University of Virginia Library

12. CHAPTER XII.

Gordon was overjoyed at this expression
of sympathy in the captain, and felt that he
could make a confidant of him without reserve.
He therefore said, after looking
cautiously at the door to see that it was closed,
and at the windows to ascertain that there
were no eaves-droppers.

`Colonel Ogilvie deserves your sympathy,
Captain Alison. He is an innocent man in
heart, though he stands convicted of a great
crime. The particulars are these; for as I
need your services, or rather those of one
whom you can influence, I will detail the
events to you without concealment.

`Colonel Ogilvie was, as you are aware,
formerly a merchant of great wealth, and
retired from business a few years ago highly
respected by a large circle of friends. He
was appointed guardian to an estate to which
his nephew, one of the finest young men in
the country, now twenty years of age, is
heir. He had a visit from a lawyer, who
was as wicked as he was shrewd, who made
known to him the existence of certain papers
which would go to prove the young man illegitimate,
and bring dishonor upon his own
sister. The lawyer promised to surrender
the papers for half the young man's fortune.

`This, Colonel Ogilvie indignantly refused
and indeed defied the lawyer to do his worst,
when he threatened to institute a suit and so
make the matter public.

`But on reflection, Colonel Ogilvie, who
felt that publicity was half as bad as guilt,
whether proved or disproved, and conscious
that ill name would always attach to the
young man, his nephew, as well as follow his
sister's memory, he waited on the lawyer,
and though conscious that the papers made
up of letters and confessions &c., were all
ingenious fabrications, he proposed to give

the villain ten thousand dollars to drop the
affair, saying to him,

“`I know it is money you want, and
money I offer you; only let this young gentleman
retain his honorable name unsuspected
and unspotted. Take the money I offer
you, and let him escape this vile conspiracy
against his property.”

`But the lawyer, who, instigated by the
devil, had set this base attempt on foot in
order that he might either extort money
from Colonel Ogilvie, or from the young
man, said that he had increased his price,
and that unless he had two thirds of the
estate of his ward, he should bring suit in
behalf of the real heirs, to whom he had
only to hint the matter, to be employed by
them to prosecute; the collateral heirs being
a nephew and niece of Colonel Ogilvie's
sister's husband, and cousins of young Heber
Deforrest, the real heir.

“`Unless you make over to me a title
to this amount of property,” said the lawyer
with a smile of Satanic power, “I shall
make an appeal to the young man's pride.
He has three hundred thousand, and he
would, I doubt not, rather have one hundred
thousand and a fair name, than three
hundred with a bastard's honors, and likely
to lose even that.”

`Of course, Colonel Ogilvie left him, and
told him to do his worst. Still he feared. He
knew this lawyer had been the attorney of
one of the supposed guilty parties, and might
be supposed to know and have access to the
facts which he assumed so boldly, though
Colonel Ogilvie had not the least doubt that
they were audacious forgeries.'

`Really, this is a very singular case, lieutenant,'
said the captain, who listened deeply
interested.

`A very extraordinary one. Colonel Ogilvie
had every reason to fear. Here was this
old shrewd lawyer coming forward a few
weeks after his brother-in-law's death, with
a package of letters and other papers, and
declares them to be an original private cor
respondence between the widow of the deceased,
twenty years before, and a certain eminent
statesman, celebrated for his gallantries.
These letters, the lawyer asserted,
embraced a correspondence of two years
standing, between the then young wife and
the statesman, in which her guilt was clearly
made out so that any jury on earth would
declare the infant boy she gave birth to
during the pendency of this correspondence,
illegitimate. The lawyer said he had been
appointed executor by this statesman, who
had died the year before, and by this means
this guilty correspondence carefully filed
away with copies of his own letters, fell into
his hands. Passages of some of the letters
he suffered Colonel Ogilvie to look at, though
he cautiously kept him from getting possession
of them. And with these plausible
statements, backed by the letters, he comes
to Colonel Ogilvie, and threatens to make
the matter public by instituting a suit, unless
his silence is purchased, threatning if he
failed with the guardian, he would awaken
the fears of the honorable young man himself.'

`Was ever such villany!' cried Captain
Alison, with indignant horror; `for there
can be no doubt of the forgery of the letters.
What was this lawyers's name?'

`Parchnip.'

`I knew him well by reputation, as a great
rogue. I am now convinced that he forged
papers. I hope the colonel did not give him
the title deeds of any part of the young man's
estate, in order to save his good name, and
the rest of his property.'

`He could not. Still he felt that the honor
of his ward, who was then at the University
of New Haven, was at stake, and his peace
of mind also if the old villain should apply
to him. So he hardly knew what to do. He
did not wish to consult with any one, for he
knew how dangerous it was to speak to a
second ear such a suspicion; for as soon as
he had parted with the secret, it was no
longer his own. As for Parchnip, he knew

he would keep quiet while it was for his interest
to do so.

`Colonel Ogilvie walked his room all
night undecided what to do. He knew
the lawyer well enough to know he would
do as he said. He knew that, though the
papers should be proved false, half the world
who heard the accusation, would not heed
the disproof, and his nephew and sister, with
half the world would be dishonored. He was
in distress—almost mad with his agitation of
mind. Suddenly he sat down and wrote for
Parchnip to come and see him, and bring
his papers. He resolved in his heart to get
possession of them or of the man's life.'

`He did right—he did right!' cried the
captain.

`Dat he did,' exclaimed Cæsar, who had
listened with no less interest than the captain
to Gordon's recital, `I hope he kill him, and
hab de papers too.'

`Parchnip came in high glee, confident of
success. As soon as he entered, Colonel
Ogilvie locked the door unseen by him.

