HEART?/ WOMAN HARRY W. DESMOND i o HEART o/ WOMAN The LoVe Story of CATRINA RUTHERFORD Contained in Writings of ALE,XANDE,R ADAMS Transmitted to HARRY W. DESMOND N E, W Y O Be K J. F. TAYLOR & COMPANY M C M I I COPYRIGHT 1902, BY J. F. TAYLOR & CO. Published June, zqoz To My Friend FRANCIS AMES CONTENTS HAPTER PAGE I. ALEX ADAMS'S MEMENTOES i II. THE ORCHARD AT HEATHCOTE HOUSE . 5 III. ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE . 13 IV. THE DAWN OF SUSPICION 24 V. A TORY IN RETREAT 31 VI. THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" . 39 VII. THE SECOND INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 51 VIII. THE JOURNEY TO THE MANSE .... 56 IX. THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES .... 74 X. THE PRELUDE IN THE WOODS .... 92 XI. THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER . . . . 101 XII. THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT . . . 112 XIII. HELEN "JOINS THE PARTY 127 XIV. SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE . 134 XV. THE CROWN POINT FORT 157 XVI. RALPH FORSWEARS THE PAST .... 163 XVII. THE BEGINNING OF DOUBT 173 XVIII. THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY ..,..180 XIX. THE MEETING OF THE CROSS CURRENTS 193 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XX. COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS .... 201 XXI. Miss RUTHERFORD'S MESSENGER ... 221 XXII. CATRINA'S COMMAND 231 XXIII. BURNING THE BRIDGES 237 XXIV. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE .... 249 XXV. CATRINA'S MESSENGER PAID 264 XXVI. IN THE ENEMY'S HANDS 276 XXVII. CATRINA PAYS THE RANSOM ..... 293 XXVIII. WHERE THE HEART Is THERE WILL OUR THOUGHTS BE ALSO 309 THE HEART OF WOMAN THE HEART OF WOMAN CHAPTER I. ALEX. ADAMS'S MEMENTOES. YESTERDAY, Sunday, the rain fell steadily, veiling the harbor beyond my windows in gray mist that obscured the distant Staten Island hills. It was a soft, wet day, when the air strangely carries any sound given to it, and in like manner, perhaps in sympathy, the mind prolongs its slightest reminiscence. I had little inclination to church, so stayed at home overhauling my papers. They wece of divers sort old accounts, letters, memoranda indifferent docu- ments of even no private value that a man of small affairs preserved for forgotten reasons. These neglected papers were of the very mood of the moment. As I went over them, one by one, I could not escape the thought how much our recent success in arms has cost us at the hearth and how complete is the severance the war has made between the days my papers recall and these new triumphant times of ours. Verily, the old play is off the stage, the old sentiments out of place, many of the old actors gone, many of the old haunts destroyed. 2 THE HEART OF WOMAN Why these regrets? I do not yet confess to old age, but I acknowledge that period of life when losses can- not always be consoled with the promise of future ex- periences. The recollections of twenty are like the fallen leaves of a sapling, but what consolation for what we have lost is there at fifty, shall I say? Miss Tenny Wendell where is she now? That in- vitation to dine with the family is eighteen years old. As I read it her girlish face flashed for a moment out of the paper like a picture in invisible ink. I scarce needed that other note, nearly as old, pinned to it, to recall that ride out to Greenwich with the Lieutenant-Governor's company, some twenty of us, gentlemen and ladies of the best fashion in New York, the halt at Mr. Richardson's country house, the fine parcel of silver eels we caught and had dressed for sup- per, the minuets we danced later and how merry we were riding home in the summer dusk. I rode with Miss Phipps, I remember, whom I kissed, as etiquette, and, in this case, inclination also required, when we passed the Kissing Bridge. The recollection of her brought again before me the Captain, her father, deaf of ear, but triumphant of voice, and the punch-wine and choice corned mackerel I regaled him and his friends with that distant October night at the King's Head, the best punch house at that time and most to my liking of all on the Boston Post Road. And speaking of punch, where did Col. Debuke learn the secret of his? How instable are the excellencies of ALEX. ADAMS'S MEMENTOES 3 life ! Surely not again shall I taste the equal of that he used to provide at his lodgings for his large acquaint- ance, where so often we spent the night singing and toasting the King and the Ladies plentifully, very merry all of us, until we broke up in