CHAPTER XLVIII
A RETURN CALL
In the morning I labored to dismiss these thoughts, these shamefulsuspicions, almost as injurious to my father's honor as it was tosuspect him of the crime itself. And calling back my memories of him,and dwelling on what Mr. Shovelin said, and Uncle Sam and others, Ibecame quite happy in the firm conviction that I ought to be put uponbread and water for having such vile visions. Then suddenly a thing cameto my mind which shattered happy penitence.
Major Hockin had spoken of another purpose which he had in store whilebringing me thus to London--another object, that is to say, besides theopening of the trinket. And this his second intention was to "have itout," as he expressed it, "with that league of curs and serpents, Vypan,Goad, and Terryer." This was the partnership whose card of business hadbeen delivered at the sawmills under circumstances which, to say theleast, required explanation. And the Major, with strong words and tugsof his head-crest, had vowed to get that explanation, or else put thelot of them into a police dock.
Moreover, when, at the opening of the locket, I did not think fit toshow the lapidary what I had found inside it, except the paintingon ivory (which proved to be as he expected), and when my companionsuppressed curiosity at the risk of constitution, and while I couldscarcely tell what I was about (through sudden shock and stupidity), Imust have been hurried on to tell Major Hockin the whole of the privatethings I had discovered. For, in truth, there was scarcely any timeto think; and I was afraid of giving way, which must have befallen mewithout relief of words; and being so much disturbed I may, in the cab,have rushed off for comfort to the Major, sitting so close to me. Nodoubt I did so, from what happened afterward; but in the morning, aftersuch a night, I really could not be certain what I had said to Betsy,and what to him.
A large mind would have been steady throughout, and regarded thequestion of birth as a thing to which we, who are not consulted aboutit, should bear ourselves indifferently. And gladly would I have doneso, if I could, but the power was not in me. No doubt it served me rightfor having been proud about such a trifle; but though I could call it atrifle as long as it seemed to be in my favor, my strength of mind wasnot enough to look at it so when against me.
Betsy told me not to be like that, for I had a great deal to go throughyet, and must not be drawing on my spirit so, every atom of which wouldbe needful. For the General--as she called the Major--was coming tofetch me at eleven o'clock to face some abominable rascals, and withoutany breakfast how could I do it? Then I remembered all about theappointment to go to Messrs. Vypan, Goad, and Terryer, and beginning tothink about them, I saw sad confirmation of my bad ideas. My father'swicked elder brother by another mother had left his own rights pending,as long as my father lived, for good reason. For if the latter hadturned against him, through a breach of compact, things might go ill ina criminal court; but having him silenced now by death, this man mightcome forward boldly and claim estates and title. His first point wouldbe to make sure as sure could be of the death of my father, to get holdof his private papers, and of me, who might possess dangerous knowledge.And if this were so, one could understand at once Mr. Goad's attemptupon Uncle Sam.
"Now none of this! none of this, I say, Erema!" Major Hockin exclaimed,as he ran in and saw me scarcely even caring to hold my own with thegentle Maximilian--to which name Mr. Strouss was promoted from the toovernacular "Hans." "My dear, I never saw you look ill before. Why, blessmy heart, you will have crows'-feet! Nurse, what are you doing with her?Look at her eyes, and be ashamed of yourself. Give her goulard, tisane,tiffany--I never know what the proper word is--something, any thing,volatile Sally, hartshorn, ammonia, aromatic vinegar, saline draught, orsomething strong. Why, I want her to look at her very, very best."
"As if she was a-going to a ball, poor dear!" Betsy Strouss replied,with some irony. "A young lady full of high spirits by nature, and havenever had her first dance yet! The laws and institutions of thiskingdom is too bad for me, General. I shall turn foreigner, like my poorhusband."
"It is vere goot, vere goot always," said the placid Maximilian;"foreigner dis way, foreigner dat way; according to de hills, or de sea,or de fighting, or being born, or someting else."
