Kitabı oku: «Timothy Crump's Ward: A Story of American Life», sayfa 9

CHAPTER XXIII. THE LAW STEPS IN

WHEN Peg left Mr. John Somerville’s apartment, it was with a high degree of satisfaction at the result of her interview. She looked upon the thousand dollars as sure to be hers. The considerations which she had urged would, she was sure, induce him to make every effort to secure her silence. With a thousand dollars, what might not be done? She would withdraw from the coining-business, for one thing. It was too hazardous. Why might not Dick and she retire to the country, lease a country-inn, and live an honest life hereafter. There were times when she grew tired of the life she lived at present. It would be pleasant to go to some place where she was not known, and enrol herself among the respectable members of the community. She was growing old; she wanted rest and a quiet home. Her early years had been passed in the country. She remembered still the green fields in which she played as a child, and to this woman, old and sin-stained, there came a yearning to have that life return.

It occurred to her to look in upon Jack, whom she had left in captivity four days before. She had a curiosity to see how he bore his confinement.

She knocked at the door, and was admitted by the old man who kept the house. Mr. Foley was looking older and more wrinkled than ever. He had been disturbed of his rest the night previous, he said.

“Well,” said Peg, “and how is our prisoner?”

“Bless my soul,” said Mr. Foley, “I haven’t been to give him his breakfast this morning. He must be hungry. But my head is in such a state. However, I think I’ve secured him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have asked him to become one of us,—he’s a bold lad,—and he has promised to think of it.”

“He is not to be trusted,” said Peg, hastily.

“You think not?”

“I know it.”

“Well,” said the old man, “I suppose you know him better than I do. But he’s a bold lad.”

“I should like to go up and see him,” said Peg.

“Wait a minute, and I will carry up his breakfast.”

The old man soon reappeared from the basement with some cold meat and bread and butter.

“You may go up first,” he said; “you are younger than I am.”

They reached the landing.

“What’s all this?” demanded Peg, her quick eyes detecting the aperture in the door.

“What’s what?” asked Foley.

“Is this the care you take of your prisoners?” demanded Peg, sharply. “It looks as if he had escaped.”

“Escaped! Impossible!”

“I hope so. Open the door quick.”

The door was opened, and the two hastily entered.

“The bird is flown,” said Peg.

“I—I don’t understand it,” said the old man, turning pale.

“I do. He has cut a hole in the door, slipped back the bolt, and escaped. When could this have happened?”

“I don’t know. Yes, I do remember, now, being disturbed last night by a noise in the entry. I got out of bed, and looked out, but could see no one.”

“Did you come up-stairs?”

“Part way.”

“When was this?”

“Past midnight.”

“No doubt that was the time he escaped.”

“That accounts for the door being locked,” said the old man, thoughtfully.

“What door?”

“The outer door. When I got up this morning, I found the key had disappeared, and the door was locked. Luckily we had an extra key, and so opened it.”

“Probably he carried off the other in his pocket.”

“Ah, he is a bold lad,—a bold lad,” said Foley.

“You may find that out to your cost. He’ll be likely to bring the police about your ears.”

“Do you think so?” said the old man, in alarm.

“I think it more than probable.”

“But he don’t know the house,” said Foley, in a tone of reassurance. “It was dark when he left here, and he will not be apt to find it again.”

“Perhaps not, but he will be likely to know you when he sees you again. I advise you to keep pretty close.”

“I certainly shall,” said the old man, evidently alarmed by this suggestion. “What a pity that such a bold lad shouldn’t be in our business!”

“Perhaps you’ll wish yourself out of it before long,” muttered Peg.

As if in corroboration of her words, there was a sharp ring at the door-bell.

The old man, who was constitutionally timid, turned pale, and looked helplessly at his companion.

“What is it?” he asked, apprehensively.

“Go and see.”

“I don’t dare to.”

“You’re a coward,” said Peg, contemptuously. “Then I’ll go.”

She went down stairs, followed by the old man. She threw open the street door, but even her courage was somewhat daunted by the sight of two police officers, accompanied by Jack.

“That’s the man,” said Jack, pointing out Foley, who tried to conceal himself behind Mrs. Hardwick’s more ample proportions.

“I have a warrant for your arrest,” said one of the officers, advancing to Foley.

“Gentlemen, spare me,” he said, clasping his hands. “What have I done?”

“You are charged with uttering counterfeit coin.

