No, he had not spoken at all. Yes, he had, for she answered him.
"I suppose they will, Lem."
"Mighty glad to have you back, Cynthy. We think a sight of you. We missed you."
"Thank you, Lem."
"Jethro hain"t lookin" for you by any chance, be he?
"No," she said. But the question startled her. Suppose he had not been at home! She had never once thought of that. Could she have borne to wait for him?
After that Lem gave it up. He had satisfied himself as to his vocal powers, but he had not the courage even to whistle. The journey to Coniston was faster in the winter, and at the next turn of the road the little village came into view. There it was, among the snows. The pain in Cynthia"s heart, so long benumbed, quickened when she saw it. How write of the sharpness of that pain to those who have never known it? The sight of every gable brought its agony,--the store with the checker-paned windows, the harness shop, the meeting-house, the white parsonage on its little hill. Rias Richardson ran out of the store in his carpet slippers, bareheaded in the cold, and gave one shout. Lem heeded him not; did not stop there as usual, but drove straight to the tannery house and pulled up under the b.u.t.ternut tree. Milly Skinner ran out on the porch, and gave one long look, and cried:--
"Good Lord, it"s Cynthy!"
"Where"s Jethro?" demanded Lem.
Milly did not answer at once. She was staring at Cynthia.
"He"s in the tannery shed," she said, "choppin" wood." But still she kept her eyes on Cynthia"s face. "I"ll fetch him."
"No," said Cynthia, "I"ll go to him there."
She took the path, leaving Millicent with her mouth open, too amazed to speak again, and yet not knowing why.
In the tannery shed! Would Jethro remember what happened there almost six and thirty years before? Would he remember how that other Cynthia had come to him there, and what her appeal had been?
Cynthia came to the doors. One of these was open now--both had been closed that other evening against the storm of sleet--and she caught a glimpse of him standing on the floor of chips and bark--tan-bark no more. Cynthia caught a glimpse of him, and love suddenly welled up into her heart as waters into a spring after a drought. He had not seen her, not heard the sound of the sleigh-bells. He was standing with his foot upon the sawbuck and the saw across his knee, he was staring at the woodpile, and there was stamped upon his face a look which no man or woman had ever seen there, a look of utter loneliness and desolation, a look as of a soul condemned to wander forever through the infinite, cold s.p.a.ces between the worlds--alone.
Cynthia stopped at sight of it. What had been her misery and affliction compared to this? Her limbs refused her, though she knew not whether she would have fled or rushed into his arms. How long she stood thus, and he stood, may not be said, but at length he put down his foot and took the saw from his knee, his eyes fell upon her, and his lips spoke her name.
"Cynthy!"
Speechless, she ran to him and flung her arms about his neck, and he dropped the saw and held her tightly--even as he had held that other Cynthia in that place in the year gone by. And yet not so. Now he clung to her with a desperation that was terrible, as though to let go of her would be to fall into nameless voids beyond human companionship and love. But at last he did release her, and stood looking down into her face, as if seeking to read a sentence there.
And how was she to p.r.o.nounce that sentence! Though her faith might be taken away, her love remained, and grew all the greater because he needed it. Yet she knew that no subterfuge or pretence would avail her to hide why she had come. She could not hide it. It must be spoken out now, though death was preferable.
And he was waiting. Did he guess? She could not tell. He had spoken no word but her name. He had expressed no surprise at her appearance, asked no reasons for it. Superlatives of suffering or joy or courage are hard to convey--words fall so far short of the feeling. And Cynthia"s pain was so far beyond tears.
"Uncle Jethro," she said, "yesterday something--something happened. I could not stay in Boston any longer."
He nodded.
"I had to come to you. I could not wait."
He nodded again.
"I--I read something." To take a white-hot iron and sear herself would have been easier than this.
"Yes," he said.
She felt that the look was coming again--the look which she had surprised in his face. His hands dropped lifelessly from her shoulders, and he turned and went to the door, where he stood with his back to her, silhouetted against the eastern sky all pink from the reflection of sunset. He would not help her. Perhaps he could not. The things were true. There had been a grain of hope within her, ready to sprout.
