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Lor*que le document e*i trop grand pour aire raproduit en un aeul clicha. il eat filma a partir da Tangle aupOrieur gauche, do gauche i droita. at da haul an baa. an pranant la nombre d'imagea nteaaaaira. La* diagrammea auivant* illu*tranl la mOthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TIST CHAUT (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) ^ /APPLIED IIVMGE In ^. 1653 Eost Main Street g^S Rochester, New York U609 USA as '^'6) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^= f7i6) 288 - 5989 -Fan ^-tv V r -2-'/ \jj^~^Y*~^ THE ALIEN ^ STORY OF MIDDLE AGE i ■♦I NMtonal Ubriry ofCwndt BttillplMqu.nMonM duCamdi ■'. . . HROTHER, WhBRE TWO HGHT THE STRONGEST WINS. ANI) TRUTH AND LOVE ARE STRENGTH." AYLMER'S F/EUU THE ALIEN A STORY OF MIDDLE AGE F. F. MONTR 6S0R AUTHok ov "INTO THE „,0,mAVS AND MEUOES • " AT T«. C.0S5 ROADs' ETC. ETC. TORONTO GEORGE N. MORANG & CO. LIMITED 1901 *iMx4 M27 tic. I PRINTED IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND ^ B2QB23 PREFACE T T .s always cheering to put a quotation that one hkes at the beginning of a book. So, at least one makes sure that one good sentence lives between the two covers. It is hard enough to some of us, however much we inay believe in the ultimate triumph of goodness, to see ttrone ""'"'' '"'^'^'^' '* °^''" '''^' ^'°"' ^ P^'"^"^ Are truth and love strength? Yes, verify. But are they always the strongest ? Do they indeed prove stronger than confusion and hate ? In the poem from which my quotation is taken the curtain falls on desolation and tragedy. So it falls over and over again in life. That mysterious veil behind which mankind has tried so hard to peep drops on apparent confusion. The good lie stricken, the unjust flourish like green bay-trees, and the preacher's attempted consolation which points to a probable balancing beyond that' baflling curtain, fails to altogether satisfy us, who would fain see justice now. Tiii PREFACE In telling a story one can set forth that which eludes, while the dust of a struggle blinds the eyes Perhaps that is partly why the telling of stories is so entrancing and refreshing an occupation " We see each other under strange guises, we masquerade in ugly clothes, yet the soul of everyone Is good, as the Maker made it; and because in very truth we are one. he who stands nearer to the con- sciousness of the eternal goodness is bound, by a bond which cannot be broken, to suffer for those who are farther off. There are plenty of loyal and honest souls in the world who do not philosophise about ^ themselves or about other people, but who nevertheless win the game somewhat painfully, and with little sense of victory. There are others who. more consciously, take part in the fight. Yet the hands that help are most apt to bear on their palms the marks of nails and the victory of a spiritual Saviour is not of a kind that can be handled or touched. F. F. M. THE alien: A STORY OF MIDDLE AGE CHAPTER I "For weeks the clouds had raked the hills And vexed the vales with raining, And all the woods were wet with mist And all the brooks complaining." Whittier. I CALL this " a story of Middle Age " because Esther Mordaunt was well into the thirties when she became involved in it ; yet, in truth, every event has a long pedigree, and God alone knows when or where any story really began ; as to when or where it shall end, why, there lies the question which sets us all a-wondering. Before ever Esther was born, the Fates had begun to weave that pattern that took such strange developments, such unlooked-for curls and twists in her middle age, and sometimes (especially when it rained) she fancied that the place she lived in was still more or less haunted by the ghosts of events that had happened long ago. ^ Applehurst was certainly a rather melancholy house, with an air of austerity about it. Yet it was not ( 2 THE ALIEN romantic in appearance; nor had it the beauty of extreme old age. It had no grace of architecture, but only a certain amount of grim character, which re. deemed it from the commonplace. It was very strongly built. It would stand square and solid in Its uncompromising Geotfeian ugliness when Esther's warm and tender heart would be cold. It had harboured passions and tragedies that Esther had not dreamed of in her philosophy. Applehurst stood within its own park. Beyond the park stretched the downs, and a chalky-white road lay like a white riband across the short sheep-cropped grass and led to a still primitive village. Applehurst had always belonged to the Iredales. Mrs. Mordaunt the present owner, had inherited it from her father, old squire Iredale (not, alas, of blessed memory), who had entailed It on her for life, remainder, on her death, to her eldest surviving child on attaining twenty-one, and, in default of children, to Curtis Iredale (who was the son of a distant cousin) absolutely. The surrounding country was typically English— not strikingly picturesque, but very good to live in. The hills were low and rather bare, but down in the valley the orchards prospered and m spring the village and the lanes were garianded in blossom. The oaks in the park were very fine, they looked upon the house as an upstart. They were in their glory long before the Georges set foot in England When they were in full leaf the house was quite shut in, but in the winter, when their branches were bare you could see the road from the front windows. Autumn was dreary at Applehurst. The house faced north-east, and it was bitterly cold. The especial autumn of the year in which this story opens had been THE ALIEN 3 blew down the old-fashlTlw T ' -^'^ "'"'^ and, whether from the chiinnflT? r f "^ ^usts. philosophy, she shivered ^ ^'' °^ '^^'"P °^ ^f The room was so lone that m«~ c to warm it, and thedavLf T ^'"^ ^^^ '^V^'^^^^ high spirit; were ^u^e^t^fi r'""^*^'y°"*ful Esther was not anTabitua? ^ , ''^^' ''' g'""""- she was sometime?Sut "^iTZ^r^ '"' exuberant vitality of h^, -.u , "^* *''^ more She smiled w£e he wo^'f?°°' 'l' "''" '^°-"- though, on the other ha^dshe""'' '''"' '^"S'^'^' when she woula once h/v^ '''^'r"'""^" '^ughed twenty years this house had T^n hf H^ ""*'• ^°' seen her meny and imnetulc u ''°'"^- " ^^^d who fought ^stiirw^rj;' '°* p 7^'-^'^ E^'"^". bore no mahce. "^t had seen h." ^"^'^' ''"'>'«* Esther who secretly believed h. I ""^^ «""serable. an She had learnt sin^e that heart/. '° ^ '^^^'^-b-ken. they ,nly crack, and are auil "° ^'"^'^' ^^ ^ ^"'« • It had seen her pretty soft Lf' T""'''^'^ "^ ''^f°^«- silver, and her gafety subside r„ """^ "^^''^^ ^'* of humour, while heL^.. ° ^ '"°'' saving sense understanding loZZl 1^:^^'"^ °.' ''""''- warmth of sympathy *'""S ^nd mellow -ore";^Me'' ^^" ^'°"^ "^-^ "^^ -en, and much Twenty-two years before the date .f u- u 4 THE ALIEN made no promise of adoption.— the extent of her offer was that she should send sixteen-year-old Esther to a good school for a twelvemonth, and that she should do her best to chaperon the two elder girls, Rose and Lily, during a season in London. "Rose and Lily!" Mrs. Mordaunt said with a comical grimace. " Good Lord I it was like their fool of a mother to give the poor children such names • what would she have done if they had turned out sturdy gipsies?". But as it happened, the twins were remarkably pretty girls, and the end of the season saw them triumphantly married. They were horridly afraid of their chaperon. They shrank from her sharp speeches, they clung together in a way which mac^ the pretty likeness between them almost pathetic, but they were never awkward, and they were as fresh and as sweet as their namesakes. Mrs. Mordaunt took pains to preserve their fresh- ness : no one guessed how vigilantly she looked after them, but she drew a very long breath of relief when she had got them off her hands. " They were charming, but the charm wouldn't have outlived another season," said she. After that, she turned her attention to Esther and invited her to Applehurst, in order that she might be sure what the child was like, before risking another journey to town. From this it may well be seen that " Cousin Rebecca's " kindness was thoroughly seasoned with shrewdness. She was certainly no sentimentalist, nor was she likely to waste her benefactions. Esther, fresh from school, half-shy, half-mutinous, walked into the long drawing-room and met Mrs. THE ALIEN 5 Mordaunt's sharply penetrating glance. Mrs. Mor- " Ah ! You are not nearly so pretty as your sisters my dear." said the old lady and J fhJi! ' wonder that Esther's spirit r^se ""^ "° " No indeed, I'm not. I'm ugly, and I don't want a season m London, and I don't wish to be mar ieT so SrsoTn '' '"^ "^^ '" ^'"^'"S -« about," sS 'she Her soft blue-grey eyes brightened, and a bright pink S "T. '"'° ^'^ "^''^^ ^1^"^ ^he spoke. The o"d lady nodded, with a twinkle of fun "My dear, you should never waste a fib," said she the°c"ont°rarr/"'"' """"'^ "^'>' ''>' ->' ---•• °n the con rary, I can very well see that you've quite a good opm.on of yourself; and mind I don't blameyou r or tJie rest, I don t suppose you'll marry before you're asked to; and there's time at least for ^ou to take off your hat and cloak, and drink some "^ea, before "e need consider the point." Esther, in after years, laughed whenever she re membered that first encounter, but at the time she" gulped down furious indignation with eve^. mou^h ^1 She was aware that she had made a fool orhersdf and that this horrid old benefactress was not the ft "St dffi"rr""'= ''''' ^tateof mind which most difficult for extreme youth to forgive, ihe choked over her bread and butter and fled upstairs, finding refuge at last in fJ,» k- ■. bedroom wh;.u v. ■ '"^ ^^S, countrified Dedroom which her sisters, more fortunate than she 6 THE ALIEN 72Xt ? '°^^*^'"'- ^^^ ^""^^"^ °f indebtedn«s (which had never troubled the gentle twins) was heavy on her soul She wept hot, passionate tears of revok CouiT w "'''1*""=^"^'' '""^ "'^"^'' ^hat she hate! Cousin Rebecca, who was the one person in all the world who had held out a finger to ^d these pennll^^ .n■t"^^.'^' u 'P"^ °^ *''^* unpropitious beginning, in W J »K ,^ ^ °"'y °"^ °f '''^ *•>'« who really loved the old woman, who was never afraid of, though sometimes irritated by her, and who wakened at St some answering affection. In spite of the protest, she had her times of gaiety -a short merry time which ended in mourning. met it°"T "'^ r°""'^ '^^ '^°'''' ^^°'^ they've ^^l '17 r'" ^^^^""^ "^'''- "^''^ even go a step farther, Esther, and allow that to have had a bowing acquaintance w th the Flesh and the Devil may add "o the ultimate safety of man or woman. If you've been shut into a garden between high walls during the best part of your youth, you won't recognise the Old Oentleman when he wriggles through a gap. and he may startle and upset you ve^. much one fine day v«. VT'^T^ ^°' '°"^^"'^' ^'^^ J^e^'d: dear me,' yes! and the fact of the windows being so tightly bolted and the doors locked, makes if the S diflScult to get him out." Cousin Rebecca had never discoursed in that style to the twins but she recognised that Esther, like the youngest prmce in the fai^^ stories, was the possessor of the largest share of the family brains. She was heartily sorry (being, in spite of cynicism, not unkindly THE ALIEN 7 disposed) when she also discovered that Esther had more than her share of " heart." The girl became engaged to a charming and excellent, but quite impecunious, naval lieutenant. She paid no heed whatever to her old cousin's remonstrances. She was as wilful as if she had ten thousand a year of her own The lieutenant was ordered to Egypt, and Esther and Mrs. Mordaunt returned to Applehurst— tsther m the highest spirits, and full of a cheerful defiance that laughed at worldly wisdom. The lieu- tenant was killed in action while defending the guns of the Naval Brigade, and. so far as Esther was con- cerned, darkness fell over the face of the earth Three months after Esther's sun went out. she in- terrupted Cousin Rebecca, who was totting up weekly accounts at the writing-table. "Cousin Becky." said she, in rather a hard voice, youve had me for a long visit. I've been stayirg with you for seven months. My sisters married at Jie end of one season. I can't do that now. I thank you very much for all you've done, and your great kindness to me, but Ive been thinking— and I've come to the conclusion that I ought to be working for a place m the world now, since the place I meant to fill is gone. "Cousin Becky" put down her pen and looked at the little cousin who had given her the most trouble of the three, and her heart softened to her. "So far as I'm concerned. I'd be only too glad to keep you for the rest of my life, Essie," said she, "but I m a gouty, cranky old thing, and I can't promise you much. Ive given the best part of what love I was dowered with to the two I've cared for. I'm too old 8 THE ALIEN now to conceive violent affections for new oeoole though I'm more interested in von tt,»n i ^^ J to give It. You must understand, though that I%hall be a poor substitute for the genui;e aS It is no n me my dear t, love another person's child, a" The qu ck l^r. ^^^'^°PP^'^ ^'"'rt, with rather an odd, Sur S mounted'''''' " ^''"^^ ^'^ ^'^^ *»>« "Oh, I can understand that," the poor child cried I can understand that a mother loves her children b^ause they are his;" and then she hid her s arie" face on the old woman's shoulder. "Oh, I ^o wan to see h.m once more! Oh. I do wish he h,H T me his wifp first tu .1 ^ "^° ""^de I'd ^""'^ r"^"'^'' " P'^**y **«*« °f things. I wish iaefuir """ '° ''°"'°'''" ^^''^ ^°-" ««"•<' whSye"Xtier:.i;;ir ^ *"'\^''^ '•^•^ isn't wrecked fnr ^"'^' y°"' happiness "Go out into ^. !' seventeen," she muttered. the fresh arand ..'""f'"'' *='^"^- ^° ^^ — "'t i"c iresn air and the trees, and then Ipf ,v,« r what you mean to do. I don't iLtrse^.^^ernr 'ng for you, and that's a fact- but I'm w r?l ^z r °' 'r' p— eX fo" : ; ;f„t cousm, and, .f you make up your mind to live with me rSr td "^ " ''Z '""^ -^ '^ere,i:'taTe best of ,t— and prec.ou. dull that will be for you ! THE ALIEN 9 No don't answer now. I don't believe in resolutions made .n a hot room full of sentiment. Go out. go out and take a long walk, and think well over ail my dis- agreeable qualities, and remember that I shall not think any the worse of you if you rr'^use my offer " the Frencf ^'V"' ■^'"' ^' ■''' ""'' '^^ "">« i'^ »' frir ! "^u?'' """'*'" ^^''^ '^''- " ^ ^on't run away from my trouble. I'll stay here and bury it You see, Cousm Becky, you are rather fond Z nie. Z here ,s no one else who wants me at all ; and pe haps m j,me you'll get fonder still, and 1-1 am fond of Cousin Becky rubbed her nose again "I don't know that you are wise." said she- "the .tern .„ hfe seldom are. However. I'll own I'm very Souf mVeeT" '"'.' '"" ""''' '" °"-'°-l tiff Without ill-feelHig, and we can speak our minds honestly to each other. I almost%ancy I sZld enough/'"' ^°" "'^"' governessing. Yes. I'm glad ..Tf:u^^^ ''^''"'°" "^^ "^^^^ t^^nty years ago and Esther was too loyal to regret it; yet there wi s"he td at^'t^' '% °'i '^""^ -^ ^'ght, and tS She had at times found life "precious dull." Mrs Mordaunt went no more to London, and became more r "'Hrt " '"''^''^ parsimonious, as she grew ZTL "",'^"P t°"g"e frightened away the few neighbours who might have been friendly, and Esther^ sociable qualities had no scope iistners vis J fZ n T'' J" '}^ ^'"'' '"°"°*°"y ^^ ^" annual visit from Curtis Iredale, who was now heir to the estate 10 THE ALIEN He begrudged her to his old Cousin Rebecca. Th?,,,^^' a trifle dense at S;! ^ ^°'''' °' "'"'''''' -«-«. all" iJlSe' ■ Sertad" 'T T "°''''"^ ^"' ^<^ not = 1-f , ^'^ *^"'='' indijnantly. She was not a hteral person; and was apt To be truer fo Tif spirit than to the letter cf a fact ^^ The Major shook his head; he was on the wrong THE ALIEN II StW 'though' ^T ""''''"''• "'» «ff«=tlo„ for r.siner, though persistent, was not of a hlin^..,„ zr:i^"'jr'''''"'' "^ ^^--v letter;; should ^^"'l.rr"; ""d h« -fleeted that he hJ'ZT'" •'""^ ^""^ ^y ''"" he had proposed to Ind thaf !he i!!"'^.^"" '^' ^'^^ '"^ked older, that he IV ^""'"S *°"' *"d tired. He saw Not ILTh ^^^'^""^ ^y "■ '«> 'ovc for Mrs. Mordaunt one of?K '^ "°* *™'' ^"'her, but because he wal to re^a £TharaSot;° ^'"'" " " ^^"-"'-^^ ^P^-^^^ feSXnf SirsoTafe^^^ *^--^' ^ ^ m^'^T;::'Ti:^-\t :'"^'' n^-^"* °''"^- increased ' '''''' '""^ ^'^ depression one of her own class, except an irritable old 'Zan longed for sunshine and change.' irdttll'erritt' 12 THE ALIEN like another, and she was sick of the dailv tmnH qk erumbles cikT ^ *° ^" accompaniment of aTm'Sof fe .pi;;; Cu "Jtr°"i.^"'^ ^^^^ ^- to hold " blue deviV' at bL wf '^ T"""^ occasionally they had talked i^ : ^^rJ^Z'^Z^lTT' A^d; ;ou7;oth't?''- °''!,"'^^ >'°- °"^ --■"• a widerTXoont £„: S T ^"^''^^ '°' enough You've n^f ^ 5 ' ^""''^ "°' ''^ed woman Ihan you .„ „» ™ " *^°" ' *""• ""«>»" ^^^..d'tnrh.j'L'rott "•'"' "- '"' '-^ THE ALIEN 13 her leathern arm-chair, did Esther venture near witi fooitstool and cushions, and then the old woman snapped "I wish you wouldn't pursue me with pillows, like a lady-companion I And, good gracious, child I what poss. sses you to read drab-coloured sermons ? I never taught you to ! " " No, indeed I Your conscience may be clear there " laughed Esther. •• But I'm not indulging in sermons, and my book can't help its complexion. It's as the maker made it, and its want of beauty doesn't affect its soul. Shall we go on with our novel before dinner ? " Mrs. Mordaunt grunted with a sudden spasm of pam. *^ "Can't you see I'm not in the humour for novels? The damp has got into my poor old bones. They ache hke the Devil. Yes, yes, that's just what they do : they are making taemselves as unpleasant as the remembrance of old sins, my dear." Esther put her hand tenderly on the old woman's ishe was never in the least afraid of Cousin Becky's temper. ' "Why, you should remember your old virtues" said she. " And I could remind you of some " They were silent after that. Esther bent again over her book, but Mrs. Mordaunt stared into the coals not dreamily, as old people do, who see their past lives softened by the mists of time, but fiercely and eagerly. ' Dinner was a very quick affair. Mrs. Mordaunt was too preoccupied to eat, and Esther's appetite failed for lack of company. They returned to the badly-ht drawing-room, where at last her companion's 14 THE ALIEN uX^i^^y.^''"''' ^°"-'-— - -c" she looked and so dark that I T ghosTs fnTthe "''""'' ^°''^' iretcha,ogor.ooda„^dsorr.tar^^^- ^^^^ ^s^4a^^X;r^.-rt--- y JNo, n>y, Its perhaps a fatted ealf t»„* preparing for. Well well i T ' y°" ^'^ pr.l.y d=p,„.,4 Life ■ °°" "P •'* l>" •No, I hadn't . hand f,« ,„ ,h„, „,„, ,,,. ^^ »:v:aLrs^'"-'"'"^*^^»^?» »h. had »p«..dTSct.*ra;^;rd2:j THE ALIEN 15 what strange mood possessed her cousin. At last she said, with a little start and shiver "Why, I believe it is not a storm, but it is some- thing gomg to happen that makes us restless. Have you heard any strange news to-day ? " "Yes. I've heard that my dearly beloved heir and next-of-kin has put off coming to look after the state of the shoe, he hopes shortly to step into," cY ckled the old lady; and Esther felt unreasonably disappomted. ' "Is that all? I can't think why you receive the Major, smce you dislike him so much," said she Mrs. Mordaunt chuckled again. " He is the Death's Head at the feast, my dear ! I think about my coffin when I see dear Curtis's calculating eye noting how the paper .s peeling in the dining-room, and how many holes there are in the drawing-room curtains. It is good for us old people to realise the approach of the mevitable; moreover, my heir has had a .aiutary effect on me. He has prevented my giving way to. extra- vagance. I m not going to save his purse. He may pay for new curtains himself, and the old ones .hall ast my time: that's what I've said to myself many a time after his annual visitation. Oh, I should have done a great deal for the old place, if it hadn't been for P^..f'"r ?"*/'■ ''"* ^ ^°"'* P^*<=h ^h°«« f°^ his feet, Esther ! I don't like the shape of 'em." Esther sighed, and her spirits sank lower. Thoueh she occasionally craved for a change to break the monotony of the days, she was very far from desiring —indeed, she nervously dreaded— the one change thai seemed possible. Her thoughts turned to speculations on the life beyond the grave, but the older woman's 16 THE ALIEN sleeplessness of oldage" "^^ ''"^P'"" «"■«> the "No, thank you I'vp ,»«♦ nnoir'^"-''-"-'"-:^" ''-''' -y good woman, had found so'e it Tl "{ ''''^ cousin, whom, she secretlv^i^ V .""'^ ^°' ^^'^ old ^tood. Just ;ow it Sd i^r ■ '""^ "'°"^ ""der- some shadowy present stno^K ^"'"^'^ing strange, course the Wea ^L "idSl I"""" *^^"'' ^^'° sensitiveness which 1! the h ' . °''" °^ ^'^^^ °^«r- "How indep^'nt^: tt^ °wtl! 'ir^^^^^'^- ?5ng-ii-'--- cood:s.;^.XsS; acrosTSetS muttTrLrrH'' ^''^ ^^ '^"^''"•"^ eager,, and d^ply^ToThSr tlin^ ' "' ^'"■"'^'■"' CHAPTER II P STHER went to bed, but lay wakeful. All night ghoste. The old wood of the stairs and of the Ion? comdor creaked. Footsteps seemed constantly pai^ mg up and down. Esther knew well enough that the North-wester was responsible for these phantoms but she never quite liked them. Her mind wasTen^ibJe but her nerves were too tightly strung. When the grey mornmg began to dawn, she was glad, anj she got up to sit by the window and watch^he ^me awaL;rk°"' "^^ ''''' ^"^ *° •'•^*- ^° ^^ «tir of When she was younger she had been in the habit of gomgout at cock-crow, and running across the llw„ and mto the field beyond, ostensibly to pick mush- rooms, but in reality because she loved to taste the she"t m",^ "Z 'r'""^ ''' *^^ -^'y morning Now she told herself that thirty-seven was too old for such pranks, and that they were apt to lead to tw nges of a sunset, but to enjoy a sunrise one must have the courage of high spirits. If a woman has chSd^n in whom her life has renewed itself, she can affoS to spend her middle age in the same place which saw hir g.rlhood; but if she has not. she fs apt to bi uncom 18 THE ALIEN »=.>p.p- Which hJ, i„w ifcl '";?' "" " P«1W. but which had mad. th. "»>•_, "b"' o=»s. b« fc« „d a,. co,:.t ^£j.tfTL'°'%:t' ;-^w^.f'LrStrpar^;h-- .nd I„„i„g tah c,b„.r„ yjf f,;^ »™ "-"', for'iXrvS^traTr ir''° "" -"»• "« --• time for readmg and pondering. Unusual, THE ALIEN j, for while we all profess to think for ourselves in th!c rather bustling age. comparatively few amoTg us g.' "e ot souls room to stretch in. We entertain so diverse and motley a company, that we can accord but scam aJd passmg attention to each individual idea. We have such an .mmense bowing acquaintance with manj theones, that we make but few tried friends among t^em Fortunate is the person whose books have b^ol. mtimate with him, that even should t£w bS^^« be burned (an mdignity unlikely to occur to the possessions of the true reader), their words can be recaE aTS Yet who so loves the spirit that is in a hn^i, i peacefully and comparaLly unfriit/ully ; wh/e '^ so loves the spirit that is made manifest nflesl Id blood, lays hold on the two great teachers, /oy ^ Esther did not guess that a milestone was rearh^H that her life was passing into another ph^e Yet lu that day a creeping uneasiness grew on her :>n^ \t week dragged on. it intensified it dated fr^r T evening of that long wet day on which Km^ had put off his accustomed visit. ^ ^^^ A mystety had crept into the house. But what posMble openmg could there be for anything mysterTot Esther ""^^' r '^^'^'^y existence of two wSe„ Esther would have said of two elderly women |he scoffed at her own fancies a« «,»,-„ i ™e"- ^"^ she h,^ rr r '^"cies, as, when she was a child she had scoffed at her own foolish fear of he mockery) that wolves' heads were jumDin^ at her / so THE ALIEN youth had been found and'^sSwed '' •=""" °' confidence in return for thT , "''^ ^"'^'^ ^"""e -appar^t^r™^^^^^^^^^ letter t'n,' theTaJof ^f °'='^""^' ^" '^^ ^''^^^ °^ ^ m rne Major, who announced that his ankle II THE ALIEN was mending, and that he hoped, if 21 convenient to deferred visit to Mrs. Mordaunt smiled nis Cousin Keoecca, to pay h Applehurst on Monday week. grimly. " He comes to visit Applehurst, not us, you observe." "You are always unfair to the Major," rejoined Esther. "You twist the meaning of his sentences awry, and impute motives to him." " Well, well— write to bid him come. But, if I am a little less than kind, my dear, be careful lest you err in the other direction, and live to repent it." "I am too old to repent," said Esther; and she went with alacrity to see about making ready the spare room. The furniture of Applehurst was ancient. It was also scanty. It belonged to a less luxurious age, when bedrooms were not furnished like sitting-rooms. Esther had contrived to make the guest-chamber (she always, in accordance with an old-fashioned usage, which is dying out, called it the "best" bedroom) cheerful, by filching on its behalf from left to right, from upstairs and downstairs. She had re-covered an easy -chair with her own hands. She had had a quaint grandfather's clock moved from what had once been tne nursery, and a carved oak chest had been purloined from the hall. The warm crimson rug which graced the best bedroom had been bought with her own money, and the writing-table in the bay window had originally been in her own room. She had hospitable instincts, and loved to prepare for the comfort of any guest. Great was her surprise and annoyance when, on opening the door of her especial -"ngdom, she saw it THE ALIEN bereft of half its elorie. -ru the writing-table.^ So was Tj! ™«^ "'"f ^°"''- So was aghast; then called th^hn.! '''^:''""''- ^he stood cried when the mistrSs cam^' ?' .^"''' ' ""''J 'ave you was out walking": ITrJ:!^'^'"' '" "^ -'"'st Miss Es^;:: ;:: 2 ^; ti;r°"^/ -^'^ ^''«== •-'^y. She bid n,e move the J and t^T- """"^ '°°"'^' to the room next hers that ,h' 'k'" ""'^ "'*' '^^le with last week. Oh ^ she s been so taken up there, and she's bought an '' """" P'^'"^^^ ^""6 room is what you've allavs 7 i"^ ^"'^ ''"^'"' ''"t thi! went to my h«rt ^ ^ th^e t^" '"'''''' '"' ^"'^ 't did seem a shame." *^ '^'"^''- Oh, Miss I it . Polly's fashion of beeinnino- u ejaculation, like a GrZlTl l T'^'"" ^'"^ ^n Esther, but at that ^iTfe^^t,''"'?'^ r^'^' cty than to laugh. ' ""^"^ inclined to for'aVVcl^ft^'J,''';:;'" she; >, j., , ^ But rteu the lyJ^Z^ !^°" ^^ »« «t." ">"* •ge seemed ,o beyond SebTn* "ff '^" J.,?"'^'-" »« The stranger tum»»i „ j ""' °*^ P««s'biJity. w.th somethfng for..-;; Snd «w1f 't^' 'P«« «"-" fi«*ead was broad anSlorw;^' '^"* *"'"'• "» There was a dead <:,-i»„ ' "'^ '^ '°""d." 'oud, unabashed fckW oU'", '^ '^e unnatural.v P>ece. Not one of the^ £ * en m "l "" ^^^^ -"-"tel- for a „j , j^ seen,:d*rEs °her ,?'" '°""'' ^°- had spoken. Was it because S?- T'^ '^ '^ ^od cons us, ),^, thever^lSTtbetL'r^^ ^T ,*' Or was it becauQ,. fi, j. *"^' '" the motherhood vibrated in her ! , '^'^'"" P'^^'°" °f the doubts that common "''' ' ^^«n aftenva ds -the bare rlcXTnTtSt ""^ ^^* *''"^"- '^' perhaps-but Esther was not a v '"f"*~-'"°^'«"y It was the stranger who Srst re "^ '°^''"' P^«°" broke the tension. "We hav. .T^"^'^ ^'""'^^^ and ve^ rnuch by su.prise," sa.Thf '^^" ""''' ^-'^-"t .iisther looked at Mr^ M T -stfu, dignity. whicMbelroT' "'' ' '^^'"'^'^ observation) he at once ap^at^d. ""^''"^ ^'^^ THE ALIEN 25 "Yes. I am surprised— naturally," she said, "but my cousm will explain everything to me presently." I will leave you together," he answered. He was quick to take a hint. Then another strange thing happened Cousin Becky, who had always been s^ fiercely mdeper.dent, held him fast, and Esther saw that her fingers tightened on his coat sleeve with a nervous clutch. The colour rose in her cheek. "No; I will eo" she said. ° ' The man laughed— a rather melancholy little laugh enough of me soon, mother." Then he walked through the French window on to the lawn, but paused a moment to look back at the two women. Of course, I know one has no business to emerge from a grave-you must try to forgive that," he sJd to Esther, and so crossed ih. lawn and went into the a,^^^\^'' ""^^ '" *''" ^'* °^ °P^"'"& the little iron gate, Esther remembered that she had seen him before of sight, then Mrs. Mordaunt caught at and recovered omed,.ng of her old self, albeit she was still oddly tremulous and shaken. "My dear," she said, "give me a cup of tea, and dnnk so„,e yourself, before we have any more scenes. Not that you made a to-do. It was entirely my fault " Esther poured out the tea, but left her own untat., r^'m ."^fr.*'^'^"'' deliberately, hobbled across the room, settled her cap before the glass, and then returned to her arm-chair. "Well, really, Esther, I wish you would say some- 26 THE ALIEN Esther smiled with lips that quivered ■• I ^„ •» know what to say. Cousin Becky "fsls if th. m had turned tonsv-turw rt'o , *"^ ^"'''^ never told n^eTn^, at^Vrr';'-;!- ^ouVe h s portrait hancr, ;„ ml vk ^ ' ^ ^"°^ t^a* Dil^."^"' ^°""'" ^""'^y- Why didn't you tell me? fond or y^:t:,:. ri^ 7.r„i;t;r„!'" wo«.. „ s;pt"Sor.Mv: 17 r Ive been fond of you. Will vo.. <:f=n!, t ^^' They'll all swear "against m/y^utot ^ttT' oS'Val S r" ''"* "P •''^ VgtTand^ a" -tl oath that hed know my boy better than the mother THE ALIEN 27 who bore him, and t^e lawyers will come round asking questions and ! -i have- '^ the grit I had once. My nerve isn t whs ,: i': was. In getting very old. What Ij" not "P t" ''^ a)! f mn you stand by me now?" tsthers arms clung more protectingly, but a great dread came over her. What was indeed the truth? Could .t be possible that this man had once been the model for the sandy-haired, weak-looking youth of the portrait, or could it be that he was an utter scoundrel intent on the cruellest of tricks ? ' "Of course I will stand by you, now and always," she rep led. "But tell me more_oh, I wish I had known from the beginning." " I'm too tired to be questioned," said Mrs. Mordaunt • and that m itself was an admission which filled Esther with tenderest remorse. "I didn't tell you because I hardly knew what to make of his letter. I didn't see how you could believe in it, my dear. Mind you as I said just now, though my heart told me the truth mv mmd wasn't satisfied— till I saw him." ' I' And directly you saw him, you were absolutely sure?" Ah! When I saw him," said Mrs. Mordaunt- and again Esther's doubts were awed into quiescence.' When I saw him ! My dear, do you think a mother ever doubts ? Remember, he was not a baby when he left me, but already almost a man. How could I be mistaken? He doubted! Silly, silly fellow! He thought -Perhaps she won't recognise me.' Do you know what happened ? I just stretched out my arms. Such old arms to be blessed again. He stood there m the doorway (where you were just now) and said nothing-but 1-1 would have run to him, Essie, but my knees shook so that I couldn't; I could only hold I I 28 THE ALIEN yt^ZZ^^Il '^^'^ '""' ^-P^ «" these long we shou d rine belU =„^ ' "°' to-day mourned enough^ Good Lor7''°''* '"'""' ^^'^^ I'll ten you n>Se-St1it Irsi: """"I ^"""^'^ ' be on my side-you'll swear to L ^S"'". *^t XO"'" " Yes vf.= \xru ,. °^ °" ""y side." *es, yes. Who shou d be if net t . u your own child," said Esther hnf T ' ^° ^^ '"'^ se,, .. Who iove'you as?^:;^^";:^!;^^"^'^ '^^^- W^ltTnStt w"s°if r ^d "'° - *'^-- into the old housed' £!»; ff .^^ ''"^' '^^'^ '^"n'^ knew that the Jd ^o '! f ^"1^ '^^'•''>' *^"' ^ut she uic oia womans hands wpm k„.. j . eyes over-bright, and tenderness InHi , ' ^"'^ ^''^ love-story of younr^,^ ' 1 honourable. Yet no touched Las^rLTdesSpSnSVe^^^ '• T^'^ coming. The eldprl„ ^i ,7"°" °^ the son's home- Who hL J: tt^, SS!? ""• *"" "■' "" — ■« had any need to cry," she said. ^' '^ ^ CHAPTER III But which Pretender is, and which is King, God bless us all ! is quite another thing." TXyTAJOR IREDALE walked across the park iVl which was one day to be his. He noted that the trees were terribly in need of thinning, and that the fences were out of repair. He had a bad opinion of Mrs. Mordaunt's land agent; but the old lady was obstinate, and he knew by much irritating experience that she would never listen to advice. It was a pity this knowledge did not prevent his offer- ing it. Major Iredale has been set before the reader in an unpleasing light, for he was a cause of irritation to Mrs. Mordaunt, both because he was heir to the estate and because he had an arbitrary will which clashed with her own. As for Esther, her judgment was apt to be biassed by her affection; yet, for all his un- popularity at Applehurst, he was by no means an heir to be ashamed of There is no doubt that he might have been the pride and joy of some old ladies. He was kind when he was given way to- chivalrous to weakness, honest as daylight. He had been remarkably handsome in his youth, and he was a fine-looking man still. His fifty years sat lightly 80 THE ALIEN ii "" '"* shoulders. His Hart » ■^' ever. Mrs. Mordaunt hL If^u 7" '^'"^ '^««" ^ eyes," but ifTwe^e tJfe tt^,'^ *'^='" "calculating to note blemishes: whSrlrcnLn: T '''"^ on the other hanH t),», . " '^"'^"■"s or characters, to look anyone n thT ft' "T T ^^''^'""''^ Major's features were flike hU > ''" '"'*• ''^^ well-cut. His mnnff, ^ u-^l °""" ' '"^^^l^ ^nd -ustache,"iri^^: p. fr'tt ^ '^^^^ ''-' mouth, expressive of self-res taint an H T * ^""'^ ness too, which had 7?:'^^'"''.^"^ of some sad- softened thTgeneral il. " ^'f ''' ""'&''' ^ave voice was harsi and 1 ?' °" °' ''""■''"^^^- "'^ Squire IredalL h^ , ^""^^ *°° dictatorial. Major as a bad exa ' le?:; ^''". '''''' "P *° ^^e the family, but MrTtrZnXZT "'^" '^^ StVir:S£ -^ ^ -- -nesH^^^^^^^^^ -Ta^Si;?^- — ™-s«;^.anda r;r alStVe"""^^--"- ^ ^ -^ott Vou are atne%it\t^C:;?3 Ld^Th? ^^°^- of his rousing Bob'^Hftch I^t ofTeT Sd S,^ ^'""^ him across Battle Down with a hnnH ehiveymg graceful story, you sav ? wl ''""*'"&-"°P ? A dis- took away X-Tust^^^ ..0^^™? I^'^.SL''"" on account of his having voted for^he P^h" ^^''"'T -.natio^C^r^beS:"t£'^SS^Sd:^ THE ALIEN 31 ^"^^■A ''"*\ !"^««''' ^^^^ were days on which he considered his cousin something worse than "Imagina- And yet, for all her gibes, and for all his deep disapproval of her and her ways, it was not only elf-interest that made him still pay his annual visk to Applehurst. The Major had been a prime favourite v..th old Mr. Mordaunt. In his youth he had spent much of his leave at Applehurst, had been flattered by the old man's consulting him about the management of the estate, and had grown tenaciously attached to the place and all belonging to it I^ one sense of the word he was "attached" even to his Cousin Rebecca. She might flout his opinions, she might be, and was, to his mind, the type of all ha a woman should not be, but he never forgot that he was her nearest male relative; he would have come to her aid in any emergency. He was a h,K> ^°"'f7^*'^^' '° whom the breaking of a long habjt^would seem almost like the relinquishing of The October day was exquisitely beautiful, as October in England can be. The trees flamed wnn/'?'?f°" ^"^ ^°''^' '^^ '^y ^^' blue with that wonderfully pure and dazzling blue that comes be- fore an-J after heavy rain. The smell of burning weeds was ,n the crisp air. The Major follow"! he grass path under the beeches, looking sharply to righ and left. The scene was full of^colour^as some illuminated missal. " It's certainly a nice little property_or would be if It were in better order," thought he Presently he descried Esther coming to meet him. 32 THE ALIEN Her grey dress glimmered among the orange-tinted leaves; he was pleased to see her. The n£ Se touch of grace and sentiment, if she were not there His face brightened, and he quickened his steps' her fSrl rf r'*" ^" -ident pleasure that mSe her feel rueful, almost guilty, though it was certainly not ner fault that she was the bearer of moTt dis^ maymg news. ^ *"* "IVe come to meet you, because I want to talk stan^ha^f '" ^'^ "''• ="* "^^ ^'<^ -* -^^ Wished to broach, and the revelation hung fire 1 am glad to see you. Cousin Esther," said he (Esther was not, in truth, related to him by any tie' thev ^''Jh ''"' """ '^'^ "'"^y^ «™Jy insisted '^that they should count each other as cousins). " It was a good thought, and we might take the path to eh? My hostess ,s probably not so very impatient for my company. By the bye, I was thinking whik I came along, that, if she would only consenTto be guided by someone who knows something about the management of land,"_and he proceeded to ex- plain the alterations which might advantageously be He TJ'fk '^ '°. """"^''^ ' ~"^«-'°" -«- to occur £ !"^"''.,^^"'1>'' gesticulating slightly, laying down taUs Jh" 5 '""■^- , ^''^''' ^^^'''"g noneVthe de- Ever^ . "^'^!'-'''''"^'^ *° '^™ ^''^ compunction. tvery step was bringing them nearer to the house and there, perhaps actually in the drawing-room wis' £tSSct°^^^ ^'' - stranger. but^lreadyTf THE ALIEN 33 I Of course I am aware that my cousin prides herself on her mdependence, and will listen to no suggestion of mine," went on the Major, winding up his remarks , in that piqued tone which his " Cousin Rebecca " mis- I chievously enjoyed rousing. ; "Perhaps no woman is really independent; there is j generally one person who can turn her worid upside \ down, said Esther. ) She wished to prepare the way for disclosure, to j give him a hint of what was in store for him But i the Major brushed aside her delicate warnings with an impatient sweep. I " I do not want to turn anyone's world upside down That, If you will pardon me, Esther, is an exagger- ated expression." ^ Esther laughed almost hysterically. « You ? I was not speaking of you, Curtis. No, you could not do that indeed. I was speaking of someone else. Someone whom' Cousin Becky loves. I have something to tell you " They had nearly reached the house now, were in- deed, in the field on the far side of the lawn. The Major stood still, turned round, and looked full at Esther. "Why, my dear Esther, you are quite nen^ous, he rejoined. " Why did you not say before that you had something to tell me? You need not try to spare my nerves, as if I were a delicate lady Come, we will sit on that log under the maple tree Now, what is it?" "Something has happened," replied Esther She came to a full stop, for that fact by itself was surprising to her. After months of monotony, after a life unnaturally quiet, a sharp turn in the road took ner breath away. 3 II i i IJfi 34 THE ALIEN i '1 i Curtis do you remember Cousin Becky's son ? " "Perfectly." replied the Major. He frowned as if or^SreT T Tr""- " P^rf-"y-for ! do'not wift r , u '^ '''''^'' *° *'«= '''^"'ity of anyone with whom have once conversed. I was but twent^! four years of age when I last saw Gatton. and he wafa lad of seventeen. It is exactiv fV,;,t, ""=wasa died, but his figure is .sZlXX^nlZ'^TlJl well, as yours is." ^ ^^' ^^~ " What was he like ? " cried Esther eagerly. " Surely he was^not at all like the portrait thaf h^ngs fnl^ " That picture flattered him," said the Major ■• He Tnar^row ch"; r' h' ^°"''' "'^'^ ^'"P'"^ ^'^°"'^- -^ sav tharh. u "^^l "°* ^ S°°'^ '^'^> ^"d I should say that he was rather below the average standard nf .ntelhgence. He was a thorn in his motherSdelm the time he was in the nursery. He was a snLl,W httle coward, and he was afraid^f herTLt po" oil Mr. Mordaunt pampered him. It was a ase of'Spa e father from the time he could crawl " *" ' "^ "'^ Esthl"* *"' ''"''■ '°"''^ "'""■ ''""" '^^" ^"dy." rejoined ask'whafthe'"'-, ^^"/y '* '=-■^-■•"17 was. But may I ask what the colour of Gatton Mordaunfs hair has to do with us at present?" Itak^^""^' '"^r'"'^ '° '^^^^ ''^^'^ ''^wned in some Italian bay, was he not? " " He was drowned. There was no room for reason able doubt on that score. He probably went oTtl THE ALIEN 35 far, the tide turned, and he was unable to swim back against .t-or he may have been seized ^'th cramp He was nev^r a strong swimmer. His clothes and his watch were left on the beach of the cove; his body came ashore many miles farther north, some days later It was no longer recognisable, but was reverently buned by some Roman Catholic fishermen in the cemeteo' of St. Paolo. I recollect these details, because I was spending my leave at Applehurst ^vhen the news came. I had no home of my own, and my Cousin Rebecca and her old husband were good enough to make me welcome here. After Gatton's death I changed. '° Applehurst, and my position was "Mr. Mordaunt became much more attached to me 51 M 2^'f ''"""'* '° ""'^" ^ Sru^Se fr°ni that' date. Mr. Mordaunt was an old man for his years. He could not have been more than seventy-seven when h.s son died but he looked ninety, and^e became feeble m mmd after that. Cousin Rebecca was forty years h.s jumor. I believe, and a masterful woman-as Tshirsl;-^ '^" "'^^ ^^°'^"^ '^'^^-' 'y^^^--^' "You would say quite wrong!" cried Esther. "I don t think you could ever have understood Cousin Becky ,„ the le^t ! She loved her son passionately, and has longed for him all these many years " " Has she, indeed ? " replied the Major drily " Well Cousin Esther. I fancy I've an inkling of what it is you' are trying to tell me. Someone has been writing a letter purporting to contain news relating to rjatton's death, or possibly the writer has unearthed a grandson 36 THE ALIEN eh? Catton was only seventeen, to be sure! but he XrrTT.J" '^'"'' '^"y^- *''°"eh backward in Sdv to L °f "I'^'t *^""^''' "^y A-t Rebecca getting old— and one never quite knows "— Esiw '""»' ^°''' '^ '' '"^''^ °"'y * ''=«^^!" cried Esther. "He has come back, Curtis! No letter but Gatton himself! Not that he is in the least Hke 2 person you describe, but then how should he be after thirty years? He is not feeble-looking, and he is as dark as you are Of course, if he was only seventeen when he was drowned, he has had time to change |tTrT~l° "'''!!"'''■ '•'"'^'■■^^^""ther woman. Her .yc. follow him about the room, and she gives way to him about everything, and that is the greatest miracle of all to me " (Esther's voice broke momentarily) she roTes'hL:^ '" ^'^"^'' ^"'^ ^°^*^"^'^' -'^ ^- Ma'io^r'^'i.S"'^', "T"' lP''"y ''"''■"^^^'" ^«'d the ^r^- ""°"'L°"S has this been going on? When did this lellow first turn up?" "I believe his letter reached Cousin Becky on the day on which you were to have come to us. She was veo' excited that evening, but I did not guess wla was the matter. He came himself a week later" should never have allowed him to hang about the place for a whole week. So my cousin actually believes that Cxatton— Gatton who was buried when we were all either, he added meditatively. "She believes that he pretended that he was drowned. He has always lived in her heart." THE ALIEN ^j a fine to-do over the unmasking. At the worst GatL^ s?f:::.d\? '-■ r- *° "^'^^ ^^^'•" ^^^^^^r. so .t would be a misfortune for ail connected with him for he was as thoroughly vicious a youth as it was e^r' he had a fine old lace scarf over her head, and lace ruffles at her wrists. That Spanish lace had not seen the hght for many and many a long year. It smelt of cedar-wood and camphor. It gave Esther an object- lesson. A woman is a woman to her dying day, how- ever old she may be. At seventy-five she may yet bring out her best, to signify her joy at the coming of her beloved, for she is seldom a materialist, her clothea are always symbolic to h^r. 'I Esther has told me your news,''- rejoined the Major. And you congratulate me?" said she. "You have always d" approved of my management of my 40 THE ALIEN prime minister has come at kst ^TyTT": ^^ pt'e r^?^->"'>' ^•"" ^" ttLCut "l Vetpt Z place for h.m. No one has ever taken it n7l^ "°•MVdefr'c"'°^r''^ -" taIce*S:"sonrp U"^ TetC^"^-~ clin"d to be I?' '"''*'^- ^^*her had been in- triumphant e.uiprtLT/;:l:° ^^^ «-- But he' co'es te ^r'rT: "^ '^'=V"'^ ^-'^' ^^t- is my son" Thr/ ^"'^^'' ^°'' himself-here the f aSer s;Sef ^0^" "^ ^^^^ ^^ Whatever he had Txlted^r' '=°":«'"Pt"°"^ ^n,ile. Vo:'2::;\"^U°L;:i,''°^^:''-.>'ou met ,ast. said Mrs. Mordaunt brisK SheT.?^''^ °*^''" dropping her stitchL reSlLly ' '"'"'' ^^"^ ^-*' sail thTSrdr;*'"'^"' ''^^'^-°^->'-.-r.» I H-irrnt^-ras^rbuT/r^^^^^^^^^ r- you anywhere." replied the^t;anger '''"' '"'°""' THE ALIEN 41 speak to this (he made a wry face) gentleman in your and my Cousin Esther's presence. Perhaps you will allow me to show him the way to the library, where we can be undisturbed for a few minutes." The old lady drew herself up. ■' My son must of course do as he pleases." The stranger glanced at the clock. "It is nearly time to dress for dinner, but, if you'll kindly follow me, I'm at your service. I have not forgotten the way to the library." ' He went out of the room first, and the Major followed with his teeth clenched. The library was a gloomy room. The trees which, m the Major's opinion, so sadly needed thinning, had spread their branches too close to its windows, and the heavy flock paper was darkened with age. Old Mr. Mordaunt had never loved books ; though, when increasing infirmities had bereft him of the power for other enjoyments, he had taken a mild interest in bmdmgs. Handsome, unappreciated volumes, clothed in purple and gold, lined the mahogany bookcases. They had seldom been opened. The Major recollected that he had once arranged a set of classics with his own hands on the shelf on which they had stood un- disturbed from that day to this. Mr. Mordaunt had directed his labours from the red-velvet-coloured arm- chair with big wheels, that had now been pushed into a far corner. It seemed to the Major that his Cousin Rebecca had pushed all memories of her husband into the background. He disapproved her attitude. A widow should be a widow indeed, not a cheerfully inde- pendent person, who neither asks nor accepts protection. The stranger lit a lamp and stood under it, with 42 THE ALIEN the light falling full on his face r»k- ^ ... the writing-table at wh.Vh J ;, '""'' '""' *« the thoroughgoing contemn. « T"l ^*"°" *'* a feeble defen^erafe ZTet he f ,^''??' y""*** ^- all these y^«_he 2 ;; ^ ' *' '^ now-after into being^ .^at de^ Vo^TdS; ^t" ^^ was robbing the dead. «"elender. This fellow sai7he!"i? "r?tro„rrr" ^''^ '■^''=^ -"'^ -e." fortunatdy for you ?jj' , '''''' " '^'^^"^^' ""- Cousin Gatton Mo'rdaunTll td """"'■°" °' '"^^ his shoulders. ^ ^""^ ''""' *"'' ^hen shrugged damnably'^nlike nZ" "'" """ ^* °"^« ^^at it's fandtd St the "S Tt" ?^ '^""''^ ^--^ "ave theportra.s:t:;t^„^? -^^^^^^^^^^^ ^'^ -es of Strang^ . '''SeTe'nl' > 'T" '=°"*'"-'^ ^^^^ left England t1 ° °^ "' '^'^^' ^« ^^^^ when I nowadayieJher^i;- "°' ""'='^ ""^^ "^^ -''ther in/o:ttr^j;^Lrr:at: hrdtr°^^"'^"'' ^-- -o opened it in siS;c:-%L-it:irt:rn"t; THE ALIEN 43 stained, and the miniature within was faded Mrs Mordaunt was represented at that most unbecoming stage of a woman's life when she has lost the freshness of youth, but has not yet attained to the dignity of age. It was an over-laboured and vulgar production. Ihe black hair was inartistically arranged in hard glossy bands, the black eyes were made to languish, the strong and vigorous character of the original was scarcely hinted at. The Major wouM hardly have recognised that the picture was intended to be a portrait of his aunt, had it not been for the belt set with Indian stones, which was faithfully and elaborately rendered, and which he had often seen her wear. " How did you get this ? " he asked shortly. "It was given to me by my mother (who had it taken expressly for me) just before I left England thirty years ago," replied the stranger. "It has knocked about with me ever since." The Major stared hard and shook his head. " That IS a lie," said he, « for you are not Mrs. Mordaunt's son " If this claimant had, even in the slightest degree resembled Gatton, the Major felt that he would have listened with some appearance of patience. If, for example, he had possessed sloping shoulders and light- coloured blinking eyes, if he had stammered as Gatton had always stammered when nervous or excited • but the imposture was too bare-faced. It was impossible to accord it a polite semblance of consideration. Yet the next moment a flash of genuine unmistakable anger in his opponent's eyes startled him. Genuine indignation is singularly convincing; and why should a rogue mind being dubbed a liar? The stranger made a quick movement to regain 44 THE ALIEN T ii possession of the portrait TK- lu • . foiled; somehow' the little case g? to tf "'''"" between them. A hinge broke In Lf n ^""^ miniature, which had been f„! ^,*.^ '^"' '"'I the Iming, fell out The Mafor i^ "!'' '"*° *^« velvet scrap of paper, yellow S ^^ '° ^'"^ '* "P" ^ back of the^Vo^. ° He itld^^' "'.' ^"'""='' ^* ^h* read the faded writin/Soud , ^ '^^' '^^ ^'^ht and "To my dear "o^ Mltl^,!,"' S' '''"'="'*>'• waters shall not quench Z? Ju' '^^3- 'Many "That is mine" sS hi. ''^'" Mordaunf you have come bv it an^ • ., * ''"°'^' but, since '•n you, there fs thin" for" i: ^f ''°^''^""* »-'- - -nously, and see !t Xou^h^ I d^nltr^ "^"^^ other cards you mavhaveT,?, . °* ''"°w what youjl stand f„ the dikTr tSs"^' " ^'"^^' ''"* ^ ^^nk Portrit^^tlSt t?e tr .tnlr 'f T ^'""^ who stood before him SomI • *^^ "'^ *e man beh-eved this strangT; toTu°ri'T'"'' "'°"^'' »>« be.ikedthememorofhi^;„tjf^^ »>"" >-«.. than Look here," said he " fh» , " to the gallows, but youVe no^ th.T T ."' «°'"^ '^^^^ bird. You are hZZl 1 ,°°^ °^ "'^ born gaol- think you are a coSd' Perhllrf '■ ^""^ ' '-•' one who hangs on to you h^'^ ^^ ''""^^'- ^^ ^o^e- -ad game; fut it Jon-fpay' ma';"^" >'°" ^° P'^^ a pay, man. Turn round while THE ALIEN 45 you can ! Go out of that door, and out of this house while you've still the chance. Throw it up ! " An odd expression crossed the stranger's face, and then he laughed. " Why, you're not a bad sort, Major," said he, " but I am not in the least hungry, thank you ; and in all the world there is only one old woman who clings to me, and she's waiting in the next room." And at that the Major was ashamed of his own impulse. It had been surely the acme of folly to appeal to a non-existent better nature; the sort of sentimental folly that a woman (such as Esther) might be pardoned for, but which was inexcusable in himself. He turned on his heel, and left the room, without deigning another word, good or bad. Esther was anxiously waiting him on the landing upstairs. She had slipped quicklj into her grey tea- gown, and was leaning over the balusters watching for the opening of the library door. It is the old-fashioned type of woman who waits anxiously— but in some respects Esther was old-fashioi.