An American Tragedy II

AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY II

of this. But he must have changed some – perhaps he was seeing her in a more kindly light – sympathizing with her a little, since he now appeared at last to have most gracefully and genially succumbed to the unavoidable. And at the same time noting his light gray suit, his new straw hat, his brightly polished shoes and the dark tan suitcase and (strange, equivocal, frivolous erraticism of his in this instance) the tripod of a recently purchased camera together with his tennis racquet in its canvas case strapped to the side – more than anything to conceal the initials C. G. – she was seized with much of her old-time mood and desire in regard to his looks and temperament. He was still, and despite his present indifference to her, her Clyde.

Having seen her secure her ticket, he now went to get his own, and then, with another knowing look in her direction, which said that everything was now all right, he returned to the eastern end of the platform, while she returned to her position at the forward end.

(Why was that old man in that old brown winter suit and hat and carrying that bird cage in a brown paper looking at him so? Could he sense anything? Did he know him? Had he ever worked in Lycurgus or seen him before?)

He was going to buy a second straw hat in Utica to-day – he must remember that – a straw hat with a Utica label, which he would wear instead of his present one. Then, when she was not looking, he would put the old one in his bag with his other things. That was why he would have to leave her for a little while after they reached Utica – at the depot or library or somewhere – perhaps as was his first plan, take her to some small hotel somewhere and register as Mr. and Mrs. Carl Graham or Clifford Golden or Gehring (there was a girl in the

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factory by that name) so if they were ever traced in any way, it would be assumed that she had gone away with some man of that name.

(That whistle of a train afar off. It must be coming now. His watch said twelve-twenty-seven.)

And again he must decide what his manner toward her in Utica must be – whether very cordial or the opposite. For over the telephone, of course, he had talked very soft and geniallike because he had to. Perhaps it would be best to keep that up, otherwise she might become angry or suspicious or stubborn and that would make it hard.

(Would that train never get here?)

At the same time it was going to be very hard on him to be so very pleasant when, after all, she was driving him as she was – expecting him to do all that she was asking him to do and yet be nice to her. Damn! And yet if he weren’t? – Supposing she should sense something of his thoughts in connection with this – really refuse to go through with it this way and spoil his plans.

(If only his knees and hands wouldn’t tremble so at times.)

But no, how was she to be able to detect anything of that kind, when he himself had not quite made up his mind as to whether he would be able to go through with it or not? He only knew he was not going away with her, and that was all there was to that. He might not upset the boat, as he had decided on the day before, but just the same he was not going away with her.

But here now was the train. And there was Roberta lifting her bag. Was it too heavy for her in her present state? It probably was. Well, too bad. It was very hot to-day, too. At any

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rate he would help her with it later, when they were where no one could see them. She was looking toward him to be sure he was getting on – so like her these days, in her suspicious, doubtful mood in regard to him. But here was a seat in the rear of the car on the shady side, too. That was not so bad. He would settle himself comfortably and look out. For just outside Fonda, a mile or two beyond, was that same Mohawk that ran through Lycurgus and past the factory, and along the banks of which the year before, he and Roberta had walked about this time. But the memory of that being far from pleasant now, he turned his eyes to a paper he had bought, and behind which he could shield himself as much as possible, while he once more began to observe the details of the more inward scene which now so much more concerned him – the nature of the lake country around Big Bittern, which ever since that final important conversation with Roberta over the telephone, had been interesting him more than any other geography of the world.

For on Friday, after the conversation, he had stopped in at the Lycurgus House and secured three different folders relating to hotels, lodges, inns and other camps in the more remote region beyond Big Bittern and Long Lake. (If only there were some way to get to one of those completely deserted lakes described by that guide at Big Bittern – only, perhaps, there might not be any row-boats on any of these lakes at all!) And again on Saturday, had he not secured four more circulars from the rack at the depot (they were in his pocket now)? Had they not proved how many small lakes and inns there were along this same railroad, which ran north to Big Bittern, to which he and Roberta might resort for a day or two if she would – a night, anyhow, before going to Big Bittern and Grass Lake – had he not noted that in particular – a beautiful lake it had said –

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near the station, and with at least three attractive lodges or country home inns where two could stay for as low as twenty dollars a week. That meant that two could stay for one night surely for as little as five dollars. It must be so surely – and so he was going to say to her, as he had already planned these several days, that she needed a little rest before going away to a strange place. That it would not cost very much – about fifteen dollars for fares and all, so the circulars said – if they went to Grass Lake for a night – this same night after reaching Utica – or on the morrow, anyhow. And he would have to picture it all to her as a sort of honeymoon journey – a little pleasant outing – before getting married. And it would not do to succumb to any plan of hers to get married before they did this – that would never do.

