CHAPTER XL
OTTER'S FAREWELL
The night which followed, Leonard is wont to declare, proved to be thevery worst that he ever spent in his life. Notwithstanding his intenseweariness, he could not sleep, his nerves were too shattered to allowof it. Whenever he shut his eyes, he saw himself hanging head downwardsover the oubliette in the cell beneath the idol, or flying through theair across the dreadful gap in the ice-bridge, or in some other positionof terror, similar to those with which they had made such intimateacquaintance of late. Did these visions cease, from time to time heseemed to hear the voice of Francisco bidding him farewell, the yell ofSoa falling to her dreadful death, or Nam raving his last defiance atthem. Also his hurts, which were many, gave him great pain, and thoughthe climate here was mild, the breeze from the snow heights chilled himthrough, and they had not even a match wherewith to light a fire andscare the wild beasts that roared about them.
Rarely have three human beings been in a position more desolateand desperate than that in which they found themselves this night,exhausted, unarmed, almost without food or clothing, and wandering theyknew not where through the vastness of Central Africa. Unless some helpfound them, as Leonard was aware, they must perish of starvation, by thefangs of lions, or the spears of natives. It was impossible that theycould live through another week, and the thought came into his mind thatit would be well for them if they died that night and had done with it.
It would be well; yes, and it would have been better if he had been laidby the side of his brother Tom before ever he listened to Soa's accursedtale of the People of the Mist and their treasure of rubies. Only thenhe would never have known Juanna, for she must have died in the slavecamp.
This was the fruit of putting faith in the visions of dying men. Andyet, it was strange, he had _nearly_ got the money and "by the help ofa woman," for those rubies would have sufficed to buy back Outram tentimes over. But, alas! nearly is not quite. That dream was done with,and even if they escaped, it would be to find himself more utterlybeggared than before, for now he would be a married beggar.
At last the night wore away and the dawn came, but Juanna did not wakeuntil the sun was high. Leonard, who had crept to a little distance--fornow he was quite unable to walk--saw her sit up and crawled back to her.She stared at him vacantly and said something about Jane Beach. Then heknew that she was wandering. There was nothing to be done. What could bedone in that wilderness with a woman in delirium, except wait for death?
Accordingly Leonard and Otter waited for some hours. Then the dwarf,who was in far the best condition of the three, took the spear--Olfan'sgift--and said that he would go and seek for food, since their store wasexhausted. Leonard nodded, though he knew that there was little chanceof a man armed with a spear alone being able to kill game, and Otterwent.
Towards evening he returned, reporting that he had seen plenty of buck,but could not get near them, which was just what his master expected.That night they passed hungry, by turns watching Juanna, who was stilldelirious. At dawn Otter started out again, leaving Leonard, who hadbeen unable to sleep as on the previous night, crouched at Juanna'sside, his face buried in his hands.
Before noon Leonard chanced to look up, and saw the dwarf reelingtowards him, for he also was faint with want of food. Indeed his greathead and almost naked body, through the skin of which the misshapenbones seemed to start in every direction, presented so curious aspectacle that his master, whose brain was shaken by weakness, began tolaugh.
"Don't laugh, Baas," gasped the dwarf; "either I am mad, or we aresaved."
"Then I think that you must be mad, Otter, for we shall take a dealof saving," he answered wearily, for he had ceased to believe in goodfortune. "What is it?"
"This, Baas. There is a white man coming this way and more than ahundred servants with him; they are marching up the mountain slope."
"You are certainly mad, Otter," Leonard replied. "What in the names ofJal and Aca is a white man doing here? I am the only one of that specieswho have been fool enough to penetrate these regions, I and Francisco,"and he shut his eyes and dozed off.
Otter looked at him for a while, then he tapped his foreheadsignificantly and started down the slope again. An hour later, Leonard,still dozing, was awakened by a sound of many voices, and by a hand thatshook him not too gently.
"Awake, Baas," said the dwarf, for the hand was his; "I have caught thewhite man and brought him here."
Leonard staggered to his feet and saw before him, surrounded bygun-bearers and other attendants, an English gentleman, rather underthan over middle age, with a round and kindly face tanned by the sun,and somewhat deep-set dark eyes having an eyeglass fixed in one of them,through which its wearer regarded him with much commiseration.
"How do you do, sir?" said the stranger in a pleasant voice. "So faras I can make out from your servant you seem to be in a baddish way. ByGeorge! there is a lady."
"How do you do?" answered Leonard. "Capital sun-helmet that of yours.I envy it, but you see I have had to go bare-headed lately," and heran his fingers through his matted hair. "Who is the maker of thateight-bore? Looks a good gun!"
"Achmet," said the stranger, turning to an Arab at his side, "go to thefirst donkey and fetch this lord of the earth a pint of champagne andsome oatmeal cakes; he seems to want them. Tell the bearers also tobring up my tent and to pitch it there by the water. Quick, now."
