Produced by Al Haines
[Frontispiece: He went without a backward glance . . . and I knew what the parting meant to him.]
JACQUELINE OF GOLDEN RIVER
BY
H. M. EGBERT
FRONTISPIECE
BY
RALPH PALLEN COLEMAN
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
GARDEN CITY ---------- NEW YORK
1920
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF
TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES
INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY THE FRANK A. MUNSEY COMPANY
CONTENTS
I. A DOG AND A DAMSEL II. BACK IN THE ROOM III. COVERING THE TRACKS IV. SIMON LEROUX V. M. LE CURE VI. AT THE FOOT OF THE CLIFF VII. CAPTAIN DUBOIS VIII. DREAMS OF THE NIGHT IX. THE FUNGUS X. SNOW BLINDNESS XI. THE CHATEAU XII. UNDER THE MOUNTAINS XIII. THE ROULETTE-WHEEL XIV. SOME PLAIN SPEAKING XV. WON--AND LOST XVI. THE OLD ANGEL XVII. LOUIS D'EPERNAY XVIII. THE LITTLE DAGGER XIX. THE HIDDEN CHAMBER XX. AT SWORDS' POINTS XXI. THE BAIT THAT LURED XXII. SURRENDER XXIII. LEROUX'S DIABLE XXIV. FULL CONFESSION XXV. THE END OF THE CHATEAU
JACQUELINE OF GOLDEN RIVER
CHAPTER I
A DOG AND A DAMSEL
As I sat on a bench in Madison Square after half past eleven in the evening, at the end of one of those mild days that sometimes occur in New York even at the beginning of December, a dog came trotting up to me, stopped at my feet, and whined.
There is nothing remarkable in having a strange dog run to one nor in seeing the creature rise on its hind legs and paw at you for notice and a caress. Only, this happened to be an Eskimo dog.
It might have been mistaken for a collie or a sheepdog by nearly everybody who saw it, though most men would have turned to admire the softness of its fur and to glance at the heavy collar with the silver studs. But I knew the Eskimo breed, having spent a summer in Labrador.
I stroked the beast, which lay down at my feet, raising its head sometimes to whine, and sometimes darting off a little way and coming back to tug at the lower edge of my overcoat. But my mind was too much occupied for me to take any but a perfunctory interest in its manoeuvres. My eight years of thankless drudgery as a clerk, following on a brief adventurous period after I ran away to sea from my English home, had terminated three days before, upon receipt of a legacy, and I had at once left Tom Carson's employment.
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: Jacqueline of Golden River by Egbert
- 2: Leroux was a parish politician from some place near Quebec
- 3: And beautifully dressed women in fine furs
- 4: A taxicab was crawling up behind them
- 5: And the Merrimac each in turn
- 6: When the taxicab deposited us in front of the house
- 7: But the wedding ring what hopes
- 8: And as I ran I thought I heard the patter of the dog's feet
- 9: Once more I ventured Jacqueline
- 10: Beside the window Jacqueline crouched
- 11: This recalled me to the dangers of our situation
- 12: I was afraid Jacqueline would awaken
- 13: Well I turned back to Jacqueline
- 14: I showed Jacqueline the bathroom and drew the curtains
- 15: In the necessity of protecting Jacqueline
- 16: Jacqueline flitted here and there
- 17: Where I bought a neat sole leather suit case which
- 18: After sending Jacqueline to the clerk's desk alone
- 19: Being satisfied that Leroux was following us
- 20: And meanwhile here was Jacqueline
- 21: It was a strange wintry scene the low sleighs
- 22: Duchaine has built himself a fine chateau there
- 23: For they say the Riviere d'Or The Golden River
- 24: Boniface for wherever your final destination is
- 25: I took Jacqueline for a stroll on the Terrace
- 26: Then the door clanged and the elevator went down
- 27: Are going to the Chateau Duchaine
- 28: Because Leroux is no friend of mine
- 29: Boniface to the Chateau Duchaine
- 30: Do you know a priest named Pere Antoine
- 31: The thought of Jacqueline alone
- 32: Jacqueline had killed somebody
- 33: Jacqueline was on Captain Duhamel's boat
- 34: She is aboard the Sainte Vierge
- 35: That you had sent her to the Sainte Vierge
- 36: Took Jacqueline aboard the Sainte Vierge
- 37: I wondered what Jacqueline remembered
- 38: The rest roamed ceaselessly about the fire
- 39: Before I must fight for Jacqueline
- 40: But not less strong for its repression
- 41: Then ensued a world without Jacqueline
- 42: But no sooner had I passed out of sight of the sleigh than
- 43: And my ankles ached from the snow shoes
- 44: Foot spurs of the mighty Laurentian range
- 45: Jacqueline stood looking at me in docile faith
- 46: And I would be ready for Leroux
- 47: They were the tracks of sleigh runners
- 48: Piped Philippe Lacroix once more
- 49: With faces like that of Leroux
- 50: Which was interrupted by your rescue
- 51: Duchaine has been a recluse for many years
- 52: Try to find the chateau do what you please
- 53: Where the precipice projected the waterfall was split in two
- 54: And yet the chateau stood before my eyes
- 55: And yet sleighs could enter that valley below
- 56: The boulder was a rocking stone
- 57: But my thoughts were centred on Jacqueline
- 58: From which the cataracts tumbled
- 59: And I was certain that he was Leroux
- 60: Tracing my journey along the corridor
- 61: And I knew roulette only by reputation
- 62: To see Jacqueline confronting me
- 63: You took advantage of my helplessness
- 64: Leroux stamped heavily about the room and then sat down
- 65: And in turn sell the seigniory to you
- 66: And the seigniory is already his
- 67: I stepped from behind the door and faced Leroux
- 68: Leroux glanced incredulously at me
- 69: Hewlett is willing to take his departure
- 70: The noisy laughter in the ballroom had ceased
- 71: Distorted with a grimace of fury as he eyed Leroux
- 72: He give my gal to Jean Petitjean
- 73: What is the Old Angel le Vieil Ange
- 74: You go to Pere Antoine to night
- 75: Melancholy features of Philippe Lacroix
- 76: As in the case of Charles Duchaine
- 77: It means that if Leroux succeeds in killing me
- 78: Leroux looked at her in admiration
- 79: Cried Leroux fiercely to Jacqueline
- 80: Charles Duchaine looked at Leroux in his mild way
- 81: Leroux thrust his hard face into the old man's
- 82: Jacqueline swung round on Leroux
- 83: Catching Duchaine by the wrists
- 84: As I fumbled there the door splintered suddenly
- 85: When time come diable tell old Caribou
- 86: I heard Jacqueline breathe at last
- 87: In case the tunnel should divide
- 88: So I started back to Jacqueline
- 89: He would wander on through the tunnels
- 90: But there was no sign of Charles Duchaine
- 91: Perhaps you have a gallows there
- 92: For I saw Duchaine start violently and cling to the icy wall
- 93: Leroux has no cause to harm him
- 94: So Leroux had already sealed one exit that by the Old Angel
- 95: They could surprize me from either end
- 96: Presently Jacqueline spoke again
- 97: And Leroux was waiting there and found me
- 98: A moment later Leroux came from the tunnel toward me
- 99: And Jacqueline was undreamed of
- 100: He blocked the path and faced Leroux in silence
- 101: Leroux swung Pierre off his feet
- 102: And I pursued Lacroix along the tunnel
- 103: And he clutched at it with feverish force
- 104: Leroux intended to begin mining as soon as Louis returned
- 105: It was the merest whisper from the wall
- 106: As Jacqueline and I approached the entrance
- 107: He burst out explosively at me Hewlett