hope it s not 
 so bad as that." 
 
 " There s the one thing yet," said he, quiet 
 ly, without lifting his head. 
 
 And that ? 
 
 "I told him through his bolted door, of 
 you," said he, " and he says he knows you for 
 an honorable man, and respects you. If you 
 will go there with me " 
 
 He stopped and lifted his face from his hands. 
 
 " Did he say that ? " I asked. 
 
 "More," Nicholson answered; "but I ll 
 
 54
 
 / Yield a Point 
 
 not spoil you with it. It s plain you stand 
 well hereabouts." 
 
 I have this to urge on my own behalf. I was 
 a lonely man, far from the world that lay about 
 me, and the honey of flattery was new to me. 
 I drew him out, eager for whatever he chose to 
 tell me of the old man s compliments, and they 
 seemed most reasonable and fair. And he 
 simulated a reluctance to tell me that only 
 added to the charm. What chance had I 
 against this schemer ? It is sickening to me 
 no\v as I think of it, and I wonder that I be 
 lieved him, but I know many a wiser man than 
 I whose rule is based on no broader principle 
 than to believe what is pleasant to his ears, and 
 reject the rest. 
 
 "You see how it is," said he at length, 
 " and I can say no more." 
 
 " I will go with you," said I, blindly, " and 
 do my part." 
 
 "Thank you, Mister Hunt," he answered; 
 for my own sake, and most of all, for 
 Molly s." 
 
 We sat a little while without speaking. The 
 day had quite gone out, and perhaps it was 
 just as well so, for in a better light he had cer 
 tainly seen satisfied vanity in my face, and I 
 a more hateful look than that in his. 
 
 55
 
 VI 
 
 WE CALL UPON COLONEL FORWARD 
 
 I MADE shift presently to get a few lights in 
 the house, and we foraged for something to 
 eat, for Nicholson had taken his stand against 
 my cooking again for him that day, and we 
 compromised on cold meat and bread. 
 
 The wind had gone down with the sun, and 
 the moon shone through the breaking clouds. 
 Nicholson s spirits seemed to clear with the 
 weather. He was constantly running to the 
 window and pressing his face against the pane 
 to get a view of the sky, whistling and hum 
 ming to himself the while. 
 
 At eleven, said he, we will start for For 
 ward House, and when I have settled with the 
 old gentleman we will come back and I ll make 
 you a punch. 
 
 It Avould be difficult to say what thought was 
 uppermost in my mind. I felt I was a fool, 
 and in for a bad business, and I resented the 
 man s air of proprietorship. Deep down in my 
 
 56
 
 heart I felt I should yet suffer for taking cause 
 with him, but the woman s voice was in my 
 ears. It was the cry of one in distress, and 
 silenced my discretion. For my life I could 
 think of nothing better at the moment than to 
 demur at the lateness of the start. 
 
 "I am the general," he answered, "leave 
 the campaign to me." 
 
 " But don t you think it would be as well to 
 discount defeat ? " I suggested. " Suppose the 
 old man should stand us off we are but two, 
 against how many ? 
 
 "Ah, Mister Hunt," says he, with a twinkle 
 in his eye, you don t yet know me. I have a 
 way about me, and your whole theory of life is 
 askew if you have still to learn that persuasion 
 is the most effective form of coercion." 
 
 He chuckled, and I fell to wondering what 
 his game was. One thing tormented me and I 
 could not make it fit with any natural theory 
 of his bearing to the matter. When Colonel 
 Forward had accosted me last night, he had 
 plainly mistaken me for this fellow, and though 
 he had spoken with impatience, he had ap 
 proached me as an ally, and not as an enemy. 
 Yet Nicholson would clearly have me believe 
 that things were far otherwise between them, 
 and I knew that his call at Forward House was 
 
 57
 
 Forward House 
 
 to have no friendly errand as its purpose. But 
 he led me off into conversation about things 
 that had no bearing on his business, and I gave 
 over thinking about it. 
 
 He was of the gayest all that evening, and I 
 fell in with his humor. We drank and smoked, 
 and he sparkled with a wit that charmed me 
 and would have won me over to a more doubt 
 ful cause. 
 
 About ten o clock, and as we still sat talking, 
 I heard a faint noise outside, and far toward 
 the sea, which sounded like a bit of song. 
 Nicholson s face darkened in an instant. 
 
 " Did you hear that?" I asked, for I had 
 seen him start. 
 
 It was nothing, said he, but he scowled 
 and jumped to his feet. " Do you sit here and 
 I ll run out and have another look at the sky." 
 
 As the door closed upon him, I heard the 
 sound again and more distinctly. It was a sea 
 song, pitched by a man s voice. But it stopped 
 abruptly a moment later, breaking short off in 
 the middle of the tune, and I heard it no more. 
 When Nicholson came back he seemed in bet 
 ter spirits than ever. 
 
 " Ho, ho, Mister Hunt," he shouted, with a 
 laugh. " I thought there was no travel on 
 your road by night. You fellows never know 
 
 53
 
 We Call upon Colonel Forward 
 
 what s afoot. I ve just been talking with a 
 boozy fisherman who was passing when I went 
 out. Your ears are stout, though, for it was he 
 you heard singing." 
 
 I thought he would have been annoyed, but 
 he seemed rather amused at the encounter, and 
 he burst out laughing at intervals after that, and 
 when I asked him why, he would but laugh the 
 louder and say : 
 
 " That fisherman s song has tickled me." 
 
 And finally he sang the song himself, in a big 
 round voice that filled the house. Then he im 
 provised a verse lampooning the old Colonel, 
 and sang it to the same air, which set me 
 laughing. 
 
 You ve missed your calling," said I. 
 "With such a knack at rhymes and all the 
 Bohemian qualifications, you should live in 
 print." 
 
 " No, Mister Hunt," says he, with mock seri 
 ousness, " I aspire to be a hero of song rather 
 than a writer of it. Besides, we Bohemians 
 have lost the trick of mountain climbing." 
 
 He saw that I did not follow him. 
 
 " Bohemia," he explained, gravely, " lies in 
 the shadow of Parnassus." 
 
 But though he could give himself up to this 
 sort of thing as heartily as any man I have ever 
 
 59
 
 Forward House 
 
 met, I soon found he had his sterner side as 
 well, for he was out of his chair before the last 
 stroke of the clock for eleven, and there was a 
 smart ring of decision in his voice when he told 
 me it was time to go. 
 
 " Are you armed ? " he asked. 
 
 " My pistols are upstairs," I answered, and 
 I turned to go for them. 
 
 " No," he said, calling me back. " Leave 
 them. There is no fool like a badly managed 
 pistol." 
 
 I flushed at the insinuation, but he called me 
 down with a look. 
 
 " Dear, dear," said he, wearily, " what a 
 fellow you are for taking offence. I didn t mean 
 anything. Take your damned pop-gun if you 
 want to, but if there s violence ahead, I serve 
 notice on you now that I m well out of it." 
 
 After that speech there was nothing but to 
 leave my pistols behind, and I did so. We 
 were quickly under way and walking briskly 
 along the road to the village. Ten minutes of 
 that sharp pace brought us over the brow of the 
 hill and to the gate of the Colonel s grounds, 
 which lay just beyond. 
 
 Forward House stood well back from the 
 road, on the south side, and the grounds were 
 full of trees. A winding drive approached the 
 60
 
 We Call upon Colonel Forward 
 
 house, which was of colonial date and style, 
 with a broad veranda across the front and east 
 sides. When we reached the gate, Nicholson 
 stopped and put a ringer on his lips. 
 
 "It s as well to be cautious," said he, in a 
 whisper, and since the old man has a bad 
 temper and no wish to see me after last night, 
 I ll ask you to go alone." 
 
 I looked at him in some surprise. 
 
 " Last night? I don t understand," said I, 
 slowly. "You ve been hereto-day, and he s 
 agreed to see you if I come with you ? 
 
 He nodded hurriedly in a flustered sort of 
 way, and would not look me in the face. 
 
 "Well, then," I continued, "I m not pining 
 for an interview, Mister Nicholson. I ve come 
 here only to keep you in countenance " 
 
 "Tut," he broke in. "You want the 
 earth, Mister Hunt. Is there but one way to 
 help me, and that by skulking at the rear? 
 Would you show the white feather now ? Come, 
 do as I tell you and we shall see what comes of 
 it." 
 
 There was a fine evasiveness about this, but 
 the man had read me like a book and his 
 speech lodged where he meant it should. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," I answered, stiffen 
 ing under his sneer. "I have promised to 
 61
 
 Forward House 
 
 stand by you, and I m not given to drawing 
 back." 
 
 11 Good," said he, cheerfully. " But you are 
 too sensitive by half. I meant no slur upon 
 your spirit ; " and without giving me a chance 
 for further remonstrance, he went on with his 
 instructions. " Go on to the front door and 
 ask for Colonel Forward. If he will not see 
 you, raise your voice and I will join you if we 
 can do no better. But tell him you are alone, 
 for if he should see me in his doorway or hear 
 my voice, I have every reason to believe that 
 he would shoot us both. Now go ! " 
 
 And he fairly pushed me up the walk. But 
 I rebelled again. 
 
 " You have brought me here unarmed," said 
 I, holding back, " and here you are talking of 
 shooting as though it were a part of your pro 
 gramme. Now I draw the line " 
 
 " Let me save you the trouble," said he, con 
 temptuously, " I ll draw the line and you may 
 run back home. You re no use to either me or 
 Molly. Shooting ! " he sniffed. " As if you 
 couldn t see with half an eye that I was joking. 
 But my humor is always taken seriously." 
 
 Three minutes later I would have given con 
 siderably more than my means afforded, had I 
 but taken him at his word and run home. But 
 62
 
 We Call upon Colonel Forward 
 
 the man s ridicule was too much for me, and I 
 did what many a good man had done before 
 me, and let my pride make a fool of me. I 
 even forgot to ask what I was to say to Colonel 
 Forward, should I be lucky enough to get audi 
 ence with the old man, and turned toward the 
 house conscious only that Nicholson s eyes were 
 on me. No light was visible about the place, 
 and at first sight it might have been tenantless 
 for any sign of life that showed. But as I 
 looked again I thought there was method in the 
 darkness, for the windows were barred and 
 shuttered, and through the chinks I saw a faint 
 light from within. 
 
 My observations were suddenly suspended, 
 however, for before I had gone a dozen paces I 
 heard hurried whisperings from the darkness 
 about me, and as I reached the door and 
 stopped, the road seemed suddenly alive with 
 men who closed upon me from all sides and 
 fell in on either flank in the shadows at my 
 back. 
 
 So far my silly pride had brought me, but it 
 left me at the door, and I would have run if I 
 could. The truth which had half flashed upon 
 me at Nicholson s speech when we entered the 
 grounds, was clear as day. I saw myself the 
 man s cat s-paw and started from the door, but 
 
 63
 
 Forward House 
 
 twenty guns were bristling in my face, and the 
 voice of Nicholson came to me out of the night. 
 
 "Steady, Mister Hunt," said he, quietly. 
 " No turning back ! Go on and follow your 
 instructions! If you fail me now, there ll be 
 shooting on this side the door. 
 
 And somehow his cool threat steadied my 
 nerve, and I turned back without a word and 
 pulled the bell. 
 
 I was bewildered, I grant you, by the man s 
 sudden change of front, but I had sense enough 
 to see the folly of resistance, and sense enough 
 besides, even in that moment, to curse the day 
 I had opened my door to the infernal pirate 
 who had got the best of me. 
 
 After an agony of waiting on my part, some 
 one came into the hall from the far end of the 
 house, and shuffled forward bearing a light. 
 The steps came on and stopped just inside the 
 door. 
 
 " Who is there ? " called the man in the hall, 
 and I recognized the gruff tones of the Colonel. 
 
 Is that Colonel Forward ? " I shouted, by 
 way of reply. 
 
 " Who is there ? " he asked again, with dis 
 agreeable emphasis, and paying no attention to 
 my question. 
 
 My ancestors were Scotch and caution is 
 
 64
 
 We Call upon Colonel Forward 
 
 written between the lines of my family history. 
 I hesitated. 
 
 " Tell him," whispered Nicholson from be 
 hind. " Tell him, you damned puppet ! " and 
 I felt something pricking my leg. 
 
 "John Hunt," I shouted, hastily. 
 
 "And who is John Hunt?" the Colonel 
 asked, in the same level voice. 
 
 "A friend and neighbor," said I, desperate 
 ly. "The man who gave you your lantern 
 last night," I added, with a touch of diplomacy. 
 
 And that did the business, for the old man 
 evidently remembered my voice. I heard him 
 calling softly to someone inside, and more foot 
 falls sounded in the hall. There was a parley 
 in whispers while I stood there in torture be 
 tween the devil and the deep sea, and alas, I 
 did not know on which side of the door the 
 devil was ! And then presently the Colonel 
 called out, " Wait a minute," and I felt rather 
 than heard each man of those behind me draw 
 a long breath. 
 
 The door was cautiously unfastened, and I 
 heard the bolts rasp as they were shot back, 
 and to my tense nerves there seemed a hundred 
 of them at the very least. Then in a flash the 
 light from within poured into my eyes and 
 blinded me, and the next minute is a blank. 
 
