of keeping with the age in which we lived ; and a gentle-
man landing from his yacht on the shore of his own
estate, even although it was at night and with some
mysterious circumstances, does not usually, as a matter
of fact, walk thus prepared for deadly onslaught. The
more I reflected, the further I felt at sea. I recapitulated
the elements of mystery, counting them on my fingers :
the pavilion secretly prepared for guests; the guests
landed at the risk of their lives and to the imminent peril
of the yacht; the guests, or at least one of them, in un-
disguised and seemingly causeless terror; Northmour
with a naked weapon; Northmour stabbing his most
intimate acquaintance at a word; last, and not least
strange, Northmour fleeing from the man whom he had
sought to murder, and barricading himself, like a hunted
creature, behind the door of the pavilion. Here were at
least six separate causes for extreme surprise ; each part
and parcel with the others, and forming all together one
consistent story. I felt almost ashamed to believe my
own senses.

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THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS

As I thus stood transfixed with wonder, I began to
grow painfully conscious of the injuries I had received
in the scuffle; skulked round among the sand-hills; and,
by a devious path, regained the shelter of the wood.
On the way, the old nurse passed again within several
yards of me, still carrying her lantern, on the return jour-
ney to the mansion-house of Graden. This made a
seventh suspicious feature in the case. Northmour and
his guests, it appeared, were to cook and do the clean-
ing for themselves, while the old woman continued to
inhabit the big empty barrack among the policies.
There must surely be great cause for secrecy, when so
many inconveniences were confronted to preserve it.

So thinking, I made my way to the den. For greater
security, I trod out the embers of the fire, and lit my
lantern to examine the wound upon my shoulder. It
was a trifling hurt, although it bled somewhat freely, and
I dressed it as well as I could (for its position made it
difficult to reach) with some rag and cold water from
the spring. While I was thus busied, I mentally declared
war against Northmour and his mystery. I am not an
angry man by nature, and I believe there was more curi-
osity than resentment in my heart. But war I certainly
declared ; and, by way of preparation, I got out my re-
volver, and, having drawn the charges, cleaned and re-
loaded it with scrupulous care. Next I became preoc-
cupied about my horse. It might break loose, or fall to
neighing, and so betray my camp in the Sea-Wood. I
determined to rid myself of its neighbourhood ; and long
before dawn I was leading it over the links in the direc-
tion of the fisher village.



223



CHAPTER III

TELLS HOW I BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH MY WIFE

FOR two days I skulked round the pavilion, profiting
by the uneven surface of the links. I became an adept
in the necessary tactics. These low hillocks and shal-
low dells, running one into another, became a kind of
cloak of darkness for my enthralling, but perhaps dis-
honourable, pursuit. Yet, in spite of this advantage, I
could learn but little of Northmour or his guests.

Fresh provisions were brought under cover of dark-
ness by the old woman from the mansion-house. North-
mour and the young lady, sometimes together, but more
often singly, would walk for an hour or two at a time
on the beach beside the quicksand. I could not but con-
clude that this promenade was chosen with an eye to
secrecy; for the spot was open only to the seaward.
But it suited me not less excellently; the highest and
most accidented of the sand-hills immediately adjoined ;
and from these, lying flat in a hollow, I could overlook
Northmour or the young lady as they walked.

The tall man seemed to have disappeared. Not only
did he never cross the threshold, but he never so much
as showed face at a window ; or, at least, not so far as I
could see ; for I dared not creep forward beyond a certain
distance in the day, since the upper floor commanded

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THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS

the bottoms of the links ; and at night, when I could
venture farther, the lower windows were barricaded as
if to stand a siege. Sometimes I thought the tall man
must be confined to bed, for I remembered the feebleness
of his gait; and sometimes I thought he must have gone
clear away, and that Northmour and the young lady re-
mained alone together in the pavilion. The idea, even
then, displeased me.

