CHAPTER XXIX
_Wherein one of the Characters in this Drama maketh a sudden and rapidexit from the stage._
In an upper apartment of an old, rickety wooden building in Ann street,two men were seated at a rough deal table, engaged in smoking long pipesand discussing the contents of a black bottle. Not to keep the reader insuspense, we may as well state at once that these two individuals wereno other than our old acquaintances, the Dead Man and the Doctor.
The room was dusky, gloomy, and dirty, with a multitude of cob-webshanging from the ceiling, and the broken panes in the windows stuffedfull of rags. The smoke-dried walls were covered with rude inscriptionsand drawings, representing deeds of robbery and murder; and a hangingscene was not the least prominent of these interesting specimens of the'fine arts.' The house was a noted resort for thieves, and the oldharridan who kept it was known to the police as a 'fence,' or one whopurchased stolen goods.
'Yes, Doctor,' cried the Dead Man, with an oath, as he slowly removedthe pipe from his lips, and blew a cloud which curled in fantasticwreaths to the ceiling--'this state of affairs won't answer: we musthave money. And money we _will_ have, this very night, if our spy,Stuttering Tom, succeeds in finding out where those Franklin ladieslive. The bottle's out--knock for another pint of _lush_.'
The Doctor obeyed, and in answer to the summons an old, wrinkled,blear-eyed hag made her appearance with the liquor. This old wretch wasthe 'landlady' of the house; she had been a celebrated and beautifulcourtezan in her day, but age and vice had done their work, and she wasnow an object hideous to look upon. Though tottering upon the verge ofthe grave (she was over eighty,) an inordinate love of money, and anequal partiality for 'the ardent,' were her characteristics; butstranger than all, the miserable old creature affected still to retain,undiminished, those amorous propensities which had distinguished her inher youth! This horrible absurdity made her act in a manner at onceludicrous and disgusting; and the Dead Man, being facetiously inclined,resolved to humor her weakness, and enjoy a laugh at her expense bypretending to have fallen in love with her.
'By Satan!' he cried, clasping the old crone around the waist--'you lookirresistible to-night, mother: I've half a mind to ravish a kiss fromye--ha, ha, ha!'
'Have done, now!' exclaimed the hag, in a cracked tone, at the same timevainly endeavoring to contort her toothless jaws into an engagingsimper, while the Doctor nearly burst with laughter--'have done now, orI'll slap ye for your impudence. But, faith, ye are such a pleasantgentleman, that I don't mind bestowing a kiss or two upon ye!'
'You're a gay old lass,' said the Dead Man, without availing himself ofthe old lady's kind permission--'you have been a 'high one' in yourtime, but your day is nearly over.'
'No, no!' shrieked the old wretch, while her head and limbs quiveredwith palsy--'don't say that--I'm young as ever, only a little _shakey_,or so--I'm not going to die for many, many years to come--ha, ha, ha! akiss, love, a kiss--'
The old woman fell to the floor in a paralytic fit, and when they raisedher up, they found that she was dead!
'Devil take the old fool!' cried the Dead Man, throwing the corpsecontemptuously to the floor--'I meant to have strangled her some day,but I now am cheated of the sport. No matter; drink, Doctor!'
The dead body was removed by several of the wretched inmates of thehouse, just as Stuttering Tom entered to announce the result of hissearch for the Franklin ladies.
Tom was a short, dumpy specimen of humanity, with red hair, freckledface, nose of the pug order, and goggle eyes. His dress was picturesque,if not ragged: his coat and pants were so widely apart, at the waist, asto reveal a large track of very incorrect linen; and the said coat hadbeen deprived of one of its tails, an unfortunate occurrence, as theloss exposed a large compound fracture in the rear of the younggentleman's trowsers, whereby he was subjected to the remark that he had'a letter in the post office.' His name was derived from an inveteratehabit of stuttering with which he was afflicted; and he related theissue of his search somewhat in the following manner:
'You see, I ha-ha-happened to be l-loafing down Wa-Wa-Washington street,this evening, quite pro-miscus like, ven I seed two vim-vimmen, as vosgallus ha-handsum, and dr-dressed to kill, a valking along, vich puts mein m-m-mind of the F-F-Franklin vimmen, as you hired me to f-f-find out.So I up and f-follers 'em, and by-and-by a f-fellers meets 'em and says,says he, 'Good evening, Missus and Miss F-F-Franklin.' These is thewerry victims, says I to myself; and I f-f-foller them till they goesinto a house in Wa-Washington street--and here I am.'
