Howard Pyle

“ This acknowledgment of the advent of the stranger was indicated by a redoubled outburst of uproar, composed of shouts, whistles, and cat-calls; and, supposing nothing else than that the new-comer was one of their members, they began freely to bestow upon him such part of the evening's entertainment as had not been consumed in a shower of cucumber pickles and water biscuit that fairly rained upon him like a storm of hail.
Any one less determined upon a purpose than the stranger could hardly have stood his ground. ”

“ At these words Griscombe knew not whether his ears deceived him nor whether he or this new-found [44] client were mad or sane. Nor could he at all accredit the truth of what he heard, until the stranger, opening the mouth of the bag, poured forth upon the table a great heap of jingling gold money. "You will," resumed his new-found client, with perfect composedness of manner, "be, no doubt, considerably surprised to learn the nature of the duty which I shall call upon you to perform. It is that you play me a game of jack-straws." ”

“ But neither patience nor perseverance or steadiness of nerve was any match for the infinite skill and dexterity with which the stranger played his game. Griscombe was but a child in his hands, and the jack-straw player dallied with him as a cat dallies with a mouse. At the end of each round the stranger politely assured his opponent that he played naturally a very excellent game, and that in time and by practice he might eventually hope to become no inconsiderable adept at the sport. ”

“ At last the unhappy man, having regained some control over the emotions that convulsed him, and heaving a profound sigh as though from the bottom of his soul, turned once more, and exhibited to the young lawyer a countenance from which every vestige of color had departed, and in whose dull and leaden eyes and pinched and shrivelled features it was well-nigh impossible to recognize the genteel and complacent host of a few moments before. ”

“ Fortunately for myself, I am excessively rich, and so am perfectly well able to indulge those whims, however absurd, that have now grown altogether a part of my nature, and which, in one so old as myself, can never hope to be eradicated. Learning that you, my dear young gentleman, were an attorney-at-law, I determined to approach you as a client, and to purchase of you a small portion of your no doubt extremely valuable time. ”

“ Her father had given her to believe that he would follow her immediately to New York, accordingly, reminding Griscombe that the next day would be Christmas, she invited him to come to M. de Troinville's to dine with them. Nor could Griscombe listen to her innocent prattle without experiencing such an overmastering pity for her unconsciousness of the tragic fate that had overtaken her father and for her own hapless condition, that it was well-nigh impossible for him to answer her sallies with raillery of a like sort. ”

“ Griscombe?" she cried: "it will score you a point," And Griscombe, obeying, found the next instant that three of his pins stood in a line.
At that moment a faint whistle sounded from without; and the old gentleman, as though in answer to a signal, declared his desire for the game to be entirely appeased. Withdrawing the pins from the tablet, he replaced them in their receptacle, replaced the tablet itself in the box and shut the lid with a snap. "Madame," he said, "I should have played with you instead of with our young gentleman here; for, indeed, he exhibits no great aptitude for the game." ”

“ Add, if you please, [54] to those graces of person a wit at once subtle and alert and an address as amiable as it was entertaining, and you shall possess an image—imperfect, to be sure—of that famous beauty whose hermit-like seclusion from the world and whose mysterious personality had now for above two years been a matter of wonder and of speculation to the elegant society of Bordentown, that would gladly have received so admirable an addition into its fold.
Griscombe, as may be supposed, had all this while maintained a close hold upon his precious treasure-casket. ”

“ Desmond, "you have won the [62] eternal gratitude of the most miserable man upon the earth." And, as he spoke, he made as though he would have embraced our hero.
"Nay," said Griscombe, "I do not choose to accept your caresses. You owe me no gratitude; for, upon my word, I declare that what I do is only for the sake of your daughter, and that, except for her, I would leave you to a fate which in no wise concerns me, and which, from your own confession, you appear in no small degree to have merited. ”

“ Without giving our lawyer time for further observation, the stranger, in the most excellent and well-chosen English, and with hardly a touch of foreign accent, addressed him as follows:—
"You behold," said he, "one who has come to you offering himself as a client, whom, though you may find his business to be of a singular nature, you will also find to be extremely inclined to profit you well in the relations which he seeks to establish with you."
"Sir," replied Griscombe, with no little importance of tone, "you come to me at a time of extreme inconveniency. ”

“ At that instant the figure of a man appeared emerging suddenly from out the gloom. He was tall and thin, and was clad in a long flowing robe of Oriental design. Desiring Griscombe and the young lady to follow him, and without waiting for any question or refusal, he turned, and immediately led the way up a broad uncarpeted stairway to the floor above. ”

“ Meantime his conductor, having lit a quantity of wax candles upon the mantel-shelf, and having laid aside the mask that for all this while had concealed his identity, turned at last to our hero a face whose lineaments, though extremely handsome, were as pale as wax and furrowed with the lines of a most consuming care. A quantity of hair as black as ebony curled about his alabaster forehead, and he fixed upon his visitor a pair of large and sombre eyes whose piercing brilliancy betrayed an illimitable anxiety of soul. ”

“ In the year 1807 New York was grown to be a city of no small pretension to an extremely cosmopolitan cast of society. Being a seaport of considerable importance and of great conveniency to foreign immigration, it had even before this become a favorite haven for itinerant visitors from European countries, who for reasons best known to themselves did not find it to fit their inclinations to remain at home. ”

“ But these courteous expressions only declared to Griscombe how inadequate was his play, and at each repetition merely served to incite him to fresh endeavors.
At the end of an hour the stranger declared his appetite for the amusement to be satisfied; and, gathering up his jack-straws and replacing them in the ebony box, he thanked our hero most courteously for the entertainment he had offered him. ”

