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WORD FOR WORD 
 
 AND 
 
 LETTER FOR LETTER 
 
Page 187. 
 
 HOW MY FATHER MET HIS DEATH. 
 
WORD FOR WORD 
 
 AND 
 
 LETTER FOR LETTER 
 a Biographical IRomance 
 
 BY 
 A. J. DREXEL BIDDLE 
 
 FKLLOW OF THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 
 
 AUTHOR OP "THB MADEIRA ISLANDS," "A DUAL ROLE AND OTHER 
 
 STORIES," ETC., ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY EDWARD HOLLOWAY 
 
 LONDON 
 
 GAY & BIRD 
 22 Bedford Street, Strand, W. C 
 1898 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 pblla&elpbia : BJrerel JSi&Me, TKflalnut St. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, by 
 
 ANTHONY J. DREXEL BIDDLE, 
 in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
 Printed by 
 
 DREXEL BIDDLE, 
 
 Walnut 8treet, Philadelphia, U. S. A. 
 
TO 
 
 MRS. ALEXANDER VAN RENSSELAER, 
 WITH MY AFFECTION 
 
 AND 
 HIGHEST ESTEEM. 
 
 20617G6 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Down by an island beach I loved to wander 
 
 In childhood s thoughtless years, 
 And o er the sea to gaze. Ne er did I ponder 
 
 On the world s hopes and fears. 
 
 In youth inquiring I grew ; the more I leurn d 
 
 I yearned to know the more, 
 So, out upon the ocean s expanse, I turn d 
 
 My boat afar from shore. 
 
 Ab Initio ...... 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. Suspicious Characters 
 
 II. Of the Man with the Awful Face 
 
 III. Of my Friend Tyndall . 
 
 IV. Spied Upon .... 
 V. Light Upon the Past 
 
 VI. My Strange Dream . 
 VII. The Death of the Murderer 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Tranquil was the water, the weather, balmy. 
 
 I sailed the summer sea 
 In careless mood, until the skies grew stormy: 
 
 And then, ah, woe was me ! 
 
 A tempest wild arose. It broke, and, raging, 
 
 Tossed my boat to and fro. 
 But back to the isle of my childhood, changing, 
 
 I swept, willing or no. 
 
 I. At Newport 93 
 
 II. She Whom I Love 115 
 
 III. In Society s Whirl 130 
 
 IV. Her Letter, and How it Influenced me . . 144 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Here, in this island small, was all the treasure 
 
 I d gone abroad to find : 
 Indeed, a wondrous paradise of pleasure 
 
 I once had left behind. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. In the Island of Madeira . . . .169 
 II. Adventures Happily Terminated . . . 184 
 
 Reminiscence 194 
 
 Imprimatur 206 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 HOW MY FATHER MET HIS DEATH . . Frontispiece 
 
 MR. TRACY STEPPED FORWARD WITH A GREETING OF 
 
 WHAT I THOUGHT UNUSUAL CORDIALITY. Facing page 48 
 
 AN EXPRESSION OF BITTER HATE CAME INTO THE MUR 
 DERER S FACE Facing page 62 
 
 I TOOK UP MY POSITION NEAR THE DOOR AND WATCHED 
 
 THE PASSERS-BY .... Facing page 136 
 
 SHE HAD FAINTED AWAY. WHAT COULD IT ALL MEAN ? 
 
 Facing page 172 
 
 THE END OF JOHN DOONER . . . Facing page 202 
 
PART I. 
 
 x by an island beach I loved to wander 
 In childhood s thoughtless years, 
 And o er the sea to gaze. Ne er did I ponder 
 On the world s hopes and fears. 
 
 In youth inquiring I grew ; the more I learn d 
 
 I yearned to know the more. 
 So, out upon the ocean s expanse, I turn d 
 
 My boat afar from shore. 
 
AB INITIO. 
 
 man, of the age of five and twenty, 
 I had fallen heir to an estate of some five hun 
 dred thousand dollars through the death of 
 my last remaining relative, Uncle Joshua 
 Lefferts, my mother s brother. 
 
 Both my parents had died when I was very 
 young, but there had always been a mystery 
 connected with the death of my father. He 
 had gone on business to Funchal, in the 
 Island of Madeira, where, shortly after his 
 arrival, he had been found one morning in his 
 room at a hotel called "The Miles Carmo" (I 
 always remember that name) with his throat 
 cut. He had been assassinated : evidence, 
 at the time, clearly proved this. But his 
 murderer escaped. My father bore an hon 
 orable name, and his social position in Phila 
 delphia was of the highest. 
 
14 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 Shortly following my father s tragic death 
 it came out that he had been robbed of a 
 letter of credit which he had never had occa 
 sion to use. The letter was for the amount 
 of twelve hundred pounds sterling, which 
 entire sum, it was discovered, had been 
 drawn at three of the various leading banks 
 of Lisbon, Portugal, five days following the 
 death of my father at Funchal. News trav 
 elled slowly in those days, for no submarine 
 cable then connected Madeira with any of 
 the continents.* So when the news of my 
 father s death at last reached my mother 
 by the slow process of the mail which was, 
 in those days, often sent circuitously from 
 Madeira to the United Statesf my poor 
 father had been dead for some time ; the 
 Philadelphia bank, on being notified, found, 
 
 * The first cable to place Madeira within telegraphic con 
 nection with the world at large was laid by the Brazilian 
 Submarine Telegraph Company in the year 1874. This line 
 stretches, by way of Madeira, from Brazil to Portugal. 
 
 f In the early days of Madeira mail-service, letters for 
 the United States frequently went first to Portugal, there to 
 receive the government cancel before recrossing the broad 
 Atlantic for the new world. 
 
AB INITI.O. 15 
 
 after considerable telegraphing, that this 
 letter of credit had been cashed some weeks 
 previously in Lisbon, as I have already 
 stated. Then a full description was supplied 
 the officials by the cashiers of the Lisbon 
 banking firms. No pains were spared on 
 the parts of the American and European au 
 thorities to catch the thief and murderer. 
 Indeed the matter became of international 
 importance for the while, and both the 
 American Consul and the Minister to Por 
 tugal became involved. 
 
 How well I remember the account which 
 my dear old uncle Joshua used so often to 
 repeat to me. It is engraven on my mem 
 ory. I can see my uncle now, pacing to 
 and fro before the fireplace in his library. 
 With eyes fixed in a gaze as if to pierce the 
 gloom of mystery protecting my father s 
 murderer, he would say, partly to himself 
 and partly to me : 
 
 "A Portuguese, without doubt, but a man 
 familiar with America and the American 
 banking system. A cunning fellow, I ll be 
 bound, and a man of good appearance and 
 
16 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 address, they said. He spoke almost perfect 
 English and used that language to address 
 the different cashiers. Two of them took 
 him to be an American, born and bred, and 
 the third, who afterward testified to his 
 accent as being Portuguese, had not the 
 strength of purpose to state his opinion when 
 he paid the money to the forger. Tall, slen 
 der, well-proportioned and of winning man 
 ners. Dark hair, swarthy complexion, black 
 eyes ! " 
 
 At this juncture my Uncle Joshua would 
 always turn to me, and, with clenched fists, 
 wildly denounce the murderer, expressing a 
 wish to meet him face to face. "And your 
 mother," he would say, " my own dear sister ; 
 the being whom I adored above my life : she 
 was the sacrifice, for she died of a broken 
 heart, only six months after the awful mur 
 der of your father." And then he would go 
 on to tell me how my mother went to Madeira, 
 taking me, at that time scarcely more than 
 an infant, with her, and how he (my uncle) 
 accompanied her in her sad quest there for 
 her husband s body. They found it had 
 
AB INLTIO. 17 
 
 been interred, through the kind interest of 
 some of the British residents, in the ceme 
 tery adjoining the little English church. 
 
 On the voyage out my mother was taken 
 seriously ill, and when Madeira was finally 
 reached my uncle had a helpless invalid on 
 his hands. Mother had taken the journey 
 with the full intent of bringing home my 
 father s body for interment in our family 
 vault in the Laurel Hill Cemetery at Phila 
 delphia, But this was not to be. Owing to 
 her poor state of health, Uncle Joshua was 
 obliged to take apartments for her at one of 
 the hotels, and to postpone indefinitely the 
 time of departure for home. 
 
 On her better days, when she felt any 
 remaining strength or vigor, Uncle Joshua 
 used to tell me that, contrary, to the doctor s 
 orders, she always insisted upon visiting my 
 poor father s grave. But she pined away 
 and died ; and she was buried in the little 
 English churchyard, by the side of her hus 
 band. Ah ! well ! I can recall but little of 
 my parents, for I was but three years old 
 when left an orphan, and in the guardianship 
 
18 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 of Uncle Joshua. . . . And now he was 
 dead also. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, I had never gone 
 to Madeira to visit the graves of my parents, 
 but I was going now. Yes, I had fully de 
 cided, and I should start as soon as the cold 
 weather set in. 
 
 In the description of myself which I have 
 given, I have omitted several items that I 
 should perhaps include : 
 
 My name is George Lefferts Hall ; I am 
 not overburdened with remarkably good 
 looks, though, if my dear friend Tyndall 
 (whom I shall introduce later) is to be be 
 lieved, I am not a bad-looking chap." In 
 height I measure five feet eleven inches, and 
 I "tip the scales" at 170 pounds. I may 
 style myself of the athletic school, for I am 
 very fond of exercise, and, while in college, 
 played upon the football and baseball teams. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS. 
 
 IN chronicling my story, I would begin 
 with the time of one of my visits to the 
 borough of Holmesburg. 
 
 Having been to call upon Miss Emily 
 Tracy, I was returning towards the rail 
 road station about eleven o clock in the 
 evening. It was very dark, and when I 
 stepped from the country road on to the 
 main thoroughfare I sought the light of a 
 street lamp to consult my watch. 
 
 Whence I had just come there emerged 
 two muffled figures. They paused, looking 
 cautiously about, and then passed over the 
 street and continued down the cross-road I 
 was about to take myself. 
 
 Verily suspicion seeks the mind at dark- 
 time as readily as the bat flies into a lighted 
 room through open windows. I imagined 
 that these receding figures slunk away with 
 
20 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 the air of having been guilty of some mis 
 deed. "And," thought I, "they have come 
 from the direction of the Tracy s." I found 
 myself picking my way quietly after the 
 two receding figures. 
 
 It was still a good five minutes walk 
 to the depot. A vacant lot stood by the 
 roadside: I was prompted to turn off and 
 run swiftly through it. I came out at 
 the farther end upon the road again, and 
 ahead of the two men. They were not long- 
 in coming up, and, having hidden myself 
 behind some bushes, I waited for them to 
 pass. As they came abreast of my hiding- 
 place I peered cautiously out. I started as 
 I looked. Dark though it was, I could see 
 that one of the men had a very horrible 
 face : it seemed out of all natural propor 
 tion. Just then the two halted ; one struck 
 a match and lit a pipe, and, by the mo 
 mentary light thus afforded, I plainly dis 
 tinguished the other s countenance. But 
 was it a countenance ? I shall never forget 
 my sensation at that moment. The man 
 had an oblong head on which rested a red 
 
SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS. 21 
 
 worsted cap ; his face was of a purple hue, 
 while his features were so distorted and fat 
 that they fairly rolled about and shook like 
 gelatin. He spoke, and his mouth twisted 
 uncontrollably, his long, thick lips curling 
 and flapping as he moved them. 
 
 " Yew git to tawn as quick as you can," 
 he said. " The train leaves in five minutes, 
 and there be no time ter stop fer pipe 
 lightin !" 
 
 " To the d 1 with you," the other man 
 
 replied. "How dare you hurry a gentle 
 man ! You ll get your money all right, 
 And don t compel me to soil my hands 
 on your ugly face, you unclean beast." 
 
 By this time the match had been tossed 
 away, and I could only see the outlines of 
 the men. 
 
 " Beast, unclean beast ! " fairly shrieked 
 the unfortunate misshapen creature, thus 
 cruelly addressed. " Dis is de end to it all. 
 
 I would hev been yer father-in-law d n 
 
 me, ain t I yer father-in-law? Ef I ain t, 
 it s because ye r the low lived coward an 
 thief thet ye are. Yew go spyin on women. 
 
A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 Yew ruined me daughter. Yew want to 
 wreck another puir girl s life, and yew want 
 me ter help yew, an now yew call me an 
 unclean beast ! " 
 
 Here the voice of the other individual 
 interrupted : 
 
 " Shut up, and don t be such a d n 
 
 fool, Griffiths. You know I can put you 
 behind the bars to-morrow if I want to, for 
 your part in the Tracy business." 
 
 Tracy business ! Then my suspicions 
 were correct. When I first saw these men 
 they had stepped out from the road that 
 led to the Tracy residence. Then they had 
 been up to mischief in this direction ? I was 
 again all attention, in my hiding place. 
 
 "You recollect the time you murdered that 
 city gent who had come out here to do the 
 grand and who you found had done your 
 wife the kindness to make his lady-love? 
 Well, I didn t blab on you, and I was the 
 only witness. But you know that I have it 
 in my power to bring you to trial, at any 
 time, for murder. I won t ; it would hurt 
 my own chances, but I won t support any 
 
SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS. 23 
 
 child of your daughter s either. What s 
 more, I ll go and see the woman now." 
 
 " Oh don t, don t !" cried the deformed 
 being, piteously ; " it will kill her ter see 
 yew." 
 
 "So much the better," was the brutal 
 answer. And with this the last speaker 1 
 turned and strode down the road, while the 
 misshapen man stumbled after him, still 
 imploring him to stop and to change his 
 purpose. 
 
 Without a moment s hesitation I stepped 
 out from my place of concealment, and 
 followed. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF THE MAN WITH THE AWFUL FACE. 
 
 ON again reaching the village the men 
 turned off into a narrow little alley, where, 
 as I had not followed closely for fear of being 
 detected, I lost them for a short while. The 
 alley, packed on either side with little wooden 
 one and two story houses, evidently marked 
 the poor quarter of the village. 
 
 Before an old rickety, tumble-down shanty 
 stood a horse and gig. From its general 
 appearance, I immediately concluded it to 
 be a doctor s vehicle. Nor was I mistaken, 
 for, as I directed my way towards it, a man 
 appeared in the doorway of the shanty, and 
 I heard a woman s voice from within call, in 
 an uncertain, tremulous tone, " Don t stay 
 away long, doctor." 
 
 Replying pleasantly, the individual turned 
 and, jumping into his vehicle, drove off. 
 
OF THE MAN WITH THE AWFUL FACE. 25 
 
 Scarce had the gig swung around the corner 
 than I heard footsteps approaching. In 
 stinctively, I hid myself in the shadow of 
 the alleyway ; and I was just in time. 
 
 From behind an angle of the building a 
 man stole cautiously, and I saw that, as he 
 stepped up to the entrance-way, opened the 
 door, and went in, he was none other than 
 the misshapen fellow I had followed. I 
 crossed the way and took my stand at a 
 place where a broken window-pane, patched 
 with newspapers, might admit of some sound 
 escaping. 
 
 I was not to be disappointed : soon I dis 
 tinguished a low, agonized moaning within, 
 which seemed to come at regular intervals ; 
 above this I could hear the excited voice of 
 a man : I recognized it as being that of the 
 unfortunate who had just gone in. 
 
 " I tell yew thet cursed Dooner s on his 
 way here now," he said. 
 
 A sharp cry followed this announcement, 
 and the voice of a woman called feebly out 
 in protest. At this juncture my attention 
 was once more turned to the outside, for I 
 
26 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 heard some one running towards me. A 
 moment later a figure came up, passed 
 directly by, without observing me, and burst 
 rudely into the shanty. It was the other 
 man of the turnpike episode. His sudden 
 appearance was the cause of much commo 
 tion. 
 
 The woman s voice called piteously, 
 
 " Ah, do not pursue me ; leave me, leave 
 me I" 
 
 In brutal and profane words the new 
 comer addressed the suffering woman; he 
 taunted her, and then it seemed that he 
 struck her ; there was a low wail of intense 
 fear and pain. There seemed to be no inter 
 vention, so, unable to restrain myself, I 
 sprang at the door, threw it open, and rushed 
 into the house. 
 
 I found myself in the atmosphere of an ill- 
 ventilated room, dimly lit by two flickering 
 candles. Upon a couch of straw lay a young 
 girl, whom I could see was very beautiful. 
 Over her leaned the scoundrel. He looked 
 around quickly at me, an unexpected new 
 comer, and a vicious expression crossed his 
 
OF THE MEN WITH THE AWFUL FACE. 27 
 
 face. I saw he had a, broken nose and 
 bristly red hair, and that he was squarely 
 and powerfully built. Suddenly he began 
 to tremble, and he became ashen-pale. "Mr. 
 Hall !" he exclaimed ; and I, in astonishment 
 also, at his knowing my name (for I could 
 not recall having ever seen him before), felt 
 for the moment uncertain how to act. 
 
 A woman, attired in nurse s garb, stood 
 at hand : from her ruffled appearance, I 
 judged she had been attempting to come 
 between the man and his intended victim. 
 
 Over in the farther corner cowered the 
 man with the awful face. 
 
 Now the thought of calling on the police 
 myself never entered my head. Probably 
 the misshapen man did not do this for the 
 reason that he whom he would thus deliver 
 into the hands of the law, with the charge 
 of assault upon his daughter, might then, in 
 turn, testify against him in the matter of the 
 murder. At least I gathered as much, con 
 sidering that which I had overheard on the 
 turnpike. 
 
 Again I looked at Dooner. He was en- 
 
28 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 deavoring to reach the door unobserved ; 
 and, as I saw this, my anger all came back. 
 I thought of the cowardliness of his brutal 
 assault upon the ghi; though I had not 
 actually witnessed this assault, my imagina 
 tion now painted it before me in flaming 
 colors. 
 
 Indeed, I was about to spring upon the 
 detestable fellow, when the suffering girl, 
 from her bed of straw, called to me and 
 thanked me for my intended protection, 
 while, at the same time, she implored me 
 " not to strike or attack Jack Dooner." I 
 felt a great shame come over me at the 
 thought of being in any way the cause of a 
 further disturbance in the chamber. So I 
 followed Dooner outside. He ran away, but 
 ere he had turned the corner I was after him. 
 Along the deserted village street I pursued. 
 He turned suddenly off into the very road 
 from which I had first seen him make his 
 appearance, with the misshapen man. Up 
 this road he plunged, and he had not run 
 far ere he reached the entrance-way to the 
 Tracy s. To my astonishment, he pitched 
 
OF THE MAN WITH THE AWFUL FACE. 29 
 
 directly ahead, and I redoubled my efforts 
 to catch him, for he was making his way 
 towards the house. I called to him to stop ; 
 having proved himself a sprinter of no mean 
 ability, however, he had now distanced me 
 considerably. Suddenly, I lost sight of him. 
 The darkness had grown intense, but I felt 
 that it would soon be dawn, for a fresh breeze 
 sprang up, such as, in summer, is usually 
 the forerunner of daybreak. Indeed, even 
 as I stood huddling myself in the chilly air 
 and deliberating, the blackness turned into 
 the gray of twilight. JS"ow, I was familiar 
 with every nook and corner of the Tracy 
 homestead, for, being one of Miss Tracy s 
 admirers, I had been a frequent visitor. So 
 I searched the grounds for well-nigh an hour, 
 but not a trace could I find of the villainous 
 Dooner. The sun was by this time well up, 
 but the house was still closed and silent, no 
 one as yet being astir. Seeing and consider 
 ing these things I departed for the railroad 
 station. Arrived there, I sank upon a bench 
 to rest myself; I was foot-sore and fa 
 tigued. The only person about was a sleepy - 
 
 3 
 
30 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 looking, half-dressed, station master. Of 
 him I inquired concerning trains, and, find- 
 Ing that a train for town was due shortly, I 
 asked him to flag it, which he did. 
 
 The car I entered was nearly vacant, so I 
 stretched myself out, full length, between 
 two of the seats, and dozed until the engine 
 brought up in Broad Street Station. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF MY ERIESTD TYNDALL. 
 
 AT present I occupy apartments in a 
 boarding-house on Walnut Street. Having 
 breakfasted, I set out to look up my friend 
 Tyndall. He was a young physician ; and, 
 though I do say it, whatever practice he had 
 acquired since coming to Philadelphia, a per 
 fect stranger, some two years previously, had 
 been owing in large measure to the influence 
 and aid I had given him. I had introduced 
 him to all my friends, and had proposed him 
 for membership to the several clubs to which 
 he belonged. 
 
 To-day when I met Tyndall, he asked me 
 abruptly why I didn t take a trip somewhere. 
 In fact, for my sake, he said he was anxious 
 for me to get away. He thought I needed 
 a change. I did not inform him of my 
 most .recent visit to the Tracy s , nor of 
 
32 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 the adventures which befell me before my 
 return to town. It greatly astonished me, 
 therefore, when he told me he had learned of 
 my visit. I asked him who had been his 
 informant. 
 
 " Oh, a friend of mine that saw you there," 
 he replied lightly, and winking at me know 
 ingly. 
 
 I did not like his familiarity in this direc 
 tion, for, though Tyndall said he had never 
 met Miss Tracy, he apparently harbored 
 some unaccountable prejudice against her. 
 This feeling on his part I had always re 
 sented. But Tyndall had a keen percep 
 tion, and I seldom had to inform him when 
 he displeased me. Now, it so happened that 
 I had once presented Tyndall to a Miss 
 Blumer, a girl for whom I at times enter 
 tained an infatuation ; and much to my per 
 plexity, Tyndall had since seemed ever de 
 sirous to turn my attention from Miss Tracy 
 to Miss Blumer. On the present occasion, 
 however, he went so far as to suggest my 
 going to Newport, the summer-home of the 
 Blumers. 
 
OF MY FRIEND TYNDALL. 33 
 
 Of course 1 grew angry at such an attempt 
 at dictation on the part of my friend ; but, 
 curiously enough, no quarrel arose, as Tyn- 
 dall became very meek and apologized for 
 having offended me. 
 
 And then, when I thought the matter 
 over, Newport was a very alluring sugges 
 tion. I remembered that Miss Blumer had 
 expressed the wish to see me. After all, why 
 should I not take the jaunt ? I concluded to 
 go to Newport. 
 
 I neglected to question Tyndall again as 
 to who his friend might be that saw me 
 at the Tracys . Afterwards I regretted this 
 neglect. 
 
 James Brown Tyndall was some twelve 
 years my senior. He was of medium stature. 
 He had keen, piercing, steel-gray eyes, which 
 were ever on the alert, and his face was broad, 
 while his features, though not large, were 
 clearly defined. He wore a short pointed 
 beard which was of light brown color, and 
 a heavy growth of dark brown hair covered 
 his well developed head. Quite an adept in 
 the art of hypnotism, he claimed that the 
 
34 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 knowledge of this power was of great ad 
 vantage to him in the profession to which 
 he was devoted. He said that he had often 
 cured a critical case by bringing the patient 
 to believe that he or she was not ill at all, 
 but in good health. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SPIED UPON. 
 
 IT was a beautiful August afternoon ; as 
 I stepped into the street, after my call upon 
 Tyndall, I thought, " It is just the day for 
 the country." 
 
 So I set off for the depot, and took a train 
 for Holmesburg, bent upon a twofold mis 
 sion : one of a pleasant, and the other of a 
 disagreeable, nature. For, on the one hand, 
 I was going to call upon Miss Tracy, and, on 
 the other, I had resolved to pay another visit 
 to the home of the misshapen man, feeling, 
 as I did, troubled over my knowledge of the 
 whereabouts of an undiscovered murderer. 
 