Whether or not this pair were man and wife, I had
seen abundant reason to doubt the friendliness of their
relation. Although I could hear nothing of what they
said, and rarely so much as glean a decided expression
on the face of either, there was a distance, almost a stiff-
ness, in their bearing which showed them to be either
unfamiliar or at enmity. The girl walked faster when
she was with Northmour than when she was alone;
and I conceived that any inclination between a man and
a woman would rather delay than accelerate the step.
Moreover, she kept a good yard free of him, and trailed
her umbrella, as if it were a barrier, on the side between
them. Northmour kept sidling closer; and, as the girl
retired from his advance, their course lay at a sort of
diagonal across the beach, and would have landed them
in the surf had it been long enough continued. But,
when it was imminent, the girl would unostentatiously
change sides and put Northmour between her and the
sea. I watched these manoeuvres, for my part, with
high enjoyment and approval, and chuckled to myself
at every move.

On the morning of the third day, she walked alone
for some time, and I perceived, to my great concern,
that she was more than once in tears. You will see

225



NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

that my heart was already interested more than I sup-
posed. She had a firm yet airy motion of the body, and
carried her head with unimaginable grace; every step
was a thing to look at, and she seemed in my eyes to
breathe sweetness and distinction.

The day was so agreeable, being calm and sunshiny,
with a tranquil sea, and yet with a healthful piquancy
and vigour in the air, that, contrary to custom, she was
tempted forth a second time to walk. On this occasion
she was accompanied by Northmour, and they had been
but a short while on the beach, when I saw him take
forcible possession of her hand. She struggled, and ut-
tered a cry that was almost a scream. I sprang to my
feet, unmindful of my strange position ; but, ere I had
taken a step, I saw Northmour bare-headed and bowing
very low, as if to apologise ; and dropped again at once
into my ambush. A few words were interchanged ; and
then, with another bow, he left the beach to return to
the pavilion. He passed not far from me, and I could
see him, flushed and lowering, and cutting savagely
with his cane among the grass. It was not without
satisfaction that I recognised my own handiwork in a
great cut under his right eye, and a considerable discol-
oration round the socket.

For some time the girl remained where he had left
her, looking out past the islet and over the bright sea.
Then with a start, as one who throws off preoccupation
and puts energy again upon its mettle, she broke into a
rapid and decisive walk. She also was much incensed
by what had passed. She had forgotten where she was.
And I beheld her walk straight into the borders of the
quicksand where it is most abrupt and dangerous. Two

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THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS

or three steps farther and her life would have been in
serious jeopardy, when I slid down the face of the sand-
hill, which is there precipitous, and, running half-way
forward, called to her to stop.

She did so, and turned round. There was not a
tremor of fear in her behaviour, and she marched di-
rectly up to me like a queen. I was barefoot, and clad
like a common sailor, save for an Egyptian scarf round
my waist ; and she probably took me at first for some
one from the fisher village, straying after bait. As for
her, when I thus saw her face to face, her eyes set
steadily and imperiously upon mine, 1 was filled with
admiration and astonishment, and thought her even
more beautiful than I had looked to find her. Nor could
I think enough of one who, acting with so much bold-
ness, yet preserved a maidenly air that was both quaint
and engaging; for my wife kept an old-fashioned preci-
sion of manner through all her admirable life an excel-
lent thing in woman, since it sets another value on her
sweet familiarities.

"What does this mean ?" she asked.

"You were walking," I told her, " directly into Gra-
den Floe."

"You do not belong to these parts," she said again.
"You speak like an educated man."

"I believe 1 have a right to that name," said I,
"although in this disguise."

But her woman's eye had already detected the sash.

"Oh!" she said; "your sash betrays you."

" You have said the word betray," I resumed. " May
I ask you not to betray me ? I was obliged to disclose
myself in your interest; but if Northmour learned

227



NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

my presence it might be worse than disagreeable for
me."

"Do you know," she asked, "to whom you are
speaking ? "

"Not to Mr. Northmour's wife ? " I asked, by way of
answer.

She shook her head. All this while she was studying
my face with an embarrassing intentness. Then she
broke out

" You have an honest face. Be honest like your face,
sir, and tell me what you want and what you are afraid
of. Do you think I could hurt you ? I believe you have
far more power to injure me ! And yet you do not look
unkind. What do you mean you, a gentleman by
skulking like a spy about this desolate place ? Tell me,"
she said, " who is it you hate ? "

" I hate no one," I answered; " and I fear no one face
to face. My name is Cassilis Frank Cassilis. I lead
the life of a vagabond for my own good pleasure. I am
one of Northmour's oldest friends ; and three nights ago,
when I addressed him on these links, he stabbed me in
the shoulder with a knife."

