Geraldine Bonner

“ It is the reason for my interest in you, the reason why I brought you to Hinterland and here to-night to the fort.”
He leaned over the railing, his hands outstretched, his shadow sliding like a dark portent up the wall behind. His small shape seemed to expand, hovering over them, baleful and terrible.
“You are the children of a rotten breed, a breed that must be wiped out. No such blood as yours should perpetuate itself, contaminating purer strains, sending its poison on to future generations. ”

“ Mary sat near it; Lottie crouched on the ground beside her with hidden face. Their figures were a block of darkness, the wavering glow gilding the folds of their garments, their hands and hair. Through the windows, the light of the aurora fell on the floor in two pale and quivering patches, and on one of these the elder girl’s eyes were fixed. The huddled shape against the threshold was Frank, prone after furious onslaughts on the doors. Against the far window, Gaynes’ silhouette showed, his hands gripping the bars, the reflections from the water playing on his face. ”

“ She had noticed that he was irritable, had been sharp with the guides, and the day before had flown out in violent anger against Gabriel for slipping and tilting the canoe. She was uneasy—thought he was exhausting himself in his efforts to amuse them and wondered if it would not be wise for them to shorten their visit. What did Mr. Adamson think?
As the young man pondered, the darkness fell, dense and stifling; the small room was like an oven. There was nothing especially disturbing in what she had said. He had seen Blatch give way to bursts of temper. But Gabriel was a favorite. ”

“ A sensation was straining toward expression, an inchoate despair forcing its way to recognition. It contracted to a central glow, taking form like a thought become articulate in words.
It was Blatch’s face, the figure shadowy below it, hanging upon darkness, isolated, like a face in a mirror which holds no other reflection. It grew slowly distinct, emerging in white transparency as if illumined by a finer aërial radiance, Then the sleeper knew it for what it was—the ultimate incarnation, the shapeless pain made manifest. ”

“ He stirred uneasily in his seat and tried to think how he would account for his appearance, how he would satisfy Blatch’s politely ironical surprise. He had been discharged, sent about his business, and without word of warning, he was suddenly going to burst into their midst, bent on the singular errand of taking away Blatch’s guests.
He saw himself meeting his former employer, making explanations, and could think of none that would be plausible and convincing. Only a matter of life or death would call a man, undesired and uninvited, to such a place at such a distance. ”

“ Adamson’s memories of the long water trip were of leisurely, delightful floating into the wilderness, a string of canoes slipping along the shining river, talk and laughter, lunch on the bank, portages where the guests followed the stream and the guides shouldered the boats. This time it was a fierce progress made at top speed with strained muscles, a race against haunting fears. Looking ahead, he had no mind to note the current’s clear brownness, the trees glassily mirrored, the upward soar and languid flight of a heron. ”

“ No one spoke, and Frank climbed the rude ladder, stood swaying, and then, with a despairing gesture, slid downward to the floor, crying the prearranged words:
“It can’t be done! It’s too far!”
Blatch said nothing and made no attempt to draw back. They were conscious of his figure against the railing, its immobility suggesting confidence in his own security. The doctor moved forward, scanned the edifice, and said:
“Maybe it can’t, but I’ll try it. Better to die now from a fractured skull than wait here like a rat in a trap.” ”

“ A roar, muffled and deep seated as if the earth were protesting in anguish, shook the air. They saw the fort, like some monstrous vision in a dream, heave, rock, and split, straight rays of flame shooting above its cloven roof. Black objects hurtled through the red beams; smoke burst, swelling in clouds; a white welter of water seethed up the bank, swept the steps, slid back, oozing in foamy upheaval through the wreckage of walls. A haze of smoke and dust hung, blotting out the place; thinned, broke in rifts, and lifted, showing a ruin of stone amid trees torn and blackened. ”

“ He raised his voice and struck on the railing with his hand. “No, my purpose is fixed! All go—all end! If God fails to care for His creatures, man must.”
He turned from the balustrade and resumed his pacing, and Mary went back to her chair. She sat down, Lottie’s head against her knee, motionless as she had been before, her eyes again on the patch of dancing light. The immobility of a vital concentration held her, an assembling and focusing of her forces in aid of a hope that persisted. She had detected a wavering of irresolution in Blatch, a moment when he had hesitated and considered. ”

