human
I forgot, I forgot. A proposal! what proposal?
gpt
Why this, and I think it a very kind one, said Mr. Wheatley.
human
A young lady--a very good and generous young lady--offers to advance you the sum necessary to pay off your debt to Mr. Griswold. For my part, I shall not trouble you, in the situation in which you now are; but he, depend upon it, will have no hesitation in taking everything he can take, if the money is not paid by noon to-morrow. You had, therefore, better accept this lady's proposal at once.
gpt
Who is she? asked Mr. Thornton.
human
Give me some more whisky, Jack. I feel--I don't know what I feel. Who is she, Wheatley?
gpt
None other than Miss Davenport,
human
I won't have it--I won't take it--I won't have to thank Bessy Davenport for a cent, he cried in a voice preternaturally loud.
gpt
Give me the whisky, you old black villain--give me the whisky.
human
Oh, Master Thornton, said Uncle Jack,
gpt
Dying, said the old man feebly.
human
Am I dying? I do believe I am. Give me the whisky, Jack. I can't die yet--I am not yet ready. Oh God, give me a little time to think!
gpt
Give it to him; it can neither do good nor harm; but it may keep him up for half-an-hour or so, if there's business to be done. You see, he continued, speaking to me in a lower tone, as I turned towards him,
human
Am I dying? asked Mr. Thornton, as soon as he had drunk the whisky;
gpt
Yes, sir, you are,
human
How long?
gpt
Long enough to show repentance if you will, answered Doctor Christy.
human
Long enough to make your will, if it is not a very long one.
gpt
The will be d----d, said the old man, in his usual phraseology, which he could not abandon even at that awful moment.
human
Everything is in confusion. I have no time for that.
gpt
Oh, sir, said Uncle Jack,
human
Hush! said the dying man.
gpt
You told me I was to forgive--but forgiveness is nothing, unless I redress--did Bessy Davenport really make that offer?
human
She did,
gpt
Here, get me the keys out of my pocket. There, take this one, he continued, as soon as he had got them.
human
Now open that cupboard door, that mahogany cupboard in the corner. On the shelf you will find a tortoise-shell casket, I think they call it.--Have you got it?
gpt
I haven't opened the door yet, said Mr. Wheatley.
human
Yes, here it is.
gpt
Bring it here then, and the key that lies beside it. Heaven! how my head swims. There, take that to Bessy Davenport. Tell her I sent it to her with my dying hands. Tell her I am sorry for all I have done--very sorry; that I have often been sorry, but that I would not let myself think so. There, take it. She will find in it what puts all questions about Aunt Bab's property at an end. Now, doctor, tell me, upon your soul, am I dying? Can nothing be done to save me? If you could extract the ball?
human
It would be no use, answered the surgeon.
gpt
It has got in amongst the bones of the hip-joint, and your face shows me at once that mortification has set in. There was a chance yesterday, if you would but have been quiet, and abstained from drinking: to-day there is none.
human
Well, then, all of you leave me to die like an old fox in his hole, said Mr. Thornton.
gpt
Stay, stay, Uncle Jack. You turn to, and see what you can do for my soul. We won't think of the body any more. There! Go the rest of you. I don't want to hear you talk any more. My time is but short, and I must do what I can with it.
human
And so goes out a bad life, said Mr. Wheatley, as we mounted our horses and rode away.
gpt
It has been compared to the end of a tallow-candle by somebody, I don't know who--in fact, I never can recollect who it is that has written anything. I can remember the thought; but I cannot recollect the words, nor trace 'back to it's cloud that lightning of the mind.' Well, it is strange to see how men misuse opportunities. This fellow, this Thornton here, set out in life with the very brightest prospects; friends, fortune, relations of commanding influence, talents, education--everything but conduct.
human
And principle,
gpt
Ay, and principle, said Mr. Wheatley, musing very deeply.
human
I have come to that conclusion myself, Sir Richard. At one time, I doubted it; for often, when I acted honestly--by accident, of course by accident--ha! ha! ha!--I was diabolically cheated. I was not successful. Principle did nothing for me; I saw the rogue triumphant, the honest man vanquished. I perceived that in worldly wisdom I had acted like a child, and I said to myself, 'Conduct is fate.' But since has come the question, What is conduct? and I am inclined to believe that, in the end, here, even here, honesty is the best policy, principle is the surest guide, and, like the mariner who steers his bark by the compass and the star, though we may look ahead for the breakers or the reefs, the permanent guides to our course are aloft.
gpt
I wonder what the deuce is in this box? said Mr. Wheatley, holding up the little casket he had received.
human
I should like very much to open it and see; but I think, after what we have just been talking about, it wouldn't do. I should feel my fingers shake, and you would turn away your head and blush. Yet we could find many a plausible reason. We might wish to save Miss Davenport some unnecessary shock--we might fear that the old man was playing some trick upon her--there might be a loaded pistol, with cunningly-contrived machinery, ready within to shoot the person who opens the box. In short, Sir Richard, was ever act committed, so base and mean, which could not find a pretext to justify it, good and valid in a court of law? Now that old man there is going to judgment, granting himself a poor, miserable sinner, and giving me this box, and thinking that the confession and the reparation are quite sufficient to close the great account and strike a fair balance in the everlasting day-book.
gpt
I was coming after you, Sir Richard, said the former, as he rode up.
human
Mr. Hubbard is at my house waiting for you, and we are sadly afraid, do what we can, the escheat will pass. Robert Thornton has so hedged his father in with one legal technicality and another, that we almost fear good aunt Bab's will will be declared null and void; for the real and personal estate are so mixed up in her devise to you, that it is hardly possible to separate them; and if the will is declared null, even those poor slaves will fall into the hands of others.
gpt
They shall be free, notwithstanding,
human
Stay, stay, all of you, said Mr. Wheatley.
gpt
I have got here upon my saddle-bow, Mr. Thornton, Pandora's box, out of which I hope all the miseries of human life have long ago escaped, leaving nothing but pleasant hope sleeping at the bottom.
human
What do you mean? asked Mr. Thornton, almost impatiently.
gpt
I do not understand.
human
Simply, I said,
gpt
Then we had better carry it to _our dear Bessy_ at once, said Mr. Thornton with a gay smile.
human
From your sweet terms, Sir Richard, and from Bessy's radiant face when I saw her just now, I conclude you are a successful kidnapper, and I don't know whether to wish you joy or to cut your throat; for when you take Bessy Davenport away from amongst us, you deprive our little district of half its sunshine.
gpt
It is but right and just, my good friend, I answered,
human
Pooh, pooh! ejaculated the bluff sheriff.
gpt
When you get her across the Atlantic, you wont bring her back again in a hurry; but we can't help it; and, whatever may happen, foul fall the man who would impede Bessy's happiness for an hour.