USA > California > A picture of pioneer times in California, illustrated with anecdotes and stores taken from real life > Part 58
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" Yes ; he may only be trying me, and all may go right yet, as father says. Oh! merciful God, grant it !"
Poor Lizzie little knew that she prayed to be allowed to share a merciless pirate's life. A fate a thousand and a thousand times worse than the worst of deaths. As she continued to walk, she thought aloud:
" I will be calm, and give him no excuse. I will coax, will beg; and if he but openly acknowledges me his wife, I will not care what comes then. I am so glad that father came. Now that he knows all, I feel so much better. And I have wished him good-bye, too, if anything should happen. Oh, yes; I feel so much better!"
The night was now well advanced, and Lizzie, after her usual devotions, retired to her bed. For long hours she slept a deep, heavy sleep, as one does whose mind has been overtaxed with some absorbing grief or trouble. When she awoke, it was one of San Francisco's pleasantest days. The sun shone brightly into her little bedroom and parlor. A moment's thought recalled to her mind everything; the terrible struggle before her and all. But now her true English courage was in her heart to face it, and, when she appeared at the breakfast table, she seemed to Miss Scott, and to all, just the same as usual. After breakfast she returned to her room, and made herself busy in putting every- thing in the neatest order. She then took uncommon care in making her toilet, evidently anxious to look her very best. When all was completed, the hour for Ward's promised visit was at hand. Sometimes her hands and feet were icy cold; sometimes they seemed all on fire. She is resolved to be calm, and now
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stands leaning against the window, gazing into the street, lost in thought. She starts at every passing footfall on the wooden sidewalk. At last she hears the step she is listening for. It stops, and, as the bell rings, she trembles, and is as pale as death; then flushed to scarlet ; then she becomes unnaturally calm. Miss Scott opened the door herself, and Lizzie hears her say :
" Oh, Captain, how do you do ? I am so glad you have come, for your friend, Miss Lawson, is expecting to see you."
" Oh, she is, eh ! Well, I came to see her, because I am about to be absent from the city for awhile; so I wanted to say good- bye."
Miss Scott was about to open on him, and give him a little of her mind in regard to his treatment of Lizzie; but, on a second thought, she determined not to do so, but to leave him to the lady herself. So she just said:
" You will find her in her own parlor, Captain."
Captain Ward stepped to the door, and knocked. It was at once opened, and Miss Scott heard Lizzie's cordial reception of her visitor, while he seemed to treat her in a careless, cavalier manner.
" I will just go to my own room," said Miss Scott to herself; "and then I can hear all that passes between them, as the partition is only cotton cloth. I know it is not right to listen in this way, but in this case I am excusable; for, God knows, all I want is to help this poor girl out of a terrible position, and I must know how that rascal treats her; for I am myself going to expose him to her father, if he does not do what is right, for she will not have the courage to do it, I am afraid."
If a good motive could excuse Miss Scott for eavesdropping, she undoubtedly had one, and was actuated by no other.
" Well, Lizzie, my girl, how do you get on these times ?" said Ward, throwing himself into a rocking-chair.
" Oh, first-rate, Captain ; except that I have been very lone- some at times. I am always so, when you stop away so long, Captain."
" Olı, you flatter me, Lizzie. But Lizzie, by Jove, you look first-rate. Do you know that you have grown handsomer than ever ?"
" I am glad you think so, Captain; for you are the only one in the world I care to look handsome to."
" None of that soft solder, Lizzie ; for I came to tell you that I am going away for awhile."
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" To sea ?" said Lizzie, anxiously.
" Yes, to sea; and for a good, long time, too, I rather think.",
" Do my father and brothers go with you ?" said Lizzie, in a quick, excited voice.
" Yes ; of course they do !"
" Oh, well, you will take me with you, too, because father told me you would ask me to go, and said I must go ; and of course I will go."
" Oh, no, Lizzie, my girl, of course you will do nothing of the sort. Your old father knows nothing about it."
" Why! I told father that we were engaged to be married, and he was very glad, and said it was all right, and that he supposed you would have the ceremony performed the day we sailed; and he and the boys brought me some handsome wedding ornaments, and a beautiful dress, which I will show you."
" I do not care to see either dress or ornaments." And, look- ing fiercely at the now trembling girl, he continued: "Did I not tell you never to tell your father or brothers anything that passed between you and me!"