Forty-eight hours had passed, and the benevolent stranger was sittingon a camp-stool in the door of his tent, looking at two forms that laywrapped in blankets and comfortably asleep within it.
"I suppose that they will wake some time," he murmured, dropping hiseyeglass and taking the pipe from his mouth. "The quinine and champagnehave done them a lot of good: there is nothing like quinine andchampagne. But what an unconscionable liar that dwarf must be! Thereis only one thing he can do better, and that is eat. I never saw a chapstow away so much grub, though I must say that he looks as though heneeded it. Still, allowing for all deductions, it is a precious queerstory. Who are they, and what the deuce are they doing here? One thingis clear: I never saw a finer-looking man nor a prettier girl." Andhe filled his pipe again, replaced the eyeglass in his eye, and begansmoking.
Ten minutes later Juanna sat up suddenly, whereupon the strangerwithdrew out of sight. She looked round her wildly, then, seeing Leonardlying at the further side of the tent, she crept to him and begankissing him, saying: "Leonard! Thank God that you are still alive,Leonard! I dreamed that we both were dead. Thank God that you arealive!"
Then the man who had been thus adjured woke up also and returned hercaresses.
"By George! this is quite affecting," said the traveller. "I supposethat they are married; if not, they ought to be. Any way, I had betterclear out for a while."
An hour later he returned to find that the pair had made themselves aspresentable as soap and water, and some few spare garments which he hadsent to Leonard, would allow, and were now sitting in the sun outsidethe tent. He advanced, lifting his helmet, and they rose to meet him.
"I suppose that I had better introduce myself," he said with somehesitation, for he was a shy man. "I am an English traveller, doing alittle exploring on my own account, for lack of any other occupation,and my name is Sydney Wallace."
"Mine is Leonard Outram," answered Leonard, "and this young lady is MissJuanna Rodd."
Mr. Wallace started and bowed again. So they were _not_ married!
"We are deeply indebted to you, sir," went on Leonard; "for you haverescued us from death."
"Not at all," answered Mr. Wallace. "You must thank that servant ofyours, the dwarf, and not me, for if he had not seen us, I should havepassed a mile or more to the left of you. The fact is that I am ratherfond of mountaineering, and seeing this great peak above us--I am toldthat it is the highest in the Bisa-Mushinga Mountains--I thought thatI might as well have a try at it before I turn homewards, _via_ LakeNyassa, Livingstonia, Blantyre, and Quilimane. But perhaps you will notmind tellin
g me how you came to be here. I have heard something from thedwarf, but his tale seems a little too steep."
"I am afraid you will think ours rather steeper, Mr. Wallace,"said Leonard, and he proceeded to give him a short outline of theiradventures.
When he came to their arrival among the People of the Mist, anddescribed the inauguration of Otter and Juanna as gods in the temple ofthe colossus, he noticed that his auditor had let the eyeglass fall fromhis round eye, and was regarding him with mild amazement.
"I am afraid that all this does not interest you," said Leonard stiffly.
"On the contrary, Mr. Outram, it interests me very much. I amexceedingly fond of romances, and this is rather a good one."
"As I thought; it is scarcely worth while to go on," said Leonard again."Well, I cannot wonder that you do not believe me."
"Leonard," interposed Juanna quietly, "you still have the star ruby;show it to Mr. Wallace!"
He did so, somewhat sulkily, and then, as he seemed disinclined to sayanything more, Juanna took up the tale, showing in evidence of its truththe spear, the frayed rope, and the tattered white robe which she hadworn in her character of Aca, and, indeed, still wore beneath poorFrancisco's cassock--for she had no other.
Mr. Wallace heard her out, then, without making any comment, he rose,saying that he must try to shoot some meat for the camp, and begged thatthey would make themselves comfortable until his return that evening.
Before sundown he reappeared, and, coming straight to the tent, askedtheir pardon for his incredulity.
"I have been up yonder," he said, "following your spoor backwards. Ihave seen the snow-bridge and the stones, and the nicks which the dwarfcut in the ice. All is just as you told me, and it only remains for meto congratulate you upon having escaped from the strangest series ofdangers that ever I heard of"; and he held out his hand, which bothLeonard and Juanna shook warmly.
"By the way," he added, "I sent men to examine the gulf for severalmiles, but they report to me that they found no spot where it would bepossible to descend it, and I fear, therefore, that the jewels are lostfor ever. I confess that I should have liked to try to penetrateinto the Mist country, but my nerves are not strong enough for theice-bridge, and if they were, stones won't slide uphill. Besides, youmust have had about enough of roughing it, and will be anxious to turnyour faces towards civilisation. So after you have rested another coupleof days I think that we had better start for Quilimane, which, barringaccidents, is about three months' march from here."