"Hold your tongue, Hans," cried his Wilhelmina; "remember that you arein England now, and must behave constitutionally. None of your looseoutlandish ideas will ever get your bread in England. Was I bornaccording to fighting, or hills, or sea, or any thing less than the willof the Lord, that made the whole of them, and made you too? General,I beg you to excuse him, if you can. When he gets upon such things, henever can stop. His goodness is very great; but he must have a firm handput upon his 'philosophy.' Maximilian, you may go and smoke your pipefor an hour and a quarter, and see where the cheapest greens and oilare, for his Excellence is coming in to-night; and mind you get plentyof stump in them. His Excellence loves them, and they fill the dish,besides coming cheaper. Now, Miss Erema, if you please, come here. Trustyou in me, miss, and soon I will make you a credit to the General."
I allowed her to manage my dress and all that according to her ownideas; but when she entreated to finish me up with the "leastestlittle touch of red, scarcely up to the usual color, by reason of notsleeping," I stopped her at once, and she was quite content with thecolor produced by the thought of it. Meanwhile Major Hockin, of course,was becoming beyond all description impatient. He had made the greatestpoint of my being adorned, and expected it done in two minutes! And hehurried me so, when I did come down, that I scarcely noticed either cabor horse, and put on my new gloves anyhow.
"My dear, you look very nice," he said at last, when thoroughly tiredof grumbling. "That scoundrel of a Goad will be quite amazed at sight ofthe child he went to steal."
"Mr. Goad!" I replied, with a shudder, caused, perhaps, by darkremembrance; "if we go to the office, you surely will not expect me tosee Mr. Goad himself?"
"That depends, as the Frenchmen say. It is too late now to shrink backfrom any thing. If I can spare you, I will. If not, you must not beashamed to show yourself."
"I am never ashamed to show myself. But I would rather not go to thatplace at all. If things should prove to be as I begin to think, I hadbetter withdraw from the whole of it, and only lament that I ever began.My father was right; after all, my father was wise; and I ought to haveknown it. And perhaps Uncle Sam knew the truth, and would not tell me,for fear of my rushing to the Yosemite. Cabman, please to turn the horseand go in the opposite direction." But the Major pulled me back, and thedriver lifted his elbow and said, "All right."
"Erema," the Major began, quite sternly, "things are gone a littletoo far for this. We are now embarked upon a most importantinvestigation"--even in my misery I could scarce help smiling at hislove of big official words--"an investigation of vast importance. Acrime of the blackest dye has been committed, and calmly hushed up, forsome petty family reason, for a period of almost twenty years. I am notblaming your father, my dear; you need not look so indignant. It isyour own course of action, remember, which has led to the present--thepresent--well, let us say imbroglio. A man of honor and an officer ofher Majesty's service stands now committed at your request--mind, atyour own request--"
"Yes, yes, I know; but I only meant you to--to go as far as I shouldwish."
"Confidential instructions, let us say; but there are times when dutyto society overrides fine feeling. I have felt that already. The dieis cast. No half-and-half measures, no beating about the bush, for me.After what I saw yesterday, and the light that burst upon me, I did notact hastily--I never do, though slow coaches may have said so. I putthis and that together carefully, and had my dinner, and made up mymind. And you see the result in that man on the box."
"The cabman? Oh yes, you resolved to have a cab, and drive to thosewicked informers."
"Where are your eyes? You are generally so quick. This morning you arequite unlike yourself--so weak, so tearful, and timorous. Have you notseen that by side of the cabman there sits another man altogether? Oneof the m
ost remarkable men of the age, as your dear Yankees say."
"Not a policeman in disguise, I hope. I saw a very common, insignificantman. I thought he was the driver's groom, perhaps."
"Hush! he hears every thing, even on this granite. He is not apoliceman; if he were, a few things that disgrace the force never wouldhappen. If the policemen of England did their duty as our soldiers do,at once I would have gone to them; my duty would have been to do so. Asit is, I go to our private police, who would not exist if the force wereworth a rap. Vypan, Goad, and Terryer, in spite of Goad's clumsiness,rank second. I go to the first of all these firms, and I get their verycleverest rascal."
