L 
 
 / l*t y 
 C. P**,
 
 MAN 
 
 BOTHER TALES. 
 
 n 
 
 Awtlior of JEKOJie, Z J.e Dead Iflarrjuise, etc. 
 
 A I, B A X Y : 
 
 THE ^RGUS COMPANY. PRINTERS. 
 1878.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, ill the year 1878, by 
 
 THE ARGUS COMPANY, 
 in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 flte following stories were written, with a single 
 exception, for the columns of THE ARGUS, of 
 Albany, JV! Y. 
 
 Four of them have already appeared in successive 
 Christmas members of that well-known journal- the 
 fifth PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT now for the 
 first time makes its salutation to the public, and in 
 advance of any different form of issue. The remain 
 ing story THE SECRET OF APOLLOXIUS SEPTRIO 
 was published many years ago, anonymously, and 
 under a less appropriate title.
 
 3:0 
 
 an 
 
 in, token of
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 HANNIBAL S M.AN, 9 
 
 }N THR^EE HEADS, 55 
 
 THE GHOSTS AT PRANTLEY, 12^ 
 
 THE SECRET OF^FOLLONIUS SEPTRJO, i 79 
 
 PRIOF^ PoLYCAHP s PORTRAIT, 247 
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE PNOME, 309
 
 OW that the earliest buds and blossoms of 
 Spring are peeping stealthily above the more 
 protected borders of the glacier, or from certain 
 sheltered nooks of the surrounding snow-crowned 
 slopes, it is one of my chiefest pleasures to wander 
 forth and gather them as precious trophies, for the 
 adornment of our mountain-cabin. This I do, not 
 loving flowers for themselves. In my own land, the 
 sweetest rose-buds, in the most romantic woodland 
 nooks, would be passed by me unnoticed. But here, 
 in the Alpine fastnesses, where for so many months 
 the land lays fettered with snow and ice, and even 
 chance passengers do not often journey by, those 
 flowers are to me a type of coming Spring, a joy, 
 in that they speak of partial release from hyperbo 
 rean bondage, a memento of the softer climate of 
 my own far-off country ; and as such I value them, 
 apart from any sentiment connected with their own 
 mere intrinsic beauty. 
 
 Why then, since all the while my heart thus 
 remains fixed upon the congenial memories of my 
 native home, do I linger in this land of wintry 
 captivity and cheerlessness? It is very easy to 
 explain, indeed, why at the first I took refuge in such
 
 12 HANNIBAL s MAN. 
 
 a lonely region. Disappointment in certain cher 
 ished hopes, chagrin about baffled ambitions, the 
 inevitable sadness engendered through failure in a 
 friendship where most securely I had learned to 
 trust, these several influences combined to create 
 in me a temporary dislike of all the world, its society, 
 restraints, and interests, and thereby drove me away 
 to these Alpine wilds, where, more completely than 
 elsewhere, I thought that I might avoid encounter with 
 mankind. And yet, now that at last the morbid in 
 fluence has left me, and once more I learn to pine after 
 the pleasures and pursuits of the outer world, why do I 
 linger longer in this enforced seclusion and only from 
 the mountain heights gaze longingly into the sunny 
 valleys through which so easily I might journey to 
 my home ? Surely I do not love the mountains. 
 Their unchanging outlines weary me, their passing 
 lights and shades afford me no variety, their wintry 
 blasts enfeeble me, their rude, uncouth inhabitants 
 repel me. In the whole range of snow-crowned 
 peaks I can gather no kindling of romance to inspire 
 me with the least enthusiasm ; for me the dearest 
 place on earth must ever be my little dingy home in 
 the narrowest of all streets in Heidelberg. Yet here, 
 in this tempestuous spot, I have remained the Winter 
 through ; and at last it has been impressed upon me 
 with the certainty of fate, that I shall never leave 
 the Alps again. 
 
 There is one prevailing reason for it all. Before 
 I had remained many weeks in this uncongenial 
 district, and while the freshness of the life of perfect 
 isolation was still most powerful with me, I had
 
 HANXIBAL S MAN. 13 
 
 chanced to see and at once had loved Ursula, She 
 was a simple Alpine maiden of sixteen, herself an 
 orphan, -- brought up in kindly, loving charity 
 within the neighboring convent, and thereby natu 
 rally remaining almost a stranger to the outer world, 
 knowing, indeed, no other home than that of the 
 circumscribing convent walls. I loved her, at the 
 first meeting with her, for the soul-lit beauty of her 
 face and the unapproachable graces of her lithe 
 figure ; and she, childlike and trusting, loved me in 
 return, inasmuch as she had learned to look upon me 
 as marked with something different from the cross 
 
 o o 
 
 boorishness around her. Therefore, while yet the 
 world remained distasteful to me, I had yielded to the 
 impulse of my sudden love for her, and led her away, 
 as my precious bride, to that little cabin set apart 
 upon the mountain-side. 
 
 There we have lived in happy freedom from all 
 outward intrusion ; but now that there has come 
 again to me a yearning for the past and its familiar 
 scenes, it is mingled with a strange dread of making 
 the attempt to realize them. For how may I dare 
 to hope that Ursula can ever adapt herself to that 
 other and more artificial life, of which, as yet, she 
 has never even read ? And how, more especially, 
 I ponder, can I venture, with due regard for my 
 own peace of mind, to lead her into that outer world, 
 where she would see other men, between whom and 
 myself, so easily she could make comparison unfavor 
 able to me ? For, in my heart there is an exceeding 
 jealous nature, which I never can subdue. I know 
 that she has chosen me because I am different in her
 
 14 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 eyes from any of the rough, uncouth people around 
 her. And yet I am not of stalwart form or of pre 
 possessing mien. Much delving over hidden roots 
 of dead languages has taken from me all possible 
 graces of the body. I know that, in a different 
 land, she could not fail to see many men whom, for 
 their appearance, she would naturally prefer to me. 
 While I reside upon the Alpine slope, apart from 
 others of our race, I can remain to her ignorant, 
 untutored eyes a god ; but among different men, 
 how can I answer for it that her simple, childlike 
 nature, thinking no harm, but merely influenced by her 
 instinctive love for the grand and beautiful, might 
 not become warped from its true regard for me ? 
 Better a life-long seclusion, indeed, than that this 
 should happen. And so, while thinking upon my 
 own country, with a longing that knows no rest, 
 month after month, I find myself lingering among 
 the sterile mountains. And telling Ursula that the 
 world outside is very cruel, and, if possible, more 
 forbidding even than among the avalanches, I press 
 her close to my heart and glory in the pleasant 
 deception which I feel would retain me ever constant 
 in her sweet affection. 
 
 "And now, thinking only of our mutual love and 
 letting the outer world pass by, unheeded, we will 
 vander forth once more," I said to her this morning, 
 "and search for early flowers. Last week, indeed, 
 we looked in vain : but since then the sun has shone
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 15 
 
 out warmly, and already I see signs that the buds 
 are sprouting below, against the glacier banks." 
 
 " Why should we go to-day ? " she hesitatingly 
 rejoined. "For listen how the convent-chapel bells 
 are even now warning me." 
 
 " I hear the bells, far down the Pass, tollino- a 
 
 1 O 
 
 requiem," I said. " It is the requiem of the chamois 
 hunter who was killed two days ago. But ho\v can 
 that affect yourself?" 
 
 " I know not, except that these things always seem 
 to influence my lot, however they may seem to apply 
 toothers," she responded, -a shiver of apprehension 
 passing over her frame. "Do you not know that I 
 am the convent s child, and under its protection ? 
 And so whenever I am about to encounter peril, a 
 kindly warning is sounded out to me from the bells. 
 While, if it is a coming joy, so do the bells announce 
 that, as well. Doubtless the bells are now ringing 
 for the slain chamois hunter ; but if it was not also 
 meant as a warning to myself, I should not now be able 
 to hear them. The wind would carry the sound the 
 other way, or it would be deadened to my ears. But 
 listen now to the dirge, how close it sounds, even as 
 though the bells were just outside ! " 
 
 " It is a foolish fancy, Ursula," I said ; " and one 
 that would not no\v come to you, but for long con- 
 fin":v.p.r.t. in the house. The purer air abroad will 
 dissipate such vagaries. Come, let us depart ; for 
 I know that since we were last at the Glacier, fresh 
 flowers have been born to greet and cheer us." 
 
 It was as I had supposed. Ere long, in a little 
 recess where the rocks receded from the icy abra-
 
 16 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 eion, I found a tuft or two of grass amid thin layers 
 of fast dissolving snow-wreaths; and in the center of 
 all, a clump of pale lilly-shaped crocuses. I severed 
 them carefully from the ground and first twined 
 three or four in Ursula s thick tresses. Then hold 
 ing the others in my hand for the decoration of our 
 cabin, I turned with her upon the homeward path. 
 Yet before departing, feeling moved by some indefin 
 able curiosity, I approached the edge of the great 
 Glacier and gazed down upon it. 
 
 The vast icy sea here and there was cracked and 
 broken roughened in wide portions as though, at 
 one time, watery waves had been raised upon it by 
 the wind, and frozen by instantaneous blast ; and 
 throughout its greatest extent, was covered with 
 sheets of snow, laying many feet deep upon it. In 
 certain spots, however, the snow had either blown 
 or melted away, and in other places the surface of 
 the ice had liquified and again been frozen with 
 glassy smoothness. This happened to have been the 
 case just where now I stood; and I could look down 
 many inches into the clear, unruffled depths of the ice, 
 almost with the same ease and distinctness with 
 which one can gaze into a quiet pool belonging to a 
 running spring. 
 
 O I O 
 
 "See, Ursula !" I said, after a moment, and point 
 ing downward. " A log." 
 
 It lay, apparently, two feet below the surface of 
 the ice, indistinct and shadowy in form, but evidently 
 a log. What else, indeed, could it be ? 
 
 " Yes, a log," remarked Ursula. " Can it have 
 been there very long do you think?"
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 17 
 
 "Who knows? For centuries, perhaps," I said. 
 And then, a little proud, it may be, of my power to 
 instruct, I told her all I knew about the theory of 
 the glacial formations. How that this same river 
 of ice had been forming from above for many gen 
 erations and working downward upon its rocky bed, 
 at the rate of a few inches every year, until at last it 
 would decompose and melt away into the valley 
 below. How that it had the faculty of grasping and 
 concealing within its icy embrace, more securely than 
 within miser s chest, whatever might cross its path ; 
 but how that after long periods, it might even be 
 after many centuries, it was always forced to release 
 its prey, which, from the melting of the surface of 
 the ice and possibly from some inherent power of 
 self-extrication, would gradually work up into the 
 outer air and become forever free. How that this 
 same log, imprisoned for so long, was now doubtless 
 upon the point of attaining its release, and in a few 
 months would float away on mountain stream, down 
 to the sea itself. 
 
 " And we will watch it in its efforts after freedom, 
 my love," I said, as we returned to our home. " It 
 will be a pleasant pastime for us during the passage 
 of the Summer." 
 
 A very little thing, indeed, for me to interest 
 myself about, after my enlarged communications of 
 the past witli the outer world. And why, in fact, 
 do I not only ponder long upon it after our return, 
 but even write down the whole circumstance in 
 exact detail ? Hardly do I know, or even whether 
 it is one or several causes that impel me. It may be
 
 18 HANSiBAils MAN. 
 
 that I give heed to such a trifle simply because there 
 is no other way to occupy my time. It may be that 
 through want of proper exercise for it, my mind is 
 already losing its proper tone and attuning itself to 
 trivial things. And it may be, after all, that I am 
 influenced by the desire to make true record of 
 Ursula s superstitious fancies at the moment when 
 her very words are still fresh in my memory ; so 
 that hereafter reading them, and acknowledging that 
 no misfortune has come to her, she will learn to dis 
 possess herself forever of such vagaries. It is not 
 pleasant to see her sitting beside the fire, her head 
 buried reflectively between her hands, and her whole 
 attitude that of one moodily brooding over a mys 
 tery. Rather should she learn to laugh merrily at 
 the whole conception of a warning from the con 
 vent bells. 
 
 A week has slowly passed away ; and this 
 morning we have repaired once more to the Glacier. 
 When there before, I carefully marked the position 
 of the log ; and from my close measurements, I now 
 find that the whole body of ice has moved one inch 
 along the bank. This, of itself, would make little 
 change. But meanwhile the sun has been hot, and 
 the sloping of the surface of the ice from the center 
 of the Glacier has allowed the melted portions to 
 run off, and I can now see clearly that the log has 
 been brought much nearer to the surface than before, 
 so that I can inspect it with increasing distinctness 
 of observation. And I now find that, though a log,
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. iy 
 
 it bears something of the shape of a man ; a branch 
 or that which might be a branch, being projected 
 from the side like to an extended arm. 
 
 " And of course it must gather in interest for us, 
 Ursula," 1 remarked, as I pointed out to her this 
 fact. " For now we can plainly see that the log has 
 somd attempt at rude carving. Jn truth, I have 
 little doubt that it is an old-world representative of 
 a heathen god, most probably a statue of Odin 
 himself. Once honored as an idol, this log must 
 have been accidentally thrown into some abyss, to 
 become, after many centuries, a study for our pro 
 fane gaze." 
 
 To Ursula, the theory seems to bring little inter 
 est. How could it be expected, when in all proba 
 bility she has never even heard of Odin? But with 
 myself, it fills the mind with strange speculation. 
 Can it be that, after all, this apparently profitless 
 existence in the Alps is destined to make me famous 
 as the discoverer of a rare relic of an ancient race? 
 
 -Ao-ain an interval of a week, and once more we 
 
 & 
 
 have visited the spot. And now I find that I must 
 alter my previous conjecture. All this while I see 
 that the supposed idol has been gradually approach 
 ing the surface still nearer ; and now that I can 
 examine it more closely, I can detect that it is no 
 mere rude carving of a savage age. A charming 
 bronze statue, rather, of the highest type of art, sc 
 natural is it in its proportions and attitude. A
 
 20 
 
 representation of a warrior in helmet, breastplate 
 and sandals, with shield upon his arm and short 
 sword at his side. One leg is thrown a little for 
 ward, and the shield is raised so as to cover the 
 head ; yet, not sufficiently to conceal a portion of 
 the helmet crest. For many minutes I gazed in 
 almost speechless admiration. 
 
 "A wonderful discovery!" I broke forth at last. 
 " And who can tell how valuable ? To the archaeolo 
 gist, a revelation, to the artist, an inspiration, to 
 us, a possible fortune. Of the age of Augustus, it 
 may be, or even earlier. And how came it here ? 
 For how many centuries may it not have been 
 imbedded in this solid ice ? Ursula, in another 
 fortnight, at the most, \ve can obtain possession of 
 our pri/e. Until then, let us subdue our impatience, 
 and watch to see that no one may spirit it from us." 
 
 And, that no possible precaution maybe neglected, 
 I have sprinkled snow lightly over the spot, lest any 
 other person passing, an improbable circumstance, 
 indeed, may look down into the clear ice and claim 
 my prize. Each day, henceforth, will I sally forth 
 to watch for indications of intrusion. Yet all the 
 while will I struggle to subdue my own impatience, 
 and not look too prematurely upon the statue ; 
 preferring to wait until the elements may deliver it 
 up to me, and then to enjoy, in sudden and complete 
 fruition, the sense of its artistic loveliness.
 
 HAXxrnArSs MAX. 21 
 
 Now let me strive to regulate my thoughts aright, 
 uO the end that I may set do\vn everything in due 
 sequence and in order, without confusion or exaggera 
 tion, and thereby, hereafter reading it with more 
 collected brain, perhaps, may know that it was not 
 a dream. 
 
 This morning the fortnight of probation that I 
 had allotted to myself came to an end, and I could 
 control mvself no longer. Taking a shovel and 
 
 o o 
 
 pickax in either hand, and accompanied by Ursula, 
 I proceeded to the spot where lay my treasure, 
 gazed carefully around to see that even at that last 
 moment there was no danger of intrusion, and then, 
 hurriedly and with nervous hand, brushed away the 
 lijlit covering of snow. 
 
 The warm sun of the advancing Summer had 
 well done its work. The statue was now within a 
 few inches of the surface, and a portion of the up- 
 stretched shield had even begun to obtrude slightly 
 into the outer air. The covering of ice was now 
 soft and brittle. Even the pick was scarcely neces 
 sary for its removal. Carefully scraping around 
 with the shovel, I succeeded in removing most of 
 the incumbent weight of ice ; and at length, to my 
 inconceivable satisfaction, the whole statue lay 
 expose 1 to view. 
 
 I lifted it a few inches from the ice, to assure 
 myself that all was clear and disconnected beneath, 
 and then gently let it fall into place again. I could 
 not but notice that it was scarcely as heavy as it 
 ought to be, for a work of solid bronze ; and yet, for 
 the moment, I suffered my mind to dwell only
 
 22 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 slightly upon that circumstance. The rather did I 
 ponder upon the position and attitude of the statue. 
 It lay, as I have already said, with one leg ad 
 vanced and the shield raised as though to cover the 
 head. A striking pose, indeed ; and yet there was 
 something in it, that, from the first, instinctively 
 confounded me. Then, after a moment, I saw that 
 this arose from the attitude of the statue being such 
 that, if placed upon its feet, it could not sustain 
 itself without external support, the center of grav 
 ity being too far forward and the feet themselves 
 not adjusted upon the same level. Moreover, there 
 were no appearances of outward fastenings, whereby 
 it might possibly have been designed to rest against 
 a column behind. Apart from these mysterious 
 defects, it struck me as a marvelous work of art ; 
 the muscles of arm and leg being admirably defined, 
 and the torso, wherever the termination of the ar 
 mor allowed its display, being a wonder of correctly 
 defined anatomy. 
 
 "What think you of it, yourself, Ursula ?" I 
 inquired, turning towards her. Her gaze was fast 
 ened, as mine had been, upon the statue ; and I 
 looked to see signs of admiration in her expression. 
 But all at once I noticed that she turned pale, a 
 startled gleam of terror shot across her face, she 
 gave a broken scream and fell nearly fainting into 
 my arms. 
 
 "Did you not see?" she gasped, partially recov 
 ering herself. " Look ! The statue has moved ! 
 It moved while I was looking at it ! " 
 
 I turned again, ready to smile at her fears, and
 
 HAX^IBAL S MAN. 23 
 
 deeming her apparent impulse of imagination only a 
 new test of the artistic excellence of the statue, 
 thus enabling her to deceive her own eyes with the 
 contemplation of its life-like truthfulness. But I 
 myself almost gasped with terror when I saw that it 
 had actually moved. The leg was thrown further 
 forward, and the shield had dropped towards the 
 knees, exhibiting what had been previously con 
 cealed, a rugged and unexpectedly aged appear 
 ance of face, partially covered with curling gray 
 beard. The face was bron/ed, indeed, yet of a 
 different color from the rest of the body. And 
 while I looked on with an indefinable apprehension 
 of something, 1 could not for the moment even 
 attempt to explain, the figure rolled its head slightly 
 towards one side, the eyes opened with a tremulous 
 movement, like that of a person exposed to sudden 
 light, and there came the convulsive quiver of a 
 long-drawn breath ! 
 
 "Merciful heavens!" I said, "it is really a living 
 man !" And resting my wife in convenient position 
 upon the bank, I hastened to the relief of the stran 
 ger. I took him in my grasp, placed my hand 
 beneath his head, and so gradually raised him into a 
 sitting posture. To this he submitted without resist 
 ance, appearing, for the moment, like one who had 
 not sufficient perception to comprehend anything 
 that might be done with him. Hut in a few min 
 utes, his eyes becoming more accustomed to the 
 strong sunlight, remained open with less strained 
 aspect; a light of new intelligence the birth of a 
 living soul, as it were began to glow in them.
 
 24 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 changing their lack-lustre appearance into an ani 
 mated sparkle of inner perception; he breathed 
 tremulously once or twice again; then drew up one 
 leg in more easy attitude between his extended 
 hands, and gazed inquiringly at 7ne. 
 
 " Who are you ?" I demanded, with little hope, 
 however, of being understood. And in this opinion I 
 w as correct, for he merely gazed upon me with puzzled 
 expression, left his eyes to rove up and down my 
 dress with something of a dawning smile, and answer 
 ed me in certain uncouth sounds, which were as in 
 comprehensible to me as mine had doubtless been to 
 him. Meanwhile, Ursula, having somewhat recov 
 ered from her first fright, arose and approached us, 
 her curiosity apparently overpowering any remains 
 of fear. 
 
 " I see it all now, Ursula," I said to her, anxious not 
 merely to give to the facts that sensible explanation 
 which would remove from them all suspicion of the 
 supernatural, but also not unwilling once more to 
 exhibit my capacity to instruct. " I see it all. He 
 is merely a man, like myself, and not a statue." 
 
 " And he has come 
 
 " Who knows from where or how long ago ? But 
 that he is a living man, how can we doubt? You 
 have never heard, perhaps, how that certain animals 
 have been brought to life again, after long exclusion 
 from the air. Or how that there are fishes that may 
 be fro/en, and, after months, thawed out alive. What 
 is that se:-ret power of retention of existence, which 
 belongs to some brutes and srems forbidden to man 
 kind ? Or is there really any such power that we do
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 25 
 
 not have as well as the brutes, being, as yet, merely 
 ignorant of its proper application ? Some persons 
 have conjectured the latter, indeed; and have lono- 
 wearied their brains in efforts to solve the enigma 
 and apply to the human race those principles which 
 preserve the brutes. Once or twice it has been 
 believed that the secret was really discovered ; but 
 yet the result could not be tested, for want of some 
 one sufficiently confident or enthusiastic to allow of 
 the experiment being tried upon his own person." 
 
 " And you believe that here " 
 
 " Here, Ursula," I continued, delighted to find that 
 she had so readily grasped the idea, " here, it seems to 
 me, that nature has at last taken the experiment into 
 her own hands, and, by what we would call an acci 
 dent, has fulfilled all the necessary conditions for the 
 continued suspension of the existence of a human 
 being. At some far distant time, this man must 
 have been overwhelmed near the mountain-top in a 
 sudden fall of avalanche, the wreaths of snow grad 
 ually thereafter turning into ice and so begirting 
 him as to retain his vitality in suspense, and thereby 
 hinder corruption. lie- has formed a portion of the 
 Glacier for many centuries, perhaps ; and now, at 
 the melting of the ice, near the mountain base, he is 
 at last released alive, for our edification and instruc 
 tion. Truly, he may yet prove of more value than 
 many mere statues of bronze or marble." 
 
 Meanwhile, the man, gaining confidence in his 
 
 powers during those few moments, had slowly 
 
 gathered his forces together and now raised himself 
 
 into a standing position. Tottering weakly, at first, 
 
 3
 
 26 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 indeed ; but soon recovering more of his strength, 
 so that, with all his ripeness of age, he was able to 
 assume something of an erect and self-possessed 
 posture, as of a soldier on guard. Little by little, 
 and yet with such steady gradation that I could per 
 ceptibly watch its progress, full restoration to what 
 must have been his former state came upon him. 
 Some hitherto latent natural heat of the body 
 evolved itself ; and, in a moment, the moisture of 
 his scanty dress that unavoidable moisture with 
 which his long detention in the ice must have 
 imbued him began to pass off in visible steam, 
 and soon he stood dry and comfortable as though 
 raised from flowery bank. The first pallor of his 
 complexion, tinged with livid green, faded away, 
 giving place to as ruddy a glow of health as old a.ge 
 can ever expect to exhibit, and evidently his blood 
 commenced a new circulation after its long stagna 
 tion. Momentarily his eye grew brighter and more 
 earnest in its intensity. I could not help marveling 
 at the change. A few moments before, and though 
 recognizable as a human being, he had lain at my 
 feet, imbued with all the repulsive attributes of a 
 corpse. Now he stood a well formed man, as 
 athletic in appearance as might be consonant with 
 wrinkles and gray hairs, instinct with health and 
 ambition, animated with a certain pleasing dignity 
 of manner which could not fail to impress me with 
 a consciousness of what he might have been in the 
 long past days of youth or even middle age. 
 
 "Come," I now merely said; and taking him by 
 the arm, I led him away, while Ursula walked at
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 27 
 
 his other side, ready to give him her support, as well, 
 if his so recently recovered strength should chance 
 to give way. But that there was no danger of this, 
 however, I could soon observe. He had recovered 
 his forces not readily again to part with them. In 
 silence he suffered himself to be conducted away, 
 evidently mystified with the singularity of his situ 
 ation, but not in the least realizing his true condition, 
 nor where he had been brought to life, nor, at the 
 moment, able to reconcile the present scenes with 
 the cloudy torrent of past recollections sweeping 
 through his bewildered brain. Most likely his latest 
 memories must have been about matters that seemed 
 not many hours old. How, then, he must have 
 speculated, did he conic hither and among persons 
 so strangely clothed? I could see with what con 
 fused curiosity lie glanced at the dress of Ursula 
 and myself; a curiosity which was not at all dimin 
 ished as he surveyed, on reaching home, the archi 
 tecture of our cabin, as well as the furniture and 
 implements within. 
 
 And there at last he sleeps, lying across my 
 hearth, in curled up posture like a dog. I look down 
 upon his outstretched arm still grasping his shield, 
 his other hand wildly tossing to and fro, in the agi 
 tation of his broken slumber, I listen to his loud 
 breathing, and I watch the flickering firelight play 
 upon his wrinkled face and tangled gray locks. 
 And again and again I ask myself who he mav be ! 
 
 ~ O -/ 
 
 Of what nation and of what distant age? And 
 what must have been the dire extremity of that na 
 tion, that for its defence, even old age must thus
 
 28 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 have been summoned to the camp and forced to 
 bear the sword and buckler? 
 
 We have given food and shelter to the stranger, 
 and now for many weeks he has been abiding with 
 us. At first I supposed that he would have taken 
 early opportunity to depart, as escaping from im 
 agined captivity ; but such was not the case. He 
 seemed, indeed, rather indisposed to suffer me to go 
 out of his sight, as though deeming himself lost 
 without me. Whether his long dormant system 
 needed repose of another kind, or whether he has 
 been uncertain whither he could betake himself if 
 he fled, I do not know. But for many days at a 
 time he has remained in a listless, indolent state, sit 
 ting in his armor at my cabin door, with some 
 thing of the same indifference for the future with 
 which an Indian, surfeited with the fruits of the 
 chase, will lie around his wigwam ; and if I move 
 away upon any exploration of the neighborhood, I 
 find him tagging at my heels like a dog, apparently 
 uneasy in mind until he sees me safely home again. 
 
 Little by little I have made my own discoveries 
 about him. And almost from the very first, I have 
 ascertained my error regarding his age. For after 
 all he is not an old man, tottering in enforced 
 military servitude, to assist the waning fortunes of 
 an imperiled state. Those earliest appearances of 
 decrepitude were nothing more than the natural 
 results of long confinement from the light and air ;
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. -29 
 
 and under the new conditions in which he is placed, 
 they have passed away almost like a morning mist. 
 At first, with the influence of food and warmth, the 
 gray locks seemed to gain life, and rapidly changed 
 to a dark, rich brown. Then the complexion 
 softened into the soft hue of youth, and little by 
 little each ugly wrinkle cleared away. After that 
 the form grew more erect, gaining at least three or 
 four inches in height. And so, step by step, the 
 seemingly old man has grown young, and in less 
 than a fortnight, has recovered all his natural 
 beauty and elasticity, and stands disclosed to us a 
 glorious creature, strong, athletic and alert, with 
 the air and manner of a god, every limb moulded 
 with more than artistic excellence, the face radiant 
 with intelligence, the whole creature instinct with 
 almost every quality of physical perfection that har 
 moniously can adorn manhood. 
 
 Noticing this change, I have made other discov 
 eries concerning him. And commencing at the first 
 with matters of mere habit and costume, I have 
 noticed that the shield, which still as by force of 
 custom he bears around with him, is not of iron, as 
 I had at first supposed, but is of stiffened layers of 
 bull s hide, bound together with metal rivets. There 
 are strange characters embossed upon it, however, 
 defying my interpretation ; and the crest of his 
 helmet together with the projections of his breast 
 plate, bear unknown figures by way of ornamenta 
 tion. Once I have seen him prostrated in devotional 
 attitude before the rising sun. Who, indeed, I 
 then again for the hundreth time said, can be this
 
 30 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 creature, strangely raised into life from his icy tomb ? 
 In regard to this, however, I have not been long 
 in gaining some knowledge. I cannot, as yet, it is 
 true, decipher the inscriptions upon shield or hel 
 met, and for a time his language seemed merely a 
 series of uncouth articulations ; nor could I detect 
 the slightest recognizable sound in the utterances, 
 which, at certain moments, he instinctively poured 
 forth. But I have been, in past years, a diligent 
 student in languages, giving myself up to the philo 
 sophy of philology and fond of tracing up modern 
 sounds into their Sanscrit and Shemitic roots ; and 
 thus it chanced that a few days ago I fancied that 
 in a random utterance of this strange creature, I 
 detected a familiar articulation. Upon this, I grew 
 more intent, and with similar utterances of my own, 
 encouraged him to speak. Little by little I managed 
 to connect his articulation with ancient roots, the 
 one running into the other and then back again so as 
 to form an almost incomprehensible maze, yet fraught 
 with certain suggestions of method. And this very 
 
 OO 
 
 morning it has happened that a single expression 
 of his has let into my mind a flood of light. All 
 the loose ends of uncertainty have now gathered 
 themselves into place, making a woven web of con 
 sistency. And, with a thrill of joy I have discov 
 ered that, by using simple expressions, I am able to 
 converse with him in his own language. 
 
 "Who are you?" of course, was my first inquiry 
 " I am one of Hannibal s men," he answered. " We 
 are on our way across these mountains to attack the 
 Romans."
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 31 
 
 "And how came you here ? " I continued. 
 
 "That is what I scarcely know," he responded. 
 K We left Carthage a few months ago, and went to 
 Hispania. And when, by force of arms, we had occu 
 pied that country, we set out across the mountains 
 to attack Rome. On the route I must have fallen 
 into the snow, and been detained. But where, now, 
 is the army ? And where is Hannibal?" 
 
 "The army is gone, all dead and gone, and 
 Hannibal as well," I answered. " You think that 
 your mischance happened a few days past, do you 
 not ? Know, on the contrary, that it is more than 
 twenty centuries ago." 
 
 "And what, then, is a century ? " 
 
 " That is to say, over twenty hundred years ago," 
 I explained. 
 
 " Do you think me a fool, to tell me such a story 
 as that ?" he exclaimed, with indignation. And for 
 the moment, he would listen to no word further 
 from me, but resolutely and speechlessly turned 
 his back. And I could see that, with the revival of 
 new thoughts, his glance passed inquiringly and long 
 ingly across the crest of that Alpine range, as though 
 he might yet, in some far off point, behold a section 
 of the long vanished cohorts winding its way across 
 some open space. 
 
 Meanwhile, I have one duty to perform, and that 
 is, to call the attention of the scientific world to the 
 examination of my prize. I have the gift of 
 language sufficiently to converse with him, but I 
 have not the archa3ological ability to make our con 
 versation properly available. There are those alive
 
 32 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 who know how to examine him, through me, for the 
 determination of important questions of antiquity; 
 and I feel that I must lose no time in giving them 
 the opportunity. 
 
 Will it be believed ? So incredulous is the world, 
 that all my efforts have been of no avail. I had 
 thought to confer upon the world of science, art and 
 history a benefit, in making it acquainted with my 
 strange guest. But though I have written to scien 
 tific and antiquarian devotees in every direction, my 
 letters have elicited no response. Each person has 
 seemed to believe, either that I am practicing upon 
 his credulity or that I am bereft of my senses. 
 Indeed, in a German paper, yesterday, I read a 
 republication of one of my letters, with sarcastic 
 comments upon my sanity. There has not been one 
 answer to all my appeals; and instead of the crowds 
 of archaeological inquirers whom I had expected to 
 see pressing forward to my home, there remains 
 almost unbroken solitude, still, only the Cartha- 
 genian soldier, Ursula and myself. 
 
 Therefore, I now give up my efforts, and leave 
 the world to that forgetfulness it deserves. Mean 
 while, of all the three, Ursula, at least, has not been 
 idle. Her womanly sympathy has been aroused, 
 and she has desired to have the heathen soldier 
 instructed in the mysteries of our faith. In vain I 
 have proposed to instruct him rather in those usages 
 and appliances of modern times, which, for his 
 own comfort, it is most befitting that he should
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 33 
 
 know. To every such demand upon my part she 
 has had some ready answer with which, for the 
 moment, to overcome me. Therefore have I yielded 
 to her, and day after day have sat before the two, 
 interpreting her instructions to him. 
 
 And all this has turned out as I anticipated. To 
 her arguments upon the mysteries of our religion, 
 he has exhibited utter inability of comprehension, 
 while his attention has sorely wandered. To her 
 narration of gospel history, he has manifested 
 incredulity rather than want of interest. In no 
 respect has he exhibited any serious regard to her 
 word,-?, indeed, except where she has spoken about the 
 feast and ceremonies belongino- to the cnurch. Pos- 
 
 o o 
 
 sibly he has found something in them akin to the 
 usages of his own religion, thus awakening his mem 
 ories of home. Doubtless, also, youth and vigor, 
 accustomed to a life of gayety and pleasure, could 
 not well fail to find some excitation of spirit in the 
 recapitulations of observances relating to occasional 
 admitted abandonments of discipline. Carthage, 
 doubtless, had its feast days ; and it is easy for him 
 to confound with these, the more serious and well 
 tempered festivities of the modern church. 
 
 And amidst all this, there has come to me a new 
 reflection, instinct witli terrible anxiety. To-day I 
 have happened to note, more narrowly than I have 
 ever done before, what a very handsome young 
 soldier this man of Hannibal chances to be, how 
 well-formed are his features and how gracefully 
 poised, his head, how finely shaped are his limbs, 
 and how becomingly his armor sets them off, how
 
 34 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 he stands in height a head and shoulders over me. 
 And gazing stealthily towards my wife, I note how, 
 from time to time, she turns her head in his direc 
 tion ; drawn thitherward in unconscious, unsuspect 
 ing admiration of that wonderful physical beauty. 
 I know that her heart is faithful to me ; and yet 
 I begin to think that the time might easily come, in 
 the which her admiration could unwittingly change 
 to love and I lose all. I have lived for months in 
 this desert solitude, so repugnant to me, only that I 
 may let her see no other man than myself, and 
 .thereby be released from any chance of suffering 
 through ungenerous comparison. Must all my pre 
 cautions now be set at naught by the presence of this 
 warlike young heathen Adonis ? Truly I must get 
 rid of him as soon as possible. 
 
 It is accomplished; and to my mingled gratifica 
 tion and surprise, more easily than I had anticipated. 
 
 "Why do you linger here?" I said to him this 
 morning. "Have you no wish to go back to the 
 land of your birth, to your own native Carthage ? 
 Though you may not see it in all respects as you left 
 it, will it not be something to see it at all and in 
 any condition whatsoever?" 
 
 " You say well," he answered, starting up, as with 
 the impulse of an entire new thought. " I will go 
 thither at once. Only put me in the way of it." 
 
 Thereupon I have marked out his route for him 
 and told to what ports he must hie, and how thence
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 35 
 
 he could cross over to the opposite shore of Africa. 
 And fearing, lest through the singularity of his cos 
 tume, he may be detained ere he is well on his way, 
 I have persuaded him to lay aside his armor, and 
 clothe himself in the fashion of the day. To this 
 effect, I have put him into a cast off suit of my 
 own, judiciously altered by Ursula ; and so have 
 bidden him good-by and set him off upon his jour 
 ney. And now, at last, surely I am ridden of him. 
 For I can never even dream that he will be able to 
 thread the mazes of unknown lands expertly enough 
 to find his way back again ; even if, as is very 
 unlikely, he escapes being knocked upon the head, 
 by reason of some unwitting trespass upon the 
 rio-hts of others. 
 
 Trouble upon trouble ! He has been gone only 
 two months; and this day, upon returning from a 
 stroll, to my amazement I beheld him sitting con 
 templative at my cabin door. In disgust of modern 
 usage, he had resumed his antique dress and armor, 
 and now looked more gloriously beautiful than ever. 
 
 "Ha! Can it be?" I exclaimed, and in no hospi 
 table tone. 
 
 " Listen," he said. " I went to Carthage, or what 
 once was such. I crossed to Africa in some sort of 
 a ship, worked by a power to which three banks of 
 galley slaves with oars would be as nothing. I stood 
 at last, not within Cartilage, but only where it had 
 been. There were merely a few sewer arches and
 
 36 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 a broken column or two. Why did you not tell me 
 in advance that this was to be all ? Where are my 
 family, my altars, and my gods? Where is the 
 army, and where is great Hannibal himself ? I begin 
 to believe that I may, indeed, have slept beneath 
 the snow-drifts a little longer than I had supposed. 
 Only a stone or two of the magnificent city now 
 left! and they tell me that the Roman dogs whom 
 we so often slew in heaps, have made all that 
 ruin! " 
 
 " True, it is the Roman dogs that have done it," I 
 responded, eagerly following out the new ti ain of 
 thought. " Why, then, do you not take your revenge 
 in seeing how mercilessly they have been punished 
 in return ? Go now, therefore, to Rome itself, and 
 observe how terribly the barbarians have overrun 
 and devastated it." 
 
 " Yes, I will do that," he exclaimed, his eyes kind 
 ling at the revengeful suggestion. " That sight will 
 give comfort to my heart ! I will go at once and 
 feast upon Rome s misery ! There shall not be an 
 hour s delay! " 
 
 Therefore, once more he has stripped himself of 
 his armor and assumed the less noticeable costume 
 with which I had furnished him. Once more I have 
 bidden him God speed, with the secret hope that he 
 may be so speeded as never to return. 
 
 " And yet," I mutter to myself with secret feeling 
 of foreboding, " if such is to be the sequel, why is it 
 that the bells of the convent chapel are tolling 
 a saddened chime, as though there were misfortune 
 still lurking in the air? If my persecutor is really
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 37 
 
 never destined to return, would not the bells leap 
 up and down in very cadence ? " 
 
 Saying all this, it is not exactly with belief in Ur 
 sula s superstition about the bells. But still, as she 
 there sits, oppressed with the melancholy chiming, 
 her hands pressed over her eyes, in spite of ray better 
 judgment, I cannot help somewhat sympathizing in 
 her mood, and thinking that after all, perhaps, there 
 may be some method in the madness. Did not the 
 bells ring out a requiem upon that unlucky day when 
 first I discovered this terrible disturber of my peace 
 lying in semblance of a senseless log? Throughout 
 the coming months have the bells ever sounded one 
 pleasant note for us, and all the while has not ill- 
 fortune constantly gathered nearer? Is this to last 
 forever, and will the bells never again pour forth 
 one merry peal to cheer us ? 
 
 Now to God be all . Yet let me not too pre 
 maturely hurry to the end ; lest in my haste, forget 
 ting anything now, my recollection may hereafter 
 go astray. 
 
 Last night was Christinas eve. We had prepared 
 our cabin for the festive occasion after the manner 
 of my German home. I had brought greens from 
 the nearest forest, and Ursula and myself had 
 twined them into wreaths, with which we hung our 
 walls, while in the center of the room, after the 
 manner of a chandelier, swung a great clump of 
 larch. As the evening drew on, Ursula had re- 
 4
 
 38 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 tired to rest, promising herself that she would ai ise 
 at earliest dawn and greet the sunrise of Christmas 
 day at the convent-chapel altar. Thereby I was 
 left for the while alone ; and sat before the great 
 fire of blazing, crackling logs, nodding over a favor 
 ite classic, and wishing that I, too, had the resolution 
 to retire. 
 
 All at once I heard a heavy footstep crunching 
 upon the trodden snow outside, then it ceased and 
 there came a sudden furnbling with the latch. A 
 moment more, and the door flew open and I saw the 
 Carthagenian standing outside. Without a word 
 he strode within, and seizing a chair brought it down 
 with a violent crash at the other side of the fire 
 place, and sullenly seated himself. 
 
 " Again returned ! " I cried, still more discour 
 teously than I had spoken at his previous reappear 
 ance. " What ill wind " 
 
 "It is that you have deceived me," he retorted. 
 "Did you not assure me that I would have my 
 revenge in seeing Home in ruins ? " 
 
 "And is it not so?" 
 
 " Here a ruin and there a ruin ; but what is that 
 compared with the utter devastation of my own 
 city ? Do I not, in spite of it, find a city to which 
 the whole world presses forward with abject rever 
 ence ? Do I not find families there existing, which, 
 with more or less certainty, profess to be the descend 
 ants of the very race that made desolation of my 
 own ? Do I not there see, almost uninjured, the 
 tomb of the very man who led his hosts against us ? 
 Are not the annals still remaining, which show the
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 39 
 
 full story of our misfortune and disgrace ? Am I 
 to be satisfied, therefore, Avith the crumbling of a 
 circus or the rending apart of a temple or two? 
 What revenge is there in all that, indeed ? Yes, you 
 have deceived me ! " 
 
 " I offered you the best revenge I could," was my 
 retort. " What better could I do ? " 
 
 " And is it so, that such is the best thing the 
 world can give me?" lie responded. "Then do I 
 want nothing more from the world. I Avill abstain 
 from it altogether. In future, this quiet spot shall 
 be enough for me." 
 
 "What mean you?" I cried, struck with a horri 
 ble foreboding. " You intend 
 
 " I intend here to rest. Why should I go further 
 into a world that brings to me merely scenes of 
 misery and. discomfort ? Now I know that my race 
 and city, that the army and great Hannibal him 
 self are all gone, even as you first told me. Here, 
 then, will I remain, content to ask no other place." 
 
 There was then silence for a few moments. He 
 gazed moodily into the fire, I sat pretending to 
 look upon my book, but found the letters swimming 
 before me, as I reviewed the terrible fact that this 
 man was about to fasten himself upon my whole 
 life like a hideous incubus. Suddenly he started, 
 raised his head and drawing off from his finger a 
 large richly chased gold ring, placed it upon the 
 open page before me. 
 
 "Listen!" he cried. "She "and he nodded 
 significantly towards the other room, " has tried to 
 teach me to believe in your gods. I believe in them
 
 40 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 not, my own are sufficient for me. But yet, there 
 are certain customs of your faith which are not all 
 bad. To-night, I am told, is the night when in 
 memory of the birth of one of your gods, men are 
 wont to make gifts to each other. It is a good cus 
 tom. So, there ! Take that ring, therefore, for your 
 own. I got it with a Hispanian princess. I took the 
 princess, also, but I gave her away to my friend. 
 The ring only did I keep, and now it is yours." 
 
 "And what" I said. 
 
 "What shall you give me in return?" he cried. 
 " What else, indeed, should you give me other than 
 herself?" And again he pointed significantly 
 towards the door of the other room. " I cannot live 
 altogether alone, and she pleases me. Long enough 
 already have you had her ; and I know that she will 
 soon learn to love my youth and manhood the best." 
 
 " And do you think that I will consent to " 
 
 " Dog ! " he cried, ferociously starting up. " Dog 
 of Roman descent, it may be ! Dare you object ? 
 Do you think we of Carthage ravaged Hispania 
 and crossed these mountains to be thwarted in Avhat- 
 ever we desire ? Are we not the conquerors ? 
 Oppose me, and I will crush your poor limbs together 
 at a single blow ! " 
 
 I listened to him with horror. My blood curdled 
 within me. There was no doubt that, if it came to 
 force, he could do as he threatened and crush me 
 like an egg-shell. Nor could I protect my rights by 
 appealing to his reason or to the laws. The latter 
 were too far off from me. in my isolation, the for 
 mer was not susceptible of guidance, in his present
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 41 
 
 distorted state of mental vision. For I could see 
 that he mingled the past with the present in such 
 blinded shape as not to realize that the right as well 
 as the might was not with him. He forgot, or 
 rather could not comprehend, how many centuries 
 had elapsed since the army had crossed the Alps 
 in conquering array. Though all were now dust, 
 mere memories of a long-buried past, to him 
 there was remaining all the glory of a dominant 
 race, gilding his armor and making his recollec 
 tions glow with pictures as of yesterday. In his 
 sight I was no other than one of a subjected people, 
 rightfully given up to pillage ; and to him would 
 Ursula appertain as spoil wrested from a slavish 
 race. 
 
 "Let us talk this over," I gasped forth at length, 
 perceiving the necessity of temporizing with him. 
 " You say well that this Christmas time is the period 
 for exchanging gifts. But the exchange should 
 be more equal than what you propose. Stay ! we 
 will talk the matter over at our leisure with a bottle 
 of Falernian. You must before this have heard 
 our Roman drink well-spoken of. And now, what 
 more have you to offer for her?" 
 
 Gladly I saw that he was not disposed to be 
 ungenerously exacting ; and, for the sake of peace 
 between us, would come to fair terms, even at some 
 fancied sacrifice to himself. Therefore we seated 
 ourselves at different sides of the table, and com 
 menced what was with me a deceptive negotiation. 
 Under pretense of the Falernian, I brought out a 
 bottle of wine, strong and insidious, such as he 
 4*
 
 42 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 could never have drank of before ; and filling up his 
 glass, I bade him propose his terms. He drank, and 
 I could see the liquid mount with irresistible effect, 
 into his eyes. He would give for Ursula his brace 
 let, nay, he no longer had that, having gambled it 
 away during the Hispanian campaign, but he would 
 give his helmet and his shield, if those were not 
 enough, he knew where, before leaving Hispania, he 
 had buried a cup full of coin, and he Avould take me 
 to the spot, he would give up for her, if necessary, 
 his gods themselves. And so, profusely babbling 
 forth his vain offers, at last his stupefied head sank 
 slowly upon the table, and thence he gently slid 
 upon the floor, and there at full length, slept. 
 
 Then, restraining the momentary impulse to 
 brain him as he lay, and thus, with one felonious 
 blow, rid myself forever of the torment of his per 
 secutions, I merely threw a long cloth over him to 
 hide him from my sight, and opening the door that 
 led into our chamber, called out to Ursula. 
 
 " Arouse yourself, Ursula," I said. " Dress in all 
 haste and let us depart from here. There is work 
 before us and it must not be delayed." 
 
 "And whither 
 
 " Ask me not now. At some other time I will tell 
 you. For the present, give little rein to your 
 thoughts, and hasten." 
 
 In silence and in full trust that at the proper time 
 I would reveal my meaning and so ease her wonder 
 ment, Ursula arose, and unhesitatingly prepared to 
 obey me. A few moments, and all being ready, we 
 departed. I led her quickly through the outer room,
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 43 
 
 so quick that by the darkened light, she could not 
 seethe form of the slumbering Carthagenian beneath 
 the extended cloth. And so we hurried forth, and I 
 turned the key in the lock, believing that I was leav 
 ing the cabin forever. What mattered it, after all, 
 as long as thereby I might find some other nook of 
 peace upon the fuither side of the mountain, to 
 which the barbarian could not track us? Whatever 
 of worldly goods I here lost, could I not elsewhere 
 replace? Only let me now make timely flight 
 before the foe had a chance to awaken. 
 
 So long had I been sitting up into the small hours 
 of the night, before the Cathagenian had entered, 
 and so protracted had been our subsequent negotia 
 tion, that it was now near three o clock in the morn 
 ing. The air was cool and crisp, yet not too cold. 
 The snow was firm under foot, and altogether there 
 was no bar to speedy progress. Within an hour or 
 two silently threading the mountain passes, we suc 
 ceeded in putting so great a distance between the 
 barbarian and ourselves, that I feared not to tarry 
 for a few moments rest at a roadside hostelry. This 
 rest we gradually prolonged until it was near morning 
 before we set out again. Then once more we con 
 tinued our route, gradually winding further up the 
 mountain, while each moment with greater confidence 
 I assured myself of safety. But as the stars paled out 
 of the steel-gray sky and the dawn began to appear, 
 I saw far down in the valley, and following upon 
 our track, a single dark speck. I knew that it must 
 be the Carthagenian, too soon awakened and become 
 cognizant of our flight; and anon I perceived, by the
 
 44 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 wild exultant flourish of his shield, that he had de 
 tected our figures in bold relief against the white 
 snow, and was animating himself to more vigorous 
 pursuit. But I said nothing to Ursula about what I 
 had seen, and merely pressed on, more rapidly, if 
 possible, than before. 
 
 Soon as we ascended a slope of the mountain, I 
 could see that our pursuer had already traversed half 
 the remaining distance between us, and my heart 
 grew sick with fear. The road we were traveling 
 led to a village, gaining which, I might feel sure of 
 protection; but this village was still many miles 
 away, with no intervening cabins; and it was certain 
 that before reaching safety, the evening would be 
 upon us. There was only one hope of relief; and 
 that consisted in the chance of losing ourselves from 
 observation in some quiet by-path. This I now re 
 solved upon attempting. 
 
 Between the rocks at my left hand was a narrow 
 path which, leaving the main road, now passed from 
 one mountain slope to the other, crossing, in its pro 
 gress, the great Glacier. Down this we sped, until 
 we stood upon the Glacier itself, half way to its 
 source. Looking back, I could see that our pursuer 
 had not been deceived by my divergence from the 
 main road, but had himself turned aside, and was 
 still vigorously following us. My heart stood al 
 most paralyzed, for, now, alas ! there was no further 
 way of retreat. The only hope was to press on as 
 before and trust to chance. 
 
 Differing from what it was below, the Glacier 
 here was rough and broken, the surface at times
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 45 
 
 raised into unsightly hillocks of ice and snow, amidst 
 which the path wound deviously, here and there, at 
 only a few feet distance, hidden altogether from 
 sight. Slowly we picked our way ; and half across 
 we found that there had opened a crack or crevasse 
 in the surface of the ice, about seven or eight feet 
 broad and of unfathomable depth. At the other 
 side, the path abruptly terminated, and, owing to 
 some alteration in the mountain surface, appeared 
 to be altogether lost. Still I pressed on, however, 
 anxious for the moment only to reach the other 
 side of the crevasse. A loose log lay near, once 
 doubtless embedded in the ice. This log I now 
 placed across the gap, cautiously we assisted each 
 other over to the other side, and there resting, 
 there was nothing left for me to do but, as calmly 
 as possible, to await the inevitable issue. 
 
 Looking around I noticed that the dawn had al 
 ready brightened almost into full daylight, though 
 as yet the sun had not risen. Here and there, how 
 ever, some of the tallest peaks were already gilded 
 with its rays, and swiftly the glorious sheen of light 
 was descending along the mountain sides toward the 
 valley below. In the East the sky was one sea of 
 gold and purple clouds, showing that the sun itself 
 was now close at hand, rapidly climbing into sight 
 and at any moment might appear. Lighter and 
 lighter at each succeeding instant now perceptibly 
 grew the shaded valley. I could easily mark the 
 distant village where for us there would have been 
 
 O 
 
 safety. At one side and seemingly almost at our
 
 4C HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 feet stood the little hostelry where we had passed 
 part of the night, bevond, our own deserted home. 
 The whole broad panoi-ama was gorgeous with 
 natural beauty. Even I, though so accustomed to it 
 and withal so unappreciative, might have delighted 
 in it, but for one terrible blemish. This was the dark 
 spot which all the while, and as yet unperceived by 
 Ursula, was following us as relentlessly as a sleuth 
 hound along the path which we had just traversed; 
 now seemingly at rest, now disappearing entirely 
 from sight behind one of the larger hummocks of 
 ice, then again issuing into view and always nearer 
 than before ! 
 
 Suddenly, Ursula, lifting her eyes to mine and 
 taking me by the hand, broke her long imposed 
 silence. 
 
 " Christmas morning at last," she said. " And 
 now I know why you have brought me hither. It 
 was kindly intended, though it has failed of its pur 
 pose, and therefore I thank you for it." 
 
 "And that purpose 
 
 " It was you must not deny it it was to do 
 this time that which I have so often asked of you 
 to attend with me at the early mass in the convent- 
 chapel. But unaccustomed to the path, you have 
 missed the way. See ! yonder stands the chapel, 
 not so very far away, but that, in the gathering day 
 light we can mark nearly every window, every angle 
 of the roof, can even count the five little bells that 
 hang so motionless in the gable-turret. And look 
 again ! Some of the neighboring villagers are 
 already climbing the ascent to give the mass their
 
 47 
 
 presence. Too late for us, though, now, I think. 
 We should have taken the right-hand path." 
 
 " Too late, indeed !" I said, with inward groan, as 
 I watched the pursuer still nearer than before. 
 
 " But that matters little, after all. For truly, the 
 Vespers may make amends, and there is no better 
 place than this, with only the grand presence of 
 God s nature around us, in which to tell you all that 
 I have so long treasured up to say. I have so 
 ardently waited for this Christmas morning; and 
 now that it has come, I hardly know how or where 
 to begin." 
 
 " Speak out freely from your first thought, dear 
 Ursula," I answered ; and my heart sank lower than 
 ever, as I wondered whether she was about to confess 
 to me, as a secret that could not longer be withheld, 
 her passion for the Carthagenian. 
 
 " It is this, then," she said. " Months ago but 
 where exactly it began, I cannot tell I felt that, 
 for your great love for me, you were giving up all 
 the promise of your future life. I saw it in your 
 abstracted moods when you would seem to pierce 
 through the mountain sides and gaze again, in 
 imagination, upon your own distant home; I 
 knew it from your mutterings in your sleep. Then 
 I perceived that your heart was not in these scenes 
 about us, that you would have loved to return to 
 your own city, and would have cK/ne so, but for one 
 thing." 
 
 " And that one thing, dear Ursula ?" I responded, 
 dreading to learn how nearly she might have probed 
 to the bottom of my suspicious thoughts.
 
 48 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 " Why, what indeed could that one thing be, 
 except that by reason of your love for me, you would 
 not take me from these scenes which you thought I 
 could best enjoy, having been brought up among 
 them ! What, indeed, but that, for my sake, you 
 resolved to school yourself to love these mountains 
 and forget, as much as possible, your own much 
 dearer home? But all the while, had I no love for 
 you, that I should make no sacrifice in return? 
 Therefore it was in my mind to tell you how cheer 
 fully I will depart from here, and go with you 
 whithersoever you would. And so I should have 
 told you many months ago, but for the coming of 
 this Carthagenian." 
 
 " Ah ! The Carthagenian, indeed ! " 
 
 " Then I delayed ; for I saw that in the occupation 
 of fathoming the mystery of his appearance and his 
 tory, you needed no other pursuit to make you 
 happy. And then, too, there came upon me the selfish 
 desire to please myself a little in bringing him, if 
 possible, into the circle of our own dear Church. 
 Therefore, to that intent, I toiled ; finding at first a 
 pleasure in it, then a weariness which only my 
 sense of duty could help me to support, then 
 
 ."But why a weariness, Ursula?" I could not 
 resist exclaiming. " Would not the task be a pleas 
 ant one, always, with so fair a pupil ? " 
 
 " Fair, do you say ? Yes, now that you recall it, 
 he was fair to some extent, though at the time I 
 never thought about it. Strong and well formed, 
 indeed, yet for all that, it must be said, with little 
 soul and intelligence in his face. Possibly, were I
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 49 
 
 like the maidens of this valley, not taught as I have 
 been by union with yourself to put my affections 
 upon those cultured graces that are higher than any 
 mere attractions of the physical frajne, I might have 
 learned to admire that barbarian youth ; but not 
 now not now. None but yourself I think can ever 
 now hold my admiration, much less my love." 
 
 Hearing this, I drew a long breath and could have 
 even slain myself for the late cruel suspicions of my 
 heart. To atone for all must be the business of my 
 future life. And yet, what future life could be des 
 tined for me, with that hated pursuer every moment 
 drawing closer ? 
 
 " And so at last," she continued, " my probation 
 came to an end as the Carthagenian left us, never 
 again, I hope, to return. And when he departed, I 
 would then have told you all, but that it was within 
 a month of this blessed Christmas, and so I thought 
 that I would wait. For thus I reasoned. I have 
 come to you poor and desolate. This is the season 
 for giving gifts ; but what material gift have I that 
 I can confer upon you ? And then I said that it was 
 in my power, after all, to give you what you might 
 value far more than anything else, your freedom 
 from this life that now so heavily weighs you down, 
 the resumption of those olden pursuits in which your 
 heart must be so much interested. Take then, dear 
 husband, upon this Christmas morning, and with 
 whatever rich treasures of my love I can pour out 
 in words, this gift of a newer and more suitable life 
 for yourself. I shall never repine at leaving the 
 mountains. Let us depart at once unto your own 
 5
 
 50 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 * 
 
 uative city. There, as well as here, I shall bask in 
 the sunshine of your love ; and where your love is, 
 there will always be my most happy feeling of 
 home." 
 
 " Is it a dream ? " I said, for the moment over 
 powered by emotion ; forgetting even the present 
 peril we were in, and thinking only to gaze enrap 
 tured upon her face, so radiant with the divine luster 
 of love and truth, and to wonder that I had been 
 so blinded hitherto as not to read aright this faithful 
 heart. And how blinded had I been^ indeed, not to 
 have recognized the certainty that, in the end, even 
 my trials would result in good ! For even at that 
 instant of supreme joy and forgetfulness of peril, I 
 saw how truly the presence of the Carthagenian him 
 self had served its friendly purpose. Apart from 
 him, indeed, Ursula would none the less have made 
 to me, upon this Christmas morning, that priceless 
 gift of self-sacrifice and love. And yet, apart from 
 the memory of him, how could I, in accepting the 
 gift, so completely have crushed out forever all the 
 foolish jealousies of my heai t? Still, but for him, 
 there might have come, in the newer sphere of action, 
 something of the olden dread of other admirations 
 stealing her love away from me. But now that this 
 glorious statuesque beauty thus freshly arisen as 
 from another world had failed to kindle in her heart 
 one response or even recognition of its power to 
 charm, how could I ever doubt again ? 
 
 " Is it a dream?"! therefore repeated. "Or am 
 I indeed awake, and is this a sweet reality? Come 
 to my arms, dearest Ursula ; and upon this blessed
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 51 
 
 Christmas morning, let me in turn confess to 
 you- 
 
 Yet ere I could speak further in acknowledgment 
 of my fault, and tell the bitter story of my late dis 
 trust, I was recalled, as by a flash, to the perception 
 of our present danger ; for glancing up, I saw our 
 dreaded pursuer now clambering over the rugged 
 path not fifty feet away. Ursula, also, then saw him, 
 and in helpless terror sank slowly from my arms. 
 
 "Yes upon your knees now be it!" I cried, 
 " and there pour forth such prayers for our deliver 
 ance as never yet you have learned to utter ! " 
 
 And as I spoke, the enemy came still nearer, until 
 he stood upon the further side of the chasm and 
 faced me. I could see his features aglow with 
 demoniac delight at having finally driven us to a 
 stand. More than ever, too, did he now seem 
 arrayed with glorious beauty of form, as light and 
 athletic in shield and helmet, he there confronted 
 me. Of that stately beauty, indeed, I could no 
 longer hold one jealous feeling; but what hope of 
 rescue could I have from that fierce determination 
 towards wrong which glared so savagely in every 
 feature ? I saw Ursula bowed at my feet in prayer, 
 her face turned with reverential instinct towards 
 the convent chapel ; but how could prayers or chapel 
 aid us there ? As for myself, Avith one vigorous 
 motion of the foot, I hurled the log upon which we 
 had crossed, deep down into the crevasse ; but how 
 could this obstruct one who, with overbearing leap 
 across the chasm, could bear down my feeble frame 
 before him, as if it were a reed ?
 
 s 2 HANNIBAL S MAN. 
 
 "Dog of a mountaineer!" he said. "Will you 
 surrender her to me ? Or must I come thither and 
 wring your base neck before seizing her for my 
 own ! " 
 
 " Barbarian whelp ! " with violence, I retorted, 
 mustering all of my remaining resolution in support 
 of that last torrent of defiance. " If you think that 
 she should be yours, then come across and take her." 
 
 He foamed at the mouth with rage at being thus 
 addressed ; and, for a moment, gazed around for 
 some means of crossing the icy chasm. Finding 
 none, he placed his shield and helmet upon the ice, 
 retired a few paces, the better to make his leap, and 
 then, like the wind bounded forward. 
 
