The House in the Mist

a window overlooking one of the many lean-tos already mentioned. This window was fastened, but I had no difficulty in unlocking it or in finding my way to t

ost violently, and, strong man though I was, wish myself back in the little attic

se, I called out her name, but no answer came back. The persons whom we had heard flitting in restless longing about the house a few moments before had left in rage and she, possibly, with them. Yet I could not imagine her joining herself to people of their stamp. There had been a solitariness in her aspect which seemed to forbid an

nxious was I not to miss any chance of carrying comfort, if not succor, to the woman I was seeking. But the night gave back no sound, and when I came to the open door of a shed, I welcomed the refuge it offered and stepped in. I was, of course, confronted by darkness,

ager scrutiny only the outlines of her pure, pale profile; but in those outlines and on those pure, pale features, I saw such an aba

of the house also; and the night is raw and cold. Can

hen the match went out in my hand, and we were again in complete darkness. But the little wail, which at

ling, hoping that, as my father's heir, I might partake in some slight measure of Uncle Anthony's money. Though my father cast me out befo

proper prudence not to trust me. But I overheard your words when you withdrew from the room wher

th which she drew to her breast the tiny

ntreated; "a little mil

inside. I hear them shouting over their good cheer.

e got here. I know a way to the kitchen; I used to visit U

ce seemed to reassure her. I hear

ay. A ladder stood against the trap, and the small cellar at the foot communicated by means of an iron-bound door with the la

see," said I. "But when I

or; it leads into a pantry adjoining the kitchen. Some one will be in that pantry. Some one will give you a bite for the child; and when she is quieted and th

ought the trap. Alas! it was burdened with a pile of sticks and rubbish which looked as if they had lain there for years. As these had to be removed in total darkness, it took me some time. But once this debris had been scattered and thrown asi

are not so hungry that we can not wait for you to

h, the strength which this discovery brought, gave to my arm a force t

e fortune far beyond their wildest dreams, made all ears deaf; and no pause occurred in the shouts of laughter and the hum of good-fellowship which sifted down between the beams supporting the house above my head. Con

at, contrary to Eunice Westonhaugh's expectation, the supper had been spread in the kitchen and that I was lik

I did succeed in lifting the latch and making a small crack, I was so astonished by the sudden lull

ardly impulse, by catching the sound of the la

toast. Brothers, nephews-heirs all of Anthony Westonhaugh, I rise to propose the name of yo

hrough my narrow vantage-hole testified to the rather doubtful pleasure with which this sugg

st and altogether worthy of the occasion it is to celebrate, that he gave into my charge, almost with his dying breath, this key, telling me that it would u

panting silence, which remained unbroken while the lawyer crossed the floor, unlocked the cupboard and b

re eloquent. And see! look at this label. Tokay, friends, real Tokay!

ressed passion, totally incomprehensible to me, found sudden vent, rose in one s

le Anthony out of that bottle till there

wyer was i

you are called together. Mr. Anthony Westonhaugh left b

impatience with the fact and so much anxiety as to the condition of those I had left behind me that I questioned whether it would not be better for me to return to them empty-handed than to leave them so long without the comfort of my presence, when the

you are eager for these words. Folk so honest, so convinced of their own purity and uprightness that they can stand unmoved while the youngest and most helpless among them withdraws her claim to wealth and independence rather than share an unmerit

drinking toasts," ba

se grating tones no echo remained of Hector Westonhaugh's

creamed a third. "I'm going in for city life. With less mon

d out one; "or if Uncle Luke, say, had tripped into the ditch instead of on the edge of it, the fellows

his thumb the bottle upon which all eyes were now lovingly centered; so lovingly, indeed, that I ventured to increase, in th

etained sufficient steadiness to stand; for I observed by the control he exercised over this herd of self-seekers, that he alone had not touched the cup which had so freely gone about amon

hreatening hand and every man there seemed to tremble, while old Luke put out his long fingers with

ny Westonhaugh. You will listen, all of you; listen till I am done; or I will not only smash this bottle before your eyes, but I will keep for ever buried in my bre

his life from their possible hate and impatience, it answered his end with these semi-intoxicated men, and secured him the silenc

od as to communicate to me the nature of its contents. I was bidden to read it to such as should be here assembled under

of old Luke's face, which was probably more plainly visible to me than to those who sat beside him. For, being bent almost into a bow, as I have said, his forehead came within an inch of touching h

the earth has lain upon my breast a

rtable one-in the jostling crowd, whose shaking arms and claw

little. You are my natural heirs and I have left you my money; why, when so little love has characterized our intercourse, must be evi

nds together and made us swear by the soul of our mother, whose body we had left in the sea, that we would keep the bond of brotherhood intact, and share with mutual confidence whatever good fortune this untried country might hold in store for us. You were strong and your voices rang out loudly. Mine was faint, for I was weak-so weak that my hand had to be held in place

brought you all under one roof to-night, I will repeat it here in words, that no man may fail to understand why I remembered my oath throu