<:d. Her life had run in a somewhat narrow groove between high walls- there had been little scope for action in it; sometimes she had panted for more fresh air and a wider view but, since that was denied, she instinctively made the most of what emotional outlet she had. All that con- cerned her old cousin was of vital importance to her. " Well, Curtis, what conclusion have you come to ? " she inquired. The Major was still angry with himself, and he fairly snorted with disgust and contempt. " For cool impert- inence I've never seen the fellow's equal ! " he replied " I must own that my Cousin Rebecca's assurance so far 46 THE ALIEN her son might have CmeTn th "' '°"' °' *° ^^at " And dL he ? ■■ SedVl /•"""' °^ y*=^*-" "Does he?" I. **'?'' Esther faintly. Gatton";a':^pit,TeW?; '''^■"- ''^^"on-why If a hundred yeaf haf^tsTtr'"'^' "^^"^""^ turned hin, into a swarthy Si of'^H'°"J'"'' '''''' It is preposterous! I wuM u ..^ ' '^^"iption. when my aunt turned to thil- '°"*^'" ""^'^'f -"y son- , Her Tn indeed ,f" T}\''^^ ' "^- - aloud, if it had not Srlr h '° '^ ^""" '^"^^ed my mind as soon as he /nH r P""^'^""^" ^ ^P^^e were my house l\Z^^ send fo^h ^'T '^ ''"'^ loss of time; and so I shall TeU r *?^P°J'«=e without "Indeed. I hone vn„ • > ^°""" Rebecca." cried ^stJ^SlZ ISjTr'.''^ -*•" as much (and more") rip-ht f„ ".: • ' ^"'■*'*' ^^e has to yours. You ciJn^ytuIt h' °'""'°" ^^ ^'^^ '>^-- whatever you may thSk "f timf ^""'' '" ""'' '^°"-' "Insult?" cried the Maior « r ^ . dear Esther! If you saw T' k ^"""^ '''^^«"^' my lady's drawers, should ^ousLdon"'^'' ""'"^ ^'^^ "'^^ ^"Th-^=;tfi;;^:^^=^s^^ an-.and JL^rnSlli^Ja^l^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ must'Iat^IidVe aSnt'"'^ ^'^-^ « =» fool, we dinner with that ~ ut \ f °"'' ^'' ^«-" *« to-night, I leave thif house." *''' '°"'^ P'«« THE ALIEN i7 His decision was unmistakable, and Esther did not attempt to argue the point. It wounded her hospitable .nst.nct sorely to let a guest go away dinnerleus. but she hoped, rather against hope, that her Cousin Becky's good sense might somehow avert such a catastrophe "I w.11 go to speak to my cousin," said she. You do not make the difficult position easier, Curtis by trying to carry matters with such a high hand " ' "I did not make the difficult position," said the Major, "and, if it depended on me, there'd be a quick end to it." ^ Esther descended the stairs slowly. The sudden rush of events and clash of wilk almost took her breath away. The drawing-room door was open, and she caught a glimpse of the stranger and Mrs. Mor- daunt standing together, he with his arm round the old woman's waist. The sight brought a lump to Esthers throat, and her steps lagged more The stranger saw her coming, and smiled appreci- atively. He had lived in one of the Spanish republics of South America, and in that far-ofT world had at one time taken a not unimportant hand in a very stormy po itical game. He had come across English women out there (for, indeed, they are to be met everywhere), but he had seen no English ladies of Esther's kind "Your adopted daughter has the dignity of an old French miniature," he said. " The younger generation oJ women is not so graceful as she is." "Is Esther no longer young?" said Mrs. Mordaunt surprised "Well!" as Esther came into the room' and where is my dear nephew?" There was no use in mincing matters. " He will not break bread in this house," said Esther, " if Mr."— 48 THE ALIEN I i I shej,.,ated for a ^o„d. and the stranger helped b.nrXtnX""^''"''""-'-^''- "-•>- "In- !"i t^" ^'^^ ^°^*'« PJ'^^e to-night" "tHaf j„Su„^- i;2:e""r^„'-^'^ -- and tell them not to wah dinner"^ ' ''"' '">' ''^^••■ "Can nothing be done?" said Esther ~;;:"^::^^-:-^-istop„tavetoo„ But"aVtsnST"'- ;^^-^''" -- away, I should prefer to be th^^ . u ^°'"^ ^^^'"S though only for to.n%Lt" '° ^' ' '«'««*-! witrL.^™Tr"'™^"^^- "^-' No; you stay ^^^he stranger shook his head, and drew her closer " Why, I am conducting this ram„ • tome,mo.her. I can ve^ wl , .T^'^"' ■^"'' *™^' like a ruffian; "and to EstTJ °"^ "°* ^ ^^^^^ gave way. thiugh im^g^ "'^""' ''"• ^"^''-"^ anJ^rLrrt rx^f:r,^° ^^^'^ ^-'^^'«- venience of going out to n.if ^."" *° ^'^^ ««=o"- train to townk'ev:„„;"Sfa ' To"^ ^^ *« '-* not till the small hours oi^ the^^;^°'. *"'' *^ "«^t is Hart is uncomfortable!les2fe, °''"'"?- '^^^ White Rip Van Winkle urba:;;Jf'^ '"^ °" '^^"- "'"ghts," said "And tell him from me that th^ cold, and we are hungry " Tdde? m t/°"P '' 8:etting The Major reS boJh ^°''''"""' ''"^''i; I Silence, and^ followerEst^ toThTlLiir "^ j CHAPTER V T^HE stranger wandered out into the freshness of .1 the sweet-scented night. He had called himself •' Rip Van Winkle," but, save m the matter of circumstance, he did not bear much resemblance to that easy-going ne'er-do-weel. He aughed to h.mself while he loitered on the lawn out! side the dmmg-room windows. He had lost his dinner but the Major's would certainly be salted with chagrS' It amused h.m to imagine how furious that gentleman must be over the polite message delivered by Esthe" H.S laughter was slightly malicious, albeit he hS expressed a genuine appreciation when he had declared ;ort:M;S'^'™^°"'"^'^>''>'°"--^^ad A vein of bitterness, not observable at first, for he was se dom morose or ill-tempered, tainted thi man's character. It ,s small beer that turns sour, and yet by some cunous contradiction, he had some of the quahfes of greatness. Perhaps it was a percept on of this fact that often made women like hfm for to them the "might-have-been" always appeals "rSgly! But his merriment died away under the quietfng 50 THE ALIEN Influence of the hour H» i i j through the black tL otthrSjC '^4 T not thought that he should ever 'tand'^n th """^ "gain, and he shook himself whh T ■ ^"' 'P°' law^^at night': -te S:?t:iSd ^ °^ ^^ under his fSt ^a^ him th^: °' '''^ ^"^""' ^'^^ assailed hi. J^t^^Z^^'^^l ^ afhir '4'' was not aware that h^ i,,j ^ *' """• He an the year: ^attt te^^.t^",;^^^^^^^^^ bom in this land, and its soir^f .^u . ^ •""* '*^" all his keen senses ^ 'P°''*' *° '""' 'h^^gh too^dUloTrht'ta^t 'T'^ ^■''""^■"^- ^^ - how she lookrd,tdTSfdTt'"; 'r T^^^'"'' ruined tower in the distant h.\ t' 'u^*^ '" *^ and a rabbit scamiir in .^, ^'^ " *'*' ^1"^^. remembered that rSs ' ^'''* *° '''^ '^^*- ««= the right. AfrLhteneH ^ '°°'' '^^ ^''" '° fee, aL to. ^^ ^^7^ if°an ttT ^''^ were pursuing her *"^ ''^""^s had mac. on him because h^^h^ the impression it consciously. Nor' had Te ^e^ thalT""^' ■ """ would make him feel th.f e^^ff^* that to revisit it world was all ale wiS Vth *'" ''"''' ^"S"^'' furred and feathe'd X^riot t^Z "'%°' ""'^ ghost belonrine to otW ^ ' . ^'"^^^^ ^^s a business to return A strJ ^r'-' ^^°'' ^^'^ ^^'^ "<> return. A stream fringed with alders and J 1 I THE ALIEN 51 rushes ran at the bottom of the field. He stood still to hsten to its voice. The rushes, betrayers of Se secret of King Midas, rustled whisperingly aS " t^! ously together. It was natural that^ "^^he oT/S. should luve unburdened his heart to then,, for Sf relaxes the fibres of self-control had^ttt^'^'vJ'"''^" '^''' *«= "*'^"™«' remembered, had rotted with age, and had been swept down the stream in bits. No violent repairs were cfrried out on ioJITZ- ""' ""'''" '''' '''''"' ''y the stepp ng. stones, for the moon gave light enough On the other side a footpath meandered up a grassy h.11. on the top of which was a ruined tower oncfpart of a veiy old church, which was said to have belongS Ss:;p:a'^^°^^'^^^'''=-^°*- --had long s Jh^T^T.^^"'^'^ "'^ ^•" •"•'"bly enough, but as he neared the tower, was arrested by the s^und of a vo,ce rising and falling in a monologue. He oSr and' ' "i" .^^ *'^" ^PP^^-^hed the^building softly and peeped in. The ruin was unroofed, but an altar, formed of three slabs of the yellow sto^e of the country^ was raised under what had been the east window. On the altar a silver lamp was buying S3 before It stood an old man, bareheaded. nTshadow ' thrown by the lamp -light, moved grotesquely a W across the grass and nettles. He threw uTitJ h"! hands, crying aloud, with an action which w^ as joyS St of'rL'r ^^'^-'=°---- as is the uiw^';i al/'.K'^'^^ ^ *° '^^'^•" ^^ "'■«''• "Who art the Life of all the Living. Praise be to Thee for the joy of aU 52 THE ALIEN The passion of adoration was in the man's voice and wK ja-nSt^r " '^^ " ^'"-" --^ ' ^'^ ^- or ardst "• """"""^ '"'"''''■ *''« ''^"ds of poet The stranger very gently drew back. He had s«n tryS^i?'-*^ '"'"^ the course of"his'Se.Tu tms struck him as among the strangest. He sat down on tiie grass a few yards away frfm the chaS and waited. Presently the old man came out aS walked towards him, his chin tilted sljhtly xle IS^'S"''-: *""^ ''"''y- '•" o^de^rattJac attention. H,s mterest was veo' much alive just The old man stood still and shook his head " Is that you. Jan Steevens ? " said he StZnl""'' '""^ ^'^^"^^' "'"^ -- '^ -t Jan '• l"fta«dT,?"''°"'''''*"'"'^ "'"°''^ "'^" courteously. 1 icared that you were setting traps, but now th.l you have spoken. I know veo^ well Sat you "« no one of my poaching parishioners, nor of tWs coL"- i •" V"^* '^,f * P^*"'" '°"S ^So. when I was a lad " re joined Rip Van Winkle, "and went to see the wor^^' Ive lately returned, having seen enough of it but' supposmg I had been setting traps, don't you 'tWnk It was just a bit risky to interfere ?" ^ ^ THE ALIEN j, n J' ^*^ T "° ™'''" '*•*' *« o''' "«"• " Can you not see that I am blind ? " ^ "Ah ! " said the stranger quickly. " Then you have been here twenty-nine summers. It was in the fall of «je leaf that I left England, and I rememb« that a blind parson was expected." They walked on together by mutual consent- the subjects before he sa.d, •■ May I ask who you are ? " I am the son of Mrs. Mordaunt, of Applehurst" S^'vedteTK ."^"^ ""'"'' y^- -y-S'r believed me to be dead. I never meant to return to England. When I left I intended to cut the con^el! t^on between my old self and my new self for ever My old self was an undesirable sort of acquaintance who had got into „,ore than one scrape. I'm not ^t al! certam that it wouldn't have been far wise^ to Lve left Ih™ .„ h.s grave, but something drew me aero" old'^^n '""f"^ ^°'- ^°" P'-obably did that," said the old man. I am rejoiced that you have come back to P^lo^tt^'lTnl L'^"^'^^"^^'-; "y°" are the second pwson who IS glad I have come back. That is more than I expected. I had thought there could be 3y one, and, to tell the truth. I was doubtful even of ht t bZ- rr^'' °f - trouble than a blessing S ner, but _ (h,s mouth twitched, for his mother's SeTme an T''''' '''"' strongly)-- but The h missed me all these years. It's the kind of fact that staggers one. Perhaps, if I had realised it. I m gh have turned up before; but, so far as the old ^orld was 54 THE ALIEN real life wis o^Sliel? *^ ""*^ '"' '^'- °«"- M>' ;He-ro. I can. be a.fvelnT^o ptt ^^^S. «„* rS'v/^w'^" ^'^^ *^^*'" ^^l^^d the old man R>p Van Winkle nodded. "Oh ves in o too," he said. « But I HiH m„ . . y^^'""'" ^ &^«e, out of if I fc ..4U ""^ '^^^^ •««' to keep her tu,ul ^'"^ •"" *' "Sht as I could, but-well after "You had been ill," he said. fin;;L'mVbuTSd„°>t'''TiT;'''=V"^''* '° "^-^ that, but perhaps vouhoIH ''"°«'ho^y°u guessed lived :_ %P ^ ^°" ^°^t ~"^^«« with spirits ? We of 1 coni;:^ X I*' ""'■ ^ ' ^^^ ^ --«'- too long-I rnt .n , ""''•'■ ""''^ ''^^ '° ^"y town THE ALIEN 55 in the course of my life, and IVe done them all well up to a certain point The bother is, that, as soon as' I m settled in a groove, I sicken of it— sicken till I must change or go mad. It's like the wandering Jew cu«e. Yet, if she had stayed by me, I should still be m Venezuela." " I think that you will find her again," said the old man, and the remark was so evidently free from cant and so simply an expression of personal opinion, that the stranger could not be offended. He had not spoken of the woman he called wife since he h.d landed in England. His mother had evinced strangely little curiosity on the subject Her whole mind was feverishly possessed by the thought that she had got him back, and that she must k^p him at all costs. For his part, he had not desired either to speak or to think of that "other life" But now, as he walked in the sweet dark night, he experi- enced a curious sensation of being spirit with spirit, rather than man with man. The barrier of space that he had set between past and present, seemed to melf the underlying pain that was at his heart to find some expression. He described with characteristic pictur- esqueness and vividness how an epidemic of low fever had swept the forest district to which he had gone for freedom and change, and how his little son had sickened and died. He had done what he could, always with a hopeless sense of fighting something too strong for him and then, being worsted, had laid himself down to die •' but, owing to his " confoundedly wiry constitution," had found that he was at last getting better, he hardly knew how or why. ' During the time that the fever was on him he kept 56 THE ALIEN remembered her when Lt 7? "°'^' •"" ^ he He had not cts^X ^ught ab;:?^ T '^^"^^ He averred thaf i,» i, J j ,., ^ aoout her for years he mS as well " ^tth "*= f ""^^^"^^ ^^^^'^ed that chance'hismothtSsSVv:' ^" "'^*^^ ''^^ ^"^ oddX'aSTt tfai" '" '"r r*^ *°-' "T'>« She says she has w^- 'h * y "'°*'''' ''""^ ™« '^'^e-^tly. die witLut .eelLml fsru"'. *'^* ^''*' ^""''^ "°* her. she's ve^^ ofd^now ! " ^°"'' ''"'^'^ ^^^'^ ''"°-„ heL"d:d.tif'isre'trs''" ?'' *^ ^^^^ ">-' -^^ solution of thr?acts narratd™?"' '".' T' "^'"-' ^l"T"'^-.f '^^^^o^come to°hl?' '^^^ -"' tin.e?f:yht'^„1tt"^n'' '" ''°''''^-- "^* «^i^ anything." he said. ^ '"' '""'P'"^' °"^ '"^y Relieve "I waraityrsomShir f '^r ^''^'^ — - «Ic, sir. wheSL you a'e^ A» S' 'j^'' ""* "^^^ ^ long nocturnal ramb J'' *' '^''" °^ **'^'"& ^hese The old man pointed with his stirt « A/r Hes just in the hollow of the cSmb" th ^^,,*=°"*&^ r ifes, 1 go often to the church up THE ALIEN 57 t'Zid In ir"^ '; *"" * p''^ ^"* "° ^«^*=«= should a chu i •'''''''^'- ^ "'*"'■'='' ^»'°">d b« always a church as a pnest is always a priest. Of course it ^„?r' *° ': "^"^. ^°' »" -'^-'y congregation." of J I ^ ,""'', ^''^ '''■'^''- And is that sort of thing of much use ? " asked the stranger gently ^ One of his more amiable traits was a certain old ma^rf J % ^"y*'"^ f->> -'^ *is bS oW man looked as if a puff of wind might carry him "Of use?" said his companion. "Oh no- I had " It is only a_a luxury that I give myself. You see, .f one ,s a real priest, one has the longing to express adoration for the others, has not one? fhS •s part of one's calling. Now, the mysten- of the world, and the beauty and the wondTofTt a e so extraordmarily strong at night-you must oL ha^: be a ih f T '^^'"^^ r^«"«^^ with desire to whilT P"'' ^"^"-^ ''*' ^'"■"^'1 '='°''« t° his head while he was speaking, and he stretched out his hand to jt,snnhng_"for all these His joyful creatures as well as for one's self." «iures, as dirfcti'" ^'"'''' ^"' ' '^"'^^ '^'^°"S ^'^"<=^ '" h- "I've met priests by the hundred," he rejoined "Worse luck! for I don't like 'em, but perhaps thev weren't real ones. Well. I shall kn;w whaTSap^ ■ng next time I see a light on that hill." ^^ They had reached the road now, and stood close to the cottage in the hollow. 58 THE ALIEN "I could "Will you come in?" said the old man. make you a cup of tea." gings Look here, sir, since you believe in th- 1 of thing (and I am not such a fool a^n 't .^l'""* that you do), don't you think I Sght li as welM: equali;. 1 ? .■ "" ^"^ P°'"' °^ -■«- they need it confiden e al^ sInneTs ' IndL^r; *"' "'* ^''"^ of them R.T I . *^^''' ^ *^° "°* meet many olthem. But I can see the Glory of the Lord." CHAPTER VI " Many waters cannot quench love." AJf RS MORDAUNT did not come down to break- f A.u.^'. ^'*"' P*'^' *''*^'' * sleepless night, found the Major in the dining-room. He pushed away his untasted coffee, and plunged into the subject upper- most m their minds, as soon as the footman had shut the door. " So my cousin really intends to let this rogue take up a position in the house as her son ? " '• Cousin Becky is absolutely convinced." said Esther. Nothmg will alter her opinion. Indeed, it would be absurd to suppose that having recognised this man, she should change her mind. The room next her own is ready for him. She will not hear of his staying another night at the inn." " '?,^''f"I wo^an must e'en have her way," returned the Major. " In that case I must, of course, leave this morning. May I ask what you intend to do ? " " I can do nothing," replied Esther." but wait on events." Pshaw ! " exclaimed the Major. " That, if you will excuse my plain speaking, my dear Esther, is nonsense No one can really be neutral, and so you'll soon find. If you stay here, you countenance an imposture If you pack up and go, you at least make what honest sa 60 THE ALIEN right or on the wrong^^^f "'^^ °'- *'>« °^her ; either on the the^M^r^rS^^^^^^^^^ Although heart she respected him anrf .V ^"^ ^"°™ ^^ •>« her cousin's son if some J f^"^*"" ^«=« "°t possessed the old JLanthirT '^^""-'"-"o" had He must be wicked e^nll. "''"' *"'* ^^^^^ ^^s he? What if he sS stealSo M ""T'"^ '" ^''^^ -^-• night, and murder her ?" Mordaunfs room at she's'a'ii' ''""' ""' *^* >'°" -«- not going away." "I shall find lodgings in the village" h. i- . "For there is no doubt that it k . n '^^^'^'^■ the rascal. I must conLlf! > ' "^^^ *° ^^t'^h about you. EsthTr ItTl t"^""' °^ '=°"^^«-but associate ;ith this' fellow 'y^^ro T ^°" ^'^^""^ of your married sisters? It "vh" T^^P.^ ^° *° °n« -ft2sl?;:;r°°' ^'^"^'='^- ^'^^ Major arranged Cul%2 m^rseTtha't t "''^ ' " '""^ "'^'- " ^^7. cousin. If t^e Ifn is an """°' '^'''" "^^ '^^^'" °'d reason that she should L™'^'*"''' *''"'" '' *^^ """^^ with her. Ifhet he?so ..'°'"'°"" ^'^^ '°^<^^ ^^^ will do me no ha m th° ^ -'° '" '''' '""^'"^ the company of etTthetorff' f '''•;" "° *=^^^ '^""'^ added, ^th that rath!r '"^" *^° '"'' ''"'"." «he beeni;reser;edltX; '"r'="* '"■^"■V. which had and walled-in p ace * '^^'''' '" ^ ^''^'t^^ed THE ALIEN gl The Major almost groaned with impatience. ■• You are making a fatal mistake. I warn you that you will «pent of .t I am sorry that I can do no mo'^e than But Esther was not sorry. H.,f ° ^\^!^T ''"P"'^'* ^^^^' breakfast, shaking the dust of the house off his feet; angry with the two lTto"th" r"" '^^^ "°"^ °^ his protection, wh° left to their feminine perverse obstinacy, would be the natural prey of the adventurer. Esther watched the dog-cart whirl away, with a sense of the last familiar bit of the old life having gone with It Curtis Iiedale had always before stayed a ^tZ T^^ i' ''°'*'''- ^''- ^°''^*""t had always sprightly farevvell with undue cheerfulness. To-dav she stayed m her room, and last night at dinner she had been suave and stately. It was altogether unnatural. c Jhef ^TJ ,^'P/*" ^'"'''" ^PP«"«d •■" dress- clothes, and took the bottom of the table Mrs Mordaunt ate nothing, but sat very upright, watching his every movement, and drinking in his every word flirX T^^ ^'^^''y °^ ^''' '=°"'P^"y. «nd to h.sther the revelation was extraordinary. Behold she had lived with this woman for years ! Had nursed her when she was ill, had sat at her board, had been her on y intimate companion, and yet all the time she had not known her. She shivered with the curious sense of spiritual loneliness, which perhaps few people quite ^cape experiencing at some time in their passage ttTo^f dtr'^ ^"^ *^ ^-- '^ - '^e t?e 62 THE ALIEN announcement was to be made. ^Zu *' Sa^l'r-~ s£tr„ra mS Esther very well Td !« •/ "''f ^'"P^ehended knows how to deal w4r ? .J" "^^ ^'*''°"' *»* -any whom sk tSlH ;;l"'\^- -- "ot herself about. ^ °'^^ "^^'^^ '° t™"ble said'she"°LH'"'-.r ^'''^^''' ^'» ''t'^nd by me" saw she, and with a swift trUnH^r, ir ^l to her side She hc^ J /Renting Esther went daughte? "'^"' ^^°'^ '"^" «"ed "my THE ALIEN 63 exSJun'i'Viw'" f"** T''^' ''°°P^ •"•^""■""^ and nght hand, and the old woman leant on her as she wTh h ^n''"" ^'' '=''^''' "-"g her little Ld ent Tn he^, ^""r Vr" ^'**='' •^y^^- The stranger was o?th/. £' ^'^1 ''"'"^ '^'^ Pl«« »" the bottom u^ ^"''' '"'^ ^''^ '^«''l his hand too. b«.,!f«^ I »f'" "^^ '^^- "^ ^'^ ^nt for you because I wish to tell you with my own lips that a Km T h " '"''"'" "^ '" "^y "'"^ ^g- My -"for rttoTed torn! "'°""'.'='',''^-^ tWrty years, has Un restored to me. He ,s here; a stranger to you to-day mg that he will come after me." Wh^nZ, r' * '""^ '""™" °f ^^'^'t^d sympathy. When such a woman as Mrs. Mordaunt was for once bares her heart, even daws do not peck at it E^r^! one was touched, and perhaps awestruck. The ofd S^lTere' wer'^ ^" '•"""-- --tion.-Esther's Then the stranger spoke. "Not one of you can remember me." said he, " though one of you n^ames" famJiar to me; surely there was a Morgan who was gamekeeper when I was a lad ? " au" mn?^ ' remembered you. sir, but he die! laft "Ah, well; I could wish for a few old friends if I smTe' Mr^'^' u^P' "'^''='' ^'^ "<' -'^ he. wii^ ^ smile. ■ I s a nsky business-returning after thirty live hands to greet one. One of the maids sobbed here, and Rip Van Winkle 64 THE ALIEN rawed h« q^ebrows with an indescribable expression ^lf-com.c half-pathetic. « I didn't mean to S7Sl for I m not altogether too late. I hope theiV ^^T.l ja^^years during which I rmy stanTat mTmo'he"; c,.i^ u^*' """ """> '"'^ ""aids clapped with a sudden outburst of enthusiasm, for EsthT w J verJ popular, and nothing that the stranger couW h^S r;iftr;;jr-™p-p--ashisJ;rr^:! '" Sat wf ' ^"- ^ w'*""*'^ '=>'^^ ''""ght tlie strangers That was very satisfactory," said she " Yorare'b^S"*'"""","^ satisfaction jarred on Esther. You are both very clever ! You know how to make disciples." she remarked; and then, for the first dme and the old woman. She was to recognise it again truf"'?vetr"'"5'''''- "W'>y.y«. Essie. That's tnie. I ve always known the way to manage folk n^' B r mv f ^>'\*''°"^'>* ti'eVme worfh pSy' ing. But, my dear, there are no such fools as the dever fools, and that's what we two have bein EK fh.f ?J„''°"°o!"^ "'^'" '"'° *« drawing-room very ttoughtfully She would perhaps have been halS human. ,f she had felt no qualm at seeing Sf supplanted; but her nature was wholesome and swS THE ALIEN 65 o?ili'riZ •"?!:"'' '^. '\'"^''' «»dy recognition of her nghte. The question that troubled her was not one raised by self-love. It was grave and big enough to shut out any petty jealousy ^ ■• Who is he ? What is he ? If he is „at her son what does he not deserve ? " Esther's delica e fingTs' clenched at that question. If he was not her sofhe deserved to L; hanged, at the least. The righteous in! fSZe ' '°""^ "™ '^ *P' '° »- in 'proportion "I suppose you can no longer sing? I feel as if I would give a thousand pounds to hear you sing aeain " Rip Van Winkle said suddenly. ^ ^ ' Mrs. Mordaunt was sitting by the fire, and he was Standing on the hearthrug. Esther noted that evej now and again the old lady stretched out a shaking hand and just touched him secretly and surreptitiously as If to make sure that he was really there. "No. You should have come back sooner, if you wanted to hear me sing again. I'm much too'o d^S^ that now Esther, there, has some sweet notes in hJ- voice, and she has an excellent style, because she S "V pup.1 ; but she cannot sing as I once could I believe that that is because she is too good" "I wish that I had heard you when y; . were young," said Esther, forcing herself to speak <^Do you remember what an impatient mistress you were Cousm Becky? But I enjoyed the lessons you gave me, and to listen to you singing a Romany fone always sent thrills down my spine, though you^ voTcf was really gone before I knew you." "I can't teach; for I can't abide stupidity." said Mrs Mordaunt. "No one but Essie could ever stand my 66 THE ALIEN temper ! I frightened her two sisters into matrimony withm a year of their coming to me. They were pretty creatures, with gentle tempers and no brains to speak of. Essie couldn't bear me at first; but she was never a&aid of me, thank Heaven ! So here she is still Would you like to hear her sing? " "No. thank you. I am getting too old too," said Esther. Rip Van Winkle, after one quick glance, forbore to press her. "Would you like to hear «^?" he said " I never learnt to read music, and I can only pick out a sort of accompaniment after a ridiculous fashion of my own; but I can make a noise I I made pocket- fuls of money once by singing on a pier." Mrs. Mordaunt nodded. " You had a fine voice, and your music never suffered from the restraints of virtue! Go on ; I should like to hear you, anyhow." He went at once to the piano, and began to pick out a curious weird tune, with one finger; then he found Oie chords, and then at last began to sing in a language Esther did not know. His voice was very beautiful and the personality it expressed was many-sided and passionate. Esther had never heard any singing ex- cept Mrs. Mordaunfs that had affected her in the same way. But Mrs. Mordaunt had been already old when she had startled Esther's budding youth by that Romany song. This man's voice was not yet past its prime. Esther, in listening, forgot at first how much the likeness meant. All sorts of emotions, which she had thought were decently buried long ago, rose and flung off their grave- clothes at the sound of those round liquid notes. The desires and ambitions and griefs of youth throbbed in THE ALIEN 67 her again. The blood rushed to her cheek, and her ^es grew bright. The language which need' no woJd was thnlhng through the room. No woman, no Ttte Tnd fail "T'-ff r" ..'''" ^'P ^'"' ^'■"•"« ^-S s.£'Lrwh^r^;::.^r!,^i-4 of^her emotion^ Wr. UK.^^ s./reS^'^^^S sSced Then "';"" '"'""'"■' •'^"■"«=*^ -"« s enced. Then „ becan.e apoar.-nt to her that allowing for difference cf a- a- A ,ex h<. ! his mother had once sung, .^d i'g'ete t^af h^ could have done, no proo. H.t he couW have shown mu' iri ""' °^'=™'>'=^-«='^ •>- -th certainty as tWs She did not thank him; a conventional expression of pleasure seemed out of place. « There is oKne other person .n the world whose singing could make me feel hke that." said Esther, with the absolute Lerity which always gave her dignity in a crisis, "and t2 person is your mother. I think I would rather no R.p Van Winkle got up from the piano and sat down graveb^ by the fire. He was a man of moods apt to light up with animation, or to subside Tto Z • ^ r"" ^'°°'"' ^'^'^ ^'l"^^ suddenness. Mrs. Mordaunt nodded, well pleased. " Yes yes • he :" me-^^ ^^"^'"■-" ^^^ -^^- "HewSay; So the chilling, dividing doubt that every now and then stood l^e a bad spirit between EsthTr and the old woman she loved, melted once more. She believed with her heart rather than with her brain, andTer 68 THE ALIEN heart told her that the likeness was more than a mere tnck of expression. Moreover, she wished to quiet these almost disloyal qualms. '•I am glad you have come back to her," Esther said, looking at the stranger, with soft eyes that were more pathetic than she knew. He laughed uneasily and shifted his position. "I never brought anyone any luck yet," he said. " I don't know that I'm worth your being glad about." That night Esther stole down the long passage to her cousin's room after midnight. Mrs. Mordaunt was seldom in bed till late. " Cousin Becky," she said, opening the door softly « may I come in and talk to you ? I have hardly seen you alone to-day, and the times are so exciting just now. There is a great deal to talk about." Mrs. Mordaunt was sitting in an arm-chair in front of the fire. She was a funny figure iu a scarlet quilted bed-jacket, with an old-fashioned night-cap tied in a bow under her chin. She had a table in front of her and on it was a cedar-wood box which Esther had never seen before. When she saw Esther, she started and let the lid of the box slip from her fingers, and shut with a snap; then she deliberately opened it again, and beckoned to her visitor to come in. " I don't need to shut you out, child," she said " Come in, come in ! What do you suppose I'm doine now ? " ^ Esther drew up her chair, and, leaning her elbows on the table, rested her chin on her hands, and snified the scent of burning paper. " I suppose you are burning secrets. Cousin Becky " she answered, smiling. THE ALIEN gg " I'm burning my son's old letters," said Mrs. Mor- daunt '• I ve treasured them these many years, but. now that I have him back again, I can well afforf to let em go. Letters are poor food at the best. It's a bad plan to keep them when one's getting old, for someone must burn 'em at the last, and it's as well to save ones executor trouble, eh?" The grate was choked with charred remains of paper. "Oh, they were not all /«>," said Mrs. Mordaunt, following Esther's glance. "There are other ashes there too. "Why, that writing is like your own," said Esther stanng at the thin packet in the old woman's hand.' Stop, stop. Cousin Becky, surely it may prove useful to you, should the Major dispute his identity " But Mrs. Mordaunt had already thrust it into the fire and only one half-sheet escaped by accident, and fluttered to Esther's feet. "Keep this, at least," said Esther, picking it up Mrs. Mordaunt hesitated, glanced through its con- tents, and then nodded. "You're right, Essie. It may be useful. You may read ,t ,f you like. It was the letter he wrote to me before he went away." The fragment was charred at one corner, and it was yellow and stained and blotted-perhaps with tears. Esther smoothed it with a very reverent touch. " Cannot stand it any more. Much better I should cut the whole thing and go right away. I'm sick of the who^ position, and. even if I hadn't got into that confounded scrape, I'd rather be off to tiy my luck in TO THE ALIEN a new country. It will be better for you, too, though you don't think so now. You must forgive me, mother ; you will be better without me, you know.— Your anectionate son." But the signature was burnt. " And that was the last letter you had from him. Oh, Cousm Becky, it must have been dreadful to eet this," Esther cried. The reiterated sad words, in the boyish, straggling writmg (that yet had such a look of Mrs. Mordaunt's) gave Esther (who would never be a mother) a heart- ache while she read them. " Poor boy, poor boy ! " she said. " How could he suppose you would be 'better' without him? Sometimes I think that, after all, we have the best of it, who've never known what it is to have children." The old woman sighed impatiently, and shrugged her shoulders while she took the little, old, worn sheet and laid it back in the box. " My dear, you were meant to have married happily, and had amiable and healthy babies," she said. " It's one of the unfortunate dispensations of Providence, that the best women have got a way of only loving once. But, as to myself I've no complaints to make. I don't approve of all the whining and puling that goes on nowadays. On the whole, we all pretty well reap as we've sown, it seems to me. There's no getting out of that, and, if your harvest stings your hands in the gatherin-x it's more dignified, at least, not to run crying to "your neighbours." ^ ^ She sat very upright, nodding at the fire, remember- THE ALIEN 71 ing, possibly, a bitterer harvesting that any Esther could imagine. " I was a wild girl, and not cut out for a pattern wife, nor, for the matter of that, for a pattern mother either," she said. " I married with my eyes open (in fact, I can't call to mind the time when they were shut), and I knew that Mr. Mordaunt was a fretful old man, and that I was not, and never should be, in love with him. He was silly about me, because I was lively and good - looking, and because most men admired me, after a fashion. Now I hadn't the sort of conscience you have, Essie, but still I didn't consider it fair to marry for money, and then mope sentiment- ally, so I continued to be lively and good-looking, and that's the one thing I give myself great credit for. At least I never moped, because, having acted like a sinner, I couldn't have the happiness of the saints. There were a good many years of it ; for I married when I was twenty-two, and I was fifty-three when I buried my poor old husband ; and we quarrelled a good deal at one time, but I was amusing and lively to the last" " Dr. Clayton once told me that you nursed Uncle Gatton most devotedly," said Esther. " Dr. Clayton admired me very much," said the old lady cheerfully. " But it's true, I wasn't a bad nurse. I don't pose as a monster of wickedness. Your uncle was childish during the last five years, and we had long ceased to quarrel. As for devotion — well, I missed him when it was over. No woman, unless she's absolutely bad, can fail to miss anything she has taken constant care of, — and I had ceased to pine for liberty. And that was all— that was all. But now he has come back " — her voice changed and vibrated 72 THE ALIEN cunously_"„ow Ae has come back, and though I am old, so old, yet the fire is still alive. There have been many waters, but it is not quenched. Perhaps nothing can quench that" ^ The flames in the grate leaped up and flickered. They were violet and pink and green, for the log was ship wood, and had good sea salt in it They made Esther thmk of ships and oceans, and lands far away. " I believe that your longing must have drawn your son home across the waves. Cousin Becky," said she, not knowmg that she repeated the thought that another rather mystically-minded soul had given vent to " Maybe, maybe," rejoined her cousin. " They used to say that I was a witch when I was young and hand- some I remember when I was sixteen, someone told me that, if Id lived a hundred years earlier, I should have been burnt at a stake. I was a woman by that time; but girls grow up much more slowly now, and some of em never are women at all, so it seems to me. I ve often seen fortunes in people's ey»s. I saw yours, Essie, when you first walked into my drawing- room. How pert you were, to be sure. But I knew you were not lucky." "You are rather uncanny to-night," said Esther, laughing, but impressed by this curious revelation of a superstition that underlay all her old cousin's shrewd- ness and worldly wisdom. " Come now. Cousin Becky you dont keep wax images with pins sticking in them do you ? You've never overlooked anyone ? " An odd expression flitted across Mrs. Mordaunt's face. "No, my dear," said she. "The wax images are melted now ; but I was a good hater once, and to THE ALIEN 73 this day," she added briskly, " I don't know that I'm above sticking an occasional pin into our dear Curtis, eh?" And at that they both smiled, for Mrs. Mor- daunt never allowed a conversation to remain pitched in a serious key too long. " All the same," she resumed (and she spoke as if she were exculpating herself)— " all the same, I do not wish Curtis Iredale any evil. I've often laughed at him. No one likes to have their successor poking round ; but I don't hate the man, and I never have. He was bound to irritate me— he always did, and always will; but it's natural love for my own, not hatred of Curtis, that makes me act as I do. If 1 were a millionaire, I'd leave him an equivalent for what he loses by my son's return, I would indeed; but I've not the money to do that, and what I've saved and scraped together out of my income, must go to you child. After all, Curtis Iredale has his West Indian property. He is quite rich enough ! " Esther listened in some surprise. It was unex- pectedly good of Cousin Becky to have such compunc- tions about the Major. "It's not spite, it's love," repeated Mrs. Mordaunt, with an eagerness that was a little feverish. " Why, of course," said Esther. " No one in their senses would dream of thinking you spiteful because you are glad that your own son will succeed 'you, instead of a distant relative that you have neve." cared for. Yet, if you are sorry for the Major's disappoint- ment, can you not leave a little less to me, and spare something for him ? " It was proof of the excellent terms on which the two women stood, and also perhaps of a certain uncon- 74 THE ALIEN ventionality in both natures, that she could say this without embarrassment. " Well, well, well I " said Cousin Becky, and a twinkle came into her eyes. " When I try to put my com- punction into £ s. d., I find it isn't worth so much. I like you a great deal better than I like Curtis, ray dear, so I can't do it. You're very disinterested. I suppose"— with sudden sharpness— " you won't marry him after all?" ' " Come now ! You told me long ago to wait till I was asked," said Esther, who fondly believed that Cousin Becky had never guessed that Curtis Iredale had once proposed to her. " But, even if such an unlikely idea as that of marrying an impecunious old maid were to enter his head, I wouldn't." They looked at each other, both remembering a good deal that had happened since Cousin Becky had given that sage advice. Then Esther got up and kissed the old woman. "I'm glad you gave me a real home, so that I wasn't tempted to marry for the sake of one," she said. " I've never regretted anything, you know." Cousin Becky shook her head "Well, you are made that way, child ! " she said, " and, if you don't regret, that's something! If it had been Rose or Lily's case, I should have bidden either of 'em marry the second man who asked them, if they couldn't have the first,— and the third, if the second failed ; but I doubted whether that would answer with you— it didn't altogether with me. Good-night." CHAPTER VII POSSESSION is nine points of the law. Esther recognised the truth of that proverb in the days that followed. Yet no man can really possess what he has not the strength to hold ; and, if the rule of the house had passed to strange hands, it was because the strange hands had grip enough to wield the sceptre. She was a little perplexed at the changed atmosphere, at the sudden preponderance of the masculine element. Yet she did not hate the newcomer, for he was a man whom women liked. Moreover, he was chivalrously reverent to his mother's adopted daughter, instinctively turning towards her the best and most presentable side of a many-sided character. These two middle-aged people, who were worlds apart in moral character, and separated by a gulf of experience deep as the gulf between Dives and Lazarus, that gulf that Father Abraham could not pass, were yet drawn together by the simple rudimentary fact that he was a very masculine man, and that she was a woman to the very tips of her fingers. She called him Mr. Rip Van Winkle half-playfully, half-seriously, accepting his suggestion that that name did very well, because it committed her to nothing. He sometimes caught her watching him with a questioning intentness that rather amused than offended him. Perhaps she was trying to discover whether he 76 THE ALIEN was good or bad, thought Rip Van Winkle. Perhaps she was weighing and appraising his character in the ■^adequate little scales that she kept in her violet- scented work-basket. His accent was slightly foreign, and his clothes com- tortable, but decidedly picturesque and un-British; yet, in spite of n:. "strangeness," he did not offend Esther's taste. Nor di^ he grasp roughly at power. It was always Mrs ' ..iJaunt who thrust responsibility upon him, turniro eagerly to him for advice, and following his smallest suggestion. His manner to her was tender and tinged by compunction. " IVe been about as care- less a son as you could find anywhere. I never even wrote to my mother for years," he said once. " And this IS the result. It isn't fair, is it ? but then what is ? I ve never been able to trace any symptoms of justice in the way in which the world is managed. Have you ? " Esther, who had been feeling sore that day, stood still on her way across the hall (she was carrying stiff- autumn dahlias to decorate the rooms), and reflected a inoment. « I don't know, for I've seen so very little" she replied. Then a momentary envy touched her. He ha.' seen so very much. One could read that in the expression of his black eyes, and in the ease with which he met al. kinds of people. He had had the joy of a life of adventure, and now, now that he was a little weary of action, now that he had supped his fill, he happened to recollect that he had a mother, and behold, adora- tion was eagerly watching for him. Not the mild affection that had been hardly won, and wistfully made the most of by the adopted daughter, but warm love, which IS a very different thing. THE ALIEN 77 "No, I don't know that I've met justice," Esther repeated, but, being too good a woman to stop there, added quickly, " But I believe in it all the same." " Well, I don't." said Rip Van Winkle. " So I may just as well do what my mother wants, and make her happy, anyhow." And what Mrs. Mordaunt wanted was clear enough (though the sequitur puzzled Esther) : she wanted him to he master. i-ie had been but a week in the house when Mrs. Mordaunt called Esther to her, and put a sum that surprised her into her hands. " That is for the household expenses for the quarter, my dear," said the old lady. " Manage as you find best! For the future you can count on that every three months. It is more than we have been in the habit of spending, but he tells me that it is not a penny too much, and that he sees his way to getting more out of the land, and to stopping up some holes through which my substance runs to waste. He was always clever." " May I do just as I choose with this ? " cried Esther. " Why, Cousin Becky, I shall make you as comfortable as the Queen, if I may really manage it all my own way ! " She coloured with pleasure, for, to tell the truth, she had been grievously hampered and harassed by petty restrictions. Her old cousin had been apt to scold mightily if a penny too much were expended on milk or butter. Esther had mended all the linen and dusted the china because the house was under-servanted. Perhaps there was no hardship in that, and she was probably the 78 THE ALIEN better for having plenty to do. but she had felt the pinch of a too rigid economy when she had been obhged to re-dam a tablecloth^hat was already ^. darn than hnen; and there had been times when she had impatiently declared that she would rather flL a :aTsidVo";r '-' ''- '-' - '-^ - -^X' a? atLr^fi?- "^ -- '■' --- Soi^oi* ;; /always hated it." said Esther joyfully contii^r^L^BLr .r°Lf r^"^''^' -^^ '^*=^^'" bility without po^^td thal'SVouTdZ nTman- Sen ^ZTn ^°'' y"'-' ^^°^ ""^ thaJ^o^m^rr:' ZTm ^ '! sentiment about self-sacrifice, which probably prevented you from remonstrating." v^J-." *^"'' * S""^^* '*«' °f nonsense" said tsther indignantly. She hated to hear blame cast on anyone she loved, as she loved Cousin BecTy and the truth of Rip Van Winkle's last-quoted remark WhatH"'"'"^'*^ ""'' '^^«"* his'championSp What business is it of his ? After all, I would rather' hav" r t jr *'"^^ ^°"^^^''= ^"^ ' ^-'^ "- atu .hnnM ^J ?'^.°'"" ^^y- ^"'^ ^ « ""Other of threeroundfaced, healthy utle boys. She shook her head over the stoo'. th ,r^f'*''.^''J°''""y""' Albert would ever do a thing like that ! said she. " Arthur is more difficult to manage. He certamly has a peculiarly sensitive temperament; but no, Arthur would be too affectionate to give his mother so much pain. Arthur would never have the heart to go on pretending that he was do d for any i!^\^i *""^i 1^°''^^ ^ '■^'^"'"^^^ o"«. «ft" his father had caned him, that he locked his door, and lay so st.ll for so long that I became terribly alarmed You never know what bad result may not ensue from the shock of physical violence on a child's system We forced the door at last, and there lay the dear little fellow fast asleep, with tears on his cheek. It was a lesson to me ! I never allowed anyone to strike him again. KM '°'l '°"^^ treatment may answer with some !;'^"\."' " " '"°'' dangerous to a boy like Arthur" Mrs. Mason, inquisitive though she was about the heirs return, was apt to find any subject pale in interest beside that of the difficulties besetting Arthur's moral and physical constitution. But the other guest who was not a mother, broke in impatiently with a sharp question delivered in a sharp voice, calculated to bring the conversation back to its starting-point " So the next thing you heard about your son was the news of his death? How did he manage about his clothes? I suppose he must have changed them on the beach?" "Well, I fancy he could hardly have got to Mar- seilles in a state of nature," said Mrs. Mordaunt "Then the body they found and buried was not his at all ? THE ALIEN 89 The old lady's eyes twinkled. " After much consid- eration I have arrived at that same conclusion," said sl.c Esther began to grow nervous. She was aware that Miss Fairfax rubbed her Cousin t cky the wrong way. Miss Fairfax was a lady who had inherited an abrupt manner, as well as a large fortune, from her Jather. who had made his money in coal. Her very dress irritated Mrs. Mordaunt, by its slight affectation of mannishness. " She takes her deficiency for virtue, my dear," the old woman had once remarked. • But I assure you Its not at all the same thing." It must be owned that Mrs. Mordaunt's strictures were apt to be more trenchant than refined, and Esther had some cause for anxiety. "Of course you forgave him, for men are always forgiven, and very bad it is for them," said Miss Fair- fax. " But I think that he behaved abominably ' " "Well, well! Men do bad things sometimes, but they don t say so many abominable things as we do" said Mrs. Mordaunt " I almost think that they've better manners, and. to my mind, it is easier to forgive doings than sayings! What's done amiss makes a clear cu^ but what's said amiss makes an irritating scratch. However, that's a mere matter of tempera- ment. As for forgiving my own son, why, to tell you the truth, I never so much as thought about doing that " "You've not forgiven him?" said Miss Fairfax frowning in some perplexity. ' " Lord save us ! No ! " said the old woman. " But have some more tea, my dear. You and I talk two languages, eh? but we both like tea. Where was I when you interrupted me? Ah, I was going to tell 90 THE ALIEN you how, having left his clothes on the beach, he got to Marseilles, and there embarked for Greece." She plunged into the story of her son's adventures with a spirit and verve which made the recital xvell worth listening to. She was a most excellent raconteur. it IS probable that she romanced more than a little ..he was certainly not troubled by small scruples, and a less loyal woman than Esther might have wondered whether the old lady, who swallowed gnats so cheer- iuUy, might not be capable of managing a camel too— on an emergency. "We've given them a sensation and plenty to gossip about," said Mrs. Mordaunt when her guests at last departed. "They can't complain that they've g-ne away hungry. That's true charity, Essie ! But how glum you look. You didn't help me much." "I don't think you needed my assistance." said Esther, half laughing. "Why, how you talked i" Mrs. Mordaunt hobbled restlessly about the room She never could settle down peacefully nowadays before her son came in. For that reason, at anyrate, Esther was thankful when the man's step sounded in the hall. Yet the slight vertical line between her eyebrows, which always deepened when she was per- turbed, showed itself plainl;- when he entered the drawing-room. It was noticeable that he entered as one who is at home, and master. He smiled kindly at Esther. Then sat down near his mother in the chair that had come to be recognised as his. Well, Ive had it out with Wilco.x about those tenants in East Sheen," he said. "They've been treated scurvily. It was a d— d shame, mother. You'd no business to raise Green's rent on account of the THE ALIEN 91 improvements he has made. The place was a pig-sty whe:. the fellow took it, an- ''^-n Esther frowned Mr. Joel's delicate perception had perhaps apprehended a truth, but she had wished for a "Tk f i"'", f^""°" °^ ^^' difficulties. She did not catch hold of the clue he offered. M wonder whether I should go, or stay ? " she said 1 am more puzzled than I have ever been before ndeed." she added, " I've had so uneventful a lifV hat beheve my power of decision has got eaten away by rust The Major tells me that I ought to leave; bu^ then he is convmcod that this Rip Van Winkle is an arrant impostor." vvmkie is an " Major Iredale is a good man," said Mr. Joel, "but he IS mchned to suspect anything or anyone made alter a foreign pat srn." "Yes, yes," Esther agreed quickly. " Of course Purtis ,s painfully British. And this stranger is alien to us in m.ny of his ways though he is an Englishman born. He IS wonderfully clever. He is very like Cousin Becky. That is why I believe in him And she-she IS absorbed in him. He has had the most curious effect on her. All her aches and pains seem to have been burnt away in the fire of her excitement. Vet there IS no rest or peace in her love. I keep thinking about new wines being poured into old bottles 7 98 THE ALIEN The old bottles burst when that happens, don't they ? I feel as if this could not last. It is wonderful, but it is unnatural. My Cousin Becky has always been a shrewd person, full of common-sense ; but now it is as if she were — why, that is what you said of him — ss if she were unhinged, intoxicated with the rapture of having him. Am I jealous, Godfather ? It is rather hard to discover of how little account I have ever really been, compared to him. Yet I do not think it is altogether jealousy that torments me. It — it is dread." " My dear, I have never thought you a jealous woman," said the old man gently. " Poor soul, poor soul," he murmured to himself. " We try to slake our thirst at many streams. But in the end — in the end, surely. Thou wilt show us the water of Life ? And after all, are they not all from one source, though they take many colours and much impurity on the way ? " Esther laid her hand on his knee to call back his attention. " When I see that my Cousin Becky is relieved when I leave her alone with her son, why, then I begin to think • perhaps I had better gr away.' But again, when I see that her dear old hands shake, and her eyes get wild with anxiety in his absence ; that she starts when she hears a shot in the wood, lest he should have been shot by accident; that she wanders rest- lessly about the house if he is late in coming in — why, then I think I must stay to take care of her." " And in my opinion you think well," said Mr. Joel. " But then again. Godfather — I would te!' this to no one but you — then again, the sense of something being THE ALIEN 99 Ih.. yo„ would co„.idrrtS ™whi :™ V*" be miveH uritJ, n, whether beer should loud, for fear lest th^' sh "uM S ^""Vhev 1°° very easily annoyed" ^ ^"^^^ ^""^ Of SSi';sis s .