USA > California > A picture of pioneer times in California, illustrated with anecdotes and stores taken from real life > Part 56
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As soon as they reached home, they found dinner ready, and enjoyed it with good appetites, feeling well satisfied with their morning's work. After dinner, Walter left to keep an appoint- ment with John A. McGlynn, who was yet his warm friend, and was actively at work for him in efforts to get him once more in business. As he was leaving, he kissed Minnie, and said: " I am sorry, darling Minnie, that you are to be troubled with Ward; but I think he will try to act the gentleman and not press his suit after he finds it disagreeable to you."
Minnie remained sitting for a moment after Walter walked out; but, suddenly, a lonesome, almost frightened feeling came upon her, and she started up to recall Walter, and ask him not to go until after Ward had paid his announced visit; but, on reaching the street, Walter was nowhere to be seen. So, re- turning, she went into the kitchen and told Jane that she ex- pected a visitor she did not like that afternoon, and that while he was in the sitting-room, not to be far out of the way. Jane promised, so Minnie tried to compose herself as well as she could to go through the ordeal before her.
She had not long to wait. The bell rang, and Jane went to the door, and showed Captain Ward into the sitting-room. Up to this time Minnie had been shrinking and almost trembling in anticipation of the visit; but, now that she was called on to speak and to act, her true womanhood of character seemed to
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come to her at once. She was instantly calm, dignified and self- possessed, as much so as she ever was in her whole life. She entered the room, and Ward arose, saying, as he reached out his hand:
" Oh, Miss Minnie, I am so glad to see you."
His voice was low and soft, and Minnie thought it trembled a little.
" Thank you, Captain," was her only reply, and they both sat down.
Ward tried to enter into conversation on indifferent subjects, and Minnie did all she could to help him to do so, in a half-hope of leading him away from his intention as announced to Walter. After a few minutes of this sort of effort, Ward turned to Min- nie, and suddenly said:
" Miss Minnie, I came to see you to-day, with your brother's consent, to speak to you on a subject that is life or death to me."
He paused, and breathed hard. Minnie promptly said:
" Captain Ward, I would be sorry to believe that the result of any conversation with me would be of much consequence to you one way or the other."
" Then Miss Minnie, you are totally mistaken, for I will be perfectly candid with you, and tell you what I had hoped you already knew; that I love you with the fiercest passion. You have a power over me no other woman ever had. Yes, Miss Minnie; our fates are linked together. Yes," said he, moving close to her, while his large, dark eyes fell on hers; " I feel it in my whole system; my fate is your fate. Yes, Miss Minnie; I loved you before I saw you. I now love you as no mortal man ever loved woman before. There is a mystery in it I do not pretend to understand."
Minnie's eyes never flinched under his terrible gaze, and he continued :
"Oh, yes, Miss Minnie; our fates are linked together. You cannot live and reject me; I cannot live and be rejected by you. I have property in other lands, and gold and diamonds, all to place at your feet. I will swear to be your slave for life. I will humble myself to the dust, if you but reach out your hand and save me from the fate that is sure to befall me if you reject mne."
Minnie now, in a proud, almost commanding, voice, and with her eyes yet fixed on his with unfaltering steadiness, said:
" Captain Ward, save such extravagant talk for those wlio 39
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would be pleased to hear it. Your language, sir, is offensive to me, as it would be to any woman of common sense. Your fate is not linked to mine, nor mine to yours, thank God! I have never given you any encouragement, Captain Ward, that would authorize you to make those protestations to me, and I therefore hope that you will not renew them in any manner whatever; for they can result in nothing that is agreeable to either of us."
Ward's eyes now sank away from hers, as in a low voice he said :
" I implore you not to scorn my love. It is wild and passion- ate; it is deep and fervent; and what I say is true, that my fate is linked to your life-yes, the lives of us both, as I see it, hangs on your answer."
" Captain Ward, I again beg of you to desist from addressing me in that sort of language, or in any language on this subject. I have always tried to show you by my manner that I had no feeling orinterest in common with you, and you should have spared me the necessity of being so plain with you."
"Oh, you were always cold; but the colder you were the fiercer I became in my love. Yes; while you were cold, I was on fire. I will ask you now, Miss Minnie, in a respectful manner, the di- rect question, and beware how you answer me: Will you be my wife, Miss Minnie Wagner?"
" Never, while a sense of understanding, or life, remains."