" It was you! " she said.

"Why he did so," I continued, disregarding the in-
terruption, "is more than I can guess, and more than I
care to know. I have not many friends, nor am I very
susceptible to friendship ; but no man shall drive me from
a place by terror. I had camped in Graden Sea-Wood ere
he came; I camp in it still. If you think I mean harm to
you or yours, madam, the remedy is in your hand. Tell
him that my camp is in the Hemlock Den, and to-night
he can stab me in safety while I sleep."

228



THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS

With this I doffed my cap to her, and scrambled up
once more among the sand-hills. I do not know why,
but I felt a prodigious sense of injustice, and felt like a
hero and a martyr; while, as a matter of fact, I had not
a word to say in my defence, nor so much as one plau-
sible reason to offer for my conduct. I had stayed at
Graden out of a curiosity natural enough, but undig-
nified; and though there was another motive grow-
ing in along with the first, it was not one which, at that
period, I could have properly explained to the lady of
my heart.

Certainly, that night, I thought of no one else; and,
though her whole conduct and position seemed suspi-
cious, I could not find it in my heart to entertain a doubt
of her integrity. I could have staked my life that she
was clear of blame, and, though all was dark at the pres-
ent, that the explanation of the mystery would show
her part in these events to be both right and needful. It
was true, let me cudgel my imagination as I pleased,
that I could invent no theory of her relations to North-
mour; but I felt none the less sure of my conclusion be-
cause it was founded on instinct in place of reason, and,
as I may say, went to sleep that night with the thought
of her under my pillow.

Next day she came out about the same hour alone,
and, as soon as the sand-hills concealed her from the
pavilion, drew nearer to the edge, and called me by
name in guarded tones. I was astonished to observe
that she was deadly pale, and seemingly under the in-
fluence of strong emotion.

" Mr. Cassilis! " she cried; " Mr. Cassilis! "

I appeared at once, and leaped down upon the beach.
229



NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

A remarkable air of relief overspread her countenance as
soon as she saw me.

" Oh ! " she cried, with a hoarse sound, like one whose
bosom has been lightened of weight. And then, ' ' Thank
God, you are still safe!" she added; "I knew, if you
were, you would be here." (Was not this strange ? So
swiftly and wisely does Nature prepare our hearts for
these great life-long intimacies, that both my wife and I
had been given a presentiment on this the second day
of our acquaintance. I had even then hoped that she
would seek me; she had felt sure that she would find
me.) " Do not," she went on swiftly, "do not stay in
this place. Promise me that you will sleep no longer
in that wood. You do not know how I suffer; all last
night I could not sleep for thinking of your peril."

"Peril?" I repeated. "Peril from whom? From
Northmour ?"

"Not so," she said. "Did you think I would tell
him after what you said ? "

"Not from Northmour ? " I repeated. "Then how ?
From whom ? I see none to be afraid of."

"You must not ask me," was her reply, "for I am
not free to tell you. Only believe me, and go hence be-
lieve me, and go away quickly, quickly, for your life! "

An appeal to his alarm is never a good plan to rid
oneself of a spirited young man. My obstinacy was but
increased by what she said, and I made it a point of
honour to remain. And her solicitude for my safety still
more confirmed me in the resolve.

"You must not think me inquisitive, madam," I re-
plied; "but, if Graden is so dangerous a place, you
yourself perhaps remain here at some risk."

230



THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS

She only looked at me reproachfully.

"You and your father ," I resumed; but she in-
terrupted me almost with a gasp.

" My father! How do you know that ? " she cried.

" I saw you together when you landed," was my an-
swer; and I do not know why, but it seemed satisfac-
tory to both of us, as indeed it was the truth. "But,"
I continued, "you need have no fear from me. I see
you have some reason to be secret, and, you may believe
me, your secret is as safe with me as if I were in Graden
Floe. I have scarce spoken to anyone for years; my
horse is my only companion, and even he, poor beast,
is not beside me. You see, then, you may count on
me for silence. So tell me the truth, my dear young
lady, are you not in danger ? "

"Mr. Northmour says you are an honourable man,"
she returned, "and I believe it when I see you. I will
tell you so much; you are right; we are in dreadful,
dreadful danger, and you share it by remaining where
you are."

