"Did you not go on with him very quietly and submissively, after a moment or two?"
"Yes, sir," and her face now was downcast, and she began to tremble.
"Did you not enter a covered alley-way, that led to tenements in the rear?"
"Yes, sir," with increasing agitation.
"Well, what did you do there?"
"Has he told on me, your Honor?" she gasped, with a sudden flood of tears.
"What he has done is no concern of yours. You are under oath to tell the whole truth. There was a single gas-jet burning in the covered pa.s.sage-way, was there not?"
"Yes, sir," sobbing violently.
"Has Miss Mildred Jocelyn ever wronged you?"
"N--no, sir, not that I know of."
"Now tell me just what occurred under that gas-jet."
"I"ll tell your Honor the whole truth," the girl burst out, "if your Honor"ll let me off this time. It"s my first offence, and we"re poor, and I was driven to it by need, and he promised me that Miss Jocelyn wouldn"t suffer anything worse than a warning to find another place."
Believing that her accomplice had betrayed her, she told the whole story without any concealment, fully exonerating Mildred. Although the judge maintained his stern, impa.s.sive aspect throughout the scene, he hugely enjoyed the floor-walker"s dismay and confusion, and his tortured inability to warn the girl to deny everything.
"Please, your Honor, forgive me this time," sobbed the trembling witness in conclusion, "and I"ll never do wrong again."
"I have no right or power to punish you," replied the judge; "it rests wholly with your employers whether they will prosecute you or not. Send that floor-walker here" (to an officer). "Well, sir, what have you to say to this testimony?" he asked, as the fellow shuffled forward, pale and irresolute. "Remember, you are still under oath."
The wily villain, caught in his own trap, hesitated. He was tempted to deny that the plot against Mildred was at his instigation; but, like the girl, he saw that the judge had mysterious information on the subject, and he could not tell how far this knowledge went. If he entered on a series of denials he might be confronted by another witness. The young man who had been sent to identify the girl, and whose unexpected presence had brought such disaster, might have been concealed in the pa.s.sage-way, and so have seen and heard all.
With the fear of an indictment for perjury before his eyes the fellow began to whine.
"I was only trying to protect the interests of my employers. I had suspected the Jocelyn girl--" At this there arose from the court-room a loud and general hiss, Which the judge repressed, as he sternly interposed,
"We have nothing to do with your suspicions. Do you deny the testimony?"
"No, sir; but--"
"That"s enough. No words; step down." Then turning to Mildred, he said kindly and courteously, "Miss Jocelyn, it gives me pleasure to inform you that your innocence has been clearly shown. I should also inform you that this man Bissel has made himself liable to suit for damages, and I hope that you will prosecute him. I am sorry that you have been subjected to so painful an ordeal. You are now at liberty."
"I thank--oh, I thank and bless your Honor," said Mildred, with such a depth of grat.i.tude and gladness in her face that the judge smiled to himself several times that day. It was like a burst of June sunshine after a storm. While the witness was admitting the facts which would prove her guiltless, Mildred was scarcely less agitated than the wretched girl herself; but her strong excitement showed itself not by tears, but rather in her dilated eyes, nervously trembling form, and quickly throbbing bosom. Now that the tension was over she sank on a bench near, and covering her eyes, from which gushed a torrent of tears, with her hands, murmured audibly, "Thank G.o.d! oh, thank G.o.d! He has not deserted me after all."
Looks of strong sympathy were bent upon her from all parts of the room, and even the judge himself was so much affected that he took prompt refuge in the duties of his office, and summoning the foreman of the shop, said, "You may inform your employers how matters stand." This functionary had been regarding the later stage of the proceedings in undisguised astonishment, and now hastened to depart with his tidings, the floor-walker following him with the aspect of a whipped cur, and amid the suppressed groans and hisses of the spectators. The girl, too, slunk away after them in the hope of making peace with her employers.
The judge now observed that Roger had b.u.t.tonholed a reporter, who had been dashing off hieroglyphics that meant a spicy paragraph the following day. Summoning the young man, he said, as if the affair were of slight importance, "Since the girl has been proved innocent, and will have no further relation to the case, I would suggest that, out of deference to her friends and her own feelings, there be no mention of her name," and the news-gatherer good-naturedly acceded to the request.
A new case was called, and new interests, hopes, and fears agitated the hearts of other groups, that had been drawn to the judgment-seat by the misfortunes or crimes of those bound to them by various ties.
Mrs. Jocelyn would not leave the place, which she had so dreaded, until Roger could accompany them, and they chafed at every moment of delay that prevented their pouring out their thanks. But Mildred"s heart was too full for words. She fully understood how great a service he had rendered her. She bitterly reproached herself for all her prejudice in the past, and was in a mood for any self-sacrifice that he would ask. Tears of deep and mingled feeling fell fast, and she longed to escape from the staring crowd. Not before such witnesses could she speak and look the grat.i.tude she felt.