“ As our young lawyer concluded his narrative, the other arose, and began walking up and down the narrow spaces of the room, betraying every appearance of an infinite perturbation of spirit, suppressed [56] by an iron will and an implacable determination.
"My dear Mr. Griscombe," he said at last, stopping in front of the fireplace, "I shall not attempt to conceal from you my apprehensions regarding the fate of my unfortunate brother. I fear that he is no more, and that a tragic fate has overtaken him. ”

“ Beautiful, however, as was the countenance presented to the observer, there was in the hardness of its lines and the thin and compressed nervousness of the lips a stern relentlessness of expression that the smouldering and sinister fire which glowed in the eyes alone might be needed to enflame into a conflagration of rage and of cruelty. ”

“ To this end I have made diligent inquiries; and I have conceived the opinion that you are a man not only possessed of considerable parts, but of an honesty sufficient to carry you through so delicate and dangerous a commission as that with which I have to intrust you."
At these words, our young gentleman knew not what face to assume; nor could he yet tell whether to regard the whole affair as a hoax or as the beginning [26] of a more serious adventure. "Upon my word, sir," he cried, "you pique my curiosity. But, if I am to believe what you tell me, I must be better assured of your truth. ”

“ Desmond, he at last quitted the table, and followed his host toward the study, mentally declaring to himself that, should the opportunity again offer, Miss Desmond [55] should discover him to be not so lacking in brilliancy as she must have supposed from their first interview. Nor was it until he found himself in the study, face to face with the father, the strong box of treasure upon the table between them, that he was able to fetch himself entirely back to the seriousness and complexity of the business which rested upon him. ”

“ Nor would he accept any refusal of his invitation, but, with polite determination, put aside every effort that Griscombe made to explain the pressing and tragic nature of his mission. "Nay," he cried, as Griscombe continued to urge upon him the importance of his affair, "I insist that you say no more at present. I am perfectly well aware with what an extreme degree of exaggeration a young lawyer regards [53] a commission that may very easily wait for breakfast. I am determined that you first satisfy your appetite, and then your sense of duty." ”

“ I call upon you to declare, even if our hands were ensanguined with the blood of a prince of India, and if the spouse of an Oriental king were executed at our commands, and even if we were partakers in our reward as in our crime, is not the fate that has overtaken us altogether too enormous for our deserts? ”

“ HERE FOLLOWS THE FIRST CHAPTER CHAPTER ONE The Extraordinary and Initial CLIENT of a Young LAWYER without Previous PRACTICE.
There was at this period in the town of New York a number of young gentlemen possessed of very lively spirits and pretty ingenious tastes for folly. These gay rattlers about the town had gathered themselves together into a society known as the "Bluebird Club," in which they pledged themselves not only to eat a supper of oysters and to drink as considerable a quantity of rum punch as possible, but subsequently to perform all manner of extraordinary acts of folly. ”

“ Here a lingering fire of coals still burned in the marble fireplace, diffusing a grateful warmth throughout the apartment, at the same time lending a soft and ruddy illumination by means of which our hero was able with but little difficulty to distinguish the stateliness and profusion of his surroundings. The heavy and luxuriant folds of rich and heavy tapestry sheltered [29] the windows; soft and luxuriant rugs of Oriental pattern lay spread in quantities upon the floor ”

“ If by nine o'clock to-morrow morning you receive no word from me, you will know that I am no longer in the world of the living, and that the vengeance that has followed so relentlessly upon my footsteps has at last overtaken me. In that case you are immediately and with all despatch to convey this box to Bordentown in the State of New Jersey, and are to deliver it to the person designated upon the address attached to the handle. ”

“ Having in such a little while earned eight thousand dollars in fees from four clients, our hero embarked upon his married life with all possible satisfaction and happiness; and, when in 1850 he discovered himself to be at the head of the New York bar, no one would have supposed that so serious and moderate a gentle-man could ever have passed through a series of such remarkable occurrences as those herein related. ”

“ All these attentions were preferred with a singular assiduity and in such entire silence that Griscombe knew not whether most to admire the imposing extent of M. de Troinville's household or the extraordinary training of his attendants. Turning to one who appeared to be the upper servant, our hero commanded that the portmanteau be conveyed to some place of safety unopened, and carefully guarded, and [84] that he himself be immediately conducted to M. de Troinville for a private interview concerning business of the utmost importance. ”

“ For the benefit of the former and lighter class of readers it may be added to the above account that Griscombe undertook the guardianship of Miss Desmond without the least reluctance in the world; that little by little he gradually unfolded to her such parts of her own unhappy situation as he deemed it necessary for her to be made acquainted with; and that, after a sufficient time had elapsed, he proposed to her [98] that she should give him the entire right to become her protector. ”

“ The nature of the business in which I would employ you is of such a sort as to demand the attention of one not only possessed of spirit and courage and an entire command of unoccupied time, but also of one possessed of other and very different qualifications. ”

“ A long carpet of extreme richness extended the [89] length of the apartment; and upon the floor, in front of the central figure of all this remarkable and terrifying apparition of Oriental splendor, reposed the fatal portmanteau that Griscombe had conveyed with such extraordinary pains from Bordentown. ”

“ Each player in turn was to thrust a pin into a hole in the tablet, and he who could so far escape his opponent's interference as to arrange three of the five pins in a line should, upon each occurrence thereof, have scored a point in the game. Having completed these easy instructions, he immediately invited Griscombe to open the play, which he upon his part entered upon with every appearance of entire enjoyment and satisfaction. ”