The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIV, Issue 1, 4 January 1917, Page 3

The Storyteller

By Anna T. Sadlieb.

PHILEAS FOX, ATTORNEY

[By Arrangement with the Ave Maria.] r * Y ; > : ;';••--'' ; ' * , (Continued.) - ' -~ s'ii-v "'ss££fi ■ ■ XII:;/ % ,'j v -^ ■:r ji^> The next afternoon a notice appeared above that newly-varnished sign on the office door, to the effect that Mr. Fox had left town on professional business. The lawyer was thus forced to interrupt, for those few hours at least, that stream of petty affairs which had begun to flow . into his office; but he consoled .'himself with the reflection that Saturday afternoon, especially in summer, was usually a slack time, and that the notice above mentioned would 'really serve as an advertisement. " - - ; Solacing himself with these reflections, Phileas took a train, which bore him to a solitary way station far up in Westchester County. He left the city, with its noise and dust, behind him; and journeyed on, past the Harlem River, with its great bridge swinging lazily open to permit the passage of a boat, and its shores dotted with small houses or occasionally with the tall chimney-stacks of a factory. The motion of the train was restful after the fret and fever of the scenes whence he had escaped; and he was almost sorry when that short journey was over, and he had to alight at a station without the smallest claim to architectural or any other beauty. Rude wooden benches, within and without, constituted' the only furniture, save for an equally primitive desk occupying a corner. There was likewise a station-master, who seemed principally busy in coming in at one door and going out at the other. Phileas contrived to engage this man in conversation, discovered from him a small inn where he might put up for a day or two, and made, moreover, a few cautious inquiries as to the house he had come to see. There ain't none such as you describe, that's occupied,' declared the agent, who was taciturn; nor could he be moved from this declaration. Phileas, therefore, taking his suit case, accepted the services of a single vehicle, which stood forlornly waiting the chance of wayfarers. And in this he was rattled and jolted speedily to the small country hotel which must be his temporary abode. Here he made inquiries which were still more cautious, as he feared the place might be the headquarters and centre of gossip; but could learn nothing in particular. After his repast, which" consisted of bacon, eggs, radishes, and fried eggplant, lie set forth on a preliminary voyage of discovery. He walked up a broad but lonely highway, showing on either ; side ravines, tree-clothed and verdant. The faint, aromatic smell of the woods came borne on the night breeze that waved .the tops of the trees. A bird or two still sounded a note, breaking the silence harmoniously; a star glittered in the west the star beloved of lovers,' —and presently a myriad more came shimmering into view in the bright disc of the firmament. ' . Phileas lit a cigar, so often the solace of darkness and loneliness ; and, after a brisk walk of some moments, discovered a house which must necessarily be that of which he was in search, since no other of its kind was anywhere in evidence. He paused before the low wooden gate, concealing himself, lest any eyes were observing him, in the shadow of a tree which bent downward almost to the ground. 'But the windows were,., one and all, blank pages,— invisible in the complete obscurity which enwrapped the place. Not a twirikle of light, not a sound nor movement , of any sort to indicate ; human presence. He tried I the gate: it yielded, but with a certain stiffness, as though its joints were unused to exercise and, passing in, he

