"with anxious dread have i avoided thee, thou haunting evil of my early days, yet by some trick of fate we meet again; i pray thee, sir, let me go far away. and place the roaring seas between us twain, there is but sorrow in our comradeship."
it was the high road to the village of garsworth, wide, deeply rutted, and somewhat grass-grown, with a tall hedge of yellow-blossomed gorse on the one side, and on the other a ragged, broken fence, over which leaned a man absorbed in meditation, his eyes fixed upon the setting sun.
the fence, rotten and moss-tufted, ran along the edge of a little hill, the slope of which had been lately reaped, and was now covered with bristly yellow stubble, variegated by bare-looking patches of brownish earth.
at the bottom of the hill flowed the narrow river gar, with its sluggish waters rolling lazily along between the low mud banks, bordered by rows of pollard willows and lush rank grasses which hid the burrows of the water-rats. beyond, towards the distant hills, stretched the damp, melancholy fen-lands, with their long lines of slimy ditches, still pools of black water, and scattered clumps of stunted trees. still further away appeared a scanty fringe of forest, above which could be seen the square, grey tower of a church, and over all glared an angry red sky barred with thin lines of heavy clouds, looming intensely black against the accentuating crimson light behind.
an evil-looking scene it was, for over the brooding loneliness and desolation of the fen-lands flared the fierce scarlet of the sunset, turning the slender line of the river and the sombre pools of water to the tint of blood, as though they had been smitten with the egyptian plague.
a chill wind, heavy with the unwholesome miasma of the fens was blowing over the moist earth, and across the plain floated a vaporous white mist, making the stunted trees look weird and spectral behind its shadowy veil.
the man, leaning over the fence, took a cigarette out of his mouth and shivered slightly.
"ugh!" he muttered, with an uneasy shudder, "it's like the valley of the shadow of death." then, replacing the cigarette, he continued contemplating the uncanny-looking landscape to which the term was singularly applicable.
it was a curious face upon which shone the red sunlight, being long and narrow, with lantern jaws and a thin, hawk-like nose. thread-like black eyebrows in a straight line above piercing dark eyes and a scanty black moustache twisted jauntily at the ends over tightly-closed lips. curly hair, the colour of ebony, worn longer than usual, and touched at the temples with grey, appeared from under his soft wideawake, around which was twisted a blue handkerchief with white spots. a livid, cadaverous-looking face, with the haggard expression of one who had lived a fast life; nevertheless it appeared full of animation and nervous energy.
he was tall, being much above the average height, with sloping shoulders and a slender, well-knit figure, clad in a rough suit of grey homespun, which he wore with a certain natural grace. his feet were well-shaped and neatly shod in tan-coloured boots, and his hands, long and slender, were those of an artist.
not strictly handsome, perhaps, but with a certain insolent dash of recklessness about him which suited his spanish-looking face, and stamped him at once as a bohemian. a man who cared for no one so long as his personal desires were gratified, a man who would stop at nothing to gratify those desires, in short, a man who had lived forty-five years in the world without making a single friend; which fact speaks for itself. a thorough scamp, ever on the edge of an abyss, yet by some miracle never losing his balance, basil beaumont had fascinated many men and women, but they always found his friendship too expensive to maintain; therefore the result was ever the same, they retired, sooner or later, on some pretext or another, leaving him solitary and alone.
mr. beaumont was smoking a cigarette--he was always smoking cigarettes--morn, noon, and night those deadly little rolls of paper were between his thin lips, and though doctors warned him of the danger to his nerves, he laughed at their croakings.
"nerves, my dear sir," he said lightly; "men in my position can't afford to have nerves; they are a luxury for the rich and foolish. why should i have nerves? i don't drink; i don't run away with other men's wives; i don't fret over the unavoidable--bah! smoking is my one redeeming vice."
he had a number of other vices, however, as many young men found to their cost. true, he himself did not drink, but he led others to do so, nor did he covet his neighbour's wife, yet he was by no means averse to playing the part of sir pandarus of troy, provided it was to his own interest to do so. moreover, he gambled.
it was in this terrible passion--rarely, if ever conquered--that he found his greatest delight. the green cloth-covered table, the painted hieroglyphics of the cards, the hopes, the fears, the gains, the losses, were all to him but a representation of his daily life on a small scale. he gambled with men as he gambled with cards, meeting varied fortunes in both, and risking his luck as recklessly in the game of life as in the game of baccarat. he was a scamp, a scoundrel, a blackleg of the deepest dye, bankrupt in pocket and in illusions; yet he always kept within the limits of the law, and, moreover, sinned in an eminently gentlemanly manner, which robbed the sordid, feverish life he was leading of its most repulsive features.
why this artificial man, who lived only in the glare of the gas-lamps, and, owl-like, shunned the searching light of the day, had come to such an out-of-the-way village as garsworth was a puzzle, but nevertheless a puzzle easy of solution. his object was two-fold. in the first place, he had left london to escape the demands of persistent creditors, and in the second, being a native of the dull little hamlet, he had returned to visit the scenes of his youth not seen by him for three-and-twenty years.
it was not a sentimental longing--no, mr. beaumont and sentiment had long since parted company; but garsworth was a dead and alive place where no one would think of looking for him, so he could stay there in safety until he saw a chance of arranging his pecuniary affairs and leaving the arcadia he detested for the london he loved.
an artist by profession, though he had not touched a brush for years, he found it necessary to resume his old employment as a reason for his sojourn in garsworth, for the honest rustics were somewhat suspicious of basil beaumont, his character having been none of the best when he left his native place to seek his fortune. so he lived quietly at the principal inn of the village, dawdled about the fields, sketched picturesque landscapes in a desultory manner, and in the meantime corresponded with a dear brother hawk in town as to his chances of return to the metropolis.
his cigarette burnt down rapidly as he leaned over the fence thinking of his future, so throwing away the stump, he took out his tobacco-pouch and a little book of rice paper, in order to manufacture another, talking to himself meanwhile as is the fashion of solitary men.
