IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 '- IIIIIM IIIIM " m '""= ^ m 1 2.0 IIIW U IIIIII.6 V] <^ /}. /a VI c^. cri "^ :> «-v^ /!^ (9 / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 m :\ V \ % \ 6^ ^ <.<• '*•■ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques T t( The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. 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Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se pv.-' signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent 6tre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ( ■^nfiPfw^v7*pwf«iiiiwu ■ HH II • ip- — -^- - - — '-^ ■ COMEDY OF TEREORS. BT JAMES DeMILLE, AUTHOB OF "ia£ DODOE CLUB," ETC., ETC. EEEI.^1 99^ BOSTON: JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY, Latk Tickkob & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co. 1872. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, BY JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 1% 3361 XJNJVBRSITY Press : WetcH, Bigblow, & Ca, Cambsiogb. Mount AUisen Univ«^ Ralph PicKard B^^" Library CONTENTS. I. The Man with the Chignon II. The Misdirected Letters . III. Rejected Addresses IV. Dealings with " Moosoo " . V. Despised Love . VI. A Duel in the Dark VII. A Baffled Flight . VIII. AthisMercv. IX. An Apparition . X. The Haunted Mind XI. At Sea . . . XII. In Paris. XIII. An Unexpected Call XIV. An Aggressive Call XV. Meeting and Parting XVI. An Irresistible Appeal XVII. A Desperate Project XVIII. A Terrible Proposal . XIX. Threats cut Short . XX. Driven to Extremities XXI. Laying the Ghost . XXII. In the Toils .... XXIII. Flight XXIV. A Rescue .... XXV. An Overwhelming Discovery XXV^I. Anxious Inquiries XXVII. In Space XXVI 1 1. The Secret Place of Thunder XX J X. Over the Clouds and over the XXX. Land Ho! XXXI. Out of Prison .... XXXII. In ▲ Brougham . . Sea Pace I 7 12 20 27 31 36 39 45 48 S3 57 63 67 72 76 81 85 90 94 99 103 107 112 116 121 124 129 135 139 144 149 ■ I 'V ■! A COMEDY OF TERRORS. THE MAN WITH THE CHIGNON. THE elegant residence of Mrs. Lov- ell, at Montreal, stood just where Blank Street terminates in Dash Street, and its windows commanded an ex- tensive view of the former thorough- fare. A caller was just leaving the house ; while inside was Mrs. Lovell herself, in such a position that she could see out of the window without being visible, and her eyes were fixed upon the caller who was just retiring. This person did not claim her attention long, for he rapidly descended the steps, and, after walking down the street with long, swift strides the length of one block, he turned round the first corner and disappeared. Upon this Mrs. Lovell withdrew her eyes from the window and stood for a time in deep thought. Standing in this attitude, she showed herself an uncommonly pretty woman. A minute description of her, however, is hardly necessary just now ; suffice it to say, that Mrs. Lovell was a widow ; a pro- found and pronounced brunette ; young, wealthy, elegant, joyous, and also very well able to take care of herself in every respect. After standing thus for some time she left the room, and, ascending the stairs, she entered an apartment at the top, by the landing. " O Maudie dear ! " she exclaimed in an excited voice as she entered, "who do you think has been here? what do you think has happened ? O dear, it 's such a worry ! " Her abrupt manner and excited words aroused a young girl who was in the room. She was seated in an arm- chair, one hand supporting her head, and the other one listlessly holding a letter. "Well, Georgia dear," said she, turning her face, " what is it ? " The face which she thus turned was one of extreme beauty and great refine- ment of feature, and was pervaded by an expression of pensive and quiet sad- ness. She seemed also as if she might have been dropping a tear or two all by herself. There was a certain family likeness between the two, for they were sisters ; but apart from this they were unlike, and when together this dissimi- larity was very conspicuous. Both were brunettes, but the fashion of their features and the expression of their faces were different. In Mrs. Lovell's face there was a very decided piquancy, and various signs of a light and joy- ous temperament ; while Maud showed nothing of the kind. At the present moment the sadness of her face might have concealed its real expression ; but any one could see in it the unmistak- able signs of a far greater depth of feel- ing than was known to her sister. " Maudie dear ! " said Mrs. Lovell at length, after some silence. "Well, Georgie," said Maud, lan- guidly. Mrs. Lovell sighed. r A Covtcify of Terrors. " I 'm worried out of my life, Maudio. What in the world I am to do I really cannot say. 1 'II tell you what I '11 do," she added, after a pause, " I '11 go to Paris." " Go to Paris ! " exclaimed the other, — " go to Paris ! What do you mean ? What has happened ? What put such a m.id fancy as that into your he.id.'"' " I '11 go to Paris," said .Mrs. Lovell, 1 with a determined t.ap of her little foot ' on the floor. " You sec, IMaudie, I 've been thinking of going there so long, and it 's so very convenient for me, and you shall go with me, too, you know ; and this is just the time, for if we put it otT any longer, we '11 be too late, won't we, Alaudie ? and so I think we'd better go by the.nevt steamer. What do you say ? " At this Maud sat upright, and looked at her sister with an expression of in- tense aslunishment. "What in the world do you mean?" she asked. " Go to Paris ! and by the next steamer. Why, Georgie, are you mad?" " Mad ! far from it. I 'm rcilly in earnest, you know. I 'm going by the next steamer. O, my mind is quite made up, — quite. You can easily get ready. We need n't get any new dresses here. It will be so utterly charming to get them in Paris." "1 wonder what in the world you do mean," said Maud, in bewilderment. " You can't be in earnest." " O, but I really am, you know. I 'm in trouble, dear, and the only way to get out of it is to go to Paris." " Trouble!" said I\Iaud, in new sur- prise ; "■you in trouble ! What is it, .Georgie dear? " Mrs. Lovell sighed, i " O well, I 'm beginning to be wor- ried out of my life with no end of both- ers and torments, and I want to fly from them all." " Bothers and torments ? " " Yes, bothers and torments." " What ? " " Why, you knoWj people fancy I like them, and come and try to get me to marry them, when I don't really want to ; and I 'm sure I don't know what I am to do alioul it." " People ? what people ? Do you mean any pco])le in particular ? Of course, you must expect to be very much admired ; and I 'm sure you ought n't to regret it, if you are ; but why that should trouble you I confess I 'm at a loss to see." "O, it isn't tliat ; it isn't general admiration, of course. It's an unpleas- ant sort of particular admiration that I refer to, that makes people come and bother me with telling me how fond they are of ine ; and I feci so sorry for them, too ; and I have to give them pain when I don't want to." " Why, Georgie dear, you talk as though some one had been making a proposal." "Of course I do. That's just what I mean ; and 1 'm sure I never gave him any encouragement. Now did I, Maudie darling ? " "Him? Who?" "Why, Mr. Seth Grimes." "Mr. Grimes!" exclaimed Maud, with an indescribable accent, staring in a bewildered way at her sister. "Well ! what 's the matter ?" asked Mrs. Lovell. " What makes you stare so?" " Why, Mr. Grimes ! The idea of Mr. Grimes I Why, Georgie, how could he possibly have ever thought of such a thing ? Mr. Grimes ! " And Maud sat looking unutterable things, quite overwhelmed by the one stupendous thought of Mr. Grimes. " I 'm sure I don't see any reason why you should stare so," said Mrs. Lovell. " If people will come on such errands, I don't see why Mr. Grimes should not come as well as anybody." "Mr. Grimes I "said Maud; "why, it 's perfect audacity." " No, it is n't," said Mrs. Lovell. •' It is n't anything of the sort. But I know you never liked him, and your bitter prejudice blinds you to his many admirable qualities." " Liked him ! Why, did you ? " " Well, I have a great fancy for origi- nal people, and — and he is one." pc wi| tic nr sul wf v\ bi A Comedy of Tcrors, Maud, I?" " Original lie certainly is, but I should use anotlier word." " He 's a man of the people, of course." "That's a euphemism. For my part, I should use a much harsiicr word to express my idea of i\Ir. Grimes, Georgia." " Weil, don't, Maudic dear, or I shall be vexed. At any rate, you see, I liked him because he was so — so original, you know, and you see he has misinterpreted it ; and he has thought tliat because I liked to talk with him I would be equally well pleased to live with him. TJut that docs n't follow, I 'm sure ; for I know many very, very nice people that I like to talk with, but I 'm sure I should n't at all like to marry them. And that 's the trouble about Mr. Grimes." " I 'm sure," said Maud, contempt- uously, " I do not see why you should tolerate such a person for one moment ; and I 've often wondered how you ever became acquainted with him." Mrs. Lovell sighed. "Well, Maudie dear," said she, "it was very odd, it was really quite an adventure ; and I suppose I may as well tell you all about it." " Yes, do, dear," said Maud. " You 've kept awfully close about this, you know, Georgie." " Well, you know, Maudie dear," said Mrs. Lovell, after a brief pause, which was taken up with collecting her thoughts, " I became acquainted with him last year. I was at Niagara. One day I was out, and it was a dreadfully windy day, quite a gale. I had put on my very largest chignon, — awfully thoughtless in me, of course, but then you know that 's the way 1 always am, — and I pinned it down as securely as possible before venturing forth. The wind proved even worse than I had an- ticipated ; but other ladies were out, and I needed an airing very much, and so I walked on till I found a place which commanded a fine view of the Falls. It was a terribly windy place, but I found a railing where I could support myself. Several ladies and gentlemen were about, and among them was JMr, Grimes. I was n't ac- quainted witii him at all, but had mere- ly heard his name mentioned. Well, you know, Maudie dear, I was just beginning to conclude that it was alto- gether too windy for me, when all of a sudden there came a terrific gust of wind, and in an instant it tore away all my head-dress, — hat, chignon, and all, — and wliisked it all away over the cliff. I gave a scream, half of fright and h.alf of mortification. I was in utter confusion. It was so shocking. Such an exposure, you know. And what was I to do ? Well, just as I was in a perfect agony of shame, and did n't dare to look around lor fear of meeting the eyes of people, Mr. Grimes suddenly came up. ' Don't distress yourself, ma'am,' said he. ' 'T ain't lost. I '11 get it in five minutes.' " " He did n't ! " exclaimed Maud, in- dignantly. " What effrontery ! O, my poor, dear Georgie, how you must have suffered ! " " Suffered ! Why, Maudie dear, it was agony, — yes, agony ; and at such a time ! Tears of shame burst from my ejes, and I could n't say one word. Well, that was very bad, but it was nothing to what followed. After all, you know, it was the idea of the thing that was the worst. In reality it was not so very bad. You know what an immense head of hair I have, all my own ; I could do without chignons, for that matter ; so, you know, if nothing had been done, it mightn't have been noticed, and I might have retired without making much of an ex- posure. My hair was all tossing about my head ; but ladies often lose their hats, and my appearance Wouldn't have been very bad, now would it, Maudie dear ? " " You would have looked perfect- ly lovely," said Maud. " But go on. This is really beginning to get excit- ing." " Well," continued Mrs. Lovell, "there I stood, really crying with shame, when to my horror, my utter ' r ^ Comedy of Terrors. horror, I saw him — O Maudie dar- ling, what do you think he did ? " "What? what?" asked Maud, ea- gerly. " Why, Maudie, he began to go over the cliff." "Over the cliff!" "Yes, over the cliff. Wasn't it aw- ful ? Not merely the fact of a man going over the cliff, but going over it on such an errand ! And imagine me standing there in public, the centre of such a scene as that ! And I hate scenes so ! " " Poor darling Georgie ! " sighed Maud. "Well, you know, Maudie dear," continued Mrs. Lovell, " I was utterly stupefied with astonishment and morti- fication. Before I could utter one sin- gle word he was out of sight. I dared not look round for fear of catching the glances of people. I felt all their eyes on me, and longed for the earth to open and swallow me up. I had a wild im- pulse to run ; but then, you know, I felt terribly anxious about Mr. Grimes. It was an awful thing, to think of a man going down there, and on such an errand. If he had gone down to save a life, it would have been sublime ; but going down to save a chignon was too exquisitely absurd. Still, I felt that his life was really in danger, and so I stood there in terrible sus- pense. " I really do not know how long I stood there, but at last I saw some wretched people coming forward, look- ing so odiously amused that I could have almost pushed them over. They looked down, and laughed, and one of them said : ' Hurra I he 's got it ! ' Thospi few words were enough. They showed me that there had been no hor- rible accident. In a moment my deep suspense left me, and the only feeling that I had was a longing to get away. For, O Maudie, imagine me standing there, and Mr. Grimes approaching me solemnly with my chignon, after hav- ing saved it at the risk of his life, and making a formal presentation of it in the presence of those horrid men I The thought nearly drove me wild. I turned away, and I really think I must have run all the way back to the hotel. " Well, on reaching the hotel I went at once to my room, and shut myself up. I had all sorts of fears, and all those fears were fully realized ; for after about an hour a gentleman called and sent up his name ; and who do you think it was ? Why, Mr. Grimes, of course ! Now, under ordinary circum- stances, his astonishing devotion would have touched me ; but that dre.idful chignon made it all fearfully ridiculous, and all of the ridicule attached itself to nw. What was more, I knew perfectly well that he had brought the horrid thing with him, on purpose to restore it into my own hands. That was an ordeal which, I confess, I had n't the courage to face ; so I cxcufied myself and was very ill. I expected, of course, that he would leave it." " And did n't he ? " asked Maud, in wonder. "Leave it? No indeed, not he. You don't know Mr. Grimes yet, Maudie dear." " The horrid wretch ! " " He is a noble-hearted man, and you must not abuse him, or I shall really feel quite angry with you." " But I was only sympathizing with you, Georgie dear ! I did n't mean any offence." " No, of course not, dear. I know you would n't hurt my feelings. Well, you know, he did n't leave it, but car- ried it off, and that one fact filled me with a new horror. In the first place, I was afraid my chignon would become the public talk ; and then, again, 1 felt sure that he would call again, bringing that horrid thing with him. I was con- vinced that he had made up his mind to deliver it into my hands alone. The thought drove me to despair. And so, in my desperation, I determined to quit the place at once, and thus get rid of all my troubles. So I made up some excuse to my friends, and left by the early train on the following day for home. And now I 'm coming to the end of my story, and you will be able J I turned nust have otel. ltd I went ut myself s, and all 11 zed ; for nan called iho do you Crimes, of ,ry circum- tion would ,t dreadful ridiculous, ed itself to w perfectly the horrid to restore lat was an hadn't the iSed myself ], of course, d Maud, in id, not he. irimes yet, lan, and you shall really ithizing with I't mean any ar. I know lings. Well, 5 it, but car- , act filled me e first place, rould become , again, I felt ;ain, bringing 1. I was con- ! up his mind s alone. The air. And so, etermined to d thus get rid nade up some id left by the wing day for :oming to the a will be able A Comedy of Terrors, to understand why I 'm so determhied to go to I'aris. " About three months ago a person called on me here at my own house. I went down, and who do you think it was ? Why, Mr. Grimes ; and he had a parcel in his hand." " O dear ! " exclaimed Maud. " Not the chignon ! O, not the chignon ! " " Vcs, Maudie dear," said Mrs. Lov- ell, sadly and solemnly, " the chignon. When I entered the room, he was so eager and so excited that I really felt afraid. It was only with the greatest difficulty that I could keep him in bounds at all. Besides, the remem- brance of the affair was utterly ridicu- lous, and this absurdity, together with the fact that he had done a wonderfully daring thing for my sake, combined to make me feel embarrassed. He, on his part, h.id no end of things to tell me. What he said showed an as- tonishing amount of devotion. Posi- tively, he had been all over Canada searching for me. He had spent months in this search, before finding me. And now he appeared before me, with joy on his face, exultation in his eyes, and that horrid chignon in his hands. ' Here it is,' he said, ' safe and sound, ma'am, — not a star erased, not a stripe effaced, — to be given to your own hands in good order and condi- tion ' ; and v.-as n't that a funny speech to make, Maudie darling?" " Very," said Maud, dryly. " Well, you know after that he went on in the strangest way. He said he had risked his life to get it ; and had kept it for months till he loved it like his own soul ; that it had been near him day and night ; and that to part with it would break his heart ; and he wanted to know if I would be satisfied with another instead of this one. He had got one made in New York, he said, which was the exact counterpart of this ; and entreated me to let him keep my chignon, and give me the other. Well, you know, it was a queer thing to ask, but I really felt awfully sorry for him, and he pleaded so hard ; and he had done so much ; and he had taken so mnch trouble ; and he made such a point of it you know, that — " "What?" exclaimed Maud, "you did n't, you could n't — " " Yes, but I could, and I did ! " At this Maud looked unuiterable t'lings. " There was really no help for it," continued Mrs. Lovell, placidly. " Why, only think, Maudie. He could easily have kept it, if he ha^ chosen, without asking me at all." "Yes, but don't you see, Geo;^ie, that there is all the diflference in the world between taking a thing and hav- ing it given to you ? " " O, but in this case, where he had done so much, you know, he re.iUy de- served it, and as he made such a point of it, I yielded — and so — he has it now." " Well," said Maud, " of all the ri- diculous stories that I have ever lis- tened to, this is the most absurd. I 've heard of lovers wanting a lock of their ladies' hair, but never before did I hear of one who wanted a whole head of it." " Yes, but then, you know, this was n't my own hair." " But that only makes it the more absurd," said Maud. " He is cherish- ing the hair of some other p<. 'son, — some P'rench peasant, or perhaps the accumulated locks of some dozens of them. And he goes into raptures over this ! He sits and gazes upon it in fondest admiration ! He devours it with his eyes I He passes his fingers through its dark rippling curls ! He — " ** He does n't do anything of the kind," interrupted Mrs. Lovell, some- what sharply. " Mr. Grimes is quite above such nonsense. Of course he knows what it really is." " But, Georgie, you did n't take his present, did you. Of course not." " O yes, but I did — " "You did!" " Why, certainly." At this Maud drew a long breath. " And what's more," continued Mit Lovell, " I 've worn it e'er since." " You have n't ! " cried M:tud. ir I' i! A Comedy of Tcrors. " I liavc it on now," said Mrs. I.ov- cll, (iiiiclly. "I'm sure it's very be- cominji, aiiil 1 only woniicr iiow lie could gel t)ne so good." "(leorgie, 1 declare you make mc feci positively ashamed of you," cried Maud, indignantly. " It'.s really ([uite shocking. And voii oiwW people ! Why, you are usua' ^o very fastidious, you know, and v stand so on Ls con- vounnrs, that 1 (;.innot understand how you ever came to forget yourself so far." " Non.sensc, Maudic," said Mrs. Lov- cll. " 1 can judge very well for myselt", and besides, you know that things lh.it would n't do for you are all very well forme, liut let that pass, it happened as I say, and the ccnisecpience was that Mr. (Irimcs saw nxjre in that little piece of gooil-nature tlian was actually meant. So, you know, lie devoted him- self to me, and for the List two or three months I 've seen very much of him. I liked liim, too. lie has many noble qualities; a:.d he was awfully fond of me, and I felt half sorry for him, and all that. I liked to have him for a friend, but the trouble was that was not enough. He was alway.s too ar- dent and devotjd. 1 could sec his face flush, and hear liis voice tremble, whenever we met. 'Set what could I do ? 1 kept as cool as possible, and tried to chill him, but he only grew worse. " y\nd the plain fact is," continued Mrs. l.ovell, " he never would have done, never, lie has noble sentiments, it is true ; l)ut then he has siuh funny manners, lie has a large heart, but dreadfully big hands, lie has ". truly Titanic soul, l)Ut his feet are of the same jiroportions. And all that is very dreadful, you know, Maudie. And what makes it worse, I really like him, and I feel a sense of dei^lorable weakness when I am with him. It may be be- cause he is so big and strong and brave, and has such a voice, but 1 think it m.iy also be because I am just a little bit fond of him." '• Fond of him ? O Gcorgic I You don't mean it." " O, just a little lit, you know, only ever so little," said Mrs. Lovell, ajHilo- getically. " P.ut at any rate it 's really (ptite shocking to think how I lose con- trol of myself and — " "And what, Gcorgic dear?" asked Maud, anxiously, as Mrs. l.ovell pauseil. " Why, and let liim treat me so — " " Treat you so ? I low, dear ? " "Well, 1 Ml tell you. It was to-day. you know. Of course you undeisl.md Iiow he has been devoting himscU" lo me for the past few months, and I li.ue been trying to tight him off. Well, to day he came, and he took me by storm, and I could n't fight him off at all ; for before I could ihink, he was in the middle of a most vehement confession, and ended with a proposal. Well, you know, I never was so embarrassed in all my life, and I really did n't know what to do." "You refused him, of course." " O, but it was n't so easy. You sec I really liked him, and he knew it." "Knew it.' How i\'iilsla-s should n't again. \'ou lie thouj;lit ;odcelino it ivay. What ied and lost lind, and at hat it could car, 1": w.is if this all- ium it was. nd of time, i, that I am re. illy don't ifuscd him. so sini|)lc- ht of tryinjj; At last he ng mc in a I loved an- iiid he gave a prcat sigh of relief. Then he asked iiie ill a still more doleful voice if I wouUl allow him to keep th.it wretched thing, the chignon, you know. He .said he would like some small token — " ".Small token!'' crieil Maud, "a whole chignon ! O dear ! Ceorgic, do you think he intends having it put in a locket .? " " I don't know what he intends. I only know that I feel very, very sad and sorry for him, and did n't dre.ini of refusing. I would n't look him in the face, but sat there looking as silly as possible. .So at last he rose to go ; I rose too, and felt so very nervous that 1 couhl n't even raise my eyes." " O C.eorgie, Cieorgie, how very, very silly you were, poor tlarling ! " " I know 1 was, Maudie, and I knew it at the time, but how couUl 1 help it ?" " Well, dear ? " " Well, then, you know — " Mrs. Lovell hesitated. " What ? " " Why, we stood in that way for some time, and I wondered what he was do- ing, but did n't dare to look uj), and then at last he took my liaiul and said, ' ( lood by,' in a shockingly hoarse voice. His hand was like ice, and my liand trembled excessively from excitement, and then, too, I felt drcailfully sorry for him, so 1 said, ' Clood by,' and then, Maudie, he, the poor fellow, stooped down — and put his arms round me — and kisseil me." "He what ! " cried Maud. " O. you need n't be so awfully indig- nant, Maudie, I say it calmly, he kissed me, on my forehe.id ; but 1 don't feel quite so calm now, when 1 think of that hot tear of his that fell on my cheek." Mrs. Lovell sighed. IMaud looked earnestly at her, and both sat in silence for some lime. II. THK MISDIRKCTKl) LKTTKRS. " You see, Maudie," said Mrs. Lovell, after a prolon'j;ed silence, " 1 am really in earnest about going to I'aris, and I '11 tell you exactly why. It 's all Mr. Grimes. 1 h.ive refused him, and he went away heartbroken, and all tli.it ; but I have a dreadful presenlinient that he will be back again, liringing that horrible chignon with him, and making fresh protestations. I like him very well, .as I h.avc explained, but 1 don't want to marry him, of course, or any other person. 'I'lie trouble is, however, that I have no confidence in myself, I am so shockingly weak ; and 1 'm terri- bly afraid that he will come again and persuade me to do something very, very silly. Why, Maudie ilear, when I think of what I have just escaped, I really tremble. 1 'm sure if he had only been a little more urgent, 1 really don't know what would have become of me. And then, think of the name, — Grimes! Mrs. Grimes I Why, it really sends a cold shu.lder through me. Really, Maudie darling, 1 'm afraid to stay here any longer than I can help. He will be here again, and I shall li.ivc to sec him. Of course I will man.ige so as not to see him alone again, but I cannot always have you with me,ai.d he will be sure to find me some day. And then think of my fate! O yes, I must go. and I sh.ill go immediately. I have made up my miiiil to leave by the very next steamer. Really I shall never feel safe till I have the ocean between me anil Mr. Grimes." " I think, on the whole, Georgic dear, that it would be a very good plan. You expect me to go with you .' " " Of course, darling ; did n't I s.iy so at the very first .' " "Yes,"' said Aland, slowly, and in the tone of one speaking to herself. " \'es. it is betier so, better for both of us, the best th'iig now — " .She .sighed heavily. At this Mrs. Lovell looked earnestly at her sister and seemed struck liy something in her appearance. " Why, Maudie ! what 's the matter with you f " Siie exclaimed. " With me ? O, nothing," said Maud. " r>ut you 're shockingly i)ale, and you 've been crying ; and 1 'vc been so .\^ 8 A Comedy of Terrors. i,.i •III ,llM W taken up by my own worries, that I never noticed it till now ; but now as I look at you I see plainly that some- thing is the matter. What has hap- pened ? It must be something dread- ful. You really look heart - broken about something. Why, my poor, dear, sweet darling Maudie ! " Full of tender pity and aflfection, Mrs, Lovell went over to her sister, and, kneeling on the floor by her side, she twined her arms around her, and kissed her. Maud sat for a moment as th igh trying to control her feelings, but sud- denly gave way, and, letting her head fall on her sister's shoulder, she flung her arms around her and burst into tears. " You have some trouble, darling," said Mrs. Lovell. " Tell it to me, tell it to your own Georgie." And then she proceeded to kiss Maud, and soothe her and coax her to give her her confi- dence, until at length Maud promised that she would. But it was some time before she could recover from the agi- tation into which she had fallen. She raised herself, and tried to control her feelings ; but having yielded to them once, it was not very easy to regain her composure, and it was some time be- fore she could speak. " O Georgie," she said, at last, " I 'm in such dreadful trouble, and I 'm sure I don't know how it happened or how it will end, or what I ever shall do." " Only fancy ! " said Mrs. Lovell, " and I 've been so selfish that I never notired this ; but then, I 'm sure I should never have thought oiyou being in trouble, darling. How can trouble ever come ntur you ? '\ " I 'm sure I don't understand it," said Maud, mournfully. " But what is it all about ? Tell me what it is, as far as you know. For my part, I can't imagine even a cause for trouble to you" " I 'm in dreadful, dreadful trouble," sighed Maud. " Mr. Carrol, you know." " Mr. Carrol ! " "Yes. He — he — " Maud hesi- tated. .. " What ? he did n't propose, did he ? not another proposal ? Mr. Carrol ! Well, Maudie dear, I remember hav- ing a vague suspicion that he was fond of you ; but then, I was so bothered, you know, that I did n't think very much about it. So he proposed, did he ? Well, I always liked him, and I think you did too." "Yes," sighed Maud; "I did, I really liked him." " I3ut when did he propose ? It 's very strange. How very sly you 've been, Maudie dear." " Why, he wrote a letter." " Wrote ? What ! wrote ? O dear ! I thought it was only old men, weary of the world, that wrote when they pro- posed. To think of Mr. Carrol writing! Only fancy ! I 'm sure I never would have thought that of him." "Well," said Maud, mournfully, "he apologized for writing, and said the reason was that he could never see me alone, and was anxious to know his fate. You see you and I were always together, Georgie dear, and so he chose to write to me about it." " Well, that is certainly a justifica- tion, Maudie, for we always are togeth- er, as you say ; and now that I think of it, I don't see how any one could have ever had a chance to see you alone. But I was always thoughtless. Well, Mr. Carrol proposed, as you say ; and what did you say ? Did you accept him ? I suppose you did, I even hope you did ; for now, when I come to think of it, he seems to me to be admirably suited to you. He is young, handsome, and evidently very fond of you ; he 's rich, too, but n course I don't care for that, for reasons which I have already ex- plained, you know. So I really hope you did accept him." Maud drew a long breath. " Yes, Georgie dear, but that was n't all. I received another proposal at the same time." " Another proposal ! " \ " Yes, and who do you think it was from ? Why, from that odious French- man who calls himself the Count du Potiron, and a very suitable name it is . for such a man." A Comedy of Terrors. " The Count du Potiron ! " repeated Mrs. Lovell. " How perfectly prepos- terous ! " ♦' Perfectly," echoed Maud. " Why," really I had scarcely ever spoken to him, you know. I noticed, of course, that there was a great tendency on his part to those galanterics which every French- man considers himself bound to offer ; but I really never suspected that he meant anything by them. Even when I received his proposal, it only amused me, and I scarcely gave it a thought until to-day." " To-day ? " said Mrs. Lovell ; " well, what happened to-day ? " "Why," said Maud, "to-day I find that some dreadful mistake has been made j but how, or why, or by whom I cannot quite make out." "Tell me all about it, dear," said Mrs. Lovell, earnestly ; " perhaps I can help you to find out." " Well, Georgie, you know, of course, I like Mr. Carrol, and so, — why, when he asked me, — I — I wrote him that — well, I accepted him, you know, and at the same time I wrote that absurd Frenchman a civil note, declining his proposal, of course. Well, Georgie dear, I waited, and waited, and for two or three days I expected to see Mr. Carrol. You know how often he used to come. Well, he did n't come at all, but yesterday that odious Frenchman called." " I remember," said Mrs. Lovell. " Well, I would n't see him." "Yes." Maud was silent for a time, and at length continued: "This morning I received a most singular note from him. He addressed me by my Christian name, and told me that my acceptance of his proposal had overwhelmed him with the profoundest joy. My accept- ance of his proposal ! Think of that, Georgie ! And I had rejected him pos- itively, and almost contemptuously." " Good heavens ! Maudie, dearest, what is the meaning of it all ?" " Wait a moment," said Maud, draw- ing a long breath, and speaking in an excited manner. "Wait till you hear all. Such a letter, of course, surprised me, and at the same time excited all sorts of fears. I could n't understand it at all. I suspected that I must have made some horrible mistake of the most stupid kind. My anxiety was in- creased by the silence of Mr. Carrol. I had accepted him, but he had neither called on me nor written. I was bit- terly mortified, and afterwards dread- fully anxious ; and though I began to fear that some mistake had been made, I really did not believe it till I got that dreadful letter from the French- man." " Maudie darling, you really terrify me," said Mrs. Lovell. " I have a sus- picion that is positively quite shocking." "This afternoon, said Maud, in a tremulous voice, — " this afternoon, just after lunch, I got this letter. It 's from Mr. Carrol. Read it, and.tell me what you think about it." With these vords she handed to Mrs. Lovell the letter which all this time she had been holding in her hand. Mrs. Lovell took it in silence, and, opening it, she read the following: — " Dear Miss Heathcote : If you wished to crush me, your wish is grati- fied. I am crushed utterly, and am now in the lowest state of prostration in which even you would wish to see me. " I received your reply to my letter two days ago, and would have acknowl- edged it before, but I did not do so, partly because I supposed th.-it any fur- ther remarks from me would be unwel- come, but more particularly because I did not feel altogether able to write. " I expect to leave this place to-day, and forever. All my arrangements are made, and you and I will never meet again. Under the circumstances, there- fore, I hope you will forgive me for say- ing that your rejection of my offer might have been made in terms a little less cruel and cutting. After all that has passed between us, I think I deserved something more than a note such as the one you thought fit to send me. It seems tome that anyone with ordinary lO A Comedy of Terrors. III ■II .11 i! kindliness of heart would have been more willing to save one from pain and inortification than to inflict it. After all, ni)' oftence was not so very great as to be unpardonable. It only consisted in the avowal of my love for you. " I might say very much more, but I think it is better to leave it unsaid. At any rate you and I now part for- ever ; but whether your peculiar mode of dealing with me will make you very much happier or not, the future alone can determine. " Yours truly, "Paul Carrol." l\Irs. Lovell read this letter over twice. Then she sat and thought. Then she read it again. After this, she looked fixedly at Maud, whose pale face confronted hers with an expression of utter woe that was pitiable to wit- ness. " This is horrible, simply horrible," said Mrs. LovcU. " I\Iy poor darling, how could it have happened ? It's all some frightful mistake." " And, O Georgie dear ! I wrote him the very kindest, kindest letter," said Maud. "I told him how I—" Dut here a great sob burst from her, and choked her utterance, and she buried her face in her hands and wejjt aloud. Mrs. Lovell drew her towards her, and tried to soothe her with loving caresses and gentle words ; but Maud's grief was too great for consolation, and it was very long before she was able to over- come it. " He 's gone, gone forever, and I Ml never see him again ! " she murmured over and over again amid her tears. " And I was expecting him, and want- ing to see him so ! " " Poor dear darling ! " sighed Mrs. Lovell ; after which she sat for some time with an expression of deep per- plexity on her pretty face, endeavoring to fathom the mystery of this some- what singular affair. " Of course, Maudie dearest," said she, at last, "there has been some mis- take, and you yourself must have made the mistake. There is only one thing possible, yet it really seems too absurd. After all, though, it is positively the only thing that can account fur it, and it is just possible. Uon't you think so, darling .? " "Don't I think what? You don't say what it is ? " " Weir I was thinking that it was just possible tl:at you, in your excite- ment, which was vory natural under the circumstances, you know, — that you might have made a dreadful blun-^ der in the address, and d'rected the Count's letter to Mr. Carrol, and Mr. Carrol's letter to the Count." " And that 's the very thing I have been suspecting," exclaimed Maud, in atone of dismay; "but it's so shock- ing that I don't dare to think of it." "Well, darling, won't you acknowl- edge that it fs possible ? " " Certainly, it is possible, but not probable." " Well, now let us see about the probability of it," said Mrs. Lovell, putting herself in an attitude of pro- found reflection. " In the first place you answered the Count's letter." " Yes." " And then Mr. Carrol's." " Yes." " Now do you remember whether you addressed each one immediately after writing it, or waited till you had finished your writing and then ad- dressed both ? " " O, I remember that perfectly well. I did not address the letter-, 'uitil after I had finished both. I never do when I have more than one to write." " Well, of course, you were a little agitated, particularly after your last ef- fusion to Mr. Carrol. It was very nat- ural. And you were excited, you know, Maudie dear. You know you were." " I suppose I may have been a little excited." " Well, is n't it possible, or even probable, that in your excitement you may have put the letters in their en- velopes and addressed each of them to the wrong person altogether ? " Maud gave a heavy sigh, and looked despairingly at her sister. A Comedy of Terrors. II absurd, ivcly the or it, and think so, 'ou don't \t it was ur excite- ral under w, — that ' dful blun-^_ ected the , and Mr. I) ng I have Maud, in so shock- :ofit." 1 acknowl- :, but not about the rs. LovL'U, de of pro- first place letter." cr whether mmediately ill you had I then ad- rfecdy well, antil after •cr do when rite." ,vere a little your last ef- as very nat- d, you know, ,ou were." been a little )le, or even :iteiTient you n their en- h of them to ;r ?" , and looked " Well, now, Maudie de.lr," contin- ued Mrs. Lovell, " there 's another thing I should like to ask. I should like to know the general nature of each letter, so as to see if there was any- thing in eitlier of them which might sho'.v the recipient that it was a mis- take. A great deal depends on that, you know. Tell me now — I don't want to get your secrets, you know, I only want to help you. Let us be- gin with the one you wrote first, what did you say to the Count ? " " Weil, Georgie, it was a very cool and civil rejection, that was all. At first I thought of writing in the third persoh, but I concluded that it was better to do so in the first ; so I told him that I regretted that he had writ- ten to me in that way, and hinted that there Iiad been nothing in our mutual relations to warrant his sending such a proposal to me ; and I very civilly hoped that he would not feel disap- pointed." " And there was nothing more ? " " No." " Nothing which might show that it was not for Mr. Carrol ; no allusions to his being a foreigner, for exam- ple?" " Certainly not. It was so very gen- eral in its terms that it would have done to insert in a Complete Letter- Writer. But then, Georgie darling, that is the very thing that should have excited Mr. Carrol's suspicions, and made him sure that such a letter could not have been intended for him." " Well, Maudie, men are such odd, unreasonable creatures, you ^now, that there 's no knowing 1 ow they will act, particularly in love afl'pirs. I 'm afraid he must have accepted the letter as your own actual answer to his, or else how could he have written in such a very shocking way ? But now tell me about the other." "Well, I wrote to Mr. Carrol the very kindest, kindest letter that I could compose. I 'ni sure I said everything that he could expect, and I even ex- pressed a wish to see him soon." " Did you make any very particular allusions to any particular incidents.'" " O no ; it waa only a general ex- pression of — well, you know what, and all that sort of thing." " How did you begin it ? Not with « Dear Sir ' ? " " No. I said, ' My dear Mr. Car- rol.' " " And how did you begin the Count's .? " ^ " .Simply with ' Dear Sir.' " •' Not ' Dear Monsieur le Comptc,' or ' Dear Count ' ? " " Certainly not. The first was French, which would be out of place in an English letter, and the other seemed a little famili.T, so I took refuge in the simple fonnula of ' Deas Sir.' " "Well, the Count got the letter which began, * My dear Mr. Carrol.' " " He must have, if I did make the mistake." " You are sure that you began it in that way." " O yes." " Well, if you did, I don't see what the Count could make out of it. He must have seen that it was not for him- self, "e 's acquainted with Mr. Car- rol, too, and must have understood that it was for him. But then again he must have believed that it was for him- self Even French assurance could not make him appropriate a letter which he could see so plainly was addressed to another man." "There is only one thing that I can think of," said Maud, dolefully, " and I 've thought of it frequently ; for all this was on my mind before you came in." ! " What is that ? " "Well, it is this. I have thought that it is just possible for my writing to be a little illegible ; my hand is very angular, you know, and the o's are open, and I don't cross my /'s, and all that sort of thing. I find now that in writing the name of Carrol rapidly, it does bear a remote resemblance to the word ' Count.' I dare say you would show the same resemblance if iIlT 13 A Comedy of Terrors. ■ II ii.il |..M III 1 1 ' '|l J ' I li 1'! you were to write it. Now look at this." And Maud went over to her writing- desl{, and wrote the name " Carrol " several times. " There certainly is a resemblance, as you say," remarked Mrs. Lovell, as she looked at the writing, which was in the most pronounced angular " lady's hand." "There really is quite a re- semblance," she repeated, " though the words are so unlike. But then, you know, Maudie dear, you say you wrote * My dear Mr. Carrol ' ; would n't it seem a little odd to him to read « My dear Mr. Count'?" *' O, he would have no trouble about that," said Maud, mournfully. " He might, in the first place, attribute it to my ignorance of the proper style of addressing him, or, what is still more likely, he would probably take the 'Mr.' as a plain *M,' and would read it, ' My dear M. Count,' which would n't seem to him so very much out of the way, you know. See here." And Maud, taking up a sheet of note-paper, wrote the words, " My dear Mr. Carrol." Mrs. Lovell looked at it thoughtfully for some time. "There's a great deal in what you say, Maudie," said she. " I confess that you may really read those words as ' My dear M. Count,' or even, ' My dear M. le Count.' In fact, I think you could even turn it into ' My cher M. le Count ' ; and if a pressure were put on one, I would not say that one could not read it as ' Mon cher M. le Count.' In fact, I dare say he reads it that way himself." Maud sighed heavily, threw down the pen, and retreated to a chair, where she rested her head on her hands, and sat looking gloomily at the floor. III. REJECTED ADDRESSES. At the very time when the two la- dies were carrying on the foregoing conversation, one of the subjects of that conversation was in his room engaged in the important task of pack- ing a tiu ik. Mr. Seth Grimes was a very large man. He was something over six feet in height ; he was broad- shouldered, deep -chested, well-knit, muscular, and sinewy ; he had a large face, with small, keen gray eyes, short beard, mustache, anf^l shingled hair. About his face there was an expression of bonhovimie mingled with resolution, to which on the present ocr.asion there was superadded one of depression. The packing of his trunk, however, appeared at the present time to engross all his thoughts, and at this he worked dili- gently, until at length he was roused by a knock at the door. He started up to his feet, and at his invitation to come in a young man entered. " Hallo, Carrol ! " said Grimes, •' I 'm glad to see you, by jingo ! You 're the very fellow I wanted. It's a thunder- in' piece of good luck that you dropped in just now, too. If you 'd come half an hour later I 'd been off." Carrol was a good-looking young fel- low enough, with a frank, bold face and well-knit frame. But his frank, bold face was somewhat pale and troubled, and there was an unsettled look in his eyes, and a cloud over his brow. He listened with a dull interest to Grimes's remark, and then said, "Off? Wh t do you mean ? " " Off from this village for good and all." "Off? What, from Montreal ? Why, where are you going ? " " Around the globe," said Grimes, solemnly. " I don't understand you." " Wal, I 'm packin' up just now with the intention of startin' from this vil- lage, crossin' the plains in a bee-line for Californy, then pursuin' my windin' way per steamer over the briny deep to China, and thence onward and ever on- ward, as long as life pervades this mor- tal frame. I 'm off, sir, and for good. Farewell forever, friend of my soul. Think of me at odd times and drop a tear over my untimely end." " Hang me if I understand a single iiii ^ A Comedy of Terrors. 