 65
 
 Forward House 
 
 The door had scarce swung open before the 
 hall was filled with men cursing and struggling, 
 and above all I heard the voices of Nicholson 
 and Colonel Forward. The lamp had been 
 struck from the old man s hand at the first 
 rush, and we were squirming and jostling in 
 the dark. And this, I am sure, saved life, for 
 no man dared fire or use his knife lest he fall 
 upon a friend. 
 
 66
 
 VII 
 
 A FIGHT IN THE DARK 
 
 BEING in the van of the besiegers, I bore 
 the first savage brunt of the attack, and 
 had the wind well-nigh knocked out of me be 
 fore I fairly knew where I was. I heard Nich 
 olson s curses at my elbow, and then I got a 
 smart blow in the face that roused the fight in 
 me and drove my neutrality into retirement for 
 the time. 
 
 In the instant that the light remained after 
 the door opened, I had seen our opponents, and 
 that picture of them remained stamped on my 
 mind in the darkness. The fellow just facing 
 me had attracted my attention by his youth, 
 his great size, and the incompleteness of his 
 dress, for though apparently ready for the 
 fight, he had on only his shirt and trousers, 
 and as I was shot forward against him, my 
 shoe fell on his bare instep. This accident 
 served me a good turn, for we had been strug 
 gling but a moment when someone had me in 
 
 67
 
 Forward House 
 
 a powerful grasp and I felt a hand stealing 
 swiftly over the breast of my coat, as if to de 
 termine to a certainty whether I were friend or 
 foe, and there was decision in the clutch with 
 which it sought and held my throat a moment 
 after. My own hands went out instinctively, 
 and I felt the flannel shirt of the man who had 
 opposed my entrance. His other hand was at 
 his belt, and as I reached it, it closed upon the 
 hilt of a knife. But the man s grasp at my 
 throat never relaxed, and I held his other wrist 
 with a grip of despair. 
 
 "Let go," he cried, with his face close to 
 mine, "or I ll strangle you where you stand. 
 You should have kept away from here once you 
 got away, for I swear you ll not have the 
 chance this time unless you choose to give up 
 the girl." 
 
 And then, by a sudden thought, I reached 
 out with my right leg and began digging with 
 my heavy shoe where I hoped his feet would 
 be. He gripped the harder, but the tactics de 
 moralized him, and when I got in one with my 
 sharp heel on his foot he howled with pain, 
 and so I kept him dancing and cursing till, in a 
 lull, his oaths rang out so loud above the skir 
 mish that one of the sailor men behind me 
 shouted, 
 
 68
 
 A Fight in the Dark 
 
 " Put a knife into that yelping cur ! " 
 
 And they took up the rush again with more 
 energy than ever. But my assailant was game, 
 and though I must have sadly bruised his feet 
 by this time, he put his face close to mine and 
 said : 
 
 "You may dance till you are tired, you 
 damned scoundrel, but I know you, and you ll 
 not get away from me. The old man shall 
 have one less blight upon him before I m done 
 with you, and we ll settle that little affair of 
 our own at the same time. 
 
 He had given up trying to get his knife out, 
 and spanned my neck with both his hands as 
 he spoke, and he would have made short work 
 of me if assistance had not come unexpectedly. 
 He had hardly finished speaking when some 
 one forced between us, and the man s wrists 
 were wrenched off my throat, and I heard the 
 blow that sent him reeling back against his 
 next companion. 
 
 " You ve made a slight mistake, my dear 
 Henry," I heard Nicholson saying in an un 
 dertone. "Pinch my neck, if you like, or if 
 you ll wait till this row is over, we ll have our 
 little difference out like men." And then in 
 a louder voice, " Is that you, Mister Hunt ? " 
 he added, grasping at me. " On my honor 
 
 69
 
 I m sorry to have brought you into such a 
 mess, but it will be soon over, and I trust you re 
 none the worse for your shaking up. 
 
 I had no chance to answer him, for he gave 
 a sharp call of command, and I was lifted off 
 my feet and carried bodily down the hall by 
 the quick responsive rally of his men. 
 
 I saw a sliver of light ahead of me, and heard 
 the tearing of woodwork, then the door at the 
 inner end of the hall burst open with a crash 
 and the light streamed out upon us. There was 
 a fresh rally at this, and before old Forward s 
 men could raise and use their guns, the sailors 
 were down upon them and the battle was over. 
 
 It was a strange spectacle that I looked upon. 
 The big bare hall was full of men in many 
 stages of dishevelment, and save for the sound 
 of their heavy breathing after their exertions, 
 the place was suddenly silent. Crowded into 
 one end of the hall and against the broken door 
 that had shut off entrance to the room beyond, 
 the house party stood at bay. There were five 
 of them besides the Colonel himself, and of 
 these, all but their leader and the big fellow 
 who had so nearly done for me in the scrim 
 mage were submissive as sheep when they saw 
 Nicholson and his twenty men, armed and 
 blinking in the light. But the fight was not 
 70
 
 A Fight in the Dark 
 
 dead in those two, and they stood glaring like 
 tigers, though they saw the folly of resistance, 
 and, like good soldiers, bided their time. 
 
 Facing them stood Nicholson at the head of 
 his crowd, and though the victory was his, he 
 had nothing to say for himself. It seemed to 
 me that he dodged the Colonel s eye, and I 
 thought it strange after all that had passed that 
 night. Indeed, ridiculous as it may sound, he 
 seemed at a loss to know what next to do. 
 
 For me, I cut but a sorry figure, and resented 
 my position. I held aloof from them all, bit 
 terly reflecting on the fool s part I had played. 
 Yet the quick succession of surprising incidents 
 had somewhat stupefied me, and I felt rather 
 like wondering what would come next, than re 
 viewing the experience I had been through. 
 
 I felt myself the conspicuous object in all 
 that room, and perhaps it struck Nicholson in 
 the same way, for it was to me that he first broke 
 that singular silence. 
 
 " You look rumpled, Mister Hunt," said he 
 in a voice that sent the eyes of his men in my 
 direction ; "I swear you look as if you d had 
 the six upon you all at once. Take him into 
 the library," he added to one of his men, and 
 with a manner that showed his familiarity with 
 the house ; " and keep an eye on him."
 
 Forward House 
 
 I made no answer but followed the man s 
 lead, glad to be away from that crew on any 
 terms, and we had scarcely reached the library 
 when the Colonel found his tongue, and I shud 
 dered at the result. His rhetoric flowed in 
 forbidden channels, the depth of which I had 
 until then never dreamed. And he was well 
 seconded by another, whose voice I recognized 
 as that of the man who had done his best to 
 choke me. My conductor closed the door upon 
 it, and coolly produced a cigar which he lighted 
 as he scrutinized me. But neither of us spoke 
 and the tumult outside continued. 
 
 Presently there was silence again and the 
 door opened. Colonel Forward came into the 
 room, and close on his heels came Nicholson. 
 On the threshold the younger man stopped and 
 called back. 
 
 "I m not forgetting you, Henry," he said, 
 "and I ll wait upon you shortly." And the 
 bare-foot man shot back a foul defiance which 
 was cut short off by Nicholson s closing the 
 door. 
 
 "You may go," said he to the man who 
 had been my guard, " and don t return. Stand 
 outside the door and keep everyone away from 
 here, and when Mister Hunt joins you, as he 
 will presently, keep him within reach." 
 72
 
 A Fight in the Dark 
 
 The man left the room with a knowing look, 
 the door closed softly, and I was left with the 
 two men whom I had so longed to see together. 
 Colonel Forward did not once look in my di 
 rection, and I stole a glance at Nicholson. To 
 my great surprise, his coolness had deserted 
 him. He seemed like a man without reliance, 
 and as he looked at the Colonel, who stood there 
 in dignified silence, his eyes sought the floor 
 and he swallowed nervously. But he mastered 
 himself with an effort and turned to me. 
 
 " Mister Hunt," says he, "I wished you to 
 remain here long enough to quit you from 
 blame in Colonel Forward s eyes. You were 
 no party to this thing, as I gladly testify, and 
 what you have done you were deceived into 
 doing. I should hate to have you suffer for 
 your part in to-night s work, for I declare 
 you are innocent of any complicity with me. 
 And now," he added, turning to the Colonel 
 with more boldness, " I will talk with you 
 alone. 
 
 Up to that time old Forward had not spoken, 
 but if his spirit had been subdued before, it 
 blazed hot at this, and I could but admire his 
 retort, though I confess it puzzled me. 
 
 " Will you, indeed ! " said he, and mad as 
 he was, he was the cooler man of the two. 
 
 73
 
 Forward House 
 
 " Now, I have my own views on that point, and 
 I m damned if you will ! Whatever rights you 
 have as my son you have forfeited a thousand 
 times over, and I have no dealing with a liar 
 and a thief." 
 
 Nicholson turned purple, but he did not re 
 sent the charge. 
 
 "Will you talk of all that before this man, 
 then ? " he asked, nervously, jerking his head 
 toward me, for I still stood there, not knowing 
 where to turn. 
 
 "Why not?" said the Colonel, letting his 
 eyes rest upon me. " I have met Mister Hunt 
 once before, and you yourself tell me that you 
 have duped him to-night. He will be the read 
 ier for that to believe what I say. I see your 
 dilemma," he went on, with composure, "and 
 you have reckoned on my pride to keep me 
 from disclosing our relationship before him. 
 Well, I have no pride left, and you see your 
 mistake ; and now I say again in this man s 
 presence, you are my own son, but, God for 
 give me, you are as black a scoundrel as ever 
 walked!" 
 
 "And there," says Nicholson, quite cool 
 again, " I ll not contradict you. I have no 
 time to pick phrases or make you pick yours. 
 Why should we quibble about it ? If my 
 
 74
 
 A Fight in the Dark 
 
 offence outrages you, yours that forced me to 
 this course is no less repulsive in my eyes. 
 You know my desperate straits and my last re 
 source. You know I see death and dishonor 
 on every hand. Yet here you stand, full of 
 years and honor, and with that at your hand 
 which will put me on my feet again and take 
 the halter from my neck and you refuse me. 
 
 The old man lifted his hand. 
 
 "You may sneer," Nicholson went on 
 quickly, "but I swear I am unselfish in what I 
 do. For myself, it matters little when or how 
 I go, and it s no great hardship to skulk about 
 with a price on my head. But Molly has 
 changed all that, and life is dear to me be 
 cause of her 
 
 You dare to speak to me of her ! the 
 Colonel broke in, furiously. "You, a robber 
 and a liar, and that girl 
 
 Nicholson s eyes looked murder, and he 
 started forward with a quick gesture of remon 
 strance. 
 
 "Be careful," said he, "and remember 
 that this is a family matter. There s no room 
 for a stranger in it, and I ll take Mister Hunt 
 outside. I m thinking he s heard too much as 
 it is." 
 
 " No," said the Colonel, peremptorily, "he 
 
 75
 
 Forward House 
 
 shall not go. He has served your purpose, and 
 now let him undo that mischief by serving 
 mine. I want you now, Mister Hunt," he 
 added to me, and like a flash of lightning and 
 with an adroit movement that would have done 
 credit to a man of half his years, he sprang upon 
 Nicholson and pinned him against the wall. 
 
 No one could have foreseen so sudden an at 
 tack, and the sailor man was quite unpre 
 pared for it. And though he made some out 
 cry and there was a noisy scuffle for an in 
 stant, the tramping and talking of the men 
 around the house drowned it all. The library 
 was a large room with windows running to the 
 floor and giving on the west. These were 
 open as befitted the season, but heavy shutters 
 of solid wood took the place of outside blinds, 
 and they were closed. Before I really knew 
 what was going on, the Colonel had Nicholson 
 by the throat with one hand, and had jammed 
 him hard against the shutter of the nearest 
 window, while with the other hand he drew 
 the bolt that held the shutter closed. In an 
 other instant the two had fallen through five 
 feet of darkness on the turf below. I followed 
 cautiously and found the old man bending 
 over the other, who lay unconscious and breath 
 ing heavily. 
 
 76
 
 A Fight in the Dark 
 
 The Colonel groaned. 
 
 " Are you hurt ? " I whispered. 
 
 "Hurt," he said fiercely, springing to his 
 feet ; " no, but he is." 
 
 Nicholson moved and half opened his eyes, 
 and I brought my rude knowledge of surgery 
 and medicine to account, and made such ex 
 amination as I was able. 
 
 "He ll be all right in a jiffy," said I. 
 11 He s only stunned." 
 
 " Then there s no time to lose," the Colonel 
 said, with a note of satisfaction in his voice. 
 " We must get away before they miss us." 
 
 He seemed to take for granted that I would 
 go with him rather than stay with the other, 
 and for that slight mark of confidence I regis 
 tered my thanks, and followed the old man 
 swiftly across the lawn. 
 
 Our course led toward the thick woods that 
 lay some distance away and behind the house, 
 and was over a long stretch of open and irregu 
 lar ground. His knowledge of the place helped 
 him, of course, yet taking his age into account, 
 the rapidity with which he got over the ground 
 was amazing. I followed him as well as I 
 might, and as often as I lost him, I called 
 softly and he waited for me to come up with 
 him. 
 
