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diff --git a/10659-h/10659-h.htm b/10659-h/10659-h.htm index 4ebf8d3..5594e9c 100644 --- a/10659-h/10659-h.htm +++ b/10659-h/10659-h.htm @@ -1,78 +1,115 @@ -<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> -<html> +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= - "text/html; charset=UTF-8"> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Three More John Silence Stories, by ALGERNON BLACKWOOD. - </title> - -<STYLE type=text/css>BODY { - MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% + <meta charset="utf-8"> + + <title>Three More John Silence Stories | Project Gutenberg</title> + +<STYLE> +BODY { + MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% } P { - TEXT-ALIGN: justify + TEXT-ALIGN: justify } BLOCKQUOTE { - TEXT-ALIGN: justify + TEXT-ALIGN: justify } H1 { - TEXT-ALIGN: center + TEXT-ALIGN: center } H2 { - TEXT-ALIGN: center + TEXT-ALIGN: center } H3 { - TEXT-ALIGN: center + TEXT-ALIGN: center } H4 { - TEXT-ALIGN: center + TEXT-ALIGN: center } H5 { - TEXT-ALIGN: center + TEXT-ALIGN: center } H6 { - TEXT-ALIGN: center + TEXT-ALIGN: center } PRE { - FONT-SIZE: 0.7em + FONT-SIZE: 0.7em } HR { - WIDTH: 50%; TEXT-ALIGN: center + WIDTH: 50%; TEXT-ALIGN: center } UNKNOWN { - MARGIN-LEFT: 25%; WIDTH: 50%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 25% + MARGIN-LEFT: 25%; WIDTH: 50%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 25% } HR.full { - WIDTH: 100% + WIDTH: 100% } UNKNOWN { - MARGIN-LEFT: 0%; WIDTH: 100%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0% + MARGIN-LEFT: 0%; WIDTH: 100%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0% } .note { - FONT-SIZE: 0.9em; MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% + FONT-SIZE: 0.9em; MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% } .footnote { - FONT-SIZE: 0.9em; MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% + FONT-SIZE: 0.9em; MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% } .greek { - CURSOR: help + CURSOR: help } .poem { - MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10%; TEXT-ALIGN: left + MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10%; TEXT-ALIGN: left } .poem .stanza { - MARGIN: 1em 0em + MARGIN: 1em 0em } .poem P { - PADDING-LEFT: 3em; MARGIN: 0px; TEXT-INDENT: -3em + PADDING-LEFT: 3em; MARGIN: 0px; TEXT-INDENT: -3em } .poem P.i2 { - MARGIN-LEFT: 2em + MARGIN-LEFT: 2em } .poem P.i4 { - MARGIN-LEFT: 4em + MARGIN-LEFT: 4em +} +.h1, .h2, .h3, .h4, .h5,.h6 { + text-align: center; + display: block; + margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0; + font-weight: bold; +} +.h1 { + font-size: 2em; + margin-top: 0.67em; + margin-bottom: 0.67em; +} +.h2 { + font-size: 1.5em; + margin-top: 0.83em; + margin-bottom: 0.83em; +} +.h3 { + font-size: 1.17em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } +.h4 { + font-size: 1em; + margin-top: 1.33em; + margin-bottom: 1.33em; +} +.h5 { + font-size: .83em; + margin-top: 1.67em; + margin-bottom: 1.67em; +} +.h6 { + font-size: .67em; + margin-top: 2.33em; + margin-bottom: 2.33em; +} + </STYLE> </head> @@ -84,32 +121,32 @@ UNKNOWN { <br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> <h1>Three More John Silence Stories</h1> -<h2>BY ALGERNON BLACKWOOD</h2> +<div class="h2">BY ALGERNON BLACKWOOD</div> <br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<h4>To M.L.W. The Original of John Silence</h4> +<div class="h4">To M.L.W. The Original of John Silence</div> -<h6>and</h6> +<div class="h6">and</div> -<h4>My Companion in Many Adventures</h4> +<div class="h4">My Companion in Many Adventures</div> <br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="Contents"></a><h2>Contents</h2> +<h2><a id="Contents">Contents</a></h2> -<h3><a href="#CASE_IV:_SECRET_WORSHIP">Case I</a>: Secret Worship</h3> +<div class="h3"><a href="#CASE_IV:_SECRET_WORSHIP">Case I</a>: Secret Worship</div> -<h3><a href="#CASE_V:_THE_CAMP_OF_THE_DOG">Case II</a>: The Camp of the Dog</h3> +<div class="h3"><a href="#CASE_V:_THE_CAMP_OF_THE_DOG">Case II</a>: The Camp of the Dog</div> -<h3><a href="#CASE_VI:_A_VICTIM_OF_HIGHER_SPACE">Case III</a>: A Victim of Higher Space</h3> +<div class="h3"><a href="#CASE_VI:_A_VICTIM_OF_HIGHER_SPACE">Case III</a>: A Victim of Higher Space</div> <br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="CASE_IV:_SECRET_WORSHIP"></a><h2>CASE I: SECRET WORSHIP</h2> +<a id="CASE_IV:_SECRET_WORSHIP"></a><h2>CASE I: SECRET WORSHIP</h2> <br> <p>Harris, the silk merchant, was in South Germany on his way home from a @@ -1487,7 +1524,7 @@ a very delicate and individual handwriting—</p> <br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="CASE_V:_THE_CAMP_OF_THE_DOG"></a><h2>CASE II: THE CAMP OF THE DOG</h2> +<a id="CASE_V:_THE_CAMP_OF_THE_DOG"></a><h2>CASE II: THE CAMP OF THE DOG</h2> <br> <p>I</p> @@ -4400,7 +4437,7 @@ voice that was beyond question the sound of a man praying to his God.</p> <br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="CASE_VI:_A_VICTIM_OF_HIGHER_SPACE"></a><h2>CASE III: A VICTIM OF HIGHER SPACE</h2> +<a id="CASE_VI:_A_VICTIM_OF_HIGHER_SPACE"></a><h2>CASE III: A VICTIM OF HIGHER SPACE</h2> <br> <p>"There's a hextraordinary gentleman to see you, sir," said the new man.</p> @@ -5200,8 +5237,8 @@ round the inside of his collar with three very hot fingers of one hand.</p> <p>It was two days later when he brought in a telegram to the study. Dr. Silence opened it, and read as follows:</p> -<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1em;">"Bombay. Just slipped out again. All safe. Have blocked</span><br> -<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1em;">entrances. Thousand thanks. Address Cooks, London.—MUDGE."</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Bombay. Just slipped out again. All safe. Have blocked</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">entrances. Thousand thanks. Address Cooks, London.—MUDGE."</span><br> <p>Dr. Silence looked up and saw Barker staring at him bewilderingly. It occurred to him that somehow he knew the contents of the telegram.</p> @@ -5224,4 +5261,3 @@ paper.</p> <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10659 ***</div> </body> </html> - diff --git a/old/10659-8.txt b/old/10659-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f895797..0000000 --- a/old/10659-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5560 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Three More John Silence Stories, by Algernon Blackwood - -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: Three More John Silence Stories - -Author: Algernon Blackwood - -Release Date: January 9, 2004 [EBook #10659] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE MORE JOHN SILENCE STORIES *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders - - - - -Three More John Silence Stories - -BY ALGERNON BLACKWOOD - - - - -To M.L.W. The Original of John Silence - -and - -My Companion in Many Adventures - - - - -Contents - -Case I: Secret Worship - -Case II: The Camp of the Dog - -Case III: A Victim of Higher Space - - - - -CASE I: SECRET WORSHIP - - -Harris, the silk merchant, was in South Germany on his way home from a -business trip when the idea came to him suddenly that he would take the -mountain railway from Strassbourg and run down to revisit his old school -after an interval of something more than thirty years. And it was to -this chance impulse of the junior partner in Harris Brothers of St. -Paul's Churchyard that John Silence owed one of the most curious cases -of his whole experience, for at that very moment he happened to be -tramping these same mountains with a holiday knapsack, and from -different points of the compass the two men were actually converging -towards the same inn. - -Now, deep down in the heart that for thirty years had been concerned -chiefly with the profitable buying and selling of silk, this school had -left the imprint of its peculiar influence, and, though perhaps unknown -to Harris, had strongly coloured the whole of his subsequent existence. -It belonged to the deeply religious life of a small Protestant community -(which it is unnecessary to specify), and his father had sent him there -at the age of fifteen, partly because he would learn the German -requisite for the conduct of the silk business, and partly because the -discipline was strict, and discipline was what his soul and body needed -just then more than anything else. - -The life, indeed, had proved exceedingly severe, and young Harris -benefited accordingly; for though corporal punishment was unknown, there -was a system of mental and spiritual correction which somehow made the -soul stand proudly erect to receive it, while it struck at the very root -of the fault and taught the boy that his character was being cleaned and -strengthened, and that he was not merely being tortured in a kind of -personal revenge. - -That was over thirty years ago, when he was a dreamy and impressionable -youth of fifteen; and now, as the train climbed slowly up the winding -mountain gorges, his mind travelled back somewhat lovingly over the -intervening period, and forgotten details rose vividly again before him -out of the shadows. The life there had been very wonderful, it seemed to -him, in that remote mountain village, protected from the tumults of the -world by the love and worship of the devout Brotherhood that ministered -to the needs of some hundred boys from every country in Europe. Sharply -the scenes came back to him. He smelt again the long stone corridors, -the hot pinewood rooms, where the sultry hours of summer study were -passed with bees droning through open windows in the sunshine, and -German characters struggling in the mind with dreams of English -lawns--and then the sudden awful cry of the master in German-- - -"Harris, stand up! You sleep!" - -And he recalled the dreadful standing motionless for an hour, book in -hand, while the knees felt like wax and the head grew heavier than a -cannon-ball. - -The very smell of the cooking came back to him--the daily _Sauerkraut_, -the watery chocolate on Sundays, the flavour of the stringy meat served -twice a week at _Mittagessen_; and he smiled to think again of the -half-rations that was the punishment for speaking English. The very -odour of the milk-bowls,--the hot sweet aroma that rose from the soaking -peasant-bread at the six-o'clock breakfast,--came back to him pungently, -and he saw the huge _Speisesaal_ with the hundred boys in their school -uniform, all eating sleepily in silence, gulping down the coarse bread -and scalding milk in terror of the bell that would presently cut them -short--and, at the far end where the masters sat, he saw the narrow slit -windows with the vistas of enticing field and forest beyond. - -And this, in turn, made him think of the great barnlike room on the top -floor where all slept together in wooden cots, and he heard in memory -the clamour of the cruel bell that woke them on winter mornings at five -o'clock and summoned them to the stone-flagged _Waschkammer_, where boys -and masters alike, after scanty and icy washing, dressed in complete -silence. - -From this his mind passed swiftly, with vivid picture-thoughts, to other -things, and with a passing shiver he remembered how the loneliness of -never being alone had eaten into him, and how everything--work, meals, -sleep, walks, leisure--was done with his "division" of twenty other boys -and under the eyes of at least two masters. The only solitude possible -was by asking for half an hour's practice in the cell-like music rooms, -and Harris smiled to himself as he recalled the zeal of his violin -studies. - -Then, as the train puffed laboriously through the great pine forests -that cover these mountains with a giant carpet of velvet, he found the -pleasanter layers of memory giving up their dead, and he recalled with -admiration the kindness of the masters, whom all addressed as Brother, -and marvelled afresh at their devotion in burying themselves for years -in such a place, only to leave it, in most cases, for the still rougher -life of missionaries in the wild places of the world. - -He thought once more of the still, religious atmosphere that hung over -the little forest community like a veil, barring the distressful world; -of the picturesque ceremonies at Easter, Christmas, and New Year; of the -numerous feast-days and charming little festivals. The _Beschehr-Fest_, -in particular, came back to him,--the feast of gifts at Christmas,--when -the entire community paired off and gave presents, many of which had -taken weeks to make or the savings of many days to purchase. And then he -saw the midnight ceremony in the church at New Year, with the shining -face of the _Prediger_ in the pulpit,--the village preacher who, on the -last night of the old year, saw in the empty gallery beyond the organ -loft the faces of all who were to die in the ensuing twelve months, and -who at last recognised himself among them, and, in the very middle of -his sermon, passed into a state of rapt ecstasy and burst into a torrent -of praise. - -Thickly the memories crowded upon him. The picture of the small village -dreaming its unselfish life on the mountain-tops, clean, wholesome, -simple, searching vigorously for its God, and training hundreds of boys -in the grand way, rose up in his mind with all the power of an -obsession. He felt once more the old mystical enthusiasm, deeper than -the sea and more wonderful than the stars; he heard again the winds -sighing from leagues of forest over the red roofs in the moonlight; he -heard the Brothers' voices talking of the things beyond this life as -though they had actually experienced them in the body; and, as he sat in -the jolting train, a spirit of unutterable longing passed over his -seared and tired soul, stirring in the depths of him a sea of emotions -that he thought had long since frozen into immobility. - -And the contrast pained him,--the idealistic dreamer then, the man of -business now,--so that a spirit of unworldly peace and beauty known only -to the soul in meditation laid its feathered finger upon his heart, -moving strangely the surface of the waters. - -Harris shivered a little and looked out of the window of his empty -carriage. The train had long passed Hornberg, and far below the streams -tumbled in white foam down the limestone rocks. In front of him, dome -upon dome of wooded mountain stood against the sky. It was October, and -the air was cool and sharp, woodsmoke and damp moss exquisitely mingled -in it with the subtle odours of the pines. Overhead, between the tips of -the highest firs, he saw the first stars peeping, and the sky was a -clean, pale amethyst that seemed exactly the colour all these memories -clothed themselves with in his mind. - -He leaned back in his corner and sighed. He was a heavy man, and he had -not known sentiment for years; he was a big man, and it took much to -move him, literally and figuratively; he was a man in whom the dreams of -God that haunt the soul in youth, though overlaid by the scum that -gathers in the fight for money, had not, as with the majority, utterly -died the death. - -He came back into this little neglected pocket of the years, where so -much fine gold had collected and lain undisturbed, with all his -semispiritual emotions aquiver; and, as he watched the mountain-tops -come nearer, and smelt the forgotten odours of his boyhood, something -melted on the surface of his soul and left him sensitive to a degree he -had not known since, thirty years before, he had lived here with his -dreams, his conflicts, and his youthful suffering. - -A thrill ran through him as the train stopped with a jolt at a tiny -station and he saw the name in large black lettering on the grey stone -building, and below it, the number of metres it stood above the level of -the sea. - -"The highest point on the line!" he exclaimed. "How well I remember -it--Sommerau--Summer Meadow. The very next station is mine!" - -And, as the train ran downhill with brakes on and steam shut off, he put -his head out of the window and one by one saw the old familiar landmarks -in the dusk. They stared at him like dead faces in a dream. Queer, sharp -feelings, half poignant, half sweet, stirred in his heart. - -"There's the hot, white road we walked along so often with the two -Brüder always at our heels," he thought; "and there, by Jove, is the -turn through the forest to '_Die Galgen_,' the stone gallows where they -hanged the witches in olden days!" - -He smiled a little as the train slid past. - -"And there's the copse where the Lilies of the Valley powdered the -ground in spring; and, I swear,"--he put his head out with a sudden -impulse--"if that's not the very clearing where Calame, the French boy, -chased the swallow-tail with me, and Bruder Pagel gave us half-rations -for leaving the road without permission, and for shouting in our mother -tongues!" And he laughed again as the memories came back with a rush, -flooding his mind with vivid detail. - -The train stopped, and he stood on the grey gravel platform like a man -in a dream. It seemed half a century since he last waited there with -corded wooden boxes, and got into the train for Strassbourg and home -after the two years' exile. Time dropped from him like an old garment -and he felt a boy again. Only, things looked so much smaller than his -memory of them; shrunk and dwindled they looked, and the distances -seemed on a curiously smaller scale. - -He made his way across the road to the little Gasthaus, and, as he went, -faces and figures of former schoolfellows,--German, Swiss, Italian, -French, Russian,--slipped out of the shadowy woods and silently -accompanied him. They flitted by his side, raising their eyes -questioningly, sadly, to his. But their names he had forgotten. Some of -the Brothers, too, came with them, and most of these he remembered by -name--Bruder Röst, Bruder Pagel, Bruder Schliemann, and the bearded face -of the old preacher who had seen himself in the haunted gallery of those -about to die--Bruder Gysin. The dark forest lay all about him like a sea -that any moment might rush with velvet waves upon the scene and sweep -all the faces away. The air was cool and wonderfully fragrant, but with -every perfumed breath came also a pallid memory.... - -Yet, in spite of the underlying sadness inseparable from such an -experience, it was all very interesting, and held a pleasure peculiarly -its own, so that Harris engaged his room and ordered supper feeling well -pleased with himself, and intending to walk up to the old school that -very evening. It stood in the centre of the community's village, some -four miles distant through the forest, and he now recollected for the -first time that this little Protestant settlement dwelt isolated in a -section of the country that was otherwise Catholic. Crucifixes and -shrines surrounded the clearing like the sentries of a beleaguering -army. Once beyond the square of the village, with its few acres of field -and orchard, the forest crowded up in solid phalanxes, and beyond the -rim of trees began the country that was ruled by the priests of another -faith. He vaguely remembered, too, that the Catholics had showed -sometimes a certain hostility towards the little Protestant oasis that -flourished so quietly and benignly in their midst. He had quite -forgotten this. How trumpery it all seemed now with his wide experience -of life and his knowledge of other countries and the great outside -world. It was like stepping back, not thirty years, but three hundred. - -There were only two others besides himself at supper. One of them, a -bearded, middle-aged man in tweeds, sat by himself at the far end, and -Harris kept out of his way because he was English. He feared he might be -in business, possibly even in the silk business, and that he would -perhaps talk on the subject. The other traveller, however, was a -Catholic priest. He was a little man who ate his salad with a knife, yet -so gently that it was almost inoffensive, and it was the sight of "the -cloth" that recalled his memory of the old antagonism. Harris mentioned -by way of conversation the object of his sentimental journey, and the -priest looked up sharply at him with raised eyebrows and an expression -of surprise and suspicion that somehow piqued him. He ascribed it to his -difference of belief. - -"Yes," went on the silk merchant, pleased to talk of what his mind was -so full, "and it was a curious experience for an English boy to be -dropped down into a school of a hundred foreigners. I well remember the -loneliness and intolerable Heimweh of it at first." His German was very -fluent. - -The priest opposite looked up from his cold veal and potato salad and -smiled. It was a nice face. He explained quietly that he did not belong -here, but was making a tour of the parishes of Wurttemberg and Baden. - -"It was a strict life," added Harris. "We English, I remember, used to -call it _Gefängnisleben_--prison life!" - -The face of the other, for some unaccountable reason, darkened. After a -slight pause, and more by way of politeness than because he wished to -continue the subject, he said quietly-- - -"It was a flourishing school in those days, of course. Afterwards, I -have heard--" He shrugged his shoulders slightly, and the odd look--it -almost seemed a look of alarm--came back into his eyes. The sentence -remained unfinished. - -Something in the tone of the man seemed to his listener uncalled for--in -a sense reproachful, singular. Harris bridled in spite of himself. - -"It has changed?" he asked. "I can hardly believe--" - -"You have not heard, then?" observed the priest gently, making a gesture -as though to cross himself, yet not actually completing it. "You have -not heard what happened there before it was abandoned--?" - -It was very childish, of course, and perhaps he was overtired and -overwrought in some way, but the words and manner of the little priest -seemed to him so offensive--so disproportionately offensive--that he -hardly noticed the concluding sentence. He recalled the old bitterness -and the old antagonism, and for a moment he almost lost his temper. - -"Nonsense," he interrupted with a forced laugh, "_Unsinn_! You must -forgive me, sir, for contradicting you. But I was a pupil there myself. -I was at school there. There was no place like it. I cannot believe that -anything serious could have happened to--to take away its character. The -devotion of the Brothers would be difficult to equal anywhere--" - -He broke off suddenly, realising that his voice had been raised unduly -and that the man at the far end of the table might understand German; -and at the same moment he looked up and saw that this individual's eyes -were fixed upon his face intently. They were peculiarly bright. Also -they were rather wonderful eyes, and the way they met his own served in -some way he could not understand to convey both a reproach and a -warning. The whole face of the stranger, indeed, made a vivid impression -upon him, for it was a face, he now noticed for the first time, in whose -presence one would not willingly have said or done anything unworthy. -Harris could not explain to himself how it was he had not become -conscious sooner of its presence. - -But he could have bitten off his tongue for having so far forgotten -himself. The little priest lapsed into silence. Only once he said, -looking up and speaking in a low voice that was not intended to be -overheard, but that evidently _was_ overheard, "You will find it -different." Presently he rose and left the table with a polite bow that -included both the others. - -And, after him, from the far end rose also the figure in the tweed suit, -leaving Harris by himself. - -He sat on for a bit in the darkening room, sipping his coffee and -smoking his fifteen-pfennig cigar, till the girl came in to light the -oil lamps. He felt vexed with himself for his lapse from good manners, -yet hardly able to account for it. Most likely, he reflected, he had -been annoyed because the priest had unintentionally changed the pleasant -character of his dream by introducing a jarring note. Later he must seek -an opportunity to make amends. At present, however, he was too impatient -for his walk to the school, and he took his stick and hat and passed out -into the open air. - -And, as he crossed before the Gasthaus, he noticed that the priest and -the man in the tweed suit were engaged already in such deep conversation -that they hardly noticed him as he passed and raised his hat. - -He started off briskly, well remembering the way, and hoping to reach -the village in time to have a word with one of the Brüder. They might -even ask him in for a cup of coffee. He felt sure of his welcome, and -the old memories were in full possession once more. The hour of return -was a matter of no consequence whatever. - -It was then just after seven o'clock, and the October evening was -drawing in with chill airs from the recesses of the forest. The road -plunged straight from the railway clearing into its depths, and in a -very few minutes the trees engulfed him and the clack of his boots fell -dead and echoless against the serried stems of a million firs. It was -very black; one trunk was hardly distinguishable from another. He walked -smartly, swinging his holly stick. Once or twice he passed a peasant on -his way to bed, and the guttural "Gruss Got," unheard for so long, -emphasised the passage of time, while yet making it seem as nothing. A -fresh group of pictures crowded his mind. Again the figures of former -schoolfellows flitted out of the forest and kept pace by his side, -whispering of the doings of long ago. One reverie stepped hard upon the -heels of another. Every turn in the road, every clearing of the forest, -he knew, and each in turn brought forgotten associations to life. He -enjoyed himself thoroughly. - -He marched on and on. There was powdered gold in the sky till the moon -rose, and then a wind of faint silver spread silently between the earth -and stars. He saw the tips of the fir trees shimmer, and heard them -whisper as the breeze turned their needles towards the light. The -mountain air was indescribably sweet. The road shone like the foam of a -river through the gloom. White moths flitted here and there like silent -thoughts across his path, and a hundred smells greeted him from the -forest caverns across the years. - -Then, when he least expected it, the trees fell away abruptly on both -sides, and he stood on the edge of the village clearing. - -He walked faster. There lay the familiar outlines of the houses, sheeted -with silver; there stood the trees in the little central square with the -fountain and small green lawns; there loomed the shape of the church -next to the Gasthof der Brüdergemeinde; and just beyond, dimly rising -into the sky, he saw with a sudden thrill the mass of the huge school -building, blocked castlelike with deep shadows in the moonlight, -standing square and formidable to face him after the silences of more -than a quarter of a century. - -He passed quickly down the deserted village street and stopped close -beneath its shadow, staring up at the walls that had once held him -prisoner for two years--two unbroken years of discipline and -homesickness. Memories and emotions surged through his mind; for the -most vivid sensations of his youth had focused about this spot, and it -was here he had first begun to live and learn values. Not a single -footstep broke the silence, though lights glimmered here and there -through cottage windows; but when he looked up at the high walls of the -school, draped now in shadow, he easily imagined that well-known faces -crowded to the windows to greet him--closed windows that really -reflected only moonlight and the gleam of stars. - -This, then, was the old school building, standing foursquare to the -world, with its shuttered windows, its lofty, tiled roof, and the spiked -lightning-conductors pointing like black and taloned fingers from the -corners. For a long time he stood and stared. Then, presently, he came -to himself again, and realised to his joy that a light still shone in -the windows of the Bruderstube. - -He turned from the road and passed through the iron railings; then -climbed the twelve stone steps and stood facing the black wooden door -with the heavy bars of iron, a door he had once loathed and dreaded with -the hatred and passion of an imprisoned soul, but now looked upon -tenderly with a sort of boyish delight. - -Almost timorously he pulled the rope and listened with a tremor of -excitement to the clanging of the bell deep within the building. And the -long-forgotten sound brought the past before him with such a vivid sense -of reality that he positively shivered. It was like the magic bell in -the fairy-tale that rolls back the curtain of Time and summons the -figures from the shadows of the dead. He had never felt so sentimental -in his life. It was like being young again. And, at the same time, he -began to bulk rather large in his own eyes with a certain spurious -importance. He was a big man from the world of strife and action. In -this little place of peaceful dreams would he, perhaps, not cut -something of a figure? - -"I'll try once more," he thought after a long pause, seizing the iron -bell-rope, and was just about to pull it when a step sounded on the -stone passage within, and the huge door slowly swung open. - -A tall man with a rather severe cast of countenance stood facing him in -silence. - -"I must apologise--it is somewhat late," he began a trifle pompously, -"but the fact is I am an old pupil. I have only just arrived and really -could not restrain myself." His German seemed not quite so fluent as -usual. "My interest is so great. I was here in '70." - -The other opened the door wider and at once bowed him in with a smile of -genuine welcome. - -"I am Bruder Kalkmann," he said quietly in a deep voice. "I myself was a -master here about that time. It is a great pleasure always to welcome a -former pupil." He looked at him very keenly for a few seconds, and then -added, "I think, too, it is splendid of you to come--very splendid." - -"It is a very great pleasure," Harris replied, delighted with his -reception. - -The dimly lighted corridor with its flooring of grey stone, and the -familiar sound of a German voice echoing through it,--with the peculiar -intonation the Brothers always used in speaking,--all combined to lift -him bodily, as it were, into the dream-atmosphere of long-forgotten -days. He stepped gladly into the building and the door shut with the -familiar thunder that completed the reconstruction of the past. He -almost felt the old sense of imprisonment, of aching nostalgia, of -having lost his liberty. - -Harris sighed involuntarily and turned towards his host, who returned -his smile faintly and then led the way down the corridor. - -"The boys have retired," he explained, "and, as you remember, we keep -early hours here. But, at least, you will join us for a little while in -the _Bruderstube_ and enjoy a cup of coffee." This was precisely what -the silk merchant had hoped, and he accepted with an alacrity that he -intended to be tempered by graciousness. "And to-morrow," continued the -Bruder, "you must come and spend a whole day with us. You may even find -acquaintances, for several pupils of your day have come back here as -masters." - -For one brief second there passed into the man's eyes a look that made -the visitor start. But it vanished as quickly as it came. It was -impossible to define. Harris convinced himself it was the effect of a -shadow cast by the lamp they had just passed on the wall. He dismissed -it from his mind. - -"You are very kind, I'm sure," he said politely. "It is perhaps a -greater pleasure to me than you can imagine to see the place again. -Ah,"--he stopped short opposite a door with the upper half of glass and -peered in--"surely there is one of the music rooms where I used to -practise the violin. How it comes back to me after all these years!" - -Bruder Kalkmann stopped indulgently, smiling, to allow his guest a -moment's inspection. - -"You still have the boys' orchestra? I remember I used to play 'zweite -Geige' in it. Bruder Schliemann conducted at the piano. Dear me, I can -see him now with his long black hair and--and--" He stopped abruptly. -Again the odd, dark look passed over the stern face of his companion. -For an instant it seemed curiously familiar. - -"We still keep up the pupils' orchestra," he said, "but Bruder -Schliemann, I am sorry to say--" he hesitated an instant, and then -added, "Bruder Schliemann is dead." - -"Indeed, indeed," said Harris quickly. "I am sorry to hear it." He was -conscious of a faint feeling of distress, but whether it arose from the -news of his old music teacher's death, or--from something else--he could -not quite determine. He gazed down the corridor that lost itself among -shadows. In the street and village everything had seemed so much smaller -than he remembered, but here, inside the school building, everything -seemed so much bigger. The corridor was loftier and longer, more -spacious and vast, than the mental picture he had preserved. His -thoughts wandered dreamily for an instant. - -He glanced up and saw the face of the Bruder watching him with a smile -of patient indulgence. - -"Your memories possess you," he observed gently, and the stern look -passed into something almost pitying. - -"You are right," returned the man of silk, "they do. This was the most -wonderful period of my whole life in a sense. At the time I hated -it--" He hesitated, not wishing to hurt the Brother's feelings. - -"According to English ideas it seemed strict, of course," the other said -persuasively, so that he went on. - -"--Yes, partly that; and partly the ceaseless nostalgia, and the -solitude which came from never being really alone. In English schools -the boys enjoy peculiar freedom, you know." - -Bruder Kalkmann, he saw, was listening intently. - -"But it produced one result that I have never wholly lost," he -continued self-consciously, "and am grateful for." - -"_Ach! Wie so, denn?_" - -"The constant inner pain threw me headlong into your religious life, so -that the whole force of my being seemed to project itself towards the -search for a deeper satisfaction--a real resting-place for the soul. -During my two years here I yearned for God in my boyish way as perhaps I -have never yearned for anything since. Moreover, I have never quite lost -that sense of peace and inward joy which accompanied the search. I can -never quite forget this school and the deep things it taught me." - -He paused at the end of his long speech, and a brief silence fell -between them. He feared he had said too much, or expressed himself -clumsily in the foreign language, and when Bruder Kalkmann laid a hand -upon his shoulder, he gave a little involuntary start. - -"So that my memories perhaps do possess me rather strongly," he added -apologetically; "and this long corridor, these rooms, that barred and -gloomy front door, all touch chords that--that--" His German failed -him and he glanced at his companion with an explanatory smile and -gesture. But the Brother had removed the hand from his shoulder and was -standing with his back to him, looking down the passage. - -"Naturally, naturally so," he said hastily without turning round. -"_Es ist doch selbstverständlich_. We shall all understand." - -Then he turned suddenly, and Harris saw that his face had turned most -oddly and disagreeably sinister. It may only have been the shadows again -playing their tricks with the wretched oil lamps on the wall, for the -dark expression passed instantly as they retraced their steps down the -corridor, but the Englishman somehow got the impression that he had said -something to give offence, something that was not quite to the other's -taste. Opposite the door of the _Bruderstube_ they stopped. Harris -realised that it was late and he had possibly stayed talking too long. -He made a tentative effort to leave, but his companion would not hear of -it. - -"You must have a cup of coffee with us," he said firmly as though he -meant it, "and my colleagues will be delighted to see you. Some of them -will remember you, perhaps." - -The sound of voices came pleasantly through the door, men's voices -talking together. Bruder Kalkmann turned the handle and they entered a -room ablaze with light and full of people. - -"Ah,--but your name?" he whispered, bending down to catch the reply; -"you have not told me your name yet." - -"Harris," said the Englishman quickly as they went in. He felt nervous -as he crossed the threshold, but ascribed the momentary trepidation to -the fact that he was breaking the strictest rule of the whole -establishment, which forbade a boy under severest penalties to come near -this holy of holies where the masters took their brief leisure. - -"Ah, yes, of course--Harris," repeated the other as though he remembered -it. "Come in, Herr Harris, come in, please. Your visit will be immensely -appreciated. It is really very fine, very wonderful of you to have come -in this way." - -The door closed behind them and, in the sudden light which made his -sight swim for a moment, the exaggeration of the language escaped his -attention. He heard the voice of Bruder Kalkmann introducing him. He -spoke very loud, indeed, unnecessarily,--absurdly loud, Harris thought. - -"Brothers," he announced, "it is my pleasure and privilege to introduce -to you Herr Harris from England. He has just arrived to make us a little -visit, and I have already expressed to him on behalf of us all the -satisfaction we feel that he is here. He was, as you remember, a pupil -in the year '70." - -It was a very formal, a very German introduction, but Harris rather -liked it. It made him feel important and he appreciated the tact that -made it almost seem as though he had been expected. - -The black forms rose and bowed; Harris bowed; Kalkmann bowed. Every one -was very polite and very courtly. The room swam with moving figures; the -light dazzled him after the gloom of the corridor, there was thick cigar -smoke in the atmosphere. He took the chair that was offered to him -between two of the Brothers, and sat down, feeling vaguely that his -perceptions were not quite as keen and accurate as usual. He felt a -trifle dazed perhaps, and the spell of the past came strongly over him, -confusing the immediate present and making everything dwindle oddly to -the dimensions of long ago. He seemed to pass under the mastery of a -great mood that was a composite reproduction of all the moods of his -forgotten boyhood. - -Then he pulled himself together with a sharp effort and entered into the -conversation that had begun again to buzz round him. Moreover, he -entered into it with keen pleasure, for the Brothers--there were perhaps -a dozen of them in the little room--treated him with a charm of manner -that speedily made him feel one of themselves. This, again, was a very -subtle delight to him. He felt that he had stepped out of the greedy, -vulgar, self-seeking world, the world of silk and markets and -profit-making--stepped into the cleaner atmosphere where spiritual -ideals were paramount and life was simple and devoted. It all charmed -him inexpressibly, so that he realised--yes, in a sense--the degradation -of his twenty years' absorption in business. This keen atmosphere under -the stars where men thought only of their souls, and of the souls of -others, was too rarefied for the world he was now associated with. He -found himself making comparisons to his own disadvantage,--comparisons -with the mystical little dreamer that had stepped thirty years before -from the stern peace of this devout community, and the man of the world -that he had since become,--and the contrast made him shiver with a keen -regret and something like self-contempt. - -He glanced round at the other faces floating towards him through tobacco -smoke--this acrid cigar smoke he remembered so well: how keen they were, -how strong, placid, touched with the nobility of great aims and -unselfish purposes. At one or two he looked particularly. He hardly knew -why. They rather fascinated him. There was something so very stern and -uncompromising about them, and something, too, oddly, subtly, familiar, -that yet just eluded him. But whenever their eyes met his own they held -undeniable welcome in them; and some held more--a kind of perplexed -admiration, he thought, something that was between esteem and deference. -This note of respect in all the faces was very flattering to his vanity. - -Coffee was served presently, made by a black-haired Brother who sat in -the corner by the piano and bore a marked resemblance to Bruder -Schliemann, the musical director of thirty years ago. Harris exchanged -bows with him when he took the cup from his white hands, which he -noticed were like the hands of a woman. He lit a cigar, offered to him -by his neighbour, with whom he was chatting delightfully, and who, in -the glare of the lighted match, reminded him sharply for a moment of -Bruder Pagel, his former room-master. - -"_Es ist wirklich merkwürdig_," he said, "how many resemblances I see, -or imagine. It is really _very_ curious!" - -"Yes," replied the other, peering at him over his coffee cup, "the spell -of the place is wonderfully strong. I can well understand that the old -faces rise before your mind's eye--almost to the exclusion of ourselves -perhaps." - -They both laughed presently. It was soothing to find his mood understood -and appreciated. And they passed on to talk of the mountain village, its -isolation, its remoteness from worldly life, its peculiar fitness for -meditation and worship, and for spiritual development--of a certain -kind. - -"And your coming back in this way, Herr Harris, has pleased us all so -much," joined in the Bruder on his left. "We esteem you for it most -highly. We honour you for it." - -Harris made a deprecating gesture. "I fear, for my part, it is only a -very selfish pleasure," he said a trifle unctuously. - -"Not all would have had the courage," added the one who resembled -Bruder Pagel. - -"You mean," said Harris, a little puzzled, "the disturbing memories--?" - -Bruder Pagel looked at him steadily, with unmistakable admiration and -respect. "I mean that most men hold so strongly to life, and can give up -so little for their beliefs," he said gravely. - -The Englishman felt slightly uncomfortable. These worthy men really made -too much of his sentimental journey. Besides, the talk was getting a -little out of his depth. He hardly followed it. - -"The worldly life still has _some_ charms for me," he replied smilingly, -as though to indicate that sainthood was not yet quite within his grasp. - -"All the more, then, must we honour you for so freely coming," said the -Brother on his left; "so unconditionally!" - -A pause followed, and the silk merchant felt relieved when the -conversation took a more general turn, although he noted that it never -travelled very far from the subject of his visit and the wonderful -situation of the lonely village for men who wished to develop their -spiritual powers and practise the rites of a high worship. Others joined -in, complimenting him on his knowledge of the language, making him feel -utterly at his ease, yet at the same time a little uncomfortable by the -excess of their admiration. After all, it was such a very small thing to -do, this sentimental journey. - -The time passed along quickly; the coffee was excellent, the cigars soft -and of the nutty flavour he loved. At length, fearing to outstay his -welcome, he rose reluctantly to take his leave. But the others would not -hear of it. It was not often a former pupil returned to visit them in -this simple, unaffected way. The night was young. If necessary they -could even find him a corner in the great _Schlafzimmer_ upstairs. He -was easily persuaded to stay a little longer. Somehow he had become the -centre of the little party. He felt pleased, flattered, honoured. - -"And perhaps Bruder Schliemann will play something for us--now." - -It was Kalkmann speaking, and Harris started visibly as he heard the -name, and saw the black-haired man by the piano turn with a smile. For -Schliemann was the name of his old music director, who was dead. Could -this be his son? They were so exactly alike. - -"If Bruder Meyer has not put his Amati to bed, I will accompany him," -said the musician suggestively, looking across at a man whom Harris had -not yet noticed, and who, he now saw, was the very image of a former -master of that name. - -Meyer rose and excused himself with a little bow, and the Englishman -quickly observed that he had a peculiar gesture as though his neck had a -false join on to the body just below the collar and feared it might -break. Meyer of old had this trick of movement. He remembered how the -boys used to copy it. - -He glanced sharply from face to face, feeling as though some silent, -unseen process were changing everything about him. All the faces seemed -oddly familiar. Pagel, the Brother he had been talking with, was of -course the image of Pagel, his former room-master, and Kalkmann, he now -realised for the first time, was the very twin of another master whose -name he had quite forgotten, but whom he used to dislike intensely in -the old days. And, through the smoke, peering at him from the corners of -the room, he saw that all the Brothers about him had the faces he had -known and lived with long ago--Röst, Fluheim, Meinert, Rigel, Gysin. - -He stared hard, suddenly grown more alert, and everywhere saw, or -fancied he saw, strange likenesses, ghostly resemblances,--more, the -identical faces of years ago. There was something queer about it all, -something not quite right, something that made him feel uneasy. He shook -himself, mentally and actually, blowing the smoke from before his eyes -with a long breath, and as he did so he noticed to his dismay that every -one was fixedly staring. They were watching him. - -This brought him to his senses. As an Englishman, and a foreigner, he -did not wish to be rude, or to do anything to make himself foolishly -conspicuous and spoil the harmony of the evening. He was a guest, and a -privileged guest at that. Besides, the music had already begun. Bruder -Schliemann's long white fingers were caressing the keys to some purpose. - -He subsided into his chair and smoked with half-closed eyes that yet saw -everything. - -But the shudder had established itself in his being, and, whether he -would or not, it kept repeating itself. As a town, far up some inland -river, feels the pressure of the distant sea, so he became aware that -mighty forces from somewhere beyond his ken were urging themselves up -against his soul in this smoky little room. He began to feel exceedingly -ill at ease. - -And as the music filled the air his mind began to clear. Like a lifted -veil there rose up something that had hitherto obscured his vision. The -words of the priest at the railway inn flashed across his brain -unbidden: "You will find it different." And also, though why he could -not tell, he saw mentally the strong, rather wonderful eyes of that -other guest at the supper-table, the man who had overheard his -conversation, and had later got into earnest talk with the priest. He -took out his watch and stole a glance at it. Two hours had slipped by. -It was already eleven o'clock. - -Schliemann, meanwhile, utterly absorbed in his music, was playing a -solemn measure. The piano sang marvellously. The power of a great -conviction, the simplicity of great art, the vital spiritual message of -a soul that had found itself--all this, and more, were in the chords, -and yet somehow the music was what can only be described as -impure--atrociously and diabolically impure. And the piece itself, -although Harris did not recognise it as anything familiar, was surely -the music of a Mass--huge, majestic, sombre? It stalked through the -smoky room with slow power, like the passage of something that was -mighty, yet profoundly intimate, and as it went there stirred into each -and every face about him the signature of the enormous forces of which -it was the audible symbol. The countenances round him turned sinister, -but not idly, negatively sinister: they grew dark with purpose. He -suddenly recalled the face of Bruder Kalkmann in the corridor earlier in -the evening. The motives of their secret souls rose to the eyes, and -mouths, and foreheads, and hung there for all to see like the black -banners of an assembly of ill-starred and fallen creatures. Demons--was -the horrible word that flashed through his brain like a sheet of fire. - -When this sudden discovery leaped out upon him, for a moment he lost his -self-control. Without waiting to think and weigh his extraordinary -impression, he did a very foolish but a very natural thing. Feeling -himself irresistibly driven by the sudden stress to some kind of action, -he sprang to his feet--and screamed! To his own utter amazement he stood -up and shrieked aloud! - -But no one stirred. No one, apparently, took the slightest notice of his -absurdly wild behaviour. It was almost as if no one but himself had -heard the scream at all--as though the music had drowned it and -swallowed it up--as though after all perhaps he had not really screamed -as loudly as he imagined, or had not screamed at all. - -Then, as he glanced at the motionless, dark faces before him, something -of utter cold passed into his being, touching his very soul.... All -emotion cooled suddenly, leaving him like a receding tide. He sat down -again, ashamed, mortified, angry with himself for behaving like a fool -and a boy. And the music, meanwhile, continued to issue from the white -and snakelike fingers of Bruder Schliemann, as poisoned wine might issue -from the weirdly fashioned necks of antique phials. - -And, with the rest of them, Harris drank it in. - -Forcing himself to believe that he had been the victim of some kind of -illusory perception, he vigorously restrained his feelings. Then the -music presently ceased, and every one applauded and began to talk at -once, laughing, changing seats, complimenting the player, and behaving -naturally and easily as though nothing out of the way had happened. The -faces appeared normal once more. The Brothers crowded round their -visitor, and he joined in their talk and even heard himself thanking the -gifted musician. - -But, at the same time, he found himself edging towards the door, nearer -and nearer, changing his chair when possible, and joining the groups -that stood closest to the way of escape. - -"I must thank you all _tausendmal_ for my little reception and the great -pleasure--the very great honour you have done me," he began in decided -tones at length, "but I fear I have trespassed far too long already on -your hospitality. Moreover, I have some distance to walk to my inn." - -A chorus of voices greeted his words. They would not hear of his -going,--at least not without first partaking of refreshment. They -produced pumpernickel from one cupboard, and rye-bread and sausage from -another, and all began to talk again and eat. More coffee was made, -fresh cigars lighted, and Bruder Meyer took out his violin and began to -tune it softly. - -"There is always a bed upstairs if Herr Harris will accept it," said -one. - -"And it is difficult to find the way out now, for all the doors are -locked," laughed another loudly. - -"Let us take our simple pleasures as they come," cried a third. "Bruder -Harris will understand how we appreciate the honour of this last visit -of his." - -They made a dozen excuses. They all laughed, as though the politeness of -their words was but formal, and veiled thinly--more and more thinly--a -very different meaning. - -"And the hour of midnight draws near," added Bruder Kalkmann with a -charming smile, but in a voice that sounded to the Englishman like the -grating of iron hinges. - -Their German seemed to him more and more difficult to understand. He -noted that they called him "Bruder" too, classing him as one of -themselves. - -And then suddenly he had a flash of keener perception, and realised with -a creeping of his flesh that he had all along misinterpreted--grossly -misinterpreted all they had been saying. They had talked about the -beauty of the place, its isolation and remoteness from the world, its -peculiar fitness for certain kinds of spiritual development and -worship--yet hardly, he now grasped, in the sense in which he had taken -the words. They had meant something different. Their spiritual powers, -their desire for loneliness, their passion for worship, were not the -powers, the solitude, or the worship that _he_ meant and understood. He -was playing a part in some horrible masquerade; he was among men who -cloaked their lives with religion in order to follow their real purposes -unseen of men. - -What did it all mean? How had he blundered into so equivocal a -situation? Had he blundered into it at all? Had he not rather been led -into it, deliberately led? His thoughts grew dreadfully confused, and -his confidence in himself began to fade. And why, he suddenly thought -again, were they so impressed by the mere fact of his coming to revisit -his old school? What was it they so admired and wondered at in his -simple act? Why did they set such store upon his having the courage to -come, to "give himself so freely," "unconditionally" as one of them had -expressed it with such a mockery of exaggeration? - -Fear stirred in his heart most horribly, and he found no answer to any -of his questionings. Only one thing he now understood quite clearly: it -was their purpose to keep him here. They did not intend that he should -go. And from this moment he realised that they were sinister, formidable -and, in some way he had yet to discover, inimical to himself, inimical -to his life. And the phrase one of them had used a moment ago--"this -_last_ visit of his"--rose before his eyes in letters of flame. - -Harris was not a man of action, and had never known in all the course of -his career what it meant to be in a situation of real danger. He was not -necessarily a coward, though, perhaps, a man of untried nerve. He -realised at last plainly that he was in a very awkward predicament -indeed, and that he had to deal with men who were utterly in earnest. -What their intentions were he only vaguely guessed. His mind, indeed, -was too confused for definite ratiocination, and he was only able to -follow blindly the strongest instincts that moved in him. It never -occurred to him that the Brothers might all be mad, or that he himself -might have temporarily lost his senses and be suffering under some -terrible delusion. In fact, nothing occurred to him--he realised -nothing--except that he meant to escape--and the quicker the better. A -tremendous revulsion of feeling set in and overpowered him. - -Accordingly, without further protest for the moment, he ate his -pumpernickel and drank his coffee, talking meanwhile as naturally and -pleasantly as he could, and when a suitable interval had passed, he rose -to his feet and announced once more that he must now take his leave. He -spoke very quietly, but very decidedly. No one hearing him could doubt -that he meant what he said. He had got very close to the door by this -time. - -"I regret," he said, using his best German, and speaking to a hushed -room, "that our pleasant evening must come to an end, but it is now -time for me to wish you all good-night." And then, as no one said -anything, he added, though with a trifle less assurance, "And I thank -you all most sincerely for your hospitality." - -"On the contrary," replied Kalkmann instantly, rising from his chair and -ignoring the hand the Englishman had stretched out to him, "it is we who -have to thank you; and we do so most gratefully and sincerely." - -And at the same moment at least half a dozen of the Brothers took up -their position between himself and the door. - -"You are very good to say so," Harris replied as firmly as he could -manage, noticing this movement out of the corner of his eye, "but really -I had no conception that--my little chance visit could have afforded you -so much pleasure." He moved another step nearer the door, but Bruder -Schliemann came across the room quickly and stood in front of him. His -attitude was uncompromising. A dark and terrible expression had come -into his face. - -"But it was _not_ by chance that you came, Bruder Harris," he said so -that all the room could hear; "surely we have not misunderstood your -presence here?" He raised his black eyebrows. - -"No, no," the Englishman hastened to reply, "I was--I am delighted to be -here. I told you what pleasure it gave me to find myself among you. Do -not misunderstand me, I beg." His voice faltered a little, and he had -difficulty in finding the words. More and more, too, he had difficulty -in understanding _their_ words. - -"Of course," interposed Bruder Kalkmann in his iron bass, "_we_ have not -misunderstood. You have come back in the spirit of true and unselfish -devotion. You offer yourself freely, and we all appreciate it. It is -your willingness and nobility that have so completely won our veneration -and respect." A faint murmur of applause ran round the room. "What we -all delight in--what our great Master will especially delight in--is the -value of your spontaneous and voluntary--" - -He used a word Harris did not understand. He said "_Opfer_." The -bewildered Englishman searched his brain for the translation, and -searched in vain. For the life of him he could not remember what it -meant. But the word, for all his inability to translate it, touched his -soul with ice. It was worse, far worse, than anything he had imagined. -He felt like a lost, helpless creature, and all power to fight sank out -of him from that moment. - -"It is magnificent to be such a willing--" added Schliemann, sidling -up to him with a dreadful leer on his face. He made use of the same -word--"_Opfer_." - -"God! What could it all mean?" "Offer himself!" "True spirit of -devotion!" "Willing," "unselfish," "magnificent!" _Opfer, Opfer, Opfer!_ -What in the name of heaven did it mean, that strange, mysterious word -that struck such terror into his heart? - -He made a valiant effort to keep his presence of mind and hold his -nerves steady. Turning, he saw that Kalkmann's face was a dead white. -Kalkmann! He understood that well enough. _Kalkmann_ meant "Man of -Chalk": he knew that. But what did "_Opfer_" mean? That was the real key -to the situation. Words poured through his disordered mind in an endless -stream--unusual, rare words he had perhaps heard but once in his -life--while "_Opfer_," a word in common use, entirely escaped him. What -an extraordinary mockery it all was! - -Then Kalkmann, pale as death, but his face hard as iron, spoke a few low -words that he did not catch, and the Brothers standing by the walls at -once turned the lamps down so that the room became dim. In the half -light he could only just discern their faces and movements. - -"It is time," he heard Kalkmann's remorseless voice continue just behind -him. "The hour of midnight is at hand. Let us prepare. He comes! He -comes; Bruder Asmodelius comes!" His voice rose to a chant. - -And the sound of that name, for some extraordinary reason, was -terrible--utterly terrible; so that Harris shook from head to foot as he -heard it. Its utterance filled the air like soft thunder, and a hush -came over the whole room. Forces rose all about him, transforming the -normal into the horrible, and the spirit of craven fear ran through all -his being, bringing him to the verge of collapse. - -_Asmodelius! Asmodelius!_ The name was appalling. For he understood at -last to whom it referred and the meaning that lay between its great -syllables. At the same instant, too, he suddenly understood the meaning -of that unremembered word. The import of the word "_Opfer_" flashed upon -his soul like a message of death. - -He thought of making a wild effort to reach the door, but the weakness -of his trembling knees, and the row of black figures that stood between, -dissuaded him at once. He would have screamed for help, but remembering -the emptiness of the vast building, and the loneliness of the situation, -he understood that no help could come that way, and he kept his lips -closed. He stood still and did nothing. But he knew now what was coming. - -Two of the Brothers approached and took him gently by the arm. - -"Bruder Asmodelius accepts you," they whispered; "are you ready?" - -Then he found his tongue and tried to speak. "But what have I to do with -this Bruder Asm--Asmo--?" he stammered, a desperate rush of words -crowding vainly behind the halting tongue. - -The name refused to pass his lips. He could not pronounce it as they -did. He could not pronounce it at all. His sense of helplessness then -entered the acute stage, for this inability to speak the name produced -a fresh sense of quite horrible confusion in his mind, and he became -extraordinarily agitated. - -"I came here for a friendly visit," he tried to say with a great effort, -but, to his intense dismay, he heard his voice saying something quite -different, and actually making use of that very word they had all used: -"I came here as a willing _Opfer_," he heard his own voice say, "and _I -am quite ready_." - -He was lost beyond all recall now! Not alone his mind, but the very -muscles of his body had passed out of control. He felt that he was -hovering on the confines of a phantom or demon-world,--a world in which -the name they had spoken constituted the Master-name, the word of -ultimate power. - -What followed he heard and saw as in a nightmare. - -"In the half light that veils all truth, let us prepare to worship and -adore," chanted Schliemann, who had preceded him to the end of the room. - -"In the mists that protect our faces before the Black Throne, let us -make ready the willing victim," echoed Kalkmann in his great bass. - -They raised their faces, listening expectantly, as a roaring sound, like -the passing of mighty projectiles, filled the air, far, far away, very -wonderful, very forbidding. The walls of the room trembled. - -"He comes! He comes! He comes!" chanted the Brothers in chorus. - -The sound of roaring died away, and an atmosphere of still and utter -cold established itself over all. Then Kalkmann, dark and unutterably -stern, turned in the dim light and faced the rest. - -"Asmodelius, our _Hauptbruder_, is about us," he cried in a voice that -even while it shook was yet a voice of iron; "Asmodelius is about us. -Make ready." - -There followed a pause in which no one stirred or spoke. A tall Brother -approached the Englishman; but Kalkmann held up his hand. - -"Let the eyes remain uncovered," he said, "in honour of so freely giving -himself." And to his horror Harris then realised for the first time that -his hands were already fastened to his sides. - -The Brother retreated again silently, and in the pause that followed all -the figures about him dropped to their knees, leaving him standing -alone, and as they dropped, in voices hushed with mingled reverence and -awe, they cried, softly, odiously, appallingly, the name of the Being -whom they momentarily expected to appear. - -Then, at the end of the room, where the windows seemed to have -disappeared so that he saw the stars, there rose into view far up -against the night sky, grand and terrible, the outline of a man. A kind -of grey glory enveloped it so that it resembled a steel-cased statue, -immense, imposing, horrific in its distant splendour; while, at the same -time, the face was so spiritually mighty, yet so proudly, so austerely -sad, that Harris felt as he stared, that the sight was more than his -eyes could meet, and that in another moment the power of vision would -fail him altogether, and he must sink into utter nothingness. - -So remote and inaccessible hung this figure that it was impossible to -gauge anything as to its size, yet at the same time so strangely close, -that when the grey radiance from its mightily broken visage, august and -mournful, beat down upon his soul, pulsing like some dark star with the -powers of spiritual evil, he felt almost as though he were looking into -a face no farther removed from him in space than the face of any one of -the Brothers who stood by his side. - -And then the room filled and trembled with sounds that Harris understood -full well were the failing voices of others who had preceded him in a -long series down the years. There came first a plain, sharp cry, as of a -man in the last anguish, choking for his breath, and yet, with the very -final expiration of it, breathing the name of the Worship--of the dark -Being who rejoiced to hear it. The cries of the strangled; the short, -running gasp of the suffocated; and the smothered gurgling of the -tightened throat, all these, and more, echoed back and forth between the -walls, the very walls in which he now stood a prisoner, a sacrificial -victim. The cries, too, not alone of the broken bodies, but--far -worse--of beaten, broken souls. And as the ghastly chorus rose and fell, -there came also the faces of the lost and unhappy creatures to whom they -belonged, and, against that curtain of pale grey light, he saw float -past him in the air, an array of white and piteous human countenances -that seemed to beckon and gibber at him as though he were already one of -themselves. - -Slowly, too, as the voices rose, and the pallid crew sailed past, that -giant form of grey descended from the sky and approached the room that -contained the worshippers and their prisoner. Hands rose and sank about -him in the darkness, and he felt that he was being draped in other -garments than his own; a circlet of ice seemed to run about his head, -while round the waist, enclosing the fastened arms, he felt a girdle -tightly drawn. At last, about his very throat, there ran a soft and -silken touch which, better than if there had been full light, and a -mirror held to his face, he understood to be the cord of sacrifice--and -of death. - -At this moment the Brothers, still prostrate upon the floor, began again -their mournful, yet impassioned chanting, and as they did so a strange -thing happened. For, apparently without moving or altering its position, -the huge Figure seemed, at once and suddenly, to be inside the room, -almost beside him, and to fill the space around him to the exclusion of -all else. - -He was now beyond all ordinary sensations of fear, only a drab feeling -as of death--the death of the soul--stirred in his heart. His thoughts -no longer even beat vainly for escape. The end was near, and he knew it. - -The dreadfully chanting voices rose about him in a wave: "We worship! We -adore! We offer!" The sounds filled his ears and hammered, almost -meaningless, upon his brain. - -Then the majestic grey face turned slowly downwards upon him, and his -very soul passed outwards and seemed to become absorbed in the sea of -those anguished eyes. At the same moment a dozen hands forced him to his -knees, and in the air before him he saw the arm of Kalkmann upraised, -and felt the pressure about his throat grow strong. - -It was in this awful moment, when he had given up all hope, and the help -of gods or men seemed beyond question, that a strange thing happened. -For before his fading and terrified vision there slid, as in a dream of -light,--yet without apparent rhyme or reason--wholly unbidden and -unexplained,--the face of that other man at the supper table of the -railway inn. And the sight, even mentally, of that strong, wholesome, -vigorous English face, inspired him suddenly with a new courage. - -It was but a flash of fading vision before he sank into a dark and -terrible death, yet, in some inexplicable way, the sight of that face -stirred in him unconquerable hope and the certainty of deliverance. It -was a face of power, a face, he now realised, of simple goodness such as -might have been seen by men of old on the shores of Galilee; a face, by -heaven, that could conquer even the devils of outer space. - -And, in his despair and abandonment, he called upon it, and called with -no uncertain accents. He found his voice in this overwhelming moment to -some purpose; though the words he actually used, and whether they were -in German or English, he could never remember. Their effect, -nevertheless, was instantaneous. The Brothers understood, and that grey -Figure of evil understood. - -For a second the confusion was terrific. There came a great shattering -sound. It seemed that the very earth trembled. But all Harris remembered -afterwards was that voices rose about him in the clamour of terrified -alarm-- - -"A man of power is among us! A man of God!" - -The vast sound was repeated--the rushing through space as of huge -projectiles--and he sank to the floor of the room, unconscious. The -entire scene had vanished, vanished like smoke over the roof of a -cottage when the wind blows. - -And, by his side, sat down a slight un-German figure,--the figure of the -stranger at the inn,--the man who had the "rather wonderful eyes." - - * * * * * - -When Harris came to himself he felt cold. He was lying under the open -sky, and the cool air of field and forest was blowing upon his face. He -sat up and looked about him. The memory of the late scene was still -horribly in his mind, but no vestige of it remained. No walls or ceiling -enclosed him; he was no longer in a room at all. There were no lamps -turned low, no cigar smoke, no black forms of sinister worshippers, no -tremendous grey Figure hovering beyond the windows. - -Open space was about him, and he was lying on a pile of bricks and -mortar, his clothes soaked with dew, and the kind stars shining brightly -overhead. He was lying, bruised and shaken, among the heaped-up débris -of a ruined building. - -He stood up and stared about him. There, in the shadowy distance, lay -the surrounding forest, and here, close at hand, stood the outline of -the village buildings. But, underfoot, beyond question, lay nothing but -the broken heaps of stones that betokened a building long since crumbled -to dust. Then he saw that the stones were blackened, and that great -wooden beams, half burnt, half rotten, made lines through the general -débris. He stood, then, among the ruins of a burnt and shattered -building, the weeds and nettles proving conclusively that it had lain -thus for many years. - -The moon had already set behind the encircling forest, but the stars -that spangled the heavens threw enough light to enable him to make quite -sure of what he saw. Harris, the silk merchant, stood among these broken -and burnt stones and shivered. - -Then he suddenly became aware that out of the gloom a figure had risen -and stood beside him. Peering at him, he thought he recognised the face -of the stranger at the railway inn. - -"Are _you_ real?" he asked in a voice he hardly recognised as his own. - -"More than real--I'm friendly," replied the stranger; "I followed you up -here from the inn." - -Harris stood and stared for several minutes without adding anything. His -teeth chattered. The least sound made him start; but the simple words in -his own language, and the tone in which they were uttered, comforted him -inconceivably. - -"You're English too, thank God," he said inconsequently. "These German -devils--" He broke off and put a hand to his eyes. "But what's become -of them all--and the room--and--and--" The hand travelled down to his -throat and moved nervously round his neck. He drew a long, long breath -of relief. "Did I dream everything--everything?" he said distractedly. - -He stared wildly about him, and the stranger moved forward and took his -arm. "Come," he said soothingly, yet with a trace of command in the -voice, "we will move away from here. The high-road, or even the woods -will be more to your taste, for we are standing now on one of the most -haunted--and most terribly haunted--spots of the whole world." - -He guided his companion's stumbling footsteps over the broken masonry -until they reached the path, the nettles stinging their hands, and -Harris feeling his way like a man in a dream. Passing through the -twisted iron railing they reached the path, and thence made their way to -the road, shining white in the night. Once safely out of the ruins, -Harris collected himself and turned to look back. - -"But, how is it possible?" he exclaimed, his voice still shaking. "How -can it be possible? When I came in here I saw the building in the -moonlight. They opened the door. I saw the figures and heard the voices -and touched, yes touched their very hands, and saw their damned black -faces, saw them far more plainly than I see you now." He was deeply -bewildered. The glamour was still upon his eyes with a degree of reality -stronger than the reality even of normal life. "Was I so utterly -deluded?" - -Then suddenly the words of the stranger, which he had only half heard or -understood, returned to him. - -"Haunted?" he asked, looking hard at him; "haunted, did you say?" He -paused in the roadway and stared into the darkness where the building of -the old school had first appeared to him. But the stranger hurried him -forward. - -"We shall talk more safely farther on," he said. "I followed you from -the inn the moment I realised where you had gone. When I found you it -was eleven o'clock--" - -"Eleven o'clock," said Harris, remembering with a shudder. - -"--I saw you drop. I watched over you till you recovered consciousness -of your own accord, and now--now I am here to guide you safely back to -the inn. I have broken the spell--the glamour--" - -"I owe you a great deal, sir," interrupted Harris again, beginning to -understand something of the stranger's kindness, "but I don't understand -it all. I feel dazed and shaken." His teeth still chattered, and spells -of violent shivering passed over him from head to foot. He found that he -was clinging to the other's arm. In this way they passed beyond the -deserted and crumbling village and gained the high-road that led -homewards through the forest. - -"That school building has long been in ruins," said the man at his side -presently; "it was burnt down by order of the Elders of the community at -least ten years ago. The village has been uninhabited ever since. But -the simulacra of certain ghastly events that took place under that roof -in past days still continue. And the 'shells' of the chief participants -still enact there the dreadful deeds that led to its final destruction, -and to the desertion of the whole settlement. They were -devil-worshippers!" - -Harris listened with beads of perspiration on his forehead that did not -come alone from their leisurely pace through the cool night. Although he -had seen this man but once before in his life, and had never before -exchanged so much as a word with him, he felt a degree of confidence and -a subtle sense of safety and well-being in his presence that were the -most healing influences he could possibly have wished after the -experience he had been through. For all that, he still felt as if he -were walking in a dream, and though he heard every word that fell from -his companion's lips, it was only the next day that the full import of -all he said became fully clear to him. The presence of this quiet -stranger, the man with the wonderful eyes which he felt now, rather than -saw, applied a soothing anodyne to his shattered spirit that healed him -through and through. And this healing influence, distilled from the dark -figure at his side, satisfied his first imperative need, so that he -almost forgot to realise how strange and opportune it was that the man -should be there at all. - -It somehow never occurred to him to ask his name, or to feel any undue -wonder that one passing tourist should take so much trouble on behalf of -another. He just walked by his side, listening to his quiet words, and -allowing himself to enjoy the very wonderful experience after his recent -ordeal, of being helped, strengthened, blessed. Only once, remembering -vaguely something of his reading of years ago, he turned to the man -beside him, after some more than usually remarkable words, and heard -himself, almost involuntarily it seemed, putting the question: "Then are -you a Rosicrucian, sir, perhaps?" But the stranger had ignored the -words, or possibly not heard them, for he continued with his talk as -though unconscious of any interruption, and Harris became aware that -another somewhat unusual picture had taken possession of his mind, as -they walked there side by side through the cool reaches of the forest, -and that he had found his imagination suddenly charged with the -childhood memory of Jacob wrestling with an angel,--wrestling all night -with a being of superior quality whose strength eventually became his -own. - -"It was your abrupt conversation with the priest at supper that first -put me upon the track of this remarkable occurrence," he heard the -man's quiet voice beside him in the darkness, "and it was from him I -learned after you left the story of the devil-worship that became -secretly established in the heart of this simple and devout little -community." - -"Devil-worship! Here--!" Harris stammered, aghast. - -"Yes--here;--conducted secretly for years by a group of Brothers before -unexplained disappearances in the neighbourhood led to its discovery. -For where could they have found a safer place in the whole wide world -for their ghastly traffic and perverted powers than here, in the very -precincts--under cover of the very shadow of saintliness and holy -living?" - -"Awful, awful!" whispered the silk merchant, "and when I tell you the -words they used to me--" - -"I know it all," the stranger said quietly. "I saw and heard everything. -My plan first was to wait till the end and then to take steps for their -destruction, but in the interest of your personal safety,"--he spoke -with the utmost gravity and conviction,--"in the interest of the safety -of your soul, I made my presence known when I did, and before the -conclusion had been reached--" - -"My safety! The danger, then, was real. They were alive and--" Words -failed him. He stopped in the road and turned towards his companion, the -shining of whose eyes he could just make out in the gloom. - -"It was a concourse of the shells of violent men, spiritually developed -but evil men, seeking after death--the death of the body--to prolong -their vile and unnatural existence. And had they accomplished their -object you, in turn, at the death of your body, would have passed into -their power and helped to swell their dreadful purposes." - -Harris made no reply. He was trying hard to concentrate his mind upon -the sweet and common things of life. He even thought of silk and St. -Paul's Churchyard and the faces of his partners in business. - -"For you came all prepared to be caught," he heard the other's voice -like some one talking to him from a distance; "your deeply introspective -mood had already reconstructed the past so vividly, so intensely, that -you were _en rapport_ at once with any forces of those days that chanced -still to be lingering. And they swept you up all unresistingly." - -Harris tightened his hold upon the stranger's arm as he heard. At the -moment he had room for one emotion only. It did not seem to him odd that -this stranger should have such intimate knowledge of his mind. - -"It is, alas, chiefly the evil emotions that are able to leave their -photographs upon surrounding scenes and objects," the other added, "and -who ever heard of a place haunted by a noble deed, or of beautiful and -lovely ghosts revisiting the glimpses of the moon? It is unfortunate. -But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to -leave pictures that persist; the good are ever too lukewarm." - -The stranger sighed as he spoke. But Harris, exhausted and shaken as he -was to the very core, paced by his side, only half listening. He moved -as in a dream still. It was very wonderful to him, this walk home under -the stars in the early hours of the October morning, the peaceful forest -all about them, mist rising here and there over the small clearings, and -the sound of water from a hundred little invisible streams filling in -the pauses of the talk. In after life he always looked back to it as -something magical and impossible, something that had seemed too -beautiful, too curiously beautiful, to have been quite true. And, though -at the time he heard and understood but a quarter of what the stranger -said, it came back to him afterwards, staying with him till the end of -his days, and always with a curious, haunting sense of unreality, as -though he had enjoyed a wonderful dream of which he could recall only -faint and exquisite portions. - -But the horror of the earlier experience was effectually dispelled; and -when they reached the railway inn, somewhere about three o'clock in the -morning, Harris shook the stranger's hand gratefully, effusively, -meeting the look of those rather wonderful eyes with a full heart, and -went up to his room, thinking in a hazy, dream-like way of the words -with which the stranger had brought their conversation to an end as they -left the confines of the forest-- - -"And if thought and emotion can persist in this way so long after the -brain that sent them forth has crumbled into dust, how vitally important -it must be to control their very birth in the heart, and guard them with -the keenest possible restraint." - -But Harris, the silk merchant, slept better than might have been -expected, and with a soundness that carried him half-way through the -day. And when he came downstairs and learned that the stranger had -already taken his departure, he realised with keen regret that he had -never once thought of asking his name. - -"Yes, he signed the visitors' book," said the girl in reply to his -question. - -And he turned over the blotted pages and found there, the last entry, in -a very delicate and individual handwriting-- - -"_John Silence_, London." - - - - -CASE II: THE CAMP OF THE DOG - - -I - -Islands of all shapes and sizes troop northward from Stockholm by the -hundred, and the little steamer that threads their intricate mazes in -summer leaves the traveller in a somewhat bewildered state as regards -the points of the compass when it reaches the end of its journey at -Waxholm. But it is only after Waxholm that the true islands begin, so to -speak, to run wild, and start up the coast on their tangled course of a -hundred miles of deserted loveliness, and it was in the very heart of -this delightful confusion that we pitched our tents for a summer -holiday. A veritable wilderness of islands lay about us: from the mere -round button of a rock that bore a single fir, to the mountainous -stretch of a square mile, densely wooded, and bounded by precipitous -cliffs; so close together often that a strip of water ran between no -wider than a country lane, or, again, so far that an expanse stretched -like the open sea for miles. - -Although the larger islands boasted farms and fishing stations, the -majority were uninhabited. Carpeted with moss and heather, their -coast-lines showed a series of ravines and clefts and little sandy bays, -with a growth of splendid pine-woods that came down to the water's edge -and led the eye through unknown depths of shadow and mystery into the -very heart of primitive forest. - -The particular islands to which we had camping rights by virtue of -paying a nominal sum to a Stockholm merchant lay together in a -picturesque group far beyond the reach of the steamer, one being a mere -reef with a fringe of fairy-like birches, and two others, cliff-bound -monsters rising with wooded heads out of the sea. The fourth, which we -selected because it enclosed a little lagoon suitable for anchorage, -bathing, night-lines, and what-not, shall have what description is -necessary as the story proceeds; but, so far as paying rent was -concerned, we might equally well have pitched our tents on any one of a -hundred others that clustered about us as thickly as a swarm of bees. - -It was in the blaze of an evening in July, the air clear as crystal, the -sea a cobalt blue, when we left the steamer on the borders of -civilisation and sailed away with maps, compasses, and provisions for -the little group of dots in the Skägård that were to be our home for the -next two months. The dinghy and my Canadian canoe trailed behind us, -with tents and dunnage carefully piled aboard, and when the point of -cliff intervened to hide the steamer and the Waxholm hotel we realised -for the first time that the horror of trains and houses was far behind -us, the fever of men and cities, the weariness of streets and confined -spaces. The wilderness opened up on all sides into endless blue reaches, -and the map and compasses were so frequently called into requisition -that we went astray more often than not and progress was enchantingly -slow. It took us, for instance, two whole days to find our -crescent-shaped home, and the camps we made on the way were so -fascinating that we left them with difficulty and regret, for each -island seemed more desirable than the one before it, and over all lay -the spell of haunting peace, remoteness from the turmoil of the world, -and the freedom of open and desolate spaces. - -And so many of these spots of world-beauty have I sought out and dwelt -in, that in my mind remains only a composite memory of their faces, a -true map of heaven, as it were, from which this particular one stands -forth with unusual sharpness because of the strange things that happened -there, and also, I think, because anything in which John Silence played -a part has a habit of fixing itself in the mind with a living and -lasting quality of vividness. - -For the moment, however, Dr. Silence was not of the party. Some private -case in the interior of Hungary claimed his attention, and it was not -till later--the 15th of August, to be exact--that I had arranged to meet -him in Berlin and then return to London together for our harvest of -winter work. All the members of our party, however, were known to him -more or less well, and on this third day as we sailed through the narrow -opening into the lagoon and saw the circular ridge of trees in a gold -and crimson sunset before us, his last words to me when we parted in -London for some unaccountable reason came back very sharply to my -memory, and recalled the curious impression of prophecy with which I had -first heard them: - -"Enjoy your holiday and store up all the force you can," he had said as -the train slipped out of Victoria; "and we will meet in Berlin on the -15th--unless you should send for me sooner." - -And now suddenly the words returned to me so clearly that it seemed I -almost heard his voice in my ear: "Unless you should send for me -sooner"; and returned, moreover, with a significance I was wholly at a -loss to understand that touched somewhere in the depths of my mind a -vague sense of apprehension that they had all along been intended in the -nature of a prophecy. - -In the lagoon, then, the wind failed us this July evening, as was only -natural behind the shelter of the belt of woods, and we took to the -oars, all breathless with the beauty of this first sight of our island -home, yet all talking in somewhat hushed voices of the best place to -land, the depth of water, the safest place to anchor, to put up the -tents in, the most sheltered spot for the camp-fires, and a dozen things -of importance that crop up when a home in the wilderness has actually to -be made. - -And during this busy sunset hour of unloading before the dark, the souls -of my companions adopted the trick of presenting themselves very vividly -anew before my mind, and introducing themselves afresh. - -In reality, I suppose, our party was in no sense singular. In the -conventional life at home they certainly seemed ordinary enough, but -suddenly, as we passed through these gates of the wilderness, I saw them -more sharply than before, with characters stripped of the atmosphere of -men and cities. A complete change of setting often furnishes a -startlingly new view of people hitherto held for well-known; they -present another facet of their personalities. I seemed to see my own -party almost as new people--people I had not known properly hitherto, -people who would drop all disguises and henceforth reveal themselves as -they really were. And each one seemed to say: "Now you will see me as I -am. You will see me here in this primitive life of the wilderness -without clothes. All my masks and veils I have left behind in the abodes -of men. So, look out for surprises!" - -The Reverend Timothy Maloney helped me to put up the tents, long -practice making the process easy, and while he drove in pegs and -tightened ropes, his coat off, his flannel collar flying open without a -tie, it was impossible to avoid the conclusion that he was cut out for -the life of a pioneer rather than the church. He was fifty years of age, -muscular, blue-eyed and hearty, and he took his share of the work, and -more, without shirking. The way he handled the axe in cutting down -saplings for the tent-poles was a delight to see, and his eye in judging -the level was unfailing. - -Bullied as a young man into a lucrative family living, he had in turn -bullied his mind into some semblance of orthodox beliefs, doing the -honours of the little country church with an energy that made one think -of a coal-heaver tending china; and it was only in the past few years -that he had resigned the living and taken instead to cramming young men -for their examinations. This suited him better. It enabled him, too, to -indulge his passion for spells of "wild life," and to spend the summer -months of most years under canvas in one part of the world or another -where he could take his young men with him and combine "reading" with -open air. - -His wife usually accompanied him, and there was no doubt she enjoyed -the trips, for she possessed, though in less degree, the same joy of the -wilderness that was his own distinguishing characteristic. The only -difference was that while he regarded it as the real life, she regarded -it as an interlude. While he camped out with his heart and mind, she -played at camping out with her clothes and body. None the less, she made -a splendid companion, and to watch her busy cooking dinner over the fire -we had built among the stones was to understand that her heart was in -the business for the moment and that she was happy even with the detail. - -Mrs. Maloney at home, knitting in the sun and believing that the world -was made in six days, was one woman; but Mrs. Maloney, standing with -bare arms over the smoke of a wood fire under the pine trees, was -another; and Peter Sangree, the Canadian pupil, with his pale skin, and -his loose, though not ungainly figure, stood beside her in very -unfavourable contrast as he scraped potatoes and sliced bacon with -slender white fingers that seemed better suited to hold a pen than a -knife. She ordered him about like a slave, and he obeyed, too, with -willing pleasure, for in spite of his general appearance of debility he -was as happy to be in camp as any of them. - -But more than any other member of the party, Joan Maloney, the daughter, -was the one who seemed a natural and genuine part of the landscape, who -belonged to it all just in the same way that the trees and the moss and -the grey rocks running out into the water belonged to it. For she was -obviously in her right and natural setting, a creature of the wilds, a -gipsy in her own home. - -To any one with a discerning eye this would have been more or less -apparent, but to me, who had known her during all the twenty-two years -of her life and was familiar with the ins and outs of her primitive, -utterly un-modern type, it was strikingly clear. To see her there made -it impossible to imagine her again in civilisation. I lost all -recollection of how she looked in a town. The memory somehow evaporated. -This slim creature before me, flitting to and fro with the grace of the -woodland life, swift, supple, adroit, on her knees blowing the fire, or -stirring the frying-pan through a veil of smoke, suddenly seemed the -only way I had ever really seen her. Here she was at home; in London she -became some one concealed by clothes, an artificial doll overdressed and -moving by clockwork, only a portion of her alive. Here she was alive all -over. - -I forget altogether how she was dressed, just as I forget how any -particular tree was dressed, or how the markings ran on any one of the -boulders that lay about the Camp. She looked just as wild and natural -and untamed as everything else that went to make up the scene, and more -than that I cannot say. - -Pretty, she was decidedly not. She was thin, skinny, dark-haired, and -possessed of great physical strength in the form of endurance. She had, -too, something of the force and vigorous purpose of a man, tempestuous -sometimes and wild to passionate, frightening her mother, and puzzling -her easy-going father with her storms of waywardness, while at the same -time she stirred his admiration by her violence. A pagan of the pagans -she was besides, and with some haunting suggestion of old-world pagan -beauty about her dark face and eyes. Altogether an odd and difficult -character, but with a generosity and high courage that made her very -lovable. - -In town life she always seemed to me to feel cramped, bored, a devil in -a cage, in her eyes a hunted expression as though any moment she dreaded -to be caught. But up in these spacious solitudes all this disappeared. -Away from the limitations that plagued and stung her, she would show at -her best, and as I watched her moving about the Camp I repeatedly found -myself thinking of a wild creature that had just obtained its freedom -and was trying its muscles. - -Peter Sangree, of course, at once went down before her. But she was so -obviously beyond his reach, and besides so well able to take care of -herself, that I think her parents gave the matter but little thought, -and he himself worshipped at a respectful distance, keeping admirable -control of his passion in all respects save one; for at his age the eyes -are difficult to master, and the yearning, almost the devouring, -expression often visible in them was probably there unknown even to -himself. He, better than any one else, understood that he had fallen in -love with something most hard of attainment, something that drew him to -the very edge of life, and almost beyond it. It, no doubt, was a secret -and terrible joy to him, this passionate worship from afar; only I think -he suffered more than any one guessed, and that his want of vitality was -due in large measure to the constant stream of unsatisfied yearning that -poured for ever from his soul and body. Moreover, it seemed to me, who -now saw them for the first time together, that there was an unnamable -something--an elusive quality of some kind--that marked them as -belonging to the same world, and that although the girl ignored him she -was secretly, and perhaps unknown to herself, drawn by some attribute -very deep in her own nature to some quality equally deep in his. - -This, then, was the party when we first settled down into our two -months' camp on the island in the Baltic Sea. Other figures flitted from -time to time across the scene, and sometimes one reading man, sometimes -another, came to join us and spend his four hours a day in the -clergyman's tent, but they came for short periods only, and they went -without leaving much trace in my memory, and certainly they played no -important part in what subsequently happened. - -The weather favoured us that night, so that by sunset the tents were up, -the boats unloaded, a store of wood collected and chopped into lengths, -and the candle-lanterns hung round ready for lighting on the trees. -Sangree, too, had picked deep mattresses of balsam boughs for the -women's beds, and had cleared little paths of brushwood from their tents -to the central fireplace. All was prepared for bad weather. It was a -cosy supper and a well-cooked one that we sat down to and ate under the -stars, and, according to the clergyman, the only meal fit to eat we had -seen since we left London a week before. - -The deep stillness, after that roar of steamers, trains, and tourists, -held something that thrilled, for as we lay round the fire there was no -sound but the faint sighing of the pines and the soft lapping of the -waves along the shore and against the sides of the boat in the lagoon. -The ghostly outline of her white sails was just visible through the -trees, idly rocking to and fro in her calm anchorage, her sheets -flapping gently against the mast. Beyond lay the dim blue shapes of -other islands floating in the night, and from all the great spaces about -us came the murmur of the sea and the soft breathing of great woods. The -odours of the wilderness--smells of wind and earth, of trees and water, -clean, vigorous, and mighty--were the true odours of a virgin world -unspoilt by men, more penetrating and more subtly intoxicating than any -other perfume in the whole world. Oh!