Hiram came swiftly to a conclusion. He would appear to yield, and in the walk he was about to take it was almost a certainty that they would encounter some one. So he replied, in a good-natured manner: 'Well, if the wood has been sent to you, we had better go and have it split at once.'
'That's the talk—that's the talk! But we must hurry. Come on—come quick, and you will see how I will do it up.'
He did not relax his hold of Hiram's arm. The two walked rapidly forward—much more rapidly than Hiram desired; but the crazy man kept exclaiming: 'We must make haste, I promised him I would not leave the room. No more would I; but you see, if I can earn the money, I am all right—all right—all right!'
'How much have you got?' he asked, stopping abruptly, and turning suddenly on Hiram.
'I have got ever so much. Now I think of it, suppose I pay you on the spot, so that you can go ahead and split the wood? It is getting late, you see.'
'That won't do—that won't do. I want him to have the money! Come—come along, and give it to him.'
On they pressed, till at length the man exclaimed: 'Here we are! Don't you perceive?'
He had stopped before an old and very common-looking house. In the second story one could see a light burning. The madman motioned Hiram to enter. The millionnaire was glad to discover that he was so near the end of his journey, and in a perfectly respectable neighborhood. Not doubting that he would find the apartment occupied, and quite sure there were inhabitants in the other part of the house, he proceeded to mount the stairs with alacrity, his companion following close at his heels.
It was with a sense of quiet relief that Hiram opened the door into a well-lighted room. This feeling was suddenly changed to one of horror on ascertaining that there was no one in the apartment, but that on a bed at the farther end of it was extended the corpse of a woman, already laid out and ready for the coffin! He stepped quickly backward, but it was too late. The madman was close behind him, and egress was out of the question.
'Come,' he said, 'you need not be afraid; she won't hurt you.'