“'All over!' said he, gravely, and as though his clouded faculties were
suddenly cleared. 'Godfrey knows all about it by this time,' muttered
he, half to himself.
“'Would to Heaven we had never come here!' burst I in, for my heart was
breaking with anguish and remorse. 'How did it happen, and where?'
“'In the chair where you last saw him. We thought he had fallen asleep,
and were for having him carried up to bed, when he gave a slight shudder
and woke up again.
“Where's Loo?” cried he, in a weak voice; and then, before we could
answer, he added, “Where 's Hunt?”
“'“Paul was here a moment ago; he 'll be back immediately.”
“'He gave a laugh,--such a laugh I hope never to hear again. Cold as he
lies there now, that terrible grin is on his face yet. You 've done it
this time, Tom,” said he to me, in a whisper. “What do you mean?” said
I. “Death!” said he; “it's all up with _me,--your_ time is coming.” And
he gave a ghastly grin, sighed, and it was over.'
“We both sat down on the damp ground, and never spoke for nigh an hour.
At last Tom said, 'We ought to be back in the house, and trying to make
ourselves useful, Paul.'
“I arose, and walked after him, not knowing well whither I was going.
When we reached the little flower-garden, we could see into the dining-
room. The branch of wax-candles were still lighted, but burnt down very
low. All had left; there was nothing there but the dead man sitting up
in his chair, with his eyes staring, and his chin fallen. 'Craven-
hearted scoundrels!' cried Towers. 'The last thing I said was to call in
the servants, and say that their master had fainted; and see, they have
run away out of sheer terror. Ain't these hopeful fellows to go before
the coroner's inquest?' I was trembling from head to foot all this
while, and had to hold Towers by the arm to support myself. 'You are not
much better!' said he, savagely. 'Get to bed, and take a long sleep,
man. Lock your door, and open it to none till I come to you.' I
staggered away as well as I could, and reached my room. Once alone
there, I fell on my knees and tried to pray, but I could not. I could do
nothing but cry,--cry, as though my heart would burst; and I fell off
asleep, at last, with my head on the bedside, and never awoke till the
next day at noon. Oh!” cried he, in a tone of anguish, “do not ask me to
recall more of this dreadful story; I'd rather follow the others to the
scaffold, than I 'd live over again that terrible day. But you know the
rest,--the whole world knows it. It was the 'Awful Tragedy in Jersey' of
every newspaper of England; even to the little cottage, in the print-
shop windows, the curiosity of the town was gratified. The Pulpit
employed the theme to illustrate the life of the debauchee; and the
Stage repeated the incidents in a melodrama. With a vindictive
inquisitiveness, too, the Press continued to pry after each of us,
whither we had gone, and what had become of us. I myself, at last,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account