第8章

Mr。Dingwallelevatedhiseyebrows。“Thelargepropertyatstakeofcourserenderedthemostsatisfactoryproofsofitnecessary。 Hisfatherhaddiedonlyamonthprevious，andofcoursetheywereseekingthepresumptiveheir，theso-called’CaptainJohnDornton’—— yourman——whentheymadethediscoveryofhisdeath。“ Randolphthoughtofthestrangebodyatthewharf，ofthecoroner’svagueverdict，andwasunconvinced。“But，“hesaidimpulsively，“therewasachild。“HecheckedhimselfasherememberedthiswasoneofMissAvondale’sconfidencestohim。 “Ah——MissAvondalehasspokenofachild？“saidMr。Dingwalldryly。 “IsawherwithonewhichshesaidwasCaptainDornton’s，whichhadbeenleftinhercareafterthedeathofhiswife，“saidRandolphinhurriedexplanation。 “JohnDorntonhadnoWIFE，“saidMr。Dingwallseverely。“Theboyisanaturalson。CaptainJohnlivedawild，rough，and——er——aneccentriclife。“ “Ithought——IunderstoodfromMissAvondalethathewasmarried，“ stammeredtheyoungman。 “InyourratherslightacquaintancewiththatyoungladyIshouldimagineshewouldhavehadsomedelicacyintellingyouotherwise，“ returnedMr。Dingwallprimly。 Randolphfeltthetruthofthis，andwasmomentarilyembarrassed。 Yethelingered。 “HasMissAvondaleknownofthisdiscoverylong？“heasked。 “Abouttwoweeks，Ishouldsay，“returnedMr。Dingwall。“ShewasofsomeservicetoSirWilliamingettingupcertainproofsherequired。“ ItwasthreeweekssinceshehadseenRandolph，yetitwouldhavebeeneasyforhertocommunicatethenewstohim。Inthesethreeweekshisromanceoftheircommoninterestinhisbenefactor——evenhisowndreamofeverseeinghimagain——hadbeenutterlydispelled。 ItwasinnosocialhumorthathereachedDingwall’shousethenextevening。Yetheknewthedifficultyoftakinganaggressiveattitudetowardhispreviousidolorofinvitingafullexplanationfromherthen。 Theguests，withtheexceptionofhimselfandMissAvondale，wereallEnglish。She，self-possessedandcharmingineveningdress，noddedtohimwithherusualmaturepatronage，butdidnotevincetheleastdesiretoseekhimforanyconfidentialaside。HenoticedtheundoubtedresemblanceofSirWilliamDorntontohismissingbenefactor，andyetitproducedasingularrepulsioninhim，ratherthananysympatheticpredilection。AttablehefoundthatMissAvondalewasseparatedfromhim，beingseatedbesidethedistinguishedguest，whilehewasplacednexttotheyoungladyhehadtakendown——aMissEversleigh，thecousinofSirWilliam。Shewastall，andRandolph’sfirstimpressionofherwasthatshewasstiffandconstrained——animpressionhequicklycorrectedatthesoundofhervoice，herfrankingenuousness，andherunmistakableyouth。InthehabitofbeingcrushedbyMissAvondale’sunrelentingsuperiority，hefoundhimselfapparentlygrowingupbesidethistallEnglishgirl，whohadthenaiveteofachild。 Afterafewcommonplacesshesuddenlyturnedhergrayeyesonhis，andsaid，—— “Didn’tyoulikeJack？Ihopeyoudid。Oh，sayyoudid——do！“ “YoumeanCaptainJohnDornton？“saidRandolph，alittleconfused。 “Yes，ofcourse；HISbrother“——glancingtowardSirWilliam。“WealwayscalledhimJack，thoughIwaseversolittlewhenhewentaway。NoonethoughtofcallinghimanythingelsebutJack。Sayyoulikedhim！“ “Icertainlydid，“returnedRandolphimpulsively。Thencheckinghimself，headded，“Ionlysawhimonce，butIlikedhisfaceandmanner——and——hewasverykindtome。“ “Ofcoursehewas，“saidtheyounggirlquickly。“Thatwasonlylikehim，andyet“——loweringhervoiceslightly——“wouldyoubelievethattheyallsayhewaswildandwickedanddissipated？Andwhy？ Fancy！Justbecausehedidn’tcaretostayathomeandshootandhuntandraceandmakedebts，asheirsusuallydo。No，hewantedtoseetheworldanddosomethingforhimself。Why，whenhewasquiteyoung，hecouldmanageaboatlikeanysailor。DorntonHall，theirplace，isonthecoast，youknow，andtheysaythat，justforadventure’ssake，afterhewentaway，heshippedasfirstmatesomewhereoverhereonthePacific，andmadetwoorthreevoyages。 Youknow——don’tyou？——andhoweveryonewasshockedatsuchconductintheheir。“ Herfacewassogirlishlyanimated，withsuchsparkleofeyeandresponsivecolor，thathecouldhardlyreconcileitwithherfirstrestraintorwithhisacceptedtraditionsofherunemotionalrace，or，indeed，withherrelationshiptotheprincipalguest。Hislatentfeelingofgratitudetothedeadmanwarmedundertheyounggirl’svoice。 “It’ssodreadfultothinkofhimasdrowned，youknow，thougheventhattheyputagainsthim，“shewentonhurriedly，“fortheysayhewasprobablydrownedinsomedrunkenfit——fellthroughthewharforsomethingshockingandawful——worsethansuicide。But“——sheturnedherfrankyoungeyesuponhimagain——“YOUsawhimonthewharfthatnight，andyoucouldtellhowhelooked。