by M. P. Shiel
XLVII
THE EMIGRANTS
Late the same night the Regent received at the Palace a telegram aboutRebekah: She had travelled alone to Southampton, where a landau at thestation had awaited her, in which she had driven to a country-house nearthe Itchen named "Silverfern", two miles from Bitterne Manor, in whichlived an elderly gentleman, Mr. Abrahams, ark-opener and scroll-bearerin the Synagogue, with his wife and two sons. The passage of these, andof Rebekah, was booked by the _Calabria_, Jewish emigrant-ship, to sailin four days.
Hogarth no sooner heard these tidings than he tumbled into crime:resolved to kidnap Rebekah; to break his own law for his own behoof: oneof the basest acts of a King.
He had four days: and by the end of the second four men lay in waitround "Silverfern", one a sea-fort sub-lieutenant, one a detective, andtwo others very rough customers: a cottage having been hired by them forthe reception of Rebekah in a dell a mile higher up the Itchen.
But something infects the world; and gravity badgers the bullet'strajectory; and a magnetic "H" disturbs the needle; and "impossible"roots turn up in the equation; and the finger of God is in every pie.
Hence, though the four ravishers lay in wait, and actually effected aseizure, the Regent did not get his girl.
None of the four had ever seen her: but as there was no young ladyexcept her at "Silverfern", that seemed of no importance, so she hadbeen only described to them as dark and pretty.
But on the night after Rebekah's arrival, there came to "Silverfern" anew inmate: Margaret Hogarth.
_Her_ passage, too, was booked to Palestine.
For Frankl had said: "In expelling the Jews, he shall expel his ownsister. Oh, that's sweet, after all!"
At this time Frankl's interest in Land Bill and England was dead, twointerests only remaining to him: so to realize his share in the Westernworld as to reach Jerusalem loaded with wealth; and also, not lessintense, to hurt Hogarth, to outwit him, to cry quits at the last.
It was hard--Hogarth being set so high; but he invoked the help of theHoly One (blessed be He): and was not without resource.
Why had Hogarth never had him seized, racked? What restrained the Regent_now_? That was a question with Frankl. Hogarth might say, even tohimself, that Frankl was vermin too small to be crushed, that he waitedfor his sister from God; but lately the real reason had grown uponFrankl: it was because Hogarth _was afraid_ of him! afraid that Frankl,if persecuted beyond measure, might blurt out the Regent's convict past,and raise a sensation of horror through the world not pleasant to face.Harris, O'Hara, Rebekah and Frankl alone knew that past, and the motivesfor silence of the first three were obvious; nor had Frankl whisperedthat secret even to his own heart in his bed-chamber, conscious of hisown guilt in the matter of the Arab Jew's death, fearing that, if thewit and power of Hogarth were given motive to move heaven and earth, thereal facts might not be undiscoverable: then would Frankl be groundto fine powder by the grinders. But if he was going to Palestine, whatmattered?
Also, there was Margaret: she should go out as a Jewess.
She arrived at "Silverfern" in the charge of a Jewish clerk, and theAbrahams received her as an afflicted orphan, committed to Frankl by herfather; she, like Rebekah, to go under their care.
Well, the evening before the departure, Mr. and Mrs. Abrahams, theirtwo sons, Rebekah and Margaret, all go for a stroll--about nine o'clock,that morning one of the four ravishers having been to the house on somepretence, seen Margaret with Mrs. Abrahams under the porch, and notedher well, her grey tailor-gown, her brooch, her singing; and now, as allwalked out under the moon, they were watched, the watchers, surprisedat the presence of _two_ young ladies, concluding that thesmaller--Rebekah--must have arrived later: so upon the large and shapelyform of Margaret their gaze fastened, as the party passed near theirhedge of concealment, Margaret then remarking: "My name is RachelOppenheimer--" and Mrs. Abrahams with gentle chiding answering her: "No,be good: your name is Ruth Levi".
For during two years at the Jewish Asylum at Wroxham they hadtilled into her shrieking brain, "Now, be good: your name isRachel Oppenheimer", and one day she had said: "My name _is_ RachelOppenheimer", and had been saying it ever since.
In fact, there was a real Rachel Oppenheimer, a dependent of Frankl's,at Yarmouth, who was rather mad, and when it had been necessarythat Margaret should be out of the way in order to secure Hogarth'sconviction, two doctors had examined this Rachel Oppenheimer, and giventhe legal certificates by means of which Frankl had put away Margaret;and she during two years of sanity in an atmosphere of lunacy hadscreamed for pity, till one morning she had shewed the stare, theunworldly rapture, and had started to sing her old songs.
After which, Frankl, hearing of it, and touched by some awe, had got herout, and kept her in one retreat or another.
But in all her madness was mixed some memory of his devilish heart, andevery fresh sight of him inspired her with panic, she in his presencehanging upon his eyes, instant to obey his slightest hint: hence herbeckoning down to Hogarth from that window in Market Street.
