Witness to the Deed Part 69

Malcolm Stratton's low cry. It was that of a man who had long battled with the waves of a great storm, and who had at last found something to which he could cling.

There was another long and painful pause before Stratton spoke again, and then he slowly withdrew his hand.

"No," he said; "we must never clasp hands again. I must go on to the end a pariah among my kind."

Brettison shook his head.

"I have put myself in your place often," he said slowly, "and I have felt that I might have acted much the same."

Stratton looked at him eagerly.

"Yes; my great fault in you is that you should not have trusted me."

There was again a long silence before Stratton spoke.

"I felt that I was alone in the world to fight my own battle with all my strength," he said wearily.

"And that strength was so much weakness, boy. Mine, weak as it is, has proved stronger far."

Stratton looked at him wonderingly.

"Yes; how much agony you might have been spared, perhaps, if you had come to me. But I don't know--I don't know. You acted as you thought best; I only did the same, and, not knowing all your thoughts, I fear that I have erred."

Stratton sat thinking for a few moments, and then, raising his eyes:

"I have told you all. It is your turn now."

Brettison bowed his head.

"Yes," he said, "it is better that I should speak and tell you."

But he was silent for some time first, sitting back with the tips of his fingers joined, as if collecting his thoughts.

"You remember that morning--how I came to say good-bye?"

"Yes, of course."

"I started, and then found that I had forgotten my lens. I hurried back, and had just entered my room when I heard voices plainly in yours.

My book-closet door was open, that of your bath room must have been ajar. I did not want to hear, but the angry tones startled me, and the words grew so fierce--you neither of you thought of how you raised your voices in your excitement--that I became alarmed, and was about to hurry round to your room, when a few words came to my ears quite plainly, and, in spite of its being dishonourable, I, in my dread that you were in danger, hurried into the book-closet and was drawn to the thin, loose panel at the end.

"There I was enchained; I could not retreat, for I heard so much of the piteous position in which you were placed. My mind filled in the blanks, and I grasped all.

"I need not repeat all you know--only tell you that, unable to master my curiosity, I placed my eye to one of the cracks in the old panelling, and could see the man's face--her husband's features--and I saw him glance again and again at the money, and felt that he meant to have it, though you seemed ignorant of the fact; and, dreading violence, I drew back to go for help. But I could not leave. It meant a terrible _expose_ and untold horror for your promised wife. I tell you I could not stir, and the fact of my being a miserable eavesdropper died out in the terrible climax you had reached."

Brettison paused to wipe his brow, wet with a dew begotten by the agony of his recollections, before he continued:

"I stayed there then, and watched and listened, almost as near as if I had been a partic.i.p.ator in the little life drama which ensued. There, I was with you in it all, boy--swayed by your emotions, but ready to cry out upon you angrily when I saw you ready to listen to the wretch's miserable proposals, and as proud when I saw your determination to sacrifice your desires and make a bold stand against what, for your gratification, must have meant finally a perfect h.e.l.l for the woman you loved. Then, in the midst of my excitement, there came the final struggle, as you n.o.bly determined to give the scoundrel up to the fate he deserved so well. It was as sudden to me as it was horrible. I saw the flash of the shot, and felt a pang of physical pain, as, through the smoke, I dimly saw you stagger. Then, while I stood there paralysed, I saw you fly at him as he raised his pistol to fire again, the struggle for the weapon, which you struck up as he drew the trigger."

"Yes," said Stratton, "I struck up the pistol as he drew the trigger; but who would believe--who would believe?"

"And then I saw him reel and fall, and there before me he lay, with the blood slowly staining the carpet, on the spot where I had so often sat."

He wiped his brow again, while Stratton rested his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands, as if to hide from his gaze the scene his friend conjured up from the past.

"Malcolm Stratton," continued the old man, rising to lay his hand upon the other's head, "you were to me as a son. As a father loves the boy born unto him, I swear I felt toward you. I looked upon you as the son of my childless old age, and I was standing there gazing at you, face to face with the horror of that scene, while, with crushing weight, there came upon me the knowledge that, come what might, I must summon help.