the doubtful morn- ing hours. How distant those pictures appeared as my memen- toes evoked them ! Whither was that ancient company dispersed? "Dear! Dear!" the mute voice within exclaimed, "the saddest part of this growing old is the departures it has to reckon." And then, as though to prove my philosophy, my eye alighted on a memorandum I had made of that turtle frolic I gave at Williams's I fear to count the years ago. Indeed, had I not sat myself down this damp, gray Sunday, to a belated feast of memory, with empty dishes and vacant chairs ! But vacant for a moment only! "At Williams's," my spirit cried, "I culminated my friends around me ! If Memory is to play comforter to me, by heaven it shall be only on condition that those chairs are kept filled and my glass, that I may drink to the shades I gathered there !" I arose as though the faces were around me. My hand held the bumper filled to the overflowing as my heart was. "Your health, Madam Grace," I cried. "Yours, Madam Quincy. Yours, too, Capt. Phillips. Doctor 4 THE HEART OF WOMAN Bridges, dear old friend, to you. Sir Thomas, sir, your servant. Miss Betsy, your devoted. Miss Ca- trina " My hand fell suddenly, all my company vanished all but two whom I saw before me in the light of a sweet May day amid an orchard in blossom the blos- som of fifteen years ago. CHAPTER II. THE ORCHARD AT HEATH COTE HOUSE. THIS orchard was a part of the country house Mr. Oliver Heathcote built near Greenwich Village, north of my Lady Warren's, a few years before he was stricken with the small-pox in 1772 and died. He had devised the grounds quite in the English fashion, sur- rounding the house with a hedge of box. A fine ave- nue of locust trees made a delightful approach to the porch in front. Behind the mansion was arranged a beautiful pleasure garden with three terraced walks and a marble fountain. Beyond all was a large orchard that sloped down to the pebbly shore of Hudson's River. His widow migrated hither from the city annually during the torrid months. The house was finely ac- commodated for company, and as the inclination of the lady of the manor was decidedly hospitable, she was never without a number of relatives and friends around her. Among the former was Catrina Rutherford. It must have been in the latter part of May. I re- member the air had in it the first soft hazy sultriness of summer when I rode with my friend, Ralph Ten- nant, out of New York, along the country lanes, through the sleepy little village of Greenwich and right up to Mrs. Heathcote's gate. He had forced me to 6 THE HEART OF WOMAN the journey with so little explanation, had been so strangely uncommunicative on the way, that I suppose I hesitated for a moment when we had dismounted. "You don't fear to make new friends, Alex?" he asked, knocking the dust from his boots. "No, indeed," I replied, as we passed up the ave- nue. "But I confess to a liking for some trifling prep- aration." "You don't need it," he said, smiling. "You must remember Miss Rutherford, my companion of your company at Williams's last year. This is my Aunt's." "Oh," I said, "I might have guessed as much." The front entrance stood open to admit the air. Be- yond the further end of the cool dark hallway, through the other door, likewise open, we caught a glimpse of the garden and the river. Ralph entered without ceremony. He conducted me straight into the parlor, a large room elegantly set off with pier glasses. It was darkened to exclude the sunlight. Coming so directly from the glare without I scarce perceived that any one was present before I heard: "Ralph; my dear boy! This time you have caught me napping! The last two days have quite worn me out. I see we did not tire you so much last night that you could not make the journey again this morning. Ah! Unconquerable" youth!" There was a tone of pleasantry and affection in the high, sharp, clear voice. "I promised this return," said Ralph lowly as he THE ORCHARD AT HEATH COTE HOUSE. ^ kissed the speaker on the forehead, "and," he added, "I have ventured to bring my dearest friend, of whom I have often spoken, Mr. Adams." "Your dearest friend," she repeated slowly and with an accent of curiosity as she rose to my presentation. "I am delighted to meet a gentleman so highly ap- proved." As I bowed to this courtly welcome I saw Mrs. Heathcote was a lady of stout proportions and walked with the aid of a heavy gold-headed cane. Her feat- ures were singularly aquiline, her complexion of a sallow tint that rather emphasized her penetrating dark eyes. She was attired in black, with