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Page 17
"Helen's death saddened him,--I know,--I know; he was never gay after
that. But how--how did--?"
"He would keep the deck, though the helmsman had to be lashed to the
wheel. I think he never cared to see land again, but he was full of
spirits and life. He said this was weather fit for a Viking.
"We were standing by the foremast, holding on by a belaying-pin. The
sea came over the side, and struck him overboard. I went after him.
Another wave brought me back; but not my father! I was knocked
senseless, and when I came to, it was too late."
Helwyse's voice, towards the end of this story, became husky, and Mr.
MacGentle's eyes, as he listened, grew dimmer than ever.
"Ah!" said he, "I shall not die so. I shall die away gradually, like a
breeze that has been blowing this way and that all day, and falls at
sunset, no one knows how. Thor died as became him; and I shall die as
becomes me,--as becomes me!" And so, indeed, he did, a few years
later; but not unknown nor uncared for.
Balder Helwyse was a philosopher, no doubt; but it was no part of his
wisdom to be indifferent to unstrained sympathy. He went on to speak
further of his own concerns,--a thing he was little used to do.
It appeared that, from the time he first crossed the Atlantic, being
then about four years old, up to the time he had recrossed it, a few
weeks ago, he had been journeying to and fro over the Eastern
Hemisphere. His father, who, as well as himself, was American by
birth, was the descendant of a Danish family of high station and
antiquity, and inherited the restless spirit of his ancestors. In the
course of his early wanderings he had fallen in with MacGentle, who,
though somewhat older than Helwyse, was still a young man; and later
these two had encountered Hiero Glyphic. About fifteen years after
this it was that Thor appeared at Glyphic's house in New Jersey, and
was welcomed by that singular man as a brother; and here he fell in
love with Glyphic's sister Helen, and married her. With her he
received a large fortune, which the addition of his own made great;
and at Glyphic's death Thor or his heirs would inherit the bulk of the
estate left by him.
So Thor, being then in the first prime of life, was prepared to settle
down and become domestic. But the sudden death of his wife, and the
subsequent loss of one of the children she had borne him, drove him
once more abroad, with his baby son, never again to take root, or to
return. And here Balder's story, as told by him, began. He seemed to
have matured very early, and to have taken hold of knowledge in all
its branches like a Titan. The precise age at which he had learned all
that European schools could teach him, it is not necessary to specify;
since it is rather with the nature of his mind than with the list of
his accomplishments that we shall have to do. It might be possible, by
tracing his-connection with French, or German, or English
philosophers, to make shrewd guesses at the qualities of his own!
creed; but these will perhaps reveal themselves less diffidently under
other tests.
The last four or five years of his life Balder had spent in acquiring
such culture as schools could not give him. Where he went, what he did
and saw, we shall not exercise our power categorically to reveal;
remarking only that his means and his social rank left him free to go
as high as well as low as he pleased,--to dine with English dukes or
with Russian serfs. But a fine chastity inherent in his Northern blood
had, whatever were his moral convictions, kept him from the mire; and
the sudden death of his father had given him a graver turn than was
normal to his years. Meanwhile, the financial crash, which at this
time so largely affected Europe, swallowed up the greater part of
Balder's fortune; and with the remnant (about a thousand pounds
sterling), and a potential independence (in the shape of a learned
profession) in his head, he sailed for Boston.
"I knew you were my uncle Hiero's bankers," he added, "and I supposed
you would be able to tell me about him. He is my only living
relative."
"Why, as to that, I believe it is a long time since the house has had
anything to do with his concerns," returned the venerable President,
abstractedly gazing at Balder's high boots; "but I'll ask Mr. Dyke. He
remembers everything."
That gentleman (who had not passed an easy moment since Mr. Helwyse's
arrival) was now called in, and his suspense regarding the mysterious
visitor soon relieved. In respect to Doctor Glyphic's affair he was
ready and explicit.
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