" And that is your unalterable answer ?" said Ward, rising to his feet, while the tone of his voice changed from the humble, suing lover's to haughty boldness.
"Yes, sir; my answer now, and forever more."
"Then I have to tell you, haughty Miss Minnie, that within two days you will change your haughty answer, or see your brother ignominiously condemned to State Prison for forgery."
" Ah," said Minnie, "then you are his accuser; I always thought so."
" No, I am not; but Brown and another friend of mine de- sire me to say to you that, unless you marry me within the next two days, they will bring the matter before the authorities, and then there will be no escape for him."
" Leave my presence, instantly, shameless villain !" said Min- nie, rising to her feet, and confronting Ward with as bold a mien as though armed with physical strength and weapons that would command his obedience.
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Ward looked at her a moment, as if uncertain what to do, then said :
" I give you one more chance to relent, and then, if you do not do so, it is not love that will pursue you any more."
And as he said this, he stepped forward so as to bring his face close to her, while his eyes gleamed like a wolf's about to spring on its prey; his lips shrank back from his large, white teeth, while he hissed into her ear the last part of the sentence:
" No; it is not love any more. You have scorned that; but hate -the deadliest that ever prompted to blood or vengeance-that will now be on your track !"
Minnie, undaunted, looked more than her full height as she said:
" Coward, to threaten a woman! God is my shield, and I fear you not!"
" Oh, we will see ; we will see. I tell you that you will crouch at my feet, and beg to be my wife, before you are two days older. Good-night, proud girl; we will soon meet again, and then-and then, my time comes to hear you cry for mercy."
As he said the last words, he rushed from the house. Minnie walked after him with a firm step, she knew not why, exactly, and locked the door. As she returned, she met Jane coming into the sitting-room with a frightened look.
" Oh, Jane," she said, " come and sit near me. I am trembling all over. That terrible man, or fiend, or whatever he is, has frightened me out of my senses! Oh! if you had seen him, Jane, when I rejected his offer. Oh, he looked like anything but a man!"
As Minnie spoke, she held Jane tightly by the arm, and, as they sat together, rested her head on her shoulder.
" Say some prayers, Miss Minnie, and you will get over it. Sure, that never fails me, and a poor girl, the likes of me, has often nothing else to comfort her, and God always somehow takes care of her."
Now both were silent, and then Minnie's lips moved in obedience to Jane's suggestion, and tears stole down her cheeks. As Jane had predicted, courage had come back to Minnie, and, as she sat up and wiped her eyes, she said:
" Did you hear what passed, Jane ?"
" Only the last part of it, Miss. As I came into the little entry I heard you say, so brave like, that you defied him, and
.
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depended on God; and then I heard him threaten you so terri- bly, and almost defy God; and, if he had not gone away, I was just coming in to stand by you; and I had the big butcher-knife in my hand all ready, but God only knows if I could have used it, if he was to come at us."
Minnie shuddered, as she said:
" Thank you, Jane; you are a brave girl."
Now they both grew calm, and Jane resumed her work, pre- paring the evening meal, and Minnie busied herself in doing up some housework she had left undone in her hurry in the morning. She was startled, while thus engaged, by hearing a heavy, excited step on the front porch; the door flew open, and Walter stood before her, with an expression of excitement in his face she had never seen there in her life before. It was an ex- pression of the fiercest and most uncontrolled anger.
CHAPTER XXIII.
WALTER AND WARD-CAUGHT IN A TRAP.
When Walter left Minnie to go to see John McGlynn, he was calmer in his mind than he had been at any time since the dis- covery of the matter of the forgery. He found John in accord- ance with the appointment, and had a long, friendly talk with him. He found him so willing to take an interest in his welfare that he at length said:
" I have made up my mind, Mr. McGlynn, to disclose to you the real cause of my present position, as I believe you will have faith in my truth, and, perhaps, you can the better help me when you know all; and then I begin to doubt men I have here- tofore believed in without a shadow of a doubt. I have believed in them against my sister's judgment, and against the judgment of other friends. I would like to have your views in a confiden- tial way."
" Well, Walter, you must be your own judge. Two heads are better, the saying is, than one, even if one is a sheep's head."
Then Walter gave John a full account of the robbery, the note indorsed by forgery and all, and about Father Maginnis getting Captain Fitzgerald to agree to take up the note. John said:
" Does that fellow, Ward, want your sister, Walter ?"
" Yes; he is furiously attached to her, and got my consent to ask her to-day. I gave it, as I thought it the best way of end- ing the matter."
