"On arriving at home, to my surprise and mortification, I learned that my intended was just on the eve of marriage with a cousin of mine--a worthless fellow--who, urged on by the relatives interested, and his own desire of acquiring the handsome competence of twenty thousand dollars, had taken advantage of my absence to calumniate me, (in which design he had been aided by several worthy assistants) and supplant me in the good graces--I will not say affections, as I think the term too strong--of Elvira Longworth.
"The lady in question I do not think I ever loved--at least as I understand the meaning of that term--and now--that she had listened to slander against me while absent, and, without waiting to know whether it would be refuted on my return, had engaged herself to another--I cared less for her than before;--but my pride was touched, that I should be thus tamely set aside for one I heartily despised; and this, together with my desire to thwart the machinations of the whole intriguing clique arrayed against me, determined me, if feasible, to regain the favor of Elvira, and have the ceremony performed as soon as possible. This, Ella, I know you think, and I am ready to admit it, was wrong--very wrong; but I make no pretensions to be other than a frail mortal, liable to all the errors appertaining thereto; and were this is the only sin to be laid to my charge, my conscience were far less troublesome than now.
"I determined, I say, to regain my former place in h er favor or affection--whichever you like--and, to be brief, I apparently succeeded. The day was set for our marriage; which, for several reasons unnecessary to be detailed, was to take place at the residence of my father; and, as the will specified it should be with all due rejoicings, great preparations were accordingly made, and a goodly number of guests invited.
"At length the day came--the eventful day. Never shall I forget it; nor with what feelings, at the appointed hour, I entered the crowded hall, where the ceremony was to take place, with Elvira leaning tremblingly on my arm, her features devoid of all color, and approached the spot where the divine stood ready to unite us forever. All eyes were now fixed upon us; and the marriage rite was begun amid that deep and almost awful solemnity, which not unfrequently characterizes such proceedings on peculiar occasions, when every spectator, as well as the actors themselves, feel a secret awe steal over them, as though about to witness a tragic, rather than a civil, performance.
"I have mentioned that Elvira trembled violently when we entered the hall; but this trembling increased after the divine commenced the ritual; so that when I had answered in the affirmative the solemn question pertaining to my taking the being by my side as mine till death, her trepidation had become so great that it was with difficulty I could support her; and when the same interrogative was put to her, a silence of some moments followed; and then the answer came forth, low and trembling, but still sufficiently distinct to be generally understood; and was, to the unbounded astonishment of all, in the negative!"
"In the negative!" exclaimed Ella, suddenly, who had during the last few sentences been unconsciously leaning forward, as though to devour each syllable as it was uttered, and who now resumed her former position with a long drawn breath. "In the negative say you, Alger--a--a--Mr. Reynolds?"
"Call me Algernon, Ella, I pray you; it sounds more sweet and friendly. Ay, she answered in the negative. Heavens! what a shock was there for my proud nature! To be thus publicly insulted and rejected--to be thus made the butt and ridicule of fools and knaves--a mark for the jests and sneers of friend and foe! Oh! how my blood boiled and coursed in lava streams through my heated veins! I saw it all. I was the dupe of some artful design, intended to stigmatize me forever; and wild with a thousand terrible brain-searing thoughts, I rushed from the hall to my own apartment, seized upon my pistols, and was just in the act of putting a period to my existence, when my arm was suddenly grasped, and my hated rival and cousin stood before me.
"'Fiend!' cried I in frenzy; 'devil in human shape!--do you seek me in the body? What want you here?'
"His features were pale with excitement, and his lips quivered as he made answer: 'Be calm, Algernon, be calm; it was meant but in jest!'
"'Jest!' screamed I; 'do you then own to a knowledge of it, villain?--were you its author?--then take that, and answer it as you dare!'--and as I spoke, with the breech of my undischarged pistol, I stretched him senseless at my feet. Under the excitement of the moment, I was about to take a more terrible revenge; when others suddenly rushed in--seized and disarmed me--bore my rival from my sight--and, to conclude, placed me in bed, where I was confined for three weeks by a delirious fever, and then only recovered as it were by a miracle.