“I am innocent.”

“If you are, that will come out on your trial.”

“Shall I have to be tried?” he asked, piteously.

“Of course. If you are innocent, no harm will come to you.”

Peg had been standing still, irresolute what to do. Determined upon a bold step, she made a movement to pass the officers.

“Stop!” said Jack. “I call upon you to arrest that woman. She is the Mrs. Hardwick against whom you have a warrant.”

“What is all this for?” demanded Peg, haughtily. “What right have you to interfere with me?”

“That will be made known to you in due time. You are suspected of being implicated with this man.”

“I suppose I must yield,” said Peg, sulkily. “But perhaps you, young sir,” turning to Jack, “may not be the gainer by it.”

“Where is Ida?” asked Jack, anxiously.

“She is safe,” said Peg, sententiously.

“You won’t tell me where she is?”

“No. Why should I? I am indebted to you, I suppose, for this arrest. She shall be kept out of your way as long as it is in my power to do so.”

Jack’s countenance fell.

“At least you will tell me whether she is well?”

“I shall answer no questions whatever,” said Mrs. Hardwick.

“Then I will find her,” he said, gaining courage. “She is somewhere in the city, and sooner or later I shall find her.”

Peg was not one to betray her feelings, but this arrest was a great disappointment to her. Apart from the consequences which might result from it, it would prevent her meeting with John Somerville, and obtaining from him the thousand dollars of which she had regarded herself certain. Yet even from her prison-cell she might hold over him in terrorem the threat of making known to Ida’s mother the secret of her child’s existence. All was not lost. She walked quietly to the carriage in waiting, while her companions, in an ecstasy of terror, seemed to have lost the power of locomotion, and had to be supported on either side.

CHAPTER XXIV. “THE FLOWER-GIRL.”

“BY gracious, if that isn’t Ida!” exclaimed Jack, in profound surprise.

He had been sauntering along Chestnut Street, listlessly, troubled by the thought that though he had given Mrs. Hardwick into custody, he was apparently no nearer the discovery of his foster-sister than before. What steps should he take to find her? He could not decide. In his perplexity he came suddenly upon the print of the “Flower-Girl.”

“Yes,” said he, “that is Ida, plain enough. Perhaps they will know in the store where she is to be found.”

He at once entered the store.

“Can you tell me anything about the girl that picture was taken for?” he asked, abruptly of the nearest clerk.

The clerk smiled.

“It is a fancy picture,” he said. “I think it would take you a long time to find the original.”

“It has taken a long time,” said Jack. “But you are mistaken. It is the picture of my sister.”

“Of your sister!” repeated the clerk, with surprise, half incredulous.

There was some reason for his incredulity. Jack was a stout, good-looking boy, with a pleasant face; but Ida’s beauty was of a delicate, refined type, which argued gentle birth,—her skin of a brilliant whiteness, dashed by a tinge of rose,—exhibiting a physical perfection, which it requires several generations of refined habits and exemptions from the coarser burdens of life to produce. The perfection of human development is not wholly a matter of chance, but is dependent, in no small degree, upon outward conditions. We frequently see families who have sprung from poverty to wealth exhibiting, in the younger branches, marked improvement in this respect.

“Yes;” said Jack, “my sister.”

“If it is your sister,” said the clerk, “you ought to know where she is.”

Jack was about to reply, when the attention of both was called by a surprised exclamation from a lady who had paused beside them. Her eyes, also, were fixed upon “The Flower-Girl.”

“Who is this?” she asked, hurriedly. “Is it taken from life?”

“This young man says it is his sister,” said the clerk.

“Your sister!” said the lady, her eyes bent, inquiringly, upon Jack. In her tone, too, there was a slight mingling of surprise, and, as it seemed, disappointment.

“Yes, madam,” said Jack, respectfully.

“Pardon me,” she said, “there is so little family resemblance, I should hardly have supposed it.”

“She is not my own sister,” said Jack, “but I love her just the same.”

“Do you live in (sic) Philadelphia? Could I see her?” asked the lady, eagerly.

“I live in New York, madam,” said Jack; “but Ida was stolen from us nearly a fortnight since, and I have come here in pursuit of her. I have not been able to find her yet.”

“Did you say her name was Ida?” demanded the lady, in strange agitation.

“Yes, madam.”

