--MR. MORTON'S villa, Russian Hill, Night. OAKHURST'S bedroom. Sofa in alcove C., door in flat left of C. SANDY MORTON discovered, unconscious, lying on sofa; OAKHURST standing at his head, two policemen at his feet. Candles on table L.
Oakhurst. That will do. You are sure he was unconscious as you brought him in?
First Policeman. Sure, sir? He hasn't known anything since we picked him up on the sidewalk outside the bank.
Oakhurst. Good! You have fulfilled your orders well, and your chief shall know it. Go now. Be as cautious in going out as you were on entering. Here is the private staircase. (Opens door L.)
[Exit policeman.
Oakhurst (listening). Gone! and without disturbing any one. So far, luck has befriended me. He will sleep to-night beneath his father's roof. His father! umph! would the old man recognize him here? Would he take to his heart this drunken outcast, picked from the gutters of the street, and brought here by the strong arm of the law? Hush! (A knock without.) Ah, it is the colonel: he is prompt to the hour. (Opens door cautiously, and admits COL.
STARBOTTLE.)
Starbottle (looking around, and overlooking SANDY). I presume the other--er--principal is not yet on the ground?
Oakhurst (motioning to sofa). He IS!
Starbottle (starting as he looks towards sofa). Ged, you don't mean to say it's all OVER, without witnesses, without my--er--presence?
Oakhurst. Pardon me, Col. Starbottle; but, if you look again, you will perceive that the gentleman is only drunk.
Starbottle. Eh? Ged! not uncommon, sir, not uncommon! I remember singular incident at--er--Louisville in '47. Old Judge Tollim--know old Judge Tolly?--Ged! he came to ground drunk, sir; couldn't stand! Demn me, sir, had to put him into position with kitchen poker down his back, and two sections of lightning-rod in his--er--trousers, demn me! Firm, sir, firm, you understand, here (striking his breast), but--here (striking his legs)--er--er--wobbly! No, sir! Intoxication of principal not a bar, sir, to personal satisfaction! (Goes towards sofa with eyeglass.) Good Ged! why, it's Diego! (Returning stifly to OAKHURST.) Excuse me, sir, but this is a case in which I cannot act. Cannot, sir,--impossible! absurd! pre--post--or--ous! I recogmze in the--er--inebriated menial on yonder sofa a person, sir, who, having already declined my personal challenge, is--er--excluded from the consideration of gentlemen. The person who lies there, sir, is Diego,--a menial of Don Jose Castro,---alias "Sandy," the vagabond of Red Gulch.
Oakhurst. You have omitted one title, his true one. He is Alexander Morton, the son of the master of this house.
Starbottle (starting in bewilderment). Alexander Morton! (Aside.)
Ged! my first suspicions were correct. Star, you have lost the opportunity of ****** your fortune as a scoundrel; but you have at a pecuniary sacrifice, preserved your honor.
Oakhurst. Yes. Hear me, Col. Starbottle. I have summoned you here to-night, as I have already intimated, on an affair of honor.
I have sought you as my father's legal counsel, as a disinterested witness, as a gentleman of honor. The man who lies before you was once my friend and partner. I have wronged him doubly. As his partner, I ran away with the woman he believed, and still believes, to be his wife; as his friend, I have for a twelvemonth kept him from the enjoyment of his home, his patrimony, by a shameful deception. I have summoned you to-night to witness my confession; as a lawyer, to arrange those details necessary to restore to him his property; as a man of honor, to receive from me whatever retribution he demands. You will be a witness to our interview.
Whatever befalls me here, you will explain to Mr. Morton--to Jovita--that I accepted it as a man, and did not avoid, here or elsewhere, the penalty of my crime. (Folding his arms.)
Slarbottle. Umph! The case is, as you say, a delicate one, but not--not--peculiar. No, sir! Ged, sir, I remember Tom Marshall--know Tom Marshall of Kentucky?--said to me, "Star!"--always calls me Star,--"how in blank, sir, can you remember the REAL names of your clients?"--"Why," says I, "Tom," always called him Tom,--"yesterday I was called to make will--most distinguished family of Virginia--as lawyer and gentleman, you understand: can't mention name. Waited for signature--most distinguished name: Ged, sir, man signed Bloggins,--Peter Bloggins. Fact, demme! 'Mistake,' I said,--'excitement; exaltation of fever. Non compos. Compose yourself, Bob.'--'Star,' he said,--always called me Star,--'for forty-seven years I have been an impostor!'--his very words, sir.
'I am not'--you understand: 'I AM Peter Bloggins!'"
Oakhurst. But, my dear colonel, I--Starbottle (loftily). Say no more, sir! I accept the--er position. Let us see! The gentleman will, on recognition, probably make a personal attack. You are armed. Ah, no? Umph!