Shortly afterwards they started accordingly, but with the details oftheir march we need not concern ourselves. An exception must bemade, however, in the case of a single event which happened at themission-station of Blantyre. That event was the wedding of Leonard andJuanna in conformance with the ceremonies of their own church.
No word of marriage had been spoken between them for some weeks, andyet the thought of it was never out of the minds of either. Indeed, hadtheir feelings been much less tender towards each other than was thecase, it would still have been desirable, in view of the extraordinaryintimacy into which they had been thrown during the past months, thatthey should become man and wife. Leonard felt that alone as she was inthe wide world, nothing short of mutual aversion would have justifiedhim in separating from Juanna, and as it was love and not aversionthat he entertained towards her, this argument came home to him withovermastering force.
"Juanna," he said to her on the day of their arrival at Blantyre, "youremember some words that passed between your father and myself when helay upon his death-bed, to the effect that, should we both wish it, hetrusted to my honour to remarry you formally as soon as an opportunitymight arise.
"Now the opportunity is here, and I ask you if you desire to take me foryour husband, as, above everything in the world, I desire to make you mybeloved wife."
She coloured to her beautiful eyes and answered in a voice that wasalmost a whisper:
"If you wish it and think me worthy of you, Leonard, you know thatI wish it also. I have always loved you, dear, yes, even when I wasbehaving worst to you; but there is--Jane Beach!"
"I have told you before, Juanna," he answered with some littleirritation, "and now I tell you again, that Jane Beach and I have donewith each other."
"I am sure that I am very glad to hear it," Juanna replied, stillsomewhat dubiously. The rest of that conversation, being of a privatecharacter, will scarcely interest the public.
When he spoke thus, Leonard little knew after what fashion Jane Beachand he had wound up their old love affair.
Two days later Leonard Outram took Juanna Rodd to wife, "to have and tohold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness andin health, to love and to cherish till death did them part," and theirrescuer, Sydney Wallace, who by now had become their fast friend, gaveher away.
Very curious were the memories that passed through Juanna's mind asshe stood by her husband's side in the little grass-roofed chapel ofBlantyre, for was this not the third time that she had been married, andnow only of her own free will? She bethought her of that wild scene inthe slave camp; of Francisco who died to save her, and of the blessingwhich he had called down upon her and this very man; of that otherscene in the rock prison, when, to protect Leonard's life, she waswed, according to the custom of the Children of the Mist, to thattrue-hearted gentleman and savage, Olfan, their king. Then she awokewith a happy sigh to know that the lover at her side could never betaken from her again until death claimed one of them.
"We shall be dreadfully poor, Leonard," she said to him afterwards; "itwould have been much better for you, dear, if I had fallen into the gulfinstead of the rubies."
"I am not of your opinion, love," he answered with a smile for he wasvery happy. "Hang the rubies! Your price is far above rubies, and no manmay struggle against fate. I have always been able to make a living formyself heretofore, and I do not doubt that I shall continue to do so forboth of us, and we will leave the rest to Providence. You are more tome, Juanna, than any wealth--more even than Outram."
That evening Mr. Wallace found Otter gazing disconsolately at the littlehouse in which Leonard and Juanna were staying.
"Are you sad because your master is married, Otter?" he asked.
"No," answered the dwarf, "I am glad. For months he has been runningafter her and dreaming of her, and now at last he has got her.Henceforth she must dream of him and run after him, and he will havetime to think about other people, who love him quite as well."
Another month or so went by while the party journeyed in easy stagestowards the coast, and never had wedded lovers a happier honeymoon, orone more unconventional, than that passed by Leonard and Juanna, thoughperhaps Mr. Wallace and Otter did not find the contemplation of theirraptures a very exhilarating occupation.
At last they reached Quilimane in safety, and pitched their camp onsome rising ground outside of the settlement, which is unhealthy. Nextmorning at daybreak Mr. Wallace started to the post-office, where heexpected to find letters. Leonard and Juanna did not accompany him, butwent for a walk before the sun grew hot. Then it was, as they walked,that a certain fact came home to them; namely, that they could not availthemselves of their host's kindness any longer, and, further, that theywere quite penniless. When one is moving slowly across the vast Africanwilds, and living on the abounding game, love and kisses seem an ampleprovision for all wants. But the matter strikes the mind in a differentlight after the trip is done, and civilisation with its necessitieslooms large in the immediate future.
"What are we to do, Juanna?" asked Leonard in dismay. "We have no moneyto enable us to reach Natal or anywhere, and no credit on which todraw."
"I suppose that we must sell the great ruby," she answered, with a sigh,"though I shall be sorry to part with it."
"Nobody will buy such a stone here, Juanna, and it may not be a realruby after all. Perhaps Wallace might be willing to advance me a trifleon it, though I hate having to ask him."
Then they went back to breakfast
, which they did not find an altogethercheerful meal. As they were finishing, Mr. Wallace returned from thetown.