(Those five birds winging toward that patch of trees over there – below that hill.)

It certainly would not do to go direct to Big Bittern from Utica for a boat ride – just one day – seventy miles. That would not sound right to her, or to any one. It would make her suspicious, maybe. It might be better, since he would have to get away from her to buy a hat in Utica, to spend this first night there at some inexpensive, inconspicuous hotel, and once there, suggest going up to Grass Lake. And from there they could go to Big Bittern in the morning. He could say that Big Bittern was nicer – or that they would go down to Three Mile Bay – a hamlet really as he knew – where they could be married, but en route stop at Big Bittern as a sort of lark. He would say that he wanted to show her the lake – take some pictures of her and himself. He had brought his camera for that and for other pictures of Sondra later.

The blackness of this plot of his!

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(Those nine black and white cows on that green hillside.) But again, strapping that tripod along with his tennis racquet to the side of his suitcase, might not that cause people to imagine that they were passing tourists from some distant point, maybe, and if they both disappeared, well, then, they were not people from anywhere around here, were they? Didn’t the guide say that the water in the lake was all of seventy-five feet deep – like that water at Pass Lake? And as for Roberta’s grip – oh, yes, what about that? He hadn’t even thought about

that as yet, really.

(Those three automobiles out there running almost as fast as this train.)

Well, in coming down from Grass Lake after one night there (he could say that he was going to marry her at Three Mile Bay at the north end of Greys Lake, where a minister lived whom he had met), he would induce her to leave her bag at that Gun Lodge station, where they took the bus over to Big Bittern, while he took his with him. He could just say to some one – the boatman, maybe, or the driver, that he was taking his camera in his bag, and ask where the best views were. Or maybe a lunch. Was that not a better idea – to take a lunch and so deceive Roberta, too, perhaps? And that would tend to mislead the driver, also, would it not? People did carry cameras in bags when they went out on lakes, at times. At any rate it was most necessary for him to carry his bag in this instance. Else why the plan to go south to that island and from thence through the woods?

(Oh, the grimness and the terror of this plan! Could he really execute it?)

But that strange cry of that bird at Big Bittern. He had not liked that, or seeing that guide up there who might remember

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him now. He had not talked to him at all – had not even gotten out of the car, but had only looked out at him through the window; and in so far as he could recall the guide had not even once looked at him – had merely talked to Grant Cranston and Harley Baggott, who had gotten out and had done all the talking. But supposing this guide should be there and remember him? But how could that be when he really had not seen him? This guide would probably not remember him at all – might not even be there. But why should his hands and face be damp all the time now – wet almost, and cold – his knees shaky?

(This train was following the exact curve of this stream – and last summer he and Roberta. But no – )

As soon as they reached Utica now this was the way he would do – and must keep it well in mind and not get rattled in any way. He must not – he must not. He must let her walk up the street before him, say a hundred feet or so between them, so that no one would think he was following her, of course. And then when they were quite alone somewhere he would catch up with her and explain all about this – be very nice as though he cared for her as much as ever now – he would have to – if he were to get her to do as he wanted. And then – and then, oh, yes, have her wait while he went for that extra straw hat that he was going to – well, leave on the water, maybe. And the oars, too, of course. And her hat – and – well –

(The long, sad sounding whistle of this train. Damn. He was getting nervous already.)

But before going to the hotel, he must go back to the depot and put his new hat in the bag, or better yet, carry it while he looked for the sort of hotel he wanted, and then, before going to Roberta, take the hat and put it in his bag. Then he would

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go and find her and have her come to the entrance of the hotel he had found and wait for him, while he got the bags. And, of course, if there was no one around or very few, they would enter together, only she could wait in the ladies’ parlor somewhere, while he went and registered as Charles Golden, maybe, this time. And then, well, in the morning, if she agreed, or to-night, for that matter, if there were any trains – he would have to find out about that – they could go up to Grass Lake in separate cars until they were past Twelfth Lake and Sharon, at any rate.

(The beautiful Cranston Lodge there and Sondra.) And then – and then –

(That big red barn and that small white house near it. And that wind-mill. So like those houses and barns that he had seen out there in Illinois and Missouri. And Chicago, too.)

