"a deed's to be done. there is sin in the doing.
oh, see how the mother her child is pursuing!
she smites him unknowing. oh, mother, blind mother,
thy son thou hast slain--not the son of another!
the deed thou hast done bodes a life-time of rueing;
thy son thou hast slaughtered, as cain did his brother!"
it was on friday morning that mrs. belk had her fatal interview with maxwell--fatal indeed to her son, to benefit whom that same interview had been sought for. had she not been of such a secretive disposition she would have told samson of the finding of the jewel and how she intended to obtain money thereon as a clue to the assassin of sir rupert, in which case he would doubtless have prevented her doing so.
anxious, however, to surprise samson with a piece of good news, she had refrained from taking him into her confidence, and thus inadvertently placed him in a situation of extreme peril. ignorant of this, however, she left maxwell with the fifty pounds in her purse and joy in her heart, thinking she could now give her son a chance of making money by his physical strength. determined to see for herself what rivals he would have in the event of his entering the arena as "a strong man," on friday night she went to totahoop's music hall, where "the new milo" was exhibiting his world renowned feats of strength. after witnessing his performance, she was satisfied that her son had nothing to fear in the way of comparison, and on saturday night went to a rival variety entertainment to see "the modern hercules." this gentleman, in mrs. belk's opinion proved equally disappointing; so the next day, which was sunday, she departed for deswarth with the full conviction that her son, aided by the fifty pounds obtained from maxwell, would only have to appear before a london audience to easily distance both the milo and the hercules.
she went down by the morning train, but on arriving at her cottage found that samson had gone to a town some distance away on an errand for sir thomas, his new master, and would not be back again until the afternoon. under these circumstances she was forced to curb her impatience and wait some hours before she could reveal the good news to her son.
meanwhile, as fate was thus delaying the warning to samson which such a revelation would have brought about, archie maxwell, accompanied by mrs. belswin and her italian friend, had arrived at the chequers, from whence they intended to go to belk's cottage and demand an explanation from him as to the discovery of the scarf-pin on the terrace at thornstream. confronted with the landlord of the chequers, signor ferrari had no difficulty in proving to maxwell that he was in the house at ten o'clock on that fatal night, and as the doctor at the inquest had asserted that sir rupert had been shot shortly before eleven, maxwell was forced to believe by this circumstantial evidence that ferrari was innocent of the crime. mrs. belswin had also recalled to the young man's mind her evidence at the inquest, so he could not possibly suspect her in any way, therefore to all appearances belk was the only person to whom suspicion pointed in any strong degree. this being the case, after the interview with the landlord of the chequers, mr. maxwell and his two friends set off to belk's cottage, where mrs. belk was now impatiently awaiting the arrival of her son.
it seemed to mrs. belswin, superstitious as she was in the highest degree, that fortune was dead against her in every way. firstly, she had been beaten on every point by silas oates; secondly, it was only by the merest chance that she had been able to conceal her identity from maxwell, in the matter of his accusation against ferrari, and now she was afraid of samson belk. afraid, because the finding of the scarf-pin proved conclusively that he was on the terrace on that night, in which case he might have overheard her interview with sir rupert. if this was the case, in order to save himself he would certainly tell archie all he knew, and she would be lost. there was no time to see and warn him as she had done ferrari, so she walked on to the cottage with a set smile on her face and a deadly fear in her heart.
on their arrival, mrs. belk opened the door, and was very much surprised at such an invasion. however, she said nothing, but, standing in her doorway, waited for an explanation of their visit.
"is your son at home, mrs. belk," asked maxwell, abruptly.
"no, sir," replied mrs. belk, dropping a curtsey, "but i'm expecting him every minute."
"oh, in that case we'll wait."
"yes, sir, certainly!"
mrs. belk moved unwillingly on one side, as she was in a state of considerable mystification as to the reason of mr. maxwell's unexpected arrival; and they all entered the cottage. the little woman gave them seats, and then stood waiting to hear what they had to say. maxwell's business, however, was with samson belk, and not with his mother, so he preserved a masterly silence, in order to give her no opportunity of finding out his errand, and perhaps, by a look, putting her son on his guard.