a scrupulous neat- ness. There was, indeed, in her appearance and man- ner an unmistakable air of high distinction. "The moments that remain are few, Ralph," she said. "It is arranged finally that Catrina goes down in Mr. De Lancy's sloop. That is the easiest way. Mr. Hicks has been very kind in arranging this matter for us. Without his aid I don't know what we could have done. The adieux are all said." "Where is Catrina?" Ralph asked. "In the garden, I believe. Poor, motherless child," she continued, speaking rather to me than to Ralph. "She is loath to make this journey. Naturally enough, she barely remembers her aunt. Ralph, you may leave me to entertain Mr. Adams." Miss Rutherford did not perceive Ralph until he had lifted the low branches of the apple tree under which she was resting and was almost by her side. 8 THE HEART OF WOMAN "Dreaming, Catrina?" Her reverie was still half with her as she asked : "Was I?" "Were you !" he exclaimed. "The last minute is sad- der than you expected, eh? What are you doing here?" She smiled. "You will think me foolishly sentimental, but I couldn't go without bidding my old trees goodby. Ralph, do you remember the day we named them?" Catrina's voice was close to tears. With intent to support her Ralph answered briskly: "My memory isn't short. Shall I ever forget it? Then I was to sail. I don't forget, either, I had as little inclination for Oxford as you have for Virginia." "You are scarce home Ralph when this wind blows me away. It is too bad!" she complained. "Do you know, I don't think I should be going, but for Mr. Hicks. He advises it so strongly." "I wish any protest of mine could keep you. Aunt won't listen. We have scarce had time to renew the old friendship." "Was it ever broken?" she asked quietly. "No, indeed; no," he said. "But it isn't quite what it was, is it, Catrina? There is a difference. I don't know what. A dozen times I have meant to speak to you, but you say I always take the easy road, and somehow it has been easier to say nothing. I thought when I returned we would drop into the old ways, but I suppose they belonged to childhood. Alex says there is always a break or change when " THE ORCHARD AT HEATHCOTE HOUSE g Ralph's feelings were carrying him along. "When?" asked Catrina, as he hesitated. Ralph was gazing at the river flowing before him. " when the current reaches the deeper waters and feels the tides." Catrina remained silent. She knew Ralph was scanning her face. She also felt that in his words the reserve, the vague sense of some novel element in their old frank association which she had noticed since his return from Europe was striving for a voice. For the first time in their long companionship his tone stirred her. Ralph had been extravagantly gay recently. Catrina was half- consciously happy that now at the hour of her de- parture his spirits should terminate in a mood so similar to that brooding within herself. "Feels the tides," she repeated slowly. "The tide is carrying me away in earnest. Still " She turned sharply. Clapping her hands together, she caught a falling blossom, as though it were a but- terfly. "Do you know I have been watching these fall for the last hour. Oh, Ralph, how I hate to leave ! What are you thinking of?" she asked, looking at him in- tently. "Oh," he answered, shaking off his meditation, "I WHS wondering I suppose it's impossible to say how long you will be away?" U I don't know. How long will these troubles last, Ralph?" IO THE HEART OF WOMAN "Goodness knows! I hope not so long that you'll forget old friends." "Forget !" she echoed quickly. "Why should I for- get? As you said a moment ago, my memory isn't short.' "It is my memory against yours?" "The challenge doesn't daunt me." "Remember you'll find little in Virginia to keep us here in mind. I know how it is." "Still you didn't forget. Neither shall I. But, Ralph " Catrina hesitated. "I I wish let me beg a keepsake, any trifle as as a token of the challenge between us. Do you mind?" "What have I?" "Any trifle," she said. "I have nothing else for you," he said like one for- getting himself. Then he added quickly : "Catrina, take this old ring. Keep it until you return. I can't give it to you. Mother gave it to me." He offered her the jewel from his finger. "Oh ! No, Ralph," she cried, much confused. At that moment they heard the stumping of Mrs. Heathcote's cane on the walk and my own footsteps approaching. "It is too large. I may lose it," she added as he quickly slipped it on her finger. "Catrina," he whispered hurriedly, "it may fit better by-and-by. When