For with each step through the woods thus far back, there had been growing within him the utter and unshakable conviction that in the face of whatever seeming proof or charges might now appear, he dared not tell anything in regard to himself, his connection with Roberta, his visit to Big Bittern or Grass Lake. He dared not. For that would be the same as a confession of guilt in connection with something of which he was not really guilty. And no one must believe never Sondra, or the Griffiths, or any of these fine friends of his, that he could ever have been guilty of such a thought, even. And yet here they were, all within call, and at any moment might approach and so learn the meaning of his arrest. And while he felt the necessity for so denying any knowledge in connection with all this, at the same time he stood in absolute terror of this man the opposition and irritated mood such an attitude might arouse in him. That broken nose. His large, stern eyes.
And then Mason, eyeing him as one might an unheard-of and yet desperate animal and irritated also by his denial, yet assuming from his blanched expression that he might and no doubt would shortly be compelled to confess his guilt, continuing with: You know what you are charged with, Mr. Griffiths, of course.
Yes, sir, I just heard it from this man here.
And you admit it?
Why, no sir, of course I dont admit it, replied Clyde, his thin and now white lips drawn tight over his even teeth, his eyes full of a deep, tremulous yet evasive terror.
Why, what nonsense! What effrontery! You deny being up to Grass Lake and Big Bittern on last Wednesday and Thursday?
Yes, sir.
Well, then, and now Mason stiffened himself in an angry and at the same time inquisitorial way, I suppose you are going to deny knowing Roberta Alden the girl you took to Grass Lake, and then out on Big Bittern in that boat last Thursday the girl you knew in Lycurgus all last year, who lived at Mrs. Gilpins and worked under you in your department at Griffiths & Company the girl to whom you gave that toilet set last Christmas! I suppose youre going to say that your name isnt Clyde Griffiths and that you havent been living with Mrs. Peyton in Taylor Street, and that these arent letters and cards from your trunk there from Roberta Alden and from Miss Finchley, all these cards and notes. And extracting the letters and cards as he spoke and waving them before Clyde. And at each point in this harangue, thrusting his broad face, with its flat, broken nose and somewhat aggressive chin directly before Clydes, and blazing at him with sultry, contemptuous eyes, while the latter leaned away from him, wincing almost perceptibly and with icy chills running up and down his spine and affecting his heart and brain. Those letters! All this information concerning him! And back in his bag in the tent there, all those more recent letters of Sondras in which she dwelt on how they were to elope together this coming fall. If only he had destroyed them! And now this man might find those would and question Sondra maybe, and all these others. He shrunk and congealed spiritually, the revealing effects of his so poorly conceived and executed scheme weighing upon him as the world upon the shoulders of an inadequate Atlas.
And yet, feeling that he must say something and yet not admit anything. And finally replying: My names Clyde Griffiths all right, but the rest of this isnt true. I dont know anything about the rest of it.
Oh, come now, Mr. Griffiths! Dont begin by trying to play fast and loose with me. We wont get anywhere that way. You wont help yourself one bit by that with me, and besides I havent any time for that now. Remember these men here are witnesses to what you say. Ive just come from Lycurgus your room at Mrs. Peytons and I have in my possession your trunk and this Miss Aldens letters to you indisputable proof that you did know this girl, that you courted and seduced her last winter, and that since then this spring when she became pregnant on your account, you induced her first to go home and then later to go away with you on this trip in order, as you told her, to marry her. Well, you married her all right to the grave thats how you married her to the water at the bottom of Big Bittern Lake! And you can actually stand here before me now, when I tell you that I have all the evidence I need right on my person, and say that you dont even know her! Well, Ill be damned!
And as he spoke his voice grew so loud that Clyde feared that it could be clearly heard in the camp beyond. And that Sondra herself might hear it and come over. And although at the outrush and jab and slash of such dooming facts as Mason so rapidly outlined, his throat tightened and his hands were with difficulty restrained from closing and clinching vise-wise, at the conclusion of it all he merely replied: Yes, sir.
Well, Ill be damned! reiterated Mason. I can well believe now that you would kill a girl and sneak away in just such a way as you did and with her in that condition! But then to try to deny her own letters to you! Why, you might as well try to deny that youre here and alive. These cards and notes here what about them? I suppose theyre not from Miss Finchley? How about those? Do you mean to tell me these are not from her either?
He waved them before Clydes eyes. And Clyde, seeing that the truth concerning these, Sondra being within call, was capable of being substantiated here and now, replied: No, I dont deny that those are from her.
Very good. But these others from your trunk in the same room are not from Miss Alden to you?
I dont care to say as to that, he replied, blinking feebly as Mason waved Robertas letters before him.
Tst! Tst! Tst! Of all things, clicked Mason in high dudgeon. Such nonsense! Such effrontery! Oh, very well, we wont worry about all that now. I can easily prove it all when the time comes. But how you can stand there and deny it, knowing that I have the evidence, is beyond me! A card in your own handwriting which you forgot to take out of the bag you had her leave at Gun Lodge while you took yours with you. Mr. Carl Graham, Mr. Clifford Golden, Mr. Clyde Griffiths a card on which you wrote From Clyde to Bert, Merry Xmas. Do you remember that? Well, here it is. And here he reached into his pocket and drew forth the small card taken from the toilet set and waved it under Clydes nose. Have you forgotten that, too? Your own handwriting! And then pausing and getting no reply, finally adding: Why, what a dunce you are! what a poor plotter, without even the brains not to use your own initials in getting up those fake names you had hoped to masquerade under Mr. Carl Graham Mr. Clifford Golden!
At the same time, fully realizing the importance of a confession and wondering how it was to be brought about here and now, Mason suddenly Clydes expression, his frozen-faced terror, suggesting the thought that perhaps he was too frightened to talk at once changed his tactics at least to the extent of lowering his voice, smoothing the formidable wrinkles from his forehead and about his mouth.
You see, its this way, Griffiths, he now began, much more calmly and simply. Lying or just foolish thoughtless denial under such circumstances as these cant help you in the least. It can only harm you, and thats the truth. You may think Ive been a little rough so far, but it was only because Ive been under a great strain myself in connection with this case, trying to catch up with some one I thought would be a very different type from yourself. But now that I see you and see how you feel about it all how really frightened you are by what has happened it just occurs to me that there may be something in connection with this case, some extenuating circumstances, which, if they were related by you now, might throw a slightly different light on all this. Of course, I dont know. You yourself ought to be the best judge, but Im laying the thought before you for what its worth. For, of course, here are these letters. Besides, when we get to Three Mile Bay to-morrow, as we will, I hope, there will be those three men who met you the other night walking south from Big Bittern. And not only those, but the innkeeper from Grass Lake, the innkeeper from Big Bittern, the boatkeeper up there who rented that boat, and the driver who drove you and Roberta Alden over from Gun Lodge. They will identify you. Do you think they wont know you not any of them not be able to say whether you were up there with her or not, or that a jury when the time comes wont believe them?