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diff --git a/33610.txt b/33610.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab947ba --- /dev/null +++ b/33610.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10163 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharos, The Egyptian, by Guy Newell Boothby + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pharos, The Egyptian + A Romance + +Author: Guy Newell Boothby + +Release Date: September 3, 2010 [EBook #33610] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHAROS, THE EGYPTIAN *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + + PHAROS, THE EGYPTIAN + + _A ROMANCE_ + + BY GUY BOOTHBY + + AUTHOR OF DOCTOR NIKOLA, THE LUST OF HATE, + THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL, ETC. + + +NEW YORK +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY +1899 + +Copyright, 1898, 1899, +By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. + +_All rights reserved._ + + + + +PHAROS, THE EGYPTIAN. + + + + +PREFACE. + +BEING A LETTER FROM SIR WILLIAM BETFORD, OF BAMPTON ST. MARY, IN +DORSETSHIRE, TO GEORGE TREVELYAN, OF LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, LONDON. + + + +"My dear Trevelyan: Never in my life have I been placed in such an +awkward, not to say invidious, position. I am, as you know, a plain man, +fond of a plain life and plain speaking, and yet I am about to imperil +that reputation by communicating to you what I fancy you will consider +the most extraordinary and unbelievable intelligence you have ever +received in your life. For my own part I do not know what to think. I +have puzzled over the matter until I am not in a position to judge +fairly. You must, therefore, weigh the evidence, first for us both. For +pity's sake, however, do not decide hastily. _In dubiis benigniora +semper sunt praeferenda_, as they used to say in our school days, must be +our motto, and by it we must abide at any hazards. As far as I can see, +we are confronted with one of the saddest and at the same time one of +the most inexplicable cases ever yet recorded on paper. Reduced to its +proper factors it stands as follows: Either Forrester has gone mad and +dreamed it all, or he is sane and has suffered as few others have done +in this world. In either case he is deserving of our deepest pity. In +one way only are we fortunate. Knowing the man as we do, we are in a +position to estimate the value of the accusations he brings against +himself. Of one thing I am convinced--a more honourable being does not +walk this earth. Our acquaintance with him is of equal length. We were +introduced to him, and to each other, on one and the same occasion, +upward of twelve years ago; and during that time I know I am right in +saying neither of us ever had reason to doubt his word or the honour of +a single action. Indeed, to my mind he had but one fault, a not uncommon +one in these latter days of the nineteenth century. I refer to his +somewhat morbid temperament and the consequent leaning toward the +supernatural it produced in him. + +"As the world has good reason to remember, his father was perhaps the +most eminent Egyptologist our century has seen; a man whose whole mind +and being was impregnated with a love for that ancient country and its +mystic past. Small wonder, therefore, that the son should have inherited +his tastes and that his life should have been influenced by the same +peculiar partiality. While saying, however, that he had a weakness for +the supernatural, I am by no means admitting that he was what is +vulgarly termed a spiritualist. I do not believe for an instant that he +ever declared himself so openly. His mind was too evenly balanced, and +at the same time too healthy to permit such an enthusiastic declaration +of his interest. For my part, I believe he simply inquired into the +matter as he would have done into, shall we say, the Kinetic theory of +gases, or the history of the ruined cities of Mashonaland, for the +purpose of satisfying his curiosity and of perfecting his education on +the subject. Having thus made my own feelings known to you, I will leave +the matter in your hands, confident that you will do him justice, and +will proceed to describe how the pathetic record of our friend's +experiences came into my possession. + +"I had been hunting all day and did not reach home until between +half-past six and seven o'clock. We had a house full of visitors at the +time, I remember, some of whom had been riding with me, and the +dressing-gong sounded as we dismounted from our horses at the steps. It +was plain that if we wished to change our attire and join the ladies in +the drawing-room before dinner was announced, we had no time to lose. +Accordingly we departed to our various rooms with all possible speed. + +"There is nothing pleasanter or more refreshing after a long day in the +saddle than a warm bath. On this particular occasion I was in the full +enjoyment of this luxury when a knocking sounded at the door. I inquired +who was there. + +"'Me, sir--Jenkins,' replied my servant. 'There is a person downstairs, +sir, who desires to see you.' + +"'To see me at this hour,' I answered. 'What is his name, and what does +he want?' + +"'His name is Silver, sir,' the man replied; and then, as if the +information might be put forward as some excuse for such a late visit, +he continued: 'I believe he is a kind of foreigner, sir. Leastways, he's +very dark, and don't speak the same, quite, as an Englishman might do.' + +"I considered for a moment. I knew of no person named Silver who could +have any possible reason for desiring to see me at seven o'clock in the +evening. + +"'Go down and inquire his business,' I said, at length. 'Tell him I am +engaged to-night; but if he can make it convenient to call in the +morning, I will see him.' + +"The man departed on his errand, and by the time he returned I had +reached my dressing-room once more. + +"'He is very sorry, sir,' he began, as soon as he had closed the door, +'but he says he must get back to Bampton in time to catch the 8.15 +express to London. He wouldn't tell me his business, but asked me to say +that it is most important, and he would be deeply grateful if you could +grant him an interview this evening.' + +"'In that case,' I said, 'I suppose I _must_ see him. Did he tell you no +more?' + +"'No, sir. Leastways, that wasn't exactly the way he put it. He said, +sir, "If the gentleman won't see me otherwise, tell him I come to him +from Mr. Cyril Forrester. Then I think he will change his mind."' + +"As the man, whoever he was, had predicted, this _did_ make me change my +mind. I immediately bade Jenkins return and inform him that I would be +with him in a few moments. Accordingly, as soon as I had dressed, I left +my room and descended to the study. The fire was burning brightly, and a +reading-lamp stood upon the writing-table. The remainder of the room, +however, was in shadow, but not sufficiently so to prevent my +distinguishing a dark figure seated between the two bookcases. He rose +as I entered, and bowed before me with a servility that, thank God! is +scarcely English. When he spoke, though what he said was grammatically +correct, his accent revealed the fact that he was not a native of our +Isles. + +"'Sir William Betford, I believe,' he began, as I entered the room. + +"'That is my name,' I answered, at the same time turning up the lamp and +lighting the candles upon the mantelpiece in order that I might see him +better. 'My man tells me you desire an interview with me. He also +mentioned that you have come from my old friend, Mr. Cyril Forrester, +the artist, who is now abroad. Is this true?' + +"'Quite true,' he replied. 'I do come from Mr. Forrester.' + +"The candles were burning brightly by this time, and, as a result, I was +able to see him more distinctly. He was of medium height, very thin, and +wore a long overcoat of some dark material. His face was distinctly +Asiatic in type, though the exact nationality I could not determine. +Possibly he might have hailed from Siam. + +"'Having come from Mr. Forrester,' I said, when I had seated myself, +'you will be able to tell me his address, I have neither seen nor heard +of or from him for more than a year past.' + +"'I regret exceedingly that it is impossible for me to give you the +information you seek,' the man replied, civilly but firmly. 'My +instructions were most explicit upon that point.' + +"'You come to me from him, and yet you are instructed not to tell me his +address?' I said, with natural surprise. 'That is rather extraordinary, +is it not? Remember, I am one of his oldest, and certainly one of his +firmest, friends.' + +"'Nevertheless, I was instructed on no account to reveal his present +residence to you,' the man replied. + +"'What, then, can your business be with me?' I asked, more nettled at +his words than I cared to show. + +"'I have brought you a packet,' he said, 'which Mr. Forrester was most +anxious I should personally deliver to your hands. There is a letter +inside which he said would explain everything. I was also instructed to +obtain from you a receipt, which I am to convey to him again.' + +"So saying, he dived his hand into the pocket of his greatcoat, and +brought thence a roll, which he placed with some solemnity upon the +table. + +"'There is the packet,' he said. 'Now if you will be kind enough to give +me a note stating that you have received it, I will take my departure. +It is most necessary that I should catch the express to London, and if I +desire to do so, I have a sharp walk in front of me.' + +"'You shall have the receipt,' I answered; and, taking a sheet of +notepaper from a drawer, I wrote the following letter:-- + + "'THE GRANGE, BAMPTON ST. MARY, + "'_December 14, 18--._ + + "'DEAR FORRESTER: This evening I have been surprised by a visit + from a man named----' + +"Here I paused and inquired the messenger's name, which I had, for the +moment, forgotten. + +"'Honore de Silva,' he replied. + + "'----from a man named Honore de Silva, who has handed me a + packet for which he desires this letter shall be a receipt. I + have endeavoured to elicit your address from him, but on this + point he is adamant. Is it kind to an old friend to let him + hear from you, but at the same time to refuse to permit him to + communicate with you? Why all this mystery? If you are in + trouble, who would so gladly share it with you as your old + friend? If you need help, who would so willingly give it? Are + the years during which we have known each other to count for + nothing? Trust me, and I think you are aware that I will not + abuse your confidence. + + "Your affectionate friend, + + "'WILLIAM BETFORD.' + +"Having blotted it, I placed the letter in an envelope, directed it to +Cyril Forrester, Esq., and handed it to De Silva, who placed it +carefully in an inner pocket and rose to take leave of me. + +"'Will nothing induce you to reveal your employer's present place of +residence?' I said. 'I assure you I am most anxious to prove his +friend.' + +"'I can easily believe that,' he answered. 'He has often spoken of you +in terms of the warmest affection. If you could hear him, I am sure you +would have no doubt on that score.' + +"I was much affected, as you may imagine, on hearing this, and his +assertion emboldened me to risk yet another question. + +"'Upon one point, at least, you can set my mind at rest,' I said. 'Is +Mr. Forrester happy?' + +"'He is a man who has done with happiness such as you mean, and will +never know it again,' he answered solemnly. + +"'My poor old friend,' I said, half to myself and half to him. And then +added, 'Is there no way in which I can help him?' + +"'None,' De Silva replied. 'But I can tell you no more, so I beg you +will not ask me.' + +"'But you can surely answer one other question,' I continued, this time +with what was almost a note of supplication in my voice. 'You can tell +me whether, in your opinion, we, his friends, will see him again, or if +he intends to spend the remainder of his life in exile?' + +"'That I can safely answer. No! You will never see him again. He will +not return to this country, or to the people who have known him here.' + +"'Then may God help him and console him, for his trouble must be bitter +indeed!' + +"'It is well-nigh insupportable,' said De Silva, with the same +solemnity; and then, picking up his hat, bowed, and moved toward the +door. + +"'I must risk one last question. Tell me if he will communicate with me +again?' + +"'Never,' the other replied. 'He bade me tell you, should you ask, that +you must henceforth consider him as one who is dead. You must not +attempt to seek for him, but consign him to that oblivion in which only +he can be at peace.' + +"Before I could say more he had opened the door and passed into the +hall. A moment later I heard the front door close behind him, a step +sounded on the gravel before my window, and I was left standing upon the +hearthrug, staring at the packet upon the table. Then the gong sounded, +and I thrust the roll into a drawer. Having securely locked the latter, +I hastened to the drawing-room to meet my guests. + +"Needless to say, my demeanour during dinner was not marked with any +great degree of gaiety. The interview with De Silva had upset me +completely; and though I endeavoured to play the part of an attentive +host, my attempt was far from being successful. I found my thoughts +continually reverting to that curious interview in the study, and to the +packet which had come into my possession in such a mysterious manner, +the secret contained in which I had still to learn. + +"After dinner we adjourned to the billiard-room, where we spent the +evening; consequently it was not until my guests bade me 'Good night,' +and retired to their various rooms, by which time it was well after +eleven o'clock, that I found myself at liberty to return to the study. + +"Once there, I made up the fire, wheeled an easy-chair to a position +before it, arranged the reading-lamp so that the light should fall upon +the paper over my left shoulder, and having made these preparations, +unlocked the drawer and took out the packet De Silva had handed to me. + +"It was with a mixture of pain, a small measure of curiosity, but more +apprehension as to what I should find within, that I cut the string and +broke the seals. Inside I discovered a note and a roll of manuscript in +that fine and delicate handwriting we used to know so well. After a +hasty glance at it, I put the latter aside, and opened the envelope. The +note I found within was addressed to you, Trevelyan, as well as to +myself, and read as follows:-- + + "'MY DEAR OLD FRIENDS: In company with many other people, you + must have wondered what the circumstances could have been that + induced me to leave England so suddenly, to forfeit the success + I had won for myself after so much up-hill work, and, above + all, to bid farewell to a life and an art I loved so devotedly, + and from which, I think I may be excused for saying, I had such + brilliant expectations. I send you herewith, Betford, by a + bearer I can trust, an answer to that question. I want you to + read it, and, having done so, to forward it to George + Trevelyan, with the request that he will do the same. When you + have mastered the contents, you must unitedly arrange with some + publishing house to put it before the world, omitting nothing, + and in no way attempting to offer any extenuation for my + conduct. We were three good friends once, in an age as dead to + me now as the Neolithic. For the sake of that friendship, + therefore, I implore this favour at your hands. As you hope for + mercy on that Last Great Day when the sins of all men shall be + judged, do as I entreat you now. How heavily I have sinned + against my fellow-men--in ignorance, it is true--you will know + when you have read what I have written. This much is + certain--the effect of it weighs upon my soul like lead. If you + have any desire to make that load lighter, carry out the wish I + now express to you. Remember me also in your prayers, praying + not as for a man still living, but as you would for one long + since dead. That God may bless and keep you both will ever be + the wish of your unhappy friend, + + "'CYRIL FORRESTER. + + "'P. S.--Matthew Simpford, in the Strand, is keeping two + pictures for me. They were once considered among my best work. + I ask you each to accept one, and when you look at them try to + think as kindly as possible of the friend who is gone from you + forever.' + +"So much for the letter. It is possible there may be people who will +smile sarcastically when they read that, as I finished it, tears stood +in my eyes, so that I could scarcely see the characters upon the paper. + +"You, Trevelyan, I know, will understand my emotion better. And why +should I not have been affected? Forrester and I had been good friends +in the old days, and it was only fit and proper I should mourn his loss. +Handsome, generous, clever, who could help loving him? I could not, +that's certain. + +"The letter finished, I replaced it in its envelope and turned my +attention to the manuscript. When I began to read, the hands of the +clock upon the chimneypiece stood at twenty minutes to twelve, and they +had reached a quarter past five before I had completed my task. All that +time I read on without stopping, filled with amazement at the story my +poor friend had to tell, and consumed with a great sorrow that his +brilliant career should have terminated in such an untoward manner. + +"Now, having completed my share of the task, as required of me in the +letter, I send the manuscript by special messenger to you. Read it as he +desires, and when you have done so let me have your opinion upon it. +Then I will come up to town, and we will arrange to carry out the last +portion of our poor friend's request together. In the meantime, + + "Believe me ever your friend, + + "WILLIAM BETFORD." + + * * * * * + +_Six months later._ + +Trevelyan and I have completed the task allotted to us. We have read +Forrester's manuscript, and we have also discovered a publisher who will +place it before the world. What the result is to be it remains for time +to decide. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +If ever a man in this world had a terrible--I might almost go so far as +to add a shameful--story to relate, surely I, Cyril Forrester, am the +one. How strange--indeed, how most unbelievable--it is I do not think I +even realised myself until I sat down to write it. The question the +world will in all probability ask when it has read it is, why it should +have been told at all. It is possible it may be of opinion that I should +have served my generation just as well had I allowed it to remain locked +up in my own bosom for all time. This, however, my conscience would not +permit. There are numberless reasons, all of them important and some +imperative beyond all telling, why I should make my confession, though +God knows I am coward enough to shrink from the task. And if you +consider for a moment, I think you will understand why. In the first +place, the telling of the story can only have the effect of depriving me +of the affection of those I love, the respect of those whose good +opinion I have hitherto prized so highly, the sympathy of my most +faithful friends, and, what is an equal sacrifice as far as I am +personally concerned--though it is, perhaps, of less importance to +others--the fame I have won for myself after so hard a struggle. All +this is swept away like drift-wood before a rising tide, and as a result +I retire into voluntary exile, a man burdened with a life-long sorrow. +How I have suffered, both in body and mind, none will ever understand. +That I have been punished is also certain, how heavily you, my two old +friends, will be able to guess when you have read my story. With the +writing of it I have severed the last link that binds me to the +civilized world. Henceforth I shall be a wanderer and an outcast, and +but for one reason could wish myself dead. But that is enough of regret; +let me commence my story. + +Two years ago, as you both have terrible reason to remember, there +occurred in Europe what may, perhaps, be justly termed the most +calamitous period in its history, a time so heart-breaking, that +scarcely a man or woman can look back upon it without experiencing the +keenest sorrow. Needless to say I refer to the outbreak of the plague +among us, that terrible pestilence which swept Europe from end to end, +depopulated its greatest cities, filled every burial-place to +overflowing, and caused such misery and desolation in all ranks of life +as has never before been known among us. Few homes were there, even in +this fair England of ours, but suffered some bereavement; few families +but mourn a loss the wound of which has even now barely healed. And it +is my part in this dreadful business that I have forced myself with so +much bitter humiliation to relate. Let me begin at the very beginning, +tell everything plainly and straightforwardly, offer nothing in +extenuation of my conduct, and trust only to the world to judge me, if +such a thing be possible, with an unbiassed mind. + +I date my misery from a wet, miserable night in the last week of +March--a night without a glimpse of the moon, which, on that particular +evening, was almost at its full. There had been but one solitary hour of +painting-light all day; short as it was, however, it was sufficient for +my purpose. My picture for the Academy was finished, and now all that +remained was to pack it up and send it in. It was, as you remember, my +eighth, and in every way my most successful effort. The subject I had +chosen had enthralled me from the moment it had first entered my head, +and the hours of thought and preparation it had entailed will always +rank among the happiest of my life. It represented Merenptah, the +Pharaoh of the Exodus, learning from the magicians the effect of his +obstinacy in the death of his first-born son. The canvas showed him +seated on his throne, clad in his robes of state. His head was pushed a +little forward, his chin rested in his hand, while his eyes looked +straight before him as though he were endeavouring to peer into the +future in the hope of reading there the answer to the troubled thoughts +inside his brain. Behind him stood the sorcerers, one of whom had found +courage to announce the baneful tidings. + +The land of Egypt has always possessed a singular attraction for me--a +taste which, doubtless, I inherit from my poor father, who, as you are +aware, was one of the greatest authorities upon the subject the world +has ever known. + +As I have said, it was a miserable night, dark as the pit of Tophet. A +biting wind whistled through the streets, the pavements were dotted with +umbrella-laden figures, the kennels ran like mill-sluices, while the +roads were only a succession of lamp-lit puddles through which the +wheeled traffic splashed continuously. For some reason--perhaps because +the work upon which I had been so long and happily engaged was finished +and I felt lonely without it to occupy my mind--I was stricken with a +fit of the blues. Convinced that my own company would not take me out of +it, I left my studio in search of more congenial society. This was soon +forthcoming; and you will remember, Betford and Trevelyan, that we dined +together at a little restaurant in the neighbourhood of Leicester +Square, and followed the dinner up with a visit to a theatre. As +ill-luck would have it, I was in the minority in the choice of a place +of entertainment. The result was disastrous. Instead of ridding myself +of my melancholy, as I had hoped to do, I intensified it, and when, at +the end of the evening, I bade you farewell in the Strand, my spirits +had reached a lower level than they had attained all day. I remember +distinctly standing beneath a gas-lamp at the corner of Villiers Street, +as the clocks were striking midnight, feeling disinclined to return to +my abode and go to bed, and yet equally at a loss to know in what manner +I should employ myself until there was some likelihood of slumber +visiting my eyelids. To help me make up my mind I lit a fresh cigar and +strolled down toward the river. On the pavement, at the foot of the +steps leading to Hungerford Bridge, a poor tattered creature, yet still +possessing some pretensions to gentlemanly address, came from beneath +the archway and begged of me, assuring me most solemnly that, as far as +he was concerned, the game was played out, and if I did not comply with +his request, he would forthwith end his troubles in the river. I gave +him something--I can not now remember what--and then, crossing the road, +made my way along the Embankment toward Cleopatra's Needle. The rain had +ceased for the moment, and in the north a few stars were shining. The +myriad lights of the Embankment were reflected in the river like lines +of dancing fire, and I remember that behind me a train was rolling +across the bridge from Charing Cross with a noise like distant thunder. +I suppose I must have been thinking of my picture, and of the land and +period which had given me the idea. At any rate, I know that on this +occasion the ancient monument in front of which I soon found myself +affected me as it had never done before. I thought of the centuries that +had passed since those hieroglyphics were carved upon the stone, of the +changes the world had seen since that giant monolith first saw the light +of day. Leaning my elbows on the parapet, I was so absorbed in my own +thoughts that when a sudden cry of "Help, help!" rang out from the river +it was with a sensible shock that I returned to the commonplace and +found myself standing where I was. A moment later I was all action. The +cry had come from the other side of the Needle. I accordingly hastened +to the steps farthest from me, shouting, as I went, in my excitement, +that a man was drowning. It might have all been part of some evil +dream--the long line of silent Embankment on either side, the +swiftly-flowing river, and that despairing appeal for help coming so +suddenly out of the black darkness. Then I became aware that I was not +alone on the steps. There was another man there, and he stood +motionless, peering out into the dark stream, scarcely a dozen paces +from me. + +I had reached the top of the steps and was about to descend them in +order to accost him, when something occurred which stopped me and held +me spell-bound. The moon had emerged from its pall of cloud and was now +shining clear and bright across the river. Thirty seconds must have +elapsed since we had heard the cry for assistance, and now, as I looked, +the drowning man was washed in at the foot of the steps upon which we +stood. It would have needed but the least movement on the part of the +man below me to have caught him as he swept by and to have saved him +from a watery death. To my amazement, however--and even now, after this +lapse of time, my gorge rises at the very thought of it--the other did +not offer to help, but drew himself back. Before I could return my +eyes, the wretched suicide had passed out of sight and had vanished into +the darkness again. As he did so a pronounced chuckle of enjoyment +reached me from the man below--a burst of merriment so out of place and +so detestable that I could scarcely believe I heard aright. I can not +hope to make you understand how it affected me. A second later a fit of +blind fury overtook me, and, under the influence of it, I ran down the +steps and seized the murderer--for such I shall always consider him--by +the arm. + +"Are you a man or a fiend," I cried in jerks, "that you could so allow +another to perish when you might have saved him? His death is upon your +conscience, brute and monster that you are!" + +So extreme was my emotion that I trembled under it like a man with the +palsy. + +Then the other turned his head and looked at me; and, as he did so, a +great shudder, accompanied by an indescribable feeling of nausea, passed +over me. What occasioned it I could not tell, nor could I remember +having felt anything of the kind before. When it departed, my eyes fixed +themselves on the individual before me. Connecting him in some way with +the unenviable sensation I had just experienced, I endeavoured to +withdraw them again, but in vain. The others gaze was riveted upon +me--so firmly, indeed, that it required but small imagination to believe +it eating into my brain. Good Heavens! how well I recollect that night +and every incident connected with it! I believe I shall remember it +through all eternity. If only I had known enough to have taken him by +the throat then and there, and had dashed his brains out on the stones, +or to have seized him in my arms and hurled him down the steps into the +river below, how much happier I should have been! I might have earned +eternal punishment, it is true, but I should at least have saved myself +and the world in general from such misery as the human brain can +scarcely realise. But I did not know, the opportunity was lost, and, in +that brief instant of time, millions of my fellow-creatures were +consigned unwittingly to their doom. + +After long association with an individual, it is difficult, if not +impossible, to set down with any degree of exactness a description of +the effect his personality in the first instance had upon me. In this +case I find it more than usually difficult, for the reason that, as I +came more under his influence, the original effect wore off and quite +another was substituted for it. + +His height was considerably below the average, his skull was as small as +his shoulders were broad. But it was not of his stature, his shoulders, +or the size of the head which caused the curious effect I have elsewhere +described. It was his eyes, the shape of his face, the multitudinous +wrinkles that lined it, and, above all, the extraordinary colour of his +skin, that rendered his appearance so repulsive. To understand what I +mean you must think first of old ivory, and then endeavour to realise +what the complexion of a corpse would be like after lying in an +hermetically sealed tomb for many years. Blend the two and you will have +some dim notion of the idea I am trying to convey. His eyes were small, +deeply sunken, and in repose apparently devoid of light and even of +life. He wore a heavy fur coat, and, for the reason that he disdained +the customary headgear of polite society, and had substituted for it a +curious description of cap, I argued that he was a man who boasted a +will of his own, and who did not permit himself to be bound by arbitrary +rules. But, however plain these things may have been, his age was a +good deal more difficult to determine. It was certainly not less than +seventy, and one might have been excused had one even set it down at a +hundred. He walked feebly, supporting himself with a stick, upon which +his thin yellow fist was clutched till the knuckles stood out and shone +like billiard balls in the moonlight. + +Under the influence of his mysterious personality, I stood speechless +for some moments, forgetful of everything--the hour, the place, and even +his inhumanity to the drowning wretch in the river below. By the time I +recovered myself he was gone, and I could see him crossing the road and +moving swiftly away in the direction of Charing Cross. Drawing my hand +across my forehead, which was clammy with the sweat of real fear, I +looked again at the river. A police boat was pulling toward the steps, +and by the light of the lantern on board I could make out the body of a +man. My nerves, already strained to breaking pitch, were not capable of +standing any further shock. I accordingly turned upon my heel and +hurried from the place with all the speed at my command. + +Such was my first meeting with the man whom I afterward came to know as +Pharos the Egyptian. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +As you are aware, my picture that year was hung in an excellent +position, was favourably received by those for whose criticism I had any +sort of respect, attracted its fair share of attention from the general +public, and, as a result, brought me as near contentment as a man can +well hope or expect to be in this world. Before it had been twenty-four +hours "on the line," I had received several tempting offers for it; but +as I had set my heart on obtaining a certain sum, and was determined not +to accept less, you may suppose I did not give them much attention. If I +received what I wanted, I promised myself a treat I had been looking +forward to all my life. In that case I would take a long holiday, and, +instead of spending the next winter in England, would start for Egypt in +the autumn, taking in Italy _en route_, make my way up the Nile, and be +home again, all being well, in the spring, or, at latest, during the +early days of summer. + +Ever since I first became an exhibitor at Burlington House, I have made +it a rule to studiously avoid visiting the gallery after varnishing day. +My reasons would interest no one, but they were sufficiently strong to +induce me to adhere to them. This year, however, I was led into doing so +in a quite unintentional fashion, and as that exception vitally concerns +this narrative, I must narrate in detail the circumstances that led up +to it. + +On a certain Friday early in June, I was sitting in my studio, after +lunch, wondering what I should do with myself during the afternoon, when +a knock sounded at the door, and a moment later, after I had invited +whoever stood outside to enter, my old friend, George Merridew, his +wife, son, and three daughters, trooped into the room. They were plainly +up from the country, and, as usual, were doing the sights at express +speed. George Merridew, as you know, stands six feet in his stockings, +and is broad in proportion. His face is red, his eyes blue, and he +carries with him wherever he goes the air of a prosperous country +squire, which he certainly is. Like many other big men, he is +unconscious of his strength, and when he shakes hands with you, you have +reason to remember the fact for five minutes afterward. His wife is +small, and, as some folks declare, looks younger than her eldest +daughter, who is a tennis champion, a golfer, and boasts a supreme +contempt for Royal Academicians and, for that matter, for artists +generally. The son is at Oxford, a nice enough young fellow with limpid +blue eyes, who, to his father's disgust, takes no sort of interest in +fox-hunting, racing, football, or any other sport, and has openly +asserted his intention of entering the Church in the near future. There +are two other girls, Gwendoline and Ethel--the latter, by the way, +promises to be a second edition of her mother--who, at present, are in +the advanced schoolroom stage, dine with their parents, except on state +occasions, and play duets together on the piano with a conscientious +regard for time and fingering that gives their father no small amount of +pleasure, but with other people rather detracts from the beauty of the +performance. + +"Thank goodness we have got you at last!" cried Merridew, as he rushed +forward and gripped my hand with a cordiality that made me suffer in +silent agony for minutes afterward. "But, my dear fellow, what on earth +induces you to live in a place that's so difficult to find? We have been +all round the neighbourhood, here, there, and everywhere, making +inquiries, and shouldn't have found you now had it not been for an +intelligent butcher-boy, who put us on the right scent and enabled us to +run you to earth at last." + +"Such is fame, you see," I answered with a smile. "One should be humble +when one reflects that the knowledge of one's address is confined to a +butcher-boy.--How do you do, Mrs. Merridew? I am sorry you should have +had so much difficulty in discovering my poor abode." + +I shook hands with the rest of the family, and when I had done so, +waited to be informed as to the reason of their visit. + +"Now, look here," said the squire, as he spoke producing an enormous +gold repeater from his pocket, which by sheer force of habit he held in +his hand, though he never once looked at it, during the time he was +speaking. "I'll tell you what we're going to do. In the first place +you're to take us to the Academy to see your picture, which every one is +talking about, and at the same time to act as showman and tell us who's +who. After that you'll dine with us at the Langham, and go to the +theatre afterward. No, no, it's not a bit of use you're pretending +you've got another engagement. We don't come up to town very often, but +when we do we enjoy ourselves, and--why, man alive! just consider--I +haven't seen you since last autumn, and if you think I am going to let +you escape now, you're very much mistaken. Such a thing is not to be +thought of--is it, mother?" + +Thus appealed to, Mrs. Merridew was kind enough to say that she hoped I +would comply with her husband's wishes. The daughters murmured +something, which I have no doubt was intended to be a complimentary +expression of their feelings, while the son commenced a remark, failed +to make himself intelligible, and then lapsed into silence again. + +Thus hemmed in, it remained for me to invent a valid excuse, or to fall +in with their plans. I effected a compromise, informed them that I +should be much pleased to accompany them to the Academy, but that it was +quite impossible I should dine with them afterward, or even visit the +theatre in their company, having, as was quite true, already accepted an +invitation for that evening. Five minutes later the matter was settled, +and we were making our way toward Piccadilly and Burlington House. + +In the light of all that has happened since, I can only regard my +behaviour on that occasion with a contemptuous sort of pity. The +minutest details connected with that afternoon's amusement are as +clearly photographed upon my brain as if they had occurred but +yesterday. If I close my eyes for a moment, I can see, just as I saw it +then, the hawkers selling catalogues in the busy street outside, the +great courtyard with the lines of waiting carriages, the fashionable +crowd ascending and descending the stairs, and inside the rooms that +surging mass of well-dressed humanity so characteristic of London and +the season. When we had fought our way to the vestibule, I was for doing +the round of the rooms in the orthodox fashion. This, however, it +appeared, was by no means to George Merridew's taste. He received my +suggestion with appropriate scorn. + +"Come, come, old fellow," he replied, "we're first going to see your +picture. It was that which brought us here; and, as soon as I have told +you what I think of it, the rest of the daubs may go hang as far as I am +concerned." + +Now, it is an indisputable fact that, whatever Nature may, or may not, +have done for me, she has at least endowed me with an extremely +sensitive disposition. My feelings, therefore, may be imagined when I +tell you that my old friend spoke in a voice that was quite audible +above the polite murmur of the crowd, and which must have penetrated to +the farthest end of the room. Not content with that, he saluted me with +a sounding smack on the back, bidding me, at the same time, consign my +modesty to the winds, for everybody knew--by everybody, I presume he +meant his neighbours in the country--that I was the rising man of the +day, and would inevitably be elected President before I died. To avert +this flood of idiotic compliment, and feeling myself growing hot from +head to foot, I took him by the arm and conducted him hastily through +the room toward that portion of the building where my picture was +displayed. + +Whether the work was good, bad, or indifferent, the public at least paid +me the compliment of bestowing their attention upon it, and their +behaviour on this occasion was no exception to the rule. I hope I shall +not be considered more conceited than my fellows; at the risk of it, +however, I must confess to a feeling of pride as I glanced, first at the +crowd wedged in before the rail, and then at the party by my side. +George Merridew's face alone was worth the trouble and time I had spent +upon the canvas. His eyes were opened to their fullest extent: his lips +were also parted, but no sound came from them. Even the face of my +formidable friend, the tennis champion, betrayed a measure of interest +that, in the light of her previous behaviour, was more than flattering. +For some moments we stood together on the outskirts of the throng. Then +those who were directly in front moved away, and my friends immediately +stepped into the gap and took their places. As there was no reason why I +should follow their example, I remained outside, watching the faces and +noting the different effects the picture produced upon them. + +I had not been alone more than a few seconds, however, before I became +sensible of a curious sensation. It was accompanied by a lowering of the +pulse that was quite perceptible, followed by an extraordinary feeling +of nausea. I battled against it in vain. The room and its occupants +began to swim before me. I tottered, and at length, being unable any +longer to support myself, sat down on the seat behind me. When I looked +up again I could scarcely credit the evidence of my senses. Approaching +me from the crowd, leaning upon his stick, just as I remembered him on +the previous occasion, and dressed in the same extraordinary fashion, +was the old man whose personality had given me such a shock at the foot +of Cleopatra's Needle. His face was as thin and as wrinkled as I had +seen it then, and I also noticed that he wore the same indescribable +look of cruelty and cunning that I remembered so well. One thing was +quite plain, however profoundly I may have been affected by my proximity +to this singular being: I was not the only one who came within the +sphere of his influence. Indeed, it was strange to notice the manner in +which the polite crowd drew away from him, and the different expressions +upon their faces as they stepped aside in order to give him room to +pass. Had he been a snake, they could scarcely have shown a more +unanimous desire to withdraw from his neighbourhood. On this occasion +he was evidently not alone. I gathered this from the fact that, as soon +as he had emerged from the crowd, he paused as if to wait for a +companion. A moment later a woman come to his side--a woman who carried +herself like a daughter of the gods; the most beautiful creature, I can +safely assert, that I have ever seen either in this or any other +country. If her companion's height was below the average, hers was at +least several inches above it. But it was neither her stature, the +exquisite symmetry of her figure, the beauty of her face, the luxuriance +of her hair, nor the elegance of her attire that fascinated me. It was +the expression I saw in her dark, lustrous eyes. + +It is essential to my profession that I should be continually studying +the human face, attempting to obtain from it some clew as to the +character of the owner, and learning to read in it the workings of the +mind within. And what I read in this woman's face was a sorrow that +nothing could assuage, a hopelessness that was not limited to this +earth, but was fast passing into the Eternal. + +Having once freed herself from the crowd, who, you may be sure, turned +and stared after her as if she were some rare and beautiful animal, she +took her place at her companion's side, and they passed along the room +together, finally disappearing through the archway at the farther end. A +moment later the eldest of my friend's daughters joined me. I had never +credited her with the possession of so much emotion as she displayed at +that moment. + +"Mr. Forrester," she said, "I want you to tell me if you have ever seen +anything so awful as that old man's face?" + +"I think I can safely say that I never have," I answered; and then, in +an attempt to conceal the emotion I was still feeling, added, "I wonder +who he can be?" + +"I can not imagine," she continued, "but I'm certain of this, that I +never want to see him again." + +At that moment we were joined by the remainder of the family. + +"By Jove! Forrester," said the squire, but without his usual heartiness, +"I don't know what is coming to this place. Did you see that little chap +in the fur coat and skullcap who came out of the crowd just now with +that fine-looking woman behind him? You may scarcely credit it, but his +face gave me quite a turn. I haven't got over it yet." + +"The girl with him was very beautiful," murmured his wife gently; "but +there was something about her face that struck me as being very sad. I +should like to know what relationship she bears to him." + +"His granddaughter, I should imagine," said Miss Merridew, who was still +watching the entrance to the next room as if she expected them to +return. + +"Nonsense!" cried the squire impatiently. "His great-granddaughter, you +mean. I'll stake my reputation that the old fellow is as old as +Methuselah. What say you, Forrester?" + +I can not now remember what answer I returned. I only know that we +presently found ourselves on the pavement of Piccadilly, saying +good-bye, and expressing our thanks in an aimless sort of fashion for +the pleasure we had derived from each other's society. + +Having seen them safely on their way toward Regent Street, I strolled +along Piccadilly in the direction of my studio, thinking as I went of +that terrible old man whose personality had twice given me such a shock, +and also of the beautiful woman, his companion. The effect they had +produced upon me must have been something out of the common, for I soon +discovered that I could think of nothing else. It was in vain I looked +in at my club and attempted to engage in conversation with friends, or +that, when I reached home, I threw myself into an easy-chair and +endeavoured to interest myself in a book. Out of the centre of every +page peered that wicked old face, with its pallid, wrinkled skin, and +lack-lustre eyes. For upward of an hour I wrestled with the feeling, but +without success. The man's image was not conducive to peace of mind, and +I knew very well that unless I found some distraction I should be +dreaming of him at night. Accordingly I rose from my chair and crossed +the room to a table on which stood a large Satsuma bowl, in which it was +my custom to place the invitations I received. That evening fortune +favoured me. I had the choice of four houses. Two I rejected without a +second thought; between the others I scarcely knew how to decide. Though +I was not aware of it, my evil destiny, for the second time that day, +was standing at my elbow, egging me on to ruin. It appeared I had the +choice of a dance in the Cromwell Road, another in Belgrave Square; +private theatricals in Queen's Gate, and a musical "at home" in Eaton +Square. I did not feel equal to dances or private theatricals, and, +thinking music would soothe my troubled mind, I decided for Eaton Square, +and in so doing brought about the misery and downfall of my life. + +Nine o'clock that evening, accordingly, found me ascending the staircase +of Medenham House, greeting my hostess in the anteroom, and passing +thence into the great drawing-room beyond. There is not a more +conspicuous power within the range of her hobby than her ladyship, and +at her house one hears all that is newest and most likely to be famous +in the musical world. Many now celebrated _artistes_ owe much of what +they have since achieved to the helping hand she held out to them when +they were struggling up the rugged hill of fame. + +On entering the room I looked about me in the hope of finding some one I +knew, but for some moments was unsuccessful. Then I espied, seated in a +corner, almost hidden by a magnificent palm, a man with whom I possessed +some slight acquaintance. I strolled toward him, and after a few +moments' conversation took my place at his side. He had himself achieved +considerable success as an amateur violinist, and was a distant relative +of our hostess. + +"I suppose, like the rest of us, you have come to hear Lady Medenham's +latest prodigy?" he said, after the usual polite nothings had been said. + +"I am ashamed to confess I have heard nothing at all about him," I +answered. + +"_Her_, my dear sir," he replied, with a little laugh. "Our hostess says +she is marvellous." + +"A pianist?" + +"Indeed, no! A violinist, and with, I believe, the additional advantage +of being a very beautiful woman. Lady Medenham met her in Munich, and +she has raved about her ever since. Needless to say, she invited her to +visit her as soon as she reached London." + +What the connection could have been it is impossible to say, but by some +occult reasoning I instantly associated this new wonder with the +magnificent creature I had seen at Burlington House that afternoon. + +"You have already made her acquaintance, I presume?" + +I said in a tone of mild curiosity. + +"No such luck," he answered. "I have not been permitted that pleasure. +From all accounts, however, she is really very wonderful. All the people +I have met who have heard her declare they have never known anything +like her playing. And the funniest part of it is, she is accompanied +everywhere by a man who is as physically repulsive as she is beautiful." + +"A little old man with an extraordinary complexion, deep-set, horrible +eyes, who wears a fur coat and a peculiar cap in the height of the +season, and looks at least a hundred years old?" + +"From all accounts you describe him exactly. Where did you meet him?" + +"I saw them both at the Academy this afternoon," I answered. "She is, as +you say, very beautiful; but she scarcely struck me as being English." + +"She is not. She is Hungarian, I believe, but she has travelled a great +deal and speaks English perfectly." + +"And her companion--what nation has the honour of claiming him as her +son?" + +"Ah, that I can not tell you! He is a mystery, for no one seems to know +anything about him. Nor is it at all certain what relationship he bears +to the woman. But see, here is Lord Medenham. The performance is +evidently about to commence." + +As he spoke there was a general turning of heads in the direction of the +anteroom, and almost simultaneously my hostess entered the room, +accompanied by the exquisite creature I had seen emerging from the crowd +before my picture that afternoon. If she had looked beautiful then, she +was doubly so now. Dressed to perfection, as on the previous occasion, +she towered head and shoulders above Lady Medenham, who is generally +considered tall for her sex, and carried herself with a more imperial +grace than is boasted by any empress I have ever seen. + +A few paces behind her followed the man who had been her companion that +afternoon. On this occasion also he disdained the orthodox style of +dress, wore a black velvet coat, closely buttoned beneath his chin, and +upon his head a skullcap of the same material. As on the previous +occasions, he walked with a stick, leaning upon it heavily like an old +man of ninety. Reaching that portion of the room in which the piano was +situated, he dropped into a chair, without waiting for his hostess to +seat herself, and, laying his head back, closed his eyes as if the +exertion of walking had been too much for him. A servant, who had +followed close behind, wrapped a heavy rug about his knees and then +withdrew. Meanwhile his beautiful companion stood for a moment looking +down at him, and then, with a little gesture the significance of which I +could not then interpret, accepted her hostess's invitation and seated +herself beside her. + +The first item on the programme was a nocturne rendered by the composer, +a famous pianist who at the time was delighting all London. He seated +himself at the piano and began to play. I am afraid, however, I spared +but small attention for his performance. My interest was centred on that +huddled-up figure under the fur rug and the beautiful creature at his +side. Then a change came, and once more I experienced the same sensation +of revulsion that had overwhelmed me twice before. Again I felt sick and +giddy; once more a clammy sweat broke out upon my forehead, and at last, +unable any longer to control myself, I rose from my seat. + +"What on earth is the matter?" inquired my friend, who had been watching +me. "Are you ill?" + +"I believe I'm going to faint," I replied. "I must get into the air. But +there is no necessity for you to come. I shall be all right alone." + +So saying I signed him back to his seat, and, slipping quietly from the +corner, made my way through the anteroom into the marble corridor +beyond. Once there I leant against the balustrading of the staircase and +endeavoured to pull myself together. A groom of the chambers, who was +passing at the time, seeing there was something amiss, approached and +inquired if he could be of service. + +"I am feeling a little faint," I replied. "The heat of the drawing-room +was too much for me. If you can get me a little brandy I think I shall +be quite well in a few moments." + +The man departed and presently came back with the spirit I had asked +for. With the return of my self-possession I endeavoured to arrive at an +understanding of what had occasioned the attack. I was not subject to +fainting-fits, but was in every respect as strong as the majority of my +fellow-creatures. + +"It's all nonsense," I said to myself, "to ascribe it to that old +fellow's presence. How could such a thing affect me? At any rate, I'll +try the experiment once more." + +So saying, I returned to the drawing-room. + +I was only just in time, for, as I entered, the lady who had hitherto +been seated by her hostess's side rose from her chair and moved toward +the piano. As no one else stirred, it was plain that she was going to +dispense with the services of an accompanist. Taking her violin from a +table she drew her bow gently across the strings, and, when she had +tuned it, stood looking straight before her down the room. How beautiful +she was at that moment I can not hope to make you understand. Then she +began to play. What the work was I did not then know, but I have since +discovered that it was her own. It opened with a movement in the +minor--low and infinitely sad. There was a note of unappeasable yearning +in it, a cry that might well have been wrung from a heart that was +breaking beneath the weight of a deadly sin; a weird, unearthly +supplication for mercy from a soul that was beyond redemption or the +reach of hope. None but a great musician could have imagined such a +theme, and then only under the influence of a supreme despair. While it +lasted her audience sat spell-bound. There was scarcely one among them +who was not a lover of music, and many were world-famous for their +talent. This, however, was such playing as none of us had ever heard +before, or, indeed, had even dreamed of. Then by imperceptible +gradations the music reached its height and died slowly down, growing +fainter and fainter until it expired in a long-drawn sob. Absolute +silence greeted its termination. Not a hand was raised; not a word was +uttered. If proof were wanting of the effect she had produced, it was to +be found in this. The violinist bowed, a trifle disdainfully, I thought, +and, having placed her instrument on the table once more, returned to +Lady Medenham's side. Then a young German singer and his accompanist +crossed the room and took their places at the piano. The famous pianist, +who had first played, followed the singer, and when he had resumed his +seat the violinist rose and once more took up her instrument. + +This time there was no pause. With an abruptness that was startling, she +burst into a wild barbaric dance. The notes danced and leaped upon each +other in joyous confusion, creating an enthusiasm that was as +instantaneous as it was remarkable. It was a tarantella of the wildest +description--nay, I should rather say a dance of Satyrs. The player's +eyes flashed above the instrument, her lithe, exquisite figure rocked +and swayed beneath the spell of the emotion she was conjuring up. +Faster and faster her bow swept across the strings, and as before, +though now for a very different reason, her audience sat fascinated +before her. The first work had been the outcome of despair, this was the +music of unqualified happiness, of the peculiar joy of living--nay, of +the very essence and existence of life itself. Then it ceased as +suddenly as it had begun, and once more she bowed, put down her violin, +and approached her hostess. The programme was at an end, and the +enthusiastic audience clustered round to congratulate her. For my own +part I was curiously ill at ease. In a vague sort of fashion I had +appropriated her music to myself, and now I resented the praise the +fashionable mob was showering upon her. Accordingly I drew back a little +and made up my mind to get through the crowd and slip quietly away. By +the time I was able to emerge from my corner, however, there was a +movement at the end of the room, and it became evident that the player +and her companion were also about to take their departure. Accompanied +by Lord and Lady Medenham they approached the spot where I was standing, +endeavouring to reach the door. Had it been possible I would have taken +shelter behind my palm again in order that my presence might not have +been observed. But it was too late. Lady Medenham had caught my eye, and +now stopped to speak. + +"Mr. Forrester," she said, "we have been permitted a great treat +to-night, have we not? You must let me introduce you to the Fraeulein +Valerie de Vocxqal." + +I bowed, and, despite the fact that, regarded in the light of her +genius, such a thing was little better than an insult, followed the +example of my betters and murmured a complimentary allusion to her +playing and the pleasure she had given us. She thanked me, all the time +watching me with grave, attentive eyes, into which there had suddenly +flashed a light that was destined to puzzle me for a long time, and the +reason of which I could not understand. Then came the crucial moment +when Lady Medenham turned to me again, and said: + +"Mr. Forrester, Monsieur Pharos has expressed a desire to be introduced +to you. I told him yesterday I thought you would be here to-night. May I +have the pleasure of making you acquainted with each other?" + +Those cold, dead eyes fixed themselves steadily on mine, and, under +their influence, I felt as if my brain were freezing. + +"I am indeed honoured, sir," he said, "and I trust I may be permitted to +express a hope of enlarging our acquaintance. I understand you are the +painter of that very wonderful picture I saw at the Academy this +afternoon? Allow me to offer you my congratulations upon it. It +interested me more deeply than I can say, and on some future date I +shall be grateful if you will let me talk to you upon the subject. The +knowledge it displayed of the country and the period is remarkable in +these days. May I ask how it was acquired?" + +"My father was a famous Egyptologist," I replied. "All that I know I +learned from him. Are you also familiar with the country?" + +"There are few things and fewer countries with which I am not familiar," +he replied, somewhat conceitedly, but still watching me and speaking +with the same peculiar gravity. "Some day I shall hope to offer you +conclusive evidence on that point. In the meantime the hour grows late. +I thank you and bid you farewell." + +Then, with a bow, he passed on, and a moment later I, too, had quitted +the house and was making my way homeward, trying to collect my +impressions of the evening as I went. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +To infer that my introduction that evening to the beautiful violinist +and her diabolical companion, Monsieur Pharos, produced no effect upon +me, would be as idle as it would misleading. On leaving Medenham House I +was conscious of a variety of sensations, among which attraction for the +woman, repugnance for the man, and curiosity as to the history and +relationship of both could be most easily distinguished. What was +perhaps still more perplexing, considering the small, but none the less +genuine, antagonism that existed between us, by the time I reached my +own abode I had lost my first intense hatred for the man, and was +beginning to look forward, with a degree of interest which a few hours +before would have surprised me, to that next meeting which he had +prophesied would so soon come to pass. Lightly as I proposed to myself +to treat it, his extraordinary individuality must have taken a greater +hold upon me than I imagined, for, as in the afternoon, I soon +discovered that, try to divert my thoughts from it how I would, I could +not dispel his sinister image from my mind. Every detail of the +evening's entertainment was vividly photographed upon my brain, and +without even the formality of shutting my eyes, I could see the crowded +room, the beautiful violinist standing, instrument in hand, beside the +piano, and in the chair at her feet her strange companion, huddled up +beneath his rug. + +By the time I reached home it was considerably past midnight; I was not, +however, the least tired, so, exchanging my dress coat for an old velvet +painting jacket, for which I entertained a lasting affection, I lit a +cigar and began to promenade the room. It had been a fancy of mine when +I first took the studio, which, you must understand, was of more than +the usual size, to have it decorated in the Egyptian fashion, and, after +my meeting with Pharos, this seemed to have a singular appropriateness. +It was as if the quaint images of the gods, which decorated the walls, +were watching me with almost human interest, and even the gilded +countenance upon the mummy-case, in the alcove at the farther end, wore +an expression I had never noticed on it before. It might have been +saying: "Ah, my nineteenth century friend, your father stole me from the +land of my birth, and from the resting-place the gods decreed for me; +but beware, for retribution is pursuing you and is even now close upon +your heels." + +Cigar in hand, I stopped in my walk and looked at it, thinking as I did +so of the country from which it had hailed, and of the changes that had +taken place in the world during the time it had lain in its Theban tomb, +whence it had emerged in the middle of the nineteenth century, with +colouring as fresh, and detail as perfect, as on the day when the +hieroglyphs had first left the artist's hand. It was an unusually fine +specimen--one of the most perfect, indeed, of its kind ever brought to +England, and, under the influence of the interest it now inspired in me, +I went to an ancient cabinet on the other side of the room, and, opening +a small drawer, took from it a bulky pocketbook, once the property of my +father. He it was, as I have already said, who had discovered the mummy +in question, and it was from him, at his death, in company with many +other Egyptian treasures, that I received it. + +As I turned the yellow, time-stained pages in search of the information +I wanted, the clock of St. Jude's, in the street behind, struck one, +solemnly and deliberately, as though it were conscious of the part it +played in the passage of time into eternity. To my surprise the +reference was more difficult to find than I had anticipated. Entries +there were in hundreds; records of distances travelled, of measurements +taken, evidence as to the supposed whereabouts of tombs, translations of +hieroglyphics, paintings, and inscriptions, memoranda of amounts paid to +Arab sheiks, details of stores and equipments, but for some time no +trace of the information for which I was searching. At last, however, it +struck me to look in the pocket contained in the cover of the book. My +diligence was immediately rewarded, for there, carefully folded and +hidden away, was the small square of parchment upon which my father had +written the name once borne by the dead man, with a complete translation +of the record upon the _cartonnage_ itself. According to the statement +here set forth, the coffin contained the mortal remains of a certain +Ptahmes, Chief of the King's Magicians--an individual who flourished +during the reign of Menptah (Amenepthes of the Greeks, but better known +to the nineteenth century as the Pharaoh of the Exodus). For all I knew +to the contrary, my silent property might have been one of that band of +conjurors who pitted their wits against Moses, and by so doing had +caused Pharaoh's heart to be hardened so that he would not let the +Children go. Once more I stood looking at the stolid representation of a +face before me, guessing at the history of the man within, and wondering +whether his success in life had equalled his ambition, or was +commensurate with his merits, and whether in that age, so long since +dead, his heart had ever been thrilled by thoughts of love. + +While wrapped in this brown study, my ears, which on that particular +occasion were for some reason abnormally acute, detected the sound of a +soft footfall on the polished boards at the farther end of the room. I +wheeled sharply round, and a moment later almost fell back against the +mummy-case under the influence of my surprise. (How he had got there I +could not tell, for I was certain I had locked the door behind me when I +entered the house.) It is sufficient, however, that, standing before me, +scarcely a dozen feet away, breathing heavily as though he had been +running, and with what struck me as a frightened look in his eyes, was +no less a person than Monsieur Pharos, the man I had met at the foot of +Cleopatra's Needle some weeks before, at the Academy that afternoon, and +at Medenham House only a couple of hours since. Upward of a minute must +have elapsed before I could find sufficient voice to inquire the reason +of his presence in my room. + +"My dear Mr. Forrester," he said in a conciliatory tone, "while offering +you ten thousand apologies for my intrusion, I must explain that it is +quite by accident I am here. On reaching home this evening I pined for a +breath of fresh air. Accordingly I went for a stroll, lost my way, and +eventually found myself in this street, where, seeing an open door, I +took the liberty of entering for the purpose of inquiring the way to my +hotel. It was not until you turned round that I realised my good fortune +in having chanced upon a friend. It is plain, however, that my presence +is not as welcome as I could have desired." + +From the way he spoke I gathered that for some purpose of his own he +had taken, or was pretending to take, offence at my reception of him. +Knowing, therefore, that if I desired to see anything further of his +beautiful companion, an idea which I will confess had more than once +occurred to me, I must exert myself to conciliate him, I hastened to +apologise for the welcome I had given him, explaining that any momentary +hesitation I might have shown was due more to my surprise than to any +intended discourtesy toward himself. + +"In that case let us agree to say no more about it," he answered +politely, but with the same expression of cunning upon his face to which +I have referred elsewhere. "You were quite within your rights. I should +have remembered that in England an impromptu visit at one in the +morning, on the part of an acquaintance of a few hours' standing, is +scarcely likely to be well received." + +"If you will carry your memory back a few weeks," I said, as I wheeled a +chair up for him, "you will remember that our acquaintance is not of +such a recent date." + +"I am rejoiced to hear it," he replied, with a sharp glance at me as he +seated himself. "Nevertheless, I must confess that I fail for the moment +to remember where I had the pleasure of meeting you on that occasion. It +is not a complimentary admission, I will admit; but, as you know, age is +proverbially forgetful, and my memory is far from being what it once +was." + +Could the man be pretending, or had the incident really escaped his +memory? It was just possible, of course, that on that occasion my face +had failed to impress itself upon his recollection; but after the hard +things I had said to him on that memorable occasion, I had to confess +it seemed unlikely. Then the remembrance of the drowning man's piteous +cry for help, and the other's demoniacal conduct on the steps returned +to me, and I resolved to show no mercy. + +"The occasion to which I refer, Monsieur Pharos," I said, standing +opposite him and speaking with a sternness that in the light of all that +has transpired since seems almost ludicrous, "was an evening toward the +end of March--a cold, wet night when you stood upon the steps below +Cleopatra's Needle, and not only refused help to, but, in a most inhuman +fashion, laughed at, a drowning man." + +I half expected that he would offer a vehement denial, or would at least +put forward the plea of forgetfulness. To my surprise, however, he did +neither. + +"I remember the incident perfectly," he answered, with the utmost +composure. "At the same time, I assure you, you wrong me when you +declare I laughed--on my word, you do! Let us suppose, however, that I +_did_ do so; and where is the harm? The man desired death; his own +action confessed it, otherwise how came he there? It was proved at the +inquest that he had repeatedly declared himself weary of life. He was +starving; he was without hope. Had he lived over that night, death, +under any circumstances, would only have been a matter of a few days +with him. Would you therefore have had me, knowing all this, prolong +such an existence? In the name of that humanity to which you referred +just now, I ask you the question. You say I laughed. Would you have had +me weep?" + +"A specious argument," I replied; "but I own to you frankly I consider +the incident a detestable one." + +"There I will meet you most willingly," he continued. "From your point +of view it certainly _was_. From mine--well, as I said just now, I +confess I view it differently. However, I give you my assurance, your +pity is undeserved. The man was a contemptible scoundrel in every way. +He came of respectable stock, was reared under the happiest auspices. +Had he chosen he might have risen to anything in his own rank of life; +but he would not choose. At fifteen he robbed his father's till to +indulge in debauchery, and had broken his parents' hearts before he was +five-and-twenty. He married a girl as good as he was bad, and as a +result starved not only himself but his wife and children. Though +employment was repeatedly offered him, he refused it, not from any +inability to work, but from sheer distaste of labour. He had not +sufficient wit, courage, or energy to become a criminal; but throughout +his life, wherever he went, and upon all with whom he came in contact, +he brought misery and disgrace. Eventually he reached the end of his +tether, and was cast off by every one. The result you know." + +The fluency and gusto with which he related these sordid details amazed +me. I inquired how, since by his own confession he had been such a short +time in London, he had become cognisant of the man's history. He +hesitated before replying. + +"Have I not told you once before to-night," he said, "that there are +very few things in this world which are hidden from my knowledge? Were +it necessary, I could tell you circumstances in your own life that you +flatter yourself are known to no one but yourself. But do not let us +talk of such things now. When I entered the room you were reading a +paper. You hold it in your hand at this moment." + +"It is a translation of the inscription upon the mummy-case over +yonder," I replied, with an eagerness to change the subject that +provoked a smile in Pharos. "At his death many of his Egyptian treasures +came into my possession, this among them. For some reason or another I +had never read the translation until to-night. I suppose it must have +been my meeting with you that put the idea into my head." + +"I am interested in such matters, as you know. May I, therefore, be +permitted to look at it?" + +With a parade of indifference that I could easily see was assumed, +Pharos had extended his withered old hand and taken it from me before I +realised what he was doing. Having obtained it, he leaned back in his +chair, and stared at the paper as if he could not remove his eyes from +it. For some moments not a word passed his lips. Then, muttering +something to himself in a language I did not recognise, he sprang to his +feet. The quickness of the action was so different from his usual +enfeebled movements that I did not fail to notice it. + +"The mummy?" he cried. "Show me the mummy!" + +Before I could answer or comply with his request, he had discovered it +for himself, had crossed to it and was devouring it with his eyes. + +Upward of three minutes must have elapsed before he turned to me again. +When he did so, I scarcely recognised the man. So distorted was his +countenance that I instinctively recoiled from him in horror. + +"Thy father, was it, wretched man," he cried, shaking his skeleton fist +at me, while his body trembled like a leaf in the whirlwind of his +passion, "who stole this body from its resting-place? Thy father, was +it, who broke the seals the gods had placed upon the tombs of those who +were their servants? If that be so, then may the punishment decreed +against the sin of sacrilege be visited upon thee and thine for +evermore!" Then, turning to the mummy, he continued, as if partly to it +and partly to himself: "Oh, mighty Egypt! hast thou fallen so far from +thy high estate that even the bodies of thy kings and priests may no +longer rest within their tombs, but are ravished from thee to be gaped +at in alien lands? But, by Osiris, a time of punishment is coming. It is +decreed, and none shall stay the sword!" + +If I had been surprised at the excitement he had shown on reading the +paper, it was nothing to the astonishment I felt now. For the first time +since I had known him, a suspicion of his sanity crossed my mind, and my +first inclination was to draw away from him. Then the fit, as I deemed +it, passed, and his expression changed completely. He uttered a queer +little laugh, that might have been one of shame or annoyance. + +"Once more I must crave your forgiveness, Mr. Forrester," he said, as he +sank exhausted into a chair. "Believe me, I had not the least intention +of offending you. Your father was, I know, an ardent Egyptologist, one +of that intrepid band who penetrated to every corner of our sacred land, +digging, delving, and bringing to light such tombs, temples, and +monuments as have for centuries lain hidden from the sight of man. For +my own part, as you may have gathered from my tirade just now, my +sympathies do not lie in that direction. I am one who reverences the +past, and would fain have others do so." + +"At the same time, I scarcely see that that justifies such language +toward myself as you used a few moments since," I replied, with a fair +amount of warmth, which I think it will be conceded I had every right to +feel. + +"It does not justify it in the least," he answered, with ready +condescension. "The only way I can hope to do so is on the plea of the +exuberance of my emotion. My dear Mr. Forrester, I beg you will not +misunderstand me. I would not quarrel with you for the wealth of +England. Though you are not aware of it, there is a bond between us that +is stronger than chains of steel. You are required for a certain work, +and for that reason alone I dare not offend you or excite your anger, +even if I otherwise desired to do so. In this matter I am not my own +master." + +"A bond between us, Monsieur Pharos? A work for which I am required? I +am afraid I do not understand what you mean." + +"And it is not in my power to enlighten you. Remain assured of this, +however, when the time is ripe you will be informed." + +As he said this the same light that I have described before came into +his eyes, causing them to shine with an unnatural brilliance. To use a +fishing simile, it made me think of the gleam that comes into the eyes +of a hungry pike as he darts toward his helpless prey. Taken in +conjunction with the extraordinary language he had used toward me, I +felt more than ever convinced of his insanity. The thought was by no +means a cheerful one. Here I was, alone with a dangerous lunatic, in the +middle of the night, and not a soul within call. How I was to rid myself +of him I could not see. Under the circumstances, therefore, I knew that +I must humour him until I could hit upon a scheme. I accordingly tried +to frame a conciliatory speech, but before I could do so he had turned +to me again. + +"Your thoughts are easily read," he began, with a repetition of that +queer little laugh which I have described before; and as he uttered it +he leaned a little closer to me till I was sick and faint with the mere +horror of his presence. "You think me mad, and it will require more +than my assurance to make you believe that I am not. How slight is your +knowledge of me! But there, let us put that aside for to-night. There is +something of much greater importance to be arranged between us. In the +first place, it is necessary both for your sake--your safety, if you +like--and for mine, that yonder mummy should pass into my possession." + +"Impossible!" I answered. "I could not dream of such a thing! It was one +of my poor father's greatest treasures, and for that reason alone no +consideration would induce me to part with it. Besides, despite your +assertion that it is for our mutual safety, I can not see by what right +you ask such a favour of me." + +"If you only knew how important it is," he repeated, "that that +particular mummy should become my property, you would not know a single +minute's peace until you had seen the last of it. You may not believe me +when I say that I have been searching for it without intermission for +nearly fifteen years, and it was only yesterday I learned you were the +owner of it. And yet it is the truth." + +If I had not had sufficient proof already, here was enough to convince +me of his madness. By his own confession, until that evening he had had +no notion of my identity, much less of the things I possessed. How, +therefore, could he have become aware that I was the owner of the +remains of Ptahmes, the King's magician? Under the influence of the +momentary irritation caused by his persistence my intention of humouring +him quite slipped my memory, and I answered sharply that it was no use +his bothering me further about the matter, as I had made up my mind and +was not to be moved from it. + +He took my refusal with apparent coolness; but the light which still +lingered in his eyes warned me, before it was too late, not to rely too +much upon this. I knew that in his heart he was raging against me, and +that any moment might see his passion taking active shape. + +"You must excuse my saying so, Monsieur Pharos," I said, rising from my +chair and moving toward the door, "but I think it would perhaps be +better for both of us to terminate this most unpleasant interview. It is +getting late and I am tired. With your permission, I will open the door +for you." + +Seeing that I was determined he should go, and realising, I suppose, +that it was no use his staying longer, he also rose, and a more +evil-looking figure than he presented as he did so Victor Hugo himself +could scarcely have imagined. The light of the quaint old Venetian +hanging-lamp in the middle of the room fell full and fair upon his face, +showing me the deep-set gleaming eyes, the wrinkled, nut-cracker face, +and the extraordinary development of shoulder to which I have already +directed attention. Old man as he was, a braver man than myself might +have been excused had he declined the task of tackling him, and I had +the additional spur of knowing that if he got the better of me he would +show no mercy. For this reason alone I watched his every movement. + +"Come, come, my foolish young friend," he said at length, "in spite of +my warning, here we are at a deadlock again! You really must not take +things so seriously. Had I had any idea that you were so determined not +to let me have the thing, I would not have dreamed of asking for it. It +was for your own good as well as mine that I did so. Now, since you +desire to turn me out, I will not force my presence upon you. But let us +part friends." + +As he said this he advanced toward me with extended hand, leaning +heavily upon his stick, according to his custom, and to all intents and +purposes as pathetic an example of senile decrepitude as a man could +wish to see. If he were going off like this, I flattered myself I was +escaping from my horrible predicament in an easier manner than I had +expected. Nevertheless, I was fully determined, if I could but once get +him on the other side of the street door, no earthly consideration +should induce me ever to admit him to my dwelling again. His hand was +deathly cold--so cold, in fact, that even in my excitement I could not +help noticing it. I had scarcely done so, however, before a tremor ran +through his figure and, with a guttural noise that could scarcely be +described as a cry, he dropped my hand and sprang forward at my throat. + +If I live to be a hundred I shall not forget the absolute, the +unspeakable, the indescribable terror of that moment. Till then I had +never regarded myself in the light of a coward; on the contrary, I had +on several occasions had good reason to congratulate myself upon what is +popularly termed my "nerve." Now, however, it was all different. +Possibly the feeling of repulsion, I might almost say of fear, I had +hitherto entertained for him had something to do with it. It may have +been the mesmeric power, which I afterward had good reason to know he +possessed, that did it. At any rate, from the moment he pounced upon me +I found myself incapable of resistance. It was as if all my will power +were being slowly extracted from me by the mere contact of those +skeleton fingers which, when they had once touched my flesh, seemed to +lose their icy coldness and to burn like red-hot iron. In a dim and +misty fashion, somewhat as one sees people in a fog, I was conscious of +the devilish ferocity of the countenance that was looking into mine. +Then a strange feeling of numbness took possession of me, an entire lack +of interest in everything, even in life itself. Gradually and easily I +sank into the chair behind me, the room swam before my eyes, an intense +craving for sleep overcame me, and little by little, still without any +attempt at resistance, my head fell back and I lost consciousness. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +When I came to myself again it was already morning. In a small square +behind the studio the sparrows were discussing the prospects of +breakfast, though as yet that earliest of all birds, the milkman, had +not begun to make his presence known in the streets. Of all the hours of +the day there is not one, to my thinking, so lonely and so full of +dreariness as that which immediately precedes and ushers in the dawn; +while, of all the experiences of our human life, there is, perhaps, not +one more unpleasant than to awake from sleep at such an hour to find +that one has passed the entire night in one's clothes and seated in a +most comfortable armchair. That was my lot on this occasion. On opening +my eyes I looked around me with a puzzled air. For the life of me I +could not understand why I was not in my bed. It was the first time I +had ever gone to sleep in my chair, and the knowledge that I had done so +disquieted me strangely. I studied the room, but, to all intents and +purposes, everything there was just as when I had closed my eyes. I only +was changed. My brain was as heavy as lead, and, though I did my best to +recall the events of the previous evening, I found that, while I could +recollect the "at home" at Medenham House, and my return to my studio +afterward, I could remember nothing that followed later. I was still +pursuing this train of thought when I became aware of a loud knocking at +the street door. I immediately hastened to it and drew the bolts. My +feeling of bewilderment was increased rather than diminished on +discovering an inspector of police upon the threshold, with a constable +behind him. + +"Mr. Forrester, I believe?" he began; and as soon as I had answered in +the affirmative, continued: "You must excuse my disturbing you, sir, at +this early hour, but the reason is imperative. I should be glad if you +would permit me the honour of five minutes' conversation with you, +alone." + +"With pleasure," I answered, and immediately invited him to enter. + +Having shut the door behind him, I led the way to the studio, where I +signed him to a chair, taking up a position myself on the hearthrug +before him. The constable remained in the passage outside. + +"It is, as you say, rather an early hour for a call," I remarked, making +a mental note as I spoke of the man's character as I read it in his +large, honest eyes, well-shaped nose, and square, determined-looking +chin. "What can I do for you?" + +"I believe you are in a position to furnish me with some important +information," he replied. "To begin with, I might inform you that a +diabolical murder was committed at the old curiosity shop at the corner +of the next street, either late last night or during the early hours of +this morning, most probably between midnight and one o'clock. It is +altogether a most remarkable affair, and, from the evidence we have +before us, though no cries were heard, the struggle must have been a +desperate one. From the fact that the front door was still locked and +bolted when we forced our way in, it is plain that the murderer must +have effected his escape by the back. Indeed, a man _was_ seen entering +the alley behind the house between one and two o'clock, though this +circumstance excited no suspicion at the time. The witness who saw him +reports that he came along on this side of the street, in the shadow, +and, though he is not at all certain on this point, believes that he +entered one of the houses hereabouts. That on your right is empty, and +the doors and windows are securely fastened. He could not, therefore, +have gone in there. That on the left is a boarding-house. I have called +upon the landlady, who asserts most positively that her front door was +not opened to any one after ten o'clock last night. She informs me, +however, that a light was burning in your studio all night, and I see +for myself that you have not been to bed. May I ask, therefore, if you +saw anything of such a man, or whether you can furnish me with such +particulars as will be likely to help us in our search for him." + +Like lightning, while he was talking, the memory of everything connected +with the visit Pharos had paid me flashed across my mind. I glanced +involuntarily toward that part of the room where the mummy had hitherto +stood. To my amazement--I might almost say to my consternation--it was +no longer there. What had become of it? Could Pharos, after disposing of +me as he had done, have stolen it and transported it away? It seemed +impossible, and yet I had the best of evidence before me that it was no +longer there. And then another question: had Pharos had any connection +with the murder? The time at which it was supposed to have been +committed, between midnight and one o'clock, was precisely that at which +he had made his appearance before me. And yet what reason had I, but my +own terrible suspicions, to lead me to the conclusion that he was the +author of this fiendish bit of work? I saw, however, that my continued +silence was impressing the inspector unfavourably. + +"Come, sir," he said, this time a little more sharply than before, "I +must remind you that my time is valuable. Am I to understand that you +are in a position to help me, or not?" + +God knows, if I had been my own master I should have instantly loosed my +tongue and revealed all I knew. I should have told him under what +terrible circumstances I had met Pharos on the Embankment that wet night +toward the end of March, and have commented on his inhuman conduct on +that occasion. I should have informed him of the appearance the other +had made in my studio early this morning, not only with a frightened +look in his eyes, but breathing heavily, as though he had been running, +a thing which would have seemed impossible in a man of his years. Then I +should have gone on to tell how he had attempted to induce me to part +with something upon which I placed considerable value, and, being +disappointed, had hypnotised me and made off with the article in +question. All this, as I say, I should have narrated had I been my own +master. But God knows I was not. An irresistible force was at work +within me, compelling me, even against my will, to screen him, and to +tell the first deliberate lie to which, I think, I had ever given +utterance in my life. + +It is a poor excuse to offer, and I am aware that a world so censorious +as our own will not, in all probability, believed this statement, but +upon my hopes of forgiveness at the Last Great Day, at that dread moment +when the sins of all men shall be judged and punishment awarded, I +declare it to be true in every single particular: and what is more, I +further say that even if my life depended on it I could not have done +otherwise. + +Though it has taken some time to place these thoughts on paper, the +interval that elapsed between the inspector's last question and my +answer, which seemed to me so halting and suspicious, to the effect that +I had neither seen nor heard anything of the man he wanted, was scarcely +more than a few seconds. + +Having received my assurance, the officer apologised for troubling me +and withdrew, and I was left alone with my thoughts. Deep down in my +heart there was the desire to hasten after him and to tell him that not +only I had lied to him, but that it was possible for me to make amends +by putting him on the track of the man who, I felt morally certain, was +the criminal. The wish, however, was scarcely born before it was dragged +down and stifled by that same irresistible force I have described a few +lines since. It seemed to me I was bound hand and foot, powerless to +help myself and incapable of doing aught save carry out the will of the +remorseless being into whose power I had fallen so completely. But had I +really so fallen? Could it be possible that such power was permitted to +a human being? No, no--a thousand times no! If he had that influence he +must be an agent of the Evil One, whose mission it was to draw to +perdition the souls of helpless men. Filled with shame, I sank into a +chair and covered my face with my hands, as if by so doing I could shut +out the horrible thoughts that filled my brain. Could it be true that I, +who had always regarded a liar as the most despicable of men, had sunk +so low as to become one myself? God help me! God pity me! Of all the +bitter hours my life has known, I think that moment was the worst. + +For some time after the inspector had taken his departure I sat, as I +have said, my face covered with my hands, trying to think coherently. +Twenty-four hours before I had been one of the happiest men in England. +Nothing had troubled me. I had lived _for_ my art and _in_ my art, and I +believe I can confidently say that I had not an enemy in the world. Now, +in a single hour, my whole life was changed. I had been drawn into the +toils of a fiend in human shape and I was paying the awful penalty. + +Hour after hour went by. My servant arrived and presently brought in my +breakfast, but I put it aside; I had too much upon my mind to eat. It +was in vain I tried to force myself. My food stuck in my throat and +defied me. And all the time I was oppressed by the diabolical picture of +that murder. The shop in which it had occurred was one with which I was +familiar. In my mind's eye I saw the whole scene as clearly as if I had +been present at the time. I saw the shop, filled to overflowing with +bric-a-brac, the light of the single gas-lamp reflected in a hundred +varieties of brass and pottery work. At a desk in the corner sat the +dealer himself, and before him, holding him in earnest conversation, the +extraordinary figure of Pharos the Assassin. How he came to be there at +such an hour I could not tell, but from what I knew of him I was +convinced it was with no good purpose. I could imagine how off his guard +and totally unprepared for attack the other would be; and, even if he +had entertained any suspicions, it is extremely doubtful whether he +would have credited this deformed atom with the possession, either of +such malignity or of such giant strength. Then that same cruel light +that had exercised such an influence upon me a few hours before began to +glisten in the murderer's eyes. Little by little he moved his right hand +behind him until it touched an Oriental dagger lying on a table beside +which he stood. Then, with that cat-like spring which I had good reason +to remember, he leaped upon his opponent and seized him by the throat, +driving the blade deep in below the shoulder. His victim, paralyzed with +surprise, at first offered no resistance. Then, with the instinct of +self-preservation, he began to struggle with his devilish opponent, only +to discover the strength that seemingly attenuated form possessed. +Little by little his power departed from him, and at last, with a crash, +he fell back upon the floor. I pictured Pharos stooping over him to see +if he were dead, chuckling with delight at the success he had achieved. +When he had convinced himself on this head, he abstracted a key from the +dead man's pocket and approached a safe, built into the wall. The handle +turned and the door swung open. A moment later he had taken a ring set +with a scarabaeus from a drawer and dropped it into his pocket. After +that he paused while he considered in which direction it would be safest +for him to make his escape. A policeman's step sounded on the pavement +outside, and as he heard it he looked up, and his thin lips drew back, +showing the wolfish teeth behind. His horrible cunning pointed out to +him the danger he would incur in leaving by the front. Accordingly he +made his way through the sitting-room behind the shop and passed out by +the gate in the yard beyond. A few seconds later he was in my presence, +but whether by accident or design was more than I could say. + +So vivid was the picture I had conjured up that I could not help +believing it must be something more than mere conjecture on my part. If +so, what course should I pursue? I had been robbed. I had given a +murderer shelter at the very moment when he stood most in need of it, +and, when the law was close upon his heels, I had pledged my word for +his innocence and perjured myself to ensure his salvation. His presence +had been repulsive to me ever since I had first set eyes on him. I hated +the man as I had hitherto deemed it impossible I could hate any one. +Yet, despite all this, by some power--how real I can not expect any one +to believe--he was compelling me to shield and behave toward him as if +he had been my brother, or at least my dearest friend. I can feel the +shame of that moment even now, the agonising knowledge of the gulf that +separated me from the man I was yesterday, or even an hour before. + +I rose from the table, leaving my breakfast untouched, and stood at the +window looking out upon the dismal square beyond. The sunshine of the +earlier morning had given place to a cloudy sky, and, as I watched, a +heavy shower began to fall. It was as if Nature were weeping tears of +shame to see a Child of Man brought so low. I went to the place where, +until a few hours before, the mummy had stood--that wretched mummy which +had been the cause of all the trouble. As I had good reason to know, it +weighed a considerable amount, more, indeed, than I should have imagined +an old man like Pharos could have lifted, much less carried. I examined +the floor, to see if the case had been dragged across it, but, highly +polished as the boards were, I could detect no sign of such a thing +having taken place. The wainscoting of the hall next received my +attention, but with a similar result. And it was at this juncture that +another curious point in the evening's story struck me. When I had +admitted the inspector of police, I had unlocked and unchained the door. +I was the sole occupant of the building. How, therefore, had Pharos +conveyed his burden outside, and locked, chained, and bolted the door +behind him? Under the influence of this discovery I returned with all +speed to the studio. Perhaps he had not gone out by the front door at +all, but had made his escape by the windows at the back. These I +carefully examined, only to find them safely bolted as usual. The riddle +was beyond me. I had to confess myself beaten. Was it possible I could +have dreamed the whole thing? Had I fallen asleep in my chair and +imagined a meeting with Pharos which had really never taken place? Oh, +if only it could be true, what a difference it would make in my +happiness! And yet, staring me in the face, was the damning fact that +the mummy was gone. When I rose from my chair my mind was made up. I +would seek Pharos out, accuse him not only of the theft, but of the +murder, and make him understand, with all the earnestness of which I was +master, that justice should be done, and that I would no longer shield +him from the consequences of his villainy. It was only then I remembered +that I had no knowledge of the man's whereabouts. I considered for a +moment how I could best overcome this difficulty. Lady Medenham was, of +course, the one person of all others to help me. Since she had invited +the man to her house, it was almost certain that she would be able to +furnish me with his address. I would go to her without further waste of +time. Accordingly I made the necessary changes in my toilet and left the +studio. The rain had ceased and the streets were once more full of +sunshine. It was a pleasant morning for walking, but so urgent did my +business seem that I felt I could not even spare the time for exercise. +Hailing a hansom, I bade the man drive me with all possible speed to +Eaton Square. To my delight Lady Medenham was at home, and I was shown +forthwith to her boudoir. A few moments elapsed before she joined me +there, and then her first remark was one of astonishment. + +"Why, Mr. Forrester, what is the matter with you?" she cried. "I have +never seen you look so ill." + +"It is nothing," I answered, with a forced laugh. "I have had some bad +news this morning, and it has upset me. Lady Medenham, I have come to +beg a favour at your hands." + +"If it is within my power, you know it is already granted," she said +kindly. "Won't you sit down and tell me what it is?" + +"I want you to furnish me with the address of that singular old +gentleman who was at your 'at home' last evening," I replied, as I +seated myself opposite her. + +"London would say that there were many singular old gentlemen at my 'at +home,'" she answered with a smile; "but my instinct tells me you mean +Monsieur Pharos." + +"That, I believe, is his name," I said, and then, as if to excuse the +question, I added, "he is, as I think you heard him say, an ardent +Egyptologist." + +"I do not know anything about his attainments in that direction," Lady +Medenham replied, "but he is certainly a most extraordinary person. Were +it not for his beautiful ward, whose case I must confess excites my +pity, I should not care if I never saw him again." + +"She is his ward, then?" I said, with an eagerness that I could see was +not lost upon my companion. "I had made up my mind she was his +granddaughter." + +"Indeed, no," Lady Medenham replied. "The poor girl's story is a very +strange and sad one. Her father was a Hungarian noble, a brilliant man +in his way, I believe, but a confirmed spendthrift. Her mother died when +she was but six years old. From a very early age she gave signs of +possessing extraordinary musical talent, and this her father, perhaps +with some strange prevision of the future, fostered with every care. +When she was barely fifteen he was killed in a duel. It was then +discovered that his money was exhausted and that the home was mortgaged +beyond all redemption to the Jews. Thus the daughter, now without +relations or friends of any sort or description, was thrown upon the +world to sink or swim just as Fate should decree. For any girl the +position would have been sufficiently unhappy, but for her, who had seen +nothing of life, and who was of an extremely sensitive disposition, it +was well-nigh insupportable. What her existence must have been like for +the next five years one scarcely likes to think. But it served its +purpose. With a bravery that excites one's admiration she supported +herself almost entirely by her music; gaining in breadth, power, and +knowledge of technique with every year. Then--where, or in what manner I +have never been able to discover, for she is peculiarly sensitive upon +this point--she became acquainted with the old gentleman you saw last +night, Monsieur Pharos. He was rich, eccentric, and perhaps what most +attracted her, passionately fond of music. His extreme age obviated any +scandal, even had there been any one to raise it, so that when he +proposed to adopt the friendless but beautiful girl, and to enable her +to perfect her musical education under the best masters, no one came +forward to protest against it. She has, I believe, been with him upward +of seven years now." + +I shuddered when I heard this. Knowing what I did of Pharos I could not +find it in my heart to credit him with the possession of so much kindly +feeling. But if it were not so, what could the bond between them be? + +"What you tell me is extremely interesting," I remarked, "and only adds +to my desire to see the old gentleman once more. If you could let me +have his address I should be more grateful than I can say." + +"I am very much afraid it is not in my power," she replied. "It is one +of the least of Monsieur Pharos's many peculiarities to take +extraordinary precautions to prevent his whereabouts becoming known; but +stay, I think I can tell you of some one who may be of more service to +you. You know Sir George Legrath, do you not?" + +"The Director of the Egyptian Museum?" I said. "Yes, I know him very +well indeed. He was an old friend of my father's." + +"To be sure he was," she answered. "Well, then, go and see him. I think +it is probable that he may be able to assist you. Monsieur Pharos is an +acquaintance of his, and it was to Sir George's care that I sent the +invitation to my 'at home' last night." + +"I can not thank you enough for your kindness, Lady Medenham," I +replied, as I rose from my chair. "I will go and see Sir George at +once." + +"And I hope you may be successful. If I can help you in any other way be +sure I will do so. But before you go, Mr. Forrester, let me give you +another piece of advice. You should really consult a doctor without +delay. I do not like your appearance at all. We shall hear of your being +seriously ill if you do not take more care of yourself." + +I laughed uneasily. In my own heart I knew my ailment was not of the +body but of the mind, and until my suspicions concerning Pharos were set +at rest it was beyond the reach of any doctor's science to do me good. +Once more I thanked Lady Medenham for her kindness, and then left her +and made my way back to the cab. + +"To the Egyptian Museum," I cried to the driver, as I took my seat in +the vehicle, "and as quickly as you can go!" + +The man whipped up his horse, and in less than ten minutes from the time +the butler closed the front door upon me at Medenham House I was +entering the stately portico of the world-famous Museum. For some years +I had been a constant visitor there, and as a result was well known to +the majority of the officials. I inquired from one, whom I met in the +vestibule, whether I should find Sir George in his office. + +"I am not quite certain, sir," the man replied. "It's only just gone +half past ten, and unless there is something important doing, we don't +often see him much before a quarter to eleven. However, if you will be +kind enough, sir, to step this way, I'll very soon find out." + +So saying he led me along the corridor, past huge monuments and blocks +of statuary, to a smaller passage on the extreme left of the building. +At the farther end of this was a door, upon which he knocked. No answer +rewarded him. + +"I am very much afraid, sir, he has not arrived," remarked the man, "but +perhaps you will be good enough to step inside and take a seat. I feel +sure he won't be very long." + +"In that case I think I will do so," I replied, and accordingly I was +ushered into what is perhaps the most characteristic office in London. +Having found the morning paper and with unconscious irony placed it +before me, the man withdrew, closing the door behind him. + +I have said that the room in which I was now seated was characteristic +of the man who occupied it. Sir George Legrath is, as every one knows, +the most competent authority the world possesses at the present time on +the subject of ancient Egypt. He had graduated under my own poor father, +and, if only for this reason, we had always been the closest friends. It +follows as a natural sequence that the walls of the room should be +covered from ceiling to floor with paintings, engravings, specimens of +papyrus, and the various odds and ends accumulated in an Egyptologist's +career. He had also the reputation of being one of the best-dressed men +in London, and was at all times careful to a degree of his appearance. +This accounted for the velvet office-coat, a sleeve of which I could +just see peeping out from behind a curtain in the corner. Kindly of +heart and the possessor of a comfortable income, it is certain that but +few of those in need who applied to him did so in vain; hence the pile +of begging letters from charitable institutions and private individuals +that invariably greeted his arrival at his office. I had not been +waiting more than five minutes before I heard an active step upon the +stone flagging of the passage outside. The handle of the door was +sharply turned, and the man for whom I was waiting entered the room. + +"My dear Cyril," he cried, advancing toward me with outstretched hand, +"this is indeed a pleasure! It is now some weeks since I last saw you, +but, on the other hand, I have heard of you. The fame of your picture is +in every one's mouth." + +"Every one is very kind," I replied, "but I am afraid in this instance +the public says rather more than it means." + +"Not a bit of it," answered my friend. "That reminds me, however, that +there is one point in the picture about which I want to talk to you." + +"At any other time I shall be delighted," I replied, "but to-day, Sir +George, I have something else to say to you. I have come to you because +I am very much worried." + +"Now that I look at you I can see you are not quite the thing," he said. +"But what is this worry? Tell me about it, for you know if I can help +you I shall be only too glad to do so." + +"I have come to seek your advice in a rather strange matter," I replied, +"and before I begin I must ask that everything I say shall remain in the +strictest confidence between us." + +"I will give you that promise willingly," he said, "and I think you know +me well enough to feel certain I shall keep it. Now let me hear your +troubles." + +"In the first place I want you to tell me all you know of an +extraordinary individual who has been seen a good deal in London society +of late. I refer to a man named Pharos." + +While I had been speaking Sir George had seated himself in the chair +before his writing-table. On hearing my question, however, he sprang to +his feet with an exclamation that was as startling as it was unexpected. +It did not exactly indicate surprise, nor did it express annoyance or +curiosity; yet it seemed to partake of all three. It was his face, +however, that betrayed the greatest change. A moment before it had +exhibited the ruddiness of perfect health, now it was ashen pale. + +"Pharos?" he cried. Then, recovering his composure a little, he added, +"My dear Forrester, what can you possibly want with him?" + +"I want to know all you can tell me about him," I replied gravely. "It +is the greatest favour I have ever asked of you, and I hope you will not +disappoint me." + +For some moments he paced the room as if in anxious thought. Then he +returned to his seat at the writing-table. The long hand of the clock +upon the mantelpiece had made a perceptible movement when he spoke +again. So changed was his voice, however, that I scarcely recognised it. + +"Cyril," he said, "you have asked me a question to which I can return +you but one answer, and that is--may God help you if you have fallen +into that man's power! What he has done or how he has treated you I do +not know, but I tell you this, that he is as cruel and as remorseless as +Satan himself. You are my friend, and I tell you I would far rather see +you dead than in his clutches. I do not fear many men, but Pharos the +Egyptian is to me an incarnate terror." + +"You say Pharos the Egyptian. What do you mean by that?" + +"What I say. The man is an Egyptian, and claims, I believe, to be able +to trace his descent back at least three thousand years." + +"And you know no more of him?" + +As I put the question I looked at Sir George's hand, which rested on his +blotting-pad, and noticed that it was shaking as if with the palsy. + +Once more a pause ensued. + +"What I know must remain shut up in my own brain," he answered slowly +and as if he were weighing every word before he uttered it; "and it will +go down to my grave with me. Dear lad, fond as I am of you, you must not +ask any more of me, for I can not satisfy your curiosity." + +"But, Sir George, I assure you, with all the earnestness at my command, +that this is a matter of life and death to me," I replied. "You can have +no notion what it means. My honour, my good name--nay, my very existence +itself--depends upon it." + +As if in answer to my importunity, my friend rose from his chair and +picked up the newspaper which the attendant had placed on the table +beside me. He opened it, and, after scanning the pages, discovered what +he was looking for. Folding it carefully, he pointed to a certain column +and handed it to me. I took it mechanically and glanced at the item in +question. It was an account of the murder of the unfortunate curiosity +dealer, but, so far as I could see, my name was not mentioned. I looked +up at Sir George for an explanation. + +"Well?" I said, but the word stuck in my throat. + +"Though you will scarcely credit it, I think I understand everything," +he replied. "The murdered man's shop was within a short distance of your +abode. A witness states that he saw some one leave the victim's house +about the time the deed must have been committed and that he made his +way into your street. As I said, when you first asked me about him, may +God help you, Cyril Forrester, if this is your trouble!" + +"But what makes you connect Pharos with the murder described here?" I +asked, feigning a surprise I was far from feeling. + +"That I can not tell you," he replied. "To do so would bring upon +me----But no, my lips are sealed, hopelessly sealed." + +"But surely you are in a position to give me that man's address? Lady +Medenham told me you were aware of it." + +"It is true I was, but I am afraid you have come too late." + +"Too late! What do you mean? Oh, Sir George, for Heaven's sake do not +trifle with me!" + +"I am not trifling with you, Forrester," he replied seriously. "I mean +that it is impossible for you to find him in London, for the simple +reason that he left England with his companion early this morning." + +On hearing this I must have looked so miserable that Sir George came +over to where I sat and placed his hand upon my shoulder. + +"Dear lad," he said, "you don't know how it pains me to be unable to +help you. If it were possible, you have every reason to know that I +would do so. In this case, however, I am powerless, how powerless you +can not imagine. But you must not give way like this. The man is gone, +and in all human probability you will never see his face again. Try to +forget him." + +"It is impossible. I assure you, upon my word of honour, that I shall +know neither peace nor happiness until I have seen him and spoken to him +face to face. If I wish ever to be able to look upon myself as an +honourable man I _must_ do so. Is there no way in which I can find him?" + +"I fear none; but stay, now I come to think of it, there is a chance, +but a very remote one. I will make inquiries about it and let you know +within an hour." + +"God bless you! I will remain in my studio until your messenger +arrives." + +I bade him good-bye and left the Museum. That he did not forget his +promise was proved by the fact that within an hour a cab drove up to my +door and one of the attendants from the Museum alighted. I took in the +note he brought with him at the door, and, when I had returned to the +studio, tore open the envelope and drew forth a plain visiting card. On +it was written: + + "_Inquire for the man you seek from_ + CARLO ANGELOTTI, + _Public Letter-writer, + In the arches of the Theatre San Carlo, Naples._" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +If there is one place more than another for which I entertain a dislike +that is akin to hatred, it is for Naples in the summer time--that +wretched period when every one one knows is absent, all the large houses +are closed, the roads are knee-deep in dust, and even the noise of the +waves breaking upon the walls of the Castello del' Ovo seems unable to +alleviate the impression of heat and dryness which pervades everything. +It is the season when the hotels, usually so cool--one might almost say +frigid--have had time to grow hot throughout, and are in consequence +well-nigh unbearable; when the particular waiter who has attended to +your wants during each preceding visit, and who has come to know your +customs and to have survived his original impression that each +successive act on your part is only a more glaring proof of your insular +barbarity, is visiting his friends in the country, or whatever it is +that waiters do during the dull season when the tourists have departed +and their employers have no further use for them. It was at this +miserable period of the year that I descended upon Naples in search of +Monsieur Pharos. + +Owing to a breakdown on the line between Spezia and Pisa, it was close +upon midnight before I reached my destination, and almost one o'clock +before I had transported my luggage from the railway station to my +hotel. By this time, as will be readily understood by all those who +have made the overland journey, I was in a condition bordering upon +madness. Ever since I had called upon Sir George Legrath, and had +obtained from him the address of the man from whom I hoped to learn the +whereabouts of Pharos, I had been living in a kind of stupor. It took +the form of a drowsiness that nothing would shake off, and yet, do what +I would, I could not sleep. Times out of number during that long journey +I had laid myself back in the railway carriage and closed my eyes in the +hope of obtaining some rest; but it was in vain. However artfully I +might woo the drowsy god, sleep would not visit my eyelids. The mocking +face of the man I had come to consider my evil angel was always before +me, and in the darkness of the night, when the train was rolling +southward, I could hear his voice in my ears telling me that this +hastily-conceived journey on my part had been all carefully thought out +and arranged by him beforehand, and that in seeking him in Naples I was +only advancing another step toward the fulfilment of my destiny. + +On reaching my hotel I went straight to bed. Every bone in my body ached +with fatigue. Indeed, so weary was I that I could eat nothing and could +scarcely think coherently. The proprietor of the hotel was an old +friend, and for the reason that whenever I visited Naples I made it a +rule to insist upon occupying the same room, I did not experience the +same feeling of loneliness which usually assails one on retiring to rest +in a strange place. In my own mind I was convinced that as soon as my +head touched the pillow I should be asleep. But a bitter disappointment +was in store for me. I laid myself down with a sigh of satisfaction and +closed my eyes; but whether I missed the rocking of the train, or was +overtired, I can not say--at any rate, I was soon convinced of one +thing, and that was that the longer I lay there the more wakeful I +became. I tried another position, but with the same result. I turned my +pillow, only to make it the more uncomfortable. Every trick for the +production of sleep that I had ever heard of I put into execution, but +always with entire absence of success. At last, thoroughly awake and +still more thoroughly exasperated, I rose from my couch, and dressing +myself, opened the window of my room and stepped out on to the balcony. +It was a glorious night, such a one as is seldom, if ever, seen in +England. Overhead the moon sailed in a cloudless sky, revealing with her +exquisite light the city stretching away to right and left and the +expanse of harbour lying directly before me; Vesuvius standing out black +and awesome, and the dim outline of the hills toward Castellamare and +Sorrento beyond. For some reason my thoughts no longer centred +themselves on Pharos. I found the lovely face of his companion +continually rising before my eyes. There was the same expression of +hopelessness upon it that I remembered on the first occasion upon which +I had seen her; but there was this difference, that in some vague, +uncertain way she seemed now to be appealing to me to help her, to +rescue her from the life she was leading and from the man who had got +her, as he had done myself, so completely in his power. Her beauty +affected me as no other had ever done. I could still hear the soft +accents of her voice, and the echo of her wild, weird music, as plainly +as if I were still sitting listening to her in Lady Medenham's +drawing-room; and, strange to relate, it soothed me to think that it was +even possible we might be in the same town together. + +For upward of an hour I remained in the balcony looking down at the +moonlit city and thinking of the change the last few days had brought +about in my life. When I once more sought my couch, scarcely five +minutes elapsed before I was wrapped in a heavy, dreamless sleep from +which I did not wake until well nigh nine o'clock. Much refreshed, I +dressed myself, and having swallowed a hasty breakfast, to which I +brought a better appetite than I had known for some days past, donned my +hat and left the hotel in search of Signor Angelotti, who, as the card +informed me, carried on his profession of a public letter-writer under +the arches of the San Carlo Theatre. + +In all the years which have elapsed since Don Pedro de Toledo laid the +foundation of the magnificent thoroughfare which to-day bears his name, +I very much doubt if a man has made his way along it on a more curious +errand than I did that day. To begin with, I had yet to discover what +connection Angelotti could have with Monsieur Pharos, and then to find +out how far it was in his power to help me. Would he forsake his +business and lead me direct to the Egyptian's abode, or would he deny +any knowledge of the person in question and send me unsatisfied away? +Upon these points I resolved to satisfy myself without delay. + +Of all the characteristic spots of Naples surely the point at which the +Via Roma joins the Piazza San Ferdinando, in which is situated the +theatre for which I was making, is the most remarkable. Here one is +permitted an opportunity of studying the life of the city under the most +favourable auspices. My mind, however, on this occasion was too much +occupied wondering what the upshot of my errand would be to have any +time to spare for the busy scene around me. Reaching the theatre I took +the card from my pocket and once more examined it. It was plain and +straightforward, like Sir George Legrath's own life, and, as I have +already said, warned me that I must look for this mysterious Angelotti, +who carried on the trade of a public letter-writer under the arches of +the famous theatre. As I glanced at the words "Public Letter-writer" +another scene rose before my mind's eye. + +Several years before I had visited Naples with a number of friends, +among whom was a young American lady whose vivacity and capacity for fun +made her the life and soul of the party. On one occasion nothing would +please her but to stop in the street and engage one of these public +scribes to indite a letter for her to an acquaintance in New York. I can +see the old man's amusement now, and the pretty, bright face of the girl +as she endeavoured to make him understand, in broken Italian, what she +desired him to say. That afternoon, I remember, we went to Capri and +were late in reaching home, for which we should in all probability have +received a wigging from the elder members of the party, who had remained +behind, but for the fact that two important engagements, long hoped for, +were announced as resulting from the excursion. I could not help +contrasting the enjoyment with which I had made a bet of gloves with the +young American, that she would not employ the letter-writer as narrated +above, with my feelings as I searched for Angelotti now. Approaching the +first table I inquired of the man behind it whether he could inform me +where I should be most likely to find the individual I wanted. + +"Angelotti, did you say, signore?" the fellow replied, shaking his head +"I know no one of that name among the writers here." Then, turning to a +man seated a little distance from him, he questioned him, with the same +result. + +It began to look as if Legrath must have made some mistake, and that +the individual in whose custody reposed the secret of Pharos's address +was as difficult to find as his master himself. But, unsuccessful as my +first inquiry had been, I was not destined to be disappointed in the +end. A tall, swarthy youth, of the true Neapolitan loafer type, who had +been leaning against a wall close by smoking a cigarette and taking a +mild interest in our conversation, now removed his back from its +resting-place and approached us. + +"Ten thousand pardons, Excellenza," he said, "but you mentioned the name +of one Angelotti, a public letter-writer. I am acquainted with him, and +with the signore's permission will conduct him to that person." + +"You are sure you know him?" I replied, turning upon him sharply, for I +had had dealings with Neapolitan loafers before, and I did not +altogether like the look of this fellow. + +"Since he is my uncle, Excellenza, it may be supposed that I do," he +answered. + +Having said this he inhaled a considerable quantity of smoke and blew it +slowly out again, watching me all the time. I do not know any being in +the world who can be so servile, and at the same time so insolent at a +moment's notice, as a youth of the Neapolitan lower classes. This fellow +was an excellent specimen of his tribe. + +"Since you know Angelotti, perhaps you will be good enough to tell me +his address?" I said at last. "I have no doubt I shall then be able to +find him for myself." + +Seeing the advantage he held, and scenting employment of not too severe +a kind, the young man made a gesture with his hands as if to signify +that while he was perfectly willing to oblige me in so small a matter, +business was business, and he must profit by his opportunity. He would +be perfectly willing, he said, to act as my guide; but it must be +remembered that it would occupy some considerable portion of his +valuable time, and this would have to be paid for at a corresponding +rate. + +When I had agreed to his terms he bade me follow him, and leaving the +precincts of the theatre struck out in the direction of the Strada di +Chiaia. Whatever his other deficiencies may have been, he was certainly +a good walker, and I very soon found that it took me all my time to keep +up with him. Reaching the end of the street he turned sharply to the +right, crossed the road, and a few seconds later dived into an alley. Of +all the filthy places of Naples, that in which I now found myself was +undoubtedly the dirtiest. As usual, the houses were many stories high; +but the road was so narrow, and the balconies projected so far from the +windows that an active man might have leaped from side to side with +perfect safety. For the most part the houses consisted of small shops, +though here and there the heavily-barred lower windows and carved +doorways proclaimed them private residences. Halfway down this +objectionable thoroughfare a still smaller and dirtier one led off to +the right, and into this my guide turned, bidding me follow him. Just as +I was beginning to wonder whether I should ever find my way out alive, +the youth came to a standstill before a small shop, in which a number of +second-hand musical instruments were displayed for sale. + +"This, Excellenza, is the residence of the most illustrious Angelotti," +he said, with a wave of his hand toward the shop in question. + +"But I understand that he was a letter-writer," I answered, believing +for the moment that the youth had tricked me. + +"And it was quite true," he replied. "Until a month ago the Signor +Angelotti had his table at the theatre; but his cousin is dead, and now +he sells the most beautiful violins in all Italy." + +As he said this the young man lifted his hand and gently waved it in the +air, as if it were impossible for him to find words sufficiently +expressive to describe the excellence of the wares I should find within. +It is probable he considered me an intending purchaser, and I do not +doubt he had made up his mind, in the event of business ensuing, to +return a little later in order to demand from his avuncular relative a +commission upon the transaction. Rewarding him for the trouble he had +taken, I bade him be off about his business and entered the shop. It was +a dismal little place and filthy to an indescribable degree. The walls +were hung with musical instruments, the ceiling with rows of dried +herbs, and in a corner, seated at a table busily engaged upon some +literary composition, a little old man, with sharp, twinkling eyes and +snow-white hair. On seeing me he rose from his chair and came forward to +greet me, pen in hand. + +"I am looking for the Signor Angelotti," I said, by way of introducing +myself, "whom I was told I should find among the public letter-writers +at the Theatre San Carlo." + +"Angelotti is my name," he answered, "and for many years I received my +clients at the place you mention; but my cousin died, and though I would +willingly have gone on writing my little letters--for I may tell you, +Excellenza, that writing letters for other people is a pleasurable +employment--business is business, however, and here was this shop to be +attended to. So away went letter-writing, and now, as you see, I sell +violins and mandolins, of which I can show you the very best assortment +in all Naples." + +As he said this he put his little sparrow-like head on one side and +looked at me in such a comical fashion that I could scarcely refrain +from laughing. I had no desire, however, to offend the little man, for I +did not know how useful he might prove himself to me. + +"Doubtless you miss your old employment," I said, "particularly as it +seems to have afforded you so much interest. It was not in connection +with your talents in that direction, however, that I have called upon +you. I have come all the way from England to ask you a question." + +On hearing this he nodded his head more vigorously than before. + +"A great country," he answered with enthusiasm. "I have written many +letters for my clients to relatives there. There is a place called +Saffron Hill. Oh, Excellenza, you would scarcely believe what stories I +could tell you about the letters I have written to people there. But I +am interrupting you. I am an old man, and I have seen very many things, +so it is only natural I should like to talk about them." + +"Very natural, indeed," I answered; "but in this instance all I have +come to ask of you is an address. I want you to find a person for me who +left England a few days since." + +"And came to Naples? A countryman, perhaps?" + +"No, he is no countryman of mine, nor do I even know that he came to +Naples; but I was told by some one in England, from whom I made +inquiries, that if I came here and asked for one Angelotti, a public +letter-writer, I should, in all probability, be able to learn his +whereabouts." + +As if convinced of the importance of the part he was to play in the +affair, the old man laid his pen carefully down upon the table, and then +stood before me with his hands placed together, finger-tip to +finger-tip. + +"If your Excellency would condescend to mention the individual's name," +he said softly, "it is just possible I might be able to give him the +information he seeks." + +"The name of the person I want to find is Pharos," I replied. "He is +sometimes called Pharos the Egyptian." + +Had I stated that I was in search of the Author of all Evil, the placid +Angelotti could scarcely have betrayed more surprise. He took a step +from me and for a moment gazed at me in amazement. Then the expression +gradually faded from his face, leaving it as devoid of emotion as +before. + +"Pharos?" he repeated. "For the moment it does not strike me that I know +the individual." + +I should have believed that he really had not the power to help me had I +not noticed the look which had come into his face when I mentioned that +fatal name. + +"You do not know him?" I said. "Surely you must be making some mistake. +Think again, Signor Angelotti. See, here is the card I spoke of. It has +your name and address upon it, and it was given me by Sir George +Legrath, the head of the Egyptian Museum in London, of whom I think you +must at least have heard." + +He shook his head after he had examined the card. + +"It is my name, sure enough," he said, handing it back to me, "but I can +not understand why you should have supposed that I know anything of the +person you are seeking. However, if you will write your name and address +upon the card, and will leave it with me, I will make inquiries, and, +should I discover anything, will at once communicate with your +Excellency. I can do no more." + +I saw then that my suppositions were correct, and that the old fellow +was not as ignorant as he desired me to believe. I accordingly wrote my +name, with that of the hotel at which I was staying, at the top of the +card, and handed it to him, and then, seeing that there was nothing +further to be done, bade him good-morning, and left the shop. +Fortunately, the road home was easier to find than I had expected it +would be, and it was not very long before I was once more in the Piazza +S. Ferdinando. + +I was still thinking of the curious interview through which I had just +passed when, as I crossed the road, I was suddenly recalled to the +reality of the moment by a loud voice adjuring me, in scarcely +complimentary terms, to get out of the way, unless I desired to be run +over. I turned my head in time to see a handsome carriage, drawn by a +pair of horses, coming swiftly toward me. With a spring I gained the +pavement, and then turned to take stock of it. It was not, however, at +the carriage I gazed, but at its occupant. For, lying back upon her +cushions, and looking even more beautiful than when I had seen her last, +was Pharos's companion, the Fraeulein Valerie de Vocsqal. That she saw +and recognised me was shown by the expression on her face and the way in +which she threw up her right hand. I almost fancied I could hear the cry +of amazement that escaped her lips. Then the carriage disappeared in the +crowd of traffic and she was gone again. For some moments I stood on the +pavement looking after her as if rooted to the spot. It was only when I +had recovered myself sufficiently to resume my walk that I could put two +and two together and understand what significance this meeting had for +me. If she were in Naples, it was well-nigh certain that Pharos must be +there too; and if he were there, then I hoped it would be in my power to +find him and acquaint him with the determination I had arrived at +concerning him. That he desired to avoid me I could well understand, and +the very fact that his companion showed so much astonishment at seeing +me seemed to point to the same conclusion. Poor blind worm that I was, I +hugged this conceit to my heart, and the more I did so the more resolved +I became in my own mind that, when I _did_ meet him, I would show no +mercy. Debating with myself in this fashion, I made my way along the +Strada S. Carlo and so by a short cut to my hotel. + +As I have already remarked, there is nothing drearier in the world than +a foreign hotel out of the season. In this particular instance I seemed +to have the entire building to myself. The long corridors were innocent +of the step of a stranger foot, and when I sat down to lunch in the +great dining-hall, I had not only the room, but the entire staff, or +what was left of it, to wait upon me. + +I had just finished my meal, and was wondering in what manner I could +spend the afternoon, when a waiter approached and placed a note beside +my plate. Had I never seen the writer, I should have been able to guess +his profession by his penmanship. The caligraphy displayed upon the +envelope was too perfect not to be professional, and, as I looked at it, +it seemed to me I could see the queer, sparrow-like head of the writer +bending over it and smell the odour of the dried herbs and the still +drier violins hanging up in that quaint old shop to which I had paid a +visit that morning. On the top was my name and address in my own +writing, and below it the direction furnished me by Sir George Legrath. +Seeing that there was nothing new on that side, I took it to the window, +and, turning it over, read as follows: + +"If Mr. Forrester desires to meet the person of whom he spoke this +morning he should be in the Temple of Mercury at Pompeii this afternoon +at four o'clock. Provided he brings no one with him, he will be +permitted the interview he seeks." + +There was no signature, and nothing but the penmanship to show from whom +it emanated; that it was genuine, however, I did not for a moment doubt. +I looked at my watch, and finding that as yet it was scarcely half past +one, tried to make up my mind whether I should go by train or drive. The +afternoon would be hot, I was very well aware, and so would a long drive +in an open carriage be; but the train would be hotter still. Eventually +I decided for the road, and immediately despatched a waiter in search of +a conveyance. Of the carriage and horses there is nothing to be said, +and save the view, which is always beautiful, but little in favour of +the drive. It was a quarter to four when I alighted at the entrance to +the ruins, and by that time I was covered from head to foot with a +coating of that indescribable dust so peculiar to Naples. + +Informing the cabman that I should return to the city by train, I paid +the admission fee and, declining the services of a guide, entered the +grounds, keeping my eyes wide open, as you may suppose, for the man I +had come to meet. Entering the ruins proper by the Marine Gate, I made +my way direct to the _rendezvous_ named upon the card, and, surely, +never in the history of that ancient place had a man passed along its +streets on a stranger mission. I need not have hurried, however, for on +reaching the Forum, whence a full view of the Temple can be obtained, I +found that I had the place to myself. Having satisfied myself on this +point, I sat down on a block of stone and collected my thoughts in +preparation for the coming interview. Times out of number I consulted my +watch; and when the hands pointed to four o'clock I felt as if the +quarter of an hour I had spent there had in reality been an hour. It was +a breathless afternoon; beyond the city the blue hills seemed to float +and quiver in mid-air. A lark was trilling in the sky above me, and so +still was it that the rumbling of a wagon on the white road half a mile +or so away could be distinctly heard. + +"My dear Mr. Forrester, allow me to wish you a very good afternoon; I +need scarcely say how delighted I am to meet you!" said a voice behind +me; and, turning, I found myself face to face with Pharos. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Anxious as I had been to see him, and eagerly as I had sought his +presence, now that Pharos stood before me I was as frightened of him as +I had been on the night I had first set eyes on him at the foot of +Cleopatra's Needle. I stood looking at his queer, ungainly figure for +some seconds, trying to make up my mind how I should enter upon what I +had to say to him. That he was aware of my embarrassment I could see, +and from the way his lips curled I guessed that he was deriving +considerable satisfaction from it. His face was as crafty and his eyes +as wicked as ever I had seen them; but I noticed that on this occasion +he leaned more heavily upon his stick than usual. + +"I presume it is to my kind friend Sir George Legrath that I am indebted +for the pleasure of this interview," he said, after the short pause that +followed his introductory speech; "for I need not flatter myself you +will believe me when I say that I was fully aware, even before I met you +in Lady Medenham's house the other day, that we should be talking +together in this Temple within a week." + +The palpable absurdity of this speech gave me just the opportunity for +which I was waiting. + +"Monsieur Pharos," I said, with as much sternness as I could manage to +throw into my voice, "successful as you have hitherto been in deceiving +me, it is not the least use your attempting to do so on the present +occasion. I am quite willing to state that it was my friend Sir George +Legrath who put me in the way of communicating with you. I called upon +him on Tuesday morning and obtained your address from him." + +He nodded his head. + +"You will pardon me, I hope, if I seat myself," he said. "It seems that +this interview is likely to be a protracted one, and as I am no longer +young I doubt if I can go through it standing." + +With this apology he seated himself on a block of stone at the foot of +one of the graceful columns which in bygone days had supported the +entrance to the Temple, and, resting his chin on his hands, which again +leaned on the carved handle of his stick, he turned to me and in a +mocking voice said: "This air of mystery is no doubt very appropriate, +my friend; but since you have taken such trouble to find me, perhaps you +will be good enough to furnish me with your reason?" + +I scratched in the dust with the point of my stick before I replied. +Prepared as I was with what I had to say to him, and justified as I felt +in pursuing the course I had determined to adopt, for the first time +since I had arrived in Naples a doubt as to the probability, or even the +sanity, of my case entered my head. + +"I can quite understand your embarrassment, my dear Mr. Forrester," he +said, with a little laugh, when he saw that I did not begin. "I am +afraid you have formed a totally wrong impression of me. By some +mischance a train of circumstances has arisen which has filled your mind +with suspicion of me. As a result, instead of classing me among your +warmest and most admiring friends, as I had hoped you would do, you +distrust me and have nothing but unpleasant thoughts in your mind +concerning me. Pray let me hear the charges you bring against me, and I +feel sure--nay, I am certain--I shall be able to refute them. The matter +of what occurred at Cleopatra's Needle has already been disposed of, and +I do not think we need refer to it again. What else have you to urge?" + +His voice had entirely changed. It had lost its old sharpness, and was +softer, more musical, and infinitely more agreeable than I had ever +known it before. He rose from his seat and moved a step toward me. +Placing his hand upon my arm, and looking me full and fair in the face, +he said: + +"Mr. Forrester, I am an old man--how old you can have no idea--and it is +too late in my life for me to begin making enemies. Fate, in one of her +cruel moments, has cursed me with an unpleasing exterior. Nay, do not +pretend that you think otherwise, for I know it to be true. Those whom I +would fain conciliate are offended by it. You, however, I should have +thought would have seen below the surface. Why should we quarrel? To +quote your own Shakespeare, 'I would be friends with you and have your +love.' I am rich, I have influence, I have seen a great deal of the +world, and have studied mankind as few others have done. If, therefore, +we joined forces, what is there we might not do together?" + +Incredible as it may seem after all I had suffered on his account, such +was the influence he exerted over me that I now began to find myself +wishing it were not necessary for me to say the things I had come to +say. But I had no intention of allowing him to suppose I could be moved +as easily as he seemed to imagine. + +"Before there can be any talk of friendship or even of association +between us, Monsieur Pharos," I said, "it will be necessary for me to +have a complete understanding with you. If I have wronged you, as I +sincerely hope I have done, I will endeavour to make amends for it. Are +you aware that on the night of Lady Medenham's 'at home' a diabolical +murder was committed at the old curiosity shop at the corner of the +street adjoining that in which my studio is situated?" + +"One could hardly read the English papers without being aware of it," he +answered gravely; "but I scarcely see in what way that affects me." + +Here he stopped and gazed at me for a moment in silence as if he were +anxious to read what was passing in my mind. Then he began again: + +"Surely you do not mean to tell me, Mr. Forrester, that your dislike to +me is so great as to induce you to believe that I was the perpetrator of +that ghastly deed?" + +"Since you are aware that a murder _was_ committed," I said, without +appearing to notice his interruption, "perhaps you also know that the +deed was supposed to have been done between the hours of midnight and +one o'clock. You may also have read that an individual was seen leaving +the house by the back entrance almost on the stroke of one, and that he +was believed to have taken refuge in my studio." + +"Now that you recall the circumstance, I confess I did see something of +the sort in the paper," he answered; "and I remember reading also that +you informed the inspector of police, who called upon you to make +inquiries, that to the best of your knowledge no such man _had_ entered +your house. What then?" + +"Well, Monsieur Pharos, it was a few moments after the hour mentioned +that you made your appearance before me, breathing heavily as though you +had been running. Upon my questioning you, you offered the paltry excuse +that you had been for a walk after Lady Medenham's 'at home,' and that +you had missed your way and come quite by chance to my studio." + +"As I shall prove to your satisfaction when you have finished, that was +exactly what happened." + +"But you have not heard all," I replied. "While in my rooms you became +desirous of possessing the mummy of the Egyptian magician, Ptahmes. You +expressed a wish that I should present it to you, and, when I declined +to do so, you hypnotised me and took it without either my leave or my +license--a very questionable proceeding if viewed in the light of the +friendship you profess to entertain for me. How the law of the land +would regard it doubtless you know as well as I do." + +As I said this I watched his face closely, but if I hoped to find any +expression of shame there I was destined to be disappointed. + +"My dear Forrester," he said, "it is very plain indeed that you have +developed an intense dislike to me. Otherwise you would scarcely be so +ready to believe evil of me. How will you feel when I convince you that +all the ill you think of me is undeserved? Answer me that!" + +"If only you can do so," I cried, clutching eagerly at the hope he held +out. "If you can prove that I have wronged you, I will only too gladly +make you any amends in my power You can not imagine what these last few +days have been to me. I have perjured myself to save you. I have risked +my good name, I have----" + +"And I thank you," he answered. "I don't think you will find me +ungrateful. But before I accept your services I must prove to you that I +am not as bad as you think me. Let us for a moment consider the matter. +We will deal with the case of the mummy first, that being, as you will +allow, of the least importance as far as you, individually, are +concerned. Before I unburden myself, however, I must make you understand +the disadvantage I am labouring under. To place my meaning more clearly +before you, it would be necessary for me to make an assertion which I +have the best of reasons for knowing you would not believe. Perhaps I +made a mistake on that particular evening to which we are referring, +when I induced you to believe that it was by accident I visited your +studio. I am prepared now to confess that it was not so. I was aware +that you had that mummy in your possession. I had known it for some +considerable time, but I had not been able to get in touch with you. +That night an opportunity offered, and I seized it with avidity. I could +not wait until the next day, but called upon you within a few hours of +meeting you at Lady Medenham's 'at home.' I endeavoured to induce you to +part with the mummy, but in vain. My entreaties would not move you. I +exerted all my eloquence, argued and pleaded as I have seldom, if ever, +done to a man before. Then, seeing that it was useless, I put into force +a power of which I am possessed, and determined that, come what might, +you should do as I desired. I do not deny that in so doing I was to +blame, but I think, if the magnitude of the temptation were brought home +to you, you would understand how difficult it would be not to fall. Let +me make my meaning clearer to you if possible." + +"It would, perhaps, be as well," I answered, with a touch of sarcasm, +"for at present I am far from being convinced." + +"You have been informed already by our mutual friend Sir George Legrath +that I am of Egyptian descent. Perhaps you do not understand that, while +the ancient families of your country are proud of being able to trace +their pedigrees back to the time of the Norman Conquest, a beggarly +eight hundred years or thereabouts, I, Pharos, can trace mine, with +scarcely a break, back to the nineteenth dynasty of Egyptian history, a +period of over three thousand years. It was that very Ptahmes, the man +whose mummy your father stole from its ancient resting-place, who was +the founder of our house. For some strange reason, what I can not tell, +I have always entertained the belief that my existence upon this earth, +and such success as I shall meet with, depend upon my finding that mummy +and returning it to the tomb from which sacrilegious hands had taken it. +At first this was only a mere desire; since then it has become a fixed +determination, which has grown in strength and intensity until it has +become more than a determination, a craving in which the happiness of my +whole existence is involved. For many years, with a feverish longing +which I can not expect or hope to make you understand, I searched Europe +from end to end, visiting all the great museums and private collections +of Egyptian antiquities, but without success. Then, quite by chance and +in a most circuitous fashion, I discovered that it was your father who +had found it, and that at his death it had passed on to you. I visited +England immediately, obtained an introduction to you, and the rest you +know." + +"And where is the mummy now?" I inquired. + +"In Naples," he replied. "To-morrow I start with it for Egypt, to return +it to the place whence your father took it." + +"But allow me to remark that it is not your property, Monsieur Pharos," +I replied; "and even taking into consideration the circumstances you +relate, you must see yourself that you have no right to act as you +propose doing." + +"And pray by what right did your father rifle the dead man's tomb?" +said Pharos quietly. "And since you are such a stickler for what is +equitable, perhaps you will show me his justification for carrying away +the body from the country in which it had been laid to rest and +conveying it to England to be stared at in the light of a curiosity. No, +Mr. Forrester, your argument is a poor one, and I should combat it to +the last. I am prepared, however, to make a bargain with you." + +"And what is that bargain?" I inquired. + +"It is as follows," he replied. "Our interest in the dead man shall be +equal. Since it was your father who stole the mummy from its +resting-place, let it be the descendant of the dead Ptahmes who restores +it. As you will yourself see, and as I think you must in common honesty +admit, what I am doing in this matter can in no way advance my own +personal interests. If I have taken from you a possession which you +valued so highly, set your own figure upon it, and double what you ask I +will pay. Can I say anything fairer?" + +I did not know what answer to make. If the man were what he said, the +veritable descendant of the king's magician, then it was only natural he +should be willing to sacrifice anything to obtain possession of the body +of his three-thousand-years-old ancestor. On my part the sentiment was +undoubtedly a much weaker one. The mummy had been left me, among other +items of his collection, by my father, and, when that has been said, my +interest in the matter lapsed. There was, however, a weightier issue to +be decided before I could do him the favour he asked. + +"So much for the mummy incident," I said. "What you have to do now is to +clear yourself of the more serious suspicion that exists against you. I +refer to the murder of the curiosity dealer." + +"But surely, Mr. Forrester," he said, "you can not be serious when you +say you believe I had anything to do with that dreadful affair?" + +"You know very well what I do and what I do not believe," I answered. "I +await your reply." + +"Since you press me for it, I will give it," he continued. "But remember +this, if I have to convince you of my innocence, your only chance will +be gone, for I shall never feel the same toward you again." + +As he said this the old fierce light came into his eyes, and for a +moment he looked as dangerous as on that evening in the studio. + +"I repeat, I ask you to convince me," I said as firmly as my voice could +speak. + +"Then I will do so," he replied, and dived his hand into his coat +pocket. When he produced it again it held a crumpled copy of a +newspaper. He smoothed it out upon his knee and handed it to me. + +"If you will look at the third column from the left, you will see a +heading entitled 'The mysterious murder in Bonwell Street.' Pray read +it." + +I took the paper and read as follows: + + MYSTERIOUS MURDER IN BONWELL STREET. + + EXTRAORDINARY CONFESSION AND SUICIDE. + +"Shortly before nine o'clock this morning, a tall, middle-aged man, +giving the name of Johann Schmidt, a German, and evidently in a weak +state of health, entered the precincts of Bow Street Police Station, and +informed the officer in charge that he desired to give himself up to +justice as the murderer of Herman Clausand, the curiosity dealer of +Bonwell Street, the victim of the shocking tragedy announced in our +issue of Tuesday last. Schmidt, who spoke with considerable earnestness +and seemed desirous of being believed, stated that several years before +he had been in the deceased's employ, and since his dismissal had nursed +feelings of revenge. On the day preceding the murder he had called at +Bonwell Street, and, after informing Clausand that he was out of +employment and starving, asked to be again taken into his service; the +other, however, refused to entertain his request, whereupon Schmidt very +reluctantly left the shop. For the remainder of the day he wandered +about London, endeavouring to obtain work, but about midnight, having +been unsuccessful, he returned to Bonwell Street and rang the bell. The +door was opened by Clausand himself, who, as we stated in our first +account of the murder, lived alone. Schmidt entered, and once more +demanded employment, or at least money sufficient to enable him to find +shelter for the night. Again Clausand refused, whereupon the man picked +up a dagger from a stand near by and stabbed him to the heart. +Frightened at what he had done, he did not stay to rob the body, but +made his way through the house and out by the back door. Passing into +Murbrook Street, he saw a policeman coming toward him, but by stepping +into a doorway managed to avoid him. Since that time, up to the moment +of surrendering himself, he had been wandering about London, and it was +only when he found starvation staring him in the face that he determined +to give himself up. Having told his story, the man was about to be +searched prior to being conducted to a cell, when he drew from his +pocket a revolver and placed the muzzle to his forehead. Before the +bystanders could stop him he had pulled the trigger; there was a loud +report, and a moment later the wretched man fell dead at the officer's +feet. The divisional surgeon was immediately summoned, but on his +arrival found that life was extinct. Inquiries were at once made with a +view to ascertaining whether the story he had told had any foundation in +fact. We have since learned that the description he gave of himself was +a true one, that he had once been in Clausand's employ, and that on the +day preceding the murder he had openly asserted in a public-house in the +neighbourhood of Soho his intention of being revenged upon the dead man. + +"The coroner has been informed, and an inquest will be held to-morrow +morning." + + * * * * * + +After I had read it, I stood for some moments looking at the paper in my +hand. Then I turned to Pharos, who was still seated on the block of +stone watching me intently. Since this miserable wretch had confessed to +the crime, it was plain that I had wronged him in supposing he had +committed it. A weight was undoubtedly lifted from my mind, but for some +reason or another the satisfaction I derived from this was by no means +as great as I had expected it would be. At the back of my mind there was +still a vague impression that I was being deceived, and, do what I +would, I could not rid myself of it. + +"That, I think, should convince you, Mr. Forrester," said Pharos, rising +and coming toward me, "how very unwise it is ever to permit one's +feelings to outweigh one's judgment. You made up your mind that you +disliked me, and for the simple reason that I had the misfortune to lose +my way on that particular evening, and to reach your studio about the +same time that that terrible murder was committed, you were ready at a +moment's notice to believe me guilty of the crime." + +"What you say is quite true," I answered humbly. "I acted very +foolishly, I admit. I have done you a great wrong, and you have behaved +very generously about it." + +"In that case we will say no more about it," he replied. "It is an +unpleasant subject; let us forget it and never refer to it again. As I +asked you to believe when last I saw you, my only desire is that you +should think well of me and that we should be friends. As another proof +of my kindly feeling toward yourself, I will go further than I +originally intended and say that I am willing to restore the mummy I +took from you. It is here in Naples, but, if you wish, it shall be at +once returned to your house in London." + +This was more than I had expected from him, and it impressed me +accordingly. + +"I could not dream of such a thing," I replied. "Since you have been so +generous, let me follow your example. I have wronged you, and, as some +small return, I ask you to keep the king's magician, and do with him as +you please." + +"I accept your offer in the spirit in which it is made," he replied. +"Now, perhaps, we had better be going. If you have nothing better to do +this evening I should be glad if you would dine with me. I think I can +promise you a better dinner than you will get at your own hotel, and +afterward, I have no doubt, we shall be able to induce my ward to give +us some music. You had better say 'Yes,' for, I assure you, we shall +both be disappointed if you refuse." + +"You are really very kind," I began, "but----" + +"With your permission we will have no 'buts,'" he replied, with a wave +of his hand. "The matter is settled, and I shall look forward to a +pleasant evening. My carriage is at the gate, and if you will drive back +with me I shall be doubly honoured." + +If there had been any way of getting out of it, I think I should have +taken advantage of it; but as I could not discover one, I was perforce +compelled to accept his invitation. + +"I wonder if this city has the same fascination for you, Mr. Forrester, +that it has for me?" said Pharos, after I had given my consent to the +arrangement he proposed. "For my own part I never come to Naples without +paying it a visit; but how very few are there of the numbers who visit +it weekly that really understand it! What tales I could tell you of it, +if only they interested you! How vividly I could bring back to you the +life of the people who once spoke in this forum, bathed in yonder baths, +applauded in the theatre nineteen hundred years ago! Let us follow this +street which leads toward the Temple of Isis, that Temple in which the +Egyptian goddess was worshipped by such as pretended to believe in her +mysterious powers. I say _pretended_, because it was the fashion then to +consult her oracles--a fashion as insulting as it was popular." + +By this time we had passed out of the Temple of Mercury and were making +our way along the time-worn pavement toward the building of which he +spoke. The sun was sinking in the west, and already long shadows were +drawing across the silent streets, intensifying the ghostliness of the +long-deserted city. Reaching the Temple, we entered and looked about us. + +"See how its grandeur has departed from it," said Pharos, with a note of +sadness in his voice that made me turn and gaze at him in surprise. +"Time was when this was the most beautiful temple in the city, when +every day her courts were thronged with worshippers, when her oracles +boasted a reputation that reached even to mighty Rome. On this spot +stood the statue of the goddess herself. There that of her son, the god +Horus. Here was the purgatorium, and there the bronze figure of the bull +god Apis. Can you not picture the crowd of eager faces beyond the rails, +the white-robed priests, and the sacrifice being offered up on yonder +altar amid the perfumes of frankincense and myrrh? Where, Mr. Forrester, +are these priests now? The crowd of worshippers, the statues? +Gone--gone--dust and ashes, these nineteen hundred years. Come, we have +lingered here long enough, let us go further." + +Leaving the Temple we made our way into the Stabian Street, passed the +Temple of AEsculapius, and did not stop until we had reached the house of +Tullus Agrippa. Into this Pharos led me. + +"O Tullus Agrippa!" he cried, as if apostrophizing the dead man, "across +the sea of time, I, Pharos the Egyptian, salute thee! Great was thy +wealth and endless thy resources. Greedy of honour and praise wast thou, +and this house was the apex of thy vanity. Here is that same triclinium +where thy guests were wont to assemble when thou didst invite them to +thy banquets. Here the room in which thou didst condemn thine only son +to perpetual banishment. In those days, when the sun was warm and the +table was laden with the banquet, and friends crowded about thee and +praised the beauty of thy frescoes, the excellence of thy wine, the +cunning of thy cook, and the service of thy slaves, little didst thou +dream that nineteen centuries later would find thy house roofless, dug +up from the bowels of the earth, and thy cherished rooms a show to be +gaped at by all who cared to pay a miserable fee. Least of all didst +thou think then that Pharos the Egyptian would be standing in the room +where once thou didst rule so absolute, telling thy faults and follies +to a man of a race that in thy day was well-nigh unknown." + +He stopped for a moment, and then, turning to me again, recommenced with +fresh energy: + +"The owner of this house, Tullus Agrippa, was avaricious, cruel, vain, +and sensual. He gave of his wealth only when he was assured of a large +return. He was hated on every hand, and by his own family and dependants +most of all. What did his wealth avail him on that last dread day, when +the streets were filled with flying citizens, when all was confusion and +none knew which way to turn for safety? The catastrophe found him +tossing on a bed of sickness and scarcely able to stand alone. With the +first shock of the earthquake he called imperiously for his favourite +slave, but received no answer. He called again, this time almost with +entreaty. Still no answer came. The walls of his house trembled and +shook as he rose from his couch and staggered out into the fast +darkening street. Like a blind man he groped his way to yonder corner, +calling upon the names of his gods as he went, and offering every +sestertia in his possession to the person who would conduct him to a +place of safety. A man brushed against him. He looked up and recognised +the gladiator, Tymon, the man he had encouraged and whose richest patron +he had been. Accordingly, he seized him and clung to him, offering gifts +innumerable if he would only carry him as far as the Marine Gate. But +this, as Tymon knew, was no time for helping others, with that terrible +shower of ashes pouring down like rain. The gladiator cast him off, but +the other was not to be denied. He struggled to his knees and threw his +arms around the strong man's legs, but only for an instant. Roused to a +pitch of fury by his terror, Tymon struck him a blow on the temple with +the full strength of his ponderous fist. The old man stumbled against +the wall, clutched at it for support, and at length fell senseless upon +the ground. The shower of ashes and scoria quickly covered him, and +nineteen hundred years later the workmen, excavating the ruins, +discovered his body at the base of yonder wall. Such was the fate of the +noble Tullus Agrippa, citizen of Rome, and once the owner of this +house." + +Before I could reply or ask how he had become familiar with these +details, he had made his way outside and was in the road once more. I +followed him to the Street of Fortune, passed the House of the Fawn, the +Baths, and the Villa of Glaucus. Of each he had some story to tell--some +anecdote to relate. From the graphic way in which he described +everything, the names and characters he introduced, I might have been +excused had I even believed that he had known the city in its prime and +been present on the day of its destruction. I said as much to him, but +he only shook his head. + +"Think what you please," he said. "If I were to tell you the truth you +would not believe me. For that reason I prefer that you should credit me +with the possession of an exceedingly vivid imagination. If I have +succeeded in making the last hour pass pleasantly, I am amply rewarded. +But it grows late; the guards are coming in search of us; let us return +to the gate." + +Accordingly, we made our way back to the Porta Marina, and down the path +toward the entrance to the ruins. My companion was evidently well known +to the officials, for they treated him with obsequious respect, bowing +before him and inquiring if he had seen certain new excavations, as if +the success of the latter depended entirely on his good opinion of them. +In the road outside a carriage was standing, to which was attached a +magnificent pair of black horses. A coachman, dressed in a neat but +unpretentious black livery, sat upon the box, while a footman stood +beside the carriage door. The whole turn-out was in excellent taste, and +would have made a creditable appearance in the Bois de Boulogne or Hyde +Park. Into this elegant equipage Pharos invited me to step, and as soon +as I had seated myself he took his place beside me. Hot though the night +was, a heavy fur rug was wrapped round his knees, and when this had been +done he laid himself back upon the cushions with a sigh of relief, as if +the exertion of the afternoon had been too much for him. + +"So much for Pompeii," he said, as the horses sprang forward. "Now for +Naples and the most beautiful creature it contains at present, my ward, +the Fraeulein Valerie de Vocsqal." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +If any one had told me on the night that I first met Pharos at the foot +of Cleopatra's Needle that within a very short space of time I should be +driving from Pompeii to Naples alone with him, I believe I should have +laughed that person to scorn. And what is perhaps stranger, seeing how +intense my dislike for him had been less than two hours before, I was +not only paying attention to what he said to me, but was actually +deriving a certain measure of enjoyment from his society. In my time I +have met some of the cleverest talkers in Europe, men whose +conversational powers are above the average, and to whom it is rightly +enough considered a privilege to listen. Pharos, however, equalled if he +did not exceed them all. His range of topics was extraordinary, and his +language as easy and graceful as it was free from the commonplace. Upon +every conceivable subject he had some information to impart, and in the +cases of events in the world's history, he did so with the same peculiar +suggestion of being able to speak from the point of an eye-witness, or, +at least, as one who had lived in the same period, that I had noticed +when he conducted me through the ruins of Pompeii that afternoon. The +topography of the country through which we were passing he also had at +his fingers' ends. About every portion of the landscape he had some +remark of interest to make, and when we had exhausted Italy and +proceeded to more distant countries, I found that he was equally +conversant with the cities they contained. How long the drive lasted I +can not say; but never in my experience of the high road between Naples +and Pompeii had it seemed so short. Reaching the Castello del Carmine we +turned sharply to our right, passed up the Corso Garibaldi for some +considerable distance, and eventually branched off to the left. After +that, I have no further knowledge of our route. We traversed street +after street, some of them so narrow that there was barely room for our +carriage to pass along, until at last we reached a thoroughfare that not +only contained better houses than the rest, but was considerably wider. +Before a large, old-fashioned residence the horses came to a standstill; +a pair of exquisitely wrought-iron gates guarding a noble archway were +thrown open, and through them we passed into the courtyard beyond. +Beautiful as many of the courtyards are in Naples, I think this one +eclipsed them all. The house surrounded it on three sides; on the +fourth, and opposite that by which we had entered, was the garden, with +its fountains, vista of palm trees, through which a peep of the waters +of the bay could be obtained, and its luxuriant orange groves. In the +soft light of evening a more picturesque picture could not have been +desired. + +The footman, having descended from the box, opened the door of the +carriage, and when he had withdrawn the rug from his master's knees, +assisted him to alight. I followed, and we proceeded up the steps into +the house. Prepared as I was by the fact that both Lady Medenham and Sir +George Legrath had informed me of Pharos's wealth, I could scarcely +contain my surprise when the beauty of the house to which I was now +introduced was revealed to me. The hall in which we stood was filled +from floor to ceiling with works of art, carvings, paintings, statues, +tapestry, the value of which I could the better appreciate when I was +permitted an opportunity of examining them more closely. + +"I make you welcome to my abode, Mr. Forrester," said Pharos, as I +crossed the threshold. "You are not the first English artist who has +honoured me with a visit, and I think, if you will glance round these +walls, you will admit that you are in good company. See, here is a Fra +Angelico, here a Botticelli, here a Perugino, to your right a +Giorgione--all your fellow-guests. At the foot of the stairs is a Jan +Steen, half-way up a Madonna by Signorelli; the monk above is, as +doubtless you can see for yourself, an Andrea del Sarto, who has found +many admirers. But that is not all. If you will follow me, I think I can +show you something which will have an equal interest for you, though +perhaps in a somewhat different way." + +Feeling as if I were walking in a dream, I followed him along the hall. +Presently he stopped and pointed to a large canvas. + +"Do you recognise it?" he inquired. + +To my surprise it was neither more nor less than one of my own earlier +works which had appeared in the Academy about three years before and +represented a fantastic subject. It had been purchased by a dealer, and +after it had left my possession I had lost sight of it altogether. To +find it here, in the home of the man who had come to play such an +extraordinary part in my life, overwhelmed me with astonishment. + +"You seem surprised at seeing it," said Pharos, as we stood before it. +"If you will allow me I will relate to you the circumstances under which +it came into my possession, and I think you will admit that they are +highly interesting. It is now two years since the event occurred of +which I am going to tell you. I was then in Baden. It was the height of +the season, and the city was crowded, not only with interesting +foreigners--if you will permit the unintentional sarcasm--but with a +large proportion of your own English aristocracy. Among the latter was a +certain nobleman to whom I was happily able to be of considerable +service. He was one of life's failures. In his earlier youth he had a +literary tendency which, had the Fates been propitious, might possibly +have brought him some degree of fame; his accession to the title, +however, and the wealth it carried with it, completely destroyed him. +When I met him in Baden he was as near ruined as a man of his position +could be. He had with him one daughter, a paralytic, to whom he was +devotedly attached. Had it not been for her I am convinced he would have +given up the struggle and have done what he afterward did--namely, have +made away with himself. In the hope of retrieving his fortune and of +distracting his mind he sought the assistance of the gaming-tables; but +having neither luck nor, what is equally necessary, sufficient courage, +eventually found himself face to face with ruin. It was then that I +appeared upon the scene and managed to extricate him from his dilemma. +As a token of his gratitude he made me a present of this picture, which +up to that time had been one of his most treasured possessions." + +"And the man himself--what became of him?" + +Pharos smiled an evil smile. + +"Well, he was always unfortunate. On the self-same night that he made me +the present to which I refer he experienced another run of ill luck." + +"And the result?" + +"Can you not guess? He returned to his lodgings to find that his +daughter was dead, whereupon he wrote me a note, thanking me for the +assistance I had rendered him, and blew his brains out at the back of +the Kursaal." + +On hearing this I recoiled a step from the picture. While it flattered +my vanity to hear that the wretched man who had lost fame, fortune, and +everything else should still have retained my work, I could not repress +a feeling of horror at the thought that in so doing he had, +unconsciously, it is true, been bringing me into connection with the +very man who I had not the least doubt had brought about his ruin. As +may be supposed, however, I said nothing to Pharos on this score. For +the time being we were flying a flag of truce, and having had one +exhibition of his powers, I had no desire to experience a second. +Whether he read what was passing in my mind or not I can not say. At any +rate, he changed the subject abruptly and led me away from my own work +to another at the farther end of the hall. From this we passed into an +anteroom, which, like the hall, was hung with pictures. It was a +magnificent apartment in every way, but, as I soon discovered, was +eclipsed by the larger room into which it opened. The latter could not +have been less than eighty feet long by forty wide. The walls were +decorated with exquisite pictures, and, if such a thing were possible, +with still more exquisite china. All the appointments were in keeping. +At the farther end was a grand piano, and seated near this, slowly +fanning herself with a large ostrich-feather fan, was the woman I had +seen first at the Academy, then at Medenham House, and earlier that very +day in the Piazza S. Ferdinando. Upon our entrance she rose, and once +more I thought I discovered a frightened look in her face. In a second, +however, it had passed and she had once more recovered her equanimity. + +"Valerie," said Monsieur Pharos, "I have been fortunate enough to meet +Mr. Forrester, who arrived in Naples last night, and to induce him to +dine with us this evening." + +While he was speaking I had been watching the face of the beautiful +woman whose affecting story Lady Medenham had told me, and had noticed +how white it had suddenly become. The reason of this I have since +discovered, but I know that at the time it puzzled me more than a +little. + +"I bid you welcome, sir," she said, in excellent English, but with no +great degree of cordiality. + +I made some suitable reply, and then Pharos departed from the room, +leaving us together. My companion once more seated herself, and, making +an effort, began a conversation that was doubtless of a very polite, but +to me entirely unsatisfactory, nature. Presently she rose from her chair +and went to the window, where she stood for some moments looking out +into the fast-darkening street. Then she turned to me, as she did so +making a little gesture with her hands that was more expressive than any +words. + +"Mr. Forrester," she said, speaking rapidly in a low voice, but with +great earnestness, "have you taken leave of your senses that you come +here? Are you tired of your life that you thrust your head into the +lion's den in this foolish fashion?" + +Her words were so startling and her agitation so genuine that I could +make neither head nor tail of it. I accordingly hastened to ask for an +explanation. + +"I can tell you nothing," she said, "except that this place is fatal to +you. Oh, if I could only make you understand how fatal!" + +Her beauty and the agitation under which she was labouring exercised a +most powerful effect upon me, which was increased rather than +diminished when I reflected that it was being exerted on my behalf. + +"I scarcely understand you," I stammered, for I was quite carried away +by her vehemence. "From what you say I gather that you believe me to be +in a position of some danger, but I assure you such is not the case. I +met Monsieur Pharos at Pompeii this afternoon, and he was kind enough to +ask me to dine with him this evening. Surely, there can be nothing +dangerous in that. If, however, my presence is in any way distasteful to +you, I can easily make an excuse and take my departure." + +"You know it is not that," she answered quickly and with a little stamp +of her foot. "It is for your own sake I am imploring you to go. If you +knew as much of this house as I do, you would not remain in it another +minute." + +"My dear madame," I said, "if you would only be more explicit, I should +be the better able to understand you." + +"I can not be more explicit," she answered; "such a thing is out of my +power. But remember, if anything happens, I have warned you, and your +fate will be upon your own head." + +"But----" I cried, half rising from my seat. + +"Hush!" she answered. "There is not time for more. He is coming." + +A moment later Pharos entered the room. He had discarded his heavy fur +coat and was now dressed as I had seen him at Medenham House--that is to +say, he wore a tight-fitting black velvet coat buttoned high up round +his throat and a skullcap of the same material. He had scarcely entered +the room before dinner was announced. + +"If you will take my ward," he said, "I will follow you." + +I did as directed, and never while I live shall I forget the thrill that +passed through me as I felt the pressure of her tiny hand upon my arm. +Lovely as I had always thought her, I had never seen her look more +beautiful than on this particular evening. As I watched her proud and +graceful carriage, I could well believe, as Lady Medenham had said, that +she traced her descent from one of the oldest families in Europe. There +was something about her that I could not understand, though I tried +repeatedly to analyze it--a vague, indescribable charm that made her +different from all other women I had ever met. + +The room in which we dined was a more sombre apartment than the others I +had seen. The walls were hung with heavy tapestries, unrelieved by light +or brilliant colour. The servants also struck me as remarkable. They +were tall, elderly, dark-skinned, and, if the truth must be told, of +somewhat saturnine appearance, and if I had been asked, I should have +given my vote against their being Italians. They did their duty +noiselessly and well, but their presence grated upon me, very much as +Pharos's had done on the first three occasions that I had met him. Among +other things, one singular circumstance arrested my attention. While the +dinner was in every respect admirable, and would not have discredited +the Maison Doree, or the Cafe de la Paix, Pharos did not partake of it. +At the commencement of the meal a dish of fruit and a plate of small +flat cakes were placed before him. He touched nothing else, save, when +we had finished, to fill a wineglass with water and to pour into it a +spoonful of some white powder, which he took from a small silver box +standing before him. This he tossed off at one draught. + +"You are evidently surprised," he said, turning toward me, "at the +frugality of my fare, but I can assure you that in my case eating has +been reduced almost to a vanishing point. Save a little fruit in the +morning, and a glass of water in which I dissolve one of these powders, +and a meal similar to that you now see me making in the evening, I take +nothing else, and yet I am stronger than many men of half my age. If the +matter interests you I will some day give you proof of that." + +To this speech I made some reply and then glanced at the Fraeulein +Valerie. Her face was still deathly pale, and I could see by the way her +hands trembled above her plate that the old fellow's words had in some +manner been the cause of it. Had I known as much then as I do now I +should no doubt have trembled myself. For the moment, however, I thought +she must be ill, and should have said as much had my eyes not met hers +and found them imploring me to take no notice of her agitation. I +accordingly addressed myself to Pharos on the subject of the journey +from Paris to Naples, and thus permitted her time to recover her +self-possession. The meal at an end, she rose and left the room, not, +however, before she had thrown another look of entreaty at me, which, as +I read it, seemed to say, "For pity's sake remember where you are, and +be careful what you say or do!" + +The door had scarcely closed behind her before another on the other side +of the room opened, and a servant entered carrying in his arms a monkey +wrapped in a small rug, from which its evil-looking little face peered +out at me as if it were wondering at my presence there. Pharos noticed +my surprise. + +"Let me make you acquainted with my second self," he said, and then +turning to the monkey continued, "Pehtes, make your salutation." + +The monkey, however, finding himself in his master's arms, snuggled +himself down and paid no more attention to me, whereupon Pharos pushed +the decanters, which the servant had placed before him, toward me and +invited me to fill my glass. + +I thanked him, but declined. + +"If you will permit me to say so, I think you are foolish," he answered. +"I have been often complimented on that wine, particularly by your +countrymen." + +I wondered who the countrymen were who had sat at this table and what +the reason could have been that had induced them to accept his +hospitality. Could Legrath have been among the number, and, if so, what +was the terrible connection between them? For terrible I knew it must +have been, otherwise it would scarcely have made Sir George, usually the +most self-contained of men, betray such agitation when I inquired if he +were acquainted with the name of Pharos. + +While these thoughts were passing through my mind I stole a glance at +the old fellow as he sat at the head of the table, propped up with +cushions, and with the monkey's evil countenance peeping out from his +hiding-place under the other's coat. He was evidently in an expansive +mood and as anxious as possible to make himself agreeable. The first +horror of his presence had by this time left me, and, as I said at the +commencement of this chapter, its place had been taken by a peculiar +interest for which I found it well-nigh impossible to account. + +"If you will not take any wine, perhaps you will let me offer you a +cigarette," he said, after I had declined his previous invitation. "I am +not a smoker myself, but those who do enjoy the fragrant weed tell me +the brand is excellent. It is grown on one of my own estates in Turkey, +and can be obtained nowhere else in the world." + +So saying he produced a small silver case from his pocket and handed it +to me. I took one of the cigarettes it contained, lit it, and for the +next two or three minutes sat back in my chair silently smoking. The +tobacco was excellent. To have wasted a puff of that precious smoke in +conversation would have been a sacrilege that I was determined not to +commit. Having finished one, I was easily persuaded to take another, and +was compelled to declare the flavour to be even better than the first. + +"I am delighted to see that you enjoy them," said Pharos. + +"I have never smoked any tobacco like it," I replied. "It seems hard +that you should not enjoy it yourself." + +"I could not enjoy it in a happier way," he answered, "than through my +friends. I am amply compensated when I see the pleasure it gives them." + +After this philanthropic contribution to the conversation of the evening +we were both silent again for some moments. My cigarette was +half-finished, but the case, still nearly full, lay upon the table for +me to help myself when I felt inclined. Little by little the subtle +intoxication of the weed was permeating my whole being; a gentle languor +was stealing over me, and as a result my brain had never before seemed +so bright or my capacity of enjoyment so keen as it did then. + +"If you will not take wine we might adjourn to the drawing-room," said +Pharos at last. "It is possible we may be able to induce my ward to give +us some music, and as she is partial to the aroma of these cigarettes, +I think I may assure you beforehand that she will willingly give you +permission to smoke in her presence." + +Accordingly, we sought the drawing-room, the same in which the beautiful +Hungarian had uttered her curious warning to me earlier in the evening. +She was seated in the same chair that she had then occupied, and on +entering, Pharos, still carrying the monkey in his arms, crossed and +patted her hand in a grand-fatherly fashion. Kindly, however, as the +action appeared to be, I noticed that she trembled beneath it. + +"I have assured Mr. Forrester, my dear Valerie," he said, "that the +odour of tobacco is not distasteful to you, and that you will permit him +to smoke a cigarette in your presence. Was I not right?" + +"Of course I will give permission," she answered, but never had I heard +her voice so cold and monotonous. It was as if she were repeating +something under compulsion. At any other time I should have declined to +avail myself of what I could not help thinking was permission grudgingly +given; but since Pharos insisted, and the Fraeulein begged me to do so, I +at length consented and made a further raid upon the case. As soon as he +had seen the cigarette lighted and myself comfortably seated, Pharos +installed himself in an armchair, while his ward wrapped the inevitable +rug about his knees. Having done this she took her violin from its case, +and, when she had tuned it, took up her position and commenced to play. +I had still the same feeling, however, that she was doing it under +compulsion, but how that force was being exerted, and for what reason, +was more than I could tell. Once more the same gentle languor I had felt +at the dinner-table began to steal over me and again my senses became +abnormally acute. Under the influence of the music, new ideas, new +inspirations, new dreams of colour, crowded upon me thick and fast. In +the humour in which I was then, I felt that there was nothing I could +not do, no achievement of which I was not capable. What I had done in +the past was as nothing compared with what I would do in the future. +With this man's help I would probe the very heart of Wisdom and make +myself conversant with her secrets. Through half-closed eyes I could see +the violinist standing before me, and it was as if her white hands were +beckoning me along the road of Fame. I turned from her to Pharos, and +found him still seated in his chair with his eyes fixed steadfastly upon +me. Then the cigarette came to an end, the music ceased, and with a +choking sob the violinist, unable to control herself any longer, fled +from the room. I sprang to my feet and hastened to open the door for +her, but was too late. She was gone. + +"Mr. Forrester," said Pharos, after we had been alone together for a few +moments, "I am going to make a proposition to you which I shall be very +much honoured if you can see your way to accept." + +"I shall be better able to tell you when I know what it is," I answered. + +"It is eminently simple," he continued. "It is neither more nor less +than this. I am the possessor of a steam-yacht--a comfortable craft, my +friends tell me--and in her my ward and I start to-morrow for Port Said, +_en route_ for Cairo." + +"For Cairo?" I cried in amazement. + +"For Cairo," he answered, with a smile. "And why not? Cairo is a most +delightful place, and I have important business in Egypt. Perhaps you +can guess what that business is." + +"The mummy?" I answered at a hazard. + +"Exactly," he replied, nodding his head; "the mummy. It is my intention +to restore it to the tomb from which your father sto--from which, shall +we say, your father removed it." + +"And your proposition?" + +"Is that you accompany us. The opportunity is one you should not let +slip. You will have a chance of seeing the land of the Pharaohs under +the most favourable auspices, and the hints you should derive for future +work should be invaluable to you. What do you say?" + +To tell the truth I did not know what answer to give. I had all my life +long had a craving to visit that mysterious country, and, as I have said +elsewhere, I had quite made up my mind to do so at the end of the year. +Now an opportunity was afforded me of carrying out my intentions, and in +a most luxurious fashion. I remembered the extraordinary interest Pharos +had lent to the ruins of Pompeii that afternoon, and I felt sure that in +Egypt, since it was his native country, he would be able to do much +more. But it was not the prospect of what I should learn from him so +much as the knowledge that I should be for some weeks in the company of +Valerie de Vocxqal that tempted me. The thought that I should be with +her on board the yacht, and that I should be able to enjoy her society +uninterruptedly in the mystic land which had played such an important +part in my career, thrilled me to the centre of my being. That her life +was a far from happy one I was quite convinced, and it was just +possible, if I went with them, that I might be able to discover the seat +of the trouble and perhaps be in a position to assist her. + +"What have you to say to my plan?" inquired Pharos. "Does not the idea +tempt you?" + +"It tempts me exceedingly," I answered; "but the fact of the matter is I +had no intention of being absent so long from England." + +"England will be still there when you get back," he continued with a +laugh. "Come, let it be decided that you will join us. I think I can +promise that you will enjoy the trip." + +"I do not wish to appear discourteous," I said, "but would it not be +better for me to take till to-morrow morning to think it over?" + +"It would be the most foolish policy possible," he answered, "for in +that case I feel convinced you would find some reason for not accepting +my invitation, and by so doing would deprive yourself of a chance which, +as I said just now, may never come again in your life. If Valerie were +here I feel sure she would add her voice to mine." + +The mention of his ward's name decided me, and, with a recklessness that +forces a sigh from me now, I gave my promise to accompany them. + +"I am very glad to hear it," said Pharos. "I think you have decided +wisely. We shall sail to-morrow evening at ten o'clock. My servants will +call for your luggage and will convey it and you on board. You need not +trouble yourself in any way." + +I thanked him, and then, finding that it was close upon eleven o'clock, +took leave of him. That I was disappointed in not being permitted an +opportunity of saying farewell to his ward I will not deny. I feared +that she was offended with me for not having taken her advice earlier in +the evening. I did not mention the matter, however, to Pharos, but bade +him good-night, and, declining his offer to send me home in his +carriage, made my way into the hall and presently left the house. Having +crossed the courtyard, the ancient gate-keeper passed me out through a +small door beside the gates. The night was exceedingly warm, and as I +stepped into the street the moon was rising above the opposite +house-tops. Having made inquiries from Pharos, I had no doubt of being +able to make my way back to my hotel. Accordingly, as soon as I had +rewarded the _concierge_, and the gate had closed behind me, I set off +down the pavement at a brisk pace. I had not gone very far, however, +before a door opened in a garden wall, and a black figure stole forth +and addressed me by my name. It was the Fraeulein Valerie. + +"Mr. Forrester," she said, "I have come at great risk to meet you. You +would not listen to me this evening, but I implore you to do so now. If +you do not heed me and take my warning it may be too late." + +The moon shone full and fair upon her face, revealing her wonderful +beauty and adding an ethereal charm to it which I had never noticed it +possessed before. + +"Of what is it you would warn me, my dear lady?" I asked. + +"I can not tell you," she answered, "for I do not know myself. But of +this I am certain, since he has interested himself in you and has +declared his desire for your friendship, it can not be for your good. +You do not know him as I do. You have no idea, it is impossible you +should, of what he is. For your own sake, Mr. Forrester, draw back while +you have time. Have no more to do with him. Shun his society, whatever +it casts you. You smile! Ah, if you only knew! I tell you this--it would +be better, far better, for you to die than to fall into his power." + +I was touched by the earnestness with which she spoke, but more by the +sadness of her face. + +"Fraeulein," I said, "you speak as if you had done that yourself." + +"I have," she answered. "I am in his power, and, as a result, I am lost +body and soul. It is for that reason I would save you. Take warning by +what I have said and leave Naples to-night. Never mind where you go--go +to Russia, to America, bury yourself in the wilds of Siberia or +Kamchatka--but get beyond his reach." + +"It is too late," I answered. "The die is cast, for I have promised to +sail with him to Egypt to-morrow." + +On hearing this she uttered a little cry and took a step away from me. + +"You have promised to visit Egypt with him?" she cried, as if she could +scarcely believe she heard aright. "Oh! Mr. Forrester, what can you be +thinking of? I tell you it is fatal, suicidal! If you have any regard +for your own safety you will get away to-night, this very moment, and +never return to Naples or see him again." + +In her agitation she clutched at my arm and held it tightly. I could +feel that she was trembling violently. Her touch, however, instead of +effecting the purpose she had in view, decided me on a contrary course. + +"Fraeulein," I said in a voice I should not at any other time have +recognised as my own, "you tell me that this man has you in his power? +You warn me of the dangers I run by permitting myself to associate with +him, and, having risked so much for me, you expect me to go away and +leave you to his mercy. I fear you must have a very poor opinion of me." + +"I am only trying to save you," she answered. "The first day I saw you I +read disaster in your face, and from that moment I desired to prevent +it." + +"But if you are so unhappy, why do you not attempt to save yourself?" I +asked. "Come, I will make a bargain with you. If I am to fly from this +man, you must do so too. Let us set off this moment. You are beyond the +walls now. Will you trust yourself to me? There is a steamer in the +harbour sailing at midnight. Let us board her and sail for Genoa, thence +anywhere you please. I have money, and I give you my word of honour as a +gentleman that I will leave nothing undone to promote your safety and +your happiness. Let us start at once and in half an hour we shall be rid +of him forever." + +As I said this I took her arm and endeavoured to lead her down the +pavement, but she would not move. + +"No, no," she said in a frightened whisper. "You do not know what you +are asking of me. Such a thing is impossible--hopelessly impossible. +However much I may desire to do so I can not escape. I am chained to him +for life by a bond that is stronger than fetters of steel. I can not +leave him. O God! I can not leave him!" + +She fell back against the wall and once more covered her face with her +hands, while her slender frame shook with convulsive sobs. + +"So be it then," I said; and as I did so I took off my hat. "If you will +not leave him, I swear before God I will not go alone! It is settled, +and I sail with him for Egypt to-morrow." + +She did not attempt to dissuade me further, but, making her way to the +door in the wall through which she had entered the street, opened it and +disappeared within. I heard the bolts pushed to, and then I was in the +street alone. + +"The die is cast," I said to myself. "Whether good or evil, I accompany +her to-morrow, and, once with her, I will not leave her until I am +certain that she no longer requires my help." + +Then I resumed my walk to my hotel. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The clocks of the city had struck ten on the following evening when I +left the carriage which Pharos had sent to convey me to the harbour, +and, escorted by his servant, the same who had sat beside the coachman +on the occasion of our drive home from Pompeii on the previous evening, +made my way down the landing-stage and took my place in the boat which +was waiting to carry me to the yacht. + +Throughout the day I had seen nothing either of Pharos or his ward, nor +had I heard anything from the former save a message to the effect that +he had made arrangements for my getting on board. But if I had not seen +them I had at least thought about them--so much so, indeed, that I had +scarcely closed my eyes all night. And the more attention I bestowed +upon them the more difficult I found it to account for the curious +warning I had received from the Fraeulein Valerie. What the danger was +which threatened me it was beyond my power to tell. I endeavoured to +puzzle it out, but in vain. Had it not been for that scene on the +Embankment, and his treatment of me in my own studio, to say nothing of +the suspicions I had erroneously entertained against him in respect of +the murder of the curiosity dealer, I should in all probability have +attributed it to a mere womanly superstition which, although it appeared +genuine enough to her, had no sort of foundation in fact. Knowing, +however, what I did, I could see that it behooved me, if only for the +sake of my own safety, to be more than cautious, and when I boarded the +yacht I did so with a full determination to keep my eyes wide open, and +to be prepared for trouble whenever or in whatever shape it might come. + +On gaining the deck I was received by an elderly individual whom I +afterward discovered to be the captain. He informed me in French that +both Monsieur Pharos and the Fraeulein Valerie had already arrived on +board and had retired to their cabins. The former had given instructions +that everything possible was to be done to promote my comfort, and, +having said this, the captain surrendered me to the charge of the +servant who had escorted me on board, and, bowing reverentially to me, +made some excuse about seeing the yacht under way and went forward. At +the request of the steward I passed along the deck to the +after-companion ladder, and thence to the saloon below. The evidence of +wealth I had had before me in the house in Naples had prepared me in +some measure for the magnificent vessel in which I now found myself; +nevertheless, I must confess to feeling astonished at the luxury I saw +displayed on every side. The saloon must have been upward of thirty feet +long by eighteen wide, and one glance round it showed me that the +decorations, the carpet, and the furniture, were the best that taste and +money could procure. With noiseless footfall the steward conducted me +across the saloon, and, opening a door on the port side, introduced me +to my cabin. + +My luggage had preceded me, and, as it was now close upon eleven +o'clock, I determined to turn in and, if possible, get to sleep before +the vessel started. + +When I woke in the morning we were at sea. Brilliant sunshine streamed +in through the porthole and danced on the white and gold panelling of +the cabin. Smart seas rattled against the hull and set the little craft +rolling till I began to think it was as well I was a good sailor, +otherwise I should scarcely have looked forward with such interest to +the breakfast I could hear preparing in the saloon outside. + +As soon as I had dressed I made my way to the deck. It was a lovely +morning, a bright blue sky overhead, with a few snow-white clouds away +to the southwest to afford relief and to add to the beauty of the +picture. A smart sea was running, and more than once I had to make a +bolt for the companion-ladder in order to escape the spray which came +whistling over the bulwarks. + +In the daylight the yacht looked bigger than she had done on the +previous night. At a rough guess she scarcely could have been less than +four hundred tons. Her captain, so I afterward discovered, was a Greek, +but of what nationality her crew were composed I was permitted no +opportunity of judging. One thing is very certain--they were not +English, nor did their behaviour realise my notion of the typical +sailor. There was none of that good-humoured chaff or horseplay which is +supposed to characterise the calling. These men, for the most part, were +middle-aged, taciturn and gloomy fellows, who did their work with +automaton-like regularity, but without interest or apparent good-will. +The officers, with the exception of the captain, I had not yet seen. + +Punctually on the stroke of eight bells a steward emerged from the +companion and came aft to inform me that breakfast was served. I +inquired if my host and hostess were in the saloon, but was informed +that Pharos made it a rule never to rise before midday, and that on +this occasion the Fraeulein Valerie intended taking the meal in her own +cabin and begged me to excuse her. Accordingly, I sat down alone, and +when I had finished returned to the deck and lit a cigar. The sea by +this time had moderated somewhat and the vessel in consequence was +making better progress. For upward of half an hour I tramped the deck +religiously and then returned to my favourite position aft. Leaning my +elbows on the rail, I stood gazing at the curdling wake, watching the +beautiful blending of white and green created by the screw. + +I was still occupied in this fashion when I heard my name spoken, and, +turning, found the Fraeulein Valerie standing before me. She was dressed +in some dark material, which not only suited her complexion but +displayed the exquisite outline of her figure to perfection. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Forrester," she said, holding out her white hand to +me. "I must apologise to you for my rudeness in not having joined you at +breakfast; but I was tired and did not feel equal to getting up so +early." + +There was a troubled look in her eyes which told me that while she had +not forgotten our interview of two nights before, she was determined not +to refer to it in any way or even to permit me to suppose that she +remembered it. I accordingly resolved to follow her example, though, if +the truth must be confessed, there were certain questions I was more +than desirous of putting to her. + +"Since you are on deck the first morning out, I presume you are fond of +the sea?" I said, in a matter-of-fact voice, after we had been standing +together for some moments. + +"I love it," she answered fervently; "and the more so because I am a +good sailor. In the old days, when my father was alive, I was never +happier than when we were at sea, away from land and all its attendant +troubles." + +She paused, and I saw her eyes fill with tears. In a few moments, +however, she recovered her composure and began to talk of the various +countries with which we were mutually acquainted. As it soon transpired, +she had visited almost every capital in Europe since she had been with +Pharos, but for what purpose I could not discover. The most eastern side +of Russia and the most western counties of England were equally well +known to her. In an unguarded moment I asked her which city she +preferred. + +"Is it possible I could have any preference?" she asked, almost +reproachfully. "If you were condemned to imprisonment for life, do you +think it would matter to you what colour your captors painted your cell, +or of what material the wall was composed that you looked upon through +your barred windows? Such is my case. My freedom is gone, and for that +reason I take no sort of interest in the places to which my gaoler leads +me." + +To this speech I offered no reply, nor could I see that one was needed. +We were standing upon dangerous ground and I hastened to get off it as +soon as possible. I fear, however, I must have gone clumsily to work, +for she noticed my endeavour and smiled a little bitterly, I thought. +Then, making some excuse, she left me and returned below. + +It was well past midday before Pharos put in an appearance. Whether at +sea or ashore he made no difference in his costume. He wore the same +heavy coat and curious cap that I remembered seeing that night at +Cleopatra's Needle. + +"I fear, my dear Forrester," he said, "you will think me a discourteous +host for not having remained on deck last night to receive you. My age, +however, must be my excuse. I trust you have been made comfortable?" + +"The greatest Sybarite could scarcely desire to be more comfortable," I +answered. "I congratulate you upon your vessel and her appointments." + +"Yes," he answered, looking along the deck, "she is a good little craft, +and, as you may suppose, exceedingly useful to me at times." + +As he said this a curious expression came into his face. It was as if +the memory of an occasion on which this vessel had carried him beyond +the reach of pursuit had suddenly occurred to him. Exquisite, however, +as the pleasure it afforded him seemed to be, I can not say that it +pleased me as much. It revived unpleasant memories, and just at the time +when I was beginning to forget my first distrust of him. + +After a few moments' further conversation he expressed a desire to show +me the vessel, an invitation which, needless to say, I accepted with +alacrity. We first visited the smoking-room on deck, then the bridge, +after that the engine-room, and later on the men's quarters forward. +Retracing our steps aft we descended to the saloon, upon the beauty of +which I warmly congratulated him. + +"I am rejoiced that it meets with your approval," he said gravely. "It +is usually admired. And now, having seen all this, perhaps it would +interest you to inspect the quarters of the owner." + +This was exactly what I desired to do, for from a man's sleeping +quarters it is often possible to obtain some clue as to his real +character. + +Bidding me follow him, he led me along the saloon to a cabin at the +farther end. With the remembrance of all I had seen in the other parts +of the vessel still fresh in my mind, I was prepared to find the owner's +berth replete with every luxury. My surprise may therefore be imagined +when I discovered a tiny cabin, scarcely half the size of that occupied +by myself, not only devoid of luxury, but lacking much of what is +usually considered absolutely necessary. On the starboard side was the +bunk, a plain wooden affair, in which were neatly folded several pairs +of coarse woollen blankets. Against the bulwark was the wash-hand-stand, +and under the port a settee, covered with a fur rug, on which was curled +up the monkey Pehtes. That was all. Nay, I am wrong--it was not all. For +in a corner, carefully secured so that the movement of the vessel should +not cause it to fall, was no less a thing than the mummy Pharos had +stolen from me, and which was the first and foremost cause of my being +where I was. From what he had told me of his errand I had surmised it +might be on board; but I confess I scarcely expected to find it in the +owner's cabin. With the sight of it the recollection of my studio rose +before my eyes, and not only of the studio, but of that terrible night +when the old man now standing beside me had called upon me and had used +such diabolical means to obtain possession of the thing he wanted. In +reality it was scarcely a week since Lady Medenham's "at home"; but the +gulf that separated the man I was then from the man I was now seemed one +of centuries. + +Accompanied by Pharos I returned to the deck, convinced that I was as +far removed from an understanding of this strange individual's character +as I had been since I had known him. Of the Fraeulein Valerie I saw +nothing until late in the afternoon. She was suffering from a severe +headache, so the steward informed Pharos, and was not equal to leaving +her cabin. + +That this news was not palatable to my companion I gathered from the way +in which his face darkened. However, he pretended to feel only +solicitude for her welfare, and, having instructed the steward to convey +his sympathy to her, returned to his conversation with me. In this +fashion, reading, talking, and perambulating the deck, the remainder of +the day passed away, and it was not until we sat down to dinner at night +that our party in the saloon was united. On board the yacht, as in his +house in Naples, the cooking was perfection itself, but, as on that +other occasion, Pharos did not partake of it. He dined as usual upon +fruit and small wheaten cakes, finishing his meal by pouring the powder +into the glass of water and drinking it off as before. + +When we rose from the table my host and hostess retired to their +respective cabins, while I lit a cigar and went on deck. The sun was +just disappearing below the horizon and a wonderful hush had fallen upon +the sea. Scarcely a ripple disturbed its glassy surface, while the track +the vessel left behind her seemed to lead across the world into the very +eye of the sinking sun beyond. There was something awe-inspiring in the +beauty and stillness of the evening. It was like the hush that precedes +a violent storm, and seeing the captain near the entrance to the +smoking-room, I made my way along the deck and accosted him, inquiring +what he thought of the weather. + +"I scarcely know what to think of it, monsieur," he answered in French. +"The glass has fallen considerably since morning. My own opinion is that +it is working up for a storm." + +I agreed with him, and after a few moments' more conversation, thanked +him for his courtesy and returned aft. + +Reaching the skylight, I seated myself upon it. The glasses were lifted +and through the open space I could see into the saloon below. The mellow +light of the shaded electric lamps shone upon the rich decorations and +the inlaid furniture and was reflected in the mirrors on the walls. As +far as I could see no one was present. I was about to rise and move away +when a sound came from the Fraeulein Valerie's cabin that caused me to +remain where I was. Someone was speaking, and that person was a woman. +Knowing there was no other of her sex on board, this puzzled me more +than I can say. The voice was harsh, monotonous, unmusical, and grated +strangely upon the ear. There was a pause, then another, which I +instantly recognised as belonging to Pharos, commenced. + +I had no desire to play the eavesdropper, but for some reason which I +can not explain I could not choose but listen. + +"Come," Pharos was saying in German, "thou canst not disobey me. Hold my +hand so, open thine eyes, and tell me what thou seest!" + +There was a pause for a space in which I could have counted fifty. Then +the woman's voice answered as slowly and monotonously as before: + +"I see a sandy plain, which stretches as far as the eye can reach in all +directions save one. On that side it is bordered by a range of hills. I +see a collection of tents, and in the one nearest me a man tossing on a +bed of sickness." + +"Is it he? The man thou knowest?" + +There was another pause, and when she answered, the woman's voice was +even harsher than before: + +"It is he." + +"What dost thou see now?" + +"I am in the dark, and see nothing." + +"Hold my hand and wait, thou wilt see more plainly anon. Now that thine +eyes are accustomed to the darkness, describe to me the place in which +thou standest." + +There was another interval. Then she began again: + +"I am in a dark and gloomy cavern. The roof is supported by heavy +pillars, and they are carved in a style I have never seen before. On the +ceilings and walls are paintings, and lying on a slab of stone--a dead +man!" + +Once more there was a long silence, until I began to think that I must +have missed the next question and answer, and that this extraordinary +catechism had terminated. Then the voice of Pharos recommenced: + +"Place thine hand in mine and look once more." + +This time the answer was even more bewildering than before. + +"I see death," said the voice. "Death on every hand. It continues night +and day, and the world is full of wailing!" + +"It is well, I am satisfied," said Pharos. "Now lie down and sleep. In +an hour thou wilt wake and wilt remember naught of what thou hast +revealed to me." + +Unable to make anything of what I had heard, I rose from the place where +I had been sitting and began to pace the deck. The remembrance of the +conversation to which I had listened irritated me beyond measure. Had I +been permitted another insight into the deviltry of Pharos, or what was +the meaning of it? I was still thinking of this when I heard a step +behind me, and turning, found the man himself approaching me. In the dim +light of the deck the appearance he presented was not prepossessing, but +when he approached me I discovered he was in the best of humours, in +fact in better spirits than I had ever yet seen him. + +"I have been looking for you, Mr. Forrester," he said. "It is delightful +on deck, and I am in just the humour for a chat." + +I felt an inclination to tell him that I was not so ready, but before I +could give him an answer he had noticed my preoccupation. + +"You have something on your mind," he said. "I fear you are not as +pleased with my hospitality as I could wish you to be. What is amiss? Is +there anything I can do to help you?" + +"Nothing, I thank you," I answered a little stiffly. "I have a slight +headache and am not much disposed for conversation this evening." + +Though the excuse I made was virtually true, I did not tell him that I +had only felt it since I had overheard his conversation a few minutes +before. + +"You must let me cure you," he answered. "I am vain enough to flatter +myself I have some knowledge of medicine." + +I was beginning to wonder if there was anything of which he was +ignorant. At the same time I was so suspicious of him that I had no +desire to permit him to practise his arts on me. I accordingly thanked +him, but declined his services, on the pretext that my indisposition was +too trifling to call for so much trouble. + +"As you will," he answered carelessly. "If you are not anxious to be +cured, you must, of course, continue to suffer." + +So saying, he changed the subject, and for upward of half an hour we +wandered in the realm of art, discussing the methods of painters past +and present. Upon this subject, as upon every other, I was amazed at the +extent and depth of his learning. His taste, I discovered, was +cosmopolitan, but if he had any preference it was for the early Tuscan +school. We were still debating this point when a dark figure emerged +from the companion and came along the deck toward us. Seeing that it was +the Fraeulein Valerie, I rose from my chair. + +"How hot the night is, Mr. Forrester!" she said, as she came up to us. +"There is thunder in the air, I am sure, and if I am not mistaken we +shall have a storm before morning." + +"I think it more than likely," I answered. "It is extremely oppressive +below." + +"It is almost unbearable," she answered, as she took the seat I offered +her. "Notwithstanding that fact, I believe I must have fallen asleep in +my cabin, for I can not remember what I have been doing since dinner." + +Recalling the conversation I had overheard, and which had concluded with +the instruction, "In an hour thou wilt wake and wilt remember naught of +what thou hast revealed to me," I glanced at Pharos; but his face told +me nothing. + +"I fear you are not quite yourself, my dear," said the latter in a +kindly tone, as he leaned toward her and placed his skinny hand upon her +arm. "As you say, it must be the thundery evening. Our friend Forrester +here is complaining of a headache. Though he will not let me experiment +upon him, I think I shall have to see what I can do for you. I will +consult my medicine chest at once." + +With this he rose from his seat and, bidding us farewell, went below. + +Presently the Fraeulein rose and side by side we walked aft to the +taffrail. Though I did my best to rouse her from the lethargy into which +she had fallen, I was unsuccessful. She stood with her slender hands +clasping the rail before her and her great, dark eyes staring out across +the waste of water. Never had she looked more beautiful and certainly +never more sad. Her unhappiness touched me to the heart, and, under the +influence of my emotion, I approached a little nearer to her. + +"You are unhappy," I said. "Is there no way in which I can help you?" + +"Not one," she answered bitterly, still gazing steadfastly out to sea. +"I am beyond the reach of help. Can you realise what it means, Mr. +Forrester, to be beyond the reach of help?" + +The greatest tragedienne the world has seen could not have invested +those terrible words with greater or more awful meaning. + +"No, no," I said; "I can not believe that. You are overwrought to-night. +You are not yourself. You say things you do not mean." + +This time she turned on me almost fiercely. + +"Mr. Forrester," she said, "you try to console me; but, as I am beyond +the reach of help, so I am also beyond the reach of comfort. If you +could have but the slightest conception of what my life is, you would +not wonder that I am so wretched." + +"Will you not tell me about it?" I answered. "I think you know by this +time that I may be trusted." Then, sinking my voice a little, I added a +sentence that I could scarcely believe I had uttered when the words had +passed my lips. "Valerie, if you do not already know it, let me tell you +that, although we have not known each other a fortnight, I would give my +life to serve you." + +"And I believe you and thank you for it from the bottom of my heart," +she answered with equal earnestness; "but I can tell you nothing." Then, +after an interval of silence that must have lasted for some minutes, she +declared her intention of going below. + +I accompanied her as far as the saloon, where she once more gave me her +hand and wished me good-night. As soon as her door had closed behind her +I went to my own cabin, scarcely able to realise that I had said what I +had. + +I do not know whether it was the heat, or whether it was the excitement +under which I was labouring. At any rate, I soon discovered that I could +not sleep. Valerie's beautiful, sad face haunted me continually. Hour +after hour I lay awake, thinking of her and wondering what the mystery +could be that surrounded her. The night was oppressively still. Save the +throbbing of the screw, not a sound was to be heard. The yacht was upon +an even keel, and scarcely a wavelet splashed against her side. At last +I could bear the stifling cabin no longer, so, rising from my bunk, I +dressed myself and sought the coolness of the deck. It was now close +upon one o'clock, and when I emerged from the companion the moon was a +hand's-breadth above the sea line, rising like a ball of gold. I seemed +to have the entire world to myself. Around me was the glassy sea, black +as ink, save where the moon shone upon it. Treading softly, as if I +feared my footsteps would wake the sleeping ship, I stepped out of the +companion and was about to make my way aft when something I saw before +me caused me to stop. Standing on the grating which extended the whole +width of the stern behind the after wheel, was a man whom I had no +difficulty in recognising as Pharos. His hands were lifted above his +head as if he were invoking the assistance of the Goddess of the Night. +His head was thrown back, and from the place where I stood I could +distinctly see the expression upon it. Anything more fiendish could +scarcely be imagined. It was not the face of a human being, but that of +a ghoul, so repulsive and yet so fascinating was it. Try how I would, I +could not withdraw my eyes; and while I watched he spread his arms apart +and cried something aloud in a language I did not recognise. For upward +of a minute he remained in this attitude, then, descending from the +grating, he made his way slowly along the deck and came toward the place +where I stood. + +Afraid of I know not what, I shrank back into the shadow of the hatch. +Had he discovered my presence I feel convinced, in the humour in which +he then was, he would have done his best to kill me. Fortunately, +however, my presence was unsuspected, and he went below without seeing +me. Then, wiping great beads of sweat from my forehead, I stumbled to +the nearest skylight, and, seating myself upon it, endeavoured to regain +my composure. Once more I asked myself the question, "Who and what was +this man into whose power I had fallen?" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The captain was not very far out in his reckoning when he prophesied +that the unusual calm of the previous evening betokened the approach of +a storm. Every one who has had experience of the Mediterranean is aware +with what little warning gales spring up. At daybreak the weather may be +all that can be desired, and in the evening your ship is fighting her +way along in the teeth of a hurricane. In this particular instance, when +I turned into my bunk after the fright Pharos had given me, as narrated +in the preceding chapter, the sea was as smooth as glass and the sky +innocent of a single cloud. When I opened my eyes on the morning +following, the yacht was being pitched up and down and to and fro like a +cork. A gale of wind was blowing overhead, while every timber sent forth +an indignant protest against the barbarity to which it was being +subjected. From the pantry, beyond the saloon companion-ladder, a +clatter of breaking glass followed every roll, while I was able to +estimate the magnitude of the seas the little vessel was encountering by +the number of times her propeller raced as she hung suspended in +mid-air. For upward of an hour I remained in my bunk, thinking of the +singular events of the night before and telling myself that were it not +for the Fraeulein Valerie I could find it in my heart to wish myself out +of the yacht and back in my own comfortable studio once more. By seven +o'clock my curiosity was so excited as to what was doing on deck that I +could no longer remain inactive. I accordingly scrambled out of bed and +dressed myself, a proceeding which, owing to the movement of the vessel, +was attended with no small amount of difficulty, and then, clutching at +everything that would permit of a grip, I passed out of the saloon and +made my way up the companion-ladder. On glancing through the portholes +there, a scene of indescribable tumult met my eye. In place of the calm +and almost monotonous stretch of blue water across which we had been +sailing so peacefully less than twenty-four hours before, I now saw a +wild and angry sea, upon which dark, leaden clouds looked down. The gale +was from the north-east and beat upon our port quarter with relentless +fury. + +My horizon being limited in the companion, I turned the handle and +prepared to step on to the deck outside. It was only when I had done so +that I realised how strong the wind was; it caught the door and dashed +it from my hand as if it had been made of paper, while the cap I had +upon my head was whisked off and carried away into the swirl of grey +water astern before I had time to clap my hand to it. Undaunted, +however, by this mishap, I shut the door, and, hanging on to the +hand-rail, lest I too should be washed overboard, made my way forward +and eventually reached the ladder leading to the bridge. By the time I +put my foot upon the first step I was quite exhausted and had to pause +in order to recover my breath; and yet, if it was so bad below, how +shall I describe the scene which greeted my eyes when I stood upon the +bridge itself? From that dizzy height I was better able to estimate the +magnitude of the waves and the capabilities of the little vessel for +withstanding them. + +The captain, sea-booted and clad in sou'wester and oilskins, came +forward and dragged me to a place of safety as soon as he became aware +of my presence. I saw his lips move, but what with the shrieking of the +wind in the shrouds and the pounding of the seas on the deck below, what +he said was quite inaudible. Once in the corner to which he led me, I +clung to the rails like a drowning man and regarded the world above my +canvas screen in silent consternation. And I had excellent reasons for +being afraid, for the picture before me was one that might have appalled +the stoutest heart. Violent as the sea had appeared from the port of the +companion hatch, it looked doubly so now; and the higher the waves, the +deeper the valleys in between. Tossed to and fro, her bows one moment in +mid-air and the next pointing to the bottom of the ocean, it seemed +impossible so frail a craft could long withstand the buffeting she was +receiving. She rolled without ceasing, long, sickening movements +followed on each occasion by a death-like pause that made the heart +stand still and forced the belief upon one that she could never right +herself again. Times out of number I searched the captain's face in the +hope of deriving some sort of encouragement from it; but I found none. +On the other hand, it was plain, from the glances he now and again threw +back along the vessel, and from the strained expression that was never +absent from his eyes, that he was as anxious as myself, and, since he +was more conversant with her capabilities, with perhaps greater reason. +Only the man at the wheel--a tall, gaunt individual, with bushy eyebrows +and the largest hands I have ever seen on a human being--seemed +undisturbed. Despite the fact that upon his handling of those frail +spokes depended the lives of twenty human creatures, he was as undaunted +by the war of the elements going on around him as if he were sitting by +the fireside, smoking his pipe, ashore. + +For upward of half an hour I remained where the captain had placed me, +drenched by the spray, listening to the dull thud of the seas as they +broke upon the deck below, and watching with an interest that amounted +almost to a pain the streams of water that sluiced backward and forward +across the bridge every time she rolled. Then, summoning all my courage, +for I can assure you it was needed, I staggered toward the ladder and +once more prepared to make my way below. I had not reached the deck, +however, and fortunately my hands had not quitted the guide rails, when +a wave larger than any I had yet seen mounted the bulwark and dashed +aboard, carrying away a boat and twisting the davits, from which it had +been suspended a moment before, like pieces of bent wire. Had I +descended a moment earlier, nothing could have prevented me from being +washed overboard. With a feeling of devout thankfulness in my heart for +my escape, I remained where I was, clinging to the ladder long after the +sea had passed and disappeared through the scuppers. Then I descended +and, holding on to the rails as before, eventually reached the saloon +entrance in safety. + +To be inside, in that still, warm atmosphere, out of the pressure of the +wind, was a relief beyond all telling, though what sort of object I must +have looked, with my hair blown in all directions by the wind and my +clothes soaked through and through by the spray that had dashed upon me +on the bridge, is more than I can say. Thinking it advisable I should +change as soon as possible, I made my way to my own cabin, but, before I +reached it, the door of that occupied by the Fraeulein Valerie opened and +she came out. That something unusual was the matter I saw at a glance. + +"Mr. Forrester," she said, with a scorn in her voice that cut like a +knife, "come here. I have something curious to show you." + +I did as she wished, and forthwith she led me to her cabin. I was not +prepared, however, for what I found there. Crouching in a corner, almost +beside himself with fear, and with the frightened face of the monkey +Pehtes peering out from beneath his coat, was no less a person than +Pharos, the man I had hitherto supposed insensible to such an emotion. +In the presence of that death, however, which we all believed to be so +imminent, he showed himself a coward past all believing. Terror +incarnate stared from his eyes and rendered him unconscious of our +scorn. At every roll the vessel gave he shrank farther into his corner, +glaring at us meanwhile with a ferocity that was not very far removed +from madness. + +At any other time and in any other person such an exhibition might have +been conducive of pity; in his case, however, it only added to the +loathing I already felt for him. One thing was very certain, in his +present condition he was no fit companion for the woman who stood +clinging to the door behind me. I accordingly determined to get him +either to his own cabin or to mine without delay. + +"Come, come, Monsieur Pharos," I said, "you must not give way like this. +I have been on deck, and I can assure you there is no immediate danger." + +As I said this I stooped and placed my hand upon his shoulder. He threw +it off with a snarl and a snap of his teeth that was more like the +action of a mad dog than that of a man. + +"You lie, you lie!" he cried in a paroxysm of rage and fear. "I am +cursed, and I shall never see land again. But I will not die--I will not +die! There must be some way of keeping the yacht afloat. The captain +must find one. If any one is to be saved it must be me. Do you hear what +I say? It must be me." + +For the abominable selfishness of this remark I could have struck him. + +"Are you a man that you can talk like this in the presence of a woman?" +I cried. "For shame, sir, for shame! Get up and let me conduct you to +your own cabin." + +With this I lifted him to his feet and, whether he liked it or not, half +led and half dragged him along the saloon to his own quarters. Once +there I placed him on his settee, but the next roll of the vessel +brought him to the floor and left him crouching in the corner, still +clutching the monkey, his knees almost level with his shoulders, and his +awful face looking up at me between them. The whole affair was so +detestable that my gorge rose at it, and when I left him I returned to +the saloon with a greater detestation of him in my heart than I had felt +before. I found the Fraeulein Valerie seated at the table. + +"Fraeulein," I said, seating myself beside her, "I am afraid you have +been needlessly alarmed. As I said in there, I give you my word there is +no immediate danger." + +"I _am_ frightened," she answered. "See how my hands are trembling. But +it is not death I fear." + +"You fear that man," I said, nodding my head in the direction of the +cabin I had just left; "but I assure you, you need not do so, for +to-day, at least, he is harmless." + +"Ah! you do not know him as I do," she replied. "I have seen him like +this before. As soon as the storm abates he will be himself again, and +then he will hate us both the more for having been witnesses of his +cowardice." Then, sinking her voice a little, she added: "I often +wonder, Mr. Forrester, whether he can be human. If so, he must be the +only one of his kind in the world, for Nature surely could not permit +two such men to live." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +It was almost dark when the yacht entered the harbour of Port Said, +though the sky at the back of the town still retained the last lingering +colours of the sunset, which had been more beautiful that evening than I +ever remembered to have seen it before. Well acquainted as I was with +the northern shores of the Mediterranean, this was the first time I had +been brought into contact with the southern, and, what was more +important, it was also the first occasion on which I had joined hands +with the Immemorial East. In the old days I had repeatedly heard it said +by travellers that Port Said was a place not only devoid of interest, +but entirely lacking in artistic colour. I take the liberty of +disagreeing with my informants _in toto_. Port Said greeted me with the +freshness of a new life. The colouring and quaint architecture of the +houses, the vociferous boatmen, the monotonous chant of the Arab +coalers, the string of camels I could just make out turning the corner +of a distant street, the donkey boys, the Soudanese soldiers at the +barriers, and last, but by no means least, the crowd of shipping in the +harbour, constituted a picture that was as full of interest as it was of +new impressions. + +As soon as we were at anchor and the necessary formalities of the port +had been complied with, Pharos's servant, the man who had accompanied us +from Pompeii and who had brought me on board in Naples, made his way +ashore, whence he returned in something less than an hour to inform us +that he had arranged for a special train to convey us to our +destination. We accordingly bade farewell to the yacht and were driven +to the railway-station, a primitive building on the outskirts of the +town. Here an engine and a single carriage awaited us. We took our +places and five minutes later were steaming across the flat sandy plain +that borders the Canal and separates it from the Bitter Lakes. + +Ever since the storm, and the unpleasant insight it had afforded me into +Pharos's character, our relations had been somewhat strained. As the +Fraeulein Valerie had predicted, as soon as he recovered his +self-possession, he hated me the more for having been a witness of his +cowardice. For the remainder of the voyage he scarcely put in an +appearance on deck, but spent the greater portion of his time in his own +cabin, though in what manner he occupied himself there I could not +imagine. + +Now that we were in our railway carriage, _en route_ to Cairo, looking +out upon that dreary landscape, with its dull expanse of water on one +side, and the high bank of the Canal, with, occasionally, glimpses of +the passing stations, on the other, we were brought into actual contact, +and, in consequence, things improved somewhat. But even then we could +scarcely have been described as a happy party. The Fraeulein Valerie sat +for the most part silent and preoccupied, facing the engine in the +right-hand corner; Pharos, wrapped in his heavy fur coat and rug, and +with his inevitable companion cuddled up beside him, had taken his place +opposite her. I sat in the farther corner, watching them both and dimly +wondering at the strangeness of my position. At Ismailia another train +awaited us, and when we and our luggage had been transshipped to it, we +continued our journey, entering now on the region of the desert proper. +The heat was almost unbearable, and to make matters worse, as soon as +darkness fell and the lamps were lighted, swarms of mosquitoes emerged +from their hiding-places and descended upon us. The train rolled and +jolted its way over the sandy plain, passed the battle-fields of +Tel-el-Kebir and Kassassin, and still Pharos and the woman opposite him +remained seated in the same position, he with his head thrown back, and +the same death-like expression upon his face, and she staring out of the +window, but, I am certain, seeing nothing of the country through which +we were passing. It was long after midnight when we reached the capital. +Once more the same obsequious servant was in attendance. A carriage, he +informed us, awaited our arrival at the station door, and in it we were +whirled off to the hotel, at which rooms had been engaged for us. +However disagreeable Pharos might make himself, it was at least certain +that to travel with him was to do so in luxury. + +Of all the impressions I received that day, none struck me with greater +force than the drive from the station to the hotel. I had expected to +find a typical Eastern city; in place of it I was confronted with one +that was almost Parisian, as far as its handsome houses and broad +tree-shaded streets were concerned. Nor was our hotel behind it in point +of interest. It proved to be a gigantic affair, elaborately decorated in +the Egyptian fashion, and replete, as the advertisements say, with every +modern convenience. The owner himself met us at the entrance, and from +the fact that he informed Pharos, with the greatest possible respect, +that his old suite of rooms had been retained for him, I gathered that +they were not strangers to each other. + +"At last we are in Cairo, Mr. Forrester," said the latter, with an ugly +sneer, when we had reached our sitting-room, in which a meal had been +prepared for us, "and the dream of your life is realised. I hasten to +offer you my congratulations." + +In my own mind I had a doubt as to whether it was a matter of +congratulation to me to be there in his company. I, however, made an +appropriate reply, and then assisted the Fraeulein Valerie to divest +herself of her travelling cloak. When she had done so we sat down to our +meal. The long railway journey had made us hungry, but, though I +happened to know that he had tasted nothing for more than eight hours, +Pharos would not join us. As soon as we had finished we bade each other +good-night and retired to our various apartments. + +On reaching my room I threw open my window and looked out. I could +scarcely believe that I was in the place in which my father had taken +such delight and where he had spent so many of the happiest hours of his +life. + +When I woke, my first thought was to study the city from my bedroom +window. It was an exquisite morning, and the scene before me more than +equalled it in beauty. From where I stood I looked away across the flat +roofs of houses, over the crests of palm trees, into the blue distance +beyond, where, to my delight, I could just discern the Pyramids peering +up above the Nile. In the street below stalwart Arabs, donkey boys, and +almost every variety of beggar could be seen, and while I watched, +emblematical of the change in the administration of the country, a guard +of Highlanders, with a piper playing at their head, marched by _en +route_ to the headquarters of the Army of Occupation. + +As usual, Pharos did not put in an appearance when breakfast was served. +Accordingly, the Fraeulein and I sat down to it alone. When we had +finished we made our way to the cool stone veranda, where we seated +ourselves, and I obtained permission to smoke a cigarette. That my +companion had something upon her mind I was morally convinced. She +appeared nervous and ill at ease, and I noticed that more than once, +when I addressed some remark to her, she glanced eagerly at my face as +if she hoped to obtain an opening for what she wanted to say, and then, +finding that I was only commenting on the stateliness of some Arab +passer-by, the beautiful peep of blue sky permitted us between two white +buildings opposite, or the graceful foliage of a palm overhanging a +neighbouring wall, she would heave a sigh and turn impatiently from me +again. + +"Mr. Forrester," she said at last, when she could bear it no longer, "I +intended to have spoken to you yesterday, but I was not vouchsafed an +opportunity. You told me on board the yacht that there was nothing you +would not do to help me. I have a favour to ask of you now. Will you +grant it?" + +Guessing from her earnestness what was coming, I hesitated before I +replied. + +"Would it not be better to leave it to my honour to do or not to do so +after you have told me what it is?" I asked. + +"No; you must give me your promise first," she replied. "Believe me, I +mean it when I say that your compliance with my request will make me a +happier woman than I have been for some time past." Here she blushed a +rosy red, as though she thought she had said too much. "But it is +possible my happiness does not weigh with you." + +"It weighs very heavily," I replied. "It is on that account I can not +give my promise blindfold." + +On hearing this she seemed somewhat disappointed. + +"I did not think you would refuse me," she said, "since what I am going +to ask of you is only for your own good. Mr. Forrester, you have seen +something on board the yacht of the risk you run while you are +associated with Pharos. You are now on land again and your own master. +If you desire to please me, you will take the opportunity and go away. +Every hour that you remain here only adds to your danger. The crisis +will soon come, and then you will find that you have neglected my +warning too long." + +"Forgive me," I answered, this time as seriously as even she could +desire, "if I say that I have not neglected your warning. Since you have +so often pointed it out to me, and judging from what I have already seen +of the character of the old gentleman in question, I can quite believe +that he is capable of any villainy; but, if you will pardon my reminding +you of it, I think you have heard my decision before. I am willing, nay, +even eager to go away, provided you will do the same. If, however, you +decline, then I remain. More than that I will not, and less than that I +can not, promise." + +"What you ask is impossible; it is out of the question," she continued. +"As I have told you so often before, Mr. Forrester, I am bound to him +forever and by chains that no human power can break. What is more, even +if I were to do as you wish, it would be useless. The instant he wanted +me, if he were thousands of miles away and only breathed my name, I +should forget your kindness, my freedom, his old cruelty--everything, in +fact--and go back to him. Have you not seen enough of us to know that +where he is concerned, I have no will of my own? Besides--but there, I +can not tell you any more! Let it suffice that I can not do as you ask." + +Remembering the interview I had overheard that night on board the yacht, +I did not know what to say. That Pharos had her under his influence I +had, as she had said, seen enough to be convinced. And yet, regarded in +the light of our sober, every-day life, how impossible it all seemed! I +looked at the beautiful, fashionably-dressed woman seated by my side, +playing with the silver handle of her Parisian parasol, and wondered if +I could be dreaming, and whether I should presently waken to find myself +in bed in my comfortable rooms in London once more, and my servant +entering with my shaving-water. + +"I think you are very cruel!" she said, when I returned no answer. +"Surely you must be aware how much it adds to my unhappiness to know +that another is being drawn into his toils, and yet you refuse to do the +one and only thing which can make my mind easier." + +"Fraeulein," I said, rising and standing before her, "the first time I +saw you I knew that you were unhappy. I could see that the canker of +some great sorrow was eating into your heart. I wished that I could help +you, and Fate accordingly willed that I should make your acquaintance. +Afterward, by a terrible series of coincidences, I was brought into +personal contact with your life. I found that my first impression was a +correct one. You were miserable, as, thank God! few human beings are. On +the night that I dined with you in Naples you warned me of the risk I +was running in associating with Pharos and implored me to save myself. +When I knew that you were bound hand and foot to him, can you wonder +that I declined? Since then I have been permitted further opportunities +of seeing what your life with him is like. Once more you ask me to save +myself, and once more I make you this answer. If you will accompany me, +I will go; and if you do so, I swear to God that I will protect and +shield you to the best of my ability. I have many influential friends +who will count it an honour to take you into their families until +something can be arranged, and with whom you will be safe. On the other +hand, if you will not go, I pledge you my word that so long as you +remain in this man's company I will do so too. No argument will shake my +determination and no entreaty move me from the position I have taken +up." + +I searched her face for some sign of acquiescence, but could find none. +It was bloodless in its pallor, and yet so beautiful that at any other +time and in any other place I should have been compelled by the love I +felt for her--a love that I now knew to be stronger than life itself--to +take her in my arms and tell her that she was the only woman in the wide +world for me, that I would protect her, not only against Pharos, but +against his master Apollyon himself. Now, however, such a confession was +impossible. Situated as we were, hemmed in by dangers on every side, to +speak of love to her would have been little better than an insult. + +"What answer do you give me?" I said, seeing that she did not speak. + +"Only that you are cruel," she replied. "You know my misery, and yet you +add to it. Have I not told you that I should be a happier woman if you +went?" + +"You must forgive me for saying so, but I do not believe it," I said, +with a boldness and a vanity that surprised even myself. "No, Fraeulein, +do not let us play at cross-purposes. It is evident you are afraid of +this man, and that you believe yourself to be in his power. I feel +convinced it is not as bad as you say. Look at it in a matter-of-fact +light and tell me how it can be so? Supposing you leave him now, and we +fly, shall we say, to London. You are your own mistress and quite at +liberty to go. At any rate, you are not his property to do with as he +likes, so if he follows you and persists in annoying you, there are many +ways of inducing him to refrain from doing so." + +She shook her head. + +"Once more, I say, how little you know him, Mr. Forrester, and how +poorly you estimate his powers! Since you have forced me to it, let me +tell you that I have twice tried to do what you propose--once in St. +Petersburg and once in Norway. He had terrified me, and I swore that I +would rather die than see his face again. Almost starving, supporting +myself as best I could by my music, I made my way to Moscow, thence to +Kiev and Lemburg, and across the Carpathians to Buda-Pesth. Some old +friends of my father's, to whom I was ultimately forced to appeal, took +me in. I remained with them a month, and during that time heard nothing +either of or from Monsieur Pharos. Then, one night, when I sat alone in +my bedroom, after my friends had retired to rest, a strange feeling that +I was not alone in the room came over me--a feeling that something, I do +not know what, was standing behind me, urging me to leave the house and +to go out into the wood which adjoined it, to meet the man whom I feared +more than poverty, more than starvation, more even than death itself. +Unable to refuse, or even to argue with myself, I rose, drew a cloak +about my shoulders and, descending the stairs, unbarred a door and went +swiftly down the path toward the dark wood to which I have just +referred. Incredible as it may seem, I had not been deceived. Pharos +was there, seated on a fallen tree, waiting for me." + +"And the result?" + +"The result was that I never returned to the house, nor have I any +recollection of what happened at our interview. The next thing I +remember was finding myself in Paris. Months afterward I learned that my +friends had searched high and low for me in vain, and had at last come +to the conclusion that my melancholy had induced me to make away with +myself. I wrote to them to say that I was safe, and to ask their +forgiveness, but my letter has never been answered. The next time was in +Norway. While we were there a young Norwegian pianist came under the +spoil of Pharos's influence. But the load of misery he was called upon +to bear was too much for him and he killed himself. In one of his cruel +moments Pharos congratulated me on the success with which I had acted as +his decoy. Realising the part I had unconsciously played, and knowing +that escape in any other direction was impossible, I resolved to follow +the wretched lad's example. I arranged everything as carefully as a +desperate woman could do. We were staying at the time near one of the +deepest fjords, and if I could only reach the place unseen, I was +prepared to throw myself over into the water five hundred feet below. +Every preparation was made, and when I thought Pharos was asleep I crept +from the house and made my way along the rough mountain path to the spot +where I was going to say farewell to my wretched life for good and all. +For days past I had been nerving myself for the deed. Reaching the spot +I stood upon the brink gazing down into the depths below, thinking of my +poor father, whom I expected soon to join, and wondering when my mangled +body would be found. Then, lifting my arms above my head, I was about +to let myself go, when a voice behind me ordered me to stop. I +recognised it, and though I knew that before he could approach me it was +possible for me to effect my purpose and place myself beyond even his +power forever, I was unable to do as I desired. + +"'Come here,' he said--and since you know him you can imagine how he +would say it--'this is the second time you have endeavoured to outwit +me. First you sought refuge in flight, but I brought you back. Now you +have tried suicide, but once more I have defeated you. Learn this, that +as in life so even in death you are mine, to do with as I will.' After +that he led me back to the hotel, and from that time I have been +convinced that nothing can release me from the chains that bind me." + +Once more I thought of the conversation I had overheard through the +saloon skylight on board the yacht. What comfort to give her or what +answer to make I did not know. I was still debating this in my mind when +she rose and, offering some excuse, left me and went into the house. +When she had gone, I seated myself in my chair again and tried to think +out what she had told me. It seemed impossible that her story could be +true, and yet I knew her well enough by this time to feel sure that she +would not lie to me. But for such a man as Pharos to exist in this +prosaic nineteenth century, and stranger still, for me, Cyril Forrester, +who had always prided myself on my clearness of head, to believe in him, +was absurd. That I was beginning to do so was, in a certain sense, only +too true. I was resolved, however, that, happen what might in the +future, I would keep my wits about me and endeavour to outwit him, not +only for my own sake, but for that of the woman I loved, whom I could +not induce to seek refuge in flight while she had the opportunity. + +During the afternoon I saw nothing of Pharos. He kept himself closely +shut up in his own apartment and was seen only by that same impassive +man-servant I have elsewhere described. The day, however, was not +destined to go by without my coming in contact with him. The Fraeulein +Valerie and I had spent the evening in the cool hall of the hotel, but +being tired she had bidden me good-night and gone to her room at an +early hour. Scarcely knowing what to do with myself, I was making my way +upstairs to my room, when the door of Pharos's apartment opened and to +my surprise the old man emerged. He was dressed for going out--that is +to say, he wore his long fur coat and curious cap. On seeing him I +stepped back into the shadow of the doorway, and was fortunate enough to +be able to do so before he became aware of my presence. As soon as he +had passed I went to the balustrading and watched him go down the +stairs, wondering as I did so what was taking him from home at such a +late hour. The more I thought of it the more inquisitive I became. A +great temptation seized me to follow him and find out. Being unable to +resist it, I went to my room, found my hat, slipped a revolver into my +pocket, in case I might want it, and set off after him. + +On reaching the great hall, I was just in time to see him step into a +carriage, which had evidently been ordered for him beforehand. The +driver cracked his whip, the horses started off, and, by the time I +stood in the porch, the carriage was a good distance down the street. + +"Has my friend gone?" I cried to the porter, as if I had hastened +downstairs in the hope of seeing him before he left. "I had changed my +mind and intended accompanying him. Call me a cab as quickly as you +can." + +One of the neat little victorias which ply in the streets of Cairo was +immediately forthcoming, and into it I sprang. + +"Tell the man to follow the other carriage," I said to the porter, "as +fast as he can go." + +The porter said something in Arabic to the driver, and a moment later we +were off in pursuit. + +It was a beautiful night, and, after the heat of the day, the rush +through the cool air was infinitely refreshing. It was not until we had +gone upward of a mile, and the first excitement of the chase had a +little abated, that the folly of what I was doing came home to me, but +even then it did not induce me to turn back. Connected with Pharos as I +was, I was determined if possible to find out something more about him +and his doings before I permitted him to get a firmer hold upon me. If I +could only discover his business on this particular night, it struck me, +I might know how to deal with him. I accordingly pocketed my scruples, +and slipping my hand into my pocket to make sure that my revolver was +there, I permitted my driver to proceed upon his way unhindered. By this +time we had passed the Kasr-en-Nil barracks, and were rattling over the +great Nile bridge. It was plain from this that whatever the errand might +be that was taking him abroad, it at least had no connection with old +Cairo. + +Crossing the Island of Bulak, and leaving the caravan depot on our left, +we headed away under the avenue of beautiful Lebbek-trees along the road +to Gizeh. At first I thought it must be the Museum he was aiming for, +but this idea was dispelled when we passed the great gates and turned +sharp to the right hand. Holding my watch to the carriage-lamp, I +discovered that it wanted only a few minutes to eleven o'clock. + +Although still shaded with Lebbek-trees, the road no longer ran between +human habitations, but far away on the right and left a few twinkling +lights proclaimed the existence of Fellahin villages. Of foot-passengers +we saw none, and save the occasional note of a night-bird, the howling +of a dog in the far distance, and the rattle of our own wheels, scarcely +a sound was to be heard. Gradually the road, which was raised several +feet above the surrounding country, showed a tendency to ascend, and +just as I was beginning to wonder what sort of a Will-o'-the-wisp chase +it was upon which I was being led, and what the upshot of it would be, +it came to an abrupt standstill, and towering into the starlight above +me, I saw two things which swept away all my doubts, and told me, as +plainly as any words could speak, that we were at the end of our +journey. _We had reached the Pyramids of Gizeh._ As soon as I understood +this, I signed to my driver to pull up, and, making him understand as +best I could that he was to await my return, descended and made my way +toward the Pyramids on foot. Keeping my eye on Pharos, whom I could see +ahead of me, and taking care not to allow him to become aware that he +was being followed, I began the long pull up to the plateau on which the +largest of these giant monuments is situated. Fortunately for me the +sand not only prevented any sound from reaching him, but its colour +enabled me to keep him well in sight. The road from the Mena House Hotel +to the Great Pyramid is not a long one, but what it lacks in length it +makes up in steepness. Never losing sight of Pharos for an instant, I +ascended it. On arriving at the top, I noticed that he went straight +forward to the base of the huge mass, and when he was sixty feet or so +from it, called something in a loud voice. He had scarcely done so +before a figure emerged from the shadow and approached him. Fearing they +might see me, I laid myself down on the sand behind a large block of +stone, whence I could watch them, remaining myself unseen. + +As far as I could tell, the new-comer was undoubtedly an Arab, and from +the way in which he towered above Pharos, must have been a man of +gigantic stature. For some minutes they remained in earnest +conversation. Then, leaving the place where they had met, they went +forward toward the great building, the side of which they presently +commenced to climb. After a little they disappeared, and, feeling +certain they had entered the Pyramid itself, I rose to my feet and +determined to follow. + +The Great Pyramid, as all the world, knows, is composed of enormous +blocks of granite, each about three feet high, and arranged after the +fashion of enormous steps. The entrance to the passage which leads to +the interior is on the thirteenth tier, and nearly fifty feet from the +ground. With a feeling of awe which may be very well understood, when I +reached it I paused before entering. I did not know on the threshold of +what discovery I might be standing. And what was more, I reflected that +if Pharos found me following him, my life would in all probability pay +the forfeit. My curiosity, however, was greater than my judgment, and +being determined, since I had come so far, not to go back without +learning all there was to know, I hardened my heart, and, stooping down, +entered the passage. When I say that it is less than four feet in +height, and of but little more than the same width, and that for the +first portion of the way the path slopes downward at an angle of +twenty-six degrees, some vague idea may be obtained of the unpleasant +place it is. But if I go on to add that the journey had to be undertaken +in total darkness, without any sort of knowledge of what lay before me, +or whether I should ever be able to find my way out again, the +foolhardiness of the undertaking will be even more apparent. Step by +step, and with a caution which I can scarcely exaggerate, I made my way +down the incline, trying every inch before I put my weight upon it and +feeling the walls carefully with either hand in order to make sure that +no other passages branched off to right or left. After I had been +advancing for what seemed an interminable period, but could not in +reality have been more than five minutes. I found myself brought to a +standstill by a solid wall of stone. For a moment I was at a loss how to +proceed. Then I found that there was a turn in the passage, and the +path, instead of continuing to descend, was beginning to work upward, +whereupon, still feeling my way as before, I continued my journey of +exploration. The heat was stifling, and more than once foul things, that +only could have been bats, flapped against my face and hands and sent a +cold shudder flying over me. Had I dared for a moment to think of the +immense quantity of stone that towered above me, or what my fate would +be had a stone fallen from its place and blocked the path behind me, I +believe I should have been lost for good and all. But, frightened as I +was, a greater terror was in store for me. + +After I had been proceeding for some time along the passage, I found +that it was growing gradually higher. The air was cooler, and raising my +head cautiously in order not to bump it against the ceiling, I +discovered that I was able to stand upright. I lifted my hand, first a +few inches, and then to the full extent of my arm; but the roof was +still beyond my reach. I moved a little to my right in order to +ascertain if I could touch the wall, and then to the left. But once more +only air rewarded me. It was evident that I had left the passage and was +standing in some large apartment; but, since I knew nothing of the +interior of the Pyramid, I could not understand what it was or where it +could be situated. Feeling convinced in my own mind that I had missed my +way, since I had neither heard nor seen anything of Pharos, I turned +round and set off in what I considered must be the direction of the +wall; but though I walked step by step, once more feeling every inch of +the way with my foot before I put it down, I seemed to have covered +fifty yards before my knuckles came in contact with it. Having located +it, I fumbled my way along it in the hope that I might discover the +doorway through which I had entered; but though I tried for some +considerable time, no sort of success rewarded me. I paused and tried to +remember which way I had been facing when I made the discovery that I +was no longer in the passage. In the dark, however, one way seemed like +another, and I had turned myself about so many times that it was +impossible to tell which was the original direction. Oh, how bitterly I +repented having ever left the hotel! For all I knew to the contrary I +might have wandered into some subterranean chamber never visited by the +Bedouins or tourists, whence my feeble cries for help would not be +heard, and in which I might remain until death took pity on me and +released me from my sufferings. + +Fighting down the terror that had risen in my heart and threatened to +annihilate me, I once more commenced my circuit of the walls, but again +without success. I counted my steps backward and forward in the hope of +locating my position. I went straight ahead on the chance of striking +the doorway haphazard, but it was always with the same unsatisfactory +result. Against my better judgment I endeavoured to convince myself that +I was really in no danger, but it was useless. At last my fortitude gave +way, a clammy sweat broke out upon my forehead, and remembering that +Pharos was in the building, I shouted aloud to him for help. My voice +rang and echoed in that ghastly chamber till the reiteration of it +well-nigh drove me mad. I listened, but no answer came. Once more I +called, but with the same result. At last, thoroughly beside myself with +terror, I began to run aimlessly about the room in the dark, beating +myself against the walls and all the time shouting at the top of my +voice for assistance. Only when I had no longer strength to move, or +voice to continue my appeals, did I cease, and falling upon the ground +rocked myself to and fro in silent agony. Times out of number I cursed +myself and my senseless stupidity in having left the hotel to follow +Pharos. I had sworn to protect the woman I loved, and yet on the first +opportunity I had ruined everything by behaving in this thoughtless +fashion. + +Once more I sprang to my feet and once more I set off on my interminable +search. This time I went more quietly to work, feeling my way carefully +and making a mental note of every indentation in the walls. Being +unsuccessful, I commenced again, and once more scored a failure. Then +the horrible silence, the death-like atmosphere, the flapping of the +bats in the darkness, and the thought of the history and age of the +place in which I was imprisoned, must have affected my brain, and for a +space I believe I went mad. At any rate, I have a confused recollection +of running round and round that loathsome place and of at last falling +exhausted upon the ground, firmly believing my last hour had come. Then +my senses left me and I became unconscious. + +How long I remained in the condition I have just described I can not +say. All I know is that when I opened my eyes I found the chamber bright +with the light of torches, and no less a person than Pharos kneeling +beside me. Behind him, but at a respectful distance, were a number of +Arabs, and among them a man whose height could scarcely have been less +than seven feet. This was evidently the individual who had met Pharos at +the entrance to the Pyramid. + +"Rise," said Pharos, addressing me, "and let this be a warning to you +never to attempt to spy on me again. Think not that I was unaware that +you were following me, or that the mistake on your part in taking the +wrong turning in the passage was not ordained. The time has now gone by +for me to speak to you in riddles; our comedy is at an end, and for the +future you are my property to do with as I please. You will have no will +but my pleasure, no thought but to act as I shall tell you. Rise and +follow me." + +Having said this, he made a sign to the torch-bearers, who immediately +led the way toward the door which was now easy enough to find. Pharos +followed them, and, more dead than alive, I came next, while the tall +man I have mentioned brought up the rear. In this order we groped our +way down the narrow passage. Then it was that I discovered the mistake I +had made in entering. Whether by accident, or by the exercise of +Pharos's will, as he had desired me to believe, it was plain I had taken +the wrong turning, and, instead of going on to the King's Hall, where no +doubt I should have found the man I was following, I had turned to the +left and had entered the apartment popularly, but erroneously, called +the Queen's Chamber. + +It would have been difficult to estimate the thankfulness I felt on +reaching the open air once more. How sweet the cool night wind seemed +after the close and suffocating atmosphere of the Pyramid I can not hope +to make you understand. And yet, if I had only known, it would have been +better for me, far better, had I never been found, and my life come to +an end when I fell senseless upon the floor. + +When we had left the passage and had clambered down to the sands once +more, Pharos bade me follow him, and leading the way round the base of +the Pyramid, conducted me down the hill toward the Sphinx. + +For fully thirty years I had looked forward to the moment when I should +stand before this stupendous monument and try to read its riddle; but in +my wildest dreams I had never thought to do so in such company. Looking +down at me in the starlight, across the gulf of untold centuries, it +seemed to smile disdainfully at my small woes. + +"To-night," said Pharos, in that same extraordinary voice he had used a +quarter of an hour before, when he bade me follow him, "you enter upon a +new phase of your existence. Here, under the eyes of the Watcher of +Harmachis, you shall learn something of the wisdom of the ancients." + +At a signal the tall man whom he had met at the foot of the Pyramid +sprang forward and seized me by the arms from behind with a grip of +iron. Then Pharos produced from his pocket a small case containing a +bottle. From the latter he poured a few spoonfuls of some fluid into a +silver cup, which he placed to my mouth. + +"Drink," he said. + +At any other time I should have refused to comply with such a request; +but on this occasion so completely had I fallen under his influence that +I was powerless to disobey. + +The opiate, or whatever it was, must have been a powerful one, for I had +scarcely swallowed it before an attack of giddiness seized me. The +outline of the Sphinx and the black bulk of the Great Pyramid beyond +were merged in the general darkness. I could hear the wind of the desert +singing in my ears and the voice of Pharos muttering something in an +unknown tongue beside me. After that I sank down on the sand and +presently became oblivious of everything. + +How long I remained asleep I have no idea. All I know is, that with a +suddenness that was almost startling, I found myself awake and standing +in a crowded street. The sun shone brilliantly, and the air was soft and +warm. Magnificent buildings, of an architecture that my studies had long +since made me familiar with, lined it on either hand, while in the +roadway were many chariots and gorgeously-furnished litters, before and +beside which ran slaves, crying aloud in their masters' names for room. + +From the position of the sun in the sky, I gathered that it must be +close upon midday. The crowd was momentarily increasing, and as I +walked, marvelling at the beauty of the buildings, I was jostled to and +fro and oftentimes called upon to stand aside. That something unusual +had happened to account for this excitement was easily seen, but what it +was, being a stranger, I had no idea. Sounds of wailing greeted me on +every side, and in all the faces upon which I looked signs of +overwhelming sorrow were to be seen. + +Suddenly a murmur of astonishment and anger ran through the crowd, which +separated hurriedly to right and left. A moment later a man came +through the lane thus formed. He was short and curiously misshapen, and +as he walked he covered his face with the sleeve of his robe, as though +he were stricken with grief or shame. + +Turning to a man who stood beside me, and who seemed even more excited +than his neighbours, I inquired who the new-comer might be. + +"Who art thou, stranger?" he answered, turning sharply on me. "And +whence comest thou that thou knowest not Ptahmes, Chief of the King's +Magicians? Learn, then, that he hath fallen from his high estate, +inasmuch as he made oath before Pharaoh that the first-born of the King +should take no hurt from the spell this Israelitish sorcerer, Moses, +hath cast upon the land. Now the child and all the first-born of Egypt +are dead, and the heart of Pharaoh being hardened against his servant, +he hath shamed him and driven him from before his face." + +As he finished speaking, the disgraced man withdrew his robe from his +face, and I realised the astounding fact _that Ptahmes the Magician and +Pharos the Egyptian were not ancestor and descendant, but one and the +same person_. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Of the circumstances under which my senses returned to me after the +remarkable vision, for that is the only name I can assign to it, which I +have described in the preceding chapter, only the vaguest recollection +remains to me. + +When Pharos had ordered me to drink the stuff he had poured out, we were +standing before the Sphinx at Gizeh; now, when I opened my eyes, I was +back once more in my bedroom at the hotel in Cairo. Brilliant sunshine +was streaming in through the jalousies, and I could hear footsteps in +the corridor outside. At first I felt inclined to treat the whole as a +dream; but the marks upon my hands, made when I had beaten them on the +rough walls of that terrible chamber in the Pyramid, soon showed me the +futility of so doing. I remembered how I had run round and round that +dreadful place in search of a way out, and the horror of the +recollection was sufficient to bring a cold sweat out once more upon my +forehead. Strange to say, I mean strange in the light of all that has +transpired since, the memory of the threat Pharos had used to me caused +me no uneasiness, and yet, permeating my whole being, was a loathing for +him and a haunting fear that was beyond description in words. This +dislike was the outcome not so much of a physical animosity, if I may so +designate it, as of a peculiar description of supernatural fear. Reason +with myself as I would I could not get rid of the belief that the man +was more than he pretended to be, that there was some link between him +and the Unseen which it was impossible for me to understand. Arguing +with myself in this way I was the more disposed to believe in the vision +of the preceding night. + +On consulting my watch I was amazed to find that it wanted only a few +minutes of ten o'clock. I sprang from my bed, and a moment later came +within an ace of measuring my length upon the floor. What occasioned +this weakness I could not tell, but the fact remains that I was as +feeble as a little child. The room spun round and round until I became +so giddy that I was compelled to clutch at a table for support. What was +even stranger, I was conscious of a sharp pricking on my left arm a +little above the elbow, which eventually became so sharp that it could +be felt not only on the tips of my fingers but for some distance down my +side. To examine the place was the work of a moment. On the fleshy part +of the arm, three inches or so above the elbow, was a small spot, such +as might have been made by some sharp pointed instrument, a hypodermic +syringe for instance, and which was fast changing from a pale pink to a +purple hue. My wonderment was increased when I discovered that the spot +itself, and the flesh surrounding it for more than an inch, was +incapable of sensation. I puzzled my brains in vain to account for its +presence there. I could not remember scratching myself with anything in +my room, nor could I discover that the coat I bad worn on the preceding +evening showed any signs of a puncture. + +After a few moments the feeling of weakness which had seized me when I +first left my bed wore off. I accordingly dressed myself with as much +despatch as I could put into the operation, and my toilet being +completed, left my room and went in search of the Fraeulein Valerie. To +my disappointment she was not visible. I, however, discovered Pharos +seated in the veranda, in the full glare of the morning sun, with the +monkey, Pehtes, on his knee. For once he was in the very best of +tempers. Indeed, since I had first made his acquaintance I never +remembered to have known him so merry. At a sign I seated myself beside +him. + +"My friend," he began, "I am rejoiced to see you. Permit me to inform +you that you had a narrow escape last night. However, since you are up +and about this morning I presume you are feeling none the worse for it." + +I described the fit of vertigo which had overtaken me when I rose from +my bed, and went on to question him as to what had happened after I had +become unconscious on the preceding night. + +"I assure you you came very near being a lost man," he answered. "As +good luck had it I had not left the Pyramid and so heard you cry for +help, otherwise you might be in the Queen's Hall at this minute. You +were unconscious when we found you, and you had not recovered by the +time we reached home again." + +"Not recovered?" I cried in amazement. "But I walked out of the Pyramid +unassisted, and accompanied you across the sands to the Sphinx, where +you gave me something to drink and made me see a vision." + +Pharos gazed incredulously at me. + +"My dear fellow, you must have dreamed it," he said. "After all you had +gone through it is scarcely likely I should have permitted you to walk, +while as for the vision you speak of--well, I must leave that to your +own common sense. If necessary my servants will testify to the +difficulty we experienced in getting you out of the Pyramid, while the +very fact that you yourself have no recollection of the homeward +journey would help to corroborate what I say." + +This was all very plausible; at the same time I was far from being +convinced. I knew my man too well by this time to believe that because +he denied any knowledge of the circumstance in question he was really as +innocent as he was plainly anxious I should think him. The impression +the vision, for I shall always call it by that name, had made upon me +was still clear and distinct in my mind. I closed my eyes and once more +saw the street filled with that strangely dressed crowd, which drew back +on either hand to make a way for the disgraced Magician to pass through. +It was all so real, and yet, as I am compelled to confess, so +improbable, that I scarcely know what to think. Before I could come to +any satisfactory decision Pharos turned to me again. + +"Whatever your condition last night may have been," he said, "it is +plain you are better this morning, and I am rejoiced to see it, for the +reason I have made arrangements to complete the business which has +brought us here. Had you not been well enough to travel I should have +been compelled to leave you behind." + +I searched his face for an explanation. + +"The mummy?" I asked. + +"Exactly," he replied. "The mummy. We leave Cairo this afternoon for +Luxor. I have made the necessary arrangements, and we join the steamer +at midday, that is to say in about two hours' time." + +I inquired after the Fraeulein Valerie, whom I had not yet seen, +whereupon Pharos informed me that she had gone to her cabin to prepare +for the excursion up the Nile. + +"And now, Mr. Forrester," he said, rising from his chair and returning +the monkey to his place of shelter in the breast of his coat, "if I were +you I should follow her example. It will be necessary for us to start as +punctually as possible." + +Sharp on the stroke of twelve a carriage made its appearance at the door +of the hotel. The Fraeulein Valerie, Pharos, and myself took our places +in it, the gigantic Arab whom I had seen at the Pyramid on the preceding +night, and who I was quite certain had held my arms when Pharos +compelled me to drink the potion before the Sphinx, took his place +beside the driver, and we set off along the road to Bulak _en route_ to +the Embabeh. Having reached this, one of the most characteristic spots +in Cairo, we made our way along the bank toward a landing-stage, beside +which a handsome steamer was moored. If anything had been wanting to +convince me of the respect felt for Pharos by the Arabs, I should have +found it in the behaviour of the crew of this vessel. Had he been imbued +with the powers of life and death, they could scarcely have stood in +greater awe of him. + +Our party being on board, there was no occasion for any further delay, +consequently, as soon as we had reached the upper deck, the ropes were +cast off, and with prodigious fuss the steamer made her way out into mid +stream, and began the voyage which was destined to end in such a strange +fashion for all our party. + +Full as my life had been of extraordinary circumstances during the last +few weeks, I am not certain that my feelings as I stood upon the deck of +the steamer while she made her way up stream, passed the Khedive's +Palace, the Kasr-en-Nil barracks, Kasr-el-Ain, the Island of Rodah, and +Gizeh, did not eclipse them. Our vessel was a most luxurious one, and to +charter her must have cost Pharos a pretty penny. Immediately we got +under way the latter departed to his cabin, while the Fraeulein Valerie +and I stood side by side under the awning, watching the fast-changing +landscape in silence. The day was hot, with scarcely a breath of wind to +cool the air. Ever since the first week in June the Nile had been +rising, and was now running a swift and muddy river only a few feet +below the level of her banks. I looked at my companion, and as I did so +thought of all that we had been through together in the short time we +had known each other. Less than a month before, Pharos and I had to all +intents and purposes been strangers, and Valerie and I had not met at +all. Now I was embarking on a voyage up the Nile in their company, and +for what purpose? To restore the body of Merenptah's Chief Magician to +the tomb from which it had been taken by my own father nearly twenty +years before. Could anything have seemed more unlikely, and yet could +anything have been more true? Amiable as were my relations with my host +at present, there was a feeling deep down in my heart that troublous +times lay ahead of us. The explanation Pharos had given me of what had +occurred on the preceding night had been plausible enough, as I have +said, and yet I was far from being convinced by it. There were only two +things open to me to believe. Either he had stood over me saying, "For +the future you are mine to do with as I please; you will have no will +but my pleasure, no thought but to act as I shall tell you," or I had +dreamed it. When I had taxed him with it some hours before, he had +laughed at me, and had told me to attribute it all to the excited +condition of my brain. But the feeling of reality with which it had +inspired me was, I felt sure, too strong for it to have been imaginary; +and yet, do what I would, I could not throw off the unpleasant belief +that, however much I might attempt to delude myself to the contrary, I +was in reality more deeply in his power than I fancied myself to be. + +One thing struck me most forcibly, and that was the fact that now we +were away from Cairo, the Fraeulein Valerie was in better spirits than I +had yet seen her. Glad as I was, however, to find her happier, the +knowledge of her cheerfulness, for some reason or another, chilled and +even disappointed me. Yet, Heaven knows, had I been asked, I must have +confessed that I should have been even more miserable had she been +unhappy. When I joined them at lunch I was convinced that I was a +discordant note. I was thoroughly out of humour, not only with myself, +but with the world in general, and the fit had not left me when I made +my way up to the deck again. + +Downcast as I was, however, I could not repress an exclamation of +pleasure at the scene I saw before me when I reached it. In the +afternoon light the view, usually so uninviting, was picturesque in the +extreme. Palm groves decorated either bank, with here and there an Arab +village peering from among them, while, as if to afford a fitting +background, in the distance could be seen the faint outline of the +Libyan Hills. At any other time I should have been unable to contain +myself until I had made a sketch of it; now, however, while it impressed +me with its beauty, it only served to remind me of the association in +which I found myself. The centre of the promenade deck, immediately +abaft the funnel, was arranged somewhat in the fashion of a +sitting-room, with a carpet, easy-chairs, a sofa, and corresponding +luxuries. I seated myself in one of the chairs, and was still idly +watching the country through which we were passing, when Pharos made his +appearance from below, carrying the monkey Pehtes in his arms, and +seated himself beside me. It was plain that he was still in a contented +frame of mind, and his opening speech, when he addressed me, showed that +he had no intention of permitting me to be in anything else. + +"My dear Forrester," he said in what was intended to be a conciliatory +tone, "I feel sure you have something upon your mind that is worrying +you. Is it possible you are still brooding over what you said to me this +morning? Remember you are my guest; I am responsible for your happiness. +I can not permit you to wear such an expression of melancholy. Pray tell +me your trouble, and if I can help you in any way, rest assured I shall +only be too glad to do so." + +"I am afraid, after the explanation you gave me this morning, that it is +impossible for you to help me," I answered. "To tell the truth, I have +been worrying over what happened last night, and the more I think of it +the less able I am to understand." + +"What is it you find difficult to understand?" he inquired. "I thought +we were agreed on the subject when we spoke of it this morning." + +"Not as far as I am concerned," I replied. "And if you will consider for +a moment, I fancy you will understand why. As I told you then, I have +the best possible recollection of all that befell me in the Pyramid, and +of the fright I sustained in that terrible room. I remember your coming +to my assistance, and I am as convinced that, when my senses returned to +me, I followed you down the passage, out into the open air, and across +the sands to a spot before the Sphinx, where you gave me some strange +concoction to drink, as I am that I am now sitting on this deck beside +you." + +"And I assure you with equal sincerity that it is all a delusion," he +replied. "You must have dreamed the whole thing. Now I come to think of +it, I _do_ remember that you said something about a vision which I +enabled you to see. Perhaps, as your memory is so keen on the subject, +you may be able to give me some idea of its nature." + +I accordingly described what I had seen. From the way he hung upon my +words it was evident that the subject interested him more than he cared +to confess. Indeed, when I had finished he gave a little gasp that was +plainly one of relief, though why he should have been so I could not +understand. + +"And the man you saw coming through the crowd, this Ptahmes, what was he +like? Did you recognise him? Should you know his face again?" + +"I scarcely know how to tell you," I answered diffidently, a doubt as to +whether I had really seen the vision I had described coming over me for +the first time, now that I was brought face to face with the assertion I +was about to make. "It seems so impossible, and I am weak enough to feel +that I should not like you to think I am jesting. The truth of the +matter is, the face of the disgraced Magician was none other than your +own. You were Ptahmes, the man who walked with his face covered with his +mantle, and before whom the crowd drew back as if they feared him, and +yet hated him the more because they did so." + +"The slaves, the craven curs!" muttered Pharos fiercely to himself, +suddenly oblivious to my presence, his sunken eyes looking out across +the water, but I am convinced seeing nothing. "So long as he was +successful they sang his praises through the city, but when he failed +and was cast out from before Pharaoh, there were only six in all the +country brave enough to declare themselves his friends." + +Then recollecting himself he turned to me, and with one of his peculiar +laughs, to which I had by this time grown accustomed, he continued: "But +there, if I talk like this you will begin to imagine that I really have +some association with my long-deceased relative, the man of whom we are +speaking, and whose mummy is in the cabin yonder. Your account of the +vision, if by that name you still persist in calling it, is extremely +interesting, and goes another step toward proving how liable the human +brain is, under stress of great excitement, to seize upon the most +unlikely stories, and even to invest them with the necessary +_mise-en-scene_. Now I'll be bound you could reproduce the whole +picture, were such a thing necessary--the buildings, the chariots, the +dresses, nay even the very faces of the crowd." + +"I am quite sure I could," I answered, filled with sudden excitement at +the idea, "and what is more I will do so. So vivid was the impression it +made upon my mind that not a detail has escaped my memory. Indeed, I +really believe that it will be found that a large proportion of the +things I saw then I had never seen or heard of before. This, I think, +should go some way toward proving that my story is not the fallacy you +suppose." + +"You mistake me, my dear Forrester," he hastened to reply. "I do not go +so far as to declare it to be altogether a fallacy; I simply say that +what you think you saw must have been the effect of the fright you +received in the Pyramid. But your idea of painting the picture is +distinctly a good one, and I shall look forward with pleasure to giving +you my opinion upon it when it is finished. As you are well aware, I am +a fair Egyptologist, and I have no doubt I shall be able to detect any +error in the composition, should one exist." + +"I will obtain my materials from my cabin, and set to work at once," I +said, rising from my chair, "and when I have finished you shall +certainly give me your opinion on it." + +As on a similar occasion already described, under the influence of my +enthusiasm, the feeling of animosity I usually entertained toward him +left me entirely. I went to my cabin, found the things I wanted, and +returned with them to the deck. When I reached it I found the Fraeulein +Valerie there. She was dressed in white from head to foot, and was +slowly fanning herself with the same large ostrich-feather fan which I +remembered to have seen her vising on that eventful night when I had +dined with Pharos in Naples. Her left hand was hanging by her side, and +as I greeted her and reseated myself in my chair, I could not help +noticing its exquisite proportions. + +"Mr. Forrester was fortunate enough to be honoured by a somewhat +extraordinary dream last night," said Pharos by way of accounting for my +sketching materials. "The subject was Egyptian, and I have induced him +to try and make a picture of the scene for our benefit." + +"Do you feel equal to the task?" Valerie inquired, with unusual interest +as I thought. "Surely it must be very difficult. As a rule even the most +vivid dreams are so hard to remember in detail." + +"This was something more than a dream," I answered confidently, "as I +shall presently demonstrate to Monsieur Pharos. Before I begin, however, +I am going to ask a favour in return." + +"And what is that?" asked Pharos. + +"That while I am at work you tell us, as far as you know it, the history +of Ptahmes, the King's Magician. Not only does it bear upon the subject +of my picture, but it is fit and proper, since we have his mummy on +board, that we should know more than we at present do of our illustrious +fellow-traveller." + +"What could be fairer?" said Pharos after a slight pause. "While you +paint I will tell you all I know and since he is my ancestor, and I have +made his life my especial study, it may be supposed I am acquainted with +as much of his history as research has been able to bring to light. +Ptahmes, or, as his name signifies, the man beloved of Ptah, was the son +of Netruhotep, a Priest of the High Temple of Ammon, and a favourite of +Rameses II. From the moment of his birth great things were expected of +him, for, by the favour of the gods, he was curiously misshapen, and it +is well known that those whom the mighty ones punish in one way are +usually compensated for it in another. It is just possible that it may +be from him I inherit my own unpleasing exterior. However, to return to +Ptahmes, whose life, I can assure you, forms an interesting study. At an +early age the boy showed an extraordinary partiality for the mystic, and +it was doubtless this circumstance that induced his father to intrust +him to the care of the Chief Magician, Ilaper, a wise man, by whom the +lad was brought up. Proud of his calling, and imbued with a love for the +sacred mysteries, it is small wonder that he soon outdistanced those +with whom he was brought in contact. So rapid indeed were the strides he +made that the news of his attainments reached the ears of Pharaoh. He +was summoned to the royal presence and commanded to give an exhibition +of his powers, whereupon the King ordered him to remain at Court, and to +be constantly in attendance upon his person. From this point the youth's +career was assured. Year by year, and step by step, he made his way up +the ladder of fame till he became a mighty man in the land, a +councillor. Prophet of the North and South, and Chief of the King's +Magicians. Then, out of the land of Midian rose the star that, as it had +been written, should cross his path and bring about his downfall. This +was the Israelite Moses, who came into Egypt and set himself up against +Pharaoh, using magic, the like of which had never before been seen. But +that portion of the story is too well known to bear repetition. Let it +suffice that Pharaoh called together his councillors, the principal of +whom was Ptahmes, now a man of mature years, and consulted with them. +Pthames, foreseeing what would happen, was for acceding to the request +made by the Hebrew and letting the Israelites depart in peace from the +kingdom. To this course, however, Pharaoh would not agree, and he +allowed his favourite to understand that, not only was such advice the +reverse of palatable, but that a repetition of it would in all +probability deprive him of the royal favour. Once more the Hebrews +appeared before Pharaoh and gave evidence of their powers, speaking +openly to the King and using threats of vengeance in the event of their +demands not being acceded to. But Pharaoh was stiff-necked and refused +to listen, and in consequence evil days descended upon Egypt. By the +magic of Moses the fish died, and the waters of the Nile were polluted +so that, the people could not drink; frogs, in such numbers as had never +been seen before, made their appearance and covered the face of the +land. Then Pharaoh called upon Ptahmes and his Magicians, and bade them +imitate all that the others had done. They did so, and by their arts +frogs came up out of the land, even as Moses had made them do. Seeing +this, Pharaoh laughed the Israelites to scorn and once more refused to +consider their request, whereupon plagues of lice, flies, and boils +broke out upon man and beast, with mighty storms, and a great darkness +in which no man could see another's face. Once more Pharaoh, whose heart +was still hardened against Moses, called Ptahmes to his presence and +bade him advise him as to the course he should pursue. Being already at +war with his neighbours, he had no desire to permit this horde to cross +his borders only to side with his enemies against himself. And yet to +keep them and to risk further punishment was equally dangerous. Moses +was a stern man, and as the King had had already good reason to know, +was not one to be trifled with. Only that morning he had demanded an +audience and had threatened Pharaoh with a pestilence that should cause +the death of every first-born son throughout the land should he still +persist in his refusal. + +"Now Ptahmes, who, as I have said, was an astute man, and who had +already been allowed to see the consequences of giving advice that did +not tally with his master's humour, found himself in a position, not +only of difficulty, but also of some danger. Either he must declare +himself openly in favour of letting the Hebrews go, and once more run +the risk of Pharaoh's anger and possible loss of favour, or he must side +with his master, and, having done so, put forth every effort to prevent +the punishment Moses had decreed. After hours of suspense and +overwhelming anxiety he adopted the latter course. Having taken counsel +with his fellow-Magicians, he assured Pharaoh, on the honour of the +gods, that what the Israelite had predicted could never come to pass. +Fortified with this promise, Pharaoh once more refused to permit the +strangers to leave the land. As a result the first-born son of the King, +the child whom he loved better than his kingdom, sickened of a +mysterious disease and died that night, as did the first-born of all the +Egyptians, rich and poor alike. In the words of your own Bible, 'There +was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not +one dead.' Then Pharaoh's hatred was bitter against his advisers, and he +determined that Ptahmes in particular should die. He sought him with the +intention of killing him, but the Magician had received timely warning +and had escaped into the mountains, where he hid himself for many +months. Little by little his health gave way, he grew weaker, and in the +fiftieth year of his life Osiris claimed him for his own. It was said at +the time that for the sin he had caused Pharaoh to do, and the misery he +had brought upon the land of Egypt, and swearing falsely in the name of +the gods, he had been cursed with perpetual life. This, however, could +not have been so, seeing that he died in the mountains, and that his +mummy was buried in the tomb whence your father took it. Such is the +story of Ptahmes, the beloved of Ptah, son of Netruhotep, Chief of the +Magicians and Prophet of the North and South." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Strange as it may seem, all the circumstances attending it being taken +into consideration, that voyage up the Nile was one of the most +enjoyable I have ever undertaken. It is true the weather was somewhat +warmer than was altogether agreeable; but if you visit Egypt at +midsummer you must be prepared for a little discomfort in that respect. +From the moment of rising until it was time to retire at night our time +was spent under the awning on deck, reading, conversing, and watching +the scenery on either bank, and on my part in putting the finishing +touches to the picture I had commenced the afternoon we left Cairo. + +When it was completed to my satisfaction, which was on the seventh day +of our voyage, and that upon which we expected to reach Luxor, I showed +it to Pharos. He examined it carefully, and it was some time before he +offered an opinion upon it. + +"I will pay you the compliment of saying I consider it a striking +example of your art," he said, when he did speak. "At the same time, I +must confess it puzzles me. I do not understand whence you drew your +inspiration. There are things in this picture, important details in the +dress and architecture, that I feel convinced have never been seen by +this century. How, therefore, you could have known them passes my +comprehension." + +"I have already told you that that picture represents what I saw in my +vision," I answered. + +"You still believe that you saw a vision then?" he asked, with a return +to his old sneering habit, as he picked the monkey up and began to +stroke his ears. + +"I shall always do so," I answered. "Nothing will ever shake my belief +in that." + +At this moment the Fraeulein Valerie joined us, whereupon Pharos handed +her the picture and asked for her opinion upon it. She examined it +carefully, while I waited with some anxiety for her criticism. + +"It is very clever," she said, still looking at it, "and beautifully +painted; but, if you will let me say so, I do not know that I altogether +like it. There is something about it that I do not understand. And see, +you have given the central figure Monsieur Pharos's face." + +She looked up at me as if to inquire the reason of this likeness, after +which we both glanced at Pharos, who was seated before us, wrapped as +usual in his heavy rug, with the monkey, Pehtes, peering out from his +invariable hiding-place beneath his master's coat. For the moment I did +not know what answer to return. To have told her in the broad light of +day, with the prosaic mud-banks of the Nile on either hand, and the +Egyptian sailors washing paint-work at the farther end of the deck, that +in my vision I had been convinced that Pharos and Ptahmes were one and +the same person, would have been too absurd. Pharos, however, relieved +me of the necessity of saying anything by replying for me. + +"Mr. Forrester has done me great honour, my dear," he said gaily, "in +choosing my features for the central figure. I had no idea that my +unfortunate person was capable of such dramatic effect.--If at any +time, Forrester, you should desire to dispose of that picture, I shall +be delighted to take it off your hands." + +"You may have it now," I answered. "If you think it worthy of your +acceptance, I will gladly give it you. To tell the truth, I myself, like +the Fraeulein here, am a little afraid of it, though why I should be, +seeing that it is my own work, Heaven only knows." + +"As you say, Heaven only knows," returned Pharos solemnly, and then +making the excuse that he would put the picture in a place of safety, he +left us and went to his cabin, Pehtes hopping along the deck behind him. + +For some time after he had left us the Fraeulein and I sat silent. The +afternoon was breathless, and even our progress through the water raised +no breeze. We were passing the town of Keneh at the time, a miserable +collection of buildings of the usual Nile type, and famous only as being +a rallying place for Mecca pilgrims, and for the Kulal and Ballas +(water-bottles), which bear its name. + +While her eyes were fixed upon it I was permitted an opportunity of +studying my companion's countenance. I noted the proud poise of her +head, and the luxuriance of the hair coiled so gracefully above it. She +was a queen among women, as I had so often told myself; one whom any man +might be proud to love, and then I added, as another thought struck me, +one for whom the man she loved might willingly lay down his life. That I +loved her with a sincerity and devotion greater than I had ever felt for +any other human being, I was fully aware by this time. If the truth must +be told, I believe I had loved her from the moment I first saw her face. +But was it possible that she could love me? + +"I have noticed that you are very thoughtful to-day, Fraeulein," I said, +as the steamer dropped the town behind her and continued her journey up +stream in a somewhat more westerly direction. + +"Have I not good reason to be?" she answered. "You must remember I have +made this journey before." + +"But why should that produce such an effect upon you?" I asked. "To me +it is a pleasure that has not yet begun to pall, and as you will, I am +sure, admit, Pharos has proved a most thoughtful and charming host." + +I said this with intention, for I wanted to see what reply she would +make. + +"I have not noticed his behaviour," she answered wearily. "It is always +the same to me. But I _do_ know this, that after each visit to the place +for which we are now bound, great trouble has resulted for some one. +Heaven grant that it may not be so on this occasion!" + +"I do not see what trouble _can_ result," I said. "Pharos is simply +going to replace the mummy in the tomb from which it was taken, and +after that I presume we shall return to Cairo, and probably to Europe." + +"And then?" + +"After that----" + +But I could get no further. The knowledge that in all likelihood as soon +as we reached Europe I should have to bid her good-bye and return to +London was too much for me, and for this reason I came within an ace of +blurting out the words that were in my heart. Fortunately, however, I +was able to summon up my presence of mind in time to avert such a +catastrophe, otherwise I can not say what the result would have been. +Had I revealed my love to her and asked her to be my wife, and she had +refused me, our position, boxed up together as we were on board the +steamer, and with no immediate prospect of release, would have been +uncomfortable in the extreme. So I crammed the words back into my heart +and waited for another and more favourable opportunity. + +The sun was sinking behind the Arabian hills, in a wealth of gold and +crimson colouring, as we obtained our first glimpse of the mighty ruins +we had come so far to see. Out of a dark green sea of palms to the left, +rose the giant pylons of the Temple of Ammon at Karnak. A few minutes +later Luxor itself was visible, and within a quarter of an hour our +destination was reached, and the steamer was at a standstill. + +We had scarcely come to an anchor before the vessel was surrounded by +small boats, the occupants of which clambered aboard, despite the +efforts of the officers and crew to prevent them. As usual they brought +with them spurious relics of every possible sort and description, not +one of which, however, our party could be induced to buy. The Fraeulein +Valerie and I were still protesting, when Pharos emerged from his cabin +and approached us. Never shall I forget the change that came over the +scene. From the expressions upon the rascals' faces I gathered that he +was well known to them, at any rate within five seconds of his +appearance not one of our previous persecutors remained aboard the +vessel. + +"They seem to know you." I said to Pharos, with a laugh, as the last of +the gang took a header from the rail into the water. + +"They do," he answered grimly. "I think I can safely promise you that +after this not a man in Luxor will willingly set foot upon this vessel. +Would you care to try the experiment?" + +"Very much," I said, and taking an Egyptian pound piece from my pocket I +stepped to the side and invited the rabble to come aboard and claim it. +But the respect they entertained for Pharos was evidently greater than +their love of gold; at any rate not a man seemed inclined to venture. + +"A fair test," said Pharos. "You may rest assured that unless you throw +it over to them your money will remain in your own pocket. But see, some +one of importance is coming off to us. I am expecting a messenger, and +in all probability it is he." + +A somewhat better boat than those clustered around us was putting off +from the bank, and seated in her was an Arab, clad in white burnouse and +wearing a black turban upon his head. + +"Yes, it is he," said Pharos, as with a few strokes of their oars the +boatmen brought their craft alongside. + +Before I could inquire who the person might be whom he was expecting, +the man I have just described had reached the deck, and, after looking +about him, approached the spot where Pharos was standing. Accustomed as +I was to the deference shown by the Arabs toward their superiors, I was +far from expecting the exhibition of servility I now beheld. So +overpowered was the new-comer by the reverence he felt for Pharos that +he could scarcely stand upright. + +"I expected thee, Salem Awad," said Pharos, in Arabic. "What tidings +dost thou bring?" + +"I come to tell thee," the man replied, "that he whom thou didst order +to be here has heard of thy coming, and will await thee at the place of +which thou hast spoken." + +"It is well," continued Pharos. "Has all of which I wrote to thee been +prepared?" + +"All has been prepared and awaits thy coming." + +"Return then and tell him who sent thee to me that I will be with him +before he sleeps to-night." + +The man bowed once more and made his way to his boat, in which he +departed for the bank. + +When he had gone, Pharos turned to me. + +"We are expected," he said, "and, as you heard him say, preparations +have been made to enable us to carry out the work we have come to do. +After all his journeying Ptahmes has at last returned to the city of his +birth and death. It is a strange thought, is it not? Look about you, Mr. +Forrester, and see the mightiest ruins the world has known. Yonder is +the Temple of Luxor, away to the north you can see the remains of the +Temple of Ammon at Karnak; five thousand years ago they were connected +by a mighty road. Yonder is the Necropolis of Thebes, with the tombs +that once contained the mortal remains of the mighty ones of Egypt. +Where are those mighty ones now? Scattered to the uttermost parts of the +earth, stolen from their resting-places to adorn glass cases in European +and American museums, and to be sold at auction by Jew salesmen at so +much per head, the prices varying according to their dates and state of +preservation. But there, time is too short to talk of such indignity. +The gods will avenge it in their own good time. Let it suffice that +to-night we are to fulfil our errand. Am I right in presuming that you +desire to accompany me?" + +"I should be sincerely disappointed if I could not do so," I answered. +"But if you would prefer to go alone I will not force my presence upon +you." + +"I shall only be too glad of your company," he answered. "Besides, you +have a right to be present, since it is through you I am permitted an +opportunity of replacing my venerable ancestor in his tomb. Perhaps you +will be good enough to hold yourself in readiness to start at eleven +o'clock. Owing to the publicity now given to anything that happens in +the ruins of this ancient city, the mere fact that we are returning a +mummy to its tomb, of the existence of which the world has no knowledge, +would be sufficient to attract a concourse of people whose presence +would be in the highest degree objectionable to me." + +"You must excuse my interrupting you," I said, thinking I had caught him +tripping, "but you have just said that you are going to open a tomb of +the existence of which the world has no knowledge. Surely my father +opened it many years ago, otherwise how did he become possessed of the +mummy?" + +"Your father discovered it, it is true, but he stumbled upon it quite by +chance, and it was reburied within a few hours of his extracting the +mummy. If he were alive now I would defy him to find the place again." + +"And you are going to open it to-night?" + +"That is my intention. And when I have done so it will once more be +carefully hidden, and may woe light upon the head of the man who shall +again disturb it!" + +I do not know whether this speech was intended to have any special +significance, but as he said it he looked hard at me, and never since I +have known him had I seen a more diabolical expression upon his +countenance. I could scarcely have believed that the human face was +capable of such malignity. He recovered himself as quickly, however, and +then once more bidding me prepare for the excursion of the evening, took +himself off to his cabin and left me to ponder over all he had said. + +Eleven o'clock had only just struck that night when the tall Arab, my +acquaintance of the Pyramids, came along the deck in search of me. I was +sitting with the Fraeulein Valerie at the time, but as soon as he told me +that Pharos was waiting and that it was time for us to start, I made +haste to rise. On hearing our errand my companion became uneasy. + +"I do not like it," she said. "Why could he not do it in the daytime? +This going off under cover of the night savours too much of the +conspirator, and I beg you to be careful of what you do. Have you a +revolver?" + +I answered in the affirmative, whereupon she earnestly advised me to +carry it with me, a course which I resolved to adopt. Then bidding her +good-bye I left her and went to my cabin, little dreaming that upward of +a week would elapse before I should see her again. + +When I joined Pharos on deck I discovered that he had made no difference +in his attire, but was dressed just as I had always seen him, even to +the extent of his heavy coat which he wore despite the heat of the +night. + +"If you are ready," he said, "let us lose no time in starting." Then +turning to the tall Arab, he bade him call the boat up, and as soon as +it was at the ladder we descended and took our places in it. A few +strokes of the oars brought us to the bank, where we found two camels +awaiting us. On closer inspection I discovered that the individual in +charge of them was none other than the man who had boarded the steamer +that afternoon, and whom I have particularized as having shown such +obsequious respect to Pharos. + +At a sign from the latter, one of the camels was brought to his knees, +and I was invited to take my place in the saddle. I had never in my life +ridden one of these ungainly brutes, and it was necessary for the +driver to instruct me in the art. Pharos, however, seemed quite at home, +and as soon as he had mounted, and the camels had scrambled to their +feet once more, we set off. + +If my drive to the Pyramids, a week before, had been a singular +experience, this camel ride among the ruins of ancient Thebes at +midnight was much more so. On every side were relics of that +long-departed age when the city had been the centre of the civilized +world. + +After the heat of the day the coolness of the night was most refreshing. +Overhead the stars shone brilliantly, while from the desert a little +lonely wind came up and sighed for the desolation of the place. Nothing +could have been in better keeping with the impressiveness of the +occasion. One thing, however, puzzled me, for so far I had seen nothing +of the chief, and indeed the only reason of the expedition--namely, the +mummy of the dead Magician. I questioned Pharos on the subject, who +answered briefly that it had been sent on ahead to await our coming at +the tomb, and having given this explanation lapsed into silence. + +It must have been upward of half an hour later when the tall Arab, who +had all the way walked in front of the camel upon which Pharos was +seated, stopped and held up his hand. The animals immediately came to a +standstill. Peering into the darkness ahead, I found that we were +standing before a gigantic building which towered into the starlight. +This proved to be the main pylon of the great Temple of Ammon, the most +stupendous example of human architecture ever erected on the surface of +our globe. On either side of the open space upon which we stood, rows of +kriosphinxes showed where a noble road had once led from the temple to +the river. + +At a signal from Pharos the man who had boarded the steamer that +afternoon left us and entered the building, leaving us outside. + +Fully five minutes must have elapsed before he returned. When he did so +he said something to Pharos in a low voice, who immediately descended +from his camel and signed to me to do the same. Then we, in our turn, +approached the gigantic pylon, at the entrance of which we were met by a +man carrying a lighted torch. Viewed by this dim and uncertain light the +place appeared indescribably mysterious. Overhead the walls towered up +and up until I lost sight of them in the darkness. Presently we entered +a large court--so large indeed that even with the assistance of the +guide's torch we could not see the farther end of it. Then passing +through a doorway formed of enormous blocks of stone, the architrave of +which could scarcely have been less than a hundred feet from the ground, +we found ourselves standing in yet another and even greater hall. Here +we paused, while Pharos went forward into the darkness alone, leaving me +in the charge of the tall Arab and the man who carried the torch. Where +he had gone, and his reason for thus leaving me, I could not imagine, +and my common sense told me it would only be waste of time on my part to +inquire. Minutes went by until perhaps half an hour had elapsed, and +still he did not return. I was about to make some remark upon this, when +I noticed that the man holding the torch, who had hitherto been leaning +against a pillar, suddenly drew himself up and looked toward another +side of the great hall. I followed the direction of his eyes and saw an +old man approaching me. He was clad in white from head to foot, and with +a long white beard descending to within a few inches of his waist. He +signed to me to follow him, and then turning, led me across the hall in +the direction he had come. I followed close at his heels, threaded my +way among the mighty pillars carved all over with hieroglyphics, and so +passed into yet another court. Here it was all black darkness, and so +lonely that I found my spirits sinking lower and lower with every step I +took. Reaching the centre of my court my guide stopped and bade me +pause. I did so, whereupon he also departed, but in what direction he +went I could not tell. + +Had it been possible, I think at this stage of the proceedings I should +have left Pharos to his own devices, and have made my way out of the +ruins and back to the steamer without waste of time. Under the +circumstances I have narrated, however, I had no option but to remain +where I was, and in any case I doubt whether I should have had time to +make my escape, for the old man presently returned, this time with a +torch, and once more bade me follow him. I accordingly accompanied him +across the court, and among more pillars, to a small temple, which must +have been situated at some considerable distance from the pylon through +which we had entered the ruins. + +Approaching the farther corner of this temple, he stooped and, so it +seemed to me, touched something with his hand. At any rate, I distinctly +heard the jar of iron on stone. Then a large block of masonry wheeled +round on its own length and disappeared into the earth, revealing a +cavity possibly four feet square at our feet. As soon as my eyes became +accustomed to the darkness I was able to detect a flight of steps +leading down into a dark vault below. These the old man descended, and +feeling certain that I was intended to accompany him, I followed his +example. The steps were longer than I expected them to be, and were +possibly some fifty in number. Reaching the bottom I found myself +standing in a subterranean hall. The roof or ceiling was supported by a +number of elegantly sculptured _papyrus-bud_ columns, while the walls +were covered with paintings, every one of which was in a perfect state +of preservation. For what purpose the hall had been used in bygone days +I could not, of course, tell, but that it had some connection with the +mysterious rites of the god Ammon was shown, not only by the frescoes, +but by the trouble which had been taken to conceal the entrance to the +place. + +When we had reached the centre of the hall the old man turned and +addressed me. + +"Stranger," he said in a voice as deep and resonant as the tolling of a +bell, "by reason of the share that has been allotted thee in the +vengeance of the gods, it has been decreed that thou shalt penetrate the +mysteries of this holy place, the like of which not one of thy race or +people has ever yet beheld. Fear not that evil will befall thee; thou +art in the hands of the Mighty Ones of Egypt. They will protect thee. +Follow me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +In describing what occurred after the curious admonition addressed to me +by the old man who had conducted me to the subterranean chamber +mentioned in the last chapter, I am oppressed by the fear that my +narrative may seem too extraordinary to carry with it any semblance of +reality. The whole affair, from the moment when we left the steamer +until I stood where I now was, had been so mysterious, so unbelievable, +I might almost say, that I had passed from stage to stage of +bewilderment, scarcely conscious of anything but what was occurring at +the moment. In a vague fashion I wondered how it was that these rooms +had never been discovered by the hundreds of Egyptologists who, since +the time of Napoleon, had explored the temple. That it had not been so +brought to light I felt convinced, otherwise the necessity would +scarcely have existed for such secrecy as had been shown when I was +conducted to it. Besides, I had studied my guide-books carefully on our +voyage up the river, and was quite convinced that no mention of such +places had been made in any one of them. + +Having finished the speech with which I closed the preceding chapter, +the old man led me toward a doorway at the farther end of the room. The +posts which supported it, and which must have been something like ten +feet in width, were covered with hieroglyphics, as were the neighbouring +walls. On either side of the doorway stood two enormous kriosphinxes, +similar to those which had once lined the avenue between the Temples of +Karnak and Luxor. These had the bodies of lions and heads of rams, and +were as perfect as on the day when they had left the sculptor's hands, +who knew how many thousand years ago. Entering the archway, for archway +I should prefer to call it rather than door, I found myself standing +between two rows of life-sized statues, all excelling in workmanship, +and in the most perfect state of preservation. Though I was not +sufficiently learned in Egyptian history to be able to assign names to +them, I was nevertheless quite capable of appreciating their immense +value, and could well imagine the find they would prove to any +Egyptologist who, in days to come, might discover the secret of the +stone and penetrate into this mysterious place. + +From what I remember, and speaking at a guess, the passage could +scarcely have been less than a hundred feet in length and must have +contained at least a dozen statues. At the farther end it opened into a +smaller chamber or catacomb, in the walls of which were a number of +niches, each one containing a mummy. The place was intolerably close and +was filled with an overpowering odour of dried herbs. In the centre, and +side by side, were two alabaster slabs, each about seven feet long by +three in width. A stone pillar was at the head of each, but for what +purpose the blocks were originally intended I have no idea. + +At a signal from my conductor two beings, I cannot call them men, who +from their appearances I should have judged to be as old as Pharos +himself, made their appearance, bringing with them certain vestments and +a number of curiously shaped bottles. The robes, which were of some +white material, were embroidered with hieroglyphics. These they placed +about my shoulders, and when they had done so the old fellow who had +conducted me to the place bade me stretch myself upon one of the slabs I +have just mentioned. + +Under other circumstances I should have protested most vigorously, but I +was in such a position now that I came to the conclusion that it would +not only be useless but most impolitic on my part to put myself in +opposition against him thus early in the day. I accordingly did as I was +ordered. The two attendants, who were small, thin, and wizened almost +beyond belief, immediately began to anoint my face and hands with some +sweet-smelling essences taken from the bottles they had brought with +them. The perfume of these unguents was indescribably soothing, and +gradually I found myself losing the feeling of excitement and distrust +which had hitherto possessed me. The cigarettes Pharos had given me on +the occasion that I had dined with him in Naples must have contained +something of a like nature, for the effect was similar in more than one +essential. I refer in particular to the sharpening of the wits, to the +feeling of peculiar physical enjoyment, and to the dulling of every +sense of fear. + +It was just as well, perhaps, that I was in this frame of mind, for +though I did not know it, I was about to be put to a test that surpassed +in severity anything of which I could have dreamed. + +Little by little a feeling of extreme lassitude was overtaking me; I +lost all care for my safety, and my only desire was to be allowed to +continue in the state of exquisite semiconsciousness to which I had now +been reduced. The figures of the men who continued to sprinkle the +essences upon me, and of the old man who stood at my feet, his arms +stretched above his head as if he were invoking the blessing of the gods +upon the sacrifice he was offering to them, faded farther and farther +into the rose-coloured mist before my eyes. How long an interval elapsed +before I heard the old man's voice addressing me again I cannot say. It +may have been a few seconds, it may have been hours; I only know that as +soon as I heard it I opened my eyes and looked about me. The attendants +had departed and we were alone together. He was still standing before me +gazing intently down at my face. + +"Rise, son of an alien race," he said, "rise purified for the time of +thy earthly self, and fit to enter and stand in the presence of +Ammon-Ra!" + +In response to his command I rose from the stone upon which I had been +lying. Strangely enough, however, I did so without perceptible exertion. +In my new state my body was as light as air, my brain without a cloud, +while the senses of hearing, of sight, of smell, and of touch, were each +abnormally acute. + +Taking me by the hand, the old man led me from the room in which the +ceremony of anointing had taken place, along another passage, on either +side of which, as in the apartment we had just left, were a number of +shelves each containing a mummy case. Reaching the end of this passage, +he paused and extinguished the torch he carried, and then, still leading +me by the hand, entered another hall which was in total darkness. In my +new state, however, I experienced no sort of fear, nor was I conscious +of feeling any alarm as to my ultimate safety. + +Having brought me to the place for which he was making, he dropped my +hand, and from the shuffling of his feet upon the stone pavement I knew +that he was moving away from me. + +"Wait here and watch," he said, and his voice echoed and re-echoed in +that gloomy place. "For it was ordained from the first that this night +thou shouldst see the mysteries of the gods. Fear not, thou art in the +hands of the watcher of the world, the ever mighty Harmachis, who +sleepeth not day or night, nor hath rested since time began." + +With this he departed, and I remained standing where he had put me, +watching and waiting for what should follow. To attempt to make you +understand the silence that prevailed would be a waste of time, nor can +I tell you how long it lasted. Under the influence of the mysterious +preparation to which I had been subjected, such things as time, fear and +curiosity had been eliminated from my being. + +Suddenly, in the far distance, so small as to make it uncertain whether +it was only my fancy or not, a pin point of light attracted my +attention. It moved slowly to and fro with the regular and +evenly-balanced swing of a pendulum, and as it did so it grew larger and +more brilliant. Such was the fascination it possessed for me that I +could not take my eyes off it, and as I watched it everything grew +bright as noon-day. How I had been moved I know not, but to my amazement +I discovered that I was no longer in that subterranean room below the +temple, but was in the open air in broad daylight, and standing on the +same spot before the main pylon where Pharos and I had waited while the +man who had conducted us to the temple went off to give notice of our +arrival. There was, however, this difference, the temple, which I had +seen then was nothing more than a mass of ruins, now it was restored to +its pristine grandeur, and exceeded in beauty anything I could have +imagined. High into the cloudless sky above me rose the mighty pylons, +the walls of which were no longer bare and weather worn, but adorned +with brilliant coloured paintings. Before me, not covered with sand as +at present, but carefully tended and arranged with a view to enhancing +the already superb effect, was a broad and well-planned terrace from +which led a road lined on either side with the same stately kriosphinxes +that to-day lie headless and neglected on the sands. From this terrace +the waters of the Nile could be distinctly seen, with the steps, at +which the avenue I have just described terminated, leading down to them. +Away to the southwest rose the smaller Temple of Khunsi, and from it the +avenue of sphinxes which connected it with the Temple of Ammon two miles +away at Luxor. From the crowds that congregated round these mighty +edifices, and from the excitement which prevailed on every hand, it was +plain that some great festival was about to be celebrated. While I +watched the commencement of the procession made its appearance on the +farther side of the river, where state barges ornamented with much gold +and many brilliant colours were waiting to carry it across. On reaching +the steps it continued its march toward the temple. It was preceded by a +hundred dancing girls clad in white, and carrying timbrels in their +hands. Behind them was a priest bearing the two books of Hermes, one +containing hymns in honour of the gods, and the other precepts relating +to the life of the King. Next came the Royal Astrologer bearing the +measure of Time, the hour-glass and the Phoenix. Then the King's +Scribe, carrying the materials of his craft. Following him were more +women playing on single and double pipes, harps, and flutes, and after +the musicians the Stolistes, with the sign of Justice and the cup of +Libation. Next walked twelve servants of the temple, headed by the Chief +Priest, clad in his robes of leopard skins, after whom marched a troop +of soldiers with the sun glittering on their armour and accoutrements. +Behind, the runners were carrying white staves in their hand, and after +them fifty singing girls, strewing flowers of all colours upon the path. +Then, escorted by his bodyguard, the Royal Arms bearers, and seated upon +his throne of state, which again was borne upon the shoulders of the +chief eight nobles of the land, and had above it a magnificent canopy, +was Pharaoh himself, dressed in his robes of state and carrying his +sceptre and the flagellum of Osiris in either hand. Behind him were his +fan bearers, and by his side a man whom, in spite of his rich dress, I +recognised as soon as my eyes fell upon him. He was none other than the +servant whom Pharaoh delighted to honour, his favourite, Ptahmes, son of +Netruhotep, Chief of the Magicians, and Lord of the North and South. +Deformed as he was, he walked with a proud step, carrying himself like +one who knows that his position is assured. Following Pharaoh were his +favourite generals, then another detachment of soldiers, still more +priests, musicians, and dancing girls, and last of all a choir robed in +white, and numbering several hundred voices. If you can picture the blue +sky overhead, the sunshine, the mighty pylons and temples, the palm +trees, the glittering procession, the gorgeous uniforms, the avenues of +kriosphinxes, and the waters of the Nile showing in the background, you +will have some notion of the scene I have attempted to portray. + +Reaching the main pylon of the temple, the dancing girls, musicians and +soldiers drew back on either side, and Pharaoh, still borne upon the +shoulders of his courtiers, and accompanied by his favourite magician, +entered the sacred building and was lost to view. + +He had no sooner disappeared than the whole scene vanished, and once +more I found myself standing in the darkness. It was only for a few +moments, however. Then the globule of light which had first attracted my +attention reappeared. Again it swung before my eyes and again I suddenly +found myself in the open air. Now, however, it was nighttime. As on the +previous occasion, I stood before the main pylon of the temple. This +time, however, there was no crowd, no brilliant procession, no joyous +music. Heavy clouds covered the sky, and at intervals the sound of +sullen thunder came across the sands from the west. A cold wind sighed +round the corners of the temple and added to the prevailing dreariness. +It was close upon midnight, and I could not help feeling that something +terrible was about to happen. Nor was I disappointed. Even as I waited a +small procession crossed the Nile and made its way, just as the other +had done, up the avenue of kriosphinxes. Unlike the first, however, this +consisted of but four men, or to be exact, of five, since one was being +carried on a bier. Making no more noise than was necessary, they +conveyed their burden up the same well-kept roadway and approached the +temple. From where I stood I was able to catch a glimpse of the dead +man, for dead he certainly was. To my surprise he was none other than +Ptahmes. Not, however, the Ptahmes of the last vision. Now he was old +and poorly clad, and a very different creature from the man who had +walked so confidently beside Pharaoh's litter on the occasion of the +last procession. + +Knowing as I did the history of his downfall, I was easily able to put +two and two together and to ascribe a reason for what I saw. He had been +in hiding to escape the wrath of Pharaoh, and now he was dead, and his +friends among the priests of Ammon were bringing him by stealth to the +temple to prepare his body for the tomb. Once more the scene vanished +and I stood in darkness. Then, as before, the light reappeared, and with +it still another picture. + +On this occasion also it was night, and we were in the desert. The same +small party I had seen carrying the dead man before was now making its +way toward a range of hills. High up on a rocky spur a tomb had been +prepared, and to it the body of the man, once so powerful and now fallen +so low, was being conveyed. Unseen by the bearers, I followed and +entered the chamber of death. In front was the Chief Priest, a venerable +man, but to my surprise without his leopard skin dress. The mummy was +placed in position without ceremony of any kind. Even the most simple +funerary rites were omitted. No sorrowing relatives made an oblation +before it, no scroll of his life was read. Cut off from the world, +buried by stealth, he was left to take the long rest in an unhallowed +tomb from which my own father, three thousand years later, was destined +to remove his body. Then, like the others, this scene also vanished, and +once more I found myself standing in the dark hall. + +"Thou hast seen the splendour and the degradation of the man Ptahmes," +said the deep voice of the old man who had warned me not to be afraid. +"How he rose and how he fell. Thou hast seen how the mortal body of him +who was once so mighty that he stood before Pharaoh unafraid, was buried +by night, having been forbidden to cross the sacred Lake of the Dead. +For more than three thousand years, by thy calculation, that body has +rested in an unconsecrated tomb, it has been carried to a far country, +and throughout that time his soul has known no peace. But the gods are +not vengeful for ever, and it is decreed that by thy hand, inasmuch as +thou art not of his country or of his blood, he shall find rest at last. +Follow me, for there is much for thee to see." + +Leading the way across the large hall, he conducted me down another +flight of steps into yet another hall, larger than any I had yet seen, +the walls of which were covered with frescoes, in every case having some +connection with the services rendered to the dead. On a stone slab in +the centre of this great place was the mummy case which had for so many +years stood in the alcove of my studio, and which was undoubtedly the +cause of my being where I now was. I looked again and could scarcely +believe my eyes, for there, seated at its head, gazing from the old man +to myself, was the monkey Pehtes, with an expression of terror upon his +wizened little face. + +I must leave you to imagine what sort of effect the solemnity of this +great hall, the solitary mummy case lying in the centre, and the +frightened little monkey seated at its head had upon me. + +At a signal from my companion the men who had anointed me on my arrival +in this ghostly place made their appearance, but whence I could not +discover. Lifting the lid of the case, despite the monkey's almost human +protests, they withdrew the body, swaddled up as it was, and laid it +upon the table. One by one the cloths were removed until the naked flesh +(if flesh it could be called) lay exposed to view. To the best of my +belief it had never seen the light, certainly not in my time, since the +day, so many thousand years before, when it had been prepared for the +tomb. The effect it had upon me was almost overwhelming. My guide, +however, permitted no sign of emotion to escape him. When everything had +been removed the men who had done the work withdrew as silently as they +had come, and we three were left alone together. + +"Draw near," said the old man solemnly, "and if thou wouldst lose +conceit in thy strength, and learn how feeble a thing is man, gaze upon +the form of him who lies before you. Here on this stone is all that is +left of Ptahmes, the son of Netruhotep, Magician to Pharaoh, and chief +of the Prophets of the North and South." + +I drew near and looked upon the mummified remains. Dried up and brown as +they were, the face was still distinctly recognisable, and as I gazed I +sprang back with a cry of horror and astonishment. Believe it or not as +you please, but what I saw there was none other than the face of Pharos. +The likeness was unmistakable. There could be no sort of doubt about it. +I brushed my hand across my eyes to find out if I were dreaming. But no, +when I looked again the body was still there. And yet it seemed so +utterly impossible, so unheard of, that the man stretched out before me +could be he whom I had first seen at the foot of Cleopatra's Needle, at +the Academy, in Lady Medenham's drawing-room, and with whom I had dined +at Naples after our interview at Pompeii. And as I looked, as if any +further proof were wanting, the monkey, with a little cry, sprang upon +the dead man and snuggled himself down beside him. + +Approaching the foot of the slab, the old man addressed the recumbent +figure. + +"Open thine eyes, Ptahmes, son of Netruhotep," he said, "and listen to +the words that I shall speak to thee. In the day of thy power, when yet +thou didst walk upon the earth, thou didst sin against Ra and against +the mighty ones, the thirty-seven gods. Know now that it is given thee +for thy salvation to do the work which has been decreed against the +peoples upon whom their wrath has fallen. Be strong, O Ptahmes! for the +means are given thee, and if thou dost obey thou shalt rest in peace. +Wanderer of the centuries, who cometh out of the dusk, and whose birth +is from the house of death, thou wast old and art born again. Through +all the time that has been thou hast waited for this day. In the name, +therefore, of the great gods Osiris and Nephthys, I bid thee rise from +thy long rest and go out into the world, but be it ever remembered by +thee that if thou usest this power to thy own advantage or failest even +by as much as one single particular in the trust reposed in thee, then +thou art lost, not for to-day, not for to-morrow, but for all time. In +the tomb from whence it was stolen thy body shall remain until the work +which is appointed thee is done. Then shalt thou return and be at peace +for ever. Rise, Ptahmes, rise and depart!" + +As he said this the monkey sprang up from the dead man's side with a +little cry and beat wildly in the air with his hands. Then it was as if +something snapped, my body became deadly cold, and with a great shiver I +awoke (if, as I can scarcely believe, I had been sleeping before) to +find myself sitting on the same block of stone in the great Hypostile +Hall where Pharos had left me many hours before. The first pale light of +dawn could be seen through the broken columns to the east. The air was +bitterly cold, and my body ached all over as if, which was very likely, +I had caught a chill. Only a few paces distant, seated on the ground, +their faces hidden in their folded arms, were the two Arabs who had +accompanied us from Luxor. I rose to my feet and stamped upon the ground +in the hope of imparting a little warmth to my stiffened limbs. Could I +have fallen asleep while I waited for Pharos, and if so, had I dreamed +all the strange things that I have described in this chapter? I +discarded the notion as impossible, and yet what other explanation had I +to offer? I thought of the secret passage beneath the stone, and which +led to the vaults below. Remembering as I did the direction in which the +old man had proceeded in order to reach it, I determined to search for +it. If only I could find the place I should be able to set all doubt on +the subject at rest for good and all. I according crossed the great +hall, which was now as light as day, and searched the place which I +considered most likely to contain the stone in question. But though I +gave it the most minute scrutiny for upwards of a quarter of an hour, no +sign could I discover. All the time I was becoming more and more +convinced of one thing, and that was the fact that I was unmistakably +ill. My head and bones ached, while my left arm, which had never yet +lost the small purple mark which I had noticed the morning after my +adventure at the Pyramids, seemed to be swelling perceptibly and +throbbed from shoulder to wrist. Unable to find the stone, and still +more unable to make head or tail of all that had happened in the night, +I returned to my former seat. One of the Arabs, the man who had boarded +the steamer on our arrival the previous afternoon, rose to his feet and +looked about him, yawning heavily as he did so. He, at least, I thought, +would be able to tell me if I had slept all night in the same place. I +put the question to him, only to receive his solemn assurance that I had +not left their side ever since I had entered the ruins. The man's +demeanour was so sincere, that I had no reason to suppose that he was +not telling the truth. I accordingly seated myself again and devoutly +wished I were back with Valerie on board the steamer. + +A nice trick Pharos had played me in bringing me out to spend the night +catching cold in these ruins. I resolved to let him know my opinion of +his conduct at the earliest opportunity. But if I had gone to sleep on +the stone, where had he been all night, and why had he not permitted me +to assist in the burial of Ptahmes according to agreement? What was more +important still, when did he intend putting in an appearance again? I +had half made up my mind to set off for Luxor on my own account, in the +hope of being able to discover an English doctor, from whom I could +obtain some medicine and find out the nature of the ailment from which I +was suffering. I was, however, spared the trouble of doing this, for +just as my patience was becoming exhausted a noise behind me made me +turn round, and I saw Pharos coming toward me. It struck me that his +step was more active than I had yet seen it, and I noticed the pathetic +little face of the monkey, Pehtes, peeping out from the shelter of his +heavy coat. + +"Come," he said briskly, "let us be going. You look cold, my dear +Forrester, and if I am not mistaken, you are not feeling very well. Give +me your hand." + +I did as he ordered me. If, however, my hand was cold, his was like ice. + +"I thought as much," he said; "you are suffering from a mild attack of +Egyptian fever. Fortunately, however, that can soon be set right." + +I followed him through the main pylon to the place where we had +dismounted from our camels the night before. The patient beasts were +still there just as we had left them. + +"Mount," said Pharos, "and let us return with all speed to the steamer." + +I did as he desired, and we accordingly set off. I noticed, however, +that on the return journey we did not follow the same route as that +which had brought us to the temple. By this time, however, I was feeling +too ill to protest or to care very much where we went. + +"We are nearly there," said Pharos. "Keep up your heart. In less than +ten minutes you will be in bed and on the high road to recovery." + +"But this is not the way to Luxor," I said feebly, clinging to the +pommel of my saddle as I spoke and looking with aching eyes across the +dreary stretch of sand. + +"We are not going to Luxor," Pharos replied. "I am taking you to a place +where I can look after you myself, and where there will be no chance of +any meddlesome European doctors interfering with my course of +treatment." + +The ten minutes he had predicted seemed like centuries, and, had I been +asked, I should have declared that at least two hours elapsed between +our leaving the Temple of Ammon and our arrival at our destination. +During that time my agony was well nigh unbearable. My throat was +swelling and I felt as if I were suffocating. My limbs quivered as +though they had been stricken with the palsy, and the entire landscape +was blotted out by a red mist as thick as blood. + +More dead than alive, I accommodated myself to the shuffling tread of +the camel as best I could, and when at last I heard Pharos say in +Arabic, "It is here; bid the beast lie down," my last ounce of strength +departed and I lost consciousness. + +How long I remained in this state I had no idea at the time, but when I +recovered my senses again I found myself lying in an Arab tent, upon a +rough bed made up upon the sand. I was as weak as a kitten, and when I +looked at my hand as it lay upon the rough blanket I scarcely recognised +it, so white and emaciated was it. Not being able to understand the +reason of my present location, I raised myself on my elbow and looked +out under the flap of the tent. All I could see there, however, was +desert sand, a half-starved dog prowling about in the foreground in +search of something to eat, and a group of palm trees upon the far +horizon. While I was thus investigating my surroundings the same Arab +who had assured me that I had slept all night on the block of stone in +the temple made his appearance with a bowl of broth which he gave to me, +putting his arm round me and assisting me to sit up while I drank it. I +questioned him as to where I was and how long I had been there, but he +only shook his head, saying that he could tell me nothing. The broth, +however, did me good, more good than any information could have done, +and after he had left me I laid myself down and in a few moments was +asleep again. When I woke it was late in the afternoon and the sun was +sinking behind the palm trees to which I referred just now. As it +disappeared Pharos entered the tent and expressed his delight at finding +me conscious once more. I put the same questions to him that I had asked +the Arab, and found that he was inclined to be somewhat more +communicative. + +"You have now been ill three days," he said, "so ill, indeed, that I +dared not move you. Now, however, that you have got your senses back, +you will make rapid progress. I can assure you I shall not be sorry, for +events have occurred which necessitate my immediate return to Europe. +You on your part, I presume, will not regret saying farewell to Egypt?" + +"I would leave to-day, if such a thing were possible," I answered. "Weak +as I am I think I could find strength enough for that. Indeed, I feel +stronger already, and as a proof of it my appetite is returning. Where +is the Arab who brought me my broth this morning?" + +"Dead," said Pharos laconically. "He held you in his arms and died two +hours afterward. They've no stamina, these Arabs, the least thing kills +them. But you need have no fear. You have passed the critical point and +your recovery is certain." + +But I scarcely heard him. "Dead! dead!" I was saying over and over again +to myself as if I did not understand it. "Surely the man cannot be +dead?" He had died through helping me. What then was this terrible +disease of which I had been the victim? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +In travelling either with Pharos or in search of him it was necessary to +accustom oneself to rapid movement. I was in London on June 7th, and had +found him in Naples three days later; had reached Cairo in his company +on the 18th of the same month, and was four hundred and fifty miles up +the Nile by the 27th. I had explored the mysteries of the great Temple +of Ammon as no other Englishman, I feel convinced, had ever done; had +been taken seriously ill, recovered, returned to Cairo, travelled thence +to rejoin the yacht at Port Said; had crossed in her to Constantinople, +journeyed by the Orient Express to Vienna, and on the morning of July +15th stood at the entrance to the Teyn Kirche in the wonderful old +Bohemian city of Prague. + +From this itinerary it will be seen that the grass was not allowed to +grow under our feet. Indeed, we had scarcely arrived in any one place +before our remorseless leader hurried us away again. His anxiety to +return to Europe was as great as it had been to reach Egypt. On land the +trains could not travel fast enough; on board the yacht his one cry was, +"Push on, push on!" What this meant to a man like myself, who had lately +come so perilously near death, I must leave you to imagine. Indeed, +looking back upon it now, I wonder that I emerged from it alive. Looked +at from another light, I believe I could not have done so but for +Pharos. Callous as he had been to my sufferings hitherto, he could +scarcely do enough for me now. His first inquiry in the morning was as +to how I felt, and his last injunction at night was to the effect that +if I felt any return of fever I was to communicate with him immediately. +From this show of consideration on his part it would probably be argued +that I should at least have felt some gratitude toward himself. The +contrary, however, was the case. Ever since he had announced the death +of the Arab to me my fear and dislike of him had been intensified rather +than diminished. I was afraid of him very much in the same way as a man +is afraid of a loathsome snake, and yet with that fear there was a +peculiar fascination which I was powerless to resist. + +We had reached Constantinople early on Thursday morning and had left for +Vienna at four o'clock in the afternoon. In the latter place we had +remained only a few hours, had caught the next available train, and +reached Prague the following morning. What our next move would be I had +not the least idea, nor did Pharos enlighten me upon the subject. Times +out of number I made up my mind that I would speak to him about it and +let him see that I was tired of so much travelling, and desired to +return to England forthwith. But I could not leave Valerie, and whenever +I began to broach the subject my courage deserted me, and it did not +require much self-persuasion to make me put the matter off for a more +convenient opportunity. + +Of the Fraeulein Valerie, up to the time of our arrival in the city there +is little to tell. She had evidently been informed of my illness at +Karnak, for when I returned to the steamer she had arranged that +everything should be in readiness for my reception. By the time we +reached Cairo again I was so far recovered as to be able to join her on +deck, but by this time a curious change had come over her, she was more +silent and much more reserved than heretofore, and when we reached the +yacht spent most of her days in her own cabin, where I could hear her +playing to herself such wild, sad music that to listen to it made me +feel miserable for hours afterward. With Pharos, however, it was +entirely different. He, who had once been so morose, now was all smiles, +while his inseparable companion, the monkey, Pehtes, for whom I had +conceived a dislike that was only second to that I entertained for his +master, equalled if he did not excel him in the boisterousness of his +humour. + +At the commencement of this chapter I have said that on this particular +morning, our first in Prague, I was standing before the doors of the +Teyn Kirche, beneath the story of the Crucifixion as it is told there in +stone. My reason for being there will be apparent directly. Let it +suffice that when I entered the sacred building I paused, thinking how +beautiful it was, with the sunshine straggling in through those +wonderful windows which in bygone days had looked down on the burial of +Tycho Brahe, and had in all probability seen John of Nepomuc standing in +the pulpit. Their light illumined the grotesque old organ with its +multitude of time-stained pipes and dingy faded ornaments, and +contrasted strangely with that of the lamps and candles burning before +the various altars and shrines. Of all the churches of Europe there is +not one that affects me so deeply as this famous old Hussite building. +With the exception, however, of myself and a kneeling figure near the +entrance to the Marian Capelle, no worshippers were in the church. I +stood for a moment looking round the building. Its vague suggestion of +sadness harmonised with my own feelings, and I wondered if, among all +those who had worshipped inside its walls since the days when the German +merchants had first erected it, there had ever been one who had so +strange a story to tell as myself. At last, having screwed my courage to +the sticking point, I made my way down the nave between the carved, +worm-eaten pews, and approached the figure I have referred to above. +Though I could not see her face, I knew that it was Valerie. Her head +was bent upon her hands and her shoulders shook with emotion. She must +have heard my step upon the stones, for she suddenly looked up, and +seeing me before her, rose from her knees and prepared to leave the pew. +The sight of her unhappiness affected me keenly, and when she reached +the spot where I was standing I could control myself no longer. For the +last few weeks I had been hard put to it to keep my love within bounds, +and now, under the influence of her grief, it got the better of me +altogether. She must have known what was coming, for she stood before me +with a troubled expression in her eyes. + +"Mr. Forrester," she began, "I did not expect to see you. How did you +know that I was here?" + +"Because I followed you," I answered unblushingly. + +"You followed me?" she said. + +"Yes, and I am not ashamed to own it," I replied. "Surely you can +understand why?" + +"I am afraid I do not," she answered, and as she did so she took a step +away from me, as if she were afraid of what she was going to hear. + +"In that case there is nothing left but for me to tell you," I said, and +approaching her I took possession of the slender hand which rested upon +the back of the pew behind her. "I followed you, Valerie, because I love +you, and because I wished to guard you. Unhappily we have both of us the +best of reasons for knowing that we are in the power of a man who would +stop at nothing to achieve any end he might have in view. Did you hear +me say, Valerie, that I love you?" + +From her beautiful face every speck of colour had vanished by this time; +her bosom heaved tumultuously under the intensity of her emotion. No +word, however, passed her lips. I still held her hand in mine, and it +gave me courage to continue when I saw that she did not attempt to +withdraw it. + +"Have you no answer for me?" I inquired, after the long pause which had +followed my last speech. "I have told you that I love you. If it is not +enough I will do so again. What better place could be found for such a +confession than this beautiful old church, which has seen so many lovers +and has held the secrets of so many lives. Valerie, I believe I have +loved you since the afternoon I first saw you. But since I have known +you and have learnt your goodness that love has become doubly strong." + +"I can not hear you," she cried, almost with a sob, "indeed, I can not. +You do not know what you are saving. You have no idea of the pain you +are causing me." + +"God knows I would not give you pain for anything," I answered. "But now +you _must_ hear me. Why should you not? You are a good woman, and I am, +I trust, an honest man. Why, therefore, should I not love you? Tell me +that." + +"Because it is madness," she answered in despair. "Situated as we are we +should be the last to think of such a thing. Oh, Mr. Forrester, if only +you had taken my advice, and had gone away from Naples when I implored +you to do so, this would not have happened." + +"If I have anything to be thankful for it is that," I replied fervently. +"I told you then that I would not leave you. Nor shall I ever do so +until I know that your life is safe. Come, Valerie, you have heard my +confession, will you not be equally candid with me. You have always +proved yourself my friend. Is it possible you have nothing more than +friendship to offer me?" + +I knew the woman I was dealing with. Her beautiful, straightforward +nature was incapable of dissimulation. + +"Mr. Forrester, even if what you hope is impossible, it would be unfair +on my part to deceive you," she said. "I love you, as you are worthy to +be loved, but having said that I can say no more. You must go away and +endeavour to forget that you ever saw so unhappy a person as myself." + +"Never," I answered, and then dropping on one knee and pressing her hand +to my lips, I continued: "You have confessed, Valerie, that you love me, +and nothing can ever separate us now. Come what may, I will not leave +you. Here, in this old church, by the cross on yonder altar, I swear it. +As we are together in trouble, so will we be together in love, and may +God's blessing rest upon us both." + +"Amen," she answered solemnly. + +She seated herself in a pew, and I took my place beside her. + +"Valerie," I said, "I followed you this morning for two reasons. The +first was to tell you of my love, and the second was to let you know +that I have made up my mind on a certain course of action. At any risk +we must escape from Pharos, and since you have confessed that you love +me we will go together." + +"It is useless," she answered sorrowfully, "quite useless." + +"Hush!" I said, as three people entered the church. "We can not talk +here. Let us find another place." + +With this we rose and left the building. Proceeding into the street, I +hailed a cab, and as soon as we had taken our places in it, bade the man +drive us to the Baumgarten. Some of my pleasantest recollections of +Prague in days gone by were clustered round this park, but they were as +nothing compared with the happiness I now enjoyed in visiting it in the +company of the woman I loved. When we had found a seat in a secluded +spot we resumed the conversation that had been interrupted in the +church. + +"You say that it is useless our thinking of making our escape from this +man?" I said. "I tell you that it is not useless, and that at any hazard +we must do so. We know now that we love each other. I know, at least, +how much you are to me. Is it possible, therefore, that you can believe +I should allow you to remain in his power an instant longer than I can +help? In my life I have not feared many men, but I confess that I fear +Pharos as I do the devil. Since I have known him I have had several +opportunities of testing his power. I have seen things, or he has _made_ +me believe I have seen things which, under any other circumstances, +would seem incredible, and, if it is likely to have any weight with you, +I do not mind owning that his power over me is growing greater every +day. And that reminds me there is a question I have often desired to ask +you. Do you remember one night on board the yacht, when we were crossing +from Naples to Port Said, telling Pharos that you could see a cave in +which a mummy had once stood?" + +She shook her head. + +"I remember nothing of it," she said. "But why do you ask me such +strange questions?" + +I took her hand before I answered. I could feel that she was trembling +violently. + +"Because I want to prove to you the diabolical power the man possesses. +You described a tomb from which the mummy had been taken. I have seen +that tomb. It was the burial place of the Magician, Ptahmes, whose mummy +once stood in my studio in London, which Pharos stole from me, and which +was the primary cause of my becoming associated with him. You described +a subterranean hall with carved pillars and paintings on the walls, and +a mummy lying upon a block of stone. I have seen that hall, those +pillars, those carvings and paintings, and the mummy of Ptahmes lying +stretched out as you portrayed it. You mentioned a tent in the desert +and a sick man lying on a bed inside it. I was that sick man, and it was +to that tent that Pharos conveyed me after I had spent the night in the +ruins of the Temple of Ammon. The last incident has yet to take place, +but, please God, if you will help me in my plan, we shall have done with +him long before then." + +"You say you saw all the things I described. Please do not think me +stupid, but I do not understand how you could have done so." + +Thereupon I told her all that had befallen me at the ruins of Karnak. +She listened with feverish interest. + +"How is it that Providence allows this man to live?" she cried when I +had finished. "Who is he and what is the terrible power he possesses? +And what is to be the end of all his evil ways?" + +"That is a problem which only the future can solve," I answered. "For +ourselves it is sufficient that we must get away from him and at once. +Nothing could be easier, he exercises no control over our movements. He +does not attempt to detain us. We go in and out as we please, therefore +all we have to do is to get into a train and be hundreds of miles away +before he is even aware that we are outside the doors of the hotel. You +are not afraid, Valerie, to trust yourself and your happiness to me?" + +"I would trust myself with you anywhere," she answered, and as she said +it she pressed my hand and looked into my face with her brave sweet +eyes. "And for your sake I would do and bear anything." + +Brave as her words were, however, a little sigh escaped her lips before +she could prevent it. + +"Why do you sigh?" I asked. "Have you any doubt as to the safety of our +plan? If so tell me and I will change it." + +"I have no doubt as to the plan," she answered. "All I fear is that it +may be useless. I have already told you how I have twice tried to escape +him, and how on each occasion he has brought me back." + +"He shall not do so this time," I said with determination. "We will lay +our plans with the greatest care, behave toward him as if we +contemplated remaining for ever in his company, and then to-morrow +morning we will catch the train for Berlin, be in Hamburg next day, and +in London three days later. Once there I have half a hundred friends +who, when I tell them that you are hiding from a man who has treated you +most cruelly, and that you are about to become my wife, will be only too +proud to take you in. Then we will be married as quickly as can be +arranged, and as man and wife defy Pharos to do his worst." + +She did her best to appear delighted with my plan, but I could see that +she had no real faith in it. Nor, if the truth must be told, was I in my +own heart any too sanguine of success. I could not but remember the +threat the man had held over me that night in the Pyramid at Gizeh: "For +the future you are my property, to do with as I please. You will have no +will but my pleasure, no thought but to act as I shall tell you." +However, we could but do our best, and I was determined it should not be +my fault if our enterprise did not meet with success. Not once but a +hundred times we overhauled our plan, tried its weak spots, arranged our +behaviour before Pharos, and endeavoured to convince each other as far +as possible that it could not fail. And if we did manage to outwit him +how proud I should be to parade this glorious creature in London as my +wife, and as I thought of the happiness the future might have in store +for us, and remembered that it all depended on that diabolical +individual Pharos, I felt sick and giddy with anxiety to see the last of +him. + +Not being anxious to arouse any suspicion in our ogre's mind by a +prolonged absence, we at last agreed that it was time for us to think of +returning. Accordingly, we left the park and, finding the cab which had +been ordered to wait for us at the gates, drove back to the city. On +reaching the hotel, we discovered Pharos in the hall holding in his hand +a letter which he had just finished reading as we entered. On seeing us +his wrinkled old face lit up with a smile. + +"My dear," he said to Valerie, placing his hand upon her arm in an +affectionate manner, "a very great honour has been paid you. His +Majesty, the Emperor King, as you are perhaps aware, arrived in the city +yesterday, and to-night a state concert is to be given at the palace. +Invitations have been sent to us, and I have been approached in order to +discover whether you will consent to play. Not being able to find you, I +answered that I felt sure you would accept his Majesty's command. Was I +right in so doing?" + +Doubtless, remembering the contract we had entered into together that +morning to humour Pharos as far as possible, Valerie willingly gave her +consent. Though I did not let him see it, I for my part was not so +pleased. He should have waited and have allowed her to accept or decline +for herself, I thought. However, I held my peace, trusting that on the +morrow we should be able to make our escape and so be done with him for +good and all. + +For the remainder of the day Pharos exhibited the most complete +good-humour. He was plainly looking forward to the evening. He had met +Franz Josef on more than one occasion, he informed me, and remembered +with gusto the compliments that had been paid him the last time about +his ward's playing. + +"I am sure we shall both rejoice in her success, shall we not, my dear +Forrester?" he said, and as he did so he glanced slyly at me out of the +corner of his eye. "As you can see for yourself, I have discovered your +secret." + +"I looked nervously at him. What did he mean by this? Was it possible +that by that same adroit reasoning he had discovered our plan for +escaping on the following day? + +"I am afraid I do not quite understand," I replied, with as much +nonchalance as I could manage to throw into my voice. "Pray what secret +have you discovered?" + +"That you love my ward," he answered. "But why look so concerned? It +does not require very great perceptive powers to see that her beauty has +exercised considerable effect upon you. Why should it not have done so? +And where would be the harm? She is a most fascinating woman, and you, +if you will permit me to tell you so to your face, are--what shall we +say?--well, far from being an unprepossessing man. Like a foolish +guardian I have permitted you to be a good deal, perhaps too much, +together, and the result even a child might have foreseen. You have +learnt to love each other. No; do not be offended. I assure you there is +no reason for it. I like you, and I promise you, if you continue to +please me, I shall raise no objection. Now what have you to say to me?" + +"I do not know what to say," I said, and it was the truth. "I had no +idea you suspected anything of the kind." + +"I fear you do not give me the credit of being very sharp," he replied. +"And perhaps it is not to be wondered at. An old man's wits can not hope +to be as quick as those of the young. But there, we have talked enough +on this subject, let us postpone consideration of it until another day." + +"With all my heart," I answered. "But there is one question I had better +ask you while I have the opportunity. I should be glad if you could +tell me how long you are thinking of remaining in Prague. When I left +England I had no intention of being away from London more than a +fortnight, and I have now trespassed on your hospitality for upward of +two months. If you are going west within the next week or so, and will +let me travel with you, I shall be only too glad to do so, otherwise I +fear I shall be compelled to bid you good-bye and return to England +alone." + +"You must not think of such a thing," he answered, this time throwing a +sharp glance at me from his sunken eyes. "Neither Valerie nor I could +get on without you. Besides, there is no need for you to worry. Now that +this rumour is afloat I have no intention of remaining here any longer +than I can help." + +"To what rumour do you refer?" I inquired. "I have heard nothing." + +"That is what it is to be in love," he replied. "You have not heard then +that one of the most disastrous and terrible plagues of the last five +hundred years has broken out on the shores of the Bosphorus, and is +spreading with alarming rapidity through Turkey and the Balkan States." + +"I have not heard a word about it," I said, and as I did so I was +conscious of a vague feeling of terror in my heart, that fear for a +woman's safety which comes some time or another to every man who loves. +"Is it only newspaper talk, or is it really as serious as your words +imply?" + +"It is very serious," he answered. "See, here is a man with the evening +paper. I will purchase one and read you the latest news." + +He did so, and searched the columns for what he wanted. Though I was +able to speak German, I was unable to read it; Pharos accordingly +translated for me. + +"The outbreak of the plague which has caused so much alarm in Turkey," +he read, "is, we regret having to inform our readers, increasing instead +of diminishing, and to-day fresh cases to the number of seven hundred +and thirty-three, have been notified. For the twenty-four hours ending +at noon the death-rate has equalled eighty per cent. of those attacked. +The malady has now penetrated into Russia, and three deaths were +registered as resulting from it in Moscow, two in Odessa, and one in +Kiev yesterday. The medical experts are still unable to assign a +definite name to it, but incline to the belief that it is of Asiatic +origin, and will disappear with the break up of the present phenomenally +hot weather." + +"I do not like the look of it at all," he said when he had finished +reading. "I have seen several of these outbreaks in my time, and I shall +be very careful to keep well out of this one's reach." + +"I agree with you," I answered, and then bade him good-bye and went +upstairs to my room, more than ever convinced that it behooved me to get +the woman I loved out of the place without loss of time. + +The concert at the palace that night was a brilliant success in every +way, and never in her career had Valerie looked more beautiful, or +played so exquisitely as on that occasion. Of the many handsome women +present that evening, she was undoubtedly the queen. And when, after her +performance, she was led up and presented to the Emperor by Count de +Schelyani, an old friend of her father's, a murmur of such admiration +ran through the room as those walls had seldom heard before. I, also, +had the honour of being presented by the same nobleman, whereupon his +Majesty was kind enough to express his appreciation of my work. It was +not until a late hour that we reached our hotel again. When we did +Pharos, whom the admiration Valerie had excited seemed to have placed in +a thoroughly good humour, congratulated us both upon our success, and +then, to my delight, bade us good night and took himself off to his bed. +As soon as I heard the door of his room close behind him, and not until +then, I took Valerie's hand. + +"I have made all the arrangements for our escape to-morrow," I +whispered, "or rather I should say to-day, since it is after midnight. +The train for Berlin _via_ Dresden, I have discovered, leaves here at a +quarter past six. Do you think you can manage to be ready so early?" + +"Of course I can," she answered confidently. "You have only to tell me +what you want and I will do it." + +"I have come to the conclusion," I said, "that it will not do for us to +leave by the city station. Accordingly, I have arranged that a cab shall +be waiting for us in the Platz. We will enter it and drive down the +line, board the train, and bid farewell to Pharos for good and all." + +Ten minutes later I had said good night to her and had retired to my +room. The clocks of the city were striking two as I entered it. In four +hours we should be leaving the house to catch the train which we hoped +would bring us freedom. Were we destined to succeed or not? + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +So anxious was I not to run any risk of being asleep at the time we had +arranged to make our escape that I did not go to bed at all, but seated +myself in an armchair and endeavoured to interest myself in a book until +the fateful hour arrived. Then, leaving a note upon my dressing-table, +in which was contained a sufficient sum to reimburse the landlord for my +stay with him, I slipped into one pocket the few articles I had resolved +to carry with me, and taking care that my money was safely stowed away +in another, I said good-bye to my room and went softly down the stairs +to the large hall. Fortune favoured me, for only one servant was at work +there, an elderly man with a stolid, good-humoured countenance, who +glanced up at me, and, being satisfied as to my respectability, +continued his work once more. Of Valerie I could see no sign, and since +I did not know where her room was situated I occupied myself, while I +waited, wondering what I should do if she had overslept herself and did +not put in an appearance until too late. In order to excuse my presence +downstairs at such an early hour, I asked the man in which direction the +cathedral lay, and whether he could inform me at what time early mass +was celebrated. + +He had scarcely instructed me on the former point and declared his +ignorance of the latter, before Valerie appeared at the head of the +stairs and descended to meet me, carrying her violin case in her hand. I +greeted her in English, and after I had slipped a couple of florins into +the servant's hand, we left the hotel together and made our way in the +direction of the Platz, where to my delight I found the cab I had +ordered the previous afternoon already waiting for us. We took our +places, and I gave the driver his instructions. In less than a quarter +of an hour he had brought us to the station I wanted to reach. I had +taken the tickets, and the train was carrying us away from Prague and +the man whom we devoutly hoped we should never see again as long as we +lived. Throughout the drive we had scarcely spoken a couple of dozen +words to each other, having been far too much occupied with the affairs +of the moment to think of anything but our flight. Knowing Pharos as we +did, it seemed more than probable that he might even now be aware of our +escape, and be taking measures to insure our return. But when we found +ourselves safely in the train our anxiety lessened somewhat, and with +every mile we threw behind us our spirits returned. By the time we +reached Dresden we were as happy a couple as any in Europe, and when +some hours later we stepped out of the carriage on to the platform at +Berlin, we were as unlike the pair who had left the hotel at Prague as +the proverbial chalk is like cheese. Even then, however, we were +determined to run no risk. Every mile that separated us from Pharos +meant greater security, and it was for this reason I had made up my mind +to reach the German capital, if possible, instead of remaining at +Dresden, as had been our original intention. + +When our train reached its destination it was a few minutes after six +o'clock, and for the first time in my life I stood in the capital of the +German empire. Though we had been travelling for more than ten hours, +Valerie had so far shown no sign of fatigue. + +"What do you propose doing now?" she inquired as we stood together on +the platform. + +"Obtain some dinner," I answered, with a promptness and directness +worthy of the famous Mr. Dick. + +"You must leave that to me," she said, with one of her own bright +smiles, which had been so rare of late. "Remember I am an old traveller, +and probably know Europe as well as you know Piccadilly." + +"I will leave it to you then," I answered, "and surely man had never a +fairer pilot." + +"On any other occasion I should warn you to beware of compliments," she +replied, patting me gaily on the arm with her hand, "but I feel so happy +now that I am compelled to excuse you. To-night, for the last time, I am +going to play the part of your hostess. After that it will be your duty +to entertain me. Let us leave by this door." + +So saying, she led me from the station into the street outside, along +which we passed for some considerable distance. Eventually we reached a +restaurant, before which Valerie paused. + +"The proprietor is an old friend of mine," she said, "who, though he is +acquainted with Pharos, will not, I am quite sure, tell him he has seen +us." + +We entered, and when the majordomo came forward to conduct us to a +table, Valerie inquired whether his master were visible. The man stated +that he would find out, and departed on his errand. + +While we waited I could not help noticing the admiring glances that were +thrown at my companion by the patrons of the restaurant, among whom +were several officers in uniform. Just, however, as I was thinking that +some of the latter would be none the worse for a little lesson in +manners, the shuffling of feet was heard, and presently, from a doorway +on the right, the fattest man I have ever seen in my life made his +appearance. He wore carpet slippers on his feet, and a red cap upon his +head, and carried in his hand a long German pipe with a china bowl. His +face was clean shaven, and a succession of chins fell one below another, +so that not an inch of his neck was visible. Having entered the room, he +paused, and when the waiter had pointed us out to him as the lady and +gentleman who had asked to see him, he approached and affected a +contortion of his anatomy which was evidently intended to be a bow. + +"I am afraid, Herr Schuncke, that you do not remember me," said Valerie, +after the short pause that followed. + +The man looked at her rather more closely, and a moment later was bowing +even more profusely and inelegantly than before. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I beg your pardon ten thousand times. +For the moment, I confess, I did not recognise you. Had I done so I +should not have kept you standing here so long." + +Then, looking round, with rather a frightened air, he added, "But I do +not see Monsieur Pharos? Perhaps he is with you, and will be here +presently?" + +"I sincerely hope not," Valerie replied. "That is the main reason of my +coming to you." Then, sinking her voice to a whisper, she added, as she +saw the man's puzzled expression, "I know I can trust you, Herr +Schuncke. The truth is, I have run away from him." + +"Herr Gott!" said the old fellow. "So you have run away from him. Well, +I do not wonder at it, but you must not tell him I said so. How you +could have put up with him so long I do not know; but that is no +business of mine. But I am an old fool; while I am talking so much I +should be finding out how I can be of assistance to you." + +"You will not find that very difficult," she replied. "All we are going +to trouble you for is some dinner, and your promise to say nothing, +should Monsieur Pharos come here in search of us." + +"I will do both with the utmost pleasure," he answered. "You may be sure +I will say nothing, and you shall have the very best dinner old Ludwig +can cook. What is more, you shall have it in my own private +sitting-room, where you will be undisturbed. Oh, I can assure you, +Fraeulein, it is very good to see your face again." + +"It is very kind of you to say so," said Valerie, "and also to take so +much trouble. I thank you." + +"You must not thank me at all," the old fellow replied. "But some day, +perhaps, you will let me hear you play again." Then, pointing to the +violin-case, which I carried in my hand, he continued, "I see you have +brought the beautiful instrument with you. Ah, Gott! what recollections +it conjures up for me. I can see old--but there, there, come with me, or +I shall be talking half the night!" + +We accordingly followed him through the door by which he had entered, +and along a short passage to a room at the rear of the building. Here he +bade us make ourselves at home, while he departed to see about the +dinner. Before he did so, however, Valerie stopped him. + +"Herr Schuncke," she said, "before you leave us, I want your +congratulations. Let me introduce you to Mr. Forrester, the gentleman to +whom I am about to be married." + +The old fellow turned to me, and gave another of his grotesque bows. + +"Sir," he said, "I congratulate you with all my heart. To hear her play +always, ah! what good fortune for a man. You will have a treasure in +your house that no money could buy. Be sure that you treat her as such." + +When I had promised to do so, the warm-hearted old fellow departed on +his errand. + +I must leave you to imagine the happiness of that dinner. Even now it +sends a thrill through me to think of it. I can recall the quaint little +room, so undeniably German in its furniture and decorations; the table +laden with the good things the landlord had provided for us--even to the +extent of a bottle of his own particular wine, which only saw the light +on the most important occasions; the military-looking waiter, with his +close-cropped hair and heavy eyes; and Valerie seated opposite, looking +so beautiful and so happy that I could scarcely believe she was the same +woman I had seen rising from her knees in the Teyn Kirche only the day +before. + +"I hope all this travelling has not tired you, dearest?" I said, when +the waiter had handed us our coffee and had left the room. + +"You forget that I am an old traveller," she said, "and not likely to be +fatigued by such a short journey. You have some reason, however, for +asking the question. What is it?" + +"I will tell you," I answered. "I have been thinking that it would not +be altogether safe for us to remain in Berlin. It is quite certain that, +as soon as he discovers that we are gone, Pharos will make inquiries, +and find out what trains left Prague in the early morning. He will then +put two and two together, after his own diabolical fashion, and as +likely as not he will be here in search of us to-morrow morning, if not +sooner." + +"In that case, what do you propose doing?" she asked. + +"I propose, if you are not too tired, to leave here by the express at +half-past seven," I replied, "and travel as far as Wittenberge, which +place we should reach by half-past ten. We can manage it very easily. I +will telegraph for rooms, and to-morrow morning early we can continue +our journey to Hamburg, where we shall have no difficulty in obtaining a +steamer for London. Pharos would never think of looking for us in a +small place like Wittenberge, and we should be on board the steamer and +_en route_ to England by this time to-morrow evening." + +"I can be ready as soon as you like," she answered bravely, "but before +we start you must give me time to reward Herr Schuncke for his kindness +to us." + +A few moments later our host entered the room. I was about to pay for +our meal, when Valerie stopped me. + +"You must do nothing of the kind," she said; "remember, you are my +guest. Surely you would not deprive me of one of the greatest pleasures +I have had for a long time?" + +"You shall pay with all my heart," I answered, "but not with Pharos' +money." + +"I never thought of that," she replied, and her beautiful face flushed +crimson. "No, no, you are quite right. I could not entertain you with +his money. But what am I to do? I have no other." + +"In that case you must permit me to be your banker," I answered, and +with that I pulled from my pocket a handful of German coins. + +Herr Schuncke at first refused to take anything, but when Valerie +declared that if he did not do so she would not play to him, he +reluctantly consented, vowing at the same time that he would not accept +it himself, but would bestow it upon Ludwig. Then Valerie went to the +violin-case, which I had placed upon a side table, and taking her +precious instrument from it--the only legacy she had received from her +father--tuned it, and stood up to play. As Valerie informed me later, +the old man, though one would scarcely have imagined it from his +commonplace exterior, was a passionate devotee of the beautiful art, and +now he stood, leaning against the wall, his fat hands clasped before +him, and his upturned face expressive of the most celestial enjoyment. +Nor had Valerie, to my thinking, ever done herself greater justice. She +had escaped from a life of misery that had been to her a living death, +and her whole being was in consequence radiant with happiness; this was +reflected in her playing. Nor was the effect she produced limited to +Herr Schuncke. Under the influence of her music I found myself building +castles in the air, and upon such firm foundations, too, that for the +moment it seemed no wind would ever be strong enough to blow them down. +When she ceased I woke as from a happy dream; Schuncke uttered a long +sigh, as much as to say, "It will be many years before I shall hear +anything like that again," and then it was time to go. The landlord +accompanied us into the street and called a cab. As it pulled up beside +the pavement a cripple passed, making his way slowly along with the +assistance of a pair of crutches. Valerie stopped him. + +"My poor fellow," she said, handing him the purse containing the money +with which, ten minutes before, she had thought of paying for our +dinner, "there is a little present which I hope may bring you more +happiness than it has done me. Take it." + +The man did so, scarcely able to contain his surprise, and when he had +examined the contents burst into a flood of thanks. + +"Hush," she said, "you must not thank me. You do not know what you are +saying." Then turning to Schuncke, she held out her hand. "Good-bye," +she said, "and thank you for your kindness. I know that you will say +nothing about having seen us." + +"You need have no fear on that score," he said. "Pharos shall hear +nothing from me, I can promise you that. Farewell, Fraeulein, and may +your life be a happy one." + +I said good-bye to him, and then took my place in the vehicle beside +Valerie. A quarter of an hour later we were on our way to Wittenberge, +and Berlin, like Prague, was only a memory. Before leaving the station I +had purchased an armful of papers, illustrated and otherwise, for +Valerie's amusement. Though she professed to have no desire to read +them, but to prefer sitting by my side, holding my hand, and talking of +the happy days we hoped and trusted were before us, she found time, as +the journey progressed, to skim their contents. Seeing her do this +brought the previous evening to my remembrance, and I inquired what +further news there was of the terrible pestilence which Pharos had +declared to be raging in eastern Europe. + +"I am afraid it is growing worse instead of better," she answered, when +she had consulted the paper. "The latest telegram declares that there +have been upward of a thousand fresh cases in Turkey alone within the +past twenty-four hours, that it has spread along the Black Sea as far as +Odessa, and north as far as Kiev. Five cases are reported from Vienna; +and, stay, here is a still later telegram in which it says"--she paused, +and a look of horror came into her face, "Can this be true?--it says +that the pestilence has broken out in Prague, and that the Count de +Schelyani, who, you remember, was so kind and attentive to us last night +at the palace, was seized this morning, and at the time this telegram +was despatched was lying in a critical condition." + +"That is bad news indeed," I said. "Not only for Austria but also for +us." + +"How for us?" she asked. + +"Because it will make Pharos move out of Prague," I replied. "When he +spoke to me yesterday of the way in which this disease was gaining +ground in Europe he seemed visibly frightened, and stated that as soon +as it came too near he should at once leave the city. We have had one +exhibition of his cowardice, and you may be sure he will be off now as +fast as trains can take him. It must be our business to take care that +his direction and ours are not the same." + +"But how are we to tell in which direction he will travel?" asked +Valerie, whose face had suddenly grown bloodless in its pallor. + +"We must take our chance of that," I answered. "My principal hope is +that knowing, as he does, the whereabouts of the yacht he will make for +her, board her, and depart for mid-ocean to wait there until all danger +is passed. For my own part I am willing to own that I do not like the +look of things at all. I shall not feel safe until I have got you safely +into England, and that little silver streak of sea is between us and the +Continent." + +"You _do_ love me, Cyril, do you not?" she inquired, slipping her little +hand into mine, and looking into my face with those eyes that seemed to +grow more beautiful with every day I looked into them. "I could not live +without your love now." + +"God grant you may never be asked to do so," I answered; "I love you, +dearest, as I believe man never loved woman before, and, come what may, +nothing shall separate us. Surely even death itself could not be so +cruel. But why do you talk in this dismal strain? The miles are slipping +behind us; Pharos, let us hope, is banished from our lives for ever; we +are together, and as soon as we reach London, we shall be man and wife. +No, no, you must not be afraid, Valerie." + +"I am afraid of nothing," she answered, "when I am with you. But ever +since we left Berlin I seem to have been overtaken by a fit of +melancholy which I can not throw off. I have reasoned with myself in +vain. Why I should feel like this I can not think. It is only +transitory, I am sure; so you must bear with me; to-morrow I shall be +quite myself again." + +"Bear with you, do you say?" I answered. "You know that I will do so. +You have been so brave till now, that I can not let you give way just at +the moment when happiness is within your reach. Try and keep your +spirits up, my darling, for both our sakes. To-morrow, you will be on +the blue sea with the ship's head pointing for old England. And after +that--well, I told you just now what would happen then." + +In spite of her promises, however, I found that in the morning my hopes +were not destined to be realized. Though she tried hard to make me +believe that the gloom had passed, it needed very little discernment +upon my part to see that the cheerfulness she affected was all assumed, +and, what made it doubly hard to bear, that it was for my sake. + +Our stay at Wittenberge was not a long one. As soon as we had finished +our breakfast, we caught the 8.30 express and resumed our journey to +Hamburg, arriving there a little before midday. Throughout the journey, +Valerie had caused me considerable anxiety. Not only had her spirits +reached a lower level than they had yet attained, but her face, during +the last few hours, had grown singularly pale and drawn, and when I at +last drove her to it, she broke down completely and confessed to feeling +far from well. + +"But it can not be anything serious," she cried. "I am sure it can not. +It only means that I am not such a good traveller as I thought. +Remember, we have covered a good many hundred miles in the last week, +and we have had more than our share of anxiety. As soon as we reach our +hotel in Hamburg I will go to my room and lie down. After I have had +some sleep, I have no doubt I shall be myself again." + +I devoutly hoped so; but in spite of her assurance, my anxiety was in no +way diminished. Obtaining a cab, we drove at once to the Hotel +Continental, at which I had determined to stay. Here I engaged rooms as +usual for Mr. and Miss Clifford, for it was as brother and sister we had +decided to pass until we should reach England and be made man and wife. +It was just luncheon-time when we arrived there; but Valerie was so +utterly prostrated that I could not induce her to partake of anything. +She preferred, she declared, to retire to her room at once, and +believing that this would be the wisest course for her to pursue, I was +only too glad that she should do so. Accordingly, when she had left me I +partook of lunch alone, but with no zest, as may be supposed, and having +despatched it, put on my hat and made my way to the premises of the +Steamboat Company in order to inquire about a boat for England. + +On arrival at the office in question it was easily seen that something +unusual had occurred. In place of the business-like hurry to which I was +accustomed, I found the clerks lolling listlessly at their desks. So far +as I could see, they had no business wherewith to occupy themselves. +Approaching the counter, I inquired when their next packet would sail +for the United Kingdom, and in return received a staggering reply. + +"I am afraid, sir," said the man, "you will find considerable difficulty +in getting into England just now." + +"Difficulty in getting into England?" I cried in astonishment, "and why +so, pray?" + +"Surely you must have heard?" he replied, and looking me up and down as +if I were a stranger but lately arrived from the moon. The other clerks +smiled incredulously. + +"I have heard nothing," I replied, a little nettled at the fellow's +behaviour. "Pray be kind enough to inform me what you mean. I am most +desirous of reaching London at once, and will thank you to be good +enough to tell me when, and at what hour, your next boat leaves?" + +"We have no boat leaving," the clerk answered, this time rather more +respectfully than before. "Surely, sir, you must have heard that there +have been two cases of the plague notified in this city to-day, and more +than a hundred in Berlin; consequently, the British Government have +closed their ports to German vessels, and, as it is rumoured that the +disease has made its appearance in France, it is doubtful whether you +will get into a French port either." + +"But I must reach England," I answered desperately. "My business is most +important. I do not know what I shall do if I am prevented. I must sail +to-day, or to-morrow at latest." + +"In that case, sir, I am afraid it is out of my power to help you," said +the man. "We have received a cablegram from our London office this +morning advising us to despatch no more boats until we receive further +orders." + +"Are you sure there is no other way in which you can help me?" I asked. +"I shall be glad to pay anything in reason for the accommodation." + +"It is just possible, though I must tell you, sir, I do not think it is +probable, that you might be able to induce the owner of some small craft +to run the risk of putting you across, but as far as we are concerned, +it is out of the question. Why, sir, I can tell you this, if we had a +boat running this afternoon, I could fill every berth thrice over, and +in less than half an hour. What's more, sir, I'd be one of the +passengers myself. We've been deluged with applications all day. It +looks as if everybody is being scared off the Continent by the news of +the plague. I only wish I were safe back in England myself. I was a fool +ever to have left it." + +While the man was talking I had been casting about me for some way out +of my difficulty, and the news that this awful pestilence had made its +appearance in the very city in which we now were, filled me with so +great a fear that, under the influence of it, I very nearly broke down. +Pulling myself together, however, I thanked the man for his information, +and made my way into the street once more. There I paused and considered +what I should do. To delay was impossible. Even now Pharos might be +close behind me. A few hours more, and it was just possible he might +have tracked us to our hiding-place. But I soon discovered that even my +dread of Pharos was not as great as my fear of the plague, and as I have +said before, I did not fear that for myself. It was of Valerie I +thought, of the woman I loved more than all the world; whose existence +was so much to me that without her I should not have cared to go on +living. The recollection of her illness brought a thought into my mind +that was so terrible, so overwhelming, that I staggered on the pavement +and had to clutch at a tree for support. + +"My God," I said to myself, "what should I do if this illness proved to +be the plague?" + +The very thought of such a thing was more than I could bear. It choked, +it suffocated me, taking all the pluck out of me and making me weaker +than a little child. But it could not be true, I said, happen what might +I would not believe it. Fate, which had brought so much evil upon me +already, could not be so cruel as to frustrate all my hopes just when I +thought I had turned the corner and was in sight of peace once more. + +What the passers-by must have thought I do not know, nor do I care. The +dreadful thought that filled my mind was more to me than anyone else's +good opinion could possibly be. When I recovered myself I resumed my +walk to the hotel, breathing in gasps as the thought returned upon me, +and my whole body alternately flushing with hope and then numbed with +terror. More dead than alive I entered the building and climbed the +stairs to the sitting-room I had engaged. I had half hoped that on +opening the door I should find Valerie awaiting me there, but I was +disappointed. Unable to contain my anxiety any longer, I went along the +passage and knocked at the door of her room. + +"Who is there?" a voice that I scarcely recognised asked in German. + +"It is I," I replied. "Are you feeling better?" + +"Yes, better," she answered, still in the same hard tone, "but I think I +would prefer to lie here a little longer. Do not be anxious about me, I +shall be quite myself again by dinner time." + +I asked if there was anything I could procure for her, and on being +informed to the contrary, left her and went down to the manager's office +in the hope that I might be able to discover from him some way in which +we might escape to our own country. + +"You have reached Hamburg at a most unfortunate time," he answered. "As +you are doubtless aware, the plague has broken out here, and Heaven +alone knows what we shall do if it continues. I have seen one of the +councillors within the last hour, and he tells me that three fresh cases +have been notified since midday. The evening telegrams report that more +than five thousand deaths have already occurred in Turkey and Russia +alone. It is raging in Vienna, and indeed through the whole of Austria. +In Dresden and Berlin it has also commenced its dreadful work, while +three cases have been certified in France. So far England is free, but +how long she will continue to be so it is impossible to say. That they +are growing anxious there is evident from the stringency of the +quarantine regulations they are passing. No vessel from any infected +country, they do not limit it even to ports, is allowed to land either +passengers or cargo until after three weeks' quarantine, so that +communication with the Continent is practically cut off. The situation +is growing extremely critical, and every twenty-four hours promises to +make it more so." + +"In that case I do not know what I shall do," I said, feeling as if my +heart would break under the load it was compelled to carry. + +"I am extremely sorry for you, sir," the manager answered, "but what is +bad for you is even worse for us. You simply want to get back to your +home. We have home, nay, even life itself at stake." + +"It is bad for everyone alike," I answered, and then, with a heart even +heavier than it was before, I thanked him for his courtesy and made my +way upstairs to our sitting-room once more. I opened the door and walked +in, and then uttered a cry of delight, for Valerie was at the farther +end of the room, standing before the window. My pleasure, however, was +short lived, for on hearing my step she turned, and I was able to see +her face. What I saw there almost brought my heart into my mouth. + +"Valerie," I cried, "what has happened? Are you worse that you look at +me like that?" + +"Hush!" she whispered, "do not speak so loud. Can not you see that +Pharos is coming?" + +Her beautiful eyes were open to their widest extent, and there was an +air about her that spoke of an impending tragedy. + +"Pharos is coming," she said again, this time very slowly and +deliberately. "It is too late for us to escape. He is driving down the +street." + +There was a long pause, during which I felt as if I were being slowly +turned to stone. + +"He has entered the hotel." + +There was another pause. + +"He is here." And as she spoke the handle of the door was turned. + +As the person, whoever he might be, entered, Valerie uttered a little +cry and fell senseless into my arms. I held her tightly and then wheeled +round to see who the intruder might be. + +_It was Pharos!_ + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +For more than a minute neither of us moved. Valerie lay in my arms just +as she had fallen, Pharos stood a foot or so inside the door, while I +stood looking first at her and then at him without being able to utter a +word. As far as my own feelings were concerned the end of the world had +come, for I had made up my mind that Valerie was dying. If that were so, +Pharos might do his worst. + +"My friends, it would seem as if I have come only just in time," he said +with sarcastic sweetness. "My dear Forrester, I must offer you my +congratulations upon the neat manner in which you effected your escape. +Unfortunately I was aware of it all along. Knowing what was in your +heart, I laid my plans accordingly, and here I am. And pray, may I ask, +what good have you done yourself by your impetuosity? You chase across +Europe at express speed, hoping to get to England before I can catch +you, only to find on arrival here that the plague has headed you off, +and that it is impossible for you to reach your destination." + +"Are you going to stand talking all day?" I said, forgetting caution and +the need that existed for humouring him, everything in fact, in my +anxiety. "Can not you see that she is ill? Good heavens, man, she may be +dying!" + +"What do you mean?" he asked quickly, with a change of voice as he +crossed the room and came over to where I was standing. "Let me see her +instantly!" + +With a deftness, and at the same time a tenderness I had never noticed +in him before, he took her from me and placed her upon a sofa. Having +done so, he stooped over her and commenced his examination. Thirty +seconds had not elapsed before he turned fiercely on me again. + +"You fool!" he cried, "are you mad? Lock that door this instant. This is +more serious than I imagined. Do you know what it is?" + +"How should I?" I answered in agony. "Tell me, tell me, can not you see +how much I am suffering?" + +I clutched him by the arm so tightly that he winced under it and had to +exert his strength to throw me off. + +"It is the plague," he answered, "and but for your folly in running away +from me she would never have caught it. If she dies the blame will rest +entirely with you." + +But I scarcely heard him. The knowledge that my darling was the victim +of the scourge that was ravaging all Europe drove me back against the +wall faint and speechless with terror. "If she dies," he had said, and +the words rang in my ears like a funeral knell. But she should not die. +If any power in the world could save her, it should be found. + +"What can I do?" I whispered hoarsely. "For pity's sake let me help in +some way. She must not die, she shall not die!" + +"In that case you had better bestir yourself," he said. "There is but +one remedy, and that we must employ. Had it not been for your folly I +should have it with me now. As it is, you must go out and search the +town for it. Give me writing materials." + +These were on a neighbouring table, and when I had put them before him +he seized the pen and scrawled something upon a sheet of notepaper, then +folding it, he handed it to me. + +"Take that with all speed to a chemist," he said. "Tell him to be +particularly careful that the drugs are fresh, and bring it back with +you as soon as you can. In all probability you will have a difficulty in +procuring it, but you must do so somewhere. Rest assured of this, that +if she does not receive it within an hour nothing can possibly save +her." + +"I will be back in less than half that time," I answered, and hastened +from the room. + +From a man in the street I inquired the address of the nearest chemist, +and, as soon as he had directed me, hastened thither as fast as my legs +could carry me. Entering the shop, I threw the prescription upon the +counter, and in my impatience could have struck the man for his slowness +in picking it up. If his life had depended upon his deciphering it +properly he could not have taken longer to read it. Before he had got to +the end of it my impatience had reached boiling heat. + +"Come, come," I said, "are you going to make it up or not? It is for an +urgent case, and I have wasted ten minutes already." + +The man glanced at the paper again, smoothed it out between his fat +fingers, and shook his head until I thought his glasses would have +dropped from his nose. + +"I can not do it," he said at length. "Two of the drugs I do not keep +in stock. Indeed, I do not know that I ever saw another prescription +like it." + +"Why did you not say so at once?" I cried angrily, and snatching the +paper from his hand, I dashed madly out and along the pavement. At the +end of the street was another shop, which I entered. On the door it was +set forth that English, French and German were spoken there. I was not +going to risk a waste of time on either of the two first, however, but +opened upon the man in his own language. He was very small, with an +unwholesome complexion, and was the possessor of a nose large enough to +have entitled him to the warmest esteem of the great Napoleon. He took +the prescription, read it through in a quarter of the time taken by the +other man, and then retired behind his screen. Scarcely able to contain +my delight at having at last been successful, I curbed my impatience as +well as I could, examined all the articles displayed in the glass case +upon the counter, fidgeted nervously with the india-rubber change mat, +and when, at the end of several minutes, he had not made it up, was only +prevented from going in search of him by his appearance before me once +more. + +"I am exceedingly sorry to say," he began, and directly he opened his +mouth I knew that some fresh misfortune was in store for me, "that I can +not make up the prescription for you at all. Of one of the drugs I +remember once reading, but of the other I have never even heard. +However, if----" + +But before he could utter another word I had seized the paper and was +out of the shop. This was the second time I had been fooled, and upward +of half an hour, thirty precious minutes, had been wasted. Even then +Valerie might be dying, and I was powerless to save her. Never in my +life before had time seemed so precious. I stopped a passer-by and +inquired the direction of the nearest chemist. He referred me to the +shop I had just left; I stopped another, but he confessed himself a +stranger in the city. At last, at my wit's end to know what to do, +finding myself before the office of the steamship company I had visited +that afternoon, I determined to go inside and make inquiries. + +To my surprise, in place of the half dozen clerks who had stared at me +only a few hours before, I found but one man, and before he had opened +his lips I realized that he was drunk. + +"Ha, ha!" he said, with a burst of tipsy laughter, "so you have come +back again, my friend? Want to get a boat to take you to England, I +suppose. Oh, of course you do. We know all about that. We're not as +blind, I mean as blind drunk, as you suppose." + +With that he lurched against the desk, and cannoned off it on to me. +Then, having reached that stage of inebriation when music becomes a +necessity, he leant against the wall and burst into song:-- + + Drink to me only with thine eyes, + And I will pledge with mine, + Or leave a kiss within.... + +He had got no farther when I took him by the collar, and pushing him +back against the wall, bumped his head against it until it is a wonder I +did not fracture his skull. + +"Hold your tongue, you drunken fool!" I said, feeling as if I could kill +him where he stood, "and tell me where the man is who attended to me +this afternoon." + +The energy with which I had administered the punishment must have +somewhat sobered the fellow, for he pulled himself together, and rubbing +the back of his head with his hand asked me if I had heard the news. + +"I have heard nothing," I cried. "What news do you mean?" + +"Why, that the man you spoke to this afternoon is dead. He died of the +plague within an hour after you were here, rolling on the floor, and +making an awful mess of things. Then all the other fellows ran away. +They didn't know there was a bottle and a half of brandy in the cupboard +in the manager's room, but, bless your heart, I did, and now I'm not +afraid of the plague. Don't you believe it!" + +"Dead?" I cried, for I could scarcely credit that what he told me could +be true. The man had seemed so well when I had seen him only a few hours +before. However, I had no time to think of him. + +"I want a chemist," I cried. "I must find one at once. Can you give me +the address of one?" + +"The first turning to the left," he cried, "and the third shop on the +right; Dittmer is the name. But I say, you're looking precious white +about the gills. Though you did treat me badly just now, I don't bear +any malice, so you can have a drop of this if you like. There's enough +here for two of us. You won't? Well, then, I will. A short life and a +merry one's my motto, and here's to you, my buck." + +Before he could have half filled his glass I had passed out of the +office and was in the street he had mentioned. Drunk as he was, his +information proved correct, and a chemist's shop, with the name of +Dittmer over the door, was the third house on the right hand side. I +entered and handed the prescription to the venerable-looking man I found +behind the counter. + +"I am afraid you will have some difficulty in getting this made up," he +said after he had read it. "Two of the drugs are not in common use, and +personally I do not keep them. Is the case an urgent one?" + +"It's a matter of life and death," I answered. "All my happiness in life +depends upon it. If you can not help me, can you direct me to any one +who will? I assure you there is not a moment to be lost." + +Evidently the man was touched by my anxiety. At any rate he went out of +his way to do a kindly action, for which no amount of gratitude on my +part will ever be able to repay him. + +"I do not know anything about the merits of the prescription," he said, +"but if these two drugs are necessary, I don't mind telling you that I +think I know where I can procure them. I have an old friend, a quack, so +the other chemists call him, who is always trying experiments. It is +within the bounds of possibility he may have them. If you will wait here +for a few minutes I'll run up to his house and see. It is only a few +doors from here, and he is always at home at this hour." + +"I will await only too willingly," I answered earnestly. "Heaven grant +you may be successful!" + +He said no more but ran out of the shop. While he was gone I paced up +and down in a fever of impatience. Every minute seemed an hour, and as I +looked at my watch and realized that if I wished to get back to the +hotel within the time specified by Pharos I had only ten minutes in +which to do it, I felt as if my heart would stop beating. In reality the +man was not gone five minutes, and when he burst into the shop again he +waved two bottles triumphantly above his head. + +"There's not another man in Hamburg could have got them!" he cried with +justifiable pride. "Now I can make it up for you." + +Five minutes later he handed the prescription to me. + +"I shall never be able to thank you sufficiently for your kindness," I +said as I took it. "If I can get back with it in time you will have +saved a life that I love more than my own. I do not know how to reward +you, but if you will accept this and wear it as a souvenir of the +service you have rendered me, I hope you will do so." + +So saying, I took from my pocket my gold watch and chain and handed them +across the counter to him. Then, without waiting for an expression of +his gratitude, I passed into the street and, hailing a cab, bade the man +drive me as fast as his horse could go to my hotel. + +Reaching it, I paid him with the first coin I took from my pocket and +ran upstairs. What my feelings were as I approached the room where I had +left Pharos and Valerie together I must leave you to imagine. With a +heart beating like a sledge-hammer I softly turned the handle of the +door and stole in, scarcely daring to look in the direction of the sofa. +However, I might have spared myself the pain, for neither Pharos nor +Valerie were there, but just as I was wondering what could have become +of them the former entered the room. + +"Have you got it?" he inquired eagerly, his voice trembling with +emotion. + +"I have," I answered, and handed him the medicine. "Here it is. At one +time I began to think I should have to come back without it." + +"Another ten minutes and I can promise you you would have been too +late," he answered. "I have carried her to her room and placed her upon +her bed. You must remain here and endeavour to prevent any one +suspecting what is the matter. If your medicine proves what I hope, she +should be sleeping quietly in an hour's time, and on the high road to +recovery in two. But remember this, if the people in this house receive +any hint of what she is suffering from they will remove her to the +hospital at once, and in that case, I pledge you my word, she will be +dead before morning." + +"You need have no fear on that score," I answered. "They shall hear +nothing from me." + +Thereupon he took his departure, and for the next hour I remained where +I was, deriving what satisfaction I could from the assurance he had +given me. + +It was quite dark by the time Pharos returned. + +"What news do you bring?" I inquired anxiously. "Why do you not tell me +at once how she is? Can you not see how I am suffering?" + +"The crisis is past," he replied, "and she will do now. But it was a +very narrow escape. If I had not followed you by the next train, in what +sort of position would you be at this minute?" + +"I should not be alive," I answered. "If her life had been taken it +would have killed me." + +"You are very easily killed, I have no doubt," was his sneering +rejoinder. "At the same time, take my advice and let this be a lesson to +you not to try escaping from me again. You have been pretty severely +punished. On another occasion your fate may be even worse." + +I gazed at him in pretended surprise. + +"I do not understand your meaning when you say that I escaped from +you," I said, with an air of innocence that would not have deceived any +one. "Why should I desire to do so? If you refer to my leaving Prague so +suddenly, please remember that I warned you the night before that it +would be necessary for me to leave at once for England. I presume I am +at liberty to act as I please?" + +"I am not in the humour just now to argue the question with you," he +answered, "but if you will be advised by me, my dear Forrester, you +will, for the future, consult me with regard to your movements. My ward +has given you her experiences and has told you with what result, she, on +two occasions, attempted to leave me. At your instigation she has tried +a third time, and you see how that attempt has turned out. You little +thought that when you were dining so comfortably in Herr Schuncke's +restaurant in Berlin, last night, that I was watching your repast." + +"I do not believe it," I answered angrily. "It is impossible that you +could have been there, if only for the reason that there was no train to +bring you." + +He smiled pityingly upon me. + +"I am beginning to think, my friend," he said, "that you are not so +clever as I at first supposed you. I wonder what you would say if I were +to tell you, that while Valerie was playing for Schuncke's +entertainment, I, who was travelling along between Prague and Dresden, +was an interested spectator of the whole scene. Shall I describe to you +the arrangement of the room? Shall I tell you how Schuncke leant against +the wall near the door, his hands folded before him, and his great head +nodding? How you sat at the table near the fireplace, building castles +in the air, upon which, by the way, I offer you my felicitations? while +Valerie, standing on the other side of the room, made music for you +all? It is strange that I should know all that, particularly as I did +not do myself the honour of calling at the restaurant, is it not?" + +I made no answer. To tell the truth, I did not know what to say. Pharos +chuckled as he observed my embarrassment. + +"You will learn wisdom before I have done with you," he continued. +"However, that is enough on the subject just now. Let us talk about +something else. There is much to be done to-night, and I shall require +your assistance." + +The variety of emotions to which I had been subjected that day had +exercised such an effect upon me that, by this time, I was scarcely +capable of even a show of resistance. In my own mind I felt morally +certain that when he said there was much to do he meant the +accomplishment of some new villainy, but what form it was destined to +take I neither knew nor cared. He had got me so completely under his +influence by this time that he could make me do exactly as he required. + +"What is it you are going to do?" I inquired, more because I saw that he +expected me to say something than for any other reason. + +"I am going to get us all out of this place and back to England without +loss of time," he answered, in a tone of triumph. + +"To England?" I replied, and the hideous mockery of his speech made me +laugh aloud; as bitter a laugh surely as was ever uttered by mortal man. +"You accused me just now of not being as clever as you had at first +supposed me. I return the compliment. You have evidently not heard that +every route into England is blocked." + +"No route is ever blocked to me," he answered. "I leave for London at +midnight to-night, and Valerie accompanies me." + +"You must be mad to think of such a thing!" I cried, Valerie's name +producing a sudden change in my behaviour toward him. "How can she +possibly do so? Remember how ill she is. It would be little short of +murder to move her." + +"It will be nothing of the kind," he replied. "When I want her she will +rise from her bed and walk down stairs and go wherever I bid her, +looking to all appearances as well and strong as any other woman in this +town." + +"By all means let us go to England then," I said, clutching eagerly at +the hope he held out. "Though how you are going to manage it I do not +know." + +"You shall see," he said. "Remember, you have never known me fail. If +you would bear that fact in mind a little oftener, you would come nearer +a better appreciation of my character than that to which you have so far +attained. However, while we are wasting time talking, it is getting +late, and you have not dined yet. I suppose it is necessary for you to +eat, otherwise you will be incapable of anything?" + +"I could not touch a thing," I answered in reply to his gibe. "You will +not therefore be hindered by me. But how can we go out and leave Valerie +behind in her present condition?" + +"I shall give her an opiate," he said, "which will keep her sleeping +quietly for the next three or four hours. When she wakes she will be +capable of anything." + +He thereupon left the room, and upward of a quarter of an hour elapsed +before he rejoined me. When he did, I noticed that he was dressed for +going out. I immediately picked up my hat and stick and followed him +down stairs. Once in the street, Pharos started off at a smart pace, and +as soon as he reached the corner, near the first chemist's shop I had +visited that afternoon, turned sharply to his left, crossed the road, +and entered a bye lane. The remainder of the journey was of too tortuous +a description for me to hope to give you any detailed account of it. Up +one back street and down another, over innumerable canals, we made our +way, until at last we reached a quarter of the town totally distinct +from that in which our hotel was situated. During the walk Pharos +scarcely spoke, but times out of number he threw angry glances at me +over his shoulder when I dropped a little behind. Indeed, he walked at +such a pace, old man though he was, that at times I found it extremely +difficult to keep up with him. At last, entering a dirtier street than +any we had so far encountered, he stopped short before a tall, austere +building which from a variety of evidences had seen better days, and +might a couple of centuries or so before have been the residence of some +well-to-do merchant. Mounting the steps, he rapped sharply upon the door +with his stick. A sound of laughter and the voice of a man singing +reached us from within, and when Pharos knocked a second time the +rapidity of the blows and the strength with which they were administered +bore witness to his impatience. At last, however, the door was opened a +few inches by a man who looked out and inquired with an oath what we +wanted. + +"I have come in search of Captain Wisemann," my companion answered. "If +he is at home, tell him that if he does not receive Monsieur Pharos at +once, he knows the penalty. Carry him that message and be quick about +it. I have waited at this door quite long enough." + +With an unintelligible grunt the man departed on his errand, and it was +plain that the news he brought had a sobering effect upon the company +within, for a sudden silence prevailed, and a few moments later he +returned and begged us with comparative civility to enter. We did so, +and followed our guide along a filthy passage to a room at the back of +the dwelling, a magnificent chamber, panelled with old oak, every inch +of which spoke of an age and an art long since dead. The dirt of the +place, however, passes description. Under the _regime_ of the present +owner, it seemed doubtful whether any attempt had ever been made to +clean it. The ceiling was begrimed with smoke and dirt, cobwebs not only +decorated the cornices and the carved figures on the chimneypiece, but +much of the panelling on the walls themselves was cracked and broken. On +the table in the centre of the room was all that remained of a repast, +and at this Pharos sniffed disdainfully. + +"A pig he was when I first met him, and a pig he will remain to the day +of his death," said Pharos, by way of introducing the man upon whom we +were calling. "However, a pig is at all times a useful animal, and so is +Wisemann." + +At this moment the man of whom he had spoken in these scarcely +complimentary terms entered the room. + +I have elsewhere described the Arab who met Pharos at the Pyramids, on +the occasion of my momentous visit, as being the biggest man I had ever +beheld in my life, and so he was, for at that time I had not the +pleasure of Herman Wisemann's acquaintance. Since I have seen him, +however, the Arab has, as the Americans say, been compelled to take a +back place. Wisemann must have stood six-foot nine if an inch, and in +addition to his height his frame was correspondingly large. Though I am +not short myself, he towered above me by fully a head. To add to the +strangeness of his appearance, he was the possessor of a pair of +enormous ears that stood out at right angles to his head. That he was +afraid of Pharos was shown by the sheepish fashion in which he entered +the room. + +"Three years ago I called upon you," said Pharos, "and was kept waiting +while you fuddled yourself with your country's abominable liquor. +To-night I have been favoured with a repetition of that offence. On the +third occasion I shall deal with you more summarily. Remember that! Now +to business." + +"If Herr Pharos will condescend to tell me what it is he requires of +me," said the giant, "he may be sure I will do my best to please him." + +"You had better not do otherwise, my friend," snapped Pharos with his +usual acidity. "Perhaps you remember that on one occasion you made a +mistake. Don't do so again. Now listen to me. I am anxious to be in +London on Friday morning next. You will, therefore, find me a fast +vessel, and she must leave to-night at midnight." + +"But it is impossible to get into England," replied the man. "Since the +outbreak of the plague the quarantine laws have been stricter even than +they were before. Heinrich Clausen tried last week and had to return +unsuccessful." + +"How does Heinrich Clausen's failure affect me?" asked Pharos. "I shall +not fail, whatever any one else may do. Your friend Clausen should have +known better than to go to London. Land me on the coast of Norfolk and +that will do." + +"But it is eight o'clock now," the man replied, "and you say you wish to +start at midnight. How am I to arrange it before then?" + +"How you are to do it does not concern me," said Pharos. "All I know is +that you must do it. Otherwise, well then the punishment will be the +same as before, only on this occasion a little more severe. You can send +me word in an hour's time, how, and where, we are to board her. I am +staying at the Continental, and my number is eighty-three." + +The man had evidently abandoned all thought of refusing. + +"And the remuneration?" he inquired. "The risk will have to be taken +into account." + +"The price will be the same as on the last occasion, provided he lands +us safely at the place which I shall name to him as soon as we are on +board. But only half that amount, if, by any carelessness on his part, +the scheme is unsuccessful. I shall expect to hear from you within an +hour. Be careful, however, that your messenger does not arouse any +suspicions at the hotel. We do not want the English authorities put upon +their guard." + +Wisemann accompanied us to the door, and bowed us out. After that we +returned as quickly as possible to our hotel. My delight may be imagined +on hearing from Pharos, who visited her as soon as he returned, that +throughout the time we had been absent Valerie had been sleeping +peacefully, and was now making as good progress toward recovery as he +could desire. + +At nine o'clock, almost punctual to the minute, a note was brought to +Pharos. He opened it, and having read it, informed the man that there +was no answer. + +"Wisemann has arranged everything," he said. "The steamer Margrave of +Brandenburg will be ready to pick us up in the river at the hour +appointed, and in fifty hours from the first revolution of her screw we +should be in England." + +"And what would happen then?" I asked myself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +When the sun rose on the following morning, nothing but green seas +surrounded us, and the Margrave of Brandenburg was doing her best to +live up to the reputation I soon discovered she possessed--namely, of +being the worst roller in the North Sea trade. She was by no means a +large craft, nor, as I soon remarked, was she particularly well found; +she belonged to a firm of Altona Jews, and, as the captain was wont to +say pathetically, "The only thing they did not grudge him was the right +to do as much work on the smallest amount of pay on which it was +possible for a man to keep body and soul together." The captain's +nationality was more difficult to determine than that of his employers. +He called himself an Englishman, but, unfortunately for this assertion, +his accent belied him. In addition to English, he spoke German like a +Frenchman, and French like a German, was equally at home in +Russian--which, to say the least of it, is not a language for the +amateur--Italian also, while in a moment of confidence he found occasion +to inform me that he had served for three years on board a Spanish +troop-ship, an assertion which would lead one to suppose that he was +conversant with that language also. In point of fact, he was one of that +curious class of sailor commonly met with outside the British mercantile +marine, who, if you asked them, would find it difficult to tell you +where they were born, and who have been so long at sea that one country +has become like another to them, provided the liquor is good and they +can scrape together a sufficient living out of it; and one flag is equal +to another, provided, of course, it is not Chinese, which as everyone +knows is no use to anyone, not even to themselves. + +For the week, and more particularly for the forty-eight hours preceding +our departure from Hamburg, I had been living in such a state of nervous +tension that, as soon as we were once clear of the land, the reaction +that set in was almost more than I could bear. The prophecy Pharos had +given utterance to regarding Valerie had been verified to the letter. At +the hour appointed for leaving, she had descended from her room, looking +at first glance as healthy and strong as I had ever seen her. It was +only when I came close up to her and could catch a glimpse of her eyes +that I saw how dilated the pupils were and how unnatural was the light +they contained. From the moment she appeared upon the stairs, throughout +the drive through the city, and until we reached the steamer, not a word +crossed her lips, and it was only when we were in the saloon and Pharos +bade her retire to her cabin, that she found her voice and spoke to me. + +"Good night," she said very slowly, as if it hurt her even to speak the +words, and then added with infinite sadness, "You have been very good +and patient with me, Cyril." Having said this, she disappeared into her +cabin, and I saw no more of her that night. + +As I remarked at the commencement of this chapter, the sun when it rose +next morning found us in open water. Not a trace of the land was to be +seen, and you may be sure I was not sorry to be away from it. Taking one +thing with another, I had not spent a pleasant night. I had tried +sleeping in my bunk, but without success. It was filthy in the extreme, +and so small that I found it quite impossible to stretch myself out at +full length. Accordingly, I had tumbled and tossed in it, tried every +position, and had at last vacated it in favour of the settee in the +saloon, where I had remained until the first signs of day showed +themselves. Then I went on deck to find a beautiful pearl-grey dawn, in +which the steamer seemed a speck on the immensity of sea. I tried to +promenade the deck, only to find that the vessel's rolling rendered it +extremely difficult, if not well-nigh impossible. I accordingly made my +way to a sheltered spot, just abaft the saloon entrance, and, seating +myself on the skylight, endeavoured to collect my thoughts. It was a +more difficult matter than would at first be supposed, for the reason +that the side issues involved were so many, and also so important, and I +found myself being continually drawn from the main point at issue, which +was the question as to what was to become of Valerie and myself since we +found it impossible to escape from Pharos. How the latter had become +possessed of the secret of our intention to escape from him I could not +imagine, nor could I understand how he had been able to pursue and +capture us with such accuracy and despatch. As it had turned out, it was +just as well that he did follow us, and I shivered again as I thought of +what Valerie's fate might have been had he not come upon the scene so +opportunely. Of one thing I was quite convinced, in spite of the threats +he had used, and that was that, as soon as we reached England, I would +find some way--how I was to do so I did not for the moment quite +realise--of getting the woman I loved out of his clutches, this time for +good and all. + +I breakfasted that morning alone. Valerie being still too ill to leave +her bunk, while Pharos, as usual, did not put in appearance until close +upon midday. By the time he did so the sea had lost much of its former +violence, and the vessel was, in consequence, making better progress. +How I longed to be in England no one can have any idea. The events of +the last few months, if they had done nothing else, had at least +deprived me of my taste for travel, and as for the land of Egypt, the +liking I had once entertained for that country had given place to a +hatred that was as vigorous as I had deemed the other sincere. + +I have already said that it was midday before Pharos made his appearance +on deck; but when he did, so far as his amiability was concerned, he +would have been very much better below. Being accustomed by this time to +note the changes in his manner, it did not take me very long to see that +this was one of his bad days. For this reason I resolved to keep out of +his way as far as possible, but in my attempt I was only partly +successful. + +"In thirty-eight hours, my friend," he said, when he had found me out, +"you will be in England once more, and the desire of your heart will be +gratified. You should be grateful to me, for had I not followed you to +Hamburg, it is quite certain _you_ would still be in that plague-ridden +city, and where would Valerie be? Well, Valerie would be----But there, +we will have no more of those little escapades, if you please, so +remember that. The next time you attempt to play me false, I shall know +how to deal with you. All things considered, it was a good day for me +when you fell in love with Valerie." + +"What do you mean?" I asked, for I neither liked the look on his face +nor the way he spoke. + +"I mean what I say," he answered. "You love Valerie, and she loves you; +but----Well, to put it mildly, she does what I tell her, and for the +future so must you! It would be as well, perhaps, if you would bear that +fact in mind." + +I rose from the skylight upon which I had been sitting and faced him. + +"Monsieur Pharos," I said, holding up my hand in protest, "you have gone +quite far enough. Let me advise you to think twice before you make use +of such threats to me. I do not understand by what right you speak to me +in this fashion." + +"There are many things you do not understand, and at present it is not +my intention to enlighten you," he answered, with consummate coolness. +"Only remember this--while you act in accordance with my wishes, you are +safe, but if at any time you attempt to thwart me, I give you fair +warning I will crush you like a worm." + +So saying, he darted another glance at me full of intense malignity, and +then took his departure. When he had gone I seated myself again and +endeavoured to solve the riddle of his behaviour. What his purpose could +be in keeping me with him, and why he was always threatening me with +punishment if I did not act in accordance with his wishes, were two +questions I tried to answer, but in vain. That there was something +behind it all which boded ill for myself, I felt morally certain, but +what that something was I had yet to discover. If I had known all, I +wonder what course of action I should have pursued. + +For the remainder of the day I saw nothing of Pharos. He had shut +himself up in his cabin with only the monkey for company. Towards the +end of the afternoon, however, he sent for the captain, and they +remained closeted together for a quarter of an hour. When the latter +appeared again, it was with an unusually white face. He passed me on the +companion-ladder, and from the light I saw in his eyes I surmised that +Pharos had been treating him to a sample of his ill-humour, and that he +had come out of it considerably scared. Once more I partook of the +evening meal alone, and, as I was by this time not only thoroughly tired +of my own company, but worn out with anxiety and continual brooding upon +one subject, I sought my couch at an early hour. My dreams that night +were far from good. The recollection of that terrible afternoon in +Hamburg, when Valerie had been taken ill, and Pharos had so unexpectedly +appeared in time to save her, was sufficient to wake me up in a cold +sweat of fear. When I had somewhat recovered, I became aware that +someone was knocking on my cabin door. To my surprise it proved to be +the captain. + +"What is the matter?" I inquired, as he entered. "What brings you here?" + +"I have come to you for your advice," he said nervously, as he fidgeted +with his cap. "I can tell you we're in a bad way aboard this ship." + +"Why, what has happened?" I inquired, sitting up and staring at his +white face. "Have we met with an accident?" + +"We have," he answered, "and a bad one. A worse could scarcely have +befallen us." Then, sinking his voice to a whisper, he added, "_The +plague has broken out aboard!_" + +"The plague!" I cried, in consternation. "Do you mean it? For Heaven's +sake, man, be sure you are not making a mistake before you say such a +thing!" + +"I only wish I were not sure," he replied. "Unfortunately there is no +getting away from the fact. The plague's upon us, sure enough, and, +what's worse, I'm afraid it's come to stay." + +"How many cases are there?" I asked, "and when did you discover it? Tell +me everything." + +"We found it out early this morning," the captain replied. "There are +two cases, the steward aft here, and the cook for'ard. The steward is +dead; we pitched him overboard just before I came down to you. The cook +is very nearly as bad. I can tell you, I wish I was anywhere but where I +am. I've got a wife and youngsters depending on me at home. The thing +spreads like fire, they say, and poor Reimann was as well as you are a +couple of hours ago. He brought me a cup of coffee and a biscuit up on +to the bridge at eight bells, and now to think he's overboard!" + +The captain concluded his speech with a groan, and then stood watching +me and waiting for me to speak. + +"But I can't understand what brings you to me," I said. "I don't see how +I can help you." + +"I came to you because I wanted to find out what I had better do," he +returned. "I thought most probably you would be able to advise me, and I +didn't want to go to him." Here he nodded his head in the direction of +Pharos's cabin. "If you could only have heard the way he bulliragged me +yesterday you would understand why. If I'd been a dog in the street he +couldn't have treated me worse, and all because I was unable to make the +boat travel twice as fast as her engines would let her go." + +"But I don't see how I'm to help you in this matter," I said, and then +added, with what could only have been poor comfort, "We don't know who +may be the next case." + +"That's the worst part of it," he answered. "For all we can tell it may +be you, and it might be me. I suppose you're as much afraid of it as I +am." + +I had to confess that I was, and then inquired what means he proposed to +adopt for stamping it out. + +"I don't know what to do," he answered, and the words were scarcely out +of his mouth before another rap sounded on the cabin door. He opened it +to find a deck hand standing outside. A muttered conversation ensued +between them, after which the captain, with a still more scared look +upon his face, returned to me. + +"It's getting worse," he said. "The chief engineer's down now, and the +bosun has sent word to say he don't feel well. God help us if this sort +of thing is going to continue! Every mother's son aboard this ship will +make sure he's got it, and then who's to do the work? We may as well go +to the bottom right off." + +Trouble was indeed pursuing us. It seemed as if I were destined to get +safely out of one difficulty only to fall into another. If this terrible +scourge continued we should indeed be in straits; for the Continent was +barred to us on one hand, and England on the other, while to turn her +head and put back to Hamburg was a course we could not dream of +adopting. One thing was plain to me; to avoid any trouble later we must +inform Pharos. So, advising the captain to separate those who had +contracted the disease from those who were still well, I left my cabin +and crossed to the further side of the saloon. To my surprise Pharos +received the news with greater equanimity than I had expected he would +show. + +"I doubted whether we should escape unscathed," he said; "but the +captain deserves to die of it himself for not having informed me as soon +as the first man was taken ill. However, let us hope it is not too late +to put a stop to it. I must go and see the men, and do what I can to +pull them round. It would not do to have a breakdown out here for the +want of sufficient men to work the boat." + +So saying he bade me leave him while he dressed, and when this operation +was completed, departed on his errand, while I returned to the saloon. I +had not been there many minutes before the door of Valerie's cabin +opened and my sweetheart emerged. I sprang to my feet with a cry of +surprise and then ran forward to greet her. Short though her illness had +been, it had effected a great change in her appearance, but since she +was able to leave her cabin, I trusted that the sea air would soon +restore her accustomed health to her. After a few preliminary remarks, +which would scarcely prove of interest even if recorded, she inquired +when we expected to reach England. + +"About midnight to-night, I believe," I replied; "that is, if all goes +well." + +There was a short silence, and then she placed her hand in mine and +looked anxiously into my face. + +"I want you to tell me, dear," she said, "all that happened the night +before last. In my own heart I felt quite certain from the first that we +should not get safely away. Did I not say that Pharos would never permit +it? I must have been very ill, for though I remember standing in the +sitting-room at the hotel, waiting for you to return from the steamship +office, I cannot recall anything else. Tell me everything, I am quite +strong enough to bear it." + +Thus entreated, I described how she had foretold Pharos's arrival in +Hamburg, and how she had warned me that he had entered the hotel. + +"I can remember nothing of what you tell me," she said sadly when I had +finished. Then, still holding my hand in hers, she continued in an +undertone, "We were to have been so happy together." + +"Not '_were to have been_,'" I said, with a show of confidence I was far +from feeling, "but '_are to be_.' Believe me, darling, all will come +right yet. We have been through so much together that surely we must be +happy in the end. We love each other, and nothing can destroy that." + +"Nothing," she answered, with a little catch of her breath; "but there +is one thing I must say to you while I have time, something that I fear +may possibly give you pain. You told me in Hamburg that up to the +present no case of the plague had been notified in England. If that is +so, darling, what right have we to introduce it? Surely none. Thing of +the misery its coming must inevitably cause to others. For aught we know +to the contrary, we may carry the infection from Hamburg with us, and +thousands of innocent people will suffer in consequence. I have been +thinking it over all night, and it seems to me that if we did this thing +we should be little better than murderers." + +I had thought of this myself, but lest I should appear to be taking +credit for more than I deserve, I must confess that the true +consequences of the action to which she referred had never struck me. +Not having any desire to frighten her, I did not tell her that the +disease had already made its appearance on board the very vessel in +which we were travelling. + +"You are bargaining without Pharos, however," I replied. "If he has made +up his mind to go, how are we to gainsay him? Our last attempt could +scarcely be considered a success." + +"At any cost to ourselves we must not go," she said firmly and +decidedly. "The lives of loving parents, of women and little children, +the happiness of an entire nation, depend upon our action. What is our +safety, great as it seems to us, compared with theirs?" + +"Valerie, you are my good angel," I said. "Whatever you wish I will do." + +"We must tell Pharos that we have both determined on no account to land +with him," she continued. "If the pestilence had already shown itself +there it would be a different matter, but as it is we have no choice +left us but to do our duty." + +"But where are we to go if we do not visit England? And what are we to +do?" I asked, for I could plainly see the difficulties ahead. + +"I do not know," she answered simply. "Never fear; we will find some +place. You may be certain of this, dear--if we wish God to bless our +love we must act as I propose." + +"So it shall be," I answered, lifting her hand to my lips. "You have +decided for me. Whatever it may mean to ourselves, we will not do +anything that will imperil the lives of the people you spoke of just +now." + +A few moments later I heard a footstep on the companion-ladder. It was +Pharos returning from his examination of the plague-stricken men. In the +dim light of the hatchway he looked more like a demon than a man, and as +I thought of the subject I had to broach to him, and the storm it would +probably bring down upon us, I am not ashamed to confess that my heart +sank into my shoes. + +It was not until he was fairly in the saloon that he became aware of +Valerie's presence. + +"I offer you my congratulations upon your improved appearance," he said +politely. "I am glad of it, for it will make matters the easier when we +get ashore." + +I had already risen from my seat, though I still held Valerie's hand. + +"Your pardon, Monsieur Pharos," I said, trying to speak calmly, "but on +that subject it is necessary that I should have a few words with you." + +"Indeed," he answered, looking at me with the customary sneer upon his +face. "In that case, say on, for, as you see, I am all attention. I must +beg, however, that you will be quick about it, for matters are +progressing so capitally on board this ship that, if things go on as +they are doing at present, we may every one of us expect to be down with +the plague before midday." + +"The plague!" Valerie repeated, with a note of fear in her voice. "Do +you mean to say that it has broken out on board this steamer?" Then, +turning to me, she added reproachfully, "You did not tell me that." + +"Very probably not, my dear," Pharos answered for me. "Had he done so, +you would scarcely have propounded the ingenious theory you were +discussing shortly before I entered." + +Overwhelming as was Valerie's surprise at the dreadful news Pharos had +disclosed to her, and unenviable as our present position was, we could +not contain our astonishment at finding that Pharos had become +acquainted with the decision we had arrived at a few moments before. +Instinctively I glanced up at the skylight overhead, thinking it might +have been through that he had overheard our conversation. But it was +securely closed. By what means, therefore, he had acquired his +information I could not imagine. + +"You were prepared to tell me when I appeared," he said, "that you would +refuse to enter England, on what I cannot help considering most absurd +grounds. You must really forgive me if I do not agree with your views. +Apart from the idea of your thwarting me, your decision is ludicrous in +the extreme. However, now that you find you are no safer on board this +ship than you would be ashore--in point of fact, not so safe--you will +doubtless change your minds. By way of emphasising my point, I might +tell you that out of the twelve men constituting her crew, no less than +four are victims of the pestilence, while one is dead and thrown +overboard." + +"Four," I cried, scarcely able to believe that what he said could be +true. "There were only two half an hour ago." + +"I do not combat that assertion," he said; "but you forget that the +disease travels fast, faster even than you do when you run away from me, +my dear Forrester. However, I don't know that that fact matters very +much. What we have to deal with is your obliging offer to refuse to land +in England. Perhaps you will be good enough to tell me, in the event of +your not doing so there, where you will condescend to go ashore! The +Margrave of Brandenburg is only a small vessel, after all, and with the +best intention she cannot remain at sea for ever." + +"What we wish to tell you is," I answered, "that we have decided not to +be the means of introducing this terrible scourge into a country that so +far is free from it." + +"A very philanthropic decision on your part," he answered sarcastically. +"Unfortunately, however, I am in a position to be able to inform you +that your charity is not required. Though the authorities are not aware +of it, the plague has already broken out in England. For this reason you +will not be responsible for such deaths as may occur." + +He paused and looked first at Valerie and then at myself. The old light +I remembered having seen in his eyes the night he had hypnotised me in +my studio was shining there now. Very soon the storm which had been +gathering broke, and its violence was the greater for having been so +long suppressed. + +"I have warned you several times already," he cried, shaking his fist at +me, "but you take no notice. You will try to thwart me again, and then +nothing can save you. You fool! cannot you see how thin the crust is +upon which you stand? Hatch but one more plot, and I will punish you in +a fashion of which you do not dream. As with this woman here, I have but +to raise my hand, and you are powerless to help yourself. Sight, +hearing, power of speech, may be all taken from you in a second, and for +as long a time as I please." Then, turning to Valerie, he continued, "To +your cabin with you, madam. Let me hear no more of such talk as this, or +'twill be time for me to give you another exhibition of my power." + +Valerie departed to her cabin without a word, and Pharos, with another +glance at me, entered his, while I remained standing in the centre of +the saloon, not knowing what to do nor what to say. + +It was not until late that evening that I saw him again, and then I was +on deck. The sea was much smoother than in the morning, but the night +wind blew cold. I had not left the companion-ladder very long before I +was aware of a man coming slowly along the deck towards me, lurching +from side to side as he walked. To my astonishment it proved to be the +captain, and it was plain that something serious was the matter with +him. When he came closer I found that he was talking to himself. + +"What is the matter, captain?" I inquired, with a foreboding in my +heart. "Are you not feeling well?" + +He shook off the hand I had placed upon his arm. + +"It is no good, I will not do it!" he cried fiercely. "I have done +enough for you already, and you won't get me to do any more." + +"Come, come," I said, "you mustn't be wandering about the deck like +this! Let me help you to your cabin." So saying, I took him by the arm +and was about to lead him along the deck in the direction of his own +quarters, when, with a shout of rage, he turned and threw himself upon +me. Then began a struggle such as I had never known in my life before. +The man was undoubtedly mad, and I soon found that I had to put out all +my strength to hold my own against him. + +While we were still wrestling, Pharos made his appearance from below. He +took in the situation at a glance, and as we swayed towards him threw +himself upon the captain, twining his long, thin fingers about the +other's throat and clinging to him with the tenacity of a bulldog. The +result may be easily foreseen. Overmatched as he was, the wretched man +fell like a log upon the deck, and I with him. The force with which his +head struck the planks must have stunned him, for he lay, without +moving, just where he had fallen. The light of the lamp in the companion +fell full upon his face and enabled me to see a large swelling on the +right side of the throat, a little below the ear. + +"Another victim," said Pharos, and I could have sworn a chuckle escaped +him. "You had better leave him to me. There is no hope for him. That +swelling is an infallible sign. He is unconscious now; in half an hour +he will be dead." + +Unhappily his prophecy proved to be correct, for though we bore him to +his cabin and did all that was possible, in something under the time +Pharos had mentioned death had overtaken him. + +Our position was even less pleasant now than before. We had only the +second mate to fall back upon, and if anything happened to him I did not +see how it would be possible for us to reach our destination. As it +turned out, however, I need not have worried myself, for we were closer +to the English coast than I imagined. + +Owing to the stringency of the quarantine laws, and to the fact that the +coastguards all round the British Isles were continually on the look-out +for vessels attempting to land passengers, orders had been given that no +lights should be shown; the skylights and portholes were accordingly +covered with tarpaulins. + +It wanted a quarter of an hour to midnight when Pharos came along the +deck and, standing by my side, pointed away over our bow. + +"The black smudge you can distinguish on the horizon is England," he +said abruptly, and then was silent, in order, I suppose, that I might +have time to digest the thoughts his information conjured up. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Pharos and I stood leaning against the bulwarks, gazing at the land. For +my part I must confess that there was a feeling in my heart that was not +unlike that of a disgraced son who enters his home by stealth after a +long absence. And yet it would be impossible to tell you how my heart +warmed to it. Times out of number I had thought of my return to England, +and had pictured Valerie standing by my side upon the deck of the +steamer, watching the land loom up, and thinking of the happiness that +was to be our portion in the days to come. Now Valerie and I were +certainly nearing England together; Pharos, however, was with us, and +while we were in his power happiness was, to all intents and purposes, +unknown to us. + +"What do you propose doing when you get ashore?" I inquired of my +companion, more for the sake of breaking the silence than for any desire +I had for the information. + +"That will very much depend upon circumstances," he replied, still +without looking at me. "Our main object must be to reach London as +quickly as possible." Then, changing his tone, he turned to me. +"Forrester, my dear fellow," he said, almost sorrowfully, "you cannot +think how I regret our little disagreement of this morning. I am afraid, +while I am touchy, you are headstrong; and, in consequence, we +misunderstand each other. I cannot, of course, tell what you think of +me in your heart, but I venture to believe that if you knew everything, +you would be the first to own that you have wronged me. Bad as I may be, +I am not quite what you would make me out. If I were, do you think, +knowing your antagonism as I do, I should have kept you so long with me? +You have doubted me from the beginning; in fact, as you will remember, +you once went so far as to accuse me of the crime of murder. You +afterwards acknowledged your mistake--in handsome terms, I will own; but +to counterbalance such frankness, you later on accused me of drugging +you in Cairo. This was another fallacy, as you yourself will, I am sure, +admit. In Prague you ran away from me, taking my ward with you, a very +curious proceeding, regarded in whatever light you choose to look at it. +What was your object? Why, to reach England. Well, as soon as I knew +that, I again showed my desire to help you. As a proof of that, are we +not now on board this ship, and is not that the coast of England over +yonder?" + +I admitted that it was. But I was not at all prepared to subscribe to +his generous suggestion that he had only undertaken the voyage for my +sake. + +"That, however, is not all," he continued, still in the same tone. "As I +think I told you in Prague, I am aware that you entertain a sincere +affection for my ward. Many men in my position would doubtless have +refused their consent to your betrothal, if for no other reason, because +of your behaviour to myself. I am, however, cast in a different mould. +If you will only play fair by me, you will find that I will do so to +you. I like you, as I have so often said, and, though I am doubtless a +little hasty in my temper, there is nothing I would not do to help you, +either in your heart, your ambition, or your love. And I can assure you +my help is not to be despised. If it is fame you seek, you have surely +seen enough of me to know that I can give it to you. If it is domestic +happiness, who can do so much for you as I?" + +"I hope, Monsieur Pharos," I answered, in as dignified a manner as I +could assume, "that I appreciate your very kind remarks at their proper +value, and also the generous manner in which you have offered to forget +and forgive such offences as I have committed against yourself. You +must, however, pardon me if I fail to realise the drift of your remarks. +There have been times during the last six weeks when you have uttered +the most extraordinary threats against myself. Naturally, I have no +desire to quarrel with you; but, remembering what has passed between us, +I am compelled to show myself a little sceptical of your promises." + +He glanced sharply at me, but was wise enough to say nothing. A moment +later, making the excuse that he must discover where the mate intended +to bring up, he left me and went forward to the bridge. + +I was still thinking of my conversation with Pharos, and considering +whether I had been wise in letting him see my cards, when a little hand +stole into mine, and I found Valerie beside me. + +"I could not remain below," she said, "when we were nearing England. I +knew the effect the land would have upon you, and I wanted to be with +you." + +I then gave her an account of the interview I had had with Pharos, and +of all he had said to me and I to him. She listened attentively enough, +but I could see that she was far from being impressed. + +"Do not trust him," she said. "Surely you know him well enough by this +time not to do so. You may be very sure he has some reason for saying +this, otherwise he would not trouble himself to speak about it." + +"I shall not trust him," I replied. "You need have no fear of that. My +experience of him has taught me that it is in such moments as these that +he is most dangerous. When he is in one of his bad humours, one is on +the alert and prepared for anything he may do or say; but when he +repents and appears so anxious to be friendly, one scarcely knows how to +take him. Suspicion is lulled to sleep for the moment, there is a +feeling of security, and it is then the mischief is accomplished." + +"We will watch him together," she continued; "but, whether he is +friendly or otherwise, we will not trust him even for a moment." + +So close were we by this time to the shore, and so still was the night, +that we could even hear the wavelets breaking upon the beach. Then the +screw of the steamer ceased to revolve, and when it was quite still +Pharos and the second mate descended from the bridge and joined us. + +"This has been a bad business, a very bad business," the mate was +saying. "The skipper, the chief engineer, the steward, and three of the +hands all dead, and no port to put into for assistance. I wish I was +going ashore like you." + +We shook hands with him in turn, and then descended the ladder to the +boat alongside. The thought of the mate's position on board that +plague-stricken vessel may possibly have accounted for the silence in +which we pushed off and headed for the shore; at any rate, not a word +was spoken. The sea was as calm as a mill-pond, and for the reason that +the night was dark, and we were all dressed in sombre colours, while the +boat chosen for the work of landing us was painted a deep black, it was +scarcely likely our presence would be detected. Be that as it may, no +coastguard greeted us on our arrival. Therefore, as soon as the boat was +aground, we made our way into the bows, and with the assistance of the +sailors reached the beach. Pharos rewarded the men, and remained +standing beside the water until he had seen them safely embarked on +their return journey to the steamer. Then, without a word to us, he +turned himself about, crossed the beach, and carrying his beloved monkey +in his arms, began slowly to ascend the steep path which led to the high +land on which the village was situated. We did not, however, venture to +approach the place itself. + +The remembrance of that strange night often returns to me now. In my +mind's eye I can see the squat figure of Pharos tramping on ahead, +Valerie following a few steps behind him, and myself bringing up the +rear, and all this with the brilliant stars overhead, the lights of the +village showing dimly across the sandhills to our right, and the +continuous murmur of the sea behind us. + +For upwards of an hour we tramped on in this fashion, and in that time +scarcely covered a distance of four miles. Had it occurred at the +commencement of our acquaintance I should not have been able to +understand how Pharos, considering his age and infirm appearance, could +have accomplished even so much. Since then, however, I had been +permitted so many opportunities of noting the enormous strength and +vitality contained in his meagre frame that I was past any feeling of +wonderment. Valerie it was who caused me most anxiety. Only two days +before she had been stricken by the plague; yesterday she was still +confined to her cabin. Now here she was, subjected to intense excitement +and no small amount of physical exertion. Pharos must have had the same +thought in his mind, for more than once he stopped and inquired if she +felt capable of proceeding, and on one occasion he poured out for her +from a flask he carried in his pocket a small cupful of some fluid he +had doubtless brought with him for that purpose. At last the welcome +sight of a railway line came into view. It crossed the road, and as soon +as we saw it we stopped and took counsel together. The question for us +to consider was whether it would be wiser to continue our walk along the +high road, on the chance of its bringing us to a station, or whether we +should clamber up the embankment to the railway line itself, and follow +that along in the hope of achieving the same result. On the one side +there was the likelihood of our having to go a long way round, and on +the other the suspicion that might possibly be aroused in the minds of +the railway officials should we make an appearance at the station in +such an unorthodox fashion. Eventually, however, we decided for the +railway line. Accordingly we mounted the stile beside the arch, and +having clambered up the embankment to the footpath beside the permanent +way, resumed our march, one behind the other as before. We had not, +however, as it turned out, very much further to go, for on emerging from +the cutting, which began at a short distance from the arch just referred +to, we saw before us a glimmering light, emanating, so we discovered +later, from the signal-box on the further side of the station. I could +not help wondering how Pharos would explain our presence at such an +hour, but I knew him well enough by this time to feel sure that he would +be able to do so, not only to his own, but to everybody else's +satisfaction. The place itself proved to be a primitive roadside affair, +with a small galvanised shelter for passengers, and a cottage at the +further end, which we set down rightly enough as the residence of the +stationmaster. The only lights to be seen were an oil-lamp above the +cottage door, and another in the waiting-room. No sign of any official +could be discovered. + +"We must now find out," said Pharos, "at what time the next train leaves +for civilisation. Even in such a hole as this they must surely have a +time-table." + +So saying, he went into the shelter before described and turned up the +lamp. His guess proved to be correct, for a number of notices were +pasted upon the wall. + +"Did you happen to see the name of the station as you came along the +platform?" he inquired of me as he knelt upon the seat and ran his eye +along the printed sheets. + +"I did not," I replied; "but I will very soon find out." + +Leaving them, I made my way along the platform toward the cottage. Here +on a board suspended upon the fence was the name "Tebworth" in large +letters. I returned and informed Pharos, who immediately placed his +skinny finger upon the placard before him. + +"Tebworth," he said. "Here it is. The next train for Norwich leaves at +2.48. What is the time now?" + +I consulted my watch. + +"Ten minutes to two," I replied. "Roughly speaking, we have an hour to +wait." + +"We are lucky in not having longer," Pharos replied. "It is a piece of +good fortune to get a train at all at such an early hour." + +With that he seated himself in a corner and closed his eyes as if +preparatory to slumber. I suppose I must have dozed off after a while, +for I have no remembrance of anything further until I was awakened by +hearing the steps of a man on the platform outside, and his voice +calling to a certain Joel, whoever he might be, to know if there were +any news of the train for which we were waiting. + +Before the other had time to answer Pharos had risen and gone out. The +exclamation of surprise, to say nothing of the look of astonishment upon +the stationmaster's face--for the badge upon his cap told me it was +he--when he found Pharos standing before him, was comical in the +extreme. + +"Good evening," said the latter in his most urbane manner, "or rather, +since it is getting on for three o'clock, I suppose I should say 'Good +morning.' Is you train likely to be late, do you think?" + +"I don't fancy so, sir," the man replied. "She always runs up to time." + +Then, unable to contain the curiosity our presence on his platform at +such an hour occasioned him, he continued, "No offence, I hope, sir, but +we don't have many passengers of your kind by it as a general rule. It's +full early for ladies and gentlemen Tebworth way to be travelling about +the country." + +"Very likely," said Pharos, with more than his usual sweetness; "but you +see, my friend, our case is peculiar. We have a poor lady with us whom +we are anxious to get up to London as quickly as possible. The +excitement of travelling by day would be too much for her, so we choose +the quiet of the early morning. Of course you understand." + +Pharos tapped his forehead in a significant manner, and his intelligence +being thus complimented, the man glanced into the shelter, and seeing +Valerie seated there with a sad expression upon her face, turned to +Pharos and said-- + +"When the train comes in, sir, you leave it to me, and I'll see if I +can't find you a carriage which you can have to yourselves right +through. You'll be in Norwich at three-twenty." + +We followed him along the platform to the booking-office, and Pharos had +scarcely taken the tickets before the whistle of the train, sounding as +it entered the cutting by which we had reached the station, warned us to +prepare for departure. + +"Ah, here she is, running well up to time!" said the stationmaster. +"Now, sir, you come with me." + +Pharos beckoned us to follow; the other opened the door of a first-class +coach. We all got in. Pharos slipped a sovereign into the man's hand; +the train started, and a minute later we were safely out of Tebworth and +on the road once more. Our arrival in Norwich was punctual almost to the +moment, and within twenty minutes of our arrival there we had changed +trains and were speeding toward London at a rate of fifty miles an hour. + +From Norwich, as from Tebworth, we were fortunate enough to have a +carriage to ourselves, and during the journey I found occasion to +discuss with Pharos the question as to what he thought of doing when we +reached town. In my own mind I had made sure that as soon as we got +there he would take Valerie away to the house he had occupied on the +occasion of his last visit, while I should return to my own studio. +This, however, I discovered was by no means what he intended. + +"I could not hear of it, my dear Forrester," he said emphatically. "Is +it possible that you can imagine, after all we have been through +together, I should permit you to leave me? No! no! Such a thing is not +to be thought of for an instant. I appreciate your company, even though +you told me so plainly last evening that you do not believe it. You are +also about to become the husband of my ward, and for that reason alone I +have no desire to lose sight of you in the short time that is left me. I +arranged with my agents before I left London in June, and I heard from +them in Cairo that they had found a suitable residence for me in a +fashionable locality. Valerie and I do not require very much room, and +if you will take up your abode with us--that is to say, of course, until +you are married--I assure you we shall both be delighted. What do you +say, my dear?" + +I saw Valerie's face brighten on hearing that we were not destined to be +separated, and that decided me. However, for the reason that I did not +for an instant believe in his expressions of friendship, I was not going +to appear too anxious to accept his proposal. There was something behind +it all that I did not know, and before I pledged myself I desired to +find out what that something was. + +"I do not know what to say," I answered, as soon as I had come to the +conclusion that for the moment it would be better to appear to have +forgotten and forgiven the past. "I have trespassed too much upon your +hospitality already." + +"You have not trespassed upon it at all," he answered. "I have derived +great pleasure from your society, and I shall be still more pleased if +you can see your way to fall in with my plan." + +Thereupon I withdrew my refusal, and promised to take up my residence +with him at least until the arrangements should be made for our wedding. + +As it turned out, my astonishment on hearing that he had taken a London +house was not the only surprise in store for me, for on reaching +Liverpool Street, who should come forward to meet us but the same +peculiar footman who had ridden beside the coachman on that memorable +return journey from Pompeii. He was dressed in the same dark and +unpretentious livery he had worn then, and while he greeted his master, +mistress, and myself with the most obsequious respect, did not betray +the least sign of either pleasure or astonishment. Having ascertained +that we had brought no luggage with us, he led us from the platform to +the yard outside, where we found a fine landau awaiting us, drawn by a +pair of jet-black horses, and driven by the same coachman I had seen in +Naples on the occasion referred to above. Having helped Valerie to +enter, and as soon as I had installed myself with my back to the horses, +Pharos said something in an undertone to the footman, and then took his +place opposite me. The door was immediately closed and we drove out of +the yard. + +We soon left the City behind and proceeded along Victoria Street, and so +by way of Grosvenor Place to Park Lane, where we drew up before a house +at which, in the days when it had been the residence of the famous Lord +Tollingtower, I had been a constant visitor. + +"I presume, since we have stopped here, that this must be the place," +said Pharos, gazing up at it. + +"Do you mean that this is the house you have taken?" I asked in +astonishment, for it was one of the finest residences in London. + +"I mean that this is the house that my agents have taken for me," Pharos +replied. "Personally I know nothing whatsoever about it." + +"But surely you do not take a place without making some inquiries about +it?" I continued. + +"Why not?" he inquired. "I have servants whom I can trust, and they know +that it is more than their lives are worth to deceive me. Strangely +enough, however, it is recalled to my mind that this house and I do +happen to be acquainted. The late owner was a personal friend. As a +matter of fact, I stayed with him throughout his last illness and was +with him when he died." + +You may be sure I pricked up my ears on hearing this, for, as everyone +knew, the later Lord Tollingtower had reached the end of his +extraordinary career under circumstances that had created rather a +sensation at the time. Something, however, warned me to ask no +questions. + +"Let us alight," said Pharos, and when the footman had opened the door +we accordingly did so. + +On entering the house I was surprised to find that considerable +architectural changes had been made in it. Nor was my wonderment +destined to cease there, for when I was shown to the bedroom which had +been prepared for me, there, awaiting me at the foot of the bed, was the +luggage I had left at the hotel in Prague, and which I had made up my +mind I had lost sight of for ever. Here, at least, was evidence to prove +that Pharos had never intended that I should leave him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +After the excitement of the past few days, and her terrible experience +in Hamburg, to say nothing of the fact that she had landed from a +steamer under peculiar circumstances, and had been tramping the country +half the night, it is not to be wondered at that by the time we reached +Park Lane Valerie was completely knocked up. Pharos had accordingly +insisted that she should at once retire to her room and endeavour to +obtain the rest of which she stood so much in need. + +"For the next few weeks--that is to say, until the end of the Season--I +intend that you shall both enjoy yourselves," he said with the utmost +affability, when we were alone together, "to the top of your bent. And +that reminds me of something, Forrester. Your betrothal must be +announced as speedily as possible. It is due to Valerie that this should +be done. I presume you do not wish the engagement to be a long one?" + +"Indeed I do not," I answered, not, however, without a slight feeling of +surprise that he should speak so openly and so soon upon the subject. +"As you may suppose, it cannot be too short to please me. And our +marriage?" + +"Your marriage can take place as soon after the Season as you please," +he continued with the same extraordinary geniality. "You will not find +me placing any obstacles in your way." + +"But you have never asked me as to my means, or my power to support +her," I said, putting his last remark aside as if I had not heard it. + +"I have not," he answered. "There is no need for me to do so. Your means +are well known to me; besides, it has always been my intention to make +provision for Valerie myself. Provided you behave yourselves, and do not +play me any more tricks such as I had to complain of in Hamburg, you +will find that she will bring you a handsome little nest-egg that will +make it quite unnecessary for you ever to feel any anxiety on the score +of money. But we will discuss all that more fully later on. See, here +are a number of invitations that have arrived for us. It looks as if we +are not likely to be dull during our stay in London." + +So saying, he placed upwards of fifty envelopes before me, many of which +I was surprised to find were addressed to myself. These I opened with +the first feeling of a return to my old social life that I had +experienced since I had re-entered London. The invitations hailed, for +the most part, from old friends. Some were for dinners, others for +musical "at homes," while at least a dozen were for dances, one of the +last-named being from the Duchess of Amersham. + +"I have taken the liberty of accepting that on your behalf," said +Pharos, picking the card up. "The Duchess of Amersham and I are old +friends, and I think it will brighten Valerie and yourself up a little +if we look in at her ball for an hour or so to-night." + +"But surely," I said, "we have only just reached London, and----" Here I +paused, not knowing quite how to proceed. + +"What objection have you to raise?" he asked, with a sudden flash of the +old angry look in his eyes. + +"My only objection was that I thought it a little dangerous," I said. +"On your own confession, it was the plague from which Valerie was +suffering in Hamburg." + +Pharos laughed a short, harsh laugh, that grated upon the ear. + +"You must really forgive me, Forrester, for having deceived you," he +said, "but I had to do it. It was necessary for me to use any means I +could think of for getting you to England. As you have reason to know, +Valerie is possessed of a peculiarly sensitive temperament. She is +easily influenced, particularly by myself, and the effect can be +achieved at any distance. If I were in London and she in Vienna, I +could, by merely exercising my will, not only induce her to do anything +I might wish, but could make her bodily health exactly what I pleased. +You will therefore see that it would be an easy task for me to cause her +to be taken ill in Hamburg. Her second self--that portion of her mind +which is so susceptible to my influence, as you saw for +yourself--witnessed my arrival in Prague and at the hotel. As soon as I +entered the room in which she was waiting for me, the attraction +culminated in a species of fainting fit. I despatched you post haste to +a chemist with a prescription which I thought would be extremely +difficult, if not impossible, for you to get made up. At any rate it +would, I knew, serve my purpose if it kept you some time away." + +"Then you mean that while I was hurrying from place to place like a +madman, suffering untold agonies of fear, and believing that Valerie's +life depended upon my speed, you were in reality deceiving me?" + +"If I am to be truthful, I must confess that I was," he replied; "but I +give you my word the motive was a good one. Had I not done so, who knows +what would have happened? The plague was raging on the Continent, and +you were both bent on getting away from me again on the first +opportunity. What was the result? Working on your fears for her, I +managed to overcome the difficulties and got you safely into England. +Valerie has not been so ill as you supposed. I have sanctioned your +engagement, and, as I said just now, if you will let me, will provide +for you both for life, and will assist in lifting you to the highest +pinnacle of fame. After this explanation, surely you are not going to be +ungenerous enough to still feel vindictive against me?" + +"It was a cruel trick to play me," I answered; "but since the result has +not been so serious as I supposed, and you desire me to believe you did +it all with a good object, I will endeavour to think no more about it." + +"You have decided sensibly," he said. "And now let us arrange what we +shall do this evening. My proposal is that we rest this afternoon, that +you dine with me at my club, the Antiquarian, in the evening, and that +afterwards I show you London as I see it in my character of Pharos the +Egyptian. I think you will find the programme both interesting and +instructive. During the evening we might return here, pick Valerie up, +and go on to the Duchess of Amersham's ball. Does that meet with your +approval?" + +I was so relieved at finding that Valerie had not really been attacked +by the plague, that, however much I should have liked to spend the +evening alone with her, I could see no reason for declining Pharos's +invitation. I accordingly stated that I should be very glad to do as he +wished. + +We followed out his plan to the letter. After lunch we retired to our +respective apartments and rested until it was time to prepare for the +evening. At the hour appointed I descended to the drawing-room, where I +found Pharos awaiting me. He was dressed as I had seen him at Lady +Medenham's well-remembered "at home"--that is to say, he wore his velvet +jacket and black skull cap, and, as usual, carried his gold-topped +walking-stick in his hand. + +"The carriage is at the door, I think," he said as I entered, "so if you +are ready we will set off." + +A neat brougham was drawn up beside the pavement; we took our places in +it, and ten minutes later had reached the Antiquarian Club, of all the +establishments of the kind in London perhaps the most magnificent. Wide +and lofty, and yet boasting the most harmonious proportions, the +dining-room at the Antiquarian Club always remains in my mind the most +stately of the many stately banqueting halls in London. Pharos's +preference, I found, was for a table in one of the large windows +overlooking the Embankment and the river, and this had accordingly been +prepared for him. + +"If you will sit there," said Pharos, motioning with his hand to a chair +on the right, "I will take this one opposite you." + +I accordingly seated myself in the place he indicated. + +The dinner was perfect in every respect. My host himself, however, dined +after his own fashion, in the manner I have elsewhere described. +Nevertheless, he did the honours of the table with the most perfect +grace, and had any stranger been watching us, he would have found it +difficult to believe that the relationship existing between us was not +of the most cordial nature possible. + +By eight o'clock the room was crowded, and with as fine a collection of +well-born, well-dressed, and well-mannered men as could be found in +London. The decorations, the portraits upon the walls, the liveried +servants, the snowy drapery and sparkling silver, all helped to make up +a picture that, after the sordidness of the Margrave of Brandenburg, was +like a glimpse of a new life. + +"This is the first side of that London life I am desirous of presenting +to you," said Pharos, in his capacity of showman, after I had finished +my dessert and had enjoyed a couple of glasses of the famous Antiquarian +port--"one side of that luxury and extravagance which is fast drawing +this great city to its doom. Now, if you have quite finished, we might +move on." + +I acquiesced, and we accordingly descended to the hall and donned our +coats. + +"If you would care to smoke, permit me to offer you one of the same +brand of cigarettes of which you expressed your approval in Naples," +said Pharos, producing from his pocket a silver case, which he handed to +me. I took one of the delicacies it contained and lit it. Then we passed +out of the hall to Pharos's own carriage, which was waiting in the +street for us. "We will now return to pick up Valerie, after which we +will drive to Amersham House, where I have no doubt we shall meet many +of those whom we have seen here to-night." + +We found Valerie awaiting us in the drawing-room. She was dressed for +the ball, and, superb as I thought she looked on the evening she had +been presented to the Emperor in Prague, I had to confess to myself that +she was even more beautiful now. Her face was flushed with excitement, +and her lovely eyes sparkled like twin stars. I hastened to congratulate +her on her altered appearance, and had scarcely done so before the +butler announced that the carriage was at the door, whereupon we +departed for Carlton House Terrace. + +On the subject of the ball itself it is not my intention to say very +much; let it suffice that, possibly by reason of what followed later, it +is talked of to this day. The arrangements were of the most sumptuous +and extravagant description; princes of the blood and their wives were +present, Cabinet Ministers jostled burly country squires upon the +staircase, fair but haughty aristocrats rubbed shoulders with the +daughters of American millionaires, whose money had been made goodness +knows where or how; half the celebrities of England nodded to the other +half; but in all that distinguished company there was no woman to +eclipse Valerie in beauty, and, as another side of the picture, no man +who could equal Pharos in ugliness. Much to my astonishment the latter +seemed to have no lack of acquaintances, and I noticed also that +everyone with whom he talked, though they paid the most servile +attention to his remarks while he was with them, invariably heaved a +sigh of relief when he took his departure. + +At two o'clock Valerie was tired, and we accordingly decided to leave. +But I soon found that it was not to return home. Having placed my +darling in her carriage, Pharos directed the coachman to drive to Park +Lane, declaring that we preferred to walk. + +It was a beautiful night, cool and fresh, with a few clouds in the +southwest, but brilliant starlight overhead. Leaving Carlton House +Terrace, we passed into Waterloo Place, ascended it as far as +Piccadilly, and then hailed a cab. + +"Our evening is not completed yet," said Pharos. "I have still some +places to show you. It is necessary that you should see them, in order +that you may appreciate what is to follow. The first will be a fancy +dress ball at Covent Garden, where yet another side of London life is to +be found." + +If such a thing could possibly have had any effect, I should have +objected; but so completely did his will dominate mine, that I had no +option but to consent to anything he proposed. We accordingly stepped +into the cab and were driven off to the place indicated. From the sounds +which issued from the great building as we entered it, it was plain that +the ball was proceeding with its accustomed vigour, a surmise on our +part which proved to be correct when we reached the box Pharos had +bespoken. A floor had been laid over the stalls and pit, and upon this +upwards of fifteen hundred dancers, in every style of fancy dress the +ingenuity of man could contrive, were slowly revolving to the music of a +military band. It was a curious sight, and at any other time would have +caused me considerable amusement. Now, however, with the fiendish face +of Pharos continually at my elbow, and his carping criticisms sounding +without ceasing in my ear, mocking at the people below us, finding evil +in everything, and hinting always at the doom which was hanging over +London, it reminded me more of Dante's Inferno than anything else to +which I could liken it. For upwards of an hour we remained spectators of +it. Then, with a final sneer, Pharos gave the signal for departure. + +"We have seen the finest club in Europe," he said, as we emerged into +the cool air of Bow Street, "the most fashionable social event of the +season, and a fancy dress ball at Covent Garden. We must now descend a +grade lower, and, if you have no objection, we will go in search of it +on foot?" + +I had nothing to urge against this suggestion, so, turning into Long +Acre, we passed through a number of squalid streets, with all of which +Pharos seemed to be as intimately acquainted as he was in the West-end, +and finally approached the region of Seven Dials--that delectable +neighbourhood bordered on the one side by Shaftesbury Avenue, and on +the other by Drury Lane. Here, though it was by this time close upon +three o'clock, no one seemed to have begun to think of bed. In one +narrow alley through which we were compelled to pass at least thirty +people were assembled, more than half of which number were intoxicated. +A woman was screaming for assistance from a house across the way, and a +couple of men were fighting at the further end of an adjoining court. In +this particular locality the police seemed as extinct as the dodo. At +any other time, and in any other company, I should have felt some doubt +as to the wisdom of being in such a place at such an hour. But with my +present companion beside me I felt no fear. + +We had walked some distance before we reached the house Pharos desired +to visit. From its outward appearance it might have been a small +drinking-shop in the daytime; now, however, every window was closely +shuttered, and not a ray of light showed through chink or cranny. +Approaching the door he knocked four times upon it, whereupon it was +opened on a chain for a few inches. A face looked through the aperture +thus created, and Pharos, moving a little closer, said something in a +whisper to it. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said the woman, for a woman I soon discovered it was. +"I didn't know as it was you. I'll undo the chain. Is the gentleman with +you safe?" + +"Quite safe," Pharos replied. "You need have no fear of him. He is my +friend." + +"In you come, then," said the woman to me, my character being thus +vouched for, and accordingly in I stepped. + +Dirty as were the streets outside, the house in which we now stood more +than equalled them. The home of Captain Wisemann in Hamburg, which I had +up to that time thought the filthiest I had ever seen, was nothing to +it. Taking the candle in her hand, the old woman led us along the +passage toward another door. Before this she paused and rang a bell, the +handle of which was cleverly concealed in the woodwork. Almost instantly +it was opened, and we entered a room the like of which I had never seen +or dreamt of before. Its length was fully thirty feet, its width +possibly fifteen. On the wall above the fireplace was a gas bracket, +from the burner of which a large flame was issuing with a hissing noise. +In the center of the room was a table, and seated round it were at least +twenty men and women, who, at the moment of our entering, were engaged +upon a game the elements of which I did not understand. On seeing us the +players sprang to their feet with one accord, and a scramble ensued for +the money upon the table. A scene of general excitement followed, which +might very well have ended in the gas being turned out and our finding +ourselves upon the floor with knives between our ribs, had not the old +woman who had introduced us called out that there was no need for alarm, +and added, with an oath--what might in Pharos's case possibly have been +true, but in mine was certainly not--that we had been there hundreds of +times before, and were proper sort o' gents. Thereupon Pharos +contributed a sovereign to be spent in liquid refreshment, and when our +healths had been drunk with a variety of toasts intended to be +complimentary, our presence was forgotten, and the game once more +proceeded. One thing was self-evident: there was no lack of money among +those present, and when a member of the company had not the wherewithal +to continue the gamble, he in most cases produced a gold watch, a ring, +or some other valuable from his pocket, and handed it to a burly ruffian +at the head of the table, who advanced him an amount upon it which nine +times out of ten failed to meet with his approval. + +"Seeing you have not been here before," said Pharos, "I might explain +that this is the most typical thieves' gambling hell in London. There is +not a man or woman in this room at the present moment who is not a +hardened criminal in every sense of the word. The fellow at the end +narrowly escaped the gallows, the man on his right has but lately +emerged from seven years' penal servitude for burglary. The three +sitting together next the banker are at the present moment badly wanted +by the police, while the old woman who admitted us, and who was once not +only a celebrated variety actress, but an exceedingly beautiful woman, +is the mother of that sickly youth drinking gin beside the fireplace, +who assisted in the murder of an old man in Shaftesbury Avenue a +fortnight or so ago, and will certainly be captured and brought within +measurable distance of the gallows before many more weeks have passed +over his head. Have you seen enough of this to satisfy you?" + +"More than enough," I answered truthfully. + +"Then let us leave. It will soon be daylight, and there are still many +places for us to visit before we return home." + +We accordingly bade the occupants of the room good-night, and, when we +had been escorted to the door by the old woman who had admitted us, left +the house. + +From the neighbourhood of Seven Dials Pharos carried me off to other +equally sad and disreputable quarters of the city. We visited Salvation +Army Shelters, the cheapest of cheap lodging-houses, doss-houses in +comparison to which a workhouse would be a palace; dark railway arches, +where we found homeless men, women, and children endeavouring to snatch +intervals of rest between the visits of patrolling policemen; the public +parks, where the grass was dotted with recumbent forms, and every seat +was occupied; and then, turning homewards, reached Park Lane just as the +clocks were striking seven, as far as I was concerned sick to the heart, +not only of the sorrow and the sin of London, but of the callous +indifference to it displayed by Pharos. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +When I woke next morning the feeling I had had in my heart the evening +before, that something terrible was about to happen, had not left me. +With a shudder of intense disgust I recalled the events of the previous +night. Never, since I had known him, with the exception of that one +occasion on the Embankment, had Pharos appeared so loathsome to me. I +remembered the mocking voice in which he had pointed out to me the +follies and frailties of our great city, the cruel look in his eyes as +he watched those about him in the different places we had visited. For +the life of me I could not comprehend what his object had been in taking +me to them. While I dressed I debated the subject with myself, but +though I had a very shrewd suspicion that the vengeance to which he +alluded, and which he had declared to be so imminent, was the plague, +yet I could not see how he was able to speak with such authority upon +the subject. On the other hand, I had to remember that I had never yet +known him fail, either in what he had predicted, or anything he had set +himself to do. Having got so far in my calculations I stopped, as +another thought occurred to me, and with my brushes still in either hand +stared at the wall before me. From the fact that he had informed me of +the existence of the plague in London it was certain that he knew of it, +though the authorities did not. Could it be possible, therefore, that he +had simply crossed from the Continent to London in order to be able to +gloat over the misery that was to come? + +The diabolical nature of the man, and his love of witnessing the +sufferings of others, tallied exactly with the conclusion I had arrived +at; and if my reasoning were correct, this would account for the +expression of triumph I had seen upon his face. When I descended to the +breakfast-room I found Valerie awaiting me there. She was looking quite +her own self again by this time, and greeted me with a pretty exhibition +of shyness upon her face, which I could understand when she handed me a +number of letters she had received, congratulating her upon our +engagement. + +"You were late last night," she said. "Hour after hour I lay awake +listening for your step, and it was broad daylight when I heard you +ascend the stairs. I cannot tell you how frightened I was while you were +away. I knew you were with him, and I imagined you exposed to a hundred +dangers." + +I told her where and with whom I had been. + +"But why did he take you with him?" she inquired, when I had finished. +"I cannot understand that." + +"I must confess that it has puzzled me also," I replied. + +"The whole thing is very strange," she continued, "and I do not like the +look of it. We have reason to know that he does nothing without a +motive. But what can the motive have been in this particular instance?" + +"That is more than I can say," I answered, and with that we changed the +subject, and interested ourselves in our own and more particular +concerns. So engrossing were they, and so pleasant were the thoughts +they conjured up, that when breakfast was finished I remained in the +dining-room, and did not open any of the morning papers which were +lying in a heap upon the library table. At half-past ten I said good-bye +to Valerie, who was practising in the drawing-room--Pharos I had not yet +seen--and, putting on my hat, left the house. It was the first +opportunity I had had since my return to London of visiting my studio, +and I was exceedingly anxious to discover how things had been +progressing there during my absence. It was a lovely morning for +walking, the sky being without a cloud, and the streets in consequence +filled with sunshine. In the Row a considerable number of men and women +were enjoying their morning canter, and nurse-maids in white dresses +were to be counted by the dozen in the streets leading to the Park. At +the corner of Hamilton Place a voice I recognised called to me to stop, +and on turning round I found my old friend, Sir George Legrath, +hastening after me. + +"My dear Cyril," he said, as he shook hands with me, "I am indeed glad +to see you. I had no idea you had returned." + +"I reached London yesterday morning," I answered, but in such a +constrained voice that he must have been dense indeed if he did not see +that something was amiss. "How did you know I had been away?" + +"Why, my dear fellow," he answered, "have you forgotten that I sent you +a certain address in Naples? and then I called at your studio the +following morning, when your man told me you were abroad. But somehow +you don't look well. I hope nothing is the matter?" + +"Nothing, nothing," I replied, almost sharply, and for the first time in +my life his presence was almost distasteful to me, though if I had been +asked the reason I should have found it difficult to say why. "Sir +George, when I called on you at the Museum that morning, you told me +you would rather see me in my grave than connected in any way with +Pharos." + +"Well?" he inquired, looking up at me with a face that had suddenly lost +its usual ruddy hue. "What makes you remind me of that now?" + +"Because," I answered, "if it were not for one person's sake I could +wish that that opportunity had been vouchsafed you. I have been two +months with Pharos." + +"Well?" he said again. + +"What more do you expect me to say?" I continued. Then, sinking my voice +a little, as if I were afraid Pharos might be within hearing distance, I +added, "Sir George, if I were to tell you all I know about that man----" + +"You must tell me nothing," he cried hastily. "I know too much already." + +We walked for some distance in silence, and it was not until we were +opposite Devonshire House that we spoke again. + +Then Sir George said abruptly, and with a desire to change the subject +that could not be disguised, "Of course you have heard the terrible news +this morning?" + +Following the direction of his eyes I saw what had put the notion into +his head. A news-seller was standing in the gutter on the other side of +the street, holding in his hand the usual placard setting forth the +contents of the papers he had for sale. On this was printed in large +letters-- + + TERRIBLE OUTBREAK OF THE PLAGUE IN LONDON. + +"You refer to the plague, I presume?" I said, with an assumed calmness I +was far from feeling. "From that headline it would seem to have made +its appearance in London after all." + +"It has, indeed," said Sir George, with a gloominess that was far from +usual with him. "Can it be possible you have not seen the papers?" + +"I have scarcely seen a paper since I left London," I replied. "I have +been far too busy. Tell me about it. Is it so very bad?" + +"It has come upon us like a thunderclap," he answered. "Two days ago it +was not known. Yesterday there was but one case, and that in the +country. This morning there are no less than three hundred and +seventy-five, and among them some of our most intimate friends. God help +us if it gets worse! The authorities assure us they can stamp it out +with ease, but it is my opinion this is destined to prove a grave crisis +in England's history. However, it does not do to look on the black side +of things, so I'll not turn prophet. Our ways part here, do they not? In +that case, good-bye. I am very glad to have seen you. If you should be +passing the Museum I hope you will drop in. You know my hours, I think?" + +"I shall be very glad to do so," I answered, and thereupon we parted +with the first shadow of a cloud between us that our lives had seen. On +reviewing our conversation afterward I could recall nothing that should +have occasioned it; nevertheless, there it was, "that little rift within +the lute," as Tennyson says, "which by and by would make the music +mute." + +After we had parted, I crossed the road and walked by way of Dover +Street to my studio. Scarcely two months had elapsed since that fatal +day when I had left it to go in search of Pharos, and yet those eight +weeks seemed like years. So long did I seem to have been away that I +almost expected to find a change in the houses of the street, and when +I passed the curiosity shop at the corner where the murder had taken +place--that terrible tragedy which had been the primary cause of my +falling into Pharos's power--it was with a sensible feeling of surprise +I found the windows still decorated with the same specimens of china, +and the shop still carrying on its trade under the name of Clausand. I +turned the corner and crossed the road. Instinctively my hand went into +my pocket and produced the latchkey. I tapped it twice against the +right-hand pillar of the door, just as I had been in the habit of doing +for years, and inserted it in the lock. A few seconds later I had let +myself in and was standing amongst my own _lares_ and _penates_ once +more. Everything was just as I had left it; the clock was ticking on the +mantelpiece, not a speck of dirt or dust was upon chair or china; +indeed, the only thing that served to remind me that I had been away at +all was the pile of letters which had been neatly arranged upon my +writing-table. These I opened, destroyed what were of no importance, and +placed the rest in my pocket to be answered at a more convenient +opportunity. Then, leaving a note upon my table to inform my servant +that I had returned, and would call again on the following morning, I +let myself out, locked the door, and returned to Piccadilly _en route_ +to Park Lane. + +A great writer has mentioned somewhere that the gravest issues are often +determined by the most insignificant trifles. As I have just remarked, I +had, in this instance, made up my mind to return to Park Lane, in the +hope that I might be able to induce Valerie to take a stroll with me in +the Park, and had left Bond Street in order to turn westward, when, +emerging from a shop on the other side of the road, I espied the writer +of one of the most important of the many letters I had found awaiting +me at the studio. He was a member of my own club, and thinking I had +better apologise to him while I had the chance for not having answered +his letter sooner, I hastened after him. He, however, seemed to be in a +hurry, and as soon as it came to a race between us it was evident that +he had the advantage of me on a point of speed. I chased him until I saw +that he was bound for the club, whereupon, knowing I should be certain +to catch him there, I slackened my pace and strolled leisurely along. In +other days I had often been twitted in a jocular fashion by my friends +about my membership of this particular club. The reputation it possessed +was excellent in every way, but it certainly must be confessed that what +it gained in respectability it lacked in liveliness. For the most part +the men who made use of it were middle-aged--in point of fact, I believe +there were but two younger than myself; consequently the atmosphere of +the house, while being always dignified, was sometimes cold almost to +the borders of iciness. + +On this particular day there was an additional air of gloom about it +that rather puzzled me. When, however, I had finished my conversation +with the man I had been following, and sought the smoking-room, the +reason of it soon became apparent. That terrible fear which was destined +within a few hours to paralyse all London was already beginning to make +its presence felt, and as a result the room, usually so crowded, now +contained but four men. These greeted me civilly enough, but without any +show of interest. They were gathered round one of their number who was +seated at a table with a pencil in his hand and a map of Europe spread +out before him. From the way in which he was laying down the law, I +gathered that he was demonstrating some theory upon which he pinned +considerable faith. + +"I have worked the whole thing out," he was saying as I entered, "and +you can see it here for yourselves. On this sheet of paper I have pasted +every telegram that has reached London from the time the disease first +made its appearance in Constantinople. As each country became affected I +coloured it upon the map in red, while these spots of a darker shade +represent the towns from which the first cases were notified. At a +glance, therefore, you can see the way in which the malady has travelled +across Europe." + +On hearing this, you may be sure I drew closer to the table, and looked +over the shoulders of the men at the map below. + +"As you see," said the lecturer, with renewed interest as he observed +this addition to his audience, "it started in Constantinople, made its +appearance next in Southern Russia and the Balkan States. Two days later +a case was notified from Vienna and another in Prague. Berlin was the +next city visited, then Wittenberg, then Hamburg. France did not become +infected until some days later, and then the individual who brought it +was proved to have arrived the day before from Berlin. Yesterday, +according to the official returns, there were twelve hundred cases in +France, eighteen thousand in Austria, sixteen thousand in Germany--of +which Hamburg alone contributes five thousand three hundred and +fifty--while in Italy there have been three thousand four hundred, in +Spain and Portugal only two hundred and thirty, while Turkey and Russia +have forty-five thousand, and thirty-seven thousand three hundred and +eighty, respectively. Greece returns seventeen thousand six hundred and +twenty, Holland seven thousand two hundred and sixty-four, Belgium nine +thousand five hundred and twenty-three, while Denmark completes the +total of Europe with four thousand two hundred and twenty-one. The +inferences to be drawn from these figures are apparent. The total number +of deaths upon the Continent up to midnight last night was one hundred +and fifty-nine thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight. The nations most +seriously affected are Turkey and the countries immediately surrounding +her, namely, Greece, Russia, and Austria. Germany follows next, though +why Hamburg should contribute such a large proportion as five thousand +three hundred and fifty I must admit it is difficult to see. England +hitherto has stood aloof; now, however, it has broken out in London, and +three hundred and seventy-five cases have been notified up to eight +o'clock this morning." + +On hearing this, the men standing round him turned pale and shuffled +uneasily upon their feet. As for myself, I might have been changed to +stone, so cold and so incapable of moving was I. It was as if a bandage +had suddenly been removed from my eyes, enabling me to see everything +plainly and in its proper light. + +"The returns for our own country," continued this indefatigable +statistician, without noticing my condition, "are as interesting as +those from the Continent. I have filed everything already published, and +have applied the result to this map of London. The two cases that +occurred in Norfolk, the porter in Norwich, and the stationmaster at +Tebworth Junction, I omit, for the reason that they tell us nothing. Of +the cases notified in this city, careful inquiries on the part of the +authorities have elicited the information that twenty-five spent the +evening at the Antiquarian Club last night, seventy-one at the Fancy +Dress Ball at Covent Garden, while, strangely enough, no less than +thirty-seven can be proved to have been among the guests of the Duchess +of Amersham at her ball in Carlton House Terrace. The others are more +difficult to account for, being made up of costermongers, homeless +vagrants, street hawkers, and others of the same class." + +I could bear no more, but stumbled from the room like a drunken man out +into the hall beyond. A servant, thinking I was ill, hastened to inquire +if he could be of any assistance to me. + +"Get me a cab," I faltered huskily. + +The man ran into the street and blew his whistle. A hansom drove up, and +I made my way into the street and scrambled into it, scarcely knowing +how I managed it, and then fell back upon the cushions as if I were in a +fit. The cab sped along the streets, threaded its way in and out of the +traffic with a dexterity and a solicitude for my safety that was a more +biting sarcasm than any lips could utter. What was my safety to me now? +Knowing what I knew, I had better, far better, be dead. + +The dreadful secret was out. In less than five minutes the mystery of +two months had been solved. Now I knew the meaning of the spot I had +discovered upon my arm on the morning following my terrible adventure in +the Pyramid; now I could understand my illness in the desert, and the +sudden death of the poor Arab who had nursed me. In the light of this +terrible truth, everything was as clear as daylight, and all I wanted +was to get back to Park Lane and find myself face to face with Pharos, +in order that I might tax him with it, and afterwards go forth and +publish his infamy to the world. Fast as the man was driving, he could +not make his horse go fast enough for me. Though at first my blood had +been as cold as ice, it now raced through my veins like liquid fire. A +feverish nervousness had seized me, and for the time being I was little +better than a madman. Regardless of the passers-by, conscious only of +the vile part I had been induced to play--unwittingly, it is true--in +his unbelievable wickedness, I urged the driver to greater speed. At +last, after what seemed an eternity, we reached our destination. I +alighted, and, as I had done in Hamburg, paid the cabman with the first +money I took from my pocket, and then went up the steps and entered the +house. By this time the all-consuming fire of impatience which had +succeeded the icy coldness of the first discovery had left me, and was +succeeded by a strange, unnatural calm, in which I seemed to be myself, +and yet to be standing at a distance, watching myself. In a voice that I +scarcely recognised, I inquired from the butler where I could find his +master. He informed me that he was in the drawing-room, and I +accordingly went thither in search of him. I had not the least notion of +what I was going to say to him when I found him, or how I should say it, +but I had to relieve my mind of the weight it was carrying, and +then----Why, after that, nothing would matter. I opened the door and +entered the room. The sunshine was streaming in through the windows at +the further end, falling upon the elegant furniture, the embroideries +and draperies, the china, and the hundred-and-one knick-knacks that go +to make up a fashionable drawing-room. Of Pharos, however, there was no +sign. In place of him Valerie rose from a chair by the window and +greeted me with a little exclamation of delight. Then, seeing the look +upon my face, and the deadly pallor of my complexion, she must have +realised that something serious had happened to me, for she ran forward +and took my hands in hers. + +"My darling!" she cried, with a look of terror upon her face, "what has +happened? Tell me, for pity's sake, for your face terrifies me!" + +The pressure of her hands and the sight of those beautiful frightened +eyes gazing up into mine cut me to the heart. Overwhelmed with sorrow as +I was, she alone of all the world could soothe me and alleviate the +agony I was suffering. It was not possible, however, that I could avail +myself of her sympathy. I was dishonoured enough already, without +seeking to dishonour her. Here our love must end. For the future I +should be an outcast, a social leper, carrying with me to my grave the +knowledge of the curse I had brought upon my fellow men. I tried to put +her from me, but she would not be denied. + +"Oh, what can have happened that you treat me like this?" she cried. +"Your silence breaks my heart." + +"You must not come near me, Valerie," I muttered hoarsely. "Leave me. +You have no notion what I am." + +"You are the man I love," she answered. "That is enough for me. Whatever +it may be, I have the right to share your sorrow with you." + +"No, no!" I cried. "You must have no more to do with me. Drive me away +from you. I tell you I am viler than you can believe, lower than the +common murderer, for he kills but one, while, God help me, I have killed +thousands." + +She must have thought me mad, for she uttered a little choking sob and +sank down upon the floor, the very picture and embodiment of despair. + +Then the door opened and Pharos entered. + +Seeing me standing in the centre of the room with a wild look upon my +face, and Valerie crouching at my feet, he paused and gazed from one to +the other of us in surprise. + +"I am afraid I am _de trop_," he said, with the old nasty sneer upon his +face. "If it is not putting you to too much trouble, perhaps one of you +will be good enough to tell me what it means." + +Neither of us answered for upward of a minute; then I broke the spell +that bound us and turned to Pharos. How feeble the words seemed when +compared with the violence of my emotions and the unbelievable nature of +the charge I was bringing against him I must leave you to imagine. + +"It means, Monsieur Pharos," I said, "that I have discovered +everything." + +I could say no more, for a lump was rising in my throat which threatened +to choke me. It soon appeared, however, that I had said enough, for +Pharos must either have read my thoughts and have understood that denial +would be useless, or, since I was no longer necessary to him, he did not +care whether he confessed to me or not. At any rate, he advanced into +the room, his cruel eyes watching me intently the while. + +"So you have discovered everything, have you, my friend?" he said. "And +pray what is this knowledge that you have accumulated?" + +"How can I tell you?" I cried, scarcely knowing how to enter upon my +terrible indictment. "How can I make you understand your wickedness? I +have discovered that it is you who are responsible for the misery from +which Europe is now suffering. I know that it was I, through you, who +introduced the plague and carried it from Constantinople to London. +Inhuman monster!" I continued, having by this time worked myself to a +white heat. "I was in your power and you made me your tool. But you +shall not escape. It is not too late even now to punish you. Within an +hour the world shall know everything, and you will be dead, if devils +can die. I have been your tool, but, since I know your wickedness, I +will not be your accomplice. Oh, my God! is it possible that a man +breathing the pure air of heaven can be so vile?" + +All the time I had been thus denouncing him I had been standing just as +I was when he entered the room, with Valerie still crouching at my feet. +The dangerous light I remembered so well of old had returned to his +eyes, making him look indescribably fiendish. + +"Are you mad that you dare to talk to me in this fashion?" he said at +last, but with a calmness the meaning of which there was no mistaking. +"Since it is plain that you do not remember the hold I have upon you, +nor what your fate will be if you anger me, I must enlighten you. You +bring these accusations against me and you threaten to betray me to the +world--me, Pharos the Egyptian, and to your pitiful world which I spurn +beneath my feet. Once more I ask you, are you mad? But since there is no +further need for concealment, and you desire the truth, you shall hear +it." He paused, and when he spoke again it was noticeable that he had +dropped his former conversational tone and had adopted a manner more in +keeping with the solemnity of what he had to say. "Know, then, that what +thou sawest in the vision before the Sphinx and in the Temple of Ammon +was the truth, and not a dream, as I desired thee to believe. I, whom +thou hast known as Pharos, am none other than Ptahmes, son of +Netruhotep, prophet of the north and south, the same whom Pharaoh sought +to kill, and who died in hiding and was buried by his faithful priests +under cover of night more than three thousand years ago. Cursed by the +Gods, and denied the right of burial by order of the King, I have +inhabited this shape since then. Darest thou, knowing this, pit thyself +against the servant of the Mighty Ones? For I tell thee assuredly that +the plague which is now destroying Europe was decreed by the Gods of +Egypt against such nations as have committed the sin of sacrilege." + +He paused, and for a moment I thought he would have sprung upon me as he +had done that night in my studio. But he controlled himself with an +effort, and a moment later his voice was as soft and conciliatory and +yet as full of malice as before. I also noticed that he had returned to +his ordinary and more colloquial tone. + +"Are you anxious to hear more? If you are determined to proclaim my +doings to the world, it is only fit you should know everything. I will +willingly confess. Why should I not do so? You are mine to do with as I +please. Without my leave you are powerless to hurt me, and who would +believe you if you were to tell? No one! They would call you mad, as you +undoubtedly are, and say that fear of the plague had turned your brain. +In Naples you accused me of the murder of Clausand, the curiosity +dealer. I denied it because the time was not then ripe for me to +acquaint you with the truth. Now I confess it. I stabbed him because he +would not give me a certain scarabeus, and to divert suspicion willed +that the half-crazy German, Schmidt, whom the other had cast out of his +service, should declare that he did the deed. In obedience to my desire +you followed me to Italy and accompanied me thence to Egypt. I it was +who drew you to the Pyramid and decreed that you should lose your way +inside, in order that when fear had deprived you of your senses I might +inoculate you with the plague. Seven days later you were stricken with +it in the desert. As soon as you recovered I carried you off to Europe +to begin the work required of you. In Constantinople, Vienna, Prague, +Berlin, Hamburg, wherever you went you left the fatal germs of the +disease as a legacy behind you. You infected this woman here, and but +for me she would have died. To-day the last portion of that vengeance +which has been decreed commences, and when all is finished I go to that +rest in ancient Thebes which has been denied me these long three +thousand years. Hark! Even now the sound of wailing is to be heard in +London. Hour by hour the virulence of the pestilence increases, and the +strong men and weak women, youths and maidens, children and babes, go +down before it like corn before the reaper. On every hand the voices of +mourners rise into the summer air, and it is I, Ptahmes, the servant of +the Gods, the prophet of the King, the man whom thou hast said thou wilt +proclaim to the world, who has brought it about." + +Then, lifting his right hand, he pointed it at me. + +"Fool--fool!" he cried, with withering scorn. "Frail atom in the path of +life, who art thou that thou shouldst deem thyself strong enough to cope +with me? Learn then that the time is not yet ripe. I have further need +of thee. Sleep again, and in that sleep do all I shall require of thee." + +As he said this his diminutive form seemed to grow larger and more +terrible, until it appeared to have attained twice its ordinary size. +His eyes shone in his head like living coals and seemed to burn into my +brain. I saw Valerie rise from the place where she had hitherto been +crouching, and snatch an Oriental dagger from a table. Then, swift as a +panther, she sprang upon him, only to be hurled back against the wall as +if struck by an invisible hand. Then, obedient as a little child, I +closed my eyes and slept. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +For no less a period than five days and six nights Pharos kept me in the +same hypnotic condition, and, incredible though it may seem, I have not +the slightest recollection of any one single circumstance that occurred +during the whole of that time. Valerie has since informed me that I +moved about the house very much as usual, that I went in and out with +Pharos, but that I never spoke to her, and while I seemed conscious of +my actions and well enough in my bodily health, I did everything with +that peculiar listless air that one notices in a man while walking in +his sleep. I also gather from the same source that Pharos's behaviour +during that terrible period was equally extraordinary. Never for one +instant did he allow her to remain alone with me. The greater portion of +his time was spent out of the house with myself, though in what pursuit +he was engaged she could not discover. He would take me away with him +early in the morning and not return until late at night, when he would +conduct me to my room and then retire himself. At times he would +scarcely speak a word, then a fit of loquacity would come over him, and +he would openly boast to her of the misery he had caused, and find a +diabolical delight in every bulletin that proclaimed the increasing +virulence of the plague. To this day the picture of that impish creature +perambulating the death-stricken streets and alleys to the accompaniment +of tolling bells, watching with ghoulish satisfaction the futile +efforts of the authorities to cope with the disease, haunts me like a +nightmare. Every day fresh tidings were pouring in of the spread of the +infection into other cities and towns until the entire kingdom was +riddled like a honeycomb. + +How long Pharos would have kept me under his influence, had he possessed +the power, I cannot say. I only know that on the morning of the sixth +day I woke with a strange and confused feeling in my head. Though my +eyes were open and I was to all outward appearances wide awake, I was +like a man hovering on the borderland of sleep. My senses were gradually +coming back to me; the strength of my brain was reasserting itself, and +by some strange process, how arrived at it is impossible for me to say, +the hold Pharos had obtained upon me was slowly weakening. Then it was +as if I suddenly awoke to find myself standing fully dressed in my own +room. My bed had been slept in, and one glance out of my window showed +me that it was early morning. And yet I had not the least recollection +of having been in bed or of having made my toilet. Then the scene with +Pharos, and the awful knowledge if had given rise to, came back to me, +and I remembered how he had pointed his hand at me, and how I had fallen +asleep before him. Here was the logical explanation of the whole thing. +It was plain that after I had become unconscious, Pharos had caused me +to be carried to my room and put to bed. This, then, I argued, must be +the morning following. Now that the effect he had produced had worn off, +there was still time for me to do what I had originally intended. Having +arrived at this decision I opened my door and went downstairs. A curious +silence prevailed, not only in the house, but outside. I stopped on the +first landing and looked out of the window. So far as I could see there +were no cabs or carriages in the street, no riders in the Row, no +children with their nurses upon the pavements, and yet the old +Chippendale timepiece in the hall told me that the hour was considerably +past nine o'clock. A curious feeling of drowsiness still possessed me, +but it was fast leaving me, and, what was more, leaving me filled with +but one purpose in life, which was to seek out the authorities and +proclaim to them the devilry of Pharos and the part I had myself played +in his abominable wickedness. After that I would wait for Fate to say +what should become of me. + +Putting on my hat I opened the front door and stepped out into the +street. At any cost I would endeavour to reach the Home Office, and tell +my story there, before Pharos could prevent me. With this end in view I +hurried toward Piccadilly, intending to take a cab there and so save +time. But when I set out I had not the least notion of the misery that +had befallen London, nor of anything that had happened since Pharos had +pointed his finger at me. In my wildest dreams I had never imagined such +a picture of desolation as that which was now presented to me. It seemed +impossible that so terrible a change should have come over a city in so +short a time (I must remind you here that I still believed that only +twenty hours had elapsed since I had had my fatal interview with +Pharos). In all Park Lane not a house, save that occupied by Pharos, +showed any sign of being inhabited. Without exception the blinds were +down, and in most cases the shutters had been put up, while in numerous +instances broad lines of red paint had been drawn across the pavement +opposite them, but for what purpose, or their indication, I had not the +remotest idea. In Piccadilly, from Apsley House to Berkeley Street, it +was the same, though here a few solitary foot-passengers were to be +seen. Thinking I must have mistaken the hour, and that it was earlier +than I supposed, I looked at my watch, but it said a quarter to ten. In +vain I searched for a cab of any sort. In the road, usually so crowded +at that hour with vehicles of all descriptions, omnibuses, hansoms, +private carriages, vans, and even costermongers' barrows, two dogs were +fighting over a piece of food. But the silence was the worst part of it +all. Not a sound, save the chirruping of the sparrows in the trees of +the park, was to be heard. Realising that it was useless waiting for a +cab, I crossed the road and entered the Green Park, intending to make my +way to St. James's Park, and thence to the Home Office. With feverish +haste I pushed on, walking as if every life in England depended on my +speed. + +Reaching the Mall, I crossed into St. James's Park and passed over the +bridge which spans the lake. Here the water-birds were swimming about as +happily as if nothing out of the common were occurring in the great city +around them. At last I reached the office for which I was making. The +Home Secretary at the time was a man I had known all my life, an +upright, honest Englishman in every sense of the word, beloved by +everybody, and respected even by his political opponents. If any man +would listen to my story, I felt convinced he would be that one. When, +however, I reached the office, what a change was there! Only the day +before, as I still imagined, the place had been teeming with life, every +room filled with clerks, and exhibiting all the machinery of a great +Government office. Now, at first glance, it appeared deserted. I entered +the hall in which I had been accustomed to inquire from the porter for +my friend, only to find it occupied by a sergeant of the Guards, who +rose on seeing me. + +"What do you want?" he inquired brusquely. + +"I desire to see the Home Secretary without loss of time," I answered. +"I am the bearer of very important information, and it is most +imperative that I should see him at once." + +"What is the information?" the man inquired suspiciously. "The Home +Secretary sees no one except on the most urgent business now." + +"My business is the most urgent possible," I returned. "If you will take +my name to him, I feel sure he will see me." + +"I shall do nothing of the kind," replied the sergeant, "so you had +better take yourself off. We don't want any of your kind about here just +now. There's enough trouble without having you to look after." + +"But I must see him!" I cried in despair. "You don't know what you are +doing when you try to stop me. I have a confession to make to him, and +make it I will at any hazard. Take me to him at once, or I shall find +him myself." + +The man was moving toward me with the evident intention of putting me +into the street, when a door opened and the Home Secretary, Sir Edward +Grangerfield, stood before me. When last I had seen him at the Duchess +of Amersham's ball--I remembered that he congratulated me on my +engagement on that occasion--he had looked in the prime of life. Now he +was an old man, borne down by the weight of sorrow and responsibility +which the plague had placed upon his shoulders. From the way he looked +at me it was plain he did not recognise me. + +"Sir Edward," I said, "is it possible I am so much changed that you do +not know me? I am Cyril Forrester." + +"Cyril Forrester!" he cried in amazement, coming a step closer to me as +he spoke. "Surely not? But it is, I see. Why, man, how changed you are! +What brings you here, and what is it you want with me? I have not much +time to spare. I have an appointment with the Public Health Commission +in a quarter of an hour." + +"So much the better," I answered, "for you will then be able to acquaint +them with the circumstances I am about to reveal to you. Sir Edward, I +must have a few moments' conversation with you alone. I have a +confession to make to you--the most hideous tale to pour into your ears +that ever man confided to another." Then, recollecting myself, I +continued, "But it must not be here. It must be in the open air, or I +shall infect you." + +He looked at me in a curious fashion. + +"You need have no fear on that score," he said. "I have had the plague, +and have recovered from it. So far it has not been known to attack +anyone twice. But since you wish to speak to me alone, come with me." + +With this he led me down the long passage to an office at the further +end. Like the others this one was also deserted. Once inside he closed +the door. + +"Be as brief as you can," he said, "for during this terribly trying +period my time is not my own. What is it you wish to say to me?" + +"I wish to confess to you," I said, and my voice rang in my ears like a +death knell, "that I am the cause of the misery under the weight of +which England and Europe is groaning at the present time." + +Once more Sir Edward looked at me as he had done in the passage outside. + +"I am afraid I do not quite understand," he said, but this time in a +somewhat different tone. "Do you mean that you wish me to believe that +you, Cyril Forrester, are the cause of the plague which is decimating +England in this terrible manner?" + +"I do," I answered, and then waited to hear what he would say. + +In reply he inquired whether I had suffered from the disease myself. + +"I was the first to have it," I answered. "My story is an extraordinary +one, but I assure you every particular of it is true. I was inoculated +with the virus while I was in Egypt--that is to say, in the Queen's Hall +of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. I afterward nearly died of it in an Arab +tent out in the desert beyond Luxor. Later I was taken by a man, of whom +I will tell you more presently, to Constantinople, thence through +Austria and Germany, and finally was smuggled across the Channel into +England." + +"And who was the man who inoculated you?" inquired the Home Secretary, +still with the same peculiar intonation. "Can you remember his name?" + +"He is known in England as Pharos the Egyptian," I replied--"the foulest +fiend this world has ever seen. In reality he is Ptahmes the Magician, +and he has sworn vengeance on the human race. Among other things he was +the real murderer of Clausand, the curiosity dealer, in Bonwell Street +last June, and not the inoffensive German who shot himself after +confessing to the crime at Bow Street. He smuggled me into England from +Hamburg, and the night before last he took me all through London--to the +Antiquarian Club, to the Duchess of Amersham's ball, to the Fancy Dress +ball that was held at Covent Garden the same night, and to many other +places. Everyone I spoke to became infected, and that, I assure you, on +my word of honour, was how the plague originated here. Oh, Sir Edward, +you cannot realise what agonies I have suffered since I became possessed +of this terrible knowledge!" + +A short silence followed, during which I am convinced I heard my +companion say very softly to himself, "That settles it." + +Then, turning to me, he continued, "You say you were at the Duchess of +Amersham's ball the night before last? Do you mean this?" + +"Of course I do," I replied. "Why, you spoke to me there yourself, and +congratulated me upon my engagement. And, now I come to think of it, I +saw you talking with Pharos there." + +"Quite right," he said. "I did speak to Monsieur Pharos there. But are +you sure it was the night before last? That is what I want to get at." + +"I am as sure of that as I am of anything in this world," I replied. + +"What you tell me is very interesting," he said, rising from his +chair--"very interesting indeed, and I am sincerely obliged to you for +coming to me. Now, if you will excuse me, I must be going, for, as I +told you, I have a meeting of the Health Commission to attend in a few +minutes. If I were you I should go back to my house and keep quiet. +There is nothing to be gained by worrying oneself, as you have evidently +been doing." + +"I can see that you do not believe what I have told you," I cried with +great bitterness. "Sir Edward, I implore you to do so. I assure you on +my honour as a gentleman, I will swear, by any oath you care to name, +that what I say is true in every particular. Pharos is still in London, +in Park Lane, and if you are quick you can capture him. But there is not +a moment to lose. For God's sake believe me before it is too late!" + +"I have listened to all you have said, my dear Cyril," he answered +soothingly, "and I can quite understand that you believe it to be true. +You have been ill, and it is plain your always excitable imagination has +not yet recovered its equilibrium. Go home, as I say, and rest. Trust +me, you will soon be yourself once more. Now I must go." + +"Oh, heavens! how can I convince you?" I groaned, wringing my hands. "Is +there nothing I can say or do that will make you believe my story? You +will find out when it is too late that I have told you the truth. Men +and women are dying like sheep to right and left of us, and yet the vile +author of all this sorrow and suffering will escape unpunished. Is it +any use, Sir Edward, for me to address one last appeal to you?" + +Then a notion struck me. I thrust my hand into my coat pocket and +produced the prescription which Pharos had given me for Valerie in +Hamburg, and which, since it had done her so much good, I had been +careful not to let out of my possession. + +"Take that, Sir Edward," I said. "I came to make my confession to you +because I deemed it my duty, and because of the load upon my brain, +which I thought it might help to lighten. You will not believe me, so +what can I do? This paper contains the only prescription which has yet +been effectual in checking the disease. It saved the life of Valerie de +Vocxqal, and I can vouch for its efficacy. Show it to the medical +authorities. It is possible it may convince them that I am not as mad as +you think me." + +He took it from me, but it was plain to me, from the look upon his face, +that he believed it to be only another part of my delusion. + +"If it will make your mind any easier," he said, "I will give you my +word that it shall be placed before the members of the Commission. If +they deem it likely that any good can result from it, you may be sure it +will be used." + +He then wished me good-bye, and, with a feeling of unavailing rage and +disappointment in my heart, I left the Offices and passed out into +Whitehall. Once more I made my way into St. James's Park, and reaching a +secluded spot, threw myself down upon the turf and buried my face in my +arms. At first I could think of nothing but my own shame; then my +thoughts turned to Valerie. In my trouble I had for the moment forgotten +her. Coward that I was, I had considered my own safety before hers. If +anything happened to me, who would protect her? I was still debating +this with myself when my ears caught the sound of a footstep on the hard +ground, and then the rustle of a dress. A moment later a voice sounded +in my ears like the sweetest music. "Thank God!" it said, "Oh! thank +God! I have found you." + +Her cry of happiness ended in a little choking sob, and I turned and +looked up to discover Valerie, her beautiful eyes streaming with tears, +bending over me. + +"How did you find me?" I inquired, in a voice that my love and longing +for her rendered almost inaudible. "How did you know that I was here?" + +"Love told me," she answered softly. "My heart led me to you. You forget +the strange power with which I am gifted. Though I did not see you leave +the house, I knew that you were gone, and my instinct warned me not only +where you were going, but what you were going to do. Cyril, it was brave +of you to go." + +"It was useless," I cried. "I have failed. He would not believe me, +Valerie, and I am lost eternally!" + +"Hush!" she said. "Dear love, you must not say such things. They are not +true. But rise. You must come to him. All this morning he has not been +at all the same. I do not know what to think, but something is going to +happen, I am certain." + +There was no need for her to say to whom she referred. + +I did as she commanded me, and side by side we crossed the park. + +"He has made arrangements to leave England this afternoon," she +continued, as we passed into Piccadilly. "The yacht is in the Thames, +and orders have been sent to hold her in readiness for a long voyage." + +"And what does he intend doing with us?" + +"I know nothing of that," she answered. "But there is something very +strange about him to-day. When he sent for me this morning I scarcely +knew him, he was so changed." + +We made our way along the deserted streets and presently reached Park +Lane. As soon as we were inside the house I ascended the stairs beside +her, and it was not until we had reached the top floor, on which +Pharos's room was situated, that we paused before a door. Listening +before it, we could plainly hear someone moving about inside. When we +knocked, a voice I failed to recognise called upon us to enter. It was a +strange picture we saw when we did so. In a large armchair before a +roaring fire, though it was the middle of summer, sat Pharos, but so +changed that I hardly knew him. He looked half his usual size; his skin +hung loose about his face, as if the bones had shrunken underneath it; +his eyes, always so deep-set in his head, were now so much sunken that +they could scarcely be seen, while his hands were shrivelled until they +resembled those of a mummy more than a man. The monkey also, which was +huddled beside him in the chair, looked smaller than I had ever seen it. +As if this were not enough, the room was filled with Egyptian curios +from floor to ceiling. So many were there, indeed, that there barely +remained room for Pharos's chair. How he had obtained possession of them +I did not understand; but since Sir George Legrath's confession, written +shortly before his tragic death by his own hand, the mystery has been +solved, and Pharos confronts us in an even more unenviable light than +before. Hating, loathing, and yet fearing the man as I did, there was +something in his look now that roused an emotion in me that was almost +akin to pity. + +"Thou hast come in time," he said to Valerie, but in a different voice +and without that harshness to which we had so long grown accustomed. "I +have been anxiously awaiting thee." + +He signed to her to approach him. + +"Give me your hand," he whispered faintly. "Through you it is decreed +that I must learn my fate. Courage, courage--there is naught for thee to +fear!" + +Taking her hand, he bade her close her eyes and describe to him what she +saw. She did as she was ordered, and for upward of a minute perfect +silence reigned in the room. The picture they made--the worn-out, +shrivelled body of the man and the lovely woman--I cannot hope to make +you understand. + +"I see a great hall, supported by pillars," she said at last, speaking +in that hard, measured voice I remembered to have heard on board the +yacht. "The walls are covered with paintings, and two sphinxes guard the +door. In the centre is an old man with a long white beard, who holds his +arms above his head." + +"It is Paduamen, the mouthpiece of the Gods," moaned Pharos, with a look +of terror in his face that there was no disguising. "I am lost for +ever--for ever; not for to-day, not for to-morrow, but for all time! +Tell me, woman, what judgment the Mighty Ones pronounce against me?" + +"Hush--he speaks!" Valerie continued slowly; and then a wonderful thing +happened. + +Whether it was the first warning of the illness that was presently to +fall upon me, or whether I was so much in sympathy with Valerie that I +saw what she and Pharos saw, I cannot say; at any rate, I suddenly found +myself transported from Park Lane away to that mysterious hall below the +Temple of Ammon, of which I retained so vivid a recollection. The place +was in semi-darkness, and in the centre, as Valerie had described, stood +the old man who had acted as my guide on the other occasion that I had +been there. His arms were raised above his head, and his voice when he +spoke was stern yet full of sadness. + +"Ptahmes, son of Netruhotep," he was saying, "across the seas I speak to +thee. For the second time thou hast been found wanting in the trust +reposed in thee. Thou hast used the power vouchsafed thee by the Gods +for thine own purposes and to enrich thyself in the goods of the earth. +Therefore thy doom is decreed, and in the Valley of Amenti thy +punishment awaits thee. Prepare, for that time is even now upon thee." + +Then the hall grew dark, there was a rushing sound as of a great wind, +and once more I was back in Park Lane. Pharos was crouching in his +chair, moaning feebly, and evidently beside himself with terror. + +"What more dost thou see?" he said at length, and his voice was growing +perceptibly weaker. "Tell me all." + +There was another pause, and then Valerie spoke again. + +"I see a rocky hillside and a newly-opened tomb. I see three white men +and five Arabs who surround it. They are lifting a mummy from the vault +below with cords." + +On hearing this Pharos sprang to his feet with a loud cry, and for a +moment fought wildly with the air. Meanwhile the monkey clung +tenaciously to him, uttering strange cries, which grew feebler every +moment. Valerie, released from her trance, if by such a name I may +describe it, and unable to bear more, fled the room, while I stood +rooted to the spot, powerless to move hand or foot, watching Pharos with +fascinated eyes. + +As if he were choking, he tore at his throat with his skeleton fingers +till the blood spurted out on either side. Little by little, however, +his struggles grew weaker, until they ceased altogether, and he fell +back into his chair, to all intents and purposes a dead man, with the +dying monkey still clinging to his coat. + +After all I had lately gone through, the strain this terrible scene put +upon my mind was too great for me to bear, and I fell back against the +wall in a dead faint. + + * * * * * + +When I recovered from the attack of brain fever which followed the +ghastly event I have just described, I found myself lying in my bunk in +my old cabin on board the yacht. Valerie was sitting beside me holding +my hand in hers and gazing lovingly into my face. Surprised at finding +myself where I was, I endeavoured to obtain an explanation from her. + +"Hush," she said, "you must not talk! Let it suffice that I have saved +you, and now we are away from England and at sea together. Pharos is +dead, and the past is only a bitter memory." + +As she spoke, as if to bear out what she had said, a ray of sunshine +streamed in through the porthole and fell upon us both. + + +THE END. + + + + +GUY BOOTHBY'S NOVELS. + + +PHAROS, THE EGYPTIAN. + +Mr. Boothby has proved himself a master of the art of story-telling from +the point of view of the reader who asks for a succession of stirring +events, a suspicion of mystery, and an interest not only maintained but +culminating. It would be unfair to explain the extraordinary character +of "Pharos," or to do more than allude to the series of strange +adventures wherein he plays a leading part. It is enough to assure Mr. +Boothby's readers of delightful thrills and an interest which this vivid +romancer never permits to flag. + + +THE LUST OF HATE. + +Mr. Boothby is at his best in this romance, which is characterized by +unflagging interest and by most stirring adventures in which Dr. Nikola +plays a leading part. "Dr. Nikola" was considered "one of the most +thrilling stories ever published." + + +THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL. + +"Here we have, in modern form, the same old hairbreadth escapes, the +same extraordinary adventures following one another at breathless speed, +and the same splendid disregard for mere probability that marked the +efforts of these wizards of an earlier day."--_New York Sun._ + + +DR. NIKOLA. + +"Crowded to the covers with the mysterious, the startling, and the +supernatural."--NEW YORK MAIL AND EXPRESS. + +"A novel containing a more ingenious, exciting, and absorbing romance +has not appeared upon our book table this season."--_Boston Courier._ + + +A BID FOR FORTUNE. + +"Mr. Boothby never allows the interest of their doings to drop from +first page to last; and he tells his tale in a pleasant, brisk fashion +that carries the reader along, and is as convincing a vehicle as could +be chosen for the relation of strange adventures such as befell the hero +and his friends."--_London Times._ + + + +THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER. + +"Abounds in dramatic situations, and is bright in dialogue, graphic in +description, and subtle in character analysis."--_Boston Advertiser._ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Pharos, The Egyptian, by Guy Newell Boothby + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHAROS, THE EGYPTIAN *** + +***** This file should be named 33610.txt or 33610.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/6/1/33610/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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