Torpenhow

“ His imagination, the keener for the dark background it worked against, spared him no single detail that might send him raging up and down the studio, to stumble over the stove that seemed to be in four places at once. Worst of all, tobacco would not taste in the darkness. The arrogance of the man had disappeared, and in its place were settled despair that Torpenhow knew, and blind passion that Dick confided to his pillow at night. The intervals between the paroxysms were filled with intolerable waiting and the weight of intolerable darkness. ”

“ Listen, oh Torquam! On yonder vessel I carry steeds like those of which I told you. For a journey over the mountains of the north we have brought them. One there is, swifter of foot than all the rest. Him will I cause my men to lower into the boat and bring to you after our return tonight.”
In silence Torquam inclined his head. Nothing could have pleased him more. He would be the first then, of all his tribe to own one of those strange yet wondrous creatures never before seen in his world until the Spanish landed! ”

“ Schneeberger with a dim interest in his tone.
‘If only he would go!’ thought Tor, but he could not suggest this, and it sounded a mockery to address the unconscious Phil by a false name. Still, he bent over him, and called rather loudly:
‘Tor! Torwood! wake up, old fellow! Don’t you know me—Phil Debenham? Tor, I say!’
Perhaps there was the faintest motion of the eyelashes—neither Tor nor the doctor could be certain; but the eyes remained fast closed, and no other words evoked the slightest sign of life.
Tor gave one last long look, and turned away with a sigh. ”

“ He is at Ladywell. He is in this very house?’
[Pg 29]
‘Indeed! If you are so well informed as to my friend’s movements, why come to me?’
‘Your friend!’ she echoed scornfully; ‘friend, indeed! Why do you even try to keep up the deception when all is known? You are Torrington Torwood yourself!’
‘How very interesting! Well, I have played the part often enough to feel quite at home in it. Produce your “Philip Debenham,” and I will gladly abdicate in his favour. It will not be the first time we have changed names and situations.’
Mrs. Belassis grew more and more excited. ”

“ The manners and customs of the Toorkmuns, in the odious practices which they pursue against their fellow man, sap the best principles of human nature, and we consequently find this people wanting in much of the honour which is often seen among half-civilised nations. “A Toorkmun,” the people will tell you, “is a dog, and will only be kept quiet with a bit of bread, like a dog: give it then, is the doctrine of the traveller, and pass on unmolested.” ”

“ Vazcled rose; despite the hour's lateness the wiry old man seemed untouched by fatigue. The bright eyes that dwelt on Torcred's face held only friendly concern. "You are confident now; but a failure of mechanism can betray the bravest. Let me look your terrapin over and judge for myself."
The chief's wish was a command. Torcred's spirit quailed as, walking like an automaton, he led the way. He derived a little comfort from noting that Helsed had already disappeared; when worst came to worst, he would at least be spared, in the moment of disaster, the sight of his enemy's triumph.... ”

“ Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude fashion to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The women clothed themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with strings of wampum, and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely greens and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief Torquam donned his ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feathers held by the crimsoned quills of the porcupine and extending down his back until almost it touched the ground. ”

“ And minute by minute the angry light crept higher up the sky and assumed new forms, clouds and streamers, for it was a mighty redlit pall of dust that was ever higher and nearer to the rushing terrapin.
Torcred glanced sidelong at the girl beside him. Her face was even whiter under the harsh light of sunset, her eyes closed beneath long lashes. Watching that smooth, tragic face, Torcred realized again how young she was; he shook his head somberly. The air-people were a strange race, who sent their young females on missions fit only for grown men. The terrapins were far more sensible. ”

“ Seeing the Toorkmuns in a body, it may be certainly distinguished, that they have something Tatar in their appearance; their eyes are small, and the eyelids appear swollen. They are a handsome race of people. All of them were dressed in the “tilpak,” a square or conical black cap of sheep-skin, about a foot high, which is far more becoming than a turban, and gives to a party of Toorkmuns the appearance of a soldierlike and disciplined body. ”

