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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/537-h.zip b/537-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..18d682d --- /dev/null +++ b/537-h.zip diff --git a/537-h/537-h.htm b/537-h/537-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..60736ff --- /dev/null +++ b/537-h/537-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10587 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Tales of Terror and Mystery, +by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Tales of Terror and Mystery, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +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: Tales of Terror and Mystery + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: October 10, 2008 [EBook #537] +Release Date: May, 1996 +[Last updated: December 8, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TERROR AND MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Tales of Terror and Mystery +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Sir Arthur Conan Doyle +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Contents +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Tales of Terror +</H3> + +<H4 STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> + <A HREF="#horror">The Horror of the Heights</A><BR> + <A HREF="#funnel">The Leather Funnel</A><BR> + <A HREF="#catacomb">The New Catacomb</A><BR> + <A HREF="#sannox">The Case of Lady Sannox</A><BR> + <A HREF="#terror">The Terror of Blue John Gap</A><BR> + <A HREF="#cat">The Brazilian Cat</A><BR> +</H4> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Tales of Mystery +</H3> + +<H4 STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> + <A HREF="#special">The Lost Special</A><BR> + <A HREF="#beetle">The Beetle-Hunter</A><BR> + <A HREF="#watches">The Man with the Watches</A><BR> + <A HREF="#box">The Japanned Box</A><BR> + <A HREF="#doctor">The Black Doctor</A><BR> + <A HREF="#breast">The Jew's Breastplate</A><BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="horror"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Tales of Terror +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Horror of the Heights +</H3> + +<P> +The idea that the extraordinary narrative which has been called the +Joyce-Armstrong Fragment is an elaborate practical joke evolved by some +unknown person, cursed by a perverted and sinister sense of humour, has +now been abandoned by all who have examined the matter. The most +macabre and imaginative of plotters would hesitate before linking his +morbid fancies with the unquestioned and tragic facts which reinforce +the statement. Though the assertions contained in it are amazing and +even monstrous, it is none the less forcing itself upon the general +intelligence that they are true, and that we must readjust our ideas to +the new situation. This world of ours appears to be separated by a +slight and precarious margin of safety from a most singular and +unexpected danger. I will endeavour in this narrative, which +reproduces the original document in its necessarily somewhat +fragmentary form, to lay before the reader the whole of the facts up to +date, prefacing my statement by saying that, if there be any who doubt +the narrative of Joyce-Armstrong, there can be no question at all as to +the facts concerning Lieutenant Myrtle, R. N., and Mr. Hay Connor, who +undoubtedly met their end in the manner described. +</P> + +<P> +The Joyce-Armstrong Fragment was found in the field which is called +Lower Haycock, lying one mile to the westward of the village of +Withyham, upon the Kent and Sussex border. It was on the 15th +September last that an agricultural labourer, James Flynn, in the +employment of Mathew Dodd, farmer, of the Chauntry Farm, Withyham, +perceived a briar pipe lying near the footpath which skirts the hedge +in Lower Haycock. A few paces farther on he picked up a pair of broken +binocular glasses. Finally, among some nettles in the ditch, he caught +sight of a flat, canvas-backed book, which proved to be a note-book +with detachable leaves, some of which had come loose and were +fluttering along the base of the hedge. These he collected, but some, +including the first, were never recovered, and leave a deplorable +hiatus in this all-important statement. The note-book was taken by the +labourer to his master, who in turn showed it to Dr. J. H. Atherton, of +Hartfield. This gentleman at once recognized the need for an expert +examination, and the manuscript was forwarded to the Aero Club in +London, where it now lies. +</P> + +<P> +The first two pages of the manuscript are missing. There is also one +torn away at the end of the narrative, though none of these affect the +general coherence of the story. It is conjectured that the missing +opening is concerned with the record of Mr. Joyce-Armstrong's +qualifications as an aeronaut, which can be gathered from other sources +and are admitted to be unsurpassed among the air-pilots of England. +For many years he has been looked upon as among the most daring and the +most intellectual of flying men, a combination which has enabled him to +both invent and test several new devices, including the common +gyroscopic attachment which is known by his name. The main body of the +manuscript is written neatly in ink, but the last few lines are in +pencil and are so ragged as to be hardly legible—exactly, in fact, as +they might be expected to appear if they were scribbled off hurriedly +from the seat of a moving aeroplane. There are, it may be added, +several stains, both on the last page and on the outside cover which +have been pronounced by the Home Office experts to be blood—probably +human and certainly mammalian. The fact that something closely +resembling the organism of malaria was discovered in this blood, and +that Joyce-Armstrong is known to have suffered from intermittent fever, +is a remarkable example of the new weapons which modern science has +placed in the hands of our detectives. +</P> + +<P> +And now a word as to the personality of the author of this epoch-making +statement. Joyce-Armstrong, according to the few friends who really +knew something of the man, was a poet and a dreamer, as well as a +mechanic and an inventor. He was a man of considerable wealth, much of +which he had spent in the pursuit of his aeronautical hobby. He had +four private aeroplanes in his hangars near Devizes, and is said to +have made no fewer than one hundred and seventy ascents in the course +of last year. He was a retiring man with dark moods, in which he would +avoid the society of his fellows. Captain Dangerfield, who knew him +better than anyone, says that there were times when his eccentricity +threatened to develop into something more serious. His habit of +carrying a shot-gun with him in his aeroplane was one manifestation of +it. +</P> + +<P> +Another was the morbid effect which the fall of Lieutenant Myrtle had +upon his mind. Myrtle, who was attempting the height record, fell from +an altitude of something over thirty thousand feet. Horrible to +narrate, his head was entirely obliterated, though his body and limbs +preserved their configuration. At every gathering of airmen, +Joyce-Armstrong, according to Dangerfield, would ask, with an enigmatic +smile: "And where, pray, is Myrtle's head?" +</P> + +<P> +On another occasion after dinner, at the mess of the Flying School on +Salisbury Plain, he started a debate as to what will be the most +permanent danger which airmen will have to encounter. Having listened +to successive opinions as to air-pockets, faulty construction, and +over-banking, he ended by shrugging his shoulders and refusing to put +forward his own views, though he gave the impression that they differed +from any advanced by his companions. +</P> + +<P> +It is worth remarking that after his own complete disappearance it was +found that his private affairs were arranged with a precision which may +show that he had a strong premonition of disaster. With these +essential explanations I will now give the narrative exactly as it +stands, beginning at page three of the blood-soaked note-book: +</P> + +<P> +"Nevertheless, when I dined at Rheims with Coselli and Gustav Raymond I +found that neither of them was aware of any particular danger in the +higher layers of the atmosphere. I did not actually say what was in my +thoughts, but I got so near to it that if they had any corresponding +idea they could not have failed to express it. But then they are two +empty, vainglorious fellows with no thought beyond seeing their silly +names in the newspaper. It is interesting to note that neither of them +had ever been much beyond the twenty-thousand-foot level. Of course, +men have been higher than this both in balloons and in the ascent of +mountains. It must be well above that point that the aeroplane enters +the danger zone—always presuming that my premonitions are correct. +</P> + +<P> +"Aeroplaning has been with us now for more than twenty years, and one +might well ask: Why should this peril be only revealing itself in our +day? The answer is obvious. In the old days of weak engines, when a +hundred horse-power Gnome or Green was considered ample for every need, +the flights were very restricted. Now that three hundred horse-power +is the rule rather than the exception, visits to the upper layers have +become easier and more common. Some of us can remember how, in our +youth, Garros made a world-wide reputation by attaining nineteen +thousand feet, and it was considered a remarkable achievement to fly +over the Alps. Our standard now has been immeasurably raised, and +there are twenty high flights for one in former years. Many of them +have been undertaken with impunity. The thirty-thousand-foot level has +been reached time after time with no discomfort beyond cold and asthma. +What does this prove? A visitor might descend upon this planet a +thousand times and never see a tiger. Yet tigers exist, and if he +chanced to come down into a jungle he might be devoured. There are +jungles of the upper air, and there are worse things than tigers which +inhabit them. I believe in time they will map these jungles accurately +out. Even at the present moment I could name two of them. One of them +lies over the Pau-Biarritz district of France. Another is just over my +head as I write here in my house in Wiltshire. I rather think there is +a third in the Homburg-Wiesbaden district. +</P> + +<P> +"It was the disappearance of the airmen that first set me thinking. Of +course, everyone said that they had fallen into the sea, but that did +not satisfy me at all. First, there was Verrier in France; his machine +was found near Bayonne, but they never got his body. There was the +case of Baxter also, who vanished, though his engine and some of the +iron fixings were found in a wood in Leicestershire. In that case, Dr. +Middleton, of Amesbury, who was watching the flight with a telescope, +declares that just before the clouds obscured the view he saw the +machine, which was at an enormous height, suddenly rise perpendicularly +upwards in a succession of jerks in a manner that he would have thought +to be impossible. That was the last seen of Baxter. There was a +correspondence in the papers, but it never led to anything. There were +several other similar cases, and then there was the death of Hay +Connor. What a cackle there was about an unsolved mystery of the air, +and what columns in the halfpenny papers, and yet how little was ever +done to get to the bottom of the business! He came down in a +tremendous vol-plane from an unknown height. He never got off his +machine and died in his pilot's seat. Died of what? 'Heart disease,' +said the doctors. Rubbish! Hay Connor's heart was as sound as mine +is. What did Venables say? Venables was the only man who was at his +side when he died. He said that he was shivering and looked like a man +who had been badly scared. 'Died of fright,' said Venables, but could +not imagine what he was frightened about. Only said one word to +Venables, which sounded like 'Monstrous.' They could make nothing of +that at the inquest. But I could make something of it. Monsters! That +was the last word of poor Harry Hay Connor. And he DID die of fright, +just as Venables thought. +</P> + +<P> +"And then there was Myrtle's head. Do you really believe—does anybody +really believe—that a man's head could be driven clean into his body +by the force of a fall? Well, perhaps it may be possible, but I, for +one, have never believed that it was so with Myrtle. And the grease +upon his clothes—'all slimy with grease,' said somebody at the +inquest. Queer that nobody got thinking after that! I did—but, then, +I had been thinking for a good long time. I've made three ascents—how +Dangerfield used to chaff me about my shot-gun—but I've never been +high enough. Now, with this new, light Paul Veroner machine and its +one hundred and seventy-five Robur, I should easily touch the thirty +thousand tomorrow. I'll have a shot at the record. Maybe I shall have +a shot at something else as well. Of course, it's dangerous. If a +fellow wants to avoid danger he had best keep out of flying altogether +and subside finally into flannel slippers and a dressing-gown. But +I'll visit the air-jungle tomorrow—and if there's anything there I +shall know it. If I return, I'll find myself a bit of a celebrity. If +I don't this note-book may explain what I am trying to do, and how I +lost my life in doing it. But no drivel about accidents or mysteries, +if YOU please. +</P> + +<P> +"I chose my Paul Veroner monoplane for the job. There's nothing like a +monoplane when real work is to be done. Beaumont found that out in very +early days. For one thing it doesn't mind damp, and the weather looks +as if we should be in the clouds all the time. It's a bonny little +model and answers my hand like a tender-mouthed horse. The engine is a +ten-cylinder rotary Robur working up to one hundred and seventy-five. +It has all the modern improvements—enclosed fuselage, high-curved +landing skids, brakes, gyroscopic steadiers, and three speeds, worked +by an alteration of the angle of the planes upon the Venetian-blind +principle. I took a shot-gun with me and a dozen cartridges filled +with buck-shot. You should have seen the face of Perkins, my old +mechanic, when I directed him to put them in. I was dressed like an +Arctic explorer, with two jerseys under my overalls, thick socks inside +my padded boots, a storm-cap with flaps, and my talc goggles. It was +stifling outside the hangars, but I was going for the summit of the +Himalayas, and had to dress for the part. Perkins knew there was +something on and implored me to take him with me. Perhaps I should if +I were using the biplane, but a monoplane is a one-man show—if you +want to get the last foot of life out of it. Of course, I took an +oxygen bag; the man who goes for the altitude record without one will +either be frozen or smothered—or both. +</P> + +<P> +"I had a good look at the planes, the rudder-bar, and the elevating +lever before I got in. Everything was in order so far as I could see. +Then I switched on my engine and found that she was running sweetly. +When they let her go she rose almost at once upon the lowest speed. I +circled my home field once or twice just to warm her up, and then with +a wave to Perkins and the others, I flattened out my planes and put her +on her highest. She skimmed like a swallow down wind for eight or ten +miles until I turned her nose up a little and she began to climb in a +great spiral for the cloud-bank above me. It's all-important to rise +slowly and adapt yourself to the pressure as you go. +</P> + +<P> +"It was a close, warm day for an English September, and there was the +hush and heaviness of impending rain. Now and then there came sudden +puffs of wind from the south-west—one of them so gusty and unexpected +that it caught me napping and turned me half-round for an instant. I +remember the time when gusts and whirls and air-pockets used to be +things of danger—before we learned to put an overmastering power into +our engines. Just as I reached the cloud-banks, with the altimeter +marking three thousand, down came the rain. My word, how it poured! +It drummed upon my wings and lashed against my face, blurring my +glasses so that I could hardly see. I got down on to a low speed, for +it was painful to travel against it. As I got higher it became hail, +and I had to turn tail to it. One of my cylinders was out of action—a +dirty plug, I should imagine, but still I was rising steadily with +plenty of power. After a bit the trouble passed, whatever it was, and +I heard the full, deep-throated purr—the ten singing as one. That's +where the beauty of our modern silencers comes in. We can at last +control our engines by ear. How they squeal and squeak and sob when +they are in trouble! All those cries for help were wasted in the old +days, when every sound was swallowed up by the monstrous racket of the +machine. If only the early aviators could come back to see the beauty +and perfection of the mechanism which have been bought at the cost of +their lives! +</P> + +<P> +"About nine-thirty I was nearing the clouds. Down below me, all +blurred and shadowed with rain, lay the vast expanse of Salisbury +Plain. Half a dozen flying machines were doing hackwork at the +thousand-foot level, looking like little black swallows against the +green background. I dare say they were wondering what I was doing up +in cloud-land. Suddenly a grey curtain drew across beneath me and the +wet folds of vapours were swirling round my face. It was clammily cold +and miserable. But I was above the hail-storm, and that was something +gained. The cloud was as dark and thick as a London fog. In my +anxiety to get clear, I cocked her nose up until the automatic +alarm-bell rang, and I actually began to slide backwards. My sopped +and dripping wings had made me heavier than I thought, but presently I +was in lighter cloud, and soon had cleared the first layer. There was +a second—opal-coloured and fleecy—at a great height above my head, a +white, unbroken ceiling above, and a dark, unbroken floor below, with +the monoplane labouring upwards upon a vast spiral between them. It is +deadly lonely in these cloud-spaces. Once a great flight of some small +water-birds went past me, flying very fast to the westwards. The quick +whir of their wings and their musical cry were cheery to my ear. I +fancy that they were teal, but I am a wretched zoologist. Now that we +humans have become birds we must really learn to know our brethren by +sight. +</P> + +<P> +"The wind down beneath me whirled and swayed the broad cloud-plain. +Once a great eddy formed in it, a whirlpool of vapour, and through it, +as down a funnel, I caught sight of the distant world. A large white +biplane was passing at a vast depth beneath me. I fancy it was the +morning mail service betwixt Bristol and London. Then the drift swirled +inwards again and the great solitude was unbroken. +</P> + +<P> +"Just after ten I touched the lower edge of the upper cloud-stratum. It +consisted of fine diaphanous vapour drifting swiftly from the +westwards. The wind had been steadily rising all this time and it was +now blowing a sharp breeze—twenty-eight an hour by my gauge. Already +it was very cold, though my altimeter only marked nine thousand. The +engines were working beautifully, and we went droning steadily upwards. +The cloud-bank was thicker than I had expected, but at last it thinned +out into a golden mist before me, and then in an instant I had shot out +from it, and there was an unclouded sky and a brilliant sun above my +head—all blue and gold above, all shining silver below, one vast, +glimmering plain as far as my eyes could reach. It was a quarter past +ten o'clock, and the barograph needle pointed to twelve thousand eight +hundred. Up I went and up, my ears concentrated upon the deep purring +of my motor, my eyes busy always with the watch, the revolution +indicator, the petrol lever, and the oil pump. No wonder aviators are +said to be a fearless race. With so many things to think of there is +no time to trouble about oneself. About this time I noted how +unreliable is the compass when above a certain height from earth. At +fifteen thousand feet mine was pointing east and a point south. The +sun and the wind gave me my true bearings. +</P> + +<P> +"I had hoped to reach an eternal stillness in these high altitudes, but +with every thousand feet of ascent the gale grew stronger. My machine +groaned and trembled in every joint and rivet as she faced it, and +swept away like a sheet of paper when I banked her on the turn, +skimming down wind at a greater pace, perhaps, than ever mortal man has +moved. Yet I had always to turn again and tack up in the wind's eye, +for it was not merely a height record that I was after. By all my +calculations it was above little Wiltshire that my air-jungle lay, and +all my labour might be lost if I struck the outer layers at some +farther point. +</P> + +<P> +"When I reached the nineteen-thousand-foot level, which was about +midday, the wind was so severe that I looked with some anxiety to the +stays of my wings, expecting momentarily to see them snap or slacken. +I even cast loose the parachute behind me, and fastened its hook into +the ring of my leathern belt, so as to be ready for the worst. Now was +the time when a bit of scamped work by the mechanic is paid for by the +life of the aeronaut. But she held together bravely. Every cord and +strut was humming and vibrating like so many harp-strings, but it was +glorious to see how, for all the beating and the buffeting, she was +still the conqueror of Nature and the mistress of the sky. There is +surely something divine in man himself that he should rise so superior +to the limitations which Creation seemed to impose—rise, too, by such +unselfish, heroic devotion as this air-conquest has shown. Talk of +human degeneration! When has such a story as this been written in the +annals of our race? +</P> + +<P> +"These were the thoughts in my head as I climbed that monstrous, +inclined plane with the wind sometimes beating in my face and sometimes +whistling behind my ears, while the cloud-land beneath me fell away to +such a distance that the folds and hummocks of silver had all smoothed +out into one flat, shining plain. But suddenly I had a horrible and +unprecedented experience. I have known before what it is to be in what +our neighbours have called a tourbillon, but never on such a scale as +this. That huge, sweeping river of wind of which I have spoken had, as +it appears, whirlpools within it which were as monstrous as itself. +Without a moment's warning I was dragged suddenly into the heart of +one. I spun round for a minute or two with such velocity that I almost +lost my senses, and then fell suddenly, left wing foremost, down the +vacuum funnel in the centre. I dropped like a stone, and lost nearly a +thousand feet. It was only my belt that kept me in my seat, and the +shock and breathlessness left me hanging half-insensible over the side +of the fuselage. But I am always capable of a supreme effort—it is my +one great merit as an aviator. I was conscious that the descent was +slower. The whirlpool was a cone rather than a funnel, and I had come +to the apex. With a terrific wrench, throwing my weight all to one +side, I levelled my planes and brought her head away from the wind. In +an instant I had shot out of the eddies and was skimming down the sky. +Then, shaken but victorious, I turned her nose up and began once more +my steady grind on the upward spiral. I took a large sweep to avoid +the danger-spot of the whirlpool, and soon I was safely above it. Just +after one o'clock I was twenty-one thousand feet above the sea-level. +To my great joy I had topped the gale, and with every hundred feet of +ascent the air grew stiller. On the other hand, it was very cold, and +I was conscious of that peculiar nausea which goes with rarefaction of +the air. For the first time I unscrewed the mouth of my oxygen bag and +took an occasional whiff of the glorious gas. I could feel it running +like a cordial through my veins, and I was exhilarated almost to the +point of drunkenness. I shouted and sang as I soared upwards into the +cold, still outer world. +</P> + +<P> +"It is very clear to me that the insensibility which came upon +Glaisher, and in a lesser degree upon Coxwell, when, in 1862, they +ascended in a balloon to the height of thirty thousand feet, was due to +the extreme speed with which a perpendicular ascent is made. Doing it +at an easy gradient and accustoming oneself to the lessened barometric +pressure by slow degrees, there are no such dreadful symptoms. At the +same great height I found that even without my oxygen inhaler I could +breathe without undue distress. It was bitterly cold, however, and my +thermometer was at zero, Fahrenheit. At one-thirty I was nearly seven +miles above the surface of the earth, and still ascending steadily. I +found, however, that the rarefied air was giving markedly less support +to my planes, and that my angle of ascent had to be considerably +lowered in consequence. It was already clear that even with my light +weight and strong engine-power there was a point in front of me where I +should be held. To make matters worse, one of my sparking-plugs was in +trouble again and there was intermittent misfiring in the engine. My +heart was heavy with the fear of failure. +</P> + +<P> +"It was about that time that I had a most extraordinary experience. +Something whizzed past me in a trail of smoke and exploded with a loud, +hissing sound, sending forth a cloud of steam. For the instant I could +not imagine what had happened. Then I remembered that the earth is for +ever being bombarded by meteor stones, and would be hardly inhabitable +were they not in nearly every case turned to vapour in the outer layers +of the atmosphere. Here is a new danger for the high-altitude man, for +two others passed me when I was nearing the forty-thousand-foot mark. +I cannot doubt that at the edge of the earth's envelope the risk would +be a very real one. +</P> + +<P> +"My barograph needle marked forty-one thousand three hundred when I +became aware that I could go no farther. Physically, the strain was +not as yet greater than I could bear but my machine had reached its +limit. The attenuated air gave no firm support to the wings, and the +least tilt developed into side-slip, while she seemed sluggish on her +controls. Possibly, had the engine been at its best, another thousand +feet might have been within our capacity, but it was still misfiring, +and two out of the ten cylinders appeared to be out of action. If I +had not already reached the zone for which I was searching then I +should never see it upon this journey. But was it not possible that I +had attained it? Soaring in circles like a monstrous hawk upon the +forty-thousand-foot level I let the monoplane guide herself, and with +my Mannheim glass I made a careful observation of my surroundings. The +heavens were perfectly clear; there was no indication of those dangers +which I had imagined. +</P> + +<P> +"I have said that I was soaring in circles. It struck me suddenly that +I would do well to take a wider sweep and open up a new airtract. If +the hunter entered an earth-jungle he would drive through it if he +wished to find his game. My reasoning had led me to believe that the +air-jungle which I had imagined lay somewhere over Wiltshire. This +should be to the south and west of me. I took my bearings from the +sun, for the compass was hopeless and no trace of earth was to be +seen—nothing but the distant, silver cloud-plain. However, I got my +direction as best I might and kept her head straight to the mark. I +reckoned that my petrol supply would not last for more than another +hour or so, but I could afford to use it to the last drop, since a +single magnificent vol-plane could at any time take me to the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Suddenly I was aware of something new. The air in front of me had +lost its crystal clearness. It was full of long, ragged wisps of +something which I can only compare to very fine cigarette smoke. It +hung about in wreaths and coils, turning and twisting slowly in the +sunlight. As the monoplane shot through it, I was aware of a faint +taste of oil upon my lips, and there was a greasy scum upon the +woodwork of the machine. Some infinitely fine organic matter appeared +to be suspended in the atmosphere. There was no life there. It was +inchoate and diffuse, extending for many square acres and then fringing +off into the void. No, it was not life. But might it not be the +remains of life? Above all, might it not be the food of life, of +monstrous life, even as the humble grease of the ocean is the food for +the mighty whale? The thought was in my mind when my eyes looked +upwards and I saw the most wonderful vision that ever man has seen. +Can I hope to convey it to you even as I saw it myself last Thursday? +</P> + +<P> +"Conceive a jelly-fish such as sails in our summer seas, bell-shaped +and of enormous size—far larger, I should judge, than the dome of St. +Paul's. It was of a light pink colour veined with a delicate green, +but the whole huge fabric so tenuous that it was but a fairy outline +against the dark blue sky. It pulsated with a delicate and regular +rhythm. From it there depended two long, drooping, green tentacles, +which swayed slowly backwards and forwards. This gorgeous vision +passed gently with noiseless dignity over my head, as light and fragile +as a soap-bubble, and drifted upon its stately way. +</P> + +<P> +"I had half-turned my monoplane, that I might look after this beautiful +creature, when, in a moment, I found myself amidst a perfect fleet of +them, of all sizes, but none so large as the first. Some were quite +small, but the majority about as big as an average balloon, and with +much the same curvature at the top. There was in them a delicacy of +texture and colouring which reminded me of the finest Venetian glass. +Pale shades of pink and green were the prevailing tints, but all had a +lovely iridescence where the sun shimmered through their dainty forms. +Some hundreds of them drifted past me, a wonderful fairy squadron of +strange unknown argosies of the sky—creatures whose forms and +substance were so attuned to these pure heights that one could not +conceive anything so delicate within actual sight or sound of earth. +</P> + +<P> +"But soon my attention was drawn to a new phenomenon—the serpents of +the outer air. These were long, thin, fantastic coils of vapour-like +material, which turned and twisted with great speed, flying round and +round at such a pace that the eyes could hardly follow them. Some of +these ghost-like creatures were twenty or thirty feet long, but it was +difficult to tell their girth, for their outline was so hazy that it +seemed to fade away into the air around them. These air-snakes were of +a very light grey or smoke colour, with some darker lines within, which +gave the impression of a definite organism. One of them whisked past +my very face, and I was conscious of a cold, clammy contact, but their +composition was so unsubstantial that I could not connect them with any +thought of physical danger, any more than the beautiful bell-like +creatures which had preceded them. There was no more solidity in their +frames than in the floating spume from a broken wave. +</P> + +<P> +"But a more terrible experience was in store for me. Floating +downwards from a great height there came a purplish patch of vapour, +small as I saw it first, but rapidly enlarging as it approached me, +until it appeared to be hundreds of square feet in size. Though +fashioned of some transparent, jelly-like substance, it was none the +less of much more definite outline and solid consistence than anything +which I had seen before. There were more traces, too, of a physical +organization, especially two vast, shadowy, circular plates upon either +side, which may have been eyes, and a perfectly solid white projection +between them which was as curved and cruel as the beak of a vulture. +</P> + +<P> +"The whole aspect of this monster was formidable and threatening, and +it kept changing its colour from a very light mauve to a dark, angry +purple so thick that it cast a shadow as it drifted between my +monoplane and the sun. On the upper curve of its huge body there were +three great projections which I can only describe as enormous bubbles, +and I was convinced as I looked at them that they were charged with +some extremely light gas which served to buoy up the misshapen and +semi-solid mass in the rarefied air. The creature moved swiftly along, +keeping pace easily with the monoplane, and for twenty miles or more it +formed my horrible escort, hovering over me like a bird of prey which +is waiting to pounce. Its method of progression—done so swiftly that +it was not easy to follow—was to throw out a long, glutinous streamer +in front of it, which in turn seemed to draw forward the rest of the +writhing body. So elastic and gelatinous was it that never for two +successive minutes was it the same shape, and yet each change made it +more threatening and loathsome than the last. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew that it meant mischief. Every purple flush of its hideous body +told me so. The vague, goggling eyes which were turned always upon me +were cold and merciless in their viscid hatred. I dipped the nose of +my monoplane downwards to escape it. As I did so, as quick as a flash +there shot out a long tentacle from this mass of floating blubber, and +it fell as light and sinuous as a whip-lash across the front of my +machine. There was a loud hiss as it lay for a moment across the hot +engine, and it whisked itself into the air again, while the huge, flat +body drew itself together as if in sudden pain. I dipped to a +vol-pique, but again a tentacle fell over the monoplane and was shorn +off by the propeller as easily as it might have cut through a smoke +wreath. A long, gliding, sticky, serpent-like coil came from behind and +caught me round the waist, dragging me out of the fuselage. I tore at +it, my fingers sinking into the smooth, glue-like surface, and for an +instant I disengaged myself, but only to be caught round the boot by +another coil, which gave me a jerk that tilted me almost on to my back. +</P> + +<P> +"As I fell over I blazed off both barrels of my gun, though, indeed, it +was like attacking an elephant with a pea-shooter to imagine that any +human weapon could cripple that mighty bulk. And yet I aimed better +than I knew, for, with a loud report, one of the great blisters upon +the creature's back exploded with the puncture of the buck-shot. It +was very clear that my conjecture was right, and that these vast, clear +bladders were distended with some lifting gas, for in an instant the +huge, cloud-like body turned sideways, writhing desperately to find its +balance, while the white beak snapped and gaped in horrible fury. But +already I had shot away on the steepest glide that I dared to attempt, +my engine still full on, the flying propeller and the force of gravity +shooting me downwards like an aerolite. Far behind me I saw a dull, +purplish smudge growing swiftly smaller and merging into the blue sky +behind it. I was safe out of the deadly jungle of the outer air. +</P> + +<P> +"Once out of danger I throttled my engine, for nothing tears a machine +to pieces quicker than running on full power from a height. It was a +glorious, spiral vol-plane from nearly eight miles of altitude—first, +to the level of the silver cloud-bank, then to that of the storm-cloud +beneath it, and finally, in beating rain, to the surface of the earth. +I saw the Bristol Channel beneath me as I broke from the clouds, but, +having still some petrol in my tank, I got twenty miles inland before I +found myself stranded in a field half a mile from the village of +Ashcombe. There I got three tins of petrol from a passing motor-car, +and at ten minutes past six that evening I alighted gently in my own +home meadow at Devizes, after such a journey as no mortal upon earth +has ever yet taken and lived to tell the tale. I have seen the beauty +and I have seen the horror of the heights—and greater beauty or +greater horror than that is not within the ken of man. +</P> + +<P> +"And now it is my plan to go once again before I give my results to the +world. My reason for this is that I must surely have something to show +by way of proof before I lay such a tale before my fellow-men. It is +true that others will soon follow and will confirm what I have said, +and yet I should wish to carry conviction from the first. Those lovely +iridescent bubbles of the air should not be hard to capture. They +drift slowly upon their way, and the swift monoplane could intercept +their leisurely course. It is likely enough that they would dissolve +in the heavier layers of the atmosphere, and that some small heap of +amorphous jelly might be all that I should bring to earth with me. And +yet something there would surely be by which I could substantiate my +story. Yes, I will go, even if I run a risk by doing so. These purple +horrors would not seem to be numerous. It is probable that I shall not +see one. If I do I shall dive at once. At the worst there is always +the shot-gun and my knowledge of ..." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Here a page of the manuscript is unfortunately missing. On the next +page is written, in large, straggling writing: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Forty-three thousand feet. I shall never see earth again. They are +beneath me, three of them. God help me; it is a dreadful death to die!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Such in its entirety is the Joyce-Armstrong Statement. Of the man +nothing has since been seen. Pieces of his shattered monoplane have +been picked up in the preserves of Mr. Budd-Lushington upon the borders +of Kent and Sussex, within a few miles of the spot where the note-book +was discovered. If the unfortunate aviator's theory is correct that +this air-jungle, as he called it, existed only over the south-west of +England, then it would seem that he had fled from it at the full speed +of his monoplane, but had been overtaken and devoured by these horrible +creatures at some spot in the outer atmosphere above the place where +the grim relics were found. The picture of that monoplane skimming +down the sky, with the nameless terrors flying as swiftly beneath it +and cutting it off always from the earth while they gradually closed in +upon their victim, is one upon which a man who valued his sanity would +prefer not to dwell. There are many, as I am aware, who still jeer at +the facts which I have here set down, but even they must admit that +Joyce-Armstrong has disappeared, and I would commend to them his own +words: "This note-book may explain what I am trying to do, and how I +lost my life in doing it. But no drivel about accidents or mysteries, +if YOU please." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="funnel"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Leather Funnel +</H3> + +<P> +My friend, Lionel Dacre, lived in the Avenue de Wagram, Paris. His +house was that small one, with the iron railings and grass plot in +front of it, on the left-hand side as you pass down from the Arc de +Triomphe. I fancy that it had been there long before the avenue was +constructed, for the grey tiles were stained with lichens, and the +walls were mildewed and discoloured with age. It looked a small house +from the street, five windows in front, if I remember right, but it +deepened into a single long chamber at the back. It was here that +Dacre had that singular library of occult literature, and the fantastic +curiosities which served as a hobby for himself, and an amusement for +his friends. A wealthy man of refined and eccentric tastes, he had +spent much of his life and fortune in gathering together what was said +to be a unique private collection of Talmudic, cabalistic, and magical +works, many of them of great rarity and value. His tastes leaned +toward the marvellous and the monstrous, and I have heard that his +experiments in the direction of the unknown have passed all the bounds +of civilization and of decorum. To his English friends he never +alluded to such matters, and took the tone of the student and virtuoso; +but a Frenchman whose tastes were of the same nature has assured me +that the worst excesses of the black mass have been perpetrated in that +large and lofty hall, which is lined with the shelves of his books, and +the cases of his museum. +</P> + +<P> +Dacre's appearance was enough to show that his deep interest in these +psychic matters was intellectual rather than spiritual. There was no +trace of asceticism upon his heavy face, but there was much mental +force in his huge, dome-like skull, which curved upward from amongst +his thinning locks, like a snowpeak above its fringe of fir trees. His +knowledge was greater than his wisdom, and his powers were far superior +to his character. The small bright eyes, buried deeply in his fleshy +face, twinkled with intelligence and an unabated curiosity of life, but +they were the eyes of a sensualist and an egotist. Enough of the man, +for he is dead now, poor devil, dead at the very time that he had made +sure that he had at last discovered the elixir of life. It is not with +his complex character that I have to deal, but with the very strange +and inexplicable incident which had its rise in my visit to him in the +early spring of the year '82. +</P> + +<P> +I had known Dacre in England, for my researches in the Assyrian Room of +the British Museum had been conducted at the time when he was +endeavouring to establish a mystic and esoteric meaning in the +Babylonian tablets, and this community of interests had brought us +together. Chance remarks had led to daily conversation, and that to +something verging upon friendship. I had promised him that on my next +visit to Paris I would call upon him. At the time when I was able to +fulfil my compact I was living in a cottage at Fontainebleau, and as +the evening trains were inconvenient, he asked me to spend the night in +his house. +</P> + +<P> +"I have only that one spare couch," said he, pointing to a broad sofa +in his large salon; "I hope that you will manage to be comfortable +there." +</P> + +<P> +It was a singular bedroom, with its high walls of brown volumes, but +there could be no more agreeable furniture to a bookworm like myself, +and there is no scent so pleasant to my nostrils as that faint, subtle +reek which comes from an ancient book. I assured him that I could +desire no more charming chamber, and no more congenial surroundings. +</P> + +<P> +"If the fittings are neither convenient nor conventional, they are at +least costly," said he, looking round at his shelves. "I have expended +nearly a quarter of a million of money upon these objects which +surround you. Books, weapons, gems, carvings, tapestries, +images—there is hardly a thing here which has not its history, and it +is generally one worth telling." +</P> + +<P> +He was seated as he spoke at one side of the open fire-place, and I at +the other. His reading-table was on his right, and the strong lamp +above it ringed it with a very vivid circle of golden light. A +half-rolled palimpsest lay in the centre, and around it were many +quaint articles of bric-a-brac. One of these was a large funnel, such +as is used for filling wine casks. It appeared to be made of black +wood, and to be rimmed with discoloured brass. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a curious thing," I remarked. "What is the history of that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said he, "it is the very question which I have had occasion to +ask myself. I would give a good deal to know. Take it in your hands +and examine it." +</P> + +<P> +I did so, and found that what I had imagined to be wood was in reality +leather, though age had dried it into an extreme hardness. It was a +large funnel, and might hold a quart when full. The brass rim +encircled the wide end, but the narrow was also tipped with metal. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you make of it?" asked Dacre. +</P> + +<P> +"I should imagine that it belonged to some vintner or maltster in the +Middle Ages," said I. "I have seen in England leathern drinking +flagons of the seventeenth century—'black jacks' as they were +called—which were of the same colour and hardness as this filler." +</P> + +<P> +"I dare say the date would be about the same," said Dacre, "and, no +doubt, also, it was used for filling a vessel with liquid. If my +suspicions are correct, however, it was a queer vintner who used it, +and a very singular cask which was filled. Do you observe nothing +strange at the spout end of the funnel." +</P> + +<P> +As I held it to the light I observed that at a spot some five inches +above the brass tip the narrow neck of the leather funnel was all +haggled and scored, as if someone had notched it round with a blunt +knife. Only at that point was there any roughening of the dead black +surface. +</P> + +<P> +"Someone has tried to cut off the neck." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you call it a cut?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is torn and lacerated. It must have taken some strength to leave +these marks on such tough material, whatever the instrument may have +been. But what do you think of it? I can tell that you know more than +you say." +</P> + +<P> +Dacre smiled, and his little eyes twinkled with knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you included the psychology of dreams among your learned +studies?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not even know that there was such a psychology." +</P> + +<P> +"My dear sir, that shelf above the gem case is filled with volumes, +from Albertus Magnus onward, which deal with no other subject. It is a +science in itself." +</P> + +<P> +"A science of charlatans!" +</P> + +<P> +"The charlatan is always the pioneer. From the astrologer came the +astronomer, from the alchemist the chemist, from the mesmerist the +experimental psychologist. The quack of yesterday is the professor of +tomorrow. Even such subtle and elusive things as dreams will in time +be reduced to system and order. When that time comes the researches of +our friends on the bookshelf yonder will no longer be the amusement of +the mystic, but the foundations of a science." +</P> + +<P> +"Supposing that is so, what has the science of dreams to do with a +large, black, brass-rimmed funnel?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will tell you. You know that I have an agent who is always on the +look-out for rarities and curiosities for my collection. Some days ago +he heard of a dealer upon one of the Quais who had acquired some old +rubbish found in a cupboard in an ancient house at the back of the Rue +Mathurin, in the Quartier Latin. The dining-room of this old house is +decorated with a coat of arms, chevrons, and bars rouge upon a field +argent, which prove, upon inquiry, to be the shield of Nicholas de la +Reynie, a high official of King Louis XIV. There can be no doubt that +the other articles in the cupboard date back to the early days of that +king. The inference is, therefore, that they were all the property of +this Nicholas de la Reynie, who was, as I understand, the gentleman +specially concerned with the maintenance and execution of the Draconic +laws of that epoch." +</P> + +<P> +"What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"I would ask you now to take the funnel into your hands once more and +to examine the upper brass rim. Can you make out any lettering upon +it?" +</P> + +<P> +There were certainly some scratches upon it, almost obliterated by +time. The general effect was of several letters, the last of which +bore some resemblance to a B. +</P> + +<P> +"You make it a B?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I do." +</P> + +<P> +"So do I. In fact, I have no doubt whatever that it is a B." +</P> + +<P> +"But the nobleman you mentioned would have had R for his initial." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly! That's the beauty of it. He owned this curious object, and +yet he had someone else's initials upon it. Why did he do this?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't imagine; can you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I might, perhaps, guess. Do you observe something drawn a +little farther along the rim?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should say it was a crown." +</P> + +<P> +"It is undoubtedly a crown; but if you examine it in a good light, you +will convince yourself that it is not an ordinary crown. It is a +heraldic crown—a badge of rank, and it consists of an alternation of +four pearls and strawberry leaves, the proper badge of a marquis. We +may infer, therefore, that the person whose initials end in B was +entitled to wear that coronet." +</P> + +<P> +"Then this common leather filler belonged to a marquis?" +</P> + +<P> +Dacre gave a peculiar smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Or to some member of the family of a marquis," said he. "So much we +have clearly gathered from this engraved rim." +</P> + +<P> +"But what has all this to do with dreams?" I do not know whether it +was from a look upon Dacre's face, or from some subtle suggestion in +his manner, but a feeling of repulsion, of unreasoning horror, came +upon me as I looked at the gnarled old lump of leather. +</P> + +<P> +"I have more than once received important information through my +dreams," said my companion in the didactic manner which he loved to +affect. "I make it a rule now when I am in doubt upon any material +point to place the article in question beside me as I sleep, and to +hope for some enlightenment. The process does not appear to me to be +very obscure, though it has not yet received the blessing of orthodox +science. According to my theory, any object which has been intimately +associated with any supreme paroxysm of human emotion, whether it be +joy or pain, will retain a certain atmosphere or association which it +is capable of communicating to a sensitive mind. By a sensitive mind I +do not mean an abnormal one, but such a trained and educated mind as +you or I possess." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean, for example, that if I slept beside that old sword upon the +wall, I might dream of some bloody incident in which that very sword +took part?" +</P> + +<P> +"An excellent example, for, as a matter of fact, that sword was used in +that fashion by me, and I saw in my sleep the death of its owner, who +perished in a brisk skirmish, which I have been unable to identify, but +which occurred at the time of the wars of the Frondists. If you think +of it, some of our popular observances show that the fact has already +been recognized by our ancestors, although we, in our wisdom, have +classed it among superstitions." +</P> + +<P> +"For example?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the placing of the bride's cake beneath the pillow in order that +the sleeper may have pleasant dreams. That is one of several instances +which you will find set forth in a small brochure which I am myself +writing upon the subject. But to come back to the point, I slept one +night with this funnel beside me, and I had a dream which certainly +throws a curious light upon its use and origin." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you dream?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dreamed——" He paused, and an intent look of interest came over his +massive face. "By Jove, that's well thought of," said he. "This really +will be an exceedingly interesting experiment. You are yourself a +psychic subject—with nerves which respond readily to any impression." +</P> + +<P> +"I have never tested myself in that direction." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we shall test you tonight. Might I ask you as a very great +favour, when you occupy that couch tonight, to sleep with this old +funnel placed by the side of your pillow?" +</P> + +<P> +The request seemed to me a grotesque one; but I have myself, in my +complex nature, a hunger after all which is bizarre and fantastic. I +had not the faintest belief in Dacre's theory, nor any hopes for +success in such an experiment; yet it amused me that the experiment +should be made. Dacre, with great gravity, drew a small stand to the +head of my settee, and placed the funnel upon it. Then, after a short +conversation, he wished me good night and left me. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I sat for some little time smoking by the smouldering fire, and turning +over in my mind the curious incident which had occurred, and the +strange experience which might lie before me. Sceptical as I was, there +was something impressive in the assurance of Dacre's manner, and my +extraordinary surroundings, the huge room with the strange and often +sinister objects which were hung round it, struck solemnity into my +soul. Finally I undressed, and turning out the lamp, I lay down. +After long tossing I fell asleep. Let me try to describe as accurately +as I can the scene which came to me in my dreams. It stands out now in +my memory more clearly than anything which I have seen with my waking +eyes. There was a room which bore the appearance of a vault. Four +spandrels from the corners ran up to join a sharp, cup-shaped roof. +The architecture was rough, but very strong. It was evidently part of +a great building. +</P> + +<P> +Three men in black, with curious, top-heavy, black velvet hats, sat in +a line upon a red-carpeted dais. Their faces were very solemn and sad. +On the left stood two long-gowned men with port-folios in their hands, +which seemed to be stuffed with papers. Upon the right, looking toward +me, was a small woman with blonde hair and singular, light-blue +eyes—the eyes of a child. She was past her first youth, but could not +yet be called middle-aged. Her figure was inclined to stoutness and her +bearing was proud and confident. Her face was pale, but serene. It +was a curious face, comely and yet feline, with a subtle suggestion of +cruelty about the straight, strong little mouth and chubby jaw. She was +draped in some sort of loose, white gown. Beside her stood a thin, +eager priest, who whispered in her ear, and continually raised a +crucifix before her eyes. She turned her head and looked fixedly past +the crucifix at the three men in black, who were, I felt, her judges. +</P> + +<P> +As I gazed the three men stood up and said something, but I could +distinguish no words, though I was aware that it was the central one +who was speaking. They then swept out of the room, followed by the two +men with the papers. At the same instant several rough-looking fellows +in stout jerkins came bustling in and removed first the red carpet, and +then the boards which formed the dais, so as to entirely clear the +room. When this screen was removed I saw some singular articles of +furniture behind it. One looked like a bed with wooden rollers at each +end, and a winch handle to regulate its length. Another was a wooden +horse. There were several other curious objects, and a number of +swinging cords which played over pulleys. It was not unlike a modern +gymnasium. +</P> + +<P> +When the room had been cleared there appeared a new figure upon the +scene. This was a tall, thin person clad in black, with a gaunt and +austere face. The aspect of the man made me shudder. His clothes were +all shining with grease and mottled with stains. He bore himself with a +slow and impressive dignity, as if he took command of all things from +the instant of his entrance. In spite of his rude appearance and +sordid dress, it was now his business, his room, his to command. He +carried a coil of light ropes over his left forearm. The lady looked +him up and down with a searching glance, but her expression was +unchanged. It was confident—even defiant. But it was very different +with the priest. His face was ghastly white, and I saw the moisture +glisten and run on his high, sloping forehead. He threw up his hands +in prayer and he stooped continually to mutter frantic words in the +lady's ear. +</P> + +<P> +The man in black now advanced, and taking one of the cords from his +left arm, he bound the woman's hands together. She held them meekly +toward him as he did so. Then he took her arm with a rough grip and +led her toward the wooden horse, which was little higher than her +waist. On to this she was lifted and laid, with her back upon it, and +her face to the ceiling, while the priest, quivering with horror, had +rushed out of the room. The woman's lips were moving rapidly, and +though I could hear nothing I knew that she was praying. Her feet hung +down on either side of the horse, and I saw that the rough varlets in +attendance had fastened cords to her ankles and secured the other ends +to iron rings in the stone floor. +</P> + +<P> +My heart sank within me as I saw these ominous preparations, and yet I +was held by the fascination of horror, and I could not take my eyes +from the strange spectacle. A man had entered the room with a bucket +of water in either hand. Another followed with a third bucket. They +were laid beside the wooden horse. The second man had a wooden +dipper—a bowl with a straight handle—in his other hand. This he gave +to the man in black. At the same moment one of the varlets approached +with a dark object in his hand, which even in my dream filled me with a +vague feeling of familiarity. It was a leathern filler. With horrible +energy he thrust it—but I could stand no more. My hair stood on end +with horror. I writhed, I struggled, I broke through the bonds of +sleep, and I burst with a shriek into my own life, and found myself +lying shivering with terror in the huge library, with the moonlight +flooding through the window and throwing strange silver and black +traceries upon the opposite wall. Oh, what a blessed relief to feel +that I was back in the nineteenth century—back out of that mediaeval +vault into a world where men had human hearts within their bosoms. I +sat up on my couch, trembling in every limb, my mind divided between +thankfulness and horror. To think that such things were ever +done—that they could be done without God striking the villains dead. +Was it all a fantasy, or did it really stand for something which had +happened in the black, cruel days of the world's history? I sank my +throbbing head upon my shaking hands. And then, suddenly, my heart +seemed to stand still in my bosom, and I could not even scream, so +great was my terror. Something was advancing toward me through the +darkness of the room. +</P> + +<P> +It is a horror coming upon a horror which breaks a man's spirit. I +could not reason, I could not pray; I could only sit like a frozen +image, and glare at the dark figure which was coming down the great +room. And then it moved out into the white lane of moonlight, and I +breathed once more. It was Dacre, and his face showed that he was as +frightened as myself. +</P> + +<P> +"Was that you? For God's sake what's the matter?" he asked in a husky +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dacre, I am glad to see you! I have been down into hell. It was +dreadful." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it was you who screamed?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dare say it was." +</P> + +<P> +"It rang through the house. The servants are all terrified." He struck +a match and lit the lamp. "I think we may get the fire to burn up +again," he added, throwing some logs upon the embers. "Good God, my +dear chap, how white you are! You look as if you had seen a ghost." +</P> + +<P> +"So I have—several ghosts." +</P> + +<P> +"The leather funnel has acted, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't sleep near the infernal thing again for all the money you +could offer me." +</P> + +<P> +Dacre chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +"I expected that you would have a lively night of it," said he. "You +took it out of me in return, for that scream of yours wasn't a very +pleasant sound at two in the morning. I suppose from what you say that +you have seen the whole dreadful business." +</P> + +<P> +"What dreadful business?" +</P> + +<P> +"The torture of the water—the 'Extraordinary Question,' as it was +called in the genial days of 'Le Roi Soleil.' Did you stand it out to +the end?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank God, I awoke before it really began." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! it is just as well for you. I held out till the third bucket. +Well, it is an old story, and they are all in their graves now, anyhow, +so what does it matter how they got there? I suppose that you have no +idea what it was that you have seen?" +</P> + +<P> +"The torture of some criminal. She must have been a terrible +malefactor indeed if her crimes are in proportion to her penalty." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we have that small consolation," said Dacre, wrapping his +dressing-gown round him and crouching closer to the fire. "They WERE in +proportion to her penalty. That is to say, if I am correct in the +lady's identity." +</P> + +<P> +"How could you possibly know her identity?" +</P> + +<P> +For answer Dacre took down an old vellum-covered volume from the shelf. +</P> + +<P> +"Just listen to this," said he; "it is in the French of the seventeenth +century, but I will give a rough translation as I go. You will judge +for yourself whether I have solved the riddle or not. +</P> + +<P> +"'The prisoner was brought before the Grand Chambers and Tournelles of +Parliament, sitting as a court of justice, charged with the murder of +Master Dreux d'Aubray, her father, and of her two brothers, MM. +d'Aubray, one being civil lieutenant, and the other a counsellor of +Parliament. In person it seemed hard to believe that she had really +done such wicked deeds, for she was of a mild appearance, and of short +stature, with a fair skin and blue eyes. Yet the Court, having found +her guilty, condemned her to the ordinary and to the extraordinary +question in order that she might be forced to name her accomplices, +after which she should be carried in a cart to the Place de Greve, +there to have her head cut off, her body being afterwards burned and +her ashes scattered to the winds.' +</P> + +<P> +"The date of this entry is July 16, 1676." +</P> + +<P> +"It is interesting," said I, "but not convincing. How do you prove the +two women to be the same?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am coming to that. The narrative goes on to tell of the woman's +behaviour when questioned. 'When the executioner approached her she +recognized him by the cords which he held in his hands, and she at once +held out her own hands to him, looking at him from head to foot without +uttering a word.' How's that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it was so." +</P> + +<P> +"'She gazed without wincing upon the wooden horse and rings which had +twisted so many limbs and caused so many shrieks of agony. When her +eyes fell upon the three pails of water, which were all ready for her, +she said with a smile, "All that water must have been brought here for +the purpose of drowning me, Monsieur. You have no idea, I trust, of +making a person of my small stature swallow it all."' Shall I read the +details of the torture?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, for Heaven's sake, don't." +</P> + +<P> +"Here is a sentence which must surely show you that what is here +recorded is the very scene which you have gazed upon tonight: 'The good +Abbe Pirot, unable to contemplate the agonies which were suffered by +his penitent, had hurried from the room.' Does that convince you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It does entirely. There can be no question that it is indeed the same +event. But who, then, is this lady whose appearance was so attractive +and whose end was so horrible?" +</P> + +<P> +For answer Dacre came across to me, and placed the small lamp upon the +table which stood by my bed. Lifting up the ill-omened filler, he +turned the brass rim so that the light fell full upon it. Seen in this +way the engraving seemed clearer than on the night before. +</P> + +<P> +"We have already agreed that this is the badge of a marquis or of a +marquise," said he. "We have also settled that the last letter is B." +</P> + +<P> +"It is undoubtedly so." +</P> + +<P> +"I now suggest to you that the other letters from left to right are, M, +M, a small d, A, a small d, and then the final B." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I am sure that you are right. I can make out the two small d's +quite plainly." +</P> + +<P> +"What I have read to you tonight," said Dacre, "is the official record +of the trial of Marie Madeleine d'Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers, one +of the most famous poisoners and murderers of all time." +</P> + +<P> +I sat in silence, overwhelmed at the extraordinary nature of the +incident, and at the completeness of the proof with which Dacre had +exposed its real meaning. In a vague way I remembered some details of +the woman's career, her unbridled debauchery, the cold-blooded and +protracted torture of her sick father, the murder of her brothers for +motives of petty gain. I recollected also that the bravery of her end +had done something to atone for the horror of her life, and that all +Paris had sympathized with her last moments, and blessed her as a +martyr within a few days of the time when they had cursed her as a +murderess. One objection, and one only, occurred to my mind. +</P> + +<P> +"How came her initials and her badge of rank upon the filler? Surely +they did not carry their mediaeval homage to the nobility to the point +of decorating instruments of torture with their titles?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was puzzled with the same point," said Dacre, "but it admits of a +simple explanation. The case excited extraordinary interest at the +time, and nothing could be more natural than that La Reynie, the head +of the police, should retain this filler as a grim souvenir. It was +not often that a marchioness of France underwent the extraordinary +question. That he should engrave her initials upon it for the +information of others was surely a very ordinary proceeding upon his +part." +</P> + +<P> +"And this?" I asked, pointing to the marks upon the leathern neck. +</P> + +<P> +"She was a cruel tigress," said Dacre, as he turned away. "I think it +is evident that like other tigresses her teeth were both strong and +sharp." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="catacomb"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The New Catacomb +</H3> + +<P> +"Look here, Burger," said Kennedy, "I do wish that you would confide in +me." +</P> + +<P> +The two famous students of Roman remains sat together in Kennedy's +comfortable room overlooking the Corso. The night was cold, and they +had both pulled up their chairs to the unsatisfactory Italian stove +which threw out a zone of stuffiness rather than of warmth. Outside +under the bright winter stars lay the modern Rome, the long, double +chain of the electric lamps, the brilliantly lighted cafes, the rushing +carriages, and the dense throng upon the footpaths. But inside, in the +sumptuous chamber of the rich young English archaeologist, there was +only old Rome to be seen. Cracked and timeworn friezes hung upon the +walls, grey old busts of senators and soldiers with their fighting +heads and their hard, cruel faces peered out from the corners. On the +centre table, amidst a litter of inscriptions, fragments, and +ornaments, there stood the famous reconstruction by Kennedy of the +Baths of Caracalla, which excited such interest and admiration when it +was exhibited in Berlin. Amphorae hung from the ceiling, and a litter +of curiosities strewed the rich red Turkey carpet. And of them all +there was not one which was not of the most unimpeachable authenticity, +and of the utmost rarity and value; for Kennedy, though little more +than thirty, had a European reputation in this particular branch of +research, and was, moreover, provided with that long purse which either +proves to be a fatal handicap to the student's energies, or, if his +mind is still true to its purpose, gives him an enormous advantage in +the race for fame. Kennedy had often been seduced by whim and pleasure +from his studies, but his mind was an incisive one, capable of long and +concentrated efforts which ended in sharp reactions of sensuous +languor. His handsome face, with its high, white forehead, its +aggressive nose, and its somewhat loose and sensual mouth, was a fair +index of the compromise between strength and weakness in his nature. +</P> + +<P> +Of a very different type was his companion, Julius Burger. He came of +a curious blend, a German father and an Italian mother, with the robust +qualities of the North mingling strangely with the softer graces of the +South. Blue Teutonic eyes lightened his sun-browned face, and above +them rose a square, massive forehead, with a fringe of close yellow +curls lying round it. His strong, firm jaw was clean-shaven, and his +companion had frequently remarked how much it suggested those old Roman +busts which peered out from the shadows in the corners of his chamber. +Under its bluff German strength there lay always a suggestion of +Italian subtlety, but the smile was so honest, and the eyes so frank, +that one understood that this was only an indication of his ancestry, +with no actual bearing upon his character. In age and in reputation, +he was on the same level as his English companion, but his life and his +work had both been far more arduous. Twelve years before, he had come +as a poor student to Rome, and had lived ever since upon some small +endowment for research which had been awarded to him by the University +of Bonn. Painfully, slowly, and doggedly, with extraordinary tenacity +and single-mindedness, he had climbed from rung to rung of the ladder +of fame, until now he was a member of the Berlin Academy, and there was +every reason to believe that he would shortly be promoted to the Chair +of the greatest of German Universities. But the singleness of purpose +which had brought him to the same high level as the rich and brilliant +Englishman, had caused him in everything outside their work to stand +infinitely below him. He had never found a pause in his studies in +which to cultivate the social graces. It was only when he spoke of his +own subject that his face was filled with life and soul. At other +times he was silent and embarrassed, too conscious of his own +limitations in larger subjects, and impatient of that small talk which +is the conventional refuge of those who have no thoughts to express. +</P> + +<P> +And yet for some years there had been an acquaintanceship which +appeared to be slowly ripening into a friendship between these two very +different rivals. The base and origin of this lay in the fact that in +their own studies each was the only one of the younger men who had +knowledge and enthusiasm enough to properly appreciate the other. +Their common interests and pursuits had brought them together, and each +had been attracted by the other's knowledge. And then gradually +something had been added to this. Kennedy had been amused by the +frankness and simplicity of his rival, while Burger in turn had been +fascinated by the brilliancy and vivacity which had made Kennedy such a +favourite in Roman society. I say "had," because just at the moment +the young Englishman was somewhat under a cloud. A love-affair, the +details of which had never quite come out, had indicated a +heartlessness and callousness upon his part which shocked many of his +friends. But in the bachelor circles of students and artists in which +he preferred to move there is no very rigid code of honour in such +matters, and though a head might be shaken or a pair of shoulders +shrugged over the flight of two and the return of one, the general +sentiment was probably one of curiosity and perhaps of envy rather than +of reprobation. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Burger," said Kennedy, looking hard at the placid face of +his companion, "I do wish that you would confide in me." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke he waved his hand in the direction of a rug which lay upon +the floor. On the rug stood a long, shallow fruit-basket of the light +wicker-work which is used in the Campagna, and this was heaped with a +litter of objects, inscribed tiles, broken inscriptions, cracked +mosaics, torn papyri, rusty metal ornaments, which to the uninitiated +might have seemed to have come straight from a dustman's bin, but which +a specialist would have speedily recognized as unique of their kind. +The pile of odds and ends in the flat wicker-work basket supplied +exactly one of those missing links of social development which are of +such interest to the student. It was the German who had brought them +in, and the Englishman's eyes were hungry as he looked at them. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't interfere with your treasure-trove, but I should very much +like to hear about it," he continued, while Burger very deliberately +lit a cigar. "It is evidently a discovery of the first importance. +These inscriptions will make a sensation throughout Europe." +</P> + +<P> +"For every one here there are a million there!" said the German. +"There are so many that a dozen savants might spend a lifetime over +them, and build up a reputation as solid as the Castle of St. Angelo." +</P> + +<P> +Kennedy sat thinking with his fine forehead wrinkled and his fingers +playing with his long, fair moustache. +</P> + +<P> +"You have given yourself away, Burger!" said he at last. "Your words +can only apply to one thing. You have discovered a new catacomb." +</P> + +<P> +"I had no doubt that you had already come to that conclusion from an +examination of these objects." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they certainly appeared to indicate it, but your last remarks +make it certain. There is no place except a catacomb which could +contain so vast a store of relics as you describe." +</P> + +<P> +"Quite so. There is no mystery about that. I HAVE discovered a new +catacomb." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that is my secret, my dear Kennedy. Suffice it that it is so +situated that there is not one chance in a million of anyone else +coming upon it. Its date is different from that of any known catacomb, +and it has been reserved for the burial of the highest Christians, so +that the remains and the relics are quite different from anything which +has ever been seen before. If I was not aware of your knowledge and of +your energy, my friend, I would not hesitate, under the pledge of +secrecy, to tell you everything about it. But as it is I think that I +must certainly prepare my own report of the matter before I expose +myself to such formidable competition." +</P> + +<P> +Kennedy loved his subject with a love which was almost a mania—a love +which held him true to it, amidst all the distractions which come to a +wealthy and dissipated young man. He had ambition, but his ambition +was secondary to his mere abstract joy and interest in everything which +concerned the old life and history of the city. He yearned to see this +new underworld which his companion had discovered. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Burger," said he, earnestly, "I assure you that you can +trust me most implicitly in the matter. Nothing would induce me to put +pen to paper about anything which I see until I have your express +permission. I quite understand your feeling and I think it is most +natural, but you have really nothing whatever to fear from me. On the +other hand, if you don't tell me I shall make a systematic search, and +I shall most certainly discover it. In that case, of course, I should +make what use I liked of it, since I should be under no obligation to +you." +</P> + +<P> +Burger smiled thoughtfully over his cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"I have noticed, friend Kennedy," said he, "that when I want +information over any point you are not always so ready to supply it." +</P> + +<P> +"When did you ever ask me anything that I did not tell you? You +remember, for example, my giving you the material for your paper about +the temple of the Vestals." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, well, that was not a matter of much importance. If I were to +question you upon some intimate thing would you give me an answer, I +wonder! This new catacomb is a very intimate thing to me, and I should +certainly expect some sign of confidence in return." +</P> + +<P> +"What you are driving at I cannot imagine," said the Englishman, "but +if you mean that you will answer my question about the catacomb if I +answer any question which you may put to me I can assure you that I +will certainly do so." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then," said Burger, leaning luxuriously back in his settee, and +puffing a blue tree of cigar-smoke into the air, "tell me all about +your relations with Miss Mary Saunderson." +</P> + +<P> +Kennedy sprang up in his chair and glared angrily at his impassive +companion. +</P> + +<P> +"What the devil do you mean?" he cried. "What sort of a question is +this? You may mean it as a joke, but you never made a worse one." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't mean it as a joke," said Burger, simply. "I am really +rather interested in the details of the matter. I don't know much +about the world and women and social life and that sort of thing, and +such an incident has the fascination of the unknown for me. I know +you, and I knew her by sight—I had even spoken to her once or twice. +I should very much like to hear from your own lips exactly what it was +which occurred between you." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't tell you a word." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right. It was only my whim to see if you would give up a +secret as easily as you expected me to give up my secret of the new +catacomb. You wouldn't, and I didn't expect you to. But why should you +expect otherwise of me? There's Saint John's clock striking ten. It +is quite time that I was going home." +</P> + +<P> +"No; wait a bit, Burger," said Kennedy; "this is really a ridiculous +caprice of yours to wish to know about an old love-affair which has +burned out months ago. You know we look upon a man who kisses and +tells as the greatest coward and villain possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," said the German, gathering up his basket of curiosities, +"when he tells anything about a girl which is previously unknown he +must be so. But in this case, as you must be aware, it was a public +matter which was the common talk of Rome, so that you are not really +doing Miss Mary Saunderson any injury by discussing her case with me. +But still, I respect your scruples; and so good night!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a bit, Burger," said Kennedy, laying his hand upon the other's +arm; "I am very keen upon this catacomb business, and I can't let it +drop quite so easily. Would you mind asking me something else in +return—something not quite so eccentric this time?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; you have refused, and there is an end of it," said Burger, +with his basket on his arm. "No doubt you are quite right not to +answer, and no doubt I am quite right also—and so again, my dear +Kennedy, good night!" +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman watched Burger cross the room, and he had his hand on +the handle of the door before his host sprang up with the air of a man +who is making the best of that which cannot be helped. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on, old fellow," said he; "I think you are behaving in a most +ridiculous fashion; but still; if this is your condition, I suppose +that I must submit to it. I hate saying anything about a girl, but, as +you say, it is all over Rome, and I don't suppose I can tell you +anything which you do not know already. What was it you wanted to +know?" +</P> + +<P> +The German came back to the stove, and, laying down his basket, he sank +into his chair once more. +</P> + +<P> +"May I have another cigar?" said he. "Thank you very much! I never +smoke when I work, but I enjoy a chat much more when I am under the +influence of tobacco. Now, as regards this young lady, with whom you +had this little adventure. What in the world has become of her?" +</P> + +<P> +"She is at home with her own people." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, really—in England?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"What part of England—London?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Twickenham." +</P> + +<P> +"You must excuse my curiosity, my dear Kennedy, and you must put it +down to my ignorance of the world. No doubt it is quite a simple thing +to persuade a young lady to go off with you for three weeks or so, and +then to hand her over to her own family at—what did you call the +place?" +</P> + +<P> +"Twickenham." +</P> + +<P> +"Quite so—at Twickenham. But it is something so entirely outside my +own experience that I cannot even imagine how you set about it. For +example, if you had loved this girl your love could hardly disappear in +three weeks, so I presume that you could not have loved her at all. +But if you did not love her why should you make this great scandal +which has damaged you and ruined her?" +</P> + +<P> +Kennedy looked moodily into the red eye of the stove. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a logical way of looking at it, certainly," said he. "Love is a +big word, and it represents a good many different shades of feeling. I +liked her, and—well, you say you've seen her—you know how charming +she could look. But still I am willing to admit, looking back, that I +could never have really loved her." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, my dear Kennedy, why did you do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"The adventure of the thing had a great deal to do with it." +</P> + +<P> +"What! You are so fond of adventures!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where would the variety of life be without them? It was for an +adventure that I first began to pay my attentions to her. I've chased +a good deal of game in my time, but there's no chase like that of a +pretty woman. There was the piquant difficulty of it also, for, as she +was the companion of Lady Emily Rood, it was almost impossible to see +her alone. On the top of all the other obstacles which attracted me, I +learned from her own lips very early in the proceedings that she was +engaged." +</P> + +<P> +"Mein Gott! To whom?" +</P> + +<P> +"She mentioned no names." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not think that anyone knows that. So that made the adventure +more alluring, did it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it did certainly give a spice to it. Don't you think so?" +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you that I am very ignorant about these things." +</P> + +<P> +"My dear fellow, you can remember that the apple you stole from your +neighbour's tree was always sweeter than that which fell from your own. +And then I found that she cared for me." +</P> + +<P> +"What—at once?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, it took about three months of sapping and mining. But at last +I won her over. She understood that my judicial separation from my +wife made it impossible for me to do the right thing by her—but she +came all the same, and we had a delightful time, as long as it lasted." +</P> + +<P> +"But how about the other man?" +</P> + +<P> +Kennedy shrugged his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it is the survival of the fittest," said he. "If he had +been the better man she would not have deserted him. Let's drop the +subject, for I have had enough of it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Only one other thing. How did you get rid of her in three weeks?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we had both cooled down a bit, you understand. She absolutely +refused, under any circumstances, to come back to face the people she +had known in Rome. Now, of course, Rome is necessary to me, and I was +already pining to be back at my work—so there was one obvious cause of +separation. Then, again, her old father turned up at the hotel in +London, and there was a scene, and the whole thing became so unpleasant +that really—though I missed her dreadfully at first—I was very glad +to slip out of it. Now, I rely upon you not to repeat anything of what +I have said." +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Kennedy, I should not dream of repeating it. But all that you +say interests me very much, for it gives me an insight into your way of +looking at things, which is entirely different from mine, for I have +seen so little of life. And now you want to know about my new +catacomb. There's no use my trying to describe it, for you would never +find it by that. There is only one thing, and that is for me to take +you there." +</P> + +<P> +"That would be splendid." +</P> + +<P> +"When would you like to come?" +</P> + +<P> +"The sooner the better. I am all impatience to see it." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it is a beautiful night—though a trifle cold. Suppose we start +in an hour. We must be very careful to keep the matter to ourselves. +If anyone saw us hunting in couples they would suspect that there was +something going on." +</P> + +<P> +"We can't be too cautious," said Kennedy. "Is it far?" +</P> + +<P> +"Some miles." +</P> + +<P> +"Not too far to walk?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, we could walk there easily." +</P> + +<P> +"We had better do so, then. A cabman's suspicions would be aroused if +he dropped us both at some lonely spot in the dead of the night." +</P> + +<P> +"Quite so. I think it would be best for us to meet at the Gate of the +Appian Way at midnight. I must go back to my lodgings for the matches +and candles and things." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Burger! I think it is very kind of you to let me into this +secret, and I promise you that I will write nothing about it until you +have published your report. Good-bye for the present! You will find me +at the Gate at twelve." +</P> + +<P> +The cold, clear air was filled with the musical chimes from that city +of clocks as Burger, wrapped in an Italian overcoat, with a lantern +hanging from his hand, walked up to the rendezvous. Kennedy stepped out +of the shadow to meet him. +</P> + +<P> +"You are ardent in work as well as in love!" said the German, laughing. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I have been waiting here for nearly half an hour." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you left no clue as to where we were going." +</P> + +<P> +"Not such a fool! By Jove, I am chilled to the bone! Come on, Burger, +let us warm ourselves by a spurt of hard walking." +</P> + +<P> +Their footsteps sounded loud and crisp upon the rough stone paving of +the disappointing road which is all that is left of the most famous +highway of the world. A peasant or two going home from the wine-shop, +and a few carts of country produce coming up to Rome, were the only +things which they met. They swung along, with the huge tombs looming +up through the darkness upon each side of them, until they had come as +far as the Catacombs of St. Calistus, and saw against a rising moon the +great circular bastion of Cecilia Metella in front of them. Then +Burger stopped with his hand to his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Your legs are longer than mine, and you are more accustomed to +walking," said he, laughing. "I think that the place where we turn off +is somewhere here. Yes, this is it, round the corner of the trattoria. +Now, it is a very narrow path, so perhaps I had better go in front and +you can follow." +</P> + +<P> +He had lit his lantern, and by its light they were enabled to follow a +narrow and devious track which wound across the marshes of the +Campagna. The great Aqueduct of old Rome lay like a monstrous +caterpillar across the moonlit landscape, and their road led them under +one of its huge arches, and past the circle of crumbling bricks which +marks the old arena. At last Burger stopped at a solitary wooden +cow-house, and he drew a key from his pocket. "Surely your catacomb is +not inside a house!" cried Kennedy. +</P> + +<P> +"The entrance to it is. That is just the safeguard which we have +against anyone else discovering it." +</P> + +<P> +"Does the proprietor know of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not he. He had found one or two objects which made me almost certain +that his house was built on the entrance to such a place. So I rented +it from him, and did my excavations for myself. Come in, and shut the +door behind you." +</P> + +<P> +It was a long, empty building, with the mangers of the cows along one +wall. Burger put his lantern down on the ground, and shaded its light +in all directions save one by draping his overcoat round it. +</P> + +<P> +"It might excite remark if anyone saw a light in this lonely place," +said he. "Just help me to move this boarding." +</P> + +<P> +The flooring was loose in the corner, and plank by plank the two +savants raised it and leaned it against the wall. Below there was a +square aperture and a stair of old stone steps which led away down into +the bowels of the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Be careful!" cried Burger, as Kennedy, in his impatience, hurried down +them. "It is a perfect rabbits'-warren below, and if you were once to +lose your way there the chances would be a hundred to one against your +ever coming out again. Wait until I bring the light." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you find your own way if it is so complicated?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had some very narrow escapes at first, but I have gradually learned +to go about. There is a certain system to it, but it is one which a +lost man, if he were in the dark, could not possibly find out. Even +now I always spin out a ball of string behind me when I am going far +into the catacomb. You can see for yourself that it is difficult, but +every one of these passages divides and subdivides a dozen times before +you go a hundred yards." +</P> + +<P> +They had descended some twenty feet from the level of the byre, and +they were standing now in a square chamber cut out of the soft tufa. +The lantern cast a flickering light, bright below and dim above, over +the cracked brown walls. In every direction were the black openings of +passages which radiated from this common centre. +</P> + +<P> +"I want you to follow me closely, my friend," said Burger. "Do not +loiter to look at anything upon the way, for the place to which I will +take you contains all that you can see, and more. It will save time +for us to go there direct." +</P> + +<P> +He led the way down one of the corridors, and the Englishman followed +closely at his heels. Every now and then the passage bifurcated, but +Burger was evidently following some secret marks of his own, for he +neither stopped nor hesitated. Everywhere along the walls, packed like +the berths upon an emigrant ship, lay the Christians of old Rome. The +yellow light flickered over the shrivelled features of the mummies, and +gleamed upon rounded skulls and long, white armbones crossed over +fleshless chests. And everywhere as he passed Kennedy looked with +wistful eyes upon inscriptions, funeral vessels, pictures, vestments, +utensils, all lying as pious hands had placed them so many centuries +ago. It was apparent to him, even in those hurried, passing glances, +that this was the earliest and finest of the catacombs, containing such +a storehouse of Roman remains as had never before come at one time +under the observation of the student. +</P> + +<P> +"What would happen if the light went out?" he asked, as they hurried +onwards. +</P> + +<P> +"I have a spare candle and a box of matches in my pocket. By the way, +Kennedy, have you any matches?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; you had better give me some." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that is all right. There is no chance of our separating." +</P> + +<P> +"How far are we going? It seems to me that we have walked at least a +quarter of a mile." +</P> + +<P> +"More than that, I think. There is really no limit to the tombs—at +least, I have never been able to find any. This is a very difficult +place, so I think that I will use our ball of string." +</P> + +<P> +He fastened one end of it to a projecting stone and he carried the coil +in the breast of his coat, paying it out as he advanced. Kennedy saw +that it was no unnecessary precaution, for the passages had become more +complex and tortuous than ever, with a perfect network of intersecting +corridors. But these all ended in one large circular hall with a +square pedestal of tufa topped with a slab of marble at one end of it. +</P> + +<P> +"By Jove!" cried Kennedy in an ecstasy, as Burger swung his lantern +over the marble. "It is a Christian altar—probably the first one in +existence. Here is the little consecration cross cut upon the corner +of it. No doubt this circular space was used as a church." +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely," said Burger. "If I had more time I should like to show +you all the bodies which are buried in these niches upon the walls, for +they are the early popes and bishops of the Church, with their mitres, +their croziers, and full canonicals. Go over to that one and look at +it!" +</P> + +<P> +Kennedy went across, and stared at the ghastly head which lay loosely +on the shredded and mouldering mitre. +</P> + +<P> +"This is most interesting," said he, and his voice seemed to boom +against the concave vault. "As far as my experience goes, it is +unique. Bring the lantern over, Burger, for I want to see them all." +</P> + +<P> +But the German had strolled away, and was standing in the middle of a +yellow circle of light at the other side of the hall. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know how many wrong turnings there are between this and the +stairs?" he asked. "There are over two thousand. No doubt it was one +of the means of protection which the Christians adopted. The odds are +two thousand to one against a man getting out, even if he had a light; +but if he were in the dark it would, of course, be far more difficult." +</P> + +<P> +"So I should think." +</P> + +<P> +"And the darkness is something dreadful. I tried it once for an +experiment. Let us try it again!" He stooped to the lantern, and in +an instant it was as if an invisible hand was squeezed tightly over +each of Kennedy's eyes. Never had he known what such darkness was. It +seemed to press upon him and to smother him. It was a solid obstacle +against which the body shrank from advancing. He put his hands out to +push it back from him. +</P> + +<P> +"That will do, Burger," said he, "let's have the light again." +</P> + +<P> +But his companion began to laugh, and in that circular room the sound +seemed to come from every side at once. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem uneasy, friend Kennedy," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on, man, light the candle!" said Kennedy impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"It's very strange, Kennedy, but I could not in the least tell by the +sound in which direction you stand. Could you tell where I am?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; you seem to be on every side of me." +</P> + +<P> +"If it were not for this string which I hold in my hand I should not +have a notion which way to go." +</P> + +<P> +"I dare say not. Strike a light, man, and have an end of this +nonsense." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Kennedy, there are two things which I understand that you are +very fond of. The one is an adventure, and the other is an obstacle to +surmount. The adventure must be the finding of your way out of this +catacomb. The obstacle will be the darkness and the two thousand wrong +turns which make the way a little difficult to find. But you need not +hurry, for you have plenty of time, and when you halt for a rest now +and then, I should like you just to think of Miss Mary Saunderson, and +whether you treated her quite fairly." +</P> + +<P> +"You devil, what do you mean?" roared Kennedy. He was running about in +little circles and clasping at the solid blackness with both hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye," said the mocking voice, and it was already at some +distance. "I really do not think, Kennedy, even by your own showing +that you did the right thing by that girl. There was only one little +thing which you appeared not to know, and I can supply it. Miss +Saunderson was engaged to a poor ungainly devil of a student, and his +name was Julius Burger." +</P> + +<P> +There was a rustle somewhere, the vague sound of a foot striking a +stone, and then there fell silence upon that old Christian church—a +stagnant, heavy silence which closed round Kennedy and shut him in like +water round a drowning man. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Some two months afterwards the following paragraph made the round of +the European Press: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"One of the most interesting discoveries of recent years is that of the +new catacomb in Rome, which lies some distance to the east of the +well-known vaults of St. Calixtus. The finding of this important +burial-place, which is exceeding rich in most interesting early +Christian remains, is due to the energy and sagacity of Dr. Julius +Burger, the young German specialist, who is rapidly taking the first +place as an authority upon ancient Rome. Although the first to publish +his discovery, it appears that a less fortunate adventurer had +anticipated Dr. Burger. Some months ago Mr. Kennedy, the well-known +English student, disappeared suddenly from his rooms in the Corso, and +it was conjectured that his association with a recent scandal had +driven him to leave Rome. It appears now that he had in reality fallen +a victim to that fervid love of archaeology which had raised him to a +distinguished place among living scholars. His body was discovered in +the heart of the new catacomb, and it was evident from the condition of +his feet and boots that he had tramped for days through the tortuous +corridors which make these subterranean tombs so dangerous to +explorers. The deceased gentleman had, with inexplicable rashness, +made his way into this labyrinth without, as far as can be discovered, +taking with him either candles or matches, so that his sad fate was the +natural result of his own temerity. What makes the matter more painful +is that Dr. Julius Burger was an intimate friend of the deceased. His +joy at the extraordinary find which he has been so fortunate as to make +has been greatly marred by the terrible fate of his comrade and +fellow-worker." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="sannox"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Case of Lady Sannox +</H3> + +<P> +The relations between Douglas Stone and the notorious Lady Sannox were +very well known both among the fashionable circles of which she was a +brilliant member, and the scientific bodies which numbered him among +their most illustrious confreres. There was naturally, therefore, a +very widespread interest when it was announced one morning that the +lady had absolutely and for ever taken the veil, and that the world +would see her no more. When, at the very tail of this rumour, there +came the assurance that the celebrated operating surgeon, the man of +steel nerves, had been found in the morning by his valet, seated on one +side of his bed, smiling pleasantly upon the universe, with both legs +jammed into one side of his breeches and his great brain about as +valuable as a cap full of porridge, the matter was strong enough to +give quite a little thrill of interest to folk who had never hoped that +their jaded nerves were capable of such a sensation. +</P> + +<P> +Douglas Stone in his prime was one of the most remarkable men in +England. Indeed, he could hardly be said to have ever reached his +prime, for he was but nine-and-thirty at the time of this little +incident. Those who knew him best were aware that famous as he was as +a surgeon, he might have succeeded with even greater rapidity in any of +a dozen lines of life. He could have cut his way to fame as a soldier, +struggled to it as an explorer, bullied for it in the courts, or built +it out of stone and iron as an engineer. He was born to be great, for +he could plan what another man dare not do, and he could do what +another man dare not plan. In surgery none could follow him. His +nerve, his judgement, his intuition, were things apart. Again and +again his knife cut away death, but grazed the very springs of life in +doing it, until his assistants were as white as the patient. His +energy, his audacity, his full-blooded self-confidence—does not the +memory of them still linger to the south of Marylebone Road and the +north of Oxford Street? +</P> + +<P> +His vices were as magnificent as his virtues, and infinitely more +picturesque. Large as was his income, and it was the third largest of +all professional men in London, it was far beneath the luxury of his +living. Deep in his complex nature lay a rich vein of sensualism, at +the sport of which he placed all the prizes of his life. The eye, the +ear, the touch, the palate, all were his masters. The bouquet of old +vintages, the scent of rare exotics, the curves and tints of the +daintiest potteries of Europe, it was to these that the quick-running +stream of gold was transformed. And then there came his sudden mad +passion for Lady Sannox, when a single interview with two challenging +glances and a whispered word set him ablaze. She was the loveliest +woman in London and the only one to him. He was one of the handsomest +men in London, but not the only one to her. She had a liking for new +experiences, and was gracious to most men who wooed her. It may have +been cause or it may have been effect that Lord Sannox looked fifty, +though he was but six-and-thirty. +</P> + +<P> +He was a quiet, silent, neutral-tinted man, this lord, with thin lips +and heavy eyelids, much given to gardening, and full of home-like +habits. He had at one time been fond of acting, had even rented a +theatre in London, and on its boards had first seen Miss Marion Dawson, +to whom he had offered his hand, his title, and the third of a county. +Since his marriage his early hobby had become distasteful to him. Even +in private theatricals it was no longer possible to persuade him to +exercise the talent which he had often showed that he possessed. He +was happier with a spud and a watering-can among his orchids and +chrysanthemums. +</P> + +<P> +It was quite an interesting problem whether he was absolutely devoid of +sense, or miserably wanting in spirit. Did he know his lady's ways and +condone them, or was he a mere blind, doting fool? It was a point to be +discussed over the teacups in snug little drawing-rooms, or with the +aid of a cigar in the bow windows of clubs. Bitter and plain were the +comments among men upon his conduct. There was but one who had a good +word to say for him, and he was the most silent member in the +smoking-room. He had seen him break in a horse at the University, and +it seemed to have left an impression upon his mind. +</P> + +<P> +But when Douglas Stone became the favourite all doubts as to Lord +Sannox's knowledge or ignorance were set for ever at rest. There was no +subterfuge about Stone. In his high-handed, impetuous fashion, he set +all caution and discretion at defiance. The scandal became notorious. +A learned body intimated that his name had been struck from the list of +its vice-presidents. Two friends implored him to consider his +professional credit. He cursed them all three, and spent forty guineas +on a bangle to take with him to the lady. He was at her house every +evening, and she drove in his carriage in the afternoons. There was +not an attempt on either side to conceal their relations; but there +came at last a little incident to interrupt them. +</P> + +<P> +It was a dismal winter's night, very cold and gusty, with the wind +whooping in the chimneys and blustering against the window-panes. A +thin spatter of rain tinkled on the glass with each fresh sough of the +gale, drowning for the instant the dull gurgle and drip from the eaves. +Douglas Stone had finished his dinner, and sat by his fire in the +study, a glass of rich port upon the malachite table at his elbow. As +he raised it to his lips, he held it up against the lamplight, and +watched with the eye of a connoisseur the tiny scales of beeswing which +floated in its rich ruby depths. The fire, as it spurted up, threw +fitful lights upon his bald, clear-cut face, with its widely-opened +grey eyes, its thick and yet firm lips, and the deep, square jaw, which +had something Roman in its strength and its animalism. He smiled from +time to time as he nestled back in his luxurious chair. Indeed, he had +a right to feel well pleased, for, against the advice of six +colleagues, he had performed an operation that day of which only two +cases were on record, and the result had been brilliant beyond all +expectation. No other man in London would have had the daring to plan, +or the skill to execute, such a heroic measure. +</P> + +<P> +But he had promised Lady Sannox to see her that evening and it was +already half-past eight. His hand was outstretched to the bell to +order the carriage when he heard the dull thud of the knocker. An +instant later there was the shuffling of feet in the hall, and the +sharp closing of a door. +</P> + +<P> +"A patient to see you, sir, in the consulting room," said the butler. +</P> + +<P> +"About himself?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir; I think he wants you to go out." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too late," cried Douglas Stone peevishly. "I won't go." +</P> + +<P> +"This is his card, sir." +</P> + +<P> +The butler presented it upon the gold salver which had been given to +his master by the wife of a Prime Minister. +</P> + +<P> +"'Hamil Ali, Smyrna.' Hum! The fellow is a Turk, I suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. He seems as if he came from abroad, sir. And he's in a +terrible way." +</P> + +<P> +"Tut, tut! I have an engagement. I must go somewhere else. But I'll +see him. Show him in here, Pim." +</P> + +<P> +A few moments later the butler swung open the door and ushered in a +small and decrepit man, who walked with a bent back and with the +forward push of the face and blink of the eyes which goes with extreme +short sight. His face was swarthy, and his hair and beard of the +deepest black. In one hand he held a turban of white muslin striped +with red, in the other a small chamois-leather bag. +</P> + +<P> +"Good evening," said Douglas Stone, when the butler had closed the +door. "You speak English, I presume?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. I am from Asia Minor, but I speak English when I speak +slow." +</P> + +<P> +"You wanted me to go out, I understand?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. I wanted very much that you should see my wife." +</P> + +<P> +"I could come in the morning, but I have an engagement which prevents +me from seeing your wife tonight." +</P> + +<P> +The Turk's answer was a singular one. He pulled the string which +closed the mouth of the chamois-leather bag, and poured a flood of gold +on to the table. +</P> + +<P> +"There are one hundred pounds there," said he, "and I promise you that +it will not take you an hour. I have a cab ready at the door." +</P> + +<P> +Douglas Stone glanced at his watch. An hour would not make it too late +to visit Lady Sannox. He had been there later. And the fee was an +extraordinarily high one. He had been pressed by his creditors lately, +and he could not afford to let such a chance pass. He would go. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the case?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it is so sad a one! So sad a one! You have not, perhaps heard of +the daggers of the Almohades?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, they are Eastern daggers of a great age and of a singular shape, +with the hilt like what you call a stirrup. I am a curiosity dealer, +you understand, and that is why I have come to England from Smyrna, but +next week I go back once more. Many things I brought with me, and I +have a few things left, but among them, to my sorrow, is one of these +daggers." +</P> + +<P> +"You will remember that I have an appointment, sir," said the surgeon, +with some irritation; "pray confine yourself to the necessary details." +</P> + +<P> +"You will see that it is necessary. Today my wife fell down in a faint +in the room in which I keep my wares, and she cut her lower lip upon +this cursed dagger of Almohades." +</P> + +<P> +"I see," said Douglas Stone, rising. "And you wish me to dress the +wound?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, it is worse than that." +</P> + +<P> +"What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"These daggers are poisoned." +</P> + +<P> +"Poisoned!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and there is no man, East or West, who can tell now what is the +poison or what the cure. But all that is known I know, for my father +was in this trade before me, and we have had much to do with these +poisoned weapons." +</P> + +<P> +"What are the symptoms?" +</P> + +<P> +"Deep sleep, and death in thirty hours." +</P> + +<P> +"And you say there is no cure. Why then should you pay me this +considerable fee?" +</P> + +<P> +"No drug can cure, but the knife may." +</P> + +<P> +"And how?" +</P> + +<P> +"The poison is slow of absorption. It remains for hours in the wound." +</P> + +<P> +"Washing, then, might cleanse it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No more than in a snake bite. It is too subtle and too deadly." +</P> + +<P> +"Excision of the wound, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is it. If it be on the finger, take the finger off. So said my +father always. But think of where this wound is, and that it is my +wife. It is dreadful!" +</P> + +<P> +But familiarity with such grim matters may take the finer edge from a +man's sympathy. To Douglas Stone this was already an interesting case, +and he brushed aside as irrelevant the feeble objections of the husband. +</P> + +<P> +"It appears to be that or nothing," said he brusquely. "It is better +to lose a lip than a life." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes, I know that you are right. Well, well, it is kismet, and it +must be faced. I have the cab, and you will come with me and do this +thing." +</P> + +<P> +Douglas Stone took his case of bistouries from a drawer, and placed it +with a roll of bandage and a compress of lint in his pocket. He must +waste no more time if he were to see Lady Sannox. +</P> + +<P> +"I am ready," said he, pulling on his overcoat. "Will you take a glass +of wine before you go out into this cold air?" +</P> + +<P> +His visitor shrank away, with a protesting hand upraised. +</P> + +<P> +"You forget that I am a Mussulman, and a true follower of the Prophet," +said he. "But tell me what is the bottle of green glass which you have +placed in your pocket?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is chloroform." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that also is forbidden to us. It is a spirit, and we make no use +of such things." +</P> + +<P> +"What! You would allow your wife to go through an operation without an +anaesthetic?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! she will feel nothing, poor soul. The deep sleep has already +come on, which is the first working of the poison. And then I have +given her of our Smyrna opium. Come, sir, for already an hour has +passed." +</P> + +<P> +As they stepped out into the darkness, a sheet of rain was driven in +upon their faces, and the hall lamp, which dangled from the arm of a +marble Caryatid, went out with a fluff. Pim, the butler, pushed the +heavy door to, straining hard with his shoulder against the wind, while +the two men groped their way towards the yellow glare which showed +where the cab was waiting. An instant later they were rattling upon +their journey. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it far?" asked Douglas Stone. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no. We have a very little quiet place off the Euston Road." +</P> + +<P> +The surgeon pressed the spring of his repeater and listened to the +little tings which told him the hour. It was a quarter past nine. He +calculated the distances, and the short time which it would take him to +perform so trivial an operation. He ought to reach Lady Sannox by ten +o'clock. Through the fogged windows he saw the blurred gas lamps +dancing past, with occasionally the broader glare of a shop front. The +rain was pelting and rattling upon the leathern top of the carriage, +and the wheels swashed as they rolled through puddle and mud. Opposite +to him the white headgear of his companion gleamed faintly through the +obscurity. The surgeon felt in his pockets and arranged his needles, +his ligatures and his safety-pins, that no time might be wasted when +they arrived. He chafed with impatience and drummed his foot upon the +floor. +</P> + +<P> +But the cab slowed down at last and pulled up. In an instant Douglas +Stone was out, and the Smyrna merchant's toe was at his very heel. +</P> + +<P> +"You can wait," said he to the driver. +</P> + +<P> +It was a mean-looking house in a narrow and sordid street. The +surgeon, who knew his London well, cast a swift glance into the +shadows, but there was nothing distinctive—no shop, no movement, +nothing but a double line of dull, flat-faced houses, a double stretch +of wet flagstones which gleamed in the lamplight, and a double rush of +water in the gutters which swirled and gurgled towards the sewer +gratings. The door which faced them was blotched and discoloured, and +a faint light in the fan pane above, it served to show the dust and the +grime which covered it. Above in one of the bedroom windows, there was +a dull yellow glimmer. The merchant knocked loudly, and, as he turned +his dark face towards the light, Douglas Stone could see that it was +contracted with anxiety. A bolt was drawn, and an elderly woman with a +taper stood in the doorway, shielding the thin flame with her gnarled +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Is all well?" gasped the merchant. +</P> + +<P> +"She is as you left her, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"She has not spoken?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, she is in a deep sleep." +</P> + +<P> +The merchant closed the door, and Douglas Stone walked down the narrow +passage, glancing about him in some surprise as he did so. There was no +oil-cloth, no mat, no hat-rack. Deep grey dust and heavy festoons of +cobwebs met his eyes everywhere. Following the old woman up the +winding stair, his firm footfall echoed harshly through the silent +house. There was no carpet. +</P> + +<P> +The bedroom was on the second landing. Douglas Stone followed the old +nurse into it, with the merchant at his heels. Here, at least, there +was furniture and to spare. The floor was littered and the corners +piled with Turkish cabinets, inlaid tables, coats of chain mail, +strange pipes, and grotesque weapons. A single small lamp stood upon a +bracket on the wall. Douglas Stone took it down, and picking his way +among the lumber, walked over to a couch in the corner, on which lay a +woman dressed in the Turkish fashion, with yashmak and veil. The lower +part of the face was exposed, and the surgeon saw a jagged cut which +zigzagged along the border of the under lip. +</P> + +<P> +"You will forgive the yashmak," said the Turk. "You know our views +about women in the East." +</P> + +<P> +But the surgeon was not thinking about the yashmak. This was no longer +a woman to him. It was a case. He stooped and examined the wound +carefully. +</P> + +<P> +"There are no signs of irritation," said he. "We might delay the +operation until local symptoms develop." +</P> + +<P> +The husband wrung his hands in uncontrollable agitation. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! sir, sir," he cried. "Do not trifle. You do not know. It is +deadly. I know, and I give you my assurance that an operation is +absolutely necessary. Only the knife can save her." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet I am inclined to wait," said Douglas Stone. +</P> + +<P> +"That is enough," the Turk cried, angrily. "Every minute is of +importance, and I cannot stand here and see my wife allowed to sink. +It only remains for me to give you my thanks for having come, and to +call in some other surgeon before it is too late." +</P> + +<P> +Douglas Stone hesitated. To refund that hundred pounds was no pleasant +matter. But of course if he left the case he must return the money. +And if the Turk were right and the woman died, his position before a +coroner might be an embarrassing one. +</P> + +<P> +"You have had personal experience of this poison?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I have." +</P> + +<P> +"And you assure me that an operation is needful." +</P> + +<P> +"I swear it by all that I hold sacred." +</P> + +<P> +"The disfigurement will be frightful." +</P> + +<P> +"I can understand that the mouth will not be a pretty one to kiss." +</P> + +<P> +Douglas Stone turned fiercely upon the man. The speech was a brutal +one. But the Turk has his own fashion of talk and of thought, and +there was no time for wrangling. Douglas Stone drew a bistoury from +his case, opened it and felt the keen straight edge with his +forefinger. Then he held the lamp closer to the bed. Two dark eyes +were gazing up at him through the slit in the yashmak. They were all +iris, and the pupil was hardly to be seen. +</P> + +<P> +"You have given her a very heavy dose of opium." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, she has had a good dose." +</P> + +<P> +He glanced again at the dark eyes which looked straight at his own. +They were dull and lustreless, but, even as he gazed, a little shifting +sparkle came into them, and the lips quivered. +</P> + +<P> +"She is not absolutely unconscious," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Would it not be well to use the knife while it will be painless?" +</P> + +<P> +The same thought had crossed the surgeon's mind. He grasped the +wounded lip with his forceps, and with two swift cuts he took out a +broad V-shaped piece. The woman sprang up on the couch with a dreadful +gurgling scream. Her covering was torn from her face. It was a face +that he knew. In spite of that protruding upper lip and that slobber +of blood, it was a face that he knew, She kept on putting her hand up +to the gap and screaming. Douglas Stone sat down at the foot of the +couch with his knife and his forceps. The room was whirling round, and +he had felt something go like a ripping seam behind his ear. A +bystander would have said that his face was the more ghastly of the +two. As in a dream, or as if he had been looking at something at the +play, he was conscious that the Turk's hair and beard lay upon the +table, and that Lord Sannox was leaning against the wall with his hand +to his side, laughing silently. The screams had died away now, and the +dreadful head had dropped back again upon the pillow, but Douglas Stone +still sat motionless, and Lord Sannox still chuckled quietly to himself. +</P> + +<P> +"It was really very necessary for Marion, this operation," said he, +"not physically, but morally, you know, morally." +</P> + +<P> +Douglas Stone stooped for yards and began to play with the fringe of +the coverlet. His knife tinkled down upon the ground, but he still +held the forceps and something more. +</P> + +<P> +"I had long intended to make a little example," said Lord Sannox, +suavely. "Your note of Wednesday miscarried, and I have it here in my +pocket-book. I took some pains in carrying out my idea. The wound, by +the way, was from nothing more dangerous than my signet ring." +</P> + +<P> +He glanced keenly at his silent companion, and cocked the small +revolver which he held in his coat pocket. But Douglas Stone was still +picking at the coverlet. +</P> + +<P> +"You see you have kept your appointment after all," said Lord Sannox. +</P> + +<P> +And at that Douglas Stone began to laugh. He laughed long and loudly. +But Lord Sannox did not laugh now. Something like fear sharpened and +hardened his features. He walked from the room, and he walked on +tiptoe. The old woman was waiting outside. +</P> + +<P> +"Attend to your mistress when she awakes," said Lord Sannox. +</P> + +<P> +Then he went down to the street. The cab was at the door, and the +driver raised his hand to his hat. +</P> + +<P> +"John," said Lord Sannox, "you will take the doctor home first. He will +want leading downstairs, I think. Tell his butler that he has been +taken ill at a case." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you can take Lady Sannox home." +</P> + +<P> +"And how about yourself, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my address for the next few months will be Hotel di Roma, Venice. +Just see that the letters are sent on. And tell Stevens to exhibit all +the purple chrysanthemums next Monday, and to wire me the result." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="terror"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Terror of Blue John Gap +</H3> + +<P> +The following narrative was found among the papers of Dr. James +Hardcastle, who died of phthisis on February 4th, 1908, at 36, Upper +Coventry Flats, South Kensington. Those who knew him best, while +refusing to express an opinion upon this particular statement, are +unanimous in asserting that he was a man of a sober and scientific turn +of mind, absolutely devoid of imagination, and most unlikely to invent +any abnormal series of events. The paper was contained in an envelope, +which was docketed, "A Short Account of the Circumstances which +occurred near Miss Allerton's Farm in North-West Derbyshire in the +Spring of Last Year." The envelope was sealed, and on the other side +was written in pencil— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +DEAR SEATON,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"It may interest, and perhaps pain you, to know that the incredulity +with which you met my story has prevented me from ever opening my mouth +upon the subject again. I leave this record after my death, and +perhaps strangers may be found to have more confidence in me than my +friend." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Inquiry has failed to elicit who this Seaton may have been. I may add +that the visit of the deceased to Allerton's Farm, and the general +nature of the alarm there, apart from his particular explanation, have +been absolutely established. With this foreword I append his account +exactly as he left it. It is in the form of a diary, some entries in +which have been expanded, while a few have been erased. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +April 17.—Already I feel the benefit of this wonderful upland air. +The farm of the Allertons lies fourteen hundred and twenty feet above +sea-level, so it may well be a bracing climate. Beyond the usual +morning cough I have very little discomfort, and, what with the fresh +milk and the home-grown mutton, I have every chance of putting on +weight. I think Saunderson will be pleased. +</P> + +<P> +The two Miss Allertons are charmingly quaint and kind, two dear little +hard-working old maids, who are ready to lavish all the heart which +might have gone out to husband and to children upon an invalid +stranger. Truly, the old maid is a most useful person, one of the +reserve forces of the community. They talk of the superfluous woman, +but what would the poor superfluous man do without her kindly presence? +By the way, in their simplicity they very quickly let out the reason +why Saunderson recommended their farm. The Professor rose from the +ranks himself, and I believe that in his youth he was not above scaring +crows in these very fields. +</P> + +<P> +It is a most lonely spot, and the walks are picturesque in the extreme. +The farm consists of grazing land lying at the bottom of an irregular +valley. On each side are the fantastic limestone hills, formed of rock +so soft that you can break it away with your hands. All this country +is hollow. Could you strike it with some gigantic hammer it would boom +like a drum, or possibly cave in altogether and expose some huge +subterranean sea. A great sea there must surely be, for on all sides +the streams run into the mountain itself, never to reappear. There are +gaps everywhere amid the rocks, and when you pass through them you find +yourself in great caverns, which wind down into the bowels of the +earth. I have a small bicycle lamp, and it is a perpetual joy to me to +carry it into these weird solitudes, and to see the wonderful silver +and black effect when I throw its light upon the stalactites which +drape the lofty roofs. Shut off the lamp, and you are in the blackest +darkness. Turn it on, and it is a scene from the Arabian Nights. +</P> + +<P> +But there is one of these strange openings in the earth which has a +special interest, for it is the handiwork, not of nature, but of man. +I had never heard of Blue John when I came to these parts. It is the +name given to a peculiar mineral of a beautiful purple shade, which is +only found at one or two places in the world. It is so rare that an +ordinary vase of Blue John would be valued at a great price. The +Romans, with that extraordinary instinct of theirs, discovered that it +was to be found in this valley, and sank a horizontal shaft deep into +the mountain side. The opening of their mine has been called Blue John +Gap, a clean-cut arch in the rock, the mouth all overgrown with bushes. +It is a goodly passage which the Roman miners have cut, and it +intersects some of the great water-worn caves, so that if you enter +Blue John Gap you would do well to mark your steps and to have a good +store of candles, or you may never make your way back to the daylight +again. I have not yet gone deeply into it, but this very day I stood at +the mouth of the arched tunnel, and peering down into the black +recesses beyond, I vowed that when my health returned I would devote +some holiday to exploring those mysterious depths and finding out for +myself how far the Roman had penetrated into the Derbyshire hills. +</P> + +<P> +Strange how superstitious these countrymen are! I should have thought +better of young Armitage, for he is a man of some education and +character, and a very fine fellow for his station in life. I was +standing at the Blue John Gap when he came across the field to me. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, doctor," said he, "you're not afraid, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"Afraid!" I answered. "Afraid of what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of it," said he, with a jerk of his thumb towards the black vault, "of +the Terror that lives in the Blue John Cave." +</P> + +<P> +How absurdly easy it is for a legend to arise in a lonely countryside! +I examined him as to the reasons for his weird belief. It seems that +from time to time sheep have been missing from the fields, carried +bodily away, according to Armitage. That they could have wandered away +of their own accord and disappeared among the mountains was an +explanation to which he would not listen. On one occasion a pool of +blood had been found, and some tufts of wool. That also, I pointed +out, could be explained in a perfectly natural way. Further, the +nights upon which sheep disappeared were invariably very dark, cloudy +nights with no moon. This I met with the obvious retort that those were +the nights which a commonplace sheep-stealer would naturally choose for +his work. On one occasion a gap had been made in a wall, and some of +the stones scattered for a considerable distance. Human agency again, +in my opinion. Finally, Armitage clinched all his arguments by telling +me that he had actually heard the Creature—indeed, that anyone could +hear it who remained long enough at the Gap. It was a distant roaring +of an immense volume. I could not but smile at this, knowing, as I do, +the strange reverberations which come out of an underground water +system running amid the chasms of a limestone formation. My +incredulity annoyed Armitage so that he turned and left me with some +abruptness. +</P> + +<P> +And now comes the queer point about the whole business. I was still +standing near the mouth of the cave turning over in my mind the various +statements of Armitage, and reflecting how readily they could be +explained away, when suddenly, from the depth of the tunnel beside me, +there issued a most extraordinary sound. How shall I describe it? +First of all, it seemed to be a great distance away, far down in the +bowels of the earth. Secondly, in spite of this suggestion of +distance, it was very loud. Lastly, it was not a boom, nor a crash, +such as one would associate with falling water or tumbling rock, but it +was a high whine, tremulous and vibrating, almost like the whinnying of +a horse. It was certainly a most remarkable experience, and one which +for a moment, I must admit, gave a new significance to Armitage's +words. I waited by the Blue John Gap for half an hour or more, but +there was no return of the sound, so at last I wandered back to the +farmhouse, rather mystified by what had occurred. Decidedly I shall +explore that cavern when my strength is restored. Of course, +Armitage's explanation is too absurd for discussion, and yet that sound +was certainly very strange. It still rings in my ears as I write. +</P> + +<P> +April 20.—In the last three days I have made several expeditions to +the Blue John Gap, and have even penetrated some short distance, but my +bicycle lantern is so small and weak that I dare not trust myself very +far. I shall do the thing more systematically. I have heard no sound +at all, and could almost believe that I had been the victim of some +hallucination suggested, perhaps, by Armitage's conversation. Of +course, the whole idea is absurd, and yet I must confess that those +bushes at the entrance of the cave do present an appearance as if some +heavy creature had forced its way through them. I begin to be keenly +interested. I have said nothing to the Miss Allertons, for they are +quite superstitious enough already, but I have bought some candles, and +mean to investigate for myself. +</P> + +<P> +I observed this morning that among the numerous tufts of sheep's wool +which lay among the bushes near the cavern there was one which was +smeared with blood. Of course, my reason tells me that if sheep wander +into such rocky places they are likely to injure themselves, and yet +somehow that splash of crimson gave me a sudden shock, and for a moment +I found myself shrinking back in horror from the old Roman arch. A +fetid breath seemed to ooze from the black depths into which I peered. +Could it indeed be possible that some nameless thing, some dreadful +presence, was lurking down yonder? I should have been incapable of +such feelings in the days of my strength, but one grows more nervous +and fanciful when one's health is shaken. +</P> + +<P> +For the moment I weakened in my resolution, and was ready to leave the +secret of the old mine, if one exists, for ever unsolved. But tonight +my interest has returned and my nerves grown more steady. Tomorrow I +trust that I shall have gone more deeply into this matter. +</P> + +<P> +April 22.—Let me try and set down as accurately as I can my +extraordinary experience of yesterday. I started in the afternoon, and +made my way to the Blue John Gap. I confess that my misgivings +returned as I gazed into its depths, and I wished that I had brought a +companion to share my exploration. Finally, with a return of +resolution, I lit my candle, pushed my way through the briars, and +descended into the rocky shaft. +</P> + +<P> +It went down at an acute angle for some fifty feet, the floor being +covered with broken stone. Thence there extended a long, straight +passage cut in the solid rock. I am no geologist, but the lining of +this corridor was certainly of some harder material than limestone, for +there were points where I could actually see the tool-marks which the +old miners had left in their excavation, as fresh as if they had been +done yesterday. Down this strange, old-world corridor I stumbled, my +feeble flame throwing a dim circle of light around me, which made the +shadows beyond the more threatening and obscure. Finally, I came to a +spot where the Roman tunnel opened into a water-worn cavern—a huge +hall, hung with long white icicles of lime deposit. From this central +chamber I could dimly perceive that a number of passages worn by the +subterranean streams wound away into the depths of the earth. I was +standing there wondering whether I had better return, or whether I dare +venture farther into this dangerous labyrinth, when my eyes fell upon +something at my feet which strongly arrested my attention. +</P> + +<P> +The greater part of the floor of the cavern was covered with boulders +of rock or with hard incrustations of lime, but at this particular +point there had been a drip from the distant roof, which had left a +patch of soft mud. In the very centre of this there was a huge +mark—an ill-defined blotch, deep, broad and irregular, as if a great +boulder had fallen upon it. No loose stone lay near, however, nor was +there anything to account for the impression. It was far too large to +be caused by any possible animal, and besides, there was only the one, +and the patch of mud was of such a size that no reasonable stride could +have covered it. As I rose from the examination of that singular mark +and then looked round into the black shadows which hemmed me in, I must +confess that I felt for a moment a most unpleasant sinking of my heart, +and that, do what I could, the candle trembled in my outstretched hand. +</P> + +<P> +I soon recovered my nerve, however, when I reflected how absurd it was +to associate so huge and shapeless a mark with the track of any known +animal. Even an elephant could not have produced it. I determined, +therefore, that I would not be scared by vague and senseless fears from +carrying out my exploration. Before proceeding, I took good note of a +curious rock formation in the wall by which I could recognize the +entrance of the Roman tunnel. The precaution was very necessary, for +the great cave, so far as I could see it, was intersected by passages. +Having made sure of my position, and reassured myself by examining my +spare candles and my matches, I advanced slowly over the rocky and +uneven surface of the cavern. +</P> + +<P> +And now I come to the point where I met with such sudden and desperate +disaster. A stream, some twenty feet broad, ran across my path, and I +walked for some little distance along the bank to find a spot where I +could cross dry-shod. Finally, I came to a place where a single flat +boulder lay near the centre, which I could reach in a stride. As it +chanced, however, the rock had been cut away and made top-heavy by the +rush of the stream, so that it tilted over as I landed on it and shot +me into the ice-cold water. My candle went out, and I found myself +floundering about in utter and absolute darkness. +</P> + +<P> +I staggered to my feet again, more amused than alarmed by my adventure. +The candle had fallen from my hand, and was lost in the stream, but I +had two others in my pocket, so that it was of no importance. I got +one of them ready, and drew out my box of matches to light it. Only +then did I realize my position. The box had been soaked in my fall +into the river. It was impossible to strike the matches. +</P> + +<P> +A cold hand seemed to close round my heart as I realized my position. +The darkness was opaque and horrible. It was so utter one put one's +hand up to one's face as if to press off something solid. I stood +still, and by an effort I steadied myself. I tried to reconstruct in +my mind a map of the floor of the cavern as I had last seen it. Alas! +the bearings which had impressed themselves upon my mind were high on +the wall, and not to be found by touch. Still, I remembered in a +general way how the sides were situated, and I hoped that by groping my +way along them I should at last come to the opening of the Roman +tunnel. Moving very slowly, and continually striking against the +rocks, I set out on this desperate quest. +</P> + +<P> +But I very soon realized how impossible it was. In that black, velvety +darkness one lost all one's bearings in an instant. Before I had made +a dozen paces, I was utterly bewildered as to my whereabouts. The +rippling of the stream, which was the one sound audible, showed me +where it lay, but the moment that I left its bank I was utterly lost. +The idea of finding my way back in absolute darkness through that +limestone labyrinth was clearly an impossible one. +</P> + +<P> +I sat down upon a boulder and reflected upon my unfortunate plight. I +had not told anyone that I proposed to come to the Blue John mine, and +it was unlikely that a search party would come after me. Therefore I +must trust to my own resources to get clear of the danger. There was +only one hope, and that was that the matches might dry. When I fell +into the river, only half of me had got thoroughly wet. My left +shoulder had remained above the water. I took the box of matches, +therefore, and put it into my left armpit. The moist air of the cavern +might possibly be counteracted by the heat of my body, but even so, I +knew that I could not hope to get a light for many hours. Meanwhile +there was nothing for it but to wait. +</P> + +<P> +By good luck I had slipped several biscuits into my pocket before I +left the farm-house. These I now devoured, and washed them down with a +draught from that wretched stream which had been the cause of all my +misfortunes. Then I felt about for a comfortable seat among the rocks, +and, having discovered a place where I could get a support for my back, +I stretched out my legs and settled myself down to wait. I was +wretchedly damp and cold, but I tried to cheer myself with the +reflection that modern science prescribed open windows and walks in all +weather for my disease. Gradually, lulled by the monotonous gurgle of +the stream, and by the absolute darkness, I sank into an uneasy slumber. +</P> + +<P> +How long this lasted I cannot say. It may have been for an hour, it +may have been for several. Suddenly I sat up on my rock couch, with +every nerve thrilling and every sense acutely on the alert. Beyond all +doubt I had heard a sound—some sound very distinct from the gurgling +of the waters. It had passed, but the reverberation of it still +lingered in my ear. Was it a search party? They would most certainly +have shouted, and vague as this sound was which had wakened me, it was +very distinct from the human voice. I sat palpitating and hardly +daring to breathe. There it was again! And again! Now it had become +continuous. It was a tread—yes, surely it was the tread of some +living creature. But what a tread it was! It gave one the impression +of enormous weight carried upon sponge-like feet, which gave forth a +muffled but ear-filling sound. The darkness was as complete as ever, +but the tread was regular and decisive. And it was coming beyond all +question in my direction. +</P> + +<P> +My skin grew cold, and my hair stood on end as I listened to that +steady and ponderous footfall. There was some creature there, and +surely by the speed of its advance, it was one which could see in the +dark. I crouched low on my rock and tried to blend myself into it. +The steps grew nearer still, then stopped, and presently I was aware of +a loud lapping and gurgling. The creature was drinking at the stream. +Then again there was silence, broken by a succession of long sniffs and +snorts of tremendous volume and energy. Had it caught the scent of me? +My own nostrils were filled by a low fetid odour, mephitic and +abominable. Then I heard the steps again. They were on my side of the +stream now. The stones rattled within a few yards of where I lay. +Hardly daring to breathe, I crouched upon my rock. Then the steps drew +away. I heard the splash as it returned across the river, and the +sound died away into the distance in the direction from which it had +come. +</P> + +<P> +For a long time I lay upon the rock, too much horrified to move. I +thought of the sound which I had heard coming from the depths of the +cave, of Armitage's fears, of the strange impression in the mud, and +now came this final and absolute proof that there was indeed some +inconceivable monster, something utterly unearthly and dreadful, which +lurked in the hollow of the mountain. Of its nature or form I could +frame no conception, save that it was both light-footed and gigantic. +The combat between my reason, which told me that such things could not +be, and my senses, which told me that they were, raged within me as I +lay. Finally, I was almost ready to persuade myself that this +experience had been part of some evil dream, and that my abnormal +condition might have conjured up an hallucination. But there remained +one final experience which removed the last possibility of doubt from +my mind. +</P> + +<P> +I had taken my matches from my armpit and felt them. They seemed +perfectly hard and dry. Stooping down into a crevice of the rocks, I +tried one of them. To my delight it took fire at once. I lit the +candle, and, with a terrified backward glance into the obscure depths +of the cavern, I hurried in the direction of the Roman passage. As I +did so I passed the patch of mud on which I had seen the huge imprint. +Now I stood astonished before it, for there were three similar imprints +upon its surface, enormous in size, irregular in outline, of a depth +which indicated the ponderous weight which had left them. Then a great +terror surged over me. Stooping and shading my candle with my hand, I +ran in a frenzy of fear to the rocky archway, hastened up it, and never +stopped until, with weary feet and panting lungs, I rushed up the final +slope of stones, broke through the tangle of briars, and flung myself +exhausted upon the soft grass under the peaceful light of the stars. +It was three in the morning when I reached the farm-house, and today I +am all unstrung and quivering after my terrific adventure. As yet I +have told no one. I must move warily in the matter. What would the +poor lonely women, or the uneducated yokels here think of it if I were +to tell them my experience? Let me go to someone who can understand +and advise. +</P> + +<P> +April 25.—I was laid up in bed for two days after my incredible +adventure in the cavern. I use the adjective with a very definite +meaning, for I have had an experience since which has shocked me almost +as much as the other. I have said that I was looking round for someone +who could advise me. There is a Dr. Mark Johnson who practices some +few miles away, to whom I had a note of recommendation from Professor +Saunderson. To him I drove, when I was strong enough to get about, and +I recounted to him my whole strange experience. He listened intently, +and then carefully examined me, paying special attention to my reflexes +and to the pupils of my eyes. When he had finished, he refused to +discuss my adventure, saying that it was entirely beyond him, but he +gave me the card of a Mr. Picton at Castleton, with the advice that I +should instantly go to him and tell him the story exactly as I had done +to himself. He was, according to my adviser, the very man who was +pre-eminently suited to help me. I went on to the station, therefore, +and made my way to the little town, which is some ten miles away. Mr. +Picton appeared to be a man of importance, as his brass plate was +displayed upon the door of a considerable building on the outskirts of +the town. I was about to ring his bell, when some misgiving came into +my mind, and, crossing to a neighbouring shop, I asked the man behind +the counter if he could tell me anything of Mr. Picton. "Why," said +he, "he is the best mad doctor in Derbyshire, and yonder is his +asylum." You can imagine that it was not long before I had shaken the +dust of Castleton from my feet and returned to the farm, cursing all +unimaginative pedants who cannot conceive that there may be things in +creation which have never yet chanced to come across their mole's +vision. After all, now that I am cooler, I can afford to admit that I +have been no more sympathetic to Armitage than Dr. Johnson has been to +me. +</P> + +<P> +April 27. When I was a student I had the reputation of being a man of +courage and enterprise. I remember that when there was a ghost-hunt at +Coltbridge it was I who sat up in the haunted house. Is it advancing +years (after all, I am only thirty-five), or is it this physical malady +which has caused degeneration? Certainly my heart quails when I think +of that horrible cavern in the hill, and the certainty that it has some +monstrous occupant. What shall I do? There is not an hour in the day +that I do not debate the question. If I say nothing, then the mystery +remains unsolved. If I do say anything, then I have the alternative of +mad alarm over the whole countryside, or of absolute incredulity which +may end in consigning me to an asylum. On the whole, I think that my +best course is to wait, and to prepare for some expedition which shall +be more deliberate and better thought out than the last. As a first +step I have been to Castleton and obtained a few essentials—a large +acetylene lantern for one thing, and a good double-barrelled sporting +rifle for another. The latter I have hired, but I have bought a dozen +heavy game cartridges, which would bring down a rhinoceros. Now I am +ready for my troglodyte friend. Give me better health and a little +spate of energy, and I shall try conclusions with him yet. But who and +what is he? Ah! there is the question which stands between me and my +sleep. How many theories do I form, only to discard each in turn! It +is all so utterly unthinkable. And yet the cry, the footmark, the +tread in the cavern—no reasoning can get past these I think of the +old-world legends of dragons and of other monsters. Were they, +perhaps, not such fairy-tales as we have thought? Can it be that there +is some fact which underlies them, and am I, of all mortals, the one +who is chosen to expose it? +</P> + +<P> +May 3.—For several days I have been laid up by the vagaries of an +English spring, and during those days there have been developments, the +true and sinister meaning of which no one can appreciate save myself. +I may say that we have had cloudy and moonless nights of late, which +according to my information were the seasons upon which sheep +disappeared. Well, sheep have disappeared. Two of Miss Allerton's, +one of old Pearson's of the Cat Walk, and one of Mrs. Moulton's. Four +in all during three nights. No trace is left of them at all, and the +countryside is buzzing with rumours of gipsies and of sheep-stealers. +</P> + +<P> +But there is something more serious than that. Young Armitage has +disappeared also. He left his moorland cottage early on Wednesday +night and has never been heard of since. He was an unattached man, so +there is less sensation than would otherwise be the case. The popular +explanation is that he owes money, and has found a situation in some +other part of the country, whence he will presently write for his +belongings. But I have grave misgivings. Is it not much more likely +that the recent tragedy of the sheep has caused him to take some steps +which may have ended in his own destruction? He may, for example, have +lain in wait for the creature and been carried off by it into the +recesses of the mountains. What an inconceivable fate for a civilized +Englishman of the twentieth century! And yet I feel that it is +possible and even probable. But in that case, how far am I answerable +both for his death and for any other mishap which may occur? Surely +with the knowledge I already possess it must be my duty to see that +something is done, or if necessary to do it myself. It must be the +latter, for this morning I went down to the local police-station and +told my story. The inspector entered it all in a large book and bowed +me out with commendable gravity, but I heard a burst of laughter before +I had got down his garden path. No doubt he was recounting my +adventure to his family. +</P> + +<P> +June 10.—I am writing this, propped up in bed, six weeks after my last +entry in this journal. I have gone through a terrible shock both to +mind and body, arising from such an experience as has seldom befallen a +human being before. But I have attained my end. The danger from the +Terror which dwells in the Blue John Gap has passed never to return. +Thus much at least I, a broken invalid, have done for the common good. +Let me now recount what occurred as clearly as I may. +</P> + +<P> +The night of Friday, May 3rd, was dark and cloudy—the very night for +the monster to walk. About eleven o'clock I went from the farm-house +with my lantern and my rifle, having first left a note upon the table +of my bedroom in which I said that, if I were missing, search should be +made for me in the direction of the Gap. I made my way to the mouth of +the Roman shaft, and, having perched myself among the rocks close to +the opening, I shut off my lantern and waited patiently with my loaded +rifle ready to my hand. +</P> + +<P> +It was a melancholy vigil. All down the winding valley I could see the +scattered lights of the farm-houses, and the church clock of +Chapel-le-Dale tolling the hours came faintly to my ears. These tokens +of my fellow-men served only to make my own position seem the more +lonely, and to call for a greater effort to overcome the terror which +tempted me continually to get back to the farm, and abandon for ever +this dangerous quest. And yet there lies deep in every man a rooted +self-respect which makes it hard for him to turn back from that which +he has once undertaken. This feeling of personal pride was my +salvation now, and it was that alone which held me fast when every +instinct of my nature was dragging me away. I am glad now that I had +the strength. In spite of all that is has cost me, my manhood is at +least above reproach. +</P> + +<P> +Twelve o'clock struck in the distant church, then one, then two. It +was the darkest hour of the night. The clouds were drifting low, and +there was not a star in the sky. An owl was hooting somewhere among +the rocks, but no other sound, save the gentle sough of the wind, came +to my ears. And then suddenly I heard it! From far away down the +tunnel came those muffled steps, so soft and yet so ponderous. I heard +also the rattle of stones as they gave way under that giant tread. +They drew nearer. They were close upon me. I heard the crashing of +the bushes round the entrance, and then dimly through the darkness I +was conscious of the loom of some enormous shape, some monstrous +inchoate creature, passing swiftly and very silently out from the +tunnel. I was paralysed with fear and amazement. Long as I had +waited, now that it had actually come I was unprepared for the shock. +I lay motionless and breathless, whilst the great dark mass whisked by +me and was swallowed up in the night. +</P> + +<P> +But now I nerved myself for its return. No sound came from the +sleeping countryside to tell of the horror which was loose. In no way +could I judge how far off it was, what it was doing, or when it might +be back. But not a second time should my nerve fail me, not a second +time should it pass unchallenged. I swore it between my clenched teeth +as I laid my cocked rifle across the rock. +</P> + +<P> +And yet it nearly happened. There was no warning of approach now as +the creature passed over the grass. Suddenly, like a dark, drifting +shadow, the huge bulk loomed up once more before me, making for the +entrance of the cave. Again came that paralysis of volition which held +my crooked forefinger impotent upon the trigger. But with a desperate +effort I shook it off. Even as the brushwood rustled, and the +monstrous beast blended with the shadow of the Gap, I fired at the +retreating form. In the blaze of the gun I caught a glimpse of a great +shaggy mass, something with rough and bristling hair of a withered grey +colour, fading away to white in its lower parts, the huge body +supported upon short, thick, curving legs. I had just that glance, and +then I heard the rattle of the stones as the creature tore down into +its burrow. In an instant, with a triumphant revulsion of feeling, I +had cast my fears to the wind, and uncovering my powerful lantern, with +my rifle in my hand, I sprang down from my rock and rushed after the +monster down the old Roman shaft. +</P> + +<P> +My splendid lamp cast a brilliant flood of vivid light in front of me, +very different from the yellow glimmer which had aided me down the same +passage only twelve days before. As I ran, I saw the great beast +lurching along before me, its huge bulk filling up the whole space from +wall to wall. Its hair looked like coarse faded oakum, and hung down +in long, dense masses which swayed as it moved. It was like an +enormous unclipped sheep in its fleece, but in size it was far larger +than the largest elephant, and its breadth seemed to be nearly as great +as its height. It fills me with amazement now to think that I should +have dared to follow such a horror into the bowels of the earth, but +when one's blood is up, and when one's quarry seems to be flying, the +old primeval hunting-spirit awakes and prudence is cast to the wind. +Rifle in hand, I ran at the top of my speed upon the trail of the +monster. +</P> + +<P> +I had seen that the creature was swift. Now I was to find out to my +cost that it was also very cunning. I had imagined that it was in +panic flight, and that I had only to pursue it. The idea that it might +turn upon me never entered my excited brain. I have already explained +that the passage down which I was racing opened into a great central +cave. Into this I rushed, fearful lest I should lose all trace of the +beast. But he had turned upon his own traces, and in a moment we were +face to face. +</P> + +<P> +That picture, seen in the brilliant white light of the lantern, is +etched for ever upon my brain. He had reared up on his hind legs as a +bear would do, and stood above me, enormous, menacing—such a creature +as no nightmare had ever brought to my imagination. I have said that he +reared like a bear, and there was something bear-like—if one could +conceive a bear which was ten-fold the bulk of any bear seen upon +earth—in his whole pose and attitude, in his great crooked forelegs +with their ivory-white claws, in his rugged skin, and in his red, +gaping mouth, fringed with monstrous fangs. Only in one point did he +differ from the bear, or from any other creature which walks the earth, +and even at that supreme moment a shudder of horror passed over me as I +observed that the eyes which glistened in the glow of my lantern were +huge, projecting bulbs, white and sightless. For a moment his great +paws swung over my head. The next he fell forward upon me, I and my +broken lantern crashed to the earth, and I remember no more. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +When I came to myself I was back in the farm-house of the Allertons. +Two days had passed since my terrible adventure in the Blue John Gap. +It seems that I had lain all night in the cave insensible from +concussion of the brain, with my left arm and two ribs badly fractured. +In the morning my note had been found, a search party of a dozen +farmers assembled, and I had been tracked down and carried back to my +bedroom, where I had lain in high delirium ever since. There was, it +seems, no sign of the creature, and no bloodstain which would show that +my bullet had found him as he passed. Save for my own plight and the +marks upon the mud, there was nothing to prove that what I said was +true. +</P> + +<P> +Six weeks have now elapsed, and I am able to sit out once more in the +sunshine. Just opposite me is the steep hillside, grey with shaly +rock, and yonder on its flank is the dark cleft which marks the opening +of the Blue John Gap. But it is no longer a source of terror. Never +again through that ill-omened tunnel shall any strange shape flit out +into the world of men. The educated and the scientific, the Dr. +Johnsons and the like, may smile at my narrative, but the poorer folk +of the countryside had never a doubt as to its truth. On the day after +my recovering consciousness they assembled in their hundreds round the +Blue John Gap. As the Castleton Courier said: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"It was useless for our correspondent, or for any of the adventurous +gentlemen who had come from Matlock, Buxton, and other parts, to offer +to descend, to explore the cave to the end, and to finally test the +extraordinary narrative of Dr. James Hardcastle. The country people had +taken the matter into their own hands, and from an early hour of the +morning they had worked hard in stopping up the entrance of the tunnel. +There is a sharp slope where the shaft begins, and great boulders, +rolled along by many willing hands, were thrust down it until the Gap +was absolutely sealed. So ends the episode which has caused such +excitement throughout the country. Local opinion is fiercely divided +upon the subject. On the one hand are those who point to Dr. +Hardcastle's impaired health, and to the possibility of cerebral +lesions of tubercular origin giving rise to strange hallucinations. +Some idee fixe, according to these gentlemen, caused the doctor to +wander down the tunnel, and a fall among the rocks was sufficient to +account for his injuries. On the other hand, a legend of a strange +creature in the Gap has existed for some months back, and the farmers +look upon Dr. Hardcastle's narrative and his personal injuries as a +final corroboration. So the matter stands, and so the matter will +continue to stand, for no definite solution seems to us to be now +possible. It transcends human wit to give any scientific explanation +which could cover the alleged facts." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Perhaps before the Courier published these words they would have been +wise to send their representative to me. I have thought the matter +out, as no one else has occasion to do, and it is possible that I might +have removed some of the more obvious difficulties of the narrative and +brought it one degree nearer to scientific acceptance. Let me then +write down the only explanation which seems to me to elucidate what I +know to my cost to have been a series of facts. My theory may seem to +be wildly improbable, but at least no one can venture to say that it is +impossible. +</P> + +<P> +My view is—and it was formed, as is shown by my diary, before my +personal adventure—that in this part of England there is a vast +subterranean lake or sea, which is fed by the great number of streams +which pass down through the limestone. Where there is a large +collection of water there must also be some evaporation, mists or rain, +and a possibility of vegetation. This in turn suggests that there may +be animal life, arising, as the vegetable life would also do, from +those seeds and types which had been introduced at an early period of +the world's history, when communication with the outer air was more +easy. This place had then developed a fauna and flora of its own, +including such monsters as the one which I had seen, which may well +have been the old cave-bear, enormously enlarged and modified by its +new environment. For countless aeons the internal and the external +creation had kept apart, growing steadily away from each other. Then +there had come some rift in the depths of the mountain which had +enabled one creature to wander up and, by means of the Roman tunnel, to +reach the open air. Like all subterranean life, it had lost the power +of sight, but this had no doubt been compensated for by nature in other +directions. Certainly it had some means of finding its way about, and +of hunting down the sheep upon the hillside. As to its choice of dark +nights, it is part of my theory that light was painful to those great +white eyeballs, and that it was only a pitch-black world which it could +tolerate. Perhaps, indeed, it was the glare of my lantern which saved +my life at that awful moment when we were face to face. So I read the +riddle. I leave these facts behind me, and if you can explain them, do +so; or if you choose to doubt them, do so. Neither your belief nor +your incredulity can alter them, nor affect one whose task is nearly +over. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +So ended the strange narrative of Dr. James Hardcastle. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="cat"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Brazilian Cat +</H3> + +<P> +It is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great +expectations, aristocratic connections, but no actual money in his +pocket, and no profession by which he may earn any. The fact was that +my father, a good, sanguine, easy-going man, had such confidence in the +wealth and benevolence of his bachelor elder brother, Lord Southerton, +that he took it for granted that I, his only son, would never be called +upon to earn a living for myself. He imagined that if there were not a +vacancy for me on the great Southerton Estates, at least there would be +found some post in that diplomatic service which still remains the +special preserve of our privileged classes. He died too early to +realize how false his calculations had been. Neither my uncle nor the +State took the slightest notice of me, or showed any interest in my +career. An occasional brace of pheasants, or basket of hares, was all +that ever reached me to remind me that I was heir to Otwell House and +one of the richest estates in the country. In the meantime, I found +myself a bachelor and man about town, living in a suite of apartments +in Grosvenor Mansions, with no occupation save that of pigeon-shooting +and polo-playing at Hurlingham. Month by month I realized that it was +more and more difficult to get the brokers to renew my bills, or to +cash any further post-obits upon an unentailed property. Ruin lay +right across my path, and every day I saw it clearer, nearer, and more +absolutely unavoidable. +</P> + +<P> +What made me feel my own poverty the more was that, apart from the +great wealth of Lord Southerton, all my other relations were fairly +well-to-do. The nearest of these was Everard King, my father's nephew +and my own first cousin, who had spent an adventurous life in Brazil, +and had now returned to this country to settle down on his fortune. We +never knew how he made his money, but he appeared to have plenty of it, +for he bought the estate of Greylands, near Clipton-on-the-Marsh, in +Suffolk. For the first year of his residence in England he took no +more notice of me than my miserly uncle; but at last one summer +morning, to my very great relief and joy, I received a letter asking me +to come down that very day and spend a short visit at Greylands Court. +I was expecting a rather long visit to Bankruptcy Court at the time, +and this interruption seemed almost providential. If I could only get +on terms with this unknown relative of mine, I might pull through yet. +For the family credit he could not let me go entirely to the wall. I +ordered my valet to pack my valise, and I set off the same evening for +Clipton-on-the-Marsh. +</P> + +<P> +After changing at Ipswich, a little local train deposited me at a +small, deserted station lying amidst a rolling grassy country, with a +sluggish and winding river curving in and out amidst the valleys, +between high, silted banks, which showed that we were within reach of +the tide. No carriage was awaiting me (I found afterwards that my +telegram had been delayed), so I hired a dogcart at the local inn. The +driver, an excellent fellow, was full of my relative's praises, and I +learned from him that Mr. Everard King was already a name to conjure +with in that part of the county. He had entertained the +school-children, he had thrown his grounds open to visitors, he had +subscribed to charities—in short, his benevolence had been so +universal that my driver could only account for it on the supposition +that he had parliamentary ambitions. +</P> + +<P> +My attention was drawn away from my driver's panegyric by the +appearance of a very beautiful bird which settled on a telegraph-post +beside the road. At first I thought that it was a jay, but it was +larger, with a brighter plumage. The driver accounted for its presence +at once by saying that it belonged to the very man whom we were about +to visit. It seems that the acclimatization of foreign creatures was +one of his hobbies, and that he had brought with him from Brazil a +number of birds and beasts which he was endeavouring to rear in +England. When once we had passed the gates of Greylands Park we had +ample evidence of this taste of his. Some small spotted deer, a +curious wild pig known, I believe, as a peccary, a gorgeously feathered +oriole, some sort of armadillo, and a singular lumbering in-toed beast +like a very fat badger, were among the creatures which I observed as we +drove along the winding avenue. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Everard King, my unknown cousin, was standing in person upon the +steps of his house, for he had seen us in the distance, and guessed +that it was I. His appearance was very homely and benevolent, short +and stout, forty-five years old, perhaps, with a round, good-humoured +face, burned brown with the tropical sun, and shot with a thousand +wrinkles. He wore white linen clothes, in true planter style, with a +cigar between his lips, and a large Panama hat upon the back of his +head. It was such a figure as one associates with a verandahed +bungalow, and it looked curiously out of place in front of this broad, +stone English mansion, with its solid wings and its Palladio pillars +before the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear!" he cried, glancing over his shoulder; "my dear, here is our +guest! Welcome, welcome to Greylands! I am delighted to make your +acquaintance, Cousin Marshall, and I take it as a great compliment that +you should honour this sleepy little country place with your presence." +</P> + +<P> +Nothing could be more hearty than his manner, and he set me at my ease +in an instant. But it needed all his cordiality to atone for the +frigidity and even rudeness of his wife, a tall, haggard woman, who +came forward at his summons. She was, I believe, of Brazilian +extraction, though she spoke excellent English, and I excused her +manners on the score of her ignorance of our customs. She did not +attempt to conceal, however, either then or afterwards, that I was no +very welcome visitor at Greylands Court. Her actual words were, as a +rule, courteous, but she was the possessor of a pair of particularly +expressive dark eyes, and I read in them very clearly from the first +that she heartily wished me back in London once more. +</P> + +<P> +However, my debts were too pressing and my designs upon my wealthy +relative were too vital for me to allow them to be upset by the +ill-temper of his wife, so I disregarded her coldness and reciprocated +the extreme cordiality of his welcome. No pains had been spared by him +to make me comfortable. My room was a charming one. He implored me to +tell him anything which could add to my happiness. It was on the tip +of my tongue to inform him that a blank cheque would materially help +towards that end, but I felt that it might be premature in the present +state of our acquaintance. The dinner was excellent, and as we sat +together afterwards over his Havanas and coffee, which later he told me +was specially prepared upon his own plantation, it seemed to me that +all my driver's eulogies were justified, and that I had never met a +more large-hearted and hospitable man. +</P> + +<P> +But, in spite of his cheery good nature, he was a man with a strong +will and a fiery temper of his own. Of this I had an example upon the +following morning. The curious aversion which Mrs. Everard King had +conceived towards me was so strong, that her manner at breakfast was +almost offensive. But her meaning became unmistakable when her husband +had quitted the room. +</P> + +<P> +"The best train in the day is at twelve-fifteen," said she. +</P> + +<P> +"But I was not thinking of going today," I answered, frankly—perhaps +even defiantly, for I was determined not to be driven out by this woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if it rests with you—" said she, and stopped with a most insolent +expression in her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure," I answered, "that Mr. Everard King would tell me if I were +outstaying my welcome." +</P> + +<P> +"What's this? What's this?" said a voice, and there he was in the +room. He had overheard my last words, and a glance at our faces had +told him the rest. In an instant his chubby, cheery face set into an +expression of absolute ferocity. +</P> + +<P> +"Might I trouble you to walk outside, Marshall?" said he. (I may +mention that my own name is Marshall King.) +</P> + +<P> +He closed the door behind me, and then, for an instant, I heard him +talking in a low voice of concentrated passion to his wife. This gross +breach of hospitality had evidently hit upon his tenderest point. I am +no eavesdropper, so I walked out on to the lawn. Presently I heard a +hurried step behind me, and there was the lady, her face pale with +excitement, and her eyes red with tears. +</P> + +<P> +"My husband has asked me to apologize to you, Mr. Marshall King," said +she, standing with downcast eyes before me. +</P> + +<P> +"Please do not say another word, Mrs. King." +</P> + +<P> +Her dark eyes suddenly blazed out at me. +</P> + +<P> +"You fool!" she hissed, with frantic vehemence, and turning on her heel +swept back to the house. +</P> + +<P> +The insult was so outrageous, so insufferable, that I could only stand +staring after her in bewilderment. I was still there when my host +joined me. He was his cheery, chubby self once more. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope that my wife has apologized for her foolish remarks," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes—yes, certainly!" +</P> + +<P> +He put his hand through my arm and walked with me up and down the lawn. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not take it seriously," said he. "It would grieve me +inexpressibly if you curtailed your visit by one hour. The fact +is—there is no reason why there should be any concealment between +relatives—that my poor dear wife is incredibly jealous. She hates +that anyone—male or female—should for an instant come between us. Her +ideal is a desert island and an eternal tete-a-tete. That gives you +the clue to her actions, which are, I confess, upon this particular +point, not very far removed from mania. Tell me that you will think no +more of it." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; certainly not." +</P> + +<P> +"Then light this cigar and come round with me and see my little +menagerie." +</P> + +<P> +The whole afternoon was occupied by this inspection, which included all +the birds, beasts, and even reptiles which he had imported. Some were +free, some in cages, a few actually in the house. He spoke with +enthusiasm of his successes and his failures, his births and his +deaths, and he would cry out in his delight, like a schoolboy, when, as +we walked, some gaudy bird would flutter up from the grass, or some +curious beast slink into the cover. Finally he led me down a corridor +which extended from one wing of the house. At the end of this there +was a heavy door with a sliding shutter in it, and beside it there +projected from the wall an iron handle attached to a wheel and a drum. +A line of stout bars extended across the passage. +</P> + +<P> +"I am about to show you the jewel of my collection," said he. "There is +only one other specimen in Europe, now that the Rotterdam cub is dead. +It is a Brazilian cat." +</P> + +<P> +"But how does that differ from any other cat?" +</P> + +<P> +"You will soon see that," said he, laughing. "Will you kindly draw +that shutter and look through?" +</P> + +<P> +I did so, and found that I was gazing into a large, empty room, with +stone flags, and small, barred windows upon the farther wall. In the +centre of this room, lying in the middle of a golden patch of sunlight, +there was stretched a huge creature, as large as a tiger, but as black +and sleek as ebony. It was simply a very enormous and very well-kept +black cat, and it cuddled up and basked in that yellow pool of light +exactly as a cat would do. It was so graceful, so sinewy, and so +gently and smoothly diabolical, that I could not take my eyes from the +opening. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't he splendid?" said my host, enthusiastically. +</P> + +<P> +"Glorious! I never saw such a noble creature." +</P> + +<P> +"Some people call it a black puma, but really it is not a puma at all. +That fellow is nearly eleven feet from tail to tip. Four years ago he +was a little ball of black fluff, with two yellow eyes staring out of +it. He was sold me as a new-born cub up in the wild country at the +head-waters of the Rio Negro. They speared his mother to death after +she had killed a dozen of them." +</P> + +<P> +"They are ferocious, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"The most absolutely treacherous and bloodthirsty creatures upon earth. +You talk about a Brazilian cat to an up-country Indian, and see him get +the jumps. They prefer humans to game. This fellow has never tasted +living blood yet, but when he does he will be a terror. At present he +won't stand anyone but me in his den. Even Baldwin, the groom, dare +not go near him. As to me, I am his mother and father in one." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke he suddenly, to my astonishment, opened the door and +slipped in, closing it instantly behind him. At the sound of his voice +the huge, lithe creature rose, yawned and rubbed its round, black head +affectionately against his side, while he patted and fondled it. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Tommy, into your cage!" said he. +</P> + +<P> +The monstrous cat walked over to one side of the room and coiled itself +up under a grating. Everard King came out, and taking the iron handle +which I have mentioned, he began to turn it. As he did so the line of +bars in the corridor began to pass through a slot in the wall and +closed up the front of this grating, so as to make an effective cage. +When it was in position he opened the door once more and invited me +into the room, which was heavy with the pungent, musty smell peculiar +to the great carnivora. +</P> + +<P> +"That's how we work it," said he. "We give him the run of the room for +exercise, and then at night we put him in his cage. You can let him +out by turning the handle from the passage, or you can, as you have +seen, coop him up in the same way. No, no, you should not do that!" +</P> + +<P> +I had put my hand between the bars to pat the glossy, heaving flank. +He pulled it back, with a serious face. +</P> + +<P> +"I assure you that he is not safe. Don't imagine that because I can +take liberties with him anyone else can. He is very exclusive in his +friends—aren't you, Tommy? Ah, he hears his lunch coming to him! +Don't you, boy?" +</P> + +<P> +A step sounded in the stone-flagged passage, and the creature had +sprung to his feet, and was pacing up and down the narrow cage, his +yellow eyes gleaming, and his scarlet tongue rippling and quivering +over the white line of his jagged teeth. A groom entered with a coarse +joint upon a tray, and thrust it through the bars to him. He pounced +lightly upon it, carried it off to the corner, and there, holding it +between his paws, tore and wrenched at it, raising his bloody muzzle +every now and then to look at us. It was a malignant and yet +fascinating sight. +</P> + +<P> +"You can't wonder that I am fond of him, can you?" said my host, as we +left the room, "especially when you consider that I have had the +rearing of him. It was no joke bringing him over from the centre of +South America; but here he is safe and sound—and, as I have said, far +the most perfect specimen in Europe. The people at the Zoo are dying +to have him, but I really can't part with him. Now, I think that I have +inflicted my hobby upon you long enough, so we cannot do better than +follow Tommy's example, and go to our lunch." +</P> + +<P> +My South American relative was so engrossed by his grounds and their +curious occupants, that I hardly gave him credit at first for having +any interests outside them. That he had some, and pressing ones, was +soon borne in upon me by the number of telegrams which he received. +They arrived at all hours, and were always opened by him with the +utmost eagerness and anxiety upon his face. Sometimes I imagined that +it must be the Turf, and sometimes the Stock Exchange, but certainly he +had some very urgent business going forwards which was not transacted +upon the Downs of Suffolk. During the six days of my visit he had never +fewer than three or four telegrams a day, and sometimes as many as +seven or eight. +</P> + +<P> +I had occupied these six days so well, that by the end of them I had +succeeded in getting upon the most cordial terms with my cousin. Every +night we had sat up late in the billiard-room, he telling me the most +extraordinary stories of his adventures in America—stories so +desperate and reckless, that I could hardly associate them with the +brown little, chubby man before me. In return, I ventured upon some of +my own reminiscences of London life, which interested him so much, that +he vowed he would come up to Grosvenor Mansions and stay with me. He +was anxious to see the faster side of city life, and certainly, though +I say it, he could not have chosen a more competent guide. It was not +until the last day of my visit that I ventured to approach that which +was on my mind. I told him frankly about my pecuniary difficulties and +my impending ruin, and I asked his advice—though I hoped for something +more solid. He listened attentively, puffing hard at his cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"But surely," said he, "you are the heir of our relative, Lord +Southerton?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have every reason to believe so, but he would never make me any +allowance." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, I have heard of his miserly ways. My poor Marshall, your +position has been a very hard one. By the way, have you heard any news +of Lord Southerton's health lately?" +</P> + +<P> +"He has always been in a critical condition ever since my childhood." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly—a creaking hinge, if ever there was one. Your inheritance +may be a long way off. Dear me, how awkwardly situated you are!" +</P> + +<P> +"I had some hopes, sir, that you, knowing all the facts, might be +inclined to advance——" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't say another word, my dear boy," he cried, with the utmost +cordiality; "we shall talk it over tonight, and I give you my word that +whatever is in my power shall be done." +</P> + +<P> +I was not sorry that my visit was drawing to a close, for it is +unpleasant to feel that there is one person in the house who eagerly +desires your departure. Mrs. King's sallow face and forbidding eyes +had become more and more hateful to me. She was no longer actively +rude—her fear of her husband prevented her—but she pushed her insane +jealousy to the extent of ignoring me, never addressing me, and in +every way making my stay at Greylands as uncomfortable as she could. +So offensive was her manner during that last day, that I should +certainly have left had it not been for that interview with my host in +the evening which would, I hoped, retrieve my broken fortunes. +</P> + +<P> +It was very late when it occurred, for my relative, who had been +receiving even more telegrams than usual during the day, went off to +his study after dinner, and only emerged when the household had retired +to bed. I heard him go round locking the doors, as custom was of a +night, and finally he joined me in the billiard-room. His stout figure +was wrapped in a dressing-gown, and he wore a pair of red Turkish +slippers without any heels. Settling down into an arm-chair, he brewed +himself a glass of grog, in which I could not help noticing that the +whisky considerably predominated over the water. +</P> + +<P> +"My word!" said he, "what a night!" +</P> + +<P> +It was, indeed. The wind was howling and screaming round the house, +and the latticed windows rattled and shook as if they were coming in. +The glow of the yellow lamps and the flavour of our cigars seemed the +brighter and more fragrant for the contrast. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, my boy," said my host, "we have the house and the night to +ourselves. Let me have an idea of how your affairs stand, and I will +see what can be done to set them in order. I wish to hear every +detail." +</P> + +<P> +Thus encouraged, I entered into a long exposition, in which all my +tradesmen and creditors from my landlord to my valet, figured in turn. +I had notes in my pocket-book, and I marshalled my facts, and gave, I +flatter myself, a very businesslike statement of my own unbusinesslike +ways and lamentable position. I was depressed, however, to notice that +my companion's eyes were vacant and his attention elsewhere. When he +did occasionally throw out a remark it was so entirely perfunctory and +pointless, that I was sure he had not in the least followed my remarks. +Every now and then he roused himself and put on some show of interest, +asking me to repeat or to explain more fully, but it was always to sink +once more into the same brown study. At last he rose and threw the end +of his cigar into the grate. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you what, my boy," said he. "I never had a head for +figures, so you will excuse me. You must jot it all down upon paper, +and let me have a note of the amount. I'll understand it when I see it +in black and white." +</P> + +<P> +The proposal was encouraging. I promised to do so. +</P> + +<P> +"And now it's time we were in bed. By Jove, there's one o'clock +striking in the hall." +</P> + +<P> +The tingling of the chiming clock broke through the deep roar of the +gale. The wind was sweeping past with the rush of a great river. +</P> + +<P> +"I must see my cat before I go to bed," said my host. "A high wind +excites him. Will you come?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," said I. +</P> + +<P> +"Then tread softly and don't speak, for everyone is asleep." +</P> + +<P> +We passed quietly down the lamp-lit Persian-rugged hall, and through +the door at the farther end. All was dark in the stone corridor, but a +stable lantern hung on a hook, and my host took it down and lit it. +There was no grating visible in the passage, so I knew that the beast +was in its cage. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in!" said my relative, and opened the door. +</P> + +<P> +A deep growling as we entered showed that the storm had really excited +the creature. In the flickering light of the lantern, we saw it, a +huge black mass coiled in the corner of its den and throwing a squat, +uncouth shadow upon the whitewashed wall. Its tail switched angrily +among the straw. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Tommy is not in the best of tempers," said Everard King, holding +up the lantern and looking in at him. "What a black devil he looks, +doesn't he? I must give him a little supper to put him in a better +humour. Would you mind holding the lantern for a moment?" +</P> + +<P> +I took it from his hand and he stepped to the door. +</P> + +<P> +"His larder is just outside here," said he. "You will excuse me for an +instant won't you?" He passed out, and the door shut with a sharp +metallic click behind him. +</P> + +<P> +That hard crisp sound made my heart stand still. A sudden wave of +terror passed over me. A vague perception of some monstrous treachery +turned me cold. I sprang to the door, but there was no handle upon the +inner side. +</P> + +<P> +"Here!" I cried. "Let me out!" +</P> + +<P> +"All right! Don't make a row!" said my host from the passage. "You've +got the light all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I don't care about being locked in alone like this." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you?" I heard his hearty, chuckling laugh. "You won't be alone +long." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me out, sir!" I repeated angrily. "I tell you I don't allow +practical jokes of this sort." +</P> + +<P> +"Practical is the word," said he, with another hateful chuckle. And +then suddenly I heard, amidst the roar of the storm, the creak and +whine of the winch-handle turning and the rattle of the grating as it +passed through the slot. Great God, he was letting loose the Brazilian +cat! +</P> + +<P> +In the light of the lantern I saw the bars sliding slowly before me. +Already there was an opening a foot wide at the farther end. With a +scream I seized the last bar with my hands and pulled with the strength +of a madman. I WAS a madman with rage and horror. For a minute or +more I held the thing motionless. I knew that he was straining with +all his force upon the handle, and that the leverage was sure to +overcome me. I gave inch by inch, my feet sliding along the stones, +and all the time I begged and prayed this inhuman monster to save me +from this horrible death. I conjured him by his kinship. I reminded +him that I was his guest; I begged to know what harm I had ever done +him. His only answers were the tugs and jerks upon the handle, each of +which, in spite of all my struggles, pulled another bar through the +opening. Clinging and clutching, I was dragged across the whole front +of the cage, until at last, with aching wrists and lacerated fingers, I +gave up the hopeless struggle. The grating clanged back as I released +it, and an instant later I heard the shuffle of the Turkish slippers in +the passage, and the slam of the distant door. Then everything was +silent. +</P> + +<P> +The creature had never moved during this time. He lay still in the +corner, and his tail had ceased switching. This apparition of a man +adhering to his bars and dragged screaming across him had apparently +filled him with amazement. I saw his great eyes staring steadily at +me. I had dropped the lantern when I seized the bars, but it still +burned upon the floor, and I made a movement to grasp it, with some +idea that its light might protect me. But the instant I moved, the +beast gave a deep and menacing growl. I stopped and stood still, +quivering with fear in every limb. The cat (if one may call so fearful +a creature by so homely a name) was not more than ten feet from me. +The eyes glimmered like two disks of phosphorus in the darkness. They +appalled and yet fascinated me. I could not take my own eyes from +them. Nature plays strange tricks with us at such moments of +intensity, and those glimmering lights waxed and waned with a steady +rise and fall. Sometimes they seemed to be tiny points of extreme +brilliancy—little electric sparks in the black obscurity—then they +would widen and widen until all that corner of the room was filled with +their shifting and sinister light. And then suddenly they went out +altogether. +</P> + +<P> +The beast had closed its eyes. I do not know whether there may be any +truth in the old idea of the dominance of the human gaze, or whether +the huge cat was simply drowsy, but the fact remains that, far from +showing any symptom of attacking me, it simply rested its sleek, black +head upon its huge forepaws and seemed to sleep. I stood, fearing to +move lest I should rouse it into malignant life once more. But at +least I was able to think clearly now that the baleful eyes were off +me. Here I was shut up for the night with the ferocious beast. My own +instincts, to say nothing of the words of the plausible villain who +laid this trap for me, warned me that the animal was as savage as its +master. How could I stave it off until morning? The door was +hopeless, and so were the narrow, barred windows. There was no shelter +anywhere in the bare, stone-flagged room. To cry for assistance was +absurd. I knew that this den was an outhouse, and that the corridor +which connected it with the house was at least a hundred feet long. +Besides, with the gale thundering outside, my cries were not likely to +be heard. I had only my own courage and my own wits to trust to. +</P> + +<P> +And then, with a fresh wave of horror, my eyes fell upon the lantern. +The candle had burned low, and was already beginning to gutter. In ten +minutes it would be out. I had only ten minutes then in which to do +something, for I felt that if I were once left in the dark with that +fearful beast I should be incapable of action. The very thought of it +paralysed me. I cast my despairing eyes round this chamber of death, +and they rested upon one spot which seemed to promise I will not say +safety, but less immediate and imminent danger than the open floor. +</P> + +<P> +I have said that the cage had a top as well as a front, and this top +was left standing when the front was wound through the slot in the +wall. It consisted of bars at a few inches' interval, with stout wire +netting between, and it rested upon a strong stanchion at each end. It +stood now as a great barred canopy over the crouching figure in the +corner. The space between this iron shelf and the roof may have been +from two or three feet. If I could only get up there, squeezed in +between bars and ceiling, I should have only one vulnerable side. I +should be safe from below, from behind, and from each side. Only on +the open face of it could I be attacked. There, it is true, I had no +protection whatever; but at least, I should be out of the brute's path +when he began to pace about his den. He would have to come out of his +way to reach me. It was now or never, for if once the light were out +it would be impossible. With a gulp in my throat I sprang up, seized +the iron edge of the top, and swung myself panting on to it. I writhed +in face downwards, and found myself looking straight into the terrible +eyes and yawning jaws of the cat. Its fetid breath came up into my +face like the steam from some foul pot. +</P> + +<P> +It appeared, however, to be rather curious than angry. With a sleek +ripple of its long, black back it rose, stretched itself, and then +rearing itself on its hind legs, with one forepaw against the wall, it +raised the other, and drew its claws across the wire meshes beneath me. +One sharp, white hook tore through my trousers—for I may mention that +I was still in evening dress—and dug a furrow in my knee. It was not +meant as an attack, but rather as an experiment, for upon my giving a +sharp cry of pain he dropped down again, and springing lightly into the +room, he began walking swiftly round it, looking up every now and again +in my direction. For my part I shuffled backwards until I lay with my +back against the wall, screwing myself into the smallest space +possible. The farther I got the more difficult it was for him to +attack me. +</P> + +<P> +He seemed more excited now that he had begun to move about, and he ran +swiftly and noiselessly round and round the den, passing continually +underneath the iron couch upon which I lay. It was wonderful to see so +great a bulk passing like a shadow, with hardly the softest thudding of +velvety pads. The candle was burning low—so low that I could hardly +see the creature. And then, with a last flare and splutter it went out +altogether. I was alone with the cat in the dark! +</P> + +<P> +It helps one to face a danger when one knows that one has done all that +possibly can be done. There is nothing for it then but to quietly +await the result. In this case, there was no chance of safety anywhere +except the precise spot where I was. I stretched myself out, +therefore, and lay silently, almost breathlessly, hoping that the beast +might forget my presence if I did nothing to remind him. I reckoned +that it must already be two o'clock. At four it would be full dawn. I +had not more than two hours to wait for daylight. +</P> + +<P> +Outside, the storm was still raging, and the rain lashed continually +against the little windows. Inside, the poisonous and fetid air was +overpowering. I could neither hear nor see the cat. I tried to think +about other things—but only one had power enough to draw my mind from +my terrible position. That was the contemplation of my cousin's +villainy, his unparalleled hypocrisy, his malignant hatred of me. +Beneath that cheerful face there lurked the spirit of a mediaeval +assassin. And as I thought of it I saw more clearly how cunningly the +thing had been arranged. He had apparently gone to bed with the +others. No doubt he had his witness to prove it. Then, unknown to +them, he had slipped down, had lured me into his den and abandoned me. +His story would be so simple. He had left me to finish my cigar in the +billiard-room. I had gone down on my own account to have a last look at +the cat. I had entered the room without observing that the cage was +opened, and I had been caught. How could such a crime be brought home +to him? Suspicion, perhaps—but proof, never! +</P> + +<P> +How slowly those dreadful two hours went by! Once I heard a low, +rasping sound, which I took to be the creature licking its own fur. +Several times those greenish eyes gleamed at me through the darkness, +but never in a fixed stare, and my hopes grew stronger that my presence +had been forgotten or ignored. At last the least faint glimmer of +light came through the windows—I first dimly saw them as two grey +squares upon the black wall, then grey turned to white, and I could see +my terrible companion once more. And he, alas, could see me! +</P> + +<P> +It was evident to me at once that he was in a much more dangerous and +aggressive mood than when I had seen him last. The cold of the morning +had irritated him, and he was hungry as well. With a continual growl he +paced swiftly up and down the side of the room which was farthest from +my refuge, his whiskers bristling angrily, and his tail switching and +lashing. As he turned at the corners his savage eyes always looked +upwards at me with a dreadful menace. I knew then that he meant to +kill me. Yet I found myself even at that moment admiring the sinuous +grace of the devilish thing, its long, undulating, rippling movements, +the gloss of its beautiful flanks, the vivid, palpitating scarlet of +the glistening tongue which hung from the jet-black muzzle. And all +the time that deep, threatening growl was rising and rising in an +unbroken crescendo. I knew that the crisis was at hand. +</P> + +<P> +It was a miserable hour to meet such a death—so cold, so comfortless, +shivering in my light dress clothes upon this gridiron of torment upon +which I was stretched. I tried to brace myself to it, to raise my soul +above it, and at the same time, with the lucidity which comes to a +perfectly desperate man, I cast round for some possible means of +escape. One thing was clear to me. If that front of the cage was only +back in its position once more, I could find a sure refuge behind it. +Could I possibly pull it back? I hardly dared to move for fear of +bringing the creature upon me. Slowly, very slowly, I put my hand +forward until it grasped the edge of the front, the final bar which +protruded through the wall. To my surprise it came quite easily to my +jerk. Of course the difficulty of drawing it out arose from the fact +that I was clinging to it. I pulled again, and three inches of it came +through. It ran apparently on wheels. I pulled again ... and then +the cat sprang! +</P> + +<P> +It was so quick, so sudden, that I never saw it happen. I simply heard +the savage snarl, and in an instant afterwards the blazing yellow eyes, +the flattened black head with its red tongue and flashing teeth, were +within reach of me. The impact of the creature shook the bars upon +which I lay, until I thought (as far as I could think of anything at +such a moment) that they were coming down. The cat swayed there for an +instant, the head and front paws quite close to me, the hind paws +clawing to find a grip upon the edge of the grating. I heard the claws +rasping as they clung to the wire-netting, and the breath of the beast +made me sick. But its bound had been miscalculated. It could not +retain its position. Slowly, grinning with rage, and scratching madly +at the bars, it swung backwards and dropped heavily upon the floor. +With a growl it instantly faced round to me and crouched for another +spring. +</P> + +<P> +I knew that the next few moments would decide my fate. The creature +had learned by experience. It would not miscalculate again. I must +act promptly, fearlessly, if I were to have a chance for life. In an +instant I had formed my plan. Pulling off my dress-coat, I threw it +down over the head of the beast. At the same moment I dropped over the +edge, seized the end of the front grating, and pulled it frantically +out of the wall. +</P> + +<P> +It came more easily than I could have expected. I rushed across the +room, bearing it with me; but, as I rushed, the accident of my position +put me upon the outer side. Had it been the other way, I might have +come off scathless. As it was, there was a moment's pause as I stopped +it and tried to pass in through the opening which I had left. That +moment was enough to give time to the creature to toss off the coat +with which I had blinded him and to spring upon me. I hurled myself +through the gap and pulled the rails to behind me, but he seized my leg +before I could entirely withdraw it. One stroke of that huge paw tore +off my calf as a shaving of wood curls off before a plane. The next +moment, bleeding and fainting, I was lying among the foul straw with a +line of friendly bars between me and the creature which ramped so +frantically against them. +</P> + +<P> +Too wounded to move, and too faint to be conscious of fear, I could +only lie, more dead than alive, and watch it. It pressed its broad, +black chest against the bars and angled for me with its crooked paws as +I have seen a kitten do before a mouse-trap. It ripped my clothes, +but, stretch as it would, it could not quite reach me. I have heard of +the curious numbing effect produced by wounds from the great carnivora, +and now I was destined to experience it, for I had lost all sense of +personality, and was as interested in the cat's failure or success as +if it were some game which I was watching. And then gradually my mind +drifted away into strange vague dreams, always with that black face and +red tongue coming back into them, and so I lost myself in the nirvana +of delirium, the blessed relief of those who are too sorely tried. +</P> + +<P> +Tracing the course of events afterwards, I conclude that I must have +been insensible for about two hours. What roused me to consciousness +once more was that sharp metallic click which had been the precursor of +my terrible experience. It was the shooting back of the spring lock. +Then, before my senses were clear enough to entirely apprehend what +they saw, I was aware of the round, benevolent face of my cousin +peering in through the open door. What he saw evidently amazed him. +There was the cat crouching on the floor. I was stretched upon my back +in my shirt-sleeves within the cage, my trousers torn to ribbons and a +great pool of blood all round me. I can see his amazed face now, with +the morning sunlight upon it. He peered at me, and peered again. Then +he closed the door behind him, and advanced to the cage to see if I +were really dead. +</P> + +<P> +I cannot undertake to say what happened. I was not in a fit state to +witness or to chronicle such events. I can only say that I was +suddenly conscious that his face was away from me—that he was looking +towards the animal. +</P> + +<P> +"Good old Tommy!" he cried. "Good old Tommy!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he came near the bars, with his back still towards me. +</P> + +<P> +"Down, you stupid beast!" he roared. "Down, sir! Don't you know your +master?" +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly even in my bemuddled brain a remembrance came of those words +of his when he had said that the taste of blood would turn the cat into +a fiend. My blood had done it, but he was to pay the price. +</P> + +<P> +"Get away!" he screamed. "Get away, you devil! Baldwin! Baldwin! Oh, +my God!" +</P> + +<P> +And then I heard him fall, and rise, and fall again, with a sound like +the ripping of sacking. His screams grew fainter until they were lost +in the worrying snarl. And then, after I thought that he was dead, I +saw, as in a nightmare, a blinded, tattered, blood-soaked figure +running wildly round the room—and that was the last glimpse which I +had of him before I fainted once again. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I was many months in my recovery—in fact, I cannot say that I have +ever recovered, for to the end of my days I shall carry a stick as a +sign of my night with the Brazilian cat. Baldwin, the groom, and the +other servants could not tell what had occurred, when, drawn by the +death-cries of their master, they found me behind the bars, and his +remains—or what they afterwards discovered to be his remains—in the +clutch of the creature which he had reared. They stalled him off with +hot irons, and afterwards shot him through the loophole of the door +before they could finally extricate me. I was carried to my bedroom, +and there, under the roof of my would-be murderer, I remained between +life and death for several weeks. They had sent for a surgeon from +Clipton and a nurse from London, and in a month I was able to be +carried to the station, and so conveyed back once more to Grosvenor +Mansions. +</P> + +<P> +I have one remembrance of that illness, which might have been part of +the ever-changing panorama conjured up by a delirious brain were it not +so definitely fixed in my memory. One night, when the nurse was +absent, the door of my chamber opened, and a tall woman in blackest +mourning slipped into the room. She came across to me, and as she bent +her sallow face I saw by the faint gleam of the night-light that it was +the Brazilian woman whom my cousin had married. She stared intently +into my face, and her expression was more kindly than I had ever seen +it. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you conscious?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +I feebly nodded—for I was still very weak. +</P> + +<P> +"Well; then, I only wished to say to you that you have yourself to +blame. Did I not do all I could for you? From the beginning I tried +to drive you from the house. By every means, short of betraying my +husband, I tried to save you from him. I knew that he had a reason for +bringing you here. I knew that he would never let you get away again. +No one knew him as I knew him, who had suffered from him so often. I +did not dare to tell you all this. He would have killed me. But I did +my best for you. As things have turned out, you have been the best +friend that I have ever had. You have set me free, and I fancied that +nothing but death would do that. I am sorry if you are hurt, but I +cannot reproach myself. I told you that you were a fool—and a fool +you have been." She crept out of the room, the bitter, singular woman, +and I was never destined to see her again. With what remained from her +husband's property she went back to her native land, and I have heard +that she afterwards took the veil at Pernambuco. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until I had been back in London for some time that the +doctors pronounced me to be well enough to do business. It was not a +very welcome permission to me, for I feared that it would be the signal +for an inrush of creditors; but it was Summers, my lawyer, who first +took advantage of it. +</P> + +<P> +"I am very glad to see that your lordship is so much better," said he. +"I have been waiting a long time to offer my congratulations." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean, Summers? This is no time for joking." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean what I say," he answered. "You have been Lord Southerton for +the last six weeks, but we feared that it would retard your recovery if +you were to learn it." +</P> + +<P> +Lord Southerton! One of the richest peers in England! I could not +believe my ears. And then suddenly I thought of the time which had +elapsed, and how it coincided with my injuries. +</P> + +<P> +"Then Lord Southerton must have died about the same time that I was +hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +"His death occurred upon that very day." Summers looked hard at me as +I spoke, and I am convinced—for he was a very shrewd fellow—that he +had guessed the true state of the case. He paused for a moment as if +awaiting a confidence from me, but I could not see what was to be +gained by exposing such a family scandal. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a very curious coincidence," he continued, with the same knowing +look. "Of course, you are aware that your cousin Everard King was the +next heir to the estates. Now, if it had been you instead of him who +had been torn to pieces by this tiger, or whatever it was, then of +course he would have been Lord Southerton at the present moment." +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt," said I. +</P> + +<P> +"And he took such an interest in it," said Summers. "I happen to know +that the late Lord Southerton's valet was in his pay, and that he used +to have telegrams from him every few hours to tell him how he was +getting on. That would be about the time when you were down there. +Was it not strange that he should wish to be so well informed, since he +knew that he was not the direct heir?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very strange," said I. "And now, Summers, if you will bring me my +bills and a new cheque-book, we will begin to get things into order." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="special"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Tales of Mystery +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Lost Special +</H3> + +<P> +The confession of Herbert de Lernac, now lying under sentence of death +at Marseilles, has thrown a light upon one of the most inexplicable +crimes of the century—an incident which is, I believe, absolutely +unprecedented in the criminal annals of any country: Although there is +a reluctance to discuss the matter in official circles, and little +information has been given to the Press, there are still indications +that the statement of this arch-criminal is corroborated by the facts, +and that we have at last found a solution for a most astounding +business. As the matter is eight years old, and as its importance was +somewhat obscured by a political crisis which was engaging the public +attention at the time, it may be as well to state the facts as far as +we have been able to ascertain them. They are collated from the +Liverpool papers of that date, from the proceedings at the inquest upon +John Slater, the engine-driver, and from the records of the London and +West Coast Railway Company, which have been courteously put at my +disposal. Briefly, they are as follows: +</P> + +<P> +On the 3rd of June, 1890, a gentleman, who gave his name as Monsieur +Louis Caratal, desired an interview with Mr. James Bland, the +superintendent of the London and West Coast Central Station in +Liverpool. He was a small man, middle-aged and dark, with a stoop +which was so marked that it suggested some deformity of the spine. He +was accompanied by a friend, a man of imposing physique, whose +deferential manner and constant attention showed that his position was +one of dependence. This friend or companion, whose name did not +transpire, was certainly a foreigner, and probably from his swarthy +complexion, either a Spaniard or a South American. One peculiarity was +observed in him. He carried in his left hand a small black, leather +dispatch box, and it was noticed by a sharp-eyed clerk in the Central +office that this box was fastened to his wrist by a strap. No +importance was attached to the fact at the time, but subsequent events +endowed it with some significance. Monsieur Caratal was shown up to Mr. +Bland's office, while his companion remained outside. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Caratal's business was quickly dispatched. He had arrived +that afternoon from Central America. Affairs of the utmost importance +demanded that he should be in Paris without the loss of an unnecessary +hour. He had missed the London express. A special must be provided. +Money was of no importance. Time was everything. If the company would +speed him on his way, they might make their own terms. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Bland struck the electric bell, summoned Mr. Potter Hood, the +traffic manager, and had the matter arranged in five minutes. The train +would start in three-quarters of an hour. It would take that time to +insure that the line should be clear. The powerful engine called +Rochdale (No. 247 on the company's register) was attached to two +carriages, with a guard's van behind. The first carriage was solely +for the purpose of decreasing the inconvenience arising from the +oscillation. The second was divided, as usual, into four compartments, +a first-class, a first-class smoking, a second-class, and a +second-class smoking. The first compartment, which was nearest to the +engine, was the one allotted to the travellers. The other three were +empty. The guard of the special train was James McPherson, who had +been some years in the service of the company. The stoker, William +Smith, was a new hand. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Caratal, upon leaving the superintendent's office, rejoined +his companion, and both of them manifested extreme impatience to be +off. Having paid the money asked, which amounted to fifty pounds five +shillings, at the usual special rate of five shillings a mile, they +demanded to be shown the carriage, and at once took their seats in it, +although they were assured that the better part of an hour must elapse +before the line could be cleared. In the meantime a singular +coincidence had occurred in the office which Monsieur Caratal had just +quitted. +</P> + +<P> +A request for a special is not a very uncommon circumstance in a rich +commercial centre, but that two should be required upon the same +afternoon was most unusual. It so happened, however, that Mr. Bland +had hardly dismissed the first traveller before a second entered with a +similar request. This was a Mr. Horace Moore, a gentlemanly man of +military appearance, who alleged that the sudden serious illness of his +wife in London made it absolutely imperative that he should not lose an +instant in starting upon the journey. His distress and anxiety were so +evident that Mr. Bland did all that was possible to meet his wishes. A +second special was out of the question, as the ordinary local service +was already somewhat deranged by the first. There was the alternative, +however, that Mr. Moore should share the expense of Monsieur Caratal's +train, and should travel in the other empty first-class compartment, if +Monsieur Caratal objected to having him in the one which he occupied. +It was difficult to see any objection to such an arrangement, and yet +Monsieur Caratal, upon the suggestion being made to him by Mr. Potter +Hood, absolutely refused to consider it for an instant. The train was +his, he said, and he would insist upon the exclusive use of it. All +argument failed to overcome his ungracious objections, and finally the +plan had to be abandoned. Mr. Horace Moore left the station in great +distress, after learning that his only course was to take the ordinary +slow train which leaves Liverpool at six o'clock. At four thirty-one +exactly by the station clock the special train, containing the crippled +Monsieur Caratal and his gigantic companion, steamed out of the +Liverpool station. The line was at that time clear, and there should +have been no stoppage before Manchester. +</P> + +<P> +The trains of the London and West Coast Railway run over the lines of +another company as far as this town, which should have been reached by +the special rather before six o'clock. At a quarter after six +considerable surprise and some consternation were caused amongst the +officials at Liverpool by the receipt of a telegram from Manchester to +say that it had not yet arrived. An inquiry directed to St. Helens, +which is a third of the way between the two cities, elicited the +following reply— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"To James Bland, Superintendent, Central L. & W. C., +Liverpool.—Special passed here at 4:52, well up to time.—Dowster, St. +Helens." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This telegram was received at six-forty. At six-fifty a second message +was received from Manchester— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"No sign of special as advised by you." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And then ten minutes later a third, more bewildering— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Presume some mistake as to proposed running of special. Local train +from St. Helens timed to follow it has just arrived and has seen +nothing of it. Kindly wire advices.—Manchester." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The matter was assuming a most amazing aspect, although in some +respects the last telegram was a relief to the authorities at +Liverpool. If an accident had occurred to the special, it seemed +hardly possible that the local train could have passed down the same +line without observing it. And yet, what was the alternative? Where +could the train be? Had it possibly been sidetracked for some reason +in order to allow the slower train to go past? Such an explanation was +possible if some small repair had to be effected. A telegram was +dispatched to each of the stations between St. Helens and Manchester, +and the superintendent and traffic manager waited in the utmost +suspense at the instrument for the series of replies which would enable +them to say for certain what had become of the missing train. The +answers came back in the order of questions, which was the order of the +stations beginning at the St. Helens end— +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Special passed here five o'clock.—Collins Green." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Special passed here six past five.—Earlstown." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Special passed here 5:10.—Newton." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Special passed here 5:20.—Kenyon Junction." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"No special train has passed here.—Barton Moss." +</P> + +<P> +The two officials stared at each other in amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"This is unique in my thirty years of experience," said Mr. Bland. +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely unprecedented and inexplicable, sir. The special has gone +wrong between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet there is no siding, so far as my memory serves me, between the +two stations. The special must have run off the metals." +</P> + +<P> +"But how could the four-fifty parliamentary pass over the same line +without observing it?" +</P> + +<P> +"There's no alternative, Mr. Hood. It must be so. Possibly the local +train may have observed something which may throw some light upon the +matter. We will wire to Manchester for more information, and to Kenyon +Junction with instructions that the line be examined instantly as far +as Barton Moss." The answer from Manchester came within a few minutes. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"No news of missing special. Driver and guard of slow train positive +no accident between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss. Line quite clear, +and no sign of anything unusual.—Manchester." +</P> + +<P> +"That driver and guard will have to go," said Mr. Bland, grimly. +"There has been a wreck and they have missed it. The special has +obviously run off the metals without disturbing the line—how it could +have done so passes my comprehension—but so it must be, and we shall +have a wire from Kenyon or Barton Moss presently to say that they have +found her at the bottom of an embankment." +</P> + +<P> +But Mr. Bland's prophecy was not destined to be fulfilled. Half an hour +passed, and then there arrived the following message from the +station-master of Kenyon Junction— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"There are no traces of the missing special. It is quite certain that +she passed here, and that she did not arrive at Barton Moss. We have +detached engine from goods train, and I have myself ridden down the +line, but all is clear, and there is no sign of any accident." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mr. Bland tore his hair in his perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"This is rank lunacy, Hood!" he cried. "Does a train vanish into thin +air in England in broad daylight? The thing is preposterous. An +engine, a tender, two carriages, a van, five human beings—and all lost +on a straight line of railway! Unless we get something positive within +the next hour I'll take Inspector Collins, and go down myself." +</P> + +<P> +And then at last something positive did occur. It took the shape of +another telegram from Kenyon Junction. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Regret to report that the dead body of John Slater, driver of the +special train, has just been found among the gorse bushes at a point +two and a quarter miles from the Junction. Had fallen from his engine, +pitched down the embankment, and rolled among the bushes. Injuries to +his head, from the fall, appear to be cause of death. Ground has now +been carefully examined, and there is no trace of the missing train." +</P> + +<P> +The country was, as has already been stated, in the throes of a +political crisis, and the attention of the public was further +distracted by the important and sensational developments in Paris, +where a huge scandal threatened to destroy the Government and to wreck +the reputations of many of the leading men in France. The papers were +full of these events, and the singular disappearance of the special +train attracted less attention than would have been the case in more +peaceful times. The grotesque nature of the event helped to detract +from its importance, for the papers were disinclined to believe the +facts as reported to them. More than one of the London journals treated +the matter as an ingenious hoax, until the coroner's inquest upon the +unfortunate driver (an inquest which elicited nothing of importance) +convinced them of the tragedy of the incident. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Bland, accompanied by Inspector Collins, the senior detective +officer in the service of the company, went down to Kenyon Junction the +same evening, and their research lasted throughout the following day, +but was attended with purely negative results. Not only was no trace +found of the missing train, but no conjecture could be put forward +which could possibly explain the facts. At the same time, Inspector +Collins's official report (which lies before me as I write) served to +show that the possibilities were more numerous than might have been +expected. +</P> + +<P> +"In the stretch of railway between these two points," said he, "the +country is dotted with ironworks and collieries. Of these, some are +being worked and some have been abandoned. There are no fewer than +twelve which have small-gauge lines which run trolly-cars down to the +main line. These can, of course, be disregarded. Besides these, +however, there are seven which have, or have had, proper lines running +down and connecting with points to the main line, so as to convey their +produce from the mouth of the mine to the great centres of +distribution. In every case these lines are only a few miles in +length. Out of the seven, four belong to collieries which are worked +out, or at least to shafts which are no longer used. These are the +Redgauntlet, Hero, Slough of Despond, and Heartsease mines, the latter +having ten years ago been one of the principal mines in Lancashire. +These four side lines may be eliminated from our inquiry, for, to +prevent possible accidents, the rails nearest to the main line have +been taken up, and there is no longer any connection. There remain +three other side lines leading— +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + (a) To the Carnstock Iron Works;<BR> + (b) To the Big Ben Colliery;<BR> + (c) To the Perseverance Colliery.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Of these the Big Ben line is not more than a quarter of a mile long, +and ends at a dead wall of coal waiting removal from the mouth of the +mine. Nothing had been seen or heard there of any special. The +Carnstock Iron Works line was blocked all day upon the 3rd of June by +sixteen truckloads of hematite. It is a single line, and nothing could +have passed. As to the Perseverance line, it is a large double line, +which does a considerable traffic, for the output of the mine is very +large. On the 3rd of June this traffic proceeded as usual; hundreds of +men including a gang of railway platelayers were working along the two +miles and a quarter which constitute the total length of the line, and +it is inconceivable that an unexpected train could have come down there +without attracting universal attention. It may be remarked in +conclusion that this branch line is nearer to St. Helens than the point +at which the engine-driver was discovered, so that we have every reason +to believe that the train was past that point before misfortune +overtook her. +</P> + +<P> +"As to John Slater, there is no clue to be gathered from his appearance +or injuries. We can only say that, so far as we can see, he met his +end by falling off his engine, though why he fell, or what became of +the engine after his fall, is a question upon which I do not feel +qualified to offer an opinion." In conclusion, the inspector offered +his resignation to the Board, being much nettled by an accusation of +incompetence in the London papers. +</P> + +<P> +A month elapsed, during which both the police and the company +prosecuted their inquiries without the slightest success. A reward was +offered and a pardon promised in case of crime, but they were both +unclaimed. Every day the public opened their papers with the +conviction that so grotesque a mystery would at last be solved, but +week after week passed by, and a solution remained as far off as ever. +In broad daylight, upon a June afternoon in the most thickly inhabited +portion of England, a train with its occupants had disappeared as +completely as if some master of subtle chemistry had volatilized it +into gas. Indeed, among the various conjectures which were put forward +in the public Press, there were some which seriously asserted that +supernatural, or, at least, preternatural, agencies had been at work, +and that the deformed Monsieur Caratal was probably a person who was +better known under a less polite name. Others fixed upon his swarthy +companion as being the author of the mischief, but what it was exactly +which he had done could never be clearly formulated in words. +</P> + +<P> +Amongst the many suggestions put forward by various newspapers or +private individuals, there were one or two which were feasible enough +to attract the attention of the public. One which appeared in The +Times, over the signature of an amateur reasoner of some celebrity at +that date, attempted to deal with the matter in a critical and +semi-scientific manner. An extract must suffice, although the curious +can see the whole letter in the issue of the 3rd of July. +</P> + +<P> +"It is one of the elementary principles of practical reasoning," he +remarked, "that when the impossible has been eliminated the residuum, +HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must contain the truth. It is certain that the +train left Kenyon Junction. It is certain that it did not reach Barton +Moss. It is in the highest degree unlikely, but still possible, that +it may have taken one of the seven available side lines. It is +obviously impossible for a train to run where there are no rails, and, +therefore, we may reduce our improbables to the three open lines, +namely the Carnstock Iron Works, the Big Ben, and the Perseverance. Is +there a secret society of colliers, an English Camorra, which is +capable of destroying both train and passengers? It is improbable, but +it is not impossible. I confess that I am unable to suggest any other +solution. I should certainly advise the company to direct all their +energies towards the observation of those three lines, and of the +workmen at the end of them. A careful supervision of the pawnbrokers' +shops of the district might possibly bring some suggestive facts to +light." +</P> + +<P> +The suggestion coming from a recognized authority upon such matters +created considerable interest, and a fierce opposition from those who +considered such a statement to be a preposterous libel upon an honest +and deserving set of men. The only answer to this criticism was a +challenge to the objectors to lay any more feasible explanations before +the public. In reply to this two others were forthcoming (Times, July +7th and 9th). The first suggested that the train might have run off +the metals and be lying submerged in the Lancashire and Staffordshire +Canal, which runs parallel to the railway for some hundred of yards. +This suggestion was thrown out of court by the published depth of the +canal, which was entirely insufficient to conceal so large an object. +The second correspondent wrote calling attention to the bag which +appeared to be the sole luggage which the travellers had brought with +them, and suggesting that some novel explosive of immense and +pulverizing power might have been concealed in it. The obvious +absurdity, however, of supposing that the whole train might be blown to +dust while the metals remained uninjured reduced any such explanation +to a farce. The investigation had drifted into this hopeless position +when a new and most unexpected incident occurred. +</P> + +<P> +This was nothing less than the receipt by Mrs. McPherson of a letter +from her husband, James McPherson, who had been the guard on the +missing train. The letter, which was dated July 5th, 1890, was posted +from New York and came to hand upon July 14th. Some doubts were +expressed as to its genuine character but Mrs. McPherson was positive +as to the writing, and the fact that it contained a remittance of a +hundred dollars in five-dollar notes was enough in itself to discount +the idea of a hoax. No address was given in the letter, which ran in +this way: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +MY DEAR WIFE,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I have been thinking a great deal, and I find it very hard to give you +up. The same with Lizzie. I try to fight against it, but it will +always come back to me. I send you some money which will change into +twenty English pounds. This should be enough to bring both Lizzie and +you across the Atlantic, and you will find the Hamburg boats which stop +at Southampton very good boats, and cheaper than Liverpool. If you +could come here and stop at the Johnston House I would try and send you +word how to meet, but things are very difficult with me at present, and +I am not very happy, finding it hard to give you both up. So no more +at present, from your loving husband, +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"James McPherson." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +For a time it was confidently anticipated that this letter would lead +to the clearing up of the whole matter, the more so as it was +ascertained that a passenger who bore a close resemblance to the +missing guard had travelled from Southampton under the name of Summers +in the Hamburg and New York liner Vistula, which started upon the 7th +of June. Mrs. McPherson and her sister Lizzie Dolton went across to +New York as directed and stayed for three weeks at the Johnston House, +without hearing anything from the missing man. It is probable that +some injudicious comments in the Press may have warned him that the +police were using them as a bait. However, this may be, it is certain +that he neither wrote nor came, and the women were eventually compelled +to return to Liverpool. +</P> + +<P> +And so the matter stood, and has continued to stand up to the present +year of 1898. Incredible as it may seem, nothing has transpired during +these eight years which has shed the least light upon the extraordinary +disappearance of the special train which contained Monsieur Caratal and +his companion. Careful inquiries into the antecedents of the two +travellers have only established the fact that Monsieur Caratal was +well known as a financier and political agent in Central America, and +that during his voyage to Europe he had betrayed extraordinary anxiety +to reach Paris. His companion, whose name was entered upon the +passenger lists as Eduardo Gomez, was a man whose record was a violent +one, and whose reputation was that of a bravo and a bully. There was +evidence to show, however, that he was honestly devoted to the +interests of Monsieur Caratal, and that the latter, being a man of puny +physique, employed the other as a guard and protector. It may be added +that no information came from Paris as to what the objects of Monsieur +Caratal's hurried journey may have been. This comprises all the facts +of the case up to the publication in the Marseilles papers of the +recent confession of Herbert de Lernac, now under sentence of death for +the murder of a merchant named Bonvalot. This statement may be +literally translated as follows: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"It is not out of mere pride or boasting that I give this information, +for, if that were my object, I could tell a dozen actions of mine which +are quite as splendid; but I do it in order that certain gentlemen in +Paris may understand that I, who am able here to tell about the fate of +Monsieur Caratal, can also tell in whose interest and at whose request +the deed was done, unless the reprieve which I am awaiting comes to me +very quickly. Take warning, messieurs, before it is too late! You +know Herbert de Lernac, and you are aware that his deeds are as ready +as his words. Hasten then, or you are lost! +</P> + +<P> +"At present I shall mention no names—if you only heard the names, what +would you not think!—but I shall merely tell you how cleverly I did +it. I was true to my employers then, and no doubt they will be true to +me now. I hope so, and until I am convinced that they have betrayed +me, these names, which would convulse Europe, shall not be divulged. +But on that day ... well, I say no more! +</P> + +<P> +"In a word, then, there was a famous trial in Paris, in the year 1890, +in connection with a monstrous scandal in politics and finance. How +monstrous that scandal was can never be known save by such confidential +agents as myself. The honour and careers of many of the chief men in +France were at stake. You have seen a group of ninepins standing, all +so rigid, and prim, and unbending. Then there comes the ball from far +away and pop, pop, pop—there are your ninepins on the floor. Well, +imagine some of the greatest men in France as these ninepins and then +this Monsieur Caratal was the ball which could be seen coming from far +away. If he arrived, then it was pop, pop, pop for all of them. It +was determined that he should not arrive. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not accuse them all of being conscious of what was to happen. +There were, as I have said, great financial as well as political +interests at stake, and a syndicate was formed to manage the business. +Some subscribed to the syndicate who hardly understood what were its +objects. But others understood very well, and they can rely upon it +that I have not forgotten their names. They had ample warning that +Monsieur Caratal was coming long before he left South America, and they +knew that the evidence which he held would certainly mean ruin to all +of them. The syndicate had the command of an unlimited amount of +money—absolutely unlimited, you understand. They looked round for an +agent who was capable of wielding this gigantic power. The man chosen +must be inventive, resolute, adaptive—a man in a million. They chose +Herbert de Lernac, and I admit that they were right. +</P> + +<P> +"My duties were to choose my subordinates, to use freely the power +which money gives, and to make certain that Monsieur Caratal should +never arrive in Paris. With characteristic energy I set about my +commission within an hour of receiving my instructions, and the steps +which I took were the very best for the purpose which could possibly be +devised. +</P> + +<P> +"A man whom I could trust was dispatched instantly to South America to +travel home with Monsieur Caratal. Had he arrived in time the ship +would never have reached Liverpool; but alas! it had already started +before my agent could reach it. I fitted out a small armed brig to +intercept it, but again I was unfortunate. Like all great organizers I +was, however, prepared for failure, and had a series of alternatives +prepared, one or the other of which must succeed. You must not +underrate the difficulties of my undertaking, or imagine that a mere +commonplace assassination would meet the case. We must destroy not +only Monsieur Caratal, but Monsieur Caratal's documents, and Monsieur +Caratal's companions also, if we had reason to believe that he had +communicated his secrets to them. And you must remember that they were +on the alert, and keenly suspicious of any such attempt. It was a task +which was in every way worthy of me, for I am always most masterful +where another would be appalled. +</P> + +<P> +"I was all ready for Monsieur Caratal's reception in Liverpool, and I +was the more eager because I had reason to believe that he had made +arrangements by which he would have a considerable guard from the +moment that he arrived in London. Anything which was to be done must +be done between the moment of his setting foot upon the Liverpool quay +and that of his arrival at the London and West Coast terminus in +London. We prepared six plans, each more elaborate than the last; +which plan would be used would depend upon his own movements. Do what +he would, we were ready for him. If he had stayed in Liverpool, we +were ready. If he took an ordinary train, an express, or a special, +all was ready. Everything had been foreseen and provided for. +</P> + +<P> +"You may imagine that I could not do all this myself. What could I +know of the English railway lines? But money can procure willing +agents all the world over, and I soon had one of the acutest brains in +England to assist me. I will mention no names, but it would be unjust +to claim all the credit for myself. My English ally was worthy of such +an alliance. He knew the London and West Coast line thoroughly, and he +had the command of a band of workers who were trustworthy and +intelligent. The idea was his, and my own judgement was only required +in the details. We bought over several officials, amongst whom the +most important was James McPherson, whom we had ascertained to be the +guard most likely to be employed upon a special train. Smith, the +stoker, was also in our employ. John Slater, the engine-driver, had +been approached, but had been found to be obstinate and dangerous, so +we desisted. We had no certainty that Monsieur Caratal would take a +special, but we thought it very probable, for it was of the utmost +importance to him that he should reach Paris without delay. It was for +this contingency, therefore, that we made special +preparations—preparations which were complete down to the last detail +long before his steamer had sighted the shores of England. You will be +amused to learn that there was one of my agents in the pilot-boat which +brought that steamer to its moorings. +</P> + +<P> +"The moment that Caratal arrived in Liverpool we knew that he suspected +danger and was on his guard. He had brought with him as an escort a +dangerous fellow, named Gomez, a man who carried weapons, and was +prepared to use them. This fellow carried Caratal's confidential +papers for him, and was ready to protect either them or his master. +The probability was that Caratal had taken him into his counsel, and +that to remove Caratal without removing Gomez would be a mere waste of +energy. It was necessary that they should be involved in a common +fate, and our plans to that end were much facilitated by their request +for a special train. On that special train you will understand that +two out of the three servants of the company were really in our employ, +at a price which would make them independent for a lifetime. I do not +go so far as to say that the English are more honest than any other +nation, but I have found them more expensive to buy. +</P> + +<P> +"I have already spoken of my English agent—who is a man with a +considerable future before him, unless some complaint of the throat +carries him off before his time. He had charge of all arrangements at +Liverpool, whilst I was stationed at the inn at Kenyon, where I awaited +a cipher signal to act. When the special was arranged for, my agent +instantly telegraphed to me and warned me how soon I should have +everything ready. He himself under the name of Horace Moore applied +immediately for a special also, in the hope that he would be sent down +with Monsieur Caratal, which might under certain circumstances have +been helpful to us. If, for example, our great coup had failed, it +would then have become the duty of my agent to have shot them both and +destroyed their papers. Caratal was on his guard, however, and refused +to admit any other traveller. My agent then left the station, returned +by another entrance, entered the guard's van on the side farthest from +the platform, and travelled down with McPherson the guard. +</P> + +<P> +"In the meantime you will be interested to know what my movements were. +Everything had been prepared for days before, and only the finishing +touches were needed. The side line which we had chosen had once joined +the main line, but it had been disconnected. We had only to replace a +few rails to connect it once more. These rails had been laid down as +far as could be done without danger of attracting attention, and now it +was merely a case of completing a juncture with the line, and arranging +the points as they had been before. The sleepers had never been +removed, and the rails, fish-plates and rivets were all ready, for we +had taken them from a siding on the abandoned portion of the line. +With my small but competent band of workers, we had everything ready +long before the special arrived. When it did arrive, it ran off upon +the small side line so easily that the jolting of the points appears to +have been entirely unnoticed by the two travellers. +</P> + +<P> +"Our plan had been that Smith, the stoker, should chloroform John +Slater, the driver, so that he should vanish with the others. In this +respect, and in this respect only, our plans miscarried—I except the +criminal folly of McPherson in writing home to his wife. Our stoker did +his business so clumsily that Slater in his struggles fell off the +engine, and though fortune was with us so far that he broke his neck in +the fall, still he remained as a blot upon that which would otherwise +have been one of those complete masterpieces which are only to be +contemplated in silent admiration. The criminal expert will find in +John Slater the one flaw in all our admirable combinations. A man who +has had as many triumphs as I can afford to be frank, and I therefore +lay my finger upon John Slater, and I proclaim him to be a flaw. +</P> + +<P> +"But now I have got our special train upon the small line two +kilometres, or rather more than one mile, in length, which leads, or +rather used to lead, to the abandoned Heartsease mine, once one of the +largest coal mines in England. You will ask how it is that no one saw +the train upon this unused line. I answer that along its entire length +it runs through a deep cutting, and that, unless someone had been on +the edge of that cutting, he could not have seen it. There WAS someone +on the edge of that cutting. I was there. And now I will tell you +what I saw. +</P> + +<P> +"My assistant had remained at the points in order that he might +superintend the switching off of the train. He had four armed men with +him, so that if the train ran off the line—we thought it probable, +because the points were very rusty—we might still have resources to +fall back upon. Having once seen it safely on the side line, he handed +over the responsibility to me. I was waiting at a point which +overlooks the mouth of the mine, and I was also armed, as were my two +companions. Come what might, you see, I was always ready. +</P> + +<P> +"The moment that the train was fairly on the side line, Smith, the +stoker, slowed-down the engine, and then, having turned it on to the +fullest speed again, he and McPherson, with my English lieutenant, +sprang off before it was too late. It may be that it was this +slowing-down which first attracted the attention of the travellers, but +the train was running at full speed again before their heads appeared +at the open window. It makes me smile to think how bewildered they +must have been. Picture to yourself your own feelings if, on looking +out of your luxurious carriage, you suddenly perceived that the lines +upon which you ran were rusted and corroded, red and yellow with disuse +and decay! What a catch must have come in their breath as in a second +it flashed upon them that it was not Manchester but Death which was +waiting for them at the end of that sinister line. But the train was +running with frantic speed, rolling and rocking over the rotten line, +while the wheels made a frightful screaming sound upon the rusted +surface. I was close to them, and could see their faces. Caratal was +praying, I think—there was something like a rosary dangling out of his +hand. The other roared like a bull who smells the blood of the +slaughter-house. He saw us standing on the bank, and he beckoned to us +like a madman. Then he tore at his wrist and threw his dispatch-box +out of the window in our direction. Of course, his meaning was +obvious. Here was the evidence, and they would promise to be silent if +their lives were spared. It would have been very agreeable if we could +have done so, but business is business. Besides, the train was now as +much beyond our controls as theirs. +</P> + +<P> +"He ceased howling when the train rattled round the curve and they saw +the black mouth of the mine yawning before them. We had removed the +boards which had covered it, and we had cleared the square entrance. +The rails had formerly run very close to the shaft for the convenience +of loading the coal, and we had only to add two or three lengths of +rail in order to lead to the very brink of the shaft. In fact, as the +lengths would not quite fit, our line projected about three feet over +the edge. We saw the two heads at the window: Caratal below, Gomez +above; but they had both been struck silent by what they saw. And yet +they could not withdraw their heads. The sight seemed to have +paralysed them. +</P> + +<P> +"I had wondered how the train running at a great speed would take the +pit into which I had guided it, and I was much interested in watching +it. One of my colleagues thought that it would actually jump it, and +indeed it was not very far from doing so. Fortunately, however, it fell +short, and the buffers of the engine struck the other lip of the shaft +with a tremendous crash. The funnel flew off into the air. The +tender, carriages, and van were all smashed up into one jumble, which, +with the remains of the engine, choked for a minute or so the mouth of +the pit. Then something gave way in the middle, and the whole mass of +green iron, smoking coals, brass fittings, wheels, wood-work, and +cushions all crumbled together and crashed down into the mine. We +heard the rattle, rattle, rattle, as the debris struck against the +walls, and then, quite a long time afterwards, there came a deep roar +as the remains of the train struck the bottom. The boiler may have +burst, for a sharp crash came after the roar, and then a dense cloud of +steam and smoke swirled up out of the black depths, falling in a spray +as thick as rain all round us. Then the vapour shredded off into thin +wisps, which floated away in the summer sunshine, and all was quiet +again in the Heartsease mine. +</P> + +<P> +"And now, having carried out our plans so successfully, it only +remained to leave no trace behind us. Our little band of workers at +the other end had already ripped up the rails and disconnected the side +line, replacing everything as it had been before. We were equally busy +at the mine. The funnel and other fragments were thrown in, the shaft +was planked over as it used to be, and the lines which led to it were +torn up and taken away. Then, without flurry, but without delay, we +all made our way out of the country, most of us to Paris, my English +colleague to Manchester, and McPherson to Southampton, whence he +emigrated to America. Let the English papers of that date tell how +throughly we had done our work, and how completely we had thrown the +cleverest of their detectives off our track. +</P> + +<P> +"You will remember that Gomez threw his bag of papers out of the +window, and I need not say that I secured that bag and brought them to +my employers. It may interest my employers now, however, to learn that +out of that bag I took one or two little papers as a souvenir of the +occasion. I have no wish to publish these papers; but, still, it is +every man for himself in this world, and what else can I do if my +friends will not come to my aid when I want them? Messieurs, you may +believe that Herbert de Lernac is quite as formidable when he is +against you as when he is with you, and that he is not a man to go to +the guillotine until he has seen that every one of you is en route for +New Caledonia. For your own sake, if not for mine, make haste, +Monsieur de ——, and General ——, and Baron —— (you can fill up the +blanks for yourselves as you read this). I promise you that in the +next edition there will be no blanks to fill. +</P> + +<P> +"P.S.—As I look over my statement there is only one omission which I +can see. It concerns the unfortunate man McPherson, who was foolish +enough to write to his wife and to make an appointment with her in New +York. It can be imagined that when interests like ours were at stake, +we could not leave them to the chance of whether a man in that class of +life would or would not give away his secrets to a woman. Having once +broken his oath by writing to his wife, we could not trust him any +more. We took steps therefore to insure that he should not see his +wife. I have sometimes thought that it would be a kindness to write to +her and to assure her that there is no impediment to her marrying +again." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="beetle"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Beetle-Hunter +</H3> + +<P> +A curious experience? said the Doctor. Yes, my friends, I have had one +very curious experience. I never expect to have another, for it is +against all doctrines of chances that two such events would befall any +one man in a single lifetime. You may believe me or not, but the thing +happened exactly as I tell it. +</P> + +<P> +I had just become a medical man, but I had not started in practice, and +I lived in rooms in Gower Street. The street has been renumbered since +then, but it was in the only house which has a bow-window, upon the +left-hand side as you go down from the Metropolitan Station. A widow +named Murchison kept the house at that time, and she had three medical +students and one engineer as lodgers. I occupied the top room, which +was the cheapest, but cheap as it was it was more than I could afford. +My small resources were dwindling away, and every week it became more +necessary that I should find something to do. Yet I was very unwilling +to go into general practice, for my tastes were all in the direction of +science, and especially of zoology, towards which I had always a strong +leaning. I had almost given the fight up and resigned myself to being +a medical drudge for life, when the turning-point of my struggles came +in a very extraordinary way. +</P> + +<P> +One morning I had picked up the Standard and was glancing over its +contents. There was a complete absence of news, and I was about to +toss the paper down again, when my eyes were caught by an advertisement +at the head of the personal column. It was worded in this way: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Wanted for one or more days the services of a medical man. It is +essential that he should be a man of strong physique, of steady nerves, +and of a resolute nature. Must be an entomologist—coleopterist +preferred. Apply, in person, at 77B, Brook Street. Application must be +made before twelve o'clock today." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Now, I have already said that I was devoted to zoology. Of all +branches of zoology, the study of insects was the most attractive to +me, and of all insects beetles were the species with which I was most +familiar. Butterfly collectors are numerous, but beetles are far more +varied, and more accessible in these islands than are butterflies. It +was this fact which had attracted my attention to them, and I had +myself made a collection which numbered some hundred varieties. As to +the other requisites of the advertisement, I knew that my nerves could +be depended upon, and I had won the weight-throwing competition at the +inter-hospital sports. Clearly, I was the very man for the vacancy. +Within five minutes of my having read the advertisement I was in a cab +and on my was to Brook Street. +</P> + +<P> +As I drove, I kept turning the matter over in my head and trying to +make a guess as to what sort of employment it could be which needed +such curious qualifications. A strong physique, a resolute nature, a +medical training, and a knowledge of beetles—what connection could +there be between these various requisites? And then there was the +disheartening fact that the situation was not a permanent one, but +terminable from day to day, according to the terms of the +advertisement. The more I pondered over it the more unintelligible did +it become; but at the end of my meditations I always came back to the +ground fact that, come what might, I had nothing to lose, that I was +completely at the end of my resources, and that I was ready for any +adventure, however desperate, which would put a few honest sovereigns +into my pocket. The man fears to fail who has to pay for his failure, +but there was no penalty which Fortune could exact from me. I was like +the gambler with empty pockets, who is still allowed to try his luck +with the others. +</P> + +<P> +No. 77B, Brook Street, was one of those dingy and yet imposing houses, +dun-coloured and flat-faced, with the intensely respectable and solid +air which marks the Georgian builder. As I alighted from the cab, a +young man came out of the door and walked swiftly down the street. In +passing me, I noticed that he cast an inquisitive and somewhat +malevolent glance at me, and I took the incident as a good omen, for +his appearance was that of a rejected candidate, and if he resented my +application it meant that the vacancy was not yet filled up. Full of +hope, I ascended the broad steps and rapped with the heavy knocker. +</P> + +<P> +A footman in powder and livery opened the door. Clearly I was in touch +with the people of wealth and fashion. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Yes, sir?" said the footman. +</P> + +<P> +"I came in answer to——" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite so, sir," said the footman. "Lord Linchmere will see you at +once in the library." +</P> + +<P> +Lord Linchmere! I had vaguely heard the name, but could not for the +instant recall anything about him. Following the footman, I was shown +into a large, book-lined room in which there was seated behind a +writing-desk a small man with a pleasant, clean-shaven, mobile face, +and long hair shot with grey, brushed back from his forehead. He +looked me up and down with a very shrewd, penetrating glance, holding +the card which the footman had given him in his right hand. Then he +smiled pleasantly, and I felt that externally at any rate I possessed +the qualifications which he desired. +</P> + +<P> +"You have come in answer to my advertisement, Dr. Hamilton?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you fulfil the conditions which are there laid down?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe that I do." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a powerful man, or so I should judge from your appearance. +</P> + +<P> +"I think that I am fairly strong." +</P> + +<P> +"And resolute?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe so." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you ever known what it was to be exposed to imminent danger?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't know that I ever have." +</P> + +<P> +"But you think you would be prompt and cool at such a time?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I believe that you would. I have the more confidence in you +because you do not pretend to be certain as to what you would do in a +position that was new to you. My impression is that, so far as +personal qualities go, you are the very man of whom I am in search. +That being settled, we may pass on to the next point." +</P> + +<P> +"Which is?" +</P> + +<P> +"To talk to me about beetles." +</P> + +<P> +I looked across to see if he was joking, but, on the contrary, he was +leaning eagerly forward across his desk, and there was an expression of +something like anxiety in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid that you do not know about beetles," he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, sir, it is the one scientific subject about which I +feel that I really do know something." +</P> + +<P> +"I am overjoyed to hear it. Please talk to me about beetles." +</P> + +<P> +I talked. I do not profess to have said anything original upon the +subject, but I gave a short sketch of the characteristics of the +beetle, and ran over the more common species, with some allusions to +the specimens in my own little collection and to the article upon +"Burying Beetles" which I had contributed to the Journal of +Entomological Science. +</P> + +<P> +"What! not a collector?" cried Lord Linchmere. "You don't mean that +you are yourself a collector?" His eyes danced with pleasure at the +thought. +</P> + +<P> +"You are certainly the very man in London for my purpose. I thought +that among five millions of people there must be such a man, but the +difficulty is to lay one's hands upon him. I have been extraordinarily +fortunate in finding you." +</P> + +<P> +He rang a gong upon the table, and the footman entered. +</P> + +<P> +"Ask Lady Rossiter to have the goodness to step this way," said his +lordship, and a few moments later the lady was ushered into the room. +She was a small, middle-aged woman, very like Lord Linchmere in +appearance, with the same quick, alert features and grey-black hair. +The expression of anxiety, however, which I had observed upon his face +was very much more marked upon hers. Some great grief seemed to have +cast its shadow over her features. As Lord Linchmere presented me she +turned her face full upon me, and I was shocked to observe a +half-healed scar extending for two inches over her right eyebrow. It +was partly concealed by plaster, but none the less I could see that it +had been a serious wound and not long inflicted. +</P> + +<P> +"Dr. Hamilton is the very man for our purpose, Evelyn," said Lord +Linchmere. "He is actually a collector of beetles, and he has written +articles upon the subject." +</P> + +<P> +"Really!" said Lady Rossiter. "Then you must have heard of my husband. +Everyone who knows anything about beetles must have heard of Sir Thomas +Rossiter." +</P> + +<P> +For the first time a thin little ray of light began to break into the +obscure business. Here, at last, was a connection between these people +and beetles. Sir Thomas Rossiter—he was the greatest authority upon +the subject in the world. He had made it his lifelong study, and had +written a most exhaustive work upon it. I hastened to assure her that +I had read and appreciated it. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you met my husband?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I have not." +</P> + +<P> +"But you shall," said Lord Linchmere, with decision. +</P> + +<P> +The lady was standing beside the desk, and she put her hand upon his +shoulder. It was obvious to me as I saw their faces together that they +were brother and sister. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you really prepared for this, Charles? It is noble of you, but +you fill me with fears." Her voice quavered with apprehension, and he +appeared to me to be equally moved, though he was making strong efforts +to conceal his agitation. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, dear; it is all settled, it is all decided; in fact, there +is no other possible way, that I can see." +</P> + +<P> +"There is one obvious way." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, Evelyn, I shall never abandon you—never. It will come +right—depend upon it; it will come right, and surely it looks like the +interference of Providence that so perfect an instrument should be put +into our hands." +</P> + +<P> +My position was embarrassing, for I felt that for the instant they had +forgotten my presence. But Lord Linchmere came back suddenly to me and +to my engagement. +</P> + +<P> +"The business for which I want you, Dr. Hamilton, is that you should +put yourself absolutely at my disposal. I wish you to come for a short +journey with me, to remain always at my side, and to promise to do +without question whatever I may ask you, however unreasonable it may +appear to you to be." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a good deal to ask," said I. +</P> + +<P> +"Unfortunately I cannot put it more plainly, for I do not myself know +what turn matters may take. You may be sure, however, that you will +not be asked to do anything which your conscience does not approve; and +I promise you that, when all is over, you will be proud to have been +concerned in so good a work." +</P> + +<P> +"If it ends happily," said the lady. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly; if it ends happily," his lordship repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"And terms?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Twenty pounds a day." +</P> + +<P> +I was amazed at the sum, and must have showed my surprise upon my +features. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a rare combination of qualities, as must have struck you when +you first read the advertisement," said Lord Linchmere; "such varied +gifts may well command a high return, and I do not conceal from you +that your duties might be arduous or even dangerous. Besides, it is +possible that one or two days may bring the matter to an end." +</P> + +<P> +"Please God!" sighed his sister. +</P> + +<P> +"So now, Dr. Hamilton, may I rely upon your aid?" +</P> + +<P> +"Most undoubtedly," said I. "You have only to tell me what my duties +are." +</P> + +<P> +"Your first duty will be to return to your home. You will pack up +whatever you may need for a short visit to the country. We start +together from Paddington Station at 3:40 this afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"Do we go far?" +</P> + +<P> +"As far as Pangbourne. Meet me at the bookstall at 3:30. I shall have +the tickets. Goodbye, Dr. Hamilton! And, by the way, there are two +things which I should be very glad if you would bring with you, in case +you have them. One is your case for collecting beetles, and the other +is a stick, and the thicker and heavier the better." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +You may imagine that I had plenty to think of from the time that I left +Brook Street until I set out to meet Lord Linchmere at Paddington. The +whole fantastic business kept arranging and rearranging itself in +kaleidoscopic forms inside my brain, until I had thought out a dozen +explanations, each of them more grotesquely improbable than the last. +And yet I felt that the truth must be something grotesquely improbable +also. At last I gave up all attempts at finding a solution, and +contented myself with exactly carrying out the instructions which I had +received. With a hand valise, specimen-case, and a loaded cane, I was +waiting at the Paddington bookstall when Lord Linchmere arrived. He +was an even smaller man than I had thought—frail and peaky, with a +manner which was more nervous than it had been in the morning. He wore +a long, thick travelling ulster, and I observed that he carried a heavy +blackthorn cudgel in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I have the tickets," said he, leading the way up the platform. +</P> + +<P> +"This is our train. I have engaged a carriage, for I am particularly +anxious to impress one or two things upon you while we travel down." +</P> + +<P> +And yet all that he had to impress upon me might have been said in a +sentence, for it was that I was to remember that I was there as a +protection to himself, and that I was not on any consideration to leave +him for an instant. This he repeated again and again as our journey +drew to a close, with an insistence which showed that his nerves were +thoroughly shaken. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said at last, in answer to my looks rather than to my words, +"I AM nervous, Dr. Hamilton. I have always been a timid man, and my +timidity depends upon my frail physical health. But my soul is firm, +and I can bring myself up to face a danger which a less-nervous man +might shrink from. What I am doing now is done from no compulsion, but +entirely from a sense of duty, and yet it is, beyond doubt, a desperate +risk. If things should go wrong, I will have some claims to the title +of martyr." +</P> + +<P> +This eternal reading of riddles was too much for me. I felt that I +must put a term to it. +</P> + +<P> +"I think it would very much better, sir, if you were to trust me +entirely," said I. "It is impossible for me to act effectively, when I +do not know what are the objects which we have in view, or even where +we are going." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, as to where we are going, there need be no mystery about that," +said he; "we are going to Delamere Court, the residence of Sir Thomas +Rossiter, with whose work you are so conversant. As to the exact +object of our visit, I do not know that at this stage of the +proceedings anything would be gained, Dr. Hamilton, by taking you into +my complete confidence. I may tell you that we are acting—I say 'we,' +because my sister, Lady Rossiter, takes the same view as myself—with +the one object of preventing anything in the nature of a family +scandal. That being so, you can understand that I am loath to give any +explanations which are not absolutely necessary. It would be a +different matter, Dr. Hamilton, if I were asking your advice. As +matters stand, it is only your active help which I need, and I will +indicate to you from time to time how you can best give it." +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing more to be said, and a poor man can put up with a +good deal for twenty pounds a day, but I felt none the less that Lord +Linchmere was acting rather scurvily towards me. He wished to convert +me into a passive tool, like the blackthorn in his hand. With his +sensitive disposition I could imagine, however, that scandal would be +abhorrent to him, and I realized that he would not take me into his +confidence until no other course was open to him. I must trust to my +own eyes and ears to solve the mystery, but I had every confidence that +I should not trust to them in vain. +</P> + +<P> +Delamere Court lies a good five miles from Pangbourne Station, and we +drove for that distance in an open fly. Lord Linchmere sat in deep +thought during the time, and he never opened his mouth until we were +close to our destination. When he did speak it was to give me a piece +of information which surprised me. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you are not aware," said he, "that I am a medical man like +yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir, I did not know it." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I qualified in my younger days, when there were several lives +between me and the peerage. I have not had occasion to practise, but I +have found it a useful education, all the same. I never regretted the +years which I devoted to medical study. These are the gates of +Delamere Court." +</P> + +<P> +We had come to two high pillars crowned with heraldic monsters which +flanked the opening of a winding avenue. Over the laurel bushes and +rhododendrons, I could see a long, many-gabled mansion, girdled with +ivy, and toned to the warm, cheery, mellow glow of old brick-work. My +eyes were still fixed in admiration upon this delightful house when my +companion plucked nervously at my sleeve. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's Sir Thomas," he whispered. "Please talk beetle all you can." +</P> + +<P> +A tall, thin figure, curiously angular and bony, had emerged through a +gap in the hedge of laurels. In his hand he held a spud, and he wore +gauntleted gardener's gloves. A broad-brimmed, grey hat cast his face +into shadow, but it struck me as exceedingly austere, with an +ill-nourished beard and harsh, irregular features. The fly pulled up +and Lord Linchmere sprang out. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Thomas, how are you?" said he, heartily. +</P> + +<P> +But the heartiness was by no means reciprocal. The owner of the +grounds glared at me over his brother-in-law's shoulder, and I caught +broken scraps of sentences—"well-known wishes ... hatred of +strangers ... unjustifiable intrusion ... perfectly inexcusable." +Then there was a muttered explanation, and the two of them came over +together to the side of the fly. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me present you to Sir Thomas Rossiter, Dr. Hamilton," said Lord +Linchmere. "You will find that you have a strong community of tastes." +</P> + +<P> +I bowed. Sir Thomas stood very stiffly, looking at me severely from +under the broad brim of his hat. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord Linchmere tells me that you know something about beetles," said +he. "What do you know about beetles?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know what I have learned from your work upon the coleoptera, Sir +Thomas," I answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me the names of the better-known species of the British +scarabaei," said he. +</P> + +<P> +I had not expected an examination, but fortunately I was ready for one. +My answers seemed to please him, for his stern features relaxed. +</P> + +<P> +"You appear to have read my book with some profit, sir," said he. "It +is a rare thing for me to meet anyone who takes an intelligent interest +in such matters. People can find time for such trivialities as sport +or society, and yet the beetles are overlooked. I can assure you that +the greater part of the idiots in this part of the country are unaware +that I have ever written a book at all—I, the first man who ever +described the true function of the elytra. I am glad to see you, sir, +and I have no doubt that I can show you some specimens which will +interest you." He stepped into the fly and drove up with us to the +house, expounding to me as we went some recent researches which he had +made into the anatomy of the lady-bird. +</P> + +<P> +I have said that Sir Thomas Rossiter wore a large hat drawn down over +his brows. As he entered the hall he uncovered himself, and I was at +once aware of a singular characteristic which the hat had concealed. +His forehead, which was naturally high, and higher still on account of +receding hair, was in a continual state of movement. Some nervous +weakness kept the muscles in a constant spasm, which sometimes produced +a mere twitching and sometimes a curious rotary movement unlike +anything which I had ever seen before. It was strikingly visible as he +turned towards us after entering the study, and seemed the more +singular from the contrast with the hard, steady, grey eyes which +looked out from underneath those palpitating brows. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," said he, "that Lady Rossiter is not here to help me to +welcome you. By the way, Charles, did Evelyn say anything about the +date of her return?" +</P> + +<P> +"She wished to stay in town for a few more days," said Lord Linchmere. +"You know how ladies' social duties accumulate if they have been for +some time in the country. My sister has many old friends in London at +present." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, she is her own mistress, and I should not wish to alter her +plans, but I shall be glad when I see her again. It is very lonely +here without her company." +</P> + +<P> +"I was afraid that you might find it so, and that was partly why I ran +down. My young friend, Dr. Hamilton, is so much interested in the +subject which you have made your own, that I thought you would not mind +his accompanying me." +</P> + +<P> +"I lead a retired life, Dr. Hamilton, and my aversion to strangers +grows upon me," said our host. "I have sometimes thought that my +nerves are not so good as they were. My travels in search of beetles +in my younger days took me into many malarious and unhealthy places. +But a brother coleopterist like yourself is always a welcome guest, and +I shall be delighted if you will look over my collection, which I think +that I may without exaggeration describe as the best in Europe." +</P> + +<P> +And so no doubt it was. He had a huge, oaken cabinet arranged in +shallow drawers, and here, neatly ticketed and classified, were beetles +from every corner of the earth, black, brown, blue, green, and mottled. +Every now and then as he swept his hand over the lines and lines of +impaled insects he would catch up some rare specimen, and, handling it +with as much delicacy and reverence as if it were a precious relic, he +would hold forth upon its peculiarities and the circumstances under +which it came into his possession. It was evidently an unusual thing +for him to meet with a sympathetic listener, and he talked and talked +until the spring evening had deepened into night, and the gong +announced that it was time to dress for dinner. All the time Lord +Linchmere said nothing, but he stood at his brother-in-law's elbow, and +I caught him continually shooting curious little, questioning glances +into his face. And his own features expressed some strong emotion, +apprehension, sympathy, expectation: I seemed to read them all. I was +sure that Lord Linchmere was fearing something and awaiting something, +but what that something might be I could not imagine. +</P> + +<P> +The evening passed quietly but pleasantly, and I should have been +entirely at my ease if it had not been for that continual sense of +tension upon the part of Lord Linchmere. As to our host, I found that +he improved upon acquaintance. He spoke constantly with affection of +his absent wife, and also of his little son, who had recently been sent +to school. The house, he said, was not the same without them. If it +were not for his scientific studies, he did not know how he could get +through the days. After dinner we smoked for some time in the +billiard-room, and finally went early to bed. +</P> + +<P> +And then it was that, for the first time, the suspicion that Lord +Linchmere was a lunatic crossed my mind. He followed me into my +bedroom, when our host had retired. +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor," said he, speaking in a low, hurried voice, "you must come +with me. You must spend the night in my bedroom." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"I prefer not to explain. But this is part of your duties. My room is +close by, and you can return to your own before the servant calls you +in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +"But why?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I am nervous of being alone," said he. "That's the reason, +since you must have a reason." +</P> + +<P> +It seemed rank lunacy, but the argument of those twenty pounds would +overcome many objections. I followed him to his room. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said I, "there's only room for one in that bed." +</P> + +<P> +"Only one shall occupy it," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"And the other?" +</P> + +<P> +"Must remain on watch." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" said I. "One would think you expected to be attacked." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I do." +</P> + +<P> +"In that case, why not lock your door?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I WANT to be attacked." +</P> + +<P> +It looked more and more like lunacy. However, there was nothing for it +but to submit. I shrugged my shoulders and sat down in the arm-chair +beside the empty fireplace. +</P> + +<P> +"I am to remain on watch, then?" said I, ruefully. +</P> + +<P> +"We will divide the night. If you will watch until two, I will watch +the remainder." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good." +</P> + +<P> +"Call me at two o'clock, then." +</P> + +<P> +"I will do so." +</P> + +<P> +"Keep your ears open, and if you hear any sounds wake me +instantly—instantly, you hear?" +</P> + +<P> +"You can rely upon it." I tried to look as solemn as he did. +</P> + +<P> +"And for God's sake don't go to sleep," said he, and so, taking off +only his coat, he threw the coverlet over him and settled down for the +night. +</P> + +<P> +It was a melancholy vigil, and made more so by my own sense of its +folly. Supposing that by any chance Lord Linchmere had cause to +suspect that he was subject to danger in the house of Sir Thomas +Rossiter, why on earth could he not lock his door and so protect +himself? His own answer that he might wish to be attacked was absurd. +Why should he possibly wish to be attacked? And who would wish to +attack him? Clearly, Lord Linchmere was suffering from some singular +delusion, and the result was that on an imbecile pretext I was to be +deprived of my night's rest. Still, however absurd, I was determined +to carry out his injunctions to the letter as long as I was in his +employment. I sat, therefore, beside the empty fireplace, and listened +to a sonorous chiming clock somewhere down the passage which gurgled +and struck every quarter of an hour. It was an endless vigil. Save for +that single clock, an absolute silence reigned throughout the great +house. A small lamp stood on the table at my elbow, throwing a circle +of light round my chair, but leaving the corners of the room draped in +shadow. On the bed Lord Linchmere was breathing peacefully. I envied +him his quiet sleep, and again and again my own eyelids drooped, but +every time my sense of duty came to my help, and I sat up, rubbing my +eyes and pinching myself with a determination to see my irrational +watch to an end. +</P> + +<P> +And I did so. From down the passage came the chimes of two o'clock, +and I laid my hand upon the shoulder of the sleeper. Instantly he was +sitting up, with an expression of the keenest interest upon his face. +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard something?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. It is two o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good. I will watch. You can go to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +I lay down under the coverlet as he had done and was soon unconscious. +My last recollection was of that circle of lamplight, and of the small, +hunched-up figure and strained, anxious face of Lord Linchmere in the +centre of it. +</P> + +<P> +How long I slept I do not know; but I was suddenly aroused by a sharp +tug at my sleeve. The room was in darkness, but a hot smell of oil +told me that the lamp had only that instant been extinguished. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick! Quick!" said Lord Linchmere's voice in my ear. +</P> + +<P> +I sprang out of bed, he still dragging at my arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Over here!" he whispered, and pulled me into a corner of the room. +"Hush! Listen!" +</P> + +<P> +In the silence of the night I could distinctly hear that someone was +coming down the corridor. It was a stealthy step, faint and +intermittent, as of a man who paused cautiously after every stride. +Sometimes for half a minute there was no sound, and then came the +shuffle and creak which told of a fresh advance. My companion was +trembling with excitement. His hand, which still held my sleeve, +twitched like a branch in the wind. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" I whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"It's he!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sir Thomas?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"What does he want?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush! Do nothing until I tell you." +</P> + +<P> +I was conscious now that someone was trying the door. There was the +faintest little rattle from the handle, and then I dimly saw a thin +slit of subdued light. There was a lamp burning somewhere far down the +passage, and it just sufficed to make the outside visible from the +darkness of our room. The greyish slit grew broader and broader, very +gradually, very gently, and then outlined against it I saw the dark +figure of a man. He was squat and crouching, with the silhouette of a +bulky and misshapen dwarf. Slowly the door swung open with this ominous +shape framed in the centre of it. And then, in an instant, the +crouching figure shot up, there was a tiger spring across the room and +thud, thud, thud, came three tremendous blows from some heavy object +upon the bed. +</P> + +<P> +I was so paralysed with amazement that I stood motionless and staring +until I was aroused by a yell for help from my companion. The open door +shed enough light for me to see the outline of things, and there was +little Lord Linchmere with his arms round the neck of his +brother-in-law, holding bravely on to him like a game bull-terrier with +its teeth into a gaunt deerhound. The tall, bony man dashed himself +about, writhing round and round to get a grip upon his assailant; but +the other, clutching on from behind, still kept his hold, though his +shrill, frightened cries showed how unequal he felt the contest to be. +I sprang to the rescue, and the two of us managed to throw Sir Thomas +to the ground, though he made his teeth meet in my shoulder. With all +my youth and weight and strength, it was a desperate struggle before we +could master his frenzied struggles; but at last we secured his arms +with the waist-cord of the dressing-gown which he was wearing. I was +holding his legs while Lord Linchmere was endeavouring to relight the +lamp, when there came the pattering of many feet in the passage, and +the butler and two footmen, who had been alarmed by the cries, rushed +into the room. With their aid we had no further difficulty in securing +our prisoner, who lay foaming and glaring upon the ground. One glance +at his face was enough to prove that he was a dangerous maniac, while +the short, heavy hammer which lay beside the bed showed how murderous +had been his intentions. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not use any violence!" said Lord Linchmere, as we raised the +struggling man to his feet. "He will have a period of stupor after +this excitement. I believe that it is coming on already." As he spoke +the convulsions became less violent, and the madman's head fell forward +upon his breast, as if he were overcome by sleep. We led him down the +passage and stretched him upon his own bed, where he lay unconscious, +breathing heavily. +</P> + +<P> +"Two of you will watch him," said Lord Linchmere. "And now, Dr. +Hamilton, if you will return with me to my room, I will give you the +explanation which my horror of scandal has perhaps caused me to delay +too long. Come what may, you will never have cause to regret your +share in this night's work. +</P> + +<P> +"The case may be made clear in a very few words," he continued, when we +were alone. "My poor brother-in-law is one of the best fellows upon +earth, a loving husband and an estimable father, but he comes from a +stock which is deeply tainted with insanity. He has more than once had +homicidal outbreaks, which are the more painful because his inclination +is always to attack the very person to whom he is most attached. His +son was sent away to school to avoid this danger, and then came an +attempt upon my sister, his wife, from which she escaped with injuries +that you may have observed when you met her in London. You understand +that he knows nothing of the matter when he is in his sound senses, and +would ridicule the suggestion that he could under any circumstances +injure those whom he loves so dearly. It is often, as you know, a +characteristic of such maladies that it is absolutely impossible to +convince the man who suffers from them of their existence. +</P> + +<P> +"Our great object was, of course, to get him under restraint before he +could stain his hands with blood, but the matter was full of +difficulty. He is a recluse in his habits, and would not see any +medical man. Besides, it was necessary for our purpose that the +medical man should convince himself of his insanity; and he is sane as +you or I, save on these very rare occasions. But, fortunately, before +he has these attacks he always shows certain premonitory symptoms, +which are providential danger-signals, warning us to be upon our guard. +The chief of these is that nervous contortion of the forehead which you +must have observed. This is a phenomenon which always appears from +three to four days before his attacks of frenzy. The moment it showed +itself his wife came into town on some pretext, and took refuge in my +house in Brook Street. +</P> + +<P> +"It remained for me to convince a medical man of Sir Thomas's insanity, +without which it was impossible to put him where he could do no harm. +The first problem was how to get a medical man into his house. I +bethought me of his interest in beetles, and his love for anyone who +shared his tastes. I advertised, therefore, and was fortunate enough +to find in you the very man I wanted. A stout companion was necessary, +for I knew that the lunacy could only be proved by a murderous assault, +and I had every reason to believe that that assault would be made upon +myself, since he had the warmest regard for me in his moments of +sanity. I think your intelligence will supply all the rest. I did not +know that the attack would come by night, but I thought it very +probable, for the crises of such cases usually do occur in the early +hours of the morning. I am a very nervous man myself, but I saw no +other way in which I could remove this terrible danger from my sister's +life. I need not ask you whether you are willing to sign the lunacy +papers." +</P> + +<P> +"Undoubtedly. But TWO signatures are necessary." +</P> + +<P> +"You forget that I am myself a holder of a medical degree. I have the +papers on a side-table here, so if you will be good enough to sign them +now, we can have the patient removed in the morning." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +So that was my visit to Sir Thomas Rossiter, the famous beetle-hunter, +and that was also my first step upon the ladder of success, for Lady +Rossiter and Lord Linchmere have proved to be staunch friends, and they +have never forgotten my association with them in the time of their +need. Sir Thomas is out and said to be cured, but I still think that +if I spent another night at Delamere Court, I should be inclined to +lock my door upon the inside. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="watches"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Man with the Watches +</H3> + +<P> +There are many who will still bear in mind the singular circumstances +which, under the heading of the Rugby Mystery, filled many columns of +the daily Press in the spring of the year 1892. Coming as it did at a +period of exceptional dullness, it attracted perhaps rather more +attention than it deserved, but it offered to the public that mixture +of the whimsical and the tragic which is most stimulating to the +popular imagination. Interest drooped, however, when, after weeks of +fruitless investigation, it was found that no final explanation of the +facts was forthcoming, and the tragedy seemed from that time to the +present to have finally taken its place in the dark catalogue of +inexplicable and unexpiated crimes. A recent communication (the +authenticity of which appears to be above question) has, however, +thrown some new and clear light upon the matter. Before laying it +before the public it would be as well, perhaps, that I should refresh +their memories as to the singular facts upon which this commentary is +founded. These facts were briefly as follows: +</P> + +<P> +At five o'clock on the evening of the 18th of March in the year already +mentioned a train left Euston Station for Manchester. It was a rainy, +squally day, which grew wilder as it progressed, so it was by no means +the weather in which anyone would travel who was not driven to do so by +necessity. The train, however, is a favourite one among Manchester +business men who are returning from town, for it does the journey in +four hours and twenty minutes, with only three stoppages upon the way. +In spite of the inclement evening it was, therefore, fairly well filled +upon the occasion of which I speak. The guard of the train was a tried +servant of the company—a man who had worked for twenty-two years +without a blemish or complaint. His name was John Palmer. +</P> + +<P> +The station clock was upon the stroke of five, and the guard was about +to give the customary signal to the engine-driver when he observed two +belated passengers hurrying down the platform. The one was an +exceptionally tall man, dressed in a long black overcoat with astrakhan +collar and cuffs. I have already said that the evening was an +inclement one, and the tall traveller had the high, warm collar turned +up to protect his throat against the bitter March wind. He appeared, +as far as the guard could judge by so hurried an inspection, to be a +man between fifty and sixty years of age, who had retained a good deal +of the vigour and activity of his youth. In one hand he carried a +brown leather Gladstone bag. His companion was a lady, tall and erect, +walking with a vigorous step which outpaced the gentleman beside her. +She wore a long, fawn-coloured dust-cloak, a black, close-fitting +toque, and a dark veil which concealed the greater part of her face. +The two might very well have passed as father and daughter. They +walked swiftly down the line of carriages, glancing in at the windows, +until the guard, John Palmer, overtook them. +</P> + +<P> +"Now then, sir, look sharp, the train is going," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"First-class," the man answered. +</P> + +<P> +The guard turned the handle of the nearest door. In the carriage which +he had opened, there sat a small man with a cigar in his mouth. His +appearance seems to have impressed itself upon the guard's memory, for +he was prepared, afterwards, to describe or to identify him. He was a +man of thirty-four or thirty-five years of age, dressed in some grey +material, sharp-nosed, alert, with a ruddy, weather-beaten face, and a +small, closely cropped, black beard. He glanced up as the door was +opened. The tall man paused with his foot upon the step. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a smoking compartment. The lady dislikes smoke," said he, +looking round at the guard. +</P> + +<P> +"All right! Here you are, sir!" said John Palmer. He slammed the door +of the smoking carriage, opened that of the next one, which was empty, +and thrust the two travellers in. At the same moment he sounded his +whistle and the wheels of the train began to move. The man with the +cigar was at the window of his carriage, and said something to the +guard as he rolled past him, but the words were lost in the bustle of +the departure. Palmer stepped into the guard's van, as it came up to +him, and thought no more of the incident. +</P> + +<P> +Twelve minutes after its departure the train reached Willesden +Junction, where it stopped for a very short interval. An examination +of the tickets has made it certain that no one either joined or left it +at this time, and no passenger was seen to alight upon the platform. +At 5:14 the journey to Manchester was resumed, and Rugby was reached at +6:50, the express being five minutes late. +</P> + +<P> +At Rugby the attention of the station officials was drawn to the fact +that the door of one of the first-class carriages was open. An +examination of that compartment, and of its neighbour, disclosed a +remarkable state of affairs. +</P> + +<P> +The smoking carriage in which the short, red-faced man with the black +beard had been seen was now empty. Save for a half-smoked cigar, there +was no trace whatever of its recent occupant. The door of this +carriage was fastened. In the next compartment, to which attention had +been originally drawn, there was no sign either of the gentleman with +the astrakhan collar or of the young lady who accompanied him. All +three passengers had disappeared. On the other hand, there was found +upon the floor of this carriage—the one in which the tall traveller +and the lady had been—a young man fashionably dressed and of elegant +appearance. He lay with his knees drawn up, and his head resting +against the farther door, an elbow upon either seat. A bullet had +penetrated his heart and his death must have been instantaneous. No +one had seen such a man enter the train, and no railway ticket was +found in his pocket, neither were there any markings upon his linen, +nor papers nor personal property which might help to identify him. Who +he was, whence he had come, and how he had met his end were each as +great a mystery as what had occurred to the three people who had +started an hour and a half before from Willesden in those two +compartments. +</P> + +<P> +I have said that there was no personal property which might help to +identify him, but it is true that there was one peculiarity about this +unknown young man which was much commented upon at the time. In his +pockets were found no fewer than six valuable gold watches, three in +the various pockets of his waist-coat, one in his ticket-pocket, one in +his breast-pocket, and one small one set in a leather strap and +fastened round his left wrist. The obvious explanation that the man +was a pickpocket, and that this was his plunder, was discounted by the +fact that all six were of American make and of a type which is rare in +England. Three of them bore the mark of the Rochester Watchmaking +Company; one was by Mason, of Elmira; one was unmarked; and the small +one, which was highly jewelled and ornamented, was from Tiffany, of New +York. The other contents of his pocket consisted of an ivory knife +with a corkscrew by Rodgers, of Sheffield; a small, circular mirror, +one inch in diameter; a readmission slip to the Lyceum Theatre; a +silver box full of vesta matches, and a brown leather cigar-case +containing two cheroots—also two pounds fourteen shillings in money. +It was clear, then, that whatever motives may have led to his death, +robbery was not among them. As already mentioned, there were no +markings upon the man's linen, which appeared to be new, and no +tailor's name upon his coat. In appearance he was young, short, +smooth-cheeked, and delicately featured. One of his front teeth was +conspicuously stopped with gold. +</P> + +<P> +On the discovery of the tragedy an examination was instantly made of +the tickets of all passengers, and the number of the passengers +themselves was counted. It was found that only three tickets were +unaccounted for, corresponding to the three travellers who were +missing. The express was then allowed to proceed, but a new guard was +sent with it, and John Palmer was detained as a witness at Rugby. The +carriage which included the two compartments in question was uncoupled +and side-tracked. Then, on the arrival of Inspector Vane, of Scotland +Yard, and of Mr. Henderson, a detective in the service of the railway +company, an exhaustive inquiry was made into all the circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +That crime had been committed was certain. The bullet, which appeared +to have come from a small pistol or revolver, had been fired from some +little distance, as there was no scorching of the clothes. No weapon +was found in the compartment (which finally disposed of the theory of +suicide), nor was there any sign of the brown leather bag which the +guard had seen in the hand of the tall gentleman. A lady's parasol was +found upon the rack, but no other trace was to be seen of the +travellers in either of the sections. Apart from the crime, the +question of how or why three passengers (one of them a lady) could get +out of the train, and one other get in during the unbroken run between +Willesden and Rugby, was one which excited the utmost curiosity among +the general public, and gave rise to much speculation in the London +Press. +</P> + +<P> +John Palmer, the guard was able at the inquest to give some evidence +which threw a little light upon the matter. There was a spot between +Tring and Cheddington, according to his statement, where, on account of +some repairs to the line, the train had for a few minutes slowed down +to a pace not exceeding eight or ten miles an hour. At that place it +might be possible for a man, or even for an exceptionally active woman, +to have left the train without serious injury. It was true that a gang +of platelayers was there, and that they had seen nothing, but it was +their custom to stand in the middle between the metals, and the open +carriage door was upon the far side, so that it was conceivable that +someone might have alighted unseen, as the darkness would by that time +be drawing in. A steep embankment would instantly screen anyone who +sprang out from the observation of the navvies. +</P> + +<P> +The guard also deposed that there was a good deal of movement upon the +platform at Willesden Junction, and that though it was certain that no +one had either joined or left the train there, it was still quite +possible that some of the passengers might have changed unseen from one +compartment to another. It was by no means uncommon for a gentleman to +finish his cigar in a smoking carriage and then to change to a clearer +atmosphere. Supposing that the man with the black beard had done so at +Willesden (and the half-smoked cigar upon the floor seemed to favour +the supposition), he would naturally go into the nearest section, which +would bring him into the company of the two other actors in this drama. +Thus the first stage of the affair might be surmised without any great +breach of probability. But what the second stage had been, or how the +final one had been arrived at, neither the guard nor the experienced +detective officers could suggest. +</P> + +<P> +A careful examination of the line between Willesden and Rugby resulted +in one discovery which might or might not have a bearing upon the +tragedy. Near Tring, at the very place where the train slowed down, +there was found at the bottom of the embankment a small pocket +Testament, very shabby and worn. It was printed by the Bible Society +of London, and bore an inscription: "From John to Alice. Jan. 13th, +1856," upon the fly-leaf. Underneath was written: "James. July 4th, +1859," and beneath that again: "Edward. Nov. 1st, 1869," all the +entries being in the same handwriting. This was the only clue, if it +could be called a clue, which the police obtained, and the coroner's +verdict of "Murder by a person or persons unknown" was the +unsatisfactory ending of a singular case. Advertisement, rewards, and +inquiries proved equally fruitless, and nothing could be found which +was solid enough to form the basis for a profitable investigation. +</P> + +<P> +It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that no theories were formed +to account for the facts. On the contrary, the Press, both in England +and in America, teemed with suggestions and suppositions, most of which +were obviously absurd. The fact that the watches were of American +make, and some peculiarities in connection with the gold stopping of +his front tooth, appeared to indicate that the deceased was a citizen +of the United States, though his linen, clothes and boots were +undoubtedly of British manufacture. It was surmised, by some, that he +was concealed under the seat, and that, being discovered, he was for +some reason, possibly because he had overheard their guilty secrets, +put to death by his fellow-passengers. When coupled with generalities +as to the ferocity and cunning of anarchical and other secret +societies, this theory sounded as plausible as any. +</P> + +<P> +The fact that he should be without a ticket would be consistent with +the idea of concealment, and it was well known that women played a +prominent part in the Nihilistic propaganda. On the other hand, it was +clear, from the guard's statement, that the man must have been hidden +there BEFORE the others arrived, and how unlikely the coincidence that +conspirators should stray exactly into the very compartment in which a +spy was already concealed! Besides, this explanation ignored the man in +the smoking carriage, and gave no reason at all for his simultaneous +disappearance. The police had little difficulty in showing that such a +theory would not cover the facts, but they were unprepared in the +absence of evidence to advance any alternative explanation. +</P> + +<P> +There was a letter in the Daily Gazette, over the signature of a +well-known criminal investigator, which gave rise to considerable +discussion at the time. He had formed a hypothesis which had at least +ingenuity to recommend it, and I cannot do better than append it in his +own words. +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever may be the truth," said he, "it must depend upon some bizarre +and rare combination of events, so we need have no hesitation in +postulating such events in our explanation. In the absence of data we +must abandon the analytic or scientific method of investigation, and +must approach it in the synthetic fashion. In a word, instead of taking +known events and deducing from them what has occurred, we must build up +a fanciful explanation if it will only be consistent with known events. +We can then test this explanation by any fresh facts which may arise. +If they all fit into their places, the probability is that we are upon +the right track, and with each fresh fact this probability increases in +a geometrical progression until the evidence becomes final and +convincing. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, there is one most remarkable and suggestive fact which has not +met with the attention which it deserves. There is a local train +running through Harrow and King's Langley, which is timed in such a way +that the express must have overtaken it at or about the period when it +eased down its speed to eight miles an hour on account of the repairs +of the line. The two trains would at that time be travelling in the +same direction at a similar rate of speed and upon parallel lines. It +is within every one's experience how, under such circumstances, the +occupant of each carriage can see very plainly the passengers in the +other carriages opposite to him. The lamps of the express had been lit +at Willesden, so that each compartment was brightly illuminated, and +most visible to an observer from outside. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, the sequence of events as I reconstruct them would be after this +fashion. This young man with the abnormal number of watches was alone +in the carriage of the slow train. His ticket, with his papers and +gloves and other things, was, we will suppose, on the seat beside him. +He was probably an American, and also probably a man of weak intellect. +The excessive wearing of jewellery is an early symptom in some forms of +mania. +</P> + +<P> +"As he sat watching the carriages of the express which were (on account +of the state of the line) going at the same pace as himself, he +suddenly saw some people in it whom he knew. We will suppose for the +sake of our theory that these people were a woman whom he loved and a +man whom he hated—and who in return hated him. The young man was +excitable and impulsive. He opened the door of his carriage, stepped +from the footboard of the local train to the footboard of the express, +opened the other door, and made his way into the presence of these two +people. The feat (on the supposition that the trains were going at the +same pace) is by no means so perilous as it might appear. +</P> + +<P> +"Having now got our young man, without his ticket, into the carriage in +which the elder man and the young woman are travelling, it is not +difficult to imagine that a violent scene ensued. It is possible that +the pair were also Americans, which is the more probable as the man +carried a weapon—an unusual thing in England. If our supposition of +incipient mania is correct, the young man is likely to have assaulted +the other. As the upshot of the quarrel the elder man shot the +intruder, and then made his escape from the carriage, taking the young +lady with him. We will suppose that all this happened very rapidly, +and that the train was still going at so slow a pace that it was not +difficult for them to leave it. A woman might leave a train going at +eight miles an hour. As a matter of fact, we know that this woman DID +do so. +</P> + +<P> +"And now we have to fit in the man in the smoking carriage. Presuming +that we have, up to this point, reconstructed the tragedy correctly, we +shall find nothing in this other man to cause us to reconsider our +conclusions. According to my theory, this man saw the young fellow +cross from one train to the other, saw him open the door, heard the +pistol-shot, saw the two fugitives spring out on to the line, realized +that murder had been done, and sprang out himself in pursuit. Why he +has never been heard of since—whether he met his own death in the +pursuit, or whether, as is more likely, he was made to realize that it +was not a case for his interference—is a detail which we have at +present no means of explaining. I acknowledge that there are some +difficulties in the way. At first sight, it might seem improbable that +at such a moment a murderer would burden himself in his flight with a +brown leather bag. My answer is that he was well aware that if the bag +were found his identity would be established. It was absolutely +necessary for him to take it with him. My theory stands or falls upon +one point, and I call upon the railway company to make strict inquiry +as to whether a ticket was found unclaimed in the local train through +Harrow and King's Langley upon the 18th of March. If such a ticket +were found my case is proved. If not, my theory may still be the +correct one, for it is conceivable either that he travelled without a +ticket or that his ticket was lost." +</P> + +<P> +To this elaborate and plausible hypothesis the answer of the police and +of the company was, first, that no such ticket was found; secondly, +that the slow train would never run parallel to the express; and, +thirdly, that the local train had been stationary in King's Langley +Station when the express, going at fifty miles an hour, had flashed +past it. So perished the only satisfying explanation, and five years +have elapsed without supplying a new one. Now, at last, there comes a +statement which covers all the facts, and which must be regarded as +authentic. It took the shape of a letter dated from New York, and +addressed to the same criminal investigator whose theory I have quoted. +It is given here in extenso, with the exception of the two opening +paragraphs, which are personal in their nature: +</P> + +<P> +"You'll excuse me if I'm not very free with names. There's less reason +now than there was five years ago when mother was still living. But +for all that, I had rather cover up our tracks all I can. But I owe +you an explanation, for if your idea of it was wrong, it was a mighty +ingenious one all the same. I'll have to go back a little so as you +may understand all about it. +</P> + +<P> +"My people came from Bucks, England, and emigrated to the States in the +early fifties. They settled in Rochester, in the State of New York, +where my father ran a large dry goods store. There were only two sons: +myself, James, and my brother, Edward. I was ten years older than my +brother, and after my father died I sort of took the place of a father +to him, as an elder brother would. He was a bright, spirited boy, and +just one of the most beautiful creatures that ever lived. But there +was always a soft spot in him, and it was like mould in cheese, for it +spread and spread, and nothing that you could do would stop it. Mother +saw it just as clearly as I did, but she went on spoiling him all the +same, for he had such a way with him that you could refuse him nothing. +I did all I could to hold him in, and he hated me for my pains. +</P> + +<P> +"At last he fairly got his head, and nothing that we could do would +stop him. He got off into New York, and went rapidly from bad to +worse. At first he was only fast, and then he was criminal; and then, +at the end of a year or two, he was one of the most notorious young +crooks in the city. He had formed a friendship with Sparrow MacCoy, +who was at the head of his profession as a bunco-steerer, green +goodsman and general rascal. They took to card-sharping, and frequented +some of the best hotels in New York. My brother was an excellent actor +(he might have made an honest name for himself if he had chosen), and +he would take the parts of a young Englishman of title, of a simple lad +from the West, or of a college undergraduate, whichever suited Sparrow +MacCoy's purpose. And then one day he dressed himself as a girl, and +he carried it off so well, and made himself such a valuable decoy, that +it was their favourite game afterwards. They had made it right with +Tammany and with the police, so it seemed as if nothing could ever stop +them, for those were in the days before the Lexow Commission, and if +you only had a pull, you could do pretty nearly everything you wanted. +</P> + +<P> +"And nothing would have stopped them if they had only stuck to cards +and New York, but they must needs come up Rochester way, and forge a +name upon a cheque. It was my brother that did it, though everyone +knew that it was under the influence of Sparrow MacCoy. I bought up +that cheque, and a pretty sum it cost me. Then I went to my brother, +laid it before him on the table, and swore to him that I would +prosecute if he did not clear out of the country. At first he simply +laughed. I could not prosecute, he said, without breaking our mother's +heart, and he knew that I would not do that. I made him understand, +however, that our mother's heart was being broken in any case, and that +I had set firm on the point that I would rather see him in Rochester +gaol than in a New York hotel. So at last he gave in, and he made me a +solemn promise that he would see Sparrow MacCoy no more, that he would +go to Europe, and that he would turn his hand to any honest trade that +I helped him to get. I took him down right away to an old family +friend, Joe Willson, who is an exporter of American watches and clocks, +and I got him to give Edward an agency in London, with a small salary +and a 15 per cent commission on all business. His manner and +appearance were so good that he won the old man over at once, and +within a week he was sent off to London with a case full of samples. +</P> + +<P> +"It seemed to me that this business of the cheque had really given my +brother a fright, and that there was some chance of his settling down +into an honest line of life. My mother had spoken with him, and what +she said had touched him, for she had always been the best of mothers +to him and he had been the great sorrow of her life. But I knew that +this man Sparrow MacCoy had a great influence over Edward and my chance +of keeping the lad straight lay in breaking the connection between +them. I had a friend in the New York detective force, and through him +I kept a watch upon MacCoy. When, within a fortnight of my brother's +sailing, I heard that MacCoy had taken a berth in the Etruria, I was as +certain as if he had told me that he was going over to England for the +purpose of coaxing Edward back again into the ways that he had left. +In an instant I had resolved to go also, and to pit my influence +against MacCoy's. I knew it was a losing fight, but I thought, and my +mother thought, that it was my duty. We passed the last night together +in prayer for my success, and she gave me her own Testament that my +father had given her on the day of their marriage in the Old Country, +so that I might always wear it next my heart. +</P> + +<P> +"I was a fellow-traveller, on the steamship, with Sparrow MacCoy, and +at least I had the satisfaction of spoiling his little game for the +voyage. The very first night I went into the smoking-room, and found +him at the head of a card-table, with a half a dozen young fellows who +were carrying their full purses and their empty skulls over to Europe. +He was settling down for his harvest, and a rich one it would have +been. But I soon changed all that. +</P> + +<P> +"'Gentlemen,' said I, 'are you aware whom you are playing with?' +</P> + +<P> +"'What's that to you? You mind your own business!' said he, with an +oath. +</P> + +<P> +"'Who is it, anyway?' asked one of the dudes. +</P> + +<P> +"'He's Sparrow MacCoy, the most notorious card-sharper in the States.' +</P> + +<P> +"Up he jumped with a bottle in his hand, but he remembered that he was +under the flag of the effete Old Country, where law and order run, and +Tammany has no pull. Gaol and the gallows wait for violence and +murder, and there's no slipping out by the back door on board an ocean +liner. +</P> + +<P> +"'Prove your words, you——!' said he. +</P> + +<P> +"'I will!' said I. 'If you will turn up your right shirt-sleeve to the +shoulder, I will either prove my words or I will eat them.' +</P> + +<P> +"He turned white and said not a word. You see, I knew something of his +ways, and I was aware of that part of the mechanism which he and all +such sharpers use consists of an elastic down the arm with a clip just +above the wrist. It is by means of this clip that they withdraw from +their hands the cards which they do not want, while they substitute +other cards from another hiding place. I reckoned on it being there, +and it was. He cursed me, slunk out of the saloon, and was hardly seen +again during the voyage. For once, at any rate, I got level with +Mister Sparrow MacCoy. +</P> + +<P> +"But he soon had his revenge upon me, for when it came to influencing +my brother he outweighed me every time. Edward had kept himself +straight in London for the first few weeks, and had done some business +with his American watches, until this villain came across his path once +more. I did my best, but the best was little enough. The next thing I +heard there had been a scandal at one of the Northumberland Avenue +hotels: a traveller had been fleeced of a large sum by two confederate +card-sharpers, and the matter was in the hands of Scotland Yard. The +first I learned of it was in the evening paper, and I was at once +certain that my brother and MacCoy were back at their old games. I +hurried at once to Edward's lodgings. They told me that he and a tall +gentleman (whom I recognized as MacCoy) had gone off together, and that +he had left the lodgings and taken his things with him. The landlady +had heard them give several directions to the cabman, ending with +Euston Station, and she had accidentally overheard the tall gentleman +saying something about Manchester. She believed that that was their +destination. +</P> + +<P> +"A glance at the time-table showed me that the most likely train was at +five, though there was another at 4:35 which they might have caught. I +had only time to get the later one, but found no sign of them either at +the depot or in the train. They must have gone on by the earlier one, +so I determined to follow them to Manchester and search for them in the +hotels there. One last appeal to my brother by all that he owed to my +mother might even now be the salvation of him. My nerves were +overstrung, and I lit a cigar to steady them. At that moment, just as +the train was moving off, the door of my compartment was flung open, +and there were MacCoy and my brother on the platform. +</P> + +<P> +"They were both disguised, and with good reason, for they knew that the +London police were after them. MacCoy had a great astrakhan collar +drawn up, so that only his eyes and nose were showing. My brother was +dressed like a woman, with a black veil half down his face, but of +course it did not deceive me for an instant, nor would it have done so +even if I had not known that he had often used such a dress before. I +started up, and as I did so MacCoy recognized me. He said something, +the conductor slammed the door, and they were shown into the next +compartment. I tried to stop the train so as to follow them, but the +wheels were already moving, and it was too late. +</P> + +<P> +"When we stopped at Willesden, I instantly changed my carriage. It +appears that I was not seen to do so, which is not surprising, as the +station was crowded with people. MacCoy, of course, was expecting me, +and he had spent the time between Euston and Willesden in saying all he +could to harden my brother's heart and set him against me. That is +what I fancy, for I had never found him so impossible to soften or to +move. I tried this way and I tried that; I pictured his future in an +English gaol; I described the sorrow of his mother when I came back +with the news; I said everything to touch his heart, but all to no +purpose. He sat there with a fixed sneer upon his handsome face, while +every now and then Sparrow MacCoy would throw in a taunt at me, or some +word of encouragement to hold my brother to his resolutions. +</P> + +<P> +"'Why don't you run a Sunday-school?' he would say to me, and then, in +the same breath: 'He thinks you have no will of your own. He thinks +you are just the baby brother and that he can lead you where he likes. +He's only just finding out that you are a man as well as he.' +</P> + +<P> +"It was those words of his which set me talking bitterly. We had left +Willesden, you understand, for all this took some time. My temper got +the better of me, and for the first time in my life I let my brother +see the rough side of me. Perhaps it would have been better had I done +so earlier and more often. +</P> + +<P> +"'A man!' said I. 