Miscellanea. Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing
I frightened her, and shook her nerves, and took pleasure in doing so; that I was the author of all our trouble, and she wished I would drop the dreadful subject. She would have said much more, but that I startled her by the vehemence of my interruption. I said that the day was past when I would sacrifice my peace or my duty to her whims; and she ventured no remonstrance when I announced that I intended to follow the hand so long as it moved, and discover the meaning of the apparition. I then flew down-stairs and out into the garden, where it still gleamed, and commenced a slow movement towards the gate. But my flight had been observed, Nelly, by Robert, our old butler. I had always been his favourite in the family, and since my grief, his humble sympathy had only been second to that of Dr. Penn. I had noticed the anxious watch he had kept over me since the trial, with a sort of sad amusement. I afterwards learnt that all his fears had culminated to a point when he saw me rush wildly from the house that night. He had thought I was going to drown myself. He concealed his fears at the time, however, and only said—
"What be the matter, Miss Dorothy?"
"Is that you, Robert?" I said. "Come here. Look! Do you see?"
"See what?" he said.
"Don't you see anything?" I said. "No light? Nothing?"
"Nothin' whatever," said Robert, decidedly; "it be as dark as pitch."
I stood silent, gazing at the apparition, which, having reached the gate, was slowly re-advancing. If it were fancy, why did it not vanish? I rubbed my eyes, but it was there still. Robert interrupted me, solemnly—
"Miss Dorothy, do you see anything?"
"Robert," I said, "you are a faithful friend. Listen! I see before me the lost hand of your dead master. I know it by the sapphire ring. It is surrounded by a pale light, and moves slowly. My sister has seen it three times in her sleep; and I see it now with my waking eyes. You may laugh, Robert; but it is too true."
I was not prepared for the indignant reply:
"Laugh, Miss Dorothy! The Lord forbid! If so be you do see anything, and it should be the Lord's will to reveal anything about poor dear Master Edmund to you as loved him, and is his sister, who am I that I should laugh? My mother had a cousin (many a time has she told me the story) as married a sailor (he was mate on board a vessel bound for the West Indies), and one night, about three weeks after her husband had—"
"Robert!" I said, "you shall tell me that story another day with pleasure; but no time is to be lost now. I mean to follow the hand: will you come with me and take care of me?"
"Go in, ma'am," he said; "wrap up warm, and put on thick shoes, and come quietly down to this door. I'll just slip in and quiet the servants, and meet you."
"And bring a lantern," I said; "this light does not light you."
In five minutes we were there again; and the hand was vivid as ever.
"Do you see it now?" whispered the butler, anxiously.
"Yes," I said; "it is moving."
"Go on," he said; "I will keep close behind you."
It was pitch dark, and, except for the gleaming hand, and the erratic circles of light cast by the lantern, we could see nothing. The hand gradually moved faster, increasing to a good walking pace, passing over the garden-gate and leading us on till I completely lost knowledge of our position; but still we went steadily forward. At last we got into a road, and went along by a wall; and, after a few steps, the hand, which was before me, moved sharply aside.
"Robert," I said, "it has gone over a gate—we must go too! Where are we?"
He answered, in a tone of the deepest horror—
"Miss Dorothy! for the Lord's sake, think what you are doing, and let us turn back while we can! You've had sore affliction; but it's an awful thing to bring an innocent man to trouble."
"The innocent man is in trouble!" I said, passionately. "Is it nothing that he should die, if truth could save him? You may go back if you like; but I shall go on. Tell me, whose place is this?"
"Never mind, my dear young lady," he said, soothingly. "Go on, and the Lord be with you! But be careful. You're sure you see it now?"
"Certain," I said. "It is moving. Come on."
We went forward, and I heard a click behind me.
"What is that?" I said.
"Hush!" he whispered; "make no noise! It was my pistol. Go gently, my dear young lady. It is a farmyard, and you may stumble."
"It has stopped over a building!" I whispered.
"Not the house!" he returned, hoarsely.
"I am going on," I said. "Here we are. What is it? Whose is it?"
He came close to me, and whispered solemnly—
"Miss Dorothy! be brave, and make no noise! We are in Farmer Parker's yard; and this is a barn."
Then the terror came over me.
"Let us turn back," I said. "You are right. One may bear one's own troubles, but not drag in other people. Take me home!"
But Robert would not take me home; and my courage came back, and I held the lantern whilst he unfastened the door. Then the ghastly hand passed into the barn, and we followed it.
"It has stopped in the far corner," I said. "There seems to be wood or something."
"It's bundles of wood," he whispered. "I know the place. Sit down, and tell me if it moves."
I sat down, and waited long and wearily, while he moved heavy bundles of firewood, pausing now and then to ask, "Is it here still?" At last he asked no more; and in a quarter of an hour he only spoke once: then it was to say—
"This plank has been moved."
After a while he came away to look for a spade. He found one, and went back again. At last a smothered sound made me spring up and rush to him; but he met me, driving me back.
"I beg of you, dear Miss Dorothy, keep away. Have you a handkerchief with you?"
I had one, and gave it to him. His hands were covered with earth. He had only just gone back again when I gave a cry—
"Robert! It has gone!"
He came up to me, keeping one hand behind him.
"Miss Dorothy, if ever you were good and brave, hold out now!"
I beat my hands together—"It has gone! It has gone!"
"It has not gone!" he said. "Master Edmund's hand is in this handkerchief. It has been buried under a plank of the flooring!"
I gasped, "Let me see it!"
But he would not. "No, no! my dear lady, you must not—cannot. I only knew it by the ring!"
Then he made me sit down again, whilst he replaced the firewood; and then, with the utmost quietness, we set out to return, I holding the lantern in one hand, and with the other clinging to his arm (for the apparition that had been my guide before was gone), and he carrying the awful relic in his other hand. Once, as we were leaving the yard, he whispered—
"Look!"
"I see nothing," said I.
"Hold up your lantern," he whispered.
"There is nothing but the dog-kennel," I said.
"Miss Dorothy," he said, "the dog has not barked tonight!"
By the time we reached home, my mind had fully realized the importance of our discovery, and the terribly short time left us in which to profit by it, supposing, as I fully believed, that it was the first step to the vindication of George's innocence. As we turned into the gate, Robert, who had been silent for some time broke out—
"Miss Dorothy!