Orcutt

“ Ferris was on his feet.
"Who? what?" he cried.
"Gouverneur Hildreth," repeated Mr. Orcutt.
"Did you know this gentleman has already been in custody upon suspicion of having committed the crime for which the prisoner is now being tried?"
"I do," returned Mr. Orcutt, with imperturbable sang froid.
"And is it your intention to save your client from the gallows by putting the halter around the neck of the man you now propose to call as a witness?"
"No," retorted Mr. Orcutt; "I do not propose to put the halter about any man's neck. That is the proud privilege of my learned and respected opponent." ”

“ Orcutt hastily complied. His first glance at the District Attorney made him thoughtful. He recognized the look which his opponent wore; he had seen it many a time before this, and knew what it indicated. As for Imogene, who could tell what went on in that determined breast? The close black veil revealed nothing. Mr. Orcutt impatiently turned back to his client.
"I think you alarm yourself unnecessarily," he whispered. "Ferris means to fight, but what of that? He wouldn't be fit for his position if he didn't struggle to the last gasp even for a failing cause." ”

“ Orcutt was possibly not fully prepared, but his newly gained control did not give way.
"I must insist upon hearing the facts before I say any thing of my intentions," he averred. "Whatever they may be, they cannot be more startling in their character than those which have been urged against Hildreth."
"But they are," she whispered. Then with a quick look around her, she put her mouth close to Mr. Orcutt's ear and breathed:
"Mr. Hildreth is not the only man who, unseen by the neighbors, visited Mrs. Clemmens' house on the morning of the murder. Craik Mansell was there also." ”

“ Ditmar demanded, with unlooked-for geniality. “You mustn't take things too hard, Orcutt, don't wear yourself out.”
Mr. Orcutt was relieved. He had expected an outburst of the exasperation that lately had characterized his superior. They began to chat. Janet had escaped.
“Miss Bumpus told me you wanted to see me. I was just going to ring you up,” Ditmar informed him.
“She's a clever young woman, seems to take such an interest in things,” Orcutt observed. “And she's always on the job. Only yesterday I saw her going through the mill with young Caldwell.” ”

“ Orcutt was a man who, up to the last year, had never known what it was to experience a real and controlling emotion. Life with him had meant success in public affairs, and a certain social pre-eminence that made his presence in any place the signal of admiring looks and respectful attentions. But let no man think that, because his doom delays, it will never come. ”

“ Orcutt interrupted gently, almost tenderly, but with a fatherly authority which Mr. Byrd expected to see her respect.
"Imogene," he observed, "this is no place for you; the horror of the event has made you forget yourself; go home and trust me to tell you on my return all that it is advisable for you to know."
But she did not even meet his glance with her steady eyes. "Thank you," she protested; "but I cannot go till I have seen the place where this woman fell and the weapon with which she was struck. I want to see it all. Mr. Ferris, will you show me?" ”

“ It is marshy and covered with snake grass. A man could make his way, however, between the hillocks into those woods yonder, if he were driven by fear or understood the path well. What is the matter, Orcutt?"
"Nothing," affirmed the latter,—"nothing, I thought I heard a groan."
"You heard me make an exclamation," spoke up Mr. Ferris, who by this time had sufficiently overcome his emotion to lift the head of the prostrate woman and look in her face. "This woman is not dead." ”

“ Clemmens and Mr. Orcutt, it would not take much perspicacity to prophesy an acquittal for Craik Mansell."
"Mary Ann the wife of Mr. Orcutt! Oh, that is impossible!" exclaimed the agitated spinster. But even while making this determined statement, she turned a look full of curiosity and excitement toward the door which separated them from her mother's apartment.
Mr. Gryce smiled in his wise way.
"Less improbable things than that have been found to be true in this topsy-turvy world," said he. "Mrs. Clemmens might very well have been Mrs. Orcutt." ”

“ Orcutt asked.
"Very much."
"And acknowledged it in the conversation he had with you?"
"Yes."
"Imogene," declared the lawyer, "if you do not want to insure Mr. Mansell's indictment, I would suggest to you not to lay too great stress upon any talk you may have held with him."
But she cried with unmoved sternness, and a relentless crushing down of all emotion that was at once amazing and painful to see:
"The innocent is to be saved from the gallows, no matter what the fate of the guilty may be." ”