°'~ -I- '^ -• «« tion of the bees' food *° ^''^ considera- herself had been niggardly of faith and love? 100 THE ALIEN lane; his tall figure appeared almost gigantic in the gloaming ; an unyielding grimness pervaded his whole aspect. "You are late, Cousin Esther," said he. "These roads are lonely for a woman to be out alone in after dark." " I know all the country people," replied Esther. " Not one of them would hurt me. It is only Cousin Becky's hares that need be afraid of some of them." " A poaching set ! " said the Major. " They always were, and always will be. As for you, you always were and always will be imprudent, if you live to be ninety." " And indeed caution has nothing to do with age," Esther agreed with a smile. " If I live to be a hundred, Curtis, I shall still be of opinion that it is better to be too trusting than too suspicious. There are plenty of things that are quite worth risking broken limbs for, but, if you are over-careful, you get no satis- faction at all out of your fault." The Major turned and walked by her side without a " by your leave." " But unfortunately," said he, " the people who are ready to risk a break with such light hearts, are not particular as to whose limbs suffer." He spoke with a severe gravity too heavy for the occasion. Esther was half-inclined to contradict what she considered an obviously false statement, but she refrained, f r she knew by experience that the Major always insisted on carrying an argument to the bitter end ; and her feminine intuition told her that his remark hi \ been prompted by personal bitterness, with which there is never any use in arguing 1 THE ALIEN loi She tried to mollify him, for bitterness always woke the pity and sympathy of which she possessed a plentiful store. " Since you wUl chaperon me home, as if I were still^in my twenties," said she, " let us go by the beech But the Major was not mollified. His grievance was big and sore, and he was angry because Esther was not on his side. Beeches are the trees of Arcadia ! the trees of the Watteau pictures. They lend themselves to romance, but not to tragedy. The light falls soft and mellow between their shimmering leaves; they whisper tender and dreamy messages. But the Major stalked through tihe Mover's walk" as if he felt the beauty of the beeches was somehow an added insult, and presently he pointed with his stick to certain white chalk crosses signs of condemnation. "The interloper is already instituting fine changes in every direction, I see," said n, K. . u '"^'■''^'^ ^^^ ^^"y f^" that I said ought to be cut down when I paid my annual visit tt^ time last year. I remember you were against me. You indulged in a vast deal of sentiment then How IS ,t that he has over-persuaded you?" Was I sentimental? But it was not the trees I cou!dn> ' '' "'u '^"""" ^'"^y- ^'^' •"«' Curtis, couldnt you see that?" said Esther, with a touch of .mpatience. "Was it likely I should support you or anyone else m doing anything she disliked? Nowa- days she doesn't care two straws what is done or what If r.T^' '° '°"^ ^' ^^' ^°" g^ts his own way- and what does a tree here or there matter ? " She paused a moment, and then an idea came to 102 THE ALIEN her. She was naturally hopeful, and she was fresh from the company of a man whose faith in the under- ying goodness and generosity of his brothers and sisters was so vivid that it often seemed to create that m which it trusted. .u 'l^''*f '^" '"^"^'■' '^''^* '* ""^^'ly °f importance, is that her last years should not be harassed by miserable lawsuits, that her new happiness should not be spoilt " she cried earnestly. "That is what I am anxious about now. She is very plucky, you know. She will be game to the last, but she is old ; she is close on seventy.four. If there were any long uncertainty the strain would kill her. Think, oh, Curtis! do think about that." Tears stood in her eyes, and the Major was not entirely unsusceptible to their effect. Esther's special pleading was hardly fair; but then he was not a man who looked for, or even greatly admired, impaniality in a woman. He smiled grimly, glanced at her sideways, and pulled at his heavy black moustache. He had a slow, seldom-reached, an.l rather unexpected sense of humour. It did not often show itself, but it was awakened now by Esther's eagerness. "You remind me of the fable of the wolf and the lamb, said he. " A scamp comes to take my inherit- ance, and, when I venture on a feeble bleat of protest, I m told that I am bent on killing my old relative, and that I m a fierce and brutal character." And, indeed, there was much to be said for that view of the case. The poor Major, who had the un- popular and unromantic side of the story, was by no means well treated ; though he did not look particularly lamb-hke. ' THE ALIEN 103 " But if he is not a scamp, what then ? " The Major shook his head. " I remember Gatton." " You are so sure you are right ! " cried Esther. " But every day I see fresh proofs that you are wrong. At first I doubted too, but the man has little tricks of manner and expression that convince me hour by hour. Yesterday something irritated him, and I caup'it him swinging his foot to and fro just as my Cousii. Becky does when she is put out. When he laughs, he tilts his head back exactly as she does. When he repeats anything that someone has said, he reproduces the manner and voice of the original speaker to the life, and so does she. When he describes something, he looks into space as though he actually were seeing the scene he is describing. Cousin Becky is the only other person I know who does that" " You don't say so! " said the Major. " It's disgust- mg ! So he takes note of my poor deluded cousin's peculiarities, and mimics them for your and the public benefit. I only hope that you will not be murdered, as well as robbed, by this peeping, acting vagabond. All that you have told me has certainly greatly mcreased my bad opinion of the fellow." Esther stood still with heightened colour. " In that case I will tell you no more. Good-night, Curtis." But at that the Major relaxed. "Come, come Esther," he said, "don't rush off at a tangent It would be a thousand pities that a rascal should succeed in putting you into a huff with me, who have always been your very true friend. Try to keep cool in this matter. Let us discuss it quietly and without prejuaice. What is it that you wish me to do ? You are anxious that I should not at once bring an 104 THE ALIEN F-itT^ w tnout so much as winking an cydid ? " tranquillity sTJ a' "'V"'" °^ ''^ Cousin Becky's convinc.., srS"n„'t,^„^'' ^'."? '^^X «.».r.iriSo;°.r i:s5' ^ -^ -*on. be eM „„„ J% ° "• °' ™l»slurt. I ,h„„u ■to I dZ thShH r"'"' ,""' ''*""'■''"' ~» ^SnT.ln;;T;".,.UT ' ^" »« '"^ -^ .H==nd,b...Ha.j.,'drL';;".i:srs:; THE ALIEN 105 for she would squeeze the money out of the land of the land wh.ch should one day be his. Possibly other and gentler arguments, which he did not trans- late into words, also availed something. "but therV'^^M h',^'' ""^ education," he repeated; but here s old Holdsworthy ! He's a criminal lawye own. It I had his aid in the investigation, and he were given eveo^ facility for full inquiry, the matter might be managed with a decent rega^ for ap^Ir -ce^, I hate the public washing 'of dirty TaS^ "May I tell Cousin Becky that (after full inqairv^ you will abide by Mr. Holdsworthy's opinion ? "^^^ « that ^.n •"' ^1^%'" '"''' '^^ ^^J°^' ^l"-" ' ^"'^'""ly. fa« hn I ^T"' '"'' ' ""' ^° ^"^«°f that fact that nothing and nc one can ever convince me to ulf^nH f ^^^ ^.^'^"' '^^ ^"^'"^^ against me. afte .LT It \"^^^t'g^t'°"- He will, of course, have to employ detectives. I reserve my private opinion-that .s unalterable. I make this offer only o'n condition *at my cousin on her side shall in like manner abide by Mr. Holdsworthy's verdict, so far as practical issues are concerned. If she is so deluded as%o believe to her dying day (in spite of adverse evidence) that the man « -atton, that must lie between her and her God. It IS a fair offer, and I won't go a step beyond it She's suspiciously afraid of the law, eh?" It i's^"' U^"^"^- ^°"''" ^'"^y '^ ^^^-^y t° fight now. It IS I who am a coward for her. and who dread seeing her put in a witness-box and bullied by lawyers." 106 THE ALIEN .,-!i^°"''^ ^°°^'^^^y *^"'^" *h"e she is concerned" Esther gave more than she got. always angered him preJndTt t \^"'l '' '''' «='---t were what he pretends to be what then ? I very much fear you'd be no longer required over there." He pcMnted to the house, which they were now neanng havmg left the beech trees l^hind H.^ words hurt Esther like a blow, and she winced The Maj^ had a wonderful knack of saying the wrong thing My Cousin Becky has never hinted that my Tut mi '^;^'-. "''"'' '''' ^°" '^ never anything but most kmd and courteous to everyone. Yet I thmk you may be sure that I am not likely to stay anywhere where I am not wanted" ^ "You are ve^^ hasty, Esther." said the Major. You need not be so ang.y. I have a reason for :nTrLdt"n/.r P'- -, or whether you have woSdSiis:?:s^;t^:r^'^"— her^hanH'''''/rJ''l.'''' garden-gate, and she put out her hand and bade him good-bye. He held it fast for a moment. " I should never have suspected tha 1 doubt that he wears sheep's clothing when he talks to " [ side with no ce. I only try to stand by my Cousm Becky/' said ,.oor Esther. She pulled "e^ hand away, and went in with a heavy and perplexed THE ALIEN 107 The Major, as he stood looking first at her and then at the ugly grey house, which he was very fond of, was heavy-hearted too. It was sad that Esther should be deluded; it was a shame that everyone should be against him, when he was so clearly and absolutely in the right; but at least he was spared the miseries of perplexity, and moreover he was upheld by a good old-fashioned simple belief in the ultimate triumph of honesty and righteousness. The ungodly might flourish like a green bay-tree, but their end must always be humiliation and defeat " The fellow may dance a while longer, but the noose IS round his neck, and one day he'll swing in it," said the Major; with which consolatory thought he turned his back on the big house, and trudged off to the lodging in the village, from which he watched events Esther was late for dinner, but Rip Van Winkle was late too, so her bad behaviour was covered by his while his flow of conversation covered her depressed silence. He knew instinctively when anyone who happened to be in the same room with him was, as he would have expressed it, "down on their luck." If he were friendly disposed, his fine tact was com- fortably and unobtrusively at the sufferer's service- if he were »ot, he could be acutely and proportionately unpleasant; but where women were concerned, that last was seldom the case. At Applehurst the mahogany was cleared for dessert It was an old-fashioned custom, which Esther had at first laughed at, then loved and clung to. She liked to see the silver and glass and flowers reflected in the polished surface of wood. In a rather colourless life, she had seized pathetically on every bit of beauty or 108 THE ALIEN hid Lt tt *: "°^' °' -■*• W'>- *e servants had left the room she made an effort to speak. She had never before been nervous about sayinj anything xtra°ordLrl ',' '"' ""f °" ^ g-wing sense of S extraordmary closeness of the tie between the old hT:hV"'ESh "r ,f ^ ''' °" '^^^ "^'^^ •^^ "^ -^-^e her bread £■ ' t ^'"''^ "P"^''*' ^"^ <=™«'Wed exchantri, ^ '!," ':''' ''"" ''"&«"• Mother and son faces It rn/t'"'''- '^^''' dark-skinned, vivid read^i^rt ' ^'"'''' ''"^ ^''Perien.e enough to wert out^H I ""f '°"' '^ " '^""^^"'^ experiences Ihich tTher own ""Z. -'^^ °f -" "tterly alien character "PathSiv" S "" ""r' pathetically unlike them. Jathefcally because she loved one of them so "Do you know, Cousin Becky, I find that Curtis is not so veo^ d.smclined to put off that terrible lawsui 'prlvatelv-^ET'' "i"' ^'^ ^^" ^'"'^•^'^ <='--« IZl t. ^ ^' '^"^ ** '=^*' and then she gave a somewhat softened account of her interview wifhThe "Dear Curtis!" ejaculated Cousin Becky. "It's nnghty condescending of him to take the trouble to t'haTl donT r '''''■ '"'' '' P"^^^'"'^' .-nexpensitdy that I dont know my own son when I see him " ts a canny move on my good Cousin Iredale's part sa,d Rip Van Winkle. ">or, if I bring over whelmmg proof, as I can, of my identity, he liH be warned .„ fme, and save the cost of a usefe s stT ggle Its always just as well to see which way the eft's preparmg to jump." ^ ^^^ '^ So soon as dinner was over Esther pleaded a head- ache, and went to her own room. Mrs. Mordaunt THE ALIEN 109 moved her chair closer to her son's. He glanced round the spacious, badly-lighted room. " This dining-room would hold a regiment ! It's rather big for two people," said he. " It does not seem too large, now that you are sitting here," she answered. He shrugged his shoulders, then began to explain to her some details connected with the management of the land. He was about to ti/ a new system of manuring. He /as anxious to let a portion of the property on the west side in plots and on long leases to the tenants. He described at some length how the hay had rotted because there had not been " hands " to carry it ; he was full of new ideas, and it was characteristic of the man, who was by nature a leader, that he had already to a great extent impressed his views on a most conservative and suspicious peasantry. " Wilcox is heart and soul for me," he said. " The others are beginning to come round. I am to speak to them all to-morrow night at the ' Red Lion.' " Mrs. Mordaunt heard him for a few minutes with a flash of attention, but his point of view was confusing to her ; she shook her head and contented herself with listening only to the sound of his voice, and with watching the changing expression of his face. " I cannot take in these new-fangled plans ; but do just whatever you choose," said she. "But I want you to understand. It is your property," he said. "Why, you used to be a keen business woman." " Yes, yes, I was once," she owned. " I tried to fill myself with husks I They were hard and dry and 110 THE ALIEN •Wo, that woud be more ah.!,,,-^ •• u Then with a sudden chang^ of " '; " 1^""^- nonsense that woman tall,»H fi," 7 * °'^'^ ' ^^'^a* abide n,idd,e4rs;i S.^';S"r"- ' """°* Essie Even she is h%h falutin^te^er^'""" °^ have marred TLrV° vT?''' ^^^''^P^ ^ ^''°"'d said musingly. ^ " ^"^''^ '^^^ "<<« Esther," he HettTaSaVhT '■"" '''^ ^'' ^-"'^ ^yes. "No I don't wa„tt^'S/sSyr°'^.t"f" an^.TafrouTt-.r^^^^^^^^^ "°f^ a pretence satisfy you? "he said Tt, u laughed. « That is K»^„ "^ ' "^ ^^'"- Then he and so am 1 1" "'""'" y°" "''^ ^"<=h ^ born actor, " Ah ! my son," she cried. " If you wer^ f„ gomg would kil, me. r/.. is true'Z^^"^" ^°'^°"^ And so mdeed it was ! CHAPTER IX "\17"HEN Esther was a younger woman she had V V often been troubled by curious and feverishly allegorical dreams. With middle age these visions had jocome more rare, but her sleep was fancy-haunted that night. She dreamt that she was kneeling in the cathedral at Bourges, and straight down from the lofty roof, with feet that at last all but touched the ledge of her pne-dieu, and with wings that glowed like crimson and purple fire, dropped an angel. The stained glass of Bourgis had made Esther's brain reel. She had felt drunk with satisfaction once (long, long ago), when she haa stood in that vast and stately place and gazed up at the pure, deep jewels of living colour. In her dream she experienced the same acute pleasure and the same giddy sensation while her eyes dwelt on the angel's wings; and that was perhaps why she could not follow what the messenger had to say. She was only dimly aware that his message implied blame to her Cousin Becky; and then something else distracted her. Though still kneeling in a devout attitude at her vvooden prie-dieu, she was straining her ears to catch the murmur of two voices that reached her from below and something in the sound touched her quite unreason-' ably, and moved her to warm expostulation. Perhaps there was a reminiscence of the Major in the stuff in 112 THE ALIEN \yhich the dream was woven. " Nobody who always lives in heaven can possibly understand or have the right to judge people like Cousin Becky and Mr. Rip Van Winkle," she told the angel, wila that down- right earnestness which characterises our behaviour in dreams. "To understand, you must have been in hell." "Will you go there, Esther?" asked the angel ; and, crying an answer aloud, she woke. She sat up in bed, rubbed her eyes, and laughed. How many years was it since she had been so ridiculously aroused ? Not certainly during the last fifteen. At the time of the Egyptian war, when her lover was with the Naval Brigade, she had constantly been awakened from troubled slumbers by the sound of her own voice calling or weeping — but that was such ages ago. Daylight was beginning to creep into the house. She opened her shutters, and now it was not of the past she thought, but of the present, and of the near future, while she looked across the park. Mr. Rip Van Winkle had undoubtedly widened her view, both liter- ally and metaphorically. On the whole Esther re- joiced at that ; she had grown weary of always seeing the same trees. There would be no use in going back to bed ; she determined to dress, and secure a quiet time for reading, before the world was astir. She had become less studious of late, a backsliding for which she took herself to task with unnecessary severity, for, in common with many other women whose lives lack fulness, Esther was a trifle too apt to manufacture duties. She found the effort of concentration more difficult than it used to be, for, though she had loved J I THE ALIEN ^g books, s:.e had loved them a< r»^„,j /■ , impersonal had comparatTveTv ^H \ '''r''*'^' (*'*'' and just now the ^nZl L ^ '=''"'" ^°' Esther), stood in the passa J P- ^f \ '^'''^'^'^ ^''"^ ^he of having theThoTp,aS^Ited^;"t'^^^ "'1^^'^ -r— ss^-~-s3'::^s butwhich had /o^ .o,f ™ Id f^dTd .^^r ""^• "Jasper! Jasper!" wingedXTerr%'h7 °' '" r '"'^ ^^^ ''- ^-t Oriental dressing-gown in whkh h. i T.'" ^ 'I"""'' English than usual ''" '°°''"'^ '"°'-« «"- ca.S;:?J'^id^:h^ "^°'^-Her. She is the?wt'nrti„?e" to f' '"" ^^ '^^' "'^"' ^'"^ '"^^t monious ho d o her arL and T'X '^ '°°^ ""-- his mother's room ' "'""' ''"^ ^'^'^ ''''" '"to 8 114 THE ALIEN The old woman was sitting bolt-upright in a huge four-poster bed. Her face, drawn and twisted by extreme pain, stood out sharp as yellow ivory against the heavy maroon-coloured bed-hangings. Her black eyes were wide open and staring, her hands clutched the coverlet, and she was gasping for breath. Esther trembled from head to foot. She was a patient and tender nurse when her cousin suffered from ordinary attacks of gout or liver, but this emergency surprised her, and she was unaccustomed to surprises. It was Rip Van Winkle, therefore, who took capable hold of the situation. "Is there sal volatile anywhere at hand?" he asked. Esther found her voice with an effort. "In the medicine -closet, over the wash-hand stand; but it is locked, and I don't know where the key^ are." He was across the room, and had forced the lock with a pair of nail-scissors before she had finished her sentence. There was laudanum as well as sal volatile in the cupboard, and he pounced on it at once, and administered sixty drops. Presently the sharpness of the agony relaxed, and the old woman, as she leant back on her son's arm, forced a faint, brave attempt at a smile with white lips. "I — I thought my hour had struck, Jasper," whispered she, " but the pain has let go this time. That was a sharp squeeze, though — I shan't stand such another. If it comes back, I shall die. I don't want to die, now that you've come home. No — I don't want to die." On her face terror was written, a kind of appealing he I I THE ALIEN 115 terror, such as Esther had never seen there before Its all nght, mother. It won't come back You're not gomg to die. We sat up talking too long - That's what has played the deuce with you. You ought o ~ "'7'"' ^^"^^■••" ^^'''- had recove ed h r nerve now, and was busy lighting a spirit-lamp. I am going to fill my despised hot bottle, and put You'lfr f ' ""r" ^"''>''" ^"^^ ^-d cheerfully shI pied i^: V w'"u *° •' ''•' °"'=^" But whe^n sne passed Rip Van Wmkle, who was sittinfr on the edgeof the bed supporting his mother's littfe shrunk figure she whispered that she would rouse the setantt and send post-haste for the doctor saf7Z ""• ^"' ^ r'^" ^"'■'^ ^''- "She'll feel qukki? ^^ ''°" ''°"* *^ ™°'"- Come back He was reluctant that she should go. To tell the raH'tn^h-'^' T -'"^ '^^ P^^-"- "^ - no cm.ar-1, and his ready wit never failed him, as Esther's had momentarily failed her, but yet he did not ll^e the situation. Poor old mother! he dreaded JZ possibility that she might die then and fh e Ir ng E thers absence. He had seen sudden dea h TrJ gipsy blood in him_it always appeared far mnre horr^le to die in a bed than to die out of doors from wound or misadventure. He understood the old woman's dread, and it seemed to him (and the curiot fact can only be stated without explanation) that if the mysterious flight of the soul were about to take Sm^nlirE-tr^'""'^ advantageous that a g'ood ^voman like Esther, a woman who presumably believH 116 THE ALIEN in religious mysteries and was in touch with the invisible should be present ' It did not take place just then, however. The pain passed as completely and suddenly as it hod come The deadly pallor softened into something less ghastly On Esther's return, she found her old cousin dozing naturally, and, when the doctor arrived, as quickly as might be, the old lady actually woke to greet him with a joke. Esther even descried a triumphant glee about her, when Dr. Clayton complimented Rip Van Winkle on his promptitude. " It was lucky that you lost no time," the doctor remarked, with a glance at the broken hasp of the medicine-closet, "and that you knew how to do the right thing at once." "He wouldn't have been my son if he had fiddle- faddled at a crisis," said Mrs. Mordaunt from her bed in a weak but decisive voice. She never lost an opportunity of driving a nail home in the fabric which she was building. Dr. Clayton (he was a kind, grey-haired man, on whose broad, plain countenance goodness was writ so large that any child could read it) looked with slew benevolent attention from the eager, wizened face of the old woman to the man who was now standing up, and rubbing his stiffened arm with a queer smile. " There certainly could never be a doubt in my mind as to whose son you are, my dear sir," he said deliber- ately. " You resemble your mother in a marked degree I have had occasion to observe in her that same excel- lent quality of readiness which you fortunately inherit " Rip Van Winkle received the compliment pleasantly He had charming manners " I only wish that every- THE ALIEN nj one were as sharp-sighted as you are doctor" «.v. k and Esther knew that the oid^an was pTeS^d."" ''' ste2vSni°" TL""' ^''^^P-'ghted, but he was a What would have happened if Rip Van Wini" want to die. Her heart went out with warm vhaTt dr*"H'".*°r'^ '""^ ■"- -•^° had k Town ina nerselt from remorse. "He is worth , j scatter-brained fools like mysel"' Esther told h°","r somewhat unfairly. "And I must rf^ i '^"^ any doubts about^im again "' '^""'^ "'''' '^^^'= Dr. Clayton found her in this humble and de icdiise tnat she was no loneer a mVl fr., • »ta A «rt.,„ ch,]d-i,ke c.„" ' /!!'"''■'! ?'""" ■■emarkeJ, ■ th.! among the queer He laiighed. " Perhaps-and nasty things too on iTanT ell "' T ^^^^''"^ '""^ ^'"'^ ^" ''^^ -- can t tell you how much I have admired the way in d ffi ,r n7 ''''''" ""'■ The position was Z of metif^with ^ ^ !• ^'^ ""^^''^^'^ ^'°-- -">d have met It w.th any d.gn.ty. In my experience, unselfish women are extremely rare." ""seinsn Kl ^* n'' '" 'P"^ °^ ^" thirty-seven years, could still blush hke a girl, and she blushed now. " I am no ; really pa t.cularly unselfish," she said, and then stop^Ld j short. _^^e was not in the habit of discussing her Z ^ J,' ^"f. ^l^" t ''''^'"'' ^'*"^*'°"' °f course, but it her anJ*^ Z u"""'"' '='>'^^'''°"s consideration for TmrTu- ^°'"^^ *"' ^PP'-eciation, had lightened the d.ffic^t.es. H.S tact was as fine as a tactful woman's. ness F,r' ,.' T"'""- ^^^^^P^' ^°' ^» ^er good- ness, Esther could hardly have borne the intrusion of a genume daughter. Then across these kindly thoughts shot another, disturbing and sinister. Esther was Lous n Becky s son, #«/_yes, there was always a " but " alm!^!""'', '*''"! ^""''''that she gave vofce to no; almost mvoluntardy. " But why did she call you Jasper? " The words rose to her lips without premeditation. 122 THE ALIEN N but he had been expecting them, and he answered without any embarrassment— answered "Ah so you noticed that? Well, to tell you the ruth, .t ,s only in public that she ev;r calls me any! th.ng else. Jasper is, and always was her name for me" addeH% r'' P°'f' ' '^^'^' °^ amusement gave added frankness to his explanation. "I cannot re t^roid^*''* fr ^^7 ^^°'^ ^° - - "^"^" ^ the old days, before I went away. She was not a demonstrative mother then; she shows her affect o^ far more openly now than she did. but"- "But she had her own name for you. I can quae understand," said Esther softly. And at tha" the cunous rehsh he sometimes took in acting hid iS head and was temporarily scotched Esther was horribly ashamed of her suspicions. She would have been proportionately surprised had she known that at that moment /. was horribly ashamed too His gipsy-black eyes had exactly that baffling ex- pression m them that his mothe-^s sometimes had when Esther bestowed on her those little tenr atttn tions that were the natural expression of a very real admiration and love. ^ "Now I wonder what words this innocent anH pretty lady would find to express her opinio"" f'^^ in. If she did quite understand?" he said to himself It s ruck him that Esther's vocabulary would be unsuited to the occasion, and the thought made him o"f\.' '^"^' 'T'' '^"^^ ''''' '^^-At the colour to Esthers cheek, and that yet did not alienate her simply because it was so strangely like her Cous S Beckys laugh, that, as she said to herself, it was enough to prove whose child he was." if THE ALIEN 'But I do not know why 123 . , — are amused," she sa:.i gravely. " I did not see that there was anything the least funny in what we have been talking about" " No more do I, Esther," said he. " My boyhood wasnt particularly funny, goodness knows! It was tragic. I was a tragic young fool!" " Then why did you laugh ? " persisted Esther. She was not usually inquisitive, but a desi c to understand had taken possession of her, as it once took possession of mother Eve. when she stood in her sheltered garden and was offered that knowledge of good and of evil that led to labour, and sorrow, and love "Now why the dickens did I?" he repeated medi- tatively. " I think it might have been because that bit of rug (we want new rugs, don't we?) reminded me of a bale of carpets I once saw on the quay of Marseilles, and of a very funny story connected with them Or," with a gleam of mischief, when she shook her head doubtfully, "it might have been for quite another reason. Because " " I did not ask you why you might have laughed " said Esther, " but why you did." And at that he laughed again, and a whim seized him or her candid eyes touched him, and he spoke the truti or at least part of it. "Why, then, it was because apparently there is just three yards of much- worn Turkey carpet between the place where you are and the place where I am. But in reality there is a gulf that is so broad and deep that it is sometimes- laughable to hear you trying to talk across it" ,JT 'T t P""""'' 'y^'- ^"'^ '^^ g°' "P q"i^kly, lest they should be seen. " That does not make me laugh." she said • " I do not see any joke in that." CHAPTER X pi , ''^'"^'''^ auxiliary in the sick-room and Esthers gratitude increased. It is true that h; was the ;:jt' " :""' '"''• ''"' ^»>^" ^^^^ -"e-d M A . "'^ ''^ "^""'^ ^° n° ^^rong in Mrs Mordaunt's eyes, and because the very sound of hfs" andlTereTthe^'Td'° '"• ""^ "^"""^ ^'^^^ -- ana interest the old woman, and, stranee fact h^ h,^ IfX-o".;?!''" ~'^ '" "'"-- """ Esther got into a way of appealing to him in difficulties, and, had he disappeared into space again She Z 5'T "'"^' '''■'" "^"'^ *han she ealSd She believed that without the strong stimulus of his presence her Cousin Becky would nfver have go on to tt '^"'"; ^' '' "^^' ^'^^ ^-^ "P -d aboutand to the casual observer, nearly as brisk a. e^^.l ! Esther had noticed before. ^ The wild excitement of the last few months seemed to have caused a kind of moral as well as phy Si S up. Mrs. Mordaunt was feverishly fond of her son but" when he was not by to absorb her every thouS,"' she Clung to Esther in a way she had never'c Lglefote I THE ALIEN 125 She had been a very self-reliant person, and one who had always preferred to spend much time alone; but now she liked to have her adopted daughter with her, and would talk to her constantly of her past life, of her long yearning after her boy, of the unhappiness of the first years of her marriage, of the miseries of her uncared-for childhood and girlhood. Esther's warm heart ached over these revelations It was ancient history indeed. It had all happened (as Cousm Becky remarked) long before she was born or even thought of. And yet what woman can ever hear of a badly treated child, without an indignant quickenmg of her pulses ? "Dear Cousin Becky, I think that it was wonderful that you should have grown up into such a good ^■^Au' .,'1^^' '^''^ °"^ ''^y- "Jf I had had a childhood like that I know that I should have turned sour or melancholy. All this just proves what excel- lent stuff you were made of" The two women were sitting together by the fire but Mrs. Mordaunt leant forward and patted Esther's hand with a demonstration of affection which she would hardly have shown then. "No! I was never what :you would call 'good'" said she. " But I douot whether you'd have survived 'in the circumstances. You're of a more refined make morally as well as physically. Your father wasn't a drunkard, nor your mother a light woman. My lather beat my mother once, and I stood by and screamed. I was ten years old. After that she ran away from him, and I thought her an injured martyr (though with a curious tendency to lies), but unfortun- li ! i .M 126 THE ALIEN ate y learnt to know better in the course of a year or two It wasn't the sort of experience that goes to W.e malcng of the fresh, innocent type of English girl; but I was hardy, my dear, and I managed to enjoy We, m spite of some drawbacks. Indeed, I'm not at all sure, taking .t all round, that I haven't enjoyed life a deal more than you ever have or ever will. Now that is a thmg you can't understand. When I tell you these old stones you pity me from your standpoint, but, good Lord, Esther! I never worried my head when } was young At least, not till trouble jumped at me and slapped me in the face, and then I slapped back as uard as I could. Why, I could sit and laugh some- {^Z:^"rJ '"" y?" P"<=kering up your pretty white forehead (.ts wonderful how you've kept your com- plexion;, and getting a pain in your conscience over nothings. But," she added, "you have a sense of humour, my dear, and you have a heart, and that's why we are friends." r. "/T^^";" '^■'^ ^"''^'■' *'°^'y- "^o^'y^ been a good friend to me. Cousin Becky. I was a lucky g.rl to fall in with you. But now that I'm not in he least a girl any longer, I begin to suspect that X ve not been much of a friend to you." The old lady gave her a sudden sharp look. " Well 1 never could make confidantes of other women That such a bad sort, Essie, as to soil the ears of a girl with any story she had better not have heard. Moreover your mother was a little saint (so I've understood), and' though you mightn't have guessed it, I thought a bit about her when I was doing the best I could for you and your sisters, and especially for you. Now, what THE ALIEN 127 would an ultra-religious woman, with a highly developed conscience, say to this child nowP I "used to S "Did you really?" said Esther. who was touched and rather surprised. " And did you tr, to say what she would have said ? " ' / ^"at sne "I asked myself," repeated Cousin Becky -■ But "_ (with a sudden relapse from virtue) "d-n it all mv dear, I felt, from my knowledge of L, tha she'd have I?w/"'f ,rT"' '"'^^ '^'"^'- '^'' I ^«a"y couldn't always follow her example ! " '-"uian t Esther .aughed. in spite of a slight sensation of shock Cous n Becky had always been apt ^o ad mm.ster sudden cold douches, if the coLe sation appeared to her to be verging on the too sendmen a" but her adopted child had not lived nearly Twenty years w.th her for nothing. Some people. indeeTca^ be tw,ce that time under the same roof, and understand each otherno whit the better for bodily' proxi^fty b"' faSX?:oulf ''-' '-' ^"— -"^ ^^^^ ^' Esther was about to fight the battle of the somewhat roughly treated women with consciences, when at* at the door bell mterrupted their U/e-d-m m«n ■;. F"rtis. I hear his voice in the hall. How woman " '° ""' "''" "^ ^°" '^ °"^-" -'^ ^he "TJ quicWy-!"'""'' "'''°"''^ "' ^^*''^'-' ^^° replied " You are not alone, dear Cousin Becky but whv should you see him, if you don't wish to? Let me say qTteTu^ '"'''' *° ^"'^^'^'"'"^ visitors y:ritl 128 THE ALIEN III But the old hiy p„||^ 1^,^ . Stain HeT "" ""■" '""■"• '" "to I" ^.' wm ;«, b. L^ """= "' '"'■ •"" «■« P'-i-ty th« cght he, , ■„',";■„. ""' '""" '""•'■' "»n.iy and ■An^i'fo" ""*■ "^"r '■■» "« • f~'.- .Id .he. ;o£d:;.x^r'Lr^-,--Xs3 «J\'Jtrdt^rr:LdS%r4;T:' p«™.r'5er sr.:»' i--- -" THE ALIEN 129 the old woman's knee "" protect.ngly across hJef; *'"trt:jr ?'-'^ "^ '=°"^-'"'" ''^ -•<^ to do what is right" ' '"" ^'"'"^ ''" * "Chance to nreSt^n^.'^^^lSr-n-the wj marked with a certai'n Ll-I:? o/hrs^^ J" curtains, and the pennS in hT, . '" *"' "°"^'"''' have not much Hked 1 r. I ^"""^ ^^^^^ y°" -fleet that I^irslcSyJ .tVSurV" " land tSL, 1' """, '" *''" "management of tSe ■' Re Ji " ''^f,'^<=°"'e plain to me of late." But mJ' ^-<^/^ther. " it is ve^^ unnecessa^^ to "_ _^ut Mrs. Mordaunt stopped her. ^ I 180 THE ALIEN predilections, or dislikco which are usually taken for granted, but we will not distract him by interruptions" Yet. in spite of that," continued the Major (who was not in the smallest degree distracted)— •' in spite of though under the influence of an un. rtunate hallucina- tion, when you welcomed this stranger whom you call your son. My not unnatural annoyance did not for one moment lead me to suppose otherwise" Esther's indignant "I should hope not" passed unheeaed. *^ ,. " ^'^'?''"S t° Esther's representations, I determined that, if ,t were possible. I would avoid bringing an action against him." The old lady nodded. " That was wise of you " ■.'lA"'* ''l^* ^ '^'""'^ investigate these claims privately with the help of a lawyer. I am bound to allow that the Claimant has been most ready to facilitate every inquiry and that, so far as we have gone, the results of the in- vestigation have greatly astonished, even startled me" He came to a full stop. But this time no one made any comment The silence became a trifle tense. To do hini justice, he wished to say what he had to say as inoffensively as might be, but he could not speak otherwise than plainly. ^ , "They astonished me for this reason," he said at last. The claimant has produced an immense and unexpected amount of evidence, and it is evidence of a kind that points plainly to one conclusion. So far as we have gone the verdict of the lawyer is this, ' Either the claimant ts the man he professes to be, or Mrs Mordaunt must be consciously and deliberately aiding and abetting a fraud.'" ^ Esther started to her feet. THE ALIEN jg, " "ow dare you 1 " she cried. ■• You have „« k • to co^ehere to insult Cousin BeckyTn heTolntr- The misery of the doubts that she herself hl^.^:. intlXid"" ' """-^''^ "'^'^' ^"' »''« °'d woman "Good gracious, child! You're quite ,;il« as a woman. Don't heed her. Curtis She Ls"r"^J blood in her veins; it boils suddenly at an in„S «"* you and I are cold and old • we «„ a- '' ^"' ences without heroics" ' "" '^''""^^ °"'- d'«"«- The Major looked steadily at her p-=fi. • unfelt ™'°"'^ "°^''=^' ''"' -"^-h -- P-rhap" not "Cousin Rebecca," he said gravely " I dM „nf here with the wish to insulf yo„V Esther Z^ unjustly imagines) or to do you any harm LT contrary. I came to say if now at the .1 .?. "** you repent. I will Stan J by Z'as best I .rt'^""'"' you are growing old, and because ll ' ^''"'" relative, and thLfor; your TaJ^ra/ p^rlS' ""^^^ -'"^^2:'S^;2ruS^Sfs an argument? unfortunate 132 THE ALIEN J'ou are my next-of-kin, and that I have not long to live, would turn me from the error of my ways." " It is no time for mockery," said the Major. " And you Esther, do wrong to smile." Somehow Esther's smile stung him. "It is you who are strengthening this mans hands. Cousin Rebecca-God alone knows why. You are no dupe. You must have given him the portrait of yourself signed with your name, and you have produced the torn letter which is undoubtedly in his writing. You must have taught him the many facts he knows about the place, the people, your own lamily, and Mr. Mordaunt's family." "But certainly, certainly!" said Mrs. Mordaunt tapping her foot impatiently. "This is becoming tedious, Curtis. Do I not know; am I not ready to swear to the truths that you have just been enunciat- mg? Yes, yes, /, and no other, gave my boy that portrait, which he has kept through more weary years that letter which Esther saved from burning. / lone long ago told him stories about his grandfather, to whom, by the bye, he bears some likeness now that he « no longer a boy. Your mutual relative. Cousin! Youve some of the same blood in you as he has though you repudiate him." ' "Yet that man is not Gatton," said the Major slowly _ He was not eloquent, but he spoke with earnest '"k-'uT^-. ,^'^°"'' ^" '"■' J"^* ^"g« at the trick which he believed was being played; beyond all his soreness because no one was on his side in this matter was a genuine horror lest this woman, so near her end' should die m her sins. He could not persuade, but he could set the truth before her in unmistakable colours THE ALIEN 188 s:^ t'ris;4^3^r - "'^^'" ^-- ^-^^ sak^rnVEsVi"!' 7 ^^^J"« *^" ^- -yown Iook;d upon asmv intr' T^ '° '°^^ ^^at I have not so. When T hea^H i r' *"" '"'■'^- " 2"' ^^at is I was sor.y Mort thfn ^^ /? ""•■" ^^^ngerously ill. not done Z I should h" 5 ' ' '" ? '° "'y"'^' ' have silence would have bJe„ or" '"" '"' '"'' ""^ being angry, I ,ou L „S slrtoTou"""' •""""■ subject. IfitwereonlvT rJ. ^°" ^^ain on this one day to iIZol%u°l^^^''''^^°'''^^'°^Sht while you two a" Jon' f^"'*^ "°' ''"^^ '^"•"^ here MnLd ;orhad"ar i«° "°\'f' "'''^ ^°'"--" you not understand t£. ^k "°' ""^^^ '=°"'«- ^o Cousin Becker 1-^1 ,t 'mT"' '" '^'^ ^°^ your uncharitable consc.W Otters L"?/" *'^* panson with her health" ^ ' '" '=°'"- suppositions/^s'he s2d .1 "' '"'"'^^ '" ^-'"h as to credit UoDle S , *" "°' '""^h an old fool they happel^bl^IlLVarS^^^^^^^^^^^ T'T t^"^ that you have com^ h ! '° '"yself. I quite believe fulfilling a ^otaWether -''' "'"^ ''"' '"'^"*'°" °^ « Af V;,- ^'together unpleasing) duty" 3ondl rarTrSirih '''^ ^"^ ^'"'-'>'' ">'- tery. Now whTeifnll '°'^" '" "" ^'^"^" '^""e- the truth of'Jh ^';arV°r '^^^^ »'-- -tness to Jy'r-^-n"-^^^^^^^^^^^ =nTdte^? - -^estinI,??S^----;^^^to|e 134 THE ALIEN soon you may meet him, for no one can live beyond the appomted time. Cousin Rebecca,it is not too late— yet" The old woman rose to her feet, leaning heavily on Esther's arm. The Major's earnestness seemed to have pierced the thin layer of her cynicism, to have reached an answering fire. "I have but one son," she said. " And he lives, and he shall come after me. I swear before God that he ts mme. He is flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone- yes— and what is far more still, he is soul of my soul." "Then I have no more to say," rejoined the Major. He picked up his hat and went straight out of the room, without leave-taking. He was not convinced, for nothmg could ever convince him against the evidence of his own senses, but he was momentarily staggered. He was an honest man himself, and therefore he invol- untarily recognised unveiled truth when he met her He had met her to-day, and had been struck dumb. " And yet he is not Gatton," the Major repeated obstinately. He stood still for a minute at the gates of the Park and, frowning, called to mind that his last sight of Gatton Mordaunt had been at this very spot. He saw again the narrow-shouldered, sandy-haired lad lounging against the gate-post and smoking. Poor Gatton had had a trick of always leaning against something, and he had smoked a great deal too much for his weakly health. The Major recollected speaking his mind pretty freely about a discreditable scrape in which Gatton had become involved. He could see still the way in which Gatton had regarded him, from between swollen, half-closed eyelids, half-defiant, half-frightened. "You won't go and sneak to my mother, will you?" had THE ALIEN 135 been the culprit's sole remark.and the Major could still re- cal h,s own boyish fury of indignation at the suggestion "I won't whan Why, I wouldn't touch your dirj affairs with a pair of tongs," he had cried "If you were not such a soft idiot that to hit you feels Pke hitting a girl, I'd knock you down" How many years had passed since then. Yet the whTh? 't' \'°°'' °' "^^ uncompromising youth who had spoken hard things in his wrath, whereas Ss rS "°r T' °, ^'"°" '=°»''^ •>« '^''' Esther's as the Ju r r *•"= '°" tenderness of a lamp yS ?exT 1\'""^« ^T '''^ ^^^^'^^ ^^ woman'whrt^ved L and sh? '"'^ ""' '°' ^'' she had at last come tn^^ ^ ""^^ getting old, and "Oh bother fh^l-^ " °" sympathy heavily. Esther i^pSntt "^.'^'=^^:^ -y garments!" cried coal black thTn;,, . u""""'*^ '**''^' '•'»* they wer« from SSin^'^Lh^She?^^ ''^^^^"^^ ''^ -<^ - if I wei' !Lf /7,r"'" ""'■'• *^^^- *^°^'^*""t. •■ But, what ^ou'mXofdoT v"'^*''".^' '^°^ "^ ' '"'- to eo to ZT ^°" '"'«'>' fi"d it your duty old ton;ue,t:tX loter'thru dL'"^'^'"'"^ soft ways AnH ,ii\u ' '*"^' ^"d at your would Tount for nl ^"^7 ^"'"" "^^^ together you." "°*'""^' ^"*^ ^ ''hould die cursing Esther shive«d. "But, Cousin Becky, how could 138 THE ALIEN II i i "I ^t possibly be? for he is your son." she cried am sure— yes. quite sure of it." And then she sprang to her feet. No—tell me nothing!" said she. is so ei5;*3t J/^^ ^°''"^- ^°" '~'»^« virtue ShftZiT.^^'fl !,"' ^"" •'y '"^^ mantelpiece, ane knew that she had divined the truth. It did not STd n, "^'^ f^ ''''' ^^-^' but rather i'at a veil had fallen and that she saw andl^r/' T' P'^'^y whiteness." said the old woman and the lonehness of years was in her voice. •■ I'll hobble Slte-lS,„--X=?soJ-rrii' n^ofTet ""' . "^ '^ *^ ^'^"'' °f '°- -d yo5 3u t for h. h' r- ""^ '^^^ *•'--" °ff the'grave net; oveJ I? ^'?'^ °f strength. But Gattfn I soretimi! ;, " ""^"^ ''™ *° '^O"'^ back, though umS Th/t -""'t '""P"^ •" -'^=" my'backt turned, ihat is only s nee I've been ill \„a > • because he is jealous" ' ^""^ " '" sen!e'of'J,''''''''\""'^ ^'^''"^ ^'^"^'^^^^^ too, with a sense of horror that she could hardly account for Terrible th.„g .ust have happened lo'ng Xg Ja " woman « B^tT * K° *1^ ^°"'" '=°"*'""«^ ^^e old woman. But somehow I am glad to to-dav I never trusted any other woman, b'ut you a^ oT'my THE ALIEN ,9, the judge who sat in her heart •• Aft^r oil .. . '"^ " was no great sinner." ' ^<^^«'' ^". th>s woman Mrs Mordaunt's black eyes laughed suddenly '•sLt rf ' "''"^.f'^-"^ y- understand P ■■'^• h,v.w f °''^ you," said Esther simply. "And M ^ '°.^°" ^''** * ^^"gl^t^^ ^ould hai been " Mrs. Mordaunt shook her head yoZ°led"frt*"/V'u -T'" '^^^^ "^^'^ '»>« «fe [;^^^-w^riSrt:.^'x^ to blame for that, poor shallow little soul. Whefe she was to blame was that she deserted me; and wTerJ J : 1 TTe:ernfbl-\'''"V^" ^^^^^ *-^^-"' SDonshl/f K ''""""S that A woman is re- she likes but ?; r T^ ^ ^^""^'^ °^ herself, if hellthv L u °' '^""-that is, if he is a fine and Sh 7' ."" '"y '"^y ^"^' ^*^^'Sht as an arrow' jLort ''!"■ "^^y^^-b"' there, you know what my Jasper is, and you can guess what he was I an, 3 g nigh on fifty.five years. He was dead when I 140 THE ALIEN mamed. It wouldn't do hin, any harm now if I we« Ln^r''°1-''^.''* ^"' ''"* I don't want to My jasper was bom before I was nineteen, but my father knew never a word of my troubles. pUapTif Sy been oftener sober, he'd have had a suspicioTplhaps not I got away to a cottage by the sea i„ cCwTl to the woman who had been my nu«e, and there the child was bom. I told my father I w^s ailin^^whS was a strange thing for me to be), and I ™2 together money, and got what I couW from him S re„\r"f "'• "'^" >'°""^' ^"* ^ bit cb^elfistS ^lhZ£j7..l'"Tr'^- ^''''' ^ *°'d him the h^ve me ftat I *f ^ """' *'"' ^"^ ^« ^° ™«d to Wf ^^ ^^ '"^"■'^** "*> '" spite of it. He was =»S°, dTX "' ' °"°"' "'' *'" ■""' "• »i* • ■I-V. told y„„ „h„ „„, j,„ ^ THE ALIEN j^j All the years I lived with him r good wife. ProbaWy trars^ms l""" ' ^^''^^"^ '"^ and ordinary matter Fnr •! ^°" ''"''^ » ^'^P'^ Simple. yiZ\Z°'j:;'::rr:rzrrr twenty one when I married, and I was fiftv „n T' E :J- '".r °"" ^'^y ' '^••'^ the b" t f Sd " " .^r^re iJtieSrerL^trr^^^^^^^ ^^^ stoo^. but she often under to^d^rC he" ^ k°' *'" did not understand with her brain '''' ""''' '''' ;{^:.r;:t\rs:----"-sa.. had no reverence for women " "*" ^''^ MrlM^dt*nt'°"4:utre"ldr: "^^ '•™" -•'^ instincts which «,ard In , u ^ '"""'^ *'*•» '^'^"^^te heart, because you've a pTssio„ nf ^! "^^^ *° y°"' promise me anythine before hi Z -T^ ^"°"^'' '" I was wild with felr^ec^ u .'■"^'^ "'^' ^'«^' '"'■nd. He would d^i^y menof? "'^^^ ^'^^"''^ ^^"^ for food «3 the cMd shoSd b^t'""^ ' ' '""" '^°''" ^''^^ ^° ^°°" him to hi wih 1 Th!t ■■ "^ '"° °''"' ^ ""■^''* ''^^- perhaps it w^s:' Hkelylt'^i™ ^1"?^''^^*- 142 THE ALIEN W II ill Ii was bom the difficulties increased. When Jasper was fourteen, I persuaded Mr. Mordaunt to let me have him on a visit. He was to be introduced to the household as the orphaned child of a distant cousin, and for months before he came I li ed on the thought of his coming. He was as fine and big as Gatton was puny and miserable; my heart leaped with pride when I saw him. Yes, it did, Esther! for nature is stronger than mens laws. The boys hated each other like poison, and that was Gatton's fault. Gatton twitted my boy with being a poor relation and a hanger-on. I don't know where he got the idea from. From servants and gossips, perhaps. He was fond of the back stairs. Jasper knocked him down, and then repented and helped him up ; but Gatton complained to his father, and Jasper was flogged. I was out that afternoon; if I had been in the house, it could not have happened. I was angrier than I have ever been smce, or before. It's a bitter old story." " It is horrible," said Esther. " After that I saw that my son could come no more It didn't do. Yet, when I didn't see him, I grew test- less and hungry for the sight of him, and he for me. He had plenty of heart, poor lad, and, though he did not know then that I was his mother, he loved me better than he loved anyone else. One day (it was two years after that miserable, unlucky visit) I knew that he was ill. Jasper and I have often known facts about each other without any telling. I went to him for flesh and blood could not stand the separation any longer, and I fought hard for his life, and I won it If I had not been by him, he would have died. So, you see, I am responsible for him twice over; and whatever THE ALIEN 143 sins he may have committed, poor lad ar^ m!„- and not his at all if .i. • ' """^> **"»'> mPj^^Zr' " '^' ""' ■" «^- "» "One day, when he was getting better h- ravenously hung.y, and he was Tros^Te^ate S ^X'^zr'u' ^"' ' ^""''^ ^- ^^- -'""^ uut muKy slops. He swore at what I hrr»,crUt u- (not that I minded that, my dear J. U S wa^ nd.culously soro^. He'd grown tall and thin, and was more of a man than when he quarrelled with r^ff Twomar Thf t ^T'' °' '^^^^P^'^^T^^ uZ^Z ^^^K'^^'^^'i "n^ how fast he was growing up! Im an unforgivable brute to have said that tf You V '^l- u.'f"* ''"> ^"^""y g«tef"l to you. reluy You know I thmk you just as good and jolly ^' Tyou were a chap's own mother. It's very funnv h„f r sure that you would come whenT w^Hl and tha! then ,t would be all right, and I should getUtter' I o?ButtL '" ^^"^"^ '° ' J"^' *°'' »>'•- i-'gh out. But I am your mother.' " ^ I dIlnr"H?f/'i'''"' 1:''°"''' '°^^ '^'^ '°^« then, but 1 didn t. He ^ved me the more, bless him ! Yet did h.m a wrong. Esther, and nothing can ever quite undo >t now-not even though he shall have all ftaS m"ne at the last. You must never forget that Vo,, m . ! never judge him as other men are judged AuZTl h.s boyhood he never had his right^s^Kevel'L^^^^^^^^ other boys have. In his youth he was an Ishmae standmg outside by himself. I was wrong, ^^ng , jf I 144 iti;!' Hi THE ALIEN had my hfe over again, I would go out with my boy at all costs, and work my fingers to the bone, and risk even his starvation, rather than be divided from him. I chose wrong but I have repented every hour of my long life- Esther sighed. This fierce old tragedy that had never really been dead, only locked out of sight, over- whelmed and almost frightened her. She suspected teat It had another and even more tragic side to it. The lad who had had no place in his mother's home had been hardly treated, no doubt; her heart ached for him: but how about the lad who had had no place m his mother's heart ? *^ "Did you never love that other child at all?" said £.stner. " I tried to do my duty by him, but I failed," said Mrs Mordaunt sternly. "Jasper is mine. He has faults enough and to spare, but I understand them and him. If by chance I understood Gatton, why, then, I w/tTf "'!, ''''"'' ^''"' '^''"' ''"t'^h« -e !r* u A ^'^^^ drowned, I shed no tears. I knew teat, had he lived, he would have been our scourge An old mans child, bom weak and vicious! What could you expect from such as he? My Jasper was gone too I Gone right away out of my life for thirty- five years, and teat was Gatton's fault I could not forgive hint, teat. If Gatto, had not hated and slan- dered my boy, I might still sometimes have seen him The situation would not have become so impossible. But Jasper was driven away by his brother's malice. He was made sore and angry and reckless. My bov whom I love. I waited and waited and waited, but he did not write. He wanted me to believe teat he was dead. Perhaps he fancied that he had forgotten "III THE ALIEN 145 care to think about that tW hU*"' l!