'Well, I'm glad to have your friend's assurance of +it, for no one would suspect it to see you like a boarding-school +missy. I don't suppose in all this country there is a more +contemptible-looking creature than you are as you sit there with that +Dolly pinafore upon you.' He coloured up at that, for he was a vain +man, and he winced from ridicule. +</P> + +<P> +"'It's only a dust-cloak,' said he, and he slipped it off. 'One has to +throw the coppers off one's scent, and I had no other way to do it.' +He took his toque off with the veil attached, and he put both it and +the cloak into his brown bag. 'Anyway, I don't need to wear it until +the conductor comes round,' said he. +</P> + +<P> +"'Nor then, either,' said I, and taking the bag I slung it with all my +force out of the window. 'Now,' said I, 'you'll never make a Mary Jane +of yourself while I can help it. If nothing but that disguise stands +between you and a gaol, then to gaol you shall go.' +</P> + +<P> +"That was the way to manage him. I felt my advantage at once. His +supple nature was one which yielded to roughness far more readily than +to entreaty. He flushed with shame, and his eyes filled with tears. +But MacCoy saw my advantage also, and was determined that I should not +pursue it. +</P> + +<P> +"'He's my pard, and you shall not bully him,' he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"'He's my brother, and you shall not ruin him,' said I. 'I believe a +spell of prison is the very best way of keeping you apart, and you +shall have it, or it will be no fault of mine.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Oh, you would squeal, would you?' he cried, and in an instant he +whipped out his revolver. I sprang for his hand, but saw that I was +too late, and jumped aside. At the same instant he fired, and the +bullet which would have struck me passed through the heart of my +unfortunate brother. +</P> + +<P> +"He dropped without a groan upon the floor of the compartment, and +MacCoy and I, equally horrified, knelt at each side of him, trying to +bring back some signs of life. MacCoy still held the loaded revolver +in his hand, but his anger against me and my resentment towards him had +both for the moment been swallowed up in this sudden tragedy. It was +he who first realized the situation. The train was for some reason +going very slowly at the moment, and he saw his opportunity for escape. +In an instant he had the door open, but I was as quick as he, and +jumping upon him the two of us fell off the footboard and rolled in +each other's arms down a steep embankment. At the bottom I struck my +head against a stone, and I remembered nothing more. When I came to +myself I was lying among some low bushes, not far from the railroad +track, and somebody was bathing my head with a wet handkerchief. It +was Sparrow MacCoy. +</P> + +<P> +"'I guess I couldn't leave you,' said he. 'I didn't want to have the +blood of two of you on my hands in one day. You loved your brother, +I've no doubt; but you didn't love him a cent more than I loved him, +though you'll say that I took a queer way to show it. Anyhow, it seems +a mighty empty world now that he is gone, and I don't care a +continental whether you give me over to the hangman or not.' +</P> + +<P> +"He had turned his ankle in the fall, and there we sat, he with his +useless foot, and I with my throbbing head, and we talked and talked +until gradually my bitterness began to soften and to turn into +something like sympathy. What was the use of revenging his death upon +a man who was as much stricken by that death as I was? And then, as my +wits gradually returned, I began to realize also that I could do +nothing against MacCoy which would not recoil upon my mother and +myself. How could we convict him without a full account of my +brother's career being made public—the very thing which of all others +we wished to avoid? It was really as much our interest as his to cover +the matter up, and from being an avenger of crime I found myself +changed to a conspirator against Justice. The place in which we found +ourselves was one of those pheasant preserves which are so common in +the Old Country, and as we groped our way through it I found myself +consulting the slayer of my brother as to how far it would be possible +to hush it up. +</P> + +<P> +"I soon realized from what he said that unless there were some papers +of which we knew nothing in my brother's pockets, there was really no +possible means by which the police could identify him or learn how he +had got there. His ticket was in MacCoy's pocket, and so was the +ticket for some baggage which they had left at the depot. Like most +Americans, he had found it cheaper and easier to buy an outfit in +London than to bring one from New York, so that all his linen and +clothes were new and unmarked. The bag, containing the dust-cloak, +which I had thrown out of the window, may have fallen among some +bramble patch where it is still concealed, or may have been carried off +by some tramp, or may have come into the possession of the police, who +kept the incident to themselves. Anyhow, I have seen nothing about it +in the London papers. As to the watches, they were a selection from +those which had been intrusted to him for business purposes. It may +have been for the same business purposes that he was taking them to +Manchester, but—well, it's too late to enter into that. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't blame the police for being at fault. I don't see how it could +have been otherwise. There was just one little clue that they might +have followed up, but it was a small one. I mean that small, circular +mirror which was found in my brother's pocket. It isn't a very common +thing for a young man to carry about with him, is it? But a gambler +might have told you what such a mirror may mean to a card-sharper. If +you sit back a little from the table, and lay the mirror, face upwards, +upon your lap, you can see, as you deal, every card that you give to +your adversary. It is not hard to say whether you see a man or raise +him when you know his cards as well as your own. It was as much a part +of a sharper's outfit as the elastic clip upon Sparrow MacCoy's arm. +Taking that, in connection with the recent frauds at the hotels, the +police might have got hold of one end of the string. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think there is much more for me to explain. We got to a +village called Amersham that night in the character of two gentlemen +upon a walking tour, and afterwards we made our way quietly to London, +whence MacCoy went on to Cairo and I returned to New York. My mother +died six months afterwards, and I am glad to say that to the day of her +death she never knew what happened. She was always under the delusion +that Edward was earning an honest living in London, and I never had the +heart to tell her the truth. He never wrote; but, then, he never did +write at any time, so that made no difference. His name was the last +upon her lips. +</P> + +<P> +"There's just one other thing that I have to ask you, sir, and I should +take it as a kind return for all this explanation, if you could do it +for me. You remember that Testament that was picked up. I always +carried it in my inside pocket, and it must have come out in my fall. +I value it very highly, for it was the family book with my birth and my +brother's marked by my father in the beginning of it. I wish you would +apply at the proper place and have it sent to me. It can be of no +possible value to anyone else. If you address it to X, Bassano's +Library, Broadway, New York, it is sure to come to hand." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="box"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Japanned Box +</H3> + +<P> +It WAS a curious thing, said the private tutor; one of those grotesque +and whimsical incidents which occur to one as one goes through life. I +lost the best situation which I am ever likely to have through it. But +I am glad that I went to Thorpe Place, for I gained—well, as I tell +you the story you will learn what I gained. +</P> + +<P> +I don't know whether you are familiar with that part of the Midlands +which is drained by the Avon. It is the most English part of England. +Shakespeare, the flower of the whole race, was born right in the middle +of it. It is a land of rolling pastures, rising in higher folds to the +westwards, until they swell into the Malvern Hills. There are no +towns, but numerous villages, each with its grey Norman church. You +have left the brick of the southern and eastern counties behind you, +and everything is stone—stone for the walls, and lichened slabs of +stone for the roofs. It is all grim and solid and massive, as befits +the heart of a great nation. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the middle of this country, not very far from Evesham, that +Sir John Bollamore lived in the old ancestral home of Thorpe Place, and +thither it was that I came to teach his two little sons. Sir John was +a widower—his wife had died three years before—and he had been left +with these two lads aged eight and ten, and one dear little girl of +seven. Miss Witherton, who is now my wife, was governess to this +little girl. I was tutor to the two boys. Could there be a more +obvious prelude to an engagement? She governs me now, and I tutor two +little boys of our own. But, there—I have already revealed what it +was which I gained in Thorpe Place! +</P> + +<P> +It was a very, very old house, incredibly old—pre-Norman, some of +it—and the Bollamores claimed to have lived in that situation since +long before the Conquest. It struck a chill to my heart when first I +came there, those enormously thick grey walls, the rude crumbling +stones, the smell as from a sick animal which exhaled from the rotting +plaster of the aged building. But the modern wing was bright and the +garden was well kept. No house could be dismal which had a pretty girl +inside it and such a show of roses in front. +</P> + +<P> +Apart from a very complete staff of servants there were only four of us +in the household. These were Miss Witherton, who was at that time +four-and-twenty and as pretty—well, as pretty as Mrs. Colmore is +now—myself, Frank Colmore, aged thirty, Mrs. Stevens, the housekeeper, +a dry, silent woman, and Mr. Richards, a tall military-looking man, who +acted as steward to the Bollamore estates. We four always had our +meals together, but Sir John had his usually alone in the library. +Sometimes he joined us at dinner, but on the whole we were just as glad +when he did not. +</P> + +<P> +For he was a very formidable person. Imagine a man six feet three +inches in height, majestically built, with a high-nosed, aristocratic +face, brindled hair, shaggy eyebrows, a small, pointed Mephistophelian +beard, and lines upon his brow and round his eyes as deep as if they +had been carved with a penknife. He had grey eyes, weary, +hopeless-looking eyes, proud and yet pathetic, eyes which claimed your +pity and yet dared you to show it. His back was rounded with study, +but otherwise he was as fine a looking man of his age—five-and-fifty +perhaps—as any woman would wish to look upon. +</P> + +<P> +But his presence was not a cheerful one. He was always courteous, +always refined, but singularly silent and retiring. I have never lived +so long with any man and known so little of him. If he were indoors he +spent his time either in his own small study in the Eastern Tower, or +in the library in the modern wing. So regular was his routine that one +could always say at any hour exactly where he would be. Twice in the +day he would visit his study, once after breakfast, and once about ten +at night. You might set your watch by the slam of the heavy door. For +the rest of the day he would be in his library—save that for an hour +or two in the afternoon he would take a walk or a ride, which was +solitary like the rest of his existence. He loved his children, and +was keenly interested in the progress of their studies, but they were a +little awed by the silent, shaggy-browed figure, and they avoided him +as much as they could. Indeed, we all did that. +</P> + +<P> +It was some time before I came to know anything about the circumstances +of Sir John Bollamore's life, for Mrs. Stevens, the housekeeper, and +Mr. Richards, the land-steward, were too loyal to talk easily of their +employer's affairs. As to the governess, she knew no more than I did, +and our common interest was one of the causes which drew us together. +At last, however, an incident occurred which led to a closer +acquaintance with Mr. Richards and a fuller knowledge of the life of +the man whom I served. +</P> + +<P> +The immediate cause of this was no less than the falling of Master +Percy, the youngest of my pupils, into the mill-race, with imminent +danger both to his life and to mine, since I had to risk myself in +order to save him. Dripping and exhausted—for I was far more spent +than the child—I was making for my room when Sir John, who had heard +the hubbub, opened the door of his little study and asked me what was +the matter. I told him of the accident, but assured him that his child +was in no danger, while he listened with a rugged, immobile face, which +expressed in its intense eyes and tightened lips all the emotion which +he tried to conceal. +</P> + +<P> +"One moment! Step in here! Let me have the details!" said he, turning +back through the open door. +</P> + +<P> +And so I found myself within that little sanctum, inside which, as I +afterwards learned, no other foot had for three years been set save +that of the old servant who cleaned it out. It was a round room, +conforming to the shape of the tower in which it was situated, with a +low ceiling, a single narrow, ivy-wreathed window, and the simplest of +furniture. An old carpet, a single chair, a deal table, and a small +shelf of books made up the whole contents. On the table stood a +full-length photograph of a woman—I took no particular notice of the +features, but I remember, that a certain gracious gentleness was the +prevailing impression. Beside it were a large black japanned box and +one or two bundles of letters or papers fastened together with elastic +bands. +</P> + +<P> +Our interview was a short one, for Sir John Bollamore perceived that I +was soaked, and that I should change without delay. The incident led, +however, to an instructive talk with Richards, the agent, who had never +penetrated into the chamber which chance had opened to me. That very +afternoon he came to me, all curiosity, and walked up and down the +garden path with me, while my two charges played tennis upon the lawn +beside us. +</P> + +<P> +"You hardly realize the exception which has been made in your favour," +said he. "That room has been kept such a mystery, and Sir John's +visits to it have been so regular and consistent, that an almost +superstitious feeling has arisen about it in the household. I assure +you that if I were to repeat to you the tales which are flying about, +tales of mysterious visitors there, and of voices overheard by the +servants, you might suspect that Sir John had relapsed into his old +ways." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you say relapsed?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +He looked at me in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it possible," said he, "that Sir John Bollamore's previous history +is unknown to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely." +</P> + +<P> +"You astound me. I thought that every man in England knew something of +his antecedents. I should not mention the matter if it were not that +you are now one of ourselves, and that the facts might come to your +ears in some harsher form if I were silent upon them. I always took it +for granted that you knew that you were in the service of 'Devil' +Bollamore." +</P> + +<P> +"But why 'Devil'?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you are young and the world moves fast, but twenty years ago the +name of 'Devil' Bollamore was one of the best known in London. He was +the leader of the fastest set, bruiser, driver, gambler, drunkard—a +survival of the old type, and as bad as the worst of them." +</P> + +<P> +I stared at him in amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"What!" I cried, "that quiet, studious, sad-faced man?" +</P> + +<P> +"The greatest rip and debauchee in England! All between ourselves, +Colmore. But you understand now what I mean when I say that a woman's +voice in his room might even now give rise to suspicions." +</P> + +<P> +"But what can have changed him so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Little Beryl Clare, when she took the risk of becoming his wife. That +was the turning point. He had got so far that his own fast set had +thrown him over. There is a world of difference, you know, between a +man who drinks and a drunkard. They all drink, but they taboo a +drunkard. He had become a slave to it—hopeless and helpless. Then +she stepped in, saw the possibilities of a fine man in the wreck, took +her chance in marrying him though she might have had the pick of a +dozen, and, by devoting her life to it, brought him back to manhood and +decency. You have observed that no liquor is ever kept in the house. +There never has been any since her foot crossed its threshold. A drop +of it would be like blood to a tiger even now." +</P> + +<P> +"Then her influence still holds him?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is the wonder of it. When she died three years ago, we all +expected and feared that he would fall back into his old ways. She +feared it herself, and the thought gave a terror to death, for she was +like a guardian angel to that man, and lived only for the one purpose. +By the way, did you see a black japanned box in his room?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I fancy it contains her letters. If ever he has occasion to be away, +if only for a single night, he invariably takes his black japanned box +with him. Well, well, Colmore, perhaps I have told you rather more +than I should, but I shall expect you to reciprocate if anything of +interest should come to your knowledge." +</P> + +<P> +I could see that the worthy man was consumed with curiosity and just a +little piqued that I, the newcomer, should have been the first to +penetrate into the untrodden chamber. But the fact raised me in his +esteem, and from that time onwards I found myself upon more +confidential terms with him. +</P> + +<P> +And now the silent and majestic figure of my employer became an object +of greater interest to me. I began to understand that strangely human +look in his eyes, those deep lines upon his care-worn face. He was a +man who was fighting a ceaseless battle, holding at arm's length, from +morning till night, a horrible adversary who was forever trying to +close with him—an adversary which would destroy him body and soul +could it but fix its claws once more upon him. As I watched the grim, +round-backed figure pacing the corridor or walking in the garden, this +imminent danger seemed to take bodily shape, and I could almost fancy +that I saw this most loathsome and dangerous of all the fiends +crouching closely in his very shadow, like a half-cowed beast which +slinks beside its keeper, ready at any unguarded moment to spring at +his throat. And the dead woman, the woman who had spent her life in +warding off this danger, took shape also to my imagination, and I saw +her as a shadowy but beautiful presence which intervened for ever with +arms uplifted to screen the man whom she loved. +</P> + +<P> +In some subtle way he divined the sympathy which I had for him, and he +showed in his own silent fashion that he appreciated it. He even +invited me once to share his afternoon walk, and although no word +passed between us on this occasion, it was a mark of confidence which +he had never shown to anyone before. He asked me also to index his +library (it was one of the best private libraries in England), and I +spent many hours in the evening in his presence, if not in his society, +he reading at his desk and I sitting in a recess by the window reducing +to order the chaos which existed among his books. In spite of these +close relations I was never again asked to enter the chamber in the +turret. +</P> + +<P> +And then came my revulsion of feeling. A single incident changed all +my sympathy to loathing, and made me realize that my employer still +remained all that he had ever been, with the additional vice of +hypocrisy. What happened was as follows. +</P> + +<P> +One evening Miss Witherton had gone down to Broadway, the neighbouring +village, to sing at a concert for some charity, and I, according to my +promise, had walked over to escort her back. The drive sweeps round +under the eastern turret, and I observed as I passed that the light was +lit in the circular room. It was a summer evening, and the window, +which was a little higher than our heads, was open. We were, as it +happened, engrossed in our own conversation at the moment and we had +paused upon the lawn which skirts the old turret, when suddenly +something broke in upon our talk and turned our thoughts away from our +own affairs. +</P> + +<P> +It was a voice—the voice undoubtedly of a woman. It was low—so low +that it was only in that still night air that we could have heard it, +but, hushed as it was, there was no mistaking its feminine timbre. It +spoke hurriedly, gaspingly for a few sentences, and then was silent—a +piteous, breathless, imploring sort of voice. Miss Witherton and I +stood for an instant staring at each other. Then we walked quickly in +the direction of the hall-door. +</P> + +<P> +"It came through the window," I said. +</P> + +<P> +"We must not play the part of eavesdroppers," she answered. "We must +forget that we have ever heard it." +</P> + +<P> +There was an absence of surprise in her manner which suggested a new +idea to me. +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard it before," I cried. +</P> + +<P> +"I could not help it. My own room is higher up on the same turret. It +has happened frequently." +</P> + +<P> +"Who can the woman be?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have no idea. I had rather not discuss it." +</P> + +<P> +Her voice was enough to show me what she thought. But granting that +our employer led a double and dubious life, who could she be, this +mysterious woman who kept him company in the old tower? I knew from my +own inspection how bleak and bare a room it was. She certainly did not +live there. But in that case where did she come from? It could not be +anyone of the household. They were all under the vigilant eyes of Mrs. +Stevens. The visitor must come from without. But how? +</P> + +<P> +And then suddenly I remembered how ancient this building was, and how +probable that some mediaeval passage existed in it. There is hardly an +old castle without one. The mysterious room was the basement of the +turret, so that if there were anything of the sort it would open +through the floor. There were numerous cottages in the immediate +vicinity. The other end of the secret passage might lie among some +tangle of bramble in the neighbouring copse. I said nothing to anyone, +but I felt that the secret of my employer lay within my power. +</P> + +<P> +And the more convinced I was of this the more I marvelled at the manner +in which he concealed his true nature. Often as I watched his austere +figure, I asked myself if it were indeed possible that such a man +should be living this double life, and I tried to persuade myself that +my suspicions might after all prove to be ill-founded. But there was +the female voice, there was the secret nightly rendezvous in the +turret-chamber—how could such facts admit of an innocent +interpretation. I conceived a horror of the man. I was filled with +loathing at his deep, consistent hypocrisy. +</P> + +<P> +Only once during all those months did I ever see him without that sad +but impassive mask which he usually presented towards his fellow-man. +For an instant I caught a glimpse of those volcanic fires which he had +damped down so long. The occasion was an unworthy one, for the object +of his wrath was none other than the aged charwoman whom I have already +mentioned as being the one person who was allowed within his mysterious +chamber. I was passing the corridor which led to the turret—for my +own room lay in that direction—when I heard a sudden, startled scream, +and merged in it the husky, growling note of a man who is inarticulate +with passion. It was the snarl of a furious wild beast. Then I heard +his voice thrilling with anger. "You would dare!" he cried. "You would +dare to disobey my directions!" An instant later the charwoman passed +me, flying down the passage, white-faced and tremulous, while the +terrible voice thundered behind her. "Go to Mrs. Stevens for your +money! Never set foot in Thorpe Place again!" Consumed with +curiosity, I could not help following the woman, and found her round +the corner leaning against the wall and palpitating like a frightened +rabbit. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter, Mrs. Brown?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It's master!" she gasped. "Oh, 'ow 'e frightened me! If you had seen +'is eyes, Mr. Colmore, sir. I thought 'e would 'ave been the death of +me." +</P> + +<P> +"But what had you done?" +</P> + +<P> +"Done, sir! Nothing. At least nothing to make so much of. Just laid +my 'and on that black box of 'is—'adn't even opened it, when in 'e +came and you 'eard the way 'e went on. I've lost my place, and glad I +am of it, for I would never trust myself within reach of 'im again." +</P> + +<P> +So it was the japanned box which was the cause of this outburst—the +box from which he would never permit himself to be separated. What was +the connection, or was there any connection between this and the secret +visits of the lady whose voice I had overheard? Sir John Bollamore's +wrath was enduring as well as fiery, for from that day Mrs. Brown, the +charwoman, vanished from our ken, and Thorpe Place knew her no more. +</P> + +<P> +And now I wish to tell you the singular chance which solved all these +strange questions and put my employer's secret in my possession. The +story may leave you with some lingering doubts as to whether my +curiosity did not get the better of my honour, and whether I did not +condescend to play the spy. If you choose to think so I cannot help +it, but can only assure you that, improbable as it may appear, the +matter came about exactly as I describe it. +</P> + +<P> +The first stage in this denouement was that the small room in the +turret became uninhabitable. This occurred through the fall of the +worm-eaten oaken beam which supported the ceiling. Rotten with age, it +snapped in the middle one morning, and brought down a quantity of +plaster with it. Fortunately Sir John was not in the room at the time. +His precious box was rescued from amongst the debris and brought into +the library, where, henceforward, it was locked within his bureau. Sir +John took no steps to repair the damage, and I never had an opportunity +of searching for that secret passage, the existence of which I had +surmised. As to the lady, I had thought that this would have brought +her visits to an end, had I not one evening heard Mr. Richards asking +Mrs. Stevens who the woman was whom he had overheard talking to Sir +John in the library. I could not catch her reply, but I saw from her +manner that it was not the first time that she had had to answer or +avoid the same question. +</P> + +<P> +"You've heard the voice, Colmore?" said the agent. +</P> + +<P> +I confessed that I had. +</P> + +<P> +"And what do YOU think of it?" +</P> + +<P> +I shrugged my shoulders, and remarked that it was no business of mine. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, you are just as curious as any of us. Is it a woman or +not?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is certainly a woman." +</P> + +<P> +"Which room did you hear it from?" +</P> + +<P> +"From the turret-room, before the ceiling fell." +</P> + +<P> +"But I heard it from the library only last night. I passed the doors +as I was going to bed, and I heard something wailing and praying just +as plainly as I hear you. It may be a woman——" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, what else COULD it be?" +</P> + +<P> +He looked at me hard. +</P> + +<P> +"There are more things in heaven and earth," said he. "If it is a +woman, how does she get there?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know." +</P> + +<P> +"No, nor I. But if it is the other thing—but there, for a practical +business man at the end of the nineteenth century this is rather a +ridiculous line of conversation." He turned away, but I saw that he +felt even more than he had said. To all the old ghost stories of +Thorpe Place a new one was being added before our very eyes. It may by +this time have taken its permanent place, for though an explanation +came to me, it never reached the others. +</P> + +<P> +And my explanation came in this way. I had suffered a sleepless night +from neuralgia, and about midday I had taken a heavy dose of chlorodyne +to alleviate the pain. At that time I was finishing the indexing of +Sir John Bollamore's library, and it was my custom to work there from +five till seven. On this particular day I struggled against the double +effect of my bad night and the narcotic. I have already mentioned that +there was a recess in the library, and in this it was my habit to work. +I settled down steadily to my task, but my weariness overcame me and, +falling back upon the settee, I dropped into a heavy sleep. +</P> + +<P> +How long I slept I do not know, but it was quite dark when I awoke. +Confused by the chlorodyne which I had taken, I lay motionless in a +semi-conscious state. The great room with its high walls covered with +books loomed darkly all round me. A dim radiance from the moonlight +came through the farther window, and against this lighter background I +saw that Sir John Bollamore was sitting at his study table. His +well-set head and clearly cut profile were sharply outlined against the +glimmering square behind him. He bent as I watched him, and I heard +the sharp turning of a key and the rasping of metal upon metal. As if +in a dream I was vaguely conscious that this was the japanned box which +stood in front of him, and that he had drawn something out of it, +something squat and uncouth, which now lay before him upon the table. +I never realized—it never occurred to my bemuddled and torpid brain +that I was intruding upon his privacy, that he imagined himself to be +alone in the room. And then, just as it rushed upon my horrified +perceptions, and I had half risen to announce my presence, I heard a +strange, crisp, metallic clicking, and then the voice. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, it was a woman's voice; there could not be a doubt of it. But a +voice so charged with entreaty and with yearning love, that it will +ring for ever in my ears. It came with a curious faraway tinkle, but +every word was clear, though faint—very faint, for they were the last +words of a dying woman. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not really gone, John," said the thin, gasping voice. "I am here +at your very elbow, and shall be until we meet once more. I die happy +to think that morning and night you will hear my voice. Oh, John, be +strong, be strong, until we meet again." +</P> + +<P> +I say that I had risen in order to announce my presence, but I could +not do so while the voice was sounding. I could only remain half +lying, half sitting, paralysed, astounded, listening to those yearning +distant musical words. And he—he was so absorbed that even if I had +spoken he might not have heard me. But with the silence of the voice +came my half articulated apologies and explanations. He sprang across +the room, switched on the electric light, and in its white glare I saw +him, his eyes gleaming with anger, his face twisted with passion, as +the hapless charwoman may have seen him weeks before. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Colmore!" he cried. "You here! What is the meaning of this, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +With halting words I explained it all, my neuralgia, the narcotic, my +luckless sleep and singular awakening. As he listened the glow of +anger faded from his face, and the sad, impassive mask closed once more +over his features. +</P> + +<P> +"My secret is yours, Mr. Colmore," said he. "I have only myself to +blame for relaxing my precautions. Half confidences are worse than no +confidences, and so you may know all since you know so much. The story +may go where you will when I have passed away, but until then I rely +upon your sense of honour that no human soul shall hear it from your +lips. I am proud still—God help me!—or, at least, I am proud enough +to resent that pity which this story would draw upon me. I have smiled +at envy, and disregarded hatred, but pity is more than I can tolerate. +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard the source from which the voice comes—that voice which +has, as I understand, excited so much curiosity in my household. I am +aware of the rumours to which it has given rise. These speculations, +whether scandalous or superstitious, are such as I can disregard and +forgive. What I should never forgive would be a disloyal spying and +eavesdropping in order to satisfy an illicit curiosity. But of that, +Mr. Colmore, I acquit you. +</P> + +<P> +"When I was a young man, sir, many years younger than you are now, I +was launched upon town without a friend or adviser, and with a purse +which brought only too many false friends and false advisers to my +side. I drank deeply of the wine of life—if there is a man living who +has drunk more deeply he is not a man whom I envy. My purse suffered, +my character suffered, my constitution suffered, stimulants became a +necessity to me, I was a creature from whom my memory recoils. And it +was at that time, the time of my blackest degradation, that God sent +into my life the gentlest, sweetest spirit that ever descended as a +ministering angel from above. She loved me, broken as I was, loved me, +and spent her life in making a man once more of that which had degraded +itself to the level of the beasts. +</P> + +<P> +"But a fell disease struck her, and she withered away before my eyes. +In the hour of her agony it was never of herself, of her own sufferings +and her own death that she thought. It was all of me. The one pang +which her fate brought to her was the fear that when her influence was +removed I should revert to that which I had been. It was in vain that +I made oath to her that no drop of wine would ever cross my lips. She +knew only too well the hold that the devil had upon me—she who had +striven so to loosen it—and it haunted her night and day the thought +that my soul might again be within his grip. +</P> + +<P> +"It was from some friend's gossip of the sick room that she heard of +this invention—this phonograph—and with the quick insight of a loving +woman she saw how she might use it for her ends. She sent me to London +to procure the best which money could buy. With her dying breath she +gasped into it the words which have held me straight ever since. +Lonely and broken, what else have I in all the world to uphold me? But +it is enough. Please God, I shall face her without shame when He is +pleased to reunite us! That is my secret, Mr. Colmore, and whilst I +live I leave it in your keeping." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="doctor"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Black Doctor +</H3> + +<P> +Bishop's Crossing is a small village lying ten miles in a +south-westerly direction from Liverpool. Here in the early seventies +there settled a doctor named Aloysius Lana. Nothing was known locally +either of his antecedents or of the reasons which had prompted him to +come to this Lancashire hamlet. Two facts only were certain about him; +the one that he had gained his medical qualification with some +distinction at Glasgow; the other that he came undoubtedly of a +tropical race, and was so dark that he might almost have had a strain +of the Indian in his composition. His predominant features were, +however, European, and he possessed a stately courtesy and carriage +which suggested a Spanish extraction. A swarthy skin, raven-black +hair, and dark, sparkling eyes under a pair of heavily-tufted brows +made a strange contrast to the flaxen or chestnut rustics of England, +and the newcomer was soon known as "The Black Doctor of Bishop's +Crossing." At first it was a term of ridicule and reproach; as the +years went on it became a title of honour which was familiar to the +whole countryside, and extended far beyond the narrow confines of the +village. +</P> + +<P> +For the newcomer proved himself to be a capable surgeon and an +accomplished physician. The practice of that district had been in the +hands of Edward Rowe, the son of Sir William Rowe, the Liverpool +consultant, but he had not inherited the talents of his father, and Dr. +Lana, with his advantages of presence and of manner, soon beat him out +of the field. Dr. Lana's social success was as rapid as his +professional. A remarkable surgical cure in the case of the Hon. James +Lowry, the second son of Lord Belton, was the means of introducing him +to county society, where he became a favourite through the charm of his +conversation and the elegance of his manners. An absence of +antecedents and of relatives is sometimes an aid rather than an +impediment to social advancement, and the distinguished individuality +of the handsome doctor was its own recommendation. +</P> + +<P> +His patients had one fault—and one fault only—to find with him. He +appeared to be a confirmed bachelor. This was the more remarkable +since the house which he occupied was a large one, and it was known +that his success in practice had enabled him to save considerable sums. +At first the local matchmakers were continually coupling his name with +one or other of the eligible ladies, but as years passed and Dr. Lana +remained unmarried, it came to be generally understood that for some +reason he must remain a bachelor. Some even went so far as to assert +that he was already married, and that it was in order to escape the +consequence of an early misalliance that he had buried himself at +Bishop's Crossing. And, then, just as the matchmakers had finally given +him up in despair, his engagement was suddenly announced to Miss +Frances Morton, of Leigh Hall. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton was a young lady who was well known upon the country-side, +her father, James Haldane Morton, having been the Squire of Bishop's +Crossing. Both her parents were, however, dead, and she lived with her +only brother, Arthur Morton, who had inherited the family estate. In +person Miss Morton was tall and stately, and she was famous for her +quick, impetuous nature and for her strength of character. She met Dr. +Lana at a garden-party, and a friendship, which quickly ripened into +love, sprang up between them. Nothing could exceed their devotion to +each other. There was some discrepancy in age, he being thirty-seven, +and she twenty-four; but, save in that one respect, there was no +possible objection to be found with the match. The engagement was in +February, and it was arranged that the marriage should take place in +August. +</P> + +<P> +Upon the 3rd of June Dr. Lana received a letter from abroad. In a small +village the postmaster is also in a position to be the gossip-master, +and Mr. Bankley, of Bishop's Crossing, had many of the secrets of his +neighbours in his possession. Of this particular letter he remarked +only that it was in a curious envelope, that it was in a man's +handwriting, that the postscript was Buenos Ayres, and the stamp of the +Argentine Republic. It was the first letter which he had ever known +Dr. Lana to have from abroad and this was the reason why his attention +was particularly called to it before he handed it to the local postman. +It was delivered by the evening delivery of that date. +</P> + +<P> +Next morning—that is, upon the 4th of June—Dr. Lana called upon Miss +Morton, and a long interview followed, from which he was observed to +return in a state of great agitation. Miss Morton remained in her room +all that day, and her maid found her several times in tears. In the +course of a week it was an open secret to the whole village that the +engagement was at an end, that Dr. Lana had behaved shamefully to the +young lady, and that Arthur Morton, her brother, was talking of +horse-whipping him. In what particular respect the doctor had behaved +badly was unknown—some surmised one thing and some another; but it was +observed, and taken as the obvious sign of a guilty conscience, that he +would go for miles round rather than pass the windows of Leigh Hall, +and that he gave up attending morning service upon Sundays where he +might have met the young lady. There was an advertisement also in the +Lancet as to the sale of a practice which mentioned no names, but which +was thought by some to refer to Bishop's Crossing, and to mean that Dr. +Lana was thinking of abandoning the scene of his success. Such was the +position of affairs when, upon the evening of Monday, June 21st, there +came a fresh development which changed what had been a mere village +scandal into a tragedy which arrested the attention of the whole +nation. Some detail is necessary to cause the facts of that evening to +present their full significance. +</P> + +<P> +The sole occupants of the doctor's house were his housekeeper, an +elderly and most respectable woman, named Martha Woods, and a young +servant—Mary Pilling. The coachman and the surgery-boy slept out. It +was the custom of the doctor to sit at night in his study, which was +next the surgery in the wing of the house which was farthest from the +servants' quarters. This side of the house had a door of its own for +the convenience of patients, so that it was possible for the doctor to +admit and receive a visitor there without the knowledge of anyone. As +a matter of fact, when patients came late it was quite usual for him to +let them in and out by the surgery entrance, for the maid and the +housekeeper were in the habit of retiring early. +</P> + +<P> +On this particular night Martha Woods went into the doctor's study at +half-past nine, and found him writing at his desk. She bade him good +night, sent the maid to bed, and then occupied herself until a quarter +to eleven in household matters. It was striking eleven upon the hall +clock when she went to her own room. She had been there about a quarter +of an hour or twenty minutes when she heard a cry or call, which +appeared to come from within the house. She waited some time, but it +was not repeated. Much alarmed, for the sound was loud and urgent, she +put on a dressing-gown, and ran at the top of her speed to the doctor's +study. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" cried a voice, as she tapped at the door. +</P> + +<P> +"I am here, sir—Mrs. Woods." +</P> + +<P> +"I beg that you will leave me in peace. Go back to your room this +instant!" cried the voice, which was, to the best of her belief, that +of her master. The tone was so harsh and so unlike her master's usual +manner, that she was surprised and hurt. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I heard you calling, sir," she explained, but no answer was +given to her. Mrs. Woods looked at the clock as she returned to her +room, and it was then half-past eleven. +</P> + +<P> +At some period between eleven and twelve (she could not be positive as +to the exact hour) a patient called upon the doctor and was unable to +get any reply from him. This late visitor was Mrs. Madding, the wife +of the village grocer, who was dangerously ill of typhoid fever. Dr. +Lana had asked her to look in the last thing and let him know how her +husband was progressing. She observed that the light was burning in +the study, but having knocked several times at the surgery door without +response, she concluded that the doctor had been called out, and so +returned home. +</P> + +<P> +There is a short, winding drive with a lamp at the end of it leading +down from the house to the road. As Mrs. Madding emerged from the gate +a man was coming along the footpath. Thinking that it might be Dr. +Lana returning from some professional visit, she waited for him, and +was surprised to see that it was Mr. Arthur Morton, the young squire. +In the light of the lamp she observed that his manner was excited, and +that he carried in his hand a heavy hunting-crop. He was turning in at +the gate when she addressed him. +</P> + +<P> +"The doctor is not in, sir," said she. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know that?" he asked harshly. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been to the surgery door, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"I see a light," said the young squire, looking up the drive. "That is +in his study, is it not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir; but I am sure that he is out." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he must come in again," said young Morton, and passed through +the gate while Mrs. Madding went upon her homeward way. +</P> + +<P> +At three o'clock that morning her husband suffered a sharp relapse, and +she was so alarmed by his symptoms that she determined to call the +doctor without delay. As she passed through the gate she was surprised +to see someone lurking among the laurel bushes. It was certainly a man, +and to the best of her belief Mr. Arthur Morton. Preoccupied with her +own troubles, she gave no particular attention to the incident, but +hurried on upon her errand. +</P> + +<P> +When she reached the house she perceived to her surprise that the light +was still burning in the study. She therefore tapped at the surgery +door. There was no answer. She repeated the knocking several times +without effect. It appeared to her to be unlikely that the doctor +would either go to bed or go out leaving so brilliant a light behind +him, and it struck Mrs. Madding that it was possible that he might have +dropped asleep in his chair. She tapped at the study window, +therefore, but without result. Then, finding that there was an opening +between the curtain and the woodwork, she looked through. +</P> + +<P> +The small room was brilliantly lighted from a large lamp on the central +table, which was littered with the doctor's books and instruments. No +one was visible, nor did she see anything unusual, except that in the +farther shadow thrown by the table a dingy white glove was lying upon +the carpet. And then suddenly, as her eyes became more accustomed to +the light, a boot emerged from the other end of the shadow, and she +realized, with a thrill of horror, that what she had taken to be a +glove was the hand of a man, who was prostrate upon the floor. +Understanding that something terrible had occurred, she rang at the +front door, roused Mrs. Woods, the housekeeper, and the two women made +their way into the study, having first dispatched the maidservant to +the police-station. +</P> + +<P> +At the side of the table, away from the window, Dr. Lana was discovered +stretched upon his back and quite dead. It was evident that he had +been subjected to violence, for one of his eyes was blackened and there +were marks of bruises about his face and neck. A slight thickening and +swelling of his features appeared to suggest that the cause of his +death had been strangulation. He was dressed in his usual professional +clothes, but wore cloth slippers, the soles of which were perfectly +clean. The carpet was marked all over, especially on the side of the +door, with traces of dirty boots, which were presumably left by the +murderer. It was evident that someone had entered by the surgery door, +had killed the doctor, and had then made his escape unseen. That the +assailant was a man was certain, from the size of the footprints and +from the nature of the injuries. But beyond that point the police +found it very difficult to go. +</P> + +<P> +There were no signs of robbery, and the doctor's gold watch was safe in +his pocket. He kept a heavy cash-box in the room, and this was +discovered to be locked but empty. Mrs. Woods had an impression that a +large sum was usually kept there, but the doctor had paid a heavy corn +bill in cash only that very day, and it was conjectured that it was to +this and not to a robber that the emptiness of the box was due. One +thing in the room was missing—but that one thing was suggestive. The +portrait of Miss Morton, which had always stood upon the side-table, +had been taken from its frame, and carried off. Mrs. Woods had +observed it there when she waited upon her employer that evening, and +now it was gone. On the other hand, there was picked up from the floor +a green eye-patch, which the housekeeper could not remember to have +seen before. Such a patch might, however, be in the possession of a +doctor, and there was nothing to indicate that it was in any way +connected with the crime. +</P> + +<P> +Suspicion could only turn in one direction, and Arthur Morton, the +young squire, was immediately arrested. The evidence against him was +circumstantial, but damning. He was devoted to his sister, and it was +shown that since the rupture between her and Dr. Lana he had been heard +again and again to express himself in the most vindictive terms towards +her former lover. He had, as stated, been seen somewhere about eleven +o'clock entering the doctor's drive with a hunting-crop in his hand. +He had then, according to the theory of the police, broken in upon the +doctor, whose exclamation of fear or of anger had been loud enough to +attract the attention of Mrs. Woods. When Mrs. Woods descended, Dr. +Lana had made up his mind to talk it over with his visitor, and had, +therefore, sent his housekeeper back to her room. This conversation +had lasted a long time, had become more and more fiery, and had ended +by a personal struggle, in which the doctor lost his life. The fact, +revealed by a post-mortem, that his heart was much diseased—an ailment +quite unsuspected during his life—would make it possible that death +might in his case ensue from injuries which would not be fatal to a +healthy man. Arthur Morton had then removed his sister's photograph, +and had made his way homeward, stepping aside into the laurel bushes to +avoid Mrs. Madding at the gate. This was the theory of the +prosecution, and the case which they presented was a formidable one. +</P> + +<P> +On the other hand, there were some strong points for the defence. +Morton was high-spirited and impetuous, like his sister, but he was +respected and liked by everyone, and his frank and honest nature seemed +to be incapable of such a crime. His own explanation was that he was +anxious to have a conversation with Dr. Lana about some urgent family +matters (from first to last he refused even to mention the name of his +sister). He did not attempt to deny that this conversation would +probably have been of an unpleasant nature. He had heard from a +patient that the doctor was out, and he therefore waited until about +three in the morning for his return, but as he had seen nothing of him +up to that hour, he had given it up and had returned home. As to his +death, he knew no more about it than the constable who arrested him. +He had formerly been an intimate friend of the deceased man; but +circumstances, which he would prefer not to mention, had brought about +a change in his sentiments. +</P> + +<P> +There were several facts which supported his innocence. It was certain +that Dr. Lana was alive and in his study at half-past eleven o'clock. +Mrs. Woods was prepared to swear that it was at that hour that she had +heard his voice. The friends of the prisoner contended that it was +probable that at that time Dr. Lana was not alone. The sound which had +originally attracted the attention of the housekeeper, and her master's +unusual impatience that she should leave him in peace, seemed to point +to that. If this were so then it appeared to be probable that he had +met his end between the moment when the housekeeper heard his voice and +the time when Mrs. Madding made her first call and found it impossible +to attract his attention. But if this were the time of his death, then +it was certain that Mr. Arthur Morton could not be guilty, as it was +AFTER this that she had met the young squire at the gate. +</P> + +<P> +If this hypothesis were correct, and someone was with Dr. Lana before +Mrs. Madding met Mr. Arthur Morton, then who was this someone, and what +motives had he for wishing evil to the doctor? It was universally +admitted that if the friends of the accused could throw light upon +this, they would have gone a long way towards establishing his +innocence. But in the meanwhile it was open to the public to say—as +they did say—that there was no proof that anyone had been there at all +except the young squire; while, on the other hand, there was ample +proof that his motives in going were of a sinister kind. When Mrs. +Madding called, the doctor might have retired to his room, or he might, +as she thought at the time, have gone out and returned afterwards to +find Mr. Arthur Morton waiting for him. Some of the supporters of the +accused laid stress upon the fact that the photograph of his sister +Frances, which had been removed from the doctor's room, had not been +found in her brother's possession. This argument, however, did not +count for much, as he had ample time before his arrest to burn it or to +destroy it. As to the only positive evidence in the case—the muddy +footmarks upon the floor—they were so blurred by the softness of the +carpet that it was impossible to make any trustworthy deduction from +them. The most that could be said was that their appearance was not +inconsistent with the theory that they were made by the accused, and it +was further shown that his boots were very muddy upon that night. +There had been a heavy shower in the afternoon, and all boots were +probably in the same condition. +</P> + +<P> +Such is a bald statement of the singular and romantic series of events +which centred public attention upon this Lancashire tragedy. The +unknown origin of the doctor, his curious and distinguished +personality, the position of the man who was accused of the murder, and +the love affair which had preceded the crimes all combined to make the +affair one of those dramas which absorb the whole interest of a nation. +Throughout the three kingdoms men discussed the case of the Black +Doctor of Bishop's Crossing, and many were the theories put forward to +explain the facts; but it may safely be said that among them all there +was not one which prepared the minds of the public for the +extraordinary sequel, which caused so much excitement upon the first +day of the trial, and came to a climax upon the second. The long files +of the Lancaster Weekly with their report of the case lie before me as +I write, but I must content myself with a synopsis of the case up to +the point when, upon the evening of the first day, the evidence of Miss +Frances Morton threw a singular light upon the case. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Porlock Carr, the counsel for the prosecution, had marshalled his +facts with his usual skill, and as the day wore on, it became more and +more evident how difficult was the task which Mr. Humphrey, who had +been retained for the defence, had before him. Several witnesses were +put up to swear to the intemperate expressions which the young squire +had been heard to utter about the doctor, and the fiery manner in which +he resented the alleged ill-treatment of his sister. Mrs. Madding +repeated her evidence as to the visit which had been paid late at night +by the prisoner to the deceased, and it was shown by another witness +that the prisoner was aware that the doctor was in the habit of sitting +up alone in this isolated wing of the house, and that he had chosen +this very late hour to call because he knew that his victim would then +be at his mercy. A servant at the squire's house was compelled to +admit that he had heard his master return about three that morning, +which corroborated Mrs. Madding's statement that she had seen him among +the laurel bushes near the gate upon the occasion of her second visit. +The muddy boots and an alleged similarity in the footprints were duly +dwelt upon, and it was felt when the case for the prosecution had been +presented that, however circumstantial it might be, it was none the +less so complete and so convincing, that the fate of the prisoner was +sealed, unless something quite unexpected should be disclosed by the +defence. It was three o'clock when the prosecution closed. At +half-past four, when the court rose, a new and unlooked-for development +had occurred. I extract the incident, or part of it, from the journal +which I have already mentioned, omitting the preliminary observations +of the counsel. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Considerable sensation was caused in the crowded court when the first +witness called for the defence proved to be Miss Frances Morton, the +sister of the prisoner. Our readers will remember that the young lady +had been engaged to Dr. Lana, and that it was his anger over the sudden +termination of this engagement which was thought to have driven her +brother to the perpetration of this crime. Miss Morton had not, +however, been directly implicated in the case in any way, either at the +inquest or at the police-court proceedings, and her appearance as the +leading witness for the defence came as a surprise upon the public. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Frances Morton, who was a tall and handsome brunette, gave her +evidence in a low but clear voice, though it was evident throughout +that she was suffering from extreme emotion. She alluded to her +engagement to the doctor, touched briefly upon its termination, which +was due, she said, to personal matters connected with his family, and +surprised the court by asserting that she had always considered her +brother's resentment to be unreasonable and intemperate. In answer to +a direct question from her counsel, she replied that she did not feel +that she had any grievance whatever against Dr. Lana, and that in her +opinion he had acted in a perfectly honourable manner. Her brother, on +an insufficient knowledge of the facts, had taken another view, and she +was compelled to acknowledge that, in spite of her entreaties, he had +uttered threats of personal violence against the doctor, and had, upon +the evening of the tragedy, announced his intention of "having it out +with him." She had done her best to bring him to a more reasonable +frame of mind, but he was very headstrong where his emotions or +prejudices were concerned. +</P> + +<P> +Up to this point the young lady's evidence had appeared to make against +the prisoner rather than in his favour. The questions of her counsel, +however, soon put a very different light upon the matter, and disclosed +an unexpected line of defence. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: Do you believe your brother to be guilty of this crime? +</P> + +<P> +The Judge: I cannot permit that question, Mr. Humphrey. We are here +to decide upon questions of fact—not of belief. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: Do you know that your brother is not guilty of the death +of Doctor Lana? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Yes. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: How do you know it? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Because Dr. Lana is not dead. +</P> + +<P> +There followed a prolonged sensation in court, which interrupted the +examination of the witness. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: And how do you know, Miss Morton, that Dr. Lana is not +dead? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Because I have received a letter from him since the date +of his supposed death. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: Have you this letter? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Yes, but I should prefer not to show it. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: Have you the envelope? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Yes, it is here. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: What is the post-mark? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Liverpool. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: And the date? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: June the 22nd. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: That being the day after his alleged death. Are you +prepared to swear to this handwriting, Miss Morton? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Certainly. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: I am prepared to call six other witnesses, my lord, to +testify that this letter is in the writing of Doctor Lana. +</P> + +<P> +The Judge: Then you must call them tomorrow. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Porlock Carr (counsel for the prosecution): In the meantime, my +lord, we claim possession of this document, so that we may obtain +expert evidence as to how far it is an imitation of the handwriting of +the gentleman whom we still confidently assert to be deceased. I need +not point out that the theory so unexpectedly sprung upon us may prove +to be a very obvious device adopted by the friends of the prisoner in +order to divert this inquiry. I would draw attention to the fact that +the young lady must, according to her own account, have possessed this +letter during the proceedings at the inquest and at the police-court. +She desires us to believe that she permitted these to proceed, although +she held in her pocket evidence which would at any moment have brought +them to an end. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey. Can you explain this, Miss Morton? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: Dr. Lana desired his secret to be preserved. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Porlock Carr: Then why have you made this public? +</P> + +<P> +Miss Morton: To save my brother. +</P> + +<P> +A murmur of sympathy broke out in court, which was instantly suppressed +by the Judge. +</P> + +<P> +The Judge: Admitting this line of defence, it lies with you, Mr. +Humphrey, to throw a light upon who this man is whose body has been +recognized by so many friends and patients of Dr. Lana as being that of +the doctor himself. +</P> + +<P> +A Juryman: Has anyone up to now expressed any doubt about the matter? +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Porlock Carr: Not to my knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: We hope to make the matter clear. +</P> + +<P> +The Judge: Then the court adjourns until tomorrow. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This new development of the case excited the utmost interest among the +general public. Press comment was prevented by the fact that the trial +was still undecided, but the question was everywhere argued as to how +far there could be truth in Miss Morton's declaration, and how far it +might be a daring ruse for the purpose of saving her brother. The +obvious dilemma in which the missing doctor stood was that if by any +extraordinary chance he was not dead, then he must be held responsible +for the death of this unknown man, who resembled him so exactly, and +who was found in his study. This letter which Miss Morton refused to +produce was possibly a confession of guilt, and she might find herself +in the terrible position of only being able to save her brother from +the gallows by the sacrifice of her former lover. The court next +morning was crammed to overflowing, and a murmur of excitement passed +over it when Mr. Humphrey was observed to enter in a state of emotion, +which even his trained nerves could not conceal, and to confer with the +opposing counsel. A few hurried words—words which left a look of +amazement upon Mr. Porlock Carr's face—passed between them, and then +the counsel for the defence, addressing the Judge, announced that, with +the consent of the prosecution, the young lady who had given evidence +upon the sitting before would not be recalled. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The Judge: But you appear, Mr. Humphrey, to have left matters in a very +unsatisfactory state. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: Perhaps, my lord, my next witness may help to clear them +up. +</P> + +<P> +The Judge: Then call your next witness. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Humphrey: I call Dr. Aloysius Lana. +</P> + +<P> +The learned counsel has made many telling remarks in his day, but he +has certainly never produced such a sensation with so short a sentence. +The court was simply stunned with amazement as the very man whose fate +had been the subject of so much contention appeared bodily before them +in the witness-box. Those among the spectators who had known him at +Bishop's Crossing saw him now, gaunt and thin, with deep lines of care +upon his face. But in spite of his melancholy bearing and despondent +expression, there were few who could say that they had ever seen a man +of more distinguished presence. Bowing to the judge, he asked if he +might be allowed to make a statement, and having been duly informed +that whatever he said might be used against him, he bowed once more, +and proceeded: +</P> + +<P> +"My wish," said he, "is to hold nothing back, but to tell with perfect +frankness all that occurred upon the night of the 21st of June. Had I +known that the innocent had suffered, and that so much trouble had been +brought upon those whom I love best in the world, I should have come +forward long ago; but there were reasons which prevented these things +from coming to my ears. It was my desire that an unhappy man should +vanish from the world which had known him, but I had not foreseen that +others would be affected by my actions. Let me to the best of my +ability repair the evil which I have done. +</P> + +<P> +"To anyone who is acquainted with the history of the Argentine Republic +the name of Lana is well known. My father, who came of the best blood +of old Spain, filled all the highest offices of the State, and would +have been President but for his death in the riots of San Juan. A +brilliant career might have been open to my twin brother Ernest and +myself had it not been for financial losses which made it necessary +that we should earn our own living. I apologize, sir, if these details +appear to be irrelevant, but they are a necessary introduction to that +which is to follow. +</P> + +<P> +"I had, as I have said, a twin brother named Ernest, whose resemblance +to me was so great that even when we were together people could see no +difference between us. Down to the smallest detail we were exactly the +same. As we grew older this likeness became less marked because our +expression was not the same, but with our features in repose the points +of difference were very slight. +</P> + +<P> +"It does not become me to say too much of one who is dead, the more so +as he is my only brother, but I leave his character to those who knew +him best. I will only say—for I HAVE to say it—that in my early +manhood I conceived a horror of him, and that I had good reason for the +aversion which filled me. My own reputation suffered from his actions, +for our close resemblance caused me to be credited with many of them. +Eventually, in a peculiarly disgraceful business, he contrived to throw +the whole odium upon me in such a way that I was forced to leave the +Argentine for ever, and to seek a career in Europe. The freedom from +his hated presence more than compensated me for the loss of my native +land. I had enough money to defray my medical studies at Glasgow, and +I finally settled in practice at Bishop's Crossing, in the firm +conviction that in that remote Lancashire hamlet I should never hear of +him again. +</P> + +<P> +"For years my hopes were fulfilled, and then at last he discovered me. +Some Liverpool man who visited Buenos Ayres put him upon my track. He +had lost all his money, and he thought that he would come over and +share mine. Knowing my horror of him, he rightly thought that I would +be willing to buy him off. I received a letter from him saying that he +was coming. It was at a crisis in my own affairs, and his arrival +might conceivably bring trouble, and even disgrace, upon some whom I +was especially bound to shield from anything of the kind. I took steps +to insure that any evil which might come should fall on me only, and +that"—here he turned and looked at the prisoner—"was the cause of +conduct upon my part which has been too harshly judged. My only motive +was to screen those who were dear to me from any possible connection +with scandal or disgrace. That scandal and disgrace would come with my +brother was only to say that what had been would be again. +</P> + +<P> +"My brother arrived himself one night not very long after my receipt of +the letter. I was sitting in my study after the servants had gone to +bed, when I heard a footstep upon the gravel outside, and an instant +later I saw his face looking in at me through the window. He was a +clean-shaven man like myself, and the resemblance between us was still +so great that, for an instant, I thought it was my own reflection in +the glass. He had a dark patch over his eye, but our features were +absolutely the same. Then he smiled in a sardonic way which had been a +trick of his from his boyhood, and I knew that he was the same brother +who had driven me from my native land, and brought disgrace upon what +had been an honourable name. I went to the door and I admitted him. +That would be about ten o'clock that night. +</P> + +<P> +"When he came into the glare of the lamp, I saw at once that he had +fallen upon very evil days. He had walked from Liverpool, and he was +tired and ill. I was quite shocked by the expression upon his face. +My medical knowledge told me that there was some serious internal +malady. He had been drinking also, and his face was bruised as the +result of a scuffle which he had had with some sailors. It was to +cover his injured eye that he wore this patch, which he removed when he +entered the room. He was himself dressed in a pea-jacket and flannel +shirt, and his feet were bursting through his boots. But his poverty +had only made him more savagely vindictive towards me. His hatred rose +to the height of a mania. I had been rolling in money in England, +according to his account, while he had been starving in South America. +I cannot describe to you the threats which he uttered or the insults +which he poured upon me. My impression is, that hardships and +debauchery had unhinged his reason. He paced about the room like a +wild beast, demanding drink, demanding money, and all in the foulest +language. I am a hot-tempered man, but I thank God that I am able to +say that I remained master of myself, and that I never raised a hand +against him. My coolness only irritated him the more. He raved, he +cursed, he shook his fists in my face, and then suddenly a horrible +spasm passed over his features, he clapped his hand to his side, and +with a loud cry he fell in a heap at my feet. I raised him up and +stretched him upon the sofa, but no answer came to my exclamations, and +the hand which I held in mine was cold and clammy. His diseased heart +had broken down. His own violence had killed him. +</P> + +<P> +"For a long time I sat as if I were in some dreadful dream, staring at +the body of my brother. I was aroused by the knocking of Mrs. Woods, +who had been disturbed by that dying cry. I sent her away to bed. +Shortly afterwards a patient tapped at the surgery door, but as I took +no notice, he or she went off again. Slowly and gradually as I sat +there a plan was forming itself in my head in the curious automatic way +in which plans do form. When I rose from my chair my future movements +were finally decided upon without my having been conscious of any +process of thought. It was an instinct which irresistibly inclined me +towards one course. +</P> + +<P> +"Ever since that change in my affairs to which I have alluded, Bishop's +Crossing had become hateful to me. My plans of life had been ruined, +and I had met with hasty judgments and unkind treatment where I had +expected sympathy. It is true that any danger of scandal from my +brother had passed away with his life; but still, I was sore about the +past, and felt that things could never be as they had been. It may be +that I was unduly sensitive, and that I had not made sufficient +allowance for others, but my feelings were as I describe. Any chance +of getting away from Bishop's Crossing and of everyone in it would be +most welcome to me. And here was such a chance as I could never have +dared to hope for, a chance which would enable me to make a clean break +with the past. +</P> + +<P> +"There was this dead man lying upon the sofa, so like me that save for +some little thickness and coarseness of the features there was no +difference at all. No one had seen him come and no one would miss him. +We were both clean-shaven, and his hair was about the same length as my +own. If I changed clothes with him, then Dr. Aloysius Lana would be +found lying dead in his study, and there would be an end of an +unfortunate fellow, and of a blighted career. There was plenty of ready +money in the room, and this I could carry away with me to help me to +start once more in some other land. In my brother's clothes I could +walk by night unobserved as far as Liverpool, and in that great seaport +I would soon find some means of leaving the country. After my lost +hopes, the humblest existence where I was unknown was far preferable, +in my estimation, to a practice, however successful, in Bishop's +Crossing, where at any moment I might come face to face with those whom +I should wish, if it were possible, to forget. I determined to effect +the change. +</P> + +<P> +"And I did so. I will not go into particulars, for the recollection is +as painful as the experience; but in an hour my brother lay, dressed +down to the smallest detail in my clothes, while I slunk out by the +surgery door, and taking the back path which led across some fields, I +started off to make the best of my way to Liverpool, where I arrived +the same night. My bag of money and a certain portrait were all I +carried out of the house, and I left behind me in my hurry the shade +which my brother had been wearing over his eye. Everything else of his +I took with me. +</P> + +<P> +"I give you my word, sir, that never for one instant did the idea occur +to me that people might think that I had been murdered, nor did I +imagine that anyone might be caused serious danger through this +stratagem by which I endeavoured to gain a fresh start in the world. +On the contrary, it was the thought of relieving others from the burden +of my presence which was always uppermost in my mind. A sailing vessel +was leaving Liverpool that very day for Corunna, and in this I took my +passage, thinking that the voyage would give me time to recover my +balance, and to consider the future. But before I left my resolution +softened. I bethought me that there was one person in the world to +whom I would not cause an hour of sadness. She would mourn me in her +heart, however harsh and unsympathetic her relatives might be. She +understood and appreciated the motives upon which I had acted, and if +the rest of her family condemned me, she, at least, would not forget. +And so I sent her a note under the seal of secrecy to save her from a +baseless grief. If under the pressure of events she broke that seal, +she has my entire sympathy and forgiveness. +</P> + +<P> +"It was only last night that I returned to England, and during all this +time I have heard nothing of the sensation which my supposed death had +caused, nor of the accusation that Mr. Arthur Morton had been concerned +in it. It was in a late evening paper that I read an account of the +proceedings of yesterday, and I have come this morning as fast as an +express train could bring me to testify to the truth." +</P> + +<P> +Such was the remarkable statement of Dr. Aloysius Lana which brought +the trial to a sudden termination. A subsequent investigation +corroborated it to the extent of finding out the vessel in which his +brother Ernest Lana had come over from South America. The ship's +doctor was able to testify that he had complained of a weak heart +during the voyage, and that his symptoms were consistent with such a +death as was described. +</P> + +<P> +As to Dr. Aloysius Lana, he returned to the village from which he had +made so dramatic a disappearance, and a complete reconciliation was +effected between him and the young squire, the latter having +acknowledged that he had entirely misunderstood the other's motives in +withdrawing from his engagement. That another reconciliation followed +may be judged from a notice extracted from a prominent column in the +Morning Post: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"A marriage was solemnized upon September 19th, by the Rev. Stephen +Johnson, at the parish church of Bishop's Crossing, between Aloysius +Xavier Lana, son of Don Alfredo Lana, formerly Foreign Minister of the +Argentine Republic, and Frances Morton, only daughter of the late James +Morton, J.P., of Leigh Hall, Bishop's Crossing, Lancashire." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="breast"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Jew's Breastplate +</H3> + +<P> +My particular friend, Ward Mortimer, was one of the best men of his day +at everything connected with Oriental archaeology. He had written +largely upon the subject, he had lived two years in a tomb at Thebes, +while he excavated in the Valley of the Kings, and finally he had +created a considerable sensation by his exhumation of the alleged mummy +of Cleopatra in the inner room of the Temple of Horus, at Philae. With +such a record at the age of thirty-one, it was felt that a considerable +career lay before him, and no one was surprised when he was elected to +the curatorship of the Belmore Street Museum, which carries with it the +lectureship at the Oriental College, and an income which has sunk with +the fall in land, but which still remains at that ideal sum which is +large enough to encourage an investigator, but not so large as to +enervate him. +</P> + +<P> +There was only one reason which made Ward Mortimer's position a little +difficult at the Belmore Street Museum, and that was the extreme +eminence of the man whom he had to succeed. Professor Andreas was a +profound scholar and a man of European reputation. His lectures were +frequented by students from every part of the world, and his admirable +management of the collection intrusted to his care was a commonplace in +all learned societies. There was, therefore, considerable surprise +when, at the age of fifty-five, he suddenly resigned his position and +retired from those duties which had been both his livelihood and his +pleasure. He and his daughter left the comfortable suite of rooms +which had formed his official residence in connection with the museum, +and my friend, Mortimer, who was a bachelor, took up his quarters there. +</P> + +<P> +On hearing of Mortimer's appointment Professor Andreas had written him +a very kindly and flattering congratulatory letter. I was actually +present at their first meeting, and I went with Mortimer round the +museum when the Professor showed us the admirable collection which he +had cherished so long. The Professor's beautiful daughter and a young +man, Captain Wilson, who was, as I understood, soon to be her husband, +accompanied us in our inspection. There were fifteen rooms, but the +Babylonian, the Syrian, and the central hall, which contained the +Jewish and Egyptian collection, were the finest of all. Professor +Andreas was a quiet, dry, elderly man, with a clean-shaven face and an +impassive manner, but his dark eyes sparkled and his features quickened +into enthusiastic life as he pointed out to us the rarity and the +beauty of some of his specimens. His hand lingered so fondly over +them, that one could read his pride in them and the grief in his heart +now that they were passing from his care into that of another. +</P> + +<P> +He had shown us in turn his mummies, his papyri, his rare scarabs, his +inscriptions, his Jewish relics, and his duplication of the famous +seven-branched candlestick of the Temple, which was brought to Rome by +Titus, and which is supposed by some to be lying at this instant in the +bed of the Tiber. Then he approached a case which stood in the very +centre of the hall, and he looked down through the glass with reverence +in his attitude and manner. +</P> + +<P> +"This is no novelty to an expert like yourself, Mr. Mortimer," said he; +"but I daresay that your friend, Mr. Jackson, will be interested to see +it." +</P> + +<P> +Leaning over the case I saw an object, some five inches square, which +consisted of twelve precious stones in a framework of gold, with golden +hooks at two of the corners. The stones were all varying in sort and +colour, but they were of the same size. Their shapes, arrangement, and +gradation of tint made me think of a box of water-colour paints. Each +stone had some hieroglyphic scratched upon its surface. +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard, Mr. Jackson, of the urim and thummim?" +</P> + +<P> +I had heard the term, but my idea of its meaning was exceedingly vague. +</P> + +<P> +"The urim and thummim was a name given to the jewelled plate which lay +upon the breast of the high priest of the Jews. They had a very +special feeling of reverence for it—something of the feeling which an +ancient Roman might have for the Sibylline books in the Capitol. There +are, as you see, twelve magnificent stones, inscribed with mystical +characters. Counting from the left-hand top corner, the stones are +carnelian, peridot, emerald, ruby, lapis lazuli, onyx, sapphire, agate, +amethyst, topaz, beryl, and jasper." +</P> + +<P> +I was amazed at the variety and beauty of the stones. +</P> + +<P> +"Has the breastplate any particular history?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It is of great age and of immense value," said Professor Andreas. +"Without being able to make an absolute assertion, we have many reasons +to think that it is possible that it may be the original urim and +thummim of Solomon's Temple. There is certainly nothing so fine in any +collection in Europe. My friend, Captain Wilson, here, is a practical +authority upon precious stones, and he would tell you how pure these +are." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Wilson, a man with a dark, hard, incisive face, was standing +beside his fiancee at the other side of the case. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said he, curtly, "I have never seen finer stones." +</P> + +<P> +"And the gold-work is also worthy of attention. The ancients excelled +in——"—he was apparently about to indicate the setting of the stones, +when Captain Wilson interrupted him. +</P> + +<P> +"You will see a finer example of their gold-work in this candlestick," +said he, turning to another table, and we all joined him in his +admiration of its embossed stem and delicately ornamented branches. +Altogether it was an interesting and a novel experience to have objects +of such rarity explained by so great an expert; and when, finally, +Professor Andreas finished our inspection by formally handing over the +precious collection to the care of my friend, I could not help pitying +him and envying his successor whose life was to pass in so pleasant a +duty. Within a week, Ward Mortimer was duly installed in his new set +of rooms, and had become the autocrat of the Belmore Street Museum. +</P> + +<P> +About a fortnight afterwards my friend gave a small dinner to half a +dozen bachelor friends to celebrate his promotion. When his guests +were departing he pulled my sleeve and signalled to me that he wished +me to remain. +</P> + +<P> +"You have only a few hundred yards to go," said he—I was living in +chambers in the Albany. "You may as well stay and have a quiet cigar +with me. I very much want your advice." +</P> + +<P> +I relapsed into an arm-chair and lit one of his excellent Matronas. +When he had returned from seeing the last of his guests out, he drew a +letter from his dress-jacket and sat down opposite to me. +</P> + +<P> +"This is an anonymous letter which I received this morning," said he. +"I want to read it to you and to have your advice." +</P> + +<P> +"You are very welcome to it for what it is worth." +</P> + +<P> +"This is how the note runs: 'Sir,—I should strongly advise you to +keep a very careful watch over the many valuable things which are +committed to your charge. I do not think that the present system of a +single watchman is sufficient. Be upon your guard, or an irreparable +misfortune may occur.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that is all." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said I, "it is at least obvious that it was written by one of +the limited number of people who are aware that you have only one +watchman at night." +</P> + +<P> +Ward Mortimer handed me the note, with a curious smile. "Have you an +eye for handwriting?" said he. "Now, look at this!" He put another +letter in front of me. "Look at the c in 'congratulate' and the c in +'committed.' Look at the capital I. Look at the trick of putting in a +dash instead of a stop!" +</P> + +<P> +"They are undoubtedly from the same hand—with some attempt at disguise +in the case of this first one." +</P> + +<P> +"The second," said Ward Mortimer, "is the letter of congratulation +which was written to me by Professor Andreas upon my obtaining my +appointment." +</P> + +<P> +I stared at him in amazement. Then I turned over the letter in my +hand, and there, sure enough, was "Martin Andreas" signed upon the +other side. There could be no doubt, in the mind of anyone who had the +slightest knowledge of the science of graphology, that the Professor +had written an anonymous letter, warning his successor against thieves. +It was inexplicable, but it was certain. +</P> + +<P> +"Why should he do it?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely what I should wish to ask you. If he had any such +misgivings, why could he not come and tell me direct?" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you speak to him about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"There again I am in doubt. He might choose to deny that he wrote it." +</P> + +<P> +"At any rate," said I, "this warning is meant in a friendly spirit, and +I should certainly act upon it. Are the present precautions enough to +insure you against robbery?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should have thought so. The public are only admitted from ten till +five, and there is a guardian to every two rooms. He stands at the +door between them, and so commands them both." +</P> + +<P> +"But at night?" +</P> + +<P> +"When the public are gone, we at once put up the great iron shutters, +which are absolutely burglar-proof. The watchman is a capable fellow. +He sits in the lodge, but he walks round every three hours. We keep +one electric light burning in each room all night." +</P> + +<P> +"It is difficult to suggest anything more—short of keeping your day +watches all night." +</P> + +<P> +"We could not afford that." +</P> + +<P> +"At least, I should communicate with the police, and have a special +constable put on outside in Belmore Street," said I. "As to the +letter, if the writer wishes to be anonymous, I think he has a right to +remain so. We must trust to the future to show some reason for the +curious course which he has adopted." +</P> + +<P> +So we dismissed the subject, but all that night after my return to my +chambers I was puzzling my brain as to what possible motive Professor +Andreas could have for writing an anonymous warning letter to his +successor—for that the writing was his was as certain to me as if I +had seen him actually doing it. He foresaw some danger to the +collection. Was it because he foresaw it that he abandoned his charge +of it? But if so, why should he hesitate to warn Mortimer in his own +name? I puzzled and puzzled until at last I fell into a troubled +sleep, which carried me beyond my usual hour of rising. +</P> + +<P> +I was aroused in a singular and effective method, for about nine +o'clock my friend Mortimer rushed into my room with an expression of +consternation upon his face. He was usually one of the most tidy men +of my acquaintance, but now his collar was undone at one end, his tie +was flying, and his hat at the back of his head. I read his whole +story in his frantic eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"The museum has been robbed!" I cried, springing up in bed. +</P> + +<P> +"I fear so! Those jewels! The jewels of the urim and thummim!" he +gasped, for he was out of breath with running. "I'm going on to the +police-station. Come to the museum as soon as you can, Jackson! +Good-bye!" He rushed distractedly out of the room, and I heard him +clatter down the stairs. +</P> + +<P> +I was not long in following his directions, but I found when I arrived +that he had already returned with a police inspector, and another +elderly gentleman, who proved to be Mr. Purvis, one of the partners of +Morson and Company, the well-known diamond merchants. As an expert in +stones he was always prepared to advise the police. They were grouped +round the case in which the breastplate of the Jewish priest had been +exposed. The plate had been taken out and laid upon the glass top of +the case, and the three heads were bent over it. +</P> + +<P> +"It is obvious that it has been tampered with," said Mortimer. "It +caught my eye the moment that I passed through the room this morning. +I examined it yesterday evening, so that it is certain that this has +happened during the night." +</P> + +<P> +It was, as he had said, obvious that someone had been at work upon it. +The settings of the uppermost row of four stones—the carnelian, +peridot, emerald, and ruby—were rough and jagged as if someone had +scraped all round them. The stones were in their places, but the +beautiful gold-work which we had admired only a few days before had +been very clumsily pulled about. +</P> + +<P> +"It looks to me," said the police inspector, "as if someone had been +trying to take out the stones." +</P> + +<P> +"My fear is," said Mortimer, "that he not only tried, but succeeded. I +believe these four stones to be skilful imitations which have been put +in the place of the originals." +</P> + +<P> +The same suspicion had evidently been in the mind of the expert, for he +had been carefully examining the four stones with the aid of a lens. +He now submitted them to several tests, and finally turned cheerfully +to Mortimer. +</P> + +<P> +"I congratulate you, sir," said he, heartily. "I will pledge my +reputation that all four of these stones are genuine, and of a most +unusual degree of purity." +</P> + +<P> +The colour began to come back to my poor friend's frightened face, and +he drew a long breath of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God!" he cried. "Then what in the world did the thief want?" +</P> + +<P> +"Probably he meant to take the stones, but was interrupted." +</P> + +<P> +"In that case one would expect him to take them out one at a time, but +the setting of each of these has been loosened, and yet the stones are +all here." +</P> + +<P> +"It is certainly most extraordinary," said the inspector. "I never +remember a case like it. Let us see the watchman." +</P> + +<P> +The commissionaire was called—a soldierly, honest-faced man, who +seemed as concerned as Ward Mortimer at the incident. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir, I never heard a sound," he answered, in reply to the +questions of the inspector. "I made my rounds four times, as usual, +but I saw nothing suspicious. I've been in my position ten years, but +nothing of the kind has ever occurred before." +</P> + +<P> +"No thief could have come through the windows?" +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Or passed you at the door?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir; I never left my post except when I walked my rounds." +</P> + +<P> +"What other openings are there in the museum?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is the door into Mr. Ward Mortimer's private rooms." +</P> + +<P> +"That is locked at night," my friend explained, "and in order to reach +it anyone from the street would have to open the outside door as well." +</P> + +<P> +"Your servants?" +</P> + +<P> +"Their quarters are entirely separate." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well," said the inspector, "this is certainly very obscure. +However, there has been no harm done, according to Mr. Purvis." +</P> + +<P> +"I will swear that those stones are genuine." +</P> + +<P> +"So that the case appears to be merely one of malicious damage. But +none the less, I should be very glad to go carefully round the +premises, and to see if we can find any trace to show us who your +visitor may have been." +</P> + +<P> +His investigation, which lasted all the morning, was careful and +intelligent, but it led in the end to nothing. He pointed out to us +that there were two possible entrances to the museum which we had not +considered. The one was from the cellars by a trap-door opening in the +passage. The other through a skylight from the lumber-room, +overlooking that very chamber to which the intruder had penetrated. As +neither the cellar nor the lumber-room could be entered unless the +thief was already within the locked doors, the matter was not of any +practical importance, and the dust of cellar and attic assured us that +no one had used either one or the other. Finally, we ended as we +began, without the slightest clue as to how, why, or by whom the +setting of these four jewels had been tampered with. +</P> + +<P> +There remained one course for Mortimer to take, and he took it. Leaving +the police to continue their fruitless researches, he asked me to +accompany him that afternoon in a visit to Professor Andreas. He took +with him the two letters, and it was his intention to openly tax his +predecessor with having written the anonymous warning, and to ask him +to explain the fact that he should have anticipated so exactly that +which had actually occurred. The Professor was living in a small villa +in Upper Norwood, but we were informed by the servant that he was away +from home. Seeing our disappointment, she asked us if we should like +to see Miss Andreas, and showed us into the modest drawing-room. +</P> + +<P> +I have mentioned incidentally that the Professor's daughter was a very +beautiful girl. She was a blonde, tall and graceful, with a skin of +that delicate tint which the French call "mat," the colour of old +ivory, or of the lighter petals of the sulphur rose. I was shocked, +however, as she entered the room to see how much she had changed in the +last fortnight. Her young face was haggard and her bright eyes heavy +with trouble. +</P> + +<P> +"Father has gone to Scotland," she said. "He seems to be tired, and +has had a good deal to worry him. He only left us yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"You look a little tired yourself, Miss Andreas," said my friend. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been so anxious about father." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you give me his Scotch address?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he is with his brother, the Rev. David Andreas, 1, Arran Villas, +Ardrossan." +</P> + +<P> +Ward Mortimer made a note of the address, and we left without saying +anything as to the object of our visit. We found ourselves in Belmore +Street in the evening in exactly the same position in which we had been +in the morning. Our only clue was the Professor's letter, and my +friend had made up his mind to start for Ardrossan next day, and to get +to the bottom of the anonymous letter, when a new development came to +alter our plans. +</P> + +<P> +Very early on the following morning I was aroused from my sleep by a +tap upon my bedroom door. It was a messenger with a note from Mortimer. +</P> + +<P> +"Do come round," it said; "the matter is becoming more and more +extraordinary." +</P> + +<P> +When I obeyed his summons I found him pacing excitedly up and down the +central room, while the old soldier who guarded the premises stood with +military stiffness in a corner. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Jackson," he cried, "I am so delighted that you have come, for +this is a most inexplicable business." +</P> + +<P> +"What has happened, then?" +</P> + +<P> +He waved his hand towards the case which contained the breastplate. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at it," said he. +</P> + +<P> +I did so, and could not restrain a cry of surprise. The setting of the +middle row of precious stones had been profaned in the same manner as +the upper ones. Of the twelve jewels eight had been now tampered with +in this singular fashion. The setting of the lower four was neat and +smooth. The others jagged and irregular. +</P> + +<P> +"Have the stones been altered?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I am certain that these upper four are the same which the expert +pronounced to be genuine, for I observed yesterday that little +discoloration on the edge of the emerald. Since they have not +extracted the upper stones, there is no reason to think the lower have +been transposed. You say that you heard nothing, Simpson?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," the commissionaire answered. "But when I made my round +after daylight I had a special look at these stones, and I saw at once +that someone had been meddling with them. Then I called you, sir, and +told you. I was backwards and forwards all night, and I never saw a +soul or heard a sound." +</P> + +<P> +"Come up and have some breakfast with me," said Mortimer, and he took +me into his own chambers.—"Now, what DO you think of this, Jackson?" +he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the most objectless, futile, idiotic business that ever I heard +of. It can only be the work of a monomaniac." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you put forward any theory?" +</P> + +<P> +A curious idea came into my head. "This object is a Jewish relic of +great antiquity and sanctity," said I. "How about the anti-Semitic +movement? Could one conceive that a fanatic of that way of thinking +might desecrate——" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, no!" cried Mortimer. "That will never do! Such a man might +push his lunacy to the length of destroying a Jewish relic, but why on +earth should he nibble round every stone so carefully that he can only +do four stones in a night? We must have a better solution than that, +and we must find it for ourselves, for I do not think that our +inspector is likely to help us. First of all, what do you think of +Simpson, the porter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any reason to suspect him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only that he is the one person on the premises." +</P> + +<P> +"But why should he indulge in such wanton destruction? Nothing has +been taken away. He has no motive." +</P> + +<P> +"Mania?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I will swear to his sanity." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any other theory?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yourself, for example. You are not a somnambulist, by any +chance?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing of the sort, I assure you." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I give it up." +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't—and I have a plan by which we will make it all clear." +</P> + +<P> +"To visit Professor Andreas?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, we shall find our solution nearer than Scotland. I will tell you +what we shall do. You know that skylight which overlooks the central +hall? We will leave the electric lights in the hall, and we will keep +watch in the lumber-room, you and I, and solve the mystery for +ourselves. If our mysterious visitor is doing four stones at a time, +he has four still to do, and there is every reason to think that he +will return tonight and complete the job." +</P> + +<P> +"Excellent!" I cried. +</P> + +<P> +"We will keep our own secret, and say nothing either to the police or +to Simpson. Will you join me?" +</P> + +<P> +"With the utmost pleasure," said I; and so it was agreed. +</P> + +<P> +It was ten o'clock that night when I returned to the Belmore Street +Museum. Mortimer was, as I could see, in a state of suppressed nervous +excitement, but it was still too early to begin our vigil, so we +remained for an hour or so in his chambers, discussing all the +possibilities of the singular business which we had met to solve. At +last the roaring stream of hansom cabs and the rush of hurrying feet +became lower and more intermittent as the pleasure-seekers passed on +their way to their stations or their homes. It was nearly twelve when +Mortimer led the way to the lumber-room which overlooked the central +hall of the museum. +</P> + +<P> +He had visited it during the day, and had spread some sacking so that +we could lie at our ease, and look straight down into the museum. The +skylight was of unfrosted glass, but was so covered with dust that it +would be impossible for anyone looking up from below to detect that he +was overlooked. We cleared a small piece at each corner, which gave us +a complete view of the room beneath us. In the cold white light of the +electric lamps everything stood out hard and clear, and I could see the +smallest detail of the contents of the various cases. +</P> + +<P> +Such a vigil is an excellent lesson, since one has no choice but to +look hard at those objects which we usually pass with such half-hearted +interest. Through my little peep hole I employed the hours in studying +every specimen, from the huge mummy-case which leaned against the wall +to those very jewels which had brought us there, gleaming and sparkling +in their glass case immediately beneath us. There was much precious +gold-work and many valuable stones scattered through the numerous +cases, but those wonderful twelve which made up the urim and thummim +glowed and burned with a radiance which far eclipsed the others. I +studied in turn the tomb-pictures of Sicara, the friezes from Karnak, +the statues of Memphis, and the inscriptions of Thebes, but my eyes +would always come back to that wonderful Jewish relic, and my mind to +the singular mystery which surrounded it. I was lost in the thought of +it when my companion suddenly drew his breath sharply in, and seized my +arm in a convulsive grip. At the same instant I saw what it was which +had excited him. +</P> + +<P> +I have said that against the wall—on the right-hand side of the +doorway (the right-hand side as we looked at it, but the left as one +entered)—there stood a large mummy-case. To our unutterable amazement +it was slowly opening. Gradually, gradually the lid was swinging back, +and the black slit which marked the opening was becoming wider and +wider. So gently and carefully was it done that the movement was +almost imperceptible. Then, as we breathlessly watched it, a white +thin hand appeared at the opening, pushing back the painted lid, then +another hand, and finally a face—a face which was familiar to us both, +that of Professor Andreas. Stealthily he slunk out of the mummy-case, +like a fox stealing from its burrow, his head turning incessantly to +left and to right, stepping, then pausing, then stepping again, the +very image of craft and of caution. Once some sound in the street +struck him motionless, and he stood listening, with his ear turned, +ready to dart back to the shelter behind him. Then he crept onwards +again upon tiptoe, very, very softly and slowly, until he had reached +the case in the centre of the room. There he took a bunch of keys from +his pocket, unlocked the case, took out the Jewish breastplate, and, +laying it upon the glass in front of him, began to work upon it with +some sort of small, glistening tool. He was so directly underneath us +that his bent head covered his work, but we could guess from the +movement of his hand that he was engaged in finishing the strange +disfigurement which he had begun. +</P> + +<P> +I could realize from the heavy breathing of my companion, and the +twitchings of the hand which still clutched my wrist, the furious +indignation which filled his heart as he saw this vandalism in the +quarter of all others where he could least have expected it. He, the +very man who a fortnight before had reverently bent over this unique +relic, and who had impressed its antiquity and its sanctity upon us, +was now engaged in this outrageous profanation. It was impossible, +unthinkable—and yet there, in the white glare of the electric light +beneath us, was that dark figure with the bent grey head, and the +twitching elbow. What inhuman hypocrisy, what hateful depth of malice +against his successor must underlie these sinister nocturnal labours. +It was painful to think of and dreadful to watch. Even I, who had none +of the acute feelings of a virtuoso, could not bear to look on and see +this deliberate mutilation of so ancient a relic. It was a relief to +me when my companion tugged at my sleeve as a signal that I was to +follow him as he softly crept out of the room. It was not until we +were within his own quarters that he opened his lips, and then I saw by +his agitated face how deep was his consternation. +</P> + +<P> +"The abominable Goth!" he cried. "Could you have believed it?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is amazing." +</P> + +<P> +"He is a villain or a lunatic—one or the other. We shall very soon +see which. Come with me, Jackson, and we shall get to the bottom of +this black business." +</P> + +<P> +A door opened out of the passage which was the private entrance from +his rooms into the museum. This he opened softly with his key, having +first kicked off his shoes, an example which I followed. We crept +together through room after room, until the large hall lay before us, +with that dark figure still stooping and working at the central case. +With an advance as cautious as his own we closed in upon him, but +softly as we went we could not take him entirely unawares. We were +still a dozen yards from him when he looked round with a start, and +uttering a husky cry of terror, ran frantically down the museum. +</P> + +<P> +"Simpson! Simpson!" roared Mortimer, and far away down the vista of +electric lighted doors we saw the stiff figure of the old soldier +suddenly appear. Professor Andreas saw him also, and stopped running, +with a gesture of despair. At the same instant we each laid a hand +upon his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, gentlemen," he panted, "I will come with you. To your room, +Mr. Ward Mortimer, if you please! I feel that I owe you an +explanation." +</P> + +<P> +My companion's indignation was so great that I could see that he dared +not trust himself to reply. We walked on each side of the old +Professor, the astonished commissionaire bringing up the rear. When we +reached the violated case, Mortimer stopped and examined the +breastplate. Already one of the stones of the lower row had had its +setting turned back in the same manner as the others. My friend held +it up and glanced furiously at his prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +"How could you!" he cried. "How could you!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is horrible—horrible!" said the Professor. "I don't wonder at +your feelings. Take me to your room." +</P> + +<P> +"But this shall not be left exposed!" cried Mortimer. He picked the +breastplate up and carried it tenderly in his hand, while I walked +beside the Professor, like a policeman with a malefactor. We passed +into Mortimer's chambers, leaving the amazed old soldier to understand +matters as best he could. The Professor sat down in Mortimer's +arm-chair, and turned so ghastly a colour that for the instant all our +resentment was changed to concern. A stiff glass of brandy brought the +life back to him once more. +</P> + +<P> +"There, I am better now!" said he. "These last few days have been too +much for me. I am convinced that I could not stand it any longer. It +is a nightmare—a horrible nightmare—that I should be arrested as a +burglar in what has been for so long my own museum. And yet I cannot +blame you. You could not have done otherwise. My hope always was that +I should get it all over before I was detected. This would have been +my last night's work." +</P> + +<P> +"How did you get in?" asked Mortimer. +</P> + +<P> +"By taking a very great liberty with your private door. But the object +justified it. The object justified everything. You will not be angry +when you know everything—at least, you will not be angry with me. I +had a key to your side door and also to the museum door. I did not +give them up when I left. And so you see it was not difficult for me +to let myself into the museum. I used to come in early before the +crowd had cleared from the street. Then I hid myself in the mummy-case, +and took refuge there whenever Simpson came round. I could always hear +him coming. I used to leave in the same way as I came." +</P> + +<P> +"You ran a risk." +</P> + +<P> +"I had to." +</P> + +<P> +"But why? What on earth was your object—YOU to do a thing like that!" +Mortimer pointed reproachfully at the plate which lay before him on the +table. +</P> + +<P> +"I could devise no other means. I thought and thought, but there was +no alternate except a hideous public scandal, and a private sorrow +which would have clouded our lives. I acted for the best, incredible +as it may seem to you, and I only ask your attention to enable me to +prove it." +</P> + +<P> +"I will hear what you have to say before I take any further steps," +said Mortimer, grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"I am determined to hold back nothing, and to take you both completely +into my confidence. I will leave it to your own generosity how far you +will use the facts with which I supply you." +</P> + +<P> +"We have the essential facts already." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet you understand nothing. Let me go back to what passed a few +weeks ago, and I will make it all clear to you. Believe me that what I +say is the absolute and exact truth. +</P> + +<P> +"You have met the person who calls himself Captain Wilson. I say +'calls himself' because I have reason now to believe that it is not his +correct name. It would take me too long if I were to describe all the +means by which he obtained an introduction to me and ingratiated +himself into my friendship and the affection of my daughter. He +brought letters from foreign colleagues which compelled me to show him +some attention. And then, by his own attainments, which are +considerable, he succeeded in making himself a very welcome visitor at +my rooms. When I learned that my daughter's affections had been gained +by him, I may have thought it premature, but I certainly was not +surprised, for he had a charm of manner and of conversation which would +have made him conspicuous in any society. +</P> + +<P> +"He was much interested in Oriental antiquities, and his knowledge of +the subject justified his interest. Often when he spent the evening +with us he would ask permission to go down into the museum and have an +opportunity of privately inspecting the various specimens. You can +imagine that I, as an enthusiast, was in sympathy with such a request, +and that I felt no surprise at the constancy of his visits. After his +actual engagement to Elise, there was hardly an evening which he did +not pass with us, and an hour or two were generally devoted to the +museum. He had the free run of the place, and when I have been away +for the evening I had no objection to his doing whatever he wished +here. This state of things was only terminated by the fact of my +resignation of my official duties and my retirement to Norwood, where I +hoped to have the leisure to write a considerable work which I had +planned. +</P> + +<P> +"It was immediately after this—within a week or so—that I first +realized the true nature and character of the man whom I had so +imprudently introduced into my family. The discovery came to me +through letters from my friends abroad, which showed me that his +introductions to me had been forgeries. Aghast at the revelation, I +asked myself what motive this man could originally have had in +practising this elaborate deception upon me. I was too poor a man for +any fortune-hunter to have marked me down. Why, then, had he come? I +remembered that some of the most precious gems in Europe had been under +my charge, and I remembered also the ingenious excuses by which this +man had made himself familiar with the cases in which they were kept. +He was a rascal who was planning some gigantic robbery. How could I, +without striking my own daughter, who was infatuated about him, prevent +him from carrying out any plan which he might have formed? My device +was a clumsy one, and yet I could think of nothing more effective. If +I had written a letter under my own name, you would naturally have +turned to me for details which I did not wish to give. I resorted to +an anonymous letter, begging you to be upon your guard. +</P> + +<P> +"I may tell you that my change from Belmore Street to Norwood had not +affected the visits of this man, who had, I believe, a real and +overpowering affection for my daughter. As to her, I could not have +believed that any woman could be so completely under the influence of a +man as she was. His stronger nature seemed to entirely dominate her. +I had not realized how far this was the case, or the extent of the +confidence which existed between them, until that very evening when his +true character for the first time was made clear to me. I had given +orders that when he called he should be shown into my study instead of +to the drawing-room. There I told him bluntly that I knew all about +him, that I had taken steps to defeat his designs, and that neither I +nor my daughter desired ever to see him again. I added that I thanked +God that I had found him out before he had time to harm those precious +objects which it had been the work of my life-time to protect. +</P> + +<P> +"He was certainly a man of iron nerve. He took my remarks without a +sign either of surprise or of defiance, but listened gravely and +attentively until I had finished. Then he walked across the room +without a word and struck the bell. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ask Miss Andreas to be so kind as to step this way,' said he to the +servant. +</P> + +<P> +"My daughter entered, and the man closed the door behind her. Then he +took her hand in his. +</P> + +<P> +"'Elise,' said he, 'your father has just discovered that I am a +villain. He knows now what you knew before.' +</P> + +<P> +"She stood in silence, listening. +</P> + +<P> +"'He says that we are to part for ever,' said he. +</P> + +<P> +"She did not withdraw her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"'Will you be true to me, or will you remove the last good influence +which is ever likely to come into my life?' +</P> + +<P> +"'John,' she cried, passionately. 'I will never abandon you! Never, +never, not if the whole world were against you.' +</P> + +<P> +"In vain I argued and pleaded with her. It was absolutely useless. +Her whole life was bound up in this man before me. My daughter, +gentlemen, is all that I have left to love, and it filled me with agony +when I saw how powerless I was to save her from her ruin. My +helplessness seemed to touch this man who was the cause of my trouble. +</P> + +<P> +"'It may not be as bad as you think, sir,' said he, in his quiet, +inflexible way. 'I love Elise with a love which is strong enough to +rescue even one who has such a record as I have. It was but yesterday +that I promised her that never again in my whole life would I do a +thing of which she should be ashamed. I have made up my mind to it, +and never yet did I make up my mind to a thing which I did not do.' +</P> + +<P> +"He spoke with an air which carried conviction with it. As he +concluded he put his hand into his pocket and he drew out a small +cardboard box. +</P> + +<P> +"'I am about to give you a proof of my determination,' said he. 'This, +Elise, shall be the first-fruits of your redeeming influence over me. +You are right, sir, in thinking that I had designs upon the jewels in +your possession. Such ventures have had a charm for me, which depended +as much upon the risk run as upon the value of the prize. Those famous +and antique stones of the Jewish priest were a challenge to my daring +and my ingenuity. I determined to get them.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I guessed as much.' +</P> + +<P> +"'There was only one thing that you did not guess.' +</P> + +<P> +"'And what is that?' +</P> + +<P> +"'That I got them. They are in this box.' +</P> + +<P> +"He opened the box, and tilted out the contents upon the corner of my +desk. My hair rose and my flesh grew cold as I looked. There were +twelve magnificent square stones engraved with mystical characters. +There could be no doubt that they were the jewels of the urim and +thummim. +</P> + +<P> +"'Good God!' I cried. 'How have you escaped discovery?' +</P> + +<P> +"'By the substitution of twelve others, made especially to my order, in +which the originals are so carefully imitated that I defy the eye to +detect the difference.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Then the present stones are false?' I cried. +</P> + +<P> +"'They have been for some weeks.' +</P> + +<P> +"We all stood in silence, my daughter white with emotion, but still +holding this man by the hand. +</P> + +<P> +"'You see what I am capable of, Elise,' said he. +</P> + +<P> +"'I see that you are capable of repentance and restitution,' she +answered. +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes, thanks to your influence! I leave the stones in your hands, +sir. Do what you like about it. But remember that whatever you do +against me, is done against the future husband of your only daughter. +You will hear from me soon again, Elise. It is the last time that I +will ever cause pain to your tender heart,' and with these words he +left both the room and the house. +</P> + +<P> +"My position was a dreadful one. Here I was with these precious relics +in my possession, and how could I return them without a scandal and an +exposure? I knew the depth of my daughter's nature too well to suppose +that I would ever be able to detach her from this man now that she had +entirely given him her heart. I was not even sure how far it was right +to detach her if she had such an ameliorating influence over him. How +could I expose him without injuring her—and how far was I justified in +exposing him when he had voluntarily put himself into my power? I +thought and thought until at last I formed a resolution which may seem +to you to be a foolish one, and yet, if I had to do it again, I believe +it would be the best course open to me. +</P> + +<P> +"My idea was to return the stones without anyone being the wiser. With +my keys I could get into the museum at any time, and I was confident +that I could avoid Simpson, whose hours and methods were familiar to +me. I determined to take no one into my confidence—not even my +daughter—whom I told that I was about to visit my brother in Scotland. +I wanted a free hand for a few nights, without inquiry as to my comings +and goings. To this end I took a room in Harding Street that very +night, with an intimation that I was a Pressman, and that I should keep +very late hours. +</P> + +<P> +"That night I made my way into the museum, and I replaced four of the +stones. It was hard work, and took me all night. When Simpson came +round I always heard his footsteps, and concealed myself in the +mummy-case. I had some knowledge of gold-work, but was far less +skilful than the thief had been. He had replaced the setting so +exactly that I defy anyone to see the difference. My work was rude and +clumsy. However, I hoped that the plate might not be carefully +examined, or the roughness of the setting observed, until my task was +done. Next night I replaced four more stones. And tonight I should +have finished my task had it not been for the unfortunate circumstance +which has caused me to reveal so much which I should have wished to +keep concealed. I appeal to you, gentlemen, to your sense of honour +and of compassion, whether what I have told you should go any farther +or not. My own happiness, my daughter's future, the hopes of this +man's regeneration, all depend upon your decision. +</P> + +<P> +"Which is," said my friend, "that all is well that ends well and that +the whole matter ends here and at once. Tomorrow the loose settings +shall be tightened by an expert goldsmith, and so passes the greatest +danger to which, since the destruction of the Temple, the urim and +thummim has been exposed. Here is my hand, Professor Andreas, and I +can only hope that under such difficult circumstances I should have +carried myself as unselfishly and as well." +</P> + +<P> +Just one footnote to this narrative. Within a month Elise Andreas was +married to a man whose name, had I the indiscretion to mention it, +would appeal to my readers as one who is now widely and deservedly +honoured. But if the truth were known that honour is due not to him, +but to the gentle girl who plucked him back when he had gone so far +down that dark road along which few return. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tales of Terror and Mystery, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TERROR AND MYSTERY *** + +***** This file should be named 537-h.htm or 537-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/537/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. 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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: Tales of Terror and Mystery + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: October 10, 2008 [EBook #537] +Release Date: May, 1996 +[Last updated: December 8, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TERROR AND MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +Tales of Terror and Mystery + + +By + +Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + + + +Contents + +Tales of Terror + + The Horror of the Heights + The Leather Funnel + The New Catacomb + The Case of Lady Sannox + The Terror of Blue John Gap + The Brazilian Cat + + +Tales of Mystery + + The Lost Special + The Beetle-Hunter + The Man with the Watches + The Japanned Box + The Black Doctor + The Jew's Breastplate + + + + + +Tales of Terror + + + +The Horror of the Heights + +The idea that the extraordinary narrative which has been called the +Joyce-Armstrong Fragment is an elaborate practical joke evolved by some +unknown person, cursed by a perverted and sinister sense of humour, has +now been abandoned by all who have examined the matter. The most +macabre and imaginative of plotters would hesitate before linking his +morbid fancies with the unquestioned and tragic facts which reinforce +the statement. Though the assertions contained in it are amazing and +even monstrous, it is none the less forcing itself upon the general +intelligence that they are true, and that we must readjust our ideas to +the new situation. This world of ours appears to be separated by a +slight and precarious margin of safety from a most singular and +unexpected danger. I will endeavour in this narrative, which +reproduces the original document in its necessarily somewhat +fragmentary form, to lay before the reader the whole of the facts up to +date, prefacing my statement by saying that, if there be any who doubt +the narrative of Joyce-Armstrong, there can be no question at all as to +the facts concerning Lieutenant Myrtle, R. N., and Mr. Hay Connor, who +undoubtedly met their end in the manner described. + +The Joyce-Armstrong Fragment was found in the field which is called +Lower Haycock, lying one mile to the westward of the village of +Withyham, upon the Kent and Sussex border. It was on the 15th +September last that an agricultural labourer, James Flynn, in the +employment of Mathew Dodd, farmer, of the Chauntry Farm, Withyham, +perceived a briar pipe lying near the footpath which skirts the hedge +in Lower Haycock. A few paces farther on he picked up a pair of broken +binocular glasses. Finally, among some nettles in the ditch, he caught +sight of a flat, canvas-backed book, which proved to be a note-book +with detachable leaves, some of which had come loose and were +fluttering along the base of the hedge. These he collected, but some, +including the first, were never recovered, and leave a deplorable +hiatus in this all-important statement. The note-book was taken by the +labourer to his master, who in turn showed it to Dr. J. H. Atherton, of +Hartfield. This gentleman at once recognized the need for an expert +examination, and the manuscript was forwarded to the Aero Club in +London, where it now lies. + +The first two pages of the manuscript are missing. There is also one +torn away at the end of the narrative, though none of these affect the +general coherence of the story. It is conjectured that the missing +opening is concerned with the record of Mr. Joyce-Armstrong's +qualifications as an aeronaut, which can be gathered from other sources +and are admitted to be unsurpassed among the air-pilots of England. +For many years he has been looked upon as among the most daring and the +most intellectual of flying men, a combination which has enabled him to +both invent and test several new devices, including the common +gyroscopic attachment which is known by his name. The main body of the +manuscript is written neatly in ink, but the last few lines are in +pencil and are so ragged as to be hardly legible--exactly, in fact, as +they might be expected to appear if they were scribbled off hurriedly +from the seat of a moving aeroplane. There are, it may be added, +several stains, both on the last page and on the outside cover which +have been pronounced by the Home Office experts to be blood--probably +human and certainly mammalian. The fact that something closely +resembling the organism of malaria was discovered in this blood, and +that Joyce-Armstrong is known to have suffered from intermittent fever, +is a remarkable example of the new weapons which modern science has +placed in the hands of our detectives. + +And now a word as to the personality of the author of this epoch-making +statement. Joyce-Armstrong, according to the few friends who really +knew something of the man, was a poet and a dreamer, as well as a +mechanic and an inventor. He was a man of considerable wealth, much of +which he had spent in the pursuit of his aeronautical hobby. He had +four private aeroplanes in his hangars near Devizes, and is said to +have made no fewer than one hundred and seventy ascents in the course +of last year. He was a retiring man with dark moods, in which he would +avoid the society of his fellows. Captain Dangerfield, who knew him +better than anyone, says that there were times when his eccentricity +threatened to develop into something more serious. His habit of +carrying a shot-gun with him in his aeroplane was one manifestation of +it. + +Another was the morbid effect which the fall of Lieutenant Myrtle had +upon his mind. Myrtle, who was attempting the height record, fell from +an altitude of something over thirty thousand feet. Horrible to +narrate, his head was entirely obliterated, though his body and limbs +preserved their configuration. At every gathering of airmen, +Joyce-Armstrong, according to Dangerfield, would ask, with an enigmatic +smile: "And where, pray, is Myrtle's head?" + +On another occasion after dinner, at the mess of the Flying School on +Salisbury Plain, he started a debate as to what will be the most +permanent danger which airmen will have to encounter. Having listened +to successive opinions as to air-pockets, faulty construction, and +over-banking, he ended by shrugging his shoulders and refusing to put +forward his own views, though he gave the impression that they differed +from any advanced by his companions. + +It is worth remarking that after his own complete disappearance it was +found that his private affairs were arranged with a precision which may +show that he had a strong premonition of disaster. With these +essential explanations I will now give the narrative exactly as it +stands, beginning at page three of the blood-soaked note-book: + +"Nevertheless, when I dined at Rheims with Coselli and Gustav Raymond I +found that neither of them was aware of any particular danger in the +higher layers of the atmosphere. I did not actually say what was in my +thoughts, but I got so near to it that if they had any corresponding +idea they could not have failed to express it. But then they are two +empty, vainglorious fellows with no thought beyond seeing their silly +names in the newspaper. It is interesting to note that neither of them +had ever been much beyond the twenty-thousand-foot level. Of course, +men have been higher than this both in balloons and in the ascent of +mountains. It must be well above that point that the aeroplane enters +the danger zone--always presuming that my premonitions are correct. + +"Aeroplaning has been with us now for more than twenty years, and one +might well ask: Why should this peril be only revealing itself in our +day? The answer is obvious. In the old days of weak engines, when a +hundred horse-power Gnome or Green was considered ample for every need, +the flights were very restricted. Now that three hundred horse-power +is the rule rather than the exception, visits to the upper layers have +become easier and more common. Some of us can remember how, in our +youth, Garros made a world-wide reputation by attaining nineteen +thousand feet, and it was considered a remarkable achievement to fly +over the Alps. Our standard now has been immeasurably raised, and +there are twenty high flights for one in former years. Many of them +have been undertaken with impunity. The thirty-thousand-foot level has +been reached time after time with no discomfort beyond cold and asthma. +What does this prove? A visitor might descend upon this planet a +thousand times and never see a tiger. Yet tigers exist, and if he +chanced to come down into a jungle he might be devoured. There are +jungles of the upper air, and there are worse things than tigers which +inhabit them. I believe in time they will map these jungles accurately +out. Even at the present moment I could name two of them. One of them +lies over the Pau-Biarritz district of France. Another is just over my +head as I write here in my house in Wiltshire. I rather think there is +a third in the Homburg-Wiesbaden district. + +"It was the disappearance of the airmen that first set me thinking. Of +course, everyone said that they had fallen into the sea, but that did +not satisfy me at all. First, there was Verrier in France; his machine +was found near Bayonne, but they never got his body. There was the +case of Baxter also, who vanished, though his engine and some of the +iron fixings were found in a wood in Leicestershire. In that case, Dr. +Middleton, of Amesbury, who was watching the flight with a telescope, +declares that just before the clouds obscured the view he saw the +machine, which was at an enormous height, suddenly rise perpendicularly +upwards in a succession of jerks in a manner that he would have thought +to be impossible. That was the last seen of Baxter. There was a +correspondence in the papers, but it never led to anything. There were +several other similar cases, and then there was the death of Hay +Connor. What a cackle there was about an unsolved mystery of the air, +and what columns in the halfpenny papers, and yet how little was ever +done to get to the bottom of the business! He came down in a +tremendous vol-plane from an unknown height. He never got off his +machine and died in his pilot's seat. Died of what? 'Heart disease,' +said the doctors. Rubbish! Hay Connor's heart was as sound as mine +is. What did Venables say? Venables was the only man who was at his +side when he died. He said that he was shivering and looked like a man +who had been badly scared. 'Died of fright,' said Venables, but could +not imagine what he was frightened about. Only said one word to +Venables, which sounded like 'Monstrous.' They could make nothing of +that at the inquest. But I could make something of it. Monsters! That +was the last word of poor Harry Hay Connor. And he DID die of fright, +just as Venables thought. + +"And then there was Myrtle's head. Do you really believe--does anybody +really believe--that a man's head could be driven clean into his body +by the force of a fall? Well, perhaps it may be possible, but I, for +one, have never believed that it was so with Myrtle. And the grease +upon his clothes--'all slimy with grease,' said somebody at the +inquest. Queer that nobody got thinking after that! I did--but, then, +I had been thinking for a good long time. I've made three ascents--how +Dangerfield used to chaff me about my shot-gun--but I've never been +high enough. Now, with this new, light Paul Veroner machine and its +one hundred and seventy-five Robur, I should easily touch the thirty +thousand tomorrow. I'll have a shot at the record. Maybe I shall have +a shot at something else as well. Of course, it's dangerous. If a +fellow wants to avoid danger he had best keep out of flying altogether +and subside finally into flannel slippers and a dressing-gown. But +I'll visit the air-jungle tomorrow--and if there's anything there I +shall know it. If I return, I'll find myself a bit of a celebrity. If +I don't this note-book may explain what I am trying to do, and how I +lost my life in doing it. But no drivel about accidents or mysteries, +if YOU please. + +"I chose my Paul Veroner monoplane for the job. There's nothing like a +monoplane when real work is to be done. Beaumont found that out in very +early days. For one thing it doesn't mind damp, and the weather looks +as if we should be in the clouds all the time. It's a bonny little +model and answers my hand like a tender-mouthed horse. The engine is a +ten-cylinder rotary Robur working up to one hundred and seventy-five. +It has all the modern improvements--enclosed fuselage, high-curved +landing skids, brakes, gyroscopic steadiers, and three speeds, worked +by an alteration of the angle of the planes upon the Venetian-blind +principle. I took a shot-gun with me and a dozen cartridges filled +with buck-shot. You should have seen the face of Perkins, my old +mechanic, when I directed him to put them in. I was dressed like an +Arctic explorer, with two jerseys under my overalls, thick socks inside +my padded boots, a storm-cap with flaps, and my talc goggles. It was +stifling outside the hangars, but I was going for the summit of the +Himalayas, and had to dress for the part. Perkins knew there was +something on and implored me to take him with me. Perhaps I should if +I were using the biplane, but a monoplane is a one-man show--if you +want to get the last foot of life out of it. Of course, I took an +oxygen bag; the man who goes for the altitude record without one will +either be frozen or smothered--or both. + +"I had a good look at the planes, the rudder-bar, and the elevating +lever before I got in. Everything was in order so far as I could see. +Then I switched on my engine and found that she was running sweetly. +When they let her go she rose almost at once upon the lowest speed. I +circled my home field once or twice just to warm her up, and then with +a wave to Perkins and the others, I flattened out my planes and put her +on her highest. She skimmed like a swallow down wind for eight or ten +miles until I turned her nose up a little and she began to climb in a +great spiral for the cloud-bank above me. It's all-important to rise +slowly and adapt yourself to the pressure as you go. + +"It was a close, warm day for an English September, and there was the +hush and heaviness of impending rain. Now and then there came sudden +puffs of wind from the south-west--one of them so gusty and unexpected +that it caught me napping and turned me half-round for an instant. I +remember the time when gusts and whirls and air-pockets used to be +things of danger--before we learned to put an overmastering power into +our engines. Just as I reached the cloud-banks, with the altimeter +marking three thousand, down came the rain. My word, how it poured! +It drummed upon my wings and lashed against my face, blurring my +glasses so that I could hardly see. I got down on to a low speed, for +it was painful to travel against it. As I got higher it became hail, +and I had to turn tail to it. One of my cylinders was out of action--a +dirty plug, I should imagine, but still I was rising steadily with +plenty of power. After a bit the trouble passed, whatever it was, and +I heard the full, deep-throated purr--the ten singing as one. That's +where the beauty of our modern silencers comes in. We can at last +control our engines by ear. How they squeal and squeak and sob when +they are in trouble! All those cries for help were wasted in the old +days, when every sound was swallowed up by the monstrous racket of the +machine. If only the early aviators could come back to see the beauty +and perfection of the mechanism which have been bought at the cost of +their lives! + +"About nine-thirty I was nearing the clouds. Down below me, all +blurred and shadowed with rain, lay the vast expanse of Salisbury +Plain. Half a dozen flying machines were doing hackwork at the +thousand-foot level, looking like little black swallows against the +green background. I dare say they were wondering what I was doing up +in cloud-land. Suddenly a grey curtain drew across beneath me and the +wet folds of vapours were swirling round my face. It was clammily cold +and miserable. But I was above the hail-storm, and that was something +gained. The cloud was as dark and thick as a London fog. In my +anxiety to get clear, I cocked her nose up until the automatic +alarm-bell rang, and I actually began to slide backwards. My sopped +and dripping wings had made me heavier than I thought, but presently I +was in lighter cloud, and soon had cleared the first layer. There was +a second--opal-coloured and fleecy--at a great height above my head, a +white, unbroken ceiling above, and a dark, unbroken floor below, with +the monoplane labouring upwards upon a vast spiral between them. It is +deadly lonely in these cloud-spaces. Once a great flight of some small +water-birds went past me, flying very fast to the westwards. The quick +whir of their wings and their musical cry were cheery to my ear. I +fancy that they were teal, but I am a wretched zoologist. Now that we +humans have become birds we must really learn to know our brethren by +sight. + +"The wind down beneath me whirled and swayed the broad cloud-plain. +Once a great eddy formed in it, a whirlpool of vapour, and through it, +as down a funnel, I caught sight of the distant world. A large white +biplane was passing at a vast depth beneath me. I fancy it was the +morning mail service betwixt Bristol and London. Then the drift swirled +inwards again and the great solitude was unbroken. + +"Just after ten I touched the lower edge of the upper cloud-stratum. It +consisted of fine diaphanous vapour drifting swiftly from the +westwards. The wind had been steadily rising all this time and it was +now blowing a sharp breeze--twenty-eight an hour by my gauge. Already +it was very cold, though my altimeter only marked nine thousand. The +engines were working beautifully, and we went droning steadily upwards. +The cloud-bank was thicker than I had expected, but at last it thinned +out into a golden mist before me, and then in an instant I had shot out +from it, and there was an unclouded sky and a brilliant sun above my +head--all blue and gold above, all shining silver below, one vast, +glimmering plain as far as my eyes could reach. It was a quarter past +ten o'clock, and the barograph needle pointed to twelve thousand eight +hundred. Up I went and up, my ears concentrated upon the deep purring +of my motor, my eyes busy always with the watch, the revolution +indicator, the petrol lever, and the oil pump. No wonder aviators are +said to be a fearless race. With so many things to think of there is +no time to trouble about oneself. About this time I noted how +unreliable is the compass when above a certain height from earth. At +fifteen thousand feet mine was pointing east and a point south. The +sun and the wind gave me my true bearings. + +"I had hoped to reach an eternal stillness in these high altitudes, but +with every thousand feet of ascent the gale grew stronger. My machine +groaned and trembled in every joint and rivet as she faced it, and +swept away like a sheet of paper when I banked her on the turn, +skimming down wind at a greater pace, perhaps, than ever mortal man has +moved. Yet I had always to turn again and tack up in the wind's eye, +for it was not merely a height record that I was after. By all my +calculations it was above little Wiltshire that my air-jungle lay, and +all my labour might be lost if I struck the outer layers at some +farther point. + +"When I reached the nineteen-thousand-foot level, which was about +midday, the wind was so severe that I looked with some anxiety to the +stays of my wings, expecting momentarily to see them snap or slacken. +I even cast loose the parachute behind me, and fastened its hook into +the ring of my leathern belt, so as to be ready for the worst. Now was +the time when a bit of scamped work by the mechanic is paid for by the +life of the aeronaut. But she held together bravely. Every cord and +strut was humming and vibrating like so many harp-strings, but it was +glorious to see how, for all the beating and the buffeting, she was +still the conqueror of Nature and the mistress of the sky. There is +surely something divine in man himself that he should rise so superior +to the limitations which Creation seemed to impose--rise, too, by such +unselfish, heroic devotion as this air-conquest has shown. Talk of +human degeneration! When has such a story as this been written in the +annals of our race? + +"These were the thoughts in my head as I climbed that monstrous, +inclined plane with the wind sometimes beating in my face and sometimes +whistling behind my ears, while the cloud-land beneath me fell away to +such a distance that the folds and hummocks of silver had all smoothed +out into one flat, shining plain. But suddenly I had a horrible and +unprecedented experience. I have known before what it is to be in what +our neighbours have called a tourbillon, but never on such a scale as +this. That huge, sweeping river of wind of which I have spoken had, as +it appears, whirlpools within it which were as monstrous as itself. +Without a moment's warning I was dragged suddenly into the heart of +one. I spun round for a minute or two with such velocity that I almost +lost my senses, and then fell suddenly, left wing foremost, down the +vacuum funnel in the centre. I dropped like a stone, and lost nearly a +thousand feet. It was only my belt that kept me in my seat, and the +shock and breathlessness left me hanging half-insensible over the side +of the fuselage. But I am always capable of a supreme effort--it is my +one great merit as an aviator. I was conscious that the descent was +slower. The whirlpool was a cone rather than a funnel, and I had come +to the apex. With a terrific wrench, throwing my weight all to one +side, I levelled my planes and brought her head away from the wind. In +an instant I had shot out of the eddies and was skimming down the sky. +Then, shaken but victorious, I turned her nose up and began once more +my steady grind on the upward spiral. I took a large sweep to avoid +the danger-spot of the whirlpool, and soon I was safely above it. Just +after one o'clock I was twenty-one thousand feet above the sea-level. +To my great joy I had topped the gale, and with every hundred feet of +ascent the air grew stiller. On the other hand, it was very cold, and +I was conscious of that peculiar nausea which goes with rarefaction of +the air. For the first time I unscrewed the mouth of my oxygen bag and +took an occasional whiff of the glorious gas. I could feel it running +like a cordial through my veins, and I was exhilarated almost to the +point of drunkenness. I shouted and sang as I soared upwards into the +cold, still outer world. + +"It is very clear to me that the insensibility which came upon +Glaisher, and in a lesser degree upon Coxwell, when, in 1862, they +ascended in a balloon to the height of thirty thousand feet, was due to +the extreme speed with which a perpendicular ascent is made. Doing it +at an easy gradient and accustoming oneself to the lessened barometric +pressure by slow degrees, there are no such dreadful symptoms. At the +same great height I found that even without my oxygen inhaler I could +breathe without undue distress. It was bitterly cold, however, and my +thermometer was at zero, Fahrenheit. At one-thirty I was nearly seven +miles above the surface of the earth, and still ascending steadily. I +found, however, that the rarefied air was giving markedly less support +to my planes, and that my angle of ascent had to be considerably +lowered in consequence. It was already clear that even with my light +weight and strong engine-power there was a point in front of me where I +should be held. To make matters worse, one of my sparking-plugs was in +trouble again and there was intermittent misfiring in the engine. My +heart was heavy with the fear of failure. + +"It was about that time that I had a most extraordinary experience. +Something whizzed past me in a trail of smoke and exploded with a loud, +hissing sound, sending forth a cloud of steam. For the instant I could +not imagine what had happened. Then I remembered that the earth is for +ever being bombarded by meteor stones, and would be hardly inhabitable +were they not in nearly every case turned to vapour in the outer layers +of the atmosphere. Here is a new danger for the high-altitude man, for +two others passed me when I was nearing the forty-thousand-foot mark. +I cannot doubt that at the edge of the earth's envelope the risk would +be a very real one. + +"My barograph needle marked forty-one thousand three hundred when I +became aware that I could go no farther. Physically, the strain was +not as yet greater than I could bear but my machine had reached its +limit. The attenuated air gave no firm support to the wings, and the +least tilt developed into side-slip, while she seemed sluggish on her +controls. Possibly, had the engine been at its best, another thousand +feet might have been within our capacity, but it was still misfiring, +and two out of the ten cylinders appeared to be out of action. If I +had not already reached the zone for which I was searching then I +should never see it upon this journey. But was it not possible that I +had attained it? Soaring in circles like a monstrous hawk upon the +forty-thousand-foot level I let the monoplane guide herself, and with +my Mannheim glass I made a careful observation of my surroundings. The +heavens were perfectly clear; there was no indication of those dangers +which I had imagined. + +"I have said that I was soaring in circles. It struck me suddenly that +I would do well to take a wider sweep and open up a new airtract. If +the hunter entered an earth-jungle he would drive through it if he +wished to find his game. My reasoning had led me to believe that the +air-jungle which I had imagined lay somewhere over Wiltshire. This +should be to the south and west of me. I took my bearings from the +sun, for the compass was hopeless and no trace of earth was to be +seen--nothing but the distant, silver cloud-plain. However, I got my +direction as best I might and kept her head straight to the mark. I +reckoned that my petrol supply would not last for more than another +hour or so, but I could afford to use it to the last drop, since a +single magnificent vol-plane could at any time take me to the earth. + +"Suddenly I was aware of something new. The air in front of me had +lost its crystal clearness. It was full of long, ragged wisps of +something which I can only compare to very fine cigarette smoke. It +hung about in wreaths and coils, turning and twisting slowly in the +sunlight. As the monoplane shot through it, I was aware of a faint +taste of oil upon my lips, and there was a greasy scum upon the +woodwork of the machine. Some infinitely fine organic matter appeared +to be suspended in the atmosphere. There was no life there. It was +inchoate and diffuse, extending for many square acres and then fringing +off into the void. No, it was not life. But might it not be the +remains of life? Above all, might it not be the food of life, of +monstrous life, even as the humble grease of the ocean is the food for +the mighty whale? The thought was in my mind when my eyes looked +upwards and I saw the most wonderful vision that ever man has seen. +Can I hope to convey it to you even as I saw it myself last Thursday? + +"Conceive a jelly-fish such as sails in our summer seas, bell-shaped +and of enormous size--far larger, I should judge, than the dome of St. +Paul's. It was of a light pink colour veined with a delicate green, +but the whole huge fabric so tenuous that it was but a fairy outline +against the dark blue sky. It pulsated with a delicate and regular +rhythm. From it there depended two long, drooping, green tentacles, +which swayed slowly backwards and forwards. This gorgeous vision +passed gently with noiseless dignity over my head, as light and fragile +as a soap-bubble, and drifted upon its stately way. + +"I had half-turned my monoplane, that I might look after this beautiful +creature, when, in a moment, I found myself amidst a perfect fleet of +them, of all sizes, but none so large as the first. Some were quite +small, but the majority about as big as an average balloon, and with +much the same curvature at the top. There was in them a delicacy of +texture and colouring which reminded me of the finest Venetian glass. +Pale shades of pink and green were the prevailing tints, but all had a +lovely iridescence where the sun shimmered through their dainty forms. +Some hundreds of them drifted past me, a wonderful fairy squadron of +strange unknown argosies of the sky--creatures whose forms and +substance were so attuned to these pure heights that one could not +conceive anything so delicate within actual sight or sound of earth. + +"But soon my attention was drawn to a new phenomenon--the serpents of +the outer air. These were long, thin, fantastic coils of vapour-like +material, which turned and twisted with great speed, flying round and +round at such a pace that the eyes could hardly follow them. Some of +these ghost-like creatures were twenty or thirty feet long, but it was +difficult to tell their girth, for their outline was so hazy that it +seemed to fade away into the air around them. These air-snakes were of +a very light grey or smoke colour, with some darker lines within, which +gave the impression of a definite organism. One of them whisked past +my very face, and I was conscious of a cold, clammy contact, but their +composition was so unsubstantial that I could not connect them with any +thought of physical danger, any more than the beautiful bell-like +creatures which had preceded them. There was no more solidity in their +frames than in the floating spume from a broken wave. + +"But a more terrible experience was in store for me. Floating +downwards from a great height there came a purplish patch of vapour, +small as I saw it first, but rapidly enlarging as it approached me, +until it appeared to be hundreds of square feet in size. Though +fashioned of some transparent, jelly-like substance, it was none the +less of much more definite outline and solid consistence than anything +which I had seen before. There were more traces, too, of a physical +organization, especially two vast, shadowy, circular plates upon either +side, which may have been eyes, and a perfectly solid white projection +between them which was as curved and cruel as the beak of a vulture. + +"The whole aspect of this monster was formidable and threatening, and +it kept changing its colour from a very light mauve to a dark, angry +purple so thick that it cast a shadow as it drifted between my +monoplane and the sun. On the upper curve of its huge body there were +three great projections which I can only describe as enormous bubbles, +and I was convinced as I looked at them that they were charged with +some extremely light gas which served to buoy up the misshapen and +semi-solid mass in the rarefied air. The creature moved swiftly along, +keeping pace easily with the monoplane, and for twenty miles or more it +formed my horrible escort, hovering over me like a bird of prey which +is waiting to pounce. Its method of progression--done so swiftly that +it was not easy to follow--was to throw out a long, glutinous streamer +in front of it, which in turn seemed to draw forward the rest of the +writhing body. So elastic and gelatinous was it that never for two +successive minutes was it the same shape, and yet each change made it +more threatening and loathsome than the last. + +"I knew that it meant mischief. Every purple flush of its hideous body +told me so. The vague, goggling eyes which were turned always upon me +were cold and merciless in their viscid hatred. I dipped the nose of +my monoplane downwards to escape it. As I did so, as quick as a flash +there shot out a long tentacle from this mass of floating blubber, and +it fell as light and sinuous as a whip-lash across the front of my +machine. There was a loud hiss as it lay for a moment across the hot +engine, and it whisked itself into the air again, while the huge, flat +body drew itself together as if in sudden pain. I dipped to a +vol-pique, but again a tentacle fell over the monoplane and was shorn +off by the propeller as easily as it might have cut through a smoke +wreath. A long, gliding, sticky, serpent-like coil came from behind and +caught me round the waist, dragging me out of the fuselage. I tore at +it, my fingers sinking into the smooth, glue-like surface, and for an +instant I disengaged myself, but only to be caught round the boot by +another coil, which gave me a jerk that tilted me almost on to my back. + +"As I fell over I blazed off both barrels of my gun, though, indeed, it +was like attacking an elephant with a pea-shooter to imagine that any +human weapon could cripple that mighty bulk. And yet I aimed better +than I knew, for, with a loud report, one of the great blisters upon +the creature's back exploded with the puncture of the buck-shot. It +was very clear that my conjecture was right, and that these vast, clear +bladders were distended with some lifting gas, for in an instant the +huge, cloud-like body turned sideways, writhing desperately to find its +balance, while the white beak snapped and gaped in horrible fury. But +already I had shot away on the steepest glide that I dared to attempt, +my engine still full on, the flying propeller and the force of gravity +shooting me downwards like an aerolite. Far behind me I saw a dull, +purplish smudge growing swiftly smaller and merging into the blue sky +behind it. I was safe out of the deadly jungle of the outer air. + +"Once out of danger I throttled my engine, for nothing tears a machine +to pieces quicker than running on full power from a height. It was a +glorious, spiral vol-plane from nearly eight miles of altitude--first, +to the level of the silver cloud-bank, then to that of the storm-cloud +beneath it, and finally, in beating rain, to the surface of the earth. +I saw the Bristol Channel beneath me as I broke from the clouds, but, +having still some petrol in my tank, I got twenty miles inland before I +found myself stranded in a field half a mile from the village of +Ashcombe. There I got three tins of petrol from a passing motor-car, +and at ten minutes past six that evening I alighted gently in my own +home meadow at Devizes, after such a journey as no mortal upon earth +has ever yet taken and lived to tell the tale. I have seen the beauty +and I have seen the horror of the heights--and greater beauty or +greater horror than that is not within the ken of man. + +"And now it is my plan to go once again before I give my results to the +world. My reason for this is that I must surely have something to show +by way of proof before I lay such a tale before my fellow-men. It is +true that others will soon follow and will confirm what I have said, +and yet I should wish to carry conviction from the first. Those lovely +iridescent bubbles of the air should not be hard to capture. They +drift slowly upon their way, and the swift monoplane could intercept +their leisurely course. It is likely enough that they would dissolve +in the heavier layers of the atmosphere, and that some small heap of +amorphous jelly might be all that I should bring to earth with me. And +yet something there would surely be by which I could substantiate my +story. Yes, I will go, even if I run a risk by doing so. These purple +horrors would not seem to be numerous. It is probable that I shall not +see one. If I do I shall dive at once. At the worst there is always +the shot-gun and my knowledge of ..." + + +Here a page of the manuscript is unfortunately missing. On the next +page is written, in large, straggling writing: + + +"Forty-three thousand feet. I shall never see earth again. They are +beneath me, three of them. God help me; it is a dreadful death to die!" + + +Such in its entirety is the Joyce-Armstrong Statement. Of the man +nothing has since been seen. Pieces of his shattered monoplane have +been picked up in the preserves of Mr. Budd-Lushington upon the borders +of Kent and Sussex, within a few miles of the spot where the note-book +was discovered. If the unfortunate aviator's theory is correct that +this air-jungle, as he called it, existed only over the south-west of +England, then it would seem that he had fled from it at the full speed +of his monoplane, but had been overtaken and devoured by these horrible +creatures at some spot in the outer atmosphere above the place where +the grim relics were found. The picture of that monoplane skimming +down the sky, with the nameless terrors flying as swiftly beneath it +and cutting it off always from the earth while they gradually closed in +upon their victim, is one upon which a man who valued his sanity would +prefer not to dwell. There are many, as I am aware, who still jeer at +the facts which I have here set down, but even they must admit that +Joyce-Armstrong has disappeared, and I would commend to them his own +words: "This note-book may explain what I am trying to do, and how I +lost my life in doing it. But no drivel about accidents or mysteries, +if YOU please." + + + +The Leather Funnel + +My friend, Lionel Dacre, lived in the Avenue de Wagram, Paris. His +house was that small one, with the iron railings and grass plot in +front of it, on the left-hand side as you pass down from the Arc de +Triomphe. I fancy that it had been there long before the avenue was +constructed, for the grey tiles were stained with lichens, and the +walls were mildewed and discoloured with age. It looked a small house +from the street, five windows in front, if I remember right, but it +deepened into a single long chamber at the back. It was here that +Dacre had that singular library of occult literature, and the fantastic +curiosities which served as a hobby for himself, and an amusement for +his friends. A wealthy man of refined and eccentric tastes, he had +spent much of his life and fortune in gathering together what was said +to be a unique private collection of Talmudic, cabalistic, and magical +works, many of them of great rarity and value. His tastes leaned +toward the marvellous and the monstrous, and I have heard that his +experiments in the direction of the unknown have passed all the bounds +of civilization and of decorum. To his English friends he never +alluded to such matters, and took the tone of the student and virtuoso; +but a Frenchman whose tastes were of the same nature has assured me +that the worst excesses of the black mass have been perpetrated in that +large and lofty hall, which is lined with the shelves of his books, and +the cases of his museum. + +Dacre's appearance was enough to show that his deep interest in these +psychic matters was intellectual rather than spiritual. There was no +trace of asceticism upon his heavy face, but there was much mental +force in his huge, dome-like skull, which curved upward from amongst +his thinning locks, like a snowpeak above its fringe of fir trees. His +knowledge was greater than his wisdom, and his powers were far superior +to his character. The small bright eyes, buried deeply in his fleshy +face, twinkled with intelligence and an unabated curiosity of life, but +they were the eyes of a sensualist and an egotist. Enough of the man, +for he is dead now, poor devil, dead at the very time that he had made +sure that he had at last discovered the elixir of life. It is not with +his complex character that I have to deal, but with the very strange +and inexplicable incident which had its rise in my visit to him in the +early spring of the year '82. + +I had known Dacre in England, for my researches in the Assyrian Room of +the British Museum had been conducted at the time when he was +endeavouring to establish a mystic and esoteric meaning in the +Babylonian tablets, and this community of interests had brought us +together. Chance remarks had led to daily conversation, and that to +something verging upon friendship. I had promised him that on my next +visit to Paris I would call upon him. At the time when I was able to +fulfil my compact I was living in a cottage at Fontainebleau, and as +the evening trains were inconvenient, he asked me to spend the night in +his house. + +"I have only that one spare couch," said he, pointing to a broad sofa +in his large salon; "I hope that you will manage to be comfortable +there." + +It was a singular bedroom, with its high walls of brown volumes, but +there could be no more agreeable furniture to a bookworm like myself, +and there is no scent so pleasant to my nostrils as that faint, subtle +reek which comes from an ancient book. I assured him that I could +desire no more charming chamber, and no more congenial surroundings. + +"If the fittings are neither convenient nor conventional, they are at +least costly," said he, looking round at his shelves. "I have expended +nearly a quarter of a million of money upon these objects which +surround you. Books, weapons, gems, carvings, tapestries, +images--there is hardly a thing here which has not its history, and it +is generally one worth telling." + +He was seated as he spoke at one side of the open fire-place, and I at +the other. His reading-table was on his right, and the strong lamp +above it ringed it with a very vivid circle of golden light. A +half-rolled palimpsest lay in the centre, and around it were many +quaint articles of bric-a-brac. One of these was a large funnel, such +as is used for filling wine casks. It appeared to be made of black +wood, and to be rimmed with discoloured brass. + +"That is a curious thing," I remarked. "What is the history of that?" + +"Ah!" said he, "it is the very question which I have had occasion to +ask myself. I would give a good deal to know. Take it in your hands +and examine it." + +I did so, and found that what I had imagined to be wood was in reality +leather, though age had dried it into an extreme hardness. It was a +large funnel, and might hold a quart when full. The brass rim +encircled the wide end, but the narrow was also tipped with metal. + +"What do you make of it?" asked Dacre. + +"I should imagine that it belonged to some vintner or maltster in the +Middle Ages," said I. "I have seen in England leathern drinking +flagons of the seventeenth century--'black jacks' as they were +called--which were of the same colour and hardness as this filler." + +"I dare say the date would be about the same," said Dacre, "and, no +doubt, also, it was used for filling a vessel with liquid. If my +suspicions are correct, however, it was a queer vintner who used it, +and a very singular cask which was filled. Do you observe nothing +strange at the spout end of the funnel." + +As I held it to the light I observed that at a spot some five inches +above the brass tip the narrow neck of the leather funnel was all +haggled and scored, as if someone had notched it round with a blunt +knife. Only at that point was there any roughening of the dead black +surface. + +"Someone has tried to cut off the neck." + +"Would you call it a cut?" + +"It is torn and lacerated. It must have taken some strength to leave +these marks on such tough material, whatever the instrument may have +been. But what do you think of it? I can tell that you know more than +you say." + +Dacre smiled, and his little eyes twinkled with knowledge. + +"Have you included the psychology of dreams among your learned +studies?" he asked. + +"I did not even know that there was such a psychology." + +"My dear sir, that shelf above the gem case is filled with volumes, +from Albertus Magnus onward, which deal with no other subject. It is a +science in itself." + +"A science of charlatans!" + +"The charlatan is always the pioneer. From the astrologer came the +astronomer, from the alchemist the chemist, from the mesmerist the +experimental psychologist. The quack of yesterday is the professor of +tomorrow. Even such subtle and elusive things as dreams will in time +be reduced to system and order. When that time comes the researches of +our friends on the bookshelf yonder will no longer be the amusement of +the mystic, but the foundations of a science." + +"Supposing that is so, what has the science of dreams to do with a +large, black, brass-rimmed funnel?" + +"I will tell you. You know that I have an agent who is always on the +look-out for rarities and curiosities for my collection. Some days ago +he heard of a dealer upon one of the Quais who had acquired some old +rubbish found in a cupboard in an ancient house at the back of the Rue +Mathurin, in the Quartier Latin. The dining-room of this old house is +decorated with a coat of arms, chevrons, and bars rouge upon a field +argent, which prove, upon inquiry, to be the shield of Nicholas de la +Reynie, a high official of King Louis XIV. There can be no doubt that +the other articles in the cupboard date back to the early days of that +king. The inference is, therefore, that they were all the property of +this Nicholas de la Reynie, who was, as I understand, the gentleman +specially concerned with the maintenance and execution of the Draconic +laws of that epoch." + +"What then?" + +"I would ask you now to take the funnel into your hands once more and +to examine the upper brass rim. Can you make out any lettering upon +it?" + +There were certainly some scratches upon it, almost obliterated by +time. The general effect was of several letters, the last of which +bore some resemblance to a B. + +"You make it a B?" + +"Yes, I do." + +"So do I. In fact, I have no doubt whatever that it is a B." + +"But the nobleman you mentioned would have had R for his initial." + +"Exactly! That's the beauty of it. He owned this curious object, and +yet he had someone else's initials upon it. Why did he do this?" + +"I can't imagine; can you?" + +"Well, I might, perhaps, guess. Do you observe something drawn a +little farther along the rim?" + +"I should say it was a crown." + +"It is undoubtedly a crown; but if you examine it in a good light, you +will convince yourself that it is not an ordinary crown. It is a +heraldic crown--a badge of rank, and it consists of an alternation of +four pearls and strawberry leaves, the proper badge of a marquis. We +may infer, therefore, that the person whose initials end in B was +entitled to wear that coronet." + +"Then this common leather filler belonged to a marquis?" + +Dacre gave a peculiar smile. + +"Or to some member of the family of a marquis," said he. "So much we +have clearly gathered from this engraved rim." + +"But what has all this to do with dreams?" I do not know whether it +was from a look upon Dacre's face, or from some subtle suggestion in +his manner, but a feeling of repulsion, of unreasoning horror, came +upon me as I looked at the gnarled old lump of leather. + +"I have more than once received important information through my +dreams," said my companion in the didactic manner which he loved to +affect. "I make it a rule now when I am in doubt upon any material +point to place the article in question beside me as I sleep, and to +hope for some enlightenment. The process does not appear to me to be +very obscure, though it has not yet received the blessing of orthodox +science. According to my theory, any object which has been intimately +associated with any supreme paroxysm of human emotion, whether it be +joy or pain, will retain a certain atmosphere or association which it +is capable of communicating to a sensitive mind. By a sensitive mind I +do not mean an abnormal one, but such a trained and educated mind as +you or I possess." + +"You mean, for example, that if I slept beside that old sword upon the +wall, I might dream of some bloody incident in which that very sword +took part?" + +"An excellent example, for, as a matter of fact, that sword was used in +that fashion by me, and I saw in my sleep the death of its owner, who +perished in a brisk skirmish, which I have been unable to identify, but +which occurred at the time of the wars of the Frondists. If you think +of it, some of our popular observances show that the fact has already +been recognized by our ancestors, although we, in our wisdom, have +classed it among superstitions." + +"For example?" + +"Well, the placing of the bride's cake beneath the pillow in order that +the sleeper may have pleasant dreams. That is one of several instances +which you will find set forth in a small brochure which I am myself +writing upon the subject. But to come back to the point, I slept one +night with this funnel beside me, and I had a dream which certainly +throws a curious light upon its use and origin." + +"What did you dream?" + +"I dreamed----" He paused, and an intent look of interest came over his +massive face. "By Jove, that's well thought of," said he. "This really +will be an exceedingly interesting experiment. You are yourself a +psychic subject--with nerves which respond readily to any impression." + +"I have never tested myself in that direction." + +"Then we shall test you tonight. Might I ask you as a very great +favour, when you occupy that couch tonight, to sleep with this old +funnel placed by the side of your pillow?" + +The request seemed to me a grotesque one; but I have myself, in my +complex nature, a hunger after all which is bizarre and fantastic. I +had not the faintest belief in Dacre's theory, nor any hopes for +success in such an experiment; yet it amused me that the experiment +should be made. Dacre, with great gravity, drew a small stand to the +head of my settee, and placed the funnel upon it. Then, after a short +conversation, he wished me good night and left me. + + +I sat for some little time smoking by the smouldering fire, and turning +over in my mind the curious incident which had occurred, and the +strange experience which might lie before me. Sceptical as I was, there +was something impressive in the assurance of Dacre's manner, and my +extraordinary surroundings, the huge room with the strange and often +sinister objects which were hung round it, struck solemnity into my +soul. Finally I undressed, and turning out the lamp, I lay down. +After long tossing I fell asleep. Let me try to describe as accurately +as I can the scene which came to me in my dreams. It stands out now in +my memory more clearly than anything which I have seen with my waking +eyes. There was a room which bore the appearance of a vault. Four +spandrels from the corners ran up to join a sharp, cup-shaped roof. +The architecture was rough, but very strong. It was evidently part of +a great building. + +Three men in black, with curious, top-heavy, black velvet hats, sat in +a line upon a red-carpeted dais. Their faces were very solemn and sad. +On the left stood two long-gowned men with port-folios in their hands, +which seemed to be stuffed with papers. Upon the right, looking toward +me, was a small woman with blonde hair and singular, light-blue +eyes--the eyes of a child. She was past her first youth, but could not +yet be called middle-aged. Her figure was inclined to stoutness and her +bearing was proud and confident. Her face was pale, but serene. It +was a curious face, comely and yet feline, with a subtle suggestion of +cruelty about the straight, strong little mouth and chubby jaw. She was +draped in some sort of loose, white gown. Beside her stood a thin, +eager priest, who whispered in her ear, and continually raised a +crucifix before her eyes. She turned her head and looked fixedly past +the crucifix at the three men in black, who were, I felt, her judges. + +As I gazed the three men stood up and said something, but I could +distinguish no words, though I was aware that it was the central one +who was speaking. They then swept out of the room, followed by the two +men with the papers. At the same instant several rough-looking fellows +in stout jerkins came bustling in and removed first the red carpet, and +then the boards which formed the dais, so as to entirely clear the +room. When this screen was removed I saw some singular articles of +furniture behind it. One looked like a bed with wooden rollers at each +end, and a winch handle to regulate its length. Another was a wooden +horse. There were several other curious objects, and a number of +swinging cords which played over pulleys. It was not unlike a modern +gymnasium. + +When the room had been cleared there appeared a new figure upon the +scene. This was a tall, thin person clad in black, with a gaunt and +austere face. The aspect of the man made me shudder. His clothes were +all shining with grease and mottled with stains. He bore himself with a +slow and impressive dignity, as if he took command of all things from +the instant of his entrance. In spite of his rude appearance and +sordid dress, it was now his business, his room, his to command. He +carried a coil of light ropes over his left forearm. The lady looked +him up and down with a searching glance, but her expression was +unchanged. It was confident--even defiant. But it was very different +with the priest. His face was ghastly white, and I saw the moisture +glisten and run on his high, sloping forehead. He threw up his hands +in prayer and he stooped continually to mutter frantic words in the +lady's ear. + +The man in black now advanced, and taking one of the cords from his +left arm, he bound the woman's hands together. She held them meekly +toward him as he did so. Then he took her arm with a rough grip and +led her toward the wooden horse, which was little higher than her +waist. On to this she was lifted and laid, with her back upon it, and +her face to the ceiling, while the priest, quivering with horror, had +rushed out of the room. The woman's lips were moving rapidly, and +though I could hear nothing I knew that she was praying. Her feet hung +down on either side of the horse, and I saw that the rough varlets in +attendance had fastened cords to her ankles and secured the other ends +to iron rings in the stone floor. + +My heart sank within me as I saw these ominous preparations, and yet I +was held by the fascination of horror, and I could not take my eyes +from the strange spectacle. A man had entered the room with a bucket +of water in either hand. Another followed with a third bucket. They +were laid beside the wooden horse. The second man had a wooden +dipper--a bowl with a straight handle--in his other hand. This he gave +to the man in black. At the same moment one of the varlets approached +with a dark object in his hand, which even in my dream filled me with a +vague feeling of familiarity. It was a leathern filler. With horrible +energy he thrust it--but I could stand no more. My hair stood on end +with horror. I writhed, I struggled, I broke through the bonds of +sleep, and I burst with a shriek into my own life, and found myself +lying shivering with terror in the huge library, with the moonlight +flooding through the window and throwing strange silver and black +traceries upon the opposite wall. Oh, what a blessed relief to feel +that I was back in the nineteenth century--back out of that mediaeval +vault into a world where men had human hearts within their bosoms. I +sat up on my couch, trembling in every limb, my mind divided between +thankfulness and horror. To think that such things were ever +done--that they could be done without God striking the villains dead. +Was it all a fantasy, or did it really stand for something which had +happened in the black, cruel days of the world's history? I sank my +throbbing head upon my shaking hands. And then, suddenly, my heart +seemed to stand still in my bosom, and I could not even scream, so +great was my terror. Something was advancing toward me through the +darkness of the room. + +It is a horror coming upon a horror which breaks a man's spirit. I +could not reason, I could not pray; I could only sit like a frozen +image, and glare at the dark figure which was coming down the great +room. And then it moved out into the white lane of moonlight, and I +breathed once more. It was Dacre, and his face showed that he was as +frightened as myself. + +"Was that you? For God's sake what's the matter?" he asked in a husky +voice. + +"Oh, Dacre, I am glad to see you! I have been down into hell. It was +dreadful." + +"Then it was you who screamed?" + +"I dare say it was." + +"It rang through the house. The servants are all terrified." He struck +a match and lit the lamp. "I think we may get the fire to burn up +again," he added, throwing some logs upon the embers. "Good God, my +dear chap, how white you are! You look as if you had seen a ghost." + +"So I have--several ghosts." + +"The leather funnel has acted, then?" + +"I wouldn't sleep near the infernal thing again for all the money you +could offer me." + +Dacre chuckled. + +"I expected that you would have a lively night of it," said he. "You +took it out of me in return, for that scream of yours wasn't a very +pleasant sound at two in the morning. I suppose from what you say that +you have seen the whole dreadful business." + +"What dreadful business?" + +"The torture of the water--the 'Extraordinary Question,' as it was +called in the genial days of 'Le Roi Soleil.' Did you stand it out to +the end?" + +"No, thank God, I awoke before it really began." + +"Ah! it is just as well for you. I held out till the third bucket. +Well, it is an old story, and they are all in their graves now, anyhow, +so what does it matter how they got there? I suppose that you have no +idea what it was that you have seen?" + +"The torture of some criminal. She must have been a terrible +malefactor indeed if her crimes are in proportion to her penalty." + +"Well, we have that small consolation," said Dacre, wrapping his +dressing-gown round him and crouching closer to the fire. "They WERE in +proportion to her penalty. That is to say, if I am correct in the +lady's identity." + +"How could you possibly know her identity?" + +For answer Dacre took down an old vellum-covered volume from the shelf. + +"Just listen to this," said he; "it is in the French of the seventeenth +century, but I will give a rough translation as I go. You will judge +for yourself whether I have solved the riddle or not. + +"'The prisoner was brought before the Grand Chambers and Tournelles of +Parliament, sitting as a court of justice, charged with the murder of +Master Dreux d'Aubray, her father, and of her two brothers, MM. +d'Aubray, one being civil lieutenant, and the other a counsellor of +Parliament. In person it seemed hard to believe that she had really +done such wicked deeds, for she was of a mild appearance, and of short +stature, with a fair skin and blue eyes. Yet the Court, having found +her guilty, condemned her to the ordinary and to the extraordinary +question in order that she might be forced to name her accomplices, +after which she should be carried in a cart to the Place de Greve, +there to have her head cut off, her body being afterwards burned and +her ashes scattered to the winds.' + +"The date of this entry is July 16, 1676." + +"It is interesting," said I, "but not convincing. How do you prove the +two women to be the same?" + +"I am coming to that. The narrative goes on to tell of the woman's +behaviour when questioned. 