--and dangerously strong, too, no -doubt, for some natures! - -"Ahhh!" breathed out the clergyman after supper, with an indescribable -gesture of satisfaction and relief. "Here there is freedom, and room for -body and mind to turn in. Here one can work and rest and play. Here one -can be alive and absorb something of the earth-forces that never get -within touching distance in the cities. By George, I shall make a -permanent camp here and come when it is time to die!" - -The good man was merely giving vent to his delight at being under -canvas. He said the same thing every year, and he said it often. But it -more or less expressed the superficial feelings of us all. And when, a -little later, he turned to compliment his wife on the fried potatoes, -and discovered that she was snoring, with her back against a tree, he -grunted with content at the sight and put a ground-sheet over her feet, -as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to fall asleep -after dinner, and then moved back to his own corner, smoking his pipe -with great satisfaction. - -And I, smoking mine too, lay and fought against the most delicious -sleep imaginable, while my eyes wandered from the fire to the stars -peeping through the branches, and then back again to the group about me. -The Rev. Timothy soon let his pipe go out, and succumbed as his wife had -done, for he had worked hard and eaten well. Sangree, also smoking, -leaned against a tree with his gaze fixed on the girl, a depth of -yearning in his face that he could not hide, and that really distressed -me for him. And Joan herself, with wide staring eyes, alert, full of the -new forces of the place, evidently keyed up by the magic of finding -herself among all the things her soul recognised as "home," sat rigid by -the fire, her thoughts roaming through the spaces, the blood stirring -about her heart. She was as unconscious of the Canadian's gaze as she -was that her parents both slept. She looked to me more like a tree, or -something that had grown out of the island, than a living girl of the -century; and when I spoke across to her in a whisper and suggested a -tour of investigation, she started and looked up at me as though she -heard a voice in her dreams. - -Sangree leaped up and joined us, and without waking the others we three -went over the ridge of the island and made our way down to the shore -behind. The water lay like a lake before us still coloured by the -sunset. The air was keen and scented, wafting the smell of the wooded -islands that hung about us in the darkening air. Very small waves -tumbled softly on the sand. The sea was sown with stars, and everywhere -breathed and pulsed the beauty of the northern summer night. I confess I -speedily lost consciousness of the human presences beside me, and I have -little doubt Joan did too. Only Sangree felt otherwise, I suppose, for -presently we heard him sighing; and I can well imagine that he absorbed -the whole wonder and passion of the scene into his aching heart, to -swell the pain there that was more searching even than the pain at the -sight of such matchless and incomprehensible beauty. - -The splash of a fish jumping broke the spell. - -"I wish we had the canoe now," remarked Joan; "we could paddle out to -the other islands." - -"Of course," I said; "wait here and I'll go across for it," and was -turning to feel my way back through the darkness when she stopped me in -a voice that meant what it said. - -"No; Mr. Sangree will get it. We will wait here and cooee to guide him." - -The Canadian was off in a moment, for she had only to hint of her wishes -and he obeyed. - -"Keep out from shore in case of rocks," I cried out as he went, "and -turn to the right out of the lagoon. That's the shortest way round by -the map." - -My voice travelled across the still waters and woke echoes in the -distant islands that came back to us like people calling out of space. -It was only thirty or forty yards over the ridge and down the other side -to the lagoon where the boats lay, but it was a good mile to coast round -the shore in the dark to where we stood and waited. We heard him -stumbling away among the boulders, and then the sounds suddenly ceased -as he topped the ridge and went down past the fire on the other side. - -"I didn't want to be left alone with him," the girl said presently in a -low voice. "I'm always afraid he's going to say or do something--" She -hesitated a moment, looking quickly over her shoulder towards the ridge -where he had just disappeared--"something that might lead to -unpleasantness." - -She stopped abruptly. - -"_You_ frightened, Joan!" I exclaimed, with genuine surprise. "This is a -new light on your wicked character. I thought the human being who could -frighten you did not exist." Then I suddenly realised she was talking -seriously--looking to me for help of some kind--and at once I dropped -the teasing attitude. - -"He's very far gone, I think, Joan," I added gravely. "You must be kind -to him, whatever else you may feel. He's exceedingly fond of you." - -"I know, but I can't help it," she whispered, lest her voice should -carry in the stillness; "there's something about him that--that makes me -feel creepy and half afraid." - -"But, poor man, it's not his fault if he is delicate and sometimes looks -like death," I laughed gently, by way of defending what I felt to be a -very innocent member of my sex. - -"Oh, but it's not that I mean," she answered quickly; "it's something I -feel about him, something in his soul, something he hardly knows -himself, but that may come out if we are much together. It draws me, I -feel, tremendously. It stirs what is wild in me--deep down--oh, very -deep down,--yet at the same time makes me feel afraid." - -"I suppose his thoughts are always playing about you," I said, "but he's -nice-minded and--" - -"Yes, yes," she interrupted impatiently, "I can trust myself absolutely -with him. He's gentle and singularly pure-minded. But there's something -else that--" She stopped again sharply to listen. Then she came up close -beside me in the darkness, whispering-- - -"You know, Mr. Hubbard, sometimes my intuitions warn me a little too -strongly to be ignored. Oh, yes, you needn't tell me again that it's -difficult to distinguish between fancy and intuition. I know all that. -But I also know that there's something deep down in that man's soul that -calls to something deep down in mine. And at present it frightens me. -Because I cannot make out what it is; and I know, I _know_, he'll do -something some day that--that will shake my life to the very bottom." -She laughed a little at the strangeness of her own description. - -I turned to look at her more closely, but the darkness was too great to -show her face. There was an intensity, almost of suppressed passion, in -her voice that took me completely by surprise. - -"Nonsense, Joan," I said, a little severely; "you know him well. He's -been with your father for months now." - -"But that was in London; and up here it's different--I mean, I feel that -it may be different. Life in a place like this blows away the restraints -of the artificial life at home. I know, oh, I know what I'm saying. I -feel all untied in a place like this; the rigidity of one's nature -begins to melt and flow. Surely _you_ must understand what I mean!" - -"Of course I understand," I replied, yet not wishing to encourage her in -her present line of thought, "and it's a grand experience--for a short -time. But you're overtired to-night, Joan, like the rest of us. A few -days in this air will set you above all fears of the kind you mention." - -Then, after a moment's silence, I added, feeling I should estrange her -confidence altogether if I blundered any more and treated her like a -child-- - -"I think, perhaps, the true explanation is that you pity him for loving -you, and at the same time you feel the repulsion of the healthy, -vigorous animal for what is weak and timid. If he came up boldly and -took you by the throat and shouted that he would force you to love -him--well, then you would feel no fear at all. You would know exactly -how to deal with him. Isn't it, perhaps, something of that kind?" - -The girl made no reply, and when I took her hand I felt that it trembled -a little and was cold. - -"It's not his love that I'm afraid of," she said hurriedly, for at this -moment we heard the dip of a paddle in the water, "it's something in his -very soul that terrifies me in a way I have never been terrified -before,--yet fascinates me. In town I was hardly conscious of his -presence. But the moment we got away from civilisation, it began to -come. He seems so--so _real_ up here. I dread being alone with him. It -makes me feel that something must burst and tear its way out--that he -would do something--or I should do something--I don't know exactly what -I mean, probably,--but that I should let myself go and scream--" - -"Joan!" - -"Don't be alarmed," she laughed shortly; "I shan't do anything silly, -but I wanted to tell you my feelings in case I needed your help. When I -have intuitions as strong as this they are never wrong, only I don't -know yet what it means exactly." - -"You must hold out for the month, at any rate," I said in as -matter-of-fact a voice as I could manage, for her manner had somehow -changed my surprise to a subtle sense of alarm. "Sangree only stays the -month, you know. And, anyhow, you are such an odd creature yourself that -you should feel generously towards other odd creatures," I ended lamely, -with a forced laugh. - -She gave my hand a sudden pressure. "I'm glad I've told you at any -rate," she said quickly under her breath, for the canoe was now gliding -up silently like a ghost to our feet, "and I'm glad you're here, too," -she added as we moved down towards the water to meet it. - -I made Sangree change into the bows and got into the steering seat -myself, putting the girl between us so that I could watch them both by -keeping their outlines against the sea and stars. For the intuitions of -certain folk--women and children usually, I confess--I have always felt -a great respect that has more often than not been justified by -experience; and now the curious emotion stirred in me by the girl's -words remained somewhat vividly in my consciousness. I explained it in -some measure by the fact that the girl, tired out by the fatigue of many -days' travel, had suffered a vigorous reaction of some kind from the -strong, desolate scenery, and further, perhaps, that she had been -treated to my own experience of seeing the members of the party in a new -light--the Canadian, being partly a stranger, more vividly than the rest -of us. But, at the same time, I felt it was quite possible that she had -sensed some subtle link between his personality and her own, some -quality that she had hitherto ignored and that the routine of town life -had kept buried out of sight. The only thing that seemed difficult to -explain was the fear she had spoken of, and this I hoped the wholesome -effects of camp-life and exercise would sweep away naturally in the -course of time. - -We made the tour of the island without speaking. It was all too -beautiful for speech. The trees crowded down to the shore to hear us -pass. We saw their fine dark heads, bowed low with splendid dignity to -watch us, forgetting for a moment that the stars were caught in the -needled network of their hair. Against the sky in the west, where still -lingered the sunset gold, we saw the wild toss of the horizon, shaggy -with forest and cliff, gripping the heart like the motive in a symphony, -and sending the sense of beauty all a-shiver through the mind--all these -surrounding islands standing above the water like low clouds, and like -them seeming to post along silently into the engulfing night. We heard -the musical drip-drip of the paddle, and the little wash of our waves on -the shore, and then suddenly we found ourselves at the opening of the -lagoon again, having made the complete circuit of our home. - -The Reverend Timothy had awakened from sleep and was singing to himself; -and the sound of his voice as we glided down the fifty yards of enclosed -water was pleasant to hear and undeniably wholesome. We saw the glow of -the fire up among the trees on the ridge, and his shadow moving about as -he threw on more wood. - -"There you are!" he called aloud. "Good again! Been setting the -night-lines, eh? Capital! And your mother's still fast asleep, Joan." - -His cheery laugh floated across the water; he had not been in the least -disturbed by our absence, for old campers are not easily alarmed. - -"Now, remember," he went on, after we had told our little tale of travel -by the fire, and Mrs. Maloney had asked for the fourth time exactly -where her tent was and whether the door faced east or south, "every one -takes their turn at cooking breakfast, and one of the men is always out -at sunrise to catch it first. Hubbard, I'll toss you which you do in the -morning and which I do!" He lost the toss. "Then I'll catch it," I said, -laughing at his discomfiture, for I knew he loathed stirring porridge. -"And mind you don't burn it as you did every blessed time last year on -the Volga," I added by way of reminder. - -Mrs. Maloney's fifth interruption about the door of her tent, and her -further pointed observation that it was past nine o'clock, set us -lighting lanterns and putting the fire out for safety. - -But before we separated for the night the clergyman had a time-honoured -little ritual of his own to go through that no one had the heart to deny -him. He always did this. It was a relic of his pulpit habits. He glanced -briefly from one to the other of us, his face grave and earnest, his -hands lifted to the stars and his eyes all closed and puckered up -beneath a momentary frown. Then he offered up a short, almost inaudible -prayer, thanking Heaven for our safe arrival, begging for good weather, -no illness or accidents, plenty of fish, and strong sailing winds. - -And then, unexpectedly--no one knew why exactly--he ended up with an -abrupt request that nothing from the kingdom of darkness should be -allowed to afflict our peace, and no evil thing come near to disturb us -in the night-time. - -And while he uttered these last surprising words, so strangely unlike -his usual ending, it chanced that I looked up and let my eyes wander -round the group assembled about the dying fire. And it certainly seemed -to me that Sangree's face underwent a sudden and visible alteration. He -was staring at Joan, and as he stared the change ran over it like a -shadow and was gone. I started in spite of myself, for something oddly -concentrated, potent, collected, had come into the expression usually so -scattered and feeble. But it was all swift as a passing meteor, and when -I looked a second time his face was normal and he was looking among the -trees. - -And Joan, luckily, had not observed him, her head being bowed and her -eyes tightly closed while her father prayed. - -"The girl has a vivid imagination indeed," I thought, half laughing, as -I lit the lanterns, "if her thoughts can put a glamour upon mine in this -way"; and yet somehow, when we said good-night, I took occasion to give -her a few vigorous words of encouragement, and went to her tent to make -sure I could find it quickly in the night in case anything happened. In -her quick way the girl understood and thanked me, and the last thing I -heard as I moved off to the men's quarters was Mrs. Maloney crying that -there were beetles in her tent, and Joan's laughter as she went to help -her turn them out. - -Half an hour later the island was silent as the grave, but for the -mournful voices of the wind as it sighed up from the sea. Like white -sentries stood the three tents of the men on one side of the ridge, and -on the other side, half hidden by some birches, whose leaves just -shivered as the breeze caught them, the women's tents, patches of -ghostly grey, gathered more closely together for mutual shelter and -protection. Something like fifty yards of broken ground, grey rock, moss -and lichen, lay between, and over all lay the curtain of the night and -the great whispering winds from the forests of Scandinavia. - -And the very last thing, just before floating away on that mighty wave -that carries one so softly off into the deeps of forgetfulness, I again -heard the voice of John Silence as the train moved out of Victoria -Station; and by some subtle connection that met me on the very threshold -of consciousness there rose in my mind simultaneously the memory of the -girl's half-given confidence, and of her distress. As by some wizardry -of approaching dreams they seemed in that instant to be related; but -before I could analyse the why and the wherefore, both sank away out of -sight again, and I was off beyond recall. - -"Unless you should send for me sooner." - - -II - -Whether Mrs. Maloney's tent door opened south or east I think she never -discovered, for it is quite certain she always slept with the flap -tightly fastened; I only know that my own little "five by seven, all -silk" faced due east, because next morning the sun, pouring in as only -the wilderness sun knows how to pour, woke me early, and a moment later, -with a short run over soft moss and a flying dive from the granite -ledge, I was swimming in the most sparkling water imaginable. - -It was barely four o'clock, and the sun came down a long vista of blue -islands that led out to the open sea and Finland. Nearer by rose the -wooded domes of our own property, still capped and wreathed with smoky -trails of fast-melting mist, and looking as fresh as though it was the -morning of Mrs. Maloney's Sixth Day and they had just issued, clean and -brilliant, from the hands of the great Architect. - -In the open spaces the ground was drenched with dew, and from the sea a -cool salt wind stole in among the trees and set the branches trembling -in an atmosphere of shimmering silver. The tents shone white where the -sun caught them in patches. Below lay the lagoon, still dreaming of the -summer night; in the open the fish were jumping busily, sending musical -ripples towards the shore; and in the air hung the magic of -dawn--silent, incommunicable. - -I lit the fire, so that an hour later the clergyman should find good -ashes to stir his porridge over, and then set forth upon an examination -of the island, but hardly had I gone a dozen yards when I saw a figure -standing a little in front of me where the sunlight fell in a pool among -the trees. - -It was Joan. She had already been up an hour, she told me, and had -bathed before the last stars had left the sky. I saw at once that the -new spirit of this solitary region had entered into her, banishing the -fears of the night, for her face was like the face of a happy denizen of -the wilderness, and her eyes stainless and shining. Her feet were bare, -and drops of dew she had shaken from the branches hung in her -loose-flying hair. Obviously she had come into her own. - -"I've been all over the island," she announced laughingly, "and there -are two things wanting." - -"You're a good judge, Joan. What are they?" - -"There's no animal life, and there's no--water." - -"They go together," I said. "Animals don't bother with a rock like this -unless there's a spring on it." - -And as she led me from place to place, happy and excited, leaping -adroitly from rock to rock, I was glad to note that my first impressions -were correct. She made no reference to our conversation of the night -before. The new spirit had driven out the old. There was no room in her -heart for fear or anxiety, and Nature had everything her own way. - -The island, we found, was some three-quarters of a mile from point to -point, built in a circle, or wide horseshoe, with an opening of twenty -feet at the mouth of the lagoon. Pine-trees grew thickly all over, but -here and there were patches of silver birch, scrub oak, and -considerable colonies of wild raspberry and gooseberry bushes. The two -ends of the horseshoe formed bare slabs of smooth granite running into -the sea and forming dangerous reefs just below the surface, but the rest -of the island rose in a forty-foot ridge and sloped down steeply to the -sea on either side, being nowhere more than a hundred yards wide. - -The outer shore-line was much indented with numberless coves and bays -and sandy beaches, with here and there caves and precipitous little -cliffs against which the sea broke in spray and thunder. But the inner -shore, the shore of the lagoon, was low and regular, and so well -protected by the wall of trees along the ridge that no storm could ever -send more than a passing ripple along its sandy marges. Eternal shelter -reigned there. - -On one of the other islands, a few hundred yards away--for the rest of -the party slept late this first morning, and we took to the canoe--we -discovered a spring of fresh water untainted by the brackish flavour of -the Baltic, and having thus solved the most important problem of the -Camp, we next proceeded to deal with the second--fish. And in half an -hour we reeled in and turned homewards, for we had no means of storage, -and to clean more fish than may be stored or eaten in a day is no wise -occupation for experienced campers. - -And as we landed towards six o'clock we heard the clergyman singing as -usual and saw his wife and Sangree shaking out their blankets in the -sun, and dressed in a fashion that finally dispelled all memories of -streets and civilisation. - -"The Little People lit the fire for me," cried Maloney, looking natural -and at home in his ancient flannel suit and breaking off in the middle -of his singing, "so I've got the porridge going--and this time it's -_not_ burnt." - -We reported the discovery of water and held up the fish. - -"Good! Good again!" he cried. "We'll have the first decent breakfast -we've had this year. Sangree'll clean 'em in no time, and the Bo'sun's -Mate--" - -"Will fry them to a turn," laughed the voice of Mrs. Maloney, appearing -on the scene in a tight blue jersey and sandals, and catching up the -frying-pan. Her husband always called her the Bo'sun's Mate in Camp, -because it was her duty, among others, to pipe all hands to meals. - -"And as for you, Joan," went on the happy man, "you look like the spirit -of the island, with moss in your hair and wind in your eyes, and sun and -stars mixed in your face." He looked at her with delighted admiration. -"Here, Sangree, take these twelve, there's a good fellow, they're the -biggest; and we'll have 'em in butter in less time than you can say -Baltic island!" - -I watched the Canadian as he slowly moved off to the cleaning pail. His -eyes were drinking in the girl's beauty, and a wave of passionate, -almost feverish, joy passed over his face, expressive of the ecstasy of -true worship more than anything else. Perhaps he was thinking that he -still had three weeks to come with that vision always before his eyes; -perhaps he was thinking of his dreams in the night. I cannot say. But I -noticed the curious mingling of yearning and happiness in his eyes, and -the strength of the impression touched my curiosity. Something in his -face held my gaze for a second, something to do with its intensity. That -so timid, so gentle a personality should conceal so virile a passion -almost seemed to require explanation. - -But the impression was momentary, for that first breakfast in Camp -permitted no divided attentions, and I dare swear that the porridge, the -tea, the Swedish "flatbread," and the fried fish flavoured with points -of frizzled bacon, were better than any meal eaten elsewhere that day in -the whole world. - -The first clear day in a new camp is always a furiously busy one, and we -soon dropped into the routine upon which in large measure the real -comfort of every one depends. About the cooking-fire, greatly improved -with stones from the shore, we built a high stockade consisting of -upright poles thickly twined with branches, the roof lined with moss and -lichen and weighted with rocks, and round the interior we made low -wooden seats so that we could lie round the fire even in rain and eat -our meals in peace. Paths, too, outlined themselves from tent to tent, -from the bathing places and the landing stage, and a fair division of -the island was decided upon between the quarters of the men and the -women. Wood was stacked, awkward trees and boulders removed, hammocks -slung, and tents strengthened. In a word, Camp was established, and -duties were assigned and accepted as though we expected to live on this -Baltic island for years to come and the smallest detail of the Community -life was important. - -Moreover, as the Camp came into being, this sense of a community -developed, proving that we were a definite whole, and not merely -separate human beings living for a while in tents upon a desert island. -Each fell willingly into the routine. Sangree, as by natural selection, -took upon himself the cleaning of the fish and the cutting of the wood -into lengths sufficient for a day's use. And he did it well. The pan of -water was never without a fish, cleaned and scaled, ready to fry for -whoever was hungry; the nightly fire never died down for lack of -material to throw on without going farther afield to search. - -And Timothy, once reverend, caught the fish and chopped down the trees. -He also assumed responsibility for the condition of the boat, and did it -so thoroughly that nothing in the little cutter was ever found wanting. -And when, for any reason, his presence was in demand, the first place to -look for him was--in the boat, and there, too, he was usually found, -tinkering away with sheets, sails, or rudder and singing as he tinkered. - -'Nor was the "reading" neglected; for most mornings there came a sound -of droning voices form the white tent by the raspberry bushes, which -signified that Sangree, the tutor, and whatever other man chanced to be -in the party at the time, were hard at it with history or the classics. - -And while Mrs. Maloney, also by natural selection, took charge of the -larder and the kitchen, the mending and general supervision of the rough -comforts, she also made herself peculiarly mistress of the megaphone -which summoned to meals and carried her voice easily from one end of the -island to the other; and in her hours of leisure she daubed the -surrounding scenery on to a sketching block with all the honesty and -devotion of her determined but unreceptive soul. - -Joan, meanwhile, Joan, elusive creature of the wilds, became I know not -exactly what. She did plenty of work in the Camp, yet seemed to have no -very precise duties. She was everywhere and anywhere. Sometimes she -slept in her tent, sometimes under the stars with a blanket. She knew -every inch of the island and kept turning up in places where she was -least expected--for ever wandering about, reading her books in sheltered -corners, making little fires on sunless days to "worship by to the -gods," as she put it, ever finding new pools to dive and bathe in, and -swimming day and night in the warm and waveless lagoon like a fish in a -huge tank. She went bare-legged and bare-footed, with her hair down and -her skirts caught up to the knees, and if ever a human being turned into -a jolly savage within the compass of a single week, Joan Maloney was -certainly that human being. She ran wild. - -So completely, too, was she possessed by the strong spirit of the place -that the little human fear she had yielded to so strangely on our -arrival seemed to have been utterly dispossessed. As I hoped and -expected, she made no reference to our conversation of the first -evening. Sangree bothered her with no special attentions, and after all -they were very little together. His behaviour was perfect in that -respect, and I, for my part, hardly gave the matter another thought. -Joan was ever a prey to vivid fancies of one kind or another, and this -was one of them. Mercifully for the happiness of all concerned, it had -melted away before the spirit of busy, active life and deep content -that reigned over the island. Every one was intensely alive, and peace -was upon all. - - * * * * * - -Meanwhile the effect of the camp-life began to tell. Always a searching -test of character, its results, sooner or later, are infallible, for it -acts upon the soul as swiftly and surely as the hypo bath upon the -negative of a photograph. A readjustment of the personal forces takes -place quickly; some parts of the personality go to sleep, others wake -up: but the first sweeping change that the primitive life brings about -is that the artificial portions of the character shed themselves one -after another like dead skins. Attitudes and poses that seemed genuine -in the city drop away. The mind, like the body, grows quickly hard, -simple, uncomplex. And in a camp as primitive and close to nature as -ours was, these effects became speedily visible. - -Some folk, of course, who talk glibly about the simple life when it is -safely out of reach, betray themselves in camp by for ever peering about -for the artificial excitements of civilisation which they miss. Some get -bored at once; some grow slovenly; some reveal the animal in most -unexpected fashion; and some, the select few, find themselves in very -short order and are happy. - -And, in our little party, we could flatter ourselves that we all -belonged to the last category, so far as the general effect was -concerned. Only there were certain other changes as well, varying with -each individual, and all interesting to note. - -It was only after the first week or two that these changes became -marked, although this is the proper place, I think, to speak of them. -For, having myself no other duty than to enjoy a well-earned holiday, I -used to load my canoe with blankets and provisions and journey forth on -exploration trips among the islands of several days together; and it was -on my return from the first of these--when I rediscovered the party, so -to speak--that these changes first presented themselves vividly to me, -and in one particular instance produced a rather curious impression. - -In a word, then, while every one had grown wilder, naturally wilder, -Sangree, it seemed to me, had grown much wilder, and what I can only -call unnaturally wilder. He made me think of a savage. - -To begin with, he had changed immensely in mere physical appearance, and -the full brown cheeks, the brighter eyes of absolute health, and the -general air of vigour and robustness that had come to replace his -customary lassitude and timidity, had worked such an improvement that I -hardly knew him for the same man. His voice, too, was deeper and his -manner bespoke for the first time a greater measure of confidence in -himself. He now had some claims to be called nice-looking, or at least -to a certain air of virility that would not lessen his value in the eyes -of the opposite sex. - -All this, of course, was natural enough, and most welcome. But, -altogether apart from this physical change, which no doubt had also been -going forward in the rest of us, there was a subtle note in his -personality that came to me with a degree of surprise that almost -amounted to shock. - -And two things--as he came down to welcome me and pull up the -canoe--leaped up in my mind unbidden, as though connected in some way I -could not at the moment divine--first, the curious judgment formed of -him by Joan; and secondly, that fugitive expression I had caught in his -face while Maloney was offering up his strange prayer for special -protection from Heaven. - -The delicacy of manner and feature--to call it by no milder term--which -had always been a distinguishing characteristic of the man, had been -replaced by something far more vigorous and decided, that yet utterly -eluded analysis. The change which impressed me so oddly was not easy to -name. The others--singing Maloney, the bustling Bo'sun's Mate, and Joan, -that fascinating half-breed of undine and salamander--all showed the -effects of a life so close to nature; but in their case the change was -perfectly natural and what was to be expected, whereas with Peter -Sangree, the Canadian, it was something unusual and unexpected. - -It is impossible to explain how he managed gradually to convey to my -mind the impression that something in him had turned savage, yet this, -more or less, is the impression that he did convey. It was not that he -seemed really less civilised, or that his character had undergone any -definite alteration, but rather that something in him, hitherto dormant, -had awakened to life. Some quality, latent till now--so far, at least, -as we were concerned, who, after all, knew him but slightly--had stirred -into activity and risen to the surface of his being. - -And while, for the moment, this seemed as far as I could get, it was but -natural that my mind should continue the intuitive process and -acknowledge that John Silence, owing to his peculiar faculties, and the -girl, owing to her singularly receptive temperament, might each in a -different way have divined this latent quality in his soul, and feared -its manifestation later. - -On looking back to this painful adventure, too, it now seems equally -natural that the same process, carried to its logical conclusion, should -have wakened some deep instinct in me that, wholly without direction -from my will, set itself sharply and persistently upon the watch from -that very moment. Thenceforward the personality of Sangree was never -far from my thoughts, and I was for ever analysing and searching for the -explanation that took so long in coming. - -"I declare, Hubbard, you're tanned like an aboriginal, and you look like -one, too," laughed Maloney. - -"And I can return the compliment," was my reply, as we all gathered -round a brew of tea to exchange news and compare notes. - -And later, at supper, it amused me to observe that the distinguished -tutor, once clergyman, did not eat his food quite as "nicely" as he did -at home--he devoured it; that Mrs. Maloney ate more, and, to say the -least, with less delay, than was her custom in the select atmosphere of -her English dining-room; and that while Joan attacked her tin plateful -with genuine avidity, Sangree, the Canadian, bit and gnawed at his, -laughing and talking and complimenting the cook all the while, and -making me think with secret amusement of a starved animal at its first -meal. While, from their remarks about myself, I judged that I had -changed and grown wild as much as the rest of them. - -In this and in a hundred other little ways the change showed, ways -difficult to define in detail, but all proving--not the coarsening -effect of leading the primitive life, but, let us say, the more direct -and unvarnished methods that became prevalent. For all day long we were -in the bath of the elements--wind, water, sun--and just as the body -became insensible to cold and shed unnecessary clothing, the mind grew -straightforward and shed many of the disguises required by the -conventions of civilisation. - -And in each, according to temperament and character, there stirred the -life-instincts that were natural, untamed, and, in a sense--savage. - - -III - -So it came about that I stayed with our island party, putting off my -second exploring trip from day to day, and I think that this far-fetched -instinct to watch Sangree was really the cause of my postponement. - -For another ten days the life of the Camp pursued its even and -delightful way, blessed by perfect summer weather, a good harvest of -fish, fine winds for sailing, and calm, starry nights. Maloney's selfish -prayer had been favourably received. Nothing came to disturb or perplex. -There was not even the prowling of night animals to vex the rest of Mrs. -Maloney; for in previous camps it had often been her peculiar affliction -that she heard the porcupines scratching against the canvas, or the -squirrels dropping fir-cones in the early morning with a sound of -miniature thunder upon the roof of her tent. But on this island there -was not even a squirrel or a mouse. I think two toads and a small and -harmless snake were the only living creatures that had been discovered -during the whole of the first fortnight. And these two toads in all -probability were not two toads, but one toad. - -Then, suddenly, came the terror that changed the whole aspect of the -place--the devastating terror. - -It came, at first, gently, but from the very start it made me realise -the unpleasant loneliness of our situation, our remote isolation in this -wilderness of sea and rock, and how the islands in this tideless Baltic -ocean lay about us like the advance guard of a vast besieging army. Its -entry, as I say, was gentle, hardly noticeable, in fact, to most of us: -singularly undramatic it certainly was. But, then, in actual life this -is often the way the dreadful climaxes move upon us, leaving the heart -undisturbed almost to the last minute, and then overwhelming it with a -sudden rush of horror. For it was the custom at breakfast to listen -patiently while each in turn related the trivial adventures of the -night--how they slept, whether the wind shook their tent, whether the -spider on the ridge pole had moved, whether they had heard the toad, and -so forth--and on this particular morning Joan, in the middle of a little -pause, made a truly novel announcement: - -"In the night I heard the howling of a dog," she said, and then flushed -up to the roots of her hair when we burst out laughing. For the idea of -there being a dog on this forsaken island that was only able to support -a snake and two toads was distinctly ludicrous, and I remember Maloney, -half-way through his burnt porridge, capping the announcement by -declaring that he had heard a "Baltic turtle" in the lagoon, and his -wife's expression of frantic alarm before the laughter undeceived her. - -But the next morning Joan repeated the story with additional and -convincing detail. - -"Sounds of whining and growling woke me," she said, "and I distinctly -heard sniffing under my tent, and the scratching of paws." - -"Oh, Timothy! Can it be a porcupine?" exclaimed the Bo'sun's Mate with -distress, forgetting that Sweden was not Canada. - -But the girl's voice had sounded to me in quite another key, and looking -up I saw that her father and Sangree were staring at her hard. They, -too, understood that she was in earnest, and had been struck by the -serious note in her voice. - -"Rubbish, Joan! You are always dreaming something or other wild," her -father said a little impatiently. - -"There's not an animal of any size on the whole island," added Sangree -with a puzzled expression. He never took his eyes from her face. - -"But there's nothing to prevent one swimming over," I put in briskly, -for somehow a sense of uneasiness that was not pleasant had woven itself -into the talk and pauses. "A deer, for instance, might easily land in -the night and take a look round--" - -"Or a bear!" gasped the Bo'sun's Mate, with a look so portentous that we -all welcomed the laugh. - -But Joan did not laugh. Instead, she sprang up and called to us to -follow. - -"There," she said, pointing to the ground by her tent on the side farthest -from her mother's; "there are the marks close to my head. You can -see for yourselves." - -We saw plainly. The moss and lichen--for earth there was hardly any--had -been scratched up by paws. An animal about the size of a large dog it -must have been, to judge by the marks. We stood and stared in a row. - -"Close to my head," repeated the girl, looking round at us. Her face, I -noticed, was very pale, and her lip seemed to quiver for an instant. -Then she gave a sudden gulp--and burst into a flood of tears. - -The whole thing had come about in the brief space of a few minutes, and -with a curious sense of inevitableness, moreover, as though it had all -been carefully planned from all time and nothing could have stopped it. -It had all been rehearsed before--had actually happened before, as the -strange feeling sometimes has it; it seemed like the opening movement in -some ominous drama, and that I knew exactly what would happen next. -Something of great moment was impending. - -For this sinister sensation of coming disaster made itself felt from the -very beginning, and an atmosphere of gloom and dismay pervaded the -entire Camp from that moment forward. - -I drew Sangree to one side and moved away, while Maloney took the -distressed girl into her tent, and his wife followed them, energetic and -greatly flustered. - -For thus, in undramatic fashion, it was that the terror I have spoken of -first attempted the invasion of our Camp, and, trivial and unimportant -though it seemed, every little detail of this opening scene is -photographed upon my mind with merciless accuracy and precision. It -happened exactly as described. This was exactly the language used. I see -it written before me in black and white. I see, too, the faces of all -concerned with the sudden ugly signature of alarm where before had been -peace. The terror had stretched out, so to speak, a first tentative -feeler toward us and had touched the hearts of each with a horrid -directness. And from this moment the Camp changed. - -Sangree in particular was visibly upset. He could not bear to see the -girl distressed, and to hear her actually cry was almost more than he -could stand. The feeling that he had no right to protect her hurt him -keenly, and I could see that he was itching to do something to help, and -liked him for it. His expression said plainly that he would tear in a -thousand pieces anything that dared to injure a hair of her head. - -We lit our pipes and strolled over in silence to the men's quarters, and -it was his odd Canadian expression "Gee whiz!" that drew my attention to -a further discovery. - -"The brute's been scratching round my tent too," he cried, as he pointed -to similar marks by the door and I stooped down to examine them. We both -stared in amazement for several minutes without speaking. - -"Only I sleep like the dead," he added, straightening up again, "and so -heard nothing, I suppose." - -We traced the paw-marks from the mouth of his tent in a direct line -across to the girl's, but nowhere else about the Camp was there a sign -of the strange visitor. The deer, dog, or whatever it was that had twice -favoured us with a visit in the night, had confined its attentions to -these two tents. And, after all, there was really nothing out of the way -about these visits of an unknown animal, for although our own island was -destitute of life, we were in the heart of a wilderness, and the -mainland and larger islands must be swarming with all kinds of -four-footed creatures, and no very prolonged swimming was necessary to -reach us. In any other country it would not have caused a moment's -interest--interest of the kind we felt, that is. In our Canadian camps -the bears were for ever grunting about among the provision bags at -night, porcupines scratching unceasingly, and chipmunks scuttling over -everything. - -"My daughter is overtired, and that's the truth of it," explained -Maloney presently when he rejoined us and had examined in turn the other -paw-marks. "She's been overdoing it lately, and camp-life, you know, -always means a great excitement to her. It's natural enough, if we take -no notice she'll be all right." He paused to borrow my tobacco pouch and -fill his pipe, and the blundering way he filled it and spilled the -precious weed on the ground visibly belied the calm of his easy -language. "You might take her out for a bit of fishing, Hubbard, like a -good chap; she's hardly up to the long day in the cutter. Show her some -of the other islands in your canoe, perhaps. Eh?" - -And by lunch-time the cloud had passed away as suddenly, and as -suspiciously, as it had come. - -But in the canoe, on our way home, having till then purposely ignored -the subject uppermost in our minds, she suddenly spoke to me in a way -that again touched the note of sinister alarm--the note that kept on -sounding and sounding until finally John Silence came with his great -vibrating presence and relieved it; yes, and even after he came, too, -for a while. - -"I'm ashamed to ask it," she said abruptly, as she steered me home, her -sleeves rolled up, her hair blowing in the wind, "and ashamed of my -silly tears too, because I really can't make out what caused them; but, -Mr. Hubbard, I want you to promise me not to go off for your long -expeditions--just yet. I beg it of you." She was so in earnest that she -forgot the canoe, and the wind caught it sideways and made us roll -dangerously. "I have tried hard not to ask this," she added, bringing -the canoe round again, "but I simply can't help myself." - -It was a good deal to ask, and I suppose my hesitation was plain; for -she went on before I could reply, and her beseeching expression and -intensity of manner impressed me very forcibly. - -"For another two weeks only--" - -"Mr. Sangree leaves in a fortnight," I said, seeing at once what she was -driving at, but wondering if it was best to encourage her or not. - -"If I knew you were to be on the island till then," she said, her face -alternately pale and blushing, and her voice trembling a little, "I -should feel so much happier." - -I looked at her steadily, waiting for her to finish. - -"And safer," she added almost in a whisper; "especially--at night, I -mean." - -"Safer, Joan?" I repeated, thinking I had never seen her eyes so soft -and tender. She nodded her head, keeping her gaze fixed on my face. - -It was really difficult to refuse, whatever my thoughts and judgment may -have been, and somehow I understood that she spoke with good reason, -though for the life of me I could not have put it into words. - -"Happier--and safer," she said gravely, the canoe giving a dangerous -lurch as she leaned forward in her seat to catch my answer. Perhaps, -after all, the wisest way was to grant her request and make light of it, -easing her anxiety without too much encouraging its cause. - -"All right, Joan, you queer creature; I promise," and the instant look -of relief in her face, and the smile that came back like sunlight to her -eyes, made me feel that, unknown to myself and the world, I was capable -of considerable sacrifice after all. - -"But, you know, there's nothing to be afraid of," I added sharply; and -she looked up in my face with the smile women use when they know we are -talking idly, yet do not wish to tell us so. - -"_You_ don't feel afraid, I know," she observed quietly. - -"Of course not; why should I?" - -"So, if you will just humour me this once I--I will never ask anything -foolish of you again as long as I live," she said gratefully. - -"You have my promise," was all I could find to say. - -She headed the nose of the canoe for the lagoon lying a quarter of a -mile ahead, and paddled swiftly; but a minute or two later she paused -again and stared hard at me with the dripping paddle across the thwarts. - -"You've not heard anything at night yourself, have you?" she asked. - -"I never hear anything at night," I replied shortly, "from the moment I -lie down till the moment I get up." - -"That dismal howling, for instance," she went on, determined to get it -out, "far away at first and then getting closer, and stopping just -outside the Camp?" - -"Certainly not." - -"Because, sometimes I think I almost dreamed it." - -"Most likely you did," was my unsympathetic response. - -"And you don't think father has heard it either, then?" - -"No. He would have told me if he had." - -This seemed to relieve her mind a little. "I know mother hasn't," she -added, as if speaking to herself, "for she hears nothing--ever." - - * * * * * - -It was two nights after this conversation that I woke out of deep sleep -and heard sounds of screaming. The voice was really horrible, breaking -the peace and silence with its shrill clamour. In less than ten seconds -I was half dressed and out of my tent. The screaming had stopped -abruptly, but I knew the general direction, and ran as fast as the -darkness would allow over to the women's quarters, and on getting close -I heard sounds of suppressed weeping. It was Joan's voice. And just as I -came up I saw Mrs. Maloney, marvellously attired, fumbling with a -lantern. Other voices became audible in the same moment behind me, and -Timothy Maloney arrived, breathless, less than half dressed, and -carrying another lantern that had gone out on the way from being banged -against a tree. Dawn was just breaking, and a chill wind blew in from -the sea. Heavy black clouds drove low overhead. - -The scene of confusion may be better imagined than described. Questions -in frightened voices filled the air against this background of -suppressed weeping. Briefly--Joan's silk tent had been torn, and the -girl was in a state bordering upon hysterics. Somewhat reassured by our -noisy presence, however,--for she was plucky at heart,--she pulled -herself together and tried to explain what had happened; and her broken -words, told there on the edge of night and morning upon this wild island -ridge, were oddly thrilling and distressingly convincing. - -"Something touched me and I woke," she said simply, but in a voice -still hushed and broken with the terror of it, "something pushing -against the tent; I felt it through the canvas. There was the same -sniffing and scratching as before, and I felt the tent give a little as -when wind shakes it. I heard breathing--very loud, very heavy -breathing--and then came a sudden great tearing blow, and the canvas -ripped open close to my face." - -She had instantly dashed out through the open flap and screamed at the -top of her voice, thinking the creature had actually got into the tent. -But nothing was visible, she declared, and she heard not the faintest -sound of an animal making off under cover of the darkness. The brief -account seemed to exercise a paralysing effect upon us all as we -listened to it. I can see the dishevelled group to this day, the wind -blowing the women's hair, and Maloney craning his head forward to -listen, and his wife, open-mouthed and gasping, leaning against a pine -tree. - -"Come over to the stockade and we'll get the fire going," I said; -"that's the first thing," for we were all shaking with the cold in our -scanty garments. And at that moment Sangree arrived wrapped in a blanket -and carrying his gun; he was still drunken with sleep. - -"The dog again," Maloney explained briefly, forestalling his questions; -"been at Joan's tent. Torn it, by Gad! this time. It's time we did -something." He went on mumbling confusedly to himself. - -Sangree gripped his gun and looked about swiftly in the darkness. I saw -his eyes aflame in the glare of the flickering lanterns. He made a -movement as though to start out and hunt--and kill. Then his glance fell -on the girl crouching on the ground, her face hidden in her hands, and -there leaped into his features an expression of savage anger that -transformed them. He could have faced a dozen lions with a walking stick -at that moment, and again I liked him for the strength of his anger, his -self-control, and his hopeless devotion. - -But I stopped him going off on a blind and useless chase. - -"Come and help me start the fire, Sangree," I said, anxious also to -relieve the girl of our presence; and a few minutes later the ashes, -still growing from the night's fire, had kindled the fresh wood, and -there was a blaze that warmed us well while it also lit up the -surrounding trees within a radius of twenty yards. - -"I heard nothing," he whispered; "what in the world do you think it is? -It surely can't be only a dog!" - -"We'll find that out later," I said, as the others came up to the -grateful warmth; "the first thing is to make as big a fire as we can." - -Joan was calmer now, and her mother had put on some warmer, and less -miraculous, garments. And while they stood talking in low voices -Maloney and I slipped off to examine the tent. There was little enough -to see, but that little was unmistakable. Some animal had scratched up -the ground at the head of the tent, and with a great blow of a powerful -paw--a paw clearly provided with good claws--had struck the silk and -torn it open. There was a hole large enough to pass a fist and arm -through. - -"It can't be far away," Maloney said excitedly. "We'll organise a hunt -at once; this very minute." - -We hurried back to the fire, Maloney talking boisterously about his -proposed hunt. "There's nothing like prompt action to dispel alarm," he -whispered in my ear; and then turned to the rest of us. - -"We'll hunt the island from end to end at once," he said, with -excitement; "that's what we'll do. The beast can't be far away. And the -Bo'sun's Mate and Joan must come too, because they can't be left alone. -Hubbard, you take the right shore, and you, Sangree, the left, and I'll -go in the middle with the women. In this way we can stretch clean across -the ridge, and nothing bigger than a rabbit can possibly escape us." He -was extraordinarily excited, I thought. Anything affecting Joan, of -course, stirred him prodigiously. "Get your guns and we'll start the -drive at once," he cried. He lit another lantern and handed one each to -his wife and Joan, and while I ran to fetch my gun I heard him singing -to himself with the excitement of it all. - -Meanwhile the dawn had come on quickly. It made the flickering lanterns -look pale. The wind, too, was rising, and I heard the trees moaning -overhead and the waves breaking with increasing clamour on the shore. In -the lagoon the boat dipped and splashed, and the sparks from the fire -were carried aloft in a stream and scattered far and wide. - -We made our way to the extreme end of the island, measured our distances -carefully, and then began to advance. None of us spoke. Sangree and I, -with cocked guns, watched the shore lines, and all within easy touch and -speaking distance. It was a slow and blundering drive, and there were -many false alarms, but after the best part of half an hour we stood on -the farther end, having made the complete tour, and without putting up -so much as a squirrel. Certainly there was no living creature on that -island but ourselves. - -"I know what it is!" cried Maloney, looking out over the dim expanse of -grey sea, and speaking with the air of a man making a discovery; "it's a -dog from one of the farms on the larger islands"--he pointed seawards -where the archipelago thickened--"and it's escaped and turned wild. Our -fires and voices attracted it, and it's probably half starved as well as -savage, poor brute!" - -No one said anything in reply, and he began to sing again very low to -himself. - -The point where we stood--a huddled, shivering group--faced the wider -channels that led to the open sea and Finland. The grey dawn had broken -in earnest at last, and we could see the racing waves with their angry -crests of white. The surrounding islands showed up as dark masses in the -distance, and in the east, almost as Maloney spoke, the sun came up with -a rush in a stormy and magnificent sky of red and gold. Against this -splashed and gorgeous background black clouds, shaped like fantastic and -legendary animals, filed past swiftly in a tearing stream, and to this -day I have only to close my eyes to see again that vivid and hurrying -procession in the air. All about us the pines made black splashes -against the sky. It was an angry sunrise. Rain, indeed, had already -begun to fall in big drops. - -We turned, as by a common instinct, and, without speech, made our way -back slowly to the stockade, Maloney humming snatches of his songs, -Sangree in front with his gun, prepared to shoot at a moment's notice, -and the women floundering in the rear with myself and the extinguished -lanterns. - -Yet it was only a dog! - -Really, it was most singular when one came to reflect soberly upon it -all. Events, say the occultists, have souls, or at least that -agglomerate life due to the emotions and thoughts of all concerned in -them, so that cities, and even whole countries, have great astral shapes -which may become visible to the eye of vision; and certainly here, the -soul of this drive--this vain, blundering, futile drive--stood somewhere -between ourselves and--laughed. - -All of us heard that laugh, and all of us tried hard to smother the -sound, or at least to ignore it. Every one talked at once, loudly, and -with exaggerated decision, obviously trying to say something plausible -against heavy odds, striving to explain naturally that an animal might -so easily conceal itself from us, or swim away before we had time to -light upon its trail. For we all spoke of that "trail" as though it -really existed, and we had more to go upon than the mere marks of paws -about the tents of Joan and the Canadian. Indeed, but for these, and the -torn tent, I think it would, of course, have been possible to ignore the -existence of this beast intruder altogether. - -And it was here, under this angry dawn, as we stood in the shelter of -the stockade from the pouring rain, weary yet so strangely excited--it -was here, out of this confusion of voices and explanations, that--very -stealthily--the ghost of something horrible slipped in and stood among -us. It made all our explanations seem childish and untrue; the false -relation was instantly exposed. Eyes exchanged quick, anxious glances, -questioning, expressive of dismay. There was a sense of wonder, of -poignant distress, and of trepidation. Alarm stood waiting at our -elbows. We shivered. - -Then, suddenly, as we looked into each other's faces, came the long, -unwelcome pause in which this new arrival established itself in our -hearts. - -And, without further speech, or attempt at explanation, Maloney moved -off abruptly to mix the porridge for an early breakfast; Sangree to -clean the fish; myself to chop wood and tend the fire; Joan and her -mother to change their wet garments; and, most significant of all, to -prepare her mother's tent for its future complement of two. - -Each went to his duty, but hurriedly, awkwardly, silently; and this new -arrival, this shape of terror and distress stalked, viewless, by the -side of each. - -"If only I could have traced that dog," I think was the thought in the -minds of all. - -But in Camp, where every one realises how important the individual -contribution is to the comfort and well-being of all, the mind speedily -recovers tone and pulls itself together. - -During the day, a day of heavy and ceaseless rain, we kept more or less -to our tents, and though there were signs of mysterious conferences -between the three members of the Maloney family, I think that most of us -slept a good deal and stayed alone with his thoughts. Certainly, I did, -because when Maloney came to say that his wife invited us all to a -special "tea" in her tent, he had to shake me awake before I realised -that he was there at all. - -And by supper-time we were more or less even-minded again, and almost -jolly. I only noticed that there was an undercurrent of what is best -described as "jumpiness," and that the merest snapping of a twig, or -plop of a fish in the lagoon, was sufficient to make us start and look -over our shoulders. Pauses were rare in our talk, and the fire was never -for one instant allowed to get low. The wind and rain had ceased, but -the dripping of the branches still kept up an excellent imitation of a -downpour. In particular, Maloney was vigilant and alert, telling us a -series of tales in which the wholesome humorous element was especially -strong. He lingered, too, behind with me after Sangree had gone to bed, -and while I mixed myself a glass of hot Swedish punch, he did a thing I -had never known him do before--he mixed one for himself, and then asked -me to light him over to his tent. We said nothing on the way, but I felt -that he was glad of my companionship. - -I returned alone to the stockade, and for a long time after that kept -the fire blazing, and sat up smoking and thinking. I hardly knew why; -but sleep was far from me for one thing, and for another, an idea was -taking form in my mind that required the comfort of tobacco and a -bright fire for its growth. I lay against a corner of the stockade -seat, listening to the wind whispering and to the ceaseless drip-drip of -the trees. The night, otherwise, was very still, and the sea quiet as a -lake. I remember that I was conscious, peculiarly conscious, of this -host of desolate islands crowding about us in the darkness, and that we -were the one little spot of humanity in a rather wonderful kind of -wilderness. - -But this, I think, was the only symptom that came to warn me of highly -strung nerves, and it certainly was not sufficiently alarming to destroy -my peace of mind. One thing, however, did come to disturb my peace, for -just as I finally made ready to go, and had kicked the embers of the -fire into a last effort, I fancied I saw, peering at me round the -farther end of the stockade wall, a dark and shadowy mass that might -have been--that strongly resembled, in fact--the body of a large animal. -Two glowing eyes shone for an instant in the middle of it. But the next -second I saw that it was merely a projecting mass of moss and lichen in -the wall of our stockade, and the eyes were a couple of wandering sparks -from the dying ashes I had kicked. It was easy enough, too, to imagine I -saw an animal moving here and there between the trees, as I picked my -way stealthily to my tent. Of course, the shadows tricked me. - -And though it was after one o'clock, Maloney's light was still burning, -for I saw his tent shining white among the pines. - -It was, however, in the short space between consciousness and -sleep--that time when the body is low and the voices of the submerged -region tell sometimes true--that the idea which had been all this while -maturing reached the point of an actual decision, and I suddenly -realised that I had resolved to send word to Dr. Silence. For, with a -sudden wonder that I had hitherto been so blind, the unwelcome -conviction dawned upon me all at once that some dreadful thing was -lurking about us on this island, and that the safety of at least one of -us was threatened by something monstrous and unclean that was too -horrible to contemplate. And, again remembering those last words of his -as the train moved out of the platform, I understood that Dr. Silence -would hold himself in readiness to come. - -"Unless you should send for me sooner," he had said. - - * * * * * - -I found myself suddenly wide awake. It is impossible to say what woke -me, but it was no gradual process, seeing that I jumped from deep sleep -to absolute alertness in a single instant. I had evidently slept for an -hour and more, for the night had cleared, stars crowded the sky, and a -pallid half-moon just sinking into the sea threw a spectral light -between the trees. - -I went outside to sniff the air, and stood upright. A curious -impression that something was astir in the Camp came over me, and when I -glanced across at Sangree's tent, some twenty feet away, I saw that it -was moving. He too, then, was awake and restless, for I saw the canvas -sides bulge this way and that as he moved within. - -The flap pushed forward. He was coming out, like myself, to sniff -the air; and I was not surprised, for its sweetness after the rain was -intoxicating. And he came on all fours, just as I had done. I saw a head -thrust round the edge of the tent. - -And then I saw that it was not Sangree at all. It was an animal. And the -same instant I realised something else too--it was _the_ animal; and its -whole presentment for some unaccountable reason was unutterably malefic. - -A cry I was quite unable to suppress escaped me, and the creature turned -on the instant and stared at me with baleful eyes. I could have dropped -on the spot, for the strength all ran out of my body with a rush. -Something about it touched in me the living terror that grips and -paralyses. If the mind requires but the tenth of a second to form an -impression, I must have stood there stockstill for several seconds while -I seized the ropes for support and stared. Many and vivid impressions -flashed through my mind, but not one of them resulted in action, because -I was in instant dread that the beast any moment would leap in my -direction and be upon me. Instead, however, after what seemed a vast -period, it slowly turned its eyes from my face, uttered a low whining -sound, and came out altogether into the open. - -Then, for the first time, I saw it in its entirety and noted two things: -it was about the size of a large dog, but at the same time it was -utterly unlike any animal that I had ever seen. Also, that the quality -that had impressed me first as being malefic was really only its -singular and original strangeness. Foolish as it may sound, and -impossible as it is for me to adduce proof, I can only say that the -animal seemed to me then to be--not real. - -But all this passed through my mind in a flash, almost subconsciously, -and before I had time to check my impressions, or even properly verify -them, I made an involuntary movement, catching the tight rope in my hand -so that it twanged like a banjo string, and in that instant the creature -turned the corner of Sangree's tent and was gone into the darkness. - -Then, of course, my senses in some measure returned to me, and I -realised only one thing: it had been inside his tent! - -I dashed out, reached the door in half a dozen strides, and looked in. -The Canadian, thank God! lay upon his bed of branches. His arm was -stretched outside, across the blankets, the fist tightly clenched, and -the body had an appearance of unusual rigidity that was alarming. On his -face there was an expression of effort, almost of painful effort, so far -as the uncertain light permitted me to see, and his sleep seemed to be -very profound. He looked, I thought, so stiff, so unnaturally stiff, and -in some indefinable way, too, he looked smaller--shrunken. - -I called to him to wake, but called many times in vain. Then I decided -to shake him, and had already moved forward to do so vigorously when -there came a sound of footsteps padding softly behind me, and I felt a -stream of hot breath burn my neck as I stooped. I turned sharply. The -tent door was darkened and something silently swept in. I felt a rough -and shaggy body push past me, and knew that the animal had returned. It -seemed to leap forward between me and Sangree--in fact, to leap upon -Sangree, for its dark body hid him momentarily from view, and in that -moment my soul turned sick and coward with a horror that rose from the -very dregs and depths of life, and gripped my existence at its central -source. - -The creature seemed somehow to melt away into him, almost as though it -belonged to him and were a part of himself, but in the same -instant--that instant of extraordinary confusion and terror in my -mind--it seemed to pass over and behind him, and, in some utterly -unaccountable fashion, it was gone. And the Canadian woke and sat up -with a start. - -"Quick! You fool!" I cried, in my excitement, "the beast has been in -your tent, here at your very throat while you sleep like the dead. Up, -man! Get your gun! Only this second it disappeared over there behind -your head. Quick! or Joan--!" - -And somehow the fact that he was there, wide-awake now, to corroborate -me, brought the additional conviction to my own mind that this was no -animal, but some perplexing and dreadful form of life that drew upon my -deeper knowledge, that much reading had perhaps assented to, but that -had never yet come within actual range of my senses. - -He was up in a flash, and out. He was trembling, and very white. We -searched hurriedly, feverishly, but found only the traces of paw-marks -passing from the door of his own tent across the moss to the women's. -And the sight of the tracks about Mrs. Maloney's tent, where Joan now -slept, set him in a perfect fury. - -"Do you know what it is, Hubbard, this beast?" he hissed under his -breath at me; "it's a damned wolf, that's what it is--a wolf lost among -the islands, and starving to death--desperate. So help me God, I believe -it's that!" - -He talked a lot of rubbish in his excitement. He declared he would -sleep by day and sit up every night until he killed it. Again his rage -touched my admiration; but I got him away before he made enough noise to -wake the whole Camp. - -"I have a better plan than that," I said, watching his face closely. "I -don't think this is anything we can deal with. I'm going to send for the -only man I know who can help. We'll go to Waxholm this very morning and -get a telegram through." - -Sangree stared at me with a curious expression as the fury died out of -his face and a new look of alarm took its place. - -"John Silence," I said, "will know--" - -"You think it's something--of that sort?" he stammered. - -"I am sure of it." - -There was a moment's pause. "That's worse, far worse than anything -material," he said, turning visibly paler. He looked from my face to the -sky, and then added with sudden resolution, "Come; the wind's rising. -Let's get off at once. From there you can telephone to Stockholm and get -a telegram sent without delay." - -I sent him down to get the boat ready, and seized the opportunity myself -to run and wake Maloney. He was sleeping very lightly, and sprang up the -moment I put my head inside his tent. I told him briefly what I had -seen, and he showed so little surprise that I caught myself wondering -for the first time whether he himself had seen more going on than he had -deemed wise to communicate to the rest of us. - -He agreed to my plan without a moment's hesitation, and my last words to -him were to let his wife and daughter think that the great psychic -doctor was coming merely as a chance visitor, and not with any -professional interest. - -So, with frying-pan, provisions, and blankets aboard, Sangree and I -sailed out of the lagoon fifteen minutes later, and headed with a good -breeze for the direction of Waxholm and the borders of civilisation. - - -IV - -Although nothing John Silence did ever took me, properly speaking, by -surprise, it was certainly unexpected to find a letter from Stockholm -waiting for me. "I have finished my Hungary business," he wrote, "and am -here for ten days. Do not hesitate to send if you need me. If you -telephone any morning from Waxholm I can catch the afternoon steamer." - -My years of intercourse with him were full of "coincidences" of this -description, and although he never sought to explain them by claiming -any magical system of communication with my mind, I have never doubted -that there actually existed some secret telepathic method by which he -knew my circumstances and gauged the degree of my need. And that this -power was independent of time in the sense that it saw into the future, -always seemed to me equally apparent. - -Sangree was as much relieved as I was, and within an hour of sunset that -very evening we met him on the arrival of the little coasting steamer, -and carried him off in the dinghy to the camp we had prepared on a -neighbouring island, meaning to start for home early next morning. - -"Now," he said, when supper was over and we were smoking round the fire, -"let me hear your story." He glanced from one to the other, smiling. - -"You tell it, Mr. Hubbard," Sangree interrupted abruptly, and went off a -little way to wash the dishes, yet not so far as to be out of earshot. -And while he splashed with the hot water, and scraped the tin plates -with sand and moss, my voice, unbroken by a single question from Dr. -Silence, ran on for the next half-hour with the best account I could -give of what had happened. - -My listener lay on the other side of the fire, his face half hidden by a -big sombrero; sometimes he glanced up questioningly when a point needed -elaboration, but he uttered no single word till I had reached the end, -and his manner all through the recital was grave and attentive. -Overhead, the wash of the wind in the pine branches filled in the -pauses; the darkness settled down over the sea, and the stars came out -in thousands, and by the time I finished the moon had risen to flood the -scene with silver. Yet, by his face and eyes, I knew quite well that the -doctor was listening to something he had expected to hear, even if he -had not actually anticipated all the details. - -"You did well to send for me," he said very low, with a significant -glance at me when I finished; "very well,"--and for one swift second his -eye took in Sangree,--"for what we have to deal with here is nothing -more than a werewolf--rare enough, I am glad to say, but often very sad, -and sometimes very terrible." - -I jumped as though I had been shot, but the next second was heartily -ashamed of my want of control; for this brief remark, confirming as it -did my own worst suspicions, did more to convince me of the gravity of -the adventure than any number of questions or explanations. It seemed to -draw close the circle about us, shutting a door somewhere that locked us -in with the animal and the horror, and turning the key. Whatever it was -had now to be faced and dealt with. - -"No one has been actually injured so far?" he asked aloud, but in a -matter-of-fact tone that lent reality to grim possibilities. - -"Good heavens, no!" cried the Canadian, throwing down his dishcloths -and coming forward into the circle of firelight. "Surely there can be no -question of this poor starved beast injuring anybody, can there?" - -His hair straggled untidily over his forehead, and there was a gleam in -his eyes that was not all reflection from the fire. His words made me -turn sharply. We all laughed a little short, forced laugh. - -"I trust not, indeed," Dr. Silence said quietly. "But what makes you -think the creature is starved?" He asked the question with his eyes -straight on the other's face. The prompt question explained to me why I -had started, and I waited with just a tremor of excitement for the -reply. - -Sangree hesitated a moment, as though the question took him by surprise. -But he met the doctor's gaze unflinchingly across the fire, and with -complete honesty. - -"Really," he faltered, with a little shrug of the shoulders, "I can -hardly tell you. The phrase seemed to come out of its own accord. I have -felt from the beginning that it was in pain and--starved, though why I -felt this never occurred to me till you asked." - -"You really know very little about it, then?" said the other, with a -sudden gentleness in his voice. - -"No more than that," Sangree replied, looking at him with a puzzled -expression that was unmistakably genuine. "In fact, nothing at all, -really," he added, by way of further explanation. - -"I am glad of that," I heard the doctor murmur under his breath, but so -low that I only just caught the words, and Sangree missed them -altogether, as evidently he was meant to do. - -"And now," he cried, getting on his feet and shaking himself with a -characteristic gesture, as though to shake out the horror and the -mystery, "let us leave the problem till to-morrow and enjoy this wind -and sea and stars. I've been living lately in the atmosphere of many -people, and feel that I want to wash and be clean. I propose a swim and -then bed. Who'll second me?" And two minutes later we were all diving -from the boat into cool, deep water, that reflected a thousand moons as -the waves broke away from us in countless ripples. - -We slept in blankets under the open sky, Sangree and I taking the -outside places, and were up before sunrise to catch the dawn wind. -Helped by this early start we were half-way home by noon, and then the -wind shifted to a few points behind us so that we fairly ran. In and out -among a thousand islands, down narrow channels where we lost the wind, -out into open spaces where we had to take in a reef, racing along under -a hot and cloudless sky, we flew through the very heart of the -bewildering and lonely scenery. - -"A real wilderness," cried Dr. Silence from his seat in the bows where -he held the jib sheet. His hat was off, his hair tumbled in the wind, -and his lean brown face gave him the touch of an Oriental. Presently he -changed places with Sangree, and came down to talk with me by the -tiller. - -"A wonderful region, all this world of islands," he said, waving his -hand to the scenery rushing past us, "but doesn't it strike you there's -something lacking?" - -"It's--hard," I answered, after a moment's reflection. "It has a -superficial, glittering prettiness, without--" I hesitated to find the -word I wanted. - -John Silence nodded his head with approval. - -"Exactly," he said. "The picturesqueness of stage scenery that is not -real, not alive. It's like a landscape by a clever painter, yet without -true imagination. Soulless--that's the word you wanted." - -"Something like that," I answered, watching the gusts of wind on the -sails. "Not dead so much, as without soul. That's it." - -"Of course," he went on, in a voice calculated, it seemed to me, not to -reach our companion in the bows, "to live long in a place like -this--long and alone--might bring about a strange result in some men." - -I suddenly realised he was talking with a purpose and pricked up my -ears. - -"There's no life here. These islands are mere dead rocks pushed up from -below the sea--not living land; and there's nothing really alive on -them. Even the sea, this tideless, brackish sea, neither salt water nor -fresh, is dead. It's all a pretty image of life without the real heart -and soul of life. To a man with too strong desires who came here and -lived close to nature, strange things might happen." - -"Let her out a bit," I shouted to Sangree, who was coming aft. "The -wind's gusty and we've got hardly any ballast." - -He went back to the bows, and Dr. Silence continued-- - -"Here, I mean, a long sojourn would lead to deterioration, to -degeneration. The place is utterly unsoftened by human influences, by -any humanising associations of history, good or bad. This landscape has -never awakened into life; it's still dreaming in its primitive sleep." - -"In time," I put in, "you mean a man living here might become brutal?" - -"The passions would run wild, selfishness become supreme, the instincts -coarsen and turn savage probably." - -"But--" - -"In other places just as wild, parts of Italy for instance, where there -are other moderating influences, it could not happen. The character -might grow wild, savage too in a sense, but with a human wildness one -could understand and deal with. But here, in a hard place like this, it -might be otherwise." He spoke slowly, weighing his words carefully. - -I looked at him with many questions in my eyes, and a precautionary cry -to Sangree to stay in the fore part of the boat, out of earshot. - -"First of all there would come callousness to pain, and indifference to -the rights of others. Then the soul would turn savage, not from -passionate human causes, or with enthusiasm, but by deadening down into -a kind of cold, primitive, emotionless savagery--by turning, like the -landscape, soulless." - -"And a man with strong desires, you say, might change?" - -"Without being aware of it, yes; he might turn savage, his instincts and -desires turn animal. And if"--he lowered his voice and turned for a -moment towards the bows, and then continued in his most weighty -manner--"owing to delicate health or other predisposing causes, his -Double--you know what I mean, of course--his etheric Body of Desire, or -astral body, as some term it--that part in which the emotions, passions -and desires reside--if this, I say, were for some constitutional reason -loosely joined to his physical organism, there might well take place an -occasional projection--" - -Sangree came aft with a sudden rush, his face aflame, but whether with -wind or sun, or with what he had heard, I cannot say. In my surprise I -let the tiller slip and the cutter gave a great plunge as she came -sharply into the wind and flung us all together in a heap on the bottom. -Sangree said nothing, but while he scrambled up and made the jib sheet -fast my companion found a moment to add to his unfinished sentence the -words, too low for any ear but mine-- - -"Entirely unknown to himself, however." - -We righted the boat and laughed, and then Sangree produced the map and -explained exactly where we were. Far away on the horizon, across an open -stretch of water, lay a blue cluster of islands with our crescent-shaped -home among them and the safe anchorage of the lagoon. An hour with this -wind would get us there comfortably, and while Dr. Silence and Sangree -fell into conversation, I sat and pondered over the strange suggestions -that had just been put into my mind concerning the "Double," and the -possible form it might assume when dissociated temporarily from the -physical body. - -The whole way home these two chatted, and John Silence was as gentle and -sympathetic as a woman. I did not hear much of their talk, for the wind -grew occasionally to the force of a hurricane and the sails and tiller -absorbed my attention; but I could see that Sangree was pleased and -happy, and was pouring out intimate revelations to his companion in the -way that most people did--when John Silence wished them to do so. - -But it was quite suddenly, while I sat all intent upon wind and sails, -that the true meaning of Sangree's remark about the animal flared up in -me with its full import. For his admission that he knew it was in pain -and starved was in reality nothing more or less than a revelation of his -deeper self. It was in the nature of a confession. He was speaking of -something that he knew positively, something that was beyond question or -argument, something that had to do directly with himself. "Poor starved -beast" he had called it in words that had "come out of their own -accord," and there had not been the slightest evidence of any desire to -conceal or explain away. He had spoken instinctively--from his heart, -and as though about his own self. - -And half an hour before sunset we raced through the narrow opening of -the lagoon and saw the smoke of the dinner-fire blowing here and there -among the trees, and the figures of Joan and the Bo'sun's Mate running -down to meet us at the landing-stage. - - -V - -Everything changed from the moment John Silence set foot on that island; -it was like the effect produced by calling in some big doctor, some -great arbiter of life and death, for consultation. The sense of gravity -increased a hundredfold. Even inanimate objects took upon themselves a -subtle alteration, for the setting of the adventure--this deserted bit -of sea with its hundreds of uninhabited islands--somehow turned sombre. -An element that was mysterious, and in a sense disheartening, crept -unbidden into the severity of grey rock and dark pine forest and took -the sparkle from the sunshine and the sea. - -I, at least, was keenly aware of the change, for my whole being shifted, -as it were, a degree higher, becoming keyed up and alert. The figures -from the background of the stage moved forward a little into the -light--nearer to the inevitable action. In a word this man's arrival -intensified the whole affair. - -And, looking back down the years to the time when all this happened, it -is clear to me that he had a pretty sharp idea of the meaning of it from -the very beginning. How much he knew beforehand by his strange divining -powers, it is impossible to say, but from the moment he came upon the -scene and caught within himself the note of what was going on amongst -us, he undoubtedly held the true solution of the puzzle and had no need -to ask questions. And this certitude it was that set him in such an -atmosphere of power and made us all look to him instinctively; for he -took no tentative steps, made no false moves, and while the rest of us -floundered he moved straight to the climax. He was indeed a true diviner -of souls. - -I can now read into his behaviour a good deal that puzzled me at the -time, for though I had dimly guessed the solution, I had no idea how he -would deal with it. And the conversations I can reproduce almost -verbatim, for, according to my invariable habit, I kept full notes of -all he said. - -To Mrs. Maloney, foolish and dazed; to Joan, alarmed, yet plucky; and to -the clergyman, moved by his daughter's distress below his usual shallow -emotions, he gave the best possible treatment in the best possible way, -yet all so easily and simply as to make it appear naturally spontaneous. -For he dominated the Bo'sun's Mate, taking the measure of her ignorance -with infinite patience; he keyed up Joan, stirring her courage and -interest to the highest point for her own safety; and the Reverend -Timothy he soothed and comforted, while obtaining his implicit -obedience, by taking him into his confidence, and leading him gradually -to a comprehension of the issue that was bound to follow. - -And Sangree--here his wisdom was most wisely calculated--he neglected -outwardly because inwardly he was the object of his unceasing and most -concentrated attention. Under the guise of apparent indifference his -mind kept the Canadian under constant observation. - -There was a restless feeling in the Camp that evening and none of us -lingered round the fire after supper as usual. Sangree and I busied -ourselves with patching up the torn tent for our guest and with finding -heavy stones to hold the ropes, for Dr. Silence insisted on having it -pitched on the highest point of the island ridge, just where it was most -rocky and there was no earth for pegs. The place, moreover, was midway -between the men's and women's tents, and, of course, commanded the most -comprehensive view of the Camp. - -"So that if your dog comes," he said simply, "I may be able to catch him -as he passes across." - -The wind had gone down with the sun and an unusual warmth lay over the -island that made sleep heavy, and in the morning we assembled at a late -breakfast, rubbing our eyes and yawning. The cool north wind had given -way to the warm southern air that sometimes came up with haze and -moisture across the Baltic, bringing with it the relaxing sensations -that produced enervation and listlessness. - -And this may have been the reason why at first I failed to notice that -anything unusual was about, and why I was less alert than normally; for -it was not till after breakfast that the silence of our little party -struck me and I discovered that Joan had not yet put in an appearance. -And then, in a flash, the last heaviness of sleep vanished and I saw -that Maloney was white and troubled and his wife could not hold a plate -without trembling. - -A desire to ask questions was stopped in me by a swift glance from Dr. -Silence, and I suddenly understood in some vague way that they were -waiting till Sangree should have gone. How this idea came to me I cannot -determine, but the soundness of the intuition was soon proved, for the -moment he moved off to his tent, Maloney looked up at me and began to -speak in a low voice. - -"You slept through it all," he half whispered. - -"Through what?" I asked, suddenly thrilled with the knowledge that -something dreadful had happened. - -"We didn't wake you for fear of getting the whole Camp up," he went on, -meaning, by the Camp, I supposed, Sangree. "It was just before dawn when -the screams woke me." - -"The dog again?" I asked, with a curious sinking of the heart. - -"Got right into the tent," he went on, speaking passionately but very -low, "and woke my wife by scrambling all over her. Then she realised -that Joan was struggling beside her. And, by God! the beast had torn her -arm; scratched all down the arm she was, and bleeding." - -"Joan injured?" I gasped. - -"Merely scratched--this time," put in John Silence, speaking for the -first time; "suffering more from shock and fright than actual wounds." - -"Isn't it a mercy the doctor was here?" said Mrs. Maloney, looking as if -she would never know calmness again. "I think we should both have been -killed." - -"It has been a most merciful escape," Maloney said, his pulpit voice -struggling with his emotion. "But, of course, we cannot risk another--we -must strike Camp and get away at once--" - -"Only poor Mr. Sangree must not know what has happened. He is so -attached to Joan and would be so terribly upset," added the Bo'sun's -Mate distractedly, looking all about in her terror. - -"It is perhaps advisable that Mr. Sangree should not know what has -occurred," Dr. Silence said with quiet authority, "but I think, for the -safety of all concerned, it will be better not to leave the island just -now." He spoke with great decision and Maloney looked up and followed -his words closely. - -"If you will agree to stay here a few days longer, I have no doubt we -can put an end to the attentions of your strange visitor, and -incidentally have the opportunity of observing a most singular and -interesting phenomenon--" - -"What!" gasped Mrs. Maloney, "a phenomenon?--you mean that you know what -it is?" - -"I am quite certain I know what it is," he replied very low, for we -heard the footsteps of Sangree approaching, "though I am not so certain -yet as to the best means of dealing with it. But in any case it is not -wise to leave precipitately--" - -"Oh, Timothy, does he think it's a devil--?" cried the Bo'sun's Mate in -a voice that even the Canadian must have heard. - -"In my opinion," continued John Silence, looking across at me and the -clergyman, "it is a case of modern lycanthropy with other complications -that may--" He left the sentence unfinished, for Mrs. Maloney got up -with a jump and fled to her tent fearful she might hear a worse thing, -and at that moment Sangree turned the corner of the stockade and came -into view. - -"There are footmarks all round the mouth of my tent," he said with -excitement. "The animal has been here again in the night. Dr. Silence, -you really must come and see them for yourself. They're as plain on the -moss as tracks in snow." - -But later in the day, while Sangree went off in the canoe to fish the -pools near the larger islands, and Joan still lay, bandaged and resting, -in her tent, Dr. Silence called me and the tutor and proposed a walk to -the granite slabs at the far end. Mrs. Maloney sat on a stump near her -daughter, and busied herself energetically with alternate nursing and -painting. - -"We'll leave you in charge," the doctor said with a smile that was meant -to be encouraging, "and when you want us for lunch, or anything, the -megaphone will always bring us back in time." - -For, though the very air was charged with strange emotions, every one -talked quietly and naturally as with a definite desire to counteract -unnecessary excitement. - -"I'll keep watch," said the plucky Bo'sun's Mate, "and meanwhile I find -comfort in my work." She was busy with the sketch she had begun on the -day after our arrival. "For even a tree," she added proudly, pointing to -her little easel, "is a symbol of the divine, and the thought makes me -feel safer." We glanced for a moment at a daub which was more like the -symptom of a disease than a symbol of the divine--and then took the path -round the lagoon. - -At the far end we made a little fire and lay round it in the shadow of a -big boulder. Maloney stopped his humming suddenly and turned to his -companion. - -"And what do you make of it all?" he asked abruptly. - -"In the first place," replied John Silence, making himself comfortable -against the rock, "it is of human origin, this animal; it is undoubted -lycanthropy." - -His words had the effect precisely of a bombshell. Maloney listened as -though he had been struck. - -"You puzzle me utterly," he said, sitting up closer and staring at him. - -"Perhaps," replied the other, "but if you'll listen to me for a few -moments you may be less puzzled at the end--or more. It depends how much -you know. Let me go further and say that you have underestimated, or -miscalculated, the effect of this primitive wild life upon all of you." - -"In what way?" asked the clergyman, bristling a trifle. - -"It is strong medicine for any town-dweller, and for some of you it has -been too strong. One of you has gone wild." He uttered these last words -with great emphasis. - -"Gone savage," he added, looking from one to the other. - -Neither of us found anything to reply. - -"To say that the brute has awakened in a man is not a mere metaphor -always," he went on presently. - -"Of course not!" - -"But, in the sense I mean, may have a very literal and terrible -significance," pursued Dr. Silence. "Ancient instincts that no one -dreamed of, least of all their possessor, may leap forth--" - -"Atavism can hardly explain a roaming animal with teeth and claws and -sanguinary instincts," interrupted Maloney with impatience. - -"The term is of your own choice," continued the doctor equably, "not -mine, and it is a good example of a word that indicates a result while -it conceals the process; but the explanation of this beast that haunts -your island and attacks your daughter is of far deeper significance than -mere atavistic tendencies, or throwing back to animal origin, which I -suppose is the thought in your mind." - -"You spoke just now of lycanthropy," said Maloney, looking bewildered -and anxious to keep to plain facts evidently; "I think I have come -across the word, but really--really--it can have no actual significance -to-day, can it? These superstitions of mediaeval times can hardly--" - -He looked round at me with his jolly red face, and the expression of -astonishment and dismay on it would have made me shout with laughter at -any other time. Laughter, however, was never farther from my mind than -at this moment when I listened to Dr. Silence as he carefully suggested -to the clergyman the very explanation that had gradually been forcing -itself upon my own mind. - -"However mediaeval ideas may have exaggerated the idea is not of much -importance to us now," he said quietly, "when we are face to face with a -modern example of what, I take it, has always been a profound fact. For -the moment let us leave the name of any one in particular out of the -matter and consider certain possibilities." - -We all agreed with that at any rate. There was no need to speak of -Sangree, or of any one else, until we knew a little more. - -"The fundamental fact in this most curious case," he went on, "is that -the 'Double' of a man--" - -"You mean the astral body? I've heard of that, of course," broke in -Maloney with a snort of triumph. - -"No doubt," said the other, smiling, "no doubt you have;--that this -Double, or fluidic body of a man, as I was saying, has the power under -certain conditions of projecting itself and becoming visible to others. -Certain training will accomplish this, and certain drugs likewise; -illnesses, too, that ravage the body may produce temporarily the result -that death produces permanently, and let loose this counterpart of a -human being and render it visible to the sight of others. - -"Every one, of course, knows this more or less to-day; but it is not so -generally known, and probably believed by none who have not witnessed -it, that this fluidic body can, under certain conditions, assume other -forms than human, and that such other forms may be determined by the -dominating thought and wish of the owner. For this Double, or astral -body as you call it, is really the seat of the passions, emotions and -desires in the psychical economy. It is the Passion Body; and, in -projecting itself, it can often assume a form that gives expression to -the overmastering desire that moulds it; for it is composed of such -tenuous matter that it lends itself readily to the moulding by thought -and wish." - -"I follow you perfectly," said Maloney, looking as if he would much -rather be chopping firewood elsewhere and singing. - -"And there are some persons so constituted," the doctor went on with -increasing seriousness, "that the fluid body in them is but loosely -associated with the physical, persons of poor health as a rule, yet -often of strong desires and passions; and in these persons it is easy -for the Double to dissociate itself during deep sleep from their system, -and, driven forth by some consuming desire, to assume an animal form and -seek the fulfilment of that desire." - -There, in broad daylight, I saw Maloney deliberately creep closer to the -fire and heap the wood on. We gathered in to the heat, and to each -other, and listened to Dr. Silence's voice as it mingled with the swish -and whirr of the wind about us, and the falling of the little waves. - -"For instance, to take a concrete example," he resumed; "suppose some -young man, with the delicate constitution I have spoken of, forms an -overpowering attachment to a young woman, yet perceives that it is not -welcomed, and is man enough to repress its outward manifestations. In -such a case, supposing his Double be easily projected, the very -repression of his love in the daytime would add to the intense force of -his desire when released in deep sleep from the control of his will, -and his fluidic body might issue forth in monstrous or animal shape and -become actually visible to others. And, if his devotion were dog-like in -its fidelity, yet concealing the fires of a fierce passion beneath, it -might well assume the form of a creature that seemed to be half dog, -half wolf--" - -"A werewolf, you mean?" cried Maloney, pale to the lips as he listened. - -John Silence held up a restraining hand. "A werewolf," he said, "is a -true psychical fact of profound significance, however absurdly it may -have been exaggerated by the imaginations of a superstitious peasantry -in the days of unenlightenment, for a werewolf is nothing but the -savage, and possibly sanguinary, instincts of a passionate man scouring -the world in his fluidic body, his passion body, his body of desire. As -in the case at hand, he may not know it--" - -"It is not necessarily deliberate, then?" Maloney put in quickly, with -relief. - -"--It is hardly ever deliberate. It is the desires released in sleep -from the control of the will finding a vent. In all savage races it has -been recognised and dreaded, this phenomenon styled 'Wehr Wolf,' but -to-day it is rare. And it is becoming rarer still, for the world grows -tame and civilised, emotions have become refined, desires lukewarm, and -few men have savagery enough left in them to generate impulses of such -intense force, and certainly not to project them in animal form." - -"By Gad!" exclaimed the clergyman breathlessly, and with increasing -excitement, "then I feel I must tell you--what has been given to me in -confidence--that Sangree has in him an admixture of savage blood--of Red -Indian ancestry--" - -"Let us stick to our supposition of a man as described," the doctor -stopped him calmly, "and let us imagine that he has in him this -admixture of savage blood; and further, that he is wholly unaware of his -dreadful physical and psychical infirmity; and that he suddenly finds -himself leading the primitive life together with the object of his -desires; with the result that the strain of the untamed wild-man in his -blood--" - -"Red Indian, for instance," from Maloney. - -"Red Indian, perfectly," agreed the doctor; "the result, I say, that -this savage strain in him is awakened and leaps into passionate life. -What then?" - -He looked hard at Timothy Maloney, and the clergyman looked hard at him. - -"The wild life such as you lead here on this island, for instance, -might quickly awaken his savage instincts--his buried instincts--and -with profoundly disquieting results." - -"You mean his Subtle Body, as you call it, might issue forth -automatically in deep sleep and seek the object of its desire?" I said, -coming to Maloney's aid, who was finding it more and more difficult to -get words. - -"Precisely;--yet the desire of the man remaining utterly unmalefic--pure -and wholesome in every sense--" - -"Ah!" I heard the clergyman gasp. - -"The lover's desire for union run wild, run savage, tearing its way out -in primitive, untamed fashion, I mean," continued the doctor, striving -to make himself clear to a mind bounded by conventional thought and -knowledge; "for the desire to possess, remember, may easily become -importunate, and, embodied in this animal form of the Subtle Body which -acts as its vehicle, may go forth to tear in pieces all that obstructs, -to reach to the very heart of the loved object and seize it. _Au fond_, -it is nothing more than the aspiration for union, as I said--the -splendid and perfectly clean desire to absorb utterly into itself--" - -He paused a moment and looked into Maloney's eyes. - -"To bathe in the very heart's blood of the one desired," he added with -grave emphasis. - -The fire spurted and crackled and made me start, but Maloney found -relief in a genuine shudder, and I saw him turn his head and look about -him from the sea to the trees. The wind dropped just at that moment and -the doctor's words rang sharply through the stillness. - -"Then it might even kill?" stammered the clergyman presently in a hushed -voice, and with a little forced laugh by way of protest that sounded -quite ghastly. - -"In the last resort it might kill," repeated Dr. Silence. Then, after -another pause, during which he was clearly debating how much or how -little it was wise to give to his audience, he continued: "And if the -Double does not succeed in getting back to its physical body, that -physical body would wake an imbecile--an idiot--or perhaps never wake at -all." - -Maloney sat up and found his tongue. - -"You mean that if this fluid animal thing, or whatever it is, should be -prevented getting back, the man might never wake again?" he asked, with -shaking voice. - -"He might be dead," replied the other calmly. The tremor of a positive -sensation shivered in the air about us. - -"Then isn't that the best way to cure the fool--the brute--?" thundered -the clergyman, half rising to his feet. - -"Certainly it would be an easy and undiscoverable form of murder," was -the stern reply, spoken as calmly as though it were a remark about the -weather. - -Maloney collapsed visibly, and I gathered the wood over the fire and -coaxed up a blaze. - -"The greater part of the man's life--of his vital forces--goes out with -this Double," Dr. Silence resumed, after a moment's consideration, "and -a considerable portion of the actual material of his physical body. So -the physical body that remains behind is depleted, not only of force, -but of matter. You would see it small, shrunken, dropped together, just -like the body of a materialising medium at a seance. Moreover, any mark -or injury inflicted upon this Double will be found exactly reproduced by -the phenomenon of repercussion upon the shrunken physical body lying in -its trance--" - -"An injury inflicted upon the one you say would be reproduced also on -the other?" repeated Maloney, his excitement growing again. - -"Undoubtedly," replied the other quietly; "for there exists all the time -a continuous connection between the physical body and the Double--a -connection of matter, though of exceedingly attenuated, possibly of -etheric, matter. The wound _travels_, so to speak, from one to the -other, and if this connection were broken the result would be death." - -"Death," repeated Maloney to himself, "death!" He looked anxiously at -our faces, his thoughts evidently beginning to clear. - -"And this solidity?" he asked presently, after a general pause; "this -tearing of tents and flesh; this howling, and the marks of paws? You -mean that the Double--?" - -"Has sufficient material drawn from the depleted body to produce -physical results? Certainly!" the doctor took him up. "Although to -explain at this moment such problems as the passage of matter through -matter would be as difficult as to explain how the thought of a mother -can actually break the bones of the child unborn." - -Dr. Silence pointed out to sea, and Maloney, looking wildly about him, -turned with a violent start. I saw a canoe, with Sangree in the -stern-seat, slowly coming into view round the farther point. His hat was -off, and his tanned face for the first time appeared to me--to us all, I -think--as though it were the face of some one else. He looked like a -wild man. Then he stood up in the canoe to make a cast with the rod, and -he looked for all the world like an Indian. I recalled the expression of -his face as I had seen it once or twice, notably on that occasion of the -evening prayer, and an involuntary shudder ran down my spine. - -At that very instant he turned and saw us where we lay, and his face -broke into a smile, so that his teeth showed white in the sun. He -looked in his element, and exceedingly attractive. He called out -something about his fish, and soon after passed out of sight into the -lagoon. - -For a time none of us said a word. - -"And the cure?" ventured Maloney at length. - -"Is not to quench this savage force," replied Dr. Silence, "but to steer -it better, and to provide other outlets. This is the solution of all -these problems of accumulated force, for this force is the raw material -of usefulness, and should be increased and cherished, not by separating -it from the body by death, but by raising it to higher channels. The -best and quickest cure of all," he went on, speaking very gently and -with a hand upon the clergyman's arm, "is to lead it towards its object, -provided that object is not unalterably hostile--to let it find rest -where--" - -He stopped abruptly, and the eyes of the two men met in a single glance -of comprehension. - -"Joan?" Maloney exclaimed, under his breath. - -"Joan!" replied John Silence. - - * * * * * - -We all went to bed early. The day had been unusually warm, and after -sunset a curious hush descended on the island. Nothing was audible but -that faint, ghostly singing which is inseparable from a pinewood even on -the stillest day--a low, searching sound, as though the wind had hair -and trailed it o'er the world. - -With the sudden cooling of the atmosphere a sea fog began to form. It -appeared in isolated patches over the water, and then these patches slid -together and a white wall advanced upon us. Not a breath of air stirred; -the firs stood like flat metal outlines; the sea became as oil. The -whole scene lay as though held motionless by some huge weight in the -air; and the flames from our fire--the largest we had ever made--rose -upwards, straight as a church steeple. - -As I followed the rest of our party tent-wards, having kicked the embers -of the fire into safety, the advance guard of the fog was creeping -slowly among the trees, like white arms feeling their way. Mingled with -the smoke was the odour of moss and soil and bark, and the peculiar -flavour of the Baltic, half salt, half brackish, like the smell of an -estuary at low water. - -It is difficult to say why it seemed to me that this deep stillness -masked an intense activity; perhaps in every mood lies the suggestion of -its opposite, so that I became aware of the contrast of furious energy, -for it was like moving through the deep pause before a thunderstorm, and -I trod gently lest by breaking a twig or moving a stone I might set the -whole scene into some sort of tumultuous movement. Actually, no doubt, -it was nothing more than a result of overstrung nerves. - -There was no more question of undressing and going to bed than there was -of undressing and going to bathe. Some sense in me was alert and -expectant. I sat in my tent and waited. And at the end of half an hour -or so my waiting was justified, for the canvas suddenly shivered, and -some one tripped over the ropes that held it to the earth. John Silence -came in. - -The effect of his quiet entry was singular and prophetic: it was just as -though the energy lying behind all this stillness had pressed forward to -the edge of action. This, no doubt, was merely the quickening of my own -mind, and had no other justification; for the presence of John Silence -always suggested the near possibility of vigorous action, and as a -matter of fact, he came in with nothing more than a nod and a -significant gesture. - -He sat down on a corner of my ground-sheet, and I pushed the blanket -over so that he could cover his legs. He drew the flap of the tent after -him and settled down, but hardly had he done so when the canvas shook a -second time, and in blundered Maloney. - -"Sitting in the dark?" he said self-consciously, pushing his head -inside, and hanging up his lantern on the ridge-pole nail. "I just -looked in for a smoke. I suppose--" - -He glanced round, caught the eye of Dr. Silence, and stopped. He put his -pipe back into his pocket and began to hum softly--that underbreath -humming of a nondescript melody I knew so well and had come to hate. - -Dr. Silence leaned forward, opened the lantern and blew the light out. -"Speak low," he said, "and don't strike matches. Listen for sounds and -movements about the Camp, and be ready to follow me at a moment's -notice." There was light enough to distinguish our faces easily, and I -saw Maloney glance again hurriedly at both of us. - -"Is the Camp asleep?" the doctor asked presently, whispering. - -"Sangree is," replied the clergyman, in a voice equally low. "I can't -answer for the women; I think they're sitting up." - -"That's for the best." And then he added: "I wish the fog would thin a -bit and let the moon through; later--we may want it." - -"It is lifting now, I think," Maloney whispered back. "It's over the -tops of the trees already." - -I cannot say what it was in this commonplace exchange of remarks that -thrilled. Probably Maloney's swift acquiescence in the doctor's mood had -something to do with it; for his quick obedience certainly impressed me -a good deal. But, even without that slight evidence, it was clear that -each recognised the gravity of the occasion, and understood that sleep -was impossible and sentry duty was the order of the night. - -"Report to me," repeated John Silence once again, "the least sound, and -do nothing precipitately." - -He shifted across to the mouth of the tent and raised the flap, -fastening it against the pole so that he could see out. Maloney stopped -humming and began to force the breath through his teeth with a kind of -faint hissing, treating us to a medley of church hymns and popular songs -of the day. - -Then the tent trembled as though some one had touched it. - -"That's the wind rising," whispered the clergyman, and pulled the flap -open as far as it would go. A waft of cold damp air entered and made us -shiver, and with it came a sound of the sea as the first wave washed its -way softly along the shores. - -"It's got round to the north," he added, and following his voice came a -long-drawn whisper that rose from the whole island as the trees sent -forth a sighing response. "The fog'll move a bit now. I can make out a -lane across the sea already." - -"Hush!" said Dr. Silence, for Maloney's voice had risen above a whisper, -and we settled down again to another long period of watching and -waiting, broken only by the occasional rubbing of shoulders against the -canvas as we shifted our positions, and the increasing noise of waves on -the outer coast-line of the island. And over all whirred the murmur of -wind sweeping the tops of the trees like a great harp, and the faint -tapping on the tent as drops fell from the branches with a sharp pinging -sound. - -We had sat for something over an hour in this way, and Maloney and I -were finding it increasingly hard to keep awake, when suddenly Dr. -Silence rose to his feet and peered out. The next minute he was gone. - -Relieved of the dominating