* TZ 1 '■'*" ^^"^ ^' "*" ' What is mine L r '^f,u ^.'°' '^ ^ "^""^ f"' ''■ Esther! My son^hves. What have I to do with Gatton. who is She was excited Her voice rose shrill and high. indeed be deep and broad, but. fortunately for per- plexed humanity, there is more than one bridge by which we get in touch with each other Esther saw the old woman's shaking hands and over- bright eyes, and pushed aside every problem but one- how best to soothe and quiet her. Good and evil right and wrong, these belonged to the everlasting;' they could wait. But the call of bodily weakness wis urgent, and ,t appealed to Esther's deepest instinct. Why, yes. Cousin Becky." she said. " Your son is alive and well, and now you have told me everything and there is no secret between us. But. if we go on talking over such exciting subjects, we shall neither of us oe able to eat one mouthful of dinner, and that won't please h.m. I am going to fetch a book and read aloud now though you laugh at my love for stories." She spoke lightly, but she felt strangely nervous, and she did not care to leave the room. She lit a candle and sat close to its light, reading from the first volume i»H o^ w • ""' ™'""' P"'P°^^'y monotonous, had often before now soothed her old cousin to sleep As It happened, it was no story, but the sayings of Marcus Aurel.us that came to her hand. Esther read THE ALIEN U7 fluence. for presently 15,^^5 !°"'' ""^'"*"'= '"n- and she nod"cd in h'^r cLf t^"'^ ">'=J''"' ^^op-d. voice sink lower and C^' mtlr^'^'^''^ '"' ""^ and the book of the wisr^/n Vi. ''''*' '"'° *''="«, wisdom did not heTp he jrwl f °". '"'' ''""«• "- to the wise and strong ' It hTd ^ '°''' ''"' '' "PP««=<' Perhaps, for all its caL t was Z T"T ^°' ^'"""^• The candle burned T^w but TJ°^''''- for lamps. It was so mp^ "°' ""g rare sleep should be unXturj^ t,^"" ^"''''"nfs had faded; she looked 7J!ri,u- ^^^ """*"*' Au^h feeble. E^e's heart ytrne/tow^'"'J^'>'°''' -^ brave old protectress. llTZtt Zlt "~'" '^'■"'*- achmg a longing with so SLrfuT ^jT '° ''''" "'^ moral blindness now was nerh.T ^ '^^""&. ^hose of long years of suppr;^;|StS '""'^''^' '"" ^"^"'^ and gli^el's of halS P'^''"' P«^P'«'V later. To car! wenfor IT ^^ '^^ "' ^""^-^ «' -ans.alas! such ^^^^ertLm ' Tu'cT" °'-/^"°-~ alleys, such flashes of S^S ^T"^ '" '=°"''"^«d repentance of rash conclusrons HarH Z^^.*'"'"'"* ""^ with blood, and wet with tears '^^^ ' """^"^ Via Crucis along which human,> t""^^ °^ '°^^' ">« Vet it is the roa'd that le^rtTL'"'""'''^ ^'"'"'"- -he^hLTmTXt'ie^ tK ^^''^^ -"'^-'^ as to make thej da" f ,„7S ^%'ot ^'^ '^^' ^° -na snitt. To her somewhat 148 THE ALIEN overstrained nerves they had become weirdly oppres- sive, connected somehow with the tragedies that had been enacted in this place, and with the unfaced diffi- culties that lurked in her own mind. What should she say? How should she behave when she next met Mr. Rip Van Winkle? Was she herself criminal in that she had sworn to conceal this secret? These were dark questions, but as yet they hid in comers and were not pressing. Her imagination was too possessed by the tale she had heard, her painfully acute sympathy too alive for it to be possible for her to debate much as yet on questions of conduct Mrs. Mordaunt must have been little more than a school-girl when Jasper was born, and by the time that second uncared-for child came into the worid, must have lived through a tragedy. She must have been disillusioned; must have known that her lover (that mysterious unnamed lover to whom even her old age was loyal) was dead ; must have made up her mind to accept and make the best of a spoilt life,— and that, before she had completed her twentieth year. Esther pictured Cousin Becky young. A gipsy-like beautiful girl, with a bright wit and a sharp tongue,' and, deep hidden under the wit and the sharpness, a passionate heart, whose courage alone saved it from' despair. " She must have stood quite alone," thought Esther. "And what a cycle of experiences to have rushed through almost before she was a woman grown! Perhaps her emotional nature was exhausted. Per- haps that was why Gatton woke no maternal tender- ness in her. Poor Gatton, for whom no one had one good word." THE ALIEN 149 Mrs. Mordaunt was sitting upright, wide awalce • her The old woman had risen to her feet Her fi..» was convu sed with terror «r,ii t ""^® tnebell The servants came running up. Esther trierf to pour brandy between the colourless L and r^.^K laces of the old-fashioned black drS' Sh; bade some' brougrfli^kerX'^r 5 '.^" '""^P *** ^'"^ ^'^ bentt "S^^t::^,^ -Tetihr ^" juickj^l-'she said, but She kn'r^hat^tras'S^e:;- Cousin Becky's soul had fled. lasoer for =.!..,■ uS?' r '" ^" '•^ •°- f- '^^-^ uld no ctS .t back to the worn-out, deserted, little dd body thatk st.ll and so quiet, resting very well at last CHAPTER XII IT was the day of the funeral. Mrs. Mordaunt's body was carried out of the house in which she had lived so long, had reigned with such vigour, and abdicated, so unexpectedly gladly. Esther had sometimes seen this day coming in the far distance. She had known that in all human likelihood her Cousin Becky must die before her. But, now that it had actually come, it was utterly unlike anything that she had imagined. She had pictured herself chief, almost sole, mourner. Behold! another took that place by nearer and tenderer right. She had imagined herself overwhelmed with grief, but wondered now why she was not much sadder. Poor Esther ! She woke from an exhausted, dreamless sleep, with the strange sensa- tion of having lost all natural feeling. That scene in the library was still so present with her that she was dazed by its vividness. But she was dry-eyed and disinclined to weep. When her dear old Godfather spoke tenderly to her she shook her head. " Yes, Cousin Becky is — was, I mean — very good to me, but I am not so sorry as you imagine. I believe I haven't really got much heart," said Esther. " It was a mistake to fancy I had." Mr. Joel was staying in the house, at Jasper's entreaty. THE ALIEN 151 "My deac child, an old fellow like me, blind and stupid isnt much comfort. Shall we send for your sisters?" said he. ^ ^•/!i'r,' *!?.*' ^'^^^' ^^°°^ •>«* '"^^d. "No— they didnt like Cousin Becky; I don't want them. She wont want them at her funeral." wh!^^^'' "°u 'P^''^" '° J^^P"' ^'"^^ *e evening when his mother died. She had avoided him and kept to her own room, pleading a disinclination to see anyone, which seemed natural enough in the that had been Mrs. Mordaunt's, she had met him coming out, and it had flashed across her mind that ^ was more a part of "Cousin Becky" than was the bed He had looked pitifully at her sad, white face, and held out his hand to her, but she had not taken it, and he had fancied that she hardly saw him. ' On the morning of the funeral she met him in the deci he* * ^^' «^P''ession which he could not quite "Are you coming with me, Esther? I shall walk by the footpath," said he. And Esther assented at once. He might have committed all the sins in the decalogue, but he was none the less her Cousin Becky's son. It was fitting that he and she. who had really loved the old woman, should stand together at her grave, if never again. There was no paraphernalia of gloom. Everythine was as absolutely simple as Mrs. Mordaunt had decreed that It should be. The two fat grey horses that had 152 THE ALIEN often drawn her heavy yellow-wheeled carriage drew her coffin to its last resting-place. In accordance wS^ her expressly stated desire, no one was bidden ^ encouraged to attend. she' J!!"/*''* no junketing over my poor old bones." she had once said. « Mind that. Essie > " The churchyard stood on a hill, and a verv few people, servants, villagers, and tenants, woun7the^ J "P *° '*• M'-J°«l niet then, at the lyl^te a^ h.\„ ^; u "l"^"^ ^" ^^y ^'^"t his churchyard as he knew it about his parish .J^^J"■°"^''* "°*'"S '"to the worid, and it is A? cL^f ""^ ?" 1^"^ "°*'^'"S °"t." he chanted in wa's yrun^" ' '"" "'^ '"^""^"' ^"^^^ '^ Esther quite unconsciously shook her head. "But Cousin Becky carries her secret out with her," thought dettitoft'" *^y.^'°°'^ hy the open grave, the details of the scene impressed themselves with photo- 12? old G^fl^ "• '" "r • ^^^ "^'---^ 'h'attr dear old Godfather's surplice was frayed at the edee and that the ight showed through the delicate dam thi' she had put into it with her own hands a month ago She noticed the powdery flakes resting on Jasper's h!^' w l.^^P^ ^^"'^ P"* ^°""d his hat. She had been unable to pin her tired attention to the service m the church, but outside in the crisp, snow! laden air, a sentence reached her again, piercing the misty unreality that seemed to surround her. "Thou knowest. Lord, the secrets of our hearts." It couW THE ALIEN 153 rrrtr^'^.f ^*'"^ ''"* ^'"'■"rt to Esther to believe that He did indeed know. ^ The Major listened with an air of immovable p?Sf H^lSl"^ disapproved of Esther's being E^t J^ . ""'" ^^'y hard-and-fast rules abou? the right p^ace for women, and he considered that thev were out of place at a funeral. Nevertheless, sLce she had come, he was glad that he was standing by to give her his countenance and protection. She m^st have had a pamful and exciting week, and he had seen thit she W.S somewhat overstrained at that last ntervtw wiOihs old cousin, the remembrance of which was stm pamfully fresh. Then he faced the thought that thj excitement of that scene had probably quicL„ed h mnrh-Mf 7c" "^"^^ ^^*=*^> """ ^e was Certainly not morbidly self-reproachful on the subject. He had Major that was the very antithesis of the modern spirit of analysis. Yet he was sadder than might have £ "nagmed. At the bottom of his heart \e haTreS; had a sort of conservative affection for the oU woS who had so flouted and jeered at him. It was a Tav" and awful thought that she had died in her sins. He never as much as glanced at the claimant. It wou"d be unworthy of the occasion to be disturbed by anger dunng so solemn a service. He ™iS his thoughts as he had ruled his regiment, with a tigh! The blinds were drawn up, and the sunshine was Ls^S *'r^' ''^ >'^"°" *='°"^^' -•>- the oddi; assorted party returned to the house. They went into 154 THE ALIEN the library, where Mrs. Mordaunfs lawyer read the chLtn H "r"''' "^"°"^'>'- She had constant?, changed her lawyer, being apt to engage in hot diS^ putes over fees The present man had^bSn suml„?d a few weeks before her death to make some alteS m the amount of a legacy to one of the servants. He belonged to a small country-town firm of no standing • awed tv'thTr*';"""' '° ^""'"'^y- ''"' ^^ °ve- awed by the Major's stern curtness and by Esther's a'^mthr'^rT /"P^^ "^^ """^ »»™-'f into h arm-cha>r by the fire that his mother had occupied, and stared at the flames with an air of complete detachment Esther sat between Mr. Joel and the doctor at the octagon table, with the lawyer and the Major opposite to her. This room had been the stage of many strange scenes, but th.s seemed to her one of the strangest She could not rid herself of the impression that M^ Mordaunt was still in it; was observing with her' accustomed grim humour the too free-and-easy manner by which Mr Robinson tried to mask his neiousness the snub which the Major administered, and the doctors professional cheerfulness. It was incredible that so hvely a mmd should be dead. Mrs. Mordaunfs ZT^: ^^*\-'* '"°"«y that had come to he through her husband, were all that had been in her own power to will. Her savings amounted to a much larger sum than the Major had supposed possible. She had mvested seven thousand pounds in a very profitable busmess, and these shares were left « To my dear adopted daughter, Esther Mordaunt, in token of my to r M ^ ^!'""'''-" ■^^° ''>°"^«nd pounds wen^ to the Major, rather to his surprise than to his gratitude THE ALIEN 155 the t,tM of ASiit ?J™ '"Provement of canniness that made her Wn L f '^^^^'" within the letter of the ^^ '' ""'^'^ ^^ P^-^le in the one hundred pounds that h^H k w th,t ., • ^"*^'^™ °^ this gentleman, who has stated 156 THE ALIEN v.?r ^ Ja. ^u" '^— Mr. Holdsworthy has not yet concluded his investigations. For the momit therefore, do not make any further protest." ' Jasper looked up quickly. « l am perfectly willing o release you from that agreemem, whfch wa! InXlrsai" V ""^ -"^^^"^ - ™-« - ^" me'"^thl'"^M '*"^ 'I'' "°* '" y°" P°^«^ t° Please anl^eJable'''^"'^^''''"^^''^"'''^''-^-- Yet the man's speech fascinated him. The romie was not merely bold, he was also impulsLT? ought not to be so difficult to unmask and ovJ^rol au^^[' tt/ '"^'""'1. """'""^'y: he had a horror of ••T?hetchI."''''T''u'^ f •^""'^"'- ^'- Clayton said Tche-tche ! and shook his head. He thoroushlv oeheved in Jasper; he liked and admired hta He was md.gnant on his behalf, and, as the thrTe men presently crossed the hall together he threw aTexS MaSs^n^r""-^ ^"" '"^ ">-"- •--- oTZ Jasper opened the hall door for Dr. Clayton who shook hands with him warmly when he went oT Se J!«7 '^^r'^i.*'" '■"*="*' ''''" ^°'' (^ho h«d no busT ness to be his host) squarely. "I am not satisfied. I do not pretend to believe that you are Gatton." "c"cve Jasper shrugged his shoulders with a gesture half- impatient and wholly weary gesture, nall- thinl" he"!-^ "" "^^^*^' ^°" °^ P^«*-'''"S -y- " Therefore," continued the Major, <• I am going to THE ALIEN ^^7 make my own inquiries in Venezuela H«u ^^ « getting old, and veo' slow » HoW'worthy .bout „c I top, y^./.^ n^, »,i,r."'L'l J?,' Jfoull find It an immense help" I' And who is he?" said the Major. Oh, merely the President of a countrv th.t . P2;^„between five and six hundredXTsa^dVuTe- the offer in you/own bL^t .nn'. r'T' ^^^ "'^''^ private ends ; but Ts« T ' ° ^u""^^' y"""" °^" accept it. I mtfn L fi^-oVr^cat^ ^ ^''^"'^ ^ Upon my soul I "said Jasper « I wnn^ u the deuce my private ends weref rd losrsT^ro?"' You are at liberty to read my letter,1f you t .' Veor well," said the Major agai; "^ ''"■ It would be rather a waste of breath to ^ w- oHgin.,,, JTo.. S'l tk SS" v'"" 168 THE ALIEN Esther missed this little scene. She had rane upstairs immediately the reading was over, for her head was aching, and the library oppressed her. She was thankful to reach her own room, a haven of refuge less associated with tragedies. She had to pack her possessions, but had not energy to begin at once, and sat m her chair by the window watching the falling flakes with dreamy eyes. She was roused at last by Polly Greenback, who came with hot water and candle, and whose eyes were swollen with tears She drew down the blinds, shutting out the distant glimpse of the church and the churchyard where the old mistress lay out in the cold. " Oh, Miss ! couldn't you take me with you ? " "I would, certainly, if I had a house of my own," said Esther. "But I mean to move into lodgings in London, Polly, and I have no need of a housemaid. You can apply to me for a character, of course, and you are sure to get a choice of situations. Domestic service is the one line in life in which women can know"* ''' ^°" "^'^ ^ '" '^'""*"'*' y"" She smiled encouragingly, though rather sadly. Her own services were not particularly required. Her own life seemed perhaps a little lacking in point just •'Oh yes. Miss. It isn't that I'm anxious about gettmg suited with a place." said Polly. "For the matter of that, Mr. Mordaunt has offered to keep us all on, and we all like him. It was that I'd like to stay with you, and, if you thought of having a THE ALIEN ,59 words woke her easTv mu Jh ^ .''*"''• ^°"y'» She did not like tT^Wnk E thT^f -^r "•"'**>'• at Applehurst without her ^"' ""^''* '''^J' °" said' ^" vL'u^'ji'pX V° ""■ ^""^''^^ P'^'='^-" ^""^ now." ' 'y- *^'"'*= '^ "° ""Stress here is Z "othtr ^ tSXe T„'"' ;° ^*^^ °"' ^-' -<^ - Mr. MordaSt f«eTgili"„l '^h' '.°t ^*""* and the mistress made tharstS^ch we .II '1'"'"^-''^ "' the f5..t thing, that you wHt^ anS 1" "f'' leaning on you " ^ mistress ^^JBut what difference did that make P" said Esther When wegottcMoi'k"^"' -'" '''" '^"'''""^=- am c„ . "^^ kitchen Mrs. Barker savs • ' r am sure, certain sure, it is all rio-hf 7.1 ^ ' 160 THE ALIEN was what I felt too, though it wasn't my place to speak out, and it was how we all looked at it (excepting Mr Wilcox, who don't take account of women, and made up his mmd later for himselO = we all knew that you would never be upholding anything but what was right I thought of how the things had been moved out of the best bedroom, Miss, and how you'd been vexed-like, and, If you had not been on one side of the old mis- tress, I for one should have thought for myself that perhaps we was all being deluded; but, seeing you there, made us all certain sure." A wave of colour rushed over Esther's pale face. "Oh, but, Polly_I might have made a mistake," she cried and Polly's comfortable "Not you. Miss Esther," but perturbed her the more. Esther was proud, though she had little vanity Blame implied or outspoken was apt to affect her " the wrong way," or not at all; but what pride can stand unhumbled before absolute confidence? Not hers certainly Had her integrity indeed been so unassail ' able ? Had she not been bribed by love ? "And then. Miss, there's Harvey," said Polly, blush- ing tn her turn. Harvey was the Major's soldier servant He be- longed to Applehurst; his grandmother lived in the village. He had enlisted as a lad, but was now on the reserve list When the Major came to Apple- burst, Harvey always accompanied him. His soldier- ing had straightened his shoulders, and from an awkward lout he had become what Applehurst called "a tolerable well set-up" man. " Mr. Harvey he says women have no call to form opinions of their own," Polly went on, but somewhat ': ! * THE ALIEN lei interrogatively, as if she expected Esther to contradict this assertion. "He says that was the beginning of aJl the mischief Eve did in the garden. He says that if his master says a thing is so— why, so !• -. ■ and though it may be that you and the mistit-, honph' ■'■; imk-i iD'ei >, y Jlii ( rerlplc s. lidf V y S Lc o X- hor >-itUr,i IT m. 'ncr.-,. Otherwise, yet you and the mistress being (but I hope you'll not think me rude, Mif- opinion can't carry no weight against Wi Esther smiled in spite of her saG.i?:, bashful, red-haired countenance rose up mind's eye. She had known him as a ; painfully shy person, with very respectful .,„ „c,. It amused her to discover that, beneath all his u^.aient awe of Mrs. Mordaunt and herself, he had yet regarded both as belonging to a distinctly inferior species. " But Harvey has nothing whatever to do with the question as to whether you shall stay here or find another place," said she. ^ "No. Miss; and so I've told him," rejoined Polly " And, if you can't take me with you, here I shall stay, for all he may say to the contrary. For you see. Miss Esther, to just give up the place because he tells me to, would be acting like as if we were promised to each other, which we are not." " But I think you must be thinking of being prom- ised to each other?" said Esther. She ventured on the remark timidly, for Polly was fiercely modest "Oh, Miss!" cried Polly, "I was never one to play with a man ; but I'd like to stand off a bit and think Mr. Harvey he has a temper, and he'll just never speak to me again, if I go against his advice now Hut oh, Miss ! it means a deal of givin' in. if one should take to one like him. I don't feel as if I knew which 162 THE Al TEN ,7 «rE...s:; '■"""""'■"•""' «'»^'». her face in her hands, wept at last ""^'"g Mr. Joel and Jasper dined alone together that n.Vhf He could not see how often the new squirf's gTarwas filled, but he could hear that he was excited ul ! !>aia 1 m going out. "«Out? Where?" said Jasper. "Oh ves r r. me-berl You've a chape/on'a hillThat's'cLk: once, didnt I? That was soon after I got back All nght sir. Don't let me keep you. But one day. you know, there'll be a rush of hot wind and a Lh taste of dust in ,.our mouth, and a broken stone fnd^o more angels-only moths and thistles, and yoVit.C lu*' In. '"' ^f'"^ '""^ ^^°"^ ^ide'Ty'uf mouth. It always ends so. It's iust th» k-„- • of things that vao.. but theJl^ siment 'Z7Z rest is t "'' ""'^ "'^"^- ^"^' «"d ashes. The rest ^ ,he game we play at. but the .^ality just wait One wakes up m time, and there it is" ^ Jhe old man turned to him with purest pity in his THE ALIEN igg " Come with me," he said ■ " r am , i Jasper shook his head "No- r»i- • gamel We can't piay each otl^^s .t'^'myZ Im not saying anything against it V;-.. ^ / ' silently He was not the £ thkt can com;:^"' Z very dehcacy and acuteness of his oerceS ^ that impossible. His influence was nZ " But he climbed the hill with ah. u ^oerave. to his Chapel of Dreams """""^ '^^^ '' ""^ -«="' And Jasper, left alone, filled his glass aeain H. " The new master takes aff^r fh«. «ij ".y. ft.n on^- h, „|d to htUr ""' *■"" '" """ 164 THE ALIEN was tin J r ^^^^y' ^"""^^'^ *is man. He Zn ^K ^ unfortunate in big matters, but in the aoublets He counted on that fact himself anH wodd always take a risk without a qualT ' "' th^rtJ f^'t'"' ^°'^^ ^'^^"Sh the village after went tfhint *'^ 7"'. -uttering to himself as h" Wrhat^o te J'" r' '"'^"«'' •>"" t° touch ms hat to the Major, who passed him on his way " O Lord our God, arise Scatter his enemies And make them fall." But the Major was not insulted. It never even occurred to him that the verse that seemed so sWkinS a^ropnate to Wilcox, could have any connecUon S shJrf ''■ '"!^'"'"^'."'y "'^"- ^^'^ enemies," he said in his sharpy mcsive votce. " George iv. is dead, you know - " Wilcox '"But th '': r°' ""^ "''^'-•" -p'-d wucox. But the master's alive, in spite of their enaeavours, and likely so to be. " ' Frustrate their knavish tricks, Confound their Politics.'" the'rdnXH-?,"'^ been dri„ki„g .. ^^i^ ^^^ Major; but therein he did his neighbour an injustice. Wilcox was sober enough, and sad enough too when Mordaunfs death n,ore heavil/? ^rt'th f h"e had" THE ALIEN jgg He had never, almost impossible as the hct m=.„ deep in the soil A„ i u ' "'^ ''°°^ were but Idon^^ '' "°u'*^^'' '"""''^ ^^"^^ th^-" as evidence • but I don t see why not," he said to himself " [tWK ' best evidence that ever /saw ;,nH i • i. .!"'^ vinced nor bamboozled neither' st " ""'"^ '^°"- to die. who would make su^ thft ;r^P°""u^ ^ ^"^ forward?" *''^' "^^^ ^^s brought 166 THE ALIEN Perhaps it had somehow seemed to the old man that the squire's return was of good omen, more especially as he came from the very parts with which Neds ship traded. If one wanderer returned, why should not another? He once inquired of Jasper shyly, and with an effort— " If I may make so bold, Mr. Gatton ; have you happened across my son Ned, in South Americky?" And Jasper, with that quick-witted good-nature that sometimes endeared him to people, had replied gravely, "Very probably. I've happened across hundreds of sailors at Punta Arenas and Port Limon. What is your son like?" And, having further listened to a somewhat vague description of a "middle-sized sort of chap with light coloured eyes of no particular colour," had gladdened and pleased Wilcox by the assurance that he distinctly remembered once meeting someone of that description, and that it might " likely enough " have been Ned. He would have said the same if Wilcox had described a tall man with black eyes, or a red-haired man with blue eyes; but the belief that Ned and the squire had actually met, afforded great pleasure to Wilcox, and seemed to make the writing of his letter the easier and the more imperative. " Dear Ned," he wrote—" This comes, hoping you are well, as it leaves me. I'm suffering from a pain in the ead and a fulness of the stomick, which leads me to think as I am not much longer for this world. Our old mistress was buried this morning, which looks as If It was getting nigh on time for me. I was in a deal of trouble, and things not looking up at one time, and THE ALIEN 157 Sr Son' 'n*^ '°"*'"'^' ''"*■ "'^•■"^ '° '^' '«*"« °f Mr oatton, all as improved wonderful of late Mr Gatton says as he thinks he met you in furrin parts! more especial when he heard as the Ocean FloJr thotir. U7^ ^''^ ^'^'"'^y- Mr. Gatton was thought to be drowned, and was kep' out of his own Ze .T^ ^"r^ ^y '^' M^J°'' ''"' i^ "0^ come nor . ' ^f'^^'^.^'''' no manner of doubt in my mind, nor couW be.seemg as natural tricks come out. whethe; nil" fT^ T """!• ^"'' ^ ^^ ^^y^' ^^ ^«nt by the name of Iredale m Americky. and had a deal to do with what they calls their Congress, which I take tl be thS furrm .m.tat.on of the Queen's Parliament. So. when InlisT^ ^t- ^°"'" ""* ^'"^ ^^^'"' --"g 'hat he's m h,s right place now, in spite of the knavish tricks which can't be brought home as yet. of them that is Zr 'r. 7f '• ""''"^ °f ''•-ks, I wish to say that youl find them natural ones, that I mentioned above, enclosed in the old Bible, and, if I'm dead when you comes back and there should be any further mis- chief made by the Major, who was always of an inter- fering nature, I desire that you produce them and help the right, as your father would have done, which is plainly your duty For there ain't nothing I have at heart more than the family's good, though I could not manage to keep all straight afore he returned, he being too long away, and my years heavy on me. But he understood that, and treated me very handso.-ne, which not many would have, for, as he himself said, he is one ZX?\ u ^ '^°"' "^'"y '^^' ■' ^^ a relief, and aS\uTu '" °'^"'^''^' ^"'^ ^« °^« him a deal. And, that being so, I leave the bits of paper to you, for, as for him, he didn't make so ^«ch account of 168 THE ALIEN III I'i iii II hem as I wished. They being proof positive to a h.„i<.„g man. There was a deal more ^ say about the cottage and the furniture and what IVe gof i„ the sidenn the years I've woriced ; but I can't write no ead IS bad. So I beg as you'll act wise in all these matters though that don't seem likely, seeing as you took afler your mother, and was never clever But I The writing of that letter took Wilcox a good three hours. When it was written, folded, and directed he sat long, staring at it, as it lay on his knee. It was the last communication that his son would get fK,m h.m ; he had a faint premonition of that, and yet It contamed no expression of his real affection. He had never wished to express love before (except, nn!« ' "!f "i^ ^^^" "^°' ^'^"" ^^ ^^« =°"rting), but 11 ness and the approach of death, and the strang;ness of the late events, had broken and softened him^ He shook his head, sighed, then opened the letter awin and with stiff laborious fingers added a postscript. ^""' Not but what I don't mind your knowing that I thought a deal of your mother, though it don't do to set em up by saying so." After that, he posted his letter, and his words flew over sea and land, charged as they were with a loya care for Jasper, that was to have strange effect > Ihey puzzled their recipient terribly. CHAPTER XIII " If we would achieve a sure and satisfaetoiy knowledge of the Divine, two things are necessary— God's guidance and man's company."— Rabelais. ON the morrow, when Esther came down with reddened eyes, but feeling the better for her tears, her old "Godfather" met her with a perturbed face. "Esther," he said, "you must not stay here any longer. You must leave at once." " But, of course," said Esther ; " I only waited till the funeral was over. It would have been almost irreverent to speak of my own affairs before that, especially as Cousin Becky's son has always treated me with the greatest consideration; but I have arranged to leave to-morrow when you leave. There can be no question of my staying." " I think you need not wait till to-morrow. Why not go to-day ? " said Mr. Joel anxiously. Though his charity was wide, he was yet sensitive about Esther. He was unconventional to a degree that made some people consider him a simpleton, but he was shocked at the idea of her being under the same roof with a man who drank. He had met his host on the stairs last night, and had experienced a thrill of mdignation. His imaginative sympathy was great, but he had been bom a poet and a saint. " But, my dear Godfather, I cannot spread wings and 170 THE ALIEN fly^off at a mo^ont-s notice, like that robin." protested Jt:xTd^\\itf ;rsr'"r^ -''^ '^'^■ winter pensioners ^^"^ ""'^ bread-crumbs for evi:; s.r%Vytr --i^^^' r^^. ^'^ ^°- ^' on us yet but thJl. - -* winter is not really bi^s,;ihoX:.;:?^,,^i'-"'«^t- poJ should ^vSe^yo'ut 2e^ j'" ""' ""'^^ >'°"'- ^^^^ ' for your journey" "^ ^'^^""'^^^ "^ *•>'« «"« day is a goSrdea'rS'se^ri^" '^^^'^ '°' ^° '°"^- ^here Barker, and have no^f '. '.'""" ""^ ''^y^ ^'^^ Mrs. "Besides. I 1st have .; P-'^king," said Esther. lodgings in LZonl^'ZlZr. '"'' ^"' '">' " T»,»- ="gagea irom to-morrow" no d^^iy r °evl' T'^-" -^^ ^^r- Joel. -I see host for you tian th' . °^t ^°'^^'''^'' '« » ^tter I would nTspeak hard v off' 't°"^'' '"''^^'^' E''*-- the bit of ploughed Lnith?tr- "^^ "'''' ' P^^^^^^ ''V the downs IsSnlldth r^'',^^ '""='"'""=" ^'""^ was a gull. I heard , he "^ k T''"' ""'^ "'"^''^ ^h^" the air That made me^vt'/f^ "^ ^' ^' '°'' '"*« as alien f„ • ^ """'' "'^ M""- Mordaunt He is " Whv V ' '^''° '■°°^' among our elms " THE ALIEN 171 tion by the words, " I have something to say to Cousin Becky's son that must, and shall be said before I go." She spoke with decision. Esther had been wilful when she was young, and she had a will of her own still, though it had not been much exercised of late years, and had perhaps got a little out of repair. She had felt as if she had been blown hither and thither by her strong sympathies, by her grief, by her natural recoil from deception and wong-doing ; but at last she knew quite clearly what she meant to do and say, and there was always a certain largeness and generosity about her that made her shrink from any unnecessary distrust. Jasper was playing a bad part, and he was steahng from the Major, but it did not follow that she was unsafe under his roof. A man is no more bound to all the sins of the decalogue, because he has indulged pretty freely in some of them, than he is bound to all the virtues because he is a pattern of domesticity. That sounds a self-evident truism, yet it takes some learning to realise it, and learning of a kind that is not to be found in libraries nor bought at second-hand. One school there is where such lessons are taught, and where the price is paid in something warmer than coin of the realm. Not even to her dear old Godfather could Esther speak of the story which had been told her. There was but one person in all the world to whom she might open her heart with no breaking of pledges, and that was Jasper himself. Jasper, whom she had been evading during these last miserable days, whose glance she had been ashamed to meet, as if she had been the deceiver and he the deceived. She would tell Cousin Becky's son that she knew cvcrj-thing, would implore 172 THE ALIEN IFi: never in ^y i e Sd^l ?''■ P'^"'""' " "^'^ I breadth from the way s^e r*". ^'^ ""'^ '''"■'•- Esther, and then agl^-But^e ^°'" *''°"^''* throws one's heart Salt ll " ^ ■'"'"' ^""^^ '^ °"« Jasper sent an excus; a„H T""" '° ^'"''"''■" either at breakfast or lunci, Jn^'.h '". "° 'PP^''"'=« took her courage in both Lnd, J *'^'""'°°" ^''^"^ Some instinct led her to thel »\ ""^"^ '° *'=*'' *""'"■ not instinct, but that fi ° J" . .'""n''""' °' •^^''^P^ is often called by its „ame T ", °' ""^ *'^'*^ *''='' seei^.rL:s:se^^^i.r- - - -^ -t passed throuK.SS"'^"'^"'""- ^^'^-^^ paint had long ago^ ^,^7^'" ^''? ^'™'" "^^^^ faint fragrance greSed^i tT^ *''"? ^"^^' »"^ « had always biT£t^\J,''l^'^,:''^^^^^P^'^<^- grounds. It was an oL,U of^ '^^ "=*' "^ the -re the lat't bbSg autZr ^""*""^- "«="= delicate, drooping now frL ' '°'''' Pathetically day before. Dalhas too T ■;-%""*™'='y ^""^^ of the daisies, wedged in'tonit^^e SLt ^S^^r^ ful red and yellow annl« k,j u -^"e cheer- had been aVSdL't.'V'ea'.'Vr " ^""^^^^ ^ ■' was^said, had brought luck. ^"^ "'^'^^'' '* '"" ""to'n?h ""fr'^ '°^'"^'y °" «ve,y detail ch shad. r *'"'' """^^ ''"' •'"* toned by 'ch shades of russet brown and purple and They i age in THE ALIEN 173 orange; at the quaint roofs of the black outhouses that rose above the wall, and were outlined sharply against the mellow evening sky; at the moss paths diat she would ,n all probability never tread again In Its autumn beauty, the walled garden was like a npe and good old aga It breathed of peace. A sun- d.al stood on a little plot of grass in the very centre On summer days this was the hottest place in the garden, but now the shadows lay long and cool As Esther drew near, she saw that Jasper was lying face downwards on the grass, by the grey steps of the dial; hishatwas off, his head resting on his crossed arms. She was momentarily frightened. A sudden horror seized her lest he should be dead; for Death unannounced, had entered her home so suddenly and rudely of late that her nerves were somewhat on edge A sharply opened door would startle her, a ciy in the village street would bring back, ringing in her ears, the cry with which her old cousin had died. Then she saw that Jasper was but sleeping, and she sat down quietly on the steps and waited. After a minute or two he stirred, raised his head stared for a moment with sleep-filled eyes, then sprang to his feet with an exclamation of dismay Why. Esther! you should have kicked me." he said How could you have let me snore peacefully at full length in front of you ? » , f" VTi^ v,°' '^^'' *° "^^^^ y°"> ^""se I have such a foolish dishke to waking anyone." said Esther gently. Besides. I thought that you needed sleep." Jasper had seen twenty times as much as she had her instinctive little assumption of care for him was almost absurd, yet there is always a motherly element MiaoCOW RESOIUTION TBI CHART (ANSI end ISO TEST CHART No. 2) _^ >IPPLIED IIVMG E jn ag*. 1653 East Main Street ^^S Rochester, New York 14609 11"^ ^= (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^S (^16) 288- 5989 -Fox 174 THE ALIEN in ill! in a woman's feeling for a man, and she held in her memory a clue to t/tis man's life. She knew of the bitterness of his disowned childhood and boyhood as well as of the wrong that he had done. In the end her pity had overcome her horror, but the conflict had been sharp. It had left her weary and very gentle, and it had absolutely swept away conventionalism. " I leave to-morrow. I have been saying good-bye to the kitchen-garden," she said. She kept her place on the steps, sitting with her back resting against the dial, and with her hands lying on her knees. Jasper got up and moved restlessly about. "But it is a shame that you should have to go. That makes me feel as if I were a mean skunk, Esther. It never occurred to me that I should ever turn you out. It seems to me that this is more your home than mine, by a long way." " It seems so to me too, sometimes," said Esther gravely. " Yet I would never rob you, Esther," he said, with his sweet whimsical smile. " If the place had been left to jfou in case of my death, I would have remained in my coflin, or have disappeared again." " I believe that," said Esther slowly. Probably most people, knowing what she knew, would noi have believed it ! but she recollected that Cousin Becky had possessed a vein of chivalry too, and an occa- sional generosity that had not in the least prevented her from doing some very bad things. " The truth is," she said firmly, though she turned a shade whiter while she spoke—" the truth is that it is no more yours than it is mine, and that no sentiment, and no affection for the place can alter that fact one bit." THE ALIEN 175 " Hullo ! " said Jasper. He gave her a long look, but Esther's eyes dropped ; it was she who was ashamed. " My dear Cousin Esther, you are not a fool," said he. " I've seen you coming round to me day by day. and week by week. Whatever you may have thought at first, you surely know now that I am her son ? " He stretched out his hand to her. A lean, capable hand, with a conjurer's palm, and an odd blue mark in its hollow. " That is my mother's hand, mark and all, over again— only a size or two bigger. I saw that you noticed it once, when I was carving a pheasant at dinner." "Yes, I noticed it; but I no longer needed its evidence," said Esther. " You are my Cousin Becky's son. Every hour has borne some proof that has helped to convince me. You are hers all through, as she herself declared. Not only flesh of her flesh, but soul of her soul as well. Yet this place is not yours, and you know that ; and she knew it, and I know it, too, at last, because she told me the truth just before she died." " The deuce she did ! " cried Jasper, and then he laughed his harsh, sudden laugh. " Poor Esther I Well, it was a d— d shame to have told you. My poor old mother oughtn't to have done that. One shouldn't put burdens on such slight shoulders. That is why you have crept out of my way, eh ? No wonder you look worn to death." The unexpectedness of the reply left Esther speech- less. She had fancied that Jasper might be angry might possibly, and she had dreaded that possibility, have lied to her, and denied the truth of the story, or might (though this was difficult to imagine) be put out of countenance ; but he was none of these things, and the odd part of it was that his sympathy was genuine. ' i 176 THE ALIEN I! I! •'!■; III [■! 'I|! you. The rogue, if rogue he was, was reall/ rather sorry fcr Esther. " It must have made it awkward for you," he said. " In fact, it is awkward. You ought to have no share in this sort of secret. / should never have told What do you mean to do about it, eh ? " And Esther, very sad though in truth she was, felt an absurd inclination to smile. The Major would have said that that last question was put out of sheer effrontery, but it did not seem so to her, and perhaps she was nearer the truth than he would have been. " It is something more than awkward," she said at last. " I am not afraid of what Mrs. Grundy might say, if she knew that I know. That is a small matter. Yet, if you carry on this fraud it will be a heavy grief to me." • Her grave, tender eyes challenged his with candid dir- ectness. The tears that they had shed had purged their vision, and it seemed to Jasper that she had taken the situation in her slender hands with unexpected courage. " You have said, ' One should not put burdens on other people's shoulders,' but no one ever yet did wrong without other people suffering. You put a burden on the innocent from the very moment that you sin. Why, think — think how it is always so. Didn't you suffer wretchedly for what your father did in his youth ? Think of the miserable boyhood you had ; of the cold, cold home that poor Gatton, whose very name you are stealing, had ; of " — " Gatton was a cur," said Jasper. Then he was rather bitterly amused at his own words. His quick mind leapt from one point of view to another. " And no doubt you are saying in your heart, ' And what are you, that you should blame him ? ' " I THE ALIEN 177 "No," said Esther, and she spoke with unexpected passion "No! but I say. if that is true (.nd it is what she said), why, then, all the more was he the most injured. If such a boy as you were, a boy with all the makings of a man in him, needs his mother's love, and fails to be all he might have been for lack of it how much more does a bad son need it?" She was not a woman who often spoke of her religious faith. But here c.i this last evening in the garden, with the re- membrance of Cousin Becky-s words still ringing in her ears, It happened that for one moment a veil dropped and by the flare of that miserable old tragedy she saw the Christ stand, and knew what He was. „ ,.',' ^''' °"^ ^^""°t guess what He meant," said Esther, til one has seen sin so close that one's brain has reeled, and yet has loved the sinner ; but, if a boy's own mother does not understand that}" .u ^''t ''[°''/ °^ '''°'''- ^*'^' confused, half-expressed thought had involuntarily tried to shape itself in words but It was not for Jasper. Then her eyes smiled through the tears that stood in them. "Poor boys" i-oor little boys, who used to quarrel here ! You were both wronged, but Gatton most. Don't you carry on the wrong, Jasper, for you were never meant to be a rogue" Jasper stared at her, half-surprised, half-touched 'If I believed that any moral 'intention ' went to the making of us all, I should say that you were meant to be a very good woman," he remarked, " and that you have excellently fulfilled the original design But you were not intended, and ought not to have got mixed up with such people as my mother and me. bhe and I understood and belonged to each other, but you got cast for the wrong company. Why, what 178 THE ALIEN I'M ' ' ' have I said ? Esther, in spite of all my sins, I never meant to be a brute to ycu. Why did that make you cry ? Eh ? Why have I made you cry ? " He sat down by her side on the steps, and repeated the question insistently. He was not afraid of a scene, and he really liked Esther. The tones of his voice were very gentle, and somewhere at the very bottom of his heart he had the grace to be a trifle ashamed. He was aware, with his keen appreciation of values, that one of her tears was worth more than all his kindness. Esther drew a little away from him, and dried her eyes, quite simply and openly. " It was because Cousin Becky once said almost the same thing to me, and because you remind me of her (as you always do)," she said. " But you are quite mis- taken, and so was she. I have never regretted that I am fond of Cousin Becky. I will not believe thai: 1 shall ever regret having known you ; and, what is more, though I've buried such a number of years in this place, I will not regret one stone or one flower in it, when I hear — as I shall hear — that the Major has it, and that you've gone honestly away." " No. You won't hear that," said he. There was just a glimmer of amusement in his face. He liked this good and pretty lady immensely, but he wasn't prepared to do so much as that for her. " Why don't you break your word, and go to the nearest magistral; and swear to what she told you?" he asked suddenly. "If I betray her ? Why, I couldn't" replied Esther, recoiling. It appeared to her that there was a sort of diabolical mockery in such a suggestion from his lips. " Then no more can I," said he. " /, for the matter THE ALIEN 179 llt'''!t\Ttit?r'fK *°°' '"'' ""'''' ^" ''^^^ has been mst Its a p,ty If nothing is kept in the end. She made a bad bargain, did my poor old mother. She know how much. /.