Now, on this last night of England the Abrahams party strolled far, twodays like Summer days having come, on hedge and tree now trippingthe shoots of Spring, the moon-haunted night of a mild mood: so from"Silverfern" lawns they passed up a steep field northward, down a pathbetween village-houses, and idled within a pine-wood by the river-side.
The moon's glow was like one luminous ghost: and buttercup, daisy,snowdrop, primrose gathered Margaret, vagrant, flighty, light to thewinds that wafted her as fluff, and tossed them suddenly aloft, andback they came to be tangled in her bare hair; and now she was a tipsybacchante, singing:
"Will you come to the wedding? Will you come? Bring you own bread and butter, And your own tea and sugar, And we'll all pay a penny for the Rum".
"Poor Ruth!"--from Rebekah, an arm about her waist.
"There is such a huge pool which is wheeling", said Margaret, gazingat it with surprise, "and it goes hollow in the middle: my goodness,it does wheel! and there is a little grey duck in it ranging round andround with it, and this little grey duck is singing like an angel".
"Do you know where we are going to?" asked Rebekah: "to the land of ourfathers, Ruth, after all the exile in this ugly Western world; and it ishe who sends us, the fierce-willed master of men".
"My name", said Margaret, "is Rachel Oppenheimer"; and immediately,wafted like a half-inflated balloon which leaps to descend a thousandfeet away, she sang:
"Happy day! Happy day! When Jesus washed my sins away..."
Then, woe-begone, she shook her head, and let fall her abandoned hand;and Rebekah, speaking more to herself: "Did you never hear of Hogarth,the King, Ruth? or see him in some dream in shining white, with a facelike the face in the bush which burned and was not consumed?"
But now Margaret laughed, crying out: "Oh, there's a man riding ashorthorn bull that has wings; white it is: and up they fly, thebull pawing and snorting, all among the stars. Oh, and now the man isfalling!--my goodness--"
She stood still, gazing at that thing in heaven.
"Well, what has become of the man, dear?" asked Rebekah.
"I can't make out....But I should like to marry that man".
"Ah, if wishes were fathers, we should all have babies, Ruth, to say our_kaddish_".
"Oh, look--!" cried Margaret.
A rabbit had rushed across a path ahead, and she ran that way beyond abend....When Rebekah followed she had disappeared.
On Rebekah's outcry all set to search wood, path, river--she was gone;but after five minutes a voice a long way off in the wood, singing:
"O what a pretty place, And what a graceful city...."
on which the two youths flew toward the sound, and presently the rest,following, heard a shout, a cry, then silence, till one of the youngmen came running back, his face washed in blood: he had seen some forms,and, as he had approached, been struck on the brow, his brother felled.When all came to where the brother lay insensible
, no sign of Margaret;nor could villagers and police, searching through the night, find her.
She had gone without surprise with her four captors, who had carried herto a cottage of boarded-up windows: and the same hour Hogarth had thenews.
The next morning the four received detailed instructions at the village_poste restante_: the lady-attendant at the cottage was to ask theprisoner if she would go to London, try to persuade her, and, if sheconsented, make her sign pledge of honour (enclosed) to go without anyattempt at escape during three days.
The men were surprised: for that Margaret was deranged they had seen atonce, and supposed that the Regent must know it: what, then, could herpledge do? Their business, however, was to obey: and when Margaretwas asked: "Will you go quietly to the Palace in London with us?" sheanswered: "Yes!" and sang:
"Here we go to London-town: Tri-de-laddie! Tri-de-laddie! See the King with his golden crown, Tri-de-laddie, O!"
By noon the Abrahams and Rebekah were being tugged out of harbour, tothe hand-wavings and god-speeds of seven emigrant-boats by the quay; butit was not till five that the Regent's emissaries could obtain a specialtrain on the thronged lines; and not till after seven did they arrivewith Margaret at the Palace-gates.
Now, that night the Lord Regent and the Prince of Wales were attendinga banquet at the Guildhall, given in honour of sea-rent reduction onBritish ships, and at the moment when Margaret arrived Hogarth, already_en route_, thinking of Rebekah, muttered: "By now she is here!"
But since Frankl, on getting news of the disappearance of Margaret, hadat once conjectured the hand of Hogarth, as Margaret was being handedfrom the cab at the Palace-gates, she saw two terrible eyes, and,snatching her hand free, flew screaming down the street--eyes of Frankl,who, conjecturing that hither she would be brought, had taken standthere half the afternoon, knowing precisely the effect upon her ofthe sight of his face; and said he: "You see, you haven't got heryet--though you _shall_ have her to your heart's content...."
As she could only run southward or northward, he had posted twomotor-cars, one containing a clerk to south, the other Harris, to north,so that, as she ran, one or other should catch her, hustle her in, anddash away.
In fact, she ran north, right into the arms of Harris, her surprisedguardians still ten yards behind; and "Quick!" hissed Harris, "come withme, or 'e'll 'ave you!" and was off with her.
Upon which Frankl drove to the Market Street house, where he foundHarris and Margaret; and again, with screams, she sought to fly, thoughher first terrors gave place to a quiet subservience after some minutesof his presence.
