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diff --git a/41619-8.txt b/41619-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 00a4cec..0000000 --- a/41619-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6138 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Haunting of Low Fennel, by Sax Rohmer - - -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: The Haunting of Low Fennel - The Haunting of Low Fennel--The Valley of the Just--The Blue Monkey--The Riddle of Ragstaff--The Master of Hollow Grange--The Curse of a Thousand Kisses--The Turquoise Necklace - - -Author: Sax Rohmer - - - -Release Date: December 14, 2012 [eBook #41619] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAUNTING OF LOW FENNEL*** - - -E-text prepared by eagkw, Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan, -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) - - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -THE HAUNTING OF LOW FENNEL - - * * * * * - -_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME._ - - - ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN KETTLE. - BY C. J. CUTCLIFFE HYNE. - - THE LOVERS OF YVONNE. - BY RAFAEL SABATINI. - - THE MARRIAGE OF MARGARET. - BY E. M. ALBANESI. - - THE SECRET WAY. - BY J. S. FLETCHER. - - CAPTAIN KETTLE, K.C.B. - BY C. J. CUTCLIFFE HYNE. - - * * * * * - - -THE HAUNTING OF LOW FENNEL - -by - -SAX ROHMER - -Author of "Brood of the Witch Queen," -"The Quest of the Sacred Slipper," etc., etc. - - - - - - - -London: -C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd. -Henrietta Street, W.C. 2 - -First Published 1920 -Reprinted 1924 - -Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - THE HAUNTING OF LOW FENNEL 11 - - THE VALLEY OF THE JUST 61 - - THE BLUE MONKEY 97 - - THE RIDDLE OF RAGSTAFF 119 - - THE MASTER OF HOLLOW GRANGE 157 - - THE CURSE OF A THOUSAND KISSES 189 - - THE TURQUOISE NECKLACE 213 - - - - -The Haunting of Low Fennel - - -I - -"There's Low Fennel," said Major Dale. - -We pulled up short on the brow of the hill. Before me lay a little -valley carpeted with heather, purple slopes hemming it in. A group of -four tall firs guarded the house, which was couched in the hollow of the -dip--a low, rambling building, in parts showing evidence of great age -and in other parts of the modern improver. - -"That's the new wing," continued the Major, raising his stick; -"projecting out this way. It's the only addition I've made to the house, -which, as it stood, had insufficient accommodation for the servants." - -"It is a quaint old place." - -"It is, and I'm loath to part with it, especially as it means a big -loss." - -"Ah! Have you formed any theories since wiring me?" - -"None whatever. I've always been a sceptic, Addison, but if Low Fennel -is not haunted, I'm a Dutchman, by the Lord Harry!" - -I laughed reassuringly, and the two of us descended the slope to the -white gate giving access to a trim gravel path flanked by standard -roses. Mrs. Dale greeted us at the door. She was, as I had heard, much -younger than the Major, and a distinctly pretty woman. In so far Dame -Rumour was confirmed; other things I had heard of her, but I was not yet -in a position to pass judgment. - -She greeted me cordially enough, although women are usually natural -actresses. I thought that she did not suspect the real object of my -visit. Tea was served in a delightful little drawing-room which bore -evidence of having but recently left the hands of London decorators, but -when presently I found myself alone with my host in the Major's peculiar -sanctum, the real business afoot monopolised our conversation. - -The room which Major Dale had appropriated as a study was on the ground -floor of the new wing--the wing which he himself had had built on to Low -Fennel. In regard to its outlook it was a charming apartment enough, -with roses growing right up to the open window, so that their perfume -filled the place, and beyond, a prospect of purple heather slopes and -fir-clad hills. - -Sporting prints decorated the walls, and the library was entirely, or -almost entirely, made up of works on riding, hunting, shooting, racing, -and golf, with a sprinkling of Whyte-Melville and Nat Gould novels and a -Murray handbook or two. It was a most cosy room, probably because it was -so untidy, or, as Mrs. Dale phrased it, "so manny." - -On a side table was ranked enough liquid refreshment to have inebriated -a regiment, and, in one corner, cigar-boxes and tobacco-tins were -stacked from the floor some two feet up against the wall. We were soon -comfortably ensconced, then, the Major on a hard leather couch, and I in -a deep saddle-bag chair. - -"It's an awkward sort of thing to explain," began Dale, puffing away at -a cigar and staring through the open window; "because, if you're to do -anything, you will want full particulars." - -I nodded. - -"Well," the Major continued, "you've heard how that blackguard Ellis let -me down over those shares? The result?