CHAPTER XX
_Frank Sydney in the Power of his Enemies--his incarceration in the DarkDungeon, with the Dwarf._
The next day after the occurrence just related, Frank Sydney, as was hiscustom, took a leisurely stroll down the most fashionable promenade ofthe metropolis--Broadway; this magnificent avenue was thronged withelegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen, who had issued forth to enjoythe genial air of a fine afternoon.
At one of the crossings of the street, our hero observed an old woman,respectfully dressed, but nearly double with age and infirmity, andscarcely able to crawl along, in great danger of being run over by acarriage which was being driven at a furious rate. Frank humanely rushedforward, and dragged the poor creature from the impending danger, justin time to save her from being dashed beneath the wheels of thecarriage. She faintly thanked her deliverer, but declared her inabilityto proceed without assistance. On inquiring where she resided, helearned that it was in Reade street, which was but a short distance fromwhere they then stood; and he generously offered her the support of hisarm, saying that he would conduct her home, an offer which wasthankfully accepted. They soon reached her place of abode, which was ahouse of genteel appearance, and at the invitation of the old lady,Frank entered, to rest a few moments after his walk.
He had scarcely seated himself in the back parlor, when he was horrifiedand astounded at what he saw.
The old woman, throwing off her cloak, bonnet and mask, stood beforehim, erect and threatening; and our hero saw that he had been made thedupe of the _Dead Man_!
'Welcome, Sydney, welcome!' cried the miscreant, his features lighted upwith a demon's triumph--'at last thou art in my power. Did I not play mypart well? Who so likely to excite thy compassion as an old lady indistress; 'twas ably planned and executed. Thou hast fallen into thetrap, and shall never escape. But there are others who will be gratifiedto see thee, Frank. Nero--Julia--the bird is caught at last!'
These last words were uttered in a loud tone; and were immediatelyresponded to by the entrance of Julia and the black. The woman's eyesflashed fire when she beheld the object of her hate; she advancedtowards him and spat in his face, saying--
'May the fires of hell consume thee, heart and soul, detestedwretch--thou didst cast me from thee, friendless and unprotected, when akind reproof might have worked my reformation. Through thee I havebecome the victim of a ruffian's lust, the object of his cruelty; I havebeen struck like a dog, (look at this mark upon my cheek,) and I havebeen compelled to minister to the disgusting and unnatural lechery of amonster--all through thee, thou chicken-hearted knave, who even now dothtremble with unmanly terror!'
'Woman, thou art a liar!' exclaimed our hero, rising and boldlyconfronting his three enemies--'I do tremble, but with indignationalone! Dare you charge your misfortune upon me? Did you not dishonor meby adultery with this vile negro?--and then to talk to me of kindreproof! Pshaw, thou double-eyed traitorous w----e!--I had served theerightly had I strangled thee on the spot, and thrown thy unclean carcaseto the dogs!'
'Silence, curse ye, or I'll cut out your tongue as I did the_Kinchen's_!' roared the Dead Man, drawing his knife. 'Nero, what causeof complaint have you against this man?'
'Cause enough,' replied the black--'he shut me up in a dark dungeon forhaving gratified the wishes of his licentious wife.'
'Enough,' cried the Dead Man--'I will now state my grounds of complaintagainst him. Firstly--he played the spy upon me, and was the cause of mybeing returned to the State Prison, from which I had escaped.Secondly--he discovered the secrets of my Anthony street crib, andadministered a drug to my wife which has deprived her of reason. Andthirdly he is my mortal foe, and I hate him. Is that not enough?'
'It is--it is!' replied Julia and the African. The Dead Man continued:
'Now, Sydney, listen to me: you behold the light of day for the lasttime. But 'tis not my wish to kill you at once--no, that would notsatisfy my vengeance. You shall die a slow, lingering death; each momentof your existence shall be fraught with a hell of torment; you will prayfor death in vain; death shall not come to your relief for years. Eachday I will rack my ingenuity to devise some new mode of torture. Toincrease the horrors of your situation, you shall have a companion inyour captivity--a being unnatural and loathsome to look upon--a creaturefierce as a hyena, malignant as a devil. Ha, you turn pale; you guess mymeaning. You are right; you shall be shut up in the same dungeon with myImage! the deformed and monstrous dwarf, whom Heaven (if there is one,)must have sent as a curse and a reproach to me; he shall now become yourcurse and punishment!'
Poor Frank heard this awful doom pronounced which he could not repress.He could have borne any ordinary physical torture with fortitude; butthe thought of being shut up in that noisome dungeon with a being sofearful and loathsome as the Image, made him sick and faint; and whenthe Dead Man and the negro seized him in their powerful grasp, in orderto convey him to the dungeon, he could make no resistance, even ifresistance had been of any avail. Julia did not accompany them, butcontented herself with a glance of malignant triumph at her husband.
They descended to the cellar, and entered the secret passage, which theytraversed in profound darkness. This passage communicated directly withthe cellar of the house in Anthony street; a walk of ten minutes broughtthem to it, and when they had entered it, the Dead Man ignited a matchand lit a lamp.
The appearance of the cellar was precisely the same as when Frank hadlast seen it.--There was the same outlet and the moveable platform;there, in that dim and distant corner, lay the putrefying corpse; andthere, too, was the iron door of the dungeon, secured on the outside bythe massive bolt.
At that moment the fearful inmate of that dungeon set up its strange,unnatural cry.
'Hark--my Image welcomes you, Sydney,' whispered the Dead Man, and,assisted by the African, he hurried his victim towards the dungeon door.
'In God's name,' said Frank, imploringly--'I beseech you to kill me atonce, rather than shut me up with that fearful creature--for death ispreferable to that!'
But the two ruffians only laughed--and drawing back the bolt, theyopened the iron door, and thrust their victim into the dungeon; thenclosing the door, they pushed the bolt into its place, and left him toan eternal night of darkness and horror.
He heard the sound of their department footsteps; groping his way to acorner of the dungeon, he sat down upon the cold stone floor. Had hebeen alone he could have reconciled himself to his situation; but theconsciousness of being in such fearful company, froze his blood withhorror.
Soon his eyes became accustomed to the darkness; and as a very faintglimmer of light stole in over the door of the dungeon, he was enabledto see objects around him, though very indistinctly. With a shudder, heglanced around him; and there, cowering in one corner, like some hideousreptile, its green eyes fixed upon him, sat the Image of the DeadMan--the terrible Dwarf!
Hour after hour did that mis-shapen thing gaze upon our hero, until astrange feeling of fascination came over him--his brain grew dizzy, andhe felt as if under the influence of a horrible dream. Then it utteredits strange, unnatural cry, and with the crawling motion of a snake,stole to his side. He felt its breath, like the noisome breath of acharnel-house, upon his cheek; he felt its cold, clammy touch, and couldnot thrust it from him; it twined its distorted, fleshless arms aroundhim, and repeated its awful yell. Then Sydney fell prostrate upon thefloor, insensible.
When he recovered from his swoon, (in which he had lain for many hours)he felt numbed with cold, sick with the foetid atmosphere of the place,and faint with hunger. The dwarf was ferociously devouring some carrionwhich had been thrown into the dungeon; and the creature made uncouthsigns to our hero, as if inviting him to eat. But on examining the foodhe found it to be so repulsive, that he turned from it in disgust, andresolved, sooner than partake of it, to let starvation put an end to hismisery.