'You have done well, Tom,' said the Dead Man, approvingly--'you must nowconduct us to the house in Washington street which the ladies entered:it is nine o'clock, and time that we should be up and doing.'
Stuttering Tom led the way, and the three issued from the house. Annstreet was 'all alive' at that hour; from every cellar came forth thesound of a fiddle, and the side-walks were crowded with a motley throngof Hibernians, Ethiopians, and Cyprians of an inferior order. Talk ofBoston being a moral city! There is villainy, misery and vice enough inAnn street alone, to deserve for the whole place the fate of Sodom andGomorrah.
The Dead Man and the Doctor, under the guidance of Stuttering Tom, soonreached the house in Washington street where Josephine and her motherhad taken up their residence. The guide was then rewarded and dismissed;the two adventurers ascended the steps, and one of them rang thedoor-bell.
A servant girl answered the summons, and in reply to their inquiriesinformed them that the ladies were both in the parlor.
'Show us up there,' said the Dead Man, in a commanding tone, as heconcealed his hideous face behind his upturned coat-collar. The girlobeyed, and having conducted them up a flight of stairs, ushered theminto an apartment where Josephine and her mother were seated, engagedthere in playing _ecarte_.
Their confusion and terror may easily be imagined, when turning to seewho their visitors were, their eyes rested upon the awful lineaments ofthe DEAD MAN!
'Your humble servant, ladies,' said the villain, with a triumphantlaugh--'you see you cannot hide from me, or escape me. Fair Josephine,you look truly charming--will you oblige me with a private interview?'
'It will be useless,' said Josephine coldly, as she recovered someportion of her composure--'we have no more money to give you.'
'You can give me something more acceptable than _money_,' rejoined theother, with a horrible leer--'at our last interview I told you what Ishould require at our next. Doctor, I leave you with the voluptuousmother, while I make court to the beautiful daughter.'
He grasped Josephine violently by the arm, and dragged her from theroom, forced her into an adjoining apartment, and thrust her brutallyupon a sofa, saying with a fearful oath--
'Dare to resist me, and I'll spoil your beauty, miss! Why do you act theprude with me--_you_, a shameless hussey, who has numbered more amoursthan years?'
'Odious ruffian!' exclaimed Josephine, no longer able to control herindignation--'I view you with contempt and loathing. Sooner than submitto your filthy embraces, I will dare exposure, and death itself! Thinknot to force me to a compliance with your wishes--I will resist youwhile life animates my frame. I fear you not, low villain that you are.'
The Dead Man raised his _iron hand_ as if to dash out her brains for hertemerity.--But he checked himself, and surveyed her with a sort of calmferocity, as he said--'Young lady, since you are determined to opposemy wishes, I will not force you. Neither will I kill you; yet myvengeance shall be more terrible than death. You are beautiful and youpride yourself upon that beauty--but I will deprive you of yourloveliness. You call me hideous--I will make you hideous as I am. Yourcheeks shall become ghastly, your complexion livid, and your brillianteyes shall become sightless orbs--for the curse of _blindness_ shall beadded to your other miseries. Obstinate girl, bid an eternal farewell toeyesight and beauty, for from this moment you are deprived of both,forever!'
He drew from his pocket a small phial, and with the quickness oflightning dashed
it in the face of the unfortunate Josephine. It wasshattered in a hundred pieces, and the contents--VITRIOL--ran in hereyes and down her face, burning her flesh in the most horrible manner.She shrieked with agony the most intense, and the Doctor rushed into theroom, followed by Mrs. Franklin. They both stood aghast when they beheldthe awful spectacle.
The Doctor was the first to recover his presence of mind; he rushed tothe aid of the burning wretch, and saved her life, though he could notrestore her lost eyesight, or remove the horrible disfigurement of herburned and scarred visage. Mrs. Franklin was so overcome at herdaughter's misfortune and sufferings that she fell upon the floorinsensible.