 J ust at that instant, the rising sun peeped aboA r e 
 the mountain, and all the bells of the little chapel 
 rang out their salutation to the new born Christ 
 mas. Was it merely some sudden current of air 
 which carried the sound towards us ? And was it a 
 mere chance that all the bells now so loudly broke 
 forth together? Or, on the other hand, has it been 
 mysteriously so ordered for our protection ? I can 
 not tell, indeed. I only know that though I had 
 often heard the bells in their most lusty peal, I had 
 never listened to them as now. Not one bell, 
 merely not even two or three ; but the whole five 
 bursting out with instant, hurried, tumultuous clash ! 
 Not coming to our hearing as from any distance ; 
 but in one loud, discordant clanging peal breaking 
 in upon our senses, seemingly at our very ears with 
 deafening resonance almost overwhelming us with 
 the sudden concussion of the metallic blast ! Even
 
 HANNIBAL S MAN. 53 
 
 in our instant of peril, it struck upon Ursula and 
 myself as with vital, material force bearing us 
 back helpless with the torrent of sound ! And it 
 came upon our enemy like an avenging stroke at the 
 very critical poise of his onward leap ; so that con 
 fusedly his face turned wildly away, his limbs failed 
 in their proper action, and in that supreme moment 
 of his need, the full energy of his spring deserted 
 him ! 
 
 A moment more and as I gathered my own disor 
 dered faculties together, I saw that my foe had fallen, 
 with his whole body hanging within the crevasse, 
 and supported only by his hands convulsively cling 
 ing to the edge. Vigorous as were his writhings, 
 there was no hope of extrication. Each instant as 
 there he hung, the partially softened ice began to 
 break and splinter away beneath his fingers. One 
 by one they relaxed. For a second I looked upon 
 his face, marked not only with agonized despair, but 
 also with baffled hate as he gazed upon me ; and 
 above all, I could also note, by the strained back 
 ward rolling of his eyes, that the discordant pealing 
 of the bells, in that last moment of vain struggling 
 for his life, was still overmastering and affrighting 
 him. Then his stiffened hands relaxed their 
 enfeebled hold, and falling, he passed forever from 
 my sight. There was nothing left to tell me that it 
 had not been all a dream, except the shield and 
 helmet lying motionless at the further side. 
 
 " Down ! Down once more into your icy tomb !" 
 I cried, in an ecstasy of relief ; while the bells, 
 changing from their first unearthly clamor now broke 
 5*
 
 54 HANNIBAL^S 
 
 into a softly modulated march of triumph. " Lie 
 there, once more, for twenty centuries to come ! It 
 will not be I, who, at their end, will rescue you from 
 your frozen sepulcher and once more warm your 
 viper blood into ungrateful action ! " 
 
 And now, once more and ever, all thanks to God, 
 for that great and wondrous deliverance from peril 
 upon this blessed day ! And let the bells still ring 
 their sympathetic peal of joy, for that upon this 
 Christmas morn my heart has had its jealous clouds 
 thus swept away and thereby gained that richest 
 and most priceless gift of perfect peace and surety !
 
 CHAPTER J 
 
 AGREEABLY to tell the story of the Hille- 
 brandt dream is to repeat, as well, the story 
 of the Van Twiller Christmas party. For, though 
 the Byvanck letter gives faithful and accurate recital 
 of every incident directly appertaining to the dream 
 detailing it with such old-time simplicity and 
 quaintness as cannot fail to commend it lovingly to 
 our regard -yet it must seem, at best, a cold and 
 cheerless narrative; needing, to give it proper life 
 and interest, the warming and enlivening qualities 
 that the description of accompanying festivity can 
 alone supply. And inasmuch as in this pleasant 
 season of the year, all hearts are turned so longingly 
 to whatever whispers thought or circumstance of joy 
 and gladness, it may not seem entirely out of place 
 that these bright tints of family traditional gaieties 
 should now be suffered to weave themselves, at will, 
 upon the sober ground-work of formal family record. 
 Thereby, perchance, the vary-colored threads of inci 
 dent may pass in richer combination through fancy s
 
 58 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 loom, and the whole fabric lie at last revealed in 
 more harmonious aptness of design. 
 
 The invitations to the Van Twiller Christmas 
 party were sent out in goodly season. About the 
 middle of September, Gisbort Van Twiller being 
 obliged, for the first time in ten years, to make a 
 journey down the river, bade solemn farewell to all 
 his family and friends, and embarked at Albany 
 upon the little sloop Mohawk, commanded by Skip 
 per Derrick Roos. Upon that occasion, Gisbort s 
 maiden sister Mistress Lysbeth the careful con 
 ductor of his household since the lamented decease 
 of his wife Elsie taking time by the forelock, 
 stuffed his broad-flapped pockets full of ceremonious 
 notes to many of the quality of New York, Brook 
 lyn and Westchester, requesting their presence at 
 the Van Twiller mansion upon the evening of the 
 ensuing Christmas. One of these missives was to 
 His Excellency Lieutenant-Governor DeLancey, then 
 acting Governor of the Colony, others to members 
 of his Privy Council and to officers of the army in 
 garrison at Fort George, near the Bowling Green; 
 arid though it was scarcely to be expected that any of 
 these persons could really lend their presence inas 
 much as a winter journey to Albany in that year of 
 grace 1758 was not a thing lightly to be entered 
 upon yet, as Gisbort Van Twiller was a man of 
 great note in the Colony by reason of his vast landed 
 property, it was felt to be no more than proper that 
 he should give to all existing civic and military dig 
 nitaries the compliment of an invitation. These 
 formal notes were accordingly delivered by Gisbort
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 59 
 
 ten days after sailing, and were courteously acknowl 
 edged in as ceremonious manner by the next upward- 
 bound sloop. 
 
 In October, Mistress Lysbeth issued a new series 
 of invitations to personal friends and relations along 
 the river. There was a cousin Van Twiller, residing 
 at Claverack, who had married among the Steen- 
 wickes; and, of course, the abundant hospitality of 
 the period demanded that both families should be 
 called to the supper. There was a half-uncle Van 
 Twiller, at Coxsackie, in partnership with one of the 
 Osterhouts; and, therefore, of necessity, the Oster- 
 houts must be expected. Then there were Steen- 
 wickes and Osterhouts who had intermarried, and 
 whose descendants, settling upon the manor of 
 Livingston, had allied themselves with the Horne- 
 beaks; and, as the Hornebeaks thereby became 
 cousins, they must, on no account, be excluded. In 
 like manner, and for similar reasons, other families 
 were expected from Kats Kills and the region 
 round about Tappaen; and Captain Derrick Roos, 
 duly distributing the invitations as he floated down 
 the river, brought back the answers upon his return 
 trip. 
 
 In the early part of Xovember Mistress Lysbeth 
 sent out her invitations to friends and kindred at 
 Kinderhook, Half Moon, Schaatkooke, Schenectady 
 and Rensselaer s Wyck ; and in December, sum 
 moning her state carriage and two horses, and 
 putting the negro driver, Cato, into his newest 
 livery, she sallied forth and formally distributed a 
 final package of notes among her acquaintances in
 
 60 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 Albany itself. This finished that portion of the 
 work. None had been forgotten, excepting three 
 or four families upon the extreme borders of the 
 Colony, who could only be reached by Indian run 
 ners, but who, being fourth cousins to the Van 
 Twillers, naturally felt aggrieved at the omission, 
 and cherished a burning hatred ever afterwards. 
 Apart from this, however, everybody of any kinship 
 or distinction in the Colony was invited, and felt 
 satisfied. It was known, far and wide, that the 
 Christmas party was likely to be a great success. 
 The Van Twiller mansion, standing upon the prin 
 cipal street of the city, was large and so arranged 
 as to be capable of entertaining an unusual number 
 of guests. Its reputation for lavish hospitality was 
 established ; and it became whispered around that 
 inasmuch as the party was intended to be such a 
 grand affair, it would not begin much before seven, 
 and would probably last until after ten. There 
 fore there was, naturally, much social excitement 
 upon the subject. Few declined who could manage 
 to come. The towns along the river turned out an 
 unexpected number of acceptances ; and though 
 Lieutenant-Governor DeLancey and his Privy Coun 
 cil, all, as had been expected, sent regrets, these were 
 worded with expressions of sad longing that bore 
 the stamp of sincerity. There was now nothing 
 left to Mistress Lysbeth but to count the heads and 
 prepare the banquet. 
 
 There was only one bitter drop, indeed, in the cup 
 of Mistress Lysbeth s satisfaction. It arose from 
 the circumstance that the Hillebrandts and their kin
 
 IN THREE HEADS. bl 
 
 all sent regrets. Most of these lived in Albany 
 itself, and one of the most wealthy families of them 
 close beside the Van Twiller mansion; and, hence, 
 the slight was most keenly felt. But it could 
 scarcely have been expected to happen otherwise, 
 inasmuch as there had been much disapprobation 
 expressed about the matter of young Heybert Hille 
 brandt. It was openly asserted that though old 
 Gisbort Van Twiller had looked forbiddingly upon 
 Heybert, as any man with such a pretty daughter as 
 Geretie had a right to do, he had not exercised that 
 discretionary power until Heybert had become poor ; 
 all friendly countenance having been withdrawn 
 only from the moment when it was discovered that 
 the Hillebrandt title-papers had been lost, and that 
 thereby the squatters could not be driven off 1 . In 
 this assertion the Hillebrandts were more than half 
 right, for Gisbort was, unquestionably, a prudent 
 and calculating father. But there was no doubt 
 that they were scarcely justified in imputing a 
 crabbed and crafty disposition to Mistress Lysbeth, 
 attributing her coincidence in her brother s vie\vs 
 more to regard for her social position than for the 
 happiness of her niece ; inasmuch as Aunt Lysbeth 
 was not without her many good points, and, in look 
 ing out for Geretie s advancement, was doubtless 
 actuated by kindly motives. Xor was it exactly 
 fair to stigmatise Gisbort so harshly for having 
 gone to the Hillebrandt sale and there purchased 
 the old family cabinet. It was said that, after what 
 had passed, he should have stayed away ; but, on 
 the other hand, it is difficult to say why, having a 
 G
 
 62 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 taste for handsome furniture, he, as well as any one 
 else, should not have indulged himself. But be that 
 as it might, the act had given great offense; and, not 
 unlikely, was looked upon as the most crying sin in 
 his career, far outweighing his supposed instrumen 
 tality in sending Heybert off to die among the 
 Indians, or his late marked favoritism of young 
 Rollof Van Schoven s pretension to Geretie s hand. 
 Therefore, as in duty bound, the Hillebrandts all 
 sent regrets, resolving never to enter the house 
 where the mahogany cabinet stared them in the 
 face. And having intermarried with the Hoge- 
 booms, the Hogebooms also decided not to come. 
 And the Hogebooms being first cousins to the 
 Jansens, the Jansens of course regretted. And 
 the Jansens being about to intermarry with the Van 
 Tienhovens, the Van Tienhovens staid away, and, 
 naturally, persuaded their cousins, the Wyncoopes, 
 to do the same. In fact, one and all took especial 
 umbrage about the mahogany cabinet ; whereby it 
 became necessary that their absence should attest 
 their indignation, and a great gulf thereby be left 
 unfilled at the Van Twiller Christmas party. 
 
 But, with all this, there was a certain amount 
 of counterbalancing comfort. Young Ilollof Van 
 Schoven, the new aspirant for the pretty Geretie, 
 was very wealthy, and, consequently, by his influ 
 ence, led all his kinsmen with him. His oldest 
 sister had married into the Swartwouts, and they 
 were not more than two degrees removed from the 
 Winegaerts. The Winegaerts were first cousins to 
 the Schenckes, and they, in turn, were connected,
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 (33 
 
 through a half-brother, to the Van Frcdingborcks. 
 All these families lived in distant towns, two days 
 journey off in summer, and seemingly inaccessible at 
 Christmas time. But with due and proper regard to 
 the interest of the Van Schovens, they roused them 
 selves for a joint effort, there being an indistinct 
 half defined, but not the less powerful impression 
 among them, that at the Christmas party the engage 
 ment of their young kinsman to Geretie Van T wilier 
 would be announced, and that it was their duty to 
 be on hand at any trouble, to give the affair their 
 countenance and approval. Consequently, from 
 quarters whence only regrets had been anticipated, 
 day after day sloop captains and Indian messengers 
 brought in acceptances, upon receipt of each of 
 which, Aunt Lysbeth s face became suffused with 
 liveliest satisfaction, rejoicing in heart that with the 
 coming of all these wide-spread branches, the absence 
 of the many disaffected families would be less no 
 ticeable. Moreover she pleasantly reflected that 
 But what it was that Mistress Lysbeth further 
 thought, or how thereupon she acted, it is scarcely 
 worth while now to tell. For the Byvanck letter, 
 though passingly alluding to the matter of the 
 invitations, refrains from all mention of Mistress 
 Lysbeth s further views or preparations, apparently 
 not deeming them essential in carrying out the 
 story of the dream.
 
 p 
 
 HAPTER 
 
 M-J HE Van Twiller mansion stood in the principal 
 v^)> street of Albany city, a little above the Dutch 
 Church. It was a stately, double house, having two 
 broad projections upon the street, each ending in a 
 sharp step-shaped gable, crowned with ornamental 
 iron tracery. The date of its erection, 1713, was 
 noted in long iron numerals upon the front ; and 
 upon a side gable was perched a curiously fashioned 
 weather-cock, the pride of the city, inasmuch as it 
 was regilded every year. 
 
 Leading back from the wooden stoop was a wide 
 hall, dividing the house into two equal parts. One 
 of these was occupied by the state parlor, which 
 was never opened excepting for such choice occa 
 sions as a funeral, christening, or the like. Upon 
 the other side was the family sitting-room, of similar 
 size. It had three deep windows and twice as many 
 doors, leading severally into the hall or closets, or 
 other rooms ; and all these doors were so much alike 
 that a stranger to the premises, entering heedlessly, 
 might find it not easy to get out again. The room 
 was furnished with stiff, heavy chairs and tables, 
 generally standing close around the wall, and in the 
 middle was a small carpet, reaching only within two 
 or three feet of the edge. At one end was a broad 
 fireplace, calculated for the consumption of great
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 65 
 
 logs rather than of ordinary sticks, with won- 
 drously stout ornamented andirons upon which to 
 rest them, a tall brass fender in front, and the 
 usual bordering of scripture-illustrating colored tiles. 
 Over the fireplace hung a somewhat worm-eaten 
 and time-stained portrait, not at all improved by 
 successive crude attempts at restoration, and sup 
 posed to have once represented Governor A\ r outer 
 Van Twiller, the ancestor of the Colonial branch of 
 the family. 
 
 Upon the evening before the Christmas party, the 
 little family had gathered together in this common 
 sitting-room. Xo candles had been brought in as 
 yet, but in the deep, wide fireplace a large pile of 
 logs was blazing behind the tall brass fender, send 
 ing forth a pleasant glow of brightness over half the 
 room. In front of the mantle-piece stood Gisbort 
 Van Twiller with his back to the fire, daintily toast 
 ing the calves of his legs, which being encased in 
 close woolen tights, offered little opposition to the 
 heat. Pie was in somewhat nervous condition of 
 mind, apparently oppressed with the burden of his 
 thoughts, judging from the manner in which he 
 shifted uneasily from one foot to another, scratched 
 gently a gray patcli of hair peeping out from under 
 his carelessly adjusted and still grayer wig, then 
 plunged his hands as deeply into his wide-flapped 
 pockets as the broad cuffs of his coat sleeves would 
 allow, and gazed down, meditatively, upon his 
 shining silver shoe buckles. In fact, Gisbort, being 
 not as easily satisfied as his sister about the ap 
 proaching party, was reflecting that the success of 
 6*"
 
 60 IN THREK HEADS. 
 
 " a single evening was not to be weighed against the 
 realization of a plan for the happiness of a life 
 time; and as it was his desire that Geretie should 
 put an end to all discomforting tribulations of her 
 heart by accepting young Rollof Van Schoven for 
 her future husband, he had furthermore come to the 
 opinion of all the Van Schovens, that the Christmas 
 gathering should not be brought to an end without 
 being signalized by the pleasing announcement of 
 the projected alliance. To this purpose he had 
 taken every opportunity, of late, to contribute his 
 personal advice and persuasions ; and upon this 
 evening, believing that a suitable occasion was again 
 at hand, began once more to press the matter. 
 
 " A tine young lad, indeed, Geretie, and I wonder 
 you can be so blind as not to see it." 
 
 He spoke in a deep, gruff, impatient tone; but 
 Geretie was not at all deceived by that. She knew 
 that it was not his natural voice, but that he had 
 adopted it, with some difficulty, for purposes of argu 
 ment, inasmuch as he would not, knowingly, have 
 spoken crossly to her for the world. Therefore 
 she was not frightened into any response. In addi 
 tion to which, the matter had been so often forced 
 upon her, that she had at last discovered absolute 
 silence to be her wisest policy. In that way her 
 father sooner ran out in his expostulations, and 
 returned to that tone of kindness which, being most 
 natural to him, could not long at any one time be 
 laid aside. Moreover, upon this particular evening, 
 she was very greatly wearied, having been all day 
 laboring at those more delicate preparations for an
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 67 
 
 entertainment which can never be left to menials, 
 but must be attended to by the head of the house! 
 So, with her eyes half closed by fatigue, and her 
 senses blunted for any kind of contention, she sat, 
 listless and immovable, upon a large sofa, drawn 
 up at an angle to the fire. Beside her, and in the 
 same state of quiet repose, sat her Aunt Lysbeth. 
 an ardent partisan of the projected marriage, indeed, 
 but now as indisposed as Geretie for any argument 
 upon the subject. Therefore it happened that her 
 father had all the talk to himself and endeavored 
 to improve the opportunity. 
 
 "Not to speak of five hundred acres of the best 
 flat land in all the Colony almost a square mile 
 of the largest pine timber a stone mill upon the 
 Mohawk and a mortgage for 3,000 pounds upon the 
 Provorist farm across the river, and soon to be fore 
 closed. What better can yon look for, Geretie ? " 
 
 Still, Geretie remained silent. What use in 
 advancing over and over again, the same old 
 answers she had made so often before ? 
 
 "And next heir to his old Aunt Barbara," con 
 tinued her father, assuming gruffer accents than 
 ever, as he felt his ability for continued sternness 
 gradually breaking down. "You may think, Gere- 
 tie, that because she lives in that mean little house 
 across the way, being her heir cannot amount to 
 much, but you are mistaken. She lives there merely 
 because she has become used to it, and does not wish 
 to change. She could buy me out any day. She 
 owns the Podushook property; and they say she has 
 pecks of old Spanish doubloons and chests of family
 
 68 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 plate stored away in that musty second-story of hers. 
 And it may be, Geretie, that you also think matters 
 of property should not be allowed a hearing in such 
 an affair as this ; but that is because you are so 
 young and foolish. Some day you will know better, 
 perhaps when it is too late to know anything about 
 it at all. A discreet young damsel will always look 
 to these considerations. Your mother did, Geretie. 
 Why, bless my soul ! she would never have married 
 me at all if I had not been rich. Xot that she did 
 not like me well enough, it may be ; but, after all, I 
 was not much to look at, even in the best of times, 
 and therefore, of course, my money always was the 
 most worthy part of me. But she was a sensible 
 girl, and you see how she was rewarded for her 
 caution by a very happy life." 
 
 Still not a word from Geretie. She sat gazing 
 steadily at the picture tiles about the fire-place, 
 wondering, possibly, why Jonah was made so little 
 smaller than the whale that was about to swallow 
 him. Meanwhile her father, awaiting force of new 
 inspiration, stooped down and lighted his great 
 carved pipe an heirloom which he never allowed 
 himself to smoke, excepting when the labors of the 
 day were over then, passing before her, slowly 
 worked round to the back of the sofa. At that 
 point was a chair, seated upon which Gisbort could 
 face toward the window, and look out while he 
 talked. That, thereby, he was turned away from 
 the other two made little difference, inasmuch as he 
 sat so near that the backs of all their heads almost 
 touched.
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 69 
 
 "And so, Geretie, you see plainly where your duty 
 as well as your real happiness lies," he continued 
 blowing- out a preparatory cloud of smoke, and, in 
 his growing consciousness of weakness, assuming the 
 deep, gruff tones of a channel pilot. "And, as I 
 have said before, there can be no objection to Kollof 
 Van Schoven for himself, either." 
 
 " No, father; only that he is not Heybert Hille- 
 brandt," she responded, worked at last into despera 
 tion prompting reply, being resolved to admit noth 
 ing in favor of the new lover, wherein comparison 
 might be intended. 
 
 "Xo, not Heybert, of course. How in the world 
 could he be another person, being himself all the 
 while ? Besides which you know very well, Geretie, 
 that Heybert Hillebrandt has not been heard of for 
 nearly a year, and must be dead by this time." 
 
 " Xo, father, not dead, or else or else he would 
 somehow have let me know." 
 
 "Let yon know? And he a dead man?" exclaimed 
 the old gentleman, rather startled at the illogical 
 assertion. " i hat is nonsense, you must be aware. 
 But come, Geretie, dry your eyes ; I shall not say 
 any more about it now, at any rate." 
 
 With that, his voice relapsed into all its accus 
 tomed tone of kindness. lie had kept up his 
 assumption of paternal severity as long as he could 
 at any one time, and, for a while, the matter must 
 come to an end. And, indeed, he had held out very 
 well, considering that he had not had the benefit of 
 his sister, Mistress Lysbeth s, support. Hitherto she 
 had always come to his assistance, and it was scarcely
 
 VO I N THREE HEADS. 
 
 the fair thing in her to sit there dozing on the sofa, 
 not helping him with a single word. Therefore, 
 nothing was more plainly to be seen than that, for 
 the moment, the time for importunity and reproof 
 was over. Perhaps he was secretly glad of it, not 
 being cruelly disposed; not the kind who could shut 
 up a daughter in a dark closet, with only bread and 
 water, until she might yield to his wishes. His 
 sole desire was for her happiness, only that his idea 
 was different from hers as to how that happiness 
 might best be promoted. With him there could be 
 no prosperous marriage for a girl, unless pound was 
 weighed against pound, and shilling against shilling; 
 and it was with that conviction that now lie pressed 
 Rollof Van Schoven s suit, not wishing to act harshly, 
 and feeling that he was doing all that could be done, 
 if occasionally he threw in a few words of advice 
 and wisdom. It was the continual dropping that he 
 believed might wear away a stone, though he felt 
 vastly dissatisfied that the stone presented such a 
 granite-like texture. Now, however, he had thrown 
 down one more drop; and, with the smoke of his 
 pipe comfortably curling around his old nose and 
 predisposing his nature to quiet, could well afford, 
 for the time, to suspend the vexed controversy. 
 Accordingly he placed his feet cosily upon another 
 chair, and, la/ily drawing in the blue smoke, sur 
 veyed the scene outside. 
 
 First he gazed, meditatively, upon the little single 
 gable house of old Mistress Barbara Van Schoven, 
 directly across the way. There was a light in the 
 second story, and behind the shade the figure of a
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 71 
 
 moving body. Mistress Barbara, of course ; and 
 Gisbort s lively fancy depicted her in the act of 
 poring over her many chests of old silver and her 
 bags of Spanish doubloons, all of which Geretie 
 could so easily obtain if she would only so make up 
 her mind. Then, turning from this subject of con 
 templation, he made observation of the weather. 
 It was snowing hard, but that should make no 
 difference in the Christmas party. Rather would 
 it promote its success ; for there had been much 
 want of snow, lately, and it was well understood 
 that Christmas always lacked half its enjoyment 
 when there happened not to be good sleighing. A 
 goodly depth of snow would v make no difference in 
 the coining of the city guests, and many of those 
 who were expected from the country were known 
 to have already arrived. Of others, the snow would 
 facilitate the arrival, provided the wind did not 
 arise to blow up drifts, and provided, also, that the 
 fall was not too heavy. And there was no wind, 
 at present. The flakes fell softly and gently, each 
 in its proper place. Free from disturbance, the 
 snow lay as evenly disposed upon steep roof and 
 picket fence as upon the level ground ; no irregu 
 larity visible in the horizontal lines of pure white 
 ness that adorned the step-like gables of each 
 neighbor s house. Then, as to the continuance of 
 
 C 
 
 the snow lo ! while Gisbort gazed, there came a 
 broken rift in the dark mass of clouds overhead, 
 through which the full moon shot a penetrating 
 gleam, and it became evident that the storm was 
 over By the next evening the snow would be
 
 72 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 trampled down evenly on street and road, making 
 the sleighing all that could be desired. A pleasant 
 smile of satisfaction stole over Gisbort s grim fea 
 tures ; his lips relaxed around the mouth-piece of 
 his pipe ; the smoke died softly away ; his head 
 fell just a trifle further back, and he passed into 
 refreshing slumber. 
 
 Upon the large sofa behind him, Aunt Lysbeth 
 had already succumbed to the fatigues of the day, 
 and now slept daintily, with her head poised upon 
 Geretie s shoulder. Geretie herself was still wide 
 awake, constrained thereto by her troubled state of 
 thought, and sat gazing listlessly before her. Past 
 the big log fire, which^leaped and crackled upward 
 to the broad chimney, casting out flickering forks 
 of light, making the noses of Jonah and of Noah 
 upon the picture tiles seem very ruddy at times; 
 past the tall carved clock which mendaciously indi 
 cated a new moon when it was shining full outside; 
 or gazing into the great hall beyond. A broad 
 wainscoted hall, almost as wide as any of the 
 rooms, and hence furnished almost like one of the 
 parlors. At one side, a broad stairway, with carved 
 mahogany bannisters, ran zigzagging to the upper 
 story; at the other side stood the old carved Hille- 
 brandt cabinet, a heavy, clumsily built piece of 
 furniture with grotesquely sculptured panels and 
 large brass hanging handles to all the drawers, and 
 quaint scutcheons to the doors, and a twenty-ribbed 
 projection at the top, seemingly sufficient for the 
 cornice of a goodly sized house. And opposite the 
 cabinet was the door into the principal parlor, now,
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 73 
 
 as usual, tightly closed, and not to be thrown open 
 to the public gaze before the morrow evening. 
 
 Across from the parlor door and beside the cab 
 inet was another door leading to a range of closets, 
 and thence into the kitchen. The doors at either 
 end of this passage were now open, and Geretie 
 could look through to the end, not altogether dis 
 tinctly, indeed, for the evening gloom was upon 
 everything ; but in the kitchen were two tallow 
 candles sputtering in their sockets, and by their 
 thus unnaturally increased brightness, Geretie could 
 distinguish much that otherwise would have been 
 hidden. The long table at the side of the kitchen, 
 now heaped up with mince and pumpkin pies as it 
 had never been heaped up before ; the piles of ole- 
 kocks arranged like cannon balls upon bases of ten 
 or twelve square, built up thence to a single one 
 at top, and giving the table the appearance of a 
 distant arsenal yard ; the hundreds of New Year 
 cakes, stamped with the figure of King George r 
 holding a crown and sceptre, and all packed away 
 in close layers like shingles ; the kegs of oysters 
 brought up from Xew York, at great expense, in 
 the boot of the weekly stage, and now arranged 
 beneath the table; the hams hanging from the ceil 
 ing, and the legs of venison and dozens of wild 
 ducks and partridges disposed around the walls on 
 hooks all these and many other preparations for 
 the coming supper were made manifest to Geretie s 
 listless gaze by the forced brilliancy of those two 
 sputtering candles. At one side of the kitchen, 
 and fast asleep in utter exhaustion from the labors
 
 74 IN THBEJH HEADS. 
 
 of the day, sat the old negro cook, Chloe, with a 
 long pewter ladle still clasped in her relaxed hand 
 the unsurrendered emblem of authority her big 
 round face disposed so exactly in front of a great 
 white platter, standing on end against the dresser, 
 that its blue border seemed like a saintly aureola 
 around her head. At either side, and crouched 
 upon the floor, and not the least bit in the world 
 asleep or sleepy, were her two coal-black grand 
 children, Tak and Rak, engaged in a pleasing game 
 of their own invention. In front of each was a 
 small pile of chestnuts, and the two urchins were 
 tossing to and fro what at first sight seemed to be 
 a black ball. It was not a ball but a hard apple 
 better to them than any ball, in fact, inasmuch as it 
 would serve all the purposes of one, and moreover 
 was, in its nature, so suggestive of gastronomic joy. 
 Each of these little imps, upon throwing the apple, 
 endeavored to make it bound upon their venerable 
 grandmother s head ; whereat, not in the least 
 awaking, she would start up mechanically and rap 
 one or other of her tormentors with her pewter 
 spoon, then fall back again into her olden attitude. 
 And whichever of the two happened to be attacked 
 with the spoon was considered to have lost, and 
 paid a portion of his chestnuts to the other. 
 
 For a few moments Geretie watched this pleasant 
 sport. Then the sputtering candle-wicks falling 
 left all in darkness, and put an end to the game. 
 With that Geretie s thoughts were naturally driven 
 in upon herself; and she looked back at the past 
 rather than upon the present, and recalled, for the
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 75 
 
 thousandth time, the last interview with Heybert 
 Hillcbrandt. It was after the ruin of his fortune 
 seemed to have been completed, and her father had 
 discouraged his suit, and Heybert had made up his 
 mind that there was nothing better to be done than 
 to seek his fortune at some other place ; for he could 
 not remain in that scene of his olden prosperity 
 and basely delve with spade, while somewhere else 
 there might still be lurking in hi s favor a happy 
 chance. Even if he donned a hunter s dress, some 
 unexpected favor of fortune might ensue. There 
 fore he had parted from her secretly and lovingly, 
 and she had vowed to be true to him forevermore. 
 He had placed upon her finger a ring, which she 
 dared not wear openly or even show, but kept locked 
 up in her private desk; though every night, when 
 she had shut herself within her room, she put the 
 ring upon her finger and so went to sleep, very often, 
 in consequence, dreaming of Heybert half the night. 
 And she had given him a i % ing which he had openly 
 put upon his finger, and vowed that he would take 
 it off only upon one occasion. This would be when 
 he should have succeeded in whatever he might have 
 undertaken ; and then he would send the ring back 
 to her, through some trusty friend, as a token that 
 he was coining himself, at last, to claim it and her 
 fair hand as well. But alas ! two years had already 
 passed, and the ring had not yet been returned. 
 During the first year she had heard of Heybert as 
 living a trapper s life among the Hurons, at times 
 almost in savage destitution. After that, all track 
 of him seemed to have been lost. It had been said
 
 76 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 that he must be dead ; could it be really so ? But 
 she refused to believe it. With the old illogical 
 faith, it seemed to her that if Heybert had ceased to 
 be, somehow the cruel news would be borne in 
 upon her. 
 
 Gradually with the darkness and the monotony 
 of that olden ceaseless round of thought, and per 
 haps, also, of the slow, measured breathings of her 
 father just behind and her aunt reclining toward 
 her, she fell into a gentle doze herself, and thence 
 into sound sleep. And, sleeping, she dreamed, 
 though not about Heybert Hillebrandt. It might 
 have been expected, indeed, that she would do so. 
 Nothing more natural in theory, than that if one 
 glides off into slumber with a prevailing thought 
 coursing through his brain, the same thought will 
 follow him in dreams, or, at the least, will color such 
 dreams as he may otherwise have. But there is 
 nothing more unusual in fact. Fancy plays strange 
 pranks with our comprehensive powers; and, in the 
 process from wakefulness to sleeping, not merely the 
 person and scene will often suffer unanticipated 
 changes, but the tone of mind as well. 
 
 Consequently, though by just right it seemed as 
 though Gerctie, falling asleep with Heybert s last 
 words of love in her memory, and his name upon 
 her lips, should have had visions only of him seeing 
 him as so often hitherto, either as when he had 
 parted from her, or, as he had been pictured, ragged 
 and worn among the Indians the scene changed 
 suddenly in all its elements. Instead of groves or 
 camp fires there was a tenantless room, in which, for 
 the moment, she stood alone. For a moment only,
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 77 
 
 indeed, and then there entered, not Heybert, smooth- 
 cheeked and flushed with the wished for success, 
 but a strange, wrinkled, awe-producing old man 
 whom she had never hitherto seen: a tall old man 
 with heavy beard and full shaggy eyebrows, grayer 
 even than the gray locks that hung in somewhat 
 untidy straggling array over his broad white turned 
 down tassel-fastened collar. Clad in a suit of coarse 
 homespun, with something of a military cut about 
 the folded-over sleeves, well adapted, indeed, to the 
 shining steel breast-plate covering his chest, and the 
 clumsy basket-hilted sword that was buckled to his 
 side. This strange old man entering produced, at 
 first, a feeling of terror, so different was he from 
 any one whom she had ever seen before so pecul 
 iarly fixed and unbending was his grim expression. 
 But as he slowly paced the room toward her, though 
 the stolidity and grimness of his features did not 
 alter, it seemed as if there was a not unfriendly 
 look in the quiet gaze he fixed upon her, an expres 
 sion of personal approval, even, vastly reassuring 
 her. So advancing within a foot of her he stopped, 
 fastened his eyes upon her with the same steady 
 but kindly gaze seeming to warm into something 
 almost paternal in its gathering softness then 
 thrust his arm deep within his breast, behind the 
 steel breast-plate. 
 
 And this is where earliest we come across the 
 dream; gathering from the Byvanck letter which, 
 herein, is especially minute in its description of time 
 and place arid circumstance how, for a single 
 moment, the dream came down and fluttered in the 
 bewildered brain of pretty Geretie.
 
 CHAPTER III, 
 
 ,OR a moment only. What the old man might 
 have further done, Geretie could not tell; for, 
 at that instant, there came a knock at the front 
 door, and with a start she awoke. The same rap 
 awakened, also, her father and Aunt Lysbeth. Each 
 gave a little start backward, and it naturally hap 
 pened that, in so doing, the heads of all three 
 thumped together. No damage was done thereby, 
 except that as Gisbort s wig had fallen a little awry 
 during his slumber, leaving a bald spot on his head 
 exposed to the air and Aunt Lysbeth s high metal 
 comb now chanced to strike him exactly upon that 
 place, there resulted to him a somewhat severe con 
 tusion. But wisely making no remark, he carefully 
 replaced the wig, and the three awakened sleepers 
 gazed for a moment abstractedly at each other, the 
 mutual thumping of heads having effectually aroused 
 them upon the instant. 
 
 " It must be Kollof Van Schoven who knocked," 
 remarked Gisbort, breaking the silence and speaking 
 with a kind of guilty consciousness that he could 
 not altogether disguise. " I told him that is, he 
 said it was possible he might drop in this evening. 
 It is getting very dark; why does not some one 
 bring candles ? And why is not the door opened ? 
 It is singular that, with so many servants in the
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 79 
 
 house, no one is found to answer the door. All 
 asleep, I suppose; though why any one should want 
 to sleep in the day time Lysbeth, do you get 
 lights, and I will open the door myself, so as not to 
 keep Rollof waiting." 
 
 Mistress Lysbeth hurried to the kitchen to procure 
 alight a candlestick in each hand and Gisbort 
 groped his way into the hall. He was only par 
 tially at ease, indeed, having a guilty feeling that 
 he had too heedlessly betrayed his participation in 
 the projected visit, and thereby might be brought 
 under filial discipline. True, he had done nothing 
 more than tell Rollof that he could come across 
 upon that evening if so it pleased him, and Rollof 
 had merely said that he would not fail. But much 
 can be implied in very few words; and Gisbort felt 
 that somehow, without half intending it, an under 
 standing of parental consent had lurked behind the 
 invitation, and that Geretie, deciphering the same, 
 would not be slow to manifest resentment. Then 
 he wondered whether Rollof might not be feeling 
 still more discomposed ; for, in the opinion of Gis 
 bort Van Twiller, it was not an easy thing to make 
 a formal visit with the intent of offering matrimo 
 nial alliance. At least it had not been easy for him, 
 thirty years before, when he had made assault upon 
 the heart of his Elsie; and even then he had been 
 able to bide his time until the way seemed laid open 
 to him at a Pinxter festival. But here was Rollof, 
 coming in cold blood as it were, in fulfillment of a 
 kind of tacit understanding engaged for the task, 
 however unpropitious might be the circumstances.
 
 80 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 At the very thought of it, the perspiration broke out 
 upon Gisbort s face as though he were the victim; 
 and, as he opened the door, he half expected to let 
 in a timid, crouching broken-down figure begging 
 for respite. 
 
 He was a little relieved, as well as surprised, to 
 see that Rollof appeared not at all embarrassed. 
 Dressed with such scrupulous care as must, of itself, 
 almost have declared the intent of his coming in 
 fact, it was Rollof making his toilet, and not the 
 old lady counting her doubloons, whom Gisbort had 
 seen behind the curtain he stood erect and com 
 posed, and even with a tranquil smile upon his lips. 
 Little reason, indeed, could the host but know it, 
 why Rollof should not be at his ease, having his 
 heart so thoroughly fortified with the power of one 
 newly formed purpose. 
 
 Following his host into the sitting-room, and 
 reaching it just as Mistress Lysbeth came in from 
 another door, bearing before her two tall lighted 
 candles in still taller candlesticks, Rollof gave hasty 
 glance forward, and saw Geretie arisen from the 
 sofa and making ceremonious courtesy. In her face 
 was no sign or gleam of welcome, however; only a 
 cold, fixed, impassive smile. For, as her father had 
 suspected, Geretie had noticed the accidental admis 
 sion that Rollof had been invited thither, and there 
 upon she had at once shut up all her kindly sym 
 pathy; in her fancy carrying her thoughts much 
 further than she ought, and wrongly imagining that 
 her hand had been especial subject of mention be 
 tween the two, and the important interview planned
 
 IN THREE HEADS 81 
 
 with deliberate forethought. Therefore she felt that 
 less now, than ever before, would she tolerate it ; 
 and sitting down once more, with her face steadily 
 turned toward the blaze of the fire, she relapsed 
 into the silence and immobility of a marble statue. 
 Kollof sat opposite, and gaziug stealthily into her 
 rigid countenance, felt that, had he been now dis 
 posed to tempt his fate, he could easily there read 
 his doom, needing not words in explanation of it. 
 A fixed and somewhat melancholy smile came over 
 his own face ; and, turning, he gazed around at 
 Gisbort and Mistress Lysbeth. They had taken 
 their places at either side of him, and there sat 
 motionless ; each so absorbed in separate train of 
 thought as to forget offering even the customary 
 commonplace greetings of the evening. With Gis 
 bort was the satisfactory conviction that Geretie 
 herself would not now fail to mark the courage and 
 self-possession of Rollof, and so, at last, be favor 
 ably impressed by him; with Mistress Lysbeth, on 
 the contrary, was full perception of Geretie s for 
 bidding manner and Kollof s strange, fixed smile, 
 together awakening in her a distracting instinct of 
 something having gone wrong. Such dreadful 
 silence broken only by a few distinct sounds 
 that did not fill the void, but merely made more 
 noticeable the need of relief elsewhere. The shout 
 of passing boy in the street outside; the snapping 
 of the blazing logs; the measured ticking of the 
 tall clock neither of these weighed any tiling 
 against the terrible stillness. So for a moment; 
 and then Rollof himself made bold to break the
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 silence. And it seemed fortunate, indeed, that he 
 had something worthy to be told and need not deal 
 in commonplaces. An hour before, he had met a 
 scout from the upper regions of the Colony, and 
 the man had given him much information that it 
 might be pleasing for others to hear. Therefore, 
 Rollof, crossing his dainty silk stockings, and hang 
 ing his natty little cocked hat over his knee, plunged 
 at once into his subject. 
 
 It had so far been a mild winter at the north, so 
 the scout had told him, and, consequently, there 
 had been little difficulty in gathering supplies for the 
 garrisons of the outposts. There had been a few 
 skirmishes with small marauding parties of French 
 and Indians, but with little important result. Upon 
 the border, an outlying fortification had been at 
 tacked by a large Indian force, but it had been 
 beaten back, with a loss of many killed, and no 
 damage of consequence to the defense. In other 
 directions, also, the Indians had been troublesome, 
 occasionally co-operating with the French in the 
 established war, and again indulging in acts of 
 cruelty and rapine for their own amusement. A 
 family of whites had been slaughtered on the bor 
 ders of Lake Champlain; and among the Hurons, a 
 white prisoner had been taken, and tortured for 
 two days. Here Geretie, losing for the moment her 
 impassive immobility, looked up with a pale face; 
 and Ilollof, still with that sad smile, hastened to 
 add that the victim was an old, worn-out trapper, 
 and by that timely correction gained from her one 
 flickering glance of gratitude. And in every direc-
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 83 
 
 tion praise God, for the great mercy the war 
 against the French was going on well, and with 
 increasing advantage to the English arras. It was 
 even said but at that hour the report had not 
 been verified that Cape Breton had already sur 
 rendered to the joint attack of General Amherst 
 and Admiral Boscawen. If this were true, it was a 
 great triumph ; and with its moral as well as physi 
 cal effect, might, ere long, lead to the capture of 
 Quebec itself. It was to be hoped that the tidings 
 would soon be verified ; and if so, it would make 
 this Christmas a most joyful one to the Colonies of 
 His Britannic Majesty. 
 
 Reaching this grand climax of his news, Rollof 
 looked around to mark how his hearers received it ; 
 but, to his surprise, observed, that while he had 
 been speaking, his host, who should certainly have 
 been sufficiently interested to wait until the end, 
 had quietly slipped out of the room. And while 
 Rollof wondered at this, Mistress Lysbeth also, 
 affecting to hear a call from old Chloe, arose and 
 made an awkward retreat. The object of this could 
 not now be misunderstood. He had purposely been 
 left alone with Geretie, in order that he might take 
 the opportunity to make his intended avowal. Look 
 ing across at Geretie, he could see by the increased 
 fixedness and determination of her expression, that 
 she, also, had well comprehended the enforced situ 
 ation, and was nerving herself to meet it with all a 
 mortified woman s resentment. That look upon her 
 face was not needed, indeed, to assure him that she 
 was no consenting party to the proceeding; but,
 
 84 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 nevertheless, had his intentions been different from 
 what they were, it would have sunk crushingly into 
 his heart, already so heavily laden with warnings of 
 ill success. Possibly he would even have retired 
 without another word, rather than advance to such 
 well-assured discomfiture. But now, on the con 
 trary, he remained ; for a moment longer sitting 
 silent, the yell of street boy sounding in his ear like 
 a battle cry, and the monotonous tick of the clock 
 like the thump of sledge-hammer. Then rising 
 with hurried determination, he strode once up and 
 down the room, and pausing, stood before her. 
 
 " I hardly know how to say it, Geretie," he began. 
 " I had meant, upon my coming hither, to offer you 
 my hand. Xow well now, I have no longer a 
 thought of it." 
 
 Geretie looked up wonderingly at him. Certainly 
 this was singular language. She had made up her 
 mind, of course, that she would listen to no love 
 tales from him; and yet to be thus quietly given to 
 understand 
 
 " Strange talk from me, Geretie, is it not ? " he 
 continued. " It is not that I would prefer to have 
 it so, indeed ; not but that I would have asked for 
 your love if I thought there was any hope of gain 
 ing it. It is simply that something which has come 
 to me to-day has assured me how hopeless it is to 
 think of that. And so 
 
 As Geretie listened, and, with intuitive percep 
 tion, gained comprehension of what he was so pain 
 fully endeavoring to explain, a bright, cheery smile
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 85 
 
 broke forth in her face the cheeriness of relief 
 from long continued apprehension. 
 
 " But this is not what my father and Aunt Lys- 
 beth expected you to say to me, is it, Rollof ? " she 
 interrupted with a rippling laugh. 
 
 " No, Geretie. Nor what my Aunt Barbara ex 
 pected. Nor what the Swartwouts, and the .Wine- 
 gaerts, and the Fredingborcks expected ; who all, 
 somehow, seem to think they have something to say 
 about it. Nor myself, who am more interested than 
 any of them, I believe ; and who would gladly have 
 had matters otherwise if I could. But you see, 
 Geretie, it has become easy for me to learn that what 
 I so much desired can never be. And, therefore, I 
 have asked myself what was best to do? Should 
 I struggle in vain, and make my coming always an 
 annoyance to you, and stand in your presence a 
 baffled, disconsolate lover ? Or should I pluck up 
 a brave heart, resign my hopes, and try in some 
 other way to remain your friend?" 
 
 " Pluck up the brave heart, Rollof," she answered, 
 the pleasantest smile she had known for weeks now 
 beaming upon her face. It was so comforting to 
 her soul to know that the ordeal she had so long 
 dreaded had thus sensibly passed over, and that she 
 had gained a friend instead of lost an admirer. 
 " And now sit down beside me, Rollof, and tell me 
 further what all this means." 
 
 So he sat down upon the sofa with his back to the 
 window, through which, at that very moment, his 
 Aunt Barbara was ineffectually endeavoring to peer 
 across from the seclusion of her parlor opposite.
 
 86 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 She had noted the direction of his going out, and 
 was now anxiously looking for further develop 
 ments. To her, also, had come the comfortable con 
 viction that this was the important evening; and it 
 was hard for her to convince herself that, with clear 
 eye-sight so very necessary, she could not see dis 
 tinctly, through her spectacles and two small-paned 
 windows and across a wide street. In vain she 
 sighed and alternately wiped her spectacles and 
 window panes; she felt, at last, that, for any defi 
 nite information, she must patiently await Rollof e 
 return. Gisbort here Aunt Barbara there other 
 Van Schovens and their collaterals, everywhere 
 all eagerly anticipating tidings of the projected 
 alliance ; and here was Rollof, in utter disregard of 
 their wishes, and as though he were the only party 
 concerned, quietly baffling their expectations. For 
 he told Geretie how that, for a long time, he had 
 realized the vanity of his hopes, and many times 
 already had been inclined to abandon the struggle; 
 and how that, taking sober counsel with himself, he 
 had at last resolved to act the manly part, giving 
 her the acceptable Christmas offering of freedom 
 from future persecution on his behalf, and asking in 
 return the most precious gift of her sisterly friend 
 ship. Little by little, as he proceeded, Rollof felt 
 his utterance, as well as manner of explanation, more 
 easy perhaps having actually been less interested 
 in the affair than he had previously imagined and, 
 in the end, Geretie and he became quite composed, 
 and even inclined to look upon the matter with 
 something of philosophic spirit.
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 8 7 
 
 "But you said, Roll of, that your determination 
 about about the hopelessness of all this, you 
 know, came partly from something you have heard 
 to-day. Was it about Heybert ? It may not seem 
 quite right for me to talk about him; and yet there 
 can be no use concealing from you, at least, an 
 interest that everybody else seems to understand. 
 Yes, there is really something about him in your 
 mind," she continued, with sudden impulse of a 
 quickened instinct; "something that perhaps you 
 would like to tell me, and yet feel that you should 
 withhold! What is it, Rollof? And why, if you 
 must not speak, have you said so much already ? Tell 
 me everything now; that only is the part of a true 
 friend." 
 
 " It is not much, Geretie," he answered, after a 
 moment s pause, not wishing to excite false hope; 
 yet feeling that since, witli woman s quickness, she 
 had divined so much, it might do no harm to 
 brighten her life a little with anticipation of good 
 that might possibly happen. " Not much, indeed, 
 only that to-day, from the scout, I heard something; 
 though, after all, I had better not now tell you 
 what it was, for it may turn out untrue. If it is 
 true, it is good news so much I can venture to 
 say; but, if false, then it will be as you have hinted, 
 that I had better have told you nothing at all, and 
 have left you in ignorance from the very first. 
 Trust me, Geretie, for now acting as seems most 
 wise. If you would know something of what I 
 mean, I will tell you to remember that courage and 
 perseverance some times find a position in which to
 
 88 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 reap their reward, and therefore But wait, again 
 I say; for, after all, it may be false report." 
 
 " I will wait as you direct ! " Geretie exclai med, 
 " for I know that when the proper time arrives, you 
 will tell me all. But even now I will not believe 
 that any part of it is not true. I have waited too long- 
 already, that fate should not prove kind to me at 
 last. You need tell me nothing more, Rollof, for I 
 can feel it all. It means that Heybert is indeed 
 coming back to me ! That all I have endured and 
 suffered is to pass away forever to be no more 
 remembered, except it may be as we recall a fright 
 ful dream ! " 
 
 The time-eaten portrait of old Governor Van 
 Twiller shook a little to and fro as she spoke ; but 
 that was only the wind, nor could it matter how the 
 dead might think or act. It was the living Van 
 Twillers who were concerned; and, if Gisbort could 
 have listened to the late conversation, how would 
 he have shaken with disgust and anger of Rollof, at 
 having thrown away an opportunity so carefully 
 prepared for him. But Gisbort was far out of hear 
 ing, standing upon his front stoop ankle deep in 
 snow. He had gone thither inconsiderately, in his 
 transparent pretense of household business else 
 where; the door had blown to behind him, and he 
 was now afraid to demand readmission lest his 
 knock might be mistaken for that of new visitors, 
 and thereby endanger the continuance of the all- 
 important interview. lie would wait outside, there 
 fore, and endure the cold and snow until Rollof 
 might appear to receive his congratulations and con-
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 89 
 
 sent, and, if need be, his blessing. But Mistress 
 Lysbetb, witb better self-possession, had employed 
 her time skirmishing to and fro between hall and 
 kitchen; now rousing up Chloe to impossible tasks, 
 then looking into closets for articles that she knew 
 to be elsewhere, again returning to the hall and tak 
 ing furtive peeps into the sitting-room. Now, seeing 
 that Kollof and Geretie were sitting close together 
 
 O 3 
 
 upon the sofa, smiling pleasantly upon each other, 
 she could not fail to feel assured that her late dis 
 couragement had proved ill founded, and that true 
 love had gained, at last, its successful termination. 
 This happy conviction now irradiated all her fea 
 tures, destroyed her customary equipoise, and made 
 her garrulous with exuberance of delight. 
 
 " Why talk about dreams ? And what frightful 
 dream have you ever had, Geretie?" she said, com 
 ing in with a little warning cough, and indistinctly 
 catching the last few words. " Never trouble your 
 self about such vain things as dreams, Geretie, for 
 they mean nothing. Do I not know, myself? The 
 pleasantest dreams one can have about flowers 
 and fairies, it may be will often come before a 
 death; and many a time I have dreamed frightful 
 things, and had them followed by good news. Even 
 as now, indeed," she continued, wagging her head 
 archly, and with much significance of meaning, " for 
 who would have thought that good things were 
 about to happen, when, so little while ago, I dreamed 
 about a horrid rough old man?" 
 
 "An old man, Aunt Lysbeth ? " 
 
 " Yes ; not an hour ago, when your father so 
 8*
 
 90 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 rudely waked me up by knocking his head against 
 mine, sending my comb, I verily believe, almost half 
 an inch into my brain. A queer old man it was that 
 came to me, frightening me almost to death with his 
 terrible eyebrows and his great tangled beard. It 
 almost seems as though I saw him yet. He had an 
 iron breast-plate in front of him, and wore a clumsy 
 old sword with hilt as large as one s two fists. I 
 remember thinking, at the time, that it was a strange 
 costume to wear in the presence of a lady; though, 
 doubtless, " 
 
 " Tell me, aunt," cried Geretie, becoming sud 
 denly interested, " did this old man walk into the 
 room, and come close to you, and put his hand into 
 his bosom behind the breast-plate, and " 
 
 "No, he did nothing of the kind, Geretie. He 
 did not come into the room whatever room it was 
 for I found him there already; and so I suppose 
 he came there first. And he had his hand behind 
 his breast-plate when I first saw him. But, as I 
 looked, he pulled it out, and there was something 
 like a roll of parchment in his hand, and" 
 
 "And what then, Aunt Lysbeth?" 
 
 " Why then your father thumped me, and I woke 
 up; but, for the moment after, I was quite frightened, 
 thinking that I saw the cross old man still standing 
 before me. And therefore, Geretie," she continued, 
 again wagging her head with arch meaning, " do not 
 trouble yourself about your dreams, even if they are 
 frightful ; seeing that, as in my case, they may all 
 the same be followed by something just as pleasant 
 the other way."
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 91 
 
 And so it was that, in due sequence, the dream 
 came also to Mistress Lysbeth. The knowledge of 
 which fact, however, might never have transpired, 
 but for this visit of Rollof Van Schoven; inasmuch 
 as according to the Byvanck letter Mistress 
 Lysbeth was always so wrapped up in matters of 
 household economy and care, that it was more than 
 likely that, at the very next hour, she would have 
 forgotten all about the dream. 
 
 O
 
 LH AFTER 
 
 UT Geretie, however startled at the time, <rave 
 
 k O 
 
 the matter little thought, when, somewhat 
 later, she retired for the night. What though two 
 persons had dreamed about one and the same queer, 
 cross old man ? Was not this a matter of mere 
 chance coincidence that could not fail to happen 
 often, did we but know it ? Nay, the very depart 
 ure from absolute similarity in the dreams was a 
 mark of imperfection; while, surely, nothing what 
 soever seemed likely to come of it. Therefore, dis 
 missing the matter from her mind, she put on her 
 ring, and surrendered herself to the influence of 
 brighter visions dreaming, as so often before, of 
 Heybert. How that, as had been so pleasantly 
 hinted to her, his trials all were over, and how that 
 he must already be coming back. Mingling him, in 
 her fancies, with much that Avas unreal and grotesque 
 indeed ; as when the painted tiles about the fire 
 place obtruding themselves, she dreamed that he 
 was coming back in the guise of the prodigal son, 
 bringing his own fatted calf with him to insure his 
 welcome; and that, thereupon, Shadrach, Meshach 
 and Abed-nego came forth to meet him, singing joy 
 ful congratulatory anthems. But, throughout all, 
 there was the one real perception that Heybert must 
 be coming back.
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 93 
 
 The song of the three fire-tried youths still sounded 
 in her ears when she awoke. But little by little it 
 resolved itself into anything else than ancient can 
 ticle, and intoned by any other than Babylonian 
 voices; for, as her perceptions grew more collected, 
 she recognized the well-attuned notes of a choir of 
 little negroes, singing a Christmas anthem from 
 door to door. Thus cheerily reminded of the day, 
 Geretie sprang from her bed and hurried to the door, 
 outside of which hung her stocking; for she was 
 not yet so far advanced in years as to have grown 
 out of her childish pleasure in exploring the Christ 
 inas stocking, and developing its delightful mys 
 teries. Then springing back into bed with the 
 laden treasure, excitedly she drew forth one and 
 another closely folded paper, laying them in line 
 upon the coverlet before her. The pin-cushion, so 
 long being made by old Chloe, and so often hidden 
 hastily beneath a saucepan when Geretie had chanced 
 to enter the kitchen; the gold chain and locket from 
 Aunt Lysbeth ; the ten commandments carved by 
 Rak and Tak upon two conch shells, and the fox- 
 skin purse from Cato; the promised gold watch from 
 her father all these at last lay spread out before 
 her. Nothing so small as to be despised, so faithful 
 and warm-hearted was its giver, everything wel 
 comed with almost equal delight, for the true affec 
 tion that had prompted its bestowal. With her 
 hands thrown upon the pillow behind her, and sup 
 porting her head, Geretie lay back for a moment or 
 two, and tried adequately to realize how happy she 
 ought to be, surrounded by this wealth of sweet
 
 94 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 regard. And how supremely blissful would she 
 now be, if she could only hear from Heybert ! Was 
 Heybert where he, too, could hang out his Christinas 
 stocking ? Was he where he could boast any stock 
 ing to put out at all ? She smiled to herself as she 
 pictured him among the Hurons, hanging outside 
 his wigwam a beaded moccasin as the best substi 
 tute for a stocking, to find in it the next morning, 
 perchance, a scalp-bracelet or bear s-tooth necklace; 
 enjoying her fancy the more heartily as she felt 
 assured that it had no basis of cruel fact. For had 
 not Rollof talked about preferment having come to 
 Heybert, and predicted his return ? This was the 
 cheery idea that now underlined her whole tone of 
 thought. 
 
 Newer sounds now arising from the street below, 
 Geretie arose, gently drew her curtain and looked 
 out. A bright sun was shining; the promise of the 
 previous evening having been fulfilled in a clear, 
 sparkling day. As her father had surmised, the snow 
 had fallen gently and unobtrusively, making little 
 chance of obstruction through drifts. It lay on 
 roadway and fence and gable with uniform depth, 
 so evenly fallen that it seemed as though fairy hands 
 must have followed each flake in its quiet descent, 
 and fastened it securely in place. How otherwise, 
 indeed, could it be that the thick covering lay so 
 motionless upon the steep roofs of the little church 
 below, and upon the sharp gables of Aunt Barbara s 
 house opposite? How otherwise could the flakes 
 cling so firmly upon the insecure resting-place of the
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 95 
 
 iron numerals upon the front, marking out the date 
 in such clear bright lines ? 
 
 In the middle of the street stood a row of market 
 sledges from the country with beef and poultry. 
 The owners haggled over their sales as usual; and 
 yet it seemed as though their discussions were more 
 good natured than at any other time, so genial was 
 the influence of the day. Down the street from the 
 fort two officers, tucked up in bear skins, drove along 
 in their open sleigh; and, as they passed the Van 
 Twiller mansion, a little negro took courage and 
 threw a snowball at them. Thereupon it might be 
 supposed that these insulted sons of Mars would de 
 scend, draw their glittering blades, run the offender 
 through the body, wipe their reeking weapons upon 
 the bear skin robes, and drive off with pleasant 
 sense of vengeance satisfied. Instead, thereof, they 
 arrested the sleigh for only a moment; and one of 
 them reaching over gathered up a hard snowball, 
 with which, taking correct aim, he hit the aggressor 
 so plumply in the center of the stomach as to knock 
 him over. Then they rode on again laughing, the 
 very bells upon the horses seeming to turn their 
 silver tinkle into a "Merry Christmas;" and the 
 little negro rising unharmed and appearing rather 
 gratified at the encounter, laughed in turn even still 
 more hilariously. So did the pleasant inspiration of 
 the Christmas morning brighten up every heart with 
 charity. 
 
 At the door of the opposite house suddenly ap 
 peared a curiously enveloped figure, with not less 
 curious head-dress. It was old Aunt Barbara. Be-
 
 96 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 fore her stood a servant with empty basket ; and 
 now Aunt Barbara carefully piled the basket with 
 pies and cakes, and in each corner a chicken all 
 destined for poor pensioners and at last sent off 
 the servant with minute and often repeated direc 
 tions. Just then the choir of little negroes came 
 down the street on their return, and, seeing her, 
 formed in front of the house and sang their carol. 
 Upon this Aunt Barbara retired into the house; and 
 an unreflecting stranger might have supposed that 
 she had peevishly gone away to avoid the singers. 
 But not so; for, in a moment, she returned and dis 
 tributed among them plenteous reward of cakes, 
 which they proceeded at once to demolish, postpon 
 ing, with the usual improvidence of their race, all 
 further minstrelsy until new cravings of the stomach 
 might call them to resume their labors. So, every 
 where, beaming smiles and hearty good wishes were 
 interchanged even the spirit of trade having 
 kindly charities mingled with it in correction of its 
 customary acerbities old age becoming, for the 
 moment, young again, and dignity condescending 
 to lively frolic. And all the while, the little bell 
 upon the English church, away up the hill, rang out 
 a joyful salutation to the day, with as merry spirit 
 and consequential self-sufficiency as though it were 
 a whole chime of bells. 
 
 Then Geretie, leaving the window and making her 
 toilet, gently opened the door, with intent to slip 
 softly down stairs on tip-toe, and steal a march upon 
 her father and aunt, with the first greeting for the 
 day. Not so easy, indeed, for she also had been
 
 /2V THREE HEADS. 9*7 
 
 waylaid with like intent. Beside her door crouched 
 old Chloe, and on the first step stood Cato, and 
 clinging to the bannisters were Kak and Tak. All 
 these, as she appeared, screamed forth in one chorus 
 a merry Christmas to her; holding up, in joyous 
 acknowledgment of them, the little gifts she had put 
 into their stockings. At the sound of this uproar, 
 of course her father and Aunt Lysbeth darted out 
 from below and caught her, unaware, upon the very 
 last step her father pinching her lovingly upon 
 the cheek, and her aunt, with mistaken aim, kissing 
 her in the middle of her chin. 
 
 Which being done, her father remembered how that 
 he had just been told by Aunt Lysbeth about the 
 undesirable working of matters the previous evening. 
 How or why it had so happened he did not know; 
 it was sufficient that hope for the Van Schoven 
 alliance seemed at an end, and that he had caught 
 a cold while waiting, to no purpose, outside in the 
 snow. It seemed his duty to scold a little ; and 
 with that intent he proceeded to make himself as 
 red in the face as possible, roughening his throat a 
 little for a harsh, grating roar. But Geretie, per 
 ceiving his intent, kissed him so accurately upon the 
 very center of his mouth, that she broke up all these 
 preparations. 
 