'When the executioner approached her she +recognized him by the cords which he held in his hands, and she at once +held out her own hands to him, looking at him from head to foot without +uttering a word.' How's that?" + +"Yes, it was so." + +"'She gazed without wincing upon the wooden horse and rings which had +twisted so many limbs and caused so many shrieks of agony. When her +eyes fell upon the three pails of water, which were all ready for her, +she said with a smile, "All that water must have been brought here for +the purpose of drowning me, Monsieur. You have no idea, I trust, of +making a person of my small stature swallow it all."' Shall I read the +details of the torture?" + +"No, for Heaven's sake, don't." + +"Here is a sentence which must surely show you that what is here +recorded is the very scene which you have gazed upon tonight: 'The good +Abbe Pirot, unable to contemplate the agonies which were suffered by +his penitent, had hurried from the room.' Does that convince you?" + +"It does entirely. There can be no question that it is indeed the same +event. But who, then, is this lady whose appearance was so attractive +and whose end was so horrible?" + +For answer Dacre came across to me, and placed the small lamp upon the +table which stood by my bed. Lifting up the ill-omened filler, he +turned the brass rim so that the light fell full upon it. Seen in this +way the engraving seemed clearer than on the night before. + +"We have already agreed that this is the badge of a marquis or of a +marquise," said he. "We have also settled that the last letter is B." + +"It is undoubtedly so." + +"I now suggest to you that the other letters from left to right are, M, +M, a small d, A, a small d, and then the final B." + +"Yes, I am sure that you are right. I can make out the two small d's +quite plainly." + +"What I have read to you tonight," said Dacre, "is the official record +of the trial of Marie Madeleine d'Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers, one +of the most famous poisoners and murderers of all time." + +I sat in silence, overwhelmed at the extraordinary nature of the +incident, and at the completeness of the proof with which Dacre had +exposed its real meaning. In a vague way I remembered some details of +the woman's career, her unbridled debauchery, the cold-blooded and +protracted torture of her sick father, the murder of her brothers for +motives of petty gain. I recollected also that the bravery of her end +had done something to atone for the horror of her life, and that all +Paris had sympathized with her last moments, and blessed her as a +martyr within a few days of the time when they had cursed her as a +murderess. One objection, and one only, occurred to my mind. + +"How came her initials and her badge of rank upon the filler? Surely +they did not carry their mediaeval homage to the nobility to the point +of decorating instruments of torture with their titles?" + +"I was puzzled with the same point," said Dacre, "but it admits of a +simple explanation. The case excited extraordinary interest at the +time, and nothing could be more natural than that La Reynie, the head +of the police, should retain this filler as a grim souvenir. It was +not often that a marchioness of France underwent the extraordinary +question. That he should engrave her initials upon it for the +information of others was surely a very ordinary proceeding upon his +part." + +"And this?" I asked, pointing to the marks upon the leathern neck. + +"She was a cruel tigress," said Dacre, as he turned away. "I think it +is evident that like other tigresses her teeth were both strong and +sharp." + + + +The New Catacomb + +"Look here, Burger," said Kennedy, "I do wish that you would confide in +me." + +The two famous students of Roman remains sat together in Kennedy's +comfortable room overlooking the Corso. The night was cold, and they +had both pulled up their chairs to the unsatisfactory Italian stove +which threw out a zone of stuffiness rather than of warmth. Outside +under the bright winter stars lay the modern Rome, the long, double +chain of the electric lamps, the brilliantly lighted cafes, the rushing +carriages, and the dense throng upon the footpaths. But inside, in the +sumptuous chamber of the rich young English archaeologist, there was +only old Rome to be seen. Cracked and timeworn friezes hung upon the +walls, grey old busts of senators and soldiers with their fighting +heads and their hard, cruel faces peered out from the corners. On the +centre table, amidst a litter of inscriptions, fragments, and +ornaments, there stood the famous reconstruction by Kennedy of the +Baths of Caracalla, which excited such interest and admiration when it +was exhibited in Berlin. Amphorae hung from the ceiling, and a litter +of curiosities strewed the rich red Turkey carpet. And of them all +there was not one which was not of the most unimpeachable authenticity, +and of the utmost rarity and value; for Kennedy, though little more +than thirty, had a European reputation in this particular branch of +research, and was, moreover, provided with that long purse which either +proves to be a fatal handicap to the student's energies, or, if his +mind is still true to its purpose, gives him an enormous advantage in +the race for fame. Kennedy had often been seduced by whim and pleasure +from his studies, but his mind was an incisive one, capable of long and +concentrated efforts which ended in sharp reactions of sensuous +languor. His handsome face, with its high, white forehead, its +aggressive nose, and its somewhat loose and sensual mouth, was a fair +index of the compromise between strength and weakness in his nature. + +Of a very different type was his companion, Julius Burger. He came of +a curious blend, a German father and an Italian mother, with the robust +qualities of the North mingling strangely with the softer graces of the +South. Blue Teutonic eyes lightened his sun-browned face, and above +them rose a square, massive forehead, with a fringe of close yellow +curls lying round it. His strong, firm jaw was clean-shaven, and his +companion had frequently remarked how much it suggested those old Roman +busts which peered out from the shadows in the corners of his chamber. +Under its bluff German strength there lay always a suggestion of +Italian subtlety, but the smile was so honest, and the eyes so frank, +that one understood that this was only an indication of his ancestry, +with no actual bearing upon his character. In age and in reputation, +he was on the same level as his English companion, but his life and his +work had both been far more arduous. Twelve years before, he had come +as a poor student to Rome, and had lived ever since upon some small +endowment for research which had been awarded to him by the University +of Bonn. Painfully, slowly, and doggedly, with extraordinary tenacity +and single-mindedness, he had climbed from rung to rung of the ladder +of fame, until now he was a member of the Berlin Academy, and there was +every reason to believe that he would shortly be promoted to the Chair +of the greatest of German Universities. But the singleness of purpose +which had brought him to the same high level as the rich and brilliant +Englishman, had caused him in everything outside their work to stand +infinitely below him. He had never found a pause in his studies in +which to cultivate the social graces. It was only when he spoke of his +own subject that his face was filled with life and soul. At other +times he was silent and embarrassed, too conscious of his own +limitations in larger subjects, and impatient of that small talk which +is the conventional refuge of those who have no thoughts to express. + +And yet for some years there had been an acquaintanceship which +appeared to be slowly ripening into a friendship between these two very +different rivals. The base and origin of this lay in the fact that in +their own studies each was the only one of the younger men who had +knowledge and enthusiasm enough to properly appreciate the other. +Their common interests and pursuits had brought them together, and each +had been attracted by the other's knowledge. And then gradually +something had been added to this. Kennedy had been amused by the +frankness and simplicity of his rival, while Burger in turn had been +fascinated by the brilliancy and vivacity which had made Kennedy such a +favourite in Roman society. I say "had," because just at the moment +the young Englishman was somewhat under a cloud. A love-affair, the +details of which had never quite come out, had indicated a +heartlessness and callousness upon his part which shocked many of his +friends. But in the bachelor circles of students and artists in which +he preferred to move there is no very rigid code of honour in such +matters, and though a head might be shaken or a pair of shoulders +shrugged over the flight of two and the return of one, the general +sentiment was probably one of curiosity and perhaps of envy rather than +of reprobation. + +"Look here, Burger," said Kennedy, looking hard at the placid face of +his companion, "I do wish that you would confide in me." + +As he spoke he waved his hand in the direction of a rug which lay upon +the floor. On the rug stood a long, shallow fruit-basket of the light +wicker-work which is used in the Campagna, and this was heaped with a +litter of objects, inscribed tiles, broken inscriptions, cracked +mosaics, torn papyri, rusty metal ornaments, which to the uninitiated +might have seemed to have come straight from a dustman's bin, but which +a specialist would have speedily recognized as unique of their kind. +The pile of odds and ends in the flat wicker-work basket supplied +exactly one of those missing links of social development which are of +such interest to the student. It was the German who had brought them +in, and the Englishman's eyes were hungry as he looked at them. + +"I won't interfere with your treasure-trove, but I should very much +like to hear about it," he continued, while Burger very deliberately +lit a cigar. "It is evidently a discovery of the first importance. +These inscriptions will make a sensation throughout Europe." + +"For every one here there are a million there!" said the German. +"There are so many that a dozen savants might spend a lifetime over +them, and build up a reputation as solid as the Castle of St. Angelo." + +Kennedy sat thinking with his fine forehead wrinkled and his fingers +playing with his long, fair moustache. + +"You have given yourself away, Burger!" said he at last. "Your words +can only apply to one thing. You have discovered a new catacomb." + +"I had no doubt that you had already come to that conclusion from an +examination of these objects." + +"Well, they certainly appeared to indicate it, but your last remarks +make it certain. There is no place except a catacomb which could +contain so vast a store of relics as you describe." + +"Quite so. There is no mystery about that. I HAVE discovered a new +catacomb." + +"Where?" + +"Ah, that is my secret, my dear Kennedy. Suffice it that it is so +situated that there is not one chance in a million of anyone else +coming upon it. Its date is different from that of any known catacomb, +and it has been reserved for the burial of the highest Christians, so +that the remains and the relics are quite different from anything which +has ever been seen before. If I was not aware of your knowledge and of +your energy, my friend, I would not hesitate, under the pledge of +secrecy, to tell you everything about it. But as it is I think that I +must certainly prepare my own report of the matter before I expose +myself to such formidable competition." + +Kennedy loved his subject with a love which was almost a mania--a love +which held him true to it, amidst all the distractions which come to a +wealthy and dissipated young man. He had ambition, but his ambition +was secondary to his mere abstract joy and interest in everything which +concerned the old life and history of the city. He yearned to see this +new underworld which his companion had discovered. + +"Look here, Burger," said he, earnestly, "I assure you that you can +trust me most implicitly in the matter. Nothing would induce me to put +pen to paper about anything which I see until I have your express +permission. I quite understand your feeling and I think it is most +natural, but you have really nothing whatever to fear from me. On the +other hand, if you don't tell me I shall make a systematic search, and +I shall most certainly discover it. In that case, of course, I should +make what use I liked of it, since I should be under no obligation to +you." + +Burger smiled thoughtfully over his cigar. + +"I have noticed, friend Kennedy," said he, "that when I want +information over any point you are not always so ready to supply it." + +"When did you ever ask me anything that I did not tell you? You +remember, for example, my giving you the material for your paper about +the temple of the Vestals." + +"Ah, well, that was not a matter of much importance. If I were to +question you upon some intimate thing would you give me an answer, I +wonder! This new catacomb is a very intimate thing to me, and I should +certainly expect some sign of confidence in return." + +"What you are driving at I cannot imagine," said the Englishman, "but +if you mean that you will answer my question about the catacomb if I +answer any question which you may put to me I can assure you that I +will certainly do so." + +"Well, then," said Burger, leaning luxuriously back in his settee, and +puffing a blue tree of cigar-smoke into the air, "tell me all about +your relations with Miss Mary Saunderson." + +Kennedy sprang up in his chair and glared angrily at his impassive +companion. + +"What the devil do you mean?" he cried. "What sort of a question is +this? You may mean it as a joke, but you never made a worse one." + +"No, I don't mean it as a joke," said Burger, simply. "I am really +rather interested in the details of the matter. I don't know much +about the world and women and social life and that sort of thing, and +such an incident has the fascination of the unknown for me. I know +you, and I knew her by sight--I had even spoken to her once or twice. +I should very much like to hear from your own lips exactly what it was +which occurred between you." + +"I won't tell you a word." + +"That's all right. It was only my whim to see if you would give up a +secret as easily as you expected me to give up my secret of the new +catacomb. You wouldn't, and I didn't expect you to. But why should you +expect otherwise of me? There's Saint John's clock striking ten. It +is quite time that I was going home." + +"No; wait a bit, Burger," said Kennedy; "this is really a ridiculous +caprice of yours to wish to know about an old love-affair which has +burned out months ago. You know we look upon a man who kisses and +tells as the greatest coward and villain possible." + +"Certainly," said the German, gathering up his basket of curiosities, +"when he tells anything about a girl which is previously unknown he +must be so. But in this case, as you must be aware, it was a public +matter which was the common talk of Rome, so that you are not really +doing Miss Mary Saunderson any injury by discussing her case with me. +But still, I respect your scruples; and so good night!" + +"Wait a bit, Burger," said Kennedy, laying his hand upon the other's +arm; "I am very keen upon this catacomb business, and I can't let it +drop quite so easily. Would you mind asking me something else in +return--something not quite so eccentric this time?" + +"No, no; you have refused, and there is an end of it," said Burger, +with his basket on his arm. "No doubt you are quite right not to +answer, and no doubt I am quite right also--and so again, my dear +Kennedy, good night!" + +The Englishman watched Burger cross the room, and he had his hand on +the handle of the door before his host sprang up with the air of a man +who is making the best of that which cannot be helped. + +"Hold on, old fellow," said he; "I think you are behaving in a most +ridiculous fashion; but still; if this is your condition, I suppose +that I must submit to it. I hate saying anything about a girl, but, as +you say, it is all over Rome, and I don't suppose I can tell you +anything which you do not know already. What was it you wanted to +know?" + +The German came back to the stove, and, laying down his basket, he sank +into his chair once more. + +"May I have another cigar?" said he. "Thank you very much! I never +smoke when I work, but I enjoy a chat much more when I am under the +influence of tobacco. Now, as regards this young lady, with whom you +had this little adventure. What in the world has become of her?" + +"She is at home with her own people." + +"Oh, really--in England?" + +"Yes." + +"What part of England--London?" + +"No, Twickenham." + +"You must excuse my curiosity, my dear Kennedy, and you must put it +down to my ignorance of the world. No doubt it is quite a simple thing +to persuade a young lady to go off with you for three weeks or so, and +then to hand her over to her own family at--what did you call the +place?" + +"Twickenham." + +"Quite so--at Twickenham. But it is something so entirely outside my +own experience that I cannot even imagine how you set about it. For +example, if you had loved this girl your love could hardly disappear in +three weeks, so I presume that you could not have loved her at all. +But if you did not love her why should you make this great scandal +which has damaged you and ruined her?" + +Kennedy looked moodily into the red eye of the stove. + +"That's a logical way of looking at it, certainly," said he. "Love is a +big word, and it represents a good many different shades of feeling. I +liked her, and--well, you say you've seen her--you know how charming +she could look. But still I am willing to admit, looking back, that I +could never have really loved her." + +"Then, my dear Kennedy, why did you do it?" + +"The adventure of the thing had a great deal to do with it." + +"What! You are so fond of adventures!" + +"Where would the variety of life be without them? It was for an +adventure that I first began to pay my attentions to her. I've chased +a good deal of game in my time, but there's no chase like that of a +pretty woman. There was the piquant difficulty of it also, for, as she +was the companion of Lady Emily Rood, it was almost impossible to see +her alone. On the top of all the other obstacles which attracted me, I +learned from her own lips very early in the proceedings that she was +engaged." + +"Mein Gott! To whom?" + +"She mentioned no names." + +"I do not think that anyone knows that. So that made the adventure +more alluring, did it?" + +"Well, it did certainly give a spice to it. Don't you think so?" + +"I tell you that I am very ignorant about these things." + +"My dear fellow, you can remember that the apple you stole from your +neighbour's tree was always sweeter than that which fell from your own. +And then I found that she cared for me." + +"What--at once?" + +"Oh, no, it took about three months of sapping and mining. But at last +I won her over. She understood that my judicial separation from my +wife made it impossible for me to do the right thing by her--but she +came all the same, and we had a delightful time, as long as it lasted." + +"But how about the other man?" + +Kennedy shrugged his shoulders. + +"I suppose it is the survival of the fittest," said he. "If he had +been the better man she would not have deserted him. Let's drop the +subject, for I have had enough of it!" + +"Only one other thing. How did you get rid of her in three weeks?" + +"Well, we had both cooled down a bit, you understand. She absolutely +refused, under any circumstances, to come back to face the people she +had known in Rome. Now, of course, Rome is necessary to me, and I was +already pining to be back at my work--so there was one obvious cause of +separation. Then, again, her old father turned up at the hotel in +London, and there was a scene, and the whole thing became so unpleasant +that really--though I missed her dreadfully at first--I was very glad +to slip out of it. Now, I rely upon you not to repeat anything of what +I have said." + +"My dear Kennedy, I should not dream of repeating it. But all that you +say interests me very much, for it gives me an insight into your way of +looking at things, which is entirely different from mine, for I have +seen so little of life. And now you want to know about my new +catacomb. There's no use my trying to describe it, for you would never +find it by that. There is only one thing, and that is for me to take +you there." + +"That would be splendid." + +"When would you like to come?" + +"The sooner the better. I am all impatience to see it." + +"Well, it is a beautiful night--though a trifle cold. Suppose we start +in an hour. We must be very careful to keep the matter to ourselves. +If anyone saw us hunting in couples they would suspect that there was +something going on." + +"We can't be too cautious," said Kennedy. "Is it far?" + +"Some miles." + +"Not too far to walk?" + +"Oh, no, we could walk there easily." + +"We had better do so, then. A cabman's suspicions would be aroused if +he dropped us both at some lonely spot in the dead of the night." + +"Quite so. I think it would be best for us to meet at the Gate of the +Appian Way at midnight. I must go back to my lodgings for the matches +and candles and things." + +"All right, Burger! I think it is very kind of you to let me into this +secret, and I promise you that I will write nothing about it until you +have published your report. Good-bye for the present! You will find me +at the Gate at twelve." + +The cold, clear air was filled with the musical chimes from that city +of clocks as Burger, wrapped in an Italian overcoat, with a lantern +hanging from his hand, walked up to the rendezvous. Kennedy stepped out +of the shadow to meet him. + +"You are ardent in work as well as in love!" said the German, laughing. + +"Yes; I have been waiting here for nearly half an hour." + +"I hope you left no clue as to where we were going." + +"Not such a fool! By Jove, I am chilled to the bone! Come on, Burger, +let us warm ourselves by a spurt of hard walking." + +Their footsteps sounded loud and crisp upon the rough stone paving of +the disappointing road which is all that is left of the most famous +highway of the world. A peasant or two going home from the wine-shop, +and a few carts of country produce coming up to Rome, were the only +things which they met. They swung along, with the huge tombs looming +up through the darkness upon each side of them, until they had come as +far as the Catacombs of St. Calistus, and saw against a rising moon the +great circular bastion of Cecilia Metella in front of them. Then +Burger stopped with his hand to his side. + +"Your legs are longer than mine, and you are more accustomed to +walking," said he, laughing. "I think that the place where we turn off +is somewhere here. Yes, this is it, round the corner of the trattoria. +Now, it is a very narrow path, so perhaps I had better go in front and +you can follow." + +He had lit his lantern, and by its light they were enabled to follow a +narrow and devious track which wound across the marshes of the +Campagna. The great Aqueduct of old Rome lay like a monstrous +caterpillar across the moonlit landscape, and their road led them under +one of its huge arches, and past the circle of crumbling bricks which +marks the old arena. At last Burger stopped at a solitary wooden +cow-house, and he drew a key from his pocket. "Surely your catacomb is +not inside a house!" cried Kennedy. + +"The entrance to it is. That is just the safeguard which we have +against anyone else discovering it." + +"Does the proprietor know of it?" + +"Not he. He had found one or two objects which made me almost certain +that his house was built on the entrance to such a place. So I rented +it from him, and did my excavations for myself. Come in, and shut the +door behind you." + +It was a long, empty building, with the mangers of the cows along one +wall. Burger put his lantern down on the ground, and shaded its light +in all directions save one by draping his overcoat round it. + +"It might excite remark if anyone saw a light in this lonely place," +said he. "Just help me to move this boarding." + +The flooring was loose in the corner, and plank by plank the two +savants raised it and leaned it against the wall. Below there was a +square aperture and a stair of old stone steps which led away down into +the bowels of the earth. + +"Be careful!" cried Burger, as Kennedy, in his impatience, hurried down +them. "It is a perfect rabbits'-warren below, and if you were once to +lose your way there the chances would be a hundred to one against your +ever coming out again. Wait until I bring the light." + +"How do you find your own way if it is so complicated?" + +"I had some very narrow escapes at first, but I have gradually learned +to go about. There is a certain system to it, but it is one which a +lost man, if he were in the dark, could not possibly find out. Even +now I always spin out a ball of string behind me when I am going far +into the catacomb. You can see for yourself that it is difficult, but +every one of these passages divides and subdivides a dozen times before +you go a hundred yards." + +They had descended some twenty feet from the level of the byre, and +they were standing now in a square chamber cut out of the soft tufa. +The lantern cast a flickering light, bright below and dim above, over +the cracked brown walls. In every direction were the black openings of +passages which radiated from this common centre. + +"I want you to follow me closely, my friend," said Burger. "Do not +loiter to look at anything upon the way, for the place to which I will +take you contains all that you can see, and more. It will save time +for us to go there direct." + +He led the way down one of the corridors, and the Englishman followed +closely at his heels. Every now and then the passage bifurcated, but +Burger was evidently following some secret marks of his own, for he +neither stopped nor hesitated. Everywhere along the walls, packed like +the berths upon an emigrant ship, lay the Christians of old Rome. The +yellow light flickered over the shrivelled features of the mummies, and +gleamed upon rounded skulls and long, white armbones crossed over +fleshless chests. And everywhere as he passed Kennedy looked with +wistful eyes upon inscriptions, funeral vessels, pictures, vestments, +utensils, all lying as pious hands had placed them so many centuries +ago. It was apparent to him, even in those hurried, passing glances, +that this was the earliest and finest of the catacombs, containing such +a storehouse of Roman remains as had never before come at one time +under the observation of the student. + +"What would happen if the light went out?" he asked, as they hurried +onwards. + +"I have a spare candle and a box of matches in my pocket. By the way, +Kennedy, have you any matches?" + +"No; you had better give me some." + +"Oh, that is all right. There is no chance of our separating." + +"How far are we going? It seems to me that we have walked at least a +quarter of a mile." + +"More than that, I think. There is really no limit to the tombs--at +least, I have never been able to find any. This is a very difficult +place, so I think that I will use our ball of string." + +He fastened one end of it to a projecting stone and he carried the coil +in the breast of his coat, paying it out as he advanced. Kennedy saw +that it was no unnecessary precaution, for the passages had become more +complex and tortuous than ever, with a perfect network of intersecting +corridors. But these all ended in one large circular hall with a +square pedestal of tufa topped with a slab of marble at one end of it. + +"By Jove!" cried Kennedy in an ecstasy, as Burger swung his lantern +over the marble. "It is a Christian altar--probably the first one in +existence. Here is the little consecration cross cut upon the corner +of it. No doubt this circular space was used as a church." + +"Precisely," said Burger. "If I had more time I should like to show +you all the bodies which are buried in these niches upon the walls, for +they are the early popes and bishops of the Church, with their mitres, +their croziers, and full canonicals. Go over to that one and look at +it!" + +Kennedy went across, and stared at the ghastly head which lay loosely +on the shredded and mouldering mitre. + +"This is most interesting," said he, and his voice seemed to boom +against the concave vault. "As far as my experience goes, it is +unique. Bring the lantern over, Burger, for I want to see them all." + +But the German had strolled away, and was standing in the middle of a +yellow circle of light at the other side of the hall. + +"Do you know how many wrong turnings there are between this and the +stairs?" he asked. "There are over two thousand. No doubt it was one +of the means of protection which the Christians adopted. The odds are +two thousand to one against a man getting out, even if he had a light; +but if he were in the dark it would, of course, be far more difficult." + +"So I should think." + +"And the darkness is something dreadful. I tried it once for an +experiment. Let us try it again!" He stooped to the lantern, and in +an instant it was as if an invisible hand was squeezed tightly over +each of Kennedy's eyes. Never had he known what such darkness was. It +seemed to press upon him and to smother him. It was a solid obstacle +against which the body shrank from advancing. He put his hands out to +push it back from him. + +"That will do, Burger," said he, "let's have the light again." + +But his companion began to laugh, and in that circular room the sound +seemed to come from every side at once. + +"You seem uneasy, friend Kennedy," said he. + +"Go on, man, light the candle!" said Kennedy impatiently. + +"It's very strange, Kennedy, but I could not in the least tell by the +sound in which direction you stand. Could you tell where I am?" + +"No; you seem to be on every side of me." + +"If it were not for this string which I hold in my hand I should not +have a notion which way to go." + +"I dare say not. Strike a light, man, and have an end of this +nonsense." + +"Well, Kennedy, there are two things which I understand that you are +very fond of. The one is an adventure, and the other is an obstacle to +surmount. The adventure must be the finding of your way out of this +catacomb. The obstacle will be the darkness and the two thousand wrong +turns which make the way a little difficult to find. But you need not +hurry, for you have plenty of time, and when you halt for a rest now +and then, I should like you just to think of Miss Mary Saunderson, and +whether you treated her quite fairly." + +"You devil, what do you mean?" roared Kennedy. He was running about in +little circles and clasping at the solid blackness with both hands. + +"Good-bye," said the mocking voice, and it was already at some +distance. "I really do not think, Kennedy, even by your own showing +that you did the right thing by that girl. There was only one little +thing which you appeared not to know, and I can supply it. Miss +Saunderson was engaged to a poor ungainly devil of a student, and his +name was Julius Burger." + +There was a rustle somewhere, the vague sound of a foot striking a +stone, and then there fell silence upon that old Christian church--a +stagnant, heavy silence which closed round Kennedy and shut him in like +water round a drowning man. + + +Some two months afterwards the following paragraph made the round of +the European Press: + + +"One of the most interesting discoveries of recent years is that of the +new catacomb in Rome, which lies some distance to the east of the +well-known vaults of St. Calixtus. The finding of this important +burial-place, which is exceeding rich in most interesting early +Christian remains, is due to the energy and sagacity of Dr. Julius +Burger, the young German specialist, who is rapidly taking the first +place as an authority upon ancient Rome. Although the first to publish +his discovery, it appears that a less fortunate adventurer had +anticipated Dr. Burger. Some months ago Mr. Kennedy, the well-known +English student, disappeared suddenly from his rooms in the Corso, and +it was conjectured that his association with a recent scandal had +driven him to leave Rome. It appears now that he had in reality fallen +a victim to that fervid love of archaeology which had raised him to a +distinguished place among living scholars. His body was discovered in +the heart of the new catacomb, and it was evident from the condition of +his feet and boots that he had tramped for days through the tortuous +corridors which make these subterranean tombs so dangerous to +explorers. The deceased gentleman had, with inexplicable rashness, +made his way into this labyrinth without, as far as can be discovered, +taking with him either candles or matches, so that his sad fate was the +natural result of his own temerity. What makes the matter more painful +is that Dr. Julius Burger was an intimate friend of the deceased. His +joy at the extraordinary find which he has been so fortunate as to make +has been greatly marred by the terrible fate of his comrade and +fellow-worker." + + + +The Case of Lady Sannox + +The relations between Douglas Stone and the notorious Lady Sannox were +very well known both among the fashionable circles of which she was a +brilliant member, and the scientific bodies which numbered him among +their most illustrious confreres. There was naturally, therefore, a +very widespread interest when it was announced one morning that the +lady had absolutely and for ever taken the veil, and that the world +would see her no more. When, at the very tail of this rumour, there +came the assurance that the celebrated operating surgeon, the man of +steel nerves, had been found in the morning by his valet, seated on one +side of his bed, smiling pleasantly upon the universe, with both legs +jammed into one side of his breeches and his great brain about as +valuable as a cap full of porridge, the matter was strong enough to +give quite a little thrill of interest to folk who had never hoped that +their jaded nerves were capable of such a sensation. + +Douglas Stone in his prime was one of the most remarkable men in +England. Indeed, he could hardly be said to have ever reached his +prime, for he was but nine-and-thirty at the time of this little +incident. Those who knew him best were aware that famous as he was as +a surgeon, he might have succeeded with even greater rapidity in any of +a dozen lines of life. He could have cut his way to fame as a soldier, +struggled to it as an explorer, bullied for it in the courts, or built +it out of stone and iron as an engineer. He was born to be great, for +he could plan what another man dare not do, and he could do what +another man dare not plan. In surgery none could follow him. His +nerve, his judgement, his intuition, were things apart. Again and +again his knife cut away death, but grazed the very springs of life in +doing it, until his assistants were as white as the patient. His +energy, his audacity, his full-blooded self-confidence--does not the +memory of them still linger to the south of Marylebone Road and the +north of Oxford Street? + +His vices were as magnificent as his virtues, and infinitely more +picturesque. Large as was his income, and it was the third largest of +all professional men in London, it was far beneath the luxury of his +living. Deep in his complex nature lay a rich vein of sensualism, at +the sport of which he placed all the prizes of his life. The eye, the +ear, the touch, the palate, all were his masters. The bouquet of old +vintages, the scent of rare exotics, the curves and tints of the +daintiest potteries of Europe, it was to these that the quick-running +stream of gold was transformed. And then there came his sudden mad +passion for Lady Sannox, when a single interview with two challenging +glances and a whispered word set him ablaze. She was the loveliest +woman in London and the only one to him. He was one of the handsomest +men in London, but not the only one to her. She had a liking for new +experiences, and was gracious to most men who wooed her. It may have +been cause or it may have been effect that Lord Sannox looked fifty, +though he was but six-and-thirty. + +He was a quiet, silent, neutral-tinted man, this lord, with thin lips +and heavy eyelids, much given to gardening, and full of home-like +habits. He had at one time been fond of acting, had even rented a +theatre in London, and on its boards had first seen Miss Marion Dawson, +to whom he had offered his hand, his title, and the third of a county. +Since his marriage his early hobby had become distasteful to him. Even +in private theatricals it was no longer possible to persuade him to +exercise the talent which he had often showed that he possessed. He +was happier with a spud and a watering-can among his orchids and +chrysanthemums. + +It was quite an interesting problem whether he was absolutely devoid of +sense, or miserably wanting in spirit. Did he know his lady's ways and +condone them, or was he a mere blind, doting fool? It was a point to be +discussed over the teacups in snug little drawing-rooms, or with the +aid of a cigar in the bow windows of clubs. Bitter and plain were the +comments among men upon his conduct. There was but one who had a good +word to say for him, and he was the most silent member in the +smoking-room. He had seen him break in a horse at the University, and +it seemed to have left an impression upon his mind. + +But when Douglas Stone became the favourite all doubts as to Lord +Sannox's knowledge or ignorance were set for ever at rest. There was no +subterfuge about Stone. In his high-handed, impetuous fashion, he set +all caution and discretion at defiance. The scandal became notorious. +A learned body intimated that his name had been struck from the list of +its vice-presidents. Two friends implored him to consider his +professional credit. He cursed them all three, and spent forty guineas +on a bangle to take with him to the lady. He was at her house every +evening, and she drove in his carriage in the afternoons. There was +not an attempt on either side to conceal their relations; but there +came at last a little incident to interrupt them. + +It was a dismal winter's night, very cold and gusty, with the wind +whooping in the chimneys and blustering against the window-panes. A +thin spatter of rain tinkled on the glass with each fresh sough of the +gale, drowning for the instant the dull gurgle and drip from the eaves. +Douglas Stone had finished his dinner, and sat by his fire in the +study, a glass of rich port upon the malachite table at his elbow. As +he raised it to his lips, he held it up against the lamplight, and +watched with the eye of a connoisseur the tiny scales of beeswing which +floated in its rich ruby depths. The fire, as it spurted up, threw +fitful lights upon his bald, clear-cut face, with its widely-opened +grey eyes, its thick and yet firm lips, and the deep, square jaw, which +had something Roman in its strength and its animalism. He smiled from +time to time as he nestled back in his luxurious chair. Indeed, he had +a right to feel well pleased, for, against the advice of six +colleagues, he had performed an operation that day of which only two +cases were on record, and the result had been brilliant beyond all +expectation. No other man in London would have had the daring to plan, +or the skill to execute, such a heroic measure. + +But he had promised Lady Sannox to see her that evening and it was +already half-past eight. His hand was outstretched to the bell to +order the carriage when he heard the dull thud of the knocker. An +instant later there was the shuffling of feet in the hall, and the +sharp closing of a door. + +"A patient to see you, sir, in the consulting room," said the butler. + +"About himself?" + +"No, sir; I think he wants you to go out." + +"It is too late," cried Douglas Stone peevishly. "I won't go." + +"This is his card, sir." + +The butler presented it upon the gold salver which had been given to +his master by the wife of a Prime Minister. + +"'Hamil Ali, Smyrna.' Hum! The fellow is a Turk, I suppose." + +"Yes, sir. He seems as if he came from abroad, sir. And he's in a +terrible way." + +"Tut, tut! I have an engagement. I must go somewhere else. But I'll +see him. Show him in here, Pim." + +A few moments later the butler swung open the door and ushered in a +small and decrepit man, who walked with a bent back and with the +forward push of the face and blink of the eyes which goes with extreme +short sight. His face was swarthy, and his hair and beard of the +deepest black. In one hand he held a turban of white muslin striped +with red, in the other a small chamois-leather bag. + +"Good evening," said Douglas Stone, when the butler had closed the +door. "You speak English, I presume?" + +"Yes, sir. I am from Asia Minor, but I speak English when I speak +slow." + +"You wanted me to go out, I understand?" + +"Yes, sir. I wanted very much that you should see my wife." + +"I could come in the morning, but I have an engagement which prevents +me from seeing your wife tonight." + +The Turk's answer was a singular one. He pulled the string which +closed the mouth of the chamois-leather bag, and poured a flood of gold +on to the table. + +"There are one hundred pounds there," said he, "and I promise you that +it will not take you an hour. I have a cab ready at the door." + +Douglas Stone glanced at his watch. An hour would not make it too late +to visit Lady Sannox. He had been there later. And the fee was an +extraordinarily high one. He had been pressed by his creditors lately, +and he could not afford to let such a chance pass. He would go. + +"What is the case?" he asked. + +"Oh, it is so sad a one! So sad a one! You have not, perhaps heard of +the daggers of the Almohades?" + +"Never." + +"Ah, they are Eastern daggers of a great age and of a singular shape, +with the hilt like what you call a stirrup. I am a curiosity dealer, +you understand, and that is why I have come to England from Smyrna, but +next week I go back once more. Many things I brought with me, and I +have a few things left, but among them, to my sorrow, is one of these +daggers." + +"You will remember that I have an appointment, sir," said the surgeon, +with some irritation; "pray confine yourself to the necessary details." + +"You will see that it is necessary. Today my wife fell down in a faint +in the room in which I keep my wares, and she cut her lower lip upon +this cursed dagger of Almohades." + +"I see," said Douglas Stone, rising. "And you wish me to dress the +wound?" + +"No, no, it is worse than that." + +"What then?" + +"These daggers are poisoned." + +"Poisoned!" + +"Yes, and there is no man, East or West, who can tell now what is the +poison or what the cure. But all that is known I know, for my father +was in this trade before me, and we have had much to do with these +poisoned weapons." + +"What are the symptoms?" + +"Deep sleep, and death in thirty hours." + +"And you say there is no cure. Why then should you pay me this +considerable fee?" + +"No drug can cure, but the knife may." + +"And how?" + +"The poison is slow of absorption. It remains for hours in the wound." + +"Washing, then, might cleanse it?" + +"No more than in a snake bite. It is too subtle and too deadly." + +"Excision of the wound, then?" + +"That is it. If it be on the finger, take the finger off. So said my +father always. But think of where this wound is, and that it is my +wife. It is dreadful!" + +But familiarity with such grim matters may take the finer edge from a +man's sympathy. To Douglas Stone this was already an interesting case, +and he brushed aside as irrelevant the feeble objections of the husband. + +"It appears to be that or nothing," said he brusquely. "It is better +to lose a lip than a life." + +"Ah, yes, I know that you are right. Well, well, it is kismet, and it +must be faced. I have the cab, and you will come with me and do this +thing." + +Douglas Stone took his case of bistouries from a drawer, and placed it +with a roll of bandage and a compress of lint in his pocket. He must +waste no more time if he were to see Lady Sannox. + +"I am ready," said he, pulling on his overcoat. "Will you take a glass +of wine before you go out into this cold air?" + +His visitor shrank away, with a protesting hand upraised. + +"You forget that I am a Mussulman, and a true follower of the Prophet," +said he. "But tell me what is the bottle of green glass which you have +placed in your pocket?" + +"It is chloroform." + +"Ah, that also is forbidden to us. It is a spirit, and we make no use +of such things." + +"What! You would allow your wife to go through an operation without an +anaesthetic?" + +"Ah! she will feel nothing, poor soul. The deep sleep has already +come on, which is the first working of the poison. And then I have +given her of our Smyrna opium. Come, sir, for already an hour has +passed." + +As they stepped out into the darkness, a sheet of rain was driven in +upon their faces, and the hall lamp, which dangled from the arm of a +marble Caryatid, went out with a fluff. Pim, the butler, pushed the +heavy door to, straining hard with his shoulder against the wind, while +the two men groped their way towards the yellow glare which showed +where the cab was waiting. An instant later they were rattling upon +their journey. + +"Is it far?" asked Douglas Stone. + +"Oh, no. We have a very little quiet place off the Euston Road." + +The surgeon pressed the spring of his repeater and listened to the +little tings which told him the hour. It was a quarter past nine. He +calculated the distances, and the short time which it would take him to +perform so trivial an operation. He ought to reach Lady Sannox by ten +o'clock. Through the fogged windows he saw the blurred gas lamps +dancing past, with occasionally the broader glare of a shop front. The +rain was pelting and rattling upon the leathern top of the carriage, +and the wheels swashed as they rolled through puddle and mud. Opposite +to him the white headgear of his companion gleamed faintly through the +obscurity. The surgeon felt in his pockets and arranged his needles, +his ligatures and his safety-pins, that no time might be wasted when +they arrived. He chafed with impatience and drummed his foot upon the +floor. + +But the cab slowed down at last and pulled up. In an instant Douglas +Stone was out, and the Smyrna merchant's toe was at his very heel. + +"You can wait," said he to the driver. + +It was a mean-looking house in a narrow and sordid street. The +surgeon, who knew his London well, cast a swift glance into the +shadows, but there was nothing distinctive--no shop, no movement, +nothing but a double line of dull, flat-faced houses, a double stretch +of wet flagstones which gleamed in the lamplight, and a double rush of +water in the gutters which swirled and gurgled towards the sewer +gratings. The door which faced them was blotched and discoloured, and +a faint light in the fan pane above, it served to show the dust and the +grime which covered it. Above in one of the bedroom windows, there was +a dull yellow glimmer. The merchant knocked loudly, and, as he turned +his dark face towards the light, Douglas Stone could see that it was +contracted with anxiety. A bolt was drawn, and an elderly woman with a +taper stood in the doorway, shielding the thin flame with her gnarled +hand. + +"Is all well?" gasped the merchant. + +"She is as you left her, sir." + +"She has not spoken?" + +"No, she is in a deep sleep." + +The merchant closed the door, and Douglas Stone walked down the narrow +passage, glancing about him in some surprise as he did so. There was no +oil-cloth, no mat, no hat-rack. Deep grey dust and heavy festoons of +cobwebs met his eyes everywhere. Following the old woman up the +winding stair, his firm footfall echoed harshly through the silent +house. There was no carpet. + +The bedroom was on the second landing. Douglas Stone followed the old +nurse into it, with the merchant at his heels. Here, at least, there +was furniture and to spare. The floor was littered and the corners +piled with Turkish cabinets, inlaid tables, coats of chain mail, +strange pipes, and grotesque weapons. A single small lamp stood upon a +bracket on the wall. Douglas Stone took it down, and picking his way +among the lumber, walked over to a couch in the corner, on which lay a +woman dressed in the Turkish fashion, with yashmak and veil. The lower +part of the face was exposed, and the surgeon saw a jagged cut which +zigzagged along the border of the under lip. + +"You will forgive the yashmak," said the Turk. "You know our views +about women in the East." + +But the surgeon was not thinking about the yashmak. This was no longer +a woman to him. It was a case. He stooped and examined the wound +carefully. + +"There are no signs of irritation," said he. "We might delay the +operation until local symptoms develop." + +The husband wrung his hands in uncontrollable agitation. + +"Oh! sir, sir," he cried. "Do not trifle. You do not know. It is +deadly. I know, and I give you my assurance that an operation is +absolutely necessary. Only the knife can save her." + +"And yet I am inclined to wait," said Douglas Stone. + +"That is enough," the Turk cried, angrily. "Every minute is of +importance, and I cannot stand here and see my wife allowed to sink. +It only remains for me to give you my thanks for having come, and to +call in some other surgeon before it is too late." + +Douglas Stone hesitated. To refund that hundred pounds was no pleasant +matter. But of course if he left the case he must return the money. +And if the Turk were right and the woman died, his position before a +coroner might be an embarrassing one. + +"You have had personal experience of this poison?" he asked. + +"I have." + +"And you assure me that an operation is needful." + +"I swear it by all that I hold sacred." + +"The disfigurement will be frightful." + +"I can understand that the mouth will not be a pretty one to kiss." + +Douglas Stone turned fiercely upon the man. The speech was a brutal +one. But the Turk has his own fashion of talk and of thought, and +there was no time for wrangling. Douglas Stone drew a bistoury from +his case, opened it and felt the keen straight edge with his +forefinger. Then he held the lamp closer to the bed. Two dark eyes +were gazing up at him through the slit in the yashmak. They were all +iris, and the pupil was hardly to be seen. + +"You have given her a very heavy dose of opium." + +"Yes, she has had a good dose." + +He glanced again at the dark eyes which looked straight at his own. +They were dull and lustreless, but, even as he gazed, a little shifting +sparkle came into them, and the lips quivered. + +"She is not absolutely unconscious," said he. + +"Would it not be well to use the knife while it will be painless?" + +The same thought had crossed the surgeon's mind. He grasped the +wounded lip with his forceps, and with two swift cuts he took out a +broad V-shaped piece. The woman sprang up on the couch with a dreadful +gurgling scream. Her covering was torn from her face. It was a face +that he knew. In spite of that protruding upper lip and that slobber +of blood, it was a face that he knew, She kept on putting her hand up +to the gap and screaming. Douglas Stone sat down at the foot of the +couch with his knife and his forceps. The room was whirling round, and +he had felt something go like a ripping seam behind his ear. A +bystander would have said that his face was the more ghastly of the +two. As in a dream, or as if he had been looking at something at the +play, he was conscious that the Turk's hair and beard lay upon the +table, and that Lord Sannox was leaning against the wall with his hand +to his side, laughing silently. The screams had died away now, and the +dreadful head had dropped back again upon the pillow, but Douglas Stone +still sat motionless, and Lord Sannox still chuckled quietly to himself. + +"It was really very necessary for Marion, this operation," said he, +"not physically, but morally, you know, morally." + +Douglas Stone stooped for yards and began to play with the fringe of +the coverlet. His knife tinkled down upon the ground, but he still +held the forceps and something more. + +"I had long intended to make a little example," said Lord Sannox, +suavely. "Your note of Wednesday miscarried, and I have it here in my +pocket-book. I took some pains in carrying out my idea. The wound, by +the way, was from nothing more dangerous than my signet ring." + +He glanced keenly at his silent companion, and cocked the small +revolver which he held in his coat pocket. But Douglas Stone was still +picking at the coverlet. + +"You see you have kept your appointment after all," said Lord Sannox. + +And at that Douglas Stone began to laugh. He laughed long and loudly. +But Lord Sannox did not laugh now. Something like fear sharpened and +hardened his features. He walked from the room, and he walked on +tiptoe. The old woman was waiting outside. + +"Attend to your mistress when she awakes," said Lord Sannox. + +Then he went down to the street. The cab was at the door, and the +driver raised his hand to his hat. + +"John," said Lord Sannox, "you will take the doctor home first. He will +want leading downstairs, I think. Tell his butler that he has been +taken ill at a case." + +"Very good, sir." + +"Then you can take Lady Sannox home." + +"And how about yourself, sir?" + +"Oh, my address for the next few months will be Hotel di Roma, Venice. +Just see that the letters are sent on. And tell Stevens to exhibit all +the purple chrysanthemums next Monday, and to wire me the result." + + + +The Terror of Blue John Gap + +The following narrative was found among the papers of Dr. James +Hardcastle, who died of phthisis on February 4th, 1908, at 36, Upper +Coventry Flats, South Kensington. Those who knew him best, while +refusing to express an opinion upon this particular statement, are +unanimous in asserting that he was a man of a sober and scientific turn +of mind, absolutely devoid of imagination, and most unlikely to invent +any abnormal series of events. The paper was contained in an envelope, +which was docketed, "A Short Account of the Circumstances which +occurred near Miss Allerton's Farm in North-West Derbyshire in the +Spring of Last Year." The envelope was sealed, and on the other side +was written in pencil-- + + +DEAR SEATON,-- + +"It may interest, and perhaps pain you, to know that the incredulity +with which you met my story has prevented me from ever opening my mouth +upon the subject again. I leave this record after my death, and +perhaps strangers may be found to have more confidence in me than my +friend." + + +Inquiry has failed to elicit who this Seaton may have been. I may add +that the visit of the deceased to Allerton's Farm, and the general +nature of the alarm there, apart from his particular explanation, have +been absolutely established. With this foreword I append his account +exactly as he left it. It is in the form of a diary, some entries in +which have been expanded, while a few have been erased. + + +April 17.--Already I feel the benefit of this wonderful upland air. +The farm of the Allertons lies fourteen hundred and twenty feet above +sea-level, so it may well be a bracing climate. Beyond the usual +morning cough I have very little discomfort, and, what with the fresh +milk and the home-grown mutton, I have every chance of putting on +weight. I think Saunderson will be pleased. + +The two Miss Allertons are charmingly quaint and kind, two dear little +hard-working old maids, who are ready to lavish all the heart which +might have gone out to husband and to children upon an invalid +stranger. Truly, the old maid is a most useful person, one of the +reserve forces of the community. They talk of the superfluous woman, +but what would the poor superfluous man do without her kindly presence? +By the way, in their simplicity they very quickly let out the reason +why Saunderson recommended their farm. The Professor rose from the +ranks himself, and I believe that in his youth he was not above scaring +crows in these very fields. + +It is a most lonely spot, and the walks are picturesque in the extreme. +The farm consists of grazing land lying at the bottom of an irregular +valley. On each side are the fantastic limestone hills, formed of rock +so soft that you can break it away with your hands. All this country +is hollow. Could you strike it with some gigantic hammer it would boom +like a drum, or possibly cave in altogether and expose some huge +subterranean sea. A great sea there must surely be, for on all sides +the streams run into the mountain itself, never to reappear. There are +gaps everywhere amid the rocks, and when you pass through them you find +yourself in great caverns, which wind down into the bowels of the +earth. I have a small bicycle lamp, and it is a perpetual joy to me to +carry it into these weird solitudes, and to see the wonderful silver +and black effect when I throw its light upon the stalactites which +drape the lofty roofs. Shut off the lamp, and you are in the blackest +darkness. Turn it on, and it is a scene from the Arabian Nights. + +But there is one of these strange openings in the earth which has a +special interest, for it is the handiwork, not of nature, but of man. +I had never heard of Blue John when I came to these parts. It is the +name given to a peculiar mineral of a beautiful purple shade, which is +only found at one or two places in the world. It is so rare that an +ordinary vase of Blue John would be valued at a great price. The +Romans, with that extraordinary instinct of theirs, discovered that it +was to be found in this valley, and sank a horizontal shaft deep into +the mountain side. The opening of their mine has been called Blue John +Gap, a clean-cut arch in the rock, the mouth all overgrown with bushes. +It is a goodly passage which the Roman miners have cut, and it +intersects some of the great water-worn caves, so that if you enter +Blue John Gap you would do well to mark your steps and to have a good +store of candles, or you may never make your way back to the daylight +again. I have not yet gone deeply into it, but this very day I stood at +the mouth of the arched tunnel, and peering down into the black +recesses beyond, I vowed that when my health returned I would devote +some holiday to exploring those mysterious depths and finding out for +myself how far the Roman had penetrated into the Derbyshire hills. + +Strange how superstitious these countrymen are! I should have thought +better of young Armitage, for he is a man of some education and +character, and a very fine fellow for his station in life. I was +standing at the Blue John Gap when he came across the field to me. + +"Well, doctor," said he, "you're not afraid, anyhow." + +"Afraid!" I answered. "Afraid of what?" + +"Of it," said he, with a jerk of his thumb towards the black vault, "of +the Terror that lives in the Blue John Cave." + +How absurdly easy it is for a legend to arise in a lonely countryside! +I examined him as to the reasons for his weird belief. It seems that +from time to time sheep have been missing from the fields, carried +bodily away, according to Armitage. That they could have wandered away +of their own accord and disappeared among the mountains was an +explanation to which he would not listen. On one occasion a pool of +blood had been found, and some tufts of wool. That also, I pointed +out, could be explained in a perfectly natural way. Further, the +nights upon which sheep disappeared were invariably very dark, cloudy +nights with no moon. This I met with the obvious retort that those were +the nights which a commonplace sheep-stealer would naturally choose for +his work. On one occasion a gap had been made in a wall, and some of +the stones scattered for a considerable distance. Human agency again, +in my opinion. Finally, Armitage clinched all his arguments by telling +me that he had actually heard the Creature--indeed, that anyone could +hear it who remained long enough at the Gap. It was a distant roaring +of an immense volume. I could not but smile at this, knowing, as I do, +the strange reverberations which come out of an underground water +system running amid the chasms of a limestone formation. My +incredulity annoyed Armitage so that he turned and left me with some +abruptness. + +And now comes the queer point about the whole business. I was still +standing near the mouth of the cave turning over in my mind the various +statements of Armitage, and reflecting how readily they could be +explained away, when suddenly, from the depth of the tunnel beside me, +there issued a most extraordinary sound. How shall I describe it? +First of all, it seemed to be a great distance away, far down in the +bowels of the earth. Secondly, in spite of this suggestion of +distance, it was very loud. Lastly, it was not a boom, nor a crash, +such as one would associate with falling water or tumbling rock, but it +was a high whine, tremulous and vibrating, almost like the whinnying of +a horse. It was certainly a most remarkable experience, and one which +for a moment, I must admit, gave a new significance to Armitage's +words. I waited by the Blue John Gap for half an hour or more, but +there was no return of the sound, so at last I wandered back to the +farmhouse, rather mystified by what had occurred. Decidedly I shall +explore that cavern when my strength is restored. Of course, +Armitage's explanation is too absurd for discussion, and yet that sound +was certainly very strange. It still rings in my ears as I write. + +April 20.--In the last three days I have made several expeditions to +the Blue John Gap, and have even penetrated some short distance, but my +bicycle lantern is so small and weak that I dare not trust myself very +far. I shall do the thing more systematically. I have heard no sound +at all, and could almost believe that I had been the victim of some +hallucination suggested, perhaps, by Armitage's conversation. Of +course, the whole idea is absurd, and yet I must confess that those +bushes at the entrance of the cave do present an appearance as if some +heavy creature had forced its way through them. I begin to be keenly +interested. I have said nothing to the Miss Allertons, for they are +quite superstitious enough already, but I have bought some candles, and +mean to investigate for myself. + +I observed this morning that among the numerous tufts of sheep's wool +which lay among the bushes near the cavern there was one which was +smeared with blood. Of course, my reason tells me that if sheep wander +into such rocky places they are likely to injure themselves, and yet +somehow that splash of crimson gave me a sudden shock, and for a moment +I found myself shrinking back in horror from the old Roman arch. A +fetid breath seemed to ooze from the black depths into which I peered. +Could it indeed be possible that some nameless thing, some dreadful +presence, was lurking down yonder? I should have been incapable of +such feelings in the days of my strength, but one grows more nervous +and fanciful when one's health is shaken. + +For the moment I weakened in my resolution, and was ready to leave the +secret of the old mine, if one exists, for ever unsolved. But tonight +my interest has returned and my nerves grown more steady. Tomorrow I +trust that I shall have gone more deeply into this matter. + +April 22.--Let me try and set down as accurately as I can my +extraordinary experience of yesterday. I started in the afternoon, and +made my way to the Blue John Gap. I confess that my misgivings +returned as I gazed into its depths, and I wished that I had brought a +companion to share my exploration. Finally, with a return of +resolution, I lit my candle, pushed my way through the briars, and +descended into the rocky shaft. + +It went down at an acute angle for some fifty feet, the floor being +covered with broken stone. Thence there extended a long, straight +passage cut in the solid rock. I am no geologist, but the lining of +this corridor was certainly of some harder material than limestone, for +there were points where I could actually see the tool-marks which the +old miners had left in their excavation, as fresh as if they had been +done yesterday. Down this strange, old-world corridor I stumbled, my +feeble flame throwing a dim circle of light around me, which made the +shadows beyond the more threatening and obscure. Finally, I came to a +spot where the Roman tunnel opened into a water-worn cavern--a huge +hall, hung with long white icicles of lime deposit. From this central +chamber I could dimly perceive that a number of passages worn by the +subterranean streams wound away into the depths of the earth. I was +standing there wondering whether I had better return, or whether I dare +venture farther into this dangerous labyrinth, when my eyes fell upon +something at my feet which strongly arrested my attention. + +The greater part of the floor of the cavern was covered with boulders +of rock or with hard incrustations of lime, but at this particular +point there had been a drip from the distant roof, which had left a +patch of soft mud. In the very centre of this there was a huge +mark--an ill-defined blotch, deep, broad and irregular, as if a great +boulder had fallen upon it. No loose stone lay near, however, nor was +there anything to account for the impression. It was far too large to +be caused by any possible animal, and besides, there was only the one, +and the patch of mud was of such a size that no reasonable stride could +have covered it. As I rose from the examination of that singular mark +and then looked round into the black shadows which hemmed me in, I must +confess that I felt for a moment a most unpleasant sinking of my heart, +and that, do what I could, the candle trembled in my outstretched hand. + +I soon recovered my nerve, however, when I reflected how absurd it was +to associate so huge and shapeless a mark with the track of any known +animal. Even an elephant could not have produced it. I determined, +therefore, that I would not be scared by vague and senseless fears from +carrying out my exploration. Before proceeding, I took good note of a +curious rock formation in the wall by which I could recognize the +entrance of the Roman tunnel. The precaution was very necessary, for +the great cave, so far as I could see it, was intersected by passages. +Having made sure of my position, and reassured myself by examining my +spare candles and my matches, I advanced slowly over the rocky and +uneven surface of the cavern. + +And now I come to the point where I met with such sudden and desperate +disaster. A stream, some twenty feet broad, ran across my path, and I +walked for some little distance along the bank to find a spot where I +could cross dry-shod. Finally, I came to a place where a single flat +boulder lay near the centre, which I could reach in a stride. As it +chanced, however, the rock had been cut away and made top-heavy by the +rush of the stream, so that it tilted over as I landed on it and shot +me into the ice-cold water. My candle went out, and I found myself +floundering about in utter and absolute darkness. + +I staggered to my feet again, more amused than alarmed by my adventure. +The candle had fallen from my hand, and was lost in the stream, but I +had two others in my pocket, so that it was of no importance. I got +one of them ready, and drew out my box of matches to light it. Only +then did I realize my position. The box had been soaked in my fall +into the river. It was impossible to strike the matches. + +A cold hand seemed to close round my heart as I realized my position. +The darkness was opaque and horrible. It was so utter one put one's +hand up to one's face as if to press off something solid. I stood +still, and by an effort I steadied myself. I tried to reconstruct in +my mind a map of the floor of the cavern as I had last seen it. Alas! +the bearings which had impressed themselves upon my mind were high on +the wall, and not to be found by touch. Still, I remembered in a +general way how the sides were situated, and I hoped that by groping my +way along them I should at last come to the opening of the Roman +tunnel. Moving very slowly, and continually striking against the +rocks, I set out on this desperate quest. + +But I very soon realized how impossible it was. In that black, velvety +darkness one lost all one's bearings in an instant. Before I had made +a dozen paces, I was utterly bewildered as to my whereabouts. The +rippling of the stream, which was the one sound audible, showed me +where it lay, but the moment that I left its bank I was utterly lost. +The idea of finding my way back in absolute darkness through that +limestone labyrinth was clearly an impossible one. + +I sat down upon a boulder and reflected upon my unfortunate plight. I +had not told anyone that I proposed to come to the Blue John mine, and +it was unlikely that a search party would come after me. Therefore I +must trust to my own resources to get clear of the danger. There was +only one hope, and that was that the matches might dry. When I fell +into the river, only half of me had got thoroughly wet. My left +shoulder had remained above the water. I took the box of matches, +therefore, and put it into my left armpit. The moist air of the cavern +might possibly be counteracted by the heat of my body, but even so, I +knew that I could not hope to get a light for many hours. Meanwhile +there was nothing for it but to wait. + +By good luck I had slipped several biscuits into my pocket before I +left the farm-house. These I now devoured, and washed them down with a +draught from that wretched stream which had been the cause of all my +misfortunes. Then I felt about for a comfortable seat among the rocks, +and, having discovered a place where I could get a support for my back, +I stretched out my legs and settled myself down to wait. I was +wretchedly damp and cold, but I tried to cheer myself with the +reflection that modern science prescribed open windows and walks in all +weather for my disease. Gradually, lulled by the monotonous gurgle of +the stream, and by the absolute darkness, I sank into an uneasy slumber. + +How long this lasted I cannot say. It may have been for an hour, it +may have been for several. Suddenly I sat up on my rock couch, with +every nerve thrilling and every sense acutely on the alert. Beyond all +doubt I had heard a sound--some sound very distinct from the gurgling +of the waters. It had passed, but the reverberation of it still +lingered in my ear. Was it a search party? They would most certainly +have shouted, and vague as this sound was which had wakened me, it was +very distinct from the human voice. I sat palpitating and hardly +daring to breathe. There it was again! And again! Now it had become +continuous. It was a tread--yes, surely it was the tread of some +living creature. But what a tread it was! It gave one the impression +of enormous weight carried upon sponge-like feet, which gave forth a +muffled but ear-filling sound. The darkness was as complete as ever, +but the tread was regular and decisive. And it was coming beyond all +question in my direction. + +My skin grew cold, and my hair stood on end as I listened to that +steady and ponderous footfall. There was some creature there, and +surely by the speed of its advance, it was one which could see in the +dark. I crouched low on my rock and tried to blend myself into it. +The steps grew nearer still, then stopped, and presently I was aware of +a loud lapping and gurgling. The creature was drinking at the stream. +Then again there was silence, broken by a succession of long sniffs and +snorts of tremendous volume and energy. Had it caught the scent of me? +My own nostrils were filled by a low fetid odour, mephitic and +abominable. Then I heard the steps again. They were on my side of the +stream now. The stones rattled within a few yards of where I lay. +Hardly daring to breathe, I crouched upon my rock. Then the steps drew +away. I heard the splash as it returned across the river, and the +sound died away into the distance in the direction from which it had +come. + +For a long time I lay upon the rock, too much horrified to move. I +thought of the sound which I had heard coming from the depths of the +cave, of Armitage's fears, of the strange impression in the mud, and +now came this final and absolute proof that there was indeed some +inconceivable monster, something utterly unearthly and dreadful, which +lurked in the hollow of the mountain. Of its nature or form I could +frame no conception, save that it was both light-footed and gigantic. +The combat between my reason, which told me that such things could not +be, and my senses, which told me that they were, raged within me as I +lay. Finally, I was almost ready to persuade myself that this +experience had been part of some evil dream, and that my abnormal +condition might have conjured up an hallucination. But there remained +one final experience which removed the last possibility of doubt from +my mind. + +I had taken my matches from my armpit and felt them. They seemed +perfectly hard and dry. Stooping down into a crevice of the rocks, I +tried one of them. To my delight it took fire at once. I lit the +candle, and, with a terrified backward glance into the obscure depths +of the cavern, I hurried in the direction of the Roman passage. As I +did so I passed the patch of mud on which I had seen the huge imprint. +Now I stood astonished before it, for there were three similar imprints +upon its surface, enormous in size, irregular in outline, of a depth +which indicated the ponderous weight which had left them. Then a great +terror surged over me. Stooping and shading my candle with my hand, I +ran in a frenzy of fear to the rocky archway, hastened up it, and never +stopped until, with weary feet and panting lungs, I rushed up the final +slope of stones, broke through the tangle of briars, and flung myself +exhausted upon the soft grass under the peaceful light of the stars. +It was three in the morning when I reached the farm-house, and today I +am all unstrung and quivering after my terrific adventure. As yet I +have told no one. I must move warily in the matter. What would the +poor lonely women, or the uneducated yokels here think of it if I were +to tell them my experience? Let me go to someone who can understand +and advise. + +April 25.--I was laid up in bed for two days after my incredible +adventure in the cavern. I use the adjective with a very definite +meaning, for I have had an experience since which has shocked me almost +as much as the other. I have said that I was looking round for someone +who could advise me. There is a Dr. Mark Johnson who practices some +few miles away, to whom I had a note of recommendation from Professor +Saunderson. To him I drove, when I was strong enough to get about, and +I recounted to him my whole strange experience. He listened intently, +and then carefully examined me, paying special attention to my reflexes +and to the pupils of my eyes. When he had finished, he refused to +discuss my adventure, saying that it was entirely beyond him, but he +gave me the card of a Mr. Picton at Castleton, with the advice that I +should instantly go to him and tell him the story exactly as I had done +to himself. He was, according to my adviser, the very man who was +pre-eminently suited to help me. I went on to the station, therefore, +and made my way to the little town, which is some ten miles away. Mr. +Picton appeared to be a man of importance, as his brass plate was +displayed upon the door of a considerable building on the outskirts of +the town. I was about to ring his bell, when some misgiving came into +my mind, and, crossing to a neighbouring shop, I asked the man behind +the counter if he could tell me anything of Mr. Picton. "Why," said +he, "he is the best mad doctor in Derbyshire, and yonder is his +asylum." You can imagine that it was not long before I had shaken the +dust of Castleton from my feet and returned to the farm, cursing all +unimaginative pedants who cannot conceive that there may be things in +creation which have never yet chanced to come across their mole's +vision. After all, now that I am cooler, I can afford to admit that I +have been no more sympathetic to Armitage than Dr. Johnson has been to +me. + +April 27. When I was a student I had the reputation of being a man of +courage and enterprise. I remember that when there was a ghost-hunt at +Coltbridge it was I who sat up in the haunted house. Is it advancing +years (after all, I am only thirty-five), or is it this physical malady +which has caused degeneration? Certainly my heart quails when I think +of that horrible cavern in the hill, and the certainty that it has some +monstrous occupant. What shall I do? There is not an hour in the day +that I do not debate the question. If I say nothing, then the mystery +remains unsolved. If I do say anything, then I have the alternative of +mad alarm over the whole countryside, or of absolute incredulity which +may end in consigning me to an asylum. On the whole, I think that my +best course is to wait, and to prepare for some expedition which shall +be more deliberate and better thought out than the last. As a first +step I have been to Castleton and obtained a few essentials--a large +acetylene lantern for one thing, and a good double-barrelled sporting +rifle for another. The latter I have hired, but I have bought a dozen +heavy game cartridges, which would bring down a rhinoceros. Now I am +ready for my troglodyte friend. Give me better health and a little +spate of energy, and I shall try conclusions with him yet. But who and +what is he? Ah! there is the question which stands between me and my +sleep. How many theories do I form, only to discard each in turn! It +is all so utterly unthinkable. And yet the cry, the footmark, the +tread in the cavern--no reasoning can get past these I think of the +old-world legends of dragons and of other monsters. Were they, +perhaps, not such fairy-tales as we have thought? Can it be that there +is some fact which underlies them, and am I, of all mortals, the one +who is chosen to expose it? + +May 3.--For several days I have been laid up by the vagaries of an +English spring, and during those days there have been developments, the +true and sinister meaning of which no one can appreciate save myself. +I may say that we have had cloudy and moonless nights of late, which +according to my information were the seasons upon which sheep +disappeared. Well, sheep have disappeared. Two of Miss Allerton's, +one of old Pearson's of the Cat Walk, and one of Mrs. Moulton's. Four +in all during three nights. No trace is left of them at all, and the +countryside is buzzing with rumours of gipsies and of sheep-stealers. + +But there is something more serious than that. Young Armitage has +disappeared also. He left his moorland cottage early on Wednesday +night and has never been heard of since. He was an unattached man, so +there is less sensation than would otherwise be the case. The popular +explanation is that he owes money, and has found a situation in some +other part of the country, whence he will presently write for his +belongings. But I have grave misgivings. Is it not much more likely +that the recent tragedy of the sheep has caused him to take some steps +which may have ended in his own destruction? He may, for example, have +lain in wait for the creature and been carried off by it into the +recesses of the mountains. What an inconceivable fate for a civilized +Englishman of the twentieth century! And yet I feel that it is +possible and even probable. But in that case, how far am I answerable +both for his death and for any other mishap which may occur? Surely +with the knowledge I already possess it must be my duty to see that +something is done, or if necessary to do it myself. It must be the +latter, for this morning I went down to the local police-station and +told my story. The inspector entered it all in a large book and bowed +me out with commendable gravity, but I heard a burst of laughter before +I had got down his garden path. No doubt he was recounting my +adventure to his family. + +June 10.--I am writing this, propped up in bed, six weeks after my last +entry in this journal. I have gone through a terrible shock both to +mind and body, arising from such an experience as has seldom befallen a +human being before. But I have attained my end. The danger from the +Terror which dwells in the Blue John Gap has passed never to return. +Thus much at least I, a broken invalid, have done for the common good. +Let me now recount what occurred as clearly as I may. + +The night of Friday, May 3rd, was dark and cloudy--the very night for +the monster to walk. About eleven o'clock I went from the farm-house +with my lantern and my rifle, having first left a note upon the table +of my bedroom in which I said that, if I were missing, search should be +made for me in the direction of the Gap. I made my way to the mouth of +the Roman shaft, and, having perched myself among the rocks close to +the opening, I shut off my lantern and waited patiently with my loaded +rifle ready to my hand. + +It was a melancholy vigil. All down the winding valley I could see the +scattered lights of the farm-houses, and the church clock of +Chapel-le-Dale tolling the hours came faintly to my ears. These tokens +of my fellow-men served only to make my own position seem the more +lonely, and to call for a greater effort to overcome the terror which +tempted me continually to get back to the farm, and abandon for ever +this dangerous quest. And yet there lies deep in every man a rooted +self-respect which makes it hard for him to turn back from that which +he has once undertaken. This feeling of personal pride was my +salvation now, and it was that alone which held me fast when every +instinct of my nature was dragging me away. I am glad now that I had +the strength. In spite of all that is has cost me, my manhood is at +least above reproach. + +Twelve o'clock struck in the distant church, then one, then two. It +was the darkest hour of the night. The clouds were drifting low, and +there was not a star in the sky. An owl was hooting somewhere among +the rocks, but no other sound, save the gentle sough of the wind, came +to my ears. And then suddenly I heard it! From far away down the +tunnel came those muffled steps, so soft and yet so ponderous. I heard +also the rattle of stones as they gave way under that giant tread. +They drew nearer. They were close upon me. I heard the crashing of +the bushes round the entrance, and then dimly through the darkness I +was conscious of the loom of some enormous shape, some monstrous +inchoate creature, passing swiftly and very silently out from the +tunnel. I was paralysed with fear and amazement. Long as I had +waited, now that it had actually come I was unprepared for the shock. +I lay motionless and breathless, whilst the great dark mass whisked by +me and was swallowed up in the night. + +But now I nerved myself for its return. No sound came from the +sleeping countryside to tell of the horror which was loose. In no way +could I judge how far off it was, what it was doing, or when it might +be back. But not a second time should my nerve fail me, not a second +time should it pass unchallenged. I swore it between my clenched teeth +as I laid my cocked rifle across the rock. + +And yet it nearly happened. There was no warning of approach now as +the creature passed over the grass. Suddenly, like a dark, drifting +shadow, the huge bulk loomed up once more before me, making for the +entrance of the cave. Again came that paralysis of volition which held +my crooked forefinger impotent upon the trigger. But with a desperate +effort I shook it off. Even as the brushwood rustled, and the +monstrous beast blended with the shadow of the Gap, I fired at the +retreating form. In the blaze of the gun I caught a glimpse of a great +shaggy mass, something with rough and bristling hair of a withered grey +colour, fading away to white in its lower parts, the huge body +supported upon short, thick, curving legs. I had just that glance, and +then I heard the rattle of the stones as the creature tore down into +its burrow. In an instant, with a triumphant revulsion of feeling, I +had cast my fears to the wind, and uncovering my powerful lantern, with +my rifle in my hand, I sprang down from my rock and rushed after the +monster down the old Roman shaft. + +My splendid lamp cast a brilliant flood of vivid light in front of me, +very different from the yellow glimmer which had aided me down the same +passage only twelve days before. As I ran, I saw the great beast +lurching along before me, its huge bulk filling up the whole space from +wall to wall. Its hair looked like coarse faded oakum, and hung down +in long, dense masses which swayed as it moved. It was like an +enormous unclipped sheep in its fleece, but in size it was far larger +than the largest elephant, and its breadth seemed to be nearly as great +as its height. It fills me with amazement now to think that I should +have dared to follow such a horror into the bowels of the earth, but +when one's blood is up, and when one's quarry seems to be flying, the +old primeval hunting-spirit awakes and prudence is cast to the wind. +Rifle in hand, I ran at the top of my speed upon the trail of the +monster. + +I had seen that the creature was swift. Now I was to find out to my +cost that it was also very cunning. I had imagined that it was in +panic flight, and that I had only to pursue it. The idea that it might +turn upon me never entered my excited brain. I have already explained +that the passage down which I was racing opened into a great central +cave. Into this I rushed, fearful lest I should lose all trace of the +beast. But he had turned upon his own traces, and in a moment we were +face to face. + +That picture, seen in the brilliant white light of the lantern, is +etched for ever upon my brain. He had reared up on his hind legs as a +bear would do, and stood above me, enormous, menacing--such a creature +as no nightmare had ever brought to my imagination. I have said that he +reared like a bear, and there was something bear-like--if one could +conceive a bear which was ten-fold the bulk of any bear seen upon +earth--in his whole pose and attitude, in his great crooked forelegs +with their ivory-white claws, in his rugged skin, and in his red, +gaping mouth, fringed with monstrous fangs. Only in one point did he +differ from the bear, or from any other creature which walks the earth, +and even at that supreme moment a shudder of horror passed over me as I +observed that the eyes which glistened in the glow of my lantern were +huge, projecting bulbs, white and sightless. For a moment his great +paws swung over my head. The next he fell forward upon me, I and my +broken lantern crashed to the earth, and I remember no more. + + +When I came to myself I was back in the farm-house of the Allertons. +Two days had passed since my terrible adventure in the Blue John Gap. +It seems that I had lain all night in the cave insensible from +concussion of the brain, with my left arm and two ribs badly fractured. +In the morning my note had been found, a search party of a dozen +farmers assembled, and I had been tracked down and carried back to my +bedroom, where I had lain in high delirium ever since. There was, it +seems, no sign of the creature, and no bloodstain which would show that +my bullet had found him as he passed. Save for my own plight and the +marks upon the mud, there was nothing to prove that what I said was +true. + +Six weeks have now elapsed, and I am able to sit out once more in the +sunshine. Just opposite me is the steep hillside, grey with shaly +rock, and yonder on its flank is the dark cleft which marks the opening +of the Blue John Gap. But it is no longer a source of terror. Never +again through that ill-omened tunnel shall any strange shape flit out +into the world of men. The educated and the scientific, the Dr. +Johnsons and the like, may smile at my narrative, but the poorer folk +of the countryside had never a doubt as to its truth. On the day after +my recovering consciousness they assembled in their hundreds round the +Blue John Gap. As the Castleton Courier said: + + +"It was useless for our correspondent, or for any of the adventurous +gentlemen who had come from Matlock, Buxton, and other parts, to offer +to descend, to explore the cave to the end, and to finally test the +extraordinary narrative of Dr. James Hardcastle. The country people had +taken the matter into their own hands, and from an early hour of the +morning they had worked hard in stopping up the entrance of the tunnel. +There is a sharp slope where the shaft begins, and great boulders, +rolled along by many willing hands, were thrust down it until the Gap +was absolutely sealed. So ends the episode which has caused such +excitement throughout the country. Local opinion is fiercely divided +upon the subject. On the one hand are those who point to Dr. +Hardcastle's impaired health, and to the possibility of cerebral +lesions of tubercular origin giving rise to strange hallucinations. +Some idee fixe, according to these gentlemen, caused the doctor to +wander down the tunnel, and a fall among the rocks was sufficient to +account for his injuries. On the other hand, a legend of a strange +creature in the Gap has existed for some months back, and the farmers +look upon Dr. Hardcastle's narrative and his personal injuries as a +final corroboration. So the matter stands, and so the matter will +continue to stand, for no definite solution seems to us to be now +possible. It transcends human wit to give any scientific explanation +which could cover the alleged facts." + + +Perhaps before the Courier published these words they would have been +wise to send their representative to me. I have thought the matter +out, as no one else has occasion to do, and it is possible that I might +have removed some of the more obvious difficulties of the narrative and +brought it one degree nearer to scientific acceptance. Let me then +write down the only explanation which seems to me to elucidate what I +know to my cost to have been a series of facts. My theory may seem to +be wildly improbable, but at least no one can venture to say that it is +impossible. + +My view is--and it was formed, as is shown by my diary, before my +personal adventure--that in this part of England there is a vast +subterranean lake or sea, which is fed by the great number of streams +which pass down through the limestone. Where there is a large +collection of water there must also be some evaporation, mists or rain, +and a possibility of vegetation. This in turn suggests that there may +be animal life, arising, as the vegetable life would also do, from +those seeds and types which had been introduced at an early period of +the world's history, when communication with the outer air was more +easy. This place had then developed a fauna and flora of its own, +including such monsters as the one which I had seen, which may well +have been the old cave-bear, enormously enlarged and modified by its +new environment. For countless aeons the internal and the external +creation had kept apart, growing steadily away from each other. Then +there had come some rift in the depths of the mountain which had +enabled one creature to wander up and, by means of the Roman tunnel, to +reach the open air. Like all subterranean life, it had lost the power +of sight, but this had no doubt been compensated for by nature in other +directions. Certainly it had some means of finding its way about, and +of hunting down the sheep upon the hillside. As to its choice of dark +nights, it is part of my theory that light was painful to those great +white eyeballs, and that it was only a pitch-black world which it could +tolerate. Perhaps, indeed, it was the glare of my lantern which saved +my life at that awful moment when we were face to face. So I read the +riddle. I leave these facts behind me, and if you can explain them, do +so; or if you choose to doubt them, do so. Neither your belief nor +your incredulity can alter them, nor affect one whose task is nearly +over. + + +So ended the strange narrative of Dr. James Hardcastle. + + + +The Brazilian Cat + +It is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great +expectations, aristocratic connections, but no actual money in his +pocket, and no profession by which he may earn any. The fact was that +my father, a good, sanguine, easy-going man, had such confidence in the +wealth and benevolence of his bachelor elder brother, Lord Southerton, +that he took it for granted that I, his only son, would never be called +upon to earn a living for myself. He imagined that if there were not a +vacancy for me on the great Southerton Estates, at least there would be +found some post in that diplomatic service which still remains the +special preserve of our privileged classes. He died too early to +realize how false his calculations had been. Neither my uncle nor the +State took the slightest notice of me, or showed any interest in my +career. An occasional brace of pheasants, or basket of hares, was all +that ever reached me to remind me that I was heir to Otwell House and +one of the richest estates in the country. In the meantime, I found +myself a bachelor and man about town, living in a suite of apartments +in Grosvenor Mansions, with no occupation save that of pigeon-shooting +and polo-playing at Hurlingham. Month by month I realized that it was +more and more difficult to get the brokers to renew my bills, or to +cash any further post-obits upon an unentailed property. Ruin lay +right across my path, and every day I saw it clearer, nearer, and more +absolutely unavoidable. + +What made me feel my own poverty the more was that, apart from the +great wealth of Lord Southerton, all my other relations were fairly +well-to-do. The nearest of these was Everard King, my father's nephew +and my own first cousin, who had spent an adventurous life in Brazil, +and had now returned to this country to settle down on his fortune. We +never knew how he made his money, but he appeared to have plenty of it, +for he bought the estate of Greylands, near Clipton-on-the-Marsh, in +Suffolk. For the first year of his residence in England he took no +more notice of me than my miserly uncle; but at last one summer +morning, to my very great relief and joy, I received a letter asking me +to come down that very day and spend a short visit at Greylands Court. +I was expecting a rather long visit to Bankruptcy Court at the time, +and this interruption seemed almost providential. If I could only get +on terms with this unknown relative of mine, I might pull through yet. +For the family credit he could not let me go entirely to the wall. I +ordered my valet to pack my valise, and I set off the same evening for +Clipton-on-the-Marsh. + +After changing at Ipswich, a little local train deposited me at a +small, deserted station lying amidst a rolling grassy country, with a +sluggish and winding river curving in and out amidst the valleys, +between high, silted banks, which showed that we were within reach of +the tide. No carriage was awaiting me (I found afterwards that my +telegram had been delayed), so I hired a dogcart at the local inn. The +driver, an excellent fellow, was full of my relative's praises, and I +learned from him that Mr. Everard King was already a name to conjure +with in that part of the county. He had entertained the +school-children, he had thrown his grounds open to visitors, he had +subscribed to charities--in short, his benevolence had been so +universal that my driver could only account for it on the supposition +that he had parliamentary ambitions. + +My attention was drawn away from my driver's panegyric by the +appearance of a very beautiful bird which settled on a telegraph-post +beside the road. At first I thought that it was a jay, but it was +larger, with a brighter plumage. The driver accounted for its presence +at once by saying that it belonged to the very man whom we were about +to visit. It seems that the acclimatization of foreign creatures was +one of his hobbies, and that he had brought with him from Brazil a +number of birds and beasts which he was endeavouring to rear in +England. When once we had passed the gates of Greylands Park we had +ample evidence of this taste of his. Some small spotted deer, a +curious wild pig known, I believe, as a peccary, a gorgeously feathered +oriole, some sort of armadillo, and a singular lumbering in-toed beast +like a very fat badger, were among the creatures which I observed as we +drove along the winding avenue. + +Mr. Everard King, my unknown cousin, was standing in person upon the +steps of his house, for he had seen us in the distance, and guessed +that it was I. His appearance was very homely and benevolent, short +and stout, forty-five years old, perhaps, with a round, good-humoured +face, burned brown with the tropical sun, and shot with a thousand +wrinkles. He wore white linen clothes, in true planter style, with a +cigar between his lips, and a large Panama hat upon the back of his +head. It was such a figure as one associates with a verandahed +bungalow, and it looked curiously out of place in front of this broad, +stone English mansion, with its solid wings and its Palladio pillars +before the doorway. + +"My dear!" he cried, glancing over his shoulder; "my dear, here is our +guest! Welcome, welcome to Greylands! I am delighted to make your +acquaintance, Cousin Marshall, and I take it as a great compliment that +you should honour this sleepy little country place with your presence." + +Nothing could be more hearty than his manner, and he set me at my ease +in an instant. But it needed all his cordiality to atone for the +frigidity and even rudeness of his wife, a tall, haggard woman, who +came forward at his summons. She was, I believe, of Brazilian +extraction, though she spoke excellent English, and I excused her +manners on the score of her ignorance of our customs. She did not +attempt to conceal, however, either then or afterwards, that I was no +very welcome visitor at Greylands Court. Her actual words were, as a +rule, courteous, but she was the possessor of a pair of particularly +expressive dark eyes, and I read in them very clearly from the first +that she heartily wished me back in London once more. + +However, my debts were too pressing and my designs upon my wealthy +relative were too vital for me to allow them to be upset by the +ill-temper of his wife, so I disregarded her coldness and reciprocated +the extreme cordiality of his welcome. No pains had been spared by him +to make me comfortable. My room was a charming one. He implored me to +tell him anything which could add to my happiness. It was on the tip +of my tongue to inform him that a blank cheque would materially help +towards that end, but I felt that it might be premature in the present +state of our acquaintance. The dinner was excellent, and as we sat +together afterwards over his Havanas and coffee, which later he told me +was specially prepared upon his own plantation, it seemed to me that +all my driver's eulogies were justified, and that I had never met a +more large-hearted and hospitable man. + +But, in spite of his cheery good nature, he was a man with a strong +will and a fiery temper of his own. Of this I had an example upon the +following morning. The curious aversion which Mrs. Everard King had +conceived towards me was so strong, that her manner at breakfast was +almost offensive. But her meaning became unmistakable when her husband +had quitted the room. + +"The best train in the day is at twelve-fifteen," said she. + +"But I was not thinking of going today," I answered, frankly--perhaps +even defiantly, for I was determined not to be driven out by this woman. + +"Oh, if it rests with you--" said she, and stopped with a most insolent +expression in her eyes. + +"I am sure," I answered, "that Mr. Everard King would tell me if I were +outstaying my welcome." + +"What's this? What's this?" said a voice, and there he was in the +room. He had overheard my last words, and a glance at our faces had +told him the rest. In an instant his chubby, cheery face set into an +expression of absolute ferocity. + +"Might I trouble you to walk outside, Marshall?" said he. (I may +mention that my own name is Marshall King.) + +He closed the door behind me, and then, for an instant, I heard him +talking in a low voice of concentrated passion to his wife. This gross +breach of hospitality had evidently hit upon his tenderest point. I am +no eavesdropper, so I walked out on to the lawn. Presently I heard a +hurried step behind me, and there was the lady, her face pale with +excitement, and her eyes red with tears. + +"My husband has asked me to apologize to you, Mr. Marshall King," said +she, standing with downcast eyes before me. + +"Please do not say another word, Mrs. King." + +Her dark eyes suddenly blazed out at me. + +"You fool!" she hissed, with frantic vehemence, and turning on her heel +swept back to the house. + +The insult was so outrageous, so insufferable, that I could only stand +staring after her in bewilderment. I was still there when my host +joined me. He was his cheery, chubby self once more. + +"I hope that my wife has apologized for her foolish remarks," said he. + +"Oh, yes--yes, certainly!" + +He put his hand through my arm and walked with me up and down the lawn. + +"You must not take it seriously," said he. "It would grieve me +inexpressibly if you curtailed your visit by one hour. The fact +is--there is no reason why there should be any concealment between +relatives--that my poor dear wife is incredibly jealous. She hates +that anyone--male or female--should for an instant come between us. Her +ideal is a desert island and an eternal tete-a-tete. That gives you +the clue to her actions, which are, I confess, upon this particular +point, not very far removed from mania. Tell me that you will think no +more of it." + +"No, no; certainly not." + +"Then light this cigar and come round with me and see my little +menagerie." + +The whole afternoon was occupied by this inspection, which included all +the birds, beasts, and even reptiles which he had imported. Some were +free, some in cages, a few actually in the house. He spoke with +enthusiasm of his successes and his failures, his births and his +deaths, and he would cry out in his delight, like a schoolboy, when, as +we walked, some gaudy bird would flutter up from the grass, or some +curious beast slink into the cover. Finally he led me down a corridor +which extended from one wing of the house. At the end of this there +was a heavy door with a sliding shutter in it, and beside it there +projected from the wall an iron handle attached to a wheel and a drum. +A line of stout bars extended across the passage. + +"I am about to show you the jewel of my collection," said he. "There is +only one other specimen in Europe, now that the Rotterdam cub is dead. +It is a Brazilian cat." + +"But how does that differ from any other cat?" + +"You will soon see that," said he, laughing. "Will you kindly draw +that shutter and look through?" + +I did so, and found that I was gazing into a large, empty room, with +stone flags, and small, barred windows upon the farther wall. In the +centre of this room, lying in the middle of a golden patch of sunlight, +there was stretched a huge creature, as large as a tiger, but as black +and sleek as ebony. It was simply a very enormous and very well-kept +black cat, and it cuddled up and basked in that yellow pool of light +exactly as a cat would do. It was so graceful, so sinewy, and so +gently and smoothly diabolical, that I could not take my eyes from the +opening. + +"Isn't he splendid?" said my host, enthusiastically. + +"Glorious! I never saw such a noble creature." + +"Some people call it a black puma, but really it is not a puma at all. +That fellow is nearly eleven feet from tail to tip. Four years ago he +was a little ball of black fluff, with two yellow eyes staring out of +it. He was sold me as a new-born cub up in the wild country at the +head-waters of the Rio Negro. They speared his mother to death after +she had killed a dozen of them." + +"They are ferocious, then?" + +"The most absolutely treacherous and bloodthirsty creatures upon earth. +You talk about a Brazilian cat to an up-country Indian, and see him get +the jumps. They prefer humans to game. This fellow has never tasted +living blood yet, but when he does he will be a terror. At present he +won't stand anyone but me in his den. Even Baldwin, the groom, dare +not go near him. As to me, I am his mother and father in one." + +As he spoke he suddenly, to my astonishment, opened the door and +slipped in, closing it instantly behind him. At the sound of his voice +the huge, lithe creature rose, yawned and rubbed its round, black head +affectionately against his side, while he patted and fondled it. + +"Now, Tommy, into your cage!" said he. + +The monstrous cat walked over to one side of the room and coiled itself +up under a grating. Everard King came out, and taking the iron handle +which I have mentioned, he began to turn it. As he did so the line of +bars in the corridor began to pass through a slot in the wall and +closed up the front of this grating, so as to make an effective cage. +When it was in position he opened the door once more and invited me +into the room, which was heavy with the pungent, musty smell peculiar +to the great carnivora. + +"That's how we work it," said he. "We give him the run of the room for +exercise, and then at night we put him in his cage. You can let him +out by turning the handle from the passage, or you can, as you have +seen, coop him up in the same way. No, no, you should not do that!" + +I had put my hand between the bars to pat the glossy, heaving flank. +He pulled it back, with a serious face. + +"I assure you that he is not safe. Don't imagine that because I can +take liberties with him anyone else can. He is very exclusive in his +friends--aren't you, Tommy? Ah, he hears his lunch coming to him! +Don't you, boy?" + +A step sounded in the stone-flagged passage, and the creature had +sprung to his feet, and was pacing up and down the narrow cage, his +yellow eyes gleaming, and his scarlet tongue rippling and quivering +over the white line of his jagged teeth. A groom entered with a coarse +joint upon a tray, and thrust it through the bars to him. He pounced +lightly upon it, carried it off to the corner, and there, holding it +between his paws, tore and wrenched at it, raising his bloody muzzle +every now and then to look at us. It was a malignant and yet +fascinating sight. + +"You can't wonder that I am fond of him, can you?" said my host, as we +left the room, "especially when you consider that I have had the +rearing of him. It was no joke bringing him over from the centre of +South America; but here he is safe and sound--and, as I have said, far +the most perfect specimen in Europe. The people at the Zoo are dying +to have him, but I really can't part with him. Now, I think that I have +inflicted my hobby upon you long enough, so we cannot do better than +follow Tommy's example, and go to our lunch." + +My South American relative was so engrossed by his grounds and their +curious occupants, that I hardly gave him credit at first for having +any interests outside them. That he had some, and pressing ones, was +soon borne in upon me by the number of telegrams which he received. +They arrived at all hours, and were always opened by him with the +utmost eagerness and anxiety upon his face. Sometimes I imagined that +it must be the Turf, and sometimes the Stock Exchange, but certainly he +had some very urgent business going forwards which was not transacted +upon the Downs of Suffolk. During the six days of my visit he had never +fewer than three or four telegrams a day, and sometimes as many as +seven or eight. + +I had occupied these six days so well, that by the end of them I had +succeeded in getting upon the most cordial terms with my cousin. Every +night we had sat up late in the billiard-room, he telling me the most +extraordinary stories of his adventures in America--stories so +desperate and reckless, that I could hardly associate them with the +brown little, chubby man before me. In return, I ventured upon some of +my own reminiscences of London life, which interested him so much, that +he vowed he would come up to Grosvenor Mansions and stay with me. He +was anxious to see the faster side of city life, and certainly, though +I say it, he could not have chosen a more competent guide. It was not +until the last day of my visit that I ventured to approach that which +was on my mind. I told him frankly about my pecuniary difficulties and +my impending ruin, and I asked his advice--though I hoped for something +more solid. He listened attentively, puffing hard at his cigar. + +"But surely," said he, "you are the heir of our relative, Lord +Southerton?" + +"I have every reason to believe so, but he would never make me any +allowance." + +"No, no, I have heard of his miserly ways. My poor Marshall, your +position has been a very hard one. By the way, have you heard any news +of Lord Southerton's health lately?" + +"He has always been in a critical condition ever since my childhood." + +"Exactly--a creaking hinge, if ever there was one. Your inheritance +may be a long way off. Dear me, how awkwardly situated you are!" + +"I had some hopes, sir, that you, knowing all the facts, might be +inclined to advance----" + +"Don't say another word, my dear boy," he cried, with the utmost +cordiality; "we shall talk it over tonight, and I give you my word that +whatever is in my power shall be done." + +I was not sorry that my visit was drawing to a close, for it is +unpleasant to feel that there is one person in the house who eagerly +desires your departure. Mrs. King's sallow face and forbidding eyes +had become more and more hateful to me. She was no longer actively +rude--her fear of her husband prevented her--but she pushed her insane +jealousy to the extent of ignoring me, never addressing me, and in +every way making my stay at Greylands as uncomfortable as she could. +So offensive was her manner during that last day, that I should +certainly have left had it not been for that interview with my host in +the evening which would, I hoped, retrieve my broken fortunes. + +It was very late when it occurred, for my relative, who had been +receiving even more telegrams than usual during the day, went off to +his study after dinner, and only emerged when the household had retired +to bed. I heard him go round locking the doors, as custom was of a +night, and finally he joined me in the billiard-room. His stout figure +was wrapped in a dressing-gown, and he wore a pair of red Turkish +slippers without any heels. Settling down into an arm-chair, he brewed +himself a glass of grog, in which I could not help noticing that the +whisky considerably predominated over the water. + +"My word!" said he, "what a night!" + +It was, indeed. The wind was howling and screaming round the house, +and the latticed windows rattled and shook as if they were coming in. +The glow of the yellow lamps and the flavour of our cigars seemed the +brighter and more fragrant for the contrast. + +"Now, my boy," said my host, "we have the house and the night to +ourselves. Let me have an idea of how your affairs stand, and I will +see what can be done to set them in order. I wish to hear every +detail." + +Thus encouraged, I entered into a long exposition, in which all my +tradesmen and creditors from my landlord to my valet, figured in turn. +I had notes in my pocket-book, and I marshalled my facts, and gave, I +flatter myself, a very businesslike statement of my own unbusinesslike +ways and lamentable position. I was depressed, however, to notice that +my companion's eyes were vacant and his attention elsewhere. When he +did occasionally throw out a remark it was so entirely perfunctory and +pointless, that I was sure he had not in the least followed my remarks. +Every now and then he roused himself and put on some show of interest, +asking me to repeat or to explain more fully, but it was always to sink +once more into the same brown study. At last he rose and threw the end +of his cigar into the grate. + +"I'll tell you what, my boy," said he. "I never had a head for +figures, so you will excuse me. You must jot it all down upon paper, +and let me have a note of the amount. I'll understand it when I see it +in black and white." + +The proposal was encouraging. I promised to do so. + +"And now it's time we were in bed. By Jove, there's one o'clock +striking in the hall." + +The tingling of the chiming clock broke through the deep roar of the +gale. The wind was sweeping past with the rush of a great river. + +"I must see my cat before I go to bed," said my host. "A high wind +excites him. Will you come?" + +"Certainly," said I. + +"Then tread softly and don't speak, for everyone is asleep." + +We passed quietly down the lamp-lit Persian-rugged hall, and through +the door at the farther end. All was dark in the stone corridor, but a +stable lantern hung on a hook, and my host took it down and lit it. +There was no grating visible in the passage, so I knew that the beast +was in its cage. + +"Come in!" said my relative, and opened the door. + +A deep growling as we entered showed that the storm had really excited +the creature. In the flickering light of the lantern, we saw it, a +huge black mass coiled in the corner of its den and throwing a squat, +uncouth shadow upon the whitewashed wall. Its tail switched angrily +among the straw. + +"Poor Tommy is not in the best of tempers," said Everard King, holding +up the lantern and looking in at him. "What a black devil he looks, +doesn't he? I must give him a little supper to put him in a better +humour. Would you mind holding the lantern for a moment?" + +I took it from his hand and he stepped to the door. + +"His larder is just outside here," said he. "You will excuse me for an +instant won't you?" He passed out, and the door shut with a sharp +metallic click behind him. + +That hard crisp sound made my heart stand still. A sudden wave of +terror passed over me. A vague perception of some monstrous treachery +turned me cold. I sprang to the door, but there was no handle upon the +inner side. + +"Here!" I cried. "Let me out!" + +"All right! Don't make a row!" said my host from the passage. "You've +got the light all right." + +"Yes, but I don't care about being locked in alone like this." + +"Don't you?" I heard his hearty, chuckling laugh. "You won't be alone +long." + +"Let me out, sir!" I repeated angrily. "I tell you I don't allow +practical jokes of this sort." + +"Practical is the word," said he, with another hateful chuckle. And +then suddenly I heard, amidst the roar of the storm, the creak and +whine of the winch-handle turning and the rattle of the grating as it +passed through the slot. Great God, he was letting loose the Brazilian +cat! + +In the light of the lantern I saw the bars sliding slowly before me. +Already there was an opening a foot wide at the farther end. With a +scream I seized the last bar with my hands and pulled with the strength +of a madman. I WAS a madman with rage and horror. For a minute or +more I held the thing motionless. I knew that he was straining with +all his force upon the handle, and that the leverage was sure to +overcome me. I gave inch by inch, my feet sliding along the stones, +and all the time I begged and prayed this inhuman monster to save me +from this horrible death. I conjured him by his kinship. I reminded +him that I was his guest; I begged to know what harm I had ever done +him. His only answers were the tugs and jerks upon the handle, each of +which, in spite of all my struggles, pulled another bar through the +opening. Clinging and clutching, I was dragged across the whole front +of the cage, until at last, with aching wrists and lacerated fingers, I +gave up the hopeless struggle. The grating clanged back as I released +it, and an instant later I heard the shuffle of the Turkish slippers in +the passage, and the slam of the distant door. Then everything was +silent. + +The creature had never moved during this time. He lay still in the +corner, and his tail had ceased switching. This apparition of a man +adhering to his bars and dragged screaming across him had apparently +filled him with amazement. I saw his great eyes staring steadily at +me. I had dropped the lantern when I seized the bars, but it still +burned upon the floor, and I made a movement to grasp it, with some +idea that its light might protect me. But the instant I moved, the +beast gave a deep and menacing growl. I stopped and stood still, +quivering with fear in every limb. The cat (if one may call so fearful +a creature by so homely a name) was not more than ten feet from me. +The eyes glimmered like two disks of phosphorus in the darkness. They +appalled and yet fascinated me. I could not take my own eyes from +them. Nature plays strange tricks with us at such moments of +intensity, and those glimmering lights waxed and waned with a steady +rise and fall. Sometimes they seemed to be tiny points of extreme +brilliancy--little electric sparks in the black obscurity--then they +would widen and widen until all that corner of the room was filled with +their shifting and sinister light. And then suddenly they went out +altogether. + +The beast had closed its eyes. I do not know whether there may be any +truth in the old idea of the dominance of the human gaze, or whether +the huge cat was simply drowsy, but the fact remains that, far from +showing any symptom of attacking me, it simply rested its sleek, black +head upon its huge forepaws and seemed to sleep. I stood, fearing to +move lest I should rouse it into malignant life once more. But at +least I was able to think clearly now that the baleful eyes were off +me. Here I was shut up for the night with the ferocious beast. My own +instincts, to say nothing of the words of the plausible villain who +laid this trap for me, warned me that the animal was as savage as its +master. How could I stave it off until morning? The door was +hopeless, and so were the narrow, barred windows. There was no shelter +anywhere in the bare, stone-flagged room. To cry for assistance was +absurd. I knew that this den was an outhouse, and that the corridor +which connected it with the house was at least a hundred feet long. +Besides, with the gale thundering outside, my cries were not likely to +be heard. I had only my own courage and my own wits to trust to. + +And then, with a fresh wave of horror, my eyes fell upon the lantern. +The candle had burned low, and was already beginning to gutter. In ten +minutes it would be out. I had only ten minutes then in which to do +something, for I felt that if I were once left in the dark with that +fearful beast I should be incapable of action. The very thought of it +paralysed me. I cast my despairing eyes round this chamber of death, +and they rested upon one spot which seemed to promise I will not say +safety, but less immediate and imminent danger than the open floor. + +I have said that the cage had a top as well as a front, and this top +was left standing when the front was wound through the slot in the +wall. It consisted of bars at a few inches' interval, with stout wire +netting between, and it rested upon a strong stanchion at each end. It +stood now as a great barred canopy over the crouching figure in the +corner. The space between this iron shelf and the roof may have been +from two or three feet. If I could only get up there, squeezed in +between bars and ceiling, I should have only one vulnerable side. I +should be safe from below, from behind, and from each side. Only on +the open face of it could I be attacked. There, it is true, I had no +protection whatever; but at least, I should be out of the brute's path +when he began to pace about his den. He would have to come out of his +way to reach me. It was now or never, for if once the light were out +it would be impossible. With a gulp in my throat I sprang up, seized +the iron edge of the top, and swung myself panting on to it. I writhed +in face downwards, and found myself looking straight into the terrible +eyes and yawning jaws of the cat. Its fetid breath came up into my +face like the steam from some foul pot. + +It appeared, however, to be rather curious than angry. With a sleek +ripple of its long, black back it rose, stretched itself, and then +rearing itself on its hind legs, with one forepaw against the wall, it +raised the other, and drew its claws across the wire meshes beneath me. +One sharp, white hook tore through my trousers--for I may mention that +I was still in evening dress--and dug a furrow in my knee. It was not +meant as an attack, but rather as an experiment, for upon my giving a +sharp cry of pain he dropped down again, and springing lightly into the +room, he began walking swiftly round it, looking up every now and again +in my direction. For my part I shuffled backwards until I lay with my +back against the wall, screwing myself into the smallest space +possible. The farther I got the more difficult it was for him to +attack me. + +He seemed more excited now that he had begun to move about, and he ran +swiftly and noiselessly round and round the den, passing continually +underneath the iron couch upon which I lay. It was wonderful to see so +great a bulk passing like a shadow, with hardly the softest thudding of +velvety pads. The candle was burning low--so low that I could hardly +see the creature. And then, with a last flare and splutter it went out +altogether. I was alone with the cat in the dark! + +It helps one to face a danger when one knows that one has done all that +possibly can be done. There is nothing for it then but to quietly +await the result. In this case, there was no chance of safety anywhere +except the precise spot where I was. I stretched myself out, +therefore, and lay silently, almost breathlessly, hoping that the beast +might forget my presence if I did nothing to remind him. I reckoned +that it must already be two o'clock. At four it would be full dawn. I +had not more than two hours to wait for daylight. + +Outside, the storm was still raging, and the rain lashed continually +against the little windows. Inside, the poisonous and fetid air was +overpowering. I could neither hear nor see the cat. I tried to think +about other things--but only one had power enough to draw my mind from +my terrible position. That was the contemplation of my cousin's +villainy, his unparalleled hypocrisy, his malignant hatred of me. +Beneath that cheerful face there lurked the spirit of a mediaeval +assassin. And as I thought of it I saw more clearly how cunningly the +thing had been arranged. He had apparently gone to bed with the +others. No doubt he had his witness to prove it. Then, unknown to +them, he had slipped down, had lured me into his den and abandoned me. +His story would be so simple. He had left me to finish my cigar in the +billiard-room. I had gone down on my own account to have a last look at +the cat. I had entered the room without observing that the cage was +opened, and I had been caught. How could such a crime be brought home +to him? Suspicion, perhaps--but proof, never! + +How slowly those dreadful two hours went by! Once I heard a low, +rasping sound, which I took to be the creature licking its own fur. +Several times those greenish eyes gleamed at me through the darkness, +but never in a fixed stare, and my hopes grew stronger that my presence +had been forgotten or ignored. At last the least faint glimmer of +light came through the windows--I first dimly saw them as two grey +squares upon the black wall, then grey turned to white, and I could see +my terrible companion once more. And he, alas, could see me! + +It was evident to me at once that he was in a much more dangerous and +aggressive mood than when I had seen him last. The cold of the morning +had irritated him, and he was hungry as well. With a continual growl he +paced swiftly up and down the side of the room which was farthest from +my refuge, his whiskers bristling angrily, and his tail switching and +lashing. As he turned at the corners his savage eyes always looked +upwards at me with a dreadful menace. I knew then that he meant to +kill me. Yet I found myself even at that moment admiring the sinuous +grace of the devilish thing, its long, undulating, rippling movements, +the gloss of its beautiful flanks, the vivid, palpitating scarlet of +the glistening tongue which hung from the jet-black muzzle. And all +the time that deep, threatening growl was rising and rising in an +unbroken crescendo. I knew that the crisis was at hand. + +It was a miserable hour to meet such a death--so cold, so comfortless, +shivering in my light dress clothes upon this gridiron of torment upon +which I was stretched. I tried to brace myself to it, to raise my soul +above it, and at the same time, with the lucidity which comes to a +perfectly desperate man, I cast round for some possible means of +escape. One thing was clear to me. If that front of the cage was only +back in its position once more, I could find a sure refuge behind it. +Could I possibly pull it back? I hardly dared to move for fear of +bringing the creature upon me. Slowly, very slowly, I put my hand +forward until it grasped the edge of the front, the final bar which +protruded through the wall. To my surprise it came quite easily to my +jerk. Of course the difficulty of drawing it out arose from the fact +that I was clinging to it. I pulled again, and three inches of it came +through. It ran apparently on wheels. I pulled again ... and then +the cat sprang! + +It was so quick, so sudden, that I never saw it happen. I simply heard +the savage snarl, and in an instant afterwards the blazing yellow eyes, +the flattened black head with its red tongue and flashing teeth, were +within reach of me. The impact of the creature shook the bars upon +which I lay, until I thought (as far as I could think of anything at +such a moment) that they were coming down. The cat swayed there for an +instant, the head and front paws quite close to me, the hind paws +clawing to find a grip upon the edge of the grating. I heard the claws +rasping as they clung to the wire-netting, and the breath of the beast +made me sick. But its bound had been miscalculated. It could not +retain its position. Slowly, grinning with rage, and scratching madly +at the bars, it swung backwards and dropped heavily upon the floor. +With a growl it instantly faced round to me and crouched for another +spring. + +I knew that the next few moments would decide my fate. The creature +had learned by experience. It would not miscalculate again. I must +act promptly, fearlessly, if I were to have a chance for life. In an +instant I had formed my plan. Pulling off my dress-coat, I threw it +down over the head of the beast. At the same moment I dropped over the +edge, seized the end of the front grating, and pulled it frantically +out of the wall. + +It came more easily than I could have expected. I rushed across the +room, bearing it with me; but, as I rushed, the accident of my position +put me upon the outer side. Had it been the other way, I might have +come off scathless. As it was, there was a moment's pause as I stopped +it and tried to pass in through the opening which I had left. That +moment was enough to give time to the creature to toss off the coat +with which I had blinded him and to spring upon me. I hurled myself +through the gap and pulled the rails to behind me, but he seized my leg +before I could entirely withdraw it. One stroke of that huge paw tore +off my calf as a shaving of wood curls off before a plane. The next +moment, bleeding and fainting, I was lying among the foul straw with a +line of friendly bars between me and the creature which ramped so +frantically against them. + +Too wounded to move, and too faint to be conscious of fear, I could +only lie, more dead than alive, and watch it. It pressed its broad, +black chest against the bars and angled for me with its crooked paws as +I have seen a kitten do before a mouse-trap. It ripped my clothes, +but, stretch as it would, it could not quite reach me. I have heard of +the curious numbing effect produced by wounds from the great carnivora, +and now I was destined to experience it, for I had lost all sense of +personality, and was as interested in the cat's failure or success as +if it were some game which I was watching. And then gradually my mind +drifted away into strange vague dreams, always with that black face and +red tongue coming back into them, and so I lost myself in the nirvana +of delirium, the blessed relief of those who are too sorely tried. + +Tracing the course of events afterwards, I conclude that I must have +been insensible for about two hours. What roused me to consciousness +once more was that sharp metallic click which had been the precursor of +my terrible experience. It was the shooting back of the spring lock. +Then, before my senses were clear enough to entirely apprehend what +they saw, I was aware of the round, benevolent face of my cousin +peering in through the open door. What he saw evidently amazed him. +There was the cat crouching on the floor. I was stretched upon my back +in my shirt-sleeves within the cage, my trousers torn to ribbons and a +great pool of blood all round me. I can see his amazed face now, with +the morning sunlight upon it. He peered at me, and peered again. Then +he closed the door behind him, and advanced to the cage to see if I +were really dead. + +I cannot undertake to say what happened. I was not in a fit state to +witness or to chronicle such events. I can only say that I was +suddenly conscious that his face was away from me--that he was looking +towards the animal. + +"Good old Tommy!" he cried. "Good old Tommy!" + +Then he came near the bars, with his back still towards me. + +"Down, you stupid beast!" he roared. "Down, sir! Don't you know your +master?" + +Suddenly even in my bemuddled brain a remembrance came of those words +of his when he had said that the taste of blood would turn the cat into +a fiend. My blood had done it, but he was to pay the price. + +"Get away!" he screamed. "Get away, you devil! Baldwin! Baldwin! Oh, +my God!" + +And then I heard him fall, and rise, and fall again, with a sound like +the ripping of sacking. His screams grew fainter until they were lost +in the worrying snarl. And then, after I thought that he was dead, I +saw, as in a nightmare, a blinded, tattered, blood-soaked figure +running wildly round the room--and that was the last glimpse which I +had of him before I fainted once again. + + +I was many months in my recovery--in fact, I cannot say that I have +ever recovered, for to the end of my days I shall carry a stick as a +sign of my night with the Brazilian cat. Baldwin, the groom, and the +other servants could not tell what had occurred, when, drawn by the +death-cries of their master, they found me behind the bars, and his +remains--or what they afterwards discovered to be his remains--in the +clutch of the creature which he had reared. They stalled him off with +hot irons, and afterwards shot him through the loophole of the door +before they could finally extricate me. I was carried to my bedroom, +and there, under the roof of my would-be murderer, I remained between +life and death for several weeks. They had sent for a surgeon from +Clipton and a nurse from London, and in a month I was able to be +carried to the station, and so conveyed back once more to Grosvenor +Mansions. + +I have one remembrance of that illness, which might have been part of +the ever-changing panorama conjured up by a delirious brain were it not +so definitely fixed in my memory. One night, when the nurse was +absent, the door of my chamber opened, and a tall woman in blackest +mourning slipped into the room. She came across to me, and as she bent +her sallow face I saw by the faint gleam of the night-light that it was +the Brazilian woman whom my cousin had married. She stared intently +into my face, and her expression was more kindly than I had ever seen +it. + +"Are you conscious?" she asked. + +I feebly nodded--for I was still very weak. + +"Well; then, I only wished to say to you that you have yourself to +blame. Did I not do all I could for you? From the beginning I tried +to drive you from the house. By every means, short of betraying my +husband, I tried to save you from him. I knew that he had a reason for +bringing you here. I knew that he would never let you get away again. +No one knew him as I knew him, who had suffered from him so often. I +did not dare to tell you all this. He would have killed me. But I did +my best for you. As things have turned out, you have been the best +friend that I have ever had. You have set me free, and I fancied that +nothing but death would do that. I am sorry if you are hurt, but I +cannot reproach myself. I told you that you were a fool--and a fool +you have been." She crept out of the room, the bitter, singular woman, +and I was never destined to see her again. With what remained from her +husband's property she went back to her native land, and I have heard +that she afterwards took the veil at Pernambuco. + +It was not until I had been back in London for some time that the +doctors pronounced me to be well enough to do business. It was not a +very welcome permission to me, for I feared that it would be the signal +for an inrush of creditors; but it was Summers, my lawyer, who first +took advantage of it. + +"I am very glad to see that your lordship is so much better," said he. +"I have been waiting a long time to offer my congratulations." + +"What do you mean, Summers? This is no time for joking." + +"I mean what I say," he answered. "You have been Lord Southerton for +the last six weeks, but we feared that it would retard your recovery if +you were to learn it." + +Lord Southerton! One of the richest peers in England! I could not +believe my ears. And then suddenly I thought of the time which had +elapsed, and how it coincided with my injuries. + +"Then Lord Southerton must have died about the same time that I was +hurt?" + +"His death occurred upon that very day." Summers looked hard at me as +I spoke, and I am convinced--for he was a very shrewd fellow--that he +had guessed the true state of the case. He paused for a moment as if +awaiting a confidence from me, but I could not see what was to be +gained by exposing such a family scandal. + +"Yes, a very curious coincidence," he continued, with the same knowing +look. "Of course, you are aware that your cousin Everard King was the +next heir to the estates. Now, if it had been you instead of him who +had been torn to pieces by this tiger, or whatever it was, then of +course he would have been Lord Southerton at the present moment." + +"No doubt," said I. + +"And he took such an interest in it," said Summers. "I happen to know +that the late Lord Southerton's valet was in his pay, and that he used +to have telegrams from him every few hours to tell him how he was +getting on. That would be about the time when you were down there. +Was it not strange that he should wish to be so well informed, since he +knew that he was not the direct heir?" + +"Very strange," said I. "And now, Summers, if you will bring me my +bills and a new cheque-book, we will begin to get things into order." + + + + +Tales of Mystery + + + +The Lost Special + +The confession of Herbert de Lernac, now lying under sentence of death +at Marseilles, has thrown a light upon one of the most inexplicable +crimes of the century--an incident which is, I believe, absolutely +unprecedented in the criminal annals of any country: Although there is +a reluctance to discuss the matter in official circles, and little +information has been given to the Press, there are still indications +that the statement of this arch-criminal is corroborated by the facts, +and that we have at last found a solution for a most astounding +business. As the matter is eight years old, and as its importance was +somewhat obscured by a political crisis which was engaging the public +attention at the time, it may be as well to state the facts as far as +we have been able to ascertain them. They are collated from the +Liverpool papers of that date, from the proceedings at the inquest upon +John Slater, the engine-driver, and from the records of the London and +West Coast Railway Company, which have been courteously put at my +disposal. Briefly, they are as follows: + +On the 3rd of June, 1890, a gentleman, who gave his name as Monsieur +Louis Caratal, desired an interview with Mr. James Bland, the +superintendent of the London and West Coast Central Station in +Liverpool. He was a small man, middle-aged and dark, with a stoop +which was so marked that it suggested some deformity of the spine. He +was accompanied by a friend, a man of imposing physique, whose +deferential manner and constant attention showed that his position was +one of dependence. This friend or companion, whose name did not +transpire, was certainly a foreigner, and probably from his swarthy +complexion, either a Spaniard or a South American. One peculiarity was +observed in him. He carried in his left hand a small black, leather +dispatch box, and it was noticed by a sharp-eyed clerk in the Central +office that this box was fastened to his wrist by a strap. No +importance was attached to the fact at the time, but subsequent events +endowed it with some significance. Monsieur Caratal was shown up to Mr. +Bland's office, while his companion remained outside. + +Monsieur Caratal's business was quickly dispatched. He had arrived +that afternoon from Central America. Affairs of the utmost importance +demanded that he should be in Paris without the loss of an unnecessary +hour. He had missed the London express. A special must be provided. +Money was of no importance. Time was everything. If the company would +speed him on his way, they might make their own terms. + +Mr. Bland struck the electric bell, summoned Mr. Potter Hood, the +traffic manager, and had the matter arranged in five minutes. The train +would start in three-quarters of an hour. It would take that time to +insure that the line should be clear. The powerful engine called +Rochdale (No. 247 on the company's register) was attached to two +carriages, with a guard's van behind. The first carriage was solely +for the purpose of decreasing the inconvenience arising from the +oscillation. The second was divided, as usual, into four compartments, +a first-class, a first-class smoking, a second-class, and a +second-class smoking. The first compartment, which was nearest to the +engine, was the one allotted to the travellers. The other three were +empty. The guard of the special train was James McPherson, who had +been some years in the service of the company. The stoker, William +Smith, was a new hand. + +Monsieur Caratal, upon leaving the superintendent's office, rejoined +his companion, and both of them manifested extreme impatience to be +off. Having paid the money asked, which amounted to fifty pounds five +shillings, at the usual special rate of five shillings a mile, they +demanded to be shown the carriage, and at once took their seats in it, +although they were assured that the better part of an hour must elapse +before the line could be cleared. In the meantime a singular +coincidence had occurred in the office which Monsieur Caratal had just +quitted. + +A request for a special is not a very uncommon circumstance in a rich +commercial centre, but that two should be required upon the same +afternoon was most unusual. It so happened, however, that Mr. Bland +had hardly dismissed the first traveller before a second entered with a +similar request. This was a Mr. Horace Moore, a gentlemanly man of +military appearance, who alleged that the sudden serious illness of his +wife in London made it absolutely imperative that he should not lose an +instant in starting upon the journey. His distress and anxiety were so +evident that Mr. Bland did all that was possible to meet his wishes. A +second special was out of the question, as the ordinary local service +was already somewhat deranged by the first. There was the alternative, +however, that Mr. Moore should share the expense of Monsieur Caratal's +train, and should travel in the other empty first-class compartment, if +Monsieur Caratal objected to having him in the one which he occupied. +It was difficult to see any objection to such an arrangement, and yet +Monsieur Caratal, upon the suggestion being made to him by Mr. Potter +Hood, absolutely refused to consider it for an instant. The train was +his, he said, and he would insist upon the exclusive use of it. All +argument failed to overcome his ungracious objections, and finally the +plan had to be abandoned. Mr. Horace Moore left the station in great +distress, after learning that his only course was to take the ordinary +slow train which leaves Liverpool at six o'clock. At four thirty-one +exactly by the station clock the special train, containing the crippled +Monsieur Caratal and his gigantic companion, steamed out of the +Liverpool station. The line was at that time clear, and there should +have been no stoppage before Manchester. + +The trains of the London and West Coast Railway run over the lines of +another company as far as this town, which should have been reached by +the special rather before six o'clock. At a quarter after six +considerable surprise and some consternation were caused amongst the +officials at Liverpool by the receipt of a telegram from Manchester to +say that it had not yet arrived. An inquiry directed to St. Helens, +which is a third of the way between the two cities, elicited the +following reply-- + + +"To James Bland, Superintendent, Central L. & W. C., +Liverpool.