"I have got good news," he said; "the British India mail will be here intwo days, so I shall pay off my men and go up to Aden in her, and thencehome. Of course you will come too, for, like me, I expect you have hadenough of Africa for the present. Here are some copies of the weeklyedition of the 'Times'; look through them, Mrs. Outram, and see the newswhile I read my letters."
Leonard turned aside moodily and lit his pipe. How was he to findmoney to take even a third-class passage on the British India mail? ButJuanna, obeying the instinct that prompts a woman to keep up appearancesat all hazards, took one of the papers and opened it, although the tearswhich swam in her eyes would scarcely suffer her to see the print. Thusthings went on for ten minutes or more, as she idly turned the pagesof two or three issues of the weekly "Times," trying to collect herthoughts and pick up the thread of current events.
But it is wonderful how uninteresting and far-away those events appearafter the reader has been living a life to herself for a year or so, andJuanna, preoccupied as she was with her own thoughts, was about to giveup the attempt as a failure, when the name of _Outram_ started to hereyes.
A minute later her two companions heard a sharp exclamation and turnedround.
"What is the matter, Mrs. Outram?" said Wallace. "Has France declaredwar against Germany, or is Mr. Gladstone dead?"
"Oh! no, something much more important than that. Listen to thisadvertisement, Leonard:--
"'If Leonard Outram, second son of Sir Thomas Outram, Bart., late ofOutram Hall, who was last heard of in the territory to the north ofDelagoa Bay, Eastern Africa, or, in the event of his death, his lawfulheirs, will communicate with the undersigned, he or they will hear ofsomething very greatly to his or their advantage. Thomson & Turner, 2Albert Court, London, E.C.'"
"Are you joking, Juanna?" said Leonard after a pause.
"Look for yourself," she answered.
He took the paper, and read and reread the notice.
"Well, there is one thing certain," he said, "that no one ever stoodin greater need of hearing something to his advantage than I do atthis moment, for excepting the ruby, which may not be a true stone, wehaven't a stiver to bless ourselves with in the world. Indeed, Idon't know how I am to avail myself of Messrs. Thomson & Turner's kindinvitation, unless I write them a letter and go to live in a Kaffir huttill the answer comes."
"Don't let that trouble you, my dear fellow," said Wallace; "I can getplenty of cash here, and it is very much at your service."
"I am ashamed to take further advantage of your kindness," answeredLeonard, flushing. "This advertisement may mean nothing, or perhaps alegacy of fifty pounds, though I am sure I don't know who would leave meeven that sum. And then, how should I repay you?"
"Stuff!" said Wallace.
"Well," replied Leonard, "beggars must put their pride in their pockets.If you will lend me a couple of hundred pounds and take the ruby inpledge, I shall be even more grateful to you than I am at present, andthat is saying a good deal."
On this business basis the matter was ultimately arranged, though withinhalf an hour Wallace handed back the great stone into Juanna's keeping,bidding her "keep it dark"; an injunction which she obeyed in everysense of the word, for she hid the ruby where once the poison hadlain--in her hair.
Two busy days went by, and on the third morning a messenger came runningfrom the town to announce that the northward mail was in sight. Then itwas that Otter, who all this while had said nothing, advanced solemnlytowards Leonard and Juanna, holding his hand outstretched.
"What is the matter, Otter?" asked Leonard, who was engaged in helpingWallace to pack his hunting trophies.
"Nothing, Baas; I have come to say good-bye to you and the Shepherdess,that is all. I wish to go now before I see the Steam-fish carry youaway."
"Go!" said Leonard; "you wish to go?"
Somehow Otter had become so much a part of their lives, that, evenin their preparations to leave for England, neither of them had everthought of parting from him.
"Why do you wish to go?" he added.
"Because I am an ugly old black dog, Baas, and can be of no further useto you out yonder," and he nodded towards the sea.
"I suppose you mean that you do not want to leave Africa, even for awhile," said Leonard, with ill-concealed grief and vexation. "Well, itis hard to part with you like this. Also," he added with a little laugh,"it is awkward, for I owe you more than a year's wages, and have notthe money to spare to pay you. Moreover, I had taken your passage on theship."
"What does the Baas say?" asked Otter slowly; "that he has bought me aplace in the Steam-fish?"
Leonard nodded.
"Then I beg your pardon, Baas. I thought that you had done with me andwere going to throw me away like a worn-out spear."
"So you wish to come, Otter?" said Leonard.
"Wish to come!" he answered wonderingly. "Are you not my father and mymother, and is not the place where you may be my place? Do you know whatI was going to do just now, Baas? I was going to climb to the top ofa tree and watch the Steam-fish till it vanished over the edge of theworld; then I would have taken this rope, which already has served mewell among the People of the Mist, and set it about my throat and hangedmyself there in the tree, for that is the best end for old dogs, Baas."
