Gabriel Conroy

by Bret Harte

  CHAPTER II.

  THE YELLOW ENVELOPE.

  For once, by a cruel irony, the adverse reports regarding the stabilityof the Conroy mine were true. A few stockholders still clung to thebelief that it was a fabrication to depress the stock, but the fact asstated in Mr. Dumphy's despatch to Donna Maria was in possession of thepublic. The stock, fell to $35, to $30, to $10--to nothing! An hourafter the earthquake it was known in One Horse Gulch that the "lead" had"dropped" suddenly, and that a veil of granite of incalculable thicknesshad been upheaved between the seekers and the treasure, now lost in themysterious depths below. The vein was gone! Where?--no one could tell.There were various theories, more or less learned: there was one partywho believed in the "subsidence" of the vein, another who believed inthe "interposition" of the granite, but all tending to the sameconclusion--the inaccessibility of the treasure. Science pointed withstony finger to the evidence of previous phenomena of the same charactervisible throughout the Gulch. But the grim "I told you so" of Naturewas, I fear, no more satisfactory to the dwellers of One Horse Gulchthan the ordinary prophetic distrust of common humanity.

  The news spread quickly and far. It overtook several wanderingCalifornians in Europe, and sent them to their bankers with anxiousfaces; it paled the cheeks of one or two guardians of orphan children,frightened several widows, drove a confidential clerk into shamefulexile, and struck Mr. Raynor in Boston with such consternation, thatpeople for the first time suspected that he had backed his opinion ofthe resources of California with capital. Throughout the length andbreadth of the Pacific slope it produced a movement of aggression whichthe earthquake had hitherto failed to cover. The probabilities of dangerto life and limb by a recurrence of the shock had been dismissed fromthe public consideration, but this actual loss of characteristicproperty awakened the gravest anxiety. If Nature claimed the privilegeof at any time withdrawing from that implied contract under which somany of California's best citizens had occupied and improved thecountry, it was high time that something should be done. Thus spake anintelligent and unfettered press. A few old residents talked ofreturning to the East.

  During this excitement Mr. Dumphy bore himself toward the worldgenerally with perfect self-confidence, and, if anything, an increasedaggressiveness. His customers dared not talk of their losses before him,or exhibit a stoicism unequal to his own.

  "It's a bad business," he would say; "what do you propose?" And as theone latent proposition in each human breast was the return of the moneyinvested, and as no one dared to make that proposition, Mr. Dumphy was,as usual, triumphant. In this frame of mind Mr. Poinsett found him onhis return from the Mission of San Antonio, the next morning.

  "Bad news, I suppose, down there," said Mr. Dumphy, briskly; "and Ireckon the widow, though she has been luckier than her neighbours, don'tfeel particularly lively, eh? I'm devilish sorry for you, Poinsett,though, as a man, you can see that the investment was a good one. Butyou can't make a woman understand business. Eh? Well, the Rancho's worthdouble the mortgage, I reckon. Eh? Ugly, ain't she--of course! Saidshe'd been swindled? That's like a woman! You and me know 'em! eh,Poinsett?" Mr. Dumphy emitted his characteristic bark, and winked at hisvisitor.

  Arthur looked up in unaffected surprise. "If you mean Mrs. Sepulvida,"he said, coldly, "I haven't seen her. I was on my way there when yourtelegram recalled me. I had some business with Padre Felipe."

  "You don't know then that the Conroy mine has gone up with theearthquake, eh? Lead dropped out--eh? and the widow's fifty-sixthousand?"--here Mr. Dumphy snapped his finger and thumb, to illustratethe lame and impotent conclusion of Donna Maria's investment--"don't youknow that?"

  "No," said Arthur, with perfect indifference and a languid abstractionthat awed Mr. Dumphy more than anxiety; "no, I don't. But I imagine thatisn't the reason you telegraphed me."