" But they questioned me closely, and I hated to tell them what was false."
" Nonsense! You ought to be ashamed of yourself !"
" Oh, forgive me, Captain! I will not do it again. But you will take me, your little, loving wife, with you, Captain ?" She gave her voice all the coaxing sweetness, that was natural to it in happy moods, and laid her hand gently on his shoulder, as she went on: " And you will have the ceremony performed to-day or to-morrow ?" As she spoke, she trembled with emotion, and her voice was as low as a whisper. Ward, with an impatient movement, shook her hand from his shoulder, as he said, in a rough voice he had never used to her before:
" I will do neither the one, nor the other. Make up your mind to that, girl !"
" Oh, Captain, Miss Scott told me to-day that, unless you married me within two days, I must leave her house; and that would disgrace me !"
" How nice she is getting here in California, all at once! If Miss Scott does not want your money, there are plenty of board- ing-houses that do."
" Oh, Captain, you do not mean to leave me and go away, be- fore you have the ceremony performed ?"
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"Nonsense, girl; don't put on airs, yourself. You did not really think that I intended to marry you ? You cannot be such a fool as that !"
" Not marry me, Captain !" said Lizzie, looking astonished and frightened. "Did you not swear to me, over and over, in the most solemn way, that we were as good as married in the eyes of God, who heard your vow of fidelity and truth to me. And that the exact day the ceremony was performed was of no conse- quence ; and that it should be performed some day, very soon !"
" Oh, Lizzie, you are really very amusing," said Ward, with a chuckling laugh. " Of course I swore all manner of things to overcome your fanatical scruples; but what of that ? It is a way we men have, as you will find out when you have a little more ex- perience." And he laughed in a mocking sort of a way. "No, Lizzie; the next chap you have to deal with you will have more experience."
Lizzie grew deadly pale, and, half-gasping for breath, she arose from her seat, and then threw herself back again, as she cried out:
" Oh, Captain! Captain! do not talk to me in that way. I know you do not mean what you are saying; but you will drive me mad if you talk so to me! No, no, no! You will not let me be disgraced! I know you love me; you have sworn you did; so I know you will pity me, and not let me be disgraced here be- fore them all!"
She now dropped her head forward, resting it between her hands on the center-table, and, in a terribly mournful, beseech- ing voice, went on:
" Oh, I could tell you something! oh, I could tell you some- thing! and, oh, I thought it would make you so happy!"
Ward gave a half-frightened start, arose from his rocking- chair, took another seat, and, with a struggle, composed himself, and now regarded Lizzie with a sort of a contemptuous, careless smile. Oh, he comprehends the news the miserable girl wished to tell. That strange, mysterious news, that, when whispered by trembling, agitated. but joyous lips, into the ear of the young husband, seems to awaken and arouse into active life every noble sentiment of his nature; and, though the news be joyous, yet with it comes an awe, as though a voice from on high had an- nounced a mighty trust reposed in him, for which he will one day be held responsible. Yes; to the worthy husband it is news that
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flings out his interest in life, in country, in everything around him, a whole generation beyond his own, and fills his heart with over- flowing gratitude to God, and the most fervent love and tender- ness for the partner who is the messenger and bearer of the glad tidings. Yes; Lizzie's words of agony are comprehended by Ward; and even he, the murderer and blasphemer, hears in it God's voice. He starts from his seat, as we have seen, looks around, and is uneasy for a moment, but only for a moment, for his heart is of stone and untouched; and, with cool contempt, that seems blasphemy, he dishonors the proffered trust, and, with a careless smile says:
" Oh, that is it, is it? I understand you now. Well, I will send you a person who will arrange all that for you!"
And again he laughs, stands up and looks out the window, as though he had not much interest in what he was talking about. Lizzie's breath seemed to choke her, as she now struggled for calmness to speak. She threw herself back in her chair, her temples clasped tightly with both hands, her eyes wild and un- steady.