 " ISTot to-day, father," she said. " Xot upon 
 Christmas morning, when all should be so happy 
 and well pleased with each other, you know. And 
 when, moreover, we have so much to do, that we 
 have no time to be cross." 
 
 " Xo, Geretie, not to-day, of course," he responded, 
 9
 
 98 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 breaking into a hearty smile. " Not when we have 
 so much to do, indeed." 
 
 Which meant that, for him, there was nothing to 
 do except to smoke his big carved pipe from imme 
 diately after breakfast to early dark, occasionally 
 gossipping with a passing neighbor. But for Geretie, 
 there was everything to be attended to, so that it 
 seemed wonderful how one person could get through 
 so much. There were visits to be made in different 
 directions; visits of ceremony upon relatives, who 
 would, on no account, think of Christmas passing by 
 without her coming ; and visits of friendly charity 
 upon old dames who always looked forward to her 
 approach as synonymous with the mince pies and 
 krullers that she brought. There was a short ser 
 vice to be attended in the little Dutch church at 
 the bottom of the hill, and there was the English 
 church at the other end of the street, to be looked 
 into ; since it was always considered one of the 
 most important observances of the season to note 
 how tastefully the chancel and pillars were wreathed 
 with pine and hemlock. All these formed only a 
 portion of Geretie s duties for the day. 
 
 For, coming home, there was the state-parlor to 
 be opened and dusted out as only its mistress could 
 dust it. There was the little square carpet in the 
 center to be taken away to make space for the 
 dancing. There was almost all the lower floor of 
 
 O 
 
 the house to be waxed under Geretie s eye. There 
 were sconces for candles to be placed along the 
 walls, and the parlor chandelier to be fitted with 
 wax liu hts and decorated with Christmas greens.
 
 AY THREE HEADS. 99 
 
 There was old china to be ferreted out from the 
 dark closet depths and arranged for use. There 
 were quaint pieces of silver, blackened from want 
 of use, and seemingly almost forgotten, to be taken 
 out of their green baize coverings and polished up. 
 And there was the great bowlful of punch to be 
 concocted after her grandfather s receipt, and then 
 carefully locked up, lest the cook and coachman 
 might be tempted to try its strength, and, trying it 
 too often, overcome their own. 
 
 Lastly, and late in the afternoon, there was to be 
 a, retirement of Aunt Lysbeth and Geretie to their 
 respective apartments; to be speedily followed 
 thither by sundry women well skilled in secrets of 
 the toilet. Of this, the result became apparent a 
 little before seven ; for, at that time, the door of one 
 room opening, let out Aunt Lysbeth, gorgeous with 
 stiff brocade and gold-threaded turban, and with 
 ample gold chains looped around her neck. Then 
 from the other room speedily appeared Geretie, in 
 dress of less cumbrous material, but with her heavy 
 masses of auburn hair wonderfully built up over a 
 high cushion, so as to show the whole pretty face 
 up to the very roots of the hair, making also more 
 evident the lustrous pearls forming her ear-rings. 
 Her father was already down stairs and awaiting 
 them ; somewhat uncomfortable, perhaps, in his new 
 wig and his tights, which he suspected had been 
 made a trifle too tight. To console himself, he was 
 trying to whistle the little negro boys Christmas 
 anthem, thinking that it was God save the King. 
 But at sio-ht of the new coiners he forgot wig and
 
 100 /AT THREE HEADS. 
 
 tights and Christmas song; and hobbling forward, 
 paid to his sister the expected compliments upon her 
 appearance, while he embraced Geretie with abund 
 ant effusion of parental love. 
 
 " But take care, father, or you will pull down my 
 hair," was Geretie s response, as she released herself. 
 "And more than all, you will bruise your pretty 
 Christmas present, which, as you see, I am wearing 
 at my belt." 
 
 "A trumpery little watch not half what a 
 Christmas present should be," he muttered ruefully. 
 "Do you know, Geretie, I had meant another kind 
 of Christmas present for you a rich young hus 
 band?" 
 
 "That is a present one should always select for 
 herself, father." 
 
 " No doubt you think so, Geretie," he responded, 
 feebly attempting a growl. "And therefore it is that 
 so foolishly you have given up everything the 
 mill upon the Mohawk, and all ! Not to speak of 
 what I have learned this morning that his old 
 Aunt Barbara has begun to fail and cannot last six 
 months ! A young man about whom half the mar 
 riageable girls in the city are dreaming, while you 
 persist in dreaming only about a penniless adven 
 turer, roving around among the Indians, if he has not 
 already been knocked upon the head by some of them. 
 And what is more, Geretie, talking so much about 
 him, as you do, that even I begin to dream of him ; or 
 rather, which is not quite as disreputable, of his old 
 great grandfather."
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 10 1 
 
 " And how, father, did you know his great grand 
 father ? " 
 
 " Did I say I knew him, you vixen ? How, indeed, 
 could I know a man who was one of Governor Stuy- 
 vesant s councilors and lived nearly a century ago ? 
 But for all dreaming purposes, I suppose it is the 
 same thing to know old Cornells Hillebrandt s por 
 trait. It hangs in the parlor of Andries Hillebrandt, 
 Geretie, who is the present head of the family, and 
 if Heybert never comes back, will inherit the noth 
 ing he leaves behind him. Quite an interesting old 
 portrait, indeed, seeing that old Cornells is shown 
 up in steel breast-plate and basket-hilted sword, as 
 befits a brave warrior who in the old country served 
 two campaigns with Prince Maurice, and generally 
 looks grim and warlike too" 
 
 " And you dreamed about him, did you say ? " 
 cried Geretie, starting. " And when was that ? " 
 
 "Last night, I believe. N"o, not last night, after 
 all ; but yesterday evening, as we all sat nodding 
 together, just before the lights were brought in." 
 
 " And did he seem to come into the room where 
 you were, father ? And did he put his hand into 
 his breast and pull out a parchment roll ? " 
 
 " He did nothing of the sort, Geretie. He was in 
 the room when I came in, if I ever came in at all. 
 All I know is that I found myself standing in front 
 of him, and might have been born there, for anything 
 I can tell to the contrary. And if he had put his 
 hands into his breast after a parchment, he must 
 have done so before I came ; for when I saw him, he 
 was flourishing the roll in the air, and he said" 
 9*
 
 102 Ix THREE HEADS. 
 
 "What did he say father?" Geretie almost 
 breathlessly inquired. 
 
 " Now, that is what I do not remember," Gisbort 
 answered. " It could not have been anything very 
 particular, or, I suppose, I should have laid it more 
 to heart. And then, again, you know, I am not 
 very much in the mood to hold communication with 
 the flillebrandts, either alive or dead. Anyhow, 
 before I could fix the matter, whatever it was, in my 
 recollection, your Aunt Lysbeth awoke me ; very 
 inconsiderately knocking her comb half through my 
 bare skull, and leaving a dent in which I can almost 
 lay my finger." 
 
 Geretie pondered the matter; a little confused at 
 first, but light gradually breaking in upon her, as she 
 began to put facts together and form something of a 
 collected theory out of the whole affair. Might it 
 not have been that old Cornells Hillebrandt had 
 visited her in a dream, to tell something import 
 ant about her lover; that the dream had come to 
 her ill-timed and at the moment of her awaken 
 ing; and that, in the sudden knocking together of 
 heads, it had been driven in detached portions from 
 one to the other, her father holding that last frag 
 ment which, with the first and second, should have 
 come to herself alone ? 
 
 "Father," she cried, seizing him by the arm, "you 
 must remember and tell me all that the Councilor 
 Cornells Hillebrandt told you. I am sure that it 
 must have been something about Heybert. Think 
 think all you can about it, father, and let me know. 
 It was not your dream at all, or even Aunt Lysbeth s,
 
 IN THRER HEADS. 103 
 
 but mine ; an<l you must not keep any portion of it. 
 The dream was all my own, and Aunt Lysbeth 
 knocking her head against mine, stole away a part 
 of what belonged to me. Then you thumped Aunt 
 Lysbeth and took away another and the best part 
 of the dream from her. And, therefore, do you not 
 see, father, that " 
 
 " Why, what does the girl mean ? " cried Gisbort, 
 in natural astonishment. " Your dream, indeed ! 
 Have you so taken possession of the whole Hille- 
 braridt family, that while you dream about Heybert 
 you will not allow me a moment with his grim old 
 great grandfather ? There, run away Geretie, and 
 think no more about such foolishness." 
 
 Whereby it will be seen that Gisbort, discovering 
 himself to be the acknowledged complement of the 
 jh armed circle of the dream, was disposed to treat 
 the matter with somewhat careless spirit ; though, 
 as the By vanck letter intimates, it was not improb 
 able that, secretly, he was a little discomposed about 
 the meaning and effect of the dream s singular par 
 tition and sequence of delivery.
 
 CHAPTER V, 
 
 Geretie could make any response, the 
 knocker of the outer door, announcing the first 
 arrival, compelled her to hurry across the room, and 
 take her allotted position for reception. Old Cato, 
 the coachman, now on duty as door-keeper, startled 
 by that first rap from a comfortable nook in the 
 kitchen, shuffled hastily toward the front, putting on 
 a new liveried coat as he went ; and with that early 
 arrival, almost at one instant, the great tide of the 
 invited began to flow in steady stream. A lively 
 scene out doors, where, from every point of the com 
 pass, the guests converged to the Van Twiller man 
 sion as though by preconcerted signal. Young dam 
 sels, tripping along blithely, with thoughts all fixed 
 upon the festivity before them ; finely gotten-up old 
 gentlemen pacing solemnly onward, in the import 
 ance of new laced and ruffled suits ; maternal dames 
 in brocade, picking their way through the middle of 
 the street, lest chance falls of snow from the roofs 
 might discompose their laboriously erected head 
 dresses ; officers in red coats and braided gold clink- 
 clanking, down from the fort; not least of all to be 
 mentioned, old Barbara Van Schoven, tottering over 
 from her house, wrapped up as closely as though she 
 were starting out for the Canadas, and reaching the 
 further side of the street in state of great exhaus-
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 105 
 
 tion so they came in gathering crowds. Most all 
 were on foot, for the city was not so widely extended 
 that many guests must ride. But now and then 
 would draw up some large covered sleigh, with two 
 or four horses, according as the dignity of the own 
 ers or the distance they had traveled demanded; 
 and from the dark recesses of these vehicles emerged 
 
 O 
 
 wealthy citizens from the neighborhood or Patroons 
 from across and down the river, from Rensselaer, 
 Livingston, and even from as far as Court-land 
 manor; or scarcely less powerful landholders 
 from along the Mohawk and down the Hudson; 
 almost every broad possession, as far south as Phil 
 lip s Patent, sending its representatives. To lighten 
 these guests in their descent was the especial duty 
 of Rak and Tak, now newly clothed in liveries of 
 black, turned up in the cuffs and collars with red, 
 and who each bore a naming torch, to the intense 
 admiration of other little negroes gathered around; 
 which torches being held up at each side of the 
 great sleighs, often made goodly chance exhibition 
 of rich laces and velvets, gold shoe-buckles, and 
 other, festive adornments upon those descending, 
 and called forth cheers from all the crowd. 
 
 In doors, a scene still more animated and resplend 
 ent, as now the rooms began to fill, and every moment 
 the throng increased, until at last both parlors and 
 the broad hall seemed closely occupied. A brilliant 
 array of stiff-figured brocades and embroidered satin 
 vests of sweeping trains and colored silk tights 
 of high-heeled resetted slippers and silver buckled 
 O f artistically fashioned head-dresses and
 
 106 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 carefully powdered wigs. Here and there the mili 
 tary uniform of officers from the fort or the official 
 costume of Councilor of State, giving pleasant 
 variety to the scene. An animated throng, which 
 soon resolved itself into its proper groups and 
 positions ; a few old gentlemen immovably station 
 ing themselves before the fire and beneath the pic 
 ture of old Governor Van Twiller, there interchange- 
 
 * O 
 
 ing snuff and talking about the war with the French; 
 old ladies sitting in corners and silently criticising 
 each other s laces and jewels heir-looms, brought 
 out long ago from London or Amsterdam, as the 
 case might be ; the most decorously disposed dam 
 sels arranging themselves along the sides, and there 
 awaiting invitations to the coming dance ; but the 
 greater portion of the guests filling up the spaces 
 between and loitering in slow moving tide from 
 room to room, until it seemed as though all the 
 expected guests must be already there. Which was 
 the fact, excepting, indeed, that two and the most 
 desirable elements of the company yet lingered; and 
 as Mistress Lysbeth passed around, bestowing here 
 and there her greetings, she watched the door in 
 anxious expectation of those still absent ones. 
 
 Having not long to wait, however, since very soon 
 they came; the minister of the English church, upon 
 the hill, and the dominie of the Dutch church, at 
 the cross-streets below, entering arm in arm, as 
 befitted men whose Churches were in such pleasant 
 and friendly unity. As sacerdotal guests, they were, 
 of course, not bound down to any worldly follies of 
 costume, eschewing velvets and maintaining rather
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 107 
 
 their accustomed broadcloth, and having their well- 
 shapen legs attired in tights of plain black worsted, 
 rather than of lustrous colored silks. And yet, for 
 all that, there was something of scrupulous care to 
 be detected in the accurate powdering of their white 
 wigs, and in the dainty starching of the thin strips 
 of plain lace peeping from their coat-fronts. Making 
 their most dutiful compliments to the smiling host 
 esses, the pastors proceeded onward with cheerful 
 sobriety of mien, distributing plenteous greetings to 
 the many surrounding members of their several 
 flocks; which being done, they accepted chairs of 
 honor from which, themselves not dancing, they 
 might watch the course of those who did, in the 
 pleasant meandering through lively reel and 
 stately minuet. Xow, surely, the company must be 
 all complete. 
 
 Not yet; for suddenly a large stage-sleigh, drawn 
 by six horses for easier conflict with the up-country 
 snow-drifts, stopped in front of the Van Twiller 
 mansion, and a head and shoulders in military 
 cocked hat and cloak being projected, inquiry was 
 made as to the nearest crossing at the river. With 
 him were eight other officers of the British army 
 the speaker explained all participants in the late 
 capture of Cape Breton, and now on their way with 
 the glorious news to Xew York. Hearing this, Gis- 
 bort Van Twiller hurried out bare-headed and sup 
 plicated them to alight, and for that evening, at 
 least, partake of his poor hospitality; alleging that 
 he would never foi give himself if he suffered so many 
 brave soldiers of His Majesty, King George, to pass
 
 108 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 his house, unrefreshed. To which entreaties after a 
 little persuasion, the officers acceded; and when they 
 entered and threw off their cloaks, they appeared 
 attired in such spotless yellow leather tights, such, 
 becoming and well-fitting red coats, and such care 
 fully powdered locks, as made it more than lightly 
 suspected that they had refitted themselves at the 
 fort above in anticipation of a welcome, and that the 
 inquiry as to the nearest river point was a mere par 
 donable subterfuge. However this might be, none 
 the less was their reception hearty, and the favor 
 shown them for their late gallantry most abundant. 
 And at once did common consent unite to reward 
 them with the prettiest partners for the coming 
 dance; to which none showed themselves disinclined, 
 excepting two or three, who, alleging recent incapa 
 citating wounds, remained apart as mere spectators. 
 And now, at last, the party must really be complete. 
 Not yet, indeed; for scarcely had those brave 
 officers been welcomed, than from the head of the 
 street, and simply coming on foot, appeared His 
 Excellency, the acting Governor De Lancey. He 
 had been unexpectedly summoned, during the past 
 month, to the northern portion of the colony, on 
 public business; which, having been completed, it 
 was no difficult task so to arrange his homeward route 
 as, after all, to enter the Van Twiller mansion, upon 
 that Christmas evening. With his lavender tights 
 and richly-chased silver shoe-buckles, his embroidered 
 velvet coat and fine lace cuffs, and bosom plaits, his 
 long buff vest and shapely peruke, the Lieutenant- 
 Governor was a stately and pleasant sight to see.
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 109 
 
 Upon either side of him walked a member of his couii- 
 cil, the companions of his journey, similarly arrayed 
 though with somewhat less degree of elegance, by 
 way of showing all proper deference to rank; and 
 behind, as his military body guard, were two full- 
 uniformed officers of the British regiment in garrison 
 near the Bowling Green. Attended by these four 
 satellites, the Lieutenant-Governor made stately pro 
 gress through the apartments; giving pleasant greet 
 ings here and there to well-remembered friends, 
 neglecting no opportunity of complimenting matronly 
 dignity or blushing beauty, and even bestowing 
 most gracious and deferential smiles upon his haughty 
 political rival of Livingston manor. And now, 
 beyond a doubt, was the party all made up at last. 
 
 Little need, it may be, to tell at greater length 
 than by mere suggestion, how, at the first, the ball 
 was opened with single ceremonious minuet, wherein 
 the Lieutenant-Governor gallantly leading out Mis 
 tress Lysbeth Van Twiller for his partner, headed 
 the dance, while other dignitaries, with other dames 
 of high degree, filled out the set. How slow and 
 stately was the dance, performed to becomingly 
 heavy music, with only here and there a quickened 
 step, and mostly carried through with dignified 
 balancing to the right and left, and with low and 
 gracious bowing every minute to each other person s 
 partner, the whole concluding with bows still lower 
 and more stately than any that had gone before. And 
 how, after this opening dance was ended, even those 
 who had most attentively enjoyed it, drew deep 
 sighs of relief, and searched out partners for them- 
 10
 
 110 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 selves; whereupon, not one, but several sets were 
 formed in parlors and hall, and the music fell into 
 livelier strains, and form and ceremony were some 
 what cast aside, and mirth and joviality began to 
 take their place. 
 
 Or how, when, at last, the moment for supper 
 arrived, the guests all crowded into the largest 
 room, and there did full justice to the ample display. 
 How, more especially, the men, both old and young, 
 did honor to the great punch bowl, which, within 
 the hour, was many times emptied and refilled. 
 How, for all that, our ancestor s heads being made 
 of strong and resisting material, there was no marked 
 excess, each one coming away as soberly as he had 
 approached ; though it was cautiously whispered 
 n round that two or three of the old gentlemen, who 
 had tapped their snuff-boxes beneath the portrait of 
 Governor Van Twiller, went home with the queues 
 of their periwigs a little askew. And how, that a 
 lighter wine was furnished for the dames and dam 
 sels, who partook thereof with much affected reluc 
 tance and timid smile and blushes; but being at last 
 persuaded, grew brighter in the eyes, and afterward 
 danced all the better therefor. 
 
 These things need not be told, being so easily 
 imagined. It is sufficient, indeed, to narrate the 
 incident that made pretty Geretie s eyes grow bright 
 and a roseate blush of happy anticipation suffuse 
 her face. She had not danced every time, preferring 
 to leave that pastime mostly to her guests, herself 
 gliding from one to the other in pleasant greeting. 
 Now, during a pause in the figure, and while for the
 
 IN THREE HEADS. Ill 
 
 moment standing alone near one of the heavily cur 
 tained windows, her hand resting lightly against her 
 side, she felt a little three-cornered piece of paper 
 gently slipped between her fingers. To cast it away, 
 as an uncalled for attempt to hold secret corres 
 pondence with her, was of course her duty ; but at 
 the first moment, there was the instinct of crushing 
 the paper in her hand, to learn its nature. And 
 doing so, she felt that there was a ring inside. 
 
 With that, her heart gave a joyful bound. It 
 needed not that she should open the paper to learn 
 whose ring it held. There was only one ring that 
 could ever come to her in this manner her own 
 little torquoise ring, which she had given to Heybert 
 Hillebrandt, and which was to be returned to her 
 only as a token that all had gone well, and that he 
 was coming back, at last, to claim her. Xo wonder 
 that the flush of assured hope mantled her face, 
 and that her eyes shone brightly with the intensity 
 of newly found happiness ! Gently, and with almost 
 imperceptible sliding of her hand, she dropped the 
 precious paper into her pocket, turning, as soon as 
 she could do so safely, to see who was the giver. But 
 there was now no guest standing very near her no 
 one, except her father, who, catching her bright 
 glance, could not refrain from commenting upon it. 
 
 " No prettier damsel in all the room than my own 
 Geretie," he whispered, with bluff heartiness of sat 
 isfaction. "If you would alway look as happy" 
 
 "Father," she whispered in return, sidling up 
 closer to him, " I am happy, because there is some- 
 thiuo- that has made me so. Xo matter what it is,
 
 112 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 now. But I think that you can make me still more 
 happy, if you will only recollect what old Cornells 
 Hillebrandt said to you. For it is not your dream ; 
 it is mine. He came to tell me what has become of 
 Herbert ; he would never have told you, because 
 you do not like Heybert, and would not care to 
 know. And his face never would have relaxed from 
 its sternness and looked kindly into your face as it 
 did into mine. Men do not look at each other in 
 that way, indeed. It was my dream ; and you and 
 Aunt Lysbeth have got it away from me by a mis 
 take. If all our three heads at that moment had 
 not Now think hard, father, and let me know." 
 Old Gisbort, as she spoke, turned his face from 
 her, reflectively, or rather with the air of one who 
 tries to reflect, and, under the circumstances, finds it 
 difficult to do so. There was so much noise around; 
 who, indeed, could think of anything ? He looked 
 first down at his shoe-buckles, finding no inspiration 
 there. Then into the middle of the room where were 
 two sels of dancers, through into the sitting-room 
 where were other two sets, out into the hall where 
 was still another set. All seemingly in vain; for 
 how could any one reflect with that pattering of feet 
 keeping time in every direction, that lively tune 
 ringing in his ears ? Such a very lively tune, indeed, 
 kept back by the black fiddlers exclusively for this 
 after-supper hour ! Those who danced seemed to do 
 so with more life than ever before ; those who were 
 not in the sets could not refrain from beating time 
 with their feet, or with responsive nod of head. 
 Gisbort himself began to rock his wig this side and
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 113 
 
 that in unison with the measure, and was evidently 
 forgetting all about Geretie s question, when she 
 took him by the arm, and brought him back to the 
 subject. 
 
 "The dream, father the dream. What did old 
 Cornells Hillebrandt say? It has been so heavy on 
 my mind all day; but I would not trouble you then, 
 for you wanted that I should not be idle. But 
 now " 
 
 "Yes yes, Geretie, the dream," he responded. 
 " I will really try to think. He said it was some 
 thing what was it indeed ?" 
 
 Strange, perhaps, that her father should have sub 
 mitted to her questioning with such easy acquiescence 
 in its propriety strange, perhaps, that he did not 
 laugh at her, and treat her demand as the outcrop 
 ping of mere exuberant fancy. In the morning he 
 would certainly have done so. But it happened that 
 within the past hour he had drank freely of his 
 punch, constrained thereto, by his duty as host, it 
 being incumbent iipon him, personally, to pledge 
 many civil and military dignitaries, from the Lieu 
 tenant-Governor downward. He was not at all dis 
 ordered thereby, the hard brain of that period never 
 yielding to the hospitable labor of a mere hour or 
 two. But still he was thrown into a pleasant glow 
 of self-content, and into that impressive mood of 
 mind wherein many things seem very natural that 
 at other times might be considered strange. He 
 could not have carried his fancy so far as to have 
 imagined the presence of ghosts or spirits; but it 
 was not so difficult to accept, as truth, the promul- 
 10*
 
 114 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 gation of a novel philosophical theory. It therefore 
 happened that, with the earnestness of Geretie s 
 pleadings, it seemed no more than rational that one 
 person should, by mistake or mismanagement, have 
 come into possession of another person s dream. 
 
 " Yes, I will try to recollect, Geretie ; as well, 
 that is, as that capering tune will let me," he said. 
 
 Once more he endeavored to contract his brow 
 with thought ; then again gazed across the scene of 
 nodding wigs and plumes and dancing feet, into the 
 hall. There, too, all heads were moving in symphony 
 with that cheery measure. Even the negroes in the 
 kitchen had been attracted thereby, and slowly, but 
 not the less surely, had edged their way inch by 
 inch through the line of intervening pantries, until 
 they stood in the hall itself. Slaves of the house 
 hold and slaves of other houses some in the decent 
 dignity of their masters cast-off suits, and some in 
 their own fresh liveries some there as invited 
 guests of the kitchen, and some there officially, as 
 pages, or footmen, awaiting their masters departure ; 
 little by little they had stolen into the hall, and 
 open-mouthed with admiration and excitement, stood 
 looking on in long, unobtrusive row, close against 
 the wall on either side of the mahogany cabinet. 
 As Gisbort now gazed thitherward, a light began to 
 break into his eyes the light of recollection and 
 then he turned once more to Geretie. 
 
 "It was something about the cabinet, Geretie it 
 was yes, I know it now. Old Cornells Hillebrandt 
 said and he smiled pleasantly at me, Geretie, as 
 he might have at you, in spite of all your ideas
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 115 
 
 to the contrary he said and he held out a 
 long roll of parchment and shook it, as it were, in 
 my face he said search the mahogany cabinet." 1 
 But what I am to search for, or how or when, I do 
 not know. It seems, indeed, that we all own this 
 Hillebrandt dream, Geretie ; and, therefore, it should 
 be sent for something very important. But if, after 
 all, this is the whole of it, why then the sooner we 
 take no further notice of it and forget it altogether, 
 the better." 
 
 So Gisbort pleasantly spoke, with a knowing wink; 
 emboldened, as the Byvanck letter seems to hint, 
 into passing ridicule of the Hillebrandt dream, 
 by the subtle power of the punch.
 
 LH AFTER 
 
 yj 
 
 -^ 
 
 VEX as Gisbort thus spoke, there came from 
 the hall a slight cry of alarm, mingled with 
 the sharp sound of splintering wood, the mahogany 
 cabinet was seen to bend forward with a rocking 
 motion, then recovers itself, while a portion of its 
 heavy cornice fell to the floor. There was a momen 
 tary stir among the guests, and Geretie and her 
 father hurried to the scene of the disturbance. 
 
 Nothing alarming, indeed. It was speedily ascer 
 tained that the mischief all came from the little 
 negro boys Rak and Tak. They had been in the 
 line of self-invited guests from the kitchen ; and 
 finding it impossible, by I eason of their immature 
 stature, to see all that they desired, had climbed 
 upon the shoulders of two tall footmen, steadying 
 themselves in that uneasy position by clinging to the 
 front cornice of the mahogany cabinet. There for a 
 while standing content, until their supporters becom 
 ing restive beneath their weight had suggested a 
 descent. Thence it was no more than natural that 
 Rak and Tak, looking around for respite and seeing 
 how smooth was the top of the cabinet, should have 
 decided upon climbing thereon. But the heavy 
 cornice, upon which for the moment they hung 
 wriggling in their attempted ascent, though stoutly 
 framed had not been calculated to sustain the weight
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 117 
 
 of two clumsy, half-grown negroes; and therefore 
 breaking off with a crash had let them down upon 
 the floor, itself tumbling after them. No bodily 
 damage was found to have been done. The authors 
 of the mischief picking themselves up, slunk off 
 between the legs of the other servants into the 
 kitchen, there doubtless to meet the ire and the 
 uplifted spoon of old Chloe. The guests prepared 
 to resume the interrupted dance; no evidence of the 
 disturbance remained except the mutilated front of 
 the cabinet. Where once there had been a cornice, 
 there was now exposed a long narrow opening, not 
 before known to have existed in fact, a secret 
 recess. 
 
 " See, father," cried Geretie, grasping him by the 
 arm, and, pale with sudden excitement, pointing 
 upward to the opening. "Surely it must be there 
 that you were told to search." 
 
 At first sight, indeed, there seemed nothing to 
 tempt a search; but following the direction indicated, 
 her father raised himself upon a chair and thrust in 
 his arm. Far back in the cabinet, his hand encount 
 ered a roll of parchment, dusty, torn and time-stained. 
 Carefully he spread it out between Geretie and him 
 self. And lo ! a word being deciphered here and 
 there revealed the long missing Hillebrandt Patent, 
 signed by their High Mightinesses of Holland, and 
 with their great, heavy seal attached; furthermore 
 signed and sealed by His Excellency Governor Stuy- 
 vesant; and in order that no formality might be 
 neglected, having in one corner a rude picturing of 
 bow and arrows, the emblematic signature of some
 
 118 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 Indian chief who had previously owned the patented 
 tract of land. 
 
 The Hillebrandt Patent, indeed ! The long sought 
 evidence wherewith the heir might now recover all 
 his rights ! As Gisbort once more rolled up the 
 parchment, there stepped before him a young, slight- 
 built officer of the British army one of those two 
 or three who had not danced, and quietly took the 
 patent into his own hands. 
 
 " Mine at last, is it not ? " he said. " I could not 
 but believe that in the end fate would favor me." 
 
 The light-brown beard and his studied seclusion in 
 a distant corner of the room had hitherto prevented 
 Heybert s recognition ; not to speak of the alteration 
 made by the military uniform, so honestly won by 
 brave deeds against the French, upon the Canadian 
 frontier. But, in spite of all such disguises, the 
 voice could not be mistaken ; and with a cry, Geretie 
 threw herself forward and clung to him. A foolishly 
 impulsive girl, of course; and who, more properly, 
 should have stood apart in maidenlike reserve, until 
 she might be asked for, with all solemn dignity of 
 form. Indiscreet, indeed, to make a scene before 
 that wondering crowd. But it passed off very well, 
 somehow; nor was she obliged to endure the igno 
 miny of repulse, inasmuch as Heybert placed his 
 arm about her, and drew her still closer to his side. 
 
 " You see how it is," he said to her father, with a 
 quiet smile. " You cannot but feel that after all it 
 must be so." 
 
 " Yes, Heybert, I suppose that it must be so," Gis 
 bort rejoined. And this is all that passed. But
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 119 
 
 every one soon knew what had been said; and so, in 
 a moment, the word went round that Heybert Hille- 
 brandt had returned, and that Geretie had at last 
 become his promised bride. And though there were 
 those who said that old Gisbort Van Twiller would 
 not have consented, except for the fortunate discovery 
 of the missing patent, they did him wrong; since in 
 his heart he had already relented, seeing that the 
 affair with Kollof Yan Schoven had by no means 
 prosperously advanced, and that Geretie would 
 doubtless have proved obstinate in her choice to the 
 very end. 
 
 Therefore the matter stood thus decided in those 
 few words ; and after some temporary buzz of com 
 ment, the dancing Avas resumed as though it had 
 never been interrupted. And now, Gisbort, taking 
 pleasant consultation with himself, and, doubtless, 
 gaining courage through one or two additional 
 glasses of punch, came to one of those resolves, 
 that if failing, gain all the odium of foolhardiness; 
 but that, if succeeding, are looked upon as the 
 product of pure inspiration. Nothing did he say to 
 Mistress Lysbeth, who, doubtless, acting according 
 to the dictates of social ceremony, would, from the 
 very first, oppose his plan ; but craftily retiring into 
 a distant corner, he beckoned up young Johan Van 
 Twiller, his nephew. 
 
 "Run, Johan," he whispered, "run at once to the 
 Hillebrandts and all the rest of them. Tell them 
 that Heybert has returned and is to marry Geretie ; 
 th:it the old quarrel should be made up at last; and 
 thai they must,- every one of them, come without
 
 120 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 delay, to the Christmas party. Tell them, too if 
 they say anything about it that when Heybert 
 and Geretie are married, I will give them the 
 mahogany cabinet for one of their wedding presents. 
 Xow start off at once; and, as you know what is 
 good for you, never stop to say a word about it to 
 Aunt Lysbeth." 
 
 With a nod of shrewd comprehension, young 
 Johan hurried off and soon delivered his message in 
 different quarters of the city. There was much 
 excitement thereat, and hurried putting on of old 
 brocades and satins, and stitching together of laces 
 and piling up of head-dresses ; for all those guests 
 who had remained away from the great entertain 
 ment had done so with regret powerfully tugging 
 against the necessary display of resentment, and 
 each one now hailed with pleasure the opportunity 
 to come in at last, with dignity unimpaired. Never 
 in all Albany, or elsewhere, indeed, either before or 
 since, had so many fair dames and damsels departed, 
 with such success, from their custom of giving up 
 many hours to the toilet, and made themselves ready 
 in so few minutes. 
 
 At one time, indeed, there was a chance that their 
 coming might work disastrously, after all. For 
 when, in the Van Twiller mansion, it became known 
 that Heybert was to be permitted to marry Geretie, 
 the Van Schoven family and all their adherents 
 naturally took offense, conceiving that a slight had 
 been committed upon their young kinsman, and, 
 therefore, that family self-respect demanded the 
 ceremonious departure of each and all of them.
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 12 j 
 
 Whereby such stern resolves began to be formed, 
 that it became more than likely that the stream of 
 reconciled Hillebrandts, Hogebooms, Jansens, Tien- 
 hovens and Wyncoopes coming in would encounter 
 at the very door a tide of angry Van Schovens, 
 Swartwouts, Winegaerts and Van Fredingborcks 
 going out. But young Rollof Van Schoven, seeing 
 that a storm was brewing, took his kindred one by one 
 aside; and told them that he had renounced all claim 
 to Geretie, not merely now but the day before, inas 
 much as he had then met a scout who had led him 
 to suspect that Heybert, instead of being destitute 
 among the Hurons, was serving, with glory, in the 
 British army, and would soon return. Whereat 
 they being all, in secret, loth to depart from such a 
 pleasant party unless obliged to by their principles, 
 wisely argued that if Rollof was not dissatisfied, 
 neither should they be ; and so remaining, joined 
 heartily in the grateful work of reconciliation. 
 
 And now once more the sets were formed, and 
 the three black fiddlers played another tune still 
 merrier than any that had gone before, though 
 that might seem scarcely possible ; so that it was 
 said that the Lieutenant-Governor became inspired 
 to engage in another minuet, and essayed to lead out 
 old Mistress Barbara Van Schoven. This, indeed, 
 was scarcely credited ; though many of those who 
 disbelieved the story, afterward gave unwavering 
 credence to the tradition, that the portrait of Gov 
 ernor Van Twiller had nodded its head all through 
 the dance in pleased sympathy. And, again, was the 
 punch bowl filled ; for, of course, Gisbort and his 
 11
 
 122 IN THREE HEADS. 
 
 friends must drink many reconciliatory glasses with 
 the newly arrived Hillebrandts and Hogebooms and. 
 all the others. And so the Christmas party was 
 kept up, with fun and frolic, even until the clock 
 struck twelve a departure from time-honored cus 
 tom which caused much comment ; whereat the 
 English minister and the Dutch dominie, upon the 
 next Sunday, felt constrained to interpolate their 
 sermons upon the " Character of Jereboam " and 
 the " Massacre of the Innocents," with some suitable 
 remarks about the growing tendency to social dissi 
 pation. This reproof was properly received by all 
 the young, and, doubtless, did them much good ; 
 but was not as well favored by the wardens and 
 elders, inasmuch as it necessarily caused an altera 
 tion in discourses that might better have been left 
 as they had always been used to hear them. 
 
 So, after all, on that Christmas day, the pretty 
 Geretie obtained her present of a husband, and 
 chosen by herself, as she had proclaimed to be her 
 right ; while at the same time Heybert Hillebrandt 
 regained his ancestral manor. Not much of a 
 manor, indeed. Only some three or four miles 
 broad upon the river and ten or twelve miles deep, 
 and with not more than eighteen or twenty first- 
 class mill sites. But, for all that, a property well 
 suited for the support of two young people of 
 moderate tastes and ambition ; while the future soon 
 revealed the story of its proper management. For, 
 before many years, the Hillebrandt house was built, 
 not far from the Van Twiller mansion ; not as large, 
 indeed, inasmuch as already property upon that
 
 IN THREE HEADS. 123 
 
 street was becoming costly, and even tne most 
 wealthy could no longer afford houses of over 
 seventy-five feet front. But to make amends, it 
 rejoiced in the hitherto unknown extravagance of a 
 stone stoop, and had a gilded weathercock upon the 
 gable as handsome as the Van Twiller weathercock. 
 And within the house was a large sitting-room, in 
 all respects like the Van Twiller sitting-room, except 
 that over the fireplace, instead of the portrait of 
 Governor Van Twiller, hung that of old Cornells 
 Hillebrandt. It might have been thought, indeed, 
 that Geretie Hillebrandt would set little value upon 
 the portrait of one who, coming in a dream to visit 
 her and tell about the missing title-patent, so stu 
 pidly blundered in his ill-timed approach, that the 
 dream, instead of pertaining to her alone, was 
 broken up, and lay scattered in three heads, and 
 almost irrecoverably lost. But, possibly, she re 
 garded rather the good intent of the act than its 
 careless carrying out. It is certain, indeed, that she 
 looked favorably upon the old councilor ; for, in the 
 letter which afterwards, in accurate and circumstan 
 tial narration of the dream, she wrote to her dear 
 friend, Mistress Anneke Byvanck, of Kinderhook 
 the time-stained letter of which we have heretofore 
 so often spoken she alludes most lovingly to the 
 picture of old Cornells Hillebrandt, and evidently 
 regards it as the chief and crowning glory of her 
 mansion.
 
 .. A 
 
 (Ptftj at ({ ir
 
 H AFTER 
 
 
 I 
 
 JlpHE London stage-coach dropped me at the gate- 
 &? lodge of Grantley Grange, and according to ray 
 usual custom I started up to the Hall on foot. It 
 was such a pleasant Christmas morning as perhaps 
 is not often seen, and might well have tempted to a 
 longer walk than that short mile up the carefully 
 trimmed avenue. There had been a slight fall of 
 snow, a mere sprinkle indeed; but it was sufficient 
 to clothe the brown turf with a dainty tint of pearl, 
 and to make the dry leaves rattle crisp beneath the 
 feet, and to project the great oaks in seemingly more 
 ancient grandeur against the brightened back-ground, 
 and generally to give an unusually cheery and exhil- 
 erating aspect to the whole scenery of the park. 
 
 When I had nearly reached the Hall, the church 
 clock struck noon, and immediately all the bells 
 began to ring out a merry Christmas peal. Up and 
 down, hither and thither, now a snatch of tune 
 and again a meaningless clashing of all the bells at 
 once single notes and double and triple concords, 
 and, in fact, every thing that well-disposed bells ever
 
 128 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 can or will do so it ran on right cheerily. Now 
 it was that I anticipated my Uncle Ruthven would 
 hasten out to meet and welcome me. For I knew 
 that he was fond of listening to the chimes; and 
 when the changes were being sounded upon them he 
 would not unfrequently sit at the open window, the 
 better to enjoy them. And of course, as I could now 
 plainly see the Hall through the leafless trees, he from 
 his open window could as readily watch my approach. 
 Somewhat to my momentary chagrin, however, he 
 did not come forth or even meet me at the door, and 
 I was suffered to enter unannounced. And passing 
 through the main hall, I wandered into the library. 
 
 There I found my Uncle Ruthven standing in the 
 middle of the floor, his head thrown back, his eyes 
 fixed intently upon the opposite wall, one arm raised 
 in front to the level of his face, the other hand thrown 
 behind him, an expression of resolute determination 
 impressed upon every feature, his whole appear 
 ance and position resembling that of the antique 
 Quoit Thrower. Evidently he had been engaged in 
 similar action; for, in a moment, he stepped to the 
 other side of the room, picked up a short, fat book 
 which had been thrown thither, and replaced it upon 
 the table. 
 
 " Anatomy of Melancholy," he remarked, turning 
 to me with a little chuckling laugh. " The first 
 person who for a long while has got the book all 
 through him eh, Geoffrey ? Though, of course, we 
 all relish a little of it, now and then. Hit him directly 
 upon the breast, and it went through him as through 
 a summer mist, dropping out behind between his
 
 THE GHOSTS AT G-RANTLEY. 129 
 
 shoulder blades. Of course he has vanished, taking 
 the hint of not being longer wanted here." 
 
 " Who, Uncle Ruthven ? " I asked. 
 
 " Why, the ghost, of course," was the answer. 
 
 I was a little startled at this. It is true that I had 
 sometimes thought that the library at Grantley 
 Grange might be just the place for ghosts. It was 
 wainscoted heavily with carved oak darkened in tint 
 with the seasoning of four centuries. Above, the 
 walls were covered with hangings of Spanish leather, 
 stamped in quaint pattern. The fire-place was deep 
 set and broad so deep and broad, indeed, that the 
 great logs smoldering within appeared no larger 
 than ordinary sticks. The windows were projected 
 into oriels with heavy mullions and let in the light, 
 encumbered with a thousand stray shadows. The 
 tables and chairs and high book-cases seemed almost 
 immovable with their sculptured massiveness, and 
 as though designed for a race of giants. Queer 
 lamps hung from the ceiling and grotesque candle- 
 sconces projected themselves from the walls, each 
 with heavy metal shades that would shut in more 
 light than they sent forth. Over the mantel and 
 beside the doors were paintings blackened with age ; 
 a Salvator Rosa, turned by the grime of time into a 
 mere confusion of different shadows, with only here 
 and there a touch of faded light for contrast, and, 
 on either hand, eight or ten old portraits in ruffs and 
 crimson coats and armor, cracked and worm-eaten 
 and sometimes almost undistinguishable in face, but 
 serving in costume to show the different careers into 
 which, in times past, the fates or inclinations of the
 
 130 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 originals had carried them. A gloomy old library, 
 indeed, full of crevices that would not stay closed, 
 and cobwebs that could not be got at, and drafts 
 that came from no one knew where, and flickering 
 shades that seemed to obey no philosophic law, but 
 stole here and there across wall and ceiling as their 
 fancy led them. So that not unnaturally it appeared 
 at times as though the place could never have been 
 made for man s enjoyment, but rather as a hall for 
 witches Sabbath or ghostly revels ; and as I watched 
 the subdued and hesitating flickering of an errant 
 sunbeam across the tarnished gilt pattern of the 
 Spanish leather, it was not difficult for queer fancies 
 and imaginings to take hold of me. But, after all, 
 they were mere idle conceits, and at the most I had 
 not for an instant anticipated the actual presentment 
 of unearthly visitants. 
 
 "The ghost, did you say?" I therefore repeated } 
 in some amazement. 
 
 " Yes, the ghost. Has been here every Christmas 
 for many a year. Always comes just as the chimes 
 strike up at noon, as regularly as thoughthey had 
 waked him. If you had ever before this happened 
 to spend a Christmas with us, you might have met 
 him yourself. Assumes that he belongs to the 
 house, and that therefore he has his vested rights in 
 it. Frightened me a little at the first, but have 
 become used to him now and do not care. Am 
 rather disposed, indeed, to lord it over him with 
 high hand ; and he is such a patient ghost that it 
 hardly seems to make much difference with him. 
 Am sorry always, in fact, if I speak crossly to him.
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 131 
 
 But, then, you know my temper, Geoffrey, and how 
 little I can brook presumption. How, then, would 
 you feel if a ghost were to come, implying that he 
 was the master of the house and that you were 
 merely a visitor ? Gets just so far, indeed, and then 
 vanishes without telling any thing important." 
 
 I looked wonderingly at Uncle Ruthven thus 
 calmly discoursing about the supernatural. 
 
 " But do you ever let him get further than that ?" 
 I suggested, my eyes wandering to the book upon 
 the table. 
 
 "Perhaps not, Geoffrey perhaps not. I sup 
 pose that if I were more patient he would talk a 
 little better to the purpose. But then I am very 
 quick tempered, and it is so exasperating, every 
 Christmas to go through the very same thing. I 
 always throw a book at him and am sorry for it 
 afterward. It is certainly not the hospitable thing 
 upon my part. But then to be so constantly beset, 
 year after year, and not to know how many more 
 there may be of them. For there is at least one other 
 ghost somewhere about the house, Geoffrey. I have 
 never seen him, but Bidgers the butler has, and he 
 says it is as like this fellow as two peas. And if I 
 am too polite to them, who knows but that they 
 may be encouraged to come in swarms and make 
 the house very uncomfortable? But let us leave 
 all that for the present. You will be wanting to 
 see your room, I suppose. The South Oriel, just 
 past the second landing. Bidgers will carry up 
 your portmanteau. Am sorry, by the way, that 
 Lilian has not yet returned from the continent. 
 She could, of course, make your stay much more
 
 132 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 pleasant for you than I can. But will do my best, 
 Geoffrey. Luncheon at one, as usual." 
 
 Escorted by Bidgers, I proceeded up stairs to the 
 South Oriel. It was a large apartment upon the 
 south side of the house, with a broad octagonal 
 window projection. If possible, the furniture was 
 heavier and more antiquated than that of the 
 library. There were quaint old tapestry hangings 
 to the bedstead, so queer and faded that it 
 seemed almost as though they might have been 
 embroidered during the Crusades. The wardrobe 
 was a marvel of size and solidity, and gave the 
 impression that in troublous times, obnoxious own 
 ers of the estate might have safely been concealed 
 in a false recess. Other articles of furniture were 
 in similar style, and all together gave quite a gloomy 
 aspect to an apartment that naturally, if left to 
 itself, might have been well disposed to be cheerful. 
 The effect was not diminished by a dingy picture 
 over the mantelshelf, representing a funeral urn 
 and drooping willow worked in hair, with an exceed 
 ingly numerous and mournfully dressed family com 
 ing two by two down a winding path to weep in 
 concert around the tomb. While I gazed solemnly 
 at this work of art, a ragged yew tree kept striving 
 at every breath of wind to thrust one of its gnarled 
 old branches in at the window ; and putting all 
 things together, the cheerfulness went out of me 
 entirely, and the idea of ghosts came in quite as 
 naturally as in the library. I tried to shake it 
 off, remembering my late experience and not wish 
 ing to have my mind burdened with any further 
 queer fancies of the kind ; and after a moment or
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 1.33 
 
 two, indeed, seemed to be succeeding very toler 
 ably and became able to hum an operatic drink 
 ing song with comparative ease and correctness. 
 Just then, however, happening to turn my head, 
 I saw a strange figure standing near the foot of 
 the bed and gazing at ine with fixed but not 
 unpleasing or unfriendly expression. 
 
 The figure of a pleasant young fellow; not, to 
 all appearance, over twenty-two years of age, and 
 exhibiting a life-like rotundity and opacity that 
 would have prevented any suspicion in my mind of 
 the supernatural, if I had not had my uncle s word for 
 it, or if I had discovered any way in which the stran 
 ger could have entered the room without my seeing 
 him. A handsome young fellow, courtly in manner 
 and dress, with coat of purple velvet, slashed and 
 embroidered the whole length of the sleeves, a 
 dainty little rapier swinging at his side and a 
 plumed cap held in his hand. Hair falling in long 
 curls over his broad lace collar, and the beard 
 twisted into a point, while the small mustachios also 
 twined into points turned up against the cheeks. A 
 mild, responsive kind of face, with courteous smiles 
 and replete with indications of gentle disposition. 
 
 " I am exceedingly happy to meet you," he re 
 marked, playing with the gold-lace upon his sword 
 hilt. " The more so that since I have been ill, so 
 few persons come to visit me at all. I do not know 
 that I have seen anybody of late, excepting the but 
 ler ; and even he appears to be a new butler, most 
 unaccountably put into possession by some other 
 and pretended authority. I must inquire into it 
 
 Avhen I am completely restored. " 
 12
 
 134 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 " You say that you have been ill ? " 
 
 " Yes ; a faintness and much uneasy want of rest 
 at night, principally arising from this lump in my 
 chest; and that, in turn, coming from the attack up 
 on me by my brother Hai old. Would be glad to 
 introduce him to you if it were not for that. But I 
 put it to you now : after what has happened could I 
 show him any such attention, or, indeed, associate 
 with him at all ? If cousin Beatrice were here, 
 now " 
 
 At this moment there came a rap at the door ; and 
 the ghost, shrinking a little toward one side, began 
 to pale before me, and I saw that he was slowly fad 
 ing away, beginning at the legs, and so the line 
 of invisibility extending upward until gradually 
 the whole figui-e had entirely vanished. Again I saw 
 in its entirety the carved foot-board which he had 
 hitherto partially obscured; there was nothing left, 
 indeed, to remind me of the strange visitant. And 
 opening the door I saw only Bidgers, the butler. 
 
 " Luncheon is ready, Master Geoffrey, " he said. 
 " Xo fish to-day, for the West stage is not in, but 
 the mushrooms is particularly fine. Heard you 
 talking to the ghost as I came along the upstairs 
 ghost, not Sir Ruthven s down-stairs ghost. Sir 
 Kuthven has only seen the down-stairs one, but I ve 
 seen both. Saw this one last Christmas, about this 
 time. He would not speak to me, however, it being 
 that I am only the butler. They re very much alike, 
 Master Geoffrey. There s a very nice haunch of 
 venison for dinner to-day, let me recommend ; and 
 the kidneys is not to be despised, either."
 
 LH AFTER 
 
 that, and during the remainder of my 
 visit, nothing else happened especially worthy 
 of mention. The Christmas festivities passed off as 
 they generally do; and the next morning I returned 
 to London, where my recollection of the ghosts soon 
 began to die away. At first, indeed, as is natural, I 
 could think of nothing else. But inasmuch as my 
 Uncle Ruthven had taken the matter so coolly, I began 
 to be impressed by a careful and more deliberate con 
 sideration of his manner, and to wonder whether 
 I might not have imagined many of the most 
 singular circumstances attending the incident; un 
 til, at last, I concluded that there could have been 
 no ghost at all, but that I must have dreamed the 
 whole story. 
 
 In addition, my time became so fully occupied 
 that I had few occasions in which I might engage 
 in desultory wandering of idle curiosity or specula 
 tion ; for during the first eight months I was diligently 
 employed reading for my admission to the Bar. 
 After that, I was actively forgetting most of what I 
 had learned, giving myself up as escort to my cousin 
 Lilian. She had returned from her travels upon the 
 continent, and with her father was stopping awhile 
 in London before continuing on to the Grange. It 
 was my pleasing duty to remain at Lilian s side most
 
 i36 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 of the time, Sir Ruthven being glad to avoid the toil 
 of active companionship. I Avas very much in love 
 with Lilian, but would not for the world have pre 
 maturely told her of it it would have made her so 
 tyrannical. At last, of course, we quarreled. It 
 was the day before Sir Ruthven and Lilian returned 
 home ; and she informed me that she was going on 
 the 10.45 stage-coach, and that she would be seri 
 ously displeased if I attempted to see her off. This 
 looked well for me upon the whole, I thought, 
 and I started for the coach at once. As ill luck 
 would have it, I missed it, a circumstance which 
 really helped my cause ; since Lilian, being there 
 by persuaded that I understood it to be a last 
 ing quarrel, felt suitably piqued into anxiety and 
 regret. 
 
 A little before Christmas, Sir Ruthven wrote me 
 to run down to the Grange as usual. With his 
 letter came a perfumed note from Lilian, stating that 
 if she could, she would gladly be away at Christmas 
 with her Aunt Eleanor ; but since she could not, but 
 was obliged to remain home, she would consider it a 
 great insult if I presumed to visit the Grange before 
 she could get away in some other direction. I was 
 wonderfully encouraged at this, feeling that all was 
 going on well ; and packing my trunk at once, I 
 went down by the earliest stage on Christmas 
 morning. 
 
 Again the chimes happened to be ringing just as 
 I alighted ; and, as before, no one coming forth to 
 meet me, I pressed on to the library, there to make 
 my respects to Uncle Ruthven, feeling well assured
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 137 
 
 that I should find him in his accustomed seat beside 
 the fire-place. He was in the room, indeed, but not 
 sitting down. He was standing beside the chair and 
 bowing with great affectation of cordiality to some 
 one iu the further corner of the room. Looking i u 
 that direction, I beheld a young fellow in court suit 
 of two centuries ago, with hand upon his heart, 
 bowing back to my uncle with still greater excess of 
 old-fashioned courtesy and cordiality; and I did 
 not for an instant doubt that I was looking upon the 
 down-stairs ghost. Almost the duplicate of the 
 other one, indeed. Evidently about the same age, 
 with equally agreeable, sunny, ingratiating expres 
 sion. Like the other, he had thick curls falling over 
 the collar, beard cultivated to a point, slashed velvet 
 coat, laces, gold tassels, and a slim, daintily deco 
 rated rapier. The most notable differences con 
 sisted in his complexion and hair being a shade 
 darker, and his coat being of a lively crimson. It 
 was a pleasant thing to see these two persons 
 salaaming cordially and ceremoniously to each 
 other ; my uncle bowing until he struck the table 
 behind him, and the ghost bending over in respon 
 sive courtesy until the point of the scabbard of his 
 sword tipping up, made a new scratch upon the 
 worm-eaten picture of Salvator Rosa. 
 
 " You see, Geoffrey," my uncle whispered between 
 his repeated genuflexions, " he has come again to 
 the very minute. The very same time as last year, 
 just as though the chimes waked him up. I remem 
 ber that you then thought that perhaps I was accus 
 tomed to cut him short rather too suddenly. We 
 12*
 
 138 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLUY. 
 
 will be more cautious now, and will not end until we 
 get his whole story out of him." Then to the ghost : 
 " I am rejoiced to see you once more, kind sir." 
 
 " It gives me equal and exceeding pleasure," 
 responded the ghost. " And I know that my brother 
 Arthur would be similarly gratified could he only 
 know about your arrival. But, then, how is he to 
 know ? After his conduct toward me the obloquy 
 he has thrown around me, in fact it certainly 
 would be beneath my dignity to approach him, even 
 for the sake of imparting information. lean, there* 
 fore, merely myself welcome you." 
 
 " Now, just listen to that ! " muttered Uncle 
 Kuthven, beginning to flush up angrily. " I have 
 done my best ; but is it possible to continue polite 
 ness with a person who insists upon treating me as 
 his guest ? I treat him with all the cordiality I can 
 muster, and the only result of it is that he turns 
 around and seems to patronize me." 
 
 It chanced that, moved by the first warmth of my 
 uncle s courtesy, the ghost had advanced a little, as 
 though to meet us, and thereby he now stood 
 between us and the window. This change of posi 
 tion seemed to produce a marvelous alteration in his 
 appearance. The face so fair and genial and prepos 
 sessing became at once a queer confusion of lines, 
 every feature being obscured by what looked like 
 converging cuts and wrinkles, making the whole 
 expression of the countenance unintelligible. It 
 was only for an instant, however. The next moment, 
 the ghost moving away from the window, his face 
 became as before clear, distinct, filled with amia-
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 139 
 
 ble and courteous refinement and intelligence. It 
 was not until afterward that the mystery explained 
 itself. Now, indeed, the singular appearance had 
 lasted for such a brief moment that it seemed scarcely 
 worth while to seek an explanation. The only 
 thing, in fact, that particularly struck me was a red 
 line extending around the throat, as though the 
 result of a forced compression. This was observable 
 even after the ghost had passed from directly before 
 the window, and until he had moved completely out 
 of reach of the entire spread of sunlight. 
 
 " If Cousin Beatrice were here," remarked the ghost 
 in continuation, "she would undoubtedly be very 
 happy to take part in entertaining you. But where 
 is she now ? It is some days since I have seen her. 
 Do you think it possible that Brother Arthur, in 
 addition to the ignominy to which he has subjected 
 me by his unjust suspicions, can have influenced her 
 mind against me ? If so, as long as I live, I will 
 never 
 
 " Listen again to that ! As long as he lives ! How 
 can anybody stand such drivel ? " cried Uncle Ruth- 
 ven. "I suppose, Geoffrey, you will now see that it 
 is as well to put an end to this first as last ? " 
 
 With that, as upon the previous Christmas, my 
 nncle seized a large book and vindictively let fly at 
 the stranger. If until that time I had had any doubts 
 as to his unsubstantial nature, they were now relieved. 
 Corporeal and opaque as he had seemed, it was none 
 the less true that the volume, striking him in the 
 stomach, passed completely through him as through 
 a stratum of air, falling upon the floor behind,
 
 140 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 while the figure remained unblemished and uninjured; 
 with this exception, however, that naturally he 
 seemed scarcely pleased with the roughness of the 
 reception, and a shadow of discontent flickered across 
 his face. Then appearing to comprehend that pos 
 sibly he might be unwelcome, he slowly faded away. 
 
 " Middleton s Cicero, this time," remarked my 
 uncle, wiping his face and gazing toward the weapon 
 he had just so successfully used. " And the fellow 
 has digested that as well as the volume last year. At 
 this rate he will get my whole library into him before 
 long. I cannot help it, Geoffrey. You saw that I 
 tried my best to be polite. But when a ghost acts 
 as though he owned the house, and moreover talks 
 as though he were alive, mortal man could not with 
 stand the temptation to cut him down. Well, well, 
 get ready for lunch, Geoffrey. The South Oriel, as 
 last year." 
 
 Of course, being sent up to the same room and the 
 old programme seeming to begin being played, I 
 expected once again to meet the purple-coated ghost. 
 And as is natural, I went up with some little trepi 
 dation. For it is one thing to have a ghost appear 
 to you, good natured and smiling from the first; and 
 another thing deliberately to throw one s self in the 
 way of a ghost who might not happen at the moment 
 to be in a very pleasant humor, and might exert some 
 supernatural power to make himself extremely disa 
 greeable. All the time I was dressing, I looked 
 uneasily over my shoulder, in search of apparitions. 
 But inasmuch as we seldom find what we most surely 
 expect to see, I was left entirely undisturbed, and
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 14] 
 
 finally began my descent to the dining room with 
 feelings greatly relieved and composed. 
 
 Passing the drawing-room, I heard the subdued 
 rustle of silk, and entering, found Cousin Lilian all ar 
 rayed for luncheon and smoothing herself out before 
 the fire. Of course after what had passed in London, 
 she swept me a stately courtesy, addressing me by 
 my surname as though I were a stranger whom she 
 had casually met the previous day; and of course I 
 bowed in her presence with ceremonious reverence 
 befitting the first presentation of Raleigh to Queen 
 Elizabeth. Then Lilian, slightly lifting her eye 
 brows in spirit of wonderment at my intrusion, 
 remarked that she believed Sir Ruthven was in the 
 library. I replied that I had already seen Sir Ruth 
 ven and had found him busily engaged with a 
 ghost ; and that as this seemed to be their re 
 ception day and others might be expected by 
 him, I would not intrude upon him for a while, 
 but with her permission would prefer to remain 
 where I was. 
 
 These preambles having been thus satisfactorily 
 entered into, of course we began making up by 
 throwing at each other little spiteful remarks of an 
 epigrammatic nature; now and then spontaneous, 
 but for the most part carefully manufactured weeks 
 before and treasured up for the occasion. Snapping 
 these off from side to side like torpedoes, and mutu 
 ally rebounding them harmlessly from our casemated 
 natures, we gradually composed our feelings and be 
 gan gettino- alono- very well on the path to reconcil- 
 
 O ~ ~ ~ t 
 
 iation. How long it might have taken under ordi-
 
 142 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 nary circumstances I cannot tell ; but it happened all 
 at once that Lilian was startled into an unexpectedly 
 rapid advance. For of a sudden I felt her hand 
 grasping my arm, and she called me by my first 
 name in the old familiar manner ; and turning, I saw 
 her gaze fixed with a wondering but not altogether 
 alarmed expression upon the opposite corner of the 
 room. 
 
 " See, Geoffrey ! " she whispered. " The up 
 stairs ghost ! How comes he in here? "
 
 LH AFTER 
 
 , I saw the purple velvet ghost at last, 
 03 bowing low to the floor, with a humble courtesy 
 that disarmed wrath, though none the less did an 
 explanation seem necessary. 
 
 " Really, my good sir," I therefore said, " this in 
 trusion " 
 
 " I must apologize for it, certainly, " he remarked, 
 again bowing low. " I was a little behindhand this 
 morning in reaching the South Oriel. And passing 
 through the hall, I saw a female figure inside this 
 room. I entered, expecting to meet my Cousin 
 Beatrice. I see that I am mistaken. Last night I 
 slumbered more uneasily than usual the lump in 
 my chest causing me very great disturbance, and 
 doubtless it has excited my nerves and made me 
 easily deceived. It has all come from Brother Harold s 
 outrage upon me, I suppose. Which being so, 
 it only remains for me to take my leave, with apology 
 for the intrusion. " 
 
 " Stay yet a moment, " I said. " This is my cousin 
 Miss Lilian, who certainly will not fear you and will 
 forgive your slight mistake. And and I have so 
 much to say to you. " 
 
 In fact, I felt that this might be the last time I 
 should see him; and that it would be no more than 
 a charity to enlighten him as to his true condition.
 
