the exposure of that night brought on a severe attack of rheumatism, and the next day henry was tossing about on his bed in agony. his sprained ankle also was very painful.
a doctor was sent for in haste; and under his treatment[198] and mrs. mortimer’s watchful care, the boy recovered slowly.
will was so grieved to see his cousin suffer that he almost fell sick himself; and he took up his stand at the bedside, so that he might attend to his slightest wish.
“i don’t mind being sick so much,” said henry, as will was peeling an orange for him, “because it proves that a fellow’s mother and—and—and friends care for him, and want him to get well; but, i don’t want the rheumatism, because it’s mostly old men and hardly used soldiers that suffer with it.”
“what should you like to have?” asked will.
“well, will, i don’t mind telling you. will, i’ve always had a hankering to be wounded so that it would leave an honorable scar—a scar that i could be proud of, you know.”
the morning after the rescue the demon had a totally different air. he no longer regarded strangers with suspicion, but frankly and promptly replied to all who spoke to him. his eyes were calm and benign, no longer having that “hunted look” which seemed so terrible. in a word, the demon was no longer a madman; “the blow on his head had restored his reason.”
in real life this is, we believe, an uncommon occurrence; but in romance it is becoming intolerably common. it is inserted in novels that are otherwise good; it haunts some writers like an evil spirit; it is tricked up in a new garb, sometimes, to throw the unsuspecting reader off his guard; but if it is there, sooner or later it will crop out—often when least expected, least desired.
in fact, whenever the practised reader picks up a tale in which a harmless maniac figures, his suspicions are at once aroused, and he flings it aside with a gesture of contempt.
having called mr. mortimer to his side, the disenthralled man said, with a pleasant voice, “sir, i do not know where i am, and i should like to ask you a few questions. last night i was not in a humor to make inquiries, as i was so tired and weak; but this morning i am much better and stronger. may i ask your name?”
[199]
mr. mortimer was surprised at and pleased with the man’s improved appearance.
“i am happy to see that you are so much better, sir,” he said. “as to my name, it is mortimer; may i, in turn, ask yours?”
“certainly, sir; i am richard lawrence.”
mr. mortimer started. he perceived that the man who spoke was in full possession of his reason, quite as sane as he himself. in former years he had been intimately acquainted with dick lawrence; the story of the “mysterious disappearance” was familiar to him; and he thought that at last the mystery was to be solved.
he seized lawrence’s hand and shook it heartily.
“don’t you remember me, old friend?” he said. “don’t you remember when you beat me in that race, so long ago? and besides, we are almost related to each other; for, as you surely remember, your brother and i married sisters.”
a long conversation followed between the two reunited friends. the events of other years were spoken of with peculiar pleasure, and mr. mortimer told his friend what had been taking place in the world of late years.
“well, now, i had almost forgotten!” mr. mortimer suddenly exclaimed. “your nephew will is in this very house! you will remember him as a very little boy; and now he is a—a—now he is a great big boy. i must bring him in immediately.”
he hurried out of the room and soon returned with will, saying apologetically, “you must excuse me, will, but when two old friends meet, they forget that there are boys still in the world, and remember only that they were once boys themselves.” then to his guest: “mr. lawrence, i have the pleasure of introducing your nephew will, who is on a visit to my son. i think it is safe to say that you owe your deliverance to these hare-brained youths. you will hear graphic particulars of it afterwards.”
a happy meeting took place between uncle and nephew, the former being highly pleased with his new-found kinsman.
[200]
“yes,” mr. mortimer resumed, “this is your nephew will; a fine little fellow, who had a strange interview with you last night. have you any recollection of it?”
“not the slightest; so far as i know, i have not seen the boy since, since—when?”
“ten years, uncle.”
“then you know nothing about your life in the cave?” mr. mortimer asked.
“you are speaking in riddles, mr. mortimer.”
“my son, will’s cousin, is ill to-day, or i should present him; for he, dear boy, was instrumental in your release,” the fond father observed, wishing that his son should receive due honor for his good deeds.
mr. lawrence was impatient to see his brother, but there were several matters to attend to before this could be done.
“there is a strange tale yet to be unfolded, mr. mortimer,” he said musingly. “i must visit the town where insanity first took hold of me. there are many things not clear to me; but i believe that by going there, i shall be enabled to unriddle the mystery. a foul wrong was done to me in that place, and i will have justice. as i intimated, i know absolutely nothing of what took place while i was insane; but i believe all that can be made clear by making diligent inquiries of people living in r——. yes, i shall go to this place in a day or so; then take a run down to my brother’s; and come back just in time to go home with will. but first of all, i shall visit the cave where i spent so many years; and you and my nephew must accompany me. i am full of curiosity to see the place, but i suppose i shall have to be piloted through it.”
a day or so afterwards mr. lawrence felt stronger, and the three set out to explore the cave. will thought that he was going to the demon’s cave under very different circumstances, and sighed because henry was unable to accompany them. but henry was destined never to enter that cave.
when they arrived at the place, they perceived that some one was there before them, as the door stood open.[201] as they passed in they heard a confused murmur of voices, together with whistling, singing, and hallooing. evidently, the intruders were trying to keep up their spirits and intimidate any goblins that might be hovering near. a great fire was blazing in the old place, but the explorers seemed to be in the largest cave.
suddenly the new-comers were heard, and a howl of horror came from the explorers.