  "No," returned Dumphy, still eyeing Poinsett keenly for a possible clueto this singular and unheard-of apathy to the condition of the fortuneof the woman his visitor was about to marry. "No--of course!"

  "Well!" said Arthur, with that dangerous quiet which was the onlyoutward sign of interest and determination in his nature. "I'm going upto One Horse Gulch to offer my services as counsel to Gabriel Conroy.Now for the details of this murder, which, by the way, I don't believeGabriel committed, unless he's another man than the one I knew! Afterthat you can tell me _your_ business with me, for I don't suppose youtelegraphed to me on his account solely. Of course, at first you felt itwas to your interest to get him and his wife out of the way, now thatRamirez is gone. But now, if you please, let me know what _you_ knowabout this murder."

  Mr. Dumphy thus commanded, and completely under the influence ofArthur's quiet will, briefly recounted the particulars already known tothe reader, of which he had been kept informed by telegraph.

  "He's been recaptured," added Dumphy, "I learn by a later despatch; andI don't reckon there'll be another attempt to lynch him. I've managed_that_," he continued, with a return of his old self-assertion. "I'vegot some influence there!"

  For the first time during the interview Arthur awoke from hispre-occupation, and glanced keenly at Dumphy. "Of course," he returned,coolly, "I don't suppose you such a fool as to allow the only witnessyou have of your wife's death to be sacrificed--even if you believedthat the impostor who was personating your wife had been charged withcomplicity in a capital crime and had fled from justice. You're not sucha fool as to believe that this Mrs. Conroy won't try to help herhusband, that she evidently loves, by every means in her power--that shewon't make use of any secret she may have that concerns you to save himand herself. No, Mr. Peter Dumphy," said Arthur significantly; "no,you're too much of a business man not to see that." As he spoke he notedthe alternate flushing and paling of Mr. Dumphy's face, and read--I fearwith the triumphant and instinctive consciousness of a superiorintellect--that Mr. Dumphy _had_ been precisely such a fool, and hadfailed!

  "I reckon nobody will put much reliance on the evidence of a womancharged with a capital crime," said Mr. Dumphy, with a show ofconfidence he was far from feeling.

  "Suppose that she and Gabriel both swear that _she_ knows your abandonedwife, for instance; suppose that they both swear that she and youconnived to personate Grace Conroy for the sake of getting the title tothis mine; suppose that she alleges that she repented and marriedGabriel, as she did, and suppose that they both admit the killing ofthis Ramirez--and assert that you were persecuting them through him, andstill are; suppose that they show that he forged a second grant to themine--through _your_ instigation?"

  "It's a lie," interrupted Dumphy, starting to his feet; "he did it fromjealousy."

  "Can you _prove_ his motives?" said Arthur.

  "But the grant was not in my favour--it was to some old Californian downin the Mission of San Antonio. I can prove that," said Dumphy,excitedly.

  "Suppose you can? Nobody imagines you so indiscreet as to have hadanother grant conveyed to _you directly_, while you were negotiatingwith Gabriel for _his_. Don't be foolish! _I_ know you had nothing to dowith the forged grant. I am only suggesting how you have laid yourselfopen to the charges of a woman of whom you are likely to make an enemy,and might have made an ally. If you calculate to revenge Ramirez,consider first if you care to have it proved that he was a confidentialagent of yours--as they will, if you don't help _them_. Never mindwhether they committed the murder. You are not their judge or accuser.You must help them for your own sake. No!" continued Arthur, after apause, "congratulate yourself that the Vigilance Committee did not hangGabriel Conroy, and that you have not to add revenge to the othermotives of a desperate and scheming woman."

  "But are you satisfied that Mrs. Conroy _is_ really the person whostands behind Colonel Starbottle and personates my wife?"

  "I am," replied Arthur, positively.

  Dumphy hesitated a moment. Should he tell Arthur of Colonel Starbottle'sinterview with him, and the delivery and subsequent loss of themysterious envelope? Arthur read his embarrassment plainly, andpreci
pitated his decision with a single question.