"Ah!" said I; "you have heard of me from North-
mour ? And he gives me a good character ?"

"I asked him about you last night," was her reply.
" I pretended," she hesitated, " I pretended to have met
you long ago, and spoken to you of him. It was not
true; but I could not help myself without betraying you,
and you had put me in a difficulty. He praised you
highly."

"And you may permit me one question does this
danger come from Northmour ? " I asked.

" From Mr. Northmour?" she cried. "Oh, no; he
stays with us to share it."



NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

" While you propose that I should run away ? " I said.
"You do not rate me very high."

" Why should you stay ? " she asked. " You are no
friend of ours."

I know not what came over me, for I had not been
conscious of a similar weakness since I was a child, but I
was so mortified by this retort that my eyes pricked and
filled with tears, as I continued to gaze upon her face.

"No, no," she said, in a changed voice; "I did not
mean the words unkindly."

"It was I who offended," I said; and I held out my
hand with a look of appeal that somehow touched her,
for she gave me hers at once, and even eagerly. I held
it for awhile in mine, and gazed into her eyes. It was
she who first tore her hand away, and, forgetting all
about her request and the promise she had sought to
extort, ran at the top of her speed, and without turning,
till she was out of sight. And then I knew that I loved
her, and thought in my glad heart that she she her-
self was not indifferent to my suit. Many a time she
has denied it in after days, but it was with a smiling
and not a serious denial. For my part, I am sure our
hands would not have lain so closely in each other if
she had not begun to melt to me already. And, when
all is said, it is no great contention, since, by her own
avowal, she began to love me on the morrow.

And yet on the morrow very little took place. She
came and called me down as on the day before, up-
braided me for lingering at Graden, and, when she found
I was still obdurate, began to ask me more particularly
as to my arrival. I told her by what series of accidents
I had come to witness their disembarkation, and how /

232



THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS

had determined to remain, partly from the interest which
had been wakened in me by Northmour's guests, and
partly because of his own murderous attack. As to the
former, I fear I was disingenuous, and led her to regard
herself as having been an attraction to me from the first
moment that I saw her on the links. It relieves my
heart to make this confession even now, when my wife
is with God, and already knows all things, and the hon-
esty of my purpose even in this; for while she lived,
although it often pricked my conscience, I had never the
hardihood to undeceive her. Even a little secret, in
such a married life as ours, is like the rose-leaf which
kept the Princess from her sleep.

From this the talk branched into other subjects, and I
told her much about my lonely and wandering exist-
ence; she, for her part, giving ear, and saying little. Al-
though we spoke very naturally, and latterly on topics
that might seem indifferent, we were both sweetly agi-
tated. Too soon it was time for her to go ; and we sep-
arated, as if by mutual consent, without shaking hands,
for both knew that, between us, it was no idle ceremony.

The next, and that was the fourth day of our acquain-
tance, we met in the same spot, but early in the morn-
ing, with much familiarity and yet much timidity on
either side. When she had once more spoken about
my danger and that, I understood, was her excuse for
coming I, who had prepared a great deal of talk dur-
ing the night, began to tell her how highly I valued her
kind interest, and how no one had ever cared to hear
about my life, nor had I ever cared to relate it, before
yesterday. Suddenly she interrupted me, saying with
vehemence

23?



NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

" And yet, if you knew who I was, you would not so
much as speak to me! "

I told her such a thought was madness, and, little as
we had met, I counted her already a dear friend; but
my protestations seemed only to make her more des-
perate.

" My father is in hiding! " she cried.

" My dear," I said, forgetting for the first time to add
1 ' young lady, " ' ' what do I care ? If he were in hiding
twenty times over, would it make one thought of change
in you?"

"Ah, but the cause!" she cried, "the cause! It
is " she faltered for a second "it is disgraceful
to us!"