 144 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 It was a very sad thing to see a bright, amiable 
 young ghost going around century after century as 
 though he were still alive, and I decided that it 
 would be a kind action to correct his error. More 
 over, it happened that just at this moment, chance 
 threw a convincing explanation within my reach. For 
 as the ghost stepped a little to one side preparatory 
 to taking his departure, it came about that he stood 
 between me and the window, just as the other 
 ghost had done; and in like manner, every feature 
 seemed obscured with a network of contrary lines 
 and wrinkles. But as he chanced to remain there 
 a little longer than the other one had done, the 
 mystery became almost at once revealed. I saw 
 that the singular appearance was caused by the 
 strong sunlight showing through him, whereby his 
 whole head appeared as a transparent object. It 
 was exhibited as a mass of dim, lurid light, not 
 entirely endowed with all the bright translucent 
 qualities of glass, but rather as when a sheet of 
 thin porcelain is held up to the light, so that its 
 semi-cloudy transparency is revealed, and with it, 
 any dark spots or imperfections in the surface are 
 brought to notice. In like manner, our visitor s 
 head now seemed transformed Avith the brightness 
 of the sunlight behind it, so that its former opacity 
 was gone and there was a light, cloudy appearance 
 as of a dissolving mist, marked in every direction 
 with straight and curved lines of greater or less 
 intensity. At first, the features, excepting as they 
 appeared in profile, seemed entirely to have vanished 
 beneath a confusion of other lines; but a moment s
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 145 
 
 observation assured me of the contrary. They were 
 all still there the sparkling eye, the delicate mouth, 
 the well-shapen ear. With a little attention, I could 
 still trace the sweep of their several outlines. It 
 was merely that those outlines were now somewhat 
 confused by the addition of other lines appearing 
 from within the skull. These also, I found that 
 with a little study, I could still make out. There 
 was a broad, irregularly-curved mark showing the 
 outline of the lobes of the brain. I could follow 
 the whole ball of the eye beneath its socket and the 
 fainter lines which connect the eye with the brain 
 behind. The drum and the small bones of the ear, 
 and the twisted passages from the nose to the ear 
 were all now clearly defined. The palate, too, and 
 the sides of the throat, until hidden at last beneath 
 the laced collar of that courtly coat. In fine, under 
 the influence of that bright sunlight behind it, the 
 young fellow s head became something like one of 
 the modern medical wax preparations, exhibiting 
 every portion of its frame in exact position; except 
 that, far superior to any work of art, it did not 
 require to be taken apart for study, but could be 
 examined, in detail, just as it stood. 
 
 " How long," I said, myself moving a little one 
 side so that he might not appear between me and 
 the window; by which judicious movement he 
 became at once like any other person, his features 
 returning to their usual distinctness of outline, 
 unclouded by any rival lines and curves from behind; 
 " how long have you been thus ill and disturbed at 
 night by pain within your chest ?" 
 13
 
 146 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 " A week, or even more, I think, 1 lie said. 
 
 "Pardon me," I responded; "here is where you 
 have made a trifling mistake in your chronology 
 you, and the other, as well. This little episode 
 which you believe has occupied a few days or so, has 
 lasted, in reality, upward of two centuries. You 
 have been thrown into a certain condition of mind 
 in which you are unable to take due note of time. 
 Why this is so, I cannot attempt to explain. The 
 melancholy fact remains that you have already been 
 wandering some two hundred years, and for all we 
 know, may be destined to wander to all eternity. 
 In proof of this, I might refer you to your costume, 
 which is of the fashion of Charles the Second ; while, 
 in fact, we are living in the thirty-eighth of Vic 
 toria." 
 
 I paused for a moment here, thinking that he might 
 wish to ask some question. But as he maintained 
 a perplexed silence, I continued : 
 
 " You are in further error in believing that the only 
 consequence of some injury you have received has 
 been mere restlessness at night. Instead of Avhich, 
 you died and of course were suitably buried. And 
 consequently, you are not now a man, but merely a 
 ghost. It may be unpleasant to be told this, but it is 
 as well that you should know it first as last. And, 
 after all, there can be no harm in being a well-con 
 ducted, creditable ghost. As such, you are allowed 
 to appear each Christmas day for a few minutes, at the 
 expiration of which, doubtless, you return to your 
 grave. There, I presume, you slumber until the 
 next Christmas day, for you seem to have no definite
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRASTLEY, 147 
 
 knowledge of your whereabouts. At the least you 
 must be comfortable, which perhaps is more than 
 can be said of many ghosts. Even Hamlet s father 
 seems to have suffered torments; though there is 
 presumptive evidence that he was a very good man, 
 and totally unlike his brother. You are incredulous 
 about what I am now telling you ? In proof of it, 
 let me stand you directly in front of the window, so 
 that the sunlight will strike full upon your person. 
 Then let me hold this looking-glass before you. Now 
 studying your reflection carefully, you will see that 
 you are transparent ; which, I take it, is the surest 
 proof any man can enjoy of his being a ghost. You 
 can trace out the passages of your ears, the convolu 
 tions of your brain, the course of your jugular vein. 
 This line, which you might easily mistake for a nerve 
 or cord, is merely a crack in the looking-glass. Should 
 you feel disposed, hereaftei , for your amusement, to 
 study your internal anatomy more thoroughly, I 
 would advise a new and more perfect mirror. But 
 can you any longer doubt your condition ? " 
 
 " I can no longer doubt, indeed," groaned the 
 ghost. " But what, alas, can I now do V " 
 
 "A thousand tilings," I responded. " I take it 
 that, inasmuch as men must not live idle lives, in 
 like manner ghosts, also, may have their duties to 
 perform. Surely, it can scarcely be intended, in the 
 economy of the unseen world, that they should pass 
 lives or, rather, existences of careless idleness. 
 I know that, were I a ghost, I would do my best to 
 find some useful employment. I think that I would 
 endeavor to obtain some occupation that might be
 
 148 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 of benefit to the world I had left behind. Suppose, 
 for instance, that yon endeavored to retain some, 
 even trifling, recollection of the nature of your 
 abode in the unseen world, how you are associated, 
 whither you are sent, and other facts of a kindred 
 character, and were to impart them to the human 
 race from time to time through myself. Do you not 
 think that you would be doing great good, as well 
 as entitling yourself to the gratitude of all living 
 men ? " 
 
 The ghost mutely shook his head. Evidently he 
 did not care particularly about the gratitude of 
 living men. 
 
 " Or suppose," I continued, struck with a new, 
 and, in my estimation, better idea for it happened 
 that I had lately been interesting myself deeply in 
 medical jurisprudence "suppose that you were to 
 apply yourself to the benefit of the human race in an 
 anatomical or pathological capacity. There is on 
 record the case of a man who had a hole in the side 
 of his stomach through which processes of digestion 
 could be watched, to the great service of medical 
 science. Need I say that, for every purpose of 
 interest or utility, you surpass him infinitely ? I 
 must assume, with tolerable certainty, that if your 
 head is transparent, so, also, is your whole body ; 
 and that the workings of your inner system are 
 simply hidden from sight by your clothing. 
 Divested of that, you could easily unfold, in the 
 strong light of the sun, the entire operations of 
 your heart, your lungs and your stomach. Daily 
 could you have your seances, and new discoveries
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 149 
 
 could be noted down. There must be some thiu, 
 ghostly, almost impalpable fluid in your system 
 answering the purpose of blood in the human frame, 
 arid of this physicians might succeed in watching 
 the circulation and flow. There are vexed questions 
 in medical science as to the real use of certain 
 vessels and attachments whether they are actually 
 necessary in the human constitution, or whether 
 they are mere rudimentary relics of a lower organi 
 zation. These questions you might succeed in 
 determining. In fact"- 
 
 I had reached thus far, becoming so transported 
 with the increasing magnitude of my speculations 
 that I no longer looked at the ghost, but with half- 
 closed eyes gazed upward at the ceiling ; when sud 
 denly Lilian plucked me gently by the sleeve, and, 
 with quiet movement of the eyes, called my attention 
 more directly to our visitor. He was standing 
 motionless beside the window; but I observed that 
 the pleasant expression had faded from his face, an 
 angry flush was mounting into every feature, grim, 
 transporting rage was clouding every line. And, as 
 I paused in natural hesitation, he turned roughly 
 toward me. 
 
 " Have you done ? " he cried, bursting out with an 
 old-fashioned oath of the days of the royal Stuarts. 
 " Have you come to the end of your base proposals ? 
 Have you reflected sufficiently what it is to dare to 
 suggest to Sir Arthur Grantley, of the Court of 
 Charles, that he should pass his time illustrating the 
 labors and theories of leeches, quacks, and charl 
 atans?" 
 
 13*
 
 150 
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 Another old-fashioned oath, a half withdrawal of 
 the slender rapier from its sheath, a driving it down 
 again with impetuous, angry energy, and the ghost 
 strode wildly out of tho drawing-room, and was no 
 more seen. But for two or three moments we could 
 hear him growling forth his queer old court oaths as 
 he rattled away along the outside passage.
 
 LH AFTER 
 
 and I gazed at each other in speechless 
 wonderment. The hell rung for luncheon, 
 and we passed toward the dining room ; still with 
 thoughts too deep for words. 
 
 " Can it be," I said at length, as we entered the 
 other room, " that this person, whom we had sup 
 posed to be merely some retainer of the family, was 
 in reality its head ? That he could have been an 
 ancestor of yours, Lilian ? " 
 
 " Papa will know," she answered. " We will ask 
 him at luncheon." Then, when the old gentleman 
 sat eating his nuts and raisins and sipping his wine 
 before which time he disliked to be disturbed about 
 any thing excepting the occupation immediately in 
 view she began : 
 
 " Was there ever a Sir Arthur Grantley, papa ? " 
 
 " Let me think," mumbled Uncle Ruthven. " Yes, 
 there was a Sir Arthur about two centuries ago. 
 And now the story begins to come to me. There 
 were two brothers twins; the oldest having the 
 estate and title, and the youngest being a captain in 
 the Royal Guard. One would have supposed that, 
 being so nearly of an age and closely related, they 
 would have kept the peace ; but the contrary was 
 the fact. They quarreled so that one of them mur 
 dered the other, and was suitably hanged for it,"
 
 152 THE G-HOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 " Is there record of the fact, Uncle Ruthven ? " 
 " Nowhere, unless it may be in the State Trials. 
 I have never looked there. You will find no allusion 
 to it in Burke or Debrett. Those useful and accom 
 modating compilers, out of regard for the family 
 honor, I suppose, merely state that Harold Grantley 
 died, aged twenty-two: a piece of reticence which, 
 after all, was scarcely worth while, considering that 
 it happened so long ago. Time is a great cleanser 
 of family escutcheons. It would be unpleasant to 
 have a murder attached to the reputation of one s 
 father or grandfather ; but carry it two centuries 
 back, and no one seems to care. If it were not so, 
 there is scarcely a royal family on earth which would 
 not be hanging its head. I do not read that Her 
 Most Gracious Majesty Victoria ever makes herself 
 miserable about any suspicions attaching to the 
 memory of Queen Mary of Scotland. In fact, 
 rather a disreputable ancestry, if distinguished, is 
 better than none at all. It is scarcely to be sup 
 posed, for instance, that any of us would take it 
 much to heart at finding Guy Fawkes seated upon 
 one of the limbs of the family tree. At any rate, 
 we have no reason to complain of this little murder 
 in the Grantley line, seeing that it finished up the 
 direct descent in that quarter and sent down the 
 entail to us through a collateral branch." 
 
 With that, having exhausted his knowledge upon 
 the subject, Uncle Ruthven went on sipping his wine 
 and turned the subject upon the culture of turnips. 
 But after luncheon Lilian and myself, feeling by no 
 means contented, slipped up to the library again
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 153 
 
 and took down one of the time-worn dusty volumes 
 of the State Trials. The books had evidently not 
 been moved out of place for years; but it was easy, 
 having the reign, to find all that we wanted, and in a 
 few minutes we opened at the case of Hex v. G-rantley. 
 The book was very heavy, and at the first we spread 
 it upon the table. This proving inconveniently high 
 we took to the sofa, where we let the volume rest on 
 both our laps and read together. It was very pleas 
 ant, altogether. It was necessary for Lilian to lean 
 over so that her curls brushed across my shoulder, 
 and at times I could feel her breath warm upon my 
 cheek. That she might have greater strength to 
 hold her share of the book, I passed my arm sustain 
 ing!} about her waist; a fact which she did not seem 
 to realize, so intent was she upon the story of the 
 murder. We have often read about young men and 
 maidens looking upon the same book and in just 
 such positions. In those narrations it is generally a 
 book of poetry, or at least a novel that interests 
 them. I question if very often a young lady sits 
 with her lover absorbed in the story of a murder 
 committed by one of her own family and reads it 
 without any feeling except of curiosity about its mere 
 incidents, and as coolly as though it were Jack 
 Shepperd or Oliver Twist. But then, as Uncle 
 Ruthven justly observed, it was so long ago. 
 
 It appeared, then, from the account in the State 
 Trials, that Arthur and Harold Grantley were twin- 
 brothers of the age of twenty-two. As Uncle Ruth 
 ven had stated, Arthur was the oldest and in posses 
 sion of the title and estate, while Harold held com-
 
 154 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 mission in the Palace Guard. Naturally the two 
 brothers were thrown much together, and were 
 supposed to be greatly attached to each other. 
 Of course, they sometimes had their little dis 
 agreements; but, until the period of the murder, 
 it was never supposed that there was any especial ill 
 feeling between them. The trouble ensued about 
 noon one Christmas day. Harold had obtained leave 
 to visit his brother at the Grange ; and after an early 
 dinner for they were alone and much form and 
 ceremony was dispensed with they sat at the table, 
 conversing, eating filberts and drinking their wine. 
 Possibly they had been drinking too much ; but not 
 so much, in fact, as to exhibit its effects upon them 
 to any great extent. The most that could be said 
 was, that it might have tended to make them quarrel 
 some ; but as it turned out, this after all was the 
 whole mischief in the case, and much worse in its 
 results than downright and less harmful intoxication. 
 It chanced that Sir Arthur had taken the oppor 
 tunity of exhibiting to his brother a certain valuable 
 heirloom, known in the family as the great Lancaster 
 diamond, having come into the line from a collate 
 ral Lancaster branch. It had lain concealed in a 
 secret closet during the Cromwellian troubles, and 
 had just been brought to light again. It is supposed 
 that Sir Arthur, being attached to their cousin 
 Beatrice and wishing marriage with her, had designed 
 presenting her with the diamond ; and that Harold, 
 being equally in love with her and perhaps with no 
 less prospect of success, had made objection ; and 
 that from this fact the quarrel had arisen. Be that
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 155 
 
 as it may, their voices were heard in loud dispute ; 
 and suddenly Harold calling out for help, his brother 
 was found lying upon his back lifeless and with every 
 appearance about the throat of having been foully 
 dealt with. Harold s account of the circumstance 
 was to the effect that Sir Arthur all at once had 
 thrown himself back in his chair and gasped and 
 seemed to have been seized with a fit. On the other 
 hand, it was argued that young men of his vigorous 
 constitution did not readily die in fits that the 
 appearances of foul play by strangulation were too 
 evident that there had certainly been high words 
 between them, a fact, indeed, which Harold was 
 obliged to admit that the known passion of both 
 the young men for the same lady would have been 
 sufficient of itself to produce fraternal hatred and 
 strife and furthermore, that Harold would have a 
 supreme interest in his brother s death, by reason of 
 the succession to the estate. And then again, the 
 diamond had disappeared. If the death had been a 
 natural one, the diamond would not have been dis 
 turbed ; but inasmuch as it was the leading cause of 
 the dissension, nothing was more natural than that the 
 murderer should have made away with it, by throw 
 ing it out of the window, into the lake, most likely, 
 so as to remove one great evidence of the crime. 
 Altogether the feeling ran very high against the sur 
 viving brother, political prejudices that could 
 scarcely now be explained intervened to increase the 
 excitement, while certain favorites of the king, 
 desiring promotion in the Guard by removal of one 
 person of higher rank, prejudiced the royal mind
 
 156 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 againsc pity or pardon. In fine, after much agitation 
 and a protracted trial, young Harold was found 
 guilty and executed. 
 
 "And this explains," I said to Lilian, " many cir 
 cumstances that hitherto have not been clear to me. 
 The red line around the throat of the down-stairs 
 ghost ; the pain in the chest of the up-stairs ghost 
 - a difficulty most naturally resulting from outside 
 pressure all these things now tell the story very 
 clearly, and agree most wonderfully with the State 
 trials account. Only which at first seems strange 
 the murdered now does not seem to remember 
 that he was put to death, nor the murderer that he 
 was executed for it." 
 
 "That is, indeed, singular," said Lilian. "But, 
 then, ghosts are so silly ! " 
 
 "At first sight, it may seem strange," I answered; 
 " but not after a moment s reflection. Violence 
 endured by us in life is very often with difficulty 
 afterward brought to our memory. One has a fall 
 or is stricken down by a club and made sense 
 less; he recovers after awhile, and knows that in 
 some way he has been injured, but does not remem 
 ber the actual fall or blow. And why should it be 
 different if the injury leads to death? Looking 
 upon it in this light, and with this philosophy, we 
 see the young baronet awakening in the grave with 
 no conception of ever having been killed, but merely 
 with some indistinct idea of previous attack or 
 vituperation. And, in the same manner, we find 
 the younger brother awakening in the belief that he 
 is still alive, and remembering not his execution at
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANT LEY. 157 
 
 the hands of the law, but only the fact of havino- 
 been charged with some outrage against the other, 
 the nature of which he cannot comprehend, while 
 the circumstance of any charge being made at all 
 grievously offends and distresses him." 
 
 "All very plausible, indeed," responded Lilian. 
 " But suppose that, after all, he was innocent ? " 
 
 "A thing very hard to believe, with so much con 
 trary evidence," I said. "All that is a mere woman s 
 unreasoning supposition, with endeavor to wipe off 
 a blemish from the family escutcheon." 
 
 "Pho! for the family escutcheon," responded 
 Lilian, putting up her lips in pho-like form. And 
 as she spoke she looked so pretty that, having my 
 arm still about her waist, I began seriously to con 
 sider whether I had not better improve the oppor 
 tunity and now make my offer. So much was 
 already understood between us, indeed ; and every 
 one, even Lilian herself, knew very well that it was 
 destined some day to come about, as a suitable 
 family arrangement long foreseen and often talked 
 
 * ~ 
 
 about ; and, therefore, what better moment than the 
 present to unburden my heart ? 
 
 "I think, Lilian," I said, "that it is about time 
 I spoke a word or two to you about our future." 
 
 " Well, Geoffrey," she replied. 
 
 I saw the flush gather in her face, that she 
 knew what must be coining, that she anticipated 
 tender avowal with loving expression. In this 
 last respect, at least, mindful of recent aggrava 
 tions on her part, I determined that I would dis 
 appoint her.
 
 158 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 "No," 1 said, "it is not probable that Harold was 
 innocent. And therefore you must see for yourself, 
 Lilian, that your family have been a most disrepu 
 table lot. But for all that, having unfortunately 
 a strong personal prejudice in your favor, I am 
 inclined to believe that I shall not be doing myself 
 too great injustice in offering you my alliance." 
 
 " You are very kind, certainly, Geoffrey," she 
 responded. " I cannot but feel intensely gratified at 
 the preference. I suppose that every family must 
 at some time or other meet its misfortune of a 
 public execution or some similar disgrace. I con 
 sider it particularly fortunate that with us it has 
 already happened. In your line of the family it 
 is yet to come ; and if I may judge by circumstan 
 ces, it will probably take place during the present 
 generation. And merely that I may legally enjoy 
 the privilege of standing at your side and comfort 
 ing you during that closing ordeal, I take pleasure 
 in accepting your offer." 
 
 And this is how Lilian and I became engaged.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ai 
 
 fT was understood that trie wedding would not 
 take place immediately. Uncle Kuthven had 
 some old-fashioned notions about matrimony, promi 
 nent among which was the idea that no young man 
 should marry without having the means of support 
 from his profession, so as to be independent of the 
 fluctuations and liabilities to loss of private fortune. 
 Upon this basis, it was determined that we should 
 not wed until I had made a public and creditable 
 appearance at the Bar. 
 
 This came about in the following October. I had 
 been engaged as third counsel in the great case of 
 Charity-boy v. Churchwarden, for assault. Church 
 warden had boxed the ears of Charity-boy for play 
 ing marbles on a tombstone; but unfortunately had 
 not succeeded in catching him to do so until they 
 were over the boundary-line of the graveyard. Up 
 on this defect, want of jurisdiction as to place was 
 alleged, and action brought. The suit had been 
 running nearly five years, and therefore could now 
 reasonably be moved for trial. The rector, curate, 
 half the vestry and three of the bell-ringers had 
 been subpoenaed to give evidence and stood ready. 
 It was necessary to have, in addition, the testimony 
 of the toy-maker who had sold the marbles ; and he, 
 it happened, was on his death-bed at the north of
 
 160 THE GHOSTS AT QRANTLEY. 
 
 Scotland. A commission had been issued to take 
 his testimony. The toy-maker lay delirious for the 
 most part, having a lucid interval of about half an 
 hour each day, during which he desired to make his 
 will. He was constantly prevented from doing so, 
 however, by the entrance of the commissioners de 
 manding to take his testimony, which so confused 
 him that he always went off wandering again. 
 Pending the execution of the commission, of course 
 
 O f 
 
 an adjournment was desired. 
 
 Now it happened that, both the senior counsel be 
 ing away, it devolved upon me to make the applica 
 tion for the adjournment, and with a little difficulty 
 about the pitch of my voice, I succeeded in doing 
 so. The judge said that if the other side were 
 agreed, there could be no objection ; and the other 
 side having duly consented, the adjournment was 
 ordered. Whereupon I wrote down to Sir Ruthven 
 that I had made my first appearance. Sir Ruthven 
 immediately wrote back, asking whether my speech 
 would be reported in the Times. I replied that I 
 did not suppose it would, as the papers were un 
 usually interested in the Montenegro difficulty, to 
 the exclusion of much other valuable news. Uncle 
 Ruthven thereupon responded that he was satisfied, 
 upon the whole, even if the Times was silent about 
 me; and that now that I had resources for support 
 independent of inherited estate, the wedding might 
 come off immediately after Christmas. And he told 
 me to run down the day before Christmas, so that 
 we could have a pleasant little Christmas dinner by 
 ourselves, before the invited visitors began to arrive.
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 161 
 
 Accordingly, I arrived at Grantley Grange upon 
 the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, and was at once 
 shown to my room by Bidgers, who not only lighted 
 me up, but followed me in to assist in unpacking my 
 wardrobe. And while doing so, naturally with the 
 self-allowance of an old family servant he let his 
 tongue run loose with the gossip and events of the 
 day. 
 
 "A hamper just come in, Master Geoffrey, with a 
 fine large salmon ; but that is for to-morrow. You 
 must praise it when you see it, for Sir Ruthven sets 
 great store in having got it. There has been no 
 ghosts seen since you was here last perhaps they 
 have all gone away for good. There is talk that the 
 Earl of Kildare will be at the wedding next week; 
 
 O 7 
 
 but any which way, he has sent a silver pitcher. 
 Maybe, after all, the ghosts have all been locked up 
 where they are. Miss Lilian s Aunt Eleanor has done 
 better than the Earl of Kildare though. She cannot 
 come, they say; but such diamond earrings as she 
 has sent almost as large as filberts, Mr. Geoffrey! 
 As to the grapes to-day, I am fearful there s a little 
 mold on some of them; but the oysters 
 
 " That will do thank you, Bidgers," I said, tired 
 of the running stream ; and Bidgers, taking the 
 hint, affected to blow a speck of dirt off the sleeve 
 of my wedding coat, and gently glided out of the 
 room. I was not so much tired, indeed, as that I 
 felt I would like to be alone for thought, Some- 
 thin^ in Bidders last remark had awakened an asso- 
 
 O O 
 
 ciation of ideas in my mind; but of such intangible, 
 confused character that I could not follow it up to any 
 14*
 
 162 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 definite purpose. Diamonds as large as filberts 
 filberts and diamonds, so ran the words, through 
 and through my mind like the strain of a tune ; but 
 out of it all I could not, with the utmost concentra 
 tion of thought, gain any clue that I might follow 
 up to a satisfactory certainty. 
 
 At night the same I fell asleep with the old 
 sequence of words running in my head, still like the 
 strain of a tune, as sometimes we will set to meter 
 the thumping of a railroad car. In the middle 
 of the night I awoke; and then there flashed upon 
 my mind a solution of the puzzle, but so wild and 
 improbable, so idiotic and fantastic did it seem, that 
 at once I discouraged it. Even then, when scarcely 
 half aroused, and at an hour when the waking fancies 
 run riot in premonition and alliance with hardly more 
 fanciful dreams, did I laugh at the crude conception 
 and try to beat it down, falling asleep again at last 
 with mind apparently entirely relieved of the foolish 
 notion. But when in the morning I awoke with the 
 sun broadly shining in upon me, there again was the 
 queer idea; and now, wonderful to relate, though I 
 lay with the collectedness of thought appertaining 
 to the open day, and with little chance of crude 
 fancies any longer overwhelming me, the idea, 
 though still as strange and ghost -like as before, no 
 longer bore that first impress of the ridiculous, but 
 was as something real and to be soberly and carefully 
 considered. At least the experiment suggested by it 
 might be tried, though secretly and cautiously, so as 
 not to provoke ridicule in case it came to nothing. 
 
 Dressing myself, I stole softly down stairs. It
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY, KJS 
 
 was still very early, and there was HO one stirring 
 below, excepting a housemaid dusting the furniture. 
 She merely looked up and then continued her task, 
 my habit of morning walks being too well known to 
 excite observation. I passed through the long 
 window and came upon the bare winter-stained 
 lawn. There was the gardener, muffling anew some 
 plants in straw; but he too, merely touching his hat, 
 said nothing. Then I followed a gravel path around 
 the terrace to the rear of the house, and thence 
 struck off to a little grove of pines a hundred yards 
 or so away. 
 
 In the midst of these was the burial vaslt of the 
 Grantley family. It was by no means a repulsive 
 object, being merely a brick erection a few feet 
 above the surface of the ground, and originally 
 constructed with some pretense of architectural 
 symmetry. Neither was it an object of superstitious 
 or sentimental reverence. In fact, at the present 
 time there were not more than twelve or fifteen of 
 the family laid away in it. It had been built four 
 centuries ago, and with accommodation for a hun 
 dred or so; but at the time of the rebellion a party 
 of Cromwell s troops came sweeping down upon the 
 house, and, being in want of material for bullets, 
 turned all the dead Grantleys out of doors and took 
 their leaden coffins to cast into ammunition. After 
 that time the burials continued for only a few gene 
 rations; since which, the yard around the village 
 church had received the family dead. About ten 
 years ago it had been found necessary to open the 
 vault in order to get the date of some particular
 
 164 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 death for legal evidence. The long-closed door had 
 stoutly resisted, and at length the lock was obliged 
 to be broken. It was intended, of course, to restore 
 the fastenings ; but equally of course, and as happens 
 so often with matters that can be done any day, the 
 duty was postponed from time to time, and gradually 
 came to be no longer remembered. The closed door 
 then warped open a little of itself, and the gardeners 
 leaned their tools against it, and after awhile pushed 
 the door further back, and slipped their tools just 
 inside out of the rain ; and so, step by step, the 
 almost empty vault became only used as a tool-house. 
 Vines were trained to grow over it, ferns gathered 
 around its base, and a stranger would have taken 
 it for a somewhat dilapidated ice-house. 
 
 I pushed the door open yet a little further and 
 peeped within. The sunbeams, still low and shut 
 out by the screen of trees, could not now enter; 
 but enough light stole in to show a pile of rakes and 
 hoes just inside, and a little further along, a row of 
 empty recesses, built for coffins, but long since made 
 vacant. Entering, I could see that the recesses ran 
 in double rows for some distance in front of me, 
 being at the further end shrouded in darkness. I 
 drew out my cigar lighter and by the aid of repeated 
 tapers proceeded to explore. Then I could see that 
 at the further end, a few of the recesses were filled 
 with coffins. These were in various stages of decay. 
 In all cases, the dark coverings of cloth had moul 
 dered away and lay in fragments at the side or on 
 the stone floor below. In some, the outer wooden 
 shells were nearly whole ; but in others, they had
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 165 
 
 crumbled into dust and splinters. With a few of 
 the recesses, the names and dates of the remains 
 within were fastened at the lower edge upon brass 
 plates ; with others, the plates had entirely disap 
 peared. There was one recess which contained a 
 worrn-eaten coffin of somewhat plain construction, 
 but no name or date or even evidence that any such 
 had ever been affixed. I could not resist the impres 
 sion that here lay the unfortunate Harold Grantley; 
 given, as matter of right, a place in this ancestral 
 vault, but, through some charitable idea of letting 
 his unhappy fate become forgotten, denied all record 
 that could lead to future identification. Passing 
 onward, with gathering assurance that my search 
 would not prove unavailing, at each minute renew 
 ing my quickly expiring tapers, I carefully read 
 every name, now and then rubbing the brass plates 
 with my handkerchief before I could decypher the 
 blurred old-fashioned letterings. Then, for a while, 
 as the number of remaining niches one by one was 
 lessened without rewarding my search, hope began 
 to give way to disappointment. Only for a moment, 
 however; for soon, to my abundant gratification, I 
 read upon one of the plates the words and charac 
 ters, "Arthur Grantley, Obt. Dec. 25, 1663, Aet 22." 
 Here then, lay he whom I sought, and I scruti 
 nized attentively all that remained. A moth-eaten, 
 rat-torn pall, a nest of coffins, and that \vas all. 
 Uneasily for the instant I turned my head, dreading 
 lest the blithe young apparition with its purple and 
 laced coat and dangling sword should arise and 
 demand wherefor I was about to disturb him ; but
 
 166 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 all remained quiet about me. I was alone with my 
 own thoughts and purposes, and could prosecute my 
 designs unquestioned and unimpeded. 
 
 I had feared lest I might be obliged to seek for 
 assistance, but it was not so. Every thing, in fact, 
 seemed made ready and convenient for me. The 
 outer box was worm-eaten, warped and decayed, so 
 that it could be broken and brushed away in places 
 with a mere stroke of the hand ; the leaden coffin 
 inside had corroded, and the solder of the seams 
 parted, so that the joints had spread apart, and, 
 with no great effort, I was able to bend open the 
 end ; the mahogany coffin inside of all had suffered 
 similar decay with the outer box, and readily parted. 
 In a moment the outer end of all three coffins lay 
 open, and I could easily insert my hand. 
 
 For a moment I hesitated. What if, as some 
 times happens, the remains had not suffered cor 
 ruption, and my touch were to encounter a solid 
 form ! Repressing this fear, I passed my hand 
 stealthily within, finding no obstruction. Only a 
 little dust at the bottom, hardly deep enough for a 
 finger to write a name upon. This was all that was 
 left of the gay young courtier, twelfth baronet of 
 Grantley. Slowly I let my hand wander up along 
 the bottom of the coffin, groping among the dust, 
 until two-thirds up to the top ; then I struck against 
 a small, hard lump. My heart gave a loud thump 
 of excitement. What could it be ? Was it the 
 prize that I had hoped for, or was it merely some 
 fragment of unpulverized bone? Half wild with 
 tremulous expectation, I grasped the little lump of
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 167 
 
 substance firmly between thumb and forefinger, and 
 hurried with it to the door of the vault. Even as I 
 approached the dim, lurid light just within the half- 
 opened entrance, T began to feel my assurances grow 
 more sure ; and when I emerged into the bright glow 
 of day beyond, and held my prize up against the 
 golden rays of the risen sun, I could no longer 
 doubt that I had gained possession of the long lost 
 Lancaster diamond.
 
 CHAPTER VT, 
 
 WHEN" I returned to the house, I said nothing 
 about what I had been doing. It seemed as 
 though the time for explanation would not come 
 until toward evening. How, in that broad garish 
 light of morning, could I venture to reveal that 
 secret of dreams and darkness and rifled tombs ? 
 How, indeed, would my story be believed, unless 
 with the glow of nightfall thrown around it to 
 attune the listeners to credence ? 
 
 Moreover, what if, during the day, the ghost were 
 to appear, condemn my invasion of his sepulchre, 
 demand his diamond, and possibly, by threats of 
 supernatural force and terroi s, obtain it ? Certainly 
 the accustomed hour for the ghosts was close at 
 hand, and at any moment they might visit us. 
 Already Sir Ruthven sat in the library awaiting his 
 especial apparition. My uncle was, for the time, in 
 no particularly friendly mood toward ghosts ; and 
 he now loudly declared that, whatever might before 
 have been his courtesy, his forbearance had at last 
 ceased, and he would not tolerate their coming. 
 Certainly not now, he said, seeing that the house 
 was preparing for a season of festivity, and had 
 other things than the next world to think about. 
 Accordingly he sat, watching, in his great elbow 
 chair, with the heaviest volume of the Encyclopaedia
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 169 
 
 Brittanica at his side, in readiness to crush out the 
 first sign of ghost before even a word of salutation 
 could be uttered. 
 
 But to the wonder of all and greatly to Sir Ruth- 
 ven s disgust as well seeing that, having made up 
 his mind for action, he did not like to feel that his 
 time had been thrown away no ghost appeared, 
 upstairs or down. Punctually at twelve, indeed, 
 the chimes rang out the merriest peal we had 
 enjoyed for years the changes were sounded by 
 the hundred with unusual exactness and celerity ; 
 yet all the time my uncle sat unmolested, with his 
 Encyclopaedia lying idle beside him. At length the 
 day wore itself out, the bell sounded for dinner, and 
 we repaired to the dining room. 
 
 It was to be our last little dinner by ourselves ; a 
 very small Christmas party, indeed, but on the mor 
 row the guests would begin to arrive and to break up 
 our privacy, and then there could be no complaint 
 about lack of excitement in the household. This 
 last day Sir Ruthven had desired we should have for 
 ourselves. But few as we were, no one had forgot 
 ten that it was the Christmas season and should be 
 honored accordingly. Holly and mistletoe decked 
 the room in every direction. A great yule-log lay 
 cosily esconced in the chimney-back and good hum- 
 oredly tried to blaze up as merrily as the smaller 
 branches that crackled around it ; though being so 
 unwieldy, it was not very successful in the attempt. 
 But those smaller branches, invading the yule-log s 
 smoldering dignity with their blithe sport of gaiety, 
 snapped and sputtered around it with uproarious 
 15
 
 170 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 mirthfulness; sending none but the prettiest colored 
 smoke wreaths up the chimney, and casting out 
 bright tongues of flame that lighted up every corner 
 of the room and gave a ruddy glow to the time- 
 faded portraits, and even brought out patches of 
 cheerful sunlight upon an old cracked Rembrandt 
 that no one had ever been able to decypher. 
 
 The table was set for us three only; but, in honor 
 of the day, with as much ceremony as though there 
 were to be twenty present. A tall branch wax-light, 
 used only on occasions of great festivity, was 
 brought out from its green baize covering and planted 
 in the center. Treasures of antique silver, the very 
 existence of which Sir Ruthven had nearly forgot 
 ten, were exhumed from their places of long con 
 cealment, and now once more, as in past centuries, 
 pleasantly glimmered in the gentle gleam of wax- 
 light. Flowers here and there unobtrusively exhaled 
 sweet odors from tiny vases. There was to be a 
 boar s head brought out and placed on the table at 
 the proper time for each of us to look at -and taste 
 and pretend to enjoy. The plum-pudding was turning 
 out a great success the greatest for many years, as 
 Bidgers whispered to me. All the circumstances of 
 the scene around us were soft, harmonious and cheer 
 ful; certainly now was the time for me to tell my 
 story. 
 
 With some little affectation of ceremony, perhaps, 
 I drew forth the Lancaster diamond and placed it in 
 Lilian s hand. I told her that I could make her no 
 more valuable Christinas gift than to restore this 
 rich family relic of the past. Lightly I touched
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GKANTLEY. 171 
 
 upon the process whereby I had found it ; rather 
 elaborating, instead, the train of thought that had 
 led me to suspect where it had lain hidden. I ex 
 plained how the finding of the diamond gave new 
 illustration to the record in the State Trials, proving 
 that the younger brother had not been guilty of any 
 murder at all that during the agitation of a 
 quarrel the older brother must have accidentally 
 swallowed the diamond, mistaking it for one of the 
 filberts that lay beside it near his plate, and which 
 were of similar size how that this unfortunate 
 error had been sufficient of itself to cause his death 
 by suffocation how that thereby the discoloration 
 around the neck of the deceased, as well as the dis 
 appearance of the diamond were properly accounted 
 for how that, most probably, it also gave an expla 
 nation of the unpleasant lump in the chest of the 
 crimson-coated ghost. 
 
 " It is doubtless so," a soft voice thereat inter 
 rupted. We all looked up ; and, at the further side 
 of the table, we beheld both the ghosts. More alike 
 now than ever before, it seemed to me ; only with 
 that single difference of color of the coats. The 
 same bright engaging faces, the same gentle manner; 
 as now, all heart burnings seemingly healed, they 
 stood with their arms bound lovingly about each 
 other in fraternal embrace. 
 
 " We have heard it all," continued the crimson 
 ghost, "and thereby we find an explanation of some 
 things that we never thought of before. Both Brother 
 Arthur and myself now know that we are dead ; and 
 that it is fitting, therefore, that we should no longer
 
 172 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 haunt these scenes, to which indeed, we have no claim. 
 I know that I have been hanged ; a matter, how 
 ever, which occasions me no concern, seeing that I 
 deserved it not. I should at any rate have been 
 dead long before this ; and since my family can be 
 satisfied of my innocence and I know that my 
 Brother Arthur, in spite of a few harsh words, loves 
 me still the same, I care not for others opinions." 
 
 " And I," said the purple ghost, " cannot suffi 
 ciently thank you for the relief you have given me. 
 Nightly have I lain in what I now perceive was my 
 grave, unable to sleep by reason of the strange lump 
 in my chest. This morning about eight, there came 
 sudden relief; such sweet relief, indeed, that I 
 overslept myself, and for the first time in many 
 years have missed the chimes, and neglected at the 
 appointed hour to make my usual Christmas visit. 
 Even this bodily relief, perhaps, is not equal to what 
 I feel at knowing that in reality I have suffered no 
 wrong at the hands of Brother Harold. I think that 
 if now we could only agree about the only subject 
 which has ever estranged us by which I refer to our 
 mutual attachment to Cousin Beatrice we might 
 
 " I think I can easily make your mind easy about 
 that matter," remarked Uncle Ruthven, coming for 
 ward. " If you will bear with me a minute, I will 
 show you the life-like picture of your Cousin 
 Beatrice in after days." 
 
 He lifted one of the brunch candlesticks from the 
 table, and directed its light upon a painting on the 
 wall. The portrait of Cousin Beatrice in more 
 advanced life. A cracked, blackened and moth-
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 173 
 
 eaten picture ; but in which, by singular chance, the 
 face had remained intact. The face of a woman 
 who had long survived the natural freshness and 
 graces of youth, and had gained in place of them 
 none of those more matured and ennobling qualities 
 that dignify age. The patched and painted and 
 powdered face of a woman given up to all lightness 
 and frivolity ; a face in which there was nothing 
 sweet or pleasant or kindly ; in which all the art of 
 Sir Godfrey Kneller had not succeeded in mingling 
 with accurate likeness one spark of generous nature 
 or blotting out the appearance of sordid vanity that 
 pervaded it throughout all. 
 
 " The portrait of your Cousin Beatrice in her 
 fiftieth year," remarked my Uncle Ruthven. " She 
 never married, and was noted at Court for her skill 
 in cheating at cards." 
 
 The two young ghosts gazed for a moment 
 intently at the picture. As they did so, it seemed 
 as though their embrace grew more intimate and 
 fraternal. At last they turned again, as satisfied. 
 
 " I do not think that we shall ever quarrel again 
 about Cousin Beatrice, even if at times we forget 
 that we are all dead," the older ghost then said, 
 with a sweet smile. "And now that all differences 
 are so pleasantly made up, it remains for us only to 
 bid you farewell. And since Brother Harold can 
 now rest in his grave untroubled by any idea of 
 wrong from me, and I can sleep, no longer annoyed 
 by the lump that pained my chest, it is probable 
 that we shall never be aroused to visit you again." 
 
 " But stay a moment," cried Uncle Ruthven, fairly 
 15*
 
 174 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 touched at heart, and no longer remembering the 
 Encyclopaedia. " You will not go so soon ? At 
 least you will take dinner with us ? " 
 
 As he spoke the ghosts had already begun to vanish, 
 the line of invisibility starting at the feet, as before, 
 and working upward until they were half gone. 
 Then, for a moment, the line trembled irresolutely, 
 and so began to descend until again they stood 
 entirely revealed. It was as though a person going 
 out at a door had indeterminately held the handle 
 for an instant and then returned. 
 
 " Moreover," continued my uncle, " I have apolo 
 gies to make for many a past act of rudeness toward 
 one of you." 
 
 " It is forgotten already," said the crimson ghost, 
 bowing. " What do you say Brother Arthur, can 
 we wait a little longer ? " 
 
 " A very few minutes, Brother Harold, if only to 
 give myself time to make amends for an act of impo 
 liteness on my part toward this other gentleman 
 only last year." 
 
 So they seated themselves at the table and the 
 dinner began. It was pleasant to watch the old- 
 fashioned politeness with which they conducted 
 themselves the courtesy with which they bowed to 
 Lilian at each word they addressed to her the 
 grace with which, wishing to cause no remark, they 
 affected to eat and drink. Not able to do so, indeed, 
 by reason of their incorporeal nature, but all the 
 time lifting the full glasses and laden forks to their 
 mouths and dropping them again untouched. It 
 was delightful to listen to their conversation, marked
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 175 
 
 here and there indeed, after the fashion of their 
 time, with a light oath, but bright and sparkling 
 throughout all, with vivacity and wit. At first, 
 indeed ; the time was somewhat occupied by Uncle 
 Ruthven giving sketches of the late history of the 
 family ; but after that the ghosts were encouraged to 
 talk, and pleasantly beguiled half an hour with 
 hitherto unknown anecdotes of the Court of the 
 Merry Monarch. As I listened my thoughts natu 
 rally strayed from the present back to the romantic 
 past, and my imagination carried me, unresisting, 
 into the olden days of the Stuarts. I was no longer 
 in the prosaic nineteenth century, I was in the midst 
 of a laughing, careless throng of king and courtiers, 
 all busily making up for their enforced deprivations 
 during the sombre period of the Commonwealth. 
 Hamilton and Nelly Gwynn, De Grammont and 
 Villiers and Frances Stewart, these and others of 
 those long dead disreputables, whose actions may 
 not have been comely but whose names live vividly 
 in story, and to whose memories some glamor of 
 romance still kindly attaches us, now crowded around 
 and made the past a reality and the present a mere 
 unstable myth. In the hallucination of the moment 
 even the portrait of the poor old card-cheating Beat 
 rice Grantley seemed to in vest itself with something of 
 her long-departed youthf ulness ; and as the mingled 
 gleam of wax-lights and yule log flickered upon it, 
 it was as th ugh some hitherto unnoted beauties of 
 expression came to the surface, and the whole coun 
 tenance became once more aglow with that youthful 
 loveliness which, doubtless, in the time of it and
 
 176 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 during her occasional visits to the Court, must have 
 enticed Charles himself awhile from his more stable 
 attachments in order to enjoy passing flirtation 
 with her. 
 
 " A joyous Court, indeed ; and sadly now coming 
 to my memory as I feel that I can never mingle with 
 it more," said the purple ghost. " A Court to which 
 I know that my fair young kinswoman would have 
 done ample honor, could she have been there," he 
 added, bowing to Lilian ; " even more abundantly, 
 indeed, than Cousin Beatrice. Growing old with 
 more grace and dignity than did Beatrice, I am very 
 sure. And that she may live to grow old in such 
 gentle manner, let her take heed and not make my 
 sad mistake." 
 
 As he spoke, he pointed significantly to the Lan 
 caster diamond which chanced at that moment to be 
 beside her plate, and, by a singular coincidence, among 
 a little pile of filberts. 
 
 " Yet I am sure," he added, still with the courtly 
 manner of his period, "that such sweet lips could 
 never make mistake about any thing. Rather should 
 the diamond, with its appropriate mate, be reserved 
 to grace those beauteous ears." 
 
 " Its mate, do you say ? " I remarked ; not sure, for 
 the moment, but that the young ghost had swalloAved 
 two diamonds, and that I had not carried my 
 researches far enough. 
 
 " Yes, its mate," he said. " Surely you must know ? 
 Not so, indeed ? Well, there were two of these 
 great diamonds, the Lancaster and the York. 
 They had come into possession of one family through
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 177 
 
 union of adherents of those two rival parties, and 
 thence into our own line, through subsequent alliance 
 of that family with the Grantleys. In Cromwell s 
 time, the diamonds were hidden in separate places 
 to preserve them from confiscation, the knowledge 
 of those places being handed down only by word of 
 mouth, for greater security. At the Restoration, I 
 alone knew the secret. At the time of my death I had 
 already brought the Lancaster diamond to light, as 
 you are well aware. The York still remains hidden. 
 Permit us now, my brother and myself, to offer it to 
 you as our joint Christmas present. You will find it 
 in a little metal box close beside 
 
 At that very moment it chanced that a small ban 
 tam rooster outside the window set up a crow. It 
 was a miserable little banty, scarcely half fledged. 
 It had a drooping wing, and a twisted toe; and for 
 these defects and others, perhaps, which we had not 
 noticed, was constantly driven away from the general 
 society of the poultry-yard. Even the hens were 
 accustomed to pick at it. Its crow was weak, and 
 piping, like a school-boy s first attempt at whistling. 
 Nor was this the hour of midnight or early dawn, 
 but merely seven in the evening. There seemed no 
 reason why any ghost with self-respect should be 
 moved by such a feeble crow from such a despicable 
 source, and at such an early hour. And yet there 
 may be a certain, inflexible rule for well-constituted 
 ghosts; and perhaps, in cock-crowing, the line cannot 
 easily be drawn between different styles. Be that as 
 it may, at the very first pretense of sound from the 
 little banty, the ghost stopped speaking, gazed inquir-
 
 178 
 
 THE GHOSTS AT GRANTLEY. 
 
 ingly at his brother and received an answering nod; 
 and then without another word they slowly faded 
 away. 
 
 " Ghosts are so ridiculous ! " said Lilian. But I 
 thought that as she gazed at the Lancaster diamond 
 and reflected how well the two Christmas gifts would 
 have looked if worn together, she seemed sadly dis 
 appointed that the little banty had not put off his 
 crowing for a minute longer.
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLOPS SEPTRIO. 
 
 was Christmas eve, and I sat before the broad 
 kitchen fire ; and there, as I stirred up the rich 
 yellow fluid in the iron pot, which swung- over the 
 coals in front of me, I mused upon the realities of 
 the past and the possibilities of the future. The 
 hour was late ; and the hands of the clock pointing 
 towards twelve, showed, that, in a moment or two, 
 Christmas eve would be over,- and Christmas day 
 begun. From out my lattice window, and through 
 the naked branches of the village elms, I could see 
 the old stone church, with its queer little square 
 belfry lit up, in readiness for the sexton to chime 
 forth the midnight Christmas carol ; while round the 
 porch clustered a group of small urchins, waiting in 
 breathless expectation to take their part in ringing 
 out the peal. And in a moment more the sexton, 
 with keys in one hand and lantern in the other, came 
 struggling through the snow, on his way to the 
 church. He was old and infirm, and could with 
 difficulty plod along; and I wondered how he could 
 ring in as a joyous thing that Christmas, which, in 
 all probability, would be his last. But for all that, 
 he seemed cheerful enough ; and though in general 
 he was a surly fellow, yet, as he now .answered the 
 welcoming shout of the urchin group, there was a 
 16
 
 182 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTKIO. 
 
 very pleasant and lively tone to his cracked and 
 husky old voice. And while I thought upon his 
 shortened tenure of life, and the possibility that for 
 me there might be laid up a long and useful career, 
 the liquid before me suddenly boiled over the edge 
 of the pot, and began to drop hissing upon the coals 
 below. 
 
 When, in the six hundred and seventy-third year 
 of his life, the celebrated Apollonius Septrio wrote 
 out his method of prolonging human existence to an 
 indefinite period, the agents of the Inquisition seized 
 him, and, after a hasty trial, he was condemned as a 
 sorcerer. " Thou pretendest to have lived over six 
 hundred years, and to be able to live a thousand," 
 said the Grand Inquisitor, when the sentence was 
 pronounced ; " we will now try whether thy words 
 and doctrine are true. If they be true, thou needst 
 not fear us, for we will be unable to kill thee. If, 
 on the contrary, thy doctrine is not sufficient to save 
 thee, then hast thou practiced abominations, and 
 deservest to die." So Apollonius was led away to 
 the stake and fagots, where he miserably perished. 
 
 But in spite of all that was said and done, Apol 
 lonius Septrio was no sorcerer. There was no taint 
 of quackery or deceit in his process. Neither did it 
 derive importance from cabalistic machinery, or 
 spiritual invocations, or any of the thousand methods 
 whereby unlettered visionaries have been wont to 
 delude the public, and confuse their own minds in 
 vain attempts to control the steady step of death.
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 183 
 
 Apollonius had merely drawn conclusions from cer 
 tain well established laws of vitality, and thereby had 
 enabled himself to employ nature to Control his own 
 organization ; that was all. He had reasoned that 
 the human body was subject to a constant waste, 
 which, if allowed to continue without interruption, 
 would result in its destruction, otherwise called 
 death; that this waste might be retarded or accele 
 rated by the observance of peculiar rules in the use 
 of air, exercise, or food, whereby what is called 
 death might be delayed or hastened ; and he had 
 hence reflected that it might be possible, by natural 
 laws, to retard the customary rate of decay, and 
 increase the vitality which a healthy body is con 
 stantly generating, so that the latter might neutral 
 ize the former, and thus death be kept away for 
 ages. And acting upon such reasonable data, he 
 had finally, after long-protracted experiments, at 
 tained success, and been enabled to enjoy a life of 
 many centuries. But in his discovery there was, of 
 course, no preventive against accident or violence ; 
 and thus, in the end, it happened that his body 
 succumbed to the tortures of the Inquisition, and 
 his narrow-minded enemies were enabled to pride 
 themselves upon having exposed the error of his 
 pretensions. 
 
 Of the twelve copies of his book, which Apollo- 
 nius had laboriously written out with his own hand, 
 seven were seized by the Inquisition, and destroyed 
 with him; four were accidentally lost; and the re 
 maining one lay hidden in the dusty recesses of an 
 old Italian library, until exhumed by my unguided
 
 184 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTEIO. 
 
 investigations. But I soon found out, that, to own 
 the book, was not to possess the secret. At the very 
 beginning, the* cramped and faded writing, in an 
 unknown tongue, seemed likely to baffle me ; and 
 three years of hard study elapsed before I was able 
 to read the characters. And then a new difficulty 
 arose, since whatever I read seemed to be the most 
 unmeaning gibberish. For old Apollonius Septrio 
 had been a jealous man ; and in his unwillingness 
 that men should easily attain that knowledge which 
 had so long defied his own unaided researches, he 
 had taken marvelous pains to cloud and embarrass 
 the meaning of what he wrote, in order that none 
 but persons of learning and perseverance equal to 
 his own, might ever hope to arrive at the grand 
 secret. There were abstract equations to be worked 
 out; difficult analyses to be made; mystical keys to 
 be tilted to still more mystical complications ; and 
 the whole so blended and woven together, that the 
 loss of a single link of the marvelous chain would 
 destroy all hope of ever attaining the wished-for 
 result. And to add to the difficulty of the task, 
 the rats of three successive centuries had attacked 
 the little vellum volume, and had, here and there, 
 nibbled away important elements in the calculations; 
 so that additional analyses were often rendered 
 necessary, for the purpose of supplying what even 
 Apollonius Septrio had chosen to render clear to the 
 comprehension. 
 
 As I pursued my investigations into the volume, 
 there had been times when I shrank back affrighted 
 at the magnitude of the task before me ; and it
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 185 
 
 required all my energy to induce me to persevere in 
 what seemed a hopeless labor. At other times, how 
 ever, I madly and defiantly dashed ahead, feeling a 
 savage desire to learn the secret, even though it 
 might prove worthless ; if I might only thereby 
 boast to myself that I had not been foiled. And so, 
 little by little, the mysteries of the volume began 
 to be unfolded to my eyes, until, upon that Christ 
 mas eve, I stood in breathless suspense at the very 
 threshold of the end. 
 
 For the little iron pot, swinging over the fire, 
 contained the materials for the last analysis which 
 would be necessary ; and if that succeeded, the 
 grand secret would be my own. Anxiously I watched 
 the bubbling of the liquid ; and as at last it boiled 
 over the edge, I caught, with nervous hand, a single 
 vialful. Tremulously, I then held the vial towards 
 the light; tasted, and applied yet more severe tests; 
 and then, leaping from my seat, dashed around the 
 room in frantic joy. For the analysis was correct 
 and complete; sight, taste, and smell were satisfac 
 tory ; and now it was but the labor of a moment to 
 run through the already developed chain of equations 
 and the work was done. It was but a simple receipt, 
 after all, that old Apollonius Septrio had discovered. 
 It consisted solely in the use of a common little 
 weed, which men every day trod under their feet, 
 but which, though thus carelessly treated, was more 
 valuable than mines of gold and jewels. For, in 
 its dust-covered leaves, it had a wonderful power of 
 bodily recuperation ; and having its strength drawn 
 forth by occasional mastication, it would completely 
 16*
 
 186 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 regenerate the wasting energies of the human frame, 
 and thus insure to man as near an approach to 
 immortality as could be rendered consistent with 
 the frailties of an earthly nature. 
 
 The Christmas-bells rang forth loudly upon the 
 clear night-air, as the great secret stood revealed 
 before my eyes; but what cared I for Christmas, 
 then ? It was, after all, but an ordinary day to me, 
 for I might yet see as many Christmas festivals as 
 ordinary men see common days. For though there 
 was nothing in that precious little weed capable of 
 averting extraordinary dangers; though I was still 
 as liable as other men to be struck down by an 
 assassin s hand, or be crushed by a falling wall, or 
 be torn piecemeal by a steam explosion; yet I knew 
 that but a small proportion of meii met their deaths 
 by accident ; that the great majority either died in 
 old age, through the gradual exhaustion of the vital 
 flame, or else succumbed to the power of wasting 
 disease ; that the virtues of the little weed would 
 not only preserve the flame of life in a steady glow, 
 but would also nerve the system against fever, plague, 
 or any customary form of sickness; and that, conse 
 quently, there was no reason why I might not look 
 forward to centuries of health and strength. 
 
 " And less jealous than old Apollonius, we will let 
 the whole world share in our discovery," I said to 
 the young wife whom I had married during the year 
 just passed. " All men shall learn to live as long as
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 187 
 
 we ; and thus all men, in time, will become good. 
 For those who are already good can increase their 
 works and influence throughout centuries, while the 
 bad will have longer time for repentance, and will 
 learn, by more lengthened experience, how much 
 better is the policy of the just." 
 
 But when I attempted to promulgate my discovery, 
 I found that the world did not seem to appreciate 
 its merits. In fact, the world is but a bull-headed 
 fellow, after all. There are times when it is simple 
 and easy to delude ; and then any artful pretender 
 can make a sport of it, and pillage it. But there 
 are other times, when, fretted and soured with the 
 consciousness of past deceptions, it will believe 
 nothing, and trust to nobody; but with teeth set, 
 and brow wrinkled, will scorn and trample upon any 
 suggestions of value or benefit, however cheap and 
 easy of application. It was in this latter mood, that, 
 at the time of my discovery, I found the world. 
 Only a little while before, crafty empirics had prom 
 ised it all kinds of wealth, health and prosperity. 
 It had been offered long life, easily manufactured 
 gold; in fact, every thing which had ever been 
 striven for, to make any reasonable world happy and 
 contented. It had paid large prices for useless 
 instruction ; had lightened its coffers to purchase 
 vain receipts ; had discovered ruinous failure in every 
 method which had been proposed to it; and, in the 
 end, had always been soundly laughed at for its 
 stupid credulity. So the world had relapsed again 
 into an unbelieving state; and when I offered it the 
 
 ~ 
 
 benefits of my discovery, it would have nothing to
 
 188 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 do with me. It mattered but little that I made my 
 secret known, without demanding any recompense ; 
 the world said that all such generosity was a pretense, 
 artfully contrived to cover a trick. Some few, 
 indeed, listened to me for a while, but only for a 
 while. There was a score or two of converts, who, 
 for a month or so, tried my process ; but when they 
 found that no immediate result ensued, their zeal 
 abated. They not only desired not to grow old, but 
 also seemed to expect to be made young again; and 
 when they found that their wrinkles did not fill out, 
 and their bent backs become straightened, they grew 
 angry, and, under the conjoined influence of their 
 own indolence and the ridicule of others, pronounced 
 my discovery to be an imposition. Others, again, 
 discussed the subject ; not as one of immediate 
 practical interest, but rather in a vein of speculative 
 philosophy. Metaphysicians derided it ; pulpits 
 fulminated against it as a wicked perversion of 
 human talent, if true, being an infringement of the 
 divine law which limited life to three-score years 
 and ten; statisticians exclaimed against any thought 
 of such a change of nature s laws, as would, in time, 
 lead to too dense a population upon the world. In 
 fine, all men had their kick at the discovery. All 
 classes denied the merits or practicability of it; and 
 at the same time, in speculative vein asserted, that, 
 if any such secret could be made, it would be either 
 wicked, unwise, or inconsiderate. And finally, a 
 famous college of physicians took up the subject; 
 plucked up a bushel of the little weeds, placed them 
 in caldrons and retorts, analyzed, found nothing,
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 189 
 
 made a verbose and inflated report full of high- 
 sounding terms, and pretended to have crushed an 
 error. The world read the report, tried to under 
 stand it, could not, but still believed the conclusions; 
 and then, as some new object of interest arose, 
 forgot the discovery altogether. 
 
 That is, all forgot it but a few; who, being my 
 nearest relations, should have treated me with some 
 consideration. But from the fact of their relation 
 ship, they were my heirs ; and self-interest urged 
 them to commit a grievous wrong upon me. The 
 temptation was a fair one; the opportunity was 
 favorable. I accidently discovered that they were 
 plotting against me, with the intent to use my pre 
 tensions as a discoverer, to my disadvantage ; to have 
 me imprisoned in a mad-house, as one bereft of sense; 
 and then to share among themselves my not incon 
 siderable property. For the loss of property I would 
 have cared but little, but the deprivation of liberty 
 would have been fatal to all my prospects. How, 
 in a narrow cell, could I ever obtain that little weed 
 which was to prolong my stay upon earth ? So, in 
 the right time, I gathered up such jewels and gold 
 as I could most easily lay my hands upon, and fled 
 away, leaving all my houses and lands to become 
 the prey of those crafty people whom it was my 
 misfortune to call kinsmen. 
 
 Two persons only followed me in my flight. One 
 was my twin brother ; the other was my wife. Why
 
 190 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 she had ever married me had been a wonder to many; 
 sometimes, even, to myself. For I was forty years 
 old, bent with toil and study, care-worn and wrinkled; 
 and she was young and fair. Twenty summers had 
 not shone upon her; and such was her loveliness of 
 person and disposition, that those who had aspired 
 to her affection might have been numbered by scores. 
 Nevertheless, moved by some inexplicable sympathy 
 of soul, she had rejected all the crowd of rich and 
 titled and youthful suitors, and had clung unto me 
 alone ; and now, in my misfortune, she gave the 
 strongest proof of attachment which woman can 
 give, by leaving friends and relatives, home and 
 home comforts, and flying with me into exile. 
 
 And hand in hand we three now wandered out 
 into new scenes, where we were not known, and 
 where the shafts of malevolence or violence could 
 not reach us. We endured hardship and poverty, 
 but we did not complain. Why, indeed, should 
 temporary vicissitudes induce us to despair, when 
 we could look forward to so much of hope ? For 
 with me, both my wife and twin brother had learned 
 to acknowledge the powers and benefits of the great 
 discovery ; and, together, we all three daily ate of 
 the little weed which could confer almost immortal 
 natures upon us. And with centuries of life before 
 us, there need never be such a thing as despair. 
 Other persons, limited to three-score and ten years 
 of life, might, after one reverse, sink back baffled 
 with the knowledge that there would not be enough 
 time left to them to enable them to repair their mis 
 fortunes; but we could look hopefully forward into
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTKIO. 191 
 
 the vista of coming centuries, with the full assurance, 
 that, in the course of that long career, there would 
 be abundant chances for the wheel of fortune to 
 revolve and re-establish our broken and fallen 
 position. 
 