" Merciful God!" she murmurs to herself, " help me!" as she drops on her knees for a last humble, touching appeal for mercy and compassion. Her hands are clasped in supplication; her voice is full of wild, earnest entreaty, as she exclaims:
" Oh! Captain Ward, you do not mean, you cannot mean the wicked thing you hint at! Oh! you cannot mean murder! and, oh, God! such a murder! Oh! do not use such horrid language, or I will die at your feet! You know, that in the eyes of God, I am your lawful wife! Yes; you have sworn to me a thousand times that I was your wife; and I have always loved and hon- ored you as my husband, and will always so love you. Do but ac- knowledge me before every one, and I will be your slave as well as your loving wife! I know you did not mean the horrid, wicked thing you said! Tell me! oh, tell me! that you did not mean it! Oh! mercy! mercy! I beg it on my knees!"
Ward, who continued to look out the window, while tapping the sash in a careless sort of a way, as if keeping time to his thoughts, now exclaimed, in a tone of impatience:
" Pshaw! Lizzie, you are acting and talking like a fool! If you want to let out your relations to me, I do not care a fig. I only spoke for your good, and I will now tell you the whole truth, to show the folly of expecting me to marry you. I am going to
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be married this evening, or, at furthest, to-morrow evening, to the most charming and beautiful girl I ever laid my eyes on; and then I am going to leave this city for good and all. So get up, Lizzie, and take things as you find them, like a woman of sense; for nothing is more sure than that I will be married to my true love to-morrow evening, if not before!"
As these words fell on Lizzie's ear, a sudden and terrible change came like magic on her countenance. The quiet, hum- ble, beseeching expression vanished, and in its place came one of dark defiance and of the fiercest hate. Her eyes were all fire; her cheeks were as pale as white marble; her lips were quivering and apart, showing her ivory teeth, set hard together. In one instant she was on her feet; her motions now being that of a stealthy cat; she was at her full height; her bosom heaved, but yet she did not seem to breathe; with an impatient shake of her head she threw back the hair from her temples, and the whole mass now fell loose behind her shoulders; with one more soft, noiseless movement she opened the drawer of her work-table and grasped the dagger her father had given her the night before; and now came hissing through her teeth close to Ward's ear:
" You are a liar, villain, for to-morrow you will burn in hell!"
As quick as a flash Ward comprehended his danger, and his face was to Lizzie's just in time to ward off a blow from her up- lifted dagger. When foiled, she stepped back, and, crouching as a panther might, to gather strength for a new onset, with a cry of despair and rage, she bounded on her destroyer, who, now pale with abject fear, seized a chair to defend himself. She missed her blow, and, with the chair, he struck the dagger from her hand. Then she flew at his throat with the fury and strength of insanity, which, for a moment, seemed to overpower Ward. In the struggle, his neckkerchief, vest, shirt and all were torn away. With a last terrible, maniac effort, she brought him staggering on one knee, and, with one arm around his neck, she tried to hold him down, while she reached out for the fallen dagger; but poor Lizzie's strength was now fast on the wane, and, with a desperate effort, Ward freed himself from her hold. She sprang on him once more, but now Ward grasped her deli- cately formed neck, with both his hands, with a terrible iron grip. His thumbs sank in on her throat; she chokes; her eyes start open with a dead stare; her jaw drops, blood spouts from her nose, and her arms fall powerless by her side.
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Ward sees that she is vanquished, and, with all his might, he pitches her backwards from him, and, without looking to see the consequences, dashed out of the house. As he hurried along Montgomery street, he tried to conceal from view his bloody, torn vest and shirt, while he muttered to himself:
" There was a little more of that than I bargained for. A little more and she would have spoiled my wedding, after all. That is two escapes within two days. If I escape one more struggle, nothing can hurt me. The Devil is good to his own, they say. Yes; one more escape, and Old Nick can put up his bottom dollar on me. I must get old Jack and the boys on board at once, before they hear of this, or I might have trouble; but I do not fear them, anyway, I so completely own them."
When Lizzie was hurled backwards by Ward, she went against the center-table, which fell over, and with it she came heavily to the floor, striking her head with great force against the edge of the sofa, which cut a terrible gash in her temple. As Ward rushed out, Miss Scott dashed in, and was horrified at the sight of Lizzie lying senseless and bleeding on the floor. In answer to her loud cry for help, the hired girl and two lady boarders came running in. Poor Lizzie was soon laid on the bed, and cared for with the kindest attention. When first she came to her senses, she was wild and incoherent, but gradually be- came composed, and had a full sense of her misery. She was suf- fering intensely from the bruises on her head and shoulders. Miss Scott, to soothe the pain, bathed the injured places with lauda- num, which seemed to give some relief; but a raging fever now set in, and Lizzie became perfectly wild. Miss Scott grew alarmed, and left the room for a moment to send for med- ical aid. As she did so, Lizzie leaped from the bed, seized the vial of laudanum, and swallowed its contents, and then lay back in her bed, as if in a faint. When Miss Scott returned, she found her in a stupor, which, in an hour, ended in her death.