 77
 
 Forward House 
 
 We ran a half mile in this way, along the 
 ridge of the hill, and away from the road, 
 when the woods suddenly loomed up ahead like 
 a blotch of ink on a dark carpet. Then the 
 Colonel slackened his pace a bit, and we went 
 on easily. When we had reached cover he 
 wound in and out among the trees, in a sort of 
 pattern, and with a dexterity that showed 
 method, so that I was not surprised when he 
 suddenly stopped in a dense piece of under 
 brush, and went plump on his knees and began 
 pawing like a dog in the dead leaves.
 
 VIII 
 
 I PASS A NIGHT IN THE WOODS 
 
 UP to this time no word had passed be 
 tween us since we left Nicholson, and I 
 watched the Colonel in silence as he dug there 
 in the feeble light of the setting moon. Sud 
 denly he stopped his work and turned to me. 
 
 " I am making so much noise," said he, 
 " that they might come upon us and we never 
 know it. Run out to the edge of the woods 
 and stand guard. If you hear anyone coming, 
 give an alarm otherwise wait there till I call 
 you back." 
 
 " See here," I answered, " I ve had enough. 
 Why in God s name should I be prowling 
 about the country with either of you on a mis 
 sion I know nothing of ? " 
 
 " My dear sir," he said, with irritating po 
 liteness, " you really ask me too much. I 
 know neither why you should take nor why 
 you have taken, such an offensive interest in 
 my affairs, but I accept the fact as it is, and 
 
 79
 
 Forward House 
 
 I m planning for your good quite as much as 
 for my own." 
 
 "Then you may save yourself trouble," I 
 replied. "If you want help from the village 
 to beat those ruffians off and save your house, 
 I ll go that far for you, but I ll not stay skulk 
 ing here in the woods. Rather than that, I m 
 going home." 
 
 "You may go to the devil for anything I 
 care," said he, coolly, " but it shall not lie on 
 my conscience if your throat is cut before 
 morning. I give you fair warning. These 
 fellows think you have helped me to get away, 
 and your belly will never hear from your palate 
 again once they clap eyes on you to-night. 
 As for the village, there s not a man there 
 who d lift a finger to save me from the cruel- 
 est death in the list, and if you go there with 
 an appeal from me, they ll kick you out of 
 doors, if they do no worse by you. You d 
 much better take pot-luck here. 
 
 Little as I knew of him, I knew there was 
 truth in what he said, and I realized too that 
 I must have aroused the wrath of Nicholson by 
 my desertion of him. I had no hankering for 
 an early meeting with any of that band, and I 
 turned away and started through the brush. 
 
 " Well ? " asked the Colonel. 
 80
 
 / Pass a Night in the Woods 
 
 "You may call if you want me," I an 
 swered. " I shall stay for the present." 
 
 " That s wise," said he, and began scratch 
 ing in the leaves again. 
 
 But however plausible his reason for sending 
 me away may seem, I knew it was a mere ruse 
 of his to be rid of me for a time, and I kept 
 asking myself as I went what lay buried there 
 that I might not see. And though I had to 
 fight my cursed curiosity, I went straight to 
 the place of look-out without so much as once 
 turning around. I could see lights twinkling 
 at the house across the fields, and I fancied I 
 heard the sound of voices in that direction. I 
 made no question that our escape had been dis 
 covered, but though I waited at least fifteen 
 minutes awake to every sound, I neither saw 
 nor heard anything to indicate that we were 
 followed. On the contrary, my first alarm 
 came from behind me, where I heard the Col 
 onel shouting my name with great oaths, and 
 begging me for the sake of his Creator to come 
 to him at once. I hurried back and found him 
 grovelling on his stomach beside a shallow hole 
 which he had scooped in the dirt. 
 
 " What is it? " I asked, breathlessly, bend 
 ing over him. "Are you sick, man? What 
 is wrong ? 
 
 81
 
 Forward House 
 
 " Can t you see what s wrong? " he wailed, 
 clawing his long fingers into the dirt with fury. 
 " It s gone, it s gone ! " 
 
 " What is gone ? " I asked, but he was mut 
 tering to himself and digging deeper into the 
 ground with fresh zeal. After a moment he 
 stopped again, and raising himself on his el 
 bow, looked up into my face and his own 
 made a light in the dark, so white and haggard 
 was it. 
 
 " Mister Hunt," said he, " I must go back 
 to Forward House." 
 
 " What ! " said I, aghast, " back into that 
 gang of cut-throats ! 
 
 " This instant," said he, firmly. " Give me 
 your hand." 
 
 I pulled him to his feet, and he stood a mo 
 ment unsteadily. 
 
 " I won t ask you to risk your skin there," 
 said he, " though you may give me a lift for a 
 bit of the way if you ll be so good." 
 
 But I was spared expostulation, for nature 
 interfered. He staggered as he spoke, and 
 clapped a hand to each temple. 
 
 " Oh, oh, oh ! " he moaned, and toppled over 
 
 like a falling tree, into the hole he had made. 
 
 I kneeled beside him and lifted his head to my 
 
 knee. Then I loosened his collar and chafed 
 
 82
 
 / Pass a Night in the Woods 
 
 his hands, and after a little he opened his eyes. 
 But he only partially revived, and when I spoke 
 to him he trembled as though he were afraid 
 of me. 
 
 " Pull yourself together, man," I cried. 
 
 "No, no," he whined, "don t hurt me, 
 don t hurt me ! It is gone, gone, gone ! " 
 
 And though I coaxed and threatened him 
 by turn, I could get no more out of him than 
 that, nor would he stir from his spot in the 
 woods. I could not have moved him against 
 his will, and there was nothing to do but lay 
 him down and wait. I was sore tired, but I 
 could not leave him so, and I did not dare to 
 sleep, so I sat there and watched by his side 
 the rest of the night. He cooled down as the 
 hours passed, and finally slept, and at daylight 
 I left him and went again to the open ground. 
 
 Smoke was curling from the chimneys of 
 Forward House, and that was the only indica 
 tion of life that my eyes first fell upon ; yet as I 
 looked, doubtful whether to venture farther, I 
 saw movement in the trees upon the Colonel s 
 lawn and a moment later, two men emerged 
 from the shadows and came with swinging gait 
 across the fields toward me. I drew quickly 
 back into the brush that skirted the woods at 
 this point, and when I looked again, two more 
 
 83
 
 Forward House 
 
 men had come into view and the four were 
 headed for the woods. The leaders were well 
 in advance, and whatever hope I had enter 
 tained of the departure of the ship s crew, was 
 dissipated when I recognized Nicholson and 
 one of his men. I should have thought this 
 meant business for Colonel Forward and me, 
 if I had not known the second pair for the big 
 fellow who had engaged me in the hall, and 
 another man of the Colonel s own household. 
 Then I recalled the collision between Nichol 
 son and the bare-foot man, and the former s 
 promise that their difference should be adjusted 
 after the manner of gentlemen ; and I was not 
 surprised that each of the principals carried a 
 light, thin fencing sword. I saw what was on 
 the cards and lay very still, while they came 
 on with business-like haste, the two in advance 
 keeping well ahead of the others and holding 
 no communication with them. 
 
 Just in front of the woods, and between me 
 and the approaching party, was a depression of 
 the earth that formed a sort of natural amphi 
 theatre. The ground sloped on all sides to a 
 flat spot at the centre, perhaps twenty feet 
 square, and far enough below the level of the 
 surrounding ground to make a man standing 
 there invisible from Forward House and the 
 84
 
 / Pass a Night in the Woods 
 
 distant highway. The bushes behind which I 
 lay concealed were not a hundred feet from this 
 point, and at the very edge of the southern 
 slope. 
 
 Nicholson and his companion came on with 
 out a word, straight down the slope to the 
 grass plot at the bottom. There they stopped, 
 and the leader stripped off his coat and waist 
 coat, and turned his shirt-sleeves back above his 
 elbows. He carefully examined his sword, and 
 tried the temper of the blade. 
 
 " Allison," he said slowly to his companion, 
 as long as I can remember, that sword and 
 the one that Harry has, have hung together in 
 my father s library. Harry and I have played 
 soldier with them many a time, and when he 
 got bigger, I taught him how to fence. I 
 swear," he added, laughing softly, " I never 
 thought they would serve us in such a pass as 
 this! " 
 
 He stopped speaking as the second pair ap 
 proached, and my quondam assailant stripped 
 himself as Nicholson had done, their two friends 
 standing idly by in apparent unconcern. I 
 watched them breathlessly, all fear for my per 
 sonal safety having vanished when I knew their 
 errand. 
 
 They wasted no time, and were quickly fac- 
 
 85
 
 Forward House 
 
 ing each other, their swords drawn and their 
 brows contracted. They were well matched 
 in size, and I was struck by their strong like 
 ness to each other in face and feature ; but Nich 
 olson looked the elder by a good ten years. 
 The man from Forward House took his position 
 and lunged viciously out with his weapon. 
 
 " Stop ! " shouted Nicholson, easily parry 
 ing the thrust, and each drew back. " Harry," 
 he continued, in a voice that was new to me, 
 " think what you are inviting and what this 
 means. We are sons of one father, and as you 
 yourself say, this thing is murder for one of us. 
 Bad as I know myself to be, I stop far short of 
 wishing that. You say I have wronged you, 
 and perhaps I have but not as you think. I 
 am a rebel against my father, and your lot lies 
 with him. So far I am your enemy. But as to 
 Molly I love her and she loves me, and there s 
 an end of it. If it were otherwise, I would say 
 no word, but she has chosen. Why can t you 
 take it like a man ? Do you suppose I will 
 give her up because a man she detests wants 
 me to " 
 
 "You damned hypocrite," the other cried, 
 with sudden rage, " shut up your cant and come 
 on ! If you re the better man, you have only 
 to prove it." 
 
 86
 
 / Pass a Night in the Woods 
 
 "As you please," said Nicholson, with a flash 
 of his ugly eyes. " Come on, you puppy ! If 
 you want it so much, by God, you shall have 
 it!" 
 
 They were good swordsmen, both of them, 
 and it was no stage play. But I noticed that 
 Nicholson stayed more on the defensive, and 
 spent his time parrying the wicked lunges of 
 his adversary, who plainly fought for blood. 
 They were breathing heavily after two minutes 
 of such hot work. Again and again Harry 
 drove his blade like lightning at the other s 
 breast, and each time it shot aside on Nichol 
 son s superb guard. But I saw a change come 
 over Nicholson s face, and his lips tightened. 
 His features hardened and a bad look lay in his 
 eyes. Finally, as the other pressed him more 
 fiercely, he caught the blade on his own, and 
 with a supple motion of his wrist sent it twist 
 ing from Harry s hand. And as Harry stood 
 disarmed and at his mercy, Nicholson burst out 
 again. 
 
 " Don t tempt me further," he cried. " Stop 
 while you can, and before it is too late for 
 either of us." 
 
 But Harry had regained his sword. 
 
 "You should have used that opportunity," 
 he panted. " It was a coward s chance. Come 
 
 87
 
 on ! " And he fell to again more fiercely than 
 ever. 
 
 " Then take it, you fool," Nicholson cried, 
 and changed his tactics. 
 
 He lunged forward, and Harry caught it on 
 his blade and smiled. His coolness had come 
 with his second wind, and Nicholson was just 
 getting mad. Nicholson swore, and his arm 
 shot out again, but Harry parried neatly and 
 returned the thrust so cleverly as to scratch his 
 antagonist s cheek, and the hot blood, eager for 
 an outlet, ran down and spattered in big drops 
 on his shirt. And that maddened Nicholson, 
 and he did what no man should dare do unless 
 he knows the limitations of the other s eye and 
 arm, or longs for sudden death : he tried that 
 wicked outside thrust that curves toward the 
 heart, and for the flash of an eye, as his arm 
 went out, his great heaving chest lay open. 
 Quick as a cat the other was in upon him, and 
 the blade shot into Nicholson s breast like a 
 needle into silk, and when it came out the blood 
 followed in a stream. 
 
 It was no scratch, but the man was not done 
 for. He shivered and parried the next thrust 
 that his antagonist was following it up with. 
 But his judgment was gone, for again his arm 
 went out for that outside thrust, and I groaned 
 88
 
 / Pass a Nigbt in the Woods 
 
 for him, for again the lightning of the other s 
 eye and arm drove the blade home before 
 Nicholson s had fairly started on its journey. 
 
 "Damn you," gasped the wounded man. 
 " You re an apt pupil, Harry. And to think 
 I spent days myself teaching you that trick ! " 
 
 He reeled and lunged forward again, but his 
 blade glanced weakly aside on Harry s waiting 
 guard and he fell on his face in the grass. 
 
 The seconds, friend and foe, were over him 
 in an instant, but his adversary stood aside and 
 looked on with apparent indifference. They 
 turned the fallen man over on his back, and 
 Allison ripped his shirt open and bound his 
 wounds with a hand that showed skill and 
 practice. Then he turned savagely on young 
 Forward. 
 
 " We will get him back to the house your 
 man here and I according to our arrange 
 ment," said he. " I don t know how badly 
 off he is, and perhaps I can fetch him around. 
 As for you, you know the agreement, and I 
 trust you to go and hold your tongue. You re 
 under truce now, but God help you if you ever 
 fall in my way again, and damn you whether 
 or no for what you ve done this morning." 
 