" What view does your sister take of Ward ?"
" Oh, she cannot endure the sight of him."
" Well," said John, " I think the whole thing is very clear. This fellow Ward and his friend Brown are two confidence villains, working into each other's hands. I have seen them both, and there is nothing honest about either of them; they are both from Sydney, and the chances are that they are escaped convicts. They have all your money, and they now want your
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sister. This is the view I take of it, Walter, and, though I may be mistaken, it will do you no harm to take my theory of the situation as the true one, and keep a sharp lookout for your sister's safety."
" My God!" exclaimed Walter, " if you are right, Mr. Mc- Glynn, I never should have given my consent to Ward's making a proposal to Minnie!"
" Oh, as to that, perhaps it was best that she should herself give him his dismissal."
" Well," said Walter, " I will at once go and throw myself in the way of those fellows, and see what I can make out of them."
" Yes, do," said John; "and be sure and keep cool. It is your only chance of discovering their plots and plans. I will call to-morrow afternoon at your house, if you wish, and we will compare notes, and may be we can trap the rascals in some way yet. Anyway, I will try and help you work the case up; and I am glad you told me all, for I think I see daylight for you not far ahead."
As Walter walked along Montgomery street, intending to go to the Oriental Hotel, he reflected on all the incidents of the robbery, and of his whole connection with Ward, from the first day he met him in Downieville, and light seemed to dawn on many heretofore unaccountable circumstances, and the convic- tion forced itself on his mind that McGlynn was right in his theory of the whole thing. Just as he came to this conclusion, he looked up, and there stood Ward, directly in front of him, apparently waiting for his approach. Walter's brow knit into almost a frown in spite of himself, as he acknowledged Ward's salute.
" Wagner," said Ward, " I would like to see you in my room. Have you any objection to coming with me ?"
" None," said Walter, in a more formal manner than he had ever used when speaking to Ward before. And, without utter- ing further words, they walked down Bush street, and were soon in Ward's handsome room, at the Oriental Hotel. Ward threw himself into an easy chair, and pointed out a seat to Walter, saying :
" Please be seated, for I have an important communication to make to you."
Walter took the seat Ward indicated, without saying a word; but his eyes were fixed on Ward with almost sternness. Ward avoided Walter's look, as he commenced :
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" Friend Walter, you may observe that I am a little excited; and, perhaps, you think it is because your sister has just scorned the love and devotion I laid at her feet; as, of course, she did this with your full knowledge that she was to do it, and, I sup- pose, your approval."
This sort of a way of opening the conversation was offensive to Walter, and seemed to arouse him; for he now sat erect, and looked full in Ward's face, with an angry expression, as he said:
" Go on, sir."
Ward, still averting his look from him, continued :
" I was saying, Wagner, that you might suppose it was because of this contemptuous treatment I was excited; but you are mis- taken, if you think so. I am excited entirely on your account, as you shall hear; though, by your manner and look, I see very little friendship for me on your part this morning; but never mind, I will act the friend to you, if you will let me, in this great difficulty you are in."
" I do not understand, Captain, what you are driving at. Please be explicit, and you will find me no less so."
" Oh, you do not understand me, Mr. Walter Wagner," said Ward, rising from his seat, and commencing to pace up and down the room, while his voice grew bitter and contemptuous in its tone. " You do not understand, sir, that in the eyes of the law you are a forger, sir, and that if I-yes, I-do not reach out my hand to help you, you will very soon wear the uniform of San Quentin. Do you understand that, Mr. Walter Wagner ? Say 'Yes' or 'No!'"
Walter was held silent by a rushing tide of passion that al- most blinded him, and Ward went on:
" Oh, that is a new light to you, is it? Well, I have to tell you plainly that Brown, and Jack Lawson, the first mate of my vessel, both know of your unfortunate position, and they both declare that in the State Prison you shall go, or perhaps to the merciful protection of the Vigilance Committee, with Sam Bran- nan at its head, if your sister Minnie does not marry me to- morrow-yes, to-morrow."
And now as Ward said this, he seemed to lose all control of himself, and ran on, in a sort of wild fury, never once looking towards Walter, whose cyes he could not summon courage to meet, and Walter yet listened in silent fury as Ward continued:
" Yes ; and as I have gone so far, I will say to you that I have
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another hold, you do not know of, over your sister, or will have it soon; and I tell you she may as well marry me like an honest girl, for if she does not, before two days she shall flutter at my feet and beg for marriage."
