Leaving the wounded and the unwounded hunters to pursue their way through the forest, we shall return to the hut and over-hear Hiram Monk’s long-delayed confession.

As soon as the door was shut on the six hunters, he began. His face was turned towards Mr. Lawrence, but his eyes were fixed on his pillow, which was hidden by the coverlet; and his punctuation was so precise, his style so eloquent and sublime, and his story so methodical, complicated, and tragical, that once or twice a horrible suspicion that he was reading the entire confession out of a novel concealed in the bed, flashed across Mr. Lawrence’s mind.

If this dreadful thought should occur to the reader, he can mentally insert the confession in double quotation marks.

We are too humane to inflict the whole confession on the long-suffering reader; this abridged version of it will be quite sufficient, as it contains the main points.

“Seventeen years ago, I was an official in K. Hospital. My duties were to keep the record of the hospital; but still I passed considerable time with the maniacs, as my influence with those unhappy creatures was very great. I am a man of some education and ability, I may say, without ostentation; and till I met you, Mr. Lawrence, I was honesty itself.

“You were brought to our hospital a friendless man and a stranger; and it was rumored that you had been attacked by thieves, who, however, failed to get possession of your treasure. A great chest of gold and silver, labelled, ‘R. Lawrence,’ to be retained till your friends or relatives could be found, was brought and deposited in our magazine. It was a most romantic story, a man travelling through the country with a vast sum of money in a strong-box!

[378]

“The demon entered into me, and I resolved to make it still more mysterious. In a word, I resolved to appropriate your fortune to my own use; and in order to do so the more easily and safely, I set about destroying every clue to your identity. All papers found on your person, which might lead to discovery, I carefully burned. It was I who wrote an account of the affair to the journals, and I purposely distorted your name beyond recognition. This, of course, was considered a mere printer’s blunder, and the ‘mistake’ was never rectified.

“Here was a great step taken. I now flattered myself that none of your friends could possibly trace you to our hospital, and that all I had to do was to wait a short time, and then quietly slip away with my ill-gotten riches.

“But many difficulties lay in my way. Your bodily health and strength gradually improved, though you still remained disordered in intellect. Then, in order the better to work out my plans, I caused myself to be appointed your especial attendant, or keeper; and I made you to understand that you had a large sum of money, of which your enemies sought to rob you, deposited, for safe-keeping, in our vaults. With all a madman’s pertinacity, you took hold of this idea, and eagerly listened to all that I said. You ordered the chest of treasure to be brought into your own apartment, and you became suspicious of every one but me.

“Here was another great point gained; and I now matured my plot to get the money. I induced you to believe that you were soon to be robbed, and that we must flee, as you were now strong enough to quit the hospital at any time. I obtained leave from the superintendent to go on a flying visit to a friend of mine in another state, and I made all my arrangements to depart openly. You were to have another keeper, of course; but I plotted with you to return at night, and we would escape together. I believed that the superintendent would never suspect me,—at least, not till too late,—but would think that you had eluded your new keeper’s vigilance in the night.

“That afternoon I set out ostensibly for Frankfort in[379] Kentucky; but I remained in the neighborhood, and at night I returned to keep my appointment with you. As I was perfectly familiar with all the entrances into the hospital, as well as with all their regulations, and as I had given you your instructions prior to my feigned departure, we easily made our escape with the chest of treasure.

“And now I had you and all your money wholly in my power; I could do what I pleased with you. But, to do myself justice, I must add—no, I affirm positively—that I had no intention of harming you. My design, matured beforehand, was to reach a certain cave, establish you in it, make provision for your subsistence and comfort, and then slip away with the hoards I coveted.

“I do not know whether we were pursued or not; but, if so, we eluded the pursuers, and in due time arrived at the cave, which, as I had supposed, would serve my purpose admirably. Yes, it was an excellent place to desert you so treacherously—an excellent place.

“But we had barely arrived when you seemed to grow suspicious of me. That must be stopped immediately, and I hastened to make preparations for departure. I left you alone for a time, went to the neighboring city, and engaged a trader to take necessaries to a certain man who purposed living in ‘The Cave,’ as it was called. I represented you as being deranged and idiotic, but quite harmless, and charged him to deal fairly with you, and keep his own counsel for a short time, in which case all would be well. Then I returned to the cave, and acquainted you with such of these facts as you might know. That night I gathered up my own effects, as well as the stolen money, and fled.

“I did not suppose that you w............