you return " "Catrina! Catrina!" commanded Mrs. Heathcote. THE ORCHARD AT HEATHCOTE HOUSE II "You must hurry, child, Mr. De Lancy is now due. Here, dear, this is Mr. Adams, Ralph's friend." "I have met Mr. Adams before," she said, striving to cover her excitement. "I had the pleasure of meeting him when Ralph and I were indebted to him for a very pleasant entertainment. I fear I was almost unbidden." "Not unbidden," I said earnestly, much struck on this second encounter by the sweetness of her features, "certainly twice welcome." "You are very kind," she murmured, and hurried from us into the house. Four hours later Ralph and I stood on the waterfront in New York near the Whitehall slip to watch the sloop go by. When Miss Catrina passed the point of the island she signalled to us as prearranged. Ralph and I waved back to her our good-by. We waited, gazing at the movements of the craft until she passed almost beyond the Narrows, where the brig Mercury was wait- ing to go out with the tide, taking Miss Catrina and two members of Mr. De Lancy's family. Ralph at last turned to me. "Well, Alex, let us go," he said. "I fear I have tired you to-day. Truth is, this parting is, somehow, dole- ful." As he offered no explanation to me so far of my part in the day's proceedings, I asked: "What does it mean, my boy?" I was so much his elder that at times I confessed my years. 12 THE HEART OF WOMAN "Alex, "I swear I don't know !" he exclaimed with vehemence. 'There are people doomed to resolve ever too late. Oh, come, let's drink to the travelers." Beyond this I got nothing out of him. I knew he and Miss Catrina had been companions since childhood. So much he had told me when he requested permission to make her one of my party with himself at Williams's. Five years before, at the time he departed for England to complete his education, he was little more than a lad. I don't think there was a differ- ence of a year in their ages. It is true during the few months since Ralph's return he had been a constant visitor at his Aunt's, but I who knew him so well and saw so much of him, observed nothing that indicated anything beyond a renewal of the old associations. But, even of this he said nothing to me. Long afterward in talking of the matter with Mrs. Heathcote, she said, speaking perhaps rather to justify an old woman's pride in her intuition than with any clear memory of actual perceptions at the time : "Oh, I was not blind, Mr. Adams, I assure you. I knew Catrina and I knew Ralph, and I recognized in them that there are some natures that are naturally al- lied." "Vanity," I thought. Yet here am I writing about it. As events happened and afterward I learned from many sources the full history of the matter, and now I am setting it down in order only to see it as a whole and understand it if I can. CHAPTER III. ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE. UPON leaving our station on the water front near the fort we strolled slowly to my lodgings on Queen street, whither I asked Ralph to repair with me long enough to permit me to despatch a short note to my friend, Gen. Putnam, in answer to one of his. As a re- sult it was dusk before we entered the Provincial Arms. The Mall was deserted. When we passed Trinity the lights in the houses on Broadway were beginning to appear feebly. That was an utterly careless visit of ours, begotten of merely a momentary mood; yet how exactly, as now I look back I see it fitted into the plot Destiny had de- vised. We found the taproom filled with a more numerous company than ordinary. Entering, I saluted a few of my acquaintance present. There happened to be va- cant a small table in a remote corner, and Ralph and I sat down to it and ordered our wine. At first the conversation around, though loud, was so general that we were little disturbed by it. I en- deavored to bring Ralph to a more cheerful mood. The talk of the room was all of a political cast. The country was in open revolt against the home government. 