Complete Works of Bram Stoker (38 page)

“Faix, if I said too much I might be settled down before the month was out; an’ if I said too little I might have a girrul lukin’ black at me iv’ry time Idhruv by. The house beyant it is a public, an’ shure I know I’m safe there anyhow  —  if me dhrouth ‘II only hould out!”

I took the hint, and Andy spun my shilling in the airas he drove off. Dick and I walked together, and when he was out of ear-shot I said: “Now, old fellow, we are alone. What is it?” “It’s about Murdock.” “Not more than you told me in your letter, I hope. I owe you a good turn for that thrashing you gave him!” “Oh, that was nothing; it was a labor of love. What I want to speak of is a much more serious affair.” “Nothing to touch Norah, I hope?” I said, anxiously. “This individual thing is not, thank God! But everything which that ruffian can do to worry her, or any of us, will be done. We’ll have to watch him closely.” “What is this new thing?” “It is about old Moynahan. I am in serious doubt and anxiety as to what I should do. At present I have only suspicion to go on, and not the faintest shadow of proof, and I really want help and advice.” “Tell me all about it.” “I shall, exactly as I remember it; and when I have told you, you may be able to draw some conclusion which can help us.”

“Go on; but remember I am, as yet, in ignorance of what it is all about. You must not take any knowledge on my part for granted.”

“I’ll bear it in mind. Well, you remember what I said in my letter, that I had a suspicion of Murdock, and intended watching him?” I nodded. “Two nights after I had written that, the evening was dark and wet  —  just the weather I would have chosen myself had I had any mysterious purpose on hand. As soon as it got dark I put on my black water-proof and fishing-boots and a sou’wester, and then felt armed for any crouching or lying down that might be required. I waited outside Murdock’s house in the lane-way, where I could see from the shadows on the window that both men were in the house. I told you that old Bat Moynahan had taken up his residence entirely with the Gombeen Man  —  ” “And that he was always drunk.” “Exactly. I see you understand the situation. Presently I heard a stumble on the stone outside the porch, and peeping in through the hedge I saw Murdock holding up old Moynahan. Then he shut the door and they came down the path. The wind was by this time blowing pretty strongly, and made a loud noise in the hedge-rows, and bore in the roar of the surf. Neither of the men could hear me, for I took care as I followed them to keep on the leeward side, and always with something between us. Murdock did not seem to have the slightest suspicion that anyone was even on the hillside, let alone listening, and he did not even lower his tone as he spoke. Moynahan was too drunk to either know or care how loud he spoke, and indeed both had to speak pretty loud inorderto be heard through the sound of the growing storm. The rain fell in torrents, and the men passed down the boreen stumbling and slipping. I followed on the other side of the hedge, and I can tell you I felt grateful to the original Mackintosh, or Golosh, or whatever was the name of the Johnny who invented the water-proof. When they had reached the foot of the hill, they went on the road which curves round bythe south-east, and I managed to scramble through the fir wood without losing sight of them. When they came to the bridge over the stream, where it runs out on the north side of the peninsula, they turned up on the far bank. I slipped over the bridge behind them, and got on the far side of the fringe of alders. Here they stopped and sheltered fora while, and as Iwas but a few feet from them I heard every word which passed. Murdock began by saying to Moynahan:

‘“Now, keep yer wits about ye, if ye can. Ye’ll get lashins ivdhrink whin we get back, but remimberye promised to go over the ground where yer father showed ye that the Frinchmin wint wid the gun-carriage an’ the horses. Where was it now that he tuk ye?’ Moynahan evidently made an effort to think and speak: ‘“It was just about this shpot wheer he seen thim first. They crast over the sthrame  —  there wor no bridge thin nigher nor Galway  —  an’ wint up the side ivthe hill sthraight up.’

‘“Now, couldn’t ye folia the way yer father showed ye? Jist think. It’s all dark, and there’s nothin’ that ye know to confuse ye  —  no threes what has growed up since thin. Thry an’ remimber, an’ ye’ll have lashins ivdhrink this night, an’ half the goold whin we find it.’ ‘“I can go. I can show the shpot. Come on.’ He made a sudden bolt down into the river, which was running unusually high. The current almost swept him away; but Murdock was beside him in a moment, crying out:

‘“Go an; the wather isn’t deep! don’t be afeerd! I’m wid ye.’ When I heard this, I ran around and across the bridge, and was waiting behind the hedge on the road when they came up again. The two men went up the Hill straight for perhaps a hundred yards, I still close to them; then Moynahan stopped: ““Here’s about the shpot me father tould me that he seen the min whin the moon shone out. Thin they went aff beyant,’ and he pointed to the south. The struggle through the stream had evidently sobered him somewhat, for he spoke much more clearly. ‘“Come on thin,’ cried Murdock, and they moved off. ‘“Here’s wheer they wint to, thin,’ said Moynahan, as he stopped on the south side of the Hill  —  as I knew it to be from the louder sound of the surf which was borne in by the western gale. ‘Here they wor, jist about here, an’ me father wint away to hide from thim beside the big shtone at the Shleenanaherso that they wouldn’t see him.’ Then he paused, and went on in quite a different voice: ‘“There, now I’ve tould ye enough for wan night. Come home, for it’s chilled to the harrt I am, an’ shtarved wid the cowld. Come home; I’ll tell no more this night.’ The next sound I heard was the popping of a cork, and then the voice of Murdock in a cheery tone: ‘“Here, take a sup of this, ould man. It’s chilled we both are, an’ cramped wid cowld. Take a good dhraw, ye must want it if ye’re as bad as lam!’ The gurgle that followed showed that he had obeyed orders; this was confirmed within an incredibly short time by his voice as he spoke again.

