5 Jefferson Hope's Tale

Chapter 5 JeffersonHope'sTale So Jefferson Hope told us his story, and what a story it was! As a young man, he'd been a silver prospector, trapper, and explorer in the western United States. One day, while out hunting, he rescued a young woman from a cattle stampede. Her name was Lucy, and she introduced him to her father John Ferrier. The Ferriers lived in a strict religious community. They owed their lives to the community because they had taken them in when they were starving. But since then, the Ferriers had grown to hate living in this community because they ruled with fear, and whoever spoke out against them was killed or imprisoned.

Jefferson and Lucy fell in love, and John, who liked and respected Jefferson, happily agreed to the match. Soon after they were engaged, Jefferson left on a hunting trip. While he was away, the leader of the religious order visited the Ferriers. He decreed that Lucy must marry either Joseph Stangerson or Enoch Drebber. Both were senior members of the community and they already had many wives, as this was the tradition with the order.

Ferrier knew he couldn't disobey the leader and live, but he was also determined not to give his precious Lucy away to either of these men. He wrote to Jefferson, asking him to come back and help him and Lucy run away and start a new life. When Jefferson returned, the three of them stole away in the middle of the night. They made it to some woods where they set up camp, then Jefferson left to hunt down some food. He returned to find Lucy and John gone. Frantically, he searched the area and came across a grave marked "John Ferrier". He later learned that Stangerson and Drebber had followed them to the woods and killed Ferrier, kidnapped Lucy, and forced her to marry Drebber. She died shortly afterward of a broken heart. In his fury, Jefferson Hope dedicated the rest of his life to hunting down and killing Drebber and Stangerson.

"I took the marriage ring from Lucy's dead finger," said Hope, "and vowed to show it to Drebber when I caught him, so he would be reminded of his crime before he died. My search took me twenty years and stretched across two continents, but I finally traced them to London, where I took a job as a cabman. "It was some while before I found the boarding house where they were staying. I followed them all over town, hoping to catch either one of them alone. Yet they were always together. "Three days ago, I spotted them outside their boarding house, loading their luggage into a cab and driving away. I followed them to Euston Station, where I got out of my cab and continued after them to the platform. They were waiting to catch their train to Liverpool, which was some hours delayed. I overheard Drebber tell Stangerson he had some personal business to attend to, but would be back

before the train departed. If not, he'd meet him at Halliday's Hotel. "At last, my enemies had separated and were unable to protect each other. I followed Drebber back to his boarding-house and waited there. A while later, the door swung open and out came a young man holding Drebber by the collar. He shoved him into the street, yelling curses at him. Drebber got up and ran to the corner where, seeing my cab, he hailed me and jumped in, panting, 'Take me to Halliday's Hotel!' Drebber was now in my power, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with him. "During my long life, I once worked as a janitor in a college laboratory, where I happened to learn about a poison taken from the skin of a South American frog that could cause instant death. I stole a bottle of this substance and made some pills out of it. I put each pill into a box,

along with a similar pill made without poison. My plan was to force each of these men to eat a pill from one of the boxes, while I ate the pill that remained. If there was any justice on this Earth, they would pick the poisonous one. "After we drove a short distance, Drebber ordered me to stop at a bar and wait for him while he had a few drinks. When he emerged a few hours later, very much worse for drink, I had a plan for where to take him. A few days before, a gentleman looking over some empty houses in the Brixton Road dropped the key to one of them in my cab. We pulled up at this house and I woke Drebber, who had fallen into a drunken slumber. 'It's time to get out,' I said. "'All right, cabby,' he said, believing we'd arrived at the hotel. I had to help him along the garden path, the hallway, and into the front room. 'It's awfully dark,' he said.