CHAPTER IV

TELLS IN WHAT A STARTLING MANNER I LEARNED THAT I
WAS NOT ALONE IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD

THIS was my wife's story, as I drew it from her among
tears and sobs. Her name was Clara Huddlestone: it
sounded very beautiful in my ears ; but not so beautiful
as that other name of Clara Cassilis, which she wore
during the longer and, I thank God, the happier portion
of her life. Her father, Bernard Huddlestone, had been
a private banker in a very large way of business. Many
years before, his affairs becoming disordered, he had
been led to try dangerous, and at last criminal, expe-
dients to retrieve himself from ruin. All was in vain ;
he became more and more cruelly involved, and found
his honour lost at the same moment with his fortune.
About this period, Northmour had been courting his
daughter with great assiduity, though with small en-
couragement; and to him, knowing him thus disposed
in his favour, Bernard Huddlestone turned for help in his
extremity. It was not merely ruin and dishonour, nor
merely a legal condemnation, that the unhappy man
had brought on his head. It seems he could have gone
to prison with a light heart. What he feared, what
kept him awake at night or recalled him from slumber
into frenzy, was some secret, sudden, and unlawful at-
tempt upon his life. Hence, he desired to bury his ex-

235



NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

istence and escape to one of the islands in the South
Pacific, and it was in Northmour's yacht, the Red Earl,
that he designed to go. The yacht picked them up
clandestinely upon the coast of Wales, and had once
more deposited them at Graden, till she could be refit-
ted and provisioned for the longer voyage. Nor could
Clara doubt that her hand had been stipulated as the
price of passage. For, although Northmour was neither
unkind or discourteous, he had shown himself in several
instances somewhat overbold in speech and manner.

I listened, I need not say, with fixed attention, and
put many questions as to the more mysterious part. It
was in vain. She had no clear idea of what the blow
was, nor of how it was expected to fall. Her father's
alarm was unfeigned and physically prostrating, and he
had thought more than once of making an unconditional
surrender to the police. But the scheme was finally
abandoned, for he was convinced that not even the
strength of our English prisons could shelter him from
his pursuers. He had had many affairs with Italy, and
with Italians resident in London, in the later years of
his business; and these last, as Clara fancied, were
somehow connected with the doom that threatened him.
He had shown great terror at the presence of an Italian
seaman on board the Red Earl, and had bitterly and re-
peatedly accused Northmour in consequence. The lat-
ter had protested that Beppo (that was the seaman's
name) was a capital fellow and could be trusted to the
death; but Mr. Huddlestone had continued ever since
to declare that all was lost, that it was only a question
of days, and that Beppo would be the ruin of him yet.

I regarded the whole story as the hallucination of a
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THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS

mind shaken by calamity. He had suffered heavy loss
by his Italian transactions; and hence the sight of an
Italian was hateful to him, and the principal part in his
nightmare would naturally enough be played by one of
that nation.

"What your father wants, " I said, "is a good doctor
and some calming medicine."

"But Mr. Northmour?" objected your mother.
"He is untroubled by losses, and yet he shares in this
terror."

I could not help laughing at what I considered her
simplicity.

" My dear, "said I, "you have told me yourself what
reward he has to look for. All is fair in love, you must
remember; and if Northmour foments your father's ter-
rors, it is not at all because he is afraid of any Italian man,
but simply because he is infatuated with a charming
English woman."

She reminded me of his attack upon myself on the
night of the disembarkation, and this I was unable to
explain. In short, and from one thing to another, it was
agreed between us, that I should set out at once for the
fisher village, Graden Wester, as it was called, look up
all the newspapers I could find, and see for myself if
there seemed any basis of fact for these continued
alarms. The next morning, at the same hour and place,
I was to make my report to Clara. She said no more on
that occasion about my departure; nor indeed, did she
make it a secret that she clung to the thought of my
proximity as something helpful and pleasant; and, for
my part, I could not have left her, if she had gone upon
her knees to ask it.



NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

I reached Graden Wester before ten in the forenoon ;
for in those days I was an excellent pedestrian, and the dis-
tance, as I think I have said, was little over seven miles;
fine walking all the way upon the springy turf. The vil-
lage is one of the bleakest on that coast, which is saying
much : there is a church in a hollow, a miserable haven
in the rocks, where many boats have been lost as they
returned from fishing; two or three score of stone houses
arranged along the beach and in two streets, one lead-
ing from the harbour, and another striking out from it at
right angles; and, at the corner of these two, a very