CHAPTER VI.

THE CONFERENCE, AND THE FEARFUL NARRATION IN THE GARDEN.

The Temple clock struck the hour of meeting, and Johanna looked

anxiously around her for any one who should seem to her to bear the

appearance of being such a person as she might suppose Mark Ingestrie

would choose for his messenger.

She turned her eyes towards the gate, for she thought she heard it

close, and then she saw a gentlemanly-looking man, attired in a cloak,

and who was looking around him, apparently in search of some one.

When his eye fell upon her he immediately produced from beneath his

cloak a white rose, and in another minute they met.

"I have the honour," he said, "of speaking to Miss Johanna Oakley?"

"Yes, sir; and you are Mark Ingestrie's messenger?"

"I am; that is to say, I am he who comes to bring you news of Mark

Ingestrie, although I grieve to say I am not the messenger that was

expressly deputed by him so to do."

"Oh! sir, your looks are sad and serious; you seem as if you would

announce that some misfortune had occurred. Tell me that it is not so;

speak to me at once, or my heart will break!"

"Compose yourself, lady, I pray you."

"I cannot--dare not do so, unless you tell me he lives. Tell me that

Mark Ingestrie lives, and then I shall be all patience: tell me that,

and you shall not hear a murmur from me. Speak the word at once--at

once! It is cruel, believe me, it is cruel to keep me in this suspense."

"This is one of the saddest errands I ever came upon," said the

stranger, as he led Johanna to a seat. "Recollect, lady, what creatures

of accident and chance we are--recollect how the slightest circumstances

will affect us, in driving us to the confines of despair, and remember

by how frail a tenure the best of us hold existence."

"No more--no more!" shrieked Johanna, as she clasped her hands--"I know

all now, and am desolate."

She let her face drop upon her hands, and shook as with a convulsion of

grief.

"Mark, Mark!" she cried, "you have gone from me! I thought not this--I

thought not this. Oh, Heaven! why have I lived so long as to have the

capacity to listen to such fearful tidings? Lost--lost--all lost! God of

Heaven! what a wilderness the world is now to me!"

"Let me pray you, lady, to subdue this passion of grief, and listen

truly to what I shall unfold to you. There is much to hear and much to

speculate upon; and if, from all that I have learnt, I cannot, dare not

tell you that Mark Ingestrie lives, I likewise shrink from telling you

he is no more."

"Speak again--say those words again! There is hope, then--oh, there is a

hope!"

"There is a hope; and better is it that your mind should receive the

first shock of the probability of the death of him whom you have so

anxiously expected, and then afterwards, from what I shall relate to

you, gather hope that it may not be so, than that from the first you

should expect too much, and then have those expectations rudely

destroyed."

"It is so--it is so; this is kind of you, and if I cannot thank you as I

ought, you will know that it is because I am in a state of too great

affliction so to do, and not from want of will; you will understand

that--I am sure you will understand that."

"Make no excuses to me. Believe me, I can fully appreciate all that you

would say, and all that you must feel. I ought to tell you who I am,

that you may have confidence in what I have to relate to you. My name is

Jeffery, and I am a colonel in the Indian army."

"I am much beholden to you, sir; but you bring with you a passport to my

confidence, in the name of Mark Ingestrie, which is at once sufficient.

I live again in the hope that you have given me of his continued

existence, and in that hope I will maintain a cheerful resignation that

shall enable me to bear up against all you have to tell me, be it what

it may, and with a feeling that through much suffering there may come

joy at last. You shall find me very patient, ay, extremely patient--so

patient that you shall scarcely see the havoc that grief has already

made here."

She pressed her hands upon her breast as she spoke, and looked in his

face with such an expression of tearful melancholy that it was quite

heartrending to witness it; and he, although not used to the melting

mood, was compelled to pause for a few moments ere he could proceed in

the task he had set himself.

"I will be as brief," he said, "as possible, consistent with stating all

that is requisite for me to state, and I must commence by asking you if

you are aware under what circumstances it was that Mark Ingestrie was

abroad?"

"I am aware of so much, that a quarrel with his uncle, Mr. Grant, was

the great cause, and that his main endeavour was to better his fortunes,

so that we might be happy, and independent of those who looked not with

an eye of favour upon our projected union."

"Yes, but, what I meant was, were you aware of the sort of adventure he

embarked in to the Indian seas?"

"No, I know nothing further; we met here on this spot, we parted at

yonder gate, and we have never met again."

"Then I have something to tell you, in order to make the narrative clear

and explicit."

They both sat upon the garden seat; and while Johanna fixed her eyes

upon her companion's face, expressive as it was of the most generous

emotions and noble feelings, he commenced relating to her the incidents

which never left her memory, and in which she took so deep an interest.

