Part 13 (1/2)
”I then spoke very harshly about Pattmore, and said that he, above all other men, was hateful to me, because he had ruined her. She replied in his defense, and, as our conversation seemed likely to become bitter, I walked out to allow time for both our tempers to cool off. On my return, I found that Annie had gone out for the first time, since her illness, but she soon came in, saying that she had taken a short walk for exercise. She had regained her good humor, and seemed more like herself than she had for sometime. She again brought up the subject of wills, and I told her that I had made my will while I was in New Haven. She asked me about it, and I told her that I had made her my sole legatee, and that she would be in comfortable circ.u.mstances when I died. She seemed very much pleased at this, and said I was a dear good brother; but she hoped it might be a long time before she should become heiress to my property.
”'Who knows?' she said, laughing; 'perhaps I may die first.'
”'That is possible,' I said, 'but not probable. In the course of nature, I ought to die many years before you; and sailors are proverbially short-lived.'
”'Oh, nonsense!' she replied, 'you are so salted and tanned that you will last fifty years yet.'
”She then skipped gaily into the next room and brought out a bottle of ale, to reward me, as she said, for being good. She poured out a gla.s.s for each of us, and we drank to each other's good health. In about half an hour I became very sick; I vomited and retched terribly, while my bowels seemed to be on fire. The weather was very warm, and I attributed my illness to some fruit I had eaten, which the ale had disagreed with.
I suffered agony all night, but toward morning I became quieter and the pain gradually left me.
”At daylight I casually glanced at my ring, and I was surprised to see that the stone had turned to a creamy white--a sure sign that my life was in danger. You will call me foolish and superst.i.tious, I know, but I cannot help it. A belief in the virtues of this ring is a part of my very nature, and it has always been an unerring guide to me. This ring invariably predicts my good or bad fortune.” And so speaking, the Captain held the ring out for me to see it.
I looked him straight in the face, expecting to see some signs of insanity, or at least monomania, in his eyes, but there were none. He was evidently perfectly rational, and this belief was apparently as natural to him as a belief in a hereafter, or in any other religious doctrine, is to other people. After a short pause, as I glanced at the ring, he continued:
”Now, you can see nothing strange in that stone, Mr. Pinkerton, but I can. From its appearance I can obtain warning of approaching good or bad fortune. Away out at sea, when a storm is coming, the stone turns black; when enemies are near me it turns the color of blood; and when I am in danger of death, it becomes a creamy white.
”My father once saved the life of a Sepoy soldier, and, as a mark of grat.i.tude, the latter presented my father with three rings of wonderful powers. The Sepoy said that he had obtained them from a Hindoo hermit, far out in the jungle. I have long tried to find other rings possessing the same qualities, but have never succeeded. One of these rings was buried with my mother, one with my father, and I have the third.”
I looked at the ring carefully, but could see nothing remarkable about it. The stone was an opal, set in a heavy gold band, peculiarly chased; but, aside from the popular superst.i.tion with regard to opals, there was nothing which would lead me to suppose that it possessed any exceptional powers.
”When I saw you last,” continued the Captain, ”I meant to have asked you to have this ring buried with me, in case I died; but I was afraid you would consider the request too foolish. I wished it buried with me because I did not wish Annie to have it.”
”But why do you think Annie would take it?” I asked.
”Because I know she wants it,” replied Captain Sumner. ”She thinks that it would enable her to make Pattmore love her always, and so she wishes to own it. Now, I think Pattmore is a villain, and I wish to separate her from him and destroy his influence over her. Therefore I do not wish her to get the ring, since its possession will induce her to continue her connection with that man.”
I confess that I did not know what to make of the Captain. If he was insane, he certainly had the most impenetrable mask over his insanity that I had ever seen. His eyes were so bright, clear and honest, that the most experienced physiognomist in the world would have failed to observe the slightest trace of cunning, or want of a balanced mind in their expression. During the progress of his story he had continually held his ring where he could see it, and several times had raised it to the light, in a contemplative sort of way, as if he drew some satisfaction from its appearance. He bowed his head in his hands as he ceased speaking, and some moments elapsed before he looked up, though when he did so he was perfectly calm.
”Captain, did you find the ring of any practical value at sea?” I asked.
”Yes; often it has apprised me of a coming storm in time to prepare for it. I have thus pa.s.sed in safety through many sudden gales of the approach of which I have been warned only just in time to save my s.h.i.+p.
My men always had perfect confidence in my ability to weather the heaviest gale.”
”Well, Captain, if you should give that ring to me, would it be equally prophetic in my hands?” I asked.
”But I will not give it to you nor any one else; nor will I part with it, even in death if I can help it,” replied the Captain. ”The Sepoy told my father, that he must never allow the rings to go out of his family, as they would then lose their powers. I know that the fancy seems strange to you, and, no doubt, you think I am not exactly sane; but I have proved the power of the ring so often, that I know its virtues, and believe in them. I may be able to satisfy you of its value by a practical demonstration yet.”
I saw that he was not insane, but terribly superst.i.tious, so I made no further remarks about the ring. He drew his chair closer toward me, and said in a low, painful whisper:
”Mr. Pinkerton, I have positive knowledge that _Annie has attempted to poison me three times_. She put poison in that ale; she afterwards gave me some in a cup of coffee; and, the third time, it was administered so secretly, that I do not know when I took it. The first time, I recovered because the dose was too large, and I vomited up the poison so soon that it had not time to act. The second time, I took only a sip of the coffee, and found that it tasted bitter, so I threw it away, though the little I had taken distressed me exceedingly. The third time, I nearly died, and it was only by the prompt attendance of a physician that I was saved. He said it was a metal poison which probably came off from a copper kettle in which some fruit had been cooked. Neither he, nor any one else, ever suspected that I had been poisoned intentionally. When I recovered, I accused Annie of trying to poison me; she denied it vehemently at first, but I said to her:
”'Annie, the ring tells me that I have an enemy near me, and you must be that enemy.'
”I spoke as if positive of her guilt, and, as she is a firm believer in the ring, she finally burst into tears and confessed having given me poison at three different times. On her knees, she begged my forgiveness, and thanked G.o.d that my life had been spared. She was so broken down by the thought of her unnatural and wicked purpose, that I feared that she would have a relapse into sickness. She seemed so wholly contrite, that I thought she would never undertake such a terrible crime again, and I freely forgave her.”
I looked at the Captain in perfect amazement, hardly able to credit my own senses.
”Can it be possible,” I asked, ”that your sister admitted that she had tried to poison you?”
”Yes,” replied the Captain; ”and she said that Pattmore had encouraged her to put me out of the way. He had told her that he would marry her when his wife, (who was now dying) was dead; that I was bitterly opposed to him, and would never consent to their marriage; that if she would poison me, they would be married and go to California to live; and, therefore, that it would be well for her to poison me before Mrs.