The Bronze Hand Read online

  V. DOCTOR MERRIAM.

  This second disappointment was more than I could endure. Turning uponthe doctor with undisguised passion, I hotly asked:

  "Who has taken it? Describe the person at once. Tell what you know aboutthe box, I did not finish the threat; but my looks must have been veryfierce, for he edged off a bit, and cast a curious glance at the officerbefore he answered:

  "You have, then, no ailing friend? Well, well; I expended some very goodadvice upon you. But you paid me, and so we are even."

  "The box!" I urged; "the box! Don't waste words, for a man's life is atstake."

  His surprise was marvelously assumed or very real.

  "You are talking somewhat wildly, are you not?" he ventured, with abland air. "A man's life? I cannot believe that."

  "But you don't answer me," I urged.

  He smiled; he evidently thought me out of my mind.

  "That's true; but there is so little I can tell you. I do not know whatwas in the box about which you express so much concern, and I do notknow the names of its owners. It was brought here some six months agoand placed in the spot where you saw it this morning, upon conditionsthat were satisfactory to me, and not at all troublesome to my patients,whose convenience I was bound to consult. It has remained there tillto-day, when----"

  Here the officer interrupted him.

  "What were these conditions? The matter calls for frankness."

  "The conditions," repeated the doctor, in no wise abashed, "were these:That it should occupy the large table in the window as long as theysaw fit. That, though placed in my room, it should be regarded as theproperty of the society which owned it, and, consequently, free to theinspection of its members but to no one else. That I should know thesemembers by their ability to open the box, and that so long as thesepersons confined their visits to my usual hours for patients, they wereto be subject to no one's curiosity, nor allowed to suffer from anyone's interference. In return for these slight concessions, I was toreceive five dollars for every day I allowed it to stay here, payment tobe made by mail."

  "Good business! And you cannot tell the names of the persons with whomyou entered into this contract?"

  "No; the one who came to me first and saw to the placing of the boxand all that, was a short, sturdy fellow, with a common face but verybrilliant eye; he it was who made the conditions; but the man who cameto get it, and who paid me twenty dollars for opening my office doorat an unusual hour, was a more gentlemanly man, with a thick, brownmustache and resolute look. He was accompanied----"

  "Why do you stop?"

  The doctor smiled.

  "I was wondering," said he, "if I should say he was accompanied, or thathe accompanied, a woman, of such enormous size that the doorway hardlyreceived her. I thought she was a patient at first, for, large as sheis, she was brought into my room in a chair, which it took four men tocarry. But she only came about the box."

  "Madame!" I muttered; and being made still more eager by this discoveryof her direct participation in its carrying off, I asked if she touchedthe box or whether it was taken away unopened.

  The doctor's answer put an end to every remaining hope I may havecherished.

  "She not only touched but opened it. I saw the lid rise and heard awhirr. What is the matter, sir?"

  "Nothing," I made haste to say--"that is, nothing I can communicatejust now. This woman must be followed," I signified to the officer, andwas about to rush from the room when my eye fell on the table where thebox stood.

  "See!" said I, pointing to a fine wire protruding from a small holein the center of its upper surface; "this box had connection with somepoint outside of this room."

  The doctor's face flushed, and for the first time he looked a triflefoolish.

  "So I perceive _now,_" said he, "The workman who put up this boxevidently took liberties in my absence. For _that_ I was not paid."

  "This wire leads where?" asked the officer.

  "Rip up the floor and see. I know no other way to find out."

  "But that would take time, and we have not a minute to lose," said I,and was disappearing for the second time when I again stopped. "Doctor,"said I, "when you consented to harbor this box under such peculiarconditions and allowed yourself to receive such good pay for a serviceinvolving so little inconvenience to yourself, you must have had someidea of the uses to which so mysterious an article would be put. Whatdid you suppose them to be?"

  "To tell you the truth, I thought it was some new-fangled lotteryscheme, and I have still to learn that I was mistaken."