“oh, golly! it’s the demon or somethin’ else!” wailed one.
then two wild and fearful eyes peered out through the concealed door, and a voice quavered: “n-o-o, it ain’t the demon; but i guess we’d better clear!”
seven gaunt youths stole through the concealed door; glanced fearfully at the new-comers; and then broke and fled tumultuously out of the front entrance.
the two men smiled; the boy laughed.
“a boy is the same creature that he was when i was young,” mr. lawrence observed.
“they’re the very fellow’s that cheered us the other night,” said will. “i guess they wanted to be ‘bouncers’ too.”
“now, why in this world did the little rogues make a fire?” mr. mortimer queried.
“that question is easily answered,” said mr. lawrence. “when a boy comes upon a heap of wood, the temptation to kindle a fire, if he has any means of doing so, is too great for him to resist.”
“and you see nothing here that is familiar to you?” asked mr. mortimer.
“no; everything is strange to me; and i must apply to will to lead the way.”
“uncle, how queer it is that i should know more about your cave than you do!” said will, grinning foolishly. “it doesn’t seem that you are the same man that picked me up and carried me off.”
“that’s because i’ve visited the tailor and the barber, will.”
“well, uncle, if i hadn’t been through the cave that night, we shouldn’t know anything about the money.”
[202]
“money!” cried both men, in a breath.
“yes,” will replied. “i found a little pile of money, but so many queer things happened since that i forgot all about it. come this way, uncle; it is in this room.”
“your lost fortune!” mr. mortimer exclaimed.
“perhaps,” sighed uncle dick.
“if those explorers have not enriched themselves with it!”
but the treasure was found untouched.
“is this what you found?” cried mr. mortimer, with disgust. “this is intolerable—monstrous—outrageous! this—this—”
“no, i think it’s all right,” said mr. lawrence. “there is a mystery behind it, but when that mystery is cleared up, i think we shall find that this is all there is left.”
“i guess the boys didn’t see it,” will observed, “or else they were afraid to meddle with it.”
“no,” said uncle dick, “a boy has more honesty than most people imagine. well, will, what there is, is yours. take it, will; it won’t fill more than one pocket; but i wish, for your sake, it were a fortune indeed.”
“if i hadn’t left these inside doors open, the boys wouldn’t have been able to explore these two rooms,” will presently remarked. “now, i wonder whether they found those hens and chickens! i didn’t, but i didn’t look for them.”
“‘hens and chickens!’” growled mr. mortimer. “what’s the matter now, will?”
“why, henry said the demon—i—i mean my uncle—had lots of hens and chickens here, and i heard them clucking several times while i was in the cave; but i never saw’ a scratch of them.”
“perhaps the young explorers made away with them,” uncle dick suggested.
“no, uncle, they found their way here only because i had left the concealed doors open,” will said. “i guess the hens are some place else.”
“we don’t know how many hidden chambers there may[203] be here, nor what secrets they may hold,” mr. mortimer sighed despairingly.
“there can’t be many more,” uncle dick replied. “we’ll say there is one more apartment, in which my nephew’s hens are cooped up. now, unless they set up a cackling, how are we to know where to look for them? i think we had better leave them to their fate. no! will, listen! when we get back to town, speak about these hens incidentally to some little tobacco-chewer, and within an hour a force of would-be desperadoes will troop down to this cave, and liberate these hens or perish in the ruins of the general demolition!”
to economize time and space, to ease the reader’s anxiety, and to maintain the reputation of this history for exactness and solidity, it may here be stated that although will set a band of street arabs on the track of those miserable hens and chickens, they were never found, and the probability is that they are slowly becoming fossils.
the three then made a burning stave serve for a torch, and marched through the cavern in which will had found the water. then they returned and went into the “best bedroom.”
“i have a fancy that there is money buried here,—buried, or concealed in some article of furniture,” mr. mortimer observed.
“i doubt that,” said uncle dick. “now, if your son were well, he and will might come here and ransack every cavern. what a pity we interrupted those boys! they would have amused themselves here all day, and would certainly have found whatever there may be to find! poor little fellows, their fun had just begun! well, they will be back again, and then they are welcome to all the spoil they can carry away.”
having fastened the outer door, the party returned to the city.
