THE SHADOW OF A CRIME A CUMBRIAN ROMANCE By Hall Caine 1885 Author of “The Manxman,” “The Deemster” etc. “_Whom God's hand rests on, has God At his right hand_.” NEW YORK HURST & COMPANY PUBLISHERS 1895 TO MY ABLE FELLOW-JOURNALIST JOHN LOVELL WHO IN A DARKER HOUR OF LABOR AND MISGIVING CHEERED ME WITH AN ESTIMATE OF THIS NOVEL THAT THE PUBLIC HAS SINCE RATIFIED. CONTENTS Chapter I. The City of Wythburn II. The Crime in the Night III. In the Red Lion IV. The Outcast V. The Empty Saddle VI. The House on the Moss VII. Sim's Cave VIII. Robbie's Redemption IX. The Shadow of the Crime X. Mattha Branth'et “Flytes” the Parson XI. Liza's Wiles XII. The Flight on the Fells XIII. A 'Batable Point XIV. Until the Day Break XV. Ralph's Sacrifice XVI. At Sunrise on the Raise XVII. The Garths: Mother and Son XVIII. The Dawn of Love XIX. The Betrothal XX. “Fool, of Thyself Speak Well” XXI. Mrs. Garth at Shoulthwaite XXII. The Threatened Outlawry XXIII. She Never Told Her Love XXIV. Treason or Murder XXV. Liza's Device XXVI. “Fool, Do Not Flatter” XXVII. Ralph at Lancaster XXVIII. After Word Comes Weird XXIX. Robbie's Quest Begun XXX. A Race Against Life XXXI. Robbie, Speed On! XXXII. What the Snow Gave Up XXXIII. Sepulture at Last XXXIV. Fate that Impedes, Fall Back XXXV. Robbie's Quest Ended XXXVI. Rotha's Confession XXXVII. Which Indictment? XXXVIII. Peine Forte et Dure XXXIX. The Fiery Hand XL. Garth and the Quakers XLI. A Horse's Neigh XLII. The Fatal Witness XLIII. Love Known at Last XLIV. The Clew Discovered XLV. The Condemned in Doomsdale XLVI. The Skein Unravelled XLVII. The Black Camel at the Gate XLVIII. “Out, Out, Brief Candle” XLIX. Peace, Peace, and Rest L. Next Morning LI. Six Months After PREFACE. The central incident of this novel is that most extraordinary of all punishments known to English criminal law, the _peine forte et dure_. The story is not, however, in any sense historical. A sketchy background of stirring history is introduced solely in order to heighten the personal danger of a brave man. The interest is domestic, and, perhaps, in some degree psychological. Around a pathetic piece of old jurisprudence I have gathered a mass of Cumbrian folk-lore and folk-talk with which I have been familiar from earliest youth. To smelt and mould the chaotic memories into an organism such as may serve, among other uses, to give a view of Cumberland life in little, has been the work of one year.