--Special passed here at 4:52, well up to time.--Dowster, St. +Helens." + + +This telegram was received at six-forty. At six-fifty a second message +was received from Manchester-- + + +"No sign of special as advised by you." + + +And then ten minutes later a third, more bewildering-- + + +"Presume some mistake as to proposed running of special. Local train +from St. Helens timed to follow it has just arrived and has seen +nothing of it. Kindly wire advices.--Manchester." + + +The matter was assuming a most amazing aspect, although in some +respects the last telegram was a relief to the authorities at +Liverpool. If an accident had occurred to the special, it seemed +hardly possible that the local train could have passed down the same +line without observing it. And yet, what was the alternative? Where +could the train be? Had it possibly been sidetracked for some reason +in order to allow the slower train to go past? Such an explanation was +possible if some small repair had to be effected. A telegram was +dispatched to each of the stations between St. Helens and Manchester, +and the superintendent and traffic manager waited in the utmost +suspense at the instrument for the series of replies which would enable +them to say for certain what had become of the missing train. The +answers came back in the order of questions, which was the order of the +stations beginning at the St. Helens end-- + +"Special passed here five o'clock.--Collins Green." + +"Special passed here six past five.--Earlstown." + +"Special passed here 5:10.--Newton." + +"Special passed here 5:20.--Kenyon Junction." + +"No special train has passed here.--Barton Moss." + +The two officials stared at each other in amazement. + +"This is unique in my thirty years of experience," said Mr. Bland. + +"Absolutely unprecedented and inexplicable, sir. The special has gone +wrong between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss." + +"And yet there is no siding, so far as my memory serves me, between the +two stations. The special must have run off the metals." + +"But how could the four-fifty parliamentary pass over the same line +without observing it?" + +"There's no alternative, Mr. Hood. It must be so. Possibly the local +train may have observed something which may throw some light upon the +matter. We will wire to Manchester for more information, and to Kenyon +Junction with instructions that the line be examined instantly as far +as Barton Moss." The answer from Manchester came within a few minutes. + +"No news of missing special. Driver and guard of slow train positive +no accident between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss. Line quite clear, +and no sign of anything unusual.--Manchester." + +"That driver and guard will have to go," said Mr. Bland, grimly. +"There has been a wreck and they have missed it. The special has +obviously run off the metals without disturbing the line--how it could +have done so passes my comprehension--but so it must be, and we shall +have a wire from Kenyon or Barton Moss presently to say that they have +found her at the bottom of an embankment." + +But Mr. Bland's prophecy was not destined to be fulfilled. Half an hour +passed, and then there arrived the following message from the +station-master of Kenyon Junction-- + + +"There are no traces of the missing special. It is quite certain that +she passed here, and that she did not arrive at Barton Moss. We have +detached engine from goods train, and I have myself ridden down the +line, but all is clear, and there is no sign of any accident." + + +Mr. Bland tore his hair in his perplexity. + +"This is rank lunacy, Hood!" he cried. "Does a train vanish into thin +air in England in broad daylight? The thing is preposterous. An +engine, a tender, two carriages, a van, five human beings--and all lost +on a straight line of railway! Unless we get something positive within +the next hour I'll take Inspector Collins, and go down myself." + +And then at last something positive did occur. It took the shape of +another telegram from Kenyon Junction. + +"Regret to report that the dead body of John Slater, driver of the +special train, has just been found among the gorse bushes at a point +two and a quarter miles from the Junction. Had fallen from his engine, +pitched down the embankment, and rolled among the bushes. Injuries to +his head, from the fall, appear to be cause of death. Ground has now +been carefully examined, and there is no trace of the missing train." + +The country was, as has already been stated, in the throes of a +political crisis, and the attention of the public was further +distracted by the important and sensational developments in Paris, +where a huge scandal threatened to destroy the Government and to wreck +the reputations of many of the leading men in France. The papers were +full of these events, and the singular disappearance of the special +train attracted less attention than would have been the case in more +peaceful times. The grotesque nature of the event helped to detract +from its importance, for the papers were disinclined to believe the +facts as reported to them. More than one of the London journals treated +the matter as an ingenious hoax, until the coroner's inquest upon the +unfortunate driver (an inquest which elicited nothing of importance) +convinced them of the tragedy of the incident. + +Mr. Bland, accompanied by Inspector Collins, the senior detective +officer in the service of the company, went down to Kenyon Junction the +same evening, and their research lasted throughout the following day, +but was attended with purely negative results. Not only was no trace +found of the missing train, but no conjecture could be put forward +which could possibly explain the facts. At the same time, Inspector +Collins's official report (which lies before me as I write) served to +show that the possibilities were more numerous than might have been +expected. + +"In the stretch of railway between these two points," said he, "the +country is dotted with ironworks and collieries. Of these, some are +being worked and some have been abandoned. There are no fewer than +twelve which have small-gauge lines which run trolly-cars down to the +main line. These can, of course, be disregarded. Besides these, +however, there are seven which have, or have had, proper lines running +down and connecting with points to the main line, so as to convey their +produce from the mouth of the mine to the great centres of +distribution. In every case these lines are only a few miles in +length. Out of the seven, four belong to collieries which are worked +out, or at least to shafts which are no longer used. These are the +Redgauntlet, Hero, Slough of Despond, and Heartsease mines, the latter +having ten years ago been one of the principal mines in Lancashire. +These four side lines may be eliminated from our inquiry, for, to +prevent possible accidents, the rails nearest to the main line have +been taken up, and there is no longer any connection. There remain +three other side lines leading-- + + (a) To the Carnstock Iron Works; + (b) To the Big Ben Colliery; + (c) To the Perseverance Colliery. + + +"Of these the Big Ben line is not more than a quarter of a mile long, +and ends at a dead wall of coal waiting removal from the mouth of the +mine. Nothing had been seen or heard there of any special. The +Carnstock Iron Works line was blocked all day upon the 3rd of June by +sixteen truckloads of hematite. It is a single line, and nothing could +have passed. As to the Perseverance line, it is a large double line, +which does a considerable traffic, for the output of the mine is very +large. On the 3rd of June this traffic proceeded as usual; hundreds of +men including a gang of railway platelayers were working along the two +miles and a quarter which constitute the total length of the line, and +it is inconceivable that an unexpected train could have come down there +without attracting universal attention. It may be remarked in +conclusion that this branch line is nearer to St. Helens than the point +at which the engine-driver was discovered, so that we have every reason +to believe that the train was past that point before misfortune +overtook her. + +"As to John Slater, there is no clue to be gathered from his appearance +or injuries. We can only say that, so far as we can see, he met his +end by falling off his engine, though why he fell, or what became of +the engine after his fall, is a question upon which I do not feel +qualified to offer an opinion." In conclusion, the inspector offered +his resignation to the Board, being much nettled by an accusation of +incompetence in the London papers. + +A month elapsed, during which both the police and the company +prosecuted their inquiries without the slightest success. A reward was +offered and a pardon promised in case of crime, but they were both +unclaimed. Every day the public opened their papers with the +conviction that so grotesque a mystery would at last be solved, but +week after week passed by, and a solution remained as far off as ever. +In broad daylight, upon a June afternoon in the most thickly inhabited +portion of England, a train with its occupants had disappeared as +completely as if some master of subtle chemistry had volatilized it +into gas. Indeed, among the various conjectures which were put forward +in the public Press, there were some which seriously asserted that +supernatural, or, at least, preternatural, agencies had been at work, +and that the deformed Monsieur Caratal was probably a person who was +better known under a less polite name. Others fixed upon his swarthy +companion as being the author of the mischief, but what it was exactly +which he had done could never be clearly formulated in words. + +Amongst the many suggestions put forward by various newspapers or +private individuals, there were one or two which were feasible enough +to attract the attention of the public. One which appeared in The +Times, over the signature of an amateur reasoner of some celebrity at +that date, attempted to deal with the matter in a critical and +semi-scientific manner. An extract must suffice, although the curious +can see the whole letter in the issue of the 3rd of July. + +"It is one of the elementary principles of practical reasoning," he +remarked, "that when the impossible has been eliminated the residuum, +HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must contain the truth. It is certain that the +train left Kenyon Junction. It is certain that it did not reach Barton +Moss. It is in the highest degree unlikely, but still possible, that +it may have taken one of the seven available side lines. It is +obviously impossible for a train to run where there are no rails, and, +therefore, we may reduce our improbables to the three open lines, +namely the Carnstock Iron Works, the Big Ben, and the Perseverance. Is +there a secret society of colliers, an English Camorra, which is +capable of destroying both train and passengers? It is improbable, but +it is not impossible. I confess that I am unable to suggest any other +solution. I should certainly advise the company to direct all their +energies towards the observation of those three lines, and of the +workmen at the end of them. A careful supervision of the pawnbrokers' +shops of the district might possibly bring some suggestive facts to +light." + +The suggestion coming from a recognized authority upon such matters +created considerable interest, and a fierce opposition from those who +considered such a statement to be a preposterous libel upon an honest +and deserving set of men. The only answer to this criticism was a +challenge to the objectors to lay any more feasible explanations before +the public. In reply to this two others were forthcoming (Times, July +7th and 9th). The first suggested that the train might have run off +the metals and be lying submerged in the Lancashire and Staffordshire +Canal, which runs parallel to the railway for some hundred of yards. +This suggestion was thrown out of court by the published depth of the +canal, which was entirely insufficient to conceal so large an object. +The second correspondent wrote calling attention to the bag which +appeared to be the sole luggage which the travellers had brought with +them, and suggesting that some novel explosive of immense and +pulverizing power might have been concealed in it. The obvious +absurdity, however, of supposing that the whole train might be blown to +dust while the metals remained uninjured reduced any such explanation +to a farce. The investigation had drifted into this hopeless position +when a new and most unexpected incident occurred. + +This was nothing less than the receipt by Mrs. McPherson of a letter +from her husband, James McPherson, who had been the guard on the +missing train. The letter, which was dated July 5th, 1890, was posted +from New York and came to hand upon July 14th. Some doubts were +expressed as to its genuine character but Mrs. McPherson was positive +as to the writing, and the fact that it contained a remittance of a +hundred dollars in five-dollar notes was enough in itself to discount +the idea of a hoax. No address was given in the letter, which ran in +this way: + + +MY DEAR WIFE,-- + +"I have been thinking a great deal, and I find it very hard to give you +up. The same with Lizzie. I try to fight against it, but it will +always come back to me. I send you some money which will change into +twenty English pounds. This should be enough to bring both Lizzie and +you across the Atlantic, and you will find the Hamburg boats which stop +at Southampton very good boats, and cheaper than Liverpool. If you +could come here and stop at the Johnston House I would try and send you +word how to meet, but things are very difficult with me at present, and +I am not very happy, finding it hard to give you both up. So no more +at present, from your loving husband, + +"James McPherson." + + +For a time it was confidently anticipated that this letter would lead +to the clearing up of the whole matter, the more so as it was +ascertained that a passenger who bore a close resemblance to the +missing guard had travelled from Southampton under the name of Summers +in the Hamburg and New York liner Vistula, which started upon the 7th +of June. Mrs. McPherson and her sister Lizzie Dolton went across to +New York as directed and stayed for three weeks at the Johnston House, +without hearing anything from the missing man. It is probable that +some injudicious comments in the Press may have warned him that the +police were using them as a bait. However, this may be, it is certain +that he neither wrote nor came, and the women were eventually compelled +to return to Liverpool. + +And so the matter stood, and has continued to stand up to the present +year of 1898. Incredible as it may seem, nothing has transpired during +these eight years which has shed the least light upon the extraordinary +disappearance of the special train which contained Monsieur Caratal and +his companion. Careful inquiries into the antecedents of the two +travellers have only established the fact that Monsieur Caratal was +well known as a financier and political agent in Central America, and +that during his voyage to Europe he had betrayed extraordinary anxiety +to reach Paris. His companion, whose name was entered upon the +passenger lists as Eduardo Gomez, was a man whose record was a violent +one, and whose reputation was that of a bravo and a bully. There was +evidence to show, however, that he was honestly devoted to the +interests of Monsieur Caratal, and that the latter, being a man of puny +physique, employed the other as a guard and protector. It may be added +that no information came from Paris as to what the objects of Monsieur +Caratal's hurried journey may have been. This comprises all the facts +of the case up to the publication in the Marseilles papers of the +recent confession of Herbert de Lernac, now under sentence of death for +the murder of a merchant named Bonvalot. This statement may be +literally translated as follows: + + +"It is not out of mere pride or boasting that I give this information, +for, if that were my object, I could tell a dozen actions of mine which +are quite as splendid; but I do it in order that certain gentlemen in +Paris may understand that I, who am able here to tell about the fate of +Monsieur Caratal, can also tell in whose interest and at whose request +the deed was done, unless the reprieve which I am awaiting comes to me +very quickly. Take warning, messieurs, before it is too late! You +know Herbert de Lernac, and you are aware that his deeds are as ready +as his words. Hasten then, or you are lost! + +"At present I shall mention no names--if you only heard the names, what +would you not think!--but I shall merely tell you how cleverly I did +it. I was true to my employers then, and no doubt they will be true to +me now. I hope so, and until I am convinced that they have betrayed +me, these names, which would convulse Europe, shall not be divulged. +But on that day ... well, I say no more! + +"In a word, then, there was a famous trial in Paris, in the year 1890, +in connection with a monstrous scandal in politics and finance. How +monstrous that scandal was can never be known save by such confidential +agents as myself. The honour and careers of many of the chief men in +France were at stake. You have seen a group of ninepins standing, all +so rigid, and prim, and unbending. Then there comes the ball from far +away and pop, pop, pop--there are your ninepins on the floor. Well, +imagine some of the greatest men in France as these ninepins and then +this Monsieur Caratal was the ball which could be seen coming from far +away. If he arrived, then it was pop, pop, pop for all of them. It +was determined that he should not arrive. + +"I do not accuse them all of being conscious of what was to happen. +There were, as I have said, great financial as well as political +interests at stake, and a syndicate was formed to manage the business. +Some subscribed to the syndicate who hardly understood what were its +objects. But others understood very well, and they can rely upon it +that I have not forgotten their names. They had ample warning that +Monsieur Caratal was coming long before he left South America, and they +knew that the evidence which he held would certainly mean ruin to all +of them. The syndicate had the command of an unlimited amount of +money--absolutely unlimited, you understand. They looked round for an +agent who was capable of wielding this gigantic power. The man chosen +must be inventive, resolute, adaptive--a man in a million. They chose +Herbert de Lernac, and I admit that they were right. + +"My duties were to choose my subordinates, to use freely the power +which money gives, and to make certain that Monsieur Caratal should +never arrive in Paris. With characteristic energy I set about my +commission within an hour of receiving my instructions, and the steps +which I took were the very best for the purpose which could possibly be +devised. + +"A man whom I could trust was dispatched instantly to South America to +travel home with Monsieur Caratal. Had he arrived in time the ship +would never have reached Liverpool; but alas! it had already started +before my agent could reach it. I fitted out a small armed brig to +intercept it, but again I was unfortunate. Like all great organizers I +was, however, prepared for failure, and had a series of alternatives +prepared, one or the other of which must succeed. You must not +underrate the difficulties of my undertaking, or imagine that a mere +commonplace assassination would meet the case. We must destroy not +only Monsieur Caratal, but Monsieur Caratal's documents, and Monsieur +Caratal's companions also, if we had reason to believe that he had +communicated his secrets to them. And you must remember that they were +on the alert, and keenly suspicious of any such attempt. It was a task +which was in every way worthy of me, for I am always most masterful +where another would be appalled. + +"I was all ready for Monsieur Caratal's reception in Liverpool, and I +was the more eager because I had reason to believe that he had made +arrangements by which he would have a considerable guard from the +moment that he arrived in London. Anything which was to be done must +be done between the moment of his setting foot upon the Liverpool quay +and that of his arrival at the London and West Coast terminus in +London. We prepared six plans, each more elaborate than the last; +which plan would be used would depend upon his own movements. Do what +he would, we were ready for him. If he had stayed in Liverpool, we +were ready. If he took an ordinary train, an express, or a special, +all was ready. Everything had been foreseen and provided for. + +"You may imagine that I could not do all this myself. What could I +know of the English railway lines? But money can procure willing +agents all the world over, and I soon had one of the acutest brains in +England to assist me. I will mention no names, but it would be unjust +to claim all the credit for myself. My English ally was worthy of such +an alliance. He knew the London and West Coast line thoroughly, and he +had the command of a band of workers who were trustworthy and +intelligent. The idea was his, and my own judgement was only required +in the details. We bought over several officials, amongst whom the +most important was James McPherson, whom we had ascertained to be the +guard most likely to be employed upon a special train. Smith, the +stoker, was also in our employ. John Slater, the engine-driver, had +been approached, but had been found to be obstinate and dangerous, so +we desisted. We had no certainty that Monsieur Caratal would take a +special, but we thought it very probable, for it was of the utmost +importance to him that he should reach Paris without delay. It was for +this contingency, therefore, that we made special +preparations--preparations which were complete down to the last detail +long before his steamer had sighted the shores of England. You will be +amused to learn that there was one of my agents in the pilot-boat which +brought that steamer to its moorings. + +"The moment that Caratal arrived in Liverpool we knew that he suspected +danger and was on his guard. He had brought with him as an escort a +dangerous fellow, named Gomez, a man who carried weapons, and was +prepared to use them. This fellow carried Caratal's confidential +papers for him, and was ready to protect either them or his master. +The probability was that Caratal had taken him into his counsel, and +that to remove Caratal without removing Gomez would be a mere waste of +energy. It was necessary that they should be involved in a common +fate, and our plans to that end were much facilitated by their request +for a special train. On that special train you will understand that +two out of the three servants of the company were really in our employ, +at a price which would make them independent for a lifetime. I do not +go so far as to say that the English are more honest than any other +nation, but I have found them more expensive to buy. + +"I have already spoken of my English agent--who is a man with a +considerable future before him, unless some complaint of the throat +carries him off before his time. He had charge of all arrangements at +Liverpool, whilst I was stationed at the inn at Kenyon, where I awaited +a cipher signal to act. When the special was arranged for, my agent +instantly telegraphed to me and warned me how soon I should have +everything ready. He himself under the name of Horace Moore applied +immediately for a special also, in the hope that he would be sent down +with Monsieur Caratal, which might under certain circumstances have +been helpful to us. If, for example, our great coup had failed, it +would then have become the duty of my agent to have shot them both and +destroyed their papers. Caratal was on his guard, however, and refused +to admit any other traveller. My agent then left the station, returned +by another entrance, entered the guard's van on the side farthest from +the platform, and travelled down with McPherson the guard. + +"In the meantime you will be interested to know what my movements were. +Everything had been prepared for days before, and only the finishing +touches were needed. The side line which we had chosen had once joined +the main line, but it had been disconnected. We had only to replace a +few rails to connect it once more. These rails had been laid down as +far as could be done without danger of attracting attention, and now it +was merely a case of completing a juncture with the line, and arranging +the points as they had been before. The sleepers had never been +removed, and the rails, fish-plates and rivets were all ready, for we +had taken them from a siding on the abandoned portion of the line. +With my small but competent band of workers, we had everything ready +long before the special arrived. When it did arrive, it ran off upon +the small side line so easily that the jolting of the points appears to +have been entirely unnoticed by the two travellers. + +"Our plan had been that Smith, the stoker, should chloroform John +Slater, the driver, so that he should vanish with the others. In this +respect, and in this respect only, our plans miscarried--I except the +criminal folly of McPherson in writing home to his wife. Our stoker did +his business so clumsily that Slater in his struggles fell off the +engine, and though fortune was with us so far that he broke his neck in +the fall, still he remained as a blot upon that which would otherwise +have been one of those complete masterpieces which are only to be +contemplated in silent admiration. The criminal expert will find in +John Slater the one flaw in all our admirable combinations. A man who +has had as many triumphs as I can afford to be frank, and I therefore +lay my finger upon John Slater, and I proclaim him to be a flaw. + +"But now I have got our special train upon the small line two +kilometres, or rather more than one mile, in length, which leads, or +rather used to lead, to the abandoned Heartsease mine, once one of the +largest coal mines in England. You will ask how it is that no one saw +the train upon this unused line. I answer that along its entire length +it runs through a deep cutting, and that, unless someone had been on +the edge of that cutting, he could not have seen it. There WAS someone +on the edge of that cutting. I was there. And now I will tell you +what I saw. + +"My assistant had remained at the points in order that he might +superintend the switching off of the train. He had four armed men with +him, so that if the train ran off the line--we thought it probable, +because the points were very rusty--we might still have resources to +fall back upon. Having once seen it safely on the side line, he handed +over the responsibility to me. I was waiting at a point which +overlooks the mouth of the mine, and I was also armed, as were my two +companions. Come what might, you see, I was always ready. + +"The moment that the train was fairly on the side line, Smith, the +stoker, slowed-down the engine, and then, having turned it on to the +fullest speed again, he and McPherson, with my English lieutenant, +sprang off before it was too late. It may be that it was this +slowing-down which first attracted the attention of the travellers, but +the train was running at full speed again before their heads appeared +at the open window. It makes me smile to think how bewildered they +must have been. Picture to yourself your own feelings if, on looking +out of your luxurious carriage, you suddenly perceived that the lines +upon which you ran were rusted and corroded, red and yellow with disuse +and decay! What a catch must have come in their breath as in a second +it flashed upon them that it was not Manchester but Death which was +waiting for them at the end of that sinister line. But the train was +running with frantic speed, rolling and rocking over the rotten line, +while the wheels made a frightful screaming sound upon the rusted +surface. I was close to them, and could see their faces. Caratal was +praying, I think--there was something like a rosary dangling out of his +hand. The other roared like a bull who smells the blood of the +slaughter-house. He saw us standing on the bank, and he beckoned to us +like a madman. Then he tore at his wrist and threw his dispatch-box +out of the window in our direction. Of course, his meaning was +obvious. Here was the evidence, and they would promise to be silent if +their lives were spared. It would have been very agreeable if we could +have done so, but business is business. Besides, the train was now as +much beyond our controls as theirs. + +"He ceased howling when the train rattled round the curve and they saw +the black mouth of the mine yawning before them. We had removed the +boards which had covered it, and we had cleared the square entrance. +The rails had formerly run very close to the shaft for the convenience +of loading the coal, and we had only to add two or three lengths of +rail in order to lead to the very brink of the shaft. In fact, as the +lengths would not quite fit, our line projected about three feet over +the edge. We saw the two heads at the window: Caratal below, Gomez +above; but they had both been struck silent by what they saw. And yet +they could not withdraw their heads. The sight seemed to have +paralysed them. + +"I had wondered how the train running at a great speed would take the +pit into which I had guided it, and I was much interested in watching +it. One of my colleagues thought that it would actually jump it, and +indeed it was not very far from doing so. Fortunately, however, it fell +short, and the buffers of the engine struck the other lip of the shaft +with a tremendous crash. The funnel flew off into the air. The +tender, carriages, and van were all smashed up into one jumble, which, +with the remains of the engine, choked for a minute or so the mouth of +the pit. Then something gave way in the middle, and the whole mass of +green iron, smoking coals, brass fittings, wheels, wood-work, and +cushions all crumbled together and crashed down into the mine. We +heard the rattle, rattle, rattle, as the debris struck against the +walls, and then, quite a long time afterwards, there came a deep roar +as the remains of the train struck the bottom. The boiler may have +burst, for a sharp crash came after the roar, and then a dense cloud of +steam and smoke swirled up out of the black depths, falling in a spray +as thick as rain all round us. Then the vapour shredded off into thin +wisps, which floated away in the summer sunshine, and all was quiet +again in the Heartsease mine. + +"And now, having carried out our plans so successfully, it only +remained to leave no trace behind us. Our little band of workers at +the other end had already ripped up the rails and disconnected the side +line, replacing everything as it had been before. We were equally busy +at the mine. The funnel and other fragments were thrown in, the shaft +was planked over as it used to be, and the lines which led to it were +torn up and taken away. Then, without flurry, but without delay, we +all made our way out of the country, most of us to Paris, my English +colleague to Manchester, and McPherson to Southampton, whence he +emigrated to America. Let the English papers of that date tell how +throughly we had done our work, and how completely we had thrown the +cleverest of their detectives off our track. + +"You will remember that Gomez threw his bag of papers out of the +window, and I need not say that I secured that bag and brought them to +my employers. It may interest my employers now, however, to learn that +out of that bag I took one or two little papers as a souvenir of the +occasion. I have no wish to publish these papers; but, still, it is +every man for himself in this world, and what else can I do if my +friends will not come to my aid when I want them? Messieurs, you may +believe that Herbert de Lernac is quite as formidable when he is +against you as when he is with you, and that he is not a man to go to +the guillotine until he has seen that every one of you is en route for +New Caledonia. For your own sake, if not for mine, make haste, +Monsieur de ----, and General ----, and Baron ---- (you can fill up the +blanks for yourselves as you read this). I promise you that in the +next edition there will be no blanks to fill. + +"P.S.--As I look over my statement there is only one omission which I +can see. It concerns the unfortunate man McPherson, who was foolish +enough to write to his wife and to make an appointment with her in New +York. It can be imagined that when interests like ours were at stake, +we could not leave them to the chance of whether a man in that class of +life would or would not give away his secrets to a woman. Having once +broken his oath by writing to his wife, we could not trust him any +more. We took steps therefore to insure that he should not see his +wife. I have sometimes thought that it would be a kindness to write to +her and to assure her that there is no impediment to her marrying +again." + + + +The Beetle-Hunter + +A curious experience? said the Doctor. Yes, my friends, I have had one +very curious experience. I never expect to have another, for it is +against all doctrines of chances that two such events would befall any +one man in a single lifetime. You may believe me or not, but the thing +happened exactly as I tell it. + +I had just become a medical man, but I had not started in practice, and +I lived in rooms in Gower Street. The street has been renumbered since +then, but it was in the only house which has a bow-window, upon the +left-hand side as you go down from the Metropolitan Station. A widow +named Murchison kept the house at that time, and she had three medical +students and one engineer as lodgers. I occupied the top room, which +was the cheapest, but cheap as it was it was more than I could afford. +My small resources were dwindling away, and every week it became more +necessary that I should find something to do. Yet I was very unwilling +to go into general practice, for my tastes were all in the direction of +science, and especially of zoology, towards which I had always a strong +leaning. I had almost given the fight up and resigned myself to being +a medical drudge for life, when the turning-point of my struggles came +in a very extraordinary way. + +One morning I had picked up the Standard and was glancing over its +contents. There was a complete absence of news, and I was about to +toss the paper down again, when my eyes were caught by an advertisement +at the head of the personal column. It was worded in this way: + + +"Wanted for one or more days the services of a medical man. It is +essential that he should be a man of strong physique, of steady nerves, +and of a resolute nature. Must be an entomologist--coleopterist +preferred. Apply, in person, at 77B, Brook Street. Application must be +made before twelve o'clock today." + + +Now, I have already said that I was devoted to zoology. Of all +branches of zoology, the study of insects was the most attractive to +me, and of all insects beetles were the species with which I was most +familiar. Butterfly collectors are numerous, but beetles are far more +varied, and more accessible in these islands than are butterflies. It +was this fact which had attracted my attention to them, and I had +myself made a collection which numbered some hundred varieties. As to +the other requisites of the advertisement, I knew that my nerves could +be depended upon, and I had won the weight-throwing competition at the +inter-hospital sports. Clearly, I was the very man for the vacancy. +Within five minutes of my having read the advertisement I was in a cab +and on my was to Brook Street. + +As I drove, I kept turning the matter over in my head and trying to +make a guess as to what sort of employment it could be which needed +such curious qualifications. A strong physique, a resolute nature, a +medical training, and a knowledge of beetles--what connection could +there be between these various requisites? And then there was the +disheartening fact that the situation was not a permanent one, but +terminable from day to day, according to the terms of the +advertisement. The more I pondered over it the more unintelligible did +it become; but at the end of my meditations I always came back to the +ground fact that, come what might, I had nothing to lose, that I was +completely at the end of my resources, and that I was ready for any +adventure, however desperate, which would put a few honest sovereigns +into my pocket. The man fears to fail who has to pay for his failure, +but there was no penalty which Fortune could exact from me. I was like +the gambler with empty pockets, who is still allowed to try his luck +with the others. + +No. 77B, Brook Street, was one of those dingy and yet imposing houses, +dun-coloured and flat-faced, with the intensely respectable and solid +air which marks the Georgian builder. As I alighted from the cab, a +young man came out of the door and walked swiftly down the street. In +passing me, I noticed that he cast an inquisitive and somewhat +malevolent glance at me, and I took the incident as a good omen, for +his appearance was that of a rejected candidate, and if he resented my +application it meant that the vacancy was not yet filled up. Full of +hope, I ascended the broad steps and rapped with the heavy knocker. + +A footman in powder and livery opened the door. Clearly I was in touch +with the people of wealth and fashion. + + +"Yes, sir?" said the footman. + +"I came in answer to----" + +"Quite so, sir," said the footman. "Lord Linchmere will see you at +once in the library." + +Lord Linchmere! I had vaguely heard the name, but could not for the +instant recall anything about him. Following the footman, I was shown +into a large, book-lined room in which there was seated behind a +writing-desk a small man with a pleasant, clean-shaven, mobile face, +and long hair shot with grey, brushed back from his forehead. He +looked me up and down with a very shrewd, penetrating glance, holding +the card which the footman had given him in his right hand. Then he +smiled pleasantly, and I felt that externally at any rate I possessed +the qualifications which he desired. + +"You have come in answer to my advertisement, Dr. Hamilton?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Do you fulfil the conditions which are there laid down?" + +"I believe that I do." + +"You are a powerful man, or so I should judge from your appearance. + +"I think that I am fairly strong." + +"And resolute?" + +"I believe so." + +"Have you ever known what it was to be exposed to imminent danger?" + +"No, I don't know that I ever have." + +"But you think you would be prompt and cool at such a time?" + +"I hope so." + +"Well, I believe that you would. I have the more confidence in you +because you do not pretend to be certain as to what you would do in a +position that was new to you. My impression is that, so far as +personal qualities go, you are the very man of whom I am in search. +That being settled, we may pass on to the next point." + +"Which is?" + +"To talk to me about beetles." + +I looked across to see if he was joking, but, on the contrary, he was +leaning eagerly forward across his desk, and there was an expression of +something like anxiety in his eyes. + +"I am afraid that you do not know about beetles," he cried. + +"On the contrary, sir, it is the one scientific subject about which I +feel that I really do know something." + +"I am overjoyed to hear it. Please talk to me about beetles." + +I talked. I do not profess to have said anything original upon the +subject, but I gave a short sketch of the characteristics of the +beetle, and ran over the more common species, with some allusions to +the specimens in my own little collection and to the article upon +"Burying Beetles" which I had contributed to the Journal of +Entomological Science. + +"What! not a collector?" cried Lord Linchmere. "You don't mean that +you are yourself a collector?" His eyes danced with pleasure at the +thought. + +"You are certainly the very man in London for my purpose. I thought +that among five millions of people there must be such a man, but the +difficulty is to lay one's hands upon him. I have been extraordinarily +fortunate in finding you." + +He rang a gong upon the table, and the footman entered. + +"Ask Lady Rossiter to have the goodness to step this way," said his +lordship, and a few moments later the lady was ushered into the room. +She was a small, middle-aged woman, very like Lord Linchmere in +appearance, with the same quick, alert features and grey-black hair. +The expression of anxiety, however, which I had observed upon his face +was very much more marked upon hers. Some great grief seemed to have +cast its shadow over her features. As Lord Linchmere presented me she +turned her face full upon me, and I was shocked to observe a +half-healed scar extending for two inches over her right eyebrow. It +was partly concealed by plaster, but none the less I could see that it +had been a serious wound and not long inflicted. + +"Dr. Hamilton is the very man for our purpose, Evelyn," said Lord +Linchmere. "He is actually a collector of beetles, and he has written +articles upon the subject." + +"Really!" said Lady Rossiter. "Then you must have heard of my husband. +Everyone who knows anything about beetles must have heard of Sir Thomas +Rossiter." + +For the first time a thin little ray of light began to break into the +obscure business. Here, at last, was a connection between these people +and beetles. Sir Thomas Rossiter--he was the greatest authority upon +the subject in the world. He had made it his lifelong study, and had +written a most exhaustive work upon it. I hastened to assure her that +I had read and appreciated it. + +"Have you met my husband?" she asked. + +"No, I have not." + +"But you shall," said Lord Linchmere, with decision. + +The lady was standing beside the desk, and she put her hand upon his +shoulder. It was obvious to me as I saw their faces together that they +were brother and sister. + +"Are you really prepared for this, Charles? It is noble of you, but +you fill me with fears." Her voice quavered with apprehension, and he +appeared to me to be equally moved, though he was making strong efforts +to conceal his agitation. + +"Yes, yes, dear; it is all settled, it is all decided; in fact, there +is no other possible way, that I can see." + +"There is one obvious way." + +"No, no, Evelyn, I shall never abandon you--never. It will come +right--depend upon it; it will come right, and surely it looks like the +interference of Providence that so perfect an instrument should be put +into our hands." + +My position was embarrassing, for I felt that for the instant they had +forgotten my presence. But Lord Linchmere came back suddenly to me and +to my engagement. + +"The business for which I want you, Dr. Hamilton, is that you should +put yourself absolutely at my disposal. I wish you to come for a short +journey with me, to remain always at my side, and to promise to do +without question whatever I may ask you, however unreasonable it may +appear to you to be." + +"That is a good deal to ask," said I. + +"Unfortunately I cannot put it more plainly, for I do not myself know +what turn matters may take. You may be sure, however, that you will +not be asked to do anything which your conscience does not approve; and +I promise you that, when all is over, you will be proud to have been +concerned in so good a work." + +"If it ends happily," said the lady. + +"Exactly; if it ends happily," his lordship repeated. + +"And terms?" I asked. + +"Twenty pounds a day." + +I was amazed at the sum, and must have showed my surprise upon my +features. + +"It is a rare combination of qualities, as must have struck you when +you first read the advertisement," said Lord Linchmere; "such varied +gifts may well command a high return, and I do not conceal from you +that your duties might be arduous or even dangerous. Besides, it is +possible that one or two days may bring the matter to an end." + +"Please God!" sighed his sister. + +"So now, Dr. Hamilton, may I rely upon your aid?" + +"Most undoubtedly," said I. "You have only to tell me what my duties +are." + +"Your first duty will be to return to your home. You will pack up +whatever you may need for a short visit to the country. We start +together from Paddington Station at 3:40 this afternoon." + +"Do we go far?" + +"As far as Pangbourne. Meet me at the bookstall at 3:30. I shall have +the tickets. Goodbye, Dr. Hamilton! And, by the way, there are two +things which I should be very glad if you would bring with you, in case +you have them. One is your case for collecting beetles, and the other +is a stick, and the thicker and heavier the better." + + +You may imagine that I had plenty to think of from the time that I left +Brook Street until I set out to meet Lord Linchmere at Paddington. The +whole fantastic business kept arranging and rearranging itself in +kaleidoscopic forms inside my brain, until I had thought out a dozen +explanations, each of them more grotesquely improbable than the last. +And yet I felt that the truth must be something grotesquely improbable +also. At last I gave up all attempts at finding a solution, and +contented myself with exactly carrying out the instructions which I had +received. With a hand valise, specimen-case, and a loaded cane, I was +waiting at the Paddington bookstall when Lord Linchmere arrived. He +was an even smaller man than I had thought--frail and peaky, with a +manner which was more nervous than it had been in the morning. He wore +a long, thick travelling ulster, and I observed that he carried a heavy +blackthorn cudgel in his hand. + +"I have the tickets," said he, leading the way up the platform. + +"This is our train. I have engaged a carriage, for I am particularly +anxious to impress one or two things upon you while we travel down." + +And yet all that he had to impress upon me might have been said in a +sentence, for it was that I was to remember that I was there as a +protection to himself, and that I was not on any consideration to leave +him for an instant. This he repeated again and again as our journey +drew to a close, with an insistence which showed that his nerves were +thoroughly shaken. + +"Yes," he said at last, in answer to my looks rather than to my words, +"I AM nervous, Dr. Hamilton. I have always been a timid man, and my +timidity depends upon my frail physical health. But my soul is firm, +and I can bring myself up to face a danger which a less-nervous man +might shrink from. What I am doing now is done from no compulsion, but +entirely from a sense of duty, and yet it is, beyond doubt, a desperate +risk. If things should go wrong, I will have some claims to the title +of martyr." + +This eternal reading of riddles was too much for me. I felt that I +must put a term to it. + +"I think it would very much better, sir, if you were to trust me +entirely," said I. "It is impossible for me to act effectively, when I +do not know what are the objects which we have in view, or even where +we are going." + +"Oh, as to where we are going, there need be no mystery about that," +said he; "we are going to Delamere Court, the residence of Sir Thomas +Rossiter, with whose work you are so conversant. As to the exact +object of our visit, I do not know that at this stage of the +proceedings anything would be gained, Dr. Hamilton, by taking you into +my complete confidence. I may tell you that we are acting--I say 'we,' +because my sister, Lady Rossiter, takes the same view as myself--with +the one object of preventing anything in the nature of a family +scandal. That being so, you can understand that I am loath to give any +explanations which are not absolutely necessary. It would be a +different matter, Dr. Hamilton, if I were asking your advice. As +matters stand, it is only your active help which I need, and I will +indicate to you from time to time how you can best give it." + +There was nothing more to be said, and a poor man can put up with a +good deal for twenty pounds a day, but I felt none the less that Lord +Linchmere was acting rather scurvily towards me. He wished to convert +me into a passive tool, like the blackthorn in his hand. With his +sensitive disposition I could imagine, however, that scandal would be +abhorrent to him, and I realized that he would not take me into his +confidence until no other course was open to him. I must trust to my +own eyes and ears to solve the mystery, but I had every confidence that +I should not trust to them in vain. + +Delamere Court lies a good five miles from Pangbourne Station, and we +drove for that distance in an open fly. Lord Linchmere sat in deep +thought during the time, and he never opened his mouth until we were +close to our destination. When he did speak it was to give me a piece +of information which surprised me. + +"Perhaps you are not aware," said he, "that I am a medical man like +yourself?" + +"No, sir, I did not know it." + +"Yes, I qualified in my younger days, when there were several lives +between me and the peerage. I have not had occasion to practise, but I +have found it a useful education, all the same. I never regretted the +years which I devoted to medical study. These are the gates of +Delamere Court." + +We had come to two high pillars crowned with heraldic monsters which +flanked the opening of a winding avenue. Over the laurel bushes and +rhododendrons, I could see a long, many-gabled mansion, girdled with +ivy, and toned to the warm, cheery, mellow glow of old brick-work. My +eyes were still fixed in admiration upon this delightful house when my +companion plucked nervously at my sleeve. + +"Here's Sir Thomas," he whispered. "Please talk beetle all you can." + +A tall, thin figure, curiously angular and bony, had emerged through a +gap in the hedge of laurels. In his hand he held a spud, and he wore +gauntleted gardener's gloves. A broad-brimmed, grey hat cast his face +into shadow, but it struck me as exceedingly austere, with an +ill-nourished beard and harsh, irregular features. The fly pulled up +and Lord Linchmere sprang out. + +"My dear Thomas, how are you?" said he, heartily. + +But the heartiness was by no means reciprocal. The owner of the +grounds glared at me over his brother-in-law's shoulder, and I caught +broken scraps of sentences--"well-known wishes ... hatred of +strangers ... unjustifiable intrusion ... perfectly inexcusable." +Then there was a muttered explanation, and the two of them came over +together to the side of the fly. + +"Let me present you to Sir Thomas Rossiter, Dr. Hamilton," said Lord +Linchmere. "You will find that you have a strong community of tastes." + +I bowed. Sir Thomas stood very stiffly, looking at me severely from +under the broad brim of his hat. + +"Lord Linchmere tells me that you know something about beetles," said +he. "What do you know about beetles?" + +"I know what I have learned from your work upon the coleoptera, Sir +Thomas," I answered. + +"Give me the names of the better-known species of the British +scarabaei," said he. + +I had not expected an examination, but fortunately I was ready for one. +My answers seemed to please him, for his stern features relaxed. + +"You appear to have read my book with some profit, sir," said he. "It +is a rare thing for me to meet anyone who takes an intelligent interest +in such matters. People can find time for such trivialities as sport +or society, and yet the beetles are overlooked. I can assure you that +the greater part of the idiots in this part of the country are unaware +that I have ever written a book at all--I, the first man who ever +described the true function of the elytra. I am glad to see you, sir, +and I have no doubt that I can show you some specimens which will +interest you." He stepped into the fly and drove up with us to the +house, expounding to me as we went some recent researches which he had +made into the anatomy of the lady-bird. + +I have said that Sir Thomas Rossiter wore a large hat drawn down over +his brows. As he entered the hall he uncovered himself, and I was at +once aware of a singular characteristic which the hat had concealed. +His forehead, which was naturally high, and higher still on account of +receding hair, was in a continual state of movement. Some nervous +weakness kept the muscles in a constant spasm, which sometimes produced +a mere twitching and sometimes a curious rotary movement unlike +anything which I had ever seen before. It was strikingly visible as he +turned towards us after entering the study, and seemed the more +singular from the contrast with the hard, steady, grey eyes which +looked out from underneath those palpitating brows. + +"I am sorry," said he, "that Lady Rossiter is not here to help me to +welcome you. By the way, Charles, did Evelyn say anything about the +date of her return?" + +"She wished to stay in town for a few more days," said Lord Linchmere. +"You know how ladies' social duties accumulate if they have been for +some time in the country. My sister has many old friends in London at +present." + +"Well, she is her own mistress, and I should not wish to alter her +plans, but I shall be glad when I see her again. It is very lonely +here without her company." + +"I was afraid that you might find it so, and that was partly why I ran +down. My young friend, Dr. Hamilton, is so much interested in the +subject which you have made your own, that I thought you would not mind +his accompanying me." + +"I lead a retired life, Dr. Hamilton, and my aversion to strangers +grows upon me," said our host. "I have sometimes thought that my +nerves are not so good as they were. My travels in search of beetles +in my younger days took me into many malarious and unhealthy places. +But a brother coleopterist like yourself is always a welcome guest, and +I shall be delighted if you will look over my collection, which I think +that I may without exaggeration describe as the best in Europe." + +And so no doubt it was. He had a huge, oaken cabinet arranged in +shallow drawers, and here, neatly ticketed and classified, were beetles +from every corner of the earth, black, brown, blue, green, and mottled. +Every now and then as he swept his hand over the lines and lines of +impaled insects he would catch up some rare specimen, and, handling it +with as much delicacy and reverence as if it were a precious relic, he +would hold forth upon its peculiarities and the circumstances under +which it came into his possession. It was evidently an unusual thing +for him to meet with a sympathetic listener, and he talked and talked +until the spring evening had deepened into night, and the gong +announced that it was time to dress for dinner. All the time Lord +Linchmere said nothing, but he stood at his brother-in-law's elbow, and +I caught him continually shooting curious little, questioning glances +into his face. And his own features expressed some strong emotion, +apprehension, sympathy, expectation: I seemed to read them all. I was +sure that Lord Linchmere was fearing something and awaiting something, +but what that something might be I could not imagine. + +The evening passed quietly but pleasantly, and I should have been +entirely at my ease if it had not been for that continual sense of +tension upon the part of Lord Linchmere. As to our host, I found that +he improved upon acquaintance. He spoke constantly with affection of +his absent wife, and also of his little son, who had recently been sent +to school. The house, he said, was not the same without them. If it +were not for his scientific studies, he did not know how he could get +through the days. After dinner we smoked for some time in the +billiard-room, and finally went early to bed. + +And then it was that, for the first time, the suspicion that Lord +Linchmere was a lunatic crossed my mind. He followed me into my +bedroom, when our host had retired. + +"Doctor," said he, speaking in a low, hurried voice, "you must come +with me. You must spend the night in my bedroom." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I prefer not to explain. But this is part of your duties. My room is +close by, and you can return to your own before the servant calls you +in the morning." + +"But why?" I asked. + +"Because I am nervous of being alone," said he. "That's the reason, +since you must have a reason." + +It seemed rank lunacy, but the argument of those twenty pounds would +overcome many objections. I followed him to his room. + +"Well," said I, "there's only room for one in that bed." + +"Only one shall occupy it," said he. + +"And the other?" + +"Must remain on watch." + +"Why?" said I. "One would think you expected to be attacked." + +"Perhaps I do." + +"In that case, why not lock your door?" + +"Perhaps I WANT to be attacked." + +It looked more and more like lunacy. However, there was nothing for it +but to submit. I shrugged my shoulders and sat down in the arm-chair +beside the empty fireplace. + +"I am to remain on watch, then?" said I, ruefully. + +"We will divide the night. If you will watch until two, I will watch +the remainder." + +"Very good." + +"Call me at two o'clock, then." + +"I will do so." + +"Keep your ears open, and if you hear any sounds wake me +instantly--instantly, you hear?" + +"You can rely upon it." I tried to look as solemn as he did. + +"And for God's sake don't go to sleep," said he, and so, taking off +only his coat, he threw the coverlet over him and settled down for the +night. + +It was a melancholy vigil, and made more so by my own sense of its +folly. Supposing that by any chance Lord Linchmere had cause to +suspect that he was subject to danger in the house of Sir Thomas +Rossiter, why on earth could he not lock his door and so protect +himself? His own answer that he might wish to be attacked was absurd. +Why should he possibly wish to be attacked? And who would wish to +attack him? Clearly, Lord Linchmere was suffering from some singular +delusion, and the result was that on an imbecile pretext I was to be +deprived of my night's rest. Still, however absurd, I was determined +to carry out his injunctions to the letter as long as I was in his +employment. I sat, therefore, beside the empty fireplace, and listened +to a sonorous chiming clock somewhere down the passage which gurgled +and struck every quarter of an hour. It was an endless vigil. Save for +that single clock, an absolute silence reigned throughout the great +house. A small lamp stood on the table at my elbow, throwing a circle +of light round my chair, but leaving the corners of the room draped in +shadow. On the bed Lord Linchmere was breathing peacefully. I envied +him his quiet sleep, and again and again my own eyelids drooped, but +every time my sense of duty came to my help, and I sat up, rubbing my +eyes and pinching myself with a determination to see my irrational +watch to an end. + +And I did so. From down the passage came the chimes of two o'clock, +and I laid my hand upon the shoulder of the sleeper. Instantly he was +sitting up, with an expression of the keenest interest upon his face. + +"You have heard something?" + +"No, sir. It is two o'clock." + +"Very good. I will watch. You can go to sleep." + +I lay down under the coverlet as he had done and was soon unconscious. +My last recollection was of that circle of lamplight, and of the small, +hunched-up figure and strained, anxious face of Lord Linchmere in the +centre of it. + +How long I slept I do not know; but I was suddenly aroused by a sharp +tug at my sleeve. The room was in darkness, but a hot smell of oil +told me that the lamp had only that instant been extinguished. + +"Quick! Quick!" said Lord Linchmere's voice in my ear. + +I sprang out of bed, he still dragging at my arm. + +"Over here!" he whispered, and pulled me into a corner of the room. +"Hush! Listen!" + +In the silence of the night I could distinctly hear that someone was +coming down the corridor. It was a stealthy step, faint and +intermittent, as of a man who paused cautiously after every stride. +Sometimes for half a minute there was no sound, and then came the +shuffle and creak which told of a fresh advance. My companion was +trembling with excitement. His hand, which still held my sleeve, +twitched like a branch in the wind. + +"What is it?" I whispered. + +"It's he!" + +"Sir Thomas?" + +"Yes." + +"What does he want?" + +"Hush! Do nothing until I tell you." + +I was conscious now that someone was trying the door. There was the +faintest little rattle from the handle, and then I dimly saw a thin +slit of subdued light. There was a lamp burning somewhere far down the +passage, and it just sufficed to make the outside visible from the +darkness of our room. The greyish slit grew broader and broader, very +gradually, very gently, and then outlined against it I saw the dark +figure of a man. He was squat and crouching, with the silhouette of a +bulky and misshapen dwarf. Slowly the door swung open with this ominous +shape framed in the centre of it. And then, in an instant, the +crouching figure shot up, there was a tiger spring across the room and +thud, thud, thud, came three tremendous blows from some heavy object +upon the bed. + +I was so paralysed with amazement that I stood motionless and staring +until I was aroused by a yell for help from my companion. The open door +shed enough light for me to see the outline of things, and there was +little Lord Linchmere with his arms round the neck of his +brother-in-law, holding bravely on to him like a game bull-terrier with +its teeth into a gaunt deerhound. The tall, bony man dashed himself +about, writhing round and round to get a grip upon his assailant; but +the other, clutching on from behind, still kept his hold, though his +shrill, frightened cries showed how unequal he felt the contest to be. +I sprang to the rescue, and the two of us managed to throw Sir Thomas +to the ground, though he made his teeth meet in my shoulder. With all +my youth and weight and strength, it was a desperate struggle before we +could master his frenzied struggles; but at last we secured his arms +with the waist-cord of the dressing-gown which he was wearing. I was +holding his legs while Lord Linchmere was endeavouring to relight the +lamp, when there came the pattering of many feet in the passage, and +the butler and two footmen, who had been alarmed by the cries, rushed +into the room. With their aid we had no further difficulty in securing +our prisoner, who lay foaming and glaring upon the ground. One glance +at his face was enough to prove that he was a dangerous maniac, while +the short, heavy hammer which lay beside the bed showed how murderous +had been his intentions. + +"Do not use any violence!" said Lord Linchmere, as we raised the +struggling man to his feet. "He will have a period of stupor after +this excitement. I believe that it is coming on already." As he spoke +the convulsions became less violent, and the madman's head fell forward +upon his breast, as if he were overcome by sleep. We led him down the +passage and stretched him upon his own bed, where he lay unconscious, +breathing heavily. + +"Two of you will watch him," said Lord Linchmere. "And now, Dr. +Hamilton, if you will return with me to my room, I will give you the +explanation which my horror of scandal has perhaps caused me to delay +too long. Come what may, you will never have cause to regret your +share in this night's work. + +"The case may be made clear in a very few words," he continued, when we +were alone. "My poor brother-in-law is one of the best fellows upon +earth, a loving husband and an estimable father, but he comes from a +stock which is deeply tainted with insanity. He has more than once had +homicidal outbreaks, which are the more painful because his inclination +is always to attack the very person to whom he is most attached. His +son was sent away to school to avoid this danger, and then came an +attempt upon my sister, his wife, from which she escaped with injuries +that you may have observed when you met her in London. You understand +that he knows nothing of the matter when he is in his sound senses, and +would ridicule the suggestion that he could under any circumstances +injure those whom he loves so dearly. It is often, as you know, a +characteristic of such maladies that it is absolutely impossible to +convince the man who suffers from them of their existence. + +"Our great object was, of course, to get him under restraint before he +could stain his hands with blood, but the matter was full of +difficulty. He is a recluse in his habits, and would not see any +medical man. Besides, it was necessary for our purpose that the +medical man should convince himself of his insanity; and he is sane as +you or I, save on these very rare occasions. But, fortunately, before +he has these attacks he always shows certain premonitory symptoms, +which are providential danger-signals, warning us to be upon our guard. +The chief of these is that nervous contortion of the forehead which you +must have observed. This is a phenomenon which always appears from +three to four days before his attacks of frenzy. The moment it showed +itself his wife came into town on some pretext, and took refuge in my +house in Brook Street. + +"It remained for me to convince a medical man of Sir Thomas's insanity, +without which it was impossible to put him where he could do no harm. +The first problem was how to get a medical man into his house. I +bethought me of his interest in beetles, and his love for anyone who +shared his tastes. I advertised, therefore, and was fortunate enough +to find in you the very man I wanted. A stout companion was necessary, +for I knew that the lunacy could only be proved by a murderous assault, +and I had every reason to believe that that assault would be made upon +myself, since he had the warmest regard for me in his moments of +sanity. I think your intelligence will supply all the rest. I did not +know that the attack would come by night, but I thought it very +probable, for the crises of such cases usually do occur in the early +hours of the morning. I am a very nervous man myself, but I saw no +other way in which I could remove this terrible danger from my sister's +life. I need not ask you whether you are willing to sign the lunacy +papers." + +"Undoubtedly. But TWO signatures are necessary." + +"You forget that I am myself a holder of a medical degree. I have the +papers on a side-table here, so if you will be good enough to sign them +now, we can have the patient removed in the morning." + + +So that was my visit to Sir Thomas Rossiter, the famous beetle-hunter, +and that was also my first step upon the ladder of success, for Lady +Rossiter and Lord Linchmere have proved to be staunch friends, and they +have never forgotten my association with them in the time of their +need. Sir Thomas is out and said to be cured, but I still think that +if I spent another night at Delamere Court, I should be inclined to +lock my door upon the inside. + + + +The Man with the Watches + +There are many who will still bear in mind the singular circumstances +which, under the heading of the Rugby Mystery, filled many columns of +the daily Press in the spring of the year 1892. Coming as it did at a +period of exceptional dullness, it attracted perhaps rather more +attention than it deserved, but it offered to the public that mixture +of the whimsical and the tragic which is most stimulating to the +popular imagination. Interest drooped, however, when, after weeks of +fruitless investigation, it was found that no final explanation of the +facts was forthcoming, and the tragedy seemed from that time to the +present to have finally taken its place in the dark catalogue of +inexplicable and unexpiated crimes. A recent communication (the +authenticity of which appears to be above question) has, however, +thrown some new and clear light upon the matter. Before laying it +before the public it would be as well, perhaps, that I should refresh +their memories as to the singular facts upon which this commentary is +founded. These facts were briefly as follows: + +At five o'clock on the evening of the 18th of March in the year already +mentioned a train left Euston Station for Manchester. It was a rainy, +squally day, which grew wilder as it progressed, so it was by no means +the weather in which anyone would travel who was not driven to do so by +necessity. The train, however, is a favourite one among Manchester +business men who are returning from town, for it does the journey in +four hours and twenty minutes, with only three stoppages upon the way. +In spite of the inclement evening it was, therefore, fairly well filled +upon the occasion of which I speak. The guard of the train was a tried +servant of the company--a man who had worked for twenty-two years +without a blemish or complaint. His name was John Palmer. + +The station clock was upon the stroke of five, and the guard was about +to give the customary signal to the engine-driver when he observed two +belated passengers hurrying down the platform. The one was an +exceptionally tall man, dressed in a long black overcoat with astrakhan +collar and cuffs. I have already said that the evening was an +inclement one, and the tall traveller had the high, warm collar turned +up to protect his throat against the bitter March wind. He appeared, +as far as the guard could judge by so hurried an inspection, to be a +man between fifty and sixty years of age, who had retained a good deal +of the vigour and activity of his youth. In one hand he carried a +brown leather Gladstone bag. His companion was a lady, tall and erect, +walking with a vigorous step which outpaced the gentleman beside her. +She wore a long, fawn-coloured dust-cloak, a black, close-fitting +toque, and a dark veil which concealed the greater part of her face. +The two might very well have passed as father and daughter. They +walked swiftly down the line of carriages, glancing in at the windows, +until the guard, John Palmer, overtook them. + +"Now then, sir, look sharp, the train is going," said he. + +"First-class," the man answered. + +The guard turned the handle of the nearest door. In the carriage which +he had opened, there sat a small man with a cigar in his mouth. His +appearance seems to have impressed itself upon the guard's memory, for +he was prepared, afterwards, to describe or to identify him. He was a +man of thirty-four or thirty-five years of age, dressed in some grey +material, sharp-nosed, alert, with a ruddy, weather-beaten face, and a +small, closely cropped, black beard. He glanced up as the door was +opened. The tall man paused with his foot upon the step. + +"This is a smoking compartment. The lady dislikes smoke," said he, +looking round at the guard. + +"All right! Here you are, sir!" said John Palmer. He slammed the door +of the smoking carriage, opened that of the next one, which was empty, +and thrust the two travellers in. At the same moment he sounded his +whistle and the wheels of the train began to move. The man with the +cigar was at the window of his carriage, and said something to the +guard as he rolled past him, but the words were lost in the bustle of +the departure. Palmer stepped into the guard's van, as it came up to +him, and thought no more of the incident. + +Twelve minutes after its departure the train reached Willesden +Junction, where it stopped for a very short interval. An examination +of the tickets has made it certain that no one either joined or left it +at this time, and no passenger was seen to alight upon the platform. +At 5:14 the journey to Manchester was resumed, and Rugby was reached at +6:50, the express being five minutes late. + +At Rugby the attention of the station officials was drawn to the fact +that the door of one of the first-class carriages was open. An +examination of that compartment, and of its neighbour, disclosed a +remarkable state of affairs. + +The smoking carriage in which the short, red-faced man with the black +beard had been seen was now empty. Save for a half-smoked cigar, there +was no trace whatever of its recent occupant. The door of this +carriage was fastened. In the next compartment, to which attention had +been originally drawn, there was no sign either of the gentleman with +the astrakhan collar or of the young lady who accompanied him. All +three passengers had disappeared. On the other hand, there was found +upon the floor of this carriage--the one in which the tall traveller +and the lady had been--a young man fashionably dressed and of elegant +appearance. He lay with his knees drawn up, and his head resting +against the farther door, an elbow upon either seat. A bullet had +penetrated his heart and his death must have been instantaneous. No +one had seen such a man enter the train, and no railway ticket was +found in his pocket, neither were there any markings upon his linen, +nor papers nor personal property which might help to identify him. Who +he was, whence he had come, and how he had met his end were each as +great a mystery as what had occurred to the three people who had +started an hour and a half before from Willesden in those two +compartments. + +I have said that there was no personal property which might help to +identify him, but it is true that there was one peculiarity about this +unknown young man which was much commented upon at the time. In his +pockets were found no fewer than six valuable gold watches, three in +the various pockets of his waist-coat, one in his ticket-pocket, one in +his breast-pocket, and one small one set in a leather strap and +fastened round his left wrist. The obvious explanation that the man +was a pickpocket, and that this was his plunder, was discounted by the +fact that all six were of American make and of a type which is rare in +England. Three of them bore the mark of the Rochester Watchmaking +Company; one was by Mason, of Elmira; one was unmarked; and the small +one, which was highly jewelled and ornamented, was from Tiffany, of New +York. The other contents of his pocket consisted of an ivory knife +with a corkscrew by Rodgers, of Sheffield; a small, circular mirror, +one inch in diameter; a readmission slip to the Lyceum Theatre; a +silver box full of vesta matches, and a brown leather cigar-case +containing two cheroots--also two pounds fourteen shillings in money. +It was clear, then, that whatever motives may have led to his death, +robbery was not among them. As already mentioned, there were no +markings upon the man's linen, which appeared to be new, and no +tailor's name upon his coat. In appearance he was young, short, +smooth-cheeked, and delicately featured. One of his front teeth was +conspicuously stopped with gold. + +On the discovery of the tragedy an examination was instantly made of +the tickets of all passengers, and the number of the passengers +themselves was counted. It was found that only three tickets were +unaccounted for, corresponding to the three travellers who were +missing. The express was then allowed to proceed, but a new guard was +sent with it, and John Palmer was detained as a witness at Rugby. The +carriage which included the two compartments in question was uncoupled +and side-tracked. Then, on the arrival of Inspector Vane, of Scotland +Yard, and of Mr. Henderson, a detective in the service of the railway +company, an exhaustive inquiry was made into all the circumstances. + +That crime had been committed was certain. The bullet, which appeared +to have come from a small pistol or revolver, had been fired from some +little distance, as there was no scorching of the clothes. No weapon +was found in the compartment (which finally disposed of the theory of +suicide), nor was there any sign of the brown leather bag which the +guard had seen in the hand of the tall gentleman. A lady's parasol was +found upon the rack, but no other trace was to be seen of the +travellers in either of the sections. Apart from the crime, the +question of how or why three passengers (one of them a lady) could get +out of the train, and one other get in during the unbroken run between +Willesden and Rugby, was one which excited the utmost curiosity among +the general public, and gave rise to much speculation in the London +Press. + +John Palmer, the guard was able at the inquest to give some evidence +which threw a little light upon the matter. There was a spot between +Tring and Cheddington, according to his statement, where, on account of +some repairs to the line, the train had for a few minutes slowed down +to a pace not exceeding eight or ten miles an hour. At that place it +might be possible for a man, or even for an exceptionally active woman, +to have left the train without serious injury. It was true that a gang +of platelayers was there, and that they had seen nothing, but it was +their custom to stand in the middle between the metals, and the open +carriage door was upon the far side, so that it was conceivable that +someone might have alighted unseen, as the darkness would by that time +be drawing in. A steep embankment would instantly screen anyone who +sprang out from the observation of the navvies. + +The guard also deposed that there was a good deal of movement upon the +platform at Willesden Junction, and that though it was certain that no +one had either joined or left the train there, it was still quite +possible that some of the passengers might have changed unseen from one +compartment to another. It was by no means uncommon for a gentleman to +finish his cigar in a smoking carriage and then to change to a clearer +atmosphere. Supposing that the man with the black beard had done so at +Willesden (and the half-smoked cigar upon the floor seemed to favour +the supposition), he would naturally go into the nearest section, which +would bring him into the company of the two other actors in this drama. +Thus the first stage of the affair might be surmised without any great +breach of probability. But what the second stage had been, or how the +final one had been arrived at, neither the guard nor the experienced +detective officers could suggest. + +A careful examination of the line between Willesden and Rugby resulted +in one discovery which might or might not have a bearing upon the +tragedy. Near Tring, at the very place where the train slowed down, +there was found at the bottom of the embankment a small pocket +Testament, very shabby and worn. It was printed by the Bible Society +of London, and bore an inscription: "From John to Alice. Jan. 13th, +1856," upon the fly-leaf. Underneath was written: "James. July 4th, +1859," and beneath that again: "Edward. Nov. 1st, 1869," all the +entries being in the same handwriting. This was the only clue, if it +could be called a clue, which the police obtained, and the coroner's +verdict of "Murder by a person or persons unknown" was the +unsatisfactory ending of a singular case. Advertisement, rewards, and +inquiries proved equally fruitless, and nothing could be found which +was solid enough to form the basis for a profitable investigation. + +It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that no theories were formed +to account for the facts. On the contrary, the Press, both in England +and in America, teemed with suggestions and suppositions, most of which +were obviously absurd. The fact that the watches were of American +make, and some peculiarities in connection with the gold stopping of +his front tooth, appeared to indicate that the deceased was a citizen +of the United States, though his linen, clothes and boots were +undoubtedly of British manufacture. It was surmised, by some, that he +was concealed under the seat, and that, being discovered, he was for +some reason, possibly because he had overheard their guilty secrets, +put to death by his fellow-passengers. When coupled with generalities +as to the ferocity and cunning of anarchical and other secret +societies, this theory sounded as plausible as any. + +The fact that he should be without a ticket would be consistent with +the idea of concealment, and it was well known that women played a +prominent part in the Nihilistic propaganda. On the other hand, it was +clear, from the guard's statement, that the man must have been hidden +there BEFORE the others arrived, and how unlikely the coincidence that +conspirators should stray exactly into the very compartment in which a +spy was already concealed! Besides, this explanation ignored the man in +the smoking carriage, and gave no reason at all for his simultaneous +disappearance. The police had little difficulty in showing that such a +theory would not cover the facts, but they were unprepared in the +absence of evidence to advance any alternative explanation. + +There was a letter in the Daily Gazette, over the signature of a +well-known criminal investigator, which gave rise to considerable +discussion at the time. He had formed a hypothesis which had at least +ingenuity to recommend it, and I cannot do better than append it in his +own words. + +"Whatever may be the truth," said he, "it must depend upon some bizarre +and rare combination of events, so we need have no hesitation in +postulating such events in our explanation. In the absence of data we +must abandon the analytic or scientific method of investigation, and +must approach it in the synthetic fashion. In a word, instead of taking +known events and deducing from them what has occurred, we must build up +a fanciful explanation if it will only be consistent with known events. +We can then test this explanation by any fresh facts which may arise. +If they all fit into their places, the probability is that we are upon +the right track, and with each fresh fact this probability increases in +a geometrical progression until the evidence becomes final and +convincing. + +"Now, there is one most remarkable and suggestive fact which has not +met with the attention which it deserves. There is a local train +running through Harrow and King's Langley, which is timed in such a way +that the express must have overtaken it at or about the period when it +eased down its speed to eight miles an hour on account of the repairs +of the line. The two trains would at that time be travelling in the +same direction at a similar rate of speed and upon parallel lines. It +is within every one's experience how, under such circumstances, the +occupant of each carriage can see very plainly the passengers in the +other carriages opposite to him. The lamps of the express had been lit +at Willesden, so that each compartment was brightly illuminated, and +most visible to an observer from outside. + +"Now, the sequence of events as I reconstruct them would be after this +fashion. This young man with the abnormal number of watches was alone +in the carriage of the slow train. His ticket, with his papers and +gloves and other things, was, we will suppose, on the seat beside him. +He was probably an American, and also probably a man of weak intellect. +The excessive wearing of jewellery is an early symptom in some forms of +mania. + +"As he sat watching the carriages of the express which were (on account +of the state of the line) going at the same pace as himself, he +suddenly saw some people in it whom he knew. We will suppose for the +sake of our theory that these people were a woman whom he loved and a +man whom he hated--and who in return hated him. The young man was +excitable and impulsive. He opened the door of his carriage, stepped +from the footboard of the local train to the footboard of the express, +opened the other door, and made his way into the presence of these two +people. The feat (on the supposition that the trains were going at the +same pace) is by no means so perilous as it might appear. + +"Having now got our young man, without his ticket, into the carriage in +which the elder man and the young woman are travelling, it is not +difficult to imagine that a violent scene ensued. It is possible that +the pair were also Americans, which is the more probable as the man +carried a weapon--an unusual thing in England. If our supposition of +incipient mania is correct, the young man is likely to have assaulted +the other. As the upshot of the quarrel the elder man shot the +intruder, and then made his escape from the carriage, taking the young +lady with him. We will suppose that all this happened very rapidly, +and that the train was still going at so slow a pace that it was not +difficult for them to leave it. A woman might leave a train going at +eight miles an hour. As a matter of fact, we know that this woman DID +do so. + +"And now we have to fit in the man in the smoking carriage. Presuming +that we have, up to this point, reconstructed the tragedy correctly, we +shall find nothing in this other man to cause us to reconsider our +conclusions. According to my theory, this man saw the young fellow +cross from one train to the other, saw him open the door, heard the +pistol-shot, saw the two fugitives spring out on to the line, realized +that murder had been done, and sprang out himself in pursuit. Why he +has never been heard of since--whether he met his own death in the +pursuit, or whether, as is more likely, he was made to realize that it +was not a case for his interference--is a detail which we have at +present no means of explaining. I acknowledge that there are some +difficulties in the way. At first sight, it might seem improbable that +at such a moment a murderer would burden himself in his flight with a +brown leather bag. My answer is that he was well aware that if the bag +were found his identity would be established. It was absolutely +necessary for him to take it with him. My theory stands or falls upon +one point, and I call upon the railway company to make strict inquiry +as to whether a ticket was found unclaimed in the local train through +Harrow and King's Langley upon the 18th of March. If such a ticket +were found my case is proved. If not, my theory may still be the +correct one, for it is conceivable either that he travelled without a +ticket or that his ticket was lost." + +To this elaborate and plausible hypothesis the answer of the police and +of the company was, first, that no such ticket was found; secondly, +that the slow train would never run parallel to the express; and, +thirdly, that the local train had been stationary in King's Langley +Station when the express, going at fifty miles an hour, had flashed +past it. So perished the only satisfying explanation, and five years +have elapsed without supplying a new one. Now, at last, there comes a +statement which covers all the facts, and which must be regarded as +authentic. It took the shape of a letter dated from New York, and +addressed to the same criminal investigator whose theory I have quoted. +It is given here in extenso, with the exception of the two opening +paragraphs, which are personal in their nature: + +"You'll excuse me if I'm not very free with names. There's less reason +now than there was five years ago when mother was still living. But +for all that, I had rather cover up our tracks all I can. But I owe +you an explanation, for if your idea of it was wrong, it was a mighty +ingenious one all the same. I'll have to go back a little so as you +may understand all about it. + +"My people came from Bucks, England, and emigrated to the States in the +early fifties. They settled in Rochester, in the State of New York, +where my father ran a large dry goods store. There were only two sons: +myself, James, and my brother, Edward. I was ten years older than my +brother, and after my father died I sort of took the place of a father +to him, as an elder brother would. He was a bright, spirited boy, and +just one of the most beautiful creatures that ever lived. But there +was always a soft spot in him, and it was like mould in cheese, for it +spread and spread, and nothing that you could do would stop it. Mother +saw it just as clearly as I did, but she went on spoiling him all the +same, for he had such a way with him that you could refuse him nothing. +I did all I could to hold him in, and he hated me for my pains. + +"At last he fairly got his head, and nothing that we could do would +stop him. He got off into New York, and went rapidly from bad to +worse. At first he was only fast, and then he was criminal; and then, +at the end of a year or two, he was one of the most notorious young +crooks in the city. He had formed a friendship with Sparrow MacCoy, +who was at the head of his profession as a bunco-steerer, green +goodsman and general rascal. They took to card-sharping, and frequented +some of the best hotels in New York. My brother was an excellent actor +(he might have made an honest name for himself if he had chosen), and +he would take the parts of a young Englishman of title, of a simple lad +from the West, or of a college undergraduate, whichever suited Sparrow +MacCoy's purpose. And then one day he dressed himself as a girl, and +he carried it off so well, and made himself such a valuable decoy, that +it was their favourite game afterwards. They had made it right with +Tammany and with the police, so it seemed as if nothing could ever stop +them, for those were in the days before the Lexow Commission, and if +you only had a pull, you could do pretty nearly everything you wanted. + +"And nothing would have stopped them if they had only stuck to cards +and New York, but they must needs come up Rochester way, and forge a +name upon a cheque. It was my brother that did it, though everyone +knew that it was under the influence of Sparrow MacCoy. I bought up +that cheque, and a pretty sum it cost me. Then I went to my brother, +laid it before him on the table, and swore to him that I would +prosecute if he did not clear out of the country. At first he simply +laughed. I could not prosecute, he said, without breaking our mother's +heart, and he knew that I would not do that. I made him understand, +however, that our mother's heart was being broken in any case, and that +I had set firm on the point that I would rather see him in Rochester +gaol than in a New York hotel. So at last he gave in, and he made me a +solemn promise that he would see Sparrow MacCoy no more, that he would +go to Europe, and that he would turn his hand to any honest trade that +I helped him to get. I took him down right away to an old family +friend, Joe Willson, who is an exporter of American watches and clocks, +and I got him to give Edward an agency in London, with a small salary +and a 15 per cent commission on all business. His manner and +appearance were so good that he won the old man over at once, and +within a week he was sent off to London with a case full of samples. + +"It seemed to me that this business of the cheque had really given my +brother a fright, and that there was some chance of his settling down +into an honest line of life. My mother had spoken with him, and what +she said had touched him, for she had always been the best of mothers +to him and he had been the great sorrow of her life. But I knew that +this man Sparrow MacCoy had a great influence over Edward and my chance +of keeping the lad straight lay in breaking the connection between +them. I had a friend in the New York detective force, and through him +I kept a watch upon MacCoy. When, within a fortnight of my brother's +sailing, I heard that MacCoy had taken a berth in the Etruria, I was as +certain as if he had told me that he was going over to England for the +purpose of coaxing Edward back again into the ways that he had left. +In an instant I had resolved to go also, and to pit my influence +against MacCoy's. I knew it was a losing fight, but I thought, and my +mother thought, that it was my duty. We passed the last night together +in prayer for my success, and she gave me her own Testament that my +father had given her on the day of their marriage in the Old Country, +so that I might always wear it next my heart. + +"I was a fellow-traveller, on the steamship, with Sparrow MacCoy, and +at least I had the satisfaction of spoiling his little game for the +voyage. The very first night I went into the smoking-room, and found +him at the head of a card-table, with a half a dozen young fellows who +were carrying their full purses and their empty skulls over to Europe. +He was settling down for his harvest, and a rich one it would have +been. But I soon changed all that. + +"'Gentlemen,' said I, 'are you aware whom you are playing with?' + +"'What's that to you? You mind your own business!' said he, with an +oath. + +"'Who is it, anyway?' asked one of the dudes. + +"'He's Sparrow MacCoy, the most notorious card-sharper in the States.' + +"Up he jumped with a bottle in his hand, but he remembered that he was +under the flag of the effete Old Country, where law and order run, and +Tammany has no pull. Gaol and the gallows wait for violence and +murder, and there's no slipping out by the back door on board an ocean +liner. + +"'Prove your words, you----!' said he. + +"'I will!' said I. 'If you will turn up your right shirt-sleeve to the +shoulder, I will either prove my words or I will eat them.' + +"He turned white and said not a word. You see, I knew something of his +ways, and I was aware of that part of the mechanism which he and all +such sharpers use consists of an elastic down the arm with a clip just +above the wrist. It is by means of this clip that they withdraw from +their hands the cards which they do not want, while they substitute +other cards from another hiding place. I reckoned on it being there, +and it was. He cursed me, slunk out of the saloon, and was hardly seen +again during the voyage. For once, at any rate, I got level with +Mister Sparrow MacCoy. + +"But he soon had his revenge upon me, for when it came to influencing +my brother he outweighed me every time. Edward had kept himself +straight in London for the first few weeks, and had done some business +with his American watches, until this villain came across his path once +more. I did my best, but the best was little enough. The next thing I +heard there had been a scandal at one of the Northumberland Avenue +hotels: a traveller had been fleeced of a large sum by two confederate +card-sharpers, and the matter was in the hands of Scotland Yard. The +first I learned of it was in the evening paper, and I was at once +certain that my brother and MacCoy were back at their old games. I +hurried at once to Edward's lodgings. They told me that he and a tall +gentleman (whom I recognized as MacCoy) had gone off together, and that +he had left the lodgings and taken his things with him. The landlady +had heard them give several directions to the cabman, ending with +Euston Station, and she had accidentally overheard the tall gentleman +saying something about Manchester. She believed that that was their +destination. + +"A glance at the time-table showed me that the most likely train was at +five, though there was another at 4:35 which they might have caught. I +had only time to get the later one, but found no sign of them either at +the depot or in the train. They must have gone on by the earlier one, +so I determined to follow them to Manchester and search for them in the +hotels there. One last appeal to my brother by all that he owed to my +mother might even now be the salvation of him. My nerves were +overstrung, and I lit a cigar to steady them. At that moment, just as +the train was moving off, the door of my compartment was flung open, +and there were MacCoy and my brother on the platform. + +"They were both disguised, and with good reason, for they knew that the +London police were after them. MacCoy had a great astrakhan collar +drawn up, so that only his eyes and nose were showing. My brother was +dressed like a woman, with a black veil half down his face, but of +course it did not deceive me for an instant, nor would it have done so +even if I had not known that he had often used such a dress before. I +started up, and as I did so MacCoy recognized me. He said something, +the conductor slammed the door, and they were shown into the next +compartment. I tried to stop the train so as to follow them, but the +wheels were already moving, and it was too late. + +"When we stopped at Willesden, I instantly changed my carriage. It +appears that I was not seen to do so, which is not surprising, as the +station was crowded with people. MacCoy, of course, was expecting me, +and he had spent the time between Euston and Willesden in saying all he +could to harden my brother's heart and set him against me. That is +what I fancy, for I had never found him so impossible to soften or to +move. I tried this way and I tried that; I pictured his future in an +English gaol; I described the sorrow of his mother when I came back +with the news; I said everything to touch his heart, but all to no +purpose. He sat there with a fixed sneer upon his handsome face, while +every now and then Sparrow MacCoy would throw in a taunt at me, or some +word of encouragement to hold my brother to his resolutions. + +"'Why don't you run a Sunday-school?' he would say to me, and then, in +the same breath: 'He thinks you have no will of your own. He thinks +you are just the baby brother and that he can lead you where he likes. +He's only just finding out that you are a man as well as he.' + +"It was those words of his which set me talking bitterly. We had left +Willesden, you understand, for all this took some time. My temper got +the better of me, and for the first time in my life I let my brother +see the rough side of me. Perhaps it would have been better had I done +so earlier and more often. + +"'A man!' said I. 'Well, I'm glad to have your friend's assurance of +it, for no one would suspect it to see you like a boarding-school +missy. I don't suppose in all this country there is a more +contemptible-looking creature than you are as you sit there with that +Dolly pinafore upon you.' He coloured up at that, for he was a vain +man, and he winced from ridicule. + +"'It's only a dust-cloak,' said he, and he slipped it off. 'One has to +throw the coppers off one's scent, and I had no other way to do it.' +He took his toque off with the veil attached, and he put both it and +the cloak into his brown bag. 'Anyway, I don't need to wear it until +the conductor comes round,' said he. + +"'Nor then, either,' said I, and taking the bag I slung it with all my +force out of the window. 'Now,' said I, 'you'll never make a Mary Jane +of yourself while I can help it. If nothing but that disguise stands +between you and a gaol, then to gaol you shall go.' + +"That was the way to manage him. I felt my advantage at once. His +supple nature was one which yielded to roughness far more readily than +to entreaty. He flushed with shame, and his eyes filled with tears. +But MacCoy saw my advantage also, and was determined that I should not +pursue it. + +"'He's my pard, and you shall not bully him,' he cried. + +"'He's my brother, and you shall not ruin him,' said I. 'I believe a +spell of prison is the very best way of keeping you apart, and you +shall have it, or it will be no fault of mine.' + +"'Oh, you would squeal, would you?' he cried, and in an instant he +whipped out his revolver. I sprang for his hand, but saw that I was +too late, and jumped aside. At the same instant he fired, and the +bullet which would have struck me passed through the heart of my +unfortunate brother. + +"He dropped without a groan upon the floor of the compartment, and +MacCoy and I, equally horrified, knelt at each side of him, trying to +bring back some signs of life. MacCoy still held the loaded revolver +in his hand, but his anger against me and my resentment towards him had +both for the moment been swallowed up in this sudden tragedy. It was +he who first realized the situation. The train was for some reason +going very slowly at the moment, and he saw his opportunity for escape. +In an instant he had the door open, but I was as quick as he, and +jumping upon him the two of us fell off the footboard and rolled in +each other's arms down a steep embankment. At the bottom I struck my +head against a stone, and I remembered nothing more. When I came to +myself I was lying among some low bushes, not far from the railroad +track, and somebody was bathing my head with a wet handkerchief. It +was Sparrow MacCoy. + +"'I guess I couldn't leave you,' said he. 'I didn't want to have the +blood of two of you on my hands in one day. You loved your brother, +I've no doubt; but you didn't love him a cent more than I loved him, +though you'll say that I took a queer way to show it. Anyhow, it seems +a mighty empty world now that he is gone, and I don't care a +continental whether you give me over to the hangman or not.' + +"He had turned his ankle in the fall, and there we sat, he with his +useless foot, and I with my throbbing head, and we talked and talked +until gradually my bitterness began to soften and to turn into +something like sympathy. What was the use of revenging his death upon +a man who was as much stricken by that death as I was? And then, as my +wits gradually returned, I began to realize also that I could do +nothing against MacCoy which would not recoil upon my mother and +myself. How could we convict him without a full account of my +brother's career being made public--the very thing which of all others +we wished to avoid? It was really as much our interest as his to cover +the matter up, and from being an avenger of crime I found myself +changed to a conspirator against Justice. The place in which we found +ourselves was one of those pheasant preserves which are so common in +the Old Country, and as we groped our way through it I found myself +consulting the slayer of my brother as to how far it would be possible +to hush it up. + +"I soon realized from what he said that unless there were some papers +of which we knew nothing in my brother's pockets, there was really no +possible means by which the police could identify him or learn how he +had got there. His ticket was in MacCoy's pocket, and so was the +ticket for some baggage which they had left at the depot. Like most +Americans, he had found it cheaper and easier to buy an outfit in +London than to bring one from New York, so that all his linen and +clothes were new and unmarked. The bag, containing the dust-cloak, +which I had thrown out of the window, may have fallen among some +bramble patch where it is still concealed, or may have been carried off +by some tramp, or may have come into the possession of the police, who +kept the incident to themselves. Anyhow, I have seen nothing about it +in the London papers. As to the watches, they were a selection from +those which had been intrusted to him for business purposes. It may +have been for the same business purposes that he was taking them to +Manchester, but--well, it's too late to enter into that. + +"I don't blame the police for being at fault. I don't see how it could +have been otherwise. There was just one little clue that they might +have followed up, but it was a small one. I mean that small, circular +mirror which was found in my brother's pocket. It isn't a very common +thing for a young man to carry about with him, is it? But a gambler +might have told you what such a mirror may mean to a card-sharper. If +you sit back a little from the table, and lay the mirror, face upwards, +upon your lap, you can see, as you deal, every card that you give to +your adversary. It is not hard to say whether you see a man or raise +him when you know his cards as well as your own. It was as much a part +of a sharper's outfit as the elastic clip upon Sparrow MacCoy's arm. +Taking that, in connection with the recent frauds at the hotels, the +police might have got hold of one end of the string. + +"I don't think there is much more for me to explain. We got to a +village called Amersham that night in the character of two gentlemen +upon a walking tour, and afterwards we made our way quietly to London, +whence MacCoy went on to Cairo and I returned to New York. My mother +died six months afterwards, and I am glad to say that to the day of her +death she never knew what happened. She was always under the delusion +that Edward was earning an honest living in London, and I never had the +heart to tell her the truth. He never wrote; but, then, he never did +write at any time, so that made no difference. His name was the last +upon her lips. + +"There's just one other thing that I have to ask you, sir, and I should +take it as a kind return for all this explanation, if you could do it +for me. You remember that Testament that was picked up. I always +carried it in my inside pocket, and it must have come out in my fall. +I value it very highly, for it was the family book with my birth and my +brother's marked by my father in the beginning of it. I wish you would +apply at the proper place and have it sent to me. It can be of no +possible value to anyone else. If you address it to X, Bassano's +Library, Broadway, New York, it is sure to come to hand." + + + +The Japanned Box + +It WAS a curious thing, said the private tutor; one of those grotesque +and whimsical incidents which occur to one as one goes through life. I +lost the best situation which I am ever likely to have through it. But +I am glad that I went to Thorpe Place, for I gained--well, as I tell +you the story you will learn what I gained. + +I don't know whether you are familiar with that part of the Midlands +which is drained by the Avon. It is the most English part of England. +Shakespeare, the flower of the whole race, was born right in the middle +of it. It is a land of rolling pastures, rising in higher folds to the +westwards, until they swell into the Malvern Hills. There are no +towns, but numerous villages, each with its grey Norman church. You +have left the brick of the southern and eastern counties behind you, +and everything is stone--stone for the walls, and lichened slabs of +stone for the roofs. It is all grim and solid and massive, as befits +the heart of a great nation. + +It was in the middle of this country, not very far from Evesham, that +Sir John Bollamore lived in the old ancestral home of Thorpe Place, and +thither it was that I came to teach his two little sons. Sir John was +a widower--his wife had died three years before--and he had been left +with these two lads aged eight and ten, and one dear little girl of +seven. Miss Witherton, who is now my wife, was governess to this +little girl. I was tutor to the two boys. Could there be a more +obvious prelude to an engagement? She governs me now, and I tutor two +little boys of our own. But, there--I have already revealed what it +was which I gained in Thorpe Place! + +It was a very, very old house, incredibly old--pre-Norman, some of +it--and the Bollamores claimed to have lived in that situation since +long before the Conquest. It struck a chill to my heart when first I +came there, those enormously thick grey walls, the rude crumbling +stones, the smell as from a sick animal which exhaled from the rotting +plaster of the aged building. But the modern wing was bright and the +garden was well kept. No house could be dismal which had a pretty girl +inside it and such a show of roses in front. + +Apart from a very complete staff of servants there were only four of us +in the household. These were Miss Witherton, who was at that time +four-and-twenty and as pretty--well, as pretty as Mrs. Colmore is +now--myself, Frank Colmore, aged thirty, Mrs. Stevens, the housekeeper, +a dry, silent woman, and Mr. Richards, a tall military-looking man, who +acted as steward to the Bollamore estates. We four always had our +meals together, but Sir John had his usually alone in the library. +Sometimes he joined us at dinner, but on the whole we were just as glad +when he did not. + +For he was a very formidable person. Imagine a man six feet three +inches in height, majestically built, with a high-nosed, aristocratic +face, brindled hair, shaggy eyebrows, a small, pointed Mephistophelian +beard, and lines upon his brow and round his eyes as deep as if they +had been carved with a penknife. He had grey eyes, weary, +hopeless-looking eyes, proud and yet pathetic, eyes which claimed your +pity and yet dared you to show it. His back was rounded with study, +but otherwise he was as fine a looking man of his age--five-and-fifty +perhaps--as any woman would wish to look upon. + +But his presence was not a cheerful one. He was always courteous, +always refined, but singularly silent and retiring. I have never lived +so long with any man and known so little of him. If he were indoors he +spent his time either in his own small study in the Eastern Tower, or +in the library in the modern wing. So regular was his routine that one +could always say at any hour exactly where he would be. Twice in the +day he would visit his study, once after breakfast, and once about ten +at night. You might set your watch by the slam of the heavy door. For +the rest of the day he would be in his library--save that for an hour +or two in the afternoon he would take a walk or a ride, which was +solitary like the rest of his existence. He loved his children, and +was keenly interested in the progress of their studies, but they were a +little awed by the silent, shaggy-browed figure, and they avoided him +as much as they could. Indeed, we all did that. + +It was some time before I came to know anything about the circumstances +of Sir John Bollamore's life, for Mrs. Stevens, the housekeeper, and +Mr. Richards, the land-steward, were too loyal to talk easily of their +employer's affairs. As to the governess, she knew no more than I did, +and our common interest was one of the causes which drew us together. +At last, however, an incident occurred which led to a closer +acquaintance with Mr. Richards and a fuller knowledge of the life of +the man whom I served. + +The immediate cause of this was no less than the falling of Master +Percy, the youngest of my pupils, into the mill-race, with imminent +danger both to his life and to mine, since I had to risk myself in +order to save him. Dripping and exhausted--for I was far more spent +than the child--I was making for my room when Sir John, who had heard +the hubbub, opened the door of his little study and asked me what was +the matter. I told him of the accident, but assured him that his child +was in no danger, while he listened with a rugged, immobile face, which +expressed in its intense eyes and tightened lips all the emotion which +he tried to conceal. + +"One moment! Step in here! Let me have the details!" said he, turning +back through the open door. + +And so I found myself within that little sanctum, inside which, as I +afterwards learned, no other foot had for three years been set save +that of the old servant who cleaned it out. It was a round room, +conforming to the shape of the tower in which it was situated, with a +low ceiling, a single narrow, ivy-wreathed window, and the simplest of +furniture. An old carpet, a single chair, a deal table, and a small +shelf of books made up the whole contents. On the table stood a +full-length photograph of a woman--I took no particular notice of the +features, but I remember, that a certain gracious gentleness was the +prevailing impression. Beside it were a large black japanned box and +one or two bundles of letters or papers fastened together with elastic +bands. + +Our interview was a short one, for Sir John Bollamore perceived that I +was soaked, and that I should change without delay. The incident led, +however, to an instructive talk with Richards, the agent, who had never +penetrated into the chamber which chance had opened to me. That very +afternoon he came to me, all curiosity, and walked up and down the +garden path with me, while my two charges played tennis upon the lawn +beside us. + +"You hardly realize the exception which has been made in your favour," +said he. "That room has been kept such a mystery, and Sir John's +visits to it have been so regular and consistent, that an almost +superstitious feeling has arisen about it in the household. I assure +you that if I were to repeat to you the tales which are flying about, +tales of mysterious visitors there, and of voices overheard by the +servants, you might suspect that Sir John had relapsed into his old +ways." + +"Why do you say relapsed?" I asked. + +He looked at me in surprise. + +"Is it possible," said he, "that Sir John Bollamore's previous history +is unknown to you?" + +"Absolutely." + +"You astound me. I thought that every man in England knew something of +his antecedents. I should not mention the matter if it were not that +you are now one of ourselves, and that the facts might come to your +ears in some harsher form if I were silent upon them. I always took it +for granted that you knew that you were in the service of 'Devil' +Bollamore." + +"But why 'Devil'?" I asked. + +"Ah, you are young and the world moves fast, but twenty years ago the +name of 'Devil' Bollamore was one of the best known in London. He was +the leader of the fastest set, bruiser, driver, gambler, drunkard--a +survival of the old type, and as bad as the worst of them." + +I stared at him in amazement. + +"What!" I cried, "that quiet, studious, sad-faced man?" + +"The greatest rip and debauchee in England! All between ourselves, +Colmore. But you understand now what I mean when I say that a woman's +voice in his room might even now give rise to suspicions." + +"But what can have changed him so?" + +"Little Beryl Clare, when she took the risk of becoming his wife. That +was the turning point. He had got so far that his own fast set had +thrown him over. There is a world of difference, you know, between a +man who drinks and a drunkard. They all drink, but they taboo a +drunkard. He had become a slave to it--hopeless and helpless. Then +she stepped in, saw the possibilities of a fine man in the wreck, took +her chance in marrying him though she might have had the pick of a +dozen, and, by devoting her life to it, brought him back to manhood and +decency. You have observed that no liquor is ever kept in the house. +There never has been any since her foot crossed its threshold. A drop +of it would be like blood to a tiger even now." + +"Then her influence still holds him?" + +"That is the wonder of it. When she died three years ago, we all +expected and feared that he would fall back into his old ways. She +feared it herself, and the thought gave a terror to death, for she was +like a guardian angel to that man, and lived only for the one purpose. +By the way, did you see a black japanned box in his room?" + +"Yes." + +"I fancy it contains her letters. If ever he has occasion to be away, +if only for a single night, he invariably takes his black japanned box +with him. Well, well, Colmore, perhaps I have told you rather more +than I should, but I shall expect you to reciprocate if anything of +interest should come to your knowledge." + +I could see that the worthy man was consumed with curiosity and just a +little piqued that I, the newcomer, should have been the first to +penetrate into the untrodden chamber. But the fact raised me in his +esteem, and from that time onwards I found myself upon more +confidential terms with him. + +And now the silent and majestic figure of my employer became an object +of greater interest to me. I began to understand that strangely human +look in his eyes, those deep lines upon his care-worn face. He was a +man who was fighting a ceaseless battle, holding at arm's length, from +morning till night, a horrible adversary who was forever trying to +close with him--an adversary which would destroy him body and soul +could it but fix its claws once more upon him. As I watched the grim, +round-backed figure pacing the corridor or walking in the garden, this +imminent danger seemed to take bodily shape, and I could almost fancy +that I saw this most loathsome and dangerous of all the fiends +crouching closely in his very shadow, like a half-cowed beast which +slinks beside its keeper, ready at any unguarded moment to spring at +his throat. And the dead woman, the woman who had spent her life in +warding off this danger, took shape also to my imagination, and I saw +her as a shadowy but beautiful presence which intervened for ever with +arms uplifted to screen the man whom she loved. + +In some subtle way he divined the sympathy which I had for him, and he +showed in his own silent fashion that he appreciated it. He even +invited me once to share his afternoon walk, and although no word +passed between us on this occasion, it was a mark of confidence which +he had never shown to anyone before. He asked me also to index his +library (it was one of the best private libraries in England), and I +spent many hours in the evening in his presence, if not in his society, +he reading at his desk and I sitting in a recess by the window reducing +to order the chaos which existed among his books. In spite of these +close relations I was never again asked to enter the chamber in the +turret. + +And then came my revulsion of feeling. A single incident changed all +my sympathy to loathing, and made me realize that my employer still +remained all that he had ever been, with the additional vice of +hypocrisy. What happened was as follows. + +One evening Miss Witherton had gone down to Broadway, the neighbouring +village, to sing at a concert for some charity, and I, according to my +promise, had walked over to escort her back. The drive sweeps round +under the eastern turret, and I observed as I passed that the light was +lit in the circular room. It was a summer evening, and the window, +which was a little higher than our heads, was open. We were, as it +happened, engrossed in our own conversation at the moment and we had +paused upon the lawn which skirts the old turret, when suddenly +something broke in upon our talk and turned our thoughts away from our +own affairs. + +It was a voice--the voice undoubtedly of a woman. It was low--so low +that it was only in that still night air that we could have heard it, +but, hushed as it was, there was no mistaking its feminine timbre. It +spoke hurriedly, gaspingly for a few sentences, and then was silent--a +piteous, breathless, imploring sort of voice. Miss Witherton and I +stood for an instant staring at each other. Then we walked quickly in +the direction of the hall-door. + +"It came through the window," I said. + +"We must not play the part of eavesdroppers," she answered. "We must +forget that we have ever heard it." + +There was an absence of surprise in her manner which suggested a new +idea to me. + +"You have heard it before," I cried. + +"I could not help it. My own room is higher up on the same turret. It +has happened frequently." + +"Who can the woman be?" + +"I have no idea. I had rather not discuss it." + +Her voice was enough to show me what she thought. But granting that +our employer led a double and dubious life, who could she be, this +mysterious woman who kept him company in the old tower? I knew from my +own inspection how bleak and bare a room it was. She certainly did not +live there. But in that case where did she come from? It could not be +anyone of the household. They were all under the vigilant eyes of Mrs. +Stevens. The visitor must come from without. But how? + +And then suddenly I remembered how ancient this building was, and how +probable that some mediaeval passage existed in it. There is hardly an +old castle without one. The mysterious room was the basement of the +turret, so that if there were anything of the sort it would open +through the floor. There were numerous cottages in the immediate +vicinity. The other end of the secret passage might lie among some +tangle of bramble in the neighbouring copse. I said nothing to anyone, +but I felt that the secret of my employer lay within my power. + +And the more convinced I was of this the more I marvelled at the manner +in which he concealed his true nature. Often as I watched his austere +figure, I asked myself if it were indeed possible that such a man +should be living this double life, and I tried to persuade myself that +my suspicions might after all prove to be ill-founded. But there was +the female voice, there was the secret nightly rendezvous in the +turret-chamber--how could such facts admit of an innocent +interpretation. I conceived a horror of the man. I was filled with +loathing at his deep, consistent hypocrisy. + +Only once during all those months did I ever see him without that sad +but impassive mask which he usually presented towards his fellow-man. +For an instant I caught a glimpse of those volcanic fires which he had +damped down so long. The occasion was an unworthy one, for the object +of his wrath was none other than the aged charwoman whom I have already +mentioned as being the one person who was allowed within his mysterious +chamber. I was passing the corridor which led to the turret--for my +own room lay in that direction--when I heard a sudden, startled scream, +and merged in it the husky, growling note of a man who is inarticulate +with passion. It was the snarl of a furious wild beast. Then I heard +his voice thrilling with anger. "You would dare!" he cried. "You would +dare to disobey my directions!" An instant later the charwoman passed +me, flying down the passage, white-faced and tremulous, while the +terrible voice thundered behind her. "Go to Mrs. Stevens for your +money! Never set foot in Thorpe Place again!" Consumed with +curiosity, I could not help following the woman, and found her round +the corner leaning against the wall and palpitating like a frightened +rabbit. + +"What is the matter, Mrs. Brown?" I asked. + +"It's master!" she gasped. "Oh, 'ow 'e frightened me! If you had seen +'is eyes, Mr. Colmore, sir. I thought 'e would 'ave been the death of +me." + +"But what had you done?" + +"Done, sir! Nothing. At least nothing to make so much of. Just laid +my 'and on that black box of 'is--'adn't even opened it, when in 'e +came and you 'eard the way 'e went on. I've lost my place, and glad I +am of it, for I would never trust myself within reach of 'im again." + +So it was the japanned box which was the cause of this outburst--the +box from which he would never permit himself to be separated. What was +the connection, or was there any connection between this and the secret +visits of the lady whose voice I had overheard? Sir John Bollamore's +wrath was enduring as well as fiery, for from that day Mrs. Brown, the +charwoman, vanished from our ken, and Thorpe Place knew her no more. + +And now I wish to tell you the singular chance which solved all these +strange questions and put my employer's secret in my possession. The +story may leave you with some lingering doubts as to whether my +curiosity did not get the better of my honour, and whether I did not +condescend to play the spy. If you choose to think so I cannot help +it, but can only assure you that, improbable as it may appear, the +matter came about exactly as I describe it. + +The first stage in this denouement was that the small room in the +turret became uninhabitable. This occurred through the fall of the +worm-eaten oaken beam which supported the ceiling. Rotten with age, it +snapped in the middle one morning, and brought down a quantity of +plaster with it. Fortunately Sir John was not in the room at the time. +His precious box was rescued from amongst the debris and brought into +the library, where, henceforward, it was locked within his bureau. Sir +John took no steps to repair the damage, and I never had an opportunity +of searching for that secret passage, the existence of which I had +surmised. As to the lady, I had thought that this would have brought +her visits to an end, had I not one evening heard Mr. Richards asking +Mrs. Stevens who the woman was whom he had overheard talking to Sir +John in the library. I could not catch her reply, but I saw from her +manner that it was not the first time that she had had to answer or +avoid the same question. + +"You've heard the voice, Colmore?" said the agent. + +I confessed that I had. + +"And what do YOU think of it?" + +I shrugged my shoulders, and remarked that it was no business of mine. + +"Come, come, you are just as curious as any of us. Is it a woman or +not?" + +"It is certainly a woman." + +"Which room did you hear it from?" + +"From the turret-room, before the ceiling fell." + +"But I heard it from the library only last night. I passed the doors +as I was going to bed, and I heard something wailing and praying just +as plainly as I hear you. It may be a woman----" + +"Why, what else COULD it be?" + +He looked at me hard. + +"There are more things in heaven and earth," said he. "If it is a +woman, how does she get there?" + +"I don't know." + +"No, nor I. But if it is the other thing--but there, for a practical +business man at the end of the nineteenth century this is rather a +ridiculous line of conversation." He turned away, but I saw that he +felt even more than he had said. To all the old ghost stories of +Thorpe Place a new one was being added before our very eyes. It may by +this time have taken its permanent place, for though an explanation +came to me, it never reached the others. + +And my explanation came in this way. I had suffered a sleepless night +from neuralgia, and about midday I had taken a heavy dose of chlorodyne +to alleviate the pain. At that time I was finishing the indexing of +Sir John Bollamore's library, and it was my custom to work there from +five till seven. On this particular day I struggled against the double +effect of my bad night and the narcotic. I have already mentioned that +there was a recess in the library, and in this it was my habit to work. +I settled down steadily to my task, but my weariness overcame me and, +falling back upon the settee, I dropped into a heavy sleep. + +How long I slept I do not know, but it was quite dark when I awoke. +Confused by the chlorodyne which I had taken, I lay motionless in a +semi-conscious state. The great room with its high walls covered with +books loomed darkly all round me. A dim radiance from the moonlight +came through the farther window, and against this lighter background I +saw that Sir John Bollamore was sitting at his study table. His +well-set head and clearly cut profile were sharply outlined against the +glimmering square behind him. He bent as I watched him, and I heard +the sharp turning of a key and the rasping of metal upon metal. As if +in a dream I was vaguely conscious that this was the japanned box which +stood in front of him, and that he had drawn something out of it, +something squat and uncouth, which now lay before him upon the table. +I never realized--it never occurred to my bemuddled and torpid brain +that I was intruding upon his privacy, that he imagined himself to be +alone in the room. And then, just as it rushed upon my horrified +perceptions, and I had half risen to announce my presence, I heard a +strange, crisp, metallic clicking, and then the voice. + +Yes, it was a woman's voice; there could not be a doubt of it. But a +voice so charged with entreaty and with yearning love, that it will +ring for ever in my ears. It came with a curious faraway tinkle, but +every word was clear, though faint--very faint, for they were the last +words of a dying woman. + +"I am not really gone, John," said the thin, gasping voice. "I am here +at your very elbow, and shall be until we meet once more. I die happy +to think that morning and night you will hear my voice. Oh, John, be +strong, be strong, until we meet again." + +I say that I had risen in order to announce my presence, but I could +not do so while the voice was sounding. I could only remain half +lying, half sitting, paralysed, astounded, listening to those yearning +distant musical words. And he--he was so absorbed that even if I had +spoken he might not have heard me. But with the silence of the voice +came my half articulated apologies and explanations. He sprang across +the room, switched on the electric light, and in its white glare I saw +him, his eyes gleaming with anger, his face twisted with passion, as +the hapless charwoman may have seen him weeks before. + +"Mr. Colmore!" he cried. "You here! What is the meaning of this, sir?" + +With halting words I explained it all, my neuralgia, the narcotic, my +luckless sleep and singular awakening. As he listened the glow of +anger faded from his face, and the sad, impassive mask closed once more +over his features. + +"My secret is yours, Mr. Colmore," said he. "I have only myself to +blame for relaxing my precautions. Half confidences are worse than no +confidences, and so you may know all since you know so much. The story +may go where you will when I have passed away, but until then I rely +upon your sense of honour that no human soul shall hear it from your +lips. I am proud still--God help me!