--I had to sell the Hall--Fennel -Hall, where a Dale has been since the time of Elizabeth! But still, -never mind! that's not the story. This place, Low Fennel, is really -part of the estate, and I have leased it from Meyers, who has bought the -Hall. It was formerly the home farm, but since my father's time it has -not been used for that purpose. The New Farm is over the brow of the -hill there, on the other side of the high road; my father built it." - -"Why?" - -"Well,"--Dale shifted uneasily and a look of perplexity crossed his -jolly, red face--"there were stories--uncomfortable stories. To cut a -long story short, Seager--a man named Seager, who occupied it at the -time I was at Sandhurst--was found dead here, or something; I never was -clear as to the particulars, but there was an inquiry and a lot of fuss, -and, in short, no one would occupy the property. Therefore the governor -built the New Farm." - -"Low Fennel has been empty for many years then?" - -"No, sir; only for one. Ord, the head gardener at the Hall, lived here -up till last September. The old story about Seager was dying out, you -see; but Ord must have got to hear about it--or I've always supposed -so. At any rate, in September--a dam' hot September, too, almost if not -quite as hot as this--Ord declined to live here any longer." - -"On what grounds?" - -"He told me a cock-and-bull story about his wife having seen a -horrible-looking man with a contorted face peering in at her bedroom -window! I questioned the woman, of course, and she swore to it." - -He mopped his heated brow excitedly, and burnt several matches before he -succeeded in relighting his cigar. - -"She tried to make me believe that she woke up and saw this apparition, -but I bullied the truth out of her, and, as I expected, the man Ord had -come home the worse for drink. I made up my mind that the contorted face -was the face of her drunken husband--whom she had declined to admit, and -who therefore had climbed the ivy to get in at the open window." - -"She denied this?" - -"Of course she denied it; they both did; but, from evidence obtained at -the _Three Keys_ in the village, I proved that Ord had returned home -drunk that night. Still"--he shrugged his shoulders ponderously--"the -people declined to remain in the place, so what could I do? Ord was a -good gardener, and his drunken habits in no way interfered with his -efficiency. He gained nothing out of the matter except that, instead -of keeping Low Fennel, a fine house, I sent him to live in one of the -Valley Cottages. He lives there now, for he's still head gardener at -the Hall." - -I made an entry in my notebook. - -"I must see Ord," I said. - -"I should," agreed the Major in his loud voice; "you'll get nothing out -of him. He's the most pig-headed liar in the county! But to continue. -The place proved unlettable. All the old stories were revived, and I'm -told that people cheerfully went two miles out of their way in order to -avoid passing Low Fennel at night! When I sold the Hall and decided to -lease the place from the new proprietor, believe me it was almost hidden -in a wilderness of weeds and bushes which had grown up around it. By the -Lord Harry, I don't think a living soul had approached within a hundred -yards of the house since the day that the Ords quitted it! But it suited -my purpose, being inexpensive to keep up; and by adding this new wing I -was enabled to accommodate such servants as we required. The horses and -the car had to go, of course, and with them a lot of my old people, but -we brought the housekeeper and three servants, and when a London firm -had rebuilt, renovated, decorated, and so forth, it began to look -habitable." - -"It's a charming place," I said with sincerity. - -"Is it!" snapped the Major, tossing his half-smoked cigar on to a side -table and selecting a fresh one from a large box at his elbow. "Help -yourself, the bottle's near you. Is it!... Hullo! what have we here?" - -He broke off, cigar in hand, as the sound of footsteps upon the gravel -path immediately outside the window became audible. Through the cluster -of roses peered a handsome face, that of a dark man, whose soft-grey hat -and loose tie lent him a sort of artistic appearance. - -"Oh, it's you, Wales!" cried the Major, but without cordiality. "See you -in half an hour or so; little bit of business in hand at the moment, -Marjorie's somewhere about." - -"All right!" called the new arrival, and, waving his hand, passed on. - -"It's young Aubrey Wales," explained Dale, almost savagely biting -the end from his cigar, "son of Sir Frederick Wales, and one of my -neighbours. He often drops in." - -Mentally considering the Major's attitude, certain rumours which had -reached me, and the youth and beauty of Mrs. Dale, I concluded that the -visits of Aubrey Wales were not too welcome to my old friend. But he -resumed in a louder voice than ever:-- - -"It was last night that the fun began. I can make neither head nor tail -of it. If the blessed place is haunted, why have we seen nothing of the -ghost during the two months or so we have lived at Low Fennel? The fact -remains that nothing unusual happened until last night. It came about -owing to the infernal heat. - -"Mrs. Alson, the housekeeper, came down about two o'clock, intending, so -I understand, to get a glass of cider from the barrel in the cellar. She -could not sleep owing to the heat, and felt extremely thirsty. There's a -queer sort of bend in the stair--I'll show you in a minute; and as she -came down and reached this bend she met a man, or a thing, who was going -up! The moonlight was streaming in through the window right upon that -corner of the stair, and the apparition stood fully revealed. - -"I gather that it was that of an almost naked man. Mrs. Alson naturally -is rather reticent on the point, but I gather that the apparition