 The Tracys resided near Holmesburg, a 
 village lying within the city limits ; but the 
 family were in few ways associated with city 
 life. They lived on an old ancestral place, 
 and rather to themselves, though they were 
 fond of travel, frequently visiting Europe 
 
3fi A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 and other foreign continents. Mr. Tracy 
 was thought to be very wealthy. He was 
 a man of letters ; and, though greatly sought 
 after, he mixed seldom with his fellow men, 
 caring little for society and less for clubs; 
 in consequence of which traits he was called 
 queer and unsociable. He had two charm 
 ing daughters, the Misses Gertrude and 
 Emily ; and his wife was one of the most 
 lovely women I have ever had the good for 
 tune to know. She was dignified, sweet, 
 motherly, and withal possessed of that sym 
 pathetic freshness of spirit which, in an older 
 woman, is so charming a trait. The family 
 were sincerely hospitable towards those of 
 whom they were fond. But they were in 
 dependent of society, and hence their circle 
 of friends was small, though select. 
 
 Alighting from the train at Holmesburg 
 Junction, I found myself in a quandary as 
 to whether I should first visit the murderer 
 or, on the other hand, should call upon the 
 Tracys. I had resolved to set out on my 
 disagreeable mission when I became aware 
 of the near approach of a horse and wagon. 
 
SPIED UPON. 37 
 
 I was standing in the road, before the sta 
 tion, at the time : a silvery voice called, 
 
 " Why, Mr. Lefferts, how-do-you-do ! " 
 
 A moment later I was reaching over the 
 wheels to shake hands with Miss Gertrude 
 Tracy. She had driven down to the station 
 to meet her father, whom she had expected 
 to arrive by the train on which I had come. 
 Being now invited to take the vacant seat 
 beside her, in the dog-cart, there was noth 
 ing left for me to do, I thought, but to 
 comply. 
 
 Is there ever a time for the feeling of 
 greater pride, in the varied life of a young 
 man, than when he is driving at the side of 
 a beautiful young woman ? If such an occa 
 sion is not for him one of supreme happiness 
 then there can be but one of two explana 
 tions : either something is radically wrong 
 with him, or he must be in love and cannot 
 have proposed. 
 
 My fair companion was an excellent whip; 
 she sat erect and, looking exceedingly hand 
 some in her neatly fitting tailor-gown, con 
 versed so entertainingly that I paid little 
 
38 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 heed to the course we were taking through 
 the village. 
 
 At length she said, 
 
 " Emily is visiting Anne, a poor young 
 girl who used to be a maid of ours. Anne 
 lies very ill, and is in dreadful straits. Emily 
 is such a queer girl ; she does things that I 
 wouldn t think of doing. No sooner had 
 she heard of Anne s trouble than she must 
 be down in the village, and working herself 
 like a slave. She heard of the thing only 
 last evening, just after you left our house, 
 from a young woman, who said she was a 
 next-door neighbor to Anne, and who added 
 that she was acting as Anne s nurse, and 
 that Anne had earnestly implored her to 
 seek and bring dear kind Miss Emily to 
 her before she died. This was the mes 
 sage ; and so, early this morning, before any 
 of us were up, the woman called again for 
 Em, and she departed with her. She knew 
 her : Em knows all the poor. I thought not 
 dear, kind Miss Emily, but foolish, impru 
 dent Em, for Anne s father looks like a night 
 mare, and is the fright of Holmesburg." 
 
SPIED UPON. 39 
 
 " You should see him ! " Miss Gertrude 
 continued, as I tried to suppress my rising 
 excitement. " But here we are," she said, 
 pulling in the horse ; indeed there we were 
 before the identical hovel of my last night s 
 adventure. 
 
 I sprang out, knocked upon the door, 
 which was immediately opened, and out 
 walked Miss Emily Tracy, looking radiantly 
 beautiful, and as fresh and free from care as 
 though she had never been in the presence 
 of sorrow. 
 
 When she recognized me she gave a little 
 start and blushed quite crimson with embar 
 rassment : on perceiving who had brought 
 me thither, she appeared exceedingly pro 
 voked. But at recovery of self-possession, 
 when suddenly placed in an embarrassing 
 position, a woman is more speedy than a 
 man : and so Miss Tracy s embarrassment, 
 forsaking her, took possession of me. In 
 fact, she seemed to be talking both to her 
 sister and to me simultaneously, as she 
 sprang lightly into the cart and seated her 
 self beside Miss Gertrude before I, in my 
 
40 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 awkwardness, was sufficiently on the alert 
 to offer my assistance. 
 
 "Well, are you going to walk?" asked 
 Emily, with an amused twinkle in her laugh 
 ing eyes, as I stood inactively, looking up at 
 her. I took the hint, and, joining as natu 
 rally as I could in the merry laughter of the 
 girls, I jumped into the back seat of the 
 cart ; whereupon we drove off. 
 
 The sisters were delightfully contrasted, 
 being so totally different in their dispositions 
 and tastes, and yet, withal, so devoted. 
 There was no discordancy between them, of 
 the slightest character, and the respective 
 charms of each offset those of the other with 
 out clash or detraction. ]S"ever have I met 
 with such a sweet-tempered and gentle- 
 natured girl as Emily. In manner she was 
 free and open, and was complete in that quiet 
 dignity of bearing which is surely the sym 
 bol of a pure and beautiful character. I 
 have, in slight measure, previously endeav 
 ored to describe Miss Gertrude. Though 
 agreeable, her tendency was, figuratively 
 speaking, to cut and slash in her conversa- 
 
SPIED UPON. 41 
 
 tion ; one felt that he must be on guard 
 while talking with her, for she was uncom 
 monly clever at repartee and unmercifully 
 candid in her opinions. She was a more 
 conspicuous and striking looking girl than 
 her sister, but, though not ewer-forward in 
 her manner, she was not possessed of the 
 unconsciousness of beauty, the retiring mod 
 esty, and the unselfishness of disposition 
 which so characterized Emily. 
 
 On reaching the gates of the Tracy estate, 
 our steed turned sharply in as a horse inva 
 riably does when at the entrance to the place 
 of his stabling and we rattled up the cinder- 
 covered and tree-lined avenue, towards the 
 house. Halfway thither we met Mrs. Tracy, 
 who had evidently walked out with the ex 
 pectation of meeting her husband. Her face 
 showed disappointment on her perceiving 
 me in the place of Mr. Tracy. But when 1 
 sprang out of the cart, hat in hand, to make my 
 apologies for calling so soon again, she said, 
 
 " Our friends are always welcome, and I 
 am happy to see you, Mr. Hall." 
 
 It was shortly after this that I was walk- 
 
42 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 ing, at the side of Miss Emily, down the 
 garden path towards the lake. The lake lay 
 at the foot of a gently sloping series of ter 
 races, on the summit of which stood the 
 Tracy mansion. At the end of the garden 
 we passed through a rustic summer-house 
 and down a long flight of wooden steps. 
 Then we quickly reached the water s edge. 
 
 The setting sun reflected his sleepy even 
 ing glow upon us as I, having helped Miss 
 Emily to a seat in the canoe, took my place 
 with the paddle, and pushed the craft out 
 upon the water. I need scarcely mention 
 that I had been anxious to bring our con 
 versation to bear on the subject of the mis 
 shapen man and his daughter. Now that 
 the time for doing this seemed to have 
 arrived, however, I was at a loss to know 
 how to aptly introduce the topic. So, after 
 several awkward endeavors at beginnings, 
 which in each case I turned into a channel 
 of meaning, other than that I had in mind, 
 I gave up the attempt, and perhaps acted 
 wisely in so doing. 
 
 Our conversation touched upon various 
 
SPIED UPON. 43 
 
 topics : Miss Emily casually remarked that 
 her father had planned a trip abroad for the 
 early part of the coming winter. At the 
 time of receiving this interesting piece of 
 information I paid little attention, for I had 
 been too much absorbed in my own endeav 
 ors to introduce the subject engrossing my 
 thoughts. Now, however, I saw that I had 
 been almost rude when Miss Emily told me 
 of her prospective departure abroad : and, as 
 I was really interested, in fact, more inter 
 ested than I cared to acknowledge I has 
 tened to remark concerning it. 
 
 When I had done so Miss Emily replied, 
 
 "Why, Mr. Hall, you seem to be surprised. 
 You know we go abroad almost every winter." 
 
 " I was not surprised, Miss Emily, but 
 anxious ; for I too am going abroad, and I 
 do so hope it may be by the same steamer." 
 
 "Oh how fine that would be! it would 
 indeed make a jolly party. When are you 
 going? Gertrude would be so glad if she 
 knew it." 
 
 " I was not thinking of your sister, Miss 
 Emily; I was thinking of you." 
 
44 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 At this Miss Tracy became slightly un 
 easy, and there was an awkward pause. 
 
 Then I started, my eyes became riveted 
 on a clump of bushes, at the opposite shore 
 of the lake, I had seen the bushes parted, 
 and the face of a man peer cautiously out. 
 That man was watching us ; no sooner did 
 I realize this than I looked quickly away 
 again. For I felt instinctively that I should 
 like to see more of him, and that I should 
 not be successful in the desire did he know 
 that he was observed. 
 
 Miss Tracy said, 
 
 "What in the world is the matter? You 
 look too queer for Avords." 
 
 This took me aback; but I explained that 
 I had seen a snake, and a snake always did 
 upset me. She laughed heartily, and re 
 marked that it Avas the first time she had ever 
 known me to be afraid of anything. NOAV 
 my pride Avas hit, but I smiled and said 
 nothing further. However, I paddled in an 
 apparently unconcerned manner in the direc 
 tion of those bushes. Being in the stern 
 myself, Miss Emily Avas seated, facing me, 
 
SPIED UPON. 45 
 
 in the bow ; and thus, by keeping the canoe 
 headed for the object of my curiosity, I 
 might investigate by dint of careful manage 
 ment, without Miss Tracy s observing: 
 though I should have to be careful to allow 
 no telltale expression on my face. 
 
 Within but a few rods of shore, I descried 
 the man, crouched in the thickest part of the 
 bushes. I was rather handicapped in my 
 endeavors to get a good look at him, in that 
 I wished he should not see I observed him, 
 and that Miss Tracy should not become 
 aware of his presence. Notwithstanding, a 
 series of rapid glances discovered to me a 
 startlingly perplexing fact : the man in hid 
 ing was none other than Jack Dooner, of last 
 night s adventure. Perceiving this, I hastily 
 backed water ; for an impulse prompted me 
 to get Miss Tracy as far away as possible 
 from the proximity of this scoundrel. On 
 reaching the opposite side of the lake I 
 had, to some extent, recovered from my sur 
 prise. Then many questions crowded them 
 selves into my bewildered mind. " Had Miss 
 Tracy ever seen this Dooner? Did she know 
 
 4 
 
46 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 of him ? Why had Dooner taken refuge in 
 the Tracy place last night, and why was he 
 here again? Could it possibly have been 
 with the aid of some accomplice in the Tracy 
 household that he disappeared from me here 
 so abruptly last night ? " 
 
 I wondered as to what Dooner could have 
 meant last night, when I overheard him say 
 to the misshapen man that he could cause his 
 arrest " for his part in the Tracy business." 
 
 But a short time since I had found Emily 
 at the house of the misshapen man : indeed, 
 the recollection of her evident displeasure at 
 this discovery of mine was a thought that 
 fairly burned in my brain. 
 
 And now the impulse that came to me 
 was to seek Mr. Tracy, inform him of this 
 Dooner, and then ascertain what he might 
 know. 
 
 But my next impulse, which I can only 
 attempt to explain as being at that time 
 natural to my very morbid disposition, was 
 to say nothing of the matter. I cannot gain 
 say that I became suspicious of the Tracys, 
 though what object they might possibly 
 
SPIED UPON. 47 
 
 have to gain by setting a man to spy upon 
 me I could not even then imagine. Doubt 
 less, like many a young man who unexpect 
 edly falls heir and manager to a large estate, 
 my head was for the time turned by my good 
 fortune. And so I think that, at that period 
 of which I write, I had an irrationally large 
 opinion of my own importance, which made 
 me unreasonably careful of my interests. 
 Verily, I was a fool. I have never forgiven 
 myself for the manner in which I acted on 
 this occasion. And indeed I have since 
 had bitter cause to repent. I decided to 
 escort Miss Emily back to her house, and 
 there to bid her a very good evening. 
 
 The family were seated on the front piazza 
 when we came up. Mr. Tracy had returned 
 home during our absence at the lake ; and 
 he now stepped forward, with outstretched 
 hand and greeting of what I thought 
 unusual cordiality. 
 
 "Mr. Hall," he said, " you and my daugh 
 ter have been to the lake ? " 
 
 " Yes," I replied. 
 
 His face brightened. "Ah, it is the place 
 
48 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 of all others I would have my friends visit : 
 it is my favorite haunt. There I can feel 
 safe from all intrusion ; and I have written 
 my best books by the banks of that placid 
 lake. I can assure you, sir, when you are 
 there you may feel certain of being unmo 
 lested. But are you not going to stay and 
 sup with us ? " he inquired, as I continued 
 standing, and glancing uneasily down the 
 road, as though I would be off. 
 
 I made my excuses with as good a grace 
 as I could, and in the midst of my so doing 
 Miss Emily interrupted me : 
 
 " Why, Mr. Hall, you told my sister that 
 you would remain for tea, and we have fully 
 expected you to do so." 
 
 " Thank you exceedingly," I replied, " for 
 3^our kind hospitality. But I have just re 
 called the fact that I have an urgent busi 
 ness engagement in town this evening ; and 
 I must be going. 
 
 Miss Emily looked at me steadfastly for a 
 moment, and then, with a sigh, she turned 
 away and entered the house. She gave me 
 no opportunity of bidding her good-bye. 
 
SPIED UPON. 49 
 
 Having made my adieus to the others, 
 I departed. Arriving at the gates, I hap 
 pened to look back, and my attention was 
 attracted by a light shining from a third- 
 story window; standing against the light 
 I saw the figure of Miss Emily Tracy; 
 though I could but distinguish her sil 
 houette, I felt that she was looking after me. 
 
 A moment later I found myself out upon 
 the highway, and moving in the direction of 
 the village and of the home of the misshapen 
 man. 
 
CHAPTEK V. 
 
 LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 
 
 I HAD waited for some minutes outside the 
 closed door of the miserable little dwelling, 
 now unpleasantly familiar to me. At length, 
 as I was growing impatient, the door opened 
 a small space, and a hideous face, which I 
 immediately recognized, confronted me. A 
 glance of mutual recognition being ex 
 changed, my acquaintance of the night 
 previous opened wide his door, and stepped 
 out. I said I had called to see him on a 
 matter of great importance ; on hearing 
 which he grew nervous. 
 
 " Won t yew come inside, sir ? " he asked 
 in words, though not in tone. 
 
 I saw I was not wanted, but I did not 
 hesitate. Within, things were changed. In 
 the place where the straw couch had been 
 there was now a comfortable little cot ; upon 
 it lay the girl I had seen recently in suffer- 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 51 
 
 ing. She was now apparently sleeping. 
 Thrown over her was a steamer-rug, on the 
 corner of which I happened to observe two 
 large red initials, E. T. Embarrassed at 
 being in this room, I asked my host if there 
 was none other. He replied in the affirma 
 tive, and led the way into a small kitchen 
 adjoining. 
 
 Leaving the door between ajar, so that he 
 might hear any sounds from the room where 
 slept his daughter, he motioned me to a seat 
 on the only chair visible, and settled himself 
 near me upon an upturned wooden box. 
 Leaning forward, in attentive attitude, he 
 waited for me to speak. 
 
 I was not long in doing so. I told him, in a 
 few blunt words, I had good reason to believe 
 that he was a murderer ; on hearing which 
 he started to his feet, with a smothered oath, 
 and then sank upon the floor, all of a heap, 
 and trembling in every limb. Such action 
 on being accused was conclusive of his guilt, 
 I decided ; and I paused that he might have 
 time to recover some composure before I 
 again addressed him. 
 
52 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 But I was to be disappointed in that I had 
 expected to be another time the first to 
 speak. My unfortunate host regained his 
 self-control as quickly as he had lost it. He 
 arose, drew himself to his full height, and, 
 looking me straight in the eye, addressed 
 me, in a deep, hard voice : 
 
 "Young gent, yew hev found me out, 
 and I won t make no attempt at denyin s 
 thet I killed a man. Whether I done a great 
 sin in killin of a man wot robbed me of all 
 wot I had in this world an all wot I hoped 
 to hev, ef I wuz good enough, in the next, 
 yew can best opinion fer yerself, when I 
 hev told yew how I come ter do the awful 
 crime. 
 
 " It wuz about twenty yearn ago, in the 
 young days of the Burg,* thet a high tony 
 gent cum out here ter live, and do the 
 grand. He wuz a dandy in his dress an 
 manner. But yew see, sir, I had a wife wot 
 wuz a wife ; she wuz called the most beauti- 
 
 * The abbreviation of the lower-class residents for 
 Holmesburg. 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 53 
 
 ful woman hereabouts, an she wuz very 
 gran lookiii , and thet s a fact. 
 
 " Well, the gent I m tellin yew about 
 wasn t long in learnin of the awful devil 
 wot had the angel wife ; thet s the way the 
 folks used to call us. Now, yew see I wuz 
 the butt of the village, an of the country 
 round. Mothers scared their kids into bein 
 good by sayin , Tom Ugly-Face 11 catch 
 yew. * Tom Ugly-Face is me nom de 
 plum. But I never used ter pay no atten 
 tion to any of em. I always had a blessin 
 fer them all, when she wuz livin , fer thet s 
 wot she taught me. 
 
 "She wouldn t never let me be revengeful, 
 an we used ter read the Bible to each other 
 by the hour. Me wife brought the sun 
 shine into me life, so thet I never cared wot 
 others said of me, an I guess I wuz hap 
 pier than most any man hereabouts. 
 
 " An then when our daughter wuz born, 
 thet gal in there, sir, an when me wife 
 an me seen how beautiful she wuz, we 
 growed better than ever, fer we knowed thet 
 Heaven had blessed us by sendin us a lovely 
 
54 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 child. Them days when we had our little 
 baby wuz the happiest of me life. An me 
 wife used frequent ter tell me, in comfort 
 ter me, thet the father s beauty, he had lost 
 in birth, wuz now found in his child. Yew 
 see, sir, I wuz born with me awful face, an 
 I ve always hed it. Why me wife ever 
 loved me is no more n I kin tell than why 
 she married me. But she did love me, fer 
 she must hev loved me lots ter hev married 
 me. An I loved her with me whole eternal 
 soul. Well, we lived on our lives with our 
 little one till this gent I m tellin yew of 
 come along. When he heard me wife wuz 
 beautiful, an when he heard wot a fright I 
 wuz, I guess he thought he d hev easy game. 
 He come roun ter see us, an wuz fer sym- 
 pathizin with her on me bad looks. But 
 me wife wuz proud and loyal, an she 
 wouldn t hev no sympathy ; fer she said as 
 how I wuz better lookin in me soul than 
 him. She said it wuz the soul of the man 
 she looked to, not his face. An so me wife 
 an me lived, but we wuz simple folks. We 
 did feel high tony ter hev a gent an a 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 95 
 
 dandy comin visitin us, which he did, an 
 always seemin kind an friendly. He spoke 
 good English, but I kiiowed he wuz a fur- 
 rener from furren parts, fer he had black 
 hair, an looked jest like a dago." 
 
 Here the misshapen man paused. This 
 description rather startled me. I began to 
 feel as though I were having a hideous night 
 mare, and as though the misshapen man, 
 the spectre of my evil dream, were relating 
 something oddty and disagreeably familiar 
 to my memory. Was this forethought, or 
 was I the subject of some hallucination ? I 
 could not decide, and I peered more intently 
 through the gloom, and into the dreadful 
 face of the strange narrator. Perceiving 
 my increasing interest, he continued : 
 
 " Well, sir, t wa n t long after Torres, fer 
 thet vvuz his name, had been gettin so inti 
 mate with us, before I begun to notice a 
 change in me wife. She seemed to hev 
 grown hard on me, an she would become 
 listless-like whenever I wuz round. This 
 made me feel awful bad, but I done me best 
 ter keep up cheerful. 
 
56 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 " An now a change come. At first I 
 didn t notice it, poor fool thet I wuz. Me* 
 wife stopped goin ter church with me ; she 
 stopped takin care of our little child, an 
 didn t seem ter love it no longer. An still 
 I tried ter keep up cheerful, an I never said 
 a disagreeable word, though me poor wife 
 scolded an ordered me roun like a dog. 
 Then I seen thet Torres didn t cum ter see 
 us no more. But then I seen more too : me 
 wife wuz away from home most of the time, 
 an she never asked me ter go with her when 
 she went away. I wouldn t foller her, or spy 
 on her, fer I loved her too much ; an I never 
 let meself suspect her of anything neither. 
 Then, one day, I found her holdin me little 
 gal up by the heels, an tryin ter swing 
 her pretty head, thet hung down, against a 
 tree. I run up an grabbed me child, an 
 asked me wife why she acted like she did. 
 She slunk away from me as though she 
 hated me presence ; an she said nawthin 
 ter comfort me. Then the neighbors an 
 folks asked me ef me wife would soon be 
 Mrs. Torres. I struck one man fer sayin 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 57 
 
 this. But the folks kept up a plaguing me 
 so thet I become frightened for me wife. I 
 loved her distracted, sir, an now she didn t 
 care fer me. I seen how she owned me soul ; 
 fer she had told me years before thet thet wuz 
 wot she married me fer. An she still owns 
 me soul, an always will, tew eternity. 
 Well, one night she didn t come home, an 1 
 growed suspicious. I didn t sleep no more 
 at nights, an I was always worryin silently 
 an by meself. Fer luck, thought I, I ll 
 go to Torres house an look about, but I m 
 sartain me wife ain t there. So out I went, 
 an up the road, ter where the dandy, Torres, 
 lived. 
 
 " He had a gran house, an when I come 
 up to it, I seen it all ablaze with lights in 
 side. The shutters wuz closed, but the 
 light come through them. I went an rung 
 the door bell, an when the door wuz opened 
 by a young boy I heered the sound of music. 
 Then I heered a ringing laugh. Will I ever 
 forget it ? It wuz me wife ! I shoved the 
 boy aside an went into the house. Goin 
 through some gran furnished empty rooms 
 
68 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 I come upon me wife. She was dancin ter 
 the tune of a music-box. Sittin on a lot 
 of cushions an lookin up at her wuz Torres. 
 He was grinnin at her, an of a sudden me 
 wife stopped dancin an jumped right into 
 his arms. Well then they seen me, an I 
 don t know which of the two of em wuz 
 most scared. 
 
 " Right in front of me wife, I asked Tor 
 res ef she had been to see him often. At 
 this Torres got mad, an he jumped up an 
 hit me an knocked me down. An yet I 
 did not touch him ; but, when 1 had stag 
 gered to me feet, I stood up ter him, an re 
 peated me question. 
 
 111 Of course she s been here, replied Tor 
 res. She s only a poor ignorant w^ornan, 
 an I m about tired of her now, meself, so 
 yew can have her back again. 
 
 " When I heered them words 1 was seized 
 with a blind fury. Me wife growed white 
 an terrible to look at, an Torres began to 
 tremble, fer he seed he wuz fooled in the 
 people he wuz dealin with. Well, what I 
 done then I can t exactly remember, but I 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. ft9 
 
 know thet I giv a big leap on top of Torres, 
 an he had a knife ready fer me, dago thet 
 he wuz. But he didn t seem ter hurt me 
 somehow, fer I was fightin like a devil, I 
 guess. I threw him on the floor, an throt 
 tled him, an the next thing I knowed, I wuz 
 bein hauled off him by the young boy wot 
 had opened the door fer me. 
 
 " I got up as ef I wuz dreamin , but 
 Torres didn t move. His eyes wuz starin 
 out ov his head like bullets bein shot from 
 a gun. I looked fer me wife, an seen her up 
 in the far corner of the room. She wuz 
 starin at me with the wild look of a crazy 
 person. I went over to her, but she shoved 
 me off. You ve killed him ! wuz all she 
 said, an she kept on lookin at me crazy like. 
 Then I wuz scared ; but Torres wasn t dead. 
 He began ter squirm an ter kick an ter 
 mumble in a dago lingo I didn t understand. 
 