„ „„, "J „ u>„,„ „ "J ' Then he took up the thread of the convereation agam m the kindly and half-confidential toneftW often marked his intercourse with Esther head Vha/n'" ' '"?'''' ' '^^'^"'^ ^"^ P'°t '" -V !l r u . ° '""'■^ intention of posing as Gatton U^an I had of posing as the man in the ml Whl I wrote to my mother from Liverpool, I had no absolute proof that she was still Sive MM I that the behef drew me home, but I hadn't written o her for years and years. I said to myseHhen ? posted the letter, that it might ve,y weirbTtLri ia a fool for my pa.ns, that possibly she was in her dotage •f not ,n her coffin, and that equally po3sibly she wouTd mS and "" / ^""* °^ '" ^ '^g« ^'th her, t7sf ■ "v T"' "''" '^^'y y^^'' «g°- ^'^ gone to see my mother one day, and I'd been insulted 180 THE ALIEN ij i 1 1 _:.! by a chicken-hearted, little whipper-snapper in this very garden — thirty years is a long time ! But when she saw me again " — he stopped abruptly. Few things in his life, crowded as it had been with action and sensation, had touched him so much as had his mother's welcome. Esther shook her head, half-wondering, half-smiling. " How you could ever have supposed it possible that she would not know you, is beyond my understanding ! " she said. " Oh, well, perhaps at tne bottom I didn't suppose it," said he, with a laugh. " One doesn't always dive to the bottom of one's self, eh? Anyhow, from the moment we met she was mad to see me in the son's place. Nothing else would satisfy her. I doubt if she could have pretended I was anything less near to her. The time had gone by when she could fob me off as a distant cousin, mysteriously orphaned. That old dis- guise had never hung together very well ; it had always a way of wearing thin. It would have been ridiculous to wrap myself in it again. I wasn't going to attempt it So it seemed that the choice lay between blazoning the facts abroad or disappearing into space again ; and then the third way occurred. You suggested it, you know." "If" said Esther faintly. He nodded, with a twinkle of humour. " Yes. At anyrate she assured me that you did ; but I think that the suggestion jumped with her humour, and that she annexed it pretty quickly. Yet when you came into the room and first saw us together, neither she nor I were deceiving you. You remember how solemnly she spoke?" " This my son was dead and is alive," Esther quoted in a low voice. THE ALIEN i8i " And that was true," said he. « But when I had gone out through the French window, and left her to explain matters, what did you say to her ? " " I hardly remember. I was so confounded and startled. I believe I expressed my astonishment. I could only repeat that it seemed as if the world were turning topsy-turvy when her son, who had been to me only a portrait in the library, came walking into our life. " " Ah, that did it. She seized the idea, and gave no rnore explanation. I was ■ Gatton ' from that moment. When I came in, she was triumphant. She had met the difficulty. To tell the truth, the plan tickled me too, though it was risky." " Though it was bad',' said Esther sadly. " Though you injure yourself and the people who trusted you though It forced you to string lie on lie, and to act a part to everyone with whom you had relations." " rve never meant harm to the people who trusted me, he replied quickly. That accusation apparently touched him- the friendliness of his tone disappeared. He sprang to his feet and began to walk about restlessly. But his thoughts had flown right away from this walled garden, and from Esther sitting on the steps of the sundial and trying pathetically to understand him. "No, never! If harm has come it hasn't been because I've wanted to hurt one nair of their heads but entirely because of the damnable perverseness of their consciences and the false standards of civilisation with its priests and its churches, and its ridiculous systems and its unnatural restrictions. And we might have been happy enough ! " Ill lii ;l 182 THE ALIEN And what had priests, churches, and systems to do with the question on hand, thought Esther? But then, with a swift change of mood, Jasper shook his shoulders, as a dog shakes himself. That queer little trick, that visible throwing aside of some haunting thought, had often amused her. " But there is no use in whining, especially while apples are ripe and trees golden and red," said he. "What's carved on that dial, Esther?" Esther found her voice with difficulty. He was, indeed, like his mother. Like her in his sudden revulsion from anything approaching to maudlin sentiment ; like her in a certain underlying bitterness, and yet again in a keen relish for the gifts of Mother Eari-A. " It says, ' I only count the sunny hours,' " Esther said. " And I think it must count very few." " Ah," said he, " you've lived indoors too much, that's why you think that ! You're under the curse of over-civilisation, you know. I shook it off for a bit, when I left Europe behind me. But I had some bad hours in this old garden. I can see 'em peeping at me now from behind those apple trees. Not that they were all bad. There were one or two good ones, and I've some cheerful recollections. I'm glad still when I remember that I thrashed Gatton before I left ! " Esther made no rejoinder to that remark, and perhaps he was half-ashamed of it, for he went on with a quick change of subject. "Well, anyhow, nobody cared who my father was or wasn't, when I went on board the Ariadne at Marseilles. Have you ever seen Marseilles? It's like a great fair. The ships come in and go out ; and THE ALIEN 183 on the quay you hear all tongues and meet all kinds of rascals. You see great bales unladen, and hear the grating of the cranes, and the swell of the tide as it rises. The salt water in the harbo r looks quite oily where it gurgles round the sides ui the vessel. You long to be off. That sound of foreign tongues and of the sea pricks your blood and sings in your ears till you are drunk with the life in it. It's as well to be drunk a few times when you are a boy ; it prevents you from being a prig when you are a man." " Will you tell me some mtire ? What happened next?" said Esther. Sitting there on the steps of the dial, in ..his quiet place, where generation after generation of men, women, and children had come and gone, a longing seized her for further insight into this man's life. For such as Esther see many things through the eyes of others. They gain more than half their experience through their gift of sympathy, and the inherited instinct of love is strong in them, even though it may never bear its natural fruit. And he went on with the story, for her quick appreciation and understanding made her an inspiring lister^'er. He told her how he had worked his way in a trading vessel among the Greek Islands ; he narrated vividly, throwing, as it were, into her lap uncut jewels of stories ; all sorts of incidents, some pathetic, some humorous, some both. While he recounted, she pictured him lo herse'", a lithe brown lad, in his sailor's jersey, with the gipsy eyes that could dance with fun and blaze with passion, with a mouth that was defiant and melancholy, and a quick tongue ! She knew (without any telling) that 'i:l ;r 1 i I li| I'lt i'i 184 THE ALIEN girls had loved him, and that he had tumbled in and out of scrapes. She knew, too, that he could sing with the voice that stirs and charms, and that he could dance with the best ! " I've the trick of languages," he said. " It's just a monkey-trick, that goes with a good car and a gift of the gab. I never studied grammars, but I soon learnt to chatter Greek like a native, and later I picked up Spanish and Portuguese, and Italian and Russian. That helped me. I fell in with Lord while I was cruising about those blessed little islands. He owns the whole of one of them ; but his tongue is remarkably stiff. It used to make me laugh to hear him try to turn it to any language but his own ! Yet he had had twice the education I had. A lucky accident made me of use to him, and he took me into his service. I was interpreter at first, but after a year or two I managed more and more for him. You see, I under- stood the people. I wouldn't insult him by saying that he was like a father to me ! but he was very good. I stayed on there till I was twenty-five, then the place seemed too unbearably small, and the longing to be moving on to something fresh got hold of me. All sorts of great people used to stay at that house, and among them the Spanish ambassador, //e took me with him to Spain. I got on fast after that— faster than you would have thought possible for a man without family or interest to back him — but then " He paused and looked dubiously at Esther " then I tripped up over a woman's pocket-handkerchief," he said. " The woman was the wife of the ambassador, so it was an awkward stumble. It ended that chapter ; but anyhow I was growing tired of it." THE ALIEN 135 He was silent foi a few moments, then left the pocket-handkerchief story untold, and made a jump in the narrative to his adventures in one of the Spanish republics of South America. These were exciting enough. It seemed to Esther that he had made history there, and the things he told !,cr were to her as the opening of a sealed book. Of plots and counter-plots, of revolutions and hair- breadth escapes she heard, and, listening, she saw the sun go down, but did not know that she saw it, and shivered with the creeping mist, but did not know that she shivered, because :n spirit she was in the hot square of a Spanish-built town, where dark-skinned men were struggling desperately under a blazing sky Negroes in cotton shirts and straw hats, fighting faith- fully like obedient dogs, some on one side, srme on the other. Mulattoes, half-creole, half-negrr young Spanish officers in their gay uniforms, descendants, perhaps, of men who had sailed with Columbus. The white man ruling as ever— his print on the houses, the schools, the cathedral, from which a statue of Faith looks out over the blood-stained town. Poor Faith ! hard tried in this turbulent city. " But, you see, she's lifted so high," said Jasper, with his instinctive gift of description, " that she sees right over our heads (I was in the middle of the tussle round Guzman Blanco's statue) to the snow peaks of the mountains. And up there is another life altogether." Then he paused again, and smiled. " I should think that you have heard enough ; even you must be weary of listening." But he read the question in her eyes, and something, he hardly knew what, induced him to answer it. CHAPTER XIV 11 t! Dark to me is the earth. Dark to me are the heavens. Where is she that I loved, t),i woman with eyes like stars? Desolate are the streets. Desolate is the city— A city taken by storms, where none are left but the sL'n." WiLFKID SCAWKN BLUNT. ESTHER," he said, in a voice that had dropped suddenly to a low, almost flat tone, "you remind me sometimes of— of the woman who was mine. Not that you are like her in face or figure. It is only, I suppose, because you listen with the whole of yourself, just as she did. Of course you are really worlds apart. She was bom in a gutter, and you in a garden — besides, she was in love with me." "And she is dead," said Esther softly. She had taken that for granted. " No— not a bit of it," said he. " She is alive enough to pull at my heart-strings, and that's the mischief of it all i " " Ah, then, that is it" said Esther. She sat very still in the growing dusk. Yes, that was " it " ; that was the heart of the mystery. " Oh yes, that's it," he repeated, with a dreary little laugh, for her phrase somehow amused him. " That's what drives one to play the deuce, though at my age It oughtn't to, I grant you that. One would imagine one might stamp it out in this other world, especially THE ALIEN 197 as I am fond of this place, much fonder of it than I knew before I saw it again, but that's it. I'd tell you t^Z^ T^' ''"' *'"' >'°" '^' ^°^ ^°'"«" don't understand smners, and bad ones don't help 'em If a woman could manage to keep the bloom on her good- ness, and yet to understand a bit more, she might be -well, one doesn't know what she mightn't be in this queer world I suppose you'll be shocked if I go on and shocked at the wrong end of the story. Mind you though MaraviUa is wrong-utterly, horribly wrong —she IS the whitest, purest person I've met, and to have you or anyone alive drawing back her skirts from her IS what I couldn t stand." Esther glanced down at her black dress and smiled, a tired, sad, l.ttle smile. «I do not think that you need be afraid," she said. ^ Somehow it seemed to her that her garments had got a good deal splashed of late, both literally and metaphorically. ' " Was Maravilla your wife? " she asked "No, worse luck! She was the wife of a rascally bar-keeper at A-a," said he. '• One day I was passing down the s reet ,n which she lived. It was a little narrow alley, cobble-stoned and hot— hot as hell I There was a bit of a row going on, and a man had got stabbed He was lying just inside the bar. His head was on MaraviUas lap, and she was squatting on the floor pressing her fingers against the wound, while a neero was tearing a blue shirt into strips to make a bandage. I noticed her, because she was pure white, among all those shades of black and yellow and olive. They were mostly half-breeds, all darker than I am, but Maravilla has a skin like a white rose, and grey eyes 188 THE ALIEN You'd say, 'She's pure Castilian,' if you saw her. How she ever came to be there is part of the miracle. She looked up at the negro — everyone was smoking, and I caught the glimpse of her face between clouds. Clouds are the right environment for angels, eh, Esther ? Yet not tobacco clouds, perhaps. ' I can feel his life going between my fingers,' said she, ' Be quick ! be quick ! ' " The negro grinned — not that he was a bad fellow, but her anxiety struck him as funny, I suppose, and I tore the shirt out of his hands, and we bound up the wound." Jasper paused. He looked away over his listener's head, as if he actually saw before him what he was describing. Indeed, while he spoke, the scene he recalled was so present to him that his vivid memory set before him even the pattern of the saffron-coloured blouse that the girl had worn, and the texture of her blue cotton skirt that was splashed with blood. "I suppose that you saved the man's life?" said Esther. " Oh no, he chucked it then and there," said Jasper. " And I don't know that that mattered much. A few years more or less don't make much odds, and we must all die. I was sorry, though, when I saw her face. Not that (as I found out afterwards) she had ever set eyes on the fellow before. He was nothing in the world to her, but just a fellow-creature, but she was so made that she couldn't help minding. I've seen her cry over a broken-kneed donkey." " But, of course, she minded," said Esther wonderingly. Jasper's eyes narrowed with the humorous glance she knew well now. " Ah, of course, you say ! My dear, good lady, ' of course ' you would mind, if someone were to bleed to death with his head on your lap, and equally, of course, THE ALIEN 189 you would mind, if he were to drink too much at your table, or ill-treat a woman in your presence, but where, if you please, was the ' of course ' for lur, who had seen brutalities for every hour of the twenty-four? She kept her tender heart because she was Maravilla. She was by far the greatest miracle I've ever seen I I knew that at once. She was seventeen then, and she had been Cesare Vivario's wife eight months. You cannot possibly have the least conception of what he was, and, fortunately, to tell the truth, nor had she. She did not come of respectable people, but Cesare married her because she had a remarkably sweet voice, and sang in a way that attracted men of all sorts to his beastly little inn. I remember hearing him grumble over the fee charged for the ceremony, but she was worth 'binding,' he said. She married him because she was told to, and because she knew no better. There was no question of sentiment of any kind between them. There could not be any more than between a satyr and an angel. I bought my ' miracle ' from Cesare Vivario. I gave him a good round sum ; more than all that she was worth from his point of view, and as much as was paid for the marble statue of Nuestra Senora de la Immaculada Concepcion, which you may see on the high altar of Santa Anna. I meant to teach her to love and be happy." His voice broke, and he laughed with an uncertain sound that brought a lump to Esther's throat. " But she taught me. She knew more than I did. That little girl, surrounded by shameless evil from her babyhood ; which yet she had never seen, any more than a three-year-old baby sees it. She knew some things by instinct. God whispered them to her, I suppose. She had a genius 190 THE ALIEN reverence her. I can't teltl "^^^^ "*** """^^ «"« prettier than anyonTel f w^S" 'i'"'>"^ *''=>' -- distinct The/were a^^ns^tir rt^^r' ^^ her/sltthTr^ ^"°*^^ '"^"'^ -^^'' -^ X- bought fiercet^in^S ticrrdfh" T-'^ ^^^P^^' ^^' '^^ wasn't really wi^ o the T '^""^- "^'^^' «>>- little white bod" bit who?. " "'° P""^^^^'' »>- -«!• That's th^e other st"Tu ?, ^^^ ^^ -- h- of to the pure all thin^lpurl ' CanV'' °''" '''' She was a slave if vou i;t» k * ,. " 'y°" *^^ that ? one could buy/iTlS;t2f^5e gave to ..no cause, in spite of all ^pn^ t ^aie— i only won it be- man enough to Lt he. r"'''''.''""'^' ' "^^ ^"" dieting myself, but that's h ^°" '^'"'^ ^ ^"^ «ntra- ■• Ves. lU CerrtlLtXnTorhr ""r^^"'^- never had he so profited ZZ^Y^^''^''^^"^^'^-' men), and I took her Sht. '"^''"''' °^ E"&"'^h- hole. With .y ar.t„ritrTr Id?" "^T^' '■'S up at me, with a tr„=f . JT*'"' ^"d her eyes look- -ake a man' oTof a bea^t T ''" T ^"°"^^ *° them smile before I'd don^ .u i °'^ ^ ^^"''l n»ake the shadow of feaH I did f ^V"'' ^^''^ ^''h°"t I did! You can buy o?s ;f F"'" « time at least buytheoutsidesof'^t Lngs^tiJd Tt ''°" ^^" possess souls by buyine thlS "^^^^'^-but you can't can manage that thoul L> ^°' ^^^" '^^ ^evil for by the time Wsdirtvfini ^."^ ''^ '"^P"'"'' *°' dead_or gone some^^f C ''°" °" ^''^'" *''^>' ^ THE ALIEN ^gj " I bought Maravilla's freedom • T ^;a u u love's love. That «h^ Z ^^°°"^ • ' didn't buy my I'n, not her husband inT.^" -"t " '''' S'''' «"", ft He doesn't see cX" "^''' "'^' '''^ ^•=^"- Tears rose suddenly to Esther's eyes " Ah nn H knows," she said. "Life is too H;ffl.„u "°' "^ pe^plexi^.^fit,ifon;1s„otsuf£^ "And that is what she said" h^''^"'""^'" "For she was religious too H T^ ^"'^^'"''• cursethatcameon?s and JsnSl.'' ^^^^T ^"^ ^^^^ tone grew quieter and mLi ^7 ^^e-^thing." His of passion had Id 'To^Z-rd T, ''""''" '^"^ had a genius for it." he extS„.^,f''Pf ' '°' '^^ "I've thought aboutitsince and I 1^" -^ ""' to happen. There are peode tho h "'' ^"""'^ religion, just as other. %rf ^^^ ^ «^^"'"s fo"" ^r beingUVn:S:xt™i:r it-sr"'"^- °' of course, but so are the^ oth™ k „ds tT°T°"' stronger than its surroundings v ^""^^^ talent-.to needs fosteriS^toTakellr" k PP"""^ can't suppress genius. It lays hoW nf "^ "' ^°" turns it to food. It doesn' m,;. u ^^^"^thing and ^» ...™.,;„'r : t ;s ;i' s. ^^n. " *e f„, 4. Sgh l•t^;ftrr'™^■"*>' 192 1'! I i! J 'II THE ALIEN plunge ,„to parts of the forest where white men have never been, where the Indians stiJl tread like noiseless unZ"T.°''-^'^V^'- "°* "'•^ionised and dressed up and deteriorated, but naked as they were bom except for a loin-cloth and a necklace of teeth Well' there we went, and there we were happy. I taught graVs°s!r';"' ^'°°'' ^"' *° ^'^^P inThammock of grass slung from a tree. I took care of her myself You see. Marav.lla wasn't over-civilised, and she was wild doe. It was what I'd often dreamt of" bre'lJh." ^^ ^^^ ^ ^^'""^ ''°'^'" '^''^ ^''^^' ""<^«^ her Jrh^"^'" f'^ ^^- "^"'^ '" ^^'■'y ^t°ri«s there are witches, enchanters, and horrible things that come out of the forest, are not there? Well, so it is there oiw" ^ ^^'^Sr°uud of danger. One must keep kind Tp ° v"- ""'; '■" '^"^'^"'^' N^*"- '^ -fe -"d S ;.Ki ^°\'^" P'^y "^''^ ^^' ^' if =h« were an h«, f?'' '!H''"* °"' '^^'^ '^' ''^ « striped tiger, beautiful and fierce and never to be trusted. There is everlasting strangling going on in the brtLr ? " u^"'' P^'"'' ^"'^ ^^'"g ^"d bloom on branches they are hugging to death. You break a twig of something that looks like a vine, and its milk raise! a blister on your hand; you touch what you think is a leaf and it gallops off on a hundred legs ! The animals pretend to be vegetables, and the vegetables to be animals, tvery living thing is to'inj to protect Itself, with all its little might and main?^and to get the Oh the t, K "'"!'"■ ^'"^^ ^ '""^ P«°P'« - 'oL do Oh, the high woods of the Andes are not ,r,oraI, they THE ALIEN 198 alone was gooS and 'gent" atd SI ' xtat'sT '^ took one-, breath away She w«n'. ' ""^^ '^^ struggle. She wanted Lh^g^ foTer Wr'lJ", '""^ sto„« a., short. Ours came fo an end "^ We were months away. We miVhf K- »i. but that one day news Lrhln ""^'''> '^^^e "ow, It's odd how little vouTn/u .""" °'* revolution, and yet they a^^reno^h "xh^"; °"' 7°'""°"^' a soap-bubble,andVck I went to tt'"" ^'f" "''" you should have seen it > Th! ""^P'*''- ^h. throats all shouting do' Th. ''%*"""'>' *''°"^«"d the year before. met the h«H ^v ^''"^ ''"^ •*^°''«^ pole, as I entered the dty wa^ J^^S b Tr' °" ^ His nostrils quiverS and l^i 'l'"'' ''^^'"•" Esther shook her head '^'' brightened. toilL't^Marviirn'ot'r ''^''"^"'"•- ''"* ^ -nt , "Ah, she''h";ei%hTn?rr^''..?;s'r"^^^ place some miles fmm fK» .. t '*'* ''«'■ '" a safe, and tl^.TolrclMljZ'r:''^:''' ^'^ '''''' ^"'^ forest she had askerf m» ^, ''^" "^^ ^^^e in the made me love her ? ' • wk, ?:/•!,; "° *"'' ^bat didn't satisfy her .No?[s' tt s 'f " ^"*''^' cause if it were Ces,nl ^ u '°'"«t'»"g in me, be- -ethingr;;u'SsT:? iz "^ wL'; r '' '- goodness come from ? ■ hL n^f *^°^' ^^""y asked me no more, she said she knew • vVZ ^ ^^■^S w^tatr ^''-*7 •"°*'>- -^ the'^Sl?"^"^- was taken up just then with those small matters of ^i'i if! I ill i l!il« ''f 1 J 194 THE ALIEN war and administration that don't interest you so much, Esther; I hadn't time to spare for any woman, not even for her. I was a member of the new congress. For two or three years my hands were very full. It was then that Maravilla's genius for religion grew apace. She took to going to mass. I made no objection, for it seems natural to women to like saying prayers ; then she was baptized, and so was the child, and I really did not mind that either— I had no idea what it would lead to, you see. I was not over-pleased when I heard of her going to confession, but that was because the priests there are a low lot, and because I knew too much about them. Yet badness could never have hurt my Maravilla. I was always sure of that ! It took a houseful of saints to drive her nearly out of her mind and twist her conscience the wrong way ! " I didn't know what was the matter at first. She stopped singing, and she became grave and thin. Her eyes were always following me wistfully, and presently they got a frightened look in them, such as I hadn't seen there, since the day I took her away from Cesare Vivario. She was like a nervous child in one way ; it was always difficult to her, to explain what troubled her. The monks and nuns, who used to overrun us had been chased out by Guzman Blanco ; but some of them have been creeping back lately, and there is a little hospital, a long yellow building, just at the foot of the mountains, kept by sisters, where Maravilla loved to go. She took them presents from our own . farm, riding over on a good little black mule, with the boy in front of her. I knew v/ell enough that she spent whole days there, and thought it just as well that she should, for she couldn't bear the city, and THE ALIEN ,„ thought more of that but iZ . ^ ^ ""^''* ^ave into one thing at a time. We had r^'! ""."^ "^y^^^^ ■n the forest as no one else I ver«v S ' ''°"«J"»o°n since the first man and woman l^T^' '^^' ^ad. but making love is only 0^^ ofT'''' ^'^"^''^'^ I threw all my strength into 1 k' ^"'^ ^'"''^^ *hat Time flies fast when one s nl^ "? ^-^ ?-'• but. when my boy was threVeifoTd t 'T ''"'■' I must have a holiday, and MaZilw' ^ ""^'^^"^y ^It face shone out in the dark before - ''"■''^' ^'""''^'^ was sleeping in Caracas and Id ^Z °"'' "'^''' ^^''^n ^ mysterious something rSht Can '""'' *° P"* '"« something was ? Those d-ldsarnts°h T"' ^''** '^"^^ Maravilla'smind; had masher tel '^/^"''"^ -"X 'living in sin'-that waT their . -^ '^^' '^^ ^^s quivered in a curious nll^ltT^l^^'T^ "- ^ace anyone sicken and pine awav frnr^ ' . ^ y°" ««« I don't suppose you hav^ ^ havt" ''r^" ' ^°- once; but in this case it was a ...f' """'^ ^''an WHS infected with unnatural, miJerabi "°' ^''°''^• ^''^^ one could be punished." ""'^'^able scruples, and no Poor Esther, sitting there in ft„f u , garden, listening to this ex t«. J '^^'*^'^ ^"^^ish looking at the mean's tw tchSof 7 ^"P"'^^' ^^°0'. hands, felt that her ideas w2 turnin "'^'^'^ ''^°-" saults. ^""^ ^"'^'"ng strange somer- "Yet surely they spoke truth- it ,„ cned. And there protested h„ Q f ^ ""'" '^^ 196 THE ALIEN MlM ^t mi„T" *° r^"' *!■•" ^ *"• ^ '■°"«ht hard for her to that; but our child is dead, and I-I'm nla'in^ !' qu.te another gan,e in another world; ^nd vTsLl dont know why I've told you all this It m„TJ because something in the ton« of your voice when vo^ are sorry for people, remind me of her" ^ " ' But that can't be the end. You'll s«. »,-, , • .. said Esther, though with a oualmT ■ *^*'"' own words. ^ "" °^ conscience at her His answer startled her. « I hope not It's better she should be sewine at gold crosses, and fasting till she faints and siinJ virgin mothere and Heaven knows wh J J"^ t^ that she should be tortur«^"andTshtj t'Siutd" as we were during the last months of her iS S me' Ive had enough of thatl" He pointed to the «d bnck wall at the bottom of the garden •• If thIlJ the kind of thing that stood betle^n my wife and T do you suppose that I should be here now or thaT l' houldn't pretty soon have got her out ? But' that's „o It ! If MaraviUa were sitting where you sit now the barrier would be between us still, and besides that t'h^e would be the grave of our child, whom she Verted r couldn't hold her so close but that it wou d alwayfi between us. That's why I came aw,y. I Sht^ might forget better in another world and tZ, mother wanted me. But the strln^e „ r I n"^ that though, if she came ^IXZ^;^ ::^:^^ THE ALIEN ... 197 alive!" *"*"' *o '°ng as we aw both ^.^An^Esther turned her eyes away fron, the pain .•„ -9---?2:SS™--ve can't ft^^Ter^^^leLnnflT r^'^" "«- ^ "as saved her so^ul at The etLn^." ' r"? '°' «"« perhaps you'll sav tK,* «Pense of mine. Why mother saved her own „ ^'^ "^*"^al enough. My -ve her own so 1° AnT^h^t^ '*°"''"'' "^^ ^'-'^ struggling for ourselves in ol "■' """ "" ^°''"S *•"» thcn.you see, I beSvS Z LrVsh" T^'^^' «"* the rest. She was above the evli«f- " ''''^''="' *° »" the creepers push Vp hS,T u"^ "^^^^le ! When growth, the flowers bloom in T/p t'°^'= ^'^ «»"»«- was like one of those WsSo^^!"' u"' ^""^ thought ! Now som^n™ T . ^ thought ! so I her. though I?1 Sfor her'''"'H*\^' ' ~""' '''" can't understand But h-w ''''~'"^ that I know you Poor Esther 1 what a shaml,^"" '" ''"^""^' E^*«' "I believe 1 am cold," said Esther blanklv -&"r .Trr. wif 4 '" "" - bits of ice ! " he -ried ^' ^°'"' ''^"'^^ »« Uke Esther's cheeks were pink if h^r fi„ Her opportunity was all but gone ^""" "'"'" '=°'''- Of wLm r ": i^zr^^^r ^'--i had thought Mi«cle-wo^,; h"v; ^nT^'"}' '"'^^'-y-r "ot forgiving her; why^h^ °" 7 'f ''°" *^"^ °' ' ny, sue left you because she loved 19" THE ALIEN soul. You make a you. It wasn't to save her own mistake, I think." " And how should you know ? " said he. '• Oh, I know," answered Esther, smiling. " It is rather a secret, but see, I tell you plainly. Cousin Jasper. A woman never does care for her own soul so much as she cares for the man she loves. But if she is good- very good, like your Maravilla, she cares for his soul more than for her happiness, or even than for his happi- ness—she can't bear that he should be doing wrong " " Oh. hang it all ! " said Jasper. For a moment" he was almost boyishly rueful, half-melted by the " secret " laid suddenly in his hands, then his expression changed agam and hardened. " Look here, my dear, good lady," he said. " It is you, and such as you, who make a hash of everything m the world. It is you who love to build altars, and sacrifice bodies and souls to cruel gods in the desert I don t believe it was Abraham— it was far more likely to have been Mrs. Abraham— who wanted to immolate their only son. She got possessed by the iniquitous Idea. She put him up to it, you may be sure. She was horribly afraid of happiness, and thought the Almighty would be jealous. Maravilla was afraid of happiness too, and so would you be— and that is why you understand and uphold her. My poor old mother wasn t made on those lines, nor am I, and I wish— I wish that I'd had nothing to do with your sort, for we weren t meant to mix. " My little son is buried, and there was no ram caught by the horns (that part of the story is a fable, I suppose) ■ It s not true to life, anyhow. He called his mother, but she never came. / called to her God for once, but I THE ALIEN 199 there wasn't any answer— it wasn't likely there would be, but one acts the fool sometimes." They walked towards the house, Esther saying nothing. She felt that she was inadequate to the occasion, as she had felt once before. Yet perhaps her silence was better than words. When they got to the hall door Jasper turned and looked at her shamefacedly. " Did I rant ? Did I shock you ? " he said. She shook her head, " I am sorry. I can only be very sorry." " Vou are very kind," said he. " But there's nothing to be done, you know. One's fate is on>,s fate, and mme's been unlucky. On the other hand, I've tasted life a good deal, and often liked the flavour. I daresay I shall get some more out of it yet. Esther, I get into blind rages when I think of some things, because I'm helpless. When one is bound by the cords of othe- people's conventions one wants to kick. But you must please understand that it is no use asking me to make sacrifices for conscience' sake, because from first to last I've always been the sacrifice myself! " The next day Esther left Applehurst by the early morning train. She refused to let Mr. Joel go with her to the station. She wished to slip away as quietly as possible. Her farewell had been said the day before. Somewhat to her relief she did not see Jasper again before she quitted the house. Polly Greenback accompanied her, and Polly was comfortably unsentimental, triumphant at having got her own way, and frankly pleased to leave her native village behind.' Polly tucked the tug round her mistress, and they drove along the well-known road to the village in silence If • ■',: :"| 200 THE ALIEN When they reached the little station, the Major's tall figure appeared at the carriage door. "Why, Esther," he said, "you never vouchsafed to let me know that you intended going to town to-day • but I heard of your intention from Mrs. Greenback, so 1 have come to see you off." Esther could hava found it in her heart to wish that he had not heard, but she hid her dismay and thanked him. It was not the Major's fault that she ached morally and physically. Then the station - master greeted her with a tightly packed bouquet of dahlias m his hand. The flowers were arranged in circles of colour— red inside, then a circle of yellow, then purple, and then crimson. He, too, was aggrieved. " If you had only given us notice, Miss, all the village would 'ave been present," he said. "But I never so much as knew you was going by this train, till ten minutes ago. And this is all I can do." Esther clasped the enormous bunch of badly treated flowers with both hands. " Indeed, it is beautiful, Mr. Carter, said she. "But I did not want all the village to bid me good-bye, because 'good-byes' are so sad. Some day I will come back. Then I shall run to find all my kind friends." "Ah I " said Mr. Carter, sighing « Them that goes off in a hurry, don't always come back. It ain't wise to trust to that. Miss. London is larger than Apple- hurst, I dont deny, and it may be that in some ways It has the advau»=ige, but then again it'- full of dirt and Its full of V'i- -.edness. The squire, who 'as been in lurrin parts, he says as he has never (not in all his travels) found a place that compares with this, when you take it all round." i-^lii THE ALIEN 201 " Come along," said the Major impatiently. •' Have you taken your ticket ? Second class ? Oh, nonsense ! You must certainly travel first, Esther." He put her into the railway carriage, with Polly beaming by her side. Polly had a sovereign tucked away in her tight new glove. It had been given with an adjuration to look well after her mistress's comfort, which she also accepted in good part. Polly liked responsibility, and was as happy as Esther was sad. The sovereign was the more delightfully unexpected, because the Major was by no means in the habit of giving tips. Esther, with unusual docility, allowed him to take her affairs in hand, and to change her ticket. His voice seemed to reach her through cotton wool. She could not understand what he was saying. She was dimly aware that he was talking about plantations in Trinidad, and about how it would be easy to get from Trinidad to Venezuela. She did no. respond, and he frowned. " I suppose that you are still angry with me. Cousin Esther," said he, half-sadly, half-indignantly. "Yet that is exceedingly unjust." And then the whistle sounded, breaking into his protestation, and the train was off". Esther leaned out of the window. She caught a last glimpse, through the trees, of the church, of the churchyard where her Cousin Becky lay buried. The Major left, was standing quite still, and very upright, pulling his moustache. Then she put her hands to her head. " I daresay I've always done all wrong ! " said she. " Polly, my head is splitting ! I believe I'm going to be very ill ! " li: CHAPTER XV W The Universe is wider South A.enca„fore^rNewWsEt' ^"^'^ ^ oddest New Year's Eve that he h^H ' "^^^ "'^ had left the city behind h^H ^''"' "P""'" «« strange of cities wherll . "^^^^ ^^o. That most the West, from tke N^th !nd r ''-' "^'^ '"' '^""^ business together on t beacr Thl t'°f ' k*""^^'=* a pass, where the river n. u ' '''^^ ''""t on and the town io^ks d::n rsi: •Mt'^'T ''^"^ ^°'^'^^- From there he had tr=.li. ^ *^ ^'"P^ <=°me in." he had been entertiSdt tH"\*° *'^ ^^P'^^'' -''^^ had heard many st^n'e and '"'""''^ '^°"^«' -"^ Jasper Iredale/ TWnS ZtTT'-''^ '"'"^^ «^"t digest. Things that h^d to be t^L^ *° "^"^^"^ «n his mind, as he rode with "^^^ *"'^ o^^r through the forLt totk ds'the" """ °' '^^ "=^^°-' Nuestra Senora de la wtced ""' ""'^'"^"' "^ buttvlrrher:/-^ tr— '•^^ ^^^ ^en dents permission, nto the ■^nj!''/°""' "'''' ^^e Presi- - Between Cara^slttpLr^trr: THE ALIEN 203 they had experienced as marvellous and adventurous a InZ' L ^-^ l^"^ ^""^ ^^* ^^"' converting the Indians with simple and undoubting assurance. thrlt^h^K^'"'' *' ^^ P"""'"^^ ^'' "'^y"" ^"d °" and on through those never-ending trees, smiled to himself at the thought of how the nuns must have come by this fesT'« ? '""■ '': ""' ""^- ^-- absolutel7f a ! less "sisters." viounted, probably, on the strong s^nder-limbed little mules of the c'ountry. Carrying their s ore of food, and, far more precioTs, their own titS .i , ""^'■^' ^^J""" ^'■^'^^'^ had no sympathy with Catholicism, but his heart did homage to a courage and faith that he could very well understand, and whS. whch flash out again and again, illuminating the worlds story from generation to generation. The fuUy attempt the impossible. High over his head c^p^rs twisted and knotted themselves, and flowers blazed triumphantly, flaunting their victorious colours m the sun. The negroes chattered together, like monkeys, but the Englishman rode silently, trying to set his impressions in order ' -^ s littfe^nr/''' r' P'"'l^ "' " '='""'"^' '"-^^'^ ^'°°d a htUe cluster of native houses. Houses whose simplicity t£ T ^tT^"^' "^y- '"'■g'^* ^^«n have shamed Thoreau himself! For they had not even the luxury ThrM .™'^ '"°"'' P°'*^' ^"^ * ^°°f of palm-leaves. The Major dismounted and, sitting under an orange tree, endeavoured to converse with two Carib Indians and a tall squaw. The squaw was arrayed in one 204 THE ALIEN !'■'; straight garment, that fell from u ? quantity of turquoise! It ^^^ """"^ *° ^er feet framed, highly coloureT^^" j^",''^ ""'^ « s"'-" S- depended from the ZadT^t '^^ ^^^'^"""a. wWch about twelve wore th. '""^ " '"^^et A rfri oJ £-; Which swefhrp":ttt^:'r;;^'^^'^''* -«o" her shm ankles. She obse" ed " ''■°"" "^'^' «"d «nd pomted to the crucifix thl. '^"^"'' ^^^^'X. jt "7 * -inverted fam«y a, '^ '' '^^^ ^^«^ The g,rl remarked softly i^' uL f ^"°^ Catolicos." too was of the white ma^'s r^f ^P""'"'''' ^'^^^ ^he as he was." The M- "^^'S'O", "just the sam- though he haH V !, ^J""" "°dded gravelv n ? . , ° , "Sa his doubts on fh« s^tveiy m reply, had he been in England h! "'f/"'»Ject, and though the statement that a„''na„rr" ^"^ hotly dispuTd religion as himself "^ /^P'"' <=°"ld be of the same »"d ripe juicy oranges '^""""'^ °^ ^rvocado l^rs t-'-V. not wifh the^Sck X"^ *e Indian's h^^^! would have shown, but wTJ ^'"'*'''>' «>^' Jasper s«mplicity that P^ave «fT ^ ^"'^^ ^"d dignified ;'"'. the"? huge butterfly^black wfth ^^ ""^ *'""<^hes. A W™. He could SC tl^"^' .^pots-brushed by and yellow between theTeave' n°f "^""^ "''"^on ^Jf looked indubitably EneHsh ^J"' ^^J°^ ^im- P^eled his fruit with hi^S k„Y ^""""P""" »« he n^uch farther off was the'Tontnt 0';^' '"'^"''^^ how And while he sat therrir ^'^ S:ood sisters. THE ALIEN 205 folW_whriSL'1L°erhold^ '■"^"''"^ '° hood.wit"haicrrosrthVrur'orjf ^ •"^■^'^ lined and creased !.!,» » ■ . mahogany, and brilliant eyes whlht T' ""'"'7'^ '""''' ^"'^ ^"^ reminded t^eMatr^ra..'"'""'''''^ '''°'^" ^^«'"ff. was oerhaps u!SL° *°^''^ ^>'-' ^''-gh the siJe " Behold the mother ' " saiH n,- i*-.! proud of the Spar^sh which she hi^ g-1. who was convent school ThenThr. .! "^ '^^""^^ '" *he waved one slim brownr';. ^^lehoSThJ^^^r ^^ traveller who eats with us • " ^^^* ^'^''^ genl^feScttd^rdmS-*"""^ f ''^^ »>«' ^'th soold.woLnhadtakeTsorr ^' '""'=*"'' *»' Theresa's face hghted wTth /'""' ^°"^"«y- *^°ther him. She was S 111 .u? P'^^'"'* ** ^'gh' of after whom Z ha" SnM^f ^ "T?^^^^^" full of daring as any Sght of £ utadl^AT/'f' solicitude for the in™ f . keenness of her ;■ W= .w= n,uch ./.rpSS "we •„'"f; r"°. times honoured," she said « n ^ hundred you would be we.com '• We e'^ bT^h""' ^''^' sisters here in the forest." °*''"' ^"'^ m 206 THE ALIEN Presently the Major was walking by her side tn the convent, stooping now and then to cLh fh ■ , flow of her Spanish, for she was aL^y w'tn t;^;„). o( ,bZ dear .iKil2„ w 't""' been ma„dlously ble„ed.- " ">«dren- We have Tile Major was surprised to hear th>f .u. ust fiftw h» h. J - ■ . "" She was but just fifty, he had .magmed her to be about eighty. THE ALIEN 207 "But where did you sleep, and how did you live?" he asked. "He spreadeth our table," said the nun. "But indeed, at first our chapel was bare enough I We took our beli with us, and we made a clay and timber house, and fastened it at the top; and there we built our altar, and there we hung the picture of our dear Lady. She, at anyrate, had a roof over her head that first night. Of us it shall never be said that we found no room for Her and Her Child After that, our own house grew under her protection It IS now three years since we settled here. You will see how wonderfully we have prospered. No sickness has touched our dwelling-place. Privation has done us no harm. We have been joined by five more sisters all carefully chosen. Sometimes I think that our blessed Lady has a very especial favour for those who risk much, throwing themselves most completely on her protection." " I am no Catholic," said the Major bluntly. " But I have never doubted that Fortune favours the brave " "No Catholic?" said the old nun. "Ah poor creature!" She crossed herself rapidly, muttering something which he could not quite catch. " But no doubt it is for that very reason that you have been sent to us," she went on, with brisk cheerfulness " You will see, and one day you will believe. Of late the most extraordinary miracles have been wrought from our humble house. That, at least, you have already heard ? The track through the forest is widen- ing, because of the many feet that have trodden it Ban- feet, that tread noiselessly, for our message is' abo^e all to the Indians, but afterwards the feet of 208 THE ALIEN face. " I shall be at rest Sfore tL ' th.n wnnkled but I have seen the begSSn^ '''"^^7=?'°" ,«"*•• entertained an e.issao^ rZ7. Ho1;VSerTL7 He came to investiMtP f„ ^ i-atner himself. v«y properly SoufaiJ; aTce^^LT'"",' ""^ v"^ this is a light which cannot be hXn^ "^ "t"' S* the star of Bethlehem. It Ts as if our^ "? ^'^^ whose servants were wickedly dnven from theTo '^• '73. whose churches were rohlv.7 i. ^""'"^ '" were taken from her had 2n J ^ r"^ ''°^P'*^''' the .sting-place olS' bXe^S,?rS;° «"/ ;you saw the accU^^^^mt clet"^, I^S /a Fe—n very excellent paper!" " ** The Major shook his head "T r,»„ ranrf„m .. cu • ' "^ "° ""^ans wageed at s-g-of thf ch^h^-rid ^h^ ^r-p -- " -: mother convent admitted h^r when she w-" °' *^ distress of mind. She was then m T '" ^'^""^ happy. Later on, the. Ith'; "w ' sSn"f' ' '"' ""' desire, came here to me ShehJT^^^''^'^''^'^ never be a nun for ' 'T'"' ^^"'^;%.-n"r^'^^; -" hear'orheTp..^"'^'' ^' uphill track brought the Ma or Lh ", °^ '^^ ^'^^P' of sceneo-. He^ step^d ou Tot "" '° ' ""^ "'* countless trunks, with a sense of .?, ^T"^^^ ^^°'^ him lay the mighty forest wave 'on "''f "^'"'"'^ still a little abov'e L, "a^ the on em'if °"' ^"'^ spur among the feet of th^ Kn u ^ "'^^ °" » behind the Lven^L^ertSs a"' ''^°"' ^"'^ snow-clad. How Jiny th^H trhl, "T"' ''^"'■"■ planted there in the midst of u ^'"^ '^^"'^'J. Yet the pigmies bore Th. '"''' "°'°'^=1 '""''^es ! deserts blooT xty ut Z""'^"'' ^"' ""^"^^ ^^e measure the distancZ SL en'thl stf "1^' ^^' ^""^ thers. Thev di> ™„ .- *^''^ *hat watch ridiculous. 'plif^4~° but '^h ■'^"^^"'■°"' -'^"^ and Nature yieldl more 'and 2" Th""^ °"' coercive last-born *° '^^'' small building w„ , .h , „| ^ » 'f '« wing of the 212 THE AIJEN palace! In the sheds were excellent little black donkeys and mules, also stores of maize and coflee. There, too, was the kitchen, with its primitive furniture or big stones. Mother Therisa looked at the place with proprietar - pride. "All made in three years, under the blessing of our Lady." said she. •■ But come in. come in and eat and rest. We poor sisters are greatly rejoiced to receive a friend of the President's. Indeed Dr R_s P— 1 IS a good son of our holy Church (different from his predecessor as light from darkness), and we have cause to be grateful to him. You will sav that I said so; you will convey to him the most heartfelt humble greetings of the sisters ' de la Merced.' will you not ? " Jul "?/ .* ''''*'*^ °^ ^"^'^^ '" her manner for which the Major could not account, but at anyrate he was welcomed with enthusiasm and entertained with the best that the convent could produce. He could not but feel kindly towards these sisters. They seemed simple and good women. They wde all brovn with the tropical sun, all, as Mother Theresa had remarked, tough and oldish, all cheerfu' nay even merry. They were taken from the middle class, and so far as he could guess, they were all Spanish Mother Therfesa sat opposite to him while he partook IJZ^ W^^"f^"'°'^- "" ^'" ^'''^ eood appetite, and the little old woman observed him with keen atten- tion. He was a heretic, and she firmly believed that unless "Our Lady" miraculously intervened to save his soul, he would suffer everlasting torment with the greater number of his compatriots. Spanish nuns are as uncompromising as were the followers of Calvin But in spite of this fact she had every confidence in THE ALIEN 2I8 fsut«lr't' . ''°'''" '''''''^ "»«' *"« mind of sadvtSst i„H .^ T *'""" '^"" •" ^''°"' ''he could The ar; om .r "•""" '^^ ""'" ~""' her words. 1 ne air from the snow-ciad heiehts came in =» n. felt as ,f he were sitting in a summer-hoLsc rather thin that he were ten years younger; but he wa glad that he had come The old nun. who would talk so fast rather worned him by her detailed account of the coming of the miracle-worker He d J n^^ \, hinTt'rfoL'ht '"if^^o^ir- r -^"^ ^ ^'^" - sh. " You keep-si Jrwhf Z ^JuTaMh; d ^'^ ch.d was neither persuaded nor forLft" s tay w th uT ^£^f -d ar^s^-tr-h^^i In the garden were shrubs full of flowers and tall palms and mangoes and bananas. The generous ani fertile so.l repaid cultivation willingly. Their was 214 THE 4LIEN on r .V ""T "^P'^"*"' ""'^^'^ *he Major looked L? ^""/J"^'='°"S greeting. Right down at the bottom of the scarlet-fenced enclosure ran a stream of old had chosen their position well and carefully ana had sought for running water. The garden was' the more exquisitely beautiful and delightful to the Major because he could walk through it easily, and he growth of the forest. Perhaps, equally from force of oftte'thT^' '^ ''/ ^^^" ""''^'"^ ^"' dark skins of late, the fairness of the woman who lay under a star apple tree, with a blue coverlet under her feet and a group of black-hooded nuns round her couch' ScLt '' ^"^^°^'^'"^'^' ^^' '" '-'^ ^'-- Mother Theresa put her finger to her lips, and led him round to the back of the couch, where he could observe unseen by the little miracle-worker. He tiche r' '"'■"'^"i"^, ^^^'^y ^"'^ P""'"& his mous- ceneth.^^-T^i.""''"'^ '* '^^ outrageousness of a scene that violated his common-sense, yet was, in spite of himself, ha f-.mpressed and not a little puzzled. By the Maravi la's side was a great bowl with a strange T^TJ.''- ■ .'?'' '^^" ""'"' ''y 'h- ^"dians, and t was filled with flowers. White, waxy flowers, biush- hft''^ '" the centre, with tender pale green leaves that grew m delicate spirals. The girl's own face had the waxen transparent appearance of the flowers, and there was a spot of bright pinl: in either cheek Her eyes were half-closed, and she lay very still, with her sma.i hands crossed on her breast. Her attitude THE ALIEN 215 added to the Major's dScoaiibn and disapproval It reminded him of a mo lun.cnt on a tomb. It seemed to him to have in it a s ;g:,estion o death Gradually the garden was becoming full of people and people of varying shades of colour. A negress with an affection of the eyes; a little olive-skinned lad. brought from the town, who was staying with his mother in the convent ; a few half-breeds, partly Indian, partly negro; some jet-black miners from the silver mines; two priests from Caracas, one in his long robes and shovel hat, the other in vestments. Lastly steal- ing in noiselessly one by one with a detached air paying no heed to anyone except to "La Maravilla"' grave, unsmiling, like denizens from another world came Indians from the forest. Presently a bell sounded one sharp note. Every- one (except the Major and the priest) fell on their knees. The priest went to the head of the couch, and lifting the wax image of the Mother and Child held It poised on a sort of plateau that was covered with gold and black cloth, high above the Maravilla's head. The nuns chanted. The Major could not catch the words, but the plaintive sweet dignity of the chant filled the tropical garden. It seemed to take possession in the name of that Church whose branches have spread far and wide, whose adherents had once committed such unspeakable cruelties in the name of the Prince of Peace, and who had yet shown such devotion, so gay and fearless an embracing of martyr- dom. Recollections, blurred by time, of stories that he had read when he was a boy in a prize copy of rhe Conquest of Mexico, were floating in the English- mans mind. He felt as if he had been transported 216 THE ALIEN the bow! of fl^ ^' ^ P'""«f^'^ ^" hands into tne bowl of flowers, grasping a huge cluster Her ^ z: th? T'' r' ^"'^ ''•^^^°- "^" stars. I he pmk in her cheeks deenenpH Ck her wrists. H^r 1 '"^ ^"'^ ^'°'^t ^^n^ of One b^one the s LS irf'. '° '^^^ ^'^^PP^^-^" J„„ /i. . "° afflicted came to her knwl 2£. '" ^"^ ""'^^^ ^'^^ P'-^-f-d imagr-ofTht lay'^ritrr'' -'^ P^*^'^ °^ "^^ «-- *>" they ;^y in a little heap ,n the hollow of her left hanJ the'n." : "''' ^'^^ "'^ °^ *^ cross rlpfdto^er them, and pressed them to the forehead of X .° saying something, whether pra/:; ^1^;^ Pj^^;;- Utle mTre r'' "°' '''^""^"'^''' f- h- voice w?s This Vivid %^;Z It * clfS Sf ir the K.t^-rtrrr^a:vl5^ -nit^r^r^^-^f— "-^^^ 'anity „ay, older, for surely the spirit that owns THE ALIEN ji. There was a glad ecstatic ciy when the 1^1 . •nade a sign to the black-hooded kneelil fi^url T fin h.. had iboul enough? '""" '"" "' "»' ^h., CHAPTER XVI " O mighty Love, O passion and desire That bound the cord, Enflame within my heart a ceaseless fire To pray the Lord All through the watches, patient without sorrow. Till pime doth come of that to-morrow Which hath no twilight grey, But mom alway." — The Heptameron. 'pHE nigh, had com, „iU, . ,udde„„„, ,|,„ „. 1 n,,nd.d tht M. or of , M.g, „,.,,, He JL Well! no doubt it had all been theatrical the knee, , ,^„,,„^ „„„3_ ^^e priest holding aloft the bLssed flo ""^^^' *'^<=^-^* ^-^ f"ll of mlaculous^ Sted . ■■ "^ "''■""Sly disapproved. He ob Fn 1 . p''-'''"'- """"^""^ °^ °thcrwise. His sturdy exotic. But as for the girl herself? He would have staked something on her purity and good S -^h^ was not what he had expected her to b" Nay mfre soitened by the knowledge that this was the kind of wonaan that rogue had Wed! He smoked sSil^! THE ALIEN 219 ThJu/'"' *° ^'^' ^^'""y °^ «""= '■" ^h>-<=h to think i h,^ '°'r' "'''""^">' ^ "'«" °f «=tion, but of late he had perforce possessed his soul in solitude Thl experience had done him no harm. He ca S to mln between the puffs of his pipe, his firsfLelL^ wi^'hS of thefjarS-'°"~.'l"-^^ '"°^^">' -"-"-d "°v ot the relatioi^.h.p_and how he had felt that the man that n^'^V" ?r:, ?^" ""' ^"-^'^ -- ^Sn an of .hJ r; ' ^^'^ *°''' '''•"■ ^" 'hat had been said and of SJ^Pf '?"''' ''''' P^^y-'^ in the revolut o ' Thl M Jo ''?!,"* ■ '""""^ P''^°"^' ^"-'^^h'-p for him The Major had listened very attentively, sometimes beggmg h.s host to repeat a sentence of which he had not quite caught the drift. He acquired a respect for of his predecessors, was no soldier, but who nevertheless was fightmg a hard fight, on his own lines, for ^e t ! fare of h.s country. The President's dislike of porno was sympathetic to the Major, to whom any dispW appeared childish. He sympathised, too. with al that cheS of°"' r^ ''""'"^ '^''^•" °f ^-c'ures,'the sLrn Checking of extravagance, the entirely new but not sense of T °'"'""'"^ ''^ '^"^^ ''^' *° ^ apparenl,*":" -^P°-h Uities. the better class having apparently g.ven up politics as a bad job. All this the^reSit^ ^'^''■'^*''"* his compatriot had been ..M T i', "T"^'' ^"y ^"^ supporter. Mr. Tredale knows how to xvin and manage all 220 THE ALIEN ht?tSlr°fSe i'^.^Z ?'P"-- ^^^ Major to grimly, but mfde ^o Th"'' "" ""^^^ "th" prise his fLd^- Hl\t':^'^''' '" "°"''' ^"- enemies," he added '^ ''"'y- " ^' ^^^^n his lon;\Stt.?i„'tf t' .f^*-°--y talents "I knevvhi. when w Tere°S;'' '''■"'■''^"' ^^'^• men. I was arain J, Tlu wmparatively young struggles or?;" 7lf ^t""" "'' '"''" '^"^'"^ *»>' year, and was neithe seen „rr'. ^"'"^"'^ *''^* H -. returned on the dav nftf. "'' °^ ^°'' "'^"'hs. ported me with P^rlfv- '■'°' '" '^9, and sup- greatly owing'^J riuTcrt^i'^^^'r '' ^^ made in Congress that ,^,7 ' ' ^P^^'^^ ^'"''^h he returned to me A ' T/'''f ^*'"" ^'^ ""^"''"°"«'y curred later The woT ""\'PP^ circumstance oc- him, and went to the T'" "'"'' "'"'" ''^ ''^«d, left His boydied of a tTe~7i""", °' '^^ ^^^«'^' out of his mind. iSd 't t" -^^^ On his recovery rif hi "^ '•"' ^* ^''^ "me. without a wo^VwaJninrtT"'^ '^ '''' ^"-- had any news of hilT^ 1 ^"^°"^- ^^ °"« has I learn with real sa^isf^^r '^ *™*= "" "^^^ ^^hen Caracas is co„necedwSh-°" '""u' ^°"'- ''"^'"^^^ '" in his handwriting.' Ccan'dotb^ ' --^T^ ^ '«"" The Major had b^n Ji! . r '' ^''P'^'" '""ch." had replied guarded" ^r jfed l"?"'^' ^"' *''- recovered his health of mind anybody "HeT;!!:!!^ sSJSdi^rto^raS^S?^-^-^- -iveofpoiicycth^rafairrrf^crrhat^-d^ THE ALIEN 221 " a7/^- ''\'""'* ^ ^^'^ ^"""gl^ ' " thought the Maior And IS he any the more to be excuserf hT he has the capability of good? Or Z ^ T* capability rather add^o hif'uiJt? ^ "°' *'"' scenen^l \ T "''" ^''"''^ '^^'''ght in all this strange scenery! How .t would impress her ! " He did nS 222 THE ALIEN across the tiny stream and peeped over " """ '''°^' A man on the other side grinned at h.-n, u ■ ghnt of white teeth in the starlight ' '''°"""^ ^ niggers." gentlemen 'mong all dese black -£-^::;^;^::s^-:;:--M.or Who. he obsel^SltorwalkT'a"? ''" ^^"'^-' whose pronunciation had a neto flavour IT'"' ""'^ "My name. Mr. Cesare VivfS."TJd ,ht m L!' nam\"r "°^"^'^- ^^^^ ''^^ ^^^ S that gap''[n';i::tedT:":nd''' ''"'^ "°°'^^" ^^^^ -' - a theVajo's ^de."^ • '"' "°"'"^ '""^ ^^--«'. stood at "Dey know how to be comf«rf,ki j said, with a slight sneer '°!" k ' ''"'^ """^'" ^'^ water.plentyfishlhp" ' ''^>"=^°«^« -ell. Plenty "They have chosen a hard life "« at least by European st\n,^"dO^"° '"°'"'' ^■""'^^'^'^ had a good deal of van y and he "° ^f "' ''"* ^' "One day a saillr com f "'*' '^''P^''''' »' h^te- letter from his old papT" mT w^ T^., "« ^^t a name like dat. He sk anH T ^^' WUcoh-some head nearly come off t!i;n.f ^^'^ '""^ "'^'^ '' «" his de .atterP^ WhaUt^aT/ruU^rLV^^' ' ^"''^* I look at de pauer r tn^.. u _,. ^°' * P^P^r too. -y and de PrSen 's Ej ° ^5 '7 "'^ "''""*^- '' He pulled out a ereasv m.L .1 V^'P^'' ^'■='^*'«'" paper, and sn^oothedTou^ ^X"" ?h ^M^'"'^ '"^'^ It out of his hand and .trfif- ^" ''^ ^^J""" 'ook Jasper's face scared back at S" V """'f"' '°°''"' ^' '*• half humorously, halflfi nt^^ 'S ^'the^""*^' P^-^^' which was so like Mrs M Z , ^ expression seemed almost to het h.f „ fd" ;. ''"' '"^^ ^^J""" longing again in hisTar''^ How ruIdT;""^ T' been so blinded as not to have sL h. . ^!.''^" ''^^^ "Romantic Story in RealTife^ '^'^ ^' """="' ^tte,. above the "picture Un^er i! ''""^"^ "" '"^^ Mainwaring Mordau'n, The Sn^loS He1;7^^"°" 11 li THE ALIEN 225 endurance, "i and youulrX' t"°^' '^>'°"'l some more dan dis.'said he °yJ^%^"°'^ P^^^aps or p raps we don' know. Dat iu,t t '^P' "'^ ''"°*^. The Major had travelled 1 u""" " '°'"" ''^"*-" with the express object of finH^ ""'^'^^ °^ ""'«='. about the claimant to t'tlT ^" *^^' "^ -"^ that he was confronted by soml ^"u^^^'y- ''"' "°w itching to sell him information ' ""'° ^"^ "^'^«""y took possession of him ' ""'«=asonable disgust he'Ied^cJ^r' '"' ^°" *° ''^ -'"^ ^'^e -atterP" En|hman's"te: ^'°"^'' ^^ --">' —ted the letZ'JatVe'^virUe I wJL'''' '"^^^^-^ """g Xou all 'bout who het Tn^^ClT"'' f'' *^" >'- i" " ever do i„ all his life How mLh T *"• '"' ^" ''^ "Mr. Iredale never wrote such ,^.7°" "''''" the Major. ^"*''' '^"ers to you," said " Never wrote to m»> > t He write to me l^^'J^r^.^t ' "^ "^^^ ^"-d- wife-dat all de sam?' Cesare. " or to my "Ah, you sold your wife t^ u- now," said the Major " i ZL°u 'l™- ^ remember He looked at the specimen f\ * '""^ '" S°"var." He thought Of th: srMLitr'^' '^'°^^ '^^'"• I'PS tightened. He could fn,„ u- '^^"' and his --to be a .ood\Tnra[Xg*:hTtn " ^°" ^^.Jo^how .uch do you pay^f; £S" per. 226 THE ALIEN desire to bid this mean little scoundrel take his dirty bargains to the devil. " I'll tell you that when I see what they are worth," said he. •' Have you got them by you ? " He was conscious that he was not so disappointed as he should have been, when Mr. Vivario shook his head. " I bring dem all safe. I not got dem dis minute, Major. You can trust me. I " " No, no," said the Major, with a smile. " I can pay you if it's worth my while ; I couldn't do more than that, I'm afraid. Good-evening," and so saying, turned on his heel and strode back to the convent. The guest-chamber of the nuns was a sort of annexe to the original building It was partitioned by wooden screens which formed three rooms, with one common roof. The Major had a partition all to himself, with a table, chair, and bed. His bed was covered with mosquito curtains, and over it was fixed a black wooden cross. He was a very honoured visitor, and great eflTorts had been made to provide him with luxuries. The other guests slept on the floor. Yet in spite of these favours he did not sleep. He sat by the un- glazed window, and looked out at the night. Through the screen came a murmur of voices. Two Mestizoes were talking together of the Miracle. The Major re- flected that he was the only man of purely European blood in the settlement, yet the nuns were undoubtedly treated with respect,— perhaps, indeed, with greater respect than would be accorded to them in the cities. He wondered whether the waxen images, the music, the bright banners, were a necessary first stage in teach- ing. You teach a child by coloured picture-books, he reflected,and yet his own religious feeling was revolted by THE ALIEN 227 an appeal to the senses. The MiraH,. wo,i, u which he h.d „„ .