“ Blatch moved, turning his head so that his profile was offered to her gaze.
“Adamson—why?”
“Because I like him.”
“It’s a common weakness. Even I do, and I like few people.”
She could not say what she had intended after that. It was not that he had rebuffed her; it was as if he hadn’t noticed, probably had never thought of it.
“I’m sorry you sent him away when you did—that he didn’t have the summer at Hinterland.”
“A summer’s pleasure is a small thing to offset against a man’s future.” He turned to the lake again, his voice sharp with the note of finality she was learning to know. ”

“ When he felt master of himself, he began to move the glasses to the dining table, one at each place. He tried to compel his hands to steadiness, his steps to a brisk lightness, Alert for interruptions, he fell into attitudes, his head cocked, his eyes studying the table. Growing reassured, he attempted to whistle an air, found he had not sufficient breath, and hummed it. This he could do and he moved back and forth to a crooned accompaniment. He was almost calm when he put the last glass by Blatch’s plate, seeing that the film of watery liquid was invisible against the crystal bowl. ”

“ His heart was light when, that evening at Norcross, he dropped the letter in the box, and in his hotel room he slept the sleep of exhaustion. In the morning he walked leisurely to the station to take the return train to Toronto. There were few people on the platform, only a party of men, arrayed in strange habiliments and surrounded by a group of guides. Adamson knew the type well, city “sports,” moving with pomp and circumstance upon the woods for a rejuvenating taste of outdoor life. ”

“ The labor’s to be divided between the ladies and the gentlemen; it is so nominated in the bond. The girls have started, and you must get busy. I want the champagne brought out to-night for our first toast. It should be in the storeroom, packed in ice. There are the glasses ready and waiting.” He pointed to the stand. “Now go to work, play the butler—that’s your job.”
He gave Frank a slap on the shoulder, and his laugh broke, cackling. Gaynes, standing to one side, scrutinized him with a pondering intentness.
“And you must remember that you do nothing,” said Mary. “That’s to be your rôle.” ”

“ Blatch went on with his explanations:
“Those narrow openings were the loopholes for shooting in case of attack. From up there the men could fire over the stockade. The gallery was useful in other ways; in bad weather the facteur took his exercise there, and when his coureurs des bois brought in rumors of Indian unrest, he could command the lake and the surrounding country with his glass. You can imagine him spying out over the frozen solitude, sometimes watching for the stealthy approach of Indians, sometimes for the relief party when food was low.”
“How did he get up there?” said Lottie. ”

“ The doctor, his eyes on the crossbeam, climbed to the chair and drew himself erect. Blatch took a step backward and spoke:
“What you’re attempting, Doctor Gaynes, is hazardous and not worth the risk. If it is my death you want, you may have it without more trouble. Having accomplished my design, there is no need for me to live, and I have no desire to do so.” He thrust his hand into his pocket and drew out a key which he held up. “Here is the key of the gallery door, which I locked as I came in.” ”

“ Whether he still lived was of no importance in a fiction created to meet so dire an emergency. He had heard of his relatives, had come to New York to find them, and had communicated with Denby, who in turn had handed the matter over to Adamson. Mr. Hamilton had spent much time in the search, was about to leave for Europe, and was extremely anxious to meet his cousins and plan for their welfare before his departure. He had been so urgent that Adamson had undertaken the task of going to Hinterland to fetch them. ”

“ To-morrow morning I’ll go over there and bring them back. We'll fake up a story that’ll sound reasonable; we can do it now. I want something to eat—I’m famished—and there’s a guide out there on the porch who ought to have food and a bed. He’s worked like a Trojan. Just make him comfortable somewhere and then come back here to me.”
He walked down the hall to the dining room and lit the light, Tom disappearing with the Indian. The place was intensely quiet, and Adamson, the poignant alarm that had goaded him allayed, dropped into Blatch’s chair in a sprawl of fatigue. ”