presence, the clergyman thrust his face close -into mine. "I don't much care for this waiting game," he whispered, "but -Silence wouldn't hear of my sitting up with the others; he said it would -prevent anything happening if I did." - -"He knows," I answered shortly. - -"No doubt in the world about that," he whispered back; "it's this -'Double' business, as he calls it, or else it's obsession as the Bible -describes it. But it's bad, whichever it is, and I've got my Winchester -outside ready cocked, and I brought this too." He shoved a pocket Bible -under my nose. At one time in his life it had been his inseparable -companion. - -"One's useless and the other's dangerous," I replied under my breath, -conscious of a keen desire to laugh, and leaving him to choose. "Safety -lies in following our leader--" - -"I'm not thinking of myself," he interrupted sharply; "only, if anything -happens to Joan to-night I'm going to shoot first--and pray afterwards!" - -Maloney put the book back into his hip-pocket, and peered out of the -doorway. "What is he up to now, in the devil's name, I wonder!" he -added; "going round Sangree's tent and making gestures. How weird he -looks disappearing in and out of the fog." - -"Just trust him and wait," I said quickly, for the doctor was already on -his way back. "Remember, he has the knowledge, and knows what he's -about. I've been with him through worse cases than this." - -Maloney moved back as Dr. Silence darkened the doorway and stooped to -enter. - -"His sleep is very deep," he whispered, seating himself by the door -again. "He's in a cataleptic condition, and the Double may be released -any minute now. But I've taken steps to imprison it in the tent, and it -can't get out till I permit it. Be on the watch for signs of movement." -Then he looked hard at Maloney. "But no violence, or shooting, remember, -Mr. Maloney, unless you want a murder on your hands. Anything done to -the Double acts by repercussion upon the physical body. You had better -take out the cartridges at once." - -His voice was stern. The clergyman went out, and I heard him emptying -the magazine of his rifle. When he returned he sat nearer the door than -before, and from that moment until we left the tent he never once took -his eyes from the figure of Dr. Silence, silhouetted there against sky -and canvas. - -And, meanwhile, the wind came steadily over the sea and opened the mist -into lanes and clearings, driving it about like a living thing. - -It must have been well after midnight when a low booming sound drew my -attention; but at first the sense of hearing was so strained that it was -impossible exactly to locate it, and I imagined it was the thunder of -big guns far out at sea carried to us by the rising wind. Then Maloney, -catching hold of my arm and leaning forward, somehow brought the true -relation, and I realised the next second that it was only a few feet -away. - -"Sangree's tent," he exclaimed in a loud and startled whisper. - -I craned my head round the corner, but at first the effect of the fog -was so confusing that every patch of white driving about before the wind -looked like a moving tent and it was some seconds before I discovered -the one patch that held steady. Then I saw that it was shaking all over, -and the sides, flapping as much as the tightness of the ropes allowed, -were the cause of the booming sound we had heard. Something alive was -tearing frantically about inside, banging against the stretched canvas -in a way that made me think of a great moth dashing against the walls -and ceiling of a room. The tent bulged and rocked. - -"It's trying to get out, by Jupiter!" muttered the clergyman, rising to -his feet and turning to the side where the unloaded rifle lay. I sprang -up too, hardly knowing what purpose was in my mind, but anxious to be -prepared for anything. John Silence, however, was before us both, and -his figure slipped past and blocked the doorway of the tent. And there -was some quality in his voice next minute when he began to speak that -brought our minds instantly to a state of calm obedience. - -"First--the women's tent," he said low, looking sharply at Maloney, "and -if I need your help, I'll call." - -The clergyman needed no second bidding. He dived past me and was out in -a moment. He was labouring evidently under intense excitement. I watched -him picking his way silently over the slippery ground, giving the moving -tent a wide berth, and presently disappearing among the floating shapes -of fog. - -Dr. Silence turned to me. "You heard those footsteps about half an hour -ago?" he asked significantly. - -"I heard nothing." - -"They were extraordinarily soft--almost the soundless tread of a wild -creature. But now, follow me closely," he added, "for we must waste no -time if I am to save this poor man from his affliction and lead his -werewolf Double to its rest. And, unless I am much mistaken"--he -peered at me through the darkness, whispering with the utmost -distinctness--"Joan and Sangree are absolutely made for one another. And -I think she knows it too--just as well as he does." - -My head swam a little as I listened, but at the same time something -cleared in my brain and I saw that he was right. Yet it was all so weird -and incredible, so remote from the commonplace facts of life as -commonplace people know them; and more than once it flashed upon me that -the whole scene--people, words, tents, and all the rest of it--were -delusions created by the intense excitement of my own mind somehow, and -that suddenly the sea-fog would clear off and the world become normal -again. - -The cold air from the sea stung our cheeks sharply as we left the close -atmosphere of the little crowded tent. The sighing of the trees, the -waves breaking below on the rocks, and the lines and patches of mist -driving about us seemed to create the momentary illusion that the whole -island had broken loose and was floating out to sea like a mighty raft. - -The doctor moved just ahead of me, quickly and silently; he was making -straight for the Canadian's tent where the sides still boomed and shook -as the creature of sinister life raced and tore about impatiently -within. A little distance from the door he paused and held up a hand to -stop me. We were, perhaps, a dozen feet away. - -"Before I release it, you shall see for yourself," he said, "that the -reality of the werewolf is beyond all question. The matter of which it -is composed is, of course, exceedingly attenuated, but you are partially -clairvoyant--and even if it is not dense enough for normal sight you -will see something." - -He added a little more I could not catch. The fact was that the -curiously strong vibrating atmosphere surrounding his person somewhat -confused my senses. It was the result, of course, of his intense -concentration of mind and forces, and pervaded the entire Camp and all -the persons in it. And as I watched the canvas shake and heard it boom -and flap I heartily welcomed it. For it was also protective. - -At the back of Sangree's tent stood a thin group of pine trees, but in -front and at the sides the ground was comparatively clear. The flap was -wide open and any ordinary animal would have been out and away without -the least trouble. Dr. Silence led me up to within a few feet, evidently -careful not to advance beyond a certain limit, and then stooped down and -signalled to me to do the same. And looking over his shoulder I saw the -interior lit faintly by the spectral light reflected from the fog, and -the dim blot upon the balsam boughs and blankets signifying Sangree; -while over him, and round him, and up and down him, flew the dark mass -of "something" on four legs, with pointed muzzle and sharp ears plainly -visible against the tent sides, and the occasional gleam of fiery eyes -and white fangs. - -I held my breath and kept utterly still, inwardly and outwardly, for -fear, I suppose, that the creature would become conscious of my -presence; but the distress I felt went far deeper than the mere sense of -personal safety, or the fact of watching something so incredibly active -and real. I became keenly aware of the dreadful psychic calamity it -involved. The realisation that Sangree lay confined in that narrow space -with this species of monstrous projection of himself--that he was -wrapped there in the cataleptic sleep, all unconscious that this thing -was masquerading with his own life and energies--added a distressing -touch of horror to the scene. In all the cases of John Silence--and they -were many and often terrible--no other psychic affliction has ever, -before or since, impressed me so convincingly with the pathetic -impermanence of the human personality, with its fluid nature, and with -the alarming possibilities of its transformations. - -"Come," he whispered, after we had watched for some minutes the frantic -efforts to escape from the circle of thought and will that held it -prisoner, "come a little farther away while I release it." - -We moved back a dozen yards or so. It was like a scene in some -impossible play, or in some ghastly and oppressive nightmare from which -I should presently awake to find the blankets all heaped up upon my -chest. - -By some method undoubtedly mental, but which, in my confusion and -excitement, I failed to understand, the doctor accomplished his purpose, -and the next minute I heard him say sharply under his breath, "It's out! -Now watch!" - -At this very moment a sudden gust from the sea blew aside the mist, so -that a lane opened to the sky, and the moon, ghastly and unnatural as -the effect of stage limelight, dropped down in a momentary gleam upon -the door of Sangree's tent, and I perceived that something had moved -forward from the interior darkness and stood clearly defined upon the -threshold. And, at the same moment, the tent ceased its shuddering and -held still. - -There, in the doorway, stood an animal, with neck and muzzle thrust -forward, its head poking into the night, its whole body poised in that -attitude of intense rigidity that precedes the spring into freedom, the -running leap of attack. It seemed to be about the size of a calf, leaner -than a mastiff, yet more squat than a wolf, and I can swear that I saw -the fur ridged sharply upon its back. Then its upper lip slowly lifted, -and I saw the whiteness of its teeth. - -Surely no human being ever stared as hard as I did in those next few -minutes. Yet, the harder I stared the clearer appeared the amazing and -monstrous apparition. For, after all, it was Sangree--and yet it was not -Sangree. It was the head and face of an animal, and yet it was the face -of Sangree: the face of a wild dog, a wolf, and yet his face. The eyes -were sharper, narrower, more fiery, yet they were his eyes--his eyes run -wild; the teeth were longer, whiter, more pointed--yet they were his -teeth, his teeth grown cruel; the expression was flaming, terrible, -exultant--yet it was his expression carried to the border of -savagery--his expression as I had already surprised it more than once, -only dominant now, fully released from human constraint, with the mad -yearning of a hungry and importunate soul. It was the soul of Sangree, -the long suppressed, deeply loving Sangree, expressed in its single and -intense desire--pure utterly and utterly wonderful. - -Yet, at the same time, came the feeling that it was all an illusion. I -suddenly remembered the extraordinary changes the human face can undergo -in circular insanity, when it changes from melancholia to elation; and I -recalled the effect of hascheesh, which shows the human countenance in -the form of the bird or animal to which in character it most -approximates; and for a moment I attributed this mingling of Sangree's -face with a wolf to some kind of similar delusion of the senses. I was -mad, deluded, dreaming! The excitement of the day, and this dim light of -stars and bewildering mist combined to trick me. I had been amazingly -imposed upon by some false wizardry of the senses. It was all absurd and -fantastic; it would pass. - -And then, sounding across this sea of mental confusion like a bell -through a fog, came the voice of John Silence bringing me back to a -consciousness of the reality of it all-- - -"Sangree--in his Double!" - -And when I looked again more calmly, I plainly saw that it was indeed -the face of the Canadian, but his face turned animal, yet mingled with -the brute expression a curiously pathetic look like the soul seen -sometimes in the yearning eyes of a dog,--the face of an animal shot -with vivid streaks of the human. - -The doctor called to him softly under his breath-- - -"Sangree! Sangree, you poor afflicted creature! Do you know me? Can you -understand what it is you're doing in your 'Body of Desire'?" - -For the first time since its appearance the creature moved. Its ears -twitched and it shifted the weight of its body on to the hind legs. -Then, lifting its head and muzzle to the sky, it opened its long jaws -and gave vent to a dismal and prolonged howling. - -But, when I heard that howling rise to heaven, the breath caught and -strangled in my throat and it seemed that my heart missed a beat; for, -though the sound was entirely animal, it was at the same time entirely -human. But, more than that, it was the cry I had so often heard in the -Western States of America where the Indians still fight and hunt and -struggle--it was the cry of the Redskin! - -"The Indian blood!" whispered John Silence, when I caught his arm for -support; "the ancestral cry." - -And that poignant, beseeching cry, that broken human voice, mingling -with the savage howl of the brute beast, pierced straight to my very -heart and touched there something that no music, no voice, passionate or -tender, of man, woman or child has ever stirred before or since for one -second into life. It echoed away among the fog and the trees and lost -itself somewhere out over the hidden sea. And some part of -myself--something that was far more than the mere act of intense -listening--went out with it, and for several minutes I lost -consciousness of my surroundings and felt utterly absorbed in the pain -of another stricken fellow-creature. - -Again the voice of John Silence recalled me to myself. - -"Hark!" he said aloud. "Hark!" - -His tone galvanised me afresh. We stood listening side by side. - -Far across the island, faintly sounding through the trees and brushwood, -came a similar, answering cry. Shrill, yet wonderfully musical, shaking -the heart with a singular wild sweetness that defies description, we -heard it rise and fall upon the night air. - -"It's across the lagoon," Dr. Silence cried, but this time in full tones -that paid no tribute to caution. "It's Joan! She's answering him!" - -Again the wonderful cry rose and fell, and that same instant the animal -lowered its head, and, muzzle to earth, set off on a swift easy canter -that took it off into the mist and out of our sight like a thing of wind -and vision. - -The doctor made a quick dash to the door of Sangree's tent, and, -following close at his heels, I peered in and caught a momentary glimpse -of the small, shrunken body lying upon the branches but half covered by -the blankets--the cage from which most of the life, and not a little of -the actual corporeal substance, had escaped into that other form of life -and energy, the body of passion and desire. - -By another of those swift, incalculable processes which at this stage of -my apprenticeship I failed often to grasp, Dr. Silence reclosed the -circle about the tent and body. - -"Now it cannot return till I permit it," he said, and the next second -was off at full speed into the woods, with myself close behind him. I -had already had some experience of my companion's ability to run swiftly -through a dense wood, and I now had the further proof of his power -almost to see in the dark. For, once we left the open space about the -tents, the trees seemed to absorb all the remaining vestiges of light, -and I understood that special sensibility that is said to develop in the -blind--the sense of obstacles. - -And twice as we ran we heard the sound of that dismal howling drawing -nearer and nearer to the answering faint cry from the point of the -island whither we were going. - -Then, suddenly, the trees fell away, and we emerged, hot and breathless, -upon the rocky point where the granite slabs ran bare into the sea. It -was like passing into the clearness of open day. And there, sharply -defined against sea and sky, stood the figure of a human being. It was -Joan. - -I at once saw that there was something about her appearance that was -singular and unusual, but it was only when we had moved quite close that -I recognised what caused it. For while the lips wore a smile that lit -the whole face with a happiness I had never seen there before, the eyes -themselves were fixed in a steady, sightless stare as though they were -lifeless and made of glass. - -I made an impulsive forward movement, but Dr. Silence instantly dragged -me back. - -"No," he cried, "don't wake her!" - -"What do you mean?" I replied aloud, struggling in his grasp. - -"She's asleep. It's somnambulistic. The shock might injure her -permanently." - -I turned and peered closely into his face. He was absolutely calm. I -began to understand a little more, catching, I suppose, something of his -strong thinking. - -"Walking in her sleep, you mean?" - -He nodded. "She's on her way to meet him. From the very beginning he -must have drawn her--irresistibly." - -"But the torn tent and the wounded flesh?" - -"When she did not sleep deep enough to enter the somnambulistic trance -he missed her--he went instinctively and in all innocence to seek her -out--with the result, of course, that she woke and was terrified--" - -"Then in their heart of hearts they love?" I asked finally. - -John Silence smiled his inscrutable smile. "Profoundly," he answered, -"and as simply as only primitive souls can love. If only they both come -to realise it in their normal waking states his Double will cease these -nocturnal excursions. He will be cured, and at rest." - -The words had hardly left his lips when there was a sound of rustling -branches on our left, and the very next instant the dense brushwood -parted where it was darkest and out rushed the swift form of an animal -at full gallop. The noise of feet was scarcely audible, but in that -utter stillness I heard the heavy panting breath and caught the swish of -the low bushes against its sides. It went straight towards Joan--and as -it went the girl lifted her head and turned to meet it. And the same -instant a canoe that had been creeping silently and unobserved round the -inner shore of the lagoon, emerged from the shadows and defined itself -upon the water with a figure at the middle thwart. It was Maloney. - -It was only afterwards I realised that we were invisible to him where we -stood against the dark background of trees; the figures of Joan and the -animal he saw plainly, but not Dr. Silence and myself standing just -beyond them. He stood up in the canoe and pointed with his right arm. I -saw something gleam in his hand. - -"Stand aside, Joan girl, or you'll get hit," he shouted, his voice -ringing horribly through the deep stillness, and the same instant a -pistol-shot cracked out with a burst of flame and smoke, and the figure -of the animal, with one tremendous leap into the air, fell back in the -shadows and disappeared like a shape of night and fog. Instantly, then, -Joan opened her eyes, looked in a dazed fashion about her, and pressing -both hands against her heart, fell with a sharp cry into my arms that -were just in time to catch her. - -And an answering cry sounded across the lagoon--thin, wailing, piteous. -It came from Sangree's tent. - -"Fool!" cried Dr. Silence, "you've wounded him!" and before we could -move or realise quite what it meant, he was in the canoe and half-way -across the lagoon. - -Some kind of similar abuse came in a torrent from my lips, too--though I -cannot remember the actual words--as I cursed the man for his -disobedience and tried to make the girl comfortable on the ground. But -the clergyman was more practical. He was spreading his coat over her and -dashing water on her face. - -"It's not Joan I've killed at any rate," I heard him mutter as she -turned and opened her eyes and smiled faintly up in his face. "I swear -the bullet went straight." - -Joan stared at him; she was still dazed and bewildered, and still -imagined herself with the companion of her trance. The strange lucidity -of the somnambulist still hung over her brain and mind, though outwardly -she appeared troubled and confused. - -"Where has he gone to? He disappeared so suddenly, crying that he was -hurt," she asked, looking at her father as though she did not recognise -him. "And if they've done anything to him--they have done it to me -too--for he is more to me than--" - -Her words grew vaguer and vaguer as she returned slowly to her normal -waking state, and now she stopped altogether, as though suddenly aware -that she had been surprised into telling secrets. But all the way back, -as we carried her carefully through the trees, the girl smiled and -murmured Sangree's name and asked if he was injured, until it finally -became clear to me that the wild soul of the one had called to the wild -soul of the other and in the secret depths of their beings the call had -been heard and understood. John Silence was right. In the abyss of her -heart, too deep at first for recognition, the girl loved him, and had -loved him from the very beginning. Once her normal waking consciousness -recognised the fact they would leap together like twin flames, and his -affliction would be at an end; his intense desire would be satisfied; he -would be cured. - -And in Sangree's tent Dr. Silence and I sat up for the remainder of the -night--this wonderful and haunted night that had shown us such strange -glimpses of a new heaven and a new hell--for the Canadian tossed upon -his balsam boughs with high fever in his blood, and upon each cheek a -dark and curious contusion showed, throbbing with severe pain although -the skin was not broken and there was no outward and visible sign of -blood. - -"Maloney shot straight, you see," whispered Dr. Silence to me after the -clergyman had gone to his tent, and had put Joan to sleep beside her -mother, who, by the way, had never once awakened. "The bullet must have -passed clean through the face, for both cheeks are stained. He'll wear -these marks all his life--smaller, but always there. They're the most -curious scars in the world, these scars transferred by repercussion from -an injured Double. They'll remain visible until just before his death, -and then with the withdrawal of the subtle body they will disappear -finally." - -His words mingled in my dazed mind with the sighs of the troubled -sleeper and the crying of the wind about the tent. Nothing seemed to -paralyse my powers of realisation so much as these twin stains of -mysterious significance upon the face before me. - -It was odd, too, how speedily and easily the Camp resigned itself again -to sleep and quietness, as though a stage curtain had suddenly dropped -down upon the action and concealed it; and nothing contributed so -vividly to the feeling that I had been a spectator of some kind of -visionary drama as the dramatic nature of the change in the girl's -attitude. - -Yet, as a matter of fact, the change had not been so sudden and -revolutionary as appeared. Underneath, in those remoter regions of -consciousness where the emotions, unknown to their owners, do secretly -mature, and owe thence their abrupt revelation to some abrupt -psychological climax, there can be no doubt that Joan's love for the -Canadian had been growing steadily and irresistibly all the time. It had -now rushed to the surface so that she recognised it; that was all. - -And it has always seemed to me that the presence of John Silence, so -potent, so quietly efficacious, produced an effect, if one may say so, -of a psychic forcing-house, and hastened incalculably the bringing -together of these two "wild" lovers. In that sudden awakening had -occurred the very psychological climax required to reveal the passionate -emotion accumulated below. The deeper knowledge had leaped across and -transferred itself to her ordinary consciousness, and in that shock the -collision of the personalities had shaken them to the depths and shown -her the truth beyond all possibility of doubt. - -"He's sleeping quietly now," the doctor said, interrupting my -reflections. "If you will watch alone for a bit I'll go to Maloney's -tent and help him to arrange his thoughts." He smiled in anticipation of -that "arrangement." "He'll never quite understand how a wound on the -Double can transfer itself to the physical body, but at least I can -persuade him that the less he talks and 'explains' to-morrow, the sooner -the forces will run their natural course now to peace and quietness." - -He went away softly, and with the removal of his presence Sangree, -sleeping heavily, turned over and groaned with the pain of his broken -head. - -And it was in the still hour just before the dawn, when all the islands -were hushed, the wind and sea still dreaming, and the stars visible -through clearing mists, that a figure crept silently over the ridge and -reached the door of the tent where I dozed beside the sufferer, before I -was aware of its presence. The flap was cautiously lifted a few inches -and in looked--Joan. - -That same instant Sangree woke and sat up on his bed of branches. He -recognised her before I could say a word, and uttered a low cry. It was -pain and joy mingled, and this time all human. And the girl too was no -longer walking in her sleep, but fully aware of what she was doing. I -was only just able to prevent him springing from his blankets. - -"Joan, Joan!" he cried, and in a flash she answered him, "I'm here--I'm -with you always now," and had pushed past me into the tent and flung -herself upon his breast. - -"I knew you would come to me in the end," I heard him whisper. - -"It was all too big for me to understand at first," she murmured, "and -for a long time I was frightened--" - -"But not now!" he cried louder; "you don't feel afraid now of--of -anything that's in me--" - -"I fear nothing," she cried, "nothing, nothing!" - -I led her outside again. She looked steadily into my face with eyes -shining and her whole being transformed. In some intuitive way, -surviving probably from the somnambulism, she knew or guessed as much as -I knew. - -"You must talk to-morrow with John Silence," I said gently, leading her -towards her own tent. "He understands everything." - -I left her at the door, and as I went back softly to take up my place of -sentry again with the Canadian, I saw the first streaks of dawn lighting -up the far rim of the sea behind the distant islands. - -And, as though to emphasise the eternal closeness of comedy to tragedy, -two small details rose out of the scene and impressed me so vividly that -I remember them to this very day. For in the tent where I had just left -Joan, all aquiver with her new happiness, there rose plainly to my ears -the grotesque sounds of the Bo'sun's Mate heavily snoring, oblivious of -all things in heaven or hell; and from Maloney's tent, so still was the -night, where I looked across and saw the lantern's glow, there came to -me, through the trees, the monotonous rising and falling of a human -voice that was beyond question the sound of a man praying to his God. - - - - -CASE III: A VICTIM OF HIGHER SPACE - - -"There's a hextraordinary gentleman to see you, sir," said the new man. - -"Why 'extraordinary'?" asked Dr. Silence, drawing the tips of his thin -fingers through his brown beard. His eyes twinkled pleasantly. "Why -'extraordinary,' Barker?" he repeated encouragingly, noticing the -perplexed expression in the man's eyes. - -"He's so--so thin, sir. I could hardly see 'im at all--at first. He was -inside the house before I could ask the name," he added, remembering -strict orders. - -"And who brought him here?" - -"He come alone, sir, in a closed cab. He pushed by me before I could say -a word--making no noise not what I could hear. He seemed to move so soft -like--" - -The man stopped short with obvious embarrassment, as though he had -already said enough to jeopardise his new situation, but trying hard to -show that he remembered the instructions and warnings he had received -with regard to the admission of strangers not properly accredited. - -"And where is the gentleman now?" asked Dr. Silence, turning away to -conceal his amusement. - -"I really couldn't exactly say, sir. I left him standing in the 'all--" - -The doctor looked up sharply. "But why in the hall, Barker? Why not in -the waiting-room?" He fixed his piercing though kindly eyes on the man's -face. "Did he frighten you?" he asked quickly. - -"I think he did, sir, if I may say so. I seemed to lose sight of him, as -it were--" The man stammered, evidently convinced by now that he had -earned his dismissal. "He come in so funny, just like a cold wind," he -added boldly, setting his heels at attention and looking his master full -in the face. - -The doctor made an internal note of the man's halting description; he -was pleased that the slight signs of psychic intuition which had induced -him to engage Barker had not entirely failed at the first trial. Dr. -Silence sought for this qualification in all his assistants, from -secretary to serving man, and if it surrounded him with a somewhat -singular crew, the drawbacks were more than compensated for on the whole -by their occasional flashes of insight. - -"So the gentleman made you feel queer, did he?" - -"That was it, I think, sir," repeated the man stolidly. - -"And he brings no kind of introduction to me--no letter or anything?" -asked the doctor, with feigned surprise, as though he knew what was -coming. - -The man fumbled, both in mind and pockets, and finally produced an -envelope. - -"I beg pardon, sir," he said, greatly flustered; "the gentleman handed -me this for you." - -It was a note from a discerning friend, who had never yet sent him a -case that was not vitally interesting from one point or another. - -"Please see the bearer of this note," the brief message ran, "though I -doubt if even you can do much to help him." - -John Silence paused a moment, so as to gather from the mind of the -writer all that lay behind the brief words of the letter. Then he looked -up at his servant with a graver expression than he had yet worn. - -"Go back and find this gentleman," he said, "and show him into the green -study. Do not reply to his question, or speak more than actually -necessary; but think kind, helpful, sympathetic thoughts as strongly as -you can, Barker. You remember what I told you about the importance of -_thinking_, when I engaged you. Put curiosity out of your mind, and -think gently, sympathetically, affectionately, if you can." - -He smiled, and Barker, who had recovered his composure in the doctor's -presence, bowed silently and went out. - -There were two different reception-rooms in Dr. Silence's house. One -(intended for persons who imagined they needed spiritual assistance when -really they were only candidates for the asylum) had padded walls, and -was well supplied with various concealed contrivances by means of which -sudden violence could be instantly met and overcome. It was, however, -rarely used. The other, intended for the reception of genuine cases of -spiritual distress and out-of-the-way afflictions of a psychic nature, -was entirely draped and furnished in a soothing deep green, calculated -to induce calmness and repose of mind. And this room was the one in -which Dr. Silence interviewed the majority of his "queer" cases, and the -one into which he had directed Barker to show his present caller. - -To begin with, the arm-chair in which the patient was always directed to -sit, was nailed to the floor, since its immovability tended to impart -this same excellent characteristic to the occupant. Patients invariably -grew excited when talking about themselves, and their excitement tended -to confuse their thoughts and to exaggerate their language. The -inflexibility of the chair helped to counteract this. After repeated -endeavours to drag it forward, or push it back, they ended by resigning -themselves to sitting quietly. And with the futility of fidgeting there -followed a calmer state of mind. - -Upon the floor, and at intervals in the wall immediately behind, were -certain tiny green buttons, practically unnoticeable, which on being -pressed permitted a soothing and persuasive narcotic to rise invisibly -about the occupant of the chair. The effect upon the excitable patient -was rapid, admirable, and harmless. The green study was further provided -with a secret spy-hole; for John Silence liked when possible to observe -his patient's face before it had assumed that mask the features of the -human countenance invariably wear in the presence of another person. A -man sitting alone wears a psychic expression; and this expression is the -man himself. It disappears the moment another person joins him. And Dr. -Silence often learned more from a few moments' secret observation of a -face than from hours of conversation with its owner afterwards. - -A very light, almost a dancing, step followed Barker's heavy tread -towards the green room, and a moment afterwards the man came in and -announced that the gentleman was waiting. He was still pale and his -manner nervous. - -"Never mind, Barker" the doctor said kindly; "if you were not psychic -the man would have had no effect upon you at all. You only need training -and development. And when you have learned to interpret these feelings -and sensations better, you will feel no fear, but only a great -sympathy." - -"Yes, sir; thank you, sir!" And Barker bowed and made his escape, while -Dr. Silence, an amused smile lurking about the corners of his mouth, -made his way noiselessly down the passage and put his eye to the -spy-hole in the door of the green study. - -This spy-hole was so placed that it commanded a view of almost the -entire room, and, looking through it, the doctor saw a hat, gloves, and -umbrella lying on a chair by the table, but searched at first in vain -for their owner. - -The windows were both closed and a brisk fire burned in the grate. There -were various signs--signs intelligible at least to a keenly intuitive -soul--that the room was occupied, yet so far as human beings were -concerned, it was empty, utterly empty. No one sat in the chairs; no one -stood on the mat before the fire; there was no sign even that a patient -was anywhere close against the wall, examining the Bocklin -reproductions--as patients so often did when they thought they were -alone--and therefore rather difficult to see from the spy-hole. -Ordinarily speaking, there was no one in the room. It was undeniable. - -Yet Dr. Silence was quite well aware that a human being _was_ in the -room. His psychic apparatus never failed in letting him know the -proximity of an incarnate or discarnate being. Even in the dark he could -tell that. And he now knew positively that his patient--the patient who -had alarmed Barker, and had then tripped down the corridor with that -dancing footstep--was somewhere concealed within the four walls -commanded by his spy-hole. He also realised--and this was most -unusual--that this individual whom he desired to watch knew that he was -being watched. And, further, that the stranger himself was also -watching! In fact, that it was he, the doctor, who was being -observed--and by an observer as keen and trained as himself. - -An inkling of the true state of the case began to dawn upon him, and he -was on the verge of entering--indeed, his hand already touched the -door-knob--when his eye, still glued to the spy-hole, detected a slight -movement. Directly opposite, between him and the fireplace, something -stirred. He watched very attentively and made certain that he was not -mistaken. An object on the mantelpiece--it was a blue vase--disappeared -from view. It passed out of sight together with the portion of the -marble mantelpiece on which it rested. Next, that part of the fire and -grate and brass fender immediately below it vanished entirely, as though -a slice had been taken clean out of them. - -Dr. Silence then understood that something between him and these objects -was slowly coming into being, something that concealed them and -obstructed his vision by inserting itself in the line of sight between -them and himself. - -He quietly awaited further results before going in. - -First he saw a thin perpendicular line tracing itself from just above -the height of the clock and continuing downwards till it reached the -woolly fire-mat. This line grew wider, broadened, grew solid. It was no -shadow; it was something substantial. It defined itself more and more. -Then suddenly, at the top of the line, and about on a level with the -face of the clock, he saw a round luminous disc gazing steadily at him. -It was a human eye, looking straight into his own, pressed there against -the spy-hole. And it was bright with intelligence. Dr. Silence held his -breath for a moment--and stared back at it. - -Then, like some one moving out of deep shadow into light, he saw the -figure of a man come sliding sideways into view, a whitish face -following the eye, and the perpendicular line he had first observed -broadening out and developing into the complete figure of a human being. -It was the patient. He had apparently been standing there in front of -the fire all the time. A second eye had followed the first, and both of -them stared steadily at the spy-hole, sharply concentrated, yet with a -sly twinkle of humour and amusement that made it impossible for the -doctor to maintain his position any longer. - -He opened the door and went in quickly. As he did so he noticed for the -first time the sound of a German band coming in gaily through the open -ventilators. In some intuitive, unaccountable fashion the music -connected itself with the patient he was about to interview. This sort -of prevision was not unfamiliar to him. It always explained itself -later. - -The man, he saw, was of middle age and of very ordinary appearance; so -ordinary, in fact, that he was difficult to describe--his only -peculiarity being his extreme thinness. Pleasant--that is, -good--vibrations issued from his atmosphere and met Dr. Silence as he -advanced to greet him, yet vibrations alive with currents and discharges -betraying the perturbed and disordered condition of his mind and brain. -There was evidently something wholly out of the usual in the state of -his thoughts. Yet, though strange, it was not altogether distressing; it -was not the impression that the broken and violent atmosphere of the -insane produces upon the mind. Dr. Silence realised in a flash that here -was a case of absorbing interest that might require all his powers to -handle properly. - -"I was watching you through my little peep-hole--as you saw," he began, -with a pleasant smile, advancing to shake hands. "I find it of the -greatest assistance sometimes--" - -But the patient interrupted him at once. His voice was hurried and had -odd, shrill changes in it, breaking from high to low in unexpected -fashion. One moment it thundered, the next it almost squeaked. - -"I understand without explanation," he broke in rapidly. "You get the -true note of a man in this way--when he thinks himself unobserved. I -quite agree. Only, in my case, I fear, you saw very little. My case, as -you of course grasp, Dr. Silence, is extremely peculiar, uncomfortably -peculiar. Indeed, unless Sir William had positively assured me--" - -"My friend has sent you to me," the doctor interrupted gravely, with a -gentle note of authority, "and that is quite sufficient. Pray, be -seated, Mr.--" - -"Mudge--Racine Mudge," returned the other. - -"Take this comfortable one, Mr. Mudge," leading him to the fixed chair, -"and tell me your condition in your own way and at your own pace. My -whole day is at your service if you require it." - -Mr. Mudge moved towards the chair in question and then hesitated. - -"You will promise me not to use the narcotic buttons," he said, before -sitting down. "I do not need them. Also I ought to mention that anything -you think of vividly will reach my mind. That is apparently part of my -peculiar case." He sat down with a sigh and arranged his thin legs and -body into a position of comfort. Evidently he was very sensitive to the -thoughts of others, for the picture of the green buttons had only -entered the doctor's mind for a second, yet the other had instantly -snapped it up. Dr. Silence noticed, too, that Mr. Mudge held on tightly -with both hands to the arms of the chair. - -"I'm rather glad the chair is nailed to the floor," he remarked, as he -settled himself more comfortably. "It suits me admirably. The fact -is--and this is my case in a nutshell--which is all that a doctor of -your marvellous development requires--the fact is, Dr. Silence, I am a -victim of Higher Space. That's what's the matter with me--Higher Space!" - -The two looked at each other for a space in silence, the little patient -holding tightly to the arms of the chair which "suited him admirably," -and looking up with staring eyes, his atmosphere positively trembling -with the waves of some unknown activity; while the doctor smiled kindly -and sympathetically, and put his whole person as far as possible into -the mental condition of the other. - -"Higher Space," repeated Mr. Mudge, "that's what it is. Now, do you -think you can help me with _that_?" - -There was a pause during which the men's eyes steadily searched down -below the surface of their respective personalities. Then Dr. Silence -spoke. - -"I am quite sure I can help," he answered quietly; "sympathy must always -help, and suffering always owns my sympathy. I see you have suffered -cruelly. You must tell me all about your case, and when I hear the -gradual steps by which you reached this strange condition, I have no -doubt I can be of assistance to you." - -He drew a chair up beside his interlocutor and laid a hand on his -shoulder for a moment. His whole being radiated kindness, intelligence, -desire to help. - -"For instance," he went on, "I feel sure it was the result of no mere -chance that you became familiar with the terrors of what you term Higher -Space; for Higher Space is no mere external measurement. It is, of -course, a spiritual state, a spiritual condition, an inner development, -and one that we must recognise as abnormal, since it is beyond the reach -of the world at the present stage of evolution. Higher Space is a -mythical state." - -"Oh!" cried the other, rubbing his birdlike hands with pleasure, "the -relief it is to be able to talk to some one who can understand! Of -course what you say is the utter truth. And you are right that no mere -chance led me to my present condition, but, on the other hand, prolonged -and deliberate study. Yet chance in a sense now governs it. I mean, my -entering the condition of Higher Space seems to depend upon the chance -of this and that circumstance. For instance, the mere sound of that -German band sent me off. Not that all music will do so, but certain -sounds, certain vibrations, at once key me up to the requisite pitch, -and off I go. Wagner's music always does it, and that band must have -been playing a stray bit of Wagner. But I'll come to all that later. -Only first, I must ask you to send away your man from the spy-hole." - -John Silence looked up with a start, for Mr. Mudge's back was to the -door, and there was no mirror. He saw the brown eye of Barker glued to -the little circle of glass, and he crossed the room without a word and -snapped down the black shutter provided for the purpose, and then heard -Barker snuffle away along the passage. - -"Now," continued the little man in the chair, "I can begin. You have -managed to put me completely at my ease, and I feel I may tell you my -whole case without shame or reserve. You will understand. But you must -be patient with me if I go into details that are already familiar to -you--details of Higher Space, I mean--and if I seem stupid when I have -to describe things that transcend the power of language and are really -therefore indescribable." - -"My dear friend," put in the other calmly, "that goes without saying. To -know Higher Space is an experience that defies description, and one is -obliged to make use of more or less intelligible symbols. But, pray, -proceed. Your vivid thoughts will tell me more than your halting words." - -An immense sigh of relief proceeded from the little figure half lost in -the depths of the chair. Such intelligent sympathy meeting him half-way -was a new experience to him, and it touched his heart at once. He leaned -back, relaxing his tight hold of the arms, and began in his thin, -scale-like voice. - -"My mother was a Frenchwoman, and my father an Essex bargeman," he said -abruptly. "Hence my name--Racine and Mudge. My father died before I ever -saw him. My mother inherited money from her Bordeaux relations, and when -she died soon after, I was left alone with wealth and a strange freedom. -I had no guardian, trustees, sisters, brothers, or any connection in the -world to look after me. I grew up, therefore, utterly without education. -This much was to my advantage; I learned none of that deceitful rubbish -taught in schools, and so had nothing to unlearn when I awakened to my -true love--mathematics, higher mathematics and higher geometry. These, -however, I seemed to know instinctively. It was like the memory of what -I had deeply studied before; the principles were in my blood, and I -simply raced through the ordinary stages, and beyond, and then did the -same with geometry. Afterwards, when I read the books on these subjects, -I understood how swift and undeviating the knowledge had come back to -me. It was simply memory. It was simply _re-collecting_ the memories of -what I had known before in a previous existence and required no books to -teach me." - -In his growing excitement, Mr. Mudge attempted to drag the chair forward -a little nearer to his listener, and then smiled faintly as he resigned -himself instantly again to its immovability, and plunged anew into the -recital of his singular "disease." - -"The audacious speculations of Bolyai, the amazing theories of -Gauss--that through a point more than one line could be drawn parallel -to a given line; the possibility that the angles of a triangle are -together _greater_ than two right angles, if drawn upon immense -curvatures--the breathless intuitions of Beltrami and Lobatchewsky--all -these I hurried through, and emerged, panting but unsatisfied, upon the -verge of my--my new world, my Higher Space possibilities--in a word, my -disease! - -"How I got there," he resumed after a brief pause, during which he -appeared to be listening intently for an approaching sound, "is more -than I can put intelligibly into words. I can only hope to leave your -mind with an intuitive comprehension of the possibility of what I say. - -"Here, however, came a change. At this point I was no longer absorbing -the fruits of studies I had made before; it was the beginning of new -efforts to learn for the first time, and I had to go slowly and -laboriously through terrible work. Here I sought for the theories and -speculations of others. But books were few and far between, and with the -exception of one man--a 'dreamer,' the world called him--whose audacity -and piercing intuition amazed and delighted me beyond description, I -found no one to guide or help. - -"You, of course, Dr. Silence, understand something of what I am driving -at with these stammering words, though you cannot perhaps yet guess what -depths of pain my new knowledge brought me to, nor why an acquaintance -with a new development of space should prove a source of misery and -terror." - -Mr. Racine Mudge, remembering that the chair would not move, did the -next best thing he could in his desire to draw nearer to the attentive -man facing him, and sat forward upon the very edge of the cushions, -crossing his legs and gesticulating with both hands as though he saw -into this region of new space he was attempting to describe, and might -any moment tumble into it bodily from the edge of the chair and -disappear form view. John Silence, separated from him by three paces, -sat with his eyes fixed upon the thin white face opposite, noting -every word and every gesture with deep attention. - -"This room we now sit in, Dr. Silence, has one side open to space--to -Higher Space. A closed box only _seems_ closed. There is a way in and -out of a soap bubble without breaking the skin." - -"You tell me no new thing," the doctor interposed gently. - -"Hence, if Higher Space exists and our world borders upon it and lies -partially in it, it follows necessarily that we see only portions of all -objects. We never see their true and complete shape. We see their three -measurements, but not their fourth. The new direction is concealed from -us, and when I hold this book and move my hand all round it I have not -really made a complete circuit. We only perceive those portions of any -object which exist in our three dimensions; the rest escapes us. But, -once we learn to see in Higher Space, objects will appear as they -actually are. Only they will thus be hardly recognisable! - -"Now, you may begin to grasp something of what I am coming to." - -"I am beginning to understand something of what you must have suffered," -observed the doctor soothingly, "for I have made similar experiments -myself, and only stopped just in time--" - -"You are the one man in all the world who can hear and understand, _and_ -sympathise," exclaimed Mr. Mudge, grasping his hand and holding it -tightly while he spoke. The nailed chair prevented further excitability. - -"Well," he resumed, after a moment's pause, "I procured the implements -and the coloured blocks for practical experiment, and I followed the -instructions carefully till I had arrived at a working conception of -four-dimensional space. The tessaract, the figure whose boundaries are -cubes, I knew by heart. That is to say, I knew it and saw it mentally, -for my eye, of course, could never take in a new measurement, or my -hands and feet handle it. - -"So, at least, I thought," he added, making a wry face. "I had reached -the stage, you see, when I could imagine in a new dimension. I was able -to conceive the shape of that new figure which is intrinsically -different to all we know--the shape of the tessaract. I could perceive -in four dimensions. When, therefore, I looked at a cube I could see all -its sides at once. Its top was not foreshortened, nor its farther side -and base invisible. I saw the whole thing out flat, so to speak. And -this tessaract was bounded by cubes! Moreover, I also saw its -content--its insides." - -"You were not yourself able to enter this new world," interrupted Dr. -Silence. - -"Not then. I was only able to conceive intuitively what it was like and -how exactly it must look. Later, when I slipped in there and saw objects -in their entirety, unlimited by the paucity of our poor three -measurements, I very nearly lost my life. For, you see, space does not -stop at a single new dimension, a fourth. It extends in all possible new -ones, and we must conceive it as containing any number of new -dimensions. In other words, there is no space at all, but only a -spiritual condition. But, meanwhile, I had come to grasp the strange -fact that the objects in our normal world appear to us only partially." - -Mr. Mudge moved farther forward till he was balanced dangerously on the -very edge of the chair. "From this starting point," he resumed, "I began -my studies and experiments, and continued them for years. I had money, -and I was without friends. I lived in solitude and experimented. My -intellect, of course, had little part in the work, for intellectually it -was all unthinkable. Never was the limitation of mere reason more -plainly demonstrated. It was mystically, intuitively, spiritually that I -began to advance. And what I learnt, and knew, and did is all impossible -to put into language, since it all describes experiences transcending -the experiences of men. It is only some of the results--what you would -call the symptoms of my disease--that I can give you, and even these -must often appear absurd contradictions and impossible paradoxes. - -"I can only tell you, Dr. Silence"--his manner became exceedingly -impressive--"that I reached sometimes a point of view whence all the -great puzzle of the world became plain to me, and I understood what they -call in the Yoga books 'The Great Heresy of Separateness'; why all great -teachers have urged the necessity of man loving his neighbour as -himself; how men are all really one; and why the utter loss of self is -necessary to salvation and the discovery of the true life of the soul." - -He paused a moment and drew breath. - -"Your speculations have been my own long ago," the doctor said quietly. -"I fully realise the force of your words. Men are doubtless not separate -at all--in the sense they imagine--" - -"All this about the very much Higher Space I only dimly, very dimly, -conceived, of course," the other went on, raising his voice again by -jerks; "but what did happen to me was the humbler accident of--the -simpler disaster--oh, dear, how shall I put it--?" - -He stammered and showed visible signs of distress. - -"It was simply this," he resumed with a sudden rush of words, "that, -accidentally, as the result of my years of experiment, I one day slipped -bodily into the next world, the world of four dimensions, yet without -knowing precisely how I got there, or how I could get back again. I -discovered, that is, that my ordinary three-dimensional body was but an -expression--a projection--of my higher four-dimensional body! - -"Now you understand what I meant much earlier in our talk when I spoke -of chance. I cannot control my entrance or exit. Certain people, certain -human atmospheres, certain wandering forces, thoughts, desires even--the -radiations of certain combinations of colour, and above all, the -vibrations of certain kinds of music, will suddenly throw me into a -state of what I can only describe as an intense and terrific inner -vibration--and behold I am off! Off in the direction at right angles to -all our known directions! Off in the direction the cube takes when it -begins to trace the outlines of the new figure! Off into my breathless -and semi-divine Higher Space! Off, _inside myself_, into the world of -four dimensions!" - -He gasped and dropped back into the depths of the immovable chair. - -"And there," he whispered, his voice issuing from among the cushions, -"there I have to stay until these vibrations subside, or until they do -something which I cannot find words to describe properly or intelligibly -to you--and then, behold, I am back again. First, that is, I disappear. -Then I reappear." - -"Just so," exclaimed Dr. Silence, "and that is why a few--" - -"Why a few moments ago," interrupted Mr. Mudge, taking the words out of -his mouth, "you found me gone, and then saw me return. The music of that -wretched German band sent me off. Your intense thinking about me brought -me back--when the band had stopped its Wagner. I saw you approach the -peep-hole and I saw Barker's intention of doing so later. For me no -interiors are hidden. I see inside. When in that state the content of -your mind, as of your body, is open to me as the day. Oh, dear, oh, -dear, oh, dear!" - -Mr. Mudge stopped and again mopped his brow. A light trembling ran over -the surface of his small body like wind over grass. He still held -tightly to the arms of the chair. - -"At first," he presently resumed, "my new experiences were so vividly -interesting that I felt no alarm. There was no room for it. The alarm -came a little later." - -"Then you actually penetrated far enough into that state to experience -yourself as a normal portion of it?" asked the doctor, leaning forward, -deeply interested. - -Mr. Mudge nodded a perspiring face in reply. - -"I did," he whispered, "undoubtedly I did. I am coming to all that. It -began first at night, when I realised that sleep brought no loss of -consciousness--" - -"The spirit, of course, can never sleep. Only the body becomes -unconscious," interposed John Silence. - -"Yes, we know that--theoretically. At night, of course, the spirit is -active elsewhere, and we have no memory of where and how, simply -because the brain stays behind and receives no record. But I found -that, while remaining conscious, I also retained memory. I had attained -to the state of continuous consciousness, for at night I regularly, with -the first approaches of drowsiness, entered _nolens volens_ the -four-dimensional world. - -"For a time this happened regularly, and I could not control it; though -later I found a way to regulate it better. Apparently sleep is -unnecessary in the higher--the four-dimensional--body. Yes, perhaps. But -I should infinitely have preferred dull sleep to the knowledge. For, -unable to control my movements, I wandered to and fro, attracted, owing -to my partial development and premature arrival, to parts of this new -world that alarmed me more and more. It was the awful waste and drift of -a monstrous world, so utterly different to all we know and see that I -cannot even hint at the nature of the sights and objects and beings in -it. More than that, I cannot even remember them. I cannot now picture -them to myself even, but can recall only the _memory of the impression_ -they made upon me, the horror and devastating terror of it all. To be in -several places at once, for instance--" - -"Perfectly," interrupted John Silence, noticing the increase of the -other's excitement, "I understand exactly. But now, please, tell me a -little more of this alarm you experienced, and how it affected you." - -"It's not the disappearing and reappearing _per se_ that I mind," -continued Mr. Mudge, "so much as certain other things. It's seeing -people and objects in their weird entirety, in their true and complete -shapes, that is so distressing. It introduces me to a world of monsters. -Horses, dogs, cats, all of which I loved; people, trees, children; all -that I have considered beautiful in life--everything, from a human face -to a cathedral--appear to me in a different shape and aspect to all I -have known before. I cannot perhaps convince you why this should be -terrible, but I assure you that it is so. To hear the human voice -proceeding from this novel appearance which I scarcely recognise as a -human body is ghastly, simply ghastly. To see inside everything and -everybody is a form of insight peculiarly distressing. To be so confused -in geography as to find myself one moment at the North Pole, and the -next at Clapham Junction--or possibly at both places simultaneously--is -absurdly terrifying. Your imagination will readily furnish other details -without my multiplying my experiences now. But you have no idea what it -all means, and how I suffer." - -Mr. Mudge paused in his panting account and lay back in his chair. He -still held tightly to the arms as though they could keep him in the -world of sanity and three measurements, and only now and again released -his left hand in order to mop his face. He looked very thin and white -and oddly unsubstantial, and he stared about him as though he saw into -this other space he had been talking about. - -John Silence, too, felt warm. He had listened to every word and had made -many notes. The presence of this man had an exhilarating effect upon -him. It seemed as if Mr. Racine Mudge still carried about with him -something of that breathless Higher-Space condition he had been -describing. At any rate, Dr. Silence had himself advanced sufficiently -far along the legitimate paths of spiritual and psychic transformations -to realise that the visions of this extraordinary little person had a -basis of truth for their origin. - -After a pause that prolonged itself into minutes, he crossed the room -and unlocked a drawer in a bookcase, taking out a small book with a red -cover. It had a lock to it, and he produced a key out of his pocket and -proceeded to open the covers. The bright eyes of Mr. Mudge never left -him for a single second. - -"It almost seems a pity," he said at length, "to cure you, Mr. Mudge. -You are on the way to discovery of great things. Though you may lose -your life in the process--that is, your life here in the world of three -dimensions--you would lose thereby nothing of great value--you will -pardon my apparent rudeness, I know--and you might gain what is -infinitely greater. Your suffering, of course, lies in the fact that you -alternate between the two worlds and are never wholly in one or the -other. Also, I rather imagine, though I cannot be certain of this from -any personal experiments, that you have here and there penetrated even -into space of more than four dimensions, and have hence experienced the -terror you speak of." - -The perspiring son of the Essex bargeman and the woman of Normandy bent -his head several times in assent, but uttered no word in reply. - -"Some strange psychic predisposition, dating no doubt from one of your -former lives, has favoured the development of your 'disease'; and the -fact that you had no normal training at school or college, no leading by -the poor intellect into the culs-de-sac falsely called knowledge, has -further caused your exceedingly rapid movement along the lines of direct -inner experience. None of the knowledge you have foreshadowed has come -to you through the senses, of course." - -Mr. Mudge, sitting in his immovable chair, began to tremble slightly. A -wind again seemed to pass over his surface and again to set it curiously -in motion like a field of grass. - -"You are merely talking to gain time," he said hurriedly, in a shaking -voice. "This thinking aloud delays us. I see ahead what you are coming -to, only please be quick, for something is going to happen. A band is -again coming down the street, and if it plays--if it plays Wagner--I -shall be off in a twinkling." - -"Precisely. I will be quick. I was leading up to the point of how to -effect your cure. The way is this: You must simply learn to _block the -entrances_." - -"True, true, utterly true!" exclaimed the little man, dodging about -nervously in the depths of the chair. "But how, in the name of space, is -that to be done?" - -"By concentration. They are all within you, these entrances, although -outer cases such as colour, music and other things lead you towards -them. These external things you cannot hope to destroy, but once the -entrances are blocked, they will lead you only to bricked walls and -closed channels. You will no longer be able to find the way." - -"Quick, quick!" cried the bobbing figure in the chair. "How is this -concentration to be effected?" - -"This little book," continued Dr. Silence calmly, "will explain to you -the way." He tapped the cover. "Let me now read out to you certain -simple instructions, composed, as I see you divine, entirely from my own -personal experiences in the same direction. Follow these instructions -and you will no longer enter the state of Higher Space. The entrances -will be blocked effectively." - -Mr. Mudge sat bolt upright in his chair to listen, and John Silence -cleared his throat and began to read slowly in a very distinct voice. - -But before he had uttered a dozen words, something happened. A sound of -street music entered the room through the open ventilators, for a band -had begun to play in the stable mews at the back of the house--the March -from _Tannhäuser_. Odd as it may seem that a German band should twice -within the space of an hour enter the same mews and play Wagner, it was -nevertheless the fact. - -Mr. Racine Mudge heard it. He uttered a sharp, squeaking cry and twisted -his arms with nervous energy round the chair. A piteous look that was -not far from tears spread over his white face. Grey shadows followed -it--the grey of fear. He began to struggle convulsively. - -"Hold me fast! Catch me! For God's sake, keep me here! I'm on the rush -already. Oh, it's frightful!" he cried in tones of anguish, his voice as -thin as a reed. - -Dr. Silence made a plunge forward to seize him, but in a flash, before -he could cover the space between them, Mr. Racine Mudge, screaming and -struggling, seemed to shoot past him into invisibility. He disappeared -like an arrow from a bow propelled at infinite speed, and his voice no -longer sounded in the external air, but seemed in some curious way to -make itself heard somewhere within the depths of the doctor's own being. -It was almost like a faint singing cry in his head, like a voice of -dream, a voice of vision and unreality. - -"Alcohol, alcohol!" it cried, "give me alcohol! It's the quickest way. -Alcohol, before I'm out of reach!" - -The doctor, accustomed to rapid decisions and even more rapid action, -remembered that a brandy flask stood upon the mantelpiece, and in less -than a second he had seized it and was holding it out towards the space -above the chair recently occupied by the visible Mudge. Then, before his -very eyes, and long ere he could unscrew the metal stopper, he saw the -contents of the closed glass phial sink and lessen as though some one -were drinking violently and greedily of the liquor within. - -"Thanks! Enough! It deadens the vibrations!" cried the faint voice in -his interior, as he withdrew the flask and set it back upon the -mantelpiece. He understood that in Mudge's present condition one side of -the flask was open to space and he could drink without removing the -stopper. He could hardly have had a more interesting proof of what he -had been hearing described at such length. - -But the next moment--the very same moment it almost seemed--the German -band stopped midway in its tune--and there was Mr. Mudge back in his -chair again, gasping and panting! - -"Quick!" he shrieked, "stop that band! Send it away! Catch hold of me! -Block the entrances! Block the entrances! Give me the red book! Oh, oh, -oh-h-h-h!!!" - -The music had begun again. It was merely a temporary interruption. The -_Tannhäuser_ March started again, this time at a tremendous pace that -made it sound like a rapid two-step as though the instruments played -against time. - -But the brief interruption gave Dr. Silence a moment in which to collect -his scattering thoughts, and before the band had got through half a bar, -he had flung forward upon the chair and held Mr. Racine Mudge, the -struggling little victim of Higher Space, in a grip of iron. His arms -went all round his diminutive person, taking in a good part of the chair -at the same time. He was not a big man, yet he seemed to smother Mudge -completely. - -Yet, even as he did so, and felt the wriggling form underneath him, it -began to melt and slip away like air or water. The wood of the arm-chair -somehow disentangled itself from between his own arms and those of -Mudge. The phenomenon known as the passage of matter through matter took -place. The little man seemed actually to get mixed up in his own being. -Dr. Silence could just see his face beneath him. It puckered and grew -dark as though from some great internal effort. He heard the thin, reedy -voice cry in his ear to "Block the entrances, block the entrances!" and -then--but how in the world describe what is indescribable? - -John Silence half rose up to watch. Racine Mudge, his face distorted -beyond all recognition, was making a marvellous inward movement, as -though doubling back upon himself. He turned funnel-wise like water in a -whirling vortex, and then appeared to break up somewhat as a reflection -breaks up and divides in a distorting convex mirror. He went neither -forward nor backwards, neither to the right nor the left, neither up nor -down. But he went. He went utterly. He simply flashed away out of sight -like a vanishing projectile. - -All but one leg! Dr. Silence just had the time and the presence of mind -to seize upon the left ankle and boot as it disappeared, and to this he -held on for several seconds like grim death. Yet all the time he knew it -was a foolish and useless thing to do. - -The foot was in his grasp one moment, and the next it seemed--this was -the only way he could describe it--inside his own skin and bones, and at -the same time outside his hand and all round it. It seemed mixed up in -some amazing way with his own flesh and blood. Then it was gone, and he -was tightly grasping a draught of heated air. - -"Gone! gone! gone!" cried a thick, whispering voice, somewhere deep -within his own consciousness. "Lost! lost! lost!" it repeated, growing -fainter and fainter till at length it vanished into nothing and the last -signs of Mr. Racine Mudge vanished with it. - -John Silence locked his red book and replaced it in the cabinet, which -he fastened with a click, and when Barker answered the bell he inquired -if Mr. Mudge had left a card upon the table. It appeared that he had, -and when the servant returned with it, Dr. Silence read the address and -made a note of it. It was in North London. - -"Mr. Mudge has gone," he said quietly to Barker, noticing his expression -of alarm. - -"He's not taken his 'at with him, sir." - -"Mr. Mudge requires no hat where he is now," continued the doctor, -stooping to poke the fire. "But he may return for it--" - -"And the humbrella, sir." - -"And the umbrella." - -"He didn't go out _my_ way, sir, if you please," stuttered the amazed -servant, his curiosity overcoming his nervousness. - -"Mr. Mudge has his own way of coming and going, and prefers it. If he -returns by the door at any time remember to bring him instantly to me, -and be kind and gentle with him and ask no questions. Also, remember, -Barker, to think pleasantly, sympathetically, affectionately of him -while he is away. Mr. Mudge is a very suffering gentleman." - -Barker bowed and went out of the room backwards, gasping and feeling -round the inside of his collar with three very hot fingers of one hand. - -It was two days later when he brought in a telegram to the study. Dr. -Silence opened it, and read as follows: - - "Bombay. Just slipped out again. All safe. Have blocked - entrances. Thousand thanks. Address Cooks, London.--MUDGE." - -Dr. Silence looked up and saw Barker staring at him bewilderingly. It -occurred to him that somehow he knew the contents of the telegram. - -"Make a parcel of Mr. Mudge's things," he said briefly, "and address -them Thomas Cook & Sons, Ludgate Circus. And send them there exactly a -month from to-day and marked 'To be called for.'" - -"Yes, sir," said Barker, leaving the room with a deep sigh and a hurried -glance at the waste-paper basket where his master had dropped the pink -paper. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Three More John Silence Stories -by Algernon Blackwood - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE MORE JOHN SILENCE STORIES *** - -***** This file should be named 10659-8.txt or 10659-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/5/10659/ - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders - -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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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: Three More John Silence Stories - -Author: Algernon Blackwood - -Release Date: January 9, 2004 [EBook #10659] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE MORE JOHN SILENCE STORIES *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders - - - - - -</pre> - -<br> -<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<h1>Three More John Silence Stories</h1> - -<h2>BY ALGERNON BLACKWOOD</h2> - - - -<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<h4>To M.L.W. The Original of John Silence</h4> - -<h6>and</h6> - -<h4>My Companion in Many Adventures</h4> - - - -<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="Contents"></a><h2>Contents</h2> - -<h3><a href="#CASE_IV:_SECRET_WORSHIP">Case I</a>: Secret Worship</h3> - -<h3><a href="#CASE_V:_THE_CAMP_OF_THE_DOG">Case II</a>: The Camp of the Dog</h3> - -<h3><a href="#CASE_VI:_A_VICTIM_OF_HIGHER_SPACE">Case III</a>: A Victim of Higher Space</h3> - - - -<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="CASE_IV:_SECRET_WORSHIP"></a><h2>CASE I: SECRET WORSHIP</h2> -<br> - -<p>Harris, the silk merchant, was in South Germany on his way home from a -business trip when the idea came to him suddenly that he would take the -mountain railway from Strassbourg and run down to revisit his old school -after an interval of something more than thirty years. And it was to -this chance impulse of the junior partner in Harris Brothers of St. -Paul's Churchyard that John Silence owed one of the most curious cases -of his whole experience, for at that very moment he happened to be -tramping these same mountains with a holiday knapsack, and from -different points of the compass the two men were actually converging -towards the same inn.</p> - -<p>Now, deep down in the heart that for thirty years had been concerned -chiefly with the profitable buying and selling of silk, this school had -left the imprint of its peculiar influence, and, though perhaps unknown -to Harris, had strongly coloured the whole of his subsequent existence. -It belonged to the deeply religious life of a small Protestant community -(which it is unnecessary to specify), and his father had sent him there -at the age of fifteen, partly because he would learn the German -requisite for the conduct of the silk business, and partly because the -discipline was strict, and discipline was what his soul and body needed -just then more than anything else.</p> - -<p>The life, indeed, had proved exceedingly severe, and young Harris -benefited accordingly; for though corporal punishment was unknown, there -was a system of mental and spiritual correction which somehow made the -soul stand proudly erect to receive it, while it struck at the very root -of the fault and taught the boy that his character was being cleaned and -strengthened, and that he was not merely being tortured in a kind of -personal revenge.</p> - -<p>That was over thirty years ago, when he was a dreamy and impressionable -youth of fifteen; and now, as the train climbed slowly up the winding -mountain gorges, his mind travelled back somewhat lovingly over the -intervening period, and forgotten details rose vividly again before him -out of the shadows. The life there had been very wonderful, it seemed to -him, in that remote mountain village, protected from the tumults of the -world by the love and worship of the devout Brotherhood that ministered -to the needs of some hundred boys from every country in Europe. Sharply -the scenes came back to him. He smelt again the long stone corridors, -the hot pinewood rooms, where the sultry hours of summer study were -passed with bees droning through open windows in the sunshine, and -German characters struggling in the mind with dreams of English -lawns—and then the sudden awful cry of the master in German—</p> - -<p>"Harris, stand up! You sleep!"</p> - -<p>And he recalled the dreadful standing motionless for an hour, book in -hand, while the knees felt like wax and the head grew heavier than a -cannon-ball.</p> - -<p>The very smell of the cooking came back to him—the daily <i>Sauerkraut</i>, -the watery chocolate on Sundays, the flavour of the stringy meat served -twice a week at <i>Mittagessen</i>; and he smiled to think again of the -half-rations that was the punishment for speaking English. The very -odour of the milk-bowls,—the hot sweet aroma that rose from the soaking -peasant-bread at the six-o'clock breakfast,—came back to him pungently, -and he saw the huge <i>Speisesaal</i> with the hundred boys in their school -uniform, all eating sleepily in silence, gulping down the coarse bread -and scalding milk in terror of the bell that would presently cut them -short—and, at the far end where the masters sat, he saw the narrow slit -windows with the vistas of enticing field and forest beyond.</p> - -<p>And this, in turn, made him think of the great barnlike room on the top -floor where all slept together in wooden cots, and he heard in memory -the clamour of the cruel bell that woke them on winter mornings at five -o'clock and summoned them to the stone-flagged <i>Waschkammer</i>, where boys -and masters alike, after scanty and icy washing, dressed in complete -silence.</p> - -<p>From this his mind passed swiftly, with vivid picture-thoughts, to other -things, and with a passing shiver he remembered how the loneliness of -never being alone had eaten into him, and how everything—work, meals, -sleep, walks, leisure—was done with his "division" of twenty other boys -and under the eyes of at least two masters. The only solitude possible -was by asking for half an hour's practice in the cell-like music rooms, -and Harris smiled to himself as he recalled the zeal of his violin -studies.</p> - -<p>Then, as the train puffed laboriously through the great pine forests -that cover these mountains with a giant carpet of velvet, he found the -pleasanter layers of memory giving up their dead, and he recalled with -admiration the kindness of the masters, whom all addressed as Brother, -and marvelled afresh at their devotion in burying themselves for years -in such a place, only to leave it, in most cases, for the still rougher -life of missionaries in the wild places of the world.</p> - -<p>He thought once more of the still, religious atmosphere that hung over -the little forest community like a veil, barring the distressful world; -of the picturesque ceremonies at Easter, Christmas, and New Year; of the -numerous feast-days and charming little festivals. The <i>Beschehr-Fest</i>, -in particular, came back to him,—the feast of gifts at Christmas,—when -the entire community paired off and gave presents, many of which had -taken weeks to make or the savings of many days to purchase. And then he -saw the midnight ceremony in the church at New Year, with the shining -face of the <i>Prediger</i> in the pulpit,—the village preacher who, on the -last night of the old year, saw in the empty gallery beyond the organ -loft the faces of all who were to die in the ensuing twelve months, and -who at last recognised himself among them, and, in the very middle of -his sermon, passed into a state of rapt ecstasy and burst into a torrent -of praise.</p> - -<p>Thickly the memories crowded upon him. The picture of the small village -dreaming its unselfish life on the mountain-tops, clean, wholesome, -simple, searching vigorously for its God, and training hundreds of boys -in the grand way, rose up in his mind with all the power of an -obsession. He felt once more the old mystical enthusiasm, deeper than -the sea and more wonderful than the stars; he heard again the winds -sighing from leagues of forest over the red roofs in the moonlight; he -heard the Brothers' voices talking of the things beyond this life as -though they had actually experienced them in the body; and, as he sat in -the jolting train, a spirit of unutterable longing passed over his -seared and tired soul, stirring in the depths of him a sea of emotions -that he thought had long since frozen into immobility.</p> - -<p>And the contrast pained him,—the idealistic dreamer then, the man of -business now,—so that a spirit of unworldly peace and beauty known only -to the soul in meditation laid its feathered finger upon his heart, -moving strangely the surface of the waters.</p> - -<p>Harris shivered a little and looked out of the window of his empty -carriage. The train had long passed Hornberg, and far below the streams -tumbled in white foam down the limestone rocks. In front of him, dome -upon dome of wooded mountain stood against the sky. It was October, and -the air was cool and sharp, woodsmoke and damp moss exquisitely mingled -in it with the subtle odours of the pines. Overhead, between the tips of -the highest firs, he saw the first stars peeping, and the sky was a -clean, pale amethyst that seemed exactly the colour all these memories -clothed themselves with in his mind.</p> - -<p>He leaned back in his corner and sighed. He was a heavy man, and he had -not known sentiment for years; he was a big man, and it took much to -move him, literally and figuratively; he was a man in whom the dreams of -God that haunt the soul in youth, though overlaid by the scum that -gathers in the fight for money, had not, as with the majority, utterly -died the death.</p> - -<p>He came back into this little neglected pocket of the years, where so -much fine gold had collected and lain undisturbed, with all his -semispiritual emotions aquiver; and, as he watched the mountain-tops -come nearer, and smelt the forgotten odours of his boyhood, something -melted on the surface of his soul and left him sensitive to a degree he -had not known since, thirty years before, he had lived here with his -dreams, his conflicts, and his youthful suffering.</p> - -<p>A thrill ran through him as the train stopped with a jolt at a tiny -station and he saw the name in large black lettering on the grey stone -building, and below it, the number of metres it stood above the level of -the sea.</p> - -<p>"The highest point on the line!" he exclaimed. "How well I remember -it—Sommerau—Summer Meadow. The very next station is mine!"</p> - -<p>And, as the train ran downhill with brakes on and steam shut off, he put -his head out of the window and one by one saw the old familiar landmarks -in the dusk. They stared at him like dead faces in a dream. Queer, sharp -feelings, half poignant, half sweet, stirred in his heart.</p> - -<p>"There's the hot, white road we walked along so often with the two -Brüder always at our heels," he thought; "and there, by Jove, is the -turn through the forest to '<i>Die Galgen</i>,' the stone gallows where they -hanged the witches in olden days!"</p> - -<p>He smiled a little as the train slid past.</p> - -<p>"And there's the copse where the Lilies of the Valley powdered the -ground in spring; and, I swear,"—he put his head out with a sudden -impulse—"if that's not the very clearing where Calame, the French boy, -chased the swallow-tail with me, and Bruder Pagel gave us half-rations -for leaving the road without permission, and for shouting in our mother -tongues!" And he laughed again as the memories came back with a rush, -flooding his mind with vivid detail.</p> - -<p>The train stopped, and he stood on the grey gravel platform like a man -in a dream. It seemed half a century since he last waited there with -corded wooden boxes, and got into the train for Strassbourg and home -after the two years' exile. Time dropped from him like an old garment -and he felt a boy again. Only, things looked so much smaller than his -memory of them; shrunk and dwindled they looked, and the distances -seemed on a curiously smaller scale.</p> - -<p>He made his way across the road to the little Gasthaus, and, as he went, -faces and figures of former schoolfellows,—German, Swiss, Italian, -French, Russian,—slipped out of the shadowy woods and silently -accompanied him. They flitted by his side, raising their eyes -questioningly, sadly, to his. But their names he had forgotten. Some of -the Brothers, too, came with them, and most of these he remembered by -name—Bruder Röst, Bruder Pagel, Bruder Schliemann, and the bearded face -of the old preacher who had seen himself in the haunted gallery of those -about to die—Bruder Gysin. The dark forest lay all about him like a sea -that any moment might rush with velvet waves upon the scene and sweep -all the faces away. The air was cool and wonderfully fragrant, but with -every perfumed breath came also a pallid memory....</p> - -<p>Yet, in spite of the underlying sadness inseparable from such an -experience, it was all very interesting, and held a pleasure peculiarly -its own, so that Harris engaged his room and ordered supper feeling well -pleased with himself, and intending to walk up to the old school that -very evening. It stood in the centre of the community's village, some -four miles distant through the forest, and he now recollected for the -first time that this little Protestant settlement dwelt isolated in a -section of the country that was otherwise Catholic. Crucifixes and -shrines surrounded the clearing like the sentries of a beleaguering -army. Once beyond the square of the village, with its few acres of field -and orchard, the forest crowded up in solid phalanxes, and beyond the -rim of trees began the country that was ruled by the priests of another -faith. He vaguely remembered, too, that the Catholics had showed -sometimes a certain hostility towards the little Protestant oasis that -flourished so quietly and benignly in their midst. He had quite -forgotten this. How trumpery it all seemed now with his wide experience -of life and his knowledge of other countries and the great outside -world. It was like stepping back, not thirty years, but three hundred.</p> - -<p>There were only two others besides himself at supper. One of them, a -bearded, middle-aged man in tweeds, sat by himself at the far end, and -Harris kept out of his way because he was English. He feared he might be -in business, possibly even in the silk business, and that he would -perhaps talk on the subject. The other traveller, however, was a -Catholic priest. He was a little man who ate his salad with a knife, yet -so gently that it was almost inoffensive, and it was the sight of "the -cloth" that recalled his memory of the old antagonism. Harris mentioned -by way of conversation the object of his sentimental journey, and the -priest looked up sharply at him with raised eyebrows and an expression -of surprise and suspicion that somehow piqued him. He ascribed it to his -difference of belief.</p> - -<p>"Yes," went on the silk merchant, pleased to talk of what his mind was -so full, "and it was a curious experience for an English boy to be -dropped down into a school of a hundred foreigners. I well remember the -loneliness and intolerable Heimweh of it at first." His German was very -fluent.</p> - -<p>The priest opposite looked up from his cold veal and potato salad and -smiled. It was a nice face. He explained quietly that he did not belong -here, but was making a tour of the parishes of Wurttemberg and Baden.</p> - -<p>"It was a strict life," added Harris. "We English, I remember, used to -call it <i>Gefängnisleben</i>—prison life!"</p> - -<p>The face of the other, for some unaccountable reason, darkened. After a -slight pause, and more by way of politeness than because he wished to -continue the subject, he said quietly—</p> - -<p>"It was a flourishing school in those days, of course. Afterwards, I -have heard—" He shrugged his shoulders slightly, and the odd look—it -almost seemed a look of alarm—came back into his eyes. The sentence -remained unfinished.</p> - -<p>Something in the tone of the man seemed to his listener uncalled for—in -a sense reproachful, singular. Harris bridled in spite of himself.</p> - -<p>"It has changed?" he asked. "I can hardly believe—"</p> - -<p>"You have not heard, then?" observed the priest gently, making a gesture -as though to cross himself, yet not actually completing it. "You have -not heard what happened there before it was abandoned—?"</p> - -<p>It was very childish, of course, and perhaps he was overtired and -overwrought in some way, but the words and manner of the little priest -seemed to him so offensive—so disproportionately offensive—that he -hardly noticed the concluding sentence. He recalled the old bitterness -and the old antagonism, and for a moment he almost lost his temper.</p> - -<p>"Nonsense," he interrupted with a forced laugh, "<i>Unsinn</i>! You must -forgive me, sir, for contradicting you. But I was a pupil there myself. -I was at school there. There was no place like it. I cannot believe that -anything serious could have happened to—to take away its character. The -devotion of the Brothers would be difficult to equal anywhere—"</p> - -<p>He broke off suddenly, realising that his voice had been raised unduly -and that the man at the far end of the table might understand German; -and at the same moment he looked up and saw that this individual's eyes -were fixed upon his face intently. They were peculiarly bright. Also -they were rather wonderful eyes, and the way they met his own served in -some way he could not understand to convey both a reproach and a -warning. The whole face of the stranger, indeed, made a vivid impression -upon him, for it was a face, he now noticed for the first time, in whose -presence one would not willingly have said or done anything unworthy. -Harris could not explain to himself how it was he had not become -conscious sooner of its presence.</p> - -<p>But he could have bitten off his tongue for having so far forgotten -himself. The little priest lapsed into silence. Only once he said, -looking up and speaking in a low voice that was not intended to be -overheard, but that evidently <i>was</i> overheard, "You will find it -different." Presently he rose and left the table with a polite bow that -included both the others.</p> - -<p>And, after him, from the far end rose also the figure in the tweed suit, -leaving Harris by himself.</p> - -<p>He sat on for a bit in the darkening room, sipping his coffee and -smoking his fifteen-pfennig cigar, till the girl came in to light the -oil lamps. He felt vexed with himself for his lapse from good manners, -yet hardly able to account for it. Most likely, he reflected, he had -been annoyed because the priest had unintentionally changed the pleasant -character of his dream by introducing a jarring note. Later he must seek -an opportunity to make amends. At present, however, he was too impatient -for his walk to the school, and he took his stick and hat and passed out -into the open air.</p> - -<p>And, as he crossed before the Gasthaus, he noticed that the priest and -the man in the tweed suit were engaged already in such deep conversation -that they hardly noticed him as he passed and raised his hat.</p> - -<p>He started off briskly, well remembering the way, and hoping to reach -the village in time to have a word with one of the Brüder. They might -even ask him in for a cup of coffee. He felt sure of his welcome, and -the old memories were in full possession once more. The hour of return -was a matter of no consequence whatever.</p> - -<p>It was then just after seven o'clock, and the October evening was -drawing in with chill airs from the recesses of the forest. The road -plunged straight from the railway clearing into its depths, and in a -very few minutes the trees engulfed him and the clack of his boots fell -dead and echoless against the serried stems of a million firs. It was -very black; one trunk was hardly distinguishable from another. He walked -smartly, swinging his holly stick. Once or twice he passed a peasant on -his way to bed, and the guttural "Gruss Got," unheard for so long, -emphasised the passage of time, while yet making it seem as nothing. A -fresh group of pictures crowded his mind. Again the figures of former -schoolfellows flitted out of the forest and kept pace by his side, -whispering of the doings of long ago. One reverie stepped hard upon the -heels of another. Every turn in the road, every clearing of the forest, -he knew, and each in turn brought forgotten associations to life. He -enjoyed himself thoroughly.</p> - -<p>He marched on and on. There was powdered gold in the sky till the moon -rose, and then a wind of faint silver spread silently between the earth -and stars. He saw the tips of the fir trees shimmer, and heard them -whisper as the breeze turned their needles towards the light. The -mountain air was indescribably sweet. The road shone like the foam of a -river through the gloom. White moths flitted here and there like silent -thoughts across his path, and a hundred smells greeted him from the -forest caverns across the years.</p> - -<p>Then, when he least expected it, the trees fell away abruptly on both -sides, and he stood on the edge of the village clearing.</p> - -<p>He walked faster. There lay the familiar outlines of the houses, sheeted -with silver; there stood the trees in the little central square with the -fountain and small green lawns; there loomed the shape of the church -next to the Gasthof der Brüdergemeinde; and just beyond, dimly rising -into the sky, he saw with a sudden thrill the mass of the huge school -building, blocked castlelike with deep shadows in the moonlight, -standing square and formidable to face him after the silences of more -than a quarter of a century.</p> - -<p>He passed quickly down the deserted village street and stopped close -beneath its shadow, staring up at the walls that had once held him -prisoner for two years—two unbroken years of discipline and -homesickness. Memories and emotions surged through his mind; for the -most vivid sensations of his youth had focused about this spot, and it -was here he had first begun to live and learn values. Not a single -footstep broke the silence, though lights glimmered here and there -through cottage windows; but when he looked up at the high walls of the -school, draped now in shadow, he easily imagined that well-known faces -crowded to the windows to greet him—closed windows that really -reflected only moonlight and the gleam of stars.</p> - -<p>This, then, was the old school building, standing foursquare to the -world, with its shuttered windows, its lofty, tiled roof, and the spiked -lightning-conductors pointing like black and taloned fingers from the -corners. For a long time he stood and stared. Then, presently, he came -to himself again, and realised to his joy that a light still shone in -the windows of the Bruderstube.</p> - -<p>He turned from the road and passed through the iron railings; then -climbed the twelve stone steps and stood facing the black wooden door -with the heavy bars of iron, a door he had once loathed and dreaded with -the hatred and passion of an imprisoned soul, but now looked upon -tenderly with a sort of boyish delight.</p> - -<p>Almost timorously he pulled the rope and listened with a tremor of -excitement to the clanging of the bell deep within the building. And the -long-forgotten sound brought the past before him with such a vivid sense -of reality that he positively shivered. It was like the magic bell in -the fairy-tale that rolls back the curtain of Time and summons the -figures from the shadows of the dead. He had never felt so sentimental -in his life. It was like being young again. And, at the same time, he -began to bulk rather large in his own eyes with a certain spurious -importance. He was a big man from the world of strife and action. In -this little place of peaceful dreams would he, perhaps, not cut -something of a figure?</p> - -<p>"I'll try once more," he thought after a long pause, seizing the iron -bell-rope, and was just about to pull it when a step sounded on the -stone passage within, and the huge door slowly swung open.</p> - -<p>A tall man with a rather severe cast of countenance stood facing him in -silence.</p> - -<p>"I must apologise—it is somewhat late," he began a trifle pompously, -"but the fact is I am an old pupil. I have only just arrived and really -could not restrain myself." His German seemed not quite so fluent as -usual. "My interest is so great. I was here in '70."</p> - -<p>The other opened the door wider and at once bowed him in with a smile of -genuine welcome.</p> - -<p>"I am Bruder Kalkmann," he said quietly in a deep voice. "I myself was a -master here about that time. It is a great pleasure always to welcome a -former pupil." He looked at him very keenly for a few seconds, and then -added, "I think, too, it is splendid of you to come—very splendid."</p> - -<p>"It is a very great pleasure," Harris replied, delighted with his -reception.</p> - -<p>The dimly lighted corridor with its flooring of grey stone, and the -familiar sound of a German voice echoing through it,—with the peculiar -intonation the Brothers always used in speaking,—all combined to lift -him bodily, as it were, into the dream-atmosphere of long-forgotten -days. He stepped gladly into the building and the door shut with the -familiar thunder that completed the reconstruction of the past. He -almost felt the old sense of imprisonment, of aching nostalgia, of -having lost his liberty.</p> - -<p>Harris sighed involuntarily and turned towards his host, who returned -his smile faintly and then led the way down the corridor.</p> - -<p>"The boys have retired," he explained, "and, as you remember, we keep -early hours here. But, at least, you will join us for a little while in -the <i>Bruderstube</i> and enjoy a cup of coffee." This was precisely what -the silk merchant had hoped, and he accepted with an alacrity that he -intended to be tempered by graciousness. "And to-morrow," continued the -Bruder, "you must come and spend a whole day with us. You may even find -acquaintances, for several pupils of your day have come back here as -masters."</p> - -<p>For one brief second there passed into the man's eyes a look that made -the visitor start. But it vanished as quickly as it came. It was -impossible to define. Harris convinced himself it was the effect of a -shadow cast by the lamp they had just passed on the wall. He dismissed -it from his mind.</p> - -<p>"You are very kind, I'm sure," he said politely. "It is perhaps a -greater pleasure to me than you can imagine to see the place again. -Ah,"—he stopped short opposite a door with the upper half of glass and -peered in—"surely there is one of the music rooms where I used to -practise the violin. How it comes back to me after all these years!"</p> - -<p>Bruder Kalkmann stopped indulgently, smiling, to allow his guest a -moment's inspection.</p> - -<p>"You still have the boys' orchestra? I remember I used to play 'zweite -Geige' in it. Bruder Schliemann conducted at the piano. Dear me, I can -see him now with his long black hair and—and—" He stopped abruptly. -Again the odd, dark look passed over the stern face of his companion. -For an instant it seemed curiously familiar.</p> - -<p>"We still keep up the pupils' orchestra," he said, "but Bruder -Schliemann, I am sorry to say—" he hesitated an instant, and then -added, "Bruder Schliemann is dead."</p> - -<p>"Indeed, indeed," said Harris quickly. "I am sorry to hear it." He was -conscious of a faint feeling of distress, but whether it arose from the -news of his old music teacher's death, or—from something else—he could -not quite determine. He gazed down the corridor that lost itself among -shadows. In the street and village everything had seemed so much smaller -than he remembered, but here, inside the school building, everything -seemed so much bigger. The corridor was loftier and longer, more -spacious and vast, than the mental picture he had preserved. His -thoughts wandered dreamily for an instant.</p> - -<p>He glanced up and saw the face of the Bruder watching him with a smile -of patient indulgence.</p> - -<p>"Your memories possess you," he observed gently, and the stern look -passed into something almost pitying.</p> - -<p>"You are right," returned the man of silk, "they do. This was the most -wonderful period of my whole life in a sense. At the time I hated -it—" He hesitated, not wishing to hurt the Brother's feelings.</p> - -<p>"According to English ideas it seemed strict, of course," the other said -persuasively, so that he went on.</p> - -<p>"—Yes, partly that; and partly the ceaseless nostalgia, and the -solitude which came from never being really alone. In English schools -the boys enjoy peculiar freedom, you know."</p> - -<p>Bruder Kalkmann, he saw, was listening intently.</p> - -<p>"But it produced one result that I have never wholly lost," he -continued self-consciously, "and am grateful for."</p> - -<p>"<i>Ach! Wie so, denn?</i>"</p> - -<p>"The constant inner pain threw me headlong into your religious life, so -that the whole force of my being seemed to project itself towards the -search for a deeper satisfaction—a real resting-place for the soul. -During my two years here I yearned for God in my boyish way as perhaps I -have never yearned for anything since. Moreover, I have never quite lost -that sense of peace and inward joy which accompanied the search. I can -never quite forget this school and the deep things it taught me."</p> - -<p>He paused at the end of his long speech, and a brief silence fell -between them. He feared he had said too much, or expressed himself -clumsily in the foreign language, and when Bruder Kalkmann laid a hand -upon his shoulder, he gave a little involuntary start.</p> - -<p>"So that my memories perhaps do possess me rather strongly," he added -apologetically; "and this long corridor, these rooms, that barred and -gloomy front door, all touch chords that—that—" His German failed -him and he glanced at his companion with an explanatory smile and -gesture. But the Brother had removed the hand from his shoulder and was -standing with his back to him, looking down the passage.</p> - -<p>"Naturally, naturally so," he said hastily without turning round. -"<i>Es ist doch selbstverständlich</i>. We shall all understand."</p> - -<p>Then he turned suddenly, and Harris saw that his face had turned most -oddly and disagreeably sinister. It may only have been the shadows again -playing their tricks with the wretched oil lamps on the wall, for the -dark expression passed instantly as they retraced their steps down the -corridor, but the Englishman somehow got the impression that he had said -something to give offence, something that was not quite to the other's -taste. Opposite the door of the <i>Bruderstube</i> they stopped. Harris -realised that it was late and he had possibly stayed talking too long. -He made a tentative effort to leave, but his companion would not hear of -it.</p> - -<p>"You must have a cup of coffee with us," he said firmly as though he -meant it, "and my colleagues will be delighted to see you. Some of them -will remember you, perhaps."</p> - -<p>The sound of voices came pleasantly through the door, men's voices -talking together. Bruder Kalkmann turned the handle and they entered a -room ablaze with light and full of people.</p> - -<p>"Ah,—but your name?" he whispered, bending down to catch the reply; -"you have not told me your name yet."</p> - -<p>"Harris," said the Englishman quickly as they went in. He felt nervous -as he crossed the threshold, but ascribed the momentary trepidation to -the fact that he was breaking the strictest rule of the whole -establishment, which forbade a boy under severest penalties to come near -this holy of holies where the masters took their brief leisure.</p> - -<p>"Ah, yes, of course—Harris," repeated the other as though he remembered -it. "Come in, Herr Harris, come in, please. Your visit will be immensely -appreciated. It is really very fine, very wonderful of you to have come -in this way."</p> - -<p>The door closed behind them and, in the sudden light which made his -sight swim for a moment, the exaggeration of the language escaped his -attention. He heard the voice of Bruder Kalkmann introducing him. He -spoke very loud, indeed, unnecessarily,—absurdly loud, Harris thought.</p> - -<p>"Brothers," he announced, "it is my pleasure and privilege to introduce -to you Herr Harris from England. He has just arrived to make us a little -visit, and I have already expressed to him on behalf of us all the -satisfaction we feel that he is here. He was, as you remember, a pupil -in the year '70."</p> - -<p>It was a very formal, a very German introduction, but Harris rather -liked it. It made him feel important and he appreciated the tact that -made it almost seem as though he had been expected.</p> - -<p>The black forms rose and bowed; Harris bowed; Kalkmann bowed. Every one -was very polite and very courtly. The room swam with moving figures; the -light dazzled him after the gloom of the corridor, there was thick cigar -smoke in the atmosphere. He took the chair that was offered to him -between two of the Brothers, and sat down, feeling vaguely that his -perceptions were not quite as keen and accurate as usual. He felt a -trifle dazed perhaps, and the spell of the past came strongly over him, -confusing the immediate present and making everything dwindle oddly to -the dimensions of long ago. He seemed to pass under the mastery of a -great mood that was a composite reproduction of all the moods of his -forgotten boyhood.