Just as these last words came from Ward's lips, his eye caught the sight of Walter reaching for a bowie-knife that hung in a belt on the wall, and his ear caught a sound coming from Wal- ter like the stifled yell of a man in a fit. The truth flashed on him in an instant, and, without a look towards Walter, he made one bound for the door, and cleared it, just as the knife in Walter's hand passed close to his back, and was broken in the panel of the door, as it lay back against the wall. In two bounds more Ward cleared the long flight of stairs, with Wal- ter just one bound behind him, with the broken knife yet in his hand. As quick as a flash, Ward brought the outside door to, and turned the key in the lock. The lock was a large-sized one, and at first resisted Walter's terrible wrench, but yielded to his second furious effort, and he leaped on the street in front of the hotel, but Ward was nowhere in sight. As Walter looked all around, he said, half-aloud : " Oh, you miserable fiend, you shall not escape me in this way! I will go home and see that my dear, darling Minnie is all safe; then I will get my own re- volver and bowie-knife, and this wretch shall not live another day to repeat this vile language in regard to my angel sister!"
So on he almost ran, until he reached his cottage, when he threw open the door and stood before Minnie, almost insane with the passion of revenge. Minnie stood before him, calm; but she turned deadly pale as she observed the fearful excite- ment of Walter's look and manner.
" Oh, thank God, you are safe, my darling!" he exclaimed, as he threw his arms around her. Kissing her forehead and then both her cheeks, he continued:
" Oh, yes, you are safe; and you shall remain so, Minnie dar- ling; so do not be afraid, and look so pale. Oh, he shall pay for what he said! Yes; dared to say to me of you, Minnie! I will not tell you, Minnie, what he said. No, no; for the wretch is to pay for it with his life! Yes, Minnie, with his life! This very night shall shut down on his dead body, and this is the hand!" Here he raised his right arm and shook it with a fierce gesture, while the other was yet around Minnie's waist. " Yes, Min- nie; there is the arm that shall avenge the insult! I care not
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that he has proved a robber, a thief, or that vile thing-a false friend! No; I care not for all that; but he has dared to threaten you with a vile threat, darling sister; so, for this, he is to die to- night! Yes; and no other man shall dare to rob me of the pleasure of putting the vile thing that he is out of the world! So, darling Minnie, do not be afraid any more. I will soon be back, for it will not take me long to find the wretch!"
As he spoke, he withdrew his arm from Minnie, and, walking to where his belt, with knife and revolver, hung, he took them down and buckled them on his waist.
While Walter was addressing Minnie in this wild manner, she held his arm grasped tightly with both hands. She still held it as he armed himself, while trembling in every limb. Now, with quivering lips, she exclaimed:
" Walter, my darling brother, what can all this mean ? Do not, I beseech you, Walter, harbor such terrible feelings of re- venge. If this man has made a vile threat, do not let that turn you into a revengeful murderer. Let him go; we will both in the future avoid him, and God will save us from his threats, as sure as there is light at noonday."
" Oh, Minnie, do not talk to me in that way. You are often right; but you cannot, as a woman, understand this case. Oh, no, Minnie ; oh, no, he has dared to insult my darling pet." And here again he threw his arm around her, and, looking down on her with the tenderest, compassionate love, as he continued: " Yes; he has insulted my darling, sweet sister, that all her life has stood close to me in every trouble, whether as a boy at school or a man in the worid, always sacrificing herself for me! But I will avenge the insult dearly, as it is my duty to do! Yes, Min- nie; my duty!" And now Walter's words were slow and distinct, and in a low tone, he continued: "I will strike this wretch down on sight, like the wolf that he is. I will then cut his false, vile heart from his body, and throw it to some dog to devour, and then I will kill the brute that holds a thing so vile!"
Minnie was now terribly alarmed for the state of Walter's mind, and, summoning all the powers of her noble womanhood to aid her in the struggle she saw before her, she turned to her brother, and standing erect, laid a hand on each of his shoulders, as she exclaimed in a voice of the sweetest entreaty, and yet of decision and firmness:
" Walter, my darling brother, calm yourself; calm yourself,
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my darling brother. Do not for a moment harbor in your breast those murderous intentions. I tell you, my brother, it is the arcli fiend himself who is urging you on to your own and my destruction."
