"I shall not attempt to relate the half-dozen failures which Joe made in endeavoring to elicit the facts we were in search of, without arousing the suspicion of his visitor. I am only going to relate the successful attempt. They had been talking now for some hours, and I, who had long before been waved from their immediate presence, was hiding my curiosity and growing excitement behind one of the pictures, when suddenly I heard Joe say:
""He has the most remarkable memory I ever met. He can tell to a day when any notable event occurred."
""Pshaw!" answered his companion, who, by the by, was known to pride himself upon his own memory for dates, "I can state where I went and what I did on every day in the year. That may not embrace what you call "notable events," but the memory required is all the more remarkable, is it not?"
""Pooh!" was his friend"s provoking reply, "you are bluffing, Ben; I will never believe that."
"Mr. T--, who had pa.s.sed by this time into that state of intoxication which makes persistence in an a.s.sertion a duty as well as a pleasure, threw back his head, and as the wreaths of smoke rose in airy spirals from his lips, reiterated his statement, and offered to submit to any test of his vaunted powers which the other might dictate.
""You have a diary--" began Joe.
""Which is at home," completed the other.
""Will you allow me to refer to it to-morrow, if I am suspicious of the accuracy of your recollections?"
""Undoubtedly," returned the other.
""Very well, then, I will wager you a cool fifty, that you cannot tell where you were between the hours of ten and eleven on a certain night which I will name."
""Done!" cried the other, bringing out his pocket-book and laying it on the table before him.
"Joe followed his example and then summoned me.
""Write a date down here," he commanded, pushing a piece of paper towards me, with a look keen as the flash of a blade.
"Any date, man," he added, as I appeared to hesitate in the embarra.s.sment I thought natural under the circ.u.mstances. "Put down day, month, and year, only don"t go too far back; not farther than two years."
"Smiling with the air of a flunkey admitted to the sports of his superiors, I wrote a line and laid it before Mr.
Smithers, who at once pushed it with a careless gesture towards his companion. You can of course guess the date I made use of: July 17, 1851. Mr. T--, who had evidently looked upon this matter as mere play, flushed scarlet as he read these words, and for one instant looked as if he had rather flee our presence than answer Joe Smithers"s nonchalant glance of inquiry.
""I have given my word and will keep it," he said at last, but with a look in my direction that sent me reluctantly back to my retreat. "I don"t suppose you want names," he went on, "that is, if anything I have to tell is of a delicate nature?"
""O no," answered the other, "only facts and places."
""I don"t think places are necessary either," he returned. "I will tell you what I did and that must serve you. I did not promise to give number and street."
""Well, well," Joe exclaimed; "earn your fifty, that is all.
Show that you remember where you were on the night of"-and with an admirable show of indifference he pretended to consult the paper between them-"the seventeenth of July, 1851, and I shall be satisfied."
""I was at the club for one thing," said Mr. T--; "then I went to see a lady friend, where I stayed till eleven. She wore a blue muslin-- What is that?"
"I had betrayed myself by a quick movement which sent a gla.s.s tumbler crashing to the floor. Helen Zabriskie had worn a blue muslin on that same night. I had noted it when I stood on the balcony watching her and her husband.
""That noise?" It was Joe who was speaking. "You don"t know Reuben as well as I do or you wouldn"t ask. It is his practice, I am sorry to say, to accentuate his pleasure in draining my bottles, by dropping a gla.s.s at every third one."
"Mr. T-- went on.
""She was a married woman and I thought she loved me; but-and this is the greatest proof I can offer you that I am giving you a true account of that night-she had not had the slightest idea of the extent of my pa.s.sion, and only consented to see me at all because she thought, poor thing, that a word from her would set me straight, and rid her of attentions that were fast becoming obnoxious. A sorry figure for a fellow to cut who has not been without his triumphs; but you caught me on the most detestable date in my calendar, and--"
"There is where he stopped being interesting, so I will not waste time by quoting further. And now what reply shall I make when Joe Smithers asks me double his usual price, as he will be sure to do, next time? Has he not earned an advance? I really think so.
"I have spent the whole day in weaving together the facts I have gleaned, and the suspicions I have formed, into a consecutive whole likely to present my theory in a favorable light to my superiors. But just as I thought myself in shape to meet their inquiries, I received an immediate summons into their presence, where I was given a duty to perform of so extraordinary and unexpected a nature, that it effectually drove from my mind all my own plans for the elucidation of the Zabriskie mystery.
"This was nothing more nor less than to take charge of a party of people who were going to the Jersey heights for the purpose of testing Dr. Zabriskie"s skill with a pistol."
III.