</p> - -<p>Then he pulled himself together with a sharp effort and entered into the -conversation that had begun again to buzz round him. Moreover, he -entered into it with keen pleasure, for the Brothers—there were perhaps -a dozen of them in the little room—treated him with a charm of manner -that speedily made him feel one of themselves. This, again, was a very -subtle delight to him. He felt that he had stepped out of the greedy, -vulgar, self-seeking world, the world of silk and markets and -profit-making—stepped into the cleaner atmosphere where spiritual -ideals were paramount and life was simple and devoted. It all charmed -him inexpressibly, so that he realised—yes, in a sense—the degradation -of his twenty years' absorption in business. This keen atmosphere under -the stars where men thought only of their souls, and of the souls of -others, was too rarefied for the world he was now associated with. He -found himself making comparisons to his own disadvantage,—comparisons -with the mystical little dreamer that had stepped thirty years before -from the stern peace of this devout community, and the man of the world -that he had since become,—and the contrast made him shiver with a keen -regret and something like self-contempt.</p> - -<p>He glanced round at the other faces floating towards him through tobacco -smoke—this acrid cigar smoke he remembered so well: how keen they were, -how strong, placid, touched with the nobility of great aims and -unselfish purposes. At one or two he looked particularly. He hardly knew -why. They rather fascinated him. There was something so very stern and -uncompromising about them, and something, too, oddly, subtly, familiar, -that yet just eluded him. But whenever their eyes met his own they held -undeniable welcome in them; and some held more—a kind of perplexed -admiration, he thought, something that was between esteem and deference. -This note of respect in all the faces was very flattering to his vanity.</p> - -<p>Coffee was served presently, made by a black-haired Brother who sat in -the corner by the piano and bore a marked resemblance to Bruder -Schliemann, the musical director of thirty years ago. Harris exchanged -bows with him when he took the cup from his white hands, which he -noticed were like the hands of a woman. He lit a cigar, offered to him -by his neighbour, with whom he was chatting delightfully, and who, in -the glare of the lighted match, reminded him sharply for a moment of -Bruder Pagel, his former room-master.</p> - -<p>"<i>Es ist wirklich merkwürdig</i>," he said, "how many resemblances I see, -or imagine. It is really <i>very</i> curious!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied the other, peering at him over his coffee cup, "the spell -of the place is wonderfully strong. I can well understand that the old -faces rise before your mind's eye—almost to the exclusion of ourselves -perhaps."</p> - -<p>They both laughed presently. It was soothing to find his mood understood -and appreciated. And they passed on to talk of the mountain village, its -isolation, its remoteness from worldly life, its peculiar fitness for -meditation and worship, and for spiritual development—of a certain -kind.</p> - -<p>"And your coming back in this way, Herr Harris, has pleased us all so -much," joined in the Bruder on his left. "We esteem you for it most -highly. We honour you for it."</p> - -<p>Harris made a deprecating gesture. "I fear, for my part, it is only a -very selfish pleasure," he said a trifle unctuously.</p> - -<p>"Not all would have had the courage," added the one who resembled -Bruder Pagel.</p> - -<p>"You mean," said Harris, a little puzzled, "the disturbing memories—?"</p> - -<p>Bruder Pagel looked at him steadily, with unmistakable admiration and -respect. "I mean that most men hold so strongly to life, and can give up -so little for their beliefs," he said gravely.</p> - -<p>The Englishman felt slightly uncomfortable. These worthy men really made -too much of his sentimental journey. Besides, the talk was getting a -little out of his depth. He hardly followed it.</p> - -<p>"The worldly life still has <i>some</i> charms for me," he replied smilingly, -as though to indicate that sainthood was not yet quite within his grasp.</p> - -<p>"All the more, then, must we honour you for so freely coming," said the -Brother on his left; "so unconditionally!"</p> - -<p>A pause followed, and the silk merchant felt relieved when the -conversation took a more general turn, although he noted that it never -travelled very far from the subject of his visit and the wonderful -situation of the lonely village for men who wished to develop their -spiritual powers and practise the rites of a high worship. Others joined -in, complimenting him on his knowledge of the language, making him feel -utterly at his ease, yet at the same time a little uncomfortable by the -excess of their admiration. After all, it was such a very small thing to -do, this sentimental journey.</p> - -<p>The time passed along quickly; the coffee was excellent, the cigars soft -and of the nutty flavour he loved. At length, fearing to outstay his -welcome, he rose reluctantly to take his leave. But the others would not -hear of it. It was not often a former pupil returned to visit them in -this simple, unaffected way. The night was young. If necessary they -could even find him a corner in the great <i>Schlafzimmer</i> upstairs. He -was easily persuaded to stay a little longer. Somehow he had become the -centre of the little party. He felt pleased, flattered, honoured.</p> - -<p>"And perhaps Bruder Schliemann will play something for us—now."</p> - -<p>It was Kalkmann speaking, and Harris started visibly as he heard the -name, and saw the black-haired man by the piano turn with a smile. For -Schliemann was the name of his old music director, who was dead. Could -this be his son? They were so exactly alike.</p> - -<p>"If Bruder Meyer has not put his Amati to bed, I will accompany him," -said the musician suggestively, looking across at a man whom Harris had -not yet noticed, and who, he now saw, was the very image of a former -master of that name.</p> - -<p>Meyer rose and excused himself with a little bow, and the Englishman -quickly observed that he had a peculiar gesture as though his neck had a -false join on to the body just below the collar and feared it might -break. Meyer of old had this trick of movement. He remembered how the -boys used to copy it.</p> - -<p>He glanced sharply from face to face, feeling as though some silent, -unseen process were changing everything about him. All the faces seemed -oddly familiar. Pagel, the Brother he had been talking with, was of -course the image of Pagel, his former room-master, and Kalkmann, he now -realised for the first time, was the very twin of another master whose -name he had quite forgotten, but whom he used to dislike intensely in -the old days. And, through the smoke, peering at him from the corners of -the room, he saw that all the Brothers about him had the faces he had -known and lived with long ago—Röst, Fluheim, Meinert, Rigel, Gysin.</p> - -<p>He stared hard, suddenly grown more alert, and everywhere saw, or -fancied he saw, strange likenesses, ghostly resemblances,—more, the -identical faces of years ago. There was something queer about it all, -something not quite right, something that made him feel uneasy. He shook -himself, mentally and actually, blowing the smoke from before his eyes -with a long breath, and as he did so he noticed to his dismay that every -one was fixedly staring. They were watching him.</p> - -<p>This brought him to his senses. As an Englishman, and a foreigner, he -did not wish to be rude, or to do anything to make himself foolishly -conspicuous and spoil the harmony of the evening. He was a guest, and a -privileged guest at that. Besides, the music had already begun. Bruder -Schliemann's long white fingers were caressing the keys to some purpose.</p> - -<p>He subsided into his chair and smoked with half-closed eyes that yet saw -everything.</p> - -<p>But the shudder had established itself in his being, and, whether he -would or not, it kept repeating itself. As a town, far up some inland -river, feels the pressure of the distant sea, so he became aware that -mighty forces from somewhere beyond his ken were urging themselves up -against his soul in this smoky little room. He began to feel exceedingly -ill at ease.</p> - -<p>And as the music filled the air his mind began to clear. Like a lifted -veil there rose up something that had hitherto obscured his vision. The -words of the priest at the railway inn flashed across his brain -unbidden: "You will find it different." And also, though why he could -not tell, he saw mentally the strong, rather wonderful eyes of that -other guest at the supper-table, the man who had overheard his -conversation, and had later got into earnest talk with the priest. He -took out his watch and stole a glance at it. Two hours had slipped by. -It was already eleven o'clock.</p> - -<p>Schliemann, meanwhile, utterly absorbed in his music, was playing a -solemn measure. The piano sang marvellously. The power of a great -conviction, the simplicity of great art, the vital spiritual message of -a soul that had found itself—all this, and more, were in the chords, -and yet somehow the music was what can only be described as -impure—atrociously and diabolically impure. And the piece itself, -although Harris did not recognise it as anything familiar, was surely -the music of a Mass—huge, majestic, sombre? It stalked through the -smoky room with slow power, like the passage of something that was -mighty, yet profoundly intimate, and as it went there stirred into each -and every face about him the signature of the enormous forces of which -it was the audible symbol. The countenances round him turned sinister, -but not idly, negatively sinister: they grew dark with purpose. He -suddenly recalled the face of Bruder Kalkmann in the corridor earlier in -the evening. The motives of their secret souls rose to the eyes, and -mouths, and foreheads, and hung there for all to see like the black -banners of an assembly of ill-starred and fallen creatures. Demons—was -the horrible word that flashed through his brain like a sheet of fire.</p> - -<p>When this sudden discovery leaped out upon him, for a moment he lost his -self-control. Without waiting to think and weigh his extraordinary -impression, he did a very foolish but a very natural thing. Feeling -himself irresistibly driven by the sudden stress to some kind of action, -he sprang to his feet—and screamed! To his own utter amazement he stood -up and shrieked aloud!</p> - -<p>But no one stirred. No one, apparently, took the slightest notice of his -absurdly wild behaviour. It was almost as if no one but himself had -heard the scream at all—as though the music had drowned it and -swallowed it up—as though after all perhaps he had not really screamed -as loudly as he imagined, or had not screamed at all.</p> - -<p>Then, as he glanced at the motionless, dark faces before him, something -of utter cold passed into his being, touching his very soul.... All -emotion cooled suddenly, leaving him like a receding tide. He sat down -again, ashamed, mortified, angry with himself for behaving like a fool -and a boy. And the music, meanwhile, continued to issue from the white -and snakelike fingers of Bruder Schliemann, as poisoned wine might issue -from the weirdly fashioned necks of antique phials.</p> - -<p>And, with the rest of them, Harris drank it in.</p> - -<p>Forcing himself to believe that he had been the victim of some kind of -illusory perception, he vigorously restrained his feelings. Then the -music presently ceased, and every one applauded and began to talk at -once, laughing, changing seats, complimenting the player, and behaving -naturally and easily as though nothing out of the way had happened. The -faces appeared normal once more. The Brothers crowded round their -visitor, and he joined in their talk and even heard himself thanking the -gifted musician.</p> - -<p>But, at the same time, he found himself edging towards the door, nearer -and nearer, changing his chair when possible, and joining the groups -that stood closest to the way of escape.</p> - -<p>"I must thank you all <i>tausendmal</i> for my little reception and the great -pleasure—the very great honour you have done me," he began in decided -tones at length, "but I fear I have trespassed far too long already on -your hospitality. Moreover, I have some distance to walk to my inn."</p> - -<p>A chorus of voices greeted his words. They would not hear of his -going,—at least not without first partaking of refreshment. They -produced pumpernickel from one cupboard, and rye-bread and sausage from -another, and all began to talk again and eat. More coffee was made, -fresh cigars lighted, and Bruder Meyer took out his violin and began to -tune it softly.</p> - -<p>"There is always a bed upstairs if Herr Harris will accept it," said -one.</p> - -<p>"And it is difficult to find the way out now, for all the doors are -locked," laughed another loudly.</p> - -<p>"Let us take our simple pleasures as they come," cried a third. "Bruder -Harris will understand how we appreciate the honour of this last visit -of his."</p> - -<p>They made a dozen excuses. They all laughed, as though the politeness of -their words was but formal, and veiled thinly—more and more thinly—a -very different meaning.</p> - -<p>"And the hour of midnight draws near," added Bruder Kalkmann with a -charming smile, but in a voice that sounded to the Englishman like the -grating of iron hinges.</p> - -<p>Their German seemed to him more and more difficult to understand. He -noted that they called him "Bruder" too, classing him as one of -themselves.</p> - -<p>And then suddenly he had a flash of keener perception, and realised with -a creeping of his flesh that he had all along misinterpreted—grossly -misinterpreted all they had been saying. They had talked about the -beauty of the place, its isolation and remoteness from the world, its -peculiar fitness for certain kinds of spiritual development and -worship—yet hardly, he now grasped, in the sense in which he had taken -the words. They had meant something different. Their spiritual powers, -their desire for loneliness, their passion for worship, were not the -powers, the solitude, or the worship that <i>he</i> meant and understood. He -was playing a part in some horrible masquerade; he was among men who -cloaked their lives with religion in order to follow their real purposes -unseen of men.</p> - -<p>What did it all mean? How had he blundered into so equivocal a -situation? Had he blundered into it at all? Had he not rather been led -into it, deliberately led? His thoughts grew dreadfully confused, and -his confidence in himself began to fade. And why, he suddenly thought -again, were they so impressed by the mere fact of his coming to revisit -his old school? What was it they so admired and wondered at in his -simple act? Why did they set such store upon his having the courage to -come, to "give himself so freely," "unconditionally" as one of them had -expressed it with such a mockery of exaggeration?</p> - -<p>Fear stirred in his heart most horribly, and he found no answer to any -of his questionings. Only one thing he now understood quite clearly: it -was their purpose to keep him here. They did not intend that he should -go. And from this moment he realised that they were sinister, formidable -and, in some way he had yet to discover, inimical to himself, inimical -to his life. And the phrase one of them had used a moment ago—"this -<i>last</i> visit of his"—rose before his eyes in letters of flame.</p> - -<p>Harris was not a man of action, and had never known in all the course of -his career what it meant to be in a situation of real danger. He was not -necessarily a coward, though, perhaps, a man of untried nerve. He -realised at last plainly that he was in a very awkward predicament -indeed, and that he had to deal with men who were utterly in earnest. -What their intentions were he only vaguely guessed. His mind, indeed, -was too confused for definite ratiocination, and he was only able to -follow blindly the strongest instincts that moved in him. It never -occurred to him that the Brothers might all be mad, or that he himself -might have temporarily lost his senses and be suffering under some -terrible delusion. In fact, nothing occurred to him—he realised -nothing—except that he meant to escape—and the quicker the better. A -tremendous revulsion of feeling set in and overpowered him.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, without further protest for the moment, he ate his -pumpernickel and drank his coffee, talking meanwhile as naturally and -pleasantly as he could, and when a suitable interval had passed, he rose -to his feet and announced once more that he must now take his leave. He -spoke very quietly, but very decidedly. No one hearing him could doubt -that he meant what he said. He had got very close to the door by this -time.</p> - -<p>"I regret," he said, using his best German, and speaking to a hushed -room, "that our pleasant evening must come to an end, but it is now -time for me to wish you all good-night." And then, as no one said -anything, he added, though with a trifle less assurance, "And I thank -you all most sincerely for your hospitality."</p> - -<p>"On the contrary," replied Kalkmann instantly, rising from his chair and -ignoring the hand the Englishman had stretched out to him, "it is we who -have to thank you; and we do so most gratefully and sincerely."</p> - -<p>And at the same moment at least half a dozen of the Brothers took up -their position between himself and the door.</p> - -<p>"You are very good to say so," Harris replied as firmly as he could -manage, noticing this movement out of the corner of his eye, "but really -I had no conception that—my little chance visit could have afforded you -so much pleasure." He moved another step nearer the door, but Bruder -Schliemann came across the room quickly and stood in front of him. His -attitude was uncompromising. A dark and terrible expression had come -into his face.</p> - -<p>"But it was <i>not</i> by chance that you came, Bruder Harris," he said so -that all the room could hear; "surely we have not misunderstood your -presence here?" He raised his black eyebrows.</p> - -<p>"No, no," the Englishman hastened to reply, "I was—I am delighted to be -here. I told you what pleasure it gave me to find myself among you. Do -not misunderstand me, I beg." His voice faltered a little, and he had -difficulty in finding the words. More and more, too, he had difficulty -in understanding <i>their</i> words.</p> - -<p>"Of course," interposed Bruder Kalkmann in his iron bass, "<i>we</i> have not -misunderstood. You have come back in the spirit of true and unselfish -devotion. You offer yourself freely, and we all appreciate it. It is -your willingness and nobility that have so completely won our veneration -and respect." A faint murmur of applause ran round the room. "What we -all delight in—what our great Master will especially delight in—is the -value of your spontaneous and voluntary—"</p> - -<p>He used a word Harris did not understand. He said "<i>Opfer</i>." The -bewildered Englishman searched his brain for the translation, and -searched in vain. For the life of him he could not remember what it -meant. But the word, for all his inability to translate it, touched his -soul with ice. It was worse, far worse, than anything he had imagined. -He felt like a lost, helpless creature, and all power to fight sank out -of him from that moment.</p> - -<p>"It is magnificent to be such a willing—" added Schliemann, sidling -up to him with a dreadful leer on his face. He made use of the same -word—"<i>Opfer</i>."</p> - -<p>"God! What could it all mean?" "Offer himself!" "True spirit of -devotion!" "Willing," "unselfish," "magnificent!" <i>Opfer, Opfer, Opfer!</i> -What in the name of heaven did it mean, that strange, mysterious word -that struck such terror into his heart?</p> - -<p>He made a valiant effort to keep his presence of mind and hold his -nerves steady. Turning, he saw that Kalkmann's face was a dead white. -Kalkmann! He understood that well enough. <i>Kalkmann</i> meant "Man of -Chalk": he knew that. But what did "<i>Opfer</i>" mean? That was the real key -to the situation. Words poured through his disordered mind in an endless -stream—unusual, rare words he had perhaps heard but once in his -life—while "<i>Opfer</i>," a word in common use, entirely escaped him. What -an extraordinary mockery it all was!</p> - -<p>Then Kalkmann, pale as death, but his face hard as iron, spoke a few low -words that he did not catch, and the Brothers standing by the walls at -once turned the lamps down so that the room became dim. In the half -light he could only just discern their faces and movements.</p> - -<p>"It is time," he heard Kalkmann's remorseless voice continue just behind -him. "The hour of midnight is at hand. Let us prepare. He comes! He -comes; Bruder Asmodelius comes!" His voice rose to a chant.</p> - -<p>And the sound of that name, for some extraordinary reason, was -terrible—utterly terrible; so that Harris shook from head to foot as he -heard it. Its utterance filled the air like soft thunder, and a hush -came over the whole room. Forces rose all about him, transforming the -normal into the horrible, and the spirit of craven fear ran through all -his being, bringing him to the verge of collapse.</p> - -<p><i>Asmodelius! Asmodelius!</i> The name was appalling. For he understood at -last to whom it referred and the meaning that lay between its great -syllables. At the same instant, too, he suddenly understood the meaning -of that unremembered word. The import of the word "<i>Opfer</i>" flashed upon -his soul like a message of death.</p> - -<p>He thought of making a wild effort to reach the door, but the weakness -of his trembling knees, and the row of black figures that stood between, -dissuaded him at once. He would have screamed for help, but remembering -the emptiness of the vast building, and the loneliness of the situation, -he understood that no help could come that way, and he kept his lips -closed. He stood still and did nothing. But he knew now what was coming.</p> - -<p>Two of the Brothers approached and took him gently by the arm.</p> - -<p>"Bruder Asmodelius accepts you," they whispered; "are you ready?"</p> - -<p>Then he found his tongue and tried to speak. "But what have I to do with -this Bruder Asm—Asmo—?" he stammered, a desperate rush of words -crowding vainly behind the halting tongue.</p> - -<p>The name refused to pass his lips. He could not pronounce it as they -did. He could not pronounce it at all. His sense of helplessness then -entered the acute stage, for this inability to speak the name produced -a fresh sense of quite horrible confusion in his mind, and he became -extraordinarily agitated.</p> - -<p>"I came here for a friendly visit," he tried to say with a great effort, -but, to his intense dismay, he heard his voice saying something quite -different, and actually making use of that very word they had all used: -"I came here as a willing <i>Opfer</i>," he heard his own voice say, "and <i>I -am quite ready</i>."</p> - -<p>He was lost beyond all recall now! Not alone his mind, but the very -muscles of his body had passed out of control. He felt that he was -hovering on the confines of a phantom or demon-world,—a world in which -the name they had spoken constituted the Master-name, the word of -ultimate power.</p> - -<p>What followed he heard and saw as in a nightmare.</p> - -<p>"In the half light that veils all truth, let us prepare to worship and -adore," chanted Schliemann, who had preceded him to the end of the room.</p> - -<p>"In the mists that protect our faces before the Black Throne, let us -make ready the willing victim," echoed Kalkmann in his great bass.</p> - -<p>They raised their faces, listening expectantly, as a roaring sound, like -the passing of mighty projectiles, filled the air, far, far away, very -wonderful, very forbidding. The walls of the room trembled.</p> - -<p>"He comes! He comes! He comes!" chanted the Brothers in chorus.</p> - -<p>The sound of roaring died away, and an atmosphere of still and utter -cold established itself over all. Then Kalkmann, dark and unutterably -stern, turned in the dim light and faced the rest.</p> - -<p>"Asmodelius, our <i>Hauptbruder</i>, is about us," he cried in a voice that -even while it shook was yet a voice of iron; "Asmodelius is about us. -Make ready."</p> - -<p>There followed a pause in which no one stirred or spoke. A tall Brother -approached the Englishman; but Kalkmann held up his hand.</p> - -<p>"Let the eyes remain uncovered," he said, "in honour of so freely giving -himself." And to his horror Harris then realised for the first time that -his hands were already fastened to his sides.</p> - -<p>The Brother retreated again silently, and in the pause that followed all -the figures about him dropped to their knees, leaving him standing -alone, and as they dropped, in voices hushed with mingled reverence and -awe, they cried, softly, odiously, appallingly, the name of the Being -whom they momentarily expected to appear.</p> - -<p>Then, at the end of the room, where the windows seemed to have -disappeared so that he saw the stars, there rose into view far up -against the night sky, grand and terrible, the outline of a man. A kind -of grey glory enveloped it so that it resembled a steel-cased statue, -immense, imposing, horrific in its distant splendour; while, at the same -time, the face was so spiritually mighty, yet so proudly, so austerely -sad, that Harris felt as he stared, that the sight was more than his -eyes could meet, and that in another moment the power of vision would -fail him altogether, and he must sink into utter nothingness.</p> - -<p>So remote and inaccessible hung this figure that it was impossible to -gauge anything as to its size, yet at the same time so strangely close, -that when the grey radiance from its mightily broken visage, august and -mournful, beat down upon his soul, pulsing like some dark star with the -powers of spiritual evil, he felt almost as though he were looking into -a face no farther removed from him in space than the face of any one of -the Brothers who stood by his side.</p> - -<p>And then the room filled and trembled with sounds that Harris understood -full well were the failing voices of others who had preceded him in a -long series down the years. There came first a plain, sharp cry, as of a -man in the last anguish, choking for his breath, and yet, with the very -final expiration of it, breathing the name of the Worship—of the dark -Being who rejoiced to hear it. The cries of the strangled; the short, -running gasp of the suffocated; and the smothered gurgling of the -tightened throat, all these, and more, echoed back and forth between the -walls, the very walls in which he now stood a prisoner, a sacrificial -victim. The cries, too, not alone of the broken bodies, but—far -worse—of beaten, broken souls. And as the ghastly chorus rose and fell, -there came also the faces of the lost and unhappy creatures to whom they -belonged, and, against that curtain of pale grey light, he saw float -past him in the air, an array of white and piteous human countenances -that seemed to beckon and gibber at him as though he were already one of -themselves.</p> - -<p>Slowly, too, as the voices rose, and the pallid crew sailed past, that -giant form of grey descended from the sky and approached the room that -contained the worshippers and their prisoner. Hands rose and sank about -him in the darkness, and he felt that he was being draped in other -garments than his own; a circlet of ice seemed to run about his head, -while round the waist, enclosing the fastened arms, he felt a girdle -tightly drawn. At last, about his very throat, there ran a soft and -silken touch which, better than if there had been full light, and a -mirror held to his face, he understood to be the cord of sacrifice—and -of death.</p> - -<p>At this moment the Brothers, still prostrate upon the floor, began again -their mournful, yet impassioned chanting, and as they did so a strange -thing happened. For, apparently without moving or altering its position, -the huge Figure seemed, at once and suddenly, to be inside the room, -almost beside him, and to fill the space around him to the exclusion of -all else.</p> - -<p>He was now beyond all ordinary sensations of fear, only a drab feeling -as of death—the death of the soul—stirred in his heart. His thoughts -no longer even beat vainly for escape. The end was near, and he knew it.</p> - -<p>The dreadfully chanting voices rose about him in a wave: "We worship! We -adore! We offer!" The sounds filled his ears and hammered, almost -meaningless, upon his brain.</p> - -<p>Then the majestic grey face turned slowly downwards upon him, and his -very soul passed outwards and seemed to become absorbed in the sea of -those anguished eyes. At the same moment a dozen hands forced him to his -knees, and in the air before him he saw the arm of Kalkmann upraised, -and felt the pressure about his throat grow strong.</p> - -<p>It was in this awful moment, when he had given up all hope, and the help -of gods or men seemed beyond question, that a strange thing happened. -For before his fading and terrified vision there slid, as in a dream of -light,—yet without apparent rhyme or reason—wholly unbidden and -unexplained,—the face of that other man at the supper table of the -railway inn. And the sight, even mentally, of that strong, wholesome, -vigorous English face, inspired him suddenly with a new courage.</p> - -<p>It was but a flash of fading vision before he sank into a dark and -terrible death, yet, in some inexplicable way, the sight of that face -stirred in him unconquerable hope and the certainty of deliverance. It -was a face of power, a face, he now realised, of simple goodness such as -might have been seen by men of old on the shores of Galilee; a face, by -heaven, that could conquer even the devils of outer space.</p> - -<p>And, in his despair and abandonment, he called upon it, and called with -no uncertain accents. He found his voice in this overwhelming moment to -some purpose; though the words he actually used, and whether they were -in German or English, he could never remember. Their effect, -nevertheless, was instantaneous. The Brothers understood, and that grey -Figure of evil understood.</p> - -<p>For a second the confusion was terrific. There came a great shattering -sound. It seemed that the very earth trembled. But all Harris remembered -afterwards was that voices rose about him in the clamour of terrified -alarm—</p> - -<p>"A man of power is among us! A man of God!"</p> - -<p>The vast sound was repeated—the rushing through space as of huge -projectiles—and he sank to the floor of the room, unconscious. The -entire scene had vanished, vanished like smoke over the roof of a -cottage when the wind blows.</p> - -<p>And, by his side, sat down a slight un-German figure,—the figure of the -stranger at the inn,—the man who had the "rather wonderful eyes."</p> - -<br><hr style="width: 45%;"><br> - -<p>When Harris came to himself he felt cold. He was lying under the open -sky, and the cool air of field and forest was blowing upon his face. He -sat up and looked about him. The memory of the late scene was still -horribly in his mind, but no vestige of it remained. No walls or ceiling -enclosed him; he was no longer in a room at all. There were no lamps -turned low, no cigar smoke, no black forms of sinister worshippers, no -tremendous grey Figure hovering beyond the windows.</p> - -<p>Open space was about him, and he was lying on a pile of bricks and -mortar, his clothes soaked with dew, and the kind stars shining brightly -overhead. He was lying, bruised and shaken, among the heaped-up débris -of a ruined building.</p> - -<p>He stood up and stared about him. There, in the shadowy distance, lay -the surrounding forest, and here, close at hand, stood the outline of -the village buildings. But, underfoot, beyond question, lay nothing but -the broken heaps of stones that betokened a building long since crumbled -to dust. Then he saw that the stones were blackened, and that great -wooden beams, half burnt, half rotten, made lines through the general -débris. He stood, then, among the ruins of a burnt and shattered -building, the weeds and nettles proving conclusively that it had lain -thus for many years.</p> - -<p>The moon had already set behind the encircling forest, but the stars -that spangled the heavens threw enough light to enable him to make quite -sure of what he saw. Harris, the silk merchant, stood among these broken -and burnt stones and shivered.</p> - -<p>Then he suddenly became aware that out of the gloom a figure had risen -and stood beside him. Peering at him, he thought he recognised the face -of the stranger at the railway inn.</p> - -<p>"Are <i>you</i> real?" he asked in a voice he hardly recognised as his own.</p> - -<p>"More than real—I'm friendly," replied the stranger; "I followed you up -here from the inn."</p> - -<p>Harris stood and stared for several minutes without adding anything. His -teeth chattered. The least sound made him start; but the simple words in -his own language, and the tone in which they were uttered, comforted him -inconceivably.</p> - -<p>"You're English too, thank God," he said inconsequently. "These German -devils—" He broke off and put a hand to his eyes. "But what's become -of them all—and the room—and—and—" The hand travelled down to his -throat and moved nervously round his neck. He drew a long, long breath -of relief. "Did I dream everything—everything?" he said distractedly.</p> - -<p>He stared wildly about him, and the stranger moved forward and took his -arm. "Come," he said soothingly, yet with a trace of command in the -voice, "we will move away from here. The high-road, or even the woods -will be more to your taste, for we are standing now on one of the most -haunted—and most terribly haunted—spots of the whole world."</p> - -<p>He guided his companion's stumbling footsteps over the broken masonry -until they reached the path, the nettles stinging their hands, and -Harris feeling his way like a man in a dream. Passing through the -twisted iron railing they reached the path, and thence made their way to -the road, shining white in the night. Once safely out of the ruins, -Harris collected himself and turned to look back.</p> - -<p>"But, how is it possible?" he exclaimed, his voice still shaking. "How -can it be possible? When I came in here I saw the building in the -moonlight. They opened the door. I saw the figures and heard the voices -and touched, yes touched their very hands, and saw their damned black -faces, saw them far more plainly than I see you now." He was deeply -bewildered. The glamour was still upon his eyes with a degree of reality -stronger than the reality even of normal life. "Was I so utterly -deluded?"</p> - -<p>Then suddenly the words of the stranger, which he had only half heard or -understood, returned to him.</p> - -<p>"Haunted?" he asked, looking hard at him; "haunted, did you say?" He -paused in the roadway and stared into the darkness where the building of -the old school had first appeared to him. But the stranger hurried him -forward.</p> - -<p>"We shall talk more safely farther on," he said. "I followed you from -the inn the moment I realised where you had gone. When I found you it -was eleven o'clock—"</p> - -<p>"Eleven o'clock," said Harris, remembering with a shudder.</p> - -<p>"—I saw you drop. I watched over you till you recovered consciousness -of your own accord, and now—now I am here to guide you safely back to -the inn. I have broken the spell—the glamour—"</p> - -<p>"I owe you a great deal, sir," interrupted Harris again, beginning to -understand something of the stranger's kindness, "but I don't understand -it all. I feel dazed and shaken." His teeth still chattered, and spells -of violent shivering passed over him from head to foot. He found that he -was clinging to the other's arm. In this way they passed beyond the -deserted and crumbling village and gained the high-road that led -homewards through the forest.</p> - -<p>"That school building has long been in ruins," said the man at his side -presently; "it was burnt down by order of the Elders of the community at -least ten years ago. The village has been uninhabited ever since. But -the simulacra of certain ghastly events that took place under that roof -in past days still continue. And the 'shells' of the chief participants -still enact there the dreadful deeds that led to its final destruction, -and to the desertion of the whole settlement. They were -devil-worshippers!"</p> - -<p>Harris listened with beads of perspiration on his forehead that did not -come alone from their leisurely pace through the cool night. Although he -had seen this man but once before in his life, and had never before -exchanged so much as a word with him, he felt a degree of confidence and -a subtle sense of safety and well-being in his presence that were the -most healing influences he could possibly have wished after the -experience he had been through. For all that, he still felt as if he -were walking in a dream, and though he heard every word that fell from -his companion's lips, it was only the next day that the full import of -all he said became fully clear to him. The presence of this quiet -stranger, the man with the wonderful eyes which he felt now, rather than -saw, applied a soothing anodyne to his shattered spirit that healed him -through and through. And this healing influence, distilled from the dark -figure at his side, satisfied his first imperative need, so that he -almost forgot to realise how strange and opportune it was that the man -should be there at all.</p> - -<p>It somehow never occurred to him to ask his name, or to feel any undue -wonder that one passing tourist should take so much trouble on behalf of -another. He just walked by his side, listening to his quiet words, and -allowing himself to enjoy the very wonderful experience after his recent -ordeal, of being helped, strengthened, blessed. Only once, remembering -vaguely something of his reading of years ago, he turned to the man -beside him, after some more than usually remarkable words, and heard -himself, almost involuntarily it seemed, putting the question: "Then are -you a Rosicrucian, sir, perhaps?" But the stranger had ignored the -words, or possibly not heard them, for he continued with his talk as -though unconscious of any interruption, and Harris became aware that -another somewhat unusual picture had taken possession of his mind, as -they walked there side by side through the cool reaches of the forest, -and that he had found his imagination suddenly charged with the -childhood memory of Jacob wrestling with an angel,—wrestling all night -with a being of superior quality whose strength eventually became his -own.</p> - -<p>"It was your abrupt conversation with the priest at supper that first -put me upon the track of this remarkable occurrence," he heard the -man's quiet voice beside him in the darkness, "and it was from him I -learned after you left the story of the devil-worship that became -secretly established in the heart of this simple and devout little -community."</p> - -<p>"Devil-worship! Here—!" Harris stammered, aghast.</p> - -<p>"Yes—here;—conducted secretly for years by a group of Brothers before -unexplained disappearances in the neighbourhood led to its discovery. -For where could they have found a safer place in the whole wide world -for their ghastly traffic and perverted powers than here, in the very -precincts—under cover of the very shadow of saintliness and holy -living?"</p> - -<p>"Awful, awful!" whispered the silk merchant, "and when I tell you the -words they used to me—"</p> - -<p>"I know it all," the stranger said quietly. "I saw and heard everything. -My plan first was to wait till the end and then to take steps for their -destruction, but in the interest of your personal safety,"—he spoke -with the utmost gravity and conviction,—"in the interest of the safety -of your soul, I made my presence known when I did, and before the -conclusion had been reached—"</p> - -<p>"My safety! The danger, then, was real. They were alive and—" Words -failed him. He stopped in the road and turned towards his companion, the -shining of whose eyes he could just make out in the gloom.</p> - -<p>"It was a concourse of the shells of violent men, spiritually developed -but evil men, seeking after death—the death of the body—to prolong -their vile and unnatural existence. And had they accomplished their -object you, in turn, at the death of your body, would have passed into -their power and helped to swell their dreadful purposes."</p> - -<p>Harris made no reply. He was trying hard to concentrate his mind upon -the sweet and common things of life. He even thought of silk and St. -Paul's Churchyard and the faces of his partners in business.</p> - -<p>"For you came all prepared to be caught," he heard the other's voice -like some one talking to him from a distance; "your deeply introspective -mood had already reconstructed the past so vividly, so intensely, that -you were <i>en rapport</i> at once with any forces of those days that chanced -still to be lingering. And they swept you up all unresistingly."</p> - -<p>Harris tightened his hold upon the stranger's arm as he heard. At the -moment he had room for one emotion only. It did not seem to him odd that -this stranger should have such intimate knowledge of his mind.</p> - -<p>"It is, alas, chiefly the evil emotions that are able to leave their -photographs upon surrounding scenes and objects," the other added, "and -who ever heard of a place haunted by a noble deed, or of beautiful and -lovely ghosts revisiting the glimpses of the moon? It is unfortunate. -But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to -leave pictures that persist; the good are ever too lukewarm."</p> - -<p>The stranger sighed as he spoke. But Harris, exhausted and shaken as he -was to the very core, paced by his side, only half listening. He moved -as in a dream still. It was very wonderful to him, this walk home under -the stars in the early hours of the October morning, the peaceful forest -all about them, mist rising here and there over the small clearings, and -the sound of water from a hundred little invisible streams filling in -the pauses of the talk. In after life he always looked back to it as -something magical and impossible, something that had seemed too -beautiful, too curiously beautiful, to have been quite true. And, though -at the time he heard and understood but a quarter of what the stranger -said, it came back to him afterwards, staying with him till the end of -his days, and always with a curious, haunting sense of unreality, as -though he had enjoyed a wonderful dream of which he could recall only -faint and exquisite portions.</p> - -<p>But the horror of the earlier experience was effectually dispelled; and -when they reached the railway inn, somewhere about three o'clock in the -morning, Harris shook the stranger's hand gratefully, effusively, -meeting the look of those rather wonderful eyes with a full heart, and -went up to his room, thinking in a hazy, dream-like way of the words -with which the stranger had brought their conversation to an end as they -left the confines of the forest—</p> - -<p>"And if thought and emotion can persist in this way so long after the -brain that sent them forth has crumbled into dust, how vitally important -it must be to control their very birth in the heart, and guard them with -the keenest possible restraint."</p> - -<p>But Harris, the silk merchant, slept better than might have been -expected, and with a soundness that carried him half-way through the -day. And when he came downstairs and learned that the stranger had -already taken his departure, he realised with keen regret that he had -never once thought of asking his name.</p> - -<p>"Yes, he signed the visitors' book," said the girl in reply to his -question.</p> - -<p>And he turned over the blotted pages and found there, the last entry, in -a very delicate and individual handwriting—</p> - -<p>"<i>John Silence</i>, London."</p> - - - -<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="CASE_V:_THE_CAMP_OF_THE_DOG"></a><h2>CASE II: THE CAMP OF THE DOG</h2> -<br> - -<p>I</p> - -<p>Islands of all shapes and sizes troop northward from Stockholm by the -hundred, and the little steamer that threads their intricate mazes in -summer leaves the traveller in a somewhat bewildered state as regards -the points of the compass when it reaches the end of its journey at -Waxholm. But it is only after Waxholm that the true islands begin, so to -speak, to run wild, and start up the coast on their tangled course of a -hundred miles of deserted loveliness, and it was in the very heart of -this delightful confusion that we pitched our tents for a summer -holiday. A veritable wilderness of islands lay about us: from the mere -round button of a rock that bore a single fir, to the mountainous -stretch of a square mile, densely wooded, and bounded by precipitous -cliffs; so close together often that a strip of water ran between no -wider than a country lane, or, again, so far that an expanse stretched -like the open sea for miles.</p> - -<p>Although the larger islands boasted farms and fishing stations, the -majority were uninhabited. Carpeted with moss and heather, their -coast-lines showed a series of ravines and clefts and little sandy bays, -with a growth of splendid pine-woods that came down to the water's edge -and led the eye through unknown depths of shadow and mystery into the -very heart of primitive forest.</p> - -<p>The particular islands to which we had camping rights by virtue of -paying a nominal sum to a Stockholm merchant lay together in a -picturesque group far beyond the reach of the steamer, one being a mere -reef with a fringe of fairy-like birches, and two others, cliff-bound -monsters rising with wooded heads out of the sea. The fourth, which we -selected because it enclosed a little lagoon suitable for anchorage, -bathing, night-lines, and what-not, shall have what description is -necessary as the story proceeds; but, so far as paying rent was -concerned, we might equally well have pitched our tents on any one of a -hundred others that clustered about us as thickly as a swarm of bees.</p> - -<p>It was in the blaze of an evening in July, the air clear as crystal, the -sea a cobalt blue, when we left the steamer on the borders of -civilisation and sailed away with maps, compasses, and provisions for -the little group of dots in the Skägård that were to be our home for the -next two months. The dinghy and my Canadian canoe trailed behind us, -with tents and dunnage carefully piled aboard, and when the point of -cliff intervened to hide the steamer and the Waxholm hotel we realised -for the first time that the horror of trains and houses was far behind -us, the fever of men and cities, the weariness of streets and confined -spaces. The wilderness opened up on all sides into endless blue reaches, -and the map and compasses were so frequently called into requisition -that we went astray more often than not and progress was enchantingly -slow. It took us, for instance, two whole days to find our -crescent-shaped home, and the camps we made on the way were so -fascinating that we left them with difficulty and regret, for each -island seemed more desirable than the one before it, and over all lay -the spell of haunting peace, remoteness from the turmoil of the world, -and the freedom of open and desolate spaces.</p> - -<p>And so many of these spots of world-beauty have I sought out and dwelt -in, that in my mind remains only a composite memory of their faces, a -true map of heaven, as it were, from which this particular one stands -forth with unusual sharpness because of the strange things that happened -there, and also, I think, because anything in which John Silence played -a part has a habit of fixing itself in the mind with a living and -lasting quality of vividness.</p> - -<p>For the moment, however, Dr. Silence was not of the party. Some private -case in the interior of Hungary claimed his attention, and it was not -till later—the 15th of August, to be exact—that I had arranged to meet -him in Berlin and then return to London together for our harvest of -winter work. All the members of our party, however, were known to him -more or less well, and on this third day as we sailed through the narrow -opening into the lagoon and saw the circular ridge of trees in a gold -and crimson sunset before us, his last words to me when we parted in -London for some unaccountable reason came back very sharply to my -memory, and recalled the curious impression of prophecy with which I had -first heard them:</p> - -<p>"Enjoy your holiday and store up all the force you can," he had said as -the train slipped out of Victoria; "and we will meet in Berlin on the -15th—unless you should send for me sooner."</p> - -<p>And now suddenly the words returned to me so clearly that it seemed I -almost heard his voice in my ear: "Unless you should send for me -sooner"; and returned, moreover, with a significance I was wholly at a -loss to understand that touched somewhere in the depths of my mind a -vague sense of apprehension that they had all along been intended in the -nature of a prophecy.</p> - -<p>In the lagoon, then, the wind failed us this July evening, as was only -natural behind the shelter of the belt of woods, and we took to the -oars, all breathless with the beauty of this first sight of our island -home, yet all talking in somewhat hushed voices of the best place to -land, the depth of water, the safest place to anchor, to put up the -tents in, the most sheltered spot for the camp-fires, and a dozen things -of importance that crop up when a home in the wilderness has actually to -be made.</p> - -<p>And during this busy sunset hour of unloading before the dark, the souls -of my companions adopted the trick of presenting themselves very vividly -anew before my mind, and introducing themselves afresh.</p> - -<p>In reality, I suppose, our party was in no sense singular. In the -conventional life at home they certainly seemed ordinary enough, but -suddenly, as we passed through these gates of the wilderness, I saw them -more sharply than before, with characters stripped of the atmosphere of -men and cities. A complete change of setting often furnishes a -startlingly new view of people hitherto held for well-known; they -present another facet of their personalities. I seemed to see my own -party almost as new people—people I had not known properly hitherto, -people who would drop all disguises and henceforth reveal themselves as -they really were. And each one seemed to say: "Now you will see me as I -am. You will see me here in this primitive life of the wilderness -without clothes. All my masks and veils I have left behind in the abodes -of men. So, look out for surprises!"</p> - -<p>The Reverend Timothy Maloney helped me to put up the tents, long -practice making the process easy, and while he drove in pegs and -tightened ropes, his coat off, his flannel collar flying open without a -tie, it was impossible to avoid the conclusion that he was cut out for -the life of a pioneer rather than the church. He was fifty years of age, -muscular, blue-eyed and hearty, and he took his share of the work, and -more, without shirking. The way he handled the axe in cutting down -saplings for the tent-poles was a delight to see, and his eye in judging -the level was unfailing.</p> - -<p>Bullied as a young man into a lucrative family living, he had in turn -bullied his mind into some semblance of orthodox beliefs, doing the -honours of the little country church with an energy that made one think -of a coal-heaver tending china; and it was only in the past few years -that he had resigned the living and taken instead to cramming young men -for their examinations. This suited him better. It enabled him, too, to -indulge his passion for spells of "wild life," and to spend the summer -months of most years under canvas in one part of the world or another -where he could take his young men with him and combine "reading" with -open air.</p> - -<p>His wife usually accompanied him, and there was no doubt she enjoyed -the trips, for she possessed, though in less degree, the same joy of the -wilderness that was his own distinguishing characteristic. The only -difference was that while he regarded it as the real life, she regarded -it as an interlude. While he camped out with his heart and mind, she -played at camping out with her clothes and body. None the less, she made -a splendid companion, and to watch her busy cooking dinner over the fire -we had built among the stones was to understand that her heart was in -the business for the moment and that she was happy even with the detail.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Maloney at home, knitting in the sun and believing that the world -was made in six days, was one woman; but Mrs. Maloney, standing with -bare arms over the smoke of a wood fire under the pine trees, was -another; and Peter Sangree, the Canadian pupil, with his pale skin, and -his loose, though not ungainly figure, stood beside her in very -unfavourable contrast as he scraped potatoes and sliced bacon with -slender white fingers that seemed better suited to hold a pen than a -knife. She ordered him about like a slave, and he obeyed, too, with -willing pleasure, for in spite of his general appearance of debility he -was as happy to be in camp as any of them.</p> - -<p>But more than any other member of the party, Joan Maloney, the daughter, -was the one who seemed a natural and genuine part of the landscape, who -belonged to it all just in the same way that the trees and the moss and -the grey rocks running out into the water belonged to it. For she was -obviously in her right and natural setting, a creature of the wilds, a -gipsy in her own home.</p> - -<p>To any one with a discerning eye this would have been more or less -apparent, but to me, who had known her during all the twenty-two years -of her life and was familiar with the ins and outs of her primitive, -utterly un-modern type, it was strikingly clear. To see her there made -it impossible to imagine her again in civilisation. I lost all -recollection of how she looked in a town. The memory somehow evaporated. -This slim creature before me, flitting to and fro with the grace of the -woodland life, swift, supple, adroit, on her knees blowing the fire, or -stirring the frying-pan through a veil of smoke, suddenly seemed the -only way I had ever really seen her. Here she was at home; in London she -became some one concealed by clothes, an artificial doll overdressed and -moving by clockwork, only a portion of her alive. Here she was alive all -over.</p> - -<p>I forget altogether how she was dressed, just as I forget how any -particular tree was dressed, or how the markings ran on any one of the -boulders that lay about the Camp. She looked just as wild and natural -and untamed as everything else that went to make up the scene, and more -than that I cannot say.</p> - -<p>Pretty, she was decidedly not. She was thin, skinny, dark-haired, and -possessed of great physical strength in the form of endurance. She had, -too, something of the force and vigorous purpose of a man, tempestuous -sometimes and wild to passionate, frightening her mother, and puzzling -her easy-going father with her storms of waywardness, while at the same -time she stirred his admiration by her violence. A pagan of the pagans -she was besides, and with some haunting suggestion of old-world pagan -beauty about her dark face and eyes. Altogether an odd and difficult -character, but with a generosity and high courage that made her very -lovable.</p> - -<p>In town life she always seemed to me to feel cramped, bored, a devil in -a cage, in her eyes a hunted expression as though any moment she dreaded -to be caught. But up in these spacious solitudes all this disappeared. -Away from the limitations that plagued and stung her, she would show at -her best, and as I watched her moving about the Camp I repeatedly found -myself thinking of a wild creature that had just obtained its freedom -and was trying its muscles.</p> - -<p>Peter Sangree, of course, at once went down before her. But she was so -obviously beyond his reach, and besides so well able to take care of -herself, that I think her parents gave the matter but little thought, -and he himself worshipped at a respectful distance, keeping admirable -control of his passion in all respects save one; for at his age the eyes -are difficult to master, and the yearning, almost the devouring, -expression often visible in them was probably there unknown even to -himself. He, better than any one else, understood that he had fallen in -love with something most hard of attainment, something that drew him to -the very edge of life, and almost beyond it. It, no doubt, was a secret -and terrible joy to him, this passionate worship from afar; only I think -he suffered more than any one guessed, and that his want of vitality was -due in large measure to the constant stream of unsatisfied yearning that -poured for ever from his soul and body. Moreover, it seemed to me, who -now saw them for the first time together, that there was an unnamable -something—an elusive quality of some kind—that marked them as -belonging to the same world, and that although the girl ignored him she -was secretly, and perhaps unknown to herself, drawn by some attribute -very deep in her own nature to some quality equally deep in his.</p> - -<p>This, then, was the party when we first settled down into our two -months' camp on the island in the Baltic Sea. Other figures flitted from -time to time across the scene, and sometimes one reading man, sometimes -another, came to join us and spend his four hours a day in the -clergyman's tent, but they came for short periods only, and they went -without leaving much trace in my memory, and certainly they played no -important part in what subsequently happened.</p> - -<p>The weather favoured us that night, so that by sunset the tents were up, -the boats unloaded, a store of wood collected and chopped into lengths, -and the candle-lanterns hung round ready for lighting on the trees. -Sangree, too, had picked deep mattresses of balsam boughs for the -women's beds, and had cleared little paths of brushwood from their tents -to the central fireplace. All was prepared for bad weather. It was a -cosy supper and a well-cooked one that we sat down to and ate under the -stars, and, according to the clergyman, the only meal fit to eat we had -seen since we left London a week before.</p> - -<p>The deep stillness, after that roar of steamers, trains, and tourists, -held something that thrilled, for as we lay round the fire there was no -sound but the faint sighing of the pines and the soft lapping of the -waves along the shore and against the sides of the boat in the lagoon. -The ghostly outline of her white sails was just visible through the -trees, idly rocking to and fro in her calm anchorage, her sheets -flapping gently against the mast. Beyond lay the dim blue shapes of -other islands floating in the night, and from all the great spaces about -us came the murmur of the sea and the soft breathing of great woods. The -odours of the wilderness—smells of wind and earth, of trees and water, -clean, vigorous, and mighty—were the true odours of a virgin world -unspoilt by men, more penetrating and more subtly intoxicating than any -other perfume in the whole world. Oh!—and dangerously strong, too, no -doubt, for some natures!</p> - -<p>"Ahhh!" breathed out the clergyman after supper, with an indescribable -gesture of satisfaction and relief. "Here there is freedom, and room for -body and mind to turn in. Here one can work and rest and play. Here one -can be alive and absorb something of the earth-forces that never get -within touching distance in the cities. By George, I shall make a -permanent camp here and come when it is time to die!"</p> - -<p>The good man was merely giving vent to his delight at being under -canvas. He said the same thing every year, and he said it often. But it -more or less expressed the superficial feelings of us all. And when, a -little later, he turned to compliment his wife on the fried potatoes, -and discovered that she was snoring, with her back against a tree, he -grunted with content at the sight and put a ground-sheet over her feet, -as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to fall asleep -after dinner, and then moved back to his own corner, smoking his pipe -with great satisfaction.</p> - -<p>And I, smoking mine too, lay and fought against the most delicious -sleep imaginable, while my eyes wandered from the fire to the stars -peeping through the branches, and then back again to the group about me. -The Rev. Timothy soon let his pipe go out, and succumbed as his wife had -done, for he had worked hard and eaten well. Sangree, also smoking, -leaned against a tree with his gaze fixed on the girl, a depth of -yearning in his face that he could not hide, and that really distressed -me for him. And Joan herself, with wide staring eyes, alert, full of the -new forces of the place, evidently keyed up by the magic of finding -herself among all the things her soul recognised as "home," sat rigid by -the fire, her thoughts roaming through the spaces, the blood stirring -about her heart. She was as unconscious of the Canadian's gaze as she -was that her parents both slept. She looked to me more like a tree, or -something that had grown out of the island, than a living girl of the -century; and when I spoke across to her in a whisper and suggested a -tour of investigation, she started and looked up at me as though she -heard a voice in her dreams.</p> - -<p>Sangree leaped up and joined us, and without waking the others we three -went over the ridge of the island and made our way down to the shore -behind. The water lay like a lake before us still coloured by the -sunset. The air was keen and scented, wafting the smell of the wooded -islands that hung about us in the darkening air. Very small waves -tumbled softly on the sand. The sea was sown with stars, and everywhere -breathed and pulsed the beauty of the northern summer night. I confess I -speedily lost consciousness of the human presences beside me, and I have -little doubt Joan did too. Only Sangree felt otherwise, I suppose, for -presently we heard him sighing; and I can well imagine that he absorbed -the whole wonder and passion of the scene into his aching heart, to -swell the pain there that was more searching even than the pain at the -sight of such matchless and incomprehensible beauty.</p> - -<p>The splash of a fish jumping broke the spell.</p> - -<p>"I wish we had the canoe now," remarked Joan; "we could paddle out to -the other islands."</p> - -<p>"Of course," I said; "wait here and I'll go across for it," and was -turning to feel my way back through the darkness when she stopped me in -a voice that meant what it said.</p> - -<p>"No; Mr. Sangree will get it. We will wait here and cooee to guide him."</p> - -<p>The Canadian was off in a moment, for she had only to hint of her wishes -and he obeyed.</p> - -<p>"Keep out from shore in case of rocks," I cried out as he went, "and -turn to the right out of the lagoon. That's the shortest way round by -the map."</p> - -<p>My voice travelled across the still waters and woke echoes in the -distant islands that came back to us like people calling out of space. -It was only thirty or forty yards over the ridge and down the other side -to the lagoon where the boats lay, but it was a good mile to coast round -the shore in the dark to where we stood and waited. We heard him -stumbling away among the boulders, and then the sounds suddenly ceased -as he topped the ridge and went down past the fire on the other side.</p> - -<p>"I didn't want to be left alone with him," the girl said presently in a -low voice. "I'm always afraid he's going to say or do something—" She -hesitated a moment, looking quickly over her shoulder towards the ridge -where he had just disappeared—"something that might lead to -unpleasantness."</p> - -<p>She stopped abruptly.</p> - -<p>"<i>You</i> frightened, Joan!" I exclaimed, with genuine surprise. "This is a -new light on your wicked character. I thought the human being who could -frighten you did not exist." Then I suddenly realised she was talking -seriously—looking to me for help of some kind—and at once I dropped -the teasing attitude.</p> - -<p>"He's very far gone, I think, Joan," I added gravely. "You must be kind -to him, whatever else you may feel. He's exceedingly fond of you."</p> - -<p>"I know, but I can't help it," she whispered, lest her voice should -carry in the stillness; "there's something about him that—that makes me -feel creepy and half afraid."</p> - -<p>"But, poor man, it's not his fault if he is delicate and sometimes looks -like death," I laughed gently, by way of defending what I felt to be a -very innocent member of my sex.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but it's not that I mean," she answered quickly; "it's something I -feel about him, something in his soul, something he hardly knows -himself, but that may come out if we are much together. It draws me, I -feel, tremendously. It stirs what is wild in me—deep down—oh, very -deep down,—yet at the same time makes me feel afraid."</p> - -<p>"I suppose his thoughts are always playing about you," I said, "but he's -nice-minded and—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," she interrupted impatiently, "I can trust myself absolutely -with him. He's gentle and singularly pure-minded. But there's something -else that—" She stopped again sharply to listen. Then she came up close -beside me in the darkness, whispering—</p> - -<p>"You know, Mr. Hubbard, sometimes my intuitions warn me a little too -strongly to be ignored. Oh, yes, you needn't tell me again that it's -difficult to distinguish between fancy and intuition. I know all that. -But I also know that there's something deep down in that man's soul that -calls to something deep down in mine. And at present it frightens me. -Because I cannot make out what it is; and I know, I <i>know</i>, he'll do -something some day that—that will shake my life to the very bottom." -She laughed a little at the strangeness of her own description.</p> - -<p>I turned to look at her more closely, but the darkness was too great to -show her face. There was an intensity, almost of suppressed passion, in -her voice that took me completely by surprise.</p> - -<p>"Nonsense, Joan," I said, a little severely; "you know him well. He's -been with your father for months now."</p> - -<p>"But that was in London; and up here it's different—I mean, I feel that -it may be different. Life in a place like this blows away the restraints -of the artificial life at home. I know, oh, I know what I'm saying. I -feel all untied in a place like this; the rigidity of one's nature -begins to melt and flow. Surely <i>you</i> must understand what I mean!"</p> - -<p>"Of course I understand," I replied, yet not wishing to encourage her in -her present line of thought, "and it's a grand experience—for a short -time. But you're overtired to-night, Joan, like the rest of us. A few -days in this air will set you above all fears of the kind you mention."</p> - -<p>Then, after a moment's silence, I added, feeling I should estrange her -confidence altogether if I blundered any more and treated her like a -child—</p> - -<p>"I think, perhaps, the true explanation is that you pity him for loving -you, and at the same time you feel the repulsion of the healthy, -vigorous animal for what is weak and timid. If he came up boldly and -took you by the throat and shouted that he would force you to love -him—well, then you would feel no fear at all. You would know exactly -how to deal with him. Isn't it, perhaps, something of that kind?"</p> - -<p>The girl made no reply, and when I took her hand I felt that it trembled -a little and was cold.</p> - -<p>"It's not his love that I'm afraid of," she said hurriedly, for at this -moment we heard the dip of a paddle in the water, "it's something in his -very soul that terrifies me in a way I have never been terrified -before,—yet fascinates me. In town I was hardly conscious of his -presence. But the moment we got away from civilisation, it began to -come. He seems so—so <i>real</i> up here. I dread being alone with him. It -makes me feel that something must burst and tear its way out—that he -would do something—or I should do something—I don't know exactly what -I mean, probably,—but that I should let myself go and scream—"</p> - -<p>"Joan!"</p> - -<p>"Don't be alarmed," she laughed shortly; "I shan't do anything silly, -but I wanted to tell you my feelings in case I needed your help. When I -have intuitions as strong as this they are never wrong, only I don't -know yet what it means exactly."</p> - -<p>"You must hold out for the month, at any rate," I said in as -matter-of-fact a voice as I could manage, for her manner had somehow -changed my surprise to a subtle sense of alarm. "Sangree only stays the -month, you know. And, anyhow, you are such an odd creature yourself that -you should feel generously towards other odd creatures," I ended lamely, -with a forced laugh.</p> - -<p>She gave my hand a sudden pressure. "I'm glad I've told you at any -rate," she said quickly under her breath, for the canoe was now gliding -up silently like a ghost to our feet, "and I'm glad you're here, too," -she added as we moved down towards the water to meet it.</p> - -<p>I made Sangree change into the bows and got into the steering seat -myself, putting the girl between us so that I could watch them both by -keeping their outlines against the sea and stars. For the intuitions of -certain folk—women and children usually, I confess—I have always felt -a great respect that has more often than not been justified by -experience; and now the curious emotion stirred in me by the girl's -words remained somewhat vividly in my consciousness. I explained it in -some measure by the fact that the girl, tired out by the fatigue of many -days' travel, had suffered a vigorous reaction of some kind from the -strong, desolate scenery, and further, perhaps, that she had been -treated to my own experience of seeing the members of the party in a new -light—the Canadian, being partly a stranger, more vividly than the rest -of us. But, at the same time, I felt it was quite possible that she had -sensed some subtle link between his personality and her own, some -quality that she had hitherto ignored and that the routine of town life -had kept buried out of sight. The only thing that seemed difficult to -explain was the fear she had spoken of, and this I hoped the wholesome -effects of camp-life and exercise would sweep away naturally in the -course of time.</p> - -<p>We made the tour of the island without speaking. It was all too -beautiful for speech. The trees crowded down to the shore to hear us -pass. We saw their fine dark heads, bowed low with splendid dignity to -watch us, forgetting for a moment that the stars were caught in the -needled network of their hair. Against the sky in the west, where still -lingered the sunset gold, we saw the wild toss of the horizon, shaggy -with forest and cliff, gripping the heart like the motive in a symphony, -and sending the sense of beauty all a-shiver through the mind—all these -surrounding islands standing above the water like low clouds, and like -them seeming to post along silently into the engulfing night. We heard -the musical drip-drip of the paddle, and the little wash of our waves on -the shore, and then suddenly we found ourselves at the opening of the -lagoon again, having made the complete circuit of our home.</p> - -<p>The Reverend Timothy had awakened from sleep and was singing to himself; -and the sound of his voice as we glided down the fifty yards of enclosed -water was pleasant to hear and undeniably wholesome. We saw the glow of -the fire up among the trees on the ridge, and his shadow moving about as -he threw on more wood.</p> - -<p>"There you are!" he called aloud. "Good again! Been setting the -night-lines, eh? Capital! And your mother's still fast asleep, Joan."</p> - -<p>His cheery laugh floated across the water; he had not been in the least -disturbed by our absence, for old campers are not easily alarmed.</p> - -<p>"Now, remember," he went on, after we had told our little tale of travel -by the fire, and Mrs. Maloney had asked for the fourth time exactly -where her tent was and whether the door faced east or south, "every one -takes their turn at cooking breakfast, and one of the men is always out -at sunrise to catch it first. Hubbard, I'll toss you which you do in the -morning and which I do!" He lost the toss. "Then I'll catch it," I said, -laughing at his discomfiture, for I knew he loathed stirring porridge. -"And mind you don't burn it as you did every blessed time last year on -the Volga," I added by way of reminder.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Maloney's fifth interruption about the door of her tent, and her -further pointed observation that it was past nine o'clock, set us -lighting lanterns and putting the fire out for safety.</p> - -<p>But before we separated for the night the clergyman had a time-honoured -little ritual of his own to go through that no one had the heart to deny -him. He always did this. It was a relic of his pulpit habits. He glanced -briefly from one to the other of us, his face grave and earnest, his -hands lifted to the stars and his eyes all closed and puckered up -beneath a momentary frown. Then he offered up a short, almost inaudible -prayer, thanking Heaven for our safe arrival, begging for good weather, -no illness or accidents, plenty of fish, and strong sailing winds.</p> - -<p>And then, unexpectedly—no one knew why exactly—he ended up with an -abrupt request that nothing from the kingdom of darkness should be -allowed to afflict our peace, and no evil thing come near to disturb us -in the night-time.</p> - -<p>And while he uttered these last surprising words, so strangely unlike -his usual ending, it chanced that I looked up and let my eyes wander -round the group assembled about the dying fire. And it certainly seemed -to me that Sangree's face underwent a sudden and visible alteration. He -was staring at Joan, and as he stared the change ran over it like a -shadow and was gone. I started in spite of myself, for something oddly -concentrated, potent, collected, had come into the expression usually so -scattered and feeble. But it was all swift as a passing meteor, and when -I looked a second time his face was normal and he was looking among the -trees.</p> - -<p>And Joan, luckily, had not observed him, her head being bowed and her -eyes tightly closed while her father prayed.</p> - -<p>"The girl has a vivid imagination indeed," I thought, half laughing, as -I lit the lanterns, "if her thoughts can put a glamour upon mine in this -way"; and yet somehow, when we said good-night, I took occasion to give -her a few vigorous words of encouragement, and went to her tent to make -sure I could find it quickly in the night in case anything happened. In -her quick way the girl understood and thanked me, and the last thing I -heard as I moved off to the men's quarters was Mrs. Maloney crying that -there were beetles in her tent, and Joan's laughter as she went to help -her turn them out.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later the island was silent as the grave, but for the -mournful voices of the wind as it sighed up from the sea. Like white -sentries stood the three tents of the men on one side of the ridge, and -on the other side, half hidden by some birches, whose leaves just -shivered as the breeze caught them, the women's tents, patches of -ghostly grey, gathered more closely together for mutual shelter and -protection. Something like fifty yards of broken ground, grey rock, moss -and lichen, lay between, and over all lay the curtain of the night and -the great whispering winds from the forests of Scandinavia.</p> - -<p>And the very last thing, just before floating away on that mighty wave -that carries one so softly off into the deeps of forgetfulness, I again -heard the voice of John Silence as the train moved out of Victoria -Station; and by some subtle connection that met me on the very threshold -of consciousness there rose in my mind simultaneously the memory of the -girl's half-given confidence, and of her distress. As by some wizardry -of approaching dreams they seemed in that instant to be related; but -before I could analyse the why and the wherefore, both sank away out of -sight again, and I was off beyond recall.</p> - -<p>"Unless you should send for me sooner."</p> -<br> - -<p>II</p> - -<p>Whether Mrs. Maloney's tent door opened south or east I think she never -discovered, for it is quite certain she always slept with the flap -tightly fastened; I only know that my own little "five by seven, all -silk" faced due east, because next morning the sun, pouring in as only -the wilderness sun knows how to pour, woke me early, and a moment later, -with a short run over soft moss and a flying dive from the granite -ledge, I was swimming in the most sparkling water imaginable.</p> - -<p>It was barely four o'clock, and the sun came down a long vista of blue -islands that led out to the open sea and Finland. Nearer by rose the -wooded domes of our own property, still capped and wreathed with smoky -trails of fast-melting mist, and looking as fresh as though it was the -morning of Mrs. Maloney's Sixth Day and they had just issued, clean and -brilliant, from the hands of the great Architect.</p> - -<p>In the open spaces the ground was drenched with dew, and from the sea a -cool salt wind stole in among the trees and set the branches trembling -in an atmosphere of shimmering silver. The tents shone white where the -sun caught them in patches. Below lay the lagoon, still dreaming of the -summer night; in the open the fish were jumping busily, sending musical -ripples towards the shore; and in the air hung the magic of -dawn—silent, incommunicable.</p> - -<p>I lit the fire, so that an hour later the clergyman should find good -ashes to stir his porridge over, and then set forth upon an examination -of the island, but hardly had I gone a dozen yards when I saw a figure -standing a little in front of me where the sunlight fell in a pool among -the trees.</p> - -<p>It was Joan. She had already been up an hour, she told me, and had -bathed before the last stars had left the sky. I saw at once that the -new spirit of this solitary region had entered into her, banishing the -fears of the night, for her face was like the face of a happy denizen of -the wilderness, and her eyes stainless and shining. Her feet were bare, -and drops of dew she had shaken from the branches hung in her -loose-flying hair. Obviously she had come into her own.</p> - -<p>"I've been all over the island," she announced laughingly, "and there -are two things wanting."</p> - -<p>"You're a good judge, Joan. What are they?"</p> - -<p>"There's no animal life, and there's no—water."</p> - -<p>"They go together," I said. "Animals don't bother with a rock like this -unless there's a spring on it."</p> - -<p>And as she led me from place to place, happy and excited, leaping -adroitly from rock to rock, I was glad to note that my first impressions -were correct. She made no reference to our conversation of the night -before. The new spirit had driven out the old. There was no room in her -heart for fear or anxiety, and Nature had everything her own way.</p> - -<p>The island, we found, was some three-quarters of a mile from point to -point, built in a circle, or wide horseshoe, with an opening of twenty -feet at the mouth of the lagoon. Pine-trees grew thickly all over, but -here and there were patches of silver birch, scrub oak, and -considerable colonies of wild raspberry and gooseberry bushes. The two -ends of the horseshoe formed bare slabs of smooth granite running into -the sea and forming dangerous reefs just below the surface, but the rest -of the island rose in a forty-foot ridge and sloped down steeply to the -sea on either side, being nowhere more than a hundred yards wide.</p> - -<p>The outer shore-line was much indented with numberless coves and bays -and sandy beaches, with here and there caves and precipitous little -cliffs against which the sea broke in spray and thunder. But the inner -shore, the shore of the lagoon, was low and regular, and so well -protected by the wall of trees along the ridge that no storm could ever -send more than a passing ripple along its sandy marges. Eternal shelter -reigned there.</p> - -<p>On one of the other islands, a few hundred yards away—for the rest of -the party slept late this first morning, and we took to the canoe—we -discovered a spring of fresh water untainted by the brackish flavour of -the Baltic, and having thus solved the most important problem of the -Camp, we next proceeded to deal with the second—fish. And in half an -hour we reeled in and turned homewards, for we had no means of storage, -and to clean more fish than may be stored or eaten in a day is no wise -occupation for experienced campers.</p> - -<p>And as we landed towards six o'clock we heard the clergyman singing as -usual and saw his wife and Sangree shaking out their blankets in the -sun, and dressed in a fashion that finally dispelled all memories of -streets and civilisation.</p> - -<p>"The Little People lit the fire for me," cried Maloney, looking natural -and at home in his ancient flannel suit and breaking off in the middle -of his singing, "so I've got the porridge going—and this time it's -<i>not</i> burnt."</p> - -<p>We reported the discovery of water and held up the fish.</p> - -<p>"Good! Good again!" he cried. "We'll have the first decent breakfast -we've had this year. Sangree'll clean 'em in no time, and the Bo'sun's -Mate—"</p> - -<p>"Will fry them to a turn," laughed the voice of Mrs. Maloney, appearing -on the scene in a tight blue jersey and sandals, and catching up the -frying-pan. Her husband always called her the Bo'sun's Mate in Camp, -because it was her duty, among others, to pipe all hands to meals.</p> - -<p>"And as for you, Joan," went on the happy man, "you look like the spirit -of the island, with moss in your hair and wind in your eyes, and sun and -stars mixed in your face." He looked at her with delighted admiration. -"Here, Sangree, take these twelve, there's a good fellow, they're the -biggest; and we'll have 'em in butter in less time than you can say -Baltic island!"</p> - -<p>I watched the Canadian as he slowly moved off to the cleaning pail. His -eyes were drinking in the girl's beauty, and a wave of passionate, -almost feverish, joy passed over his face, expressive of the ecstasy of -true worship more than anything else. Perhaps he was thinking that he -still had three weeks to come with that vision always before his eyes; -perhaps he was thinking of his dreams in the night. I cannot say. But I -noticed the curious mingling of yearning and happiness in his eyes, and -the strength of the impression touched my curiosity. Something in his -face held my gaze for a second, something to do with its intensity. That -so timid, so gentle a personality should conceal so virile a passion -almost seemed to require explanation.</p> - -<p>But the impression was momentary, for that first breakfast in Camp -permitted no divided attentions, and I dare swear that the porridge, the -tea, the Swedish "flatbread," and the fried fish flavoured with points -of frizzled bacon, were better than any meal eaten elsewhere that day in -the whole world.</p> - -<p>The first clear day in a new camp is always a furiously busy one, and we -soon dropped into the routine upon which in large measure the real -comfort of every one depends. About the cooking-fire, greatly improved -with stones from the shore, we built a high stockade consisting of -upright poles thickly twined with branches, the roof lined with moss and -lichen and weighted with rocks, and round the interior we made low -wooden seats so that we could lie round the fire even in rain and eat -our meals in peace. Paths, too, outlined themselves from tent to tent, -from the bathing places and the landing stage, and a fair division of -the island was decided upon between the quarters of the men and the -women. Wood was stacked, awkward trees and boulders removed, hammocks -slung, and tents strengthened. In a word, Camp was established, and -duties were assigned and accepted as though we expected to live on this -Baltic island for years to come and the smallest detail of the Community -life was important.</p> - -<p>Moreover, as the Camp came into being, this sense of a community -developed, proving that we were a definite whole, and not merely -separate human beings living for a while in tents upon a desert island. -Each fell willingly into the routine. Sangree, as by natural selection, -took upon himself the cleaning of the fish and the cutting of the wood -into lengths sufficient for a day's use. And he did it well. The pan of -water was never without a fish, cleaned and scaled, ready to fry for -whoever was hungry; the nightly fire never died down for lack of -material to throw on without going farther afield to search.</p> - -<p>And Timothy, once reverend, caught the fish and chopped down the trees. -He also assumed responsibility for the condition of the boat, and did it -so thoroughly that nothing in the little cutter was ever found wanting. -And when, for any reason, his presence was in demand, the first place to -look for him was—in the boat, and there, too, he was usually found, -tinkering away with sheets, sails, or rudder and singing as he tinkered.</p> - -<p>'Nor was the "reading" neglected; for most mornings there came a sound -of droning voices form the white tent by the raspberry bushes, which -signified that Sangree, the tutor, and whatever other man chanced to be -in the party at the time, were hard at it with history or the classics.</p> - -<p>And while Mrs. Maloney, also by natural selection, took charge of the -larder and the kitchen, the mending and general supervision of the rough -comforts, she also made herself peculiarly mistress of the megaphone -which summoned to meals and carried her voice easily from one end of the -island to the other; and in her hours of leisure she daubed the -surrounding scenery on to a sketching block with all the honesty and -devotion of her determined but unreceptive soul.</p> - -<p>Joan, meanwhile, Joan, elusive creature of the wilds, became I know not -exactly what. She did plenty of work in the Camp, yet seemed to have no -very precise duties. She was everywhere and anywhere. Sometimes she -slept in her tent, sometimes under the stars with a blanket. She knew -every inch of the island and kept turning up in places where she was -least expected—for ever wandering about, reading her books in sheltered -corners, making little fires on sunless days to "worship by to the -gods," as she put it, ever finding new pools to dive and bathe in, and -swimming day and night in the warm and waveless lagoon like a fish in a -huge tank. She went bare-legged and bare-footed, with her hair down and -her skirts caught up to the knees, and if ever a human being turned into -a jolly savage within the compass of a single week, Joan Maloney was -certainly that human being. She ran wild.</p> - -<p>So completely, too, was she possessed by the strong spirit of the place -that the little human fear she had yielded to so strangely on our -arrival seemed to have been utterly dispossessed. As I hoped and -expected, she made no reference to our conversation of the first -evening. Sangree bothered her with no special attentions, and after all -they were very little together. His behaviour was perfect in that -respect, and I, for my part, hardly gave the matter another thought. -Joan was ever a prey to vivid fancies of one kind or another, and this -was one of them. Mercifully for the happiness of all concerned, it had -melted away before the spirit of busy, active life and deep content -that reigned over the island. Every one was intensely alive, and peace -was upon all.</p> - -<br><hr style="width: 45%;"><br> - -<p>Meanwhile the effect of the camp-life began to tell. Always a searching -test of character, its results, sooner or later, are infallible, for it -acts upon the soul as swiftly and surely as the hypo bath upon the -negative of a photograph. A readjustment of the personal forces takes -place quickly; some parts of the personality go to sleep, others wake -up: but the first sweeping change that the primitive life brings about -is that the artificial portions of the character shed themselves one -after another like dead skins. Attitudes and poses that seemed genuine -in the city drop away. The mind, like the body, grows quickly hard, -simple, uncomplex. And in a camp as primitive and close to nature as -ours was, these effects became speedily visible.</p> - -<p>Some folk, of course, who talk glibly about the simple life when it is -safely out of reach, betray themselves in camp by for ever peering about -for the artificial excitements of civilisation which they miss. Some get -bored at once; some grow slovenly; some reveal the animal in most -unexpected fashion; and some, the select few, find themselves in very -short order and are happy.</p> - -<p>And, in our little party, we could flatter ourselves that we all -belonged to the last category, so far as the general effect was -concerned. Only there were certain other changes as well, varying with -each individual, and all interesting to note.</p> - -<p>It was only after the first week or two that these changes became -marked, although this is the proper place, I think, to speak of them. -For, having myself no other duty than to enjoy a well-earned holiday, I -used to load my canoe with blankets and provisions and journey forth on -exploration trips among the islands of several days together; and it was -on my return from the first of these—when I rediscovered the party, so -to speak—that these changes first presented themselves vividly to me, -and in one particular instance produced a rather curious impression.</p> - -<p>In a word, then, while every one had grown wilder, naturally wilder, -Sangree, it seemed to me, had grown much wilder, and what I can only -call unnaturally wilder. He made me think of a savage.</p> - -<p>To begin with, he had changed immensely in mere physical appearance, and -the full brown cheeks, the brighter eyes of absolute health, and the -general air of vigour and robustness that had come to replace his -customary lassitude and timidity, had worked such an improvement that I -hardly knew him for the same man. His voice, too, was deeper and his -manner bespoke for the first time a greater measure of confidence in -himself. He now had some claims to be called nice-looking, or at least -to a certain air of virility that would not lessen his value in the eyes -of the opposite sex.</p> - -<p>All this, of course, was natural enough, and most welcome. But, -altogether apart from this physical change, which no doubt had also been -going forward in the rest of us, there was a subtle note in his -personality that came to me with a degree of surprise that almost -amounted to shock.</p> - -<p>And two things—as he came down to welcome me and pull up the -canoe—leaped up in my mind unbidden, as though connected in some way I -could not at the moment divine—first, the curious judgment formed of -him by Joan; and secondly, that fugitive expression I had caught in his -face while Maloney was offering up his strange prayer for special -protection from Heaven.</p> - -<p>The delicacy of manner and feature—to call it by no milder term—which -had always been a distinguishing characteristic of the man, had been -replaced by something far more vigorous and decided, that yet utterly -eluded analysis. The change which impressed me so oddly was not easy to -name. The others—singing Maloney, the bustling Bo'sun's Mate, and Joan, -that fascinating half-breed of undine and salamander—all showed the -effects of a life so close to nature; but in their case the change was -perfectly natural and what was to be expected, whereas with Peter -Sangree, the Canadian, it was something unusual and unexpected.</p> - -<p>It is impossible to explain how he managed gradually to convey to my -mind the impression that something in him had turned savage, yet this, -more or less, is the impression that he did convey. It was not that he -seemed really less civilised, or that his character had undergone any -definite alteration, but rather that something in him, hitherto dormant, -had awakened to life. Some quality, latent till now—so far, at least, -as we were concerned, who, after all, knew him but slightly—had stirred -into activity and risen to the surface of his being.</p> - -<p>And while, for the moment, this seemed as far as I could get, it was but -natural that my mind should continue the intuitive process and -acknowledge that John Silence, owing to his peculiar faculties, and the -girl, owing to her singularly receptive temperament, might each in a -different way have divined this latent quality in his soul, and feared -its manifestation later.</p> - -<p>On looking back to this painful adventure, too, it now seems equally -natural that the same process, carried to its logical conclusion, should -have wakened some deep instinct in me that, wholly without direction -from my will, set itself sharply and persistently upon the watch from -that very moment. Thenceforward the personality of Sangree was never -far from my thoughts, and I was for ever analysing and searching for the -explanation that took so long in coming.</p> - -<p>"I declare, Hubbard, you're tanned like an aboriginal, and you look like -one, too," laughed Maloney.</p> - -<p>"And I can return the compliment," was my reply, as we all gathered -round a brew of tea to exchange news and compare notes.</p> - -<p>And later, at supper, it amused me to observe that the distinguished -tutor, once clergyman, did not eat his food quite as "nicely" as he did -at home—he devoured it; that Mrs. Maloney ate more, and, to say the -least, with less delay, than was her custom in the select atmosphere of -her English dining-room; and that while Joan attacked her tin plateful -with genuine avidity, Sangree, the Canadian, bit and gnawed at his, -laughing and talking and complimenting the cook all the while, and -making me think with secret amusement of a starved animal at its first -meal. While, from their remarks about myself, I judged that I had -changed and grown wild as much as the rest of them.</p> - -<p>In this and in a hundred other little ways the change showed, ways -difficult to define in detail, but all proving—not the coarsening -effect of leading the primitive life, but, let us say, the more direct -and unvarnished methods that became prevalent. For all day long we were -in the bath of the elements—wind, water, sun—and just as the body -became insensible to cold and shed unnecessary clothing, the mind grew -straightforward and shed many of the disguises required by the -conventions of civilisation.</p> - -<p>And in each, according to temperament and character, there stirred the -life-instincts that were natural, untamed, and, in a sense—savage.</p> -<br> - -<p>III</p> - -<p>So it came about that I stayed with our island party, putting off my -second exploring trip from day to day, and I think that this far-fetched -instinct to watch Sangree was really the cause of my postponement.</p> - -<p>For another ten days the life of the Camp pursued its even and -delightful way, blessed by perfect summer weather, a good harvest of -fish, fine winds for sailing, and calm, starry nights. Maloney's selfish -prayer had been favourably received. Nothing came to disturb or perplex. -There was not even the prowling of night animals to vex the rest of Mrs. -Maloney; for in previous camps it had often been her peculiar affliction -that she heard the porcupines scratching against the canvas, or the -squirrels dropping fir-cones in the early morning with a sound of -miniature thunder upon the roof of her tent. But on this island there -was not even a squirrel or a mouse. I think two toads and a small and -harmless snake were the only living creatures that had been discovered -during the whole of the first fortnight. And these two toads in all -probability were not two toads, but one toad.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly, came the terror that changed the whole aspect of the -place—the devastating terror.</p> - -<p>It came, at first, gently, but from the very start it made me realise -the unpleasant loneliness of our situation, our remote isolation in this -wilderness of sea and rock, and how the islands in this tideless Baltic -ocean lay about us like the advance guard of a vast besieging army. Its -entry, as I say, was gentle, hardly noticeable, in fact, to most of us: -singularly undramatic it certainly was. But, then, in actual life this -is often the way the dreadful climaxes move upon us, leaving the heart -undisturbed almost to the last minute, and then overwhelming it with a -sudden rush of horror. For it was the custom at breakfast to listen -patiently while each in turn related the trivial adventures of the -night—how they slept, whether the wind shook their tent, whether the -spider on the ridge pole had moved, whether they had heard the toad, and -so forth—and on this particular morning Joan, in the middle of a little -pause, made a truly novel announcement:</p> - -<p>"In the night I heard the howling of a dog," she said, and then flushed -up to the roots of her hair when we burst out laughing. For the idea of -there being a dog on this forsaken island that was only able to support -a snake and two toads was distinctly ludicrous, and I remember Maloney, -half-way through his burnt porridge, capping the announcement by -declaring that he had heard a "Baltic turtle" in the lagoon, and his -wife's expression of frantic alarm before the laughter undeceived her.</p> - -<p>But the next morning Joan repeated the story with additional and -convincing detail.</p> - -<p>"Sounds of whining and growling woke me," she said, "and I distinctly -heard sniffing under my tent, and the scratching of paws."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Timothy! Can it be a porcupine?" exclaimed the Bo'sun's Mate with -distress, forgetting that Sweden was not Canada.</p> - -<p>But the girl's voice had sounded to me in quite another key, and looking -up I saw that her father and Sangree were staring at her hard. They, -too, understood that she was in earnest, and had been struck by the -serious note in her voice.</p> - -<p>"Rubbish, Joan! You are always dreaming something or other wild," her -father said a little impatiently.</p> - -<p>"There's not an animal of any size on the whole island," added Sangree -with a puzzled expression. He never took his eyes from her face.</p> - -<p>"But there's nothing to prevent one swimming over," I put in briskly, -for somehow a sense of uneasiness that was not pleasant had woven itself -into the talk and pauses. "A deer, for instance, might easily land in -the night and take a look round—"</p> - -<p>"Or a bear!" gasped the Bo'sun's Mate, with a look so portentous that we -all welcomed the laugh.</p> - -<p>But Joan did not laugh. Instead, she sprang up and called to us to -follow.</p> - -<p>"There," she said, pointing to the ground by her tent on the side farthest -from her mother's; "there are the marks close to my head. You can -see for yourselves."</p> - -<p>We saw plainly. The moss and lichen—for earth there was hardly any—had -been scratched up by paws. An animal about the size of a large dog it -must have been, to judge by the marks. We stood and stared in a row.</p> - -<p>"Close to my head," repeated the girl, looking round at us. Her face, I -noticed, was very pale, and her lip seemed to quiver for an instant. -Then she gave a sudden gulp—and burst into a flood of tears.</p> - -<p>The whole thing had come about in the brief space of a few minutes, and -with a curious sense of inevitableness, moreover, as though it had all -been carefully planned from all time and nothing could have stopped it. -It had all been rehearsed before—had actually happened before, as the -strange feeling sometimes has it; it seemed like the opening movement in -some ominous drama, and that I knew exactly what would happen next. -Something of great moment was impending.</p> - -<p>For this sinister sensation of coming disaster made itself felt from the -very beginning, and an atmosphere of gloom and dismay pervaded the -entire Camp from that moment forward.</p> - -<p>I drew Sangree to one side and moved away, while Maloney took the -distressed girl into her tent, and his wife followed them, energetic and -greatly flustered.</p> - -<p>For thus, in undramatic fashion, it was that the terror I have spoken of -first attempted the invasion of our Camp, and, trivial and unimportant -though it seemed, every little detail of this opening scene is -photographed upon my mind with merciless accuracy and precision. It -happened exactly as described. This was exactly the language used. I see -it written before me in black and white. I see, too, the faces of all -concerned with the sudden ugly signature of alarm where before had been -peace. The terror had stretched out, so to speak, a first tentative -feeler toward us and had touched the hearts of each with a horrid -directness. And from this moment the Camp changed.</p> - -<p>Sangree in particular was visibly upset. He could not bear to see the -girl distressed, and to hear her actually cry was almost more than he -could stand. The feeling that he had no right to protect her hurt him -keenly, and I could see that he was itching to do something to help, and -liked him for it. His expression said plainly that he would tear in a -thousand pieces anything that dared to injure a hair of her head.</p> - -<p>We lit our pipes and strolled over in silence to the men's quarters, and -it was his odd Canadian expression "Gee whiz!" that drew my attention to -a further discovery.</p> - -<p>"The brute's been scratching round my tent too," he cried, as he pointed -to similar marks by the door and I stooped down to examine them. We both -stared in amazement for several minutes without speaking.</p> - -<p>"Only I sleep like the dead," he added, straightening up again, "and so -heard nothing, I suppose."</p> - -<p>We traced the paw-marks from the mouth of his tent in a direct line -across to the girl's, but nowhere else about the Camp was there a sign -of the strange visitor. The deer, dog, or whatever it was that had twice -favoured us with a visit in the night, had confined its attentions to -these two tents. And, after all, there was really nothing out of the way -about these visits of an unknown animal, for although our own island was -destitute of life, we were in the heart of a wilderness, and the -mainland and larger islands must be swarming with all kinds of -four-footed creatures, and no very prolonged swimming was necessary to -reach us. In any other country it would not have caused a moment's -interest—interest of the kind we felt, that is. In our Canadian camps -the bears were for ever grunting about among the provision bags at -night, porcupines scratching unceasingly, and chipmunks scuttling over -everything.