 " But he occasionally said a word or two 
 in English, an , as he jabbered a good while 
 before he got quiet fer good, I managed ter 
 learn thet he had killed somebody at a place 
 wot sounded like Madeery. 
 
60 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 " Stop !" I cried ; and I sprang to my feet, 
 and paced the floor, in great excitement. 
 
 My loud ejaculation not only brought my 
 host s story to a pause, but also roused an 
 infant, in the sick-room. 
 
 I had been unaware of the presence of a 
 baby when I passed through the room occu 
 pied by the misshapen man s daughter. But 
 now an unmistakable baby voice rang out. 
 The misshapen man repaired to the next 
 room, for a few moments, and left me alone 
 to my thoughts. 
 
 Now I knew that that which had struck 
 me as forethought, when my host had first 
 spoken to me of Torres, had been in reality 
 a recognition of the description of my 
 father s assassin, as I had so often heard 
 that description from my Uncle Joshua. In 
 a fever of impatience 1 awaited the return 
 of my informant. 
 
 Before he could take up the thread of his 
 story, I was plying him with questions con 
 cerning a fuller description of Torres. 
 
 "Was he tall?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 61 
 
 "Slender?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 a Well proportioned and well made ? " 
 
 " He was." 
 
 " He had black eyes and a swarthy com 
 plexion ? " 
 
 " He had both, sir, an yew seem ter hev 
 knowed him yerself!" the man replied, in 
 great astonishment. " But," he continued, 
 " how in heaven s name did yew ever see the 
 villain? An ef yew did see him, how do 
 yew remember him? Fer yew must hev 
 been mighty young when yew last seen him, 
 seem he died more n twenty yearn ago, at 
 my hands." 
 
 " Be that as it may," I replied, endeavor 
 ing to calm myself somewhat I did not 
 wish that this self-confessed murderer should 
 know the real facts concerning my knowl 
 edge of Torres. " I once heard of a great 
 thief whose description tallies precisely with 
 the account you have given me of this 
 Torres." I spoke thus, hoping to pass the 
 matter over : but this attempt of mine to 
 make light of my knowledge of my father s 
 
 5 
 
62 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 assassin only had the contrary effect upon 
 my host. He began eagerly plying me with 
 questions. I saw that my best resort was 
 to affect eagerness to hear his story out. I 
 did so : 
 
 " But you left off in the most exciting 
 part of your history," I said, " I demand 
 that, as I am a witness to the confession of 
 your guilt, you tell me what followed after 
 you had committed your crime." 
 
 Thus adjured, an expression of bitter 
 hate came into the murderer s face. He drew 
 close up to me, and I had to nerve myself, 
 for his expression was horrible. 
 
 " Yew want me ter tell yew the rest," he 
 growled passionately, " when I hev told yew 
 all so fer, wot I needn t hev said beans 
 about." 
 
 " I knew of your guilt before you told 
 me," I replied, reminding him that I had 
 said as much to him in the outset, and 
 before he had confessed himself to me. At 
 this he grew deeply remorseful in that he 
 had corroborated the evidence of my belief 
 in his confession. 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 63 
 
 " How did yew know ?" he cried. " I only 
 had one witness beside me wife, an thet 
 wuz Dooner." 
 
 " Was Dooner the young boy you spoke 
 of? " I interrupted. 
 
 " Cert., an ter think yew didn t know 
 
 even thet. Oh h 1 ! wot a d n fool 
 
 I ve been ter blab on meself. I calculate as 
 how yer goin ter tell the cops* an testify 
 agin me fer murder. I kin prove thet I 
 killed Torres in self-defense, ef I want ter. 
 An here yer com in houndin me out ter 
 throw me in jail, an ter try and hev me 
 swing,f ain t yew ? " 
 
 As he said this he gave a hideous laugh, 
 and then his expression changed, and he 
 wrung his hands, in mingled rage and fear. 
 
 Afterwards I could get nothing further 
 from him. When I asked him what became 
 of his wife following the commission of his 
 crime, he sprang toward me, and I stepped 
 back a pace, thinking 1 should have to 
 
 * Cops, slang for police. 
 
 f Swing, slang term, meaning to hang, or to be executed. 
 
64 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 defend myself against an onslaught. But 
 he stopped midway : 
 
 "Yew kin hev me put behind the bars* 
 ef yew wants, may be, but yew can t make 
 me talk no more ter yew," he said. "An 
 don t yew say no more about or agin me 
 Avife. She ain t dead an she ain t here, but 
 yew can t talk about her. 
 
 " Before yew go, which I hope yew will 
 now, without disturbance, seem the unsar- 
 tin condition of me daughter, I hev ter 
 thank yew fer yer prevention of me com- 
 mittin another murder. Fer I wuz so near 
 a doin it last night when yew come in an 
 chased Dooner away fer a hittin of me 
 poor gal, thet I hev been scared ever since, 
 an I m scared now ter think wot I ll ever do 
 when next I meets him. I ll tell yew one 
 thing, me fine gent, in concludin . Look out 
 fer y&rself. Yer bein tracked an spied on 
 when yew come out here; though I m 
 through with the business meself, since wot 
 yew did fer me last night, there be others 
 
 * Taken into custody. 
 
LIGHT UPON THE PAST. 65 
 
 wot ain t of my way of thinkin . An yew d 
 better take good care of yerself, an not go 
 to persecutin me, wot gives yew a tip fer 
 yer future welfare. Still I feels yer goin to 
 hunt me down, an still I says take care; 
 fer I like yew, in spite of meself. Look out 
 fer a friend of your n wot lives in the city. 
 He s try in ter do yew dirt* an ter git yer 
 money. An look out fer Dooner, an look 
 
 out fer " A feeble call from the next 
 
 room interrupted the speaker. 
 
 It was growing late. I decided to take 
 my departure then and there, and to return 
 to the murderer on the morrow, when he 
 might be in less stubborn frame of mind, 
 and when, moreover, I might have gained 
 time to consider what I should do concern 
 ing my knowledge of his crime ; for this 
 weighed heavily upon me. Accordingly, I 
 made my way from the hovel, and to the 
 railroad station. Here I arrived just in time 
 to catch a train bound for the city. 
 
 * " 70 do a person dirt " is a vulgar way of saying, to 
 betray one s confidence, or to blackmail. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MY STRANGE DREAM. 
 
 FOR some time after retiring that night, 
 I lay awake thinking, thinking. I had not 
 bade Miss Emily good-bye. How sweet 
 and lovely she was ! And I / had been 
 rude to her. 
 
 At length drowsiness came over me and, 
 for a few moments, I lost energy to think. 
 Then I seemed to reawaken; about me 
 there were din and confusion, the meaning 
 and cause of which I could not explain. 
 When the noise subsided, a great gloom 
 gathered a gloom of uncertainty. Into it 
 I looked long in suspense. It seemed an 
 eternity that I waited. I grew hot and 
 almost stifled in the fever of anxiety which 
 seemed to seize me. Something far away 
 began to find form in the mysterious dark 
 ness ; it approached, and I saw it to bear the 
 
MY STRANGE DREAM. 67 
 
 figure of a man. Some ghostly voice seemed 
 to whisper in my ear, "This is your fate," 
 and I perceived, confronting me, my friend 
 Tyndall. Then flames shot up before my 
 eyes, Tyndall vanished, and I saw a burning- 
 house. It was the Tracys . Moans of an 
 guish reached my ears, and Gertrude Tracy 
 and her father and mother were apparently 
 licked by tongues of flame as they fled from 
 the fire. I, on my part, was powerless to 
 render assistance. I tried to move, but felt 
 unable, for some unknown reason. A great 
 dread seized me. " Where was Emily ? She 
 whom I loved ; where was she ? " 
 
 Then the scene shifted. I was aboard a 
 ship and far out at sea. A. dense fog hung 
 round about and close down over the water; 
 a melancholy pervaded all things. Several 
 muffled passengers, pacing the deck, looked 
 strangely unreal, through the mist. One of 
 the passengers drew near me, and I recog 
 nized in her figure and bearing some one I 
 had known. She was attired in deep mourn 
 ing ; as she passed directly by me, our eyes 
 met. It was Emily Tracy ! But she looked 
 
68 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 at me without a sign of recognition in her 
 face, and hurried on and disappeared. I was 
 overcome with anguish. 
 
 The fog grew denser as I groped my way 
 about the vessel, endeavoring to find Emily. 
 Suddenly I seemed to see her again ; and 
 this time she smiled sadly at me, but I felt 
 happy. Then terror struck my heart, for she 
 seemed fading away into the fog beyond the 
 vessel. In desperation I sprang overboard. 
 Here my senses left me, and I knew no 
 more. 
 
 At length I felt myself dreamily reawak 
 ening. And now I was no longer at sea, 
 but, strange to relate, on land and near a 
 railroad, for I heard the rumble of a fast ap 
 proaching train. Footsteps sounded back of 
 me : I turned, and perceived the lumbering 
 figure of the misshapen man. He was pur 
 suing some one, and that some one was 
 Dooner ; as the latter dashed past me, I saw 
 his face. It was ashen white, and he trembled 
 and looked terrified. An awful voice called 
 after him : 
 " Ef I catch yew I ll kill yew ! " 
 
MY STRANGE DREAM. 69 
 
 It was the misshapen man who called. 
 
 "And if you don t catch me I ll tell the 
 police about your murder. I ll get you 
 hung ! " 
 
 " It s a race fer life ! " cried the misshapen 
 man, and he madly ran on. 
 
 Now Dooner was crossing the railroad 
 track ; a woman suddenly appeared near by. 
 She was very beautiful, and she stared wildly 
 after Dooner. 
 
 "Avenge my daughter," she cried, "avenge 
 my daughter ! " 
 
 " He will die fer his brutality ! " answered 
 the misshapen man, furiously. 
 
 It flashed across me that the woman was 
 the wife of the pursuer. The latter now 
 espied me, for he called, 
 
 " Catch him fer me, catch him ! Ef we 
 let him go, yew will live ter rue the day. 
 Yew ll never be safe until he s dead." 
 
 Then the speaker reached the tracks, and 
 started to plunge across. All this time the 
 train had been drawing rapidly nearer. 
 When he was half-way over, the mighty en 
 gine seemed upon him, but to this he paid 
 
70 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 110 heed. A whistle blew a terrific blast : 
 my horror grew intense. I endeavored to 
 rush out and save my chance acquaintance, 
 the murderer, from his impending peril. But 
 I found I could not move. I made a great 
 effort, and, summoning all my powers, finally 
 succeeded in dragging myself forward. 
 
 " I m coming ! " I called, but I could not 
 see. My eyes were closed : I opened them. 
 What might it mean ? I felt dazed, for I 
 found myself standing in the middle of my 
 own room, with the sound from the whistle 
 still ringing in my ears. Then it dawned upon 
 me that I had been dreaming. The whistling 
 came from a factory near-by ; it was the 
 morning signal calling men to work. " It is 
 also calling me to work," thought I, where 
 upon I proceeded to don my things, feeling 
 weary, and as though I had not slept a wink. 
 
 A little later, sauntering up the street 
 towards my club, I found it impossible to 
 shake off recollections of my disagreeable 
 and all too vivid dream. Thoughts of it 
 possessed me; indeed I felt an unaccount 
 able dread lest something had gone wrong 
 
MY STRANGE DREAM. 71 
 
 while I slept. When about to pass by Tyn- 
 dall s office, I was prompted to stop in and 
 ask him to breakfast with me. For I felt 
 in such condition that I craved companion 
 ship. 
 
 Tyndall appeared unusually glad to see 
 me, and his effusive greeting was comfort 
 ing and welcome. He expressed surprise at 
 my being about " at such an early hour." 
 
 He explained that he himself had " only 
 just got up, preparatory to taking a morn 
 ing spin on the wheel before beginning the 
 day s labors." 
 
 ~No, he had not breakfasted. He accepted 
 my invitation, so we repaired to the club. 
 
 During our repast the conversation, through 
 no fault of mine, became of a personal na 
 ture. In fact, it concerned me particularly. 
 Tyndall was very sympathetic and tried to 
 get me to talk of myself. He asked me 
 about my money affairs : if I had " any sur 
 plus lying idle " w T hich I " might care to in 
 vest in a splendid enterprise ? " 
 
 I naturally replied to this question by ask 
 ing another : " What is the enterprise ? " 
 
72 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 " This," my friend said. " Of course, you 
 know of Madeira ? " 
 
 I started in surprise. "Yes, I answered. 
 
 " Halloo," exclaimed my friend, and then 
 he leaned towards me and looked me fixedly 
 in the eyes. Tyiidall had a habit of doing 
 this, and I never liked it. I have heretofore 
 stated that he claimed to be something of a 
 hypnotist. Though I did not then have faith 
 in such imaginary power, I have since had 
 good reason to change my belief. When 
 ever Tyndall looked at me as I have just 
 described I always met his gaze, for I will 
 not permit any man to make me drop my 
 eyes. In Tyndall s stare there was the 
 essence of self-possession. I have frequently 
 seen him " look a man out of countenance," 
 and then, in an oft-hand manner, address 
 some remark to the innocent victim which 
 would startle, and set him to wondering. 
 When Tyndall took his eyes from me I 
 felt a little strangely. He seemed to have 
 pierced my mind with his keen and appar 
 ently abnormally developed vision. 
 
 " I did not know that you kept important 
 
MY STRANGE DREAM. 73 
 
 matters from a friend," he said casually, 
 but in a slightly injured tone. " You never 
 told me that your father died in Madeira." 
 
 I must have started, for I know that I 
 jarred the table, upsetting several things 
 thereon. But of my discomposure my friend 
 took no notice. He cleverly turned the mal- 
 a-propos subject into that of his scheme, and 
 soon, in spite of myself, I became his atten 
 tive listener. 
 
 " Madeira/ he said, " is one of the greatest 
 lace and embroidery manufacturing centers 
 in the world. Hundreds of young women 
 spend their lives at lace-making, and they 
 are experts in the art. England recognizes 
 this fact : her importations of Madeira lace 
 are very large. Still, the output of lace in 
 and about Funchal is enormous, and the de 
 mand is less by 80 per cent, than the supply." 
 
 Now this topic doubtless makes very 
 uninteresting reading, and, as my thoughts 
 had been striving to solve other and to me 
 more immediately serious problems, I should 
 myself have been restless and anxious to get 
 away. Strangely, however, such was not the 
 
7-1 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 case. While Tyndall talked to me he never 
 for an instant took his eyes from mine. 
 Thus he controlled my entire attention, and 
 he interested me, in spite of myself. 
 
 " Now," he said. " you have lots of money, 
 and the entire control of it. Why, instead 
 of dabbling occasionally down the street in 
 stocks and bonds, don t you invest it, or 
 the greater portion of it, in some business, 
 and then start in at the head of that busi 
 ness, with a man as manager, who knows 
 all the ropes, and make a big success and 
 name for yourself? You ought to do this 
 before you marry, for after a man mar 
 ries, if he is the right sort like you, he 
 wants to devote his time to his wife ; hence 
 he finds no time for his ambition or for active 
 life, especially this is the case when he has 
 money and can afford to loaf. Now here is 
 an opportunity for you to distinguish your 
 self. I have given to the matter long and 
 careful study, and I know all the details 
 connected with it. Organize a company 
 for the purpose of importing for sale in this 
 country Madeiran lace and embroidery. The 
 
MY STRANGE DREAM. 75 
 
 United States is the field for the disposal of 
 Madeira s unexcelled product ; and, were the 
 new business properly handled, an enormous 
 market for these goods could be found in 
 this country within a year after starting. 
 Should you take the thing up, you would 
 want to do it in the right way, or, on the 
 other hand, not at all. To be frank, it would 
 take a large capital." 
 
 My friend paused, as if to test my interest : 
 I begged him to proceed. He accordingly 
 did so, and he talked on with such earnest 
 ness, and to such purpose, that he roused 
 my enthusiasm. He showed me clearly that 
 he knew a great deal about importing and 
 exporting, and also about the manufacture 
 of the articles in question, out in Madeira. 
 And, in the end, I found myself promising 
 to look into the matter. He then coolly re 
 quested that I loan him some money, suffi 
 cient to take him to Madeira, where he might 
 investigate matters for me. 
 
 His eyes glowed like live coals, and seemed 
 to burn my sight with their fire, as he awaited 
 my reply. 1 shook off a strange feeling of 
 numbness which was creeping over my con- 
 
76 .1 BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 centrated thoughts, and abruptly tinned the 
 subject of the conversation. At this action 
 Tyndall appeared nettled. He looked away 
 from me for a few moments; after which he 
 returned his gaze, and said sharply : 
 
 " So you left your dear friends the Tracy s 
 in a huff last night ? " 
 
 For the instant I was dumfounded at 
 Tyndall s impudence, and also at his per 
 spicacity. I asked him angrily why he 
 should inquire into a subject which in no 
 way concerned him. 
 
 He replied, 
 
 " My dear boy, I know some things with 
 out being told ; and I concluded, when you 
 first dropped in on me this morning, that 
 you had had a misunderstanding with Miss 
 Tracy. Otherwise, how could you have been 
 so gloomy? "Was it bad dreams?" 
 
 Here I was again surprised. Tyndall had 
 a way of " hitting the nail on the head" that 
 I did not like. But now, quick as a flash, 
 my versatile acquaintance began the recount 
 ing of a funny story : when I left him a few 
 minutes later my good humor had in a 
 measure returned. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE MURDERER. 
 
 I HAD bought the Press; but I could not 
 read it, for thoughts of my dream recurred 
 vividly to me. I sat peering listlessly out 
 of the car window until I arrived at my des 
 tination. Then I set off for the house of 
 the misshapen man, and soon reached his 
 door. 
 
 The nurse answered my summons, and on 
 my inquiring as to whether her patient s 
 father was within, she replied in the nega 
 tive. She further volunteered the statement 
 that he had left the house about daybreak, 
 and had not since put in an appearance. 
 
 When would he return ? 
 
 She did not know; would I wait? She 
 was not cognizant of his whereabouts, that 
 she might direct me. No, I would not wait. 
 
 As I turned the corner from the alley 
 
 6 
 
78 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 into the main street I almost collided with 
 Tracy s coachman. 
 
 " Good marnin , sor," he said, stepping 
 out of my way. 
 
 I replied to his salutation, and asked if 
 the family were well and at home. 
 
 " They re all right, sor," he answered, 
 "though there be them thot ain t." (This he 
 said looking insolently knowing). 
 
 " They be in, sor, too, up to the place, 
 though they bein t at home." 
 
 Concluding with which he turned upon 
 his heel and walked away. I did not call 
 him back to reprimand him for his imper 
 tinence. I had other and more important 
 matters on hand. Foolish though it may 
 seem, I felt greatly relieved now that I had 
 learned, though from so rude an informant, 
 of the Tracys welfare : their house had not 
 burned, as in my dream. 
 
 And now, where to find the murderer? 
 This was my next thought. Pondering 
 thus, I wandered along: oddly enough, I 
 found myself returning in the direction of 
 the railroad. Why not continue in this 
 
THE DEATH OF THE MURDERER. 79 
 
 direction then ? ~Not knowing where to look, 
 was I not as likely to find him, for whom I 
 had come in search, there as elsewhere ? 
 
 Along the road I asked several persons I 
 met if they had seen Tom Ugly-Face : thus 
 he was known. The last individual I ques 
 tioned was a boy who was passing me, 
 breathless in haste and in excitement. 
 
 "Where s Tom Ugly-Face!" he shouted, 
 repeating my question. " Why, you re be 
 hind de times, mister ! Come along wid 
 me an I ll show him to you. He was run 
 into and killed by a train dis morning, and 
 dey ve just brought in his corpse. Dey 
 located it in a corn-field where de engyne s 
 cow-catcher t rowed it." 
 
 I fairly staggered at this startling news. 
 " Take me to where he is," was all I could 
 say, for I felt as though I were again in my 
 dream. Indeed it appeared the natural se 
 quence to my dream. 
 
 At my side skipped the lad ; and I was 
 recalled from a sort of lethargy by his ques 
 tion, which struck me as rather apt, in that 
 he drew his inference from the manner in 
 
80 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 which the news of the misshapen man s de 
 mise had affected me : 
 
 " Are you one of his folks ?" he queried 
 cautiously. 
 
 Seeing the humorous side to this idea, I 
 could not resist the temptation to encourage 
 such a belief in the mind of my young guide. 
 
 We shortly reached the station, where we 
 found a noisy, curious crowd collected. The 
 people covered the platform about the sta 
 tion; they all seemed imbued with that 
 thirst for excitement which constitutes the 
 governing passion of a hastily gathered 
 street throng. I was preparing to force my 
 way through the thickest cluster of by 
 standers when a boyish voice, near me, called 
 loudly : 
 
 " Here s Tom Ugly-Face s brother ; make 
 room fer him !" 
 
 Of course I looked about to see the indi 
 vidual thus announced. But I observed that 
 all eyes were centered on me. For the mo 
 ment I was bewildered. I saw that my 
 youthful guide was at my elbow, and as he 
 looked anxiously up into my face, it dawned 
 
THE DEATH OF THE MURDERER. 81 
 
 upon me that my joke on him had turned 
 into a larger joke upon myself. 
 
 It was an ordeal to explain to this assem 
 blage that I was not " one of the folks." I 
 felt obliged to do this, however. Then, as 
 the people, having made a way for me, had 
 not yet closed up their ranks, I quickly edged 
 my way towards the spot where the body of 
 the misshapen man lay. Several railroad 
 officials stood at hand, and I could not ob 
 tain a very close view ; that which I did see 
 was sufficient to satisfy all my doubts, how 
 ever. A dust-grimed and blood-spattered 
 mass of flesh and clothing comprised all that 
 remained of my unfortunate acquaintance. 
 Life could not linger in so horribly contorted 
 a form. And the strange part of the calam 
 ity s result was that the trunk and limbs 
 were mangled, while the head and face re 
 mained undisturbed. Moreover, in death 
 the face seemed to have taken, in some 
 measure, those natural, proportions which in 
 life it lacked ; and there was a peculiar pathos 
 in the expression which deeply touched me. 
 Then I forgave the dead man that which I 
 
82 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 knew of his life s crime. He had been un 
 fortunate, and greatly wronged. And he 
 had been the avenger of my father s mur 
 der. This I should never forget ; though I 
 profess to be a Christian, I inwardly thanked 
 his spirit, thereupon, from deep down in my 
 heart, and with such fervor that I felt that, 
 in some way, even then, he must surely be 
 aware of my gratitude. I determined to see 
 to it that the body received proper burial. 
 To strengthen this moral resolution, I ad 
 dressed a policeman, and told him I meant 
 to take charge of the body. 
 
 At first he looked incredulous, but he 
 ended by consenting to let me have my way. 
 
 It took the responsibility from his shoul 
 ders of being officially obliged to look after 
 the repulsive corpse. I had an undertaker s 
 wagon called. To show my genuineness, I 
 paid a lump sum to the undertaker s repre 
 sentative, the driver, for the removal of, and 
 proper attention to, . the remains. When 
 these had been taken away, and the crowd 
 had dispersed, I sat myself down upon a 
 vacant bench. 
 
THE DEATH OF THE MURDERER. 88 
 
 I had indeed placed myself in a novel posi 
 tion. I could not help recalling my dream : 
 since, by some odd chance, my sleeping mind 
 had witnessed the near approach of a catas 
 trophe which now in reality had come to 
 pass, I wondered if the rest of my dream 
 would remain unrealized. Just then I felt 
 that some one s gaze was upon me, and I 
 lifted my eyes to see, standing before me, 
 the disheveled and unkempt figure of a 
 woman. This seemed like an apparition. 
 But the woman, having caught my eye, 
 looked long and steadily at me. Traces of 
 a bygone beauty were apparent in her worn 
 and haggard countenance ; she was pale and 
 trembling. She spoke, and her voice sounded 
 cracked and far away : 
 
 " My husband ! He has been killed, and 
 you have proved a friend in time of death. 
 May the blessing of Almighty God fall upon 
 you ! " 
 
 The roots of my hair felt a tickling cold 
 play among them ; here was another actor 
 from my dream. What had I done that I 
 should be thus tormented? Then I became 
 rational. 
 