 Without waiting for a reply, he turned to 
 the third man, and together they lifted Nichol-
 
 Forward House 
 
 son tenderly from the ground and started slowly 
 back to the house. And Harry Forward said 
 not a word, but stood and watched them as 
 they ascended the slope ; then he followed 
 slowly in their train. He still carried the 
 sword he had used so effectively, but his grasp 
 upon the hilt seemed mechanical, and I doubt 
 if he knew the thing was in his hand. His 
 eyes were fixed on the little party ahead, and 
 in this way he wandered on behind for a hun 
 dred yards or more. Then, with a sudden 
 start, he looked down at the dripping steel he 
 carried. He stopped and held it out at arm s 
 length, and stared at it as though he had but 
 just realized what it was. The next instant 
 he had sent it spinning through the air, and 
 abruptly changing his course, he strode quickly 
 off to the west and disappeared in the woods 
 behind his father s house. 
 
 90
 
 IX 
 
 THE VILLAINS DESTROY MY HOUSE 
 
 WITH a guilty sense of my neglect, I re 
 called the old man and hurried back 
 to him. He was still sleeping, and as I watched 
 his peaceful face I was glad he had been spared 
 the knowledge of what I had just seen. As for 
 me, I had been so long unused to such things 
 that I was sick and faint with the horror of 
 Harry Forward s bloody act. And my feeling 
 was the more intense when I reflected how 
 averse Nicholson had been to meet him. Clear 
 ly, to his brother s magnanimity Harry owed 
 his life, for until Nicholson had lost grasp of 
 his temper he had had the best of it, and there 
 was no time during the first few minutes and 
 until he disarmed his adversary, when he could 
 not have forced the other s guard and ended 
 the matter. I hated Harry, little as I knew 
 him, and as for Nicholson, I found myself 
 warming to him again. Liar and plotter 
 though I knew him to be, I thought with real 
 
 9
 
 Forward House 
 
 grief on his downfall, and prayed he might be 
 farther from his end than he had seemed. In 
 deed, I may as well say it here, there was a 
 charm about the man that I have never been 
 able to fully understand, and to this day I 
 think of his case with pity and regret rather 
 than with anger. 
 
 The chance remarks of the Colonel had con 
 vinced me that there was in his heart, too, a 
 tender spot for the rebellious son, and I con 
 cluded that for the present I would say noth 
 ing about the scene I had just witnessed, but 
 keep that bitterness from the old man s cup so 
 long as I could. 
 
 He slept soundly, and I left him there and 
 made my way back out of the woods to await 
 developments from Forward House. And this 
 time I sought a place which should command 
 a more extensive view. 
 
 The point where I came out into the open 
 was just at the crest of the hill and farther east 
 than my old look-out, and it overlooked both 
 Forward House and the road that passed my 
 own dwelling. Beyond, I saw the dark waters 
 of the open sea wrinkling in the morning 
 breeze. There I stood and waited, and the 
 first streak of sunlight fell upon a band of men 
 stringing down the road to the sea. In their 
 92
 
 The Villains Destroy My House 
 
 midst walked two with a litter, and I wondered 
 whether Nicholson were dead or alive. The 
 band moved swiftly ; my spirits rose at the 
 riddance, and I breathed more freely when I 
 saw their haste. 
 
 But such consolation as I got from this was 
 short-lived, for as they approached my house, 
 I saw part of them strike off the road into the 
 bushes, and the rest kept straight on and halted 
 in a line at the front all but the bearers of 
 the litter, who kept on with their burden toward 
 the Crag. 
 
 I knew that the men who had disappeared 
 were reconnoitring for no good purpose, and 
 I waited with a growing anxiety. I thought 
 of the old man s warning and congratulated 
 myself that I had heeded it yet in the same 
 breath I was wishing that Nicholson were him 
 self there as leader, for I fancied he would have 
 allowed no harm to come to me. There had 
 been no noise, but after a few minutes of sus 
 pense I heard shouts, and at the same time the 
 sailors in the road began running one by one 
 into my grounds. I watched them until only 
 three were left in the road, and then I saw what 
 stopped my heart for a moment a line of 
 smoke curling up through the trees. The vil 
 lains had fired my house ! 
 
 93
 
 Forward House 
 
 Of what I did and said when the truth came 
 to me, I have the most imperfect remembrance. 
 I raved and swore and shook my fist impotent- 
 ly at my enemies. Dead or dying though he 
 was, I called down all the curses of heaven 
 upon the man I had taken in from the storm, 
 and whose lawless crew was repaying me by 
 burning the roof that had sheltered him. In 
 deed, for one fleeting moment there was mur 
 der in my heart when I thought of the old man 
 behind me in the woods, through whom I had 
 been brought to this pass. But I thank God 
 that, even in my blind rage, I had enough of 
 my reason left to be ashamed of this feeling as 
 soon as I realized it. 
 
 It seemed to me that I stood there many 
 minutes, though in reality I suppose the inter 
 val was measured by seconds, when something 
 happened which overcame my rage, and left 
 me staring in fright, horror, and amazement. 
 I felt the earth quiver under my feet, I saw the 
 air filled with fragments of wood and stone, 
 and a sheet of red flame in the midst of it, and 
 then came the sound of an explosion more ter 
 rible than any I had ever heard. Close upon 
 its echoes followed the shrieks of wounded men, 
 and out of the cloud of smoke and dust that 
 settled where my house had stood, I saw three 
 
 94
 
 The Villains Destroy My House 
 
 sailors running like frightened sheep down the 
 road to the sea. 
 
 My first impulse was to hurry to the spot, 
 but I checked myself and went back to Colonel 
 Forward ; my first duty was to him. To my 
 great surprise he was still sleeping soundly. 
 His exhaustion had been too great to be stirred 
 by what I thought must have shaken the world 
 itself. I did not disturb him, but left him 
 there and hurried across the fields to his 
 house. 
 
 The place was deserted, to all appearances, 
 though smoke still issued from the chimneys. 
 I entered by a side door that stood ajar, and 
 once inside, the mark of the vandal was every 
 where evident. Fires were smouldering on the 
 hearths, and I saw they had been used to pre 
 pare food. Every bit of furniture capable of 
 concealing a drawer, had been ransacked the 
 carpets and rugs had been started at the edges 
 pictures had been turned to the wall, and the 
 paper backings of their frames ripped open 
 the upholstering of the chairs had been started, 
 and everywhere the work showed a most thor 
 ough search for something, whether successful 
 or not I could not tell. But it was not the 
 work of ordinary robbers, for the heavy plate 
 on the side-board in the dining-room was still
 
 Forward House 
 
 there, though disarranged, and elsewhere in 
 the house articles of intrinsic value, which must 
 have appealed to the greed of a mere thief, 
 were undisturbed. 
 
 I went quickly from room to room, and 
 everywhere lay the same traces of confusion. 
 But my discoveries terminated in the library, 
 where every book had been taken from its 
 shelf and the most painstaking search had 
 clearly been made. The desk had been forced, 
 and its papers lay in a confused heap on the 
 floor. And while I looked on in amazement, 
 forgetting for a moment the errand that had 
 brought me there, I heard a moan from a little 
 room that opened from the library and that I 
 had not yet visited. 
 
 I hurried in, and there, in a row on the floor, 
 lay four men bound and gagged. They were 
 of the Colonel s party, of course, and the tally 
 was complete save for their leader and Harry 
 Forward. My eyes sought out the young man s 
 second in that morning fight, and him I loosed. 
 Without a word he set to work and helped me 
 with the rest. They seemed none the worse 
 for their experience, but each had heard the 
 terrific explosion and plied me with questions 
 as to its meaning. I sent the three off down 
 the road to investigate, and kept the first man 
 96
 
 The Villains Destroy My House 
 
 by me. When we were by ourselves, he turned 
 upon me suspiciously. 
 
 "Before we go any further," said he, "I 
 want to know what I m dealing with. I saw 
 you here last night, and your position was, to 
 say the least, peculiar." 
 
 " I am John Hunt," I began. 
 
 "Damn your name," he interrupted impa 
 tiently, " I am Albert Lorimer, but what does 
 that signify ? I know who you are you re 
 the hermit from the cape, and I ve seen you 
 many a time but what were you doing here 
 with Dick Forward last night? that s what I 
 want to know." 
 
 " Put on your hat and come with me," said 
 I. "I ll tell you as we go." 
 
 He did as I bade him, and as I hurried him 
 down the road, I explained my position as well 
 as I could. His face lightened as I went on, and 
 as I finished, he stopped and held out his hand. 
 
 " They seem to have played tag with you, 
 Mister Hunt," said he, with a smile, "but 
 you ve done the old man a good turn, and I ll 
 shake hands. And now, whereabouts in the 
 woods have you left him ? 
 
 " He s safe enough until we get back," said 
 I. "I ve told you my story, now tell me 
 where is Harry ? 
 
 97
 
 Forward House 
 
 He started and looked keenly at me. 
 
 " What Harry ? " said he, affecting surprise. 
 " What the devil do you know of Harry ? " 
 
 "I saw the fight this morning," said I, 
 briefly. 
 
 He changed his manner in an instant. 
 
 "And the Colonel does he know about 
 it ? " he asked, eagerly, and when I reassured 
 him, "Then keep it to yourself," he added, 
 with evident relief. " I ll tell you now that 
 the old man loves Dick yet, and it would kill 
 him if he knew what Harry had done for him. 
 If we have to tell him anything, we can tell 
 him a lie." 
 
 "But tell me," I asked. "Is Nicholson 
 dead ? 
 
 " Nicholson? " he repeated, with a puzzled 
 look. " Oh, you mean Dick Forward ? I don t 
 know. Yes, dead or dying." 
 
 I would have asked where they had left him, 
 but we could talk no more, for the road was al 
 ready filling with dazed and frightened fisher 
 men from the village, and a party of them 
 joined us. 
 
 We found a scene of wreck and ruin. My 
 house was gone, and the trees that had stood 
 nearest it lay prostrate on the ground. It did 
 not seem possible that any human agency could
 
 The Villains Destroy My House 
 
 have accomplished the havoc, but when I said 
 as much to Lorimer, he gave me a curious look 
 and shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 Of the house and of those who had been by 
 it, there was literally nothing left, and I think 
 this obliteration of the band struck me as the 
 most awful part of the business. It would have 
 been some relief to have any tangible evidence 
 of what had happened. I knew that not less 
 than eighteen or twenty men had been in or 
 around the house at the instant of the explosion, 
 and of all that crew it seemed that the three I 
 had seen running had alone escaped. But the 
 first feeling of horror which had possessed me, 
 gave way to rage when I thought on the mag 
 nitude of my own loss, and what the villains 
 had done for me. And I thought bitterly of 
 the chief villain of all, and wondered whether 
 he had gone with the rest. 
 
 The men from the village were exploring the 
 grounds curiously, and there were wicked looks 
 on the faces of the fellows from Forward House. 
 Presently Lorimer came up to me. 
 
 " Don t turn quickly," he said, in a tone 
 scarcely above a whisper ; "I can t answer for 
 my men if they see him, but there s a black 
 spot down the road that should be Dick For 
 ward on his stretcher, where his cowardly men 
 
 99
 
 Forward House 
 
 have left him. I ll keep my men busy, and 
 set the fishermen to work, and do you slip 
 quietly down and see whether I am right. If 
 it is Dick, dead or alive, draw him under cover 
 of the bushes out of sight. We must get him 
 back to the house." 
 
 I had forgotten all about the two men with 
 the litter who had kept straight on past my 
 house while their companions turned in, but 
 Lorimer s first words brought the incident back 
 to me, and as he led the crowd into the yard 
 on a pretext of making further investigation, I 
 turned away and started quietly down the road. 
 
 The dark object lay by the roadside, two 
 or three hundred yards away, and as I got near 
 it I saw it was the body of a man. It was Nich 
 olson, as I knew before I came up to him, and 
 a second glance showed me he was not dead, 
 but unconscious. 
 
 At that instant all the devil in me was on 
 top, and I stood and filled myself with the 
 sight of him, and for the first minute my only 
 sorrow was that he was not conscious of his 
 plight. And with that I had sated my longing 
 for revenge, I suppose, for I found myself mak 
 ing excuses for the scoundrel. In his state, it 
 was more than likely that the attack on my 
 house had been beyond his ken and will. And
 
 The Villains Destroy My House 
 
 then my mind went back to that scene in the 
 hollow, his manly bearing and his pluck ; and 
 I went on my knees beside him and called him 
 by the name he had given himself. 
 
 He stirred at my voice. Then he opened 
 his eyes and looked me full in the face, for I 
 was bending over him. He stared blankly for 
 a second, and something like a smile softened 
 his drawn features. 
 
 " As I live," said he, weakly, " it s Mister 
 Hunt ! For the love of God, John Hunt, 
 where did you drop from, and where am I ? " 
 
 101
 
 X 
 
 I RETURN TO FORWARD HOUSE 
 
 HE was but the shadow of the man whom 
 I had seen striding vigorously across 
 the fields hardly an hour ago. Weak and white, 
 and with the mark of death on his face, he 
 looked bravely back into mine and read my 
 thoughts. 
 
 " You re well quit of a troublesome guest," 
 said he, " for I ll sit no more at your table." 
 
 A shout from up the road broke in upon us ; 
 the villagers had come upon some ghastly relic 
 in the ruins. The sound quickened my senses 
 to the situation, and I was surprised that the 
 dying man noticed it also. 
 
 "What was that?" he asked, peevishly, 
 "and what am I lying here in the road for? 
 Where s Allison where are my men ? " 
 
 "It s all right," I answered, soothingly. 
 "I m here to do you a service, but you mustn t 
 ask any questions. Do as I tell you, and trust 
 me. Now set your teeth together, for I ve got 
 to move you." 
 
 102
 
 / Return to Forward House 
 
 As tenderly as I could, I drew him back 
 into the bushes away from the road. He 
 looked at me wonderingly. 
 
 "Now," said I, "I ve got to leave you, 
 and it s all your life s worth and more too, to 
 be seen here. Mind you lie still until I send 
 the men for you. 
 
 " There s no fear about that," he whispered. 
 "I ll be still enough before you get back. 
 Oh, I know," he added, as I tried to look in 
 credulous, "and so do you. I m dying, Mis 
 ter Hunt, and I ve got daylight in both lungs. 
 Can t you see the blood, man ? " 
 
 " Who did it? " I asked, at a loss for a more 
 sensible question. 
 
 "Excuse me," he said, feebly. "Between 
 gentlemen, you know. Fair thrusts both of 
 them. If you ve anything to do, you d much 
 better leave me and do it." And then closing 
 his eyes, he said, softly to himself, " If I could 
 see my father and Molly just a minute, just a 
 minute." 
 
 I turned away, and he mistook the cause. 
 
 "I say," he whispered, "is that all? No 
 good-by or blessing or anything ? It s not far 
 off." 
 
 And indeed I was of the same opinion as I 
 looked at him, and I saw that if anything were 
 103
 
 Forward House 
 
 to be done, there was no time to lose. I took 
 his hand. 
 
 " I will say good-by if you wish it," said I, 
 " but I shall see you again, for I m coming 
 back soon." 
 
 And without looking at that gray face again, 
 I turned and left him. 
 
 Lorimer was looking for me when I got back 
 to the scene of the wreck, and he drew me 
 aside. 
 
 " It is Dick ? " he asked, with a scowl. 
 
 "Yes," said I, "and all but dead." 
 
 He hesitated a minute. 
 
 " It comes hard," he said, finally, "but the 
 old man would want it so. I ll do what I can. 
 Run along and look after the Colonel. Don t 
 tell him anything, but keep him there in some 
 way until you hear me calling to you. Now 
 tell me where I shall find you." 
 
 I told him as nearly as I could, and hurried 
 on to find the old man. 
 
 Events had chased so closely on each other s 
 heels that morning, that I had scarcely thought 
 of the woman who had inadvertently let me 
 into this adventure ; but as I walked back to 
 Forward House on my way to the woods, I re 
 called Nicholson s words, and wondered where 
 the girl was. From the slight speech that had 
 104
 
 passed between the brothers before they tried 
 conclusions, I divined the cause of Harry s 
 hate, and the girl s position to the other. She 
 should be Richard s wife, and even now was 
 probably awaiting his return to her but 
 where? I reached the top of the hill and 
 stopped a moment for breath, and as I turned 
 to look back down the road, my question was 
 answered, for a mile or two off shore a black 
 steamer was coursing north. She was the only 
 moving thing on all that sweep of sea, and my 
 eyes followed her eagerly until, with a broad 
 turn, she came about and went slowly back 
 south. I was positive that here was the yacht 
 that had brought the invaders, but I had no 
 time to watch her further, and turning my back 
 to the sea, I hurried on to Forward House. 
 
 I had had no thought of stopping there, but 
 as I passed the side door which had given en 
 trance to me earlier in the morning, I heard a 
 sound inside the house and instantly divined 
 its meaning. The Colonel had returned, and 
 when I had passed in and through to the lib 
 rary, I found him standing in the middle of 
 the room, gazing sadly on the ruin about him. 
 He glanced toward me as I entered. 
 
 " See what they have done to me," he said. 
 
 "They ve done far worse for me," I an-
 
 Forward House 
 
 swered, sorrowfully, " and worse than either for 
 themselves." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " he asked, sharply. 
 And then as if the question brought him back, 
 "Where have you been, Mister Hunt and 
 where are my men ? 
 
 " You have heard nothing ? " 
 
 "No, no," he said, impatiently. "How 
 the devil should I hear anything ? " 
 
 Ordinarily I should have shown temper at 
 his brusqueness, but when I thought of the mis 
 ery still in store for him, I had no anger left, 
 and I told him what had happened to my house 
 and the fellows who had fired it. He turned 
 white when I came to the catastrophe. 
 
 " Good God," said he, " what folly ! What 
 can Dick have been thinking of? He was not 
 there, Mister Hunt ; depend upon it, he was 
 not there. He knows the danger of the stuff 
 too well. There was an accident, you may be 
 sure of that and yet I cannot see why he 
 should take it into your house at all." 
 
 " I don t know what you are driving at," 
 said I, "but if you think it was an accident 
 that set my house afire, I know better," and I 
 told him how I had watched the villains go 
 coolly to their work. 
 
 " Oh, as to that," he answered, unconcern- 
 106
 
 / Return to Forward House 
 
 edly, they meant that much, I dare say but 
 the explosion pshaw ! They wouldn t have 
 wasted the stuff in that way." 
 
 He was talking riddles to me, and that and 
 his cool indifference to my own misfortune mad 
 dened me in spite of myself. 
 
 " Have you no thought but of yourself? " I 
 cried, angrily. " While you are dwelling on 
 your own miserable secret and keeping me in 
 the dark, remember the position I am in and 
 the outrage I have suffered. Is it nothing to 
 you that through taking up your cause my 
 house and everything I owned have been swept 
 away ? 
 
 " Tut," he answered, peevishly, and I saw the 
 son in his look and gesture. " That s a great 
 pity, of course, but suppose you had been in 
 your house. Rather go down on your knees 
 and thank God and my warning that you are 
 not lying over ten acres of ground this minute ! 
 And instead of that," he went on with a little 
 sigh, " it has been your privilege to see the first 
 practical test of the most powerful explosive on 
 earth ! " 
 
 I looked at him with a growing pity. The 
 
 man was clearly mad ; and while that thought 
 
 was passing, his brave front vanished and the 
 
 tears were trickling down his face. So while 
 
 107
 
 Forward House 
 
 I could have killed him for his indifference to 
 me in one instant, the next my soul was melt 
 ing for him. And all this time a dozen differ 
 ent trains of thought were tramping through my 
 head, and with them marched that preposter 
 ous story of the wretched son, in which I now 
 saw the thread of truth a story so skilfully 
 built upon to enlist my sympathy, and to cover 
 the villainy of the man s purpose. I saw his 
 vile heart laid bare, I saw him as he was, a 
 mercenary plotter against his own blood, a 
 man who had painted his father a thief and a 
 liar to enlist me in his own outrageous cause 
 but what cause? And a vision of the girl 
 trooped after him, the girl with her fear and 
 misery, her stealth and haste, and all for what ? 
 And then that picture of the old man running 
 through the darkness, and digging like a savage 
 in the woods, and crying out that it was gone 
 what ? 
 
 I wonder now that I could have been so 
 dense, but God made me somewhat slow of 
 comprehension, and I had not looked for so 
 much hell in so trifling a thing as that bottle. 
 But the truth came to me somehow in the 
 midst of my jumbled thoughts. 
 
 " Oh, you fool," I groaned. 
 
 The Colonel looked at me in surprise, and 
 1 08
 
 / Return to Forward House 
 
 his eyes seemed singularly clear for a mad 
 man s. 
 
 " I am wondering where my wits have been," 
 said I, answering his look. "I left one of 
 your infernal powder bottles in my library last 
 night." 
 
 He looked puzzled, but whatever answer he 
 would have made me never came, for in the 
 same instant we both heard voices and the 
 sound of men in the front hall. There was a 
 rough tread, and a scuffling of feet as of men 
 bearing a heavy burden, and as we listened, 
 Lorimer s voice broke upon us. 
 
 The Colonel looked relieved and started for 
 the door, but I detained him, for I knew the 
 sight that awaited him. 
 
 They had not reckoned on finding the old 
 man here, and it was Richard Forward they 
 were bringing home. I knew this and blocked 
 the Colonel s path. 
 
 " I would not go," said I, earnestly. " Stay 
 this side the door and let me talk to 
 you." 
 
 He looked at me in amazement. 
 
 "You forget yourself," said he, stiffly. 
 " Stand aside." 
 
 And in the instant that we stood there he 
 calmly waiting, and I uncertain Lorimer s 
 109
 
 Forward House 
 
 voice broke the silence and bore us this cruel 
 speech. 
 
 " Lay him here," says he. "He s as well 
 here as anywhere, and he ll never feel a bed 
 again. 
 
 And then the door behind me opened, and 
 Lorimer stood face to face with the Master of 
 Forward House. 
 
 The old man drew himself up. 
 
 " Is it Dick or Harry ? " he asked, sternly ; 
 but he got his answer from beyond and in a 
 voice I knew. 
 
 " Father, father," and it was the echo of Nich 
 olson s strong voice that I heard, "I ll not 
 stay long, but I want to start clean ; and as 
 the old man went trembling from our sight, 
 the rest trooped out and left the two together, 
 and I heard him sobbing his forgiveness as the 
 door closed upon them. 
 
 For some minutes, Lorimer scarcely noticed 
 me, but stood at the window scowling. Finally 
 he turned and abruptly dismissed the two men 
 who had remained in the room with us, and 
 when they had gone, he strode impulsively 
 up to me, and laid a hand on each of my 
 shoulders. 
 
 "Mister Hunt," says he, bringing his face 
 level with mine and looking me squarely in the 
 no
 
 eyes, this is a bad business, and I wish we 
 were all quit of it but that dying man in 
 there with all his sins is a man do you hear 
 me a man / 
 
 He paused, and I waited for him to go 
 on. 
 
 "And as for Harry," he continued, "I 
 hope he s in hell this minute, where he belongs. 
 I ve talked with Dick since you left him, and 
 he s badly off and going fast, but he made me 
 promise not to tell the old man about that affair 
 with Harry, and all for Harry s sake, mind 
 you! " 
 
 He gripped me with his two hands as he 
 spoke, and his eyes reddened. 
 
 "Well?" said I. 
 
 " Well," he blurted out, and fairly shook 
 me, " that s a man s part, I say. But what s 
 more, he spoke of you you and says he : 
 Do you straighten things with John Hunt, 
 Lorimer, for I ll not see him again, and he did 
 me a good turn. 
 
 And with that the man flung his hands to 
 his face and turned again to the window. I 
 respected his feeling and looked away. He 
 wheeled around and faced me after a mo 
 ment. 
 
 " And that," said he, resuming, " is what I 
 in
 
 Forward House 
 
 shall do. I ve promised him and he deserves 
 it. How much do you know already ? " 
 
 " Nothing," said I, and at that he looked 
 me over in astonishment. 
 
 " There s no joke about this," said he, 
 gruffly. " I m keeping faith with a dying 
 man, and I don t want any nonsense with you. 
 
 " I tell you," said I, stiffly, "that I know 
 nothing about this I don t care to urge the 
 point." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," he answered, rather 
 more graciously, " but surely the Colonel s 
 invention? " 
 
 I feigned not to see the incredulity that 
 filled his face. 
 
 " And what," said I, "is that? " 
 
 He looked at me so long without replying 
 that I felt my color rising. 
 
 "You will bear in mind, Mister Lorimer," 
 said I, " if that s your name that I m no 
 neighborhood gossip. Your and your master s 
 business " 
 
 He raised a deprecating hand. 
 
 "I am sorry," said he, " and I was wrong 
 to doubt you. But I appreciate your kind, 
 Mister Hunt, rare as it is. Believe me, in my 
 gospel there s nothing so lovable as an indif 
 ferent neighbor ! And now I ve more to tell 
 112
 
 / Return to Forward House 
 
 you than I thought and we d better go out 
 side." 
 
 And as we walked across the fields together, 
 he told me what I shall relate in his own words 
 as far as memory will indulge me.
 
 XI 
 
 LORIMER EXPLAINS 
 
 "T HAVE lived here five years," Lorimer 
 JL began, " and next after his own blood, 
 no one knows the old man as well as I. When 
 he left the service, he brought me back here to 
 live with him, and for a long time I was his 
 only companion. I don t know how to ex 
 plain my position, unless you choose to call 
 me a sort of superintendent and that doesn t 
 fill the bill, for he has made both friend and 
 confidant of me. 
 
 "You see his wife had recently died, and 
 his two sons, Dick and Harry, were long out of 
 leading strings and in their own ways. Harry 
 was in the army and Dick in the navy, but 
 they were both inordinately lazy, and when 
 they came into a little money at their mother s 
 death, Dick threw up his commission outright, 
 and Harry did even worse : he got into bad 
 ways and was shortly sent home. 
 
 " Now, all this time the old man was working 
 114
 
 Lo rimer Explains 
 
 on an idea that had furnished both the pleasure 
 and the business of his life for many years. 
 Ten years ago he conceived the invention of 
 that infernal powder which lies at the bottom 
 of the whole business, and he s done little but 
 experiment with the devilish stuff since. 
 
 " I think it was a fear that Harry would 
 surprise his secret, that made the old man so 
 mad with the boy when he came home. At 
 any rate, he sent the young fellow packing in 
 short order, and went on more stolidly than 
 ever with his experiments. Dick, meanwhile, 
 did not interfere with the Colonel, for he never 
 came home at all, and neither son at this time 
 took the old man s occupation seriously. 
 
 " But shortly after Harry s dismissal there 
 was a change in the establishment here : An 
 old army friend of the Colonel died, leaving a 
 daughter poor and without a relative on 
 earth and the old man, out of the goodness of 
 his heart, brought her here to live. If you ve 
 ever seen Molly Bridgman, you needn t be 
 told what a fine woman she is. The Colonel 
 got very fond of her, and before long she was 
 sharing honors with the invention in occupy 
 ing his time though I think the powder al 
 ways held first place. 
 
 " About two years ago, Harry appeared on
 
 the scene again, and this time the father took him 
 in. The boy had run through his money and 
 came home looking like a tramp. He had no 
 sooner been taken back than he dropped his hu 
 mility, and became as overbearing as ever. He 
 was a disagreeable fellow gave himself great 
 airs, kept the Colonel in a stew most of the 
 time, and fell head over ears in love with Miss 
 Bridgman ; then he sulked and took to drink 
 ing because she would have none of him. I 
 can t begin to tell you the trial he was to the 
 old man, who was meanwhile making very sub 
 stantial progress with his experiments, and who 
 had to conduct everything in absolute privacy 
 because he so distrusted Harry. He talked 
 with me about it, and finally he wrote to Dick 
 and told him how matters stood, and Dick 
 came home. 
 
 " How much the Colonel told him about 
 the invention, I don t know but it was 
 enough to arouse Dick s interest, at any rate. 
 He stayed a month, and after he had gone, the 
 old man kept up a correspondence with him 
 a thing he had not done for years. 
 
 "All this made Harry wild with jealousy. 
 He probably suspected more than there really 
 was, for the Colonel was canny enough with 
 the nearest of us. 
 
 116
 
 Larimer Explains 
 
 " So Harry set to work to undermine Dick s 
 influence with his father, and he played his 
 first card a year ago, when Dick came on a 
 second visit. He pretended to be delighted 
 to see Dick again, gained his confidence while 
 he was here, and played his game so neatly 
 that Dick interfered on his behalf with the 
 Colonel. Then when Dick had gone away 
 again, Harry ran to the old man with a cock- 
 and-bull story about having surprised a scheme 
 of Dick s to swindle the father out of his rights 
 and the whelp urged that Dick s intercession 
 with the old man was only intended as a bribe 
 to keep Harry s mouth shut. I don t know 
 the whole story, but I m sure it wouldn t have 
 worked with Colonel Forward if another thing 
 hadn t come to his knowledge at the same 
 time. He surprised a correspondence going 
 on between Miss Molly and Dick, and found 
 that the son had been making love to his ward, 
 and that they had kept their own counsel in 
 the matter. 
 
 "Now, the Colonel s notions of honor are 
 rather strait-laced, and it annoyed him that 
 Dick should have concealed anything of the 
 sort from him, so he wrote a sharp letter, and 
 it came out that Harry had been tale-bearing 
 and there was hell to pay right off. 
 117
 
 " Perhaps other things were at work with the 
 Colonel I don t know as to that. There 
 seemed something a bit shady about Dick, and 
 his reticence gave color to the suspicion. All 
 we knew of him during his absences was that 
 he was following the sea as he explained to 
 us, and that left a wide range for conjecture. 
 
 " At any rate, the Colonel s suspicious nature 
 had got a shock, and he lost confidence in Dick, 
 and when Dick came back here in high feather, 
 about a month ago, to renew his business nego 
 tiations about the invention, the old gentle 
 man stood him off and politely declined to 
 have anything to say about the matter. Dick 
 pocketed the insult and went away, but he 
 left the old man uneasy, and at Harry s sug 
 gestion our establishment here was increased, 
 and we began to maintain something like mili 
 tary discipline about the place. More than 
 that, the Colonel suddenly suspended work, 
 and removed all traces of it. I m sure I don t 
 know where he carried his stuff, but it was 
 taken away from the house. 
 
 " I don t know whether the Colonel heard 
 from him again or not, but the next chapter of 
 the business that I have any knowledge of, was 
 Dick s appearance here day before yesterday. 
 He was as pleasant as though nothing had 
 118
 
 Larimer Explains 
 
 happened, and told us he had run down to say 
 good-by, as he was going out of the country 
 next day. The Colonel met him half-way, and 
 whatever talk they had in private, seemed to 
 have settled any difference that lay between 
 them. I thought that Harry was of that 
 opinion, too, for he made no great effort to 
 conceal his annoyance at Dick s return. Peace 
 seemed quite restored for everyone but him, 
 and even Miss Molly looked brighter at dinner 
 than I d seen her for many a day. But Harry 
 sat sullen and frowning. 
 
 As we got up from table, the Colonel 
 turned to him. 
 
 " Harry, says he, your brother s going 
 away to-morrow on a long trip. 
 
 " Dear me, sneered Harry. I m sorry 
 for that ! 
 
 "I saw Dick bite his lip, but the old man 
 affected not to notice anything. 
 
 " Come into the library, said he. I 
 want to talk to you and Dick together. 
 
 " I m sorry, Harry said, with a queer look 
 at his brother, but I m busy this evening, and 
 you ll have to excuse me. 
 
 " He whipped off by himself after that, and 
 when I walked out under the trees five minutes 
 later, he was standing under the library win- 
 119
 
 Forward House 
 
 dow and puzzling over a letter which he held 
 so the light from the house fell upon it and 
 he shoved it hastily into his pocket as I came 
 up, and went into the house. A minute later, 
 I saw a light shining from his window in the 
 top of the house. 
 
 " My own room here is in the second story 
 over the library, and the Colonel and Dick 
 slept on the first floor. I went up early, and 
 for a long time I heard the murmur of steady 
 talking below. I could not tell the voices, but 
 from what had passed at dinner, I knew they 
 should be those of the Colonel and Dick. 
 
 " About midnight, the sound stopped ; then 
 doors closed, and the house became still. But 
 I had hardly got quiet when I heard Miss 
 Bridgman s door at the end of the passage 
 creak, and an instant after someone went soft 
 ly downstairs. A dead silence followed and 
 then a sound directly below me in the library 
 then heavier footsteps, a woman s faint cry 
 a slamming door, and then voices. 
 
 " I sprang out of bed and opened my door. 
 The Colonel was talking excitedly in the lib 
 rary. 
 
 She was at my papers, he was saying. 
 What mischief is this ? 
 
 " My dear father, Dick answered, calmly, 
 1 20
 
 Lorimer Explains 
 
 I assure you I know no more about it than 
 you. I heard the noise, and like yourself, I 
 came in to investigate. 
 
 " And how is it you are dressed at this 
 hour ? the Colonel asked, suspiciously. 
 
 " I had not undressed, replied Dick. 
 Really, father, your manner is most unpleas 
 ant, and he spoke in an injured tone. I as 
 sure you I see no sense in all this, and as I 
 told you to-day, Miss Bridgman is no longer 
 anything to me. 
 
 I heard the Colonel growl out some reply 
 as he crossed the library, and went swiftly 
 through the hall to the other side of the house. 
 
 " Well? Dick called after him, and I 
 thought rather nervously, where are you go- 
 ing? 
 
 "The old man had reached a window. 
 
 " There she goes, he shouted. There s 
 her light out on the road. 
 
 " I had slipped out to the head of the stairs, 
 and as Dick passed the foot in pursuit of the 
 old gentleman, he was cursing at someone s 
 stupidity softly under his breath, and I drew 
 my own conclusions. The old man was fum 
 bling at the door-fastenings as Dick came up 
 with him. 
 
 " Stop, said the younger man, perstia- 
 121
 
 Forward House 
 
 sively. Wait a bit. Where s Harry all this 
 time? Before you go any further, let s see 
 where we are. 
 
 What do you mean ? the Colonel 
 shouted. 
 
 " Do you remember his excuses at din 
 ner ? said Dick. 
 
 " I did, at any rate, and I remembered his 
 secrecy about the letter he had been reading 
 when I came upon him in the yard. I began 
 to wonder which of the sons was at the bottom 
 of it all. 
 
 " Go to Harry s room and see if he s 
 there, Dick continued. I ll lay you a little 
 bet 
 
 " I didn t hear the rest, for I bolted back into 
 my own room as the Colonel came tearing up 
 the stairs, and an instant later I heard him at 
 Harry s door. He was back again in a breath 
 and had joined Dick in the hall. 
 
 " Well? asked the son, coolly. 
 
 " The traitor, said his father, he s gone, 
 too! 
 
 Then do you stay here, and let me follow 
 them, said Dick, quickly, and he unbolted the 
 door. They passed out together, and down the 
 drive. 
 
 " I waited for an hour with my door ajar,
 
 Lorimer Explains 
 
 and then I heard steps approaching the house. 
 A key was put cautiously into the lock of the 
 side door, and a man entered the house. I rec 
 ognized Harry s nervous step as he walked 
 through to the library, and his voice as he 
 gave a short exclamation of surprise at what he 
 saw there. The next moment he had gone to 
 his father s room, and to Dick s, and was up 
 stairs at a jump and into mine without cere 
 mony. 
 
 " Lorimer, he said, groping his way to my 
 bed and fumbling for me ; Lorimer, what in 
 hell does this mean ? Get up, man, and tell 
 me what s happened. 
 
 " I made no excuses for being half-dressed, 
 but got up and told him what I had heard, and 
 when I finished, he bade me go downstairs 
 with him, and we got into the hall just in time 
 to see the Colonel come in at the front door 
 with a lantern in his hand. He heard us on 
 the stairs and looked up, and when he saw 
 Harry, he nearly dropped his lantern in amaze 
 ment. 
 
 " Harry, said he, aghast, Harry, Harry ! 
 And while he stood with his mouth open, Harry 
 fished a bit of crumpled paper out of a pocket, 
 and thrust it in his face. 
 
 " Read that, said he, triumphantly. 
 123
 
 Forward House 
 
 "The Colonel recovered himself, and lifting 
 his lantern, smoothed the paper and read aloud : 
 
 " If Harry Forward wants evidence of his 
 brother s treachery to him and to his father, let 
 him come to the old hotel at East Crag at 1 2 
 to-night and ask for Mr. Allison. He may be 
 able to frustrate a great fraud if he will heed 
 this warning from one who wishes both him 
 and his father well. 
 
 "The old man looked it over carefully, and 
 turned a wicked look upon his son. 
 
 " Where did you get that ? he asked. 
 
 " It was brought over in the mail this after 
 noon, said Harry. 
 
 " And you went, I suppose ? the old man 
 continued. 
 
 " Yes, replied the other, with manifest un 
 easiness, and I ve done a good job, too, for 
 I ve seen the man 
 
 " The Colonel stopped him. 
 
 " You re a poor fool, Harry, said he. 
 That note was written on my own paper, with 
 my own ink, in my own library and it s a 
 woman s hand. Unless I m much mistaken, 
 Molly wrote that herself, and Dick was prob 
 ably hanging over her shoulder when she did 
 it! 
 
 "Fora moment Harry didn t seem to un- 
 
 124
 
 Larimer Explains 
 
 derstand, then he started for the door without 
 a word. 
 
 " No, said the old man, seizing his arm. 
 You ve done enough for one night, now stay 
 here. I want you, and Harry slunk back. 
 
 " They ve duped us to-night, the Colonel 
 went on, and if Molly hadn t been too eager, 
 she might have found something valuable. As 
 it is, the papers are safe, and the samples they 
 can never find. 
 
 Lorimer stopped and shook his head. 
 
 But the old man was wrong about that," 
 he sighed, and paused a minute. 
 
 "Well," he resumed, "the old man sent 
 Harry upstairs to bed, and then we talked it 
 all out together. 
 
 " They ll be after us to-morrow, says he, 
 for the girl ran to the Crag, and Dick s evi 
 dently got a ship and some help off there. So 
 we ll just get our men and our house in fight 
 ing trim, and give them a reception when they 
 come. 
 
 " The next morning that was yesterday 
 he sent the three women servants away to the 
 town for he said we d have no petticoats on 
 the premises till the row was over. Lord 
 knows what excuse he made them but they 
 know his ways." 
 
 125
 
 He stopped and looked at me expectantly. 
 But I was waiting for him to go on. 
 
 "Well?" he said, after a moment, driving 
 his hands into his trousers pockets and stopping 
 short in his walk. 
 
 " Are you done, then ? " I asked. 
 
 " Yes," said he, and I thought uneasily. 
 " Isn t there enough ? " 
 
 "Too much or too little as you please to 
 look at it," said I, frankly. " I tell you, Mister 
 Lorimer, you disappoint me. I make no ques 
 tion of the truth of what you say, and it ex 
 plains much that has puzzled me. But you re 
 keeping something back. There s not enough 
 yet to account for what s happened." 
 
 As I spoke, I had turned at his lead and we 
 were retracing our way to the house. 
 