</p> - -<p>"My daughter is overtired, and that's the truth of it," explained -Maloney presently when he rejoined us and had examined in turn the other -paw-marks. "She's been overdoing it lately, and camp-life, you know, -always means a great excitement to her. It's natural enough, if we take -no notice she'll be all right." He paused to borrow my tobacco pouch and -fill his pipe, and the blundering way he filled it and spilled the -precious weed on the ground visibly belied the calm of his easy -language. "You might take her out for a bit of fishing, Hubbard, like a -good chap; she's hardly up to the long day in the cutter. Show her some -of the other islands in your canoe, perhaps. Eh?"</p> - -<p>And by lunch-time the cloud had passed away as suddenly, and as -suspiciously, as it had come.</p> - -<p>But in the canoe, on our way home, having till then purposely ignored -the subject uppermost in our minds, she suddenly spoke to me in a way -that again touched the note of sinister alarm—the note that kept on -sounding and sounding until finally John Silence came with his great -vibrating presence and relieved it; yes, and even after he came, too, -for a while.</p> - -<p>"I'm ashamed to ask it," she said abruptly, as she steered me home, her -sleeves rolled up, her hair blowing in the wind, "and ashamed of my -silly tears too, because I really can't make out what caused them; but, -Mr. Hubbard, I want you to promise me not to go off for your long -expeditions—just yet. I beg it of you." She was so in earnest that she -forgot the canoe, and the wind caught it sideways and made us roll -dangerously. "I have tried hard not to ask this," she added, bringing -the canoe round again, "but I simply can't help myself."</p> - -<p>It was a good deal to ask, and I suppose my hesitation was plain; for -she went on before I could reply, and her beseeching expression and -intensity of manner impressed me very forcibly.</p> - -<p>"For another two weeks only—"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sangree leaves in a fortnight," I said, seeing at once what she was -driving at, but wondering if it was best to encourage her or not.</p> - -<p>"If I knew you were to be on the island till then," she said, her face -alternately pale and blushing, and her voice trembling a little, "I -should feel so much happier."</p> - -<p>I looked at her steadily, waiting for her to finish.</p> - -<p>"And safer," she added almost in a whisper; "especially—at night, I -mean."</p> - -<p>"Safer, Joan?" I repeated, thinking I had never seen her eyes so soft -and tender. She nodded her head, keeping her gaze fixed on my face.</p> - -<p>It was really difficult to refuse, whatever my thoughts and judgment may -have been, and somehow I understood that she spoke with good reason, -though for the life of me I could not have put it into words.</p> - -<p>"Happier—and safer," she said gravely, the canoe giving a dangerous -lurch as she leaned forward in her seat to catch my answer. Perhaps, -after all, the wisest way was to grant her request and make light of it, -easing her anxiety without too much encouraging its cause.</p> - -<p>"All right, Joan, you queer creature; I promise," and the instant look -of relief in her face, and the smile that came back like sunlight to her -eyes, made me feel that, unknown to myself and the world, I was capable -of considerable sacrifice after all.</p> - -<p>"But, you know, there's nothing to be afraid of," I added sharply; and -she looked up in my face with the smile women use when they know we are -talking idly, yet do not wish to tell us so.</p> - -<p>"<i>You</i> don't feel afraid, I know," she observed quietly.</p> - -<p>"Of course not; why should I?"</p> - -<p>"So, if you will just humour me this once I—I will never ask anything -foolish of you again as long as I live," she said gratefully.</p> - -<p>"You have my promise," was all I could find to say.</p> - -<p>She headed the nose of the canoe for the lagoon lying a quarter of a -mile ahead, and paddled swiftly; but a minute or two later she paused -again and stared hard at me with the dripping paddle across the thwarts.</p> - -<p>"You've not heard anything at night yourself, have you?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I never hear anything at night," I replied shortly, "from the moment I -lie down till the moment I get up."</p> - -<p>"That dismal howling, for instance," she went on, determined to get it -out, "far away at first and then getting closer, and stopping just -outside the Camp?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly not."</p> - -<p>"Because, sometimes I think I almost dreamed it."</p> - -<p>"Most likely you did," was my unsympathetic response.</p> - -<p>"And you don't think father has heard it either, then?"</p> - -<p>"No. He would have told me if he had."</p> - -<p>This seemed to relieve her mind a little. "I know mother hasn't," she -added, as if speaking to herself, "for she hears nothing—ever."</p> - -<br><hr style="width: 45%;"><br> - -<p>It was two nights after this conversation that I woke out of deep sleep -and heard sounds of screaming. The voice was really horrible, breaking -the peace and silence with its shrill clamour. In less than ten seconds -I was half dressed and out of my tent. The screaming had stopped -abruptly, but I knew the general direction, and ran as fast as the -darkness would allow over to the women's quarters, and on getting close -I heard sounds of suppressed weeping. It was Joan's voice. And just as I -came up I saw Mrs. Maloney, marvellously attired, fumbling with a -lantern. Other voices became audible in the same moment behind me, and -Timothy Maloney arrived, breathless, less than half dressed, and -carrying another lantern that had gone out on the way from being banged -against a tree. Dawn was just breaking, and a chill wind blew in from -the sea. Heavy black clouds drove low overhead.</p> - -<p>The scene of confusion may be better imagined than described. Questions -in frightened voices filled the air against this background of -suppressed weeping. Briefly—Joan's silk tent had been torn, and the -girl was in a state bordering upon hysterics. Somewhat reassured by our -noisy presence, however,—for she was plucky at heart,—she pulled -herself together and tried to explain what had happened; and her broken -words, told there on the edge of night and morning upon this wild island -ridge, were oddly thrilling and distressingly convincing.</p> - -<p>"Something touched me and I woke," she said simply, but in a voice -still hushed and broken with the terror of it, "something pushing -against the tent; I felt it through the canvas. There was the same -sniffing and scratching as before, and I felt the tent give a little as -when wind shakes it. I heard breathing—very loud, very heavy -breathing—and then came a sudden great tearing blow, and the canvas -ripped open close to my face."</p> - -<p>She had instantly dashed out through the open flap and screamed at the -top of her voice, thinking the creature had actually got into the tent. -But nothing was visible, she declared, and she heard not the faintest -sound of an animal making off under cover of the darkness. The brief -account seemed to exercise a paralysing effect upon us all as we -listened to it. I can see the dishevelled group to this day, the wind -blowing the women's hair, and Maloney craning his head forward to -listen, and his wife, open-mouthed and gasping, leaning against a pine -tree.</p> - -<p>"Come over to the stockade and we'll get the fire going," I said; -"that's the first thing," for we were all shaking with the cold in our -scanty garments. And at that moment Sangree arrived wrapped in a blanket -and carrying his gun; he was still drunken with sleep.</p> - -<p>"The dog again," Maloney explained briefly, forestalling his questions; -"been at Joan's tent. Torn it, by Gad! this time. It's time we did -something." He went on mumbling confusedly to himself.</p> - -<p>Sangree gripped his gun and looked about swiftly in the darkness. I saw -his eyes aflame in the glare of the flickering lanterns. He made a -movement as though to start out and hunt—and kill. Then his glance fell -on the girl crouching on the ground, her face hidden in her hands, and -there leaped into his features an expression of savage anger that -transformed them. He could have faced a dozen lions with a walking stick -at that moment, and again I liked him for the strength of his anger, his -self-control, and his hopeless devotion.</p> - -<p>But I stopped him going off on a blind and useless chase.</p> - -<p>"Come and help me start the fire, Sangree," I said, anxious also to -relieve the girl of our presence; and a few minutes later the ashes, -still growing from the night's fire, had kindled the fresh wood, and -there was a blaze that warmed us well while it also lit up the -surrounding trees within a radius of twenty yards.</p> - -<p>"I heard nothing," he whispered; "what in the world do you think it is? -It surely can't be only a dog!"</p> - -<p>"We'll find that out later," I said, as the others came up to the -grateful warmth; "the first thing is to make as big a fire as we can."</p> - -<p>Joan was calmer now, and her mother had put on some warmer, and less -miraculous, garments. And while they stood talking in low voices -Maloney and I slipped off to examine the tent. There was little enough -to see, but that little was unmistakable. Some animal had scratched up -the ground at the head of the tent, and with a great blow of a powerful -paw—a paw clearly provided with good claws—had struck the silk and -torn it open. There was a hole large enough to pass a fist and arm -through.</p> - -<p>"It can't be far away," Maloney said excitedly. "We'll organise a hunt -at once; this very minute."</p> - -<p>We hurried back to the fire, Maloney talking boisterously about his -proposed hunt. "There's nothing like prompt action to dispel alarm," he -whispered in my ear; and then turned to the rest of us.</p> - -<p>"We'll hunt the island from end to end at once," he said, with -excitement; "that's what we'll do. The beast can't be far away. And the -Bo'sun's Mate and Joan must come too, because they can't be left alone. -Hubbard, you take the right shore, and you, Sangree, the left, and I'll -go in the middle with the women. In this way we can stretch clean across -the ridge, and nothing bigger than a rabbit can possibly escape us." He -was extraordinarily excited, I thought. Anything affecting Joan, of -course, stirred him prodigiously. "Get your guns and we'll start the -drive at once," he cried. He lit another lantern and handed one each to -his wife and Joan, and while I ran to fetch my gun I heard him singing -to himself with the excitement of it all.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the dawn had come on quickly. It made the flickering lanterns -look pale. The wind, too, was rising, and I heard the trees moaning -overhead and the waves breaking with increasing clamour on the shore. In -the lagoon the boat dipped and splashed, and the sparks from the fire -were carried aloft in a stream and scattered far and wide.</p> - -<p>We made our way to the extreme end of the island, measured our distances -carefully, and then began to advance. None of us spoke. Sangree and I, -with cocked guns, watched the shore lines, and all within easy touch and -speaking distance. It was a slow and blundering drive, and there were -many false alarms, but after the best part of half an hour we stood on -the farther end, having made the complete tour, and without putting up -so much as a squirrel. Certainly there was no living creature on that -island but ourselves.</p> - -<p>"I know what it is!" cried Maloney, looking out over the dim expanse of -grey sea, and speaking with the air of a man making a discovery; "it's a -dog from one of the farms on the larger islands"—he pointed seawards -where the archipelago thickened—"and it's escaped and turned wild. Our -fires and voices attracted it, and it's probably half starved as well as -savage, poor brute!"</p> - -<p>No one said anything in reply, and he began to sing again very low to -himself.</p> - -<p>The point where we stood—a huddled, shivering group—faced the wider -channels that led to the open sea and Finland. The grey dawn had broken -in earnest at last, and we could see the racing waves with their angry -crests of white. The surrounding islands showed up as dark masses in the -distance, and in the east, almost as Maloney spoke, the sun came up with -a rush in a stormy and magnificent sky of red and gold. Against this -splashed and gorgeous background black clouds, shaped like fantastic and -legendary animals, filed past swiftly in a tearing stream, and to this -day I have only to close my eyes to see again that vivid and hurrying -procession in the air. All about us the pines made black splashes -against the sky. It was an angry sunrise. Rain, indeed, had already -begun to fall in big drops.</p> - -<p>We turned, as by a common instinct, and, without speech, made our way -back slowly to the stockade, Maloney humming snatches of his songs, -Sangree in front with his gun, prepared to shoot at a moment's notice, -and the women floundering in the rear with myself and the extinguished -lanterns.</p> - -<p>Yet it was only a dog!</p> - -<p>Really, it was most singular when one came to reflect soberly upon it -all. Events, say the occultists, have souls, or at least that -agglomerate life due to the emotions and thoughts of all concerned in -them, so that cities, and even whole countries, have great astral shapes -which may become visible to the eye of vision; and certainly here, the -soul of this drive—this vain, blundering, futile drive—stood somewhere -between ourselves and—laughed.</p> - -<p>All of us heard that laugh, and all of us tried hard to smother the -sound, or at least to ignore it. Every one talked at once, loudly, and -with exaggerated decision, obviously trying to say something plausible -against heavy odds, striving to explain naturally that an animal might -so easily conceal itself from us, or swim away before we had time to -light upon its trail. For we all spoke of that "trail" as though it -really existed, and we had more to go upon than the mere marks of paws -about the tents of Joan and the Canadian. Indeed, but for these, and the -torn tent, I think it would, of course, have been possible to ignore the -existence of this beast intruder altogether.</p> - -<p>And it was here, under this angry dawn, as we stood in the shelter of -the stockade from the pouring rain, weary yet so strangely excited—it -was here, out of this confusion of voices and explanations, that—very -stealthily—the ghost of something horrible slipped in and stood among -us. It made all our explanations seem childish and untrue; the false -relation was instantly exposed. Eyes exchanged quick, anxious glances, -questioning, expressive of dismay. There was a sense of wonder, of -poignant distress, and of trepidation. Alarm stood waiting at our -elbows. We shivered.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly, as we looked into each other's faces, came the long, -unwelcome pause in which this new arrival established itself in our -hearts.</p> - -<p>And, without further speech, or attempt at explanation, Maloney moved -off abruptly to mix the porridge for an early breakfast; Sangree to -clean the fish; myself to chop wood and tend the fire; Joan and her -mother to change their wet garments; and, most significant of all, to -prepare her mother's tent for its future complement of two.</p> - -<p>Each went to his duty, but hurriedly, awkwardly, silently; and this new -arrival, this shape of terror and distress stalked, viewless, by the -side of each.</p> - -<p>"If only I could have traced that dog," I think was the thought in the -minds of all.</p> - -<p>But in Camp, where every one realises how important the individual -contribution is to the comfort and well-being of all, the mind speedily -recovers tone and pulls itself together.</p> - -<p>During the day, a day of heavy and ceaseless rain, we kept more or less -to our tents, and though there were signs of mysterious conferences -between the three members of the Maloney family, I think that most of us -slept a good deal and stayed alone with his thoughts. Certainly, I did, -because when Maloney came to say that his wife invited us all to a -special "tea" in her tent, he had to shake me awake before I realised -that he was there at all.</p> - -<p>And by supper-time we were more or less even-minded again, and almost -jolly. I only noticed that there was an undercurrent of what is best -described as "jumpiness," and that the merest snapping of a twig, or -plop of a fish in the lagoon, was sufficient to make us start and look -over our shoulders. Pauses were rare in our talk, and the fire was never -for one instant allowed to get low. The wind and rain had ceased, but -the dripping of the branches still kept up an excellent imitation of a -downpour. In particular, Maloney was vigilant and alert, telling us a -series of tales in which the wholesome humorous element was especially -strong. He lingered, too, behind with me after Sangree had gone to bed, -and while I mixed myself a glass of hot Swedish punch, he did a thing I -had never known him do before—he mixed one for himself, and then asked -me to light him over to his tent. We said nothing on the way, but I felt -that he was glad of my companionship.</p> - -<p>I returned alone to the stockade, and for a long time after that kept -the fire blazing, and sat up smoking and thinking. I hardly knew why; -but sleep was far from me for one thing, and for another, an idea was -taking form in my mind that required the comfort of tobacco and a -bright fire for its growth. I lay against a corner of the stockade -seat, listening to the wind whispering and to the ceaseless drip-drip of -the trees. The night, otherwise, was very still, and the sea quiet as a -lake. I remember that I was conscious, peculiarly conscious, of this -host of desolate islands crowding about us in the darkness, and that we -were the one little spot of humanity in a rather wonderful kind of -wilderness.</p> - -<p>But this, I think, was the only symptom that came to warn me of highly -strung nerves, and it certainly was not sufficiently alarming to destroy -my peace of mind. One thing, however, did come to disturb my peace, for -just as I finally made ready to go, and had kicked the embers of the -fire into a last effort, I fancied I saw, peering at me round the -farther end of the stockade wall, a dark and shadowy mass that might -have been—that strongly resembled, in fact—the body of a large animal. -Two glowing eyes shone for an instant in the middle of it. But the next -second I saw that it was merely a projecting mass of moss and lichen in -the wall of our stockade, and the eyes were a couple of wandering sparks -from the dying ashes I had kicked. It was easy enough, too, to imagine I -saw an animal moving here and there between the trees, as I picked my -way stealthily to my tent. Of course, the shadows tricked me.</p> - -<p>And though it was after one o'clock, Maloney's light was still burning, -for I saw his tent shining white among the pines.</p> - -<p>It was, however, in the short space between consciousness and -sleep—that time when the body is low and the voices of the submerged -region tell sometimes true—that the idea which had been all this while -maturing reached the point of an actual decision, and I suddenly -realised that I had resolved to send word to Dr. Silence. For, with a -sudden wonder that I had hitherto been so blind, the unwelcome -conviction dawned upon me all at once that some dreadful thing was -lurking about us on this island, and that the safety of at least one of -us was threatened by something monstrous and unclean that was too -horrible to contemplate. And, again remembering those last words of his -as the train moved out of the platform, I understood that Dr. Silence -would hold himself in readiness to come.</p> - -<p>"Unless you should send for me sooner," he had said.</p> - -<br><hr style="width: 45%;"><br> - -<p>I found myself suddenly wide awake. It is impossible to say what woke -me, but it was no gradual process, seeing that I jumped from deep sleep -to absolute alertness in a single instant. I had evidently slept for an -hour and more, for the night had cleared, stars crowded the sky, and a -pallid half-moon just sinking into the sea threw a spectral light -between the trees.</p> - -<p>I went outside to sniff the air, and stood upright. A curious -impression that something was astir in the Camp came over me, and when I -glanced across at Sangree's tent, some twenty feet away, I saw that it -was moving. He too, then, was awake and restless, for I saw the canvas -sides bulge this way and that as he moved within.</p> - -<p>The flap pushed forward. He was coming out, like myself, to sniff -the air; and I was not surprised, for its sweetness after the rain was -intoxicating. And he came on all fours, just as I had done. I saw a head -thrust round the edge of the tent.</p> - -<p>And then I saw that it was not Sangree at all. It was an animal. And the -same instant I realised something else too—it was <i>the</i> animal; and its -whole presentment for some unaccountable reason was unutterably malefic.</p> - -<p>A cry I was quite unable to suppress escaped me, and the creature turned -on the instant and stared at me with baleful eyes. I could have dropped -on the spot, for the strength all ran out of my body with a rush. -Something about it touched in me the living terror that grips and -paralyses. If the mind requires but the tenth of a second to form an -impression, I must have stood there stockstill for several seconds while -I seized the ropes for support and stared. Many and vivid impressions -flashed through my mind, but not one of them resulted in action, because -I was in instant dread that the beast any moment would leap in my -direction and be upon me. Instead, however, after what seemed a vast -period, it slowly turned its eyes from my face, uttered a low whining -sound, and came out altogether into the open.</p> - -<p>Then, for the first time, I saw it in its entirety and noted two things: -it was about the size of a large dog, but at the same time it was -utterly unlike any animal that I had ever seen. Also, that the quality -that had impressed me first as being malefic was really only its -singular and original strangeness. Foolish as it may sound, and -impossible as it is for me to adduce proof, I can only say that the -animal seemed to me then to be—not real.</p> - -<p>But all this passed through my mind in a flash, almost subconsciously, -and before I had time to check my impressions, or even properly verify -them, I made an involuntary movement, catching the tight rope in my hand -so that it twanged like a banjo string, and in that instant the creature -turned the corner of Sangree's tent and was gone into the darkness.</p> - -<p>Then, of course, my senses in some measure returned to me, and I -realised only one thing: it had been inside his tent!</p> - -<p>I dashed out, reached the door in half a dozen strides, and looked in. -The Canadian, thank God! lay upon his bed of branches. His arm was -stretched outside, across the blankets, the fist tightly clenched, and -the body had an appearance of unusual rigidity that was alarming. On his -face there was an expression of effort, almost of painful effort, so far -as the uncertain light permitted me to see, and his sleep seemed to be -very profound. He looked, I thought, so stiff, so unnaturally stiff, and -in some indefinable way, too, he looked smaller—shrunken.</p> - -<p>I called to him to wake, but called many times in vain. Then I decided -to shake him, and had already moved forward to do so vigorously when -there came a sound of footsteps padding softly behind me, and I felt a -stream of hot breath burn my neck as I stooped. I turned sharply. The -tent door was darkened and something silently swept in. I felt a rough -and shaggy body push past me, and knew that the animal had returned. It -seemed to leap forward between me and Sangree—in fact, to leap upon -Sangree, for its dark body hid him momentarily from view, and in that -moment my soul turned sick and coward with a horror that rose from the -very dregs and depths of life, and gripped my existence at its central -source.</p> - -<p>The creature seemed somehow to melt away into him, almost as though it -belonged to him and were a part of himself, but in the same -instant—that instant of extraordinary confusion and terror in my -mind—it seemed to pass over and behind him, and, in some utterly -unaccountable fashion, it was gone. And the Canadian woke and sat up -with a start.</p> - -<p>"Quick! You fool!" I cried, in my excitement, "the beast has been in -your tent, here at your very throat while you sleep like the dead. Up, -man! Get your gun! Only this second it disappeared over there behind -your head. Quick! or Joan—!"</p> - -<p>And somehow the fact that he was there, wide-awake now, to corroborate -me, brought the additional conviction to my own mind that this was no -animal, but some perplexing and dreadful form of life that drew upon my -deeper knowledge, that much reading had perhaps assented to, but that -had never yet come within actual range of my senses.</p> - -<p>He was up in a flash, and out. He was trembling, and very white. We -searched hurriedly, feverishly, but found only the traces of paw-marks -passing from the door of his own tent across the moss to the women's. -And the sight of the tracks about Mrs. Maloney's tent, where Joan now -slept, set him in a perfect fury.</p> - -<p>"Do you know what it is, Hubbard, this beast?" he hissed under his -breath at me; "it's a damned wolf, that's what it is—a wolf lost among -the islands, and starving to death—desperate. So help me God, I believe -it's that!"</p> - -<p>He talked a lot of rubbish in his excitement. He declared he would -sleep by day and sit up every night until he killed it. Again his rage -touched my admiration; but I got him away before he made enough noise to -wake the whole Camp.</p> - -<p>"I have a better plan than that," I said, watching his face closely. "I -don't think this is anything we can deal with. I'm going to send for the -only man I know who can help. We'll go to Waxholm this very morning and -get a telegram through."</p> - -<p>Sangree stared at me with a curious expression as the fury died out of -his face and a new look of alarm took its place.</p> - -<p>"John Silence," I said, "will know—"</p> - -<p>"You think it's something—of that sort?" he stammered.</p> - -<p>"I am sure of it."</p> - -<p>There was a moment's pause. "That's worse, far worse than anything -material," he said, turning visibly paler. He looked from my face to the -sky, and then added with sudden resolution, "Come; the wind's rising. -Let's get off at once. From there you can telephone to Stockholm and get -a telegram sent without delay."</p> - -<p>I sent him down to get the boat ready, and seized the opportunity myself -to run and wake Maloney. He was sleeping very lightly, and sprang up the -moment I put my head inside his tent. I told him briefly what I had -seen, and he showed so little surprise that I caught myself wondering -for the first time whether he himself had seen more going on than he had -deemed wise to communicate to the rest of us.</p> - -<p>He agreed to my plan without a moment's hesitation, and my last words to -him were to let his wife and daughter think that the great psychic -doctor was coming merely as a chance visitor, and not with any -professional interest.</p> - -<p>So, with frying-pan, provisions, and blankets aboard, Sangree and I -sailed out of the lagoon fifteen minutes later, and headed with a good -breeze for the direction of Waxholm and the borders of civilisation.</p> -<br> - -<p>IV</p> - -<p>Although nothing John Silence did ever took me, properly speaking, by -surprise, it was certainly unexpected to find a letter from Stockholm -waiting for me. "I have finished my Hungary business," he wrote, "and am -here for ten days. Do not hesitate to send if you need me. If you -telephone any morning from Waxholm I can catch the afternoon steamer."</p> - -<p>My years of intercourse with him were full of "coincidences" of this -description, and although he never sought to explain them by claiming -any magical system of communication with my mind, I have never doubted -that there actually existed some secret telepathic method by which he -knew my circumstances and gauged the degree of my need. And that this -power was independent of time in the sense that it saw into the future, -always seemed to me equally apparent.</p> - -<p>Sangree was as much relieved as I was, and within an hour of sunset that -very evening we met him on the arrival of the little coasting steamer, -and carried him off in the dinghy to the camp we had prepared on a -neighbouring island, meaning to start for home early next morning.</p> - -<p>"Now," he said, when supper was over and we were smoking round the fire, -"let me hear your story." He glanced from one to the other, smiling.</p> - -<p>"You tell it, Mr. Hubbard," Sangree interrupted abruptly, and went off a -little way to wash the dishes, yet not so far as to be out of earshot. -And while he splashed with the hot water, and scraped the tin plates -with sand and moss, my voice, unbroken by a single question from Dr. -Silence, ran on for the next half-hour with the best account I could -give of what had happened.</p> - -<p>My listener lay on the other side of the fire, his face half hidden by a -big sombrero; sometimes he glanced up questioningly when a point needed -elaboration, but he uttered no single word till I had reached the end, -and his manner all through the recital was grave and attentive. -Overhead, the wash of the wind in the pine branches filled in the -pauses; the darkness settled down over the sea, and the stars came out -in thousands, and by the time I finished the moon had risen to flood the -scene with silver. Yet, by his face and eyes, I knew quite well that the -doctor was listening to something he had expected to hear, even if he -had not actually anticipated all the details.</p> - -<p>"You did well to send for me," he said very low, with a significant -glance at me when I finished; "very well,"—and for one swift second his -eye took in Sangree,—"for what we have to deal with here is nothing -more than a werewolf—rare enough, I am glad to say, but often very sad, -and sometimes very terrible."</p> - -<p>I jumped as though I had been shot, but the next second was heartily -ashamed of my want of control; for this brief remark, confirming as it -did my own worst suspicions, did more to convince me of the gravity of -the adventure than any number of questions or explanations. It seemed to -draw close the circle about us, shutting a door somewhere that locked us -in with the animal and the horror, and turning the key. Whatever it was -had now to be faced and dealt with.</p> - -<p>"No one has been actually injured so far?" he asked aloud, but in a -matter-of-fact tone that lent reality to grim possibilities.</p> - -<p>"Good heavens, no!" cried the Canadian, throwing down his dishcloths -and coming forward into the circle of firelight. "Surely there can be no -question of this poor starved beast injuring anybody, can there?"</p> - -<p>His hair straggled untidily over his forehead, and there was a gleam in -his eyes that was not all reflection from the fire. His words made me -turn sharply. We all laughed a little short, forced laugh.</p> - -<p>"I trust not, indeed," Dr. Silence said quietly. "But what makes you -think the creature is starved?" He asked the question with his eyes -straight on the other's face. The prompt question explained to me why I -had started, and I waited with just a tremor of excitement for the -reply.</p> - -<p>Sangree hesitated a moment, as though the question took him by surprise. -But he met the doctor's gaze unflinchingly across the fire, and with -complete honesty.</p> - -<p>"Really," he faltered, with a little shrug of the shoulders, "I can -hardly tell you. The phrase seemed to come out of its own accord. I have -felt from the beginning that it was in pain and—starved, though why I -felt this never occurred to me till you asked."</p> - -<p>"You really know very little about it, then?" said the other, with a -sudden gentleness in his voice.</p> - -<p>"No more than that," Sangree replied, looking at him with a puzzled -expression that was unmistakably genuine. "In fact, nothing at all, -really," he added, by way of further explanation.</p> - -<p>"I am glad of that," I heard the doctor murmur under his breath, but so -low that I only just caught the words, and Sangree missed them -altogether, as evidently he was meant to do.</p> - -<p>"And now," he cried, getting on his feet and shaking himself with a -characteristic gesture, as though to shake out the horror and the -mystery, "let us leave the problem till to-morrow and enjoy this wind -and sea and stars. I've been living lately in the atmosphere of many -people, and feel that I want to wash and be clean. I propose a swim and -then bed. Who'll second me?" And two minutes later we were all diving -from the boat into cool, deep water, that reflected a thousand moons as -the waves broke away from us in countless ripples.</p> - -<p>We slept in blankets under the open sky, Sangree and I taking the -outside places, and were up before sunrise to catch the dawn wind. -Helped by this early start we were half-way home by noon, and then the -wind shifted to a few points behind us so that we fairly ran. In and out -among a thousand islands, down narrow channels where we lost the wind, -out into open spaces where we had to take in a reef, racing along under -a hot and cloudless sky, we flew through the very heart of the -bewildering and lonely scenery.</p> - -<p>"A real wilderness," cried Dr. Silence from his seat in the bows where -he held the jib sheet. His hat was off, his hair tumbled in the wind, -and his lean brown face gave him the touch of an Oriental. Presently he -changed places with Sangree, and came down to talk with me by the -tiller.</p> - -<p>"A wonderful region, all this world of islands," he said, waving his -hand to the scenery rushing past us, "but doesn't it strike you there's -something lacking?"</p> - -<p>"It's—hard," I answered, after a moment's reflection. "It has a -superficial, glittering prettiness, without—" I hesitated to find the -word I wanted.</p> - -<p>John Silence nodded his head with approval.</p> - -<p>"Exactly," he said. "The picturesqueness of stage scenery that is not -real, not alive. It's like a landscape by a clever painter, yet without -true imagination. Soulless—that's the word you wanted."</p> - -<p>"Something like that," I answered, watching the gusts of wind on the -sails. "Not dead so much, as without soul. That's it."</p> - -<p>"Of course," he went on, in a voice calculated, it seemed to me, not to -reach our companion in the bows, "to live long in a place like -this—long and alone—might bring about a strange result in some men."</p> - -<p>I suddenly realised he was talking with a purpose and pricked up my -ears.</p> - -<p>"There's no life here. These islands are mere dead rocks pushed up from -below the sea—not living land; and there's nothing really alive on -them. Even the sea, this tideless, brackish sea, neither salt water nor -fresh, is dead. It's all a pretty image of life without the real heart -and soul of life. To a man with too strong desires who came here and -lived close to nature, strange things might happen."</p> - -<p>"Let her out a bit," I shouted to Sangree, who was coming aft. "The -wind's gusty and we've got hardly any ballast."</p> - -<p>He went back to the bows, and Dr. Silence continued—</p> - -<p>"Here, I mean, a long sojourn would lead to deterioration, to -degeneration. The place is utterly unsoftened by human influences, by -any humanising associations of history, good or bad. This landscape has -never awakened into life; it's still dreaming in its primitive sleep."</p> - -<p>"In time," I put in, "you mean a man living here might become brutal?"</p> - -<p>"The passions would run wild, selfishness become supreme, the instincts -coarsen and turn savage probably."</p> - -<p>"But—"</p> - -<p>"In other places just as wild, parts of Italy for instance, where there -are other moderating influences, it could not happen. The character -might grow wild, savage too in a sense, but with a human wildness one -could understand and deal with. But here, in a hard place like this, it -might be otherwise." He spoke slowly, weighing his words carefully.</p> - -<p>I looked at him with many questions in my eyes, and a precautionary cry -to Sangree to stay in the fore part of the boat, out of earshot.</p> - -<p>"First of all there would come callousness to pain, and indifference to -the rights of others. Then the soul would turn savage, not from -passionate human causes, or with enthusiasm, but by deadening down into -a kind of cold, primitive, emotionless savagery—by turning, like the -landscape, soulless."</p> - -<p>"And a man with strong desires, you say, might change?"</p> - -<p>"Without being aware of it, yes; he might turn savage, his instincts and -desires turn animal. And if"—he lowered his voice and turned for a -moment towards the bows, and then continued in his most weighty -manner—"owing to delicate health or other predisposing causes, his -Double—you know what I mean, of course—his etheric Body of Desire, or -astral body, as some term it—that part in which the emotions, passions -and desires reside—if this, I say, were for some constitutional reason -loosely joined to his physical organism, there might well take place an -occasional projection—"</p> - -<p>Sangree came aft with a sudden rush, his face aflame, but whether with -wind or sun, or with what he had heard, I cannot say. In my surprise I -let the tiller slip and the cutter gave a great plunge as she came -sharply into the wind and flung us all together in a heap on the bottom. -Sangree said nothing, but while he scrambled up and made the jib sheet -fast my companion found a moment to add to his unfinished sentence the -words, too low for any ear but mine—</p> - -<p>"Entirely unknown to himself, however."</p> - -<p>We righted the boat and laughed, and then Sangree produced the map and -explained exactly where we were. Far away on the horizon, across an open -stretch of water, lay a blue cluster of islands with our crescent-shaped -home among them and the safe anchorage of the lagoon. An hour with this -wind would get us there comfortably, and while Dr. Silence and Sangree -fell into conversation, I sat and pondered over the strange suggestions -that had just been put into my mind concerning the "Double," and the -possible form it might assume when dissociated temporarily from the -physical body.</p> - -<p>The whole way home these two chatted, and John Silence was as gentle and -sympathetic as a woman. I did not hear much of their talk, for the wind -grew occasionally to the force of a hurricane and the sails and tiller -absorbed my attention; but I could see that Sangree was pleased and -happy, and was pouring out intimate revelations to his companion in the -way that most people did—when John Silence wished them to do so.</p> - -<p>But it was quite suddenly, while I sat all intent upon wind and sails, -that the true meaning of Sangree's remark about the animal flared up in -me with its full import. For his admission that he knew it was in pain -and starved was in reality nothing more or less than a revelation of his -deeper self. It was in the nature of a confession. He was speaking of -something that he knew positively, something that was beyond question or -argument, something that had to do directly with himself. "Poor starved -beast" he had called it in words that had "come out of their own -accord," and there had not been the slightest evidence of any desire to -conceal or explain away. He had spoken instinctively—from his heart, -and as though about his own self.</p> - -<p>And half an hour before sunset we raced through the narrow opening of -the lagoon and saw the smoke of the dinner-fire blowing here and there -among the trees, and the figures of Joan and the Bo'sun's Mate running -down to meet us at the landing-stage.</p> -<br> - -<p>V</p> - -<p>Everything changed from the moment John Silence set foot on that island; -it was like the effect produced by calling in some big doctor, some -great arbiter of life and death, for consultation. The sense of gravity -increased a hundredfold. Even inanimate objects took upon themselves a -subtle alteration, for the setting of the adventure—this deserted bit -of sea with its hundreds of uninhabited islands—somehow turned sombre. -An element that was mysterious, and in a sense disheartening, crept -unbidden into the severity of grey rock and dark pine forest and took -the sparkle from the sunshine and the sea.</p> - -<p>I, at least, was keenly aware of the change, for my whole being shifted, -as it were, a degree higher, becoming keyed up and alert. The figures -from the background of the stage moved forward a little into the -light—nearer to the inevitable action. In a word this man's arrival -intensified the whole affair.</p> - -<p>And, looking back down the years to the time when all this happened, it -is clear to me that he had a pretty sharp idea of the meaning of it from -the very beginning. How much he knew beforehand by his strange divining -powers, it is impossible to say, but from the moment he came upon the -scene and caught within himself the note of what was going on amongst -us, he undoubtedly held the true solution of the puzzle and had no need -to ask questions. And this certitude it was that set him in such an -atmosphere of power and made us all look to him instinctively; for he -took no tentative steps, made no false moves, and while the rest of us -floundered he moved straight to the climax. He was indeed a true diviner -of souls.</p> - -<p>I can now read into his behaviour a good deal that puzzled me at the -time, for though I had dimly guessed the solution, I had no idea how he -would deal with it. And the conversations I can reproduce almost -verbatim, for, according to my invariable habit, I kept full notes of -all he said.</p> - -<p>To Mrs. Maloney, foolish and dazed; to Joan, alarmed, yet plucky; and to -the clergyman, moved by his daughter's distress below his usual shallow -emotions, he gave the best possible treatment in the best possible way, -yet all so easily and simply as to make it appear naturally spontaneous. -For he dominated the Bo'sun's Mate, taking the measure of her ignorance -with infinite patience; he keyed up Joan, stirring her courage and -interest to the highest point for her own safety; and the Reverend -Timothy he soothed and comforted, while obtaining his implicit -obedience, by taking him into his confidence, and leading him gradually -to a comprehension of the issue that was bound to follow.</p> - -<p>And Sangree—here his wisdom was most wisely calculated—he neglected -outwardly because inwardly he was the object of his unceasing and most -concentrated attention. Under the guise of apparent indifference his -mind kept the Canadian under constant observation.</p> - -<p>There was a restless feeling in the Camp that evening and none of us -lingered round the fire after supper as usual. Sangree and I busied -ourselves with patching up the torn tent for our guest and with finding -heavy stones to hold the ropes, for Dr. Silence insisted on having it -pitched on the highest point of the island ridge, just where it was most -rocky and there was no earth for pegs. The place, moreover, was midway -between the men's and women's tents, and, of course, commanded the most -comprehensive view of the Camp.</p> - -<p>"So that if your dog comes," he said simply, "I may be able to catch him -as he passes across."</p> - -<p>The wind had gone down with the sun and an unusual warmth lay over the -island that made sleep heavy, and in the morning we assembled at a late -breakfast, rubbing our eyes and yawning. The cool north wind had given -way to the warm southern air that sometimes came up with haze and -moisture across the Baltic, bringing with it the relaxing sensations -that produced enervation and listlessness.</p> - -<p>And this may have been the reason why at first I failed to notice that -anything unusual was about, and why I was less alert than normally; for -it was not till after breakfast that the silence of our little party -struck me and I discovered that Joan had not yet put in an appearance. -And then, in a flash, the last heaviness of sleep vanished and I saw -that Maloney was white and troubled and his wife could not hold a plate -without trembling.</p> - -<p>A desire to ask questions was stopped in me by a swift glance from Dr. -Silence, and I suddenly understood in some vague way that they were -waiting till Sangree should have gone. How this idea came to me I cannot -determine, but the soundness of the intuition was soon proved, for the -moment he moved off to his tent, Maloney looked up at me and began to -speak in a low voice.</p> - -<p>"You slept through it all," he half whispered.</p> - -<p>"Through what?" I asked, suddenly thrilled with the knowledge that -something dreadful had happened.</p> - -<p>"We didn't wake you for fear of getting the whole Camp up," he went on, -meaning, by the Camp, I supposed, Sangree. "It was just before dawn when -the screams woke me."</p> - -<p>"The dog again?" I asked, with a curious sinking of the heart.</p> - -<p>"Got right into the tent," he went on, speaking passionately but very -low, "and woke my wife by scrambling all over her. Then she realised -that Joan was struggling beside her. And, by God! the beast had torn her -arm; scratched all down the arm she was, and bleeding."</p> - -<p>"Joan injured?" I gasped.</p> - -<p>"Merely scratched—this time," put in John Silence, speaking for the -first time; "suffering more from shock and fright than actual wounds."</p> - -<p>"Isn't it a mercy the doctor was here?" said Mrs. Maloney, looking as if -she would never know calmness again. "I think we should both have been -killed."</p> - -<p>"It has been a most merciful escape," Maloney said, his pulpit voice -struggling with his emotion. "But, of course, we cannot risk another—we -must strike Camp and get away at once—"</p> - -<p>"Only poor Mr. Sangree must not know what has happened. He is so -attached to Joan and would be so terribly upset," added the Bo'sun's -Mate distractedly, looking all about in her terror.</p> - -<p>"It is perhaps advisable that Mr. Sangree should not know what has -occurred," Dr. Silence said with quiet authority, "but I think, for the -safety of all concerned, it will be better not to leave the island just -now." He spoke with great decision and Maloney looked up and followed -his words closely.</p> - -<p>"If you will agree to stay here a few days longer, I have no doubt we -can put an end to the attentions of your strange visitor, and -incidentally have the opportunity of observing a most singular and -interesting phenomenon—"</p> - -<p>"What!" gasped Mrs. Maloney, "a phenomenon?—you mean that you know what -it is?"</p> - -<p>"I am quite certain I know what it is," he replied very low, for we -heard the footsteps of Sangree approaching, "though I am not so certain -yet as to the best means of dealing with it. But in any case it is not -wise to leave precipitately—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Timothy, does he think it's a devil—?" cried the Bo'sun's Mate in -a voice that even the Canadian must have heard.</p> - -<p>"In my opinion," continued John Silence, looking across at me and the -clergyman, "it is a case of modern lycanthropy with other complications -that may—" He left the sentence unfinished, for Mrs. Maloney got up -with a jump and fled to her tent fearful she might hear a worse thing, -and at that moment Sangree turned the corner of the stockade and came -into view.</p> - -<p>"There are footmarks all round the mouth of my tent," he said with -excitement. "The animal has been here again in the night. Dr. Silence, -you really must come and see them for yourself. They're as plain on the -moss as tracks in snow."</p> - -<p>But later in the day, while Sangree went off in the canoe to fish the -pools near the larger islands, and Joan still lay, bandaged and resting, -in her tent, Dr. Silence called me and the tutor and proposed a walk to -the granite slabs at the far end. Mrs. Maloney sat on a stump near her -daughter, and busied herself energetically with alternate nursing and -painting.</p> - -<p>"We'll leave you in charge," the doctor said with a smile that was meant -to be encouraging, "and when you want us for lunch, or anything, the -megaphone will always bring us back in time."</p> - -<p>For, though the very air was charged with strange emotions, every one -talked quietly and naturally as with a definite desire to counteract -unnecessary excitement.</p> - -<p>"I'll keep watch," said the plucky Bo'sun's Mate, "and meanwhile I find -comfort in my work." She was busy with the sketch she had begun on the -day after our arrival. "For even a tree," she added proudly, pointing to -her little easel, "is a symbol of the divine, and the thought makes me -feel safer." We glanced for a moment at a daub which was more like the -symptom of a disease than a symbol of the divine—and then took the path -round the lagoon.</p> - -<p>At the far end we made a little fire and lay round it in the shadow of a -big boulder. Maloney stopped his humming suddenly and turned to his -companion.</p> - -<p>"And what do you make of it all?" he asked abruptly.</p> - -<p>"In the first place," replied John Silence, making himself comfortable -against the rock, "it is of human origin, this animal; it is undoubted -lycanthropy."</p> - -<p>His words had the effect precisely of a bombshell. Maloney listened as -though he had been struck.</p> - -<p>"You puzzle me utterly," he said, sitting up closer and staring at him.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," replied the other, "but if you'll listen to me for a few -moments you may be less puzzled at the end—or more. It depends how much -you know. Let me go further and say that you have underestimated, or -miscalculated, the effect of this primitive wild life upon all of you."</p> - -<p>"In what way?" asked the clergyman, bristling a trifle.</p> - -<p>"It is strong medicine for any town-dweller, and for some of you it has -been too strong. One of you has gone wild." He uttered these last words -with great emphasis.</p> - -<p>"Gone savage," he added, looking from one to the other.</p> - -<p>Neither of us found anything to reply.</p> - -<p>"To say that the brute has awakened in a man is not a mere metaphor -always," he went on presently.</p> - -<p>"Of course not!"</p> - -<p>"But, in the sense I mean, may have a very literal and terrible -significance," pursued Dr. Silence. "Ancient instincts that no one -dreamed of, least of all their possessor, may leap forth—"</p> - -<p>"Atavism can hardly explain a roaming animal with teeth and claws and -sanguinary instincts," interrupted Maloney with impatience.</p> - -<p>"The term is of your own choice," continued the doctor equably, "not -mine, and it is a good example of a word that indicates a result while -it conceals the process; but the explanation of this beast that haunts -your island and attacks your daughter is of far deeper significance than -mere atavistic tendencies, or throwing back to animal origin, which I -suppose is the thought in your mind."</p> - -<p>"You spoke just now of lycanthropy," said Maloney, looking bewildered -and anxious to keep to plain facts evidently; "I think I have come -across the word, but really—really—it can have no actual significance -to-day, can it? These superstitions of mediaeval times can hardly—"</p> - -<p>He looked round at me with his jolly red face, and the expression of -astonishment and dismay on it would have made me shout with laughter at -any other time. Laughter, however, was never farther from my mind than -at this moment when I listened to Dr. Silence as he carefully suggested -to the clergyman the very explanation that had gradually been forcing -itself upon my own mind.</p> - -<p>"However mediaeval ideas may have exaggerated the idea is not of much -importance to us now," he said quietly, "when we are face to face with a -modern example of what, I take it, has always been a profound fact. For -the moment let us leave the name of any one in particular out of the -matter and consider certain possibilities."</p> - -<p>We all agreed with that at any rate. There was no need to speak of -Sangree, or of any one else, until we knew a little more.</p> - -<p>"The fundamental fact in this most curious case," he went on, "is that -the 'Double' of a man—"</p> - -<p>"You mean the astral body? I've heard of that, of course," broke in -Maloney with a snort of triumph.</p> - -<p>"No doubt," said the other, smiling, "no doubt you have;—that this -Double, or fluidic body of a man, as I was saying, has the power under -certain conditions of projecting itself and becoming visible to others. -Certain training will accomplish this, and certain drugs likewise; -illnesses, too, that ravage the body may produce temporarily the result -that death produces permanently, and let loose this counterpart of a -human being and render it visible to the sight of others.</p> - -<p>"Every one, of course, knows this more or less to-day; but it is not so -generally known, and probably believed by none who have not witnessed -it, that this fluidic body can, under certain conditions, assume other -forms than human, and that such other forms may be determined by the -dominating thought and wish of the owner. For this Double, or astral -body as you call it, is really the seat of the passions, emotions and -desires in the psychical economy. It is the Passion Body; and, in -projecting itself, it can often assume a form that gives expression to -the overmastering desire that moulds it; for it is composed of such -tenuous matter that it lends itself readily to the moulding by thought -and wish."</p> - -<p>"I follow you perfectly," said Maloney, looking as if he would much -rather be chopping firewood elsewhere and singing.</p> - -<p>"And there are some persons so constituted," the doctor went on with -increasing seriousness, "that the fluid body in them is but loosely -associated with the physical, persons of poor health as a rule, yet -often of strong desires and passions; and in these persons it is easy -for the Double to dissociate itself during deep sleep from their system, -and, driven forth by some consuming desire, to assume an animal form and -seek the fulfilment of that desire."</p> - -<p>There, in broad daylight, I saw Maloney deliberately creep closer to the -fire and heap the wood on. We gathered in to the heat, and to each -other, and listened to Dr. Silence's voice as it mingled with the swish -and whirr of the wind about us, and the falling of the little waves.</p> - -<p>"For instance, to take a concrete example," he resumed; "suppose some -young man, with the delicate constitution I have spoken of, forms an -overpowering attachment to a young woman, yet perceives that it is not -welcomed, and is man enough to repress its outward manifestations. In -such a case, supposing his Double be easily projected, the very -repression of his love in the daytime would add to the intense force of -his desire when released in deep sleep from the control of his will, -and his fluidic body might issue forth in monstrous or animal shape and -become actually visible to others. And, if his devotion were dog-like in -its fidelity, yet concealing the fires of a fierce passion beneath, it -might well assume the form of a creature that seemed to be half dog, -half wolf—"</p> - -<p>"A werewolf, you mean?" cried Maloney, pale to the lips as he listened.</p> - -<p>John Silence held up a restraining hand. "A werewolf," he said, "is a -true psychical fact of profound significance, however absurdly it may -have been exaggerated by the imaginations of a superstitious peasantry -in the days of unenlightenment, for a werewolf is nothing but the -savage, and possibly sanguinary, instincts of a passionate man scouring -the world in his fluidic body, his passion body, his body of desire. As -in the case at hand, he may not know it—"</p> - -<p>"It is not necessarily deliberate, then?" Maloney put in quickly, with -relief.</p> - -<p>"—It is hardly ever deliberate. It is the desires released in sleep -from the control of the will finding a vent. In all savage races it has -been recognised and dreaded, this phenomenon styled 'Wehr Wolf,' but -to-day it is rare. And it is becoming rarer still, for the world grows -tame and civilised, emotions have become refined, desires lukewarm, and -few men have savagery enough left in them to generate impulses of such -intense force, and certainly not to project them in animal form."</p> - -<p>"By Gad!" exclaimed the clergyman breathlessly, and with increasing -excitement, "then I feel I must tell you—what has been given to me in -confidence—that Sangree has in him an admixture of savage blood—of Red -Indian ancestry—"</p> - -<p>"Let us stick to our supposition of a man as described," the doctor -stopped him calmly, "and let us imagine that he has in him this -admixture of savage blood; and further, that he is wholly unaware of his -dreadful physical and psychical infirmity; and that he suddenly finds -himself leading the primitive life together with the object of his -desires; with the result that the strain of the untamed wild-man in his -blood—"</p> - -<p>"Red Indian, for instance," from Maloney.</p> - -<p>"Red Indian, perfectly," agreed the doctor; "the result, I say, that -this savage strain in him is awakened and leaps into passionate life. -What then?"</p> - -<p>He looked hard at Timothy Maloney, and the clergyman looked hard at him.</p> - -<p>"The wild life such as you lead here on this island, for instance, -might quickly awaken his savage instincts—his buried instincts—and -with profoundly disquieting results."</p> - -<p>"You mean his Subtle Body, as you call it, might issue forth -automatically in deep sleep and seek the object of its desire?" I said, -coming to Maloney's aid, who was finding it more and more difficult to -get words.</p> - -<p>"Precisely;—yet the desire of the man remaining utterly unmalefic—pure -and wholesome in every sense—"</p> - -<p>"Ah!" I heard the clergyman gasp.</p> - -<p>"The lover's desire for union run wild, run savage, tearing its way out -in primitive, untamed fashion, I mean," continued the doctor, striving -to make himself clear to a mind bounded by conventional thought and -knowledge; "for the desire to possess, remember, may easily become -importunate, and, embodied in this animal form of the Subtle Body which -acts as its vehicle, may go forth to tear in pieces all that obstructs, -to reach to the very heart of the loved object and seize it. <i>Au fond</i>, -it is nothing more than the aspiration for union, as I said—the -splendid and perfectly clean desire to absorb utterly into itself—"</p> - -<p>He paused a moment and looked into Maloney's eyes.</p> - -<p>"To bathe in the very heart's blood of the one desired," he added with -grave emphasis.</p> - -<p>The fire spurted and crackled and made me start, but Maloney found -relief in a genuine shudder, and I saw him turn his head and look about -him from the sea to the trees. The wind dropped just at that moment and -the doctor's words rang sharply through the stillness.</p> - -<p>"Then it might even kill?" stammered the clergyman presently in a hushed -voice, and with a little forced laugh by way of protest that sounded -quite ghastly.</p> - -<p>"In the last resort it might kill," repeated Dr. Silence. Then, after -another pause, during which he was clearly debating how much or how -little it was wise to give to his audience, he continued: "And if the -Double does not succeed in getting back to its physical body, that -physical body would wake an imbecile—an idiot—or perhaps never wake at -all."</p> - -<p>Maloney sat up and found his tongue.</p> - -<p>"You mean that if this fluid animal thing, or whatever it is, should be -prevented getting back, the man might never wake again?" he asked, with -shaking voice.</p> - -<p>"He might be dead," replied the other calmly. The tremor of a positive -sensation shivered in the air about us.</p> - -<p>"Then isn't that the best way to cure the fool—the brute—?" thundered -the clergyman, half rising to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Certainly it would be an easy and undiscoverable form of murder," was -the stern reply, spoken as calmly as though it were a remark about the -weather.</p> - -<p>Maloney collapsed visibly, and I gathered the wood over the fire and -coaxed up a blaze.</p> - -<p>"The greater part of the man's life—of his vital forces—goes out with -this Double," Dr. Silence resumed, after a moment's consideration, "and -a considerable portion of the actual material of his physical body. So -the physical body that remains behind is depleted, not only of force, -but of matter. You would see it small, shrunken, dropped together, just -like the body of a materialising medium at a seance. Moreover, any mark -or injury inflicted upon this Double will be found exactly reproduced by -the phenomenon of repercussion upon the shrunken physical body lying in -its trance—"</p> - -<p>"An injury inflicted upon the one you say would be reproduced also on -the other?" repeated Maloney, his excitement growing again.</p> - -<p>"Undoubtedly," replied the other quietly; "for there exists all the time -a continuous connection between the physical body and the Double—a -connection of matter, though of exceedingly attenuated, possibly of -etheric, matter. The wound <i>travels</i>, so to speak, from one to the -other, and if this connection were broken the result would be death."</p> - -<p>"Death," repeated Maloney to himself, "death!" He looked anxiously at -our faces, his thoughts evidently beginning to clear.</p> - -<p>"And this solidity?" he asked presently, after a general pause; "this -tearing of tents and flesh; this howling, and the marks of paws? You -mean that the Double—?"</p> - -<p>"Has sufficient material drawn from the depleted body to produce -physical results? Certainly!" the doctor took him up. "Although to -explain at this moment such problems as the passage of matter through -matter would be as difficult as to explain how the thought of a mother -can actually break the bones of the child unborn."</p> - -<p>Dr. Silence pointed out to sea, and Maloney, looking wildly about him, -turned with a violent start. I saw a canoe, with Sangree in the -stern-seat, slowly coming into view round the farther point. His hat was -off, and his tanned face for the first time appeared to me—to us all, I -think—as though it were the face of some one else. He looked like a -wild man. Then he stood up in the canoe to make a cast with the rod, and -he looked for all the world like an Indian. I recalled the expression of -his face as I had seen it once or twice, notably on that occasion of the -evening prayer, and an involuntary shudder ran down my spine.</p> - -<p>At that very instant he turned and saw us where we lay, and his face -broke into a smile, so that his teeth showed white in the sun. He -looked in his element, and exceedingly attractive. He called out -something about his fish, and soon after passed out of sight into the -lagoon.</p> - -<p>For a time none of us said a word.</p> - -<p>"And the cure?" ventured Maloney at length.</p> - -<p>"Is not to quench this savage force," replied Dr. Silence, "but to steer -it better, and to provide other outlets. This is the solution of all -these problems of accumulated force, for this force is the raw material -of usefulness, and should be increased and cherished, not by separating -it from the body by death, but by raising it to higher channels. The -best and quickest cure of all," he went on, speaking very gently and -with a hand upon the clergyman's arm, "is to lead it towards its object, -provided that object is not unalterably hostile—to let it find rest -where—"</p> - -<p>He stopped abruptly, and the eyes of the two men met in a single glance -of comprehension.</p> - -<p>"Joan?" Maloney exclaimed, under his breath.</p> - -<p>"Joan!" replied John Silence.</p> - -<br><hr style="width: 45%;"><br> - -<p>We all went to bed early. The day had been unusually warm, and after -sunset a curious hush descended on the island. Nothing was audible but -that faint, ghostly singing which is inseparable from a pinewood even on -the stillest day—a low, searching sound, as though the wind had hair -and trailed it o'er the world.</p> - -<p>With the sudden cooling of the atmosphere a sea fog began to form. It -appeared in isolated patches over the water, and then these patches slid -together and a white wall advanced upon us. Not a breath of air stirred; -the firs stood like flat metal outlines; the sea became as oil. The -whole scene lay as though held motionless by some huge weight in the -air; and the flames from our fire—the largest we had ever made—rose -upwards, straight as a church steeple.</p> - -<p>As I followed the rest of our party tent-wards, having kicked the embers -of the fire into safety, the advance guard of the fog was creeping -slowly among the trees, like white arms feeling their way. Mingled with -the smoke was the odour of moss and soil and bark, and the peculiar -flavour of the Baltic, half salt, half brackish, like the smell of an -estuary at low water.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to say why it seemed to me that this deep stillness -masked an intense activity; perhaps in every mood lies the suggestion of -its opposite, so that I became aware of the contrast of furious energy, -for it was like moving through the deep pause before a thunderstorm, and -I trod gently lest by breaking a twig or moving a stone I might set the -whole scene into some sort of tumultuous movement. Actually, no doubt, -it was nothing more than a result of overstrung nerves.</p> - -<p>There was no more question of undressing and going to bed than there was -of undressing and going to bathe. Some sense in me was alert and -expectant. I sat in my tent and waited. And at the end of half an hour -or so my waiting was justified, for the canvas suddenly shivered, and -some one tripped over the ropes that held it to the earth. John Silence -came in.</p> - -<p>The effect of his quiet entry was singular and prophetic: it was just as -though the energy lying behind all this stillness had pressed forward to -the edge of action. This, no doubt, was merely the quickening of my own -mind, and had no other justification; for the presence of John Silence -always suggested the near possibility of vigorous action, and as a -matter of fact, he came in with nothing more than a nod and a -significant gesture.</p> - -<p>He sat down on a corner of my ground-sheet, and I pushed the blanket -over so that he could cover his legs. He drew the flap of the tent after -him and settled down, but hardly had he done so when the canvas shook a -second time, and in blundered Maloney.</p> - -<p>"Sitting in the dark?" he said self-consciously, pushing his head -inside, and hanging up his lantern on the ridge-pole nail. "I just -looked in for a smoke. I suppose—"</p> - -<p>He glanced round, caught the eye of Dr. Silence, and stopped. He put his -pipe back into his pocket and began to hum softly—that underbreath -humming of a nondescript melody I knew so well and had come to hate.</p> - -<p>Dr. Silence leaned forward, opened the lantern and blew the light out. -"Speak low," he said, "and don't strike matches. Listen for sounds and -movements about the Camp, and be ready to follow me at a moment's -notice." There was light enough to distinguish our faces easily, and I -saw Maloney glance again hurriedly at both of us.</p> - -<p>"Is the Camp asleep?" the doctor asked presently, whispering.</p> - -<p>"Sangree is," replied the clergyman, in a voice equally low. "I can't -answer for the women; I think they're sitting up."</p> - -<p>"That's for the best." And then he added: "I wish the fog would thin a -bit and let the moon through; later—we may want it."</p> - -<p>"It is lifting now, I think," Maloney whispered back. "It's over the -tops of the trees already."</p> - -<p>I cannot say what it was in this commonplace exchange of remarks that -thrilled. Probably Maloney's swift acquiescence in the doctor's mood had -something to do with it; for his quick obedience certainly impressed me -a good deal. But, even without that slight evidence, it was clear that -each recognised the gravity of the occasion, and understood that sleep -was impossible and sentry duty was the order of the night.</p> - -<p>"Report to me," repeated John Silence once again, "the least sound, and -do nothing precipitately."</p> - -<p>He shifted across to the mouth of the tent and raised the flap, -fastening it against the pole so that he could see out. Maloney stopped -humming and began to force the breath through his teeth with a kind of -faint hissing, treating us to a medley of church hymns and popular songs -of the day.</p> - -<p>Then the tent trembled as though some one had touched it.</p> - -<p>"That's the wind rising," whispered the clergyman, and pulled the flap -open as far as it would go. A waft of cold damp air entered and made us -shiver, and with it came a sound of the sea as the first wave washed its -way softly along the shores.</p> - -<p>"It's got round to the north," he added, and following his voice came a -long-drawn whisper that rose from the whole island as the trees sent -forth a sighing response. "The fog'll move a bit now. I can make out a -lane across the sea already."</p> - -<p>"Hush!" said Dr. Silence, for Maloney's voice had risen above a whisper, -and we settled down again to another long period of watching and -waiting, broken only by the occasional rubbing of shoulders against the -canvas as we shifted our positions, and the increasing noise of waves on -the outer coast-line of the island. And over all whirred the murmur of -wind sweeping the tops of the trees like a great harp, and the faint -tapping on the tent as drops fell from the branches with a sharp pinging -sound.</p> - -<p>We had sat for something over an hour in this way, and Maloney and I -were finding it increasingly hard to keep awake, when suddenly Dr. -Silence rose to his feet and peered out. The next minute he was gone.</p> - -<p>Relieved of the dominating presence, the clergyman thrust his face close -into mine. "I don't much care for this waiting game," he whispered, "but -Silence wouldn't hear of my sitting up with the others; he said it would -prevent anything happening if I did."</p> - -<p>"He knows," I answered shortly.</p> - -<p>"No doubt in the world about that," he whispered back; "it's this -'Double' business, as he calls it, or else it's obsession as the Bible -describes it. But it's bad, whichever it is, and I've got my Winchester -outside ready cocked, and I brought this too." He shoved a pocket Bible -under my nose. At one time in his life it had been his inseparable -companion.</p> - -<p>"One's useless and the other's dangerous," I replied under my breath, -conscious of a keen desire to laugh, and leaving him to choose. "Safety -lies in following our leader—"</p> - -<p>"I'm not thinking of myself," he interrupted sharply; "only, if anything -happens to Joan to-night I'm going to shoot first—and pray afterwards!"</p> - -<p>Maloney put the book back into his hip-pocket, and peered out of the -doorway. "What is he up to now, in the devil's name, I wonder!" he -added; "going round Sangree's tent and making gestures. How weird he -looks disappearing in and out of the fog."</p> - -<p>"Just trust him and wait," I said quickly, for the doctor was already on -his way back. "Remember, he has the knowledge, and knows what he's -about. I've been with him through worse cases than this."</p> - -<p>Maloney moved back as Dr. Silence darkened the doorway and stooped to -enter.</p> - -<p>"His sleep is very deep," he whispered, seating himself by the door -again. "He's in a cataleptic condition, and the Double may be released -any minute now. But I've taken steps to imprison it in the tent, and it -can't get out till I permit it. Be on the watch for signs of movement." -Then he looked hard at Maloney. "But no violence, or shooting, remember, -Mr. Maloney, unless you want a murder on your hands. Anything done to -the Double acts by repercussion upon the physical body. You had better -take out the cartridges at once."</p> - -<p>His voice was stern. The clergyman went out, and I heard him emptying -the magazine of his rifle. When he returned he sat nearer the door than -before, and from that moment until we left the tent he never once took -his eyes from the figure of Dr. Silence, silhouetted there against sky -and canvas.</p> - -<p>And, meanwhile, the wind came steadily over the sea and opened the mist -into lanes and clearings, driving it about like a living thing.</p> - -<p>It must have been well after midnight when a low booming sound drew my -attention; but at first the sense of hearing was so strained that it was -impossible exactly to locate it, and I imagined it was the thunder of -big guns far out at sea carried to us by the rising wind. Then Maloney, -catching hold of my arm and leaning forward, somehow brought the true -relation, and I realised the next second that it was only a few feet -away.</p> - -<p>"Sangree's tent," he exclaimed in a loud and startled whisper.</p> - -<p>I craned my head round the corner, but at first the effect of the fog -was so confusing that every patch of white driving about before the wind -looked like a moving tent and it was some seconds before I discovered -the one patch that held steady. Then I saw that it was shaking all over, -and the sides, flapping as much as the tightness of the ropes allowed, -were the cause of the booming sound we had heard. Something alive was -tearing frantically about inside, banging against the stretched canvas -in a way that made me think of a great moth dashing against the walls -and ceiling of a room. The tent bulged and rocked.</p> - -<p>"It's trying to get out, by Jupiter!" muttered the clergyman, rising to -his feet and turning to the side where the unloaded rifle lay. I sprang -up too, hardly knowing what purpose was in my mind, but anxious to be -prepared for anything. John Silence, however, was before us both, and -his figure slipped past and blocked the doorway of the tent. And there -was some quality in his voice next minute when he began to speak that -brought our minds instantly to a state of calm obedience.</p> - -<p>"First—the women's tent," he said low, looking sharply at Maloney, "and -if I need your help, I'll call."</p> - -<p>The clergyman needed no second bidding. He dived past me and was out in -a moment. He was labouring evidently under intense excitement. I watched -him picking his way silently over the slippery ground, giving the moving -tent a wide berth, and presently disappearing among the floating shapes -of fog.</p> - -<p>Dr. Silence turned to me. "You heard those footsteps about half an hour -ago?" he asked significantly.</p> - -<p>"I heard nothing."</p> - -<p>"They were extraordinarily soft—almost the soundless tread of a wild -creature. But now, follow me closely," he added, "for we must waste no -time if I am to save this poor man from his affliction and lead his -werewolf Double to its rest. And, unless I am much mistaken"—he -peered at me through the darkness, whispering with the utmost -distinctness—"Joan and Sangree are absolutely made for one another. And -I think she knows it too—just as well as he does."</p> - -<p>My head swam a little as I listened, but at the same time something -cleared in my brain and I saw that he was right. Yet it was all so weird -and incredible, so remote from the commonplace facts of life as -commonplace people know them; and more than once it flashed upon me that -the whole scene—people, words, tents, and all the rest of it—were -delusions created by the intense excitement of my own mind somehow, and -that suddenly the sea-fog would clear off and the world become normal -again.</p> - -<p>The cold air from the sea stung our cheeks sharply as we left the close -atmosphere of the little crowded tent. The sighing of the trees, the -waves breaking below on the rocks, and the lines and patches of mist -driving about us seemed to create the momentary illusion that the whole -island had broken loose and was floating out to sea like a mighty raft.</p> - -<p>The doctor moved just ahead of me, quickly and silently; he was making -straight for the Canadian's tent where the sides still boomed and shook -as the creature of sinister life raced and tore about impatiently -within. A little distance from the door he paused and held up a hand to -stop me. We were, perhaps, a dozen feet away.</p> - -<p>"Before I release it, you shall see for yourself," he said, "that the -reality of the werewolf is beyond all question. The matter of which it -is composed is, of course, exceedingly attenuated, but you are partially -clairvoyant—and even if it is not dense enough for normal sight you -will see something."</p> - -<p>He added a little more I could not catch. The fact was that the -curiously strong vibrating atmosphere surrounding his person somewhat -confused my senses. It was the result, of course, of his intense -concentration of mind and forces, and pervaded the entire Camp and all -the persons in it. And as I watched the canvas shake and heard it boom -and flap I heartily welcomed it. For it was also protective.</p> - -<p>At the back of Sangree's tent stood a thin group of pine trees, but in -front and at the sides the ground was comparatively clear. The flap was -wide open and any ordinary animal would have been out and away without -the least trouble. Dr. Silence led me up to within a few feet, evidently -careful not to advance beyond a certain limit, and then stooped down and -signalled to me to do the same. And looking over his shoulder I saw the -interior lit faintly by the spectral light reflected from the fog, and -the dim blot upon the balsam boughs and blankets signifying Sangree; -while over him, and round him, and up and down him, flew the dark mass -of "something" on four legs, with pointed muzzle and sharp ears plainly -visible against the tent sides, and the occasional gleam of fiery eyes -and white fangs.</p> - -<p>I held my breath and kept utterly still, inwardly and outwardly, for -fear, I suppose, that the creature would become conscious of my -presence; but the distress I felt went far deeper than the mere sense of -personal safety, or the fact of watching something so incredibly active -and real. I became keenly aware of the dreadful psychic calamity it -involved. The realisation that Sangree lay confined in that narrow space -with this species of monstrous projection of himself—that he was -wrapped there in the cataleptic sleep, all unconscious that this thing -was masquerading with his own life and energies—added a distressing -touch of horror to the scene. In all the cases of John Silence—and they -were many and often terrible—no other psychic affliction has ever, -before or since, impressed me so convincingly with the pathetic -impermanence of the human personality, with its fluid nature, and with -the alarming possibilities of its transformations.</p> - -<p>"Come," he whispered, after we had watched for some minutes the frantic -efforts to escape from the circle of thought and will that held it -prisoner, "come a little farther away while I release it."</p> - -<p>We moved back a dozen yards or so. It was like a scene in some -impossible play, or in some ghastly and oppressive nightmare from which -I should presently awake to find the blankets all heaped up upon my -chest.</p> - -<p>By some method undoubtedly mental, but which, in my confusion and -excitement, I failed to understand, the doctor accomplished his purpose, -and the next minute I heard him say sharply under his breath, "It's out! -Now watch!"</p> - -<p>At this very moment a sudden gust from the sea blew aside the mist, so -that a lane opened to the sky, and the moon, ghastly and unnatural as -the effect of stage limelight, dropped down in a momentary gleam upon -the door of Sangree's tent, and I perceived that something had moved -forward from the interior darkness and stood clearly defined upon the -threshold. And, at the same moment, the tent ceased its shuddering and -held still.</p> - -<p>There, in the doorway, stood an animal, with neck and muzzle thrust -forward, its head poking into the night, its whole body poised in that -attitude of intense rigidity that precedes the spring into freedom, the -running leap of attack. It seemed to be about the size of a calf, leaner -than a mastiff, yet more squat than a wolf, and I can swear that I saw -the fur ridged sharply upon its back. Then its upper lip slowly lifted, -and I saw the whiteness of its teeth.</p> - -<p>Surely no human being ever stared as hard as I did in those next few -minutes. Yet, the harder I stared the clearer appeared the amazing and -monstrous apparition. For, after all, it was Sangree—and yet it was not -Sangree. It was the head and face of an animal, and yet it was the face -of Sangree: the face of a wild dog, a wolf, and yet his face. The eyes -were sharper, narrower, more fiery, yet they were his eyes—his eyes run -wild; the teeth were longer, whiter, more pointed—yet they were his -teeth, his teeth grown cruel; the expression was flaming, terrible, -exultant—yet it was his expression carried to the border of -savagery—his expression as I had already surprised it more than once, -only dominant now, fully released from human constraint, with the mad -yearning of a hungry and importunate soul. It was the soul of Sangree, -the long suppressed, deeply loving Sangree, expressed in its single and -intense desire—pure utterly and utterly wonderful.</p> - -<p>Yet, at the same time, came the feeling that it was all an illusion. I -suddenly remembered the extraordinary changes the human face can undergo -in circular insanity, when it changes from melancholia to elation; and I -recalled the effect of hascheesh, which shows the human countenance in -the form of the bird or animal to which in character it most -approximates; and for a moment I attributed this mingling of Sangree's -face with a wolf to some kind of similar delusion of the senses. I was -mad, deluded, dreaming! The excitement of the day, and this dim light of -stars and bewildering mist combined to trick me. I had been amazingly -imposed upon by some false wizardry of the senses. It was all absurd and -fantastic; it would pass.</p> - -<p>And then, sounding across this sea of mental confusion like a bell -through a fog, came the voice of John Silence bringing me back to a -consciousness of the reality of it all—</p> - -<p>"Sangree—in his Double!"</p> - -<p>And when I looked again more calmly, I plainly saw that it was indeed -the face of the Canadian, but his face turned animal, yet mingled with -the brute expression a curiously pathetic look like the soul seen -sometimes in the yearning eyes of a dog,—the face of an animal shot -with vivid streaks of the human.</p> - -<p>The doctor called to him softly under his breath—</p> - -<p>"Sangree! Sangree, you poor afflicted creature! Do you know me? Can you -understand what it is you're doing in your 'Body of Desire'?"</p> - -<p>For the first time since its appearance the creature moved. Its ears -twitched and it shifted the weight of its body on to the hind legs. -Then, lifting its head and muzzle to the sky, it opened its long jaws -and gave vent to a dismal and prolonged howling.</p> - -<p>But, when I heard that howling rise to heaven, the breath caught and -strangled in my throat and it seemed that my heart missed a beat; for, -though the sound was entirely animal, it was at the same time entirely -human. But, more than that, it was the cry I had so often heard in the -Western States of America where the Indians still fight and hunt and -struggle—it was the cry of the Redskin!</p> - -<p>"The Indian blood!" whispered John Silence, when I caught his arm for -support; "the ancestral cry."</p> - -<p>And that poignant, beseeching cry, that broken human voice, mingling -with the savage howl of the brute beast, pierced straight to my very -heart and touched there something that no music, no voice, passionate or -tender, of man, woman or child has ever stirred before or since for one -second into life. It echoed away among the fog and the trees and lost -itself somewhere out over the hidden sea. And some part of -myself—something that was far more than the mere act of intense -listening—went out with it, and for several minutes I lost -consciousness of my surroundings and felt utterly absorbed in the pain -of another stricken fellow-creature.</p> - -<p>Again the voice of John Silence recalled me to myself.</p> - -<p>"Hark!" he said aloud. "Hark!"</p> - -<p>His tone galvanised me afresh. We stood listening side by side.</p> - -<p>Far across the island, faintly sounding through the trees and brushwood, -came a similar, answering cry. Shrill, yet wonderfully musical, shaking -the heart with a singular wild sweetness that defies description, we -heard it rise and fall upon the night air.</p> - -<p>"It's across the lagoon," Dr. Silence cried, but this time in full tones -that paid no tribute to caution. "It's Joan! She's answering him!"</p> - -<p>Again the wonderful cry rose and fell, and that same instant the animal -lowered its head, and, muzzle to earth, set off on a swift easy canter -that took it off into the mist and out of our sight like a thing of wind -and vision.</p> - -<p>The doctor made a quick dash to the door of Sangree's tent, and, -following close at his heels, I peered in and caught a momentary glimpse -of the small, shrunken body lying upon the branches but half covered by -the blankets—the cage from which most of the life, and not a little of -the actual corporeal substance, had escaped into that other form of life -and energy, the body of passion and desire.</p> - -<p>By another of those swift, incalculable processes which at this stage of -my apprenticeship I failed often to grasp, Dr. Silence reclosed the -circle about the tent and body.</p> - -<p>"Now it cannot return till I permit it," he said, and the next second -was off at full speed into the woods, with myself close behind him. I -had already had some experience of my companion's ability to run swiftly -through a dense wood, and I now had the further proof of his power -almost to see in the dark. For, once we left the open space about the -tents, the trees seemed to absorb all the remaining vestiges of light, -and I understood that special sensibility that is said to develop in the -blind—the sense of obstacles.</p> - -<p>And twice as we ran we heard the sound of that dismal howling drawing -nearer and nearer to the answering faint cry from the point of the -island whither we were going.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly, the trees fell away, and we emerged, hot and breathless, -upon the rocky point where the granite slabs ran bare into the sea. It -was like passing into the clearness of open day. And there, sharply -defined against sea and sky, stood the figure of a human being. It was -Joan.</p> - -<p>I at once saw that there was something about her appearance that was -singular and unusual, but it was only when we had moved quite close that -I recognised what caused it. For while the lips wore a smile that lit -the whole face with a happiness I had never seen there before, the eyes -themselves were fixed in a steady, sightless stare as though they were -lifeless and made of glass.</p> - -<p>I made an impulsive forward movement, but Dr. Silence instantly dragged -me back.</p> - -<p>"No," he cried, "don't wake her!"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" I replied aloud, struggling in his grasp.</p> - -<p>"She's asleep. It's somnambulistic. The shock might injure her -permanently."</p> - -<p>I turned and peered closely into his face. He was absolutely calm. I -began to understand a little more, catching, I suppose, something of his -strong thinking.</p> - -<p>"Walking in her sleep, you mean?"</p> - -<p>He nodded. "She's on her way to meet him. From the very beginning he -must have drawn her—irresistibly."</p> - -<p>"But the torn tent and the wounded flesh?"</p> - -<p>"When she did not sleep deep enough to enter the somnambulistic trance -he missed her—he went instinctively and in all innocence to seek her -out—with the result, of course, that she woke and was terrified—"</p> - -<p>"Then in their heart of hearts they love?" I asked finally.</p> - -<p>John Silence smiled his inscrutable smile. "Profoundly," he answered, -"and as simply as only primitive souls can love. If only they both come -to realise it in their normal waking states his Double will cease these -nocturnal excursions. He will be cured, and at rest."</p> - -<p>The words had hardly left his lips when there was a sound of rustling -branches on our left, and the very next instant the dense brushwood -parted where it was darkest and out rushed the swift form of an animal -at full gallop. The noise of feet was scarcely audible, but in that -utter stillness I heard the heavy panting breath and caught the swish of -the low bushes against its sides. It went straight towards Joan—and as -it went the girl lifted her head and turned to meet it. And the same -instant a canoe that had been creeping silently and unobserved round the -inner shore of the lagoon, emerged from the shadows and defined itself -upon the water with a figure at the middle thwart. It was Maloney.</p> - -<p>It was only afterwards I realised that we were invisible to him where we -stood against the dark background of trees; the figures of Joan and the -animal he saw plainly, but not Dr. Silence and myself standing just -beyond them. He stood up in the canoe and pointed with his right arm. I -saw something gleam in his hand.</p> - -<p>"Stand aside, Joan girl, or you'll get hit," he shouted, his voice -ringing horribly through the deep stillness, and the same instant a -pistol-shot cracked out with a burst of flame and smoke, and the figure -of the animal, with one tremendous leap into the air, fell back in the -shadows and disappeared like a shape of night and fog. Instantly, then, -Joan opened her eyes, looked in a dazed fashion about her, and pressing -both hands against her heart, fell with a sharp cry into my arms that -were just in time to catch her.</p> - -<p>And an answering cry sounded across the lagoon—thin, wailing, piteous. -It came from Sangree's tent.</p> - -<p>"Fool!" cried Dr. Silence, "you've wounded him!" and before we could -move or realise quite what it meant, he was in the canoe and half-way -across the lagoon.</p> - -<p>Some kind of similar abuse came in a torrent from my lips, too—though I -cannot remember the actual words—as I cursed the man for his -disobedience and tried to make the girl comfortable on the ground. But -the clergyman was more practical. He was spreading his coat over her and -dashing water on her face.</p> - -<p>"It's not Joan I've killed at any rate," I heard him mutter as she -turned and opened her eyes and smiled faintly up in his face. "I swear -the bullet went straight."</p> - -<p>Joan stared at him; she was still dazed and bewildered, and still -imagined herself with the companion of her trance. The strange lucidity -of the somnambulist still hung over her brain and mind, though outwardly -she appeared troubled and confused.</p> - -<p>"Where has he gone to? He disappeared so suddenly, crying that he was -hurt," she asked, looking at her father as though she did not recognise -him. "And if they've done anything to him—they have done it to me -too—for he is more to me than—"</p> - -<p>Her words grew vaguer and vaguer as she returned slowly to her normal -waking state, and now she stopped altogether, as though suddenly aware -that she had been surprised into telling secrets. But all the way back, -as we carried her carefully through the trees, the girl smiled and -murmured Sangree's name and asked if he was injured, until it finally -became clear to me that the wild soul of the one had called to the wild -soul of the other and in the secret depths of their beings the call had -been heard and understood. John Silence was right. In the abyss of her -heart, too deep at first for recognition, the girl loved him, and had -loved him from the very beginning. Once her normal waking consciousness -recognised the fact they would leap together like twin flames, and his -affliction would be at an end; his intense desire would be satisfied; he -would be cured.</p> - -<p>And in Sangree's tent Dr. Silence and I sat up for the remainder of the -night—this wonderful and haunted night that had shown us such strange -glimpses of a new heaven and a new hell—for the Canadian tossed upon -his balsam boughs with high fever in his blood, and upon each cheek a -dark and curious contusion showed, throbbing with severe pain although -the skin was not broken and there was no outward and visible sign of -blood.</p> - -<p>"Maloney shot straight, you see," whispered Dr. Silence to me after the -clergyman had gone to his tent, and had put Joan to sleep beside her -mother, who, by the way, had never once awakened. "The bullet must have -passed clean through the face, for both cheeks are stained. He'll wear -these marks all his life—smaller, but always there. They're the most -curious scars in the world, these scars transferred by repercussion from -an injured Double. They'll remain visible until just before his death, -and then with the withdrawal of the subtle body they will disappear -finally."</p> - -<p>His words mingled in my dazed mind with the sighs of the troubled -sleeper and the crying of the wind about the tent. Nothing seemed to -paralyse my powers of realisation so much as these twin stains of -mysterious significance upon the face before me.</p> - -<p>It was odd, too, how speedily and easily the Camp resigned itself again -to sleep and quietness, as though a stage curtain had suddenly dropped -down upon the action and concealed it; and nothing contributed so -vividly to the feeling that I had been a spectator of some kind of -visionary drama as the dramatic nature of the change in the girl's -attitude.</p> - -<p>Yet, as a matter of fact, the change had not been so sudden and -revolutionary as appeared. Underneath, in those remoter regions of -consciousness where the emotions, unknown to their owners, do secretly -mature, and owe thence their abrupt revelation to some abrupt -psychological climax, there can be no doubt that Joan's love for the -Canadian had been growing steadily and irresistibly all the time. It had -now rushed to the surface so that she recognised it; that was all.</p> - -<p>And it has always seemed to me that the presence of John Silence, so -potent, so quietly efficacious, produced an effect, if one may say so, -of a psychic forcing-house, and hastened incalculably the bringing -together of these two "wild" lovers. In that sudden awakening had -occurred the very psychological climax required to reveal the passionate -emotion accumulated below. The deeper knowledge had leaped across and -transferred itself to her ordinary consciousness, and in that shock the -collision of the personalities had shaken them to the depths and shown -her the truth beyond all possibility of doubt.</p> - -<p>"He's sleeping quietly now," the doctor said, interrupting my -reflections. "If you will watch alone for a bit I'll go to Maloney's -tent and help him to arrange his thoughts." He smiled in anticipation of -that "arrangement." "He'll never quite understand how a wound on the -Double can transfer itself to the physical body, but at least I can -persuade him that the less he talks and 'explains' to-morrow, the sooner -the forces will run their natural course now to peace and quietness."</p> - -<p>He went away softly, and with the removal of his presence Sangree, -sleeping heavily, turned over and groaned with the pain of his broken -head.</p> - -<p>And it was in the still hour just before the dawn, when all the islands -were hushed, the wind and sea still dreaming, and the stars visible -through clearing mists, that a figure crept silently over the ridge and -reached the door of the tent where I dozed beside the sufferer, before I -was aware of its presence. The flap was cautiously lifted a few inches -and in looked—Joan.</p> - -<p>That same instant Sangree woke and sat up on his bed of branches. He -recognised her before I could say a word, and uttered a low cry. It was -pain and joy mingled, and this time all human. And the girl too was no -longer walking in her sleep, but fully aware of what she was doing. I -was only just able to prevent him springing from his blankets.</p> - -<p>"Joan, Joan!" he cried, and in a flash she answered him, "I'm here—I'm -with you always now," and had pushed past me into the tent and flung -herself upon his breast.</p> - -<p>"I knew you would come to me in the end," I heard him whisper.</p> - -<p>"It was all too big for me to understand at first," she murmured, "and -for a long time I was frightened—"</p> - -<p>"But not now!" he cried louder; "you don't feel afraid now of—of -anything that's in me—"</p> - -<p>"I fear nothing," she cried, "nothing, nothing!"</p> - -<p>I led her outside again. She looked steadily into my face with eyes -shining and her whole being transformed. In some intuitive way, -surviving probably from the somnambulism, she knew or guessed as much as -I knew.</p> - -<p>"You must talk to-morrow with John Silence," I said gently, leading her -towards her own tent. "He understands everything."</p> - -<p>I left her at the door, and as I went back softly to take up my place of -sentry again with the Canadian, I saw the first streaks of dawn lighting -up the far rim of the sea behind the distant islands.</p> - -<p>And, as though to emphasise the eternal closeness of comedy to tragedy, -two small details rose out of the scene and impressed me so vividly that -I remember them to this very day. For in the tent where I had just left -Joan, all aquiver with her new happiness, there rose plainly to my ears -the grotesque sounds of the Bo'sun's Mate heavily snoring, oblivious of -all things in heaven or hell; and from Maloney's tent, so still was the -night, where I looked across and saw the lantern's glow, there came to -me, through the trees, the monotonous rising and falling of a human -voice that was beyond question the sound of a man praying to his God.</p> - - - -<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> -<a name="CASE_VI:_A_VICTIM_OF_HIGHER_SPACE"></a><h2>CASE III: A VICTIM OF HIGHER SPACE</h2> -<br> - -<p>"There's a hextraordinary gentleman to see you, sir," said the new man.</p> - -<p>"Why 'extraordinary'?" asked Dr. Silence, drawing the tips of his thin -fingers through his brown beard. His eyes twinkled pleasantly. "Why -'extraordinary,' Barker?" he repeated encouragingly, noticing the -perplexed expression in the man's eyes.</p> - -<p>"He's so—so thin, sir. I could hardly see 'im at all—at first. He was -inside the house before I could ask the name," he added, remembering -strict orders.</p> - -<p>"And who brought him here?"</p> - -<p>"He come alone, sir, in a closed cab. He pushed by me before I could say -a word—making no noise not what I could hear. He seemed to move so soft -like—"</p> - -<p>The man stopped short with obvious embarrassment, as though he had -already said enough to jeopardise his new situation, but trying hard to -show that he remembered the instructions and warnings he had received -with regard to the admission of strangers not properly accredited.</p> - -<p>"And where is the gentleman now?" asked Dr. Silence, turning away to -conceal his amusement.</p> - -<p>"I really couldn't exactly say, sir. I left him standing in the 'all—"</p> - -<p>The doctor looked up sharply. "But why in the hall, Barker? Why not in -the waiting-room?" He fixed his piercing though kindly eyes on the man's -face. "Did he frighten you?" he asked quickly.</p> - -<p>"I think he did, sir, if I may say so. I seemed to lose sight of him, as -it were—" The man stammered, evidently convinced by now that he had -earned his dismissal. "He come in so funny, just like a cold wind," he -added boldly, setting his heels at attention and looking his master full -in the face.</p> - -<p>The doctor made an internal note of the man's halting description; he -was pleased that the slight signs of psychic intuition which had induced -him to engage Barker had not entirely failed at the first trial. Dr. -Silence sought for this qualification in all his assistants, from -secretary to serving man, and if it surrounded him with a somewhat -singular crew, the drawbacks were more than compensated for on the whole -by their occasional flashes of insight.</p> - -<p>"So the gentleman made you feel queer, did he?"</p> - -<p>"That was it, I think, sir," repeated the man stolidly.</p> - -<p>"And he brings no kind of introduction to me—no letter or anything?" -asked the doctor, with feigned surprise, as though he knew what was -coming.</p> - -<p>The man fumbled, both in mind and pockets, and finally produced an -envelope.</p> - -<p>"I beg pardon, sir," he said, greatly flustered; "the gentleman handed -me this for you."</p> - -<p>It was a note from a discerning friend, who had never yet sent him a -case that was not vitally interesting from one point or another.</p> - -<p>"Please see the bearer of this note," the brief message ran, "though I -doubt if even you can do much to help him."</p> - -<p>John Silence paused a moment, so as to gather from the mind of the -writer all that lay behind the brief words of the letter. Then he looked -up at his servant with a graver expression than he had yet worn.</p> - -<p>"Go back and find this gentleman," he said, "and show him into the green -study. Do not reply to his question, or speak more than actually -necessary; but think kind, helpful, sympathetic thoughts as strongly as -you can, Barker. You remember what I told you about the importance of -<i>thinking</i>, when I engaged you. Put curiosity out of your mind, and -think gently, sympathetically, affectionately, if you can."</p> - -<p>He smiled, and Barker, who had recovered his composure in the doctor's -presence, bowed silently and went out.</p> - -<p>There were two different reception-rooms in Dr. Silence's house. One -(intended for persons who imagined they needed spiritual assistance when -really they were only candidates for the asylum) had padded walls, and -was well supplied with various concealed contrivances by means of which -sudden violence could be instantly met and overcome. It was, however, -rarely used. The other, intended for the reception of genuine cases of -spiritual distress and out-of-the-way afflictions of a psychic nature, -was entirely draped and furnished in a soothing deep green, calculated -to induce calmness and repose of mind. And this room was the one in -which Dr. Silence interviewed the majority of his "queer" cases, and the -one into which he had directed Barker to show his present caller.</p> - -<p>To begin with, the arm-chair in which the patient was always directed to -sit, was nailed to the floor, since its immovability tended to impart -this same excellent characteristic to the occupant. Patients invariably -grew excited when talking about themselves, and their excitement tended -to confuse their thoughts and to exaggerate their language. The -inflexibility of the chair helped to counteract this. After repeated -endeavours to drag it forward, or push it back, they ended by resigning -themselves to sitting quietly. And with the futility of fidgeting there -followed a calmer state of mind.</p> - -<p>Upon the floor, and at intervals in the wall immediately behind, were -certain tiny green buttons, practically unnoticeable, which on being -pressed permitted a soothing and persuasive narcotic to rise invisibly -about the occupant of the chair. The effect upon the excitable patient -was rapid, admirable, and harmless. The green study was further provided -with a secret spy-hole; for John Silence liked when possible to observe -his patient's face before it had assumed that mask the features of the -human countenance invariably wear in the presence of another person. A -man sitting alone wears a psychic expression; and this expression is the -man himself. It disappears the moment another person joins him. And Dr. -Silence often learned more from a few moments' secret observation of a -face than from hours of conversation with its owner afterwards.