‘“Me father hid there beyant. Come on.’ We all, each in his own way, moved down to the Shleenanaher, and stood there. Moynahan spoke first. ‘“From here, he seen them jist over the ridge ivthe hill. I can go there now; come on.’ He hurried up the slope, Murdock holding on to him. I followed, now crouching low, for there was but little shelter here. Moynahan stopped and said: ‘“It was just here.’ ‘“How do ye know?’ asked Murdock, doubtfully. ‘“How do I know! Hasn’t me father been over the shpot wid me a score iv times; aye, an’ a hundhred times afore that be himself. It was here, I tell ye, that he seen the min wid the gun-carriage for the last time. Do ye want to arguey it?’

‘“Not me,’ said Murdock; and as he spoke I saw him stoop, for as I was at the time lying on the ground, I could see his outline against the dark sky. He was looking away from me, and as I looked, too, I could see him start as he whispered to himself: ‘“Be God, but it’s thrue! There’s the gun-carriage.’ There it was, Art, true enough before my eyes, not ten feet away on the edge of the bog. Moynahan went on: ‘“Me father tould me that the mountain was different at that time; the bog only kem down about as low as this. Musha! but it’s the quare lot it has shifted since thin!’ There was a pause, broken by Murdock, who spoke in a hoarse, hard voice:

“‘An’ where did he see them nixt?’ Moynahan seemed to be getting drunker and drunker, as was manifest in his later speech; his dose of whiskey had no doubt been a good one.

‘“He seen them next to the north beyant  —  higher up towards Murdock’s house.’

‘“Towards Murdock’s house! Ye mane Joyce’s.’ ‘“No, I mane Black Murdock’s; the wan he had before he robbed Joyce. But, begor, he done himself! It’s on Joyce’s ground the money is. He’s a naygur, anyhow  —  Black Murdock, the Gombeen  —  bloody end to him!’ and he relapsed into silence. I could hear Murdock grind his teeth; then, after a pause, he spoke as the bottle popped again. ‘“Have a sup; it’ll kape out the cowld.’ Moynahan took the bottle.

‘“Here’s death and damnation to Black Gombeen!’ and the gurgling was heard again. ‘“Come, now, show me the shpot where yer father last saw the min!’ Murdock spoke authoritatively, and the other responded mechanically, and ran rather than walked, along the side of the Hill. Suddenly he stopped. ‘“Here’s the shpot!’ he said, and incontinently tumbled down.

‘“Git up! Wake up!’ shouted Murdock in his ear. But the whiskey had done its work; the man slept, breathing heavily and stentoriously, heedless of the storm and the drenching rain. Murdock gathered a few stones and placed them together; I could hear the sound as they touched each other. Then he, too, took a pull at the bottle, and sat down beside Moynahan. I moved off a little, and when I came to a whin bush got behind it for a little shelter, and raising myself, looked round. We were quite close to the edge of the bog, about half-way between Joyce’s house and Murdock’s, and well in on Joyce’s land. I was not satisfied as to what Murdock would do, so I waited.

“Fully an hour went by without any stir, and then I heard Murdock trying to awaken old Moynahan. I got down on the ground again and crawled over close to them. I heard Murdock shake the old man, and shout in his ear; presently the latter awoke, and the Gombeen Man gave him another dose of whiskey. This seemed to revive him a little as well as to complete his awakening.

‘“Musha, but it’s cowld lam!’ he shivered.

‘“Begor it is. Git up and come home,’ said Murdock, and he dragged the old man to his feet. ‘“Hould me up, Murtagh,’ said the latter; ‘I’m that cowld I can’t shtand, an’ me legs is like shtones: I can’t feel them at all, at all!’

‘“All right,’ said the other; ‘walk on a little bit  —  sthraight  —  as ye’re goin’ now; I’ll just shtop to cork the bottle.’ “From my position I could see their movements, and as I am a living man, Art, I saw Murdock turn him with his face to the bog, and send him to walk straight to his death!”

“Good God, Dick, are you quite certain?”

“I haven’t the smallest doubt on my mind. I wish I could have, for it’s a terrible thing to remember. That attempt to murder in the dark and the storm, comes between me and sleep. Moreover, Murdock’s action the instant after showed only too clearly what he intended. He turned quickly away, and I could hear him mutter as he moved past me on his way down the Hill:

‘“He’ll notthrouble me now, curse him! an’ his share won’t be required,’ and then he laughed a low, horrible laugh, slow and harsh, and as though to himself; and I heard him say:

“‘An’ whin I do get the chist, Miss Norah, ye’II be the nixt!’”