“ Her voice was low as the sighing of the wind among the oak trees. “I would be freed from my promise to wed with Don Cabrillo.”
An Indian is not given to caresses. Much more used was Torquam's hand to wield the war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fingers gentle as any woman's that he stroked the smooth black head at his knee.
“Doubtest thou then, my motherless one, the judgment of him who loves thee?” he asked. ”

“ THE ICEBERG OF TORBAY. TORBAY. Torbay, finely described in a recent novel by the Rev. R.T.S. Lowell, is an arm of the sea, a short strong arm with a slim hand and finger, reaching into the rocky land and touching the water-falls and rapids of a pretty brook. Here is a little village, with Romish and Protestant steeples, and the dwellings of fishermen, with the universal appendages of fishing-houses, boats, and "flakes." One seldom looks upon a hamlet so picturesque and wild. The rocks slope steeply down to the wonderfully clear water. ”

“ Oh, you’re a nice young man, Philip Debenham! No wonder you keep your friend at a distance, and don’t trouble yourself about him. No wonder nobody can get to know anything definite about the “Tor” who was once all your talk. A very nice thing it will be for you when I bring it home to you! Oh yes, you will enjoy that [Pg 39] very much; and I wonder what the law will say to these little transactions with Torwood’s money;’ and in this strain Mrs. Belassis kept on, her spirits rising and her confidence in her theory increasing with every step she took. ”

“ Ever since that night at Torquay I have been haunted by a horrible dread that he got away on his brother's yacht, the Sea-mew. Captain Bruce is devoted to them, he would do anything to help them. Perhaps it was part of the plan that the Sea-mew should lie in Torbay waiting for his escape. Money will do a great deal, and bribery may have been at work. ”

“ The bird-girl dropped lightly from the ladder and came to his side, scooping up the knife that was red with Torcred's blood. Her shining eyes reflected his fierce elation of victory.
Torcred realized that if he lost time his psychological advantage might go with it. He snapped at the two remaining panzer-men, his voice rasping strangely from his dry throat, "Quick! Do you want to live?" ”

“ You are no longer one of us; we give you to the wilderness. Torcred, no longer Terrapin, I mark you as such!"
The knife point rose and made two quick motions. Torcred did not flinch; on his forehead was a tau cross in oozing drops of blood. The chief bent, took a pinch of sand, and rubbed it into the wound to make sure that it would scar—if the victim lived that long.
Vazcled turned away. "Cast them out!" he ordered over his shoulder, to the guarding warriors.
"The girl too?" Helsed asked hastily; his eyes lingered. ”

“ Ispenlove and given him the letter and the parcel.
IV
I had acquaintances in Torquay, but I soon discovered that the place was impossible for me. Torquay is the chosen home of the proprieties, the respectabilities, and all the conventions. Nothing could dislodge them from its beautiful hills; the very sea, as it beats primly, or with a violence that never forgets to be discreet, on the indented shore, acknowledges their sway. Aphrodite never visits there; the human race is not continued there. ”

“ At length it fell one evening that king Sigmund asked for his daughter, and her maidens could not find her; high and low they looked, but in vain, till at nightfall she returned, and Sigmund asked whither she had been, and Torfrida blushed and at length told the king her father, and he was much angered.
“So thou hast been holding tryst with thy father’s foe, and thou a Christian!”
Then Torfrida wept and asked forgiveness.
“Nay, I cannot forgive thee till thou hast broken this bond with young Feargus. The Christian may not wed with the worshipper of false gods. ”

“ Torcall was of the people of the north—of the men of Lochlin. His song was of the fjords, and of strange gods, of the sword and the war-galley, of the red blood and the white breast, of Odin and Thor and Freya, of Balder and the Dream-God that sits in the rainbow, of the starry North, of the flames of pale blue and flushing rose that play around the Pole, of sudden death in battle, and of Valhalla. ”

“ I don’t like Wetherby, and I hate all middle-men. I’ll settle the matter with Torrington Torwood himself. I’ve written now to demand his address.’
‘Ah, my dear lady, that would certainly be a pleasanter way of managing matters; but young men do not always care about being troubled with business, and sometimes decline to act except through their agents.’
‘Oh, that is all nonsense!’ quoth Miss Marjory sharply. ‘I mean to see him myself. He cannot say no to an old woman, his father’s friend—he is too much of a Torwood, I hope, for that.’
‘Ah well, we will hope for the best. ”