“My young friend,” said the lady, rapidly, “I have been much interested in the story of your sister. I should like to hear more, but not here. Would you have any objection to coming home with me, and telling me the rest? Then we will, together, concert measures for discovering her.”

“You are very kind, madam,” said Jack, somewhat bashfully; for the lady was elegantly dressed, and it had never been his fortune to converse with many ladies of her rank; “I shall be very much obliged to you for your advice and assistance.”

“Then we will drive home at once.”

Jack followed her to the street, where he saw an elegant carriage, and a coachman in livery.

With natural gallantry, Jack assisted the lady into the carriage, and, at her bidding, got in himself.

“Home, Thomas!” she directed the driver; “and drive as fast as possible.”

“Yes, madam.”

“How old was your sister when your parents adopted her?” asked Mrs. Clifton. Jack afterwards ascertained that this was her name.

“About a year old, madam.”

“And how long since was it?” asked the lady, bending forward with breathless interest.

“Eight years since. She is now nine.”

“It must be,” said the lady, in a low voice. “If it is indeed so, how will my life be blessed!”

“Did you speak, madam?”

“Tell me under what circumstances your family adopted Ida.”

Jack related, briefly, the circumstances, which are already familiar to the reader.

“And do you recollect the month in which this happened?”

“It was at the close of December, the night before New Years.”

“It is—it must be she!” ejaculated the lady, clasping her hands while tears of happy joy welled from her eyes.

“I—I do not understand,” said Jack.

“My young friend, our meeting this morning seems providential. I have every reason to believe that this child—your adopted sister—is my daughter, stolen from me by an unknown enemy at the time of which you speak. From that day to this I have never been able to obtain the slightest clew that might lead to her discovery. I have long taught myself to look upon her as dead.”

“It was Jack’s turn to be surprised. He looked at the lady beside him. She was barely thirty. The beauty of her girlhood had ripened into the maturer beauty of womanhood. There was the same dazzling complexion—the same soft flush upon the cheeks. The eyes, too, were wonderfully like Ida’s. Jack looked, and what he saw convinced him.

“You must be right,” he said. “Ida is very much like you.”

“You think so?” said Mrs. Clifton, eagerly.

“Yes, madam.”

“I had a picture—a daguerreotype—taken of Ida just before I lost her. I have treasured it carefully. I must show it to you.”

The carriage stopped before a stately mansion in a wide and quiet street. The driver dismounted, and opened the door. Jack assisted Mrs. Clifton to alight.

Bashfully, he followed the lady up the steps, and, at her bidding, seated himself in an elegant apartment, furnished with a splendor which excited his wonder. He had little time to look about him, for Mrs. Clifton, without pausing to take off her street-attire, hastened down stairs with an open daguerreotype in her hand.

“Can you remember Ida when she was brought to your house?” she asked. “Did she look like this?”

“It is her image,” said Jack, decidedly. “I should know it anywhere.”

“Then there can be no further doubt,” said Mrs. Clifton. “It is my child whom you have cared for so long. Oh, why could I not have known it? How many sleepless nights and lonely days would it have spared me! But God be thanked for this late blessing! Pardon me, I have not yet asked your name.”

“My name is Crump—Jack Crump.”

“Jack?” said the lady, smiling.

“Yes, madam; that is what they call me. It would not seem natural to be called by another.”

“Very well,” said Mrs. Clifton, with a smile which went to Jack’s heart at once, and made him think her, if anything, more beautiful than Ida; “as Ida is your adopted sister, that makes us connected in some way, doesn’t it? I won’t call you Mr. Crump, for that would seem too formal. I will call you Jack.”

To be called Jack by such a beautiful lady, who every day of her life was accustomed to live in a state which he thought could not be exceeded, even by royal state, almost upset our hero. Had Mrs. Clifton been Queen Victoria herself, he could not have felt a profounder respect and veneration for her than he did already.

“Now Jack,” said Mrs. Clifton, “we must take measures immediately to discover Ida. I want you to tell me about her disappearance from your house, and what steps you have taken thus far towards finding her out.”

Jack began at the beginning, and described the appearance of Mrs. Hardwick; how she had been permitted to carry Ida away under false representations, and the manner in which he had tracked her to Philadelphia. He spoke finally of her arrest, and her obstinate refusal to impart any information as to Ida’s whereabouts.

Mrs. Clifton listened attentively and anxiously. There were more difficulties in the way than she had supposed.

“Do you think of any plan, Jack?” she asked, at length.