</p> - -<p>A very light, almost a dancing, step followed Barker's heavy tread -towards the green room, and a moment afterwards the man came in and -announced that the gentleman was waiting. He was still pale and his -manner nervous.</p> - -<p>"Never mind, Barker" the doctor said kindly; "if you were not psychic -the man would have had no effect upon you at all. You only need training -and development. And when you have learned to interpret these feelings -and sensations better, you will feel no fear, but only a great -sympathy."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir; thank you, sir!" And Barker bowed and made his escape, while -Dr. Silence, an amused smile lurking about the corners of his mouth, -made his way noiselessly down the passage and put his eye to the -spy-hole in the door of the green study.</p> - -<p>This spy-hole was so placed that it commanded a view of almost the -entire room, and, looking through it, the doctor saw a hat, gloves, and -umbrella lying on a chair by the table, but searched at first in vain -for their owner.</p> - -<p>The windows were both closed and a brisk fire burned in the grate. There -were various signs—signs intelligible at least to a keenly intuitive -soul—that the room was occupied, yet so far as human beings were -concerned, it was empty, utterly empty. No one sat in the chairs; no one -stood on the mat before the fire; there was no sign even that a patient -was anywhere close against the wall, examining the Bocklin -reproductions—as patients so often did when they thought they were -alone—and therefore rather difficult to see from the spy-hole. -Ordinarily speaking, there was no one in the room. It was undeniable.</p> - -<p>Yet Dr. Silence was quite well aware that a human being <i>was</i> in the -room. His psychic apparatus never failed in letting him know the -proximity of an incarnate or discarnate being. Even in the dark he could -tell that. And he now knew positively that his patient—the patient who -had alarmed Barker, and had then tripped down the corridor with that -dancing footstep—was somewhere concealed within the four walls -commanded by his spy-hole. He also realised—and this was most -unusual—that this individual whom he desired to watch knew that he was -being watched. And, further, that the stranger himself was also -watching! In fact, that it was he, the doctor, who was being -observed—and by an observer as keen and trained as himself.</p> - -<p>An inkling of the true state of the case began to dawn upon him, and he -was on the verge of entering—indeed, his hand already touched the -door-knob—when his eye, still glued to the spy-hole, detected a slight -movement. Directly opposite, between him and the fireplace, something -stirred. He watched very attentively and made certain that he was not -mistaken. An object on the mantelpiece—it was a blue vase—disappeared -from view. It passed out of sight together with the portion of the -marble mantelpiece on which it rested. Next, that part of the fire and -grate and brass fender immediately below it vanished entirely, as though -a slice had been taken clean out of them.</p> - -<p>Dr. Silence then understood that something between him and these objects -was slowly coming into being, something that concealed them and -obstructed his vision by inserting itself in the line of sight between -them and himself.</p> - -<p>He quietly awaited further results before going in.</p> - -<p>First he saw a thin perpendicular line tracing itself from just above -the height of the clock and continuing downwards till it reached the -woolly fire-mat. This line grew wider, broadened, grew solid. It was no -shadow; it was something substantial. It defined itself more and more. -Then suddenly, at the top of the line, and about on a level with the -face of the clock, he saw a round luminous disc gazing steadily at him. -It was a human eye, looking straight into his own, pressed there against -the spy-hole. And it was bright with intelligence. Dr. Silence held his -breath for a moment—and stared back at it.</p> - -<p>Then, like some one moving out of deep shadow into light, he saw the -figure of a man come sliding sideways into view, a whitish face -following the eye, and the perpendicular line he had first observed -broadening out and developing into the complete figure of a human being. -It was the patient. He had apparently been standing there in front of -the fire all the time. A second eye had followed the first, and both of -them stared steadily at the spy-hole, sharply concentrated, yet with a -sly twinkle of humour and amusement that made it impossible for the -doctor to maintain his position any longer.</p> - -<p>He opened the door and went in quickly. As he did so he noticed for the -first time the sound of a German band coming in gaily through the open -ventilators. In some intuitive, unaccountable fashion the music -connected itself with the patient he was about to interview. This sort -of prevision was not unfamiliar to him. It always explained itself -later.</p> - -<p>The man, he saw, was of middle age and of very ordinary appearance; so -ordinary, in fact, that he was difficult to describe—his only -peculiarity being his extreme thinness. Pleasant—that is, -good—vibrations issued from his atmosphere and met Dr. Silence as he -advanced to greet him, yet vibrations alive with currents and discharges -betraying the perturbed and disordered condition of his mind and brain. -There was evidently something wholly out of the usual in the state of -his thoughts. Yet, though strange, it was not altogether distressing; it -was not the impression that the broken and violent atmosphere of the -insane produces upon the mind. Dr. Silence realised in a flash that here -was a case of absorbing interest that might require all his powers to -handle properly.</p> - -<p>"I was watching you through my little peep-hole—as you saw," he began, -with a pleasant smile, advancing to shake hands. "I find it of the -greatest assistance sometimes—"</p> - -<p>But the patient interrupted him at once. His voice was hurried and had -odd, shrill changes in it, breaking from high to low in unexpected -fashion. One moment it thundered, the next it almost squeaked.</p> - -<p>"I understand without explanation," he broke in rapidly. "You get the -true note of a man in this way—when he thinks himself unobserved. I -quite agree. Only, in my case, I fear, you saw very little. My case, as -you of course grasp, Dr. Silence, is extremely peculiar, uncomfortably -peculiar. Indeed, unless Sir William had positively assured me—"</p> - -<p>"My friend has sent you to me," the doctor interrupted gravely, with a -gentle note of authority, "and that is quite sufficient. Pray, be -seated, Mr.—"</p> - -<p>"Mudge—Racine Mudge," returned the other.</p> - -<p>"Take this comfortable one, Mr. Mudge," leading him to the fixed chair, -"and tell me your condition in your own way and at your own pace. My -whole day is at your service if you require it."</p> - -<p>Mr. Mudge moved towards the chair in question and then hesitated.</p> - -<p>"You will promise me not to use the narcotic buttons," he said, before -sitting down. "I do not need them. Also I ought to mention that anything -you think of vividly will reach my mind. That is apparently part of my -peculiar case." He sat down with a sigh and arranged his thin legs and -body into a position of comfort. Evidently he was very sensitive to the -thoughts of others, for the picture of the green buttons had only -entered the doctor's mind for a second, yet the other had instantly -snapped it up. Dr. Silence noticed, too, that Mr. Mudge held on tightly -with both hands to the arms of the chair.</p> - -<p>"I'm rather glad the chair is nailed to the floor," he remarked, as he -settled himself more comfortably. "It suits me admirably. The fact -is—and this is my case in a nutshell—which is all that a doctor of -your marvellous development requires—the fact is, Dr. Silence, I am a -victim of Higher Space. That's what's the matter with me—Higher Space!"</p> - -<p>The two looked at each other for a space in silence, the little patient -holding tightly to the arms of the chair which "suited him admirably," -and looking up with staring eyes, his atmosphere positively trembling -with the waves of some unknown activity; while the doctor smiled kindly -and sympathetically, and put his whole person as far as possible into -the mental condition of the other.</p> - -<p>"Higher Space," repeated Mr. Mudge, "that's what it is. Now, do you -think you can help me with <i>that</i>?"</p> - -<p>There was a pause during which the men's eyes steadily searched down -below the surface of their respective personalities. Then Dr. Silence -spoke.</p> - -<p>"I am quite sure I can help," he answered quietly; "sympathy must always -help, and suffering always owns my sympathy. I see you have suffered -cruelly. You must tell me all about your case, and when I hear the -gradual steps by which you reached this strange condition, I have no -doubt I can be of assistance to you."</p> - -<p>He drew a chair up beside his interlocutor and laid a hand on his -shoulder for a moment. His whole being radiated kindness, intelligence, -desire to help.</p> - -<p>"For instance," he went on, "I feel sure it was the result of no mere -chance that you became familiar with the terrors of what you term Higher -Space; for Higher Space is no mere external measurement. It is, of -course, a spiritual state, a spiritual condition, an inner development, -and one that we must recognise as abnormal, since it is beyond the reach -of the world at the present stage of evolution. Higher Space is a -mythical state."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" cried the other, rubbing his birdlike hands with pleasure, "the -relief it is to be able to talk to some one who can understand! Of -course what you say is the utter truth. And you are right that no mere -chance led me to my present condition, but, on the other hand, prolonged -and deliberate study. Yet chance in a sense now governs it. I mean, my -entering the condition of Higher Space seems to depend upon the chance -of this and that circumstance. For instance, the mere sound of that -German band sent me off. Not that all music will do so, but certain -sounds, certain vibrations, at once key me up to the requisite pitch, -and off I go. Wagner's music always does it, and that band must have -been playing a stray bit of Wagner. But I'll come to all that later. -Only first, I must ask you to send away your man from the spy-hole."</p> - -<p>John Silence looked up with a start, for Mr. Mudge's back was to the -door, and there was no mirror. He saw the brown eye of Barker glued to -the little circle of glass, and he crossed the room without a word and -snapped down the black shutter provided for the purpose, and then heard -Barker snuffle away along the passage.</p> - -<p>"Now," continued the little man in the chair, "I can begin. You have -managed to put me completely at my ease, and I feel I may tell you my -whole case without shame or reserve. You will understand. But you must -be patient with me if I go into details that are already familiar to -you—details of Higher Space, I mean—and if I seem stupid when I have -to describe things that transcend the power of language and are really -therefore indescribable."</p> - -<p>"My dear friend," put in the other calmly, "that goes without saying. To -know Higher Space is an experience that defies description, and one is -obliged to make use of more or less intelligible symbols. But, pray, -proceed. Your vivid thoughts will tell me more than your halting words."</p> - -<p>An immense sigh of relief proceeded from the little figure half lost in -the depths of the chair. Such intelligent sympathy meeting him half-way -was a new experience to him, and it touched his heart at once. He leaned -back, relaxing his tight hold of the arms, and began in his thin, -scale-like voice.</p> - -<p>"My mother was a Frenchwoman, and my father an Essex bargeman," he said -abruptly. "Hence my name—Racine and Mudge. My father died before I ever -saw him. My mother inherited money from her Bordeaux relations, and when -she died soon after, I was left alone with wealth and a strange freedom. -I had no guardian, trustees, sisters, brothers, or any connection in the -world to look after me. I grew up, therefore, utterly without education. -This much was to my advantage; I learned none of that deceitful rubbish -taught in schools, and so had nothing to unlearn when I awakened to my -true love—mathematics, higher mathematics and higher geometry. These, -however, I seemed to know instinctively. It was like the memory of what -I had deeply studied before; the principles were in my blood, and I -simply raced through the ordinary stages, and beyond, and then did the -same with geometry. Afterwards, when I read the books on these subjects, -I understood how swift and undeviating the knowledge had come back to -me. It was simply memory. It was simply <i>re-collecting</i> the memories of -what I had known before in a previous existence and required no books to -teach me."</p> - -<p>In his growing excitement, Mr. Mudge attempted to drag the chair forward -a little nearer to his listener, and then smiled faintly as he resigned -himself instantly again to its immovability, and plunged anew into the -recital of his singular "disease."</p> - -<p>"The audacious speculations of Bolyai, the amazing theories of -Gauss—that through a point more than one line could be drawn parallel -to a given line; the possibility that the angles of a triangle are -together <i>greater</i> than two right angles, if drawn upon immense -curvatures—the breathless intuitions of Beltrami and Lobatchewsky—all -these I hurried through, and emerged, panting but unsatisfied, upon the -verge of my—my new world, my Higher Space possibilities—in a word, my -disease!</p> - -<p>"How I got there," he resumed after a brief pause, during which he -appeared to be listening intently for an approaching sound, "is more -than I can put intelligibly into words. I can only hope to leave your -mind with an intuitive comprehension of the possibility of what I say.</p> - -<p>"Here, however, came a change. At this point I was no longer absorbing -the fruits of studies I had made before; it was the beginning of new -efforts to learn for the first time, and I had to go slowly and -laboriously through terrible work. Here I sought for the theories and -speculations of others. But books were few and far between, and with the -exception of one man—a 'dreamer,' the world called him—whose audacity -and piercing intuition amazed and delighted me beyond description, I -found no one to guide or help.</p> - -<p>"You, of course, Dr. Silence, understand something of what I am driving -at with these stammering words, though you cannot perhaps yet guess what -depths of pain my new knowledge brought me to, nor why an acquaintance -with a new development of space should prove a source of misery and -terror."</p> - -<p>Mr. Racine Mudge, remembering that the chair would not move, did the -next best thing he could in his desire to draw nearer to the attentive -man facing him, and sat forward upon the very edge of the cushions, -crossing his legs and gesticulating with both hands as though he saw -into this region of new space he was attempting to describe, and might -any moment tumble into it bodily from the edge of the chair and -disappear form view. John Silence, separated from him by three paces, -sat with his eyes fixed upon the thin white face opposite, noting -every word and every gesture with deep attention.</p> - -<p>"This room we now sit in, Dr. Silence, has one side open to space—to -Higher Space. A closed box only <i>seems</i> closed. There is a way in and -out of a soap bubble without breaking the skin."</p> - -<p>"You tell me no new thing," the doctor interposed gently.</p> - -<p>"Hence, if Higher Space exists and our world borders upon it and lies -partially in it, it follows necessarily that we see only portions of all -objects. We never see their true and complete shape. We see their three -measurements, but not their fourth. The new direction is concealed from -us, and when I hold this book and move my hand all round it I have not -really made a complete circuit. We only perceive those portions of any -object which exist in our three dimensions; the rest escapes us. But, -once we learn to see in Higher Space, objects will appear as they -actually are. Only they will thus be hardly recognisable!</p> - -<p>"Now, you may begin to grasp something of what I am coming to."</p> - -<p>"I am beginning to understand something of what you must have suffered," -observed the doctor soothingly, "for I have made similar experiments -myself, and only stopped just in time—"</p> - -<p>"You are the one man in all the world who can hear and understand, <i>and</i> -sympathise," exclaimed Mr. Mudge, grasping his hand and holding it -tightly while he spoke. The nailed chair prevented further excitability.</p> - -<p>"Well," he resumed, after a moment's pause, "I procured the implements -and the coloured blocks for practical experiment, and I followed the -instructions carefully till I had arrived at a working conception of -four-dimensional space. The tessaract, the figure whose boundaries are -cubes, I knew by heart. That is to say, I knew it and saw it mentally, -for my eye, of course, could never take in a new measurement, or my -hands and feet handle it.</p> - -<p>"So, at least, I thought," he added, making a wry face. "I had reached -the stage, you see, when I could imagine in a new dimension. I was able -to conceive the shape of that new figure which is intrinsically -different to all we know—the shape of the tessaract. I could perceive -in four dimensions. When, therefore, I looked at a cube I could see all -its sides at once. Its top was not foreshortened, nor its farther side -and base invisible. I saw the whole thing out flat, so to speak. And -this tessaract was bounded by cubes! Moreover, I also saw its -content—its insides."</p> - -<p>"You were not yourself able to enter this new world," interrupted Dr. -Silence.</p> - -<p>"Not then. I was only able to conceive intuitively what it was like and -how exactly it must look. Later, when I slipped in there and saw objects -in their entirety, unlimited by the paucity of our poor three -measurements, I very nearly lost my life. For, you see, space does not -stop at a single new dimension, a fourth. It extends in all possible new -ones, and we must conceive it as containing any number of new -dimensions. In other words, there is no space at all, but only a -spiritual condition. But, meanwhile, I had come to grasp the strange -fact that the objects in our normal world appear to us only partially."</p> - -<p>Mr. Mudge moved farther forward till he was balanced dangerously on the -very edge of the chair. "From this starting point," he resumed, "I began -my studies and experiments, and continued them for years. I had money, -and I was without friends. I lived in solitude and experimented. My -intellect, of course, had little part in the work, for intellectually it -was all unthinkable. Never was the limitation of mere reason more -plainly demonstrated. It was mystically, intuitively, spiritually that I -began to advance. And what I learnt, and knew, and did is all impossible -to put into language, since it all describes experiences transcending -the experiences of men. It is only some of the results—what you would -call the symptoms of my disease—that I can give you, and even these -must often appear absurd contradictions and impossible paradoxes.</p> - -<p>"I can only tell you, Dr. Silence"—his manner became exceedingly -impressive—"that I reached sometimes a point of view whence all the -great puzzle of the world became plain to me, and I understood what they -call in the Yoga books 'The Great Heresy of Separateness'; why all great -teachers have urged the necessity of man loving his neighbour as -himself; how men are all really one; and why the utter loss of self is -necessary to salvation and the discovery of the true life of the soul."</p> - -<p>He paused a moment and drew breath.</p> - -<p>"Your speculations have been my own long ago," the doctor said quietly. -"I fully realise the force of your words. Men are doubtless not separate -at all—in the sense they imagine—"</p> - -<p>"All this about the very much Higher Space I only dimly, very dimly, -conceived, of course," the other went on, raising his voice again by -jerks; "but what did happen to me was the humbler accident of—the -simpler disaster—oh, dear, how shall I put it—?"</p> - -<p>He stammered and showed visible signs of distress.</p> - -<p>"It was simply this," he resumed with a sudden rush of words, "that, -accidentally, as the result of my years of experiment, I one day slipped -bodily into the next world, the world of four dimensions, yet without -knowing precisely how I got there, or how I could get back again. I -discovered, that is, that my ordinary three-dimensional body was but an -expression—a projection—of my higher four-dimensional body!</p> - -<p>"Now you understand what I meant much earlier in our talk when I spoke -of chance. I cannot control my entrance or exit. Certain people, certain -human atmospheres, certain wandering forces, thoughts, desires even—the -radiations of certain combinations of colour, and above all, the -vibrations of certain kinds of music, will suddenly throw me into a -state of what I can only describe as an intense and terrific inner -vibration—and behold I am off! Off in the direction at right angles to -all our known directions! Off in the direction the cube takes when it -begins to trace the outlines of the new figure! Off into my breathless -and semi-divine Higher Space! Off, <i>inside myself</i>, into the world of -four dimensions!"</p> - -<p>He gasped and dropped back into the depths of the immovable chair.</p> - -<p>"And there," he whispered, his voice issuing from among the cushions, -"there I have to stay until these vibrations subside, or until they do -something which I cannot find words to describe properly or intelligibly -to you—and then, behold, I am back again. First, that is, I disappear. -Then I reappear."</p> - -<p>"Just so," exclaimed Dr. Silence, "and that is why a few—"</p> - -<p>"Why a few moments ago," interrupted Mr. Mudge, taking the words out of -his mouth, "you found me gone, and then saw me return. The music of that -wretched German band sent me off. Your intense thinking about me brought -me back—when the band had stopped its Wagner. I saw you approach the -peep-hole and I saw Barker's intention of doing so later. For me no -interiors are hidden. I see inside. When in that state the content of -your mind, as of your body, is open to me as the day. Oh, dear, oh, -dear, oh, dear!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Mudge stopped and again mopped his brow. A light trembling ran over -the surface of his small body like wind over grass. He still held -tightly to the arms of the chair.</p> - -<p>"At first," he presently resumed, "my new experiences were so vividly -interesting that I felt no alarm. There was no room for it. The alarm -came a little later."</p> - -<p>"Then you actually penetrated far enough into that state to experience -yourself as a normal portion of it?" asked the doctor, leaning forward, -deeply interested.</p> - -<p>Mr. Mudge nodded a perspiring face in reply.</p> - -<p>"I did," he whispered, "undoubtedly I did. I am coming to all that. It -began first at night, when I realised that sleep brought no loss of -consciousness—"</p> - -<p>"The spirit, of course, can never sleep. Only the body becomes -unconscious," interposed John Silence.</p> - -<p>"Yes, we know that—theoretically. At night, of course, the spirit is -active elsewhere, and we have no memory of where and how, simply -because the brain stays behind and receives no record. But I found -that, while remaining conscious, I also retained memory. I had attained -to the state of continuous consciousness, for at night I regularly, with -the first approaches of drowsiness, entered <i>nolens volens</i> the -four-dimensional world.</p> - -<p>"For a time this happened regularly, and I could not control it; though -later I found a way to regulate it better. Apparently sleep is -unnecessary in the higher—the four-dimensional—body. Yes, perhaps. But -I should infinitely have preferred dull sleep to the knowledge. For, -unable to control my movements, I wandered to and fro, attracted, owing -to my partial development and premature arrival, to parts of this new -world that alarmed me more and more. It was the awful waste and drift of -a monstrous world, so utterly different to all we know and see that I -cannot even hint at the nature of the sights and objects and beings in -it. More than that, I cannot even remember them. I cannot now picture -them to myself even, but can recall only the <i>memory of the impression</i> -they made upon me, the horror and devastating terror of it all. To be in -several places at once, for instance—"</p> - -<p>"Perfectly," interrupted John Silence, noticing the increase of the -other's excitement, "I understand exactly. But now, please, tell me a -little more of this alarm you experienced, and how it affected you."</p> - -<p>"It's not the disappearing and reappearing <i>per se</i> that I mind," -continued Mr. Mudge, "so much as certain other things. It's seeing -people and objects in their weird entirety, in their true and complete -shapes, that is so distressing. It introduces me to a world of monsters. -Horses, dogs, cats, all of which I loved; people, trees, children; all -that I have considered beautiful in life—everything, from a human face -to a cathedral—appear to me in a different shape and aspect to all I -have known before. I cannot perhaps convince you why this should be -terrible, but I assure you that it is so. To hear the human voice -proceeding from this novel appearance which I scarcely recognise as a -human body is ghastly, simply ghastly. To see inside everything and -everybody is a form of insight peculiarly distressing. To be so confused -in geography as to find myself one moment at the North Pole, and the -next at Clapham Junction—or possibly at both places simultaneously—is -absurdly terrifying. Your imagination will readily furnish other details -without my multiplying my experiences now. But you have no idea what it -all means, and how I suffer."</p> - -<p>Mr. Mudge paused in his panting account and lay back in his chair. He -still held tightly to the arms as though they could keep him in the -world of sanity and three measurements, and only now and again released -his left hand in order to mop his face. He looked very thin and white -and oddly unsubstantial, and he stared about him as though he saw into -this other space he had been talking about.</p> - -<p>John Silence, too, felt warm. He had listened to every word and had made -many notes. The presence of this man had an exhilarating effect upon -him. It seemed as if Mr. Racine Mudge still carried about with him -something of that breathless Higher-Space condition he had been -describing. At any rate, Dr. Silence had himself advanced sufficiently -far along the legitimate paths of spiritual and psychic transformations -to realise that the visions of this extraordinary little person had a -basis of truth for their origin.</p> - -<p>After a pause that prolonged itself into minutes, he crossed the room -and unlocked a drawer in a bookcase, taking out a small book with a red -cover. It had a lock to it, and he produced a key out of his pocket and -proceeded to open the covers. The bright eyes of Mr. Mudge never left -him for a single second.</p> - -<p>"It almost seems a pity," he said at length, "to cure you, Mr. Mudge. -You are on the way to discovery of great things. Though you may lose -your life in the process—that is, your life here in the world of three -dimensions—you would lose thereby nothing of great value—you will -pardon my apparent rudeness, I know—and you might gain what is -infinitely greater. Your suffering, of course, lies in the fact that you -alternate between the two worlds and are never wholly in one or the -other. Also, I rather imagine, though I cannot be certain of this from -any personal experiments, that you have here and there penetrated even -into space of more than four dimensions, and have hence experienced the -terror you speak of."</p> - -<p>The perspiring son of the Essex bargeman and the woman of Normandy bent -his head several times in assent, but uttered no word in reply.</p> - -<p>"Some strange psychic predisposition, dating no doubt from one of your -former lives, has favoured the development of your 'disease'; and the -fact that you had no normal training at school or college, no leading by -the poor intellect into the culs-de-sac falsely called knowledge, has -further caused your exceedingly rapid movement along the lines of direct -inner experience. None of the knowledge you have foreshadowed has come -to you through the senses, of course."</p> - -<p>Mr. Mudge, sitting in his immovable chair, began to tremble slightly. A -wind again seemed to pass over his surface and again to set it curiously -in motion like a field of grass.</p> - -<p>"You are merely talking to gain time," he said hurriedly, in a shaking -voice. "This thinking aloud delays us. I see ahead what you are coming -to, only please be quick, for something is going to happen. A band is -again coming down the street, and if it plays—if it plays Wagner—I -shall be off in a twinkling."</p> - -<p>"Precisely. I will be quick. I was leading up to the point of how to -effect your cure. The way is this: You must simply learn to <i>block the -entrances</i>."</p> - -<p>"True, true, utterly true!" exclaimed the little man, dodging about -nervously in the depths of the chair. "But how, in the name of space, is -that to be done?"</p> - -<p>"By concentration. They are all within you, these entrances, although -outer cases such as colour, music and other things lead you towards -them. These external things you cannot hope to destroy, but once the -entrances are blocked, they will lead you only to bricked walls and -closed channels. You will no longer be able to find the way."</p> - -<p>"Quick, quick!" cried the bobbing figure in the chair. "How is this -concentration to be effected?"</p> - -<p>"This little book," continued Dr. Silence calmly, "will explain to you -the way." He tapped the cover. "Let me now read out to you certain -simple instructions, composed, as I see you divine, entirely from my own -personal experiences in the same direction. Follow these instructions -and you will no longer enter the state of Higher Space. The entrances -will be blocked effectively."</p> - -<p>Mr. Mudge sat bolt upright in his chair to listen, and John Silence -cleared his throat and began to read slowly in a very distinct voice.</p> - -<p>But before he had uttered a dozen words, something happened. A sound of -street music entered the room through the open ventilators, for a band -had begun to play in the stable mews at the back of the house—the March -from <i>Tannhäuser</i>. Odd as it may seem that a German band should twice -within the space of an hour enter the same mews and play Wagner, it was -nevertheless the fact.</p> - -<p>Mr. Racine Mudge heard it. He uttered a sharp, squeaking cry and twisted -his arms with nervous energy round the chair. A piteous look that was -not far from tears spread over his white face. Grey shadows followed -it—the grey of fear. He began to struggle convulsively.</p> - -<p>"Hold me fast! Catch me! For God's sake, keep me here! I'm on the rush -already. Oh, it's frightful!" he cried in tones of anguish, his voice as -thin as a reed.</p> - -<p>Dr. Silence made a plunge forward to seize him, but in a flash, before -he could cover the space between them, Mr. Racine Mudge, screaming and -struggling, seemed to shoot past him into invisibility. He disappeared -like an arrow from a bow propelled at infinite speed, and his voice no -longer sounded in the external air, but seemed in some curious way to -make itself heard somewhere within the depths of the doctor's own being. -It was almost like a faint singing cry in his head, like a voice of -dream, a voice of vision and unreality.</p> - -<p>"Alcohol, alcohol!" it cried, "give me alcohol! It's the quickest way. -Alcohol, before I'm out of reach!"</p> - -<p>The doctor, accustomed to rapid decisions and even more rapid action, -remembered that a brandy flask stood upon the mantelpiece, and in less -than a second he had seized it and was holding it out towards the space -above the chair recently occupied by the visible Mudge. Then, before his -very eyes, and long ere he could unscrew the metal stopper, he saw the -contents of the closed glass phial sink and lessen as though some one -were drinking violently and greedily of the liquor within.</p> - -<p>"Thanks! Enough! It deadens the vibrations!" cried the faint voice in -his interior, as he withdrew the flask and set it back upon the -mantelpiece. He understood that in Mudge's present condition one side of -the flask was open to space and he could drink without removing the -stopper. He could hardly have had a more interesting proof of what he -had been hearing described at such length.</p> - -<p>But the next moment—the very same moment it almost seemed—the German -band stopped midway in its tune—and there was Mr. Mudge back in his -chair again, gasping and panting!</p> - -<p>"Quick!" he shrieked, "stop that band! Send it away! Catch hold of me! -Block the entrances! Block the entrances! Give me the red book! Oh, oh, -oh-h-h-h!!!"</p> - -<p>The music had begun again. It was merely a temporary interruption. The -<i>Tannhäuser</i> March started again, this time at a tremendous pace that -made it sound like a rapid two-step as though the instruments played -against time.</p> - -<p>But the brief interruption gave Dr. Silence a moment in which to collect -his scattering thoughts, and before the band had got through half a bar, -he had flung forward upon the chair and held Mr. Racine Mudge, the -struggling little victim of Higher Space, in a grip of iron. His arms -went all round his diminutive person, taking in a good part of the chair -at the same time. He was not a big man, yet he seemed to smother Mudge -completely.</p> - -<p>Yet, even as he did so, and felt the wriggling form underneath him, it -began to melt and slip away like air or water. The wood of the arm-chair -somehow disentangled itself from between his own arms and those of -Mudge. The phenomenon known as the passage of matter through matter took -place. The little man seemed actually to get mixed up in his own being. -Dr. Silence could just see his face beneath him. It puckered and grew -dark as though from some great internal effort. He heard the thin, reedy -voice cry in his ear to "Block the entrances, block the entrances!" and -then—but how in the world describe what is indescribable?</p> - -<p>John Silence half rose up to watch. Racine Mudge, his face distorted -beyond all recognition, was making a marvellous inward movement, as -though doubling back upon himself. He turned funnel-wise like water in a -whirling vortex, and then appeared to break up somewhat as a reflection -breaks up and divides in a distorting convex mirror. He went neither -forward nor backwards, neither to the right nor the left, neither up nor -down. But he went. He went utterly. He simply flashed away out of sight -like a vanishing projectile.</p> - -<p>All but one leg! Dr. Silence just had the time and the presence of mind -to seize upon the left ankle and boot as it disappeared, and to this he -held on for several seconds like grim death. Yet all the time he knew it -was a foolish and useless thing to do.</p> - -<p>The foot was in his grasp one moment, and the next it seemed—this was -the only way he could describe it—inside his own skin and bones, and at -the same time outside his hand and all round it. It seemed mixed up in -some amazing way with his own flesh and blood. Then it was gone, and he -was tightly grasping a draught of heated air.</p> - -<p>"Gone! gone! gone!" cried a thick, whispering voice, somewhere deep -within his own consciousness. "Lost! lost! lost!" it repeated, growing -fainter and fainter till at length it vanished into nothing and the last -signs of Mr. Racine Mudge vanished with it.</p> - -<p>John Silence locked his red book and replaced it in the cabinet, which -he fastened with a click, and when Barker answered the bell he inquired -if Mr. Mudge had left a card upon the table. It appeared that he had, -and when the servant returned with it, Dr. Silence read the address and -made a note of it. It was in North London.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Mudge has gone," he said quietly to Barker, noticing his expression -of alarm.</p> - -<p>"He's not taken his 'at with him, sir."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Mudge requires no hat where he is now," continued the doctor, -stooping to poke the fire. "But he may return for it—"</p> - -<p>"And the humbrella, sir."</p> - -<p>"And the umbrella."</p> - -<p>"He didn't go out <i>my</i> way, sir, if you please," stuttered the amazed -servant, his curiosity overcoming his nervousness.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Mudge has his own way of coming and going, and prefers it. If he -returns by the door at any time remember to bring him instantly to me, -and be kind and gentle with him and ask no questions. Also, remember, -Barker, to think pleasantly, sympathetically, affectionately of him -while he is away. Mr. Mudge is a very suffering gentleman."</p> - -<p>Barker bowed and went out of the room backwards, gasping and feeling -round the inside of his collar with three very hot fingers of one hand.</p> - -<p>It was two days later when he brought in a telegram to the study. Dr. -Silence opened it, and read as follows:</p> - -<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1em;">"Bombay. Just slipped out again. All safe. Have blocked</span><br> -<span style="layout-flow: horizontal; margin-left: 1em;">entrances. Thousand thanks. Address Cooks, London.—MUDGE."</span><br> - -<p>Dr. Silence looked up and saw Barker staring at him bewilderingly. It -occurred to him that somehow he knew the contents of the telegram.</p> - -<p>"Make a parcel of Mr. Mudge's things," he said briefly, "and address -them Thomas Cook & Sons, Ludgate Circus. And send them there exactly a -month from to-day and marked 'To be called for.'"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," said Barker, leaving the room with a deep sigh and a hurried -glance at the waste-paper basket where his master had dropped the pink -paper.</p> - - - - - - -<br><br><hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Three More John Silence Stories -by Algernon Blackwood - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE MORE JOHN SILENCE STORIES *** - -***** This file should be named 10659-h.htm or 10659-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/5/10659/ - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders - -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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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: Three More John Silence Stories - -Author: Algernon Blackwood - -Release Date: January 9, 2004 [EBook #10659] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE MORE JOHN SILENCE STORIES *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders - - - - -Three More John Silence Stories - -BY ALGERNON BLACKWOOD - - - - -To M.L.W. The Original of John Silence - -and - -My Companion in Many Adventures - - - - -Contents - -Case I: Secret Worship - -Case II: The Camp of the Dog - -Case III: A Victim of Higher Space - - - - -CASE I: SECRET WORSHIP - - -Harris, the silk merchant, was in South Germany on his way home from a -business trip when the idea came to him suddenly that he would take the -mountain railway from Strassbourg and run down to revisit his old school -after an interval of something more than thirty years. And it was to -this chance impulse of the junior partner in Harris Brothers of St. -Paul's Churchyard that John Silence owed one of the most curious cases -of his whole experience, for at that very moment he happened to be -tramping these same mountains with a holiday knapsack, and from -different points of the compass the two men were actually converging -towards the same inn. - -Now, deep down in the heart that for thirty years had been concerned -chiefly with the profitable buying and selling of silk, this school had -left the imprint of its peculiar influence, and, though perhaps unknown -to Harris, had strongly coloured the whole of his subsequent existence. -It belonged to the deeply religious life of a small Protestant community -(which it is unnecessary to specify), and his father had sent him there -at the age of fifteen, partly because he would learn the German -requisite for the conduct of the silk business, and partly because the -discipline was strict, and discipline was what his soul and body needed -just then more than anything else. - -The life, indeed, had proved exceedingly severe, and young Harris -benefited accordingly; for though corporal punishment was unknown, there -was a system of mental and spiritual correction which somehow made the -soul stand proudly erect to receive it, while it struck at the very root -of the fault and taught the boy that his character was being cleaned and -strengthened, and that he was not merely being tortured in a kind of -personal revenge. - -That was over thirty years ago, when he was a dreamy and impressionable -youth of fifteen; and now, as the train climbed slowly up the winding -mountain gorges, his mind travelled back somewhat lovingly over the -intervening period, and forgotten details rose vividly again before him -out of the shadows. The life there had been very wonderful, it seemed to -him, in that remote mountain village, protected from the tumults of the -world by the love and worship of the devout Brotherhood that ministered -to the needs of some hundred boys from every country in Europe. Sharply -the scenes came back to him. He smelt again the long stone corridors, -the hot pinewood rooms, where the sultry hours of summer study were -passed with bees droning through open windows in the sunshine, and -German characters struggling in the mind with dreams of English -lawns--and then the sudden awful cry of the master in German-- - -"Harris, stand up! You sleep!" - -And he recalled the dreadful standing motionless for an hour, book in -hand, while the knees felt like wax and the head grew heavier than a -cannon-ball. - -The very smell of the cooking came back to him--the daily _Sauerkraut_, -the watery chocolate on Sundays, the flavour of the stringy meat served -twice a week at _Mittagessen_; and he smiled to think again of the -half-rations that was the punishment for speaking English. The very -odour of the milk-bowls,--the hot sweet aroma that rose from the soaking -peasant-bread at the six-o'clock breakfast,--came back to him pungently, -and he saw the huge _Speisesaal_ with the hundred boys in their school -uniform, all eating sleepily in silence, gulping down the coarse bread -and scalding milk in terror of the bell that would presently cut them -short--and, at the far end where the masters sat, he saw the narrow slit -windows with the vistas of enticing field and forest beyond. - -And this, in turn, made him think of the great barnlike room on the top -floor where all slept together in wooden cots, and he heard in memory -the clamour of the cruel bell that woke them on winter mornings at five -o'clock and summoned them to the stone-flagged _Waschkammer_, where boys -and masters alike, after scanty and icy washing, dressed in complete -silence. - -From this his mind passed swiftly, with vivid picture-thoughts, to other -things, and with a passing shiver he remembered how the loneliness of -never being alone had eaten into him, and how everything--work, meals, -sleep, walks, leisure--was done with his "division" of twenty other boys -and under the eyes of at least two masters. The only solitude possible -was by asking for half an hour's practice in the cell-like music rooms, -and Harris smiled to himself as he recalled the zeal of his violin -studies. - -Then, as the train puffed laboriously through the great pine forests -that cover these mountains with a giant carpet of velvet, he found the -pleasanter layers of memory giving up their dead, and he recalled with -admiration the kindness of the masters, whom all addressed as Brother, -and marvelled afresh at their devotion in burying themselves for years -in such a place, only to leave it, in most cases, for the still rougher -life of missionaries in the wild places of the world. - -He thought once more of the still, religious atmosphere that hung over -the little forest community like a veil, barring the distressful world; -of the picturesque ceremonies at Easter, Christmas, and New Year; of the -numerous feast-days and charming little festivals. The _Beschehr-Fest_, -in particular, came back to him,--the feast of gifts at Christmas,--when -the entire community paired off and gave presents, many of which had -taken weeks to make or the savings of many days to purchase. And then he -saw the midnight ceremony in the church at New Year, with the shining -face of the _Prediger_ in the pulpit,--the village preacher who, on the -last night of the old year, saw in the empty gallery beyond the organ -loft the faces of all who were to die in the ensuing twelve months, and -who at last recognised himself among them, and, in the very middle of -his sermon, passed into a state of rapt ecstasy and burst into a torrent -of praise. - -Thickly the memories crowded upon him. The picture of the small village -dreaming its unselfish life on the mountain-tops, clean, wholesome, -simple, searching vigorously for its God, and training hundreds of boys -in the grand way, rose up in his mind with all the power of an -obsession. He felt once more the old mystical enthusiasm, deeper than -the sea and more wonderful than the stars; he heard again the winds -sighing from leagues of forest over the red roofs in the moonlight; he -heard the Brothers' voices talking of the things beyond this life as -though they had actually experienced them in the body; and, as he sat in -the jolting train, a spirit of unutterable longing passed over his -seared and tired soul, stirring in the depths of him a sea of emotions -that he thought had long since frozen into immobility. - -And the contrast pained him,--the idealistic dreamer then, the man of -business now,--so that a spirit of unworldly peace and beauty known only -to the soul in meditation laid its feathered finger upon his heart, -moving strangely the surface of the waters. - -Harris shivered a little and looked out of the window of his empty -carriage. The train had long passed Hornberg, and far below the streams -tumbled in white foam down the limestone rocks. In front of him, dome -upon dome of wooded mountain stood against the sky. It was October, and -the air was cool and sharp, woodsmoke and damp moss exquisitely mingled -in it with the subtle odours of the pines. Overhead, between the tips of -the highest firs, he saw the first stars peeping, and the sky was a -clean, pale amethyst that seemed exactly the colour all these memories -clothed themselves with in his mind. - -He leaned back in his corner and sighed. He was a heavy man, and he had -not known sentiment for years; he was a big man, and it took much to -move him, literally and figuratively; he was a man in whom the dreams of -God that haunt the soul in youth, though overlaid by the scum that -gathers in the fight for money, had not, as with the majority, utterly -died the death. - -He came back into this little neglected pocket of the years, where so -much fine gold had collected and lain undisturbed, with all his -semispiritual emotions aquiver; and, as he watched the mountain-tops -come nearer, and smelt the forgotten odours of his boyhood, something -melted on the surface of his soul and left him sensitive to a degree he -had not known since, thirty years before, he had lived here with his -dreams, his conflicts, and his youthful suffering. - -A thrill ran through him as the train stopped with a jolt at a tiny -station and he saw the name in large black lettering on the grey stone -building, and below it, the number of metres it stood above the level of -the sea. - -"The highest point on the line!" he exclaimed. "How well I remember -it--Sommerau--Summer Meadow. The very next station is mine!" - -And, as the train ran downhill with brakes on and steam shut off, he put -his head out of the window and one by one saw the old familiar landmarks -in the dusk. They stared at him like dead faces in a dream. Queer, sharp -feelings, half poignant, half sweet, stirred in his heart. - -"There's the hot, white road we walked along so often with the two -Brueder always at our heels," he thought; "and there, by Jove, is the -turn through the forest to '_Die Galgen_,' the stone gallows where they -hanged the witches in olden days!" - -He smiled a little as the train slid past. - -"And there's the copse where the Lilies of the Valley powdered the -ground in spring; and, I swear,"--he put his head out with a sudden -impulse--"if that's not the very clearing where Calame, the French boy, -chased the swallow-tail with me, and Bruder Pagel gave us half-rations -for leaving the road without permission, and for shouting in our mother -tongues!" And he laughed again as the memories came back with a rush, -flooding his mind with vivid detail. - -The train stopped, and he stood on the grey gravel platform like a man -in a dream. It seemed half a century since he last waited there with -corded wooden boxes, and got into the train for Strassbourg and home -after the two years' exile. Time dropped from him like an old garment -and he felt a boy again. Only, things looked so much smaller than his -memory of them; shrunk and dwindled they looked, and the distances -seemed on a curiously smaller scale. - -He made his way across the road to the little Gasthaus, and, as he went, -faces and figures of former schoolfellows,--German, Swiss, Italian, -French, Russian,--slipped out of the shadowy woods and silently -accompanied him. They flitted by his side, raising their eyes -questioningly, sadly, to his. But their names he had forgotten. Some of -the Brothers, too, came with them, and most of these he remembered by -name--Bruder Roest, Bruder Pagel, Bruder Schliemann, and the bearded face -of the old preacher who had seen himself in the haunted gallery of those -about to die--Bruder Gysin. The dark forest lay all about him like a sea -that any moment might rush with velvet waves upon the scene and sweep -all the faces away. The air was cool and wonderfully fragrant, but with -every perfumed breath came also a pallid memory.... - -Yet, in spite of the underlying sadness inseparable from such an -experience, it was all very interesting, and held a pleasure peculiarly -its own, so that Harris engaged his room and ordered supper feeling well -pleased with himself, and intending to walk up to the old school that -very evening. It stood in the centre of the community's village, some -four miles distant through the forest, and he now recollected for the -first time that this little Protestant settlement dwelt isolated in a -section of the country that was otherwise Catholic. Crucifixes and -shrines surrounded the clearing like the sentries of a beleaguering -army. Once beyond the square of the village, with its few acres of field -and orchard, the forest crowded up in solid phalanxes, and beyond the -rim of trees began the country that was ruled by the priests of another -faith. He vaguely remembered, too, that the Catholics had showed -sometimes a certain hostility towards the little Protestant oasis that -flourished so quietly and benignly in their midst. He had quite -forgotten this. How trumpery it all seemed now with his wide experience -of life and his knowledge of other countries and the great outside -world. It was like stepping back, not thirty years, but three hundred. - -There were only two others besides himself at supper. One of them, a -bearded, middle-aged man in tweeds, sat by himself at the far end, and -Harris kept out of his way because he was English. He feared he might be -in business, possibly even in the silk business, and that he would -perhaps talk on the subject. The other traveller, however, was a -Catholic priest. He was a little man who ate his salad with a knife, yet -so gently that it was almost inoffensive, and it was the sight of "the -cloth" that recalled his memory of the old antagonism. Harris mentioned -by way of conversation the object of his sentimental journey, and the -priest looked up sharply at him with raised eyebrows and an expression -of surprise and suspicion that somehow piqued him. He ascribed it to his -difference of belief. - -"Yes," went on the silk merchant, pleased to talk of what his mind was -so full, "and it was a curious experience for an English boy to be -dropped down into a school of a hundred foreigners. I well remember the -loneliness and intolerable Heimweh of it at first." His German was very -fluent. - -The priest opposite looked up from his cold veal and potato salad and -smiled. It was a nice face. He explained quietly that he did not belong -here, but was making a tour of the parishes of Wurttemberg and Baden. - -"It was a strict life," added Harris. "We English, I remember, used to -call it _Gefaengnisleben_--prison life!" - -The face of the other, for some unaccountable reason, darkened. After a -slight pause, and more by way of politeness than because he wished to -continue the subject, he said quietly-- - -"It was a flourishing school in those days, of course. Afterwards, I -have heard--" He shrugged his shoulders slightly, and the odd look--it -almost seemed a look of alarm--came back into his eyes. The sentence -remained unfinished. - -Something in the tone of the man seemed to his listener uncalled for--in -a sense reproachful, singular. Harris bridled in spite of himself. - -"It has changed?" he asked. "I can hardly believe--" - -"You have not heard, then?" observed the priest gently, making a gesture -as though to cross himself, yet not actually completing it. "You have -not heard what happened there before it was abandoned--?" - -It was very childish, of course, and perhaps he was overtired and -overwrought in some way, but the words and manner of the little priest -seemed to him so offensive--so disproportionately offensive--that he -hardly noticed the concluding sentence. He recalled the old bitterness -and the old antagonism, and for a moment he almost lost his temper. - -"Nonsense," he interrupted with a forced laugh, "_Unsinn_! You must -forgive me, sir, for contradicting you. But I was a pupil there myself. -I was at school there. There was no place like it. I cannot believe that -anything serious could have happened to--to take away its character. The -devotion of the Brothers would be difficult to equal anywhere--" - -He broke off suddenly, realising that his voice had been raised unduly -and that the man at the far end of the table might understand German; -and at the same moment he looked up and saw that this individual's eyes -were fixed upon his face intently. They were peculiarly bright. Also -they were rather wonderful eyes, and the way they met his own served in -some way he could not understand to convey both a reproach and a -warning. The whole face of the stranger, indeed, made a vivid impression -upon him, for it was a face, he now noticed for the first time, in whose -presence one would not willingly have said or done anything unworthy. -Harris could not explain to himself how it was he had not become -conscious sooner of its presence. - -But he could have bitten off his tongue for having so far forgotten -himself. The little priest lapsed into silence. Only once he said, -looking up and speaking in a low voice that was not intended to be -overheard, but that evidently _was_ overheard, "You will find it -different." Presently he rose and left the table with a polite bow that -included both the others. - -And, after him, from the far end rose also the figure in the tweed suit, -leaving Harris by himself. - -He sat on for a bit in the darkening room, sipping his coffee and -smoking his fifteen-pfennig cigar, till the girl came in to light the -oil lamps. He felt vexed with himself for his lapse from good manners, -yet hardly able to account for it. Most likely, he reflected, he had -been annoyed because the priest had unintentionally changed the pleasant -character of his dream by introducing a jarring note. Later he must seek -an opportunity to make amends. At present, however, he was too impatient -for his walk to the school, and he took his stick and hat and passed out -into the open air. - -And, as he crossed before the Gasthaus, he noticed that the priest and -the man in the tweed suit were engaged already in such deep conversation -that they hardly noticed him as he passed and raised his hat. - -He started off briskly, well remembering the way, and hoping to reach -the village in time to have a word with one of the Brueder. They might -even ask him in for a cup of coffee. He felt sure of his welcome, and -the old memories were in full possession once more. The hour of return -was a matter of no consequence whatever. - -It was then just after seven o'clock, and the October evening was -drawing in with chill airs from the recesses of the forest. The road -plunged straight from the railway clearing into its depths, and in a -very few minutes the trees engulfed him and the clack of his boots fell -dead and echoless against the serried stems of a million firs. It was -very black; one trunk was hardly distinguishable from another. He walked -smartly, swinging his holly stick. Once or twice he passed a peasant on -his way to bed, and the guttural "Gruss Got," unheard for so long, -emphasised the passage of time, while yet making it seem as nothing. A -fresh group of pictures crowded his mind. Again the figures of former -schoolfellows flitted out of the forest and kept pace by his side, -whispering of the doings of long ago. One reverie stepped hard upon the -heels of another. Every turn in the road, every clearing of the forest, -he knew, and each in turn brought forgotten associations to life. He -enjoyed himself thoroughly. - -He marched on and on. There was powdered gold in the sky till the moon -rose, and then a wind of faint silver spread silently between the earth -and stars. He saw the tips of the fir trees shimmer, and heard them -whisper as the breeze turned their needles towards the light. The -mountain air was indescribably sweet. The road shone like the foam of a -river through the gloom. White moths flitted here and there like silent -thoughts across his path, and a hundred smells greeted him from the -forest caverns across the years. - -Then, when he least expected it, the trees fell away abruptly on both -sides, and he stood on the edge of the village clearing. - -He walked faster. There lay the familiar outlines of the houses, sheeted -with silver; there stood the trees in the little central square with the -fountain and small green lawns; there loomed the shape of the church -next to the Gasthof der Bruedergemeinde; and just beyond, dimly rising -into the sky, he saw with a sudden thrill the mass of the huge school -building, blocked castlelike with deep shadows in the moonlight, -standing square and formidable to face him after the silences of more -than a quarter of a century. - -He passed quickly down the deserted village street and stopped close -beneath its shadow, staring up at the walls that had once held him -prisoner for two years--two unbroken years of discipline and -homesickness. Memories and emotions surged through his mind; for the -most vivid sensations of his youth had focused about this spot, and it -was here he had first begun to live and learn values. Not a single -footstep broke the silence, though lights glimmered here and there -through cottage windows; but when he looked up at the high walls of the -school, draped now in shadow, he easily imagined that well-known faces -crowded to the windows to greet him--closed windows that really -reflected only moonlight and the gleam of stars. - -This, then, was the old school building, standing foursquare to the -world, with its shuttered windows, its lofty, tiled roof, and the spiked -lightning-conductors pointing like black and taloned fingers from the -corners. For a long time he stood and stared. Then, presently, he came -to himself again, and realised to his joy that a light still shone in -the windows of the Bruderstube. - -He turned from the road and passed through the iron railings; then -climbed the twelve stone steps and stood facing the black wooden door -with the heavy bars of iron, a door he had once loathed and dreaded with -the hatred and passion of an imprisoned soul, but now looked upon -tenderly with a sort of boyish delight. - -Almost timorously he pulled the rope and listened with a tremor of -excitement to the clanging of the bell deep within the building. And the -long-forgotten sound brought the past before him with such a vivid sense -of reality that he positively shivered. It was like the magic bell in -the fairy-tale that rolls back the curtain of Time and summons the -figures from the shadows of the dead. He had never felt so sentimental -in his life. It was like being young again. And, at the same time, he -began to bulk rather large in his own eyes with a certain spurious -importance. He was a big man from the world of strife and action. In -this little place of peaceful dreams would he, perhaps, not cut -something of a figure? - -"I'll try once more," he thought after a long pause, seizing the iron -bell-rope, and was just about to pull it when a step sounded on the -stone passage within, and the huge door slowly swung open. - -A tall man with a rather severe cast of countenance stood facing him in -silence. - -"I must apologise--it is somewhat late," he began a trifle pompously, -"but the fact is I am an old pupil. I have only just arrived and really -could not restrain myself." His German seemed not quite so fluent as -usual. "My interest is so great. I was here in '70." - -The other opened the door wider and at once bowed him in with a smile of -genuine welcome. - -"I am Bruder Kalkmann," he said quietly in a deep voice. "I myself was a -master here about that time. It is a great pleasure always to welcome a -former pupil." He looked at him very keenly for a few seconds, and then -added, "I think, too, it is splendid of you to come--very splendid." - -"It is a very great pleasure," Harris replied, delighted with his -reception. - -The dimly lighted corridor with its flooring of grey stone, and the -familiar sound of a German voice echoing through it,--with the peculiar -intonation the Brothers always used in speaking,--all combined to lift -him bodily, as it were, into the dream-atmosphere of long-forgotten -days. He stepped gladly into the building and the door shut with the -familiar thunder that completed the reconstruction of the past. He -almost felt the old sense of imprisonment, of aching nostalgia, of -having lost his liberty. - -Harris sighed involuntarily and turned towards his host, who returned -his smile faintly and then led the way down the corridor. - -"The boys have retired," he explained, "and, as you remember, we keep -early hours here. But, at least, you will join us for a little while in -the _Bruderstube_ and enjoy a cup of coffee." This was precisely what -the silk merchant had hoped, and he accepted with an alacrity that he -intended to be tempered by graciousness. "And to-morrow," continued the -Bruder, "you must come and spend a whole day with us. You may even find -acquaintances, for several pupils of your day have come back here as -masters." - -For one brief second there passed into the man's eyes a look that made -the visitor start. But it vanished as quickly as it came. It was -impossible to define. Harris convinced himself it was the effect of a -shadow cast by the lamp they had just passed on the wall. He dismissed -it from his mind. - -"You are very kind, I'm sure," he said politely. "It is perhaps a -greater pleasure to me than you can imagine to see the place again. -Ah,"--he stopped short opposite a door with the upper half of glass and -peered in--"surely there is one of the music rooms where I used to -practise the violin. How it comes back to me after all these years!" - -Bruder Kalkmann stopped indulgently, smiling, to allow his guest a -moment's inspection. - -"You still have the boys' orchestra? I remember I used to play 'zweite -Geige' in it. Bruder Schliemann conducted at the piano. Dear me, I can -see him now with his long black hair and--and--" He stopped abruptly. -Again the odd, dark look passed over the stern face of his companion. -For an instant it seemed curiously familiar. - -"We still keep up the pupils' orchestra," he said, "but Bruder -Schliemann, I am sorry to say--" he hesitated an instant, and then -added, "Bruder Schliemann is dead." - -"Indeed, indeed," said Harris quickly. "I am sorry to hear it." He was -conscious of a faint feeling of distress, but whether it arose from the -news of his old music teacher's death, or--from something else--he could -not quite determine. He gazed down the corridor that lost itself among -shadows. In the street and village everything had seemed so much smaller -than he remembered, but here, inside the school building, everything -seemed so much bigger. The corridor was loftier and longer, more -spacious and vast, than the mental picture he had preserved. His -thoughts wandered dreamily for an instant. - -He glanced up and saw the face of the Bruder watching him with a smile -of patient indulgence. - -"Your memories possess you," he observed gently, and the stern look -passed into something almost pitying. - -"You are right," returned the man of silk, "they do. This was the most -wonderful period of my whole life in a sense. At the time I hated -it--" He hesitated, not wishing to hurt the Brother's feelings. - -"According to English ideas it seemed strict, of course," the other said -persuasively, so that he went on. - -"--Yes, partly that; and partly the ceaseless nostalgia, and the -solitude which came from never being really alone. In English schools -the boys enjoy peculiar freedom, you know." - -Bruder Kalkmann, he saw, was listening intently. - -"But it produced one result that I have never wholly lost," he -continued self-consciously, "and am grateful for." - -"_Ach! Wie so, denn?_" - -"The constant inner pain threw me headlong into your religious life, so -that the whole force of my being seemed to project itself towards the -search for a deeper satisfaction--a real resting-place for the soul. -During my two years here I yearned for God in my boyish way as perhaps I -have never yearned for anything since. Moreover, I have never quite lost -that sense of peace and inward joy which accompanied the search. I can -never quite forget this school and the deep things it taught me." - -He paused at the end of his long speech, and a brief silence fell -between them. He feared he had said too much, or expressed himself -clumsily in the foreign language, and when Bruder Kalkmann laid a hand -upon his shoulder, he gave a little involuntary start. - -"So that my memories perhaps do possess me rather strongly," he added -apologetically; "and this long corridor, these rooms, that barred and -gloomy front door, all touch chords that--that--" His German failed -him and he glanced at his companion with an explanatory smile and -gesture. But the Brother had removed the hand from his shoulder and was -standing with his back to him, looking down the passage. - -"Naturally, naturally so," he said hastily without turning round. -"_Es ist doch selbstverstaendlich_. We shall all understand." - -Then he turned suddenly, and Harris saw that his face had turned most -oddly and disagreeably sinister. It may only have been the shadows again -playing their tricks with the wretched oil lamps on the wall, for the -dark expression passed instantly as they retraced their steps down the -corridor, but the Englishman somehow got the impression that he had said -something to give offence, something that was not quite to the other's -taste. Opposite the door of the _Bruderstube_ they stopped. Harris -realised that it was late and he had possibly stayed talking too long. -He made a tentative effort to leave, but his companion would not hear of -it. - -"You must have a cup of coffee with us," he said firmly as though he -meant it, "and my colleagues will be delighted to see you. Some of them -will remember you, perhaps." - -The sound of voices came pleasantly through the door, men's voices -talking together. Bruder Kalkmann turned the handle and they entered a -room ablaze with light and full of people. - -"Ah,--but your name?" he whispered, bending down to catch the reply; -"you have not told me your name yet." - -"Harris," said the Englishman quickly as they went in. He felt nervous -as he crossed the threshold, but ascribed the momentary trepidation to -the fact that he was breaking the strictest rule of the whole -establishment, which forbade a boy under severest penalties to come near -this holy of holies where the masters took their brief leisure. - -"Ah, yes, of course--Harris," repeated the other as though he remembered -it. "Come in, Herr Harris, come in, please. Your visit will be immensely -appreciated. It is really very fine, very wonderful of you to have come -in this way." - -The door closed behind them and, in the sudden light which made his -sight swim for a moment, the exaggeration of the language escaped his -attention. He heard the voice of Bruder Kalkmann introducing him. He -spoke very loud, indeed, unnecessarily,--absurdly loud, Harris thought. - -"Brothers," he announced, "it is my pleasure and privilege to introduce -to you Herr Harris from England. He has just arrived to make us a little -visit, and I have already expressed to him on behalf of us all the -satisfaction we feel that he is here. He was, as you remember, a pupil -in the year '70." - -It was a very formal, a very German introduction, but Harris rather -liked it. It made him feel important and he appreciated the tact that -made it almost seem as though he had been expected. - -The black forms rose and bowed; Harris bowed; Kalkmann bowed. Every one -was very polite and very courtly. The room swam with moving figures; the -light dazzled him after the gloom of the corridor, there was thick cigar -smoke in the atmosphere. He took the chair that was offered to him -between two of the Brothers, and sat down, feeling vaguely that his -perceptions were not quite as keen and accurate as usual. He felt a -trifle dazed perhaps, and the spell of the past came strongly over him, -confusing the immediate present and making everything dwindle oddly to -the dimensions of long ago. He seemed to pass under the mastery of a -great mood that was a composite reproduction of all the moods of his -forgotten boyhood. - -Then he pulled himself together with a sharp effort and entered into the -conversation that had begun again to buzz round him. Moreover, he -entered into it with keen pleasure, for the Brothers--there were perhaps -a dozen of them in the little room--treated him with a charm of manner -that speedily made him feel one of themselves. This, again, was a very -subtle delight to him. He felt that he had stepped out of the greedy, -vulgar, self-seeking world, the world of silk and markets and -profit-making--stepped into the cleaner atmosphere where spiritual -ideals were paramount and life was simple and devoted. It all charmed -him inexpressibly, so that he realised--yes, in a sense--the degradation -of his twenty years' absorption in business. This keen atmosphere under -the stars where men thought only of their souls, and of the souls of -others, was too rarefied for the world he was now associated with. He -found himself making comparisons to his own disadvantage,--comparisons -with the mystical little dreamer that had stepped thirty years before -from the stern peace of this devout community, and the man of the world -that he had since become,--and the contrast made him shiver with a keen -regret and something like self-contempt. - -He glanced round at the other faces floating towards him through tobacco -smoke--this acrid cigar smoke he remembered so well: how keen they were, -how strong, placid, touched with the nobility of great aims and -unselfish purposes. At one or two he looked particularly. He hardly knew -why. They rather fascinated him. There was something so very stern and -uncompromising about them, and something, too, oddly, subtly, familiar, -that yet just eluded him. But whenever their eyes met his own they held -undeniable welcome in them; and some held more--a kind of perplexed -admiration, he thought, something that was between esteem and deference. -This note of respect in all the faces was very flattering to his vanity. - -Coffee was served presently, made by a black-haired Brother who sat in -the corner by the piano and bore a marked resemblance to Bruder -Schliemann, the musical director of thirty years ago. Harris exchanged -bows with him when he took the cup from his white hands, which he -noticed were like the hands of a woman. He lit a cigar, offered to him -by his neighbour, with whom he was chatting delightfully, and who, in -the glare of the lighted match, reminded him sharply for a moment of -Bruder Pagel, his former room-master. - -"_Es ist wirklich merkwuerdig_," he said, "how many resemblances I see, -or imagine. It is really _very_ curious!" - -"Yes," replied the other, peering at him over his coffee cup, "the spell -of the place is wonderfully strong. I can well understand that the old -faces rise before your mind's eye--almost to the exclusion of ourselves -perhaps." - -They both laughed presently. It was soothing to find his mood understood -and appreciated. And they passed on to talk of the mountain village, its -isolation, its remoteness from worldly life, its peculiar fitness for -meditation and worship, and for spiritual development--of a certain -kind. - -"And your coming back in this way, Herr Harris, has pleased us all so -much," joined in the Bruder on his left. "We esteem you for it most -highly. We honour you for it." - -Harris made a deprecating gesture. "I fear, for my part, it is only a -very selfish pleasure," he said a trifle unctuously. - -"Not all would have had the courage," added the one who resembled -Bruder Pagel. - -"You mean," said Harris, a little puzzled, "the disturbing memories--?" - -Bruder Pagel looked at him steadily, with unmistakable admiration and -respect. "I mean that most men hold so strongly to life, and can give up -so little for their beliefs," he said gravely. - -The Englishman felt slightly uncomfortable. These worthy men really made -too much of his sentimental journey. Besides, the talk was getting a -little out of his depth. He hardly followed it. - -"The worldly life still has _some_ charms for me," he replied smilingly, -as though to indicate that sainthood was not yet quite within his grasp. - -"All the more, then, must we honour you for so freely coming," said the -Brother on his left; "so unconditionally!" - -A pause followed, and the silk merchant felt relieved when the -conversation took a more general turn, although he noted that it never -travelled very far from the subject of his visit and the wonderful -situation of the lonely village for men who wished to develop their -spiritual powers and practise the rites of a high worship. Others joined -in, complimenting him on his knowledge of the language, making him feel -utterly at his ease, yet at the same time a little uncomfortable by the -excess of their admiration. After all, it was such a very small thing to -do, this sentimental journey. - -The time passed along quickly; the coffee was excellent, the cigars soft -and of the nutty flavour he loved. At length, fearing to outstay his -welcome, he rose reluctantly to take his leave. But the others would not -hear of it. It was not often a former pupil returned to visit them in -this simple, unaffected way. The night was young. If necessary they -could even find him a corner in the great _Schlafzimmer_ upstairs. He -was easily persuaded to stay a little longer. Somehow he had become the -centre of the little party. He felt pleased, flattered, honoured. - -"And perhaps Bruder Schliemann will play something for us--now." - -It was Kalkmann speaking, and Harris started visibly as he heard the -name, and saw the black-haired man by the piano turn with a smile. For -Schliemann was the name of his old music director, who was dead. Could -this be his son? They were so exactly alike. - -"If Bruder Meyer has not put his Amati to bed, I will accompany him," -said the musician suggestively, looking across at a man whom Harris had -not yet noticed, and who, he now saw, was the very image of a former -master of that name. - -Meyer rose and excused himself with a little bow, and the Englishman -quickly observed that he had a peculiar gesture as though his neck had a -false join on to the body just below the collar and feared it might -break. Meyer of old had this trick of movement. He remembered how the -boys used to copy it. - -He glanced sharply from face to face, feeling as though some silent, -unseen process were changing everything about him. All the faces seemed -oddly familiar. Pagel, the Brother he had been talking with, was of -course the image of Pagel, his former room-master, and Kalkmann, he now -realised for the first time, was the very twin of another master whose -name he had quite forgotten, but whom he used to dislike intensely in -the old days. And, through the smoke, peering at him from the corners of -the room, he saw that all the Brothers about him had the faces he had -known and lived with long ago--Roest, Fluheim, Meinert, Rigel, Gysin. - -He stared hard, suddenly grown more alert, and everywhere saw, or -fancied he saw, strange likenesses, ghostly resemblances,--more, the -identical faces of years ago. There was something queer about it all, -something not quite right, something that made him feel uneasy. He shook -himself, mentally and actually, blowing the smoke from before his eyes -with a long breath, and as he did so he noticed to his dismay that every -one was fixedly staring. They were watching him. - -This brought him to his senses. As an Englishman, and a foreigner, he -did not wish to be rude, or to do anything to make himself foolishly -conspicuous and spoil the harmony of the evening. He was a guest, and a -privileged guest at that. Besides, the music had already begun. Bruder -Schliemann's long white fingers were caressing the keys to some purpose. - -He subsided into his chair and smoked with half-closed eyes that yet saw -everything. - -But the shudder had established itself in his being, and, whether he -would or not, it kept repeating itself. As a town, far up some inland -river, feels the pressure of the distant sea, so he became aware that -mighty forces from somewhere beyond his ken were urging themselves up -against his soul in this smoky little room. He began to feel exceedingly -ill at ease. - -And as the music filled the air his mind began to clear. Like a lifted -veil there rose up something that had hitherto obscured his vision. The -words of the priest at the railway inn flashed across his brain -unbidden: "You will find it different." And also, though why he could -not tell, he saw mentally the strong, rather wonderful eyes of that -other guest at the supper-table, the man who had overheard his -conversation, and had later got into earnest talk with the priest. He -took out his watch and stole a glance at it. Two hours had slipped by. -It was already eleven o'clock. - -Schliemann, meanwhile, utterly absorbed in his music, was playing a -solemn measure. The piano sang marvellously. The power of a great -conviction, the simplicity of great art, the vital spiritual message of -a soul that had found itself--all this, and more, were in the chords, -and yet somehow the music was what can only be described as -impure--atrociously and diabolically impure. And the piece itself, -although Harris did not recognise it as anything familiar, was surely -the music of a Mass--huge, majestic, sombre? It stalked through the -smoky room with slow power, like the passage of something that was -mighty, yet profoundly intimate, and as it went there stirred into each -and every face about him the signature of the enormous forces of which -it was the audible symbol. The countenances round him turned sinister, -but not idly, negatively sinister: they grew dark with purpose. He -suddenly recalled the face of Bruder Kalkmann in the corridor earlier in -the evening. The motives of their secret souls rose to the eyes, and -mouths, and foreheads, and hung there for all to see like the black -banners of an assembly of ill-starred and fallen creatures. Demons--was -the horrible word that flashed through his brain like a sheet of fire. - -When this sudden discovery leaped out upon him, for a moment he lost his -self-control. Without waiting to think and weigh his extraordinary -impression, he did a very foolish but a very natural thing. Feeling -himself irresistibly driven by the sudden stress to some kind of action, -he sprang to his feet--and screamed! To his own utter amazement he stood -up and shrieked aloud! - -But no one stirred. No one, apparently, took the slightest notice of his -absurdly wild behaviour. It was almost as if no one but himself had -heard the scream at all--as though the music had drowned it and -swallowed it up--as though after all perhaps he had not really screamed -as loudly as he imagined, or had not screamed at all. - -Then, as he glanced at the motionless, dark faces before him, something -of utter cold passed into his being, touching his very soul.... All -emotion cooled suddenly, leaving him like a receding tide. He sat down -again, ashamed, mortified, angry with himself for behaving like a fool -and a boy. And the music, meanwhile, continued to issue from the white -and snakelike fingers of Bruder Schliemann, as poisoned wine might issue -from the weirdly fashioned necks of antique phials. - -And, with the rest of them, Harris drank it in. - -Forcing himself to believe that he had been the victim of some kind of -illusory perception, he vigorously restrained his feelings. Then the -music presently ceased, and every one applauded and began to talk at -once, laughing, changing seats, complimenting the player, and behaving -naturally and easily as though nothing out of the way had happened. The -faces appeared normal once more. The Brothers crowded round their -visitor, and he joined in their talk and even heard himself thanking the -gifted musician. - -But, at the same time, he found himself edging towards the door, nearer -and nearer, changing his chair when possible, and joining the groups -that stood closest to the way of escape. - -"I must thank you all _tausendmal_ for my little reception and the great -pleasure--the very great honour you have done me," he began in decided -tones at length, "but I fear I have trespassed far too long already on -your hospitality. Moreover, I have some distance to walk to my inn." - -A chorus of voices greeted his words. They would not hear of his -going,--at least not without first partaking of refreshment. They -produced pumpernickel from one cupboard, and rye-bread and sausage from -another, and all began to talk again and eat. More coffee was made, -fresh cigars lighted, and Bruder Meyer took out his violin and began to -tune it softly. - -"There is always a bed upstairs if Herr Harris will accept it," said -one. - -"And it is difficult to find the way out now, for all the doors are -locked," laughed another loudly. - -"Let us take our simple pleasures as they come," cried a third. "Bruder -Harris will understand how we appreciate the honour of this last visit -of his." - -They made a dozen excuses. They all laughed, as though the politeness of -their words was but formal, and veiled thinly--more and more thinly--a -very different meaning. - -"And the hour of midnight draws near," added Bruder Kalkmann with a -charming smile, but in a voice that sounded to the Englishman like the -grating of iron hinges. - -Their German seemed to him more and more difficult to understand. He -noted that they called him "Bruder" too, classing him as one of -themselves. - -And then suddenly he had a flash of keener perception, and realised with -a creeping of his flesh that he had all along misinterpreted--grossly -misinterpreted all they had been saying. They had talked about the -beauty of the place, its isolation and remoteness from the world, its -peculiar fitness for certain kinds of spiritual development and -worship--yet hardly, he now grasped, in the sense in which he had taken -the words. They had meant something different. Their spiritual powers, -their desire for loneliness, their passion for worship, were not the -powers, the solitude, or the worship that _he_ meant and understood. He -was playing a part in some horrible masquerade; he was among men who -cloaked their lives with religion in order to follow their real purposes -unseen of men. - -What did it all mean? How had he blundered into so equivocal a -situation? Had he blundered into it at all? Had he not rather been led -into it, deliberately led? His thoughts grew dreadfully confused, and -his confidence in himself began to fade. And why, he suddenly thought -again, were they so impressed by the mere fact of his coming to revisit -his old school? What was it they so admired and wondered at in his -simple act? Why did they set such store upon his having the courage to -come, to "give himself so freely," "unconditionally" as one of them had -expressed it with such a mockery of exaggeration? - -Fear stirred in his heart most horribly, and he found no answer to any -of his questionings. Only one thing he now understood quite clearly: it -was their purpose to keep him here. They did not intend that he should -go. And from this moment he realised that they were sinister, formidable -and, in some way he had yet to discover, inimical to himself, inimical -to his life. And the phrase one of them had used a moment ago--"this -_last_ visit of his"--rose before his eyes in letters of flame. - -Harris was not a man of action, and had never known in all the course of -his career what it meant to be in a situation of real danger. He was not -necessarily a coward, though, perhaps, a man of untried nerve. He -realised at last plainly that he was in a very awkward predicament -indeed, and that he had to deal with men who were utterly in earnest. -What their intentions were he only vaguely guessed. His mind, indeed, -was too confused for definite ratiocination, and he was only able to -follow blindly the strongest instincts that moved in him. It never -occurred to him that the Brothers might all be mad, or that he himself -might have temporarily lost his senses and be suffering under some -terrible delusion. In fact, nothing occurred to him--he realised -nothing--except that he meant to escape--and the quicker the better. A -tremendous revulsion of feeling set in and overpowered him. - -Accordingly, without further protest for the moment, he ate his -pumpernickel and drank his coffee, talking meanwhile as naturally and -pleasantly as he could, and when a suitable interval had passed, he rose -to his feet and announced once more that he must now take his leave. He -spoke very quietly, but very decidedly. No one hearing him could doubt -that he meant what he said. He had got very close to the door by this -time. - -"I regret," he said, using his best German, and speaking to a hushed -room, "that our pleasant evening must come to an end, but it is now -time for me to wish you all good-night." And then, as no one said -anything, he added, though with a trifle less assurance, "And I thank -you all most sincerely for your hospitality." - -"On the contrary," replied Kalkmann instantly, rising from his chair and -ignoring the hand the Englishman had stretched out to him, "it is we who -have to thank you; and we do so most gratefully and sincerely." - -And at the same moment at least half a dozen of the Brothers took up -their position between himself and the door. - -"You are very good to say so," Harris replied as firmly as he could -manage, noticing this movement out of the corner of his eye, "but really -I had no conception that--my little chance visit could have afforded you -so much pleasure." He moved another step nearer the door, but Bruder -Schliemann came across the room quickly and stood in front of him. His -attitude was uncompromising. A dark and terrible expression had come -into his face. - -"But it was _not_ by chance that you came, Bruder Harris," he said so -that all the room could hear; "surely we have not misunderstood your -presence here?" He raised his black eyebrows. - -"No, no," the Englishman hastened to reply, "I was--I am delighted to be -here. I told you what pleasure it gave me to find myself among you. Do -not misunderstand me, I beg." His voice faltered a little, and he had -difficulty in finding the words. More and more, too, he had difficulty -in understanding _their_ words. - -"Of course," interposed Bruder Kalkmann in his iron bass, "_we_ have not -misunderstood. You have come back in the spirit of true and unselfish -devotion. You offer yourself freely, and we all appreciate it. It is -your willingness and nobility that have so completely won our veneration -and respect." A faint murmur of applause ran round the room. "What we -all delight in--what our great Master will especially delight in--is the -value of your spontaneous and voluntary--" - -He used a word Harris did not understand. He said "_Opfer_." The -bewildered Englishman searched his brain for the translation, and -searched in vain. For the life of him he could not remember what it -meant. But the word, for all his inability to translate it, touched his -soul with ice. It was worse, far worse, than anything he had imagined. -He felt like a lost, helpless creature, and all power to fight sank out -of him from that moment. - -"It is magnificent to be such a willing--" added Schliemann, sidling -up to him with a dreadful leer on his face. He made use of the same -word--"_Opfer_." - -"God! What could it all mean?" "Offer himself!" "True spirit of -devotion!" "Willing," "unselfish," "magnificent!" _Opfer, Opfer, Opfer!_ -What in the name of heaven did it mean, that strange, mysterious word -that struck such terror into his heart? - -He made a valiant effort to keep his presence of mind and hold his -nerves steady. Turning, he saw that Kalkmann's face was a dead white. -Kalkmann! He understood that well enough. _Kalkmann_ meant "Man of -Chalk": he knew that. But what did "_Opfer_" mean? That was the real key -to the situation. Words poured through his disordered mind in an endless -stream--unusual, rare words he had perhaps heard but once in his -life--while "_Opfer_," a word in common use, entirely escaped him. What -an extraordinary mockery it all was! - -Then Kalkmann, pale as death, but his face hard as iron, spoke a few low -words that he did not catch, and the Brothers standing by the walls at -once turned the lamps down so that the room became dim. In the half -light he could only just discern their faces and movements. - -"It is time," he heard Kalkmann's remorseless voice continue just behind -him. "The hour of midnight is at hand. Let us prepare. He comes! He -comes; Bruder Asmodelius comes!" His voice rose to a chant. - -And the sound of that name, for some extraordinary reason, was -terrible--utterly terrible; so that Harris shook from head to foot as he -heard it. Its utterance filled the air like soft thunder, and a hush -came over the whole room. Forces rose all about him, transforming the -normal into the horrible, and the spirit of craven fear ran through all -his being, bringing him to the verge of collapse. - -_Asmodelius! Asmodelius!