Cruel As The Grave Part 36

"But, oh, good Heavens! telling the truth will not help you! The law deals with _facts_, not _truths_! and judges of facts as if they were truths. And oh! my dear Sybil! the lying facts of this case involve you in such a net of circ.u.mstantial evidence and direct testimony as renders you liable to arrest--nay, certain to be arrested and imprisoned upon the charge of murder! Oh, my dear, most innocent wife! my free, wild, high-spirited Sybil! even the sense of innocence could not save you from imprisonment, or support you during its degrading tortures! _You_ could not bear--_I_ could not bear for you, such loss of liberty and honor for one hour--even if nothing worse should follow! But, Sybil, worse may, worse _must_ follow! Yes, the _very worst_! Your only safety is in flight--instant flight! And oh! Heaven! how the time is speeding away!"

exclaimed the husband, beside himself with distress.

During the latter part of his speech the wife had started to her feet, and now she stood staring at him, amazed, incredulous, yet firm and brave.

"Rouse yourself to the occasion, Sybil! Oh! for my sake, for Heaven's sake, collect your faculties and prepare for flight," he pa.s.sionately urged.

"I am innocent, and yet I must fly like the guilty! Lyon, for your sake, and only for yours, I will do it," she answered gravely, and sadly.

"We must not call a.s.sistance, nor stop to compliment each other. Pack quickly up what you will most need for yourself, in a travelling bag, and I will do the same for myself," explained Lyon Berners, suiting the action to the word by shoving into his valise some valuable papers, money, razors, a few articles of clothing, etc.

Sybil showed more prompt.i.tude and presence of mind than might have been expected of her. She quickly collected her costly jewels and ready money, a change of under clothing, combs, and brushes, and packed them in a small travelling bag.

"We go on horseback," quickly explained Lyon Berners, as he locked his valise.

Swiftly and silently Sybil threw off her masquerading dress, that she had unconsciously worn until now, and dropped it on the floor, where it lay glowing like a smouldering bonfire. She then put on a water-proof riding habit, and announced herself ready.

"Come, then," said Lyon Berners, taking up both bags, and beckoning her to follow him silently.

They slipped down the dark stairs and through the deserted halls, and reached the back door, where, under the shelter of a large hemlock-tree, Captain Pendleton held the horses. It was dark as pitch, and drizzling rain. They could see nothing, they could only know the whereabouts of their "friend in need," and their horses, by hearing Captain Pendleton's voice speaking through the mist in cautious tones, and whispering:

"Lock the door after you, Berners, so as to secure us from intrusion from within. And then stop there under the porch until I come and talk to you."

Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and then stood waiting for his friend, who soon came up.

"You have got all you will need on your journey, have you not?" inquired the Captain.

Mr. Berners replied by telling his friend exactly what he had brought.

"All that is very well, but people require to eat and drink once in a while. So I have put some sandwiches, and a bottle of wine from the supper-table, into your saddle-bags. And now, in the hurry, have you decided upon your route?"

"Yes; we shall endeavor to reach the nearest seaport, Norfolk probably, and embark for some foreign country, no matter what, for in no place but in a foreign country can my unhappy wife hope for safety," mournfully replied Lyon Berners.

"Endeavor to reach Norfolk! That will never succeed. You will be sure to be overtaken and brought back before you go a score of miles on that road," declared Captain Pendleton, shaking his head.

"Then, in the name of Heaven, what _will_ do?" demanded Mr. Berners, in a tone of desperation.

"You must find a place of concealment, and then take time to disguise yourself and your wife, so that neither of you can be recognized, before you venture upon the road to Norfolk. You see, Lyon, you are the better lawyer, but I am the better strategist! I graduated among the warpaths and the ambushes of the Redskins on the frontier."

"But where shall I find such a place of concealment?"

"I have thought of that."

"You think of everything."

"Ah! it is easy to show presence of mind in other people's confusion!

Almost as easy at it is to bear other people's troubles!" said the Captain, attempting a jest, only to raise his friend's drooping spirits.

"But now to the point, for we must be quick. You know the 'Haunted Chapel?'"

"The old ruined church in the cleft on the other side of the Black Mountain?"

"Yes; that is the place. Its deep solitude and total abandonment, with its ghostly reputation, will be sure to secure your safety. Go there; conceal yourselves and your horses as well as you can. In the course of to-morrow, or to-morrow night, I will come to you with such news and such help as I may be able to bring."

"Thank you. Oh, thank you. But what are words? You are a man of deeds.

Your presence of mind has saved us both!" said Lyon Berners earnestly.

"And now to horse," said Captain Pendleton, taking Mrs. Berners under his guidance, while Mr. Berners brought on the valise and travelling bag.

Captain Pendleton placed Sybil in her saddle, whispering encouragingly,

"Be strong and hopeful. This necessary flight is a temporary evil, intended to save you from a permanent, and even perhaps a fatal wrong.

Be patient, and time shall vindicate you and bring you back."

"But oh! to leave my home, and the home of my fathers! to leave it like a criminal, when I am innocent! to leave it in haste, and not to know if I may ever return," cried Sybil, in a voice of anguish.

"It is a fearful trial. I will not mock you by denying that it is. Yes, it is a terrible ordeal! but one, Mrs. Berners, that you have heroism enough to bear," replied Captain Pendleton, as he bowed over her extended hand and gave her the reins.

Lyon Berners was also mounted. They were ready to start. With a mutual "G.o.d bless you," the friends parted.

Lyon and Sybil took the dark road.

Captain Pendleton unlocked the door that had been locked by Mr. Berners, but as he pushed to open it he felt an obstruction, and instantly afterwards heard some one run away.

"A listener," he thought, in dismay as he pursued the fugitive. But he only caught a glimpse of a figure disappearing through the front door and into the darkness without, in which it was lost.

"An eavesdropper!" he exclaimed, in despair. "An eavesdropper! Who now can be a.s.sured of her safety? Oh, Sybil! you rejected my hand, and very nearly ruined my life. But this night I would die to save you," he sighed, as he went and joined the gentlemen who were sitting up watching, or rather dozing, in the parlor, while waiting for the physician's or the coroner's arrival.

"Where is Mrs. Berners?" inquired the old Judge, rousing himself up.

"She retired to her chamber about an hour ago," answered Captain Pendleton, telling the truth, but not the whole truth, as you will perceive.

"Hum, ha, yes; well, and where is her husband?"

"He followed her there," answered the Captain, shortly.

"Ha, hum, yes, well. The coroner is long in coming," grumbled the Judge.

"It is some distance to Blackville, sir, and the roads are rough and the night is dark," observed the Captain.

"Well, yes, true," agreed the old man, subsiding into his chair and into his doze.

Captain Pendleton threw himself into a seat, but had not sat long before the parlor door opened, and his sister appeared at it and called to him in a low voice.

He arose, and went to her.

"Come out into the hall here; I want to speak to you, Clement," said Miss Pendleton.

He went out.

Then his sister inquired, in a voice full of anxious entreaty: