"Twas I brought the News of Richard"s death to my Uncle James. Was sitting in the Library pretending for to read.
Then came I in, and clos"d the Door, and said:
"_Richard is dead._" How the man star"d! Had a ruddy face, very Handsome. Before my eyes it pal"d and pinch"d. I said again: "Don"t you understand? _Richard is dead._"
As a tree falls, he fell. I knew his Time was come, and gently I rais"d him. He claw"d at his Breast and mouth"d "Richard--Freeman--Pocket-book--The Key, the Key!" Look"d at me piteously. "Twould melt one"s Heart to see his Eyes.
I did thrust my hand into the breast of his blue Broad-cloath Coat, and draw forth his Pocket-Book. "Twas in Dark Green leather, & upon it the Arms of our House. There were bank-notes in"t, some silver, two or three folded papers, and one in a small silk Cover, put by itself. I saw his Fading Eyes brighten as I held it up. He maw"d, "Key--Freeman--" and puff"d with his Lips, and fell Unconscious. I slipt the Book back into his breast, put the silk-covered paper in mine own, and ran out of the Room, Calling Loudly for help.
He dy"d that Night. And when I look"d at the "Key" "twas naught but a silly Verse. Yet I was doubtful of Giving it to Freeman. Instead, I did show it to old s...o...b...
"I will ask my Snake if he knows anything of Keyes," said s...o...b... And remembering the Overseer, I did not smile, but gave him the Paper. I like not to think of s...o...b.."s Snake.
Then buried we mine Uncle in the Hynds tomb and my Aunt was left to wander ghostlike, seeking for what she should never find.--Oh, why did not they leave Richard and me alone!
I repent not. But I am Troubled because of Richard who comes in the Night and looks at me, and asks, without anger, only with Sorrow, "_Was it well done, Jessamine?_" I answer, weeping; "Richard, it was to be. You made me Love you, Richard, and you put me by. For which Cause, and for that their Pride was beyond Bearing, did I pull down the Roof of Hynds House over their heads, and these my Hands did push you into your Grave. But go you back to Sleep, my dearest Dear. I shall Find mine Own Grave shortly, and then I shall be able to come closer to you. When I am Dead, Richard, you will understand."
Sometimes he will go, looking at me over his Sholder with Eyes so sad that for Pity I must weep mine own eyes Blind.
But sometimes he will say, in a Voice none may hear but me: "Cruel, cruel Jessamine! You shall not come near me even when you are Dead: You shall be Farther from me than when we two walk"d Quick under the Sun. Never, never did you truly Love me: I know, the Dead being Wiser than the Living! "T is Emily Lov"d me truest."
And oh, thou awful, far-off G.o.d, I cannot make him Understand! And unless I can make him understand, I am lost!
My misery, my misery! He will not listen. I am dying of this thing!
Now did s...o...b.."s Death-in-Life come upon him once more, and for a day and a night he lay Stark. And in the Sleep his Snake came and show"d him the untying of the Knot, and the Turning of the Keye. In proof whereof s...o...b.. took me by the hand & Show"d me the Watcher in the Darke.
"Do but one thing more for me, old s...o...b..: Put out the Fire in my Brain, s...o...b.., for I would Sleep. And I would Sleep here, in Secret, where none but the Watcher may see."
For a while he ponder"d, Watching of me with still eyes.
"Not good to stay awake too long. You shall Sleep," he said.
Last night he Brought me the Pinch of Powder that is an Open Door. To what? I know not. But I go without Fear, because without Hope. So shall I sleep in the secret Chamber, and it maybe I shall Dream that Richard lightly Lov"d and as lightly Left me. Whereof Richard Died. And, that Freeman thinks his Brother Guilty and a Thief: A Hynds a Thief! so that Hynds House hangs Heavy above his head. And that Emily begins to Hate Freeman, who Loves her. She thinks he hath play"d Judas. I shall have Pleasant dreams!
Never shall they Find where s...o...b.. hid the Gems, between a night and a morning. Never shall any look upon my face more, nor read what I have written, nor know what I have done. I repent not, O G.o.d! What I am I am, Not I but Thou hast created me! Having liv"d mine own Life, I do die mine Own Death.
JESSAMINE HYNDS.
"This is the Horror that we have--felt!" I babbled. "She"s been sitting here--by herself--all the time--" and my voice failed me, remembering that dark and anguished sense of guilt and ruin, of unease and terror, that at times fell upon one in the night like a smothering garment. Cold drops came upon my forehead, when I reflected that we had been living under the same roof with This, and we all unknowing. And I began to whimper: "I cannot stay even one night more under the same roof with her. I cannot! I cannot!"
"Sophy," said Nicholas Jelnik"s quiet voice, "I brought you here because I relied upon your courage, your common sense, and your charity."
I gulped. In the most matter-of-fact manner, he gave me another whiff of that incomparable perfume, and I felt my taut nerves steady. Not untruthfully had the Coptic physician claimed magic qualities for that perfume.