 And thus, in security of heart, we wandered about 
 the earth, taking but little thought of chance reverses, 
 but ever cheerfully awaiting the inevitable return of 
 more prosperous days. And we moreover deter 
 mined to keep our great secret to ourselves. The 
 world had once rejected it with scorn; we would no 
 longer, through misguided benevolence, subject it to 
 further insult. Let men die, then, as of old ; it was 
 nothing to us. We would live ; and as we saw 
 generation after generation rise into the world, and 
 after a brief flutter of existence sink into the tomb, 
 we would hug our secret to our own hearts, and 
 exist and care only for each other. 
 
 And so centuries passed away ; and as we had 
 anticipated, revolving years brought successive 
 changes of fortune. At first we moved out upon 
 one of the furthermost prairies of the West, and 
 there awaited our own good time. Fifty years 
 passed over our heads, and then that prairie became 
 the location of a great city, and we were looked up 
 to as its wealthiest inhabitants. Fifty years more 
 rolled away, and the knavery of others stripped us 
 of every thing ; and again we strolled forth to renew 
 our fortunes. Then we chose a site among wooded 
 hills, far away from men, and for a while lived con 
 tentedly upon the roots of the soil and the water 
 from a spring which trickled down beside our cabin.
 
 192 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEFTRIO. 
 
 And soon rich mines were discovered near us, and 
 again for fifty years we lived in affluence ; and yet, 
 again, lost all. But why continue the theme? It 
 is enough to say that each century saw us rich and 
 poor by turns; that, when rich, we enjoyed our 
 wealth in a rational manner ; and that, when poor, 
 we hopefully looked forward to the certain return, 
 in due time, of good fortune. 
 
 And thus we lived, true to ourselves and to each 
 other, while all things about us gradually changed. 
 Costume and language slowly and surely altered. 
 What was deemed right and proper at one epoch, 
 was discountenanced at another. Great discoveries 
 were made and lost again. Mankind, by toil, turned 
 sterile provinces into smiling gardens ; and again 
 w r ould nature regain its rights, and reduce all to 
 worthlessness. Canals were dug through inaccessible 
 lands, and navigable rivers were dried up. Govern 
 ments also changed; and from east to west, in suc 
 cession, arose republics, kingdoms and despotisms; 
 each, in the opinion of its founders, being certain to 
 endure forever, and each, in its turn, becoming 
 finally dismembered, or overturned through force, 
 faction or corruption. 
 
 And with all these opportunities of lengthened 
 life and unbroken health, did I fulfill my earliest 
 dreams, and become a better and a purer man? 
 Alas ! there would be few, who, with the fear of 
 death so far removed, would have cultivated the 
 noble, heaven-born graces of the soul, from a mere 
 abstract love of virtue. And I was not of those 
 few. It is true that I did not become what the
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 193 
 
 woiid would have called a sinful man. There was 
 ever in my mind an innate perception of what is 
 right and proper; and consequently, the lapse of all 
 those centuries seemed to bring me no nearer than 
 before to the crimes of low dissipation, theft or 
 murder. But still, though the outward man appeared 
 unchanged, the heart within was slowly hardening. 
 To live so long and see so many generations go down 
 to the tomb, like insects of the day, while I remained 
 alive in all my original strength and vigor, could 
 not but tend to lessen- my sympathies for my fellow- 
 men. What, indeed, were their swift-passing fears 
 and hopes to me? Or how could I, a being of such 
 superior attributes, descend to interest myself in the 
 joys and misfortunes of their petty lives? So, year 
 by year, and century by century, my heart slowly 
 fortified itself more and more against all that might 
 once have touched it; and though I was conscious 
 of the change, and at times struggled desperately 
 ao-ainst it, my efforts were all in vain, and the terrible 
 process still went on with steady and never-ceasing 
 progression. 
 
 Fifteen hundred years slowly passed away. Dur 
 ing this time, whatever changes took place happened 
 so gradually, as, in the ordinary lifetime of man, to 
 be almost imperceptible. JUit as we looked back 
 and reviewed our experience, and thought upon all 
 that we had seen and heard, it appeared as though 
 the march of time had not been loitering; so many 
 17
 
 194 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTKIO. 
 
 were the events which crowded our recollection. In 
 that time, we saw all Europe become effete and 
 barbarous ; its kingdoms split into fragments ; its 
 people lost to education and enterprise; its once 
 vaunted cities falling into decay. We saw the 
 American Republic gradually become too thickly 
 settled to insure perfect unity of action, and then 
 sever into diverse kingdoms, in which were enacted, 
 as had once been in Europe, all the dramatic pro 
 gressions of intestine revolt, gigantic wars, and vast 
 schemes of feudal aggrandizement. We saw palaces 
 built, and conquerors arise and load their cities with 
 trophies, while they enriched their plains with the 
 blood of their subjects. And still were going on 
 those same warring elements, and mustering of 
 armies, and crowning of kings, and invading of 
 defenseless provinces, in aid of what was yet, as of 
 old, the world s favorite dogma the preservation 
 of the balance of power. 
 
 And far off in the great Pacific, new scenes, or 
 rather old scenes upon a new platform, were enact 
 ing. For during all those fifteen hundred years, the 
 little coral insect had been busily at work, joining 
 shoal to shoal, headland to headland, island to island; 
 filling up bays and choking up straits; until, where 
 there had been only scattered dots of soil upon the 
 broad ocean bosom, a glorious continent now began 
 to spread out. And these people had settled, and 
 invited to themselves the surplus population of other 
 nations ; and great States had grown up, and united 
 themselves for common defense; and each I ostrum 
 echoed the words, " liberty and equal rights ; " and
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 195 
 
 journalists pointed in disdain to the monarchies of 
 America, and thanked GOD for their own free o-overn- 
 ment; and statesmen predicted the dawn of great 
 and free institutions spreading over all the earth, 
 and, at the same time, cast a cautious glance abroad 
 lest foreign conspiracies might hopelessly mar the 
 bright prospect. In fine, we saw enacting around 
 us, that great drama which had so often been played 
 before ; and I might have smiled, were it not that 
 there was something of sadness in such a picture of 
 baffled human expectations, and the smile would be 
 checked by unbidden tears. 
 
 And I and my wife and twin brother were living 
 in this great Republic of the Pacific. We were not 
 near any of its great cities, however; for again the 
 wheel of fortune had turned, and our lot had become 
 that of poverty. And, accordingly, after our old 
 custom, we had removed to one of the extremes of 
 the nation, where land was cheap, and living to be 
 easily earned; and where we could wait for fifty or 
 a hundred years, if necessary, until the progressive 
 march of civilization and improvement might make 
 us wealthy again. Before us, and beating against 
 the sandy shore, rolled the Pacific ; behind us was 
 the dense forest. We had but few neighbors, and 
 these were rough in manner ; but we were company 
 enough for each other, and cared not for the society 
 of other men. 
 
 For the first time in many years, I was not happy. 
 A certain inquietude weighed down my heart. For 
 I saw that with the lapse of centuries, and the 
 universal change of nature, mankind also had altered.
 
 196 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIVS SEPTRIO. 
 
 At least I began, for the first time, dimly to suspect 
 the fact. It seemed to me that those whom I now 
 met were larger, more powerful, and more vigorous 
 men than the men of a thousand years before. I 
 was reminded of olden theories so old that they 
 had been forgotten by all but myself which 
 asserted the existence of a constant progression in 
 the human race, whereby, during the lapse of ages, 
 mere inert forms of animal life had gradually 
 developed into man, and, in accordance with which, 
 man might some day become developed into some 
 thing higher. And, as I looked around, it seemed 
 to me that this development was slowly taking 
 place ; so slowly, indeed, as to be imperceptible to 
 man himself, but obvious to me, who had for so long 
 a time known the human race, and could compare 
 myself with it as a fixed and undeviating standard. 
 Could it really be so V And as I reflected upon 
 the subject, a party of men came down from the 
 wood, approached the water s edge, and prepared to 
 cast a net. I attentively considered them, and saw 
 that in stature they greatly exceeded me, that in 
 frame they were more powerful, and that in every 
 movement they made there was a wondrous grace, 
 and in every feature superior intelligence. And yet 
 I saw that these men were no better than others who 
 moved about us; that if any thing, they were inferior, 
 by reason of their rude and toilsome manner of life; 
 that among the rich and educated of their time they 
 would be looked down upon as beings of a lower 
 order. And withal, how greatly even they surpassed 
 me in every thing which in the estimation of the
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 197 
 
 common miiul is requisite to make up the full per 
 fection of man ! For, during these many centuries, 
 while this almost insensible progression had been 
 taking place, I, alas ! had never changed. When I 
 had made my great discovery, I had reached the 
 grand climacteric of life. In me there could thence 
 forth be no alteration for the better; and all that the 
 little weed could do would be to maintain me in a 
 stationary state, and prevent further vital decay. 
 The reflection burst upon me like a thunder clap. 
 I reeled with the stroke of the new and bitter 
 knowledge. 
 
 Pretty soon, however, I attempted to reassure 
 myself. I determined that I would not encourage 
 such terrible ideas without further investigation. I 
 had seen these men at a distance I would go nearer 
 to them. It might be that some magical mirage, 
 some deceitful phantasy of the atmosphere had 
 deluded me; and that a nearer inspection would 
 operate as a grateful disenchantment. And so I 
 slowly drew nearer to the fishermen. 
 
 And when I approached and stood beside them, I 
 saw, with an increasing sinking of the heart, that I 
 was among beings not one of whom did not stand a 
 full head and shoulders higher than I. I had never 
 been noted for height, to be sure, being only of 
 medium stature at the best ; but even then I remem 
 bered that in the days of past centuries, he who 
 could overlook me by half a head had been consid- 
 IV*
 
 198 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 ered a tall raan. But how different was it now ! 
 Among those fishermen, who were certainly not 
 aware of any distinct peculiarity in their figures, I 
 was as a boy. And I could perceive that they looked 
 disdainfully down upon me ; not exactl} r with an 
 open sneer, but with an air of mingled pity and 
 indifference just as, centuries before, I might have 
 gazed upon a dwarf. 
 
 How, indeed, could they help it ? They were not 
 my superiors in size only; for the progress of human 
 development, the truth of the theory of which I 
 could no longer doubt, had given them precedence in 
 every other physical attribute. I felt more and more 
 sickened at heart as I contrasted my round-shoul 
 dered frame, stooping chest, and care-wrinkled face 
 with their athletic proportions and soul-lit features. 
 
 A stone lay in the way of the net, and one of the 
 fishermen carelessly raised it in his two hands, and 
 flung it on one side. It seemed a heavy mass to 
 move, and, by way of experiment, I attempted to 
 carry it myself; but with all my exertions, I could 
 only raise it a few inches from the ground. At this, 
 a boy or one at least whom they must have con 
 sidered a boy laughed, and unfeelingly pointed 
 towards me. I was angry; but the young fellow 
 could easily have thrashed me in a twinkling, and I 
 was obliged to swallow my indignation. Ah, me! 
 How blinded had I been for centuries, not to have 
 before perceived that I was destined to become a 
 pigmy among my fellow T -creatures ! Oh ! that the 
 little weed which had endowed my life with contin 
 uance had also given me the gift of progression., so
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEP TRIO.- 199 
 
 that I might at least maintain my proper place 
 among the animated works of creation ! And see 
 ing a bunch of the little dust-colored leaves growing 
 at my feet, I frantically seized and thrust them into 
 my mouth, with the silly idea that now, in my need, 
 they might do what they had failed to do before, 
 and by some miraculous power, as it were, enable 
 me suddenly to retrieve my fallen dignity. But of 
 course the paroxysm was an useless one, and merely 
 served to cover me with ridicule. As the men saw 
 me tearing the leaves between my teeth, in the same 
 voracious style with which a beast of the field would 
 pull the grass, they stared in wonderment, and 
 finally broke forth into open laughter; and I, in 
 confusion and shame, ran back to where I had left 
 my wife and brother. 
 
 " They, at least, are left to me, and cannot ridicule 
 me," I said to myself, " and whatever progression 
 may happen to mankind in coming centuries, we can 
 always find some nook of the world into which we 
 can retire, and there, away from the gaze of all 
 curious eyes, contribute to each other s happiness as 
 we have always heretofore done." 
 
 And here, alas ! where I had most hoped for and 
 anticipated comfort, I experienced a dreadful blow. 
 My twin brother, it is true, remained unaltered like 
 myself; but as my wife smilingly came forth and 
 approached me, it struck me that she was taller than 
 she had been when I first knew her. At that time 
 she was rather small of stature, and reached but a 
 little above my shoulder ; but now her height was 
 almost equal to my own. And beautiful as she had
 
 200 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 before been, it seemed as though new beauties had 
 gradually unfolded themselves until her whole coun 
 tenance glowed with almost celestial charms. The 
 horrible truth then flashed upon me ! When my 
 brother and I had first commenced tasting the 
 immortality-giving weed, we had passed the age 
 when man can improve his system, and were hence 
 debarred from any other advantage than that of 
 preserving such powers as at that time we possessed; 
 but she, being then still young, still growing, and 
 still endued Avith the attributes of further develop 
 ment, that power of future development had been 
 preserved in her system, and had ever since been in 
 full and constant operation ! 
 
 I staggered against a tree, and then fell at its foot 
 in all the wildness of despair. The sudden light 
 upon my soul seemed to crush me into nothingness. 
 Why, after so many centuries of blissful ignorance, 
 during which I had so accustomed myself to her 
 that no alteration in her form or features had struck 
 upon my attention, and made me suspect the wretched 
 truth why was I now to be thus rudely enlight 
 ened, and made miserable? And how long, while I 
 would thus remain an unimproving landmark of the 
 past, would she continue to preserve those wonder 
 ful attributes of constant progression, and century 
 by century find an ever-widening distance between 
 us? Forever, I could not doubt. The law which 
 my discovery had once called into activity, it was 
 now beyond my power to restrain. Frantically, 
 therefore, as I gazed forward into coming centuries, 
 I exclaimed:
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 201 
 
 " You will not you will not ever leave me ? " 
 " Leave you ? " she cried, with a sweet look of 
 affection, in which I could see was mingled an 
 expression of doubt and surprise. " Why talk of 
 having me leave you? Have I not followed your 
 fortunes for fifteen hundred years ? " 
 
 But how can mere protestations of affection cheer 
 a doubting heart V Though I knew that my wife 
 cared only for me, I could not but tremble at the 
 thought that perhaps she merely loved because her 
 eyes were sealed to the truth, as mine had so recently 
 been. What would she think, when she came to know 
 the reality which some day would surely be forced 
 upon her when she should discover that around 
 us moved and breathed other men to whom, in every 
 manly quality, I bore no other proportion than that 
 of the court-dwarf to the stalwart warriors who 
 crowd the audience-chamber when she should 
 learn the truth about herself, and know that each 
 century the void between us was widening, and that 
 she was throwing away upon a poor puny abstraction 
 of a man these treasures of beauty and affection 
 which might bind in chains the soul of a conqueror? 
 The time will come, I reflected, when the dreadful 
 truth can no longer be concealed from her. She 
 does not now perceive it ; but neither did I until a 
 chance moment awakened my attention to the fact, 
 and led me to compare myself with other men about 
 me. That moment of comparison and examination
 
 202 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIVS SEPTRIO. 
 
 may any day come to her, and then, then how can I 
 dare to stand before her ? She will despise me 
 will accuse me of long-continued deception will 
 spurn me from her will leave me for others, who, 
 in truth, will be more worthy of her than I ; and I 
 will be obliged to creep alone about the earth, envy 
 ing the superior powers and attributes of all whom 
 I meet a scorn and derision to all and seeking 
 in vain for comfort or companionship. 
 
 And I resolved that the unhappy day of trial 
 should be postponed for years, for centuries, if 
 intrigue and cunning could be of any avail. I would 
 retire from even this thinly populated coast; for I 
 feared that the sight of merely those few fishermen 
 might awaken terrible comparisons in her breast, as 
 it had in mine. I would take her away, even into 
 the dark forest, where she could see no human beings 
 besides my brother and myself. Xo man should 
 come near to tempt her thoughts to odious distinc 
 tion, but I would ever remain at her side, and wait 
 upon her as a slave ; and she should never learn that 
 I was in any respect more unlike the men around us 
 than I had been fifteen hundred years before. And 
 if she chanced to pine under such forced seclusion, 
 and to desire any other society, I would leave her 
 hidden in some dark cavern, and would search the 
 world to collect together its most feeble and most 
 puny offspring ; and I would bring them to her, and 
 tell her that all things had retrograded, until at last 
 I had become a giant among my fellows. She would 
 believe me, as she had ever yet done; and then in 
 the mazes of the forest we would hold our mimic
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 203 
 
 court, and in the midst of those few selected outcasts, 
 I might still, by comparison, hope to retain her 
 affection. 
 
 So I told her that we must mo ve away; that we 
 had become yet poorer than before; that we could 
 no longer afford to stay upon the borders of the 
 ocean; that we must betake ourselves to the inland 
 country, and there, in that less expensive region, 
 commence a new struggle for wealth. She listened 
 with surprise ; for upon the previous day I had been 
 telling her of the little that we needed to exist upon, 
 since our small cabin and the spot of land about it 
 were our own, and the earth gave us its fruits and 
 the sea its fish without cost. All this I had told her 
 but a few hours before; and we had grown to love 
 our place, and the murmur of the waves, and the 
 rustle of the vines ; and had anticipated leading 
 many years of quiet blissfulness in that little nook. 
 But she had learned to shape her will in all things 
 with mine; and so, without a word of remonstrance, 
 she gave a single farewell longing glance upon 
 cottage and hill and ocean beach, and prepared to 
 follow me into the forest. 
 
 So far all was well ; and it only remained for me 
 to consult my brother upon the subject. I antici 
 pated considerable objection from him, for I imagined 
 that he also had learned to love our present location. 
 But, to my surprise, he readily consented to depart 
 with us. 
 
 " Anywhere, everywhere, and at once ! " he 
 exclaimed. "I shall be satisfied with any lot, so 
 lone; as we may leave this dreadful coast ! "
 
 204 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 "Why, how now?" I said in astonishment. 
 " What has so suddenly disgusted you?" 
 
 " Is it not enough," he fiercely rejoined, " to find 
 ourselves yearly growing more and more unlike the 
 rest of our species ? To know that the time may 
 come when, in comparison with others, we may be 
 but as apes, or even something worse?" 
 
 Then you have noticed that change?" I sadly 
 inquired. " And when ? " 
 
 " Years ago," he said. " But at the time I made 
 no remarks, since you still seemed to be unconscious 
 of it. But now that you know it all, let us depart. 
 Let us fly into the deepest shades of the thicket 
 to the bottom of a well, even if by doing so we 
 may never again see the hated faces of men ! " 
 
 So we wandered away, and, after many days, 
 found a location fit for our purpose. It was a cave 
 by the side of a mountain-stream, and in every 
 direction nature brought forth its supporting fruits 
 without requiring the labor of man. There was no 
 city, town, village, or hamlet near. For miles in 
 every direction lay the dense forest, unbroken by 
 the. axe or plough, and untrodden by the foot of 
 man. And there we placed our lot, and I innocently 
 trusted that in such seclusion I could preserve my 
 huppiness; nor ever dreamed that in the midst of 
 that peace and fancied security, trouble was coming 
 upon me with rapid strides. 
 
 I had noticed that for some weeks my brother had
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS &EPTRIO. 205 
 
 been becoming more and more fretful and moody; 
 and one day, upon his return from a long and listless 
 wandering, he approached me and said: 
 
 "Do you know that there are rneji near us? A 
 village has sprung up but a few miles to our right. 
 I saw it to-day, as I returned." 
 
 " A village ! " I exclaimed in affright. " Then we 
 must move still further into the forest." 
 
 " We must do no such thing ! " he exclaimed, 
 imperiously. " I have had enough of this. I thought 
 that I could endure it patiently, but now find that I 
 cannot. And I will not ! I must now and then 
 look upon the faces of my fellow-men, or this solitude 
 will craze me. Yes though it be with fear and 
 jealousy though all men may look down upon me 
 with contempt yet I cannot consent to live on and 
 see no human face again." 
 
 " You can look upon my wife and myself," I said. 
 " It is enough for her and me that we three are 
 together. Why cannot you also be content ?" 
 
 "Are we the same, then?" he hissed forth in 
 sudden anger. "Have you not just stated that you 
 have a wife ? And will she not always cling to you, 
 even if all the world should desert you ? Have you 
 not her love and sympathy to console you in your 
 obscurity ? Why then need you ever pine for the 
 world ? But, on the contrary, what am I ? Who 
 cares forme in my loneliness ? And how can the 
 mere friendship of two persons recompense me for 
 the loss of all besides? Harkee, brother!" he 
 added, seixing me by the shoulder with a strong 
 grasp. " You are learned and wise. Get you to 
 18
 
 206 THK SECRET OF APOLLONIOS SEPTRIO. 
 
 work and devise some means to break this spell of 
 unprogressive life, so that we also may find ourselves 
 subject to the operations of a constant development, 
 and thus keep pace with our fellow-creatures." 
 
 " It cannot be," I mournfully answered. " If it 
 could be done, would I not do it? Even Apollonius 
 Scptrio could not have done it, and he was wiser 
 than I. But be content. At the very least I have 
 given you life." 
 
 "And what is the worth of a life like this?" he 
 fiercely exclaimed. " Take it back, if you will ; I 
 care not for it ! It is but a load of misery to me 
 now ! By your vile invention you have but betrayed 
 me to endless torment that is all ! " 
 
 And then more high words passed between us, 
 until, in my exasperation, I took him by the throat. 
 He shook me off, glared sullenly upon me for a 
 moment, muttered some words about having his 
 revenge and so we parted. 
 
 The morrow was Christmas day. It was upon 
 Christmas that I had discovered my great secret, 
 and I had ever celebrated the anniversary as a 
 holiday, to be devoted to social harmony, love and 
 joy. Xow, afflicted by my quarrel, I determined 
 that this Christmas should not pass without a com 
 plete restoration of peace. At our festive board I 
 would take my brother by the hand, we would talk 
 freely and lovingly together, we would each forgive 
 the harsh words of the other; and we would 
 inaugurate a new era of tranquillity which would 
 last unbroken for years, in spite of all un pleasing 
 interruptions from the outer world. Accordingly,
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 207 
 
 after a sleepless night spent in .such reflections, I 
 arose early, took my rifle, and sallied forth to make 
 provision for the day. 
 
 About noon I returned, loaded with game, and 
 pleasantly depicted in my mind the joyous smile 
 with which iny wife would run forth to relieve me 
 of my spoils. But no note of welcome came to my 
 attentive ears, as I approached ; and, when I stood 
 before our little cabin, I saw by the signs of struggle 
 which met my eye, that a band of lawless rangers 
 had roughly seized my wife and borne her away, 
 leaving no trace by which I could follow them. 
 
 Transported with grief, I staggered, and a mist 
 gathered before my eyes. Suddenly I heard my 
 name called from above; and, collecting my sight, I 
 looked up. Upon an overhanging crag stood my 
 brother, waving his arms to me with ironical greet 
 ing, while every feature bore the flush of fiendish 
 triumph. 
 
 " Aha ! " he screamed. " She is gone now ! I led 
 them here to capture her ! She is far away from 
 here now, and where you can never find her ! And 
 we are even at last, are we not ? You will now 
 know what it is to be alone in the world. And will 
 you ever again take me by the throat, do you think ?" 
 
 Overcome with rage, I raised my rifle and fired 
 at him. The ball struck the cliff below, and glanced 
 harmlessly off to one side; and with another shriek 
 of triumphant malice, he passed away from my 
 sight, and I fell helpless to the ground. And as I 
 lay there, the agonies of my mind were increased 
 by the reflection that I had brought my deprivation
 
 208 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTIUO. 
 
 upon myself, and that thus it was, in a measure, a 
 well-deserved judgment upon me. For had I frankly 
 told my wife that in the lapse of ages not only other 
 men but she herself had changed, until I had become 
 inferior to all around me, but that, in spite of all 
 this, I was the same man that I had ever been, and 
 had only suffered by comparison, and that I loved 
 her as devotedly as before, I do not doubt that she 
 would still have continued to pour out her heart s 
 affections upon me, regardless of all external altera 
 tion; and that, in our little sea-side cabin, and under 
 the sheltering wing of the country s laws, we could 
 have continued united for many centuries to come. 
 But instead of all this, I had allowed my heart to 
 feel distrust, had deceived her about my plans and 
 motives, and had removed her to a desert wild, for 
 getting that where man had no settled abode, law 
 lessness could not fail to prosper. And I felt that, 
 hard as my lot might be, my conscience could not 
 hold me acquitted of all guilt. 
 
 Nevertheless, I would not despair; and for years 
 I sought my wife through every land and clime. 
 And though ever unsuccessful, there was still a lurk 
 ing hope in my mind that some day I might meet 
 her again ; that she might escape from her captors, 
 and that once again we might renew our past lives 
 of union and happiness. But gradually even that 
 hope began to fade. I reflected that she might have 
 been slain, at the first period of her captivity ; or,
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTEIO. 209 
 
 despairingly, have slain herself; or have been dragged 
 away to lands where the life-giving weed did not 
 grow, and there, in common with others, have become 
 exhausted with infirmities, and finally sunk into the 
 grave; or, what seemed infinitely worse, that she 
 might have become reconciled to her life with others, 
 and have forgotten me. In any event, she seemed 
 lost to me for ever, and, as the only means of happi 
 ness left to me, I strove to forget her; and if at any 
 time, in dreams, I imagined that she might be think 
 ing upon me with affection, and, in the hope of 
 regaining me some day, be still sustaining her life 
 of youth and beauty, by means of the great secret 
 which I had taught her, I cannot say that the reflec 
 tion gave me any real happiness. It seemed but a 
 childish thing to look forward to a train of circum 
 stances against which so many chances were arrayed; 
 and I gradually accustomed myself to think upon it 
 rather in a spirit of speculative philosophy, than in 
 any vein of real well-founded hope. 
 
 And so, with blighted heart, I still continued to 
 live on ; almost mechanically renewing my life with 
 the little weed which every where grew at my feet. 
 And thus a thousand years passed away with its 
 many changes. Were it necessary, I could tell 
 strange stories about these thousand years; for what 
 ever of great importance happened, it seemed to be 
 my lot to witness. I was present when the locks 
 which regulated the flow of water in the great 
 Darien Canal burst away under the impetus of 
 mingled tide and storm, and the floods of the two 
 oceans swept together midway, with a force to which 
 18*
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 man could offer no resistance. I stood on the brow 
 of a neighboring mountain, and beheld the roaring 
 torrent, having once gained a passage, increase in 
 force and velocity, and rush on, sweeping away cities, 
 and ever widening its banks, until, in place of the 
 quiet canal, there was a great winding strait of many 
 miles in breadth, which feeble man could never again 
 close up, and through which poured the diverted 
 tide of the great Atlantic Gulf Stream. It was I, 
 who, then first crossing over into Europe, discovered 
 that, by reason of the different direction attained by 
 that great warm current, those lands which had once 
 enjoyed a mild and pleasant climate had succumbed 
 to a new and harsh temperature ; until, in what had 
 once been merry England, deep snows for ever 
 covered the ruins of palaces and cathedrals, and 
 further south, the pleasant Rhone and Garonne 
 became coated with eternal glaciers. And I was 
 present, when, in the great Pacific Republic, the 
 mighty and crafty General Ogoo assembled his 
 armies about him, and planted his throne upon the 
 .ruins of free States. 
 
 But of all this it is useless to speak. With mere 
 events I have but little to do, for my eyes were fixed 
 upon those other changes which mankind itself was 
 undergoing, and which, more than the mere found 
 ing of States and fall of empires, affected my welfare. 
 For during these thousand years, I could not but 
 notice that the process of human development into 
 something higher and grander was still going on. 
 As before, the great work was slow in progress, to 
 be sure ; so slow, indeed, that single generations
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEP TRIO, 211 
 
 could take no note of it. For who, of all men, 
 would know that in two or three hundred years the 
 human race had gained an inch in average stature, 
 or a shade of progress in mental or bodily accom 
 plishments ? To the life of common man all this 
 was imperceptible; but I, with my thousand new 
 years, could look back upon the ages which had 
 gone before, and with these recollections and my 
 own unchanging self as an undeviating standard, 
 could read, as plainly as though it were written in 
 the sky, the terrible fact, that, though I had once 
 been equal with my fellow-men, I had now already 
 lost such equality; and by comparison with others, 
 was assimilating more and more to the lower orders 
 of creation. The thought was becoming more 
 maddening every year. In the centuries gone by, I 
 had left my happiness; already was I looked upon 
 with scorn and pity, as a poor, misshapen, stunted 
 creature; and looming up in the vista of the future, 
 was what ? 
 
 And yet, though beneath this everliving conscious 
 ness of degradation, and fear of the trials which 
 the advance of future centuries might bring forth, 
 I had become timid and cynical, and felt my life a 
 burden to me, I could not, indeed, make up my mind 
 to die. Whatever might be my present misfortunes, 
 I shrunk from courting the unknown mysteries of 
 death. In life, I at least knew what my trials were;
 
 212 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 but who can gaze beyond the grave, and tell what 
 awaits him there ? 
 
 So I continued to live on, and my only care now 
 was to disregard what might be spoken of me behind 
 my back, and avoid present and personal insult. To 
 do this, I knew of but one way, and that was to 
 become rich. For with all its changes, I saw that, 
 in one respect, the world had not improved. Science 
 and arts had flourished; men spoke with wondrous 
 self-gratulation about their advance in charity, 
 education and religion; but still humanity wrapped 
 its affections in gold-leaf, and bowed down to Plutus 
 with the same zest and subserviency which they had 
 displayed ages before. I reflected, that, as a poor 
 man, I would be hooted at in the streets by boys, 
 who, though but boys, outranked me in height and 
 strength; but that, as a rich man, I would receive 
 honor, titles, and adulation from all, even though I 
 might, in my personal attributes, sink to the level 
 of the ape. 
 
 And so, having elaborated my plan, I commenced 
 putting it into instant effect. Beginning with hum 
 ble materials, I laid the foundation of my fortune. 
 And from small beginnings, I was gradually enabled 
 to increase my operations. In fifty years, through 
 diligent perseverance and judicious investments, my 
 name began to be heard more frequently in commer 
 cial circles. Then as interest rolled in, and was 
 added to interest, my wealth continued to increase 
 in constantly accelerating proportion; until finally, 
 towards the end of a century of care and anxiety, 
 I was looked upon and respected as one of the
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEP TRIO. 213 
 
 wealthiest citizens of the great commercial centre 
 of the sea-port of Tooxo. 
 
 And then, in accordance with my long-settled 
 policy, I began to make lavish display of my wealth, 
 since I found that, however freely I used it, its 
 accumulation would still go on. I purchased town 
 and country-houses, where I lived in wonderful 
 magnificence. My carriage, with liveried servants, 
 rolled daily through the principal streets. Every 
 night my windows shone with lights, and music 
 sounded through my marble halls, where I enter 
 tained, in sumptuous style, the wealth and fashion 
 of the city. And of course I had the world at my 
 feet, and every day new honors were thrust upon 
 me. Xow it was my name which was needed to 
 head a plan for some city institution, and thus give 
 dignity to the enterprise. Then it was a post of 
 authority, in the National University, I was requested 
 to accept. And again, it was a title of nobility, 
 which a grateful and admiring nation begged me to 
 attach to my name. Everywhere the empire rang 
 with the report of my wealth, and the story of my 
 munificence. Everywhere men, to whose shoulders I 
 could hardly reach, cringed before me. What, 
 though at times, when I sat at the tables of the 
 titled and powerful, I caught the stealthy sneer of 
 some tall menial ? What, though in the public 
 streets, derogatory remarks would occasionally assail 
 my ear ? These were only the accidents to which 
 all men were more or less liable. To my face there 
 was nothing but compliments, smiles and adulation. 
 My aim was nearly attained.
 
 214 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEP IRIO. 
 
 Great, however, as was my wealth, there were 
 others who, in that respect, equaled me ; though 
 tli rough prudence or closeness of disposition, they 
 did not display the same liberality and magnificence 
 in their manner of life, and thus commanded less atten 
 tion. But to complete my triumph, and satisfy my 
 own mind that I was clearly entitled to all the 
 adulation which I received, I felt it necessary to 
 advance one step further, and become, without 
 question, the wealthiest man in the empire. And 
 so I remained still at work in my counting-house ; 
 and sent out my atmospheric ships to distant climes; 
 and rolled up my shares in atmospheric roads ; and 
 built new rows of magnificent warehouses. One by 
 one my rivals in wealth finished their short lives, 
 and their estates were divided among their heirs. 
 Step by step my fortune became more colossal. 
 And at length, after twenty years, I one day inven 
 toried my vast possessions, and ascertained that, 
 beyond all chance of dispute, there was no one in 
 the whole empire who could pretend to vie with me 
 in the amount of his wealth. And then I resolved 
 to close up my business, and retire to a life of luxury 
 and independent idleness. The next day was to be 
 a grand festival-day in the city ; for on that day, 
 Ogoo the Seventeenth, was to ascend the throne of 
 his race, and be crowned Emperor of the nation. I 
 resolved that the same day should also inaugurate 
 my release from business cares, and my new life of 
 magnificent leisure.
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS !$EPTRIO. 215 
 
 Upon that next day the sun arose without a cloud. 
 At an early hour, the city was all astir with life and 
 animation. The national balloon floated over every 
 staff. Troops defiled in vast regiments through 
 every street. National music everywhere sounded 
 upon the air. In the parks were shows and exhibi 
 tions of every kind. The corners of the streets 
 were packed with crowds of people, all on the move 
 to enjoy the great national holiday to their utmost. 
 And I arose, and also prepared to take the full 
 benefit of my first great holiday for years. 
 
 First I opened the daily volume of news, which, 
 according to custom, had been thrown into my door. 
 There was but little in it to attract me, however. 
 The first two hundred pages were filled with an 
 editorial life of the man who was that day to be 
 crowned Emperor. Then followed an article of 
 thirty pages, in which it was attempted to prove 
 that his name was a corruption of Oboo; which, in 
 turn, had been corrupted from Obro, or Bro which 
 was a further change from Brow; and that thus he 
 was probably a lineal descendant of the great clan 
 of Brown, which, twenty-five hundred years before, 
 had almost overrun the earth, and which, by reason 
 of its strength, had finally vanquished another great 
 clan which went by the name of Kelly. Then fol 
 lowed details of the proposed arrangements for the 
 day; then a notice of an exhibition of antiquities, 
 from the site of the once famous city of New-York; 
 then an account of sundry political riots, a favorite 
 pastime in which the world still occasionally 
 indulged ; and after that came three or four hundred
 
 216 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIOS SEPTRIO. 
 
 pages of the usual advertisements of the lay. 
 Finding nothing very attractive in all this, I threw 
 the volume aside; and as the stir and tumult in the 
 streets were becoming every moment greater and 
 louder, I strolled forth. 
 
 Wending my way up and down, I finally reached 
 the Museum of the National University, and entered. 
 A little group was collected in one corner, and I 
 approached and mingled in it. I found that the 
 attraction consisted in two broken stone capitals of 
 columns. At one side stood the Professor of Mental 
 Gymnastics, who, by reason of his eight feet of 
 stature, was considered a tolerably well-proportioned 
 man. At the other side was the Professor of 
 Ancient Languages, whose diminutive six feet and a 
 half of height provoked many a sneer from the 
 uneducated, but who, among men of cultivated 
 intellect, had become quite a favorite, owing to his 
 new translation of " Shakspeare," with notes, and 
 his discovery that the ancient British poet, Hood, 
 had been starved to death by King Peel, in revenge 
 for the ridicule which he had cast upon a great 
 national causeway, in an article entitled, " A Bridge 
 of Some Size." The two men were now discussing 
 the pieces of ruin before them. 
 
 " These stones," said the Professor of Ancient 
 Languages, "I have ascertained to have come from 
 one of the public buildings in the old city of New- 
 York. It was a building denominated the Exchange, 
 which is equivalent to the word to barter, in our 
 language; from which we might naturally infer that 
 the place was a kind of market, where articles were
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 217 
 
 sold for money. But that is not the truth, as I will 
 show you. I find that the only articles there bar 
 tered were what they called stocks ; and upon 
 looking at ancient dictionaries, I see that a stock 
 was an article of dress, worn about the neck. Now, 
 why should people meet here, to barter away these 
 articles ? There could certainly be but little profit 
 in such an operation. I have hence concluded that 
 it was a mere friendly ceremony; and that it was 
 the custom when two persons met, after a long 
 absence, and wished to compliment each other, for 
 them to hurry to this exchange, and accept the 
 ornaments from each other s necks." 
 
 " Probably loner-established enmities ruisht have 
 
 V O 
 
 been made up in this way, and this bartering of 
 personal adornment have taken place in the presence 
 of mutual friends, in sign of complete forgiveness 
 of the past," suggested the Professor of Mental 
 Gymnastics. 
 
 " The same thing has occurred to me," said the 
 other ; " particularly as I find hints that these 
 exchanges, as they called them, were often accom 
 panied with peculiar ceremonies. For instance, the 
 ancient writers make frequent mention of bulls and 
 bears. Xow what could have been the object in 
 having these animals there, unless for the purpose 
 of sacrificing them, in order to give dignity to the 
 occasion ? " 
 
 The two men then gradually wandered into the 
 
 discussion of a late and curious phenomenon no 
 
 other than the discovery of a small native tribe, 
 
 some of whom had wings of a few inches in length, 
 
 19
 
 218 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 growing between the shoulders ; not of sufficient 
 length, indeed, to fly with, but serving, in some 
 degree, to assist and lighten their motions while 
 walking. 
 
 " I have of late wondered," said the Professor of 
 Mental Gymnastics, " whether it may not be that, 
 for thousands of years past, the human race has 
 been in a state of gradual but constant progression; 
 increasing in size, power and mental activity ; com 
 mencing at a low point, and destined to acquire 
 still more extended attributes, as, in the course of 
 centuries, this continual development advances; and 
 whether, in fact, these winged men may not betoken 
 the approach of a new stage in the same direction, 
 whereby in due time, though probably long after our 
 day, all men may become winged. I throw this out 
 as a new idea, and one perhaps worthy of speculative 
 attention." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said the Professor of Ancient Lan 
 guages. " It is not a new idea, by any means. Tt 
 was first broached, three hundred years ago, by the 
 celebrated Winklewink. Then, as now, the idea 
 was considered too ridiculous to be entertained for 
 a moment. All the remains of mankind, that have 
 ever been discovered, assure us that our race has 
 always maintained an uniform average standard of 
 height ; while as for any additional mental develop 
 ment, the writings of the ancient Americans have 
 not been equaled, as yet, by any of their successors. 
 Look at that little dwarf who, somehow, owns half 
 the shipping and houses of Tooxo," continued the 
 Professor, unaware that I was present. "Look at
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 219 
 
 him, the next time you meet him, and then tell me 
 whether you can believe that the ALMIGHTY could 
 ever have made a whole race in such a form, and 
 then have called it after His likeness ! The idea is 
 too preposterous. Any child could tell you, that 
 such a little dwarf, so far from being the represen 
 tative of a class which has once existed, is merely 
 an eccentricity of nature ; and I say the same of these 
 winged men. They are merely certain accidents of 
 nature monsters, as it were ; just as we have had 
 double-headed camels in our fields, and four-legged 
 pelicans in our barn-yards. They are chance excep 
 tions to the general rule of humanity, and can never 
 themselves establish a rule." 
 
 I listened no longer, but slily slipped aside, and 
 gained the street. What a terrible thing it was to 
 be so constantly "reminded of my difference from 
 other men ! I had wealth in abundance ; acknowl 
 edged talents ; unimpaired health ; was noted for 
 my liberality in responding to evei-y demand of 
 charity, art, or science; and yet, go where I would, 
 I could hardly turn a corner or enter a room without 
 overhearing some disparaging remark, or some 
 sneering expression from men who had no claim to 
 consideration for any thing beyond their seven or 
 eight feet of stature ! What, then, was wealth, or 
 health, or talents, to me ? I would have given up 
 half of these, would have consented to wander 
 henceforth over the earth as a beggar, could I only 
 become like other men; and through coming ages, 
 be able to partake of their development, whatevei 
 that mifjht be.
 
 220 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 Crushed in spirit and soured in disposition, I 
 passed along the streets ; joining in the currents of 
 the crowd, or creeping beneath men s shoulders, 
 as I strove to walk in opposite directions. And so, 
 passing through circles of exhibition-booths, and 
 stealing between lines of soldiery, I wended my 
 way, intent only upon reaching my own home, and 
 concealing myself in its seclusion. For a time I 
 was moderately successful ; but all at once, a sudden 
 approach of cavalry from a side-street caused a 
 change in the direction of the crowd. Unable to 
 extricate myself, I was borne along with it ; and at 
 length, almost crushed to a jelly, I succeeded in 
 escaping from the confusion, by plunging into the 
 open door of a traveling-trader s tent 
 
 Observing my disorder and confusion, the trader 
 politely assisted me to a seat, and allowed me to 
 remain until I had recovered myself. And then I 
 took occasion to glance around, intending to recom 
 pense him for his courtesy, by purchasing some of 
 his wares. But I saw nothing, except a small shelf 
 of little bottles. 
 
 " And what are these ? " I said. 
 
 The trader feebly smiled. It was a gloomy smile, 
 moreover, telling of disappointment and heart- 
 sickness. 
 
 " Why should I inform you ? " he said. " You 
 will only ridicule my discovery, as othei s have done." 
 
 But I assured him that, from my lips, he would
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 221 
 
 encounter no ridicule, whatever might be the nature 
 of his wares ; and after a while, I induced him to 
 speak. 
 
 "These little bottles," he said "contain the results 
 of more than twenty years of toil. It is a prepara 
 tion invented by myself; and it has the wonderful 
 faculty, when taken into the system, of suspending 
 animation for a long or short period, as may be 
 desirable ; at the end of which time the patient will 
 awake in full health and strength, as he had lain 
 down. He will awaken, indeed, no older in body 
 than when he had gone to sleep ; for however long 
 may be his repose, he will lose none of his life. His 
 life will only be postponed, that is all. In common 
 sleep, the body all the while grows older; but in 
 this, its functions are so suspended, that, during 
 years, the system will suffer no manner of loss or 
 waste. You go to sleep at thirty years of age, and 
 sleep for ten. When you awake, though ten year, 
 have elapsed, your animation has been so completely 
 suspended, that you find yourself still possessing 
 your constitution of thirty years ; and in reality, 
 have still the ten years of life to enjoy. You may 
 not believe me, sir, but my invention has certainly 
 the power which I have claimed for it. No one yet 
 has believed me, but on all sides I have been treated 
 with ridicule. And yet, sir, I assure you that I am 
 no quack, and would deceive nobody. This invention 
 has cost me many years to perfect, and has proved 
 itself to be all that it is asserted to be." 
 
 Still feeling somewhat incredulous, I looked the 
 man steadily in the eye, but could see there naught 
 19*
 
 222 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIVS SEPTRIO. 
 
 but sincerity. He bore not the slightest evidences 
 of deceit, or of being engaged in the trade of quack 
 ery ; while there were, in his face, certain lines 
 denoting superior thought and intelligence. I felt 
 already half convinced. 
 
 " But admitting all this to be so," I said, " what 
 can be the benefit of this discovery ? " 
 
 " It has many uses," he said. " The man of science 
 may wish to peer into the operations of nature, 
 during future years ; while without this preparation, 
 he would be obliged to live his life through in one 
 coil, as it were, and at its end, of course, be no more 
 capable of awakening to observation. The politician 
 may wish to live his life in future years, instead of 
 now, in order to observe the result of his theories of 
 government. The poor man may desire to sleep, 
 while his land increases in value, so that he may 
 awake and find himself rich, without having been 
 obliged to wear out the best portion of his life in 
 toil. I myself, by way of experiment, once sus 
 pended my animation for five years ; and when, at 
 the end of that time, I awoke, there was not one 
 gray hair the more upon my head. A single drop 
 will cause sleep for a year, five drops for five years, 
 and so on in proportion." 
 
 I was still somewhat incredulous, but I remembered 
 that there can be such a thing as being too unbeliev 
 ing. The world had scorned my invention, and yet, 
 for ages, I had been a living testimony to its truth, 
 flight I not, then, do an equal injustice in ridiculing 
 the results of this man s scientific labors ? 
 
 " I must not forget to add," the man continued,
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 223 
 
 "that, during the time animation is suspended, the 
 bod} 7 itself is preserved from injury. The liquid 
 endues it with a peculiar property, whereby the 
 action of the atmosphere upon it is restrained; and 
 even insects, and the beasts of the forest, will not 
 prey upon it. The sleep which is produced is as 
 secure as it is sound." 
 
 Having but an hour before been scorned and 
 insulted, my ruffled feelings put me in the mood to 
 attempt any experiment whereby I might compose 
 my weary soul to temporary rest. And I resolved 
 to try the value of this man s invention. It might 
 be a worthless deception ; but then, what would be 
 the consequence, beyond the loss of the inconsider 
 able gold-piece which I would pay for it ? It might 
 be of such powerful nature, that I might never 
 awaken ; but after all, what great affliction would 
 the loss of my life of scorn and degradation be to 
 me ? And on the other hand, it might prove to be 
 all that had been said about it; and after a year or 
 two of sleep, I might awaken to find the world 
 grown wiser and better, and no longer willing to 
 measure man by height or breadth of .chest or 
 strength of arm, rather than by the soul within his 
 breast or the talents within his brain; and then, 
 what joy it would cause me to find that I had at last 
 been yielded my proper position, among my fellow- 
 creatures ! 
 
 And so, moved by the strong impulse of the 
 moment, I grasped one of the little bottles, threw 
 down my purse in payment, and hurried away.
 
 224 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SKPTRIO. 
 
 Through the city, which every moment became 
 more and more crowded, as strangers from the coun 
 try and neighboring cities came in to attend the great 
 festival of the day ! Through the suburbs, usually 
 so quiet, but now thronged with living streams, all 
 journeying cityward ! So I passed along to the open 
 country. I stayed not for coronation or military 
 review. I had seen these by scores, and the ever- 
 repeated pageant had no charms for me. My only 
 desire now was to hasten away, and try the merits 
 of the wonderful liquid, while the fever of experi 
 ment was yet fresh upon me. 
 
 Still I hurried on, through the suburbs, until I 
 had gained the open country. There for a moment 
 I paused to take breath, and looked around. I 
 stood upon the top of a slight elevation, and, at a 
 little distance below me, lay the great city of Tooxo 
 stretching away towards the south for miles a 
 goodly prospect of palaces, parks, warehouses and 
 cath.edrals and overtopped by hundreds of domes, 
 towers, and minarets. For an instant or two I gazed 
 upon it. with a new interest ; for if the wonderful 
 liquid which I held in my hand should be effective, 
 a year or two would elapse before I could again 
 stand there, and look upon that fair prospect. In 
 the midst I could see the great square, with the 
 coronation-throne in the centre, beneath a crimson 
 canopy, and to be mounted by a flight of fifty steps. 
 From every direction the populace was streaming 
 into the square, in crowds ; and in one of the 
 broadest approaches to it, I could see the head of 
 the coronation procession on its march, with its
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS ISEPTRIO. 225 
 
 flaunting regimental balloons, and its crashing music 
 half deafened by the tumultuous cheering of the 
 excited crowd. And away off to the south, was the 
 open sea, studded with vessels. How many of those 
 were mine ! I could count my sail-vessels by fifties; 
 and of twenty huge atmospheric ships, which lay 
 in port, at least a dozen belonged to me. And of 
 the great rows of warehouses which lined the wharves, 
 the tallest and broadest were my own. All this 
 property I should, probably, not see again for a year. 
 And what would be the excitement throughout the 
 nation, when, month after month passed away, and 
 I did not appear to claim my own ! And how much 
 greater the wonder, when, at the end of the year, I 
 should suddenly reappear, and drive back the crowd 
 of persons who, by that time, would be quarreling 
 for a share of those possessions ! 
 
 Fearing lest I might waver in my determination, 
 I now turned away in order to complete my project. 
 It had, at first, been my design to lock myself up in 
 a room of my country-seat, and there partake of 
 this magic sleep. But now a new idea made me 
 change my purpose. Search would, of course, be 
 made for me; and when I was found in my own 
 house, stretched in apparent lifelessness upon 
 my bed, what if my death should really be conjec 
 tured, and, in my trance, I should be buried; and 
 finally awaken, only to suffer a thousand deaths in 
 the sealed tomb ? No; I must seek out a spot where 
 the foot of man could not come near me, and where, 
 secure from molestation or injury of any kind, I
 
 226 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 could await, in tranquil safety, my gradual awakening 
 to life again. 
 
 About two miles from my country-seat was a 
 high, rocky cliff. For three hundred feet, it loomed 
 up almost perpendicularly into the air, and, at first 
 view, was apparently inaccessible. This is what I 
 should have thought, had I not been often induced 
 to pick my way along its ledges in search of my 
 little life-bestowing weed, which, in this part of the 
 country, happened to grow only upon those rocky 
 slopes. During one of these expeditions, I had dis 
 covered a small natural cave, about half-way up. 
 With but a narrow opening, which was almost hidden 
 by external projections, it gradually increased into a 
 roomy apartment as it ran back. Here, then, I 
 determined to make my experiment; for here I con 
 cluded that there would be perfect safety, from any 
 chance of observation or detection. I alone knew 
 of the existence of the cave, or the approaches to 
 it. From above, it could not be reached at all; from 
 below, only by a strangely tortuous path. Near as 
 it was to the city, it is probable that, for centuries, 
 no person but myself had ever ti ied to climb those 
 sides; for the attempt appeared dangerous, while the 
 almost bare rock offered no inducement in the way 
 of fruit or flowers or verdure. Even the stone itself 
 was unfit for building purposes, and would probably 
 never be touched; while the solid sides of the cavern 
 would defy the shocks of earthquakes to disturb 
 them. And therefore, in the fullest confidence of 
 security, I laboriously climbed the ascent; and at 
 last, after an hour of toil, stood within the cave.
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEP TRIO. 227 
 
 Here, then, I prepared for my long sleep. I first 
 removed from the interior of the cave all insects or 
 vermin which might injure me during my helpless 
 state; for I considered it best not to trust too 
 strongly to the promises of immunity which the 
 trader had held out to me. Then I piled up a few 
 loose stones, in order more effectually to conceal the 
 mouth of the cave, and prevent even the birds of 
 the air from entering to make it their habitation. 
 After which I spread out my cloak upon the rocky 
 floor, and, lying down upon it, wrapped myself 
 warmly in its folds. And then, drawing forth the 
 little bottle of liquid, I uncorked it, paused for a 
 moment in irresolute fear, and finally, mustering up 
 all my courage, at one draught drained the bottle 
 to the dregs. 
 
 Almost at once I could feel that a gentle languor 
 was softly stealing over me. I knew that it was the 
 commencement of the effects of the draught ; but 
 one of its qualities seemed to be the stimulation of 
 hope, and I felt not afraid. A happy, even temper 
 was produced within me, and I lay awaiting the 
 result of the experiment as calmly as though I were 
 merely about to take a night s rest. And while I 
 thus lay, and felt the drowsy influence upon my 
 senses slowly increasing, I chanced to rest my eyes 
 upon the label of the bottle, containing its directions 
 for use. 
 
 Horror upon horrors! I had forgotten to observe 
 the relative proportions of the liquid ! Instead of 
 the single drop, for a single year, I had drank the 
 whole enough to lay me into a sleep of thousands
 
 228 THE SECKET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 of years ! At the dreadful discovery I tried to 
 arouse myself, and struggle against the drowsy 
 influence, but it was too late ! My limbs had already 
 become paralyzed; and in a moment more my senses 
 left me! 
 
 When I awoke, it seemed as though I had slept 
 but an hour. At first, I was inclined to curse the 
 inventor of the liquid potion, for his deception upon 
 me, whereby I had been put to much toil and incon 
 venience, without arriving at any practical result. 
 My next impulse was to fall down upon my knees, 
 and return thanks for being delivered from the fate 
 of an almost eternal unconsciousness. 
 
 In doing so, an astounding fact overwhelmed me, 
 for I discovered that I was entirely naked. But this 
 excited only a momentary surprise. I at once con 
 jectured that the artful trader had sold me a liquid 
 which had the effect to drug me, whereby he had 
 been enabled, during the past hour, to track my 
 course, and stealing upon me, unaware, to plunder 
 me of all my raiment. What gave cogency to this 
 supposition was the fact, that the entrance to the 
 cave, which I had carefully closed, was now open, 
 all the loose stones having been rolled away. I 
 resolved, consequently, to wait until night, and than 
 carefully make my way to my own house, and there 
 rehabilitate myself; and to beware how, in future, I 
 allowed myself to be made the prey of designing 
 impostors.
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEP TRIO. 229 
 
 I crept to the door of the cave, and looked out. 
 Good heavens ! What did I see ? Where was the 
 great city of Tooxo, with all its towers and domes, 
 its palaces and cathedrals ? Far as the eye could 
 reach were thick forests, covering up all indications 
 that a great commercial port had once there existed. 
 And what had become of the ocean, which had 
 rolled its tide close up to the former gay and lively 
 streets ? The ocean had disappeared ; and where 
 stately ships had once lain at anchor were now great 
 forests, stretching miles away, until lost in the 
 horizon. And then, passing my hand across my 
 forehead, the truth flashed upon me; the potion had 
 but too well done its work. I had slept for centuries; 
 perhaps for cycles. And during all that time, my 
 clothing had rotted off my body ; the vast empire 
 had gone to decay, as empires had gone before ; the 
 cities had been deserted and fallen to ruin ; the 
 forests had reasserted their claim to the ground, and 
 stretched their wild arms about the vestiges of 
 wealth and refinement ; and the little coral-worm 
 had all the while been at work, and had extended 
 the continent far southward how many leagues 
 who could tell ? 
 
 And where was now my vast fortune ? It seemed 
 but an hour ago that my ships had covered the sea; 
 my warehouses lined miles of the shore. Xow all 
 was ruin and desolation. I was again a beggar upon 
 the face of the earth ; even worse conditioned than 
 the beasts of the forest. They had their coats of 
 fur, and their holes to live in ; I was naked, and 
 
 20
 
 230 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 without any means of subsistence, or any place 
 which I could call a habitation. 
 
 But at last I aroused myself, and proceeded to 
 descend from the cave. The path by which I had 
 ascended was now so altered, that I could recognize 
 no single feature of it ; but by carefully picking my 
 steps, I at length managed to reach the bottom in 
 safety. There a piece of good fortune befell me, for 
 I found sufficient wild fruit growing to satiate my 
 appetite ; and moreover, a certain large-leaved plant, 
 with which I contrived to manufacture a loose cover 
 ing for my exposed limbs. Somewhat encouraged 
 by this good luck, I took heart, and pursued my 
 way with more cheerfulness. 
 
 And I resolved at once to journey to the south 
 ward, in search of the ocean which had so mysteri 
 ously receded, and, upon gaining which, I had some 
 hopes of falling in with my fellow-men. My first 
 day s journey led me over the site of the great city, 
 Tooxo ; but so dark and dense grew the vegetation, 
 that I could see but little that might serve to tell 
 the wayfarer that civilization had once there existed. 
 At intervals, to be sure, I came across broken masses 
 of overgrown ruins; but these were now only shape 
 less piles, nor could I discover any means of deter 
 mining to what building they could have belonged, 
 or in what portion of the old city I stood. All was 
 ruin and confusion. 
 
 Then I journeyed on, still advancing in a south 
 erly direction. I knew that I was where the tide of 
 the great ocean had once ebbed and flowed; but the 
 earth itself bore no indications of the change.
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLOXIUS SEPTRIO. 23] 
 
 There were little streams and high mountains, granite 
 rocks and trees of an hundred years growth ; but 
 not a shell or grain of sand to denote its oceanic 
 origin. The change was as complete as though the 
 continent had been planted there at the very com 
 mencement of the world. 
 
 Nor were these changes confined to the earth 
 alone. When night came, I saw new alterations in 
 the sky. There were different spots upon the surface 
 of the moon. One of the stars, forming the Southern 
 Cross, had shifted towards the West, so that the 
 Cross had become like a wooden crane. And another 
 of the Pleaides had entirely disappeared. Was I 
 really upon the same world; or had I been conveyed 
 during my sleep, to another one ? 
 
 Still onward I journeyed. By the increasing heat, 
 and the altitude of the sun, I could tell that I was 
 approaching the equator ; but yet the dark forest 
 seemed to have no limit, and day after day passed 
 without a single human being appearing to gladden 
 my eyes. There were strange and palatable fruits 
 to serve for my subsistence, and thus I kept up my 
 strength, and felt no want. I saw numbers of sin 
 gular species of animals, but none of them seemed 
 inclined to molest me. I was as wild as they, and 
 they probably feared me as much as I dreaded them. 
 I saw many places where forest glades, and rich 
 prairies, and cooling streams, and delicious wild 
 fruits combined to form lovely nooks, where I might 
 have lived for years in idle sylvan luxury; and there 
 had been times, during my past life, when I would 
 have liked nothing better than to have pitched my
 
 232 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIVS SEPTRJO. 
 
 lot in some such spot, and there idly dreamt on for 
 centuries. But now I tore myself away in haste. 
 The universal solitude and desolation filled me with 
 such a longing for one more glimpse of my fellow- 
 creatures, that I would have been content to become 
 a slave to them, and submit to any degradation or 
 contempt, if I might only thereby enjoy the privi 
 lege of knowing that I was not alone in the world. 
 
 And at length, upon the twentieth morning of my 
 pilgrimage, the sound of the roaring surf burst upon 
 my ear. Madly I plunged forward, and gained the 
 limit of the forest; delightedly I looked upon the 
 ocean, stretched out in boundless expanse before me, 
 glittering in the rays of the bright sun, and, in all 
 things, as unchangeable as the sun itself. I fell upon 
 my knees, and poured forth my thanks in an out 
 burst of emotion; in all my life I had never expeii- 
 enced such a moment of intense happiness. 
 
 Suddenly, while I remained in this ecstasy of trans 
 port, I heard a loud cry, and felt myself rudely 
 grasped. I turned, to offer resistance, but at once 
 waw that all resistance would be useless. I was in 
 the hands of a being more powerful than I a being 
 of ten feet in stature black as a negro in complex 
 ion, but having a singular beauty of expression and 
 intelligence in his countenance, and having long 
 wings, which drooped nearly to his heels. At his 
 cry, a dozen others like himself flew down from differ 
 ent points, and formed a close circle about me.
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 233 
 
 They were not beasts, I saw at once. They were 
 men, but men endued with higher attributes than I 
 possessed. All at once the whole truth flashed upon 
 me The learned Professor of Mental Gymnastics 
 had been right in his theory. During all the past 
 centuries, men had continued to progress; and the 
 scanty tribe of what had once been called the acci 
 dents of creation, had gradually developed into one 
 universal race. I saw, with dismay, that my condi 
 tion had become still further lowered by their 
 advance ; and, that if I had before been looked upon 
 as a human deformity, I could now no longer be 
 called even a man. Even if my own perceptions 
 had not assured me of this fact, the wondering 
 expressions of the group about me would have satis 
 fied me of it. To them I was a curiosity, a hitherto 
 undiscovered animal. The few human attributes 
 which I possessed were insufficient to give me a 
 claim to rank among the men of the present race. I 
 was no more like them than, thousands of years 
 ago, the ape had been like me; and now they gazed 
 upon me with the same curiosity with which I would 
 then have looked upon an ape, and regarded all my 
 attempts at conversation, in a language so unlike 
 their own, as the mere unmeaning chattering of an 
 animal. 
 
 I knew, of course, that I could suffer no harm at 
 their hands. Had I been an animal of any known 
 species, I might have been slain for food ; but I was 
 too great a curiosity not to be kept alive. I conse 
 quently prepared my mind for attentions of a differ 
 ent character, and, most probably, in the line of 
 20*
 
 234 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIVS SEPTRIO. 
 
 exhibition for pecuniary profit. And so it proved. 
 When the strangers had sufficiently gratified their 
 immediate curiosity, I was tightly bound, and carried 
 away ; and in a few days, found myself domesticated 
 in a large city. 
 