  I gave him a look, but did not stop to undeceive him.

  VI. THE BOX AGAIN.

  But one resource was left: to warn Mr. S------ of his peril. This wasnot so easy a task as might appear. To make my story believed, I shouldbe obliged to compromise Miss Calhoun, and Mr. S------'s well-knownchivalry, as far as women are concerned, would make the communicationdifficult on my part, if not absolutely impossible. I, however,determined to attempt it, though I could not but wish I were an olderman, with public repute to back me.

  Though there was but little in Mr. S------'s public life which I did notknow, I had little or no knowledge of his domestic relations beyond thefact that he was a widower with one child. I did not even know where helived. But inquiry at police headquarters soon settled that, and in halfan hour after leaving the doctor's office I was at his home.

  It was a large, old-fashioned dwelling, of comfortable aspect; toocomfortable, I thought, for the shadow of doom, which, in my eyes,overlay its cheerful front, wide-open doors and windows. How should Itell my story here! What credence could I expect for a tale so gruesome,within walls warmed by so much sunshine and joy. None, possibly; but mystory must be told for all that.

  Ringing the bell hurriedly, I asked for Mr. S------. He was out of town.This was my first check. When would he be home? The answer gave me somehope, though it seemed to increase my difficulties. He would be in thecity by eight, as he had invited a large number of guests to his housefor the evening. Beyond this, I could learn nothing.

  Returning immediately to Miss Calhoun, I told her what had occurred,and tried to impress upon her the necessity I felt of seeing Mr. S------that night. She surveyed me like a woman in a dream. Twice did I haveto repeat my words before she seemed to take them in; then she turnedhurriedly, and going to a little desk standing in one corner of theroom, drew out a missive, which she brought me. It was an invitation tothis very reception which she had received a week before.

  "I will get you one," she whispered. "But don't speak to him, don't tellhim without giving me some warning. I will not be far from you. I thinkI will have strength for this final hour."

  "God grant that your sacrifice may bear fruit," I said, and left her.

  To enter, on such an errand as mine, a brilliantly illuminated houseodoriferous with flowers and palpitating with life and music, wouldbe hard for any man. It was hard for me. But in the excitement of theoccasion, aggravated as it was by a presage of danger not only to myselfbut to the woman I had come so near loving, I experienced a calmness,such as is felt in the presence of all mortal conflicts. I made surethat this was reflected in my face before leaving the dressing-room, andsatisfied that I would not draw the attention of others by too much ortoo little color, I descended to the drawing-room and into the presenceof my admired host.

  I had expected to confront a handsome man, but not of the exact typethat he presented. There was a melancholy in his expression I had notforeseen, mingled with an attraction from which I could not escape aftermy first hurried glimpse of his features across the wide room. No otherman in the room had it to so great a degree, nor was there any otherwho made so determined an effort to throw off care and be simply theagreeable companion. Could it be that any other warning had forestalledmine, or was this his habitual manner and expression? Finding noanswer to this question, I limited myself to the duty of the hour, andadvancing as rapidly as possible through the ever-increasing throng,waited for the chance to speak to h
im for one minute alone. Meantime, Isatisfied myself that the two detectives sent from police headquarterswere on hand. I recognized them among a group of people at the door.

  Whether intentionally or not, Mr. S ------ had taken up his stand beforethe conservatory, and as in my endeavors to reach him I approachedwithin sight of this place, I perceived the face of Miss Calhoun shiningfrom amid its greenery, and at once remembered the promise I hadmade her. She was looking for me, and, meeting my eyes, made me animperceptible gesture, to which I felt bound to respond.

  Slipping from the group with which I was advancing, I stole around toa side door towards which she had pointed, and in another moment foundmyself at her side. She was clothed in velvet, which gave to her cheekand brow the colorlessness of marble.

  "He is not as ignorant of his position as we thought," said she. "I havebeen watching him for an hour. He is in anticipation of something. Thiswill make our task easier."