--or, at least, I am proud enough +to resent that pity which this story would draw upon me. I have smiled +at envy, and disregarded hatred, but pity is more than I can tolerate. + +"You have heard the source from which the voice comes--that voice which +has, as I understand, excited so much curiosity in my household. I am +aware of the rumours to which it has given rise. These speculations, +whether scandalous or superstitious, are such as I can disregard and +forgive. What I should never forgive would be a disloyal spying and +eavesdropping in order to satisfy an illicit curiosity. But of that, +Mr. Colmore, I acquit you. + +"When I was a young man, sir, many years younger than you are now, I +was launched upon town without a friend or adviser, and with a purse +which brought only too many false friends and false advisers to my +side. I drank deeply of the wine of life--if there is a man living who +has drunk more deeply he is not a man whom I envy. My purse suffered, +my character suffered, my constitution suffered, stimulants became a +necessity to me, I was a creature from whom my memory recoils. And it +was at that time, the time of my blackest degradation, that God sent +into my life the gentlest, sweetest spirit that ever descended as a +ministering angel from above. She loved me, broken as I was, loved me, +and spent her life in making a man once more of that which had degraded +itself to the level of the beasts. + +"But a fell disease struck her, and she withered away before my eyes. +In the hour of her agony it was never of herself, of her own sufferings +and her own death that she thought. It was all of me. The one pang +which her fate brought to her was the fear that when her influence was +removed I should revert to that which I had been. It was in vain that +I made oath to her that no drop of wine would ever cross my lips. She +knew only too well the hold that the devil had upon me--she who had +striven so to loosen it--and it haunted her night and day the thought +that my soul might again be within his grip. + +"It was from some friend's gossip of the sick room that she heard of +this invention--this phonograph--and with the quick insight of a loving +woman she saw how she might use it for her ends. She sent me to London +to procure the best which money could buy. With her dying breath she +gasped into it the words which have held me straight ever since. +Lonely and broken, what else have I in all the world to uphold me? But +it is enough. Please God, I shall face her without shame when He is +pleased to reunite us! That is my secret, Mr. Colmore, and whilst I +live I leave it in your keeping." + + + +The Black Doctor + +Bishop's Crossing is a small village lying ten miles in a +south-westerly direction from Liverpool. Here in the early seventies +there settled a doctor named Aloysius Lana. Nothing was known locally +either of his antecedents or of the reasons which had prompted him to +come to this Lancashire hamlet. Two facts only were certain about him; +the one that he had gained his medical qualification with some +distinction at Glasgow; the other that he came undoubtedly of a +tropical race, and was so dark that he might almost have had a strain +of the Indian in his composition. His predominant features were, +however, European, and he possessed a stately courtesy and carriage +which suggested a Spanish extraction. A swarthy skin, raven-black +hair, and dark, sparkling eyes under a pair of heavily-tufted brows +made a strange contrast to the flaxen or chestnut rustics of England, +and the newcomer was soon known as "The Black Doctor of Bishop's +Crossing." At first it was a term of ridicule and reproach; as the +years went on it became a title of honour which was familiar to the +whole countryside, and extended far beyond the narrow confines of the +village. + +For the newcomer proved himself to be a capable surgeon and an +accomplished physician. The practice of that district had been in the +hands of Edward Rowe, the son of Sir William Rowe, the Liverpool +consultant, but he had not inherited the talents of his father, and Dr. +Lana, with his advantages of presence and of manner, soon beat him out +of the field. Dr. Lana's social success was as rapid as his +professional. A remarkable surgical cure in the case of the Hon. James +Lowry, the second son of Lord Belton, was the means of introducing him +to county society, where he became a favourite through the charm of his +conversation and the elegance of his manners. An absence of +antecedents and of relatives is sometimes an aid rather than an +impediment to social advancement, and the distinguished individuality +of the handsome doctor was its own recommendation. + +His patients had one fault--and one fault only--to find with him. He +appeared to be a confirmed bachelor. This was the more remarkable +since the house which he occupied was a large one, and it was known +that his success in practice had enabled him to save considerable sums. +At first the local matchmakers were continually coupling his name with +one or other of the eligible ladies, but as years passed and Dr. Lana +remained unmarried, it came to be generally understood that for some +reason he must remain a bachelor. Some even went so far as to assert +that he was already married, and that it was in order to escape the +consequence of an early misalliance that he had buried himself at +Bishop's Crossing. And, then, just as the matchmakers had finally given +him up in despair, his engagement was suddenly announced to Miss +Frances Morton, of Leigh Hall. + +Miss Morton was a young lady who was well known upon the country-side, +her father, James Haldane Morton, having been the Squire of Bishop's +Crossing. Both her parents were, however, dead, and she lived with her +only brother, Arthur Morton, who had inherited the family estate. In +person Miss Morton was tall and stately, and she was famous for her +quick, impetuous nature and for her strength of character. She met Dr. +Lana at a garden-party, and a friendship, which quickly ripened into +love, sprang up between them. Nothing could exceed their devotion to +each other. There was some discrepancy in age, he being thirty-seven, +and she twenty-four; but, save in that one respect, there was no +possible objection to be found with the match. The engagement was in +February, and it was arranged that the marriage should take place in +August. + +Upon the 3rd of June Dr. Lana received a letter from abroad. In a small +village the postmaster is also in a position to be the gossip-master, +and Mr. Bankley, of Bishop's Crossing, had many of the secrets of his +neighbours in his possession. Of this particular letter he remarked +only that it was in a curious envelope, that it was in a man's +handwriting, that the postscript was Buenos Ayres, and the stamp of the +Argentine Republic. It was the first letter which he had ever known +Dr. Lana to have from abroad and this was the reason why his attention +was particularly called to it before he handed it to the local postman. +It was delivered by the evening delivery of that date. + +Next morning--that is, upon the 4th of June--Dr. Lana called upon Miss +Morton, and a long interview followed, from which he was observed to +return in a state of great agitation. Miss Morton remained in her room +all that day, and her maid found her several times in tears. In the +course of a week it was an open secret to the whole village that the +engagement was at an end, that Dr. Lana had behaved shamefully to the +young lady, and that Arthur Morton, her brother, was talking of +horse-whipping him. In what particular respect the doctor had behaved +badly was unknown--some surmised one thing and some another; but it was +observed, and taken as the obvious sign of a guilty conscience, that he +would go for miles round rather than pass the windows of Leigh Hall, +and that he gave up attending morning service upon Sundays where he +might have met the young lady. There was an advertisement also in the +Lancet as to the sale of a practice which mentioned no names, but which +was thought by some to refer to Bishop's Crossing, and to mean that Dr. +Lana was thinking of abandoning the scene of his success. Such was the +position of affairs when, upon the evening of Monday, June 21st, there +came a fresh development which changed what had been a mere village +scandal into a tragedy which arrested the attention of the whole +nation. Some detail is necessary to cause the facts of that evening to +present their full significance. + +The sole occupants of the doctor's house were his housekeeper, an +elderly and most respectable woman, named Martha Woods, and a young +servant--Mary Pilling. The coachman and the surgery-boy slept out. It +was the custom of the doctor to sit at night in his study, which was +next the surgery in the wing of the house which was farthest from the +servants' quarters. This side of the house had a door of its own for +the convenience of patients, so that it was possible for the doctor to +admit and receive a visitor there without the knowledge of anyone. As +a matter of fact, when patients came late it was quite usual for him to +let them in and out by the surgery entrance, for the maid and the +housekeeper were in the habit of retiring early. + +On this particular night Martha Woods went into the doctor's study at +half-past nine, and found him writing at his desk. She bade him good +night, sent the maid to bed, and then occupied herself until a quarter +to eleven in household matters. It was striking eleven upon the hall +clock when she went to her own room. She had been there about a quarter +of an hour or twenty minutes when she heard a cry or call, which +appeared to come from within the house. She waited some time, but it +was not repeated. Much alarmed, for the sound was loud and urgent, she +put on a dressing-gown, and ran at the top of her speed to the doctor's +study. + +"Who's there?" cried a voice, as she tapped at the door. + +"I am here, sir--Mrs. Woods." + +"I beg that you will leave me in peace. Go back to your room this +instant!" cried the voice, which was, to the best of her belief, that +of her master. The tone was so harsh and so unlike her master's usual +manner, that she was surprised and hurt. + +"I thought I heard you calling, sir," she explained, but no answer was +given to her. Mrs. Woods looked at the clock as she returned to her +room, and it was then half-past eleven. + +At some period between eleven and twelve (she could not be positive as +to the exact hour) a patient called upon the doctor and was unable to +get any reply from him. This late visitor was Mrs. Madding, the wife +of the village grocer, who was dangerously ill of typhoid fever. Dr. +Lana had asked her to look in the last thing and let him know how her +husband was progressing. She observed that the light was burning in +the study, but having knocked several times at the surgery door without +response, she concluded that the doctor had been called out, and so +returned home. + +There is a short, winding drive with a lamp at the end of it leading +down from the house to the road. As Mrs. Madding emerged from the gate +a man was coming along the footpath. Thinking that it might be Dr. +Lana returning from some professional visit, she waited for him, and +was surprised to see that it was Mr. Arthur Morton, the young squire. +In the light of the lamp she observed that his manner was excited, and +that he carried in his hand a heavy hunting-crop. He was turning in at +the gate when she addressed him. + +"The doctor is not in, sir," said she. + +"How do you know that?" he asked harshly. + +"I have been to the surgery door, sir." + +"I see a light," said the young squire, looking up the drive. "That is +in his study, is it not?" + +"Yes, sir; but I am sure that he is out." + +"Well, he must come in again," said young Morton, and passed through +the gate while Mrs. Madding went upon her homeward way. + +At three o'clock that morning her husband suffered a sharp relapse, and +she was so alarmed by his symptoms that she determined to call the +doctor without delay. As she passed through the gate she was surprised +to see someone lurking among the laurel bushes. It was certainly a man, +and to the best of her belief Mr. Arthur Morton. Preoccupied with her +own troubles, she gave no particular attention to the incident, but +hurried on upon her errand. + +When she reached the house she perceived to her surprise that the light +was still burning in the study. She therefore tapped at the surgery +door. There was no answer. She repeated the knocking several times +without effect. It appeared to her to be unlikely that the doctor +would either go to bed or go out leaving so brilliant a light behind +him, and it struck Mrs. Madding that it was possible that he might have +dropped asleep in his chair. She tapped at the study window, +therefore, but without result. Then, finding that there was an opening +between the curtain and the woodwork, she looked through. + +The small room was brilliantly lighted from a large lamp on the central +table, which was littered with the doctor's books and instruments. No +one was visible, nor did she see anything unusual, except that in the +farther shadow thrown by the table a dingy white glove was lying upon +the carpet. And then suddenly, as her eyes became more accustomed to +the light, a boot emerged from the other end of the shadow, and she +realized, with a thrill of horror, that what she had taken to be a +glove was the hand of a man, who was prostrate upon the floor. +Understanding that something terrible had occurred, she rang at the +front door, roused Mrs. Woods, the housekeeper, and the two women made +their way into the study, having first dispatched the maidservant to +the police-station. + +At the side of the table, away from the window, Dr. Lana was discovered +stretched upon his back and quite dead. It was evident that he had +been subjected to violence, for one of his eyes was blackened and there +were marks of bruises about his face and neck. A slight thickening and +swelling of his features appeared to suggest that the cause of his +death had been strangulation. He was dressed in his usual professional +clothes, but wore cloth slippers, the soles of which were perfectly +clean. The carpet was marked all over, especially on the side of the +door, with traces of dirty boots, which were presumably left by the +murderer. It was evident that someone had entered by the surgery door, +had killed the doctor, and had then made his escape unseen. That the +assailant was a man was certain, from the size of the footprints and +from the nature of the injuries. But beyond that point the police +found it very difficult to go. + +There were no signs of robbery, and the doctor's gold watch was safe in +his pocket. He kept a heavy cash-box in the room, and this was +discovered to be locked but empty. Mrs. Woods had an impression that a +large sum was usually kept there, but the doctor had paid a heavy corn +bill in cash only that very day, and it was conjectured that it was to +this and not to a robber that the emptiness of the box was due. One +thing in the room was missing--but that one thing was suggestive. The +portrait of Miss Morton, which had always stood upon the side-table, +had been taken from its frame, and carried off. Mrs. Woods had +observed it there when she waited upon her employer that evening, and +now it was gone. On the other hand, there was picked up from the floor +a green eye-patch, which the housekeeper could not remember to have +seen before. Such a patch might, however, be in the possession of a +doctor, and there was nothing to indicate that it was in any way +connected with the crime. + +Suspicion could only turn in one direction, and Arthur Morton, the +young squire, was immediately arrested. The evidence against him was +circumstantial, but damning. He was devoted to his sister, and it was +shown that since the rupture between her and Dr. Lana he had been heard +again and again to express himself in the most vindictive terms towards +her former lover. He had, as stated, been seen somewhere about eleven +o'clock entering the doctor's drive with a hunting-crop in his hand. +He had then, according to the theory of the police, broken in upon the +doctor, whose exclamation of fear or of anger had been loud enough to +attract the attention of Mrs. Woods. When Mrs. Woods descended, Dr. +Lana had made up his mind to talk it over with his visitor, and had, +therefore, sent his housekeeper back to her room. This conversation +had lasted a long time, had become more and more fiery, and had ended +by a personal struggle, in which the doctor lost his life. The fact, +revealed by a post-mortem, that his heart was much diseased--an ailment +quite unsuspected during his life--would make it possible that death +might in his case ensue from injuries which would not be fatal to a +healthy man. Arthur Morton had then removed his sister's photograph, +and had made his way homeward, stepping aside into the laurel bushes to +avoid Mrs. Madding at the gate. This was the theory of the +prosecution, and the case which they presented was a formidable one. + +On the other hand, there were some strong points for the defence. +Morton was high-spirited and impetuous, like his sister, but he was +respected and liked by everyone, and his frank and honest nature seemed +to be incapable of such a crime. His own explanation was that he was +anxious to have a conversation with Dr. Lana about some urgent family +matters (from first to last he refused even to mention the name of his +sister). He did not attempt to deny that this conversation would +probably have been of an unpleasant nature. He had heard from a +patient that the doctor was out, and he therefore waited until about +three in the morning for his return, but as he had seen nothing of him +up to that hour, he had given it up and had returned home. As to his +death, he knew no more about it than the constable who arrested him. +He had formerly been an intimate friend of the deceased man; but +circumstances, which he would prefer not to mention, had brought about +a change in his sentiments. + +There were several facts which supported his innocence. It was certain +that Dr. Lana was alive and in his study at half-past eleven o'clock. +Mrs. Woods was prepared to swear that it was at that hour that she had +heard his voice. The friends of the prisoner contended that it was +probable that at that time Dr. Lana was not alone. The sound which had +originally attracted the attention of the housekeeper, and her master's +unusual impatience that she should leave him in peace, seemed to point +to that. If this were so then it appeared to be probable that he had +met his end between the moment when the housekeeper heard his voice and +the time when Mrs. Madding made her first call and found it impossible +to attract his attention. But if this were the time of his death, then +it was certain that Mr. Arthur Morton could not be guilty, as it was +AFTER this that she had met the young squire at the gate. + +If this hypothesis were correct, and someone was with Dr. Lana before +Mrs. Madding met Mr. Arthur Morton, then who was this someone, and what +motives had he for wishing evil to the doctor? It was universally +admitted that if the friends of the accused could throw light upon +this, they would have gone a long way towards establishing his +innocence. But in the meanwhile it was open to the public to say--as +they did say--that there was no proof that anyone had been there at all +except the young squire; while, on the other hand, there was ample +proof that his motives in going were of a sinister kind. When Mrs. +Madding called, the doctor might have retired to his room, or he might, +as she thought at the time, have gone out and returned afterwards to +find Mr. Arthur Morton waiting for him. Some of the supporters of the +accused laid stress upon the fact that the photograph of his sister +Frances, which had been removed from the doctor's room, had not been +found in her brother's possession. This argument, however, did not +count for much, as he had ample time before his arrest to burn it or to +destroy it. As to the only positive evidence in the case--the muddy +footmarks upon the floor--they were so blurred by the softness of the +carpet that it was impossible to make any trustworthy deduction from +them. The most that could be said was that their appearance was not +inconsistent with the theory that they were made by the accused, and it +was further shown that his boots were very muddy upon that night. +There had been a heavy shower in the afternoon, and all boots were +probably in the same condition. + +Such is a bald statement of the singular and romantic series of events +which centred public attention upon this Lancashire tragedy. The +unknown origin of the doctor, his curious and distinguished +personality, the position of the man who was accused of the murder, and +the love affair which had preceded the crimes all combined to make the +affair one of those dramas which absorb the whole interest of a nation. +Throughout the three kingdoms men discussed the case of the Black +Doctor of Bishop's Crossing, and many were the theories put forward to +explain the facts; but it may safely be said that among them all there +was not one which prepared the minds of the public for the +extraordinary sequel, which caused so much excitement upon the first +day of the trial, and came to a climax upon the second. The long files +of the Lancaster Weekly with their report of the case lie before me as +I write, but I must content myself with a synopsis of the case up to +the point when, upon the evening of the first day, the evidence of Miss +Frances Morton threw a singular light upon the case. + +Mr. Porlock Carr, the counsel for the prosecution, had marshalled his +facts with his usual skill, and as the day wore on, it became more and +more evident how difficult was the task which Mr. Humphrey, who had +been retained for the defence, had before him. Several witnesses were +put up to swear to the intemperate expressions which the young squire +had been heard to utter about the doctor, and the fiery manner in which +he resented the alleged ill-treatment of his sister. Mrs. Madding +repeated her evidence as to the visit which had been paid late at night +by the prisoner to the deceased, and it was shown by another witness +that the prisoner was aware that the doctor was in the habit of sitting +up alone in this isolated wing of the house, and that he had chosen +this very late hour to call because he knew that his victim would then +be at his mercy. A servant at the squire's house was compelled to +admit that he had heard his master return about three that morning, +which corroborated Mrs. Madding's statement that she had seen him among +the laurel bushes near the gate upon the occasion of her second visit. +The muddy boots and an alleged similarity in the footprints were duly +dwelt upon, and it was felt when the case for the prosecution had been +presented that, however circumstantial it might be, it was none the +less so complete and so convincing, that the fate of the prisoner was +sealed, unless something quite unexpected should be disclosed by the +defence. It was three o'clock when the prosecution closed. At +half-past four, when the court rose, a new and unlooked-for development +had occurred. I extract the incident, or part of it, from the journal +which I have already mentioned, omitting the preliminary observations +of the counsel. + + +Considerable sensation was caused in the crowded court when the first +witness called for the defence proved to be Miss Frances Morton, the +sister of the prisoner. Our readers will remember that the young lady +had been engaged to Dr. Lana, and that it was his anger over the sudden +termination of this engagement which was thought to have driven her +brother to the perpetration of this crime. Miss Morton had not, +however, been directly implicated in the case in any way, either at the +inquest or at the police-court proceedings, and her appearance as the +leading witness for the defence came as a surprise upon the public. + +Miss Frances Morton, who was a tall and handsome brunette, gave her +evidence in a low but clear voice, though it was evident throughout +that she was suffering from extreme emotion. She alluded to her +engagement to the doctor, touched briefly upon its termination, which +was due, she said, to personal matters connected with his family, and +surprised the court by asserting that she had always considered her +brother's resentment to be unreasonable and intemperate. In answer to +a direct question from her counsel, she replied that she did not feel +that she had any grievance whatever against Dr. Lana, and that in her +opinion he had acted in a perfectly honourable manner. Her brother, on +an insufficient knowledge of the facts, had taken another view, and she +was compelled to acknowledge that, in spite of her entreaties, he had +uttered threats of personal violence against the doctor, and had, upon +the evening of the tragedy, announced his intention of "having it out +with him." She had done her best to bring him to a more reasonable +frame of mind, but he was very headstrong where his emotions or +prejudices were concerned. + +Up to this point the young lady's evidence had appeared to make against +the prisoner rather than in his favour. The questions of her counsel, +however, soon put a very different light upon the matter, and disclosed +an unexpected line of defence. + +Mr. Humphrey: Do you believe your brother to be guilty of this crime? + +The Judge: I cannot permit that question, Mr. Humphrey. We are here +to decide upon questions of fact--not of belief. + +Mr. Humphrey: Do you know that your brother is not guilty of the death +of Doctor Lana? + +Miss Morton: Yes. + +Mr. Humphrey: How do you know it? + +Miss Morton: Because Dr. Lana is not dead. + +There followed a prolonged sensation in court, which interrupted the +examination of the witness. + +Mr. Humphrey: And how do you know, Miss Morton, that Dr. Lana is not +dead? + +Miss Morton: Because I have received a letter from him since the date +of his supposed death. + +Mr. Humphrey: Have you this letter? + +Miss Morton: Yes, but I should prefer not to show it. + +Mr. Humphrey: Have you the envelope? + +Miss Morton: Yes, it is here. + +Mr. Humphrey: What is the post-mark? + +Miss Morton: Liverpool. + +Mr. Humphrey: And the date? + +Miss Morton: June the 22nd. + +Mr. Humphrey: That being the day after his alleged death. Are you +prepared to swear to this handwriting, Miss Morton? + +Miss Morton: Certainly. + +Mr. Humphrey: I am prepared to call six other witnesses, my lord, to +testify that this letter is in the writing of Doctor Lana. + +The Judge: Then you must call them tomorrow. + +Mr. Porlock Carr (counsel for the prosecution): In the meantime, my +lord, we claim possession of this document, so that we may obtain +expert evidence as to how far it is an imitation of the handwriting of +the gentleman whom we still confidently assert to be deceased. I need +not point out that the theory so unexpectedly sprung upon us may prove +to be a very obvious device adopted by the friends of the prisoner in +order to divert this inquiry. I would draw attention to the fact that +the young lady must, according to her own account, have possessed this +letter during the proceedings at the inquest and at the police-court. +She desires us to believe that she permitted these to proceed, although +she held in her pocket evidence which would at any moment have brought +them to an end. + +Mr. Humphrey. Can you explain this, Miss Morton? + +Miss Morton: Dr. Lana desired his secret to be preserved. + +Mr. Porlock Carr: Then why have you made this public? + +Miss Morton: To save my brother. + +A murmur of sympathy broke out in court, which was instantly suppressed +by the Judge. + +The Judge: Admitting this line of defence, it lies with you, Mr. +Humphrey, to throw a light upon who this man is whose body has been +recognized by so many friends and patients of Dr. Lana as being that of +the doctor himself. + +A Juryman: Has anyone up to now expressed any doubt about the matter? + +Mr. Porlock Carr: Not to my knowledge. + +Mr. Humphrey: We hope to make the matter clear. + +The Judge: Then the court adjourns until tomorrow. + + +This new development of the case excited the utmost interest among the +general public. Press comment was prevented by the fact that the trial +was still undecided, but the question was everywhere argued as to how +far there could be truth in Miss Morton's declaration, and how far it +might be a daring ruse for the purpose of saving her brother. The +obvious dilemma in which the missing doctor stood was that if by any +extraordinary chance he was not dead, then he must be held responsible +for the death of this unknown man, who resembled him so exactly, and +who was found in his study. This letter which Miss Morton refused to +produce was possibly a confession of guilt, and she might find herself +in the terrible position of only being able to save her brother from +the gallows by the sacrifice of her former lover. The court next +morning was crammed to overflowing, and a murmur of excitement passed +over it when Mr. Humphrey was observed to enter in a state of emotion, +which even his trained nerves could not conceal, and to confer with the +opposing counsel. A few hurried words--words which left a look of +amazement upon Mr. Porlock Carr's face--passed between them, and then +the counsel for the defence, addressing the Judge, announced that, with +the consent of the prosecution, the young lady who had given evidence +upon the sitting before would not be recalled. + + +The Judge: But you appear, Mr. Humphrey, to have left matters in a very +unsatisfactory state. + +Mr. Humphrey: Perhaps, my lord, my next witness may help to clear them +up. + +The Judge: Then call your next witness. + +Mr. Humphrey: I call Dr. Aloysius Lana. + +The learned counsel has made many telling remarks in his day, but he +has certainly never produced such a sensation with so short a sentence. +The court was simply stunned with amazement as the very man whose fate +had been the subject of so much contention appeared bodily before them +in the witness-box. Those among the spectators who had known him at +Bishop's Crossing saw him now, gaunt and thin, with deep lines of care +upon his face. But in spite of his melancholy bearing and despondent +expression, there were few who could say that they had ever seen a man +of more distinguished presence. Bowing to the judge, he asked if he +might be allowed to make a statement, and having been duly informed +that whatever he said might be used against him, he bowed once more, +and proceeded: + +"My wish," said he, "is to hold nothing back, but to tell with perfect +frankness all that occurred upon the night of the 21st of June. Had I +known that the innocent had suffered, and that so much trouble had been +brought upon those whom I love best in the world, I should have come +forward long ago; but there were reasons which prevented these things +from coming to my ears. It was my desire that an unhappy man should +vanish from the world which had known him, but I had not foreseen that +others would be affected by my actions. Let me to the best of my +ability repair the evil which I have done. + +"To anyone who is acquainted with the history of the Argentine Republic +the name of Lana is well known. My father, who came of the best blood +of old Spain, filled all the highest offices of the State, and would +have been President but for his death in the riots of San Juan. A +brilliant career might have been open to my twin brother Ernest and +myself had it not been for financial losses which made it necessary +that we should earn our own living. I apologize, sir, if these details +appear to be irrelevant, but they are a necessary introduction to that +which is to follow. + +"I had, as I have said, a twin brother named Ernest, whose resemblance +to me was so great that even when we were together people could see no +difference between us. Down to the smallest detail we were exactly the +same. As we grew older this likeness became less marked because our +expression was not the same, but with our features in repose the points +of difference were very slight. + +"It does not become me to say too much of one who is dead, the more so +as he is my only brother, but I leave his character to those who knew +him best. I will only say--for I HAVE to say it--that in my early +manhood I conceived a horror of him, and that I had good reason for the +aversion which filled me. My own reputation suffered from his actions, +for our close resemblance caused me to be credited with many of them. +Eventually, in a peculiarly disgraceful business, he contrived to throw +the whole odium upon me in such a way that I was forced to leave the +Argentine for ever, and to seek a career in Europe. The freedom from +his hated presence more than compensated me for the loss of my native +land. I had enough money to defray my medical studies at Glasgow, and +I finally settled in practice at Bishop's Crossing, in the firm +conviction that in that remote Lancashire hamlet I should never hear of +him again. + +"For years my hopes were fulfilled, and then at last he discovered me. +Some Liverpool man who visited Buenos Ayres put him upon my track. He +had lost all his money, and he thought that he would come over and +share mine. Knowing my horror of him, he rightly thought that I would +be willing to buy him off. I received a letter from him saying that he +was coming. It was at a crisis in my own affairs, and his arrival +might conceivably bring trouble, and even disgrace, upon some whom I +was especially bound to shield from anything of the kind. I took steps +to insure that any evil which might come should fall on me only, and +that"--here he turned and looked at the prisoner--"was the cause of +conduct upon my part which has been too harshly judged. My only motive +was to screen those who were dear to me from any possible connection +with scandal or disgrace. That scandal and disgrace would come with my +brother was only to say that what had been would be again. + +"My brother arrived himself one night not very long after my receipt of +the letter. I was sitting in my study after the servants had gone to +bed, when I heard a footstep upon the gravel outside, and an instant +later I saw his face looking in at me through the window. He was a +clean-shaven man like myself, and the resemblance between us was still +so great that, for an instant, I thought it was my own reflection in +the glass. He had a dark patch over his eye, but our features were +absolutely the same. Then he smiled in a sardonic way which had been a +trick of his from his boyhood, and I knew that he was the same brother +who had driven me from my native land, and brought disgrace upon what +had been an honourable name. I went to the door and I admitted him. +That would be about ten o'clock that night. + +"When he came into the glare of the lamp, I saw at once that he had +fallen upon very evil days. He had walked from Liverpool, and he was +tired and ill. I was quite shocked by the expression upon his face. +My medical knowledge told me that there was some serious internal +malady. He had been drinking also, and his face was bruised as the +result of a scuffle which he had had with some sailors. It was to +cover his injured eye that he wore this patch, which he removed when he +entered the room. He was himself dressed in a pea-jacket and flannel +shirt, and his feet were bursting through his boots. But his poverty +had only made him more savagely vindictive towards me. His hatred rose +to the height of a mania. I had been rolling in money in England, +according to his account, while he had been starving in South America. +I cannot describe to you the threats which he uttered or the insults +which he poured upon me. My impression is, that hardships and +debauchery had unhinged his reason. He paced about the room like a +wild beast, demanding drink, demanding money, and all in the foulest +language. I am a hot-tempered man, but I thank God that I am able to +say that I remained master of myself, and that I never raised a hand +against him. My coolness only irritated him the more. He raved, he +cursed, he shook his fists in my face, and then suddenly a horrible +spasm passed over his features, he clapped his hand to his side, and +with a loud cry he fell in a heap at my feet. I raised him up and +stretched him upon the sofa, but no answer came to my exclamations, and +the hand which I held in mine was cold and clammy. His diseased heart +had broken down. His own violence had killed him. + +"For a long time I sat as if I were in some dreadful dream, staring at +the body of my brother. I was aroused by the knocking of Mrs. Woods, +who had been disturbed by that dying cry. I sent her away to bed. +Shortly afterwards a patient tapped at the surgery door, but as I took +no notice, he or she went off again. Slowly and gradually as I sat +there a plan was forming itself in my head in the curious automatic way +in which plans do form. When I rose from my chair my future movements +were finally decided upon without my having been conscious of any +process of thought. It was an instinct which irresistibly inclined me +towards one course. + +"Ever since that change in my affairs to which I have alluded, Bishop's +Crossing had become hateful to me. My plans of life had been ruined, +and I had met with hasty judgments and unkind treatment where I had +expected sympathy. It is true that any danger of scandal from my +brother had passed away with his life; but still, I was sore about the +past, and felt that things could never be as they had been. It may be +that I was unduly sensitive, and that I had not made sufficient +allowance for others, but my feelings were as I describe. Any chance +of getting away from Bishop's Crossing and of everyone in it would be +most welcome to me. And here was such a chance as I could never have +dared to hope for, a chance which would enable me to make a clean break +with the past. + +"There was this dead man lying upon the sofa, so like me that save for +some little thickness and coarseness of the features there was no +difference at all. No one had seen him come and no one would miss him. +We were both clean-shaven, and his hair was about the same length as my +own. If I changed clothes with him, then Dr. Aloysius Lana would be +found lying dead in his study, and there would be an end of an +unfortunate fellow, and of a blighted career. There was plenty of ready +money in the room, and this I could carry away with me to help me to +start once more in some other land. In my brother's clothes I could +walk by night unobserved as far as Liverpool, and in that great seaport +I would soon find some means of leaving the country. After my lost +hopes, the humblest existence where I was unknown was far preferable, +in my estimation, to a practice, however successful, in Bishop's +Crossing, where at any moment I might come face to face with those whom +I should wish, if it were possible, to forget. I determined to effect +the change. + +"And I did so. I will not go into particulars, for the recollection is +as painful as the experience; but in an hour my brother lay, dressed +down to the smallest detail in my clothes, while I slunk out by the +surgery door, and taking the back path which led across some fields, I +started off to make the best of my way to Liverpool, where I arrived +the same night. My bag of money and a certain portrait were all I +carried out of the house, and I left behind me in my hurry the shade +which my brother had been wearing over his eye. Everything else of his +I took with me. + +"I give you my word, sir, that never for one instant did the idea occur +to me that people might think that I had been murdered, nor did I +imagine that anyone might be caused serious danger through this +stratagem by which I endeavoured to gain a fresh start in the world. +On the contrary, it was the thought of relieving others from the burden +of my presence which was always uppermost in my mind. A sailing vessel +was leaving Liverpool that very day for Corunna, and in this I took my +passage, thinking that the voyage would give me time to recover my +balance, and to consider the future. But before I left my resolution +softened. I bethought me that there was one person in the world to +whom I would not cause an hour of sadness. She would mourn me in her +heart, however harsh and unsympathetic her relatives might be. She +understood and appreciated the motives upon which I had acted, and if +the rest of her family condemned me, she, at least, would not forget. +And so I sent her a note under the seal of secrecy to save her from a +baseless grief. If under the pressure of events she broke that seal, +she has my entire sympathy and forgiveness. + +"It was only last night that I returned to England, and during all this +time I have heard nothing of the sensation which my supposed death had +caused, nor of the accusation that Mr. Arthur Morton had been concerned +in it. It was in a late evening paper that I read an account of the +proceedings of yesterday, and I have come this morning as fast as an +express train could bring me to testify to the truth." + +Such was the remarkable statement of Dr. Aloysius Lana which brought +the trial to a sudden termination. A subsequent investigation +corroborated it to the extent of finding out the vessel in which his +brother Ernest Lana had come over from South America. The ship's +doctor was able to testify that he had complained of a weak heart +during the voyage, and that his symptoms were consistent with such a +death as was described. + +As to Dr. Aloysius Lana, he returned to the village from which he had +made so dramatic a disappearance, and a complete reconciliation was +effected between him and the young squire, the latter having +acknowledged that he had entirely misunderstood the other's motives in +withdrawing from his engagement. That another reconciliation followed +may be judged from a notice extracted from a prominent column in the +Morning Post: + + +"A marriage was solemnized upon September 19th, by the Rev. Stephen +Johnson, at the parish church of Bishop's Crossing, between Aloysius +Xavier Lana, son of Don Alfredo Lana, formerly Foreign Minister of the +Argentine Republic, and Frances Morton, only daughter of the late James +Morton, J.P., of Leigh Hall, Bishop's Crossing, Lancashire." + + + +The Jew's Breastplate + +My particular friend, Ward Mortimer, was one of the best men of his day +at everything connected with Oriental archaeology. He had written +largely upon the subject, he had lived two years in a tomb at Thebes, +while he excavated in the Valley of the Kings, and finally he had +created a considerable sensation by his exhumation of the alleged mummy +of Cleopatra in the inner room of the Temple of Horus, at Philae. With +such a record at the age of thirty-one, it was felt that a considerable +career lay before him, and no one was surprised when he was elected to +the curatorship of the Belmore Street Museum, which carries with it the +lectureship at the Oriental College, and an income which has sunk with +the fall in land, but which still remains at that ideal sum which is +large enough to encourage an investigator, but not so large as to +enervate him. + +There was only one reason which made Ward Mortimer's position a little +difficult at the Belmore Street Museum, and that was the extreme +eminence of the man whom he had to succeed. Professor Andreas was a +profound scholar and a man of European reputation. His lectures were +frequented by students from every part of the world, and his admirable +management of the collection intrusted to his care was a commonplace in +all learned societies. There was, therefore, considerable surprise +when, at the age of fifty-five, he suddenly resigned his position and +retired from those duties which had been both his livelihood and his +pleasure. He and his daughter left the comfortable suite of rooms +which had formed his official residence in connection with the museum, +and my friend, Mortimer, who was a bachelor, took up his quarters there. + +On hearing of Mortimer's appointment Professor Andreas had written him +a very kindly and flattering congratulatory letter. I was actually +present at their first meeting, and I went with Mortimer round the +museum when the Professor showed us the admirable collection which he +had cherished so long. The Professor's beautiful daughter and a young +man, Captain Wilson, who was, as I understood, soon to be her husband, +accompanied us in our inspection. There were fifteen rooms, but the +Babylonian, the Syrian, and the central hall, which contained the +Jewish and Egyptian collection, were the finest of all. Professor +Andreas was a quiet, dry, elderly man, with a clean-shaven face and an +impassive manner, but his dark eyes sparkled and his features quickened +into enthusiastic life as he pointed out to us the rarity and the +beauty of some of his specimens. His hand lingered so fondly over +them, that one could read his pride in them and the grief in his heart +now that they were passing from his care into that of another. + +He had shown us in turn his mummies, his papyri, his rare scarabs, his +inscriptions, his Jewish relics, and his duplication of the famous +seven-branched candlestick of the Temple, which was brought to Rome by +Titus, and which is supposed by some to be lying at this instant in the +bed of the Tiber. Then he approached a case which stood in the very +centre of the hall, and he looked down through the glass with reverence +in his attitude and manner. + +"This is no novelty to an expert like yourself, Mr. Mortimer," said he; +"but I daresay that your friend, Mr. Jackson, will be interested to see +it." + +Leaning over the case I saw an object, some five inches square, which +consisted of twelve precious stones in a framework of gold, with golden +hooks at two of the corners. The stones were all varying in sort and +colour, but they were of the same size. Their shapes, arrangement, and +gradation of tint made me think of a box of water-colour paints. Each +stone had some hieroglyphic scratched upon its surface. + +"You have heard, Mr. Jackson, of the urim and thummim?" + +I had heard the term, but my idea of its meaning was exceedingly vague. + +"The urim and thummim was a name given to the jewelled plate which lay +upon the breast of the high priest of the Jews. They had a very +special feeling of reverence for it--something of the feeling which an +ancient Roman might have for the Sibylline books in the Capitol. There +are, as you see, twelve magnificent stones, inscribed with mystical +characters. Counting from the left-hand top corner, the stones are +carnelian, peridot, emerald, ruby, lapis lazuli, onyx, sapphire, agate, +amethyst, topaz, beryl, and jasper." + +I was amazed at the variety and beauty of the stones. + +"Has the breastplate any particular history?" I asked. + +"It is of great age and of immense value," said Professor Andreas. +"Without being able to make an absolute assertion, we have many reasons +to think that it is possible that it may be the original urim and +thummim of Solomon's Temple. There is certainly nothing so fine in any +collection in Europe. My friend, Captain Wilson, here, is a practical +authority upon precious stones, and he would tell you how pure these +are." + +Captain Wilson, a man with a dark, hard, incisive face, was standing +beside his fiancee at the other side of the case. + +"Yes," said he, curtly, "I have never seen finer stones." + +"And the gold-work is also worthy of attention. The ancients excelled +in----"--he was apparently about to indicate the setting of the stones, +when Captain Wilson interrupted him. + +"You will see a finer example of their gold-work in this candlestick," +said he, turning to another table, and we all joined him in his +admiration of its embossed stem and delicately ornamented branches. +Altogether it was an interesting and a novel experience to have objects +of such rarity explained by so great an expert; and when, finally, +Professor Andreas finished our inspection by formally handing over the +precious collection to the care of my friend, I could not help pitying +him and envying his successor whose life was to pass in so pleasant a +duty. Within a week, Ward Mortimer was duly installed in his new set +of rooms, and had become the autocrat of the Belmore Street Museum. + +About a fortnight afterwards my friend gave a small dinner to half a +dozen bachelor friends to celebrate his promotion. When his guests +were departing he pulled my sleeve and signalled to me that he wished +me to remain. + +"You have only a few hundred yards to go," said he--I was living in +chambers in the Albany. "You may as well stay and have a quiet cigar +with me. I very much want your advice." + +I relapsed into an arm-chair and lit one of his excellent Matronas. +When he had returned from seeing the last of his guests out, he drew a +letter from his dress-jacket and sat down opposite to me. + +"This is an anonymous letter which I received this morning," said he. +"I want to read it to you and to have your advice." + +"You are very welcome to it for what it is worth." + +"This is how the note runs: 'Sir,--I should strongly advise you to +keep a very careful watch over the many valuable things which are +committed to your charge. I do not think that the present system of a +single watchman is sufficient. Be upon your guard, or an irreparable +misfortune may occur.'" + +"Is that all?" + +"Yes, that is all." + +"Well," said I, "it is at least obvious that it was written by one of +the limited number of people who are aware that you have only one +watchman at night." + +Ward Mortimer handed me the note, with a curious smile. "Have you an +eye for handwriting?" said he. "Now, look at this!" He put another +letter in front of me. "Look at the c in 'congratulate' and the c in +'committed.' Look at the capital I. Look at the trick of putting in a +dash instead of a stop!" + +"They are undoubtedly from the same hand--with some attempt at disguise +in the case of this first one." + +"The second," said Ward Mortimer, "is the letter of congratulation +which was written to me by Professor Andreas upon my obtaining my +appointment." + +I stared at him in amazement. Then I turned over the letter in my +hand, and there, sure enough, was "Martin Andreas" signed upon the +other side. There could be no doubt, in the mind of anyone who had the +slightest knowledge of the science of graphology, that the Professor +had written an anonymous letter, warning his successor against thieves. +It was inexplicable, but it was certain. + +"Why should he do it?" I asked. + +"Precisely what I should wish to ask you. If he had any such +misgivings, why could he not come and tell me direct?" + +"Will you speak to him about it?" + +"There again I am in doubt. He might choose to deny that he wrote it." + +"At any rate," said I, "this warning is meant in a friendly spirit, and +I should certainly act upon it. Are the present precautions enough to +insure you against robbery?" + +"I should have thought so. The public are only admitted from ten till +five, and there is a guardian to every two rooms. He stands at the +door between them, and so commands them both." + +"But at night?" + +"When the public are gone, we at once put up the great iron shutters, +which are absolutely burglar-proof. The watchman is a capable fellow. +He sits in the lodge, but he walks round every three hours. We keep +one electric light burning in each room all night." + +"It is difficult to suggest anything more--short of keeping your day +watches all night." + +"We could not afford that." + +"At least, I should communicate with the police, and have a special +constable put on outside in Belmore Street," said I. "As to the +letter, if the writer wishes to be anonymous, I think he has a right to +remain so. We must trust to the future to show some reason for the +curious course which he has adopted." + +So we dismissed the subject, but all that night after my return to my +chambers I was puzzling my brain as to what possible motive Professor +Andreas could have for writing an anonymous warning letter to his +successor--for that the writing was his was as certain to me as if I +had seen him actually doing it. He foresaw some danger to the +collection. Was it because he foresaw it that he abandoned his charge +of it? But if so, why should he hesitate to warn Mortimer in his own +name? I puzzled and puzzled until at last I fell into a troubled +sleep, which carried me beyond my usual hour of rising. + +I was aroused in a singular and effective method, for about nine +o'clock my friend Mortimer rushed into my room with an expression of +consternation upon his face. He was usually one of the most tidy men +of my acquaintance, but now his collar was undone at one end, his tie +was flying, and his hat at the back of his head. I read his whole +story in his frantic eyes. + +"The museum has been robbed!" I cried, springing up in bed. + +"I fear so! Those jewels! The jewels of the urim and thummim!" he +gasped, for he was out of breath with running. "I'm going on to the +police-station. Come to the museum as soon as you can, Jackson! +Good-bye!" He rushed distractedly out of the room, and I heard him +clatter down the stairs. + +I was not long in following his directions, but I found when I arrived +that he had already returned with a police inspector, and another +elderly gentleman, who proved to be Mr. Purvis, one of the partners of +Morson and Company, the well-known diamond merchants. As an expert in +stones he was always prepared to advise the police. They were grouped +round the case in which the breastplate of the Jewish priest had been +exposed. The plate had been taken out and laid upon the glass top of +the case, and the three heads were bent over it. + +"It is obvious that it has been tampered with," said Mortimer. "It +caught my eye the moment that I passed through the room this morning. +I examined it yesterday evening, so that it is certain that this has +happened during the night." + +It was, as he had said, obvious that someone had been at work upon it. +The settings of the uppermost row of four stones--the carnelian, +peridot, emerald, and ruby--were rough and jagged as if someone had +scraped all round them. The stones were in their places, but the +beautiful gold-work which we had admired only a few days before had +been very clumsily pulled about. + +"It looks to me," said the police inspector, "as if someone had been +trying to take out the stones." + +"My fear is," said Mortimer, "that he not only tried, but succeeded. I +believe these four stones to be skilful imitations which have been put +in the place of the originals." + +The same suspicion had evidently been in the mind of the expert, for he +had been carefully examining the four stones with the aid of a lens. +He now submitted them to several tests, and finally turned cheerfully +to Mortimer. + +"I congratulate you, sir," said he, heartily. "I will pledge my +reputation that all four of these stones are genuine, and of a most +unusual degree of purity." + +The colour began to come back to my poor friend's frightened face, and +he drew a long breath of relief. + +"Thank God!" he cried. "Then what in the world did the thief want?" + +"Probably he meant to take the stones, but was interrupted." + +"In that case one would expect him to take them out one at a time, but +the setting of each of these has been loosened, and yet the stones are +all here." + +"It is certainly most extraordinary," said the inspector. "I never +remember a case like it. Let us see the watchman." + +The commissionaire was called--a soldierly, honest-faced man, who +seemed as concerned as Ward Mortimer at the incident. + +"No, sir, I never heard a sound," he answered, in reply to the +questions of the inspector. "I made my rounds four times, as usual, +but I saw nothing suspicious. I've been in my position ten years, but +nothing of the kind has ever occurred before." + +"No thief could have come through the windows?" + +"Impossible, sir." + +"Or passed you at the door?" + +"No, sir; I never left my post except when I walked my rounds." + +"What other openings are there in the museum?" + +"There is the door into Mr. Ward Mortimer's private rooms." + +"That is locked at night," my friend explained, "and in order to reach +it anyone from the street would have to open the outside door as well." + +"Your servants?" + +"Their quarters are entirely separate." + +"Well, well," said the inspector, "this is certainly very obscure. +However, there has been no harm done, according to Mr. Purvis." + +"I will swear that those stones are genuine." + +"So that the case appears to be merely one of malicious damage. But +none the less, I should be very glad to go carefully round the +premises, and to see if we can find any trace to show us who your +visitor may have been." + +His investigation, which lasted all the morning, was careful and +intelligent, but it led in the end to nothing. He pointed out to us +that there were two possible entrances to the museum which we had not +considered. The one was from the cellars by a trap-door opening in the +passage. The other through a skylight from the lumber-room, +overlooking that very chamber to which the intruder had penetrated. As +neither the cellar nor the lumber-room could be entered unless the +thief was already within the locked doors, the matter was not of any +practical importance, and the dust of cellar and attic assured us that +no one had used either one or the other. Finally, we ended as we +began, without the slightest clue as to how, why, or by whom the +setting of these four jewels had been tampered with. + +There remained one course for Mortimer to take, and he took it. Leaving +the police to continue their fruitless researches, he asked me to +accompany him that afternoon in a visit to Professor Andreas. He took +with him the two letters, and it was his intention to openly tax his +predecessor with having written the anonymous warning, and to ask him +to explain the fact that he should have anticipated so exactly that +which had actually occurred. The Professor was living in a small villa +in Upper Norwood, but we were informed by the servant that he was away +from home. Seeing our disappointment, she asked us if we should like +to see Miss Andreas, and showed us into the modest drawing-room. + +I have mentioned incidentally that the Professor's daughter was a very +beautiful girl. She was a blonde, tall and graceful, with a skin of +that delicate tint which the French call "mat," the colour of old +ivory, or of the lighter petals of the sulphur rose. I was shocked, +however, as she entered the room to see how much she had changed in the +last fortnight. Her young face was haggard and her bright eyes heavy +with trouble. + +"Father has gone to Scotland," she said. "He seems to be tired, and +has had a good deal to worry him. He only left us yesterday." + +"You look a little tired yourself, Miss Andreas," said my friend. + +"I have been so anxious about father." + +"Can you give me his Scotch address?" + +"Yes, he is with his brother, the Rev. David Andreas, 1, Arran Villas, +Ardrossan." + +Ward Mortimer made a note of the address, and we left without saying +anything as to the object of our visit. We found ourselves in Belmore +Street in the evening in exactly the same position in which we had been +in the morning. Our only clue was the Professor's letter, and my +friend had made up his mind to start for Ardrossan next day, and to get +to the bottom of the anonymous letter, when a new development came to +alter our plans. + +Very early on the following morning I was aroused from my sleep by a +tap upon my bedroom door. It was a messenger with a note from Mortimer. + +"Do come round," it said; "the matter is becoming more and more +extraordinary." + +When I obeyed his summons I found him pacing excitedly up and down the +central room, while the old soldier who guarded the premises stood with +military stiffness in a corner. + +"My dear Jackson," he cried, "I am so delighted that you have come, for +this is a most inexplicable business." + +"What has happened, then?" + +He waved his hand towards the case which contained the breastplate. + +"Look at it," said he. + +I did so, and could not restrain a cry of surprise. The setting of the +middle row of precious stones had been profaned in the same manner as +the upper ones. Of the twelve jewels eight had been now tampered with +in this singular fashion. The setting of the lower four was neat and +smooth. The others jagged and irregular. + +"Have the stones been altered?" I asked. + +"No, I am certain that these upper four are the same which the expert +pronounced to be genuine, for I observed yesterday that little +discoloration on the edge of the emerald. Since they have not +extracted the upper stones, there is no reason to think the lower have +been transposed. You say that you heard nothing, Simpson?" + +"No, sir," the commissionaire answered. "But when I made my round +after daylight I had a special look at these stones, and I saw at once +that someone had been meddling with them. Then I called you, sir, and +told you. I was backwards and forwards all night, and I never saw a +soul or heard a sound." + +"Come up and have some breakfast with me," said Mortimer, and he took +me into his own chambers.--"Now, what DO you think of this, Jackson?" +he asked. + +"It is the most objectless, futile, idiotic business that ever I heard +of. It can only be the work of a monomaniac." + +"Can you put forward any theory?" + +A curious idea came into my head. "This object is a Jewish relic of +great antiquity and sanctity," said I. "How about the anti-Semitic +movement? Could one conceive that a fanatic of that way of thinking +might desecrate----" + +"No, no, no!" cried Mortimer. "That will never do! Such a man might +push his lunacy to the length of destroying a Jewish relic, but why on +earth should he nibble round every stone so carefully that he can only +do four stones in a night? We must have a better solution than that, +and we must find it for ourselves, for I do not think that our +inspector is likely to help us. First of all, what do you think of +Simpson, the porter?" + +"Have you any reason to suspect him?" + +"Only that he is the one person on the premises." + +"But why should he indulge in such wanton destruction? Nothing has +been taken away. He has no motive." + +"Mania?" + +"No, I will swear to his sanity." + +"Have you any other theory?" + +"Well, yourself, for example. You are not a somnambulist, by any +chance?" + +"Nothing of the sort, I assure you." + +"Then I give it up." + +"But I don't--and I have a plan by which we will make it all clear." + +"To visit Professor Andreas?" + +"No, we shall find our solution nearer than Scotland. I will tell you +what we shall do. You know that skylight which overlooks the central +hall? We will leave the electric lights in the hall, and we will keep +watch in the lumber-room, you and I, and solve the mystery for +ourselves. If our mysterious visitor is doing four stones at a time, +he has four still to do, and there is every reason to think that he +will return tonight and complete the job." + +"Excellent!" I cried. + +"We will keep our own secret, and say nothing either to the police or +to Simpson. Will you join me?" + +"With the utmost pleasure," said I; and so it was agreed. + +It was ten o'clock that night when I returned to the Belmore Street +Museum. Mortimer was, as I could see, in a state of suppressed nervous +excitement, but it was still too early to begin our vigil, so we +remained for an hour or so in his chambers, discussing all the +possibilities of the singular business which we had met to solve. At +last the roaring stream of hansom cabs and the rush of hurrying feet +became lower and more intermittent as the pleasure-seekers passed on +their way to their stations or their homes. It was nearly twelve when +Mortimer led the way to the lumber-room which overlooked the central +hall of the museum. + +He had visited it during the day, and had spread some sacking so that +we could lie at our ease, and look straight down into the museum. The +skylight was of unfrosted glass, but was so covered with dust that it +would be impossible for anyone looking up from below to detect that he +was overlooked. We cleared a small piece at each corner, which gave us +a complete view of the room beneath us. In the cold white light of the +electric lamps everything stood out hard and clear, and I could see the +smallest detail of the contents of the various cases. + +Such a vigil is an excellent lesson, since one has no choice but to +look hard at those objects which we usually pass with such half-hearted +interest. Through my little peep hole I employed the hours in studying +every specimen, from the huge mummy-case which leaned against the wall +to those very jewels which had brought us there, gleaming and sparkling +in their glass case immediately beneath us. There was much precious +gold-work and many valuable stones scattered through the numerous +cases, but those wonderful twelve which made up the urim and thummim +glowed and burned with a radiance which far eclipsed the others. I +studied in turn the tomb-pictures of Sicara, the friezes from Karnak, +the statues of Memphis, and the inscriptions of Thebes, but my eyes +would always come back to that wonderful Jewish relic, and my mind to +the singular mystery which surrounded it. I was lost in the thought of +it when my companion suddenly drew his breath sharply in, and seized my +arm in a convulsive grip. At the same instant I saw what it was which +had excited him. + +I have said that against the wall--on the right-hand side of the +doorway (the right-hand side as we looked at it, but the left as one +entered)--there stood a large mummy-case. To our unutterable amazement +it was slowly opening. Gradually, gradually the lid was swinging back, +and the black slit which marked the opening was becoming wider and +wider. So gently and carefully was it done that the movement was +almost imperceptible. Then, as we breathlessly watched it, a white +thin hand appeared at the opening, pushing back the painted lid, then +another hand, and finally a face--a face which was familiar to us both, +that of Professor Andreas. Stealthily he slunk out of the mummy-case, +like a fox stealing from its burrow, his head turning incessantly to +left and to right, stepping, then pausing, then stepping again, the +very image of craft and of caution. Once some sound in the street +struck him motionless, and he stood listening, with his ear turned, +ready to dart back to the shelter behind him. Then he crept onwards +again upon tiptoe, very, very softly and slowly, until he had reached +the case in the centre of the room. There he took a bunch of keys from +his pocket, unlocked the case, took out the Jewish breastplate, and, +laying it upon the glass in front of him, began to work upon it with +some sort of small, glistening tool. He was so directly underneath us +that his bent head covered his work, but we could guess from the +movement of his hand that he was engaged in finishing the strange +disfigurement which he had begun. + +I could realize from the heavy breathing of my companion, and the +twitchings of the hand which still clutched my wrist, the furious +indignation which filled his heart as he saw this vandalism in the +quarter of all others where he could least have expected it. He, the +very man who a fortnight before had reverently bent over this unique +relic, and who had impressed its antiquity and its sanctity upon us, +was now engaged in this outrageous profanation. It was impossible, +unthinkable--and yet there, in the white glare of the electric light +beneath us, was that dark figure with the bent grey head, and the +twitching elbow. What inhuman hypocrisy, what hateful depth of malice +against his successor must underlie these sinister nocturnal labours. +It was painful to think of and dreadful to watch. Even I, who had none +of the acute feelings of a virtuoso, could not bear to look on and see +this deliberate mutilation of so ancient a relic. It was a relief to +me when my companion tugged at my sleeve as a signal that I was to +follow him as he softly crept out of the room. It was not until we +were within his own quarters that he opened his lips, and then I saw by +his agitated face how deep was his consternation. + +"The abominable Goth!" he cried. "Could you have believed it?" + +"It is amazing." + +"He is a villain or a lunatic--one or the other. We shall very soon +see which. Come with me, Jackson, and we shall get to the bottom of +this black business." + +A door opened out of the passage which was the private entrance from +his rooms into the museum. This he opened softly with his key, having +first kicked off his shoes, an example which I followed. We crept +together through room after room, until the large hall lay before us, +with that dark figure still stooping and working at the central case. +With an advance as cautious as his own we closed in upon him, but +softly as we went we could not take him entirely unawares. We were +still a dozen yards from him when he looked round with a start, and +uttering a husky cry of terror, ran frantically down the museum. + +"Simpson! Simpson!" roared Mortimer, and far away down the vista of +electric lighted doors we saw the stiff figure of the old soldier +suddenly appear. Professor Andreas saw him also, and stopped running, +with a gesture of despair. At the same instant we each laid a hand +upon his shoulder. + +"Yes, yes, gentlemen," he panted, "I will come with you. To your room, +Mr. Ward Mortimer, if you please! I feel that I owe you an +explanation." + +My companion's indignation was so great that I could see that he dared +not trust himself to reply. We walked on each side of the old +Professor, the astonished commissionaire bringing up the rear. When we +reached the violated case, Mortimer stopped and examined the +breastplate. Already one of the stones of the lower row had had its +setting turned back in the same manner as the others. My friend held +it up and glanced furiously at his prisoner. + +"How could you!" he cried. "How could you!" + +"It is horrible--horrible!" said the Professor. "I don't wonder at +your feelings. Take me to your room." + +"But this shall not be left exposed!" cried Mortimer. He picked the +breastplate up and carried it tenderly in his hand, while I walked +beside the Professor, like a policeman with a malefactor. We passed +into Mortimer's chambers, leaving the amazed old soldier to understand +matters as best he could. The Professor sat down in Mortimer's +arm-chair, and turned so ghastly a colour that for the instant all our +resentment was changed to concern. A stiff glass of brandy brought the +life back to him once more. + +"There, I am better now!" said he. "These last few days have been too +much for me. I am convinced that I could not stand it any longer. It +is a nightmare--a horrible nightmare--that I should be arrested as a +burglar in what has been for so long my own museum. And yet I cannot +blame you. You could not have done otherwise. My hope always was that +I should get it all over before I was detected. This would have been +my last night's work." + +"How did you get in?" asked Mortimer. + +"By taking a very great liberty with your private door. But the object +justified it. The object justified everything. You will not be angry +when you know everything--at least, you will not be angry with me. I +had a key to your side door and also to the museum door. I did not +give them up when I left. And so you see it was not difficult for me +to let myself into the museum. I used to come in early before the +crowd had cleared from the street. Then I hid myself in the mummy-case, +and took refuge there whenever Simpson came round. I could always hear +him coming. I used to leave in the same way as I came." + +"You ran a risk." + +"I had to." + +"But why? What on earth was your object--YOU to do a thing like that!" +Mortimer pointed reproachfully at the plate which lay before him on the +table. + +"I could devise no other means. I thought and thought, but there was +no alternate except a hideous public scandal, and a private sorrow +which would have clouded our lives. I acted for the best, incredible +as it may seem to you, and I only ask your attention to enable me to +prove it." + +"I will hear what you have to say before I take any further steps," +said Mortimer, grimly. + +"I am determined to hold back nothing, and to take you both completely +into my confidence. I will leave it to your own generosity how far you +will use the facts with which I supply you." + +"We have the essential facts already." + +"And yet you understand nothing. Let me go back to what passed a few +weeks ago, and I will make it all clear to you. Believe me that what I +say is the absolute and exact truth. + +"You have met the person who calls himself Captain Wilson. I say +'calls himself' because I have reason now to believe that it is not his +correct name. It would take me too long if I were to describe all the +means by which he obtained an introduction to me and ingratiated +himself into my friendship and the affection of my daughter. He +brought letters from foreign colleagues which compelled me to show him +some attention. And then, by his own attainments, which are +considerable, he succeeded in making himself a very welcome visitor at +my rooms. When I learned that my daughter's affections had been gained +by him, I may have thought it premature, but I certainly was not +surprised, for he had a charm of manner and of conversation which would +have made him conspicuous in any society. + +"He was much interested in Oriental antiquities, and his knowledge of +the subject justified his interest. Often when he spent the evening +with us he would ask permission to go down into the museum and have an +opportunity of privately inspecting the various specimens. You can +imagine that I, as an enthusiast, was in sympathy with such a request, +and that I felt no surprise at the constancy of his visits. After his +actual engagement to Elise, there was hardly an evening which he did +not pass with us, and an hour or two were generally devoted to the +museum. He had the free run of the place, and when I have been away +for the evening I had no objection to his doing whatever he wished +here. This state of things was only terminated by the fact of my +resignation of my official duties and my retirement to Norwood, where I +hoped to have the leisure to write a considerable work which I had +planned. + +"It was immediately after this--within a week or so--that I first +realized the true nature and character of the man whom I had so +imprudently introduced into my family. The discovery came to me +through letters from my friends abroad, which showed me that his +introductions to me had been forgeries. Aghast at the revelation, I +asked myself what motive this man could originally have had in +practising this elaborate deception upon me. I was too poor a man for +any fortune-hunter to have marked me down. Why, then, had he come? I +remembered that some of the most precious gems in Europe had been under +my charge, and I remembered also the ingenious excuses by which this +man had made himself familiar with the cases in which they were kept. +He was a rascal who was planning some gigantic robbery. How could I, +without striking my own daughter, who was infatuated about him, prevent +him from carrying out any plan which he might have formed? My device +was a clumsy one, and yet I could think of nothing more effective. If +I had written a letter under my own name, you would naturally have +turned to me for details which I did not wish to give. I resorted to +an anonymous letter, begging you to be upon your guard. + +"I may tell you that my change from Belmore Street to Norwood had not +affected the visits of this man, who had, I believe, a real and +overpowering affection for my daughter. As to her, I could not have +believed that any woman could be so completely under the influence of a +man as she was. His stronger nature seemed to entirely dominate her. +I had not realized how far this was the case, or the extent of the +confidence which existed between them, until that very evening when his +true character for the first time was made clear to me. I had given +orders that when he called he should be shown into my study instead of +to the drawing-room. There I told him bluntly that I knew all about +him, that I had taken steps to defeat his designs, and that neither I +nor my daughter desired ever to see him again. I added that I thanked +God that I had found him out before he had time to harm those precious +objects which it had been the work of my life-time to protect. + +"He was certainly a man of iron nerve. He took my remarks without a +sign either of surprise or of defiance, but listened gravely and +attentively until I had finished. Then he walked across the room +without a word and struck the bell. + +"'Ask Miss Andreas to be so kind as to step this way,' said he to the +servant. + +"My daughter entered, and the man closed the door behind her. Then he +took her hand in his. + +"'Elise,' said he, 'your father has just discovered that I am a +villain. He knows now what you knew before.' + +"She stood in silence, listening. + +"'He says that we are to part for ever,' said he. + +"She did not withdraw her hand. + +"'Will you be true to me, or will you remove the last good influence +which is ever likely to come into my life?' + +"'John,' she cried, passionately. 'I will never abandon you! Never, +never, not if the whole world were against you.' + +"In vain I argued and pleaded with her. It was absolutely useless. +Her whole life was bound up in this man before me. My daughter, +gentlemen, is all that I have left to love, and it filled me with agony +when I saw how powerless I was to save her from her ruin. My +helplessness seemed to touch this man who was the cause of my trouble. + +"'It may not be as bad as you think, sir,' said he, in his quiet, +inflexible way. 'I love Elise with a love which is strong enough to +rescue even one who has such a record as I have. It was but yesterday +that I promised her that never again in my whole life would I do a +thing of which she should be ashamed. I have made up my mind to it, +and never yet did I make up my mind to a thing which I did not do.' + +"He spoke with an air which carried conviction with it. As he +concluded he put his hand into his pocket and he drew out a small +cardboard box. + +"'I am about to give you a proof of my determination,' said he. 'This, +Elise, shall be the first-fruits of your redeeming influence over me. +You are right, sir, in thinking that I had designs upon the jewels in +your possession. Such ventures have had a charm for me, which depended +as much upon the risk run as upon the value of the prize. Those famous +and antique stones of the Jewish priest were a challenge to my daring +and my ingenuity. I determined to get them.' + +"'I guessed as much.' + +"'There was only one thing that you did not guess.' + +"'And what is that?' + +"'That I got them. They are in this box.' + +"He opened the box, and tilted out the contents upon the corner of my +desk. My hair rose and my flesh grew cold as I looked. There were +twelve magnificent square stones engraved with mystical characters. +There could be no doubt that they were the jewels of the urim and +thummim. + +"'Good God!' I cried. 'How have you escaped discovery?' + +"'By the substitution of twelve others, made especially to my order, in +which the originals are so carefully imitated that I defy the eye to +detect the difference.' + +"'Then the present stones are false?' I cried. + +"'They have been for some weeks.' + +"We all stood in silence, my daughter white with emotion, but still +holding this man by the hand. + +"'You see what I am capable of, Elise,' said he. + +"'I see that you are capable of repentance and restitution,' she +answered. + +"'Yes, thanks to your influence! I leave the stones in your hands, +sir. Do what you like about it. But remember that whatever you do +against me, is done against the future husband of your only daughter. +You will hear from me soon again, Elise. It is the last time that I +will ever cause pain to your tender heart,' and with these words he +left both the room and the house. + +"My position was a dreadful one. Here I was with these precious relics +in my possession, and how could I return them without a scandal and an +exposure? I knew the depth of my daughter's nature too well to suppose +that I would ever be able to detach her from this man now that she had +entirely given him her heart. I was not even sure how far it was right +to detach her if she had such an ameliorating influence over him. How +could I expose him without injuring her--and how far was I justified in +exposing him when he had voluntarily put himself into my power? I +thought and thought until at last I formed a resolution which may seem +to you to be a foolish one, and yet, if I had to do it again, I believe +it would be the best course open to me. + +"My idea was to return the stones without anyone being the wiser. With +my keys I could get into the museum at any time, and I was confident +that I could avoid Simpson, whose hours and methods were familiar to +me. I determined to take no one into my confidence--not even my +daughter--whom I told that I was about to visit my brother in Scotland. +I wanted a free hand for a few nights, without inquiry as to my comings +and goings. To this end I took a room in Harding Street that very +night, with an intimation that I was a Pressman, and that I should keep +very late hours. + +"That night I made my way into the museum, and I replaced four of the +stones. It was hard work, and took me all night. When Simpson came +round I always heard his footsteps, and concealed myself in the +mummy-case. I had some knowledge of gold-work, but was far less +skilful than the thief had been. He had replaced the setting so +exactly that I defy anyone to see the difference. My work was rude and +clumsy. However, I hoped that the plate might not be carefully +examined, or the roughness of the setting observed, until my task was +done. Next night I replaced four more stones. And tonight I should +have finished my task had it not been for the unfortunate circumstance +which has caused me to reveal so much which I should have wished to +keep concealed. I appeal to you, gentlemen, to your sense of honour +and of compassion, whether what I have told you should go any farther +or not. My own happiness, my daughter's future, the hopes of this +man's regeneration, all depend upon your decision. + +"Which is," said my friend, "that all is well that ends well and that +the whole matter ends here and at once. Tomorrow the loose settings +shall be tightened by an expert goldsmith, and so passes the greatest +danger to which, since the destruction of the Temple, the urim and +thummim has been exposed. Here is my hand, Professor Andreas, and I +can only hope that under such difficult circumstances I should have +carried myself as unselfishly and as well." + +Just one footnote to this narrative. Within a month Elise Andreas was +married to a man whose name, had I the indiscretion to mention it, +would appeal to my readers as one who is now widely and deservedly +honoured. But if the truth were known that honour is due not to him, +but to the gentle girl who plucked him back when he had gone so far +down that dark road along which few return. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tales of Terror and Mystery, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TERROR AND MYSTERY *** + +***** This file should be named 537.txt or 537.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/537/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + +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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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +Scanned with OmniPage Professional OCR software +donated by Caere Corporation. + + + + + +Tales of Terror and Mystery +By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + + + +Contents + +Tales of Terror + +The Horror of the Heights +The Leather Funnel +The New Catacomb +The Case of Lady Sannox +The Terror of Blue John Gap +The Brazilian Cat + + +Tales of Mystery + +The Lost Special +The Beetle-Hunter +The Man with the Watches +The Japanned Box +The Black Doctor +The Jew's Breastplate + + + + + +Tales of Terror + + +The Horror of the Heights + + +The idea that the extraordinary narrative which has been called the +Joyce-Armstrong Fragment is an elaborate practical joke evolved by +some unknown person, cursed by a perverted and sinister sense of +humour, has now been abandoned by all who have examined the matter. +The most macabre and imaginative of plotters would hesitate +before linking his morbid fancies with the unquestioned and tragic +facts which reinforce the statement. Though the assertions +contained in it are amazing and even monstrous, it is none the less +forcing itself upon the general intelligence that they are true, +and that we must readjust our ideas to the new situation. This +world of ours appears to be separated by a slight and precarious +margin of safety from a most singular and unexpected danger. I +will endeavour in this narrative, which reproduces the original +document in its necessarily somewhat fragmentary form, to lay +before the reader the whole of the facts up to date, prefacing my +statement by saying that, if there be any who doubt the narrative +of Joyce-Armstrong, there can be no question at all as to the facts +concerning Lieutenant Myrtle, R. N., and Mr. Hay Connor, who +undoubtedly met their end in the manner described. + +The Joyce-Armstrong Fragment was found in the field which is +called Lower Haycock, lying one mile to the westward of the village +of Withyham, upon the Kent and Sussex border. It was on the 15th +September last that an agricultural labourer, James Flynn, in the +employment of Mathew Dodd, farmer, of the Chauntry Farm, Withyham, +perceived a briar pipe lying near the footpath which skirts the +hedge in Lower Haycock. A few paces farther on he picked up a pair +of broken binocular glasses. Finally, among some nettles in the +ditch, he caught sight of a flat, canvas-backed book, which proved +to be a note-book with detachable leaves, some of which had +come loose and were fluttering along the base of the hedge. These +he collected, but some, including the first, were never recovered, +and leave a deplorable hiatus in this all-important statement. The +note-book was taken by the labourer to his master, who in turn +showed it to Dr. J. H. Atherton, of Hartfield. This gentleman at +once recognized the need for an expert examination, and the +manuscript was forwarded to the Aero Club in London, where it now +lies. + +The first two pages of the manuscript are missing. There is +also one torn away at the end of the narrative, though none of +these affect the general coherence of the story. It is conjectured +that the missing opening is concerned with the record of Mr. Joyce- +Armstrong's qualifications as an aeronaut, which can be gathered +from other sources and are admitted to be unsurpassed among the +air-pilots of England. For many years he has been looked upon as +among the most daring and the most intellectual of flying men, a +combination which has enabled him to both invent and test several +new devices, including the common gyroscopic attachment which is +known by his name. The main body of the manuscript is written +neatly in ink, but the last few lines are in pencil and are so +ragged as to be hardly legible--exactly, in fact, as they might be +expected to appear if they were scribbled off hurriedly from the +seat of a moving aeroplane. There are, it may be added, several +stains, both on the last page and on the outside cover which have +been pronounced by the Home Office experts to be blood--probably +human and certainly mammalian. The fact that something closely +resembling the organism of malaria was discovered in this blood, +and that Joyce-Armstrong is known to have suffered from +intermittent fever, is a remarkable example of the new weapons +which modern science has placed in the hands of our detectives. + +And now a word as to the personality of the author of this +epoch-making statement. Joyce-Armstrong, according to the few +friends who really knew something of the man, was a poet and a +dreamer, as well as a mechanic and an inventor. He was a man of +considerable wealth, much of which he had spent in the pursuit of +his aeronautical hobby. He had four private aeroplanes in his +hangars near Devizes, and is said to have made no fewer than one +hundred and seventy ascents in the course of last year. He was a +retiring man with dark moods, in which he would avoid the +society of his fellows. Captain Dangerfield, who knew him better +than anyone, says that there were times when his eccentricity +threatened to develop into something more serious. His habit of +carrying a shot-gun with him in his aeroplane was one manifestation +of it. + +Another was the morbid effect which the fall of Lieutenant +Myrtle had upon his mind. Myrtle, who was attempting the height +record, fell from an altitude of something over thirty thousand +feet. Horrible to narrate, his head was entirely obliterated, +though his body and limbs preserved their configuration. At every +gathering of airmen, Joyce-Armstrong, according to Dangerfield, +would ask, with an enigmatic smile: "And where, pray, is Myrtle's +head?" + +On another occasion after dinner, at the mess of the Flying +School on Salisbury Plain, he started a debate as to what will be +the most permanent danger which airmen will have to encounter. +Having listened to successive opinions as to air-pockets, faulty +construction, and over-banking, he ended by shrugging his shoulders +and refusing to put forward his own views, though he gave the +impression that they differed from any advanced by his companions. + +It is worth remarking that after his own complete disappearance +it was found that his private affairs were arranged with a +precision which may show that he had a strong premonition of +disaster. With these essential explanations I will now give the +narrative exactly as it stands, beginning at page three of the +blood-soaked note-book: + +"Nevertheless, when I dined at Rheims with Coselli and Gustav +Raymond I found that neither of them was aware of any particular +danger in the higher layers of the atmosphere. I did not actually +say what was in my thoughts, but I got so near to it that if they +had any corresponding idea they could not have failed to express +it. But then they are two empty, vainglorious fellows with no +thought beyond seeing their silly names in the newspaper. It is +interesting to note that neither of them had ever been much beyond +the twenty-thousand-foot level. Of course, men have been higher +than this both in balloons and in the ascent of mountains. It +must be well above that point that the aeroplane enters the danger +zone--always presuming that my premonitions are correct. + +"Aeroplaning has been with us now for more than twenty years, +and one might well ask: Why should this peril be only revealing +itself in our day? The answer is obvious. In the old days of weak +engines, when a hundred horse-power Gnome or Green was considered +ample for every need, the flights were very restricted. Now that +three hundred horse-power is the rule rather than the exception, +visits to the upper layers have become easier and more common. +Some of us can remember how, in our youth, Garros made a world-wide +reputation by attaining nineteen thousand feet, and it was +considered a remarkable achievement to fly over the Alps. Our +standard now has been immeasurably raised, and there are twenty +high flights for one in former years. Many of them have been +undertaken with impunity. The thirty-thousand-foot level has been +reached time after time with no discomfort beyond cold and asthma. +What does this prove? A visitor might descend upon this planet a +thousand times and never see a tiger. Yet tigers exist, and if he +chanced to come down into a jungle he might be devoured. There are +jungles of the upper air, and there are worse things than tigers +which inhabit them. I believe in time they will map these jungles +accurately out. Even at the present moment I could name two of +them. One of them lies over the Pau-Biarritz district of France. +Another is just over my head as I write here in my house in +Wiltshire. I rather think there is a third in the Homburg- +Wiesbaden district. + +"It was the disappearance of the airmen that first set me +thinking. Of course, everyone said that they had fallen into the +sea, but that did not satisfy me at all. First, there was Verrier +in France; his machine was found near Bayonne, but they never got +his body. There was the case of Baxter also, who vanished, though +his engine and some of the iron fixings were found in a wood in +Leicestershire. In that case, Dr. Middleton, of Amesbury, who was +watching the flight with a telescope, declares that just before the +clouds obscured the view he saw the machine, which was at an +enormous height, suddenly rise perpendicularly upwards in a +succession of jerks in a manner that he would have thought to +be impossible. That was the last seen of Baxter. There was a +correspondence in the papers, but it never led to anything. There +were several other similar cases, and then there was the death of +Hay Connor. What a cackle there was about an unsolved mystery of +the air, and what columns in the halfpenny papers, and yet how +little was ever done to get to the bottom of the business! He came +down in a tremendous vol-plane from an unknown height. He never +got off his machine and died in his pilot's seat. Died of what? +`Heart disease,' said the doctors. Rubbish! Hay Connor's heart +was as sound as mine is. What did Venables say? Venables was the +only man who was at his side when he died. He said that he was +shivering and looked like a man who had been badly scared. `Died +of fright,' said Venables, but could not imagine what he was +frightened about. Only said one word to Venables, which sounded +like `Monstrous.' They could make nothing of that at the inquest. +But I could make something of it. Monsters! That was the last +word of poor Harry Hay Connor. And he DID die of fright, just +as Venables thought. + +"And then there was Myrtle's head. Do you really believe--does +anybody really believe--that a man's head could be driven clean +into his body by the force of a fall? Well, perhaps it may be +possible, but I, for one, have never believed that it was so with +Myrtle. And the grease upon his clothes--`all slimy with grease,' +said somebody at the inquest. Queer that nobody got thinking after +that! I did--but, then, I had been thinking for a good long time. +I've made three ascents--how Dangerfield used to chaff me about my +shot-gun--but I've never been high enough. Now, with this new, +light Paul Veroner machine and its one hundred and seventy-five +Robur, I should easily touch the thirty thousand tomorrow. I'll +have a shot at the record. Maybe I shall have a shot at something +else as well. Of course, it's dangerous. If a fellow wants to +avoid danger he had best keep out of flying altogether and subside +finally into flannel slippers and a dressing-gown. But I'll visit +the air-jungle tomorrow--and if there's anything there I shall know +it. If I return, I'll find myself a bit of a celebrity. If I +don't this note-book may explain what I am trying to do, and how I +lost my life in doing it. But no drivel about accidents or +mysteries, if YOU please. + +"I chose my Paul Veroner monoplane for the job. There's +nothing like a monoplane when real work is to be done. +Beaumont found that out in very early days. For one thing it +doesn't mind damp, and the weather looks as if we should be in the +clouds all the time. It's a bonny little model and answers my hand +like a tender-mouthed horse. The engine is a ten-cylinder rotary +Robur working up to one hundred and seventy-five. It has all the +modern improvements--enclosed fuselage, high-curved landing skids, +brakes, gyroscopic steadiers, and three speeds, worked by an +alteration of the angle of the planes upon the Venetian-blind +principle. I took a shot-gun with me and a dozen cartridges filled +with buck-shot. You should have seen the face of Perkins, my old +mechanic, when I directed him to put them in. I was dressed like +an Arctic explorer, with two jerseys under my overalls, thick socks +inside my padded boots, a storm-cap with flaps, and my talc +goggles. It was stifling outside the hangars, but I was going for +the summit of the Himalayas, and had to dress for the part. +Perkins knew there was something on and implored me to take him +with me. Perhaps I should if I were using the biplane, but a +monoplane is a one-man show--if you want to get the last foot of +life out of it. Of course, I took an oxygen bag; the man who goes +for the altitude record without one will either be frozen or +smothered--or both. + +"I had a good look at the planes, the rudder-bar, and the +elevating lever before I got in. Everything was in order so far as +I could see. Then I switched on my engine and found that she was +running sweetly. When they let her go she rose almost at once upon +the lowest speed. I circled my home field once or twice just to +warm her up, and then with a wave to Perkins and the others, I +flattened out my planes and put her on her highest. She skimmed +like a swallow down wind for eight or ten miles until I turned her +nose up a little and she began to climb in a great spiral for the +cloud-bank above me. It's all-important to rise slowly and adapt +yourself to the pressure as you go. + +"It was a close, warm day for an English September, and there +was the hush and heaviness of impending rain. Now and then there +came sudden puffs of wind from the south-west--one of them so gusty +and unexpected that it caught me napping and turned me half-round +for an instant. I remember the time when gusts and whirls and air- +pockets used to be things of danger--before we learned to put +an overmastering power into our engines. Just as I reached the +cloud-banks, with the altimeter marking three thousand, down came +the rain. My word, how it poured! It drummed upon my wings and +lashed against my face, blurring my glasses so that I could hardly +see. I got down on to a low speed, for it was painful to travel +against it. As I got higher it became hail, and I had to turn tail +to it. One of my cylinders was out of action--a dirty plug, I +should imagine, but still I was rising steadily with plenty of +power. After a bit the trouble passed, whatever it was, and I +heard the full, deep-throated purr--the ten singing as one. That's +where the beauty of our modern silencers comes in. We can at last +control our engines by ear. How they squeal and squeak and sob +when they are in trouble! All those cries for help were wasted in +the old days, when every sound was swallowed up by the monstrous +racket of the machine. If only the early aviators could come back +to see the beauty and perfection of the mechanism which have been +bought at the cost of their lives! + +"About nine-thirty I was nearing the clouds. Down below me, +all blurred and shadowed with rain, lay the vast expanse of +Salisbury Plain. Half a dozen flying machines were doing hackwork +at the thousand-foot level, looking like little black swallows +against the green background. I dare say they were wondering what +I was doing up in cloud-land. Suddenly a grey curtain drew across +beneath me and the wet folds of vapours were swirling round my +face. It was clammily cold and miserable. But I was above the +hail-storm, and that was something gained. The cloud was as dark +and thick as a London fog. In my anxiety to get clear, I cocked +her nose up until the automatic alarm-bell rang, and I actually +began to slide backwards. My sopped and dripping wings had made me +heavier than I thought, but presently I was in lighter cloud, and +soon had cleared the first layer. There was a second--opal- +coloured and fleecy--at a great height above my head, a white, +unbroken ceiling above, and a dark, unbroken floor below, with the +monoplane labouring upwards upon a vast spiral between them. It is +deadly lonely in these cloud-spaces. Once a great flight of some +small water-birds went past me, flying very fast to the westwards. +The quick whir of their wings and their musical cry were cheery to +my ear. I fancy that they were teal, but I am a wretched +zoologist. Now that we humans have become birds we must really +learn to know our brethren by sight. + +"The wind down beneath me whirled and swayed the broad cloud- +plain. Once a great eddy formed in it, a whirlpool of vapour, and +through it, as down a funnel, I caught sight of the distant world. +A large white biplane was passing at a vast depth beneath me. I +fancy it was the morning mail service betwixt Bristol and London. +Then the drift swirled inwards again and the great solitude was +unbroken. + +"Just after ten I touched the lower edge of the upper cloud- +stratum. It consisted of fine diaphanous vapour drifting swiftly +from the westwards. The wind had been steadily rising all this +time and it was now blowing a sharp breeze--twenty-eight an hour by +my gauge. Already it was very cold, though my altimeter only +marked nine thousand. The engines were working beautifully, and we +went droning steadily upwards. The cloud-bank was thicker than I +had expected, but at last it thinned out into a golden mist before +me, and then in an instant I had shot out from it, and there was an +unclouded sky and a brilliant sun above my head--all blue and gold +above, all shining silver below, one vast, glimmering plain as far +as my eyes could reach. It was a quarter past ten o'clock, and the +barograph needle pointed to twelve thousand eight hundred. Up I +went and up, my ears concentrated upon the deep purring of my +motor, my eyes busy always with the watch, the revolution +indicator, the petrol lever, and the oil pump. No wonder aviators +are said to be a fearless race. With so many things to think of +there is no time to trouble about oneself. About this time I noted +how unreliable is the compass when above a certain height from +earth. At fifteen thousand feet mine was pointing east and a point +south. The sun and the wind gave me my true bearings. + +"I had hoped to reach an eternal stillness in these high +altitudes, but with every thousand feet of ascent the gale grew +stronger. My machine groaned and trembled in every joint and rivet +as she faced it, and swept away like a sheet of paper when I banked +her on the turn, skimming down wind at a greater pace, perhaps, +than ever mortal man has moved. Yet I had always to turn again and +tack up in the wind's eye, for it was not merely a height +record that I was after. By all my calculations it was above +little Wiltshire that my air-jungle lay, and all my labour might be +lost if I struck the outer layers at some farther point. + +"When I reached the nineteen-thousand-foot level, which was +about midday, the wind was so severe that I looked with some +anxiety to the stays of my wings, expecting momentarily to see them +snap or slacken. I even cast loose the parachute behind me, and +fastened its hook into the ring of my leathern belt, so as to be +ready for the worst. Now was the time when a bit of scamped work +by the mechanic is paid for by the life of the aeronaut. But she +held together bravely. Every cord and strut was humming and +vibrating like so many harp-strings, but it was glorious to see +how, for all the beating and the buffeting, she was still the +conqueror of Nature and the mistress of the sky. There is surely +something divine in man himself that he should rise so superior to +the limitations which Creation seemed to impose--rise, too, by such +unselfish, heroic devotion as this air-conquest has shown. Talk of +human degeneration! When has such a story as this been written in +the annals of our race? + +"These were the thoughts in my head as I climbed that +monstrous, inclined plane with the wind sometimes beating in my +face and sometimes whistling behind my ears, while the cloud-land +beneath me fell away to such a distance that the folds and hummocks +of silver had all smoothed out into one flat, shining plain. But +suddenly I had a horrible and unprecedented experience. I have +known before what it is to be in what our neighbours have called a +tourbillon, but never on such a scale as this. That huge, +sweeping river of wind of which I have spoken had, as it appears, +whirlpools within it which were as monstrous as itself. Without a +moment's warning I was dragged suddenly into the heart of one. I +spun round for a minute or two with such velocity that I almost +lost my senses, and then fell suddenly, left wing foremost, down +the vacuum funnel in the centre. I dropped like a stone, and lost +nearly a thousand feet. It was only my belt that kept me in my +seat, and the shock and breathlessness left me hanging half- +insensible over the side of the fuselage. But I am always capable +of a supreme effort--it is my one great merit as an aviator. I was +conscious that the descent was slower. The whirlpool was a cone +rather than a funnel, and I had come to the apex. With a +terrific wrench, throwing my weight all to one side, I levelled my +planes and brought her head away from the wind. In an instant I +had shot out of the eddies and was skimming down the sky. Then, +shaken but victorious, I turned her nose up and began once more my +steady grind on the upward spiral. I took a large sweep to avoid +the danger-spot of the whirlpool, and soon I was safely above it. +Just after one o'clock I was twenty-one thousand feet above the +sea-level. To my great joy I had topped the gale, and with every +hundred feet of ascent the air grew stiller. On the other hand, it +was very cold, and I was conscious of that peculiar nausea which +goes with rarefaction of the air. For the first time I unscrewed +the mouth of my oxygen bag and took an occasional whiff of the +glorious gas. I could feel it running like a cordial through my +veins, and I was exhilarated almost to the point of drunkenness. +I shouted and sang as I soared upwards into the cold, still outer +world. + +"It is very clear to me that the insensibility which came upon +Glaisher, and in a lesser degree upon Coxwell, when, in 1862, they +ascended in a balloon to the height of thirty thousand feet, was +due to the extreme speed with which a perpendicular ascent is made. +Doing it at an easy gradient and accustoming oneself to the +lessened barometric pressure by slow degrees, there are no such +dreadful symptoms. At the same great height I found that even +without my oxygen inhaler I could breathe without undue distress. +It was bitterly cold, however, and my thermometer was at zero, +Fahrenheit. At one-thirty I was nearly seven miles above the +surface of the earth, and still ascending steadily. I found, +however, that the rarefied air was giving markedly less support to +my planes, and that my angle of ascent had to be considerably +lowered in consequence. It was already clear that even with my +light weight and strong engine-power there was a point in front of +me where I should be held. To make matters worse, one of my +sparking-plugs was in trouble again and there was intermittent +misfiring in the engine. My heart was heavy with the fear of +failure. + +"It was about that time that I had a most extraordinary +experience. Something whizzed past me in a trail of smoke and +exploded with a loud, hissing sound, sending forth a cloud of +steam. For the instant I could not imagine what had happened. +Then I remembered that the earth is for ever being bombarded by +meteor stones, and would be hardly inhabitable were they not in +nearly every case turned to vapour in the outer layers of the +atmosphere. Here is a new danger for the high-altitude man, for +two others passed me when I was nearing the forty-thousand-foot +mark. I cannot doubt that at the edge of the earth's envelope the +risk would be a very real one. + +"My barograph needle marked forty-one thousand three hundred +when I became aware that I could go no farther. Physically, the +strain was not as yet greater than I could bear but my machine had +reached its limit. The attenuated air gave no firm support to the +wings, and the least tilt developed into side-slip, while she +seemed sluggish on her controls. Possibly, had the engine been at +its best, another thousand feet might have been within our +capacity, but it was still misfiring, and two out of the ten +cylinders appeared to be out of action. If I had not already +reached the zone for which I was searching then I should never see +it upon this journey. But was it not possible that I had attained +it? Soaring in circles like a monstrous hawk upon the forty- +thousand-foot level I let the monoplane guide herself, and with my +Mannheim glass I made a careful observation of my surroundings. +The heavens were perfectly clear; there was no indication of those +dangers which I had imagined. + +"I have said that I was soaring in circles. It struck me +suddenly that I would do well to take a wider sweep and open up a +new airtract. If the hunter entered an earth-jungle he would drive +through it if he wished to find his game. My reasoning had led me +to believe that the air-jungle which I had imagined lay somewhere +over Wiltshire. This should be to the south and west of me. I +took my bearings from the sun, for the compass was hopeless and no +trace of earth was to be seen--nothing but the distant, silver +cloud-plain. However, I got my direction as best I might and kept +her head straight to the mark. I reckoned that my petrol supply +would not last for more than another hour or so, but I could afford +to use it to the last drop, since a single magnificent vol-plane +could at any time take me to the earth. + +"Suddenly I was aware of something new. The air in front of me +had lost its crystal clearness. It was full of long, ragged wisps +of something which I can only compare to very fine cigarette +smoke. It hung about in wreaths and coils, turning and +twisting slowly in the sunlight. As the monoplane shot through it, +I was aware of a faint taste of oil upon my lips, and there was a +greasy scum upon the woodwork of the machine. Some infinitely fine +organic matter appeared to be suspended in the atmosphere. There +was no life there. It was inchoate and diffuse, extending for many +square acres and then fringing off into the void. No, it was not +life. But might it not be the remains of life? Above all, might +it not be the food of life, of monstrous life, even as the humble +grease of the ocean is the food for the mighty whale? The thought +was in my mind when my eyes looked upwards and I saw the most +wonderful vision that ever man has seen. Can I hope to convey it +to you even as I saw it myself last Thursday? + +"Conceive a jelly-fish such as sails in our summer seas, bell- +shaped and of enormous size--far larger, I should judge, than the +dome of St. Paul's. It was of a light pink colour veined with a +delicate green, but the whole huge fabric so tenuous that it was +but a fairy outline against the dark blue sky. It pulsated with a +delicate and regular rhythm. From it there depended two long, +drooping, green tentacles, which swayed slowly backwards and +forwards. This gorgeous vision passed gently with noiseless +dignity over my head, as light and fragile as a soap-bubble, and +drifted upon its stately way. + +"I had half-turned my monoplane, that I might look after this +beautiful creature, when, in a moment, I found myself amidst a +perfect fleet of them, of all sizes, but none so large as the +first. Some were quite small, but the majority about as big as an +average balloon, and with much the same curvature at the top. +There was in them a delicacy of texture and colouring which +reminded me of the finest Venetian glass. Pale shades of pink and +green were the prevailing tints, but all had a lovely iridescence +where the sun shimmered through their dainty forms. Some hundreds +of them drifted past me, a wonderful fairy squadron of strange +unknown argosies of the sky--creatures whose forms and substance +were so attuned to these pure heights that one could not conceive +anything so delicate within actual sight or sound of earth. + +"But soon my attention was drawn to a new phenomenon--the +serpents of the outer air. These were long, thin, fantastic coils +of vapour-like material, which turned and twisted with great speed, +flying round and round at such a pace that the eyes could +hardly follow them. Some of these ghost-like creatures were twenty +or thirty feet long, but it was difficult to tell their girth, for +their outline was so hazy that it seemed to fade away into the air +around them. These air-snakes were of a very light grey or smoke +colour, with some darker lines within, which gave the impression of +a definite organism. One of them whisked past my very face, and I +was conscious of a cold, clammy contact, but their composition was +so unsubstantial that I could not connect them with any thought of +physical danger, any more than the beautiful bell-like creatures +which had preceded them. There was no more solidity in their +frames than in the floating spume from a broken wave. + +"But a more terrible experience was in store for me. Floating +downwards from a great height there came a purplish patch of +vapour, small as I saw it first, but rapidly enlarging as it +approached me, until it appeared to be hundreds of square feet in +size. Though fashioned of some transparent, jelly-like substance, +it was none the less of much more definite outline and solid +consistence than anything which I had seen before. There were more +traces, too, of a physical organization, especially two vast, +shadowy, circular plates upon either side, which may have been +eyes, and a perfectly solid white projection between them which was +as curved and cruel as the beak of a vulture. + +"The whole aspect of this monster was formidable and +threatening, and it kept changing its colour from a very light +mauve to a dark, angry purple so thick that it cast a shadow as it +drifted between my monoplane and the sun. On the upper curve of +its huge body there were three great projections which I can only +describe as enormous bubbles, and I was convinced as I looked at +them that they were charged with some extremely light gas which +served to buoy up the misshapen and semi-solid mass in the rarefied +air. The creature moved swiftly along, keeping pace easily with +the monoplane, and for twenty miles or more it formed my horrible +escort, hovering over me like a bird of prey which is waiting to +pounce. Its method of progression--done so swiftly that it was not +easy to follow--was to throw out a long, glutinous streamer in +front of it, which in turn seemed to draw forward the rest of the +writhing body. So elastic and gelatinous was it that never for +two successive minutes was it the same shape, and yet each change +made it more threatening and loathsome than the last. + +"I knew that it meant mischief. Every purple flush of its +hideous body told me so. The vague, goggling eyes which were +turned always upon me were cold and merciless in their viscid +hatred. I dipped the nose of my monoplane downwards to escape it. +As I did so, as quick as a flash there shot out a long tentacle +from this mass of floating blubber, and it fell as light and +sinuous as a whip-lash across the front of my machine. There was +a loud hiss as it lay for a moment across the hot engine, and it +whisked itself into the air again, while the huge, flat body drew +itself together as if in sudden pain. I dipped to a vol-pique, but +again a tentacle fell over the monoplane and was shorn off by the +propeller as easily as it might have cut through a smoke wreath. +A long, gliding, sticky, serpent-like coil came from behind and +caught me round the waist, dragging me out of the fuselage. I tore +at it, my fingers sinking into the smooth, glue-like surface, and +for an instant I disengaged myself, but only to be caught round the +boot by another coil, which gave me a jerk that tilted me almost on +to my back. + +"As I fell over I blazed off both barrels of my gun, though, +indeed, it was like attacking an elephant with a pea-shooter to +imagine that any human weapon could cripple that mighty bulk. And +yet I aimed better than I knew, for, with a loud report, one of the +great blisters upon the creature's back exploded with the puncture +of the buck-shot. It was very clear that my conjecture was right, +and that these vast, clear bladders were distended with some +lifting gas, for in an instant the huge, cloud-like body turned +sideways, writhing desperately to find its balance, while the white +beak snapped and gaped in horrible fury. But already I had shot +away on the steepest glide that I dared to attempt, my engine still +full on, the flying propeller and the force of gravity shooting me +downwards like an aerolite. Far behind me I saw a dull, purplish +smudge growing swiftly smaller and merging into the blue sky behind +it. I was safe out of the deadly jungle of the outer air. + +"Once out of danger I throttled my engine, for nothing tears a +machine to pieces quicker than running on full power from a height. +It was a glorious, spiral vol-plane from nearly eight miles of +altitude--first, to the level of the silver cloud-bank, then to +that of the storm-cloud beneath it, and finally, in beating rain, +to the surface of the earth. I saw the Bristol Channel beneath me +as I broke from the clouds, but, having still some petrol in my +tank, I got twenty miles inland before I found myself stranded in +a field half a mile from the village of Ashcombe. There I got +three tins of petrol from a passing motor-car, and at ten minutes +past six that evening I alighted gently in my own home meadow at +Devizes, after such a journey as no mortal upon earth has ever yet +taken and lived to tell the tale. I have seen the beauty and I +have seen the horror of the heights--and greater beauty or greater +horror than that is not within the ken of man. + +"And now it is my plan to go once again before I give my +results to the world. My reason for this is that I must surely +have something to show by way of proof before I lay such a tale +before my fellow-men. It is true that others will soon follow and +will confirm what I have said, and yet I should wish to carry +conviction from the first. Those lovely iridescent bubbles of the +air should not be hard to capture. They drift slowly upon their +way, and the swift monoplane could intercept their leisurely +course. It is likely enough that they would dissolve in the +heavier layers of the atmosphere, and that some small heap of +amorphous jelly might be all that I should bring to earth with me. +And yet something there would surely be by which I could +substantiate my story. Yes, I will go, even if I run a risk by +doing so. These purple horrors would not seem to be numerous. It +is probable that I shall not see one. If I do I shall dive at +once. At the worst there is always the shot-gun and my knowledge +of . . ." + + +Here a page of the manuscript is unfortunately missing. On the +next page is written, in large, straggling writing: + + +"Forty-three thousand feet. I shall never see earth again. +They are beneath me, three of them. God help me; it is a dreadful +death to die!" + + +Such in its entirety is the Joyce-Armstrong Statement. Of the +man nothing has since been seen. Pieces of his shattered monoplane +have been picked up in the preserves of Mr. Budd-Lushington +upon the borders of Kent and Sussex, within a few miles of the spot +where the note-book was discovered. If the unfortunate aviator's +theory is correct that this air-jungle, as he called it, existed +only over the south-west of England, then it would seem that he had +fled from it at the full speed of his monoplane, but had been +overtaken and devoured by these horrible creatures at some spot in +the outer atmosphere above the place where the grim relics were +found. The picture of that monoplane skimming down the sky, with +the nameless terrors flying as swiftly beneath it and cutting it +off always from the earth while they gradually closed in upon their +victim, is one upon which a man who valued his sanity would prefer +not to dwell. There are many, as I am aware, who still jeer at the +facts which I have here set down, but even they must admit that +Joyce-Armstrong has disappeared, and I would commend to them his +own words: "This note-book may explain what I am trying to do, and +how I lost my life in doing it. But no drivel about accidents or +mysteries, if YOU please." + + + +The Leather Funnel + +My friend, Lionel Dacre, lived in the Avenue de Wagram, Paris. +His house was that small one, with the iron railings and grass +plot in front of it, on the left-hand side as you pass down from +the Arc de Triomphe. I fancy that it had been there long before +the avenue was constructed, for the grey tiles were stained with +lichens, and the walls were mildewed and discoloured with age. It +looked a small house from the street, five windows in front, if +I remember right, but it deepened into a single long chamber at +the back. It was here that Dacre had that singular library of +occult literature, and the fantastic curiosities which served as a +hobby for himself, and an amusement for his friends. A wealthy man +of refined and eccentric tastes, he had spent much of his life and +fortune in gathering together what was said to be a unique private +collection of Talmudic, cabalistic, and magical works, many of them +of great rarity and value. His tastes leaned toward the marvellous +and the monstrous, and I have heard that his experiments in the +direction of the unknown have passed all the bounds of civilization +and of decorum. To his English friends he never alluded to such +matters, and took the tone of the student and virtuoso; but a +Frenchman whose tastes were of the same nature has assured me that +the worst excesses of the black mass have been perpetrated in that +large and lofty hall, which is lined with the shelves of his books, +and the cases of his museum. + +Dacre's appearance was enough to show that his deep interest in +these psychic matters was intellectual rather than spiritual. +There was no trace of asceticism upon his heavy face, but there was +much mental force in his huge, dome-like skull, which curved upward +from amongst his thinning locks, like a snowpeak above its fringe +of fir trees. His knowledge was greater than his wisdom, and his +powers were far superior to his character. The small bright eyes, +buried deeply in his fleshy face, twinkled with intelligence and an +unabated curiosity of life, but they were the eyes of a sensualist +and an egotist. Enough of the man, for he is dead now, poor devil, +dead at the very time that he had made sure that he had at last +discovered the elixir of life. It is not with his complex +character that I have to deal, but with the very strange and +inexplicable incident which had its rise in my visit to him in the +early spring of the year '82. + +I had known Dacre in England, for my researches in the Assyrian +Room of the British Museum had been conducted at the time when he +was endeavouring to establish a mystic and esoteric meaning in the +Babylonian tablets, and this community of interests had brought us +together. Chance remarks had led to daily conversation, and that +to something verging upon friendship. I had promised him that on +my next visit to Paris I would call upon him. At the time when I +was able to fulfil my compact I was living in a cottage at +Fontainebleau, and as the evening trains were inconvenient, he +asked me to spend the night in his house. + +"I have only that one spare couch," said he, pointing to a +broad sofa in his large salon; "I hope that you will manage to be +comfortable there." + +It was a singular bedroom, with its high walls of brown +volumes, but there could be no more agreeable furniture to a +bookworm like myself, and there is no scent so pleasant to my +nostrils as that faint, subtle reek which comes from an ancient +book. I assured him that I could desire no more charming chamber, +and no more congenial surroundings. + +"If the fittings are neither convenient nor conventional, they +are at least costly," said he, looking round at his shelves. "I +have expended nearly a quarter of a million of money upon these +objects which surround you. Books, weapons, gems, carvings, +tapestries, images--there is hardly a thing here which has not its +history, and it is generally one worth telling." + +He was seated as he spoke at one side of the open fire-place, +and I at the other. His reading-table was on his right, and the +strong lamp above it ringed it with a very vivid circle of golden +light. A half-rolled palimpsest lay in the centre, and around it +were many quaint articles of bric-a-brac. One of these was a large +funnel, such as is used for filling wine casks. It appeared to be +made of black wood, and to be rimmed with discoloured brass. + +"That is a curious thing," I remarked. "What is the history of +that?" + +"Ah!" said he, "it is the very question which I have had +occasion to ask myself. I would give a good deal to know. Take it +in your hands and examine it." + +I did so, and found that what I had imagined to be wood was in +reality leather, though age had dried it into an extreme hardness. +It was a large funnel, and might hold a quart when full. The brass +rim encircled the wide end, but the narrow was also tipped with +metal. + +"What do you make of it?" asked Dacre. + +"I should imagine that it belonged to some vintner or maltster +in the Middle Ages," said I. "I have seen in England leathern +drinking flagons of the seventeenth century--'black jacks' as +they were called--which were of the same colour and hardness as +this filler." + +"I dare say the date would be about the same," said Dacre, +"and, no doubt, also, it was used for filling a vessel with liquid. +If my suspicions are correct, however, it was a queer vintner who +used it, and a very singular cask which was filled. Do you observe +nothing strange at the spout end of the funnel." + +As I held it to the light I observed that at a spot some five +inches above the brass tip the narrow neck of the leather funnel +was all haggled and scored, as if someone had notched it round with +a blunt knife. Only at that point was there any roughening of the +dead black surface. + +"Someone has tried to cut off the neck." + +"Would you call it a cut?" + +"It is torn and lacerated. It must have taken some strength to +leave these marks on such tough material, whatever the instrument +may have been. But what do you think of it? I can tell that you +know more than you say." + +Dacre smiled, and his little eyes twinkled with knowledge. + +"Have you included the psychology of dreams among your learned +studies?" he asked. + +"I did not even know that there was such a psychology." + +"My dear sir, that shelf above the gem case is filled with +volumes, from Albertus Magnus onward, which deal with no other +subject. It is a science in itself." + +"A science of charlatans!" + +"The charlatan is always the pioneer. From the astrologer came +the astronomer, from the alchemist the chemist, from the mesmerist +the experimental psychologist. The quack of yesterday is the +professor of tomorrow. Even such subtle and elusive things as +dreams will in time be reduced to system and order. When that time +comes the researches of our friends on the bookshelf yonder will no +longer be the amusement of the mystic, but the foundations of a +science." + +"Supposing that is so, what has the science of dreams to do +with a large, black, brass-rimmed funnel?" + +"I will tell you. You know that I have an agent who is always +on the look-out for rarities and curiosities for my collection. +Some days ago he heard of a dealer upon one of the Quais who +had acquired some old rubbish found in a cupboard in an ancient +house at the back of the Rue Mathurin, in the Quartier Latin. The +dining-room of this old house is decorated with a coat of arms, +chevrons, and bars rouge upon a field argent, which prove, upon +inquiry, to be the shield of Nicholas de la Reynie, a high official +of King Louis XIV. There can be no doubt that the other articles +in the cupboard date back to the early days of that king. The +inference is, therefore, that they were all the property of this +Nicholas de la Reynie, who was, as I understand, the gentleman +specially concerned with the maintenance and execution of the +Draconic laws of that epoch." + +"What then?" + +"I would ask you now to take the funnel into your hands once +more and to examine the upper brass rim. Can you make out any +lettering upon it?" + +There were certainly some scratches upon it, almost obliterated +by time. The general effect was of several letters, the last of +which bore some resemblance to a B. + +"You make it a B?" + +"Yes, I do." + +"So do I. In fact, I have no doubt whatever that it is a B." + +"But the nobleman you mentioned would have had R for his +initial." + +"Exactly! That's the beauty of it. He owned this curious +object, and yet he had someone else's initials upon it. Why did he +do this?" + +"I can't imagine; can you?" + +"Well, I might, perhaps, guess. Do you observe something drawn +a little farther along the rim?" + +"I should say it was a crown." + +"It is undoubtedly a crown; but if you examine it in a good +light, you will convince yourself that it is not an ordinary crown. +It is a heraldic crown--a badge of rank, and it consists of an +alternation of four pearls and strawberry leaves, the proper badge +of a marquis. We may infer, therefore, that the person whose +initials end in B was entitled to wear that coronet." + +"Then this common leather filler belonged to a marquis?" + +Dacre gave a peculiar smile. + +"Or to some member of the family of a marquis," said he. "So +much we have clearly gathered from this engraved rim." + +"But what has all this to do with dreams?" I do not know +whether it was from a look upon Dacre's face, or from some subtle +suggestion in his manner, but a feeling of repulsion, of +unreasoning horror, came upon me as I looked at the gnarled old +lump of leather. + +"I have more than once received important information through +my dreams," said my companion in the didactic manner which he loved +to affect. "I make it a rule now when I am in doubt upon any +material point to place the article in question beside me as I +sleep, and to hope for some enlightenment. The process does not +appear to me to be very obscure, though it has not yet received the +blessing of orthodox science. According to my theory, any object +which has been intimately associated with any supreme paroxysm of +human emotion, whether it be joy or pain, will retain a certain +atmosphere or association which it is capable of communicating to +a sensitive mind. By a sensitive mind I do not mean an abnormal +one, but such a trained and educated mind as you or I possess." + +"You mean, for example, that if I slept beside that old sword +upon the wall, I might dream of some bloody incident in which that +very sword took part?" + +"An excellent example, for, as a matter of fact, that sword was +used in that fashion by me, and I saw in my sleep the death of its +owner, who perished in a brisk skirmish, which I have been unable +to identify, but which occurred at the time of the wars of the +Frondists. If you think of it, some of our popular observances +show that the fact has already been recognized by our ancestors, +although we, in our wisdom, have classed it among superstitions." + +"For example?" + +"Well, the placing of the bride's cake beneath the pillow in +order that the sleeper may have pleasant dreams. That is one of +several instances which you will find set forth in a small +brochure which I am myself writing upon the subject. But to +come back to the point, I slept one night with this funnel beside +me, and I had a dream which certainly throws a curious light upon +its use and origin." + + "What did you dream?" + +"I dreamed----" He paused, and an intent look of interest came +over his massive face. "By Jove, that's well thought of," said he. +"This really will be an exceedingly interesting experiment. You +are yourself a psychic subject--with nerves which respond readily +to any impression." + +"I have never tested myself in that direction." + +"Then we shall test you tonight. Might I ask you as a very +great favour, when you occupy that couch tonight, to sleep with +this old funnel placed by the side of your pillow?" + +The request seemed to me a grotesque one; but I have myself, in +my complex nature, a hunger after all which is bizarre and +fantastic. I had not the faintest belief in Dacre's theory, nor +any hopes for success in such an experiment; yet it amused me that +the experiment should be made. Dacre, with great gravity, drew a +small stand to the head of my settee, and placed the funnel upon +it. Then, after a short conversation, he wished me good night and +left me. + + + I sat for some little time smoking by the smouldering fire, +and turning over in my mind the curious incident which had +occurred, and the strange experience which might lie before me. +Sceptical as I was, there was something impressive in the assurance +of Dacre's manner, and my extraordinary surroundings, the huge room +with the strange and often sinister objects which were hung round +it, struck solemnity into my soul. Finally I undressed, and +turning out the lamp, I lay down. After long tossing I fell +asleep. Let me try to describe as accurately as I can the scene +which came to me in my dreams. It stands out now in my memory more +clearly than anything which I have seen with my waking eyes. There +was a room which bore the appearance of a vault. Four spandrels +from the corners ran up to join a sharp, cup-shaped roof. The +architecture was rough, but very strong. It was evidently part of +a great building. + + Three men in black, with curious, top-heavy, black velvet +hats, sat in a line upon a red-carpeted dais. Their faces were +very solemn and sad. On the left stood two long-gowned men with +port-folios in their hands, which seemed to be stuffed with papers. +Upon the right, looking toward me, was a small woman with +blonde hair and singular, light-blue eyes--the eyes of a child. +She was past her first youth, but could not yet be called middle- +aged. Her figure was inclined to stoutness and her bearing was +proud and confident. Her face was pale, but serene. It was a +curious face, comely and yet feline, with a subtle suggestion of +cruelty about the straight, strong little mouth and chubby jaw. +She was draped in some sort of loose, white gown. Beside her stood +a thin, eager priest, who whispered in her ear, and continually +raised a crucifix before her eyes. She turned her head and looked +fixedly past the crucifix at the three men in black, who were, I +felt, her judges. + +As I gazed the three men stood up and said something, but I +could distinguish no words, though I was aware that it was the +central one who was speaking. They then swept out of the room, +followed by the two men with the papers. At the same instant +several rough-looking fellows in stout jerkins came bustling in and +removed first the red carpet, and then the boards which formed the +dais, so as to entirely clear the room. When this screen was +removed I saw some singular articles of furniture behind it. One +looked like a bed with wooden rollers at each end, and a winch +handle to regulate its length. Another was a wooden horse. There +were several other curious objects, and a number of swinging cords +which played over pulleys. It was not unlike a modern gymnasium. + +When the room had been cleared there appeared a new figure upon +the scene. This was a tall, thin person clad in black, with a +gaunt and austere face. The aspect of the man made me shudder. +His clothes were all shining with grease and mottled with stains. +He bore himself with a slow and impressive dignity, as if he took +command of all things from the instant of his entrance. In spite +of his rude appearance and sordid dress, it was now his business, +his room, his to command. He carried a coil of light ropes over +his left forearm. The lady looked him up and down with a searching +glance, but her expression was unchanged. It was confident--even +defiant. But it was very different with the priest. His face was +ghastly white, and I saw the moisture glisten and run on his high, +sloping forehead. He threw up his hands in prayer and he stooped +continually to mutter frantic words in the lady's ear. + +The man in black now advanced, and taking one of the cords from +his left arm, he bound the woman's hands together. She held them +meekly toward him as he did so. Then he took her arm with a rough +grip and led her toward the wooden horse, which was little higher +than her waist. On to this she was lifted and laid, with her back +upon it, and her face to the ceiling, while the priest, quivering +with horror, had rushed out of the room. The woman's lips were +moving rapidly, and though I could hear nothing I knew that she was +praying. Her feet hung down on either side of the horse, and I saw +that the rough varlets in attendance had fastened cords to her +ankles and secured the other ends to iron rings in the stone floor. + +My heart sank within me as I saw these ominous preparations, +and yet I was held by the fascination of horror, and I could not +take my eyes from the strange spectacle. A man had entered the +room with a bucket of water in either hand. Another followed with +a third bucket. They were laid beside the wooden horse. The +second man had a wooden dipper--a bowl with a straight handle--in +his other hand. This he gave to the man in black. At the same +moment one of the varlets approached with a dark object in his +hand, which even in my dream filled me with a vague feeling of +familiarity. It was a leathern filler. With horrible energy he +thrust it--but I could stand no more. My hair stood on end with +horror. I writhed, I struggled, I broke through the bonds of +sleep, and I burst with a shriek into my own life, and found myself +lying shivering with terror in the huge library, with the moonlight +flooding through the window and throwing strange silver and black +traceries upon the opposite wall. Oh, what a blessed relief to +feel that I was back in the nineteenth century--back out of that +mediaeval vault into a world where men had human hearts within +their bosoms. I sat up on my couch, trembling in every limb, my +mind divided between thankfulness and horror. To think that such +things were ever done--that they could be done without God striking +the villains dead. Was it all a fantasy, or did it really stand +for something which had happened in the black, cruel days of the +world's history? I sank my throbbing head upon my shaking +hands. And then, suddenly, my heart seemed to stand still in my +bosom, and I could not even scream, so great was my terror. +Something was advancing toward me through the darkness of the room. + +It is a horror coming upon a horror which breaks a man's +spirit. I could not reason, I could not pray; I could only sit +like a frozen image, and glare at the dark figure which was coming +down the great room. And then it moved out into the white lane of +moonlight, and I breathed once more. It was Dacre, and his face +showed that he was as frightened as myself. + +"Was that you? For God's sake what's the matter?" he asked in +a husky voice. + +"Oh, Dacre, I am glad to see you! I have been down into hell. +It was dreadful." + +"Then it was you who screamed?" + +"I dare say it was." + +"It rang through the house. The servants are all terrified." +He struck a match and lit the lamp. "I think we may get the fire +to burn up again," he added, throwing some logs upon the embers. +"Good God, my dear chap, how white you are! You look as if you had +seen a ghost." + +"So I have--several ghosts." + +"The leather funnel has acted, then?" + +"I wouldn't sleep near the infernal thing again for all the +money you could offer me." + +Dacre chuckled. + +"I expected that you would have a lively night of it," said he. +"You took it out of me in return, for that scream of yours wasn't +a very pleasant sound at two in the morning. I suppose from what +you say that you have seen the whole dreadful business." + +"What dreadful business?" + +"The torture of the water--the `Extraordinary Question,' as it +was called in the genial days of `Le Roi Soleil.' Did you stand it +out to the end?" + +"No, thank God, I awoke before it really began." + +"Ah! it is just as well for you. I held out till the third +bucket. Well, it is an old story, and they are all in their graves +now, anyhow, so what does it matter how they got there? I suppose +that you have no idea what it was that you have seen?" + +"The torture of some criminal. She must have been a terrible +malefactor indeed if her crimes are in proportion to her penalty." + +"Well, we have that small consolation," said Dacre, wrapping +his dressing-gown round him and crouching closer to the fire. +"They WERE in proportion to her penalty. That is to say, if I +am correct in the lady's identity." + +"How could you possibly know her identity?" + +For answer Dacre took down an old vellum-covered volume from +the shelf. + +"Just listen to this," said he; "it is in the French of the +seventeenth century, but I will give a rough translation as I go. +You will judge for yourself whether I have solved the riddle or +not. + +"`The prisoner was brought before the Grand Chambers and +Tournelles of Parliament, sitting as a court of justice, charged +with the murder of Master Dreux d'Aubray, her father, and of her +two brothers, MM. d'Aubray, one being civil lieutenant, and the +other a counsellor of Parliament. In person it seemed hard to +believe that she had really done such wicked deeds, for she was of +a mild appearance, and of short stature, with a fair skin and blue +eyes. Yet the Court, having found her guilty, condemned her to the +ordinary and to the extraordinary question in order that she might +be forced to name her accomplices, after which she should be +carried in a cart to the Place de Greve, there to have her head cut +off, her body being afterwards burned and her ashes scattered to +the winds.' + +"The date of this entry is July 16, 1676." + +"It is interesting," said I, "but not convincing. How do you +prove the two women to be the same?" + +"I am coming to that. The narrative goes on to tell of the +woman's behaviour when questioned. `When the executioner +approached her she recognized him by the cords which he held in his +hands, and she at once held out her own hands to him, looking at +him from head to foot without uttering a word.' How's that?" + +"Yes, it was so." + +"`She gazed without wincing upon the wooden horse and rings +which had twisted so many limbs and caused so many shrieks of +agony. When her eyes fell upon the three pails of water, which +were all ready for her, she said with a smile, "All that water +must have been brought here for the purpose of drowning me, +Monsieur. You have no idea, I trust, of making a person of my +small stature swallow it all."' Shall I read the details of the +torture?" + +"No, for Heaven's sake, don't." + +"Here is a sentence which must surely show you that what is +here recorded is the very scene which you have gazed upon tonight: +`The good Abbe Pirot, unable to contemplate the agonies which were +suffered by his penitent, had hurried from the room.' Does that +convince you?" + +"It does entirely. There can be no question that it is indeed +the same event. But who, then, is this lady whose appearance was +so attractive and whose end was so horrible?" + +For answer Dacre came across to me, and placed the small lamp +upon the table which stood by my bed. Lifting up the ill-omened +filler, he turned the brass rim so that the light fell full upon +it. Seen in this way the engraving seemed clearer than on the +night before. + +"We have already agreed that this is the badge of a marquis or +of a marquise," said he. "We have also settled that the last +letter is B." + +"It is undoubtedly so." + +"I now suggest to you that the other letters from left to right +are, M, M, a small d, A, a small d, and then the final B." + +"Yes, I am sure that you are right. I can make out the two +small d's quite plainly." + +"What I have read to you tonight," said Dacre, "is the official +record of the trial of Marie Madeleine d'Aubray, Marquise de +Brinvilliers, one of the most famous poisoners and murderers of all +time." + +I sat in silence, overwhelmed at the extraordinary nature of +the incident, and at the completeness of the proof with which Dacre +had exposed its real meaning. In a vague way I remembered some +details of the woman's career, her unbridled debauchery, the cold- +blooded and protracted torture of her sick father, the murder of +her brothers for motives of petty gain. I recollected also that +the bravery of her end had done something to atone for the horror +of her life, and that all Paris had sympathized with her last +moments, and blessed her as a martyr within a few days of the +time when they had cursed her as a murderess. One objection, and +one only, occurred to my mind. + +"How came her initials and her badge of rank upon the filler? +Surely they did not carry their mediaeval homage to the nobility to +the point of decorating instruments of torture with their titles?" + +"I was puzzled with the same point," said Dacre, "but it admits +of a simple explanation. The case excited extraordinary interest +at the time, and nothing could be more natural than that La Reynie, +the head of the police, should retain this filler as a grim +souvenir. It was not often that a marchioness of France underwent +the extraordinary question. That he should engrave her initials +upon it for the information of others was surely a very ordinary +proceeding upon his part." + +"And this?" I asked, pointing to the marks upon the leathern +neck. + +"She was a cruel tigress," said Dacre, as he turned away. "I +think it is evident that like other tigresses her teeth were both +strong and sharp." + + + + +The New Catacomb + + +"Look here, Burger," said Kennedy, "I do wish that you would +confide in me." + +The two famous students of Roman remains sat together in +Kennedy's comfortable room overlooking the Corso. The night +was cold, and they had both pulled up their chairs to the +unsatisfactory Italian stove which threw out a zone of stuffiness +rather than of warmth. Outside under the bright winter stars lay +the modern Rome, the long, double chain of the electric lamps, the +brilliantly lighted cafes, the rushing carriages, and the dense +throng upon the footpaths. But inside, in the sumptuous chamber of +the rich young English archaeologist, there was only old Rome to be +seen. Cracked and timeworn friezes hung upon the walls, grey old +busts of senators and soldiers with their fighting heads and their +hard, cruel faces peered out from the corners. On the centre +table, amidst a litter of inscriptions, fragments, and ornaments, +there stood the famous reconstruction by Kennedy of the Baths of +Caracalla, which excited such interest and admiration when it was +exhibited in Berlin. Amphorae hung from the ceiling, and a litter +of curiosities strewed the rich red Turkey carpet. And of them all +there was not one which was not of the most unimpeachable +authenticity, and of the utmost rarity and value; for Kennedy, +though little more than thirty, had a European reputation in this +particular branch of research, and was, moreover, provided with +that long purse which either proves to be a fatal handicap to the +student's energies, or, if his mind is still true to its purpose, +gives him an enormous advantage in the race for fame. Kennedy had +often been seduced by whim and pleasure from his studies, but his +mind was an incisive one, capable of long and concentrated efforts +which ended in sharp reactions of sensuous languor. His handsome +face, with its high, white forehead, its aggressive nose, and its +somewhat loose and sensual mouth, was a fair index of the +compromise between strength and weakness in his nature. + +Of a very different type was his companion, Julius Burger. He +came of a curious blend, a German father and an Italian mother, +with the robust qualities of the North mingling strangely with the +softer graces of the South. Blue Teutonic eyes lightened his sun- +browned face, and above them rose a square, massive forehead, with +a fringe of close yellow curls lying round it. His strong, firm +jaw was clean-shaven, and his companion had frequently remarked how +much it suggested those old Roman busts which peered out from the +shadows in the corners of his chamber. Under its bluff German +strength there lay always a suggestion of Italian subtlety, but +the smile was so honest, and the eyes so frank, that one understood +that this was only an indication of his ancestry, with no actual +bearing upon his character. In age and in reputation, he was on +the same level as his English companion, but his life and his work +had both been far more arduous. Twelve years before, he had come +as a poor student to Rome, and had lived ever since upon some small +endowment for research which had been awarded to him by the +University of Bonn. Painfully, slowly, and doggedly, with +extraordinary tenacity and single-mindedness, he had climbed from +rung to rung of the ladder of fame, until now he was a member of +the Berlin Academy, and there was every reason to believe that he +would shortly be promoted to the Chair of the greatest of German +Universities. But the singleness of purpose which had brought him +to the same high level as the rich and brilliant Englishman, had +caused him in everything outside their work to stand infinitely +below him. He had never found a pause in his studies in which to +cultivate the social graces. It was only when he spoke of his own +subject that his face was filled with life and soul. At other +times he was silent and embarrassed, too conscious of his own +limitations in larger subjects, and impatient of that small talk +which is the conventional refuge of those who have no thoughts to +express. + +And yet for some years there had been an acquaintanceship which +appeared to be slowly ripening into a friendship between these two +very different rivals. The base and origin of this lay in the fact +that in their own studies each was the only one of the younger men +who had knowledge and enthusiasm enough to properly appreciate the +other. Their common interests and pursuits had brought them +together, and each had been attracted by the other's knowledge. +And then gradually something had been added to this. Kennedy had +been amused by the frankness and simplicity of his rival, while +Burger in turn had been fascinated by the brilliancy and vivacity +which had made Kennedy such a favourite in Roman society. I say +"had," because just at the moment the young Englishman was somewhat +under a cloud. A love-affair, the details of which had never quite +come out, had indicated a heartlessness and callousness upon his +part which shocked many of his friends. But in the bachelor +circles of students and artists in which he preferred to move +there is no very rigid code of honour in such matters, and though +a head might be shaken or a pair of shoulders shrugged over the +flight of two and the return of one, the general sentiment was +probably one of curiosity and perhaps of envy rather than of +reprobation. + +"Look here, Burger," said Kennedy, looking hard at the placid +face of his companion, "I do wish that you would confide in me." + +As he spoke he waved his hand in the direction of a rug which +lay upon the floor. On the rug stood a long, shallow fruit-basket +of the light wicker-work which is used in the Campagna, and this +was heaped with a litter of objects, inscribed tiles, broken +inscriptions, cracked mosaics, torn papyri, rusty metal ornaments, +which to the uninitiated might have seemed to have come straight +from a dustman's bin, but which a specialist would have speedily +recognized as unique of their kind. The pile of odds and ends in +the flat wicker-work basket supplied exactly one of those missing +links of social development which are of such interest to the +student. It was the German who had brought them in, and the +Englishman's eyes were hungry as he looked at them. + +"I won't interfere with your treasure-trove, but I should very +much like to hear about it," he continued, while Burger very +deliberately lit a cigar. "It is evidently a discovery of the +first importance. These inscriptions will make a sensation +throughout Europe." + +"For every one here there are a million there!" said the +German. "There are so many that a dozen savants might spend a +lifetime over them, and build up a reputation as solid as the +Castle of St. Angelo." + +Kennedy sat thinking with his fine forehead wrinkled and his +fingers playing with his long, fair moustache. + +"You have given yourself away, Burger!" said he at last. "Your +words can only apply to one thing. You have discovered a new +catacomb." + +"I had no doubt that you had already come to that conclusion +from an examination of these objects." + +"Well, they certainly appeared to indicate it, but your last +remarks make it certain. There is no place except a catacomb which +could contain so vast a store of relics as you describe." + +"Quite so. There is no mystery about that. I HAVE +discovered a new catacomb." + +"Where?" + +"Ah, that is my secret, my dear Kennedy. Suffice it that it is +so situated that there is not one chance in a million of anyone +else coming upon it. Its date is different from that of any known +catacomb, and it has been reserved for the burial of the highest +Christians, so that the remains and the relics are quite different +from anything which has ever been seen before. If I was not aware +of your knowledge and of your energy, my friend, I would not +hesitate, under the pledge of secrecy, to tell you everything about +it. But as it is I think that I must certainly prepare my own +report of the matter before I expose myself to such formidable +competition." + +Kennedy loved his subject with a love which was almost a +mania--a love which held him true to it, amidst all the +distractions which come to a wealthy and dissipated young man. He +had ambition, but his ambition was secondary to his mere abstract +joy and interest in everything which concerned the old life and +history of the city. He yearned to see this new underworld which +his companion had discovered. + +"Look here, Burger," said he, earnestly, "I assure you that you +can trust me most implicitly in the matter. Nothing would induce +me to put pen to paper about anything which I see until I have your +express permission. I quite understand your feeling and I think it +is most natural, but you have really nothing whatever to fear from +me. On the other hand, if you don't tell me I shall make a +systematic search, and I shall most certainly discover it. In that +case, of course, I should make what use I liked of it, since I +should be under no obligation to you." + +Burger smiled thoughtfully over his cigar. + +"I have noticed, friend Kennedy," said he, "that when I want +information over any point you are not always so ready to supply +it." + +"When did you ever ask me anything that I did not tell you? +You remember, for example, my giving you the material for your +paper about the temple of the Vestals." + +"Ah, well, that was not a matter of much importance. If I were +to question you upon some intimate thing would you give me an answer, +I wonder! This new catacomb is a very intimate thing to me, +and I should certainly expect some sign of confidence in return." + + "What you are driving at I cannot imagine," said the +Englishman, "but if you mean that you will answer my question about +the catacomb if I answer any question which you may put to me I can +assure you that I will certainly do so." + + "Well, then," said Burger, leaning luxuriously back in his +settee, and puffing a blue tree of cigar-smoke into the air, "tell +me all about your relations with Miss Mary Saunderson." + + Kennedy sprang up in his chair and glared angrily at his +impassive companion. + + "What the devil do you mean?" he cried. "What sort of a +question is this? You may mean it as a joke, but you never made a +worse one." + + "No, I don't mean it as a joke," said Burger, simply. "I am +really rather interested in the details of the matter. I don't +know much about the world and women and social life and that sort +of thing, and such an incident has the fascination of the unknown +for me. I know you, and I knew her by sight--I had even spoken to +her once or twice. I should very much like to hear from your own +lips exactly what it was which occurred between you." + + "I won't tell you a word." + +"That's all right. It was only my whim to see if you would +give up a secret as easily as you expected me to give up my secret +of the new catacomb. You wouldn't, and I didn't expect you to. +But why should you expect otherwise of me? There's Saint John's +clock striking ten. It is quite time that I was going home." + +"No; wait a bit, Burger," said Kennedy; "this is really a +ridiculous caprice of yours to wish to know about an old love- +affair which has burned out months ago. You know we look upon a +man who kisses and tells as the greatest coward and villain +possible." + +"Certainly," said the German, gathering up his basket of +curiosities, "when he tells anything about a girl which is +previously unknown he must be so. But in this case, as you must be +aware, it was a public matter which was the common talk of Rome, so +that you are not really doing Miss Mary Saunderson any injury +by discussing her case with me. But still, I respect your +scruples; and so good night!" + +"Wait a bit, Burger," said Kennedy, laying his hand upon the +other's arm; "I am very keen upon this catacomb business, and I +can't let it drop quite so easily. Would you mind asking me +something else in return--something not quite so eccentric this +time?" + +"No, no; you have refused, and there is an end of it," said +Burger, with his basket on his arm. "No doubt you are quite right +not to answer, and no doubt I am quite right also--and so again, my +dear Kennedy, good night!" + +The Englishman watched Burger cross the room, and he had his +hand on the handle of the door before his host sprang up with the +air of a man who is making the best of that which cannot be helped. + +"Hold on, old fellow," said he; "I think you are behaving in a +most ridiculous fashion; but still; if this is your condition, I +suppose that I must submit to it. I hate saying anything about a +girl, but, as you say, it is all over Rome, and I don't suppose I +can tell you anything which you do not know already. What was it +you wanted to know?" + +The German came back to the stove, and, laying down his basket, +he sank into his chair once more. + +"May I have another cigar?" said he. "Thank you very much! I +never smoke when I work, but I enjoy a chat much more when I am +under the influence of tobacco. Now, as regards this young lady, +with whom you had this little adventure. What in the world has +become of her?" + +"She is at home with her own people." + +"Oh, really--in England?" + +"Yes." + +"What part of England--London?" + +"No, Twickenham." + +"You must excuse my curiosity, my dear Kennedy, and you must +put it down to my ignorance of the world. No doubt it is quite a +simple thing to persuade a young lady to go off with you for three +weeks or so, and then to hand her over to her own family at--what +did you call the place?" + +"Twickenham." + +"Quite so--at Twickenham. But it is something so entirely +outside my own experience that I cannot even imagine how you set +about it. For example, if you had loved this girl your love could +hardly disappear in three weeks, so I presume that you could not +have loved her at all. But if you did not love her why should you +make this great scandal which has damaged you and ruined her?" + +Kennedy looked moodily into the red eye of the stove. + +"That's a logical way of looking at it, certainly," said he. +"Love is a big word, and it represents a good many different shades +of feeling. I liked her, and--well, you say you've seen her --you +know how charming she could look. But still I am willing to admit, +looking back, that I could never have really loved her." + +"Then, my dear Kennedy, why did you do it?" + +"The adventure of the thing had a great deal to do with it." + +"What! You are so fond of adventures!" + +"Where would the variety of life be without them? It was for +an adventure that I first began to pay my attentions to her. I've +chased a good deal of game in my time, but there's no chase like +that of a pretty woman. There was the piquant difficulty of it +also, for, as she was the companion of Lady Emily Rood, it was +almost impossible to see her alone. On the top of all the other +obstacles which attracted me, I learned from her own lips very +early in the proceedings that she was engaged." + +"Mein Gott! To whom?" + +"She mentioned no names." + +"I do not think that anyone knows that. So that made the +adventure more alluring, did it?" + +"Well, it did certainly give a spice to it. Don't you think +so?" + +"I tell you that I am very ignorant about these things." + +"My dear fellow, you can remember that the apple you stole from +your neighbour's tree was always sweeter than that which fell from +your own. And then I found that she cared for me." + +"What--at once?" + +"Oh, no, it took about three months of sapping and mining. But +at last I won her over. She understood that my judicial separation +from my wife made it impossible for me to do the right thing by +her--but she came all the same, and we had a delightful time, as +long as it lasted." + +"But how about the other man?" + +Kennedy shrugged his shoulders. + +"I suppose it is the survival of the fittest," said he. "If he +had been the better man she would not have deserted him. Let's +drop the subject, for I have had enough of it!" + +"Only one other thing. How did you get rid of her in three +weeks?" + +"Well, we had both cooled down a bit, you understand. She +absolutely refused, under any circumstances, to come back to face +the people she had known in Rome. Now, of course, Rome is +necessary to me, and I was already pining to be back at my work--so +there was one obvious cause of separation. Then, again, her old +father turned up at the hotel in London, and there was a scene, and +the whole thing became so unpleasant that really--though I missed +her dreadfully at first--I was very glad to slip out of it. Now, +I rely upon you not to repeat anything of what I have said." + +"My dear Kennedy, I should not dream of repeating it. But all +that you say interests me very much, for it gives me an insight +into your way of looking at things, which is entirely different +from mine, for I have seen so little of life. And now you want to +know about my new catacomb. There's no use my trying to describe +it, for you would never find it by that. There is only one thing, +and that is for me to take you there." + +"That would be splendid." + +"When would you like to come?" + +"The sooner the better. I am all impatience to see it." + +"Well, it is a beautiful night--though a trifle cold. Suppose +we start in an hour. We must be very careful to keep the matter to +ourselves. If anyone saw us hunting in couples they would suspect +that there was something going on." + +"We can't be too cautious," said Kennedy. "Is it far?" + +"Some miles." + +"Not too far to walk?" + +"Oh, no, we could walk there easily." + +"We had better do so, then. A cabman's suspicions would be +aroused if he dropped us both at some lonely spot in the dead +of the night." + +"Quite so. I think it would be best for us to meet at the Gate +of the Appian Way at midnight. I must go back to my lodgings for +the matches and candles and things." + +"All right, Burger! I think it is very kind of you to let me +into this secret, and I promise you that I will write nothing about +it until you have published your report. Good-bye for the present! +You will find me at the Gate at twelve." + +The cold, clear air was filled with the musical chimes from +that city of clocks as Burger, wrapped in an Italian overcoat, with +a lantern hanging from his hand, walked up to the rendezvous. +Kennedy stepped out of the shadow to meet him. + +"You are ardent in work as well as in love!" said the German, +laughing. + +"Yes; I have been waiting here for nearly half an hour." + +"I hope you left no clue as to where we were going." + +"Not such a fool! By Jove, I am chilled to the bone! Come on, +Burger, let us warm ourselves by a spurt of hard walking." + +Their footsteps sounded loud and crisp upon the rough stone +paving of the disappointing road which is all that is left of the +most famous highway of the world. A peasant or two going home from +the wine-shop, and a few carts of country produce coming up to +Rome, were the only things which they met. They swung along, with +the huge tombs looming up through the darkness upon each side of +them, until they had come as far as the Catacombs of St. Calistus, +and saw against a rising moon the great circular bastion of Cecilia +Metella in front of them. Then Burger stopped with his hand to his +side. + +"Your legs are longer than mine, and you are more accustomed to +walking," said he, laughing. "I think that the place where we turn +off is somewhere here. Yes, this is it, round the corner of the +trattoria. Now, it is a very narrow path, so perhaps I had better +go in front and you can follow." + +He had lit his lantern, and by its light they were enabled to +follow a narrow and devious track which wound across the marshes of +the Campagna. The great Aqueduct of old Rome lay like a monstrous +caterpillar across the moonlit landscape, and their road led +them under one of its huge arches, and past the circle of crumbling +bricks which marks the old arena. At last Burger stopped at a +solitary wooden cow-house, and he drew a key from his pocket. +"Surely your catacomb is not inside a house!" cried Kennedy + +"The entrance to it is. That is just the safeguard which we +have against anyone else discovering it." + +"Does the proprietor know of it?" + +"Not he. He had found one or two objects which made me almost +certain that his house was built on the entrance to such a place. +So I rented it from him, and did my excavations for myself. Come +in, and shut the door behind you." + +It was a long, empty building, with the mangers of the cows +along one wall. Burger put his lantern down on the ground, and +shaded its light in all directions save one by draping his overcoat +round it. + +"It might excite remark if anyone saw a light in this lonely +place," said he. "Just help me to move this boarding." + +The flooring was loose in the corner, and plank by plank the +two savants raised it and leaned it against the wall. Below there +was a square aperture and a stair of old stone steps which led away +down into the bowels of the earth. + +"Be careful!" cried Burger, as Kennedy, in his impatience, +hurried down them. "It is a perfect rabbits'-warren below, and if +you were once to lose your way there the chances would be a hundred +to one against your ever coming out again. Wait until I bring the +light." + +"How do you find your own way if it is so complicated?" + +"I had some very narrow escapes at first, but I have gradually +learned to go about. There is a certain system to it, but it is +one which a lost man, if he were in the dark, could not possibly +find out. Even now I always spin out a ball of string behind me +when I am going far into the catacomb. You can see for yourself +that it is difficult, but every one of these passages divides and +subdivides a dozen times before you go a hundred yards." + +They had descended some twenty feet from the level of the byre, +and they were standing now in a square chamber cut out of the soft +tufa. The lantern cast a flickering light, bright below and +dim above, over the cracked brown walls. In every direction +were the black openings of passages which radiated from this common +centre. + +"I want you to follow me closely, my friend," said Burger. "Do +not loiter to look at anything upon the way, for the place to which +I will take you contains all that you can see, and more. It will +save time for us to go there direct." + +He led the way down one of the corridors, and the Englishman +followed closely at his heels. Every now and then the passage +bifurcated, but Burger was evidently following some secret marks of +his own, for he neither stopped nor hesitated. Everywhere along +the walls, packed like the berths upon an emigrant ship, lay the +Christians of old Rome. The yellow light flickered over the +shrivelled features of the mummies, and gleamed upon rounded skulls +and long, white armbones crossed over fleshless chests. And +everywhere as he passed Kennedy looked with wistful eyes upon +inscriptions, funeral vessels, pictures, vestments, utensils, all +lying as pious hands had placed them so many centuries ago. It was +apparent to him, even in those hurried, passing glances, that this +was the earliest and finest of the catacombs, containing such a +storehouse of Roman remains as had never before come at one time +under the observation of the student. + +"What would happen if the light went out?" he asked, as they +hurried onwards. + +"I have a spare candle and a box of matches in my pocket. By +the way, Kennedy, have you any matches?" + +"No; you had better give me some." + +"Oh, that is all right. There is no chance of our separating." + +"How far are we going? It seems to me that we have walked at +least a quarter of a mile." + +"More than that, I think. There is really no limit to the +tombs--at least, I have never been able to find any. This is a +very difficult place, so I think that I will use our ball of +string." + +He fastened one end of it to a projecting stone and he carried +the coil in the breast of his coat, paying it out as he advanced. +Kennedy saw that it was no unnecessary precaution, for the passages +had become more complex and tortuous than ever, with a perfect +network of intersecting corridors. But these all ended in one +large circular hall with a square pedestal of tufa topped with a +slab of marble at one end of it. + +"By Jove!" cried Kennedy in an ecstasy, as Burger swung his +lantern over the marble. "It is a Christian altar--probably the +first one in existence. Here is the little consecration cross cut +upon the corner of it. No doubt this circular space was used as a +church." + +"Precisely," said Burger. "If I had more time I should like to +show you all the bodies which are buried in these niches upon the +walls, for they are the early popes and bishops of the Church, with +their mitres, their croziers, and full canonicals. Go over to that +one and look at it!" + +Kennedy went across, and stared at the ghastly head which lay +loosely on the shredded and mouldering mitre. + +"This is most interesting," said he, and his voice seemed to +boom against the concave vault. "As far as my experience goes, it +is unique. Bring the lantern over, Burger, for I want to see them +all." + +But the German had strolled away, and was standing in the +middle of a yellow circle of light at the other side of the hall. + +"Do you know how many wrong turnings there are between this and +the stairs?" he asked. "There are over two thousand. No doubt it +was one of the means of protection which the Christians adopted. +The odds are two thousand to one against a man getting out, even if +he had a light; but if he were in the dark it would, of course, be +far more difficult." + +"So I should think." + +"And the darkness is something dreadful. I tried it once for +an experiment. Let us try it again!" He stooped to the lantern, +and in an instant it was as if an invisible hand was squeezed +tightly over each of Kennedy's eyes. Never had he known what such +darkness was. It seemed to press upon him and to smother him. It +was a solid obstacle against which the body shrank from advancing. +He put his hands out to push it back from him. + +"That will do, Burger," said he, "let's have the light again." + +But his companion began to laugh, and in that circular room the +sound seemed to come from every side at once. + +"You seem uneasy, friend Kennedy," said he. + +"Go on, man, light the candle!" said Kennedy impatiently. + +"It's very strange, Kennedy, but I could not in the least tell +by the sound in which direction you stand. Could you tell where I +am?" + +"No; you seem to be on every side of me." + +"If it were not for this string which I hold in my hand I +should not have a notion which way to go." + +"I dare say not. Strike a light, man, and have an end of this +nonsense." + +"Well, Kennedy, there are two things which I understand that +you are very fond of. The one is an adventure, and the other is an +obstacle to surmount. The adventure must be the finding of your +way out of this catacomb. The obstacle will be the darkness and +the two thousand wrong turns which make the way a little difficult +to find. But you need not hurry, for you have plenty of time, and +when you halt for a rest now and then, I should like you just to +think of Miss Mary Saunderson, and whether you treated her quite +fairly." + +"You devil, what do you mean?" roared Kennedy. He was running +about in little circles and clasping at the solid blackness with +both hands. + +"Good-bye," said the mocking voice, and it was already at some +distance. "I really do not think, Kennedy, even by your own +showing that you did the right thing by that girl. There was only +one little thing which you appeared not to know, and I can supply +it. Miss Saunderson was engaged to a poor ungainly devil of a +student, and his name was Julius Burger." + +There was a rustle somewhere, the vague sound of a foot +striking a stone, and then there fell silence upon that old +Christian church--a stagnant, heavy silence which closed round +Kennedy and shut him in like water round a drowning man. + + +Some two months afterwards the following paragraph made the +round of the European Press: + + +"One of the most interesting discoveries of recent years is +that of the new catacomb in Rome, which lies some distance to the +east of the well-known vaults of St. Calixtus. The finding of this +important burial-place, which is exceeding rich in most +interesting early Christian remains, is due to the energy and +sagacity of Dr. Julius Burger, the young German specialist, who is +rapidly taking the first place as an authority upon ancient Rome. +Although the first to publish his discovery, it appears that a less +fortunate adventurer had anticipated Dr. Burger. Some months ago +Mr. Kennedy, the well-known English student, disappeared suddenly +from his rooms in the Corso, and it was conjectured that his +association with a recent scandal had driven him to leave Rome. It +appears now that he had in reality fallen a victim to that fervid +love of archaeology which had raised him to a distinguished place +among living scholars. His body was discovered in the heart of the +new catacomb, and it was evident from the condition of his feet and +boots that he had tramped for days through the tortuous corridors +which make these subterranean tombs so dangerous to explorers. The +deceased gentleman had, with inexplicable rashness, made his way +into this labyrinth without, as far as can be discovered, taking +with him either candles or matches, so that his sad fate was the +natural result of his own temerity. What makes the matter more +painful is that Dr. Julius Burger was an intimate friend of the +deceased. His joy at the extraordinary find which he has been so +fortunate as to make has been greatly marred by the terrible fate +of his comrade and fellow-worker." + + + +The Case of Lady Sannox + +The relations between Douglas Stone and the notorious Lady Sannox +were very well known both among the fashionable circles of which +she was a brilliant member, and the scientific bodies which +numbered him among their most illustrious confreres. There +was naturally, therefore, a very widespread interest when it was +announced one morning that the lady had absolutely and for ever +taken the veil, and that the world would see her no more. When, +at the very tail of this rumour, there came the assurance that +the celebrated operating surgeon, the man of steel nerves, had +been found in the morning by his valet, seated on one side of his +bed, smiling pleasantly upon the universe, with both legs jammed +into one side of his breeches and his great brain about as +valuable as a cap full of porridge, the matter was strong enough +to give quite a little thrill of interest to folk who had never +hoped that their jaded nerves were capable of such a sensation. + +Douglas Stone in his prime was one of the most remarkable men +in England. Indeed, he could hardly be said to have ever reached +his prime, for he was but nine-and-thirty at the time of this +little incident. Those who knew him best were aware that famous as +he was as a surgeon, he might have succeeded with even greater +rapidity in any of a dozen lines of life. He could have cut his +way to fame as a soldier, struggled to it as an explorer, bullied +for it in the courts, or built it out of stone and iron as an +engineer. He was born to be great, for he could plan what another +man dare not do, and he could do what another man dare not plan. +In surgery none could follow him. His nerve, his judgement, his +intuition, were things apart. Again and again his knife cut away +death, but grazed the very springs of life in doing it, until his +assistants were as white as the patient. His energy, his +audacity, his full-blooded self-confidence--does not the memory +of them still linger to the south of Marylebone Road and the north +of Oxford Street? + +His vices were as magnificent as his virtues, and infinitely +more picturesque. Large as was his income, and it was the third +largest of all professional men in London, it was far beneath the +luxury of his living. Deep in his complex nature lay a rich vein +of sensualism, at the sport of which he placed all the prizes of +his life. The eye, the ear, the touch, the palate, all were his +masters. The bouquet of old vintages, the scent of rare exotics, +the curves and tints of the daintiest potteries of Europe, it was +to these that the quick-running stream of gold was transformed. +And then there came his sudden mad passion for Lady Sannox, when a +single interview with two challenging glances and a whispered word +set him ablaze. She was the loveliest woman in London and the only +one to him. He was one of the handsomest men in London, but not +the only one to her. She had a liking for new experiences, and was +gracious to most men who wooed her. It may have been cause or it +may have been effect that Lord Sannox looked fifty, though he was +but six-and-thirty. + +He was a quiet, silent, neutral-tinted man, this lord, with +thin lips and heavy eyelids, much given to gardening, and full of +home-like habits. He had at one time been fond of acting, had even +rented a theatre in London, and on its boards had first seen Miss +Marion Dawson, to whom he had offered his hand, his title, and the +third of a county. Since his marriage his early hobby had become +distasteful to him. Even in private theatricals it was no longer +possible to persuade him to exercise the talent which he had often +showed that he possessed. He was happier with a spud and a +watering-can among his orchids and chrysanthemums. + +It was quite an interesting problem whether he was absolutely +devoid of sense, or miserably wanting in spirit. Did he know his +lady's ways and condone them, or was he a mere blind, doting fool? +It was a point to be discussed over the teacups in snug little +drawing-rooms, or with the aid of a cigar in the bow windows of +clubs. Bitter and plain were the comments among men upon his +conduct. There was but one who had a good word to say for him, and +he was the most silent member in the smoking-room. He had seen +him break in a horse at the University, and it seemed to have left +an impression upon his mind. + +But when Douglas Stone became the favourite all doubts as to +Lord Sannox's knowledge or ignorance were set for ever at rest. +There was no subterfuge about Stone. In his high-handed, impetuous +fashion, he set all caution and discretion at defiance. The +scandal became notorious. A learned body intimated that his name +had been struck from the list of its vice-presidents. Two friends +implored him to consider his professional credit. He cursed them +all three, and spent forty guineas on a bangle to take with him to +the lady. He was at her house every evening, and she drove in his +carriage in the afternoons. There was not an attempt on either +side to conceal their relations; but there came at last a little +incident to interrupt them. + +It was a dismal winter's night, very cold and gusty, with the +wind whooping in the chimneys and blustering against the window- +panes. A thin spatter of rain tinkled on the glass with each fresh +sough of the gale, drowning for the instant the dull gurgle and +drip from the eaves. Douglas Stone had finished his dinner, and +sat by his fire in the study, a glass of rich port upon the +malachite table at his elbow. As he raised it to his lips, he held +it up against the lamplight, and watched with the eye of a +connoisseur the tiny scales of beeswing which floated in its rich +ruby depths. The fire, as it spurted up, threw fitful lights upon +his bald, clear-cut face, with its widely-opened grey eyes, its +thick and yet firm lips, and the deep, square jaw, which had +something Roman in its strength and its animalism. He smiled from +time to time as he nestled back in his luxurious chair. Indeed, he +had a right to feel well pleased, for, against the advice of six +colleagues, he had performed an operation that day of which only +two cases were on record, and the result had been brilliant beyond +all expectation. No other man in London would have had the daring +to plan, or the skill to execute, such a heroic measure. + +But he had promised Lady Sannox to see her that evening and it +was already half-past eight. His hand was outstretched to the bell +to order the carriage when he heard the dull thud of the knocker. +An instant later there was the shuffling of feet in the hall, and +the sharp closing of a door. + +"A patient to see you, sir, in the consulting room," said the +butler. + +"About himself?" + +"No, sir; I think he wants you to go out." + +"It is too late," cried Douglas Stone peevishly. "I won't go." + +"This is his card, sir." + +The butler presented it upon the gold salver which had been +given to his master by the wife of a Prime Minister. + +"`Hamil Ali, Smyrna.' Hum! The fellow is a Turk, I suppose." + +"Yes, sir. He seems as if he came from abroad, sir. And he's +in a terrible way." + +"Tut, tut! I have an engagement. I must go somewhere else. +But I'll see him. Show him in here, Pim." + +A few moments later the butler swung open the door and ushered +in a small and decrepit man, who walked with a bent back and with +the forward push of the face and blink of the eyes which goes with +extreme short sight. His face was swarthy, and his hair and beard +of the deepest black. In one hand he held a turban of white muslin +striped with red, in the other a small chamois-leather bag. + +"Good evening," said Douglas Stone, when the butler had closed +the door. "You speak English, I presume?" + +"Yes, sir. I am from Asia Minor, but I speak English when I +speak slow." + +"You wanted me to go out, I understand?" + +"Yes, sir. I wanted very much that you should see my wife." + +"I could come in the morning, but I have an engagement which +prevents me from seeing your wife tonight." + +The Turk's answer was a singular one. He pulled the string +which closed the mouth of the chamois-leather bag, and poured a +flood of gold on to the table. + +"There are one hundred pounds there," said he, "and I promise +you that it will not take you an hour. I have a cab ready at the +door." + +Douglas Stone glanced at his watch. An hour would not make it +too late to visit Lady Sannox. He had been there later. And the +fee was an extraordinarily high one. He had been pressed by his +creditors lately, and he could not afford to let such a chance +pass. He would go. + +"What is the case?" he asked. + +"Oh, it is so sad a one! So sad a one! You have not, perhaps +heard of the daggers of the Almohades?" + +"Never." + +"Ah, they are Eastern daggers of a great age and of a singular +shape, with the hilt like what you call a stirrup. I am a +curiosity dealer, you understand, and that is why I have come to +England from Smyrna, but next week I go back once more. Many +things I brought with me, and I have a few things left, but among +them, to my sorrow, is one of these daggers." + +"You will remember that I have an appointment, sir," said the +surgeon, with some irritation; "pray confine yourself to the +necessary details." + +"You will see that it is necessary. Today my wife fell down in +a faint in the room in which I keep my wares, and she cut her lower +lip upon this cursed dagger of Almohades." + +"I see," said Douglas Stone, rising. "And you wish me to dress +the wound?" + +"No, no, it is worse than that." + +"What then?" + +"These daggers are poisoned." + +"Poisoned!" + +"Yes, and there is no man, East or West, who can tell now what +is the poison or what the cure. But all that is known I know, for +my father was in this trade before me, and we have had much to do +with these poisoned weapons." + +"What are the symptoms?" + +"Deep sleep, and death in thirty hours." + +"And you say there is no cure. Why then should you pay me this +considerable fee?" + +"No drug can cure, but the knife may." + +"And how?" + +"The poison is slow of absorption. It remains for hours in the +wound." + +"Washing, then, might cleanse it?" + +"No more than in a snake bite. It is too subtle and too +deadly." + +"Excision of the wound, then?" + +"That is it. If it be on the finger, take the finger off. So +said my father always. But think of where this wound is, and that +it is my wife. It is dreadful!" + +But familiarity with such grim matters may take the finer edge +from a man's sympathy. To Douglas Stone this was already an +interesting case, and he brushed aside as irrelevant the feeble +objections of the husband. + +"It appears to be that or nothing," said he brusquely. "It is +better to lose a lip than a life." + +"Ah, yes, I know that you are right. Well, well, it is kismet, +and it must be faced. I have the cab, and you will come with me +and do this thing." + +Douglas Stone took his case of bistouries from a drawer, and +placed it with a roll of bandage and a compress of lint in his +pocket. He must waste no more time if he were to see Lady Sannox. + +"I am ready," said he, pulling on his overcoat. "Will you take +a glass of wine before you go out into this cold air?" + +His visitor shrank away, with a protesting hand upraised. + +"You forget that I am a Mussulman, and a true follower of the +Prophet," said he. "But tell me what is the bottle of green glass +which you have placed in your pocket?" + +"It is chloroform." + +"Ah, that also is forbidden to us. It is a spirit, and we make +no use of such things." + +"What! You would allow your wife to go through an operation +without an anaesthetic?" + +"Ah! she will feel nothing, poor soul. The deep sleep has +already come on, which is the first working of the poison. And +then I have given her of our Smyrna opium. Come, sir, for already +an hour has passed." + +As they stepped out into the darkness, a sheet of rain was +driven in upon their faces, and the hall lamp, which dangled from +the arm of a marble Caryatid, went out with a fluff. Pim, the +butler, pushed the heavy door to, straining hard with his shoulder +against the wind, while the two men groped their way towards the +yellow glare which showed where the cab was waiting. An instant +later they were rattling upon their journey. + +"Is it far?" asked Douglas Stone. + +"Oh, no. We have a very little quiet place off the Euston +Road." + +The surgeon pressed the spring of his repeater and listened to +the little tings which told him the hour. It was a quarter past +nine. He calculated the distances, and the short time which it +would take him to perform so trivial an operation. He ought to +reach Lady Sannox by ten o'clock. Through the fogged windows he +saw the blurred gas lamps dancing past, with occasionally the +broader glare of a shop front. The rain was pelting and rattling +upon the leathern top of the carriage, and the wheels swashed as +they rolled through puddle and mud. Opposite to him the white +headgear of his companion gleamed faintly through the obscurity. +The surgeon felt in his pockets and arranged his needles, his +ligatures and his safety-pins, that no time might be wasted when +they arrived. He chafed with impatience and drummed his foot upon +the floor. + +But the cab slowed down at last and pulled up. In an instant +Douglas Stone was out, and the Smyrna merchant's toe was at his +very heel. + +"You can wait," said he to the driver. + +It was a mean-looking house in a narrow and sordid street. The +surgeon, who knew his London well, cast a swift glance into the +shadows, but there was nothing distinctive--no shop, no movement, +nothing but a double line of dull, flat-faced houses, a double +stretch of wet flagstones which gleamed in the lamplight, and a +double rush of water in the gutters which swirled and gurgled +towards the sewer gratings. The door which faced them was blotched +and discoloured, and a faint light in the fan pane above, it served +to show the dust and the grime which covered it. Above in one of +the bedroom windows, there was a dull yellow glimmer. The merchant +knocked loudly, and, as he turned his dark face towards the light, +Douglas Stone could see that it was contracted with anxiety. A +bolt was drawn, and an elderly woman with a taper stood in the +doorway, shielding the thin flame with her gnarled hand. + +"Is all well?" gasped the merchant. + +"She is as you left her, sir." + +"She has not spoken?" + +"No, she is in a deep sleep." + +The merchant closed the door, and Douglas Stone walked down the +narrow passage, glancing about him in some surprise as he did so. +There was no oil-cloth, no mat, no hat-rack. Deep grey dust and +heavy festoons of cobwebs met his eyes everywhere. Following +the old woman up the winding stair, his firm footfall echoed +harshly through the silent house. There was no carpet. + +The bedroom was on the second landing. Douglas Stone followed +the old nurse into it, with the merchant at his heels. Here, at +least, there was furniture and to spare. The floor was littered +and the corners piled with Turkish cabinets, inlaid tables, coats +of chain mail, strange pipes, and grotesque weapons. A single +small lamp stood upon a bracket on the wall. Douglas Stone took it +down, and picking his way among the lumber, walked over to a couch +in the corner, on which lay a woman dressed in the Turkish fashion, +with yashmak and veil. The lower part of the face was exposed, and +the surgeon saw a jagged cut which zigzagged along the border of +the under lip. + +"You will forgive the yashmak," said the Turk. "You know our +views about women in the East." + +But the surgeon was not thinking about the yashmak. This was +no longer a woman to him. It was a case. He stooped and examined +the wound carefully. + +"There are no signs of irritation," said he. "We might delay +the operation until local symptoms develop." + +The husband wrung his hands in uncontrollable agitation. + +"Oh! sir, sir," he cried. "Do not trifle. You do not know. +It is deadly. I know, and I give you my assurance that an +operation is absolutely necessary. Only the knife can save her." + +"And yet I am inclined to wait," said Douglas Stone. + +"That is enough," the Turk cried, angrily. "Every minute is of +importance, and I cannot stand here and see my wife allowed to +sink. It only remains for me to give you my thanks for having +come, and to call in some other surgeon before it is too late." + +Douglas Stone hesitated. To refund that hundred pounds was no +pleasant matter. But of course if he left the case he must return +the money. And if the Turk were right and the woman died, his +position before a coroner might be an embarrassing one. + +"You have had personal experience of this poison?" he asked. + +"I have." + +"And you assure me that an operation is needful." + +"I swear it by all that I hold sacred." + +"The disfigurement will be frightful." + +"I can understand that the mouth will not be a pretty one to +kiss." + +Douglas Stone turned fiercely upon the man. The speech was a +brutal one. But the Turk has his own fashion of talk and of +thought, and there was no time for wrangling. Douglas Stone drew +a bistoury from his case, opened it and felt the keen straight edge +with his forefinger. Then he held the lamp closer to the bed. Two +dark eyes were gazing up at him through the slit in the yashmak. +They were all iris, and the pupil was hardly to be seen. + +"You have given her a very heavy dose of opium." + +"Yes, she has had a good dose." + +He glanced again at the dark eyes which looked straight at his +own. They were dull and lustreless, but, even as he gazed, a +little shifting sparkle came into them, and the lips quivered. + +"She is not absolutely unconscious," said he. + +"Would it not be well to use the knife while it will be +painless?" + +The same thought had crossed the surgeon's mind. He grasped +the wounded lip with his forceps, and with two swift cuts he took +out a broad V-shaped piece. The woman sprang up on the couch with +a dreadful gurgling scream. Her covering was torn from her face. +It was a face that he knew. In spite of that protruding upper lip +and that slobber of blood, it was a face that he knew, She kept on +putting her hand up to the gap and screaming. Douglas Stone sat +down at the foot of the couch with his knife and his forceps. The +room was whirling round, and he had felt something go like a +ripping seam behind his ear. A bystander would have said that his +face was the more ghastly of the two. As in a dream, or as if he +had been looking at something at the play, he was conscious that +the Turk's hair and beard lay upon the table, and that Lord Sannox +was leaning against the wall with his hand to his side, laughing +silently. The screams had died away now, and the dreadful head had +dropped back again upon the pillow, but Douglas Stone still sat +motionless, and Lord Sannox still chuckled quietly to himself. + +"It was really very necessary for Marion, this operation," said +he, "not physically, but morally, you know, morally." + +Douglas Stone stooped for yards and began to play with the +fringe of the coverlet. His knife tinkled down upon the ground, +but he still held the forceps and something more. + +"I had long intended to make a little example," said Lord +Sannox, suavely. "Your note of Wednesday miscarried, and I have it +here in my pocket-book. I took some pains in carrying out my idea. +The wound, by the way, was from nothing more dangerous than my +signet ring." + +He glanced keenly at his silent companion, and cocked the small +revolver which he held in his coat pocket. But Douglas Stone was +still picking at the coverlet. + +"You see you have kept your appointment after all," said Lord +Sannox. + +And at that Douglas Stone began to laugh. He laughed long and +loudly. But Lord Sannox did not laugh now. Something like fear +sharpened and hardened his features. He walked from the room, and +he walked on tiptoe. The old woman was waiting outside. + +"Attend to your mistress when she awakes," said Lord Sannox. + +Then he went down to the street. The cab was at the door, and +the driver raised his hand to his hat. + +"John," said Lord Sannox, "you will take the doctor home first. +He will want leading downstairs, I think. Tell his butler that he +has been taken ill at a case." + +"Very good, sir." + +"Then you can take Lady Sannox home." + +"And how about yourself, sir?" + +"Oh, my address for the next few months will be Hotel di Roma, +Venice. Just see that the letters are sent on. And tell Stevens +to exhibit all the purple chrysanthemums next Monday, and to wire +me the result." + + + +The Terror of Blue John Gap + + +The following narrative was found among the papers of Dr. James +Hardcastle, who died of phthisis on February 4th, 1908, at 36, +Upper Coventry Flats, South Kensington. Those who knew him best, +while refusing to express an opinion upon this particular +statement, are unanimous in asserting that he was a man of a sober +and scientific turn of mind, absolutely devoid of imagination, and +most unlikely to invent any abnormal series of events. The paper +was contained in an envelope, which was docketed, "A Short Account +of the Circumstances which occurred near Miss Allerton's Farm in +North-West Derbyshire in the Spring of Last Year." The envelope +was sealed, and on the other side was written in pencil-- + +DEAR SEATON,-- + +"It may interest, and perhaps pain you, to know that the +incredulity with which you met my story has prevented me from ever +opening my mouth upon the subject again. I leave this record after +my death, and perhaps strangers may be found to have more +confidence in me than my friend." + + +Inquiry has failed to elicit who this Seaton may have been. I +may add that the visit of the deceased to Allerton's Farm, and the +general nature of the alarm there, apart from his particular +explanation, have been absolutely established. With this foreword +I append his account exactly as he left it. It is in the form of +a diary, some entries in which have been expanded, while a few have +been erased. + + +April 17.