"Don"t be afraid, darling; you know nothing ever happens round here, and if you bring the doctor back with you it may be the means of saving Rachel"s life."
Marion made no reply, except by a glance full of meaning, and went quietly downstairs, looking back as she reached the door, and nodding at Miss Christine, who stood at the head of the stairs, holding a candle; then she opened the door, and went out into the night alone.
There were two roads which led to the village. By the road proper, on which several residences bordered, the distance was about two miles; but there was a shorter one, called the bridge road, which led through several open fields, and crossed the B---- River, which was rarely frequented except by the school-girls and farmers on their way to and from market. This road kept a perfectly straight course to the village, and although far more lonely than the other, on that account Marion chose it.
It was a perfect night; clear and cold, very cold; but of that Marion thought nothing; she had braved New England winters all her life, and was almost as hardy as a backwoodsman. The moon was full, and shone down on as lovely a scene as one would wish to see; the trees with their delicate coating of ice glistened and gleamed in its beams, as though covered with myriads of jewels, and threw their fantastic shadows on the shining snow.
Marion hurried along the road, not giving herself time for fear, until she had left the school-house some distance behind her. At any other time she would have been wildly enthusiastic over the beauty of the night; but looking at the moon from a comfortable sleigh, snugly tucked up in buffalo robes, the stillness of the night broken by the jolly jingling of bells and the laughter of merry friends, is a very different thing from contemplating it on a lonely country road, no house in sight, with your loudly beating heart for your only companion, and the hour near midnight.
At least Marion found it so; and, brave as she was, she could not keep her heart from thumping against her side, or her hands from trembling nervously, as she clasped them inside of her m.u.f.f. Every bush she pa.s.sed took some fantastic shape, and as she strained her eyes before her to make it a.s.sume some rational form, it seemed to move stealthily as if about to spring upon her; the trees appeared to be stretching out their naked branches, like long arms with ghostly fingers to clutch her as she pa.s.sed; now and then a twig, too heavily freighted with ice, would snap off and come crackling to the ground, the sudden noise making her heart stand still for an instant, only to start on again, beating more violently than before.
But still she pressed on, and soon the river, which was on the very verge of the town, gleamed before her, and she quickened her pace, thankful that so much of her journey was past; but who can describe the horror and dismay she felt, when, upon reaching its banks, she found the bridge was gone! The little river wound in and out for several miles, doubling and redoubling itself, as it flowed among the woods and fields, and was as quiet and placid a little river as ever could be, with the exception of a number of rods above and below the bridge; here its bed was filled with a quant.i.ty of rocks and stones, and the water, rushing over and between them, formed innumerable cascades and whirlpools, never freezing in the coldest weather. For some time the bridge had been considered rather unsafe, and that afternoon the workmen had taken away the floor, leaving the stays and beams still standing.
Marion looked at the skeleton frame in utter despair. There lay the town directly before her, the doctor"s house being one of the first, and the only means of getting to it were gone. To go up the bank of the river and cross on the ice seemed out of the question, for there it was bordered by thick woods, in which she could easily lose her way, and to go back, and round by the regular road would take at least an hour longer. Meanwhile Rachel might be dying, for aught she knew. She went nearer the bridge, and inspected it more closely; the railings were perfectly secure, and built upon two broad, solid beams which spanned the river; the idea came into her head to cross the river on one of the beams, holding firmly to the railing with both hands. She tied her m.u.f.f by the ta.s.sels round her neck, tightened the strings of her hood, and stepped cautiously on to the beam. It seemed a fearful undertaking; her heart almost misgave her; but the delirious cries of Rachel rang in her ears and spurred her on. Step by step, slowly and carefully, as a little child feels its way along a fence, she crept along; gaining confidence with every movement, until she reached the middle of the bridge; then she happened to look down. The black water seethed and foamed beneath her, touched into brightness here and there by the moonlight. For an instant her brain whirled, and she almost lost her balance. She shut her eyes, and with a tremendous effort of her will was herself again.
Looking up to heaven, and inwardly beseeching G.o.d to sustain her, she kept on, slowly and carefully as ever, moving first one foot then the other, with both hands still firmly clasping the railing, until at last the opposite side was reached, and she stepped upon the snow.
Her first impulse was to throw herself upon the nearest rock, for now that she had fairly crossed in safety, the extreme tension to which her nerves had been subjected relaxed itself, and she was more inclined to be alarmed at the loneliness of her situation than before. When on the bridge all her thoughts had been concentrated upon getting over safely; by force of will she had conquered her nervous fear, calling up all sorts of imaginary dangers, which disappeared before the actual danger which a.s.sailed her, and which, by presence of mind, she had been able to overcome. But she would not indulge any of her wild fancies, though they crowded themselves upon her against her will. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker as she approached the end of her walk. The shadows made by the trees and houses seemed even more gloomy than those of the open road. Once a dog, chained in the neighborhood, broke the stillness of the night by a long, mournful howl, which echoed through the air, making Marion shudder as she heard it. At last the house was reached; running up the steps she gave the bell a tremendous pull. She could hear it ring through the house; then all was still again. She waited, what seemed to her, standing there alone on the door-step, which did not even offer the friendly shadow of a porch, a very long time; then rang again, even more violently than before. In a moment she heard a window opened above, and looking up beheld a night-capped head, and the doctor"s voice asked, "What"s the row down there? Seems to me you"re in a terrible hurry."