14 THE HEART OF WOMAN Every day brought forth some event to inflame or im- passion men. The Virginia convention at Williams- burg a few days before had instructed its delegates in the Continental Congress to move for a declaration of independence, and this action of the southern patriots had given at last public voice to the extreme sentiments of a large body of the people. Independence had yet a bold sound to many, but like the blast of a trumpet, the tone stirred even the timid. Perhaps in unconscious sympathy with 'the topic of the general company I dropped into politics with Ralph. "I know which way you lean, Alex," he said at last, smiling. "I'm so cold I fear I shall not please you with either extreme. I have been out of these simmering years that others have passed through." "I'm no extremist," I broke in. "But in a serious moment like this there is a station which every man is bound to take." "Well," said he, "I have no foothold yet. My predi- lections, if I have any, run in my father's footsteps. You know, with him loyalty was the first duty of a gentle- man." A voice shrill as a pipe penetrated the buzz of con- versation. "It's damned insolence, I say, for Freddy North and that immaculate Johnny Bute to talk of clemency and pardon to this free people. For what, in the name of heaven? For protecting our homes? Asserting our rights? Let them send over their boasted 'regulars' ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE 1 5 Hessians, Brunswickers, Hanoverians, Waldeckers the free and independent states of America are not to be terrified by all the slaves of king-ridden Europe." Instantly the room was in silence. The man who had attracted the company's attention was a small, slim, wiry individual, with a bristling, ex- citable manner. His dress declared him a person of some importance. He was surrounded by a numerous following. Many, quite evidently, had been drinking freely. Of these was a gentleman the very opposite in stature of the speaker a portly man, with an immense head, who, despite his pea-green coat, white satin vest and nankeen small clothes, discovered in his attire a certain personal negligence. He was lounging back in his chair, with his legs stretched out under the table. "Scott !" he exclaimed, drowsily, "I like your invec- tive. There are teeth in it always." The little man smiled vainly. "I wish I had your thunder, Reilly," he said by way of a return of the compliment. "Gad, I don't doubt it," said the big man, calmly, "but," he added, striking his chest with a ponderous hairy fist, "your body would first have to suffer a trifling inflation. "We cannot all be Jove," said the other, uneasily. "By Jove, we can't !" exclaimed Reilly, with a loud laugh. "But come, Scott, speaking of 'regulars,' oblige this patriotic company with that song of yours, 'The King's Own Regulars.' I assure you, gentlemen, as Mr. Scott sings it, his voice is the very fife of satire." 1 6 THE HEART OF WOMAN The littlej : man peevishly demurred, but the spirit of the company would entertain no refusal. Glasses were refilled and Mr. Scott, after further pressing, in a kind of piping recitative and with very evident nervousness began : Since you all will have singing and won't be said nay, I cannot refuse, when you so beg and pray; So I'll sing you a song as a body may say, 'Tis of the King's Regulars, who ne'er ran away. In a deep bass voice Mr. Reilly echoed, thumping the table as though it were a drum: " 'Tis of the King's Regulars, who ne'er ran away." Grown proud at reviews tyrant George had no rest; Each grandsire of his had rebellion suppressed, He wished a rebellion, looked round and saw none, So resolved a rebellion to make of his own. He pitched on the Yankees. Said he, they won't fight. So he sent us away to take over their right. And to spare our review clothes he begged, and begged louder: "Brother Kings for God's sake sell the Yankees no powder." Our General mighty did bravely devise How at Lexington we might the Yankees surprise. We marched, and remarched, and at last, being beat, Our General's plan of surprise was complete. Near Boston we met with some rebels one day, We marshalled ourselves all in ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE \J The company in the room, with the exce Hion of our- selves and another couple of gentlemen sitting at a table near to ours, had either gathered around the singer or had drawn up their chairs closer to him. All were mightily amused. Every stanza was greeted with noisy hilarity. I must say even to myself there was something piquant in the misty picture of that little man in the yellow candle light befogged with tobacco smoke de- livering that doggerel in his peculiarly monotonous and strident voice, which piped higher and higher as his excitement mastered him under the stimulus of the general applause. Early in the performance it was evident our two near neighbors did not relish the entertainment. One was a red-haired, robust, beefy-faced man of great breadth of shoulder. His finery did not hide a pronounced coarseness of nature. His companion was younger, tall, agile of frame, with noticeable quick, frank and sympathetic eyes. While Mr. Scott was repeating his ode I saw the elder of these two, more than once, place his hand on the shoulder of his friend, in a re- straining manner, but at the beginning of the last verse the younger man jumped to his feet impetuously, kicked over his chair and broke out in a voice clearly habituated to command : "Enough of that ribald treason ! Cunningham, I can stand this no longer ! Damn me if my protest shan't go for what it's worth." He strode past me to Mr. Scott. 