"Well, sir," said he, at length, "is your business here with me?"
"Yes; but I would speak with you in private."
"Come in here, then. Meanwhile, Sam, make out that deed; for we may go on without the proof of demise."
Few and vague as the words were, their real meaning flashed on me, and I perceived that Mr. Ba.s.set was engaged in the search of some evidence of my death, doubtless to enable the heir-at-law to succeed to the estates of my brother. The moment the idea struck me, I felt a.s.sured of its certainty, and at once determined on the plan I should adopt.
"You have inserted an advertis.e.m.e.nt regarding a Mr. Burke," said I, as soon as the door was closed, and we were alone together. "What are the particular circ.u.mstances of which you desire proof?"
"The place, date, and manner of his death," replied he, slowly; "for though informed that such occurred abroad, an authentic evidence of the fact will save some trouble. Circ.u.mstances to identify the individual with the person we mean, of course, must be offered; showing whence he came, his probable age, and so on. For this intelligence I am prepared to pay liberally; at least a hundred pounds may be thought so."
"It is a question of succession to some property, I have heard."
"Yes; but the information is not of such moment as you may suppose,"
replied he, quickly, and with the wariness of his calling antic.i.p.ating the value I might be disposed to place on my intelligence. "We are satisfied with the fact of the death; and even were it otherwise, the individual most concerned is little likely to disprove the belief, his own reasons will probably keep him from visiting Ireland."
"Indeed!" I exclaimed, the word escaping my lips ere I could check its utterance.
"Even so," resumed he. "But this, of course, has no interest for you.
Your accent bespeaks you a foreigner. Have you any information to offer on this matter?"
"Yes; if we speak of the same individual, who may have left this country about 1800 as a boy of some fourteen years of age, and entered the "ecole Polytechnique" of Paris."
"Like enough. Continue, if you please; what became of him afterwards?"
"He joined the French service, attained the rank of captain, and then left the army; came back to Ireland, and now, sir, stands before you."
Mr. Ba.s.set never changed a muscle of his face as I made this declaration. So unmoved, so stolid was his look, that for a moment or two I believed him incredulous of my story. But this impression soon gave way, as with his eyes bent on me he said,--
"I knew you, sir, I knew you the moment I pa.s.sed you in the office without; but it might have fared ill with you to have let my recognition appear."
"As how? I do not understand you."
"My clerks there might have given information for the sake of the reward; and once in Newgate, there was an end to all negotiation."
"You must speak more intelligibly, sir, if you wish me to comprehend you. I am unaware of any circ.u.mstance which should threaten me with such a fate."
"Have you forgotten Captain Crofts,--Montague Crofts?" said Ba.s.set, in a low whisper, while a smile of insulting malice crossed his features.
"No; I remember him well. What of him?"
"What of him! He charges you with a capital felony,--a crime for which the laws have little pity here, whatever your French habits may have taught you to regard it. Yes; the attempt to a.s.sa.s.sinate an officer in his Majesty"s service, when foiled by him in an effort to seduce the soldiery, is an offence which might have a place in your memory."
"Can the man be base enough to make such a charge as this against me,--a boy, as I then was?"
"You were not alone; remember that fact."
"True; and most thankful am I for it. There is one, at least, can prove my innocence, if I can but discover him."
"You will find that a matter of some difficulty. Your worthy friend and early preceptor was transported five years since."
"Poor fellow! I could better bear to hear that he was dead."
"There are many of your opinion on that head," said Ba.s.set, with a savage grin. "But the fellow was too cunning for all the lawyers, and his conviction at last was only effected by a stratagem."
"A stratagem!" exclaimed I, in amazement.
"It was neither more nor less. Darby was arraigned four several times, but always acquitted. Now it was defective evidence; now a lenient jury; now an informal indictment: but so was it, he escaped the meshes of the law, though every one knew him guilty of a hundred offences. At last Major Barton resolved on another expedient. Darby was arrested in Ennis; thrown into jail; kept four weeks in a dark cell, on prison fare; and at the end, one morning the hangman appeared to say his hour was come, and that the warrant for his execution had arrived. It was to take place, without judge or jury, within the four walls of the jail. The scheme succeeded; his courage fell, and he offered, if his life was spared, to plead guilty to any transportable felony for which the grand Jury would send up true bills. He did so, and was then undergoing the sentence."