"i hope nothing is wrong about the money, sir," said mrs. belk, after a long pause.
"no! that is all right."
"have you found out anything, sir?"
"you mean about the scarf-pin?" said maxwell, evasively.
"yes, sir."
"mr. maxwell has found out the owner of it," interposed mrs. belswin, coldly.
"i am the owner," said ferrari, complacently.
"you?" cried mrs. belk, with a sudden flush on her face; "you, sir?"
"even i, signora!"
mrs. belk felt quite taken back. she was quite sure that the owner of the scarf-pin had killed sir rupert, yet, here he was, calmly acknowledging that it belonged to him, which he certainly would not do if he were guilty. the little woman looked from ferrari to maxwell, from maxwell to mrs. belswin; and saw in their eyes the same expression---a look of pity. a sudden thrill of fear shot through her heart, and she turned towards maxwell with a cry of alarm.
"sir! sir!" she stammered, nervously, "what does this mean?--why do you come here?"
"we want to see your son, mrs. belk."
"my son, sir? is anything wrong? oh, tell me, sir, samson has been doing nothing wrong?"
none of the three persons present answered her, so filled were their hearts with pity for her coming agony.
"is it anything to do with the diamond, sir?"
"yes."
"oh!" cried mrs. belk, with an expression of relief on her face, "perhaps you think my son stole it?"
"your son," said mrs. belswin, quickly. "did he have that scarf-pin in his possession?"
mrs. belk faced round fiercely.
"no ma'am; he knows nothing about it."
"ebbene," murmured the italian; "we shall see."
"what do you say, sir?"
"i say," replied ferrari, coolly, "that the scarf-pin was mine, and i gave it to--to--your son."
"to my son," shrieked mrs. belk, her pale face growing yet paler; "but i found the diamond on the terrace."
"per bacco! who loses finds."
mrs. belk kept silent for a moment, overwhelmed by the thought of the perilous position in which she had placed her son, for in a single instant she saw all; then, staggering against the wall, she gave a cry which was scarcely human in its agony.
scarcely had it died away, when hurried footsteps were heard, and the door was dashed open to admit samson belk, with a look of astonishment on his face.
"mother! what is the matter? mrs. belswin?"
"yes!" said mrs. belswin, advancing a step, "we have come----"
the mother saw the movement, and with a shriek of jealous rage, darted between them, and flung herself into her son's arms.
"yes, my son, yes!" she cried, convulsively; "they have come to kill you! to hang you!"
"mother!"
"they say you killed the master."
"it's a lie!"
samson belk placed his mother in a chair, where she sat in a half-fainting condition, and turned fiercely towards the two men, like a lion at bay.
"now then," he said--his habitually slow voice, sharp and quick--"what's all this?"
maxwell held out his hand, and in the palm of it lay the diamond scarf-pin.
"do you know this?" he demanded, slowly.
belk gave a mighty laugh of scorn.
"know it? yes, i know it. 'tis the diamond i got from yonder chap."
"you acknowledge that he gave it to you, then?"
"of course! why shouldn't i?"
"because i found it on the terrace, samson," cried his mother, madly.
"well, what of that; i lost it there, mother!"
"when did you lose it?" asked maxwell, quickly.
belk thought a moment, and then started as the full meaning of this interrogation flashed across his dull brain.
"eh! then you chaps say i killed sir rupert."
"we do not say so," said maxwell, emphatically; "we only say that this diamond scarf-pin, which you acknowledge to have had in your possession, was found near the window where the body was lying."
"and that pin hangs me, sir?"
"not if you can account satisfactorily for its being there."
"you ain't got the police, sir."
"no!"
"samson! samson!" wailed his mother, clinging to him, "say it was not you killed the master!"
"quiet, mother!" said her son, replacing her in the chair, "i can tell my own story."
"you are innocent?" asked mrs. belswin, impulsively.
"innocent!" repeated belk, with scorn, "if i wasn't i'd have been off to the states by this time. sit down, gentlemen: sit down, madam, i can tell you the truth."
all resumed their seats mechanically; but belk leaned his mighty frame against the wall and looked at them quietly. from ferrari his eyes wandered to maxwell, and finally rested on mrs. belswin with a curious expression, at which she turned pale.