i stood gazing, up at the house.: As. well as he could determine through; the gloom, it ; was long and; low, with ;; no particular pretensions of any sort Its wide verandah was} elevated very • little above the grass-grown lawn, which "at/the/ rear stretched down ward;- as he presently discovered, ;. through f a series of : natural terraces - to the v; ■ •banks of Long Island Sound. It was a weird, ghostly place; and, though Phileas . ■■■■■■--, was; as ! untroubled by fear as any young man of -power//j:ful frame and athletic training could very well be, he was : acutely .conscious of the eeriness of the atmosphere. J He walked slowly around the verandah, striving to peer ,: ..-.': in through each long French window that reached to j the very floor. All was impenetrable blackness. With ,J a sigh, he gave up the attempt to make any further V\. discovery ,that night, and strode home to the hotel, ' ..marvelling whether the mysterious lodger, John Vorst, j if it should chance to be he, or any other person, could , -be at such pains to conceal the remotest trace of his f.., presence. • ' . . . ! - v ' Next day being Sunday, Phileas left word that he | should be called early in the morning, for 8 o'clock Mass i ;at the Catholic church, which, as he was informed, -was distant half a mile or more from his hostelry. After Mass, he called at the modest rectory; but the - pastor was absent, his place being taken by a stranger. The latter received Phileas cordially, but he could give him little or no information as to the district or its inhabitants.- The young man turned away in dis- ; -.appointment. That was . another hope dashed to the •ground. Carefully as he had scanned the faces of the ?congregation, there-was not one who, by any possibility, • ....-.' could have answered to the description of the missing defendant. ,\ •- ■:" He inquired if there was to be another Mass, and • ,'.:.. was told that there was not, as the 'officiating priest /had to sing High Mass farther up the line. Phileas was for a moment oppressed by a discouraging sense of failure. From Mrs. Wilson's account of the man Z who had been her husband, it was evident that he was a practical and even devout Catholic; so it was certain that if he were in the vicinity he would not be absent from Mass on Sunday,—unless, indeed (and Phileas brightened at the suggestion), that he might be ill or incapacitated from attending church at so considerable :,.,., a distance from his house. Fortified by this hope, Phileas enjoyed a plain but excellent breakfast, to which the morning air lent a particular relish; after which he sallied forth once more in the direction of the apparently deserted dwelling. I'm As he really saw it first.that Sunday morning, with the • i r charm of the Sabbath sunshine over all, he literally fell in love with the place, and applauded John Vorst, .or whoever might be its tenant, for his superlative taste in the choice of a residence. Old rather than new, shabby-rather than elegant, it nestled like a .bower in those exquisite surroundings,a lawn that was far from well kept, a flower-garden that had run riot, -Below whicli, down through refreshing masses of greenness, lay the Sound, blue and clear as the sky overhead, flowing placidly upon its way, with delightful ripples and gurgles. It was a paradisal spot, with ambrosial -j airs, and the checkerwork of light, radiant, multiform, through 'the incommunicable trees,-' and the murmur:>ings as of peace and content amongst their branches;* -, a spot that should be essentially for love and happiness ; . f ' a place, thought Phileas, paraphrasing the poet, which should be possessed only by the ' loving and the loved.' '■'."',-■ ■•.-/.-'-,- : , The young man made a leisurely-but very thorough tour of inspection about the house. He looked in --■■' through the slatted blinds of the long French windows, * .*; and beheld low-ceilinged but cheerful and spacious apartments, papered in quaint, flowered patterns, and / • with furniture grimly immovable against the walls. Pie tried the i doors; he strove to undo the blinds ;. : and at last he rang ;t he bell, which, reverberated : with . the /: hollow mockery of a sound through the vacant rooms; and up the stairs : (though it was evident that; no feet •..■■■ ascended or descended them), and along halls inhabited" pnly by the • memory \ of the departed tenants. * : The

summons, though ; 7 ; several times repeated, seemed as . futile as the * agonised ~ appeals - made" by' sorrowing survivors, to those who have .passed beyond the. soundless bourne.. If John Yorst or" any other human: being were there, he was in hiding with a vengeance. -^ So Phileas reflected'/though he felt morally- certain *•-,-that there was no .one within those four walls. _ Solitude had set its unmistakable seal upon that domicile. ; " :: For a human presence ; always ,makes itself. felt, even if ' it be in some intangible fashion; and the impalpable < loneliness of - its absence -is curiously perceptible even to the least impressionable. Therefore, a deserted" dwelling in a rural district becomes almost invariably . a haunted dwelling. "■;. •' - - ■ ' ' ;Phileas threw himself upon. a bench "on ,the back verandah, and gave himself up to a delicious laziness, through which floated : a variety of thoughts. , And those thoughts included, amongst many others, r a pleasant memory of that girl who had so far lightened by her cheerful personality the somewhat ; dreary windings of the case of Spooner vs. Vorst. : He felt a ' sudden, keen longing for her society. How delightful •it would be if she were to. appear! And how she ; would enjoy the mystery and the loneliness of this place, with the loveliness of its situation! The young/man realised with a new thrill of interest that in that eager, • animated nature he could ./find a fresh stimulus, and - how powerful might be its help in unravelling : the windj ings of that mystery through which he had to find his way alone. Feminine intuition has .solved many a difficulty, gained the key to many an enigma v If ' only he could have taken Isabel into his confidence He smiled at the notion ; and smiled, too, over his cigar " at various little witticisms or quaint observations of 'V > hers that had stuck in his memory. She was so charming, he thought,—so perfectly, companionable! there was her special attraction. •ji T^t S smokin £> and thus pondering pleasantly and idly, Phileas now and again saw pass a boat heavily laden with passengers going up the Sound. Its splash- l ing and its sputtering"alone broke the silence. At intervals catboats scudded along with gleaming sails of white spread to catch the breeze blowing briskly from the west. Smaller craft,. with energetic rowers, flew over the surface of the stream ; and cheerful voices - floated; up to the idler on the bench, breaking in upon his reverie. It was very shortly after the passage of the largest boat of all, bearing passengers to New Lon"don, Norwich, or other Connecticut ports, that, as if evoked by its whistle and its huge bulk outlined against the sky, a figure suddenly became discernible behind: a clump of trees and Phileas presently heard a heavystep crunching the dry leaves, relics of a past autumn, / that had been suffered to accumulate. (To be continued.)