  "You have said nothing," I suggested.

  "No, no; how could I?"

  "Perhaps the detectives I saw there have told him."

  "Perhaps; but they cannot know the whole."

  "No, or our words would be unnecessary."

  "Mr. Abbott," said she, with feverish volubility, "do not try totell him yet; wait for a few minutes till I have gained a littleself-possession, a little command over myself; but no--that may beto risk his life--do not wait a moment--go now, go now, only----" Shestarted, stumbled and fell back into a low seat under a spreading palm."He is coming here. Do not leave me, Mr. Abbott; step back there behindthose plants. I cannot trust myself to face him all alone."

  I did as she bade me. Mr. S----, with a smile on his face--the first Ihad seen there--came in and walked with a quick step and a resolvedair up to Miss Calhoun, who endeavored to rise to meet him. But she wasunable, which involuntary sign of confusion seemed to please him.

  "Irene," said he, in a tone that made me start and wish I had not beenso amenable to her wishes, "I thought I saw you glide in here, and myguests being now all arrived, I have ventured to steal away for a moment,just to satisfy the craving which has been torturing me for the lasthour. Irene, you are pale; you tremble like an aspen. Have I frightenedyou by my words--too abrupt, perhaps, considering the reserve that hasalways been between us until now. Didn't you know that I loved you? thatfor the last month--ever since I have known you, indeed--I have had butthe one wish, to make you my wife?"

  "Good God!" I saw the words on her lips rather than heard them. Sheseemed to be illumined and overwhelmed at once. "Mr. S------," saidshe, trying to be brave, trying to address him with some sort ofself-possession,

  "I did not expect--I had no right to expect this honor from you. Iam not worthy--I have no right to hear such words from your lips.Besides----" She could go no further; perhaps he did not let her.

  "Not worthy--you!" There was infinite sadness in his tone. "What do youthink I am, then? It is because you are so worthy, so much better thanI am or can ever be, that I want you for my wife. I long for thecompanionship of a pure mind, a pure hand----"

  "Mr. S------" (she had risen, and the resolve in her face made herbeauty shine out transcendently), "I have not the pure mind, the purehand you ascribe to me. I have meddled with matters few women couldeven conceive of. I am a member--a repentant member, to be sure--of anorganization which slights the decrees of God and places the aims of afew selfish souls above the rights of man, and----"

  He had stooped and was kissing her hand.

  "You need not go on," he whispered; "I quite understand. But you will bemy wife?"

  Aghast, white as the driven snow, she watched him with dilating eyesthat slowly filled with a great horror.

  "Understand!--_you understand!_ Oh, what does that mean? _Why_ shouldyou understand?"

  "Because"--his voice sunk to a whisper, but I heard it, as I would haverecognized his thought had he not spoken at that moment--"because Iam the chief of the organization you mention. Irene, now you have _my_secret."

  I do not think she uttered a sound, but I heard the dying cry of hersoul in her very silence. He may have heard it, too, for his look showedsudden and unfathomable pity.

  "This is a blow to you," he said. "I do not wonder; there _is_ somethinghateful in the fact; latterly I have begun to realize it. That is whyI have allowed myself to love. I wanted some relief from my thoughts.Alas! I did not know that a full knowledge of your noble soul would onlyemphasize them. But this is no talk for a ballroom. Cheer up, darling,and----"

  "Wait!" She had found strength to lay her hand on his arm. "Did you knowthat a man was condemned to-day?"

  His face took on a shade of gloom.

  "Yes," he bowed, casting an anxious look towards the room from whichcame the mingled sounds of dance and merriment. "The bell whichannounces the fact rang during my absence. I did not know there was aname before the society."

  She crouched, covering her face with her hands. I think she was afraidher emotion would escape her in a cry. But in an instant they haddropped again, and she was panting in his ear:

  "You are the chief and are not acquainted with these matters of lifeand death? Traitors are these men and women to you--traitors! jealous ofyour influence and your power!"