“ I am learning the art of brazening things out finely. Practice makes perfect. By the time old Phil comes round, I dare say I could stand him out that he was I, and I he, if he weren’t so completely [Pg 275] the Debenham, and so like Maud. I wish he would come soon, I know. I’m uncommonly tired of playing the brother’s part, and waiting her pleasure as to young Belassis; though I don’t believe she will marry him, when it comes to the point.’
Tor was so far settled down in his new life, and to his assumed character, that he played the part quite naturally and without any effort. ”

“ Belassis, though somewhat taken aback, was not to be so easily suppressed.
‘My nephew is ill, and unable to act for [Pg 34] himself. I have reason to believe that his mind is temporarily affected. He is quite in his friend’s power, and most unscrupulous use is being made of this power. We, as next-of-kin, are bound to protect him, and we will do so at all risk. Let Torrington Torwood look to himself!’ the last words were added with such animus that Miss Marjory’s lip curled. ”

“ I said: "Cullen Mayle told me," and that answer saved my life. For Glen remarked, "Yes, he knew," and nodded to Tortue: Tortue lifted the knife in his hand, and again I closed my eyes. But the next thing I heard was a snap as the blade shut into the handle, and the next thing after that Tortue's voice deliberately speaking:
"George Glen, you never had the brains of a louse. You can smirk and wriggle, and you're handy with a weapon, but, you never had no brains." ”

“ What then would become of his intended proposal to Maud? She would be as hopelessly beyond his reach as if she were the wife of Lewis Belassis. The reflection was not inspiriting, but Tor shook himself, ‘pulled himself together,’ and smiled at his own depression.
‘Never say die! What can have come to me? There’s no reason why I should be betrayed, or betray myself. Old Belassis will have enough on his hands, I should say, after my hints, without trying to upset my claim. I wonder what Miss Marjory knows about [Pg 3] him. I must have some more conversation with her to-morrow. ”

“ If so, it boded ill for him, for he knew that a clever woman was a dangerous enemy; and what Miss Marjory had said of Tor’s likeness to Mr. Debenham and Maud [Pg 135] seemed to imply that if an ally, she would be an unscrupulous one.
Such remarks as hers must have been made in all simplicity, or else with a deep motive. Phil was inclined to believe the latter theory; though at times he accused himself of morbid fears, which led him to suspect danger where no danger was.
Just at this juncture of affairs, came the invitation to join the dinner-party that was to celebrate Maud’s majority. ”

“ I did not allow the opportunity to pass which thus presented itself of improving my knowledge of the Toorkmuns, whose lands we were once more to enter.
Running down partridges.
My friend dashed off with great precipitation among a crowd of his countrymen, to run down a “kubk,” or partridge, which rose near us. This is an easier matter than would be at first imagined, as the number captured soon proved. These birds fly once or twice, seldom thrice, and are then picked up. The Toorkmuns were delighted with the sport, and I participated in their excitement, though I did not join in it. ”

“ Maud turned to the stranger with her brightest smile, gave him her hand, and glanced into his face. Then the words of welcome seemed suddenly to die away. She looked at him, and then she looked at Tor, and back again at the new-comer, and she held her peace.
‘Very glad to make your acquaintance, Miss Debenham,’ said Phil, in a voice as exactly like her own as a man’s can be like a woman’s. ‘My friend’s relations almost seem to be mine.’
A warning look from Tor checked any further claim to relationship, otherwise he might have gone on from bad to worse. ”

“ Torgul stared him up and down. "You say you are from the sea. I have been a Rover since I was able to stumble on my two feet across a deck, after the manner and custom of my people, yet I have never seen your like before. Perhaps your coming means ill to me and mine, but by the Law of Battle, you have won your freedom on this ship. I swear to you, however, stranger, that if ill comes from you, then the Law will not hold, and you shall match your magic against the Strength of Phutka. That you shall discover is another thing altogether." ”