"two weeks," he said musingly, while he deftly rolled the tobacco in his slender fingers, "two weeks in this blessed place--well, there's one good thing, the rest will do me good, and i'll go back to town as steady as a rock; the medicine is disagreeable, but the result will be excellent. what bad luck i've had lately--everything seems against me. i'll have to make a big effort to get some cash, or i'll end my days in a workhouse--ugh!" shivering again, "not that--god, how i dread poverty! never mind," he went on gaily, shrugging his shoulders, "there are plenty of fools in this world, and as everything was created for a special purpose, i presume le bon dieu made fools to feather clever men's nests."
he laughed softly at this cynicism, then, lighting the cigarette, placed it in his mouth and resumed his soliloquy.
"forty-five and still living on my wits. ah, basil, my friend, you've been an awful fool, and yet, if i had to live my life over again, i don't know that i would act differently. circumstances have been too strong for me. with a certain income i might have been an honest man, but fate--pish!--why do i blame that unhappy deity whom men always make a scapegoat for their own shortcomings? it's myself, and none other, i should curse. well, well, rich or poor, honest man or scoundrel, i'll go with all the rest of my species through the valley of the shadow."
he raised his eyes once more to the melancholy scene before him, when suddenly his quick ear caught the sound of footsteps coming briskly along the road, and he smiled to himself as the invisible pedestrian began to whistle "garryowen."
"plenty of spirits," he muttered, flicking the ash off his cigarette, "or perhaps not enough, seeing he has to cheer himself with irish melodies."
the footsteps came nearer, and shortly afterwards a man paused in the centre of the road as he saw the still figure leaning indolently against the fence. a fair-haired ruddy-faced man, of medium height, arrayed in a walking suit, with a knapsack on his shoulder, and a heavy stick in his hand.
"hullo!" he cried, tapping his stick on the ground, "how far is it to the village?"
basil beaumont started slightly when he heard the voice, then an evil smile crossed his face as he turned lazily round to answer the question.
"about one mile, nestley," he replied distinctly.
as he spoke the pedestrian gave a cry, and with a muttered oath sprang forward to where the other stood.
"beaumont!" he whispered, recoiling at the sight of that mocking, mephistophelean countenance smiling at his emotion.
"at your service," said beaumont, carelessly putting his hands in his pockets. "and what are you doing in this part of the country, doctor duncan nestley?"
nestley did not answer, but stared fixedly at the artist as if he were turned into stone, but the other met his gaze steadily and seemed rather amused at the scrutiny.
"you take a long time to recognise an old friend," he observed at length, blowing a thin wreath of smoke.
"friend," echoed nestley, with a deep sigh, recovering himself. "yes, you were my friend, basil beaumont."
"why 'were'?" asked the artist coolly.
"because it was you who so nearly ruined my life," replied nestley in a deep voice.
beaumont smiled in a saturnine manner.
"i," he said in a gibing tone. "my good fellow you do me too much honour. i would never dare to ruin so celebrated an individual as duncan nestley, f.r.c.s., and deuce knows what other letters of the alphabet."
the pedestrian turned on him fiercely, and, stepping forward, confronted him with clenched fists. the artist never blenched, but eyed his angry antagonist steadily. so nestley, with all the wrath dying out of his face, fell back into his former position with a dreary laugh.
"you have the one virtue of a scoundrel, i see," he said bitterly. "courage."
"man of one virtue and ten thousand crimes," quoted beaumont, easily. "faith, it's something to have even one virtue in this degenerate age. where are you going?" he added, as nestley turned away.
"going?" echoed the doctor, fiercely. "anywhere, so long as it is away from you."
beaumont raised his eyebrows in affected surprise, then, shrugging his shoulders, took out his watch.
"it is now between five and six o'clock," he said, putting it back again, "and it will be dark by the time we reach garsworth, which is the nearest village. i am staying there, but if you choose to go back again in order to avoid the moral leper, i daresay you'll reach shunton by twelve o'clock."
"i'm not going with you," reiterated nestley, resolutely, as the artist stepped into the road.
"'nobody axed you, sir,' she said," retorted beaumont, with a sneer, sauntering on. "good-bye; a pleasant journey."
nestley looked at the sky, out of which the red light was rapidly dying. a few stars glimmered in the pale flush of colour, and the chill breeze was growing colder while the mists lay over the fen lands like a thick white veil. he was cold and hungry, so the prospect of getting something to eat and a night's rest instead of trudging back wearily to shunton, decided him. he shook himself impatiently, made a few steps forward, then paused irresolutely.
"bah! why should i mind?" he said angrily to himself. "beaumont can do me no harm now. after five years i hardly see how his influence can affect me. i'll chance it, anyhow."
away in the distance he could see the tall form of the artist strolling easily along, so, having paused a moment to light his pipe, he strode rapidly after him. even as he did so there flashed across his mind, with the rapidity of lightning, the phrase, "lead us not into temptation," and a shiver, not caused by the chill wind, passed over his body, but he dismissed the warning with an uneasy laugh and walked on quickly in the track of his evil genius.