"During my convalescence, I learned that my cousin, soon after my return, had been privately married to Elvira; and prompted by his evil genius, and some of my enemies, had induced his wife to enter into the plot, the result of which has already been briefly narrated. I do not think she did it through malice, and doubtless little thought of the consequences that were destined to follow; but whether so or not, her punishment has, I think, been fully adequate to her crime; for the last I heard of her, she was an inmate of a mad-house--remorse for her conduct, the abuse heaped upon her by society, and her own severe fright at the termination of the stratagem, having driven her insane. Now comes the most tragic part of my narrative.
"When so far recovered as to again be abroad, I was cautioned by my parents against my rash act; and for their sakes, I promised to be temperate in all my movements; but, alas! how little we know when we promise, what we may be in sooth destined to perform. On my father's estate, about a mile distant from his residence, was a beautiful grove--whither, for recreation, I was in the habit of repairing at all periods of my life; and where, so soon as my strength permitted, after my sickness, I rambled daily. About ten days from my recovery, as I was taking my usual stroll through these grounds, I was suddenly confronted by my cousin. His cheeks were hollow and pale, and his whole appearance haggard in the extreme. His eyes, too, seemed to flash, or burn, as it were, with an unearthly brightness; and his voice, as he addressed me, was hoarse, and his manner hurried.
"'We meet well,' he said, 'well! I have watched for you long.'
"'Away!' cried I; 'tempt me no more--or something will follow I may regret hereafter!'
"'Ha, ha, ha!' laughed he, in derision, with that peculiar, hollow sound, which even now, as I recall it, makes my blood run cold:--'Say you so, cousin?--I came for that;' and again he laughed as before. 'See here--see here!' and he presented, as he spoke, with the butts toward me, a brace of pistols. 'Here is what will settle all our animosities,' he continued; 'take your choice, and be quick, or perchance we may be interrupted.'
"'Are you mad,' cried I, 'that you thus seek my life, after the wrongs you have done me?'
"'Mad!--ha, ha!--yes!--yes!--I believe I am,' he answered; 'and my wife is mad also. I did you wrong, I know--went to apologise for it, and you struck me down. Whatever the offence, a blow I never did and never will forgive; so take your choice, and be quick, for one or both of us must never quit this place alive.'
"'Away!' cried I, turning aside; 'I will not stain my hands with the blood of my kin. Go! the world is large enough to hold us both.'
"'Coward!' hissed he; 'take that, then, and bear what I have borne;' and with the palm of his hand he smote me on the cheek.
"I could bear no more--I was no longer myself--I was maddened with passion--and snatching a pistol from his hand, which was still extended toward me, without scarcely knowing what I did, I exclaimed, 'Your blood be on your own head!'--and--and--Oh, Heaven!--pardon me, Ella--I--shot him through the body."
Ella, who had partly risen from her seat, and was listening with breathless attention, now uttered an exclamation of horror, and sunk back, with features ghastly pale; while the other, burying his face in his hands, shook his whole frame with convulsive sobs. For some time neither spoke; and then the young man, slowly raising his face, which was now a sad spectacle of the workings of grief and remorse, again proceeded:
"Horror-stri
cken--aghast at what I had done--I stood for a moment, gazing upon him weltering in his blood, with eyes that burned and seemed starting from their sockets--with feelings that are indescribable--and then rushing to him, I endeavored to raise him, and learn the extent of his injury.
"'Fly!' said he, faintly, as I bent over him--'fly for your life! I have got my due--I am mortally wounded--and if you remain, you will surely be arrested as my murderer. Farewell, Algernon--the fault was mine--but this you can not prove; and so leave me--leave me while you have opportunity.'
"His words were true; I felt them in force; if he died, I would be arraigned as his murderer--I had no proof to the contrary--circumstances would be against me--I should be imprisoned--condemned--perhaps executed--a loathsome sight for gaping thousands--I could not bear the thought--I might escape--ay, would escape--and bidding him a hasty farewell, I turned and fled. Not a hundred rods distant I met my father; and falling on my knees before him, I hurriedly related what had taken place, and begged advice for myself, and his immediate attendance upon my cousin. He turned pale and trembled violently at my narration; and, as I concluded, drew forth a purse of gold, which he chanced to have with him, and placing it in my hand, exclaimed:
"'Fly--son--child--Algernon--for Heaven's sake, fly!'