That help meant the police; and, in imagination, I saw myself sending you to the dock, where you would perhaps, from the force of the circ.u.mstances--as you have told me you might--stand in peril of your life. But still I felt that there was nothing otherwise that could be done; and, slowly shrinking back, I was on my way to perform this act of duty, when I heard a low, deep groan. That drew me back, and, looking into your room once more, a mist rose between me and the scene, my senses reeled, and I slowly sank down, fainting, on the floor."

CHAPTER FORTY THREE.

THE REVELATION.

"It was the act of a woman, Stratton," said Brettison with an apologetic smile, "but I am only a weak old man, and never weaker than in those moments.

"I could not have been there a moment, and I must have glided down, or you would have heard me. I came to and for a moment could not understand why I was there. Then all came back with overwhelming force, and I crept back to the panel to look through.

"You were returning from the door, and the next moment were standing by the body, with the pistol in your hand, apparently unharmed; and then, to my horror, it seemed as if you were about to use the weapon upon yourself; but to my intense relief I saw you thrust it into your pocket, and then stand by the body as if bereft of sense, utterly helpless as to what course to pursue. While sharing your misery I forgot my intentions of seeking help; and, nerving myself for the encounter, I was about to come round, but your looks chained me to the spot, and, utterly helpless now, I stayed there watching your wild, countenance and reading its meaning, as with an eager, hunted look you went to the outer door, opened it, and stood looking down. Then carefully closing both, you went to the window to peer out furtively from the side of the blind, as if to make out whether by any possibility anyone could have overlooked the scene.

"I knew that you had some plan in mind by your actions, and it rapidly dawned on me what it was, as, like one suffering from nightmare I stood watching, with the cold sweat gathering on my face, as I saw you go toward the other side of the fireplace, come into sight again and take a chair in the same direction.

"I soon divined, though, that it was to hold open the door, and now came the horror of the scene."

Stratton uttered a low groan as he sat there with his face buried in his hands, and Brettison went on:

"It was all clear to me now. You were seeking for a way out of your terrible dilemma by concealing the body, and I looked on, speechless with horror, as I saw you stoop to seize the arms, droop forward, and fall across the chest."

"I was faint from my hurt," said Stratton, almost in a whisper.

"But you rose directly, and I saw you drag the body toward the door of your bathroom and, as if drawn there to know the rest, I came back here and stood listening by that loose panel, where the scene stood out as vividly before me as if I were in the same room."

Stratton groaned, while, excited by his narration, Brettison went on:

"You were evidently faint still, and weak, for I heard you stop again and again, only to resume the dreadful task of dragging the body along the floor, till at last you stood within a few feet of me, and I could hear your laboured breathing for a few minutes, followed by a sound that I knew to be the throwing back of the bath lid; and then followed what you know--that horrible struggle with a weight with which you were not fit to cope. A minute later the lid was closed and you shut and locked the bath-closet door, while I sat down, faint and exhausted, to try and think out what I should do.

"I must have sat there for a long time, for I was roused by the sound of voices in your room, and heard the scene that took place with the admiral. I knew that you fainted, and that Guest tried the door which you had locked; and I shuddered as I thought of what that place contained, and how easily the discovery might follow.

"By this time I had made up my mind how to act; and, after stealing out to get the necessary tools, I waited my time and set to work. It was a long task, for I had to work and not make a sound; but the old fastening soon gave way, and I drew the door open and stood shivering in the narrow place, with yours and Guest's words coming plainly to me.

"At times you were angry, at other times Guest spoke loudly, and twice over he had the outer door open to talk to people on the landing.

"Those were my opportunities, and, helped by strength I did not think I possessed, I worked on, dragging the body out inch by inch, and lowering him down. A dozen times over I felt that I must be heard, but you were both too intent upon yourselves, and your words often rose to a quarrel on one side, and, as I said, at such times I worked, till at last I bore the man through the door and laid him there."

He pointed to the heavy rug in front of the fireplace, and, as if fascinated, Stratton gazed at the spot.

"The rest of the task was lighter for the moment; I had but to close the door, and secure it slightly. I left the proper fastening up till a future time, and I'll tell you that now--the fastening up took place at the time when you were working shudderingly in the dark, taking in cans of spirit, and pouring them gurgling and echoing into the bath; and I heard all this, and the final s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g down of the lid and s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up of your door. I tell you I heard it all, boy, and still worked on in your service."

"In my service?" said Stratton blankly.