“ “HewasassoberasIwas，“returnedRandolphindignantly，asherecalledtheincidentoftheflaskandthedeadman’scaution。 Fromrecallingittorepeatingitfollowednaturally，andhepresentlyrelatedthewholestoryofhismeetingwithCaptainDorntontothebrightlyinterestedeyesbesidehim。Whenhehadfinished，sheleanedtowardhimingirlishconfidence，andsaid:—— “Yes；butEVENTHATtheytelltoshowhowintoxicatedbemusthavebeentohavegivenuphisportmanteautoanutterstrangerlikeyou。“Shestopped，colored，andyet，reflectinghisownhalfsmile，sheadded:“YouknowwhatImean。Fortheyallagreehowniceitwasofyounottotakeanyadvantageofhiscondition，andDingwallsaidyourhonestyandfaithfulnessstruckRevelstokesomuchthathemadeaplaceforyouatthebank。NowIthink，“shecontinued，withdelightfulnaivete，“itwasaproofofpoorJack’sBEINGPERFECTLYSOBER，thatheknewwhomhewastrusting，andsawjustwhatyouwere，atonce。There！ButIsupposeyoumustnottalktomeanylonger，butmustmakeyourselfagreeabletosomeoneelse。Butitwasveryniceofyoutotellmeallthis。Iwishyouknewmyguardian。You’dlikehim。DoyouevergotoEngland？Docomeandseeus。“ Theseconfidenceshadnotbeenobservedbytheothers，andMissAvondaleappearedtoconfineherattentionstoSirWilliam，whoseemedtobeequallyabsorbed，exceptthatonceheliftedhiseyestowardRandolph，asifinanswertosomeremarkfromher。ItstruckRandolphthathewasthesubjectoftheirconversation，andthisdidnottendtoallaytheirritationofamindalreadywoundedbythecontrastofHERlackofsympathyforthedeadmanwhohadbefriendedandtrustedhertothesimplefaithofthegirlbesidehim，whowasstillloyaltoamerechildishrecollection。 Aftertheladieshadrustledaway，SirWilliammovedhisseatbesideRandolph。HismannerseemedtocombineMr。Dingwall’srestraintwithacertainassumptionofthemanoftheworld，morenotableforitsfranknessthanitstactfulness。 “Sadbusinessthisofmybrother’s，eh，“hesaid，lightingacigar； “anywayyoutakeit，eh？Yousawhimlast，eh？“Theinterrogatingword，however，seemedtobeonlyanexclamationofhabit，forheseldomwaitedforananswer。 “Ireallydon’tknow，“saidRandolph，“asIsawhimonlyONCE，andheleftmeonthewharf。Iknownomorewherehewenttothenthanwherehecamefrombefore。Ofcourseyoumustknowalltherest，andhowhecametobedrowned。“ “Yes；itreallydidnotmattermuch。Thewholequestionwasidentificationandproofofdeath，youknow。Beastlyjob，eh？“ “WasthathisbodyYOUwerehelpingtogetashoreatthewharfoneSunday？“askedRandolphbluntly，nowfullyrecognizingthelikenessthathadpuzzledhiminSirWilliam。“Ididn’tseeanyresemblance。“ “Preciousfewwould。Ididn’t——thoughit’strueIhadn’tseenhimforeightyears。Pooroldchapbeenknockedaboutsohehadn’tafeatureleft，eh？Buthisshipmateknewhim，andtherewerehistrapsontheship。“ Then，forthefirsttime，RandolphheardthegrimandsordiddetailsofJohnDornton’smysteriousdisappearance。HehadarrivedthemorningbeforethateventfuldayonanAustralianbarkastheprincipalpassenger。Thevesselitselfhadanevilrepute，andwasbelievedtohaveslippedfromthehandsofthepoliceatMelbourne。 JohnDorntonhadevidentlyamassedaconsiderablefortuneinAustralia，althoughanexaminationofhispapersandeffectsshowedittobeindraftsandlettersofcreditandshares，andthathehadnoreadymoney——afactborneoutbythetestimonyofhisshipmates。Thenighthearrivedwasspentinanorgyonboardship，whichhedidnotleaveuntiltheearlyeveningofthenextday，although，afterhiserraticfashion，hehadorderedaroomatahotel。Thateveninghetookashoreaportmanteau，evidentlyintendingtopassthenightathishotel。Hewasneverseenagain，althoughsomeofthesailorsdeclaredthattheyhadseenhimonthewharfWITHOUTTHEPORTMANTEAU，andtheyhaddrunktogetheratalowgrogshoponthestreetcorner。Hehadevidentlyfallenthroughsomeholeinthewharf。Ashewasseenonlywiththesailors，whoalsoknewhehadnoreadymoneyonhisperson，therewasnosuspicionoffoulplay。 “Forallthat，don’tyouknow，“continuedSirWilliam，withaforcedlaugh，whichstruckRandolphasnotonlydiscordant，butashavinganinsolentsignificance，“itmighthavebeenadeucedbadbusinessforYOU，eh？Lastmanwhowaswithhim，eh？Inpossessionofhisportmanteau，eh？Wearinghisclothes，eh？ Awfullycleverofyoutogostraighttothebankwithit。’Ponmyword，mylegalmanwantedtopouncedownonyouas’accessory’ untilIandDingwallcalledhimoff。Butit’sallrightnow。“ Randolph’santagonismtothemanincreased。“Theinvestigationseemstohavebeenpeculiar，“hesaiddryly，“for，ifIrememberrightly，atthecoroner’sinquestonthebodyIsawyouwith，theverdictreturnedwasofthedeathofanUNKNOWNman。“