84 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 " Can I be of service to you, madam ?" I 
 inquired. "And is it indeed your husband 
 who has been killed ? " 
 
 " Thomas Griffith, my poor husband, is 
 dead. I, his wretched wife, who should have 
 died long ago in his stead, am left to mourn 
 his loss." The unhappy woman burst into 
 choking, tearless sobs. 
 
 I was glad she was not aware that I knew 
 the story of her life. She nevertheless vol 
 unteered to me the information that she was 
 about to return to her daughter and her 
 home, and to undertake the duties of the 
 widow and mother. 
 
 I asked her, as a test question, if she loved 
 her daughter very much. 
 
 " Love her ! " she cried. " ]S"o mother ever 
 loved a child more than I love my daughter 
 now ! And oh, how she has suffered ! and 
 all through my neglect ! " Here her voice 
 lowered to a whisper, as she continued, to 
 herself, "And to think that Rose is a mother 
 now !" 
 
 This was all I heard for some moments, as 
 my unexpected visitor mumbled inaudibly to 
 
THE DEATH OF THE MURDERER. 85 
 
 herself. At length an expression came into 
 her face such as had not been there before. 
 Her eyes flashed ; the color mounted to her 
 faded cheeks. She sprang forward and seized 
 my arm. 
 
 " Dooner," she moaned, " is the cause of it 
 all." 
 
 "What has Dooner to do with it?" I 
 asked. 
 
 She drew herself up proudly, and made 
 answer : 
 
 " He insulted my daughter. My husband, 
 who saw him arrive at the Junction by an 
 early morning train, chased him. Dooner 
 was scared and ran up the track. I saw 
 them coming from where I was a-sitting on 
 a fence by the railroad up there" (pointing). 
 
 " When Dooner saw me he got worse 
 scared, and crossed the track right in front 
 of an up express.* Bad luck to him, he got 
 across all right. But my husband tripped 
 and fell on the track. And, oh my God ! 
 before I could run to him, the engine struck 
 
 * Train bound for New York. 
 
86 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 him. It sent him up, up, into the air, and 
 out of sight. At least out of my sight, for 
 after that I didn t know any more. I must 
 have fainted dead away and have fallen and 
 rollen down the bank ; for when I came to I 
 was a-laying in a swampy place, where the 
 railroad was away above me and up a hill." 
 
 The lamenting woman waved her arms in 
 wild gesticulation. She began to sway from 
 faintness, so that I thought she would fall. 
 I stood up to hold her, but she motioned me 
 away. Clutching a post, the contact with 
 such support returned her her strength. 
 Once more she drew herself erect, though 
 slowly ; and she let one hand rest upon the 
 post as she again addressed me. 
 
 "When I got my wits about me and 
 remembered what had happened, I almost 
 swooned again. But I kept myself from 
 a-going off, and I climbed up by the railroad 
 tracks and started to hunt for my poor hus 
 band. 
 
 " The day must have been well started 
 when I first came to, for the sun was high 
 up. Well, I hunted and searched for the 
 
THE DEATH OF THE MURDERER. 87 
 
 longest while, round about the place where 
 the engine had thrown my poor man into the 
 air. I kept a-calling out Tom ! Tom ! all 
 the time, but no voice answered. Then a 
 man came w r alking along the tracks. He 
 asked me what I was looking for. I told 
 him. You ll find the body up to the sta 
 tion ; they ve carried it there, says he. 
 1 Then he s dead ? I screamed at him. The 
 man looked solemn and nodded his head. 
 Then I sank down on my knees, and he told 
 me how he was sorry for me. Sorry ! says 
 I ; I want no sympathy, thank you ! I got 
 up and left him, and came here to the station. 
 Still I couldn t find my husband s body ; but 
 I learned what had become of it, and how 
 kind and charitable you had been. And I 
 had you pointed out to me ; and here I am 
 before you, and to thank you " 
 
 I interposed. 
 
 " I merely did my duty, madam ; and, be 
 lieve me, I feel deep gratitude to your hus 
 band for a service he once rendered me. In 
 life I have never repaid him for this service ; 
 so permit me to do so now." I drew forth 
 
88 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 my wallet, took out a fifty-dollar bill, and 
 tendered it to her. But she drew back, 
 and stiffly remarked, 
 
 " I thank you, but I am not a beggar, 
 sir!" 
 
 " I see that plainly, and I had no thought 
 of offering this to you for yourself. It is for 
 your daughter and your little grandchild; 
 indeed, your daughter need never know how 
 you came by it." 
 
 " For my daughter and her little one ! " the 
 woman said, passionately. " Oh, good gentle 
 man, you are too kind, too kind ! I shall 
 take the money, if it is for them. But no : 
 first, I must know of the service my husband 
 performed for you, and which you state is 
 unpaid for." 
 
 This was unexpected, and I felt my situa 
 tion an embarrassing one. However, I haz 
 arded a reply to this point-blank question. 
 
 " I beg that you press me no further on 
 this matter. The service was a great service. 
 And if you take me to be a gentleman, since 
 thus you called me, I trust that you will give 
 due credit to the word of a gentleman; i 
 
THE DEATH OF THE MURDERER. 89 
 
 assure you that this money is a trifle to me 
 compared with the value of the service per 
 formed. Allusion to this service gives me 
 pain, and I therefore request that you regard 
 my feelings." 
 
 The woman looked at me keenly for a mo 
 ment, as if to read my thoughts ; then her 
 gaze fell, and she said simply, 
 
 " I accept the money, gracious gentleman, 
 and I shall ever pray the good Lord to bless 
 you for your kindness." 
 
 I have always disliked thanks, so I has 
 tened to draw my conversation with Mrs. 
 Griffith to a close. I told her I had made 
 the arrangements for the interment of her 
 husband, and that she need call but once 
 upon the funeral director, and then only to 
 make him a small payment which would be 
 due after the burial. 
 
 The platform began to vibrate more and 
 more until a heavy train rolled up to the sta 
 tion. I bade farewell to the poor widow, and 
 clambered to the platform of the rear car, 
 where I stood while the train got under way. 
 Before turning a bend in the road, which 
 
90 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 would hide the depot from view, I could still 
 see the widow of the misshapen man stand 
 ing, looking after me ; then, even as I saw 
 her, she turned and walked away. And I 
 judged she would return to her daughter. 
 
PART II. 
 
 TRAXQUIL was the water, the weather, balmy. 
 
 I sailed the summer sea 
 In careless mood, until the skies grew stormy : 
 
 And then, ah, woe was me ! 
 
 A tempest wild arose. It broke, and, raging, 
 
 Tossed my boat to and fro. 
 But back to the Isle of my childhood, changing, 
 
 I swept, willing or no. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 AT NEWPORT. 
 
 I WAS to meet Miss Blumer at the Casino 
 at half-past twelve o clock. The Van Den 
 nis s ball of the night previous had been 
 a long affair. I had been obliged to remain 
 until after daybreak, as young Van Dennis, 
 a very good fellow, had especially requested 
 me to stay and have a little chat with him 
 and other friends when the rest of the guests 
 had departed. I hadn t seen as much of 
 Miss Blumer as I should have liked. She was 
 always dancing whenever I wished to speak 
 with her. This put me in a very bad humor. 
 I am not a dancing man myself. A number 
 of girls sat out dances with me ; but Miss 
 Blumer s manner had been most exasper 
 ating. The only time I succeeded in getting 
 a word with her was previous to the last 
 dance, before the grand march to supper. 
 
94 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 On this occasion I had just bowed away her 
 other attendant, and was in the act of tak 
 ing his vacated seat beside her, when the 
 orchestra struck up a waltz. Immediately, 
 and as if by magic, three men presented 
 themselves in a row before us. Each asked 
 Miss Blumer if he might be her partner for 
 the dance. 
 
 " I regret very much that I shall be 
 obliged to refuse you all, as I have this 
 dance engaged," she replied, inclining her 
 head and smiling sweetly. 
 
 At this my heart beat faster within me, 
 and I am sure my face reddened, for I felt 
 conscious that Miss Blumer was refusing 
 these men s attentions for my company. 
 The men evidently thought so, for they 
 scowled at me, and at one another, and then 
 went away. But they were mistaken. I 
 saw that, though Miss Blumer entertained 
 me, she had a preoccupied manner. When 
 on the point of remarking that " I felt highly 
 honored in that she should wish to sit out a 
 dance with a stupid such as I," an unex 
 pected interruption occurred. The dance 7? ad 
 
AT NEWPORT. 95 
 
 really been engaged, for the tardy partner 
 put in his appearance; Miss Blumer arose 
 and glided off with him into the maze of 
 dancers, smiling bewitchingly after me as 
 she disappeared in the throng. T hated that 
 fellow and resolved to show him an example 
 of my contempt whenever the opportunity 
 to do so might arise. 
 
 "Well, I had been in Newport for about a 
 week ; and, ever since my arrival, I had been 
 made tolerably miserable by the unaccount 
 able actions of Miss Blumer. She was always 
 perplexing me, in spite of which I found my 
 self constantly dancing attendance upon her, 
 only to be put off and to be rendered the 
 more perplexed by her. And now, even now, 
 I was going to meet her. I resolved that I 
 would ask her why she had left me at the 
 ball, to go off with another man. I felt that 
 she had no right to leave me as she had done. 
 For another man, too ! Ha ! it made me furi 
 ous, violently furious, to think of it. Then 
 I laughed at myself. I laughed as I locked 
 my room door and took the key out, and I 
 laughed as I went downstairs. 
 
96 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 "What s the joke?" inquired a familiar 
 voice. 
 
 I looked up indignantly. It was Trotter, 
 Bobby Trotter, the gay old beau. He was 
 dressed in immaculate golf costume of enor 
 mous check pattern, and his spindly legs, 
 below the knees, were incased in heavy 
 stockings not heavy enough, however, to 
 conceal the thin appearance of his person. 
 
 "Which way are you going, Hall?" he 
 asked, as I attempted to pass him. 
 
 " Don t know," I answered abruptly. 
 
 " Oh well, Hall, don t be impatient ; haul 
 me along with you." And he chuckled away 
 at his stupid pun until his face became crim 
 son. What was still more annoying, he 
 linked arms with me, and accompanied me 
 to the hotel office. 
 
 "Going out?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Well, then, come and hit one with me ; 
 here s the bar." 
 
 I answered that I did not care to drink so 
 early, but that I intended getting a bite of 
 something in the dining-room, before start 
 ing out. I had not yet breakfasted. 
 
AT NEWPORT. 97 
 
 " Ah, well, I m not finicky, so I ll be good- 
 natured and come and have a cocktail in the 
 lunch-room with you I prefer the bar 
 while you re taking your late repast. / 
 breakfasted hours ago." 
 
 I didn t care if he had. Trotter always 
 nettled me, and still he unceasingly sought 
 my company. Seated at the table, I ordered 
 ham and eggs, and Trotter raised his mon 
 ocle and squinted through it at me. 
 
 "Country fare," said he, "country fare. 
 Why do you not order a little fois gras, but 
 tered toast and a pint of Pontet Canet, if 
 this is your dejeuner ? " 
 
 He ordered his cocktail, and when it was 
 brought in on a tray with my breakfast he 
 remarked that he hoped the proximity of the 
 ham and eggs had not hurt the flavor of his 
 beverage. I made my meal a short one, for 
 I was in a hurry to be off. By the time my 
 companion had emptied his glass, 1 had fin 
 ished my repast. 
 
 "Whither now?" asked Trotter. 
 
 " I m going to the Casino to keep an en 
 gagement," I answered, rising from the table. 
 
98 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 "Whom with, you naughty, naughty 
 boy? A young lady, to be sure, I presume, 
 and a mighty pretty one at that, if it is Miss 
 Blumer?" 
 
 My cheeks grew hot ; I felt like throwing 
 something at the old dude. 
 
 " There, there, do not blush, do not blush. 
 I knew it, you see. Indeed everybody knows 
 it, deah boy. Mrs. Blumer says she is 
 greatly pleased. I congratulate you upon 
 your choice." 
 
 " Congratulate me upon what choice ?" I 
 blundered. 
 
 " Don t act like a fool, Hall. Own up like 
 a man. When will the engagement be an 
 nounced ?" 
 
 I was angry, and must have shown it, for 
 Trotter added, 
 
 " There, there, don t be cross. I hate 
 scenes. I apologize if I have offended you. 
 It is common talk that you are engaged to 
 Miss Blumer. I merely wished to ask you, 
 as a friend, if it is true?" 
 
 " Miss Blumer has not so honored me," I 
 replied, "and I can tell you there is no truth 
 in such report." 
 
AT NEWPORT. 99 
 
 "All right, deah boy, all right. Enough s 
 enough, and we have spoken enough on this 
 subject, I see. ISTow, I think, we ll part com 
 pany, if you do not object, for I know of some 
 chaps who are going over to the links to have 
 a game, and I think I shall join them." 
 
 Of course I did not object. 
 
 " Au revoir but not good-bye," Trotter 
 sang out as he strode away. 
 
 I regretted that it was not good-bye to 
 him. And I made my way to the Casino. 
 Here I found Miss Blumer strolling before 
 the building in company with a couple of 
 men. She did not observe my approach, and 
 my heart beat quickly as I looked at her, for 
 she was very beautiful. I am an ignoramus 
 on the subject of woman s dress, but I could 
 not help observing how faultlessly Miss 
 Blumer was attired. In figure and bearing 
 she was tall and stately. She had black 
 hair that she wore at the back of her shapely 
 head, in a coil, through which was thrust a 
 chased gold poniard ; in the hilt of the pon 
 iard glittered a single, large emerald. This 
 fashion of hair-dress was a characteristic ; 
 she never varied it. Now she whose atten- 
 
100 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 tion had thus far apparently been engrossed, 
 listening to a recital of one of the men 
 looked up. Her dark eyes sparkled as they 
 met the sun s rays, and she nodded to me 
 and quickened her pace. I had been look 
 ing but at her; as I came up to the trio, 
 imagine my intense surprise to find that one 
 was Tyndall. 
 
 " I ran up to see how you were getting 
 along," he said casually, and looking me 
 coolly in the eye. Then he cast a rapid 
 glance full of meaning towards the young 
 lady, which she (fortunately, I thought) did 
 not observe. At this ungallant conduct I 
 burned inwardly with rage. I should give 
 Tyndall a piece of my mind when I had 
 him by himself. The other man was Miss 
 Blumer s waltz partner of the night before. 
 Now both men lifted their hats to Miss 
 Blumer and took their departure. Tyndall 
 did not so much as give me a glance as he 
 strolled away. 
 
 " Let us take a walk along the bluff; I do 
 so love to watch the breakers ! " said Miss 
 Blumer. 
 
AT NEWPORT. 101 
 
 We accordingly turned our way seaward. 
 
 " What brought Tyndall up here, do you 
 know ?" I asked. 
 
 " Doctor Tyndall ? He came to see me. 
 What do you think ?" Miss Blumer replied. 
 Then she watched me languidly, through 
 half-closed eyes, as if to study the effect her 
 words might have upon me. I judge I am 
 a poor hand at concealing my feelings. I 
 invariably remember a little too late that my 
 face is an index to my thoughts, through its 
 expression. 
 
 Miss Blumer laughed : 
 
 " Why, you droll fellow ; I do believe you 
 are jealous of any attention to me other than 
 your own." Then her eyelids drooped, and 
 she became silent and pensive. 
 
 I spoke up heatedly, 
 
 " Indeed I am jealous, jealous of every 
 body you have anything to do with. Do 
 you not care for me, just a little bit?" 
 
 " Mr. Hall, you know I like you I count 
 you among my dearest friends." 
 
 " Oh pshaw ! Friends ! you always put 
 me off that way." 
 
102 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE, 
 
 " Why, Mr. Hall, what do you mean ? I 
 am afraid I do not understand you." 
 
 " I mean " 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 " I mean " 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 Well, why couldn t I say what I meant ? 
 Whenever my opportunity came to tell Miss 
 Blumer of my love for her, I found I had not 
 the power. I was agitated, but I could not 
 think of a fitting way to introduce the sub 
 ject of my heart s desire. As Miss Blumer 
 said nothing to relieve my embarrassment, 
 and as she waited to hear me out, I felt that 
 I must say something without further delay, 
 so I stammered, 
 
 " I mean that I want to be the only one 
 to pay you attention." 
 
 Miss Blumer turned and, looking me full 
 in the face, said, 
 
 " Oh, I m tired ; let s go back to the 
 Casino and get an ice." 
 
 Now, this is an example of the treatment 
 which I was constantly receiving from Miss 
 Blumer. I could not understand why she 
 
AT NEWPORT. 103 
 
 would make an appointment with me to go 
 upon a walk or an excursion, and then, 
 when we had started, would suddenly ap 
 pear bored and wish to turn back. This 
 time I pleaded with the perverse young 
 lady, for it made me desperate to be thus 
 trifled with. But, having once set her mind 
 on returning, nothing that I could say would 
 cause her to alter her course. So neither of 
 us was in a very amiable mood, as we re 
 traced our steps. 
 
 On the way up the Casino walk Tyndall 
 met us. This time his manners were fault 
 less. He raised his hat gracefully to Miss 
 Blumer and greeted her politely. Then he 
 addressed me in a hearty, sincere, and open 
 fashion, telling me that he was delighted to 
 see me. He continued to make himself 
 agreeable, and begged Miss Blumer that he 
 might accompany us. Permission granted, 
 we strolled along. Tyndall was jolly and 
 entertaining, and he recounted a number of 
 amusing anecdotes. As I regained my good 
 humor I felt that it might be as well that 
 Miss Blumer had insisted upon turning back. 
 
104 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 Perhaps she really did not entertain the feel 
 ings for me that I had hoped to have aroused 
 in her. I decided to abide the proper time, 
 and to curb my impatience. 
 
 We went onto the porch of the Casino and 
 chose a small table, where we seated our 
 selves and ordered some refreshments. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Hall," said Miss Blumer, clap 
 ping her daintily gloved hands, (i I have 
 heard all about your great business plan and 
 I heartily approve of it. I do think that 
 every man ought to do something, whether 
 he be rich or poor. And it is so fine that 
 you want to make a name for yourself. Put 
 me down for one of your prospective cus 
 tomers of Madeira lace. I hear it is beauti 
 ful." 
 
 I looked at Tyndall inquiringly, and he 
 nodded and smiled. So I said to Miss 
 Blumer, 
 
 " I should have told you this before, but I 
 had regarded it as a business secret." 
 
 Here Tyndall interrupted, 
 
 " It is a business secret, but you surely do 
 not object to Miss Blumer s knowing?" 
 
AT NEWPORT. 105 
 
 I felt my face turn red, and I stammered, 
 
 " Of course not." 
 
 Then I went on to tell Miss Blumer that 
 Tyndall and I had discussed the matter but 
 once together, and that no steps were as yet 
 contemplated for the taking up of the project. 
 
 Miss Blumer expressed her disappointment 
 at this information, and she said, 
 
 " Oh, but you surely will go into such a 
 splendid enterprise ? Mr. Tyndall has told 
 me all about it, and if you wish to please 
 me, go into it." 
 
 I thanked Miss Blumer for her interest in 
 me, and told her that I now felt I must 
 assuredly show my appreciation of such a 
 compliment by taking the matter up. It 
 made me intensely happy to think that she 
 cared what I did. 
 
 A number of friends now joined us, so we 
 all went off to the links to have a game be 
 fore dinner. It was evening ere I succeeded 
 in getting word in private with Tyndall. 
 
 "SJie wishes that I go into the business," 
 was my chief thought. 
 
 Tyndall and I sat together discussing 
 
106 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 business topics until a late hour ; and, when 
 we retired, he took a room next to mine, at 
 the Cliff House. The day following was to 
 witness a magnificent regatta between three 
 of the fastest sailing boats afloat. It prom 
 ised to be the event of the late season. I had 
 been invited to view the marine spectacle from 
 the deck of the Van Dennis yacht. Miss 
 Blumer and her mother would also be among 
 the guests. A note had just been brought 
 to my room from Van Dennis, giving me 
 permission to bring my friend Tyndall. 
 
 I was aroused at daybreak by a knocking 
 at my door, which I opened to find Tyndall, 
 dressed, and wanting me to go out with him 
 to see the sun rise. 
 
 "What an energetic chap you are !" I said. 
 " Seeing it s you, I ll go." I guessed, and 
 rightly, that the sunrise was a pretext of 
 Tyndall s to get me out, in order that he, in 
 his impatience, might continue his talk on 
 business matters. We went down to the 
 water and had a look at the yachts which had 
 come in to be present at the regatta. The 
 sky was still flooded with golden light, for 
 
AT NEWPORT. 107 
 
 the sun was not yet high, and there were 
 fleecy clouds that caught its slanting rays. 
 Many yachts lay at their moorings, and 
 aboard them uniformed sailors were busily 
 engaged in scrubbing decks, hoisting colors, 
 and getting things in proper readiness for 
 the day s festivities. 
 
 My spirits rose, and I felt thrilled with 
 enthusiasm at the prospect. A barefooted 
 urchin passed near us crying out, " Morn 
 ing papers ! " 
 
 I hailed him and asked if he had any Phila 
 delphia papers. He looked scornfully up at 
 me and replied, 
 
 " Never have em, sir ; you can t git Phila 
 delphia newspapers nowheres round here." 
 
 " Have you the ]N"ew York Times f, then ?" 
 I inquired. 
 
 " To-day s New York papers haven t come 
 in yet." 
 
 " Well, then, what have you ? " 
 
 " Got the Pawtucket and Providence 
 papers, sir." 
 
 " Give me the Providence Journal," I said. 
 Tyndall bought a Pawtucket Post. 
 
108 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 We pocketed the morning news, and set 
 off on our return to the hotel. The early 
 outing had made us very hungry. We sat 
 down to breakfast prepared to do full justice 
 to what might be set before us. 
 
 When the waiter had duly filled our gob 
 lets with ice water and had taken orders, we 
 unfolded our newspapers for brief perusal. 
 As was his custom, Tyndall looked first to 
 the financial news. I noticed this and then 
 turned my attention to the Journal s first 
 page. I always begin a paper by glancing 
 through its dispatch columns. First the 
 headings : 
 
 " Foreign News ;" " The London Letter ;" 
 " Burned Alive;" "Japan again Victorious;" 
 " To-day s Regatta." 
 
 " Foreign News ;" I ll read that later. 
 
 " The London Letter ;" that can wait. 
 
 " Burned Alive ;" ah hem ! that sounds 
 exciting. 
 
AT NEWPORT. 109 
 
 BURNED ALIVE! 
 
 Frightful Fate of a Prominent Author and 
 his Family. 
 
 Special to the JOURNAL. 
 
 HOLMESJJURG, PA., August 19. 
 
 One of the most terrible fires ever known in this 
 locality took place to-night. 
 
 The residence of Stedman Tracy, the well-known 
 author, was hidden in the midst of great, tree- 
 grown, ancestral grounds ; and its burning was 
 only discovered when flames shot high into the air 
 and the five was well under way. In fact when the 
 first of the crowd attracted by the blaze did arrive 
 on the scene of the disaster they were too late to 
 render assistance to the unfortunate occupants, for 
 a mass of charred and flickering ruins was all that 
 remained of the building. 
 
 And the firemen, too, who came about this time, 
 are now working to find the bodies of the victims. 
 
 A woman in the service of the Tracys made her 
 escape, and states that sh e occupied a room on the 
 ground floor, and that the fire started somewhere 
 in the story above, in the sleeping apartments. 
 