 " I have told you all I may," says he, dog 
 gedly, "and my discretion is exhausted. If 
 there s more behind it, it s none of my affair 
 and much less yours. And if I were you, Mis 
 ter Hunt, I d be content with such explanation 
 as lay in my way." 
 
 There was a harsh emphasis in his voice, and 
 I said no more, but my wits were busy with 
 surmises. We entered the house in silence, 
 and as we passed into the library the Colonel 
 was just appearing from the hall. 
 126
 
 XII 
 
 THE ADVENT OF MISTER HAWK 
 
 I NEVER think of that straight figure in the 
 doorway, without a pang of pity for the 
 grief that lay upon his drawn face as he looked 
 at us. I heard my watch tick as we waited 
 for him to speak, and presently Lorimer walked 
 over to him. The Colonel looked him through 
 as he approached, and there was that in the old 
 man s face that set the younger trembling and 
 made his eyes shift. 
 
 "Lorimer," said he, "God forgive me, I 
 have done wrong ! But I did not know the 
 truth ! 
 
 And as the other made no answer, he went 
 on. 
 
 " You ve been near to me in time past," 
 says he, " now tell me this : Is there any blood 
 on your hands ? 
 
 Lorimer seemed relieved at the manner of 
 the question, and looked the Colonel squarely 
 in the face. 
 
 127
 
 Forward House 
 
 "No," said he. " As I stand here, I had 
 no part in it." 
 
 "And perhaps you can tell me," says the 
 old man, trembling, "where is Harry For 
 ward?" 
 
 But Lorimer s eyes drooped at that, and he 
 shook his head. 
 
 " And I thank heaven that you cannot," said 
 the Colonel, so I knew he at least suspected the 
 truth. 
 
 He asked no more questions, but passed 
 across to me. 
 
 "Mister Hunt," said he, and held out his 
 hand, " you did not know my son Richard 
 you knew one Nicholson who lived a night and 
 a day, and where he came from, God alone 
 may tell. But of him who lies in there, noth 
 ing but good, nothing but good. He died 
 like the brave man he was, and by the grace of 
 his Maker he has gone where brave men go." 
 
 He turned away with his voice breaking, 
 but pulled himself proudly together in the next 
 breath. 
 
 " Lorimer," said he, " I shall carry out his 
 wishes to the letter, and if God is good to me, 
 I shall bring her back. Meanwhile do you 
 and Mister Hunt watch here in my stead, for 
 I trust you both." 
 
 128
 
 The Advent of Mister Hawk 
 
 And with no more words he left the room 
 and we heard him pass out of the house. Then, 
 by a common impulse, Lorimer and I turned 
 to the hall. 
 
 There was no need to look twice at the stiff 
 figure and the sunken face, to see that Richard 
 Forward s business was done. From his ap 
 pearance and the pathetic effort that had been 
 made to compose the dead man s limbs and 
 features, I judged the change had come some 
 time ago. How long his father had stayed there 
 with him after life had gone, we could not tell, 
 but the clothes had been tenderly smoothed 
 and the body looked as if already prepared for 
 burial. 
 
 Together we lifted the stretcher, and carried 
 the body to the room that had been Dick s, 
 and laid him on his own bed. As I was open 
 ing the window shutters, I heard the clatter of 
 horses hoofs, and Colonel Forward and one 
 of his men rode past on their way out of the 
 grounds. 
 
 At that sound Lorimer pushed past me to 
 the window, and stood looking down the drive. 
 And as he watched the receding figure of his 
 master, his eyes shone with excitement. Pres 
 ently he drew back and turned again to me. 
 
 " I wonder at his hardihood," said he. 
 129
 
 Forward House 
 
 " His years sit light enough when there s a 
 man s work to do." 
 
 " He seems a brave old gentleman," I ven 
 tured. 
 
 "You may well say that," said he, "but 
 he needs it all this day, and may he be put 
 in the way of what he seeks." 
 
 "And that? " I asked. 
 
 " And that," says he after me, "is first of 
 all forgiveness;" and suddenly fell silent 
 again with his face to the window, and began 
 crying softly like a girl. 
 
 I would have left him then, but he called on 
 me to stay and when he had pulled himself 
 together, he followed me from the room. 
 
 But that excursion to the dead man s room 
 had sapped his nerve. He stuck at ray elbow 
 in the passageway, and gave the dark corners 
 a wide berth and a furtive glance as we passed. 
 
 He drew a deep breath of relief when we got 
 back to the library. 
 
 " I m for a drink," says he, " and if you ll 
 be persuaded ? 
 
 He brought two glasses and a bottle of whis 
 key, and in some tedious fashion the forenoon 
 wore away, and when the sunlight began creep 
 ing in at the western windows we were still 
 there. 
 
 no
 
 The Advent of Mister Hawk 
 
 Lorimer sat the greater part of the while 
 sunk in a sullen study, and with a great and 
 growing irritation at my attempts to stir him. 
 Twice, indeed, I had essayed to leave the 
 room, but each time he had detained me. 
 And as I got on my feet for the third time, 
 
 " For God s sake," said he, impatiently, 
 " sit down and stay where you are. Do you 
 think I m sticking here without a method? " 
 
 He pulled out his watch and sat frowning 
 at it. 
 
 "They ll be here soon," said he, " or I ll 
 know they have sailed away with a very stiff 
 old gentleman and if that is so, God stay by 
 him in such hands." 
 
 He had scarcely spoken when a distant sound 
 caught his ear and he listened attentively. 
 Then he got up with a sigh of satisfaction and 
 passed across to the window. A moment after 
 I was beside him, at his call, and together we 
 watched three visitors coming up the drive. 
 Well in the van was the Colonel s man afoot, 
 and behind him, on his own and his master s 
 horses, rode two strange men. They were a 
 good deal muffled for the day, I thought, but 
 one of them, in particular, attracted my notice 
 by the studied concealment of his face. He 
 wore a soft felt hat pulled well down over his
 
 Forward House 
 
 forehead, a great pair of green goggles at his 
 eyes, and a coarse black beard and mustache 
 that covered the lower part of his face. 
 
 When the trio had reached the point opposite 
 us, this man swung himself from his horse and 
 approached the house alone. Lorimer met him 
 on the threshold of the side door. 
 
 "You are Mister Lorimer?" the stranger 
 asked, brusquely. 
 
 " I am," says my companion, bluntly, " and 
 I could give you a name if I didn t sicken at 
 thought of what it should be. 
 
 But if the other was dashed at this impu 
 dence, he made no sign. 
 
 " Nevermind," said he, contemptuously, "I 
 come from a very civil old gentleman whose 
 example is lost upon his servants, it seems. 
 Show me the room." 
 
 " By what authority? " asked Lorimer, quite 
 white with anger, but got no further, for the 
 stranger was chuckling behind his beard, which 
 flopped from side to side as he moved. 
 
 " You waste time," says he, at length, " and 
 you only prolong your master s discomfort. 
 Take me where that dead man is if you ve 
 such a thing on the premises. Don t be a fool, 
 Mister Lorimer, and let s get the business done 
 with." 
 
 132
 
 Advent of Mister Hawk 
 
 Lorimer wheeled about to me. 
 
 " Come with us," he commanded, and 
 passed out of the room. The stranger did not 
 once glance my way, and I fell in behind 
 them. 
 
 We entered Dick s room in the same order, 
 and Lorimer went straight to the bed and 
 pulled down the sheet that covered the dead 
 man s face. 
 
 "You may cover him again," said the 
 stranger, coolly, after a glance. "I am satis 
 fied." 
 
 All this time he had not removed his hat, but 
 the cause was so manifest that I had scarcely 
 noticed it as a rudeness, and I thought Lorimer 
 was no more awake to resenting it than I. And 
 as the man turned from the bed, he faced me for 
 the first time, and on the instant sprang back 
 with a little cry. It was the impulse of a man 
 suddenly startled beyond self-control, and a sec 
 ond afterward he was as indifferent as you please. 
 But the action was not lost upon Lorimer, who 
 looked keenly at each of us in turn, and my 
 own surprise was not less than his. 
 
 " You ve met a friend," says he to our guest, 
 sneeringly ; and then to me, " Do you know 
 him, Mister Hunt?" 
 
 At my name the man started again, and 
 
 33
 
 Forward House 
 
 though I shook my head in reply to Lorimer s 
 question, something in the stranger s manner 
 sent a shiver of apprehension down my spine. 
 As for him, he was plainly demoralized at the 
 incident, and he concealed his agitation only 
 lamely. He started for the door without fur 
 ther ceremony, but Lorimer quickly blocked 
 his way. 
 
 " It may be against orders," said he, grimly, 
 "but by God, you shan t leave the room till 
 you ve shown your face to us. Off with that 
 trumpery ! and as the fellow made no sign 
 of complying, Lorimer strode up to him, and 
 with the quickness of a cat, ripped off the soft 
 hat, the green goggles, and lastly the coarse 
 false beard that hid his face. And in the shock 
 of that disclosure I stood aghast, for, naked of 
 disguise, stood a man whose name had not been 
 on my lips and whose face I had not looked 
 upon for more than twenty years. And if you 
 ask me who he was, it serves my present pur 
 pose to say no more of him than this : He had 
 been my friend and I had been his in that 
 earlier time, and chance had drifted us apart. 
 In the light of what I was to learn before he 
 left Forward House, I could wish that the same 
 chance had kept our paths divergent to the end. 
 But in the moment that we faced each other,
 
 The Advent of Mister Hawk 
 
 youth touched my heart, and the years he had 
 been lost to me were as nothing. 
 
 When he saw the look in my face, the anger 
 melted in him, and he paid no heed to Lori- 
 mer. He came on with outstretched arms. 
 
 " John," said he, impulsively, " I had not 
 thought to see you again. Will you touch the 
 unclean thing I am, for old times sake? Be 
 lieve me, this is when a man s sins are hell to 
 him." 
 
 And for answer my hands were on his shoul 
 ders. I had not said a word, when Lorimer, 
 who was watching us with amazement, threw 
 back his head with a boisterous laugh. 
 
 " So you ve found a friend, Mister Hawk," 
 says he. " Well, you drop in soft places, but 
 you ll drop on nothing, one of these days, and 
 that will surprise both your heels and your 
 neck." 
 
 My hands fell to my sides again, and I took 
 a step back. I stared at them both, and Lori 
 mer read my look. 
 
 "What," says he, "you don t know him, 
 then ? The Hawk, " he added, with a slight 
 emphasis ; and I took another step back, for in 
 my day the mention of that name in my part of 
 the world made goose-flesh of a brave man, and 
 pulp of a coward. No outlaw on land or sea
 
 Forward House 
 
 carried such terror to lonely places as " The 
 Hawk," and it was a fortune to any man who 
 should bring him in sight of a jail. But who 
 he was or had been, none knew, and even 
 among his men, it was said, he was known only 
 as "Mister Hawk." These things I knew, 
 but that I had lived to throw my arms about 
 him and welcome him as the dearest friend of 
 my life, left me stupid with astonishment. 
 
 "You," said I, stammering, " The Hawk? 
 No, no, Mister Lorimer, you re mistaken. This 
 man is " 
 
 But the visitor raised his hand and voice in 
 protest. 
 
 " You are both right," said he, wearily, " I 
 am Mister Hawk to all but you, John Hunt, 
 and that other name you and I will keep be 
 tween us. It has slipped from me with every 
 other good thing, long ago. And the only 
 kindness you can do me now is to seal your 
 lips upon it for the sake of those who have for 
 gotten me." 
 
 The man has long since passed to his reckon 
 ing after the disgraceful manner of his kind, 
 but the name that halted on my lips that day 
 has never since passed them, and never shall. 
 
 We went back to the library, Lorimer still 
 dazed, and Mister Hawk threw himself into a 
 136
 
 The Advent of Mister Hawk 
 
 chair. He seemed to have quite recovered his 
 coolness. 
 
 "Mister Lorimer," said he, jauntily, "my 
 attitude means weariness. It is customary 
 among gentlemen " 
 
 " Take it," said Lorimer, gruffly, handing 
 him the bottle and pushing a glass across the 
 table ; take it but excuse me ! 
 
 " You ll not drink with me ? " says Mister 
 Hawk, with the air of one much hurt. "As 
 you please, man, but you re the loser. I ve 
 heard of your master s liquors before this." 
 
 But Lorimer got up in dudgeon and stalked 
 out of the room, slamming the door after him. 
 
 "A surly fellow," said the other, easily, 
 and poured himself a drink. His manner re 
 pelled me, and I was beginning to regret my 
 impulsive welcome of him. He saw the change 
 and it sobered him. 
 
 " Hunt," said he, " until ten minutes ago I 
 had thought myself beyond the touch of a good 
 impulse, and here I find myself dumb in your 
 presence lest I add your loathing to the rest of 
 my burden. Let us think of what I was not 
 what I am." 
 
 " God knows I have no wish to read you a 
 lecture," said I. "I am helpless at the ab 
 surdity of the situation. I cannot square the 
 
 37
 
 Forward House 
 
 man I knew with the monstrous villain that 
 rumor makes you." 
 
 He flushed a little and laughed uneasily. 
 
 "You re damned lavish of words," said he, 
 with some show of irritation. "There aren t 
 many men who d call me a monstrous villain 
 to my face." 
 