At that moment the door of the apartment was violently thrown open, anda young gentleman entered. The Dead Man and the Doctor turned, and inthe newcomer recognised Frank Sydney!
It will be necessary to explain the mystery of Frank's sudden appearanceat that emergency. A day or two after the suicide of Julia, the body ofthat wretched woman was picked up by some fisherman, and conveyed to thecity, where it was immediately recognized as the lady of Mr. Hedge. Thecircumstance of her death soon came to the knowledge of our hero; andwhile he could not help shedding a tear as he thought of her melancholyfate (she had once been his wife, and he had once loved her,) he couldnot deny to himself that he derived a secret joy from the thought, thatnow his hopes with reference to Sophia Franklin were not without somefoundation. Acting upon this impulse, he had taken the earliestopportunity to call upon the young lady; and at that interview, he hadwith his customary frankness, related to her his entire history, andconcluded his narrative by making her an offer of his hand andheart--and, reader, that honorable offer was accepted with the samefrankness with which it was made. On the evening in question, Frank wasenjoying one of those charming _tete-a-tetes_ with his Sophia, which alllovers find so delightful, when the agonizing screams of the sufferingJosephine brought him to the room, as we have seen, and he foundhimself, to his astonishment, standing face to face with the Dead Manand the Doctor.
'Why, blood and fury!' cried the former, a gleam of pleasure passingover his horrid features--'here is the very man of all men upon earth,whom I most desired to see. Sydney, you are welcome.'
'What damnable villainy have you been at now?' demanded Frank,recovering his courage and presence of mind, altho' he had reason tobelieve that he had fallen into the power of his worst enemy in theworld.
'What business is that of yours?' growled the Dead Man--'Suffice it foryou to know that my _next_ act of villainy will be your assassination.'
Our hero drew a revolver from his pocket, and levelled it at thevillain's head, saying--
'Advance but a step towards me, and you are a _dead man_indeed--Scoundrel! I am no longer a prisoner in your dungeon vaults, butfree, and able to protect myself against your brutal cruelty. Though youare aided by the Doctor, whom I once thought my friend, I fear you not,but dare you to do your worst.'
'You are brave, Sydney,' said the Dead Man, with something like a grimof admiration--'but I hate you, and you must die. From the first momentwhen I met you in the Dark Vaults, to the present time, I have observedsomething in you that inspires me with a kind of _fear_--a moralsuperiority over my malice and hatred that inflames me with jealousrage. Even when you were in my power, undergoing my trials and tortures,I have observed contempt upon your lip and scorn in your eye. I oncecalled you coward--but you are a man of doubtless courage, and by Satan!I have half a mind to shake hands with you and call you friend.'
During this harangue, Frank had unconsciously lowered his pistol, notsuspecting that the long speech was merely a ruse of the Dead Man tospring upon him unawares. While he stood in an attitude poorlycalculated for defence, the miscreant suddenly, with the quickness oflightning, sprang upon him, and with irresistible force hurled him tothe floor.
But our hero received an aid which was as unexpected as it was welcome;for the Doctor threw himself upon the Dead Man, grappled him by thethroat, and nearly strangled him. In vain the ruffian struggled--he wasin the grasp of an adversary too powerful and too intrepid to besuccessfully resisted by him. Panting and breathless, he was soonvanquished by his ancient enemy, who, having tied his arms behind himwith a strong cord, regarded him with a look of hatred and contempt.
'Why, Doctor, what means this?' demanded the villain, in astonishment athaving been so desperately attacked by one whom he had lately regardedas a friend.
'It means, d----n you,' coolly replied the other--'you have beendeceived and foiled. In deserting Mr. Sydney to join _your_ bloodystandard, I acted in accordance with a plan which I had formed to entrapand conquer you. I know that as long as I remained the professed friendof Mr. Sydney, you would view me with distrust and fear, andconsequently, that you would be always on the alert to guard against anyattempt of mine to wreak my vengeance on you. So I professed to becomeyour friend, and pretended to attach myself to your interest, knowingthat a good opportunity would thereby be afforded me to frustrate anyscheme you might form against the life or safety of Mr. Sydney. You seehow well I have succeeded; you are completely in my power, and byG----d, this night shall witness the termination of your bloody andinfamous career.'