  "Have you had any further interview with Colonel Starbottle?"

  Thus directly adjured. Dumphy hesitated no longer, but at once repeatedthe details of his late conversation with Starbottle, his successfulbribery of the Colonel, the delivery of the sealed envelope undercertain conditions, and its mysterious disappearance. Arthur heard himthrough with quiet interest, but when Mr. Dumphy spoke of the loss ofthe envelope, he fixed his eyes on Mr. Dumphy's with a significance thatwas unmistakable.

  "You say you lost this envelope trusted to your honour!" said Arthur,with slow and insulting deliberation. "Lost it, without having opened itor learned its contents? That was very unfortunate, Mr. Dumphy, ve-ryun-for-tu-nate!"

  The indignation of an honourable man at the imputation of some meannessforeign to his nature is weak compared with the anger of a rascalaccused of an offence which he might have committed, but didn't. Mr.Dumphy turned almost purple! It was so evident that he had not beenguilty of concealing the envelope, and did not know its contents, thatArthur was satisfied.

  "He denied any personal knowledge of Mrs. Conroy in this affair?"queried Arthur.

  "Entirely! He gave me to understand that his instructions were receivedfrom another party unknown to me," said Dumphy. "Look yer,Poinsett--you're wrong! I don't believe it is that woman."

  Arthur shook his head. "No one else possesses the information necessaryto blackmail you. No one else has a motive in doing it."

  The door opened to a clerk bearing a card. Mr. Dumphy took itimpatiently and read aloud, "Colonel Starbottle of Siskiyou!" He thenturned an anxious face to Poinsett.

  "Good," said that gentleman, quietly; "admit him." As the clerkdisappeared, Arthur turned to Dumphy, "I suppose it was to meet this manyou sent for me?"

  "Yes," returned Dumphy, with a return of his old brusqueness.

  "Then hold your tongue, and leave everything to me."

  The door opened as he spoke to Colonel Starbottle's frilled shirt andexpanding bosom, followed at a respectful interval by the gallantColonel himself. He was evidently surprised by the appearance of Mr.Dumphy's guest, but by no means dashed in his usual chivalrous port andbearing. "My legal adviser, Mr. Poinsett," said Dumphy, introducingArthur briefly.

  The gallant Colonel bowed stiffly, while Arthur, with a smile offascinating courtesy and deference that astonished Dumphy in proportionas it evidently flattered and gratified Colonel Starbottle, steppedforward and extended his hand. "As a younger member of the profession Ican hardly claim the attention of one so experienced as ColonelStarbottle, but as the friend of poor Henry Beeswinger, I can venture totake the hand of the man who so gallantly stood by him as his second,two years ago."

  "Ged, sir," said Colonel Starbottle, absolutely empurpling withpleasure, and exploding his handkerchief from his sweltering breast."Ged! you--er--er--do me proud! I am--er--gratified, sir, to meet anyfriend of--er--er--gentleman like Hank Beeswinger! I remember the wholeaffair, sir, as if it was yesterday. I do!" with an oath. "Gratifying,Mr. Poinsett, to every gentleman concerned. Your friend, sir,--I'm proudto meet you--I am,----me!--killed, sir, second fire! Dropped like agentleman,----me! No fuss; no reporters; no arrests. Friendsconsiderate. Blank me, sir, one of the finest, d---- me, I may say, sir,one of the very finest--er--meetings in which I have--er--participated.Glad to know you, sir. You call to mind, sir, one of the--er--highestillustrations of a code of honour--that--er--er--under thepresent--er--degrading state of public sentiment is er--er--passingaway. We are drifting sir, drifting--drifting to er--er--political andsocial condition, where the Voice of Honour, sir, is drowned by theYankee watchword of Produce and Trade. Trade, sir, blank me!" ColonelStarbottle paused with a rhetorical full stop, blew his nose, and gazedat the ceiling with a plaintive suggestion that the days of chivalry hadindeed passed, and that American institutions were indeed retrograding;Mr. Dumphy leaned back in his chair in helpless irritability; Mr. ArthurPoinsett alone retained an expression of courteous and sympathisingattention.