_ The name was appalling. For he understood at -last to whom it referred and the meaning that lay between its great -syllables. At the same instant, too, he suddenly understood the meaning -of that unremembered word. The import of the word "_Opfer_" flashed upon -his soul like a message of death. - -He thought of making a wild effort to reach the door, but the weakness -of his trembling knees, and the row of black figures that stood between, -dissuaded him at once. He would have screamed for help, but remembering -the emptiness of the vast building, and the loneliness of the situation, -he understood that no help could come that way, and he kept his lips -closed. He stood still and did nothing. But he knew now what was coming. - -Two of the Brothers approached and took him gently by the arm. - -"Bruder Asmodelius accepts you," they whispered; "are you ready?" - -Then he found his tongue and tried to speak. "But what have I to do with -this Bruder Asm--Asmo--?" he stammered, a desperate rush of words -crowding vainly behind the halting tongue. - -The name refused to pass his lips. He could not pronounce it as they -did. He could not pronounce it at all. His sense of helplessness then -entered the acute stage, for this inability to speak the name produced -a fresh sense of quite horrible confusion in his mind, and he became -extraordinarily agitated. - -"I came here for a friendly visit," he tried to say with a great effort, -but, to his intense dismay, he heard his voice saying something quite -different, and actually making use of that very word they had all used: -"I came here as a willing _Opfer_," he heard his own voice say, "and _I -am quite ready_." - -He was lost beyond all recall now! Not alone his mind, but the very -muscles of his body had passed out of control. He felt that he was -hovering on the confines of a phantom or demon-world,--a world in which -the name they had spoken constituted the Master-name, the word of -ultimate power. - -What followed he heard and saw as in a nightmare. - -"In the half light that veils all truth, let us prepare to worship and -adore," chanted Schliemann, who had preceded him to the end of the room. - -"In the mists that protect our faces before the Black Throne, let us -make ready the willing victim," echoed Kalkmann in his great bass. - -They raised their faces, listening expectantly, as a roaring sound, like -the passing of mighty projectiles, filled the air, far, far away, very -wonderful, very forbidding. The walls of the room trembled. - -"He comes! He comes! He comes!" chanted the Brothers in chorus. - -The sound of roaring died away, and an atmosphere of still and utter -cold established itself over all. Then Kalkmann, dark and unutterably -stern, turned in the dim light and faced the rest. - -"Asmodelius, our _Hauptbruder_, is about us," he cried in a voice that -even while it shook was yet a voice of iron; "Asmodelius is about us. -Make ready." - -There followed a pause in which no one stirred or spoke. A tall Brother -approached the Englishman; but Kalkmann held up his hand. - -"Let the eyes remain uncovered," he said, "in honour of so freely giving -himself." And to his horror Harris then realised for the first time that -his hands were already fastened to his sides. - -The Brother retreated again silently, and in the pause that followed all -the figures about him dropped to their knees, leaving him standing -alone, and as they dropped, in voices hushed with mingled reverence and -awe, they cried, softly, odiously, appallingly, the name of the Being -whom they momentarily expected to appear. - -Then, at the end of the room, where the windows seemed to have -disappeared so that he saw the stars, there rose into view far up -against the night sky, grand and terrible, the outline of a man. A kind -of grey glory enveloped it so that it resembled a steel-cased statue, -immense, imposing, horrific in its distant splendour; while, at the same -time, the face was so spiritually mighty, yet so proudly, so austerely -sad, that Harris felt as he stared, that the sight was more than his -eyes could meet, and that in another moment the power of vision would -fail him altogether, and he must sink into utter nothingness. - -So remote and inaccessible hung this figure that it was impossible to -gauge anything as to its size, yet at the same time so strangely close, -that when the grey radiance from its mightily broken visage, august and -mournful, beat down upon his soul, pulsing like some dark star with the -powers of spiritual evil, he felt almost as though he were looking into -a face no farther removed from him in space than the face of any one of -the Brothers who stood by his side. - -And then the room filled and trembled with sounds that Harris understood -full well were the failing voices of others who had preceded him in a -long series down the years. There came first a plain, sharp cry, as of a -man in the last anguish, choking for his breath, and yet, with the very -final expiration of it, breathing the name of the Worship--of the dark -Being who rejoiced to hear it. The cries of the strangled; the short, -running gasp of the suffocated; and the smothered gurgling of the -tightened throat, all these, and more, echoed back and forth between the -walls, the very walls in which he now stood a prisoner, a sacrificial -victim. The cries, too, not alone of the broken bodies, but--far -worse--of beaten, broken souls. And as the ghastly chorus rose and fell, -there came also the faces of the lost and unhappy creatures to whom they -belonged, and, against that curtain of pale grey light, he saw float -past him in the air, an array of white and piteous human countenances -that seemed to beckon and gibber at him as though he were already one of -themselves. - -Slowly, too, as the voices rose, and the pallid crew sailed past, that -giant form of grey descended from the sky and approached the room that -contained the worshippers and their prisoner. Hands rose and sank about -him in the darkness, and he felt that he was being draped in other -garments than his own; a circlet of ice seemed to run about his head, -while round the waist, enclosing the fastened arms, he felt a girdle -tightly drawn. At last, about his very throat, there ran a soft and -silken touch which, better than if there had been full light, and a -mirror held to his face, he understood to be the cord of sacrifice--and -of death. - -At this moment the Brothers, still prostrate upon the floor, began again -their mournful, yet impassioned chanting, and as they did so a strange -thing happened. For, apparently without moving or altering its position, -the huge Figure seemed, at once and suddenly, to be inside the room, -almost beside him, and to fill the space around him to the exclusion of -all else. - -He was now beyond all ordinary sensations of fear, only a drab feeling -as of death--the death of the soul--stirred in his heart. His thoughts -no longer even beat vainly for escape. The end was near, and he knew it. - -The dreadfully chanting voices rose about him in a wave: "We worship! We -adore! We offer!" The sounds filled his ears and hammered, almost -meaningless, upon his brain. - -Then the majestic grey face turned slowly downwards upon him, and his -very soul passed outwards and seemed to become absorbed in the sea of -those anguished eyes. At the same moment a dozen hands forced him to his -knees, and in the air before him he saw the arm of Kalkmann upraised, -and felt the pressure about his throat grow strong. - -It was in this awful moment, when he had given up all hope, and the help -of gods or men seemed beyond question, that a strange thing happened. -For before his fading and terrified vision there slid, as in a dream of -light,--yet without apparent rhyme or reason--wholly unbidden and -unexplained,--the face of that other man at the supper table of the -railway inn. And the sight, even mentally, of that strong, wholesome, -vigorous English face, inspired him suddenly with a new courage. - -It was but a flash of fading vision before he sank into a dark and -terrible death, yet, in some inexplicable way, the sight of that face -stirred in him unconquerable hope and the certainty of deliverance. It -was a face of power, a face, he now realised, of simple goodness such as -might have been seen by men of old on the shores of Galilee; a face, by -heaven, that could conquer even the devils of outer space. - -And, in his despair and abandonment, he called upon it, and called with -no uncertain accents. He found his voice in this overwhelming moment to -some purpose; though the words he actually used, and whether they were -in German or English, he could never remember. Their effect, -nevertheless, was instantaneous. The Brothers understood, and that grey -Figure of evil understood. - -For a second the confusion was terrific. There came a great shattering -sound. It seemed that the very earth trembled. But all Harris remembered -afterwards was that voices rose about him in the clamour of terrified -alarm-- - -"A man of power is among us! A man of God!" - -The vast sound was repeated--the rushing through space as of huge -projectiles--and he sank to the floor of the room, unconscious. The -entire scene had vanished, vanished like smoke over the roof of a -cottage when the wind blows. - -And, by his side, sat down a slight un-German figure,--the figure of the -stranger at the inn,--the man who had the "rather wonderful eyes." - - * * * * * - -When Harris came to himself he felt cold. He was lying under the open -sky, and the cool air of field and forest was blowing upon his face. He -sat up and looked about him. The memory of the late scene was still -horribly in his mind, but no vestige of it remained. No walls or ceiling -enclosed him; he was no longer in a room at all. There were no lamps -turned low, no cigar smoke, no black forms of sinister worshippers, no -tremendous grey Figure hovering beyond the windows. - -Open space was about him, and he was lying on a pile of bricks and -mortar, his clothes soaked with dew, and the kind stars shining brightly -overhead. He was lying, bruised and shaken, among the heaped-up debris -of a ruined building. - -He stood up and stared about him. There, in the shadowy distance, lay -the surrounding forest, and here, close at hand, stood the outline of -the village buildings. But, underfoot, beyond question, lay nothing but -the broken heaps of stones that betokened a building long since crumbled -to dust. Then he saw that the stones were blackened, and that great -wooden beams, half burnt, half rotten, made lines through the general -debris. He stood, then, among the ruins of a burnt and shattered -building, the weeds and nettles proving conclusively that it had lain -thus for many years. - -The moon had already set behind the encircling forest, but the stars -that spangled the heavens threw enough light to enable him to make quite -sure of what he saw. Harris, the silk merchant, stood among these broken -and burnt stones and shivered. - -Then he suddenly became aware that out of the gloom a figure had risen -and stood beside him. Peering at him, he thought he recognised the face -of the stranger at the railway inn. - -"Are _you_ real?" he asked in a voice he hardly recognised as his own. - -"More than real--I'm friendly," replied the stranger; "I followed you up -here from the inn." - -Harris stood and stared for several minutes without adding anything. His -teeth chattered. The least sound made him start; but the simple words in -his own language, and the tone in which they were uttered, comforted him -inconceivably. - -"You're English too, thank God," he said inconsequently. "These German -devils--" He broke off and put a hand to his eyes. "But what's become -of them all--and the room--and--and--" The hand travelled down to his -throat and moved nervously round his neck. He drew a long, long breath -of relief. "Did I dream everything--everything?" he said distractedly. - -He stared wildly about him, and the stranger moved forward and took his -arm. "Come," he said soothingly, yet with a trace of command in the -voice, "we will move away from here. The high-road, or even the woods -will be more to your taste, for we are standing now on one of the most -haunted--and most terribly haunted--spots of the whole world." - -He guided his companion's stumbling footsteps over the broken masonry -until they reached the path, the nettles stinging their hands, and -Harris feeling his way like a man in a dream. Passing through the -twisted iron railing they reached the path, and thence made their way to -the road, shining white in the night. Once safely out of the ruins, -Harris collected himself and turned to look back. - -"But, how is it possible?" he exclaimed, his voice still shaking. "How -can it be possible? When I came in here I saw the building in the -moonlight. They opened the door. I saw the figures and heard the voices -and touched, yes touched their very hands, and saw their damned black -faces, saw them far more plainly than I see you now." He was deeply -bewildered. The glamour was still upon his eyes with a degree of reality -stronger than the reality even of normal life. "Was I so utterly -deluded?" - -Then suddenly the words of the stranger, which he had only half heard or -understood, returned to him. - -"Haunted?" he asked, looking hard at him; "haunted, did you say?" He -paused in the roadway and stared into the darkness where the building of -the old school had first appeared to him. But the stranger hurried him -forward. - -"We shall talk more safely farther on," he said. "I followed you from -the inn the moment I realised where you had gone. When I found you it -was eleven o'clock--" - -"Eleven o'clock," said Harris, remembering with a shudder. - -"--I saw you drop. I watched over you till you recovered consciousness -of your own accord, and now--now I am here to guide you safely back to -the inn. I have broken the spell--the glamour--" - -"I owe you a great deal, sir," interrupted Harris again, beginning to -understand something of the stranger's kindness, "but I don't understand -it all. I feel dazed and shaken." His teeth still chattered, and spells -of violent shivering passed over him from head to foot. He found that he -was clinging to the other's arm. In this way they passed beyond the -deserted and crumbling village and gained the high-road that led -homewards through the forest. - -"That school building has long been in ruins," said the man at his side -presently; "it was burnt down by order of the Elders of the community at -least ten years ago. The village has been uninhabited ever since. But -the simulacra of certain ghastly events that took place under that roof -in past days still continue. And the 'shells' of the chief participants -still enact there the dreadful deeds that led to its final destruction, -and to the desertion of the whole settlement. They were -devil-worshippers!" - -Harris listened with beads of perspiration on his forehead that did not -come alone from their leisurely pace through the cool night. Although he -had seen this man but once before in his life, and had never before -exchanged so much as a word with him, he felt a degree of confidence and -a subtle sense of safety and well-being in his presence that were the -most healing influences he could possibly have wished after the -experience he had been through. For all that, he still felt as if he -were walking in a dream, and though he heard every word that fell from -his companion's lips, it was only the next day that the full import of -all he said became fully clear to him. The presence of this quiet -stranger, the man with the wonderful eyes which he felt now, rather than -saw, applied a soothing anodyne to his shattered spirit that healed him -through and through. And this healing influence, distilled from the dark -figure at his side, satisfied his first imperative need, so that he -almost forgot to realise how strange and opportune it was that the man -should be there at all. - -It somehow never occurred to him to ask his name, or to feel any undue -wonder that one passing tourist should take so much trouble on behalf of -another. He just walked by his side, listening to his quiet words, and -allowing himself to enjoy the very wonderful experience after his recent -ordeal, of being helped, strengthened, blessed. Only once, remembering -vaguely something of his reading of years ago, he turned to the man -beside him, after some more than usually remarkable words, and heard -himself, almost involuntarily it seemed, putting the question: "Then are -you a Rosicrucian, sir, perhaps?" But the stranger had ignored the -words, or possibly not heard them, for he continued with his talk as -though unconscious of any interruption, and Harris became aware that -another somewhat unusual picture had taken possession of his mind, as -they walked there side by side through the cool reaches of the forest, -and that he had found his imagination suddenly charged with the -childhood memory of Jacob wrestling with an angel,--wrestling all night -with a being of superior quality whose strength eventually became his -own. - -"It was your abrupt conversation with the priest at supper that first -put me upon the track of this remarkable occurrence," he heard the -man's quiet voice beside him in the darkness, "and it was from him I -learned after you left the story of the devil-worship that became -secretly established in the heart of this simple and devout little -community." - -"Devil-worship! Here--!" Harris stammered, aghast. - -"Yes--here;--conducted secretly for years by a group of Brothers before -unexplained disappearances in the neighbourhood led to its discovery. -For where could they have found a safer place in the whole wide world -for their ghastly traffic and perverted powers than here, in the very -precincts--under cover of the very shadow of saintliness and holy -living?" - -"Awful, awful!" whispered the silk merchant, "and when I tell you the -words they used to me--" - -"I know it all," the stranger said quietly. "I saw and heard everything. -My plan first was to wait till the end and then to take steps for their -destruction, but in the interest of your personal safety,"--he spoke -with the utmost gravity and conviction,--"in the interest of the safety -of your soul, I made my presence known when I did, and before the -conclusion had been reached--" - -"My safety! The danger, then, was real. They were alive and--" Words -failed him. He stopped in the road and turned towards his companion, the -shining of whose eyes he could just make out in the gloom. - -"It was a concourse of the shells of violent men, spiritually developed -but evil men, seeking after death--the death of the body--to prolong -their vile and unnatural existence. And had they accomplished their -object you, in turn, at the death of your body, would have passed into -their power and helped to swell their dreadful purposes." - -Harris made no reply. He was trying hard to concentrate his mind upon -the sweet and common things of life. He even thought of silk and St. -Paul's Churchyard and the faces of his partners in business. - -"For you came all prepared to be caught," he heard the other's voice -like some one talking to him from a distance; "your deeply introspective -mood had already reconstructed the past so vividly, so intensely, that -you were _en rapport_ at once with any forces of those days that chanced -still to be lingering. And they swept you up all unresistingly." - -Harris tightened his hold upon the stranger's arm as he heard. At the -moment he had room for one emotion only. It did not seem to him odd that -this stranger should have such intimate knowledge of his mind. - -"It is, alas, chiefly the evil emotions that are able to leave their -photographs upon surrounding scenes and objects," the other added, "and -who ever heard of a place haunted by a noble deed, or of beautiful and -lovely ghosts revisiting the glimpses of the moon? It is unfortunate. -But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to -leave pictures that persist; the good are ever too lukewarm." - -The stranger sighed as he spoke. But Harris, exhausted and shaken as he -was to the very core, paced by his side, only half listening. He moved -as in a dream still. It was very wonderful to him, this walk home under -the stars in the early hours of the October morning, the peaceful forest -all about them, mist rising here and there over the small clearings, and -the sound of water from a hundred little invisible streams filling in -the pauses of the talk. In after life he always looked back to it as -something magical and impossible, something that had seemed too -beautiful, too curiously beautiful, to have been quite true. And, though -at the time he heard and understood but a quarter of what the stranger -said, it came back to him afterwards, staying with him till the end of -his days, and always with a curious, haunting sense of unreality, as -though he had enjoyed a wonderful dream of which he could recall only -faint and exquisite portions. - -But the horror of the earlier experience was effectually dispelled; and -when they reached the railway inn, somewhere about three o'clock in the -morning, Harris shook the stranger's hand gratefully, effusively, -meeting the look of those rather wonderful eyes with a full heart, and -went up to his room, thinking in a hazy, dream-like way of the words -with which the stranger had brought their conversation to an end as they -left the confines of the forest-- - -"And if thought and emotion can persist in this way so long after the -brain that sent them forth has crumbled into dust, how vitally important -it must be to control their very birth in the heart, and guard them with -the keenest possible restraint." - -But Harris, the silk merchant, slept better than might have been -expected, and with a soundness that carried him half-way through the -day. And when he came downstairs and learned that the stranger had -already taken his departure, he realised with keen regret that he had -never once thought of asking his name. - -"Yes, he signed the visitors' book," said the girl in reply to his -question. - -And he turned over the blotted pages and found there, the last entry, in -a very delicate and individual handwriting-- - -"_John Silence_, London." - - - - -CASE II: THE CAMP OF THE DOG - - -I - -Islands of all shapes and sizes troop northward from Stockholm by the -hundred, and the little steamer that threads their intricate mazes in -summer leaves the traveller in a somewhat bewildered state as regards -the points of the compass when it reaches the end of its journey at -Waxholm. But it is only after Waxholm that the true islands begin, so to -speak, to run wild, and start up the coast on their tangled course of a -hundred miles of deserted loveliness, and it was in the very heart of -this delightful confusion that we pitched our tents for a summer -holiday. A veritable wilderness of islands lay about us: from the mere -round button of a rock that bore a single fir, to the mountainous -stretch of a square mile, densely wooded, and bounded by precipitous -cliffs; so close together often that a strip of water ran between no -wider than a country lane, or, again, so far that an expanse stretched -like the open sea for miles. - -Although the larger islands boasted farms and fishing stations, the -majority were uninhabited. Carpeted with moss and heather, their -coast-lines showed a series of ravines and clefts and little sandy bays, -with a growth of splendid pine-woods that came down to the water's edge -and led the eye through unknown depths of shadow and mystery into the -very heart of primitive forest. - -The particular islands to which we had camping rights by virtue of -paying a nominal sum to a Stockholm merchant lay together in a -picturesque group far beyond the reach of the steamer, one being a mere -reef with a fringe of fairy-like birches, and two others, cliff-bound -monsters rising with wooded heads out of the sea. The fourth, which we -selected because it enclosed a little lagoon suitable for anchorage, -bathing, night-lines, and what-not, shall have what description is -necessary as the story proceeds; but, so far as paying rent was -concerned, we might equally well have pitched our tents on any one of a -hundred others that clustered about us as thickly as a swarm of bees. - -It was in the blaze of an evening in July, the air clear as crystal, the -sea a cobalt blue, when we left the steamer on the borders of -civilisation and sailed away with maps, compasses, and provisions for -the little group of dots in the Skaegard that were to be our home for the -next two months. The dinghy and my Canadian canoe trailed behind us, -with tents and dunnage carefully piled aboard, and when the point of -cliff intervened to hide the steamer and the Waxholm hotel we realised -for the first time that the horror of trains and houses was far behind -us, the fever of men and cities, the weariness of streets and confined -spaces. The wilderness opened up on all sides into endless blue reaches, -and the map and compasses were so frequently called into requisition -that we went astray more often than not and progress was enchantingly -slow. It took us, for instance, two whole days to find our -crescent-shaped home, and the camps we made on the way were so -fascinating that we left them with difficulty and regret, for each -island seemed more desirable than the one before it, and over all lay -the spell of haunting peace, remoteness from the turmoil of the world, -and the freedom of open and desolate spaces. - -And so many of these spots of world-beauty have I sought out and dwelt -in, that in my mind remains only a composite memory of their faces, a -true map of heaven, as it were, from which this particular one stands -forth with unusual sharpness because of the strange things that happened -there, and also, I think, because anything in which John Silence played -a part has a habit of fixing itself in the mind with a living and -lasting quality of vividness. - -For the moment, however, Dr. Silence was not of the party. Some private -case in the interior of Hungary claimed his attention, and it was not -till later--the 15th of August, to be exact--that I had arranged to meet -him in Berlin and then return to London together for our harvest of -winter work. All the members of our party, however, were known to him -more or less well, and on this third day as we sailed through the narrow -opening into the lagoon and saw the circular ridge of trees in a gold -and crimson sunset before us, his last words to me when we parted in -London for some unaccountable reason came back very sharply to my -memory, and recalled the curious impression of prophecy with which I had -first heard them: - -"Enjoy your holiday and store up all the force you can," he had said as -the train slipped out of Victoria; "and we will meet in Berlin on the -15th--unless you should send for me sooner." - -And now suddenly the words returned to me so clearly that it seemed I -almost heard his voice in my ear: "Unless you should send for me -sooner"; and returned, moreover, with a significance I was wholly at a -loss to understand that touched somewhere in the depths of my mind a -vague sense of apprehension that they had all along been intended in the -nature of a prophecy. - -In the lagoon, then, the wind failed us this July evening, as was only -natural behind the shelter of the belt of woods, and we took to the -oars, all breathless with the beauty of this first sight of our island -home, yet all talking in somewhat hushed voices of the best place to -land, the depth of water, the safest place to anchor, to put up the -tents in, the most sheltered spot for the camp-fires, and a dozen things -of importance that crop up when a home in the wilderness has actually to -be made. - -And during this busy sunset hour of unloading before the dark, the souls -of my companions adopted the trick of presenting themselves very vividly -anew before my mind, and introducing themselves afresh. - -In reality, I suppose, our party was in no sense singular. In the -conventional life at home they certainly seemed ordinary enough, but -suddenly, as we passed through these gates of the wilderness, I saw them -more sharply than before, with characters stripped of the atmosphere of -men and cities. A complete change of setting often furnishes a -startlingly new view of people hitherto held for well-known; they -present another facet of their personalities. I seemed to see my own -party almost as new people--people I had not known properly hitherto, -people who would drop all disguises and henceforth reveal themselves as -they really were. And each one seemed to say: "Now you will see me as I -am. You will see me here in this primitive life of the wilderness -without clothes. All my masks and veils I have left behind in the abodes -of men. So, look out for surprises!" - -The Reverend Timothy Maloney helped me to put up the tents, long -practice making the process easy, and while he drove in pegs and -tightened ropes, his coat off, his flannel collar flying open without a -tie, it was impossible to avoid the conclusion that he was cut out for -the life of a pioneer rather than the church. He was fifty years of age, -muscular, blue-eyed and hearty, and he took his share of the work, and -more, without shirking. The way he handled the axe in cutting down -saplings for the tent-poles was a delight to see, and his eye in judging -the level was unfailing. - -Bullied as a young man into a lucrative family living, he had in turn -bullied his mind into some semblance of orthodox beliefs, doing the -honours of the little country church with an energy that made one think -of a coal-heaver tending china; and it was only in the past few years -that he had resigned the living and taken instead to cramming young men -for their examinations. This suited him better. It enabled him, too, to -indulge his passion for spells of "wild life," and to spend the summer -months of most years under canvas in one part of the world or another -where he could take his young men with him and combine "reading" with -open air. - -His wife usually accompanied him, and there was no doubt she enjoyed -the trips, for she possessed, though in less degree, the same joy of the -wilderness that was his own distinguishing characteristic. The only -difference was that while he regarded it as the real life, she regarded -it as an interlude. While he camped out with his heart and mind, she -played at camping out with her clothes and body. None the less, she made -a splendid companion, and to watch her busy cooking dinner over the fire -we had built among the stones was to understand that her heart was in -the business for the moment and that she was happy even with the detail. - -Mrs. Maloney at home, knitting in the sun and believing that the world -was made in six days, was one woman; but Mrs. Maloney, standing with -bare arms over the smoke of a wood fire under the pine trees, was -another; and Peter Sangree, the Canadian pupil, with his pale skin, and -his loose, though not ungainly figure, stood beside her in very -unfavourable contrast as he scraped potatoes and sliced bacon with -slender white fingers that seemed better suited to hold a pen than a -knife. She ordered him about like a slave, and he obeyed, too, with -willing pleasure, for in spite of his general appearance of debility he -was as happy to be in camp as any of them. - -But more than any other member of the party, Joan Maloney, the daughter, -was the one who seemed a natural and genuine part of the landscape, who -belonged to it all just in the same way that the trees and the moss and -the grey rocks running out into the water belonged to it. For she was -obviously in her right and natural setting, a creature of the wilds, a -gipsy in her own home. - -To any one with a discerning eye this would have been more or less -apparent, but to me, who had known her during all the twenty-two years -of her life and was familiar with the ins and outs of her primitive, -utterly un-modern type, it was strikingly clear. To see her there made -it impossible to imagine her again in civilisation. I lost all -recollection of how she looked in a town. The memory somehow evaporated. -This slim creature before me, flitting to and fro with the grace of the -woodland life, swift, supple, adroit, on her knees blowing the fire, or -stirring the frying-pan through a veil of smoke, suddenly seemed the -only way I had ever really seen her. Here she was at home; in London she -became some one concealed by clothes, an artificial doll overdressed and -moving by clockwork, only a portion of her alive. Here she was alive all -over. - -I forget altogether how she was dressed, just as I forget how any -particular tree was dressed, or how the markings ran on any one of the -boulders that lay about the Camp. She looked just as wild and natural -and untamed as everything else that went to make up the scene, and more -than that I cannot say. - -Pretty, she was decidedly not. She was thin, skinny, dark-haired, and -possessed of great physical strength in the form of endurance. She had, -too, something of the force and vigorous purpose of a man, tempestuous -sometimes and wild to passionate, frightening her mother, and puzzling -her easy-going father with her storms of waywardness, while at the same -time she stirred his admiration by her violence. A pagan of the pagans -she was besides, and with some haunting suggestion of old-world pagan -beauty about her dark face and eyes. Altogether an odd and difficult -character, but with a generosity and high courage that made her very -lovable. - -In town life she always seemed to me to feel cramped, bored, a devil in -a cage, in her eyes a hunted expression as though any moment she dreaded -to be caught. But up in these spacious solitudes all this disappeared. -Away from the limitations that plagued and stung her, she would show at -her best, and as I watched her moving about the Camp I repeatedly found -myself thinking of a wild creature that had just obtained its freedom -and was trying its muscles. - -Peter Sangree, of course, at once went down before her. But she was so -obviously beyond his reach, and besides so well able to take care of -herself, that I think her parents gave the matter but little thought, -and he himself worshipped at a respectful distance, keeping admirable -control of his passion in all respects save one; for at his age the eyes -are difficult to master, and the yearning, almost the devouring, -expression often visible in them was probably there unknown even to -himself. He, better than any one else, understood that he had fallen in -love with something most hard of attainment, something that drew him to -the very edge of life, and almost beyond it. It, no doubt, was a secret -and terrible joy to him, this passionate worship from afar; only I think -he suffered more than any one guessed, and that his want of vitality was -due in large measure to the constant stream of unsatisfied yearning that -poured for ever from his soul and body. Moreover, it seemed to me, who -now saw them for the first time together, that there was an unnamable -something--an elusive quality of some kind--that marked them as -belonging to the same world, and that although the girl ignored him she -was secretly, and perhaps unknown to herself, drawn by some attribute -very deep in her own nature to some quality equally deep in his. - -This, then, was the party when we first settled down into our two -months' camp on the island in the Baltic Sea. Other figures flitted from -time to time across the scene, and sometimes one reading man, sometimes -another, came to join us and spend his four hours a day in the -clergyman's tent, but they came for short periods only, and they went -without leaving much trace in my memory, and certainly they played no -important part in what subsequently happened. - -The weather favoured us that night, so that by sunset the tents were up, -the boats unloaded, a store of wood collected and chopped into lengths, -and the candle-lanterns hung round ready for lighting on the trees. -Sangree, too, had picked deep mattresses of balsam boughs for the -women's beds, and had cleared little paths of brushwood from their tents -to the central fireplace. All was prepared for bad weather. It was a -cosy supper and a well-cooked one that we sat down to and ate under the -stars, and, according to the clergyman, the only meal fit to eat we had -seen since we left London a week before. - -The deep stillness, after that roar of steamers, trains, and tourists, -held something that thrilled, for as we lay round the fire there was no -sound but the faint sighing of the pines and the soft lapping of the -waves along the shore and against the sides of the boat in the lagoon. -The ghostly outline of her white sails was just visible through the -trees, idly rocking to and fro in her calm anchorage, her sheets -flapping gently against the mast. Beyond lay the dim blue shapes of -other islands floating in the night, and from all the great spaces about -us came the murmur of the sea and the soft breathing of great woods. The -odours of the wilderness--smells of wind and earth, of trees and water, -clean, vigorous, and mighty--were the true odours of a virgin world -unspoilt by men, more penetrating and more subtly intoxicating than any -other perfume in the whole world. Oh!--and dangerously strong, too, no -doubt, for some natures! - -"Ahhh!" breathed out the clergyman after supper, with an indescribable -gesture of satisfaction and relief. "Here there is freedom, and room for -body and mind to turn in. Here one can work and rest and play. Here one -can be alive and absorb something of the earth-forces that never get -within touching distance in the cities. By George, I shall make a -permanent camp here and come when it is time to die!" - -The good man was merely giving vent to his delight at being under -canvas. He said the same thing every year, and he said it often. But it -more or less expressed the superficial feelings of us all. And when, a -little later, he turned to compliment his wife on the fried potatoes, -and discovered that she was snoring, with her back against a tree, he -grunted with content at the sight and put a ground-sheet over her feet, -as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to fall asleep -after dinner, and then moved back to his own corner, smoking his pipe -with great satisfaction. - -And I, smoking mine too, lay and fought against the most delicious -sleep imaginable, while my eyes wandered from the fire to the stars -peeping through the branches, and then back again to the group about me. -The Rev. Timothy soon let his pipe go out, and succumbed as his wife had -done, for he had worked hard and eaten well. Sangree, also smoking, -leaned against a tree with his gaze fixed on the girl, a depth of -yearning in his face that he could not hide, and that really distressed -me for him. And Joan herself, with wide staring eyes, alert, full of the -new forces of the place, evidently keyed up by the magic of finding -herself among all the things her soul recognised as "home," sat rigid by -the fire, her thoughts roaming through the spaces, the blood stirring -about her heart. She was as unconscious of the Canadian's gaze as she -was that her parents both slept. She looked to me more like a tree, or -something that had grown out of the island, than a living girl of the -century; and when I spoke across to her in a whisper and suggested a -tour of investigation, she started and looked up at me as though she -heard a voice in her dreams. - -Sangree leaped up and joined us, and without waking the others we three -went over the ridge of the island and made our way down to the shore -behind. The water lay like a lake before us still coloured by the -sunset. The air was keen and scented, wafting the smell of the wooded -islands that hung about us in the darkening air. Very small waves -tumbled softly on the sand. The sea was sown with stars, and everywhere -breathed and pulsed the beauty of the northern summer night. I confess I -speedily lost consciousness of the human presences beside me, and I have -little doubt Joan did too. Only Sangree felt otherwise, I suppose, for -presently we heard him sighing; and I can well imagine that he absorbed -the whole wonder and passion of the scene into his aching heart, to -swell the pain there that was more searching even than the pain at the -sight of such matchless and incomprehensible beauty. - -The splash of a fish jumping broke the spell. - -"I wish we had the canoe now," remarked Joan; "we could paddle out to -the other islands." - -"Of course," I said; "wait here and I'll go across for it," and was -turning to feel my way back through the darkness when she stopped me in -a voice that meant what it said. - -"No; Mr. Sangree will get it. We will wait here and cooee to guide him." - -The Canadian was off in a moment, for she had only to hint of her wishes -and he obeyed. - -"Keep out from shore in case of rocks," I cried out as he went, "and -turn to the right out of the lagoon. That's the shortest way round by -the map." - -My voice travelled across the still waters and woke echoes in the -distant islands that came back to us like people calling out of space. -It was only thirty or forty yards over the ridge and down the other side -to the lagoon where the boats lay, but it was a good mile to coast round -the shore in the dark to where we stood and waited. We heard him -stumbling away among the boulders, and then the sounds suddenly ceased -as he topped the ridge and went down past the fire on the other side. - -"I didn't want to be left alone with him," the girl said presently in a -low voice. "I'm always afraid he's going to say or do something--" She -hesitated a moment, looking quickly over her shoulder towards the ridge -where he had just disappeared--"something that might lead to -unpleasantness." - -She stopped abruptly. - -"_You_ frightened, Joan!" I exclaimed, with genuine surprise. "This is a -new light on your wicked character. I thought the human being who could -frighten you did not exist." Then I suddenly realised she was talking -seriously--looking to me for help of some kind--and at once I dropped -the teasing attitude. - -"He's very far gone, I think, Joan," I added gravely. "You must be kind -to him, whatever else you may feel. He's exceedingly fond of you." - -"I know, but I can't help it," she whispered, lest her voice should -carry in the stillness; "there's something about him that--that makes me -feel creepy and half afraid." - -"But, poor man, it's not his fault if he is delicate and sometimes looks -like death," I laughed gently, by way of defending what I felt to be a -very innocent member of my sex. - -"Oh, but it's not that I mean," she answered quickly; "it's something I -feel about him, something in his soul, something he hardly knows -himself, but that may come out if we are much together. It draws me, I -feel, tremendously. It stirs what is wild in me--deep down--oh, very -deep down,--yet at the same time makes me feel afraid." - -"I suppose his thoughts are always playing about you," I said, "but he's -nice-minded and--" - -"Yes, yes," she interrupted impatiently, "I can trust myself absolutely -with him. He's gentle and singularly pure-minded. But there's something -else that--" She stopped again sharply to listen. Then she came up close -beside me in the darkness, whispering-- - -"You know, Mr. Hubbard, sometimes my intuitions warn me a little too -strongly to be ignored. Oh, yes, you needn't tell me again that it's -difficult to distinguish between fancy and intuition. I know all that. -But I also know that there's something deep down in that man's soul that -calls to something deep down in mine. And at present it frightens me. -Because I cannot make out what it is; and I know, I _know_, he'll do -something some day that--that will shake my life to the very bottom." -She laughed a little at the strangeness of her own description. - -I turned to look at her more closely, but the darkness was too great to -show her face. There was an intensity, almost of suppressed passion, in -her voice that took me completely by surprise. - -"Nonsense, Joan," I said, a little severely; "you know him well. He's -been with your father for months now." - -"But that was in London; and up here it's different--I mean, I feel that -it may be different. Life in a place like this blows away the restraints -of the artificial life at home. I know, oh, I know what I'm saying. I -feel all untied in a place like this; the rigidity of one's nature -begins to melt and flow. Surely _you_ must understand what I mean!" - -"Of course I understand," I replied, yet not wishing to encourage her in -her present line of thought, "and it's a grand experience--for a short -time. But you're overtired to-night, Joan, like the rest of us. A few -days in this air will set you above all fears of the kind you mention." - -Then, after a moment's silence, I added, feeling I should estrange her -confidence altogether if I blundered any more and treated her like a -child-- - -"I think, perhaps, the true explanation is that you pity him for loving -you, and at the same time you feel the repulsion of the healthy, -vigorous animal for what is weak and timid. If he came up boldly and -took you by the throat and shouted that he would force you to love -him--well, then you would feel no fear at all. You would know exactly -how to deal with him. Isn't it, perhaps, something of that kind?" - -The girl made no reply, and when I took her hand I felt that it trembled -a little and was cold. - -"It's not his love that I'm afraid of," she said hurriedly, for at this -moment we heard the dip of a paddle in the water, "it's something in his -very soul that terrifies me in a way I have never been terrified -before,--yet fascinates me. In town I was hardly conscious of his -presence. But the moment we got away from civilisation, it began to -come. He seems so--so _real_ up here. I dread being alone with him. It -makes me feel that something must burst and tear its way out--that he -would do something--or I should do something--I don't know exactly what -I mean, probably,--but that I should let myself go and scream--" - -"Joan!" - -"Don't be alarmed," she laughed shortly; "I shan't do anything silly, -but I wanted to tell you my feelings in case I needed your help. When I -have intuitions as strong as this they are never wrong, only I don't -know yet what it means exactly." - -"You must hold out for the month, at any rate," I said in as -matter-of-fact a voice as I could manage, for her manner had somehow -changed my surprise to a subtle sense of alarm. "Sangree only stays the -month, you know. And, anyhow, you are such an odd creature yourself that -you should feel generously towards other odd creatures," I ended lamely, -with a forced laugh. - -She gave my hand a sudden pressure. "I'm glad I've told you at any -rate," she said quickly under her breath, for the canoe was now gliding -up silently like a ghost to our feet, "and I'm glad you're here, too," -she added as we moved down towards the water to meet it. - -I made Sangree change into the bows and got into the steering seat -myself, putting the girl between us so that I could watch them both by -keeping their outlines against the sea and stars. For the intuitions of -certain folk--women and children usually, I confess--I have always felt -a great respect that has more often than not been justified by -experience; and now the curious emotion stirred in me by the girl's -words remained somewhat vividly in my consciousness. I explained it in -some measure by the fact that the girl, tired out by the fatigue of many -days' travel, had suffered a vigorous reaction of some kind from the -strong, desolate scenery, and further, perhaps, that she had been -treated to my own experience of seeing the members of the party in a new -light--the Canadian, being partly a stranger, more vividly than the rest -of us. But, at the same time, I felt it was quite possible that she had -sensed some subtle link between his personality and her own, some -quality that she had hitherto ignored and that the routine of town life -had kept buried out of sight. The only thing that seemed difficult to -explain was the fear she had spoken of, and this I hoped the wholesome -effects of camp-life and exercise would sweep away naturally in the -course of time. - -We made the tour of the island without speaking. It was all too -beautiful for speech. The trees crowded down to the shore to hear us -pass. We saw their fine dark heads, bowed low with splendid dignity to -watch us, forgetting for a moment that the stars were caught in the -needled network of their hair. Against the sky in the west, where still -lingered the sunset gold, we saw the wild toss of the horizon, shaggy -with forest and cliff, gripping the heart like the motive in a symphony, -and sending the sense of beauty all a-shiver through the mind--all these -surrounding islands standing above the water like low clouds, and like -them seeming to post along silently into the engulfing night. We heard -the musical drip-drip of the paddle, and the little wash of our waves on -the shore, and then suddenly we found ourselves at the opening of the -lagoon again, having made the complete circuit of our home. - -The Reverend Timothy had awakened from sleep and was singing to himself; -and the sound of his voice as we glided down the fifty yards of enclosed -water was pleasant to hear and undeniably wholesome. We saw the glow of -the fire up among the trees on the ridge, and his shadow moving about as -he threw on more wood. - -"There you are!" he called aloud. "Good again! Been setting the -night-lines, eh? Capital! And your mother's still fast asleep, Joan." - -His cheery laugh floated across the water; he had not been in the least -disturbed by our absence, for old campers are not easily alarmed. - -"Now, remember," he went on, after we had told our little tale of travel -by the fire, and Mrs. Maloney had asked for the fourth time exactly -where her tent was and whether the door faced east or south, "every one -takes their turn at cooking breakfast, and one of the men is always out -at sunrise to catch it first. Hubbard, I'll toss you which you do in the -morning and which I do!" He lost the toss. "Then I'll catch it," I said, -laughing at his discomfiture, for I knew he loathed stirring porridge. -"And mind you don't burn it as you did every blessed time last year on -the Volga," I added by way of reminder. - -Mrs. Maloney's fifth interruption about the door of her tent, and her -further pointed observation that it was past nine o'clock, set us -lighting lanterns and putting the fire out for safety. - -But before we separated for the night the clergyman had a time-honoured -little ritual of his own to go through that no one had the heart to deny -him. He always did this. It was a relic of his pulpit habits. He glanced -briefly from one to the other of us, his face grave and earnest, his -hands lifted to the stars and his eyes all closed and puckered up -beneath a momentary frown. Then he offered up a short, almost inaudible -prayer, thanking Heaven for our safe arrival, begging for good weather, -no illness or accidents, plenty of fish, and strong sailing winds. - -And then, unexpectedly--no one knew why exactly--he ended up with an -abrupt request that nothing from the kingdom of darkness should be -allowed to afflict our peace, and no evil thing come near to disturb us -in the night-time. - -And while he uttered these last surprising words, so strangely unlike -his usual ending, it chanced that I looked up and let my eyes wander -round the group assembled about the dying fire. And it certainly seemed -to me that Sangree's face underwent a sudden and visible alteration. He -was staring at Joan, and as he stared the change ran over it like a -shadow and was gone. I started in spite of myself, for something oddly -concentrated, potent, collected, had come into the expression usually so -scattered and feeble. But it was all swift as a passing meteor, and when -I looked a second time his face was normal and he was looking among the -trees. - -And Joan, luckily, had not observed him, her head being bowed and her -eyes tightly closed while her father prayed. - -"The girl has a vivid imagination indeed," I thought, half laughing, as -I lit the lanterns, "if her thoughts can put a glamour upon mine in this -way"; and yet somehow, when we said good-night, I took occasion to give -her a few vigorous words of encouragement, and went to her tent to make -sure I could find it quickly in the night in case anything happened. In -her quick way the girl understood and thanked me, and the last thing I -heard as I moved off to the men's quarters was Mrs. Maloney crying that -there were beetles in her tent, and Joan's laughter as she went to help -her turn them out. - -Half an hour later the island was silent as the grave, but for the -mournful voices of the wind as it sighed up from the sea. Like white -sentries stood the three tents of the men on one side of the ridge, and -on the other side, half hidden by some birches, whose leaves just -shivered as the breeze caught them, the women's tents, patches of -ghostly grey, gathered more closely together for mutual shelter and -protection. Something like fifty yards of broken ground, grey rock, moss -and lichen, lay between, and over all lay the curtain of the night and -the great whispering winds from the forests of Scandinavia. - -And the very last thing, just before floating away on that mighty wave -that carries one so softly off into the deeps of forgetfulness, I again -heard the voice of John Silence as the train moved out of Victoria -Station; and by some subtle connection that met me on the very threshold -of consciousness there rose in my mind simultaneously the memory of the -girl's half-given confidence, and of her distress. As by some wizardry -of approaching dreams they seemed in that instant to be related; but -before I could analyse the why and the wherefore, both sank away out of -sight again, and I was off beyond recall. - -"Unless you should send for me sooner." - - -II - -Whether Mrs. Maloney's tent door opened south or east I think she never -discovered, for it is quite certain she always slept with the flap -tightly fastened; I only know that my own little "five by seven, all -silk" faced due east, because next morning the sun, pouring in as only -the wilderness sun knows how to pour, woke me early, and a moment later, -with a short run over soft moss and a flying dive from the granite -ledge, I was swimming in the most sparkling water imaginable. - -It was barely four o'clock, and the sun came down a long vista of blue -islands that led out to the open sea and Finland. Nearer by rose the -wooded domes of our own property, still capped and wreathed with smoky -trails of fast-melting mist, and looking as fresh as though it was the -morning of Mrs. Maloney's Sixth Day and they had just issued, clean and -brilliant, from the hands of the great Architect. - -In the open spaces the ground was drenched with dew, and from the sea a -cool salt wind stole in among the trees and set the branches trembling -in an atmosphere of shimmering silver. The tents shone white where the -sun caught them in patches. Below lay the lagoon, still dreaming of the -summer night; in the open the fish were jumping busily, sending musical -ripples towards the shore; and in the air hung the magic of -dawn--silent, incommunicable. - -I lit the fire, so that an hour later the clergyman should find good -ashes to stir his porridge over, and then set forth upon an examination -of the island, but hardly had I gone a dozen yards when I saw a figure -standing a little in front of me where the sunlight fell in a pool among -the trees. - -It was Joan. She had already been up an hour, she told me, and had -bathed before the last stars had left the sky. I saw at once that the -new spirit of this solitary region had entered into her, banishing the -fears of the night, for her face was like the face of a happy denizen of -the wilderness, and her eyes stainless and shining. Her feet were bare, -and drops of dew she had shaken from the branches hung in her -loose-flying hair. Obviously she had come into her own. - -"I've been all over the island," she announced laughingly, "and there -are two things wanting." - -"You're a good judge, Joan. What are they?" - -"There's no animal life, and there's no--water." - -"They go together," I said. "Animals don't bother with a rock like this -unless there's a spring on it." - -And as she led me from place to place, happy and excited, leaping -adroitly from rock to rock, I was glad to note that my first impressions -were correct. She made no reference to our conversation of the night -before. The new spirit had driven out the old. There was no room in her -heart for fear or anxiety, and Nature had everything her own way. - -The island, we found, was some three-quarters of a mile from point to -point, built in a circle, or wide horseshoe, with an opening of twenty -feet at the mouth of the lagoon. Pine-trees grew thickly all over, but -here and there were patches of silver birch, scrub oak, and -considerable colonies of wild raspberry and gooseberry bushes. The two -ends of the horseshoe formed bare slabs of smooth granite running into -the sea and forming dangerous reefs just below the surface, but the rest -of the island rose in a forty-foot ridge and sloped down steeply to the -sea on either side, being nowhere more than a hundred yards wide. - -The outer shore-line was much indented with numberless coves and bays -and sandy beaches, with here and there caves and precipitous little -cliffs against which the sea broke in spray and thunder. But the inner -shore, the shore of the lagoon, was low and regular, and so well -protected by the wall of trees along the ridge that no storm could ever -send more than a passing ripple along its sandy marges. Eternal shelter -reigned there. - -On one of the other islands, a few hundred yards away--for the rest of -the party slept late this first morning, and we took to the canoe--we -discovered a spring of fresh water untainted by the brackish flavour of -the Baltic, and having thus solved the most important problem of the -Camp, we next proceeded to deal with the second--fish. And in half an -hour we reeled in and turned homewards, for we had no means of storage, -and to clean more fish than may be stored or eaten in a day is no wise -occupation for experienced campers. - -And as we landed towards six o'clock we heard the clergyman singing as -usual and saw his wife and Sangree shaking out their blankets in the -sun, and dressed in a fashion that finally dispelled all memories of -streets and civilisation. - -"The Little People lit the fire for me," cried Maloney, looking natural -and at home in his ancient flannel suit and breaking off in the middle -of his singing, "so I've got the porridge going--and this time it's -_not_ burnt." - -We reported the discovery of water and held up the fish. - -"Good! Good again!" he cried. "We'll have the first decent breakfast -we've had this year. Sangree'll clean 'em in no time, and the Bo'sun's -Mate--" - -"Will fry them to a turn," laughed the voice of Mrs. Maloney, appearing -on the scene in a tight blue jersey and sandals, and catching up the -frying-pan. Her husband always called her the Bo'sun's Mate in Camp, -because it was her duty, among others, to pipe all hands to meals. - -"And as for you, Joan," went on the happy man, "you look like the spirit -of the island, with moss in your hair and wind in your eyes, and sun and -stars mixed in your face." He looked at her with delighted admiration. -"Here, Sangree, take these twelve, there's a good fellow, they're the -biggest; and we'll have 'em in butter in less time than you can say -Baltic island!" - -I watched the Canadian as he slowly moved off to the cleaning pail. His -eyes were drinking in the girl's beauty, and a wave of passionate, -almost feverish, joy passed over his face, expressive of the ecstasy of -true worship more than anything else. Perhaps he was thinking that he -still had three weeks to come with that vision always before his eyes; -perhaps he was thinking of his dreams in the night. I cannot say. But I -noticed the curious mingling of yearning and happiness in his eyes, and -the strength of the impression touched my curiosity. Something in his -face held my gaze for a second, something to do with its intensity. That -so timid, so gentle a personality should conceal so virile a passion -almost seemed to require explanation. - -But the impression was momentary, for that first breakfast in Camp -permitted no divided attentions, and I dare swear that the porridge, the -tea, the Swedish "flatbread," and the fried fish flavoured with points -of frizzled bacon, were better than any meal eaten elsewhere that day in -the whole world. - -The first clear day in a new camp is always a furiously busy one, and we -soon dropped into the routine upon which in large measure the real -comfort of every one depends. About the cooking-fire, greatly improved -with stones from the shore, we built a high stockade consisting of -upright poles thickly twined with branches, the roof lined with moss and -lichen and weighted with rocks, and round the interior we made low -wooden seats so that we could lie round the fire even in rain and eat -our meals in peace. Paths, too, outlined themselves from tent to tent, -from the bathing places and the landing stage, and a fair division of -the island was decided upon between the quarters of the men and the -women. Wood was stacked, awkward trees and boulders removed, hammocks -slung, and tents strengthened. In a word, Camp was established, and -duties were assigned and accepted as though we expected to live on this -Baltic island for years to come and the smallest detail of the Community -life was important. - -Moreover, as the Camp came into being, this sense of a community -developed, proving that we were a definite whole, and not merely -separate human beings living for a while in tents upon a desert island. -Each fell willingly into the routine. Sangree, as by natural selection, -took upon himself the cleaning of the fish and the cutting of the wood -into lengths sufficient for a day's use. And he did it well. The pan of -water was never without a fish, cleaned and scaled, ready to fry for -whoever was hungry; the nightly fire never died down for lack of -material to throw on without going farther afield to search. - -And Timothy, once reverend, caught the fish and chopped down the trees. -He also assumed responsibility for the condition of the boat, and did it -so thoroughly that nothing in the little cutter was ever found wanting. -And when, for any reason, his presence was in demand, the first place to -look for him was--in the boat, and there, too, he was usually found, -tinkering away with sheets, sails, or rudder and singing as he tinkered. - -'Nor was the "reading" neglected; for most mornings there came a sound -of droning voices form the white tent by the raspberry bushes, which -signified that Sangree, the tutor, and whatever other man chanced to be -in the party at the time, were hard at it with history or the classics. - -And while Mrs. Maloney, also by natural selection, took charge of the -larder and the kitchen, the mending and general supervision of the rough -comforts, she also made herself peculiarly mistress of the megaphone -which summoned to meals and carried her voice easily from one end of the -island to the other; and in her hours of leisure she daubed the -surrounding scenery on to a sketching block with all the honesty and -devotion of her determined but unreceptive soul. - -Joan, meanwhile, Joan, elusive creature of the wilds, became I know not -exactly what. She did plenty of work in the Camp, yet seemed to have no -very precise duties. She was everywhere and anywhere. Sometimes she -slept in her tent, sometimes under the stars with a blanket. She knew -every inch of the island and kept turning up in places where she was -least expected--for ever wandering about, reading her books in sheltered -corners, making little fires on sunless days to "worship by to the -gods," as she put it, ever finding new pools to dive and bathe in, and -swimming day and night in the warm and waveless lagoon like a fish in a -huge tank. She went bare-legged and bare-footed, with her hair down and -her skirts caught up to the knees, and if ever a human being turned into -a jolly savage within the compass of a single week, Joan Maloney was -certainly that human being. She ran wild. - -So completely, too, was she possessed by the strong spirit of the place -that the little human fear she had yielded to so strangely on our -arrival seemed to have been utterly dispossessed. As I hoped and -expected, she made no reference to our conversation of the first -evening. Sangree bothered her with no special attentions, and after all -they were very little together. His behaviour was perfect in that -respect, and I, for my part, hardly gave the matter another thought. -Joan was ever a prey to vivid fancies of one kind or another, and this -was one of them. Mercifully for the happiness of all concerned, it had -melted away before the spirit of busy, active life and deep content -that reigned over the island. Every one was intensely alive, and peace -was upon all. - - * * * * * - -Meanwhile the effect of the camp-life began to tell. Always a searching -test of character, its results, sooner or later, are infallible, for it -acts upon the soul as swiftly and surely as the hypo bath upon the -negative of a photograph. A readjustment of the personal forces takes -place quickly; some parts of the personality go to sleep, others wake -up: but the first sweeping change that the primitive life brings about -is that the artificial portions of the character shed themselves one -after another like dead skins. Attitudes and poses that seemed genuine -in the city drop away. The mind, like the body, grows quickly hard, -simple, uncomplex. And in a camp as primitive and close to nature as -ours was, these effects became speedily visible. - -Some folk, of course, who talk glibly about the simple life when it is -safely out of reach, betray themselves in camp by for ever peering about -for the artificial excitements of civilisation which they miss. Some get -bored at once; some grow slovenly; some reveal the animal in most -unexpected fashion; and some, the select few, find themselves in very -short order and are happy. - -And, in our little party, we could flatter ourselves that we all -belonged to the last category, so far as the general effect was -concerned. Only there were certain other changes as well, varying with -each individual, and all interesting to note. - -It was only after the first week or two that these changes became -marked, although this is the proper place, I think, to speak of them. -For, having myself no other duty than to enjoy a well-earned holiday, I -used to load my canoe with blankets and provisions and journey forth on -exploration trips among the islands of several days together; and it was -on my return from the first of these--when I rediscovered the party, so -to speak--that these changes first presented themselves vividly to me, -and in one particular instance produced a rather curious impression. - -In a word, then, while every one had grown wilder, naturally wilder, -Sangree, it seemed to me, had grown much wilder, and what I can only -call unnaturally wilder. He made me think of a savage. - -To begin with, he had changed immensely in mere physical appearance, and -the full brown cheeks, the brighter eyes of absolute health, and the -general air of vigour and robustness that had come to replace his -customary lassitude and timidity, had worked such an improvement that I -hardly knew him for the same man. His voice, too, was deeper and his -manner bespoke for the first time a greater measure of confidence in -himself. He now had some claims to be called nice-looking, or at least -to a certain air of virility that would not lessen his value in the eyes -of the opposite sex. - -All this, of course, was natural enough, and most welcome. But, -altogether apart from this physical change, which no doubt had also been -going forward in the rest of us, there was a subtle note in his -personality that came to me with a degree of surprise that almost -amounted to shock. - -And two things--as he came down to welcome me and pull up the -canoe--leaped up in my mind unbidden, as though connected in some way I -could not at the moment divine--first, the curious judgment formed of -him by Joan; and secondly, that fugitive expression I had caught in his -face while Maloney was offering up his strange prayer for special -protection from Heaven. - -The delicacy of manner and feature--to call it by no milder term--which -had always been a distinguishing characteristic of the man, had been -replaced by something far more vigorous and decided, that yet utterly -eluded analysis. The change which impressed me so oddly was not easy to -name. The others--singing Maloney, the bustling Bo'sun's Mate, and Joan, -that fascinating half-breed of undine and salamander--all showed the -effects of a life so close to nature; but in their case the change was -perfectly natural and what was to be expected, whereas with Peter -Sangree, the Canadian, it was something unusual and unexpected. - -It is impossible to explain how he managed gradually to convey to my -mind the impression that something in him had turned savage, yet this, -more or less, is the impression that he did convey. It was not that he -seemed really less civilised, or that his character had undergone any -definite alteration, but rather that something in him, hitherto dormant, -had awakened to life. Some quality, latent till now--so far, at least, -as we were concerned, who, after all, knew him but slightly--had stirred -into activity and risen to the surface of his being. - -And while, for the moment, this seemed as far as I could get, it was but -natural that my mind should continue the intuitive process and -acknowledge that John Silence, owing to his peculiar faculties, and the -girl, owing to her singularly receptive temperament, might each in a -different way have divined this latent quality in his soul, and feared -its manifestation later. - -On looking back to this painful adventure, too, it now seems equally -natural that the same process, carried to its logical conclusion, should -have wakened some deep instinct in me that, wholly without direction -from my will, set itself sharply and persistently upon the watch from -that very moment. Thenceforward the personality of Sangree was never -far from my thoughts, and I was for ever analysing and searching for the -explanation that took so long in coming. - -"I declare, Hubbard, you're tanned like an aboriginal, and you look like -one, too," laughed Maloney. - -"And I can return the compliment," was my reply, as we all gathered -round a brew of tea to exchange news and compare notes. - -And later, at supper, it amused me to observe that the distinguished -tutor, once clergyman, did not eat his food quite as "nicely" as he did -at home--he devoured it; that Mrs. Maloney ate more, and, to say the -least, with less delay, than was her custom in the select atmosphere of -her English dining-room; and that while Joan attacked her tin plateful -with genuine avidity, Sangree, the Canadian, bit and gnawed at his, -laughing and talking and complimenting the cook all the while, and -making me think with secret amusement of a starved animal at its first -meal. While, from their remarks about myself, I judged that I had -changed and grown wild as much as the rest of them. - -In this and in a hundred other little ways the change showed, ways -difficult to define in detail, but all proving--not the coarsening -effect of leading the primitive life, but, let us say, the more direct -and unvarnished methods that became prevalent. For all day long we were -in the bath of the elements--wind, water, sun--and just as the body -became insensible to cold and shed unnecessary clothing, the mind grew -straightforward and shed many of the disguises required by the -conventions of civilisation. - -And in each, according to temperament and character, there stirred the -life-instincts that were natural, untamed, and, in a sense--savage. - - -III - -So it came about that I stayed with our island party, putting off my -second exploring trip from day to day, and I think that this far-fetched -instinct to watch Sangree was really the cause of my postponement. - -For another ten days the life of the Camp pursued its even and -delightful way, blessed by perfect summer weather, a good harvest of -fish, fine winds for sailing, and calm, starry nights. Maloney's selfish -prayer had been favourably received. Nothing came to disturb or perplex. -There was not even the prowling of night animals to vex the rest of Mrs. -Maloney; for in previous camps it had often been her peculiar affliction -that she heard the porcupines scratching against the canvas, or the -squirrels dropping fir-cones in the early morning with a sound of -miniature thunder upon the roof of her tent. But on this island there -was not even a squirrel or a mouse. I think two toads and a small and -harmless snake were the only living creatures that had been discovered -during the whole of the first fortnight. And these two toads in all -probability were not two toads, but one toad. - -Then, suddenly, came the terror that changed the whole aspect of the -place--the devastating terror. - -It came, at first, gently, but from the very start it made me realise -the unpleasant loneliness of our situation, our remote isolation in this -wilderness of sea and rock, and how the islands in this tideless Baltic -ocean lay about us like the advance guard of a vast besieging army. Its -entry, as I say, was gentle, hardly noticeable, in fact, to most of us: -singularly undramatic it certainly was. But, then, in actual life this -is often the way the dreadful climaxes move upon us, leaving the heart -undisturbed almost to the last minute, and then overwhelming it with a -sudden rush of horror. For it was the custom at breakfast to listen -patiently while each in turn related the trivial adventures of the -night--how they slept, whether the wind shook their tent, whether the -spider on the ridge pole had moved, whether they had heard the toad, and -so forth--and on this particular morning Joan, in the middle of a little -pause, made a truly novel announcement: - -"In the night I heard the howling of a dog," she said, and then flushed -up to the roots of her hair when we burst out laughing. For the idea of -there being a dog on this forsaken island that was only able to support -a snake and two toads was distinctly ludicrous, and I remember Maloney, -half-way through his burnt porridge, capping the announcement by -declaring that he had heard a "Baltic turtle" in the lagoon, and his -wife's expression of frantic alarm before the laughter undeceived her. - -But the next morning Joan repeated the story with additional and -convincing detail. - -"Sounds of whining and growling woke me," she said, "and I distinctly -heard sniffing under my tent, and the scratching of paws." - -"Oh, Timothy! Can it be a porcupine?" exclaimed the Bo'sun's Mate with -distress, forgetting that Sweden was not Canada. - -But the girl's voice had sounded to me in quite another key, and looking -up I saw that her father and Sangree were staring at her hard. They, -too, understood that she was in earnest, and had been struck by the -serious note in her voice. - -"Rubbish, Joan! You are always dreaming something or other wild," her -father said a little impatiently. - -"There's not an animal of any size on the whole island," added Sangree -with a puzzled expression. He never took his eyes from her face. - -"But there's nothing to prevent one swimming over," I put in briskly, -for somehow a sense of uneasiness that was not pleasant had woven itself -into the talk and pauses. "A deer, for instance, might easily land in -the night and take a look round--" - -"Or a bear!" gasped the Bo'sun's Mate, with a look so portentous that we -all welcomed the laugh. - -But Joan did not laugh. Instead, she sprang up and called to us to -follow. - -"There," she said, pointing to the ground by her tent on the side farthest -from her mother's; "there are the marks close to my head. You can -see for yourselves." - -We saw plainly. The moss and lichen--for earth there was hardly any--had -been scratched up by paws. An animal about the size of a large dog it -must have been, to judge by the marks. We stood and stared in a row. - -"Close to my head," repeated the girl, looking round at us. Her face, I -noticed, was very pale, and her lip seemed to quiver for an instant. -Then she gave a sudden gulp--and burst into a flood of tears. - -The whole thing had come about in the brief space of a few minutes, and -with a curious sense of inevitableness, moreover, as though it had all -been carefully planned from all time and nothing could have stopped it. -It had all been rehearsed before--had actually happened before, as the -strange feeling sometimes has it; it seemed like the opening movement in -some ominous drama, and that I knew exactly what would happen next. -Something of great moment was impending. - -For this sinister sensation of coming disaster made itself felt from the -very beginning, and an atmosphere of gloom and dismay pervaded the -entire Camp from that moment forward. - -I drew Sangree to one side and moved away, while Maloney took the -distressed girl into her tent, and his wife followed them, energetic and -greatly flustered. - -For thus, in undramatic fashion, it was that the terror I have spoken of -first attempted the invasion of our Camp, and, trivial and unimportant -though it seemed, every little detail of this opening scene is -photographed upon my mind with merciless accuracy and precision. It -happened exactly as described. This was exactly the language used. I see -it written before me in black and white. I see, too, the faces of all -concerned with the sudden ugly signature of alarm where before had been -peace. The terror had stretched out, so to speak, a first tentative -feeler toward us and had touched the hearts of each with a horrid -directness. And from this moment the Camp changed. - -Sangree in particular was visibly upset. He could not bear to see the -girl distressed, and to hear her actually cry was almost more than he -could stand. The feeling that he had no right to protect her hurt him -keenly, and I could see that he was itching to do something to help, and -liked him for it. His expression said plainly that he would tear in a -thousand pieces anything that dared to injure a hair of her head. - -We lit our pipes and strolled over in silence to the men's quarters, and -it was his odd Canadian expression "Gee whiz!" that drew my attention to -a further discovery. - -"The brute's been scratching round my tent too," he cried, as he pointed -to similar marks by the door and I stooped down to examine them. We both -stared in amazement for several minutes without speaking. - -"Only I sleep like the dead," he added, straightening up again, "and so -heard nothing, I suppose." - -We traced the paw-marks from the mouth of his tent in a direct line -across to the girl's, but nowhere else about the Camp was there a sign -of the strange visitor. The deer, dog, or whatever it was that had twice -favoured us with a visit in the night, had confined its attentions to -these two tents. And, after all, there was really nothing out of the way -about these visits of an unknown animal, for although our own island was -destitute of life, we were in the heart of a wilderness, and the -mainland and larger islands must be swarming with all kinds of -four-footed creatures, and no very prolonged swimming was necessary to -reach us. In any other country it would not have caused a moment's -interest--interest of the kind we felt, that is. In our Canadian camps -the bears were for ever grunting about among the provision bags at -night, porcupines scratching unceasingly, and chipmunks scuttling over -everything. - -"My daughter is overtired, and that's the truth of it," explained -Maloney presently when he rejoined us and had examined in turn the other -paw-marks. "She's been overdoing it lately, and camp-life, you know, -always means a great excitement to her. It's natural enough, if we take -no notice she'll be all right." He paused to borrow my tobacco pouch and -fill his pipe, and the blundering way he filled it and spilled the -precious weed on the ground visibly belied the calm of his easy -language. "You might take her out for a bit of fishing, Hubbard, like a -good chap; she's hardly up to the long day in the cutter. Show her some -of the other islands in your canoe, perhaps. Eh?" - -And by lunch-time the cloud had passed away as suddenly, and as -suspiciously, as it had come. - -But in the canoe, on our way home, having till then purposely ignored -the subject uppermost in our minds, she suddenly spoke to me in a way -that again touched the note of sinister alarm--the note that kept on -sounding and sounding until finally John Silence came with his great -vibrating presence and relieved it; yes, and even after he came, too, -for a while. - -"I'm ashamed to ask it," she said abruptly, as she steered me home, her -sleeves rolled up, her hair blowing in the wind, "and ashamed of my -silly tears too, because I really can't make out what caused them; but, -Mr. Hubbard, I want you to promise me not to go off for your long -expeditions--just yet. I beg it of you." She was so in earnest that she -forgot the canoe, and the wind caught it sideways and made us roll -dangerously. "I have tried hard not to ask this," she added, bringing -the canoe round again, "but I simply can't help myself." - -It was a good deal to ask, and I suppose my hesitation was plain; for -she went on before I could reply, and her beseeching expression and -intensity of manner impressed me very forcibly. - -"For another two weeks only--" - -"Mr. Sangree leaves in a fortnight," I said, seeing at once what she was -driving at, but wondering if it was best to encourage her or not. - -"If I knew you were to be on the island till then," she said, her face -alternately pale and blushing, and her voice trembling a little, "I -should feel so much happier." - -I looked at her steadily, waiting for her to finish. - -"And safer," she added almost in a whisper; "especially--at night, I -mean." - -"Safer, Joan?" I repeated, thinking I had never seen her eyes so soft -and tender. She nodded her head, keeping her gaze fixed on my face. - -It was really difficult to refuse, whatever my thoughts and judgment may -have been, and somehow I understood that she spoke with good reason, -though for the life of me I could not have put it into words. - -"Happier--and safer," she said gravely, the canoe giving a dangerous -lurch as she leaned forward in her seat to catch my answer. Perhaps, -after all, the wisest way was to grant her request and make light of it, -easing her anxiety without too much encouraging its cause. - -"All right, Joan, you queer creature; I promise," and the instant look -of relief in her face, and the smile that came back like sunlight to her -eyes, made me feel that, unknown to myself and the world, I was capable -of considerable sacrifice after all. - -"But, you know, there's nothing to be afraid of," I added sharply; and -she looked up in my face with the smile women use when they know we are -talking idly, yet do not wish to tell us so. - -"_You_ don't feel afraid, I know," she observed quietly. - -"Of course not; why should I?" - -"So, if you will just humour me this once I--I will never ask anything -foolish of you again as long as I live," she said gratefully. - -"You have my promise," was all I could find to say. - -She headed the nose of the canoe for the lagoon lying a quarter of a -mile ahead, and paddled swiftly; but a minute or two later she paused -again and stared hard at me with the dripping paddle across the thwarts. - -"You've not heard anything at night yourself, have you?" she asked. - -"I never hear anything at night," I replied shortly, "from the moment I -lie down till the moment I get up." - -"That dismal howling, for instance," she went on, determined to get it -out, "far away at first and then getting closer, and stopping just -outside the Camp?" - -"Certainly not." - -"Because, sometimes I think I almost dreamed it." - -"Most likely you did," was my unsympathetic response. - -"And you don't think father has heard it either, then?" - -"No. He would have told me if he had." - -This seemed to relieve her mind a little. "I know mother hasn't," she -added, as if speaking to herself, "for she hears nothing--ever." - - * * * * * - -It was two nights after this conversation that I woke out of deep sleep -and heard sounds of screaming. The voice was really horrible, breaking -the peace and silence with its shrill clamour. In less than ten seconds -I was half dressed and out of my tent. The screaming had stopped -abruptly, but I knew the general direction, and ran as fast as the -darkness would allow over to the women's quarters, and on getting close -I heard sounds of suppressed weeping. It was Joan's voice. And just as I -came up I saw Mrs. Maloney, marvellously attired, fumbling with a -lantern. Other voices became audible in the same moment behind me, and -Timothy Maloney arrived, breathless, less than half dressed, and -carrying another lantern that had gone out on the way from being banged -against a tree. Dawn was just breaking, and a chill wind blew in from -the sea. Heavy black clouds drove low overhead. - -The scene of confusion may be better imagined than described. Questions -in frightened voices filled the air against this background of -suppressed weeping. Briefly--Joan's silk tent had been torn, and the -girl was in a state bordering upon hysterics. Somewhat reassured by our -noisy presence, however,--for she was plucky at heart,--she pulled -herself together and tried to explain what had happened; and her broken -words, told there on the edge of night and morning upon this wild island -ridge, were oddly thrilling and distressingly convincing. - -"Something touched me and I woke," she said simply, but in a voice -still hushed and broken with the terror of it, "something pushing -against the tent; I felt it through the canvas. There was the same -sniffing and scratching as before, and I felt the tent give a little as -when wind shakes it. I heard breathing--very loud, very heavy -breathing--and then came a sudden great tearing blow, and the canvas -ripped open close to my face." - -She had instantly dashed out through the open flap and screamed at the -top of her voice, thinking the creature had actually got into the tent. -But nothing was visible, she declared, and she heard not the faintest -sound of an animal making off under cover of the darkness. The brief -account seemed to exercise a paralysing effect upon us all as we -listened to it. I can see the dishevelled group to this day, the wind -blowing the women's hair, and Maloney craning his head forward to -listen, and his wife, open-mouthed and gasping, leaning against a pine -tree. - -"Come over to the stockade and we'll get the fire going," I said; -"that's the first thing," for we were all shaking with the cold in our -scanty garments. And at that moment Sangree arrived wrapped in a blanket -and carrying his gun; he was still drunken with sleep. - -"The dog again," Maloney explained briefly, forestalling his questions; -"been at Joan's tent. Torn it, by Gad! this time. It's time we did -something." He went on mumbling confusedly to himself. - -Sangree gripped his gun and looked about swiftly in the darkness. I saw -his eyes aflame in the glare of the flickering lanterns. He made a -movement as though to start out and hunt--and kill. Then his glance fell -on the girl crouching on the ground, her face hidden in her hands, and -there leaped into his features an expression of savage anger that -transformed them. He could have faced a dozen lions with a walking stick -at that moment, and again I liked him for the strength of his anger, his -self-control, and his hopeless devotion. - -But I stopped him going off on a blind and useless chase. - -"Come and help me start the fire, Sangree," I said, anxious also to -relieve the girl of our presence; and a few minutes later the ashes, -still growing from the night's fire, had kindled the fresh wood, and -there was a blaze that warmed us well while it also lit up the -surrounding trees within a radius of twenty yards. - -"I heard nothing," he whispered; "what in the world do you think it is? -It surely can't be only a dog!" - -"We'll find that out later," I said, as the others came up to the -grateful warmth; "the first thing is to make as big a fire as we can." - -Joan was calmer now, and her mother had put on some warmer, and less -miraculous, garments. And while they stood talking in low voices -Maloney and I slipped off to examine the tent. There was little enough -to see, but that little was unmistakable. Some animal had scratched up -the ground at the head of the tent, and with a great blow of a powerful -paw--a paw clearly provided with good claws--had struck the silk and -torn it open. There was a hole large enough to pass a fist and arm -through. - -"It can't be far away," Maloney said excitedly. "We'll organise a hunt -at once; this very minute." - -We hurried back to the fire, Maloney talking boisterously about his -proposed hunt. "There's nothing like prompt action to dispel alarm," he -whispered in my ear; and then turned to the rest of us. - -"We'll hunt the island from end to end at once," he said, with -excitement; "that's what we'll do. The beast can't be far away. And the -Bo'sun's Mate and Joan must come too, because they can't be left alone. -Hubbard, you take the right shore, and you, Sangree, the left, and I'll -go in the middle with the women. In this way we can stretch clean across -the ridge, and nothing bigger than a rabbit can possibly escape us." He -was extraordinarily excited, I thought. Anything affecting Joan, of -course, stirred him prodigiously. "Get your guns and we'll start the -drive at once," he cried. He lit another lantern and handed one each to -his wife and Joan, and while I ran to fetch my gun I heard him singing -to himself with the excitement of it all. - -Meanwhile the dawn had come on quickly. It made the flickering lanterns -look pale. The wind, too, was rising, and I heard the trees moaning -overhead and the waves breaking with increasing clamour on the shore. In -the lagoon the boat dipped and splashed, and the sparks from the fire -were carried aloft in a stream and scattered far and wide. - -We made our way to the extreme end of the island, measured our distances -carefully, and then began to advance. None of us spoke. Sangree and I, -with cocked guns, watched the shore lines, and all within easy touch and -speaking distance. It was a slow and blundering drive, and there were -many false alarms, but after the best part of half an hour we stood on -the farther end, having made the complete tour, and without putting up -so much as a squirrel. Certainly there was no living creature on that -island but ourselves. - -"I know what it is!" cried Maloney, looking out over the dim expanse of -grey sea, and speaking with the air of a man making a discovery; "it's a -dog from one of the farms on the larger islands"--he pointed seawards -where the archipelago thickened--"and it's escaped and turned wild. Our -fires and voices attracted it, and it's probably half starved as well as -savage, poor brute!" - -No one said anything in reply, and he began to sing again very low to -himself. - -The point where we stood--a huddled, shivering group--faced the wider -channels that led to the open sea and Finland. The grey dawn had broken -in earnest at last, and we could see the racing waves with their angry -crests of white. The surrounding islands showed up as dark masses in the -distance, and in the east, almost as Maloney spoke, the sun came up with -a rush in a stormy and magnificent sky of red and gold. Against this -splashed and gorgeous background black clouds, shaped like fantastic and -legendary animals, filed past swiftly in a tearing stream, and to this -day I have only to close my eyes to see again that vivid and hurrying -procession in the air. All about us the pines made black splashes -against the sky. It was an angry sunrise. Rain, indeed, had already -begun to fall in big drops. - -We turned, as by a common instinct, and, without speech, made our way -back slowly to the stockade, Maloney humming snatches of his songs, -Sangree in front with his gun, prepared to shoot at a moment's notice, -and the women floundering in the rear with myself and the extinguished -lanterns. - -Yet it was only a dog! - -Really, it was most singular when one came to reflect soberly upon it -all. Events, say the occultists, have souls, or at least that -agglomerate life due to the emotions and thoughts of all concerned in -them, so that cities, and even whole countries, have great astral shapes -which may become visible to the eye of vision; and certainly here, the -soul of this drive--this vain, blundering, futile drive--stood somewhere -between ourselves and--laughed. - -All of us heard that laugh, and all of us tried hard to smother the -sound, or at least to ignore it. Every one talked at once, loudly, and -with exaggerated decision, obviously trying to say something plausible -against heavy odds, striving to explain naturally that an animal might -so easily conceal itself from us, or swim away before we had time to -light upon its trail. For we all spoke of that "trail" as though it -really existed, and we had more to go upon than the mere marks of paws -about the tents of Joan and the Canadian. Indeed, but for these, and the -torn tent, I think it would, of course, have been possible to ignore the -existence of this beast intruder altogether. - -And it was here, under this angry dawn, as we stood in the shelter of -the stockade from the pouring rain, weary yet so strangely excited--it -was here, out of this confusion of voices and explanations, that--very -stealthily--the ghost of something horrible slipped in and stood among -us. It made all our explanations seem childish and untrue; the false -relation was instantly exposed. Eyes exchanged quick, anxious glances, -questioning, expressive of dismay. There was a sense of wonder, of -poignant distress, and of trepidation. Alarm stood waiting at our -elbows. We shivered. - -Then, suddenly, as we looked into each other's faces, came the long, -unwelcome pause in which this new arrival established itself in our -hearts. - -And, without further speech, or attempt at explanation, Maloney moved -off abruptly to mix the porridge for an early breakfast; Sangree to -clean the fish; myself to chop wood and tend the fire; Joan and her -mother to change their wet garments; and, most significant of all, to -prepare her mother's tent for its future complement of two. - -Each went to his duty, but hurriedly, awkwardly, silently; and this new -arrival, this shape of terror and distress stalked, viewless, by the -side of each. - -"If only I could have traced that dog," I think was the thought in the -minds of all. - -But in Camp, where every one realises how important the individual -contribution is to the comfort and well-being of all, the mind speedily -recovers tone and pulls itself together. - -During the day, a day of heavy and ceaseless rain, we kept more or less -to our tents, and though there were signs of mysterious conferences -between the three members of the Maloney family, I think that most of us -slept a good deal and stayed alone with his thoughts. Certainly, I did, -because when Maloney came to say that his wife invited us all to a -special "tea" in her tent, he had to shake me awake before I realised -that he was there at all. - -And by supper-time we were more or less even-minded again, and almost -jolly. I only noticed that there was an undercurrent of what is best -described as "jumpiness," and that the merest snapping of a twig, or -plop of a fish in the lagoon, was sufficient to make us start and look -over our shoulders. Pauses were rare in our talk, and the fire was never -for one instant allowed to get low. The wind and rain had ceased, but -the dripping of the branches still kept up an excellent imitation of a -downpour. In particular, Maloney was vigilant and alert, telling us a -series of tales in which the wholesome humorous element was especially -strong. He lingered, too, behind with me after Sangree had gone to bed, -and while I mixed myself a glass of hot Swedish punch, he did a thing I -had never known him do before--he mixed one for himself, and then asked -me to light him over to his tent. We said nothing on the way, but I felt -that he was glad of my companionship. - -I returned alone to the stockade, and for a long time after that kept -the fire blazing, and sat up smoking and thinking. I hardly knew why; -but sleep was far from me for one thing, and for another, an idea was -taking form in my mind that required the comfort of tobacco and a -bright fire for its growth. I lay against a corner of the stockade -seat, listening to the wind whispering and to the ceaseless drip-drip of -the trees. The night, otherwise, was very still, and the sea quiet as a -lake. I remember that I was conscious, peculiarly conscious, of this -host of desolate islands crowding about us in the darkness, and that we -were the one little spot of humanity in a rather wonderful kind of -wilderness. - -But this, I think, was the only symptom that came to warn me of highly -strung nerves, and it certainly was not sufficiently alarming to destroy -my peace of mind. One thing, however, did come to disturb my peace, for -just as I finally made ready to go, and had kicked the embers of the -fire into a last effort, I fancied I saw, peering at me round the -farther end of the stockade wall, a dark and shadowy mass that might -have been--that strongly resembled, in fact--the body of a large animal. -Two glowing eyes shone for an instant in the middle of it. But the next -second I saw that it was merely a projecting mass of moss and lichen in -the wall of our stockade, and the eyes were a couple of wandering sparks -from the dying ashes I had kicked. It was easy enough, too, to imagine I -saw an animal moving here and there between the trees, as I picked my -way stealthily to my tent. Of course, the shadows tricked me. - -And though it was after one o'clock, Maloney's light was still burning, -for I saw his tent shining white among the pines. - -It was, however, in the short space between consciousness and -sleep--that time when the body is low and the voices of the submerged -region tell sometimes true--that the idea which had been all this while -maturing reached the point of an actual decision, and I suddenly -realised that I had resolved to send word to Dr. Silence. For, with a -sudden wonder that I had hitherto been so blind, the unwelcome -conviction dawned upon me all at once that some dreadful thing was -lurking about us on this island, and that the safety of at least one of -us was threatened by something monstrous and unclean that was too -horrible to contemplate. And, again remembering those last words of his -as the train moved out of the platform, I understood that Dr. Silence -would hold himself in readiness to come. - -"Unless you should send for me sooner," he had said. - - * * * * * - -I found myself suddenly wide awake. It is impossible to say what woke -me, but it was no gradual process, seeing that I jumped from deep sleep -to absolute alertness in a single instant. I had evidently slept for an -hour and more, for the night had cleared, stars crowded the sky, and a -pallid half-moon just sinking into the sea threw a spectral light -between the trees. - -I went outside to sniff the air, and stood upright. A curious -impression that something was astir in the Camp came over me, and when I -glanced across at Sangree's tent, some twenty feet away, I saw that it -was moving. He too, then, was awake and restless, for I saw the canvas -sides bulge this way and that as he moved within. - -The flap pushed forward. He was coming out, like myself, to sniff -the air; and I was not surprised, for its sweetness after the rain was -intoxicating. And he came on all fours, just as I had done. I saw a head -thrust round the edge of the tent. - -And then I saw that it was not Sangree at all. It was an animal. And the -same instant I realised something else too--it was _the_ animal; and its -whole presentment for some unaccountable reason was unutterably malefic. - -A cry I was quite unable to suppress escaped me, and the creature turned -on the instant and stared at me with baleful eyes. I could have dropped -on the spot, for the strength all ran out of my body with a rush. -Something about it touched in me the living terror that grips and -paralyses. If the mind requires but the tenth of a second to form an -impression, I must have stood there stockstill for several seconds while -I seized the ropes for support and stared. Many and vivid impressions -flashed through my mind, but not one of them resulted in action, because -I was in instant dread that the beast any moment would leap in my -direction and be upon me. Instead, however, after what seemed a vast -period, it slowly turned its eyes from my face, uttered a low whining -sound, and came out altogether into the open. - -Then, for the first time, I saw it in its entirety and noted two things: -it was about the size of a large dog, but at the same time it was -utterly unlike any animal that I had ever seen. Also, that the quality -that had impressed me first as being malefic was really only its -singular and original strangeness. Foolish as it may sound, and -impossible as it is for me to adduce proof, I can only say that the -animal seemed to me then to be--not real. - -But all this passed through my mind in a flash, almost subconsciously, -and before I had time to check my impressions, or even properly verify -them, I made an involuntary movement, catching the tight rope in my hand -so that it twanged like a banjo string, and in that instant the creature -turned the corner of Sangree's tent and was gone into the darkness. - -Then, of course, my senses in some measure returned to me, and I -realised only one thing: it had been inside his tent! - -I dashed out, reached the door in half a dozen strides, and looked in. -The Canadian, thank God! lay upon his bed of branches. His arm was -stretched outside, across the blankets, the fist tightly clenched, and -the body had an appearance of unusual rigidity that was alarming. On his -face there was an expression of effort, almost of painful effort, so far -as the uncertain light permitted me to see, and his sleep seemed to be -very profound. He looked, I thought, so stiff, so unnaturally stiff, and -in some indefinable way, too, he looked smaller--shrunken. - -I called to him to wake, but called many times in vain. Then I decided -to shake him, and had already moved forward to do so vigorously when -there came a sound of footsteps padding softly behind me, and I felt a -stream of hot breath burn my neck as I stooped. I turned sharply. The -tent door was darkened and something silently swept in. I felt a rough -and shaggy body push past me, and knew that the animal had returned. It -seemed to leap forward between me and Sangree--in fact, to leap upon -Sangree, for its dark body hid him momentarily from view, and in that -moment my soul turned sick and coward with a horror that rose from the -very dregs and depths of life, and gripped my existence at its central -source. - -The creature seemed somehow to melt away into him, almost as though it -belonged to him and were a part of himself, but in the same -instant--that instant of extraordinary confusion and terror in my -mind--it seemed to pass over and behind him, and, in some utterly -unaccountable fashion, it was gone. And the Canadian woke and sat up -with a start. - -"Quick! You fool!" I cried, in my excitement, "the beast has been in -your tent, here at your very throat while you sleep like the dead. Up, -man! Get your gun! Only this second it disappeared over there behind -your head. Quick! or Joan--!" - -And somehow the fact that he was there, wide-awake now, to corroborate -me, brought the additional conviction to my own mind that this was no -animal, but some perplexing and dreadful form of life that drew upon my -deeper knowledge, that much reading had perhaps assented to, but that -had never yet come within actual range of my senses. - -He was up in a flash, and out. He was trembling, and very white. We -searched hurriedly, feverishly, but found only the traces of paw-marks -passing from the door of his own tent across the moss to the women's. -And the sight of the tracks about Mrs. Maloney's tent, where Joan now -slept, set him in a perfect fury. - -"Do you know what it is, Hubbard, this beast?" he hissed under his -breath at me; "it's a damned wolf, that's what it is--a wolf lost among -the islands, and starving to death--desperate. So help me God, I believe -it's that!" - -He talked a lot of rubbish in his excitement. He declared he would -sleep by day and sit up every night until he killed it. Again his rage -touched my admiration; but I got him away before he made enough noise to -wake the whole Camp. - -"I have a better plan than that," I said, watching his face closely. "I -don't think this is anything we can deal with. I'm going to send for the -only man I know who can help. We'll go to Waxholm this very morning and -get a telegram through." - -Sangree stared at me with a curious expression as the fury died out of -his face and a new look of alarm took its place. - -"John Silence," I said, "will know--" - -"You think it's something--of that sort?" he stammered. - -"I am sure of it." - -There was a moment's pause. "That's worse, far worse than anything -material," he said, turning visibly paler. He looked from my face to the -sky, and then added with sudden resolution, "Come; the wind's rising. -Let's get off at once. From there you can telephone to Stockholm and get -a telegram sent without delay." - -I sent him down to get the boat ready, and seized the opportunity myself -to run and wake Maloney. He was sleeping very lightly, and sprang up the -moment I put my head inside his tent. I told him briefly what I had -seen, and he showed so little surprise that I caught myself wondering -for the first time whether he himself had seen more going on than he had -deemed wise to communicate to the rest of us. - -He agreed to my plan without a moment's hesitation, and my last words to -him were to let his wife and daughter think that the great psychic -doctor was coming merely as a chance visitor, and not with any -professional interest. - -So, with frying-pan, provisions, and blankets aboard, Sangree and I -sailed out of the lagoon fifteen minutes later, and headed with a good -breeze for the direction of Waxholm and the borders of civilisation. - - -IV - -Although nothing John Silence did ever took me, properly speaking, by -surprise, it was certainly unexpected to find a letter from Stockholm -waiting for me. "I have finished my Hungary business," he wrote, "and am -here for ten days. Do not hesitate to send if you need me. If you -telephone any morning from Waxholm I can catch the afternoon steamer." - -My years of intercourse with him were full of "coincidences" of this -description, and although he never sought to explain them by claiming -any magical system of communication with my mind, I have never doubted -that there actually existed some secret telepathic method by which he -knew my circumstances and gauged the degree of my need. And that this -power was independent of time in the sense that it saw into the future, -always seemed to me equally apparent. - -Sangree was as much relieved as I was, and within an hour of sunset that -very evening we met him on the arrival of the little coasting steamer, -and carried him off in the dinghy to the camp we had prepared on a -neighbouring island, meaning to start for home early next morning. - -"Now," he said, when supper was over and we were smoking round the fire, -"let me hear your story." He glanced from one to the other, smiling. - -"You tell it, Mr. Hubbard," Sangree interrupted abruptly, and went off a -little way to wash the dishes, yet not so far as to be out of earshot. -And while he splashed with the hot water, and scraped the tin plates -with sand and moss, my voice, unbroken by a single question from Dr. -Silence, ran on for the next half-hour with the best account I could -give of what had happened. - -My listener lay on the other side of the fire, his face half hidden by a -big sombrero; sometimes he glanced up questioningly when a point needed -elaboration, but he uttered no single word till I had reached the end, -and his manner all through the recital was grave and attentive. -Overhead, the wash of the wind in the pine branches filled in the -pauses; the darkness settled down over the sea, and the stars came out -in thousands, and by the time I finished the moon had risen to flood the -scene with silver. Yet, by his face and eyes, I knew quite well that the -doctor was listening to something he had expected to hear, even if he -had not actually anticipated all the details. - -"You did well to send for me," he said very low, with a significant -glance at me when I finished; "very well,"--and for one swift second his -eye took in Sangree,--"for what we have to deal with here is nothing -more than a werewolf--rare enough, I am glad to say, but often very sad, -and sometimes very terrible." - -I jumped as though I had been shot, but the next second was heartily -ashamed of my want of control; for this brief remark, confirming as it -did my own worst suspicions, did more to convince me of the gravity of -the adventure than any number of questions or explanations. It seemed to -draw close the circle about us, shutting a door somewhere that locked us -in with the animal and the horror, and turning the key. Whatever it was -had now to be faced and dealt with. - -"No one has been actually injured so far?" he asked aloud, but in a -matter-of-fact tone that lent reality to grim possibilities. - -"Good heavens, no!" cried the Canadian, throwing down his dishcloths -and coming forward into the circle of firelight. "Surely there can be no -question of this poor starved beast injuring anybody, can there?" - -His hair straggled untidily over his forehead, and there was a gleam in -his eyes that was not all reflection from the fire. His words made me -turn sharply. We all laughed a little short, forced laugh. - -"I trust not, indeed," Dr. Silence said quietly. "But what makes you -think the creature is starved?" He asked the question with his eyes -straight on the other's face. The prompt question explained to me why I -had started, and I waited with just a tremor of excitement for the -reply. - -Sangree hesitated a moment, as though the question took him by surprise. -But he met the doctor's gaze unflinchingly across the fire, and with -complete honesty. - -"Really," he faltered, with a little shrug of the shoulders, "I can -hardly tell you. The phrase seemed to come out of its own accord. I have -felt from the beginning that it was in pain and--starved, though why I -felt this never occurred to me till you asked." - -"You really know very little about it, then?" said the other, with a -sudden gentleness in his voice. - -"No more than that," Sangree replied, looking at him with a puzzled -expression that was unmistakably genuine. "In fact, nothing at all, -really," he added, by way of further explanation. - -"I am glad of that," I heard the doctor murmur under his breath, but so -low that I only just caught the words, and Sangree missed them -altogether, as evidently he was meant to do. - -"And now," he cried, getting on his feet and shaking himself with a -characteristic gesture, as though to shake out the horror and the -mystery, "let us leave the problem till to-morrow and enjoy this wind -and sea and stars. I've been living lately in the atmosphere of many -people, and feel that I want to wash and be clean. I propose a swim and -then bed. Who'll second me?" And two minutes later we were all diving -from the boat into cool, deep water, that reflected a thousand moons as -the waves broke away from us in countless ripples. - -We slept in blankets under the open sky, Sangree and I taking the -outside places, and were up before sunrise to catch the dawn wind. -Helped by this early start we were half-way home by noon, and then the -wind shifted to a few points behind us so that we fairly ran. In and out -among a thousand islands, down narrow channels where we lost the wind, -out into open spaces where we had to take in a reef, racing along under -a hot and cloudless sky, we flew through the very heart of the -bewildering and lonely scenery. - -"A real wilderness," cried Dr. Silence from his seat in the bows where -he held the jib sheet. His hat was off, his hair tumbled in the wind, -and his lean brown face gave him the touch of an Oriental. Presently he -changed places with Sangree, and came down to talk with me by the -tiller. - -"A wonderful region, all this world of islands," he said, waving his -hand to the scenery rushing past us, "but doesn't it strike you there's -something lacking?" - -"It's--hard," I answered, after a moment's reflection. "It has a -superficial, glittering prettiness, without--" I hesitated to find the -word I wanted. - -John Silence nodded his head with approval. - -"Exactly," he said. "The picturesqueness of stage scenery that is not -real, not alive. It's like a landscape by a clever painter, yet without -true imagination. Soulless--that's the word you wanted." - -"Something like that," I answered, watching the gusts of wind on the -sails. "Not dead so much, as without soul. That's it." - -"Of course," he went on, in a voice calculated, it seemed to me, not to -reach our companion in the bows, "to live long in a place like -this--long and alone--might bring about a strange result in some men." - -I suddenly realised he was talking with a purpose and pricked up my -ears. - -"There's no life here. These islands are mere dead rocks pushed up from -below the sea--not living land; and there's nothing really alive on -them. Even the sea, this tideless, brackish sea, neither salt water nor -fresh, is dead. It's all a pretty image of life without the real heart -and soul of life. To a man with too strong desires who came here and -lived close to nature, strange things might happen." - -"Let her out a bit," I shouted to Sangree, who was coming aft. "The -wind's gusty and we've got hardly any ballast." - -He went back to the bows, and Dr. Silence continued-- - -"Here, I mean, a long sojourn would lead to deterioration, to -degeneration. The place is utterly unsoftened by human influences, by -any humanising associations of history, good or bad. This landscape has -never awakened into life; it's still dreaming in its primitive sleep." - -"In time," I put in, "you mean a man living here might become brutal?" - -"The passions would run wild, selfishness become supreme, the instincts -coarsen and turn savage probably." - -"But--" - -"In other places just as wild, parts of Italy for instance, where there -are other moderating influences, it could not happen. The character -might grow wild, savage too in a sense, but with a human wildness one -could understand and deal with. But here, in a hard place like this, it -might be otherwise." He spoke slowly, weighing his words carefully. - -I looked at him with many questions in my eyes, and a precautionary cry -to Sangree to stay in the fore part of the boat, out of earshot. - -"First of all there would come callousness to pain, and indifference to -the rights of others. Then the soul would turn savage, not from -passionate human causes, or with enthusiasm, but by deadening down into -a kind of cold, primitive, emotionless savagery--by turning, like the -landscape, soulless." - -"And a man with strong desires, you say, might change?" - -"Without being aware of it, yes; he might turn savage, his instincts and -desires turn animal. And if"--he lowered his voice and turned for a -moment towards the bows, and then continued in his most weighty -manner--"owing to delicate health or other predisposing causes, his -Double--you know what I mean, of course--his etheric Body of Desire, or -astral body, as some term it--that part in which the emotions, passions -and desires reside--if this, I say, were for some constitutional reason -loosely joined to his physical organism, there might well take place an -occasional projection--" - -Sangree came aft with a sudden rush, his face aflame, but whether with -wind or sun, or with what he had heard, I cannot say. In my surprise I -let the tiller slip and the cutter gave a great plunge as she came -sharply into the wind and flung us all together in a heap on the bottom. -Sangree said nothing, but while he scrambled up and made the jib sheet -fast my companion found a moment to add to his unfinished sentence the -words, too low for any ear but mine-- - -"Entirely unknown to himself, however." - -We righted the boat and laughed, and then Sangree produced the map and -explained exactly where we were. Far away on the horizon, across an open -stretch of water, lay a blue cluster of islands with our crescent-shaped -home among them and the safe anchorage of the lagoon. An hour with this -wind would get us there comfortably, and while Dr. Silence and Sangree -fell into conversation, I sat and pondered over the strange suggestions -that had just been put into my mind concerning the "Double," and the -possible form it might assume when dissociated temporarily from the -physical body. - -The whole way home these two chatted, and John Silence was as gentle and -sympathetic as a woman. I did not hear much of their talk, for the wind -grew occasionally to the force of a hurricane and the sails and tiller -absorbed my attention; but I could see that Sangree was pleased and -happy, and was pouring out intimate revelations to his companion in the -way that most people did--when John Silence wished them to do so. - -But it was quite suddenly, while I sat all intent upon wind and sails, -that the true meaning of Sangree's remark about the animal flared up in -me with its full import. For his admission that he knew it was in pain -and starved was in reality nothing more or less than a revelation of his -deeper self. It was in the nature of a confession. He was speaking of -something that he knew positively, something that was beyond question or -argument, something that had to do directly with himself. "Poor starved -beast" he had called it in words that had "come out of their own -accord," and there had not been the slightest evidence of any desire to -conceal or explain away. He had spoken instinctively--from his heart, -and as though about his own self. - -And half an hour before sunset we raced through the narrow opening of -the lagoon and saw the smoke of the dinner-fire blowing here and there -among the trees, and the figures of Joan and the Bo'sun's Mate running -down to meet us at the landing-stage. - - -V - -Everything changed from the moment John Silence set foot on that island; -it was like the effect produced by calling in some big doctor, some -great arbiter of life and death, for consultation. The sense of gravity -increased a hundredfold. Even inanimate objects took upon themselves a -subtle alteration, for the setting of the adventure--this deserted bit -of sea with its hundreds of uninhabited islands--somehow turned sombre. -An element that was mysterious, and in a sense disheartening, crept -unbidden into the severity of grey rock and dark pine forest and took -the sparkle from the sunshine and the sea. - -I, at least, was keenly aware of the change, for my whole being shifted, -as it were, a degree higher, becoming keyed up and alert. The figures -from the background of the stage moved forward a little into the -light--nearer to the inevitable action. In a word this man's arrival -intensified the whole affair. - -And, looking back down the years to the time when all this happened, it -is clear to me that he had a pretty sharp idea of the meaning of it from -the very beginning. How much he knew beforehand by his strange divining -powers, it is impossible to say, but from the moment he came upon the -scene and caught within himself the note of what was going on amongst -us, he undoubtedly held the true solution of the puzzle and had no need -to ask questions. And this certitude it was that set him in such an -atmosphere of power and made us all look to him instinctively; for he -took no tentative steps, made no false moves, and while the rest of us -floundered he moved straight to the climax. He was indeed a true diviner -of souls. - -I can now read into his behaviour a good deal that puzzled me at the -time, for though I had dimly guessed the solution, I had no idea how he -would deal with it. And the conversations I can reproduce almost -verbatim, for, according to my invariable habit, I kept full notes of -all he said. - -To Mrs. Maloney, foolish and dazed; to Joan, alarmed, yet plucky; and to -the clergyman, moved by his daughter's distress below his usual shallow -emotions, he gave the best possible treatment in the best possible way, -yet all so easily and simply as to make it appear naturally spontaneous. -For he dominated the Bo'sun's Mate, taking the measure of her ignorance -with infinite patience; he keyed up Joan, stirring her courage and -interest to the highest point for her own safety; and the Reverend -Timothy he soothed and comforted, while obtaining his implicit -obedience, by taking him into his confidence, and leading him gradually -to a comprehension of the issue that was bound to follow. - -And Sangree--here his wisdom was most wisely calculated--he neglected -outwardly because inwardly he was the object of his unceasing and most -concentrated attention. Under the guise of apparent indifference his -mind kept the Canadian under constant observation. - -There was a restless feeling in the Camp that evening and none of us -lingered round the fire after supper as usual. Sangree and I busied -ourselves with patching up the torn tent for our guest and with finding -heavy stones to hold the ropes, for Dr. Silence insisted on having it -pitched on the highest point of the island ridge, just where it was most -rocky and there was no earth for pegs. The place, moreover, was midway -between the men's and women's tents, and, of course, commanded the most -comprehensive view of the Camp. - -"So that if your dog comes," he said simply, "I may be able to catch him -as he passes across." - -The wind had gone down with the sun and an unusual warmth lay over the -island that made sleep heavy, and in the morning we assembled at a late -breakfast, rubbing our eyes and yawning. The cool north wind had given -way to the warm southern air that sometimes came up with haze and -moisture across the Baltic, bringing with it the relaxing sensations -that produced enervation and listlessness. - -And this may have been the reason why at first I failed to notice that -anything unusual was about, and why I was less alert than normally; for -it was not till after breakfast that the silence of our little party -struck me and I discovered that Joan had not yet put in an appearance. -And then, in a flash, the last heaviness of sleep vanished and I saw -that Maloney was white and troubled and his wife could not hold a plate -without trembling. - -A desire to ask questions was stopped in me by a swift glance from Dr. -Silence, and I suddenly understood in some vague way that they were -waiting till Sangree should have gone. How this idea came to me I cannot -determine, but the soundness of the intuition was soon proved, for the -moment he moved off to his tent, Maloney looked up at me and began to -speak in a low voice. - -"You slept through it all," he half whispered. - -"Through what?" I asked, suddenly thrilled with the knowledge that -something dreadful had happened. - -"We didn't wake you for fear of getting the whole Camp up," he went on, -meaning, by the Camp, I supposed, Sangree. "It was just before dawn when -the screams woke me." - -"The dog again?" I asked, with a curious sinking of the heart. - -"Got right into the tent," he went on, speaking passionately but very -low, "and woke my wife by scrambling all over her. Then she realised -that Joan was struggling beside her. And, by God! the beast had torn her -arm; scratched all down the arm she was, and bleeding." - -"Joan injured?" I gasped. - -"Merely scratched--this time," put in John Silence, speaking for the -first time; "suffering more from shock and fright than actual wounds." - -"Isn't it a mercy the doctor was here?" said Mrs. Maloney, looking as if -she would never know calmness again. "I think we should both have been -killed." - -"It has been a most merciful escape," Maloney said, his pulpit voice -struggling with his emotion. "But, of course, we cannot risk another--we -must strike Camp and get away at once--" - -"Only poor Mr. Sangree must not know what has happened. He is so -attached to Joan and would be so terribly upset," added the Bo'sun's -Mate distractedly, looking all about in her terror. - -"It is perhaps advisable that Mr. Sangree should not know what has -occurred," Dr. Silence said with quiet authority, "but I think, for the -safety of all concerned, it will be better not to leave the island just -now." He spoke with great decision and Maloney looked up and followed -his words closely. - -"If you will agree to stay here a few days longer, I have no doubt we -can put an end to the attentions of your strange visitor, and -incidentally have the opportunity of observing a most singular and -interesting phenomenon--" - -"What!" gasped Mrs. Maloney, "a phenomenon?