"'Whither, father?'
"'To the far western wilds, beyond the reach of civilization--at least beyond the reach of justice--and spare my old eyes the awful sight of seeing a beloved son arraigned as a criminal!'
"'And my mother?'
"'You can not see her--it might cost you your life,--farewell!' and with the last word trembling on his lips, he embraced me fondly, and we parted--perchance forever.
"I fled, feeling that the brand of Cain was on me; that henceforth my life was to be one of remorse and misery; that I was to be a wanderer upon the face of the earth--mayhap an Ishmael, with every man's hand against me. To atone in a measure to my conscience for the awful deed I had committed, I knelt upon the earth, and swore, by all I held sacred in time and eternity, that if the wound inflicted upon my cousin should prove mortal, I would live a life of celibacy, and become a wandering pilgrim in the western wilds of America till God should see proper to call me hence."
"And--and did the wound prove mortal?" asked Ella, breathlessly.
"Alas! I know not, Ella, and I fear to know. Four months have passed since then; and after many adventures, hardships, sufferings, and hair-breadth escapes, you see me here before you, a miserable man."
"But not one guilty of murder, Algernon," said Ella, energetically.
"I k now not that--Heaven grant it true!"
"O, then, do not despair, Algernon!--trust in God, and hope for the best. I have a hope that all will yet be well."
"Amen to that, dear Ella; and a thousand, thousand thanks, for your sweet words of consolation; they are as balm to my torn and bleeding heart; but until I _know_ my fate, we must not meet again; and if, oh Heaven! and if the worst be true--then--then farewell forever! But who comes here?"
CHAPTER IV.
THE STRANGER.
The closing sentence of the preceding chapter was occasioned by the glimpse of a man's shadow, that for a moment swept along in the sunlight, some twenty paces distant from the speaker, and then suddenly disappeared by being swallowed up in the larger and more stationary shade thrown from the cottage by the sinking sun. Scarcely were the words alluded to uttered, ere the sound of a step was heard close by the door, and the next moment the cause of the shadow and remark divided the light of the entrance.
The individual in question, was a stout built, broad-shouldered, athletic man--some five feet nine inches in height--whose age, judging from his general appearance, as well as his features, might range from twenty-seven to thirty years. At the moment when he appeared before our acquaintances of the foregoing chapter, his right arm was held in a manner so as to screen the lower portion of his face; while a hat, not very much unlike those of the present day, pressed down upon his forehead, left but little of his countenance, and that mainly about the eyes, visible. With the latter he gave a quick, searching, suspicious glance at the two before him; and then, as if satisfied he had nothing to fear, lowered his arm and raised his hat from his forehead, exposing a physiognomy by no means pleasing to one skilled in reading the heart thereby. His complexion was swarthy--his skin coarse--and the general expression of his features repulsive in the extreme; this expression arising from the combination of three distinct parts of his countenance--namely: the forehead which was low and receding from two dark-red, shaggy eye-brows,--the eyes themselves, which were small, bloodshot and very fiery; and the mouth, which was narrow, thin-lipped, and habitually contracted into a sneering, sinister smile. In this general expression, was combined cunning, deceit, treachery, and bloodthirsty ferocity--each one of which passions were sufficiently powerful, when fully excited, to predominate over the whole combination. The hair of his head was short, thick, coarse and red, grew low upon his forehead, and, in its own peculiar way, added a fierceness to his whole appearance. Nature had evidently designed him for a villain of the darkest die; and on the same principle that she gives a rattle to a certain venomous snake, that other creatures may be warned of the deadly fang in time to avoid it--so had she stamped him with a look wherein his passions were mirrored, that those who gazed thereon might know with whom and what they had to do, and be prepared accordingly. The costume too of the stranger was rather singular, and worthy of note--being composed, for the most part, of an extraordinary long frock or overcoat--more like the gown of some monk than either--which reached almost down to the moccasins covering his feet, and was laced together in front, nearly the whole length, by thongs of deerskin. Around the waist passed a rude belt of the same material--carelessly tied at one side--in which, contrary to the usual custom of that period, there was not confined a single weapon, not even so much as a knife; and this fact, together with the general appearance of the individual and his own suspicious movements, led Algernon, almost at the first glance, to consider the long frock or gown an article of disguise, beneath which the stranger was doubtless doubly armed and costumed in a very different manner.