“Yes, madam,” said our hero. “The man who painted the picture of Ida may know where she is to be found.”

“You are right,” said the lady. “I should have thought of it before. I will order the carriage again instantly, and we will at once go back to the print-store.”

An hour later, Henry Bowen was surprised by the visit of an elegant lady to his studio, accompanied by a young man of eighteen.

“I think you are the artist who designed ‘The Flower-Girl,’” said Mrs. Clifton.

“I am, madam.”

“It was taken from life?”

“You are right.”

“I am anxious to find out the little girl whose face you copied. Can you give me any directions that will enable me to find her out?”

“I will accompany you to the place, if you desire it, madam,” said the young man. “It is a strange neighborhood to look for so much beauty.”

“I shall be deeply indebted to you if you will oblige me so far,” said the lady. “My carriage is below, and my coachman will obey your orders.”

Once more they were on the move. A few minutes later, and the carriage paused. The driver opened the door. He was evidently quite scandalized at the idea of bringing his lady to such a place.

“This can’t be the place, madam,” he said.

“Yes,” said the artist. “Do not get out, madam. I will go in, and find out all that is needful.”

Two minutes later he returned, looking disappointed.

“We are too late,” he said. “An hour since a gentleman called, and took away the child.”

Mrs. Clifton sank back, in keen disappointment.

“My child, my child!” she murmured. “Shall I ever see thee again?”

Jack, too, felt more disappointed than he was willing to acknowledge. He could not conjecture who this gentleman could be who had carried away Ida. The affair seemed darker and more complicated than ever.

CHAPTER XXV. IDA IS FOUND

IDA was sitting alone in the dreary apartment which she was now obliged to call home. Peg had gone out, and not feeling quite certain of her prey, had bolted the door on the outside. She had left some work for the child,—some handkerchiefs to hem for Dick,—with strict orders to keep steadily at work.

While seated at work, she was aroused from thoughts of home by a knock at the door.

“Who’s there?” asked Ida.

“A friend,” was the reply.

“Mrs. Hardwick—Peg isn’t at home,” returned Ida. “I don’t know when she will be back.”

“Then I will come in and wait till she comes back,” said the voice outside.

“I can’t open the door,” said Ida. “It’s fastened on the outside.”

“Yes, I see. Then I will take the liberty to draw the bolt.”

Mr. John Somerville entered the room, and for the first time in eight years his glance fell upon the child whom, for so long a time, he had defrauded of a mother’s care and tenderness.

Ida returned to the window.

“How beautiful she is!” thought Somerville, with surprise. “She inherits all her mother’s rare beauty.”

On the table beside Ida was a drawing.

“Whose is this?” he inquired.

“Mine,” answered Ida.

“So you have learned to draw?”

“A little,” answered the child, modestly.

“Who taught you? Not the woman you live with?”

“No;” said Ida.

“You have not always lived with her, I am sure.”

Ida admitted that she had not.

“You lived in New York with a family named Crump, did you not?”

“Do you know father and mother?” asked Ida, with sudden hope. “Did they send you for me?”

“I will tell you that by and by, my child; but I want to ask you a few questions first. Why does this woman Peg lock you in whenever she goes away?”

“I suppose,” said Ida, “she is afraid I will run away.”

“Then she knows you don’t want to live with her?”

“Oh, yes, she knows that,” said the child, frankly. “I have asked her to send me home, but she says she won’t for a year.”

“And how long have you been with her?”

“About a fortnight.”

“What does she make you do?”

“I can’t tell what she made me do first.”

“Why not?”

“Because she would be very angry.”

“Suppose I should tell you that I would deliver you from her. Would you be willing to go with me?”

“And you would carry me back to my mother and father?”

“Certainly, I would restore you to your mother,” said he, evasively.

“Then I will go with you.”

Ida ran quickly to get her bonnet and shawl.

“We had better go at once,” said Somerville. “Peg might return, and give us trouble.”

“O yes, let us go quickly,” said Ida, turning pale at the remembered threats of Peg.

Neither knew yet that Peg could not return if she would; that, at this very moment, she was in legal custody on a charge of a serious nature. Still less did Ida know that, in going, she was losing the chance of seeing Jack and her mother, of whose existence, even, she was not yet aware; and that he, to whose care she consigned herself so gladly, had been her worst enemy.