"Some one"s sick, do let me in quick, Dr. Brown!--it"s Marion Berkley."
"Marion Berkley!" exclaimed the doctor, in astonishment. "Here, catch this key; it"s got a long string tied to it, and let yourself in; I"ll be down directly."
Marion caught the key, and in a moment unlocked the door; once inside, her strength forsook her, and she sank on the door-mat in total darkness, perfectly thankful to be in a place of safety. Pretty soon she heard a movement above, a light gleamed down the stairway, and she heard the doctor"s voice calling to some one in the back of the house to have the horse harnessed, and brought round to the door immediately.
In a few moments the doctor himself appeared, bearing a light in his hand, and exclaiming, as he made his way downstairs, "How, in the name of sense, did you come here at this time of night?"
"I walked by the road," answered Marion, her teeth chattering with nervousness.
"By the town road," said the doctor; "and who came with you?"
"I came alone, by the bridge road."
"By the bridge road!" exclaimed the doctor, stopping short, as he was putting on his great-coat. "Why, the bridge is down!"
"I didn"t know until I got to it," said Marion, wishing he would hurry, and not stop to question her; "then it was too late to go back; so I crossed on the beam."
"The devil you did!" exclaimed the doctor; then catching up the candle in one hand, he led her by the other into the dining-room. "There! just sit down there! Your hands are shaking like old Deacon Grump"s, and your teeth chatter as if they were going to drop out. Now drink every drop of that, while I go and wrap up."
While he had been talking, the doctor had gone to the sideboard, and poured out a generous gla.s.s of sherry, which he handed to Marion; she took it and drank it all. It sent a genial warmth through her trembling frame, and by the time the doctor called out to her that he was ready, she felt quite like herself.
After they were seated in the sleigh, and well tucked up with robes, the doctor said, "Well now, young lady, if it"s agreeable to you, I should like to know who is sick enough to send you chasing over country roads, across broken bridges, to rout up an old fellow like me."
"Rachel Drayton, sir," said Marion; "she"s had a bad cold for some time; this afternoon she went to bed with a terrible headache and sore throat, and now she"s in a high fever, and out of her head."
"Rachel Drayton; that"s the one with the great black eyes, isn"t it?"
said the doctor. "H"m! I remember her; very nervous sort of girl, isn"t she?"
"No, I shouldn"t think she was," replied Marion; "she has always seemed very calm and quiet; you know she"s an orphan."
"Yes, I remember her. I saw her the last time I was there. She"s just the one to be delirious with even a very slight illness."
"Then you don"t think she"s going to be very sick?" asked Marion, eagerly.
"My dear child," said the doctor, looking down at Marion, "how can I tell until I"ve seen her? But good heavens! what"s the matter with you?"
Marion had burst into a fit of laughter, and the doctor sat and looked at her in perfect amazement.
"What _is_ the matter, child? What are you laughing at?"
But Marion laughed and laughed; throwing her head down into her m.u.f.f as if to control herself, and then looking up at the doctor, and laughing harder than before.
"What"s the matter with you, child?" cried the poor man, really growing uneasy. "Have you gone crazy, or was the wine too much for you?"
"It isn"t that, doctor, but you--you--"
"What in the devil"s the matter with me, I should like to know!"
"You"ve--you"ve--got on your nightcap!" cried Marion, as well as she could speak.
The doctor dropped the reins, and put both hands to his head. Sure enough, in the hurry of dressing he had forgotten to take off the immense bandanna handkerchief he wore tied round his head every night; and over it he had put his cloth cap, which, fitting tight to his head, left the ends of the handkerchief sticking out each side like great horns, giving an indescribably funny appearance to the doctor"s jolly round face.
Now Dr. Brown, although he always considered himself privileged to say and do anything he had a mind to, was excessively particular about his toilet, and to take a moonlight drive with a young lady, with his nightcap on, was quite contrary to his usual habits. However, it was altogether too ridiculous a situation to do anything but laugh, and the doctor could enjoy a joke even against himself.
"Laugh on, Marion; I don"t blame you a bit," he said. "I must cut a pretty figure."
"Just look at your shadow; then you"ll see for yourself."
The doctor looked over his shoulder. "The devil!" he exclaimed. "Why, I look just like him, don"t I? Depend upon it, that"s what it is; I"ve called upon his Satanic majesty so often, that now he"s after me in good earnest. Well, old fellow, I"ll deprive you of your horns at any rate;"
and the doctor brought the ends of the handkerchief down, and tucked them under his chin.
"Marion, don"t let me go into the house with this thing on. I won"t take it off now, as long as you"ve seen it, for it"s very comfortable this cold night; but I shouldn"t like to shock Miss Stiefbach"s dignity by appearing before her in such a rig."
"Miss Stiefbach is away," replied Marion.
"You don"t say so! And the cook sick abed too. Well, Miss Christine has her hands full."
"And both the other servants are half sick, and Martin went with Miss Stiefbach."
"And that accounts for your coming out on such a wild-goose chase."
"I was chasing after you, sir," answered Marion, mischievously.
"No insinuations, miss! There"s the school-house; get up, Beauty; you"re growing lazy."
Marion found the door unlocked, and entering the house quietly, only stopping long enough for the doctor to divest himself of his fantastic head-dress, she led the way upstairs.
"How is she?" anxiously asked Marion of Miss Christine, who met them at the chamber-door.
"She is more quiet, but I am _very_ glad the doctor is here."