“The families drifted apart and gradually died out until Sir Geoffrey and my mother were alone left of their respective lines, and without knowing the relationship at the time they met and married, and I—� she faltered and put her hand over her face—“am the only one left of the family, of either branch.�
“Now here,� said I devoutly, for I fully believed what I said, “are the workings of Divine Providence. The parchment came from old Sir Philip, it was torn apart by his sons, and the pieces came not together until in you the ancient lines were united.�
“Yes, but what does it mean?� she asked turning to the table again.
As she did so the sleeves of her dress caught the parchment and separated the two pieces. One of them fell to the floor face downward. I picked it up.
“Why, there is writing on it!� I exclaimed.
“So there is. I had forgotten that. It was unintelligible to me and, in fact, I put it in my jewel case and forgot about it.�
“And the image?�
“It was so hideous and so repellent I thrust it into a drawer of my cabinet and forgot it too.�
“Let’s put the two pieces together and take them to the light and see if we cannot decipher it,� said I. “Mistress Wilberforce,� I continued, “I have a sailor’s premonition that we are on the track of something that may greatly better your fortunes.�
There was no table near the window but I spread the two pieces of parchment on my two broad hands, from which you can get an idea of how large they were. The writing was dim and faded with age. It seemed to have been done with some sharp pointed instrument which cut into the sheepskin, and where the ink which had been used had faded, the scratches still remained. This that follows is what I made out. I have reproduced exactly the old spelling and capitalization, and for your further illumination I have copied as best I could the map, or chart, upon the other side, so you can easily comprehend the story of our adventures upon it as I am now endeavoring to relate them. Of course my memory may be at fault in some particulars, but if so they are unimportant. As for the image, I can never forget its grinning, malign, evil hideousness, no, not to my dying day.