13 , «' I'm word of all this," said Carrol. " I see you 're packing your trunk, but I had no idea you were going off so sud- denly." " VVal, sit down, and I 'II explain ; sit down. Fill the bowl. Here 's lots of pipes, make yourself comfortable, and gaze your fill at the last of your depart ■ 'n' friend." At this Carrol took a chair, and sat looking at the other with dull inquiry. " First of all," said Grimes, " 1 'm goin' away." •' Really 1 " " Honest. No mistake. Cut stick, vamoose, never again to come back, to go like ancient Cain a wanderer and a vagabond over the face of the earth, with a mark on my forehead, by jingo ! " " Look here. Grimes, don't you think you 're a little incoherent to-day ? " To this Grimes returned no imme- diate answer. He stood for a few mo- ments in thought, then looking round he selected a chair, which he planted in front of Carrol, and then seating him- self there he stooped forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, and fixing his eyes upon the other's face. " See here, Carrol," said he, at last. " Well ? " " You 've known me for several years, you 've watched my downrisin's and my upsettin's, and ought to have a pooty good insight into my mental and moral build. Now I 'd like to ask you as a friend one solemn question. It's this. Have you ever detected, or have you not, a certain vein of sentiment in my moral stratum ? " " Sentiment ? " said Carrol, in some surprise ; " well, that depends on what you mean by sentiment." " So it does," said Grimes, thought- fully ; " ' sentiment ' 's a big word, em- bracin' a whole world of idees extunnel and intunnel. Wal, what I meant to ask was this, — have you ever detected in me any tendency to lay an undoo stress upon the beautiful ? " " The beautiful ; well, no, I don't think I have." "The beautiful in — in woman, for instance," said Grimes, in a low, con- fidential voice. "Woman? Oho, that's it, is it.' What, do you mean to say that you 've got a shot from that quarter ? What, you ! Why the very last man I should have suspected would have been Cali- fornia Grimes." " Man," said Grimes, in a medita- tive way, " is a singular compound of strengt'i and weakness. I have my share of physical, mental, and I may add moral strength, I suppose ; so I may as well acknowledge the corn, and confess to a share of physical, mental, and moral weakness. Yes, as you delicately intimate, I have been struck from that quarter, and the sole cause of my present flight is woman. Yes, sir." And, saying this. Grimes raised him- self to an erect position, and, rubbing his short shingled hair with some vio- lence, he stared hard at his friend. " A woman ! " said Carrol. " Queer, too. You, too, of all men ! Well, I would n't have believed it if you your- self had not said so. But do you mean to say that you 're so upset that you 're going to run for it ? Why, man, there must have been some diflicultv. Is that it ? " " Wal, somethin' of that sort Yes, we '11 call it a difficulty." " May I ask who the lady is ? " asked Carrol, after a pause. "Certainly. It's Mrs. Lo veil." " Mrs. Lovell ! " « Yes." " The Devil ! " " Look here," said Grimes, " you need n't bring in that party in connec- tion with the name of Mrs. Lovell ; but at the same time I suppose you don't mean any harm." " Of course not. Excuse me, old boy, but I was astonished." " That 's the lady anyhow." " Of course," said Carrol, " I knew you were acquainted with Mrs. Lovell, but I never dreamed that you were at all affected. How in-fernally odd ! But how did it all come about ? " " Wal," said Grimes, " I got ac- I il'T' 14 A Comedy of Tenors; ii; I ) ! nlii lii !i quainted with her in a very queer shape. You sec I was in the cars once goin' to Buflalo and saw her aboard. Tiiat '.s the first si;,'lit of her. I was on my way through to Frisco, but turned off after her to Niagara, lettin' my baggage slide. I watched her tiiere for about a week, and at last one day I saw her goin' out alone for a walk. I followed her at a respectful distance. Wal, dis- tance lent such an enchantment, that I ventured nigher, like ;i darned fly to a lighted candle. Suddenly a great gust of wiiid came and made my candle flare tremendously. By this I mean that the wind lifted her hat and fixin's from her head, and blew 'he whole caboodle clean over the clih In a moment I jumped after it — " "What!" interrupted Carrol, "not over the cliff?" "Yes, over the cliff. I tell you it was a sight that might have sent a fellow over a thousand cliffs. There she stood, as lovely as a dream, with lier nat'ral hair all swingin' and tossin' about her head, like a nymph and a naiad and a dryad all rolled into one ; and the sight of her was like a shock from a full-charged, double-barrelled galvanic battery, by jingo ! So over the cliff I went, as I said, just stoppin' by the way to tell her I 'd get her hat and things. Now I tell you what it is, if it had been the falls of Niagara I 'd have gone over all the same ; but as it happened it was only the cliff, a mile or so below, and for a man like me it was easy enough goin' down, — a man like me that 's got nerve and muscle and sinoo and bones and a cool head ; though, mind you, I don't brag much on the coolness of my head at that partic- ular moment. So over I went, and down I went. I found ledges of rocks and shelves ; and it wa' n't hard climb- in' ; so I did the job easy enough : and as luck would have it, I found the hat not more than thirty or forty feet down, jammed among the rocks and trees where the wind had whirled it. Along with the hat I found the usual ac- companiments of a lady's head-gear. I secured them all and worked my way back, carryin' the prize in my teeth. "Wal, I got up to the top and looked around. To my amazement the lady was nowhere to be seen. She was gone. I then institooted a series of delicate inquiries round about, and found out where she was iivin', and went there to return her the hat and fi.\in's. She wa' n't able to see me. Too agitated, you know. The agita- tion had been too much for her, no doubt, and had brought on a fever, ac- companied by spasms and hysterics and other frn-.inine pursuits. So I re- treated, and on the followin' day called again. And what do you think I learned ? Why she was gone, gone, sir, and for good ; left, fled, sloped, vamoosed, — none of your transitory flights, but an eternal farewell to Cali- fornia Grimes. And I never in my life experienced the sensation of being dumbfounded until that moment. " Wal, I wa' n't goin' to give her up. It ain't in me to knock under, so I set myself to find her. That job wa' n't over-easy. I did n't like to ask her friends, of course, and so in my inqui- ries after her I had to restrict myself to delicate insinuations and glittering generalities. In this way I was able to find out that she was a Canadian, but nothing more. This was all I had to go upon, but on this I began to institoot a reg'lar, systematic, analytic, synthetic, and comprehensive search. I visited all the cities of Canada and hunted through all the Directories. At length, in the course of my wanderings, I cams here, and here, sure enough, I found her ; saw her name in the Directory, made inquiries at the hotel, and saw that I had spotted her at last " Wal, the moment I found this out, that is, the day after, I went to see her. I found her as mild as milk, as gentle as a cooin' dove, as pleased as pie, and as smilin' as a basket of chips. She did n't really ask me in so many words to call again, but I saw that she expected it ; and if she had n't, it would have been all the same, for I was bound to see more of her. A Comedy of Terrors. 15 in my sloped, "Wal, I ain't goin' to dilate upon love's young dream now, but siinjily state that I indulged in it for several months, and it was not till to-day that I was waked out of it. It was a very rude shock, but it broke up the dream, and 1 'm now at last wide awake and myself again." "]>y this I suppose I am to under- stand that your sentiments were not j reciprocated." ' " Very much. O yes ; that 's the exact definition," said Grimes, dryly. "Yes — Wal — You see ic w.a' n't more than two hours ago. 1 went to see her. I told her all." " Well ? " " Wal, she listened as patient as a Iamb, and did n't interrupt me once. Now, as my story could n't have been very particularly intercstin', I call that very considerate of her, in the first place." " Well, and how did it end ? " " Wal, she did n't say anythin' in particular for some considerable time. At last 1 stopped. And then she spoke. And she presented me with a very sweet, soft, elegant, well-shaped, well- knit, dove-colored, tastefully designed, and admirably fittin' — mitten." "And that was the end, was it?" said Carrol, gloomily ; "jilted .■• You might have known it. It 's always the way." " What 's that ? " exclaimed Crimes ; " always the way .-" No, it ain't, not by a long chalk. On the contrary, peo- ple are gettin' married every day, and never see a mitten at all." " O, confound all women, I say ! " growled Carrol. " It 's always the way. They 're so full of whims and fancies and nonsense, they don't know their own minds. They 've no sense of honor. They lead a fellow on, and smile on him, and feed their infernal vanity, and then if the whim takes them they throw him off as coolly as they would an old glove. I dare say there 's a way to get around them ; and if a fellow chose to swallow insults, and put up with no end of whims, he might eventually win the woman he loves, and to do that a man must lose his manhood. For my p. rt, if a woman jilts me, she may go to the Devil." " It strikes me," said Grimes, "th.nt you use rather strong language about the subject." Carrol laughed bitterly. " Well, old fellow,'' said he, "you 've been jilted, and whatever you feel you appear to take it quietly. Now, I 'm not so much of a philosopher, and so I take it out in a little swearing." " You ! " said Grimes, staring at the other in surprise. "What have you got to do about it ? " " O, nothing, — a little affair of my own. They say misery loves company, and if so, pcrliaps it'll be a comfort to you to know that I 'm in the same box." " What's diat?" said Grimes ; "the same what, — did you say ' box ' ? " " Yes," said Carrol, while a heavy shadow passed over his face. " What ! not jilted ? " "Yes, jilted." " Jilted .' Good Lord ! Not by a woman ! " "Well, I don't exactly see how I could have been jilted by anybody else," said Carrol, with a short laugh. At this intelligence from Carrol, Grimes sat for a few moments in si- lence, staring at him and rubbing his hand slowly over his shingled hair. " Wal," he said at length, " it strikes me as queer, too. For you see I 'm kind o' modest about myself, but I 'm free to say that I always regarded you not merely as a man, but also as one who might be a lady's man. A fellow of your personal appearance, general build, gift of gab, and amiable disposition hain't got any call, as far as I can see, to know anythin' what- ever of the nature of a mitten." " In spite of all these advantages," said Carrol, quietly, " I 've got my own particular mitten in my own posses- sion. I 've got it in the shape of a beautiful little note, written in the most elegant lady's hand imaginable." " A note ? What do you mean by a note ? " irr i6 A Comedy of Terrors. ' .1 ■11 .III 'III' 'II ill I IMljIi 'III !i if:!' ' mil (ill I' Hilh nil !;';ll I I " O, nothing ; my affair, as it hap- pened, was done up in writing." " Writing ! Do you mean to say that you wrote a letter about such a nr.atter ? " "Yes, that was the way it was done." " A letter ! " exclaimed Grimes, in strong excitement. " What ! Do you mean to say that you, with all your ad- vantages, descended so low as to write a letter to the woman you pretended to love about a thing of such unspeakable importance. Good Lord! Of all the darn'dest — " And Grimes sank back in his chair, overwhelmed by the idea. "Well," said Carrol, "I acknowl- edge that a letter is a very inferior sort of way of making a proposal, but in my case there was no help for it. I had to do it, and, as it 's turned out, it seems to me to be a confoundedly lucky thing that it was so, for it would have been too infernally mortifying to have had her tell me what she did tell me, face to face." " Who is the lady ? " asked Grimes, after a solemn pause. " Is it any se- cret ? " " O no, I 'd just as soon tell you as not. It's Miss Heathcote." " Miss Heathcote ! " said Grimes, in surprise. " Yes." " What ! Mrs. Lovell's sister ? " " Yes." " Good thunder ! " " It 's deuced odd, too," said Carrol. "You and I seem to have been di- recting our energies toward the same quarter. Odd, too, that neither of us suspected the other. Well, for my part, my case was a hard one. Miss Heathcote was always with her sister, you know, and I never had a decent chance of seeing her alone. I met her first at a ball. We often met after that. We danced together very fre- quently. I saw her two or three times by herself. I used to call there, of course, and all that sort of thing, you know. Well, at last I found myself pretty far gone, and tried to get an op- portunity of telling her, you know ; but somehow or other, her sister seemed to monopolize her all the time, and I really had n't a fair chance. Well, you know, I couldn't manage to see her alone, and at last I couldn't stand it any longer, and so I wrote. " Now, mind you, although I had seen her alone only two or three times, yet I had very good reasons to suppose that she was very favorable to me ; a wo- man can give a man all sorts of encour- agement, you know, in a quiet way. It seemed to me that there was a sort of understanding between us. In the expression of her face, in the tone of her voice, and in other things which I cannot mention, I saw enough to give me all the encouragement I wanted. " Very well, I wrote as I said, and I got an answer. It was an answer that came like a stroke of lightning. Now, under ordinary circumstances, if a woman rejects a fellow, there is no reason why she should not do it in a kind sort of a way. Her very nature ought to prompt her to this. If, how- ever, there had been anything like en- couragement given to the unfortunate devil who proposed, it certainly would not be presumptuous to expect some sort of explanation, something that might soften the blow. Now in my case the encouragement had really been strong. Very well ; I wrote, — under these circumstances, mind you, — I wrote, after I had been encouraged, — actually encouraged, mind you, after she had given me every reason to hope for a favorable answer, — and what — what do you think was the sort of answer that I really did get? What.'F Why, this ! " And Carrol, who by this time had worked himself into a state of intense excitement, snatched a letter from his pocket and flung it toward Grimes. The act was so suddenly done that Grimes had not time to raise his hand to catch it. The letter fell upon the floor, and Grimes, stooping down, raised it up. He then read the ad- dress in a very solemn manner, after .i;li A Comedy of Terrors. 17 now; but :r seemed me, and I Well, you } see her t stand it I had seen imes, yet I ppose that ne ; a wo- of encour- ;t way. It LS a sort of . In the 1 the tone lings which enough to igement I I said, and an answer f lightning, mstances, if there is no t do it in a very nature is. If, hew- ing like en- unfortunate tainly would ;xpect some elhing that Now in my 1 really been )te, — under id you, — I couraged, — you, after ison to hope — and what the sort of et? What?? is time had te of intense ter from his Grimes, ly done that ise his hand ell upon the iping down, ead the ad- nanner, after which he slowly opened it and read the following : — " Dkak Sir : I have just received your letter, and regret rr/j iLv/i/y that you liiive written to me on siic/i a sub- ji-it. I 'ni sure I am not aware of anything in our mutual relations that could give rise to a rocjucst of such a nature, and can only account for it on the ground of sudden impulse, which your own good sense will hardly be able to justify. I trust that you will not tliink me capable of giving unne- cessary pain to any one ; and that you will believe me when I say that it is absolutely impossible for me to enter- tain your proposal for one moment. " Very truly yours, " Maud Hkathcote." " Short, sharp, and decisive," was the remark of Grimes, after he had read the note over two or tiiree times ; and with these words he replaced the pa- per in the envelope and returned it to Carrol. " Now, mind you," said Carrol, " she had given me as much encouragement as a lady would think proper to give. She had evidently intended to give me the idea that she was not indificrcnt to me, and then — then — when I com- mitted myself to a proposal, slie flung this in my face. What do you think of that, for instnnce?" " It 's a stunner, nnd no mistake," said Grimes, solemnly. " Well," said Carrol, after another pause, " I 've found out all about it." " Found out ? " " Yes, her little game. O, she 's deep ! You would scarcely believe that so young a girl had such infernal craft. But it's born in them. The weaker animals, you know, are generally sup- plied with cunning, so as to carry out the great struggle for existence. Cun- ning ! Cunning is n't the word. I swear, of all the infernal schemes that ever I heard of, this one of Miss Heath- cote's was the worst. A dcej) game, yes, by heaven ! And it was only by the merest chance that I found it out." Carrol drew a long breath and then went on. " You see, in the first place, she 's been playing a double game all tliis time." " A double game ? " "Yes, two strings to her bow, and all that, you know." " O, another lover ! " "Yes, that miserable French v.aga- bond that calls himself the Count du Potiron." " I'otiron I What ! that infernal skunk?" "Yes." " What ! Do you mean to say that Miss Heathcote would condescend to look at a fellow like that ? I don't be- lieve it. She wouldn't touch him with a pair of tongs. No, by thunder ! " " Well, it 's a fact, as I know only too well." "I'ooh ! you 're jealous and imagine this." " I don't ! I have proof." "What proof?" "What proof? Wait till you hear my stoiy." " P'ire away then." "Well, this fellow, Du Potiron, has only been here a few weeks, but has managed to get into society. I saw him once or twice hanging about Mrs. Lovell's, but, 'pon my soul, I had such a contempt for the poor devil that I never gave him a thought beyond won- dering in a vague kind of way how the Devil he got there. But, mind you, a woman is a queer creature. Miss Heathcote is aristocratic in her tastes, or, rather, snobbish, and anything like a title drives her wild. The moment she s.aw this fellow she began to wor- ship him, on account of his infernal sham nobility. The fellow 's no more a count than I am, I really believe ; but the name of the thing is enough, and to live and move and have her being in the presence of a real live count was too much for her. At once the great aim of her life was to become a countess." " Wal," said Grimes, as Carrol paused, "you seem somehow or other to have jiciTr" i8 A Comedy of Terrors, Hill' ^1' Ml I iKiili ijllli II i-'ir llIlK ''■\ I W'W 111, 1 ;;:u!i got a deep insight into the inner work- in's of Miss Hcathcole's mind." •' I tell you I i"u to ac- count.' I said this very ijoolly and quietly, for I did n't want the French- man to see how excited I was. " He looked at me in great surprise, and then said, ' Excuse me, sare, de lady that I haf spik of haf commit her name an' her honneur to me, an' no pcrsonne haf any claim to champion her but only me.' " 'Pooh,' said I, ' I don't believe you have any claim of the sort. When I saw her Last, she had n't the remotest intention of anything of the kind.' " I dare say my tone was very ofTen- sive, for the Frenchman turned very pale, and his eyes blazed with fury. " ' You don't belief,' said he. ' Aha ! You insulta me. Ver' well. I sail haf satisfaction for de insult. An' so you don't belief. Ver' well. You sail be- lief dis. Ha ! Ef you are so grand friend an' champion, you sail tell me wat you tink of dees ! ' " And with these words he tore a letter from his pocket, and flourished it before my face. I saw the hand- writing. It was hers. The letter was addressed to him. And in that one in- stant every boast of his was confirmed by her own signature, and I saw at once the infernal depth of her crafty, scheming nature. And, by heaven ! she '11 find that she 's got things before her that will interfere a little with her brilliant prospects." Carrol paused. His face grew dark, I (ijfr^ 30 A Coiiit'ify of Ttrivrs. ilr :liri < III ' II h I Mil' ii.iir i iliii' IMlll ilii ■M I , Vi n II t I I'll, I m I'i'iii' and tlino was tlinl in liis eyes wliii li sIiowimI tliat his words contaiiicd sonic- tliiiij; iiiDic llian i-mply menace. " Well ?" aski'd (irinu-s, ansionsly. "Well," said Caiiol, "at llial I lost all control over myself, and i Kihk Kcd liim down. He jumped iij), and turned upon me in a liiry. " ' Yon sail ;;il" nic satccsf.iclion for dis ! ' In; screamed. " 'Certainly,' said I. •' ' \'ou sail hear from me, saro.' " ' \'ery well,' said I ; and then, as I did n't see .any use in stayin,n then; lon.iicr, I went olf. Well, this mornini; I <',ot a challenu;e from him, and this is the tiiim; that has prevented my de- parture, and has l)ron);ht mc to you. Otherwise, it is n't likely that we should have met aj;ain, mdess, indeed, we h.id h.tppeuiil to turn up toj^clJur at llie same place in the middle of C'liin 'I'.n- tary. ^'on sec, I want you to he my second." " N'our sec(uid ? " s.aid (irimes, ami fell into a deep (il of musiuLj. IV. Df.AMNCS Willi "Moo.soo." (lunns sal for .some time in pro- foimd silence. " Of cmnse, yon '11 ()lili;;c me," said Canol, al Icnglli, somewhat intp.atienl- ')'■ " l\le ? O, you may rely u]ion me; Init, at the same time, I want you to iMiderstand that there 's ( ilTu tillies in the way. I'.esides, I don'i appiove of this." " Oiiriculties ? Ofcourse. Pinds ate again,'! the l,iw, and all ih.il. No one )ij;hts (!ucl,', !v :;• ; hut sometimes nolh- inji else will do." " .So yon want to fij;ht ? " asked (Irimes. " Yes," said C.irrol, fiercely. " I.iw or no l.iw, I w.ml to (i;;ht — to the death. This is now tin; only tiling; thai I care for. I want to li> it liim." lik' jy the orthodox dool I mean the f.ishion.ihlo sort, that they orij;i- ii.ited in I'airopc. Now I want you to understand, in the first pl.iee, that the orthodox dool is iinf.iir, unjusl, ,anc- citccl, my son ; but then, temperaments diflcr. Now the prospect of a good, rousin' fight has a kind of cheerin' effect "on me, and makes me a Christian in one sense, for I get almost to love my J enemy." " Well, I 've a different feeling to- ward my enemy," said Carrol ; " so now let 's go and finish up this business as soon as we can. It must be done up to-night." " So say I ; for I 've got to go," said Grimes. " I '11 go now after Moosoo. Where shall I see you ? " " At your rooms. I won't go back to mine, I don't want to see any fel- lows." On reaching the town again Grimes went olT, and Carrol went to the rooms of his friend, where he awaited the result. In about two hours Grimes came back. "Wal," said he, "you're in the dark here. .Suppose we have some light on the subject." And he pro- ceeded to light up. " Won't you smoke ? " Carrol said nothing, but began to fill a pipe in an abstracted way, while Grimes filled another. " Wal," said he, " I 've been and seen 'em ; and a precious hard time I 've had of it, too. They 're both Moosoos, and your I\Ioosoo and his friend, bein' foreigners, had a most un- nat'ral prejudice agaim-t the mode of combat decided on by you. And it 's taken me full two good hours to beat into their frog-eatin' heads that this is the only fair, just, equitable, unpartial, and reasonable mod-- of fightin' rccoj^ nized among high-toned men. And so it is. For look at me. 1 'ni a high- toned man. Wal, I give my vote clean in favor of it. "Moosoo's friend is a fellow-coun- tryman of his who came out with him to America ; and as they have neither of them been here more than two or three months, they show an ignorance and a prejudice and a stoopidity that is incredible. Why, they actilly had the audacity to quote their infernal frog-eatin' French customs against me, — me that's been brought up on the Californy code. But I managed pre- cious soon to show them that their small I'aris fashions wa' n't a circum- stance out here, "You must understand that first of all I saw only his friend, but he found my ))roposition so disagreeable, and, as he called it, so monstrous, that he had to consult Moosoo himself, and gradually I was worked into the con- versation with the principal. I'ortu- nately, I can talk their language as fast as they can, with a good, strong, A Comedy of Terrors. 25 ;e any fel- in Grimes the rooms .vaitecl the mes came -e in the lavc some id lie pro- Von't you icgan to fill way, while been and hard time ;y 're both )0 and his a most un- e mode of . And it's urs to beat that this is I, un;iartial, litin' rcco- n. And so 'm a high- r vote clean ellow-coun- it with him tve neither an two or ignorance )pidity tliat actilly had ir infernal against me, up on the naged pre- that tlieir a circum- hat first of t he found eable, and, trous, that imself, and :o the con- al. Fortu- mguagc as od, strong, honest Yankee accent, which I may add is the only safeguard to the moral nature of a free American when he doos speak French. " Wal, I found Moosoo as venomous as a rat, and as thirsty for your blood as a tiger. He felt confidence in his own skill, and was as sure of you as he would be of his dinner, yea, perhaps more so. And this was the very thing i I tackled him about at the outset. I sliowed him that we, bein' the chal- lenged party, had a right to define our weepins and locate the scene of ac- tion. I showed that we were bound to look after our rights, privileges, and appurtenances, and not let him have it all his own way. I then went on to show that the proposed mode was at once sound, just, fair, wise, equitable, and honest. Wal, the blind prejudice of Moosoo was amazin', I never saw anythin' like it. All my arguments about fairness, equity, and abstract right were thrown away. So, then, I had to bring before him my second poini, namel}', that this is the custom of the country." " What, to fight duels in the dark ? " " Wal, no, not precisely that, but to fight accordin' to the will of the challenged party. As for fightin' in the dark, I showed that this of itself was not the custom, but still it was a custom of the country, and as such deserved to be regarded with venera- tion by foreigners, and adopted by them whenever it was the desire of an American who might be the challenged party. This argument was one which they did n't find it so easy to meet. They fit against it hke all-possessed ; but my position was an impregnable one, and they could no more shake me from it than a couple of bumble- bees could uproot the giant tree that lifts its gorgeous head from the midst of the primeval forest. No, sir. And finally, as a settler, I brought up Cali- forny. I described its wealth of re- sources, animal, vegetable, and min- eral ; its giant mountains, its sunless valleys, its broad plains, its stoopen- dous trees ; I dilated upon the Yosem- ite ; I portrayed the Golden Gate ; I gave them estimates of our annual commerce ; I explained our school law, our criminal law, and our spe- cie currency. I informed them that Californy was at once the brain, the heart, and the right arm of the broad continent ; that Californy usage was final throughout America, and that Californy sanctioned the mode pro- posed. " Wal, now, Moosoo was dreadful disinclined to fight a duel in the dark. He was bloodthirsty and venomous, but at the same time I detected in him a dash of timidity, and the pros- pect of this kind of a meetin' upset him a little. It's either natural timidity croppin' out, or else it 's a kind of su- perstition, perhaps both ; and whatever it was it made him refuse this dool for a long time. But Califcrny settled him. The supreme author; .y of Amer- ica was somethin' they could n't object to. "Wal, I redooced them to submis- sion, and then it only remained to settle the details. Wal, first and foremost, we are to go there, — all of us together. Wal, then the seconds are to put the principals in the room whar the business is to be transacted. Wal, then the seconds are to take their departure and fly." " What 's that ? what ? " asked Car- rol, who had thus far listened without sho'ving much interest. " Why should the seconds go ? " " Why should they stay ? " " Well, I don't know, except to see fair play." " Wal, in the first place, as it 's goin' to be pitch dark the seconds won't be able to see anything ; in the second place, the very essence of the whole thing is that the fighters be left to their own natural instincts ; and in the third place, if no one sees it there won't be any witnesses for the lawyers to get hold of in case the survivor is tried for his life." "And do you really mean to say that you 're going away ? Won't you stay till — till — " Carrol hesitated. 26 A Comedy of Terrors. '■' I;! "Stay?" echoed Grimes. "Stay? Me! — me stay! And here! What, here ! Are you mad ? Don't you see my trunk ? Have n't you heard my mournful story ? Ought n't I even now to be rollin' along on my windin' way ? No. I leave this place at once and forever ; and I 'm only waitin' to be of service to an old friend in the hour of need ; and, my son, I '11 shake hands witii you when we part, and bid you good by, witli the hope that we may at last meet again whar partin's air un- known." Midnight was the hour settled upon for the duel, and about half past eleven Grimes and Carrol called on the Frenchmen. They were ready. Du Potiron looked pale and nervous ; in which respect Carrol was fully his equal. Du Potiron's friend looked dark and sullen. Grimes alone showed anything like ordinary good feeling. He was calm, urbane, chatty, and at times even jocose. He had the manner of one who was putting a strong restraint upon himself, but underneath this re- straint there was an immense pressure of riotous feeling that at times surged up mightily. The feeling was the fur- thest possible from grief or anxiety. Was it natural cold-heartedness in this man that allowed him at such a time to be capable of such levity, that per- mitted him, while accompanying an in- timate and trusting friend on such an errand, to have no thought of that friend's impending doom ? So they marched on, the four of them ; first Grimes and Carrol, then the two " Moosoos." After finding that his companions declined conversation, Grimes gave it up, and walked on in silence. Sometimes his huge frame would shake from his hat to his boots ; and on one occasion he even went so far as to beat his breast, gorilla fash- ion, — a proceeding that excited much suspicion and anxiety in the minds of the foreigners. Carrol noticed this, but did not think much about it. He was well acquaint- ed with the eccentricities and extrava- gances of his friend, and did not see much in his present conduct that was very different from usual. Once or twice, it is true, he could not help feeling that repressed laughter was a little out of place, but he accounted for it on the ground that Grimes was really troubled in his mind, and took this way of struggling with his emotion. On the whole, however, Carrol did not give much thought to Grimes. As he walked on, his mind was occupied | with the events of the last few days, and the dark rendezvous before him. In those few days were comprised all the real trouble he had ever known. He had never in his life quarrelled with any one, much less fought a duel ; yet here in three days his heart had been filled with bitterness and hate and de- spair. Nor amid these contending feelings was he least aff(;cted by a certain hor- ror of soul arising from the meeting before him. He was going at that mid- night hour to meet death or to inflict it. That gloomy, deserted house, under the midnight sky, was to be the scene ; and in that house even now there awaited one of them, perhaps both, the King of Terrors. Was it wonderful, then, that at such a time and on such an errand, there should have come over Carrol's soul a certain overwhelming and shuddering awe ? Has not the greatest of singers shown this feeling in the soul even of Ajax while fighting in the dark ? Car- rol going in broad day to meet his enemy would have been animated sole- ly by that vindictive hate which he had already manifested, and would have soothed himself by the hope of inflict-' ing sorrow of some sort on Miss Heath- cote ; but Carrol at midnight, in the dark, on his way to that place of meet- ing, to encounter an unseen enemy, found himself a weaker being. He was unable to maintain his fierce vin- dictive hate. Wrath and fury subsided at the presence of that one feeling which in all human hearts is capable of overmastering all else, — the un- speakable sense of horror. A Comedy of Terrors. 27 ;t that was Once or I not help liter was a accounted at Grimes mind, and s with his Carrol did ;rimes. As IS occupied i It few days, before him. imprised all iver known, irrelled with a duel ; yet irt had been late and de- ling feelings certain hor- the meeting at that mid- r to inflict it. se, under the ; scene ; and lere awaited ;h, the King that at such irrand, there arrol's soul a I shuddering St of singers soul even of dark ? Car- to meet his limated sole- ivhich he had would have )pe of inflict-' Miss Heath- night, in the )lace of meet- seen enemy, being. He lis fierce vin- fury subsided : one feeling ts is capable se, — the un- V. DESPISED LOVE. After that unexpected meeting with Grimes and Carrol, the ladies drove home, and not a word was spoken by either. The house was not far away, and the drive was not long enough to allow them time to recover from the emotion which this meeting caused them. But over Maud's pale face, there came a hot angry flush, and her brows contracted into an indignant frown. She remained in her room longer than was strictly necessary for disrobing herself, and when she joined her sister she had become calmer. " O Maudie darling," said Mrs. Lovell, " I thought you were never coming. I do so want to talk to you. Only thiak how very odd it was that I should meet him in that way. And he looked so awfully embarrassed. Did n't you notice it ? " " No," said Maud. " Why, how strange ! Well, you know, I never felt so cut up in all my life." " Did you ? " «• Positively. I assure you I believe I 'm growing prematurely old, and rap- idly getting into my dotage. But how really magnificent he looked ! I 'm so glad I saw him, and I 'm so glad he is n't coming here any more. Do you know, darling, I 'm more afraid of my- self than ever? Really, I sometimes think that 1 'm weaker than a child. How very fortunate for me it is that he has such real delicacy, and is so very punctilious and all that ! Why, if he were ditferent, one really could n't tell what might happen. O dear, how very fortunate it is that I 'm going to Paris ! But, Mrudie dear, did you notice what a leonine aspect he had ? " " Who ? " asked Maud, languidly. "Who ? Why, how stupid ! Why, he, Mr. Grimes, of course. You can't suppose that I meant Mr. Carrol. He looked anything but leonine. He was as white as a sheet, and as stiff as a statue." Maud sighed. " Well, I 'm sure," resumed Mrs. Lovell, " it 's particularly fortunate for me that I 'm going to Paris. I feel that I 'm shamefully weak, and if I were to stay here I really don't know what would become of me. As it is I shall escape from him. Of course he will be here immediately, but I shall evade him. But, poor fellow," — ami Mrs. Lovell sighed, — " how terribly Cut up he will be when he finds that I am gone ! And he won't know where in the world I have gone to. He would follow me, of course, to the world's end, but he can never, never think of Paris. Only he might think of it, and, O dear, if he were to find out, and follow me, what would be- come of me, Maudie ? Do you knov/ ? I 'm sure I don't, or, rather, I do know, but it 's really too horrible to think of. I 've an immense amount of strength of character, and all that sort of thing, Maudie dearest, but really if I should see him in Paris I 'm afraid I should quite give up. I really do not know what resource I should have, unless I might fly home and take refuge with poor dear papa, and I 'm sure he's had worry enough with me,, and then only think what worry he 'd have if Mr. Grimes should pursue me there and see me again. What could poor dear papa do ? He 's so awfully fond of me that he 's quite unreliable. He always lets me do just what I choose. Really, do you know, ALiudie, I sometimes think it is quite heart- rending for one 's papa to be so very, very weak. I do really." " Poor fellow ! " said Maud, with a sigh. " Poor what ? " exclaimed Mrs. Lov- ell, looking in astonishment at Maud. " Really, Maudie, it strikes me that you have a very funny way of alluding to poor papa." " Papa .? " said Maud, " I did n't mean him. I meant — Mr. Carrol." " O, Mr. Carrol. Well, Maudie, now that you remind me of him, it seems to me very odd. I thought he had bid you an eterral farewell, and .ill that. But it 's always the way with flifTf 'III ■'Ill 'III , II ill' I II l.li ''llli'l H" ! li'til >;«|l li'ii! •|l|l-l ll! lill'lllll lIlllMI ll 'lillliill! i|ii|i'il'i 'll|l'lll| ■ 111 11! !!!iM; il I II l< : I i' 111; lliil 28 A Comedy of Terrors. men. You don't know how to take them. Really, you can never know when they are in earnest. For my part, I don't believe they know, themselves. I really don't." '* He did n't speak," said Maud, in a voice of indescribable sadness, " he did n't even look at me, and I was so — I thought so much of him. And then you know I really was n't to blame." " J 'oit, darling ! you to blame ! You never were to blame in your life, my sweet Maudie. And it breaks my heart to see you so sad. And I hate him. I really do. But that 's the way with men. Fickle, variable, creatures of mere impulse, prone to wander, obey- ing nothing but mere passion, whim- sical, incapable of careful and logical thought. Really, IMaudie dear, I have a very, very low opinion of men, and my advice to you is, never, never al- low yourself to think too much of any one man. He '11 be sure to give you many a heart-ache. You follow my advice and do as I do." " He looked so dreadfully pale, and sad, and carewora. It breaks my heart to think of.it." " Pale ? W'.iy, Maudie dear, you need never imagine that his paleness had anything to do with you. Do you know what such a fancy is ? Why, it 's morbid." " He would n't even look at me," said Maud. "And I longed so to catch his eye. I should have spoken to him." " My dear Maudie, how very silly and unladylike ! As to his paleness, that is all assumed. These men, dear, are really all actors. They wear masks, Maudie, they really do. You can't trust one of them. As for his paleness, I have no doubt it was simply indiges- tion, — or perhaps dissipation." " Mr. Carrol is not at all dissipated," said Maud, indignantly. " Well, dear, you need n't take one up so, and really, you know you don't know much about him. I dare say he 's very, very dissipated. At any rate, he's very, very deceitful." " Deceitful ! " " Yes ; did n't he bid you an eternal farewell, and say he was going away ? Well, the first thing you know, you meet him calmly strolling about the streets." " O," cried Maud, fervently, " if I had only known it, I should have written him at once and explained it all. But, O Georgie ! I was so sure that he had gone away, and that thought filled me with despair." " Really, Maudie, you use such strong language that I feel quite shocked. Despair ? What do you know of de- spair ? Wait till you 've had my expe- rience." And Mrs. Lovell sighed heavily. " At any rate, Maudie," said she, af- ter a brief silence, " one thing is quite plain to me, and that is, that he is at least very undecided. He really does n't know his own mind. He pretend- ed to want you, and then he gave you up on account of a slight mistake. He wrote you solemnly, announcing his eternal departure, and yet he stayed here and wandered about on purpose to meet you and give you distress. And he does n't know his own mind at this moment." Maud was silent. " O yes," resumed l\Irs. Lovell, "you '11 find it so, when you gain more expe- rience, Maudie dearest, you '11 learn to think very little of the men. They are all so very undecided. Quite worth- less, in fact. Now you 'II find that a man is never really worth anything till he gets a wife. And I suppose tliat's one reason why they're all so eager to be married. Quite unsettled till then. Why, look at Adam," continued Mrs. Lovell, speaking of the father of mankind in the same tone in which she would have alluded to some well-known friend, — " look at Adam. He was quite worthless, O, I assure you, he was really quite worthless, till his wife was presented to him. But, Maudie, when you think of it, what a very awkward meeting it must have been ! Only themselves, you know, dear, and not a single soul to introduce them. I wonder how they managed it." A Comedy of Tarors. 29 And Mrs. Lovell jiauscd, quite over- come by the inscrutable problem which was presented by tliis one idea. To all of her sister's somewhat des- ultory remarks Maud seemed to pay but little attention. Slie sat with an abstracted look, occupied by her own thoughts ; and so after Mrs. Lovell's darinij fliLjht of fancy on the subject of Adam, she sighed, and said : " I do wonder what kept hiii here. If I had only known it ! " " My dear," said Mrs. Lovell, " I'll tell you what kept him here. He did it to tease you. IMen do so love to tease, and worry, and vex, and annoy. Men are always so. Really, when I come to think of it, I wonder why men were created, I do positively, though of course it's awfully wicked to make a remark of that kind, and seems al- most like flying in the face of Provi- d&nce. But perhaps it is the wisest plan in this life to try to make the best of our evils, instead of fighting against them, and I dare say it would be best for us to act on that principle with re- gard to men." Maud took no notice of this. She rose from her chair in an excited way and said, " Georgie, I must write him." " Write him ! Why, my precious child ! " " I must, Georgie, I really must write him. It 's been a terrible mistake, and my mistake, and I cannot let another hour pass without an explanation. It may be all too late, yet I must do it. I can never, never have any peace till I have explained it all." " Well, Maudie, I must say I feel quite shocked at such a very unlady- like proposal ; but, darling, if you real- ly feel so very disturbed, and agitated, and all that, why, I won't say one word ; only do try to calm yourself, dearest ; you are so pale and sad, and have been so utterly unlike yourself ever since that horrid letter, that it quite breaks my heart to look at you. So go, Maudie, and do whatever you like, ard try to get that wretched man off your mind if you possibly can." Maud sighed again, and left the room, while Mrs. Lovell leaned her head upon her hand and gave herself up to her own meditations. After about an hour Maud came back with a letter in her hand. "Well, darling .'" said Mrs. Lovell, 5n an interrogative tone. " Well," said Maud, " I 've written him." " Mind, darling, I don't approve of it at all. I only yielded to you because you were so sad. I believe that he has treated you in a shockingly cruel manner, and is now trying his best to make you miserable. This letter will only draw another one from him worse than the last." " I cannot help it," said IMaud, mourn- fully. " I had to write. It was my mistake. I owed him an explan- ation." *' You owed him nothing of the kind, Maudie darling. Women never owe men any explanations of any kind. You are too weak altogether. But that's always the way with women. They are always too magnanimous ; they are never petty and selfish ; they are too just ; they allow themselves to be in- fluenced too much by reason, and would often be better for a little dash of pas- sion, or temper, or proper pride ; and, Maudie dear, I do wish you would n't be so absurd." " I have my share of proper pride," said Maud, quietly, "and enough to support me in the liour of trial. But I had to write this. I owed it to him. It was my own unfortunate mistake. I must explain this wretched blunder to him. If he will not receive this, why then I feel that my own pride and proper self-respect will sustain me, un- der all possible circumstances. And, Georgie dear, though I never suspected till now the real strength of my feelings, yet I am sure that if he should prove to be unworthy, I shall be able to over- come them, and succeed in time in casting him from my thoughts." " You 're too tr.agic, Maudie," said Mrs. Lovell, anxiously ; " and I don't like to see you in this mood. But what ji[ffp![r ;| lll'lll II III III 11 II I 111 IMlMI'll I I «'!!