--Already I feel the benefit of this wonderful +upland air. The farm of the Allertons lies fourteen hundred and +twenty feet above sea-level, so it may well be a bracing climate. +Beyond the usual morning cough I have very little discomfort, and, +what with the fresh milk and the home-grown mutton, I have +every chance of putting on weight. I think Saunderson will be +pleased. + +The two Miss Allertons are charmingly quaint and kind, two dear +little hard-working old maids, who are ready to lavish all the +heart which might have gone out to husband and to children upon an +invalid stranger. Truly, the old maid is a most useful person, one +of the reserve forces of the community. They talk of the +superfluous woman, but what would the poor superfluous man do +without her kindly presence? By the way, in their simplicity they +very quickly let out the reason why Saunderson recommended their +farm. The Professor rose from the ranks himself, and I believe +that in his youth he was not above scaring crows in these very +fields. + +It is a most lonely spot, and the walks are picturesque in the +extreme. The farm consists of grazing land lying at the bottom of +an irregular valley. On each side are the fantastic limestone +hills, formed of rock so soft that you can break it away with your +hands. All this country is hollow. Could you strike it with some +gigantic hammer it would boom like a drum, or possibly cave in +altogether and expose some huge subterranean sea. A great sea +there must surely be, for on all sides the streams run into the +mountain itself, never to reappear. There are gaps everywhere amid +the rocks, and when you pass through them you find yourself in +great caverns, which wind down into the bowels of the earth. I +have a small bicycle lamp, and it is a perpetual joy to me to carry +it into these weird solitudes, and to see the wonderful silver and +black effect when I throw its light upon the stalactites which +drape the lofty roofs. Shut off the lamp, and you are in the +blackest darkness. Turn it on, and it is a scene from the Arabian +Nights. + +But there is one of these strange openings in the earth which +has a special interest, for it is the handiwork, not of nature, but +of man. I had never heard of Blue John when I came to these parts. +It is the name given to a peculiar mineral of a beautiful purple +shade, which is only found at one or two places in the world. It +is so rare that an ordinary vase of Blue John would be valued at a +great price. The Romans, with that extraordinary instinct of +theirs, discovered that it was to be found in this valley, and sank +a horizontal shaft deep into the mountain side. The opening of +their mine has been called Blue John Gap, a clean-cut arch in +the rock, the mouth all overgrown with bushes. It is a goodly +passage which the Roman miners have cut, and it intersects some of +the great water-worn caves, so that if you enter Blue John Gap you +would do well to mark your steps and to have a good store of +candles, or you may never make your way back to the daylight again. +I have not yet gone deeply into it, but this very day I stood at +the mouth of the arched tunnel, and peering down into the black +recesses beyond, I vowed that when my health returned I would +devote some holiday to exploring those mysterious depths and +finding out for myself how far the Roman had penetrated into the +Derbyshire hills. + +Strange how superstitious these countrymen are! I should have +thought better of young Armitage, for he is a man of some education +and character, and a very fine fellow for his station in life. I +was standing at the Blue John Gap when he came across the field to +me. + +"Well, doctor," said he, "you're not afraid, anyhow." + +"Afraid!" I answered. "Afraid of what?" + +"Of it," said he, with a jerk of his thumb towards the black +vault, "of the Terror that lives in the Blue John Cave." + +How absurdly easy it is for a legend to arise in a lonely +countryside! I examined him as to the reasons for his weird +belief. It seems that from time to time sheep have been missing +from the fields, carried bodily away, according to Armitage. That +they could have wandered away of their own accord and disappeared +among the mountains was an explanation to which he would not +listen. On one occasion a pool of blood had been found, and some +tufts of wool. That also, I pointed out, could be explained in a +perfectly natural way. Further, the nights upon which sheep +disappeared were invariably very dark, cloudy nights with no moon. +This I met with the obvious retort that those were the nights which +a commonplace sheep-stealer would naturally choose for his work. +On one occasion a gap had been made in a wall, and some of +the stones scattered for a considerable distance. Human agency +again, in my opinion. Finally, Armitage clinched all his arguments +by telling me that he had actually heard the Creature--indeed, that +anyone could hear it who remained long enough at the Gap. It was +a distant roaring of an immense volume. I could not but smile +at this, knowing, as I do, the strange reverberations which come +out of an underground water system running amid the chasms of a +limestone formation. My incredulity annoyed Armitage so that he +turned and left me with some abruptness. + +And now comes the queer point about the whole business. I was +still standing near the mouth of the cave turning over in my mind +the various statements of Armitage, and reflecting how readily they +could be explained away, when suddenly, from the depth of the +tunnel beside me, there issued a most extraordinary sound. How +shall I describe it? First of all, it seemed to be a great +distance away, far down in the bowels of the earth. Secondly, in +spite of this suggestion of distance, it was very loud. Lastly, it +was not a boom, nor a crash, such as one would associate with +falling water or tumbling rock, but it was a high whine, tremulous +and vibrating, almost like the whinnying of a horse. It was +certainly a most remarkable experience, and one which for a moment, +I must admit, gave a new significance to Armitage's words. I +waited by the Blue John Gap for half an hour or more, but there was +no return of the sound, so at last I wandered back to the +farmhouse, rather mystified by what had occurred. Decidedly I +shall explore that cavern when my strength is restored. Of course, +Armitage's explanation is too absurd for discussion, and yet that +sound was certainly very strange. It still rings in my ears as I +write. + +April 20.--In the last three days I have made several +expeditions to the Blue John Gap, and have even penetrated some +short distance, but my bicycle lantern is so small and weak that I +dare not trust myself very far. I shall do the thing more +systematically. I have heard no sound at all, and could almost +believe that I had been the victim of some hallucination suggested, +perhaps, by Armitage's conversation. Of course, the whole idea is +absurd, and yet I must confess that those bushes at the entrance of +the cave do present an appearance as if some heavy creature had +forced its way through them. I begin to be keenly interested. I +have said nothing to the Miss Allertons, for they are quite +superstitious enough already, but I have bought some candles, and +mean to investigate for myself. + +I observed this morning that among the numerous tufts of +sheep's wool which lay among the bushes near the cavern there +was one which was smeared with blood. Of course, my reason tells +me that if sheep wander into such rocky places they are likely to +injure themselves, and yet somehow that splash of crimson gave me +a sudden shock, and for a moment I found myself shrinking back in +horror from the old Roman arch. A fetid breath seemed to ooze from +the black depths into which I peered. Could it indeed be possible +that some nameless thing, some dreadful presence, was lurking down +yonder? I should have been incapable of such feelings in the days +of my strength, but one grows more nervous and fanciful when one's +health is shaken. + +For the moment I weakened in my resolution, and was ready to +leave the secret of the old mine, if one exists, for ever unsolved. +But tonight my interest has returned and my nerves grown more +steady. Tomorrow I trust that I shall have gone more deeply into +this matter. + +April 22.--Let me try and set down as accurately as I can +my extraordinary experience of yesterday. I started in the +afternoon, and made my way to the Blue John Gap. I confess that my +misgivings returned as I gazed into its depths, and I wished that +I had brought a companion to share my exploration. Finally, with +a return of resolution, I lit my candle, pushed my way through the +briars, and descended into the rocky shaft. + +It went down at an acute angle for some fifty feet, the floor +being covered with broken stone. Thence there extended a long, +straight passage cut in the solid rock. I am no geologist, but the +lining of this corridor was certainly of some harder material than +limestone, for there were points where I could actually see the +tool-marks which the old miners had left in their excavation, as +fresh as if they had been done yesterday. Down this strange, old- +world corridor I stumbled, my feeble flame throwing a dim circle of +light around me, which made the shadows beyond the more threatening +and obscure. Finally, I came to a spot where the Roman tunnel +opened into a water-worn cavern--a huge hall, hung with long white +icicles of lime deposit. From this central chamber I could dimly +perceive that a number of passages worn by the subterranean streams +wound away into the depths of the earth. I was standing there +wondering whether I had better return, or whether I dare venture +farther into this dangerous labyrinth, when my eyes fell upon +something at my feet which strongly arrested my attention. + +The greater part of the floor of the cavern was covered with +boulders of rock or with hard incrustations of lime, but at this +particular point there had been a drip from the distant roof, which +had left a patch of soft mud. In the very centre of this there was +a huge mark--an ill-defined blotch, deep, broad and irregular, as +if a great boulder had fallen upon it. No loose stone lay near, +however, nor was there anything to account for the impression. It +was far too large to be caused by any possible animal, and besides, +there was only the one, and the patch of mud was of such a size +that no reasonable stride could have covered it. As I rose from +the examination of that singular mark and then looked round into +the black shadows which hemmed me in, I must confess that I felt +for a moment a most unpleasant sinking of my heart, and that, do +what I could, the candle trembled in my outstretched hand. + +I soon recovered my nerve, however, when I reflected how absurd +it was to associate so huge and shapeless a mark with the track of +any known animal. Even an elephant could not have produced it. I +determined, therefore, that I would not be scared by vague and +senseless fears from carrying out my exploration. Before +proceeding, I took good note of a curious rock formation in the +wall by which I could recognize the entrance of the Roman tunnel. +The precaution was very necessary, for the great cave, so far as I +could see it, was intersected by passages. Having made sure of my +position, and reassured myself by examining my spare candles and my +matches, I advanced slowly over the rocky and uneven surface of the +cavern. + +And now I come to the point where I met with such sudden and +desperate disaster. A stream, some twenty feet broad, ran across +my path, and I walked for some little distance along the bank to +find a spot where I could cross dry-shod. Finally, I came to a +place where a single flat boulder lay near the centre, which I +could reach in a stride. As it chanced, however, the rock had been +cut away and made top-heavy by the rush of the stream, so that +it tilted over as I landed on it and shot me into the ice-cold +water. My candle went out, and I found myself floundering about in +utter and absolute darkness. + +I staggered to my feet again, more amused than alarmed by my +adventure. The candle had fallen from my hand, and was lost in the +stream, but I had two others in my pocket, so that it was of no +importance. I got one of them ready, and drew out my box of +matches to light it. Only then did I realize my position. The box +had been soaked in my fall into the river. It was impossible to +strike the matches. + +A cold hand seemed to close round my heart as I realized my +position. The darkness was opaque and horrible. It was so utter +one put one's hand up to one's face as if to press off something +solid. I stood still, and by an effort I steadied myself. I tried +to reconstruct in my mind a map of the floor of the cavern as I had +last seen it. Alas! the bearings which had impressed themselves +upon my mind were high on the wall, and not to be found by touch. +Still, I remembered in a general way how the sides were situated, +and I hoped that by groping my way along them I should at last come +to the opening of the Roman tunnel. Moving very slowly, and +continually striking against the rocks, I set out on this desperate +quest. + +But I very soon realized how impossible it was. In that black, +velvety darkness one lost all one's bearings in an instant. Before +I had made a dozen paces, I was utterly bewildered as to my +whereabouts. The rippling of the stream, which was the one sound +audible, showed me where it lay, but the moment that I left its +bank I was utterly lost. The idea of finding my way back in +absolute darkness through that limestone labyrinth was clearly an +impossible one. + +I sat down upon a boulder and reflected upon my unfortunate +plight. I had not told anyone that I proposed to come to the Blue +John mine, and it was unlikely that a search party would come after +me. Therefore I must trust to my own resources to get clear of the +danger. There was only one hope, and that was that the matches +might dry. When I fell into the river, only half of me had got +thoroughly wet. My left shoulder had remained above the water. I +took the box of matches, therefore, and put it into my left armpit. +The moist air of the cavern might possibly be counteracted by +the heat of my body, but even so, I knew that I could not hope to +get a light for many hours. Meanwhile there was nothing for it but +to wait. + +By good luck I had slipped several biscuits into my pocket +before I left the farm-house. These I now devoured, and washed +them down with a draught from that wretched stream which had been +the cause of all my misfortunes. Then I felt about for a +comfortable seat among the rocks, and, having discovered a place +where I could get a support for my back, I stretched out my legs +and settled myself down to wait. I was wretchedly damp and cold, +but I tried to cheer myself with the reflection that modern science +prescribed open windows and walks in all weather for my disease. +Gradually, lulled by the monotonous gurgle of the stream, and by +the absolute darkness, I sank into an uneasy slumber. + +How long this lasted I cannot say. It may have been for an +hour, it may have been for several. Suddenly I sat up on my rock +couch, with every nerve thrilling and every sense acutely on the +alert. Beyond all doubt I had heard a sound--some sound very +distinct from the gurgling of the waters. It had passed, but the +reverberation of it still lingered in my ear. Was it a search +party? They would most certainly have shouted, and vague as this +sound was which had wakened me, it was very distinct from the human +voice. I sat palpitating and hardly daring to breathe. There it +was again! And again! Now it had become continuous. It was a +tread--yes, surely it was the tread of some living creature. +But what a tread it was! It gave one the impression of enormous +weight carried upon sponge-like feet, which gave forth a muffled +but ear-filling sound. The darkness was as complete as ever, but +the tread was regular and decisive. And it was coming beyond all +question in my direction. + +My skin grew cold, and my hair stood on end as I listened to +that steady and ponderous footfall. There was some creature there, +and surely by the speed of its advance, it was one which could see +in the dark. I crouched low on my rock and tried to blend myself +into it. The steps grew nearer still, then stopped, and presently +I was aware of a loud lapping and gurgling. The creature was +drinking at the stream. Then again there was silence, broken by a +succession of long sniffs and snorts of tremendous volume and +energy. Had it caught the scent of me? My own nostrils were +filled by a low fetid odour, mephitic and abominable. Then I heard +the steps again. They were on my side of the stream now. The +stones rattled within a few yards of where I lay. Hardly daring to +breathe, I crouched upon my rock. Then the steps drew away. I +heard the splash as it returned across the river, and the sound +died away into the distance in the direction from which it had +come. + +For a long time I lay upon the rock, too much horrified to +move. I thought of the sound which I had heard coming from the +depths of the cave, of Armitage's fears, of the strange impression +in the mud, and now came this final and absolute proof that there +was indeed some inconceivable monster, something utterly unearthly +and dreadful, which lurked in the hollow of the mountain. Of its +nature or form I could frame no conception, save that it was both +light-footed and gigantic. The combat between my reason, which +told me that such things could not be, and my senses, which told me +that they were, raged within me as I lay. Finally, I was almost +ready to persuade myself that this experience had been part of some +evil dream, and that my abnormal condition might have conjured up +an hallucination. But there remained one final experience which +removed the last possibility of doubt from my mind. + +I had taken my matches from my armpit and felt them. They +seemed perfectly hard and dry. Stooping down into a crevice of the +rocks, I tried one of them. To my delight it took fire at once. +I lit the candle, and, with a terrified backward glance into the +obscure depths of the cavern, I hurried in the direction of the +Roman passage. As I did so I passed the patch of mud on which I +had seen the huge imprint. Now I stood astonished before it, for +there were three similar imprints upon its surface, enormous in +size, irregular in outline, of a depth which indicated the +ponderous weight which had left them. Then a great terror surged +over me. Stooping and shading my candle with my hand, I ran in a +frenzy of fear to the rocky archway, hastened up it, and never +stopped until, with weary feet and panting lungs, I rushed up the +final slope of stones, broke through the tangle of briars, and +flung myself exhausted upon the soft grass under the peaceful light +of the stars. It was three in the morning when I reached the farm- +house, and today I am all unstrung and quivering after my +terrific adventure. As yet I have told no one. I must move warily +in the matter. What would the poor lonely women, or the uneducated +yokels here think of it if I were to tell them my experience? Let +me go to someone who can understand and advise. + +April 25.--I was laid up in bed for two days after my +incredible adventure in the cavern. I use the adjective with a +very definite meaning, for I have had an experience since which has +shocked me almost as much as the other. I have said that I was +looking round for someone who could advise me. There is a Dr. Mark +Johnson who practices some few miles away, to whom I had a note of +recommendation from Professor Saunderson. To him I drove, +when I was strong enough to get about, and I recounted to him my +whole strange experience. He listened intently, and then carefully +examined me, paying special attention to my reflexes and to the +pupils of my eyes. When he had finished, he refused to discuss my +adventure, saying that it was entirely beyond him, but he gave me +the card of a Mr. Picton at Castleton, with the advice that I +should instantly go to him and tell him the story exactly as I had +done to himself. He was, according to my adviser, the very man who +was pre-eminently suited to help me. I went on to the station, +therefore, and made my way to the little town, which is some ten +miles away. Mr. Picton appeared to be a man of importance, as his +brass plate was displayed upon the door of a considerable building +on the outskirts of the town. I was about to ring his bell, when +some misgiving came into my mind, and, crossing to a neighbouring +shop, I asked the man behind the counter if he could tell me +anything of Mr. Picton. "Why," said he, "he is the best mad doctor +in Derbyshire, and yonder is his asylum." You can imagine that it +was not long before I had shaken the dust of Castleton from my feet +and returned to the farm, cursing all unimaginative pedants who +cannot conceive that there may be things in creation which have +never yet chanced to come across their mole's vision. After all, +now that I am cooler, I can afford to admit that I have been no +more sympathetic to Armitage than Dr. Johnson has been to me. + +April 27. When I was a student I had the reputation of +being a man of courage and enterprise. I remember that when there +was a ghost-hunt at Coltbridge it was I who sat up in the +haunted house. Is it advancing years (after all, I am only thirty- +five), or is it this physical malady which has caused degeneration? +Certainly my heart quails when I think of that horrible cavern in +the hill, and the certainty that it has some monstrous occupant. +What shall I do? There is not an hour in the day that I do not +debate the question. If I say nothing, then the mystery remains +unsolved. If I do say anything, then I have the alternative of mad +alarm over the whole countryside, or of absolute incredulity which +may end in consigning me to an asylum. On the whole, I think that +my best course is to wait, and to prepare for some expedition which +shall be more deliberate and better thought out than the last. As +a first step I have been to Castleton and obtained a few +essentials--a large acetylene lantern for one thing, and a good +double-barrelled sporting rifle for another. The latter I have +hired, but I have bought a dozen heavy game cartridges, which would +bring down a rhinoceros. Now I am ready for my troglodyte friend. +Give me better health and a little spate of energy, and I shall try +conclusions with him yet. But who and what is he? Ah! there is +the question which stands between me and my sleep. How many +theories do I form, only to discard each in turn! It is all so +utterly unthinkable. And yet the cry, the footmark, the tread in +the cavern--no reasoning can get past these I think of the old- +world legends of dragons and of other monsters. Were they, +perhaps, not such fairy-tales as we have thought? Can it be that +there is some fact which underlies them, and am I, of all mortals, +the one who is chosen to expose it? + +May 3.--For several days I have been laid up by the +vagaries of an English spring, and during those days there have +been developments, the true and sinister meaning of which no one +can appreciate save myself. I may say that we have had cloudy and +moonless nights of late, which according to my information were the +seasons upon which sheep disappeared. Well, sheep have +disappeared. Two of Miss Allerton's, one of old Pearson's of the +Cat Walk, and one of Mrs. Moulton's. Four in all during three +nights. No trace is left of them at all, and the countryside is +buzzing with rumours of gipsies and of sheep-stealers. + +But there is something more serious than that. Young Armitage +has disappeared also. He left his moorland cottage early on +Wednesday night and has never been heard of since. He was an +unattached man, so there is less sensation than would otherwise be +the case. The popular explanation is that he owes money, and has +found a situation in some other part of the country, whence he will +presently write for his belongings. But I have grave misgivings. +Is it not much more likely that the recent tragedy of the sheep has +caused him to take some steps which may have ended in his own +destruction? He may, for example, have lain in wait for the +creature and been carried off by it into the recesses of the +mountains. What an inconceivable fate for a civilized Englishman +of the twentieth century! And yet I feel that it is possible and +even probable. But in that case, how far am I answerable both for +his death and for any other mishap which may occur? Surely with +the knowledge I already possess it must be my duty to see that +something is done, or if necessary to do it myself. It must be the +latter, for this morning I went down to the local police-station +and told my story. The inspector entered it all in a large book +and bowed me out with commendable gravity, but I heard a burst of +laughter before I had got down his garden path. No doubt he was +recounting my adventure to his family. + +June 10.--I am writing this, propped up in bed, six weeks +after my last entry in this journal. I have gone through a +terrible shock both to mind and body, arising from such an +experience as has seldom befallen a human being before. But I have +attained my end. The danger from the Terror which dwells in the +Blue John Gap has passed never to return. Thus much at least I, a +broken invalid, have done for the common good. Let me now recount +what occurred as clearly as I may. + +The night of Friday, May 3rd, was dark and cloudy--the very +night for the monster to walk. About eleven o'clock I went from +the farm-house with my lantern and my rifle, having first left a +note upon the table of my bedroom in which I said that, if I were +missing, search should be made for me in the direction of the Gap. +I made my way to the mouth of the Roman shaft, and, having perched +myself among the rocks close to the opening, I shut off my lantern +and waited patiently with my loaded rifle ready to my hand. + +It was a melancholy vigil. All down the winding valley I could +see the scattered lights of the farm-houses, and the church clock +of Chapel-le-Dale tolling the hours came faintly to my ears. +These tokens of my fellow-men served only to make my own position +seem the more lonely, and to call for a greater effort to overcome +the terror which tempted me continually to get back to the farm, +and abandon for ever this dangerous quest. And yet there lies deep +in every man a rooted self-respect which makes it hard for him to +turn back from that which he has once undertaken. This feeling of +personal pride was my salvation now, and it was that alone which +held me fast when every instinct of my nature was dragging me away. +I am glad now that I had the strength. In spite of all that is has +cost me, my manhood is at least above reproach. + +Twelve o'clock struck in the distant church, then one, then +two. It was the darkest hour of the night. The clouds were +drifting low, and there was not a star in the sky. An owl was +hooting somewhere among the rocks, but no other sound, save the +gentle sough of the wind, came to my ears. And then suddenly I +heard it! From far away down the tunnel came those muffled steps, +so soft and yet so ponderous. I heard also the rattle of stones as +they gave way under that giant tread. They drew nearer. They were +close upon me. I heard the crashing of the bushes round the +entrance, and then dimly through the darkness I was conscious of +the loom of some enormous shape, some monstrous inchoate creature, +passing swiftly and very silently out from the tunnel. I was +paralysed with fear and amazement. Long as I had waited, now that +it had actually come I was unprepared for the shock. I lay +motionless and breathless, whilst the great dark mass whisked by me +and was swallowed up in the night. + +But now I nerved myself for its return. No sound came from the +sleeping countryside to tell of the horror which was loose. In no +way could I judge how far off it was, what it was doing, or when it +might be back. But not a second time should my nerve fail me, not +a second time should it pass unchallenged. I swore it between my +clenched teeth as I laid my cocked rifle across the rock. + +And yet it nearly happened. There was no warning of approach +now as the creature passed over the grass. Suddenly, like a dark, +drifting shadow, the huge bulk loomed up once more before me, +making for the entrance of the cave. Again came that paralysis of +volition which held my crooked forefinger impotent upon the +trigger. But with a desperate effort I shook it off. Even as the +brushwood rustled, and the monstrous beast blended with the shadow +of the Gap, I fired at the retreating form. In the blaze of the +gun I caught a glimpse of a great shaggy mass, something with rough +and bristling hair of a withered grey colour, fading away to white +in its lower parts, the huge body supported upon short, thick, +curving legs. I had just that glance, and then I heard the rattle +of the stones as the creature tore down into its burrow. In an +instant, with a triumphant revulsion of feeling, I had cast my +fears to the wind, and uncovering my powerful lantern, with my +rifle in my hand, I sprang down from my rock and rushed after the +monster down the old Roman shaft. + +My splendid lamp cast a brilliant flood of vivid light in front +of me, very different from the yellow glimmer which had aided me +down the same passage only twelve days before. As I ran, I saw the +great beast lurching along before me, its huge bulk filling up the +whole space from wall to wall. Its hair looked like coarse faded +oakum, and hung down in long, dense masses which swayed as it +moved. It was like an enormous unclipped sheep in its fleece, but +in size it was far larger than the largest elephant, and its +breadth seemed to be nearly as great as its height. It fills me +with amazement now to think that I should have dared to follow such +a horror into the bowels of the earth, but when one's blood is up, +and when one's quarry seems to be flying, the old primeval hunting- +spirit awakes and prudence is cast to the wind. Rifle in hand, I +ran at the top of my speed upon the trail of the monster. + +I had seen that the creature was swift. Now I was to find out +to my cost that it was also very cunning. I had imagined that it +was in panic flight, and that I had only to pursue it. The idea +that it might turn upon me never entered my excited brain. I have +already explained that the passage down which I was racing opened +into a great central cave. Into this I rushed, fearful lest I +should lose all trace of the beast. But he had turned upon his own +traces, and in a moment we were face to face. + +That picture, seen in the brilliant white light of the lantern, +is etched for ever upon my brain. He had reared up on his hind +legs as a bear would do, and stood above me, enormous, menacing-- +such a creature as no nightmare had ever brought to my imagination. +I have said that he reared like a bear, and there was something +bear-like--if one could conceive a bear which was ten-fold the bulk +of any bear seen upon earth--in his whole pose and attitude, in his +great crooked forelegs with their ivory-white claws, in his rugged +skin, and in his red, gaping mouth, fringed with monstrous fangs. +Only in one point did he differ from the bear, or from any other +creature which walks the earth, and even at that supreme moment a +shudder of horror passed over me as I observed that the eyes which +glistened in the glow of my lantern were huge, projecting bulbs, +white and sightless. For a moment his great paws swung over my +head. The next he fell forward upon me, I and my broken lantern +crashed to the earth, and I remember no more. + + +When I came to myself I was back in the farm-house of the +Allertons. Two days had passed since my terrible adventure in the +Blue John Gap. It seems that I had lain all night in the cave +insensible from concussion of the brain, with my left arm and two +ribs badly fractured. In the morning my note had been found, a +search party of a dozen farmers assembled, and I had been tracked +down and carried back to my bedroom, where I had lain in high +delirium ever since. There was, it seems, no sign of the creature, +and no bloodstain which would show that my bullet had found him as +he passed. Save for my own plight and the marks upon the mud, +there was nothing to prove that what I said was true. + +Six weeks have now elapsed, and I am able to sit out once more +in the sunshine. Just opposite me is the steep hillside, grey with +shaly rock, and yonder on its flank is the dark cleft which marks +the opening of the Blue John Gap. But it is no longer a source of +terror. Never again through that ill-omened tunnel shall any +strange shape flit out into the world of men. The educated and the +scientific, the Dr. Johnsons and the like, may smile at my +narrative, but the poorer folk of the countryside had never a doubt +as to its truth. On the day after my recovering consciousness +they assembled in their hundreds round the Blue John Gap. As the +Castleton Courier said: + + +"It was useless for our correspondent, or for any of the +adventurous gentlemen who had come from Matlock, Buxton, and other +parts, to offer to descend, to explore the cave to the end, and to +finally test the extraordinary narrative of Dr. James Hardcastle. +The country people had taken the matter into their own hands, and +from an early hour of the morning they had worked hard in stopping +up the entrance of the tunnel. There is a sharp slope where the +shaft begins, and great boulders, rolled along by many willing +hands, were thrust down it until the Gap was absolutely sealed. So +ends the episode which has caused such excitement throughout the +country. Local opinion is fiercely divided upon the subject. On +the one hand are those who point to Dr. Hardcastle's impaired +health, and to the possibility of cerebral lesions of tubercular +origin giving rise to strange hallucinations. Some idee fixe, +according to these gentlemen, caused the doctor to wander down the +tunnel, and a fall among the rocks was sufficient to account for +his injuries. On the other hand, a legend of a strange creature in +the Gap has existed for some months back, and the farmers look upon +Dr. Hardcastle's narrative and his personal injuries as a final +corroboration. So the matter stands, and so the matter will +continue to stand, for no definite solution seems to us to be now +possible. It transcends human wit to give any scientific +explanation which could cover the alleged facts." + + +Perhaps before the Courier published these words they would +have been wise to send their representative to me. I have thought +the matter out, as no one else has occasion to do, and it is +possible that I might have removed some of the more obvious +difficulties of the narrative and brought it one degree nearer to +scientific acceptance. Let me then write down the only explanation +which seems to me to elucidate what I know to my cost to have been +a series of facts. My theory may seem to be wildly improbable, but +at least no one can venture to say that it is impossible. + +My view is--and it was formed, as is shown by my diary, before +my personal adventure--that in this part of England there is a +vast subterranean lake or sea, which is fed by the great number of +streams which pass down through the limestone. Where there is a +large collection of water there must also be some evaporation, +mists or rain, and a possibility of vegetation. This in turn +suggests that there may be animal life, arising, as the vegetable +life would also do, from those seeds and types which had been +introduced at an early period of the world's history, when +communication with the outer air was more easy. This place had +then developed a fauna and flora of its own, including such +monsters as the one which I had seen, which may well have been the +old cave-bear, enormously enlarged and modified by its new +environment. For countless aeons the internal and the external +creation had kept apart, growing steadily away from each other. +Then there had come some rift in the depths of the mountain which +had enabled one creature to wander up and, by means of the Roman +tunnel, to reach the open air. Like all subterranean life, it had +lost the power of sight, but this had no doubt been compensated for +by nature in other directions. Certainly it had some means of +finding its way about, and of hunting down the sheep upon the +hillside. As to its choice of dark nights, it is part of my theory +that light was painful to those great white eyeballs, and that it +was only a pitch-black world which it could tolerate. Perhaps, +indeed, it was the glare of my lantern which saved my life at that +awful moment when we were face to face. So I read the riddle. I +leave these facts behind me, and if you can explain them, do so; or +if you choose to doubt them, do so. Neither your belief nor your +incredulity can alter them, nor affect one whose task is nearly +over. + + +So ended the strange narrative of Dr. James Hardcastle. + + + + +The Brazilian Cat + + +It is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great +expectations, aristocratic connections, but no actual money in +his pocket, and no profession by which he may earn any. The fact +was that my father, a good, sanguine, easy-going man, had such +confidence in the wealth and benevolence of his bachelor elder +brother, Lord Southerton, that he took it for granted that I, his +only son, would never be called upon to earn a living for myself. +He imagined that if there were not a vacancy for me on the great +Southerton Estates, at least there would be found some post in +that diplomatic service which still remains the special preserve +of our privileged classes. He died too early to realize how +false his calculations had been. Neither my uncle nor the State +took the slightest notice of me, or showed any interest in my +career. An occasional brace of pheasants, or basket of hares, +was all that ever reached me to remind me that I was heir to +Otwell House and one of the richest estates in the country. In +the meantime, I found myself a bachelor and man about town, +living in a suite of apartments in Grosvenor Mansions, with no +occupation save that of pigeon-shooting and polo-playing at +Hurlingham. Month by month I realized that it was more and more +difficult to get the brokers to renew my bills, or to cash any +further post-obits upon an unentailed property. Ruin lay right +across my path, and every day I saw it clearer, nearer, and more +absolutely unavoidable. + +What made me feel my own poverty the more was that, apart from +the great wealth of Lord Southerton, all my other relations were +fairly well-to-do. The nearest of these was Everard King, my +father's nephew and my own first cousin, who had spent an +adventurous life in Brazil, and had now returned to this country to +settle down on his fortune. We never knew how he made his money, +but he appeared to have plenty of it, for he bought the estate of +Greylands, near Clipton-on-the-Marsh, in Suffolk. For the +first year of his residence in England he took no more notice of me +than my miserly uncle; but at last one summer morning, to my very +great relief and joy, I received a letter asking me to come down +that very day and spend a short visit at Greylands Court. I was +expecting a rather long visit to Bankruptcy Court at the time, and +this interruption seemed almost providential. If I could only get +on terms with this unknown relative of mine, I might pull through +yet. For the family credit he could not let me go entirely to the +wall. I ordered my valet to pack my valise, and I set off the same +evening for Clipton-on-the-Marsh. + +After changing at Ipswich, a little local train deposited me at +a small, deserted station lying amidst a rolling grassy country, +with a sluggish and winding river curving in and out amidst the +valleys, between high, silted banks, which showed that we were +within reach of the tide. No carriage was awaiting me (I found +afterwards that my telegram had been delayed), so I hired a dogcart +at the local inn. The driver, an excellent fellow, was full of my +relative's praises, and I learned from him that Mr. Everard King +was already a name to conjure with in that part of the county. He +had entertained the school-children, he had thrown his grounds open +to visitors, he had subscribed to charities--in short, his +benevolence had been so universal that my driver could only account +for it on the supposition that he had parliamentary ambitions. + +My attention was drawn away from my driver's panegyric by the +appearance of a very beautiful bird which settled on a telegraph- +post beside the road. At first I thought that it was a jay, but it +was larger, with a brighter plumage. The driver accounted for its +presence at once by saying that it belonged to the very man whom we +were about to visit. It seems that the acclimatization of foreign +creatures was one of his hobbies, and that he had brought with him +from Brazil a number of birds and beasts which he was endeavouring +to rear in England. When once we had passed the gates of Greylands +Park we had ample evidence of this taste of his. Some small +spotted deer, a curious wild pig known, I believe, as a peccary, a +gorgeously feathered oriole, some sort of armadillo, and a singular +lumbering in-toed beast like a very fat badger, were among the +creatures which I observed as we drove along the winding avenue. + +Mr. Everard King, my unknown cousin, was standing in person +upon the steps of his house, for he had seen us in the distance, +and guessed that it was I. His appearance was very homely and +benevolent, short and stout, forty-five years old, perhaps, with a +round, good-humoured face, burned brown with the tropical sun, and +shot with a thousand wrinkles. He wore white linen clothes, in +true planter style, with a cigar between his lips, and a large +Panama hat upon the back of his head. It was such a figure as one +associates with a verandahed bungalow, and it looked curiously out +of place in front of this broad, stone English mansion, with its +solid wings and its Palladio pillars before the doorway. + +"My dear!" he cried, glancing over his shoulder; "my dear, here +is our guest! Welcome, welcome to Greylands! I am delighted to +make your acquaintance, Cousin Marshall, and I take it as a great +compliment that you should honour this sleepy little country place +with your presence." + +Nothing could be more hearty than his manner, and he set me at +my ease in an instant. But it needed all his cordiality to atone +for the frigidity and even rudeness of his wife, a tall, haggard +woman, who came forward at his summons. She was, I believe, of +Brazilian extraction, though she spoke excellent English, and I +excused her manners on the score of her ignorance of our customs. +She did not attempt to conceal, however, either then or afterwards, +that I was no very welcome visitor at Greylands Court. Her actual +words were, as a rule, courteous, but she was the possessor of a +pair of particularly expressive dark eyes, and I read in them very +clearly from the first that she heartily wished me back in London +once more. + +However, my debts were too pressing and my designs upon my +wealthy relative were too vital for me to allow them to be upset by +the ill-temper of his wife, so I disregarded her coldness and +reciprocated the extreme cordiality of his welcome. No pains had +been spared by him to make me comfortable. My room was a charming +one. He implored me to tell him anything which could add to my +happiness. It was on the tip of my tongue to inform him that a +blank cheque would materially help towards that end, but I felt +that it might be premature in the present state of our +acquaintance. The dinner was excellent, and as we sat together +afterwards over his Havanas and coffee, which later he told me was +specially prepared upon his own plantation, it seemed to me that +all my driver's eulogies were justified, and that I had never met +a more large-hearted and hospitable man. + +But, in spite of his cheery good nature, he was a man with a +strong will and a fiery temper of his own. Of this I had an +example upon the following morning. The curious aversion which +Mrs. Everard King had conceived towards me was so strong, that her +manner at breakfast was almost offensive. But her meaning became +unmistakable when her husband had quitted the room. + +"The best train in the day is at twelve-fifteen," said she. + +"But I was not thinking of going today," I answered, frankly-- +perhaps even defiantly, for I was determined not to be driven out +by this woman. + +"Oh, if it rests with you--" said she, and stopped with a most +insolent expression in her eyes. + +"I am sure," I answered, "that Mr. Everard King would tell me +if I were outstaying my welcome." + +"What's this? What's this?" said a voice, and there he was in +the room. He had overheard my last words, and a glance at our +faces had told him the rest. In an instant his chubby, cheery face +set into an expression of absolute ferocity. + +"Might I trouble you to walk outside, Marshall?" said he. (I +may mention that my own name is Marshall King.) + +He closed the door behind me, and then, for an instant, I heard +him talking in a low voice of concentrated passion to his wife. +This gross breach of hospitality had evidently hit upon his +tenderest point. I am no eavesdropper, so I walked out on to the +lawn. Presently I heard a hurried step behind me, and there was +the lady, her face pale with excitement, and her eyes red with +tears. + +"My husband has asked me to apologize to you, Mr. Marshall +King," said she, standing with downcast eyes before me. + +"Please do not say another word, Mrs. King." + +Her dark eyes suddenly blazed out at me. + +"You fool!" she hissed, with frantic vehemence, and turning on +her heel swept back to the house. + +The insult was so outrageous, so insufferable, that I could +only stand staring after her in bewilderment. I was still there +when my host joined me. He was his cheery, chubby self once more. + +"I hope that my wife has apologized for her foolish remarks," +said he. + +"Oh, yes--yes, certainly!" + +He put his hand through my arm and walked with me up and down +the lawn. + +"You must not take it seriously," said he. "It would grieve me +inexpressibly if you curtailed your visit by one hour. The fact +is--there is no reason why there should be any concealment between +relatives--that my poor dear wife is incredibly jealous. She hates +that anyone--male or female--should for an instant come between us. +Her ideal is a desert island and an eternal tete-a-tete. That +gives you the clue to her actions, which are, I confess, upon this +particular point, not very far removed from mania. Tell me that +you will think no more of it." + +"No, no; certainly not." + +"Then light this cigar and come round with me and see my little +menagerie." + +The whole afternoon was occupied by this inspection, which +included all the birds, beasts, and even reptiles which he had +imported. Some were free, some in cages, a few actually in the +house. He spoke with enthusiasm of his successes and his failures, +his births and his deaths, and he would cry out in his delight, +like a schoolboy, when, as we walked, some gaudy bird would flutter +up from the grass, or some curious beast slink into the cover. +Finally he led me down a corridor which extended from one wing of +the house. At the end of this there was a heavy door with a +sliding shutter in it, and beside it there projected from the wall +an iron handle attached to a wheel and a drum. A line of stout +bars extended across the passage. + +"I am about to show you the jewel of my collection," said he. +"There is only one other specimen in Europe, now that the Rotterdam +cub is dead. It is a Brazilian cat." + +"But how does that differ from any other cat?" + +"You will soon see that," said he, laughing. "Will you kindly +draw that shutter and look through?" + +I did so, and found that I was gazing into a large, empty room, +with stone flags, and small, barred windows upon the farther wall. +In the centre of this room, lying in the middle of a golden patch +of sunlight, there was stretched a huge creature, as large as a +tiger, but as black and sleek as ebony. It was simply a very +enormous and very well-kept black cat, and it cuddled up and basked +in that yellow pool of light exactly as a cat would do. It was so +graceful, so sinewy, and so gently and smoothly diabolical, that I +could not take my eyes from the opening. + +"Isn't he splendid?" said my host, enthusiastically. + +"Glorious! I never saw such a noble creature." + +"Some people call it a black puma, but really it is not a puma +at all. That fellow is nearly eleven feet from tail to tip. Four +years ago he was a little ball of back fluff, with two yellow eyes +staring out of it. He was sold me as a new-born cub up in the wild +country at the head-waters of the Rio Negro. They speared his +mother to death after she had killed a dozen of them." + +"They are ferocious, then?" + +"The most absolutely treacherous and bloodthirsty creatures +upon earth. You talk about a Brazilian cat to an up-country +Indian, and see him get the jumps. They prefer humans to game. +This fellow has never tasted living blood yet, but when he does he +will be a terror. At present he won't stand anyone but me in his +den. Even Baldwin, the groom, dare not go near him. As to me, I +am his mother and father in one." + +As he spoke he suddenly, to my astonishment, opened the door +and slipped in, closing it instantly behind him. At the sound of +his voice the huge, lithe creature rose, yawned and rubbed its +round, black head affectionately against his side, while he patted +and fondled it. + +"Now, Tommy, into your cage!" said he. + +The monstrous cat walked over to one side of the room and +coiled itself up under a grating. Everard King came out, and +taking the iron handle which I have mentioned, he began to turn it. +As he did so the line of bars in the corridor began to pass through +a slot in the wall and closed up the front of this grating, so as +to make an effective cage. When it was in position he opened the +door once more and invited me into the room, which was heavy with +the pungent, musty smell peculiar to the great carnivora. + +"That's how we work it," said he. "We give him the run of the +room for exercise, and then at night we put him in his cage. You +can let him out by turning the handle from the passage, or you can, +as you have seen, coop him up in the same way. No, no, you should +not do that!" + +I had put my hand between the bars to pat the glossy, heaving +flank. He pulled it back, with a serious face. + +"I assure you that he is not safe. Don't imagine that because +I can take liberties with him anyone else can. He is very +exclusive in his friends--aren't you, Tommy? Ah, he hears his +lunch coming to him! Don't you, boy?" + +A step sounded in the stone-flagged passage, and the creature +had sprung to his feet, and was pacing up and down the narrow cage, +his yellow eyes gleaming, and his scarlet tongue rippling and +quivering over the white line of his jagged teeth. A groom entered +with a coarse joint upon a tray, and thrust it through the bars to +him. He pounced lightly upon it, carried it off to the corner, and +there, holding it between his paws, tore and wrenched at it, +raising his bloody muzzle every now and then to look at us. It was +a malignant and yet fascinating sight. + +"You can't wonder that I am fond of him, can you?" said my +host, as we left the room, "especially when you consider that I +have had the rearing of him. It was no joke bringing him over from +the centre of South America; but here he is safe and sound--and, as +I have said, far the most perfect specimen in Europe. The people +at the Zoo are dying to have him, but I really can't part with him. +Now, I think that I have inflicted my hobby upon you long enough, +so we cannot do better than follow Tommy's example, and go to our +lunch." + +My South American relative was so engrossed by his grounds and +their curious occupants, that I hardly gave him credit at first for +having any interests outside them. That he had some, and pressing +ones, was soon borne in upon me by the number of telegrams which he +received. They arrived at all hours, and were always opened by him +with the utmost eagerness and anxiety upon his face. Sometimes I +imagined that it must be the Turf, and sometimes the Stock +Exchange, but certainly he had some very urgent business going +forwards which was not transacted upon the Downs of Suffolk. +During the six days of my visit he had never fewer than three +or four telegrams a day, and sometimes as many as seven or eight. + +I had occupied these six days so well, that by the end of them +I had succeeded in getting upon the most cordial terms with my +cousin. Every night we had sat up late in the billiard-room, he +telling me the most extraordinary stories of his adventures in +America--stories so desperate and reckless, that I could hardly +associate them with the brown little, chubby man before me. In +return, I ventured upon some of my own reminiscences of London +life, which interested him so much, that he vowed he would come up +to Grosvenor Mansions and stay with me. He was anxious to see the +faster side of city life, and certainly, though I say it, he could +not have chosen a more competent guide. It was not until the last +day of my visit that I ventured to approach that which was on my +mind. I told him frankly about my pecuniary difficulties and my +impending ruin, and I asked his advice--though I hoped for +something more solid. He listened attentively, puffing hard at his +cigar. + +"But surely," said he, "you are the heir of our relative, Lord +Southerton?" + +"I have every reason to believe so, but he would never make me +any allowance." + +"No, no, I have heard of his miserly ways. My poor Marshall, +your position has been a very hard one. By the way, have you heard +any news of Lord Southerton's health lately?" + +"He has always been in a critical condition ever since my +childhood." + +"Exactly--a creaking hinge, if ever there was one. Your +inheritance may be a long way off. Dear me, how awkwardly situated +you are!" + +"I had some hopes, sir, that you, knowing all the facts, might +be inclined to advance----" + +"Don't say another word, my dear boy," he cried, with the +utmost cordiality; "we shall talk it over tonight, and I give you +my word that whatever is in my power shall be done." + +I was not sorry that my visit was drawing to a close, for it is +unpleasant to feel that there is one person in the house who +eagerly desires your departure. Mrs. King's sallow face and +forbidding eyes had become more and more hateful to me. She was +no longer actively rude--her fear of her husband prevented +her--but she pushed her insane jealousy to the extent of ignoring +me, never addressing me, and in every way making my stay at +Greylands as uncomfortable as she could. So offensive was her +manner during that last day, that I should certainly have left had +it not been for that interview with my host in the evening which +would, I hoped, retrieve my broken fortunes. + +It was very late when it occurred, for my relative, who had +been receiving even more telegrams than usual during the day, went +off to his study after dinner, and only emerged when the household +had retired to bed. I heard him go round locking the doors, as +custom was of a night, and finally he joined me in the billiard- +room. His stout figure was wrapped in a dressing-gown, and he wore +a pair of red Turkish slippers without any heels. Settling down +into an arm-chair, he brewed himself a glass of grog, in which I +could not help noticing that the whisky considerably predominated +over the water. + +"My word!" said he, "what a night!" + +It was, indeed. The wind was howling and screaming round the +house, and the latticed windows rattled and shook as if they were +coming in. The glow of the yellow lamps and the flavour of our +cigars seemed the brighter and more fragrant for the contrast. + +"Now, my boy," said my host, "we have the house and the night +to ourselves. Let me have an idea of how your affairs stand, and +I will see what can be done to set them in order. I wish to hear +every detail." + +Thus encouraged, I entered into a long exposition, in which all +my tradesmen and creditors from my landlord to my valet, figured in +turn. I had notes in my pocket-book, and I marshalled my facts, +and gave, I flatter myself, a very businesslike statement of my own +unbusinesslike ways and lamentable position. I was depressed, +however, to notice that my companion's eyes were vacant and his +attention elsewhere. When he did occasionally throw out a remark +it was so entirely perfunctory and pointless, that I was sure he +had not in the least followed my remarks. Every now and then he +roused himself and put on some show of interest, asking me to +repeat or to explain more fully, but it was always to sink once +more into the same brown study. At last he rose and threw the end +of his cigar into the grate. + +"I'll tell you what, my boy," said he. "I never had a head for +figures, so you will excuse me. You must jot it all down upon +paper, and let me have a note of the amount. I'll understand it +when I see it in black and white." + +The proposal was encouraging. I promised to do so. + +"And now it's time we were in bed. By Jove, there's one +o'clock striking in the hall." + +The tingling of the chiming clock broke through the deep roar +of the gale. The wind was sweeping past with the rush of a great +river. + +"I must see my cat before I go to bed," said my host. "A high +wind excites him. Will you come?" + +"Certainly," said I. + +"Then tread softly and don't speak, for everyone is asleep." + +We passed quietly down the lamp-lit Persian-rugged hall, and +through the door at the farther end. All was dark in the stone +corridor, but a stable lantern hung on a hook, and my host took it +down and lit it. There was no grating visible in the passage, so +I knew that the beast was in its cage. + +"Come in!" said my relative, and opened the door. + +A deep growling as we entered showed that the storm had really +excited the creature. In the flickering light of the lantern, we +saw it, a huge black mass coiled in the corner of its den and +throwing a squat, uncouth shadow upon the whitewashed wall. Its +tail switched angrily among the straw. + +"Poor Tommy is not in the best of tempers," said Everard King, +holding up the lantern and looking in at him. "What a black devil +he looks, doesn't he? I must give him a little supper to put him +in a better humour. Would you mind holding the lantern for a +moment?" + +I took it from his hand and he stepped to the door. + +"His larder is just outside here," said he. "You will excuse +me for an instant won't you?" He passed out, and the door shut +with a sharp metallic click behind him. + +That hard crisp sound made my heart stand still. A sudden wave +of terror passed over me. A vague perception of some monstrous +treachery turned me cold. I sprang to the door, but there was no +handle upon the inner side. + +"Here!" I cried. "Let me out!" + +"All right! Don't make a row!" said my host from the passage. +"You've got the light all right." + +"Yes, but I don't care about being locked in alone like this." + +"Don't you?" I heard his hearty, chuckling laugh. "You won't +be alone long." + +"Let me out, sir!" I repeated angrily. "I tell you I don't +allow practical jokes of this sort." + +"Practical is the word," said he, with another hateful chuckle. +And then suddenly I heard, amidst the roar of the storm, the creak +and whine of the winch-handle turning and the rattle of the grating +as it passed through the slot. Great God, he was letting loose the +Brazilian cat! + +In the light of the lantern I saw the bars sliding slowly +before me. Already there was an opening a foot wide at the farther +end. With a scream I seized the last bar with my hands and pulled +with the strength of a madman. I WAS a madman with rage and +horror. For a minute or more I held the thing motionless. I knew +that he was straining with all his force upon the handle, and that +the leverage was sure to overcome me. I gave inch by inch, my feet +sliding along the stones, and all the time I begged and prayed this +inhuman monster to save me from this horrible death. I conjured +him by his kinship. I reminded him that I was his guest; I begged +to know what harm I had ever done him. His only answers were the +tugs and jerks upon the handle, each of which, in spite of all my +struggles, pulled another bar through the opening. Clinging and +clutching, I was dragged across the whole front of the cage, until +at last, with aching wrists and lacerated fingers, I gave up the +hopeless struggle. The grating clanged back as I released it, and +an instant later I heard the shuffle of the Turkish slippers in the +passage, and the slam of the distant door. Then everything was +silent. + +The creature had never moved during this time. He lay still in +the corner, and his tail had ceased switching. This apparition of +a man adhering to his bars and dragged screaming across him had +apparently filled him with amazement. I saw his great eyes staring +steadily at me. I had dropped the lantern when I seized the +bars, but it still burned upon the floor, and I made a movement +to grasp it, with some idea that its light might protect me. But +the instant I moved, the beast gave a deep and menacing growl. I +stopped and stood still, quivering with fear in every limb. The +cat (if one may call so fearful a creature by so homely a name) was +not more than ten feet from me. The eyes glimmered like two disks +of phosphorus in the darkness. They appalled and yet fascinated +me. I could not take my own eyes from them. Nature plays strange +tricks with us at such moments of intensity, and those glimmering +lights waxed and waned with a steady rise and fall. Sometimes they +seemed to be tiny points of extreme brilliancy--little electric +sparks in the black obscurity--then they would widen and widen +until all that corner of the room was filled with their shifting +and sinister light. And then suddenly they went out altogether. + +The beast had closed its eyes. I do not know whether there may +be any truth in the old idea of the dominance of the human gaze, or +whether the huge cat was simply drowsy, but the fact remains that, +far from showing any symptom of attacking me, it simply rested its +sleek, black head upon its huge forepaws and seemed to sleep. I +stood, fearing to move lest I should rouse it into malignant life +once more. But at least I was able to think clearly now that the +baleful eyes were off me. Here I was shut up for the night with +the ferocious beast. My own instincts, to say nothing of the words +of the plausible villain who laid this trap for me, warned me that +the animal was as savage as its master. How could I stave it off +until morning? The door was hopeless, and so were the narrow, +barred windows. There was no shelter anywhere in the bare, stone- +flagged room. To cry for assistance was absurd. I knew that this +den was an outhouse, and that the corridor which connected it with +the house was at least a hundred feet long. Besides, with the gale +thundering outside, my cries were not likely to be heard. I had +only my own courage and my own wits to trust to. + +And then, with a fresh wave of horror, my eyes fell upon the +lantern. The candle had burned low, and was already beginning to +gutter. In ten minutes it would be out. I had only ten minutes +then in which to do something, for I felt that if I were once left +in the dark with that fearful beast I should be incapable of +action. The very thought of it paralysed me. I cast my +despairing eyes round this chamber of death, and they rested upon +one spot which seemed to promise I will not say safety, but less +immediate and imminent danger than the open floor. + +I have said that the cage had a top as well as a front, and +this top was left standing when the front was wound through the +slot in the wall. It consisted of bars at a few inches' interval, +with stout wire netting between, and it rested upon a strong +stanchion at each end. It stood now as a great barred canopy over +the crouching figure in the corner. The space between this iron +shelf and the roof may have been from two or three feet. If I +could only get up there, squeezed in between bars and ceiling, I +should have only one vulnerable side. I should be safe from below, +from behind, and from each side. Only on the open face of it could +I be attacked. There, it is true, I had no protection whatever; +but at least, I should be out of the brute's path when he began to +pace about his den. He would have to come out of his way to reach +me. It was now or never, for if once the light were out it would +be impossible. With a gulp in my throat I sprang up, seized the +iron edge of the top, and swung myself panting on to it. I writhed +in face downwards, and found myself looking straight into the +terrible eyes and yawning jaws of the cat. Its fetid breath came +up into my face like the steam from some foul pot. + +It appeared, however, to be rather curious than angry. With a +sleek ripple of its long, black back it rose, stretched itself, and +then rearing itself on its hind legs, with one forepaw against the +wall, it raised the other, and drew its claws across the wire +meshes beneath me. One sharp, white hook tore through my +trousers--for I may mention that I was still in evening dress--and +dug a furrow in my knee. It was not meant as an attack, but rather +as an experiment, for upon my giving a sharp cry of pain he dropped +down again, and springing lightly into the room, he began walking +swiftly round it, looking up every now and again in my direction. +For my part I shuffled backwards until I lay with my back against +the wall, screwing myself into the smallest space possible. The +farther I got the more difficult it was for him to attack me. + +He seemed more excited now that he had begun to move about, and +he ran swiftly and noiselessly round and round the den, +passing continually underneath the iron couch upon which I lay. It +was wonderful to see so great a bulk passing like a shadow, with +hardly the softest thudding of velvety pads. The candle was +burning low--so low that I could hardly see the creature. And +then, with a last flare and splutter it went out altogether. I was +alone with the cat in the dark! + +It helps one to face a danger when one knows that one has done +all that possibly can be done. There is nothing for it then but to +quietly await the result. In this case, there was no chance of +safety anywhere except the precise spot where I was. I stretched +myself out, therefore, and lay silently, almost breathlessly, +hoping that the beast might forget my presence if I did nothing to +remind him. I reckoned that it must already be two o'clock. At +four it would be full dawn. I had not more than two hours to wait +for daylight. + +Outside, the storm was still raging, and the rain lashed +continually against the little windows. Inside, the poisonous and +fetid air was overpowering. I could neither hear nor see the cat. +I tried to think about other things--but only one had power enough +to draw my mind from my terrible position. That was the +contemplation of my cousin's villainy, his unparalleled hypocrisy, +his malignant hatred of me. Beneath that cheerful face there +lurked the spirit of a mediaeval assassin. And as I thought of it +I saw more clearly how cunningly the thing had been arranged. He +had apparently gone to bed with the others. No doubt he had his +witness to prove it. Then, unknown to them, he had slipped down, +had lured me into his den and abandoned me. His story would be so +simple. He had left me to finish my cigar in the billiard-room. +I had gone down on my own account to have a last look at the cat. +I had entered the room without observing that the cage was opened, +and I had been caught. How could such a crime be brought home to +him? Suspicion, perhaps--but proof, never! + +How slowly those dreadful two hours went by! Once I heard a +low, rasping sound, which I took to be the creature licking its own +fur. Several times those greenish eyes gleamed at me through the +darkness, but never in a fixed stare, and my hopes grew stronger +that my presence had been forgotten or ignored. At last the least +faint glimmer of light came through the windows--I first dimly +saw them as two grey squares upon the black wall, then grey turned +to white, and I could see my terrible companion once more. And he, +alas, could see me! + +It was evident to me at once that he was in a much more +dangerous and aggressive mood than when I had seen him last. The +cold of the morning had irritated him, and he was hungry as well. +With a continual growl he paced swiftly up and down the side of the +room which was farthest from my refuge, his whiskers bristling +angrily, and his tail switching and lashing. As he turned at the +corners his savage eyes always looked upwards at me with a dreadful +menace. I knew then that he meant to kill me. Yet I found myself +even at that moment admiring the sinuous grace of the devilish +thing, its long, undulating, rippling movements, the gloss of its +beautiful flanks, the vivid, palpitating scarlet of the glistening +tongue which hung from the jet-black muzzle. And all the time that +deep, threatening growl was rising and rising in an unbroken +crescendo. I knew that the crisis was at hand. + +It was a miserable hour to meet such a death--so cold, so +comfortless, shivering in my light dress clothes upon this gridiron +of torment upon which I was stretched. I tried to brace myself +to it, to raise my soul above it, and at the same time, with the +lucidity which comes to a perfectly desperate man, I cast round for +some possible means of escape. One thing was clear to me. If that +front of the cage was only back in its position once more, I could +find a sure refuge behind it. Could I possibly pull it back? I +hardly dared to move for fear of bringing the creature upon me. +Slowly, very slowly, I put my hand forward until it grasped the +edge of the front, the final bar which protruded through the wall. +To my surprise it came quite easily to my jerk. Of course the +difficulty of drawing it out arose from the fact that I was +clinging to it. I pulled again, and three inches of it came +through. It ran apparently on wheels. I pulled again . . . and +then the cat sprang! + +It was so quick, so sudden, that I never saw it happen. I +simply heard the savage snarl, and in an instant afterwards the +blazing yellow eyes, the flattened black head with its red tongue +and flashing teeth, were within reach of me. The impact of the +creature shook the bars upon which I lay, until I thought (as far +as I could think of anything at such a moment) that they were +coming down. The cat swayed there for an instant, the head +and front paws quite close to me, the hind paws clawing to find a +grip upon the edge of the grating. I heard the claws rasping as +they clung to the wire-netting, and the breath of the beast made me +sick. But its bound had been miscalculated. It could not retain +its position. Slowly, grinning with rage, and scratching madly at +the bars, it swung backwards and dropped heavily upon the floor. +With a growl it instantly faced round to me and crouched for +another spring. + +I knew that the next few moments would decide my fate. The +creature had learned by experience. It would not miscalculate +again. I must act promptly, fearlessly, if I were to have a chance +for life. In an instant I had formed my plan. Pulling off my +dress-coat, I threw it down over the head of the beast. At the +same moment I dropped over the edge, seized the end of the front +grating, and pulled it frantically out of the wall. + +It came more easily than I could have expected. I rushed +across the room, bearing it with me; but, as I rushed, the accident +of my position put me upon the outer side. Had it been the other +way, I might have come off scathless. As it was, there was a +moment's pause as I stopped it and tried to pass in through the +opening which I had left. That moment was enough to give time to +the creature to toss off the coat with which I had blinded him and +to spring upon me. I hurled myself through the gap and pulled the +rails to behind me, but he seized my leg before I could entirely +withdraw it. One stroke of that huge paw tore off my calf as a +shaving of wood curls off before a plane. The next moment, +bleeding and fainting, I was lying among the foul straw with a line +of friendly bars between me and the creature which ramped so +frantically against them. + +Too wounded to move, and too faint to be conscious of fear, I +could only lie, more dead than alive, and watch it. It pressed its +broad, black chest against the bars and angled for me with its +crooked paws as I have seen a kitten do before a mouse-trap. It +ripped my clothes, but, stretch as it would, it could not quite +reach me. I have heard of the curious numbing effect produced by +wounds from the great carnivora, and now I was destined to +experience it, for I had lost all sense of personality, and was as +interested in the cat's failure or success as if it were some +game which I was watching. And then gradually my mind drifted away +into strange vague dreams, always with that black face and red +tongue coming back into them, and so I lost myself in the nirvana +of delirium, the blessed relief of those who are too sorely tried. + +Tracing the course of events afterwards, I conclude that I must +have been insensible for about two hours. What roused me to +consciousness once more was that sharp metallic click which had +been the precursor of my terrible experience. It was the shooting +back of the spring lock. Then, before my senses were clear enough +to entirely apprehend what they saw, I was aware of the round, +benevolent face of my cousin peering in through the open door. +What he saw evidently amazed him. There was the cat crouching on +the floor. I was stretched upon my back in my shirt-sleeves within +the cage, my trousers torn to ribbons and a great pool of blood all +round me. I can see his amazed face now, with the morning sunlight +upon it. He peered at me, and peered again. Then he closed the +door behind him, and advanced to the cage to see if I were really +dead. + +I cannot undertake to say what happened. I was not in a fit +state to witness or to chronicle such events. I can only say that +I was suddenly conscious that his face was away from me--that he +was looking towards the animal. + +"Good old Tommy!" he cried. "Good old Tommy!" + +Then he came near the bars, with his back still towards me. + +"Down, you stupid beast!" he roared. "Down, sir! Don't you +know your master?" + +Suddenly even in my bemuddled brain a remembrance came of those +words of his when he had said that the taste of blood would turn +the cat into a fiend. My blood had done it, but he was to pay the +price. + +"Get away!" he screamed. "Get away, you devil! Baldwin! +Baldwin! Oh, my God!" + +And then I heard him fall, and rise, and fall again, with a +sound like the ripping of sacking. His screams grew fainter until +they were lost in the worrying snarl. And then, after I thought +that he was dead, I saw, as in a nightmare, a blinded, tattered, +blood-soaked figure running wildly round the room--and +that was the last glimpse which I had of him before I fainted once +again. + + +I was many months in my recovery--in fact, I cannot say that I +have ever recovered, for to the end of my days I shall carry a +stick as a sign of my night with the Brazilian cat. Baldwin, the +groom, and the other servants could not tell what had occurred, +when, drawn by the death-cries of their master, they found me +behind the bars, and his remains--or what they afterwards +discovered to be his remains--in the clutch of the creature which +he had reared. They stalled him off with hot irons, and afterwards +shot him through the loophole of the door before they could finally +extricate me. I was carried to my bedroom, and there, under the +roof of my would-be murderer, I remained between life and death for +several weeks. They had sent for a surgeon from Clipton and a +nurse from London, and in a month I was able to be carried to the +station, and so conveyed back once more to Grosvenor Mansions. + +I have one remembrance of that illness, which might have been +part of the ever-changing panorama conjured up by a delirious brain +were it not so definitely fixed in my memory. One night, when the +nurse was absent, the door of my chamber opened, and a tall woman +in blackest mourning slipped into the room. She came across to me, +and as she bent her sallow face I saw by the faint gleam of the +night-light that it was the Brazilian woman whom my cousin had +married. She stared intently into my face, and her expression was +more kindly than I had ever seen it. + +"Are you conscious?" she asked. + +I feebly nodded--for I was still very weak. + +"Well; then, I only wished to say to you that you have yourself +to blame. Did I not do all I could for you? From the beginning I +tried to drive you from the house. By every means, short of +betraying my husband, I tried to save you from him. I knew that he +had a reason for bringing you here. I knew that he would never let +you get away again. No one knew him as I knew him, who had +suffered from him so often. I did not dare to tell you all this. +He would have killed me. But I did my best for you. As +things have turned out, you have been the best friend that I +have ever had. You have set me free, and I fancied that nothing +but death would do that. I am sorry if you are hurt, but I cannot +reproach myself. I told you that you were a fool--and a fool you +have been." She crept out of the room, the bitter, singular woman, +and I was never destined to see her again. With what remained from +her husband's property she went back to her native land, and I have +heard that she afterwards took the veil at Pernambuco. + +It was not until I had been back in London for some time that +the doctors pronounced me to be well enough to do business. It was +not a very welcome permission to me, for I feared that it would be +the signal for an inrush of creditors; but it was Summers, my +lawyer, who first took advantage of it. + +"I am very glad to see that your lordship is so much better," +said he. "I have been waiting a long time to offer my +congratulations." + +"What do you mean, Summers? This is no time for joking." + +"I mean what I say," he answered. "You have been Lord +Southerton for the last six weeks, but we feared that it would +retard your recovery if you were to learn it." + +Lord Southerton! One of the richest peers in England! I could +not believe my ears. And then suddenly I thought of the time which +had elapsed, and how it coincided with my injuries. + +"Then Lord Southerton must have died about the same time that +I was hurt?" + +"His death occurred upon that very day." Summers looked hard +at me as I spoke, and I am convinced--for he was a very shrewd +fellow--that he had guessed the true state of the case. He paused +for a moment as if awaiting a confidence from me, but I could not +see what was to be gained by exposing such a family scandal. + +"Yes, a very curious coincidence," he continued, with the same +knowing look. "Of course, you are aware that your cousin Everard +King was the next heir to the estates. Now, if it had been you +instead of him who had been torn to pieces by this tiger, or +whatever it was, then of course he would have been Lord Southerton +at the present moment." + +"No doubt," said I. + +"And he took such an interest in it," said Summers. "I happen +to know that the late Lord Southerton's valet was in his pay, and +that he used to have telegrams from him every few hours to tell him +how he was getting on. That would be about the time when you were +down there. Was it not strange that he should wish to be so well +informed, since he knew that he was not the direct heir?" + +"Very strange," said I. "And now, Summers, if you will bring +me my bills and a new cheque-book, we will begin to get things into +order." + + + + +Tales of Mystery + + +The Lost Special + +The confession of Herbert de Lernac, now lying under sentence of +death at Marseilles, has thrown a light upon one of the most +inexplicable crimes of the century--an incident which is, I +believe, absolutely unprecedented in the criminal annals of any +country: Although there is a reluctance to discuss the matter in +official circles, and little information has been given to the +Press, there are still indications that the statement of this +arch-criminal is corroborated by the facts, and that we have at +last found a solution for a most astounding business. As the +matter is eight years old, and as its importance was somewhat +obscured by a political crisis which was engaging the public +attention at the time, it may be as well to state the facts as +far as we have been able to ascertain them. They are collated +from the Liverpool papers of that date, from the proceedings at +the inquest upon John Slater, the engine-driver, and from the +records of the London and West Coast Railway Company, which +have been courteously put at my disposal. Briefly, they are as +follows: + +On the 3rd of June, 1890, a gentleman, who gave his name as +Monsieur Louis Caratal, desired an interview with Mr. James Bland, +the superintendent of the London and West Coast Central Station in +Liverpool. He was a small man, middle-aged and dark, with a stoop +which was so marked that it suggested some deformity of the spine. +He was accompanied by a friend, a man of imposing physique, whose +deferential manner and constant attention showed that his position +was one of dependence. This friend or companion, whose name did +not transpire, was certainly a foreigner, and probably from his +swarthy complexion, either a Spaniard or a South American. One +peculiarity was observed in him. He carried in his left hand a +small black, leather dispatch box, and it was noticed by a sharp- +eyed clerk in the Central office that this box was fastened to +his wrist by a strap. No importance was attached to the fact at +the time, but subsequent events endowed it with some significance. +Monsieur Caratal was shown up to Mr. Bland's office, while his +companion remained outside. + +Monsieur Caratal's business was quickly dispatched. He had +arrived that afternoon from Central America. Affairs of the utmost +importance demanded that he should be in Paris without the loss of +an unnecessary hour. He had missed the London express. A special +must be provided. Money was of no importance. Time was +everything. If the company would speed him on his way, they might +make their own terms. + +Mr. Bland struck the electric bell, summoned Mr. Potter Hood, +the traffic manager, and had the matter arranged in five minutes. +The train would start in three-quarters of an hour. It would take +that time to insure that the line should be clear. The powerful +engine called Rochdale (No. 247 on the company's register) was +attached to two carriages, with a guard's van behind. The first +carriage was solely for the purpose of decreasing the inconvenience +arising from the oscillation. The second was divided, as usual, +into four compartments, a first-class, a first-class smoking, a +second-class, and a second-class smoking. The first compartment, +which was nearest to the engine, was the one allotted to the +travellers. The other three were empty. The guard of the special +train was James McPherson, who had been some years in the service +of the company. The stoker, William Smith, was a new hand. + +Monsieur Caratal, upon leaving the superintendent's office, +rejoined his companion, and both of them manifested extreme +impatience to be off. Having paid the money asked, which amounted +to fifty pounds five shillings, at the usual special rate of five +shillings a mile, they demanded to be shown the carriage, and at +once took their seats in it, although they were assured that the +better part of an hour must elapse before the line could be +cleared. In the meantime a singular coincidence had occurred in +the office which Monsieur Caratal had just quitted. + +A request for a special is not a very uncommon circumstance in +a rich commercial centre, but that two should be required upon the +same afternoon was most unusual. It so happened, however, +that Mr. Bland had hardly dismissed the first traveller before a +second entered with a similar request. This was a Mr. Horace +Moore, a gentlemanly man of military appearance, who alleged that +the sudden serious illness of his wife in London made it absolutely +imperative that he should not lose an instant in starting upon the +journey. His distress and anxiety were so evident that Mr. Bland +did all that was possible to meet his wishes. A second special was +out of the question, as the ordinary local service was already +somewhat deranged by the first. There was the alternative, +however, that Mr. Moore should share the expense of Monsieur +Caratal's train, and should travel in the other empty first-class +compartment, if Monsieur Caratal objected to having him in the one +which he occupied. It was difficult to see any objection to such +an arrangement, and yet Monsieur Caratal, upon the suggestion being +made to him by Mr. Potter Hood, absolutely refused to consider it +for an instant. The train was his, he said, and he would insist +upon the exclusive use of it. All argument failed to overcome his +ungracious objections, and finally the plan had to be abandoned. +Mr. Horace Moore left the station in great distress, after learning +that his only course was to take the ordinary slow train which +leaves Liverpool at six o'clock. At four thirty-one exactly by the +station clock the special train, containing the crippled Monsieur +Caratal and his gigantic companion, steamed out of the Liverpool +station. The line was at that time clear, and there should have +been no stoppage before Manchester. + +The trains of the London and West Coast Railway run over the +lines of another company as far as this town, which should have +been reached by the special rather before six o'clock. At a +quarter after six considerable surprise and some consternation were +caused amongst the officials at Liverpool by the receipt of a +telegram from Manchester to say that it had not yet arrived. An +inquiry directed to St. Helens, which is a third of the way between +the two cities, elicited the following reply-- + +"To James Bland, Superintendent, Central L. & W. C., +Liverpool.--Special passed here at 4:52, well up to time.--Dowster, +St. Helens." + +This telegram was received at six-forty. At six-fifty a second +message was received from Manchester-- + +"No sign of special as advised by you." + +And then ten minutes later a third, more bewildering-- + +"Presume some mistake as to proposed running of special. Local +train from St. Helens timed to follow it has just arrived and has +seen nothing of it. Kindly wire advices.--Manchester." + +The matter was assuming a most amazing aspect, although in some +respects the last telegram was a relief to the authorities at +Liverpool. If an accident had occurred to the special, it seemed +hardly possible that the local train could have passed down the +same line without observing it. And yet, what was the alternative? +Where could the train be? Had it possibly been sidetracked for +some reason in order to allow the slower train to go past? Such an +explanation was possible if some small repair had to be effected. +A telegram was dispatched to each of the stations between St. +Helens and Manchester, and the superintendent and traffic manager +waited in the utmost suspense at the instrument for the series of +replies which would enable them to say for certain what had become +of the missing train. The answers came back in the order of +questions, which was the order of the stations beginning at the St. +Helens end-- + +"Special passed here five o'clock.--Collins Green." + +"Special passed here six past five.--Earlstown." + +"Special passed here 5:10.--Newton." + +"Special passed here 5:20.--Kenyon Junction." + +"No special train has passed here.--Barton Moss." + +The two officials stared at each other in amazement. + +"This is unique in my thirty years of experience," said Mr. +Bland. + +"Absolutely unprecedented and inexplicable, sir. The special +has gone wrong between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss." + +"And yet there is no siding, so far as my memory serves me, +between the two stations. The special must have run off the +metals." + +"But how could the four-fifty parliamentary pass over the same +line without observing it?" + +"There's no alternative, Mr. Hood. It must be so. +Possibly the local train may have observed something which may +throw some light upon the matter. We will wire to Manchester for +more information, and to Kenyon Junction with instructions that the +line be examined instantly as far as Barton Moss." +The answer from Manchester came within a few minutes. + +"No news of missing special. Driver and guard of slow train +positive no accident between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss. +Line quite clear, and no sign of anything unusual.--Manchester." + +"That driver and guard will have to go," said Mr. Bland, +grimly. "There has been a wreck and they have missed it. The +special has obviously run off the metals without disturbing the +line--how it could have done so passes my comprehension--but so it +must be, and we shall have a wire from Kenyon or Barton Moss +presently to say that they have found her at the bottom of an +embankment." + +But Mr. Bland's prophecy was not destined to be fulfilled. +Half an hour passed, and then there arrived the following message +from the station-master of Kenyon Junction-- + +"There are no traces of the missing special. It is quite +certain that she passed here, and that she did not arrive at Barton +Moss. We have detached engine from goods train, and I have myself +ridden down the line, but all is clear, and there is no sign of any +accident." + +Mr. Bland tore his hair in his perplexity. + +"This is rank lunacy, Hood!" he cried. "Does a train vanish +into thin air in England in broad daylight? The thing is +preposterous. An engine, a tender, two carriages, a van, five +human beings--and all lost on a straight line of railway! Unless +we get something positive within the next hour I'll take Inspector +Collins, and go down myself." + +And then at last something positive did occur. It took the +shape of another telegram from Kenyon Junction. + +"Regret to report that the dead body of John Slater, driver of +the special train, has just been found among the gorse bushes at a +point two and a quarter miles from the Junction. Had fallen from +his engine, pitched down the embankment, and rolled among the +bushes. Injuries to his head, from the fall, appear to be cause of +death. Ground has now been carefully examined, and there is no +trace of the missing train." + +The country was, as has already been stated, in the throes of +a political crisis, and the attention of the public was +further distracted by the important and sensational developments in +Paris, where a huge scandal threatened to destroy the Government +and to wreck the reputations of many of the leading men in France. +The papers were full of these events, and the singular +disappearance of the special train attracted less attention than +would have been the case in more peaceful times. The grotesque +nature of the event helped to detract from its importance, for the +papers were disinclined to believe the facts as reported to them. +More than one of the London journals treated the matter as an +ingenious hoax, until the coroner's inquest upon the unfortunate +driver (an inquest which elicited nothing of importance) convinced +them of the tragedy of the incident. + +Mr. Bland, accompanied by Inspector Collins, the senior +detective officer in the service of the company, went down to +Kenyon Junction the same evening, and their research lasted +throughout the following day, but was attended with purely negative +results. Not only was no trace found of the missing train, but no +conjecture could be put forward which could possibly explain the +facts. At the same time, Inspector Collins's official report +(which lies before me as I write) served to show that the +possibilities were more numerous than might have been expected. + +"In the stretch of railway between these two points," said he, +"the country is dotted with ironworks and collieries. Of these, +some are being worked and some have been abandoned. There are no +fewer than twelve which have small-gauge lines which run trolly- +cars down to the main line. These can, of course, be disregarded. +Besides these, however, there are seven which have, or have had, +proper lines running down and connecting with points to the main +line, so as to convey their produce from the mouth of the mine to +the great centres of distribution. In every case these lines are +only a few miles in length. Out of the seven, four belong to +collieries which are worked out, or at least to shafts which are no +longer used. These are the Redgauntlet, Hero, Slough of Despond, +and Heartsease mines, the latter having ten years ago been one of +the principal mines in Lancashire. These four side lines may be +eliminated from our inquiry, for, to prevent possible accidents, +the rails nearest to the main line have been taken up, and +there is no longer any connection. There remain three other side +lines leading-- + +(a) To the Carnstock Iron Works; +(b) To the Big Ben Colliery; +(c) To the Perseverance Colliery. + + +"Of these the Big Ben line is not more than a quarter of a mile +long, and ends at a dead wall of coal waiting removal from the +mouth of the mine. Nothing had been seen or heard there of any +special. The Carnstock Iron Works line was blocked all day upon +the 3rd of June by sixteen truckloads of hematite. It is a single +line, and nothing could have passed. As to the Perseverance line, +it is a large double line, which does a considerable traffic, for +the output of the mine is very large. On the 3rd of June this +traffic proceeded as usual; hundreds of men including a gang of +railway platelayers were working along the two miles and a quarter +which constitute the total length of the line, and it is +inconceivable that an unexpected train could have come down there +without attracting universal attention. It may be remarked in +conclusion that this branch line is nearer to St. Helens than the +point at which the engine-driver was discovered, so that we have +every reason to believe that the train was past that point before +misfortune overtook her. + +"As to John Slater, there is no clue to be gathered from his +appearance or injuries. We can only say that, so far as we can +see, he met his end by falling off his engine, though why he fell, +or what became of the engine after his fall, is a question upon +which I do not feel qualified to offer an opinion." In conclusion, +the inspector offered his resignation to the Board, being much +nettled by an accusation of incompetence in the London papers. + +A month elapsed, during which both the police and the company +prosecuted their inquiries without the slightest success. A reward +was offered and a pardon promised in case of crime, but they were +both unclaimed. Every day the public opened their papers with the +conviction that so grotesque a mystery would at last be solved, but +week after week passed by, and a solution remained as far off as +ever. In broad daylight, upon a June afternoon in the most thickly +inhabited portion of England, a train with its occupants had +disappeared as completely as if some master of subtle chemistry had +volatilized it into gas. Indeed, among the various conjectures +which were put forward in the public Press, there were some which +seriously asserted that supernatural, or, at least, preternatural, +agencies had been at work, and that the deformed Monsieur Caratal +was probably a person who was better known under a less polite +name. Others fixed upon his swarthy companion as being the author +of the mischief, but what it was exactly which he had done could +never be clearly formulated in words. + +Amongst the many suggestions put forward by various newspapers +or private individuals, there were one or two which were feasible +enough to attract the attention of the public. One which appeared +in The Times, over the signature of an amateur reasoner of some +celebrity at that date, attempted to deal with the matter in a +critical and semi-scientific manner. An extract must suffice, +although the curious can see the whole letter in the issue of the +3rd of July. + +"It is one of the elementary principles of practical +reasoning," he remarked, "that when the impossible has been +eliminated the residuum, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must contain the +truth. It is certain that the train left Kenyon Junction. It is +certain that it did not reach Barton Moss. It is in the highest +degree unlikely, but still possible, that it may have taken one of +the seven available side lines. It is obviously impossible for a +train to run where there are no rails, and, therefore, we may +reduce our improbables to the three open lines, namely the +Carnstock Iron Works, the Big Ben, and the Perseverance. Is there +a secret society of colliers, an English Camorra, which is +capable of destroying both train and passengers? It is improbable, +but it is not impossible. I confess that I am unable to suggest +any other solution. I should certainly advise the company to +direct all their energies towards the observation of those three +lines, and of the workmen at the end of them. A careful +supervision of the pawnbrokers' shops of the district might +possibly bring some suggestive facts to light." + +The suggestion coming from a recognized authority upon such +matters created considerable interest, and a fierce opposition from +those who considered such a statement to be a preposterous +libel upon an honest and deserving set of men. The only +answer to this criticism was a challenge to the objectors to lay +any more feasible explanations before the public. In reply to this +two others were forthcoming (Times, July 7th and 9th). The +first suggested that the train might have run off the metals and be +lying submerged in the Lancashire and Staffordshire Canal, which +runs parallel to the railway for some hundred of yards. This +suggestion was thrown out of court by the published depth of the +canal, which was entirely insufficient to conceal so large an +object. The second correspondent wrote calling attention to the +bag which appeared to be the sole luggage which the travellers had +brought with them, and suggesting that some novel explosive of +immense and pulverizing power might have been concealed in it. The +obvious absurdity, however, of supposing that the whole train might +be blown to dust while the metals remained uninjured reduced any +such explanation to a farce. The investigation had drifted into +this hopeless position when a new and most unexpected incident +occurred. + +This was nothing less than the receipt by Mrs. McPherson of a +letter from her husband, James McPherson, who had been the guard on +the missing train. The letter, which was dated July 5th, 1890, was +posted from New York and came to hand upon July 14th. Some doubts +were expressed as to its genuine character but Mrs. McPherson was +positive as to the writing, and the fact that it contained a +remittance of a hundred dollars in five-dollar notes was enough in +itself to discount the idea of a hoax. No address was given in the +letter, which ran in this way: + +MY DEAR WIFE,-- + +"I have been thinking a great deal, and I find it very hard to +give you up. The same with Lizzie. I try to fight against it, but +it will always come back to me. I send you some money which will +change into twenty English pounds. This should be enough to bring +both Lizzie and you across the Atlantic, and you will find the +Hamburg boats which stop at Southampton very good boats, and +cheaper than Liverpool. If you could come here and stop at the +Johnston House I would try and send you word how to meet, but +things are very difficult with me at present, and I am not +very happy, finding it hard to give you both up. So no more at +present, from your loving husband, + +"James McPherson." + + + +For a time it was confidently anticipated that this letter +would lead to the clearing up of the whole matter, the more so as +it was ascertained that a passenger who bore a close resemblance to +the missing guard had travelled from Southampton under the name of +Summers in the Hamburg and New York liner Vistula, which +started upon the 7th of June. Mrs. McPherson and her sister Lizzie +Dolton went across to New York as directed and stayed for three +weeks at the Johnston House, without hearing anything from the +missing man. It is probable that some injudicious comments in the +Press may have warned him that the police were using them as a +bait. However, this may be, it is certain that he neither wrote +nor came, and the women were eventually compelled to return to +Liverpool. + +And so the matter stood, and has continued to stand up to the +present year of 1898. Incredible as it may seem, nothing has +transpired during these eight years which has shed the least light +upon the extraordinary disappearance of the special train which +contained Monsieur Caratal and his companion. Careful inquiries +into the antecedents of the two travellers have only established +the fact that Monsieur Caratal was well known as a financier and +political agent in Central America, and that during his voyage to +Europe he had betrayed extraordinary anxiety to reach Paris. His +companion, whose name was entered upon the passenger lists as +Eduardo Gomez, was a man whose record was a violent one, and whose +reputation was that of a bravo and a bully. There was evidence to +show, however, that he was honestly devoted to the interests of +Monsieur Caratal, and that the latter, being a man of puny +physique, employed the other as a guard and protector. It may be +added that no information came from Paris as to what the objects of +Monsieur Caratal's hurried journey may have been. This comprises +all the facts of the case up to the publication in the Marseilles +papers of the recent confession of Herbert de Lernac, now under +sentence of death for the murder of a merchant named Bonvalot. +This statement may be literally translated as follows: + + +"It is not out of mere pride or boasting that I give this +information, for, if that were my object, I could tell a dozen +actions of mine which are quite as splendid; but I do it in order +that certain gentlemen in Paris may understand that I, who am able +here to tell about the fate of Monsieur Caratal, can also tell in +whose interest and at whose request the deed was done, unless the +reprieve which I am awaiting comes to me very quickly. Take +warning, messieurs, before it is too late! You know Herbert de +Lernac, and you are aware that his deeds are as ready as his words. +Hasten then, or you are lost! + +"At present I shall mention no names--if you only heard the +names, what would you not think!--but I shall merely tell you how +cleverly I did it. I was true to my employers then, and no doubt +they will be true to me now. I hope so, and until I am convinced +that they have betrayed me, these names, which would convulse +Europe, shall not be divulged. But on that day . . . well, I say +no more! + +"In a word, then, there was a famous trial in Paris, in the +year 1890, in connection with a monstrous scandal in politics and +finance. How monstrous that scandal was can never be known save by +such confidential agents as myself. The honour and careers of many +of the chief men in France were at stake. You have seen a group of +ninepins standing, all so rigid, and prim, and unbending. Then +there comes the ball from far away and pop, pop, pop--there are +your ninepins on the floor. Well, imagine some of the greatest men +in France as these ninepins and then this Monsieur Caratal was the +ball which could be seen coming from far away. If he arrived, then +it was pop, pop, pop for all of them. It was determined that he +should not arrive. + +"I do not accuse them all of being conscious of what was to +happen. There were, as I have said, great financial as well as +political interests at stake, and a syndicate was formed to manage +the business. Some subscribed to the syndicate who hardly +understood what were its objects. But others understood very well, +and they can rely upon it that I have not forgotten their names. +They had ample warning that Monsieur Caratal was coming long before +he left South America, and they knew that the evidence which he +held would certainly mean ruin to all of them. The syndicate had +the command of an unlimited amount of money--absolutely +unlimited, you understand. They looked round for an agent who was +capable of wielding this gigantic power. The man chosen must be +inventive, resolute, adaptive--a man in a million. They chose +Herbert de Lernac, and I admit that they were right. + +"My duties were to choose my subordinates, to use freely the +power which money gives, and to make certain that Monsieur Caratal +should never arrive in Paris. With characteristic energy I set +about my commission within an hour of receiving my instructions, +and the steps which I took were the very best for the purpose which +could possibly be devised. + +"A man whom I could trust was dispatched instantly to South +America to travel home with Monsieur Caratal. Had he arrived in +time the ship would never have reached Liverpool; but alas! it had +already started before my agent could reach it. I fitted out a +small armed brig to intercept it, but again I was unfortunate. +Like all great organizers I was, however, prepared for failure, and +had a series of alternatives prepared, one or the other of which +must succeed. You must not underrate the difficulties of my +undertaking, or imagine that a mere commonplace assassination would +meet the case. We must destroy not only Monsieur Caratal, but +Monsieur Caratal's documents, and Monsieur Caratal's companions +also, if we had reason to believe that he had communicated his +secrets to them. And you must remember that they were on the +alert, and keenly suspicious of any such attempt. It was a task +which was in every way worthy of me, for I am always most masterful +where another would be appalled. + +"I was all ready for Monsieur Caratal's reception in Liverpool, +and I was the more eager because I had reason to believe that he +had made arrangements by which he would have a considerable guard +from the moment that he arrived in London. Anything which was to +be done must be done between the moment of his setting foot upon +the Liverpool quay and that of his arrival at the London and West +Coast terminus in London. We prepared six plans, each more +elaborate than the last; which plan would be used would depend upon +his own movements. Do what he would, we were ready for him. If he +had stayed in Liverpool, we were ready. If he took an ordinary +train, an express, or a special, all was ready. Everything had +been foreseen and provided for. + +"You may imagine that I could not do all this myself. What +could I know of the English railway lines? But money can +procure willing agents all the world over, and I soon had one of +the acutest brains in England to assist me. I will mention no +names, but it would be unjust to claim all the credit for myself. +My English ally was worthy of such an alliance. He knew the London +and West Coast line thoroughly, and he had the command of a band of +workers who were trustworthy and intelligent. The idea was his, +and my own judgement was only required in the details. We bought +over several officials, amongst whom the most important was James +McPherson, whom we had ascertained to be the guard most likely to +be employed upon a special train. Smith, the stoker, was also in +our employ. John Slater, the engine-driver, had been approached, +but had been found to be obstinate and dangerous, so we desisted. +We had no certainty that Monsieur Caratal would take a special, but +we thought it very probable, for it was of the utmost importance to +him that he should reach Paris without delay. It was for this +contingency, therefore, that we made special preparations-- +preparations which were complete down to the last detail long +before his steamer had sighted the shores of England. You will be +amused to learn that there was one of my agents in the pilot-boat +which brought that steamer to its moorings. + +"The moment that Caratal arrived in Liverpool we knew that he +suspected danger and was on his guard. He had brought with him as +an escort a dangerous fellow, named Gomez, a man who carried +weapons, and was prepared to use them. This fellow carried +Caratal's confidential papers for him, and was ready to protect +either them or his master. The probability was that Caratal had +taken him into his counsel, and that to remove Caratal without +removing Gomez would be a mere waste of energy. It was necessary +that they should be involved in a common fate, and our plans to +that end were much facilitated by their request for a special +train. On that special train you will understand that two out of +the three servants of the company were really in our employ, at a +price which would make them independent for a lifetime. I do not +go so far as to say that the English are more honest than any other +nation, but I have found them more expensive to buy. + +"I have already spoken of my English agent--who is a man +with a considerable future before him, unless some complaint +of the throat carries him off before his time. He had charge of +all arrangements at Liverpool, whilst I was stationed at the inn at +Kenyon, where I awaited a cipher signal to act. When the special +was arranged for, my agent instantly telegraphed to me and warned +me how soon I should have everything ready. He himself under the +name of Horace Moore applied immediately for a special also, in the +hope that he would be sent down with Monsieur Caratal, which might +under certain circumstances have been helpful to us. If, for +example, our great coup had failed, it would then have become the +duty of my agent to have shot them both and destroyed their papers. +Caratal was on his guard, however, and refused to admit any other +traveller. My agent then left the station, returned by another +entrance, entered the guard's van on the side farthest from the +platform, and travelled down with McPherson the guard. + +"In the meantime you will be interested to know what my +movements were. Everything had been prepared for days before, and +only the finishing touches were needed. The side line which we had +chosen had once joined the main line, but it had been disconnected. +We had only to replace a few rails to connect it once more. These +rails had been laid down as far as could be done without danger of +attracting attention, and now it was merely a case of completing a +juncture with the line, and arranging the points as they had been +before. The sleepers had never been removed, and the rails, fish- +plates and rivets were all ready, for we had taken them from a +siding on the abandoned portion of the line. With my small but +competent band of workers, we had everything ready long before the +special arrived. When it did arrive, it ran off upon the small +side line so easily that the jolting of the points appears to have +been entirely unnoticed by the two travellers. + +"Our plan had been that Smith, the stoker, should chloroform +John Slater, the driver, so that he should vanish with the others. +In this respect, and in this respect only, our plans miscarried--I +except the criminal folly of McPherson in writing home to his wife. +Our stoker did his business so clumsily that Slater in his +struggles fell off the engine, and though fortune was with us so +far that he broke his neck in the fall, still he remained as a blot +upon that which would otherwise have been one of those complete +masterpieces which are only to be contemplated in silent +admiration. The criminal expert will find in John Slater the one +flaw in all our admirable combinations. A man who has had as many +triumphs as I can afford to be frank, and I therefore lay my finger +upon John Slater, and I proclaim him to be a flaw. + +"But now I have got our special train upon the small line two +kilometres, or rather more than one mile, in length, which leads, +or rather used to lead, to the abandoned Heartsease mine, once one +of the largest coal mines in England. You will ask how it is that +no one saw the train upon this unused line. I answer that along +its entire length it runs through a deep cutting, and that, unless +someone had been on the edge of that cutting, he could not have +seen it. There WAS someone on the edge of that cutting. I was +there. And now I will tell you what I saw. + +"My assistant had remained at the points in order that he might +superintend the switching off of the train. He had four armed men +with him, so that if the train ran off the line--we thought it +probable, because the points were very rusty--we might still have +resources to fall back upon. Having once seen it safely on the +side line, he handed over the responsibility to me. I was waiting +at a point which overlooks the mouth of the mine, and I was also +armed, as were my two companions. Come what might, you see, I was +always ready. + +"The moment that the train was fairly on the side line, Smith, +the stoker, slowed-down the engine, and then, having turned it on +to the fullest speed again, he and McPherson, with my English +lieutenant, sprang off before it was too late. It may be that it +was this slowing-down which first attracted the attention of the +travellers, but the train was running at full speed again before +their heads appeared at the open window. It makes me smile to +think how bewildered they must have been. Picture to yourself your +own feelings if, on looking out of your luxurious carriage, you +suddenly perceived that the lines upon which you ran were rusted +and corroded, red and yellow with disuse and decay! What a catch +must have come in their breath as in a second it flashed upon them +that it was not Manchester but Death which was waiting for them at +the end of that sinister line. But the train was running with +frantic speed, rolling and rocking over the rotten line, while +the wheels made a frightful screaming sound upon the rusted +surface. I was close to them, and could see their faces. Caratal +was praying, I think--there was something like a rosary dangling +out of his hand. The other roared like a bull who smells the blood +of the slaughter-house. He saw us standing on the bank, and he +beckoned to us like a madman. Then he tore at his wrist and threw +his dispatch-box out of the window in our direction. Of course, +his meaning was obvious. Here was the evidence, and they would +promise to be silent if their lives were spared. It would have +been very agreeable if we could have done so, but business is +business. Besides, the train was now as much beyond our controls +as theirs. + +"He ceased howling when the train rattled round the curve and +they saw the black mouth of the mine yawning before them. We had +removed the boards which had covered it, and we had cleared the +square entrance. The rails had formerly run very close to the +shaft for the convenience of loading the coal, and we had only to +add two or three lengths of rail in order to lead to the very brink +of the shaft. In fact, as the lengths would not quite fit, our +line projected about three feet over the edge. We saw the two +heads at the window: Caratal below, Gomez above; but they had both +been struck silent by what they saw. And yet they could not +withdraw their heads. The sight seemed to have paralysed them. + +"I had wondered how the train running at a great speed would +take the pit into which I had guided it, and I was much interested +in watching it. One of my colleagues thought that it would +actually jump it, and indeed it was not very far from doing so. +Fortunately, however, it fell short, and the buffers of the engine +struck the other lip of the shaft with a tremendous crash. The +funnel flew off into the air. The tender, carriages, and van were +all smashed up into one jumble, which, with the remains of the +engine, choked for a minute or so the mouth of the pit. Then +something gave way in the middle, and the whole mass of green iron, +smoking coals, brass fittings, wheels, wood-work, and cushions all +crumbled together and crashed down into the mine. We heard the +rattle, rattle, rattle, as the debris struck against the walls, and +then, quite a long time afterwards, there came a deep roar as the +remains of the train struck the bottom. The boiler may have +burst, for a sharp crash came after the roar, and then a dense +cloud of steam and smoke swirled up out of the black depths, +falling in a spray as thick as rain all round us. Then the vapour +shredded off into thin wisps, which floated away in the summer +sunshine, and all was quiet again in the Heartsease mine. + +"And now, having carried out our plans so successfully, it only +remained to leave no trace behind us. Our little band of workers +at the other end had already ripped up the rails and disconnected +the side line, replacing everything as it had been before. We were +equally busy at the mine. The funnel and other fragments were +thrown in, the shaft was planked over as it used to be, and the +lines which led to it were torn up and taken away. Then, without +flurry, but without delay, we all made our way out of the country, +most of us to Paris, my English colleague to Manchester, and +McPherson to Southampton, whence he emigrated to America. Let the +English papers of that date tell how throughly we had done our +work, and how completely we had thrown the cleverest of their +detectives off our track. + +"You will remember that Gomez threw his bag of papers out of +the window, and I need not say that I secured that bag and brought +them to my employers. It may interest my employers now, however, +to learn that out of that bag I took one or two little papers as a +souvenir of the occasion. I have no wish to publish these papers; +but, still, it is every man for himself in this world, and what +else can I do if my friends will not come to my aid when I want +them? Messieurs, you may believe that Herbert de Lernac is quite +as formidable when he is against you as when he is with you, and +that he is not a man to go to the guillotine until he has seen that +every one of you is en route for New Caledonia. For your own +sake, if not for mine, make haste, Monsieur de----, and +General----, and Baron---- (you can fill up the blanks for +yourselves as you read this). I promise you that in the next +edition there will be no blanks to fill. + +"P.S.--As I look over my statement there is only one omission +which I can see. It concerns the unfortunate man McPherson, who +was foolish enough to write to his wife and to make an appointment +with her in New York. It can be imagined that when interests like +ours were at stake, we could not leave them to the chance of +whether a man in that class of life would or would not give +away his secrets to a woman. Having once broken his oath by +writing to his wife, we could not trust him any more. We took +steps therefore to insure that he should not see his wife. I have +sometimes thought that it would be a kindness to write to her and +to assure her that there is no impediment to her marrying again." + + + +The Beetle-Hunter + + +A curious experience? said the Doctor. Yes, my friends, I have +had one very curious experience. I never expect to have another, +for it is against all doctrines of chances that two such events +would befall any one man in a single lifetime. You may believe +me or not, but the thing happened exactly as I tell it. + +I had just become a medical man, but I had not started in +practice, and I lived in rooms in Gower Street. The street has +been renumbered since then, but it was in the only house which has +a bow-window, upon the left-hand side as you go down from the +Metropolitan Station. A widow named Murchison kept the house at +that time, and she had three medical students and one engineer as +lodgers. I occupied the top room, which was the cheapest, but +cheap as it was it was more than I could afford. My small +resources were dwindling away, and every week it became more +necessary that I should find something to do. Yet I was very +unwilling to go into general practice, for my tastes were all in +the direction of science, and especially of zoology, towards which +I had always a strong leaning. I had almost given the fight up and +resigned myself to being a medical drudge for life, when the +turning-point of my struggles came in a very extraordinary way. + +One morning I had picked up the Standard and was glancing +over its contents. There was a complete absence of news, and I was +about to toss the paper down again, when my eyes were caught by an +advertisement at the head of the personal column. It was worded in +this way: + + +"Wanted for one or more days the services of a medical man. It +is essential that he should be a man of strong physique, of steady +nerves, and of a resolute nature. Must be an entomologist-- +coleopterist preferred. Apply, in person, at 77B, Brook Street. +Application must be made before twelve o'clock today." + + +Now, I have already said that I was devoted to zoology. Of all +branches of zoology, the study of insects was the most attractive +to me, and of all insects beetles were the species with which I +was most familiar. Butterfly collectors are numerous, but +beetles are far more varied, and more accessible in these islands +than are butterflies. It was this fact which had attracted my +attention to them, and I had myself made a collection which +numbered some hundred varieties. As to the other requisites of the +advertisement, I knew that my nerves could be depended upon, and I +had won the weight-throwing competition at the inter-hospital +sports. Clearly, I was the very man for the vacancy. Within five +minutes of my having read the advertisement I was in a cab and on +my was to Brook Street. + +As I drove, I kept turning the matter over in my head and +trying to make a guess as to what sort of employment it could be +which needed such curious qualifications. A strong physique, a +resolute nature, a medical training, and a knowledge of beetles-- +what connection could there be between these various requisites? +And then there was the disheartening fact that the situation was +not a permanent one, but terminable from day to day, according to +the terms of the advertisement. The more I pondered over it the +more unintelligible did it become; but at the end of my meditations +I always came back to the ground fact that, come what might, I had +nothing to lose, that I was completely at the end of my resources, +and that I was ready for any adventure, however desperate, which +would put a few honest sovereigns into my pocket. The man fears to +fail who has to pay for his failure, but there was no penalty which +Fortune could exact from me. I was like the gambler with empty +pockets, who is still allowed to try his luck with the others. + +No. 77B, Brook Street, was one of those dingy and yet imposing +houses, dun-coloured and flat-faced, with the intensely respectable +and solid air which marks the Georgian builder. As I alighted from +the cab, a young man came out of the door and walked swiftly down +the street. In passing me, I noticed that he cast an inquisitive +and somewhat malevolent glance at me, and I took the incident as a +good omen, for his appearance was that of a rejected candidate, and +if he resented my application it meant that the vacancy was not yet +filled up. Full of hope, I ascended the broad steps and rapped +with the heavy knocker. + +A footman in powder and livery opened the door. Clearly I was +in touch with the people of wealth and fashion. + + +"Yes, sir?" said the footman. + +"I came in answer to----" + +"Quite so, sir," said the footman. "Lord Linchmere will see +you at once in the library." + +Lord Linchmere! I had vaguely heard the name, but could not +for the instant recall anything about him. Following the footman, +I was shown into a large, book-lined room in which there was seated +behind a writing-desk a small man with a pleasant, clean-shaven, +mobile face, and long hair shot with grey, brushed back from his +forehead. He looked me up and down with a very shrewd, penetrating +glance, holding the card which the footman had given him in his +right hand. Then he smiled pleasantly, and I felt that externally +at any rate I possessed the qualifications which he desired. + +"You have come in answer to my advertisement, Dr. Hamilton?" he +asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Do you fulfil the conditions which are there laid down?" + +"I believe that I do." + +"You are a powerful man, or so I should judge from your +appearance. + +"I think that I am fairly strong." + +"And resolute?" + +"I believe so." + +"Have you ever known what it was to be exposed to imminent +danger?" + +"No, I don't know that I ever have." + +"But you think you would be prompt and cool at such a time?" + +"I hope so." + +"Well, I believe that you would. I have the more confidence in +you because you do not pretend to be certain as to what you would +do in a position that was new to you. My impression is that, so +far as personal qualities go, you are the very man of whom I am in +search. That being settled, we may pass on to the next point." + +"Which is?" + +"To talk to me about beetles." + +I looked across to see if he was joking, but, on the contrary, +he was leaning eagerly forward across his desk, and there was +an expression of something like anxiety in his eyes. + +"I am afraid that you do not know about beetles," he cried. + +"On the contrary, sir, it is the one scientific subject about +which I feel that I really do know something." + +"I am overjoyed to hear it. Please talk to me about beetles." + +I talked. I do not profess to have said anything original upon +the subject, but I gave a short sketch of the characteristics of +the beetle, and ran over the more common species, with some +allusions to the specimens in my own little collection and to the +article upon "Burying Beetles" which I had contributed to the +Journal of Entomological Science. + +"What! not a collector?" cried Lord Linchmere. "You don't mean +that you are yourself a collector?" His eyes danced with pleasure +at the thought. + +"You are certainly the very man in London for my purpose. I +thought that among five millions of people there must be such a +man, but the difficulty is to lay one's hands upon him. I have +been extraordinarily fortunate in finding you." + +He rang a gong upon the table, and the footman entered. + +"Ask Lady Rossiter to have the goodness to step this way," said +his lordship, and a few moments later the lady was ushered into the +room. She was a small, middle-aged woman, very like Lord Linchmere +in appearance, with the same quick, alert features and grey-black +hair. The expression of anxiety, however, which I had observed +upon his face was very much more marked upon hers. Some great +grief seemed to have cast its shadow over her features. As Lord +Linchmere presented me she turned her face full upon me, and I was +shocked to observe a half-healed scar extending for two inches over +her right eyebrow. It was partly concealed by plaster, but none +the less I could see that it had been a serious wound and not long +inflicted. + +"Dr. Hamilton is the very man for our purpose, Evelyn," said +Lord Linchmere. "He is actually a collector of beetles, and he has +written articles upon the subject." + +"Really!" said Lady Rossiter. "Then you must have heard of my +husband. Everyone who knows anything about beetles must have heard +of Sir Thomas Rossiter." + +For the first time a thin little ray of light began to break +into the obscure business. Here, at last, was a +connection between these people and beetles. Sir Thomas Rossiter-- +he was the greatest authority upon the subject in the world. He +had made it his lifelong study, and had written a most exhaustive +work upon it. I hastened to assure her that I had read and +appreciated it. + +"Have you met my husband?" she asked. + +"No, I have not." + +"But you shall," said Lord Linchmere, with decision. + +The lady was standing beside the desk, and she put her hand +upon his shoulder. It was obvious to me as I saw their faces +together that they were brother and sister. + +"Are you really prepared for this, Charles? It is noble of +you, but you fill me with fears." Her voice quavered with +apprehension, and he appeared to me to be equally moved, though he +was making strong efforts to conceal his agitation. + +"Yes, yes, dear; it is all settled, it is all decided; in fact, +there is no other possible way, that I can see." + +"There is one obvious way." + +"No, no, Evelyn, I shall never abandon you--never. It will +come right--depend upon it; it will come right, and surely it looks +like the interference of Providence that so perfect an instrument +should be put into our hands." + +My position was embarrassing, for I felt that for the instant +they had forgotten my presence. But Lord Linchmere came back +suddenly to me and to my engagement. + +"The business for which I want you, Dr. Hamilton, is that you +should put yourself absolutely at my disposal. I wish you to come +for a short journey with me, to remain always at my side, and to +promise to do without question whatever I may ask you, however +unreasonable it may appear to you to be." + +"That is a good deal to ask," said I. + +"Unfortunately I cannot put it more plainly, for I do not +myself know what turn matters may take. You may be sure, however, +that you will not be asked to do anything which your conscience +does not approve; and I promise you that, when all is over, you +will be proud to have been concerned in so good a work." + +"If it ends happily," said the lady. + +"Exactly; if it ends happily," his lordship repeated. + +"And terms?" I asked. + +"Twenty pounds a day." + +I was amazed at the sum, and must have showed my surprise upon +my features. + +"It is a rare combination of qualities, as must have struck you +when you first read the advertisement," said Lord Linchmere; "such +varied gifts may well command a high return, and I do not conceal +from you that your duties might be arduous or even dangerous. +Besides, it is possible that one or two days may bring the matter +to an end." + +"Please God!" sighed his sister. + +"So now, Dr. Hamilton, may I rely upon your aid?" + +"Most undoubtedly," said I. "You have only to tell me what my +duties are." + +"Your first duty will be to return to your home. You will pack +up whatever you may need for a short visit to the country. We +start together from Paddington Station at 3:40 this afternoon." + +"Do we go far?" + +"As far as Pangbourne. Meet me at the bookstall at 3:30. I +shall have the tickets. Goodbye, Dr. Hamilton! And, by the way, +there are two things which I should be very glad if you would bring +with you, in case you have them. One is your case for collecting +beetles, and the other is a stick, and the thicker and heavier the +better." + + +You may imagine that I had plenty to think of from the time +that I left Brook Street until I set out to meet Lord Linchmere at +Paddington. The whole fantastic business kept arranging and +rearranging itself in kaleidoscopic forms inside my brain, until I +had thought out a dozen explanations, each of them more grotesquely +improbable than the last. And yet I felt that the truth must be +something grotesquely improbable also. At last I gave up all +attempts at finding a solution, and contented myself with exactly +carrying out the instructions which I had received. With a hand +valise, specimen-case, and a loaded cane, I was waiting at the +Paddington bookstall when Lord Linchmere arrived. He was an even +smaller man than I had thought--frail and peaky, with a manner +which was more nervous than it had been in the morning. He wore a +long, thick travelling ulster, and I observed that he carried a +heavy blackthorn cudgel in his hand. + +"I have the tickets," said he, leading the way up the platform. + +"This is our train. I have engaged a carriage, for I am +particularly anxious to impress one or two things upon you while we +travel down." + +And yet all that he had to impress upon me might have been said +in a sentence, for it was that I was to remember that I was there +as a protection to himself, and that I was not on any consideration +to leave him for an instant. This he repeated again and again as +our journey drew to a close, with an insistence which showed that +his nerves were thoroughly shaken. + +"Yes," he said at last, in answer to my looks rather than to my +words, "I AM nervous, Dr. Hamilton. I have always been a timid +man, and my timidity depends upon my frail physical health. But my +soul is firm, and I can bring myself up to face a danger which a +less-nervous man might shrink from. What I am doing now is done +from no compulsion, but entirely from a sense of duty, and yet it +is, beyond doubt, a desperate risk. If things should go wrong, I +will have some claims to the title of martyr." + +This eternal reading of riddles was too much for me. I felt +that I must put a term to it. + +"I think it would very much better, sir, if you were to trust +me entirely," said I. "It is impossible for me to act effectively, +when I do not know what are the objects which we have in view, or +even where we are going." + +"Oh, as to where we are going, there need be no mystery about +that," said he; "we are going to Delamere Court, the residence of +Sir Thomas Rossiter, with whose work you are so conversant. As to +the exact object of our visit, I do not know that at this stage of +the proceedings anything would be gained, Dr. Hamilton, by taking +you into my complete confidence. I may tell you that we are +acting--I say `we,' because my sister, Lady Rossiter, takes the +same view as myself--with the one object of preventing anything in +the nature of a family scandal. That being so, you can understand +that I am loath to give any explanations which are not absolutely +necessary. It would be a different matter, Dr. Hamilton, if I were +asking your advice. As matters stand, it is only your active +help which I need, and I will indicate to you from time to time how +you can best give it." + +There was nothing more to be said, and a poor man can put up +with a good deal for twenty pounds a day, but I felt none the less +that Lord Linchmere was acting rather scurvily towards me. He +wished to convert me into a passive tool, like the blackthorn in +his hand. With his sensitive disposition I could imagine, however, +that scandal would be abhorrent to him, and I realized that he +would not take me into his confidence until no other course was +open to him. I must trust to my own eyes and ears to solve the +mystery, but I had every confidence that I should not trust to them +in vain. + +Delamere Court lies a good five miles from Pangbourne Station, +and we drove for that distance in an open fly. Lord Linchmere sat +in deep thought during the time, and he never opened his mouth +until we were close to our destination. When he did speak it was +to give me a piece of information which surprised me. + +"Perhaps you are not aware," said he, "that I am a medical man +like yourself?" + +"No, sir, I did not know it." + +"Yes, I qualified in my younger days, when there were several +lives between me and the peerage. I have not had occasion to +practise, but I have found it a useful education, all the same. I +never regretted the years which I devoted to medical study. These +are the gates of Delamere Court." + +We had come to two high pillars crowned with heraldic monsters +which flanked the opening of a winding avenue. Over the laurel +bushes and rhododendrons, I could see a long, many-gabled mansion, +girdled with ivy, and toned to the warm, cheery, mellow glow of old +brick-work. My eyes were still fixed in admiration upon this +delightful house when my companion plucked nervously at my sleeve. + +"Here's Sir Thomas," he whispered. "Please talk beetle all you +can." + +A tall, thin figure, curiously angular and bony, had emerged +through a gap in the hedge of laurels. In his hand he held a spud, +and he wore gauntleted gardener's gloves. A broad-brimmed, grey +hat cast his face into shadow, but it struck me as exceedingly +austere, with an ill-nourished beard and harsh, irregular features. +The fly pulled up and Lord Linchmere sprang out. + +"My dear Thomas, how are you?" said he, heartily. + +But the heartiness was by no means reciprocal. The owner of +the grounds glared at me over his brother-in-law's shoulder, and I +caught broken scraps of sentences--"well-known wishes . . . hatred +of strangers . . . unjustifiable intrusion . . . perfectly +inexcusable." Then there was a muttered explanation, and the two +of them came over together to the side of the fly. + +"Let me present you to Sir Thomas Rossiter, Dr. Hamilton," said +Lord Linchmere. "You will find that you have a strong community of +tastes." + +I bowed. Sir Thomas stood very stiffly, looking at me severely +from under the broad brim of his hat. + +"Lord Linchmere tells me that you know something about +beetles," said he. "What do you know about beetles?" + +"I know what I have learned from your work upon the coleoptera, +Sir Thomas," I answered. + +"Give me the names of the better-known species of the British +scarabaei," said he. + +I had not expected an examination, but fortunately I was ready +for one. My answers seemed to please him, for his stern features +relaxed. + +"You appear to have read my book with some profit, sir," said +he. "It is a rare thing for me to meet anyone who takes an +intelligent interest in such matters. People can find time for +such trivialities as sport or society, and yet the beetles are +overlooked. I can assure you that the greater part of the idiots +in this part of the country are unaware that I have ever written a +book at all--I, the first man who ever described the true function +of the elytra. I am glad to see you, sir, and I have no doubt that +I can show you some specimens which will interest you." He stepped +into the fly and drove up with us to the house, expounding to me as +we went some recent researches which he had made into the anatomy +of the lady-bird. + +I have said that Sir Thomas Rossiter wore a large hat drawn +down over his brows. As he entered the hall he uncovered himself, +and I was at once aware of a singular characteristic which the hat +had concealed. His forehead, which was naturally high, and +higher still on account of receding hair, was in a continual state +of movement. Some nervous weakness kept the muscles in a constant +spasm, which sometimes produced a mere twitching and sometimes a +curious rotary movement unlike anything which I had ever seen +before. It was strikingly visible as he turned towards us after +entering the study, and seemed the more singular from the contrast +with the hard, steady, grey eyes which looked out from underneath +those palpitating brows. + +"I am sorry," said he, "that Lady Rossiter is not here to help +me to welcome you. By the way, Charles, did Evelyn say anything +about the date of her return?" + +"She wished to stay in town for a few more days," said Lord +Linchmere. "You know how ladies' social duties accumulate if they +have been for some time in the country. My sister has many old +friends in London at present." + +"Well, she is her own mistress, and I should not wish to alter +her plans, but I shall be glad when I see her again. It is very +lonely here without her company." + +"I was afraid that you might find it so, and that was partly +why I ran down. My young friend, Dr. Hamilton, is so much +interested in the subject which you have made your own, that I +thought you would not mind his accompanying me." + +"I lead a retired life, Dr. Hamilton, and my aversion to +strangers grows upon me," said our host. "I have sometimes thought +that my nerves are not so good as they were. My travels in search +of beetles in my younger days took me into many malarious and +unhealthy places. But a brother coleopterist like yourself is +always a welcome guest, and I shall be delighted if you will look +over my collection, which I think that I may without exaggeration +describe as the best in Europe." + +And so no doubt it was. He had a huge, oaken cabinet arranged +in shallow drawers, and here, neatly ticketed and classified, were +beetles from every corner of the earth, black, brown, blue, green, +and mottled. Every now and then as he swept his hand over the +lines and lines of impaled insects he would catch up some rare +specimen, and, handling it with as much delicacy and reverence as +if it were a precious relic, he would hold forth upon its +peculiarities and the circumstances under which it came into his +possession. It was evidently an unusual thing for him to meet +with a sympathetic listener, and he talked and talked until the +spring evening had deepened into night, and the gong announced that +it was time to dress for dinner. All the time Lord Linchmere said +nothing, but he stood at his brother-in-law's elbow, and I caught +him continually shooting curious little, questioning glances into +his face. And his own features expressed some strong emotion, +apprehension, sympathy, expectation: I seemed to read them all. +I was sure that Lord Linchmere was fearing something and awaiting +something, but what that something might be I could not imagine. + +The evening passed quietly but pleasantly, and I should have +been entirely at my ease if it had not been for that continual +sense of tension upon the part of Lord Linchmere. As to our host, +I found that he improved upon acquaintance. He spoke constantly +with affection of his absent wife, and also of his little son, who +had recently been sent to school. The house, he said, was not the +same without them. If it were not for his scientific studies, he +did not know how he could get through the days. After dinner we +smoked for some time in the billiard-room, and finally went early +to bed. + +And then it was that, for the first time, the suspicion that +Lord Linchmere was a lunatic crossed my mind. He followed me into +my bedroom, when our host had retired. + +"Doctor," said he, speaking in a low, hurried voice, "you must +come with me. You must spend the night in my bedroom." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I prefer not to explain. But this is part of your duties. My +room is close by, and you can return to your own before the servant +calls you in the morning." + +"But why?" I asked. + +"Because I am nervous of being alone," said he. "That's the +reason, since you must have a reason." + +It seemed rank lunacy, but the argument of those twenty pounds +would overcome many objections. I followed him to his room. + +"Well," said I, "there's only room for one in that bed." + +"Only one shall occupy it," said he. + +"And the other?" + +"Must remain on watch." + +"Why?" said I. "One would think you expected to be attacked." + +"Perhaps I do." + +"In that case, why not lock your door?" + +"Perhaps I WANT to be attacked." + +It looked more and more like lunacy. However, there was +nothing for it but to submit. I shrugged my shoulders and sat down +in the arm-chair beside the empty fireplace. + +"I am to remain on watch, then?" said I, ruefully. + +"We will divide the night. If you will watch until two, I will +watch the remainder." + +"Very good." + +"Call me at two o'clock, then." + +"I will do so." + +"Keep your ears open, and if you hear any sounds wake me +instantly--instantly, you hear?" + +"You can rely upon it." I tried to look as solemn as he did. + +"And for God's sake don't go to sleep," said he, and so, taking +off only his coat, he threw the coverlet over him and settled down +for the night. + +It was a melancholy vigil, and made more so by my own sense of +its folly. Supposing that by any chance Lord Linchmere had cause +to suspect that he was subject to danger in the house of Sir Thomas +Rossiter, why on earth could he not lock his door and so protect +himself?" His own answer that he might wish to be attacked was +absurd. Why should he possibly wish to be attacked? And who would +wish to attack him? Clearly, Lord Linchmere was suffering from +some singular delusion, and the result was that on an imbecile +pretext I was to be deprived of my night's rest. Still, however +absurd, I was determined to carry out his injunctions to the letter +as long as I was in his employment. I sat, therefore, beside the +empty fireplace, and listened to a sonorous chiming clock somewhere +down the passage which gurgled and struck every quarter of an hour. +It was an endless vigil. Save for that single clock, an absolute +silence reigned throughout the great house. A small lamp stood on +the table at my elbow, throwing a circle of light round my chair, +but leaving the corners of the room draped in shadow. On the bed +Lord Linchmere was breathing peacefully. I envied him his quiet +sleep, and again and again my own eyelids drooped, but every +time my sense of duty came to my help, and I sat up, rubbing my +eyes and pinching myself with a determination to see my irrational +watch to an end. + +And I did so. From down the passage came the chimes of two +o'clock, and I laid my hand upon the shoulder of the sleeper. +Instantly he was sitting up, with an expression of the keenest +interest upon his face. + +"You have heard something?" + +"No, sir. It is two o'clock." + +"Very good. I will watch. You can go to sleep." + +I lay down under the coverlet as he had done and was soon +unconscious. My last recollection was of that circle of lamplight, +and of the small, hunched-up figure and strained, anxious face of +Lord Linchmere in the centre of it. + +How long I slept I do not know; but I was suddenly aroused by +a sharp tug at my sleeve. The room was in darkness, but a hot +smell of oil told me that the lamp had only that instant been +extinguished. + +"Quick! Quick!" said Lord Linchmere's voice in my ear. + +I sprang out of bed, he still dragging at my arm. + +"Over here!" he whispered, and pulled me into a corner of the +room. "Hush! Listen!" + +In the silence of the night I could distinctly hear that +someone was coming down the corridor. It was a stealthy step, +faint and intermittent, as of a man who paused cautiously after +every stride. Sometimes for half a minute there was no sound, and +then came the shuffle and creak which told of a fresh advance. My +companion was trembling with excitement. His hand, which still +held my sleeve, twitched like a branch in the wind. + +"What is it?" I whispered. + +"It's he!" + +"Sir Thomas?" + +"Yes." + +"What does he want?" + +"Hush! Do nothing until I tell you." + +I was conscious now that someone was trying the door. There +was the faintest little rattle from the handle, and then I dimly +saw a thin slit of subdued light. There was a lamp burning +somewhere far down the passage, and it just sufficed to make the +outside visible from the darkness of our room. The greyish slit +grew broader and broader, very gradually, very gently, and then +outlined against it I saw the dark figure of a man. He was squat +and crouching, with the silhouette of a bulky and misshapen dwarf. +Slowly the door swung open with this ominous shape framed in the +centre of it. And then, in an instant, the crouching figure shot +up, there was a tiger spring across the room and thud, thud, thud, +came three tremendous blows from some heavy object upon the bed. + +I was so paralysed with amazement that I stood motionless and +staring until I was aroused by a yell for help from my companion. +The open door shed enough light for me to see the outline of +things, and there was little Lord Linchmere with his arms round the +neck of his brother-in-law, holding bravely on to him like a game +bull-terrier with its teeth into a gaunt deerhound. The tall, bony +man dashed himself about, writhing round and round to get a grip +upon his assailant; but the other, clutching on from behind, still +kept his hold, though his shrill, frightened cries showed how +unequal he felt the contest to be. I sprang to the rescue, and the +two of us managed to throw Sir Thomas to the ground, though he made +his teeth meet in my shoulder. With all my youth and weight and +strength, it was a desperate struggle before we could master his +frenzied struggles; but at last we secured his arms with the waist- +cord of the dressing-gown which he was wearing. I was holding his +legs while Lord Linchmere was endeavouring to relight the lamp, +when there came the pattering of many feet in the passage, and the +butler and two footmen, who had been alarmed by the cries, rushed +into the room. With their aid we had no further difficulty in +securing our prisoner, who lay foaming and glaring upon the ground. +One glance at his face was enough to prove that he was a dangerous +maniac, while the short, heavy hammer which lay beside the bed +showed how murderous had been his intentions. + +"Do not use any violence!" said Lord Linchmere, as we raised +the struggling man to his feet. "He will have a period of stupor +after this excitement. I believe that it is coming on already." +As he spoke the convulsions became less violent, and the madman's +head fell forward upon his breast, as if he were overcome by +sleep. We led him down the passage and stretched him upon his own +bed, where he lay unconscious, breathing heavily. + +"Two of you will watch him," said Lord Linchmere. "And now, +Dr. Hamilton, if you will return with me to my room, I will give +you the explanation which my horror of scandal has perhaps caused +me to delay too long. Come what may, you will never have cause to +regret your share in this night's work. + +"The case may be made clear in a very few words," he continued, +when we were alone. "My poor brother-in-law is one of the best +fellows upon earth, a loving husband and an estimable father, but +he comes from a stock which is deeply tainted with insanity. He +has more than once had homicidal outbreaks, which are the more +painful because his inclination is always to attack the very person +to whom he is most attached. His son was sent away to school to +avoid this danger, and then came an attempt upon my sister, his +wife, from which she escaped with injuries that you may have +observed when you met her in London. You understand that he knows +nothing of the matter when he is in his sound senses, and would +ridicule the suggestion that he could under any circumstances +injure those whom he loves so dearly. It is often, as you know, a +characteristic of such maladies that it is absolutely impossible to +convince the man who suffers from them of their existence. + +"Our great object was, of course, to get him under restraint +before he could stain his hands with blood, but the matter was full +of difficulty. He is a recluse in his habits, and would not see +any medical man. Besides, it was necessary for our purpose that +the medical man should convince himself of his insanity; and he is +sane as you or I, save on these very rare occasions. But, +fortunately, before he has these attacks he always shows certain +premonitory symptoms, which are providential danger-signals, +warning us to be upon our guard. The chief of these is that +nervous contortion of the forehead which you must have observed. +This is a phenomenon which always appears from three to four days +before his attacks of frenzy. The moment it showed itself his wife +came into town on some pretext, and took refuge in my house in +Brook Street. + +"It remained for me to convince a medical man of Sir Thomas's +insanity, without which it was impossible to put him where he could +do no harm. The first problem was how to get a medical man into +his house. I bethought me of his interest in beetles, and his love +for anyone who shared his tastes. I advertised, therefore, and was +fortunate enough to find in you the very man I wanted. A stout +companion was necessary, for I knew that the lunacy could only be +proved by a murderous assault, and I had every reason to believe +that that assault would be made upon myself, since he had the +warmest regard for me in his moments of sanity. I think your +intelligence will supply all the rest. I did not know that the +attack would come by night, but I thought it very probable, for the +crises of such cases usually do occur in the early hours of the +morning. I am a very nervous man myself, but I saw no other way in +which I could remove this terrible danger from my sister's life. +I need not ask you whether you are willing to sign the lunacy +papers." + +"Undoubtedly. But TWO signatures are necessary." + +"You forget that I am myself a holder of a medical degree. I +have the papers on a side-table here, so if you will be good enough +to sign them now, we can have the patient removed in the morning." + + +So that was my visit to Sir Thomas Rossiter, the famous beetle- +hunter, and that was also my first step upon the ladder of success, +for Lady Rossiter and Lord Linchmere have proved to be staunch +friends, and they have never forgotten my association with them in +the time of their need. Sir Thomas is out and said to be cured, +but I still think that if I spent another night at Delamere Court, +I should be inclined to lock my door upon the inside. + + + +The Man with the Watches + + +There are many who will still bear in mind the singular +circumstances which, under the heading of the Rugby Mystery, +filled many columns of the daily Press in the spring of the year +1892. Coming as it did at a period of exceptional dullness, it +attracted perhaps rather more attention than it deserved, but it +offered to the public that mixture of the whimsical and the +tragic which is most stimulating to the popular imagination. +Interest drooped, however, when, after weeks of fruitless +investigation, it was found that no final explanation of the +facts was forthcoming, and the tragedy seemed from that time to +the present to have finally taken its place in the dark catalogue +of inexplicable and unexpiated crimes. A recent communication +(the authenticity of which appears to be above question) has, +however, thrown some new and clear light upon the matter. Before +laying it before the public it would be as well, perhaps, that I +should refresh their memories as to the singular facts upon which +this commentary is founded. These facts were briefly as follows: + +At five o'clock on the evening of the 18th of March in the year +already mentioned a train left Euston Station for Manchester. It +was a rainy, squally day, which grew wilder as it progressed, so it +was by no means the weather in which anyone would travel who was +not driven to do so by necessity. The train, however, is a +favourite one among Manchester business men who are returning from +town, for it does the journey in four hours and twenty minutes, +with only three stoppages upon the way. In spite of the inclement +evening it was, therefore, fairly well filled upon the occasion of +which I speak. The guard of the train was a tried servant of the +company--a man who had worked for twenty-two years without a +blemish or complaint. His name was John Palmer. + +The station clock was upon the stroke of five, and the guard +was about to give the customary signal to the engine-driver when he +observed two belated passengers hurrying down the platform. The +one was an exceptionally tall man, dressed in a long black overcoat +with astrakhan collar and cuffs. I have already said that the +evening was an inclement one, and the tall traveller had the high, +warm collar turned up to protect his throat against the bitter +March wind. He appeared, as far as the guard could judge by so +hurried an inspection, to be a man between fifty and sixty years of +age, who had retained a good deal of the vigour and activity of his +youth. In one hand he carried a brown leather Gladstone bag. His +companion was a lady, tall and erect, walking with a vigorous step +which outpaced the gentleman beside her. She wore a long, fawn- +coloured dust-cloak, a black, close-fitting toque, and a dark veil +which concealed the greater part of her face. The two might very +well have passed as father and daughter. They walked swiftly down +the line of carriages, glancing in at the windows, until the guard, +John Palmer, overtook them. + +"Now then, sir, look sharp, the train is going," said he. + +"First-class," the man answered. + +The guard turned the handle of the nearest door. In the +carriage which he had opened, there sat a small man with a cigar in +his mouth. His appearance seems to have impressed itself upon the +guard's memory, for he was prepared, afterwards, to describe or to +identify him. He was a man of thirty-four or thirty-five years of +age, dressed in some grey material, sharp-nosed, alert, with a +ruddy, weather-beaten face, and a small, closely cropped, black +beard. He glanced up as the door was opened. The tall man paused +with his foot upon the step. + +"This is a smoking compartment. The lady dislikes smoke," said +he, looking round at the guard. + +"All right! Here you are, sir!" said John Palmer. He slammed +the door of the smoking carriage, opened that of the next one, +which was empty, and thrust the two travellers in. At the same +moment he sounded his whistle and the wheels of the train began to +move. The man with the cigar was at the window of his carriage, +and said something to the guard as he rolled past him, but the +words were lost in the bustle of the departure. Palmer +stepped into the guard's van, as it came up to him, and +thought no more of the incident. + +Twelve minutes after its departure the train reached Willesden +Junction, where it stopped for a very short interval. An +examination of the tickets has made it certain that no one either +joined or left it at this time, and no passenger was seen to alight +upon the platform. At 5:14 the journey to Manchester was resumed, +and Rugby was reached at 6:50, the express being five minutes late. + +At Rugby the attention of the station officials was drawn to +the fact that the door of one of the first-class carriages was +open. An examination of that compartment, and of its neighbour, +disclosed a remarkable state of affairs. + +The smoking carriage in which the short, red-faced man with the +black beard had been seen was now empty. Save for a half-smoked +cigar, there was no trace whatever of its recent occupant. The +door of this carriage was fastened. In the next compartment, to +which attention had been originally drawn, there was no sign either +of the gentleman with the astrakhan collar or of the young lady who +accompanied him. All three passengers had disappeared. On the +other hand, there was found upon the floor of this carriage--the +one in which the tall traveller and the lady had been--a young man +fashionably dressed and of elegant appearance. He lay with his +knees drawn up, and his head resting against the farther door, an +elbow upon either seat. A bullet had penetrated his heart and his +death must have been instantaneous. No one had seen such a man +enter the train, and no railway ticket was found in his pocket, +neither were there any markings upon his linen, nor papers nor +personal property which might help to identify him. Who he was, +whence he had come, and how he had met his end were each as great +a mystery as what had occurred to the three people who had started +an hour and a half before from Willesden in those two compartments. + +I have said that there was no personal property which might +help to identify him, but it is true that there was one peculiarity +about this unknown young man which was much commented upon at the +time. In his pockets were found no fewer than six valuable gold +watches, three in the various pockets of his waist-coat, one in his +ticket-pocket, one in his breast-pocket, and one small one set +in a leather strap and fastened round his left wrist. The obvious +explanation that the man was a pickpocket, and that this was his +plunder, was discounted by the fact that all six were of American +make and of a type which is rare in England. Three of them bore +the mark of the Rochester Watchmaking Company; one was by Mason, of +Elmira; one was unmarked; and the small one, which was highly +jewelled and ornamented, was from Tiffany, of New York. The other +contents of his pocket consisted of an ivory knife with a corkscrew +by Rodgers, of Sheffield; a small, circular mirror, one inch in +diameter; a readmission slip to the Lyceum Theatre; a silver box +full of vesta matches, and a brown leather cigar-case containing +two cheroots--also two pounds fourteen shillings in money. It was +clear, then, that whatever motives may have led to his death, +robbery was not among them. As already mentioned, there were no +markings upon the man's linen, which appeared to be new, and no +tailor's name upon his coat. In appearance he was young, short, +smooth-cheeked, and delicately featured. One of his front teeth +was conspicuously stopped with gold. + +On the discovery of the tragedy an examination was instantly +made of the tickets of all passengers, and the number of the +passengers themselves was counted. It was found that only three +tickets were unaccounted for, corresponding to the three travellers +who were missing. The express was then allowed to proceed, but a +new guard was sent with it, and John Palmer was detained as a +witness at Rugby. The carriage which included the two compartments +in question was uncoupled and side-tracked. Then, on the arrival +of Inspector Vane, of Scotland Yard, and of Mr. Henderson, a +detective in the service of the railway company, an exhaustive +inquiry was made into all the circumstances. + +That crime had been committed was certain. The bullet, which +appeared to have come from a small pistol or revolver, had been +fired from some little distance, as there was no scorching of the +clothes. No weapon was found in the compartment (which finally +disposed of the theory of suicide), nor was there any sign of the +brown leather bag which the guard had seen in the hand of the tall +gentleman. A lady's parasol was found upon the rack, but no other +trace was to be seen of the travellers in either of the sections. +Apart from the crime, the question of how or why three +passengers (one of them a lady) could get out of the train, and one +other get in during the unbroken run between Willesden and Rugby, +was one which excited the utmost curiosity among the general +public, and gave rise to much speculation in the London Press. + +John Palmer, the guard was able at the inquest to give some +evidence which threw a little light upon the matter. There was a +spot between Tring and Cheddington, according to his statement, +where, on account of some repairs to the line, the train had for a +few minutes slowed down to a pace not exceeding eight or ten miles +an hour. At that place it might be possible for a man, or even for +an exceptionally active woman, to have left the train without +serious injury. It was true that a gang of platelayers was there, +and that they had seen nothing, but it was their custom to stand in +the middle between the metals, and the open carriage door was upon +the far side, so that it was conceivable that someone might have +alighted unseen, as the darkness would by that time be drawing in. +A steep embankment would instantly screen anyone who sprang out +from the observation of the navvies. + +The guard also deposed that there was a good deal of movement +upon the platform at Willesden Junction, and that though it was +certain that no one had either joined or left the train there, it +was still quite possible that some of the passengers might have +changed unseen from one compartment to another. It was by no means +uncommon for a gentleman to finish his cigar in a smoking carriage +and then to change to a clearer atmosphere. Supposing that the man +with the black beard had done so at Willesden (and the half-smoked +cigar upon the floor seemed to favour the supposition), he would +naturally go into the nearest section, which would bring him into +the company of the two other actors in this drama. Thus the first +stage of the affair might be surmised without any great breach of +probability. But what the second stage had been, or how the final +one had been arrived at, neither the guard nor the experienced +detective officers could suggest. + +A careful examination of the line between Willesden and Rugby +resulted in one discovery which might or might not have a bearing +upon the tragedy. Near Tring, at the very place where the train +slowed down, there was found at the bottom of the embankment a +small pocket Testament, very shabby and worn. It was printed +by the Bible Society of London, and bore an inscription: "From +John to Alice. Jan. 13th, 1856," upon the fly-leaf. Underneath +was written: "James. July 4th, 1859," and beneath that again: +"Edward. Nov. 1st, 1869," all the entries being in the same +handwriting. This was the only clue, if it could be called a clue, +which the police obtained, and the coroner's verdict of "Murder by +a person or persons unknown" was the unsatisfactory ending of a +singular case. Advertisement, rewards, and inquiries proved +equally fruitless, and nothing could be found which was solid +enough to form the basis for a profitable investigation. + +It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that no theories +were formed to account for the facts. On the contrary, the Press, +both in England and in America, teemed with suggestions and +suppositions, most of which were obviously absurd. The fact that +the watches were of American make, and some peculiarities in +connection with the gold stopping of his front tooth, appeared to +indicate that the deceased was a citizen of the United States, +though his linen, clothes and boots were undoubtedly of British +manufacture. It was surmised, by some, that he was concealed under +the seat, and that, being discovered, he was for some reason, +possibly because he had overheard their guilty secrets, put to +death by his fellow-passengers. When coupled with generalities as +to the ferocity and cunning of anarchical and other secret +societies, this theory sounded as plausible as any. + +The fact that he should be without a ticket would be consistent +with the idea of concealment, and it was well known that women +played a prominent part in the Nihilistic propaganda. On the other +hand, it was clear, from the guard's statement, that the man must +have been hidden there BEFORE the others arrived, and how +unlikely the coincidence that conspirators should stray exactly +into the very compartment in which a spy was already concealed! +Besides, this explanation ignored the man in the smoking carriage, +and gave no reason at all for his simultaneous disappearance. The +police had little difficulty in showing that such a theory would +not cover the facts, but they were unprepared in the absence of +evidence to advance any alternative explanation. + +There was a letter in the Daily Gazette, over the signature +of a well-known criminal investigator, which gave rise to +considerable discussion at the time. He had formed a +hypothesis which had at least ingenuity to recommend it, and I +cannot do better than append it in his own words. + +"Whatever may be the truth," said he, "it must depend upon some +bizarre and rare combination of events, so we need have no +hesitation in postulating such events in our explanation. In the +absence of data we must abandon the analytic or scientific method +of investigation, and must approach it in the synthetic fashion. +In a word, instead of taking known events and deducing from them +what has occurred, we must build up a fanciful explanation if it +will only be consistent with known events. We can then test this +explanation by any fresh facts which may arise. If they all fit +into their places, the probability is that we are upon the right +track, and with each fresh fact this probability increases in a +geometrical progression until the evidence becomes final and +convincing. + +"Now, there is one most remarkable and suggestive fact which +has not met with the attention which it deserves. There is a local +train running through Harrow and King's Langley, which is timed in +such a way that the express must have overtaken it at or about the +period when it eased down its speed to eight miles an hour on +account of the repairs of the line. The two trains would at that +time be travelling in the same direction at a similar rate of speed +and upon parallel lines. It is within every one's experience how, +under such circumstances, the occupant of each carriage can see +very plainly the passengers in the other carriages opposite to him. +The lamps of the express had been lit at Willesden, so that each +compartment was brightly illuminated, and most visible to an +observer from outside. + +"Now, the sequence of events as I reconstruct them would be +after this fashion. This young man with the abnormal number of +watches was alone in the carriage of the slow train. His ticket, +with his papers and gloves and other things, was, we will suppose, +on the seat beside him. He was probably an American, and also +probably a man of weak intellect. The excessive wearing of +jewellery is an early symptom in some forms of mania. + +"As he sat watching the carriages of the express which were +(on account of the state of the line) going at the same pace as +himself, he suddenly saw some people in it whom he knew. We will +suppose for the sake of our theory that these people were a +woman whom he loved and a man whom he hated--and who in return +hated him. The young man was excitable and impulsive. He opened +the door of his carriage, stepped from the footboard of the local +train to the footboard of the express, opened the other door, and +made his way into the presence of these two people. The feat (on +the supposition that the trains were going at the same pace) is by +no means so perilous as it might appear. + +"Having now got our young man, without his ticket, into the +carriage in which the elder man and the young woman are travelling, +it is not difficult to imagine that a violent scene ensued. It is +possible that the pair were also Americans, which is the more +probable as the man carried a weapon--an unusual thing in England. +If our supposition of incipient mania is correct, the young man is +likely to have assaulted the other. As the upshot of the quarrel +the elder man shot the intruder, and then made his escape from the +carriage, taking the young lady with him. We will suppose that all +this happened very rapidly, and that the train was still going at +so slow a pace that it was not difficult for them to leave it. A +woman might leave a train going at eight miles an hour. As a +matter of fact, we know that this woman DID do so. + +"And now we have to fit in the man in the smoking carriage. +Presuming that we have, up to this point, reconstructed the tragedy +correctly, we shall find nothing in this other man to cause us to +reconsider our conclusions. According to my theory, this man saw +the young fellow cross from one train to the other, saw him open +the door, heard the pistol-shot, saw the two fugitives spring out +on to the line, realized that murder had been done, and sprang out +himself in pursuit. Why he has never been heard of since--whether +he met his own death in the pursuit, or whether, as is more likely, +he was made to realize that it was not a case for his +interference--is a detail which we have at present no means of +explaining. I acknowledge that there are some difficulties in the +way. At first sight, it might seem improbable that at such a +moment a murderer would burden himself in his flight with a brown +leather bag. My answer is that he was well aware that if the bag +were found his identity would be established. It was absolutely +necessary for him to take it with him. My theory stands or falls +upon one point, and I call upon the railway company to make strict +inquiry as to whether a ticket was found unclaimed in the local +train through Harrow and King's Langley upon the 18th of March. If +such a ticket were found my case is proved. If not, my theory may +still be the correct one, for it is conceivable either that he +travelled without a ticket or that his ticket was lost." + +To this elaborate and plausible hypothesis the answer of the +police and of the company was, first, that no such ticket was +found; secondly, that the slow train would never run parallel to +the express; and, thirdly, that the local train had been stationary +in King's Langley Station when the express, going at fifty miles an +hour, had flashed past it. So perished the only satisfying +explanation, and five years have elapsed without supplying a new +one. Now, at last, there comes a statement which covers all the +facts, and which must be regarded as authentic. It took the shape +of a letter dated from New York, and addressed to the same criminal +investigator whose theory I have quoted. It is given here in +extenso, with the exception of the two opening paragraphs, which +are personal in their nature: + +"You'll excuse me if I'm not very free with names. There's +less reason now than there was five years ago when mother was still +living. But for all that, I had rather cover up our tracks all I +can. But I owe you an explanation, for if your idea of it was +wrong, it was a mighty ingenious one all the same. I'll have to go +back a little so as you may understand all about it. + +"My people came from Bucks, England, and emigrated to the +States in the early fifties. They settled in Rochester, in the +State of New York, where my father ran a large dry goods store. +There were only two sons: myself, James, and my brother, Edward. +I was ten years older than my brother, and after my father died I +sort of took the place of a father to him, as an elder brother +would. He was a bright, spirited boy, and just one of the most +beautiful creatures that ever lived. But there was always a soft +spot in him, and it was like mould in cheese, for it spread and +spread, and nothing that you could do would stop it. Mother saw it +just as clearly as I did, but she went on spoiling him all the +same, for he had such a way with him that you could refuse him +nothing. I did all I could to hold him in, and he hated me for my +pains. + +"At last he fairly got his head, and nothing that we could do +would stop him. He got off into New York, and went rapidly +from bad to worse. At first he was only fast, and then he was +criminal; and then, at the end of a year or two, he was one of the +most notorious young crooks in the city. He had formed a +friendship with Sparrow MacCoy, who was at the head of his +profession as a bunco-steerer, green goodsman and general rascal. +They took to card-sharping, and frequented some of the best hotels +in New York. My brother was an excellent actor (he might have made +an honest name for himself if he had chosen), and he would take the +parts of a young Englishman of title, of a simple lad from the +West, or of a college undergraduate, whichever suited Sparrow +MacCoy's purpose. And then one day he dressed himself as a girl, +and he carried it off so well, and made himself such a valuable +decoy, that it was their favourite game afterwards. They had made +it right with Tammany and with the police, so it seemed as if +nothing could ever stop them, for those were in the days before the +Lexow Commission, and if you only had a pull, you could do pretty +nearly everything you wanted. + +"And nothing would have stopped them if they had only stuck to +cards and New York, but they must needs come up Rochester way, and +forge a name upon a cheque. It was my brother that did it, though +everyone knew that it was under the influence of Sparrow MacCoy. +I bought up that cheque, and a pretty sum it cost me. Then I went +to my brother, laid it before him on the table, and swore to him +that I would prosecute if he did not clear out of the country. At +first he simply laughed. I could not prosecute, he said, without +breaking our mother's heart, and he knew that I would not do that. +I made him understand, however, that our mother's heart was being +broken in any case, and that I had set firm on the point that I +would rather see him in Rochester gaol than in a New York hotel. +So at last he gave in, and he made me a solemn promise that he +would see Sparrow MacCoy no more, that he would go to Europe, and +that he would turn his hand to any honest trade that I helped him +to get. I took him down right away to an old family friend, Joe +Willson, who is an exporter of American watches and clocks, and I +got him to give Edward an agency in London, with a small salary and +a 15 per cent commission on all business. His manner and +appearance were so good that he won the old man over at once, +and within a week he was sent off to London with a case full +of samples. + +"It seemed to me that this business of the cheque had really +given my brother a fright, and that there was some chance of his +settling down into an honest line of life. My mother had spoken +with him, and what she said had touched him, for she had always +been the best of mothers to him and he had been the great sorrow of +her life. But I knew that this man Sparrow MacCoy had a great +influence over Edward and my chance of keeping the lad straight lay +in breaking the connection between them. I had a friend in the New +York detective force, and through him I kept a watch upon MacCoy. +When, within a fortnight of my brother's sailing, I heard that +MacCoy had taken a berth in the Etruria, I was as certain as if +he had told me that he was going over to England for the purpose of +coaxing Edward back again into the ways that he had left. In an +instant I had resolved to go also, and to pit my influence against +MacCoy's. I knew it was a losing fight, but I thought, and my +mother thought, that it was my duty. We passed the last night +together in prayer for my success, and she gave me her own +Testament that my father had given her on the day of their marriage +in the Old Country, so that I might always wear it next my heart. + +"I was a fellow-traveller, on the steamship, with Sparrow +MacCoy, and at least I had the satisfaction of spoiling his little +game for the voyage. The very first night I went into the smoking- +room, and found him at the head of a card-table, with a half a +dozen young fellows who were carrying their full purses and their +empty skulls over to Europe. He was settling down for his harvest, +and a rich one it would have been. But I soon changed all that. + +"`Gentlemen,' said I, `are you aware whom you are playing +with?' + +"`What's that to you? You mind your own business!' said he, +with an oath. + +"`Who is it, anyway?' asked one of the dudes. + +"`He's Sparrow MacCoy, the most notorious card-sharper in the +States.' + +"Up he jumped with a bottle in his hand, but he remembered +that he was under the flag of the effete Old Country, where +law and order run, and Tammany has no pull. Gaol and the gallows +wait for violence and murder, and there's no slipping out by the +back door on board an ocean liner. + +"`Prove your words, you----!' said he. + +"`I will!' said I. `If you will turn up your right shirt- +sleeve to the shoulder, I will either prove my words or I will eat +them.' + +"He turned white and said not a word. You see, I knew +something of his ways, and I was aware of that part of the +mechanism which he and all such sharpers use consists of an elastic +down the arm with a clip just above the wrist. It is by means of +this clip that they withdraw from their hands the cards which they +do not want, while they substitute other cards from another hiding +place. I reckoned on it being there, and it was. He cursed me, +slunk out of the saloon, and was hardly seen again during the +voyage. For once, at any rate, I got level with Mister Sparrow +MacCoy. + +"But he soon had his revenge upon me, for when it came to +influencing my brother he outweighed me every time. Edward had +kept himself straight in London for the first few weeks, and had +done some business with his American watches, until this villain +came across his path once more. I did my best, but the best was +little enough. The next thing I heard there had been a scandal at +one of the Northumberland Avenue hotels: a traveller had been +fleeced of a large sum by two confederate card-sharpers, and the +matter was in the hands of Scotland Yard. The first I learned of +it was in the evening paper, and I was at once certain that my +brother and MacCoy were back at their old games. I hurried at once +to Edward's lodgings. They told me that he and a tall gentleman +(whom I recognized as MacCoy) had gone off together, and that he +had left the lodgings and taken his things with him. The landlady +had heard them give several directions to the cabman, ending with +Euston Station, and she had accidentally overheard the tall +gentleman saying something about Manchester. She believed that +that was their destination. + +"A glance at the time-table showed me that the most likely +train was at five, though there was another at 4:35 which they +might have caught. I had only time to get the later one, but found +no sign of them either at the depot or in the train. They +must have gone on by the earlier one, so I determined to +follow them to Manchester and search for them in the hotels there. +One last appeal to my brother by all that he owed to my mother +might even now be the salvation of him. My nerves were overstrung, +and I lit a cigar to steady them. At that moment, just as the +train was moving off, the door of my compartment was flung open, +and there were MacCoy and my brother on the platform. + +"They were both disguised, and with good reason, for they knew +that the London police were after them. MacCoy had a great +astrakhan collar drawn up, so that only his eyes and nose were +showing. My brother was dressed like a woman, with a black veil +half down his face, but of course it did not deceive me for an +instant, nor would it have done so even if I had not known that he +had often used such a dress before. I started up, and as I did so +MacCoy recognized me. He said something, the conductor slammed the +door, and they were shown into the next compartment. I tried to +stop the train so as to follow them, but the wheels were already +moving, and it was too late. + +"When we stopped at Willesden, I instantly changed my carriage. +It appears that I was not seen to do so, which is not surprising, +as the station was crowded with people. MacCoy, of course, was +expecting me, and he had spent the time between Euston and +Willesden in saying all he could to harden my brother's heart and +set him against me. That is what I fancy, for I had never found +him so impossible to soften or to move. I tried this way and I +tried that; I pictured his future in an English gaol; I described +the sorrow of his mother when I came back with the news; I said +everything to touch his heart, but all to no purpose. He sat there +with a fixed sneer upon his handsome face, while every now and then +Sparrow MacCoy would throw in a taunt at me, or some word of +encouragement to hold my brother to his resolutions. + +"`Why don't you run a Sunday-school?' he would say to me, and +then, in the same breath: `He thinks you have no will of your own. +He thinks you are just the baby brother and that he can lead you +where he likes. He's only just finding out that you are a man as +well as he.' + +"It was those words of his which set me talking bitterly. We +had left Willesden, you understand, for all this took some time. +My temper got the better of me, and for the first time in my +life I let my brother see the rough side of me. Perhaps it would +have been better had I done so earlier and more often. + +"`A man!' said I. `Well, I'm glad to have your friend's +assurance of it, for no one would suspect it to see you like a +boarding-school missy. I don't suppose in all this country there +is a more contemptible-looking creature than you are as you sit +there with that Dolly pinafore upon you.' He coloured up at that, +for he was a vain man, and he winced from ridicule. + +"`It's only a dust-cloak,' said he, and he slipped it off. +`One has to throw the coppers off one's scent, and I had no other +way to do it.' He took his toque off with the veil attached, and +he put both it and the cloak into his brown bag. `Anyway, I don't +need to wear it until the conductor comes round,' said he. + +"`Nor then, either,' said I, and taking the bag I slung it with +all my force out of the window. `Now,' said I, `you'll never make +a Mary Jane of yourself while I can help it. If nothing but that +disguise stands between you and a gaol, then to gaol you shall go.' + +"That was the way to manage him. I felt my advantage at once. +His supple nature was one which yielded to roughness far more +readily than to entreaty. He flushed with shame, and his eyes +filled with tears. But MacCoy saw my advantage also, and was +determined that I should not pursue it. + +"`He's my pard, and you shall not bully him,' he cried. + +"`He's my brother, and you shall not ruin him,' said I. `I +believe a spell of prison is the very best way of keeping you +apart, and you shall have it, or it will be no fault of mine.' + +"`Oh, you would squeal, would you?' he cried, and in an instant +he whipped out his revolver. I sprang for his hand, but saw that +I was too late, and jumped aside. At the same instant he fired, +and the bullet which would have struck me passed through the heart +of my unfortunate brother. + +"He dropped without a groan upon the floor of the compartment, +and MacCoy and I, equally horrified, knelt at each side of him, +trying to bring back some signs of life. MacCoy still held the +loaded revolver in his hand, but his anger against me and my +resentment towards him had both for the moment been swallowed up in +this sudden tragedy. It was he who first realized the situation. +The train was for some reason going very slowly at the moment, +and he saw his opportunity for escape. In an instant he had the +door open, but I was as quick as he, and jumping upon him the two +of us fell off the footboard and rolled in each other's arms down +a steep embankment. At the bottom I struck my head against a +stone, and I remembered nothing more. When I came to myself I was +lying among some low bushes, not far from the railroad track, and +somebody was bathing my head with a wet handkerchief. It was +Sparrow MacCoy. + +"`I guess I couldn't leave you,' said he. `I didn't want to +have the blood of two of you on my hands in one day. You loved +your brother, I've no doubt; but you didn't love him a cent more +than I loved him, though you'll say that I took a queer way to show +it. Anyhow, it seems a mighty empty world now that he is gone, and +I don't care a continental whether you give me over to the hangman +or not.' + +"He had turned his ankle in the fall, and there we sat, he with +his useless foot, and I with my throbbing head, and we talked and +talked until gradually my bitterness began to soften and to turn +into something like sympathy. What was the use of revenging his +death upon a man who was as much stricken by that death as I was? +And then, as my wits gradually returned, I began to realize also +that I could do nothing against MacCoy which would not recoil upon +my mother and myself. How could we convict him without a full +account of my brother's career being made public--the very thing +which of all others we wished to avoid? It was really as much our +interest as his to cover the matter up, and from being an avenger +of crime I found myself changed to a conspirator against Justice. +The place in which we found ourselves was one of those pheasant +preserves which are so common in the Old Country, and as we groped +our way through it I found myself consulting the slayer of my +brother as to how far it would be possible to hush it up. + +"I soon realized from what he said that unless there were some +papers of which we knew nothing in my brother's pockets, there was +really no possible means by which the police could identify him or +learn how he had got there. His ticket was in MacCoy's pocket, and +so was the ticket for some baggage which they had left at the +depot. Like most Americans, he had found it cheaper and easier to +buy an outfit in London than to bring one from New York, so +that all his linen and clothes were new and unmarked. The bag, +containing the dust-cloak, which I had thrown out of the window, +may have fallen among some bramble patch where it is still +concealed, or may have been carried off by some tramp, or may have +come into the possession of the police, who kept the incident to +themselves. Anyhow, I have seen nothing about it in the London +papers. As to the watches, they were a selection from those which +had been intrusted to him for business purposes. It may have been +for the same business purposes that he was taking them to +Manchester, but--well, it's too late to enter into that. + +"I don't blame the police for being at fault. I don't see how +it could have been otherwise. There was just one little clue that +they might have followed up, but it was a small one. I mean that +small, circular mirror which was found in my brother's pocket. It +isn't a very common thing for a young man to carry about with him, +is it? But a gambler might have told you what such a mirror may +mean to a card-sharper. If you sit back a little from the table, +and lay the mirror, face upwards, upon your lap, you can see, as +you deal, every card that you give to your adversary. It is not +hard to say whether you see a man or raise him when you know his +cards as well as your own. It was as much a part of a sharper's +outfit as the elastic clip upon Sparrow MacCoy's arm. Taking that, +in connection with the recent frauds at the hotels, the police +might have got hold of one end of the string. + +"I don't think there is much more for me to explain. We got to +a village called Amersham that night in the character of two +gentlemen upon a walking tour, and afterwards we made our way +quietly to London, whence MacCoy went on to Cairo and I returned to +New York. My mother died six months afterwards, and I am glad to +say that to the day of her death she never knew what happened. She +was always under the delusion that Edward was earning an honest +living in London, and I never had the heart to tell her the truth. +He never wrote; but, then, he never did write at any time, so that +made no difference. His name was the last upon her lips. + +"There's just one other thing that I have to ask you, sir, and +I should take it as a kind return for all this explanation, if you +could do it for me. You remember that Testament that was +picked up. I always carried it in my inside pocket, and it +must have come out in my fall. I value it very highly, for it was +the family book with my birth and my brother's marked by my father +in the beginning of it. I wish you would apply at the proper place +and have it sent to me. It can be of no possible value to anyone +else. If you address it to X, Bassano's Library, Broadway, New +York, it is sure to come to hand." + + + +The Japanned Box + + +It WAS a curious thing, said the private tutor; one of those +grotesque and whimsical incidents which occur to one as one goes +through life. I lost the best situation which I am ever likely +to have through it. But I am glad that I went to Thorpe Place, +for I gained--well, as I tell you the story you will learn what I +gained. + +I don't know whether you are familiar with that part of the +Midlands which is drained by the Avon. It is the most English part +of England. Shakespeare, the flower of the whole race, was born +right in the middle of it. It is a land of rolling pastures, +rising in higher folds to the westwards, until they swell into the +Malvern Hills. There are no towns, but numerous villages, each +with its grey Norman church. You have left the brick of the +southern and eastern counties behind you, and everything is stone-- +stone for the walls, and lichened slabs of stone for the roofs. It +is all grim and solid and massive, as befits the heart of a great +nation. + +It was in the middle of this country, not very far from +Evesham, that Sir John Bollamore lived in the old ancestral home of +Thorpe Place, and thither it was that I came to teach his two +little sons. Sir John was a widower--his wife had died three years +before--and he had been left with these two lads aged eight and +ten, and one dear little girl of seven. Miss Witherton, who is now +my wife, was governess to this little girl. I was tutor to the two +boys. Could there be a more obvious prelude to an engagement? She +governs me now, and I tutor two little boys of our own. But, +there--I have already revealed what it was which I gained in Thorpe +Place! + +It was a very, very old house, incredibly old--pre-Norman, some +of it--and the Bollamores claimed to have lived in that situation +since long before the Conquest. It struck a chill to my heart when +first I came there, those enormously thick grey walls, the rude +crumbling stones, the smell as from a sick animal which exhaled +from the rotting plaster of the aged building. But the modern wing +was bright and the garden was well kept. No house could be dismal +which had a pretty girl inside it and such a show of roses in +front. + +Apart from a very complete staff of servants there were only +four of us in the household. These were Miss Witherton, who was at +that time four-and-twenty and as pretty--well, as pretty as Mrs. +Colmore is now--myself, Frank Colmore, aged thirty, Mrs. Stevens, +the housekeeper, a dry, silent woman, and Mr. Richards, a tall +military-looking man, who acted as steward to the Bollamore +estates. We four always had our meals together, but Sir John had +his usually alone in the library. Sometimes he joined us at +dinner, but on the whole we were just as glad when he did not. + +For he was a very formidable person. Imagine a man six feet +three inches in height, majestically built, with a high-nosed, +aristocratic face, brindled hair, shaggy eyebrows, a small, pointed +Mephistophelian beard, and lines upon his brow and round his eyes +as deep as if they had been carved with a penknife. He had grey +eyes, weary, hopeless-looking eyes, proud and yet pathetic, eyes +which claimed your pity and yet dared you to show it. His back was +rounded with study, but otherwise he was as fine a looking man of +his age--five-and-fifty perhaps--as any woman would wish to look +upon. + +But his presence was not a cheerful one. He was always +courteous, always refined, but singularly silent and retiring. I +have never lived so long with any man and known so little of him. +If he were indoors he spent his time either in his own small study +in the Eastern Tower, or in the library in the modern wing. So +regular was his routine that one could always say at any hour +exactly where he would be. Twice in the day he would visit his +study, once after breakfast, and once about ten at night. You +might set your watch by the slam of the heavy door. For the rest +of the day he would be in his library--save that for an hour or two +in the afternoon he would take a walk or a ride, which was solitary +like the rest of his existence. He loved his children, and was +keenly interested in the progress of their studies, but they were +a little awed by the silent, shaggy-browed figure, and they avoided +him as much as they could. Indeed, we all did that. + +It was some time before I came to know anything about the +circumstances of Sir John Bollamore's life, for Mrs. Stevens, the +housekeeper, and Mr. Richards, the land-steward, were too loyal to +talk easily of their employer's affairs. As to the governess, she +knew no more than I did, and our common interest was one of the +causes which drew us together. At last, however, an incident +occurred which led to a closer acquaintance with Mr. Richards and +a fuller knowledge of the life of the man whom I served. + +The immediate cause of this was no less than the falling of +Master Percy, the youngest of my pupils, into the mill-race, with +imminent danger both to his life and to mine, since I had to risk +myself in order to save him. Dripping and exhausted--for I +was far more spent than the child--I was making for my room when +Sir John, who had heard the hubbub, opened the door of his little +study and asked me what was the matter. I told him of the +accident, but assured him that his child was in no danger, while he +listened with a rugged, immobile face, which expressed in its +intense eyes and tightened lips all the emotion which he tried to +conceal. + +"One moment! Step in here! Let me have the details!" said he, +turning back through the open door. + +And so I found myself within that little sanctum, inside which, +as I afterwards learned, no other foot had for three years been set +save that of the old servant who cleaned it out. It was a round +room, conforming to the shape of the tower in which it was +situated, with a low ceiling, a single narrow, ivy-wreathed window, +and the simplest of furniture. An old carpet, a single chair, a +deal table, and a small shelf of books made up the whole contents. +On the table stood a full-length photograph of a woman--I took no +particular notice of the features, but I remember, that a certain +gracious gentleness was the prevailing impression. Beside it were +a large black japanned box and one or two bundles of letters or +papers fastened together with elastic bands. + +Our interview was a short one, for Sir John Bollamore perceived +that I was soaked, and that I should change without delay. The +incident led, however, to an instructive talk with Richards, the +agent, who had never penetrated into the chamber which chance had +opened to me. That very afternoon he came to me, all curiosity, +and walked up and down the garden path with me, while my two +charges played tennis upon the lawn beside us. + +"You hardly realize the exception which has been made in your +favour," said he. "That room has been kept such a mystery, and Sir +John's visits to it have been so regular and consistent, that an +almost superstitious feeling has arisen about it in the household. +I assure you that if I were to repeat to you the tales which are +flying about, tales of mysterious visitors there, and of voices +overheard by the servants, you might suspect that Sir John had +relapsed into his old ways." + +"Why do you say relapsed?" I asked. + +He looked at me in surprise. + +"Is it possible," said he, "that Sir John Bollamore's previous +history is unknown to you?" + +"Absolutely." + +"You astound me. I thought that every man in England knew +something of his antecedents. I should not mention the matter if +it were not that you are now one of ourselves, and that the facts +might come to your ears in some harsher form if I were silent upon +them. I always took it for granted that you knew that you were in +the service of `Devil' Bollamore." + +"But why `Devil'?" I asked. + +"Ah, you are young and the world moves fast, but twenty +years ago the name of `Devil' Bollamore was one of the best +known in London. He was the leader of the fastest set, bruiser, +driver, gambler, drunkard--a survival of the old type, and as bad +as the worst of them." + +I stared at him in amazement. + +"What!" I cried, "that quiet, studious, sad-faced man?" + +"The greatest rip and debauchee in England! All between +ourselves, Colmore. But you understand now what I mean when I say +that a woman's voice in his room might even now give rise to +suspicions." + +"But what can have changed him so?" + +"Little Beryl Clare, when she took the risk of becoming his +wife. That was the turning point. He had got so far that his own +fast set had thrown him over. There is a world of difference, you +know, between a man who drinks and a drunkard. They all drink, but +they taboo a drunkard. He had become a slave to it--hopeless and +helpless. Then she stepped in, saw the possibilities of a fine man +in the wreck, took her chance in marrying him though she might have +had the pick of a dozen, and, by devoting her life to it, brought +him back to manhood and decency. You have observed that no liquor +is ever kept in the house. There never has been any since her foot +crossed its threshold. A drop of it would be like blood to a tiger +even now." + +"Then her influence still holds him?" + +"That is the wonder of it. When she died three years ago, we +all expected and feared that he would fall back into his old ways. +She feared it herself, and the thought gave a terror to death, for +she was like a guardian angel to that man, and lived only for +the one purpose. By the way, did you see a black japanned box in +his room?" + +"Yes." + +"I fancy it contains her letters. If ever he has occasion to +be away, if only for a single night, he invariably takes his black +japanned box with him. Well, well, Colmore, perhaps I have told +you rather more than I should, but I shall expect you to +reciprocate if anything of interest should come to your knowledge." + +I could see that the worthy man was consumed with curiosity and +just a little piqued that I, the newcomer, should have been the +first to penetrate into the untrodden chamber. But the fact raised +me in his esteem, and from that time onwards I found myself upon +more confidential terms with him. + +And now the silent and majestic figure of my employer became an +object of greater interest to me. I began to understand that +strangely human look in his eyes, those deep lines upon his care- +worn face. He was a man who was fighting a ceaseless battle, +holding at arm's length, from morning till night, a horrible +adversary who was forever trying to close with him--an adversary +which would destroy him body and soul could it but fix its claws +once more upon him. As I watched the grim, round-backed figure +pacing the corridor or walking in the garden, this imminent danger +seemed to take bodily shape, and I could almost fancy that I saw +this most loathsome and dangerous of all the fiends crouching +closely in his very shadow, like a half-cowed beast which slinks +beside its keeper, ready at any unguarded moment to spring at his +throat. And the dead woman, the woman who had spent her life in +warding off this danger, took shape also to my imagination, and I +saw her as a shadowy but beautiful presence which intervened for +ever with arms uplifted to screen the man whom she loved. + +In some subtle way he divined the sympathy which I had for him, +and he showed in his own silent fashion that he appreciated it. He +even invited me once to share his afternoon walk, and although no +word passed between us on this occasion, it was a mark of +confidence which he had never shown to anyone before. He asked me +also to index his library (it was one of the best private libraries +in England), and I spent many hours in the evening in his +presence, if not in his society, he reading at his desk and I +sitting in a recess by the window reducing to order the chaos which +existed among his books. In spite of these close relations I was +never again asked to enter the chamber in the turret. + +And then came my revulsion of feeling. A single incident +changed all my sympathy to loathing, and made me realize that my +employer still remained all that he had ever been, with the +additional vice of hypocrisy. What happened was as follows. + +One evening Miss Witherton had gone down to Broadway, the +neighbouring village, to sing at a concert for some charity, and I, +according to my promise, had walked over to escort her back. The +drive sweeps round under the eastern turret, and I observed as I +passed that the light was lit in the circular room. It was a +summer evening, and the window, which was a little higher than our +heads, was open. We were, as it happened, engrossed in our own +conversation at the moment and we had paused upon the lawn which +skirts the old turret, when suddenly something broke in upon our +talk and turned our thoughts away from our own affairs. + +It was a voice--the voice undoubtedly of a woman. It was low-- +so low that it was only in that still night air that we could have +heard it, but, hushed as it was, there was no mistaking its +feminine timbre. It spoke hurriedly, gaspingly for a few +sentences, and then was silent--a piteous, breathless, imploring +sort of voice. Miss Witherton and I stood for an instant staring +at each other. Then we walked quickly in the direction of the +hall-door. + +"It came through the window," I said. + +"We must not play the part of eavesdroppers," she answered. +"We must forget that we have ever heard it." + +There was an absence of surprise in her manner which suggested +a new idea to me. + +"You have heard it before," I cried. + +"I could not help it. My own room is higher up on the same +turret. It has happened frequently." + +"Who can the woman be?" + +"I have no idea. I had rather not discuss it." + +Her voice was enough to show me what she thought. But granting +that our employer led a double and dubious life, who could she be, +this mysterious woman who kept him company in the old tower? +I knew from my own inspection how bleak and bare a room it was. +She certainly did not live there. But in that case where did she +come from? It could not be anyone of the household. They were all +under the vigilant eyes of Mrs. Stevens. The visitor must come +from without. But how? + +And then suddenly I remembered how ancient this building was, +and how probable that some mediaeval passage existed in it. There +is hardly an old castle without one. The mysterious room was the +basement of the turret, so that if there were anything of the sort +it would open through the floor. There were numerous cottages in +the immediate vicinity. The other end of the secret passage might +lie among some tangle of bramble in the neighbouring copse. I said +nothing to anyone, but I felt that the secret of my employer lay +within my power. + +And the more convinced I was of this the more I marvelled at +the manner in which he concealed his true nature. Often as I +watched his austere figure, I asked myself if it were indeed +possible that such a man should be living this double life, and I +tried to persuade myself that my suspicions might after all prove +to be ill-founded. But there was the female voice, there was the +secret nightly rendezvous in the turret-chamber--how could such +facts admit of an innocent interpretation. I conceived a horror of +the man. I was filled with loathing at his deep, consistent +hypocrisy. + +Only once during all those months did I ever see him without +that sad but impassive mask which he usually presented towards his +fellow-man. For an instant I caught a glimpse of those volcanic +fires which he had damped down so long. The occasion was an +unworthy one, for the object of his wrath was none other than the +aged charwoman whom I have already mentioned as being the one +person who was allowed within his mysterious chamber. I was +passing the corridor which led to the turret--for my own room lay +in that direction--when I heard a sudden, startled scream, and +merged in it the husky, growling note of a man who is inarticulate +with passion. It was the snarl of a furious wild beast. Then I +heard his voice thrilling with anger. "You would dare!" he cried. +"You would dare to disobey my directions!" An instant later the +charwoman passed me, flying down the passage, white-faced and +tremulous, while the terrible voice thundered behind her. "Go to +Mrs. Stevens for your money! Never set foot in Thorpe Place +again!" Consumed with curiosity, I could not help following the +woman, and found her round the corner leaning against the wall and +palpitating like a frightened rabbit. + +"What is the matter, Mrs. Brown?" I asked. + +"It's master!" she gasped. "Oh, 'ow 'e frightened me! If you +had seen 'is eyes, Mr. Colmore, sir. I thought 'e would 'ave been +the death of me." + +"But what had you done?" + +"Done, sir! Nothing. At least nothing to make so much of. +Just laid my 'and on that black box of 'is--'adn't even opened it, +when in 'e came and you 'eard the way 'e went on. I've lost my +place, and glad I am of it, for I would never trust myself within +reach of 'im again." + +So it was the japanned box which was the cause of this +outburst--the box from which he would never permit himself to be +separated. What was the connection, or was there any connection +between this and the secret visits of the lady whose voice I had +overheard? Sir John Bollamore's wrath was enduring as well as +fiery, for from that day Mrs. Brown, the charwoman, vanished from +our ken, and Thorpe Place knew her no more. + +And now I wish to tell you the singular chance which solved all +these strange questions and put my employer's secret in my +possession. The story may leave you with some lingering doubts as +to whether my curiosity did not get the better of my honour, and +whether I did not condescend to play the spy. If you choose to +think so I cannot help it, but can only assure you that, improbable +as it may appear, the matter came about exactly as I describe it. + +The first stage in this denouement was that the small room +in the turret became uninhabitable. This occurred through the fall +of the worm-eaten oaken beam which supported the ceiling. Rotten +with age, it snapped in the middle one morning, and brought down a +quantity of plaster with it. Fortunately Sir John was not in the +room at the time. His precious box was rescued from amongst the +debris and brought into the library, where, henceforward, it was +locked within his bureau. Sir John took no steps to repair the +damage, and I never had an opportunity of searching for that secret +passage, the existence of which I had surmised. As to the lady, I +had thought that this would have brought her visits to an end, had +I not one evening heard Mr. Richards asking Mrs. Stevens who the +woman was whom he had overheard talking to Sir John in the library. +I could not catch her reply, but I saw from her manner that it was +not the first time that she had had to answer or avoid the same +question. + +"You've heard the voice, Colmore?" said the agent. + +I confessed that I had. + +"And what do YOU think of it?" + +I shrugged my shoulders, and remarked that it was no business +of mine. + +"Come, come, you are just as curious as any of us. Is it a +woman or not?" + +"It is certainly a woman." + +"Which room did you hear it from?" + +"From the turret-room, before the ceiling fell." + +"But I heard it from the library only last night. I passed the +doors as I was going to bed, and I heard something wailing and +praying just as plainly as I hear you. It may be a woman----" + +"Why, what else COULD it be?" + +He looked at me hard. + +"There are more things in heaven and earth," said he. "If it +is a woman, how does she get there?" + +"I don't know." + +"No, nor I. But if it is the other thing--but there, for a +practical business man at the end of the nineteenth century this is +rather a ridiculous line of conversation." He turned away, but I +saw that he felt even more than he had said. To all the old ghost +stories of Thorpe Place a new one was being added before our very +eyes. It may by this time have taken its permanent place, for +though an explanation came to me, it never reached the others. + +And my explanation came in this way. I had suffered a +sleepless night from neuralgia, and about midday I had taken a +heavy dose of chlorodyne to alleviate the pain. At that time I was +finishing the indexing of Sir John Bollamore's library, and it was +my custom to work there from five till seven. On this particular +day I struggled against the double effect of my bad night and the +narcotic. I have already mentioned that there was a recess in the +library, and in this it was my habit to work. I settled down +steadily to my task, but my weariness overcame me and, falling +back upon the settee, I dropped into a heavy sleep. + +How long I slept I do not know, but it was quite dark when I +awoke. Confused by the chlorodyne which I had taken, I lay +motionless in a semi-conscious state. The great room with its high +walls covered with books loomed darkly all round me. A dim +radiance from the moonlight came through the farther window, and +against this lighter background I saw that Sir John Bollamore was +sitting at his study table. His well-set head and clearly cut +profile were sharply outlined against the glimmering square behind +him. He bent as I watched him, and I heard the sharp turning of a +key and the rasping of metal upon metal. As if in a dream I was +vaguely conscious that this was the japanned box which stood in +front of him, and that he had drawn something out of it, something +squat and uncouth, which now lay before him upon the table. I +never realized--it never occurred to my bemuddled and torpid brain +that I was intruding upon his privacy, that he imagined himself to +be alone in the room. And then, just as it rushed upon my +horrified perceptions, and I had half risen to announce my +presence, I heard a strange, crisp, metallic clicking, and then the +voice. + +Yes, it was a woman's voice; there could not be a doubt of it. +But a voice so charged with entreaty and with yearning love, that +it will ring for ever in my ears. It came with a curious faraway +tinkle, but every word was clear, though faint--very faint, for +they were the last words of a dying woman. + +"I am not really gone, John," said the thin, gasping voice. "I +am here at your very elbow, and shall be until we meet once more. +I die happy to think that morning and night you will hear my voice. +Oh, John, be strong, be strong, until we meet again." + +I say that I had risen in order to announce my presence, but I +could not do so while the voice was sounding. I could only remain +half lying, half sitting, paralysed, astounded, listening to those +yearning distant musical words. And he--he was so absorbed that +even if I had spoken he might not have heard me. But with the +silence of the voice came my half articulated apologies and +explanations. He sprang across the room, switched on the electric +light, and in its white glare I saw him, his eyes gleaming +with anger, his face twisted with passion, as the hapless +charwoman may have seen him weeks before. + +"Mr. Colmore!" he cried. "You here! What is the meaning of +this, sir?" + +With halting words I explained it all, my neuralgia, the +narcotic, my luckless sleep and singular awakening. As he listened +the glow of anger faded from his face, and the sad, impassive mask +closed once more over his features. + +"My secret is yours, Mr. Colmore," said he. "I have only +myself to blame for relaxing my precautions. Half confidences are +worse than no confidences, and so you may know all since you know +so much. The story may go where you will when I have passed away, +but until then I rely upon your sense of honour that no human soul +shall hear it from your lips. I am proud still--God help me!--or, +at least, I am proud enough to resent that pity which this story +would draw upon me. I have smiled at envy, and disregarded hatred, +but pity is more than I can tolerate. + +"You have heard the source from which the voice comes--that +voice which has, as I understand, excited so much curiosity in my +household. I am aware of the rumours to which it has given rise. +These speculations, whether scandalous or superstitious, are such +as I can disregard and forgive. What I should never forgive would +be a disloyal spying and eavesdropping in order to satisfy an +illicit curiosity. But of that, Mr. Colmore, I acquit you. + +"When I was a young man, sir, many years younger than you are +now, I was launched upon town without a friend or adviser, and with +a purse which brought only too many false friends and false +advisers to my side. I drank deeply of the wine of life--if there +is a man living who has drunk more deeply he is not a man whom I +envy. My purse suffered, my character suffered, my constitution +suffered, stimulants became a necessity to me, I was a creature +from whom my memory recoils. And it was at that time, the time of +my blackest degradation, that God sent into my life the gentlest, +sweetest spirit that ever descended as a ministering angel from +above. She loved me, broken as I was, loved me, and spent her life +in making a man once more of that which had degraded itself to the +level of the beasts. + +"But a fell disease struck her, and she withered away before +my eyes. In the hour of her agony it was never of herself, of +her own sufferings and her own death that she thought. It was all +of me. The one pang which her fate brought to her was the fear +that when her influence was removed I should revert to that which +I had been. It was in vain that I made oath to her that no drop of +wine would ever cross my lips. She knew only too well the hold +that the devil had upon me--she who had striven so to loosen it-- +and it haunted her night and day the thought that my soul might +again be within his grip. + +"It was from some friend's gossip of the sick room that she +heard of this invention--this phonograph--and with the quick +insight of a loving woman she saw how she might use it for her +ends. She sent me to London to procure the best which money could +buy. With her dying breath she gasped into it the words which have +held me straight ever since. Lonely and broken, what else have I +in all the world to uphold me? But it is enough. Please God, I +shall face her without shame when He is pleased to reunite us! +That is my secret, Mr. Colmore, and whilst I live I leave it in +your keeping." + + + +The Black Doctor + + +Bishop's Crossing is a small village lying ten miles in a south- +westerly direction from Liverpool. Here in the early seventies +there settled a doctor named Aloysius Lana. Nothing was known +locally either of his antecedents or of the reasons which had +prompted him to come to this Lancashire hamlet. Two facts only +were certain about him; the one that he had gained his medical +qualification with some distinction at Glasgow; the other that he +came undoubtedly of a tropical race, and was so dark that he +might almost have had a strain of the Indian in his composition. +His predominant features were, however, European, and he +possessed a stately courtesy and carriage which suggested a +Spanish extraction. A swarthy skin, raven-black hair, and dark, +sparkling eyes under a pair of heavily-tufted brows made a +strange contrast to the flaxen or chestnut rustics of England, +and the newcomer was soon known as "The Black Doctor of Bishop's +Crossing." At first it was a term of ridicule and reproach; as +the years went on it became a title of honour which was familiar +to the whole countryside, and extended far beyond the narrow +confines of the village. + +For the newcomer proved himself to be a capable surgeon and an +accomplished physician. The practice of that district had been in +the hands of Edward Rowe, the son of Sir William Rowe, the +Liverpool consultant, but he had not inherited the talents of his +father, and Dr. Lana, with his advantages of presence and of +manner, soon beat him out of the field. Dr. Lana's social success +was as rapid as his professional. A remarkable surgical cure in +the case of the Hon. James Lowry, the second son of Lord Belton, +was the means of introducing him to county society, where he became +a favourite through the charm of his conversation and the elegance +of his manners. An absence of antecedents and of relatives is +sometimes an aid rather than an impediment to social advancement, +and the distinguished individuality of the handsome doctor was its +own recommendation. + +His patients had one fault--and one fault only--to find with +him. He appeared to be a confirmed bachelor. This was the more +remarkable since the house which he occupied was a large one, and +it was known that his success in practice had enabled him to save +considerable sums. At first the local matchmakers were continually +coupling his name with one or other of the eligible ladies, but as +years passed and Dr. Lana remained unmarried, it came to be +generally understood that for some reason he must remain a +bachelor. Some even went so far as to assert that he was already +married, and that it was in order to escape the consequence of an +early misalliance that he had buried himself at Bishop's Crossing. +And, then, just as the matchmakers had finally given him up in +despair, his engagement was suddenly announced to Miss Frances +Morton, of Leigh Hall. + +Miss Morton was a young lady who was well known upon the +country-side, her father, James Haldane Morton, having been the +Squire of Bishop's Crossing. Both her parents were, however, dead, +and she lived with her only brother, Arthur Morton, who had +inherited the family estate. In person Miss Morton was tall and +stately, and she was famous for her quick, impetuous nature and for +her strength of character. She met Dr. Lana at a garden-party, and +a friendship, which quickly ripened into love, sprang up between +them. Nothing could exceed their devotion to each other. There +was some discrepancy in age, he being thirty-seven, and she twenty- +four; but, save in that one respect, there was no possible +objection to be found with the match. The engagement was in +February, and it was arranged that the marriage should take place +in August. + +Upon the 3rd of June Dr. Lana received a letter from abroad. +In a small village the postmaster is also in a position to be the +gossip-master, and Mr. Bankley, of Bishop's Crossing, had many of +the secrets of his neighbours in his possession. Of this +particular letter he remarked only that it was in a curious +envelope, that it was in a man's handwriting, that the postscript +was Buenos Ayres, and the stamp of the Argentine Republic. It was +the first letter which he had ever known Dr. Lana to have from +abroad and this was the reason why his attention was particularly +called to it before he handed it to the local postman. It was +delivered by the evening delivery of that date. + +Next morning--that is, upon the 4th of June--Dr. Lana called +upon Miss Morton, and a long interview followed, from which he was +observed to return in a state of great agitation. Miss Morton +remained in her room all that day, and her maid found her several +times in tears. In the course of a week it was an open secret to +the whole village that the engagement was at an end, that Dr. Lana +had behaved shamefully to the young lady, and that Arthur Morton, +her brother, was talking of horse-whipping him. In what particular +respect the doctor had behaved badly was unknown--some surmised one +thing and some another; but it was observed, and taken as the +obvious sign of a guilty conscience, that he would go for miles +round rather than pass the windows of Leigh Hall, and that he gave +up attending morning service upon Sundays where he might have met +the young lady. There was an advertisement also in the Lancet +as to the sale of a practice which mentioned no names, but which +was thought by some to refer to Bishop's Crossing, and to mean that +Dr. Lana was thinking of abandoning the scene of his success. Such +was the position of affairs when, upon the evening of Monday, June +21st, there came a fresh development which changed what had been a +mere village scandal into a tragedy which arrested the attention of +the whole nation. Some detail is necessary to cause the facts of +that evening to present their full significance. + +The sole occupants of the doctor's house were his housekeeper, +an elderly and most respectable woman, named Martha Woods, and a +young servant--Mary Pilling. The coachman and the surgery-boy +slept out. It was the custom of the doctor to sit at night in his +study, which was next the surgery in the wing of the house which +was farthest from the servants' quarters. This side of the house +had a door of its own for the convenience of patients, so that it +was possible for the doctor to admit and receive a visitor there +without the knowledge of anyone. As a matter of fact, when +patients came late it was quite usual for him to let them in and +out by the surgery entrance, for the maid and the housekeeper were +in the habit of retiring early. + +On this particular night Martha Woods went into the doctor's +study at half-past nine, and found him writing at his desk. She +bade him good night, sent the maid to bed, and then occupied +herself until a quarter to eleven in household matters. It was +striking eleven upon the hall clock when she went to her own room. +She had been there about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes +when she heard a cry or call, which appeared to come from within +the house. She waited some time, but it was not repeated. Much +alarmed, for the sound was loud and urgent, she put on a dressing- +gown, and ran at the top of her speed to the doctor's study. + +"Who's there?" cried a voice, as she tapped at the door. + +"I am here, sir--Mrs. Woods." + +"I beg that you will leave me in peace. Go back to your room +this instant!" cried the voice, which was, to the best of her +belief, that of her master. The tone was so harsh and so unlike +her master's usual manner, that she was surprised and hurt. + +"I thought I heard you calling, sir," she explained, but no +answer was given to her. Mrs. Woods looked at the clock as she +returned to her room, and it was then half-past eleven. + +At some period between eleven and twelve (she could not be +positive as to the exact hour) a patient called upon the doctor and +was unable to get any reply from him. This late visitor was Mrs. +Madding, the wife of the village grocer, who was dangerously ill of +typhoid fever. Dr. Lana had asked her to look in the last thing +and let him know how her husband was progressing. She observed +that the light was burning in the study, but having knocked several +times at the surgery door without response, she concluded that the +doctor had been called out, and so returned home. + +There is a short, winding drive with a lamp at the end of it +leading down from the house to the road. As Mrs. Madding emerged +from the gate a man was coming along the footpath. Thinking that +it might be Dr. Lana returning from some professional visit, she +waited for him, and was surprised to see that it was Mr. Arthur +Morton, the young squire. In the light of the lamp she observed +that his manner was excited, and that he carried in his hand a +heavy hunting-crop. He was turning in at the gate when she +addressed him. + +"The doctor is not in, sir," said she. + +"How do you know that?" he asked harshly. + +"I have been to the surgery door, sir." + +"I see a light," said the young squire, looking up the drive. +"That is in his study, is it not?" + +"Yes, sir; but I am sure that he is out." + +"Well, he must come in again," said young Morton, and passed +through the gate while Mrs. Madding went upon her homeward way. + +At three o'clock that morning her husband suffered a sharp +relapse, and she was so alarmed by his symptoms that she determined +to call the doctor without delay. As she passed through the gate +she was surprised to see someone lurking among the laurel bushes. +It was certainly a man, and to the best of her belief Mr. Arthur +Morton. Preoccupied with her own troubles, she gave no particular +attention to the incident, but hurried on upon her errand. + +When she reached the house she perceived to her surprise that +the light was still burning in the study. She therefore tapped at +the surgery door. There was no answer. She repeated the knocking +several times without effect. It appeared to her to be unlikely +that the doctor would either go to bed or go out leaving so +brilliant a light behind him, and it struck Mrs. Madding that it +was possible that he might have dropped asleep in his chair. She +tapped at the study window, therefore, but without result. Then, +finding that there was an opening between the curtain and the +woodwork, she looked through. + +The small room was brilliantly lighted from a large lamp on the +central table, which was littered with the doctor's books and +instruments. No one was visible, nor did she see anything unusual, +except that in the farther shadow thrown by the table a dingy white +glove was lying upon the carpet. And then suddenly, as her eyes +became more accustomed to the light, a boot emerged from the other +end of the shadow, and she realized, with a thrill of horror, that +what she had taken to be a glove was the hand of a man, who was +prostrate upon the floor. Understanding that something terrible +had occurred, she rang at the front door, roused Mrs. Woods, the +housekeeper, and the two women made their way into the study, +having first dispatched the maidservant to the police-station. + +At the side of the table, away from the window, Dr. Lana was +discovered stretched upon his back and quite dead. It was +evident that he had been subjected to violence, for one of his eyes +was blackened and there were marks of bruises about his face and +neck. A slight thickening and swelling of his features appeared to +suggest that the cause of his death had been strangulation. He was +dressed in his usual professional clothes, but wore cloth slippers, +the soles of which were perfectly clean. The carpet was marked all +over, especially on the side of the door, with traces of dirty +boots, which were presumably left by the murderer. It was evident +that someone had entered by the surgery door, had killed the +doctor, and had then made his escape unseen. That the assailant +was a man was certain, from the size of the footprints and from the +nature of the injuries. But beyond that point the police found it +very difficult to go. + +There were no signs of robbery, and the doctor's gold watch was +safe in his pocket. He kept a heavy cash-box in the room, and this +was discovered to be locked but empty. Mrs. Woods had an +impression that a large sum was usually kept there, but the doctor +had paid a heavy corn bill in cash only that very day, and it was +conjectured that it was to this and not to a robber that the +emptiness of the box was due. One thing in the room was missing-- +but that one thing was suggestive. The portrait of Miss Morton, +which had always stood upon the side-table, had been taken from its +frame, and carried off. Mrs. Woods had observed it there when she +waited upon her employer that evening, and now it was gone. On the +other hand, there was picked up from the floor a green eye-patch, +which the housekeeper could not remember to have seen before. Such +a patch might, however, be in the possession of a doctor, and there +was nothing to indicate that it was in any way connected with the +crime. + +Suspicion could only turn in one direction, and Arthur Morton, +the young squire, was immediately arrested. The evidence against +him was circumstantial, but damning. He was devoted to his sister, +and it was shown that since the rupture between her and Dr. Lana he +had been heard again and again to express himself in the most +vindictive terms towards her former lover. He had, as stated, been +seen somewhere about eleven o'clock entering the doctor's drive +with a hunting-crop in his hand. He had then, according to the +theory of the police, broken in upon the doctor, whose +exclamation of fear or of anger had been loud enough to attract the +attention of Mrs. Woods. When Mrs. Woods descended, Dr. Lana had +made up his mind to talk it over with his visitor, and had, +therefore, sent his housekeeper back to her room. This +conversation had lasted a long time, had become more and more +fiery, and had ended by a personal struggle, in which the doctor +lost his life. The fact, revealed by a post-mortem, that his +heart was much diseased--an ailment quite unsuspected during his +life--would make it possible that death might in his case ensue +from injuries which would not be fatal to a healthy man. Arthur +Morton had then removed his sister's photograph, and had made his +way homeward, stepping aside into the laurel bushes to avoid Mrs. +Madding at the gate. This was the theory of the prosecution, and +the case which they presented was a formidable one. + +On the other hand, there were some strong points for the +defence. Morton was high-spirited and impetuous, like his sister, +but he was respected and liked by everyone, and his frank and +honest nature seemed to be incapable of such a crime. His own +explanation was that he was anxious to have a conversation with Dr. +Lana about some urgent family matters (from first to last he +refused even to mention the name of his sister). He did not +attempt to deny that this conversation would probably have been of +an unpleasant nature. He had heard from a patient that the doctor +was out, and he therefore waited until about three in the morning +for his return, but as he had seen nothing of him up to that hour, +he had given it up and had returned home. As to his death, he knew +no more about it than the constable who arrested him. He had +formerly been an intimate friend of the deceased man; but +circumstances, which he would prefer not to mention, had brought +about a change in his sentiments. + +There were several facts which supported his innocence. It was +certain that Dr. Lana was alive and in his study at half-past +eleven o'clock. Mrs. Woods was prepared to swear that it was at +that hour that she had heard his voice. The friends of the +prisoner contended that it was probable that at that time Dr. Lana +was not alone. The sound which had originally attracted the +attention of the housekeeper, and her master's unusual impatience +that she should leave him in peace, seemed to point to that. If +this were so then it appeared to be probable that he had met +his end between the moment when the housekeeper heard his voice and +the time when Mrs. Madding made her first call and found it +impossible to attract his attention. But if this were the time of +his death, then it was certain that Mr. Arthur Morton could not be +guilty, as it was AFTER this that she had met the young squire +at the gate. + +If this hypothesis were correct, and someone was with Dr. Lana +before Mrs. Madding met Mr. Arthur Morton, then who was this +someone, and what motives had he for wishing evil to the doctor? +It was universally admitted that if the friends of the accused +could throw light upon this, they would have gone a long way +towards establishing his innocence. But in the meanwhile it was +open to the public to say--as they did say--that there was no proof +that anyone had been there at all except the young squire; while, +on the other hand, there was ample proof that his motives in going +were of a sinister kind. When Mrs. Madding called, the doctor +might have retired to his room, or he might, as she thought at the +time, have gone out and returned afterwards to find Mr. Arthur +Morton waiting for him. Some of the supporters of the accused laid +stress upon the fact that the photograph of his sister Frances, +which had been removed from the doctor's room, had not been found +in her brother's possession. This argument, however, did not count +for much, as he had ample time before his arrest to burn it or to +destroy it. As to the only positive evidence in the case--the +muddy footmarks upon the floor--they were so blurred by the +softness of the carpet that it was impossible to make any +trustworthy deduction from them. The most that could be said was +that their appearance was not inconsistent with the theory that +they were made by the accused, and it was further shown that his +boots were very muddy upon that night. There had been a heavy +shower in the afternoon, and all boots were probably in the same +condition. + +Such is a bald statement of the singular and romantic series of +events which centred public attention upon this Lancashire tragedy. +The unknown origin of the doctor, his curious and distinguished +personality, the position of the man who was accused of the murder, +and the love affair which had preceded the crimes all combined to +make the affair one of those dramas which absorb the whole +interest of a nation. Throughout the three kingdoms men discussed +the case of the Black Doctor of Bishop's Crossing, and many were +the theories put forward to explain the facts; but it may safely be +said that among them all there was not one which prepared the minds +of the public for the extraordinary sequel, which caused so much +excitement upon the first day of the trial, and came to a climax +upon the second. The long files of the Lancaster Weekly with +their report of the case lie before me as I write, but I must +content myself with a synopsis of the case up to the point when, +upon the evening of the first day, the evidence of Miss Frances +Morton threw a singular light upon the case. + +Mr. Porlock Carr, the counsel for the prosecution, had +marshalled his facts with his usual skill, and as the day wore on, +it became more and more evident how difficult was the task which +Mr. Humphrey, who had been retained for the defence, had before +him. Several witnesses were put up to swear to the intemperate +expressions which the young squire had been heard to utter about +the doctor, and the fiery manner in which he resented the alleged +ill-treatment of his sister. Mrs. Madding repeated her evidence as +to the visit which had been paid late at night by the prisoner to +the deceased, and it was shown by another witness that the prisoner +was aware that the doctor was in the habit of sitting up alone in +this isolated wing of the house, and that he had chosen this very +late hour to call because he knew that his victim would then be at +his mercy. A servant at the squire's house was compelled to admit +that he had heard his master return about three that morning, which +corroborated Mrs. Madding's statement that she had seen him among +the laurel bushes near the gate upon the occasion of her second +visit. The muddy boots and an alleged similarity in the footprints +were duly dwelt upon, and it was felt when the case for the +prosecution had been presented that, however circumstantial it +might be, it was none the less so complete and so convincing, that +the fate of the prisoner was sealed, unless something quite +unexpected should be disclosed by the defence. It was three +o'clock when the prosecution closed. At half-past four, when the +court rose, a new and unlooked-for development had occurred. I +extract the incident, or part of it, from the journal which I have +already mentioned, omitting the preliminary observations of the +counsel. + + +Considerable sensation was caused in the crowded court when the +first witness called for the defence proved to be Miss Frances +Morton, the sister of the prisoner. Our readers will remember that +the young lady had been engaged to Dr. Lana, and that it was his +anger over the sudden termination of this engagement which was +thought to have driven her brother to the perpetration of this +crime. Miss Morton had not, however, been directly implicated in +the case in any way, either at the inquest or at the police-court +proceedings, and her appearance as the leading witness for the +defence came as a surprise upon the public. + +Miss Frances Morton, who was a tall and handsome brunette, gave +her evidence in a low but clear voice, though it was evident +throughout that she was suffering from extreme emotion. She +alluded to her engagement to the doctor, touched briefly upon its +termination, which was due, she said, to personal matters connected +with his family, and surprised the court by asserting that she had +always considered her brother's resentment to be unreasonable and +intemperate. In answer to a direct question from her counsel, she +replied that she did not feel that she had any grievance whatever +against Dr. Lana, and that in her opinion he had acted in a +perfectly honourable manner. Her brother, on an insufficient +knowledge of the facts, had taken another view, and she was +compelled to acknowledge that, in spite of her entreaties, he had +uttered threats of personal violence against the doctor, and had, +upon the evening of the tragedy, announced his intention of "having +it out with him." She had done her best to bring him to a more +reasonable frame of mind, but he was very headstrong where his +emotions or prejudices were concerned. + +Up to this point the young lady's evidence had appeared to make +against the prisoner rather than in his favour. The questions of +her counsel, however, soon put a very different light upon the +matter, and disclosed an unexpected line of defence. + +Mr. Humphrey: Do you believe your brother to be guilty of this +crime? + +The Judge: I cannot permit that question, Mr. Humphrey. We +are here to decide upon questions of fact--not of belief. + +Mr. Humphrey: Do you know that your brother is not guilty of +the death of Doctor Lana? + +Miss Morton: Yes. + +Mr. Humphrey: How do you know it? + +Miss Morton: Because Dr. Lana is not dead. + +There followed a prolonged sensation in court, which +interrupted the examination of the witness. + +Mr. Humphrey: And how do you know, Miss Morton, that Dr. Lana +is not dead? + +Miss Morton: Because I have received a letter from him since +the date of his supposed death. + +Mr. Humphrey: Have you this letter? + +Miss Morton: Yes, but I should prefer not to show it. + +Mr. Humphrey: Have you the envelope? + +Miss Morton: Yes, it is here. + +Mr. Humphrey: What is the post-mark? + +Miss Morton: Liverpool. + +Mr. Humphrey: And the date? + +Miss Morton: June the 22nd. + +Mr. Humphrey: That being the day after his alleged death. Are +you prepared to swear to this handwriting, Miss Morton? + +Miss Morton: Certainly. + +Mr. Humphrey: I am prepared to call six other witnesses, my +lord, to testify that this letter is in the writing of Doctor Lana. + +The Judge: Then you must call them tomorrow. + +Mr. Porlock Carr (counsel for the prosecution): In the +meantime, my lord, we claim possession of this document, so that we +may obtain expert evidence as to how far it is an imitation of the +handwriting of the gentleman whom we still confidently assert to be +deceased. I need not point out that the theory so unexpectedly +sprung upon us may prove to be a very obvious device adopted by the +friends of the prisoner in order to divert this inquiry. I would +draw attention to the fact that the young lady must, according to +her own account, have possessed this letter during the proceedings +at the inquest and at the police-court. She desires us to believe +that she permitted these to proceed, although she held in her +pocket evidence which would at any moment have brought them to an +end. + +Mr. Humphrey. Can you explain this, Miss Morton? + +Miss Morton: Dr. Lana desired his secret to be preserved. + +Mr. Porlock Carr: Then why have you made this public? + +Miss Morton: To save my brother. + +A murmur of sympathy broke out in court, which was instantly +suppressed by the Judge. + +The Judge: Admitting this line of defence, it lies with you, +Mr. Humphrey, to throw a light upon who this man is whose body has +been recognized by so many friends and patients of Dr. Lana as +being that of the doctor himself. + +A Juryman: Has anyone up to now expressed any doubt about the +matter? + +Mr. Porlock Carr: Not to my knowledge. + +Mr. Humphrey: We hope to make the matter clear. + +The Judge: Then the court adjourns until tomorrow. + + +This new development of the case excited the utmost interest +among the general public. Press comment was prevented by the fact +that the trial was still undecided, but the question was everywhere +argued as to how far there could be truth in Miss Morton's +declaration, and how far it might be a daring ruse for the purpose +of saving her brother. The obvious dilemma in which the missing +doctor stood was that if by any extraordinary chance he was not +dead, then he must be held responsible for the death of this +unknown man, who resembled him so exactly, and who was found in his +study. This letter which Miss Morton refused to produce was +possibly a confession of guilt, and she might find herself in the +terrible position of only being able to save her brother from the +gallows by the sacrifice of her former lover. The court next +morning was crammed to overflowing, and a murmur of excitement +passed over it when Mr. Humphrey was observed to enter in a state +of emotion, which even his trained nerves could not conceal, and to +confer with the opposing counsel. A few hurried words--words which +left a look of amazement upon Mr. Porlock Carr's face--passed +between them, and then the counsel for the defence, addressing the +Judge, announced that, with the consent of the prosecution, the +young lady who had given evidence upon the sitting before would not +be recalled. + + +The Judge: But you appear, Mr. Humphrey, to have left matters +in a very unsatisfactory state. + +Mr. Humphrey: Perhaps, my lord, my next witness may help to +clear them up. + +The Judge: Then call your next witness. + +Mr. Humphrey: I call Dr. Aloysius Lana. + +The learned counsel has made many telling remarks in his day, +but he has certainly never produced such a sensation with so short +a sentence. The court was simply stunned with amazement as the +very man whose fate had been the subject of so much contention +appeared bodily before them in the witness-box. Those among the +spectators who had known him at Bishop's Crossing saw him now, +gaunt and thin, with deep lines of care upon his face. But in +spite of his melancholy bearing and despondent expression, there +were few who could say that they had ever seen a man of more +distinguished presence. Bowing to the judge, he asked if he might +be allowed to make a statement, and having been duly informed that +whatever he said might be used against him, he bowed once more, and +proceeded: + +"My wish," said he, "is to hold nothing back, but to tell with +perfect frankness all that occurred upon the night of the 21st of +June. Had I known that the innocent had suffered, and that so much +trouble had been brought upon those whom I love best in the world, +I should have come forward long ago; but there were reasons which +prevented these things from coming to my ears. It was my desire +that an unhappy man should vanish from the world which had known +him, but I had not foreseen that others would be affected by my +actions. Let me to the best of my ability repair the evil which I +have done. + +"To anyone who is acquainted with the history of the Argentine +Republic the name of Lana is well known. My father, who came of +the best blood of old Spain, filled all the highest offices of the +State, and would have been President but for his death in the riots +of San Juan. A brilliant career might have been open to my twin +brother Ernest and myself had it not been for financial losses +which made it necessary that we should earn our own living. I +apologize, sir, if these details appear to be irrelevant, but they +are a necessary introduction to that which is to follow. + +"I had, as I have said, a twin brother named Ernest, whose +resemblance to me was so great that even when we were together +people could see no difference between us. Down to the smallest +detail we were exactly the same. As we grew older this +likeness became less marked because our expression was not the +same, but with our features in repose the points of difference were +very slight. + +"It does not become me to say too much of one who is dead, the +more so as he is my only brother, but I leave his character to +those who knew him best. I will only say--for I HAVE to say +it--that in my early manhood I conceived a horror of him, and that +I had good reason for the aversion which filled me. My own +reputation suffered from his actions, for our close resemblance +caused me to be credited with many of them. Eventually, in a +peculiarly disgraceful business, he contrived to throw the whole +odium upon me in such a way that I was forced to leave the +Argentine for ever, and to seek a career in Europe. The freedom +from his hated presence more than compensated me for the loss of my +native land. I had enough money to defray my medical studies at +Glasgow, and I finally settled in practice at Bishop's Crossing, in +the firm conviction that in that remote Lancashire hamlet I should +never hear of him again. + +"For years my hopes were fulfilled, and then at last he +discovered me. Some Liverpool man who visited Buenos Ayres put him +upon my track. He had lost all his money, and he thought that he +would come over and share mine. Knowing my horror of him, he +rightly thought that I would be willing to buy him off. I received +a letter from him saying that he was coming. It was at a crisis in +my own affairs, and his arrival might conceivably bring trouble, +and even disgrace, upon some whom I was especially bound to shield +from anything of the kind. I took steps to insure that any evil +which might come should fall on me only, and that"--here he turned +and looked at the prisoner--"was the cause of conduct upon my part +which has been too harshly judged. My only motive was to screen +those who were dear to me from any possible connection with scandal +or disgrace. That scandal and disgrace would come with my brother +was only to say that what had been would be again. + +"My brother arrived himself one night not very long after my +receipt of the letter. I was sitting in my study after the +servants had gone to bed, when I heard a footstep upon the gravel +outside, and an instant later I saw his face looking in at me +through the window. He was a clean-shaven man like myself, +and the resemblance between us was still so great that, for an +instant, I thought it was my own reflection in the glass. He had +a dark patch over his eye, but our features were absolutely the +same. Then he smiled in a sardonic way which had been a trick of +his from his boyhood, and I knew that he was the same brother who +had driven me from my native land, and brought disgrace upon what +had been an honourable name. I went to the door and I admitted +him. That would be about ten o'clock that night. + +"When he came into the glare of the lamp, I saw at once that he +had fallen upon very evil days. He had walked from Liverpool, and +he was tired and ill. I was quite shocked by the expression upon +his face. My medical knowledge told me that there was some serious +internal malady. He had been drinking also, and his face was +bruised as the result of a scuffle which he had had with some +sailors. It was to cover his injured eye that he wore this patch, +which he removed when he entered the room. He was himself dressed +in a pea-jacket and flannel shirt, and his feet were bursting +through his boots. But his poverty had only made him more savagely +vindictive towards me. His hatred rose to the height of a mania. +I had been rolling in money in England, according to his account, +while he had been starving in South America. I cannot describe to +you the threats which he uttered or the insults which he poured +upon me. My impression is, that hardships and debauchery had +unhinged his reason. He paced about the room like a wild beast, +demanding drink, demanding money, and all in the foulest language. +I am a hot-tempered man, but I thank God that I am able to say that +I remained master of myself, and that I never raised a hand against +him. My coolness only irritated him the more. He raved, he +cursed, he shook his fists in my face, and then suddenly a horrible +spasm passed over his features, he clapped his hand to his side, +and with a loud cry he fell in a heap at my feet. I raised him up +and stretched him upon the sofa, but no answer came to my +exclamations, and the hand which I held in mine was cold and +clammy. His diseased heart had broken down. His own violence had +killed him. + +"For a long time I sat as if I were in some dreadful dream, +staring at the body of my brother. I was aroused by the knocking +of Mrs. Woods, who had been disturbed by that dying cry. I sent +her away to bed. Shortly afterwards a patient tapped at the +surgery door, but as I took no notice, he or she went off again. +Slowly and gradually as I sat there a plan was forming itself in my +head in the curious automatic way in which plans do form. When I +rose from my chair my future movements were finally decided upon +without my having been conscious of any process of thought. It was +an instinct which irresistibly inclined me towards one course. + +"Ever since that change in my affairs to which I have alluded, +Bishop's Crossing had become hateful to me. My plans of life had +been ruined, and I had met with hasty judgments and unkind +treatment where I had expected sympathy. It is true that any +danger of scandal from my brother had passed away with his life; +but still, I was sore about the past, and felt that things could +never be as they had been. It may be that I was unduly sensitive, +and that I had not made sufficient allowance for others, but my +feelings were as I describe. Any chance of getting away from +Bishop's Crossing and of everyone in it would be most welcome to +me. And here was such a chance as I could never have dared to hope +for, a chance which would enable me to make a clean break with the +past. + +"There was this dead man lying upon the sofa, so like me that +save for some little thickness and coarseness of the features there +was no difference at all. No one had seen him come and no one +would miss him. We were both clean-shaven, and his hair was about +the same length as my own. If I changed clothes with him, then Dr. +Aloysius Lana would be found lying dead in his study, and there +would be an end of an unfortunate fellow, and of a blighted career. +There was plenty of ready money in the room, and this I could carry +away with me to help me to start once more in some other land. In +my brother's clothes I could walk by night unobserved as far as +Liverpool, and in that great seaport I would soon find some means +of leaving the country. After my lost hopes, the humblest +existence where I was unknown was far preferable, in my estimation, +to a practice, however successful, in Bishop's Crossing, where at +any moment I might come face to face with those whom I should wish, +if it were possible, to forget. I determined to effect the change. + +"And I did so. I will not go into particulars, for the +recollection is as painful as the experience; but in an hour +my brother lay, dressed down to the smallest detail in my clothes, +while I slunk out by the surgery door, and taking the back path +which led across some fields, I started off to make the best of my +way to Liverpool, where I arrived the same night. My bag of money +and a certain portrait were all I carried out of the house, and I +left behind me in my hurry the shade which my brother had been +wearing over his eye. Everything else of his I took with me. + +"I give you my word, sir, that never for one instant did the +idea occur to me that people might think that I had been murdered, +nor did I imagine that anyone might be caused serious danger +through this stratagem by which I endeavoured to gain a fresh start +in the world. On the contrary, it was the thought of relieving +others from the burden of my presence which was always uppermost in +my mind. A sailing vessel was leaving Liverpool that very day for +Corunna, and in this I took my passage, thinking that the voyage +would give me time to recover my balance, and to consider the +future. But before I left my resolution softened. I bethought me +that there was one person in the world to whom I would not cause an +hour of sadness. She would mourn me in her heart, however harsh +and unsympathetic her relatives might be. She understood and +appreciated the motives upon which I had acted, and if the rest of +her family condemned me, she, at least, would not forget. And so +I sent her a note under the seal of secrecy to save her from a +baseless grief. If under the pressure of events she broke that +seal, she has my entire sympathy and forgiveness. + +"It was only last night that I returned to England, and during +all this time I have heard nothing of the sensation which my +supposed death had caused, nor of the accusation that Mr. Arthur +Morton had been concerned in it. It was in a late evening paper +that I read an account of the proceedings of yesterday, and I have +come this morning as fast as an express train could bring me to +testify to the truth." + +Such was the remarkable statement of Dr. Aloysius Lana which +brought the trial to a sudden termination. A subsequent +investigation corroborated it to the extent of finding out the +vessel in which his brother Ernest Lana had come over from South +America. The ship's doctor was able to testify that he had +complained of a weak heart during the voyage, and that his symptoms +were consistent with such a death as was described. + +As to Dr. Aloysius Lana, he returned to the village from which +he had made so dramatic a disappearance, and a complete +reconciliation was effected between him and the young squire, the +latter having acknowledged that he had entirely misunderstood the +other's motives in withdrawing from his engagement. That another +reconciliation followed may be judged from a notice extracted from +a prominent column in the Morning Post: + + +"A marriage was solemnized upon September 19th, by the Rev. +Stephen Johnson, at the parish church of Bishop's Crossing, between +Aloysius Xavier Lana, son of Don Alfredo Lana, formerly Foreign +Minister of the Argentine Republic, and Frances Morton, only +daughter of the late James Morton, J.P., of Leigh Hall, Bishop's +Crossing, Lancashire." + + + +The Jew's Breastplate + + +My particular friend, Ward Mortimer, was one of the best men of +his day at everything connected with Oriental archaeology. He +had written largely upon the subject, he had lived two years in a +tomb at Thebes, while he excavated in the Valley of the Kings, +and finally he had created a considerable sensation by his +exhumation of the alleged mummy of Cleopatra in the inner room of +the Temple of Horus, at Philae. With such a record at the age of +thirty-one, it was felt that a considerable career lay before +him, and no one was surprised when he was elected to the +curatorship of the Belmore Street Museum, which carries with it +the lectureship at the Oriental College, and an income which has +sunk with the fall in land, but which still remains at that ideal +sum which is large enough to encourage an investigator, but not +so large as to enervate him. + +There was only one reason which made Ward Mortimer's position +a little difficult at the Belmore Street Museum, and that was the +extreme eminence of the man whom he had to succeed. Professor +Andreas was a profound scholar and a man of European reputation. +His lectures were frequented by students from every part of the +world, and his admirable management of the collection intrusted to +his care was a commonplace in all learned societies. There was, +therefore, considerable surprise when, at the age of fifty-five, he +suddenly resigned his position and retired from those duties which +had been both his livelihood and his pleasure. He and his daughter +left the comfortable suite of rooms which had formed his official +residence in connection with the museum, and my friend, Mortimer, +who was a bachelor, took up his quarters there. + +On hearing of Mortimer's appointment Professor Andreas had +written him a very kindly and flattering congratulatory letter. I +was actually present at their first meeting, and I went with +Mortimer round the museum when the Professor showed us the +admirable collection which he had cherished so long. The +Professor's beautiful daughter and a young man, Captain Wilson, who +was, as I understood, soon to be her husband, accompanied us in our +inspection. There were fifteen rooms, but the Babylonian, the +Syrian, and the central hall, which contained the Jewish and +Egyptian collection, were the finest of all. Professor Andreas was +a quiet, dry, elderly man, with a clean-shaven face and an +impassive manner, but his dark eyes sparkled and his features +quickened into enthusiastic life as he pointed out to us the rarity +and the beauty of some of his specimens. His hand lingered so +fondly over them, that one could read his pride in them and the +grief in his heart now that they were passing from his care into +that of another. + +He had shown us in turn his mummies, his papyri, his rare +scarabs, his inscriptions, his Jewish relics, and his duplication +of the famous seven-branched candlestick of the Temple, which was +brought to Rome by Titus, and which is supposed by some to be lying +at this instant in the bed of the Tiber. Then he approached a case +which stood in the very centre of the hall, and he looked down +through the glass with reverence in his attitude and manner. + +"This is no novelty to an expert like yourself, Mr. Mortimer," +said he; "but I daresay that your friend, Mr. Jackson, will be +interested to see it." + +Leaning over the case I saw an object, some five inches square, +which consisted of twelve precious stones in a framework of gold, +with golden hooks at two of the corners. The stones were all +varying in sort and colour, but they were of the same size. Their +shapes, arrangement, and gradation of tint made me think of a box +of water-colour paints. Each stone had some hieroglyphic scratched +upon its surface. + +"You have heard, Mr. Jackson, of the urim and thummim?" + +I had heard the term, but my idea of its meaning was +exceedingly vague. + +"The urim and thummim was a name given to the jewelled plate +which lay upon the breast of the high priest of the Jews. They had +a very special feeling of reverence for it--something of the +feeling which an ancient Roman might have for the Sibylline +books in the Capitol. There are, as you see, twelve magnificent +stones, inscribed with mystical characters. Counting from the +left-hand top corner, the stones are carnelian, peridot, emerald, +ruby, lapis lazuli, onyx, sapphire, agate, amethyst, topaz, beryl, +and jasper." + +I was amazed at the variety and beauty of the stones. + +"Has the breastplate any particular history?" I asked. + +"It is of great age and of immense value," said Professor +Andreas. "Without being able to make an absolute assertion, we +have many reasons to think that it is possible that it may be the +original urim and thummim of Solomon's Temple. There is certainly +nothing so fine in any collection in Europe. My friend, Captain +Wilson, here, is a practical authority upon precious stones, and he +would tell you how pure these are." + +Captain Wilson, a man with a dark, hard, incisive face, was +standing beside his fiancee at the other side of the case. + +"Yes," said he, curtly, "I have never seen finer stones." + +"And the gold-work is also worthy of attention. The ancients +excelled in----"--he was apparently about to indicate the setting +of the stones, when Captain Wilson interrupted him. + +"You will see a finer example of their gold-work in this +candlestick," said he, turning to another table, and we all joined +him in his admiration of its embossed stem and delicately +ornamented branches. Altogether it was an interesting and a novel +experience to have objects of such rarity explained by so great an +expert; and when, finally, Professor Andreas finished our +inspection by formally handing over the precious collection to the +care of my friend, I could not help pitying him and envying his +successor whose life was to pass in so pleasant a duty. Within a +week, Ward Mortimer was duly installed in his new set of rooms, and +had become the autocrat of the Belmore Street Museum. + +About a fortnight afterwards my friend gave a small dinner to +half a dozen bachelor friends to celebrate his promotion. When his +guests were departing he pulled my sleeve and signalled to me that +he wished me to remain. + +"You have only a few hundred yards to go," said he--I was +living in chambers in the Albany. "You may as well stay and have +a quiet cigar with me. I very much want your advice." + +I relapsed into an arm-chair and lit one of his excellent +Matronas. When he had returned from seeing the last of his +guests out, he drew a letter from his dress-jacket and sat down +opposite to me. + +"This is an anonymous letter which I received this morning," +said he. "I want to read it to you and to have your advice." + +"You are very welcome to it for what it is worth." + +"This is how the note runs: `Sir,--I should strongly advise +you to keep a very careful watch over the many valuable things +which are committed to your charge. I do not think that the +present system of a single watchman is sufficient. Be upon your +guard, or an irreparable misfortune may occur.'" + +"Is that all?" + +"Yes, that is all." + +"Well," said I, "it is at least obvious that it was written by +one of the limited number of people who are aware that you have +only one watchman at night." + +Ward Mortimer handed me the note, with a curious smile. "Have +you an eye for handwriting?" said he. "Now, look at this!" He put +another letter in front of me. "Look at the c in +`congratulate' and the c in `committed.' Look at the capital +I. Look at the trick of putting in a dash instead of a stop!" + +"They are undoubtedly from the same hand--with some attempt at +disguise in the case of this first one." + +"The second," said Ward Mortimer, "is the letter of +congratulation which was written to me by Professor Andreas upon my +obtaining my appointment." + +I stared at him in amazement. Then I turned over the letter in +my hand, and there, sure enough, was "Martin Andreas" signed upon +the other side. There could be no doubt, in the mind of anyone who +had the slightest knowledge of the science of graphology, that the +Professor had written an anonymous letter, warning his successor +against thieves. It was inexplicable, but it was certain. + +"Why should he do it?" I asked. + +"Precisely what I should wish to ask you. If he had any such +misgivings, why could he not come and tell me direct?" + +"Will you speak to him about it?" + +"There again I am in doubt. He might choose to deny that he +wrote it." + +"At any rate," said I, "this warning is meant in a friendly +spirit, and I should certainly act upon it. Are the present +precautions enough to insure you against robbery?" + +"I should have thought so. The public are only admitted from +ten till five, and there is a guardian to every two rooms. He +stands at the door between them, and so commands them both." + +"But at night?" + +"When the public are gone, we at once put up the great iron +shutters, which are absolutely burglar-proof. The watchman is a +capable fellow. He sits in the lodge, but he walks round every +three hours. We keep one electric light burning in each room all +night." + +"It is difficult to suggest anything more--short of keeping +your day watches all night." + +"We could not afford that." + +"At least, I should communicate with the police, and have a +special constable put on outside in Belmore Street," said I. "As +to the letter, if the writer wishes to be anonymous, I think he has +a right to remain so. We must trust to the future to show some +reason for the curious course which he has adopted." + +So we dismissed the subject, but all that night after my return +to my chambers I was puzzling my brain as to what possible motive +Professor Andreas could have for writing an anonymous warning +letter to his successor--for that the writing was his was as +certain to me as if I had seen him actually doing it. He foresaw +some danger to the collection. Was it because he foresaw it that +he abandoned his charge of it? But if so, why should he hesitate +to warn Mortimer in his own name? I puzzled and puzzled until at +last I fell into a troubled sleep, which carried me beyond my usual +hour of rising. + +I was aroused in a singular and effective method, for about +nine o'clock my friend Mortimer rushed into my room with an +expression of consternation upon his face. He was usually one of +the most tidy men of my acquaintance, but now his collar was undone +at one end, his tie was flying, and his hat at the back of his +head. I read his whole story in his frantic eyes. + +"The museum has been robbed!" I cried, springing up in bed. + +"I fear so! Those jewels! The jewels of the urim and +thummim!" he gasped, for he was out of breath with running. "I'm +going on to the police-station. Come to the museum as soon as +you can, Jackson! Good-bye!" He rushed distractedly out of the +room, and I heard him clatter down the stairs. + +I was not long in following his directions, but I found when I +arrived that he had already returned with a police inspector, and +another elderly gentleman, who proved to be Mr. Purvis, one of the +partners of Morson and Company, the well-known diamond merchants. +As an expert in stones he was always prepared to advise the police. +They were grouped round the case in which the breastplate of the +Jewish priest had been exposed. The plate had been taken out and +laid upon the glass top of the case, and the three heads were bent +over it. + +"It is obvious that it has been tampered with," said Mortimer. +"It caught my eye the moment that I passed through the room this +morning. I examined it yesterday evening, so that it is certain +that this has happened during the night." + +It was, as he had said, obvious that someone had been at work +upon it. The settings of the uppermost row of four stones--the +carnelian, peridot, emerald, and ruby--were rough and jagged as if +someone had scraped all round them. The stones were in their +places, but the beautiful gold-work which we had admired only a few +days before had been very clumsily pulled about. + +"It looks to me," said the police inspector, "as if someone had +been trying to take out the stones." + +"My fear is," said Mortimer, "that he not only tried, but +succeeded. I believe these four stones to be skilful imitations +which have been put in the place of the originals." + +The same suspicion had evidently been in the mind of the +expert, for he had been carefully examining the four stones with +the aid of a lens. He now submitted them to several tests, and +finally turned cheerfully to Mortimer. + +"I congratulate you, sir," said he, heartily. "I will pledge +my reputation that all four of these stones are genuine, and of a +most unusual degree of purity." + +The colour began to come back to my poor friend's frightened +face, and he drew a long breath of relief. + +"Thank God!" he cried. "Then what in the world did the thief +want?" + +"Probably he meant to take the stones, but was interrupted." + +"In that case one would expect him to take them out one at a +time, but the setting of each of these has been loosened, and yet +the stones are all here." + +"It is certainly most extraordinary," said the inspector. "I +never remember a case like it. Let us see the watchman." + +The commissionaire was called--a soldierly, honest-faced man, +who seemed as concerned as Ward Mortimer at the incident. + +"No, sir, I never heard a sound," he answered, in reply to the +questions of the inspector. "I made my rounds four times, as +usual, but I saw nothing suspicious. I've been in my position ten +years, but nothing of the kind has ever occurred before." + +"No thief could have come through the windows?" + +"Impossible, sir." + +"Or passed you at the door?" + +"No, sir; I never left my post except when I walked my rounds." + +"What other openings are there in the museum?" + +"There is the door into Mr. Ward Mortimer's private rooms." + +"That is locked at night," my friend explained, "and in order +to reach it anyone from the street would have to open the outside +door as well." + +"Your servants?" + +"Their quarters are entirely separate." + +"Well, well," said the inspector, "this is certainly very +obscure. However, there has been no harm done, according to Mr. +Purvis." + +"I will swear that those stones are genuine." + +"So that the case appears to be merely one of malicious damage. +But none the less, I should be very glad to go carefully round the +premises, and to see if we can find any trace to show us who your +visitor may have been." + +His investigation, which lasted all the morning, was careful +and intelligent, but it led in the end to nothing. He pointed out +to us that there were two possible entrances to the museum which we +had not considered. The one was from the cellars by a trap-door +opening in the passage. The other through a skylight from the +lumber-room, overlooking that very chamber to which the intruder +had penetrated. As neither the cellar nor the lumber-room could be +entered unless the thief was already within the locked doors, +the matter was not of any practical importance, and the dust of +cellar and attic assured us that no one had used either one or the +other. Finally, we ended as we began, without the slightest clue +as to how, why, or by whom the setting of these four jewels had +been tampered with. + +There remained one course for Mortimer to take, and he took it. +Leaving the police to continue their fruitless researches, he asked +me to accompany him that afternoon in a visit to Professor Andreas. +He took with him the two letters, and it was his intention to +openly tax his predecessor with having written the anonymous +warning, and to ask him to explain the fact that he should have +anticipated so exactly that which had actually occurred. The +Professor was living in a small villa in Upper Norwood, but we were +informed by the servant that he was away from home. Seeing our +disappointment, she asked us if we should like to see Miss Andreas, +and showed us into the modest drawing-room. + +I have mentioned incidentally that the Professor's daughter was +a very beautiful girl. She was a blonde, tall and graceful, with +a skin of that delicate tint which the French call "mat," the +colour of old ivory, or of the lighter petals of the sulphur rose. +I was shocked, however, as she entered the room to see how much she +had changed in the last fortnight. Her young face was haggard and +her bright eyes heavy with trouble. + +"Father has gone to Scotland," she said. "He seems to be +tired, and has had a good deal to worry him. He only left us +yesterday." + +"You look a little tired yourself, Miss Andreas," said my +friend. + +"I have been so anxious about father." + +"Can you give me his Scotch address?" + +"Yes, he is with his brother, the Rev. David Andreas, 1, Arran +Villas, Ardrossan." + +Ward Mortimer made a note of the address, and we left without +saying anything as to the object of our visit. We found ourselves +in Belmore Street in the evening in exactly the same position in +which we had been in the morning. Our only clue was the +Professor's letter, and my friend had made up his mind to start for +Ardrossan next day, and to get to the bottom of the anonymous +letter, when a new development came to alter our plans. + +Very early on the following morning I was aroused from my sleep +by a tap upon my bedroom door. It was a messenger with a note from +Mortimer. + +"Do come round," it said; "the matter is becoming more and more +extraordinary." + +When I obeyed his summons I found him pacing excitedly up and +down the central room, while the old soldier who guarded the +premises stood with military stiffness in a corner. + +"My dear Jackson," he cried, "I am so delighted that you have +come, for this is a most inexplicable business." + +"What has happened, then?" + +He waved his hand towards the case which contained the +breastplate. + +"Look at it," said he. + +I did so, and could not restrain a cry of surprise. The +setting of the middle row of precious stones had been profaned in +the same manner as the upper ones. Of the twelve jewels eight had +been now tampered with in this singular fashion. The setting of +the lower four was neat and smooth. The others jagged and +irregular. + +"Have the stones been altered?" I asked. + +"No, I am certain that these upper four are the same which the +expert pronounced to be genuine, for I observed yesterday that +little discoloration on the edge of the emerald. Since they have +not extracted the upper stones, there is no reason to think the +lower have been transposed. You say that you heard nothing, +Simpson?" + +"No, sir," the commissionaire answered. "But when I made my +round after daylight I had a special look at these stones, and I +saw at once that someone had been meddling with them. Then I +called you, sir, and told you. I was backwards and forwards all +night, and I never saw a soul or heard a sound." + +"Come up and have some breakfast with me," said Mortimer, and +he took me into his own chambers.--"Now, what DO you think of +this, Jackson?" he asked. + +"It is the most objectless, futile, idiotic business that ever +I heard of. It can only be the work of a monomaniac." + +"Can you put forward any theory?" + +A curious idea came into my head. "This object is a Jewish +relic of great antiquity and sanctity," said I. "How about the +anti-Semitic movement? Could one conceive that a fanatic of that +way of thinking might desecrate----" + +"No, no, no!" cried Mortimer. "That will never do! Such a man +might push his lunacy to the length of destroying a Jewish relic, +but why on earth should he nibble round every stone so carefully +that he can only do four stones in a night? We must have a better +solution than that, and we must find it for ourselves, for I do not +think that our inspector is likely to help us. First of all, what +do you think of Simpson, the porter?" + +"Have you any reason to suspect him?" + +"Only that he is the one person on the premises." + +"But why should he indulge in such wanton destruction? Nothing +has been taken away. He has no motive." + +"Mania?" + +"No, I will swear to his sanity." + +"Have you any other theory?" + +"Well, yourself, for example. You are not a somnambulist, by +any chance?" + +"Nothing of the sort, I assure you." + +"Then I give it up." + +"But I don't--and I have a plan by which we will make it all +clear." + +"To visit Professor Andreas?" + +"No, we shall find our solution nearer than Scotland. I will +tell you what we shall do. You know that skylight which overlooks +the central hall? We will leave the electric lights in the hall, +and we will keep watch in the lumber-room, you and I, and solve the +mystery for ourselves. If our mysterious visitor is doing four +stones at a time, he has four still to do, and there is every +reason to think that he will return tonight and complete the job." + +"Excellent!" I cried. + +"We will keep our own secret, and say nothing either to the +police or to Simpson. Will you join me?" + +"With the utmost pleasure," said I; and so it was agreed. + +It was ten o'clock that night when I returned to the Belmore +Street Museum. Mortimer was, as I could see, in a state of +suppressed nervous excitement, but it was still too early to +begin our vigil, so we remained for an hour or so in his chambers, +discussing all the possibilities of the singular business which we +had met to solve. At last the roaring stream of hansom cabs and +the rush of hurrying feet became lower and more intermittent as the +pleasure-seekers passed on their way to their stations or their +homes. It was nearly twelve when Mortimer led the way to the +lumber-room which overlooked the central hall of the museum. + +He had visited it during the day, and had spread some sacking +so that we could lie at our ease, and look straight down into the +museum. The skylight was of unfrosted glass, but was so covered +with dust that it would be impossible for anyone looking up from +below to detect that he was overlooked. We cleared a small piece +at each corner, which gave us a complete view of the room beneath +us. In the cold white light of the electric lamps everything stood +out hard and clear, and I could see the smallest detail of the +contents of the various cases. + +Such a vigil is an excellent lesson, since one has no choice +but to look hard at those objects which we usually pass with such +half-hearted interest. Through my little peep hole I employed the +hours in studying every specimen, from the huge mummy-case which +leaned against the wall to those very jewels which had brought us +there, gleaming and sparkling in their glass case immediately +beneath us. There was much precious gold-work and many valuable +stones scattered through the numerous cases, but those wonderful +twelve which made up the urim and thummim glowed and burned with a +radiance which far eclipsed the others. I studied in turn the tomb- +pictures of Sicara, the friezes from Karnak, the statues of +Memphis, and the inscriptions of Thebes, but my eyes would always +come back to that wonderful Jewish relic, and my mind to the +singular mystery which surrounded it. I was lost in the thought of +it when my companion suddenly drew his breath sharply in, and +seized my arm in a convulsive grip. At the same instant I saw what +it was which had excited him. + +I have said that against the wall--on the right-hand side of +the doorway (the right-hand side as we looked at it, but the left +as one entered)--there stood a large mummy-case. To our +unutterable amazement it was slowly opening. Gradually, gradually +the lid was swinging back, and the black slit which marked the +opening was becoming wider and wider. So gently and carefully was +it done that the movement was almost imperceptible. Then, as we +breathlessly watched it, a white thin hand appeared at the opening, +pushing back the painted lid, then another hand, and finally a +face--a face which was familiar to us both, that of Professor +Andreas. Stealthily he slunk out of the mummy-case, like a fox +stealing from its burrow, his head turning incessantly to left and +to right, stepping, then pausing, then stepping again, the very +image of craft and of caution. Once some sound in the street +struck him motionless, and he stood listening, with his ear turned, +ready to dart back to the shelter behind him. Then he crept +onwards again upon tiptoe, very, very softly and slowly, until he +had reached the case in the centre of the room. There he took a +bunch of keys from his pocket, unlocked the case, took out the +Jewish breastplate, and, laying it upon the glass in front of him, +began to work upon it with some sort of small, glistening tool. He +was so directly underneath us that his bent head covered his work, +but we could guess from the movement of his hand that he was +engaged in finishing the strange disfigurement which he had begun. + +I could realize from the heavy breathing of my companion, and +the twitchings of the hand which still clutched my wrist, the +furious indignation which filled his heart as he saw this vandalism +in the quarter of all others where he could least have expected it. +He, the very man who a fortnight before had reverently bent over +this unique relic, and who had impressed its antiquity and its +sanctity upon us, was now engaged in this outrageous profanation. +It was impossible, unthinkable--and yet there, in the white glare +of the electric light beneath us, was that dark figure with the +bent grey head, and the twitching elbow. What inhuman hypocrisy, +what hateful depth of malice against his successor must underlie +these sinister nocturnal labours. It was painful to think of and +dreadful to watch. Even I, who had none of the acute feelings of +a virtuoso, could not bear to look on and see this deliberate +mutilation of so ancient a relic. It was a relief to me when my +companion tugged at my sleeve as a signal that I was to follow him +as he softly crept out of the room. It was not until we were +within his own quarters that he opened his lips, and then I saw by +his agitated face how deep was his consternation. + +"The abominable Goth!" he cried. "Could you have believed it?" + +"It is amazing." + +"He is a villain or a lunatic--one or the other. We shall very +soon see which. Come with me, Jackson, and we shall get to the +bottom of this black business." + +A door opened out of the passage which was the private entrance +from his rooms into the museum. This he opened softly with his +key, having first kicked off his shoes, an example which I +followed. We crept together through room after room, until the +large hall lay before us, with that dark figure still stooping and +working at the central case. With an advance as cautious as his +own we closed in upon him, but softly as we went we could not take +him entirely unawares. We were still a dozen yards from him when +he looked round with a start, and uttering a husky cry of terror, +ran frantically down the museum. + +"Simpson! Simpson!" roared Mortimer, and far away down the +vista of electric lighted doors we saw the stiff figure of the old +soldier suddenly appear. Professor Andreas saw him also, and +stopped running, with a gesture of despair. At the same instant we +each laid a hand upon his shoulder. + +"Yes, yes, gentlemen," he panted, "I will come with you. To +your room, Mr. Ward Mortimer, if you please! I feel that I owe you +an explanation." + +My companion's indignation was so great that I could see that +he dared not trust himself to reply. We walked on each side of the +old Professor, the astonished commissionaire bringing up the rear. +When we reached the violated case, Mortimer stopped and examined +the breastplate. Already one of the stones of the lower row had +had its setting turned back in the same manner as the others. My +friend held it up and glanced furiously at his prisoner. + +"How could you!" he cried. "How could you!" + +"It is horrible--horrible!" said the Professor. "I don't +wonder at your feelings. Take me to your room." + +"But this shall not be left exposed!" cried Mortimer. He +picked the breastplate up and carried it tenderly in his hand, +while I walked beside the Professor, like a policeman with a +malefactor. We passed into Mortimer's chambers, leaving the amazed +old soldier to understand matters as best he could. The Professor +sat down in Mortimer's arm-chair, and turned so ghastly a colour +that for the instant all our resentment was changed to concern. A +stiff glass of brandy brought the life back to him once more. + +"There, I am better now!" said he. "These last few days have +been too much for me. I am convinced that I could not stand it any +longer. It is a nightmare--a horrible nightmare--that I should be +arrested as a burglar in what has been for so long my own museum. +And yet I cannot blame you. You could not have done otherwise. My +hope always was that I should get it all over before I was +detected. This would have been my last night's work." + +"How did you get in?" asked Mortimer. + +"By taking a very great liberty with your private door. But +the object justified it. The object justified everything. You +will not be angry when you know everything--at least, you will not +be angry with me. I had a key to your side door and also to the +museum door. I did not give them up when I left. And so you see +it was not difficult for me to let myself into the museum. I used +to come in early before the crowd had cleared from the street. +Then I hid myself in the mummy-case, and took refuge there whenever +Simpson came round. I could always hear him coming. I used to +leave in the same way as I came." + +"You ran a risk." + +"I had to." + +"But why? What on earth was your object--YOU to do a thing +like that!" Mortimer pointed reproachfully at the plate which lay +before him on the table. + +"I could devise no other means. I thought and thought, but +there was no alternate except a hideous public scandal, and a +private sorrow which would have clouded our lives. I acted for the +best, incredible as it may seem to you, and I only ask your +attention to enable me to prove it." + +"I will hear what you have to say before I take any further +steps," said Mortimer, grimly. + +"I am determined to hold back nothing, and to take you both +completely into my confidence. I will leave it to your own +generosity how far you will use the facts with which I supply you." + +"We have the essential facts already." + +"And yet you understand nothing. Let me go back to what passed +a few weeks ago, and I will make it all clear to you. Believe me +that what I say is the absolute and exact truth. + +"You have met the person who calls himself Captain Wilson. I +say `calls himself' because I have reason now to believe that it is +not his correct name. It would take me too long if I were to +describe all the means by which he obtained an introduction to me +and ingratiated himself into my friendship and the affection of my +daughter. He brought letters from foreign colleagues which +compelled me to show him some attention. And then, by his own +attainments, which are considerable, he succeeded in making himself +a very welcome visitor at my rooms. When I learned that my +daughter's affections had been gained by him, I may have thought it +premature, but I certainly was not surprised, for he had a charm of +manner and of conversation which would have made him conspicuous in +any society. + +"He was much interested in Oriental antiquities, and his +knowledge of the subject justified his interest. Often when he +spent the evening with us he would ask permission to go down into +the museum and have an opportunity of privately inspecting the +various specimens. You can imagine that I, as an enthusiast, was +in sympathy with such a request, and that I felt no surprise at the +constancy of his visits. After his actual engagement to Elise, +there was hardly an evening which he did not pass with us, and an +hour or two were generally devoted to the museum. He had the free +run of the place, and when I have been away for the evening I had +no objection to his doing whatever he wished here. This state of +things was only terminated by the fact of my resignation of my +official duties and my retirement to Norwood, where I hoped to have +the leisure to write a considerable work which I had planned. + +"It was immediately after this--within a week or so--that I +first realized the true nature and character of the man whom I had +so imprudently introduced into my family. The discovery came to me +through letters from my friends abroad, which showed me that +his introductions to me had been forgeries. Aghast at the +revelation, I asked myself what motive this man could originally +have had in practising this elaborate deception upon me. I was too +poor a man for any fortune-hunter to have marked me down. Why, +then, had he come? I remembered that some of the most precious +gems in Europe had been under my charge, and I remembered also the +ingenious excuses by which this man had made himself familiar with +the cases in which they were kept. He was a rascal who was +planning some gigantic robbery. How could I, without striking my +own daughter, who was infatuated about him, prevent him from +carrying out any plan which he might have formed? My device was a +clumsy one, and yet I could think of nothing more effective. If I +had written a letter under my own name, you would naturally have +turned to me for details which I did not wish to give. I resorted +to an anonymous letter, begging you to be upon your guard. + +"I may tell you that my change from Belmore Street to Norwood +had not affected the visits of this man, who had, I believe, a real +and overpowering affection for my daughter. As to her, I could not +have believed that any woman could be so completely under the +influence of a man as she was. His stronger nature seemed to +entirely dominate her. I had not realized how far this was the +case, or the extent of the confidence which existed between them, +until that very evening when his true character for the first time +was made clear to me. I had given orders that when he called he +should be shown into my study instead of to the drawing-room. +There I told him bluntly that I knew all about him, that I had +taken steps to defeat his designs, and that neither I nor my +daughter desired ever to see him again. I added that I thanked God +that I had found him out before he had time to harm those precious +objects which it had been the work of my life-time to protect. + +"He was certainly a man of iron nerve. He took my remarks +without a sign either of surprise or of defiance, but listened +gravely and attentively until I had finished. Then he walked +across the room without a word and struck the bell. + +"`Ask Miss Andreas to be so kind as to step this way,' said he +to the servant. + +"My daughter entered, and the man closed the door behind her. +Then he took her hand in his. + +"`Elise,' said he, `your father has just discovered that I am +a villain. He knows now what you knew before.' + +"She stood in silence, listening. + +"`He says that we are to part for ever,' said he. + +"She did not withdraw her hand. + +"`Will you be true to me, or will you remove the last good +influence which is ever likely to come into my life?' + +"`John,' she cried, passionately. `I will never abandon you! +Never, never, not if the whole world were against you.' + +"In vain I argued and pleaded with her. It was absolutely +useless. Her whole life was bound up in this man before me. My +daughter, gentlemen, is all that I have left to love, and it filled +me with agony when I saw how powerless I was to save her from her +ruin. My helplessness seemed to touch this man who was the cause +of my trouble. + +"`It may not be as bad as you think, sir,' said he, in his +quiet, inflexible way. `I love Elise with a love which is strong +enough to rescue even one who has such a record as I have. It was +but yesterday that I promised her that never again in my whole life +would I do a thing of which she should be ashamed. I have made up +my mind to it, and never yet did I make up my mind to a thing which +I did not do.' + +"He spoke with an air which carried conviction with it. As he +concluded he put his hand into his pocket and he drew out a small +cardboard box. + +"`I am about to give you a proof of my determination,' said he. +`This, Elise, shall be the first-fruits of your redeeming influence +over me. You are right, sir, in thinking that I had designs upon +the jewels in your possession. Such ventures have had a charm for +me, which depended as much upon the risk run as upon the value of +the prize. Those famous and antique stones of the Jewish priest +were a challenge to my daring and my ingenuity. I determined to +get them.' + +"`I guessed as much.' + +"`There was only one thing that you did not guess.' + +"`And what is that?' + +"`That I got them. They are in this box.' + +"He opened the box, and tilted out the contents upon the corner +of my desk. My hair rose and my flesh grew cold as I looked. +There were twelve magnificent square stones engraved with mystical +characters. There could be no doubt that they were the jewels of +the urim and thummim. + +"`Good God!' I cried. `How have you escaped discovery?' + +"`By the substitution of twelve others, made especially to my +order, in which the originals are so carefully imitated that I defy +the eye to detect the difference.' + +"`Then the present stones are false?' I cried. + +"`They have been for some weeks.' + +"We all stood in silence, my daughter white with emotion, but +still holding this man by the hand. + +"`You see what I am capable of, Elise,' said he. + +"`I see that you are capable of repentance and restitution,' +she answered. + +"`Yes, thanks to your influence! I leave the stones in your +hands, sir. Do what you like about it. But remember that whatever +you do against me, is done against the future husband of your only +daughter. You will hear from me soon again, Elise. It is the last +time that I will ever cause pain to your tender heart,' and with +these words he left both the room and the house. + +"My position was a dreadful one. Here I was with these +precious relics in my possession, and how could I return them +without a scandal and an exposure? I knew the depth of my +daughter's nature too well to suppose that I would ever be able to +detach her from this man now that she had entirely given him her +heart. I was not even sure how far it was right to detach her if +she had such an ameliorating influence over him. How could I +expose him without injuring her--and how far was I justified in +exposing him when he had voluntarily put himself into my power? I +thought and thought until at last I formed a resolution which may +seem to you to be a foolish one, and yet, if I had to do it again, +I believe it would be the best course open to me. + +"My idea was to return the stones without anyone being the +wiser. With my keys I could get into the museum at any time, and +I was confident that I could avoid Simpson, whose hours and methods +were familiar to me. I determined to take no one into my +confidence--not even my daughter--whom I told that I was about to +visit my brother in Scotland. I wanted a free hand for a few +nights, without inquiry as to my comings and goings. To this end +I took a room in Harding Street that very night, with an intimation +that I was a Pressman, and that I should keep very late hours. + +"That night I made my way into the museum, and I replaced four +of the stones. It was hard work, and took me all night. When +Simpson came round I always heard his footsteps, and concealed +myself in the mummy-case. I had some knowledge of gold-work, but +was far less skilful than the thief had been. He had replaced the +setting so exactly that I defy anyone to see the difference. My +work was rude and clumsy. However, I hoped that the plate might +not be carefully examined, or the roughness of the setting +observed, until my task was done. Next night I replaced four more +stones. And tonight I should have finished my task had it not been +for the unfortunate circumstance which has caused me to reveal so +much which I should have wished to keep concealed. I appeal to +you, gentlemen, to your sense of honour and of compassion, whether +what I have told you should go any farther or not. My own +happiness, my daughter's future, the hopes of this man's +regeneration, all depend upon your decision. + +"Which is," said my friend, "that all is well that ends well +and that the whole matter ends here and at once. Tomorrow the +loose settings shall be tightened by an expert goldsmith, and so +passes the greatest danger to which, since the destruction of the +Temple, the urim and thummim has been exposed. Here is my hand, +Professor Andreas, and I can only hope that under such difficult +circumstances I should have carried myself as unselfishly and as well." + +Just one footnote to this narrative. Within a month Elise +Andreas was married to a man whose name, had I the indiscretion to +mention it, would appeal to my readers as one who is now widely and +deservedly honoured. But if the truth were known that honour is +due not to him, but to the gentle girl who plucked him back when he +had gone so far down that dark road along which few return. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Tales of Terror and Mystery + diff --git a/old/totam10.zip b/old/totam10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6698cd0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/totam10.zip |