“I will carry you to my room, in the first place,” said her companion. “You must remain in concealment for a day or two, as Peg will, undoubtedly, be on the lookout for you, and we want to avoid all trouble.”

Ida was delighted with her escape, and, with the hope of soon seeing her friends in New York, She put implicit faith in her guide, and was willing to submit to any conditions which he might impose.

On emerging into the street, her companion summoned a cab. He had reasons for not wishing to encounter any one whom he knew.

At length they reached his lodgings.

They were furnished more richly than any room Ida had yet seen; and formed, indeed, a luxurious contrast to the dark and scantily-furnished apartment which she had occupied for the last fortnight.

“Well, are you glad to get away from Peg?” asked John Somerville, giving Ida a seat at the fire.

“Oh, so glad!” said Ida.

“And you wouldn’t care about going back?”

The child shuddered.

“I suppose,” said she, “that Peg will be very angry. She would beat me, if she should get me back again.”

“But she sha’n’t. I will take good care of that.”

Ida looked her gratitude. Her heart went out to those who appeared to deal kindly with her, and she felt very grateful to her companion for his instrumentality in effecting her deliverance from Peg.

“Now,” said Somerville, “perhaps you will be willing to tell me what it was you were required to do.”

“Yes,” said Ida; “but she must never know that I told. It was to pass bad money.”

“Ha!” exclaimed her companion. “Do you mean bad bills, or spurious coin?”

“It was silver dollars.”

“Does she do much in that way?”

“A good deal. She goes out every day to buy things with the money.”

“I am glad to learn this,” said John Somerville, thoughtfully.

“Ida,” said he, after a pause, “I am going out for a time. You will find books on the table, and can amuse yourself by reading; I won’t make you sew, as Peg did,” he said, smiling.

Ida laughed.

“Oh, yes,” said she, “I like reading. I shall amuse myself very well.”

Mr. Somerville went out, and Ida, as he recommended, read awhile. Then, growing tired, she went to the window and looked out. A carriage was passing slowly, on account of a press of carriages. Ida saw a face that she knew. Forgetting her bonnet in her sudden joy, she ran down the stairs, into the street, and up to the carriage window.

“O Jack!” she exclaimed; “have you come for me?”

It was Mrs. Clifton’s carriage, returning from Peg’s lodgings.

“Why, it’s Ida!” exclaimed Jack, almost springing through the window of the carriage. “Where did you come from, and where have you been all the time?”

He opened the door of the carriage, and drew Ida in.

Till then she had not seen the lady who sat at Jack’s side.

“My child, my child! Thank God, you are restored to me,” exclaimed Mrs. Clifton.

She drew the astonished child to her bosom. Ida looked up into her face. Was it Nature that prompted her to return the lady’s embrace?

“My God, I thank thee!” murmured Mrs. Clifton; “for this, my child, was lost and is found.”

“Ida,” said Jack, “this lady is your mother.”

“My mother!” said the child, bewildered. “Have I two mothers?”

“Yes, but this is your real mother. You were brought to our house when you were an infant, and we have always taken care of you; but this lady is your real mother.”

Ida hardly knew whether to feel glad or sorry.

“And you are not my brother?”

“You shall still consider him your brother, Ida,” said Mrs. Clifton. “Heaven forbid that I should wean your heart from the friends who have cared so kindly for you! You shall keep all your old friends, and love them as dearly as ever. You will only have one friend the more.”

“Where are we going?” asked Ida, suddenly.

“We are going home.”

“What will the gentleman say?”

“What gentleman?”

“The one that took me away from Peg’s. Why, there he is now!”

Mrs. Clifton followed the direction of Ida’s finger, as she pointed to a gentleman passing.

“Is he the one?”

“Yes, mamma,” said Ida, shyly.

Mrs. Clifton pressed Ida to her breast. It was the first time she had ever been called mamma. It made her realize, more fully, her present happiness.

Arrived at the house, Jack’s bashfulness returned. He hung back, and hesitated about going in.

Mrs. Clifton observed this.

“Jack,” said she, “this house is to be your home while you remain in Philadelphia. Come in, and Thomas shall go for your baggage.”

“Perhaps I had better go with him,” said Jack. “Uncle Abel will be glad to know that Ida is found.”

“Very well; only return soon.”

“Well!” thought Jack, as he re-entered the carriage, and gave the direction to the coachman; “won’t Uncle Abel be a little surprised when he sees me coming home in such style!”