CHAPTER XXXIII.
JOHNNY LA PORTE IS BROUGHT TO BOOK.
That is how Miss Amy Holmes was brought to judgment. I had managed herby stratagem, and extracted the truth from her under false pretenses.The weapon that I brandished above her head was a reed of straws, but itsufficed. My pretended knowledge of her past history had served mypurpose.
What her secret really was, and is, I neither know nor care. She is awoman, and when a woman has stepped down from her pedestal the world isall against her. The law may safely trust such sinners and theirpunishment to Dame Nature, who never errs, and never forgives, and toTime, who is the sternest of all avengers.
After hearing her story, I sent my second telegram to you, and then mythird; and after assuring myself that the girl had told the truthconcerning Nellie Ewing, I telegraphed to the office, giving the hintswhich Wyman acted on.
I should not have liked Wyman's task of going to those two honestfarmers and telling them the truth concerning their daughters; but Ishould not have been averse to the other work.
I can imagine Johnny La Porte, under the impression that he waspreparing for a day's lark, oiling his curly locks, scenting his pockethandkerchief, and driving Wyman, in whom he thought he had found a booncompanion, to Sharon, actually flying into the arms of the avengers, atthe heels of his own roadsters. I should have driven over that ten milesof country road, had I been in Wyman's place, bursting with glee,growing fat on the stupidity of the sleek idiot at my side.
But Wyman is a modest fellow, and given to seeing only the severe sideof things, and he says there is no glory in trapping a fool. Possibly heis right.
I should like to have seen Johnny La Porte when he was brought,unexpectedly, before 'Squire Ewing and Farmer Rutger, to be charged withhis villainy, and offered one chance for his life. He had heard theGrovelanders talk, and he knew that the despoilers of those twoGroveland homes had been dedicated to Judge Lynch.
Small wonder that he was terror-stricken before these two fathers, andthat under the lash of Wyman's eloquence he already felt the cordtightening about his throat.
I don't wonder that he whined and grovelled and submitted, abjectly, totheir demands. But I do wonder that those two fathers could let him outof their hands alive; and I experienced a thrill of ecstasy when Ilearned that Wyman kicked him three times, with stout boots!
That must have been an unpleasant journey to New Orleans. The twofarmers, stern, silent, heavy of heart, and filled with anxiety. LaPorte, who was taken in hand by Wyman, writhing under the torments ofhis own conscience and his own terror, and compelled to submit to hisguardian's frequent tirades of scorn and contempt, treated, for thefirst time in his life, like the poltroon he was.
I found the two girls at the address given by Amy Holmes; and, more tospare the two farmers the sight of her, than for her sake, I did notcompel her to repeat her story in their presence, but related it myselfinstead.
It's not worth while to attempt a description of the meeting between thetwo girls and their parents. Mamie was, at first, inclined to rebel; butNellie Ewing broke down completely, and begged to be taken home. She waspale and emaciated, a sad and pitiful creature. Her father was overcomewith grief at sight of the change in her. He could not trust himself tospeak to her of Johnny La Porte; and so--what a Jack of all trades adetective is--he called me from the room and delegated to me theunpleasant task.
I did it as well as I could. I told her as gently as possible thatJohnny La Porte was in New Orleans, and asked if she wanted to see him.She cried for joy, poor child, and begged me to send for him at once.And then I told her why we had brought him; he was prepared to make whatreparation he could. Did she wish him to make her his wife? Sheinterrupted me with a joyful cry.
"Would he do that? Oh, then she could go home and die happy."
In that moment I made a mental vow that this dying girl, if she could bemade any happier by it, should have not only the name of the youngscoundrel she so foolishly loved, but his care and companionship aswell.
I assured her that he was ready to make her his lawful wife, but couldnot tell her that he did it under compulsion.
After a long talk with 'Squire Ewing, during which I persuaded him tothink first of his daughter's needs, and to make such use of Johnny LaPorte as would best serve her, I went back to the hotel, where we hadleft the young scamp in charge of Wyman, and a little later in the daythe ceremony was performed which made Johnny La Porte the husband of thegirl he had sought to ruin.
Not long after this I invited the young man to a _tete-a-tete_, and hefollowed me somewhat ungraciously into a room adjoining that in whichhis new wife lay.
"Sit down," I said, curtly, motioning him to a chair opposite the one inwhich I seated myself. "Sit down. I want to give you a little adviceconcerning your future conduct."