“ Then the whole awaited Orcutt’s orders and our calculations.
At last the moment came. We had, at Orcutt’s order, reduced the revolutions of the Flies to 7230, which was, as nearly as he knew, the speed on the fatal night. We had soaked the bag for near twelve hours, and, at the moment agreed upon, rolled it on the Flies and saw it shot into the air. It was so small that it went out of sight too soon for us to see it take fire.
Of course we watched eagerly for signal time. They were all in bed on B. M. when we let fly. But the despatch was a sad disappointment. ”

“ Bad as he was, he could do no less than that—stand by his vessel to the last. When he came alongside the Delia, he rose from the bottom{302} of the dory, his companion having safely boarded the Delia, and lunged for the rail. Never a quick man on his feet, nor quick to think and act, and now trembling with anxiety, Orcutt made a mess of boarding. He had to stop long enough, too, to look up at Oddie and think what a fool of a man Oddie was altogether—a mind like a child! ”

“ The people shout because the long and tedious trial of an innocent man has come to an end. Craik Mansell was acquitted from the charge of murder this morning."
"Acquitted! O Helen!"
"Yes, dear. Since you have been ill, very strange and solemn revelations have come to light. Mr. Orcutt——"
"Ah!" cried Imogene, rising up in the great arm-chair in which she was half-sitting and half-reclining. [601] "I know what you are going to say. I was with Mr. Orcutt when he died. I heard him myself declare that fate had spoken in his death. I believe Mr. Orcutt to have been the murderer of Mrs. ”

“ In the eyes of the world Tremont Orcutt and Imogene Dare henceforth stood as far apart as the poles. Realizing it only too well, he uttered a half-inarticulate exclamation, and trod restlessly to the [484] other end of the room. When he came back, it was with more of the lawyer's aspect and less of the baffled lover's.
"Imogene," he said, "what could have induced you to resort to an expedient so dreadful? Had you lost confidence in me? Had I not told you I would save this man from his threatened fate?"
"You cannot do every thing," she replied. "There are limits even to a power like yours. ”

“ Our property runs a long way up Gods River, and both sides of the Shamattawa below the dotted line."
Orcutt studied the map for a moment. "Who owns the land above here?" he asked sharply.
"The Hudson's Bay Company on the north side, and the Government on the south."
"Well, what in hell is to prevent someone—McNabb, for instance—from buying up that land and starting operations above us? Even if they didn't put in a dam they could raise the devil with us by driving their stuff through. ”

“ His glance lost its pity and became wholly mocking.
"And do you cherish but passing gleams?" he sarcastically asked.
She started back.
"I laugh at the inconsistency of women," he cried. "You have sacrificed every thing, even risked your life for a man you really believe guilty of crime; yet if [491] another man similarly stained asked you for your compassion only, you would fly from him as from a pestilence."
But no words he could utter of this sort were able to raise any emotion in her now.
"Mr. Orcutt," she demanded, "do you believe Craik Mansell innocent?" ”

“ And now if Orcutt should show up within the next day or two, Downey will know just where to follow, and even with a two days' start, I doubt if I could keep ahead of him. They say he's a devil on the trail. But I'll fool him. I'll leave the canoe at the end of the lake, and instead of striking on down the river I'll hit out overland. Once I get to the railway, they can all go to hell! ”

“ Peace is once more established, which is worth more than a new tire. Come, my appetite is satisfied—suppose we all go out to the garage.”
Annetta interrupted their progress at the door.
“A gentleman to see the signora,” she announced—“the same gentleman who took the Signorina Thayer to ride this afternoon—and would the signora see him alone?”
“Poor Ferdy,” Helen sighed, aloud. “He wants me to intercede for him. You go on, Jack, and perhaps I may join you later. Show Mr. De Peyster out here, Annetta.”
Ferdinand hardly waited to be ushered through the hallway. ”