«f^^.^-^Z°'l"""r Perhaps the grown-up remedies of the ninet^nth rl tury were not suited to these "dear J^M v,^ ,: i-rih^tjs-s-rf-"'- p.s«.. Th. M.io,„jLr. '4,':'/ ""t th.ng ,n Its expression reminded him of Esther earlv a"* "'°*'"'"^ ''^ ^"■^^ ^^ f°«^ and went out early. A negro was hamn^ering away, grinding coS 228 THE ALIEN I* , Mother Theresa came to Wm. *" ^"^'''- »"'• *h«« " The dear child is very weak " «h» -j us was with her all ni^t She H J ' °"^ °^ yesterday, and it excS w Yo„"S T' '°"" converse with her but I ,i . ^'^^^ Presently with you. and ask ;„ ad°cr1 T ^ '^ ^''^ President's letter that von h.., '^^^ '^°'" the The Major puledafhi '"'^''"" ^"- ^^^^ale." Though he did not ILT ^^"""'^"^^ *° ^^'^^ ^ ^""-le. .uiCn^ess whifh hTd Sa^it^rLtLf Bel^ "^ he was no fool. He was v^r,, .. ^^''y- ye* lady leared on no on^ wisdln h . f" ''''' ^'"'^ °'"^ of all on that of a heretic ^'"' °^"' ^"'^ '««* co;cL::ruieX^„^3L7h:^^^^^^^^ ■- °^ -y Spanish. " But perha;s hLf ' '" ^'' ''°^' '*'^"°« is fair to tell yo^fhT i "^I ^ „? n^^t^ S'" ^* story connected with Mr IredaV, .«■?■ . ^'' *"y of friendship. I a. „ot hif frLV'^""' °" *« ^^"^ sharpi; '' '"^' ^°" ^--^ -' "is ene„,yT" she asked slowly afdiX Sn^'°^^ f'""'^' ^'^^ ''^ -P'-d at his'^own sUtS;' ^ "" t-th son^ewhat astonished his'opponent "'" "°* ^" '"^'">'- ^^^ ^ «- certainly no^t£tu:^X£^:?^--r was anx ous to do was f,^ » i • '"y^^^'y- What she i THE ALIEN 229 Major, in bims^K Zh^^^T'" *° *''^"'- ^he he was a co„,paSof Mr X f"' '"°"^'' '"' from the President. Mother A ,/ ^' ''^ "■"" sleepless nights meditaZg o„ the pl-n' T"' ^"""^ wrath. "One enemy is l^lu^l^Z '" ^°'''^^'' herself, and she was aui^ ' . '^"^ ^'^^'y *» Jasper Iredale migS be of d?n" '''* *''' ^"™^ ^^ " I can sneat I ^^"gerous quah'ty. .entiern/aTLrafalS^he^^" V^'^ srd^r:t^j:^f^-"^=-Hy;?de^ dear lady Had ^ not d '°" °' '''^"^PP-^ *his so without trace. I shoutT'^"" '° '""""'"'y' ^"^^ I-dale when his' child ts £" Tl T"' *° ^'■ does not know of the K tie on.' ''" '''"* '^^ came before the f„Z } ' existence. She They cost some Jangs too' Mv h'"' f ^^ *^ ^P'"*" not bear to con tern Dlfte^hj -J^^ daughters here can- under the roof ofTur Ladv d.'f V'^i''" ''''^' ''-" not be dedicated to tt<:^^'''''''""'"yP°^^'bly seldom that m ' ZuX^rT'/tT°"'- '' '' thought." "augnters are disobedient even in "But'/am'old"''^'r; ^'^"'•" ^^'^ '"^^ Major. as the convert The"rt " "^" ^'^^ ""^''^ - -«" nvent There are many sides to life. I am 230 THE ALIEN provisSrS 'her U TL^'r^ "'^'^ P^P- hers. IhavenothS ."/"""'^ ^^ business-and have I any i to T^l '° '^^ "''''> ''• Neither thing I will say ThL"" '^°"' '"'' '=''"''• ^"' °"« is dying It'^, I l?"""" ^"■'' ^'^°'" ^ ^^^ y^^t-^day. worshipping, ignoi: fzT ::^,:::r'^ ^y ^^^■ apt to rouse the MajoS " '''°"^ ^'" ^^^ Mother Theresa's eyes soarklfH T* muttered so.'ethr„g"^bew1e \V ^^^y ^^^^^^ ^ answered hi. with^ sweet td t^nLd's'S ^'^ you^ ; ™ understand; you do not know what She is Iongi„g!^:r5;'e" fto?" tt To t°" '^^• ciepart. Vet during these iJZTsV.^Z^for^ THE ALIEN 231 people suffering from divers diseases, have been restored to health, not by. but through her Itl" as .f. w.th the door open, she pauses on the threshold and ome strange healing power comes through I an old woman, who have spent the greater part of my 1^ m prayer, whose knees are worn with kneeling humbly own that I do not comprehend these thS nor see why this flood of light should have come through her Have you so fasted and prayed, ha^e you so meditated on spiritual matters that^ou arj better quahfied to judge?-that you can say flliand This IS shocking and blasphemous ' ? " The Major shook his head. "What fasting IVe done has been entirely compulsory." he remarked with an amused recollection of a c;rtain campa'S Zhf^TH" !''"^-"-'' -°d'fied by tobacco'"^ Mother Theresa rose briskly to her feet. The glimpse of the religious enthusiast was over I "a,.^° ^°" '^'" """"y ^" that I have said to Mr Iredale (even though he is not your friend), and we poor sisters, who ar, the humble friends of eve,!; human being, without distinction of class or colou^ will be ever grateful to you." she said. "And now The Major followed silently air^L!f*'*^'"^'^^ '" *^ ^"'^"'^^'^- She craved for a.r, and suffered during the hot hours of the day when she was obliged to be indoors. It was cS SaTh d"°"' '"; ^'^ '''"''' *° ^"^ Maj^r to t her to K T! ^"^"^ '^"" "''^" ^«^ l^^d Jast seen her, to have faded a little since yesterday. La MaraviUa was nearly twenty-one years of age. and THE ALIEN small hand and touch'rl ""• ^'"^ P"* »"* » hear your English tL^t " '"'= ''^''' ""' ' "^^ '<» nothing furthef 'o' sa; H^'had " "'*' '^'"''"""^ with a view to extractL ,nf ''^'^.J°"™ey«=d for miles whom he had thought o? S Z " '"" ''^^ -°'"- turer. one who wojfd ."oba'ltL ' "f "L '" '"'^•'"- was absolutely dumb b^^Te^^r ^^ ''^^'^- "« woui:i'tucrifj;;^^--^ ^* '-^- -But r I also haf some rLy " 3^""?'" ^°"- ^^' between each sentence Her • '^"''^ ^'*^ P^"^^'' than a whisper. "Ou^ Ladv T"" "'' ''"'*= "'°'* Late I haf Een so mu^h t/TdghteT' iT ,*° ""^• bad near by to baby. Will von ^V ^f^^'some She pointed to the'^oode' !Z!T^ ''-^ ''^'''" .s most wonderful beautiful" ''^'' '"'^- " ^he cralferf J^eeper tr S^.T r ^--^ ^'^ pillow. A brown healthTh^K « ^^'^ '^^^'^ °" the plump, doubled-upfisttmmei'ar^' "'* ^'^P' » into the soft red^mouth WsieeSn^'f "°"'' ^° mouse in its nest H^ t, J s'eepmg cosily as a dor- angelically fa"r som^th.n. Tr'"^ *° ^^" ^°™«th'ng vellous. He d^opZ t- ^"^°°^ °' ^"^^ ">" Hedidnotco„siK^^sr-.rar?t;;;s:^ THE ALIEN beautiful, but somehow her commonplace humanity was something of a relief to him. numan.ty " Why, she is not like you?" he said ^done and stT a'^n.^ T::^:r^ZZ: because she .o alive, and my arms are got weak. She always m someone's arms-not mine Dat almos! could make me cry; but when she sleep, I pretend she -.ne again. It my treat when she sl^p. "^ButlSu c^mt r"~^""^ ^°°"' ' ^^P'- So it ver' good X come. Now you will tell to Jasper how yof find her L a „u" Tt sT' '"r' '"• ^"* ' -^"' ^''^ should for her : I '° ^°'' S'*"'^- I gif her -Rebecca • mLh • T'.^^"*""^ ''^ *^" ">« ""ce it is how his Tu .^!^''^ '^'■''^P^ •>« ^'» be pleased ? ■ m J. f JI^""' ^'^.^'^'^ ^'' '^'°^^- "«^« ^a« an opening made for h.m. But instead of taking advantagfofh he exammed the sole of his boot in silence for !' mmute and then remarked gravely and decSyf to £' ^■°"'' ^^^ 5'°"'^^ "° •'"^'"^s to hope iTpnt i I, ^^'"'^ '°"^"^' ^"'^ E"g"^h manner. All Englishmen were good in her sight. "But l".;^^' ''"°"' Z^^' ^°" '^"^ ^''°"t-" ^he said. matter what you say. You don't know any part of .t of uLess ''"'"'' ""'°"'- °' •'^^ -P'>' ^^^^'^'^ ir-; 'J U : It rl 284 THE ALIEN not know ill I wL teult D^ ? r T"''"'*- ^ '"''' go awav Rnf Z ! . ; ^ '■^'^'y ^ '^"°"' fo"- sure. I save where Jasper was%o„cerned E^^h ,e s^he'h^H accepted the teaching of the nuns wHh ^ had carried it to it. iLvoi ? • * eagerness, she tive. M^r %S !°^'"' ^°"=>"s-on on her own initia- purple flowers ' ^'"^ "'"^ embroidered with howTluTas'coTeT' ■;."'' ^'*- " ^'"^ ^ '^^'^ Jasper, he wrote L Z m^T Srs^^^l J ^^n^; THE ALIEN 235 Spanish, which, when he speak, is like a Spaniard, but when he wnte. will make you smile. It take me hours of great joy to read his letters, for I was not a great scholar At first he write round and big for me, but soon I learn. Ah, soon you learn what you like best m all of the world I Is it not so? After I was his I learnt to speak his English, and I lof it greatly much better than the language which was before my own He tell me 'bout many things when he write. All kind of thmgs. So I know 'bout his mother ; but when I read I don' understan' all of it. He tell me how he quarrel with his brother too— he called Gatton • an' he ver' bad. Later he write less 'bout what he did an more about me. Here are six letters, but one I mus keep. One I keep, make seven. Now look, I would have all buried in my coffin, but it shock all of the nuns, and, since you come, I believe our Lady means me to gif them to you to take to him. So one bit alone I keep, an' presently I say, ■ I will finish to make my shroud.' and in it I will sew one bit. Sister dolorosa, she ver' good, an' she seem to think I should not so want his words in my grave. But our Lady she know, for she not a nun. So take— but say I do not send my lof. because it has never stopped away irom him." She held out the packet, but the Major shoved his chair back hastily with a gesture of refusal. He could not, for the life of him, receive those letters, warm from lying on Maravilla's heart. "No, no; you are under a misapprehension," he cned. "The fact is, I came here to find evidence against him. I am no friend of— of the man who was your friend." 236 THE ALIEN Ma«;rg'vefstaS"' '"J"' '^^' »''>« -rds. pupils of her bie ey« dZr "' ''.!"'"' ^^^ '"•'». *« almost black. ^^ '^''^""e^' '■" *!>« eyes lo<;ked no:re^„r^X^r^^ ;Tbe„,o..„3t don'u^dcrsta„^ Idon'k^^ri '"'"'P"- ^^^ "°^ I "%ht I dreamed of wSed ° ^ ^^'^ "^^^ "' "°" ' ^^* a snake watching us but T h'" tf ' *°-''"'' ' ''^^^ ^'t She looked at hLTif^^^^'t^'^^-^Sood" &"'-se. She made horn wfth%Tfi"'' '^"' '" ''- cradle. She was so terrifiT^.K 'l"^^" ^=™^^ ^he ffe had refused to takfs id f ' *''" '""""' '^»"'<=h and fell on the floor ' """°"'="'^ fr"™ ^er grasp, ^er"'^?hfSr-S-n^ ^r:j^- — ieS^n^^^.^^ Se the frightened exclamattn '"'l "^ ""«. hearing verandah. She eyed ThTMLi .''"""'"'^'y '"*° *e gl-ce, and he stcJd up rueSw " ^'""' "'''°^=''^"' I m not so bad as all that litf 1„ t j I am not Jasper's friend r,,^'^^' ^^^" *'>°"&h niessage," he said ^ '^'" ^T-Ve him your PantgTke?rrS'?r'^.. "^ '^^' ^--'"a B"t, as he turned outi tt ' ""!! ^"'^ ^P«<*less. denly on Cesare Clno who "'"'' ''^ "•"« ''"'^■ a post, and nearly hSrh'^rpinTb'^'^' ■'"'^'"^ H's narrow, oriental eyes sh^nJ '^ ^ bougamvillas. THE ALIEN 287 "What the devil are you about? What are vou skulk.ng here for?" the Major cried roughly ^ The mulatto cringed instinctively; then apparentiv thought better of it. and blustered, " just as^g^ « "was n^ '/°" u""' '^"' '" ' ^^* " (with f ^gh was my w.fe anyhow, even if de baby is his I I Th Jaspe^lredale. we very intimate onc^andl s^/to But the Major, not pausing to hear more strode «p.dly out of the ,„den and up the m'ounSn Mt T.U ?i °^ ^^^ ^°^^'' ^'■'^kened him. He that he hld"^ '" 'Jlr'"- ^^'^' -• "^^ --embered that he had never bidden Mother Theresa farewell and tT'T u '"''^ ''''' °f •»-■ The verandah was empty when he came back. The packet of letterll but he d.d not think of them-was gone ; and so ^ meet him with a disturbed face hol°" T'^'^J'^ ^^" light-headed for these last three hours, she said "She must see no one this event^ fuJi ""^' '^"^ '^^ *^^J°^- " I beg you to believe sa i :;™ hTnl tH T."^":!: f frightening'yUg women exTctlylhaTltdT- ' ^'' ' ^°" P'^^^' *^» >'- He repeated his own words as accurately as he SS'Slr" ^;>f'^^^^"'^ "'^^ said aLTthl letter which she wished buried with her. He could not shru'gSd'ht^ouldr ^"' ''- ^"-'^°"' '^- wal' sir' "°-/7 ""^^ frightened her," she said. '■ It was some spiritual terror which seemed for a moment THE ALIEN Ingl^'corth^eThe d'''^ '° ^' ""-' Where But now I must tell vJ. ,.""«»«• the end. pleasant to tcT Someone r"""'*'"^ *'"''='' » "°' is the evil tongue. haHSd a'""""' '""^"" °"' *''°«= shall I say itShat v^M - '^f°"' "'^' y^U-how must go Lav ouSl^ !."'"'*^ °"' **'■«<='«• Vou " In^-J f^ V^^y *"'' unobserved." Maji "^I^LTi go'°as"r"' "' *'^ -'*'" -^ 'he who has scatte d dirt^ torieTk^?"- r ' '"'" ^'^ baked fellow who waT sneTv u"t ^' '" *''''' J"*'*"- -rning. What V^hV t'mf P ^''Sl ^ '"^^ '^''^ Once again he and the Mo^l! s.^^^-^^, n.o:T:rMtSmTi1dte."SS^^^^^^^^^ "Well. , will give you a LiTof i n'w s^.r"^" The old woman shook her head. " My friend " -a she, "we are hedged round by the an^Sfof r ^ ^^ we are sheltered unri^r fK» ^ "'^ ^°'^- and our Blessed Lady Yef ^^ ^^P^^'^' P-'ection of Merced' were to set thl V ^°°' '''^'^' °^ 'La n^ost vile. their'saSy tu,d'°£ glrT th^ ''' rr^h^jr Tr-'-- ' - -"- s as you please, but I Iink°thar "'"' °^°"'^^- -* enoughtodoa weentrea andto/"" """ "^ ^""*'^ by a path which SisterHn ' "^^ "'' ""observed. We have enteSinef you «T' " r*'"5 *° ^''"^ y-" is humble; you wHlTub L JJ^'' '^""^'^ °"^ ^^' >ookourdeLncie:aX'o?wS=S:.lr:e THE ALIEN 2S9 thcMalor.**'"^ """^^ "^"*' Protection, eh?" said He was obliged to give in " of his gentleness." but it the back way. unwillingly following Sister Dolorosa who nsked far more than he was aware of. and he S h« escort some miles farther on. They reached one TnnidlTt '° J'" """^ °' SP^'" '" the Island o^f Tnn.dad, where he was under the British flag again and whe,^ h.s adventures in that mysterious, 12 sz^:t °' ''' '"^'■"'^"^ --^ ->' ^- o«- t,;S *''"^. ^t" " *=""°"' «Perience. and he had cer- tamly not behaved as he would have expected himse f awyerl Not only had he shrunk from prosecutine .nq„.„es not only had he refrained from a'^^king thaf mad httle samt a single question, but he had actually refused evidence which had been almost thrust upon h.m. The flash-light of the extraordinary had bSn and ashamed at what it revealed, though he did not ZtZ'rVZ ''' "^^'^"°"' ^'"^^ P«-n who never analysed his own sensations. in TrL-S'""' u"^ ''"'"'*' *' ^^" ^' ^"g^^ plantations nevl tl ' ''^^"^ ^ "^°"th on the island, but never told anyone of the strange little convent among Why he haH- °' *'^ T'^^'"' ^'^^<='^' -'^ °f 'he re^on' why he had gone to Venezuela. He intended to relate 240 THE ALIEN could not help wondS,, . "T"" '•**• "«= were still livingTtd'X erujh't" *'""^'"' the lazy coloured crowd ^th^I"'^ "•"'*' ^'''^'''"^ He hated loafers, and^t ^Ime^tT"?.^ '"»"«°"- loafed in Trinidad ! PresSi n J''"' '^'^'>"'"« self fn>n, a chattering S an/^° "'""'^'^ ^'"'■ Englishman. The MaL r^^^' -^ "^""^ "P '° tl^^ instant This was oniWu^T"^ ""= ^'^"^'^ '" ^n .oc»= ««r, DM .hcw™,?.^ Jo"," ""'" '»" ■"■■yinB-ptact All dfll?^' *'"''"'«»' "demos' CHAPTER XVII Johnson. provided that he cannot easily be l<»t."_DK, -pHE turn of the year had come, and passed. In 1 the country the twigs of the hedges were begmmng to show a warmer, redder colour, and Zl full of cr.mson-tipped buds, but nothing was n leaf veT for Spnng was unusually late in comfng, and he ea't wmd blew with nipping sharpness. *'' dar?*''shrh !," i-°"'^°"'.-here it was still wintry and ttt h.H ^''Y'^^'y' '•'^"ked March (it was a mon"h hat had once brought her ill-luck), but this yeTrshe fdt especally unfit to meet its boisterous ^^tine strenZ "'""""■'"^ ^'°"' » ^^"°"^ '""ess, !^" hi s ength was as wavering and uncertain as the pale ghmmenng sunshine. She stopped by a barrow on Westmmster Bridge, to buy a pot of Lips but thev lu oe, and she was elad to n-«f- fr.f , ~- .. ■ . against the stone parapet. Tndho.dinrhe; '=' ^easures (that had the effect of sunsh.nefn th ir^ruddj pot) clasped close against her black cloak IVu^ t^em i„,,„,« ,y from the wind. She ^ett S grey nver, and though she had now been nearly five 242 THE ALIEN the bridge. '^P'* ''°"""g for ever ovet Tholt^ MTntnf 'Sriv" ff"^ ^'^ '•" ^^ mementoes of Applehu«t rfor r T"' ''"^'^ ^''h sending her the furniture frthi^c^^ ''' '"^'^'^'^ ^ eveo'thing that could by Z str.^ t 'T' ^ ^"" «^ considered hers) and with .J^ff^^ h °^ '""^^"y ^ ^bo were kind and eaL „Kr ^^ '"""^'^ listers, annoyed, because Esthefwould "".' *""'• ''"* ^ '"«« would take no advice-lv^ T ''^'' °'"" ^*y ^nd The sisters' presents ^n'L ^ ""^"^^ "^ '^'"thes. with the wor^ thing V^rA^lh f^P^""'^^' ^^^^^ed "ot be helped; th^e oW anTl""' ^"' ^^at could expected to amalgamate at once "'" '"''''' "°' ^ but ^^^^SS^.^^;^^rn. home-like, loves, and she missed her old r™!^ °^ '"""^""^ o"' had at first. There J^P^WtlT°'' "°" *^" ^J'' had cause to be thankful that "£ t^u '"'"; ^"'^ Esther her. She had broken dow^wkh . »°"?''' ^""^ ^''h fever, and had been c«-riedK k *"'"' °^ '''*="'"»«<= paying patient to the great ho.^> 7 °"'" '^'^^''"^ "« a looked with somethingTL JS.'* t"'' '''' "<'- pnsoner. The nurses had hi *^"'*''°" "'^ an escaped kind, but the loneTnes;tf^"/^P^^'««"d the doctors pressed Esther; she had had ^ .''"''^'^ ^^^'^ ^ad op- huge place, and had plLmlt s^' r"' '>''"^ '" *^t valescence. and as soon ^•l''"^^'^'^ ^'"^^ to con- attended by It; JageT ifT';,,'"' ''^'^ ^°* -«y. her with a zeal quickened tl?"^' ^''° ^^'"^ «« sional nurse. ''""=''^"^'' ^y Jealousy of the profes- I THE ALIEN 243 flaf reir„rrcoS S"^''- .^" ^ -p-t to darned line i and skirr!.H P '^"""S"'' *''«"ks was her own n,Ltr«s a^K'Kr °' '^''^'-^^^her illness had left her thin an^Tr ,°" "° °"^- "«■• turned her hair tha haH W '^^^"'^'^-^°oking. It had It had do„eT;:X ,t" ^r:,?'^-""^-^'''-^^- between the old life and Th. "'^'^^ ^ '^''^^k between her and thfyears Jhfchrd "" f" ''°"^'^ see them in truer pers^Sve "ow <" '""' ^ ^''^ '=°"''' longer in such fierce "S™f„ 'l nT"' "^--^ "° before into forgetfulnes wnd sh 5e eLh' * '^'/°"^ much over her Cousin Rr.1, Esther pondered little away from airthT^ ufl' ""'^ '^^' '^^ ''°od a stilled. Perhan! 'he -» ^"'"^'^ '"''^ somewhat better than StS^adrT' ''' °'' "°'"^" --" loved her no whit ll bJr 'T!"''- '""^ -^-"'X had been made ^t tS °^ '^' '"""'^"°" '^^' on Esther. She wi an 1 ""^ ''"'' '^'"^ ''^ "^^^k Her flat suited her welltstT" '"^"" "' "• not have borne a t^ Slii . P''^'^"'- ^^^^ ^^o^'d kindred, and m wJlnof ? ' '°"'"'=' *'''' J^^-" °^^ loneline;s. xLe Team of °"^-'"°"^' '°^ =°'"P'«*- watched with sad WnHl ^^'""^ P^°P'^ ^»>°'n she liked the abLce of e'Ll" '°°'''' ""''• ^"^ ^^e have her cup "f colejn ^ ""*'"'• ^'^ "'^"' *° to eat her lunch in a^L au t„t trn'"^ '' "^^ ''°"'^' as the mood took her Shef. ^ k °' "°' ^"^ '^'"« of a too regular and mon'o :no;s .^ " s^^^'^^'^^'^'"'' •» a veo^ mild form of BoheSm!' "^°'"' "°" 244 THE ALIEN theo. grudged her tlTga ~ J""^- ^^'^'^^ < worked hard enough for it" .!^^ *u *'*''^" ''"""'^ sh sidered that the Set hat hfv £' ^"* ^'^^ -" penny, absolved them frn^ ^''^^ had not been left -. the expression oSr^Tnion" K ""'""^ '" -^-^^ * They were, at last a ,Srtv to'd .' '''''"' '''" '=°"«'" always felt, that ske was ftlh? "' "'''* '""^ ''^^ and that of her sisters Th' m P'"'*= °^ '^- friends at a reasonable dista^'e^J^l ^, -^ good amusement than sorrow that !h. ^"' ^'^'^ "'°'^ dropped threads ' ' ^^^'^ ^'«^ n° Picking „p pis rLrwLThJr^r s i?? ^ '^^^^ ^-> ^r invalidism. The pretty likeness tf^'^'' '"*° ^''^^''"l- fac^ but they we're stHltnTo^trX'^ ^""^ ^^^ Esther took a wistful interesHn P ' unexpectedly shy of them Sh'V^^°'^' ^"■^^' h«t was to being with a much old! '^'"'°^'=^"^*°">ed whose eyes she waT still ! T^" *'^*" herself, in -lied herself ..oW" J^^ J^Z'' *''* *''°"^'^ ^''^ »«- younger generation acceSt:"t\?'""' "''^" '""^ Besides, to tell the truth Ro^^ I-^ ' "'^'^ valuation, tingly. a trifle patronT^ng °"' ^"'"" '^«=«. ""wit- *a;7S:n'^^^;,f - ^;^^^^^ nice, and she must Peny once, they said; "but her I THE ALIEN 245 dresses might have come out of the Ark =„^ u .. at all the wrong shoos i,Z I ' ^ ^^^ ''">'* about a„ythin7at aT' '1% uT T '''"^ '"°"'"^ a':dtrftrdot;Te::;no"r^T-^'^ ir.n,. . . ," ' s^^ni to be much use in that " that was inherent in her sLmed a^a discount for't,""^ and just at present, no strength. whatever, Fcfh ""^■'•."^ ^^^ ^°°' P^'^^d her as she stood resting tsther smi ed and noHHpH cu i , resting. 246 THE ALIEN and went on again She ^^ P'^''*^'' "P her pc^t the stone stairs fha^led t ^^ flaT' .^ '''' ''^^'^^ her surprise she saw. on reacWnf .l''\''"' ^"'"'y- To -•d she!'' Buhtt:rt 5srr''"^ °"' ^- -'- «t<^d on her threshold ^' " '"^^ '''^ Major who thef g^^^ST^. - ^l «he nearly let her flowers fall ; through moisture. I ^,3 ^nghtness which shone h'mself, as the associations that w'° "'""'' '""^ '"a" ^ved her. He saw her sS atd"^ T""' ^'"'' ^''^^ lo"g roots, though it was it ^ -^"^ *^^' had -cognised C^r in'S" -;r^ ^^^-^ "^°% hope that you will conSJ thT. u° ^^'' ^°' y°"- I "Of course, of couS" ^ri^^ ttr'"" "^''">"" not ask that" "^'^ ^^ther. "You need had^once'sh^^S't'd'^ofT",' '°^^°«^" J^"- he and left Esther standing ILfr''^"* ""^ '''^ ^^*' «"th the aspect of 7r, -^ ^°""" ^^^^y's chair Esther wouldVn have "„"fr'"* ^^^'^'^ ^ngS a person who liked to S hTs -f"'* ""^'''' ''"* he was and precisely where £ stcLd " '"' *° ^*^'« <='«-riy "c waited still in fh= j ' entirely, so that she could „otTT; ^t'"'' '^ ^'°<=''-d sitting-room. ^ "°' ^<=ad the way into her THE ALIEN 247 "Tell me — before we go any farther — are you friendly with me again?" said he. " Yes, yes, indeed I am," said Esther. " I have not so many friends in the world that I should be in a hurry to quarrel with such an old and true one. Besides, perhaps you were rather badly used." " I was indeed," said the Major, " and am, for the matter of that. I am glad that you acknowledge that fact at last. My poor old cousin swindled me, and you sided with her; because you are not always just, you know, Esther, although you can be generous. Well, at least she had the grace to leave you an independence • To tell the truth, I feared at one time that your play- acting gentleman might have laid his fingers on that too." He made way for her at last, and Esther, as she took him into her sitting-room and made him welcome felt half-annoyed, half-amused. How like Curtis the last speech was! How infallibly did he always manage to rub her the wrong way. "On the contrary, he used his influence in my favour," said she. " But you must not say ' your play- acting gentleman,' please. I do, not like it." " I beg your pardon. But you always stood up for him, didn't you ? " " Because I could not but see that he was her son " said Esther. " But oh, Curtis, don't let us discuss it all over again now I I don't want to. I am so tired ! I don't want to quarrel or argue about him any more. Life is difficult, and I have made mistakes. Perhaps you were more in the right than I supposed. Let us leave it there." "No, I can't stop at a ' perhaps,' " said the Major bluntly, but then he softened. i 'I (i'' f jjij III 248 THE ALIEN you had been taken Z J ' ^''ocked to hear that and Uly ^LS'^'T ,rJ^TT\ 7""'' '^^^ ^^^ should live by yourself -n ""^ ''"'"^ «>*' you Bridge. I belLeyoTw .!:„'"? •"" ^"t^i but buns and tea. ^xLt i^ ^\^."''f'«'"g on nothing do.when they are Jl'tCvt" "' *'"^ ^ Ihat reminds me that- ;* • • Esther » a„^ ' '* " ^'me for tea" mJj ^y^Z^.7S-:^^y--^ it^Sh mS -ove'; atSMr^rn'r ""^ ^^'^^ »"-«-- - she out the best cWna'hiclT^ ''' *='°*''' ^"^ P"" -i "^u-t. Her room Us dtintn ''"''"'^'^^ at Apple^ of character. i„ spitTof Js '^ r'*^' ^"'^ '* -« full why a woman with so nreL /''; "*= ^""^'^'-^d ''hould be so unwilHng toTak^ oo^ ' '°' ''"= '•°'"-«'^«= which he was ready tooJe/ "^gf?"-" "^ the home lover of her youth stand ^V ^^^ ''^""S «"or- she wedded to a dream fo^", "'"'" ^«"? ^as -patient of such senTin^^^Jl , ^\'"'^''' -" ™ade him impatient. thoShe SS'^so f'^'\''^^- He was constantly possess^ by t^diire t °' '^^• her how very foolish she was to tMf ^ P'"^** '° whose power he felt, and a^tV ^*"'''* ''''adows Polly brought in he h"^ ^ """"^ "^^'P^^' She liked tf Le ■ compln^"" if ^ '^'"^^ ^-e. 'nclined, as ajl thoroughly JL. ^^^ ^^^ hospitably " I wonder W and wh ^ ^"'^"'^ ^re. homelike?" said The MaJ^' ^°" "^"^^ ''">' «■-" 'ook Esther smiled a little sadly "Do «>at « a veo. pretty compliment ? " st saS "T pSu THE ALIEN 249 me in good conceit with myself, and I had been feeling rather forlorn." The moment the words had crossed her lips she r<^retted their utterance. They gave the Major his opportunity. If only she had not been so physically weary, so craving for sympathy, she would have guarded her tongue better. She was handing him his cup of tea while she spoke. He caught her wrist, and held it fast in his right hand, and put the cup on the table with his left " Now, Esther, why should you be forlorn ? " he said. " Here am I, who, as you very well know, am eager to take you back with me to make my house a home, which it is not at present, and which it never can be while there is no woman in it. I am quite aware that you do not feel for me that sort of ecstatic love that you felt once in your youth; I do not expect that. At our ages it would no doubt seem that such an expecta- tion would be as absurd for me to entertain, as for you to fulfil." He paused a minute, his voice sounded rueful. " But," he went on, with renewed cheerfulness, " is there any just cause why we should not make each other exceedingly happy? I know that I do not invariably agree with you. I see that you are inclined to throw away substance for shadow. I see that your views on some subjects are impracticable and high- flown, but that does not prevent me from loving you, does it?" He could not quite manage to say, "Why, then, should it prevent you from loving me?" but that was so clearly what he meant that Esther answered the unspoken words. "Oh, Curtis, it is not that! No 'views' ever yet prevented people from caring for each other." 250 THE ALIEN i he tears were m u -as lonely, and his "i«le SZh''L\''': ""'^ ^h he could never make in n IT .^"* ^^^ ''0"« tha seated instinct. *° * ^^"'^ ^'"^ *°»<=b^ a deep Esih« ^f *'''* '' '* ' " •>* »^ked bluntly " Se. u cstaer, If you were eighteen anH t ; ''• See here not press you like this 7shoutl « '"ct°"'' ^ '^°»^'' me. and that's the end of it ' but wt^";' ^'": ''°''"'' '°^« " I am afraid that that i.f^ ^ insider that "— -en now that n.y ha Lt wh ^°^'^/ii'"^ ''^ ^ «'d. P«=0P'e go on being f^lilh^n 'fu .'^'^ ^^*'>='- " Some She drew her ha^ V' ^""'^- ^''^is-" easny. and his "trt"g =; ,"f' ^^'^ ^-['n marked harder than he knew, and left » ^ -^"^^ ^^' -™t "Why. I believe i h^^/ ^.^fi^^'^r "■ am very sorry. Esther; 1 did not ul ^ 'J'"'- " ^ but you are so easily hurt" "^ ^ ^^ ™"gh- She shook her head. '.' No no fi, * ^.. n>e m the least." she said -'.Z rJ"^ "°* ^^'' cannot explain!" ' *-'"^'*' >f— No, I plaT^tior '^ ""^''' ''^ ™-ng Without an ex- alw^rbltrt*?;!^;..-^^ I should you ar« wrong. UteZ'^^^l^^H'^'^^^. But I hke you so well, Esther thJT u ^' ' '"'=*ake. to be full of tact. And as t '\"''' '°°" ^«'"' hasty sometimes, you are not ^^"'/'^""gh you a« women who nurW'^o^.Cc" s anH f *°^'' *'^'=^°'"« misunderstood. If you were nn^ K, ? themselves sweet wholesome nature vour"u ^"^'^ ^'* * ^«^ peace, nor have lived so co-^f^TK."^^^' '^^^^ ^^^Pt the Cousin Hebecca. VsZlT::^tZr ^^ o^<^ THE ALIEN 251 I , "u"^ Tr'.f '** ^"'''- ^^^ '■•'" half-inclined to laugh and half to cry, but his chance, if for one moment in her weakness he had had one, was gone '•It was easy to me to live peacefully with Cousin I Becky because I loved her. Sometimes I wearied of the life at Applehurst, but it was my own choice, and I always felt free to be myself with her. I should not be good or sweet if I were married to you. Curtis I should feel imprisoned — even though I am quite certam that you would always be kind and fair and m the nght. and that if I wasn't happy it would be entirely my own fault." "Esther," said the Major solemnly, « are you bitten with this modern craze for freedom ? But you are not naturally a self-sufficing woman. I can see so much though you think that I understand nothing at all' You owned you felt foriom just now, all alone in this ndiculous attic I Well, old age will come on you as weji as on me. You will feel much more forlorn "Do you suppose that I don't recognise that?" cried Esther. " That I do not often and often shiver, when 1 remember the loneliness of old age and death ? " For a minute she seemed to herself to stand face to face with a cold spectre, which she did in very truth dread The premonition of the loneliness that must attend impaired powers, when her interest in many- sided life would perforce wane with her intellectual and physical failure, always depressed her. There would be no one to warm and cherish her, as she had warmed and cherished the old woman in whose service her haSeH ^^^T''- ^"* ''^** "^^^y S^°''' though it haunted, should not make a coward of her! 252 THE ALIEN "ot be ^nsiSeforTcc, "C "" *"* **'i-."-i oW age ver, coi^fortably to Jh" '"^ ^ '"«''' f" humbly hope that I nZillf^^- /''' fo"" Death. you need not" ^ "*" '^w hini. J an, su, The simple faith tha» i,» »y-pathy. Never had she Ved^M ""''' ^^'^^ -^rtti--^^^^^^^ i«t be content tTtt^^el^^^'P''"-"- ^°" "lus •^ou^STh-.tL^'t^Si--^^--- was killed in Egypt S . ^' ^^^»' ^hap who ^-iy. though hf iTi ;"tV--go/- h? s^d to trespass on such deliJl Jo^^ ^'^ "° ''"«•■"«« "'ere only boy and giri Lf^ f ' "^"'' Esther, you ••-eS:te^rg^£V"Sh?rr'-^''-ime ffcond bests forest and do Tf ""^ "°* *° *=ke The people who have never t "f/^^^* the lesson. TheS"'^ ^^^ - -SnJf™' ■'• '- in a land you When To^:lrlrtt^^"''°"'*""^^^^^^^^ only see with regret uJ " "°* Po«=ti«l ! I ^Peak my mind too pllinlyUhat'""' '°^^'^^ ">« 'f ' false, though pretty, iSealSSfur '"°" ^" """'^ :U---tothee.rro7t£t^--a^^^ ieft W°:l^l^°'°- '"^'"^^ -- Esther's face, and then THE ALIEN 253 It might "No," she said. "It is not that now. have been once, but I've outlived dreams.' " It is not that," repeated the Major. To tell the truth, he was considerably surprised. So surprised that it took him a minute to digest her statement' " But if not that — then " " Then you must ask no more," said Esther. " And you must leave me my mountains, even though you thmk that they are made of moonshine, and that they will prove cold comfort in my old age !— as probably they will." ' Her voice dropped into rather a sad tone at the last words. The Major frowned, then, rather to her sur- prise, held out his hand. "That's over," he said. " I will ask you no more, Cousm Esther, now that I am sure that it is not a ghost who is standing between you and living mea But one thmg I will say, for my conscience pricks me! I ought not to have spoken to you as I did of foriom old age. I was wrong. There is too much fear in the worid nowadays. Some folk fear death, and more fear life; but as for you, you know better than to be afraid of anything that comes from God." "But I am not so good as all that!" cried Esther with a gasp. ' " You know better," persisted the Major, calmly dis- regarding her protest. « And what is more, you'll be justified in the end. Now I wish that you would offer me another cup of tea, my dear Cousin, for this has become stone cold ! I am not going away directly. I wish to hear your plans for the future, and I see no reason why you should not consult me about that in- vestment which you wrote me word you were meditating 854 THE ALIEN youTbU^^lTn";; ""'■"''' "•" "»" •« cither would so unhwitatingi; uke." " "" "'^ '"''J«'=' about lUryrcrvrA'lf'V'' ''''-•«. on subjcc that was a trait Tp.^^ V ""^ *« Major. Bi "ot. lilcc Mrs Mordaunt^tU'h^'' 'l'''''' ^^^^ «ood that well enough ''^ ~"*'" ''»'' ""der- or wfr'n" a^r'alTd -K rSrV;"! "^^ -•'^- '• Lots •"aJce her horribly lonely^Tut sh K ^'™ ''*^^' -» quality that makes it unsafe" ''" J"** S°t "»* CHAPTER xvn; "God be merciliil to lu sinners, for lo tht ,! ri.iu been sufficiently merciful in nuking them i;nad." THE Major drank his second cup oi tea, a i j;ave his advice on matters pertaining to money Esther wondered whether any rejected .uitor had behaved just so before. She hoped that his behaviour proved that he was not much hurt. He disapproved of her having accepted any gift that came from Apple- hurst, and he shook his head at the sight of the familiar cream-jug. " It would have been wiser not to have taken any- thmg from him, Esther," he said. And Esther forgave the unasked-for opinion, for the sake of the persistent and obstinate kindness. After all It IS a bad plan to measure everyone by one's own little pocket-rule, and a great deal may be forgiven to a tnend whose friendship survives the refusal of love bhe was anxious to avoid speaking of Jasper; but it was impossible to avoid what the Major was bent on discussing. " I hear that the fellow is behaving oddly. He sees no one. He has been shut up alone at Applehurst all the winter. He rides a good deal, but he doesn't nunt. That is bad policy. Yet he's clever" 256 THE ALIEN ''Very I should think." said Esther we ;- .etiT\he^sLt„a^:u^^riT^'*" you w.,, .„g^ wiih™?^ ""' '^' "•> '«">« I could L tak^in ir '"^ "" ^ •""* *at Miotic, not u^StUsted r ^°" ""^ ^''>""^- ' -- " If I had understood that you were ill T c^ u told the world in gener^S '^ '"'? "^^^ '»'«'' ^nd I perty in TrinidL iTaj an inr/?^ '° ""'* "^ P'"" who is at th^ f introduction to R_s P_J Who do yofsu';;::fsrp"r '"^^'^"^ '^^^^ ^- p=*i,« suppose supphed me with that?" Esfter guessed quickly, "Jasper himself!" howy:„mSa"g:d%:Tu^t?o-t:j''- ^ f"-"''* ''"- jt was. AH tha't he s^ZSi^lkT^S^^ri '"'-^° is strictly true. He is arh.oii "'*• America is no common adventure 151^'" k^- "''"'• "« and is well known outSere" ' P"'''"= *='>"^'='«'' " He''lenTh"l'"'P''''*= •"*'" '^''^ Esther. " to J2 jack-of-all-trades Gatton. and I doubt whether .1 would have relished the only aid that 1!"^'^:; "Then what shall you do next?" said Esther an here mdeed was the difficulty. ' bv'Zr f^^"^ ""^ '^"'^^^' th« f^'low should be lai by the heels m gaol for this business," said the Maio thZ '"'■^ y°" interrupt me— I am slowe. than you are sometimes. IVe been ,lnw of ! u the right end of this story. What if wW,e r .^ linking what to do next^he bLl's^^'^^H ^nS tentX£ " *.'^^--t«>P'•-• "What"f f etter went by this evenmg's post and he err,* ,v * Mr^Hf r„t*%;r -■ -^ *" ■< ■*= THE ALIEN 261 , "V^^", "^if *«= Major, "would depend on what was m .t! No doubt if it merely memioned that I had a suspicion of the truth, he might choose to brazen j.t out. But ,t might venture on further statements Isupposing, of course, that it was penned by a vS indiscreet and too kind-hearted person, who w^ absurdly ready to give him a last chance. It might Iwamhim that, having at last got on the right tack our investigations have not been entirely unfruitful iHnM^'^rT "T^^^ "'"^^'"'y; l^"' I hear from Holdsworthy that there is a woman still living near I T.t !^' u^° '^"^ '^^ playfellow of the boy Jasper Ithe tr^th'"^'^: t"^ '^""^'"'^ "''^ ""■■- ShVknows II .^^ ^^"* •*""• '^•'^ ^y ^^' born in her Pent"^"'"^^- ''" '=^" ^ '•"^-'' ^o ^ivJ lth»f?" "'f^- "^' ^°"''* ^ ''"■^'ble to have all Ithat dragged into Court, but I do not believe a threat wd induce him to run away. It ought to. perhaps IBut there is something unaccountable in him " She lleaned forward eageriv " Cnrtk „,» ^^ ^ .^ lr™,o:„ D I . s^ny. Curtis, we cannot throw my ■Cousin Becky's story to the public • " |the"lS^-on""°* '""''' '"'" "P '" ""'' ''^■•^-'■^'^ed he." said Iviewwih *""'' "'"'/^' ""'^ ^"^^'^ ^-« "° 'o"ger iZr H "'^"^ ^'■°'" °PP°^-'t^ P°'es. Each had Imenally moved an inch nearer to Vhe other. She I ventured a step farther. she said, frowning. " but I do not believe that any sane motive made Jasper do the extraordinary things he She wt'the r'^ ""^' ^°"^'" «-'^^ --'^^ phe was the cleverest and the shrewdest woman I've 262 THE ALIEN I met, with plenty of hard common-sense as a rule. 'V in spite of her shrewdness I know that she was sway at times by gusts of strong bitter feeling— of passi. perhaps— of something I never quite understood." "Are you trying to find excuses for them bo Esther ? " She shook her head. " No. I am only trying understand and to explain. There would be no u m wntmg such a letter of warning as you suggest would appeal to his reason, would it not? It wou make clear the fact that he would do wisely to escai But it was not the reasonable part of him, whi, prompted his journey to England, and his mad preten at bemg Gatton. I do not believe that any ordinal consideration of prudence will have the least effect c his conduct." "Any more than any ordinary consideration . morality, eh?" said the Major drily. But he r. membered what Jasper's friend had said to hir "After the woman left him, and his son died, he wa for months like one mad." " He is a very queer fish he said, "and I don't think he is a very fit subject c discussion with you, Esther; but there is no sense i telling half a story. When I was in Venezuela found the one person to whom this man seems to hav been entirely unreserved. She was in a convent o, the edge of a great forest." " You cannot make her bear witness against him I " The Major bit his lip. " So he told you about he too? He has been very communicative to you. No I cannot do that, because she is dead." " Dead ! His Maravilla is dead ! " said Esther in a whisper to herself. She put her hand before her eyes THE ALIEN 263 I" Go on, Curtis," she said aloud, " I should like to hear ■ about it all." And the Major went on, telling the story of his [travels somewhat baldly. " 1 am not inclined to papistry, but I suppose there J may be saints everywhere. I started with the ex- [pectation of meeting a very different kind of person." " And you met a miracle," said Esther, with a faint I smile. " The Indians from the forest, the half-breeds from J the small stations on the Orinoco, came to be cured of ■ disease. I never in my life have seen anything so I outrageous. They held a sort of idolatrous mass, and [strangers flocked to it from miles round. Yet it is I impossible to suppose that she was a fraud. Having I seen her, I could not suppose it. It was an extremely puzzling sight. I saw her twice. The first time I got no chance of speaking privately with her. The second time she greeted me with a delight that was almost saddening — because of my English tongue, and be- I cause she fancied that I came from the man she loved. I felt bound in common honesty to explain that he ! had not sent me ; that, in fact, I was very far from being a friend of his. That finished the interview I She was horrified ! She shrank away from me as if I were the devil, holding up two fingers like this." The Major smiled ruefully at the recollection. " And after- wards I was hustled out of the convent by a back way ! The nuns made a fine to-do. They said that if the people believed I had done anything to alarm their Miracle I should be killed ; but I was not afraid of that. I could hold my own against a parcel of natives, I hope. The poor thing died two days after 264 THE ALIEN that. I was Sony to hear if f a «^ious ecstasies, but I SuS si tLr?"'*'"*''"'^ good- Having seen h,.r °. "..^^ '^at she was very must.hav.astLTof sLeth ' '° """"'' ^''^^ ^ She gave n,eam«ie fort"^ "°l '" '«'' '" Wm. W'« that a child wa7L° af r- K^'^f '°'' ""^ *° *«" it was her hooe Thff k ' *'"' '"=" ^im. That Rebecca, believing • at th,? .?^' "''* """""d her when she hersel^'shc .^ Ja°d h "'"' ''"• ^"^'^ his child. That sh .v . ' ^ "*"'* *=°«'e to see •".picfon o/i,„,|„,„ '*'" "'"S" ■». when he fc.„ , S^-t^d^i^^J-'-e^-ed. Iha?tl:t^;j:Jf-''-^'cHed Esther;..! Wish -o«>en, but she was^r^d ^^ ^.f ^^^ure of ^.an^ special baby (who was so Ht n ^^"""^^^ "^ this the Major fai the^nes w °"'" ^'''^ ''''' ^^«=" Maravilla-and of Jasper ""^ '''" ^'''''^ °f » "Have you given him the messaD-<.>" u , I "Do not threaten him i 7 "^^sage? she asked. I Curtis." " '"'"■ J"«t g've him her message. " ^°" may do that, if you will " -j , ■An- you ™,«, h,„ r,:^";„Srjf THE ALIEN 265 died. I don't care to. I'm not the right person to do it. I don't want to make an assault on the chap's feelings. So long as he clears out, it doesn't matter to me why he clears out. There was an old Mother Superior at the convent who had a great deal to say too. She also sent him messages. I did not promise to deliver hers, however. I cannot say that I under- stood all the ins and outs of the story she told me. The upshot of it was that she wanted him to under- stand that in the first place she had never kidnapped their ' Miracle'; and in the second place, that she was not anxious to annt ^ the responsibility of his child." " There seems to be a good deal to be conveyed to him," said Esther doubtfully. " But mind, Esther," said the Major, " if he has any decent desire to prevent the raking up of his mother's story, there is only one course open to him, and there IS one thing that he must do. Put this strongly. He must leave a written confession addressed to me, ex- plaining who he is, and who he pretended to be. I shall (not out of any undue leniency to him, but for the sake of my family) then endeavour to hush the matter up, and to step quietly into possession of my own, without dragging this disreputable affair into the Courts. Holdsworthy is of opinion that this may yet be possible. But I am no Don Quixote. I must possess a guarantee that he will not turn up again and give us all this trouble once more, the next time he happens to be sick of his life, and in the humour for masquerading as someone else." " He will never write that confession," said Esther. "And after all, Curtis— is it fair? You are suggesting that Jasper shall throw himself entirely on your honour. 266 THE ALIEN 1' li relying on your spoken word to me that If h- a Sony it offends vr... ^V ' ^ ^' Cousin. I am poSbie Ss Seen SS Td T; ''7 ""* ^' °"'^ n>«n. and he isn't " ^ "" *" ''«'""* aft«- .1 ^'*''*'^ '"*° "'er mind, but which atter all, were not to the ooint Ti,-,- wnicn, between him and honest S " "" "^ "''"''"'y " I suppose that that is true," she said « R.,f clear appreciation of the fact won't^n" r u^**"' virtue. When h^ hJ r \ '"*=''"" ''''" to happen next?" "''^"*'^ y^"' '«'™*- ^^at will :^^'^£^^^^^^^ him ~ -"^' *"'• ^" «lence softened THE AIJEN 267 possening it ; but since I've known that that man is her son, and that her heart was set on his having it, I would rather not touch it with a pair of tongs. You'll at least do me a good turn if you make sure that we are too late to clap him into gaol." " Of course, I believe you," said Esther ; " but, Curtis, if— if you feel like that, why take any action at all ? Why not liave everything alone ? " " Because he is not Gatton," said the Major, and the words that he had reiterated so many times had a cer- tain solemnity to-day that impressed her — "because he is not Gatton, and no amount of feeling makes any difference to facts ; and as for me, I have never sub- scribed to frauds, nor taken any part in lies." It was getting dark. " We have nearly talked the sun down," Esther said. "Look what a red London sun!" She walked to the window and looked out. She was rather glad that the kindly dusk hid the trouble in her face from the Major's keen eyes. " It has not gone down on our wrath, has it, Esther ? " he said quaintly. " But how about that letter? The post goes in half an hour. I will sit here while you write it, and I will post it for you on my way home." " It will be very difficult," said Esther. She had done a good many difficult things in her life, but she wondered for a moment whether she could write to tell Jasper of the death of the woman he loved, with the Major sitting by. " Tell him what that girl said," said the Major. " I do not wish to. I should feel as if I were hitting him below the belt. And for the rest" — Mictoconr risoiution test cha«t (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) ^ ^^PPLIED irvMGE li ^K 1653 EosI Mojn Street S^S Hochesler. New York 1*609 USA •'— (?16) *82 - 0300 - Phone ^= (716) 288-5989 -Fax :M|' ■■'if ■:!i! ii'l m I :, i 'I I HI 268 THE ALIEN No, said Esther firmly. " I will have nothing to do wth the rest. I will write to give him Maravilla's message because he told me about her, and because I am his friend. But I cannot warn, or threaten him, in the same breath. ^^ "Then I will do that part of it," said the Major. Perhaps I shall do it more effectually. Will you kindly bring me a sheet of paper and a pen?" Esther brought him her little brown writing-case and lit a candle. The Major wrote at the tea-table She could hear the scratch of his quill as he penned his unmistakable meaning, in his upright, thick handwriting." " You will put out your eyes. You had better draw your chair up to the candle," he said once, glancing up. aut she sat by the window and scribbled her difficult note by the last rays of daylight. Then she fastened It and took it to him. " I have done it," she said. " But there is no such thing as ' breaking ' the shock of sudden news. It does not matter how it is put." The Major took the pencilled note, and turned it over in his hand. He saw a wet mark on it. " You are too sorry for him, Esther," he said. " And so you call yourself his friend ? I doubt whether he's deserving of that." " He is my Cousin Becky's son," said Esther "Which makes not a jot of difference to his deserts, said the Major. "Your sympathy is too much enlisted on the side of black sheep." " Ah ! The white sheep start with such an immense advantage in being born white ! " cried Esther She looked down from her fifth-storey window, and THE AIJEN 269 watched his upright soldierly figure crossing the street. He posted the two letters, and went on his way towards the house that was not home. He was a man in whose integrity one could trust absolutely. No fit of despair would ever upset the balance of his mind, no bitterness warp his sense of right and wrong, nor would love ever cause him to do bad or mad things. " A woman who loved him would be very safe," thought Esther. But she knew that she could never have been that woman, not even when she was young. i!i'itt|: [|ff:il|l [ CHAPTER XIX JASPER walked up and down in the library , J jf^PP'"''""' ^'■^'^ ^ ^'^T dirty missive in hi " This is to warn him who is called Mr. Gatto Mamwanng Mordaunt, that there is one who knows a about h'm, and has in my own possession the letters h Wh ch ; 7"'"° '^'°^^ ^''^ ^^="* ^-^y -th hi^ Wh,ch same letters are worthy at the present of som. ^uh7^' ,. .r""'"" "'''° ^"'^' *'"'^ understands tha qu.te well. Major Iredale, without any doubt, will .f offered, pay five hundred pounds to get them wit much great pleasure. The person who writes is mo rme^Vr ''°" "' '"' '^''^"" *° ^"y- 'f y°« -1' or wilT senH "'T"^ """"'^^ *° '''^ ^^°-^ address v™, -n T ^"^'^ ""essenger. This is no cheat You W.11 know the minute you look that the letters are genu.ne and worthy of all the moneys asked You will be sorry if you do not buy, for the otS snie w;ll. Nothing under five hundred 'pounds wSl be too^of thf r.r'^'^'f •"'"'"' "°'" °^ '^' ^'^dress at the top of the letter. It was written from an alley near Bishopsgate Street, E.G. Then he tossed the aLny- mous producfon mto the fire, and watched the spide.^ pomted wntmg c,„ the blue foreign paper crackle a7d THE ALIEN 271 burn. It was an attempt at blackmail, and by no means the first that he had received. It gave him food for reflection. He believed that no one in England with the exception of Esther, so much as knew the name of Maravilla. Someone had tracked him across the sea Someone from that oiher life. It was within the bounds of possibility that the someone was really in possession of his letters. But if that were so, it pointed to the fact that Maravilla was dead. He did not b...eve that, if she were living, she would part with the least scrap of his handwriting. Though he was sorely angry with her, he never for one moment imagined that any human being could or would dethrone him m her heart. He had been jealous, but not of humanity. He knew better than that. "Then Maravilla is dead !" he repeated to himself But he had been aware of her death before that dirty little letter added its evidence to his own intuition. He had known it one night (it was on the 4th of January) while he stood by the tower on the hill look- ing out on the moonlit, snow-clad world. No visible spirit had come to him. No white-robed angel had dropped from the star-spangled sky, through the still frosty air, to his side. Yet all at once the " something " which he had told Esther " was always pulling at his heartstrings " had snapped, the passionate longing that had possessed him for months had turned cold and died. " Maravilla is dead," he had said, and had stopped for a while bareheaded. Then had gone wearily home, and had slept fast and long. That was tv«) months ago. To-day he repeated his words with a kind of awe. He was superstitious ; he put faith in presentiments, though it was characteristic of his para- 272 m\ THE ALIEN doxicai nature, that a kind of contradictory commo sense often prevented him from acting on them t they were backed by some tangible evidence. Sin that January night there had been a change in the ne squrre. The sharp edge of his reforming energy h; turned ; the reins, which he had held with such wonde ful ability, sometimes dropped a little slackly in h fingers. He was not quite so popular as he had bee at first. Odd stories about him were afloat in th village. Yet the fascination which he undoubtedly ha for those with whom he came in personal contact sti held good. The servants at Applehurst remained d< voted to him. Dr. Clayton, in spite of his naturall mild temper, would ponderously snub anyone who sai a word against him ; and old Wilcox blessed him wit his last breath. For Wilcox had caught a chill at Mr' Mordaunt's funeral, and had died with his hand in th squire's. "You knowed I was all right, for all that then addled sums went agin me; but no one else would havi knowed," Wilcox had kept repeating, with growing thickness of speech, and with eyes fixed with ar almost painful worship on Jasper's face. At the las reiteration he added, " You know, and so God 'ul know." Jasper for his part had found nothing to say on that occasion ; but that mattered little, for his presence was all that the old fellow wanted. Wilcox paid no attention to Mr. Joel, who knelt at one side of the bed and repeated the Lord's Prayer aloud. Only when the blind parson got to " Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive "—he interrupted. His stiff lips smiled slowly. His gaze still rested on Jasper. THE ALIEN 273 im, 'e to "That's good for "im," he said. "Bless kni-wed," and so died. Mr. Joel followed Jasper out of the cottage ,.,'i'^°" I"""' ^^"^ ^^" extraordinarily good Wilcox,' he said. " Oh no I wasn't. I only grasped the fact that the poor old chap was honest enough— but muddle-headed to an almost incredible degree— and a jealous old as. too said Jasper. " It was tragic in a way. He was so horribly in dread of being cut out by new-fangled men. Thats what made him morose. His 'addled sums' gave me no end of trouble, but I wouldn't turn fu'lness •' '" * ''"''^' ^°' '*'' ^ ^'*^ *° '""'"'^ ^""^y ''*''^- Mr. Joel's thoughtful old face shone with sympathy "You stood for God, to that man," he said; "and rightly so. For you made him understand what the Divine forgiveness is, which looks not at the sins of the Old Adam, but at the growing Christ within." ''I!" said Jasper. He was half-dumbfoundered half-amused at this unexpected representation of him- self. "Not I ! I don't pretend to be religious. But knocking about in the world has taught me to see at once, who is worth taking trouble for, and who is too rotten to use. I've never made a mistake in my man • but mine is a practical, not h moral view, you know" ' Then an odd painful expression flashed across his ace Perhaps he recognised his own unsoundness at that moment, for he turned away abruptly. Mr loel s.ghed as he heard the quick, light footsteps receding up the street. His liking for Ja.sper was stronger than he could reasonably account for, and that in spite of the scene that had shocked him on the night of the lO Mi [11 'I ;i w '' It li !'