■ II Ml li. ::i 1; II. 1 fi I'll mil mill l!il!l>ii, iii|iiiii|i Ill' HIHIll^ mill: 1 ' II ii ■ rti 1 1 i iiil III, m iiiMi'i! m mil'- A Comedy of Terrors, Iiavc yon written ? Of course, I only ask in a general way." " Weil, I explained the mistake, you know," said Maud. "It was not at all necessary," said Mrs. Lovell. " I told him how it happened," said Maud, without noticing her sister's remark, — " the two letters, my own ex- citement and agitation, and all that." " Well, did you give him any reason to suppose that he would still be wel- come .' " " I certainly did," said Maud. " I wrote him ''n the same tone which I had used in the first unfortunate let- ter." Mrs. Lovell shook her head. " Tliat was very, very unwise, l\raudie dearest," said she, "you should have been more cautious. You should have shown him hov/ cruel he was. You should have witten your letter in such a way as to iihow him that he was al- together in the wrong, and then after making him feel proper repentance you might have hinted, merely hinted, you know, that you would not be altogether indisposed to forgive him, if he — if he showed himself sufficiently sorry for his fault." " Well," said Maud, " I had to write as my heart prompted. I am incapable of any concealment ; I am anxious to explain a mistake. I don't want any- thing more from him than — than an acknowledgment that he was mistaken in his cruel letter." At this juncture a caller was an- nounced, and Maud, not feeling equal to tlie occasion, and being also anxious to send off her letter, took her depart- ure. When the caller had departed she rejoined her sister. " O Maudie," said Mrs. Lovell, "who do you think it was ? Why, Mrs. An- derson. And she told me such a shocking story about Mr. Carrol." Maud's face turned whiter than ever ; she could not speak. " All the town 's talking about it," said Mrs. Lovell. " I told you he was dissipated, you know." " What — wh.at was it ? " said Maud, in a choked voice. " Well, you know, it was last night. He had been with a party of his boon companions at some bar-room or other, and they had all been dissipating and carousing, and they all began to light, and Mr. Carrol was the worst of them all, and he knocked them all down, and behaved like a perfect fiend. O, he must have behaved fearfully ; and so you see, IMaudie dear, there was very good reason why he should be pale to-day and not dare to look you in the face. He felt thoroughly ashamed of himself, and for my part I wonder how he dared to walk the streets." " I don't believe it," said Maud, in- dignantly ; " Mrs. Anderson is an odi- ous old gossip." " Well, all the town believes it," said Mrs. Lovell, in a resigned tone ; " and so you see, Maudie, it 's quite true, as I 've always said, that you are very fortunate in getting rid of Mr. Carrol, and the time will come, and very soon I hope, when you will feel very glad that this has happened." " I don't believe it," said ^Laud, again, but in a tone that was a little less confident ; yet as she said this she thought that it was not unnatural for a disappointed lover to seek solace in dissipation, and outdo his companions in extravagance, and as she thought of this her heart sank within her. " Well, I believe it," said Mrs. Lov- ell, " every word of it. For you know, Maudie dearest, that's the way with the men. They are so weak, so child- ish, so impetuous, so wayward ; and you know they are all so fond of getting intoxicated. Now we women never get intoxicated, do we, Maudie.'' O, I assure you, if it were not for men the world would be a very different sort of a place, really it would, Maudie darling ! " The profound truth of this last re- mark was so evident that Maud did not seem inclined to dispute it ; she sat in silence, pale, sorrowful, agitated, and wrapt up in her own mournful thoughts. This explanatory letter was written ■-"■ ——-^•— - A Comedy of Terrors. 31 on the day after Maud Iiad received Carrol's farewell. liefore she sent it off, she wrote another to Du I'otiron which was intended to make tilings clear to his mind. Having done this she waited for an answer. She expected one on the following day, or rather she expected Carrol himself. But the following day passed, and neither Carrol nor a letter came. Nor did one come from Du I'otiron. Maud felt more despondent than ever. The next day passed, and no answer came from either. This deepened Maud's despondency. Then came the third day. No an- swer came. Maud began to feel re- sentful. The fourth day passed. Still not a word came. I3y this time Maud's pride rose up in rebellion at such a wrong. She felt sure that Carrol was in the city, that he had received her letter and refused to answer it. So she de- termined to be as proud as he was. And this task she did not find a diffi- cult one. To a nature like hers pride was the sure antidote to wounded af- fection. On the fifth day she had lost all lier despondency and sadness. Her pride sustained her fully, and a bitter mortifi- cation took the place of her former mel- ancholy. She deeply regretted having written any explanation whatever. On the sixth day they left Montreal for New York, to take the steamer for Europe ; and as she took her departure, Maud's c' ief feeling was one of deep self-contempt and profound resentment against her false lover. I will forget him, she thought to her- self, as utterly as though he had never existed. VI. A DUEL IN THE DARK. At length the party reached their destination. It was past midnight. There was no moon, and overhead the sky was covered with clouds thai shut out even the stars. It was intensely dark. Around them there arose a grove of trees, through which the night wind sighed gently in a drear and mournful monotone. Beneath these trees the shadows fell darker, and the old house which stood near them was enveloped in a deeper gloom. The house stood apart from the road, and from all other habitations. In the distance the city lay still and .asleep. No wagons rolled along the highway ; no familiar noises greeted their ears. The silence was oppressive. The seconds had brought out all that might be needed, and among other things a lantern. This Grimes pro- ceeded to light, and then the whole party entered the old house. The front door was gone, as has been said. Entering this, they found them- selves in the hall from which a stair- way went up, and on each side of which were rooms. On the left was one large room extending across the house, while on the right there were two apartments. The party entered the large room on the left. Two doorways led into this apartment ; the one in the rear was closed and the rusty lock still secured it, but in front the door w.as hanging by one hinge. There were four windows, two in front, and two in the rear. From all of these the glass was gone, and one of them had no sash at all. This one opened out on the rear of the house. The room was divided by an archway in the middle, in which there was an opening for sliding doors, but these had been taken away. It had a gen- eral air of the most forlorn kind. The paper hung loose upon the walls ; the floor was damp, and rotten, with fun- gus growths visible along the surface ; pl.aster had fallen from the ceiling, ly- ing in heaps, and disclosing the laths above ; the grates were gone, and in front of each chimney was a pile of soot. One glance was sufficient to reveal all this and to show this room in its most forbidding aspect, even down to trivial details. Carrol stood with a rigid stare. Du Potiron glanced 32 A Comedy of Terrors. null IJI-llll II III mi i;i;if|i li,:iii ilill: I r II' I till I ,1 iHil III, ■ I II. I-:, I "I lllllilMII Ii : { iiin'iHr m 1' ■! around with fcvcrisli haste, and a tremor passed throuj;!) liis frame. He drew his second olV to tlie back part of tlic room, and spoke a few words to him in a low voice. Wliile they were speaking Grimes drew Carrol out into the hall. " Several small details," said Crimes, " have been omitted in this here busi- ness, but you know what a devil of a hurry you were in. llesides we could n't bring a doctor, for the first thing requisite is secrecy. Whoever falls will have to "put it through, and the other fellow '11 have to run for it 's quick as his darned legs '11 carry him. So now go ahead, my son, and I '11 just shake hands for good by." " Ikit you won't really leave a fel- low," said Carrol, ruefully. " Leave you ? By jingo 1 I 've got to. Why look at me. Think of the state of my mind, and my trunk. O, I must go, — right straight o(T, — in a bee line for some place or other. I '11 just take a start, and where I pull up circumstances '11 have to decide. I 'm sorry I 'm not goin' to Californy, or I 'd ask you to drop in if you ever go that way. 15ut I don't know where I '11 pull up, I don't know where I 11 go, th^^ South Sea Islands p'aps, to civilize the natives, or China to export coo- lies, or Central Asia to travel ; or p'aps up North to hunt up the North Pole. It 's all the same to me anyhow. So now, good by, till we meet to part no more." With these words he seized Carrol's hand, wrung it heartily, and then went back into the room. Carrol followed in silence. On entering it again it looked worse than ever. Du Potiron was still talking, and he gave a hurried start as the others entered. "You won't have much trouble with that Moosoo," whispered Grimes. " He 's as near dead now as can be." " Well," said Carrol, in a stifled voice; " make haste." " All right," said Grimes, and, calling the other second, he oflered him one of two pistols. " You see they did n't bring their tools to America ; and as I happened to have a pair, I ofTored to loan them for the occasion. You need n't be par- ticular, though, about returnin' them. I 've got more." Du I'otiron's second took one of the pistols with a bow, and gave it to his l)rincipal. Grimes gave the other to Carrol. After this Grimes went over to Du Potiron, and held out his hand. The Fren' hman took if. Whereupon Grimes made him a speech, brief, but to the' point, in French, which, as he himself said with honest and patriotic pride, had a strong Yankee accent. He in- formed him that he was in a free coun- try, and in the society of free men ; he exhorted him to be true to the immor- tal principles of '76, and visit Californy before his return to France. After which he wrung the Frenchman's hand hard, and left him. Du Potiron gave a sickly smile, and bowed, but said nothing. " His hand 's damp as a wet rag, and as cold as a corpse," whispered Grimes. " If it were daylight now he 'd be as venomous as a serpent, but the darkness takes away all his pison. And now, my son, for the last time, farewell forever." With these words Grimes went out, carrying the lantern. Du Potiron's second followed. "We will shut the door and call — one — two — three. Then you may blaze away whenever you darn like." There was no answer. The fallen door was then raised to its place, and shut, hanging by one hinge, and by the latch of the rusty lock. All. was now darkness in the room. Some time was taken in ad- justing the door, and much pulling and pushing and hammering and pound- ing was required before it could be properly fixed. The banging at the door echoed dismally through Carrol's heart, and seemed to shake the whole house. The night air sighed ; the loose paper rustled ; there seemed footsteps all around him. He thought Du Potiron was stealing toward him >ll!il' ■[■■I 1 ■ A Comedy of Tcnvrs. 33 so 3s to be within reach of tlic place where he was, and thus l)e able to lire at once. There seemed a stealthy foot- fail, as of one cautiously advancing. Carrol hastily retreated from the middle of the room where he had been standing, and moved backwards toward the wall. Once he stumbled and near- ly fell over a heap of plaster, but re- covered himself. Groping with his hands he found the partition for the sliding doors, and cautiously took up a position in the angle which it formed with the wall of the front room. Here he waited in feverish .suspense, with his left hand stretched forward, his right holding forth the pistol, and his body bent in a wary, anxious, vigilant position, while his eyes strained them- selves to detect through that gloom the advancing figure of his enemy. But now the noises ceased, the door was secured, and he heard the voice of Grimes. " One / " A pause. «' 7700.'" Another pause. "THRFE!" After this there came the shuffle and tramp of footsteps ; and the footsteps retreated from the house, till their sound died away in the distance. Then silence remained. For a time tlie silence was utter, and the only sound distinguishable by Carrol was the strong throb of his own heart. Other than this there was not a sound, not a breath, not a rustle. Eagerly he listened and anxiously for a renewal of that stealthy footfall which might announce the approach of his lurking foe. In vain. That foe now gave no sign. Evidently he had lost all trace of Carrol's position, and after moving forward he had been battled by Carrol's retreat. He stood in the attitude which has been described, not daring to move, rooted to the spot, with every muscle and every sinew and every nerve awake and on the alert to guard against his hidden foe ; and stilling even his own breathing, lest it should reveal the se- cret of his hiding-place. A'.d all the time he watched and waitc.l and lis- tened for some sound that might indi- cate the approach of his iiicmy. Dut the sound came not. Why should it? Woultl his enemy be rash enough to attempt to move further amid the rub- bish that lay on the floor, over which it was not possible to walk without disclosing one's position ? His enemy had attempted it only while the door' was being secured, and while the noise "attendant upon that operation might drown the lesser noise of his own foot- steps. In that first attempt he had evidently been baflled. It was not like- ly that he would try it again. The silence at length was broken by the gentle sighing of the wind. It came through the open windows ; the loose paper on the walls again rustled and rattled as it swayed to and fro ; and the solemn sound of the wind with- out, as it murmured through the trees of the grove, was wafted to his ears. Then the wind grew gradually stronger ; and overhead he heard long moans and sighs, as the night blast passed through the halls and chambers of the deserted house. Coming through the windows it seemed to enter as if in search of something ; and in that search to pass through every room, moaning in grief because it sought what it could not find ; and then wailing out its long lam- entation as it passed away in despair. And then there came other sounds ; there were loose doors that creaked, and loose window-sashes that rattled, and the combined efTcct of these was sometimes such that it conveyed the idea of beings wandering overhead, the patter of whose footfalls was audible on the floor. And thus, in that tension of his quickened senses, every sound be- came exaggerated ; and the aggrega- tion of these grew at length to such proportions, that the reverberations of long-continued thunder would not be more manifest to the ordinary man than were these accumulated sounds to him. To his eyes also, as they stared into the dark, the gloom seemed gradual- 34 // Coinoiy of 'I'invis. I w |l 'I I'll I li II I' I !Mii mil f m: " I fill i!» I III iiiii'ir iiiit|:il| i»h|iilll i :l!N Ill ' ' 1 .11 'Jlihi'l" lliill ly lo l("-,srii, ntui llirrc arose visilili- ;-l)iiij;s wliii li ,iii|RMro;Iil wliicli iliasnl «>iw aiiiillici' at TOSS liis in'rlmluul vision. I'll si llii'ii" c.inii' llic oiiliiiu-s of tlic windows (;ia(in,illy loss inilistinci, anil j;ii>\vin^; !!>on- ili'lincil ; while heyonil (heir bars hiinj; (lie sky, whose loinier lilai kness seenieil lesseninj;, lill on (lie lioii/'on whiih was visilile lo him it « hani;('il lo a ihill j;ray hue. lUil it was only ihron^h Ihe windows Ih.il ini.ii-es (iT visilile lhinj;s eould iiinie lo his eyes. Within the room was noth- ing Iml thit'k tiai kness, anil the o|i|io- .sitc w.ill, whose loosened ii.iper-h.inj;- in.i;s insllcd .il the nif;hl blast, eonld not be ilisi eined. Now, out ol all this state of thinj;s, in whiiii Ihe e.us were ovei whehncil by Ihe ex,ij;f;eialion of minnle .sounds, while the eyes were batlled l)y the im|ii'netr.d)lc j^loum, there e.ime npon liini that feeling of whieh he h.id ahe.nly known a forel.isle. a (eelin); wliiih was the sure result of an ima);i- nalioi\ ijuickcned by such 8urroundin);s as these, a horror of (Jrc.it D.irkness ; and al Ihe lourh of th.il hoiror his whole bi'inj; seemed to siid; .iway. •Sim.- ni.ileri.d imai;es no lon>;er s.itis- tieil the eravinjj; of his eyes, his excited lanev su|iiilied olher forms, fashioned out of llie sinlf th.U die.nns .iic made of. '['he enemy for whom he watched stood before hin) in ihoui'.iil, with venj;e- lul I. ice. cruel smile, and levelled pistol, le.idv lo ilc.d his doom, while luikin^ behind the loim of his enemy there rose the Sh.idow of De.uh. llelore Ih.il hoi I id npp.iiilion his nerveless hand seemed lo lose control ol his we.iiion ; he shr.ink down, and, crouching; low to avoid the blow, he lell upon one knee, llii' 'die blow did not l.dl, .iiid llie noisi; wliii h .nose Iroin this i h.inj;c of |)osilion aw.iUened no response. Had there been a response, h. id Tiny answeiint; noise m.ide known lo him the neighborhood ol his enemy, il would li.ive been a consolation ; but the iitlcr silence only bewildered C'.urol all the nioi(<, adiliii); to his constern.ition and iiicrca.iing lii.s horror. lli.H excited im.i^;in,ilion was r.ipldlv ovrrpoweriiiH; evciy other sense .iiid leeliii);. I le loiiiid himself now no lon>;er in possession ol lh.it lliiisl for vi'iij;e.ince which h,ul anim.iled him. I\evi'nj;e ilsell, ,i p.is- siou which is nsii.illy consldcied the strongest of all, f.iinled, and l.iiled, anil (lied out before this new and leiiilic (ecliiij; wliirh ii.id l.ikeii possession of him. His b.illlcd .iiul despised love, his wionns, iiis insulin, all Ihe things which h.ul fed his hale and niMnishcd his revenj;e, were now swept aw.iy into oblivion. Ili^h over all these lowered u|) that ovcrniaslerinj' horroi, lo whicli the d.irkness and the .Shadow of lie.itli h.ul );iveii birth. Over his soul llieio t .line .1 pili.ible sense of utter we.ikness, and in his he. ill there arose a wild, mad lon^jiii).; lor escijie, an impulse of IliKhl, a feeling; which int;ed him to seek some refuse from the tLin^-er unseen, the stron>;est and most scllish of .ill human insliiicts, that of self- prcserv.ilion. I'ul in the midsl of Ihis, as his soul thus s.tiik b.iik williin il- .sclf, and every ordin.iry passion died out, its lerrilied retreat was for a mo- ment arrested. ily a nii>;hly elfoit C.iirol .Miminoii(;hts, dispelled his fears, and tried to sweep aw.iy the );iini ph.iuloms which h.ul alinosl overpowered him. I'or a time the horror passed. He I chained stnnc of his self cimlrol and presence of mind. He looked loilh iiili) Ihe (I. Ilk more c.ilmly. He won- deied whether Ihe experience of his enemy had iieen at all like his. He cni'sed himself for his we.ikness, and tried to loilify himself .i^.iinst a recur- rence of anything; of the soi I. He looked forward into the d.ii kness. It was as intense as ever, and for llie moment w.is less oppressive lni.iuse he no loii|;er w.is a prey lo his excited fancy. I )nrinK thai moment he had lime to think over his siln.ilion. Where w.is his enemy i" He could not tell. There was not a sound. He could mil be near. Doubtless he was in the b.ick looin somewhere concealed, like liinisclf, and like himself waiting /i Coinciiy (if Tarors, 35 liM some !.l;;n. He rrincml.i'rod lli.il lie li.iil .ill (M(ly j;i veil ;l sillt'u init .si^ll dl liiii own |iin.ilicin, lull |i,". Ii.ips Iiis rni'iiiy mi Mimlt'islnnd il, or pcilLips lie w.r; w.iilin^ In m.iKc ;iMsiir,>iU(; iliiiihly Mill', ,'.(1 .IS mil li> lliifiw .iw.iy Ills sluil .mil iciidri liilliscir ilclciicc'lcs.M. ( )|i(! Iliiii}; w.i.s cviiU'iil, ;iiul lli.il w.is lli.il liit enemy nitisl Ii.ive tin- .iilv.iiil.i>;c dviT him. 'rii.il enemy nillsV luivo .Mime iile.i ol liis |ii)si(i(in, Inil lie liim- .seir li.iil no iile.i wli.llevei iil (lie |iiisi- limi III liit enemv. lie imilil mil im- .ii;iiu- in wli.il [HI I 111 I lie 1 1 mm lie mi);lit lie. lie Knew mil lYnm wli.il (ni.nler 111 ex|iei I ,111 .ill.ii k, iir wliere In lie on liis );u.inl. And litiw lon^; was liii.s U) i.isi r .\lie.idy lie fell llie lime In lie |im- Iiiii^eil 1(1 ,111 inlnler.ilile dei;ree, ,Siuli li.id lieen Ids snlVerinf^s, lli.il il seemed til lie liuiirs since the fonlsleiis nl' the de|i,vrliM^ IViends li.id died aw.iy in the iii>;hl. It mif;lil li.ive been (inly mill litis, lull il so, il showed him how il w.i'i possilile lor a whole nijdil under llir-.e I ill iinr.l.im es to leniMheii itself out 111 .111 iiilinily. Sm h .t |iios|ieel w.is lil.ulv indeed. < luilil lie endiiio il ? 'I'lie very tlionghl w.is inloleialilc. Althoiij'Ji for th(> moment tho lioiTDr li.id jiissed .iw.iv, yet C.iriol li.id now no iiMilideiu (' in himself, .mil no .isMir- .line , I!;. dust its lelmii. (uiild helie.ir il :' dr il lie '.hnnld meet il, ,nid m.is- li'i il oiii e mole, how m.my times i oiild he repe.il the |iriiecsH in the tomse of the iiijdit i' One more sin li rx|ieriem(" w.e; leiiilile; in. my more would lui woise th.in death. K.ilhii ill. in e,iiiy (HI siirll a slriii;L',le, he would iiieel hii cneiiiv, .mil iiish iiiioil his we.nion. Heller iiist.inl de.ilh Ih.in an iinlimiled ie|ielilion of sinh sli.ime .iiid ,iiir,iii:>li. II his enemy were only less w.iry, tlieie niij'.hl lie Mime rli.ime, lint as il w.is, lli.il enemy lay nincealed, (roiiehin); low, w.ili hfiil, patient, and liidim; his lime. And doiililless lli.it enemy would lie ((ime.iled tlin.s, with iinirinilliiij; vi);il,im'e, iiiilil Ik; could y^.\\\\ his dc- Nlres. In comp.nison with such an cneiny, (.'airol felt himself In lie we.ik iliilccil. IIuw iiuicli idiigcr cuuld he endure this ? Cert.dnly for no f;reat Ieni;tli of lime. Hut his rneniy niinlil lie pi ep. lied or even resolved to m.iin t.litl his p.ttieni w.llch until the d.nvn ot d.iy, when he mi),',lil hive the i;.ime in his own h.iiids. Hut could he w.iil till then :' He lelt Ih.il he conld not. I'.ven while medil.ilim', thus, ( '.irrol lieijan to feci the pressure of the old lioiror. If W.IS once more reluriiini',. The hour .iiid the occ.ision ; the d.iiK ness .111(1 the ;di.ido>v of Pe.ilh .ill once more lieramc manifest. I le slnij;- )',led ai;.iinsl his feelings ; lie S(iiij;hl to ( ,d' up his rouraj'r, to lorlily Ih.il coui.iL',e liy pride. The struijjde within him liei. line an .ijmiiiv. (>vei him de Hcrnded the honor, while he loui;lil with il, .mil tried liy means ol reason and m.iiihood .mil piide, to arrest its descent. In the midsl (if this drrail coiitesl .1 sound aiiise. 1 1 camo Ironi the side of the room immedi.itelv op- posite. It W.IS .1 sound of tr.iiiiplinj; and ( riishinjr. In .III inst.inl ( ".irrors mind li.id de- tided wli.il it W.IS .md wli.it he shoiihi do. At List the moment h.iil come. The enemy II. id liiMr.iyed himself, lie pulled the lrij;};er of his onlstrelchetl pislol. The icpoil sounded like a pe.il of Ihimder in his sh,ii|iened .md e\iileil sense of healing. There w.is .i rush and a l.dl of soinethiii>;. Then .ill W.IS ••till. ('.11 ml sl.iiled lip, Iremlillnj; from he. Ill 111 loot, while the swe.it st.vrled in j;re.ii drops to his lirow. l''or a few moiiienls he w.iiied in v.iiMie cNpecta- lioii of .III aic.weiiii!', shot, wilh his lil.liii leelitii', ill .llitii ip.ilioil ol his doom, jliit the doom w.is del.ivcd, and the res|ionse c.iiiie not, and no liidilniiif; ll.ish liiiist forth a,i',.iin into the d.iiKness, and no lliunderous rr- poil .^;,iiu liiiiltc Ihe stillness of tho iii^;lil. " Are you hit ? " he cried, ill il liOiUHC voice. There was no reply. " 1)11 roiiioii I " he crieil again in ti yet ho. user voice. hliU there w.iH no reply. I' (I'lH! jiil, IIMII ' 'Ml m I Ill ; iH III fill: I i'MlMl" ll!'' (I ill' ill II iMli iiii!ii:il!|l ■'iiiii'iii ' ;t; f ,;Hh, ll III 1 ■ ' ''1 36 A Comedy of Terrors. " O my God ! " groaned Carrol. " I 've killed him ! He 's dead ! I 'm a murderer. O my God ! " For a moment there arose a faint desire to go over to his victim, and examine him. But it was only for a moment. The next instant all desire, all thought of such a thing passed away. For then, sudden, and sharp, and terrific, and unspeakable, there de- scended upon him the full power of the horror against which he had been strug- gling ; bringing with it the abhorrent thought that the Dead was here. — the Dead, his own victim. And the thought was intolerable. Chilled to the very marrow, and with that horror now supreme in his soul, Carrol dropped Jhe pistol from his nerve- less hand, and sprang to the door. He tore it down, he burst through into the hall and leaped forth out of the house. He fled like a madman, with a fright- ful feeling that his victim was following close behind. Such was the horror that over- whelmed him, that for some time he fled blindly, not knowing in which di- rection he was going. Of one thinf; alone he was conscious, and that w is the overmastering feeling that had taken possession of him ; a hideous sense of being pursued, and a fear of being overtaken. The nightmare, Life- in-Death, which thickens man's blood with cold, had been revealed to him within that gloomy house, and it was from this that he fled, and it was this that pursued. At last lights flashed about him. He was in broad streets, whose lamps extended on either side far away be- fore him. The siglit of these at once brought relief and dispelled his panic ; and the long lines of twinkling lights, together with the commonplace figure of a policeman steadily pacing the sidewalk not far away, brought him down suddenly from the wild flight of morbid fancy to hard prosaic fact. He slackened his pace to a slow walk, and wandered onward, thinking over his situation. Fancy had departed, and simple F.ict alone remained ; yet now this sinii)k' Fact that confronted him seemed not much less terrible than the wild \'ision which had lately pursued him. And the fact was simply this, lie was a murderer ! Under these circumstances one course only remained for him, and tliat was instant and immediate flight. VII. A BAFFLED FLIGHT. Carrol fled from Montreal in dis- guise, and concealed himself for some days in New York. Even here, how- ever, he did not feel safe from the consequences of his crime, and so he resolved to fly to Europe. After some consideration, he decided to take the steamer to Havre, and go to Paris first. On the day for her departure he went on board at an early hour, and shut himself up in his state-room, waiting for the vessel to start. Here he re- mained for hours, listening to tlie noises around him, and peering stealth- ily through the glass to watch the movements on the wharf, while all the time he was tormented by an agoniz- ing dread of arrest. • But the long-delayed moment of de- parture came at last. The lines were cast off, and the steamer, leaving the wharf, moved on down the harbor. Then Carrol ventured forth, and went up on deck. Just as his foot touched the deck, he found himself face to face with a pas- senger who was on his way to the cabin. The passenger stopped short, and so did Carrol, and the two gazed at each other with unutterable surprise. " Carrol ! by Jingo ! " " Grimes ! Good Lord ! " At such an utterly unexpected meet- ing, it is difficult to say which of these two felt the greater astonishment. The peculiar circumstances under which they had parted made a future meeting seem among the remotest of possibil- ities for many a long day. Grimes had A Comedy of Terrors. 37 iple Fact s simple nicd not Id Visiim this, lie ces one and that ht. ;he deck, he with a pas- way to the ipped short, two gazed at e surprise. ! " pectcd mect- lich of these hment. The under which iture meeting t of possibil- Grimes had characterized it as an eternal farewell, and Carrol, in all his thoughts of the possible acquaintances whom he might encounter, had never dreamed of this one. Yet this one was actually the only one whom thus far he had met ; and he found him in the very place where he had not expected to meet any acquaintance at all. He had hoped that his parting from the shore would rid him of everything connected with the most terrible event of his life; yet here, the moment that he ventured to emerge from his hiding-place, he found himself confronted by the very man who was most closely connected with that event ; not merely one who was acquainted with it, but its very prompter and instigator. Yet in Car- rol's mind the meeting caused pleasure rather than pain. He had been alone so long, brooding in secret over his troubles, that the sight of one whom he could trust was inexpressibly soothing ; and he wrung Grimes's big hand as he had never before wrung the hand of any man. "Wal," cried Grimes, "of all the events that have ever occurred, this strikes me as about a little the darn'd- est that I can think of; I declare, if it ain't the cur'ousest coincidence — ! " And Grimes paused, fairly over- whelmed. " I took this steamer," said Carrol, hurriedly, " because it happened to be the first one that was leaving." " Wal, for that matter, so did I ; but who 'd have thought of you goin' to Europe ? " Carrol's face, which for a moment had lighted up with a flush of pleasing excitement, now grew dark again, and the sombre cloud that had hung over it ever since that night of horror once more overspread it. " I 've come," said he, with some hesitation, "because Europe — seemed to me the — the best place that I could go to." " W.al, so did I," said Grimes ; " es- pecially France. That's the country for me. I 've thought all the world over, and decided on that one spot." " When did you leave Montreal ? " asked Carrol, after a pause. " Why, the very mornin' after I left you." " The morning after ? Why, I left then." " You did ? 1 illiNi 1 1. HI III M.l III II I'JIi mil; » ll'll' .! .1 ir n ' ■", I lU I llllr "III' Ml III! I'll III ■'i|iiiiii; liiiti'iii lijj ml I 'I III I iill I'l.ri 'ii' I'Mii change that had come over Carrol. The broad content, the loose insoii- ciaiia\ and the careless bonJiomniie of his face were succeeded by an expres- sion of deep concern, of anxiety, of sometiiing, in fact, that looked like self-reproach, and seemed to verge upon that remorse which was stamped upon the face of his friend. His teeth compressed themselves, he frowned, and the trouble of his soul could not be concealed. " What 's the matter ? " asked Car- rol. " Why do you look so ? " " Why, man, it 's you that looks so, as you say. What 's the matter with you ? " said Grimes, in a hesitating voice. " You look as if you 'd seen a ghost." Carrol shuddered. " What has happened ? " asked Grimes, anxiously. " How did it end ? Is tills what sent you away ? " Carrol looked wildly around, and then said in a hurried voice, " Hush ! Come away from here. Come down to my state-room. I '11 tell you all about it." A terrible secret borne in one's own heart will always bear down that heart by its weight ; and it was this tliat Carrol had endured. The meeting with his old friend had been instinc- tively welcomed ; and now that he had him alone, he availed himself eagerly of that precious and sootiiing relief which is always found when the dread secret can be revealed safely to one who is trusted. And so, in the seclu- sion of his state-room, he told Grimes his story, omitting those unnecessary particulars about his own superstitious fancies, and confining himself simply to what he considered the facts of the case. To all this sad confession Grimes listened with a strange and a disturbed countenance. There was in his face true sympathy and profound compas- sion ; but there was something more. There was perplexity and bewilder- ment. Evidently there was something in the story which he did not compre- hend, and could not. He felt puz- some asked What zled. He looked so ; and as Carrol approached the crisis of his story, he interrupted him with frequent ques- tions. " Do you mean to say," he asked, as Carrol ended, " that you really believe you killed him ?" " Have n't I told you that ? " groaned Carrol. " But — but — is n't there darned mistake about it all ? " Grimes. " Mistake ! O heavens ! would n't I give if I could only hope that there might have been ! I5ut that is impossible. O no ! There is always ringing in my ears that horrible rush- ing sound of his fall." " But it may have been something else." " Something else ! " repeated Carrol, in a despairing tone. " O no ; my senses could not have deceived me ! " "Now, look here," cried Grimes, with a certain sort of feverish impa- tience, "did you sec him.'"' " See him ? What nonsense ! How could I ? " " The flash of the pistol would show him." " Flash of the pistol ! I tell you my brain was full of a thousand images, and every one of them represented him." " Had you been drinking much tliat day ? asked Grimes, after a thought- ful pause. " Yes ; of course supposed that." " Very much ? " " Yes." Grimes paused again. " Did n't you go over," he asked, " to find out whether it was him or not ; to assure yourself of the fact, you know? Didn't you touch him?" "Touch him!" cried Carrol, in a voice of horror. " What ! Touch him / Good heavens ! " "Wal," said Grimes, "you really don't know this." " As sure as there is a heaven above us, I do know it," said Carrol. Grimes said no more. He leaned You might have A Comedy of Terrors. 39 IS Carrol story, he ;nt ques- asked, as ly believe groaned re some ?" asked What 0!ily hope I5ut that is always ible rush- something ted Carrol, ) no ; my ved me ! " d Grimes, rish impa- nse ! How would show tell you my md images, represented ; much that a thought- might have e asked, " to lim or not ; e fact, you him?" larrol, in a Touch him ! "you really eaven above rol. He leaned \ J I forward, and buried his face in his hands. Carrol reclined back against the wall of the state-room, and gave himself up to the terrible memories which had been once more aroused by his narration. At last he gave a heavy sigh, and started to his feet. " Come," he said, " I can't stand this. Let 's go out. I 'm suffocating. Come out on deck. I must have some fresh air. Come." Grimes rose to his feet without a word, and followed Carrol as he led the way. On his face there was the same expression of anxiety and bewil- derment which has already been men- tioned. In this mood he followed Car- rol to the upper deck. " Come," said Carrol, " let 's go aft. There are fewer people there, and we' 11 be more by ourselves." He led the way aft, and Grimes fol- lowed. As they approached the stern, they saw two ladies sitting there whose backs were turned towards them. The ladies were gazing in silence at the receding shores, and Carrol drew Grimes to a place on the side of the steamer which was about a dozen yards away. Standing there, the two friends instinctively turned their eyes toward the land behind them, and looked at it in an abstracted way ; for each one was so absorbed by his own thoughts, that his gaze was fixed rather upon vacancy than upon any definite object. At length, one of the ladies said something to the other, after which tliey both rose, and turned as if with tlie intention of leaving tlie place. As they turned, their eyes wandered about and finally rested for an instant upon Grimes and his companion. It was only for an instant that their glance fell upon these two men, but that instant was enough to allow of a profound sensation. The deep rich complexion of one of the ladies grew deeper and richer, as a flush passed over all her beautiful face ; while at the same time that beautiful face as- sumed an expression of astonishment, embarrassment, and almost dismay. that was very much in contrast with its former air of good-natured content. For a moment she hesitated in her confusion, and then bowed. The other lady showed equal feeling, but of a totally different kind. Her face was very pale and very sad ; and as she saw the two friends, a flush passed over it, which was followed by a mourn- ful, earnest look of mute inquiry and wonder. Grimes looked amazed, but took off his hat and bowed ; after which he hesitated, and seemed on the point of approaching tlie ladies. But he looked around for a moment to see Carrol. Carrol, on his part, had seen the ladies, and certainly his amazement was fully equal to that which was felt by any of the others. Already he had expe- rienced one surprise at meeting with Grimes. This meeting was a much greater shock, for he had not the faintest idea that Mrs. Lovell and Miss Heathcote had contemplated leaving Montreal. But the sight of Miss Heathcote's face, after the first surprise, only served to deepen the darkness that had closed around his soul. For a moment he regarded her with a hard, cold stare of wonder ; and then, without a word, without a sign, he turned abruptly and walked away. As Grimes looked around after his friend, he saw him thus walking off; for a moment he hesitated, and then, with another bow to the ladies, he walked off after him. VIII. AT HIS MERCY. Mrs. Lovell and her sister stood for some moments in silence, with tlieir eyes fixed upon the retreating figures of these two men, and varying feelings animated them at this sudden and unexpected meeting. Mrs. Lovell at length flung herself impatiently into a seat and patted the deck with her little foot ; while Maud stood like a statue, erect, rigid, with every trace of color gone from her face. 40 A Comedy of Terrors. 'ill. II t'li' fill: Hi 1:1 MM 1 '111 Ml! 1^ ■ ; \u i|i|i; 'I lilfil;'" '..iiJl: I'lif n m II 111 li " Have you your salts, Maudie clear- est ? " asked Mrs. Lovell, at length. Maud did not seem to hear her, for she made no reply. Mrs. Lovell repeated the question. " No," said Maud, abruptly. Mrs. Lovell heaved a deep sigh. " I 'm sure," said she, " I '11 never get over this ; but, at any rate, we may as well carry out our intention of going I below. We 're safer there, you know, ] RLiudie. And who'd have thought it ! Who would have thought it ! O dear ! of all the strange and unfortunate coin- cidences ! O dear me, Maudie dear- est, what shall I do ! " To this appeal, which was uttered in quite a heart-rending tone, Maud made no reply. Indeed, she did not seem to have heard it. She stood as statu- esque as before, with her face turned toward the retreating form of Carrol. She watched him till he was out of sight, and even after he was lost to her view she stood looking in that direction. " IVIaudie," said Mrs. Lovell, at last, in as impatient a tone as was possible for her to use. Maud sighed. " Well," said she, turning around, and looking at her sister in an absent way. " O Maudie darling, what in the world atii I ever to do / " said Mrs. Lovell, mournfully. " I suppose," said Maud, in a delib- erate voice, " we may as well go below, as we first proposed." " You are so awfully cold and un- sympathetic," said Mrs. Lovell, in a reproachful tone. Maud said nothing. Mrs. Lovell, thereupon, rose to her feet, and stood for a moment looking forward along the line of retreat of Grimes and Carrol, with an expression of refined and ladylike despair that was uncommonly becoming to her. " Well," said she, with a sigh, " I see no signs of them now ; I dare say they will have the good taste to keep out of the way for the present ; and so, IVIaudie, I think we had better go be- low at once." " Very well," said Maud, in a low voice ; and thereupon, the two ladies sought the seclusion of their state- room, which they reached without again encountering the two gentlemen. Here a long silence followed, wliich was at length broken by Mrs. Lovell. " O dear ! " she said, with a little sigh. " He has tracked me after all, and how he ever managed to do it is more than I can tell, I 'm sure. And the worst of it is, it was the very thing I was afraid of. You remember, Mau- die dear, I proposed at first to take a Cunard steamer to Liverpool. And you remember that I changed my mind and took this one. You know I told you that I changed my mind because I preferred going to France direct. Well, you know, Maudie darling, it was nothing of the kind. That was n't my reason at all, you know." " What was it ? " asked Maud. " Why, you know, I really was quite frightened at the idea that Mr. Grimes might manage to find out how I had gone. I felt sure that he would follow me. He 's one of those dreadful men of one idea, you know ; and I know that I 'm the only idea he has in his poor old head. Well, I was so dreadfully fright- ened at the idea of his following me, that I changed my plans and took this steamer. I thought it was a very lucky thing, and I felt quite sure, you know, that he would n't find me at all. If he attempted to follow me he would be carried to Liverpool,*and I would go to Havre, and I knew that he could never track me from one place to the other. He would have to go all the way back to America, you know, before he could gain the slightest clew to my pro- ceedings ; and even then it would have been very, very hard. But, O dear ! how foohshly sanguine I was ! I come here. I embark. I am just leaving the shore, and thinking with a kind of pity about the poor fellow, — who really has no end of claims to my esteem, — when suddenly I turn round, and as I live ! there he is, standing just before me. I declare to you, Maudie darling, it was a perfect wonder that I A Comedy of Terrors, 41 did n't drop down senseless. I 'm sure, my heart never beat so fast in all my life. Did n't I look dreadfully discom- posed, iMaudie dear .' " " O no, I think not," said Maud, absently. " Well, I really felt so, you know, — as embarrassed as possible ; quite like some raw school-girl, detected in some fault, you know. And now — O dear ! 