 "And fewer yet," I answered, tartly, " who 
 would own your friendship before a witness." 
 
 " There s something in that," he answered, 
 dryly. " Auld lang syne allows an extrava 
 gance of expression both ways. 
 
 The truth is, that left alone, we were both 
 uncomfortable and embarrassed and I was 
 glad when he presently said he must be off; yet 
 there was something I ached to ask him and 
 he gave me an opening. 
 
 " Hunt," said he, "I shall always regret it 
 hereafter if I don t give you a chance to tell 
 me how you happen here and what you are 
 doing." 
 
 So I gave him a digest of the day and a half, 
 much as I have set it down here, and he heard 
 me through to the end. 
 
 "And now that you ve made the move," 
 said I, " I ll tell you that I m travelling on the 
 outskirts of this business and you can clear it 
 up."
 
 The Advent of Mister Hawk 
 
 His whole manner changed. 
 
 Be advised," said he, seriously, "and 
 stay on the outskirts." 
 
 " Is that quite disinterested, Mister Hawk? " 
 I asked and he was silent for a minute or two. 
 
 " My lieutenant was Richard Forward," 
 said he, " and I ll say no more than that." 
 
 " I had guessed that much," I answered. 
 " What was the woman s rank? " 
 
 He set his glass upon the table. 
 
 " No more of that," he growled, and with a 
 look that made me shiver at his possibilities. 
 " If you re fool enough to be travelling on that 
 line, I m bound to set you right. I never saw 
 the girl before last night, but I ll hear no harm 
 of her. Now ask your questions, and I ll be 
 frank with you, for when I turn my back on 
 Forward House to-day, I shall have seen the 
 last of it and you. What do you want to 
 know?" 
 
 What brought that man here on his lawless 
 errand ? " I asked, stoutly. 
 
 He sat quite still for some minutes, as if 
 weighing the whole matter. And then : 
 
 " He came, first of all," says he, quietly, " for 
 his wife. And she knows nothing of his dis 
 graceful deeds and I know all." He stopped 
 and hesitated before continuing. "He loved
 
 Forward House 
 
 the woman and wanted to cut loose from the 
 bad. That was what he wanted. Another 
 man who knew these things, saw an advantage, 
 and used it. So Richard Forward came for 
 the fortune that lies in his father s secret, to 
 buy his peace from those who held that knowl 
 edge over him. And he knew it was shame 
 and exposure and degradation, and very likely 
 death for him not to get it because the other 
 man owed him a grudge and was never known 
 to show mercy to anyone." 
 
 His voice was a whisper when he finished, 
 and he evaded my eyes. But his meaning was 
 so clear that I got up with a gesture of disgust. 
 
 " Another man, " said I, quoting him. 
 " Another man and you re that other man. 
 And you tell me that you have dropped as low 
 as that ? 
 
 "It s all in the point of view," he replied, 
 with a sigh, "I held the cards and forced 
 him." 
 
 " And you would have betrayed your own 
 comrade," said I, " and turned him over to the 
 hangman if he hadn t done this thing ? " 
 
 " Excuse me," he answered, reddening, 
 " we need not go so far as that." 
 
 "As you please," I said, "and I give you 
 the benefit of a small doubt." 
 140
 
 The Advent of Mister Hawk 
 
 "I m afraid," said he, with an assumption 
 of ease that his white face belied, " I m afraid, 
 Mister Hunt, that we ve reached the fork of 
 the road. I m sorry I had to tell you, for I 
 should like to leave you with a hand-shake, but 
 never mind that, and see that you mind this : 
 Molly Forward is never to know the truth, 
 
 and if any man shall undeceive her, I ll 
 
 he brought his fist down on the table with a 
 crash. "As for me," he went on, ironically, 
 " that you may think of me as badly as possi 
 ble, I tell you I came here to-day to satisfy my 
 self that Dick was not playing me a trick. 
 
 He got up, and with a hand that shook in 
 spite of him, adjusted the grotesque disguises 
 that Lorimer had torn from his face, and start 
 ed for the door ; with his hand at the latch, he 
 hesitated and turned back. 
 
 Well John?" he asked. 
 
 "Go," said I, turning from him. "My 
 eyes are tainted w ith the sight of you. " 
 
 And with a little sigh, he passed out and I 
 saw him no more, but presently I heard their 
 horses on the drive. 
 
 141
 
 XIII 
 
 I MEET MRS. FORWARD AND MY STORY ENDS 
 
 I SAT there thinking of that strange interview 
 until the room grew dark and Lorimer 
 came in with a lighted lamp. And I have this 
 to say for the man s delicacy that neither 
 then with his anger hot upon him, nor at any 
 time afterward did he twit me with being 
 Hawk s friend. He looked worn and anx 
 ious, and barely noticed my presence, but his 
 eyes kindled at what he saw upon the table, 
 and he picked up the glass that Mister Hawk 
 had drunk from, and threw it from the win 
 dow into the road. Then he fell to pacing the 
 floor. I did not interrupt him, and he finally 
 stopped before me. 
 
 " Hunt," he burst out with the thought that 
 was uppermost in both our minds, "if he 
 hadn t been under truce and with the Colonel 
 and Molly aboard his vile ship, I d have done 
 for him here." 
 
 I made no comment, and he went on.
 
 / Meet Mrs. Forward and My Story Ends 
 
 " Do you wonder," says he, "that I feared 
 for the old man s safety in those hands ? Do 
 you wonder that I tremble when I think of him 
 and Molly in the power of that villain? " 
 
 The man was so wrought upon by the sus 
 pense of waiting that I tried to reassure him, 
 and I told him what the stranger had said of 
 Molly. He was relieved at that, but as the 
 evening wore away and nothing was heard 
 from the pair, his nervousness returned. The 
 clouds had gathered at nightfall, and a driz 
 zling rain set in during the evening which add 
 ed to our dreariness. About nine o clock 
 Lorimer left me, and I heard him talking with 
 one of his men in the next room, and they 
 shortly went out together. 
 
 I saw them from the window crossing the 
 lawn with a lantern, and they disappeared in 
 a clump of trees a little way from the house. 
 But the blur of their light came through the 
 rain to me, and I watched it there stationary 
 for a long time. 
 
 While I was still looking at it, Lorimer came 
 in alone. His rubber coat was blotched with 
 mud, and he looked warm, but the anxious 
 look had gone from his face and in its place 
 there was excitement. 
 
 " They re coming," says he, eagerly ; " and 
 
 143
 
 Forward House 
 
 now, Mister Hunt, you ll not take this amiss 
 from me all things considered?" and pick 
 ing up the lamp, bade me follow him. 
 
 He led me straight to Dick s room, and 
 stopped by the bed. 
 
 "It s the last time," he said, sorrowfully, 
 and I understood him. 
 
 And when I turned away, he followed me 
 from the room. But he took the lead once we 
 were in the hall again, and instead of returning 
 to the library, began ascending the stairs and 
 bade me follow. He did not stop on the first 
 landing, but kept on to the top of the house, 
 and close on his heels I entered a bed-room at 
 the end of the hall. 
 
 " This will be your room," said he, lighting 
 a candle on the dressing - table, and retiring 
 quickly to the door. And before I could re 
 ply to him, he was gone and I heard his steps 
 echoing down the long passage. 
 
 I was chagrined and disappointed, for I had 
 hoped to see the Colonel s home-coming, and 
 more than all else, to see her. But I was tired, 
 too, and I went to bed and slept, and no 
 sound was great enough in the house that 
 night to disturb the heavy slumber that fol 
 lowed my exhaustion. 
 
 The sunshine in my face brought me out of 
 
 144
 
 / Meet Mrs. Forward and My Story Ends 
 
 bed in the morning, and from my window I 
 saw the sea, and no speck on its broad surface. 
 While I stood looking there came a timid 
 knock at my door, and a woman s voice fol 
 lowed it with the announcement of breakfast. 
 And then I knew that order again reigned in 
 Forward House ; but when the servants re 
 turned, or how, I do not to this day know. 
 
 I dressed and went downstairs. Lorimer 
 was in the library and advanced upon me with 
 a shining face. 
 
 "They are come," said he, "and that 
 chapter s done with, thank God ! Now let s 
 get into the air, for there s one thing to show 
 you yet, and a word or two to say besides be 
 fore you become one of the family." 
 
 I looked at him inquiringly. 
 
 " It s the old man s wish," said he. 
 " You re to stay here anyway until your own 
 house can be rebuilt." 
 
 I flushed a little. 
 
 "I m not : I began, stiffly. 
 
 " Damn your pride," he broke in. " You ve 
 got to stay somewhere. 
 
 He seized my arm and hurried me from 
 the room. When we got outside, he went 
 on. 
 
 " And if he never speaks of this thing 
 
 H5
 
 Forward House 
 
 again," said he, " it s his way, man it s his 
 way. Take him as he is." 
 
 He was leading me out through the trees, 
 and presently we came to a knoll where the 
 earth had been lately disturbed. 
 
 "And there lies Dick," says he, coming 
 to a halt. 
 
 " Good God," said I, with a start. " And 
 did you bury him like a dog, then ? 
 
 "Indeed," said he, with a show of spirit, 
 " I ve seen many as good a man as he go un 
 der with less ceremony and few are so hon 
 estly mourned." 
 
 "But no rites," I urged. "No clergy 
 man 
 
 "Excuse me," said he, dryly. "Have I 
 then disguised myself so completely ? I have 
 taken holy orders myself, Mister Hunt, and I 
 was the Colonel s chaplain for some years be 
 fore he brought me here." 
 
 " You ? " I exclaimed. 
 
 "I," he answered, but he reddened at the 
 amazement in my voice. " And I see what 
 sticks in your throat. But if I let slip an oath 
 now and then that s the most artificial of 
 sins. It was all quite regular, Mister Hunt, I 
 assure you. And now," he added with a sud 
 den change of manner, "let me tell you an- 
 
 146
 
 / Meet Mrs. Forward and My Story Ends 
 
 other thing. I not only buried poor Dick last 
 night, but I married him to Molly Bridgman, 
 there in the library, three months ago. Before 
 he died, Dick told his father of the marriage, 
 but he would not tell who married them, and 
 there are reasons why I am glad to leave the 
 Colonel in ignorance for the present." 
 
 We had turned again to the house, and as 
 we reached the door he held me back. 
 
 "One thing more," he said, "and this is 
 for the good of us all. No word of Harry s 
 part in this business has been dropped, but the 
 old man is no fool. For his own sake, let 
 Harry s name be forgotten. Never speak it be 
 fore his father, and if I may ask as much for 
 myself, never mention him to me. He is 
 gone, and if I know him, he will not show his 
 hateful face here again." 
 
 I did not see the Colonel until next day, and 
 if I had reckoned on taking him up where I 
 Jeft him, my disappointment had been great. 
 From that day to this, much as I have been 
 with him, his speech has never touched upon 
 that wretched time. But I stayed in his house 
 for weeks, and though I have never forsworn 
 the habits of a lifetime, which have made me 
 a hermit, I got a great fondness for the brave 
 old gentleman while I lived under his roof, 
 147
 
 Forward House 
 
 and for Lorimer but most of all for Molly 
 Forward. 
 
 For some days after that night, she kept to 
 her room, but when I entered the library one 
 morning, perhaps a week later, I saw a woman 
 standing before the fire. Her back was toward 
 me, and I would have retreated, but she had 
 heard me in the hall and turned at my en 
 trance, and I stood face to face with Molly 
 Forward. Every detail of that fair picture is 
 stamped upon my mind to this day the slender 
 height of her graceful figure, more graceful for 
 the rigid simplicity of the black gown and the 
 absence of ornament the refined face with its 
 sensitive and delicate features and the deep 
 blue eyes, and the golden hair above it all. I 
 thought then as I have thought since, that she 
 was the loveliest woman I had ever seen. 
 
 She was quite alone as I entered the room, 
 and I bowed clumsily and made as if to leave 
 her ; but she took a step forward and lifted a 
 hand. 
 
 " You are Mister Hunt? " she said, in the 
 voice that had so thrilled me when I last heard 
 it. " Pray do not go I shall not wait for my 
 father to present you," and she advanced and 
 gave me her hand. 
 
 She showed no embarrassment no sign of 
 
 148
 
 / Meet Mrs. Forward and My Story Ends 
 
 consciousness that she had ever spoken with me 
 before, and though I am little used to women, 
 her gentle ways would have put a savage at his 
 ease. 
 
 " Mrs. Forward," I began, and got no 
 further. She was looking me frankly in the 
 eyes, but at sound of my voice she turned her 
 face away, and I felt the hand that lay in mine 
 tremble. I said no more, for I knew what had 
 come to her. 
 
 "You must forgive me," she said, after a 
 moment s silence. " I am not very brave 
 and it is all so near. I was not sure until 
 you spoke." 
 
 And when she looked at me again, her eyes 
 were brimming with tears. 
 
 So much for those with whom my lot was 
 cast at that strange time, and with whom, 
 please God, it shall be linked in some measure 
 for all time to come. But of Harry, no 
 vaguest word has ever reached me, and I choose 
 to remember him as I last saw him throwing 
 his sword from him with that quick gesture of 
 disgust, and striding away over the fields for 
 then, at least, I think he was sorry. 
 
 149
 
 New Novels and Short Stories. 
 
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