accomplished the boldest
act of his life. He had shown address, skill, and courage. He had done
a thing which had appalled him in the contemplation, merely on account
of its physical difficulties and dangers. He had done it successfully.
He had a large amount of money in his pocket--enough to carry his bride
to the ends of the earth. When it was gone--well, at worst, he could
leave her, and shift for himself again. He had not a particle of regret
or remorse; and, in fact, these sentiments are far rarer than moralists
would have us believe. A ruffian who commits a crime usually glories in
it. It exalts him in his own eyes, all the more that he is compelled to
keep silent about it. As Offitt walked rapidly in the direction of Dean
Street, the only shadow on his exultation was his sudden perception of
the fact that he had better not tell Maud what he had done. In all his
plans he had promised himself the pleasure of telling her that she was
avenged upon her enemy by the hands of her lover; he had thought he
might extort his first kiss by that heroic avowal; but now, as he
walked stealthily down the silent street, he saw that nobody in the
universe could be made his confidant.

"I'll never own it, in earth or hell," he said to himself.

When he reached Matchin's cottage, all was dark and still. He tried to
attract Maud's attention by throwing soft clods of earth against her
window, but her sleep was too sound. He was afraid to throw pebbles for
fear of breaking the panes and waking the family. He went into the
little yard adjoining the shop, and found a ladder. He brought it out,
and placed it against the wall. He perceived now for the first time
that his hands were sticky. He gazed at them a moment. "Oh, yes," he
said to himself, "when he fell I held out my hands to keep his head
from touching my clothes. Careless trick! Ought to have washed them,
first thing." Then, struck by a sudden idea, he went to the well-curb,
and slightly moistened his fingers. He then rubbed them on the
door-knob, and the edge of the door of the cottage, and pressed them
several times in different places on the ladder. "Not a bad scheme,"
he said, chuckling. He then went again to the well, and washed his
hands thoroughly, afterward taking a handful of earth, and rubbing
them till they were as dirty as usual.

After making all these preparations for future contingencies, he
mounted the ladder, and tried to raise the window. It was already open
a