Bear and forbear

“Wolf, you have been a thorn in my path,” said Nick Van Wolter, as the Belle stood down the lake.

“Do you regard me as the author of your misfortunes?” I inquired.

“Certainly I do.”

“You are mistaken. You are the author of them yourself, Nick.”

“I don’t think so. Everything was going very well with me till you came up here,” he added, bitterly.

“I did not instigate you to rob the bank.”

“No; but I should have got off if you had not turned up.”

“You don’t seem to think that your crimes are the cause of your misfortunes, Nick. If you had been an honest and upright young man, I could not possibly have done you any harm.”

“That may be true, but you have upset all my calculations.”

“You should not have had any such calculation as the robbing of a bank.”

“Well, I suppose it will not make any difference now. This is the end of me,” he replied, as the tears filled his eyes again. “Ten or twenty years in prison is not a pleasant thing to think of.”

“You ought to have thought of that before you robbed the bank.”

“Of course I had, but I didn’t. I hadn’t the least idea that I should be detected. I didn’t think it was possible; and it wouldn’t have been, if you had kept out of the way.”

“You were blind, Nick. Murder will out. Those who commit great crimes are almost always discovered. I don’t believe a man who commits a crime has more than one chance in a hundred of escaping the consequence of it, even in this world,” I added, warmly.

“Do you think any one would have suspected me of robbing the bank if you had been out of the way, Wolf?”

“I think it would have come out. There is always a screw loose somewhere in this kind of business. You did not know I was near the hotel till Mr. Overton introduced me.”

“Yes, I did; I saw you yesterday afternoon, when you landed at the grove. I saw Waddie coming towards the place when Miss Dornwood and myself were walking. I was afraid he would see me, and I told the lady I would get a team and drive her along the shore road, if she would wait where she was.”

“We saw you hastening towards the hotel,” said Waddie.

“I heard Miss Dornwood scream, and saw the bear before her, but I could not return because you were there. I stepped back into the grove, and saw all that passed.”

“And you expected to marry Miss Dornwood?” I asked.

“Yes, I expected to do so, though she refused me once. Mr. Overton assured me he could make it all right, and I had no doubt he would. The girl was pretty and interesting.”

“Did Mr. Overton know you were not what you represented yourself to be?” I inquired, finding that Nick was disposed to be communicative.

“Of course I never told him who I really was; but, after the talk we had together at Cape May, I think he understood the matter well enough. It was very fine for him to call me an impostor, after we had understood each other for a month,” replied Nick, sourly; and he seemed to be as much disgusted with Mr. Overton as with me.

“You had an understanding with him, then?”

“It was not in black and white; but I knew what he meant, and he knew what I meant.”

“What did he mean?” I asked.

Nick hesitated, and looked in the bottom of the boat, as if considering whether he should answer the question or not.

“I think Mr. Overton has used me in a shabby manner,” said he, at last. “He did not even offer to help me out of my trouble, but called me an impostor. I don’t know that I am under any obligation to conceal his tricks.”

“If he means any wrong towards Miss Dornwood, you ought not to conceal it,” added Waddie.

“She is a good girl, and I liked her. I don’t wish her any harm; and that is what Mr. Overton means. He intends to rob her of her fortune.”

“Are you sure of that, Nick?”

“I am. I’ll tell you the whole story, Wolf; and if you have a chance to do me a favor, I hope you will do it.”

“I shall be glad to do anything that is right for you,” I replied.

“I don’t want to be paraded through the streets of Centreport, and stared at by all the folks I used to know,” said Nick, glancing at the constable, as though he knew him well enough to understand that he would make the most of his victim.

The prisoner evidently expected me to save him from this painful exhibition, and I was willing to do so if it was in my power.

“I don’t owe Mr. Overton anything, certainly,” continued Nick. “I could have choked him when he introduced you to me, Wolf.”

“Didn’t he speak to you beforehand about me?” I asked.

“Not a word. Do you think I should have showed myself to you? Not at all. If I had known you were in the house, or anywhere near it, I should have taken myself off. When I came back in the morning, Mr. Overton told me your boat was gone, and he could not find any of the party who belonged to her. This made me perfectly easy. I was going to New York this afternoon, and I had no more idea of seeing you than I had of meeting the Queen of England.”

“By the way, Nick, how did you get back to the hotel?” inquired Waddie, who had been much mystified on this subject. “We sent two men by the upper road, and Captain Synders and myself came by the shore road.”

“When I met Cutter last night—”

“Who?”

“Cutter—the man who went down to Centreport with me.”

“Schleifer,” I added.