'what aijt I ever to do ! what am I ever to do.' I 'm sure, it 's really quite cruel in you, Maudie dear, to be so very, very indifferent. You are far, far too self-absorbed." To this Maud made no answer. "The worst of it is," continued Mrs. Lovell, "we are out at sea, positively on the ocean itself. If we were only at the wharf, I would go ashore at once, and leave all my luggage behind, — I positively would. Now, would n't you, ]\Iaudie, if you were in my place .'' Would n't you, now .'' Say." " Yes," said Maud, dreamily. " But no ; there 's nothing so good as that. Here I am, positively at his mercy. Did you notice, Maudie dear- est, how very, very triumphant he looked ? " " No." " Well, he did then ; and very, very unpleasantly so, indeed. It's bad enough, I 'm sure, for one to have power over one, but to go and assert it in such a particularly open way is really cruel. It really reminds me of those lines of poetry that some one made, that it was something or other to have a giant's strength, but very, very naughty to use it like a giant. I dare say you remember the lines, Maudie. " But I know another reason," said Mrs. Lovell, after a thoughtful pause, — " another reason why he looked so triumphant. He 's got that dreadful chignon with him. I saw it in his face. It was just as if he had said so to me in so many words. And how dreadful it is, Maudie, for a discarded lover to be carrying about a lock of his lady's hair. It's really awful, you know." " O well, you know, it is n't your own hair." "Well, it's as much mine as most people's, you know. Really, one hardly knows what really is a lady's hair now, and so it 's all tlie same ; but I do wish, Maudie, that it was n't so very much. It's a whole head, iVIaudie dear. And only to think of his having it now in his trunk, or his valise, or his carpet-bag. But I dare say he has a casket made on purpose to keep it in. Really, Maudie dear, do you know, it makes me feel quite agitated when I think of it. It 's so very improper. And I could n't help it. I really had to give it to him. And it makes me feel as though it gave him some sort of a claim on me." " I 'm sure, your fears seem quite unnecessary to me," said Maud. " You can do as you please." "O, it's all very well to talk that w.ay, Maudie ; but then, you know, he has such a strange power over me, that I 'm afraid of having him near me, and I know that I shall be in a state of constant terror all this voyage. Of course, he '11 bother me all the time ; and I '11 have to be always planning to keep out of his way. And how can I do that ? I must shut myself up here, a prisoner ; and what good will that do ? Besides, I can't make a prisoner of myself in that way ; I really can't. I must go about on deck, and so I shall constantly fall in his way. And I can't help it. Only, Maudie dear, you must always, always be with me. You must never, never let me be alone." " O, we shall be always together," said Maud. "As to staying below, that is absurd." " Well, really to me," continued Mrs. Lovell, " there is something perfectly appalling in this man's mysterious knowledge of my movements. Think how he tracked me all through Cana- da to Montreal. That was wonderful enough, but it was nothing to this. For you see I tried as hard as I could to baffle him completely. I really cannot think of one single trace that I could have left. My friends all think that I 42 A Comedy of Terrors. I'd! IMI W III i I ' cijlriiiiM 'fMM II! -11 1 i|: ltd' * '«lllllll' * l'lll'illllll II I Ijllj ill ii ll'f'l Si' ::!L! iilii:;'! I iiliilP i Ii have gone in the Cunard steamer, and I myself did not really know that I was going in this one till yesterday, and I did not take my passage till the last moment. Really, Maudie, it frightens me. I '11 tell you what I think, — I think he must have agents." " Agents ? " " Yes, agents. I don't know what agents are, but I know they 're some- thing dreadful, something like spies or detectives ; only they are in private employ, you know. And he must have quite an army of them. And only think of an army of those terrible agents watching all my movements, spying my actions, V^ening to my words, and reporting everything to him. It's awful." " Well, really now, Georgie," said Maud, "you are going too far, you know. He could easily have found out this by himself." " I 'm sure I don't see how he could." "Why, he could easily have gone about and seen the lists of passengers on each boat, before starting. I dare say he heard in Montreal that you were going to Europe, and so he has watched the principal steamers ; and as he found your name on the passenger-list of this one, he sailed in it himself." " Well, then, all I can say is, I think it is really very, very rude in him. I thought he had such delicacy, you know, and such a fine sense of honor, — really exquisite, you know. He seemed to be so very delicate in Iiis sense of propriety and honor and all that, — on one occasion, — when he might have — might have acted so very much more for hi" own interest, by being a little less punctilious, you know. And I really don't know how to harm<^'iize sucli delicate conduct on one oicasion with the very incon- siderate and really alarming behavior of this." " I think, perhaps, you have given him credit for what did not belong to him," said Maud. " What you con- sidered a delicate sense of honor may have been a kind of obtuseness, or bluntness of perception, or honesty, or something of that sort, you know." " O, well, it would n't interfere with my esteem for him, you know. I would n't lay very great stress upon a very fine sense of honor ; that is, I mean, I don't think that it is ne- cessary for a man to form his conduct toward ladies after the fashion of Sir Charles Grandison. And do you know, Maudie darling, I really don't know but that I should rather prefer having him just a little dishonorable. I really think it 's rather nice, you know." "Nice!" exclaimed Maud, in a strange tone. " Well, at any rate, they are all so," said Mrs. Lovell. " The men, I mean. What they are chiefly wanting in is that peculiar sense of honor for which we women are distinguished. Men never form strong and intimate friend- ships like women. They never can thoroughly trust one another. They never defend the weak of their own sex. They can never keep one anoth- er's secrets. They take a spiteful and malicious pleasure in tearing one an- other's reputations to pieces, and in dis- playing their weakness to the world. Petty spite, small scandal, and ungener- ous and censorious observation of one another are almost universal among them. They are terribly inclined to jealousy, and are fearfully exigent. O, I assure you, I have always had a very, very low opinion of men ! When I was a little girl, my governess gave me a proof- book. Each page was headed with a statement about the nature of man. The first page was headed, " Man is corrupt " ; the sec- ond, " Man is sinful " ; the third, " Man is a child of wrath " ; the fourth, " Man is weak " ; the fifth, " Man is desper- ately wicked " ; and many more. Now, you know, Maudie, I had to find texts from the Bible to prove all these ; and I found no end of them, and I filled the book ; and really, when I had finished, the impression that was left on my mind about man, Maudie dar- iil .1 II A Comedy of Tenors. 43 ation of one nen ! When ling, was that he was very, very sliock- ing, and that it was a great pity that he was ever created. And I don't want ever, ever to be married again. And I 'm dreadfully uneasy ; for, you see, Mr. Grimes is so awfully determined, and so fearfully persevering, and I 'm so wrctciicdly weak, that really I al- most feel as though I am lost. And now, here he is, and what am I to do ? You must stay with me always, al- ways, you know, Maudie dear ; and not leave me alone for even so much as five minutes." " O well, Georgie, you know, I am always with you, and I 'm sure you need never be alone, unless you run off by yourself" " Yes, but that 's the very thing I mean. You must never let me run ofT by myself. I can't trust myself. I have no end of foolish impulses ; and you see Mr. Grimes has me here quite in his own power. Here he is, with his great face and beard and voice, and his great, big eyes, carrying my chignon with him ; and I know exactly what he 's going to do. He '11 put him- self where I can see him, and pretend not to annoy me, and then he '11 look so pathetic that he '11 make me awfully sorry for him ; and then, you know, I 'm so good-natured, and I '11 feel so sorry for him, that I '11 manage to draw him to me ; and then he '11 begin a system of silent adoration that will be simply intolerable. I can't bear to be adored, Maudie dear." " I 'm sure, Georgie," said Maud, with a weary sigh, " I '11 do all that I can. I think you are really giving yourself a great deal of unnecessary trouble. I '11 always be with you, un- less you choose to run away." " Yes, but, Maudie dear, you must watch me, and follow me up, for, you know, you would n't like to lose me, — now, would you, Maudie ? and I 'm the best sister you have and the most lov- ing. To be sure, you have no other sister ; but then, you know, I mean, even if you had twenty sisters, none of them could love you as I do. Now could they, Maudie ? But, my poor darling ! what is the matter with you .' " And Mrs. Lovell, whose protestation of affection had caused her to turn her thoughts more particularly to her sis- ter, now noticed something about her which shocked her. She was exces- sively pale, and there was a suffering visible in her face which was more striking than the ordinary e-xprcssion of mere dejection which had character- ized her recently. In an instant all Mrs. Lovell's fears for herself fled away in deep anxiety about her sister. " You poor darling ! " she cried. " How foolish I have been ! I have n't thought of you. And I might have known. Really, Maudie, I did n't think of Mr. Carrol being here too. But how very, very odd! And how cruel it is too! What in the world could have made hhn come ! With him it is different ; he has treated you most shockingly, and has shown no desire to make amends. Why should he follow you ?" " I 'm sure I don't know," said Maud, with a dreary sigh. " He 's a heartless, cruel, miserable, man," cried Mrs. Lovell, vehemently. " Just at the very moment when you might hope for change of scene and all that to distract your thoughts, he comes forcing himself upon your no- tice, to show you how indifferent he is. The wretch ! O Maudie, never, never can I forgive him for the grief he has caused you. Of course this is all his mean and ungentlemanly spite." Maud was silent. " After you had stooped so low too, Maudie. You actually descended to an explanation, , nd he did n't deign to answer it. He could n't forgive the offence to his dignity, even after he must have seen that the offence was never really committed. Or perhaps he knew he had done you a deep wrong, and was too proud to acknowl- edge it. Of course that was it, unless, indeed, he may have repented of his proposal altogether, and chose this way of getting out of it. But what makes him follow us ? In any case it seems a strange course. Nothing but 44 A Comedy of Terrors. Ul III I -v ' II I !|l I W illlllll It tillNill •!' !:ili;ill ill IMII lilll ^i|l i ' ' sr ' -'At ti' I mn ' 'MJi niliiliP; in'itili: Mil II I 11 111' ' I 11*11 lii|lj:j|.' ip •i: petty spite can account for it, and tliat is the most probable cause ; for do you know, Maudie, tliat is tlie way witli men. O, it is, I assure you ! Tiiey are very mucli influenced by all the smaller passions, such as jealousy, envy, mal- ice, and miserable spite. Nearly all men are more or less spiteful'; and it is this feeling of spite that has brought him here. But, Maudie dear, will you really allow yourself to be made un- happy by such an unworthy crea' ^ ? Can't you fall back upon your pride, and look at liim with that utter indif- ference which he deserves ? O dear, Maudie, how I wish I could give you a little of my strength of character ! " Maud said nothing for some time, and when at last she did speak it was in a low monotone, which sounded rath- er as it she were uttering her thoughts aloud, than as if she were addressing a remark to her sister. "Yes, he must have received my letter. He must know now exactly how it happened. I expected that he would have come at once to me. But he would n't ; and I waited for days that seemed ages. He was offended perhaps because even a mistake had arisen; and his pride could not bend so far as to come to a reconciliation. He has thought of me ever since with the resentful and angry feeling that he expressed in his last letter. Having written that, he could not retract it. It seemed to him as though he might be confessing that he had been in a wrong. He has chosen rather to let the error remain, and for the sake of a foolish and frantic self-conceit, to sacrifice me. It was that which I saw in his face to-day. Why he has followed me I can't im- agine, unless he has been prompted by that same self-conceit which now leads him to show himself to me, so that I may see how indifferent he is to me. No doubt he wants me to feel that he is ashamed of the love that he once pro- fessed. He has evidently followed me with a purpose, and it could not possi- bly have been an accident, for he came deliberately to show himself almost as soon as we had left the wharf. He put himself in a place where I should be sure to see him, and as I turned round he fixed upon me that cold, cruel stare, the remembrance of which haunts me even now. But O, Georgie ! did n't you see how fearfully he has changed ? How pale, how awfully pale he is ! " " Is he ? " said Mrs. Lovcll, in an in- different tone. " Well, really, I scarce noticed him at all. I was too confused, you know." " Well," said Maud, after another long silence, " I am not one of those who can be meek under open insult and contempt. He shall find that the scorn which he is so eager to show can be met by equal scorn from me. He sh.all see no weakness in me. I will show him that life has otiier things for me of far more value than a silly sentiment." "O ]\Iaudie ! my dear darling!" burst forth Mrs. Lovell, enthusiasti- cally. " How I love to hear you talk so ! That 's right ; be a grand, great, bold, brave, wise woman. Do you know, darling, that is my highest ideal of humanity .' And only to think of you being all that ! I 'm sure / try hard," she continued in a plaintive voice, — "I try hard to be that myself, but I 'm sometimes a little afraid that I don't succeed so well as I wish to. But I intend now to begin again ; let's both of us begin, Maudie ; let 's be both of us great and grand and bold and brave and wise. Will you, Maudie dearest ? Say yes, darling." " I don't know, I 'm sure," said Maud, absently. " I '11 do whatever you wish, Georgie, of course." " And so you do, you precious ; and so we '11 both of us make our lives sub- lime. For my part, I despise men more than ever," continued Mrs. Lov- ell, suddenly darting aside from the idea with which she started, and revert- ing to her favorite topic ; " but then if they are false and fickle and weak, why, we should remember that it is the common failing of their sex, should n't we, Maudie dear ? But, IMaudie, do you intend to avoid him .' " " Avoid him ? " asked Maud. ill' llillliiii LLki A Comedy of Terrors. 45 " Yes ; do yoxi feel at all weak about seeing him ? " " There is no clanger," said Maud, " but that I shall always have pride enough to sustain me against the open scorn of any one. He shall not tind me trying to avoid him ; I shall let him see that he cannot persecute me, for the simple reason that I will not allow myself to be persecuted. And he shall find that his presence in this boat will not make me vary one hair's breadth from my usual course." IX. AN APPARITION. WiiEX Carrol turned away at that unexpected meeting with Miss Heath- cote, he was quite overwhelmed with the new emotion that it called up with- in him, and had the most indefinite idea in the world of what he was to do. He wandered, therefore, in a blind, vague sort of a way, until he found himself in his state-room. Grimes, too, who was equally confused, indulged in an equally vague course of wandering, and instinctively following his friend, he entered the same enclosure, and then, shutting the door, the two sat in silence, looking at one another. " Wal," said Grimes, at length, " ain't this rich ! Of all the darn'dest I Only to think of everybody tumbling in here together in this here boat, and at the very beginnin' of the voyage, too ! It does beat all creation ! " " I don't understand it all," said Car- rol, moodily. " How the Devil did slie get here, of all places ? When did they leave ? What did they leave for ? Where are they going? " " You need n't ask any more ques- tions of that sort," said Grimes, " I give it up at the outset. I 'm nowhar. Don't direct any of your observations to me." And Grimes began to rub his shin- gled hair in a most violent manner, and then a long silence followed. " I see how it is," said Carrol, at length. " It 's beginning to be intelli- gible, though the Devi! himself must have contrived that she and I should find ourselves in the same boat. But I see how it is. She has heard about — about thai affair, and has got a bad fright. She is in deep affliction. She looked sad enough, by heaven ! and had enough sorrow in her face to suffice for a dozen Frenchmen ; she 's mourn- ing over her vanished coronet. This great calamity has spoiled her game. She finds that her comedy has become a tragedy. It's the town talk; she has fled from people's tongues. Aha ! what a fright she must have had when she saw me ! Perhaps she will inform on me ; I should like that ; I should have Iter hauled up as chief witness ; but there 's no danger of that ; she would n't dare to do it. O no, she '11 pray for my escape from a trial, out of consideration for her precious self! By heaver ' she 'U begin by this time to learn tnat she made a slight mistake when she first undertook to make a decoy duck oi me.'" " See here, my son," said Grimes, "listen to me for a moment. I don't like this. I acknowledge that you've had a hard row to hoe, but at the same time I swear I won't set here and hear you abuse a young woman in that in- fernal fashion. What 's the use of bein' a live man if one 's goin' to talk like a darned jackass ? Now I dare say she 's not acted altogether on the square ; but at the same time that does n't give you any right to use such language as you do. I don't believe anythin' of the sort. I judge her by her face, and I say that a woman with a face like hers can't be the infernal fiend that you make out. She can't do it, nohow. Besides, even if she was, she 's a wo- man, and for that very reason she had ought to be sacred from abuse and slander and defamation. My idee is that women as a general thing have a precious hard time of it on this planet, and if one of them doos n't happen to turn out just as we like, we had n't ought to pitch into her in that red-hot style. And finally, let me impress upon you the fact, which has been made 46 A Comedy of Terrors. II «i Ml I'll mil I $111.11 H'Iii illll , Mli:iill iJiii'lliii 11'! ■ irl'' IHHi i'«!i| llllJ 11 111 I fli' 1 111) iiii ii ;!mi| Nil ifiiiiii iri'l I! '"''" I^i II ii'iii m i I till ii known to mc by a long antl profound study of luiman nature, tliat no human bein' tliat lias given himself up to in- iquity and meanness and baseness can ever have such a face as the face that belongs to that young woman. It can't be done, nohow." During these remarks Carrol stared gloomily at Grimes, but the hitter took no notice of him. Grimes himself had on his broad honest face a gloom but little inferior to that of Carrol. There was once more visible in his expres- sion that bewilderment and perplexity which had shown itself before on lis- tening to Carrol's story. The encounter with the ladies had evidently created a new puzzle which had joined itself to the former one, and complicated it. So he sat in silence, involved in his own thoughts, and struggling to emerge from his bewilderment. Carrol meanwhile sat with his head buried in his hands. At last he raised it, and said as if to himself, " What are they doing here ? How did they happen to come on this boat ? " Grimes started up. "Wal," said he, "that's easy an- swered. In the first place, they have as much right here as you or me. In the second place, I beg leave to call your attention to the fact that this is a free country. Women have a hard time of it as a general thing, but after all they have certain inalienable rights, among which may be mentioned as self-evident truths their natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the privilege of travellin' wherever they darn please, so long as they 're able to pay their way." " It 's hard to have them here. It 's damned hard," said Carrol. " O, you need n't blame her. 'T ain't likely she did it on purpose." " I should hope not." " Depend upon it, she would n't have come by this boat if she 'd 'a' known you were on board." " No, I don't see how she could wish to be so close to me." " She came because this boat was the first and directest, and because her sister brought her. As for you, my son, don't be alarmed. The boat 's large enough for you two. You can avoiil her. Go forward when you are on deck, and let her stay astern. And at the same tinie, let me advise you to try and get out of that infernal habit of vilifying her. Tor my part, I think there 's a mistake somewhere or some- how, and so I never believe half of what you say on that subject. Your suspicions are false somehow, I do believe. Why, man, that face of hers is enough for me ; I believe in faces, I do ; and I tell you what, if ever there was nobility of nature stamped upon any face, it 's on hers. How is it possible that any one with such a face can be what you say ? " " O, damn it, man ! " burst forth Car- rol, " don't talk to me about her face. Don't I know it better than you do ? Don't I know every feature by heart ? Won't I always have to remember it.' Have n't I thought all the time of the horrible contrast between her face and her nature ? I tell you, it w.as her face that lured me to destruction. Destruc- tion .? Yes ; and mind you, when I say that word I mean it. Look at me. Have you forgotten what I told you a short time ago ? Let me tell you now, what I owe to that face of hers, which you think so noble. I '11 speak of her for the last time, and promise never to mention her again." Carrol drew a long breath. His agi- tation was excessive. He spoke quick and short. His face was white, and his lips bloodless, while his gestures which were formerly few and far be tween, were now vehement and fre- quent. " First of all," he continued, " she encouraged me, and led me on, — she led me on," he repeated savagely, " till I was too far gone to haul off easily, and then picked up that French- man. She encouraged him too, and secretly. She fought me off judicious- ly, so as not to lose me, and at the same time she stealthily cultivated him. She used mc as her infernal decoy to work upon him. She played with my :! illM A Comedy of Terrors. 47 s, I most sacred feelings and trifled with my life for no other reason than her own insatiable but silly vanity. At last I ijroposed. She rejected nic, hut accepted the otiier. You know the re- sult. I need n't go over that again." Carrol paused, in terrible excite- ment ; his breathing was (juick and spasmodic ; and his set brows and clenched hands showed the intensity of his feeling. "Here am I," he exclaimed. "Look at me now. Look at me. What am I ? Tliink of my position a few days ago, and then tliink of mc now. What ami.' What ?" he repeated. "Why tliis, — I 'm an outlaw, — a fugitive, — hunted down, — forced to fly, — an ex- ile forevermore, — my life forfeited. Life is for me only a curse. Death is welcome. Wliat am 1 ? " he continued. " I 'm a murderer ! " he answered, in a low, thrilling voice. "That 's what I am. I bear on my brow the mark of Cain. A murderer ! A murderer ! Abhorred of man, and accursed of God ! " He stopped, overwhelmed by his agi- tated feelings, and again buried his face in his hands. To all this Grimes had no answer to make. In fact, as he sat there, erect and rigid, witli his eyes fixed upon tlie bowed form of his friend, there seemed in him some portion of that emotion which convulsed the other. His old look of bewilderment came over his face, and with it there came an ex- pression of trouble, and grief, and deep concern, and self-reproach. He did not utter one sii,";le word. At last Carrol started up. " I can't stand this," he exclaimed, " I feel half suffocated deck." With these words he opened the door and went out. Grimes did not follow him, but sat there, motionless and thoughtful. He only moved once to shut the door, and then, resuming his former position, he gave himself up to his perplexed thoughts. When the steamer left the wharf it was midday, but hours had passed I must go on since then. It was now twilight. All around extended the broad surface of the ocean, over which the steamer forced her way, urged on by the mighty engines whose dull rumble sounded from below. Carrol reached the deck, and stood for some minutes looking around. Overhead was the clear sky ; all around was the dark water. The sun had set, and the shadows of night were descending, but objects were still discernible. Carrol looked around, and then strolled slowly forward about half tlic lengtli of the vessel. There he stopped and sat down, and gave himself up to his gloomy thoughts. His sudden meeting with Grimes had been a relief to the strain of his feelings, and even the excitement of seeing Miss Heathcote had only served to distract his mind from the one dark subject on which it incessantly brooded. But now the relief and the distraction had passed, and the old inevitable re- morse returned, and with the remorse came the harrowing fear of retribution ; such feelings as these now filled his soul as he sat here, and withdrew his attention from the scene around. The darkness which was descending over that scene was analogous to the dark- ness that was overshadowing his mind. Bitter indeed were his thoughts, and dark and sad and despairing. This, then, was the possibility of life, that the folly of a moment could blight it all, a short instant of self-forgetfulness, and then came inexorable Fate, drag- ging him down to crime and remorse and ruin and despair. For him there was absolutely no remedy. No sor- row, no repentance, could now avail. The deed was done. The inevitable consequences must be his. The wages of sin are death, and so, it seemed, are the consequences even of folly. From these meditations he sought refuge in that which was now his chief resort from the gloom of his soul, — his brandy-flask. As he unscrewed the stopper he thought grimly of a saying which he had once heard from Grimes. ™, .is A Co>H(;h of T 'i " A inurdiMTr," s.iiil lie, " .ilw.iys Imns mil I), id. \o\\ sec iiidst iicdplc after nuirilcr t.ikc In drink ; .iiid llicy (It>, as ;\ j;ciu'ral tliiiii;, driidv //,//,/, and linn on! pnor cnsscs. 'I'lici'dnri' I would n'l advist" anyluidy (o comniit. niindi r if lu' ran liclp il." "I'lu" llask was slowly niudikcd. Holding llii' stopprr in his liidil liand, Carrol raised tlif llask in liis IcK. Ai till' s am • niomriit lie laiscd liis head, and liis nionlli was already parted lo receive llie approaeliine, liipior, wlien suddenly in 'lie very <'risis of (Ids aet Ids altenlion was arresled liy a CiiMire thai slood on (lie opposite side of the .ship, direetly Caeing him. lie w,is siltintj aliont a hall" do/en yards aCl the funnel. lUhind llu' Inn- nid a I. imp w.is suspended, whose liidil shone down ihrotn;!! the jdoom. Il .shone upon C.inol, and il shone .dso upon Ihe (ii;iire whii h h.id aiic.led his allenlion al llial eiili(,il nionienl. llinnan e\peiienee has l.nndil ns lli.il llieic is m.inv a .slip lielween lIu" Clip .111(1 Ihe lip; .111(1 hnm.iii expeii- ('ne(> also leacluv; us 111, it when .1 slip I. ikes |il.i( (' under such ciK iini'.l.uK cs, il is Ihe lesidl of sonielliini; sei ions. Now, when Ihe enp is ol sncll a nallir<' :is Ihis ol' ('.nidi's, and when Ihe lip lieloiiL'.s lo a man who is lilled willi a dc'.pei.ile er.iviiii',' lor lids enp, .is Ihe only sol. ice to his desp.iir, why, llien, It sl.iiids to re.isoii lli.it the union of Ihe two e.in only lie pi('vent(>d by somelhinij of the most aslonishin;^ kind. 1 1 w.is evident that C.irrol saw in this litMire ^;onlelllilll:; thai w.is snlli- t'ieiillv .I'.tonisliin:; to aile.sl the pro- j^ress ol' his Ii.iiid. The li};ur(> stcod there, indisliiK t in the ;;looin ; lint the lif;lil from the 1. in- tern shone upon its I'.iee, leaviii;^ ''"' rest of il les.H visiMe. ( )n its head w.is a very commonplace fell hit ; Iml llu; f.ice th.il W.IS revealeil hene.ilh il was not al all eominonpl.u'o. It wa.s ;i very pale f.ice ; il h.id a short heard and ,1 niiisl.K he ; and the eyes were wide and sl.nini',, and lixed on Carrol. To Car- rol there seemed a Iioirilile meaning in those wide -st.irini; rycvs, with their fiMsl j;,i/(' ; soiiiethini; not of this e.irlh, somelhiii!; Ili.it w.is the ii.itii- r.il resnll of his ciiiiie. In an inslanl there (l.ished throiii'.h his mind Ihe iiiemoiy of lh.it Nii;lit of Horror, ill the old house, f.ice to f.iee with his enemy ; a);ain the npniy was renewed, his senses aj;ain were maddened hy 111. it dread scene ; once more ihcie re- soiinded the lliimdei of the explodiiij;' liislol, followe(l liv lli.it alilioiicnl noise of Ihe l.ill of Ihe viclini. The renew. il of 111,.) iioiror iinnerved him. Tin; ll.isk fell lidiii his h. 111(1. He sl.irled lo his feel, and sl.ii;!;ered forward lo- w.ird the lii;nre. under the inllncncc of a leirihle f.iscinalioii. X. Till', ii.\t'\ri;i) MINI). C.MiUiii, rushed forw.ird tow. ml the (l!;nre. under the inllneiKe of a ter- rilile lasciii.ilioii. The Hoiror, which h.id oppressed him once liefoie on 111. it memoi.ilile ni:dil, now seeiiusi lo re- new ils power ovci him. He olicyd niechanic.dlv a Mind impulse, Ihe cic.i- ture of tli.ii Horror, and spnini; low.ird the lii'.iire ill. it thus showed ilscll, with- onl any well ilelined lhon:dil or motive! wli.ile\'er. He h.id scar( cly l.ike" Iwo or three steps, !;owever, when his tool sliiK k a!;.iinst an iron rod, that ran across the vessid alionl two inches aliove tlie deck. He stnmhled,.md tell heavily downward, and the lone with which he struck was so fical lli.il he 1.1) molioiih'ss for alionl h.ill.i miiinle. At Ieni;lh he fjathcrfsl hinr.cll up, slowly and |)ainfnlly, .irid sci.iniMcd to his feet. The fasi illation of tli.ii liiMire's li.isilisk fj.ince w.is sli'l stroiij; enoii;;h to inllnence his nuucineiilH ; and he jd.iiiced fearfully low, 11 d Ihe pi. ice wlieic it had stood. It W.IS no loni'.er visililr. lie loo, r{\ all aninnd willi a .shudder, rxpeclini; lo see it in some new posi- tion ; Iml nothini; of the .soit mcl his view. Then he drew a loiU', hre.ilh, .ind without stopping to pick up hi:* Ikisk, A Cotnofy of 7\irors, '10 lip liiiriicil lirldw. His a))i)(Mi,itH'o was .'.iiii;!!!.!!' ni()ilj;h In li.ivc rxiilcd allcnlioti in ;iiiy ollii-r pi. no tliiiii (lie s.tliiiiii of .m oil'. Ill slcaiucr. Ills I'.uc w.is Icnriilly |i.llt, Ills j.iw w.is li.ini;iii;; down, liis eyes fixed and );l.irinf;, ,intl lie w.dkcd with slaj;ncrinj; slc|is. Ikil at stM Hiirh licini;s as llicsc arc con- st. iiilly visililr al ail times, and poor Imnianily I d\cs on even worst; forms than tills as llic ocean asserts it.s mas- tery over man, ,So llie wild appear- aiue ol' Cirroi rxrited lint iilllc ,itlen- tion, except on tin- pari oi'diinies, wiio ii.ipiieiu'il to lie in llie saloon as Carrol cnlerrd. lie w.is still troniiled in lii.s mind I'V tin' liioii);lils 111, it liad arisen from I'.iiiiil's .'.lory; ,uiil now lli.il he eiiliMcd in sncli ,i w.iy, lie could not help im,inininj; lli,il some lu-w event had occurred in conneclion willi hi.s (Vicnd's lroul)les. So he .it once lose, and, lollowiii); t",irroI, ciine iiji to him just as he was enleriiij; his slal<- room. "Wli.d's up?" asked (iiinu-s, as lie stood in the doorw.iy. C.irrol said noihiiiL;, liiil niiii^ him- •seir on a seal, and huiied his head in his !i,iii(is. " Shall 1 li};Iit the l,imp ?" ( '.iiiiil m.ide no i-eply. Upon this (Irimes acted on the ]iiin- ciple til, it silence f;ives consciil, .ind, eiileiin;; the si. tie loom, he lif;litcd the lamp, and then closini; the door he sal down and looke |l>IMl|| Jii.il ;':i!lJi ill!! iKllilik iiirll I J 'l ■ iJII'If M !iJL PHlJ*a«i HJU 56 A Comedy of Terrors. niidll »' ■ Mil |i I'll I liil Ml fill ill ''*"1f .III'!' .(IIH! Vlli'll :|l"« I III ■'1 I'll iiii'i ij fll 'I p*ii ;]|V "■ Wiiil wi he had brought her to this place ; but this time Mrs. Lovell was more on her guard and dexterously eluded him. She declared that the vessel did not roll at all now, though the motion wa^ quite as violent as it had been before, and that she was able to v.alk without any difficulty. So she clung to the rail- ing ; and though Grimes walked by her side all the way, she managed to struggle to the cabin without his as- sistance. On reaching the state-room she burst forth at once. " O Maudie dear, who do you think I saw ? and I 've been with*him ever since." Maud had been lying in her berth in that quiescent and semi-torpid state which is generally affected by the aver- age passenger in rough weather ; but the remark of her sistei lOused her. She started up, leaning on her elbow, and looking at her with intense earnestness. " Not — Mr. — Mr. Carrol," she said, slowly and hesitatingly. " Mr. Carrol ? No, of course not ; I mean Mr. Grimes." "Mr. Grimes? O, is that all?" said Maud; and with this she sank back to her former position. "Is that all?" repeated Mrs. Lov- ell. " Well, do you know, M.iudie, I call that a great deal," she continued, with some warmth ; " especially when you bear in mind that he was waiting for me, — really lying in ambush, — and the moment I appeared he seized me in his arms." "What ! " cried Maud, in amazement, roused at once and completely out of her indifference and her torpor, and ■ starting up as before upon her elbow, — • " what ! seized you ! " "Well, you know, Maudie, there was some excuse for it, for it was so rough that I could n't walk very well, and so he carried me to the stern." " Carried you ! " exclaimed Maud, in a tone of horror. " O, 1 assure you, it was quite natu- ral ; and, what 's more, I 'm sure it was very kind of him ; for really, one could no more walk than one could fly. For my part, I really felt quite grateful to him, and I told him so." " O Georgie ! how very, very silly you are about that person I " " He is n't a person at all," said Mrs. Lovell ; " and I 'm not silly, — I 'm simply capable of common grati- tude." " O dear ! " sighed Maud. " And so it 's all beginning again, and we '11 have it all over and over, and — " "It isn't doing anything of the kind," said Mrs. Lovell. " Mr. Grimes is a very different sort of a man from what you suppose him to be. He 's perfectly abominable, and I wish peo- ple would n't be so high-minded and consistent." " Abominable — high-minded — con- sistent ? What do you mean, Georgie ? " said Maud, in deep perplexity. "Why, I mean Mr. Grimes." "Mr. Grimes? Of course. But what do you mean by talking in this con- fused way ? " " Why, I mean that his treatment of me was abominable, and that he is so changed that he seems quite like a dif- ferent person." "In what way is he changed ? " " O, you know, he doe? n't take any notice of me at all now! I 'm nothing. I'm no more to him than — than — than the captain of the ship." "Why, I 'm sure," said Maud, " that 's the last thing you ought to charge against him. Seizing you in his arms seems to be taking sufficient notice of you, and something more, in my humble opinion." " O, but that was nothing more than common civility, you know ! " " Common civility ! " exclaimed Maud. "Yes," said Mrs. Lovell, "I don't mean that. I allude to his general manner when we were sitting down, when, if he had a spark of friendship left, he had every chance of showing it. Now, what do you think he talked about, — after tracking me all over North America, and following me over the Atlantic Ocean, what do you think he chose to talk to me about ? " kliii. A Comedy of Terrors. 57 " I 'm sure I can't tell," said Maud ; " I have no patience witli that man." " Why," said Mrs. Lovell, indignant- ly, " lie talked to me about nothing but tiresome steam-engines. And O, how he did go on ! I 'm sure he might as well have talked Chinese. I did n't understand one word. Steam-engines ! Think of that, Maudie. And after all tiiat has passed between us ! " ' " Well, I 'm sure, Georgie, I 'm very, very glad to hear it." " Well, for my part," said Mrs. Lov- ell, in a tone of vexation, " I have no patience with people that go on the theory that everybody is like the Medes and Persians, and never change their minds." " Change their minds ! " exclaimed Jlaud, in strong agitation ; " O Georgie ! what frightful thing do you mean by that .' Do you intend by that to hint that you are changing your mind, and are willing to take back your refusal of that man ? O Georgie ! don't, don't, O, don't be altogether insane ! " " Don't be alarmed, Maudie," said Mrs. Lovell. " It 's all over. Mr. Grimes has become very, very common- place. There used to be quite a zest in him. That is all over now. He is totally uninteresting. He has taken to lectui-ing on steam-engines. But then," continued she, in a doleful tone, " the worst of it is, I know it's all un- natural, and he does n't take any real interest in boilers and things. He only talks about such things, on account of that wretched constraint he exer- cises on himself, you know. And all the time there isn't any need for any constraint at all, you know." " O my poor, silly Georgie, how in the world would you wish him to be?" " Why, I should like him to be ordi- narily friendly, of course ; but as he is now, he is nothing. It's Grimes, but living Grimes no more. We start, for life is wanting there. He 's like a piano that won't play. He certainly can't expect me to take the initiative. I wish he would n't be so stupid ; and do you know, Maudie dear, I really begin to think that his conduct is really almost immoral." " I hate to have you talk about him so," said Maud, impatiently. " He is nothing but a coarse, vulgar, common- place man." " IJut I like vulgar men," said Mrs. Lovell. " Refined people are so dread- fully commonplace and tiresome, — just a little dash of coarseness, you know, to give a zest to character. I don't mean very vulgar, of course, but only a little. I 'm sure, everybody is refined, and I 'm sure it 's very hard if one can't occasion- ally take refuge in a little slight vulgar- ity." At this Maud groaned, but said not a word in reply. XII. IN PARIS. That certain persons who had ev- ery reason to avoid one another, and who were actually in one sense run- ning away from each other, should all find themselves on board the same ship, was certainly a strange coincidence. Under such circumstances, a meeting was of course inevitable ; and hence they stumbled upon one another unex- pectedly yet naturally enough, in the manner already described, and in a way more embarrassing than agreeable. After this last meeting between Mrs. Lovell and Mr. Grimes, the weather continued stormy for ^ - 'le days. Maud remained below, par ' on account of the weather, and partly for other rea- sons. The sight of Carrol had pro- duced upon her a new dejection of mind, and his persistent aversion not only wounded but astonished her. In the narrow limits of a ship, while he was so near, it was not very easy to banish his image from her mind ; and in spite of the appeals which she con- stantly made to her pride, the melan- choly that arose from wounded affec- tion was too strong to be overcome. Mrs. Lovell, however, was subject to no such weakness ; and while Maud moped in her state-room, she sought I! (;, II m II II ft I 58 A Comedy of Terrors. nil ! rs'l 'I I M Mil Hit Hill ill ' ip mill I i':i Jl I! II I;: I •'»' 11:111 *V%\ 111 III *!''|:i|;!;!l if -r II mi I 11*1 Ilil'iW ill m »\ m Iwii! j«'l! ||i ii« as usual the breezier atmosphere of the upper deck, where she would sit gazing fortli upon the darl< lieaving sea, lool m 72 A Comedy of Terrors. ISfti lli . Ilil 111 ii Mill it!"' kill' !lnii' iii'Ui; m Iff I Iflr^lllMtS (Sis'* 'iniir !iii>|{rj! |::i«' the faintest Idea where I could find him in case of need ? " Maud had no rei)ly to make to these remarks. Ilcr mind was preoccupied, for slie was wondering whetiier Carrol had fled with llic rest, or whether he had remained behind to share the for- tunes of the besieged city. XV. MEETING AND PARTING. Grimes and Carrol, as we have seen, made it their sole occupation to saunter about the public places, for the simple reason that this was at once the best and most attractive thing that they could do ; and as neither cared about company, each went by himself. On one of these occasions, Carrol set forth on his daily pilgrimage and wan- dered to the Champs Elysifes. There was almost always a great gath- ering of people here, but on this occa- sion the crowd was much larger than usual. A body of soldiers marched along, apparently on their way to the outside of the city, consisting of foot- soldiers and cavalry and artillery. From time to time the stirring strains of some martial air burst forth from a passing band, and the shouts and ex- clamations of the people arose without ceasing. It seemed to be the impres- sion of the people that these troops were on their way to take part in a sortie; and the remarks that from time to time reached Carrol's ears gave that idea to him. He therefore found something of greater interest than usual in the sight of men who iwere actually on the way to attempt such a serious thing as actual battle with the beleaguering host ; and so he wandered about from one place 'to another, seeking some position from which he could gaze upon the scene to the best advantage. As he was thus moving about, he came upon the outskirts of a cluster of people, and hesitated for a moment about penetrating it. As he did so he noticed immediately in front of him a lady, the sight of whom sent a sudden thrill through every nerve. Her side face only was turned toward him, and she seemed trying to make her way through the crowd so as to go down tlie Champs Elysdes ; but the very first glance that he gave showed him that she was no other than Maud Heath- cote herself. He stood motionless with surprise for a few moments, and then, as the lady turned towards the spot where he was standing, he shrank back and hastily concealed himself. The crowd here made way for Maud, and she passed tlirough, walking so close to Carrol tliat be could have touched her. But he contrived to con- ceal himself so effectually that she did not see him, and so she walked on without the slightest idea that he was so near. Carrol watched her closely, and then stole away after her. In order that he might not be observed, he got among some trees, and walked behind them, moving from one to the other in a very stealthy and, it must be confessed, a very absurd manner. It was not at all difficult to do this, for Maud walked very slowly, and at times stopped and looked back. Carrol could easily see by the expression of her face that she was looking for some one, but who that person could be he was at a loss to conjecture. Instantly his suspicious nature was aroused. Now, he thought, was the time to find out the mysterious motive that had kept her here in Paris ; and though there was a miserable sense of shame in his mind, yet so great was his jealousy, that he kept up his watchful outlook for some considerable time. At length Maud went on in a direc- tion where the trees could no longer afford a cover to her jealous watcher. He \ as compelled, therefore, to ven- ture forth, and this he did as cautious- ly as possible. There was a crowd in the distance, and toward this Maud walked, and into the midst of this she disappeared. Carrol now hastened in that direction very rapidly, fearing that he might lose her altogether. Maud had gone into the midst of the crowd, ill r"! A Comedy of Terrors. 73 but on reacliing that place she found it impossible to go any fartlicr. As her wish was to reach tiie other side, she found it necessary to retreat and go around the crowd, or attempt the pas- sage fartlicr on. Siie accordingly turned, and came back at the very place where she liad entered. Now Carrol had just reached the edge of the crowd, and in his anxious desire to catch sight of jMaud again he was looking most ea- gerly forward, when, suddenly, full be- fore him, close in front, so close that further concealment of himself was impossible, with her eyes fixed on his, was Maud herself. As she tiught sight of Carrol a deep flush passed over her face, and then died out, leaving it as pale as death ; her eyes fastened themselves on his with a look of wistful entreaty and un- utterable sadness ; and he could see that tears were trembling upon those long lashes. The sight of that face was piteous enough to have moved most deeply a sterner heart than that of Carrol. Her look flashed through him to his inmost soul, and at once all his hot rage, his venomous bitterness, his hard and cruel jealousy vanished and went into utter oblivion. He broke down completely. He reached out his hand and grasped hers feverishly. For a moment he could not speak, but at ' length he found his voice. " Maud ! " " Paul ! " His voice was tremulous and hoarse ; her voice was tremulous too and faint. They stood for an instant looking at one another with their hands clasped, forgetful of the crowd around them, and of everything except each other. Maud saw the change in Carrol's face ; she marked how pale and wan he liad become, the dark circles around his hollow eyes, the sharp, pinched features, tlie trembling and quivering muscles of the face. The sight of these, combined with her own deep agi- tation, afiected her still more strongly, and at length she burst into tears and sobbed aloud. Carrol stood there fearfully agitated. He was weak and nervous, for his long struggle with sorrow and passion had produced its natural effect, and had greatly undermined his strength and the steadiness of his nervc!' The re- vulsion which he had just .xperienced, in passing in one instant from a fierce, headlong desire for vengeance, to the tendercst emotion of love and pity, bewildered his brain. The sight of Maud's sadness had wrought this change, and it was intensified by the sight of Maud's tears. There was a choking sensation in his throat ; his heart throbbed wildly ; his hand still clutched hers convulsively ; and he neither moved nor spoke. A movement now took place in the crowd, and the people pressed against the two as they stood tliere. This roused them. Maud gently withdrew her hand, and Carrol regained his pres- ence of mind. " It 's too crowded," he said, in a low voice; "come away — with me — to some other place." IVIaud said nothing, but as he started she walked by his side, and they went away out of the crowd. "I — I lost my way," said Maud, at length, first breaking the silence. She spoke hurriedly and quickly. The silence embarrassed her so greatly, that to break it in any way was a re- lief; and so she naturally alluded to the first thing that came uppermost, which was her singular appearance thus alone in the midst of a crowd. " I lost my way," she repeated, " that is, I lost my sister, and I was trying to find her." " Your sister ? " said Carrol, in an absent voice. "Yes. Georgie, — Mrs. Lovell ; we went out together, you know," said Maud, who now seemed to have found her voice. " We generally drive out, but to-day She thought she would like p walk. We did n't know there would be such a crowd. We were walking about here together, when suddenly a great rush of people took place and we were separated. I 've been looking for her for nearly half an hour, but cannot 'li ■)■' ill I m rr 74 A Comedy of Terrors. ::iit?:l 'Ulllff «:|{| nlllil; '^11 III 11111,4 1 amf' iH «i ^ I til' « 11 111 Il''l'!'i' »••!'