  He looked amazed; he measured the distance between himself and thedoor and turned to ask her what she meant, but she did not give him theopportunity.

  "Do you know," she asked, "the name of the person for whom the bell rangto-day?"

  He shook his head. "I am expecting a messenger with it any moment," saidhe, looking towards the rear of the conservatory. "Is it any one who ishere to-night?"

  The gasp she gave might have been heard in the other room. Language andmotion seemed both to fail her, and I thought I should have to go toher rescue. But before I could move, I heard the click of a latch atthe rear of the conservatory, and saw, peering through the flowers andplants, the wicked face of the man with the receding forehead whom I hadseen at madame's, and in his arms he held THE BOX.

  It was a shock which sent me further into concealment. Mr. S----, on thecontrary, looked relieved. Exclaiming, "Ah, he has come!" he went tothe door leading into the drawing-room, locked it, took out the key andreturned to meet the stealthy, advancing figure.

  The latter presented a picture of malignant joy, horrible tocontemplate. The lips of his large mouth were compressed and bloodless.He came on with the quiet certainty and deadly ease of a slimy thingsure of its prey.

  As I noted him I felt that not only Mr. S----'s life but my own was notworth a moment's purchase. But I uttered no cry and scarcely breathed.Miss Calhoun, on the contrary, gave vent to a long, shivering sigh. Theman bowed as he heard it, but with looks directed solely to Mr. S----.

  "I was told," said he, "to deliver this box to you wherever and withwhomsoever I should find you. In it you will find _the name._"

  Mr. S---- gazed in haughty astonishment, first at the box and then atthe man.

  "This is irregular," said he. "Why was I not made acquainted with thefact that a name was up for consideration, and why have you removed thebox from its place and broken the connection which was made with so muchdifficulty?"

  As he said this he looked up through the glass of the conservatory to ahigh building I could see towering at the end of the garden. It was thebuilding in which I had first seen that box, and I now understood howthis connection had been made.

  Mr. S----'s movement had been involuntary.

  Dropping his eyes, he finished by saying, with an almost imperceptiblebow, "You may speak before this lady; she is the holder of a key."

  "The connection was broken because suspicion was aroused; to your otherquestion you will find an answer in the box. Shall I open it for you?"

  Mr. S------, with a stern frown, shook his head, and produced a keyfrom his pocket. "Do you understand all this?" he suddenly asked MissCalhoun.

  For reply, she pointed to the box.

  "Open!" her beseeching looks seemed to say.

  Mr.
S---- turned the key and threw up the lid. "Look under the hand,"suggested the man.

  Mr. S---- leaned over the box, which had been laid on a small table,discovered a paper somewhere in its depth, and drew it out. It was nowhiter than his face when he did so.

  "How many have subscribed to this?" he asked.

  "You will observe that there are five rings on the hand," responded theman.

  Miss Calhoun started, opened her lips, but paused as she saw Mr. S----unfold the paper.

  "The name of the latest traitor," murmured the man, with a look offerocity the like of which I had never seen on any human face before.

  It was not observed by either of the actors in the tragedy beforeme. Mr. S---- was gazing with a wild incredulity at the note he hadunfolded; she was gazing at him. From the room beyond rose and swelledthe sweet strains of the waltz.

  Suddenly a low, crackling sound was heard.

  It came from the paper which Mr. S---- had crumpled in his hand.

  "So the society has decreed my death," he said, meeting the man'ssteel-cold eye for the first time. "Now I know how the men whose doompreceded mine have felt in a presence that leaves no hope to mortal man.But _you_ shall not be _my_ executioner. I will meet my fate at lessnoxious hands than yours." And, leaning forward, he whispered afew seemingly significant words into the messenger's ear. The man,grievously disappointed, hung his head, and with a sidelong look, thevenom of which made us all shudder, he hesitated to go.

  "To-night?" he said.