“`I thought you would think better of it,
colonel,” said the lawyer, rubbing his hands
with great satisfaction. “Never too late to
repent.”

“`Have you the papers with you, sir?”
demanded the colonel in a quiet tone under
which he concealed his agitation.

“`Yes—never go without them. Pocket
safe—strong box sometimes broke open”'
answered Parchnip.

“`Let me examine them,” said the colonel.

`The lawyer drew from his pocket a large
packet wrapped in leather, which he deliberately
untied, and then was in the act of
drawing forth one paper at a time, when the
colonel made a grasp at it. But the wily
lawyer, unfortunately was too quick for him,
and held fast to it. For a few moments there
was a mortal struggle, but the lawyer released
himself, and unlocking the door, sprang
out and escaped.'

`What a pity,' exclaimed Capain Alison,
warmly.

`The same day, the colonel received the
following note:

`Such was the substance of the note which
Colonel Ogilvie received You may judge
what his feelings were. He saw misery and
disgrace about to befall the young man Heber
Deforrest, whom he greatly loved. He knew
Heber's pride of character, his high sense of
honor, and his profound sensitiveness He
saw that he would either at once yield his
fortune, if it were all demanded by the lawyer,
to save his honor and pure name, or else,
overcome with shame at the knowledge of
his supposed degraded birth, put a period to
his existence. He was overwhelmed at the
consequences. He resolved that he would
save his nephew at all risks.

“`It is now two hours to the time of the
starting of the stage,” he said to himself.
“It will pass after night a deep ravine,
where the horses will go slow. There I will
attack it, and possess myself of the parcel at
all risks. I will mask myself, and no one
will know who has done the act.”

`With this resolution he prepared himself
to carry it through. His country residence
was three miles from town. The stage road

skirted it. He knew well the glen through
which it would pass. Providing himself
with a mask and a pair of pistols, he left
town at twilight, and galloped forward to the
ravine. Here he posted himself, and waited
for the mail. He had previously looked at
the books at the stage house and seen that
only two passengers were entered, Parchnip
and another person unknown. At length,
about an hour after he had taken up his position
on the side-hill ascent from the glen,
he heard the wheels of the coach, and soon
afterwards saw the lamps gleaming along the
road through the trees. It came down into
the ravine at a fast trot, and the driver then
giving the horses the reins, let them walk
up the hill-side midway which Colonel Ogilvie
stood. He had placed a barrier of rails
across the road, which stopped the leaders,
when he sprang out into the road, and leveling
a pistol at the driver bade him throw him
the mail. Instead of doing so, the man aimed
a blow at the pistol barrel with the butt
of his whip, when the weapon went off and
the ball penetrated his side. He fell back
upon his seat with a mingled groan and
curse. Colonel Ogilvie without looking to
see the effect of the shot, jumped upon the
fore wheel, and grasping the mail-bag which
was beneath the driver's feet dragged it to
the ground, and hastened aside into the
hedge. Here he cut it open, and poured the
contents upon the ground. Then by the
light of a dark lantern, which he brought
with him for the purpose, he examined the
packages, and when his eye fell on one in
scribed to T. Parchnip, he uttered an exclamation
of joy. Seizing it, he placed it in
his coat pocket, and buttoning it safely up
he felt he had been well recompensed for the
risk he had run. He then replaced all the
letters and parcels, and carried the mail back
and placed it on the foot-board again. The
driver sat there groaning and saying he was
a dead man. Colonel Ogilvie's humanity
overcame his fears, and he resolved to try
and save the poor man's life. He removed
the rails from the road, and commanding
the trembling passengers within to remain
quiet, getting upon the box, he held the driver
on his seat with one hand, while he drove
with the other to the first house. Here he
called to the owner and giving the wounded
man in his charge, hastened back unseen in
the darkness to where he had tied his horse,
which he found, and remounted.

`In another hour, having stopped once to
despatch a surgeon to the coachman's aid,
he was in his own home in town. Locking
the door, he examined the package thoroughly.
He was amazed at the system of the
forgery. He saw that it would have been
impossible to have defeated such evidence,
bearing upon its face such seeming truthfulness:
and he acquitted himself of wrong in
what he had done to get them into his possession,
though he bitterly grieved for the
poor man, who had been wounded, and whom
he had only intended to intimidate.'

`It was a great misfortune. Did not the
lawyer make any resistance?' asked Captain
Alison.

`None, nor the other passenger, who was
a fat country gentleman. Both were too
thoroughly frightened even to put their heads
out of a window for fear of a ball. Of course
this stopping of the mail, connected as it
was with bloodshed, produced an immense
sensation.

`When Parchnip found that his parcel was
the only one missing, he guessed who had
done the deed and openly and so boldly accused
Colonel Ogilvie, saying that he saw
his face, and recognized his voice, that with
great reluctance the justice issued an order
for his private arrest and examination; for
his respectability and wealth seemed to render
the idea of his robbing the mail absurd.
Parchuip was present as accuser, and had
his rooms searched. But the colonel had
effectually destroyed the papers he had recovered.
He was about to be acquitted, as
nothing could be proven against him, when
a stain of blood was seen upon the under

part of his shirt wristband. Upon being
questioned about it he could not reply, but
turned pale, and was so agitated that they
began to believe him guilty.

`At this crisis, an officer who had been
searching about, brought his hat in from the
entry in which he had found a mask, which
he exhibited, stained in two places with finger
prints of blood where the colonel had adjusted
it. This was testimony strong enough
to call for his committal, and he was conveyed
to prison.'

`Poor man,' sighed the captain.

`The result you know. He was tried,
convicted of the crime of robbing the mail
and killing the driver, and sentenced to die.
His execution is set for the day after to-morrow,'
added Gordon with emotion, as he concluded
his recital.