•' I ■ ' ; 1 111' \ Tlitii' 1 )• find her. Have you seen anything of her?" She raised her eyes as she said tliis, and cauglit his gaze as it was fixed upon iicr. It was earnest and longing and sad, and full of a strange meaning. Her own eyes fell before it, and she was silent again. " I have not seen her," said Carrol, in a dreamy, far-ofT tone. They walked on a little farther in silence. Maud waited, thinking that Carrol would first break it, but Carrol made no attempt to speak. His brain was full of a tumult of thoughts, none of which he knew how to put into words. For this moment was sweet to him beyond all expression, but beneath the sweetness there was a dread mem- ory which could not altogether leave him ; and it was this that held his tongue fast bound, and checked the words that were rising to his lips. Again Maud broke the silence which embarrassed her. But this time it was no commonplace that she uttered, but rather the thought that for weeks had been uppermost in her mind. It was a thing that she longed to know. Upon this all her future seemed to depend. So with a great effort she forced her- self to speak. " You never answered my last letter. Did you get it .' " She spoke almost breathlessly, with intense eagerness, not looking at him, but walking by his side with her eyes fixed upon the ground. Her voice was low, but the words were distinct, and every one was audible to her compan- ion. To him those words were not altogether intelligible ;.; to their mean- ing, but they had reference to her let- ter, to that letter which had wrought so much woe for him. In a moment a new change came over him, his dark memories rushed to the surface, over- powering the tenderness which had been born from this meeting. " Your letter ? " said he, in a harsh voice. " I answered it. Did n't ^ou get my answer ? " His tone startled her and shocked her. She raised her eyes in terror; she saw a gloomy frown upon his face, and the gaze that he now turned upon her was cold and dark and cruel. " Oh ! " she said, with a low moan of irrepressible grief, "you cannot mean this. You don't know. Did you get my second letter, my letter in which I explained? Did you get that? I explained. It was an awful mistake — the first letter. You did not get my last letter." Carrol started. He stopped and looked at her. A thought came to him which sent a dark look of anguish over his face. " Last letter ! " said he, " I don't know. I only got one letter, and I answered it. I wrote you a — a fare- well. Did you write again ? What do you mean by a mistake ? Was there a mistake ? What mistake ? O heav- en! tell me what you mean. I never got any other letter. What do you mean by your last letter ? " He spoke eagerly, but his tones ex- pressed the deepest anguish. He was eager to know the truth, but beneath his eager desire was the grim con- sciousness that it was now too late for any explanation to avail. To find out that she after all was true, to have it all explained, was to him like having heaven opened ; but at the same time the consciousness of his dark deed of horror formed an impenetrable bar- rier that lay between him and that heaven. All this longing and all this fear showed itself in his face and in his voice ; forming a strange mixture, which Maud noticed with wonder and deep apprehension. But for her there was nothing else to do than to excul- pate herself, and show her innocence and her truth. " Paul ! " she cried, in a voice that was a wail of anguish, " how could you go without seeing me ? How could you take that letter as if it came from me and never come to me, when one word would have explained all ? It was all a mistake, — a miserable, miserable mistake. When you wrote to me you must have known how I would an- A Comedy of Terrors, n swer. And I did answer it ;is you know I would. I answered it as you wished nic to. I'ut in my cxcitenunt and ajjitalion I foolishly wrote on the envelope the wrong address. I did so because I happened to he writing a reply to some wretched creature, who sent me a silly note at the same time. In my agitation I wrote the wrong ad- dress on each envelope, and you got what was not intended for you. As soon as I received your reply I under- stood it all, and wrote you at once ex- plaining it, hut I never heard from you again. And, O Paul ! believe me — I have — sufll'red — much." Maud was a proud girl, and all this was a humiliation to her ; but she had sulTered so much, that she longed to find peace and reconciliation, and so she made this frank explanation. She made it frankly, because she was con- fident that it would make all things plain, and drive away the last feeling of suspicion and resentment that Car- rol might entertain. She stood as she said tliis, not looking at him, but with her eyes fixed on the ground. A burning flush overspread her face. Her hands clutched one another con- vulsively. She spoke quickly, and the tones of her voice were tremulous and faint from the deep agitation of her heart. As she ended she could scarce- ly speak ; her last words seemed wrung from her in spite of herself; and when she stopped she waited for a moment, expecting Carrol's answer, and then she slowly raised her eyes to his face. Her eyes were full of tears, and in them there was again that earnest, wistful look which had before been seen in them. Carrol had heard every word. The few words of explanation had been suf- ficient to convey to his mind a general, yet a perfectly distinct idea of the nature of Maud's mistake, and to as- sure him that she had been perfectly true and faithful ; that she had has- tened to explain her mistake ; that she had suffered greatly ; and that his miserable jealousy had excited sus- picions in his mind against her which were foully and frightfully unjust and disgraceful. He saw also that she had not only been thus perfectly true and faithful, but that now at this moment, and here by his side, she stood, her- self volunteering this explanation, giv- ing it unasked, and speaking to him words of sweet reconciliation. Thus all the truth burst upon him. lUit as the truth thus became knov.'n to him, there w^ere manifest to his mind other things which darkened that truth, and shrouded all his hopes in the black- ness of darkness. She had explained her mistake fully and frankly, but she did not know how terrible, how fatal that mistake had been. As she stood there in her innocent trust, seeking reconciliation, her very words of ex- planation showed that she was utterly ignorant of the terrible crime which had been the result of this mistake. She evidently thought him as pure and as unstained as he had been when they had last spoken together. She could not have heard of the murder. She could not know what he was now. She thought that nothing lay between tlieni but a misunderstanding that a word could remove ; she did not know that between them there yawned an abyss which must separate them forever. Soon she must know all, and then she would understand ; but now — but now — A thousand thoughts like these rushed through Carrol's mind as he stood there. He did not venture to look at Maud. As she raised her tear- ful eyes timidly and wistfully to his face, this was what she saw. She saw Carrol standing with averted face, his brow drawn together in a dark and gloomy frown, his lips compressed, and his eyes staring far aw.ay into empty space. On that face there was not the faintest approach to anything like a re- lenting of that harsh and resentful tem- per which he had manifested ever since their misunderstanding; not the slight- est sign of anything like an acquiesr cence in her explanation, of a readiness to receive it, or a tendency to meet her half-way and resume the old intimacy. «l I iViuum Miiison Universrty Ralph Pickard Bell Library III ■ 'iiiifr;!?' Hi \tr I ' I K It 111 ' I|'||ii rH"i m m %ii TV 'k m i 76 /I Co7Hcdy of Tenors. He stood tlicre as harsh, as stern, as implacable as ever. Maud's heart seemed to turn to stone as she gazed ; and at once tlicrc arose within her a bitter sense of wrong and injury ; her whole soul roused it- self in strong resentment against such abominable treatment, and all the pride of her nature started up in fierce recoil proportionate to the degree in which she had just humiliated herself. She said not a word ; she turned, and with- out another look walked quickly away. Of Carrol she had now only one thought as she thus walked away from him, and that was the thought of a pride on his part so obstinate as to be utterly irremovable ; a pride obdurate, implacable, and utterly devilish ; a na- ture cold, selfish, and altogether devoid of human feeling ; a foolish yet frantic self-esteem, which preferred continu- ance in a wrong course to a candid and frank change of opinion, even though such a course should lead to the ship- wreck of a life, to the misery of himself and othe .. To her Carrol was obdu- rate beyond all hoj)e of change. But it was not sorrow or melancholy that filled her heart as she left him. Her whole S' ul swelled with the most intense in- dignation against him for subjecting her so wantonly to such cruel injus- tice. Meanwhile Carrol stood half frantic with the emotions that filled his heart and tVe thoughts that rushed through his b 'n. He did not see Maud leave : im, nor did he hear iieras she moved away ; for his sight and hearing were dulled through the deep abstraction into which his feelings had plunged him. But at length he came to himself. He then saw, to his amazement, that he was alone. He could scarcely be- lieve it. He looked .dl around. Crowds of people appeared assembled together not far away, — men, women, and chil- dren, — but where was ?>Iaud ? He looked all around, wildly, and full of consternation. Every won' diat she had spoken was still fresh in his mem- ory. He knew tluat he had givcT no answer to her. He saw that she )iad left him in anger. But where had she gone ? He coidd n't imagine ; and so, after looking in all directions, he start- ed off to search after her. But Maud had already disappeared in the crowd, and was walking toward her lodgings. As for Carrol, he searched after her all that day, never ceasing to reproach and curse himself for his folly ; but the day passed, and evening came, and Maud appeared no more. XVI. AN HiRESISTHiLE AITK/. L. On the same eventful day on which Carrol met willi Maud, Crimes also happened to be in the Champs Elysees. He had made his daily eiVort upon Trochu and the American Minister, but in each case the queue had again bafllcd him. Sauntering away, he had drifted up the Champs Klysces, and, as he had nothing better to do, on reach- ing the Arc de rfi^toile he turned and allowed himself to drift down again. Though he had been subject to a fresh disappointment, he was not at all depressed in his mind, but his broad face exhibited an expression of seren- ity that showed a mind at peace with- in. There was something in the scene which was pleasant in his eyes. His thoughts were stimula '^y the sight of the marching warriors. He saw the invincible legions of republican France going forth at last to victory. He longed to make one among them. Every beat of the drum, every blare of the bugle, every tramp of the measured footfall, seemed a summons for him to come and join these ranks. He was so iJjsorbcd that he saun- tered on quite oblivious of the scene around him, he was suddenly roused by an exclamation, and the sound of his own name uttered in a lady's voice. He started and stared. " Why, Mr. (irimes ! How very, very odd, but how really nice and fortu- nate ! " And Mrs. Lovell, for it was she who thus encountered him, held forth, with A Comedy of Tenors. 17 n hcaminj!; smile, Iicr little IkuuI, wliich Grimes at once grasped ami crusliet! ; while at tlie same instant, as tliough the touch of that hand was magical, every thought of Troclui, and the French Republic, vanislicd from his mind. " W'al ! " exclaimed (irimes. And upon saying that he relapseil into a fiiiencc which, under the circumstances, may perhaps have been more eloquent than words. " It 's so absurd," said Mrs. Lovell, withdrawing her hand, not without some clTort. " You know, I 've really lost my way ; and poor I\Iaudie ! I 'm so dreadfully an.xious abi. jt her. We were separated by a great crowd, and I 've been looking for her everywhere. I 'ni really quite wild with anxiety, for I 'm sure she can never, never find her way home. And do you think that anything could hapiien to her, and isn't it a shame, Mr. Cirimcs .'' " To this Grimes made no reply, but stood gazing at her with a smile of almost parental indulgence and fond- ness. " You sec, she does n't know her way about Paris at all ; and have n't you seen her somewhere ? I thought perhaps I might find her up this way." Grimes shook his head, without at- tempting to say anything as yet. " I 'm so dreadfully anxious, and I 'm so wretchedly tired," continued Mrs. Lovell. '■■ I 've been looking for her everywhere ; and I was just going to sit dcwn and rest, when I met you. And don't you think, now, it would be just as well for me to sit down for a little while, Mr. Grimes? Mightn't she find me more easily in that way, now ? And could n't you find some scat for me, Mr. Grimes, where 1 could have a good view of the place, and see her if she came anywhere near ? " " Most certainly, ma'am," said Grimes, quickly. " I '11 be perfectly delighted, I assure jou. I hain't tlie slighte; t doubt that that 's the best way to find her. Why, 't aint any use to hunt her up in this crowd, no more 'n a needle in a haystack." " I was just beginning to tliink some such thing as that," said Mrs. Lovell. Grimes now led the way out of the crowd to a seat on one side of the ave- nue, under the trees, in a place from which an extensive view could be com- manded up and down. Here Mrs. Lovell seated herself with, " O thanks, very much ; it's really so good of you, Mr. Grimes"; while Grimes placed himself by her side. " Wal," said he, after a pause, in a confidential and friendly tone, " and /toio are you to-day ? I'ooty well .' " "O, very well, thanks," said Mrs. Lovell, with a smile. Grimes paused, and looked solemnly at the ground for a few moments. " I'inc weatlier we 're havin' to-day," said he at length.- "Isn't it perfectly exquisite ? " said Mrs. Lovell. " I'ine place, Paris," continued Crimes, cheerily. " Delightful," said Mrs. Lovell. " Do you know it 's my favorite place, that is, generally ; of course, just now it 's a little ditVercnt." " Fine people the French," said Grimes. " Yes ; I always liked them very much ; they are perfectly charming. And how very funny it was that I should meet you here. It's really so nice, and so very, very providential, you know. Why, I was just beginning to despair." (Jrimes heaved a heavy sigh, and meditated solemnly for a little while. " Is this your first visit to Paris ? " lie asked at length, with an air of an.\- iety. " O no," said Mrs. Lovell. " I was h"re once or twice before ; and I liked it so very, very much, that 1 thought I should enjoy it now." " I find, ma'am," said Grimes, " that you did n't get scared at the siege. V )u hung on, I see. 'T aint every- body that 'd do like that. That 's what I call pure spunk. And I tell you what it is, I did n't think you 'd 'a' done it. Most women are such cowards." " O, but /'ma coward, too," said m 78 A Comedy of Terrors. iliillfS I:': •*illl |illiiliiiiiiH 'III rill, I^K'iilj ir"iiNMiiii'i 111: . :.: i\Irs. Lovell. " I 'm an awful coward. I 'm frightened out of my wits. I did n't know tiiere was going to be a siege, you i^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k /. // ^^ /<' 1^^ Zs'j: W^ ^ ^ 88 A Comedy of Terrors. ■'IIS: •I' •»',!, j iiiit II ; ' III-* f ■IM» He stopped and his face grew very red. " O, how good of you ! " said Mrs. Lovell. " And have you heard of any- thing ? " " Yes, 'm," said Grimes. " I have." " O, what is it ? " cried Mrs. Lovell, eagerly. " VVal," said- Grimes, " I 've got a plan that I think 's goin' to work, if you '11 only fall in with it." " A plan ? " said Mrs. Lovell, eagerly ; " O, what is it .-' But how really nice, and clever, and kind, and all that ! But what is the plan, Mr. Grimes ? " " Wal," said Grimes, " I don't know exactly how it '11 strike you, and I 'm a little mite afraid that you mayn't alto- gether like the looks of it." " O, I 'm sure I '11 be perfectly charmed ! 1 'm %\yc&you would n't think of any plan which would not h^ perfectly agreeable, Mr. Grimes." "Wal, I hope you'll like it," said Grimes, slowly and thoughtfully, "but I don't know about it just yet ; you see the bother of it is, in the first place we 've got to divide ourselves." " Divide ourselves r " "Yes, that is to say, you've got to separate yourself from your sister,"and I don't know how you '11 like that." " Separate ? what, from ALiudie ? " exclaimed Mrs. Lovell; "what, leave . Maudie ? " " O, she '11 be all right. There 's a friend of mine that 's goin' too, and he '11 put her through." " Maudie ! but I can't separate from Maudie," said Mrs. Lovell, sadly. "I really can't. Poor, dear Maudie ! What would become of her if she went away by herself.?" "O, wal now," said Grimes, "there ain't the least mite of danger. My friend would die rather than have her run any risk. He 's a man of honor, an American, and a gentleman. He 's goin' olV himself, and I spoke to him about this matter. It was the only thing I could think of. I 'd trust him as I would myself. Miss Heathcote could go with him, and I thought that 1 might take charge of you. We 've got to divide in some fashion, and that seemed to me to be the best way. But, if you feel anxious about Miss Heathcote, why I 'd agree to take charge of her, and you could go with my friend." This last offer was an act of immense self-sacrifice on the part of Grimes, and it was made in a very doleful tone of voice. " O, I don't know," said Mrs. Lovell, slowly, " that it is altogether necessary to do that ; in fact, the trouble is about Maudie being separated from me. Could n't we manage in any way to go together, M* Grimes ? It would be so very, very sad to be separated. Couldn't that be avoided in any way, Mr. Grimes ? " And Mrs. Lovell turned to Grimes with an appealing look that was really most pathetic. Grimes hesitated, and all his plan was once more revolved in his mind. " No, 'm," said he at length, with much decision, — "no, 'm. I don't ex- actly see how I could manage to fix it that way." Mrs. Lovell sighed. " I 'm sure," said she, " I don't be- lieve that poor Maudie would ever consent, but then she is sometimes very, very set, and I really don't know but that she might be brave enough. But how I could ever bear to have her leave me I really do not know." " Wal," said Grimes, who felt it to be his duty to disarm her fears as far as possible and to soothe her natural anxiety, — " wal, after all, you know, it won't be for long. It '11 only be for a few days at the most. You '11 then be joined again and meet to part no more." Mrs. Lovell shook her head sadly and solemnly. " Wal, the fact of the matter is, 'm," said Grimes, " it can't be managed, as I can see ; for, you see, it won't hold more 'n two." " It ? " repeated Mrs. Lovell. " What do you mean by it ? Is it a carriage ? Why, I 'm sure I can sit anywhere, so A Comedy of Terrors, 89 long as I have Maudie, and know that she is safe. Or is it a horse ? Are we to go on horseback ? And why can't we go together ? I 'm sure I don't see why we can't go together, Mr. Grimes. Why, I 'd be willing to ride behind Maudie, or even to walk so long as I had her with me." " Wal, 'm, the fact of the business is, it ain't a carriage, nor a horse, nor is it any kind of land conveyance, or water conveyance either. You see, our position is a little pecul..\r, and to escape from Paris requires verv pecu- liar contrivances. Now, 'm, my plan had reference to a — a balloon." At this Mrs. Lovell started and re- garded Grimes in unspeakable amaze- ment. " A what ! " she said ; " a balloon ? " " Yes, 'm," said Grimes firmly, for he felt that the time had come to grap- ple with this subject, and that the ques- tion must be decided at once. " A balloon ? " repeated Mrs. Lovell. " You can't really mean what you say. A balloon ? O Mr. Grimes ! and I thought all the time that you were my friend." " A bailor,!! ? " said Grimes, who felt wounde J by this implied reproach. "A balloon? Why not? Why, 'm, a balloon is the safest and the easiest mode of travel that has ever been in- vented. I 'm aware," he continued with engaging candor, "that there does exist a kind of prejudice against bal- loons, but I assure you that it 's quite unfounded. You only get into your balloon, let the wind be fair, and the weatiier any ways moderate, and let a cool head have the navigation of her, and I '11 bet any money that you go by that balloon easier, pleasanter, quicker, safer, and altogether happier than by any mode of conveyance known to mor- tal man. Now, I ktiow this to be the case as sure 's my name 's Grimes. Fact, 'm." " A balloon ! " exclaimed Mrs. Lov- ell, upon whom Grimes's remarks had made not the least impression, but who still clung to her prejudices against that mode of travel with unfaltering pertinacity, — "a balloon? Why, Mr. Grimes, you cannot possibly be in ear- nest. Why, it 's downright insanity. A balloon ? Why, can you possibly suppose that I could have the rashness to venture into a balloon ? Why, I 'm sure I 'd just as soon think of allowing myself to be fired from a cannon. And is that all that you can do for me ? O dear ! Then I 'm afraid that our case is indeed hopeless, and that nothing remains but to face the worst." Mrs. Lovell spoke in a despairing tone which deeply affected her hearer. Grimes sat looking quite cruslied, with an expression on his face wiiich was made up of deep disappointment and equally deep remorse. But he strug- gled gallantly against both of these feelings, and at length found voice to speak. " Wal, now, really, 'm, it strikes me that you 're puttin' it a little too strong altogether. When you speak of de- spair, and facin' the worst, you see there is a remedy. After all, balloon- in' ain't so bad as despair. Lots of people are leaviu' Paris all the time by this mode of conveyance. There ain't a single fault you can find with it, except that you can't guide them very straight. That might be an objection !" you wanted to go to some place in partic- ular. But you see you don't want that. You simply want to get out of Paris, no matter where you go. Now a bal- loon will do just exactly that for you. It'll take you far enough awav irom here to put you out of reach 01 battle and murder and sudden death ; and plague, pestilence, and famine ; and sieges, blockades, and bombardments. Now, if a balloon '11 do just what you want to be done, and no more, I don't see why you should find fault with it because it don't do what you don't want it to do, and what it don't pretend to do." To this Mrs. Lovell opposed the danger of such a mode of travel. Whereupon Grimes hastened to ex- plain that there was no danger at all. Upon this a long conversation fol- lowed, in which Grimes endeavored to prove that a balloon was not only free 90 A Comedy of Terrors. ) « w'li m I Mill If ; ''hi 'II '* from danger, but actually safer than terra ^.r»ia. These arguments, how- ever, made but little impression upon Mrs. Lovell, who found herself quite unable to overcome her fears. The end of it was that Grimes, as he rose to go, informed her that he would call again in two days, and exhorted her to think over his plan. If she could bring herself to accept it, he would be ready to leave at once ; if not, then it would be necessary for her to remain in Paris during the siege. And so he departed, leaving Mrs. Lovell in a state of mind bordering on despair. XIX. THREATS CUT SHORT. The desire which Mrs. Lovell had expressed for escape was certainly no weaker than it had been, nor had her sense of present danger in any way lessened. This sense of danger arose from various causes which must have fully revealed themselves. One class of dangers were those which were con- nected with the siege, involving plague, pestilence, famine, battle, murder, sud- den death, explosions, bombardments, and red-hot shot, with other things of a similar character ; all of which usually go to make up a first-class siege. The other class of dangers were those which arose from the vindictive n .nace of Du Potiron, and his possible powers for carrying his threats into execution. What these might be she could not ex- actly know, and these dangers, there- fore, became all the more terrible from being mysterious ; but among the most prominent of those evils which might be impending from this quarter, her fancy suggested arrests, imprisonment, separation from Maud, trial, condemna- tion, and, to crown all, the guillotii. . Such fancies as these, whatever n^ ^^ht be their cause, were certainly not adapt- ed to promote peace of mind or serenity of soul. Yet such was the structure of Mrs. Lovell's character, that she did not allow any unusual depression of spirit to appear. Her chief desire was to keep these troubles secret from Maud, for it will be seen by this time that one of Mrs. Lovell's strongest characteristics was a most devoted and self-sacrificing affection for her younger sister. For this reason she had not told her anything about the particulars of Du Potiron's later visits, so th.it Maud was in complete ignorance of that person's plans and threats. The next day came, and brought a new trouble to the alfiicted lady. Tiiis new trouble came in the visible form of Madame Guimarin, who waited on Mrs. Lovell and requested a private in- terview. With some surprise Mrs. Lovell granted the request, and Ma- dame Guimarin, prepared to make known the object of her call. With many apologies and much cir- cumlocution she mentioned the fiict that she would be compelled to give up her house and seek a new home for herself. She assigned as the cause of this decision, first, the absence of lodgers ; secondly, her own ill-health and nervousness ; and, thirdly, a dis- mal .apprehension which she had of some mysterious danger which was im- pending. On being questioned still more closely as to the nature of this danger, it came out that Du Potiron had been tampering with her, and had managed to work upon her fears to such an extent that her only idea now was of instant flight. She had no con- fidence in anything. Paris was with- out law, order, or anything else. The whole city might rise any day from its present deceitful quiet, and the whole population might prepare at a mo- ment's warning to cut one another's throats. Madame Guimarin had gone through 1848, and the coup if dint ; and the Red Spectre was to her a very real and a very terrific apparition indeed. The good lady also warned Mrs. Lovell to seek the protection of some friends if she had any, and not live in this way apart and by herself ; for she had good reason to believe that Du Potiron was preparing some very unpleasant combination against her ; and she had equally good reason to fear that Du A Comedy of Tenors. 91 Potiron's influence in certain quarters was strong enough to enable him to carry it into execution. Ail of this sank deep into -Mrs. Lov- ell's soul and intensified her despond- ency. She now knew of nothing else that could be done except to seek once more the aid of Grinres. She could not remain in her present lodgings much longer. Madame Guimarin had named a week as the longest possible time that her exhausted nature could bear the terrible strain of her present position ; and Mrs. Lovell saw that she would have to seek a new home some- where within that time. Madame Gui- marin mentioned one or two eligible places that were still accessible, but Mrs. Lovell concluded to wait and ask the advice of Grimes. On the following day Grimes was to come again, and in her distress she looked forward to his appearance with an impatience that was quite unusual with her. At length a visitor was announced and she hurried to meet him. To her intense annoyance she found the visitor to be, not Grimes, but the irrepressible Du Potiron. The annoy- ance which she felt was plainly visible in her face and manner as her eyes rested on him, and she did not make any effort whatever to conceal it. But Du Potiron took no notice of it what- ever, and whether he saw it or not could not be detected from his manner. His manner, indeed, was in every re- spect the exact counterpart of what it had been on his former visit : that is to say, first, as s!ie entered he advanced to meet her with outstretched hands, eager eye, and enthusiastic smile ; then on reaching her he stopped, laid one hand impressively on his heart, and made a most elaborate bow. " Madame," said he, " I again haf ze honneur of to presenter nies respecs, and to lay mes compliments at your feets." " Really, sir," said Mrs. Lovell, " I think I have a right to call this a most unwarrantable intrusion, after what has already passed between us. I thought, after what I said the other day, that you would not call here again." " Mille pardons, madame," said Du Potiron, in a very obsequious tone. " 1 haf not ze presumption to hope zat I sail be more agrcable to you zan be- fore, an' I must explain zat I haf arrive zis time to see ze charmant Mo, to whom I wish you to be kind enough to convey ze assurance of my consideration dis- tingud, and inform her zat I wait to see her." " If you have come again to sec Miss Heathcote," said Mrs. Lovell, " I can only say that it is quite useless, for she positively will not see you." Du Potiron smiled, and waved his hand deprecatingly. " Mais, madame, will you not haf consideration ? Conceive what ees my chagrin. Moreovaire I haf rights, zey must not be despise and disregard." " You have no rights whatever, sir, as I have already explained. What you base your very impertinent claim on is a letter which was never intended for you." " Pardon, madame, it was adtl'csse to me, in response to a letter rent by me to Mo. What more would you haf .-' Mo haf nevaire taken back her ac- ceptance. Mo still claims me and holds me. She nevaire make any explana- tion of what you haf call ze mecstake. So where was ze meestake ? " "You are mistaken. Miss Heath- cote wrote you in Montreal, explaining it all ; and it 's very strange that you never got it." Du Potiron at this shrugged his shoulders in incredulity. " TrCis bien, madame," said he, drop- ping the tone of obsequious politeness which he had chosen to make use of thus far, and adopting one of insolent rudeness ; " aha, you haf said sufli- cient, and now eet ees my turn. I haf sometin' to say to you. Listen. I say I sail see Mo and you must send for her." " That is absurd," said Mrs. Lovell,' quietly. " Absurd ! trts bien ! You sail see, madame. I haf sometin for you zat ■I; ,„ ,1 92 A Comedy of Terrors. I' I I r. . .,! Hi* I ru t| ii In sail make you comprehend me better, and become more complaisant zan you haf been. I haf come zis day as a friend for ze last time ; and if you are unraisonable, I sail come again with means zat sail make you surrendre." " I have already mentioned " said Mrs. Lovell, with unalterable i :ss, " the fact that I neither believe ii your power to injure me, nor fear it." " You do not ? Aha ! tri;s bien ! then you sail see it. Aha, yes, you sail see it. You sail be brought before ze sovereign peuple. You sail be ar- rest. You sail be prisoner. You sail be punish." " Who is to do all this, pray ? " " Who — moi — I — myself; in ze name of I'humanitd." "That is quite absurd," said Mrs. Lovell. " I live quietly here ; I nev- er harmed the sovereign people, and they don't even know of my existence. So how they can arrest me, and punish me for doing nothing, is a statement which I confess I am quite unable to make out." " You not comprehend ? " said Du Potiron. " Aha — irhs bien, zen I sail make zat you sail comprehend ze realit(5. Look at me," he continued, slapping his chest vigorously and ele- vating his eyebrows, "do you see me ? Who am I ? Moi ! I am a power. I haf command, influence, au- toritif. The tyrant ees overtrown," — and he made a flourish with his right hand, — " ze peuple haf triumph ! " — a flourish with both hands, — " they rise ! " — a stamp of his foot, — "I rise ! " — violent slapping of the chest, "I haf command!" — another violent slapping, — "I am obey!" — a dark frown and both hands clutching each other convulsively, — "I harangue ze peuple ! " — another flourish with the right, — "I indicate zeir enemies ! " — a flourish with the left, — "I anform zem of ze spies, ze myriad spies zat fill Paris ! " — hoarse intonations with clasped hands, — " ze spies zat Bis- marck employ to effecter ze destruction of la France ! " — eyes rolled up and hands crossed over breast, — " zat is my work I " — a wild outcry, and hands flung forward, — " to labor for ma patrie ! " — two or three steps back- ward, — " and save it from ze insidious spy I " a groan. " Trds bien,' smack of the lips, accompanied with a wild glare at Mrs. Lovell and followed by the stamp of both feet, — "and now do you comprehend ? Hah .'' " — a wild gesture with clenched fists, — " do you comprehend ze danjaire zat impends ? Hah?" — another fist flung out, — " who is ze next spy to denounce ? Hah ? " — a step forwaru ith both fists flung forth, — " who is ze spy secret and mystdrieuse zat conceal herself here in zis rue, in zis house ? Hah .' " — A gasp. — " Eef I denounce you, how sail you save yourself? Hah ? " — Another gasp. — " Eef I denounce you as a spy, what sail you become in deux or tree day ? Hah ? " — A yell of maniacal derision, accompanied by snorts, stampmgs of both feet, and clappings of his hands. — " And zis is what you sail haf ! I sail show no mercy ! " — A gasp. — "I sail be inexorable ! " — A howl. — "You sail be prisoner!" — slappings of the breast, gorilla fashion, — "and Mo — Mo le charmante — le tendre — Mo ! " Here his eyes were raised in ecstasy to the ceiling, and the sentence died away in an inarticulate murmur. So Du Potiron raved to this extent and still further. He had full swing. He let himself loose. He got the one idea in his head, and let his fancy play freely round it. He was excited as a Frenchman only can be, and acted as an excited Frenchman only can. As for Mrs. Lovell she had never been called on before to behold an excited Frenchman, and the sight of Du Potiron naturally created some sur- prise. She was not what is called a brave woman, nor did she ever dream of laying any claim to such a charac- ter ; but on t'le present occasion she did not shov/ the slightest fear. It may have been because in the appear- ance of Du Potiron there was less of the terrible than there was of that other quality which lies closely asso- ciated with it, — the grotesque, — bear- m A Covicdy of Terrors. 93 ing to it the same relation which the ridiculous bears to the sublime. Mrs. Lovell might therefore have been amused at the pranks which Du Poti- ron was thus playing before high heav- en, had tiice not been various serious thoughts in her mind which checked all tendencies to mirthfulness. Mrs. Lovell therefore stood looking nt Uu I'otiron, neither smiling with mirth nor trembling with terror, but regarding him with cold curiosity and mild wonder. She appeared perfectly cool and self-possessed ; and it seemed as though the spectacle of this coolness only served to increase the excitement of the visitor. In this position then these two were, Mrs. Lovell cool, calm, collected ; Uu Potiron lashing himself into greater fury, gesticulating, howl- ing, menacing, taunting, interrogat- ing, denouncing, advancing, retreating, shaking his fists, and going through all those performances which have already been so minutely reported. Now at this very moment and in the very crisis of this scene another person quietly made his appearance, entering the room behind Du Potiron, in such a way that he was not seen by that excitable and too impetuous person. The new-comer was the visitor whom Mrs. Lovell had been expecting im- patiently for two long days, for whose appearance she had looked so eagerly, and who, had he tried, could not possi- bly have chosen a better period for acting the dciis ex machina, and thus winning the everlasting gratitude of Mrs. Lovell, than this very moment which chance had thus opened to him. The new-comer was Mr. Grimes. At the sight of him Mrs. Lovell's heart gave a wild bound, and she felt as if she could have flung herself at his feet in joy and gratitude. Du Poti- ron's back was turned toward him, so that he did not see Grimes, nor did he see the change in Mrs. Lovell's face ; for just at that moment he had thrown his eyes, his fists, and his soul toward the ceiling, and was in the midst of an eloquent iuvocation of the goddess of Liberty and the genius of France. After which he once more resumed iiis strain of menace. Grimes stood and looked around with an air of surprise ; he returned Mrs. Lovell's glance with a benevolent smile ihat would have done honor to that lady's guardian angel, and then stood listening. He did not see Du Potiron's face and so did not know at first who this eccentric being might be, but finally, after a few moments' listen- ing, he grasped the situation, and made up his mind as to his own course. Du Potiron was just showing Mrs. Lovell how inevitable her doom was, and how dark it would be, when r.t that moment Grimes walked toward him and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. " Yes," said he, somewhat dryly, "all that's very well ; but, my friend, you 've got me to reckon with, and it strikes me that you've left that fact out of the account." At this Du Potiron started as if he had been shot, and whirling round found himself face to face with Grimes. For reasons that have already been explained, it is sufficiently evident that the man who now confronted Du Poti- ron was one of the very last whom he would have wished to see, and he stood staring at the new-comer in dumb bewilderment. As for Grimes, he too was utterly amazed at seeing Du Potiron, but not at all disconcerted. After the first surprise his glance of astonished rec- ognition was succeeded by an expres- sion of grim satisfaction, of a nature that was not by any means calculated to reassure Du Potiron. "So it's you, is it.'" said Grimes, slowly and with a sardonic smile. " I don't think we 've had the pleasure of meetin' with one another since we parted in Montreal. I 've got some- thin' to say to you, and if you 'II be kind enough to step this way, I '11 take it as a favor. Allow me." And with these words Grimes grasped Du Potiron by the collar, inserting his hand in no gentle manner down his neck, and forcing Du Potiron's I \k !■ 94 A Comedy of Terrors. ! iff. : .11' msk w'»i ih' , lit. Ill ■r if 11 head back in a particularly unpleasant way. " I won't detain you long," said Grimes ; " and this lady will excuse us for a moment." Du I'otiron struggled and gasped, but to no purpose. Grimes walked solemnly to the door with a slow, steady step, like Fate dragging his helpless prey after him. Arriving out- side, he dragged him along the hall till he reached the top of the stairway. Then he stopped ; and, still holding him by the collar, he stood in front of him and glared upc • him like some avenging power. " So, this is the way you pass your time, is it ? " he cried, shaking Uu Potiron with one hand till he trembled all over, and holding his clenched fist close to his face. " So, you can't find any better employment for your time, can't you, than to come here and bully an unprotected female. You misera- bly, skinny, lean, lantern-jawed, frog- eatin' Frenchman you ! What do you think of yourself now ? Hey ? You did n't reckon on my bein' round, did you ? Rather think not. Don't you feel that you 're a poor, lost, guilty sinner by nature and by practice ? Look me in the face, you miserable Parley V^oo, and tell me what you mean by this." All this time Du Potiron had been kicking, struggling, and cursing ; but kicks, struggles, and sibilant French curses, with the accompaniment of rolling guttural /s, availed nothing to save him from the grasp of Grimes. At this last appeal he gasped forth something about " Vengeance — you sail softaire — Rdpublique — citizens of Paris," and other incoherences. " So that 's all you 've got to say, is it ? Well now, listen to me," said Grimes, fiercely. " If you ever dare to show so much as the tip of your in- fernal nose in this place again, I '11 kill you ! Do you hear that ? I '11 kill you ! And now go." Saying this. Grimes pushed Du Poti- ron forward toward the stairs and gave him a kick. Du Potiron went sprawling down and fell heavily in a confused heap at the bottom. Grimes then turned back and walked toward Mrs. Lovell's apartments. XX. DRIVEN TO EXTREMITIES. When Grimes came back, he found Mrs. Lovell still there. She was very much excited and began to pour forth a torrent of grateful words. She told him how much she had suffered from the impertinent intrusions of Du Poti- ron, and how he had threatened her. In her explanation she did not allude to Maud, nor make any reference to Du Potiron's claim on her, for she thought it unnecessary. Grimes, how- ever, had heard Carrol's story, and knew that Du Potiron claimed to be her accepted lover. The presence of the Frenchman in Paris was rather a puzzle to him at first ; but as he now recalled the fright of Carrol on board the steamer, he perceived that his own surmises at that time were correct, and that Du Potiron had actually crossed the ocean with them ; though how he had iged to conceal himself was a my£ .ry. To Grimes it now seemed as if Mrs. Lovell was fighting off the Frenchman from Maud ; for of Maud's own state of mind about the matter he, of course, knew nothing. Mrs. Lovell all the while evinced much agitation, and this grew stronger and stronger as she went on. It was the result of her intense excitement. After all, that interview with Du Poti- ron had been a sore trial, and the very calmness which she had maintained cost her no small struggle. Now that it was over, a reaction took place, and her nervous excitement grew worse and worse, until at length, in spite of her efforts, she burst into tears. At this Grimes was overwhelmed. The sight of Du Potiron had created an excitement in his soul, but the sensation was of an entirely pleasing description. This spectacle of Mrs. Lovell in dis- tress, shedding tears before him, — A Comedy of Tenors. 