'You surely will not murder me,' said the Dead Man, frightened by thedetermined tone and manner of a man whose vengeance he had reason todread.
'To take your accursed life will be no murder,' replied the Doctor--'youare a thousand times worse than a poisonous reptile or a beast of prey,and to kill you would be but an act of justice. Yet do not flatteryourself with the prospect of an easy and comparatively painless death;I have sworn that you shall die a death of lingering torture, and youwill see how well I'll keep my oath. My knowledge as a physician, andnatural ingenuity, have furnished me with a glorious method oftormenting you; and although you are a master in the art of torture, youwill see how far I have surpassed you.'
'You have, by serving me this trick, proved yourself to be both a liarand a traitor,' remarked the Dead Man, bitterly.
'Any means,' rejoined the Doctor, calmly--'are justifiable inoverthrowing such an infernal villain as you are; but I see the motiveof your sneer--you wish to enrage me, that I may stab you to the heartat once, and place you beyond the reach of protracted torment. You shallfail in this, for I am cool as ice. Before commencing operations uponyou, I must attend professionally to those ladies.'
Mrs. Franklin was easily recovered from her fainting fit;--and thesuffering Josephine received at the skillful hands of the Doctor everycare and attention which her lamentable case demanded. He pronounced herlife in no danger; but alas! her glorious beauty was gone forever--herface was horribly burnt and disfigured, and her brilliant eyes weredestroyed; she was stone blind!
Thus it is that the wicked are often the instruments of each other'spunishment in this world, as devils are said to torment each other inthe next.
The mother and daughter having been properly looked after, Frank Sydneytook the Doctor aside, and warmly thanked him for his timely andacceptable aid.
'You have proved yourself to be a true and faithful man,' said hegrasping his friend's hand--'and my unjust opinions in regard to youhave given place to the highest confidence in your integrity and honor.You have saved my life tonight, and not for the first time. I owe you adebt of gratitude; and from this moment we are sworn friends. You shallshare my fortune, and move in a sphere of respectability and worth.'
'Mr. Sydney,' said the Doctor, much affected--'do you remember thatnight I met you in the Park, and would have robbed you? I was thenmoneyless and starving. I will not now stop to relate how I becamereduced to such abject wretchedness, but I must do myself the justice tosay that my downfall was produced by the rascalities of others. Yourliberality to me upon that night was an evidence to my mind that theworld was not entirely heartless and unjust; and tho' I did notimmediately forsake the evil of my ways, yet your kindness softened me,and laid the foundation of my present reformation.--Noble young man, Iaccept the offer of your friendship with gratitude, but I
will not shareyour fortune. No--my ambition is, to build up a fortune of my own, bylaboring in my profession, in which I am skilled. By following a courseof strict honor and integrity, I may partially retrieve the errors of mypast life.'
'I cannot but commend your resolution,' remarked Frank--'but you mustnot refuse to accept from me such pecuniary aid as will be necessary toestablish you in a respectable and creditable manner.--But in regard tothis miscreant here; you actually intend to kill him by slow torture?'
'I do,' replied the Doctor, in a determined manner--'and my only regretis that I cannot protract his sufferings a year. Do not think mecold-blooded or cruel, my dear friend; that villain merits the worstdeath that man can inflict upon him. If we were to hand him over to thegrasp of the law, for his numerous crimes, his infernal ingenuity mightenable him to escape. Our only security lies in crushing the reptilewhile we have him in our trap.'
'I shall not interfere with you in your just punishment of the villain,'said our hero--'but I must decline being present. The enormous crimes hehad committed, and the wrongs which I have sustained at his hands, willnot allow me to say a single word in his behalf--yet I will not witnesshis torments.'
'I understand and respect your scruples; I being a physician, such aspectacle cannot affect my nerves.--You will please assist me to placethe _subject_ upon this table, and then you can retire.'
