The Greatest Works of Anna Katharine Green. Анна Грин

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СКАЧАТЬ no, go on, she had a book.”

      “Which she could read till she got sleepy. I never thought anything would happen to her.”

      “Of course not, why should you? And so you let her into the house and left her there when you went out of it? Well, I don’t wonder you were shocked to see her lying dead on the floor next morning.”

      “Awful, ma’am. I was afraid they would blame me for what had happened. But I didn’t do nothing to make her die. I only let her stay in the house. Do you think they will do anything to me if they know it?”

      “No,” said I, trying to understand this woman’s ignorant fears, “they don’t punish such things. More’s the pity!”—this in confidence to myself. “How could you know that a piece of furniture would fall on her before morning. Did you lock her in when you left the house?”

      “Yes, ma’am. She told me to.”

      Then she was a prisoner.

      Confounded by the mystery of the whole affair, I sat so still the woman looked up in wonder, and I saw I had better continue my questions.

      “What reason did she give for wanting to stay in the house all night?”

      “What reason, ma’am? I don’t know. Something about her having to be there when Mr. Van Burnam came home. I didn’t make it out, and I didn’t try to. I was too busy wondering what she would have to eat.”

      “And what did she have?”

      “I don’t know, ma’am. She said she had something, but I didn’t see it.”

      “Perhaps you were blinded by the money she gave you. She gave you some, of course?”

      “O, not much, ma’am, not much. And I wouldn’t have taken a cent if it had not seemed to make her so happy to give it. The pretty, pretty thing! A real lady, whatever they say about her!”

      “And happy? You said she was happy, cheerful-looking, and pretty.”

      “O yes, ma’am; she didn’t know what was going to happen. I even heard her sing after she went up-stairs.”

      I wished that my ears had been attending to their duty that day, and I might have heard her sing too. But the walls between my house and that of the Van Burnams are very thick, as I have had occasion to observe more than once.

      “Then she went up-stairs before you left?”

      “To be sure, ma’am; what would she do in the kitchen?”

      “And you didn’t see her again?”

      “No, ma’am; but I heard her walking around.”

      “In the parlors, you mean?”

      “Yes, ma’am, in the parlors.”

      “You did not go up yourself?”

      “No, ma’am, I had enough to do below.”

      “Didn’t you go up when you went away?”

      “No, ma’am; I didn’t like to.”

      “When did you go?”

      “At five, ma’am; I always go at five.”

      “How did you know it was five?”

      “The kitchen clock told me; I wound it, ma’am and set it when the whistles blew at twelve.”

      “Was that the only clock you wound?”

      “Only clock? Do you think I’d be going around the house winding any others?”

      Her face showed such surprise, and her eyes met mine so frankly, that I was convinced she spoke the truth. Gratified—I don’t know why,—I bestowed upon her my first smile, which seemed to affect her, for her face softened, and she looked at me quite eagerly for a minute before she said:

      “You don’t think so very bad of me, do you, ma’am?”

      But I had been struck by a thought which made me for the moment oblivious to her question. She had wound the clock in the kitchen for her own uses, and why may not the lady above have wound the one in the parlor for hers? Filled with this startling idea, I remarked:

      “The young lady wore a watch, of course?”

      But the suggestion passed unheeded. Mrs. Boppert was as much absorbed in her own thoughts as I was.

      “Did young Mrs. Van Burnam wear a watch?” I persisted.

      Mrs. Boppert’s face remained a blank.

      Provoked at her impassibility, I shook her with an angry hand, imperatively demanding:

      “What are you thinking of? Why don’t you answer my questions?”

      She was herself again in an instant.

      “O ma’am, I beg your pardon. I was wondering if you meant the parlor clock.”

      I calmed myself, looked severe to hide my more than eager interest, and sharply cried:

      “Of course I mean the parlor clock. Did you wind it?”

      “O no, no, no, I would as soon think of touching gold or silver. But the young lady did, I’m sure, ma’am, for I heard it strike when she was setting of it.”

      Ah! If my nature had not been an undemonstrative one, and if I had not been bred to a strong sense of social distinctions, I might have betrayed my satisfaction at this announcement in a way that would have made this homely German woman start. As it was I sat stock-still, and even made her think I had not heard her. Venturing to rouse me a bit, she spoke again after a minute’s silence.

      “She might have been lonely, you know, ma’am; and the ticking of a clock is such company.”

      “Yes,” I answered with more than my accustomed vivacity, for she jumped as if I had struck her. “You have hit the nail on the head, Mrs. Boppert, and are a much smarter woman than I thought. But when did she wind the clock?”

      “At five o’clock, ma’am; just before I left the house.”

      “O, and did she know you were going?”

      “I think so, ma’am, for I called up, just before I put on my bonnet, that it was five o’clock and that I was going.”

      “O, you did. And did she answer back?”

      “Yes, ma’am. I heard her step in the hall and then her voice. She asked if I was sure it was five, and I told her yes, because I had set the kitchen clock at twelve. She didn’t say any more, but just after that I heard the parlor clock begin to strike.”

      O, thought I, what cannot be got out of the most СКАЧАТЬ