"Great heavens! and can such iniquity be tolerated in a land where men call themselves Christians?" exclaimed I, as I heard this to the end.
"Iniquity!" repeated he, in mockery; "to rid the country of a ruffian, stained with every crime,--a fellow mixed up in every outrage in the land? Is this your notion of iniquity? Not so do I reckon it. And if I have told you of it now, it is that you may learn that when loyal and well-affected men are trusted with the execution of the laws, the principle of justice is of more moment than the nice distinction of legal subtleties. You may learn a lesson from it worth acquiring."
"I! how can it affect me or my fortunes?"
"More nearly than you think. I have told you of the accusation which hangs over your head; weigh it well, and deliberate what are your chances of escape. We must not waste time in discussing your innocence.
The jury who will try the cause will be more difficult of belief than you suspect; neither the opinions you are charged with, your subsequent escape, nor your career in France, will contribute to your exculpation, even had you evidence to adduce in your favor. But you have not; your only witness is equally removed as by death itself. On what do you depend, then? Conscious innocence! Nine out of every ten who mount the scaffold proclaim the same; but I never heard that the voice that cried it stifled the word "guilty." No, sir; I tell you solemnly, you will be condemned!"
The tone of his voice as he spoke the last few words made my very blood run cold. The death of a soldier on the field of battle had no terrors for me; but the execrated fate of a felon I could not confront. The pallor of my cheek, the trembling of my limbs, must have betrayed my emotion; for even Ba.s.set seemed to pity me, and pressed me down into a chair.
"There is one way, however, to avoid all the danger," said he, after a pause; "an easy and a certain way both. You have heard of the advertis.e.m.e.nts for information respecting your death, which it was surmised had occurred abroad. Now you are unknown here,--without a single acquaintance to recognize or remember you; why should not you, under another name, come forward with these proofs? By so doing, you secure your own escape and can claim the reward."
"What! perjure myself that I may forfeit my inheritance!"
"As to the inheritance," said he, sneeringly, "your tenure does not promise a very long enjoyment of it."
"Were it but a day,--an hour!" exclaimed I, pa.s.sionately; "I will make no compromise with my honor. On their own heads be it who sentence an innocent man to death; better such, even on a scaffold, than a life of ignominy and vain regret."
"The dark hours of a jail change men"s sentiments wonderfully," said he, slowly. "I have known some who faced death in its wildest and most appalling shape, shrink from it like cowards when it came in the guise of a common executioner. Come, sir, be advised by me; reflect at least on what I have said, and if there be any path in life where a moderate sum may a.s.sist you--"
"Peace, sir! I beg of you to be silent. It may be that your counsel is prompted by kindly feeling towards me; but if you would have me think so, say no more of this,--my mind is made up."
"Wait until to-morrow, in any case; perhaps some other plan may suggest itself. What say you to America? Have you any objection to go there?"
"Had you asked me the question an hour since, I had replied, "None whatever." Now it is different; my departure would be like the flight of a guilty man. I cannot do it."
"Better the flight than the fate of one," muttered Ba.s.set between his teeth, while at the same instant the sound of voices talking loudly together was heard in the hall without.
"Think again, before it is too late. Remember what I have told you. Your opinions, your career, your a.s.sociates, are not such as to recommend you to the favorable consideration of a jury. Is your case strong enough to oppose all these? Sir Montague will make liberal terms; he has no desire to expose the calamities of a family."
"Sir Montague!--of whom do you speak?"
"Sir Montague Crofts," said Ba.s.set, reddening, for he had unwittingly suffered the name to escape his lips. "Are you ignorant that he is your relative? a distant one, it is true, but your nearest of kin notwithstanding."
"And the heir to the estate?" said I, suddenly, as anew light flashed on my mind; "the heir, in the event of my life lapsing?"
Ba.s.set nodded an a.s.sent.