They raised the Dead Man from the floor, and placed him on a large tablewhich stood in the centre of the room. Frank then bade the Doctor atemporary farewell, and passing through the hall was about to leave thehouse, when a servant informed him that Miss Sophia Franklin wished tosee him. He joyfully obeyed the summons, and found the young lady indeep distress at the condition of her sister Josephine, and very anxiousfor an explanation of the terrible cause. Frank stated all he knew ofthe matter, and we leave him to the task of consoling her, while wewitness the operations of the Doctor upon his living _subject_.
In the first place, he tied the Dead Man down upon the table so firmly,that he could not move a hair's breadth. During this process, themiserable victim, losing all his customary bravado and savage insolence,begged hard to be killed at once, rather than undergo the torments whichhe dreaded. But the Doctor only laughed, and drew from his pocket a caseof surgical instruments; he then produced a small phial, which he heldclose to his victim's eyes, and bade him examine it narrowly.
'You see,' said he, 'this little phial?--it contains a slow poison ofpeculiar and fearful power. You shall judge of its effects yourselfpresently. I will infuse it into your blood, and it will cause yougreater agony than melted lead poured upon your heart.'
'For God's sake, Doctor,' cried the wretch,--'spare me _that_! I haveheard you tell of it before. Will nothing move you? Show me mercy, and Iwill reveal to you many valuable and astounding secrets, known only tome. I will tell you where, within twenty miles of Boston, I have buriedover twenty thousand dollars in gold and silver; I will myself lead youto the spot and you shall have it all--all! I will furnish you with alist of fashionable drinking houses in the city, where is sold liquorimpregnated with a slow but deadly poison, which in two years will bringon a lingering disease, generally thought to be consumption; thisdisease always terminates in death, and the whole matter is arranged byphysicians, who thus get a constant and extensive practice. I will takeyou to rooms where persons, under the name of 'secret societies,'privately meet to indulge in the most unnatural and beastlylicentiousness. I will prove to you, by ocular demonstration, that in_certain cities_ of the Union, not a letter passes through the postoffices, that is not broken open and read, and then re-sealed by apeculiar process--by which means much private information is gained bythe police, and the most tremendous secrets often leak out, to theastonishment of the parties concerned. I will communicate to you amethod by which the most virtuous and chaste woman can be made wild withdesire, and easily overcome. I will show you how to make a man drop deadin the street, without touching him, or using knife or pistol--and not amark will be found on his person. I will--'
'That'll do,' said the Doctor, dryly--'the matters you have mentionedare mostly no secrets to me; and if your object was to gain time anddissuade me from my purpose, you have signally failed. Villain! yourlong career of crime is now about to receive its reward. Prayers andentreaties shall not avail you; and to put an end to them, as well as toprevent you from yelling out in your agony--by which people would beattracted hither--I will take the liberty to _gag_ you.'
In forcing the jaws of the Dead Man widely apart, in order to accomplishthat purpose, the victim contrived to get one of his tormentor's fingersbetween his teeth, and it was nearly bitten off ere it could bedisengaged. This enraged the Doctor so that he was about to kill hisenemy instantly, but he checked himself; and having effectually gaggedhim, he prepared to commence the terrible ordeal.
Taking a lancet from the case, he made an incision in the subject'sright arm; then, in the wound, he poured a few drops of the contents ofthe phial. The effects were instantaneous and terrible; the poisonbecame infused in every vein of the sufferer's body, and his bloodseemed changed to liquid fire; he writhed in mighty agony--his heartleaped madly in his breast, in the intensity of his torment--his brainswam in a sea of fire--his eyes started from their sockets, and bloodoozed from every pore of his body.
These awful results were produced by a wonderful chemical preparation,known to but few, and first discovered in the days of the SpanishInquisition. It was then termed the 'Ordeal of Fire;' and the infernalvengeance of hell itself could not have produced torment more intense orprotracted; for though it racked every nerve and sinew in the body,filling the veins with a flood like molten lead, it was comparativelyslow in producing death, and kept the sufferer for several hourswrithing in all the tortures of the damned.
For two mortal hours the miserable wretch endured the torment; while theDoctor stood over him, viewing him with a fixed gaze and an unmovedheart. Then he removed the gag from the sufferer's mouth, and poured aglass of water down his throat, which temporarily assuaged his agony.