“ It's the Harmon children, as I told you, but it’s worse since he’s been up here. Not that he’s cross to them. He’s always as sweet as honey—acts like he couldn’t do enough for them. But they ain’t good for him, Mr. Adamson. They do him harm. I don’t like to say it, and I wouldn’t to any one but you, but they ought to be got away from him. He'd get right again if he was free of the sight and the thought of them.
I can’t rest easy up here, so far from any one, and I'd be obliged if you'd. drop me a word, or ask Mr. Denby to, telling me what you think I'd better do. ”

“ If not from Mary, it was from Hinterland, addressed in the writing of old Tom. Turning the gas higher, he stood under its light, opened the envelope, and read as follows:
Dear Mr. Adamson: I take the liberty of writing to you, being worried and not rightly sure of what I ought to do, hoping that you might give me some advice. It’s this: I don’t think Mr. Blatch is well. He's uncommon ugly in the temper and unreasonable—not the way he always is, but fierce-like—and he doesn’t sleep. There’s nights that his light’s lit till morning. ”

“ We can fake up a reason. Somebody can be ill.”
“Yes, that’s feasible, and it’s the best thing to do. We could arrange it with your sister. She or Lottie—or any of us—can have a pain or a sore throat or something, and I'll come in as the doctor and say they’ve got to go back to the house.”
“That’s right. You fix it up with Mary after supper. Go for a stroll. I’ll keep Blatch here. Thank Heaven you told me! He’s worn himself out trying to give us a good time, and it’s up to us now to do something for him. But be careful not to give anything away. ”

“ The Harmon Children—Mary, Frank, and Lottie, the children of Alice Brunel. Brought up in Europe, they come to New York after the death of their parents, and are sought out and made much of by Blatch, who invites them to Hinterland, his famous summer home in the wilds of Canada, and there announces that they are to be his heirs. Mary is really Blatch’s daughter, though neither he nor she knows it. ”

“ A side door led into a storeroom, the hampers standing below shelves stocked with groceries, jams, wines—everything. The girls explored—opened drawers, peered into cupboards, exclaiming, admiring, marveling. ”

“ That’s an important part of the property, hard to replace. I had to get a man up from Norcross to make it and the one for the upper door, too.”
Blatch turned quickly. “Careful, Lottie, that’s an important part of the property, hard to replace.”
“Back it goes this minute. I'll not take any chances.” She bent to insert it in the lock and then paused. “It was on the outside. Shall I put it there again or inside? Then we can turn it to-night and know we're safe against what Mary calls ‘the savage foe.’”
Blatch laughed.
“There’s no savage foe for us. Put it on the outside.” ”

“ Falling on the food, he motioned Tom to a chair opposite, and under the glow of the hanging lamp, they set to work constructing the fable which would explain his presence and enable the Harmons to leave without exciting Blatch’s suspicions. On one point Adamson was decided—he would go to the fort to-morrow morning and see that all was well. They could return with him then or stay out the week-end if they wanted, but on Monday, when the visit was over, he would take them back to New York.
To find a story taxed the inventive powers of the conspirators ”

“ Hilaire, deposited Adamson there at noon. He spent two hours looking for a guide—at Bonnets’ and in the Indian shacks along the river—offering any price, but could find no one. Rumors of Blatch’s “queerness” reached him. Jean Baptiste had evidently been garrulous. He finally decided to buy a canoe and paddle himself and, at the one store which dealt in such wares and did a thriving business with Hinterland, was succored by the patron, who offered him the services of an Indian boy employed there. ”

“ He had just finished when his ear caught a step on the path outside, and Blatch appeared in the doorway. If the young man’s lips smiled stiffly, his voice was clear and steady:
“Everything’s ready. I have the champagne here, waiting to open. it when you give the sign.”
Blatch nodded his approval, then moved to the center of the room, calling:
“Come, young people. The evening’s getting on, and the host is waiting.”
Answering cries came from the kitchen; a moment, just a moment, and all would be ready. He went to the door, a clamor of voices greeting him, expostulating. It was not his job ”