My blood began to boil as I heard of the villain’s threat.

“Where is he Dick? He must deal with me for that.”

“Steady, Art, steady!” and Dick laid his hand on me. “Go on,” I said.

“I couldn’t go after him, for I had to watch Moynahan, whom I followed close, and I caught hold of as soon as I thought Murdock was too far to see me. I was only just in time, for as I touched him he staggered, lurched forward, and was actually beginning to sink in the bog. It was atone of those spots where the rock runs sheer down into the morass. It took all my strength to pull him out, and when I did get him on the rock he sank down again into his drunken sleep. I thought the wisest thing I could do was to go to Joyce’s for help; and as, thanks to my experiments with the magnets all those weeks, I knew the ground fairly well, I was able to find my way  —  although the task was a slow and difficult one.

“When I got near I saw a light at the window. My rubber boots, I suppose, and the plash of the falling rain dulled my footsteps, for as I drew near I could see that a man was looking in at the window, but he did not hear me. I crept up behind the hedge and watched him. He went to the door and knocked  —  evidently not for the first time; then the door was opened, and I could see Joyce’s figure against the light that came from the kitchen.

‘“Who’s there? What is it?’ he asked. Then I heard Murdock’s voice.

“I’m lukin’ for poor ould Moynahan. He was out on the Hill in the evenin’, but he hasn’t kem home, an’ I’m anxious about him, for he had a sup in him, an’ I fear he may have fallen into the bog. I’ve been out lukin’ for him, but I can’t find him. I thought he might have kem in here.’

‘“No, he has not been here. Are you sure he was on the Hill?’

‘“Well, I thought so; but what ought I to do? I’d be thankful if ye’d advise me. Be-the-way, what o’clock might it be now?’

“Norah, who had joined herfather, ran in and looked at the clock.

‘“It is just ten minutes past twelve,’ she said.

‘“I don’t know what’s to be done,’ said Joyce. ‘Could he have got to the sheebeen?’

‘“That’s a good idea. I suppose I’d betther go there an’ luk afther him. Ye see, I’m anxious about him, for he’s been livin’ wid me, an’ if anythin’ happened to him, people might say I done it!’

‘“That’s a queer thing for him to say,’ said Norah to her father.

“Murdock turned on her at once.

‘“Qua re thing  —  no more qua re than the things they’ll be sayin’ about you before long.’

‘“What do you mean?’ said Joyce, coming out. ‘“Oh, nawthin’, nawthin’! I must look for Moynahan.’ And without a word he turned and ran. Joyce and Norah went into the house. When Murdock had quite gone I knocked at the door, and Joyce came out like a thunder-bolt. ‘“I’ve got ye now, ye ruffian!’ he shouted. ‘What did ye mean to say to me daughter?’ But by this time I stood in the light, and he recognised me. “‘Hush!’ I said; ‘let me in quietly;’ and when I passed in we shut the door. Then I told them that I had been out on the mountain, and had found Moynahan. I told them both that they must not ask me any questions, or let on to a soul that I had told them anything  —  that much might depend on it; for I thought, Art, old chap, that they had better not be mixed up in it, however the matter might end. So we all three went out with a lantern, and I brought them to where the old man was asleep. We lifted him, and between us carried him to the house; Joyce and I undressed him and put him in bed, between warm blankets. Then I came away and went over to Mrs. Kelligan’s, where I slept in a chair before the fire.

“The next morning when I went up to Joyce’s I found that Moynahan was all right  —  that he hadn’t even got a cold, but that he remembered nothing whatever about his walking into the bog. He had even expressed his wonder at seeing the state his clothes were in. When I went into the village I found that Murdock had been everywhere and had told everyone of his fears about Moynahan. I said nothing of his being safe, but tried quietly to arrange matters so that I might be present when Murdock should set his eyes for the first time on the man he had tried to murder. I left him with a number of others in the sheebeen, and went back to bring Moynahan, but found, when I got to Joyce’s that he had already gone back to Murdock’s house. Joyce had told him, as we had arranged, that when Murdock had come asking for him he had been alarmed, and had gone out to look for him; had found him asleep on the hill-side, and had brought him home with him. As I found that my scheme of facing Murdock with his victim was frustrated, I took advantage of Murdock’s absence to remove the stones which he had placed to mark the spot where the treasure was last seen. I found them in the form of a cross, and moving them, replaced them at a spot some distance lower down the line of the bog. I marked the place, however, with a mark of my own  —  four stones put widely apart at the points of a letter Y  —  the centre marking the spot where the cross had been. Murdock returned to his house not long after, and within a short time ran down to tell that Moynahan had found his way home, and was all safe. They told me that he was then white and scared-looking.” Here Dick paused: “Now, my difficulty is this: I know he tried to murder the man, but I am not in a position to prove it. No man could expect his word to be taken in such a matter and under such circumstances. And yet I am morally certain that he intends to murder him still. What should I do? To take any preventive steps would involve making the charge which I cannot prove. As yet neither of the men has the slightest suspicion that I am concerned in the matter in anyway, or that I even know of it. Now, may I not be most useful by keeping a watch and biding my time?”