1 8 THE HEART OF WOMAN A tense silence fell upon the room. "Am I to understand you desire to interrupt me, sir?" cried Mr. Scott excitedly, before the other had time to address him. "I care little, sir, how you understand it. You shall not proceed with your disreputable song if it lies in my power to choke it in your throat. I have yet to learn that rebellion absolves the subject of his duties or the gentleman of his manners." "Who, pray, is this doughty minion of King George?" sneered Mr. Scott. "You're welcome to my name, sir. I am Percy. "Lord Percy! You are braver in the tavern, my lord, than we found you in the field. Your run from Lexington didn't wind you, I see. "Insolent rebel!" The next moment Percy had seized his opponent by the throat. Immediately the room was in an uproar. Cunning- ham, Lord Percy's companion, made a dash to aid his friend and felled two of the crowd who endeavored to impede him. Ralph was close to Percy. Without a moment's thought he was up, seized him from behind, and flung him aside against the table at which we had been sitting. Percy would have fallen but for the momentary sup- port this obstacle afforded him. Leaning against it to steady himself, he eyed Ralph. "This is hardly the way to re-establish your reputa- tion, laying hands on an old man," cried Ralph. ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE 1 9 Perhaps Lord Percy was stung. Certainly it arrest- ed prompt attack upon Ralph, for he cried : "Who the devil are you ?" "You are as welcome to my name, as we were to yours. My name is Tennant." The commotion that followed drowned Percy's reply. "Down with the Tories !" roared some one. 'Tar "and feather them !" "The Liberty Pole !" What might have happened I cannot say. The com- pany was closing around the two Tories. At this junc- ture both realized the precariousness of their position. Fighting, they made toward the fireplace for a door- way that led to the garden in the rear of the tavern. It was a sharp shuffle. Blows were struck at ran- dom. But the two succeeded in reaching the door, and covered by the darkness, fled to the river's edge, fol- lowed by the irate crowd. It appeared Percy and his friend had made their en- try a most risky adventure for them by water, for their boat was on the shore. I among the first reached the bank. The fugitives had made good their escape, and we could hear the retreating sound of oars rapidly plied. Somebody discharged a pistol at random into the darkness. Almost with the echoes of the report re- turned the cry: "There will be a day of reckoning, you rebels !" In a tavern almost everything that happens fur- nishes an occasion for drinking. It was not surprising 2O THE HEART OF WOMAN that when the excited crowd re-entered the taproom conviviality was renewed on a liberal scale. The un- expected episode was, of course, the topic of all conver- sation, and denunciation of all Tories was washed down with an abundance of good Whig liquor. Shortly patri- otism reached a highly spirituous and turbulent mood. Ralph and I lingered, at first, listening, but our in- terest fagged and we were about to depart, when Mr. Scott, as though aware of our intention, came over to where we were sitting. His face confessed liberal pota- tions. His manner was a bit unsteady, but betrayed a certain suavity and good nature quite invisible when I first cast eyes on him. His wine had mellowed him. Addressing Ralph, he said : "I hope, sir I sincerely trust you don't think I'm tardy in thanking you for your service recently?" "My service, sir?" inquired Ralph. "Your really eminent service, sir. Gad, restoring my windpipe to the performance of its its function, isn't that a service? I came near to finishing more than my ditty." "Oh, that was altogether too lively for a swan song," said Ralph, smiling. "Swan song! Ha! Ha! I fear you consider me something of an old cackling goose sporting my voice in public. But as you are from Oxford, sir, I may say, deeming myself inter flwnina nota ct fontes sacros, I hoped my indiscretion had an air of merely homely levity. When we encounter the crowd it must be nugis armatus. Am I not right?" ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE 21 The little man delivered himself in a rhetorical, jerky, comical manner, blinking his eyes rapidly in an endeav- or to hide his unsteadiness. "Of course, Mr. Tennant, I'm aware my perform- ance may have been off offensive to you and," he added, leaning over the table to whisper, "if it was I apologize. I am doubly grateful for your service if you'll allow it, also a little sur surprised " One could not help detecting a slightly obsequious note it was pitched a tone or two above familiarity in this rambling utterance, quite at variance with the speaker's previous acrid coldness. Ralph looked at me inquiringly, then at the stranger, who, seeing my friend's hesitation, asked : "Can it be you haven't heard of Isaac Scott !" "I have been absent from home so long, sir, you must forgive me ignorance of much I ought to know. Certainly until to-night you have been a stranger to me, even in name." "Five years in England yes, five 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775 and 1776 (he checked the count off on his fin- gers). It was, egad, a long break." He said this to himself in a tone of fine concession. Then bending toward Ralph he hastened to add : "Don't think I'm arguing myself a public character. You and I, sir, come closer to one another than that. It wouldn't have been strange not at all had you heard of me privately and preposterously eh? Stick- ing pins into you? Let me order those glasses refilled. Do. Eh?" 22 THE HEART OF WOMAN He ordered wine. When it had been set before us he said with a lush confidence : "I don't often feel like this, really I don't. It's ex- hilarating, isn't it?" "It's an honor I appreciate," said Ralph quizzically. "Honor? No. No. It's a service, sir, I intend to return for yours. No, that isn't it, I mean " he paused slowly struggling to think lucidly. "But drink. And let me propose a toast one day I assure you, you will drink as I do to the damnation of Whitehead Hicks." Flushed, his little eyes flashing with a serpent-like brilliancy, he rose and extended his glass to Ralph's. Instantly Ralph, too, was on his feet. "This is a queer insult, sir. I like it none the less be- cause you are making use of the name of my friend," he said warmly. "Your guardian, eh? Ha! Ha!" the little man rattled as he dropped back into his chair. "But I beg you to be seated do while I exs explain. Thank you." "Only for that purpose," said Ralph as he complied. "How comes it you know my affairs so intimately?" "An accident, sir a misfortune. Let me 'splain. For four four four years I was Hicks's partner. Damn him! Surprised? "You?" cried Ralph. "I sir I, to my everlasting regret. Four years to discover ugh the blindness of one's eyes! Poor optics ! Nature joined in the deceit. She has masked ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE. 2$ that hypocrite most perfect disguise. King's com- missioner ! Thief ! Renegade ! Damn him !" The heat of the room and the operation of the liquor were increasing his tendency to incoherence. His moods, pompous, familiar, querulous, bitter, succeeded one another with rapidity. "This is no explanation," cried Ralph hotly. His glass to his lips, Scott replied nodding, "True! It's descriptive. But really really, it isn't from me. If you only understood you ought to demand a bill of particulars. (He said "billerticklers.") You are swin died, sir as I was. Demand a reckoning. Damn thief! Years of absence, eh? Golden 'tunity gambling scoundrel. Be careful distrust boyish confidence old fox King's commissioner ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha !" The wine had completely conquered him. He sat in front of us nodding sleepily. "This is outrageous," cried Ralph to me. "Eh?" murmured the little man struggling to awake. "Out-rageous ! 