“He has as many names as a Spanish Infante,” said Nick. “When I met him, we changed our plans. He was to go to Middleport as quietly as he could, and took a canal-boat, so as not to let many people see him. You know how he happened to come ashore here. I was to meet him on the wharf at Middleport, as soon as everything was still, and I intended to drive down after dark, so that no one could see me. After Miss Dornwood came back to the hotel, and Mr. Overton had locked her into her room, I went down to the bar to get a glass of wine, for I was alarmed, and wanted something to raise my spirits. I met Cutter there, and he decided to ride with me to Middleport.

“I took a team, and told the stable-keeper I should not be back till late, if I returned before morning. I drove to Highlandville, where we put the team up at one stable, and hired a horse and buggy at another. At Middleport, where we arrived at half past eleven, I put the team in the shed at the store near the head of the wharf. I knew just where to find a boat, and we started to cross the lake. In the darkness I made out a sail-boat, going through the Narrows. She was close aboard of us when I discovered her. Then the sail-boat kept away a little, and ran into us.”

“Did you know what boat it was?” asked Waddie.

“I did not. I knew the Belle was up the lake, and it did not occur to me that it was she, even when the fireworks blazed up. We ought to have given up the job then, but Cutter said it was all right. We got out of the way as quick as possible. We walked over to the Institute, and soon saw the sail-boat go down the lake. We were satisfied then, and went to the bank. We approached the building by the back way, and did the job. It took so long to cut the hole through the door, that we did not finish till nearly daylight; and even then we heard the porter in the building.

“In a few minutes there was a commotion, and we realized that our work had been discovered. I led the way to the steam-mill by the back alleys, hoping to find a boat there. We were disappointed, and as there was no one in the way, we hastened to the steamboat wharf. I jumped into the tender of the Grace; but Cutler said he would not leave the Raven, which lay there, for some one to use in following us. We decided to separate then, in order to divide and bother our pursuers. I pulled across the lake, and got my horse at the shed. I took the upper road; but the horse was not fast, and I soon heard the rattle of a wagon behind me. Seeing a road into the woods, I drove in, taking care to remove the tracks of the wheels and the horse, so that they might not attract the attention of my pursuers. I suppose they had not heard the rattle of my vehicle, for presently they passed my hiding-place at a furious speed.

“Resuming the road, I continued on my way, and reached Highlandville without seeing any person. Returning the horse I had hired here, I obtained the one I had driven from the hotel, and went leisurely back without seeing any of the pursuers. I believed I was all right then; and I should have been, if Wolf had not crossed my path.”

“Did you divide the money?” asked the constable.

“No; we each took what we happened to have. Cutter carried the gold in his bag. We were to meet in New York, and make a fair division, expecting the newspapers to tell us how much the bank had lost, so that neither could cheat the other.”

“Where have you been since we parted above Hitaca, Nick?” I inquired, in order to bring him back to the Overton business.

“I went to Philadelphia first. I meant to go into some kind of business, and save the money I had; but, while I was at a hotel in the city, I met Cutter, who persuaded me to visit a gambling saloon, where I lost about half of my money. I found that Cutter was employed by the establishment to visit the hotel, and bring in customers. I had wit enough to stop playing when I found it was a losing game. Cutter took a fancy to me, and put me in the way of making a little money at this gambling house. I was employed as ‘a young gentleman from the country.’ When any one came in, I was allowed to win largely, for the encouragement of other young men from the rural districts, but of course my winnings went back to the banker.

“As the season advanced, a gambling house was opened at Cape May, and Cutter and myself went down to influence customers. I did not like the business, and he was dissatisfied with his salary. He informed me that he had been a machinist, and through many stages the conversation went on till he told me he meant to make a grand strike by emptying the vault of some bank. He talked to me about the plan for weeks before I would consent to have anything to do with it. Then I suggested the Centreport Bank. All this time we boarded at the best hotel, and no one except an occasional victim knew who or what we were. We bathed in the surf, danced, dined, and flourished in the drawing-rooms.

“There was a rumor about the hotel that an English lord, incog., was staying there. Every one wanted to penetrate the mystery; but, if there was any lord there, he kept his own secret. As a joke, Cutter whispered confidentially to some of the guests that I was the lord. I soon found that I was treated with great consideration, though, as my friend had not told me what his was about, I did not understand the reason. Fathers and mothers introduced me to their daughters, and I was a lion in spite of myself. Among those to whom Cutter had imparted the great secret was Mr. Overton, and I made the acquaintance of Miss Dornwood. Will you give me a drink of water, Wolf? I feel quite faint,” said Nick, who was really very pale.

I brought him some water, and also some crackers and cheese, for I knew he had not been to dinner; but he would not eat.