 The hour was well on to midnight and the 
 Tracys had all retired early when the woman 
 awoke to a sense that she was surrounded by 
 smoke and flame. She barely managed to save 
 her own life. It is feared that not one of the family 
 escaped, but that all perished within the burning 
 
 walls 
 
 8 
 
110 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 I could read no more-. My sight dimmed, 
 and I trembled violently. It took all my 
 strength to keep myself from falling upon 
 the floor. ~Not a word could I say, but 
 when Tyndall looked at me he told me I was 
 pale as a ghost. He became greatly con 
 cerned, and pressed me to tell what ailed me. 
 To him I paid no heed. Kising unsteadily 
 from the table, I left the dining room. It 
 was difficult for me to walk. My head felt 
 light, and objects waved before my eyes. 
 
 " My dream," I thought ; " my dream : it 
 has come true." 
 
 I was conscious of being regarded curi 
 ously as I passed along the hall to the 
 staircase. I ascended to my bedchamber, 
 entered, and slammed the door. Tyndall 
 had followed me. His voice came from 
 without : 
 
 " Let me in. Let me know your trouble!" 
 
 I told him to leave me to myself for a little 
 while, stating that I might join him later. 
 Anything to get rid of him and of every one 
 for a few moments. Tyndall went away. I 
 flung myself upon the bed, and, though it 
 
AT NEWPORT. Ill 
 
 may have been unmanly, I burst into tears. 
 I^ow I knew whom I loved. I loved Emily 
 Tracy. I always had loved her, it seemed ; 
 and yet I had only just discovered it. 1 
 tore my hair, and raved in the madness of 
 despair. 
 
 "Emily, Emily, Emily!" 
 
 I pulled at the features of my face, and 
 contorted myself, as in a fit. 
 
 Oh, what a fool I was ! Why had I left 
 Philadelphia? Had not my dream come as 
 a prediction to me, and had I not awakened 
 to immediately realize part of it ? I felt as 
 though guilty of some dreadful crime. 
 
 "All dead !" I sobbed in my misery. "All 
 dead, and they perished as in my dream. 
 Why did I not warn them in time? Or 
 why, at least, did not I, myself, take heed 
 from the vivid happenings of n\y dream ? I 
 should have watched and waited. 
 
 A feeling seized me that I was the victim 
 of delusion : 
 
 It could not be that the Tracys house had 
 really burned, and that my love had been 
 lost. I still grasped the paper containing 
 
112 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 the dread report, I smoothed it out. The 
 heading, "Burned Alive," was all that I 
 could see. 
 
 "Sensational title. What if the report is 
 false ? It may be. It is ! " I almost 
 shouted. Then I grew calmer. I began to 
 reason : " The report may be true in part. 
 The dispatch was evidently received quite 
 late and but shortly before this paper went 
 to press, for the statement is that the fire 
 did not occur until about twelve o clock last 
 night. After all, though the paper says, It 
 is feared that not one of the family escaped/ 
 it may not be so." 
 
 My memory brought before me handsome, 
 dashing Miss Gertrude : I could not believe 
 her dead. I thought of kind Mr. Tracy, 
 and of sweet Mrs. Tracy. Could it be pos 
 sible that they were no more ? 
 
 My pulses throbbed, and I grew hot and 
 cold alternately, in the intensity of my feel 
 ings. I clung in recollection to the people 
 with whom I associated so many past joys 
 and true happinesses. Thoughts of my 
 dream again recurred to me. "Emily still 
 
AT NEWPORT. 113 
 
 lives," I told myself, " for she survived the 
 fire in my dream." 
 
 Oh idle laggard and wretched mope that 
 I felt myself to be ! I beat my chest and 
 sprang to my feet. Inactive no longer 
 should I be. *" Find Emily Tracy ! " This 
 was now r my resolve. I rushed about the 
 room like a madman, collecting my clothes 
 and various belongings, and tossing them, 
 pellmell, into my steamer trunk. Not once 
 did I think of Miss Blumer. Soon ready 
 for departure, I descended to the hotel office. 
 The bus was at the door ; and I found my 
 self just in time to catch the morning boat 
 and to make connection with a through 
 train to New York. 
 
 At the wharf Tyndall met me. He said 
 he was awaiting my arrival. Having noted 
 that I had been disturbed by something in 
 the morning paper, and having failed to 
 learn from me the cause of my distemper, 
 he had searched carefully through his own 
 newspaper. He found a dispatch about the 
 Tracy disaster and guessed that this it was 
 which affected me. The boat was about to 
 
Ill A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 leave ; Tyndall expressed deep sympathy for 
 me and wished me a safe journey and good 
 fortune. I asked him to make my excuses 
 to the Yan Dennises for my non-attendance 
 at the yachting party. He said he would 
 do so ; he made no reference to either Mrs. 
 Blumer or her daughter. In this I appre 
 ciated his good sense. Tyndall and T 
 parted, though, as I stepped aboard, he 
 called to me : 
 
 " I shall follow you to Philadelphia in a 
 couple of days. I would go with you now 
 but that I fear you may not wish my com 
 panionship." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SHE WHOM I LOVE. 
 
 SUFFICE it to say, in referring to my 
 journey to Philadelphia by way of New 
 York, that I passed the time in a fever of 
 anxiety. When the express from Jersey 
 City whizzed by Holmesburg Junction, I 
 felt it hard to restrain myself from jumping 
 from my car. At Germantown Junction 
 the panting engine slowed, and came to a 
 momentary standstill. I alighted, in the 
 hope of catching a way-train back to 
 Holmesburg; in this I was not disappointed. 
 
 Never shall I forget the smallest incident 
 connected with that eventful night. Since 
 then I have been a changed man : a man 
 graver, a man sadder. 
 
 I ran the entire distance from the depot at 
 Holmesburg Junction to the home of the 
 late misshapen man. The Griffith woman 
 met me in the doorway ; she was standing 
 
IK! A BIO (JRA P1I1CA L R OMAS UL\ 
 
 there when I came up. By the light of a 
 street lamp across the way, she looked even 
 more ghastly than when I had last seen her, 
 and in her face T seemed to read the tale of 
 an awful and more recent catastrophe than 
 the death of her husband. She greeted me 
 with an outstretched, trembling hand, and 
 for the space of a full minute, though her 
 lips moved, she was unable to utter a sound. 
 Did I read her thoughts ? 
 
 " Tell me the worst ! " I cried. " What is 
 it? 1 
 
 Still she did not speak, and I felt in a tor 
 ment of suspense. 
 
 " The Tracys ! " I gasped. " Tell me ! " 
 
 My heart stopped beating; heavy drops 
 of sweat blurred my sight. Was it a fate 
 that confronted me ? I listened to a voice, 
 broken and weary : 
 
 " Such a wicked fire never burned before ! 
 The good folks died in their beds. And 
 poor, dear Miss Emily ! " 
 
 "What?" I asked, choking, as 1 seized 
 my informant s arm and looked earnestly 
 into her face. 
 
SEE WHOM I LOVE. 117 
 
 " She s the only one alive." 
 
 "Alive!" I ejaculated, "alive! I thank 
 Heaven. But is she uninjured?" 
 
 For a brief space there was no answer ; I 
 grew embarrassed under a gaze, quizzical 
 and then comprehensive, of Mrs. Griffith s. 
 At length she said, 
 
 "Not a hair of Miss Emily s head was 
 burned. Miss Gertrude rescued her, in 
 stead of saving herself." 
 
 " Is Miss Gertrude dead?" 
 
 " She died from the effects of her burns, 
 early this morning. She was buried to 
 night, about sundown. It is Miss Emily 
 now I pity most, for her poor soul is wrung 
 with sorrow, and she pleads and longs to 
 die." 
 
 " Where is she ? " I asked, unable to say 
 more, as I leaned against the doorway, weak 
 from the intensity of my feelings. 
 
 " At Doctor Townsend s ; where she was 
 taken directly she was saved, from burning, 
 by her sister." 
 
 "And did Miss Gertrude really rescue her 
 at the risk of her own life ? " 
 
Us A BiaORAPHIGAL ROMANCE. 
 
 By way of reply Mrs. Griffith handed me 
 a newspaper. It was that evening s Phila 
 delphia Bulletin. 
 
 " Read for yourself; there s a full account, 
 and better than I can give you," she said. 
 
 My eyes fastened upon the column to 
 which she pointed. It was on the front 
 page, and the article was headed by a 
 double-column picture entitled, " The Late 
 Miss Gertrude Tracy ; A JSToble Heroine." 
 Mrs. Griffith invited me into her dwelling, 
 but I declined. I crossed the alley to the 
 street lamp, and by its dim light hastily 
 scanned the detailed account of the fire. 
 Then I returned the paper to Mrs. Griffith 
 and, bidding her " good-night," hurried to 
 Dr. Townsend s house. 
 
 The doctor answered the door in person. 
 He looked very grave, and I could see that 
 he was deeply afflicted. He had been a close 
 and dear friend to Mr. Tracy and his family. 
 Though I had never before met Dr. Town- 
 send I knew him by reputation to be an 
 excellent physician and a man of fine charac 
 ter. Briefly introducing myself to him as a 
 
SHE WHOM I LOVE. 119 
 
 friend of the Tracys, I asked to see Miss 
 Emily. 
 
 He stated that many friends had been there 
 that day, but that under no circumstances 
 would he sanction anybody s seeing the 
 young lady for at least a fortnight. She 
 was under the care of a trained nurse, and 
 suffering from an acute attack of nervous 
 prostration. 
 
 ]N"ot wishing to detain the doctor too long, 
 I left him my sympathy, and departed. 
 JSText, visiting the scene of the late disas 
 trous conflagration, the first sight of the 
 charred ruins only added to my sickening 
 sorrow. With a heavy heart I returned to 
 town. 
 
 *******& 
 
 A few days later the will of the late Mr. 
 Tracy was published. Miss Emily fell heir 
 ess to the entire estate, valued at some 
 $250,000. The old Tracy homestead was put 
 up at auction, and, to my great surprise, the 
 purchaser was Tyndall. He had just returned 
 to Philadelphia. I called on him : I could 
 not understand what my friend should wish 
 
120 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 with a country place. Furthermore, I knew 
 that he possessed little or no money of his 
 own. He had been expecting to see me. He 
 said he was not surprised at my wonder and 
 curiosity regarding his purchase. He laughed 
 at me as he explained that he merely acted 
 as an agent in the matter. He had bought 
 the place for some one else, but the name of 
 that some one he declined to divulge. I could 
 not help being provoked at this secrecy from 
 me. Still I then thought that, as the trans 
 action did not directly concern me, it was 
 no business of mine to press an unwelcome 
 question. 
 
 I could not long remain absent from the 
 vicinity of the girl I loved. I journeyed to 
 Holmesburg about every twenty-four hours 
 for the simple satisfaction of hearing Dr. 
 Townsend s latest report on the condition 
 of his patient. Upon such visits I rarely 
 saw the doctor himself, though he always 
 left word with the maid at the door. Miss 
 Emily s illness was long and tedious. 
 
 It was after I had called at Dr. Townsend s 
 a number of times, and when he again an- 
 
SHE WHOM I LOVE. 121 
 
 swered the door in person, that I took occa 
 sion to make an apology for bothering him 
 so frequently. The doctor smiled kindly, and 
 answered, 
 
 " I know of but one other young man who 
 calls so persistently, inquiring after Miss 
 Tracy ; like yourself, he is a stranger to 
 me." 
 
 It seems needless to state that this remark 
 aroused my violent jealousy. Dr. Townsend 
 was a kindly, elderly man. I questioned him 
 closely concerning the appearance of my rival 
 visitor. He would leave no name at the doc 
 tor s. On learning his description I was 
 startled : it was that of Tyndall. I bade 
 good-day to the doctor and returned to the 
 city. 
 
 Tyndall w r as as usual in his office when I 
 rushed in upon him. I demanded to know if 
 he had been out to Holmesburg recently. 
 
 He looked surprised, and asked in turn if 
 anything were the matter. 
 
 " Most certainly something is the matter," 
 I answered. " You have been out to Holmes- 
 burg every day, have you not ? " 
 
122 A B10OEAPH1CAL ROMANCE. 
 
 "I have not," Tyndall quietly replied. 
 Then his eyes shone fiercety, and he leaned 
 forward in his office chair and remarked 
 curtly : "But what if I had? Should I have 
 to ask your permission?" 
 
 To this there appeared no reply that I 
 might suitably make. Tyndall had, figura 
 tively speaking, cornered me. He said he 
 had not been to Holmesburg, so I decided to 
 take his word. If the caller described by Dr. 
 Townsend was not Tyndall, then whom 
 might he be ? This I would discover. When 
 we resumed conversation on an amicable 
 basis, Tyndall said, 
 
 " If you very much want to know whether 
 I have been out to Holmesburg, I will tell 
 you that I have been there once ; it was when 
 I bought that Tracy property." 
 
 I spoke no more on the subject, but I 
 resolved to change the hour of my trip to 
 Holmesburg, that I might perchance en 
 counter my rival visitor. The following 
 evening I boarded a way-train for the Junc 
 tion. When I had seated myself I looked 
 up; Tyndall was approaching through the 
 
SHE WHOM I LOVE. 123 
 
 car. Now I seemed for once to have the 
 best of him. He started as I called out, 
 
 " Where are you going ?" 
 
 For the moment I felt sure I had discon 
 certed him. But he came forward and 
 greeted me cordially. 
 
 " This is luck," he said ; " I hope you are 
 going near my destination, which to-night is 
 Holmeshurg. I am running out to have a 
 look at the Tracy property, still mine pro 
 tempore. " 
 
 I told Tyndall that I was bound for the 
 same place whither he was going. At the 
 depot we parted. 
 
 Arriving before the doctor s door I tapped 
 his old-fashioned knocker, as ordinarily. The 
 doctor was not at home. He had gone away 
 for an absence of several days, the maid in 
 formed me. 
 
 " How was Miss Tracy ? " 
 
 " Oh, better, but mournful-like. Her aunt 
 called for her this morning, and took her 
 away." 
 
 " Away ? " I asked, " Where ? " 
 
 The servant could not tell me. 
 
124 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 " Is she not coming back ? " 
 
 " No, sir," the woman replied decisively. 
 
 When, at the depot, I again met Tyndall, 
 he noted immediately that something was 
 wrong with me. He had withheld his con 
 fidence from me, however, so I resolved to 
 tell him nothing of my present affairs. It 
 was in vain that he questioned me. 
 
 T shall not dwell upon the events of the 
 long-drawn days during which I made vari 
 ous and unsuccessful attempts at discovering 
 the whereabouts of her whom I loved. Suf 
 fice it to say that I eventually succeeded : 
 Miss Tracy had gone to the home of her 
 aunt in Chicago. I called to see Tyndall 
 before my departure west ; but his office was 
 closed, and he was absent from town. 
 
 During my westward journey I occupied 
 my time with the reading of a couple of Mr. 
 Tracy s latest books. On arriving in Chi 
 cago I went directly to the Auditorium 
 Hotel, where I engaged a room ; and then I 
 set out to find Miss Emily. Her aunt s 
 residence was situated on Michigan Avenue 
 near Twelfth Street. A short ride in the cab 
 
SHE WHOM I LOVE. 125 
 
 took me thither. The driver knew Miss 
 Stanley s house. He said to me, 
 
 " She is one of the most prominent ladies 
 in Chicago." 
 
 The dwelling of Miss Emily s aunt was 
 assuredly a magnificent building. To my 
 chagrin, it was closed. I applied to a next- 
 door neighbor for information. 
 
 Miss Stanley had left the city for an ex 
 tended tour in Europe. 
 
 " When did she depart? " 
 
 "About four days ago." 
 
 I almost lost my self-control. Here I had 
 come out to Chicago while Emily had gone 
 to New York. In my eagerness, I had un 
 wittingly been journeying away from her. 
 As my latest informant could furnish me with 
 no further particulars, I resumed my seat in 
 the cab, and drove to the nearest post-office. 
 Miss Stanley had left directions to have her 
 mail forwarded in care of Messrs. Brown 
 Brothers, London. This was all the satis 
 faction I had got by coming west. 
 
 I returned to my hotel, downcast and dis 
 heartened. Even yet Emily might be in 
 
126 .1 BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 ISTew York. But it would take me twenty- 
 four hours to reach there should I start im 
 mediately, and she might have sailed for 
 Europe ere I arrived. I ordered luncheon, 
 but, when it was served, found that I had 
 no appetite. I ate little or nothing. The 
 eastbound train for New York did not leave 
 until evening. The afternoon remained to 
 me to spend in Chicago nolens volens. 
 
 I sauntered to the office, where I took up 
 the hotel register and looked over the names 
 of the most recent arrivals. I could hardly 
 believe my eyes when they fell upon the 
 familiar signature of James Brown Tyndall. 
 
 " Is he here ?" I asked the clerk, reversing 
 the signature book and pointing to the name 
 of the doctor. 
 
 " Don t you see it for yourself, sir ?" re 
 plied the clerk testily. " He came last even 
 ing." 
 
 I scowled at the fellow for his rudeness. 
 But this was perplexing. I seated myself in 
 a chair facing a large window. Putting on 
 my "thinking cap" and gazing moodily out 
 into the street, I became oblivious of all im- 
 
SHE WHOM I LOVE. 127 
 
 mediate surroundings. So Tyndall was in 
 Chicago. What did his presence here mean? 
 Could it have anything to do with Miss 
 Tracy? Why such a thought as this oc 
 curred to me I do not know. Nevertheless, I 
 wondered, and as I wondered I grew angered 
 and agitated. " Whatever is his business 
 here," I assured myself, " I am the last per 
 son in the world he will expect to meet ! " 
 Hardly had I thought this when a hand was 
 clapped heavily upon my shoulder. 
 
 I sprang up in wrath, which turned to sur 
 prise when I found myself confronted with 
 the very man of whom I had been thinking. 
 
 His first words disconcerted me : 
 
 " You are the person I have been waiting 
 for. Though I must say I expected to have 
 had the pleasure of your company on my way 
 out here." 
 
 " Look here, Jim," I said, " how on earth 
 did you know I was coming to Chicago, and 
 what has brought you here yourself? " 
 
 " I came out on a matter of business which 
 is now completed. So far as knowing about 
 you is concerned, I may as well tell you that 
 
128 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 I know your little secret. Have you seen 
 Miss Tracy?" 
 
 I turned quickly upon him. 
 
 " Now T want to know from you exactly 
 what you know of Miss Tracy ? " 
 
 Tyndall shrugged his shoulders, and re 
 plied without hesitation, 
 
 "Why, old boy, don t I know you well 
 enough to be aware of your flirtation ? Be 
 sides, I belong to a medical society of which 
 Dr. Townsend is a member. I heard in a 
 roundabout way that Miss Tracy removed 
 to this city since her misfortune, and is now 
 living here with some relative, whose name 
 I forget. A friend of mine told me that you 
 had been to Holmesburg a couple of times, 
 and had sent flowers and all those sorts of 
 things out there. Now, to whom could you 
 be sending floral tributes in Holmesburg 
 save to Miss Tracy ? A great time you had 
 deciding between her and Miss Blumer ! 
 Didn t you tell me why you left Newport ?" 
 
 I acknowledged to Tyndall that he was 
 right in his conjecture. He then continued, 
 
 " I suppose you have been dancing attend- 
 
SHE WHOM I LOVE. 129 
 
 ance upon your lady ever since your arrival 
 out here this morning. If you have just 
 come from seeing her now, she must have 
 refused you, for I never saw any one look 
 more dejected." 
 
 It maddened me to hear Tyndall talk in 
 this way, and I abruptly turned the conver 
 sation. 
 
 " When do you return ?" I said, in a tone 
 rather sterner than the question in itself re 
 quired. 
 
 Tyndall observed my annoyance, and he 
 made no further reference to any subject 
 which was not agreeable. 
 
 We spent the remainder of the afternoon 
 seeing the sights of the city. Together we 
 took the evening train for home. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN SOCIETY S WHIRL. 
 
 ABOUT a week had elapsed since my re 
 turn from the West. I had gone to New 
 York only to find that I arrived there too 
 late. Miss Emily s and Miss Stanley s 
 names appeared on the passenger list of the 
 steamship Augusta Victoria : this vessel had 
 sailed from New York on the morning of 
 my arrival in Chicago. I discovered these 
 facts by consulting the shipping news in the 
 back files of the New York papers. At the 
 office of the Hamburg- American Line, 1 
 ascertained that the passengers in whose 
 movements I was interested were booked to 
 land at Cherbourg, France. Such informa 
 tion helped me but little, however. Cherbourg- 
 is a port that offers quick access to Paris : 
 the great majority of travellers landing at 
 Cherbourg are bound for the French me- 
 
/A T SOCIETY S WHIRL. 131 
 
 tropolis, and do not linger at the quaint sea- 
 coast town. 
 
 Considering the little I yet know of. Miss 
 Tracy s foreign destination, I had deemed 
 it would be unwise immediately to follow 
 her across the seas. I might have another 
 fruitless search for her. I immediately wrote 
 to Miss Stanley s London bankers, and, by 
 the same post, mailed a letter to Emily. In 
 the first writing I asked what Miss Stanley s 
 exact address might be a month ahead, as 
 nearly as her bankers could tell. 
 
 I had been a long time in preparing that 
 which I wrote in the second-mentioned letter. 
 It was to the girl whom I wished to make 
 my wife ; whether she answered me or no, I 
 should ever love but her. It had been a dif 
 ficult undertaking to put into words feelings 
 and longings that came from my heart s 
 depths. The subject required delicacy of 
 expression. And how many sheets of paper 
 I spoiled in the labor of composition 1 shall 
 not say. Neither shall I enter into detail 
 regarding the letter I finally succeeded in 
 penning to my satisfaction, and sent. Per- 
 
132 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 haps, for the sake of the thread of the story, 
 however, I should give my reader some idea 
 of its general drift. I realize that subse 
 quent events were largely brought about by 
 this writing. 
 
 To begin with, I told Miss Tracy of my 
 heartfelt sympathy with her in her grief and 
 bereavement. T craved her pardon and off 
 ered every apology for the abrupt manner in 
 which I had last left her. I begged that 
 she would permit me to follow and meet her, 
 wherever she might be, abroad. I told her, 
 that I did not care to live unless she would 
 forgive and let me see her once again. And 
 so I sent this letter on its way to her. For 
 the present there was nothing left for me to 
 do but wait. So I returned to Philadelphia. 
 
 People were coming back to the fashion 
 able quarters of town. I felt constrained to 
 go about a little. Forced inactivity and sus 
 pense weighed heavily upon me. I needed 
 diversion. The opening entertainment of 
 the season was about to be given by two 
 very good friends of mine, the Duanes, a 
 rich young couple, recently married. Duane 
 
IN SOCIETY S WHIRL. 133 
 
 asked me to come early ; so, when the even 
 ing for the dance arrived, I did so though 
 without availing myself of Mrs. Duane s 
 dinner invitation. 
 
 It was rumored that Mrs. Blumer felt this 
 event as a severe blow to her expectations 
 and plans for her winter s social campaign. 
 As had been her custom in the past, she had 
 returned to town " during the horribly torrid 
 weather," she explained to her intimates, 
 "for the express purpose" of getting her 
 house in readiness for the season s first 
 affair. Now the thought that " two young 
 things " had anticipated her " was most ex 
 asperating, most exasperating !" 
 
 I admired the Duanes taste in abstaining 
 from flourishing the particulars of their 
 dance in the columns of the press. Social 
 events should not be advertised like business 
 enterprises. Mrs. Blumer frequently sent 
 the society editors more material than they 
 could find space for. This I have heard on 
 good authority. 
 
 Well, as I have said, I was among the 
 first guests to arrive at the Duane dance. 
 
l:W A HWGRAPHICAL KOJUA^ OK 
 
 Outdoors, that evening, it was rainy and 
 disagreeable. People who had carriages 
 came in them. A conveyance was at the 
 door when I ascended the steps, and it was 
 Mrs. Blumer s, for I heard that lady s voice 
 in loud conversation. Embarrassed at the 
 thought of meeting the mother of the girl 
 toward whom I had so abruptly ceased my 
 attentions, I hurried into the house. Nor 
 was I a moment too soon, for Mrs. Blumer 
 followed closely. As I made my way 
 through the hall and to the staircase, I over 
 heard her remark to a companion, 
 
 " Yes, I have come, though, really, I was 
 undecided whether I should do so, until the 
 last moment. I am here because I felt it 
 my duty to society." 
 