"You must know," he said, "that what it was which so much inflamed the

imagination of Mark Ingestrie, consisted in this. There came to London a

man with a well-authenticated and extremely well put together report,

that there had been discovered, in one of the small islands near the

Indian seas, a river which deposited an enormous quantity of gold-dust

in its progress to the ocean. He told his story so well, and seemed to

be such a perfect master of all the circumstances connected with it,

that there was scarcely room for a doubt upon the subject. The thing was

kept quiet and secret; and a meeting was held of some influential

men--influential on account of the money they possessed, among whom was

one who had towards Mark Ingestrie most friendly feelings; so Mark

attended the meeting with this friend of his, although he felt his utter

incapacity, from want of resources, to take any part in the affair. But

he was not aware of what his friend's generous intentions were in the

matter until they were explained to him, and they consisted in

this:--He, the friend, was to provide the necessary means for embarking

in the adventure, so far as regarded taking a share in it, and he told

Mark Ingestrie that, if he would go personally on the expedition, he

should share in the proceeds with him, be they what they might. Now, to

a young man like Ingestrie, totally destitute of personal resources, but

of ardent and enthusiastic temperament, you can imagine how extremely

tempting such an offer was likely to be. He embraced it at once with the

greatest pleasure, and from that moment he took an interest in the

affair of the closest and most powerful description. It seized

completely hold of his imagination, presenting itself to him in the most

tempting colours; and from the description that has been given me of his

enthusiastic disposition, I can well imagine with what kindness and

impetuosity he would enter into such an affair."

"You know him well?" said Johanna, gently.

"No, I never saw him. All that I say concerning him is from the

description of another who did know him well, and who sailed with him in

the vessel that ultimately left the port of London on the vague and wild

adventure I have mentioned."

"That one, be he who he may, must have known Mark Ingestrie well, and

have enjoyed much of his confidence to be able to describe him so

accurately."

"I believe that such was the case; and it is from the lips of that one,

instead of from mine, that you ought to have heard what I am now

relating. That gentleman, whose name was Thornhill, ought to have made

to you this communication; but by some strange accident it seems he has

been prevented, or you would not be here listening to me upon a subject

which would have come better from his lips."

"And was he to have come yesterday to me?"

"He was."

"Then Mark Ingestrie kept his word; and but for the adverse

circumstances which delayed his messenger, I should yesterday have heard

what you are now relating to me. I pray you go on, sir, and pardon this

interruption."

"I need not trouble you with all the negotiations, the trouble, and the

difficulty that arose before the expedition could be started

fairly--suffice it to say, that at length, after much annoyance and

trouble, it was started, and a vessel was duly chartered and manned for

the purpose of proceeding to the Indian seas in search of the treasure,

which was reported to be there for the first adventurer who had the

boldness to seek it."

"It was a gallant vessel. I saw it many a mile from England ere it sunk

beneath the waves, never to rise again."

"Sunk!"

"Yes; it was an ill-fated ship, and it did sink; but I must not

anticipated--let me proceed in my narrative with regularity. The ship

was called the Star; and if those who went with it looked upon it as the

star of their destiny, they were correct enough, and it might be

considered an evil star for them, inasmuch as nothing but disappointment

and bitterness became their ultimate portion. And Mark Ingestrie, I am

told, was the most hopeful man on board. Already in imagination he could

fancy himself homeward-bound with the vessel, ballasted and crammed with

the rich produce of that shining river. Already he fancied what he could

do with his abundant wealth, and I have not a doubt but that, in common

with many who went on that adventure, he enjoyed to the full the

spending of the wealth he should obtain in imagination--perhaps, indeed,

more than if he had obtained it in reality. Among the adventurers was

one Thornhill, who had been a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and between

him and young Ingestrie there arose a remarkable friendship--a

friendship so strong and powerful, that there can be no doubt that they

communicated to each other all their hopes and fears; and if anything

could materially tend to beguile the tedium of such a weary voyage as

those adventurers had undertaken, it certainly would be the free

communication and confidential intercourse between two such kindred

spirits as Thornhill and Mark Ingestrie. You will bear in mind, Miss

Oakley, that in making this communication to you, I am putting together

what I myself heard at different times, so as to make it for you a

distinct narrative, which you can have no difficulty in comprehending,

because, as I before stated, I never saw Mark Ingestrie, and it was only

once, for about five minutes, that I saw the vessel in which he went

upon his perilous adventure--for perilous it turned out to be--to the

Indian seas. It was from Thornhill I got my information during the many

weary and monotonous hours consumed in a home-bound voyage from India.