"I read two articles from the Newcastle Guardian about you--about your life."
"Yes," he said. But he did not turn.
"How you had--how you had earned your living. How you had gained your power," she went on, her pain lending to her voice an exquisite note of many modulations.
"Yes--Cynthy," he said, and still stared at the eastern sky.
She took two steps toward him, her arms outstretched, her fingers opening and closing. And then she stopped.
"I would believe no one," she said, "I will believe no one--until--unless you tell me. Uncle Jethro," she cried in agony, "Uncle Jethro, tell me that those things are not true!"
She waited a s.p.a.ce, but he did not stir. There was no sound, save the song of Coniston Water under the shattered ice.
"Won"t you speak to me?" she whispered. "Won"t you tell me that they are not true?"
His shoulders shook convulsively. O for the right to turn to her and tell her that they were lies! He would have bartered his soul for it.
What was all the power in the world compared to this priceless treasure he had lost? Once before he had cast it away, though without meaning to.
Then he did not know the eternal value of love--of such love as those two women had given him. Now he knew that it was beyond value, the one precious gift of life, and the knowledge had come too late. Could he have saved his life if he had listened to that other Cynthia?
"Won"t you tell me that they are not true?"
Even then he did not turn to her, but he answered. Curious to relate, though his heart was breaking, his voice was steady--steady as it always had been.
"I--I"ve seen it comin", Cynthy," he said. "I never knowed anything I was afraid of before--but I was afraid of this. I knowed what your notions of right and wrong was--your--your mother had them. They"re the principles of good people. I--I knowed the day would come when you"d ask, but I wanted to be happy as long as I could. I hain"t been happy, Cynthy. But you was right when you said I"d tell you the truth. S-so I will. I guess them things which you speak about are true--the way I got where I am, and the way I made my livin". They--they hain"t put just as they"d ought to be, perhaps, but that"s the way I done it in the main."
It was thus that Jethro Ba.s.s met the supreme crisis of his life. And who shall say he did not meet it squarely and honestly? Few men of finer fibre and more delicate morals would have acquitted themselves as well.
That was a Judgment Day for Jethro; and though he knew it not, he spoke through Cynthia to his Maker, confessing his faults freely and humbly, and dwelling on the justness of his punishment; putting not forward any good he may have done; nor thinking of it; nor seeking excuse because of the light that was in him. Had he been at death"s door in the face of nameless tortures, no man could have dragged such a confession from him.
But a great love had been given him, and to that love he must speak the truth, even at the cost of losing it.
But he was not to lose it. Even as he was speaking a thrill of admiration ran through Cynthia, piercing her sorrow. The superb strength of the man was there in that simple confession, and it is in the nature of woman to admire strength. He had fought his fight, and gained, and paid the price without a murmur, seeking no palliation. Cynthia had not come to that trial--so bitter for her--as a judge. If the reader has seen youth and innocence sitting in the seat of justice, with age and experience at the bar, he has mistaken Cynthia. She came to Coniston inexorable, it is true, because hers was a nature impelled to do right though it perish. She did not presume to say what Jethro"s lights and opportunities might have been. Her own she knew, and by them she must act accordingly.
When he had finished speaking, she stole silently to his side and slipped her hand in his. He trembled violently at her touch.
"Uncle Jethro," she said in a low tone, "I love you."
At the words he trembled more violently still.
"No, no, Cynthy," he answered thickly, "don"t say that--I--I don"t expect it, Cynthy, I know you can"t--"twouldn"t be right, Cynthy. I hain"t fit for it."
"Uncle Jethro," she said, "I love you better than I have ever loved you in my life."
Oh, how welcome were the tears! and how human! He turned, pitifully incredulous, wondering that she should seek by deceit to soften the blow; he saw them running down her cheeks, and he believed. Yes, he believed, though it seemed a thing beyond belief. Unworthy, unfit though he were, she loved him. And his own love as he gazed at her, sevenfold increased as it had been by the knowledge of losing her, changed in texture from homage to worship--nay, to adoration. His punishment would still be heavy; but whence had come such a wondrous gift to mitigate it?
"Oh, don"t you believe me?" she cried, "can"t you see that it is true?"