 Dancing did not begin for some little 
 time, and in the reception room there per 
 vaded an awkward uncertainty of what to 
 do and say. People stood about in groups, 
 nodding and smiling at one another s every 
 remark. The hostess, a charming girl, was 
 surrounded by a lot of old ladies who were 
 praising her every action, in even monoto- 
 
Ltf SOCIETY S WHIRL. 135 
 
 nous voices. I moved about, and chatted 
 with various people. 
 
 As time passed, and as the room began to 
 fill with more frequent arrivals, I could not 
 help wondering though I wished to avoid 
 her why Mrs. Blumer did not make her 
 appearance. She had come so early, and 
 she was yet absent from the reception room ! 
 I asked myself how I should feel when I 
 encountered Miss Blumer. I could not 
 imagine. I judged, and I think rightly, that 
 Mrs. Blumer waited that she might make 
 her entry into a well-filled room. At length 
 I heard her name and that of her daughter 
 announced together with the names of a 
 number of others. Mrs. Blumer appeared 
 upon the scene, accompanied by several 
 young men; these were her retainers, who 
 acted at various functions in the capacity 
 of her social servants. They fluttered hither 
 and thither at her bidding. When she was 
 unnoticed by the beaux and leaders, she 
 had them at her beck and call to surround 
 her, and to keep her "a success." Mrs. 
 Blumer also brought with her several of 
 
136 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 the more conspicuous debutantes girls who 
 rouged and were actressy in dress and in 
 manner. Their duty it was to talk and tell 
 of Mrs. Blumer s entertainments. They ex 
 tolled her as " the " social leader, and implied 
 that her house was the place of meeting for 
 all society. Mrs. Blumer kept those in her 
 social employ remunerated. She carried ac 
 counts with the leading jewelers. She ran 
 these accounts by a system of occasional 
 small payments on account, and the return of 
 numerous and costly jewels taken for inspec 
 tion, but rarely actually purchased. Those 
 debutantes fortunate enough to be in the 
 employ of Mrs. Blumer always had the latest 
 things in jewelry supplied them free of 
 charge, for their personal adornment. 
 
 When the music commenced we were 
 ushered into the private ball-room. It was 
 spacious, and fitted throughout in costly 
 hard woods. In its brilliant illumination it 
 resembled an old baronial hall. Mrs. Duane 
 started the dancing with Van Dennis : he 
 had come over specially from New York for 
 that evening. 
 
IN SOCIETY S WHIRL. 137 
 
 The floor became awhirl with beautifully 
 gowned women and their partners. And, as 
 I am not a dancing man which I have be 
 fore remarked I took up my position near 
 the door and watched the passers-by. There 
 went Ashton, a man of the butterfly style, 
 flitting about from place to place; he was 
 bowing in a manner of condescension to 
 those he passed, and stopping ever and anon 
 to speak words of encouragement to a favored 
 few. 
 
 Here came that happy member of society, 
 the grinner, with face continually immersed 
 in smiles ; what a pleasant thing to feel 
 always in joyous mood ! 
 
 I saw the set-phrase conversationalist who, 
 armed with his schedule of topics and funny 
 stories, faced the ladies and, with appro 
 priate gesticulations and modulations, re 
 cited to them that which he had previously 
 memorized. Again, the patronizing man, 
 who slapped his masculine friends on their 
 backs, talked in a stentorian voice, and " got 
 off" poor jokes. The society martyr who 
 made mal-d-propos remarks : in consequence 
 
138 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 of which he was cut by every other acquaint 
 ance. 
 
 The awkward man, who caught his feet 
 in ladies trains, stumbled through the 
 dances, had a faculty of spilling things upon 
 one during supper time, and of rendering 
 his presence a general nuisance. 
 
 The contortionist, or young lady who 
 endeavors to make herself attractive by 
 rolling her eyes, and jumping up and down. 
 
 At length I tired of posing as an on 
 looker ; so I mingled with the non-dancing 
 procession and drifted around the room. 
 Near the walls and interspersed among the 
 plants and flowers were to be seen, here and 
 there, varieties of that artificial growth 
 flourishing at dances the wallflowers. 
 
 On several occasions I separated myself 
 from the promenaders, to join a friend or an 
 acquaintance. I had a tete-a-tete with a 
 girl who affected the grandiose mode of 
 speech : she referred to her one day s trip to 
 Washington as, " When we were south this 
 summer," and spoke of her visit to New 
 York as, " The stupid time I had over there." 
 
IN SOCIETY S WHIRL. 139 
 
 I stopped before the off-eyed beauty, but, 
 after a futile attempt at making her look at 
 me when she talked, I passed on to Miss 
 O Neil, who was biting her lips and showing 
 her dimples. 
 
 Next I chatted with Miss Florence, an 
 enthusiastic young lady, whose art of enter 
 taining consisted in bewildering one by her 
 profuseness and over-appreciation. 
 
 In duty bound, I spoke to the frank girl : 
 she told me that she bored people, and that 
 men were only attentive to her for her 
 mother s sake. 
 
 She was informing me of my own faults, 
 in an obliging manner, when I found myself 
 called elsewhere. 
 
 On passing a group of people who were 
 pronouncing Miss Blumer the belle of the 
 evening, I chanced to espy this lady among 
 the dancers. As I looked she caught my 
 eye, and smiled. " Now, " I thought, " I am 
 in for it ! " Miss Blumer guided herself to 
 her chair. I tried to escape her further 
 attention. But her eyes were upon me. I 
 felt them, and I was compelled to glance in 
 
140 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 her direction. Immediately she nodded. 
 There was nothing left to me but to join her. 
 She was seated beside Miss Thornton, a 
 great friend of Miss Emily Tracy s. 
 
 " Ah ! Good-evening, ladies," I said by 
 way of greeting. 
 
 Miss Blumer smiled bewitchingly, Avhile 
 Miss Thornton answered my salutation 
 pleasantly, but reservedly. 
 
 "How do you do, Mr. Hall? I am so 
 delighted to see you, you deserter ! " Miss 
 Blumer said. " Do sit down here, and talk 
 to me. That is, though, if you can spare 
 the time. You are in such demand that 
 I fear what I ask will be a self-sacrifice on 
 your part." 
 
 "Why, how absurd, Miss Blumer!" 1 
 stammered. 
 
 "Not absurd at all, Mr. Hall," Miss 
 Blumer went on. " You underestimate 
 yourself, I assure you. Why, you are the 
 admiration of all the girls and the envy of 
 every man here." 
 
 I grinned uncomfortably. " Oh, you are 
 joking." 
 
IN SOCIETY S WHIRL. 141 
 
 Miss Thornton glanced disdainfully at 
 Miss Blnmer, and then turned to me : 
 
 " Aren t you going to speak a word to me, 
 Mr. Hall?" 
 
 "Why, of course," I returned. "But 
 Miss Blumer has been flattering me to such 
 an extent that I haven t had a chance to say 
 anything, as yet." 
 
 Miss Thornton replied significantly, 
 
 "You mustn t believe all she says: she is 
 only in fun, you know." 
 
 Hereupon Miss Blumer glared at Miss 
 Thornton, and I became embarrassed. 
 
 "Don t you love waltzing?" asked Miss 
 Blumer, as the orchestra struck up. 
 
 " Yes," I answered absently. 
 
 "Oh, I do detest waltzes; don t you?" 
 Miss Thornton said, as if unconscious of 
 the previous remark. 
 
 " Yes indeed," I assented. Then, recall 
 ing suddenly the reply I had just given Miss 
 
 Blumer, I stammered, " That is to say, I - 
 )? 
 
 " Oh, I understand perfectly," Miss 
 Thornton remarked. She looked at me 
 
 10 
 
142 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 amusedly, coyly, and yet with interest. I 
 wished to speak with her about Miss Tracy, 
 so, as a would-be partner presented himself 
 to Miss Blumer, I asked, 
 
 " Will you promenade ? " 
 
 The remainder of the evening I spent in 
 company with Miss Thornton. Of course 
 she was not cognizant of my love for the 
 girl of whom we talked. The subject to 
 her was a welcome one, for she was a de 
 voted admirer of her friend. Miss Thornton 
 had already received a letter from Emily. 
 It was dated in Paris, where she and her 
 aunt were making a brief stay in order 
 to get thoroughly rested before renewing 
 their journey to Baden-Baden. Emily was 
 not yet equal to undergoing great fatigue, 
 though the change of travel had already 
 proved highly beneficial to her. She had 
 not stated how long they would remain in 
 Germany. 
 
 " She tries to hide her troubles from her 
 best friends," Miss Thornton said. " The 
 dear girl has had a dreadful blow, even from 
 the shock of which I fear it will take her a 
 long time to recover." 
 
IN SOCIETY S WHIRL. 143 
 
 We both talked with great feeling of the 
 Tracys, recalling many pleasant memories 
 of our intimate friends who were no more. 
 Miss Thornton s eyes overflowed with tears 
 when I referred to Emily s sister. 
 
 " Gertrude was indeed a noble woman," 
 she said. " Her action in rescuing Emily 
 was not only sisterly but glorious. She was 
 a brilliant girl and full of promise. I loved 
 her and admired her, but Emily has ever 
 been my best and dearest friend." 
 
 When I parted from Miss Thornton I felt 
 better in mind and spirit. The evening had 
 not been without benefit to me. As I re 
 turned to my boarding house, through the 
 gray dawn of early morning, I experienced a 
 sense of exhilaration rather than of weari 
 ness. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HER LETTER, AND HOW IT INFLUENCED ME. 
 
 BADEX-BADEN, GERMANY ; November 20th. 
 
 MY DEAR MR. HALL : 
 
 Your letter was forwarded from London, 
 and I found it waiting my arrival at V Hotel 
 Continental, Paris, where my aunt, Miss 
 Stanley, and I stopped en route to Baden. 
 To begin with, please accept my thanks 
 for your kind expression of sympathy in my 
 sorrow. 
 
 I have thought of all you write me, and I 
 am greatly complimented. But as I never 
 before so much as knew that you cared for 
 me, I feel sure that you will forgive me, and 
 appreciate my position, when I tell you that 
 I must take a long time to consider and 
 decide. 
 
 Aunt May and I leave shortly for Eng 
 land, whence we shall go far south, for the 
 
HER LETTER. 145 
 
 remainder of the winter. In the spring we 
 shall return to Baden and then, if you still 
 
 * */ 
 
 wish to, you may join us. 
 
 I will give you your answer when I see 
 you. Till then I remain, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 EMILY TRACY." 
 
 This was the long-expected letter. How 
 I reread it, and how I pondered over its 
 every word, I will not describe. Why, oh 
 why, had she not given me permission to 
 join her right away? Did she not know 
 that I would follow her to the ends of the 
 world? A winter of suspense, and to be 
 away from her, was terrible to contemplate. 
 Still, my commands had come. I must obey 
 them. 
 
 Now I felt more strongly than ever the 
 necessity of employing my time. I again 
 renewed my interest in the lace-importing 
 scheme. Calling upon Tyndall with refer 
 ence to the matter, I was taken aback at his 
 lack of enthusiasm. He did not seem so 
 eager to begin the enterprise as he had been 
 
146 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 at first. At this I wondered. But I was 
 not deterred from my own determination to 
 go ahead. Tyndall s changeableness both 
 ered me, but I attributed it to his peculiar 
 disposition. 
 
 Under the circumstances, I could not bear 
 the thought of spending the winter in Phila 
 delphia. I set about making immediate 
 arrangements for a voyage to Madeira. I^o 
 longer would I delay my visit to the graves 
 of my mother and father. To Messrs. 
 Falck & Co., New York, I wrote to secure 
 passage by one of the Insular JSTavigation 
 Company s vessels sailing to Madeira. But 
 before I posted this letter I found myself in 
 receipt of a communication from London. 
 Tearing open the envelope, I thought it to 
 be from Miss Stanley s bankers and telling 
 me of the new address. To my surprise it 
 was not. The envelope contained a letter 
 from a friend of mine, a junior partner of 
 another London banking firm. He told me 
 important news concerning a contemplated 
 " drop " in certain foreign securities which 
 had been left me by my uncle and which I 
 
HER LETTER. 147 
 
 still held. In view of this information, I 
 decided to go direct to London and investi 
 gate business prospects there for myself, after 
 which I could take ship for Madeira. I took 
 passage on the steamship Normania, and, 
 after an uneventful voyage, duly reached 
 Plymouth. Having been landed, I jour 
 neyed thence to London without delay. I 
 had intended putting up at the Charing 
 Cross Hotel, near the railroad station at 
 which I should later take the train for South 
 ampton. But my friend, the banker, insisted 
 upon my stopping at his house. Frank 
 Simpson (that was his name) had married a 
 distant cousin of mine. She had not been 
 home to America since her marriage. 
 
 I found that I was indebted to Simpson 
 for a valuable piece of information. With 
 his aid I disposed of my foreign holdings 
 (later I was glad that I had done so). I 
 engaged passage on the steamship Trojan, 
 booked to sail shortly from Southampton. 
 At Messrs. Brown Brothers I ascertained 
 nothing satisfactory. They had been noti 
 fied that Miss Stanley was going south, but 
 
148 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 where they did not know. She and Miss 
 Tracy were moving constantly from place to 
 place. 
 
 Early in the morning of the day of sail 
 ing, I bade my kind London friends good 
 bye, and departed for Southampton. The 
 vessel left her wharf at high tide, one o clock. 
 For two hours she steamed down Southamp 
 ton Bay under the guidance of the pilot. 
 That worthy disembarked when we entered 
 the English Channel. 
 
 I had a stateroom companion, a Mr. 
 Benjamin, of London. He was a Jew, as 
 the name might serve to indicate. When I 
 went below I stumbled over him as he was 
 stretched full length upon the floor. 
 
 " Searching for a collar button," he re 
 marked cheerfully ; and, rising, he proceeded 
 to introduce himself: 
 
 " You are my companion as far as Ma 
 deira, sir : by name Mr. Hall, I believe ? 
 Yes, Mr. George Leflerts Hall, of Philadel 
 phia, Pennsylvania, U. S. A." 
 
 "I am," I replied. 
 
 " Well, sir, hope we ll get along together. I 
 
HER LETTER. 149 
 
 saw your name on the ship s passenger book. 
 That s how I knew it. My name s Benja 
 min, Isaac Benjamin, of London, and I m 
 bound for Cape Town, Africa." 
 
 Such was my meeting with the cabin 
 mate who was destined to open my eyes to 
 my future. Mr. Benjamin s only visible 
 luggage consisted in a small hand satchel, 
 which he had stowed carefully away. Thus 
 I was left ample room for spreading out my 
 OAvn belongings. 
 
 The first morning out I was awakened at 
 an early hour by a bumping sound directly 
 above me. Mr. Benjamin occupied the upper 
 berth. I clambered from mine to ascertain 
 what might be going on. The Hebrew 
 gentleman was seated upright ; he was in 
 the act of polishing an ancient pair of cellu 
 loid cuffs. As he scrubbed away he brought 
 his head and elbows in contact alternately 
 with the wall and the screw closing the 
 porthole. Hence the cause of the noise 
 which had aroused me from slumber. I 
 called to Mr. Benjamin, who greeted me 
 cheerily. He seemed in no wise disconcerted 
 
150 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 either by his cramped position or by being 
 discovered at such occupation. 
 
 "I m at my washing," he said, as he 
 moistened a kerchief in his mouth and ap 
 plied it (the kerchief) with renewed vigor 
 to his wrist wear. " See," he continued, 
 exhibiting a yellow looking collar and a 
 false shirt front, "they are of the same 
 material. I save at least 20 (twenty 
 pounds) per year by having no washer 
 women s bills. In fact, all iny undercloth 
 ing is made of a composition similar to 
 celluloid." 
 
 I will leave it to my readers to imagine 
 for themselves the state of my feelings on 
 hearing this announcement. 
 
 " Where is your trunk ? " I inquired. I 
 had wanted to ask this question before. 
 Mr. Benjamin looked gravely at me. He 
 reminded me of an old poll-parrot on a 
 perch, as he sat up in his bunk, his small 
 keen eyes peering over his curved, beaky 
 nose. 
 
 " Young man," he said, in an impressive 
 voice, " I never had a trunk in my life. As 
 
HER LETTER. 151 
 
 for travelling with one : the mere idea of 
 such a thing is extravagant. Why, I had 
 as lief travel with an invalid as with a trunk. 
 You re just as helpless with it. Every time 
 a trunk is moved its owner must dive into 
 his pocket for a tip. I am not the possessor 
 of a trunk because I could not carry it my 
 self. That valise there is quite portable. It 
 contains all I have brought with me." 
 
 As I was preparing to " turn in " again 
 a book came crashing down on the floor 
 beside me. 
 
 "Hit you?" asked Mr. Benjamin, leaning 
 over. 
 
 " No," I replied. I picked up the book, 
 and read its title, "A Self-Made Man." 
 Why, it was a work of the late Mr. Stedman 
 Tracy s ! I said nothing directly pertaining 
 to it as I tossed it back to Benjamin. But 
 I asked him if he had ever "crossed the 
 herring pond." To my surprise, he said, 
 
 " Oh, bless me, yes ; I ve been to New 
 York, and I ve been to Philadelphia also. I 
 used to be in business in New York. I liked 
 it better than Philadelphia, you know, as 
 
152 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 there is so much more life there. By the 
 way, I remarked that you looked at that 
 book of mine. It is written by one of 
 your great Americans. That s an author s 
 copy too, if you please." 
 
 " What! " I cried, " you knew Mr. Tracy?" 
 
 " Knew him ? I know him ! " 
 
 " He s dead," I said. 
 
 At this I thought the Israelite would fall 
 on top of me. 
 
 " Dead ! " he called, " dead ? My old friend 
 dead ? You knew him ? Tell me of him." 
 
 Seeing that Mr. Benjamin was really sin 
 cere in his earnestness, and that he waited 
 for me to speak, I did not hesitate : I gave 
 him a brief account of the disastrous fire. 
 He listened intently. When I had con 
 cluded he made no attempt at speaking for 
 several moments. At length he heaved a 
 deep-drawn sigh, and said aloud, though 
 apparently to himself, 
 
 "Ah, my dear, dear friend, I loved you ! I 
 admired you. You liked a man for his per 
 sonal worth, not for who he was. You were 
 independent. If I w r as ever near renouncing 
 
HER LETTER. 153 
 
 my faith it was because your doctrines were 
 so convincing, so true ! You were the only 
 Christian I ever cared for or placed absolute 
 faith in." 
 
 A short silence again followed, and then 
 old Benjamin leaned over his berth and held 
 his copy of "A Self-Made Man " out toward 
 me. 
 
 " Look on the fly leaf, Mr. Hall," he said, 
 "look!" 
 
 I took the book and opened it at the place 
 designated. There was an inscription in Mr. 
 Tracy s handwriting. It read, " To my good 
 friend Isaac Benjamin, in token of my high 
 esteem for him, and also in appreciation of his 
 very keen insight in discovering a scamp." 
 
 " That s odd, isn t it?" remarked Mr. Ben 
 jamin, from aloft. 
 
 " Well, rather," I replied. " Might I be so 
 bold as to inquire its signification ? " 
 
 " Certainly, and I will tell you," came the 
 rejoinder. " You see it was this way : I 
 went to Philadelphia knowing no one. I 
 had an introduction to Mr. Tracy from a 
 mutual English acquaintance, however. I 
 
154 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 duly presented this introduction, and Mr. 
 Tracy was very kind to me. A friendship 
 kindled between us. He seemed to like 
 queer folks. Mr. Tracy loaned me some 
 money to invest in my business. This 
 was what I was sorely in need of, capital ! 
 I doubled Mr. Tracy s money. Still he left 
 it with me. I became rich in having it at 
 hand, ever ready to apply where it was 
 needed. My business prospered. At last 
 I made Mr. Tracy take back his money to 
 gether with half the accumulations it had 
 made. He had handed to me $10,000. I 
 now returned to him $25,000. Our business 
 transactions made us closer friends than ever. 
 " There was in my employ a young man 
 in whom I had placed great confidence. I 
 picked him up in New York, and I estab 
 lished him as manager of the New York 
 branch of my business. He seemed to me a 
 worthy fellow, and I was sorry he had few 
 friends. I took him out to see Mr. Tracy 
 and his charming family one time. I felt 
 proud of him, for he was an able young man. 
 Well, Mr. Tracy took a fancy to him ; after 
 
HER LETTER. 155 
 
 that he used to run over often to see Mr. 
 Tracy s daughters. He became a regular 
 visitor out at that beautiful country place. 
 He fell in love with Miss Emily. Now, this 
 would not do. The Tracys had befriended 
 the young man, but they wouldn t tolerate 
 him in the light of a suitor for their daugh 
 ter s hand. Still they might have remained 
 too long a time in ignorance of my young 
 man s serious intentions, had I not, myself, 
 discovered the matter to my friend, Mr. 
 Tracy. 
 
 " I will skip over particulars ; but would 
 you believe that this young scamp was a 
 hypnotist? He secretly confessed to Miss 
 Emily his love for her. And she would 
 not have him. Then he actually set about 
 to hypnotize her into a state of acquiescence. 
 As I have said, I was the first to learn of 
 this. The young man was discharged from 
 my employ, and was forbidden ever calling 
 again at the Tracy s. So we heard the last 
 of him." 
 
 " What was his name ?" I gasped, scarcely 
 able to control my fury. 
 
156 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 "Well, that makes little difference to you, 
 I fancy," said Mr. Benjamin. " But still, if 
 you want to know his name, it was Tyndall." 
 
 " James Brown Tyndall ?" I cried. 
 
 " His full title, and pray do you know 
 him ?" said Mr. Benjamin. " If so, I don t 
 envy you your acquaintance." 
 
 I thought I should have a fit. !Never in 
 my life have I experienced a greater shock 
 than I felt at that moment when the unex 
 pected news crashed against my mind and 
 sensibilities. Then a flood of light seemed 
 to rush into my memory, and to clear up all 
 the dark places left by former doubts and 
 perplexities. From the time of my first ac 
 quaintance with Tyndall he had been playing 
 me false. Of course he had always taken 
 pains to deter me from my visits to the 
 Tracys, since he himself was a forbidden 
 guest. It was now also plain why Tyndall 
 had wished to turn my marriage intentions 
 from Miss Emily to Miss Blumer. But 
 what a low hound he had been not to face 
 me with his complaints in the first place, like 
 a man ! . . . His continued apparent 
 
HER LETTER. 157 
 
 friendship for me up to the time of my de 
 parture from America I felt boded me no 
 good. 
 
 Of course further sleep was now impossible. 
 I dressed, and went on deck. The clear, salt 
 air was keen and penetrating. It blew away 
 the feverish heat generated in me by my 
 recent excitement and cabin-stuffiness. As 
 my temples cooled my mental condition 
 changed. A chill passed through me, and I 
 felt relieved in mind and body. I was my 
 normal self again. The sun had just risen, and 
 hung red and cold looking above the sea. The 
 vessel plunged along, half through, half over, 
 the surging billows, and the atmosphere for 
 ward was damp with dashing spray. Though 
 the barefooted sailors were scrubbing decks 
 and playing the hose freely, I contrived to 
 find a comparatively dry and sheltered nook 
 in which to place my steamer chair. 
 
 The remainder of the day I passed pleas 
 antly, and without special incident. There 
 were some British regulars bound for a 
 military station in South Africa. It fur 
 nished amusement to the cabin passengers 
 
 11 
 
158 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 to watch these fellows playing at games and 
 tricks upon the lower deck, where they were 
 quartered. By the third day people were 
 settled down to enjoy the monotony of the 
 voyage. Sufferers from mal de mer began 
 to appear on deck, swathed in shawls and 
 steamer rugs. These soon found such 
 covering unnecessary, however, as the vessel 
 entered and sped through southern waters. 
 The air became warm and balmy, and the 
 sea smooth as the proverbial mill pond. 
 