With downcast eyes and quivering lips she followed her mother--to whom Roger had given his arm--from the court-room. A carriage stood at the door, into which Mrs. Jocelyn was hurried before she could speak; then turning so promptly that there was no chance even for exuberant Belle or the effervescing Mrs. Wheaton to utter a syllable, Roger seized Mildred"s hand, and said earnestly, "Thanks for your aid, Miss Jocelyn. I thought you were the bravest girl in the world, and you have proved it. I am as glad as you are, and this is the happiest moment in my life. I"ve just one favor to ask--please rest, and don"t worry about anything--not ANYTHING. That"s all. Good-by, for I must be off to business;" and before she or any of them could speak he caught a swiftly pa.s.sing street-car and disappeared.
CHAPTER x.x.xV
"I AM SO PERPLEXED"
The little group that Roger left on the sidewalk looked after him in a dazed manner for a moment, and then Belle exclaimed, a trifle indignantly, "Well, I declare, if he hasn"t thanked you, instead of you thanking him."
Mildred sprang into the carriage, feeling that she must have some refuge at once, and, burying her face on her mother"s shoulder, burst into another pa.s.sion of tears.
"There, there," said Mrs. Wheaton, as they were driven toward their home; "the poor child"s "eart is too full for hany neat speeches now. Ven they meets hagain she"ll thank him with heyes an" "and, better than hany vords "ere hon the street. He vas too bright a chap to take his thanks in this "ere public place."
To their surprise, Mildred raised her head, and replied, in strong protest, "You do him wrong, Mrs. Wheaton. He was so modest and manly that he wished to escape all thanks. He has taken a n.o.ble revenge on me for all my stupid prejudice."
"That"s right," cried ecstatic Belle. "Honest confession is good for the soul. I"ll admit that most men and women are made of dust--street dust at that--but Roger Atwood is pure gold. He has the quickest brain and steadiest hand of any fellow in the world, and he"ll stand up at the head before he"s gray."
Fortunately, Mr. Jocelyn was not at home when they returned, and they had a chance to take a quiet breath after their strong excitement.
Mrs. Wheaton, with many hearty congratulations and words of cheer, took her departure. Mrs. Jocelyn was justly solicitous about Mildred, fearing that the reaction from an ordeal that would tax the strongest might bring utter prostration to her delicate and sensitive organism. Mildred"s manner soon threatened to realize her worst fears. She had pa.s.sed a sleepless night, and was faint from fatigue, and yet, as the hours lapsed, she grew more nervously restless. Her eyes were hot and dry, sometimes so full of resolution that they were stern in their steadfastness, and again her face expressed a pathetic irresoluteness and sadness that made the mother"s heart ache.
"Millie," she whispered, as she came to the bed on which the girl was tossing restlessly, "there"s something on your mind. Mother"s eyes are quick in reading the face of her child. You are thinking--you are debating something that won"t let you rest, when you need rest so much. Oh, Millie darling, my heart was growing apathetic--it seemed almost dead in my breast. I"ve suffered on account of your father, till it seemed as if I couldn"t suffer any more; but your peril and your troubled face teach me that it is not dead, and that my best solace now is devotion to my children. What is it, Millie, that you are turning over in your mind, which makes you look so desperately sad and fearful, and again--and then your expression frightens me--so determined as if you were meditating some step, which, I fear, you ought not to take? Oh, Millie, my child, the worst that I know about is bad enough, G.o.d knows, but your face makes me dread that you may be led by your troubles to do something which you would not think of were you less morbid and overwrought.
I may have seemed to you a poor, weak woman in all of our troubles, but mother"s love is strong, if her mind and body are not."
"Mamma, mamma, do not judge me or yourself so harshly. You have always been my ideal, mamma, and I was thinking of nothing worse than how to rescue you and the others from your desperate straits.
How can we go on living in this way, your heart breaking, your poor, frail body overtaxed with coa.r.s.e labor, and Belle, Minnie, and Fred becoming contaminated by our dreadful surroundings. The shock I"ve received has awakened me from my old apathy. I see that while I just toiled for daily bread, and a little of it too, we were drifting down, down. Papa grows worse and worse. Belle is in danger; and what will become of Fred and Minnie if they remain long amid such scenes? Only yesterday morning I heard Fred quarrelling with another little boy on the landing, and lisping out oaths in his anger. Oh, mamma, we must be able to look forward to some escape from all this, or else you will soon give way to despair, and the worst will come. Oh that I were a man! Oh that I knew how to do something, through which I could earn enough to put papa into an inst.i.tution, such as I have read of, and give you a home worthy of the name. But I cannot. I can only do what thousands of others can do, and take my chances with them in getting work. And now I seem so broken down in body and soul that I feel as if I could never work again. There seems to be one way, mamma, in which I can help you." And then she hesitated, and a deep, burning flush crimsoned the face that was so pale before. "Well," she said, at last, in a kind of desperation, "I might as well speak plainly, if I speak at all. It"s no secret to you how Roger Atwood feels toward me, and also, mamma, you know my heart. While I could kiss his hand in grat.i.tude, while I would not shrink from any suffering for his sake, to show how deeply I appreciate the priceless service he has rendered me, still, mamma, mamma, I"m only a woman, and am cursed with all the perversity of a woman"s heart. Oh, what a loyal friend, what a devoted sister I could be to him! Mamma, can"t you understand me?"