95 actually weeping, — created intense ex- citement, but of a kind that was alto- getlier painful. He looked at her for a few moments in dumb despair, and a flush passed over his face. Then he started up from the chair on wliich he had been sitting and wandered in an aimless way about the room. Then he came back to her and implored her not to cry. Then he resumed his wandering career. At length, in the darkest hour of his despair, a bright thought came to him, illuminating all his soul. He at once acted upon it. The thought was in the highest degree natural. The thought had reference to that panacea for all woes which he himself always carried about his person ; that generous spirit which he kept imprisoned in his flask, and which was even now in his pocket all ready to exert its benign influence over any sorrowing soul that might stand in need of it ; in short, whiskey : so Grimes tore his whiskey-flask from his pocket and un- screwed the stopper, and took the cup from the bottom of the flask and poured out the whiskey till that cup was full and running over. The fumes of the strong liquid arose and filled the room and penetrated to the very soul of Mrs. Lovell, as it wandered far away in the regions of sorrow and tears. It star- tled her. She opened her eyes amid her tears and stared at Grimes. He was before her on one knee, with his eyes fixed compassionately upon her, a flask in one hand, a cup full of whiskey in the other. This he was offering her with a mixture of helpless- ness and anxiety that was most affect- ing. Now Mrs. Lovell was deeply agi- tated, painfully so in fact, nerves upset, and all that sort of thing, as was nat- ural, being a lady of delicate frame and slender build ; Mrs. Lovell, I repeat, was excessively agitated, and no end of direful forebodings at that time filled her heart, increasing that agitation ; but at the same time the spectacle which Grimes thus presented as he held forth the proff'ered whiskey, togeth- er with the fact itself of whiskey of all liquors being offered to her, was so novel and so droll, that it produced a complete bouUverscmcnt of feeling. Terror vanished. Panic fled. Kear was foi gotten. A long peal of merry laughter, on the healthy side of the hysterical, burst from her, and the re- freshing effect of that laughter was such tliat it restored her to herself. She declined the whiskey, and de- clared herself quite well again. It was the excitement, she said, of the late scene with that insane Frenchman, coming as it did upon other exciting scenes. " And O," she went on, " this awful, awful place ! I showed no fear, Mr. Grimes, no, not the slightest ; but now, when I think of those dreadful Reds, and this man with his threats, I declare I dare not stay in Paris a moment longer. But how can I escape .' O, what a fearful position ! In prison here and exposed to danger. What can I do ? He may have influence, as he says. Paris is always moved by tlie basest of the population. Robe- spierre was a miserable charlatan, yet he ruled Paris, and France too. Peo- ple that in other places would only be despised become great men in this miserable city. Charlatans and knaves do what they please here. And how do I know but that by to-morrow Du Potiron himself may be governor of Paris ? " " That 's very true," said Grimes, as he solemnly returned his whiskey-flask to his pocket. "It's gospel truth, every word of it. The monkey and the tiger go together to make up the Pa- risian. I am Du Potiron's master to- day, but he may be mine to-morrow. There 's no safety, as you say, ma'am, in this here infernal hole ; and what you 've got to do is this, you 've got to fly." " To fly ? O, how glad I would be if I only could ! " said Mrs. Lovell, in de- spairing tones. " Wal, 'm," .said Grimes, "that is the very thing I came to see you about to- day. I want to persuade you to fly, — to fly really, and literally, — to fly in the air, in a balloon. ' Fly with me,' I" I 96 A Comedy of Terrors. mi I . iii: 1 i> t n M f r 1 II , 1 » 1 ; 1. 1 i M 'I i, !:• is a poetic invitation which you find in some song or other, but I now say it to you in sober prose." " Hut O, Mr. Grimes, the frightful danger ! " "Danger? why there ain't any dan- ger at all. The balloon affords the easiest mode of travel known to man." " Easy ! " " Yes, easy. Why, only think, you step into your car. The balloon rises, you don't feel any motion at all. The earth seems to sink away from beneath. Then it glides past you. You seem to be perfectly still. If you look down, you see the country sliding away, while you are motionless. If you are afraid to look down, you simply shut your eyes, and may imagine yourself to be in your easy-chair. You feel no mo- tion, you don't even feel any wind. In this easy and agreeable manner you are carried away from this m'rerable place ; and when you have gone far enough, you descend as gently as a flake of snow, and find yourself in Bordeaux, or Havre, or perhaps London. Easy .-• Why, it 's luxurious. There ain't any such travellin' as this in all the world. Why, you'd never dream of objectin', if you knew all about it as I do." "But what makes people so afraid about balloons if they 're so easy ? " asked Mrs. Lovell. " Ignorance, ma'am," replied Grimes coolly, " mere ignorance. You see, the balloon can't be utilized for ordi- nary purposes of travel, because it 's generally at the mercy of the wind. But for purposes of escape it 's inval- uable. You get into your balloon on a calm day, and sit quiet, and in the course of a few hours you find your- self far away from all danger, safe and sound, free as a bird ))ossessed of all the inalienable rights of man, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Mrs. Lovell listened eagerly to this, and in spite of herself was favorably af- fected by the confident tone of Grimes, and the pleasing picture which he drew of balloon travelling. " But poor Maudie ! How can I be separated from her ? " " Why, ma'am. I assure you she '11 be as safe as you. My friend tliat I told you of '11 take care of her ; and I assure you he 'II answer with his life for her safety, just as I will for yours." "But who is he?" said Mr.s. Lov- ell. " I cannot bear to separate from Maud ; but to hand her over to the care of a stranger is really too dread- ful." " Wal, as to that, my friend ain't ex- actly a stranger — " " Is n't he ? Well, that is more en- couraging. Who is he ? Do we know him ? Does Maudie know liim ? Is he a friend of yours ? Who can he be ? It can't be Mr. Carrol." Mrs. Lovell made this suggestion in the most natural way in the world, for the simple reason that Carrol was the only one that she could think of who was at once an acquaintance of herself and of Grimes. .Siie knew also that Carrol had crossed the ocean and supposed that he might have accom- panied Grimes ever since. As for Grimes, he had not intended to mention Carrol for reasons already stated ; but since Mrs. Lovell had asked him directly, he saw no particular rea- son for concealment, and so he at once informed her that Carrol was the man. This information excited in Mrs. Lovell's mind thoughts of an impor- tant character. The fact that Carrol was here ready to take charge of Maud was in a certain sense very reassuring. If she could bring herself to attempt such a flight, she certainly could not ' hope to find a better companion for Maud than he would be. .She under- stood the difl^culty that had arisen per- fectly ; and though she had not heard of their recent meeting, she felt sure that the difliculty was a trifling one which could easily be explained. She sympathized deeply with Maud in the sorrow that she had suffered on ac- count of the misunderstanding with Carrol, and longed to have it all cleared up. This seemed to her to be a way A Comedy of Teirors. 97 to such an explanation. If a balloon voyage could indeed be ventured on, then Maud might have a chance to ex- plain or to come to an explanation, and the result could not be other than sat- isfactory to all concerned. One objec- tion still remained, and that was that it was by no means in accordance with les convenances of society for a young girl like Maud to be committed to the care of a young man, but the natural answer to this was that in desperate emergencies Ics convenances must give way ; and if one is flying for one's life from pressing ilanger, one must not be too particular about the road. The result was that Mrs. Lovell be- gan to look more favorably upon the plan of Grimes. " I do assure you, ma'am," said Grimes with unchanged solemnity, — " I do assure you, and declare to you, that you are not safe here. A balloon } why, you 'd be safer almost in a sky- rocket than you are here. Paris is more like a lunatic asylum than any- thing else that I know of. Everybody is ravin' mad, and you never can tell on one day what they 're goin' to do on the next. Paris altogether beats me, and the more I see of the place and the people the more I feel dumbfound- ed. Now, if I 'd only myself to consider, I 'd hang on here, and see them put this siege through, for I 've never been at a siege before ; but as it is, I give up this fancy as an idle piece of curios- ity, and I feel that the highest and proudest dooty of my life is to devote myself to the rescue of you ladies ; which same, I 'm free to say, my friend Carrol feels similar to me, and is like- wise ready to be up and doin'. AH that I wane is your frank and cordial consent. I don't want you to be timid about it ; I want you to feel that the thing is safe and easy." To this Mrs. Lovell had many things to say, all of which tended toward as- suring herself further as to the safety of balloon travelling. Here Grimes came out strong. He explained the whole principle of the balloon. He gave a full, lucid, and luminous de- scription of its construction. He de- scribed most minutely the improve- ments that had been made with the rationale of each. He gave much in- formation about the past history of balloon voyages, and indulged in some speculations as to the future prospects of aerostation. To all of which Mrs. Lovell listened patiently and attcn live- ly, willing to believe the best, and to be convinced. "Your decision," concluded Grimes, " must be made at once. The danger is pressin' and the balloons are ready. A favorable spell of weather has ar- rived. Now is the accepted time. We can start off at once, and remem- ber that in a brief period of time you will soar aloft beyond these transitory troubles, and find yourself in the midst of a celestial calm. No matter where the wind may blow us, there we may go, and we will find safety and peace. But to do this we must leave at once. In fact, I may as well say that I 'vc actu- ally engaged the balloons. They 're mine. We 've got to go, and that 's the long and the short of it. They 're fine machines, not too large. Com- fortable even to luxury, and fitted in every way to carry Grimes and his fortunes." Some further conversation followed ; but the end of it was, that Mrs. Lovell found her last objection answered and her last scruple removed by the elo- quent, the cogent, and the resistless pleadings of Grimes , and, with this understanding, he took his departure. Hitherto Mrs. Lovell had kept all her troubles and her plans a profound secret from Maud ; but now, of course, it was necessary to make her acquainted with her latest decision. The best way to act seemed to her to give a full, complete, and candid narrative of all the events of the past few weeks, so that Maud might understand the state of affairs, and comprehend in the full- est manner the position in which they were. After all, it was Maud who was chiefly concerned ; it was for her that Mrs. Lovell incurred the danger that !'V 98 A Comedy of Terrors. yMtj iir; 1 1 1. li. IN "llllHl'l'' I )i » II I rr... ' I klli I ' 'I slic dreaded, and consequently she Iiad the best possible means of influencing her by a simple representation of the facts of the case. She therefore told Maud about the various visits of Du Potiron, his imper- tinent assertions of a right to call on her, his insolent demands, and his violent threats. She informed her of her own encounter with Grimes on the Champs Elysces, and her appeal to him for help. She enlarged upon her own an.xieties and terrors, and explained why she had not mentioned this before. She told her of Madame Guimarin's decision, and portrayed in glowing colors the utter misery and hopelessness of their situ.ation. She then related the scene that had just occurred, where the vio- lence of Du Poliron had been arrested by the appearance of Grimes. After these preliminaries she described the full danger of their life in Paris as it was now revealed to her own mind, and the possible fulfilment of the threats of Du Potiron. All these things served as an excellent introduc- tion to the plan of Grimes, and the novel way of escape which he had proposed ; when she reached this sub- ject she endeavored to disarm the pos- sible prejudices of Maud by resort- ing to the rose-colored descriptions which Grimes had given of aerial nav- igation. Plagiarizing from him, and quoting him, she presented the subject of balloon travelling in the most at- tractive manner possible, and thus by easy gradation she reached the partic- ular part of her subject about which she felt the most anxiety. This was their separation, and the association of Carrol with Maud. Mrs. Lovell did not feel sure how Maud would take this, for she did not know exactly the present state of her mind with regard to Carrol. She at fiist alluded to him in general terms, and at length ventured to mention his name. Having done so, she quoted Grimes as to Carrol's eagerness to assist, and readiness to answer for her safety with his life; and concluded with an earnest admonition to Maud not to allow herself to be swayed by prejudices of any kind, but to snatch this opportunity of escape from dan- ger. To all this Maud listened without one single word. The whole thing came to her like a thunder-clap, but she was in such a depressed state of mind that her dull feelings were not much aroused. She was, in fact, in a mood to acquiesce with perfect indif- ference in any proposal which might be made, and consequently listened without emotion. But at length, when Carrol's name w; "J mentioned, she ex- perienced an instantaneous change. At once all her indifference vanished. A flush passed over her pale face, her didl eyes brightened, she listened with intense absorption to everything that Mrs. Lovell had to say, and the eager- ness which she evinced showed that she was not at all inclined to offer any objections. In fact, to all those things which had terrified Mrs. Lovell, Maud was utterly indifferent. The threats of Du Potiron, the dangers of Paris life, the perils of balloon voyaging, all these were things of small moment to her. But the men- tion of Carrol was another matter. The fact that he had shown an interest in her, that he was capable of some- thing like devotion to her, that he had volunteered an act of devotion, — all these things roused her. She did not stop to try to reconcile this professed devotion with the apparent indifference which he had manifested in their last interview ; she was not sufficiently ex- igeant to raise objections on the ground of his not calling ; the fact of his offer was enough ; and the idea of his asso- ciation with her in an attempt to res- cue her, made even a balloon seem at- tractive. To be taken by Carrol on that adventurous flight seemed to her the most sweet and blessed of conceiv- able things ; and while Mrs. Lovell was wondering how Maud would receive such a startling proposal, that proposal was already accepted in the mind of Maud, and regarded with joy, as some- thing which might alleviate her sorrows, A Comedy of Terrors. 99 I things by putting her once more in communi- cation with Carrol. And so it was that Maud's answer came dear and unmistakable and most satisfactory. " O Georgie, what an awful time you must liave had ! I had no idea of it at all. What made you so close ? Of course I '11 do anything that you want nic to ; and as to balloons, do you know I think it would be rather nice ? I do, really." XXI. LAYING THE GHOST. Carrol's knowledge of ATaud's ad- dress constituted a new temptation, which it was hard to resist. It was very difficult for him to keep away, when he knew that she was so near. In liis resistance to the attraction which she exerted over him, he had nothing to strcngtiien him but his considera- tion for her, and his conviction that it would be better for her not to see him again. But this very consideration for her arose out of his love for her, which at the same time drew him to iier. For a day or two he succeeded in restraining himself, but at length his desire to sec .A^aud grew uncontrollable, and, after fee' z efTorts to overcome it, he allowed himself to drift nearer and nearer to the place of which Grimes had told him, until at length he came within sight of the house. It was the day on which Grimes had made liis visit ; and had he arrived a few mo- ments earlier, he would have seen the manly form of his friend disappearing inside the doorway. As he came within sight of the house his heart beat fast with feverish excite- ment, and an intense longing seized him to go in. He hesitated, and a struggle began in his soul, wherein desire on the one hand wrestled with conscientious scruples on the other. Already his scruples were beginning to give way, and his desire was gaining the mastery, when his eyes, which all the time had been fixed upon the door, cauglit sight of a figure slowly emerg- ing from it. It was a man of medium size, thin, dressed in a soldier's uniform ; but the dress did not excite any attention on the part of Carrol, whose whole gaze was fixed upon the face. The fice was deathly pale ; the man held a handker- chief to his forehead, which was stained with his blood, and a stream of blood also trickled down his face. He walked slowly and painfully, and going along the siiiewalk he turned around the first corner and disappeared from view. Carrol' h.ad been on the opposite side of the street, but the figure had not turned its eyes toward him at all. It had simply come forth from that door, walked along the opposite sidewalk, and disappeared. As Carrol looked he felt petrified with utter horror. That face belonged to one and to one alone. It was the face that had never ceased to haunt him ever since that fearful night. Kven so had that face appeared to his fancy over and over again .as he brouglit be- fore his mind the events of that night ; and even so had the face appeared night after night in abhorrent dreams, gliastly, death-struck, with a blood- stream slowly trickling down from a mortal wound. There was only one thought in Carrol's mind, — his victim ! Du I'otiron ! once more appearing ! the dead once more revealed to the living ! For a few moments Carrol stood thus petrified in utter horror, and then in a wild frenzy he hurried away, flying ho knew not where, all his brain on fire with the thoughts that came thronging ovr- his mind. All the anguish of tl:at night at Montreal was renewed ; and his panic flight was re- peated, with all its dread accompani- ments. I?ut this time the daylight favored him, and the tumult and roar of the crowded streets assisted him to regain something of his natural com- posure. IJut as the immediate terror died out, there remained behind a deep perplexity, a dark misgiving as to the nature and the meaning of this second lOO A Comedy of Terrors. visitation. To him in his superstition it seemed now as though tlie dead could really appear to the living ; and here was a proot *hat the murderer must be haunted by his victim. This opened before him a new horror in life. For if he should be doomed through the re- mainder of his days to be thus haunted, what was the use of life to him .' Tliis time the apparition had con^ not in darkness and at midnight, L in the full glare of day and in the midst of a crowded city, walking under the day- light along the pavctl sidewalk. Where would the next revelation take place ? No doubt that warning would be re- peated, if he should dare ever again to visit Maud, or to speak to her. Be- tween him and her there now stood this grisly phantom to keep them for- ever asunder. How could he now hope to assist .-laud to escape, or how could he ever venture even to speak to her again ? Starting fjrth thus from a full belief in tlie supernatural character of the figure of Du Potiron, and .-^.llowing a vivid fancy to play around, it in this mad fashion, Carrol soon worked him- self into a state of mind that was half despair and half frenzy. The future now aflbrded no hope wliatevcr. It Beemed useless for him to struggle any longer against such a fate as Iiis ; and he began to feel that the very best thing for him to do would be to avail himself of the earliest opportunity that ofTercd to escape from Paris, re- turn home, and surrender himself to the authorities. A prolonged consid- eration of this course of action resulted in a fi.xed decision in favor of it ; and this decision had the effect of restoring to his mind its calmness. That calm- ness was deep depression and dull de- spair, but it seemed .nore tolerable than the madness to which he had just been subject. It was in this frame of mind that he returned to liis lodgings. It was now late. Grimes was there, and by his face showed that he had some- thing of import.ance to communicate. "Hallo," cried he, "you're back at last. Three cheers ! I 'vc arranged it. I 've done it. They 've consented. I 've got the balloons. \Vc Ve off to- morrow ; and what do you think of that, for instance .' " Grimes paused and looked triumiih- antly at Carrol, expecting some reply commensurate with the grandeur of the news, liut Carrol made no reply ; and Grimes, looking at him more closely, saw in his face such pain and distress, that his own feelings underwent an in- stantaneous change. " Has anything happened ? " he asked hurriedly. " What 's the matter .' Vou look more like death than life." " I 've been near death to-d.ay," said Carrol in a low voice. " I 've seen It." " Seen it ? Seen what ? Death ? " " ///w, you know — the man that — that — you know. Du Potiron." Grimes gave a long whistle. " The dead arise ! " moaned Carrol, "and they come to haunt the guilty ! " " Haunt your grandmother," cried Grimes. " What do you mean ? " Upon this Carrol tolil his terrible tale, enlarging particularly upon the fearful aspect of the spectre. Cirimes listened patiently, and at its close he struck his fist heavily on the table. " Sec here," said he, " I can't stand this any longer. I begin to think 1 've been doin' wrong all along, but I swear I did it for the best. Look here, now. It 's all infernal humbug." " What do you mean ? ' asked Carrol, startled by the tone of his friend. "Why, Du Potiron ain't dead at all. You did n't kill him. He 's alive. You saw the man himself" Carrol shook his head despondently. " I heard him fall - " " You heard some rubbish fall, I dare say. You were scared, and a lot of old plaster tumbled down. L wasn't Du Potiron, and you never shot that man ; that 's so, as sure as you 're born. You only heard plaster and rats." " You can never make me believe — " began Carrol, solemnly. " Pooh, nonsense. Look here, now, I tell you that dool was all a sham." " A sham ? " A Comedy of Terrors. 101 " Yes, a sham. There was n't any bullets in the pistols. I loaded them myself. You know that." " A sham .'' a sham .' no bullets ? " stammered Carrol, utterly bewildered. " I tell you it was all a sham. Du Potiron was aboard the steamer with us ; and he 's now in Paris ; and you saw him to-day." Carrol sat for a time quite bewildered. There was an immense reaction going on in his mind. He could not help be- lieving Grimes ; and yet he had so long dwelt upon his own fancy, that it was diflicult to give up his belief. In the midst of these thoughts, however, there began to arise in his mind the idea that he had been tricked and duped, and that Cirimes had been amusing himself with his sufferings. A dark resent- ment arose within him at such treat- ment, and rising from his seat he looked at Grimes with a gloomy frown. " If you really mean what you say, and if you 've been playing on me a joke like this — " he said, bitterly. " Stop," said Grimes, rising, and fa- cing him. " Not a word more. Don't say it, or you and I '11 quarrel. Wait till you hear what I 've got to say about it. Sit down and hear me." Carrol resumed his seat and waited in stern silence, while Grimes went on with his explanation. " Now see here," .said Grimes. " You remember askin' me to be your second. I saw that you could n't fire, and that you 'd only get hit ; so I arranged that plan of a duel in the dark. Very well. Now do you suppose I was goin' to have your blood or that other fellow's on my conscience .' No. I loaded the pistols, but did n't put any bullets in. I thouglit you 'd botli fire, and then you 'd think of course that both shots had missed ; and so it would all turn out right, and no harm done. Was there any practical joke in tliat ? So you see Du totiron could n't have fallen at your shot ; and, in fact, my idea is that lie jumped out of the back window wliile we were fastening the door; for I thought I heard footsteps over the rubbish behind the house. You may be sure that was the way of it. Now, I don't see anythin' in that to apologize for ; and I did n't do any- thin' that I would n't do again. I thought you 'd have your shots, and that you 'd get over your love-alVair in time, and that all would turn out right in the end. So I cleared out and did n't think any more about it till you and I met on board the steamer. " Wal, I confess I was a good deal troubled when I saw how you took tilings, and was goin' to tell you tiie whole truth, especially after you saw Du Potiron, but was prevented by one thing." " What was that ? " asked Carrol. " What possible thing could have made you keep up the miserable delusion, and allow me to suffer such horrors ? I swear to you no real murderer could have sutTered worse than I did." " Wal," said Grimes, " the whole trou- ble arose from the fact that tlie ladies were on board of the steamer. Now I saw that the sight of Miss Heathcote made you raving mad. You didn't hate her, you know ; you were madly in love with her ; and her bein' on board prevented your gettin' over your feelin's. She h.ad jilted you, and there she was on board the same boat, and you were goin' crazy about her. New it struck me that the only thing for a jilted lover like you was to have some other thing to take up his thoughts. You had that in your fancy about Du Potiron, and so I thought I 'd let it slide. I did n't dream of anything so childish as a practical joke, but simply acted out of a fatherly consideration for your good. My motive was good, whatever my policy may have been. It was to give you a counter-irrita- tion." " I think you might rt least have lokl me after we arrive .1 in Paris," said Carrol, in a tone wliich was now quite free from resentment. "Wal," said (Irlmes, "my reason was just the same. The h'diec were here, and there you were with your abuse of Miss Heathcote, so that if you it I03 A Comedjf of Tcirors. I rt.t. I t* « iii| 1 vm ; t «M 1 MD "li f iiiiS 1 i \ 1 had n't had this dool to think of, you 'd been used up by this time. But you chanjjed your tone a little lately, and I 'd made up my mind to tell you the fust chance." " What was he doing there ? " asked Carrol, " at her house. So if it is really Du Totiron, it seems that, while I have been sutTering, she has been enjoying his society, travelling across tlie ocean with him, receiving his visits here, while I — " "Come now," roared Grimes, "no more of that infernal jeah us nonsense. Here you go again, ful! lilt, pitchin' into Miss Heathcotc in the old style. I don't know anythin' about her real feelin's for the Frenchman, but I don't think they're over tender; for what I saw of him to-day did n't lead me to suppose that he was on very agreeable terms in that house." " J'i3« saw him there? Yoii did?" cried Carrol eagerly ; " was he — was he visiting them? Did she — did she — seem glad? But how did his head get cut— ?" " Wal, I believe I had some share in that catastrophe," said Grimes. " I '11 tell you all about it." Carrol heard the whole story, and now learned for the first time the dan- ger that the ladies were in, and the true position of Du Potiron with reference to them. Grimes intbrmed him about Mrs. Lovell's appeal to him for help, his proposal about balloons, and the circumstances which had led to the acquiescence of the ladies in such a dangerous mode of flight. He also gave a very vivid account of Du Poti- ron's treatment of Mrs. Lovell, and the immediate result of it to Du Potiron himself. Grimes informed him also of the measures which he had been taking that day to hasten their flight. He had been to M. Nadar and had engaged two bal- loons. He himself with iMrs. Lovell would embark in one, while Carrol and Miss Heathcote should take the other with an aeronaut to sail the craft. Very many little details had to be arranged, but everything was to be in readiness on the following night. Night was the time that was always chosen now, for during the day balloons were too much exposed to the bullets of the Prussians. The weather was sufficiently favorable for a start, and if it only continued so nothing would prevent their departure. The ladies were to be ready by the following evening, and Grimes and Carrol were to go to the house for them. They were perfectly willing to go, for they found the terrors of Paris greater than those of tiie untried voy- age in the air ; and the confident as- surances of Grimes had produced a great effect upon the trustful nature of iMrs. Lovell. And now the clouds that had for so long a time hung over the soul of Car- rol slowly rolled away, and the revela- tion of Maud's truth, together with that of his own innocence, combined to fill him with the most exultant hope. The little difference that still remained be- tween him and Maud could be termi- nated by one word. Her resentment could not be maintained, for she had consented to go with him in his care. To the perils of balloon-voyaging he never gave a siiigle thought, his mind being only taken up with the idea of himself seated once more by the side of Maud, with not a cloud to mar their perfect mutual understand''->g. But in the midst of his new-found joy there arose within him an Intense longing to see Maud, from whom he was no longer repelled either by con- scientious scruples or by grisly phan- toms. He now remembered his terrors with indiflference, and in his deliglit at the truth he had no resentment what- ever against Grimes •.. anybody else for that matter. Once more he and Grimes resumed the old unclouded air o'' free and familiar intercourse, and talked over the coming events. Carrol, however, could not help feeling impa- tient at the time that yet separated him from Maud, and hinted in a vague way at some efibrt which he might make to call on the ladies earlier in the day. " Now don't, my good fellow," said A Comedy of Terrors. 103 Grimes earnestly, "don't. The ladies won't expect you ; besides, they '11 be as busy as bees all day arranging for their flight. You see it's such uncommon short notice. Waitin' two or three hours longer won't hurt you, and will be a good deal more convenient for them than if you were to go botherin' around them all the day." " But don't you think they may be in some danger from Du Potiron ? I should think it would be better for one of us to be there." " O, I don't know ! I don't seem to think that one day '11 make any great difference." " But if the fellow can do anything, he '11 do it at once. He must have been venomous enough before ; but now, after your treatment of him, he '11 move heaven and earth to get them into trouble ; and, what 's more, he '11 do it as quick as he can. It seems to me that if there is any danger at all, there '11 be as much danger to-morrow as there would be a week from this." " Wal, I don't know, now that you speak of it, but what there may be a good deal in what you say ; still 1 don't see what can be done. People have got to run some risk, and to-morrow is the risk that the ladies have got to run. They can't be actually safe till they get outside of Paris, or above it, which is all the same." "On the whole," said Carrol, "I think I 'd better keep a lookout in that direction." "What for?" " O, to satisfy my own mind ! " " There won't be much satisfaction in looking ; and if anythin' was to happen, you would n't be able to do anythin'. On the whole, I should n't wonder but that you 'd be doin' better by makin' yourself scarce till the ap- pointed hour." " Well, I '11 see," said Carrol, who, at the same time, was profoundly con- vinced that he would spend the whole of the next day in the vicinity of Maud's house, and burst in upon her presence long before what Grimes called the ap- pointed time. XXII. IN THE TOILS. The following day dawned bright and pleasant. The sky was perfectly cloudless, and the clear atmospliere gave promise of a favorable night. Grimes had arranged everything on the previous day, and M. Nadar had solemnly engaged to be at the Place St. Pierre with two balloons and an aeronaut. There was therefore nothing in reality for him to do ; but Grimes was a man who never felt in- clined to trust his business to others, and could not feel satisfied unless he himself were present. It was this feel- ing rather than any actual necessity that led him forth to pass the time with M. Nadar, so that he might see with his own eyes that everything was pre- paring. He was also actuated by a very natural desire to learn something more, if anything more could be learned, of the aeronautic art. Before starting he informed Carrol that he would call for the ladies at about dusk ; but that if the ladies were frightened about any- thing and wished to leave before then, they might go to the Place St. Pierre. Grimes then set out on his way to visit M. Nadar. He strolled along in a leisurely manner, meditating on the prospect before him, and quite oblivious to the scene around him. He traversed street after street, and soon left the busier parts of the city behind him, and still went on, feeding his active fancy with very many pleasing scenes, and images and events, all of which were of a highly cheerful and pleasant cliaracter. Had he not been so very much (^ken up with these pleasing fancies, he would not ha%'e failed to no- tice the fact that he was followed by sev- eral men dressed as National Guards, but v.'hose evil faces made them seem like niouchards of tlie fallen Empire, who, finding their occupation gone, had transformed themselves into the de- fenders of the Republic with no very striking success. These men followed him, at first c.iutiously, but at length, perceiving that he did not take the \l if ir^ 104 A Comedy of Terrors. l\ Ji |I»I»U i slightest notice of them, they went on carelessly, keeping close behind him, and occasionally addressing remarks to one another. At length two of them walked ahead of the others, towards Grimes. He, on his part, was quite un- conscious of this new movement, and stalked on before, losing himself in the pleasing fancies with which his mind was filled. The two men harried on till they caught up to him, when they divided, one going on each side, and at a signal each placed a hand on Grimes's shoulder. In a moment Grimes was brought back to real life. He stopped and con- fronted the men. The others mean- while walked up and surrounded him. There were over a dozen of them, and all were armed. " What do you want .' " asked Grimes in his usual Yankee French. " Who are you ? " asked one of the men, who had first seized him. " An American citizen," said Grimes. "Where are you going ?" " On business," said Grimes. "What business ? " Grimes was about to give an angry reply, but the affair looked too serious, so he was compelled to mitigate his wrath. He hesitated for a moment, but at length concluded that the truth was the easiest statement to make and so he said, " I am going to see M., Nadar." " M. Nadar ? " " Yes, about a balloon." "A balloon? — aha," said the other. " A balloon ? You would fly, would you ? You would run away .-' Aha, you cannot escape so easily." "There is nothing wrong in engag- ing a balloon," said Grimes. " M. Gam- betta and others have gone in them." " M. Gambetta is an honest and loyal citizen ; but you, monsieur, are a traitor and a spy." " A traitor, a spy ? I am not," cried Grimes. " I am a friend of the French Republic." " You are a Prussian spy," cried the other in excited and vehement tones. " 1 am not," roared Grimes. " I am an American. The American Minister is my friend. I am an American and a Republican." " Bah ! we know you. We have watched you. You have been de- nounced to us. We know you as one of Bismarck's agents, and we arrest you in the name of the Republic." " Arrest ! " cried Grimes, in fierce indignation, — " arrest me,, an Ameri- can citizen ! " " Monsieur, you are no more an American citi.^cn than I am. You are a German. Your accent betrays you. Come, you are our prisoner. You must come with us. Remonstrance is use- less." At this. Grimes stood suffocated with rage. He glared like a wild beast at his enemies. He thrust his hand into his pocket, and grasped his trusty re- volver, and for a moment he meditated a wild rush upon his captors and a headlong flight. He looked up and down the street ; but that one look was enough to satisfy him that anything like flight was utterly impossible. He let go his grasp of his revolver. The sight of the National Guards around a foreigner had already at- tracted the notice of the passers-by. People stopped and stared. The words " Prussian spy " were heard, and circu- lated from mouth to mouth. The crowd increased, and at length, in a marvel- lously short space of time, an immense number of people had gathered there. The rumor of a Prussian spy passed along the street, and people came run- ning from every direction to see the sight. As Grimes looked around, he saw the crowd, and the faces that were turned toward him were faces full of dark menace and intense hate. Pas- sionate words passed from man to man, and reached his ears. He began to think that he was lost. Once more he subdued his wrath, and endeavored to appeal to the crowd. " Gentlemen I " said he, elevating his voice, " I am an American citizen. I am a friend of the French Republic. I am a Republican myself. The Amer- m A Comedy of Terrors. 105 Yells, shrieks, midst of which for immediate ican Minister is my friend. He will certify that I speak the truth." The crowd stared, and various mur- mur.", arose. But the man who liad seized Grimes turned with a shrug and called out, " Citizens, this man is a Prussian spy. He is very dangerous. We have been searching for him for weeks. He is the worst spy in the place, and the chief agent of Bismarck." At these words there arose from the crowd a terrific outcry, and execrations, in the were a hundred cries vengeance. Grimes stood overwhelmed. He was a brave man, but the position in which he was made bravery useless. To defy, or to resist, or to offend that maddened mob was to be torn in pieces. He looked out once more upon them, and saw the faces inflamed with frantic rage and eyes glowing in fury. They were more like wild beasts than human beings. To disarm their wrath was impossible ; to explain matters, to prove the truth, was not allowed. The mob outside was so insane and so passion- ate, that the National Guards who had arrested him seemed almost his friends now, since they stood between him and the savages of the street. The conclusion which Grimes came to was swift and decided. He saw that it would never do to stand there exposed to the wrath of the mob : any- thing was better than thit. With the National Guards there was at least a hope of something like an examination or a trial ; but with a street mob there was nothing but a tiger's blind fury. His mind was made up. At all hazards, this scene must be stopped. " Gentlemen ! " said he, courteously, to the National Guards, speaking so that all could hear him, " there is some mistake. I am convinced thai you intend nothing but what is fair anc'. right. I trust myself to your hands. Take me to the authorities, and I will submit to any examination." This was very magnanimous lan- guage from a man who was helpless ; but the National Guards did not see the incongruity that there was between his language and his situation. They all drew themselves up in a dignified way and endeavored to assume the airs of so many Rhadamanthuses. Those of the crowd who heard him were somewhat favorably affected, and began to think that the.-e might be some mistake ; but the most of them did not hear, and so they kept on howling. " It 's all right," said Grimes. " Let us go. Lead on. Don't be troubled about me. I won't run. It's all right, gentlemen," said he to the crowd. " It's only a mistake. I 'm an Ameri- can. I'h'c la Republique Fran^aise ! " These last words he shouted out in tones loud enough to be heard by all. The mob heard it, and those words ar- rested the current of the general fury. They had the right ring. They hesi- tated. " It is a mistake," roared Grimes in stentorian tones, so that he could be heard by all. " I am an American. I am a Republican. Hurrah for the French Republic! Hurrah for liberty ! Down with the Prussians ! Down with Bismarck ! I am an American Republi- can, and I love the French Republic ! " As a matter of fact Grimes began to be somewhat disgusted with the French Republic, or rather w.di French Re- publicans, and consequently his words were not strictly true ; but he was in a very tight place, and he felt that it was his first duty to disarm the ven- geance of that howling maniac mob. By giving them lavish doses of the pop- ular cries, he hoped to succeed in this. His efforts were not unavailing. A large number of the crowd caught up his words and responded. The mob, ?.z a mob, began to lose its homogene- ity ; its unity disintegrated at the im- pact of those cries ; some kept up the call for vengeance ; but others hur- rahed for the French Republic, and oth- ers again for America. Grimes now moved off, surrounded by his captors and the mob. The National Guards led him, and the crowd followed him, through many streets. The crowd still showed that ri' io6 A Comedy of Tenors. lir. I Iff I' »« ■•' 111. •••4 I! r l» •%* uncertainty of purpose which had been created by the remarks of the jirison- er, and followed in a vague way, be- inj; now rather curious than inimical. In this way he at length reached a large building, in front of which there were a few men in the uniform of the Na- tional Guard. Grimes entered this place with his captors and was con- ducted to a room in the third story. On being shown in here the door was locked and the prisoner was left to his meditations. Meanwhile Carrol had left the house and had started off to seek out some way of wiling away the tedious hours. He had wandered aimlessly through the streets, trying to get rid of the hours of the morning, and finding him- self incessantly gravitating in an irre- sistible manner toward the lodgings of Maud. He resisted tliis tendency as long as he could, for he did not wish to intrude upon the ladies at unseason- able hours ; but at length he found it quite impossible to resist any longer. It was about midday when lie found himself in the street in front of the house. He then made up his mind to remain in that street and keep up a watch over the house, with a vague idea that by so 'vatching he might be the means of guarding the inmates from evil. Fi r two or three hours he walked up and down the street, never going out of sight of the house ; and at lengtii he became wearied of this fruitless oc- cupation, and began to think of enter- ing. Mrs. Lovell and Maud were both in the room. Maud started to her feet and stood looking at him with a pale and agitated face. Mrs. Lovell ad- vanced and greeted him. Carrol was scarce conscious of her existence. He made some incoherent reply to her, and then turned toward Maud. She stood looking at him with that same expression of entreaty and wonder and mournfulness which he had so often seen in her face; and as he walked toward her she made one or two steps forward. But Carrol's face showed something very different from anything she had seen there since their misun- derstanding ; it was full of joy and en- thusiastic hope .ind tcnderest affection. He hurried toward her and grasped her hand in both of his. " O my darling ! " Jie faltered in a low voice ; " forgive rne ! forgive me!" Mrs. Lovell started, and with some commonplace remark she left tlie room, and by that act won for herself the fervent gratitude of Carrol. He was now alone with Maud. He understood at last the whole truth. There was at last no cloud of misun- derstanding between them. Carrol was determined that every tiling should now be cleared up without delay, and so he poured forth the whole story of his sorrows. All was revealed without ex- ception, and Maud was able to under- stand the whole reason of Carrol's conduct. Even if his explanation had been less ample, she could have for- given him ; but with this she felt that there was nothing to forgive. Mrs. Lovell's innate delicacy of soul, together with her sisterly regard for Maud and her consideration of her peculiar circumstances, all combined to make her stand aloof and leave the two lovers to come to a full understand- ing by themselves. At length, how- ever, the time seemed to be sufficient, and she returned, finding Maud's once melancholy face wreathed with smiles, and the face of Carrol in a similar con- dition. By this time it was dusk. They be- gan to talk of their approaching jour- ney, and Carrol began to wonder why Grimes did not appear. Suddenly, in the midst of this con- versation, they all became aware of the tramp of feet on the stairway outside and along the hall toward the room. At that sound a feeling of fearful appre- hension in one instant started up with- in the minds of all. The ladies turned pale, and Carrol started up to his feet in dismay. The door opened without ceremony, and a number of men entered the room. They were dressed as National Guards. T A Comedy of Terrors. 107 One of these advanced toward the group in the room, wliile the rest stood by the door. Others remained out- side. The man who .