Mr. Jelnik said gently: "Had you been other than you are, I would not have dared call you to my aid to-night. But when I discovered the real thief--and she Jessamine Hynds--I could not bear that any other eyes than yours should see her as she is. And--I want you to be with me when I find the jewels."
The jewels? I blinked at him. Immersed in the tragedy of the woman Jessamine, her piteous fate had put all thought of everything save herself out of my mind.
"s...o...b.. hid them, between a night and a morning. s...o...b.. brought her here, between a night and a morning. Where should the jewels be but here?"
At his words the grim and mocking ghost of that terrible old African, who had been whipped for falling into trances, and who had so tragically revenged himself and his slighted mistress, seemed to rise behind all that remained of her.
"Yes, he would put them where she could keep watch over them. Why should she come here, make her way through those dreadful pa.s.sages, save for that? Think of her stealing out of her room in the dead of night, coming alive to what she knew was her tomb, shutting that door upon herself--" I looked at the tarnished cup, and hoped that the witch doctor"s potion had given her a speedy sleep. I looked at the blackened candelabrum, and wondered whether that candle had gone out before she had, or whether her head had fallen upon her arm, and she had died wide-eyed in the black, black dark. The cold grue shook me again, and I beat my hands together for terror and pity.
"Do not think of that!" said Mr. Jelnik. "Death rectifies human wrongs, and all of them have long, long since been healed of their hurts. Come, let us find the jewels. We are losing time."
We opened the cabinets first. They held papers that had been precious in their day--old deeds, old charters and grants, with the king"s seals and the signatures of the Lords Proprietors upon them; correspondence, a casual glance at which showed Revolutionary activities--a hanging matter once, but harmless enough now; a box of foreign coins, all gold; a charge, in medieval Latin, on fine parchment, which exquisitely illuminated initial letters; a plain silver chalice and a patten; some threadbare robes and regalia, and a gavel; a most carefully done chart of the Hynds family, ending, however, with Colonel James Hampden Hynds himself; two letters, and a miniature of Charles the First; letters signed, "Yours, B.
Franklin," "Yours, John Hanc.o.c.k"; several from "Geo. Washington."
The chest held two uniforms, one British, the other buff and blue; a pair of pistols, spurs, and a sword. The buff-and-blue uniform was worn and stained, with a burnt and ragged hole in the breast. It had belonged, said the slip pinned to it, to "Captain Lewis De Lacy Hynds, my youngest Brother, the youngest of our House, who Fell Gloriously at the Battle of Cowpens."
And that was all. Although we examined every inch of that floor, every board of the walls, and made the most scrupulously careful search of the cabinets and the chest. I even dared pa.s.s my hands over Jessamine herself.
s...o...b.. the witch doctor had done the unexpected. Wherever he might have hidden them between a night and a morning, he had not hidden the Hynds jewels in the secret room of Hynds House. And she who alone could have solved the mystery and told us the truth, lay there with a lipless mouth.
CHAPTER XVII
ON THE KNEES OF THE G.o.dS
We gave over the futile search at last. Mr. Jelnik sat down and took his head in his hands, for the moment a prey to overwhelming disappointment. I could have wept for him. Presently:
"Is it so hard to lose that which you never possessed?" I ventured to ask.
"It is always bitter to fail."
"But you haven"t really failed. You have succeeded in proving that both Richard and Freeman were the victims of an insane jealousy and a terrible revenge."
"Jessamine"s confession might well be set aside: insane people often accuse themselves of crimes committed only in their own disordered brains. The one indisputable proof would be the jewels in my hands."
He added, with a faint smile: "I should have liked to see those accursed things made clean by your wearing them, Sophy."
"I don"t want them!" I said, and my head went up. "I don"t care _that_ for all the Hynds jewels ever lost! I wouldn"t have come here to-night for their sake or mine, not if they were worth an empire"s ransom! I wanted them for Richard"s sake, and--and yours."
"I know, I know. At first I wanted them for him and me, too.
Afterward I wanted them for him and for you, Sophy."
"For me? _I_ have no right to them. What have _I_ to do with Hynds jewels?" And then I stopped. If Jessamine"s confession were true--and I believed in my heart that every word Jessamine had written was the truth--what right had I to Hynds House itself? "As to that, I have no right to Hynds House, either. It is yours," I said.
He stared at me thoughtfully.
"It is yours," I repeated, gaining courage. "I am an outsider, to whom this house was left from motives of malice and revenge. Mr.
Jelnik, this thing must be set straight. We will show Jessamine"s confession and clear Richard"s name. We will bring Freeman"s diary forward to prove the truth of our a.s.sertions. Then you can come into your own."
"Ah!" said Mr. Jelnik, gently, "I see. Quite simple, and perfectly feasible. And after I have taken Hynds House, what of you? What do you get?"
"I get out," I said briefly. And a horrid qualm came over me. Leave Hynds House, forever? Go away from Hyndsville, leaving this friendlier, pleasanter, happier life behind?
"You are forgetting my training," I reminded him, trying to keep my voice steady. "I can always do what I did before I came here. I--I"m really an excellent private secretary, Mr. Jelnik."