Major Hockin, speaking in this hoarse whisper--for he could not whispergently--folded his arms, and then nodded his head, as much as to say,"I have settled it now. You have nothing to do but praise me." But I wasvexed and perplexed too much to trust my voice with an answer.
"The beauty of this arrangement is," he continued, with vastcomplacency, "that the two firms hate one another as the devilhates--no, that won't do; there is no holy water to be found amongthem--well, as a snake hates a slow-worm, let us say. 'Set a thief tocatch a thief' is a fine old maxim; still better when the two thieveshave robbed one another."
As he spoke, the noble stranger slipped off the driving seat withouttroubling the cabman to stop his jerking crawl, and he did it so wellthat I had no chance of observing his nimble face or form. "You aredisappointed," said the Major, which was the last thing I would haveconfessed. "You may see that man ten thousand times, and never be ableto swear to him. Ha! ha! he is a oner!"
"I disdain such mean tricks beyond all expression," I exclaimed, as wasonly natural, "and every thing connected with them. It is so low to talkof such things. But what in the world made him do it? Where does he comefrom, and what is his name?"
"Like all noble persons, he has got so many names that he does not knowwhich is the right one; only his are short and theirs are long. Helikes 'Jack' better than any thing else, because it is not distinctive.'Cosmopolitan Jack,' some call him, from his combining the manners andcustoms, features and figures, of nearly all mankind. He gets on withevery one, for every one is gratified by seeing himself reflected inhim. And he can jump from one frame to another as freely as Proteusor the populace. And yet, with all that, he is perfectly honest to anyallegiance he undertakes. He would not betray us to Vypan, Goad, andTerryer for your great nugget and the Castlewood estates."
"I have heard that there are such people," I said; "but what can hepossibly know about me? And what is he coming to do for us now?"
"He knows all about you, for a very simple reason. That you do not knowhim, is a proof of his ability. For you must have met him times out ofnumber. This is the fellow employed by your good but incapable cousin,Lord Castlewood."
"He is not incapable; he is a man of great learning, and noblecharacter--"
"Well, never mind that; you must not be so hot. What I mean is that hehas done nothing for you beyond providing for your safety. And thathe certainly did right well, and at considerable expense, for this mancan't be had for nothing. You need have been under no terror at all inany of the scenes you have been through. Your safety was watched forcontinually."
"Then why did he not come and help me? Why did he not find out thathorrible man?"
"Because it was not in his orders, and Jack is the last man to go beyondthose. He is so clever that the stupid Moonites took him for a stupidMoonite. You should have employed him yourself, Erema; but you are soproud and independent."
"I should hope so, indeed. Should I put up with deceit? If the truthis not to be had without falsehood, it is not worth having. But what isthis man to do here now?"
"That depends upon circumstances. He has better orders than I couldgive, for I am no hand at scheming. Here we are; or here we stop.Say nothing till I tell you. Pray allow me the honor. You keep in thebackground, remember, with your veil, or whatever you call it, down.Nobody stops at the very door. Of course that is humbug--we conform toit."
With a stiff inclination, the gallant Major handed me out of the cab ina quiet corner of a narrow street, then paid the driver with lessfuss than usual, and led me into a queer little place marked in almostillegible letters, "Little England Polygon." "You have the card, mydear?" he whispered; "keep it till I call you in. But be ready toproduce it in a moment. For the rest, I leave you to your own wit. Jackis on the watch, mind."
There were two doors near together, one a brave door with a plate,and swung on playing hinges, the other of too secluded a turn to evenpronounce itself "private." We passed through the public door, and foundonly a lobby, with a boy on guard. "Mr. Goad? Yes, Sir. This way, Sir,"cried the boy. "Lady stay? Yes, Sir; waiting-room for ladies. Chair,miss; here, if you please--first right. Mr. Goad, second on the left.Knock twice. Paper, miss? Poker chained at this time of year. Bell A,glass of water. Bell B, cup of tea, if ladies grows impatient."