■! 274 THE ALIEN funeral. Al! men approached as " voices " to the blir parson. But the voice of this prodigal, rom over tl seas, had echoed in his heart with singular persistenc from the time when its owner had walked by his sic m the night. He saw none of the outside details pe taming to the people he met ; he never knew wh: they wore, nor how they looked, but he had often smgularly clear perception of how they felt. Jasp( was to him always as one haunted by a miserabl dream, wrapt round in a cloak of unhappiness. The winter had . jen long and hard, but when th snow melted and the roads became more passable, M Joel turned his face in the direction of Applehurs The place looked cold and blind and desolate, for ha the windows were shut, and Jasper lived in one come of the house. Mr. Joel could not see its desolatior but perhaps felt it. He lingered, though the maid wh, opened the door repeated, " He told me to say that he' not at home, sir." ^ " Are you sure that Mr. Mordaunt will not see me i I ve had a long walk," he said wistfully. " He's that queer just now, sir," said the woman moved by a sudden desire to confide. « I wouldn't saj it to no one but you, who've known the family thes< last twenty-five years, but the house is a deal mors lonesome than it was in the old lady's time, and good- ness knows, we were quiet enough then. Mr. Parkyns, who was butler here, couldn't stand it no more, and left Mr. Mordaunt just shuts the door on every living soul." Mr. Joel sighed and was turning to go, then paused agam, arrested by the sound of a voice. " But your master has someone with him," he said " I hear him talking." THE ALIEN 275 The woman lowered her voice mysteriously. " Some- times he doesn't speak for days," she said, " and then again he will walk up and down, up and down, and talk to himself half the night. The old mistress used to be that way too, before the rheumatism laid hold on her." A faint colour came into Mr. Joel's delicate face. " Tell Mr. Mordaunt that I should take it as a great favour if he would see me on particular business," he said. But, when the maid had gone on her errand, he cast about in his mind for a plausible reason to back his statement. What particular business could he produce ? Jasper was an energetic landlord. There was now no cottage whose roof needed mending, no floor through which the damp soaked. He was ashamed of his intrusion. The maid went into the library nervously. Jasper was walking up and down like a caged panther. When he turned sharply and looked at her, she was frightened, though she did not know why. " Why do you disturb me r " he said. " It wasn't me, sir — it was Mr. Joel," she stammered. " I am out," said Jasper shortly. He stared gloomily at Anne, but he was not thinking about her in the least. "I'll say so again, sir. I wouldn't have troubled you, but that Mr. Joel said his business was particular, and that he'd take it as a favour if you'd see him." The library door was open, and while she spoke, Jasper caught sight of the patient, white-haired old figure wait- ing in the hall. He woke suddenly out of his black fit, and went out quickly with nands outstretched. " Why, Mr. Joel," he said ; " come in, come in ! I did not know that you were standing there." Mr. Joel had not yet provided himself with an excuse, so he came in apologetically and shyly. The host led I.'- ; 'in 1 Iff ,:| 276 THE ALIEN the way into the h-farao', and wheeled up the arm- had died '"°'''" ^^"^ °"^^ occupied, and in which "Don't apologise. You are welcome. You ( away ghosts," he said. He pushed the old man ge mto the chair, and poked the fire. Mr. Joel held his thin, long-fingered hands to blaze; a pamful wistfulness shone in his face "You are very kind," he said. " Sometimes' I , much that I could see. I should blunder less" It was the first and last time in his life that he . expressed the wish aloud. Not one of his parishio. had ever heard such a speech cross his lips. C before Jasper, before this man. who was alien to 1 m many w ., he broke down the barrier of ge. uncomplaining dignity that had always guarded .nfirm.ty. And he broke it down for no private er He did not say to himself, « Thus, and thus only ca wm confidence." He spoke simply and without fc thought, but took the right way, because his hand, 1 that of a httle child, was held close in God's grasp " To my mind it would be better to be dead than be maimed," said Jasper. The keenness of his sen« and his conscious joy in them, made him pity infirm mtensely. " But the world is full of maimed creatu, who have been caught in traps. This morning I kill a hare who had wrenched her thigh out of joint in miquitous arrangement of wire and steel. I won't ha such things on this place. I've told the keepers so mvented a trap myself years ago, that kills outrighi soon as the poor beast is caught. That's well enougl 1 m not squeamish about killing." " I heartily agree with you," said Mr. Joel. « I shou THE ALIEN 277 lit' th°,r'"-"n-^°"'' '■"^''"*'°"- The unnecessary- suffer- lh"'L7^^!!''''r"^?'^ '° ^ ^"^^'^"'<' «h"" chirping ^^s of the d!r ■ "'"' ""' '^^'^ ^^^"^'^'^ ''v- 'he short "Oh we shall not be delivered from it," said Jasper We get a sentimental fit eve,y now and then bufa ke to call >t. went to the making of the universe and ^.s no more to be got rid of than is the air or he water A for the trapped creatures, sometimes they free Them A7a't";;eir '" *"" "''• ^"'^ — timesM:; l": th 1^' tLr " r with^is^wf 2-3^ :„X° thfend" aSin , -."" ""'" ^^^'"^' ^'^^ -'-' -'^ ^^ere'^ ^^jri:ssst-rSmo;;- growth 1^,1 r "''"■ ""^ &^°^« -'h one's seeT R ,. T' 1^'"'' "'°"Sh you don't always of Jv ^ T^ ^"^ "^^y '■' ^'" ^*^"d in front instead of behmd, and you will look into its eyes, and re ognTse Jadle V''" "" °'^ acquaintance t lay in your wh^y:u^rar ;„r^' r r "^'^-'y"^ ^ were a boy, and grmned when you kissed If i 278 THE ALIEN your love, and followed still ^u f-h start in a nella d" " ^T T ''" '° ^^'^'^ » you'll say, and after tuJ! ... ' "'• """•= ^nemy I ' be as dead afa d ^o . J ?::; ",-^ "° --• ^or yo'u'l, on ?h:tty^rrrei1.^r--S pondered Death shall stand in f^nt an,TT-'°" °^ "■""' *''« shall know-at lasj ' """""S '" h'^ eyes, we you live too n,u^h"a.:ne .fy^ J ZZ'' ""V ^'""'^ ""pertinence, and perhaps this m^ " "''^ '"^"'^ such as you. Yet it n-T • ^^""^ '« ^°° small for an energetic landiLd ^r^Th"'* TJ" ^^^ -■ ^^^ you've done, shows whaT^rmlyr^^' '"' ''' '°^ sudden'lmtrat 'tS aTrr'^"';^ ''' ^^'^^^ -'" '"« hearts. "Bu; to te! y/, 1 ''"''' ''"* ^°" ''''" dead sick of it- The M. ^"^/^"'h, I'm getting landowner than I in the 1'°' "'"".''^ '""''•= * better to it." ' " *'"' Jong-run, for he would stick "T;?h?:a?edT7hl'nd"t: 'T"r' ''^ ^''^ -"• which the wind wt bea?in° '''^''''"'^°^'"^"'"^* is your natural heritage" "^ '" "^'^^'"^ gusts-" this " Of barrenness and storm eh?" c j . went to the window andT; .'«"' Jasper, and he The grey skies Znr' ^'"^ " "P^"' '^aned out. It waf l^tterlTeold ttiir hT ''u ''"'=*' '^"''-^P-- THE ALIEN 079 " It should have been my heritaw " he «i,I " u » there's a drop of • wandermg ' bloodt me Mv h the park P^Hi'/h""'"^ ''""«'' '•"'^ •^'-"' — ine park ? His hearmg was extraordinarily fine and qu.ck quicker even than that of his blind guet n' hlet''?T P"*"P^ ^"-"^ I"'''^" trapper would the dots t fr? '°°*^'^P^ ''"' prescn'Ti; one If the dogs began to bark, a.,d then the postman cami ■n _s.ght. holding his head down. half-bHnded by tl .et/e?!; ITu^r^ '■■'"• '"' -'-^^' --^ -° "I don't know the writing," he said. " But thi me veo. muc alive. There is something that matt "r "That sofnd, ^"^/'^ u '™'''' ''"' "«' """"="'• ihat sounds mad. But it is a queer fact that I always k„o,, before I open a letter'(and my mttL " It is from Esther," said Mr. Joel "What, are you second-sighted too?" The old man shook his head. •• No, but I recoenise the ^scent of orris-root that clings to Esther's Sg "FJ''^.^"'^ presentiment is wrong," said Jasper to s^y tm;.""""" ''-' ^"^'''^■■"^ ^^^ -P-ant Shfwarr?°" "°^T'^- "" ^^^ f°"dof Esther. i>he was to h.m as the embodiment of the charm of 280 THE ALIEN W been P^nM^^^ i^^.'TZ^'"'' ^^^P^ house. ' =°' " she had been still in the Th"n%S?ong':i,;:r^;'i7-^ '■* ''"•-^'' twice, anxious voice. ^"^'' ^r. Joel spoke in an sure of it!" n°se— and its over. Well, I ^as , ""^-o "?S^',^;t« *-- ■».*, ..,„„ sayine? v„„ , ' "^ cried. "What a« •f sr itou are sneaUr,™ »"jat are you Mordaunt." speaking very wildly of Mis" Jasper stared. "Whir r '"i^'^-f .-ithhiSrt^::^h"°' "" '''■"'■■"^ °^ outwitj;'„„:eei*„V^es"''"S";^^'"'^"'^ ^'"od gazing ^■n-burn. MaraviE' nie^sLt^/frf «= ""'^^ '^f No one in the world had^er^haf '^ ''™ ^'^""^'X- h« affections as she had hid It Z'^'J^ * ''^''^ °" i -' was part of the irony Jf fitl !!'"*^ '° ''''" ^^at ' youth was over, he should h! «' *''^' *^''«" h" first •nto the lap „/ this h t'e sa'^ wh\''"^ "•""« »»«" for God. and that, even vet hT' ^° ^^'^ ''^^ed him follow him. ' " y^^- ^^' ^°'« should reach and THE ALIEN ^Sl bye." he said. " Z I am u ^ "'" ^''^ y"" good- had is strange .nTrlZZTr "'^ "^^ ^O" have away." niportant, and you must wish me smile. " "'^^ tvv.tchmg with a whimsical bye, sir." He watched Lk'- "But good- intentness. ^ ^^^ ^''"^ man with growing sa.d to himself. - ff h'l's^" ^. ^'^ '° Venezuela." he Itw^'a-^micytht'^the^lttwrnH''"'' "*'" ^'°°^ ««"• •ng trough the room butT TIT ."^ '°"^"^ ^^l^^'- "nshriven spirits were hoS. '/"" '^ '^'"^^''^s, " I do not wish to ask 't?.^ '"'""'^^' '" ^he place, said gently, "and I thTnk T ""f?"'"^"^ question," he not chatter about your affa "t^, .r"* ^^^ ^hat I will and a rather sardonic gl^m of f ~". "^ "-itated, through the gloom of his h^ .° "" ^""^^ ^"ddenly *' Go on, sir/' said jLZ ''°!l,^„^-P;~. whatever you wish to sa^" .< ?. " ^'"'"'^ *° ^^^ he added to himself. P^''^°n will do it," andT:e^L^l^l?^M:?H"'• h-^ ^ -■^'^^ '»--. he left the room. "'^^' ^*id Mr. Joel, and I. 282 J' ! ■Ii THE ALIEN ^^ Jasper screwed his lips into a whistle as the door "There's no counting on Joel !" he said ihen his eye fell on another letter that h=A u^ blown still unopened, to his feet. He sfo^Xctd" Lfron^ thrM " "'■''. ^ '^•'^"^'"^ counte'l^ance it was fron, the Major, and it was short and to the point the whole matter being n,ade public. I„ the even "Curtis Iredale." Jasper pulled himself together went out of his eyes. " I'm d— d if I will," said he. The dreaminess CHAPTER XX strikes the nlwco J; L trLht"°Shl*'' .''"'n*''^' tn^th. something irregula oftatur! sV'J'" ^' charm of a fascinat.^g plain woman WH *" have once learnt to admire her von ^ T" for ever hut =.f """'.''^^ "er, you admire her depressing ^ ' "''' ''™ ^^ extraordinarily diamonds that had not the ghost of a s^rkTe'leftT nam.^ *"'"/'' "P ^ ''"'' ^"'^y Wessed by a flowerv name and peeped into an uninviting court ThT neighbourhood was unsafe^after dark. LdTe poHce ■#- 284 THE ALIEN iHfiS! went through the court three a-breast; bu. he had learless. He shrugged his shoulders and pluneed in Apparently all the inhabitants were .Jeep. He pushS rSen' sta" °" *'l"^''* ^"^ cautiousl^mounted so^ rotten stairs, avoiding rubbing shoulders aeainst a SUSP.C.OUS black wall. At the%op of the sS wal 1^?;; '°°'' '* ""'^'^ ""' ^PP-*^ A stout forei^ looking woman in a coarse black wig opened to S and greeted him with cheerful afiabilitr oo "^^^'X^""''''"^ "°'''^ ^*^ 'et loose as the door opened. On entering, he found himself in a sm3^^^ c^oeroom surrounded by birdcages, the occupantTof of t^' "'^'^J'^''^ "^^^s. bright of feather and harsh ctr^GoId "' ^°"'"'='^'' '■" J^-^-b-kingly small cages. Golden canaries trilled shrilly, and larks san^r h^r souls out. Bullfinches hopped sadly from rirch to floor and back again, and a fie^e raven h"d th^r of some captive, untamed robber chief the'^Tln '°^^^ * "^^^ °" * '^^^^ •" the middle of the room, and entered, with that readiness which charactensed his dealings with womankind "f Iv^ de cnption into an animated conversation withlZ Jisclr' 7''° ""' ' ^°'^' ^ f-' -hich he shortly discovered, consequently addressing her in her own In answer to a question as to where and how he learn to understand her language, the sound of which actualy brought tears of pleasure to her eyes J™ narrated a vonderfully vivid and interesting SaSu up m a Spanish prison, where he had found her, and THE ALIEN at once reminded of he ' bv h ' '"' '"^ ''^^ »^" Esther was not the only woL„''lhoT"'/°"'P^""°"- stones singularly entrancing tL .""^ ''"'^ "^^"'^ w.g, who had herself bee" hofh ^ 1°"* '^'^J' °f the once, likened with glistn^gl' ^th "' • ""^""'^ descnptxon of the horrors of T^ ! ^"^"y^'^ ^"'^ clapped her hands over the. f P^""'' P"^°". she ■f he had nothing el^^ hf^o'Sd't'^P" ^^'-^-^^ - had no thought in his mfnd bu 'hn °k1'"' ^ '^ he and interest her. "' how best to amuse The melancholy that haH i,* i gone with the need f^r lct„ He '"''''T'' '•''" -« smokmg gaily ^^en the door ope"edT '^"""""^ ^"'^ V.vano slid into the room The„ I ^'"' ^"'' ^^^^'^ suddenly. He believed that h. h.s manner changed place, now that he had th "'^' "^^^ '" ^his strange was probably right ' ^°'""" °" his side. He "Ah, Cesare," he ss'd <• \xru which you have stolen ? " ^^^ '' 'he property The mulatto looked r^M Now that he was face totce'llth':^';' ^"'^ ^'>J-'- was afraid of l.n,. He had iJ u^ Englishman he «nd his dark skin had a cun "; ''"'" '" "'*h ague, •"ade a sign to the woman whT",, ^ ^."^ *'"^^- «« food rather behind Taspe^ AH ,'"k'"=^'' ^ ^'^^ Jasper saw out of the corner of ^J' ''''"='' ''^-P^ay ■•ose. ^^"^ of one eye, and his spirits '•I haven't a penny in my Docket" u D you see?" 'X Pocket, he remarked 286 THE ALIEN ff- < was not so much as a handkerchief or a pipe in them, but in the last there was a pocket revolver, which he' kept in his hand, and which Cesare Vivario eyed with some appearance of indignation. "What you take me for, Mr. Iredale," he said, " dat you come like dat ? I your ver' good friend. I write in a frien'ly way. I and you, we strangers in a horrid, cold wicked place." " Where did you find my letters ? " said Jasper. " It private business, I should say," said Cesare, with some dignity. " I've no objection to this lady's presence," said Jasper, with his quick, bi tjht smile. The lady nodded to him and moved to the door, against which she set her broad back. Jasper asked himself whether it were possible that Cesare had the letters about him ; if so, whether he should quickly possess himself of them, and so settle the matter out of hand ? Could he trust enough to his rapid alliance with the woman to ask her ? He risked it, speaking in Polish. " I do not know," she answered. « I have nothing to do with this business. He is only my lodger. I do not like it, and the sooner you are out of this house the better. I won't have any fighting. If there is a tussle you may get the worst of it ; there are four men in the room below. I am glad you have no money, and that your clothes are not worth very much, but still they are too good. Settle your affairs quickly, and I will get you out by another way over the roof." "Show me the letters. I will give you a pound a-piece for them because they were hers, and then I'll burn them because you've touched them," said Jasper. THE ALIEN volent. b-Tt cowed. s«de-long at him, maie- •' Oh, you burn because I touch?" i, odder reason? No? You s„ ■ ^^ '*"'■ "No you don' steal, „o? You tfnk Tl ^°°' ^'^""^'"^". show you copy. Ver' nice copy " "" ^°" '^^'^ =■ 1 --?t:^^,-t-^^^^^^^^^^ •'veo' sort and V^ri^J^'^'t ''^ ^°"'d make friends of manner i„ which he wo'ld often'? °' ''^ °"'^P°''- »nd the apparent frankness S TT' '"'^ °P'"'0". scribe incidents that he h?H . ""^'"^ ^^ *o"'d de- Jasper was, and atj^'had^'b"""'^ " ''''" P-' '". own afiectiona were conc«-neS V^''"''' ^''^^^ '>'^ th"s mulatto should haTe^eSed l ' "^" ""^^^^ "^ wntten to the girl he had t ^' ^'"■'='' »>« had considered as hislife^^f wo^T^ '^^^^^"<^«^ -"d been written to her, ^JvJtZ . J" T"''' ""'^ ^ave love, should have b;en nZn '" '^^ ^'^h summer of copied in this vile hand "S^^"* """ '"'-nt. and Wm feel literally sick'th "^^^^^^ .'^^ ''^'«^. -de of sacrilege. His head warn f '"'''^""^'°" ^"d a sense he cards that he might spT/r; r ''""'• '' ^^ °" ;;jell. Cesare:: P^u^^^Sce'^hf V? ^ '-^h. the originals of these l^ff 1 '. ^"d you bring Street Hotel thfs J: J'" f*"^ 'l.f of the Norfolk money then. You'll S Quite 7 ^'^^ y°" 'he you know." ^ ''"'''= safe m a public hall, ' I 288 THE ALIEN m "A pound? You ver' fond of your joke," said Cesare, with a smile that wavered between insolence and propitiation. " I say one hundred pound each. I get so much easy from Major Iredale, I tell you true. He talk a great deal to me in Venezuela. ' You ver" sharp, clever man," he say ; ' you help me and I help you.' Dat quite plain and right to arrange between two gentlemen." " Then why on earth haven't you gone to him ? " said Jasper, and as he spoke, the thought flashed into his mind, " But perhaps you have." It was more than possible, it was quite probable that Cesare was intent on a double game, and was disposing of his booty to both sides at once. Jasper covered his eyes with his hand for a second, trying as he did so to call to mind the exact number of the letters which he had written to Maravilla before she came to him. He knew the look of them, for they had lain in her work-basket, under the little garments she stitched at for their boy. They were always in a saflron-coloured case, which was worked with purple and white blossoms. He had laughed at her one day for keeping her love-letters in a basket, and she had said — " But so they are within reach of my hand." The first had been such a letter as might have been writtei to a patron saint, and laid with flowers on a shrine. Not at all the kind of thing anyone would have expected Jasper Iredale to write. In the second, of two weeks later, he had told her of past ambitions and hopes, but had ended by saying that these were all as nothing to him now, that they had become thin as shadows, and of no value. In the third he had answered some question she had asked him, and had written of THE ALIEN — 289 h« childhood and boyhood tn .u- youth had been cast in^* u " ^^ '^''ild whose He had described S:;,dTotr"°- ^"^^ ">- ^■ ^b^ you could plunge yourhl'7" '"'^' '^°°' ^°""t'y and never fear a^thfnrwoJse '"'°.t ^^'"" '"^'^^ wholesome thistle l-lu,h^l *^" "'e sting of a grass bare-foot, and ^^l^ZT'' ,''^' '''^ ^-n -a place wherx. Nature ThlLt?*"'^ ^'""^'^ «°*ers ; g«n;;er. less brilliant 'rantn^^ro. him '"'^^^ '''"'• been but a stepmother to Wm andT f *=°""*'>' »>»'' had vexed him with a sense oT'los" L^f^ ,^''-"' of h,s mother, who had never own A ^""^ *°'*' ^"^ d.d not blame, because after a i heT ^T ^*'°"^'' ^e far easier to blame circumlf ^'"^ her. and it was had said that he haVZ^Sms °^ ^'^ '^"^' '»"«^ ''^ s.ns because of the bitteJTnheri r*"'^ ^^"^^^^'^ ^°' ''»"'« Sui^^^'^i^-- -sni^i-s had driven and Possessed t"m ,,",', t"* '"^^^ ""■<='> over him again with fresh forrl m '' 'P'"*' ^'^ept sins, but because of that which ^°' "^"^'"^ «f his been entrapped. In h l tS' ^^ T ' '" '""•"• had he h.s love for Maravilla had bTe^.-^fi 'l!? ''" "^"^^ *hat - his life, and it seemed 1 hTm fha't a^ '\'^'' ^'""^ had ruined him through tha H ^ °^^'"S °^'V and his expression wastrd a„d "t' "^'"' '^'^ '^"'^ I have remembered." he said; -..there were seven 290 THE ALIEN : :i letters. I do not wish to bargain with you. I will give you twenty pounds for each of them, when I have them all in my hand. But you have produced copies of six. If you have already taken one to the Major, you will not get a penny out of me for the others. And in that case I will certainly kill you, my dear Cesare, and then at least I shall have done one good deed of which I shall never have cause to repent I will only give you till to-morrow at this time. If I have not the letters before then, I shall know that you've tried to cheat me according to your nature. I shall not be much surprised, but you will have been foolish, for in the first place you will never get a larger sum from the Major than the hundred and forty pounds I offer : and in the second place, even five thousand pounds would be no use to you when once you are in your coffin. That is all I have to say to you." He spoke in a low clear voice, for when he was angry he never raised it. Then he got off the table and turned to the woman. " Will you show me the way out, Madame ? " he said. " I give you a great deal of trouble, and you are very kind, and I have nothing for you in return — but my thanks." The room had a skylight that opened on to the roof. Madame put a wooden stool on to the table, and pro- ceeded to mount it with great agility and to scramble t^ugh the window. She was wonderfully light-footed in spite of her size. Cesare stopped Jasper, who was about to follow. His face was ashen. " But I have never seen more df n six letters," he said. " I never steal de case. I pi k it up ! Just where it lay on de floor. I swear to you dat dere were just de six in it I swear to you by " THE ALIEN 391 and forty pounds for the seven Im? ^°" °"' '"'"'''"='' for^.x b„. 3ha.. be p^.^ 'S'cl"" ^"">' r^r:^s:sTj-:::::Z'L^:r^^^^^ Cesare Had fact. It lay in a veryTafe\nH ' '^ T' " ^'^^ ">« far enough away from stTeet^ ''!!"' ^^^"'- ^ ?'«« would touch it/andTorw4"irr: ,^° thief ""^h:"'^'^^" '"''• MaravfnaTshtS ^^ " '^ m the next house lives a fr;»„j r "™ua. you through her roon::L Iratlhnr J f' '^'^ had better not come here aga"n " saW ^h "^ :. "' ^°" black wig. ^ '"' **'° the lady of the Jasper smiled to himself wh;i» i, r „ and deftly between Sevs Jh """"'^ **" ''"'^'^'y the breath of life t^ W^and t h"^"? '''' '^'=" ^^ out of somewhat st J^C' by tt' atrT">' ^^ They had always liked hi^m nn^ . . "'^ women. he was good to them ' "°' ^■'*''°"t ^«=»^°". for sidr:tre"r:L:ToS;'r °'*'^ "^'---^ ^^ ^•'^dy struck into the mV;SoughTrraS°"'rri "' his pace. . "gmare again, and slackened He could bully by iSTuT?:™^'^^*'!'" nerve was gone ' * "°' '" P^''°". forf is -dl^SS dranytS;'V^"^'"'>' '^■" ^^ "^ » to and fro coding ^' '"°""''^' ^"^ ^e rocked He too considered that dml h,j u 292 THE ALIEN i- m I* " i lit " i kind of Oriental potentate surrounded by saints, who had his ear, and who were them.«lves open to bribes in the shape of candles or even flattery. It was not a high conception, but it was perhaps not his fault that bribery and extortion were indissolubly connected in his mind with government. And apart from that orthodox "religion," which he had never quite cut himself loose from, and which he certainly intended to turn to on his deathbed, he had a strange super- stition about the girl whom he had picked up on account of her voice, and with who-n he had gone through the marriage ceremony in order to " bind her," when he found that she caused money to flow in wonder- fully fast. He had thought her not quite right in the head at first. She was innocent to an extent that arg:ued idiocy ; yet she had filled even Cesare with a sense of something supernatural. He would not have parted with her for a small sum, because she proved to have a really extraordinary attraction, but the price Mr. Iredale had offered was one that far surpassed his wildest dreams, one that only the maddest of English- men would have given. Cesare had not been shocked by the proposition ; it roused neither resentment nor jealousy in him I Judged by Western standards, he was a very conscienceless individual. The girl had always shrunk from him, and (except from a trade p(Ait of view) she was not to his taste, and even sometimes made him vaguely uncomfortable. He had parted with her willingly, but no sooner had he done so than his superstition about her gathered strength, and he knew that he had parted with his luck. One misfortune after another fell on him. A man was killed in his house on the night of her departure. ■ f) ii THE ALIEN 2,3 the town. He set Td hlZ^- " ''''^' ''"^^'^'^ '° '«ve blazingly ho7sel^"t^t,e [an '^ T' °'— ' »"-' w=re enticed like s^flTcsTntohr ^""^ """"^ '^"^^ Major Iredale had lanL Kf""'""'' ""d where Venezuela. Here a^lll T t" ^' ^''' ''"'^'^ '" fell ill of a dise^e th? "ti "!" , 'L"'^"'''' '"■'^- »« It was during hi^lLi h VhThttd^o"? t^ '^' '""'• that were being worked i„ = r ~ "'^ miracles fores, and so LT'^tVs ttf^T:' '" ^'''^ - ' s piJgH.age. insp!::7S^ t \r::1ee^r' He wished to be cured of tK- i motives. was almost diSif ThiTn ""' '" ^'^^ ^''''^h into his hands anrf I' ^ "''■ "' " *«'e. dropped tences wht 'te^ .Sn^rifSf " 'T^- '^° '^"- writer's present claim Th?t '"^^'"^'^^ °^ '^« villa died before he^ad Ld th T'^ ^''" ' ''"' -^»^»- h' -, or of being cured and on h." °1 P'°P'''^*'"^ found that his house had WW '^^'"" ^"""^ ^esare ^ The two facLTu„X^h"er rS '° ^ ?^°""''- believed that t,=^ u '^°f^^"*'^ '" Cesare's mind. He house ioSd not hte"^ d"'^ "'"^ MaraviUa. hi: appalled hirnuZ^JlT^fr ^l^^ --''ent Supernatural. His credhoT. ^ '"terference of the 'ost his nerve. H • w"n ° n T'd ''""'"^' ^"'^ ''^ (her captain was a fnCd and o/?/ d k- *""''''""* ^''P a.e),andhepresenti;l^it^£Xa%:jS: 294 THE ALIEN 1" If I' "4^ very out of heart, and with very little silver in his pocket. He had at first intended to carry his evidence straight to Major Iredale, but two motives deterred him. He feared doing that which should still further displease those "powers" who were so evidently on the side of Maravilla's friends, and he had contracted a strong personal dislike to the Major, who had wounded and trampled on his vanity. Cesare was sore about the colour of his skin ; he resented being considered black. Here, too, was tragedy ! Here too cause enough for pity, though perhaps only one, 'pure as Christ, could understand and pity such as Cesare, and yet take no hurt. He had no sense of shame in attempting to black- mail Mr. Iredale; that was only a matter of business. He had the letters, the other man had the money. He hat intended to sell his wares as he had sold Maravilla,for all they would fetch, and to drink Jasper's health amicably afterwards— for he had liked him better than he had liked the Major. Yes, that was how he had meant to arrange everything! It should have been a transaction between friends. True, if driven to it, he had had some idea of showing that he had companions and allies in the house, but the pistol and the woman, between them, had prevented that demon- stration, and now Cesare himself was threatened and coerced. "He is wrong- -but he will certainly kill me" he moaned again. " I can never make this Englishman believe me, because I am not of his colour! and because the Madonna is against me. And I am hungry and I am very ill and very cold." THE ALIEN 295 him on the bare floor Het '^u'" °^- ''^"*=^ ^^^°^^ to. the hotel with the st eTtL^h^ 'T "°^ ^° seized him. ^'^^- ^hen desperation th:Esrj:::r^s::S';^r^.;Butitis - ;-et^ieiif - --=^ for having exert d hlSf He' h".'" '^"^ '"^ ^"^^ Cesare would turn un H„ ! '"^'^ "° '^°"''t 'hat day. and in the LanwhTh- K ""T °' '""^ "«' the consideration of htnevr '^ •"■"'■" *"^"^d 'o pain was always poSoned where T"" '''' P"*^*^ ^^ He resented ft pVssTonll i^'^''" ^^' concerned, •nay make a saS ° -^'^ " ^"^ ''"'''''^- ^"'^""> sinner appears sta"tli-TM"""^' ""' ''^ ^'f^'^' on k times. Thoueh onl ^ -^ *" ■■"""'■^" °f »^"«fi<=ial at while some hafpy Jul!? rch?h'?T"/'^^'^^^'>'' ^- by a comparatldy sJort c? '"^'^°'" °^ ''^^^«" within ■>^'pe.c::nfzi::i:z-:7Jr^^^^ ""^^ seem impelled, by the venJ!l ! . • '^'°'" "■ °*^« nature, trexper2,ceth?^.""*'°" °^*^'^ «P''"t"al through a tCemngire Ta:o°'>'t""'*°P'""^^ other people as w^ll ! u I '^^'^ "^""^^ scorched followe^d ' L: Jh- h"m r'u?!''^^^ ,^^^^" '''^>' occasionally, but which H« ? Perplexed eyes enough. Not for S' ^^" ''"°"''' '* ""'^^^^al Divine Man descended ? T '" ^""^" that the and thirstS '"'° " '^^^ ^^•^^'"^ °thers burned The chain of Jasper's reflections was broken by the 296 THE ALIEN i'ii^ ' ■ :.|,. sight of two women who were standing in front of him One was a Sister of Mercy, the other a taller, slenderer figure that he knew well. They were both looking into a toy-shop window. He was singularly disinclined to meet Esther Mordaunt at that moment, but she had seen his reflection in the glass of the window, and she turned impulsively towards him with outstretched hands. " I did not expect to see you here,' she said ; " but I am glad that we have met." " You haven't become a nun, have you ? " asked he eyeing her straight cloak and severely plain bonnet in some dismay. Esther laughed. " No, indeed ! I am nothing half so good I I am a regular fraud. I have only been with Sister Eunice to see a crippled child to whom I promised to take a doll. Now I am on my way back to my flat. I am dressed like this because it is safer to be dowdy in this part of London. But you are masquerading, too, I think." She glanced with some amusement at the rough blue suit, which made him appear more foreign than usual Esther could never manage to look anything but a lady, whatever might be the fashion of her clothes, but Jasper could always thoroughly assume the r61e for which he was dressed, because he was a bom actor. She coloured as the words escaped her lips. It sud- denly struck her that "masquerading" was a word far too appropriate to have applied lightly. "Will you walk home with me, Jasper?" she said. " Will I ? " said Jasper. He had noticed her blush and he was a little bit amused and a trifle ashamed--' an attitude of mind which Esther often induced in him "Will I, indeed? Why, yes, if you will let me, THE ALIEN 397 Esther. Perhaos T * l anting dolls toV;iScrnl'r"Kr^^^^'^ '" ?«' He walked byher side >^^ ''"'''^^" ' " to. and because Jnsp-te of a^Th^K t '^'^ ^'^^'^ "■'" he had done, he would have tn J ^^'^ '"" "'^'^ 'hings way rather than hurt EsSerf fc -'"""^ '''P' «"' ^^^'s have preferred to have avoideH k"^'" ^"' ^' "'""'^ that fact before the^ had ^onf .^ '"'^ '''" '«=«''^d "He is afraid lesTl ,1 ! /'"''^ y^"^^- she thought « He n J^ . ^ '"'" ^hout Maravilla " a" thoseVearswfth £"ott''"r' ^ ^^'^ -t it "ot to dive below thelTfaee "' °"*-'^""'"^ ^"^^ poses that I shall ask him t u ^^ " '* 'hat he sup- the Major's warn „gp' B^tT sh .?*= "^^"^ *° *^'« to question Cousin Becky's sLt° "°u '^ ^° ^'"y ^s Then she said aloud "1°- '" would rather drive Zt lylylT^V ""^f ^"' ' be veo. changeable, won't yo'L Tsl p ""T T" ^^' "^ a hansom. Will you out ml •?^. L°o''. there is am too wear,' to walk!'' ' ° '" ^ ^^''^ve I "Is that so?" said lasner -ru smiling frankly, he noticed t; u" ^' '''^ "°^''^'J- had grown, and that he d^H T.^'^f ""^ *'" ^he worn out and depressed 'hI -'""J; '"""^ thoroughly of the hansom. "^ "^^"^"^d to the driver or tirnS? Teat ToT 'T "^^^ ^^ -« patent for a trao I h. "^ ° "* ^^°"' ''king out a business is cSJJYI^TT, When thaf bit of he_ said somewhat defiantly! *° ^PP'^hurst," said Es*S. ^'YorareTelr' f'"" "'" '^ a success." He helped her rrr„>'som-.!rnd';„.e 298 THE ALIEN too me, certainly very good, Esther," said he. "Much good to be walking by the side of the likes o' even for five minutes." But he was relieved when she drove off, as she vety well knew that he would be. Somehow he could not have borne Esther's companionship just then. She woke his conscience, or at least disturbed its slumbers, uncomfortably, and too late. d II CHAPTER XXI ••"tend to wait too W If FasT'^. "^ "'" "°* notice of his warning he'meL.'' °'^ *° ^^^^ "<> Vet there is no doub^ thaT the ^"u T'' '° ^" ^°°"- the pursuit of justice was turn T! ^' ^^'^ ""'^^ f^" ''" -« veo' much thicker tian'^ o weariness. Blood was concorned. From »h. ^^'^^ ^''^'^ '^e Major learnt whose son thTSa[mLr'"'"u '" ^'"■'^'' ^e had to subdue an inclittion To ITL': ''' ''^^" "-'''^ from exposure. From tZ ? "^ .P^""' wrong-doings with Maraviila he ha™ ten Ith " '^ ''" '^^'^'^ growing, scarcely defined H-' Possessed by a H'-^ sense of kLwp wis r*"' *° ^^ J^^P^r himself relatives. The IrSl.? °"^' ''"' ^^ ^ad no near templation If th t rfa'd '^'"^Z"'" ^"^ -"" >n h.-s large stiff sittTng-tlm ^He '''"' " ""' '^' children, yet he would certaTnlvK 1"°' ^°"'^ °^ had a son to carry on th?^ ''^ '"^^'' '° have ver^ young; his w^e haH h- ?'"'• "« ''^'^ ""arried haby had Ld Lite Sj'h '" ^'''^-''-th. and the death. Esther had been th. T'' S'"^« P0°"- Annie's had felt any tenderness '^7"'>'/°"'-n for whom he sense to marry him ten Z *" ^'^ ^"' ^^^^ "»« would not onK^h™ don ^ • ^^°' ''^ ^^"^'^^^d, she ^''*'"^°%^^'^- thing for herself and 800 THE ALIEN i^ m for him, but the race might have been perpetuated I and it was a race worth keeping ahve. Two or three portraits hung on the walls of his room. The Iredales were a black-browed, rather handsome family, with melancholy eyes and bad- tempered mouths. They did not enliven the scene. A square mahogany writing-table stood by the window. The Major sat by it, in a characteristically hard, plain chair, and opened a pile of letters which had awaited his return to England. His room was solidly furnished, and it was upholstered in maroon leather. With the exception of the portraits, which were inherited, not chosen, it had not a single beautiful or interesting thing in it, but it was always carefully swept and garnished, for the Major was well served. He had a way of returning to his London quarters suddenly, but with the full expectation of finding everything ready for him. He had his clearly expressed fads, and he treated any disregard cf them on his servants' part as tanta- mount to their having given warning. Yet he was seldom left seryantless. Though not a popular master, he was an absolutely just and a very dependable one. It never occurred to him to greet any member of his household on his return, and he was apt to snub any expression of interest ; yet he had in one or two in- stances proved himself practically kind. His hahits were almost ascetically simple, the whole trend of the man's nature being the reverse of self-indulgent. He had the reputation for being close-fisted, but he was on various philanthropic committees, and his somewhat fidgety economies were perhaps prompted rather by the contempt of extravagance than by the love of money. He had worked for many years laboriously THE ALIEN jj, was so foreign to his natufe, that the "act hlt"t" was so indulging himself w^ noteworthy kI Yet for once his imagination was active =.„j , j ness that he could not p'ut aside, cl^red 'h stdUa" tions. Many strange ideas had been knock^er for entry lately, and when one is past middV ^ deas are apt to bring a certain aTounTof pa.r^theT than exhilaration, with them We ooen tlT:, eagerly when we are young, we^reTvet reaX t'o" greet possible angels, but when we are oldTcSkto^ .ts hmges, and perhaps we are a little shy of distuTbances The s range thoughts were all somehow connected wfth Jasper s Maravilla and with Esther Mordaunt Esft ^ b£ JhT'.''""' " '^^ "°'"^"' ^"'J «he was always biassed by her strong and wilful affections- Mara^lW was a httle fanatic, whose fantasies were repugnant t his common-sense; and yet in both dwelt thftuDliiS .ng and idealistic love that is perhaps tL strong;; power in the world. The Major had Ln a cS„ 'I Mi S02 THE ALIEN ill lib m '*i' all his life, but it dimly dawned on him that Mara- villa and Esther stood nearer to the spirit of Christ than he. "But for all that they couldn't keep the fellow straight, thought he. " As for me. I haven't tried to ! .7^ *f'l °""- '^'"'" ^ '''■"' ^^*- ^yes °" that chap I advised him to get out of the scrape while he still could. Well, there is no use in preaching. If I could do anythmg, I believe I would " A knock at the door interrupted his meditations. Someone wished to speak to him. A foreigner, who would give no name. The Major was secretary to a society that befriended strangers in London. It was illustrative of the thoroughness which marked all that he did. that though he seldom, if ever, gave alms to these applicants, neither did he ever refuse to sift any case that came before him. " Show him up," he said. Then, vividly recalling the convent verandah, the yellow and purple flowers glowing in the sunlight, in glided the serpent of that garden, which always seemed so dreamlike and allegorical, so wrapped in a glamour and saturated in an atmosphere of the more or less miraculous. The Major fairly started when he saw his visitor "What is your business?" he said bluntly His keen eyes noticing, while he spoke, that Mr. Vivario was several degrees shabbier than when they had last met. "You not remember me. Major? No?" said the newcomer, with a nervously ingratiating smile. " I remember you perfectly well," said the Major THE ALIEN 3^3 with the Cringing n,ann" t" could leTl' ""' '"''"' ac ually (though he would have luw^ ''"Pj'''^"*- being so affected) set the Maforl """ "^•'* °f " At, J "lajors nerves on cHto Ah, den you remember when you and I ,f' • garden of de nuns You r^m» i ' "'*"* '" ^^ >"«• 'You jus- f5nd out an^ . ■■ ^''^^ ^"^ ^^^ »« Mr. Vivario/yousay rvo! ^^ ^Tthing for me. 'Den I pa^you what^fe 7""'^"''"^"'M«jW Dat a„ rK Youtot p^SoTyou ^r y" '"'=' po\:"-hr,"r-^- - Hnghs, c^a,r.dV:-d°: the^."r£rLr:^S---edby proceeded glibly^' But ZT ""u ^^" '''^'^■" Cesare talk long w^h^- She say iTer- ^ '"^^'^^ -^ I we io her. She sorry she left 7 1°°^^' "^'"d husband wid me. She g,7mf :, t' ^ erf MrT'T ^ '''' to her. Dey jus' cram full „f .. ' ^''''^^^^ wrote silly some ways hT wr L Hk" ^°" "l"'" "« -^ to her. He cLare felLw bu' hT "''" '^ ""^'^ well." ^^' ""* he ver- great fool as 804 THE ALIEN hur^'^'"^"" '*' ** "P*"'°" P»»». for he was in a ZZtln *" '""'""*• "' P"* ""^ hand" hi^ pocket and drew out something that was rolled ud in a J«"dkerchief. He unrolled it carefully and dis offeU? ='f™"-'=«>fo"r«d case which Maravilla had J^^ ""*""* *° "''='"" ''""•^^ ' This time CesTre produced no copies, but the original letters H«H,h not r.«r lest Major Iredale should'snatch S suddenly He had no kept a bar •' For all Nations " for nothing i He was untrustworthy himself to the last degree but he knew^perfectly well whom to trust and who'm^o figJ: "I will not buy from you." said the Major shortly. You_no_buy ! " said Cesare. He was sick w^" h hunger, and at those words despair took hold of him "YolLrj T''\^''^°'" ""^ ^»'«^ desperately. weT Dev no 1.°":.^°" evairyone. You look wri in. n . *'"• ^y J**P*' ^'«^»'«'s ver- own wnting. Dey almost rags, but dat 'cause she keep re^d " HeTooi .'"°" '° V'^ '^^ "^ "=«- htTritH"' He took them out of the case. Poor worn sheets tear-sta,ned and much handled. The Major tTmeThS head away. He loathed this business "I read jus' all what he write!" Cesare went on An Enghshman he write quite different to what I write to a woman. He begin ;; ^y Maravilla.-! call you by that name because'"- Have done ! Shut up ! " said the Major. « I don't wish to hear them. If you read another lord I'll-Tl kick you out. ' THE ALIEN 305 saw C^esaS:' '^ "° '°^ ' ^°" -"» ^* -"take." Enlh ''f. *'"."°' '=»'oosing his words well h" English was beginning to desert him If th/ m refused to buy. what should he do He was 1"^' anxious to get away fro. England no" to get Tut S the reach of Jasper Iredale's arm. He had no con fidence whatever in the protection of law- he Zu ^ that Jasper would kill him. He was L'o L^ !** anxious to eat. ^^° pressmgly " I tell you quite true," he cried piteous! v " If r '• Take them, then," said the Major. <• You mav tell h.m from me. that I am handicappid-being an hones "I'Teirh ?f >''l.'^"" *'"y »"'' burn^hem ° I tell him dat? " began Cesare. He laughed with h.m? No tank you. He kill me." Then his voice broke I tell you I'm starving," he said in Portuguese H. J J ^'"^u f ^^ °"'' '^"'^ ^°°^ ^' the man, then turned h.s back on him. He walked to his desk jneamng to wnte an order that should serve to provide Mr. V.va„o with bread and coffee. He was nof eS trS 'lut'c ' •'""^ ^"^^ '''' '''^' '-' ^'^^^^ was true. But Cesare imagined that the Englishman had refused to listen to that final despairing pta A hot sick rage possessed the mulatto. He hated the Major far more than he hated Jasper, who had bought his wife, and threatened to kill him. Jasper was at kast. human, thoug-. Cesare went in f^ar of his life because of him ; but the Major was impenetrable, coldly 306 THE ALIEN who contemptuous, a creature one could not move, seemed callous, even to his own advantage. The Major's desk was covered with papers; among them lay a ten-pound note which he had been about to enclose in an envelope when Cesare was announced. A savage look came into the narrow eyes of the foreigner. Hunger spurred him to a sudden insane determmation. There was a spring, quick and noise- less, like that of some wild animal, then a muffled cry The Major felt a sharp pain right through his back, a bitter salttaste in his mouth— then advancing,overwhelm- mg blackness. He reeled and fell forward on his face The mulatto pulled out his knife, glanced swiftly round the room, buried it in the pot of an indiarubber plant which stood in the corner, and smoothed the earth over it Then he wiped his hands on the Major's coat ; grabbed at the ten-pound note, and tucked it care- fully away ; ran swiftly downstairs, and out of the house He would not buy, but he has paid," said he Esther dined with her sister Rose that same evening She was driving to Grosvenor Square while Cesare Vivano was hurrying down Orchard Street with the Majors note in his pocket and the Majors blood on his hands. It was just as well, she reflected, that Jasper had not walked home with her, for, as it was she had barely had time to change her dress and reach her brother-in-law's house in good time for dinner. Esther was sometimes an unpunctual person, because the interest she took in the present moment made her forget the moments to come. She had Us d^fauts de sts quahUs a fact which the Major had more than once pointed out to her. Rose's dinners were rather dull and formal affairs, THE ALIEN 307 but Esther had had so little gaiety in her life, that almost any form of entertainment amused her. Rose glanced across the table it her once or twice with sur- prised appreciation. Esther was still "distinguished look- ing," she thought, though, whin a girl, she had not been nearly so beautiful as her siscers. Esther's black-lashed grey eyes lit up and shone with fun, and she was evi- dently entertaining her neighbour. She took a fresh and original view of most things, and her views were not so narrow as are those of most women who have lived almost exclusively with their own sex— perhaps because Mrs. Mordaunt had in some respects been more like a man than H.I.e a woman. " After all, I shouldn't wonder if Esther were to marry yet," Rose reflected. " I have always thought Curtis Iredale half-inclined to admire her, though Cousin Becky jeered at and snubbed him so unmercifully. I will ask him to meet her next week." She put her plump arm into Esther's as they stood together after dinner. " Have you seen anything of Curtis Iredale lately ? " she asked. A shadow crossed Esther's face. " Why, is it not odd that I've been unable to chase away the thought of him ? " said she. " I'm possessed by a most absurd presentiment that something has happened to him ! That he has been drowned, or run over, or shot, or that something of that kind has befallen ! Battle, murder, and sudden death come into my mind to-night in con- nection with Curtis ! Yet he is quite the last person to meet with an accident, for he is always so ' on the spot." He would laugh at my ridiculous fancies ! I do not know why he should haunt me ! " It > 308 THE ALIEN Rose laughed comfortably. " Well, you don't seem depressed by his misfortunes, whatever they may be" "But I should be depressed if anything were really the matter, said Esther frankly. " I like Curtis He .s the kmd of man one has a great respect for— though he irritates me." "i"ugn « r^7 ^° "°* ^^ ""^y y°" ^""^ irritated," said Rose. Of course, poor dear Cousin Becky always made a poin.of contradicting him; but then she disliked his being her he.r. I am sure that he was always sensible and always in the right." "Just so !" said Esther. " If he had occasionally been in the wrong one could have put up with him better < " Rose on the subject of "poor dear Cousin Becky" always made Esther angry, but she repented of her sharp words the moment that they had crossed her lips. The Major's steady and loyal friendship rose up and rebuked her. ^ A man was shouting "Special Edition. Speci-al i " down the square. One of the guests turned to Esther with a smile. "Once upon a time— long ago now," said she, " my mother and I used to fly to the window when we heard that ominous sound. The Egyptian war was going on then, and my brother was fighting." "Ah" said Esther softly, "and he came back to you safely, I know. If he had not. you would not have told me that with a smile. Well, you were lucky i " "Oh, dear, yes, he came back without a scratch- but he suffers terribly from gout nowadays," said the lady. "Thank goodness there is no war going on now How you keep listening! Probably it is only another murder in the East End." THE ALIEN 309 joys tn.iuif) up murders to is no use i:; being harrowed q'li'tf; >;hojked ! You must " Only ! " said Esther. " Well, the newspaper sell their papers. There by them. Why, you loo be very new to London ! ' " I believe it does sometimes shock me," said Esther. "But do listen! What does he say?" 'Startling Stabbing Affair in a Fashionable Locality.' Rose, do you hear ? Shall we send out for a paper ? " "No, my dear," said Rose. "That we certainly won't! I am sure we do not wish to read about horrors, even if they are true, and probably the man is shouting lies." " Anyhow, such dreadful things can't possibly have anything to do with us," said Esther's niece. Esther felt an odd little motherly softening towards the girl, as the young, fresh voice delivered that cheer- ful statement. She, too, had felt once that "very dreadful things " could not possibly happen to her. " No, it is not the least likely that anyone we know is hurt," she agreed. "But as for 'dreadful things' having nothing to do with us, why, anything that happens anywhere "— then she broke off her sentence, and laughed at herself. Certainly this was neither the time nor place in which to say what was in her mind. Besides, the little niece's eyes were fixed on the door, and the little niece's ears were listening to a hum of approaching voices on the stairs. For whose voice does she listen ? Ah, now I see. " Dear me ! what a very dull young man ! How can Minnie find him exciting enou£;h to blush for, and what a lovely colour the child has I " thought Esther, 310 THE ALIEN and^so put aside her presentiments and partially forgot the^W«r '^r^ ''°'"' *^"* "'S'^'- *e East End and the West, her meeting with Jasper Iredale in that funny rough suit and in his worst mood, the 1 ttL a weak chm, were all jumbled together in Esther's •^ e^e^^- ! '?^"y-'=°l°"'-ed pageant of life was deeply •nterestrng to her, and probably would be till the day t.Il the next mornmg. when somehow the sight of the eyTsTlfoVrh""'' '" 'Ti'- ^""^ "P-^"^ '• -^ ht Affai? ^'"^'^P'' ''""'^"'^' "Startling Stabbing "An extraordinary incident occurred in Orchard Street yesterday evening. Major Iredal, a gentle "vhis M °"" '" philanthropic circles, 'was ^fo„„d Afehan ? " ^.T. ^"'''' ^^'"^'^ ""'^^ him in the of hlc^r^"^"^ '^'"^ '■"'" downwards on the floor let bC^r"' "^"'^ ""-"-io"^. and having lost pTrt^of'trsS"^ "'"^ '"''^"°""' '■" ^-^^'^-^ calfef p"„r'^'' ^^^^ '"^^ ""'-^^'^ breakfast and "Maior"JrfH7K'* r'" '° ^'■"'^"'■'^ S*"=<' ^he said; Pnli ^1'' '' ^^" '""b'y hurt ! Look here - " miy read the paragraph with genuine dismay and grief Oh. M.SS, and he was here only last TuesC' as could be! she cried, and tears stood in her eyes He was such a strong gentleman. It don't seem as THE ALIEN 311 Perhaps not many people had realised that at bottom, under his too dictatorial manner, the Major was "such a kind gentleman." " So he is, so he is ! " said Esther ; " but he hasn't been kindly treated! Call a hansom, Polly. I will go directly to ask how he is. It is all I can do ! " She was remorseful, as well as shocked and sad. Her sharp little speech to Rose pricked her. " He'd tell you, you should drink your coffee. Miss Esther, before you go out in the east wind," said practical Polly. " He was such a sensible-spoken gentleman, and always such a one for taking care of you." Esther gulped down her coffee with a shaky and forced laugh. "Don't keep saying 'he was; Polly," she cried. " Probably he is better now. They make the worst of things to — to sell the papers, you know." The hall door of No. 1 1 8 Orchard Street opened as Esther's hansom drew up. She was surprised to find that she was expected. The Major's soldier servant came forward to meet her. " He's kept saying all night that he must speak to you. Miss," he said. "And that you'd be sure to come when you heard the news. If you hadn't come "ly half-past ten I was going to send for you. He don't feel nothing now from his waist down. But he can talk quite clear. He don't like having a woman nurse about him. He don't think it right. It puts him out terrible. So we've just sent her off. I does for him much better than she, anyhow, for I knows his ways." " Then he can't be so very ill," said Esther hope- fully. "People are not so set on having their own way if they are very ill." 312 THE ALIEN Vet when she saw him her heart sank Th, m ■ his face wTqut SJ^T '"^^''"^''* ""'^ ^''"' -^ and eager. out'^he^X'^unfLr- ^"^ ^''^ pinched. He turned hful^-l ""^ ""^ """'^ ^'as come I'~ , . *' 'S good of VOU tn Esthe T-rT ' '''"*^"'* ''^" ^''■^ to shave." "^ tried to" miL.'