  "To-night," Mr. S---- repeated, and pointed towards the door by whichhe had entered. Then, as the man still hesitated, he took him by the armand resolutely led him through the conservatory, crying in his ear, "Go.I am still the chief."

  The man bowed, and slipped slowly out into the night.

  A burst of music, laughter, voices, joy, rose in the drawing-room. Mr.S---- and Irene Calhoun stood looking at each other.

  "You must go home," were the first words he uttered. Then, in ahalf-reproachful, half-pitiful tone, as if on the verge of tears, headded: "Was I so bad a chief that even you thought me a hindrance to theadvancement of the society and the cause to which we are pledged?"

  It was the one thing he could say capable of rousing her.

  "Oh!" she cried, "it is all a mistake, all a cheat. Did you not get theletter I sent to my chief this morning, written in the usual style anddirected in the usual way?"

  "No," he answered.

  "Then there is worse treason than yours among the five. I wrote tosay that my ring had been stolen; that I did not subscribe to thecondemnation of the man under suspicion, and that, if it was made, itwould be through fraud. That was before I knew that the suspected oneand the man I addressed were one and the same. Now----"

  "Well, now?"

  "You have but to accuse the woman called Madame. The man you have justsent away would forgive you his disappointment if you gave him thesupreme satisfaction of carrying doom to the still more formidablebeing who prophesies death to those for whom she has already prepared aviolent end."

  "Irene!"

  But her passion had found vent and she was not to be stilled. Tellinghim the whole story of the last twenty-four hours, she waited for thelook of comfort she evidently expected. But it did not come. His firstwords showed why.

  "Madame is inexorable," said he; "but Madame is but one of five. Thereare three others--true men, sound men, thinking men. If they deemme unworthy--and I have shown signs of faltering of late--Madame'sanimosity or your loving weakness must not stand in the way of theirdecree. It shall never be said I sanctioned the doom of other men andshrank from my own. I would be unworthy of your love if I did, and yourlove is everything to me now." She had not expected this; she had not atall reckoned upon the stern quality in this man, forgetting that withoutit he could never have held his pitiless position.

  "But it is not regular; it is not according to precedent. Five rings arerequired, and only four were fairly placed. As an honest man, you oughtto hesitate at injustice, and injustice you will show if you allow themto triumph through their own deceit."

  But even this failed to move him.

  "I see five rings," said he, "and I see another thing. Never will I bepermitted to live even if I am coward enough to take advantage of theloophole of escape you offer me. A man who is once seen to tremble losesthe confidence of such men as call me _chief_. I would die suddenly,horribly and perhaps when less prepared for it than now. And you,my darling, my imperial one! you would not escape. Besides, you haveforgotten the young man who, with such unselfishness, has lent himselfto your schemes in my favor. What could save him if I disappointed themalignancy of Madame. No; I have destroyed others, and must submit tothe penalty incurred by murder. Kiss me, Irene, and go. I command it asyour chief."

  With a low moan she gave up the struggle. Lifting her forehead to hisembrace, she bestowed upon him a look of indescribable despair, thentottered to the door leading into the garden. As it closed upon herdeparting figure, he uttered a deep sigh, in which he seemed to give uplife and the world. Then he raised his head, and in an instant was inthe midst of a throng of beautiful women and dashing men, with a smileon his lips and a jest on his tongue.

  I made my escape unnoticed. The next morning I was in Philadelphia.There I read the following lines in the leading daily:

  "Baltimore, Md.--An unexpected tragedy occurred here last evening.Mr. S----, the well-known financier and politician, died at hissupper-table, while drinking the health of a hundred assembled guests.He is considered to be a great loss to the Southern cause. The city isfilled with mourning."

  And further down, in an obscure corner, this short line:

  "Baltimore, Md.--A beautiful young woman, known by the name of IreneCalhoun, was found dead in her bed this morning, from the effects ofpoison administered by herself. No cause is ascribed for the act."