"Yes, Millie," sadly answered her mother.
"Well, mamma, I"m so perplexed. It seems for his sake, since we have become so poor and disgraced, that I ought to refuse his suit. To the world, and especially to his friends, it will appear dreadfully selfish that we should link our wretched fortunes to his, and so cloud his prospects and impede his progress. I can"t tell you how I dread such criticism. And yet, mamma, you know--no, mamma, even you cannot understand how great would be my self-sacrifice, when to others it will appear that I am only too glad to cling to one who gives some promise of better days. But the turning point has now come. Hitherto my manner toward Mr. Atwood has been unmistakable, and he has understood me; and were he obtuseness itself he could not fail to understand me. But after what has happened I cannot treat him so any longer. It would be shameful ingrat.i.tude. Indeed, in my cell last night I almost vowed that if he would prove me innocent--if he would save you and Belle and the children, I would make any sacrifice that he would ask. If I feel this way he will know it, for he almost reads my thoughts, he is so quick, and his feeling for me is so deep. And yet, mamma, now that I have thought more I fear that in sacrificing my own heart I am also sacrificing him. His friends will think so, at least. He is so young, chivalric, and unworldly that he may think it a n.o.ble thing to help us fight out our battle; but will he think so in coming years? Will he think so if the struggle is long and hard? Will he think so if we impede and r.e.t.a.r.d him? Alas, will he think so if he finds that I can give him only grat.i.tude and respect? Oh, mamma, I am so perplexed. I don"t want to wrong him; I can"t see you suffer on hopelessly and helplessly, and therefore it seems I ought to give him the right to help us should he seek for it, as I feel sure he will if I show any relenting. We could not be married for a long time; but if we were engaged he could do much to shield and protect us all; and now, alas, we have no protector. Belle needs one--oh, how sorely she needs one--and what would have been my fate had he not come to my aid? It would seem heartless in me to say simply, Thank you, sir; and yet, what heart have I to give in exchange for his devotion? He deserves so much, and I can give so little. Oh, mamma, will an old love die and a new one grow because they--because you wish it, and pray for it? I am so perplexed, so tossed and torn by my conflicting thoughts and feelings that my poor brain reels, and it seems as if I should lose my reason. And yet I must decide upon some course, for if, after his loyalty to me, I give him hope, I"ll not disappoint him if I died a thousand times--no, not if Vinton Arnold came and laid all his wealth at my feet; I can see his love in every glance of his eye, still more can I feel it when he is near me; and if I offer him friendship or a sister"s affection, it will seem to him like giving a stone for bread. But I must offer him only these or else give him hope--a hope that it would now be dishonor to disappoint. Mamma, mamma, what shall I do--what ought I to do?"
During this outpouring of her child"s soul Mrs. Jocelyn was much agitated, and wiped tear after tear from her eyes. The impulse of her loyal, unworldly heart was first to take sides with Mildred"s faithfulness to her earliest love, but her reason condemned such a course so positively that she said all she could against it.
"Millie," she began, falteringly at first, "I feel with you and for you deeply. I know your rare quality of fidelity--of constancy.
You are an old-fashioned Southern girl in this respect. While I would not have you wrong your heart, you must not blindly follow its impulses. It is often said that women have no reason, though some are calculating enough, Heaven knows. Surely, Millie, this is a case in which you should take some counsel of your reason, your judgment; and believe me, darling, I speak more for your sake than ours. While I admit that Roger has become very dear to me, I would not sacrifice you, my love, even in our sore straits. It is of you I think chiefly. I cannot endure the thought that the future of my darling child may be utterly blighted. I cannot bear to think of your settling down into a weary working-woman, with nothing to look forward to but daily drudgery for daily bread."
"I do not dread that so much, mamma--oh, nothing like so much--as a long and perhaps a vain effort to love one who has a sacred right to love as well as loyalty."
"Millie, you don"t know how lonely and desolate your life might become. Millie--forgive me for saying it--your old love is utterly vain."
"I know it, mamma," said Mildred, with a low sob.
"Therefore, my darling, the sweetness and goodness of your young life ought not to be wasted on that which is vain and empty. If Mr. Arnold were worthy of your affections he would not have left you all this time without even a word. And, Millie, we may as well face the truth: we never belonged to the Arnolds" world, and it was wicked folly, for which I suffer hourly remorse, that we ever tried to approach it. If, instead of attempting to live like our rich neighbors, I had saved a goodly portion of your father"s income, all might have been so different; but I was never taught to save, and I was just blind--blind. I never see your father but the thought comes, like a stab in the heart, I might have prevented it. Oh, if I had only stayed with him! It was during that fatal separation that he formed the habit which will cause his death and mine."
(Poor Mrs. Jocelyn always remained under this illusion.)
"Oh, mamma, mamma, don"t talk that way: I can"t bear it."
"I must prepare you, Millie, darling, for what I clearly foresee.