--you mean that you know what -it is?" - -"I am quite certain I know what it is," he replied very low, for we -heard the footsteps of Sangree approaching, "though I am not so certain -yet as to the best means of dealing with it. But in any case it is not -wise to leave precipitately--" - -"Oh, Timothy, does he think it's a devil--?" cried the Bo'sun's Mate in -a voice that even the Canadian must have heard. - -"In my opinion," continued John Silence, looking across at me and the -clergyman, "it is a case of modern lycanthropy with other complications -that may--" He left the sentence unfinished, for Mrs. Maloney got up -with a jump and fled to her tent fearful she might hear a worse thing, -and at that moment Sangree turned the corner of the stockade and came -into view. - -"There are footmarks all round the mouth of my tent," he said with -excitement. "The animal has been here again in the night. Dr. Silence, -you really must come and see them for yourself. They're as plain on the -moss as tracks in snow." - -But later in the day, while Sangree went off in the canoe to fish the -pools near the larger islands, and Joan still lay, bandaged and resting, -in her tent, Dr. Silence called me and the tutor and proposed a walk to -the granite slabs at the far end. Mrs. Maloney sat on a stump near her -daughter, and busied herself energetically with alternate nursing and -painting. - -"We'll leave you in charge," the doctor said with a smile that was meant -to be encouraging, "and when you want us for lunch, or anything, the -megaphone will always bring us back in time." - -For, though the very air was charged with strange emotions, every one -talked quietly and naturally as with a definite desire to counteract -unnecessary excitement. - -"I'll keep watch," said the plucky Bo'sun's Mate, "and meanwhile I find -comfort in my work." She was busy with the sketch she had begun on the -day after our arrival. "For even a tree," she added proudly, pointing to -her little easel, "is a symbol of the divine, and the thought makes me -feel safer." We glanced for a moment at a daub which was more like the -symptom of a disease than a symbol of the divine--and then took the path -round the lagoon. - -At the far end we made a little fire and lay round it in the shadow of a -big boulder. Maloney stopped his humming suddenly and turned to his -companion. - -"And what do you make of it all?" he asked abruptly. - -"In the first place," replied John Silence, making himself comfortable -against the rock, "it is of human origin, this animal; it is undoubted -lycanthropy." - -His words had the effect precisely of a bombshell. Maloney listened as -though he had been struck. - -"You puzzle me utterly," he said, sitting up closer and staring at him. - -"Perhaps," replied the other, "but if you'll listen to me for a few -moments you may be less puzzled at the end--or more. It depends how much -you know. Let me go further and say that you have underestimated, or -miscalculated, the effect of this primitive wild life upon all of you." - -"In what way?" asked the clergyman, bristling a trifle. - -"It is strong medicine for any town-dweller, and for some of you it has -been too strong. One of you has gone wild." He uttered these last words -with great emphasis. - -"Gone savage," he added, looking from one to the other. - -Neither of us found anything to reply. - -"To say that the brute has awakened in a man is not a mere metaphor -always," he went on presently. - -"Of course not!" - -"But, in the sense I mean, may have a very literal and terrible -significance," pursued Dr. Silence. "Ancient instincts that no one -dreamed of, least of all their possessor, may leap forth--" - -"Atavism can hardly explain a roaming animal with teeth and claws and -sanguinary instincts," interrupted Maloney with impatience. - -"The term is of your own choice," continued the doctor equably, "not -mine, and it is a good example of a word that indicates a result while -it conceals the process; but the explanation of this beast that haunts -your island and attacks your daughter is of far deeper significance than -mere atavistic tendencies, or throwing back to animal origin, which I -suppose is the thought in your mind." - -"You spoke just now of lycanthropy," said Maloney, looking bewildered -and anxious to keep to plain facts evidently; "I think I have come -across the word, but really--really--it can have no actual significance -to-day, can it? These superstitions of mediaeval times can hardly--" - -He looked round at me with his jolly red face, and the expression of -astonishment and dismay on it would have made me shout with laughter at -any other time. Laughter, however, was never farther from my mind than -at this moment when I listened to Dr. Silence as he carefully suggested -to the clergyman the very explanation that had gradually been forcing -itself upon my own mind. - -"However mediaeval ideas may have exaggerated the idea is not of much -importance to us now," he said quietly, "when we are face to face with a -modern example of what, I take it, has always been a profound fact. For -the moment let us leave the name of any one in particular out of the -matter and consider certain possibilities." - -We all agreed with that at any rate. There was no need to speak of -Sangree, or of any one else, until we knew a little more. - -"The fundamental fact in this most curious case," he went on, "is that -the 'Double' of a man--" - -"You mean the astral body? I've heard of that, of course," broke in -Maloney with a snort of triumph. - -"No doubt," said the other, smiling, "no doubt you have;--that this -Double, or fluidic body of a man, as I was saying, has the power under -certain conditions of projecting itself and becoming visible to others. -Certain training will accomplish this, and certain drugs likewise; -illnesses, too, that ravage the body may produce temporarily the result -that death produces permanently, and let loose this counterpart of a -human being and render it visible to the sight of others. - -"Every one, of course, knows this more or less to-day; but it is not so -generally known, and probably believed by none who have not witnessed -it, that this fluidic body can, under certain conditions, assume other -forms than human, and that such other forms may be determined by the -dominating thought and wish of the owner. For this Double, or astral -body as you call it, is really the seat of the passions, emotions and -desires in the psychical economy. It is the Passion Body; and, in -projecting itself, it can often assume a form that gives expression to -the overmastering desire that moulds it; for it is composed of such -tenuous matter that it lends itself readily to the moulding by thought -and wish." - -"I follow you perfectly," said Maloney, looking as if he would much -rather be chopping firewood elsewhere and singing. - -"And there are some persons so constituted," the doctor went on with -increasing seriousness, "that the fluid body in them is but loosely -associated with the physical, persons of poor health as a rule, yet -often of strong desires and passions; and in these persons it is easy -for the Double to dissociate itself during deep sleep from their system, -and, driven forth by some consuming desire, to assume an animal form and -seek the fulfilment of that desire." - -There, in broad daylight, I saw Maloney deliberately creep closer to the -fire and heap the wood on. We gathered in to the heat, and to each -other, and listened to Dr. Silence's voice as it mingled with the swish -and whirr of the wind about us, and the falling of the little waves. - -"For instance, to take a concrete example," he resumed; "suppose some -young man, with the delicate constitution I have spoken of, forms an -overpowering attachment to a young woman, yet perceives that it is not -welcomed, and is man enough to repress its outward manifestations. In -such a case, supposing his Double be easily projected, the very -repression of his love in the daytime would add to the intense force of -his desire when released in deep sleep from the control of his will, -and his fluidic body might issue forth in monstrous or animal shape and -become actually visible to others. And, if his devotion were dog-like in -its fidelity, yet concealing the fires of a fierce passion beneath, it -might well assume the form of a creature that seemed to be half dog, -half wolf--" - -"A werewolf, you mean?" cried Maloney, pale to the lips as he listened. - -John Silence held up a restraining hand. "A werewolf," he said, "is a -true psychical fact of profound significance, however absurdly it may -have been exaggerated by the imaginations of a superstitious peasantry -in the days of unenlightenment, for a werewolf is nothing but the -savage, and possibly sanguinary, instincts of a passionate man scouring -the world in his fluidic body, his passion body, his body of desire. As -in the case at hand, he may not know it--" - -"It is not necessarily deliberate, then?" Maloney put in quickly, with -relief. - -"--It is hardly ever deliberate. It is the desires released in sleep -from the control of the will finding a vent. In all savage races it has -been recognised and dreaded, this phenomenon styled 'Wehr Wolf,' but -to-day it is rare. And it is becoming rarer still, for the world grows -tame and civilised, emotions have become refined, desires lukewarm, and -few men have savagery enough left in them to generate impulses of such -intense force, and certainly not to project them in animal form." - -"By Gad!" exclaimed the clergyman breathlessly, and with increasing -excitement, "then I feel I must tell you--what has been given to me in -confidence--that Sangree has in him an admixture of savage blood--of Red -Indian ancestry--" - -"Let us stick to our supposition of a man as described," the doctor -stopped him calmly, "and let us imagine that he has in him this -admixture of savage blood; and further, that he is wholly unaware of his -dreadful physical and psychical infirmity; and that he suddenly finds -himself leading the primitive life together with the object of his -desires; with the result that the strain of the untamed wild-man in his -blood--" - -"Red Indian, for instance," from Maloney. - -"Red Indian, perfectly," agreed the doctor; "the result, I say, that -this savage strain in him is awakened and leaps into passionate life. -What then?" - -He looked hard at Timothy Maloney, and the clergyman looked hard at him. - -"The wild life such as you lead here on this island, for instance, -might quickly awaken his savage instincts--his buried instincts--and -with profoundly disquieting results." - -"You mean his Subtle Body, as you call it, might issue forth -automatically in deep sleep and seek the object of its desire?" I said, -coming to Maloney's aid, who was finding it more and more difficult to -get words. - -"Precisely;--yet the desire of the man remaining utterly unmalefic--pure -and wholesome in every sense--" - -"Ah!" I heard the clergyman gasp. - -"The lover's desire for union run wild, run savage, tearing its way out -in primitive, untamed fashion, I mean," continued the doctor, striving -to make himself clear to a mind bounded by conventional thought and -knowledge; "for the desire to possess, remember, may easily become -importunate, and, embodied in this animal form of the Subtle Body which -acts as its vehicle, may go forth to tear in pieces all that obstructs, -to reach to the very heart of the loved object and seize it. _Au fond_, -it is nothing more than the aspiration for union, as I said--the -splendid and perfectly clean desire to absorb utterly into itself--" - -He paused a moment and looked into Maloney's eyes. - -"To bathe in the very heart's blood of the one desired," he added with -grave emphasis. - -The fire spurted and crackled and made me start, but Maloney found -relief in a genuine shudder, and I saw him turn his head and look about -him from the sea to the trees. The wind dropped just at that moment and -the doctor's words rang sharply through the stillness. - -"Then it might even kill?" stammered the clergyman presently in a hushed -voice, and with a little forced laugh by way of protest that sounded -quite ghastly. - -"In the last resort it might kill," repeated Dr. Silence. Then, after -another pause, during which he was clearly debating how much or how -little it was wise to give to his audience, he continued: "And if the -Double does not succeed in getting back to its physical body, that -physical body would wake an imbecile--an idiot--or perhaps never wake at -all." - -Maloney sat up and found his tongue. - -"You mean that if this fluid animal thing, or whatever it is, should be -prevented getting back, the man might never wake again?" he asked, with -shaking voice. - -"He might be dead," replied the other calmly. The tremor of a positive -sensation shivered in the air about us. - -"Then isn't that the best way to cure the fool--the brute--?" thundered -the clergyman, half rising to his feet. - -"Certainly it would be an easy and undiscoverable form of murder," was -the stern reply, spoken as calmly as though it were a remark about the -weather. - -Maloney collapsed visibly, and I gathered the wood over the fire and -coaxed up a blaze. - -"The greater part of the man's life--of his vital forces--goes out with -this Double," Dr. Silence resumed, after a moment's consideration, "and -a considerable portion of the actual material of his physical body. So -the physical body that remains behind is depleted, not only of force, -but of matter. You would see it small, shrunken, dropped together, just -like the body of a materialising medium at a seance. Moreover, any mark -or injury inflicted upon this Double will be found exactly reproduced by -the phenomenon of repercussion upon the shrunken physical body lying in -its trance--" - -"An injury inflicted upon the one you say would be reproduced also on -the other?" repeated Maloney, his excitement growing again. - -"Undoubtedly," replied the other quietly; "for there exists all the time -a continuous connection between the physical body and the Double--a -connection of matter, though of exceedingly attenuated, possibly of -etheric, matter. The wound _travels_, so to speak, from one to the -other, and if this connection were broken the result would be death." - -"Death," repeated Maloney to himself, "death!" He looked anxiously at -our faces, his thoughts evidently beginning to clear. - -"And this solidity?" he asked presently, after a general pause; "this -tearing of tents and flesh; this howling, and the marks of paws? You -mean that the Double--?" - -"Has sufficient material drawn from the depleted body to produce -physical results? Certainly!" the doctor took him up. "Although to -explain at this moment such problems as the passage of matter through -matter would be as difficult as to explain how the thought of a mother -can actually break the bones of the child unborn." - -Dr. Silence pointed out to sea, and Maloney, looking wildly about him, -turned with a violent start. I saw a canoe, with Sangree in the -stern-seat, slowly coming into view round the farther point. His hat was -off, and his tanned face for the first time appeared to me--to us all, I -think--as though it were the face of some one else. He looked like a -wild man. Then he stood up in the canoe to make a cast with the rod, and -he looked for all the world like an Indian. I recalled the expression of -his face as I had seen it once or twice, notably on that occasion of the -evening prayer, and an involuntary shudder ran down my spine. - -At that very instant he turned and saw us where we lay, and his face -broke into a smile, so that his teeth showed white in the sun. He -looked in his element, and exceedingly attractive. He called out -something about his fish, and soon after passed out of sight into the -lagoon. - -For a time none of us said a word. - -"And the cure?" ventured Maloney at length. - -"Is not to quench this savage force," replied Dr. Silence, "but to steer -it better, and to provide other outlets. This is the solution of all -these problems of accumulated force, for this force is the raw material -of usefulness, and should be increased and cherished, not by separating -it from the body by death, but by raising it to higher channels. The -best and quickest cure of all," he went on, speaking very gently and -with a hand upon the clergyman's arm, "is to lead it towards its object, -provided that object is not unalterably hostile--to let it find rest -where--" - -He stopped abruptly, and the eyes of the two men met in a single glance -of comprehension. - -"Joan?" Maloney exclaimed, under his breath. - -"Joan!" replied John Silence. - - * * * * * - -We all went to bed early. The day had been unusually warm, and after -sunset a curious hush descended on the island. Nothing was audible but -that faint, ghostly singing which is inseparable from a pinewood even on -the stillest day--a low, searching sound, as though the wind had hair -and trailed it o'er the world. - -With the sudden cooling of the atmosphere a sea fog began to form. It -appeared in isolated patches over the water, and then these patches slid -together and a white wall advanced upon us. Not a breath of air stirred; -the firs stood like flat metal outlines; the sea became as oil. The -whole scene lay as though held motionless by some huge weight in the -air; and the flames from our fire--the largest we had ever made--rose -upwards, straight as a church steeple. - -As I followed the rest of our party tent-wards, having kicked the embers -of the fire into safety, the advance guard of the fog was creeping -slowly among the trees, like white arms feeling their way. Mingled with -the smoke was the odour of moss and soil and bark, and the peculiar -flavour of the Baltic, half salt, half brackish, like the smell of an -estuary at low water. - -It is difficult to say why it seemed to me that this deep stillness -masked an intense activity; perhaps in every mood lies the suggestion of -its opposite, so that I became aware of the contrast of furious energy, -for it was like moving through the deep pause before a thunderstorm, and -I trod gently lest by breaking a twig or moving a stone I might set the -whole scene into some sort of tumultuous movement. Actually, no doubt, -it was nothing more than a result of overstrung nerves. - -There was no more question of undressing and going to bed than there was -of undressing and going to bathe. Some sense in me was alert and -expectant. I sat in my tent and waited. And at the end of half an hour -or so my waiting was justified, for the canvas suddenly shivered, and -some one tripped over the ropes that held it to the earth. John Silence -came in. - -The effect of his quiet entry was singular and prophetic: it was just as -though the energy lying behind all this stillness had pressed forward to -the edge of action. This, no doubt, was merely the quickening of my own -mind, and had no other justification; for the presence of John Silence -always suggested the near possibility of vigorous action, and as a -matter of fact, he came in with nothing more than a nod and a -significant gesture. - -He sat down on a corner of my ground-sheet, and I pushed the blanket -over so that he could cover his legs. He drew the flap of the tent after -him and settled down, but hardly had he done so when the canvas shook a -second time, and in blundered Maloney. - -"Sitting in the dark?" he said self-consciously, pushing his head -inside, and hanging up his lantern on the ridge-pole nail. "I just -looked in for a smoke. I suppose--" - -He glanced round, caught the eye of Dr. Silence, and stopped. He put his -pipe back into his pocket and began to hum softly--that underbreath -humming of a nondescript melody I knew so well and had come to hate. - -Dr. Silence leaned forward, opened the lantern and blew the light out. -"Speak low," he said, "and don't strike matches. Listen for sounds and -movements about the Camp, and be ready to follow me at a moment's -notice." There was light enough to distinguish our faces easily, and I -saw Maloney glance again hurriedly at both of us. - -"Is the Camp asleep?" the doctor asked presently, whispering. - -"Sangree is," replied the clergyman, in a voice equally low. "I can't -answer for the women; I think they're sitting up." - -"That's for the best." And then he added: "I wish the fog would thin a -bit and let the moon through; later--we may want it." - -"It is lifting now, I think," Maloney whispered back. "It's over the -tops of the trees already." - -I cannot say what it was in this commonplace exchange of remarks that -thrilled. Probably Maloney's swift acquiescence in the doctor's mood had -something to do with it; for his quick obedience certainly impressed me -a good deal. But, even without that slight evidence, it was clear that -each recognised the gravity of the occasion, and understood that sleep -was impossible and sentry duty was the order of the night. - -"Report to me," repeated John Silence once again, "the least sound, and -do nothing precipitately." - -He shifted across to the mouth of the tent and raised the flap, -fastening it against the pole so that he could see out. Maloney stopped -humming and began to force the breath through his teeth with a kind of -faint hissing, treating us to a medley of church hymns and popular songs -of the day. - -Then the tent trembled as though some one had touched it. - -"That's the wind rising," whispered the clergyman, and pulled the flap -open as far as it would go. A waft of cold damp air entered and made us -shiver, and with it came a sound of the sea as the first wave washed its -way softly along the shores. - -"It's got round to the north," he added, and following his voice came a -long-drawn whisper that rose from the whole island as the trees sent -forth a sighing response. "The fog'll move a bit now. I can make out a -lane across the sea already." - -"Hush!" said Dr. Silence, for Maloney's voice had risen above a whisper, -and we settled down again to another long period of watching and -waiting, broken only by the occasional rubbing of shoulders against the -canvas as we shifted our positions, and the increasing noise of waves on -the outer coast-line of the island. And over all whirred the murmur of -wind sweeping the tops of the trees like a great harp, and the faint -tapping on the tent as drops fell from the branches with a sharp pinging -sound. - -We had sat for something over an hour in this way, and Maloney and I -were finding it increasingly hard to keep awake, when suddenly Dr. -Silence rose to his feet and peered out. The next minute he was gone. - -Relieved of the dominating presence, the clergyman thrust his face close -into mine. "I don't much care for this waiting game," he whispered, "but -Silence wouldn't hear of my sitting up with the others; he said it would -prevent anything happening if I did." - -"He knows," I answered shortly. - -"No doubt in the world about that," he whispered back; "it's this -'Double' business, as he calls it, or else it's obsession as the Bible -describes it. But it's bad, whichever it is, and I've got my Winchester -outside ready cocked, and I brought this too." He shoved a pocket Bible -under my nose. At one time in his life it had been his inseparable -companion. - -"One's useless and the other's dangerous," I replied under my breath, -conscious of a keen desire to laugh, and leaving him to choose. "Safety -lies in following our leader--" - -"I'm not thinking of myself," he interrupted sharply; "only, if anything -happens to Joan to-night I'm going to shoot first--and pray afterwards!" - -Maloney put the book back into his hip-pocket, and peered out of the -doorway. "What is he up to now, in the devil's name, I wonder!" he -added; "going round Sangree's tent and making gestures. How weird he -looks disappearing in and out of the fog." - -"Just trust him and wait," I said quickly, for the doctor was already on -his way back. "Remember, he has the knowledge, and knows what he's -about. I've been with him through worse cases than this." - -Maloney moved back as Dr. Silence darkened the doorway and stooped to -enter. - -"His sleep is very deep," he whispered, seating himself by the door -again. "He's in a cataleptic condition, and the Double may be released -any minute now. But I've taken steps to imprison it in the tent, and it -can't get out till I permit it. Be on the watch for signs of movement." -Then he looked hard at Maloney. "But no violence, or shooting, remember, -Mr. Maloney, unless you want a murder on your hands. Anything done to -the Double acts by repercussion upon the physical body. You had better -take out the cartridges at once." - -His voice was stern. The clergyman went out, and I heard him emptying -the magazine of his rifle. When he returned he sat nearer the door than -before, and from that moment until we left the tent he never once took -his eyes from the figure of Dr. Silence, silhouetted there against sky -and canvas. - -And, meanwhile, the wind came steadily over the sea and opened the mist -into lanes and clearings, driving it about like a living thing. - -It must have been well after midnight when a low booming sound drew my -attention; but at first the sense of hearing was so strained that it was -impossible exactly to locate it, and I imagined it was the thunder of -big guns far out at sea carried to us by the rising wind. Then Maloney, -catching hold of my arm and leaning forward, somehow brought the true -relation, and I realised the next second that it was only a few feet -away. - -"Sangree's tent," he exclaimed in a loud and startled whisper. - -I craned my head round the corner, but at first the effect of the fog -was so confusing that every patch of white driving about before the wind -looked like a moving tent and it was some seconds before I discovered -the one patch that held steady. Then I saw that it was shaking all over, -and the sides, flapping as much as the tightness of the ropes allowed, -were the cause of the booming sound we had heard. Something alive was -tearing frantically about inside, banging against the stretched canvas -in a way that made me think of a great moth dashing against the walls -and ceiling of a room. The tent bulged and rocked. - -"It's trying to get out, by Jupiter!" muttered the clergyman, rising to -his feet and turning to the side where the unloaded rifle lay. I sprang -up too, hardly knowing what purpose was in my mind, but anxious to be -prepared for anything. John Silence, however, was before us both, and -his figure slipped past and blocked the doorway of the tent. And there -was some quality in his voice next minute when he began to speak that -brought our minds instantly to a state of calm obedience. - -"First--the women's tent," he said low, looking sharply at Maloney, "and -if I need your help, I'll call." - -The clergyman needed no second bidding. He dived past me and was out in -a moment. He was labouring evidently under intense excitement. I watched -him picking his way silently over the slippery ground, giving the moving -tent a wide berth, and presently disappearing among the floating shapes -of fog. - -Dr. Silence turned to me. "You heard those footsteps about half an hour -ago?" he asked significantly. - -"I heard nothing." - -"They were extraordinarily soft--almost the soundless tread of a wild -creature. But now, follow me closely," he added, "for we must waste no -time if I am to save this poor man from his affliction and lead his -werewolf Double to its rest. And, unless I am much mistaken"--he -peered at me through the darkness, whispering with the utmost -distinctness--"Joan and Sangree are absolutely made for one another. And -I think she knows it too--just as well as he does." - -My head swam a little as I listened, but at the same time something -cleared in my brain and I saw that he was right. Yet it was all so weird -and incredible, so remote from the commonplace facts of life as -commonplace people know them; and more than once it flashed upon me that -the whole scene--people, words, tents, and all the rest of it--were -delusions created by the intense excitement of my own mind somehow, and -that suddenly the sea-fog would clear off and the world become normal -again. - -The cold air from the sea stung our cheeks sharply as we left the close -atmosphere of the little crowded tent. The sighing of the trees, the -waves breaking below on the rocks, and the lines and patches of mist -driving about us seemed to create the momentary illusion that the whole -island had broken loose and was floating out to sea like a mighty raft. - -The doctor moved just ahead of me, quickly and silently; he was making -straight for the Canadian's tent where the sides still boomed and shook -as the creature of sinister life raced and tore about impatiently -within. A little distance from the door he paused and held up a hand to -stop me. We were, perhaps, a dozen feet away. - -"Before I release it, you shall see for yourself," he said, "that the -reality of the werewolf is beyond all question. The matter of which it -is composed is, of course, exceedingly attenuated, but you are partially -clairvoyant--and even if it is not dense enough for normal sight you -will see something." - -He added a little more I could not catch. The fact was that the -curiously strong vibrating atmosphere surrounding his person somewhat -confused my senses. It was the result, of course, of his intense -concentration of mind and forces, and pervaded the entire Camp and all -the persons in it. And as I watched the canvas shake and heard it boom -and flap I heartily welcomed it. For it was also protective. - -At the back of Sangree's tent stood a thin group of pine trees, but in -front and at the sides the ground was comparatively clear. The flap was -wide open and any ordinary animal would have been out and away without -the least trouble. Dr. Silence led me up to within a few feet, evidently -careful not to advance beyond a certain limit, and then stooped down and -signalled to me to do the same. And looking over his shoulder I saw the -interior lit faintly by the spectral light reflected from the fog, and -the dim blot upon the balsam boughs and blankets signifying Sangree; -while over him, and round him, and up and down him, flew the dark mass -of "something" on four legs, with pointed muzzle and sharp ears plainly -visible against the tent sides, and the occasional gleam of fiery eyes -and white fangs. - -I held my breath and kept utterly still, inwardly and outwardly, for -fear, I suppose, that the creature would become conscious of my -presence; but the distress I felt went far deeper than the mere sense of -personal safety, or the fact of watching something so incredibly active -and real. I became keenly aware of the dreadful psychic calamity it -involved. The realisation that Sangree lay confined in that narrow space -with this species of monstrous projection of himself--that he was -wrapped there in the cataleptic sleep, all unconscious that this thing -was masquerading with his own life and energies--added a distressing -touch of horror to the scene. In all the cases of John Silence--and they -were many and often terrible--no other psychic affliction has ever, -before or since, impressed me so convincingly with the pathetic -impermanence of the human personality, with its fluid nature, and with -the alarming possibilities of its transformations. - -"Come," he whispered, after we had watched for some minutes the frantic -efforts to escape from the circle of thought and will that held it -prisoner, "come a little farther away while I release it." - -We moved back a dozen yards or so. It was like a scene in some -impossible play, or in some ghastly and oppressive nightmare from which -I should presently awake to find the blankets all heaped up upon my -chest. - -By some method undoubtedly mental, but which, in my confusion and -excitement, I failed to understand, the doctor accomplished his purpose, -and the next minute I heard him say sharply under his breath, "It's out! -Now watch!" - -At this very moment a sudden gust from the sea blew aside the mist, so -that a lane opened to the sky, and the moon, ghastly and unnatural as -the effect of stage limelight, dropped down in a momentary gleam upon -the door of Sangree's tent, and I perceived that something had moved -forward from the interior darkness and stood clearly defined upon the -threshold. And, at the same moment, the tent ceased its shuddering and -held still. - -There, in the doorway, stood an animal, with neck and muzzle thrust -forward, its head poking into the night, its whole body poised in that -attitude of intense rigidity that precedes the spring into freedom, the -running leap of attack. It seemed to be about the size of a calf, leaner -than a mastiff, yet more squat than a wolf, and I can swear that I saw -the fur ridged sharply upon its back. Then its upper lip slowly lifted, -and I saw the whiteness of its teeth. - -Surely no human being ever stared as hard as I did in those next few -minutes. Yet, the harder I stared the clearer appeared the amazing and -monstrous apparition. For, after all, it was Sangree--and yet it was not -Sangree. It was the head and face of an animal, and yet it was the face -of Sangree: the face of a wild dog, a wolf, and yet his face. The eyes -were sharper, narrower, more fiery, yet they were his eyes--his eyes run -wild; the teeth were longer, whiter, more pointed--yet they were his -teeth, his teeth grown cruel; the expression was flaming, terrible, -exultant--yet it was his expression carried to the border of -savagery--his expression as I had already surprised it more than once, -only dominant now, fully released from human constraint, with the mad -yearning of a hungry and importunate soul. It was the soul of Sangree, -the long suppressed, deeply loving Sangree, expressed in its single and -intense desire--pure utterly and utterly wonderful. - -Yet, at the same time, came the feeling that it was all an illusion. I -suddenly remembered the extraordinary changes the human face can undergo -in circular insanity, when it changes from melancholia to elation; and I -recalled the effect of hascheesh, which shows the human countenance in -the form of the bird or animal to which in character it most -approximates; and for a moment I attributed this mingling of Sangree's -face with a wolf to some kind of similar delusion of the senses. I was -mad, deluded, dreaming! The excitement of the day, and this dim light of -stars and bewildering mist combined to trick me. I had been amazingly -imposed upon by some false wizardry of the senses. It was all absurd and -fantastic; it would pass. - -And then, sounding across this sea of mental confusion like a bell -through a fog, came the voice of John Silence bringing me back to a -consciousness of the reality of it all-- - -"Sangree--in his Double!" - -And when I looked again more calmly, I plainly saw that it was indeed -the face of the Canadian, but his face turned animal, yet mingled with -the brute expression a curiously pathetic look like the soul seen -sometimes in the yearning eyes of a dog,--the face of an animal shot -with vivid streaks of the human. - -The doctor called to him softly under his breath-- - -"Sangree! Sangree, you poor afflicted creature! Do you know me? Can you -understand what it is you're doing in your 'Body of Desire'?" - -For the first time since its appearance the creature moved. Its ears -twitched and it shifted the weight of its body on to the hind legs. -Then, lifting its head and muzzle to the sky, it opened its long jaws -and gave vent to a dismal and prolonged howling. - -But, when I heard that howling rise to heaven, the breath caught and -strangled in my throat and it seemed that my heart missed a beat; for, -though the sound was entirely animal, it was at the same time entirely -human. But, more than that, it was the cry I had so often heard in the -Western States of America where the Indians still fight and hunt and -struggle--it was the cry of the Redskin! - -"The Indian blood!" whispered John Silence, when I caught his arm for -support; "the ancestral cry." - -And that poignant, beseeching cry, that broken human voice, mingling -with the savage howl of the brute beast, pierced straight to my very -heart and touched there something that no music, no voice, passionate or -tender, of man, woman or child has ever stirred before or since for one -second into life. It echoed away among the fog and the trees and lost -itself somewhere out over the hidden sea. And some part of -myself--something that was far more than the mere act of intense -listening--went out with it, and for several minutes I lost -consciousness of my surroundings and felt utterly absorbed in the pain -of another stricken fellow-creature. - -Again the voice of John Silence recalled me to myself. - -"Hark!" he said aloud. "Hark!" - -His tone galvanised me afresh. We stood listening side by side. - -Far across the island, faintly sounding through the trees and brushwood, -came a similar, answering cry. Shrill, yet wonderfully musical, shaking -the heart with a singular wild sweetness that defies description, we -heard it rise and fall upon the night air. - -"It's across the lagoon," Dr. Silence cried, but this time in full tones -that paid no tribute to caution. "It's Joan! She's answering him!" - -Again the wonderful cry rose and fell, and that same instant the animal -lowered its head, and, muzzle to earth, set off on a swift easy canter -that took it off into the mist and out of our sight like a thing of wind -and vision. - -The doctor made a quick dash to the door of Sangree's tent, and, -following close at his heels, I peered in and caught a momentary glimpse -of the small, shrunken body lying upon the branches but half covered by -the blankets--the cage from which most of the life, and not a little of -the actual corporeal substance, had escaped into that other form of life -and energy, the body of passion and desire. - -By another of those swift, incalculable processes which at this stage of -my apprenticeship I failed often to grasp, Dr. Silence reclosed the -circle about the tent and body. - -"Now it cannot return till I permit it," he said, and the next second -was off at full speed into the woods, with myself close behind him. I -had already had some experience of my companion's ability to run swiftly -through a dense wood, and I now had the further proof of his power -almost to see in the dark. For, once we left the open space about the -tents, the trees seemed to absorb all the remaining vestiges of light, -and I understood that special sensibility that is said to develop in the -blind--the sense of obstacles. - -And twice as we ran we heard the sound of that dismal howling drawing -nearer and nearer to the answering faint cry from the point of the -island whither we were going. - -Then, suddenly, the trees fell away, and we emerged, hot and breathless, -upon the rocky point where the granite slabs ran bare into the sea. It -was like passing into the clearness of open day. And there, sharply -defined against sea and sky, stood the figure of a human being. It was -Joan. - -I at once saw that there was something about her appearance that was -singular and unusual, but it was only when we had moved quite close that -I recognised what caused it. For while the lips wore a smile that lit -the whole face with a happiness I had never seen there before, the eyes -themselves were fixed in a steady, sightless stare as though they were -lifeless and made of glass. - -I made an impulsive forward movement, but Dr. Silence instantly dragged -me back. - -"No," he cried, "don't wake her!" - -"What do you mean?" I replied aloud, struggling in his grasp. - -"She's asleep. It's somnambulistic. The shock might injure her -permanently." - -I turned and peered closely into his face. He was absolutely calm. I -began to understand a little more, catching, I suppose, something of his -strong thinking. - -"Walking in her sleep, you mean?" - -He nodded. "She's on her way to meet him. From the very beginning he -must have drawn her--irresistibly." - -"But the torn tent and the wounded flesh?" - -"When she did not sleep deep enough to enter the somnambulistic trance -he missed her--he went instinctively and in all innocence to seek her -out--with the result, of course, that she woke and was terrified--" - -"Then in their heart of hearts they love?" I asked finally. - -John Silence smiled his inscrutable smile. "Profoundly," he answered, -"and as simply as only primitive souls can love. If only they both come -to realise it in their normal waking states his Double will cease these -nocturnal excursions. He will be cured, and at rest." - -The words had hardly left his lips when there was a sound of rustling -branches on our left, and the very next instant the dense brushwood -parted where it was darkest and out rushed the swift form of an animal -at full gallop. The noise of feet was scarcely audible, but in that -utter stillness I heard the heavy panting breath and caught the swish of -the low bushes against its sides. It went straight towards Joan--and as -it went the girl lifted her head and turned to meet it. And the same -instant a canoe that had been creeping silently and unobserved round the -inner shore of the lagoon, emerged from the shadows and defined itself -upon the water with a figure at the middle thwart. It was Maloney. - -It was only afterwards I realised that we were invisible to him where we -stood against the dark background of trees; the figures of Joan and the -animal he saw plainly, but not Dr. Silence and myself standing just -beyond them. He stood up in the canoe and pointed with his right arm. I -saw something gleam in his hand. - -"Stand aside, Joan girl, or you'll get hit," he shouted, his voice -ringing horribly through the deep stillness, and the same instant a -pistol-shot cracked out with a burst of flame and smoke, and the figure -of the animal, with one tremendous leap into the air, fell back in the -shadows and disappeared like a shape of night and fog. Instantly, then, -Joan opened her eyes, looked in a dazed fashion about her, and pressing -both hands against her heart, fell with a sharp cry into my arms that -were just in time to catch her. - -And an answering cry sounded across the lagoon--thin, wailing, piteous. -It came from Sangree's tent. - -"Fool!" cried Dr. Silence, "you've wounded him!" and before we could -move or realise quite what it meant, he was in the canoe and half-way -across the lagoon. - -Some kind of similar abuse came in a torrent from my lips, too--though I -cannot remember the actual words--as I cursed the man for his -disobedience and tried to make the girl comfortable on the ground. But -the clergyman was more practical. He was spreading his coat over her and -dashing water on her face. - -"It's not Joan I've killed at any rate," I heard him mutter as she -turned and opened her eyes and smiled faintly up in his face. "I swear -the bullet went straight." - -Joan stared at him; she was still dazed and bewildered, and still -imagined herself with the companion of her trance. The strange lucidity -of the somnambulist still hung over her brain and mind, though outwardly -she appeared troubled and confused. - -"Where has he gone to? He disappeared so suddenly, crying that he was -hurt," she asked, looking at her father as though she did not recognise -him. "And if they've done anything to him--they have done it to me -too--for he is more to me than--" - -Her words grew vaguer and vaguer as she returned slowly to her normal -waking state, and now she stopped altogether, as though suddenly aware -that she had been surprised into telling secrets. But all the way back, -as we carried her carefully through the trees, the girl smiled and -murmured Sangree's name and asked if he was injured, until it finally -became clear to me that the wild soul of the one had called to the wild -soul of the other and in the secret depths of their beings the call had -been heard and understood. John Silence was right. In the abyss of her -heart, too deep at first for recognition, the girl loved him, and had -loved him from the very beginning. Once her normal waking consciousness -recognised the fact they would leap together like twin flames, and his -affliction would be at an end; his intense desire would be satisfied; he -would be cured. - -And in Sangree's tent Dr. Silence and I sat up for the remainder of the -night--this wonderful and haunted night that had shown us such strange -glimpses of a new heaven and a new hell--for the Canadian tossed upon -his balsam boughs with high fever in his blood, and upon each cheek a -dark and curious contusion showed, throbbing with severe pain although -the skin was not broken and there was no outward and visible sign of -blood. - -"Maloney shot straight, you see," whispered Dr. Silence to me after the -clergyman had gone to his tent, and had put Joan to sleep beside her -mother, who, by the way, had never once awakened. "The bullet must have -passed clean through the face, for both cheeks are stained. He'll wear -these marks all his life--smaller, but always there. They're the most -curious scars in the world, these scars transferred by repercussion from -an injured Double. They'll remain visible until just before his death, -and then with the withdrawal of the subtle body they will disappear -finally." - -His words mingled in my dazed mind with the sighs of the troubled -sleeper and the crying of the wind about the tent. Nothing seemed to -paralyse my powers of realisation so much as these twin stains of -mysterious significance upon the face before me. - -It was odd, too, how speedily and easily the Camp resigned itself again -to sleep and quietness, as though a stage curtain had suddenly dropped -down upon the action and concealed it; and nothing contributed so -vividly to the feeling that I had been a spectator of some kind of -visionary drama as the dramatic nature of the change in the girl's -attitude. - -Yet, as a matter of fact, the change had not been so sudden and -revolutionary as appeared. Underneath, in those remoter regions of -consciousness where the emotions, unknown to their owners, do secretly -mature, and owe thence their abrupt revelation to some abrupt -psychological climax, there can be no doubt that Joan's love for the -Canadian had been growing steadily and irresistibly all the time. It had -now rushed to the surface so that she recognised it; that was all. - -And it has always seemed to me that the presence of John Silence, so -potent, so quietly efficacious, produced an effect, if one may say so, -of a psychic forcing-house, and hastened incalculably the bringing -together of these two "wild" lovers. In that sudden awakening had -occurred the very psychological climax required to reveal the passionate -emotion accumulated below. The deeper knowledge had leaped across and -transferred itself to her ordinary consciousness, and in that shock the -collision of the personalities had shaken them to the depths and shown -her the truth beyond all possibility of doubt. - -"He's sleeping quietly now," the doctor said, interrupting my -reflections. "If you will watch alone for a bit I'll go to Maloney's -tent and help him to arrange his thoughts." He smiled in anticipation of -that "arrangement." "He'll never quite understand how a wound on the -Double can transfer itself to the physical body, but at least I can -persuade him that the less he talks and 'explains' to-morrow, the sooner -the forces will run their natural course now to peace and quietness." - -He went away softly, and with the removal of his presence Sangree, -sleeping heavily, turned over and groaned with the pain of his broken -head. - -And it was in the still hour just before the dawn, when all the islands -were hushed, the wind and sea still dreaming, and the stars visible -through clearing mists, that a figure crept silently over the ridge and -reached the door of the tent where I dozed beside the sufferer, before I -was aware of its presence. The flap was cautiously lifted a few inches -and in looked--Joan. - -That same instant Sangree woke and sat up on his bed of branches. He -recognised her before I could say a word, and uttered a low cry. It was -pain and joy mingled, and this time all human. And the girl too was no -longer walking in her sleep, but fully aware of what she was doing. I -was only just able to prevent him springing from his blankets. - -"Joan, Joan!" he cried, and in a flash she answered him, "I'm here--I'm -with you always now," and had pushed past me into the tent and flung -herself upon his breast. - -"I knew you would come to me in the end," I heard him whisper. - -"It was all too big for me to understand at first," she murmured, "and -for a long time I was frightened--" - -"But not now!" he cried louder; "you don't feel afraid now of--of -anything that's in me--" - -"I fear nothing," she cried, "nothing, nothing!" - -I led her outside again. She looked steadily into my face with eyes -shining and her whole being transformed. In some intuitive way, -surviving probably from the somnambulism, she knew or guessed as much as -I knew. - -"You must talk to-morrow with John Silence," I said gently, leading her -towards her own tent. "He understands everything." - -I left her at the door, and as I went back softly to take up my place of -sentry again with the Canadian, I saw the first streaks of dawn lighting -up the far rim of the sea behind the distant islands. - -And, as though to emphasise the eternal closeness of comedy to tragedy, -two small details rose out of the scene and impressed me so vividly that -I remember them to this very day. For in the tent where I had just left -Joan, all aquiver with her new happiness, there rose plainly to my ears -the grotesque sounds of the Bo'sun's Mate heavily snoring, oblivious of -all things in heaven or hell; and from Maloney's tent, so still was the -night, where I looked across and saw the lantern's glow, there came to -me, through the trees, the monotonous rising and falling of a human -voice that was beyond question the sound of a man praying to his God. - - - - -CASE III: A VICTIM OF HIGHER SPACE - - -"There's a hextraordinary gentleman to see you, sir," said the new man. - -"Why 'extraordinary'?" asked Dr. Silence, drawing the tips of his thin -fingers through his brown beard. His eyes twinkled pleasantly. "Why -'extraordinary,' Barker?" he repeated encouragingly, noticing the -perplexed expression in the man's eyes. - -"He's so--so thin, sir. I could hardly see 'im at all--at first. He was -inside the house before I could ask the name," he added, remembering -strict orders. - -"And who brought him here?" - -"He come alone, sir, in a closed cab. He pushed by me before I could say -a word--making no noise not what I could hear. He seemed to move so soft -like--" - -The man stopped short with obvious embarrassment, as though he had -already said enough to jeopardise his new situation, but trying hard to -show that he remembered the instructions and warnings he had received -with regard to the admission of strangers not properly accredited. - -"And where is the gentleman now?" asked Dr. Silence, turning away to -conceal his amusement. - -"I really couldn't exactly say, sir. I left him standing in the 'all--" - -The doctor looked up sharply. "But why in the hall, Barker? Why not in -the waiting-room?" He fixed his piercing though kindly eyes on the man's -face. "Did he frighten you?" he asked quickly. - -"I think he did, sir, if I may say so. I seemed to lose sight of him, as -it were--" The man stammered, evidently convinced by now that he had -earned his dismissal. "He come in so funny, just like a cold wind," he -added boldly, setting his heels at attention and looking his master full -in the face. - -The doctor made an internal note of the man's halting description; he -was pleased that the slight signs of psychic intuition which had induced -him to engage Barker had not entirely failed at the first trial. Dr. -Silence sought for this qualification in all his assistants, from -secretary to serving man, and if it surrounded him with a somewhat -singular crew, the drawbacks were more than compensated for on the whole -by their occasional flashes of insight. - -"So the gentleman made you feel queer, did he?" - -"That was it, I think, sir," repeated the man stolidly. - -"And he brings no kind of introduction to me--no letter or anything?" -asked the doctor, with feigned surprise, as though he knew what was -coming. - -The man fumbled, both in mind and pockets, and finally produced an -envelope. - -"I beg pardon, sir," he said, greatly flustered; "the gentleman handed -me this for you." - -It was a note from a discerning friend, who had never yet sent him a -case that was not vitally interesting from one point or another. - -"Please see the bearer of this note," the brief message ran, "though I -doubt if even you can do much to help him." - -John Silence paused a moment, so as to gather from the mind of the -writer all that lay behind the brief words of the letter. Then he looked -up at his servant with a graver expression than he had yet worn. - -"Go back and find this gentleman," he said, "and show him into the green -study. Do not reply to his question, or speak more than actually -necessary; but think kind, helpful, sympathetic thoughts as strongly as -you can, Barker. You remember what I told you about the importance of -_thinking_, when I engaged you. Put curiosity out of your mind, and -think gently, sympathetically, affectionately, if you can." - -He smiled, and Barker, who had recovered his composure in the doctor's -presence, bowed silently and went out. - -There were two different reception-rooms in Dr. Silence's house. One -(intended for persons who imagined they needed spiritual assistance when -really they were only candidates for the asylum) had padded walls, and -was well supplied with various concealed contrivances by means of which -sudden violence could be instantly met and overcome. It was, however, -rarely used. The other, intended for the reception of genuine cases of -spiritual distress and out-of-the-way afflictions of a psychic nature, -was entirely draped and furnished in a soothing deep green, calculated -to induce calmness and repose of mind. And this room was the one in -which Dr. Silence interviewed the majority of his "queer" cases, and the -one into which he had directed Barker to show his present caller. - -To begin with, the arm-chair in which the patient was always directed to -sit, was nailed to the floor, since its immovability tended to impart -this same excellent characteristic to the occupant. Patients invariably -grew excited when talking about themselves, and their excitement tended -to confuse their thoughts and to exaggerate their language. The -inflexibility of the chair helped to counteract this. After repeated -endeavours to drag it forward, or push it back, they ended by resigning -themselves to sitting quietly. And with the futility of fidgeting there -followed a calmer state of mind. - -Upon the floor, and at intervals in the wall immediately behind, were -certain tiny green buttons, practically unnoticeable, which on being -pressed permitted a soothing and persuasive narcotic to rise invisibly -about the occupant of the chair. The effect upon the excitable patient -was rapid, admirable, and harmless. The green study was further provided -with a secret spy-hole; for John Silence liked when possible to observe -his patient's face before it had assumed that mask the features of the -human countenance invariably wear in the presence of another person. A -man sitting alone wears a psychic expression; and this expression is the -man himself. It disappears the moment another person joins him. And Dr. -Silence often learned more from a few moments' secret observation of a -face than from hours of conversation with its owner afterwards. - -A very light, almost a dancing, step followed Barker's heavy tread -towards the green room, and a moment afterwards the man came in and -announced that the gentleman was waiting. He was still pale and his -manner nervous. - -"Never mind, Barker" the doctor said kindly; "if you were not psychic -the man would have had no effect upon you at all. You only need training -and development. And when you have learned to interpret these feelings -and sensations better, you will feel no fear, but only a great -sympathy." - -"Yes, sir; thank you, sir!" And Barker bowed and made his escape, while -Dr. Silence, an amused smile lurking about the corners of his mouth, -made his way noiselessly down the passage and put his eye to the -spy-hole in the door of the green study. - -This spy-hole was so placed that it commanded a view of almost the -entire room, and, looking through it, the doctor saw a hat, gloves, and -umbrella lying on a chair by the table, but searched at first in vain -for their owner. - -The windows were both closed and a brisk fire burned in the grate. There -were various signs--signs intelligible at least to a keenly intuitive -soul--that the room was occupied, yet so far as human beings were -concerned, it was empty, utterly empty. No one sat in the chairs; no one -stood on the mat before the fire; there was no sign even that a patient -was anywhere close against the wall, examining the Bocklin -reproductions--as patients so often did when they thought they were -alone--and therefore rather difficult to see from the spy-hole. -Ordinarily speaking, there was no one in the room. It was undeniable. - -Yet Dr. Silence was quite well aware that a human being _was_ in the -room. His psychic apparatus never failed in letting him know the -proximity of an incarnate or discarnate being. Even in the dark he could -tell that. And he now knew positively that his patient--the patient who -had alarmed Barker, and had then tripped down the corridor with that -dancing footstep--was somewhere concealed within the four walls -commanded by his spy-hole. He also realised--and this was most -unusual--that this individual whom he desired to watch knew that he was -being watched. And, further, that the stranger himself was also -watching! In fact, that it was he, the doctor, who was being -observed--and by an observer as keen and trained as himself. - -An inkling of the true state of the case began to dawn upon him, and he -was on the verge of entering--indeed, his hand already touched the -door-knob--when his eye, still glued to the spy-hole, detected a slight -movement. Directly opposite, between him and the fireplace, something -stirred. He watched very attentively and made certain that he was not -mistaken. An object on the mantelpiece--it was a blue vase--disappeared -from view. It passed out of sight together with the portion of the -marble mantelpiece on which it rested. Next, that part of the fire and -grate and brass fender immediately below it vanished entirely, as though -a slice had been taken clean out of them. - -Dr. Silence then understood that something between him and these objects -was slowly coming into being, something that concealed them and -obstructed his vision by inserting itself in the line of sight between -them and himself. - -He quietly awaited further results before going in. - -First he saw a thin perpendicular line tracing itself from just above -the height of the clock and continuing downwards till it reached the -woolly fire-mat. This line grew wider, broadened, grew solid. It was no -shadow; it was something substantial. It defined itself more and more. -Then suddenly, at the top of the line, and about on a level with the -face of the clock, he saw a round luminous disc gazing steadily at him. -It was a human eye, looking straight into his own, pressed there against -the spy-hole. And it was bright with intelligence. Dr. Silence held his -breath for a moment--and stared back at it. - -Then, like some one moving out of deep shadow into light, he saw the -figure of a man come sliding sideways into view, a whitish face -following the eye, and the perpendicular line he had first observed -broadening out and developing into the complete figure of a human being. -It was the patient. He had apparently been standing there in front of -the fire all the time. A second eye had followed the first, and both of -them stared steadily at the spy-hole, sharply concentrated, yet with a -sly twinkle of humour and amusement that made it impossible for the -doctor to maintain his position any longer. - -He opened the door and went in quickly. As he did so he noticed for the -first time the sound of a German band coming in gaily through the open -ventilators. In some intuitive, unaccountable fashion the music -connected itself with the patient he was about to interview. This sort -of prevision was not unfamiliar to him. It always explained itself -later. - -The man, he saw, was of middle age and of very ordinary appearance; so -ordinary, in fact, that he was difficult to describe--his only -peculiarity being his extreme thinness. Pleasant--that is, -good--vibrations issued from his atmosphere and met Dr. Silence as he -advanced to greet him, yet vibrations alive with currents and discharges -betraying the perturbed and disordered condition of his mind and brain. -There was evidently something wholly out of the usual in the state of -his thoughts. Yet, though strange, it was not altogether distressing; it -was not the impression that the broken and violent atmosphere of the -insane produces upon the mind. Dr. Silence realised in a flash that here -was a case of absorbing interest that might require all his powers to -handle properly. - -"I was watching you through my little peep-hole--as you saw," he began, -with a pleasant smile, advancing to shake hands. "I find it of the -greatest assistance sometimes--" - -But the patient interrupted him at once. His voice was hurried and had -odd, shrill changes in it, breaking from high to low in unexpected -fashion. One moment it thundered, the next it almost squeaked. - -"I understand without explanation," he broke in rapidly. "You get the -true note of a man in this way--when he thinks himself unobserved. I -quite agree. Only, in my case, I fear, you saw very little. My case, as -you of course grasp, Dr. Silence, is extremely peculiar, uncomfortably -peculiar. Indeed, unless Sir William had positively assured me--" - -"My friend has sent you to me," the doctor interrupted gravely, with a -gentle note of authority, "and that is quite sufficient. Pray, be -seated, Mr.--" - -"Mudge--Racine Mudge," returned the other. - -"Take this comfortable one, Mr. Mudge," leading him to the fixed chair, -"and tell me your condition in your own way and at your own pace. My -whole day is at your service if you require it." - -Mr. Mudge moved towards the chair in question and then hesitated. - -"You will promise me not to use the narcotic buttons," he said, before -sitting down. "I do not need them. Also I ought to mention that anything -you think of vividly will reach my mind. That is apparently part of my -peculiar case." He sat down with a sigh and arranged his thin legs and -body into a position of comfort. Evidently he was very sensitive to the -thoughts of others, for the picture of the green buttons had only -entered the doctor's mind for a second, yet the other had instantly -snapped it up. Dr. Silence noticed, too, that Mr. Mudge held on tightly -with both hands to the arms of the chair. - -"I'm rather glad the chair is nailed to the floor," he remarked, as he -settled himself more comfortably. "It suits me admirably. The fact -is--and this is my case in a nutshell--which is all that a doctor of -your marvellous development requires--the fact is, Dr. Silence, I am a -victim of Higher Space. That's what's the matter with me--Higher Space!" - -The two looked at each other for a space in silence, the little patient -holding tightly to the arms of the chair which "suited him admirably," -and looking up with staring eyes, his atmosphere positively trembling -with the waves of some unknown activity; while the doctor smiled kindly -and sympathetically, and put his whole person as far as possible into -the mental condition of the other. - -"Higher Space," repeated Mr. Mudge, "that's what it is. Now, do you -think you can help me with _that_?" - -There was a pause during which the men's eyes steadily searched down -below the surface of their respective personalities. Then Dr. Silence -spoke. - -"I am quite sure I can help," he answered quietly; "sympathy must always -help, and suffering always owns my sympathy. I see you have suffered -cruelly. You must tell me all about your case, and when I hear the -gradual steps by which you reached this strange condition, I have no -doubt I can be of assistance to you." - -He drew a chair up beside his interlocutor and laid a hand on his -shoulder for a moment. His whole being radiated kindness, intelligence, -desire to help. - -"For instance," he went on, "I feel sure it was the result of no mere -chance that you became familiar with the terrors of what you term Higher -Space; for Higher Space is no mere external measurement. It is, of -course, a spiritual state, a spiritual condition, an inner development, -and one that we must recognise as abnormal, since it is beyond the reach -of the world at the present stage of evolution. Higher Space is a -mythical state." - -"Oh!" cried the other, rubbing his birdlike hands with pleasure, "the -relief it is to be able to talk to some one who can understand! Of -course what you say is the utter truth. And you are right that no mere -chance led me to my present condition, but, on the other hand, prolonged -and deliberate study. Yet chance in a sense now governs it. I mean, my -entering the condition of Higher Space seems to depend upon the chance -of this and that circumstance. For instance, the mere sound of that -German band sent me off. Not that all music will do so, but certain -sounds, certain vibrations, at once key me up to the requisite pitch, -and off I go. Wagner's music always does it, and that band must have -been playing a stray bit of Wagner. But I'll come to all that later. -Only first, I must ask you to send away your man from the spy-hole." - -John Silence looked up with a start, for Mr. Mudge's back was to the -door, and there was no mirror. He saw the brown eye of Barker glued to -the little circle of glass, and he crossed the room without a word and -snapped down the black shutter provided for the purpose, and then heard -Barker snuffle away along the passage. - -"Now," continued the little man in the chair, "I can begin. You have -managed to put me completely at my ease, and I feel I may tell you my -whole case without shame or reserve. You will understand. But you must -be patient with me if I go into details that are already familiar to -you--details of Higher Space, I mean--and if I seem stupid when I have -to describe things that transcend the power of language and are really -therefore indescribable." - -"My dear friend," put in the other calmly, "that goes without saying. To -know Higher Space is an experience that defies description, and one is -obliged to make use of more or less intelligible symbols. But, pray, -proceed. Your vivid thoughts will tell me more than your halting words." - -An immense sigh of relief proceeded from the little figure half lost in -the depths of the chair. Such intelligent sympathy meeting him half-way -was a new experience to him, and it touched his heart at once. He leaned -back, relaxing his tight hold of the arms, and began in his thin, -scale-like voice. - -"My mother was a Frenchwoman, and my father an Essex bargeman," he said -abruptly. "Hence my name--Racine and Mudge. My father died before I ever -saw him. My mother inherited money from her Bordeaux relations, and when -she died soon after, I was left alone with wealth and a strange freedom. -I had no guardian, trustees, sisters, brothers, or any connection in the -world to look after me. I grew up, therefore, utterly without education. -This much was to my advantage; I learned none of that deceitful rubbish -taught in schools, and so had nothing to unlearn when I awakened to my -true love--mathematics, higher mathematics and higher geometry. These, -however, I seemed to know instinctively. It was like the memory of what -I had deeply studied before; the principles were in my blood, and I -simply raced through the ordinary stages, and beyond, and then did the -same with geometry. Afterwards, when I read the books on these subjects, -I understood how swift and undeviating the knowledge had come back to -me. It was simply memory. It was simply _re-collecting_ the memories of -what I had known before in a previous existence and required no books to -teach me." - -In his growing excitement, Mr. Mudge attempted to drag the chair forward -a little nearer to his listener, and then smiled faintly as he resigned -himself instantly again to its immovability, and plunged anew into the -recital of his singular "disease." - -"The audacious speculations of Bolyai, the amazing theories of -Gauss--that through a point more than one line could be drawn parallel -to a given line; the possibility that the angles of a triangle are -together _greater_ than two right angles, if drawn upon immense -curvatures--the breathless intuitions of Beltrami and Lobatchewsky--all -these I hurried through, and emerged, panting but unsatisfied, upon the -verge of my--my new world, my Higher Space possibilities--in a word, my -disease! - -"How I got there," he resumed after a brief pause, during which he -appeared to be listening intently for an approaching sound, "is more -than I can put intelligibly into words. I can only hope to leave your -mind with an intuitive comprehension of the possibility of what I say. - -"Here, however, came a change. At this point I was no longer absorbing -the fruits of studies I had made before; it was the beginning of new -efforts to learn for the first time, and I had to go slowly and -laboriously through terrible work. Here I sought for the theories and -speculations of others. But books were few and far between, and with the -exception of one man--a 'dreamer,' the world called him--whose audacity -and piercing intuition amazed and delighted me beyond description, I -found no one to guide or help. - -"You, of course, Dr. Silence, understand something of what I am driving -at with these stammering words, though you cannot perhaps yet guess what -depths of pain my new knowledge brought me to, nor why an acquaintance -with a new development of space should prove a source of misery and -terror." - -Mr. Racine Mudge, remembering that the chair would not move, did the -next best thing he could in his desire to draw nearer to the attentive -man facing him, and sat forward upon the very edge of the cushions, -crossing his legs and gesticulating with both hands as though he saw -into this region of new space he was attempting to describe, and might -any moment tumble into it bodily from the edge of the chair and -disappear form view. John Silence, separated from him by three paces, -sat with his eyes fixed upon the thin white face opposite, noting -every word and every gesture with deep attention. - -"This room we now sit in, Dr. Silence, has one side open to space--to -Higher Space. A closed box only _seems_ closed. There is a way in and -out of a soap bubble without breaking the skin." - -"You tell me no new thing," the doctor interposed gently. - -"Hence, if Higher Space exists and our world borders upon it and lies -partially in it, it follows necessarily that we see only portions of all -objects. We never see their true and complete shape. We see their three -measurements, but not their fourth. The new direction is concealed from -us, and when I hold this book and move my hand all round it I have not -really made a complete circuit. We only perceive those portions of any -object which exist in our three dimensions; the rest escapes us. But, -once we learn to see in Higher Space, objects will appear as they -actually are. Only they will thus be hardly recognisable! - -"Now, you may begin to grasp something of what I am coming to." - -"I am beginning to understand something of what you must have suffered," -observed the doctor soothingly, "for I have made similar experiments -myself, and only stopped just in time--" - -"You are the one man in all the world who can hear and understand, _and_ -sympathise," exclaimed Mr. Mudge, grasping his hand and holding it -tightly while he spoke. The nailed chair prevented further excitability. - -"Well," he resumed, after a moment's pause, "I procured the implements -and the coloured blocks for practical experiment, and I followed the -instructions carefully till I had arrived at a working conception of -four-dimensional space. The tessaract, the figure whose boundaries are -cubes, I knew by heart. That is to say, I knew it and saw it mentally, -for my eye, of course, could never take in a new measurement, or my -hands and feet handle it. - -"So, at least, I thought," he added, making a wry face. "I had reached -the stage, you see, when I could imagine in a new dimension. I was able -to conceive the shape of that new figure which is intrinsically -different to all we know--the shape of the tessaract. I could perceive -in four dimensions. When, therefore, I looked at a cube I could see all -its sides at once. Its top was not foreshortened, nor its farther side -and base invisible. I saw the whole thing out flat, so to speak. And -this tessaract was bounded by cubes! Moreover, I also saw its -content--its insides." - -"You were not yourself able to enter this new world," interrupted Dr. -Silence. - -"Not then. I was only able to conceive intuitively what it was like and -how exactly it must look. Later, when I slipped in there and saw objects -in their entirety, unlimited by the paucity of our poor three -measurements, I very nearly lost my life. For, you see, space does not -stop at a single new dimension, a fourth. It extends in all possible new -ones, and we must conceive it as containing any number of new -dimensions. In other words, there is no space at all, but only a -spiritual condition. But, meanwhile, I had come to grasp the strange -fact that the objects in our normal world appear to us only partially." - -Mr. Mudge moved farther forward till he was balanced dangerously on the -very edge of the chair. "From this starting point," he resumed, "I began -my studies and experiments, and continued them for years. I had money, -and I was without friends. I lived in solitude and experimented. My -intellect, of course, had little part in the work, for intellectually it -was all unthinkable. Never was the limitation of mere reason more -plainly demonstrated. It was mystically, intuitively, spiritually that I -began to advance. And what I learnt, and knew, and did is all impossible -to put into language, since it all describes experiences transcending -the experiences of men. It is only some of the results--what you would -call the symptoms of my disease--that I can give you, and even these -must often appear absurd contradictions and impossible paradoxes. - -"I can only tell you, Dr. Silence"--his manner became exceedingly -impressive--"that I reached sometimes a point of view whence all the -great puzzle of the world became plain to me, and I understood what they -call in the Yoga books 'The Great Heresy of Separateness'; why all great -teachers have urged the necessity of man loving his neighbour as -himself; how men are all really one; and why the utter loss of self is -necessary to salvation and the discovery of the true life of the soul." - -He paused a moment and drew breath. - -"Your speculations have been my own long ago," the doctor said quietly. -"I fully realise the force of your words. Men are doubtless not separate -at all--in the sense they imagine--" - -"All this about the very much Higher Space I only dimly, very dimly, -conceived, of course," the other went on, raising his voice again by -jerks; "but what did happen to me was the humbler accident of--the -simpler disaster--oh, dear, how shall I put it--?" - -He stammered and showed visible signs of distress. - -"It was simply this," he resumed with a sudden rush of words, "that, -accidentally, as the result of my years of experiment, I one day slipped -bodily into the next world, the world of four dimensions, yet without -knowing precisely how I got there, or how I could get back again. I -discovered, that is, that my ordinary three-dimensional body was but an -expression--a projection--of my higher four-dimensional body! - -"Now you understand what I meant much earlier in our talk when I spoke -of chance. I cannot control my entrance or exit. Certain people, certain -human atmospheres, certain wandering forces, thoughts, desires even--the -radiations of certain combinations of colour, and above all, the -vibrations of certain kinds of music, will suddenly throw me into a -state of what I can only describe as an intense and terrific inner -vibration--and behold I am off! Off in the direction at right angles to -all our known directions! Off in the direction the cube takes when it -begins to trace the outlines of the new figure! Off into my breathless -and semi-divine Higher Space! Off, _inside myself_, into the world of -four dimensions!" - -He gasped and dropped back into the depths of the immovable chair. - -"And there," he whispered, his voice issuing from among the cushions, -"there I have to stay until these vibrations subside, or until they do -something which I cannot find words to describe properly or intelligibly -to you--and then, behold, I am back again. First, that is, I disappear. -Then I reappear." - -"Just so," exclaimed Dr. Silence, "and that is why a few--" - -"Why a few moments ago," interrupted Mr. Mudge, taking the words out of -his mouth, "you found me gone, and then saw me return. The music of that -wretched German band sent me off. Your intense thinking about me brought -me back--when the band had stopped its Wagner. I saw you approach the -peep-hole and I saw Barker's intention of doing so later. For me no -interiors are hidden. I see inside. When in that state the content of -your mind, as of your body, is open to me as the day. Oh, dear, oh, -dear, oh, dear!" - -Mr. Mudge stopped and again mopped his brow. A light trembling ran over -the surface of his small body like wind over grass. He still held -tightly to the arms of the chair. - -"At first," he presently resumed, "my new experiences were so vividly -interesting that I felt no alarm. There was no room for it. The alarm -came a little later." - -"Then you actually penetrated far enough into that state to experience -yourself as a normal portion of it?" asked the doctor, leaning forward, -deeply interested. - -Mr. Mudge nodded a perspiring face in reply. - -"I did," he whispered, "undoubtedly I did. I am coming to all that. It -began first at night, when I realised that sleep brought no loss of -consciousness--" - -"The spirit, of course, can never sleep. Only the body becomes -unconscious," interposed John Silence. - -"Yes, we know that--theoretically. At night, of course, the spirit is -active elsewhere, and we have no memory of where and how, simply -because the brain stays behind and receives no record. But I found -that, while remaining conscious, I also retained memory. I had attained -to the state of continuous consciousness, for at night I regularly, with -the first approaches of drowsiness, entered _nolens volens_ the -four-dimensional world. - -"For a time this happened regularly, and I could not control it; though -later I found a way to regulate it better. Apparently sleep is -unnecessary in the higher--the four-dimensional--body. Yes, perhaps. But -I should infinitely have preferred dull sleep to the knowledge. For, -unable to control my movements, I wandered to and fro, attracted, owing -to my partial development and premature arrival, to parts of this new -world that alarmed me more and more. It was the awful waste and drift of -a monstrous world, so utterly different to all we know and see that I -cannot even hint at the nature of the sights and objects and beings in -it. More than that, I cannot even remember them. I cannot now picture -them to myself even, but can recall only the _memory of the impression_ -they made upon me, the horror and devastating terror of it all. To be in -several places at once, for instance--" - -"Perfectly," interrupted John Silence, noticing the increase of the -other's excitement, "I understand exactly. But now, please, tell me a -little more of this alarm you experienced, and how it affected you." - -"It's not the disappearing and reappearing _per se_ that I mind," -continued Mr. Mudge, "so much as certain other things. It's seeing -people and objects in their weird entirety, in their true and complete -shapes, that is so distressing. It introduces me to a world of monsters. -Horses, dogs, cats, all of which I loved; people, trees, children; all -that I have considered beautiful in life--everything, from a human face -to a cathedral--appear to me in a different shape and aspect to all I -have known before. I cannot perhaps convince you why this should be -terrible, but I assure you that it is so. To hear the human voice -proceeding from this novel appearance which I scarcely recognise as a -human body is ghastly, simply ghastly. To see inside everything and -everybody is a form of insight peculiarly distressing. To be so confused -in geography as to find myself one moment at the North Pole, and the -next at Clapham Junction--or possibly at both places simultaneously--is -absurdly terrifying. Your imagination will readily furnish other details -without my multiplying my experiences now. But you have no idea what it -all means, and how I suffer." - -Mr. Mudge paused in his panting account and lay back in his chair. He -still held tightly to the arms as though they could keep him in the -world of sanity and three measurements, and only now and again released -his left hand in order to mop his face. He looked very thin and white -and oddly unsubstantial, and he stared about him as though he saw into -this other space he had been talking about. - -John Silence, too, felt warm. He had listened to every word and had made -many notes. The presence of this man had an exhilarating effect upon -him. It seemed as if Mr. Racine Mudge still carried about with him -something of that breathless Higher-Space condition he had been -describing. At any rate, Dr. Silence had himself advanced sufficiently -far along the legitimate paths of spiritual and psychic transformations -to realise that the visions of this extraordinary little person had a -basis of truth for their origin. - -After a pause that prolonged itself into minutes, he crossed the room -and unlocked a drawer in a bookcase, taking out a small book with a red -cover. It had a lock to it, and he produced a key out of his pocket and -proceeded to open the covers. The bright eyes of Mr. Mudge never left -him for a single second. - -"It almost seems a pity," he said at length, "to cure you, Mr. Mudge. -You are on the way to discovery of great things. Though you may lose -your life in the process--that is, your life here in the world of three -dimensions--you would lose thereby nothing of great value--you will -pardon my apparent rudeness, I know--and you might gain what is -infinitely greater. Your suffering, of course, lies in the fact that you -alternate between the two worlds and are never wholly in one or the -other. Also, I rather imagine, though I cannot be certain of this from -any personal experiments, that you have here and there penetrated even -into space of more than four dimensions, and have hence experienced the -terror you speak of." - -The perspiring son of the Essex bargeman and the woman of Normandy bent -his head several times in assent, but uttered no word in reply. - -"Some strange psychic predisposition, dating no doubt from one of your -former lives, has favoured the development of your 'disease'; and the -fact that you had no normal training at school or college, no leading by -the poor intellect into the culs-de-sac falsely called knowledge, has -further caused your exceedingly rapid movement along the lines of direct -inner experience. None of the knowledge you have foreshadowed has come -to you through the senses, of course." - -Mr. Mudge, sitting in his immovable chair, began to tremble slightly. A -wind again seemed to pass over his surface and again to set it curiously -in motion like a field of grass. - -"You are merely talking to gain time," he said hurriedly, in a shaking -voice. "This thinking aloud delays us. I see ahead what you are coming -to, only please be quick, for something is going to happen. A band is -again coming down the street, and if it plays--if it plays Wagner--I -shall be off in a twinkling." - -"Precisely. I will be quick. I was leading up to the point of how to -effect your cure. The way is this: You must simply learn to _block the -entrances_." - -"True, true, utterly true!" exclaimed the little man, dodging about -nervously in the depths of the chair. "But how, in the name of space, is -that to be done?" - -"By concentration. They are all within you, these entrances, although -outer cases such as colour, music and other things lead you towards -them. These external things you cannot hope to destroy, but once the -entrances are blocked, they will lead you only to bricked walls and -closed channels. You will no longer be able to find the way." - -"Quick, quick!" cried the bobbing figure in the chair. "How is this -concentration to be effected?" - -"This little book," continued Dr. Silence calmly, "will explain to you -the way." He tapped the cover. "Let me now read out to you certain -simple instructions, composed, as I see you divine, entirely from my own -personal experiences in the same direction. Follow these instructions -and you will no longer enter the state of Higher Space. The entrances -will be blocked effectively." - -Mr. Mudge sat bolt upright in his chair to listen, and John Silence -cleared his throat and began to read slowly in a very distinct voice. - -But before he had uttered a dozen words, something happened. A sound of -street music entered the room through the open ventilators, for a band -had begun to play in the stable mews at the back of the house--the March -from _Tannhaeuser_. Odd as it may seem that a German band should twice -within the space of an hour enter the same mews and play Wagner, it was -nevertheless the fact. - -Mr. Racine Mudge heard it. He uttered a sharp, squeaking cry and twisted -his arms with nervous energy round the chair. A piteous look that was -not far from tears spread over his white face. Grey shadows followed -it--the grey of fear. He began to struggle convulsively. - -"Hold me fast! Catch me! For God's sake, keep me here! I'm on the rush -already. Oh, it's frightful!" he cried in tones of anguish, his voice as -thin as a reed. - -Dr. Silence made a plunge forward to seize him, but in a flash, before -he could cover the space between them, Mr. Racine Mudge, screaming and -struggling, seemed to shoot past him into invisibility. He disappeared -like an arrow from a bow propelled at infinite speed, and his voice no -longer sounded in the external air, but seemed in some curious way to -make itself heard somewhere within the depths of the doctor's own being. -It was almost like a faint singing cry in his head, like a voice of -dream, a voice of vision and unreality. - -"Alcohol, alcohol!" it cried, "give me alcohol! It's the quickest way. -Alcohol, before I'm out of reach!" - -The doctor, accustomed to rapid decisions and even more rapid action, -remembered that a brandy flask stood upon the mantelpiece, and in less -than a second he had seized it and was holding it out towards the space -above the chair recently occupied by the visible Mudge. Then, before his -very eyes, and long ere he could unscrew the metal stopper, he saw the -contents of the closed glass phial sink and lessen as though some one -were drinking violently and greedily of the liquor within. - -"Thanks! Enough! It deadens the vibrations!" cried the faint voice in -his interior, as he withdrew the flask and set it back upon the -mantelpiece. He understood that in Mudge's present condition one side of -the flask was open to space and he could drink without removing the -stopper. He could hardly have had a more interesting proof of what he -had been hearing described at such length. - -But the next moment--the very same moment it almost seemed--the German -band stopped midway in its tune--and there was Mr. Mudge back in his -chair again, gasping and panting! - -"Quick!" he shrieked, "stop that band! Send it away! Catch hold of me! -Block the entrances! Block the entrances! Give me the red book! Oh, oh, -oh-h-h-h!!!" - -The music had begun again. It was merely a temporary interruption. The -_Tannhaeuser_ March started again, this time at a tremendous pace that -made it sound like a rapid two-step as though the instruments played -against time. - -But the brief interruption gave Dr. Silence a moment in which to collect -his scattering thoughts, and before the band had got through half a bar, -he had flung forward upon the chair and held Mr. Racine Mudge, the -struggling little victim of Higher Space, in a grip of iron. His arms -went all round his diminutive person, taking in a good part of the chair -at the same time. He was not a big man, yet he seemed to smother Mudge -completely. - -Yet, even as he did so, and felt the wriggling form underneath him, it -began to melt and slip away like air or water. The wood of the arm-chair -somehow disentangled itself from between his own arms and those of -Mudge. The phenomenon known as the passage of matter through matter took -place. The little man seemed actually to get mixed up in his own being. -Dr. Silence could just see his face beneath him. It puckered and grew -dark as though from some great internal effort. He heard the thin, reedy -voice cry in his ear to "Block the entrances, block the entrances!" and -then--but how in the world describe what is indescribable? - -John Silence half rose up to watch. Racine Mudge, his face distorted -beyond all recognition, was making a marvellous inward movement, as -though doubling back upon himself. He turned funnel-wise like water in a -whirling vortex, and then appeared to break up somewhat as a reflection -breaks up and divides in a distorting convex mirror. He went neither -forward nor backwards, neither to the right nor the left, neither up nor -down. But he went. He went utterly. He simply flashed away out of sight -like a vanishing projectile. - -All but one leg! Dr. Silence just had the time and the presence of mind -to seize upon the left ankle and boot as it disappeared, and to this he -held on for several seconds like grim death. Yet all the time he knew it -was a foolish and useless thing to do. - -The foot was in his grasp one moment, and the next it seemed--this was -the only way he could describe it--inside his own skin and bones, and at -the same time outside his hand and all round it. It seemed mixed up in -some amazing way with his own flesh and blood. Then it was gone, and he -was tightly grasping a draught of heated air. - -"Gone! gone! gone!" cried a thick, whispering voice, somewhere deep -within his own consciousness. "Lost! lost! lost!" it repeated, growing -fainter and fainter till at length it vanished into nothing and the last -signs of Mr. Racine Mudge vanished with it. - -John Silence locked his red book and replaced it in the cabinet, which -he fastened with a click, and when Barker answered the bell he inquired -if Mr. Mudge had left a card upon the table. It appeared that he had, -and when the servant returned with it, Dr. Silence read the address and -made a note of it. It was in North London. - -"Mr. Mudge has gone," he said quietly to Barker, noticing his expression -of alarm. - -"He's not taken his 'at with him, sir." - -"Mr. Mudge requires no hat where he is now," continued the doctor, -stooping to poke the fire. "But he may return for it--" - -"And the humbrella, sir." - -"And the umbrella." - -"He didn't go out _my_ way, sir, if you please," stuttered the amazed -servant, his curiosity overcoming his nervousness. - -"Mr. Mudge has his own way of coming and going, and prefers it. If he -returns by the door at any time remember to bring him instantly to me, -and be kind and gentle with him and ask no questions. Also, remember, -Barker, to think pleasantly, sympathetically, affectionately of him -while he is away. Mr. Mudge is a very suffering gentleman." - -Barker bowed and went out of the room backwards, gasping and feeling -round the inside of his collar with three very hot fingers of one hand. - -It was two days later when he brought in a telegram to the study. Dr. -Silence opened it, and read as follows: - - "Bombay. Just slipped out again. All safe. Have blocked - entrances. Thousand thanks. Address Cooks, London.--MUDGE." - -Dr. Silence looked up and saw Barker staring at him bewilderingly. It -occurred to him that somehow he knew the contents of the telegram. - -"Make a parcel of Mr. Mudge's things," he said briefly, "and address -them Thomas Cook & Sons, Ludgate Circus. And send them there exactly a -month from to-day and marked 'To be called for.'" - -"Yes, sir," said Barker, leaving the room with a deep sigh and a hurried -glance at the waste-paper basket where his master had dropped the pink -paper. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Three More John Silence Stories -by Algernon Blackwood - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE MORE JOHN SILENCE STORIES *** - -***** This file should be named 10659.txt or 10659.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/5/10659/ - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders - -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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