 At midday we were reported to be di 
 rectly off Lisbon;* though, as we skirted 
 the Portuguese coast at a distance of some 
 two hundred miles, the aspect of "water, 
 water everywhere " remained unaltered. 
 
 In the afternoon the starboard deck was 
 cleared for a game of cricket. Spreading 
 nets were hoisted round about to prevent loss 
 overboard of the ball. How many nation 
 alities were represented among the men con 
 stituting the opposing elevens, that day, I 
 cannot remember to a certainty. But I know 
 
 * Lisbon, Portugal, is the nearest European port to 
 Madeira. 
 
HER LETTER. 159 
 
 there were Spaniards, Portuguese, Germans, 
 Swedes, English, Scotch, and French. And 
 all were familiar, more or less, with the 
 British national game. Mr. Benjamin 
 proved himself an excellent batsman. It 
 was amusing to see his son, a tall foppish 
 fellow, endeavoring to bowl him out when 
 his turn before the wickets arrived. In spite 
 of considerable slipping about, muffing the 
 ball, and personal colliding, a very jolly 
 afternoon was spent by participants, as well 
 as onlookers. 
 
 The following evening the last before 
 reaching Madeira a ball was given in honor 
 of those soon to leave the ship. About 
 the upper decks, Japanese lanterns swung 
 from lines extended between unhung awning 
 poles,* and their light discovered numerous 
 decorations of flag drapery. The moon, in 
 full splendor, shone from the cloudless 
 heavens, and dancers were sprinkled with its 
 silvery beams. 
 
 * For first cabin passengers comfort, as the vessel nears 
 the tropics, awnings are spread above the decks exposed to 
 the sun s direct rays. 
 
160 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 Next morning I was wakened by a con 
 fusion of noises. The atmosphere of the 
 ship seemed to have changed overnight. 
 Passage-ways resounded with voices and 
 hurrying footsteps ; overhead was a heavy 
 grating noise, as of baggage being dragged 
 about deck. There was little vibration from 
 machinery, and, as I listened, I realized 
 that the engines were working very slowly. 
 Rising, I quickly attired myself. 
 
 " We must be arriving," I said, reaching 
 up and shaking Mr. Benjamin. 
 
 " Very good, very good," came the sleepy 
 response. " Go out an see the sights for 
 me." 
 
 Such lack of enthusiasm made me im 
 patient. I lost no time in going above. 
 Never shall I forget the scene which greeted 
 my eyes as I then stepped out upon the 
 Trojan s deck. Before my sea-weary vision 
 towered a beautiful, green, mountain isle. 
 Across the shining water, and bathed in the 
 mist of early morning, it appeared like some 
 place of enchantment. A white and yellow 
 city stretched, from a curving beach, inland 
 
HER LETTER. 161 
 
 through a verdant valley, and up the sides 
 of gentle sloping mountains surrounding 
 the valley. 
 
 In other places higher mountains rose 
 precipitously, and tossed their snow summits 
 into the clouds. Against these earth and 
 rock monsters the rising sun shot its red 
 rays, causing a weird effect of lights and 
 shadows. Our ship had cast anchor at 
 about six hundred yards distance from the 
 city front. We lay in Funchal Bay and 
 before the city of Funchal. 
 
 From the water, on all sides, arose a din 
 of wrangling voices. Looking over the 
 vessel s side, I saw the water to be alive with 
 small boats. Some of them were filled with 
 Madeiran country folk who screamed, 
 " Wares for sale," in broken English or 
 in their own lingo. 
 
 Others of the smaller boats contained 
 swarthy, almost naked fellows, black haired 
 and shiny, olive skinned. They dangled 
 their feet overboard, and whenever a coin 
 was tossed by an amusement seeking passen 
 ger into the water, they dived thither, and 
 
162 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 contested for it below surface. For a shil 
 ling, one of the divers, more daring than the 
 others, offered to jump from midway up the 
 mast, clear of the ship, into the water, and 
 thence to swim under the ship s hull. The 
 amount which he had asked was raised. 
 The fellow thereupon clambered with mon 
 key-like agility onto the deck, and up into 
 the rigging to the position whence he had 
 promised to dive. Here he poised himself, 
 and then he shot out head first, through the 
 air. His body just cleared the vessel s side 
 and, falling, cleft the water swiftly and with 
 scarce a splash, like an arrow shot true from 
 a bow. The ship s onlookers rushed across 
 the deck. After a wait of about a minute 
 and a half, the diver s head bobbed up un 
 concernedly. The fellow had accomplished 
 his feat. 
 
 It was several hours before the health 
 officers came aboard. "When they did so, 
 some large rowboats put out from shore 
 and drew quickly alongside. Each of these 
 crafts contained a hotel proprietor or agent. 
 I hurried below to get my hand luggage 
 
HER LETTER. 163 
 
 and to bid farewell to my cabin companion. 
 I found him in the saloon, seated, opposite 
 his son, at a small table. The two were 
 engaged in earnest discussion as to the 
 present state of the South African money 
 market. I asked them if they had been on 
 deck. 
 
 " No, we have not," they answered. " Ma 
 deira is not financially interesting to us." 
 
 I wished my friend, Mr. Benjamin, bon 
 voyage to the Cape, bade him and his son 
 " good-bye," and, without further delay, set 
 about to disembark. 
 
 " Everything here, sir ? " asked the pro 
 prietor of the Hotel Bella Vista, as I seated 
 myself in his boat. 
 
 " Everything," I replied. 
 
 " Vei^y well, we will go then," said my 
 future host. He addressed his crew, two 
 brawny natives. Long sweeps were im 
 mediately dipped, and we pulled away from 
 the Trojan. As we neared the shore I saw 
 that waves were breaking and dashing spray 
 high into the air. But our boat was skill 
 fully beached on the crest of a breaker. 
 
164 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 Those bound for Hotel Bella Vista two 
 ladies and two men, including myself were 
 led through a crowd of gaping natives to a 
 carro stand. Here we were accorded the 
 choice of a ride to our destination in a carro 
 (a bullock cart, or sort of gaudily adorned 
 summer sledge, on runners) or in a rede 
 (a hammock slung from a pole which is sup 
 ported at either end by a carrier) . From in 
 experience we all chose the carro for our 
 transportation. Subsequently I found the 
 rede the superior conveyance for ease and 
 comfort, and equally as safe as the carro, 
 for the rede bearers are a strong and sure 
 footed set of men. 
 
 Our hotel was situated at an elevation 
 outside and overlooking the town, and a 
 pleasant, novel ride was afforded us thither. 
 The streets, made of tiny cobblestones, 
 closely packed, are kept well greased and 
 oiled to permit of the easy sliding of 
 runnered vehicles. Our worthy host, whose 
 manners were the acme of politeness, desig 
 nated to us places of interest along the 
 route. In due time we reached the hotel. 
 
HER LETTER. 165 
 
 I was shown to my room, where 1 pre 
 pared to indulge in a brief rest before break 
 fast. Previous to my morning repast, how 
 ever, a servant entered, bearing a tray con 
 taining oranges, bananas, fresh figs, guava 
 jelly, and tea. 
 
PART III. 
 
 Here, in this island small, was all the treasure 
 
 I d gone abroad to find : 
 Indeed, a wondrous paradise of pleasure 
 
 I once had left behind. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 
 
 Now I will omit an account of the events 
 which took place during my first three 
 months sojourn in the island. Though I 
 accomplished much in the way of sight-see 
 ing during this interval, the particulars of 
 such doings would break the thread of my 
 narrative if here chronicled. Therefore, let 
 this statement suffice : I made frequent 
 visits to the graves of my parents ; I inves 
 tigated the lace business. 
 
 The time of which I would write in detail 
 is the occasion of my return from a visit to 
 the Island of Porto Santo.* Fresh from the 
 sea trip in the little steamer, Lobo, I felt the 
 
 * This island (Porto Santo) lies about twenty-three miles 
 northeast of Madeira. It is six and one-third miles long, 
 and from two to three miles across. 
 
 Although settled more than four centuries ago, its popula 
 tion to-day numbers all told scarcely two thousand persons. 
 Nearly all of these live in the one and only town, Villa 
 
170 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 desire to stretch my limbs. So I set off to 
 " foot it " to my hotel. When I had passed 
 the outskirts of the town, and was walking 
 along the less frequented stretch of country 
 road leading to Hotel Bella Vista, my atten 
 tion was arrested by a piercing scream. The 
 voice was unquestionably that of a woman, 
 and, as I listened, the sound of an approach 
 ing carro caught my ear. Whether this was 
 whence the scream had come I could not 
 tell. I stepped to the roadside and waited. 
 
 The carro was approaching rapidly ; and I 
 could see the oxen moving at a shambling 
 trot, as they drew the sledge conveyance 
 into sight, around a distant bend. I stood 
 in a position where I might peer in at the 
 occupants as they drove up. To my sur 
 prise, however, the curtains were all drawn. 
 a sound came from within as the carro 
 
 Baleira. An administrator is stationed in Villa Baleira, 
 who rules over this stationary population. 
 
 The only communication which these literally "insular" 
 people have with the outside world is through a single small 
 coasting steamer, which plies between Madeira and Porto 
 Santo twice every month, conveying the mails and affording 
 a means of transportation. 
 
IN THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 171 
 
 dashed past where I stood. The oxen-driver 
 ran panting alongside, jabbing his tired 
 beasts unceasingly with an iron-pointed 
 pole. At the moment of the carro s passing 
 I could not satisfy myself that the scream 
 had come from it. The conveyance, after all, 
 might be a vacant one. When I saw it dis 
 appearing behind a cloud of dust down the 
 road, however, an overwhelming sense that 
 everything about it was not as it should be 
 possessed me. I ran after it, and overtook it 
 as it was about to plunge across the bridge, 
 towards the city. 
 
 J^ot knowing upon whose privacy I might 
 be intruding, it would certainly seem rude of 
 me to pull back the curtain. But I acted 
 on the impulse of the moment, and of my 
 feelings. Leaning over carefully, in order 
 to preserve my equilibrium, I caught at the 
 conveyance drapings. The shape of a hand 
 from within grasped them tightly. There 
 was then repeated a scream such as I had 
 first heard, and this time the voice sounded 
 familial- to me. I seized the curtains fiercely, 
 and wrenched them back. 
 
172 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 Was it some awful fancy that confronted 
 me ? There sat Tyndall, holding by one of 
 his hands, in a brutal grip, the beautiful 
 wrists of of Emily Tracy! 
 
 Frenzied with madness, I sprang into the 
 moving carro and seized Tyndall by the 
 throat. He released his hold on Emily, who 
 fell back into the seat beside him, weak and 
 speechless. The look of concentrated hatred 
 that came into Tyndall s face, as he glared 
 helplessly up at me, is beyond my power to 
 describe. He reminded me of some hunted 
 beast. I spoke not a syllable, but gathered 
 all my energy and, with one violent effort, 
 lifted Tyndall as I held him, and threw him, 
 headlong, from the carro. Then I looked at 
 Miss Tracy. She had fainted away. What 
 could it all mean? Inactive I stood, in a 
 momentary trance of surprise, wonder, and 
 suspicion. Then I came to a realization 
 that the carro had stopped : its driver was 
 standing before me in an attitude of stupid 
 inquiry. 
 
 " She crazy wife, she crazy wife," he ex 
 postulated. " Where husband gone ?" 
 
7^ THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 173 
 
 "Crazy wife!" I yelled at him. "What 
 do you mean ?" 
 
 The native began to tremble ; I think my 
 tone frightened him. It was no time to 
 palaver. I turned my attention to Miss 
 Tracy, who had begun to show signs of re 
 turning consciousness. A slight flush suf 
 fused her pale features, and she opened her 
 eyes faintly. Her lips moved, and she whis 
 pered, 
 
 " James, Ja , Mr. Hall, is that you ?" 
 
 " It is ; it is me, Emily !" I cried passion 
 ately. "Compose yourself; you are safe. 
 Tell me where to drive you." 
 
 For a full minute she observed me silently 
 and in bewilderment. Then she slowly ut 
 tered the word " Carmo," and reclosed her 
 eyes. I directed the driver to whip up his 
 team and to convey us to the Hotel Miles 
 Carmo without delay. He turned slowly 
 and unwillingly, but obeyed my instruc 
 tions. I looked out of the carro, on every 
 side, to see what had become of Tyndall. But 
 he had disappeared, and he must have done 
 so with considerable celerity, for the driver 
 
 12 
 
174 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 had not seen him. I saw that Miss Tracy 
 was in no condition to sustain conversation. 
 Otherwise I should have plied her with ques 
 tions. 
 
 " Crazy wife ! what did it signify ?" I de 
 liberated. " Surely it was Miss Tracy and 
 not Mrs. Tyndall on whom I had forced my 
 escort." I shuddered. "Absurd," I reas 
 sured myself. " It is Emily Tracy. There 
 is villainy here. Tyndall will try to escape." 
 
 Meanwhile I was obliged partially to sup 
 port the girl to whose timely assistance I 
 had come. I say, "obliged partially to 
 support," because I longed to take her in 
 my arms. I cannot say whether or not I 
 enjoyed that unlooked-for ride. When we 
 reached the hotel, my fair charge had recov 
 ered so far as to be able to alight from the 
 carro and to make her way up the steps and 
 within doors. I paid and dismissed the con 
 fused carro man. Then I followed the girl 
 I loved. She had just met a tall, fine-look 
 ing, elderly lady, who seemed concerned for 
 her and embraced her fondly. I stood back 
 a space until Emily became aware of my 
 
IN THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 175 
 
 presence. On perceiving me at hand, she 
 beckoned me to approach. 
 
 " This is my aunt," she said. " My aunt, 
 Miss Stanley. Aunt, let me present to you 
 my friend, Mr. Hall." 
 
 Then Emily grew pale and faint once 
 more, and her aunt said, 
 
 "Mr. Hall will surely excuse us for the 
 present." 
 
 I replied, 
 
 " Yes, certainly." 
 
 Emily turned and looked at me. 
 
 " You will return to tea ?" she asked, ex 
 tending her hand. I took it. 
 
 "What of that scoundrel, Tyndall?" I 
 inquired heatedly. 
 
 Miss Stanley started, and I thought Emily 
 would swoon on the spot. But, though her 
 bosom heaved and her breath came quickly, 
 she remained standing. 
 
 " Find him, and punish him. He has in 
 sulted me," she said. " Overtake him at the 
 harbor before he sails." 
 
 Emily and her aunt turned and left me. 
 I rushed from the hotel on my errand of 
 
176 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 vengeance. If I found Tyndall I felt that 
 I would kill him. Running through the 
 streets like a madman, I quickly reached the 
 water s edge. But one large vessel was in 
 the bay, and it was steaming slowly out to 
 sea, having evidently just weighed anchor. 
 My eyes becoming accustomed to the glare, 
 I scanned the water carefully in all direc 
 tions. 
 
 At length I descried a rowboat, far out, 
 and following in the wake of the departing 
 steamer. " It must be Tyndall pursuing to 
 get aboard and away," I said to myself. " I 
 pray to Heaven that he does not escape me ! " 
 I accosted a boatman and described to him 
 the man I was after. He was in that row- 
 boat. 
 
 "A hundred dollars to you if you over 
 take him ! " I cried breathlessly. 
 
 The boatman s eyes sparkled, and he ran 
 his craft down the beach. We put out from 
 shore, each taking an oar. Skimming over 
 the long swells, it seemed we must be gain 
 ing upon the fugitive. Never a word did I 
 exchange with my companion oarsman, but 
 
IN THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 177 
 
 I felt that he was working his hardest. I 
 rowed with the fury of a demon. The veins 
 in my arms stood out at every stroke as if 
 to burst. Anon I glanced over my shoulder 
 to guide our course. Oh, how distant we 
 were ! A mile, at least ! I redoubled my 
 efforts at my oar. The boatman kept in 
 stroke with me. Plash-plash, plash -plash. 
 The sound gave me comfort. It was an un 
 even race. The steamer was moving ever 
 more rapidly, but the boat we were pursuing 
 was nearly alongside. It must have wings ! 
 How could it speed thus apace? The 
 steamer would not slacken her speed. In 
 this I was exultant. I pulled "for dear 
 life" but the steamer s gangway ladder 
 was being lowered. Then, though distance 
 made it invisible, a rope must have been 
 thrown the boat, for it drew up to the ladder. 
 I saw that further rowing was useless, so I 
 tied my coat, with nervous fingers, to the end 
 of the oar, and jumped to my feet. Just 
 then, ahead, I perceived a man spring from 
 the rowboat, and land safely upon the ship s 
 ladder. I waved my coat frantically in the 
 
178 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 air and bellowed across the water. Mean 
 while the figure clambered up the ladder and 
 disappeared. It was Tyndall, and he was 
 escaping me. I screamed so loudly that, of 
 a sudden, my voice broke, and I could not 
 raise it above a hoarse whisper. Meanwhile 
 my companion did his best, in ways similar 
 to my own, to attract the attention of those 
 aboard. We must have been observed ; but 
 in any event no heed was paid us. The 
 vessel had now attained great speed, and 
 soon she rounded a promontory of the island 
 and was lost to view. I sank back, grind- 
 my teeth. 
 
 "Row for the shore," I ordered, and 
 accordingly we did so. I waited on the 
 beach for the return of the other boat. It 
 had a crew of three brawny fellows, and 
 them I questioned. In return I got a full 
 description of the passenger. It tallied in 
 every detail with Tyndall ; and there could 
 now be no room left in my mind for doubt. 
 I might still pursue, perhaps. 
 
 " What was the ship, and where might it 
 be sailing ? " 
 
IN THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 179 
 
 " The steamship Wordsworth, was bound 
 for South America, and the route lay thither 
 direct, the first stopping place after leaving 
 Madeira being Rio de Janeiro." 
 
 In desperation I returned to my hotel, 
 there to await evening, when I should again 
 see Emily. She had told me to avenge her 
 insult, and I had not succeeded in doing so. 
 When I called at the Hotel Miles Carmo I 
 felt crestfallen. I presented my card at the 
 hotel office, and it was conveyed to Miss 
 Tracy s apartment. She soon appeared, 
 looking very pale, but withal very beautiful. 
 In a dainty white dress, the perfection of 
 simplicity and graceful modesty, she was 
 indeed a vision of loveliness. As she 
 greeted me and led me out on the veranda 
 and into the garden, I noticed that she was 
 agitated. I had so much to ask her that I 
 was impatient to begin questioning. We 
 met a number of people in the garden, but 
 finally reached a spot where a tall growth of 
 sugar-cane screened us from observation. 
 Sinking down upon a bench, Miss Tracy 
 looked at me hesitatingly, and asked, 
 
180 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 " Did you find him ? " 
 
 " No," I replied, reddening. " He escaped 
 me." 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad!" Miss Tracy ejacu 
 lated, sighing. And her face brightened as 
 though the news were a great relief to her. 
 
 This mystified me. 
 
 "Are you glad that I failed to catch the 
 late offender ? " I inquired. 
 
 " Indeed I am," was the unexpected reply, 
 spoken with great fervor. 
 
 I felt myself choking with wrathful sur 
 prise. Miss Tracy, observing how her atti 
 tude affected me, continued, 
 
 "Pray understand me. I have been 
 frightened ever since you left me this morn 
 ing. You looked so terrible when I told 
 you to avenge my insult that I felt sure you 
 would kill that villain if you encountered 
 him. The thought of this took possession 
 of me. I upbraided myself for having had 
 such ungentle feelings, and for having in 
 censed you so. And now here you are." 
 (She smiled sweetly.) " You rescued me, 
 and, though you did so not a moment too 
 
IN THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 181 
 
 soon, as it is, I am without harm of any 
 sort. You do not know what a weight was 
 lifted from my mind and conscience when 
 you told me that which I scarcely dared hope 
 to hear." 
 
 " Then you are glad to see me ? " I said. 
 
 Miss Tracy s eyelids drooped, and her face 
 became suffused with a deep blush. With 
 a glance still downward, she said, 
 
 " Yes, I am happy that you are here." 
 
 What further could I wish ? I took my 
 place on the bench beside her. 
 
 " Now tell me," I said, " about your en 
 counter with that blackguard." 
 
 My fair hostess lifted her eyes to mine. 
 
 " I will," she answered. " But first let 
 me inform you that I knew this man a long 
 time ago. I always disliked him." 
 
 I told Miss Tracy that I was well aware 
 of the fact ; and I recounted my meeting 
 with Benjamin. 
 
 "Oh," she exclaimed, "how interesting! 
 Dear old Mr. Benjamin was a very good 
 friend of my father s. Poor, precious 
 father!" Tears gathered and coursed 
 
182 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 down her cheeks, but, with an effort, she 
 controlled herself. " I had accompanied a 
 friend to her hotel, the Bella Vista, and 
 was returning homeward when I met a 
 carro coming from the town. I was all 
 alone. The vehicle stopped short when it 
 came up to me, and out jumped that dread 
 ful creature. He began declaring love, and 
 asked me to come with him. He told me 
 he had bought our home at auction for 
 me. When I showed my indifference and 
 turned to walk away, he caught me rudely 
 by the arm, and said, l Aha, Missy ! now 
 I have you, and you cannot get away. I 
 struggled with him, and called for help. 
 But he clapped his detestable hand over my 
 mouth and pushed me into the carro. He 
 held me there while he made explanation to 
 the driver. This is my wife whom I came 
 out to meet. You see plainly she is crazy. 
 
 Now drive like He spoke very 
 
 wickedly, and ordered the driver to go direct 
 to the beach. He sprang in beside me, still 
 roughly holding me, and, with a fiendish 
 laugh, said, i Soon we will be man and wife, 
 
IN THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 183 
 
 whether you wish it or not. We are now on 
 our way to a ship which will take us direct 
 to South America. Henceforward you and 
 your money are mine. I shall explain to 
 everybody, as I did to that fellow there, that 
 you are temporarily insane ; so you might as 
 well behave yourself. 
 
 " I felt I should faint, when I realized that 
 some one was running after us. There was 
 a tugging at the drawn curtains. I screamed, 
 and then I knew no more until you were 
 beside me. How can I thank you ? " 
 
 Miss Tracy looked at me with an expres 
 sion of tenderness in her beautiful eyes. I 
 fell on my knees before her. 
 
 "Ah, Emily, Emily," I cried tremblingly. 
 " Must I indeed be thanked like a friend ? 
 I love you, I love you so ! " 
 
 Then a joy I had never dared picture even 
 in my imagination was mine. I held her 
 whom I loved above all the world in my 
 arms, as she whispered softly, 
 
 " George, I love you." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 ADVENTURES HAPPILY TERMINATED. 
 
 Now I was a constant visitor at the hotel 
 of my betrothed. Miss Stanley suggested 
 that I might as well remove to the Miles 
 Carmo where I would be available at a 
 moment s notice. At the time I greeted the 
 idea as a joke, and Miss Stanley and I 
 laughed at the embarrassment of Emily. 
 Later, however, I re-thought of the sugges 
 tion seriously, and I decided that it was a 
 very excellent one. So, accordingly, I packed 
 my trunk and changed the place of my 
 abode. At the Miles Carmo I was allotted 
 a room in an old, distant wing. Large, airy, 
 and on the ground floor, its two windows 
 looked out near a side piazza, and over the 
 garden, some ten feet below. 
 
 The evening of my coming I spent, until 
 a late hour, in company with Emily. When, 
 
AD VENTURES HAPPIL Y TERMJNA TED. 185 
 
 at length, I bade her good-night and deliv 
 ered her to the keeping of her aunt, I betook 
 myself to my bedchamber. But I did not 
 feel sleepy, so I lit a lamp and settled myself 
 to read. The windows were open, and wind 
 blew out the lamp flame. I lowered the 
 sashes, struck a match, and again kindled 
 the wick. Scarcely had I replaced the globe 
 when a breeze seemed to rise in the atmos 
 phere directly behind me. It blew over my 
 shoulders. The lamp flickered and went out 
 as before. I looked hastily backward. The 
 door was closed. I had pushed the bolt after 
 entering. The occurrence seemed unac 
 countable. Once more I relit the lamp, and 
 opened my book. 
 