The cause of this sudden move was soon explained to me. Mrs. Zabriskie, anxious to have an end put to the present condition of affairs, had begged for a more rigid examination into her husband"s state. This being accorded, a strict and impartial inquiry had taken place, with a result not unlike that which followed the first one. Three out of his four interrogators judged him insane, and could not be moved from their opinion though opposed by the verdict of the young expert who had been living in the house with him. Dr. Zabriskie seemed to read their thoughts, and, showing extreme agitation, begged as before for an opportunity to prove his sanity by showing his skill in shooting. This time a disposition was evinced to grant his request, which Mrs.
Zabriskie no sooner perceived, than she added her supplications to his that the question might be thus settled.
A pistol was accordingly brought; but at sight of it her courage failed, and she changed her prayer to an entreaty that the experiment should be postponed till the next day, and should then take place in the woods away from the sight and hearing of needless spectators.
Though it would have been much wiser to have ended the matter there and then, the Superintendent was prevailed upon to listen to her entreaties, and thus it was that I came to be a spectator, if not a partic.i.p.ator, in the final scene of this most sombre drama.
There are some events which impress the human mind so deeply that their memory mingles with all after-experiences. Though I have made it a rule to forget as soon as possible the tragic episodes into which I am constantly plunged, there is one scene in my life which will not depart at my will; and that is the sight which met my eyes from the bow of the small boat in which Dr. Zabriskie and his wife were rowed over to Jersey on that memorable afternoon.
Though it was by no means late in the day, the sun was already sinking, and the bright red glare which filled the heavens and shone full upon the faces of the half-dozen persons before me added much to the tragic nature of the scene, though we were far from comprehending its full significance.
The Doctor sat with his wife in the stern, and it was upon their faces my glance was fixed. The glare shone luridly on his sightless eyeb.a.l.l.s, and as I noticed his unwinking lids I realized as never before what it was to be blind in the midst of sunshine. Her eyes, on the contrary, were lowered, but there was a look of hopeless misery in her colorless face which made her appearance infinitely pathetic, and I felt confident that if he could only have seen her, he would not have maintained the cold and unresponsive manner which chilled the words on her lips and made all advance on her part impossible.
On the seat in front of them sat the Inspector and a doctor, and from some quarter, possibly from under the Inspector"s coat, there came the monotonous ticking of a small clock, which, I had been told, was to serve as a target for the blind man"s aim.
This ticking was all I heard, though the noise and bustle of a great traffic was pressing upon us on every side. And I am sure it was all that she heard, as, with hand pressed to her heart and eyes fixed on the opposite sh.o.r.e, she waited for the event which was to determine whether the man she loved was a criminal or only a being afflicted of G.o.d, and worthy of her unceasing care and devotion.
As the sun cast its last scarlet gleam over the water, the boat grounded, and it fell to my lot to a.s.sist Mrs. Zabriskie up the bank.
As I did so, I allowed myself to say: "I am your friend, Mrs.
Zabriskie," and was astonished to see her tremble, and turn toward me with a look like that of a frightened child.
But there was always this characteristic blending in her countenance of the childlike and the severe, such as may so often be seen in the faces of nuns, and beyond an added pang of pity for this beautiful but afflicted woman, I let the moment pa.s.s without giving it the weight it perhaps demanded.
"The Doctor and his wife had a long talk last night," was whispered in my ear as we wound our way along into the woods. I turned and perceived at my side the expert physician, portions of whose diary I have already quoted. He had come by another boat.
"But it did not seem to heal whatever breach lies between them," he proceeded. Then in a quick, curious tone, he asked: "Do you believe this attempt on his part is likely to prove anything but a farce?"
"I believe he will shatter the clock to pieces with his first shot," I answered, and could say no more, for we had already reached the ground which had been selected for this trial at arms, and the various members of the party were being placed in their several positions.
The Doctor, to whom light and darkness were alike, stood with his face towards the western glow, and at his side were grouped the Inspector and the two physicians. On the arm of one of the latter hung Dr.
Zabriskie"s overcoat, which he had taken off as soon as he reached the field.
Mrs. Zabriskie stood at the other end of the opening, near a tall stump, upon which it had been decided that the clock should be placed when the moment came for the Doctor to show his skill. She had been accorded the privilege of setting the clock on this stump, and I saw it shining in her hand as she paused for a moment to glance back at the circle of gentlemen who were awaiting her movements. The hands of the clock stood at five minutes to five, though I scarcely noted the fact at the time, for her eyes were on mine, and as she pa.s.sed me she spoke:
"If he is not himself, he cannot be trusted. Watch him carefully, and see that he does no mischief to himself or others. Be at his right hand, and stop him if he does not handle his pistol properly."