From the time Lizzie came to her senses, until the stupor over- powered her, she was earnestly praying for mercy and forgive- ness. She called for her book of common prayer; but, finding she could not read it, she kissed it and laid it near her. The doctor Miss Scott had sent for gave a certificate that Lizzie Lawson died from an accidental over-dose of laudanum; and so it went to the public.
Just as she expired, Johnny Lucky called, as he did every day, " to see," as he said, " if Miss Lizzie wanted anything." He
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howled with wild grief when he found her dead. Miss Scott dispatched him immediately for the father and brothers.
In the afternoon they arrived. Their grief was terrible to be- hold. They kissed her cold lips, the wound on the temple, and the black marks of Ward's fingers on her neck, over and over, while sobbing as if their hearts would break. This excessive grief looked the more terrible because it was rough, strong men that yielded to it. The father and brothers now arose from their crouched position, near the bed upon which Lizzie was laid out, and retired with Miss Scott into the sitting-room, where she gave them a brief account of the last terrible scene between Lizzie and Ward. The old man then said:
" Thank you, Miss Scott, for all your good and kind ways to poor Lizzie; and I have one thing more to ask you. The boys and I have to put to sea this afternoon or to-night, but I will leave five hundred dollars for you in Burgoyne & Co.'s bank, and we want you to see that our poor Lizzie is nicely buried, and that she has a minister of her own religion at the funeral; and we want the grave nicely fixed up, you know, with a nice head-stone, with her name on it, all nice, like the best of them; for it is all I can do, any more, for my poor little Birdie." Then, turning to the boys, he said: " Let us go back, boys, and wish our poor Lizzie good-bye."
They go in, and again they passionately kiss her cold, dead face. Now they kneel and hold each other's hands over the dead girl. But, oh! let us shut the door and stop our ears, for their words, spoken in that terrible hour and position, are not words of prayer and submission. Oh! no; in defiance of God's holy law, it is a frightful oath of vengeance they swear!
CHAPTER XXV.
ANXIETY FOR WALTER AND MINNIE-ON THE TRACK.
As John McGlynn had agreed to do, he called at the appointed hour at Walter's cottage, and was surprised to find neither Wal- ter nor his sister at home. The girl said that Mr. Wagner had sent a hack for his sister in the forenoon, and that neither of them had come back; but that a boy soon after called, and told her that Mr. Wagner and his sister had gone to Sacramento, and would not be back for two days; and that she might shut up the house and go to her sister's until then.
" I cannot understand their going off in that sort of way," said Jane; " but I suppose it's all right; people do such strange things here in California."
John went away with a strange feeling of doubt in his mind; so much so that he went to the Chief of Police, and told him of the matter, that officer said:
" Well, I will have the house closely watched; for, if there is anything wrong, the rascals will come at night to gut the house."
And so it was arranged. For two mornings McGlynn called on the Chief, but he reported that all at the cottage remained un- disturbed. McGlynn now, somehow, felt himself growing ex- cited over the mystery, and could think of little else. He called on Father Maginnis, and was surprised to find him hardly less hardly less excited than he was himself. The good Father ex- claimed, when he heard all the girl Jane had related in regard to the brother and sister:
" What can all this mean ? Where can they have gone ? What makes it so very strange is that I am attending to a matter of business for Wagner, and I cannot understand his going off without seeing me."
" Oh," said McGlynn, " he told me in confidence about that note. Was it taken up ?"
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" Yes; Captain Fitzgerald took it up, and the clerk at the bank told him that half an hour before a man called there, and wanted to pay the note; but the clerk would not give it without a written or personal order from Wagner."
" That goes to show," said John, "that this Captain Ward, whom Wagner thought his friend, was the real enemy."
" I told him so, and was sure of that; and Minnie, his sister, fully agreed with me," said the Father.