He threw back his head defiantly; evidently he believed that he was nowsecure from further annoyance, and no longer within reach of law andjustice.
"I don't need your advice," he said, pettishly. "I have done all thatyou, or any one else, can require of me."
"Mistaken youth, your conformity with my wishes is but now begun."
"You can't bully me, now," he retorted. "I have married the girl, andthat's enough."
"It is _not_ enough! it is not all that you will do."
"You are a liar."
I took him by the shoulders, and lifting him fairly off his feet shookhim as a terrier shakes a rat. Then I popped him down upon the chair hehad refused to occupy, and said:
"There, you impudent little dunce, if you want to call me any morenames, don't hesitate. Now, hear me; you will do _precisely_ what I bidyou, now, and hereafter, or you will exchange that smart plaid suit forone adorned with horizontal stripes, and I'll have that curly pate ofyours as bare as a cocoanut."
"I took him by the shoulders, and lifting him fairly offhis feet shook him as a terrier shakes a rat."--page 379.]
"The law,"--he began.
"The _law_ may permit you to break the marriage vow you have just taken,but _I_ will not."
"You?" incredulously.
"Yes, _I_," I retorted, firmly. "The law of this mighty country, made byvery wise men, and enacted by very great fools, is a wondrous vixen. Youhave stolen 'Squire Ewing's daughter, and for that the law permits youto go unhung. You have stolen 'Squire Ewing's horse, and for that, thelaw will put you in the State's prison."
"His horse--I!--" the poor wretch gasped, helplessly.
"Exactly. The horse! and you! You see, the daughter has been found, butthe horse has _not_."
"But--I can prove--"
"You can prove nothing. I know all about the affair. _You_ carriedNellie Ewing away in your own carriage. _You_ handed her pony over to anaccomplice. I have, at my finger's ends, testimony enough to condemn youbefore any jury, and the only thing that can save you from the fate of acommon horse-thief, is--your own good behavior."
"What do you want?" he said, abjectly.
"I _want_ to see you hung as high as Haman. But that poor girl in thenext room wants something different, and I yield my wishes to hers. Sheis so foolish as to value your miserable existence, and so I give youthis one chance. Go home with your wife, not to your home, but hers, andremain there so long as she needs or wants you. Treat her withtenderness, serve her like a slave, and try thus to atone for some ofyour past villainy. Quit your old associates, be as decent and dutifulas the evil within will let you. So long as I hear no complaint, so longas your wife is made happy, you are safe. Commit one act of cruelty,unkindness, or neglect, and your fate is sealed. And, remember this, ifyou attempt to run away, I will bring you back, if I have to bring youdead."
He whined, he blustered, he writhed like a cur under the lash. But hewas conquered. 'Squire Ewing behaved most judiciously. Poor Nellie wasfoolishly happy. Mamie Rutger, too, became our ally, and, after a time,La Porte, who loved his ease above all things, seemed resigned, orresolved to make the best of the situation. I think, too, that he was,in his
way, fond of his poor little wife. Perhaps his consciencetroubled him, for when a physician was called in by the anxious father,her case was pronounced serious, and the chances for her recovery lessthan three in ten. The physician advised them to take her North at once,and they hastened to obey his instructions.
Our next care was to quiet Fred Brookhouse, for the present, and punishhim, as much as might be, for the future.
Accordingly, Brookhouse was arrested, on a trumped-up charge, and lockedup in the city jail, and then Wyman and myself gave to the Chief ofpolice and the Mayor of the city, a detailed account of his scheme toprovide attractions for his theater, and took other measures to insurefor the Little Adelphi a closer surveillance than would be at allcomfortable or welcome to the enterprising manager.
Brookhouse was held in jail until we were out of the city, and far onour way Northward, thus insuring us against the possibility of histelegraphing the alarm to any one who might communicate it to Arch, orEd. Dwight, and then, there being no one to appear against him, at theproper time, he was released.
Amy Holmes remained a prisoner at the hotel, conducting herself quiteproperly during the time of her compulsory sojourn there; and on the dayof our departure I paid her a sum equivalent to the week's salary shehad lost, and bade her go her way, having first obtained her promisethat she would not communicate with any of her accomplices; a promisewhich I took good care to convince her it would be safest to keep.
She was not permitted to see either Mamie or Nellie, and she had nodesire to see the other members of the homeward-bound party. And thusended our case in New Orleans.