 I had read for about twenty minutes this 
 time before the flame was again extin 
 guished. " It must be something wrong 
 with the burner, or a draught blowing 
 through a crevice in the wall," I surmised. 
 Feeling as yet wide awake and in no humor 
 for retiring, I reopened a window the one 
 nearest to the piazza and sat down to enjoy 
 the cool air. The book I had been reading 
 
186 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 was "A Study in Scarlet." Having closed 
 the chapter of the strange murder, my mind 
 teemed with fancies. Dr. Doyle is assuredly 
 a master in the art of mystery weaving. 
 The hour must have been close to midnight : 
 not a creature seemed stirring, either within 
 or without doors. The side of the hotel 
 towered, a great, black wall for there were 
 no illuminations to set off or show the win 
 dows, owing to the lateness. 
 
 A rustle below, in the foliage, attracted my 
 attention. I peered down, and was greatly 
 surprised to see a typical old-fashioned gen 
 tleman in a high, white beaver hat, brass- 
 buttoned coat, and stock, and indeed entire 
 dress of many years ago. He walked forth 
 from a garden path, and leisurely ascended 
 the hotel steps on to the veranda. There he 
 stood, clearly visible in the moonlight. He 
 was a tall, well-proportioned man, fine look 
 ing, and of dignified bearing. While study 
 ing him, a rapidly moving shadow crossed 
 my vision. I espied a villainous-appearing 
 fellow stealing cautiously out of the dark 
 ness. He slunk close up to the gentleman 
 
A D VENTURES HAPPIL Y TERMINA TED. 187 
 
 in the beaver, who, however, turned on hear 
 ing him. 
 
 "You are quiet, sir," the gentleman re 
 marked sarcastically. 
 
 The newcomer replied in English, with a 
 slight Portuguese accent, 
 
 "Ah, good sir, perhaps. Pray could you 
 tell me ze time ohf evening ?" 
 
 The gentleman unbuttoned his coat, drew 
 forth a watch, and was looking down to con 
 sult it when his interlocutor sprang upon 
 him, a long knife in his hand. I leaped from 
 my window onto the piazza. Even as I was 
 in mid-air the assassin passed the blade 
 across and through his victim s throat, cut 
 ting it open from ear to ear. In the same 
 instant he plunged his other hand into the 
 unfortunate gentleman s pocket and brought 
 out a bundle of papers. Landing upon my 
 feet, I clutched for the murderer. He evaded 
 me, and faded away into air. I shivered. 
 Was he some dread phantom? He had van 
 ished. I knelt where I saw the body of the 
 murdered man, and felt it. How hard it 
 was; it seemed like wood! Rubbing my 
 
188 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 hands up and down over where it lay, they 
 began to pain and smart; I found them 
 filled with splinters. 
 
 Events to this juncture took place before 
 my mind and senses as I have related. 
 Therefore, my present situation was incom 
 prehensible ; for, glancing up and about me, 
 I found myself on the floor of my own room. 
 I rushed to the window. Several people 
 were out upon the piazza,. They seemed in 
 no wise disturbed, for they were talking and 
 laughing gayly. From their conversation I 
 learned that they had just returned from a 
 moonlight excursion in the country. The 
 thought that I had awakened from a dream 
 suggested itself. I could not remember hav 
 ing either closed or opened my eyes. Still, 
 the circumstances and surroundings of the 
 present were such as to make me discredit 
 that which I had believed to have happened. 
 There were no visible signs without doors of 
 any one s having been assaulted. I retired to 
 bed with a feeling of misgiving as to my mind 
 wondering whether I had wandered in it, 
 or whether I had dreamed with my eyes open. 
 
AD VENTURES HAPPIL Y TEEMINA TED. 189 
 
 Next morning I inquired at the office if 
 anything had gone wrong in the garden 
 overnight. Receiving an answer in the 
 negative, I asked various questions concern 
 ing my room, its location, and the history of 
 its various former occupants. The clerk, an 
 Englishman, eyed me quizzically. But dur 
 ing the course of the interview with him the 
 hotel proprietor drew near and listened. 
 
 " By Jove !" he ejaculated, of a sudden. 
 "Your name is Mr. Hall, isn t it? and you 
 are an American?" 
 
 " Yes," I replied. 
 
 " Well, what you are asking so particu 
 larly about your room for I do not know ; 
 but I will tell you of a very curious coinci 
 dence," the proprietor continued. "A guest 
 was murdered in that very room about 
 twenty-six years ago ; his last name was 
 Hall, and he was an American what is 
 more, a Philadelphian. I did not own this 
 house then, but I am told that Mr. Hall was 
 found on the floor of his room the following 
 day, with his throat cut. The murderer 
 escaped, and was never captured." 
 
 13 
 
190 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 " That murdered gentleman was my father," 
 I remarked. And I turned on my heel, and 
 left the proprietor and his clerk standing 
 gaping in speechless amazement. 
 
 Emily and I were not together so much 
 as usual that day. She had a fit of despond 
 ency to which she was still subject, and 
 during which she desired to shun the society 
 of those for whom she most cared. It was 
 heartrending to see the intensity of the poor 
 girl s grief when thoughts of her father, 
 mother, and sister recurred to her. She 
 strove bravely to hide signs of her sorrow 
 from others ; and it was sweet to me to hear 
 her say, " George dear, in you I find all I 
 have lost. God hath taken away, but, 
 again, God hath given. 
 
 I spent the morning in the garden, a place 
 luxuriant in growths of tropical and semi- 
 tropical fruits and flowers. In the after 
 noon I went down to the bankers and drew 
 some money. Indeed I drew quite a good 
 deal some three hundred pounds. Return 
 ing through the Public Gardens, I felt a 
 sensation as if I were watched or followed. 
 
ADVENTURES HAPPILY TERMINATED. 191 
 
 I turned sharply about, and was just in time 
 to see a man disappearing hastily down a 
 side path. I ran back, and caught another 
 glimpse of him from a distance. On first 
 sight I had felt that I recognized him. ISTow I 
 was sure of it. He looked, for all the world, 
 like John Dooner. It was Dooner! But 
 why or how he had come out to Madeira it 
 was beyond my power even to guess. 
 
 When I passed the hotel office that even 
 ing on my way to retire, an attendant was in 
 waiting for me. The proprietor had changed 
 my room on his own responsibility, and I 
 was shown to my new quarters. Though 
 still on the ground floor, and overlooking 
 the garden, as I preferred, they were in a 
 newer portion of the building. I raised both 
 windows before getting into bed. Scarcely 
 had my head touched the pillow when I fell 
 asleep. 
 
 The next thing I knew was when I opened 
 my eyes and found a masked man bending 
 over me. I started up, but a towel was 
 clapped heavily upon my face. It was satu 
 rated with chloroform. What was more, my 
 
192 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 adversary straddled me, and fought with 
 might and main to retain the cloth where he 
 had put it. In my violent exertions I could 
 not but draw deep breaths, and so my lungs 
 were quickly filled with the narcotic exhala 
 tions. In less time than it takes to tell I 
 was unconscious. I revived in the glare of 
 broad daylight and arose, giddy and nause 
 ated. My trunk had been opened, as had 
 my strong box. The locks were forced, 
 and my money, three hundred pounds, was 
 gone. An idea struck me : I thought of 
 the time I had discovered John Dooner spy 
 ing upon Emily and me. Thoughts of this had 
 also recurred to my mind when Mr. Benjamin 
 told his story. Then I suspected, and now 
 I felt certain that Dooner was Tyndall s ac 
 complice. As Tyndall had once set him to 
 watch and report concerning my attentions 
 to Emily, so he had now evidently set him 
 to commit burglary upon me. 
 
 I lost no time in notifying the hotel propri 
 etor of my loss ; and, furthermore, I visited 
 the American consul, and made complaint 
 to the police authorities through him. I had 
 
ADVENTURES HAPPILY TERMINATED. 193 
 
 not recognized the thief, but I furnished 
 Dooner s description to the police. Yet, 
 though a watch was stationed at the harbor 
 to prevent Dooner s escape from Madeira, 
 and though I had the assurance of the au 
 thorities that no efforts should be spared to 
 find and catch the burglar, he was not se 
 cured. He eluded all pursuit. And how he 
 succeeded remains to be told. 
 
 Emily and I made a number of excursions 
 together to points of interest along the coast 
 and in the interior. It had been at first pro 
 posed to go to Baden Baden in the spring, 
 but now we all found ourselves impatient to 
 return to America. So, when the time came 
 for leaving, we took ship for Liverpool, 
 and thence again to New York, which we 
 reached after a delightful voyage. 
 
 Miss Stanley took Emily direct to Chicago 
 with her. I went to Philadelphia. 
 
REMINISCENCE. 
 
 HAVING completed arrangements for our 
 marriage, which was to be solemnized at 
 Miss Stanley s house, I found it impossible 
 to absent myself longer from my betrothed. 
 Needless to say, the several weeks of our 
 separation, following the return from abroad, 
 had passed too slowly for me. Though Miss 
 Stanley favored a long engagement, I finally 
 prevailed upon her to sanction our being 
 joined in the fall. So on the noon of October 
 3, 188-, Emily and I were made man and 
 wife. Only a few intimate relatives and 
 friends were invited to the wedding, it being 
 necessarily a " quiet affair." Nevertheless, 
 Miss Stanley s mansion was the scene of 
 a very happy little party. Miss Thornton 
 was Emily s maid of honor, and Duane 
 acted as my best man. His young wife, 
 always sweet and merry, was the fun- and 
 mischief-maker of the occasion. Our car- 
 
REMINISCENCE. 195 
 
 riage presented a far from staid appearance 
 when my bride and I rolled off that after 
 noon. We suspected Mrs. Duane s having 
 been one of its chief decorators. 
 
 Emily and I had planned to spend our 
 honeymoon on a trip to California. We 
 journeyed direct to San Francisco, where we 
 stopped for a week or so at the Baldwin 
 Hotel. Then, tiring of city sight-seeing, we 
 took a jaunt down to San Rafael. As our 
 steamer moved across the bay we could see, 
 far off, through the entrance of the Golden 
 Gate, the whitecaps of the broad Pacific. 
 We passed near the fortifications of the Al- 
 cartraz, towering forbiddingly in mid-harbor. 
 Landing at Sansalito, we took the train; and 
 the entertainment afforded us from the car 
 window in watching the grand and ever- 
 changing scenery made the short ride all too 
 short. An hour after leaving the wharf at 
 the foot of Market Street, San Francisco, 
 found us installed at Hotel Rafael, San 
 Rafael. We whiled away the afternoon in 
 an excursion by the Scenic Railway to the 
 summit of Mount Tamalpais. This adjacent 
 
196 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 eminence commands a view from the sky- 
 bordered ocean to the cloud-bathed Sierras. 
 
 That evening, after our return, as my wife 
 and I were seated at dinner, a noticeable 
 couple came into the dining room and took 
 a table near us. I did not see them for some 
 time, as my back was turned, so I shall quote 
 from Emily s description as she gave it, 
 facing them and me : 
 
 A petite but dashing-looking girl, of the 
 Spanish type, with flashing eyes, wavy, black 
 hair, and of olive complexion, was accom 
 panied by a short, ugly man, her evident 
 lover. My wife remarked that he regarded 
 the girl with an earnestness denoting rapture 
 and devotion. From their manner, Emily 
 judged them to be townspeople. They ordered 
 some light refreshment. Having finished, 
 they pushed out their chairs and arose to 
 depart. My curiosity here got the better of 
 me, and I turned and looked : the man was 
 Dooner ! 
 
 It was not long afterwards that I went to 
 the police station to swear out a warrant for 
 his arrest. Several citizens were lounging 
 
REMINISCENCE. 197 
 
 about within, as I entered. The chief of 
 police plied me with many questions, and 
 when I had given him Dooner s description, 
 and had furthermore supplied a brief account 
 of Dooner s past villainies, I could not help 
 noting the effect my words produced upon 
 one of the bystanders. He was attired in 
 the costume of a vaquero, and looked a full- 
 blooded Mexican. The fellow listened to me 
 eagerly, and when I had told of Dooner s 
 brutal and cowardly behavior towards the 
 woman I knew him to have wronged, the 
 Mexican hastily, and without a word, left 
 the building. 
 
 It was several hours afterwards that a 
 dirty envelope, addressed, in an uneven hand, 
 to me, was brought to our room. The bell 
 boy waited for an answer, Btating that the 
 bearer of the note wished to see me, down 
 stairs. I drew from the envelope a bit of 
 paper on which was written, in pencil scrawls : 
 "Come with Jose quickly. I am dying. 
 John Dooner." 
 
 Emily did not wish me to answer this 
 summons. 
 
198 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 "It may be some dreadful plot to entrap 
 you," she said. 
 
 But at length I obtained her rather reluc 
 tant consent, and went below. Awaiting me 
 at the hotel doorway was the identical fel 
 low for whom my relation of Dooner s doings 
 seemed to have had such an extraordinary 
 interest, in the police station. Now he 
 showed himself to be very nervous and ex 
 cited, and he greeted me with, 
 
 " Good-night, senor. It is by you he 
 die. You are ze cause, but w at you say 
 is true. My hand struck ze deathblow. 
 Come quick." 
 
 At a loss to understand, I nevertheless 
 hastened down the street, at the speaker s 
 side. 
 
 " Make yourself plain," I said. " Do you 
 mean to say that Dooner is dying at your 
 hands ?" 
 
 " My name Jose Valera," was the quick 
 response. "My sister she love, and to 
 marry zis, w at you call, Dooner. But I 
 hear you tell w at a devil he is, so I go home 
 an tell my sister. She not care w at I say. 
 
REMINISCENCE. 199 
 
 My sister tells me leave casa w en her love, 
 he come home. I no leave. An we proud 
 people, so I shoot zis Dooner. He fall, 
 but he can speak. He say, * Oo told you I 
 am wicked? I tell him, an he sent for 
 you." 
 
 We came before a neat little house and 
 wont in. In the hallway, and bolstered up 
 on a chair, sat the victim of the shooting ; 
 on the floor, by his side, knelt the young 
 girl I had seen in the Hotel Rafael dining 
 room. She arose when we had entered, 
 and a spirited harangue took place between 
 Jose and her. She began by speaking in 
 Spanish, but, evidently desiring what she 
 said to be plain to all, soon branched oft into 
 English, which she spoke fluently. Turning 
 upon me with an expression of pent-up fury, 
 she said, 
 
 " Yoii, senor, are the cause of all my mis 
 fortune. I could kill you, but that I know 
 such action would do me no good. He who 
 was to have been my husband lies there, 
 dying. He has told me of his folly, but I 
 forgive him. Though he may have been 
 
200 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 false to another woman, his death will break 
 my heart. I forgave him, and he is mine. 
 
 " I am the judge of whom I should marry. 
 !N"o one else is, or shall be. I want now a 
 priest. Jose has summoned one. He will 
 soon be here, and will wed us. Jose and I 
 have lived happy since children. We loved 
 each other dearly. Our parents are dead, 
 long years. And now I hate Jose ; I have 
 told him so. Jose will give himself to the 
 law, and if my husband dies Jose will hang." 
 
 Dooner interrupted, 
 
 u Mr. Hall, I did not think I would see 
 you again. I barely escaped them foreign 
 devils you put after me, out in Funchal. 
 But I did give em the slip, though only to 
 be tracked by you, after all. I haven t time 
 to ask you no questions, for my life s goin 
 from me fast. So I ll just talk. It was 
 that blackleg friend of yours that made me 
 go wrong. He had me watching your 
 courting on that Tracy lady. He wanted 
 you to marry the Blumer lady, as he had 
 his sails set for Miss Tracy himself. He 
 thought he had her safely before you way- 
 
REMINISCENCE. 201 
 
 laid him in Funchal. He had hid low and 
 planned things to get away with the lady 
 when you were at Porto Santo. You got 
 back too soon for his plans, though, and he 
 left Madeira, and me to do his dirty work. 
 It was impossible for me to get Miss Tracy 
 after Tyndall went away : you were always 
 with her. But if you hadn t moved to her 
 hotel when you did, I could have kidnapped 
 her for sure. So I watched you draw your 
 money at the bank one day, and robbed you 
 of it that night. Of course I didn t send 
 stolen goods to Tyndall, although that was 
 the idea. When he had me with him he 
 had a way of controlling my doings. But 
 once away he lost his power . . ." 
 
 Here the wounded man was taken with 
 a fit of coughing which caused a stream of 
 blood to pour from his mouth. At this time 
 a doctor arrived. He took the victim in 
 hand and made an examination of his 
 injuries. The girl stood by him the while, 
 never flinching. Jose and I scurried hither 
 and thither to give every assistance possible. 
 The doctor worked for some two hours over 
 
202 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 his patient. Then he took Jose, whom he 
 seemed to know, aside. I overheard him say, 
 
 "It is no use. The man is bleeding to 
 death, internally. Arteries near the heart 
 have been torn away, and operating* would 
 be of no avail. Who shot him ? " 
 
 " I did," was the reply, firmly given. 
 
 The doctor looked askance. 
 
 " If he dies, as he may at any moment, 
 yon are a murderer, if you shot him inten 
 tionally." 
 
 Jose turned away. 
 
 " I deliver myself to ze police," he said, in 
 a choking voice. 
 
 A drumming of hoofs was heard upon the 
 street. The noise grew louder, and then 
 sound indicated that several horses had been 
 stopped in the roadway outside the cottage. 
 
 " It is ze mounted police after Dooner," 
 Jose* remarked. "Zey will have me instead." 
 He cast an appealing glance of inquiry 
 towards his sister, but she paid him no heed. 
 With a heavy sigh, as of resigned despair, 
 Jose went to the door. He flung it open in 
 the faces of three officers. They entered. 
 
THE END OF JOHN DOONER. 
 
REMINISCENCE. 203 
 
 "Is a feller called Dooncr here?" their 
 spokesman asked. 
 
 Jose answered, 
 
 "Yes, but I shot him. Zere he is, an 
 he can t get away. So you needn t take 
 him wiz you just now. Take me in hees 
 place." 
 
 The police looked surprised. Their leader 
 interviewed the doctor, and, receiving his 
 report of the case, decided to leave Dooner 
 undisturbed : he was plainly in no condition 
 to be moved. One man was left on guard 
 
 O 
 
 without, and the other two departed, taking 
 Jose with them. No expression of s} r mpathy 
 came from Jose s sister as he was led away. 
 Seeing my opportunity, I took my own 
 departure, and hurried back to the hotel. 
 Emily was anxiously awaiting me. 
 
 A * & # & 
 
 It is about a year since Emily and I re 
 turned from our wedding trip. We have 
 settled down to housekeeping in Chicago, 
 as Emily has quite an extensive connection 
 here. But Philadelphia is hard to desert. 
 Although neither of us has a relative there, 
 
204 A BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 we have many, many, dear friends. Indeed 
 we have made several trips to Philadelphia 
 during the present winter. 
 
 We were reminiscent this morning, and 
 my wife reminded me of a matter that had 
 escaped my attention : 
 
 "I was glancing through your diary re 
 cently, and, do you know, you have left off 
 very abruptly and unsatisfactorily," she said. 
 
 a To tell the truth, I had forgotten of the 
 diary s existence," I replied. 
 
 And I now resume the pen to round up 
 my story with the events which subsequently 
 happened. 
 
 John Dooner died a short while after I 
 saw him, on the night of the shooting. I 
 read afterwards in a paper that a priest had 
 arrived and had performed the marriage ser 
 vice between him and Senorita Valera just 
 before his death. It was stated that the 
 young Mexican woman had been left some 
 $800 by her lover. I have not the slightest 
 doubt that this legacy constituted what re 
 mained of the money stolen from me. How 
 ever, I made no effort at recovery, and held 
 
 9 
 
REMINISCENCE. 205 
 
 my peace. I could better afford to lose the 
 money than could Dooner s widow. 
 
 Jose Yalera was to be tried for murder. 
 He had been imprisoned pending his trial. 
 But whether his sister s feelings at this time 
 underwent a change towards him, and caused 
 her to come to his rescue, I do not know. 
 Perhaps, in jail, Jose reconsidered his action 
 of sacrifice to his sister s wishes, and decided 
 that freedom was more desirable. At any 
 rate, it is some eight months since the Chi 
 cago papers contained reports of Jose Va- 
 lera s escape from prison. I have not yet 
 heard of his recapture. A friend, recently 
 returned from San Rafael, informs me that 
 rumor says his sister entered a convent. 
 
 What has become of Tyndall I do not 
 know : I think he will never trouble me 
 ao-ain. 
 
 14 
 
IMPRIMATUR. 
 
 AT the request of my wife s relatives and 
 our intimate friends, I have had this MS. 
 printed in book form for private distribution. 
 
 BENE : 
 
 CHICAGO, ILL., April 1, 1898. 
 It has been a number of years since I 
 made the foregoing note. And although 
 much has since happened for whose life, at 
 any period, is without incident? still, that 
 early part of my life of which I have written 
 perhaps makes a narrative sufficiently com 
 plete in itself to interest the disinterested. 
 At least, so a publishing friend of mine has 
 thought. For, since I presented a copy of 
 my privately printed book to him, he has 
 constantly been bothering me for permission 
 
IMPRIMATUR. 207 
 
 to issue an edition for public circulation. 
 Now that this edition appears, I can only 
 hope that the public may not condemn me 
 for having yielded to the temptation to see 
 myself in print. 
 
 GEORGE LEFFERTS HALL. 
 
DREXEL BIDDLE S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 3uet 
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 For sale, tastefully and strongly bound in blue, white, yelfow and gold cloth, 
 gilt-top, extra heavy p^.per, 12mo., pp. 88, for SO cents, by all booksellers. 
 
 LONDON: CAY & BIRD, 22 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND. 
 PHILADELPHIA : DREXEL 81DDLE, WALNUT STREET. 
 
" Mr. Biddle strikes a lead when he turns to the children. The success 
 of his first, 
 
 THE FROGGY FAIRY BOOK, 
 
 (Now in its Third Thousand) 
 
 shows that as a writer for small people he is entitled to consideration. 
 This is a rare and rich accomplishment. He has just published a beauti 
 ful book of fairy tales, 
 
 THE SECOND 
 FROGGY FAIRY BOOK, 
 
 and it will certainly bring joy to thousands of children. The books are 
 exquisitely printed and bound." The Buffalo Express. 
 
 "Anthony J. Drexel Riddle s Froggy Fairy Books promise to become 
 as necessary to the childish mind as the far-famed Alice in Wonderland 
 books." Los A-nyelt-s Times. 
 
 " Elsie Lee is as American as Alice in Wonderland is English. It is a 
 pretty and healthy story, which is certain to delight all good children." 
 The Scotsman, Edinburgh. 
 
 "... Remarkably clever, and the long-haired young lady who has 
 wandered into Froglaud is charmingly contrasted with frogs, who figure 
 as portly elderly gentlemen, or are got up like respectable family but 
 lers." The London Times. 
 
 "A funny book for children, which has obtained a great vogue." Pall 
 Mall Gazvtte. 
 
 NEW EDITIONS FOR SALE BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 THE FROGGY FAIRY BOOK. With nine beautiful full-page illustrations 
 by J. R. Skeen. 8vo, cloth. Price, 50 cents ; de luxe edition, 81.25. 
 
 THE SECOND FROGGY FAIRY BOOK. Superbly illustrated with pen and 
 color full-page and inter-text drawings by well-known artists, printed on 
 heavy satin-finished paper, and bound in blue silk cloth stamped in gold, 
 silver, and red. A gift-book appropriate for all presentation occasions. 
 Price, 75 cents. 
 
 &B~ The above works are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent by 
 DREXEL BIDDLE, Philadelphia, postage prepaid, to any part of the United 
 States, Canada, or Mexico, or by GAY & BIRD, London, to any part of 
 Great Britain, en receipt of the price. 
 
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