"my god!" she murmured, clasping her hands tightly, "what is he going to say?"
belk guessed her thoughts, and reassured her at once.
"my story's only about myself," he said, abruptly looking at her again, upon which she thanked him with a silent look of gratitude, although she felt a thrill of fear at the thought that perhaps he knew her secret.
"one word before you speak," said maxwell, quietly. "as you know, i am going to marry miss pethram, and i promised her to find out the assassin of her father. chance, in the person of your mother, placed in my hands a clue which led me to believe that signor ferrari had something to do with the crime----"
"cospetto! what honour."
"signor ferrari, however," resumed archie, quietly, "has proved his innocence, and in order to do so has unintentionally made out a very strong case against you, mr. belk. whether you are guilty or not i do not know; but, you see, i have not informed the police about anything connected with the matter."
"and why, sir?"
"because the clue was placed in my hands by your mother, and i would not have it on my conscience, however guilty you may be, to take advantage of the innocent betrayal of a son by his mother."
mrs. belk sobbed violently at this, and belk, with a sudden flush, held out his hand, but drew it back at once.
"no, sir," he said, bluffly, "i won't give you my hand yet, till you've heard my story. i did get that diamond from the foreign gent as he says. he was trespassing, and i could have made things hot for him, but to get off he gave me the diamond."
"do you think that was right, seeing signor ferrari is a foreigner and ignorant of english laws?" asked maxwell.
"i don't say it was right, sir," replied belk with a queer look; "and it was not altogether the trespass. there was something else i need not tell you of that made me take his diamond."
mrs. belswin darted a sudden look on both men, who were eyeing her jealously, and flushed a deep red; but maxwell was so interested in belk's story that he did not notice her perturbation, and signed to him to continue.
"well, sir, i stuck the pin in my scarf careless like, as i was in a hurry to go up to the hall to see sir rupert."
"what hour was this."
"about four o'clock, sir. i went up to the hall, and sir rupert, sir, he was in his study; so instead of going in by the door, i went in by the window."
"so you first went along the terrace?"
"yes, sir! and as the pin was stuck in careless, i suppose it fell as i went into the room by the window."
"not impossible!" said maxwell, thoughtfully.
"i saw sir rupert, took my orders, and then came home, sir, and didn't go out again that night."
"eh!" cried mrs. belk, starting up, "no more you did, lad; i can swear to that."
"and so can mr. gelthrip, the parson, sir," said belk, triumphantly. "he called here in the evening, and i saw him. so you see, sir, as i didn't go near the hall until the next morning, i didn't have nought to do with the killing."
"no; certainly not."
maxwell heaved a sigh of relief at the turn things had taken, for if both mrs. belk and the curate could prove that samson had been at home on that fatal night, the young man certainly could not be guilty. meanwhile, he wanted to get away and think the matter over; for what with the story of ferrari and the story of belk, he was quite bewildered.
"so my samson is innocent," cried mrs. belk, triumphantly.
"yes, and i'm glad to hear it," replied maxwell, as he went out. "good-bye, mrs. belk, i'm pleased on your account, but sorry on my own."
"ebbene! but who killed il----i am talking of seer rupert," cried ferrari, putting on his hat.
belk shrugged his shoulders.
"i don't know," he replied, nonchalantly; "the master had lots of enemies, i reckon."
"belk," cried maxwell, overhearing this, "come to the chequers to-night, i want to speak to you."
"very well, sir."
"you are not coming up to town with us then, mr. maxwell?" said mrs. belswin, who was lingering behind.
"no! i wish to ask belk some questions about sir rupert's enemies. from what he says, it appears he had some, and belk knows them."
maxwell and ferrari both went down to the gate, and mrs. belswin was left alone with samson, the mother still being in the house.
"don't go," she said, in a low tone.
"oh, yes, i'll go," he replied in the same tone, "i tell nothing."
"what?" she said, uneasily; "do you know anything?"
belk looked at her with his languid eyes, and stroked his golden beard slowly.
"i know what i know," he replied emphatically, and with this reply, which roused all her suspicions, mrs. belswin was forced to be content.