As the eyes of the new comer, after closely scanning Reynolds, rested for the first time upon Ella, there flashed across his ugly features an expression of admiration and surprise--while the look of suspicion which he had previously exhibited, seemed entirely to disappear. Turning to the young man, who on his appearance had risen from his seat, and now stood as if waiting to know his commands, in a voice evidently much softened from its usual tones, but still by no means pleasant and harmonious, he said:
"Will you be kind enough to inform me, sir, to whom this dwelling belongs?"
"It is owned, I believe, by one Benjamin Younker," answered Algernon, in a cavalier manner, still eyeing the other closely.
"May I ask his occupation?"
"He is a farmer, sir--a tiller of the soil."
"Will you favor me with a description of his personal appearance?"
"I can do so," replied Algernon, somewhat surprised at the question, "provided I know the motive of inquiry to be a good one."
"It is no other, I assure you," returned the stranger. "It was simply prompted by curiosity."
"Well, then, the individual in question is a man who has seen more than fifty years--is tall, raw-boned, muscular, has a stoop in the shoulder, a long, thin face, small eyes, and hair slightly gray."
"Has he any sons?" inquired the stranger.
"One, a youth of twenty, who bears a strong resemblance to his father."
"Daughters?"
"He has no other child."
"Then this young lady"--slightly bowing to Ella.
"Is a more distant relation--a niece," answered Ella, rising as she spoke and disappearing from his sight.
"A beautiful creature!" said the stranger, musingly, as if to himself--"a beautiful creature! Pardon me," added he, again addressing Algernon; "but may I inquire concerning yoursel
f?"
"I am a guest here, sir."
"Aha--yes; a hunter I presume?"
"I sometimes hunt."
"Pardon me again--but are there more indwellers here than you have mentioned?"
"One, sir--the good dame of the cottage."
For a moment or two the stranger mused, as if running over in his mind all that had been said; and then observed:
"Doubtless you think me very inquisitive; but I had a reason for all my questions; and I thank you sincerely, sir, for your prompt replies. It is now growing late; the sun will presently be down; and as I am a traveler--a stranger in this region--I would rather not pursue my journey further, providing I could be entertained here for the night."
"As to that, I am unable to answer," said Algernon; "but if you will step within, I will make the necessary inquiries."
"Thank you," replied the stranger, with a show of cordiality; "thank you;" and he immediately entered the cottage.
Those days, as before said, were the good old days of hospitality--and, as far as population went, of social intercourse also--when every man's cabin was the stranger's home, and every neighbor every neighbor's friend. There were no distinct grades of society then as now, from which an honest individual of moral worth must be excluded because of poverty--a good character for upright dealing being the standard by which all were judged; and whoever possessed this, could rank equally with the best, though poor as the beggar Lazarus. Doubtless intellect and education then, as well as at the present day, held in many things a superiority over imbecility and ignorance; but there were no distinct lines of demarcation drawn; and in the ordinary routine of intercourse one with another, there was no superiority claimed, and none acknowledged. And this arose, probably, from the necessity each felt for there being a general unity--a general blending together of all qualifications, as it were, into one body politic--by which each individual became an individual member of the whole, perfect in his place, and capable of supplying what another might chance to need; as the man of education might be puny in stature and deficient of a strong arm; the man of strong arm deficient in education; the imbecile man might be a superior woodman--the man of intellect an inferior one:--so that, as before remarked, each of these qualities, being essential to perfect the whole, each one of course was called upon to exercise his peculiar talent, and take his position on an equality with his neighbor. There has been great change in society since then; those days of simple equality have gone forever; but we question if the present race, with all their privileges, with all their security, with all their means of enjoyment, are as happy as those noble old pioneers, with all their necessities, with all their dangers, with all their sufferings.
Bennett, Emerson - Ella Barnwell Page 5