If I had been well, I might have reduced this boy to his propermagnitude, for I never could endure young flippancy; but my spiritswere so low that the boy banged the door with a fine sense of havingvanquished me. And before there was any temptation to ring Bell A, notto mention Bell B, the sound of a wrathful voice began coming.Nearer and nearer it came, till the Major strode into the "ladies'waiting-room," and used language no ladies should wait for.
"Oh, don't!" I said; "what would Mrs. Hockin say? And consider me too,Major Hockin, if you please."
"I have considered you, and that makes me do it. Every body knows whatI am. Did I ever exaggerate in all my life? Did I ever say any thingwithout just grounds? Did I ever take any distorted views? Did I everdraw upon my imagination? Erema, answer me this instant!"
"I do not remember a single instance of your drawing upon yourimagination," I answered, gravely, and did not add, "because there isnone to draw upon."
"Very well. I was sure of your concurrence. Then just come with me. Takemy arm, if you please, and have the thief's card ready. Now keep yourtemper and your self-command."
With this good advice, the Major, whose arm and whole body were jerkingwith wrath, led me rapidly down the long passage and through a door, andmy eyes met the eyes of the very man who had tried to bribe Uncle Sam ofme. He never saw me then, and he did not know me now; but his insolenteyes fell under mine. I looked at him quietly, and said nothing.
"Now, Mr. Goad, you still assert that you never were inCalifornia--never even crossed the Atlantic. This young lady undermy protection--don't you be afraid, my dear--is the Honorable EremaCastlewood, whom you, in the pay of a murderer, went to fetch,and perhaps to murder. Now, do you acknowledge it? You wrote herdescription, and ought to know her. You double-dyed villain, out withit!"
"Major Hockin," said Mr. Goad, trying to look altogether at his ease,but failing, and with his bull-dog forehead purple, "if indeed you arean officer--which I doubt for the credit of her Majesty's service--ifthe lady were not present, I should knock you down." And the big man gotup as if to do it.
"Never mind her," my companion answered, in a magnanimous manner; "shehas seen worse than that, poor thing. Here I am--just come and do it."
The Major was scarcely more than half the size of Mr. Goad in merebodily bulk, and yet he defied him in this way. He carefully took hisblue lights off, then drew up the crest of his hair, like his wife'smost warlike cock a-crowing, and laid down his rattan upon a desk, anddoubled his fists, and waited. Then he gave a blink from the corner ofhis gables, clearly meaning, "Please to stop and see it out." It was adistressing thing to see, and the Major's courage was so grand that Icould not help smiling. Mr. Goad, however, did not advance, but assumeda superior manner.
"Major," he said, "we are not young men; we must not be so hasty. Youcarry things with too high a hand, as veteran officers are apt to do.Sir, I make allowance for you; I retract my menace, and apologize. Wemove in different spheres of life, Sir, or I would offer you my hand."
"No, thank you!" the Major exclaimed, and then looked sor
ry for hisarrogance. "When a man has threatened me, and that man sees the mistakeof doing so, I am pacified, Sir, in a moment; but it takes me some timeto get over it. I have served his Gracious Majesty, and now hers,in every quarter of the civilized globe, with distinction, Sir--withdistinction, and thanks, and no profit to taint the transaction, Sir.In many battles I have been menaced with personal violence, and havereceived it, as in such positions is equitable. I am capable, Sir, ofreceiving it still, and repaying it, not without interest."
"Hang it, Major, if a man is sorry, a soldier forgives him frankly.You abused me, and I rashly threatened you. I beg your pardon, as a manshould do, and that should be an end to it."
"Very well, very well; say no more about it. But am I to understand thatyou still deny in that barefaced manner, with my witness here, the factof your having been at Colonel Gundry's--my cousin, Sir, and a man notto be denied, without an insult to myself--a man who possesses ingotsof gold, ingots of gold, enough to break the Bank of England, and aman whose integrity doubles them all. Have you not heard of the monsternugget, transcending the whole of creation, discovered by this younglady looking at you, in the bed of the saw-mill river, and valued atmore than half a million?"
"You don't mean to say so? When was it? Sylvester never said a wordabout it--the papers, I mean, never mentioned it."
