Part 14 (1/2)
”Sirs,” said Mr. Middleton, with an air of virtue that was well suited to the character of the sentiments he now began to enunciate, ”you deserve punishment. You have been taken in the act of committing a crime that is particularly revolting,--stealing a corpse. Dr. McAllyn, you have been apprehended in foul treason against friends.h.i.+p. You have stolen the body of a comrade. You have meditated cruel and shocking mutilation of this body, giving to the horror-stricken eyes of the frantic widow the mangled and defaced flesh that was once the goodly person of her husband, leaving her to waste her life in vain and terrible speculations as to where and how he encountered this awful death with its so dreadful wounds.”
”It was for the sake of science,” interpolated Dr. McAllyn, in no little indignation. ”If from the insensible clay of the dead we may learn that which will save suffering and prolong existence for the living, well may we disregard the ancient and ridiculous sentiment regarding corpses, a relic of the ancient heathen days when it was believed that this selfsame body of this life was worn again in another world.”
”I will not engage in an antiquarian discussion with you, sir, as to the origin of this sentiment. Suffice to say it exists and is one of the most powerful sentiments that rules mankind. You have attempted to violate it, to outrage it. However you may look upon your action, the penitentiary awaits you. Yet one can well hesitate to p.r.o.nounce the word that condemns a fellow man to that living death. It is not the mere punishment itself. The dragging years will pa.s.s, but what will you be when they have pa.s.sed? We no longer brand the persons of convicts, but none the less does the iron sear their souls and none the less does the world see with its mind's eye the scorched word 'convict' on their brows, so long as they live. In the capacity of judge, were I one, I might use such limit of discretion as the law allows in making your punishment lighter or heavier, but the disgrace of it, no one can mitigate. Therefore, that you may receive some measure of the punishment you deserve, and yet not be blasted for life, I will accept a monetary consideration and set you free.”
”Oh, you will, will you?” said Dr. McAllyn. ”How much lighter or heavier will you in your capacity as judge make this impost?”
”I will not take my time in replying to your slurs in kind. You, Dr.
McAllyn, as the one primarily responsible, as the leader who induced Dr. Darst to enter this conspiracy, as the one most to be reproached, in that Mr. Brockelsby was your friend, as the one by far the most able to pay, you shall pay $1,200. Dr. Darst shall pay $200. This is a punishment by no means commensurate with your crime. By this forfeit, shall you escape prison and disgrace.”
”Of course you know that I have no such sum as that about me,” said Dr. McAllyn. ”I will write you a check.”
”I am not so green as I look,” said Mr. Middleton, a.s.suming an easy sitting posture upon the box containing the mortal envelope of Mr.
Brockelsby. ”You may dispatch Dr. Darst with a check to get the money for you and himself. You will remain here as a hostage until his return.”
Accordingly, Dr. Darst departed and Mr. Middleton sat engrossed in reflection upon the chain of unpleasant circ.u.mstances that had forced upon him the unavoidable and distasteful role of a bribe-taker. Yet how else could he have carried off the part he had a.s.sumed? How else could he have obtained custody of Mr. Brockelsby? And surely the doctors richly deserved punishment. It was not meet that they should go scot free and in no other way could he bring it about that retribution should be visited upon them.
”It is all here,” said Mr. Middleton, when he had counted the bills brought by Dr. Darst. ”I shall now see that Mr. Brockelsby is taken back to the office whence you took him.”
”Pardon me,” said Dr. Darst, ”how in the world did you know we took him from his office? How did you ferret it all out?”
”I cannot tell you that,” said Mr. Middleton. ”I shall take him back to the office. He will be found there later in the day, just as you found him. You are wise enough to make no inquiries concerning him, to watch for no news of developments. Indeed, to make in some measure an alibi, should it be needed, you had better leave town by next train for the rest of the day. If it were known you were with Mr. Brockelsby at any time, might it not be thought that you were responsible for the condition he was found in?”