Leonard turned away to hide the tears which started to his eyes, forthe dwarf's fidelity touched him more than he cared to show. Seeing histrouble, Juanna took up the talk to cover his confusion.
"I fear that you will find it cold over yonder, Otter," she said. "It isa land of fog, they tell me, and there are none of your own people, nowives or Kaffir beer. Also, we may be poor and have to live hardly."
"Of fog I have seen something lately, Shepherdess," answered the dwarf;"and yet I was happy in the fog, because I was near the Baas. Of hardliving I have seen something also, and still I was happy, because I wasnear the Baas. Once I had a wife and beer in plenty, more than a mancould want, and then I was unhappy, because they estranged me from theBaas, and he knew that I had ceased to be Otter, his servant whom hetrusted, and had become a beast. Therefore, Shepherdess, I would see nomore of wives and beer."
"Otter, you idiot," broke in Leonard brusquely, "you had better stoptalking and get something to eat, for it will be the last meal that youwill wish to see for many a day."
"The Baas is right," replied the dwarf; "moreover, I am hungry, forsorrow has kept me from food for these two days. Now I will fill myselffull, that I may have something to offer to the Black Water when heshakes me in his anger."
ENVOI
THE END OF THE ADVENTURE
Six weeks or so had passed when a four-wheeled cab drew up at the doorof 2 Albert Court, London, E.C.
The progress of this vehicle had excited some remark among the moreyouthful and lighter-minded denizens of the City, for on its box,arrayed in an ill-fitting suit of dittoes and a brown hat some sizes tosmall for him, sat a most strange object, whose coal-black countenance,dwarfed frame, and enormous nose and shoulders attracted their ribaldobservance.
"Look at him, Bill," said one youth to an acquaintance; "he's escapedfrom Madame Tussaud's, he has. Painted hisself over with Day & Martin'sbest, and bought a secondhand Guy Fawkes nose."
Just then his remarks were cut short, for Otter, having been made tounderstand by the driver that they had arrived at their destination,descended from the box in a manner so original, that it is probablypeculiar to the aborigines of Central Africa, and frightened that boyaway.
From the cab emerged Leonard and Juanna, looking very much the betterfor their sea journey. Indeed, having recovered her health and spirits,and being very neatly dressed in a grey frock, with a wide black hattrimmed with ostrich feathers, Juanna looked what she was, a very lovelywoman. Entering an outer office Leonard asked if Messrs. Thomson &Turner were to be seen.
"Mr. Turner is within, sir," answered a clerk of venerab
le appearance."Mr. Thomson"--here his glance fell upon Otter and suddenly he froze up,then added with a jerk--"has been dead a hundred years! Thomson, sir,"he explained, recovering his dignity, but with his eyes still fixed onOtter, "was the founder of this firm; he died in the time of GeorgeIII. That is his picture over the door--the person with a harelip and asnuffbox."
"Indeed!" said Leonard. "As Mr. Thomson is not available, perhaps youwill tell Mr. Turner that a gentleman would like to speak to him."
"Certainly, sir," said the old clerk, still staring fixedly at Otter,whose aspect appeared to fascinate him as much as that worthy had beenfascinated by the eyes of the Water-Dweller. "Have you an appointment,sir?"
"No," answered Leonard. "Tell him that it is in reference to anadvertisement which his firm inserted in the 'Times' some months ago."
The clerk started, wondering if this could be the missing Mr. Outram.That much-sought-for individual was understood to have resided inAfrica, which is the home of dwarfs and other oddities. Once more hestared at Otter and vanished through a swing door.
Presently he returned. "Mr. Turner will see you, sir, if you and thelady will please to step in. Does this--gentleman--wish to accompanyyou?"
"No," said Leonard, "he can stop here."
Thereupon the clerk handed Otter a tall stool, on which the dwarfperched himself disconsolately. Then he opened the swing door andushered Leonard and his wife into Mr. Turner's private room.
"Whom have I the pleasure of addressing?" said a bland, stout gentleman,rising from before a table strewn with papers. "Pray be seated, madam."
Leonard drew from his pocket a copy of the weekly "Times" and handed itto him, saying:
"I understand that you inserted this advertisement."
"Certainly we did," answered the lawyer after glancing at it. "Do youbring me any news of Mr. Leonard Outram?"
"Yes, I do. I am he, and this lady is my wife."
The lawyer bowed politely. "This is most fortunate," he said; "we hadalmost given up hope--but, of course, some proofs of identity will berequired."
"I think that they can be furnished to your satisfaction," answeredLeonard briefly. "Meanwhile, for the sake of argument, perhaps you willassume that I am the person whom I state myself to be, and inform me towhat this advertisement refers."
"Certainly," answered the lawyer, "there can be no harm in that. SirThomas Outram, the late baronet, as you are doubtless aware, had twosons, Thomas and Leonard. Leonard, the second son, as a young man wasengaged to, or rather had some love entanglement with, a lady--really Iforget her maiden name, but perhaps you can inform me of it----"
"Do you happen to mean Miss Jane Beach?" said Leonard quietly.