“ The previous tenants of the villa had been the unimaginative family of a German-American brewer, and their preference for beer over the wonderful vino rosso which he himself had pressed out from the luscious grapes in the vineyard filled his heart with sorrow. He confided to Annetta, the red-lipped maid Armstrong had engaged for Helen, that he “was glad to serve an ‘Americano molto importante’ rather than a porco.” And Giuseppe took great satisfaction in placing upon that last word all the emphasis needed to express six months’ accumulated disgust. ”

“ I have seen eyes resting upon your face filled with a devotion which a woman never gives but once. You ought to feel very proud to be able to inspire all that, Mr. Armstrong. I should if I were a man.”
“You have evidently mistaken me for some one else, contessa. Otherwise I cannot understand what you are saying.”
Amélie looked at him curiously. ”

“ Uncle Peabody made his assertion boldly, and then waited for a response. Inez looked up quickly.
“I think it is hard for any one to understand Mr. Armstrong without seeing him at his work. He has changed, as you say, but it is a change which no one—least of all himself—could prevent.” ”

“ Peyster. “There were Emory and Eustis, who you say have just left you, and then there were three charming married women who insisted on my playing bridge with them every afternoon.”
“They did not have to insist very hard, did they, Ferdy?” interrupted Helen—“with your reputation for gallantry.”
Ferdinand smiled complacently. “Making up a fourth at bridge comes under the definition of ‘first aid to the wounded,’” he replied, “but I did not object at all to being the doctor. Their conversation was so clever, you know.”
“Clever conversation always helps good bridge,” Armstrong interrupted, dryly ”

“ All personality is absolutely obliterated. I understand it, because to a lesser degree I have felt it myself. When we leave the library he becomes more like himself again; but as he gets deeper into his work, his absorption is greater, and for that reason alone, I believe, he is less mindful of the usual every-day conventions. I wish I could make it clear to you.”
Uncle Peabody did not reply at once. What Inez had said gave him a new viewpoint both of Armstrong and of her. ”

“ The old man’s words were burning in her heart. Passing through a smaller room to reach Cerini’s study, they came suddenly to a corner lighted only by a small window where Armstrong and Inez were at work. So intent were they that the approach of Helen and the librarian had not been noticed. Cerini held up his hand warningly.
“Quiet!” he commanded, softly. “Let us not disturb [102] them. I have never seen two individualities cast in so identical a mould. One sometimes sees it in two men, but rarely in a man and a woman.” ”

“ Armstrong replied, unconvinced, “but every moment we lose discussing nutrition is a moment taken off the finest trip we have tried yet. The car is in splendid condition, the weather is ideal, and Pisa awaits us at the other end of our excursion.”
“So it is to be Pisa, is it?” Uncle Peabody arose. “Do you know, Jack, I like you for the way you plan these charming rides, and that almost makes up for your lack of judgment in some other directions. An ordinary man would spend at least the day before in studying maps, asking advice, and in making plans generally. ”

“ Armstrong kept up a continuous and irrelevant conversation into which each of the others joined weakly with equal irrelevance. Each was trying to talk and think at the same time. The car reached the Piazza del Duomo almost abruptly, as it seemed, and Uncle Peabody alighted with considerable alacrity, waving a good-bye which was mechanically acknowledged as the machine slowly moved into the narrow Borgo San Lorenzo. At the library, Armstrong led the way through the cloister and up the stone stairs to the little door where Maritelli was this time waiting to give them entrance. ”

“ No—among the girls they are still to be won at rare intervals, but the only way to distinguish the men is by looking up their rating in Bradstreet’s, or their mother’s family name in the Social Register. Other than this, one man is as bad as another, if not worse.” [67]
Inez looked at Armstrong for a moment with a puzzled expression, but failed to find any suggestion that he was speaking lightly. And yet—what a change in attitude from the morning! ”

“ John Covington will have more of a position to live up to even than Miss Alice Gorham."
"That's just it," she said, slowly. "It doesn't seem to me that I am ready to assume any 'position,' as you call it. Until you and daddy gave me this chance to do something else besides dances and theatre-parties and all those things we girls fill our time with, I was drifting hopelessly. This tiny bit of responsibility has been just the anchor I needed. What I read means so much more to me, what people talk about is of increased interest because I am just that much more conversant with what is going on ”