could not work. And so we fell into debt for rent and, ere long, for the commonest necessities of life. In vain I struggled to redeem myself; the time of my prosperity had not come and I only sank deeper and deeper into debt and finally into indigence. A baby came. Our landlord was kind and allowed us to stay for two weeks under the roof for whose protection we could not pay; but at the end of that time we were asked to leave; and I found myself on the road with a dying wife, a wailing infant, no money in my purse and no power in my arm to earn any. Then when heart and hope were both failing, I recalled that ancient oath and the six prosperous homes scattered up and down the very highw

bara I saw on the threshold of the little cottage she called her own. She heard my story; looked in the face of my wife and turned her back. She had no place for idle folk in her little house; if we would work she would feed us; but we must earn our supper or go hungry to bed. I felt the trembling of my wife's frame where she leaned against my arm, and kissing her again, led her on to Salmon's. Luke, Hector, Janet, have you heard him

ughed, little and great, when I asked for a few weeks' stay under my brother's roof till we could all get well and go about our tasks again? I remember. I, who am writing these words from the very mouth of the tomb, I remember; but I did not curse you. I only rode on to the next. The way ran uphill now; and the sun which, since our last stop, ha

ay, the increase among his pigs. Oh, the chill of that descent! Oh, the gloom of the gathering shadows! As we neared the bottom and I heard a far-off voice shout out a hoarse command, some instinct made me reach up for the last time and bestow that faithful kiss, which was at once her consolation and my prayer. My lips were cold with the terror of my soul, but they were not so cold as the cheek t

-by. But I did not carry her in, and she died in the road

s hour, nor is it for this I ask you to

terings, which from time to time came to my ears from one sullen lip or another, did not rise into frightened imprecation or even into any assertion of sorrow or contrition. It seemed as if some suspense, common to all, held them sp

w become short, sh

s was while our existence was a struggle; but when, with the discovery of latent powers in my own mind, I began to find my place in the world and to earn money, then your sudden interest in my boy

pon, even in those early days, as your own? To others' eyes it may appear, none; to mine, ye are one and all his murderers, as certainly as all of you were the murderers of the good physician hastening to his aid. For his illness was not a mortal one. He would have been saved if the doctor had reached him; but a

first portion of this denunciatory letter. As the lawyer stopped to cast them another of those strange looks, a gleam from old Luke's sidewise eyes startled the man next h

le, which to some degree offered itself as a possible weapon. But he knew his audience better than I did. Thou

smile, went on with his r

ew contentment again. But, as he developed and my affections strengthened, the possibility of all my money going his way roused my brothers and sisters from the complacency they had enjoyed since their road to fortune had been secured by my son's death, and one day-can you recall it, Hudson? can you recall it, Lemuel?-the boy wa

said to have visited my house

ice of Luke, who was gradually grow

Hector, gathering cou

led one of the younger men, who was less

d grown steely under these comments, took advantage of the sudden s

f the devil, learned to smile with my lips while my heart was burning with hatred. Perhaps this was why you all began to smile too, and joke me about certain losses I had sustained, by which you meant the gains which had come to m

upp

intently at the reader. He had spoken quietly; he had not even looked up, but the silence which, for some minutes back, had begun

mber that

door; I might have stalked openly into their

love of the things of this world that I scarcely missed her when I looked about among you all for the eight sturdy brothers and sisters who had joined in one clasp and one oath, under the eye of the true-hearted immigrant, our father. What I did miss was one true eye lifted to my glance; but I did not show that I missed it; and so our peace

l risen, all looking with wild eyes for the door-was it not apparent that they unde

r shine out from his small eyes, I wondered if he had been but the blind tool of his implacable client and was as ignorant as those before him of what was to follow th

served for me. It had

d a hurried look up and down at

again until the glass was drained. I did not notice this then, but I see it all now, just as I hear again the excuses you gave for not filling your glasses as the bottle went round. One had drunk enough; one suffered from qualms brought on by an unaccustomed indulgence in oysters;

of the table to the other, till the lawyer's face, over which a startling change was rapidly passing, drew the whole crowd forward again in awful fas

of the one man who has been true to me because therein lies his advantage, I offer you a final glass. Will you drink it? I dran

shouted one

omes too late; that you have already drunk the toast destined to end your lives. The bottle which you must have missed from that board of yours has been offered you again. A label is easily changed and-Luke, John, He

prayers for mercy-groans to make the hair rise-and curses, at sound of which I shut my ears in horror, only to open them again in dre

to stem

lining the drink. I wished to preserve my senses-to carry out my client's wishes

cked, and I was preparing myself to see him sink before my eyes, when an unearthly shriek rose from behind us, and every living soul in that mass of struggling humanity paused, set and staring, with stiffened limbs and eyes fixed, not on him, not on me, but on one of their own number, the only woman amon

soul. Shoulder to shoulder in crime, they fell apart as their doom approached; and rushing, shrieking, each man for himself, they one and all sought to escape by doors, windows or any outlet which promised release from this fatal spot. One rushed by me-I do not know which one-and I felt as if a flame from hell had licked me, his breath was so hot and the moans he uttered so like the curses we imagine to blister the