It appears that without accident or cross of any description the Star

reached the Indian ocean, and the supposed immediate locality of the

spot where the treasure was to be found, and there she was spoken with

by a vessel homeward-bound from India, called the Neptune. It was

evening, and the sun had sunk in the horizon with some appearances that

betokened a storm. I was on board that Indian vessel; we did not expect

anything serious, although we made every preparation for rough weather,

and as it turned out, it was well indeed we did, for never within the

memory of the oldest seamen, had such a storm ravished the coast. A

furious gale, which it was impossible to withstand, drove us southward;

and but for the utmost precautions, aided by courage and temerity on the

part of the seamen, such as I had never before witnessed in the

merchant-service, we escaped with trifling damage, but we were driven at

least 200 miles out of our course; and instead of getting, as we ought

to have done, to the Cape by a certain time, we were an immense distance

eastward of it. It was just as the storm, which lasted three nights and

two days, began to abate, that towards the horizon we saw a dull red

light; and as it was not in a quarter of the sky where any such

appearance might be imagined, nor were we in a latitude where

electro-phenomena might be expected, we steered toward it, surmising

what turned out afterwards to be fully correct."

"It was a ship on fire!" said Johanna.

"It was."

"Alas! alas! I guessed it. A frightful suspicion from the first crossed

my mind. It was a ship on fire, and that ship was--"

The Star was bound upon its adventurous course, although driven far out

of it by adverse winds and waves. After about half an hour's sailing we

came within sight distinctly of a blazing vessel. We could hear the roar

of the flames, and through our glasses we could see them curling up the

cordage, and dancing from mast to mast, like fiery serpents, exulting in

the destruction they were making. We made all sail, and strained every

inch of canvas to reach the ill-fated vessel, for distances at sea that

look small are in reality very great, and an hour's hard sailing in a

fair wind, with every stitch of canvas set, would not do more than

enable us to reach that ill-fated bark; but fancy in an hour what

ravages the flames might make! The vessel was doomed. The fiat had gone

forth that it was to be among the things that had been; and long before

we could reach the spot upon which it floated idly on the now

comparatively calm waters, we saw a bright shower of sparks rush up into

the air. Then came a loud roaring sound over the surface of the deep,

and all was still--the ship had disappeared, and the water closed over

it for ever."

"But how knew you," said Johanna, as she clasped her hands, and the

pallid expression of her countenance betrayed the deep interest she took

in the narration, "how knew you that the ship was the Star? might it not

have been some other ill-fated vessel that met with so dreadful a fate?"

"I will tell you: although we had seen the ship go down, we kept on our

course, straining every effort to reach the spot, with the hope of

picking up some of the crew, who surely had made an effort by the boats

to leave the burning vessel. The captain of the Indiaman kept his glass

at his eye, and presently he said to me,--'There is a floating piece of

wreck, and something clinging to it; I know not if there be a man, but

what I can perceive seems to me to be the head of a dog.' I looked

through the glass myself, and saw the same object; but as we neared it,

we found it was a large piece of the wreck, with a dog and a man

supported by it, who were clinging with all the energy of desperation.

In ten minutes more we had them on board the vessel--the man was the

Lieutenant Thornhill I have before mentioned, and the dog belonged to

him. He related to us that the ship, we had seen burning was the Star;

and that it had never reached its destination, and that he believed all

had perished but himself and the dog; for, although one of the boats had

been launched, so desperate a rush was made into it by the crew that it

had swamped, and all perished. Such was his own state of exhaustion,

that, after he had made this short statement, it was some days before he

left his hammock; but when he did, and began to mingle with us, we found

an intelligent, cheerful companion--such a one, indeed, as we were glad

to have on board, and in confidence he related to the captain and myself

the object of the voyage of the Star, and the previous particulars with

which I have made you acquainted. And then, during a night-watch, when

the soft and beautiful moonlight was more than usually inviting, and he

and I were on the deck, enjoying the coolness of the night, after the

intense heat of the day in the tropics, he said to me,--'I have a very

sad mission to perform when I get to London. On board our vessel was a

young man named Mark Ingestrie; and some short time before the vessel in

which we were went down, he begged of me to call upon a young lady named

Johanna Oakley, the daughter of a spectacle-maker in London, providing I

should be saved and he perish; and of the latter event, he felt so

strong a presentiment that he gave me a string of pearls, which I was to

present to her in his name; but where he got them I have not the least

idea, for they are of immense value.' Mr. Thornhill showed me the

pearls, which were of different sizes, roughly strung together, but of

great value; and when we reached the river Thames, which was only three

days since, he left us with his dog, carrying his string of pearls with

him, to find out where you reside."

"Alas! he never came."

"No; from all the inquiries we can make, and all the information we can

learn, it seems he disappeared somewhere about Fleet-street."

"Disappeared!"

"Yes; we can trace him to the Temple-stairs, and from thence to the

barber' shop, kept by a man named Sweeny Todd; but beyond there no

information of him can be obtained."