The doctors boarded the very next train, and Mr. Middleton, serene in the knowledge that no one would disturb him now, had the box taken back and set up in the main office. A slight thump in the box as it was ended up against the wall, caused Mr. Middleton to believe that Mr. Brockelsby was now resting on his head, but he resolved to allow this unavoidable circ.u.mstance to occasion him no disquiet. Going to a large department store where a sale of portieres was in progress, he purchased some portieres and a number of other things. The portieres he draped over the box, concealing its bare pine with s.h.i.+mmering cardinal velvet and turning it into the semblance of a cabinet. Lest any inquisitive hand tear it away, he placed six volumes of Chitty and a bust of Daniel Webster upon the top and tacked two photographs of Mr. Brockelsby upon the front. Confident that no one would disturb the receptacle containing his employer, he went into court and after a short but exceedingly spirited legal battle in which he displayed a forensic ability, a legal lore, and a polished eloquence which few of the older members of the Chicago bar could have equalled, he won a signal victory.
Although it was not his intention to set about restoring Mr.
Brockelsby until an hour that would ensure him against likelihood of interruption, he returned to the office to see if by any untoward mischance anybody could have interfered with the box. To his surprise, he found Mrs. Brockelsby seated before that object of vertu with her eye straying abstractedly over the cardinal portieres, the photographs of Mr. Brockelsby, the bust of Daniel Webster, and the volumes of Chitty.
”Oh, Mr. Middleton,” exclaimed the lady. ”Mr. Brockelsby did not come home to-day and they tell me he wasn't in court.”
”No, he was not in court,” said Mr. Middleton.
”Oh, where, oh, where can he be!” moaned Mrs. Brockelsby.
Mr. Middleton being of the opinion that this question was merely exclamatory, ejaculatory in its nature, of the kind orators employ to garnish and embellish their discourse and which all books of rhetoric state do not expect or require an answer, accordingly made no answer.
He was, nevertheless, somewhat disturbed by the poor lady's grief and wished that it were possible to restore her husband to her instantly.
”Oh, I have wanted to see him so, I have wanted him so! Oh, where can he be, Mr. Middleton! I must find him. I cannot endure it longer. I will offer a reward to anyone who will bring him home within twenty-four hours, to anyone who will find him. Oh, oh, oh, oh! I will give $200. I will give it to you, yourself, if you will find him.
Write a notice to that effect and take it to the newspaper offices.”
This great distress on the part of the lady was all contrary to what Dr. McAllyn had said concerning her indifference to the absence of her spouse and caused Mr. Middleton to feel very much like a guilty wretch. As he wrote out the notices for the papers, he reiterated a.s.surances that Mr. Brockelsby would turn up before morning, while the partner of the missing barrister continued her heartbroken wailing and the cause of it all was driven well-nigh wild.
”Oh, if you only knew!” she said, as Mr. Middleton was about to depart for the newspaper offices. ”Day after to-morrow, I am going to Was.h.i.+ngton to attend a meeting of the Federation of Woman's Clubs.
That odious Mrs. LeBaron is going to spring a diamond necklace worth two thousand dollars more than mine. Augustus must come home in time to sign a check so I can put three thousand dollars more into mine.”
A great load soared from Mr. Middleton's mind and blithe joy reigned there instead.
”Mrs. Brockelsby, I'll leave no stone unturned. I'll bring you your husband before breakfast,” and escorting the lady to her carriage and handing her in with the greatest deference and most courtly gallantry, he set forth for one of the more famous of the large restaurants which are household words among the elite of Chicago. Mr. Middleton had never pa.s.sed its portals, but with fourteen hundred dollars in his pocket and two hundred more in sight, he felt he could afford to give himself a good meal and break the fast he had kept since the evening before, for in the crowded events of the day, he had found time to refresh himself with nothing more substantial than an apple and a bag of peanuts, or fruit of the Arachis hypogea.