 In a city as large as Tooxo had been, and like it, 
 thronged with temples, academies and palaces ! In 
 a city built and inhabited by winged men, of won 
 drous height and ebony complexion, like unto my 
 captors ! In a strong cage, in a public room of that 
 city, exposed to curious gaze, with other cages, con 
 taining wild animals, flanking me on either side ; 
 and opposite to me, as a wonderful curiosity, the 
 skeleton of a horse ! But of all these, I was the 
 most powerful attraction; and thousands daily flew 
 through the open roof, and, lighting in front of me, 
 stared at me for hours. 
 
 For a while my life was a burden to me. I had 
 no hope of escape, could cherish no expectation of 
 manly treatment. Every action, indeed, assured me 
 how little trust I could put in my slight likeness to 
 my fellow-men, and how little they would be dis 
 posed to regard me as one of their own race. Their 
 solemn, speculative, gaping scrutiny ; their laughter, 
 at what they considered my grotesque motions; the 
 air of patronage and curiosity with which they 
 pushed nuts and meat and fruits through the bars of 
 my cage; all assured rne how hopeless of recognition 
 my claims to manly nature must ever be. 
 
 At first I was sullen, and would only eat when 
 driven by hunger ; but soon a better feeling came 
 over me. It chanced that, one day, among the
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS ISEPTRIO. 235 
 
 fruits and grasses which were thrust into my cage, 
 I recognized a few leaves of my little life-giving 
 weed. I eagerly seized and devoured them. The 
 word then, of course, flew around, that an article 
 which the strange animal liked had been found; and 
 ever after that, my cage was plentifully supplied 
 with it. Having thereby the means of preserving 
 my life, I reflected, that, though escape might be 
 impossible, yet sullen discontent would do me no 
 good ; that by cheerfulness of conduct, I might not 
 only increase my happiness, but also gain new favors; 
 that, after all, there were many of these powerful 
 winged men who were beggars, and would gladly 
 exchange their hard lot for the comforts which I 
 enjoyed; that if these strange people found much 
 about me to wonder at, I also could amuse myself 
 in observing them; and that thus, in finding such 
 endless incitement to my curiosity, I might lead a 
 life of tolerable comfort. 
 
 And thus, resigning myself to my fate, I further 
 reflected, that if I could learn their language, I 
 might detail to them the circumstances of my past 
 life, and gain many advantages. And with this 
 intent, I went to work. By attentively listening 
 and observing how their actions corresponded with 
 their conversation, I speedily picked up a few words. 
 To these I gradually added others, pretty much in 
 the same manner as a child picks up his mother- 
 tongue ; and thus, in a few months, I began to flatter 
 myself that I could talk with my visitors with 
 tolerable ease. And one day, I resolved, that, upon 
 the next morning, I would make my first attempt.
 
 236 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 Just as I came to this conclusion, I heard a loud 
 swell of many voices in the building, and saw a few 
 men bringing in a bundle closely bound. And I 
 gathered that the excitement arose from the fact 
 that another animal of my species had just been 
 discovered. 
 
 "Put it in along with the first one," said the 
 director of the exhibition ; and accordingly the 
 bundle was brought forward, unbound, and thrust 
 into the same cage with myself, where it crouched 
 in the corner as though in mortal fear. It was late 
 in the afternoon, and had become so dark that I 
 could not readily distinguish the form or features of 
 the stranger. And before I could find any method 
 of satisfying my curiosity, the exhibition came to a 
 close, and the cage was locked up, leaving us in 
 still greater darkness. 
 
 All night I lay awake, wondering whether any 
 being of my race had discovered my receipt, and 
 thus, like myself, had lived on for ages ; or whether 
 there were still left upon the earth, nations which 
 had not progressed like others, and to which I might 
 escape some day, and find myself once more among 
 my equals. At times I spoke to the stranger, but 
 he answered only in gibberish ; proving that he either 
 talked a different language, or, perhaps, like the 
 brutes, had no settled language at all. At times, 
 too, I ventured to touch him; but the only response
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLOIMUS SEPTRIO. 237 
 
 was a low growl, which warned me to refrain from 
 further experiments. 
 
 So passed the night; and at length, as the first 
 glimmer of dawn began to glow through the open 
 roof of the building, I began indistinctly to see my 
 companion. He sat crouching in the corner of the 
 cage, and glaring at me with a fixed and somewhat 
 idiotic expression. He was naked, and, doubtless 
 owing to long years of exposure, his body had 
 become almost covered with hair; so that, even to 
 myself, he appeared more like an animal than a man. 
 I felt that with such a being, I was destined to enjoy 
 but little pleasant companionship. 
 
 Gradually, as the day brightened, it seemed to me 
 that I had seen him before ; and as I traced feature 
 after feature, the truth suddenly flashed upon me. 
 It was my twin-brother, who sat mowering before 
 me. And yet he was not like my brother, as I had 
 seen him last a man like myself, full of strength, 
 activity and intelligence. He had become debased 
 almost into brutishness. Far from my control and 
 example, he had not continued to cultivate his natural 
 intellectual powers; and though he had mechanically 
 continued to eat of the source of life, his mind had 
 been suffered to become enfeebled and to die away, 
 until but little beyond the mere semblance of life 
 and manhood had been left to him. 
 
 How had he contrived, during so many thousands 
 of years, to avoid all those perils of land and sea, 
 against which the little weed, powerful as it might 
 be in other respects, could not guard him? Over 
 what lands had he wandered ? And how did it
 
 238 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SKPTRIO. 
 
 happen that now, at last, we so curiously met again, 
 and in the same captivity ? 
 
 And why, indeed, should he, a man of lively 
 intellect, have suffered his mind to go to decay ? 
 Embittered, like myself, against the human race, had 
 he withdrawn into solitude, and there, from the mere 
 want of association with others, been unable to keep 
 his intellectual development in its proper tone, and 
 thus gradually lost his natural powers ? Or had the 
 change been a more sudden one, and been owing to 
 remorse for the wretched piece of revenge which his 
 passion of the moment had induced him to execute 
 upon me ? 
 
 As I reflected upon this last supposition, my anger, 
 which, though buried so many years, had not been 
 dead, burst forth in fever-heat, and I grasped him 
 by the shoulder, and shook him with a force which 
 he could not withstand. 
 
 " Where is she ? " I cried, forgetting at the moment 
 how many centuries had elapsed. " What have you 
 done with her ? Tell me, that I may go and find her." 
 
 No answer; but as I released him, he muttered 
 incoherent ravings, and then settled down again into 
 his beast-like attitude, and there remained gazing at 
 me with the same watchful idiotic glare as before. 
 I tried a new manoeuvre, and proceeded to suppli 
 cation. 
 
 " Brother," I cried, " we have lived long together. 
 We have shared the same joys and sorrows. We 
 should not quarrel now. Only tell me what you 
 have done with her, and I will forgive all that is 
 past."
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 239 
 
 No answer yet; but seeing a few leaves of our 
 little weed lying strewn about the floor of the cage, 
 his eye lighted up with pleasure, and he began to 
 pick them up, and chew them with a sort of mechan 
 ical frenzy. Upon this, my wrath burst forth again. 
 It seemed like a double insult to me, to sit there, 
 unconfessing, unregretting that he had wronged me; 
 and yet, all the while, to avail himself of the price 
 less secret which I had taught him. 
 
 " Tell me ! " I cried, again seizing him. " Tell me 
 all, or you shall die, though forests of plants grew 
 around you ! " 
 
 Still no answer ; but drawing himself up, he pointed 
 his forefinger towards me, with a sneering, contempt 
 uous expression, which flesh and blood could not 
 have endured. And yet there was probably no sneer 
 or contempt intended. It was only an idiotic gesture, 
 without thought or meaning. But at the moment, 
 it seemed to me as though he had meant all that his 
 action implied that he had recognized me, and 
 was tormenting me with the misfortune which he 
 had brought upon me ; and at once I lost all self- 
 control. There chanced to be a loose iron bar lying 
 on the floor of my cage. Transported with fury, I 
 raised it in the air, and even while he sat with his 
 forefinger pointed at me, brought the weapon down 
 crashing into his brain. 
 
 He fell at my feet dead ! The life which had 
 been preserved so many thousands of years had fled 
 in an instant. No mere herb could avail to save, 
 after such a blow as I had given. 
 
 For the instant, I felt overwhelmed with the con-
 
 240 TITE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 sciousness of the dreadful deed which I had commit 
 ted. But I had then no time to weep or to curse 
 my lot, for at that moment I heard the keeper open 
 ing the hall. I had merely time to turn the body of 
 my brother, so that the wound in his head might be 
 concealed, and he appear as though he slept; and 
 then the front of my cage was taken down, and the 
 exhibition of the day commenced. 
 
 In a few moments, over fifty people were standing 
 in front, and gazing at me ; and remembering my 
 determination to attempt conversation with them, I 
 suddenly inquired: 
 
 "My friends, what year of the world is this?" 
 
 At this unexpected speech, there was instant com 
 motion. One or two women, of eight or nine feet 
 in height, fainted ; a dozen or two flew out at the 
 roof, in hot haste; and many men turned pale, and 
 staggered back in affright. But as I gradually 
 reassured them, by a few pleasant words, and let 
 them know that, in spite of my wonderful quality 
 of speech, I was perfectly harmless, the crowd again 
 collected about me ; and one who, by his appearance, 
 might have been one of the wise men of the city, 
 undertook to reply to me. 
 
 " What do you want?" he said. 
 
 "I wish to know how old the world has become," 
 I replied. 
 
 " How can any one tell ? " he responded, in a loud 
 tone, and apparently as desirous of impressing the
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 24] 
 
 crowd with his profundity as of enlightening me. 
 " We can only tell that our nation is several hundred 
 years old, and during that time, has been gradually 
 elevating itself from barbarism into civilization ; 
 but no one knows how many years have gone before 
 that. But who are you?" 
 
 I then proceeded to tell how that, it might have 
 been thousands of years ago, I was a human creature, 
 a citizen of the great seaport of Tooxo, and had 
 there fallen asleep, and had only waked up to find 
 myself seized and treated like a wild beast ; and I 
 demanded my release. But the wise man only shook 
 his head. 
 
 " We can hardly believe such a story as that," he 
 said to the crowd about him. " In the first place, 
 though our knowledge of the past has been yearly 
 increasing, yet we have never heard of such a place 
 as Tooxo; and it is probable that no such place ever 
 existed. In the next place, there have been no 
 remains ever found, to indicate that mankind was 
 ever any thing different from what it is now. More 
 over, it would be attaching a derogatory idea to the 
 work and intention of PROVIDENCE, to suppose that 
 HE would ever create such a small, white-looking, 
 wingless object as that, and call it after His own 
 likeness." 
 
 I thought of the time when the Professor of 
 Ancient Languages, in Tooxo, had expressed kindred 
 sentiments, and I groaned aloud. 
 
 " I grant that it is a singular thing that he can 
 speak our tongue," the wise man continued. " But 
 what does all that prove ? Xot that he is a man, 
 21
 
 242 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 but merely that PROVIDENCE, for some wise purpose, 
 has created a brute with somewhat superior intelli 
 gence; and that the brute thus created has had the 
 cunning to listen to and learn our language, in order 
 to impose this singular fiction upon us, and thus 
 endeavor to claim relationship with our nobler 
 natures." 
 
 While he spoke, soft music began to break upon the 
 ear; and, through the open roof, I could see numbers 
 of people floating in the air, some remaining almost 
 stationary upon their spread-out wings, and others 
 engaging in a singularly beautiful dance. All were 
 clothed in white, and new additions were constantly 
 made to the party ; while new strains of music con 
 tinually arose from different quarters. 
 
 " What does all this mean ? " I said. " Is this a 
 festival-day ? " 
 
 " It is a day the tradition of which has descended 
 for many thousands of years," answered the wise 
 man ; " a day which has always been celebrated 
 with mirth and brotherly love, in all lands, I believe. 
 For on this day, it is said that our CREATOR became 
 a man like unto ourselves, and for us commenced to 
 live on earth." 
 
 " Christmas day ! " I exclaimed. And as I turned 
 aside, and saw the dead body lying at my side, I 
 wept. Of what avail had been all the years I had 
 lived ? On another Christmas day I had attained 
 my great secret, and had hailed the discovery as a 
 glorious one, because I had imagined that I would 
 have many more years in which to purify my soul, 
 and make me more fit for heaven at the last. And
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 243 
 
 instead thereof, I had been growing, year by year, 
 more hardened in heart ; and at last, upon a Christ 
 mas morning, had ended a career of selfishness by 
 murdering my own twin-brother ! 
 
 " Listen ! " I exclaimed, turning to the crowd. 
 " It may be that I deserve my fate, but my story is 
 none the less true, for all that. Were he, who now 
 lies there, only alive and in his senses, he could speak 
 up, and also tell you who we both once were. But 
 he s dead dead by my own hand and cannot be 
 my witness. But hold ! " I suddenly cried, in a 
 passion of ecstasy. " There stands one who can 
 vouch for the truth of my story ! Ask her, and I will 
 abide by what she says ! " 
 
 For, among the crowd of spectators, I recognized 
 my long-lost wife, who, all this while, by our common 
 secret, had retained her hold on life. With her, as 
 centuries before, the principle of new development 
 had continued on in steady progress. She was now 
 nearly eight feet in height, and darker in complexion, 
 and, like the rest, had drooping wings; but in all 
 else, in expression and in features, was unchanged. 
 Though thousands of years had passed, I knew her 
 in an instant. 
 
 " Call her! Let her tell! " I cried, not thinking it 
 possible that, even if she recognized me, she might 
 shrink from acknowledging as her husband one who 
 only had the social position of an ape. " She will tell 
 you whether I have ever been a human being or not." 
 
 She turned. I saw her advance towards me. 
 Hope swelled in my breast. I screamed aloud with 
 ioy. I frantically rattled the bars of my cage.
 
 244 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 
 
 And I awoke ; awoke to find my wife still small 
 and fair-complexioned and wingless, as I had first 
 married her bending over me. It had all been a 
 dream ; and Apollonius Septrio, and his secret, were 
 but the phantasies of a disordered brain. 
 
 "Wake up, dear Will! " said my wife, giving me 
 an affectionate shake. " You are dozing, and the 
 syrup is boiling over; and if you do not stir it, we 
 shall lose it all, and the children will not have their 
 Christmas candy." 
 
 I rubbed my eyes. Yes, there was the pot 
 which contained no elements of an abstruse analysis, 
 but simply a little boiling syrup running over 
 at the edge, as it had done when I first commenced 
 to doze. I looked out of the window, and saw the 
 old sexton, lantern in hand, still plodding on through 
 the snow, and hardly a step from where I had first 
 seen him. Yes, all this dream of events, of thou 
 sands of years, had occurred in a second or two of 
 time! 
 
 In a few words, I told my wife the substance of my 
 vision. She smiled, and pointing behind her, said: 
 
 " Why, indeed, should we care for such long life V 
 Shall we not live again in these?" I looked, and 
 there stood our children. 
 
 Hark! at that moment the bells struck up! They 
 were ill-tuned and cracked, and moreover were set 
 to no particular air, but jingled to-and-fro accord 
 ing to the strength and disposition of the old sexton 
 and his juvenile aids. But somehow, on that night, 
 there was a musical sound to them, for they seemed 
 to speak of peace and good-will to all the world!
 
 THE SECRET OF APOLLONIUS SEPTRIO. 245 
 
 " It may be," said my wife, gazing up with an 
 expression of sweet serenity irradiating every fea 
 ture, " it may have been no dream that you have just 
 had. It may be prophecy." 
 
 " Prophecy ? " 
 
 " Yes. It may be, that upon some future Christ 
 mas day, I shall really wear wings," she said. " But 
 it will not be in this world, but in another and a 
 better one, I hope. And if that day does come," 
 she continued, " I hope that you, too, will wear wings; 
 and that together we may live in that better world, 
 never to be parted; and there continually gain new 
 developments in the eternal progression of love, and 
 joy, and holiness! "
 
 HAPTER . 
 
 is my intention to narrate every circumstance 
 of the story, freely, and without attempt at 
 concealment or extenuation. At the time, it caused 
 me many a heartburn; now that advancing years 
 have gathered so much more closely about me, and I 
 have become interested only in my professional 
 ambition, I can afford even to laugh at the matter, 
 as an amusing retrospect. 
 
 It happened upon Christmas-day. It would have 
 been a very sad trial and disappointment to me, if I 
 had been obliged to pass the evening in the loneli 
 ness and obscurity of my own lodgings, with no 
 other society than my morbid thoughts; and yet, 
 for a time, it seemed unavoidable. When, therefore, 
 early in the morning, there came a dainty little note 
 from Mabel Cuthbert, inviting me to dine with her 
 at the Priory, my heart was wonderfully lightened 
 from its depression, and my spii its gave a sudden 
 exultant bound into sunshine. It was a pleasant 
 little invitation, without the slightest tinge of stiff 
 ness or formality, genial and winning, rather, in 
 tone, as of one writing to a very near and trusted
 
 250 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 friend, and not to some mere chance acquaintance 
 of the day. And it informed me that I was to be 
 the only guest ; Mabel and myself, those were all. 
 I was more disposed to feel pleased, in fact, than 
 I had imagined the mere invitation to a Christmas 
 dinner could ever make me. It was something, 
 indeed, to escape from the loneliness of my bachelor 
 quarters, with only my landlady, Mrs. Chubbs, to 
 skirmish around, serve up my poor little chicken for 
 me as the mere ghost of a festivity, and all the while 
 keep a vigilant eye upon me, that I should leave a 
 goodly portion of it for her own subsequent delecta 
 tion. It was a great deal to avoid the subsequent 
 brooding reflections, when every darkening shadow 
 would be sure to strike into my soui, each moment 
 becoming more and more fretful with the bitter pang 
 of loneliness. But now that I was to avoid these 
 troubles, it seemed to me a great deal more than 
 any thing else, that my invitation should be to 
 the Priory. For, during the past two years, the 
 Priory had remained a closed residence for anything 
 in the way of formal entertainment. Ever since 
 the Squire s death, his daughter Mabel had lived 
 there in the strictest seclusion, going nowhere, 
 and caring little about seeing any one. In fact, I 
 was known to be almost the only person whose visits 
 seemed to be at all looked for or encouraged ; it 
 having happened that at the Squire s death I had 
 been the attending physician, and hence had acquired 
 some vested right to continue my visits upon the 
 footing of friendly interest. Now, therefore, that 
 the seclusion seemed drawing to an end and some
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 251 
 
 faint indications appeared of a return to the outer 
 world, it was very pleasing to me to see that I was 
 still the first person selected for social favor, and 
 that I was considered worthy of encouragement 
 for something other than my professional character 
 and qualities. And moreover, for I may as well 
 confess the fact at the very beginning I dearly 
 loved to be at Mabel Cuthbert s side, and always 
 felt my heart bound wildly at the slightest hint of 
 any preference for me. 
 
 Pleasantly humming a tune to myself, I started 
 off on a little round of medical calls, lasting until 
 afternoon. When I returned, I found Mrs. Chubbs 
 in my office, washing the windows with great appear 
 ance of zeal. It was an unusual performance for 
 her on Christmas, or, indeed, on any other day; and 
 I felt that the sudden fit of cleanliness was merely 
 a pretense to open communication with me. I was 
 not mistaken. 
 
 " And so you are going to dine at the Priory, 
 Doctor," she said. " And in course, you will be the 
 first person to know all about it." 
 
 "And how, Mrs. Chubbs, could you have ascer 
 tained that I was going to the Priory ? " I responded 
 severely. " Surely you have not given yourself the 
 liberty to read my correspondence ? " 
 
 There was little need, indeed, to put it in the form 
 of a question, inasmuch as upon the corner of Mabel s 
 note, inadvertently left by me open upon the table, 
 was the broad impress of a soapy thumb. I held 
 out the note towards Mrs. Chubbs, as I spoke, in 
 token of the perfect knowledge that gave me author-
 
 252 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 ity to reprove ; but she was not to be put down or 
 thrown into confusion as easily as that. 
 
 " And what if I have read it ? " she said. " Do 
 you think, Doctor Crawford, that if a patient comes 
 after you, and I have charge of your office, and he 
 says where are you, and I say I don t know, and he 
 gays find out, and I have to look over your desk to 
 see if you have left a paper or so about when you 
 will come back, and he says look further yet, and I 
 come across a note and think may be it will tell where 
 you are gone, and when I read it, find it is only 
 where you are to go this evening, do you think, 
 then, that I can forget all about it again, and never 
 remember anything of the past or of what is going 
 this day to be found out at the last, Doctor 
 Crawford ? " 
 
 With a red face, Mrs. Chubbs descended from her 
 perch, gathered up her pail and step-ladder, and 
 stumped off out at the door, leaving the cleaning for 
 another season, and, in her dignified departure, 
 knocking the end of her ladder so violently against 
 my skeleton-case, that I could hear all the bones 
 inside rattle. And I, crushed and discomfited, and 
 giving little further heed to what seemed to me her 
 random, purposeless remark, kept silence, nor thought 
 to ask what it was, that, at this last, was to be found 
 out, and all about which I was to be the first person 
 to know. 
 
 Rousing myself after a little, I prepared my toilet 
 for the evening, then again took up the note. 
 For the first time I happened to notice, that through 
 some inadvertence, the hour for dining was not
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 253 
 
 mentioned. It might very well be five, Mabel s 
 usual hour; and yet, to-day it might be later, being 
 a special occasion. I was a little nonplussed, at 
 first, but finally settled the matter satisfactorily in 
 my mind. I would go at five, and would inquire 
 at the gate-lodge for further particulars. If the 
 dinner chanced to be later, I would ride on and visit 
 old Mrs. Rabbage, returning to the Priory at the 
 proper hour. Old Mrs. Rabbage would most likely 
 believe that my white cravat and dress coat had been 
 put on in especial compliment to her case; and if 
 there were any real virtue in the imagination, it 
 might do her rheumatism more good than all my 
 other attentions. Therefore, at half past four, I 
 climbed into my gig and started. 
 
 It was a brisk, cheery day, not too warm or cold. 
 The sky was somewhat heavy and overcast, with 
 prospect of becoming more so ; but the atmosphere 
 was bright and lively with falling snow, descend 
 ing in large dry flakes, not offensively driving into 
 one s face with tempest blast, but dropping lightly 
 and softly, so that I could almost feel company in 
 their steady coming; watching how they slowly 
 melted away upon the bearskin robe tucked snugly 
 around me, and how, beneath the gradual deepening 
 of the fleecy deposit of those that descended in 
 more favorable places, the ground and the hedgerows 
 gradually turned to light blue and then to white. 
 And jogging thus along, in wondrous pleasant frame 
 of mind, contented with myself and all the world, 
 I met Parkins, the brewer, driving home in his own 
 light wagon. 
 
 22
 
 254 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 " Whither away, Doctor Crawford ? " he said. 
 
 " To the Priory, Mr. Parkins, to dinner. Not 
 a large dinner," I added, in explanation. " Only 
 myself, I believe." 
 
 "Aha, to the Priory? You re in luck, Doctor. 
 Was telling Mrs. Parkins that we ought to have you 
 down at our place ; but now that you are going to 
 do so much better Good dinners, always, at the 
 Priory while the Squire was alive; and, likely as not, 
 yet Well, one thing, Doctor ; you will be the first 
 person to know all about it. I suppose, however, 
 we ll all know, after a while." 
 
 " All about what, Mr. Parkins ? " 
 
 But before he could answer, his horse had started, 
 and in an instant was half a hundred feet off. Par 
 kins was not much of a driver, though he imagined 
 the contrary In fact, he generally contrived to get 
 nan away with three or four times a year. At the 
 present moment, though he parted from me with 
 elbows squared out and with a cheery " gee-up," 
 and altogether great affectation of wielding a gallant 
 rein, I could not resist an impression that the horse 
 was moved with an instinct of Christmas oats ahead, 
 and was in a hurry to get home and was moderately 
 running away, and that Parkins could not have 
 checked him, if his life depended upon it. Be that 
 as it may, the consequence was a sudden separation 
 between us that momentarily increased; and so my 
 question was left unanswered. 
 
 "At any rate," I now said to myself, not attach 
 ing any more importance to the brewer s observa 
 tion than to Mrs. Chubbs, " there is one matter,
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 255 
 
 at least, about which I will hope to-day to know 
 something." 
 
 I have already intimated that it was the great 
 happiness of my life to be at Mabel Cuthbert s side; 
 and now, of course, it will be understood that I was 
 thinking of my hitherto unavowed affection for her. 
 For months I had endeavored to stifle it, but in vain. 
 It was a love that had no cessation, allowed me 
 no rest ; surely then it was about time that, even if 
 I knew nothing else, I should have some knowledge 
 as to whether my affection might be prospering, 
 whether I was doomed at the end to relinquish all 
 my hopes, or whether they would gradually brighten 
 into sweet assurance. And what better day than 
 the present, with its genial and inspiring influences, 
 to learn at least something that would direct me to 
 a knowledge of my fate ? What better time than 
 Christmas-day, with its cheery unrestrained greet 
 ings, to catch some unguarded indication peeping 
 forth here and there, to tell me what I might expect ? 
 
 That my hopes were well founded, I had gradually 
 schooled myself to believe. To the outer world, 
 unacquainted with all the circumstances of the case, 
 it is true that my love for Mabel might have seemed 
 pretentious, my attentions, a presumption. She 
 was scarcely twenty-five, I was nearly forty. She 
 came from along and honored ancestry, I could 
 not go further back than to my grandfather, himself 
 a village doctor. But, on the other hand, looking 
 at the matter in the prosaic yet none the less practi 
 cal light of worldly fortune, the Crawfords had been 
 long accumulating, and my own possessions were not
 
 256 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 inconsiderable ; while the Cuthberts had been grad 
 ually losing in estate, generation after generation 
 parting with a field here and a quarry there, until 
 at least half the landed property was gone. Half 
 of the remainder even, was at that moment imperiled ; 
 inasmuch as a chancery suit about the title to some 
 five hundred acres of its family estate was now, 
 after twenty years slow progress, drawing near its 
 close, with the chances, so far, greatly in favor of the 
 outside contestants. Moreover, as has been already 
 said, for the past two years Mabel had remained 
 in strict retirement, seeing few persons and in no way 
 exposed to the admiration of the outer world, during 
 which time I had been nearly her only visitor, 
 coming almost daily in the light of a true and valued 
 friend. At one time I had taught her what little 
 French I knew, and often we had read to each other. 
 It seemed, therefore, as though such exclusive inti 
 macy must bear some fruit. I knew that I was 
 always received with warm pressure of the hand and 
 a sunny smile. Did that mean love, or was it mere 
 friendship? I could not tell for certain, indeed; 
 though at times I gazed earnestly into her eyes, in 
 search of some fleeting, unguarded expression that 
 might, of a certainty, betray the nature of her feel 
 ings. But all the while my wishes had been teach 
 ing me to hope for and believe the best; and it 
 seemed as though there could not be a better time 
 than that Christmas-day to ascertain, beyond a 
 doubt, the real strength of my self assurances.
 
 LHAPTER 
 
 JJ 
 
 jogging along in hopeful, though not alto 
 gether unanxious train of reflection, about five 
 o clock I reached the Priory. It was not an impos 
 ing building. In its best estate it had been one of 
 the smaller and least known religious houses of the 
 kingdom ; and since it had been secularized, every 
 change in its extent and outward appearance had 
 been for the worse. The quaint old bell-tower had 
 been taken down, and the bell removed to a distant 
 parish church. The chapel had fallen into decay, 
 and finally been cleared away as an useless append 
 age, not necessary to be restored. The refectory 
 had been cut into several smaller rooms; and in 
 doing so, it had unfortunately happened that much 
 of the heavy carved oak wainscoting had been 
 destroyed. Much of the symbolical ornamentation 
 sculptured upon the outside of the building had 
 been chipped away by a vandal owner of the place 
 during the last century, under the idea that it was 
 unsuited to a private residence. And so, little by little 
 the Priory had fallen away from much of its former 
 pleasant estate; in some places brick taking the 
 place of stone, until it became a mere quadrangular 
 building, without especial type or character, such a 
 building as might have been erected within the pres 
 ent century, after a design giving up everything 
 to space, and sacrificing all ornamentation to utility. 
 
 00*
 
 258 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 Adding to all this, the fact that gradually much of 
 the land belonging to the Priory had been alienated, 
 until there was now little left besides lawn and 
 garden, and that the knightly title that had been 
 enjoyed by its earliest civil owner had drifted off 
 in some other direction, as titles will sometimes 
 mysteriously do; and it will be seen that in her 
 inheritance, Mabel Cuthbert had not become a great 
 heiress or social power in the county. But for all 
 that, the place was still known as the Priory, such 
 being the permanence of English tradition; and, as 
 will be seen, certain traditions lingered, about it, 
 with a pertinacity that defied all influence of out 
 ward physical change to banish them. 
 
 Stopping for a moment at the gate-lodge, I looked 
 around in every direction, but found no one. The 
 occupants of the lodge had evidently departed upon 
 some Christmas frolic, and the gate stood wide open 
 for any one to enter who might be inclined. There 
 fore I drove through; somewhat reluctantly, how 
 ever, not wishing prematurely to present myself 
 before the house, in case I had mistaken the hour. 
 But upon reaching the end of the Priory building 
 and before emerging into the exposure of its full 
 front, there I saw Roper the butler, standing at the 
 eide porch. And I beckoned him to me. 
 
 "Dinner at five, as usual, Roper?" 
 
 " At seven, to-day, Doctor, being Christmas." 
 
 "Ah! then I had better make a professional call 
 or two, and then return." 
 
 " Better come in now, Doctor Crawford, and wait. 
 It is not very likely that Miss Cuthbert will see you
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 259 
 
 do so. She is in her own room at the back of the 
 house, lying down and will scarcely come out until 
 seven. I will send the gig around to the stable and 
 smuggle you into the library, where she seldom 
 comes, and will not announce you before it is time 
 for you to come in the usual way." 
 
 It was very tempting, and for the moment I gazed 
 around irresolutely. Not so very irresolutely, after 
 all, perhaps; for I must have had in my mind, from 
 the first, some premonition of the inevitable issue of 
 any conflict on the subject. The sky was becoming- 
 more overcast, the snow was descending more 
 heavily and was now deeper under foot, somewhat 
 clogging the wheels and discouraging any tendency 
 to further admiration of its pretty crystal whiteness, 
 
 old Mrs. Rabbage s rheumatism would be none 
 the better or worse, whether I came or stayed away, 
 
 through the half open door I saw the i w ed flicker 
 of coalfire in an open gate, reflected upon the wall 
 of the hall outside; in fine, I hesitated and was 
 lost, 
 
 "I think, I suppose I had better do it, Roper," 
 I said with a sort of half cough and an expression 
 of voice as though I were reluctantly yielding to some 
 requirement of duty. With that same impress of 
 reluctance stamped upon every motion of my body, 
 I slowly climbed down from the gig, threw the reins 
 to a stable boy whom Roper beckoned up, shook the 
 few snow flakes off my coat, and allowed myself to 
 be escorted through the hall and into the library. 
 
 It was a cozy, old fashioned little room. With 
 the dining room adjoining, it had been cut off from
 
 260 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 the long refectory. In this operation, as has already 
 been stated, much of the carved wainscoting had 
 been torn away; but the loss had afterwards been 
 partially replaced with heavy hangings of Spanish 
 leather, and the original graining of the ceiling had 
 happened to be retained, so that there remained much 
 pleasant basis for picturesque effect. This had been 
 increased by a broad fireplace of antique design, 
 and all the paintings upon the wall were sufficiently 
 smoke-dried and discolored as almost to defy scru 
 tiny, and thus add to the general impress of high 
 toned antiquity. Though the room was called the 
 library, it did not rejoice in many books; for the late 
 Squire was not a man of literary proclivities, while 
 the studies of those who had gone before him were 
 mainly confined to treatises on horses, do;s and 
 
 */ t O 
 
 hunting. In fact, there was merely one small case 
 of books, and those of such unprepossessing charac 
 ter to the general reader that they were seldom 
 opened from one year to another. But upon a small 
 stand between the windows were a few volumes 
 belonging to Mabel, in whom had sprouted the earli 
 est recognizable evidences of family culture ; and 
 upon the broad oak table in the middle of the room 
 lay the morning papers and a few of the most popu 
 lar periodicals of the day, Mabel s own reading. 
 Tin-owing myself into a deep cushioned chair, I 
 took up the Cornhill, and was about to lose myself 
 pleasantly in its pages for the next two hours, when 
 Roper reappeared. While standing at the side 
 porch, he had been in a sort of deshabille, in no 
 way clad differently from the inferior beings around
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 261 
 
 him. Now, as the assumption of his official duties 
 drew near, he had thrown himself into the undress 
 uniform of black coat and pants. 
 
 " Wouldn t you like a little something for lunch., 
 Doctor Crawford ?" he said. "Just a little pastry, 
 or a trifle of some such kind, to prepare for dinner V " 
 
 It seemed to me a very apt suggestion. 
 
 " I am not sure, Roper, but what, after all, I 
 would," I responded, again assuming that hypocrit 
 ical tone of irresolution which I had adopted when 
 entering the house in preference to riding further; 
 though, as then, I knew very well what was the 
 fore-ordained result. " As you say," and it was only 
 afterwards that I remembered lie had not said it, 
 " the road hither is a pretty long one, and the air 
 has been a little nipping and yes, Roper, on second 
 thoughts I am inclined to believe that I might manage 
 to eat a mouthful or two." 
 
 Roper grinned, I am sure I do not know at 
 what, and turned to go. 
 
 " I will bring the things in here, Doctor," he said, 
 " for the dining-room table is getting made ready 
 for dinner. And besides, you are more likely not 
 to be disturbed here." 
 
 With that, he cleared away a portion of the papers 
 from the library table, then disappeared, and soon 
 returned, bearing a well laden tray which he set 
 down before me. There was, indeed, a goodly array ; 
 some jelly and pastry, the remains of a venison pie, 
 delicate biscuits, olives, and indeed enough to con 
 stitute a varied and ample meal for a professed 
 epicure. If this were Roper s idea of a lunch, what
 
 262 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 must the coming dinner be ? Thinking incidentally 
 upon that, I resolved that for the present I would 
 refrain as much as possible from allowing too much 
 scope to my appetite, and sat down with intent at 
 rigorous self denial. Possibly, however, I did not 
 fully live up to my prudent resolution. Owing to 
 the long drive, my appetite was more than ordinarily 
 keen, and somehow seemed to increase with the first 
 few mouthfuls. As generally happens in such cases, 
 therefore, I was led on by small degrees into utter 
 abandonment of my good intentions, and ended by 
 making a very full and excellent repast. 
 
 Towards the end, I began to find my hunger giving 
 way to thirst, and wondered that Roper had not 
 furnished me Avith any wine. A mere thimbleful 
 was all that I would require, just a mouthful, 
 indeed, to wash down the venison pastry and take 
 away something of the dryness of the French rolls. 
 There was not even a goblet of water ; and alto 
 gether, it was a very strange state of affairs. It 
 was, of course, merely a case of momentary forget- 
 f ulness on the part of Roper; but then, it did not 
 seem right that he should ever have forgotten. For 
 the instant I felt a little insulted, as at designed 
 neglect. Roper should really have known better, 
 inasmuch as I was such a frequent visitor to the 
 house, and my taste for proper treatment must be so 
 well recognized. 
 
 But while thus inwardly expressing to myself my 
 discontent, I chanced to observe a bottle resting 
 upon a small carved corner shelf near the door. A 
 short, stout bottle, holding, perhaps, a trifle over a
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 263 
 
 pint. It bad a yellow seal, and even across the room 
 and through the gathering gloom of evening, I could 
 see that the tops and sides of the bottle were thickly 
 coated with dust. Doubtless a bottle of very supe 
 rior wine; and now it flashed across me that Roper 
 must have intended it for myself. Nothing more 
 probable, indeed, than that he had brought it in with 
 the tray, and finding it crowded to the danger of 
 being upset by the swaying of the dishes, had lifted 
 off the bottle while passing, and placed it upon this 
 little shelf, intending afterwards to return for it. 
 And of course, nothing was more easy than, in the 
 end, to have forgotten it altogether. As though to 
 prove the truth of my conjecture, a small silver 
 corkscrew lay conveniently at the side of the bottle. 
 I crossed over and carried the little treasure of a 
 bottle back to my table, then held it up to the light. 
 The glass was dark and thick, and the dust seemingly 
 darker and thicker, so that I could form no fair 
 judgment of its contents. I could merely ascertain 
 by the weight and the faint line of demarkatiou at 
 the top of the neck, that it was full, which so far 
 was satisfactory. After all, the only true way to 
 judge of the contents of a bottle is to taste them; 
 and in this case it seemed plainly to have been 
 intended that I should do so. Accordingly I pulled 
 out the cork, and there being no glass at hand, I took 
 a copious, o-ui-o-lino- draught from the bottle itself. 
 
 1 i ~ O ~ O 
 
 It was a very fair wine, as near as I could judge, 
 port. I have never professed to be anything of an 
 expert in wines; still, I can tell good port from 
 gooseberry, and whether a wine is thin or fruity. In
 
 264 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 the present case, I found the wine rich and palatable; 
 with something of a strange tendency to acidity, 
 however, as though it might have been kept a little 
 too long. I had read that after a certain number of 
 years, a wine begins to lose in excellence ; and it 
 struck me that this little bottle might have been 
 emptied, with more advantage to its proper enjoy 
 ment, a few years earlier. 
 
 Still, thinking the matter all over, I felt glad that 
 it had not been so disposed of, for in that case I 
 would not have had the drinking of it; and what 
 ever might be its present defects, calculated upon 
 some artificial standard of absolute perfection, it 
 was a much better wine than any to which I was 
 accustomed, and admirably served its purpose in 
 washing down the pastry, now becoming dry and 
 tasteless. Therefore I placed the bottle lovingly 
 beside my plate ; and when my throat had been duly 
 moistened, I felt able to eat more venison, and with 
 the dry ness of the venison, to take another draught of 
 the wine. So continuing, turning from neck of 
 bottle to pastry, and from pastry back again to 
 neck of bottle, there came at last a moment when 
 the wine refused longer to run, and somewhat to my 
 astonishment I felt that I had drunk it all. 
 
 I was not displeased or disheartened thereat. I 
 felt, indeed, that I had had enough. The pastry 
 was not all gone, but already it had lost much of its 
 attraction for me, and as for the wine, I cared not 
 for a single sip more. I was satiated, pleased with 
 myself and contented with all the world. Satisfied 
 appetite had put me in a tranquil and happy frame
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 265 
 
 of mind; and I could lean back in my easy chair, 
 fold my hands before me, and dream away an hour 
 or so, with scarcely a care. 
 
 One thing, indeed, troubled me a little, at the first. 
 The wine had evidently been intended for me, but I 
 had been guilty of the impropriety of drinking it 
 without invitation. Xow that my needs were 
 assuaged, I began to think that it would have been 
 a little nicer for me to have waited until Roper had 
 placed the bottle before me. Though he might alto 
 gether have forgotten to do so, and I had continued 
 to the very end to prick the coating of my throat 
 with dry pastry, it would have been better so, than 
 to have shown such eagerness to help myself. And 
 yet another fault. I had drank the wine out of the 
 bottle s neck, instead of ringing for a glass. This, 
 of itself, was rude and unbecoming; exhibiting not 
 only a lack of due deference for good wine, in the 
 proper use thereof, but also giving my action some 
 thing of the semblance of shame faced concealment. 
 How should I repair these errors, and, in some meas 
 ure, restore my shattered self-respect ? 
 
 There was nothing in fact, to do, but to replace 
 the little bottle upon the corner shelf and thereby 
 avoid immediate betrayal of its misappropriation. 
 Accordingly, I restored it to its former resting place, 
 first pushing the cork down even with the rim, and 
 I laid the cork-screw again beside it. This done, 
 I sank once more into the easy chair, and resumed 
 my uninterrupted flow of tranquil thought. My 
 fault repaired as far as for the instant I could do so, 
 I was no longer to give the matter a single moment 
 23
 
 266 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 of concern. What harm, after all, had I done ? I 
 had merely drank some wine that had been intended 
 for me, and, through forgetfulness, had not been 
 offered. Whatever license had here been shown, 
 would never anywhere give offence. Mabel would 
 never hear about it; and Roper, upon discovering it, 
 would utter no criticisms, inasmuch as, under similar 
 circumstances, he would have been certain to do the 
 same. I should avoid the wondering glare of his 
 fishy eye, by leaving the house before he discovered 
 that the bottle had been emptied; how he might after 
 wards look, need concern me little. 
 
 Thus comforting myself, to the re-establishment of 
 my mental equilibrium, I settled down still more 
 snugly into my chair, again took up the Cornhill, 
 turned over a leaf or two, and, I think, must have 
 dropped off into a passing doze. I conclude that it 
 must have been so, from the fact that I had not 
 seen Roper re-enter the room. A slight rattling of 
 plates aroused me; and opening my eyes I saw Roper 
 at the table, gathering up the appurtenances of my 
 late lunch. He piled the china upon a waiter, and 
 then staggered to the door. Opening it, somehow, 
 with the back of his knuckles and holding it 
 open with the side of his heel, he squeezed through, 
 turning as he did so, for a parting observation. 
 
 " This is the great day at last, Doctor Crawford." 
 
 "What day, Roper?" 
 
 "The day when we are to know all about it; 
 the day for the opening of the twenty-five year old 
 bottle."
 
 HAPTER 
 
 HjoHE door closed behind Roper and his laden tray, 
 (^ and I jumped up as though I had been shot. 
 A cold chill ran down my back, then the blood 
 rushed to my head with fever heat. I wished that 
 I were away, in the middle of China, ten feet 
 beneath the surface of the earth, anywhere, rather 
 than in the upbraiding presence of that unlucky 
 bottle. I felt that I could have jumped down a 
 well, gone up to the stars in a balloon, submitted 
 to any torture or persecution, rather than have been 
 led by cruel fate into the Priory on that Christmas- 
 day. 
 
 Yes, I recollected the whole story now. It had 
 happened years ago, when I was a mere growing 
 lad. I had known it at the time, though perhaps it 
 would have made little impression upon me, if I had 
 not heard it talked over, unremittingly, for two 
 or three years after. Then it had all died away 
 again ; but as there are men who keep the calendars 
 of heat and cold and changes of the wind from year 
 to year, with no apparent object or result, so there 
 are other men who make it their business to note 
 down registry of anything in the least singular or 
 unusual, with purpose to bring it all up again at 
 some appropriate future time. Some one of these 
 persons, doubtless, had made minute of the bottle, 
 and now within a day or two, as the time drew near,
 
 268 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 had opened his budget of expectations, and again 
 awakened the curiosity of the whole village. 
 
 It was a little over twenty-five years before, that 
 he whom they called the " Old Squire " the grand 
 father of Mabel had died. He left his estate, in 
 the natural way, to his descendants. Attached to 
 his will, but forming no part of it, was a simple 
 direction that a certain accurately designated bottle 
 of wine should be put away in a safe place, and left 
 untouched for twenty-five years from the coming 
 Christmas, at which time it should be opened by the 
 then owner of the Priory. Naturally the mandate 
 caused much gossip and speculation. There were a 
 few a very few who laughed, and pronounced 
 the thing a mere whim and joke of the " Old Squire," 
 not worth a second thought ; but the majority consid 
 ered differently. The more the matter was canvassed, 
 the more wonderful did it seem, and the wider and 
 less bound down to probability became the range of 
 speculation. It was the expressed belief of some 
 that the wine was a newly-discovered elixir, which 
 should restore departed youth, and thereby give to 
 the House of Cuthbert the gift of unfailing life ; 
 though the advocates of this theory, it must be con 
 fessed, were few, and principally among the ignorant 
 and the lovers of the supernatural. Others thought 
 that inasmuch as the "Young Squire " Mabel s 
 father had not the credit of being very strong 
 minded or exacting of his rights, the " Old Squire " 
 had accurately calculated twenty-five years as the 
 time necessary to impoverish the estate, and had 
 made arrangements for replenishing its fortunes at
 
 PRIOR POLYCAUP S PORTRAIT. 269 
 
 the end of that period. This might be done by a 
 scroll in the bottle, revealing the spot where treasure 
 was concealed. Such post-mortem protectory devises 
 were not unknown in English history, it was alleged; 
 though no one, at the moment, could place his 
 finger upon any well authenticated instance. Still 
 another class argued that it might not have been 
 
 o o 
 
 necessary to point out any especial place of deposit, 
 inasmuch as the treasure might be in the bottle 
 itself. A few large diamonds of sufficient value to 
 redeem the estate from any ordinary liability could 
 easily be secreted in the bottom of the bottle, snugly 
 packed around so as not prematurely to betray them 
 selves, and thus lie hidden until the opportunity for 
 their disinterment might arise. 
 
 As it turned out, of course, the theory of those 
 few comprising the sensible and reflecting class was 
 the correct one. The bottle held no treasure; simply 
 its modicum of good port wine. The Old Squire 
 was an eccentric man, vastly fond of dealing in sur 
 prises and mystifications. It had doubtless happened 
 that in some moment of jovial companionship with 
 an especially excellent bottle of wine, he had regretted 
 that his descendants could not enjoy the fellow of 
 it ; and in the impulse of the moment had endeavored 
 to procure them that pleasure, by solemnly dedicat 
 ing it to a life of twenty-five years in expectancy. 
 Possibly he had then forgotten all about it ; more 
 likely he had remembered it with a chuckle from 
 time to time, enjoying the anticipated mortification, 
 and only sorry that he could not be there to see. 
 As it happened, he could not have contrived a better 
 23*
 
 270 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 way to keep his memory green; the speculations 
 over the bottle having accomplished this for him far 
 better than if it had been a bronze monument. And 
 now to me the secret stood revealed; it was wine, 
 not at all improved by age, only that. 
 
 Only that, in essence; and yet to me, in its con 
 sequences, perhaps a very serious thing. Expecta 
 tion now stood agog throughout all the village, 
 it would be known that I had been summoned to 
 attend at the uncorking, I would be expected to 
 reveal the long hidden secret; and what, alas! 
 was I to say ? I could not refuse to say anything, 
 making affectation of new mysteries; for Roper, also, 
 would be at the opening, and would expose the 
 truth. I would not dare to own that 1 had myself 
 emptied the bottle, for in every way the conse 
 quences of the confession would be disastrous to 
 me. Ridicule and suspicion would become my 
 portion ever after. I would be pointed out as the 
 doctor, who, at a private house, had taken upon 
 himself surreptitiously to purloin and by himself 
 drink a whole bottle of the family wine. Who after 
 that would trust me in their houses ? And what pro 
 fessional confidence could afterwards be reposed in a 
 doctor who would be reported as being in the habit 
 of emptying a whole bottle of wine at a sitting, not 
 in the justifiable conviviality of the dinning room, 
 but in the morbid seclusion of his own privacy? 
 Moreover, would not the advocates of the diamond 
 theory express disbelief in the story of any wine at 
 all being in the bottle; and claim, instead, that I 
 had pilfered the estate of its hoarded brilliants,
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 271 
 
 robbing the fair unsuspecting heiress for my own 
 enrichment ? 
 
 The atmosphere of the room seemed stifling, I 
 could scarcely breathe; and seizing my hat, I sought 
 the open air for more collected reflection. As I 
 passed out, I could see that Roper stood at a little 
 window, and gazed after me in some astonishment. 
 Well, indeed, he might. The snow was falling faster 
 than ever, and was already over my ankles. The 
 wind was increasing, the sky dark, and it was certain 
 to be a tempestuous night. I had no overcoat, 
 my thin boots were little fitted to plough through 
 the deepening drifts; why, then, should I leave the 
 comfortable bright coal fire and wander through 
 that outside stormy blackness ? But, at the moment, 
 I cared not what Roper thought; I was only intent 
 upon composing my own distracted mind, and it 
 seemed as though I could better do so, while 
 wandering at will down the broad avenue of oaks 
 than while pent up in a close room. 
 
 And what, so my troubled thoughts step by 
 step carried me on, what in addition would be the 
 consequences of my error, in the matter of my hopes 
 of Mabel ? How, in that, might not that unlucky 
 bottle thwart me ? What if, despite my comforta 
 ble assurance of full success, Mabel s feelings of mere 
 friendship or real love for me were at that moment 
 so nearly balanced, that any little circumstance 
 would turn the scale, and she should believe that 
 the village laughter which would assail the collapse 
 of the bottle mystery had attached in part to her 
 self; and that, therefore, loo-king upon me as the
 
 272 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 author of the annoyance, she should definitely turn 
 her heart from me ? What if, inclining already to 
 allow me the freedom of a betrothed, she were to 
 look upon my sequestration of the bottle as an arro 
 gant anticipation of rights of ownership to come, 
 and so were to harden herself conclusively against 
 me ? What if there were a hitherto undetected 
 basis of suspicion in her nature, and in common with 
 some others she were to disbelieve that the little 
 bottle had contained only wine and were to accept 
 some theory about papers or property therein 
 retained for my own advantage ? Look at it in any 
 way I might, I could see nothing but injury, gloom 
 and ruin to come from the confounded bottle. 
 
 Thus reflecting, I found myself at the end of the 
 oak avenue and before the stables. My horse stood 
 just inside the door; and by the light of a lantern 
 the ostler Joe was rubbing him down. 
 
 " Let him be ready the instant I want him, Joe," 
 I said. " I may have to leave here at a moment s 
 notice, to visit old Mrs. Rabbage, may be. In 
 fact, if you hear nothing to the contrary, send the 
 gig round at eight." 
 
 "Just so," responded Joe. "It shall be ready. 
 And Doctor " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Isn t this the day for the bottle ? Shall we not 
 now 
 
 I turned away and strode back to the house. Was 
 there any one in the village, over a year old, who 
 was not on the tenterhooks of expectation about 
 that miserable mystery ? Oh that I dared frankly
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP>S PORTRAIT. 273 
 
 tell Mabel all about it ! But even if I dared, I 
 should probably have little opportunity, so near at 
 hand was now the dinner hour, so small the chance 
 that I could see Mabel for long before. Oh that I 
 were already betrothed to her, so that I might be 
 able to make my confession freely, with full assur 
 ance of being forgiven upon the spot ! Confusion 
 upon those wasted opportunities of French and 
 reading lessons, during which I might have spoken, 
 and in my faint-hearted foolishness had not done 
 so ! Oh that I might even now find occasion to 
 rectify that stupid delay, so that when the dreaded 
 disclosure of my imprudence was made, I should be 
 forgiven at once and with a smile ! But alas! with 
 that disclosure so close at hand and Roper ever 
 hovering near, there could be no time for love avowals. 
 
 With that last train of thought, suddenly there 
 came upon me, as by demoniac suggestion, an idea 
 so strange and fanciful, that even now, as I reflect 
 upon it and try to impart to it .some element of sense 
 in its justification, I am at a loss to account for its 
 possession of me. But for my distortion of mind 
 at that moment, I could never have entertained the 
 idea for an instant ; but for my agitation driving me 
 to stretch out hither and thither wildly for relief, it 
 might never have come to me at all. It was the 
 idea that I might yet make my proposal and in such 
 manner that it should precede the dreaded disclosure 
 and be known only to Mabel and myself. I might 
 write out my offer of heart and hand; and I might 
 put it in the bottle ! 
 
 It was a wild scheme; and at any other moment
 
 274 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 than that of my agitation, I could never have coun 
 tenanced it. And yet, even the most insane ventures 
 sometimes meet success, the very oddity of their 
 conception drawing attention from what would other 
 wise be considered their un worthiness. At the first 
 flash of that thought, indeed, I felt that I must dis 
 courage it ; the very next instant it assumed shape, 
 cogency and reliability. There was no time, indeed, 
 for prolonged self argument upon the subject. 
 Between the conception and the adoption of the idea 
 was such a minute division of time that the whole 
 thing seemed almost like a flash of inspiration. I 
 was standing with one hand raised to my forehead 
 in whirl of puzzled thought when I conceived that 
 strange purpose ; my hand was still brushing across 
 my temple when the purpose had fixed itself, and 
 taken the signification of long shapen resolution. 
 
 Yes, I would place my offer in the bottle ; and this 
 seemed destined to be the happy effect. Mabel 
 would open the bottle, and would find in it a folded 
 paper. This would not in the least surprise her, 
 inasmuch as one of the theories about the bottle was 
 that it contained not wine but some written docu 
 ment. She would unfold the paper and hold it up 
 to the light. The first few words might startle her, 
 as not like any thing that she had expected to find, 
 but she would control herself and read further in 
 search of explanation. Gradually the whole purport 
 of it would dawn upon her; so gradually, indeed, 
 that she would have full time and opportunity to 
 compose herself. When she realized my meaning, 
 she would be silent a moment, while I awaited
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 275 
 
 response; and during that moment at least, she would 
 forget all expectation she might have had about any 
 different seci et in the bottle, or, if she remembered 
 it at all, would do so with such confused and 
 mingled perception of the past and present, that no 
 instant annoyance or disappointment would be felt. 
 If my appeal for her affection was unsuccessful, 
 which, indeed, I could scarcely bring myself to 
 believe, so kind and winning of late had been her 
 manner, she would refuse me more in sorrow than 
 in anger; so that, in that moment of pity, she 
 would at once forgive my rash error about the bot 
 tle, and the one presumption would atone for the 
 other. If she accepted me, she would surely pardon 
 everything, for the love that I had brought her to 
 confess. I pictured the whole scene as in a mirror. 
 She would sit for an instant with her hand before 
 her face, as in tumult of undecided thought. But, 
 in a moment, I would be allowed to see the answer 
 ing smile stealing into view from beneath her fingers; 
 and then, as though concealment were no longer to 
 
 O O 
 
 be dreamed of, she would let her hand fall and the 
 sweet glance of responsive affection shine full and 
 radiantly into my own eager face. That would be 
 my answer, and surely it would be sufficient. And 
 yet, perhaps, she might do more. For fuller token 
 of her acceptance she might pluck a flower from her 
 bouquet, and with affectation of playful spirit, extend 
 it across the table ; and I, taking it from her out 
 stretched hand, would place it in my button-hole. 
 And there was almost a humorous side to the picture, 
 I considered ; for there would be Roper standing
 
 276 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 stiffly beside us, and, in his dull way speculating upon 
 what the bottle may have contained, and yet a 
 thousand miles off from the real truth. He would 
 see a paper drawn out, and he would wonder whether 
 it was the key to a hidden treasure ; and would little 
 dream that it had unlocked the long concealed 
 treasure of my heart. He would watch the passage 
 of a flower across the table, and would deem it a 
 mere idle compliment of the moment ; nor even 
 know that it was the well recognized symbol of the 
 interchange of heart for heart. 
 
 Transported with my scheme, and growing each 
 moment more eager to put it into effect, I hurried 
 back to the house, disregarding more than ever the 
 darkness and the falling snow. In a minute I 
 reached the hall door, entered and sought the library. 
 
 Roper had been in and had lighted up the sconces, 
 and now the gloom of dusk that I had left behind 
 me was replaced with the brightness of wax candles. 
 A soft glow fell upon wall and furniture, bringing 
 out pleasant tints upon the hangings of Spanish 
 leather and affording picturesque contrasts of light 
 and shade. But I could not now stop to admire 
 mere artistic effects; my first glance was towards 
 the bottle, in fear lest it might have been removed. 
 It was still there, however ; and the old eyes of 
 Roper, in his going in and out, had failed to notice 
 that the cork had been meddled with, or the gathered 
 dust displaced. Once more I seized the bottle, drew 
 its cork, then looked around for sheet of paper. 
 
 There was none at hand ; for, as I have hinted, 
 the library was one in little other than name, nor
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 277 
 
 in any light could it be called a study. Not to 
 be baffled, I drew out from my pocket a small blank 
 book, in which I was wont to write prescriptions. 
 The paper was thin and coarse, but there was no 
 time, now, for consideration of that matter. Already 
 the clock was upon the stroke of seven, and I must 
 be speedy. The form and setting of my appeal 
 must matter nothing ; the words themselves were 
 the only thing to be considered. I laid the little 
 book upon my knee, and with blunt pencil, hurriedly 
 scrawled my declaration of love. 
 
 Grant to me, dear Mabel, so I wrote, all that 
 kind consideration which is so richly in your gift, 
 while I dare to convey expression of that love which 
 appertains to you and you alone. Not merely now, 
 indeed / seeing that no prior portraiture than yours 
 has ever been engraven on my heart. If I have 
 long delayed in making this poor record and recital 
 of my love, it has not been from lack of fere or, but 
 rather that I have not dared believe that you would 
 acquit me of presumption in my claim for your 
 forbearance. Give me one smile in sign that your 
 forgiveness of my daring has been sealed, and that 
 my heart may at last be delivered from the bitter pain 
 of its suspense. 
 
 "It is rather a neat thing after all," I said to 
 myself, with sweet satisfaction, as I folded the paper 
 and stuffed it into the bottle. " Better, perhaps, 
 than if I had indulged in labored rhetoric, seeing 
 that this may seem to come more imploringly than 
 the other, from the heart." 
 24
 
 278 
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP^S PORTRAIT. 
 
 I clapped the cork back into place, held the neck 
 of the bottle for a moment in the flame of a candle, 
 pinched the melted wax into form, and restored the 
 bottle to its old position upon the shelf. Scarcely 
 had I done so, when I heard the rustle of silk, and 
 Mabel entered.
 
 LHAPTER 
 
 jy- 
 
 EVER had Mabel appeared to me more beauti 
 ful than at that moment; never had I been 
 more impulsively attracted towards her. For nearly 
 two years she had remained in deep mourning; but 
 now seemingly, was about to return to the world. 
 The lustreless black was banished, and in its place 
 was a pale silk of some new tint that I had not yet 
 learned, admirably harmonizing with her rich com 
 plexion and bright sparkling eyes. Throughout her 
 whole costume, were other departures from the som 
 bre attire of grief, in the form of adornments whose 
 names or purport I could not tell, and which not too 
 obtrusively lent their assistance in making up the 
 whole picture of grace and beauty. Not for me, 
 indeed, in my ignorance of woman s ways and tastes, 
 to decipher all that now combined to embellish her 
 loveliness; it is sufficient that, though in their detail 
 I was unlearned, I knew that, in their cultivated 
 accord and arrangement, they added new lustre and 
 attraction to what had before been so precious to 
 me. Gazing upon her, as for the moment she stood 
 silent and composed in the doorway before advancing 
 to welcome me grace in every line and perfection 
 in every feature, from soft wavy hair to dimpled chin, 
 it seemed as though I must have fallen at her feet 
 and there, in more tender woi ds than any I could 
 write, have avowed my passion. Then, for an instant,
 
 280 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 there came a flickering shadow of despondency upon 
 me. Could it really be that all that beauty was for 
 myself alone ? It was with an effort, indeed, that 
 I recalled her late gracious manner and her kindly 
 glances, and reassured myself with the conviction 
 that all was well. 
 
 " I need not wish you a Merry Christmas, Doctor 
 Crawford," she said, advancing; and, in the plenitude 
 of her usual pleasant mode of greeting, holding 
 forth both hands. " To you, so full of kindliness of 
 heart and the satisfaction of good works, every day 
 should be a merry or at least, a happy one." 
 
 " No day happier than this, Miss Mabel," I said; 
 and again came the scarcely restrained impulse to 
 avow myself. How hard, indeed, to resist clasping 
 her in my arms, as there she stood, and not release 
 her until she had promised to be mine forever ! 
 "No day merrier than this, when I see you looking 
 so well and happy. And you have given me the 
 first opportunity to tender you the Christmas greet 
 ings. Should I not be thankful for that?" 
 
 " It is a very little thing, indeed," she said. "And 
 who so thankful as myself that I have so kind a 
 friend, and upon whom I may call at will, to share 
 the joy I hope to feel in this new Christmas-day ? 
 Sit down, dear Doctor; for perhaps Roper will give 
 us yet a little respite from the more formal duties of 
 the occasion, and I have something that perhaps I 
 should tell you." 
 
 " Proceed, Miss Mabel." And I seated myself on 
 the sofa at her side. 
 