"Try no more--well, I won't say lies, though they are confoundedlies--what I mean is, no further evasion, Mr. Goad. Sylvester's nameis enough, Sir. Here is the card of your firm, with your own note ofdelivery on the back, handed by you to my cousin, the Colonel. And herestands the lady who saw you do it."
"Major, I will do my very best to remember. I am here, there, everywhere--China one day, Peru the next, Siberia the day after. And thisyoung lady found the nugget, did she? How wonderfully lucky she mustbe!"
"I am lucky; I find out every thing; and I shall find out you, Mr.Goad." Thus I spoke on the spur of the moment, and I could not havespoken better after a month of consultation. Rogues are generallysuperstitious. Mr. Goad glanced at me with a shudder, as I had gazedat him some three years back; and then he dropped his bad, oily-lookingeyes.
"I make mistakes sometimes," he said, "as to where I have been and whereI have not. If this young lady saw me there, it stands to reason that Imay have been there. I have a brother extremely similar. He goes about agood deal also. Probably you saw my brother."
"I saw no brother of yours, but yourself. Yourself--your mean andcowardly self--and I shall bring you to justice."
"Well, well," he replied, with a poor attempt to turn the matterlightly; "I never contradict ladies; it is an honor to be so observed bythem. Now, Major, can you give me any good reason for drawing upon a badmemory? My time is valuable. I can not refer to such by-gone matters fornothing."
"We will not bribe you, if that is what you mean," Major Hockin madeanswer, scornfully. "This is a criminal case, and we have evidence youlittle dream of. Our only offer is--your own safety, if you make a cleanbreast of it. We are on the track of a murderer, and your connectionwith him will ruin you. Unless you wish to stand in the dock at hisside, you will tell us every thing."
"Sir, this is violent language."
"And violent acts will follow it: if you do not give up your principal,and every word you know about him, you will leave this room in custody.I have Cosmopolitan Jack outside, and the police at a sign from him willcome."
"Is this job already in the hands of the police, then?"
"No, not yet. I resolved to try you first. If you refuse, it will betaken up at once; and away goes your last chance, Sir."
Mr. Goad's large face became like a field of conflicting passions andlow calculations. Terror, fury, cupidity, and doggedness never had alarger battle-field.
"Allow me at least to consult my partners," he said, in a low voice andalmost with a whine; "we may do things irregular sometimes, but we neverbetray a client."
"Either betray your client or yourself," the Major answered, with adownright stamp. "You shall consult no one. You have by this watchforty-five seconds to consider it."
"You need not trouble yourself to time me," the other answered, sulkily;"my duty to the firm overrides private feeling. Miss Castlewood, I callyou to witness, since Major Hockin is so peppery--"
"Peppery, Sir, is the very last word that ever could be applied tome. My wife, my friends, every one that knows me, even my furthest-offcorrespondents, agree that I am pure patience."
"It may be so, Major; but you have not shown it. Miss Castlewood, I havedone you no harm. If you had been given up to me, you would have beensafer than where you were. My honor would have been enlisted. I nowlearn things which I never dreamed of--or, at least--at least onlylately. I always believed the criminality to be on the other side.We never ally ourselves with wrong. But lately things have come to myknowledge which made me doubtful as to facts. I may have been duped--Ibelieve I have been: I am justified, therefore, in turning the tables."
"If you turn tables," broke in the Major, who was grumbling to himselfat the very idea of having any pepper in his nature--"Goad, if you turntables, mind you, you must do it better than the mesmerists. Out of thisroom you do not stir; no darkness--no bamboozling! Show your papers,Sir, without sleight of hand. Surrender, or you get no quarter."
To me it was quite terrifying to see my comrade thus push his victory.Mr. Goad could have killed him at any moment, and but for me perhapswould have done so. But even in his fury he kept on casting glances ofsuperstitious awe at me, while I stood quite still and gazed at him.Then he crossed the room to a great case of drawers, unlocked somethingabove the Major's head, made a sullen bow, and handed him a packet.
Erema; Or, My Father's Sin Page 48