'Doctor,' gasped the dying wretch--'for God's sake stab me to the heart,and end my misery! I am in hell--I am floating in an ocean of fire--mymurdered victims are pouring rivers of blazing blood upon me--my soul isin flames--my _heart_ is RED HOT! Ah, kill me--kill me!'
The Doctor, after a moment's deliberation, again took an instrument fromhis case, and skillfully divided the flesh in the region of the abdomen,making an incision of considerable extent. He then produced a smallflask of gunpowder, in the neck of which he inserted a straw filled withthe same combustible; and in the end of the straw he fastened a smallslip of paper which he had previously prepared with saltpetre. Havingmade these arrangements, he placed the powder flask completely in thevictim's abdomen, leaving the slow match to project slightly from thewound. The Dead Man was perfectly conscious during this horribleprocess, notwithstanding he suffered the most excruciating pain.
'You are going to blow me to atoms, Doctor,' he with difficultyarticulated, as a ghastly smile spread over his hideous features--'Ithank you for it; although I hate and curse you in this my dying hour.Grant me a moment longer; if the spirits of the dead are allowed tore-visit the earth, _my_ spirit shall visit you! Ha, ha, ha! In a fewseconds, I shall be free from the power of your torture--free to followyou like a shadow through life, free to preside in ghastly horror overyour midnight slumbers and to breathe constantly in your ear,curses--curses--curses!'
'Miserable devil, your blood-polluted spirit will be too strongly boundto hell, to wander on earth,' said the Doctor, with a contempt notunmingled with pity. 'Farewell, thou man of many crimes; for the wrongsyou have done me, I forgive you, but human and divine justice havedemanded this sacrifice.'
He ignited a match, touched it to the paper at the end of the straw, andhastily retreated to the further extremities of the room.
It was an awful moment; slowly the paper burnt towards the straw--soslowly, that the victim of this awful sacrifice had time to
vent hisdying rage in malignant curses, on himself, his tormentor, and hisMaker! The straw is reached--the fire runs down to the powder flask witha low hiss--and then--
Awful was the explosion that followed; the wretch was torn into ahundred pieces; his limbs, his brains, his blood were scattered allabout. A portion of the mangled carcass struck the Doctor; the lamp wasbroken by the shock and darkness prevailed in the room.
The inmates of the house, frightened at the noise, rushed to the sceneof the catastrophe with lights. Frank Sydney, Sophia and Mrs. Franklin,as well as several other male and female domestics, entering theapartment, stood aghast at the shocking spectacle presented to theirgaze. There stood the Doctor, with folded arms and his face stained withblood; here an arm, here, a blackened mass of flesh; and here, the mosthorrible object of all, the mutilated and ghastly head, with the sameexpression of malignant hate upon its hideous features as when thoselivid lips had last uttered curses!
'The deed is done,' said the Doctor, addressing Sydney, with a grimsmile--'justice has its due at last, and the diabolical villain has goneto his final account. Summon some scavenger to collect the vile remains,and bury them in a dung-hill. To give them Christian, decent burialwould be treason to man, sacrilege to the Church, and impiety to God!'
Thus perished the 'Dead Man,' a villain so stupendous, so bloodthirstyand so desperate that it may well be doubted whether such a monster evercould have existed. But this diabolical character is not entirely drawnfrom the author's imagination; neither is it highly exaggerated;--forthe annals of crime will afford instances of villainy as deep and asmonstrous as any that characterized the career of the 'Dead Man' of ourtale. What, for example, can be more awful or incredible than thehideous deed of a noted criminal in France, who, having ensnared apeasant girl in a wood, brutally murdered her, then outraged the corpse,and afterwards _ate a part of it_? Yet no one will presume to doubt thefact, as it forms a portion of the French criminal records. Humanityshudders at such instances of worse than devilish depravity.
Moreover, to show that we have indulged in no improbabilities inportraying the chief villain of our tale, we assert that a personbearing that name and the same disfigurement of countenance, _reallyexisted_ not two years ago. He was renowned for his many crimes, and wasmurdered by a former accomplice, in a manner not dissimilar to the deathwe have assigned to him in the story.
But we turn from a contemplation of such villains, to pursue a differentand somewhat more agreeable channel.