At this point Juanna turned in her chair and became extraordinarily,indeed almost fiercely, interested in the conversation.
"Quite so; Beach was the name. You must excuse my forgetfulness. Well,Sir Thomas's affairs fell into confusion, and after their father's deathMr. Leonard Outram, with his elder brother Thomas, emigrated to SouthAfrica. In that same year Miss Jane--eh--Beach married a client of ours,Mr. Cohen, whose father had purchased the estate of Outram from thetrustees in bankruptcy."
"Indeed!" said Leonard.
"Shortly afterwards," went on the lawyer, "Mr. Cohen, or rather SirJonas Cohen, succeeded to the estate on the death of his father. Twoyears ago he died leaving all his property, real and personal, to hisonly child, a daughter named Jane, with reversion to his widow in feesimple. Within a month of his death the child Jane died also, and ninemonths later her mother, Lady Cohen, _nee_ Jane Beach, followed her tothe grave."
"Yes," said Leonard in a dull voice, and hiding his face in his hand;"go on, sir."
"Lady Cohen made a somewhat peculiar will. Under the terms of that willshe bequeaths the mansion house and estates of Outram, together withmost of her personal property, amounting in all to something over ahundred thousand pounds, to her old friend Leonard Outram and the heirsof his body, with reversion to her brother. This will has not beendisputed; therefore, if you are Leonard Outram, I may congratulateyou upon being once more the owner of your ancestral estate and aconsiderable fortune in cash."
For a while Leonard was too agitated to speak.
"I will prove to you," he said at last, "that I am this person, that is,I will prove it _prima facie_; afterwards you can satisfy yourself ofthe truth of my statements by the usual methods." And he proceeded toadduce a variety of evidence as to his identity which need not be setout here. The lawyer listened in silence, taking a note from time totime.
"I think," he said when Leonard had finished, "that, subject to thoseinquiries of which you yourself have pointed out the necessity in sograve a matter, I may accept it as proved that you are none other thanMr. Leonard Outram, or rather," he added, correcting himself, "if, as Iunderstand, your elder brother Thomas is dead, than Sir Leonard Outram.Indeed you have so entirely convinced me that this is the case, that Ihave no hesitation in placing in your hands a letter addressed to youby the late Lady Cohen, and deposited with me together with the executedwill; though, when you have read it, I shall request you to leave thatletter with me for the present.
"By the way, it may interest you to learn," Mr. Turner added, as he wentto a safe built into the wall and unlocked its iron door, "that we havebeen hunting for you for a year or more. We even sent a man to SouthAfrica, and he tracked you to a spot in some mountains somewhere northof Delagoa Bay, where it was reported that you, with your brother Thomasand two friends, were digging for gold. He reached the spot on the nightof the ninth of May last year."
"The very day that I left it," broke in Leonard.
"And found the site of your camp and three graves. At first ourrepresentative thought that you were all dead, but afterwards he fellin with a native who appears to have deserted from your service, and whotold him that one of the brothers was dying when he left the camp, butone was still in good health, though he did not know where he had gone."
"My brother Thomas died on the first of May--this day year," saidLeonard.
"After that all trace of you was lost, but I still kept on advertising,for missing people have a wonderful way of turning up to claim fortunes,and you see the result. Here is the letter, Sir Leonard."
Leonard took the document and looked at it, while strange feelingscrowded into his mind. This was the first letter that he had everreceived from Jane Beach; also it was the last that he ever couldreceive.
"Before I open this, Mr. Turner," he said, "for my own satisfactionI may as well ask you to compare the handwriting of the address withanother specimen of it that chances to be in my possession"; andproducing the worn prayer-book from his pocket--Jane's parting gift--heopened it at the fly-leaf, and pointed out the inscription to thelawyer, placing the envelope beside it.
Mr. Turner took a reading-glass and examined first one writing and thenthe other.
"These words appear to have been written by the same hand," he saidpresently. "Lady Cohen's writing was peculiar, and it is difficult tobe mistaken on the point, though I am no expert. To free you fromresponsibility, with your consent I myself will open this letter," andhe slit the envelope at the top with an ivory paper-knife, and, drawingout its contents, he handed them to Leonard. They ran thus:
"My dearest Leonard,--For so I, who am no longer a wife, may call youwithout shame, seeing that you are in truth the dearest to my heart,whether you be still living, or dead like my husband and my child.
"The will which I am to sign to-morrow will prove to you if you are yetalive, as I believe to be the case, how deep is my anxiety that that youshould re-enter into possession of the ancestral home of which fortunehas deprived you. It is with the greatest pleasure that I make you thisbequest, and I can do so with a clear conscience, for my late husbandhas left everything at my absolute disposal--being himself without nearrelations--in the sad event which has occurred, of the death of hisdaughter, our only child.