 " It is first, to thank you yet again, for coming
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 281 
 
 so speedily and promptly at my poor invitation. 
 To-day, as you see, I am throwing aside open evidence 
 of past sorrow, and preparing once more to take my 
 place in the outer world. And could I do so with 
 greater satisfaction than in looking for the cheery 
 presence of my first, my best, almost my only 
 friend ? " 
 
 " Ah. Miss Mabel! " I could only say. 
 
 "And then again; to whom else could I look for 
 assistance perhaps advice in the great duty 
 thrown upon me to-day ? You know what that is, 
 Doctor Crawford ? You are aware what I must do 
 to-day ? " 
 
 "I think that is, I have heard 
 
 " Yes, I see you know something about it the 
 bottle. As you are aware, it was left by my grand 
 father to be opened in twenty-five years from his 
 death, by his heir and on Christmas-day. To-day is 
 the appointed time. Can you not realize that I must 
 feel some nervousness about it some desire not to 
 be alone, but to have the attending presence of a 
 near and valued friend; if not for assistance, at least 
 as witness of what may be found or may happen, so 
 as to avoid misconstruction through this gossiping 
 neighborhood around me ? " 
 
 " And yet, Miss Mabel, if there should be nothing 
 in the bottle, if the matter were merely a quaint 
 jest of your grandfather if it should turn out 
 that the bottle had since been opened through some 
 mistake " 
 
 " But that could not be, dear Doctor. It has been 
 kept under close lock and key until to-day. Only 
 24*
 
 282 PRIOR POLYCARP^S PORTRAIT. 
 
 this morning has it been taken out, in readiness for 
 opening, and been placed carefully aside in this 
 library, so as to run no danger of being mingled 
 with any other wines." 
 
 " Yes, yes, indeed, Miss Mabel. Yet if " 
 
 " And as to what may be in it, Doctor, I have 
 really very little expectation of the marvelous. 
 There are some who speak about new fortune to be 
 found ; and some, of life-giving secrets. I place little 
 faith in any such anticipations or vagaries as these. 
 There may, after all, be only wine. The most that 
 I can hope for, is some paper bestowing gift of little 
 value except as affection or association might give 
 it worth." 
 
 " Anything that might be offered to you, Miss 
 Mabel, surely would be of little value compared 
 with what is most worthy of you." 
 
 " Thanks, Doctor; but really, you are so compli 
 mentary this evening ! Ai e you always so, on 
 Christmas-day? Well, that is what I really think; 
 all the little that, at the most, I can hope for. But 
 now, shall I tell you what will insist upon coming 
 into my mind, in spite of all I can do to drive it 
 away ? It may seem very silly to you; but then you 
 must know that the Cuthberts always have been 
 silly upon that point. It is the Cuthbert vagary; 
 and we hold to it as tenaciously as some families 
 retain their alien or unpopular religion or politics." 
 
 " And what then " 
 
 "This, Doctor. You must not laugh at me; but 
 really it seems as though Prior Polycarp had some 
 thing to do with the my&tery of the bottle."
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 283 
 
 " And who " 
 
 " Not know about Prior Polycarp, the head of this 
 house when it was a religious institution ? And yet, 
 now that I think of it, I do not know that I have 
 ever spoken to you about him, and there are very 
 few other persons sufficiently interested in the history 
 of the place to be able to inform you. He was the 
 last Prior, bringing the annals of the Priory down 
 to the date of its breaking up in the time of Henry 
 Eighth. His portrait hangs in the dining room, 
 where you must often have seen it without thinking 
 to inquire who it was. Probably you took it for an 
 ancestor, in spite of the ecclesiastical costume and 
 the tonsured head. The picture is almost the sole 
 relic of the religious furniture of the place. He was 
 not an ancestor, of course, but yet might be called 
 a relative. When the Priory was confiscated, it 
 was sold to Sir Guy Cuthbert, my far off ancestor, 
 and he happened to be a brother of Prior Poly- 
 carp. This relationship was so far beneficial to 
 the monks, that they were not rudely turned out, but 
 were suffered to depart at their convenience, while a 
 few of the most infirm were allowed to inhabit the 
 cloisters until their death, the whole of the Priory 
 not being immediately altered for secular purposes. 
 Among these was naturally the Prior, who continued 
 to reside in the place as his brother s guest. As may 
 be imagined, this leniency made a more pleasant state 
 of feeling between the old and new possessors than 
 generally prevailed in these cases of dispossession ; 
 and certainly, the two brothers remained in perfect 
 accord and affection until their deaths, which
 
 284 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 happened within two weeks of each other. And 
 it must have been owing to this fact, that after 
 his decease Prior Polycarp continued to show his 
 good will towards the family." 
 
 " After his death, did you say ? " 
 
 "Yes. The matter, however singular, cannot be 
 doubted, there were so many instances of the fact. 
 I cannot mention half of them, indeed; but will try 
 to entertain you with a few. There was the incident 
 of the siege, in the time of Charles First, for example. 
 The besiegers had not yet invested the place, but 
 were stealing up towards it from a distance, hoping 
 to take it by surprise. Sir Geoffrey Cuthbert the 
 then owner was asleep, apprehending no evil. 
 Suddenly he was awakened by the tramp of foot 
 steps to and fro along the hall. Rising to ascertain 
 who was the disturber, he could see no one at all; 
 yet all the same the footsteps continued, even at his 
 very side, going off a few paces and then returning, 
 with evident desire to lead him to follow them. At 
 last he was moved to do so, and thereby was led 
 through the hall and up the stairway, and thence 
 out upon the roof, whence all at once he saw the 
 rebel forces stealing up at not more than half a mile 
 off. The small garrison was immediately called to 
 arms and posted properly, and so the surprise was 
 turned into a siege; and two weeks after, the King s 
 forces brought relief. And it was always thought by 
 us, Doctor, that it must have been the Prior who made 
 the mysterious footsteps, and for the purpose of 
 giving information to Sir Geoffrey." 
 
 " And then ? " I said, too much surprised at her
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 285 
 
 fixed belief in that family tradition to utter any com 
 ment, and preferring to lead the way to further 
 confidences. 
 
 "Yes; then there were other instances. There 
 was the case of Morton Cuthbert in the time of 
 George Second. He had been Sir Morton; but, in 
 some way that I could never understand he then lost 
 the title. He lost the estate too, for a while, and 
 probably at the same time and by the same process. 
 Afterwards he regained the property, but the title 
 was gone forever. For two years he was an exile ; 
 and during that time, the new owner he whom we 
 have always called the Pretender lived on the 
 place. At that time there was a belfry on the top 
 of the building, and in it, the bell that was wont to 
 call the monks to prayers and the refectory. When 
 they were dispossessed, the world had grown less 
 religious, and the bell was only used for the call to din 
 ner. It was a bell of very sweet and silvery tone, the 
 glory of the neighborhood. But when the new occu 
 pant first had it rung, it was at a great feast which 
 he gave to celebrate his accession, to the amaze 
 ment of all, the bell rang false, its pleasant tone was 
 gone, and a harsh rasping sound was in its place, 
 the note, indeed, of a cracked bell. It is said that 
 when a servitor climbed up to see what was the 
 matter, he saw old Prior Polycarp standing beside 
 the bell, and deadening the sound with his out 
 stretched hand. This might or might not have been 
 so.- It is certain, however, that the Prior must have 
 had something to do in the matter ; for when the 
 Cuthberts again came into possession, lo ! the bell
 
 286 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 rang true and distinct and silvery as before, so that 
 the country people were drawn hither in crowds to 
 listen closer to what seemed to them a miracle." 
 
 As may be imagined, I listened to all this in 
 astonishment. Mabel was not naturally a credulous 
 person. But, after all, how easy is it to be credulous 
 in matters reflecting honor or distinction upon family 
 history! And how readily we can cheat ourselves 
 into believing circumstances that seem to indicate 
 the protection and favoritism of higher influences 
 thrown around us ! For the moment I considered 
 whether, when Mabel became my wife, it would be 
 my duty to argue with her and convince her of her 
 superstition ; nor, indeed, could I quite make up my 
 mind whether it would be proper to do so, or whether 
 I had better let those stories about Prior Polycarp 
 remain uncontradicted, as phantasies that gave her 
 pleasure and could do her no harm. 
 
 " And therefore you see, dear Doctor Crawford, 
 how easily I can incline myself to believe that the 
 old Prior has something to do with this bottle, 
 thereby practicing some intervention in our affairs 
 and for our good." 
 
 "But you forget, Miss Mabel, that this bottle lias 
 not come down from the Middle Ages. It has been 
 merely reserved by your grandfather, and within 
 twenty-five years." 
 
 " That is all very true, dear Doctor. But may it 
 not be that the Prior, for certain purposes of his 
 own, had put it into the heart of my grand father, to 
 seal up and dedicate for a long life a bottle with 
 merely wine in it, or even an empty bottle, intend-
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 287 
 
 ing himself thereafter to make use of it as a reposi 
 tory for some important secret ? Even you cannot 
 certainly say that the bottle may not in the beginning 
 have contained merely wine and been afterwards 
 opened and some paper substituted." 
 
 " Xo, Miss Mabel ; certainly I cannot say that," 
 I rejoined, a little startled at her coincidence of 
 thought. " And if that is to say, if the bottle 
 was found to contain not a secret of the past, but 
 merely that is to say, something that you did not 
 suspect, would you would you be very angry ? " 
 
 "Why, how could I ever tell, Doctor Crawford, 
 until I saw what was in the paper, and knew whether 
 it \vas proper to be angry or not ? But it is little 
 use now speculating upon the matter, for here comes 
 Roper to summon us and we shall soon know all 
 about it." 
 
 Roper, indeed, at that moment appeared, dazzling 
 in white waist-coat, cravat and gloves, and threw 
 open the door leading into the dining room; and 
 offering my arm to Mabel, I escorted her from the 
 library. As has been said, the dining room also had 
 once formed a portion of the refectory, and much of 
 the heavy graining of the ceiling had been suffered 
 to remain. Like the library, there were rich hang 
 ings of Spanish leather, and in many respects the 
 style and furnishing of the two rooms were similar. 
 Where in the one stood bookcases, in the other were 
 great mahogany side-boards weighed down with rich 
 treasure of old family plate. There was, of course, 
 an ample display of other heavy plate, over which the 
 chandelier thickly set with wax candles shed a soft
 
 288 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 and pleasant gleam. Around the walls were a few 
 family portraits; among which I now observed, placed 
 so that it faced my allotted seat at table, the picture 
 of the Prior Poly car p. He seemed to be a pleasant 
 faced man, with rosy features and rather convivial 
 expression; and as we took our places, and the wax 
 candles slightly flared with the motion of our bodies, a 
 fitful gleam was cast upon the old man s countenance, 
 causing the smile to deepen and a certain roguish 
 twinkle to gleam in his eye, almost with the potency 
 of a wink, the whole effect of it, moreover, seeming 
 to be directed upon myself. It was a good omen, I 
 thought; the old Prior thus beaming acquaintance 
 upon me as though welcoming me into the family. 
 
 A pleasant apartment and a cozy little Christmas 
 party, indeed. There must have been occasions in 
 the olden times when the table had spread the full 
 length of the room, affording space for large family 
 festivities. Now, however, it had been shortened in 
 proportion to the requirements of merely Mabel and 
 myself ; so diminished, indeed, that, as we sat at 
 opposite ends, we could have touched hands across. 
 A very snug arrangement, in every respect; and, 
 except for the somewhat elaborate garniture of the 
 table in honor of the day, vastly suggestive of future 
 comfort. How probable was it, that Mabel and 
 myself were destined thus to sit in cozy contiguity 
 for all the future years! How suggestive was it all, 
 of our approaching domestic felicity ! 
 
 For a while there was little to be said. What 
 might be called the heavy work of dinner engaged 
 our attention, and the presence of Roper skirmishing
 
 PRIOR POLYCAKP S PORTRAIT. 289 
 
 around us in all that solemnity of state apparel was 
 not propitious for ease of conversation. But even 
 then, my thoughts ran freely ; and as I gazed at 
 the beaming smile upon Mabel s face and basked in 
 the sunshine of her sweet winning manner, I gave 
 fuller vent to my sanguine hopes and felt that 
 my happiness was all assured. And in this con 
 nection, I remember that it became a play of fancy 
 to watch the flickering of the candles upon the picture 
 of the Prior Polycarp and from the contraction or 
 expansion of his smile, to draw my auguries of 
 the future. At every pleasant expression from 
 Mabel I found myself looking up at the portrait 
 for -ghostly assent ; at each good wish uttered by 
 myself, I there sought kindly confirmation of my 
 hopes. Little did Roper know how, as he stood 
 magnificently beside the table and made the candles 
 flare higher or lower with his ceremonious flourishing 
 
 O ~ 
 
 of the silver covers, he widened or narrowed the 
 Prior s welcome and approbation of me, and thereby 
 alternately elated or depressed me. 
 
 At last the time arrived for Roper to put on the 
 dessert and take his departure; which he did with 
 a series of flourishes that wreathed the old Prior s 
 face with plenteous increase of smiles. Then Mabel 
 filled her own little wine glass and nodded to me. 
 Up to that minute, she had indulged in merely a sip; 
 though I had done much more, as indeed was ex 
 pected of me. For, as it was not known that I had 
 already finished a small bottle of port and I could 
 not confess the fact, it seemed not too exacting to 
 demand that I should do fair duty to the light 
 25
 
 290 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 sherry, claret and champagne that graced the border 
 of ray plate. It was a little too much for me, how 
 ever ; and I could feel my head buzzing and my 
 tongue becoming unloosed; the more so as the longer 
 1 looked at Mabel and watched the kindly play of 
 her expression in even the most commonplace 
 remark, the more assured I felt regarding her affec 
 tion for me, and the more exhilarated at my success 
 But sedulously I restrained all appearance of elation, 
 nor could any unwonted excess be at all detected, 
 unless from my increasing garrulousness and tend 
 ency to merry and trifling thought. 
 
 " Will you let me pledge you many a merry Christ 
 mas ? " Mabel said. " It is a day so full of joy 
 and hope that we must needs do more than merely 
 use it carelessly we must take solemn possession 
 of it with grave and dignified toasting of each 
 other." 
 
 " A day of hope, indeed, my dear Miss Mabel," I 
 responded, bowing towards her. " A day for every 
 good word and deed." 
 
 " For peace and comfort and forgiveness to all the 
 world, dear Doctor Crawford. I can say this truly to 
 yourself, as always first in the appropriate keeping 
 of it. For I know how, in your ministrations you 
 bring peace and comfort wherever you go." 
 
 "And the forgiveness. Miss Mabel?" 
 
 " Why as to that, Doctor, I know your kindness 
 of heart, as well as the favor in which you are held 
 by all men. What is there that you would have to 
 forgive ? " 
 
 "Everything and everybody, my dear Miss
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 291 
 
 Mabel." And with that, the wine mounting still 
 higher in my head, I broke away from the serious 
 strain in which we had begun, and wandered off 
 carelessly into spirit of idle jesting. " My landlady, 
 who in every way cruelly wrongs me, must be 
 forgiven ; and and there is my rival, the homceo- 
 pathic doctor. Shall I tell you what he did three 
 months ago ? " 
 
 " Yes, tell me, Doctor," she rejoined, a little 
 surprised at my new tone, and scarcely knowing how 
 far I meant what I said. 
 
 Then I told how that I had been in the apothecary s 
 shop, buying jalap ; and how that the homoeopathic 
 doctor being also there had said " give them a 
 bucketful of it, Doctor Crawford." How that I had 
 made no immediate reply to that fine irony, but had 
 afterwards remembered that I should have retorted, 
 " better that, than a millionth part of a grain in a 
 bucketful of water." How that thereafter I watched 
 the frhop to see when the homoeopathic doctor was 
 present, and on such occasions always went in and 
 purchased jalap in hopes that he would renew the 
 sarcasm, whereupon I should have been ready with 
 my retort. How that for want of such opportunity 
 I had been very angry at the homoeopathic doctor; 
 but now, at her request and instance would forgive 
 him. And how that she must properly appreciate 
 the fact, inasmuch as it was a great and unexampled 
 thing for an allopathic doctor to forgive a homoeo 
 pathic doctor within three months, for anything. 
 
 " And have you not also some little matters to 
 forgive, Miss Mabel ? "
 
 292 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 "I do not think I scarcely know " 
 
 " Not even the Vicar s wife ? " I asked. 
 
 And then I went on, in the same loose, rambling, 
 half serious way to tell her how I had heard of the 
 sarcasm of the Vicai % s wife, about Mabel s favorite 
 mission among the Hottentots. How that it was 
 unjust, inasmuch as the Vicar s wife was still more 
 urgent in a mission among the Afghans. How that 
 I had forgotten what the Vicar s wife had said ; but 
 that, whatever it was, there must have been some 
 where a good answer for it. How that I would have 
 her prepare a set of answers for any emergency, and 
 then lie in wait for the Vicar s wife and by cunningly 
 engrafted allusion to the Hottentot mission draw 
 forth an innuendo, and then at once let fly an arrow 
 from the collected quiver and annihilate the Vicar s 
 wife upon the spot. Who, having been annihilated, 
 could then, as a matter of course, be forgiven for 
 her former attack, and thereby the true purpose of 
 Christmas-day be fulfilled. 
 
 All this was very foolish, indeed, and I knew it at 
 the time; but I seemed to have no power, at the 
 instant, to stop myself. The wine was too far up in 
 my head for common sense to restrain me, and I 
 know not how far I might have run on, or into what 
 other foolish excesses of speech I might not have 
 been led, but for a glance at Mabel s face. The 
 old Prior, I may mention, appeared to frown at that 
 moment, but the glance at Mabel was enough for 
 me. There was a puzzled, uncertain expression, a 
 seeming doubt as to how far I spoke in jest or 
 earnest and whether it was all good fun to be
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 293 
 
 laughed at, or mere drivel of a vacant mind much 
 to be pitied. I knew that in a moment she would 
 be driven to the latter theory and feel grieved; and 
 at once, before it was too late, I arrested myself. 
 
 " But all this is foolishness, my dear Miss Mabel. 
 Forgive me for trying to make you laugh, when 
 perhaps you were wishing to speak seriously. You 
 were saying " 
 
 "Yes, Doctor," and now at last she smiled 
 pleasantly, being doubtless relieved to find that I 
 was not really becoming vacant of mind. "Not to 
 speak seriously, perhaps; and yet I would look upon 
 the day as given up to different kinds of forgive 
 nesses than for such poor slights as those of which 
 you now speak. Rather let it be dedicated to the 
 making up of great injuries, and the restoration of 
 family peace where it has been for a long period 
 injured. It seemed so singular so coincident with 
 my reflections upon the day, that only this morning 
 I should have received a certain letter written nearly 
 a month ago ! Do you remember one Captain 
 Stanleigh once of the Guards?" 
 
 "I think I do not I am sure, indeed " 
 
 "Possibly you do not, for it is long since he has 
 been at the Priory ; and when he was here, it was 
 for only a few days at a time. The truth is, he 
 always quarreled with my father to such an extent, 
 that, in the end, my father almost turned him out 
 of the house. And yet he did not mean to quarrel, 
 after all ; it was only his silly obstinacy." 
 
 " As how " 
 
 "In this way. Captain Stanleigh was our cousin; 
 25*
 
 294 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 but, though of our blood, always professed to dis 
 believe the story about Prior Polycarp befriending us 
 so mysteriously. He did not deny that such inter 
 ventions might happen ; for had not similar things 
 occurred in other old houses ? But Captain Stanleigh 
 had taken an idea that we were not in any degree of 
 kindred to the Prior; and therefore, why should we 
 be assisted by him ? It was not Sir Guy Cuthbert 
 the brother of the Prior who was our ancestor the 
 Captain insisted but one Mark Cuthbert from the 
 other side of England, a mere equerry of one of the 
 noble houses and no relation to the Prior. Upon this 
 point my father and Captain Stanleigh violently dis 
 puted, and I must confess that I took my father s 
 part; the whole point turning upon the question as 
 to whether, at that time, we were of noble blood, or 
 whether we had obtained the title afterwards and 
 by purchase. And the quarrel finally raged so vio 
 lently, that all intercourse was broken off between 
 us, and Captain Stanleigh went off to the West 
 Indies." 
 
 " Such family estrangements are always very sad," 
 I said. 
 
 "Are they not, Doctor Crawford ? But now comes 
 the better part of the story. This morning I have 
 received the letter about which I speak, in which 
 the Captain regrets the past, expresses himself with 
 great respect and affection for my father, acknowl 
 edges his own perversity and my father s correct 
 views about the Cuthbert descent, begs for a restora 
 tion of the family harmony, and promises me a speedy 
 visit."
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 295 
 
 " That is all as it should be," I said. 
 
 "Yes, Doctor; it is thepropei- thing, indeed. All 
 family reconciliations must naturally be pleasant. 
 In this case, there is one peculiar feature about it. 
 I must premise that, apart from a mere re-agreement 
 it might happen. I can tell it to you, Doctor, as 
 such an old friend the probability is, that, in this 
 reconciliation with Cousin Tom, with Captain 
 Stanleigh, I should say, there will come a renewal 
 of our engagement." 
 
 " Good Heavens ! " I cried within myself, and 
 falling back in my chair as if struck. "And my 
 proposal in that confounded bottle ! "
 
 LHAPTER 
 
 y 
 
 mist seemed to gather before my eyes, cold 
 chills to run through my frame in every 
 direction, a palsy to bind me hand and foot. It 
 was as though I had been stunned and pierced 
 and buffeted with every variety of sensation that 
 ever the human frame is subject to, and that the 
 misery of it lasted a full hour or so. Yet it could 
 have been for only a second or two, for when I 
 regained resolution enough to raise my face and gaze 
 around, I found that all things remained unaltered. 
 Mabel had not in the least noticed my agitation, 
 which could scarcely have been the case if it had 
 lasted for any considerable length of time. Indeed, 
 at that moment, her face was partially turned away, 
 watching for Roper, who, at touch of bell, was now 
 emerging from the next room. In his hand he held 
 the unlucky bottle, which at her direction, he placed 
 upon the table at her right hand, but so awkwardly 
 that it toppled over upon its side. 
 
 "Be careful, Roper." 
 
 "I thought, Miss, that it was heavier," he re 
 sponded, retiring slowly, and all the while eying the 
 bottle as though already mysteries were gathering 
 about it, in foreshadowing of some wonderful result. 
 
 " Certainly it feels lighter than it did," said Mabel, 
 gently weighing it in her hand. "And really, it has 
 less appearance of holding wine than once it had.
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 297 
 
 Actually, now that I try to look through it against 
 the light, there seems to be a folded paper in it. I 
 never noticed that before. Look for yourself, my 
 dear Doctor Crawford. Does it not also seem to 
 you 
 
 " Doubtless there is a paper in the bottle, Miss 
 Mabel. Which being so, is it safe for you to open 
 it now, or at all, indeed ? Better let me take 
 it away with me and have it opened in the presence 
 of your lawyer. It might contain some dreadful 
 family secret, which it would not be proper for you 
 to know, at least just now. We would thus spare 
 you the pain of it, if necessary; and afterwards, if 
 the proper time should ever come 
 
 " The proper time is now, Doctor Crawford," and 
 I noticed that she spoke with appearance of a little 
 pique. " There can be nothing about my family that 
 I should fear to know." 
 
 " But at least, my dear Miss Mabel, let me open 
 the bottle for you. These things sometimes fly apart 
 in the most unexpected manner; and if through any 
 misfortune, you should cut your fair fingers 
 
 For I thought that if I were to open the bottle, I 
 might affect to do so with great effort to overcome 
 resistance, requiring me at the least to rest it upon 
 the floor and under the shadow of the table cloth, 
 where unseen, I might succeed in plucking out my 
 miserable little note, and pretending that there had 
 been nothing inside after all, except a modicum of old 
 wine that must have evaporated through the cork. 
 But even in that scheme, fate seemed to work against 
 me.
 
 298 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 11 Thanks, my dear doctor. But you must remem 
 ber that the injunction of my grandfather was to the 
 effect that the bottle must be opened by the heir. 
 And after all, as you can see, I must have some apti 
 tude for such a business, since the corkscrew goes in 
 so very easily. Look, too," and here she gave a 
 pull, "how readily the cork comes out!" 
 
 It came out, indeed, and of course not at all to 
 my surprise, as easily as an almond from its shell. 
 And there sat Mabel, in some momentary admiration 
 at her own dexterity, with the bottle in one hand, 
 and the corkscrew and cork in the other. Looking 
 towards the bottle, I could see that my unhappy 
 offer had unrolled itself, and had projected one little 
 corner through the neck, as though eager to bring 
 on the dreadful crisis. What, now, was I to do? 
 To seize the bottle from her hand and fly with it 
 wildly from the house ? This seemed all that was 
 left for me; and alas, it was more than I dared 
 attempt. Meanwhile, Mabel laid down the cork- 
 Bcrew, placed the bottle before her upon the table and 
 tried to peep within. 
 
 "Yes, there is surely a paper here," she said; and 
 with graceful motion she pulled it out and tried to 
 spread it flat in front of her. "And see, dear Doc 
 tor! There is writing on the face of it, and on the 
 back, some mysterious symbols. That alone should 
 prove the antiquity of the paper, should it not.? 
 Were not such signs used in the Middle Ages ? 
 Come around to me, Doctor, and tell me what you 
 make of it all ! " 
 
 "Yes, in the Middle Ages and on Solomon s
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 299 
 
 sword and oh, Miss Mabel ! this becomes fright 
 ful. Better not read further, but throw the paper 
 into the fire upon the spot ! What should cabalistic 
 characters have to do with you, except for harm ? " 
 
 Even in that moment of my agitation, indeed, I 
 could scai cely repress a smile, so closely does the 
 influence of the grotesque sometimes envelope us. 
 For I saw, at once, that the cabalistic characters 
 were the mere beginning of a prescription that I had 
 once dotted down in my note-book and forgotten, 
 a line or two of technical contractions mingled with 
 the customary symbols for drachms and penny 
 weights. 
 
 "To burn it, Doctor! Why no, it would be fool 
 ish to do that; without, at least, first looking at the 
 other side. But see ! There seems, unfortunately, 
 to have been some remnants of wine left in the bot 
 tle, and the paper is all discolored. Scarcely a word 
 here and there remaining unobliterated. How care 
 less in the Prior not to have chosen a cleaner bottle 
 for his message! Can it all be lost, do you think? 
 Is there anything at all to be made out of it ? " 
 
 "We will see, my dear Miss Mabel," and hope 
 began to dawn within me, the hope of extrication 
 from my trouble. Yes, the carelessness with which 
 Roper had let the bottle roll over upon its side had 
 had this one good result for me, that the thin paper 
 had become here and there blotted with wine-stains, 
 so that only a few words remained decipherable. 
 " We will see, Miss Mabel; perhaps we can read a 
 little of it."
 
 300 PRIOR POLYCARP^S PORTRAIT. 
 
 She spread it upon the table, we bent our heads 
 closely over and she began. 
 
 "Yes, Doctor, a little; yet after all, only here 
 and there a word. Grant, consideration, gift, 
 appertains prior portrait record recital 
 qu it claim sign seal deliver That is all 
 of it that I can make out. What can it mean, Doc 
 tor Crawford?" 
 
 "It would seem, indeed, to refer to some import 
 ant legal document," I responded. " But where, 
 indeed, is the document to be found ? This paper 
 does not seem to tell that. May not the words 
 prior-portrait be the key that 
 
 "The very thing the very, very thing ! " cried 
 Mabel. "There has always been a tradition in the 
 family, of a recess behind the Prior s portrait, for 
 concealment of treasure, though no one has ever 
 believed enough in the matter to look for it. Let 
 us now search ! Oh, my dear Doctor ! How kind 
 you are; and how wise, too, to guess at once what 
 might have troubled me in vain ! Yes, let us search." 
 
 The smile of anticipation that wreathed her face 
 was possibly not half as radiant as the smile of relief 
 that now I wore. I felt, indeed, that, by a lucky 
 chance, I was saved. No further interpretation of 
 my miserable note would now be looked for; and 
 whether the old Prior were to have any thing con 
 cealed about him or not, was a matter of indifference 
 to me, as long as I was out of my difficulty. It was 
 with a light heart that now, first taking the paper 
 from Mabel s hand and, as if in abstraction, crumpling 
 it into my pocket, I jumped upon a chair and began
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 301 
 
 to fumble about the Prior s frame. It was with no 
 lighter heart, indeed, for nothing now could hap 
 pen to disturb me, but with unutterable astonish 
 ment that, after a minute of unguided wandering, 
 my fingers struck upon a concealed spring and the 
 old Prior slowly slid one side, and left a small cavity 
 disclosed behind him. As he rolled past the line of 
 the chandelier, new reflections fell glancing upon his 
 good natured face, and it seemed to me that he 
 smiled more broadly than ever before. It was with 
 a cry of delight that Mabel called to me to hand 
 down to her the parchment roll that lay inside, for 
 she knew at once what it must surely be. 
 
 "The old the original deed of the Priory!" she 
 exclaimed, hugging the dusty roll close to her breast. 
 " It has been lost for two generations, and no one 
 has thoiight that it would ever turn up again ! 
 Father so wished that it could be found, and he 
 would have been so glad to see this day! " 
 
 "Glad, indeed, Miss Mabel," I responded, perceiv 
 ing at once the value of the instrument. " For this 
 this gives you the victory in that terrible chancery 
 suit. The whole five hundred acres will at last 
 
 " What do I care about that, dear Doctor Craw 
 ford ? " So, in the inconsiderateness and insufficiency 
 of her spirit of calculation spoke this heedless young- 
 lady respecting a conveyance that, as it afterwards 
 turned out, assured to her the title to all those dis 
 puted acres, with a quarry, two mills and a tract of 
 valuable forest land. " What matters the old chan 
 cery suit, now ? Better than all else, can you not 
 see that this deed proves our title as coming not from 
 26
 
 302 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 Mark Cuthbert, the equerry, but from Sir Guy Cuth- 
 bert, the brother of the Prior ? Ah, what would 
 Cousin Tom now dare to say about it, if he were 
 here!" 
 
 "Pie would dare to say nothing about it at all, but 
 would be glad to let the whole matter drop, on the 
 original terms," said a quiet voice close behind us. 
 
 Turning, we saw a tall y.oung fellow standing just 
 inside the doorway, and leaning against its post. 
 He had stolen upon us unperceived, and was regard 
 ing us with a certain affectation of solemn stolidity, 
 his mouth drawn down and his hands clasped peni 
 tently before him ; but all the while unable to repress 
 the spirit of fun that gleamed in his bright hazel 
 eyes. I knew, of course, that this must be Cousin 
 Tom. 
 
 " Captain Stanleigh, I believe ? " said Mabel, 
 slightly inclining her head. "You must excuse me 
 if I am not altogether certain, it being so long 
 since " 
 
 " Yes ; Captain Stanleigh, at your service. You 
 must excuse me, as well, Miss Cuthbert, for coming 
 upon you so suddenly and unexpectedly. I arrived 
 only this morning, and took the train at once. The 
 anxiety to see old friends, yourself, I may say, 
 perhaps and Roper and and Prior Polycarp, 
 who, I hope, is still strong enough to take his nightly 
 promenades, though how he could ever make such a 
 lively tramping with those thin sandals of his has 
 always passed my compre " 
 
 " It would not need a very wide divergence from 
 the straight path, to pass your comprehension, Cap-
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 303 
 
 tain Stanleigh. But you forget that there is a 
 gentleman present who may not care about listening 
 to your foolishness. This is Doctor Crawford. 
 Doctor Crawford, this is my cousin, Mr. Thomas 
 Stanleigh." 
 
 " I am very happy to be able to meet Doctor 
 Crawford. I recognize the name as of one learned 
 in medicine and and all that, indeed. You are 
 giving me a great pleasure in making his acquaint 
 ance, Cousin Mabel." 
 
 " You must know that Doctor Crawford was one 
 of my father s oldest friends, Cousin Tom, and since 
 his death has been my best friend, as well. Indeed, 
 I do not know how I could ever have gotten along 
 without him, so kind and considerate has he been in 
 all his attentions, a second father to me, indeed." 
 
 " Nothing, certainly, could give me greater pleas 
 ure than to learn that Cousin Mabel has found a 
 friend so eminent for kindness and distinction 
 and so on. You need never fear, Mabel, that I shall 
 not always value the opportunity you have given 
 me to make such a pleasant acquaintance. Perhaps 
 Doctor Crawford being such a friend of the family 
 can tell me what I know you would not think to 
 mention, Mabel whether of late the Prior has 
 walked the passages with his dinner-bell over his 
 head, and is it possible that, after all, I have not 
 got it right, Mabel ? " 
 
 " You are as silly as ever, Tom. And you oblige 
 me to explain to Doctor Crawford that you are not 
 always so foolish. He has come a long distance, 
 Doctor, and must be very hungry, and it always goes
 
 304 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 
 
 to the brain and makes him flighty. It is a Stanleigh 
 peculiarity." 
 
 "Mabel is right, Doctor Crawford. I am not 
 always as silly. Leaving, therefore, all such talk 
 aside, let me in all seriousness thank you for your 
 uniform kindness to her. Be assured that her friends 
 always shall be mine, and that I will ever be glad to 
 meet them. I hope, therefore, that in future you 
 will not look upon me as a stranger, but will feel 
 that you have gained a new friend and admirer. 
 That must be so, Mabel; must it not? Doctor 
 Crawford shall always find a warm welcome with 
 us; shall he not?" 
 
 " Certainly, Tom. We could never feel happy if 
 we did not know that there was at least one person 
 who, at any time could be sure of a sincere greeting 
 at the Priory." 
 
 All this while I had been standing before them, 
 confused, embarrassed, but more than all else, filled 
 with astonishment. I had not sought to say a word, 
 could not, perhaps, if I had wanted to, have found 
 space to put in a remark among that running stream 
 of compliments, might not have been heedfully 
 listened to if I had done so, seeing that they cared 
 not to hear me speak, and that their conversation, 
 though ostensibly directed towards myself, was 
 practically meant for each other. In any other con 
 dition of mind than that of my prevailing self- 
 mortification, I might have felt amused at watching 
 how speedily the difficulties of those two young people 
 found solution. They had parted nearly two years 
 ago in quarrelsome spirit, they had met again with
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 305 
 
 affectation of ceremonious reserve which might 
 possibly, oue would have hoped, wear off in time. 
 And lo ! throughout all, the glad light of loving 
 welcome and heart yearning reconciliation had shone 
 unrestrained in each other s eyes; and in a minute, 
 almost unwittingly to themselves, the sorrow of the 
 past estrangement had been all forgotten and their 
 engagement been renewed. All this would have 
 amused me, indeed, but for my own sense of humilia 
 tion. How weakly had I allowed myself to encour 
 age hopes that I should have known must be baseless 
 and unreal ! How foolishly had I thought that 
 Mabel s frank, open welcomes at my approach could, 
 have been the outpouring of anything other than a 
 friendly spirit ! How sad and bitter to think that 
 in myself could have been such spirit of self-deceit, 
 as to dream that for me would ever shine forth that 
 light of love which glowed in every feature as now 
 she glanced stealthily upon the chosen one of her 
 heart beside her. 
 
 " The gig is here," interrupted Roper, as I stood 
 silent, thinking how best I might frame words of 
 response to all their kindly commendations. 
 
 "It is not time? Surely you will not leave us 
 yet ? " said Mabel. 
 
 The eyes as bright as ever with spirit of kindly 
 welcome, the hand extended as warmly in friend 
 ship as of old; and yet, somehow, I knew at last the 
 difference with which her eyes and hand would have 
 welcomed Cousin Tom. And I felt, moreover, that 
 however high her appreciation of me, she would not 
 be greatly displeased to have me go. 
 26*
 
 306 PRIOR POLYCARP^S PORTRAIT. 
 
 " Thanks, Miss Mabel," I therefore said. " You 
 are very kind; but a doctor s time is not all his own. 
 I have a patient yet to visit to-day, old Mrs. Rab- 
 bage, whose rheumatism. and therefore must tear 
 myself reluctantly away." 
 
 And with that I bowed myself out and left them 
 to themselves. I have said that as I look back upon 
 that scene after so many years, I can treat it philo 
 sophically, and can even smile. But it is not always 
 so, perhaps. Though I am now old and have long 
 surrendered thoughts and dreams of love for cer 
 tainty of fame and fortune, yet once in a while, on 
 Christmas-day, if I chance amid the evening festivi 
 ties, to hear the wind and snow outside, as on that 
 afternoon at the Priory, my memory will carry me 
 sadly back, and I will lift the curtain of my retro 
 spection and once again look upon that parting 
 ^cene. The open door, always flung back so cheerily 
 in my welcome, and now seeming to creak gruffly 
 upon its hinges in enforcing my departure, the 
 blackness of the night outside, ten-fold as dark and 
 forbidding as ever before, beneath the increasing 
 violence of the tempest blast, driving snow and 
 cutting cold wind, this is the outside picture. 
 Within, as the door closes behind me, one parting- 
 glimpse of an earthly paradise, a warm room 
 bright with cheerful coal lire and clustered wax 
 lights, not too sombre shadows mingling with the 
 prevailing brilliancy and by pleasant contrast, throw 
 ing out their suggestions of homelike peace and 
 comfort, the old Prior gazing down with abundant 
 wealth of smiling visage, no longer upon myself but
 
 PRIOR POLYCARP S PORTRAIT. 307 
 
 upon two persons who stand below him, silent, for 
 the moment, in the happiness of their reconciliation, 
 Tom with his arm already gliding around her waist 
 and Mabel with her hand lightly resting upon his 
 shoulder 
 
 " Why so pensive, Doctor ? " at this moment some 
 one laughingly asks. 
 
 Then I drop the curtain, with a forced smile, and 
 in a minute am myself again.
 
 ^&
 
 CHAPTER T, 
 
 .4.4 " 
 
 DO not exactly comprehend you," said the 
 Gnome. " That you, who can so easily 
 travel up and down the wide world and at your 
 own sweet will can see every thing good and pleasant 
 that is to be found therein should now " 
 
 " It may indeed be," interrupted St. Nicholas, 
 " that I am becoming morbid and prejudiced and 
 far from looking upon the matter in its right spirit. 
 That may all very well be so. And yet, so annoyed 
 and disappointed have I been with all the changes 
 and perversities of the last few years, that it seems 
 no more than natural for me " 
 
 "But still " objected the Gnome; and then he 
 paused. In fact, though he had his argument all 
 laid out in his own mind in shapely manner, he 
 scarcely knew how to present it properly for the 
 other s consideration. For as yet he knew little 
 about St. Nicholas real nature, or how most suitably 
 to appeal to it in matter of disputation. In truth, 
 they had been only a short while acquainted with 
 each other. After his usual custom at that season
 
 312 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 of the year, St. Nicholas had taken his team to the 
 extreme north, in order that it might invigorate itself 
 with a breath of its native air and gain new flesh and 
 strength by crunching the Arctic mosses. He had 
 encamped upon that sterile plain, across which only 
 glaciers seemed ever to have moved; and he must have 
 had quite a shepherdlike appearance, as he leaned 
 against a jagged slope of rock and watched his 
 reindeer at their browsing. When the little Gnome 
 had first popped his head out of the rock crevice 
 to note who might be the intruder, the Saint had 
 taken him for some wild animal, inasmuch as all 
 that in the beginning appeared, was a round, shaggy 
 head, with hooked nose and sharply pointed furry 
 ears. When the whole body had at length emerged 
 and stood upright, in its roughly built suit of fox 
 skin, the Saint had felt compelled to recognize him 
 as an intelligent being; but even then there had been 
 some hesitation between them as to who should make 
 the first advances toward acquaintance, so widely 
 different were their styles and so unexpected the 
 appearance of each one to the other. At last they had 
 spoken, drawn together by some common sympathy; 
 the Gnome being impelled toward St. Nicholas 
 oy attraction of rotund, pleasing jollity, and St. 
 Nicholas taking to the Gnome through a certain 
 winsome earnestness that spread itself across every 
 feature of the quaint little face. But for all thai 
 they were not as yet fully acquainted; and though 
 for a while they had talked together, there had not 
 been any such mutual exchange of confidences as 
 might lead to unembarrassed intercourse. Therefore
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 313 
 
 it was that the Gnome, now hesitatingly beginning 
 his remark stopped; and it was left to St. Nicholas 
 to take up and carry on the greater part of the 
 conversation. 
 
 " I understand all that you would say," he re 
 marked. " To you who keep so quiet and secluded " 
 " You may well affirm that," interrupted the Gnome; 
 " for I am scarcely out of my nook in the bowels of 
 the earth from one end of the year to the other. It 
 is a very large treasure I am obliged to guard. Gold 
 and silver ornaments for the arms and legs a silver 
 embossed shield and helmet a cup half filled with 
 diamonds pearl head-dresses gold vases and a 
 jewel-encrusted sceptre piles of ancient coin and 
 many other priceless articles besides gathered 
 together in distant ages and from diverse countries 
 and I know not by whom, yet all the same commit 
 ted to my watchful care. Well, go on." 
 
 " To you who keep so quiet and secluded," pur 
 sued St. Nicholas, " it must seem a strange thing that 
 I who can so freely use the light and sunshine and 
 the power of locomotion should not enjoy them 
 more. And, indeed, it was not always so. Years 
 ago, there was no gayer being on earth than myself, 
 and more abundantly than all other times did I take 
 pleasure in my Christmas Eve. It was so joyous, 
 in fact, to drive from house to house, leaving boun 
 tiful favors at each and making everybody happy 
 along my route. But now " 
 
 "Now ?" said the Gnome. 
 
 " Now, indeed," continued the Saint, " not only 
 does it seem that the world has altered and grown 
 27
 
 314 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME, 
 
 practical, making it harder work for me to satisfy 
 people and cause them to be even moderately happy, 
 but other things have been greatly changed, so that 
 my efforts are made at much increase of bodily 
 exertion and at times my pleasure becomes almost a 
 toil, my life as empty as a toy balloon." 
 
 " And how is that ? " the little Gnome inquired. 
 
 " Firstly, I may say," was the desponding answer, 
 " because of certain new and abominable styles of 
 architecture coming in, making it exceedingly diffi 
 cult for me to go my rounds as quickly as heretofore. 
 Narrow flues, you must know and little thin chim 
 neys meant only for furnace-pipes, themselves an 
 unwarrantable innovation and tin tops to cure the 
 smoke, as though the smoke were not needed in the 
 chimney to cure hams and altogether a variety of 
 new-fangled notions that may be valuable in their 
 own way, but all the same make it exceedingly incon 
 venient for me to slide down into the bed-rooms. 
 True, I might get in at doors and windows ; but who, 
 after all, would respect me, if I departed from ancient 
 customs ? " 
 
 "It might be I cannot tell how it would be 
 about that," said the Gnome. " And what else?" 
 
 "Then the tin and asphaltum roofs you can 
 scarcely conceive what an annoyance they have 
 already proved to my poor reindeer, who heretofore, 
 on the shingles or Dutch tiles, could generally calcu 
 late upon a little moss and even grass to nibble at, 
 while I made my visitations below. But now, with 
 the new fashion of things, they might easily starve 
 to death."
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND TEE GNOME. 315 
 
 " What more ? " asked the Gnome. 
 
 " There is a creature called Kriss Kringle who 
 aas begun infringing within my domains; and with 
 his pertinacious spirit of intrusion and with much 
 blowing of his miserable little trumpet in his own 
 praise, has succeeded, in many places in weaning 
 people from their respect for me and attracting them 
 into an allegiance to himself. He affects to despise 
 the old-time filling of stockings, and hangs his pre 
 tentious gifts upon pine trees, surrounded by short 
 candles which are liable at any moment to topple over 
 and set the whole thing in a blaze. Moreover, many 
 people are now beginning to confound us and to call 
 me Kriss Kringle; which, not being my name, is an 
 insult to my person." 
 
 " That is very bad," said the Gnome, " and more 
 than the other matters which perhaps do not amount 
 to much. I know very well that I should greatly 
 dislike to have a rival power coming into my terri 
 tory and insisting upon helping me keep watch over 
 my treasure. What further ? " 
 
 " This and to my mind it is the hardest thing 
 of all to bear. You would scarcely believe it, but 
 there are people who begin to imagine that I have 
 no real existence that I am a myth, a mere 
 abstraction, a creature of the fancy. Tell me now," 
 St. Nicholas exclaimed, in the earnestness of his 
 argument seizing the Gnome by the arm, " do you 
 think that it is a nice thing after driving about from 
 sunset to sunrise during the whole of a long winter 
 night, leaving goodly gifts in almost every stocking 
 and the children have learned to hang up pretty
 
 316 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 capacious stockings, too not to get a particle of 
 credit for it ? To have boys and girls grow up 
 thinking that they are very wise, and to begin dis 
 believing in me and allowing their fathers and 
 mothers all the merit for the gifts ? Yes, to have 
 those parents not only meanly take to themselves 
 the credit of all the presents, but even to pretend 
 that it has been so from the very first, arid that even 
 the pretty toys with which I had filled the stock 
 ings of four and six year old youngsters had been 
 the products of the paternal purse ? " 
 
 "It is not a nice thing, indeed; nay, it is very 
 bad," said the Gnome. 
 
 "And that," St. Nicholas continued " is why I feel 
 dispirited and disgusted with the world so barbar 
 ous are its new designs and practices, so bitter the 
 indifference, incredulity and ingratitude of men. 
 That is why I would retire from active labor 
 would even change places with yourself will per 
 haps, this night, for the first time in many centuries, 
 remain here in quietness and repose and altogether 
 abandon my Christmas rounds." 
 
 " Nay, I would not do that," responded the Gnome; 
 and he looked sadly upon St. Nicholas, pitying his 
 distress and wondering what could be done to relieve 
 it and bring about a happier frame of mind. The 
 dispirited air with which St. Nicholas bent over in 
 persistent gazing upon the snow-clad ground the 
 usually merry face now drawn out long and woebe 
 gone the jolly paunch seemingly shrunk almost to 
 concavity the clay pipe remaining twisted in the 
 hat band, its unused condition affording the beet
 
 318 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 duty not to be neglected in his long established 
 manner of life ; nay, he felt that were he now to 
 neglect it, the society of the Gnome, far from prov 
 ing a pleasure to him through the night, would be a 
 reproach. Therefore, he roused himself ; yet it was 
 with faint semblance of alacrity. There was that 
 repose in all nature around him that predisposed him 
 to lassitude. There was no breath of wind no 
 movement of the low pine tufts. The little white 
 reindeer were now asleep around his motionless 
 sleigh even the northern light that glowed over 
 the far away horizon was for the moment stilled ; 
 the spears of electric brightness that had shot half 
 downward from the overhanging arch remaining 
 with undeviating length, like celestial stalactites. 
 All things listless and quiescent; and he, of all, must 
 prepare to move away, departing upon an errand 
 that he had learned to hate and leaving a companion 
 whom he had begun to like. But a sudden thought 
 struck him. 
 
 " If I go to-night," he said to the Gnome, " will 
 you go with me ? " 
 
 "I?" responded the other in wild astonishment, 
 " you know I cannot leave home. I have ray trust to 
 perform. For many centuries have I guarded the 
 treasure and still must guard it. There is tradition 
 that some day a griffin will come to ravish it from 
 me, if possible ; and if I am not here to defend it 
 
 " For centuries you have been awaiting the grif 
 fin," said the saint, " and he has not come. For 
 centuries longer he may not come. I ask of you 
 only this night. I will not go alone upon my dole-
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 319 
 
 ful round through an ungrateful world. Accompany 
 me and I will go as usual. Is that too much to ask ? 
 You have sometimes wished for opportunity to see 
 the world; now the opportunity has come. What 
 say you ? " 
 
 " And will you bring me back to-morrow?" the 
 Gnome inquired. 
 
 "To-morrow, at dawn." 
 
 "And will no one see me, wherever I may go? 
 For I have heard that the people of the world are 
 different from myself; that they are larger and 
 whiter ; that they have softer faces and do not carry 
 these long pointed and furry ears ; that they are all 
 handsome, indeed, even as yourself, St. Nicholas. 
 I would not like to meet anybody who would hold 
 me up to scorn for my personal appearance, so 
 homely and uncouth beside your own; I, with my 
 shrunken body and you with that portly and so 
 gracefully carried paunch; I, with my hairy, 
 black skin and you with face so white, except where 
 for its crowning beauty and for proper contrast, it 
 is delicately touched off with tints of red in the 
 very centre. I would not like to have my feelings 
 thus hurt, " said the innocent little Gnome. 
 
 Saint Nicholas softly stroked his face, feeling 
 vastly gratified, inasmuch as he was awai e that the 
 Gnome meant it all. 
 
 " I am as I was created, that is all; " he modestly 
 replied. "We cannot take any credit to ourselves 
 for the way we are made. But as for yourself, being 
 with me, neither of us will be visible to any one 
 whom we may meet."
 
 320 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 " Then I will go with you," said the Gnome, hes 
 itatingly. It was with mingled gladness and fear 
 that he consented. He was pleased at the unlocked 
 for opportunity to see the world, yet he dreaded the 
 leaving behind him a neglected duty. But it would 
 be for only a night; after that he would return to 
 his watchful task in the bowels of the earth, there 
 to remain for centuries longer, perhaps, without see 
 ing a strange face. And it would be a comfort to 
 him then, to think over all that he had seen and 
 heard among the haunts of men.
 
 LH AFTER 
 
 -1VING the Gnome no time to retire from his 
 resolution, the Saint slung his pack upon 
 his back, then whistled to the reindeer, which, 
 awakening, fell methodically into their allotted 
 places before the sleigh. A moment more and St. 
 Nicholas and the Gnome were in the seat, snugly 
 tucked in with bears robes. The lash was lightly 
 applied, the reindeer spread out their hoofs, for 
 an instant passed along the ground, then lightly 
 skimmed its surface, then rose into the air, the 
 Gnome for a moment clung nervously to the side of 
 the sleigh, then released his hold as he felt that 
 there was no actual danger, and so the journey was 
 begun. 
 
 Across a frozen sea where the ice lay piled in hum 
 mocks almost mountain high, over a sterile land 
 whose only effort at creative labor was the great 
 glacier from whose mouth the ponderous icebergs 
 broke off and so drifted adown the ocean currents, 
 over other frozen seas and barren landscapes, with 
 here and there bleak mountain ranges and pine sur 
 rounded lakes set as icy jewels among inaccessible 
 steeps, coldly reflecting the moon from their motion 
 less surfaces, swiftly down to more temperate 
 climates where the rugged pine gave place to elm 
 and maple, but where all the same the breadth of the
 
 322 ST. NICHOLAS AND TEE GNOME. 
 
 whole land lay ice-bound and snow-covered, over 
 and along a beautiful river whose wintry fetters were 
 worn more lightly than had been seen further 
 north, so that, as the travelers journeyed along its 
 entire length, they could gaze down and see how 
 the thick ice at its source gradually grew thinner 
 and less hard and white, until at last when nearer 
 the mouth, the dark water broke through with here 
 and there a pleasant ripple and further along gath 
 ered strength and threw off the icy fetters and sent 
 them whirling away, grinding each other to frag 
 ments in impotent rage; so the swift route of St. 
 Nicholas and the Gnome carried them onward. At 
 last, it was near the mouth of the ever broadening 
 river, where the icy covering had all been thrown 
 off and the waves were dancing in celebration of 
 their deliverance, there appeared a throng of dis 
 tant lights, studding the darkness over many miles 
 in extent; to which the Saint animatingly pointed. 
 " See," he said, " the city, our destined field ! " 
 The Gnome gazed eagerly downward. He had 
 never seen the like before. Sometimes he had looked 
 up from his desert burrow and watched the stars 
 gleaming in the steel cold sky of that Arctic region 
 and had tried to number them. Like those stars, 
 these lights now under foot, seemed countless ; but 
 there was this difference. Those stood all calm and 
 motionless; these were mostly the same, yet of them 
 there were many that moved as with life some 
 glimmering in slow but not less perceptible passage 
 along the thoroughfares some swiftly darting 
 across the encircling waters of the city, and far
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 323 
 
 away, here and there, a single light appearing and 
 disappearing with regular sequence as it revolved 
 upon its tall base. 
 
 " We will descend," St. Nicholas said. " Mark 
 whither I am directing my course. I well know the 
 route, indeed. Between the steeple in front of us 
 below and the neighboring bell tower taking our 
 angles from them and thence drawing the line 
 to yonder illuminated clock so that we cannot 
 well go wrong. There, at least, is a place where we 
 shall not fail in welcome and appreciation." 
 
 " You know the house, then ? " remarked the 
 Gnome. 
 
 " As I know my own home," the other answered. 
 " A pleasant little house, set lovingly in the midst 
 of its own extended garden, only two stories high, 
 with tiled and moss grown roof and chimney so 
 capacious and redolent of well smoked bacon that it 
 is a luxury to descend. There have I visited for fifty 
 years past at times each year then again with 
 intermission of a year or two, as of late, indeed, 
 when failing to get around in time. Always finding 
 there a hearty welcome; the fire suffered to go out, 
 the hearth swept up, the very cat upon that night 
 remaining indoors and lingering around the fire-place 
 as though with prescience of something happening; 
 all things, indeed, seeming to be arranged with 
 expectation of my coming. We will descend, now, 
 gently as a feather, lighting upon the roof as softly 
 as a snow-flake; so making our anticipated visit to 
 the household, yet careful not to awaken it." 
 
 Now more tightly he drew the reins and guideo
 
 324 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 his team into a descent, gradually checking their 
 pace as they dropped down. Not regulating the 
 action aright toward the end, however, as it hap 
 pened; for, of a sudden, the descent was arrested by 
 a hard shock that set the reindeer capering in wild 
 confusion, half overturned the sleigh and sent the 
 Gnome and St. Nicholas out headlong upon a tinned 
 roof. 
 
 It was the roof of the celebrated Bon Ton Hotel, 
 finished two months before, unknown to St. Nicholas, 
 and with its ten stories stretching up so loftily, as 
 naturally to have caused mishap, by checking too 
 suddenly a descent adjusted for a lowlier building. 
 To make sufficient space for the hotel, the little two- 
 storied house had been swept away and the neat 
 garden all built in, as well. The new erection was 
 an object of especial and exceeding city pride and 
 the public papers spoke glowingly about it. After 
 their manner they described its six hundred windows, 
 its mile and a half of passages and its seventy-two 
 miles of lead pipe ; and when, in pursuit of further 
 statistics, they dilated upon the many thousand tiles 
 that made up the paving of the corridors, the popu 
 lar enthusiasm could not have been surpassed. 
 Nowhere was mention made of the building s size in 
 simple feet and inches; and this, perhaps, was conse 
 quently only known to the owner. But the impres 
 sion, from all other descriptions, was naturally as 
 of vast extent ; and with that the people felt obliged 
 to be content and admired accordingly. To St. 
 Nicholas, however, the substitution of this great 
 edifice for the little old house so consecrated to
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME 325 
 
 him by older recollections was no cause for con 
 gratulation. 
 
 " Was I not right," he said, scrambling up and 
 ruefully rubbing his short, fat legs, where the skin 
 had been taken off by the concussion, " in telling 
 you that I should not desire to come out to-night ? 
 Look, now, at this ! Where is the home at which I 
 visited for fifty years the boy whom I loved as he 
 grew up from the early beauty of childhood into a 
 strong man whom then I loved equally for his 
 noble, manly soul ? Where is the young girl whom, 
 year by year, I saw developing into new beauties of 
 heart and culture ? Gone ; and in their place this 
 human hive!" 
 
 " Be not dismayed at that," cried the Gnome 
 coming upon his feet with smiling countenance, 
 rubbing his bruises as well, but affecting to make 
 little of them. " Your friends you may see again 
 elsewhere who knows? Or, if not, then in this 
 human hive, as you call it, you may make other 
 friends," he added, a little too cheerily, perhaps. 
 For, having never been enough away from home to 
 note the difference between places, he had no con 
 ception of the power of association; and certainly, in 
 his obscurity, he had not learned how hai d it is to 
 make friends and ho\v wise it is, consequently, not 
 lightly to give them up when made. " Therefore, 
 try not to be downcast, but let us descend." 
 
 "And how?" demanded the Saint, disdainfully 
 pointing to the nearest chimney pots. " Through 
 there, indeed? Are such things worthy of one Avho 
 for centuries has accustomed himself to " 
 28
 
 326 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 " Through this, rather," responded the Gnome, 
 opening a capacious scuttle in the roof and thereby 
 disclosing a convenient ladder. It was wonderful, 
 indeed, in that moment of his chief s dejection, to 
 see with what capable energy the little Gnome took 
 the direction of things. " There is proper access to 
 the building why seek for chimneys as though 
 nothing else would do ? Come, follow me." 
 
 With that he bolted down into the scuttle-hole 
 not descending feet foremost in the ordinary fashion 
 of men, but plunging in head downward as he would 
 have gone into his own rock-crevice, rabbit-like, his 
 feet for a moment twinkling in the air and then his 
 whole body sliding out of sight. St. Nicholas fol 
 lowed somewhat sulkily. His first impulse was to 
 retire altogether from the hateful scene and return 
 at once to his own home. This, however, he could 
 not do without abandoning the Gnome, who, for the 
 time, was his guest and would have been in sore dis 
 tress if left alone among strange scenes. Therefore 
 he, also, after a moment, passed through the scuttle, 
 slowly clambering down in the usual method, and in 
 a minute the two explorers stood together at the foot 
 of the ladder. 
 
 Looking around, they found themselves in a long, 
 plain hall, with uncarpeted floor and white-washed 
 walls. Along each side were ranges of doors, mak 
 ing it evident that a number of small rooms opened 
 into the hall. At each end a single gas-bracket pro 
 jected from the wall, emitting a dim and somewhat 
 insufficient light. 
 
 " What next ? " muttered the Saint. He had not
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 327 
 
 recovered from his testiness, by any means, and now 
 spoke with some assumption of indifference. If the 
 Gnome were inclined to enter upon any experi 
 ments so the Saint seemed to imply let him do 
 so and take the consequences of resulting failure or 
 unpleasantness. As for himself, he would mutely 
 follow, but bear no part or liability in the matter. 
 
 " What now, indeed ? " cried the Gnome cheer 
 fully, still taking the direction of affairs. " Why, 
 surely, there must be people all around us. And 
 among them some who need your help and would 
 be grateful for your kindness. It matters not where 
 we begin ; shall we strike out at random ? " 
 
 With that, he pushed open one of the nearest 
 doors and entered, followed by St. Nicholas. The 
 two found themselves in a small, poorly furnished 
 room. Upon the bed and fast asleep lay a tall, slim 
 negro. His frizzled hair was broadly puffed out on 
 either side and his moustache carefully waxed. 
 These adoi nments seemed to have suffered no dis 
 composure in his sleep ; and it was evident that as a 
 soldier will slumber with his arms in his hands, in 
 like manner long practice had taught the negro to 
 maintain his chief physical charms undisturbed by 
 midnight tossings, in constant readiness for sudden 
 call of duty. Upon the wall hung a green velvet 
 coat, a yellow vest and pantaloons with chequer- 
 board figures many inches broad. Across two nails 
 lay a silver-headed cane; thrown over which, as a con 
 venient bracket, was a choice collection of purple 
 and orange colored cravats. It was evident, how 
 ever, that these adornments were all reserved for
 
 328 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 holiday seasons when duty did not interfere, for on 
 a neighboring chair lay spread out the costume ol 
 toil the badges of servitude in the shape of black 
 broadcloth coat and pantaloons. On an adjoining 
 table lay the sole mitigating elements of that sad 
 oppression, a linen shirt, short and somewhat 
 ragged, indeed, as to its hidden portions, but 
 gorgeous in front with broad display of stiffly 
 starched cambric frills. 
 
 " The Head Waiter," muttered the Saint ; at 
 once, from long practice enabled to determine 
 accurately the rank and occupation of the sleeper. 
 
 " And what, therefore, from our bounty shall we 
 give to him ? " the Gnome inquired, unconsciously 
 in his awakened interest identifying himself with 
 St. Nicholas anticipated liberality. 
 
