aged and beautiful gentleman with white hair, drawing near along the lane;
and advancing to meet him, another and very small gentleman, to whom at
first she paid less attention. When they had come within speech (which was
just under the maid's eyes) the older man bowed and accosted the other with
a very pretty manner of politeness. It did not seem as if the subject of his
address were of great importance; indeed, from his pointing, it sometimes
appeared as if he were only inquiring his way; but the moon shone on his face
as he spoke, and the girl was pleased to watch it, it seemed to breathe such
an innocent and old-world kindness of disposition, yet with something high
too, as of a well-founded self-content. Presently her eye wandered to the other,
and she was surprised to recognise in him a certain Mr. Hyde, who had once
visited her master and for whom she had conceived a dislike. He had in his
hand a heavy cane, with which he was trifling; but he answered never a word,
and seemed to listen with an ill-contained impatience. And then all of a sudden
he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing
the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman. The old
gentleman took a step back, with the air of one very much surprised and a
trifle hurt; and at that Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to
the earth. And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim
under foot and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were
audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway. At the horror of
these sights and sounds, the maid fainted. It was two o'clock when she came to herself and called for the police. The
murderer was gone long ago; but there lay his victim in the middle of the lane,
incredibly mangled. The stick with which the deed had been done, although
it was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken in the middle
under the stress of this insensate cruelty; and one splintered half had rolled
in the neighbouring gutter?the other, without doubt, had been carried away
by the murderer. A purse and a gold watch were found upon the victim; but
no cards or papers, except a sealed and stamped envelope, which he had been
probably carrying to the post,'5 and which bore the name and address of Mr.
Utterson.
5. I.e., postal letter box.
.
1656 / ROBERT Louis STEVENSON
This was brought to the lawyer the next morning, before he was out of bed;
and he had no sooner seen it and been told the circumstances, than he shot
out a solemn lip. 'I shall say nothing till I have seen the body,' said he; 'this
may be very serious. Have the kindness to wait while I dress.' And with the
same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the
police station, whither the body had been carried. As soon as he came into
the cell, he nodded.
'Yes,' said he, 'I recognise him. I am sorry to say that this is Sir Danvers
Carew.' 'Good God, sir,' exclaimed the officer, 'is it possible?' And the next moment
his eye lighted up with professional ambition. 'This will make a deal of noise,'
he said. 'And perhaps you can help us to the man.' And he briefly narrated
what the maid had seen, and showed the broken stick.
Mr. Utterson had already quailed at the name of Hyde; but when the stick
was laid before him, he could doubt no longer; broken and battered as it was,
he recognised it for one that he had himself presented many years before to
