Crime and Consequences [pp. 749-759]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
town, the lower classes and tile niegroes preferred dealing with one who they were sure would rot take advantage of their ignorance to defraud them-a degree
of integrity remarkably rare among the petty shopkeepers of. Of his early history nothing was
known. He had come to the island in a small schooner,
from some port in North America, and, soon after his
arrival, took on lease the house in which he established
himself, and which he afterwards purchased. In the
rear of his dwelling was a tolerably large lot, which he
had enclosed with a high paling, so as effectually to
prevent his neighbors fi-om watching his movements,
and here he had resided for years, entirely alone. The
delicious fruits and vegetables of that sunny clime and
fruitful soil, which constituted his only food, were
brought to his door for sale; and his habits of untiring
industry enabled him easily to dispense with the attendance of a domestic. As he was not known to
make any deposit or investment of the money he received, a notion generally obtained, that he was in the
habit of burying it somewhere in the lot of ground
which he had fenced in so carefully. Following utip this
idea, a plot had been laid by some desperadoes, to discover, if possible, the place of concealment, and possess themselves of the treasure. Three of them, one
night, scaled the fence, and concealing themselves behind some empty hogsheads, awaited the coming forth
of their intended victim, who, they conjectured, would
visit his hidden treasure. Their motions, however, did
not escape the vigilance of Mr. Waring. He came
forth, it is true, and they rushed upon him, but two of
them received the contents of a blunderbuss, by which
they were instantly killed, and before the third recovered from his surprise, he was cut down by the blow
of a sabre.
The noise of course occasioned an alarm, and a crowd
collected to inquire into the cause. All informiation
was refused, however, until the civil authorities should
be present. They were sent for, and, upon their arrival, Mr. Waring unbarred his door, and led the way
into the yard.
"I have been saving the courts and the hangman
trouble," said the gray-haired old man, as he pointed,
with a grim smile, to the bodies that lay drenched in
gore; "take the carrion away."
From that time this singular being remained unmo lested, by either the intrusions of curiosity, or the as saults of villainy. The house that I occupied was
within a few doors of his, and the business in which I
was engaged led to some transactions between us. It
so happened, that in examining my books, I detected
an overcharge which had been made against him by the
inadvertence of one of my clerks. I of course hastei ed to inform him of the error, and to correct it. It was
with some little difficulty that I persuaded him of the
fact, but when it was made clear to him, he fixed his
large eyes upon me with a peculiar expression, and
taking my hand, pressed it with warmth.
"I do not thank you," said he, "merely for the tron ble you have taken, or for the information you have
given, which has enabled me to save, though a small
sum of money, yet an important one to me. These,
however, merit, and they have my gratitude; but I
thank you, more particularly, for exhibiting a trait of
honesty that my experience had scarcely led me to ex
pect among the merchants of this place. You are from
Virginia, I believe?"
I replied in the affirmative, and inquired if I might
not greet him as a countryman.
"1 never speak of the place of my birth," was the
gloomy answer.
I have had too many, and too important affairs of my
own, to care to busy myself much about those of other
people; but, I must confess, I entertained a strong desire to learn something of this old man, and of the
events which probably superinduced his eccentricities.
My curiosity was destined to be gratified, though not
immediately.
Years rolled on, my affairs had prospered, and I was
preparing to return to nay home, there to enjoy the
fruits of my toil: the soil where he was born, is the
oely home to a true Virginian. One morning, to my
great surprise, I received, by a negro boy, a note from
Mr. Waring, saying that he desired an interview with
me, which must be strictly private, and requesting
me, if it suited my convenience, to call upon him at
dusk. No trifling cause would have prevented my obedience to this summons. Accordingly, at the time appointed, I repaired to Mr. WVaring's shop. He was
busy, waiting on some customers, and I was about to
retire; but he detained me, saying, "I will attend to
you in a moment, Mr. S." As soon as they had
left him, he pointed to the back room-" Step in there,
quickly, quickly!" he exclaimed, "and wait quietly my
coming." I instantly obeyed. About a quarter of an
hour elapsed before hlie joined me, and in the meantime
I took a survey of the apartment. I have seldom seen
a more wretched abode. An old leathern couch, a ricketty table, two chairs, (one I strongly suspected for the
nionce,) and an old wooden clothes chest, comprised the
main portion of the furniture. The walls were bare,
save where the spiders had hung their tapestry; bundles of rags and nondescript remnants of various use less things, were stuffed into every corner, and the
whole wore the appearance of squalid poverty or pinch ing avarice. " Strange infatuation!" thought I, "that
men should devote their prime of years, their powers of
mind, to the acquisition of that which is to raise them
above poverty, and yet when they have obtained the
means to make life comfortable, voluntarily condemn
themselves to the very privations which they had origi nally fled from as a curse! The measures we adopt to
escape the evil, bind us by the chains of habit, to the
condition itself which we deprecated."
As I made this reflection, he who suggested it entered.
After a brief interval, during which he gazed upon me
as if to search my very soul, he said, "Mr. S. you are
cutrious to know who and what I am. Nay, never
blush, man, it is natural enough. You cannot think
it otherwise than strange, that one who is connected
by no ties of consanguinity with his fellow men, who
has no apparent motive for hoarding his gains, for whom
ambition has no charms, and who is looked upon by
no earthly being with the eye of affection, should con demn himself to the want of every comfort, for the ac quisition of that, which in a brief space of time, must
be snatched from him by the cold hand of death. You,
no doubt, think it strange too, that one, whose language
gives evidence of education, and I may say of capacity,
which would place him at least on an equality with his
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