  "I am the more gratified at meeting Colonel Starbottle," said Arthur,gravely, "from the fact that my friend and client here, Mr. Dumphy is atpresent in a condition where he most needs the consideration andunderstanding of a gentleman and a man of honour. A paper, which hasbeen entrusted to his safe keeping and custody as a gentleman, hasdisappeared since the earthquake, and it is believed that during theexcitement of that moment it was lost! The paper is supposed to beintact, as it was in an envelope that _had never been opened, and whoseseals were unbroken_. It is a delicate matter, but I am rejoiced thatthe gentleman who left the paper in trust is the honourable ColonelStarbottle, whom I know by reputation, and the gentleman who sufferedthe misfortune of losing it is my personal friend Mr. Dumphy. It enablesme at once to proffer my services as mediator, or as Mr. Dumphy's legaladviser and friend, to undertake _all_ responsibility in the matter."

  The tone and manner were so like Colonel Starbottle's own, that Dumphylooked from Arthur to Colonel Starbottle in hopeless amazement. Thelatter gentleman dropped his chin and fixed a pair of astonished andstaring eyes upon Arthur. "Do I understand--that--er--this gentleman,Mr. Dumphy, has placed you in possession of any confidentialstatement--that--er"----

  "Pardon me, Colonel Starbottle," interrupted Arthur, rising withdignity, "the facts I have just stated are sufficient for theresponsibility I assume in this case. I learn from my client that asealed paper placed in his hands is missing. I have from him thestatement that I am bound to believe, that it passed from his handsunopened; where, he knows not. This is a matter, between gentlemen,serious enough without further complication!"

  "And the paper and envelope are lost?" continued Colonel Starbottle,still gazing at Arthur.

  "Are lost," returned Arthur, quietly. "I have advised my friend, Mr.Dumphy, that as a man of honour, and a business man, he is by no meansfreed through this unfortunate accident from any promise or contractthat he may have entered into with you concerning it. Any deposit as acollateral for its safe delivery which he might have made, _or haspromised to make_, is clearly forfeited. This he has been waiting onlyfor your appearance to hand to you." Arthur crossed to Mr. Dumphy's sideand laid his hand lightly upon his shoulder, but with a certainsignificance of grip palpable to Mr. Dumphy, who, after looking into hiseyes, took out his cheque book. When he had filled in a duplicate ofthe cheque he had given Colonel Starbottle two days before, Arthur tookit from his hand and touched the bell. "As we will not burden ColonelStarbottle unnecessarily, your cashier's acceptance of this paper willenable him to use it henceforth at his pleasure, and as I expect to havethe pleasure of the Colonel's company to my office, will you kindly havethis done at once?"

  The clerk appeared, and at Mr. Poinsett's direction, took the chequefrom the almost passive fingers of Mr. Dumphy.

  "Allow me to express my perfect satisfaction with--er--er yourexplanation!" said Colonel Starbottle, extending one hand to Arthur,while at the same moment he gracefully readjusted his shirt-bosom withthe other. "Trouble yourself no further--regarding the--er--er--paper. Itrust it will--er--yet be found; if not, sir, I shall--er--er--" addedthe Colonel, with honourable resignation, "hold myself _personallyresponsible_ to my client, blank me!"

  "Was there no mark upon the envelope by which it might be known withoutexplaining its contents?" suggested Arthur.

  "None, sir, a plain yellow envelope. Stop!" said the Colonel, strikinghis forehead with his hand. "Ged, sir! I do remember now that during ourconversation I made a memorandum, ---- me, a memorandum upon the face ofit, across it, a name, Ged, sir, the very name of the party you werespeaking of--Gabriel Conroy!"