"Sweeny Todd!"

"Yes; and what makes the affair more extraordinary, is, that neither

force nor persuasion will induce Thornhill's dog to leave the place."

"I saw it--I saw the creature, and it looked imploringly, although

kindly, in my face; but little did I think, when I paused a moment to

look upon that melancholy but faithful animal, that it held a part in my

destiny. Oh! Mark Ingestrie, Mark Ingestrie, dare I hope that you live

when all else have perished?"

"I have told you all that I can tell you, and, according as your own

judgment may dictate to you, you can encourage hope, or extinguish it

for ever. I have kept back nothing from you which can make the affair

worse or better--I have added nothing; but you have it simply as it was

told to me."

"He is lost--he is lost."

"I am one, lady, who always thinks certainty of any sort preferable to

suspense; and although, while there is no positive news of death, the

continuance of life ought fairly to be assumed, yet you must perceive,

from a review of all the circumstances, upon how very slender a

foundation all our hopes must rest."

"I have no hope--I have no hope--he is lost to me for ever! It were

madness to think he lived. Oh, Mark, Mark! and is this the end of all

our fond affection? did I indeed look my last upon that face, when on

this spot we parted?"

"The uncertainty," said Colonel Jeffery, wishing to withdraw as much as

possible from a consideration of her own sorrows, "the uncertainty, too,

that prevails with regard to the fate of poor Mr. Thornhill, is a sad

thing. I much fear that those precious pearls he had, have been seen by

some one who has not scrupled to obtain possession of them by his

death."

"Yes, it would seem so indeed; but what are pearls to me? Oh! would that

they had sunk to the bottom of that Indian sea, from whence they had

been plucked. Alas, alas! it has been their thirst for gain that has

produced all these evils. We might have been poor here, but we should

have been happy. Rich we ought to have been, in contentment; but now all

is lost, and the world to me can present nothing that is to be desired,

but one small spot large enough to be my grave."

She leant upon the arm of the garden-seat, and gave herself up to such a

passion of tears that Colonel Jeffery felt he dared not interrupt her.

There is something exceeding sacred about real grief which awes the

beholder, and it was with an involuntary feeling of respect that Colonel

Jeffery stepped a few paces off, and waited until that burst of agony

had passed away. It was during those brief moments that he overheard

some words uttered by one who seemed likewise to be suffering from that

prolific source of all affliction, disappointed affection. Seated at

some short distance was a maiden, and one not young enough to be called

a youth, but still not far enough advanced in existence to have had all

his better feelings crushed by an admixture with the cold world, and he

was listening while the maiden spoke.

"It is the neglect," she said, "which touched me to the heart. But one

word spoken or written, one message of affection, to tell me that the

memory of a love I thought would be eternal, still lingered in your

heart, would have been a world of consolation; but it came not, and all

was despair."

"Listen to me," said her companion, "and if ever in this world you can

believe that one who truly loves can be cruel to be kind, believe that I

am that one. I yielded for a time to the fascination of a passion which

should never have found a home within my heart; but yet it was far more

of a sentiment than a passion, inasmuch as never for one moment did an

evil thought mingle with its pure aspirations.

"It was a dream of joy, which for a time obliterated a remembrance that

ought never to have been forgotten; but when I was rudely awakened to

the fact that those whose opinions were of importance to your welfare

and your happiness knew nothing of love, but in its grossest aspect, it

became necessary at once to crush a feeling, which, in its continuance,

could shadow forth nothing but evil."

"You may not imagine, and you may never know--for I cannot tell the

heart-pangs that it has cost me to persevere in a line of conduct which

I felt was due to you--whatever heart-pangs it might cost me. I have

been content to imagine that your affection would turn to indifference,

perchance to hatred; that a consciousness of being slighted would arouse

in your defence all a woman's pride, and that thus you would be lifted

above regret. Farewell for ever! I dare not love you honestly and truly;

and better is it thus to part than to persevere in a delusive dream that

can but terminate in degradation and sadness."

"Do you hear those words?" whispered Colonel Jeffery to Johanna. "You

perceive that others suffer, and from the same cause, the perils of

affection."

"I do. I will go home, and pray for strength to maintain my heart

against this sad affliction."

"The course of true love never yet ran smooth; wonder not, therefore,

Johanna Oakley, that yours has suffered such a blight. It is the great

curse of the highest and noblest feelings of which humanity is capable,

that while, under felicitous circumstances, they produce to us an

extraordinary amount of happiness; when anything adverse occurs, they

are most prolific sources of misery. Shall I accompany you?"

Johanna felt grateful for the support of the colonel's arm towards her

own home, and as they passed the barber's shop they were surprised to

see that the dog and the hat were gone.