His wandering gaze fell on the open writing desk, which in his misery he had forgotten to close. He went to it and shut down the lid.
Then he pa.s.sed out of the room, took his hat from the rack in the hall, opened the front door, pa.s.sed out, closed it behind him, and left the house forever.
Outside was pandemonium. The illuminations in the windows had died down, but the streets were full of revelers, too much exhilarated as yet to retire, even if they had any place to retire to; for on that summer night many visitors to the inauguration chose to stay out in the open air until morning rather than to leave the city and lose the show.
Once again the hum and buzz of many voices was broken by a shrill cry of:
"Hooray for Rothsay!" which was taken up by the chorus and echoed and re-echoed from one end to the other of the city, and from earth to sky.
Poor Rothsay himself pa.s.sed out upon the sidewalk, unrecognized in the obscurity.
An empty hack was standing at the corner of the square, a few hundred feet from the house.
To this he went, and spoke to the man on the box:
"Is this hack engaged?"
"Yes, sah, it is--took by four gents as can"t get no lodgings at none of the hotels, nor yet boarding houses--no, sah. Dere dey is ober yonder in dat dere s"loon cross de street--yes, sah. But it don"t keep open, dat s"loon don"t, longer"n twelve o"clock--no, sah. It"s mos" dat now, so dey"ll soon call for dis hack--yes, sah!"
Rothsay left the talkative hackman and pa.s.sed on.
A hand touched him on the arm.
He turned and saw old Scythia, clothed in a long, black cloak of some thin stuff, with its hood drawn over her head.
Rothsay stared.
"Come, Rule! You have tested woman"s love to-day, and found it fail you; even as I tested man"s faith in the long ago, and found it wrong me!
Come, Rule! You and I have had enough of falsehood and treachery! Let us shake the dust of civilization off our shoes! Come, Rule!"
CHAPTER VI.
THE WIDOWED BRIDE.
The amazement and confusion that followed the discovery of the mysterious disappearance of Governor-elect Regulas Rothsay, on the morning of the day of his intended inauguration, has been already described in an earlier chapter of this story.
The most searching inquiries were made in all directions without any satisfactory result.
Then advertis.e.m.e.nts were put in all the princ.i.p.al newspapers in all the chief towns and cities throughout the country, offering large rewards for any information that should lead to the discovery of the missing man or of his fate.
These in time drew forth letters from all points of the compa.s.s from people anxious to take a chance in this lottery of a reward, and who fabricated reports of the lost governor having been seen in this, that, or the other place, or of his body having been found here, there or elsewhere.
Prompt investigation proved the falsehood of these fraudulent letters in every instance.
No one really knew the fate of the missing man. No one but Cora Rothsay had even the clew to the cause of his disappearance; and she--from her sensitive pride, no less than from her sacred promise not to reveal the subject of her communicaton to her husband on that fatal evening of his flight or of his death--kept her lips sealed on that subject.
Days, weeks and months pa.s.sed away without bringing any authentic news of the lost ruler.
At length hope was given up. The advertis.e.m.e.nts were withdrawn from the papers.
Still occasionally, at long intervals of time, vague rumors reached his friends--a sailor had seen him in the streets of Rio de Janeiro; a fur trader had found him in Washington Territory; a miner had met him in California--but nothing came of all these reports.
One morning, late in December, there came some news, not of the actual fate of the governor, but of the long-lost man who had seen the last of him alive.
Despite the bitter pleading of the poor, bereaved bride, who dreaded the crowded city and desired to remain in seclusion in the country, old Aaron had removed his whole family to their town house for the winter.
They had been settled there only a few days, and were gathered around the breakfast table, when a card was brought in to Mr. Rockharrt.
""Captain Ross!" Who, in the fiend"s name, is Captain Ross? And what does he want at this early hour of the morning?" demanded the Iron King, after he had read the name on the card. Then, as he scrutinized it, he saw faintly penciled lines below the name and read:
"The late visitor who called on Governor-elect Rothsay on the evening of his disappearance."
"Show the man in the library, Jason," exclaimed old Aaron Rockharrt, rising, leaving his untasted breakfast, and striding out of the room.
In the library he found a young skipper, tall, robust, black bearded and sun burned.
"Captain Ross?" said the old man, interrogatively.
"The same, at your service, sir--Mr. Rockharrt, I presume?" said the visitor with a bow.
"That"s my name. Sit down," said the Iron King, pointing to one chair for his visitor and taking another for himself.
"So you were the last visitor to Mr. Rothsay, eh?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, can you give any information regarding the disappearance of my grandson-in-law?"
"No, sir; but learning that I had been advertised for, I have come forward."
"At rather a late date, upon my soul and honor! Where have you been all this time?"
"At sea. When I called upon Mr. Rothsay, it was to congratulate him on his position and to bid him good-by. I was on the eve of sailing for India, and, in fact, left the city by the night"s express and sailed the next morning. I think we must have been out of sight of land before the news of the governor"s disappearance was spread abroad."
"What explanation can you give of his sudden disappearance?"
"None whatever, sir."
"Then, in the demon"s name, why have you come forward at all at this time?"
"Because I was advertised for."
"That was months ago."
"But months ago I was at sea and knew nothing of the matter. I have but just returned from a long voyage, and hearing among other matters that Governor Rothsay had been missing since the day of his inauguration, that Governor Kennedy reigned in his stead, and that the latest visitor of the missing man had long been wanting, I have come."