°"" °" ^'^^ '='>- ''y '^■^ l-dside and " Yes-s^d he "?u'""'^ '°''"'^'' '''"" ^ <=^" «^y ! " aiwa.r„;:?.-„;-^^^ Esther' Th^^riSU:?' J"'" "'" ^^' '^"-•" -«! " No I a " H ^''u ''^ °^" ^"^'^^ ^^ «he spoke. did I ? You caCnf '*"* "°' ^^^^ t° send, was it, EsTher I to d^'n: °"" ''^'°^'- ^ ''°P^ 'hat " Yes JrJ "^^y y°" ^°"'d come." Esthl • ""' '' ^°°" ^^ ^ '^^'l -ad the news." said -l^^drinSS:tt^:l^e^ss?;^^"^ a time told her she was f„^ • \ ^ "^'^ ™any was as wen th^Itt Th^dSs'ThHuS^hr^ ''^ character. He would have been n, ^ ^^ ^^ than she knew, had she „" c^e '^'-PPo-ted "That's right." said he. " Will you put your hand THE ALIEN 313 findThS?'^'"""'' '''"''• '"' P"" °"' ^ P^^''^* y°" -" nnS*'^!^ did as she was bid. She was a little sur- letters. Had the Major always treasured these, she Ttfl ."^"^ '""'y ^''^ '^"^- °f the girKwTfe who had died so many, many years ago ? " •' What do you wish me to do with them ? " she asked They are not mine." said the Major. " They are his, you know. That woman who reminded me of you. wanted to give them to me to take back to him. but I wouldn't. Then that rascal came here and offered to sell them to me, but I can't do that kind of thmg. I cant buy a man's love-letters. I've been thmkmg all n.ght (oh, I said that before), so I waited for you, Esther. There is no one else I would trust them to. He forgot them, I suppose. There they were, lymg on the floor. I made Harvey pick them up and put them under my pillow. I'm evidently meant to have them, eh? It's strange. The whole 01 hfes strange when one is near the end" "Who stabbed you?" whispered Esther. She leaned close to him. Her voice sounded strained and unhke Itself "Curtis, it was not Jasper who has done this?" The Major's white lips smiled, the old grim, stiff smile. F.K , 'xr""^ *"""='• ^^^ -^"'""^ °f this sheet, S 5ri ^- " '"'^ "°' ^^^'- "« '■" "ot ^ bad as all that He would not stab a man in the back, I .^r%,. m^" ^'^' *''"' '^^^^'^ f°^ "ot caring to do that Well give him as much credit as we can. it's the best chance. Take these to him, please. Say I sent them to him. and that if he has a shred of honour 314 THE ALIEN left hell do as I bid him no,v, and come here to me wr te. If he hasn t. he will just make his escape with- out a confession, or brazen it out and be damped I began to thmk about him in the forest; and then I orzr;».!i'"S-. ---'"• "^-- dumb before this momentary ghmpse of the Maior's innermost self. Then she spoke with difficulty. ' I will take the letters to him now; and I will give your message word for word. I belie;e he will ome 1- I can't say what I feel about it " wearily. He saw tears in hers. "Are you pleased with me after all— for once tsthe ? he said. "You usually take my CoTsTn Ltton r """'• y? ^"'^- »"' ^'^^t f«"°«' is not Oatton; I was right there." " '^o" were quite right," said Esther. "Yes" said he. " IVe that satisfaction"; but his eyes looked wistful. " You are sony, Esther, I see I don t know that I want you to be sorry for me !" ' Oh no," said Esther. " Tm sorry for the rest of us for myself. You mustn't die, Curt^ . It is ^^^h ^n impossible idea." "I shall not go before I'm called," said he. " Sav good-bye to me before you go." She was standing with the letters in her hand She stooped suddenly and kissed him. 'But it is not good-bye," she said. _• Thanks," said the Major. His lips twitched, i-or once you have done what / wanted, Esther" CHAPTER XXII "The best of what we do and are, Just God forgive." -pHE Major's words echoed in Esther's brain as as I want "A T '^""- " ^"^ ^'"^^ y°" "« doing Lv^ No ^1^'"." Perhaps I am not worstef really No, assuredly he was not. He compelled deaThh d ^"u "'"' '''' ^''""'^ f-- thinking :^S deathbed, as he never had before. When he was we tafledTL ,. ; ' '^^'"^ *^°''"" "f ^ somewhat de- tailed and ng,d law, were evident, and often exasper ScT^h' ''^ '''"'■"^^ "^^^ ^^^''^ kind that'To before to judgment. But now. now, who could fo ha"b^nTa'i""b^'' ^'^ ''''' ^*^°"^' "^^ -"' had been la.d bare for once. It showed itself as it heL"; '^ Srt Tas'Tlumf^" .^^''^j; '''^''' '" tJ»t^t I "i." ''"* y^ ^^^" *''^" '■' ^« "°t of him that she thought most. ask^ffMr'^' f\ '° '^^. ^°''^ '" N°'''<'"^ Street she asked If Mr. Iredale were in. That was a slip of the tongue which she could have bitten out^o it! Mr. Iredale in the house. mi i § 316 THE ALIEN " I meant to say Mr. Mordaunt," said Esther, and at that moment Jasper came to the door, and looked at her, smiling over the porter's shoulder. " You are in excellent time. Cousin Esther," said he, though in truth he was considerably surprised. " I've just ordered breakfast. You had better come into the coffee-room and have some." He instinctively behaved as if her appearance there were the most natural and likely thing in the world. Even at that moment Esther felt grateful for the ready and comfortable tact that could take possession of a situation at a moment's notice. He led her straight mto the coffee-room, and made her sit down opposite to him at a little round table, while he poured out coffee. " But I don't want it," Esther murmured. " Never mind," said he. " Pretend to eat and drink. That's all right. No place is more private than a public room. No one will pay any attention to us if you sip your coffee now and then. Besides, you are shivering, and it will pull you together. Well, what has happened? I don't really suppose that you've merely come to pay me a polite, cousinly call, you know." "Jasper, do you know that the Major has been stabbed?" said she. He nodded coolly. "Oh yes; I saw that in last night's paper. It's startling, isn't it? It's not the sort of thing that one would ever expect to happen to such a highly respectable member of society. I am— you wouldn't think it, perhaps, and of course he wouldn't believe it— but I am rather sorry that he has been hurt. I should like to go to Orchard Street to ask how he is, but he would imagine that it was a gratuitous piece of d — d cheek THE ALIEN 317 Have you had any news of He He on my part, so I can't, him this moniing ? " " He has been hurt morlally," said Esther sent you a message. I have jus^ come from him asked me to take this packet to you." She handed the little case of letters across the table Jasper's expression changed as he recognised it ". Th«= scoundrel ! " he said. " So he sold them to the Major. He looked through them quickly, and there was a hard sound in his voice as he added, " and my good cousin has kept back the most important one" Esther's eyes flashed indignantly. '■ Do you dare say that ? " she said. " Are you, after all, too bad to know honour when you meet it? I never thought so till now." The stern and bitter disappointment in her tone startled him. So perhaps did the look in her face It was Esther's Scotch grandfather who reproached him through Esther's grey e; es just then. " Hush ! You've no right ''— he said, and then his glance fell. " So, after all, he didn't keep one back? Well, I beg his pardon— and yours." He laughed a miserable, harsh, little laugh that hurt her. "And shall I apologise to Cesare too, while I am about it? So he didn't keep one back either, and I swore I'd kill him for it. (Drink your coffee, Esther, and don't look as If we were discussing tragedies.) But, at anyrate, Cesare must have sold them." " I think not," said Esther. " I hardly understood when the Major was telling me the story an hour ago ; but I know that he said, < I can't do that kind of thing. There they wert- lying on the floor. I made Harvey give them to me.' " 318 THE ALIEN " Then Cesare tried to sell them, and failed again," said Jasper. " He's not a lucky rascal I And then- Good Lord !— it must have been that scum of the earth who stabbed the Major ! " " Yes," said Esther. She was still white and stern. She hardly understood why the s. ong tide of her feel- ing brought the next words to her lips. " Yes, it was that ' scum of the earth ' who stabbed him ; but for a moment I feared lest you had done it." He pushed back his chair sharply. " I am not so bad as that. Confound it, Esther! You couldn't have thought that of me." It was as if, seeing the reflection of himself in her clear eyes, he had u.i.-xpectedly seen a monster. He shuddered with real horror. " I am not like that," he repeated. Esther's face softened. " No, you're not. He said so too. He said you would never stab a man in the back. But how was I to be sure, when you have come so horribly near being everything that is bad ? " She put her hands before her eyes. The vision of what this man might fall to, since he had already fallen so far, had met her more than once — had haunted her night-watches, had invaded her very prayers, had been to her like some evil and horrible spectre. " And you might be so very good," she said. They were both silent for a minute. Then, " Well, I believe I supposed that in a sort of way you were' my friend," he said bitterly. " But you have given me harder measure than did my enemy." Esther did not defend herself. Somehow it did not seem worth while to do that. " I will give you the Major's message," she said. THE ALIEN gjg he"h\f l^' 'J'i' •^r."''' ' ^"* ">« '«'"-s. and that if he has a shred of honour left, hell do as I h.H v now, and will come to me whi e I.l ! n ■ "" write what I would have'hi^tit . '"ft Sr^'^he W.11 just make his escape, or brazen it out and L damned.' That is all I came to tell you " Jasper got up. walked across the room and out fh. letters in the fire. He would not Rlan^e ^t T. ^ and he could not have kept theln'tca^s ' HTb^r' Snet f rr, '""'■■°" ^'""S ''- ^'-'t to" maaness if he dwelt on it. Even F»fK», realised that, for Esther could uZsuTl w^aS P hrSnd'"" f" " ™^"'^ P"^'°"- "^ »'^'' -de li^JnTiis'L': "°^^ ''' '"--• -^ ^'^^ -- " Will you have some more coffee ? No ? then we may as well be going," he said " ni • your hansom, Esfher." '" ''" ^^^ '"'° She did not dare ask him what he was going to do She had done her uttermost, and she knew that she had stramed what friendship he had for her to its imi Strangely enough. Esther, who was the most tendeTof w^r?; M '" *'"'* '"^' '"^°^* P'^y-d her part sternly «.h,le the Major, who was a stern man, had acted S which only shmes now and then, had been turned on pt«t;-i^r" «"■="■■■ •""-»-"-«• Jasper called the hansom, and she got in tak'l tt'^;''^!; ^fPf'" '"''^ '^^- But he' would not take the hand she held out. n'fT' J°" *'"'' ^ ""'^^^ ^ ^ Cesare. You shall not touch a possible Cesare." he said. " You were 320 THE ALIEN wrong, though I I am going to see the Major at once. Of course there is nothing else to be done. The game is his now." " Thank God I " said Esther. But when she got home her heart ached in spite of her gratitude. She thanked God, indeed. Yet one pays for most things that are worth giving thanks for. That day Esther felt as if she had paid a pretty heavy price. The Major had paid too; for Ccsare's knife had done very effectual work. He was a bad patient, but as he had clearly ascertained that the end was certain, it appeared to him that he might as well do what he chose with the hours that remained. The lower part of his body was paralysed, but his brain was still un- clouded, except for a weariness, which made him now and then rest from thinking, just as when in good health he might have stopped reading if his eyes had begun to ache. It was possible that he might quicken Death's steps slightly by this last exertion of will and mind ; but there was no harm in that. He did not trouble himself with speculations as to what was coming — not even now, when he lay close to that veil which should soon part to let .him through. His nature was unspeculative, and moreover, he had still one thing to do, and his whole remaining energy was bent — a little feverishly — on accomplishing it. He was propped up on pillows when Jasper came into the room. The outline of his square shoulders showed gaunt and thin through his nightshirt. His features were already curiously sharpened by pallor. " So you've come," he said. " Get a chair and sit quite close to me, for I can't talk loud." THE ALIEN 321 Jasper did as he was told. He wa, n- and seldom apparently abashed bratlhlt'*^"'''' he would have given a sood H«i * l , ' moment squeamish about death. ^ """^ '"''"^• " This is uncommonly bad luck " he «;.,■ i • subdued and gentle voice. "If events '" '" "'"'^ justly that fellow's stiletto sholdTavJ ^ l^^'"'' my shoulder-blades, or mine between his vT!) really nothing whatever to do withk" " ^^^ saiZ°he Mair^'Do" '""' ''"'^ '""'^°"' --<^-." be able to play at b^inTGltrM ^^f ' ^°" ^'" ^'■" fellow is caught?" ^ ^'"°" ^°'''^""' ^f^er that "I believe that I could," said Jasper "But r- here to throw up mv cards sn fi,„ • "' ^"^ marking that I bSLe 1 Vet t-l"ha" ""i" "" some trumps if"_ ^ ^^* ^^''^ produced whis^erXhTSS^ ^°"'^*""^ ^°^"^ ^"-^''' ^'''" he^sX <°Thtk%ru''T'^- ."' '"^"* ^'"^ "="-." would have^senfth'em- backt mT^W "^°"r '^*' course have been useful to vou H." • T ""^''' °^ I don t suppose there is much usp m ™ Youd have drawn the line ,V that yourself, eh?" 322 THE ALIEN nnJ .^vu '^^™^'' ''^""^- '^^'^ °n his late opponent with an expression that had neither enmity nor friendship in it. ^ W * J^'Pf dropped his head on his hands. " There are some thmgs left that are too bad for me to do." he ^ u. \^° ^'■^'^ * ""« somewWe-though you mightn't think it!" ^ ^ For once he knew himself to be at a disadvantage His was the kind of cleverness that rises to an emS gency. and the kind of temper that is easily stimulated to a ready-witted defiance. A spice of danger usuaUy exhilarated h.m, a rash enterprise tempted him. Hi^ faculties vere, as a rule, never more at his command than when he was apparently cornered. Yet he felt defenceless now. He was disarmed before this man who was dying. "I told you to give up this mad pretence before Wp„**^qk ''°", *^'^ "°' ^^"""^^ ^"* y°" wouldn't listen. She never listened to reason either. I didn't guess then that you were really her son. Yet you are like her. Esther always saw the likeness. I ought to have guessed. But one does not entertain such ideas abou? the women of ones own family, and so old a woman" liftfd 'S'lSI'^ ""'^^ ^"°^^ J-P-'^ f-- He J'^'f\^t^' "° """'^ ^^^'"'' ""y ^^^ o'd "nother," he said. "You cannot possibly judge her. You are SticVSlhaf '° '''"^ "' " ^°" "''"' ""<=°"t«dicted. Ji^^^ \f "°' ^^"^ *° ''*"S y°"- That was not why I sent for you," the Major whispered. « I am not your enemy. You are a near kinsman, after all " THE ALIEN 333 Jasper's lip twitched. « Thoutrh i>, u . be." He tried to smile but nn.^ "° ^"""^^^ *« at you, bidding ! !■„ °S^ .„' ' ""'>■ *'=» ■■ "P g«5 of y„„ ,0 „, „ gim^^.l-J^'P"** wards you riled m*. =r,j n, t cnance. After- the huLur to drr;,ad twt" ' The'" '" "' ^"'^ ■" relief, and"— He chJ^A u- ^^^^ "'^re a sort of than you are, and it is oossi^I,. fhof " °''^^'' and have ch Idren I H k f ^°" '"^y y^* ""^ny relation. The "dalJs SfeLf "T'^' "° °">« t"°^ Esther Mordaumt^'^otin^'Lt"''" ^°" '^"°- blood. You would ha"e had r JSt-bT^' "°! ''^ got it, or, if I outlived you vour ch^T ^°" *^ ^^''^ 324 THE ALIEN Applehurst as Gatton Mordaunt, whom you no more resemble than I do." He paused for breath then. " It's about this that I sent for you — wait — till I can go on," he said. Jasper stared at him, half-perplexed, half-over- whelmed. Then he laughed suddenly — a harsh self- mocking laugh. "Upon my soul — if I've got one — this serves me perfectly right! But I am glad you can't leave the place to me, Major ! I don't think that even my skin, which should be thick enough by this time, could stand such a heaping of hot coal ! " "You speak like a raw boy. And you a grown man ! " the Major whispered. He had sipped some water that Jasper had held to his lips, but his weak voice seemed to add intensity to the reproof. " What does it matter what you or I think we can stand? We have to do the best we can before we are relieved. We were not consulted as to where we should be on duty, nor how. Why should we be ? That's not our business." The whole radical difference between the two men was implied in that speech. Jasper's quick intelligence grasped that fact at once. " Ah, you take life as a soldier," he said. " And you as a rebel," said the Major. " But I am right." " If there is any General, perhaps you are. You'll soon know, anyhoiv," said Jasper The Major's prompt reply moved his admiration. " Soon ? I know now." He rested for some minutes before he spoke again. Jasper hated listening to his laboured breathing; he had never known time move quite so slowly. THE ALIEN 325 "So, since I can't leave the place to you," the Maior said pr^ntly, as if he were continuing 'a sentence and had forgotten the interlude, the clash of thefr" opposing views, " IVe left it to Esther. I have ttll -f \ ^^l '•^^P°"^''''«ty of land would lie too heavily on her shoulders. She'll be better with- Now'' H°"' f ' ^°''" ^°' ^ ""'« ""o^*^ ""oney. • jT- ,r "^''^ * movement as if he would have raised himself, but failed. Jasper, who had put Ws fairly transfixed by his bright stern gaze. "Now- "u not? "^"^ *'"°"^'* *° ^^^ ^^' ^"^ *~"^'^' °' *^= " I'm not," said Jasper. ''Then take a pen and paper— it's on my desk; I made Harvey put it out ready for you-and write your confession. The property must be clearly mine to-day that It may be clearly hers to-morrow. No, not to- morrow. The doctors give me a day or two yet. But let there be no mistake." Jasper arranged the pillows carefully, then turned his back on the Major, escaping for a moment from the insistent coercion of that strong spirit in its fast weakening flesh. He sat down at the Major's desk, took up the pen, and shrugged his shoulders. You are too much for me— after all." he said. You ve won the game, for I can't rob Esther. That IS over the line." " I thought as much." said the Major. " I knew there was a line somewhere. I told you so." A whimsical humour lightened Jasper's face. " But you play with loaded dice, and you make the veiy 326 , 111 THE ALIEN most of -em." he said. " For if you weren't dying, I wouldn't give in so meekly," A smile touched the Major's lips. "The general- ship ,s undoubtedly excellent," he muttered. But that murmur was too low for even Jasper's quick ear to catch, neither was it meant for him. Only perhaps the General heard— the General whom this loyal soldier had never doubted. For five minutes there was no sound but the scratch- ing of Jasper's pen. Then he looked up. "One thing only I bargain for. We'll keep my mother's name clear. I confess that I wrongfully pretended to be Gatton Mainwaring Mordaunt, the son of Rebecca and Gatton Mordaunt, who to the best of my knowledge and belief was drowned in the year i8— ; that I fraudulently laid claim to the estate and lands of Applehurst, which were left by the late Jasper Iredale to his daughter, and to her eldest son sur- viving; but I have not said that she was my mother, and I shall not own that she was in the plot. It must be my own unaided iniquity." He came close to catch the Major's answer, the paper on which he had written in his hand. "Of course. We have usually managed to take care of our women," said the Major. " I said— we are kinsmen." Jasper put the paper in his kinsman's hand. His black eyes were suddenly dimned. "You are a good sort, sir," he said. "But— how furious my poor old mother would be with you I If you and she meet in the next world, I think that you had better not tell her about this." But possibly the Major thought the meeting unlikely. THE ALIEN 327 Hnlf "11''' "^1'' P'"'^'" ^'^ ''^''^- " Harvey and Mr Holdsworthy w.U witness your signature. Then it ^li S^^^^a"""^ '''*'""^' '■■'' **y' Yo" were pretty ? saTdVasS/°" ^'' ' ^^"' ^"-'^ '"^ way fo ,Z r«^i "'^/"d Jf^er came rather nervously into the room and putting on his spectacles, read that very remarkable document, with little grunts and gasps of amazement. * *^ been made. "Im very tired." he said. "You'll do me a last kmdness. Holdsworthy, if you'll witness that paper, and have done quickly with the business " reading"^ ''^"^'' ^^ "*""' """^^ ^^^ '^^^^'^ *'*°"t tK"^°1.,^*'°"'^ "^"'^ ''^" anything that you don't thoroughly understand." said Jasfar. There was a narsh. mocking sound in his voice "Its all right, sir." said Harvey, "if the luajor sa^ a so. "^ "Bring it to me," said the Major. "No one is to touch It again till I am dead." n."^-^".! J?fP*^*«'■^ *l°ne again. Jasper put the paper in the Major's hand. ^ f f " There ! "he said. " I am done for I You have got your way. You and Esther, between you." " Put it under my pillow," said the Major. " You can^be safe out of the country before I die. can't "Oh yes I can easily be out of it. It doesn't much matter, said Jasper. 328 THE ALIEN -■H He had suffered a sharper shame than might have been supposed. The way out seemed likely to be a near and quick way. It was strange that the Major, who had never been very apt at reading people's thoughts, read Jasper's at that moment "But not by too short a cut." he said. " Will you shake hands with me— after all. Cousin ? " "Oh, if you like," said Jasper, with his odd smile. But you know if you thought you were going to live you wouldn't do it." "I wouldn't with Gatton. But I always knew you were not Gatton. They speak well of you out there. And that girl in the forest is good— not what I expected to meet." His voice sounded sleepy. Then he roused himself again suddenly. " Why, man— I don't understand all this. You're not bad enough for your part Turn round. Start fresh." " It's a bit late, and I've nothing to start for," said Jasper. •• There's only one thing I want I should rather like to see Cesare caught." As he spoke the sound of a harsh voice shouting in the street arrested his attention. He threw up his hand. " Listen ! that's it," he said. "Special Edition. Special. Arrest of the West-End Murderer, Cesare Vivario. Harrowing Details. Fierce Fight with the Police." Jasper listened with a fierce exultation in his eyes which softened as he turned again to the figure on the bed. " Cesare Vivario is caught," he said. The Major's eyelids were closing. From the moment that he had gained his point the tension had relaxed " Cesare Vivario ? He had something to do with it How was it ? " he murmured. THE ALIEN 329 you die. he 11 hang for it. Well, good-bye Maror rf if -^-^H^^iir. """^ ' '»- i^ ""b!^ unexpectedly, and he opened his'eyesaSrr"^ you deseT r '°'^' ^^'" ^' ^^'^- "Then don't Wreno^thatTh:-''' ''^^^ ^^^' "^^ '=°--ds. loure not that, I believe, anyhow." Again the voice outside came in at the window The Majo^ frowned as if with an effort of recollectrn. ^""^ God^it^iS tl^„7^^ ^---^— >'— for. scaltV'aughtler Se'"" !''* J-I-^-tooping. bowed TuZm ■ * "^^"^ °"* *'* Ws head S auItTh ' T' *u" """"^ °^ *'>«'' t° his own ; out at last, what else is there to say ? Bu?" h? Jr 'fu^ '"" •■" '^^ ''"^^ ^h«n he got out. But he did not buy the paper. He walked on, look •ng straight before him, with unseeing eyes. Forihe iTthe en^ T J '^'"'' *° "^'* '"'° nothingness. anVcoS^wi;; mat ^ ^"''-'^^^^ '' ''"'>' ^^'^ -'' But the Major shut his eyes and dozed peacefully £d hoM " rjT ?' "^'^P'"^ numbness that had laid hold of his legs, left his brain unclouded till very near the end, but he was tired and sleepy. He paid nT attention to the doctor's visit He onlf ou"d Sself 830 THE ALIEN II i ¥ i to say that he did not wish for any more leave-Ukings. 1 here was no more to be said or done." Esther came each morning to the door to inquire LOW he had got through the night, but he expressed no more desire to see her, though he liked to hear that she r^ . J- * '•''P' constantly, and troubled himself about nothmg His was no deathbed repentance, but rather a loyal belief, that had never been seriously Shaken, m the righteousness of the Judge of all the world. He insisted on winding his watch for himself every night. But at last-it was the third night after Jasper's visit— his fingers were unable to do it, and Harvey wound it for him. "Give it to Miss Mordaunt when she comes to-morrow to ask after me," said the Major. " Tell her not to forget to wind it every night. Esther is apt to be rather careless over small matters," he added sleepily. •• But I am sure "- Then he realised Harvey's presence, and left the rest of his sentence unfinished. In the morning he was gone; his spirit had passed r!!^^^^^t ^" ^^"^ ''"P'- "^"'^'y- W« '^ ^^ wildly rumpled, his eyes swollen, met Esther at the door the next morning. f. !^"\*'°V'''?'' "^'""^ ^'^ ^^^"^ last evening. Miss, and to-day he don t need a watch," he said. " 1 don't know what minute It was he died. It was between the hours south'" H 7' •'"' ^^ ^""* ^ «!»'«*• wl*°"t a sound He said you was to be sure not to forget to wind It every night." ^ The characteristic injunction seemed to brine the Major very close to her. " I shall not ever forget," said Esther. CHAPTER XXIII " A ^^u-'^'.^^' Godfather, having told you every- ^ hmg," said Esther, " I would venr much liTe you to te 1 n,e what you think I had better^drnext ' It t, °"" "1°'''' '" ^^^ P°'^^ °f M^ Joel's cottage It was summer-time, and the garden was full of the soothing sleepy sound of humming bees. Three years J^Z UeL T^ '!."'""'="'^ '° '^^'^' ^"d since was^S w^^h "T^ °" ^^- J°"' "'■*•' ^ P'-^"- that tTtt ^ «^'th sadness. He was but four years older aged him perceptibly. For herself, she felt as if twice four years had elapsed since the day when she had the alStv^%P^^'^ ?° consult her L Godfiher on he advisability of staying with Mrs. Mordaunt or of leaving Applehurst. Yet she knew that to Mr. JoeTshe oTheftW h""" ":.''''" "° ^""•^'^ *° the image ot her that he saw with his mind's eye "You know that the Major advised me to sell Applehurst." said Esther, looking in the direction of her 331 332 THE ALIEN old home. "He left a long kind letter for me, full of most practical and detailed advice. It must have been T^T rfu-^^" *^' "^'"^^ ™»" 'tabbed him. I do not think that he had any premonition of mis- fortune, but he was always such a veo' careful and h r^*"lr"°'!- "" •*«*" •>" '««er by saying that he had been making his will, and that he had left me the property, which was undoubtedly his, in spite of the absurd claims of his Cousin Jasper. I was so struck of .?h,/- . ' ''"""^ '"y ^°"'''" J'^'P^' instead of that impostor' or • that rogue.' It was very good of him never half-appreciated his real goodness. Well! i always took his advice about anything that had o do with money and so I did as he counselled. letting It go to strangers." "But that is finally done. You do not want an opinion about that, Esther?" uJ.'iP'* "^.l J^^^ "^^ '""^"^ sentiment,' as Cousin Becky would have said. I am so glad to talk to you again, Godfather, that I talk nonsense." She seldom spoke of Mrs. Mordaunt to anyone nowadays She could not talk of her to people who had not loved her, and there had been but very few who had! Contact with the world had made Esther r?K"ir.~"J'"^*'°"^' *"'' '""'^ ^««^^d than she had hitherto been. She had more small change at hand and gave her gold less readily. But here in the cottage porch she met w 'i her old self again " I dreaded coming back. I should have shirked it but that I wanted to see you; but now I am glad I have come," she said. " I am sure that I aUo am very glad," said the old THE AIJEN 333 man gently. « l have longed to speak with you again tsther for your letters, delightful as they ire to me' suffer from the fact that I cannot read them to mys"f fHf ^K /°"u?? ""'"'"y constrained by the know- tedge that a third person must come to my assistance. Yet I cannot travel m trains, or face the bustle of a steange town. Too much noise perplexes me; I feel il', u ''**' ^»'"g««"g very old. you see. But I think about you often. What do you do in London ? Have you made many friends ? I hope that you have for you would be unhappy without people to care for' I used to think that your life with Mrs. Mordaunt was too sohtaiy for so young a woman. Do you see much of your sisters? You were cut off from your own family when you were a girl." n " ^'^C ^f '*^ ^'*'"""- " ^°'« "'"^ Lily never liked Cousin Becky, and I soon learnt to love her. That divided us, and it couldn't be helped. I often see them now. and I have grown fond of Rose's children especially of one niece, who has had a rather unlucky experience, and who has been out of health and spirits lately. She is perhaps going with me to Spain this year. Oh yes, I have plenty of people to care for- °^\ — She was silent so long, that anyone but Mr' Joel might have wearied of waiting for the end of the sentence, but he took life without hurry, which was perhaps one reason why he was told so much « But though one can get on very tolerably with general interests, and though I believe it to be far safer to divide one's eggs, and to put them into as many baskets as possible, and though at my time of life I certainly ought to have learned some prudence, yet I am sorely tempted to do a thing which prudence and 884 THE ALIEN common-sense forbid! This is where I want your opinion, Godfather." Mr. Joel looked rather frightened. " Why, Esther are you thinliing of marriage ? " said he. Her laugh reassured him. " You forget how old I ami" she said. "No I I never in my life asked anyone's advice about that I knew my own mind there. Yet it is one of the responsibilities of marriage that attracts me." "Ah, you want to adopt a child," said Mr. Joel. An expression of sympathy came into his fine old face. The motherliness of unmarried women often struck him as slightly pathetic. " I know that you would be very good to any lucky child whom you undertook to mother," said he. Esther shook her head. " No 1 " she said. " Not to any child I — that is where you make a mistake. I'm not philanthropic I I have never reached that pitch of impersonal universal benevolence which better women attain to ! I wish I had. I am not really fond of any child I But " — she was glad that Mr. Joel could not see her face — "but a child who is like my Cousin Becky. A child with black eyes and a black temper. A child who hates some people, and loves some people, unreasonably much. I could be fond of her. And, perhaps, since she has no mother, and since the people she has been with have found her very naughty, and since she has been a rather unhappy little soul, I might at least bring some sunshine and warmth to her. Do you not think that to give someone a happy childhood is worth something? It might make a difference to the rest of her life." " It might indeed," said the old man, but his face was troubled. " And where is this child, Esther ? " THE ALIEN 335 "In Spain," said Esther. "She was bom in a convent, in a very wild part of South America. It was a sort of little mission-station belonfjing to Spanish nuns. Her father took her away from the convent, and put her under the charge of a nurse, an old negress, who was devoted to her, and who worshipped her. When she was four years old (she is nearly five now) he came to the conclusion that she was getting spoilt ; she is apparently a rather imperious and self-willed little lady, and he took a flying journey to Europe, and left her with a Spanish lady, with whose own daughter she was to be educated. He paid very handsomely for her upbringing, and considered the matter settled. But three months ago he was seized with a suspicion that she was unhappy. He is an erratic father, but I believe that he really cares greatly about her. He pounced down suddenly, and without any warning, on the Spanish family, and found the child neglected and miserable, and apparently looked upon as incorrigibly wicked. Then, being at his wits' end as to what to do next, he wrote to me. This is what he says " — She drew a letter from her pocket, and turning over the first sheets, read the last page aloud : " There is no reason why you should be troubled with my trouble- some little girl: but you are fortunately sometimes unreasonable. She is very like my mother, which would win your heart, and a little like myself, which you might perhaps manage to condone. Sometimes, but rarely, she has a look of her own mother, but she will never be a saint — of that I'm convinced. At present she's a little sinner. You could do wonders with her if you cared to try. I'm sure I don't know why you should try, but I think you will. You might 336 THE ALIEN I f tell her that ' she wasn't meant to be bad ' I I have money enough to provide amply for her. She would, of course, be no burden on you pecuniarily." " And you are going to Spain ? " said Mr. Joel. " I was going abroad in any case." " I cannot but see that there are many objections to be urged," said he, shaking his head doubtfully. " To begin with, your sisters will be naturally surprised, and not pleased." "They have both married rich men," said Esther. " Even supposing that some of my own money went to this child, no injury would be done to them. Indeed, neither Rose nor Lily would think about that. So far as affection goes, I should not take from them, in order to give to this little Rebecca (did I tell you that she was christened Rebecca ?), though perhaps I might p>ay to her some of the great debt which I owe to her grandmother." " The situation would be difficult How should you explain your connection with the child ? Let us look at the matter from a worldly point of view, my dear," said Mr. Joel, whose attempt at worldliness brought a smile to Esther's lips. " I should give no explanation," said she. " For that is entirely my own business." "Ah, you have not changed much!" said he. " You are my rashest, as well as my dearest, godchild still. But, Esther, what you said before is true. It would not be prudent (I do not even feel sure that it would be wise, though wisdom and prudence are not always indivisible) for you to undertake the care of this child. The blood in her veins is very wild blood. The older I grow, the more plainly I see that one does THE ALIEN 337 I see it even here, in not gather figs from thistles, this small village world." h onM f ''"'^'"'y- " ^f ^^ Child has wild aid whn r '""^:, '"'^ "^'^ ^ '^°"b>« ^har. of love and who else would care for her as I rould care? Of course I know that I am rather old to have the charge doze:; o its "tll'hot"'^^"- ' '''"''' -^^ back. Yetrtuld Z^^.TZZZZ'^^ ^ what other ties has she? Even though "^ 'do badb., who m the world is there who wHl certainfy do for'n^/w""' \^^,"°^ t''"'kingof what might be best yl? iirM^jti.^"'" """'^"^^ "^-'^^^ '^ '-^^ ^- He sighed. The remembrance of Jasper was oainful ° •"">,. "I «k=d him! We could no'^e Tufhl hkmg h.m. for he had fine qualities. I was sony S h.m too, even when I heard the truth. Yet Esther fatal flaw m the man, and the fact that he is so like! ^c^rl Zl^" '"""■^ "^""^"'""^ '° °*h^^ people's l^u IV^'^'^ '■^'"'''^ '^™- y°" s^y?" He laid h.s old hand on Esther's as she sat beside him. "I S'cWM?^" '" "^ ^°" "'''' ^°"' '^-'^ °- ^I^^t fl^T ^f"'' '^° "°* ''^e^l' very easily, dear God- fathe," sa.d Esther. « We inherit endurance, you kno^" mil I '^ .**''"'''"^' '^"^^'"& *^t she was mak.ng up her mind, that she was weighing pros and cons m an equal scale. e f "» " If I were to take that little girl, I should hope for 338 THE ALIEN 3 J III. great things from her," she said. "You see, I have always known that my dear Cousin Becky was mentally a bigger person than I am, and, with all her faults, I love her better than any other woman whom I have met. Had she had the chance that I might give to this Rebecca, what might she not have been ? Yes, I should hope for great things, but, before I decide, I wish to face the possible worst. It is quite true that if one lets oneself care much for anyone (and I should think it wicked presumption to venture to take charge of a child whom I did not feel I could care much for) one gives a hostage to fortune. One lays oneself open to a possibility of pain. I am rather a coward. Godfather ; it is just that that has made me hesitate. One does not hesitate when one is young, because one does not know what paying means. Perhaps that's as well ! The world would never go on if it were otherwise. But this thing, if I do it, I must do it with my eyes open, and therefore if it is not successful I must never (even to you) complain. That is why I must consider well. There are many ob- jections, of course. Oh, Godfather, Cousin Becky told me such miserable stories of her childhood and girl- hood ! Jasper told me such bitter things about his. The tragedy of their lives seemed to be always haunt- ing Applehurst I knew that it was a melancholy house, and full of sad ghosts of past misdeeds, even before I knew what the ghosts were. But if wrong and misery can echo so long, surely goodness and happiness have power too?" "Surely, surely," said Mr. Joel. "But, Esther, I think that you have decided. It is your old God- father's blessing, not his advice, that you really want." THE ALIEN 339 __ " Is it? No, I have not yet decided," said Esther But give me your blessing, anyhow, before we go in It has done me good to consult with you" vou^«-5'l''"^,^^ "^^ ^'^^' °^*" S^od gifts be with you, said the old man solemnly. "That in givinsr you may be blessed." ^ ^' "Thank you," said Esther. '■ Your blessing is like the sunshme and light. Godfather, which helps the sap i^k r '" ^^ '""""''' ^°''^"- "°^ s'^'^ ""^^"-^ "Sunshine and light! Sunshine and light'" re- peated the blind man dreamily. "I can feel them you know, and I can hear the stir of life. Sometimes I fancy that I hear the plants growing. When no one IS about I put my ear close to them to listen. But whether I hear or not, they grow." The listening expression in his face had become more mtent of late. He had been forced, by increas- ing lU-health, to give up his regular duty, though his many godchildren came to him at all hours of any and every day. He stUl paid surreptitious nightly visits to the chapel on the hill, whenever he could summon strength to get so far. No one could break him of that habit. It seemed to Esther that he had grown more mystical; that in truth he was always waiting for some whisper from the Invisible. She stayed three days with him in the little cottage in the dip of the downs. But they talked no more of Jasper or of her future plans, but only of village affairs, and of bees and flowers. She saw that even to hear about the outside world wearied and confused him now, and "After all one must always decide for oneself in the end," thought she. Yet it had done her good to be there. 840 THE ALIEN Esther had been slightly morbid about Applehurst It was salutary to see it again, and to see it filled with a large happy family of commonplace boys and girls They were, she owned to herself, cheerful and noisy enough to exorcise any number of gloomy ghosts It was salutary to go about the village, and to revive those homely mterests that had played a healthy part in her daily life. Mr. Carter told her that she "looked but peeky, yet no worse than was to be expected, con- sidering where she had been." She missed Wilcox's surly greeting, but was introduced to several new members of the community. At every turn she noticed Jasper's improvements. She noticed, too how strong had been the impression he had made on a by-no-means-impressionable folk. He had under- stood them, had taken them the right way from the beginning. His remarks were quoted as, though Esther was not old enough to verify the resemblance, his grandfather's sayings had once been quoted He had played at being the squire, he who had no birth- right ; yet it had not been all a comedy. Deep-rooted in his nature was a love of the soil he sprang from, that had been no pretence, but veritable instinct. To Esther's immense relief the strange story of the once disputed inheritance had been successfully hushed up. Jasper's confession was still in the hands of the trustees whom the Major had appointed; it would never become public property. Yet it had been with a very sore heart that she had entered into the pos- session of her legacy. She had dreaded the probable questioning of the villagers. To tell the truth, though It IS an unheroic truth, that fear alone had been almost sufficient to prevent her revisiting Applehurst for four THE ALIEN m, pr»rf »d «« ted h J Sh. T" '"■"•"My ■»• .»=r':.r^£i'^rh: '" '" "» ■"" "'""•■• p-U _f'M"£rd£!."^stff'^Sr.SE"s a. th. right ■ ""' """ ""I* »- "tlrdy water, Miss Esther, and who should come aft^r n,» Esther drew a lone breafh >< n« " ■''y> to be sure ! " said sho « a _> l t.km the pl.„ of h=, „„ (..h „j u°-. that fs a sad pity such a nice gentleman was druv and in- veigled out of his own." ThfitT ^i^^'^'f '*'" ** *•"= washerwoman's door. ^ ', P °^ S"*^^"' '■^"'='='' °ff fro"* the park by a wooden fence, was full of sweetwilliams and pinks She waited wh.le Mrs. Greenback picked a bunch for her, and while she waited, she contended with an a?n« .rf^ '" "^"""^ '° ''"^'^ *e familiar way across the fields. ' Jll!"^ "e"' family has gone for a picnic to Hurst Wood, said Mrs. Greenback, who kept a sham and somewhat critical eye on the new family's doings. One would think that there was trees enough in Applehurst park for 'em to stare at, but some folks alwaj^ likes the taste of other people's pies better than their own. There'll be green stains on the young gentlemen s breeches, and Miss Agatha has dirtied two hoUand skirts already with the sticky stuff that comes out of them fir trees." "Why, that's all the better for you," said Esther, laughmg " I am going to trespass. Don't tell tales of me, Mrs. Greenback." And she turned into the park. Applehurst had put on all its summer bravery Esther wandered from the path and greeted old Iriends again. Here was the place where one could 844 THE ALIEN stond knee-deep in bracken. The fresh nale men SSI to fi^i ^f^""^ f*"' "^^ '°^^'^- She turned aside to find the nook where "lords and ladies" ^"""t '""^ '^' ^^'^^ her fill or generous pS^ked f„? h ' r ""^ *''" ^'^-thi^tie which she had ient^ J-i ^T" '*•''"■''• ''"'^ '^^^ the strangely scented orchid, that curious flower that seems of Beauties. Esther paused to admire the purple sponed blossoms with their exotic brilliant splenlur m« ner ol Mrs. Mordaunt and of Jasper It was five o'clock, but it was still hot. Esther was just thinking that she would rest for a few mlL^^ among the bracken, when she descried two "tt trespassers a few paces in advance. Polly SLtck was sitting among the fronds. Her hands we^dL^S round her knees ; she was sitting bolt upright7n a vS »SsLj:r-^?;~ ^S^-fie2;.^^He^S^ bhell bid you come to me, Polly. It's for mv wife I want you, and you were meant%o be a wi? she cant gainsay that. You are very fond of m7ss' Mordaunt-yes, I know; but you'll ^ fonder of me THE ALIEN 345 W i^T""' ^°" "' '^''^y- -'y yo« don-t Esther turned her back on them and went softlv away making a ddtour to avoid hearing l^y ^o^ Po SvhaTt "1- '°"'"'" ^ vigo«,„s ^dissent but roily had been hsten ng all the same F.ft,», k j wonde^d that the girl^had i'lunt^id t^ odge^ Sutio; -b ' '''' ''*'' applauded the sensible altr;Son™St.""^"""^ " '-- •^^ -^^ had «m"'«''%'\"P.'^'''' "y stepmother, Miss," Polly tTnft.n ? , *'• '^'^ '"""""^^^ •"« t«> hard and 00 often when was a little one; but she didn't mean or^er^ ""t "^ f'. °"^ =^"'* '^"'P "P '"-f-l'-ng afterT^; w 1^'*''"'^' '""usement she had added, after a thoughtful pause, " And poor father is too soft Miss. To marry a too soft man makes the wife hard Uke us^'l' u T""' '""^'^^y^ ^""""g ^•'^king folk tiie world/' """^ ' "*"" "'^" P°°^ '■^^''^^ f"^ ^ " ^*!!' ^**^ **'^^""ly won't," thought Esther. " Harvey do^ not seem likely to be too soft. But, oh dear ! how I shall miss Polly." That episode, which she had so unwillingly spied upon added to the sensation of loneliness thaf seemel .t w« t t""^ T "^ ^"" °^ "^^ ^"'l '"^«- How odd her old H *^' ?" ''^°"''' '^^ * t«^P*^««^' here, in her old home Had the Major been less decided in hl^T™!"" *"'°" *° ^^' *° ^*="' ^ould she ever have Had the heart to cut herself loose from the place? 346 THE ALIEN v^sh^ S; E: J;rf * 1 H!'" *«d-'y now. She SomehoM^ she W^ed C .^ ^°^,^'""^ ** ^Nation- scared w-n. .1, . **' *''* »'«'"'d not be at all »hc fancied th^ she shll^T *''^'"".'«'y honest, that once were it to reSs 1 1 ttr^s" '" '"l"' '* would certainly not kn„!, -.u' ^ome people one reflected. "cousta B^^ """"T *='' '^•"'" ''he love her I « n " •^'*^' """^^ as I loved and -e ?hee JLTS ."'f "^ — o^nisable to I never fath^ed "J^hat tw'" *?' ' '''' *'* was so fascinating. £JS\*^L"- ^"'^ -^>' ^^e whom her thoughts had ^usf flown" "" *'' "'" *° andstSq^es'SlSS "v ^'^ '^^"^''^ '^^ «'-''* "hi" s"r«r ""V,"!-' -hom she had kioT' here. Mrs. Greenback told m^ th.t "'^'^ y°" park. I struck down to the 1,^ ^ ^°" *^''*' '" *he the path, beca:«nen.e„tredt^^^^ °''°"°'^'"^ -on. you used to likeTo'Sk^^V^IiT ""'"'°'^" THE ALIEN 347 Let us s,t down on the grass." he said. " Did you suppose that I was my ghost?" ^ " For a moment— yes," said Esther "No ; I'm alive again." sa. J he. •• I once played at hav.ng come out of a grave, eh ? It was a bad game I m very much ashamed of it now. I had been badly Sils" *'"' ''^' ' "^ P^^-^-'" »>/ -ven Esther looked at him with the grave, steady look that « W^^""^'' 1 ?•''• " ^^"' ' '^'"'^ - tO"'." «he «id What are you doing now ? " "I was for Dr. R_s P_l, as you know." said he I am not for this half-Indian soldier who has pro^ claimed himse f dictator. Caracas ha, h»-„ • ,.,!»k ui J • *-''"^"'^' v-aracas nas been runnme wiU, blood again, and what do they care? What can you do with these self-interested "_ He stopped short An expression she knew well came into his face Esther you must think it a pretty farce, when / am virtuously indignant" again. Go on— tell me about these things that are happemng in the world you come from" So he told her. in a few short sentences. The story was not so full of colour and poetry as some he had once recounted for her interest and amusement ; perhaps ^V.,'^!t-^'Tt*'^ ^^' " "^'"S" ^&«'"' becausTbeing in the thick of the struggle, he saw it. less as a whole S48 THE ALIEN vcnLS;;r„dTb:;:.c''Lr "'',*" ^•«'''-' -^ one." said she. ^* y°" *'" '"«'*« » good " No; before that day arrives I shall k- i • where with a bullet thr^ill « 1 ^ '>""» ^O""*- deserve." ^'' *"'^— « »«"« one than I "Why* i"d?<;'.f ''""• "'* * ""'« '=0' of pain. you that you and Ei^H f t^ '^' ^ ""'eh' '»" -e fron, wo«e thin^^han butts .''T ""l """'" effort This second coming k , "" "P^^^ "^'^ Wni. « Esther Inl?^ ^'"'^ ^'^ ^""y Panful to become ti ll.e nZ^nt IT '"'"'* * "»*=''e"«''» ^ had thought thatThTs a^X'- Zr.''"'' ^°" with a shock of horror. jJen i shouL t ""'''" ""^ "?' matter that night, as a bad foK ''*^'' *'"''«' the not been for hL. YL^i'f„^'!V""='"''"8:. if it had he trusted me to pay°t and s^ hjm something, and that I y^Jli--;— 7^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^'i^^::^^-^- "I don't was-but he would l« S " ^"^ * •""" ''^ to hJn?S7ast^^^!';,^y - ^teful to you, and about my child, will vou 11 """^ *° 'P^'^ ^o you mother's sake? The 1 Tno n ,'"■' °'' ^'' ^°' '^V to willingly and saS; ruTt Te'r ! '° "''°'" ^ ^°"'^ English, as you are --th„ u, **"' ''^^ to be English, you ';,„de^Ll"'"°"^'^'y »"«^ ~-P'etely THE ALIEN 849 completely English. ,he wonde,5 ""^°"^'">' '"''' (thou'ih r/.;::dr;'fut\u't!;;//'°"^ ""^^ ^'■'«-»- the child with meVbutlSn't d"o?HT'^*"' •'"^P girl I She's devoted to J., '^ .J? Jf ":'^''. ^* ^^ after me like an affectionat^'pjp ' ";: \ , •',''« ^'■''''' tny legs to prevent my going^aw^ V'^i : T^'^ she storms like a small volcano 9h • • '"^ *"*"■ strength of her feeli„gs-!s"J with , " "' :*' """ I found she'd been beaten I «-i^ ' '■ ^'"^ ^^^ • there had been a man t^he cL fo ""' "" " ' ^"'""'^ have been thrashed-and I Sk ir"^"" "'"■ '" she is with the old negress ih^td h"r iTf n"^': spoils her. but what was to be done? ■ ''''' her with anyone else in = k ' *°" ' """st Esther." '" ' '^""y-unlessit's with you. wr^ng'^TnrrpeT^uTT "^ '7 ^ ^V'"^ 'he perha1,syou'miTm;r.^l;\;L,'tr ""r" ^'^^ child with you. !nd soSr dJSi?^" " '"^ ^""^ He shook his head. " No T ,.=.,■» j .l marriage." He debited f '"°'^"' '''^°" ^g^'"^' would^ll he?mot'"''^Thln-..r™ ft^ '''= now," he said « B.,f r °" ' ^^ perfectly sane 850 THE ALIEN ST^^^'c^'™-;^-, ^«,! -Vis »Wte he made " '°°' ''">' *»" I"' don't know that Esther A T . P"'*''"'^ *** ^ Uft, I don t know," said Esther ■• t so sure. And how am I f n t- i ^^ ""' "* *" work for her own brL ^ k ^ ''"' "P' ^« "^e to she alwaysTarJn'^ V;t r Wr^^^^^^^ °' ^"' her to learn? Am I to talk ^nV ^''^* *^° y°" ^ish an. I to ten her alltl'r ll';; -f ^"^ ^^^ W"^' you may teach her what you like" sairf h^ « t vent it, cost you a oennv o„f «f ' *^*" P'*" THE ALIEN gjj given her up, even to vou • 7h^ ""'/"at Ive not possession I have" tJat 2' is " '^' '"'''''' always. I'll leave mvrh . -^'"^' ^"'^ ^ «■" h^rs About her mother " IT ^ . ""^''* '^ expected. will tell heTtt 7j;''Tot:'f "s°-'^^y I will you do this thin^P Wniyoutrkr- "^f"' child and of Maravilla'! now and'^^et Jve WH^T me some day? It i= ,