Walter shrank from his sister's look, and, turning away, he said:
"Your destruction, Minnie! Your destruction! Oh, Minnie! how can you speak so ? What do I care for myself in compari- son to my love for you ? Your safety and your honor have been threatened, Minnie; and reproach me not that, in defiance of all the world, I go to strike down the man who has dared to make the threat!"
Poor Minnie! this day had tested the strength of every nerve in her system, and every faculty of her mind, and well had they stood it up to this point. As Walter now turned away with words of half-reproach, her arms suddenly started out to him; but she could not move, and an expression of almost agony ap- peared on her face as she struggled for words. Walter marked the silence, and, turning, raised his eyes; then his arms were out- stretched, too, and, for an instant of time, each, with quivering lips, gazed in the other's face; then, a wild cry from poor Min- nie, and they are locked in each other's arms.
" Oh, darling brother," Minnie exclaimed, in a voice choked with sobbing and hysterical weeping, "you will not leave your poor Minnie to do this terrible act which God forbids! No, no; you will not leave her all alone here in California to be pointed at in shame, and with no power to defend her darling Wal- ter's good name. Father gave me to you; mother sent me to you! Oh, Walter, will you blacken our honored name, and leave your darling Minnie, that could not live without your love, to wither and die in shame ?"
While Walter struggled for a voice to answer, Minnie's form became heavy in his arms; her hands dropped from around his neck, her head fell back, and she was still, lifeless, and as white as if dead.
" Great Heavens!" he exclaimed, " I have killed her! Oh, merciful God, forgive me, forgive me! and, oh, save my sister, and I will with humility bear the insults of the whole world!"
And, as he spoke and prayed, he laid her on the sofa, and called loudly for Jane. Rushing in, Jane loosened Minnie's dress, and did all that was possible to restore her, while Walter
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knelt, praying for forgiveness and mercy. Minnie's faint was heavy and long, but at length her color began to come back.
" All is right, Mr. Wagner," said the girl; " she is coming to nicely."
Then Walter poured out his thanks to the Giver of all good, and renewed the promises he made while in the agony of his fright. He seated himself near Minnie, took her hand in his, and, kissing it, retained it. Minnie opened her eyes, and sadly smiled as she looked at her brother; then she shut them again, and remained some minutes perfectly quiet. Again she opened her eyes and said :
" I fear I frightened you, poor Walter. I recollect now what happened. What a weak thing I was to give way; but it came on me so suddenly."
Walter's whole manner was changed, as he said:
"Minnie, it was not half so strange as the tit I had on me; but it is all over, thank God! I see now clearly what a blind, furious passion I had been plunged into by the sudden discovery of that man's villainy, and of his terrible language about you; but, as always, you saved me, Minnie. Yes; saved us both. I believe I could now meet that wretch of a man with perfect. com- posure."
Minnie, without speaking, reached out her arm, and, slipping it gently around her brother's neck, drew him down to her, and fondly kissed him. Now, as Minnie remained cuddled up on the . sofa, Walter retained his seat near her, and they talked over their position, and Walter repeated his interview with John Mc- Glynn, which very much pleased Minnie. He then told, iu a calm, quiet way, all that had passed with Ward, and they both wondered what Ward could have meant by saying that he would soon have another hold over Minnie.
" Oh," said Walter, " I think it is but an idle boast. How- ever, be careful, Minnie, and do not go out alone until we get the fellow completely exposed."
" I think you are right, Walter; for, you know, he threatened me in much the same manner before he saw you. But, with good John McGlynn's help, I think we will be able to expose him. And do you know, Walter, that Isaac Hilton and I always believed that it was Ward who instigated that man to try to murder James De Forest ?" And Minnie shuddered as she spoke.
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Walter remained in thought for some minutes, and then said: " I can now believe anything of him, and the more I look back the more light seems to come to me. I recollect, too, that one day I strolled into Ward's room, and was surprised at seeing, written across a paper folded like a bill of items, the name " John Ward Cameron Lusk.' I recollect the name well, on ac- count of ' Lusk' being a part of it. Ward saw that I read the indorsement, and, taking up the paper, whatever it was, said: ' I was trying my pen with all the odd names I could string to- gether, and the last I thought of, as you see, is the name of De Forest's enemy. He ought to be in port soon, and arrange- ments are made to nab him the moment his vessel arrives.' Then he went to the stove, and threw the paper into the fire. So, at the time, I thought nothing more about it; but now it is a circumstance to strengthen Hilton's and your suspicions, and I will draw McGlynn's attention to it to-morrow."
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