"May you live long enough to enjoy the lands and fortune which
I amenabled thus to return to your family, and may your children and theirdescendants sit at Outram for many a generation to come!
"And now I will talk no more of this matter, for I have an explanationto make and a pardon to ask.
"It may well be, Leonard, that when your eyes fall upon these lines, youwill have forgotten me--most deservedly--and have found some other womanto love you. No, as I set this down I feel that it is not true; you willnever forget me altogether, Leonard--your first love--and no other womanwill ever be quite the same to you as I have been; or, at least, so Ibelieve in my foolishness and vanity.
"You will ask what explanation is possible after the way in which I havetreated you, and the outrage that I have done to my own love. Such as itis, however, I offer it to you.
"I was driven into this marriage, Leonard, by my late father, who couldbe very cruel when he chose. To admit this is, as I know, a proof ofweakness. So be it, I have never concealed from myself that I am weak.Yet, believe me, I struggled while I could; I wrote to you even, butthey intercepted my letter; and I told all the truth to Mr. Cohen,but he was self-willed and passionate, and would take no heed of mypleading. So I married him, Leonard, and was fairly happy with him, forhe was kindness itself to me, but from that hour I began to die.
"And now more than six years have passed since the night of our partingin the snow, and the end is at hand, for I am really dying. It haspleased God to take my little daughter, and this last shock proved morethan I can bear, and so I go to join her and to wait with her till suchtime as I shall once more see your unforgotten face.
"That is all that I have to say, dear Leonard.
"Pardon me, and I am selfish enough to add--do not forget me.
"JANE.
"P.S.--Why is it that an affection like ours, which has never bornefruit even, should in the end prove stronger than any other earthly tie?Heaven knows, and Heaven alone, how passionately I loved and love mydead child; and yet, now that my own hour is at hand, it is of _you_that I think the most, you who are neither child nor husband. I supposethat I shall understand ere long, but, O Leonard, Leonard, Leonard, if,as I believe, my nature is immortal, I swear that such love as minefor you, however much it be dishonoured and betrayed, is still the mostimmortal part of it!--J."
Leonard put down the letter on the table, and again he covered his facewith his hand to hide his emotion, for his feelings overcame him as asense of the depth and purity of this dead woman's undying love sankinto his heart.
"May I read that letter, Leonard?" asked Juanna in a quiet voice.
"Yes, I suppose so, dear, if you like," he answered, feeling dully thatit was better to make a clean breast of the matter at once, and thus toprevent future misunderstandings.
Juanna took the letter and perused it twice, by which time she knew itas well as she did the Lord's Prayer, nor did she ever forget a singleword of it. Then she handed it back to the lawyer, saying nothing.
"I understand," said Mr. Turner, breaking in on a silence which he feltto be painful, "that you will be able to produce the necessary proofs ofidentity within the next few days, and then we can get the will provedin the usual form. Meanwhile, you must want money, which I will take therisk of advancing you," and he wrote a cheque for a hundred pounds andgave it to Leonard.
Half an hour later Leonard and Juanna were alone in a room at theirhotel, but as yet scarcely a word had passed between them since theyleft the lawyer's office.
"Don't you see, Leonard," his wife said almost fiercely, "it is mostamusing, you made a mistake. Your brother's dying prophecy was like aDelphic oracle--it could be taken two ways, and, of course, you adoptedthe wrong interpretation. You left Grave Mountain a day too soon. It wasby _Jane Beach's_ help that you were to recover Outram, not by mine,"and she laughed sadly.
"Don't talk like that, dear," said Leonard in a sad voice; "it painsme."
"How else am I to talk after reading that letter?" she answered, "forwhat woman can hold her own against a dead rival? Now also I must beindebted to her bounty all my days. Oh! if I had not lost the jewels--ifonly I had not lost the jewels!"
History does not relate how Leonard dealt with this unexpected and yetnatural situation.
A week had passed and Leonard, with Juanna at his side, found himselfonce more in the great hall at Outram, where, on a bygone night, manyyears ago, he and his dead brother had sworn their oath. All was thesame, for in this hall nothing had been changed--Jane had seen to that.There chained to its stand was the Bible, upon which they had registeredtheir vow; there were the pictures of his ancestors gazing down calmlyupon him, as though they cared little for the story of his struggles andof his strange triumph over fortune "by the help of a woman." Therewas the painted window, with its blazoned coats of arms and its proudmottoes--"_For Heart, Home, and Honour_," and "_Per ardua ad astra_." Hehad won the heart and home, and he had kept his honour and his oath. Hehad endured the toils and dangers and the crown of stars was his.
