It was time to lay aside my fetters, and
demand to know whither the path tended in which I was importuned to
walk. Meanwhile I found myself entangled among boats and shipping. I am unable
to describe the spot by any indisputable tokens. I know merely that it
was the termination of one of the principal streets. Here Welbeck
selected a boat and prepared to enter it. For a moment I hesitated to
comply with his apparent invitation. I stammered out an
interrogation:--"Why is this? Why should we cross the river? What
service can I do for you? I ought to know the purpose of my voyage
before I enter it." He checked himself and surveyed me for a minute in silence. "What do you
fear?" said he. "Have I not explained my wishes? Merely cross the river
with me, for I cannot navigate a boat by myself. Is there any thing
arduous or mysterious in this undertaking? we part on the Jersey shore,
and I shall leave you to your destiny. All I shall ask from you will be
silence, and to hide from mankind what you know concerning me." He now entered the boat and urged me to follow his example. I
reluctantly complied, I perceived that the boat contained but one oar,
and that was a small one. He seemed startled and thrown into great
perplexity by this discovery. "It will be impossible," said he, in a
tone of panic and vexation, "to procure another at this hour: what is to
be done?" This impediment was by no means insuperable. I had sinewy arms, and knew
well how to use an oar for the double purpose of oar and rudder. I took
my station at the stern, and quickly extricated the boat from its
neighbours and from the wharves. I was wholly unacquainted with the
river. The bar by which it was encumbered I knew to exist, but in what
direction and to what extent it existed, and how it might be avoided in
the present state of the tide, I knew not. It was probable, therefore,
unknowing as I was of the proper track, that our boat would speedily
have grounded. My attention, meanwhile, was fixed upon the oar. My companion sat at the
prow, and was in a considerable degree unnoticed. I cast my eyes
occasionally at the scene which I had left. Its novelty, joined with the
incidents of my condition, threw me into a state of suspense and wonder
which frequently slackened my hand and left the vessel to be driven by
the downward current. Lights were sparingly seen, and these were
perpetually fluctuating, as masts, yards, and hulls were interposed, and
passed before them. In proportion as we receded from the shore, the
clamours seemed to multiply, and the suggestion that the city was
involved in confusion and uproar did not easily give way to maturer
thoughts. _Twelve_ was the hour cried, and this ascended at once from
all quarters, and was mingled with the baying of dogs, so as to produce
trepidation and alarm. From this state of magnificent and awful feeling I was suddenly called
by the conduct of Welbeck. We had scarcely moved two hundred yards from
the shore, when he plunged into the water. The first conception was that
some implement or part of the boat had fallen over-board. I looked back
and perceived that his seat was vacant. In my first astonishment I
loosened my hold of the oar, and it floated away. The surface was smooth
as glass, and the eddy occasioned by his sinking was scarcely visible. I
had not time to determine whether this was designed or accidental. Its
suddenness deprived me of the power to exert myself for his succour. I
wildly gazed around me, in hopes of seeing him rise. After some time my
attention was drawn, by the sound of agitation in the water, to a
considerable distance. It was too dark for any thing to be distinctly seen. There was no cry
for help. The noise was like that of one vigorously struggling for a
moment, and then sinking to the bottom. I listened with painful
eagerness, but was unable to distinguish a third signal. He sunk to rise
no more. I was for a time inattentive to my own situation. The dreadfulness and
unexpectedness of this catastrophe occupied me wholly. The quick motion
of the lights upon the shore showed me that I was borne rapidly along
with the tide. How to help myself, how to impede my course or to regain
either shore, since I had lost the oar, I was unable to tell. I was no
less at a loss to conjecture whither the current, if suffered to control
my vehicle, would finally transport me. The disappearance of lights and buildings, and the diminution of the
noises, acquainted me that I had passed the town. It was impossible
longer to hesitate. The shore was to be regained by one way only, which
was swimming. To any exploit of this kind, my strength and my skill were
adequate. I threw away my loose gown; put the pocket-book of the
unfortunate Watson in my mouth, to preserve it from being injured by
moisture; and committed myself to the stream. I landed in a spot incommoded with mud and reeds. I sunk knee-deep into
the former, and was exhausted by the fatigue of extricating myself. At
length I recovered firm ground, and threw myself on the turf to repair
my wasted strength, and to reflect on the measures which my future
welfare enjoined me to pursue. What condition was ever parallel to mine? The transactions of the last
three days resembled the monstrous creations of delirium. They were
painted with vivid hues on my memory; but so rapid and incongruous were
these transitions, that I almost denied belief to their reality. They
exercised a bewildering and stupefying influence on my mind, from which
the meditations of an hour were scarcely sufficient to relieve me. Gradually I recovered the power of arranging my ideas and forming
conclusions. Welbeck was dead. His property was swallowed up, and his creditors left
to wonder at his disappearance. All that was left was the furniture of
his house, to which Mrs. Wentworth would lay claim, in discharge of the
unpaid rent. What now was the destiny that awaited the lost and
friendless Mademoiselle Lodi? Where was she concealed? Welbeck had
dropped no intimation by which I might be led to suspect the place of
her abode. If my power, in other respects, could have contributed aught
to her relief, my ignorance of her asylum had utterly disabled me. But what of the murdered person? He had suddenly vanished from the face
of the earth. His fate and the place of his interment would probably be
suspected and ascertained. Was I sure to escape from the consequences of
this deed? Watson had relatives and friends. What influence on their
state and happiness his untimely and mysterious fate would possess, it
was obvious to inquire. This idea led me to the recollection of his
pocket-book. Some papers might be there explanatory of his situation. I resumed my feet. I knew not where to direct my steps. I was dropping
with wet, and shivering with the cold. I was destitute of habitation and
friend. I had neither money nor any valuable thing in my possession. I
moved forward mechanically and at random.