 St. Nicholas shrugged his shoulders and grimly 
 smiled. It seemed scarcely worth while, indeed, 
 he thought to select for beneficiaries such lowly 
 objects as these. Yet, as for a moment he glanced 
 down, he saw that the Head Waiter was smiling 
 in his sleep, his face dilated widely with pleased 
 anticipation of the wearing of the green velvet coat. 
 Noticing this, the Saint relented. Surely it would 
 be cruel, indeed, not to add something to this happi 
 ness, since so easily it could be done. And being 
 so, it was a curious thing to observe, how as the 
 ripple of his accustomed pastime began to flow in 
 upon him, the soured air of discontent for a moment 
 faded away from St. Nicholas face. He even 
 smiled a little with something of his olden benefi 
 cence of aspect.
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 329 
 
 " I will at least lighten the servitude of his official 
 eostume," said the Saint. And with that he drew 
 from his pack a brilliant breastpin composed of 
 a single stone somewhat larger than a pea and 
 fastened it conspicuously upon the sleeper s finely 
 frilled shirt front. Though there was no light in 
 the room, excepting that which shone in from the 
 outer hall, the breastpin glittered in that reflected 
 ray like a planet. 
 
 " You are so wealthy !" said the Gnome, in open 
 mouthed astonishment. " In all the treasure I am 
 guarding, there is no diamond such as that." 
 
 " A California diamond, but sufficient for the 
 purpose," the Saint responded. Then seeing that 
 the Gnome did not comprehend, he was about to 
 explain the difference between the true and false. 
 But on second thought he paused. Why impart a 
 knowledge that in its possibilities might even make 
 the Gnome suspicious of his own treasure and 
 render him unhappy with cruel doubt of its real 
 value ? Therefore he refrained; and merely said, 
 resuming his surly tone : 
 
 " Well, have we now done ? Hardly is it worth 
 while, indeed " 
 
 " Nay, we have perhaps scarcely commenced," the 
 Gnome cheerily responded. " This may do very 
 well for a beginning. But there must somewhere be 
 others who are equally worthy of our bounty and 
 possibly may more closely attract our sympathies. 
 And here is another stairway. Let us descend and 
 Bee whither it may lead us." 
 
 28*
 
 LH AFTER 
 
 they began to descend, the Gnome blithely 
 leading the way and St. Nicholas moodily 
 following at a pace or two behind. First passing 
 down a steep, narrow and roughly finished stairway, 
 they found themselves at the bottom in a long hall 
 in all respects like that which they had just 
 abandoned, except that it was carpeted and bore 
 appearance of more perfect finish. Then came 
 another stairway, wider and comfortably matted, 
 and after that again a hall still better finished than 
 the one immediately before. So with progression 
 from one story to another; finding each stairway a 
 little wider and each hall more elaborately furnished 
 than the former one. It was like descending from 
 a bleak mountain top, wherein, almost imperceptibly, 
 the snows lessen and give place to dense pine forests 
 and these again to open groves of ash and maple and 
 fertile fields appear instead of the former desolation ; 
 so gradual and undeviating was the passage from the 
 unadorned life beneath the hotel roof to the esthetic 
 culture of the stories below. And at last when 
 nearly two-thirds down the Gnome arrested himself. 
 It seemed to him that now they must have descended 
 far enough to be assured of newer and more pleasant 
 association, and he pointed to a door over which 
 gleamed a light from within. 
 " Let us enter there," he said.
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 331 
 
 " As you will," St. Nicholas indifferently responded. 
 
 The Gnome touched the door, which slowly began 
 to swing back before him. Peeping in, preparatory 
 to entering, however, he saw a sight that troubled 
 him a little. A small symmetrical pine tree stood in 
 the center of the floor. Among its boughs, as the 
 basis of adornment, were pendant balls of colored 
 glass, amidst which were suspended a copious array 
 of gifts. Short wax candles blazed from every 
 branch and shed a pleasing and festive gleam upon 
 the other decorations. It was a very pretty scene, 
 and the Gnome would have liked to dwell longer 
 upon it. But resisting, he closed the door again 
 with hasty pull, fearing greatly the effect upon St. 
 Nicholas, should he, also, behold those evidences of 
 a rival visitant. 
 
 "What now?" cried the Saint, coining up just in 
 time to feel the door shut in his very face. 
 
 " There is no one there," the Gnome apologetically 
 answered. " But yonder is another room, also show 
 ing its light, outside. Let us enter there. We can 
 not always find apartments vacant." 
 
 It was with some perturbation that he made the 
 new suggestion. What if that other room, also, 
 had its Christmas tree ? What if in every room 
 these evidences of Kriss Kringle s more enterprising 
 handiwork had already been obtruded ? But the 
 essay must be made at every risk. And when they 
 had entered this new apartment, the Gnome was 
 relieved to find his apprehensions groundless. Nc 
 intruding pine-tree there. No occupant to the 
 room, indeed ; other than a little child, scarcely six
 
 332 ST. NICHOLAS AXD THE GNOME. 
 
 years old, coiled up in quiet sleep in the middle of a 
 large, sumptuously furnished bed, her tiny head and 
 arms scarcely visible at first sight among the frills 
 and laces of the downy pillows. 
 
 "The Pet of the House," said St. Nicholas, once 
 again with his practiced sagacity defining the lot 
 and station of the little sleeper. 
 
 Now the Pet of the House had that evening been 
 present at a juvenile fancy party given in the main 
 parlor of the hotel and she had begun her social life 
 bv being the acknowledged belle of that infant 
 
 / O ~ 
 
 assemblage. For three hours she had been Marie 
 Antoinette; and though, of course, not yet suf 
 ficiently versed in history to enter upon her part 
 with any knowledge or conception whatsoever of 
 the original, she was not deficient in some vague, 
 childlike comprehension of being looked upon as a 
 leading character among her many companions and 
 thereby entitled to more than ordinary share of 
 homage. This homage she had exacted and accepted 
 with an assumption of quiet self-sufficient serenity 
 and composure vastly gratifying to the taste of all 
 the mature spectators; and thereby, with that child 
 like and unreasoning acceptation of royal dignity, 
 mingling smiles and laughter with haughty con 
 descension, she had chanced, perhaps, to act her part 
 as fully to the life as if she had been of proper age 
 to study the character from the page of history. 
 Though her royal honors were now all laid aside, 
 the glory of them still hung around her. On a 
 chair beside the bed was spread out her embroidered 
 train, with its complement of rich gold thread and
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 333 
 
 laces; and on the nearest table rested the tiny 
 powdered wig that, with the child s flaxen curls 
 gathered up beneath it, had formed the head-dress of 
 the day. These relics of queen-like state had care 
 fully been so disposed that to the last moment 
 of wakefulness the child might continue to enjoy 
 them as evidences of past triumphs and might gaze 
 upon them again with the morning s earliest glow. 
 During the evening the Pet of the House had, of 
 course, been lavishly feasted, and cakes, ices and 
 macaroons, with here and there a stolen sip of 
 champagne, had been abundantly pressed upon her; 
 so that at the last it happened, very naturally, that 
 the attentions paid to the childlike Queen had 
 greatly disturbed the first slumbers of the Queen 
 become again a child. Hence, doubtless, the 
 presence of the paregoric beside the royal head 
 dress. Headaches and tossings for a time; these 
 had been the painful allotments of the little head 
 and limbs. But youth is strong and soon throws 
 off its unsatisfactory burdens, and for young tres 
 passers upon its laws nature is swift to prove both 
 kind and forgiving. Therefore it happened that 
 at the hour when St. Nicholas and the Gnome 
 entered, the headache had been subdued and the 
 tossings composed and the Pet of the House was 
 enjoying pleasant, undisturbed slumber. Yet as the 
 devastation of the tempest will sometimes remain 
 visible in the bright sunshine that follows, so, amid 
 the tranquil smiles and regular breathing that 
 marked the slumber of the little child, could be seen 
 the faint pouting of the lips and the single tear glitter-
 
 334 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 ing upon the rounded cheek. A tear upon one 
 cheek, the fellow tear to which had just been 
 brushed away by the chubby right hand that rested 
 upon the pillow close beside the seraph face and 
 remained half closed, as though retaining the cap 
 tured tear in its infantile grasp. 
 
 The Gnome looked on, wondering and speechless, 
 but filled with earnest thought. Were all the sons 
 and daughters of men as beautiful as this? Pie had 
 never before met with a young child seldom, 
 indeed, had he beheld a human creature. He had 
 seen the young of white bears, walruses and seals 
 and had thought them very pretty, after a degree; 
 but this child with its ribbons, laces and curly hair 
 and all those adornments that help make infancy 
 interesting seemed a thought more pretty than any 
 of them. What revelations of novelty and interest 
 were constantly being made before him ! And what 
 a scene of loveliness everywhere seemed this world 
 upon which he was for the first time entering ! 
 Again came the wonderment that St. Nicholas 
 should ever dream of treating it with despite or 
 should give up any opportunity of mingling with 
 and enjoying it. So thinking, he turned to look upon 
 him, expecting still to find the usual indications of 
 discomfiture and ill-humor. But to his surprise, he 
 saw that the face of the Saint had cast off its 
 morose aspect was clearing into sunshine like the 
 sky after a summei- s shower seemingly was taking 
 some reflection of his own admiring, grateful 
 thought. Noting this, the Gnome became vastly 
 cheered at heart and full of courage for any sugges-
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 335 
 
 tion ; and therefore, still identifying himself with 
 the other s liberality, as though in common owner 
 ship of the fund, he said: 
 
 "And what, from our store, shall we give this 
 one?" 
 
 "All things and every thing that a child can wish 
 for, " said St. Nicholas. " Do you not see, " he 
 added, pointing to the little stocking that hung 
 beside the fire-place, " that here is one that is faith 
 ful to me ? Do you not see how, even now, with 
 dreams of my coming, she lies with face turned this 
 way, so that at her first waking in the morning her 
 glance shall rest, not upon foolish adornments of the 
 past night but only upon my own good work in her 
 behalf? Let us to work, Gnome. For once, that 
 demon, Kriss Kringle shall not prevail. " 
 
 Perhaps St. Nicholas spoke severely. It is the 
 habit of a true saint, indeed, to look upon all rival 
 saints as demons. But his face was so bright and 
 cheery that the Gnome had no heart to make com 
 ment upon his words and stooping down he assisted 
 in selecting gifts from the already opened pack. 
 Punch and Judy gazing enraptured upon each other 
 out of the separate corners of the box tin kitchens 
 complete with stove and pans and hams hanging 
 upon the wall, not to speak of the black cook her 
 self with skirts tucked up, using her long-pronged 
 fork over the frying-pan full of painted fish a 
 curly sheep that bleated and a hairy cow that lowed 
 a narrow case filled to the very ends with black 
 minstrels, who, at the pulling of a string beat the 
 tamborine and thrummed the banjo and turned their
 
 336 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 white eyes from side to side in eager waiting for the 
 answer to the time-honored conundrum all these 
 and much besides were put into the tiny stocking or 
 attached to it outside. Nothing too good, indeed, 
 for the child that has not bowed the knee to Kriss 
 Kringle. Once St. Nicholas drew forth a box of 
 green and yellow candies and made as though he 
 would put that also by the stocking, but looking 
 around he chanced to see the paregoric upon the 
 table and he shook his head and restored the candies 
 to his pack. But instead thereof, lie produced a 
 beauteous doll with every gift and appliance of 
 modern ingenuity and design with gold embroid 
 ered shoes and silver dress, with drooping laces and 
 silver-threaded bodice and with its fair locks built 
 up into labored pile, more artistic and grand, even, 
 than those of Marie Antoinette a graceful doll, 
 with face flesh colored to the life and piquant in 
 expression as though a human soul actually lurked 
 behind a doll that could open and shut its eyes 
 and upon uplifting of the arms would speak. With 
 this he crowned the huge pile of gifts, then at last 
 buckled together his sadly shrunken pack and lifted 
 it again upon his shoulder. 
 
 " I begin now," he said, "to feel glad that I have 
 come. 1 
 
 " Is it so ? " cried the Gnome, for the moment a 
 little foolishly elated with the result of his experi 
 ment, as though to himself were all the credit. 
 " You see, then, that I was right. Perhaps if I knew 
 it, I am always right. Never after this deny that 1 
 am good for something. And always when in 
 trouble take a gnome^s advice."
 
 L RAFTER 
 
 ^ILENTLY, as fearing to disturb that infantile 
 slumber, St. Nicholas and the Gnome stole 
 out of the room. There was elation in each heart, 
 though from different cause. The Gnome continued 
 vastly pleased at the triumph which had attended 
 his advice; though, constrained by exceeding good 
 nature as well as by a little native tact, he forbore 
 any longer to express his thought, not knowing, 
 indeed, how far St. Nicholas might further listen to 
 it in moderation. On the other hand the Saint felt 
 his heart aglow with transports that it had not 
 known for many days. It was something, indeed, 
 to have prevailed over Kriss Kringle in the race for 
 human preference; this alone was a subject for deep 
 self-gratulation. But far more enjoyable than that 
 which after all was a selfish triumph at the best 
 was the knowledge that there was still an unseen 
 influence pervading the world in his favor, leading 
 to something like the old-fashioned allegiance, and 
 that the time was not past and might never entirely 
 depart, in which he could bestow his annual favom 
 and find them accepted and appreciated with the 
 accustomed gratitude and fervor. Yet he also main 
 tained silence, not knowing, perhaps, exactly how 
 to express his thoughts to the comprehension of the 
 other; and so the two wandered side by side down 
 29
 
 338 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 the broad passage. With a change, however; for 
 now St. Nicholas instead of lagging moodily behind, 
 kept even pace with the Gnome and again assumed 
 the direction of affairs. 
 
 Now down another flight of steps and still 
 another so anew from story to story the two 
 descended. And as in following yet further the 
 mountain slopes the traveler may leave the tem 
 perate zones and finally arrive at excess of tropical 
 vegetation in all its wild luxuriance and beauty, so 
 in their descent through the Bon Ton Hotel, St. 
 Nicholas and the Gnome continually reached new 
 developments of lavish and supei b adornment. 
 Rich carpets beneath the feet, deadening the sound 
 of heaviest footfall, bright fresco paintings in 
 arabesque upon the walls, the dim, half-turned 
 down light, gleaming from massive chandeliers, at 
 each end, mirrors covering the whole extent and 
 appearing to repeat the scene to indefinite endless 
 distance to all this the descent at last led. To 
 St. Nicholas such things were already familiar ; 
 but to the Gnome they presented all the zest of 
 novelty. Truly he had never beheld the like of 
 this; and for the instant he lamented that he should 
 ever be obliged to go back to his service in the 
 rocks. In a moment, however, he recovered him 
 self. Let the future take care of itself ; why should 
 he not enjoy the present, without the bitter ming 
 ling of useless repining? After all, was he not 
 better off than most gnomes, who, doubtless, never 
 had any opportunity to move away from their 
 ceaseless monotonous trusts ? Therefore, bracing
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 339 
 
 up his miud for unimpaired enjoyment of the 
 pleasant present, he threw back his head and 
 cheerfully strode down the corridor at St. Nicholas 
 side. Had it be en possible for any one passing 
 through at that hour of the night and meeting the 
 two strangers to penetrate the invisibility that 
 enveloped them, he would have been vastly amazed 
 at the spectacle. St. Nicholas, short and fat 
 seeming shorter and fatter than he really was, by 
 reason of his thick white furs and the broad basket 
 that he carried at his back, the Gnome so much 
 shorter still that he scarcely reached to his com 
 panion s shoulder and waddled as he strove to 
 bring his little thin legs up to the other s more 
 rapid pace, in figure thinner than the Saint, and 
 with his sable furs forming strong contrast with 
 him, keen and inquiring of expression, and alto 
 gether partaking of the grotesque, through the 
 unaccustomed combination of little bright, weasel- 
 like eyes, sharp nose and pointed furry ears ; 
 these two formed a couple never before seen in 
 hotel hall and who would have filled a stranger 
 with astonishment and awe. But they remained 
 unseen and plodded on for a moment silent and 
 uninterrupted. Once, only, the longings of the 
 Gnome found vent, as he considered whether he 
 might not mingle the pleasures of the world and 
 the requirements of his duty together. 
 
 " It is a novel and a beautiful world," he sighed. 
 " Could I only bring mv treasure here to guard" 
 
 / O v 
 
 " Could you do so," St. Nicholas interrupted, 
 " you would be obliged to maintain it in such
 
 340 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 unceasing conflict against the violence and craft of 
 men that the incursions of griffins would seem to 
 you merely child s play." 
 
 So the Gnome, for the moment, said no more, and 
 they passed onward through the midnight stillness. 
 Not altogether through perfect silence, perhaps. 
 There were two call-boys with ice-water quarrelling 
 in the main hall and threatening each other with 
 their pitchers. A group of chambermaids sat loudly 
 giggling, in the deep recess of an end window. The 
 office clerk came passing onward to his room with 
 stately tread. Three belated travellers with four 
 porters in the rear sat down upon their trunks in 
 the main hall to talk over their adventures, while a 
 waiter who had brought up the wrong keys went 
 back for the right ones. Two waiters bearing 
 material for a midnight supper noisily jostled their 
 laden trays together ; and mistakingly seeking 
 entrance to the wrong room brought forth uproar 
 ious expostulation from the unduly awakened 
 occupant. And a porter who had been keeping 
 Christmas eve a trifle too freely came stumbling 
 along with armful of boots, picking up new ones at 
 each door and unconsciously dropping old ones, blaz 
 ing his path thereby through the long hall, like 
 Hop o my Thumb with his crumbs through the 
 wilderness. With these trivial exceptions,-the main 
 hall of the Bon Ton Hotel was wrapped in tomblike 
 silence. 
 
 It is easy to get lost in the Bon Ton Hotel. Men 
 have been known to spend many hours endeavoring 
 to extricate themselves from the tangled maze of its
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 341 
 
 interminable passages. But by wisely following the 
 more direct corridors and keeping in those which 
 were broadest and noting their position by the line 
 of chandeliers, St. Nicholas and the Gnome escaped 
 all vexatious complications and succeeded in con 
 fining their route entirely to the more attractive 
 portion of the house. For a time they resisted all 
 temptations to stop, though they passed many doors 
 similar to the last and with appearance of lights 
 burning inside choosing rather to await some 
 subtle inspiration to direct them. At length the 
 inspiration appeared to come, for suddenly St. 
 Nicholas pointed to a door at the end of the hall, 
 not in the least differing from other doors along the 
 same range and said : 
 
 " Let us here enter." 
 
 " Do you know," said the Gnome, with a smile of 
 cheery assent, a little loth as yet to give up the scep 
 tre of direction, " that I was about to say the same 
 thing myself ? It seems to me, also, that here we 
 may find something to interest and entertain us. 
 Yes, let us enter." 
 
 With that St. Nicholas touched the door, which, 
 gently opening, admitted them. They found them 
 selves in an apartment so similar to that of the Pet 
 of the House that it might easily have been mistaken 
 Tor it, except for some alterations dictated by indi 
 vidual taste and thereby varying it from the cus 
 tomary pattern of the place. Though the hour was 
 now so far advanced, the occupant of the room had 
 not yet retired, but was sitting by the open grate 
 fire, seemingly buried in deep reflection. Evidently 
 29*
 
 342 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 her half-completed toilet for the night had been sus 
 pended by no ordinary interruption of thought, for 
 she remained motionless as a statue, her long, wavy 
 hair hanging loosely down her back, a shawl thrown 
 around her shoulders, her naked feet thrust into 
 embroidered slippers and lightly balanced upon the 
 fender, her arm raised from her knee to support her 
 face half concealed in the upturned palm. 
 
 "And what from our bounty shall we give her for 
 this new Christmas day ? " said the Gnome. 
 
 At the question, St. Nicholas approached her with 
 gentle step, and looked over her shoulder ; with 
 intent, perhaps, by a nearer view, to gain some ink 
 ling of her tastes. Then, for the first time, he saw 
 that she held in her hand a little miniature ; upon 
 which, as her gaze turned from the fire, she dwelt 
 fixedly, and, as it would seem, with tender interest. 
 At the Saint s first glance, his face already becoming 
 so cheery broke out into newer and more expansive 
 brightness, and with all the eagerness of sudden unan 
 ticipated delight he seized the Gnome by the hand. 
 
 "It is they!" cried St. Nicholas. "I have found 
 them at last." 
 
 "And who are they?" responded the Gnome. 
 " And they being found, whoever they are, what from 
 our store of bounty shall we" 
 
 " Can you not imagine, Gnome ? She, the daughter 
 of the house that stood here ; the house that I had 
 so longed to see and that has given place to this. 
 He, the lover, who two years ago was constant to 
 her and must be constant still. Coming daily, with 
 the favor and authority of all who had any claim
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 343 
 
 upon her ; seeing that, though poor in worldly goods, 
 he was gifted in heart and intellect. Even then I 
 foresaw that the friendship between the two would 
 ripen into betrothal ; and now that I view her with 
 his portrait in her hand, how can I believe other than 
 that it has so come about ? " 
 
 " It would seem so, indeed," answered the Gnome. 
 
 "A fine young fellow, indeed, with heart overflow 
 ing with love and with a brain that will some day 
 make him famous. As full of science as a Noah s ark is 
 full of animals. Why, he could dig down into your 
 cave, and from the very look of the rocks each side 
 could tell you how long it has been there, bow loug 
 it took to form. Nay, if your treasure had always 
 belonged there as a portion of nature s store and 
 had not been brought from elsewhere, he could tell 
 you from a long distance off just where it lies." 
 
 "A dangerous person to have around one, I should 
 think," said the startled Gnome. 
 
 "Further than that," St. Nicholas continued, " he 
 could look into some rock, created at a time when 
 griffins were more plentiful than now, and could pick 
 from the solid wall a talon here and a scale there, 
 and tell you for a certainty whether there were any 
 griffins yet alive or not." 
 
 " That were a better thing to do," said the Gnome. 
 And he wondered whether griffins might not be 
 really extinct, and whether, if so, the fact could be 
 known to science, and whether he might not then 
 leave the treasure unguarded, as no longer exposed to 
 evil influences and take up his abode in the bright 
 world of sunshine and enjoyment. "Yet if this
 
 344 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE G-NOME. 
 
 maiden loves him and is so much beloved," he added, 
 returning, like the sensible Gnome he was, to the 
 business in hand, "why is she unhappy? Why are 
 there tears upon her cheek ? " 
 
 " Tears ! Can it really be ?" exclaimed St. Nich 
 olas; and with that he moved around further toward 
 the young- girl s right hand, for as yet he had merely 
 been standing behind where he could only see her 
 face in partial relief. And now he noticed that the 
 tears actually stood in her eyes; and, as he gazed, one 
 transparent drop loosened from her long eye-lashes 
 and rolled down and breaking, spread over the face 
 of the miniature. She brushed it tenderly away 
 with her laced handkerchief ; then, for a moment, 
 laid the picture one side. A moment more of silent 
 contemplation of the fire, then she gathered up out 
 of her lap a small bundle of letters, all in the same 
 handwriting. These, one by one, she glanced over 
 rather than deliberately read. They seemed, indeed, 
 to need no careful reading, so familiar to her must 
 have been their contents. One of these perhaps 
 not better than the others but regarded merely as 
 type of all she placed aside to save, then made 
 a motion as though to lay the others on the fire. If 
 her purpose therein was destruction of the letters, 
 her heart failed her, for she withdrew her hand and 
 the letters again fell spread out in her lap. And 
 then, leaning back in the chair and covering her 
 whole face with her hands, she broke forth into more 
 undisguised weeping, the hot tears stealing between 
 her fingers and falling upon miniature and letters 
 alike.
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 345 
 
 " This is serious, indeed, " said the Saint, " and I 
 cannot pretend to comprehend it all at once. " He 
 stood aside ; and for a moment, with his finger beside 
 his nose reflected, then spoke again. " I cannot 
 believe that the lover has played her false ; there is 
 truth itself written in every feature truth and 
 unswerving constancy. Truly, I am at a loss for 
 the meaning of all this. " 
 
 "May it not be," said the Gnome, and he spoke 
 hesitatingly, as one whose experience was so limited 
 that it was scarcely worth while offering an opinion, 
 "may it not be listen now. I am very poor. Of 
 the treasure committed to my care, I own nothing ; 
 all I own is my fur suit and my lodging in the rock. 
 At times I crawl up and look at the stars and watch 
 the birds and the seals at their play, and this is all 
 my amusement. Yet I am content. My life is a 
 happy one, upon the whole, and I ask no more out 
 of it. But I have sometimes wondered what would 
 be in my mind if the treasure belonged to me. At 
 the first thought, indeed, it would seem that if I 
 were content with nothing, I could not be less than 
 content with much. And yet" 
 
 " Yet, you would say ?" 
 
 " It seems to me, on the other hand, that the very 
 incompleteness of the treasure, about which now I 
 care nothing, would then distress me ; and that 
 being thus rich I could not be happy unless I made 
 myself more so. I would desire that the gold vase 
 should have its double and that the copper cup that 
 holds the diamonds should be full to the brim; that 
 all the silver coin should be exchanged for gold ;
 
 346 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 that the jeweled sceptre should have its true accom 
 paniment of jeweled sword. I would be restless 
 and miserable beyond conception and would find 
 my contented nature changing unless I could fulfill 
 my whole desire. And, doubtless, if I had children 
 I would learn not to secure simple tastes or lives for 
 them ; but I would wish to mate them with other 
 gnomes, if such there be, whose wealth of treasure 
 might equal or even surpass my own." 
 
 "And then?" St. Nicholas demanded, seeing 
 that the other hesitated. 
 
 " Well, that is all, I think, excepting this, that 
 I would suggest from it. If man-nature is any 
 thing like gnome-nature, might it not have hap 
 pened that the man who was so amply contented 
 with his small house and garden, while he believed 
 it worth little, now that he has become rich should 
 have learned to nourish other and more brilliant 
 ambitions than heretofore? This, too, not merely 
 for himself but for his child, so that " 
 
 " I see it all," cried the saint. " Yes, it must be 
 so, indeed. There can be no doubt. Come now 
 with me. Since she is here, the others cannot be 
 far distant. The night wears on apace and we 
 have much still to do." 
 
 " And she," said the Gnome, " this favorite of 
 your true friendship, shall we leave her without 
 one gift to signify our presence ?" 
 
 " See, she sleeps," responded the saint. The 
 young girl still sat reclining in the cushioned chair, 
 but her hands had softly fallen from before her face 
 and now rested in her lap. Nature, for the time,
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 34 7 
 
 had conquered grief and her eyes were closed in 
 quiet slumber. There was no sign of sorrow or 
 turmoil now upon that tranquil face rather a 
 smile of sweet contentment; except that in the 
 flickering fire-light a single tear glittered like a 
 jewel upon one cheek and spoke of the trouble that 
 lately had been. " She is at rest ; I will give her 
 the choicest gift at my command a pleasant 
 dream a dream of coming reconciliation and 
 reunion." 
 
 He waved his hand lightly over her forehead, beam 
 ing the while gently upon her upturned face. At 
 once her smile became more intense and radiant, 
 her eyes half opening for the moment, not in wake- 
 fulness but rather from the inner straining of the 
 soul urging her to meet one coming to her with 
 equal love in his heart, her lips feebly murmured 
 words inarticulate, but doubtless words of welcome. 
 
 "Tell me this," cried the Gnome, scarcely pleased 
 at what he saw. " You are not deceiving her with a 
 dream of what may never be ? Xot giving her a 
 pleasant vision from which she must awaken to new 
 miseries rendered more burdensome by reason of 
 the one transient contrast of happiness? That were 
 a cruel thing, indeed, to do." 
 
 " Have no fear of that," said the Saint. " It 
 would be a wrong to her for which I could not for 
 give myself. If I bestow upon her the blessing of 
 a sweet dream, it is because I hope, through my 
 good management, to have it continued for her 
 increasing happiness, in her rewakening. Now let 
 us go."
 
 CHAPTER V, 
 
 tHEREFORE they turned away ; but not 
 through where they had entered. There 
 was another door at the side, and St. Nicholas 
 directed himself thither, rightly judging that it 
 must lead to other apartments of the family. 
 Passing through, they came at first into a large 
 parlor, and after that into another bedroom, in which 
 slept two persons. 
 
 Approaching the bed, the visitants gazed down 
 upon it. Two persons, as has been said, occupied 
 it, a man and a woman, both past the middle 
 period of life, though not as yet showing marks of 
 old age. To the woman there was a round, pleasant 
 face, well filled out with health and ruddy withal 
 the face of one whose life had been an easy one 
 from the beginning. Had poverty or distress been 
 its lot, at any period, for a series of years, it would 
 have left its traces in thinness or in care-engraved 
 wrinkles, or more than all these, in that worn, suffer 
 ing expi ession of anxiety which long battling with 
 the world scarcely ever fails to bring. Yet all the 
 same there was token of present sorrow upon that 
 face not far enough continued, indeed, to produce 
 permanent impress, but which, perhaps, might yet 
 have that result if unduly protracted. A thoughtful, 
 disturbed expression a sorrowful falling of the
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AXD THE GNOME. 349 
 
 lips wakefulness that could not be conquered nor 
 would yield to cairn philosophy a mute look of 
 despair in the wide-open eyes a turning toward 
 her companion with some sort of apprehension, as 
 though ill at ease in his society and constantly 
 dreading outbreak nay, that certain sad indication 
 of disturbance, a tear yet undried upon the cheek. 
 
 " Tears tears everywhere," St. Nicholas mut 
 tered. " Upon the cheek of infant, maiden and 
 mature age. This certainly should not be so upon 
 Christmas day." 
 
 Then he turned to look at the woman s companion. 
 A bluff, gruff, roughly cast man, at the first sight 
 seemingly one who was always ready to invite dis 
 sension, the sharp quills of his moral nature all stand 
 ing up on end, in alertness to meet attack. This 
 grim face, full of hard lines and angles as though it 
 had been carved out of thickly knotted wood, in any 
 condition of being might have seemed well calcu 
 lated to treat the world aggressively, riding it tyran 
 nically and remorselessly down and over ; now, in the 
 accessory adornment of a long cotton night-cap with 
 frayed tassel, it appeared almost appalling. And 
 yet, more closely examined, it was not naturally a 
 face to be afraid of, but rather under better circum 
 stances to love. There were finely, even delicately 
 cut features, lips that showed by their curve that 
 they could be trained to smile ; in fine, it was the 
 face of one who should attract rather than repel and 
 surely would have done so, if from long habit or 
 assumed system the better nature had not been over 
 come. Such as he was, the doubt and sorrow and 
 30
 
 350 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 nervous tremor of his wakeful wife gave him no dis 
 turbance, for his eyes were closed and his mouth 
 open and in common with the saints of the earth he 
 was sleeping the sleep of the just. 
 
 " How shall we manage him ? " said the Gnome, 
 thus somewhat varying his question. 
 
 " It may, perhaps, be a harder task than I had 
 anticipated," said St. Nicholas, after a moment of 
 silent inspection. " Yet hitherto I have not failed 
 in more desperate undertakings. If he would only 
 awaken " 
 
 " I will arrange that for you," cried the Gnome. 
 
 And stooping down, he ran the furred prickly point 
 of one of his ears into the right ear of the sleeper, 
 who thereupon, at the unusual tickling, jumped, 
 choked and sneezed and almost at once became 
 wide awake. 
 
 " What now ? " he gruffly said, turning towards 
 his wife, whom he naturally believed to be the person 
 who had disturbed him. 
 
 " I did not say any thing, " timidly she answered, 
 " except I would like to say it now, for it is long 
 past twelve, is it not ? Merry Christmas, dear. " 
 
 " Bah ! What is Christmas ? " he snapped back. 
 " Only a time when I must empty out my pockets 
 for people I don t care about, that is all. As for 
 the mischief of it, don t you know that the Board 
 is closed on Christmas day? Almost every day for 
 1 he last six months at the Stock Board I have made 
 nearly a thousand dollars, while to-day it will be not 
 a cent, of course. Suppose all the brokers are cut 
 off from like profits ; can t you figure up the gross
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 351 
 
 loss to the business community, by reason of closing 
 the Board for this one day ? A good, round sum, I 
 can tell you. And all for Christmas. " 
 
 "I don t know any thing about that ; of course, 
 you can tell best. But there was a time when you " 
 
 "Yes, before I knew any thing about the world; 
 I am wiser now. " 
 
 " We were so happy, then ;" she persisted. " Per 
 haps it is better not to become so wise, if it takes 
 away all the pleasure of it. You and I, dear, 
 and and our child ; and now she she is so 
 wretched and " 
 
 " Will get over it well enough, just as other girls 
 get over it. And I tell you what ; sending that 
 fellow off and letting her know that she must never 
 have any thing more to do with him is the best 
 move I ever made. What is he, after all, with his 
 foolish care for science ? If he could tell how best 
 to get a railroad through the mountains without too 
 much tunneling, indeed, it would be worth while. 
 But what is the good of learning about all the rocks 
 that lie five miles deep in Maine or Georgia ? Who 
 cares for them, indeed ? " 
 
 " And yet " - 
 
 " Yes, I know all that. We have enough for 
 both, you would say. But no one ever has enough ; 
 no one, no matter who he is, can ever have enough 
 of any thing for both of anybody else. Let the 
 young fellow give up his foolishness and come into 
 my office and learn to make a little money for him 
 self ; and then, perhaps, after a year or two, some 
 thing may be done. There, enough of that, now ;
 
 352 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 I don t want to hear another word about it, ever. 
 Are you ever going to let me go to sleep, old lady, 
 or ain t you ? " 
 
 With that he drew his night-cap a little closer 
 over his head as if for necessary protection from her 
 expected expostulations, turned upon his side, 
 opened his mouth with a preliminary snarl and in a 
 moment was once more fast asleep. 
 
 " Wake him up again, Gnome," said St. Nicholas. 
 
 The Gnome once more bent over and with the 
 furred tip of his long ear tickled the sleeper upon 
 the side of the face. Again the sleeper puffed and 
 sneezed and gave a violent start, this time leaping 
 into a sitting posture, and clapping his hand hastily 
 to the side of his face, gazed round at his wife. 
 
 " It wasn t she this time, anyhow," he said. " I 
 thought it was a fly ; but, of course, it could not be 
 a fly at this season of the year, either. Whatever 
 it was, its pretty certain I can t get asleep to-night. 
 I might as well read my letters, I suppose. " 
 
 Up to that moment the room had been only dimly 
 lighted, but now the old man reached forth his hand 
 and turned the light on at full blaze. Then he sought 
 for his spectacles upon the table beside him, put them 
 on and was ready for work. And with this intent, 
 he stretched forth to secure a package of letters that 
 lay upon the same table. But at the same instant, 
 St. Nicholas drew from his ever-ready pack two 
 folded papers and laid them on top of the pile of 
 letters. 
 
 " Let me see," said the old gentleman, lifting off 
 one of the papers and opening it. " From Gurgle
 
 Sr. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 353 
 
 & Wallopy, I suppose ; about the margin in Great 
 Western Why, bless my soul ! What s this ? " 
 
 Inclosed in the envelope, was the painting in minia 
 ture of a boy of about eight years old ; a beautiful 
 boy, with long flaxen locks and erect, lithe figure 
 and open, generous expression and undoubted manly 
 beai ing. 
 
 " It is your picture turned up again," said the wife. 
 " Though how " - 
 
 " That s the queer thing about it," he exclaimed. 
 " I supposed it had been lost years ago. Well, well ; 
 what a meek, milk-and-water looking young fellow 
 I was, to be sure ! " 
 
 " Not so, dear. A very pretty boy, indeed. So 
 they all said. Brave, manly and generous ; and in 
 all things " 
 
 " In all things better than I am now ? " he inter 
 rupted, turning upon her with some suspicion of her 
 trying to interweave an unpleasant, uncomplimentary 
 truth. 
 
 " I didn t say so, did I ? Of course, you must be 
 different now ; that is to be expected. Certainly a 
 man must be other than a boy. If you were only 
 now a little more trustful in kind fate somewhat 
 more ready to believe, as formerly, that there was a 
 good Providence over us Do you remember what 
 a queer little tot I was then, only two years younger 
 than you ? And how, even then, you used to call me 
 your little wife and say you meant to marry me some 
 day and that I should have a carriage and two 
 horses?" 
 
 "And I kept my word, didn t I, old lady? You 
 30*
 
 354 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 have the carriage and two horses, do you not?" he 
 responded, a certain flicker of good nature interweav 
 ing itself with his habitual grimness. 
 
 " Yes, we have it. Perhaps when it came, we took 
 it too much as matter of course, caring little about 
 it and having so many other things to make us 
 happy. Do you know, it seems to me that it is only 
 since we became rich that we have felt ourselves 
 anxious and in need ? Before we learned how valu 
 able were the old house and garden, there were no 
 more contented people than ourselves in all the world. 
 How little, then, we thought of money for itself, 
 rather than for what it might enable us to do for 
 others ! You were so cheerful and well pleased with 
 every piece of kind fortune, no matter how small. 
 And as for our child " 
 
 "There, there; I knew of course that you were 
 coming to it," interrupted the other, " she and he 
 always on your mind and scarcely ever out of your 
 mouth. Really, it cannot be you must know that 
 as well as I do. He lias nothing at all ; and as for 
 us, it is only lately that I have learned how much 
 more we ought to have to be as rich as we should be. 
 Trust a man for that. And go to sleep now it is 
 already near morning. Did you say Merry Christ 
 mas to me a while ago? Well, Merry Christmas 
 back again; and so, good night." 
 
 He said it with a sort of sullen snap, as though he 
 were not used to it and considered it a childish per 
 formance and went into it only to please her. Per 
 haps that was his thought. And yet as he spoke, 
 somehow a wrinkle or two smoothed out of his fore-
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 355 
 
 head and a trifle of more generous feeling seemed 
 apparent for the moment in his expression. He 
 sighed softly to himself, also, as he took the picture 
 again and gazed upon it before replacing it upon the 
 table. A milk-and-water young fellow ? Well, no, 
 not exactly that. There was really something nice 
 about that face he might admit it now, since lie 
 was so different that the admission could scarcely be 
 called personal praise. He could remember now, 
 very dimly, how as a boy, people seemed attracted 
 by him; now they appeared inclined rather to flee 
 away. This was because he had had to fight his 
 way, of course, and had not learned to make himself 
 too agreeable to most people. It was not natural, 
 indeed, that the grown man could ever remain 
 bright looking and simple hearted like the boy. 
 And whether it w r as pleasant or not to feel so 
 changed, it could not be helped and he must abide 
 by it. But again he sighed and for a few moments 
 he lay still, with his hands clasped behind his head, 
 in deep and somewhat disturbed train of thought. 
 
 "But this is not Gurgle & Wallopy s report," 
 he muttered at length, arousing himself. " Surely 
 their letter must be somewhere here." 
 
 Again he stretched forth his hand, lifted a paper, 
 opened it and uttered an exclamation of surprise: 
 
 "Another of those old pictures!" he cried out. 
 " I thought, wife, that they had all been lost." 
 
 " I thought, indeed, that this had been lost at our 
 moving," she said. "I am so glad it has turned up 
 again. It is the picture you gave me when first we 
 became engaged. Oh, how handsome it is ! "
 
 356 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 > 
 
 Very handsome, indeed ! The full length minia 
 ture of a young man of twenty, erect, pure-hearted, 
 confident of his future and full of manly impulses 
 and aspirations. The figure of the lad of eight 
 grown to man s estate, yet not having as yet lost his 
 identity ; the candor, generosity and purity of the 
 boy remaining intact and visible upon the likeness, 
 with the full strength, purpose and daring of man 
 hood superadded. As the woman now gazed tear 
 fully upon the picture, the husband also looked on ; 
 and, before he was aware of it, his accusing conscience 
 was aroused and forced him into self-betrayal. 
 
 " Surely I never looked as well as that ! " he said. 
 " So different from now." 
 
 " Yes, it was a likeness then, never any better," 
 she answered. " Do you remember when you gave 
 it to me? We were standing at the well in the 
 country; and you placed this in my hand and told 
 me that at last you had the place in the counting- 
 house and we could look forward to an assured 
 future if we were moderately prudent. It was not 
 much, indeed, that you had, and I had nothing at all ; 
 but how happy we were for many years, creeping 
 upward in the world and making the most of the 
 little we had ! We used to read together in those 
 days, and you wished that you could study more, 
 and regretted that necessity compelled such other 
 labors, and said that if ever you became rich and 
 our little girl " 
 
 " That young fellow, eh ? At it again, old lady ? " 
 he said, this time not unkindly. 
 
 " Yes, dear, all about him again. For you know
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 357 
 
 that he is worthy, and, but for the accident that he 
 is not rich, you would have nothing now to say 
 against him. You have already almost promised 
 him. True, there has been no word given, but 
 you have let him come again and again for two 
 years past and when away he has been allowed 
 to write and it has been all but a complete promise 
 between them. Turn him not away, now. If once 
 we could trust so firmly in our not certain future, 
 can you not put faith in .theirs, with honors of the 
 world so ready to be showered upon him, as well as 
 all the help we can give and not in the least miss it 
 from ourselves? You have been unkind to your 
 child this last day. Believe me, she will not soon 
 get over it. Is it so easy to recover from that kind 
 of blow ? Suppose, when you had given me your 
 picture, my father had said that you were not rich 
 enough; what would I have done?" 
 
 " You ? " responded the husband, essaying a laugh. 
 " Why, you would have come all right in a week and 
 forgotten me, I suppose. But I " " with a tremu 
 lous little cough, " I believe that I should have 
 broken my heart." 
 
 " Then do not let his poor heart or hers be broken 
 with the same cruel disappointment. I have been 
 at her side this night and she is sitting up in tears 
 and deep despair, refusing to be comforted. Could 
 you but see her, your resolve would surely melt, I 
 know. Dear husband, you have asked me what I 
 would choose for Christmas present. You have 
 offered any thing that wealth can furnish jewels 
 and dress or whatever else the soul could crave.
 
 358 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 Give me none of these, I care not for them. What 
 peace could they ever give me, with our child lying 
 broken hearted at my feet ? For sole Christmas 
 present, give me our child s happiness ! Let me go 
 to her this minute and tell her that when you spoke 
 unkindly to her you were in jest or in some trouble 
 of the moment and that you meant it not ! " 
 
 For a minute or two, he remained silent. One 
 might have thought that he had not been listening 
 to her. And yet, there was a gathering moisture in 
 his eyes and one by one the wrinkles still seemed 
 to smoothe themselves out of his rugged forehead. 
 In his right hand he yet held the portrait of himself 
 at twenty and while she spoke lie had been dreamily 
 gazing upon it. At the beginning, indeed, with the 
 same cold curiosity with which he had looked at it, 
 upon its first discovery ; then with gathering inter 
 est and something akin to an expression of mournful 
 regret. It had been rightly said, a moment past, 
 that the mature man cannot look altogether like the 
 boy ; and yet it is none the less true that if the man 
 be endowed with noble character, some of the 
 physical traits of the honest-hearted boy may 
 remain. Therefore, though that little portrait spoke 
 not of advanced age or darkening face or increasing 
 baldness of forehead or here and there a wrinkle, 
 yet in the older man there should still have been 
 something of resemblance to it, were it merely in 
 its pleasant, engaging look, winning eye and impress 
 of serenity and peace. 
 
 An hour ago, the face that rested upon the pillow 
 had borne little of such likeness, indeed. A hard, sterp
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 359 
 
 face, as has been intimated, repulsive and unsym 
 pathetic, fierce, aggressive and repugnant seeming 
 to bristle with offense and sordidness. But now, as 
 the man sat and listened to the pleadings of his wife 
 and gazed upon the picture in his hand that pic 
 ture of his better past life and felt how true would 
 be her reproaches were she unkind enough to make 
 them, felt, indeed, his own heart reproach him more 
 severely than she could ever be driven to do, felt 
 how little she would have had to plead with him for 
 any thing in the former days of confidence and love; 
 there came forgotten, crushed out sympathies of 
 soul, struggling to the surface. And with their new 
 expression, something of the purer and better man 
 crept into his face; and already it seemed as though, 
 with renewal of long lost tender graces, the hidden 
 likeness of his former self would be renewed. 
 
 " If I answer yes, old lady," he responded, affect 
 ing a jesting humor he did not feel, " will you then 
 say nothing more and let me sleep?" 
 
 "Ah, dear!" exclaimed the delighted woman, 
 " now I know that you are going to be kind again, 
 even as in the old times." 
 
 " Then go; and before you do so a merry, merry 
 Christmas to you ! And now, give rne your Christ 
 mas kiss." 
 
 For a moment they wrapped their arms about each 
 other these two old people with all the loving 
 fervor of their long past youth. 
 
 " Do you know," she said, releasing herself, " that 
 this seems more like the Christmas of our youth than 
 any thing that has happened since ? Can you remem-
 
 360 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE QNOIHE. 
 
 ber how, when children, we would awaken early to 
 see what St. Nicholas had brought us ? It was a 
 joyous time for us; and yet, if the value of what 
 could be given were the true test and measure of 
 joy, surely never was heart more lightened than 
 mine is now, at having that gift of our household 
 happiness placed within my keeping. It almost 
 seems as though St. Nicholas himself had come again 
 to guide our hearts and impulses right." 
 
 "True, it might seem so," he said with half a sigh; 
 " for certainly, old lady, something has come over 
 me to-night to make me yield more easily to you 
 than I should have thought possible. But after all, 
 the fancies of our youth must be left apart forever. 
 There is no St. Nicholas." 
 
 " No I suppose there is not there never can 
 be," she said, as in slow pondering, " the dreams of 
 childhood can never be restored. And yet, what 
 if childhood, in that respect, were wiser than age, 
 and there were actually truth in what we learn after 
 ward to call untrue ? What if there were really a 
 kind St. Nicholas standing invisibly beside us, guid 
 ing our thoughts into more noble channels than they 
 find throughout all the rest of the year teaching 
 us" 
 
 " Go to you are a foolish woman," he interrupted. 
 "And now, take up your gift of happiness, as you call 
 it, and bear it away to the other room, lest I repent 
 and recall it." 
 
 She smiled and kissed him once again; then sliding 
 from the bed, slipped through the door into the 
 other room to tell the joyful tidings awakening
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 361 
 
 thus the child from the pleasant dream that the Saint 
 had given, but leading her into a lasting reality of 
 happiness, whereof the dream truly had been merely 
 a transient shadow. And he, the husband, lying 
 back upon his pillow, no longer thought about his 
 stocks and bonds; but picturing out his other better 
 days, felt his face again become genial with youth 
 ful innocence and generosity and his heart glowing 
 with a serenity it had not known for months. The 
 portrait was once more growing very like, indeed.
 
 (CHAPTER 
 
 l\ AO/> ILL he keep his word ? " said the Gnome, 
 
 \iVm~^ 
 
 r^c) as he and St. Nicholas slowly left the 
 room. 
 
 " He will do so," responded the Saint. " Even 
 Avere he to repent of it, scarcely will he now depart 
 from his promise. That to him will be sacred, 
 even as a mercantile guaranty given in the outer 
 world. And now, what more can we do to-night?" 
 
 7 O 
 
 " Nothing, I should think," said the Gnome. 
 " Hardly could you hope for such another triumph 
 as that, to-night. And see ! the day is near at hand, 
 and we should now depart." 
 
 In fact, already there came a faint glow of dawn 
 stealing in at the end window of the hall, confusing 
 all the light and making the artificial brightness 
 within grow dim. Then came a servant along the 
 hall, putting out each gas-jet, so that the light of 
 day seemed to pour in from the end window with 
 stronger power, and having it all its own way, made 
 every thing almost as bright as before and constantly 
 brighter still. Then from all sides began to gather 
 the hum of people awakening from their slumber, 
 and here and there the not always deadened footfall 
 of more early riser. A waiter tripped along with 
 call-book in his hand, looking for No. 85; which 
 being found, he rapped loudly at the door and sum-
 
 $? . NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 363 
 
 moned 85 to arise and take the early train. No. 85 
 remaining asleep or willfully obstinate, the waiter 
 rapped the louder, greatly disturbing all the neigh 
 borhood ; whereat, No. 87, alongside, cried out in 
 wrath, and No. 86, opposite, appeared and assisted 
 in the loud expostulation. The waiter, taking it not 
 kindly but rather as an infringement on his vested 
 right to make a noise, answered profanely; upon 
 which, other doors on all sides were thrown open, 
 and Christmas being a day devoted to frolic, the 
 several occupants of the rooms took up the matter 
 in exceedingly lively spirit of jest and overwhelmed 
 the waiter with bitter sarcasms and threatened fell 
 showers of boots, causing him to swear the louder. 
 Just then, a porter coming down the nearest flight 
 of steps with heavy trunk upon his shoulder, turned 
 around to watch the contest, and doing so, swept 
 off the glasses from the nearest chandelier ; whereat 
 he grew afraid and nervous and his foot slipping he 
 and the trunk rolled down stairs together. Upon 
 this, a bevy of chambermaids hearing the noise 
 gathered above to see what might be the matter ; 
 and one of them leaning too far forward lost her 
 balance and tumbled over the banisters onto the floor 
 below. Whom, then, a crowd of waiters at once 
 surrounded ; and finding her somewhat bruised, sat 
 her upon the gong and carried her off to her own 
 room. In fact, it became evident that this portion of 
 the Bon Ton Hotel was being pretty well awakened. 
 " Yes, it must surely be time for us to go," mur 
 mured the Gnome, a little frightened and thinking 
 for the moment that though the world was very
 
 364 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 beautiful it was perhaps unduly noisy. " But let us 
 step in here and wait until the tumult all is past." 
 
 He pointed to an opening beside the hall a little 
 space scarcely six feet across, adorned from top to 
 bottom with carved and polished wood of different 
 colors and upon each of the four sides a plate glass 
 mirror. In the centre was swung a brazen chan 
 delier with cut glass shades. There were no chairs, 
 but merely a cushioned seat that ran around the little 
 recess, close against its wall. Into this recess St. 
 Nicholas and the Gnome retreated, to tarry until the 
 passing by of the group of waiters with the bruised 
 chambermaid. But scarcely had this happened when 
 there came a sudden new wonder. For from the fur 
 ther end of the hall, slowly approaching and visible 
 only to St. Nicholas and the Gnome, there appeared 
 a single figure. Taller than St. Nicholas and not as 
 stout with dark fur coat brought partially over 
 the face with deep hood not so closely though, but 
 that it let a grave saturnine face be seen, half covered 
 with long gray beard. Over one shoulder a small 
 pine tree and in one hand a heavy bunch of colored 
 candles. A well-filled pack, also, strapped upon the 
 back ; but seeming somewhat, in its make up, unlike 
 the pack belonging to St. Nicholas. Here and there a 
 doll or a colored toy, indeed; but for the most part 
 books and portfolios and whatever might be consid 
 ered most useful. 
 
 The Gnome almost groaned aloud. Recognizing 
 Kriss Kringle, he feared disturbance between him 
 and St. Nicholas upon their meeting. It must neces 
 sarily happen, indeed, that when these two beings
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 865 
 
 went upon their several rounds, the time would at 
 last arrive wherein they would have encountered. 
 Now that it had come about, who should answer for 
 the consequences ? But St. Nicholas, when he saw 
 his rival, merely smiled watched him composedly 
 and unruffled as he slowly stalked past, seeming not 
 to observe the lookers on and finally disappeared 
 with his pine tree through a doorway at the other 
 end of the long hall; nor all that while did the Saint 
 lose one line or curve of his own now pleasant 
 expression. 
 
 " An hour ago," he said, " I would have been very 
 angry at meeting him. But now I know full well 
 that there are enough to satisfy all my desires and 
 aspirations among such as love me and cannot be 
 turned aside from me. Kriss Kringle can never be 
 to people what I am. Who ever heard of him a gen 
 eration ago ? But now there are old men who knew 
 and waited for me in their boyhood. What can he 
 do but strive to conciliate with his gifts ? But I, 
 standing beside old friends who have fallen from 
 their once generous faith, can touch their souls with 
 sparks of their olden sympathy and surely guide 
 them back to the better and holier nature of their 
 youth. His gifts are calculating and soulless 
 looked forward to as the mere reward of months 
 of endeavor, rewards, indeed, not spontaneous 
 benefits ; my offerings fall like Heaven s sunshine 
 upon both the wicked and the good, not as pay 
 ment for any past services, but as happy acknowl 
 edgments of a bright and pleasant season that all 
 should alike enjoy. And who is he, after all?" the 
 31*
 
 366 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 Saint added, in vein of earthly pride. " He comes 
 we know not whence, and goes we know not where. 
 When he is through his labors, he fades away or 
 departs on foot, while I We will return, Gnome, 
 to our sleigh and six." 
 
 With that they attempted to step forth from the 
 little recess, but before they could do so, it began 
 slowly to ascend, passing through an aperture in the 
 ceiling above. At first sight, the whole building 
 seemed sinking down from around it ; and the two 
 occupants sat tightly holding themselves upon the 
 seat, and gazing about in evident uneasiness. Nor 
 was it until they had passed upward for a long space 
 that they solved the mystery and regained com 
 posure. 
 
 " It is certainly a very pleasant method of ascent 
 far more so than a chimney, I should judge," the 
 Gnome remarked. " How many novelties I am see 
 ing this night, to be sure! " 
 
 Thus, almost noiselessly, they ascended, story after 
 story seeming to fly downward past them and at last 
 they stopped. A wire door, which had closed of itself 
 in front, again opened in the same manner and the 
 Saint and the Gnome stepped forth. Looking around, 
 they found themselves once more in the plain uncar- 
 peted hall beneath the roof. Could there be any 
 doubt about the matter, the open scuttle from which 
 they had so boldly descended would have reassured 
 them. From one of the rooms came quick sounds of 
 mingled thumps and scraping; it was the Head Waiter 
 executing an extemporized double-shuffle in cele 
 bration of the just discovered California breast-pin.
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 367 
 
 Not stopping now to add any congratulations of their 
 own, St. Nicholas and the Gnome passed by, climbed 
 up the scuttle ladder and so at last stood again upon 
 the roof. 
 
 The little sleigh was safe where they had left it 
 and the reindeer lay dozing and blinking in front of 
 it. So motionless had they rested that an inch of 
 snow that had fallen during the night lay as yet 
 unshaken from their sleek hides. The snow squall 
 had passed over and the sky was clear again. Red 
 now in the east with the rosy dawn in every 
 direction brightening with the coming of the new 
 Christmas Day. Down in the city streets the lights 
 were all extinguished and already the movement of 
 population began to be plainly visible. Far out in 
 the distance still glowed the revolving light-house 
 beacon but it was paling before the coming day and 
 its gleaming gold was turned to silver lustre. A 
 few stars still shining in the sky, but soon to be 
 extinguished white caps upon the river and bay 
 below a long black steamer puffing in from distant 
 port the further hills beginning to grow brighter 
 against the increasing blueness of the horizon 
 truly, as the Gnome now again exclaimed, it was a 
 beautiful world and he longed greatly to remain 
 in it, 
 
 " And why not then remain ?" inquired the Saint. 
 " What can there be, indeed, to hinder?" 
 
 " Nay, I cannot tell," said the Gnome, " except 
 that I seem to have some duty belonging to me 
 where now I abide and it must be right that I 
 should perform it to the end. When or where I
 
 368 ST. NICHOLAS ANT> THE GNOME. 
 
 was born or whether I was ever born at all and 
 have not always existed, I cannot tell. I only know 
 that for more centuries than I can remember I have 
 lived in the dark bowels of the earth guarding that 
 treasure. Who committed it to my charge or for 
 what purpose whether I shall always guard it, or 
 whether some time it will come into a destined 
 use, whether the griffin will one day try to steal it 
 from me or whether griffins are really extinct all 
 this I cannot tell. It is enough for me to know 
 that I have been placed in charge for some good 
 purpose and in some spirit of needful trust and that 
 there it is my duty to remain." 
 
 "You teach me a lesson, Gnome," St. Nicholas 
 cried, " and it must be far from me to reject it. If 
 you, in your life of silence, darkness and monotony 
 do not repine, why then should I, whose life is one 
 of moving to and fro among the beatitiful scenes of 
 this upper world ? If you, who know not the 
 reason for your task, remain content, why should 
 not I who recognize the value and purpose of my 
 duty, seeing how it is to make others happy, feeling 
 so well that in doing this I cannot fail to add 
 to my own pleasure as well ? Nay, I am offended 
 with myself that ever I let myself be downcast or 
 troubled with my lot. Never again shall voice 
 of undue complaint or despairing thought come into 
 utterance through me." 
 
 Saying this, he looked once more so well pleased 
 and happy so thoroughly again did the olden 
 expression of jovial serenity and peace diffuse itself 
 upon his face so cheerily did he take from his hat-
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 369 
 
 band his long neglected pipe and send forth upon 
 the morning air the fragrant incense of his content 
 and thankfulness, that the little Gnome felt impelled 
 to clap his hands with spontaneous outbreak of 
 admiration. 
 
 " And forget not, furthermore, to think of this," 
 said the Gnome, " that if I, who am so small and 
 thin and dark, can forbear repining at my unloveli- 
 ness, how much more easily should not you, so hand 
 some in your plumpness, so beautifully tinted in the 
 very center of your features, so graceful in all " 
 
 " Let us now go, " the Saint interrupted, perhaps 
 not altogether as well pleased with the ingenuous 
 compliment to his personal appearance as he might 
 have been had it come from some one of more 
 enlarged experience and observation. " See, 
 already the sun is close at hand and we should no 
 longer tarry. " 
 
 He pointed towards the east, where now the clouds 
 that had hung about the horizon were brightening 
 in the radiance of the coming orb. Like courtiers 
 left deserted and clustering in subdued and mourn 
 ful raiment outside the king s gate, the clouds had 
 rested through the night upon the distant hills in 
 darksome tints. Now the king was coming forth ; 
 and they put on again their festive robes of gold 
 and purple and with the freshening breeze, sailed 
 away in joyous brightness to herald among all lands 
 his majesty s approach. 
 
 Feeling the tightened rein, the little reindeer now 
 scrambled up from the roof, shook off the light 
 coating of snow, spread out their tiny hoofs and
 
 370 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GNOME. 
 
 sprang merrily into the air, upon their homeward 
 route. Rising thus invisible to men below; though, 
 perchance if human ears had been held attentive 
 and alert, the pleasant tinkle of the sleigh-bells 
 might for an instant have been heard. For a moment 
 only, however ; so rapidly did the sound grow faint 
 and then become altogether lost in the increasing 
 distance, so speedily was the joyous tinkle over 
 powered by more sonorous clashing. 
 
 For at that instant the Sun appeared, lifted in regal 
 state above the horizon, with thick battalions of spears 
 of golden light advanced before him. And as though 
 his coming were the expected signal, lo! there was 
 heard at once the clanging peal of many bells from 
 the great city below rising at first far off in single 
 note of praise, then taken up hither and thither in 
 harmonious concord chime answering to chime and 
 tower to tower all in pleasant unison of joy ring 
 ing down their sweet salutation to mankind below. 
 To the poor menial, who listening to that glad 
 acclaim, the meaning of which he could scarcely half 
 comprehend, yet felt his uncultured soul stirred with 
 something of the true spirit of the day and thence 
 forth moved with unwonted alacrity upon his cease 
 less round of toil. To the rosy child, which aroused 
 from its visionless sleep by the joyous peal, sprang at 
 once into laughing and exultant wakcfulness and 
 hastened to possess itself of the various treasures 
 the good Saint had left behind him hurrying 
 with rapid feet, lest the bright array might 
 prove an unsubstantial vision and vanish before 
 attainment, dreaming not in its innocence that so
 
 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE GKOME. 371 
 
 far from being a chimera this was one of those happy 
 moments that would remain a gilded memory 
 through life. To the lovelorn maiden, who now 
 with quieted heart could dreamily lie still and listen 
 to that pleasant clangor in the upper air and feel 
 that her perturbed spirit had regained those joyous 
 utterances that could vibrate in sweet sympathetic 
 accord with the merry metre of the bells. To the 
 worldly man, long worn and tossed with sordid aims 
 and ambitions, who, under newer impulses now giv 
 ing his stifled fancy its natural bent, could let his 
 imagination flow back to olden times and feel that 
 he was a boy again and seem, amid the swinging of 
 the chimes, to hear those other bells for which, when 
 young, he had been wont to listen as token of the 
 coming of the good St. Nicholas, that kindly Saint 
 who, though deemed a childish fancy had of late 
 stood so near him and with gentle influence had led 
 him into that line of purer thought which had brought 
 his better nature forever out from the rust and 
 mildew that had so long encrusted it. To all, 
 indeed, of every name and nature and to whom 
 want or inquietude or sorrow were not unknown; 
 that they, also, might lift up their voices in sweet 
 acclaim and rejoice alike for the blessings of peace 
 and comfort now brought to them by the gladden 
 ing spirit of the bright Christmas festival.