"Oh Lawd!" said Harris, "she started singing in the car, you know. Singme songs of Araby, it _is_. Enough to give anybody the sicks".
"You see this gentleman here?" said Frankl to Margaret.
"Yes", she whispered: "oh my!"
"Well, it so happens that very likely you are going to live in the samehouse as him--a big Palace with all gold and silver, where the King withhis crown lives, and all. So while you are there, I want you to be hisfriend as if it was myself, and do everything he tells you, same asmyself, in fact. Do you see?"
"Yes", she whispered, her large form towering above Frankl's, yet awe ofhim widening her eyes.
"What's your name?" said he.
"My name is Rachel Oppenheimer", said she.
"All right: come up and dress".
She followed him up to a back room, where was a lamp, a glass, etc., andon an old settee evening-dress complete, shoes, roses, head-wrap.
"Now", said Frankl, leaving her, he, too, in evening-dress, "I giveyou ten minutes to rig yourself out in that lot: a second more, and youcatch it".
And in fifteen minutes they two were in a cab, _en route_ for theGuildhall, Frankl, who had invitations for himself and daughter, saying:"You understand? you keep your eye fixed upon me the whole time--nevermind about eating--and when I hold up my finger _so_, you rise and givethem a little song...."
It was a function intended to be memorable, the Lord Regent goingin state, attended by 150 Yeomen, King-at-Arms, six heralds and allHeralds' College, to be met at Temple Bar by my Lord Mayor, thatday made a baronet, with his Sheriffs and Aldermen on horseback; theGuildhall in blue velvet, the platform at the east end bearing rowsof squat gold chairs, while a canopy of deep-blue velvet, lined withlight-blue sarcenet, dropped ponderous draperies, tied back with goldropes, over the floor; on the canopy-front being Sword and Sceptre, theRoyal Crown of Britain, and the Diadem of the Sea; the canopy table andthe other looking like a short and a long wine-banquet of the Magi inOphir: present being members of the British Royal House, Ambassadorsto Britain and the Sea, the two Archbishops, Ministers, the Speaker,Officers, Fort-Admirals, the Regent's Household, the chief Nobility, theCity personages.
Farthest from the short royal table, near the foot of the long, wherethe dishes were _kosher_ for a Jewish colony, sat Frankl, and oppositehim Margaret; and that face of Frankl was pinched and worn.
He prayed continually: "May God be my Rock and my High Tower; may theAlmighty be my Shield this night...." while in two minutes Margaret hadbegun to be a wonder to her neighbours--heaved sighs, threw herself,beat plate with knife, hummed a little, yet conscious of wrong-doing,her eyes fixed upon Frankl.
"Oh, my!" her sigh heaved mortally, head tumbling dead on shoulder.
"Are you--unwell?" asked a startled neighbour, all shirt-front,eye-glass and delicacy.
"I see a long table with gold plates", she whined pitifully, "on everyplate an eyeball dying...."
Frankl controlled her with a glance of anger.
And in the second course after turtle, with a fainting prayer toJehovah, the Jew clandestinely held up a forefinger; upon which she,after some hesitation, remembered the signal, and like a dart shot toher feet.
Now every eye fastened upon her, from Regent's and Prince's tothe bottom, those near her, who knew her now, feeling a miserableheart-shrinking of shame.
With sideward head she stood some seconds, smiling; and she sighed: "Myname is Rachel--"
But soon, her mood now rushing into sprightliness, she stamped, and withan active alacrity of eye, sang:
"Will you come to the wedding? Will you come? Bring your own bread-and-butter, And your own tea-and-sugar, And we'll all pay a penny for the Rum, Rum, Rum, We'll all pay a penny for the Rum".
The Regent had risen, while Frankl, calm now in reaction, gazed sweetlyupon his face: the vengeance of a Jew--nor was he half done withvengeance. Certainly, Hogarth was pale: he had sought her long, andfound her _so_. "Why it is my own heart", he thought, "and they havemade her mad".
One moment a stab of shame pierced him at the reflection: "_Here!_" butin the next his heart yearned upon her, and he rose nimbly and naturallyfar beyond Lord Mayor and Prince, and the rut of the world. After aperfectly deliberate bow, he left his place, and walked down the lengthof the hall to her, amid the gaping gods, Loveday, too, and threeothers, when he was half-way, following.
He had her hand, touched her temple lightly, yet compellingly,healingly....
"Dear, don't you know me?--Richard?--_Dick?_"
No, but at sight of Loveday some kind of recognition seemed to light,and die, in her eyes.
"Will you come, dear, and sit up yonder with me?" Hogarth asked, hisface a mask of emotion.
Wearily she shook her head; and "John", said Hogarth, "take her home";whereupon Loveday led her out, the Regent returning to the canopy.
Half an hour later he found it _a propos_ of something to say to thePrince: "That lady who sang is my sister, Your Royal Highness--seems tohave been subjected to gross cruelties, and has gone crazy".
The next morning everyone knew that she was the Regent's sister; and aman said to a man: "There is madness in the family, then...."