-xdvanced looked with sliarp scrutiny at Carrol and at the ladies. '' Madame Lovelle," said he, in French, " which is Madame Lovelle ? " "What do y.)U want?" said Mrs. Lovcll, in English. " I am Mrs. Lov- ell." " Pardon, madame," said the man, who seemed to be an officer, still speak- ing French ; " I am charged with your arrest, in the name of the Republic." And he laid his hand lightly upon her shoulder. Mrs. Lovell did not understand what he said, but his gesture was sufficient- ly intelligible. She shrank back in terror. Maud started with a cry, and flung her arms about her. Carrol sprang forward with a menacing gest- ure. "Arrest this man," cried the offi- cer, " he is the Prussian spy ! " At this three men came forward and seized Carrol, and at a gesture from the leader dragged him out at once. " Madame," said the officer, turning to Mrs. Lovell, " you must come. You are my prisoner." Mrs. Lovell did not understand the words, but she started back with a cry of despair. " O Georgie ! O my darling, darling Georgie ! " cried Maud. " O, what can we do ? What does it all mean .' " To this Mrs. Lovell made no reply whatever. She simply pressed Maud in her arms, and sobbed aloud in her anguish. "Pardon, madame," said the officer, "but you must come." And he took her arm and drew her along after him. Maud clung to her, and Mrs. Lovell tried to cling to Maud. Then there followed a pitiable scene, — the sis- ters clinging to one another, the offi- cer calling to his soldiers and tearing them from one another's arms. Mrs. Lovell, half fainting, was dragged away by the soldiers; while Maud, quite frantic, tried to cling to her sister, and implored them to take her also. The soldiers kept her iiack, and, thus repelled, she stood for a few moments staring at them with a white face of agony, still imploring them to take her too. The men did not under- stand her words, however and they coolly went on with their task, which was to arrest in the name of the Repub- lic Madame Lovelle ard the Prussian spy. They dragged their prisoners to- ward the door. Maud stood for a few moments overcome with anguish ; she had seen Carrol taken, and she now saw her sister dragged out after him. With a wild cry she rushed after Mrs. Lovell. But Maud's strength had been se- verely tried during the last few weeks, and this sudden and overwhelming sorrow was too much for her. Her brain reeled, her limbs failed ; and she had scarce taken three steps when she fell senseless on the floor. XXIII. FLIGHT. The meditations of Grimes during the first few minutes of his imprison- ment were by no means pleasant. To have been arrested at any time would have been bad enough, but at such a time as this it was intolerable. What was worse, his captors were citizens of that great and glorious French Re- public for which he had been so enthu- siastic, and to which he had been seek- ing to devote his services. This was the unkindest cut of all, and it wounded him to the soul. Grimes, however, was not the sort of man who could sit still and brood over his sufferings. He had a healthy and hearty animalism, which made him chafe under them, and move restlessly to and fro like a wild beast in his cage. His first impulse was to examine his prison and its surroundings, so as to see what prospects of escape tliere might be. The room itself was large and lofty, with tiled floor, and two tall io8 A Comedy of Terrors. y ft I I u ■ ,1 ■III (. K (' I 1 r Wl llli ' ..a 1Kb B HI , i III' she addressed the most frantic words to her captors, — expostuhitions, pray- ers, entreaties, — but all this met with no response of any kind. They did not treat her with any incivility; they ledlier along as considerately as was possible under such circumstances, but no effort was made to console her, or to alleviate her distress. About ten minutes after Carrol had been safely deposited in his allotted prison, Mrs. Lovell was con- ducted into the same house, and put into another icom. Then the lock was turned, and she was left to her own meditations. Gloomy and despairing indeed were those meditations. The room was per- fectly dark, and she had not the remot- est idea where she was. At first, the horror of her situation overwhelmed her, and she stood motionless, her heart beating wildly, and her brain filled with a thousand ideas of terror. But at length other and better thoughts came ; for, after all, she had a buoyant nature and a sanguine dis- position, and now, in spite of the terrors of her position, these began slowly to assert tl emselves. First, she thought of Mauc', and it was with a feeling of immense relief that she thought of her sister's not being arrested. Then her thoughts reverted to Mr. Grimes. The moment that the stalwart figure of Mr. Grimes stood revealed to her mind's eye, that very moment a thousand hopeful considerations, a thousand en- couraging ideas presented themselves. It was the time for Mr. Grimes to come. He would not be late. He must, she thought, even by this time have ar- rived. He would come there, he would see Maud, and would learn all that had happened. A smile of trust and hopefulness crossed her face as she thou:;ht of the eager and energetic way in which Grimes would fly to her res- cue. First of all, he would convey Maud to a place of safety, where she would be altogether out of the reach of Du Potiron. Then he would institute a search after her. lie would fly to her relief He would come, and without de- lay. It surely would uot be difficult for him to learn where she had been taken. He would not leave her here to suffer in imprisonment and in anguish. He would surely come, — yes, even this night, and soon, before many hours, — yes, at any moment. At length, confi- dent and expectant, she felt about the room in the dark till she found a chair, and, dr wing this close to the door, she sat there, and watched, and lis- tened, and waited for the appearance of Mr. Grimes. Meanwhile Carrol had been securely deposited in his room, and had striven with the difficulties of his situation as he best could. There was, of course, only one ray of hope left, and that ray beamed from the rather villanous-look- ing eye of the man that was able to "spik Inglis.'' It was, naturally enough, rather a feeble ray ; but feeble as it was, it served to throw a little light into the gloom of Carrol's prospects, and all his thoughts and hopes centred upon the possible appearance of this man. That appearance ought to take place on this night if it was going to occur at all ; and so while Mrs. Lovell sat wailing for Mr. Grimes, Carrol was waiting with far less confidence, but with equal impatience, for his deliverer. The thoughts of expectation were mingled with others. His mind con- stantly reverted to Maud. Wher; was she now, he thought. Perhaps she is in this very building, confined in a room like this, in the dark, full of de- spair. O, what bliss it would be if I could but appear to her at such a time as this, and save her from such a fate ! This thought was so sweet, that he could scarce lose sight of it. To him it seemed inexpressibly pleasant. To save Maud now would be something that might atone for the anguish that she had endured on his account. What a glorious recompense ! How the darkness of tliat old memory would be swallowed up in the sunlight of this new joy ! So he sat there, and he brooded over this thou-'ht, and he longed with longing inexpressible that he might be able to do all this for Maud. . T A Comedy of Terrors. 115 To etliing that What w the luld be )f this nd he id he le that lis for And Mrs. Lovell sat, and she lis- tened, and she waited for Grimes full of trust. And the hours slowly passed, the hours of night. Midnight came. The peal of bells from the tower of a neigrhborinir church announced this fict to both of the watchers. Mrs. I.ovell gave a sigh of distress. Carrol gave a Iialf-groan. But scarce had the last stroke died away on the still niglit air, when Car- rol's acute senses, which had been sharpened to an intense degree by his long watch, became aware of a soft shuftling sound along the hall outside. He listened, breathless ! The sounds approached his room. They were low, shuftling, and regular. They were footsteps. As Carrol ascertained this fact, his heart stopped bexting, and in the in- tensity of his ai ::;ety lie seemed turned to stone. The footsteps drew nearer. Then they reached th.e door. Then there was a pause for a time, after which a key was noiselessly in- serted, the bolt was drawn back, the door opened, and a voice said in a whisper, " Are you wake ? " ■' Yes," said Carrol in a low voice, scarce able to speak in the intensity of his excitement. " S-s-s-s-st ! " said the other in a low voice. He now came softly in and shut the door behind him, turning the key again. " I can safe you," said he in a whis- per. " The lady — " said Carrol in the same tone. " She is here." " In this house ? " asked Carrol, as his heart gave a fierce throb of joy. " Yes." " She must be saved too." " Yes, we sail safe her too," said the man. " When ? when ? " asked Carrol, whose impatience was now intolera- ble. " Now, — toute suite," said the other. " Make haste, then ; don't keep me waiting any longer," saiil Carrol fever- ishly, in a scarce articulate whisper. " Wait," said the man. " How mooch you gif me for dis ? " " Anytliing ; anything, if you only save me — " " But how mooch ? " " Anytliing," said Carrol hurriedly. " A thousand francs." "You make him a tousand dollar," said tiic Frenchman. " I W..1, 1 swear I will. Come." " iMais, wait. How I know dat you sail gif it ?■' " I 'm rich. I 've got plenty." " When you gif him ? " " O, as soon as I can get it ! To- morrow. Come, make haste." " O, oui ; i)lenty time. Mais, how I know I sail get him .'' Can you gif him dis night .' " " To-nigiit ; no, I must get it from my banker." " Mais, eet ees too long to wait." Carrol ground his teeth in rage and Impatience. " Here," he said, snatching his purse from his pocket, and thrusting it into the man's hand, " there are about a thousand francs in this. I swear to you, by all that 's holy, I '11 give you the rest the first thing to-morrow. You may st.-iy with me till then, if you 're afraid." The man took it, then he went to a corner of the room and knelt down. Tlien he drew a match, and, holding this in one hand, he looked over tlie contents of the purse by tiie light of the match, with a quick and practised glance. A few moments were enough. He extinguislied the match and came back to Carrol. " Dees sail do for de present," he said. " And now we sail go. But you mus take olTyour boots."' Carrol tore off his boots as quickly as he could. " Gif me your hand," said the French- man. *' I sail lead you to the lady, and den we sail all go together.'' Carrol grasped the outstretched hand .11 ii6 A Comedy of Terrors. ^\ . ; -■nr ! tSi: II of tlie oilier, and in this way tlicy left the room. Mrs. Lovell listened and waited. The midnight hour had tolled. Time still went on. At last she heard sounds outside, — shufiling sounds. They approached l>er door ! " At last ! O, at last ! " she miir- mered. " O, how faithful ! I knew he 'd come ! " The key was inserted, the door gen- tly opened. Mrs. Lovell rose to her feet, and, trembling in every limb, she tottered forward, scarce '.ble to stand, and utterly unable to speak, holding out her cold and tremulous hands eagerly and longingly. Carrol's heart throbbed with wild and furious agitation. As the door opened he rushed forward. One step inside, and he encountered Mrs. Lovell. He flung his arms around her in a fervid embrace. He pressed her again and again to his throbbing heart. For a few moments he was utterly unable to articulate one single sound. At last, as he held her once more to his heart, he murmured, "O my darling! O my darling ! " " I knew — you 'd come," sighed Mrs. Lovell in a scarce audible whis- per. " O my own dar — " " S-s-s-s-st ! " said the Frenchman in a low voice. " Make haste. We mus haste. Dcr is no time. Come, take my hand again, and I sail lead de way." Carrol grasped Mrs. Lovell's hand and seized the Frencliman's. They went along the hall and down a flight of steps and into a long hall which went to the other end of the court-yard. Here they descended and reached a gate. But Mrs. Lovell was weak, and tnough she clung to Carrol she could not walk well. The intense excitement of that night had unnerved her. Carrol murmured in her ear words of love and encouragement, and then raised her in his arms. She was a little wo- man, and not so heavy but that Carrol was able to carry her. But his own natural strengtli was increased l>y liis enthusiasm and joy; and Mrs. Lovell, utterly overcome by contending emo- tions, twined her arms about his neck, while her head sank upon his shoulder. XXV. AN OVERWHELMING DISCOVERY. The Frenchman now opened a door at tlie back of the house, and Carrnl passed out into a street. It was quite dark. The moon, whicli had been shining bright in the early part of the night, had gone down, and the sky was overcast. There were no lights burning in the street, nor were any visible in any of the houses. The siege had extinguished the one, and the lateness of the hour had extinguished the other. Into this dark street Carrol passed, bearing his burden. Mrs. Lovell clung to him as though she were afraid that something might Uill occur to sejiarate them ; while Carrol, in his rapturous joy, forgot all danger, and had it not been for his sober, practical, and matter- of-fact guide, would have wandered at random, carrying his burden anywhere as long as he could move. I3ut his sober, matter-of-fact guide had rr.acle other preparations so as to complete their escape, and thereby make his own reward the more sure. " I haf a cab," said he. " Eet ees not far. You carre de lady some time yet, but not mooch. AH araight. De next cornaire." By this Carrol understood that his guide had given to his own performance a completeness that made it positively artistic. This allusion to a cab at once aroused him to the dangers around him and the excellence of the cab as a means of escape from it. At the next corner they found a calj standing. The guide went forward and spoke mysteriously to the cabman. Then, as Carrol came up, he asked him where he wanted to go. Carrol hesi- tated for a moment. He thought of Mrs. Lovell's lodgings ; but being still J A Comedy of Terrors. 117 possessed with the idea that danger niiglit be lurking there, and anxious above all to secure the safety of his dear companion, he mentioned tlie Hotel du Louvre. His idea was to drive there first, and on the following day to send word to I\Irs. Lovell about the safety of Maud. (living this brief direction, he put down his precious burden, and tenderly lifted her into the cab. Then he fol- lowed himself. The door was shut. Tlie guide took his seat beside the driver, and the cab drove off. Carrol was now once more alone witli his dear care. Her silence and her weakness e.xcited his tenderest pity, while the rapturous thought that he had achieved her deliverance filled his whole soul. He flung his arms around her, and drew her close to him and lield her there. Mrs. Lovell made no resistance. It was her deliverer who was thus lavishing his tenderness upon her. Her heart was filled with a sense of his devotion to her ; and he had a way of appropriating her which she was unable and unwilling to resist. TIuis the cab drove on, and the two sat there, quite silent, each lost in tlie tlioughts that were most natural to each mind. It was a moment of infinite ten- derness, of mutual self-devotion, of soft and tranquil thoughts of bliss ; in short, a supreme moment that only comes but once in a whole life. " This is bliss unspeakable," thought Carrol. " What a wonderful life I have had all crowded into a few weeks ! The most unutterable misery, and the most exalted happiness ; the alterna- tions of utter despair and seraphic joy. Now the darkness is lost in light, and Maud will lose the recollection of the grief that I have caused her in the re- membrance of the joy that I have given her." These were the thoughts that he had as he held her to his heart. " How faithful and how true he is ! " thought Mrs. Lovell ; " and what a heart must I have had to have played so recklessly witli such a Glorious Being ! I knew he would come. 1 sat there, and waited, and I knew it. And he came. 15ut how it was tliat he could have ever managed to come, is something that I never sliall understand. And there never was such another man in all the world. O, he is such an utter — " A sigli ended the unspoken sentence. It was Carrol who first broke the si- lence. He thought that his direction to go to the Hotel du Louvre ought to be announced to his companion. He had not thought of it since he gave it. He now tliought that she ought to know, so as to have some idea of where she was. He also began now to remember the existence of Mrs. Lovell, and tlie idea occurred to him that some measures ought to be taken as soon as possible to effect a communication with her, so as to let her know the joyful event that had occurred. Tliis communication was destined to be effected much more quickly than he had supposed to be possible. With the motive that had just been explained, Carrol gave a long sigh, that was elicited simply and solely by utter happiness, and then for the first time began to speak aloud and in his ordinary voice. " Vou know, darling," said he, " I ordered the driver to take us to the Hotel du Louvre, but I 've just thought that you might feel anxious about your sister, and would like to go to her first to let her know about your safety. Do you feel inclined to do so, or are you afraid ? " At the first sound of his voice thus audibly expressed, in his natural tones, Mrs. Lovell gave a little start, and then listened witli a confused expression. The voice did not seem altogether fa- miliar ; slic felt puzzled. The thing alarmed her ; she did not say one word for some few moments. But as the voice ceased, her fears died out. She began to tliink that her brain must be affected. Tlicse wild suspicions seemed like delirium or madness. But the arms of her preserver were around her, and thus reassured her. " O dear," she sighed, " I really think that I must be almost insane t . i I i ii8 A Comedy of Terrors. \ 5 ■ m ' til iifi4' i I 'm not quite myself yet, I suppose. O yes, do let us first go and see Maudie ! O, I want to see poor, poor Maudie ! I know that Maudie will be frightened al- most to death ! Poor, poor Maudie. O yes, let us drive as fast as possible to Maudie ! " This time it was Carrol's turn. He it was who gave the start. The sensa- tion was his. That voice! It was not the voice of Maud. Who was this that spoke of " Maudie " ? What did it mean .'' Carrol's blood turned cold within his veins, a shudder passed through him, his heart stopped beating, his nerves tingled, his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth, and finally all the hairs of his head simultaneously and quite spontaneously rose up and stood on end. His arms relaxed. He made an ef- fort to withdraw them, and would have done so had he not been almost par- alyzed by this new sensation. What did it mean ? Who could it be ? Was there a mistake, or was he mad ? Had the Frenchman taken him to the wrong woman ? What a fright- ful and abhorrent and abominable idea ! And where was Maud ? And who in Heaven's name was this wo- man who talked about " Maudie" ? A mistake ? How could there be a mis- take ? He would not, could not believe it. But there must be a mistake. Could such things be ? Mrs. Lovell noticed the shudder that passed through her companion, and felt his arms relax, and observed his astonishing silence. She wondered at first, and then grew alarmed, think- ing that the excitement of the search, for her, and the long anxiety, and the final rescue had at last overcome him. " O," she cried in intense anxiety, " what 's the matter ? You seem ill ? Are you not well ? O, why are you so silent ? Why do you tremble so ? Why do you shudder ? O, you are ill ? O heavens ! you have done so much for me tliat you are sinking under it. And O, how unhappy I am ! And O, what can I do ? " Tlie sound of this voice was enough for Carrol. There could no longer be any possibility of doubt. His worst suspicions were confirmed. The terri- ble fact appeared, full and undeniable. It teas not Maud ! This confirmation of his worst fears broke the spell that had fallen upon him. He tore himself aw.iy. He start- ed back, and in a wild voice that was almost a yell shouted out, "What's all this ? Who are you ? What do you want ? " This act, and the sound of his voice, a second time sent a cold thrill of hor- ror through Mrs. Lovell. She recoiled with a repugnance and an abhorrence as strong as that which animated Carrol, while a terror more dire and more dark took possession of her soul, quite overwhelming her. " Who are you ? " she said in a low moan, and with a wail of anguish, — the utter anguish of intensest fear. " O great Heaven ! " cried Carrol with an anguish as deep as hers. " Who are you 1 " wailed Mrs. Lov- ell again, in the last extremity of her terror, — " who are you ? O, who are you ? What do you want ? O, what do you want ? " Thesewailsofanguish showed plainly to Carrol that this woman, whoever slie was, had not intended todeceive him, but had been herself deceived. Strangely enough, he had not yet thought of the truth ; for so entirely had the idea taken possession of his mind thnt it was Maud who had been arrested, and that Mrs. Lovell was safe from all dan- ger, that he did not think of her. As to who it was he was not able to give a thought, so confused, so bewildered, and so overwhelmed was he. That poor brain of his had been sorely tried for many eventful weeks, and could not now be expected to be equal to the sudden demand that was made upon its overtasked energies. He had but one thought, that of knowing the truth at once. On this he acted instantaneously. He stopped the cab. He tore open the door. A Comedy of Tenors. 119 He jumped out. He told Mrs. Lovell to get out. She got out. The Frenchman also got down from the box, animated by the one idea that had now become his ruling motive, — the idea of securing his pay. It was dark. There were no lights in the streets or in the houses, Car- rol and Mrs. Lovell remained undis- tinguishable to one another, though each stared hard at the other. Carrol now seemed to Mrs. Lovell to be not quite so tall as Grimes, but Carrol himself could make nothing out of Mrs. Lovell's appearance. " Who are you .-' " asked Carrol, at length, in an excited voice. " This is all a terrible mistake." At this question Mrs. Lovell was on the point of mentioning her name ; but a sudden recollection of the events of her escape, the mutual endearments, and all that sort of thing, effectually deterred her. "I — I — you — I — " she stam- r^ered, " that is, O dear ! I thought you were somebody else. I thought you were Mr. — Mr. — Mr. Grimes." " Mr. Grimes ! " At the mention of that name a flood of light poured into Carrol's soul. In a moment he understood it all. This lady was Mrs. Lovell. He saw the whole truth. Mrs. Lovell had been arrested also. He had stumbled upon her, and she had mistaken him for Mr. Grimes. About the naturalness of such a mistake he did not stop to think, for his thoughts were turned to his own affairs. If this was Mrs. Lov- ell, where was Maud ? She was still in prison ! In his wild excitement he took no further notice of Mrs. Lovell, but turned furiously upon his benefac- tor, the Frenchman. " This is the wrong lady," said he, and his words remained fixed in Mrs. Lovell's memory afterwards ; " where is the other one ? " " De Oder one ? " " Yes, the other lady." " De Oder lady 1 Dere is no oder lady." " There were two ladies arrested : I want the other. You must take me back, and rescue her, or I swear I won't pay you anything more. I swear I '11 give myself up again and inform about you." " Mon Uieu ! " cried the other, " I say dere is no oder. Dere vas only one lady took. Dis is de one. De oder lady faint. She stay in de house. No one touch her. You go to de house, and ask. She dere now, eef she haf not ron away." "What is this?" cried Mrs. Lovell, who at last begun herself to under- stand the state of the case. " You are Mr. Carrol, are you not ? " She spoke rather coldly. " I am," said Carrol stiffly. Mrs. Lovell turned to the French- man. " The other lady was not arrested, I think you said ? " " No, madame. I vas back to de house, she vas faint." " Fainted ? Poor darling Maudie ! " cried Mrs. Lovell, who now became ab- sorbed in that which had been so long the chief feeling of her heart, — her love for her sister, — " poor darling Maudie ! O Mr. Carrol ! " she contin- ued, " we must go there at once ; she may be there now alone, and in de- spair. O, come ! I must go there at once." She told the driver her address, and hurried back into the cab. Mrs. Lovell's belief in the French- man's information changed the current of Carrol's thoughts. He now saw that Maud had not been arrested, and that Mrs. Lovell was the one. He saw that the only course left was to hasten without delay to the lodgings ; and accordingly, after one or two more questions of the Frenchman, he reiter- ated Mrs. Lovell's directions and got back into the cab also. The door was once more closed, and again the cab drove off. The very same people now occupied the interior of the cab who had occupied it a short time before, but between their former relations and their present ones \ I20 A Comedy of Terrors, ii there was an infinite difTerencc. In tliat short time a revelation had taken place which had completely revolution- ized their mutual attitudes and turned their thouf^hts into a totally diflerent channel. They sat now as far as pos- sible away from one another. They felt an unspeakable mutual repugnance and repulsion, and by the intensity of their longing after the absent they measured their abhorrence of the pres- ent. Not a word was spoken. It was a situation in which words were a mockery. Of the two, Mrs. Lovell's case was perhaps the worst. The thoughts of Carrol had reference to one alone, but her thoughts vibrated between two dif- ferent beings, the one Mr. Grimes, the other Alaud. About each she felt an equal anxiety. What had become of Mr. Grimes ? How did it happen that this man Carrol, — a man for whom she never had felt any particular respect, a man whose influence over Maud only excited her wonder, — how did it happen that a man like this should surpass the glorious Grimes in daring and in devotion ? How did it hap- pen that he should have penetrated to her dungeon, while glorious Grimes had stood aloof .-' It was a thing which she found inexplicable, and the more she thought of it the more unable she felt to account for it. In the midst of her anxieties she could not help feeling the bitterest mortification about the events of her escape. First of all, she detested this Carrol, nor could the thought that he had saved her disarm that resentment. Secondly, she felt a resentment against Grimes for the deep disappointment which he had caused her, and for the horrible mortification to which his de- linquency had exposed her. The only thing which at this moment saved poor Grimes from sinking forever into the unfathomable depths of contempt in her estimation was the idea that he also might have fallen a victim to the ven- geance of Du Potiron. Carrol drew himself back as far as possible into one corner of the cab, shrinking from even the slightest con- tact with his companion, and Mrs. Lov- ell did the same witii an aversion which was, if possible, more intense and per- sistent. And yet these two but a short time before had been clinging to one another with feelings of illimitable ten- derness ! The cab drove on as it had driven before, and at length reached its destina- tion. Carrol flung open the door and sprang out. A gentlemanly instinct came to him in the midst of his excite- ment, and he turned after two or three steps, with the intention of assisting Mrs. Lovell out. The magnanimous thought occurred to him that, in spite of all her faults and offences, she was, after all, Maud's sister. But .Mrs. Lovell took no notice of him. To her Carrol was now a detestable being, — detestable, and that utterly. She quitted the cab unassisted, and hurried toward the house. Carrol hurried there also. The aspect of the house struck them as being strange and drear and suspi- cious. What was stranger and more suspicious was the fixct that the door was wide open. Mrs. Lovell entered first. The concicrjic was gone. The way was clear. It was dark inside, but Mrs. Lovell knew the way well enough to go in in the dark. Carrol followed her, guided by the sound of her footsteps, and keeping as close to her as possible. On reaching the door of her apart- ments, Mrs. Lovell found it wide open. All was still ; she faltered for a moment upon the threshold, as a terrible appre- hension came to her mind ; then overcoming this, she entered. She said not a word, but walked on. The door leading into the room be- yond was also wide open. It was the ordinary sitting-room, and beyond this was the bedroom. Mrs. Lovell walked on with a quaking heart till she reached the bedroom door. Then she stopped, quite overcome. Then she called, " Maudie ! " No answer ! "Maudie!" she cried again; "are you here ? " ^ T A Comedy of Terrors. 121 'are There was no answer. Mrs. Lovell could endure her sus pense no longer, she entered the room, and passed her hand over the bed. No one was there. Then slic lighted a lamp. The room was empty. Then taking the lamp in her liancl, she came back with white face and staring eyes to tlie outer apartment, where Carrol liad been waiting in a state of inex- pressible anxiety. "Where is Maud ? " he asked. " .She is not here," said Mrs. Lovell, in a low and tremulous voice ; " and I — I am — awfully afraid." " Let us search the house," said Carrol in a hoarse voice ; "she maybe somewhere about" With these words he took the lamp from Mrs. Lovell, ar d the two walked away, searching for Maud. To their consternation they found all the rooms open. Not a soul was to be seen any- where. No servants were to be found. All had gone. ^L^damo (luimarin had gone ; and as for ]\Iaud, there was not the slightest sign of her. XXVI. AXXIOU.S INQUIRIES. The discovery that the house was absolutely deserted, and left thus with all the doors open and no occu- pants, f '.d both Mrs. Lovell and Car- rol with equal terror. They went all through the house as though they still conceived it possible that Maud might lie concealed in some remote apartment. Faint indeed was their hope as they thus pursued their ex- amination, but still such an exam- ination was not so bad as utter and open despair ; and so they continued it, even after all hope of finding her here had left them. During this search there was not the slightest thoughts of their own safety in the mind of either of them. So engrossed were they in their anxiety about Maud, that the idea of personal security was utterly forgotten, and they kept up their busi- ness of exploring the house just as though neither of them had ever been arrested. 13ut Mrs. Lovell, while she thought about Maud, had thoughts also of a similar nature about Grimes. With her fresh remembrance of Du I'oliron's threats, and also of Du I'otiron's suffering-s, she could not help wondering whether he had not fallen a victim to that vengeance. Against him Dii Potiron had a double cause of anger ; for in the first place he was connected with her, and in the second place he had done an unpar- donable wrong in the personal assault that he had made. All these thoughts came to her as she searched wearily, fearfully, and hopelessly about the house ; till at length their weight op- pressed her. She could not endure them. The hopeless search grew irk- some, and finally she sat down in the hall, and gave herself up to the de- spairing thoughts that now took com- plete possession of her. As for Carrol, his state of mind was very similar. The resentment which he had felt against iMrs. Lovell for being the inno- cent cause of his disappointment had died aw.ay, and the one feeling left in his mind was that of inexpressible anx- iety about Maud. In this feeling the two found a common bond of union and a common ground of sympathy, so that they were once more drawn to- gether, in spite of the mutual aversion which recent events had created. As Mrs. Lovell thus sank despair- ingly into her seat, Carrol stood in equal despair by her side, and for a long time not a word was spoken by either of them. Of the two Carrol was the first to rouse himself. " Well," said he, " it seems to me that there is no need for us to remain here any longer. I think that we had better do something. Will you allow nie to take you to the Hotel du Lou- vre, while I continue the search else- where ? " " Elsewhere ? " said Mrs. Lovell. " What do you mean ? Where will you look ? Have you any idea of any place where information can be gained .'' " I' , i ■ '■J. 122 A Comedy of Terrors. " Well, I don't know," said Carrol. " I 've been thinking it over, and it seems to me that I ought to be making a general search, though I confess I hardly know where. My idea just now is to take you back to the Hotel du Louvre, and then start off and try and find something, — whatever I could, — and I would let you know the result in the morning." "It is of course, very natural," said Mrs. Lovell, calmly, " that you should wish to get rid of me, but I assure you that you shall do nothing of the kind : for, in the first place, I mean to con- tinue the search ; in the second place, I shall keep this cab in my employ; and, in the third place, I shall insist on your accompanying me. For we have the same object in view, and so it seems to me that we had better pursue it together. You can be of ser- vice to me, and therefore I ask you to go with me. If you refuse, I shall have to go alone. But knowing what I do of your relations to poor dear Maudie, I do not anticipate a refusal." Upon this Carrol assured her that his only thought had been for her com- fort, and that, if she felt inclined to continue the search for Maud, he would of course go with her. " Very well," said Mrs. Lovell, ■' and now I will tell you what I have been thinking of since I came to this house. It is — a — Mr. Grimes. You see he was to come here to meet us, to make our departure together. Now, you know, when the soldiers came, they came to arrest inc. M. Du Potiron threatened that and that only ; so they came and took vie. They took you also, and I think the reason of that was that you were mistaken for Mr. Grimes, who had, no doubt, been de- nounced along with me. I can account for your arrest in no other way. "Well, you know, poor dear Mau- die was not arrested ; for this man, M. Du Potiron, you know, threatened to have me arrested, and to take poor dear Maudie himself He may have been waiting outside for my arrest, and have taken away poor dear Mau- die at once. Or he may have del.iyed ; and this gives me the only hope I have. It is this. You see, Mr. Grimes was to have come here for us ; well, you know, we were arrested. Well, it was about the right time for Mr. Grimes to come ; and if poor dear Maudie was not taken away, Mr. Grimes must have found her and learned from her what happened, and then taken her away. So the only way to find Maudie is to search after Mr. Grimes." " Well," said Carrol, " there seems to be something in what you say. As to Grimes, I don't know exactly where to look for him, for he left our lodgings this morning for good, and he does n't seem to me the kind of man who would go quietly back there to sleep when he knew his friends were in danger." " No," said Mrs. Lovell, in a decided voice, "he certainly cannot be sleep- ing. He is awake somewhere and try- ing to help — to help — us." " Yes," said Carrol, " that 's a fact ; and so it seems useless to hunt him up at our lodgings. The question then remains, where can we find him, or where can we find out about him." Mrs. Lovell sat thinking now for some time. At last she spoke again. " Did Mr. Grimes say anytliing to you about what he intended to do to-day ?" " Well, yes, in a general way. He said positively that he was not com- ing back. He paid his bill and made some arrangements about his luggage, wliich was to be kept at the house till he should come for it at some future time, or send for it. Some of his valu- ables I know he had taken away the day before and left with M. Nadar, to' be deposited by him in the balloon — " " M. Nadar ? " "Yes. M. Nadar was to put this in the balloon in which Mr. Grimes was to go. It was something which was very light, yet very important to Mr. Grimes." At this a strange thought occurred to Mrs. Lovell, a strange and to her at that moment a very affecting thought, opening up to her mind once more a A Comedy of Terrors. 123 ?" red rat ;ht, |e a fresh insight into the devotion of Grimes, and disarming to a great ex- tent the hostile suspicions that liad begun to come to her. " Wliat is that?" she asked some- what anxiously; "something, did you say, that Mr. Grimes had intended to take with him in the balloon, — something, did you say, that was very light, and yet very important ? " " Yes," said Carrol, who knew per- fectly well what tliis was of whicli he spoke, yet did not like to mention either the thing itself or his knowledge ofittoMrs. Lovell. " Yes, something of importance to him, you know, that he wished to take with him, you know, but which was not of sufficient weight, you know, to make any difference in a balloon, you know." " O yes," said Mrs. Lovell, in an absent way. " Well," said Carrol, " as I was say- ing, he had taken this away the day before to M. Nadar, leaving directions that this should be placed in his bal- loon." " In his balloon ? " repeated Mrs. Lovell, absently, but with some emo- tion. " Yes," said Carrol ; " that is, you know, in the balloon that he intended to travel by, you know." " O yes," said Mrs. Lovell. " Well," said Carrol, " and so, you know,, he left this morning with the in- that the balloons You see he had not sufficient confidence in ^L Nadar, and therefore wanted to be on the spot himself" " And so you think he went there ? " said Mrs. Lovell, with some anxiety. " I have no doubt about it," said Carrol. " I know he went there, and I know, too, that he must have spent the whole day there ; for, you see, he felt that the whole responsibility of this balloon voyage rested upon him, and so, you see, he was, very naturally, quite anxious that everything should be safe, — that is, as safe as possible." "Yes," said Mrs. Lovell, "that is what he must have done." tention of seeing were made ready " Yes," chimed in Carrol, " he must have been at iSL Nadar's all the day, and has probably come here in the evening." " And in that case," said Mrs. Lov- ell, " he must have found Maudie. So you see it only proves what I said, that Mr. Grimes is the one whom we must first find. It seems to me that the best thing we can do is to drive to M. Nadar's and make inquiries." " Yes," said Carrol, " but I suppose we may as well drive to my lodgings first, for it is just possible that he may be there." To this Mrs. Lovell assented, and the two were soon seated in the cab again. On reaching his lodgings, Car- rol waked the concierge with some difficulty, and learned that Grimes had not been there at all ; so that now it only remained to drive to M. Nadar's. On reaching M. Nadar's, they found all dark and still, and only obtained admission with extreme trouble. M. Nadar appeared after some delay, and Carrol made known his business as briefly as possible. ^i. Nadar's information was full, complete, and final. First. Monsieur Grimes had not been there at all that day. Secondly. He had prepared the bal- loons according to promise, depositing M. Grimes's little package in his bal- loon, with other necessaries, and had the balloons ready in the Place St. Pierre at the appointed time. Thirdly. After a long delay M. Grimes at length reached the place with a lady who had fainted. M. Grimes was very anxious to resuscitate her before starting, and to wait for his friends. Fourthly. At length a cab appeared, which they supposed to be M. Grimes's friends. M. Nadar told him the lady would recover in the upper air, and asked him if he was ready. On receiv- ing a reply in the affirmative, M. Nadar had cast off the lines. Fifthly. But the cab did not con- tain the friends of M. Grimes ; and M. Nadar, after waiting for them a long kh 'i' il!'!! 124 A Comedy of Terrors, time, had packed up bis balloon and returned. M. Nadar's visitors made suitable acknowledgments for this information, and returned to the cab and drove back to the Hotel du Louvre. This information had been a crush- ing blow to both. Mrs. Lovell was speechless with indignation. It was bad enough that she should have suf- fered the humiliation of this disappoint- ment, that her trust had been mocked and her holiest and tenderest feelings outraged. Bad enough this was ; but to find that this had been done with such abominable accompaniments, and that Grimes, while vowing endless de- votion to her, had coolly, calmly, and quietly taken some other woman with him and fled with her, — this was, in- deed, an intolerable insult and wrong. Who was this fiiinting lad; about whom he had been so anxious, the one for whom he had given up good faith, and truth, and honor, and all that is most esteemed by high-minded men ? Who was she, and what motive could Grimes have possibly had in devoting himself to herself, if another held so much power over him ? To think of Grimes as a gay Lothario was absurd, yet from any other point of view his conduct was most inexplicable. While Mrs. Lovell thus suffered the pangs of wrath and jealousy, Carrol was more than ever disturbed about Maud. Her disappearance was a ter- rible blow. He did not know where to search for her, or what to do. At length his thoughts reverted to one fact in the narrative of M. Nadar, and that was the mention of the lady who had fainted. Grimes had taken a lady in this state into the balloon, and Car- rol now recollected what the guide had said of Maud. She too had fainted. Could the fainting lady of Grimes be Maud ? The more he thought of it, the more probable it seemed. He mentioned his suspicions to Mrs. Lovell. But Mrs. Lovell scouted the idea. "Maudie! Impossible! What would Mr. Grimes want of Maudie ? and in a fainting-fit too ! The idea is ab- surd. V\ liy, Mr. Grimes would wait till Maudie recovered, so as to find out what had happened. No," concluded Mrs. Lovell, bitterly, "it was some strange lady." " But Grimes didn't know any ladies in Paris at all, except you and — and Miss Ileathcote." Mrs. Lovell shook her head obsti- nately, but said nothing. At length the cab stopped, and Car- rol (jnce more questioned the guide about what he had seen in the house after the arrest. The guide's story was the same as before, wiiiiout any alteration. To Carrol there now seemed no doubt about it. Grimes must have gone to the house and found Maud there. He must have taken her, not only away from the house, but into f'C balloon. Into the balloon! and, if so, where were they now ? Into what peril had he borne her in his wild flight? What did he mean ? It seemed a thing so terrible, so hazardous, so frantic, and so unintelligible, that Car- rol was bewildered. He dismissed the cabman and took Mrs. Lovell to the hotel. But for nei- ther of them was there any sleep. Mrs. Lovell in her drear solitude wailed for her lost sister, and thought with speechless indignation of the baseness of the man in whom she had trusted. He had deceived her, he had broken his faith and stained his honor. He now deserved only her limitless con- tempt. XXVII. IN SPACE. As the word was given, the balloon shot up into the air, and ascended to a great height. For this was one necessity at this time and in this place, that in effecting an escape from Paris the balloon should shoot up to as great a height as possible, so as to be out of the reach of Prussian bullets. By day, of course, this would be very difficult ; but by night, even amid moonlight, it A Comedy of Terrors. 125 did not require any very extraordinary elevation to render a balloon indistinct or even invisible, and the height of a mile was considered sufficient. Grimes was looking over the side of the balloon when lie had seen the cab coniinjj, and had calleil out in answer to Nadar. The first thing that lie was conscious of after this was the aston- ishing movement of the firm-set earth from beneath him. The crowd in the place below fell away from him, leaving him poised in space. In spite of the efforts that he had made to familiarize himself with the practical details of aerostation, there was an inevitable novelty connected with his present po- sition, which fairly made his brain whirl, and his stout frame tingle through every fibre. His sensations were like those which Phaeton may have had when he had traversed the first few furlongs of his aerial way, or like those which some adventurous yet inexperienced driver of a four-in-hand may have when he finds that his team is bounding away from beneath his control. So Grimes folded his arms, knit his brows, set his teeth, drew a long breath, and then looked up. Overhead was a network of rigging, the strands that held the car to that buoyant mass that raised it in the air, while beyond this was a great globe, black and shadowy, whose capacious diniensions seemed enlarged to tremendous proportions, shutting out the whole sky. It shut out that infinite expanse into which it was plunging, and the sparkle of the stars ; and though its shadow was not projected into the car, yet the black- ness of the great overhanging orb clothed it in gloom and darkness. He now looked into the car, and turned his attention to those duties that immediately demanded his care. Inside this car there were bags of bal- last, and two bales containing news- papers, the common burden of every balloon that left the besieged city. There was also a lacquered tin box with the name of Grimes painted on it, — a box of no particular weight, but which showed, from the care with which Grimes handled it, that it cer- tainly possessed in his estimation a very particular value. All this time the lady had not moved. Grimes had placed her in a sitting pos- ture at the bottom of the car, with her back against the scat, and had hastily flung over her head one of the shawls which M. Nadar had put in the balloon. The moon was shining, but it was low down in the sky, so that the inside of the car was in shadow, and the lady was but faintly visible. The shawl also that had been thrown over her concealed her face and outline. Grimes, in turning to consider his duties, thought first of all of her, and, stooping over her, he felt her hands and her pulse. She was still senseless, and Grimes now began to be so anxious about her that the recent feeling of awe that had come over him as he first bounded into space gave way to a ten- der and all-engrossing care for the safety and recovery of the loved one. With loving hands he drew back the shawl a little from her face. That face was concealed by the shadow of the side of the car, and by the deeper shadow of the overhanging shawl, so that the loved features were not very distinctly revealed. Grimes held his cheek close to her lips, but no breath- ing, however faint, was perceptible. He began to feel a stronger and deep- er care, and to regret that he had left Paris without first having her restored to sense. He sighed heavily, and then kissed with infinite tenderness tlie un- conscious being who was so dear to him. Then with gentle hands he drew the shawl once more over the face, so as to protect her from the night air, ana began to rub and chafe the hands. At this work he continued for what seemed to him a long time, quite for- getful of everything but the work upon which he was engaged, and as careless about the balloon as though there was an aeronaut with him attending to the navigation of the aerial craft. But his work seemed unavailing, and no re- sponse of any kind was made, nor did any favorable signs appear. At length 126 A Comedy of Terrors. tlic thoughts of riHrnes were turned to his voyage. To him it now seemed as if it ougiit to be almost time to descend. How long lie had been at this em[)Ioy- mcnt he did not know, but it seemed long, and he must already be outside the beleaguering lines. He rose up and looked out. To his surprise he was just passing over the suburbs of Paris. The vast extent of the city lay in the distance. To his far greater surprise the land be- neath him, with its houses and trees and fields, was sweeping past at a rate of speed which seemed tremendous. He seemed to be very high above the earth, and he could only account for the rate of speed at which he was going on the ground that some strong wind had arisen since he left the city. To his disappointment he saw that as yet he could not descend. For be- neath him he saw the lines of the forti- fications of the city, and beyond these the forts. On which side of the city he was, whether north, south, east, or west, he had not the faintest idea ; and he was certainly not sufficiently familiar with the environs to form any correct opinion, even had he been closer to the ground. At that height there was a certain indistinctness in the outlines which would have puzzled even a na- tive of the city. As Grimes gazed upon the scene, he soon saw that though he might not de- scend just now, yet his descent could not possibly be delayed for very long. The tremendous rate at which the earth was driving past him would soon sweep away from under him all these lines of battle, the forts, the fortifica- tions, and the armies of besieger and besieged. And even as he gazed he saw that this was the case. For there beneath him, faster and ever faster, the earth fled away ; the lines of the be- sieged disappeared, other lines came into view, and arrays of flashing lights and blazing fires. Suddenly a loud re- port like a gun-shot sounded almost immediately beneath him, and the sharp quick crack had in it something of awful menace. What if he were be- ing aimed at .' What if another shot should be fired, and a bullet pierce the black orb above him ? The danger was altogether too terrific to be slighted. Higlier and higher still he must go. IJcncath was the hostile country, reach- ing for an unknown distance, and in passing over this he would be liable incessantly to the shots of the enemy. He might be on the thronged track of the Prussian Army ; he might be driv- ing east toward Germany. For the present he must go higher and higher. And now all thoughts of a speedy de- scent left him. His only thought was to escape from this immediate danger, and remain up as high and as long as possible. Acting upon this idea he grasped two bags of ballast, and threw them out one after another. He then looked down. He saw a perceptible change. Individual objects beneath him grew far fainter and far more hazy, and soon it was difficult to distinguish anything at all. It seemed to him that on throw- ing out that ballast he had shot upward an immeasurable distance, and he was filled with astonishment at the exqui- site delicacy of sensibility to weight which his balloon had thus manifested. He also was conscious of a slight pride, for this had been the first attempt of which he had been guilty at any- thing like management of the balloon, and the success which had attended his efforts caused a glow of calm self- satisfaction to pervade his being. The moon was now so low on the horizon that it was beginning to sink behind the hills. From that horizon it shone fiery red, and clouds, or at least haze, seemed to accumulate there. Its red rays penetrated the sky, and threw themselves upon the rigging, and upon the great orb above, making it seem like some satellite as it thus gleamed with its borrowed robe of lurid red. But the lurid glow did not long endure. The moon sank farther and farther, until at last 't went out of sight. Now the i.arkness was deeper, and there came to Grimes a sense of deso- lation. The departure of the moon T A Comedy of Terrors. 127 seemed like the loss of a friend. He looiicd up, and tiicn around, anil tlicii shook his head. He felt now tiiat it was intensely cold, anil thouglit that lie had gone too high. liut he was afraid to descend for some time yet, and so he concluded to endure the cold as long as he could. Yet the intensity of tlie cold roused once more his anxi- ety for his senseless companion, and he stooped down with the intention of throwing over her some additional wraps. It was now so dark inside the car that nothing could be seen, but as Grimes stooped he heard a low moan and a slight movement. At this a thrill of joy passed through him. She had revived at last. She was herself at last ; and the sudden and sharp cold had, no doubt, restored her to con- sciousness. He listened again. The figure moved. She raised herself, and the shawl fell back from her face. But in the deep shadow of the car the linea- ments of her face were not at all dis- cernible, and Grimes saw nothing but a certain whiteness in the place where the pale face was upturned. And as he looked he felt a thrill of infinite pity and tenderness for the loved one, who now seemed so utterly dependent upon him. And this pity was all the deeper, and this tenderness the more pure and more profound, from the fact of their unparalleled position. Because of the silence of the night, and the majesty of the overhanging heavens, and the sub- lime solitude of the skies, and the far- reaching infinitude that bordered upon them, — for these and other reasons she seemed joined to him by the unity of a lofty fate, and by the imminence of a possible danger, which, if it did come, could be nothing less than a calamity of tremendous and unspeakable hor- ror. Grimes, therefore, was profoundly moved. He knelt down close beside her. She looked up, and said nothing for some time. " Where am I ? " she asked at last in a voice of terror. " With me," said Grimes in a low voice ; and as he said this he twined hi:i arms about her, and, drawing her gently tow.ird him, placed her head soothingly and tenderly upon his breast, and laid his hand upon it as a mother lays her hand upon the head of a feverish child. Thus it was then that Maud had at length struggled up out of senseless- ness and back to consciousness. Sense had come but slowly, and when she first moved she felt bewildered ; she lay for some time motionless, trying to collect her thoughts and recall the past. The shawl that was over her head shut out all the scene, and as the car seemed motionless to one within it, she had no other idea than that she was lying in- side some house. Then at length her memory brought back the events that had preceded her swoon, and a shudder passed through her as she thought of them all. She pushed back the shawl, sat up, and looked around. It was quite dark, but not dark enough to pre- vent her from seeing the outline of the balloon. At first she thought that she was on the deck of a ship, for there was the rigging, and the orb of the balloon looked not unlike some distended sail. But as she looked longer other thoughts came, and the scene above iier resolved itself slowly into what it really was. Then it was that she recollected the project of her flight with Carrol, and wondering how it had happened, and still full of anguish about him, she asked her mournful question. And the answer came, in a low voice of love, soft and tender in its intonation, " With me." And then came around her the tender clasp of arms encircling her, and the gentle touch of a loving hand upon her head, as though that touch would reassure her and drive away every fear. " With me " : these words were like magic, they chased away every fear, and her whole being thrilled with joy. She forgot where she was, she thought nothing of the sight that had just disclosed itself above her, she thought only of those murmured words, and of the fond encircling clasp, and of I, 128 A Comedy of Terrors. that lieart of true and deathless con- stancy against whicli lier heail leaned, whose throbbings she could hear. And he was safe, after all ! He had been arrested, but he had escaped. He had sought her once more, and had carried her otT in this hurried llight. Small ditference did it now make to her how she was flying, or whither she was flying, so long as she was with him, — now while she felt him uphold- ing her and clinging to her with such foi.lness, such tenderness. Small need was there for word". The tide of joy that rushed through her heart took away from her the power of speech. But she had no occasion to speak. Her thoughts were too deep for words. This was joy and happiness enough to counterbalance the sorrow of the past, and he who had caused her poor heart such grief now threw all that grief into forgetfulness by the glory of the pres- ent joy. And Grimes thought : After this I 'm willing to die. Life has nothing more to offer. I 've seen its ups and downs ; have been at the deepest depths, and now am at the highest flight of human bliss. I 've saved her, — I 've saved her ! I 've got noth- ing more now to hope for in life that can begin to come up to this in the way of pure, unmitigated, and super- human glory ! And Maud thought : How sweet, how sweet it is ! Is it not worth while to know sorrow, if only to be able to experience the joy that may be felt when that sorrow is removed ? I won- der if there is any danger. Dange; ? I neither know nor care. I am willing to meet danger, or even death, so long as I know that he is with me. I could die at this moment, if only his arms should be around me. Grimes was not altogether neglectful of practical things, in spite of his super- human rapture. Jkit these practical thoughts were simply variations upon the one theme. They were anxious desires to secure the comfort of his companion. He busied himself with arranging the wraps about her so as to keep her, as far as possible, from the cold night air. To all these acts .Maud made no remark. To her they only af- forded fresh proofs of the love of Car- rol, and consequently each endearing act only aflbrded her a fresh delight. In the midst of her-great happiness, however, there came one thought that gave her a passing care. It was the thought of Mrs. Lovell. What h.ad be- come of her? Was she safe? This thought created a sudden agitation. She removed the shawl from her face, and asked, in a low and agitated voice, "Oh! — my sister! — is she — is she safe ? " Grimes bent low over her and mur- mured, " Yes, darling, safe." And drawing her closer to him he kissed fervently and tremulously the one whom he so fondly loved, press- ing his lips to hers again and again. ]\Iaud murmured some unintelligible words, and with a final kiss, long drawn, rapturous, and never to be for- gotten, Grimes drew once more the shawl over her foce, and with a sigh of ecstasy restored that dear head to its former place. The time that had elapsed had not been regarded by either. It seemed short, but it may have been hours. Grimes wondered about this, and tried to form an estimate ; he could not. He now cast his eyes upward, and the sight that met them startled him. The sight that met his eyes was the sight of utter nothingness. It was dark, but not intense darkness. It seemed rather to be an impenetrable and intensely gloomy mist. For a short distance up the outlines of the rigging were slightly perceptible, and then they faded out. He sat motionless and wondering; and now, as he sat and stared up, it seemed to grow darker and dimmer every moment, the shad- ows growing deeper, the obscurity more profound, the gloom more terrible. At last nothing at all could be seen, not the outlines of the rigging, not even the hand before his face ; no visible thing remained ; nothing was left but the blackness of darkness. A Cofnaiy of Terrors. 129 What was this darkness ? What was tlie meaning of this sudden, this terrific change which had come over tlie face of the sky so swiftly, snatching from view all that could yet remain to con- nect them with the lower earth ? From what arose this gloom so intense, this inky blackness that made all vision impossible ? Such were the thouglus that came to Grimes, but these ques- tions he was unable to answer. At first there was a vague idea in his mind that he bad ascended so high that he had reached a place where all light failed and darkness was eternal ; but this passed, and others came equal- ly wild and equally unsatisfactory. Of all this Maud was perfectly ignorant, for the wraps that covered her head shut out all this scene. But as for Grimes, his surprise deepened into an.\iety, and his anxiety became gradu- ally more and more iniolerable, until at length he had to make up his mind to tear himself away from the sweet com- munion which he was maintaining. But he wished to do so in a way that would not create any alarm in the mind of his companion. How to do this was very difficult, but it had to be done. So he murmured a few words, speak- ing in a low voice, for the darkness and the deep drear silence produced an overpowering awe and hushed his voice to solemn tones. He therefore said something about " ropes " and ',' the balloon, ' and then gent'- untwining his fond encircling grasp he tenderly laid Maud so as to let her lean against the seat in her old position, after which he rose to his feet, and, standing there, looked forth into space. XXVIII. THE SECRET PI,.\CE OF THUN- DER. Out of the mutual endearments of softest tenderness, out of the ecstatic interchange of love and longing, out of the silent, voiceless rapture consequent upon that transition which had taken place from profoundest despair to lofti- 9 est hope and most perfect happiness, — out of all this a rude and resistless [)ow- cr had drawn forth the started and now horror-stricken Grimes. He rose ; he stood at the side of the car ; and his hands clutched the side, as his head thrust itself forth, and his eyes sou;;lit to penetrate what was before him. But that which was before his eyes was a mockery to the eye, and the sense of vision struggled in vain to seize upon something that might yield an image, however vague, an i.nprcssion, however faint. So stood Grimes and looked forth into space. But his eyes encountered a wide waste, a drear nothingness, an impenetrable gloom, a darkness utter and inconceivable. It was the abomi- nation of desolation. It was the abysm of the uncreate, the chaos of formless matter ; a void direful, abhorrent, tre- mendous ; a void \/here the darkness shut out all the light of hope, and where the shadow of death seemed to rest upon all beyond. Now, had there been the fury of the storm mingling with that gloom, or had the wrath of the tempest been manifest, then there would have been something to mitigate the effect of that unparalleled outlook ; for then there would have been something which could appeal to some sense, and in the beat- ing of the blast, however pitiless, or in the howling of the teinpest, however wrathful, there would have been some indication of the presence of nature and of nature's law. But here no movement arose amid the deep dark- ness, no wind swept through the void, no hurricane ga' > forth its voice. All was emptiness, motionless, still. It was as though he had reached the vast realms- where chaos only rules, and where nature is unknown. Yet in the midst of this terrific still- ness the awe-struck gazer into space became at length conscious of sounds, and it was with something like relief that he detected that which showed that, though sight was useless, there still remained an occupation for other senses. It was a sound, distant, low. iHiil !i;;HI I30 A Comedy of Terrors. and almost undistinguishable at first, — a murmur, so faint that he fancied, more than once, that it might be the vibrations of the nerve within him- self, rather than the actual waves of sound from without. But the persis- tency of the sound and its gradual increase showed at last that it was ex- ternal ; and as he listened it grew with startling rapidity, until at last it as- sumed the character of a steady sus- tained sound, a low, distant droning sound, of so peculiar a nature that it was quite impossible to attribute it to anything with which he was acquainted. This then was the only thing that in- dicated the existence of any external world, and to this he directed all his attention. Poised in mid-air, away from the solid earth, severed from all familiar ties, the force of the wind that swept along was not perceived. All was stillness and quiet around, but the stillness and the quiet arose from nothing like the calm of nature. Nature, on the contrary, was at that time exerting her might, and all the air was in commotion ; but the bal- loon was almost like the air itself, and was driven before the blast with a speed equal to that of the blast. So it was borne upon the wings of the wind, yet for that very reason there was no wind perceptible to him who sought to penetrate the gloom that surrounded him. Wind and tempest are only pos- sible when they beat upon an obstacle ; the balloon, however, was no obstacle, but drove along equal with the wind, with the tempest, and with the clouds. And now the sound, the low, dron- ing sound, drew nearer and nearer, and grew deeper and louder. At length it grew sufficiently definite in its tone to assume a resemblance to things that were familiar, and to Grimes, as he listened, it seemed as though some mighty wave was sweeping toward him, — some wave like the first of those vast surges that may be seen and heard as they sweep up the empty bed of the tidal rivers of America ; it seemed thus like a rushing, rolling tide, sweeping toward him with tremendous and re- sistless violence. It seemed also like the thunderous sound of some vast cat- aract, like the distant roar of Niagara, which to one approaching is at first a low drone, then a louder sound, until at last the full thunder of the waterfall is apparent to the ear. So to Grimes there came this ever-increasing sound, which grew and deepened and broad- ened, until at last it seemed as though beneath him and all around him there arose the sound of many waters. He had no reason now to mourn over the absence of nature and of nature's works ; for these sounds were at length unmistakable, and showed that it was no empty void, no chaos, that he was traversing, but the earth itself, his home, with its alterna- tions of land and sea. And now he began to understand what was really the nature of that sound. Yes, it was the sea, and nothing else. He had been swept off the land and out to the sea. Time had fled rapidly indeed, while he had been sitting there, lost to all thoughts of the external world in the flood of tenderness and love ; and thus he had allowed himself to be borne to where escape was perhaps impossi- ble. By th ; short time that had elapsed since first lie had heard the sound, he was able to estimate the speed of his flight, and to see that, instead of being poised motionless in some deep calm, he was in reality in the grasp of a ter- rible hurricane, that was driving him onward with tremendous swiftness in the path of its own progress ; though where that path might lead his eyes failed to discern, as they struggled vainly to penetrate through the night, and the darkness, and the enveloping clouds. The sea ! That was now the one thought that he possessed, the one thought that en- grossed all others. The sea ! what sea ? There were several seas around France. Over which of these was he now driving ? South was the Mediter- ranean. Was it indeed possible that time enough had elapsed to allow of i ^^ W" A Comedy of Terrors, 131 eyes gled iglit, oping ound as he diter- that Dw of his being carried over the vast distance that separates Paris from the southern border of F" ranee ? He could not be- lieve this. Had he been driving north then, and was this the Britisii Channel ? It might be so. Had he finally been driven west, and was this the Atlantic Ocean ? That, indeed, was a thought of horror> yet the thing was only too possible. It seemed to him now that he must be over either the British Channel or else the ocean itself. Of these alternatives the latter meant utter ruin and despair ; but the former left some room for hope and even consola- tion. To be hovering now over the At- lantic, to be sweeping helplessly away over its boundless expanse, driving off to the endless west over an endless sea, all this had such terrific meaning that it could not be entertained by the mind. He rather clung to hope. He chose rather to think that it was the narrower sea, and to hope that beyond the roar- ing of these waters and the rush of these waves there lay a land like that which he had left behind, where it might be possible to find an escape at last. Yet even if land should arise beyond the waters, could he now hope for escape ? How could he descend in this storm? In what way could he hope to reach the solid earth, and not be dashed to pieces ? To this he was unable to furnish any answer, and from the darkness and from the roaring sea there came no reply. Meanwhile Maud had been reclining at the bottom of the car in the position in which Grimes had left her, leaning in as easy a position as possible against the side, and waiting to see what was to be done. The shawl which he had wrapped around her still .covered her face, protecting her from the cold and from the damp. To her the balloon seemed motionless. To her the bal- loon did not avail to distract her thoughts from other subjects which now occupied her mind. For she was thinking of Carrol, of the misunder- standing that had arisen between them, of the dark alienation that had arisen, of the separation and astonishing meet- ing on board the steamer, of his appar- ent aversion, of their lives apart, of their chance meeting and their final explanation and understanding. Above all she thought of this last incident in their mutual history, so w erful, so unaccountable. She had seen him ar- rested ; she had fallen to the floor, in her despair, senseless. She had been long unconscious, but had finally awaked to find herself with him, alone with him, out of the world, in the realms of the upper air. She recalled every incident of that awakening. She thought how he had been roused by her movement and had come to her. She recalled his words of" tenderness, his acts of devo- tion, his deep and all-absorbing love. His arms had been round her; she had reclined upon him ; she had listened to his murmured words of love ; she had felt his kisses upon her lips. What happiness, what bliss had been hers ! What an ending was this to the sorrow that she had known ! Such tender rec- ollections as these were indeed over- powering, and it seemed to her that such happiness must be a dream. And now, as she no longer felt his encircling arms, she began to feel a sense of loneliness. Where was he.'' Where had he gone ? Why was he so silent ? What was he doing ? He had gone to arrange something connected with the balloon. What was his task ? He made no sound. What had be- come of him ? The deep silence be- came oppressive, and at length she became conscious of a low deep moan that seemed to sound from beneath her. To this she listened for some time, until at length she could endure it no longer, and began to feel uneasy at the silence. She felt deserted, and a wild fear of danger arose. She started up and groped around with her hands. The car was not large, and in the darkness her hands touched Gri:-nes, who was unable to repress a start and an exclamation of surprise. Rut the touch of her hand at once aroused him from tlie gloomy thoughts in which he had been indul- l. 132 A Comedy of Terrors. ging, and reawakened those tenderer emotions which for a short time had been forgotten. He drew her close to him, and, encirchng her fondly with one arm, with the other hand he proceed- ed very anxiously and carefully to ar- range the shawl about her head. He said nothing, however, for the solemn sense of peril was still uppermost in his mind, and he felt that if he spoke he would inevitably speak of this. But he wished to spare his dear love as far as possible all pain, all knowledge of danger ; and he hoped yet that the dan- ger might be passed, and that she might reach the land so pleasantly that no thought of the terrors of the journey should ever come to her mind. And so it was that Grimes held his tongue, and contented himself with acts of ten- der carefulness. And now Maud, as she stood there, looked forth and saw that darkness and that gloom which had so impressed the stout heart of Grimes. It did not affect her so strongly, for she felt around her the arms of the man whom she loved ; and in his encircling clasp there was a sweet sense of protection and of security. And so it was that her emotions at the scene before her were rather those of wonder and per- plexity than actual terror. But, the longer she looked, the more did the idea of utter and intense darkness op- press her ; and her sense of security grew gradually weaker, and there came over her the sense of awe. Beneath her she again heard, and this time far more impressively than before, the droning cadence of the waves ; the sound of many waters, which, penetrat- ing thus through the gloom to her ears, carried a certain dismal warning that awakened strange fears within her soul. She clung closer to Grimes. Her heart throbbed painfully, and at last even his protecting arms could not altogether repel the assault of the ad- vancing terror. " O, I 'm afraid ! " she moaned. " I 'm so afraid ! " Grimes said nothing. He pressed her closer to his heart. His hand wandered over her shawl, as thougli by thus ministering to her comfort lie might secure her safety. His silence increased her fears. She shuddered. The darkness was around her, impene- trable, mysterious, dreadful ; and tlie chill environment of the storm-clouds, and the dismal drone of distant sens, and the frailness of this aerial bark that thus held them suspended as they drifted through the air, all combined to weaken her confidence and to increase her terror. " O, I 'm afraid ! " she murmured once again. " What will become of us ?" And with a shudder she clung more closely to Grimes. Now Grimes himself had been so overawed by the solemn presence of night and storm and darkness and the shadow of death, and he had ex- perienced such direful emotions at the thought of that angry ocean that lay roaring beneath ready to ingulf them, that he had no words of consolation to offer, and nothing to say that might disarm the fears of another. He did not wish her to share his anxiety ; but since she had gazed with her own eyes upon the terrors of the scene, he had nothing to offer by which those terrors could be disarmed. He could only follow the natural impulse of his heart, and clasp her closer to him, and say to her in low and loving tones, " O my darling ! don't be afraid, /'m with you." And at the sound of these low words of love Maud felt her fears lessen per- .ceptibly ; and as " perfect love casteth out fear," so now she rested on that love, and her fears faded away. " Sit down again, darling," mur- mured Grimes ; " I have to watcli." " Yes," sighed Maud, " I forgot. I '11 try to be patient." And with these words she sat down in her former po- sition at the bottom of the car. Grimes stooped over her, and arranged the wraps about her so as to secure her as far as possible from the cold of these upper regions, and from the chill of the clouds that enveloped them. But even as he bent over her, intent upon this r A Comedy of Terrors. 133 loving care, there came to his ears the dull roar of the waves below, and the sound served to remind him of the ter- rible position in which they were. Once more Grimes arose to confront the peril of his situation, and to plan in his own mind some way of escape. Escape ? How was it possible ? Shall I descend ? thought he. Descend ? But why should he descend ? What was it that lay beneath him ? Was it the ocean or the channel .' This was the question, and how could he find any answer to that question .' Was it the ocean or the channel ? If the one, he was lost, and all his bright hopes shat- tered, and the blessed future torn for- ever away from his grasp ; if the other, there was a chance, faint indeed, but still a chance of escape. Was it the ocean or the channel? Terrible ques- tion ! Unanswerable problem ! Shall I pull the valve-string and de- scend ? Descend? Where? Why? De- scend ? Why descend ? To what place ? For what purpose ? Descend ? Why, in any case a descent now could only mean a fall into the sea, and that sea just now, just here, even if it shoula happen to be the channel, could only serve one purpose, and that would be to ingulf them. To descend now, by night, in this darkness, in the midst of this wind that was driving them along with such speed, would be sim- ple madness. It would be to tempt fate. It would be to court immediately a doom that by waiting longer might be averted, or at least delayed. De- scend ? No, the thought could not be entertained. What then ? Should he ascend ? This was a different thin'raltosrether. It was a bolder question. A question, indeed, so bold that he might well pause before he decided upon adopting such a course. To descend was death ; but to ascend, what was that? Was it death or safety ? Such were the thoughts that agitated the soul of Grimes. And all the while there came up from below the voice of the sea, the deep drone of the rolling billows, the noise of many waters, coming up thus to his ears through the gloom, and never ceasing to remind him of the peril of the hour, and of the fate that lay in wait for him — and for her. Had the balloon kept the same alti- tude, or had it been gradually descend- ing ? This thought came to him. He put his head over the side of the car and listened. There came to his ears the same drone of the waves, but whether he had descended lower or not he could not tell. For a long time now, as it seemed, though how long he could not tell, that sound had come forth from below ; but though any exact es- timate of his distance from the earth was impossible, yet the sound seemed near enough to suggest the propriety of putting a greater distance between him and it ; and so as he arose once more to his former position, and asked him- self the question. Shall I ascend ? the noise of the waters below gave forth an answer that had an unmistak- able meaning. That meaning which he understood was. Ascend ! Avoid us ! Keep away, as far as possible, from our pitiless wrath ! y\.nd now as he finally asked himself the question. Shall I ascend ? he an- swered. Yes, I must ascend. I will throw out more ballast. I will put a wider interval between me and the sea that menaces us so pitilessly. Meanwhile Maud sai at the bottom of the car, listening and thinking, listening to the roar of the waves, thinking of Carrol. It seemed strange indeed to her, that, after their prolonged sorrow, they should be joined again, stranger still that they should be joined under such circumstances, but most strange and at the same time most sad, that, being thus joined, they should still be exposed to that merciless fate which, like a Nemesis, seemed ever to pursue them. For ever amid her meditations there came the sound of the waves of the sea, and that sound now signified to her mind nothing less m 134 A Comedy of Terrors. than renewed disaster, and perhaps complete destruction. It seemed as though tiie fate that had thus far pur- sued them was not yet wearied out, but was still following them with un- changed hostility and sleepless per- tinacity. The cold of the upper air and the chill of the enveloping clouds atVect- ed her, and she felt them through the shawls which were gathered about her ; yet the chill grasp of the hand of Night was robbed of half its power by the hot and feverish influence of the thoughts that passed through her mind. Where were they going? What were they doing ? Carrol had madly carried her off in the balloon ; but did he un- derstand the balloon, and did he know what was to be done in the dire emer- gency in which they now found them- selves ? Did he even understand the management of a balloon under or- dinary circumstances ? Understand ! How could he ? Had he ever been in a balloon before ? To manage a bal- loon required experience ; and what experience had Carrol ever been able to gain ? And what was he doing now .' or what was he thinking of as he stood up there aloof from her, striving to see into the darkness ? She began to un- derstand that he was puzzled and be- wildered, and that he was trying to think of some way of effecting their escape. The thought filled her heart with despair, and as she considered his inexperience and ignorance the last hope of escape died out. Shall I ascend or not ? Such was the thought of Grimes. And now with inconceivable ab- ruptness, bursting into the midst of the night, dashing all the dark aside and transforming in one moment all that impenetrable blackness to one universal glow of fiery red, there came a sudden flash, coming from no one direction, but flaming everywhere for a moment, and then dying out utterly. And then, before Grimes could collect his thoughts that had been scattered and dissipated by the shock of that lurid flash, there followed a long, deep thunder-peal, that rolled and rumbled all around them, and went volleying on through all the heavens in long rever- berations. Grimes stood motionless until tlic last peal of the long- reverberating thunder had died away in the distance. Then, at length, he knew what he was to do. In that long, deep, wratiiful thunder-volley he had heard the an- swer to his question. From that an- swer there was no appeal. It sent forth to his ears a voice, menacing, gloomy, terrific, and even the stout heart of Grimes shrank back from the terrors of its presence. From this his one thought was now to fly ; and he stooped down hastily and snatched at several of the ballast-bags, and hurled them out one after another. Maud had not seen the red flash, for her head was infolded by the shawl ; but she had heard the terrible thunder- peal. As its first low, rising sound came to her- ears, she thought it was the surf beating upon some rocky shore upon which they were driving. Every nerve thrilled with horror ; and she drew herself up with that instinctive movement by vvliich one tries to pre- pare himself for some inevitable col- lision. But the collision did not come ; and the sound deepened into grander volume till the thunder-peal made it- self manifest to her. Yet this discov- ery lessened her horror not one whit. As well, she thought, might they be driving against the pitiless cliffs of an iron-bound shore, as to be up here in this place of terror, among the wither- ing lightning-flashes, in the secret place of thunder. She was aware of Grimes's exertions, though she did not know what he was doing, and she felt the car oscillate beneath his movements. She removed the shawl and looked up with a shudder of terrible apprehen- sion, with the fear of one who expected to see Death itself. She said not a word. She looked, with all her being in her eyes. And as she looked the gloomy folds of night and cloud and darkness that so long had environed them lessened A Comedy of Terrors. 135 perceptibly. There cnnie before lier sight the dim outline of her compan- ion, and the ropes of the rigging and the network, and the dark figure of the overhanging orb. All these grew less shadowy and more substantial every moment, until at length something like the actual forms of tangible things could be seen, though as yet the gloom of night kept them indistinct. But beyond this her eyes saw a place where the gloom of night came not ; for, looking over the edge of the car, her gaze wandered far away into distant space, and there from that remote infinity there shone full before her a clear, tranquil star. In its calm, cold ray her excited, feverish spirit seemed to sink to rest and quiet ; and the light of the star showed her that the horror of great darkness had passed. XXIX. OVER THE CLOUDS AND OVER THE SEA. Thus by throwing out that ballast the balloon had been elevated beyond the region of the storm into one of calm, or at least to one where the clouds did not follow. Grimes once more felt a momentary thrill of self- complacency at this second proof of his power to navigate the machine, but the anxieties of his position were too great to allow such a feeling to last. He was still as ignorant as ever of his whereabouts, and merely knew this, that the sea was beneath him, and between him and that sea a thunder- storm was raging. For now there came up from be- neath sights and sounds that sliowed him the full terrors of that place which he had left. Flashes of vivid, blinding lightning were flung out from time to time, throwing a ghastly glare over all. To Maud those flashes were terrible, and with renewed fear she once more covered up her head and so shut out the sight. Following close upon the lightning came the thunder, peal after peal, in long volleys which rolled around them and beneath them and far away in endless reverberations. Grimes looked over the side of the car upon the scene beneath. There lay a vast abyss, without form, and void, of intense blackness ; out from the midst of this abyss he saw the sudden flash of the lightning, now in long forked lines which seemed to pierce the whole misshapen mass with destructive fury, again in one sudden uplifting of universal light. After this followed the deafening thunder. To Grimes it seemed as though this scene of destruction was taking place on the earth itself, as though the world were going to ruin, and that the time had come for the consummation of all things ; and though he on the wings of his balloon rode sublime in the crystal- line sky, yet he would gladly have exchanged his exaltation for any place, however lowly, upon the solid earth beneath. Now the deepest anxiety filled his heart. Where was he, and whither was he going ? Was he still driving through space at a headlong speed ? Was he continuing now on the same course as before ? By the lightning- flashes he could see the rolling clouds ; but, as far as he could judge, his course was the same as theirs. It was there- fore probable that he was in the same current of wind with them, and was going in the same direction. But where ? Terrific question ! Where ? How could he answer it ? East, west, north, or south, to whatever point he might be driving, whether toward the pole, or the equator, to America or Asia, it was not possible for him' to know ; and how long would this continue ? It could not continue forever, for he knew that there were limits to the du- ration of a balloon's flight. Every mo- ment some portion of the gas escaped ; it grew less and less buoyant ; and at last a time would come when, after the last fragment of ballast had been thrown out, the balloon could rise no more, but begin its steady and un- 136 A Comedy of Terrors. interrupted descent to the earth or to the sea. In vain the eyes of Grimes wandered around over every part of the si recatory shriek. " I 've got you now at last," mur- mured old Grimes, in a dislocated sort of way, doddering, in fact maundering, and all that sort of thing, — "I 've got you now, and I ain"t goin' to let you go. I don't know how 'a thunder you got here, and I don't want to. I only know it 's you, and that 's enough. Don't explain, I beg ; let me only have the rapture of knowin' that this is really my darling and no other — " "O dear! I'm sure I don't '' nv what in the world I am ever to ..j," sighed Mrs. Lovell. * * # * * On the return of Carrol and Maud to the inn, the latter had at once gone to find her sister. On seeing no signs of her she had become terribly alarmed ; and Carrol was utterly bewildered. Tlicy had questioned evcryhndy, and at last found out that the gentleman who had engaged the carriage had returned with it, and had gone off with some lady. Several of the people of the inn had seen the lady enter the carriage, and the gentleman go in after her. Af- ter this they had driven away. 152 A Comedy of Terrors. At first both Carrol and Maud were utterly stupefied ; but at length, as the facts of the case suggested themselves, their stupefaction faded away, and there came in its place a calm, rational, and intelligent apprehension of the event, a sweet and exquisite apprecia- tion of the situation. Whether it had been a blunder or a distinct under- standing between the two, they could not tell. They preferred, however, to think that Grimes in the dusk had taken Mrs. Lovell for Maud, and that Mrs. Lovell had in the same way taken Grimes for Carrol. The idea of this possible blunder afforded delicious en oyment to bothj and they both lost themselves in conjectures as to the mode in which these two might finally discover the truth. On the following day a carriage came from Heathcote Hall, and Maud and Carrol drove there. On their arrival they found Mrs. Lovell and Grimes, who had reached the place of their des- tination in safety. Maud's papa was there to welcome her, and to welcome them all in fact ; for he turned out to be a fine, warm-hearted, and truly hos- pitable old boy, who doted on his daughters, and had been quite wild with anxiety about them when they were in Paris. Grimes and Carrol were received by him with all the hon- ors and all the welcomes that he could offer them as the saviors and deliverers of his daughters from a cruel and terri- ble fate. Frail human nature might exult in pausing here for the sake of gloating over the raptures of these lovers on their final reunion after such tremen- dous adventures ; but duty forbids ; and I, as a conscientious novelist, must hasten to a close. I beg to remark then, that, as a mat- ter of course, these lovers were all united in holy matrimony at the earliest possible time. The event took place on the 27th of November, 1870, as may be seen by referring to any old number of the local paper. It was a deeply interesting occasion. The happy pairs then scattered. Two or three days after the event Mrs. Lovell wrote a rapturous letter to Maud. " Dear Seth," she wrote, " is all that ray fondest fancy wished, and far more. Do you know, Maudie darling, he has not yet spoken one cruel wordKo me, — not one." Maud's reply to this consisted of glittering generalities. THE END. Cambridge : Electrotyped and Printed by Welcli, Bigelow, & Co. ^\^"i