While McGlynn and Father Maginnis were thus comparing notes, Captain Fitzgerald made his appearance. He came, he said, to ascertain if the Father had yet seen Wagner. Now all three talked for some time over the mystery of the sudden disap- pearance of the brother and sister. The more they talked and discussed it, the more they all grew excited.
" Why," said Captain Fitzgerald, " I dreamed of them all night; at one time Minnie was singing for me the song she sang the other day, at other times I thought she was my sister, and so I was disturbed all night. The fancy that she was my sister must have come from the wonderful likeness between this Miss Wagner and my poor sister Ann. Ever since I saw her I keep thinking of my sister. Is it not strange ?"
" Are they not relations of yours, Captain ?" said John Mc- Glynn.
" Why, no, Mr. McGlynn. Why do you ask the question ?"
" Because," said John, " their mother's name was Ann Fitz- gerald."
" Ann Fitzgerald!" said the Captain, looking quite agitated. " How do you know that, Mr. McGlynn ?"
" I recollect when Walter was driving a team for us, when first he came to California, in '49, he told me all about his mother; and how she came from Ireland with a family of emigrants, and then what a hard fight she had to get on; and how his father de- fended her before he ever knew her; and how they got ac- quainted, and were married; and I know her name was Ann Fitzgerald. He told me, too, how his little sister got the fifty dollars to enable him to come to California."
" Oh! can it be possible," said Captain Fitzgerald, now in great excitement, "that their mother is really my long lost sis- ter ? And yet it must be; Minnie is so very like her."
" You can depend," said Father Maginnis, "on what John tells you; for he knows every man's history in this city for at least a generation back."
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" Well," said John, " there is nothing strange in such a dis- covery, for such are occurring every day here in California."
" And they report their mother alive and well ?" said the Captain.
" Oh, yes, Captain. And, by the way, I have a letter of in- troduction Minnie brought me from her mother," said Father Maginnis, rising from his seat and taking the letter from his desk and handing it to the Captain.
" Oh! merciful Providence! it is my sister's handwriting, surely."
" Well," said Father Maginnis, " you can soon settle the ques- tion, if we ever find the dear children."
It was then agreed between McGlynn and Captain Fitzgerald that they should go together and work up the case to the best of their ability. The first place they went to was the Oriental Hotel; and there they were surprised to learn that Captain Ward had paid up his bills, given up his room and left, as the clerk said, for Sacramento on the afternoon of the day Walter and Minnie had disappeared. The clerk saw they looked excited, and asked them some questions. They avoided decided answers. The clerk said:
" After the Captain left, the girl who makes up the rooms found something very strange stowed away under the bed."
McGlynn immediately asked what it was, and the clerk brought out of the baggage-room a package done up in a newspaper. He opened it, and exhibited a shirt, vest and neckkerchief, all covered with blood; and the shirt was torn, and the vest had no buttons, being evidently pulled out. Fitzgerald became very much excited, but John remained apparently cool, as he said to the clerk:
" Well, there is a little mystery we are on the hunt about, so I will get the Chief of Police to call and see those articles; so please lay them away carefully."
They now proceeded to the office of the Chief of Police, and told him of the discovery of these clothes. The Chief thought the business looked very serious, and advised perfect secrecy, and promised to put his best men on to work it up. At the very out- set, it was discovered by the detectives, on inquiry at the Custom House, that the British bark Blue Bell, Captain Ward, master, had cleared the day before Walter's disappearance, for the Sand- wich Islands, and, on further inquiry, they found that the Blue 41
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Bell had sailed some time during the night of the day after she cleared.
When evening came, McGlynn and a police officer took their stations on the wharf, to await the arrival of the Sacramento boat; for this was the day Walter should have returned, if the story was true that he had gone to Sacramento. The Chief himself and Captain Fitzgerald went to the cottage. They found Jane there in great agitation and alarm. They told her they would remain until the boat was reported in, and then see her safe home if the brother and sister did not arrive. While Captain Fitzgerald sat waiting in the cottage, he looked at everything with the greatest interest, as he was now almost sure the two ab- sent ones were of his own blood. He was soon relieved of the last lingering doubt in this respect, from his eyes resting on a prayer-book that lay on a side table. He took it up, and, opening it, found, to his astonishment, his own name, written in his own handwriting, on the first blank page; and on the second was written as follows:
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