And yet, was Leonard altogether happy as he stood looking on thesefamiliar things? Perhaps not quite, for yonder in the churchyard therewas a grave, and within the church a monument in white marble, that waswonderfully like one who had loved him and whom he had loved, thoughtime and trouble had written a strange difference on her face. Also, hehad failed: he had kept his oath indeed and fought on till the end waswon, but himself he had not won it. What now was his had once belongedto his successful rival, who doubtless little dreamed of the paymentthat would be exacted from him by the decree of fate.
And was Juanna happy? She knew well that Leonard loved her truly;but oh! it was cruel that she who had shared the struggles should bedeprived of her reward--that it should be left to another, who if notfalse had at least been weak, to give to her husband that which she hadstriven so hard to win--that which she had won--and lost. And harderstill was it that in this ancient place which would henceforth be herhome, by day and by night she must feel the presence of the shadow of awoman, a woman sweet and pale, who, as she believed, stood between herand that which she desired above all things--the complete and absolutepossession of her husband's heart.
Doubtless she overrated the trouble; men and women do not spend theirlives in brooding upon the memories of their first loves--if they did,this would be a melancholy world. But to Juanna it was real enough,and remained so for some years. And if a thing is true to the heart, itavails little that reason should give it the lie.
In short, now in the hour of their full property, Leonard and Juannawere making acquaintance with the fact that fortune never gives withboth hands, as the French say, but loves to rob with one while shebestows with the other. To few is it allowed to be completely miserable,to none to be completely happy. Their good luck had been so overwhelmingin many ways, that it would have partaken of the unnatural, and mightwell have excited their fears for the future, had its completeness beenunmarred by these drawbacks which, such as they were, probably theylearned to disremember as the years passed over them bringing them newtrials and added blessings.
Perhaps a peep into the future will tell us the rest of the storyof Leonard and Juanna Outram better and more truly than any furtherchronicling of events.
Ten years or so have gone by and Sir Leonard, now a member of Parliamentand the Lord-Lieutenant of his county, comes out of church on the firstSunday in May accompanied by his wife, the stateliest matron in thecountry-side, and some three or four children, boys and girls together,as healthy as they are handsome. After a glance at a certain grave thatlies near to the chancel door, they walk homewards across the buddingpark in the sweet spring afternoon, till, a hundred yards or more fromthe door of Outram Hall, they pause at the gates of a dwelling known as"The Kraal," shaped like a beehive, fashioned of straw and sticks, andbuilt by the hands of Otter alone.
Basking in the sunshine in front of this hut sits the dwarf himself,cutting broom-sticks with a knife out of the straightest of a bundle ofash saplings that lie beside him. He is dressed in a queer mixture ofnative and Europe
an costume, but otherwise time has wrought no change inhim.
"Greeting, Baas," he says as Leonard comes up. "Is Baas Wallace hereyet?"
"No, he will be down in time for dinner. Mind that you are there towait, Otter."
"I shall not be late, Baas, on this day of all days."
"Otter," cries a little maid, "you should not make broom-sticks onSunday, it is very wrong."
The dwarf grins by way of answer, then speaks to Leonard in a tonguethat none but he can understand.
"What did I tell you many years ago, Baas?" he says. "Did I not tellyou that by this way or by that you should win the wealth, and thatthe great kraal across the water should be yours again, and that thechildren of strangers should wander there no more? See, it has cometrue," and he points to the happy group of youngsters. "_Wow!_ I, otter,who am a fool in most things, have proved to be the best of prophets.Yet I will rest content and prophesy no more, lest I should lose my namefor wisdom."
A few hours later and dinner is over in the larger hall. All theservants have gone except Otter, who dressed in a white smock standsbehind his master's chair. There is no company present save Mr. Wallace,who has just returned from another African expedition, and sits smilingand observant, his eyeglass fixed in his eye as of yore. Juanna isarrayed in full evening dress, however, and a great star ruby blazesupon her breast.
"Why have you got the red stone on to-night, mother?" asks her eldestson Thomas, who with his two sisters has come down to desert.
"Hush, dear," she answers, as Otter advances to that stand on which theBible is chained, holding a glass filled with port in his hand.
"Deliverer and Shepherdess," he says, speaking in Sisutu, "on this dayeleven years gone Baas Tom died out yonder; I, who drink wine but once ayear, drink to the memory of Baas Tom, and to our happy meeting with himin the gold House of the Great-Great"; and swallowing the port witha single gulp Otter throws the glass behind him, shattering it on thefloor.
"Amen," says Leonard. "Now, love, your toast."
"I drink to the memory of Francisco who died to save me," says Juanna ina low voice.
"Amen," repeats her husband.
For a moment there is silence, for Leonard gives no toast; then the boyThomas lifts his glass and cries,
"And I drink to Olfan, the king of the People of the Mist, and to Otter,who killed the Snake-god, and whom I love the best of all of them.Mother, may Otter get the spear and the rope and tell us the story ofhow he dragged you and father up the ice-bridge?"
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