  "You wrote the name of Gabriel Conroy upon it! Good! That may lead toits identification without exposing its contents," returned Arthur."Well, sir?"

  The last two words were addressed to Mr. Dumphy's clerk, who had enteredduring the Colonel's speech and stood staring alternately at him and hisemployer, holding the accepted cheque in his hand.

  "Give i
t to the gentleman," said Dumphy, curtly.

  The man obeyed. Colonel Starbottle took the cheque, folded it, andplaced it somewhere in the moral recesses of his breast-pocket. Thatdone, he turned to Mr. Dumphy. "I need not say--er--that--er--as far asmy personal counsel and advice to my client can prevail, it will bemy effort to prevent litigation in this--er--delicate affair.Should the envelope--er--er--turn up! you will of course--er--sendit to me, who am--er--personally responsible for it. Ged, sir,"continued the Colonel, "I should be proud to conclude this affair,conducted as it has been on your side with the strictest honour,over the--er--festive-board--but--er--business prevents me! I leavehere in one hour for One Horse Gulch!"

  Both Mr. Dumphy and Poinsett involuntarily started.

  "One Horse Gulch?" repeated Arthur.

  "---- me! yes! Ged, sir, I'm retained in a murder case there; the caseof this man Gabriel Conroy."

  Arthur cast a swift precautionary look at Dumphy. "Then perhaps we maybe travelling companions?" he said to Starbottle, smiling pleasantly. "Iam going there too. Perhaps my good fortune may bring us in friendlycounsel. You are engaged"----

  "For the prosecution," interrupted Starbottle, slightly expanding hischest. "At the request of relatives of the murdered man--a Spanishgentleman of--er--er--large and influential family connections, I shallassist the District Attorney, my old friend, Nelse Buckthorne!"

  The excitement kindled in Arthur's eyes luckily did not appear in hisvoice. It was still pleasant to Colonel Starbottle's ear, as, after asingle threatening glance of warning at the utterly mystified and halfexploding Dumphy, he turned gracefully toward him. "And if, by thefortunes of war, we should be again on opposite sides, my dear Colonel,I trust that our relations may be as gratifying as they have beento-day. One moment! I am going your way. Let me beg you to take my arm afew blocks and a glass of wine afterwards as a stirrup-cup on ourjourney." And with a significant glance at Dumphy, Arthur Poinsettslipped Colonel Starbottle's arm deftly under his own, and actuallymarched off with that doughty warrior, a blushing, expanding, but notunwilling captive.

  When the door closed Mr. Dumphy resumed his speech and action in asingle expletive. What more he might have said is not known, for at thesame moment he caught sight of his clerk, who had entered hastily at theexit of the others, but who now stood awed and abashed by Mr. Dumphy'spassion. "Dash it all! what in dash are you dashingly doing here, dashyou?"

  "Sorry, sir," said the unlucky clerk; "but overhearing that gentlemansay there was writing on the letter that you lost by which it might beidentified, sir--we think we've found it--that is, we know where it is!"

  "How?" said Dumphy, starting up eagerly.

  "When the shock came that afternoon," continued the clerk, "the expressbag for Sacramento and Marysville had just been taken out by theexpressman, and was lying on top of the waggon. The horses started torun at the second shock, and the bag fell and was jammed against alamp-post in front of our window, bursting open as it did so andspilling some letters and papers on the side-walk. One of our nightwatchmen helped the expressman pick up the scattered letters, and pickedup among them a plain yellow envelope with no address but the name ofGabriel Conroy written in pencil across the end. Supposing it haddropped from some package in the express bag, he put it back again inthe bag. When you asked about a blank envelope missing from your desk,he did not connect it with the one he had picked up, for _that_ hadwriting on it. We sent to the express office just now, and found thatthey had stamped it, and forwarded it to Conroy at One Horse Gulch, justas they had always done with his letters sent to our care. That's theway of it. Daresay it's there by this time, in his hands, sir, allright!"