'Tis! eminently! Order'm in. They all drink. The King's own regulars! Ha!" He arose, looked at us stupidly. "Red coats ! Red hands ! Red wine !" he cried, wav ing his arms. He collapsed and fell to the floor. CHAPTER IV. THE DAWN OF SUSPICION. THE affair in the tavern did not improve Ralph's spir- its. Outwardly he affected little heed to the befuddled statements of Mr. Scott, but there is something sticky about defamation, and I could see Ralph was busy with the aspersions cast upon his father's friend. "That man's statements are inconceivable," he said to me in a musing way as we turned into Wall street, on the way home. "He was Mr. Hicks's partner," I suggested. "He says he was!" he exclaimed with force. "He was," said I. "How do you know?" he asked, turning on me. "My dear boy, remember I haven't been away from New York for the past five years. This town isn't so large that one of some prominence can be lost in it. Mr. Scott is well known a man of temper and irasci- bility, as you may judge, but he's honest. He stands well." "He does?" he asked, softly. "He does," I repeated. "Unless his liquor to-night made him quite irresponsible, I would not take any- thing he said too lightly. I recollect, at the time he THE DAWN OF SUSPICION 2$ parted from Mr. Hicks, there was talk of a fierce dis- agreement between them. Nothing but the discord of the times silenced it." "Ugh," he grunted. "This is the first I hear of it." "It may not be too late," I said. "Too late, Alex! For what, pray?" "Why," said I, "to protect yourself." "The*n you take stock in that drunkard's ravings?" he demanded. "Perhaps we had better drop the subject," I sug- gested. "No," said he, testily, "I don't wish it, having gone so far." "Well," said I, stung a little by his spirit, "I would prefer to drop it. I have no wish to offend you, Ralph, by unwelcome frankness." "Oh, come," he cried, with a laugh that was still a bit uneasy, "it would be queer if I couldn't hear any- thing you had to tell me." "If that be so," said I, resolutely, "I will confess I have little confidence in Whitehead Hicks. There's a polish there, like steel, that indicates sharpness." "He is a Tory, eh? Admit your prejudice, Alex." "Not at all," I protested. "I distrusted the man long before his political opinions were of any positive ac- count." "You distrust him the more, no doubt, now that he prefers the safety of His Majesty's flag to the freedom of this city. Eh?" "Ralph, there was no need of his speedy absconding 26 THE HEART OF WOMAN to that man-of-war out yonder. He replied before he was challenged. Such prudence has a meaning." "Much good his reply would have done after chal- lenge ! Did not Governor Tryon and others withdraw as early?" "Yes, but for known reasons. Remember, Hicks played the friend, even wore a Whiggish phiz for a time, then sneaked away. Strange, too, shortly after that visit of his to London." "To London !" he echoed. "Are you ignorant there, too?" I asked. "You in England at the time!" "I saw him not," said Ralph, dolefully. "That is strange. Very." "Yet you remember his appointments Scott hinted THE HEART OF WOMAN Hicks raised his voice in uttering the last three words. Catrina felt there was something pitiless in the alternative. To avert his steady gaze she said ner- vously : "Please proceed." "I am glad you are interested. My fate and that of others, who I believe have Miss Rutherford's warm shall I say, sympathy? depends upon her answer." Seating himself in a chair facing Catrina, he bent for- ward and commenced to twirl his thumbs slowly in ac- companiment to his words. Despite his outer assur- ance a slight tremble in his voice occasionally betrayed the struggle he was making to completely master his feelings. Compelled by the force of the man and the sense of danger attached to him, Catrina sat watching him like one fascinated. "A short time ago," Hicks began, with the utmost deliberation, "I was presumptuous enough to place at Miss Rutherford's feet what remains of my life, honor and fortune. Up to a certain point, I must confess, she was admirably candid with me. She closed every door of hope to me except one she permitted me to press my suit. Finally, though still disdaining any- thing higher than friendship for me, she condescended to seriously entertain my proposition. She left one afternoon, having more than half promised that if I would be satisfied with a greatly qualified acceptance she would consent to be my wife. I told her that if she would grant me so much so little from the lover's standpoint I would wait contentedly until, by service CATRINA PATS THE RANSOM 3 7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK The Great White Way Ornamental Cloth Cover, Gilt Top, $1.5O A RECORD OF AN UNUSUAL VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY, AND SOME ROMANTIC LOVE AFFAIRS AMID STRANGE SURROUNDINGS The whole recounted by one NICHOLAS CHASE, promoter of the expedition, whose reports have been arranged for publication by ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE. author of "The Van Dwellers" "The Bread Line" etc. Drawings by BERNARD J. ROSENMEYER. Sketches by CHAUNCEY GALE, and maps, etc., from MR. CHASE'S note book. 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