And at the same time Roberta in her car forward thinking that Clyde had not appeared so very unfriendly to her. To be sure, it was hard on him, making him leave Lycurgus in this way, and when he might be enjoying himself as he wished to. But on the other hand, here was she – and there was no other way for her to be. She must be very genial and yet not put herself forward too much or in his way. And yet she must not be too receding or weak, either, for, after all, Clyde was the one who had placed her in this position. And it was only fair, and little enough for him to do. She would have a baby to look after in the future, and all that trouble to go through with from now on. And later, she would have to explain to her parents this whole mysterious proceeding, which covered her present disappearance and marriage, if Clyde really did marry her now. But she must insist upon that – and soon – in Utica, perhaps – certainly at the very next place they went to – and get

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a copy of her marriage certificate, too, and keep it for her own as well as the baby’s sake. He could get a divorce as he pleased after that. She would still be Mrs. Griffiths. And Clyde’s baby and hers would be a Griffiths, too. That was something.

(How beautiful the little river was. It reminded her of the Mohawk and the walks she and he had taken last summer when they first met. Oh, last summer! And now this!)

And they would settle somewhere – in one or two rooms, no doubt. Where, she wondered – in what town or city? How far away from Lycurgus or Biltz – the farther from Biltz the better, although she would like to see her mother and father again, and soon – as soon as she safely could. But what matter, as long as they were going away together and she was to be married?

Had he noticed her blue suit and little brown hat? And had he thought she looked at all attractive compared to those rich girls with whom he was always running? She must be very tactful – not irritate him in any way. But – oh, the happy life they could have if only – if only he cared for her a little – just a little . . .

And then Utica, and on a quiet street Clyde catching up with Roberta, his expression a mixture of innocent geniality and good-will, tempered by worry and opposition, which was really a mask for the fear of the deed that he himself was contemplating – his power to execute it – the consequences in case he failed.

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CHAPTER 47

And then, as planned that night between them – a trip to Grass Lake the next morning in separate cars, but which, upon their arrival and to his surprise, proved to be so much more briskly tenanted than he anticipated. He was very much disturbed and frightened by the evidence of so much active life up here. For he had fancied this, as well as Big Bittern, would be all but deserted. Yet here now, as both could see, it was the summer seat and gathering place of some small religious organization or group – the Winebrennarians of Pennsylvania – as it proved with a tabernacle and numerous cottages across the lake from the station. And Roberta at once exclaiming:

“Now, there, isn’t that cute? Why couldn’t we be married over there by the minister of that church?”

And Clyde, puzzled and shaken by this sudden and highly unsatisfactory development, at once announced: “Why, sure – I’ll go over after a bit and see,” yet his mind busy with schemes for circumventing her. He would take her out in a boat after registering and getting settled and remain too long. Or should a peculiarly remote and unobserved spot be found . . . but no, there were too many people here. The lake was not large enough, and probably not very deep. It was black or dark like tar, and sentineled to the east and north by tall, dark pines – the serried spears of armed and watchful giants, as they now seemed to him – ogres almost – so gloomy, suspicious and fantastically

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erratic was his own mood in regard to all this. But still there were too many people – as many as ten on the lake.

The weirdness of it. The difficulty.

But whisper: – one could not walk from here through any woods to Three Mile Bay. Oh, no. That was all of thirty miles to the south now. And besides this lake was less lonely – probably continually observed by members of this religious group. Oh, no – he must say – he must say – but what – could he say? That he had inquired, and that no license could be procured here? Or that the minister was away, or that he required certain identifications which he did not have – or – or, well, well – anything that would serve to still Roberta until such hour tomorrow, as the train south from here left for Big Bittern and Sharon, where, of course, they would surely be married.

Why should she be so insistent? And why, anyhow, and except for her crass determination to force him in this way, should he be compelled to track here and there with her – every hour – every minute of which was torture – an unending mental crucifixion really, when, if he were but rid of her! Oh, Sondra, Sondra, if but now from your high estate, you might bend down and aid me. No more lies! No more suffering! No more misery of any kind!

But instead, more lies. A long and aimless and pestilential search for water-lilies, which because of his own restless mood, bored Roberta as much as it did him. For why, she was now thinking to herself as they rowed about, this indifference to this marriage possibility, which could have been arranged before now and given this outing the dream quality it would and should have had, if only – if only he had arranged for everything in Utica, even as she had wanted. But this wait-

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