was -inadequately clothed. Regarding the face of the thing she supplies more -details. Addison"--the Major leant forward across the table--"it was -the face of a demon, a contorted devilish face, the eyes crossed, and -glaring like the eyes of a mad dog! - -"Of course the poor woman fainted dead away on the spot. She might have -died there if it hadn't been for the amazing heat of the night. This -certainly was the cause of her trouble, but it also saved her. About -three o'clock I woke up in a perfect bath of perspiration. I never -remember such a night, not even in India, and, as Mrs. Alson had done -an hour earlier, I also started to find a drink. Addison! I nearly fell -over her as she lay swooning on the stair!" - -He helped himself to a liberal tot of whisky, then squirted soda into -the glass. - -"For once in a way I did the right thing, Addison. Not wishing to -alarm Marjorie, I knocked up one of the maids, and when Mrs. Alson had -somewhat recovered, gave her into the girl's charge. I sat downstairs -here in this room until she could see me, and then got the particulars -which I've given you. I wired you as soon as the office was open; for I -said to myself, 'Dale, the devilry has begun again. If Marjorie gets to -hear of it there'll be hell to pay. She won't live in the place.'" - -He stood up abruptly, as a ripple of laughter reached us from the -garden. - -"Suppose we explore the scene of the trouble?" he suggested, moving -toward the door. - -I thought in the circumstance our inspection might be a hurried one; -therefore: - -"Should you mind very much if I sought it out for myself?" I said. "It -is my custom in cases of the kind to be alone if possible." - -"My dear fellow, certainly!" - -"My ramble concluded, I will rejoin Mrs. Dale and yourself--say on the -lawn?" - -"Good, good!" cried the Major, throwing open the door. "An opening has -been made on the floor above corresponding with this, and communicating -with the old stair. Go where you like; find out what you can; but -remember--not a word to Marjorie." - - -II - -Filled with the liveliest curiosity, I set out to explore Low -Fennel. First I directed my attention to the exterior, commencing my -investigations from the front. That part of the building on either side -of the door was evidently of Tudor date, with a Jacobean wing to the -west containing apartments overlooking the lawn--the latter a Georgian -addition; whilst the new east wing, built by Major Dale, carried the -building out almost level with the clump of fir-trees, and into the very -heart of the ferns and bushes which here grew densely. - -There was no way around on this side, and not desiring to cross the lawn -at present, I passed in through the house to the garden at the back. -This led me through the northern part of the building and the servants' -quarters, which appeared to be of even greater age than the front of the -house. The fine old kitchen in particular was suggestive of the days -when roasting was done upon a grand scale. - -Beyond the flower garden lay the kitchen garden, and beyond that the -orchard. The latter showed evidences of neglect, bearing out the Major's -story that the place had been unoccupied for twelve months; but it -was evident, nevertheless, that the soil had been cultivated for many -generations. Thus far I had discovered nothing calculated to assist -me in my peculiar investigation, and entering the house I began a -room-to-room quest, which, beyond confirming most of my earlier -impressions, afforded little data. - -The tortuous stairway, which had been the scene of the event described -by my host, occupied me for some time, and I carefully examined the -time-blackened panels, and tested each separate stair, for in houses -like Low Fennel secret passages and "priest-holes" were to be looked -for. However, I discovered nothing, but descending again to the hall I -made a small discovery. - -There were rooms in Low Fennel which one entered by descending or -ascending two or three steps, but this was entirely characteristic of -the architectural methods of the period represented. I was surprised, -however, to find that one mounted three steps in order to obtain -access to the passage leading to the new wing. I had overlooked this -peculiarity hitherto, but now it struck me as worthy of attention. Why -should a modern architect introduce such a device? It could only mean -that the ground was higher on the east side of the building, and that, -for some reason, it had proved more convenient to adopt the existing -foundations than to level the site. - -I returned to the hall-way and stood there deep in thought, when the -contact of a rough tongue with my hand drew my attention to a young -Airedale terrier who was anxious to make my acquaintance. I patted his -head encouragingly, and, having reviewed the notes made during my tour -of inspection, determined to repeat the tour in order to check them. - -The Airedale accompanied me, behaving himself with admirable propriety -as we passed around the house and then out through the kitchens into -the garden. It was not until my journey led me back to the three steps, -communicating with the new wing, that my companion seemed disposed to -desert me. - -At first I ascribed his attitude to mere canine caprice. But when -he persistently refused to be encouraged, I began to ascribe it to -something else. - -Suddenly grasping him by the collar, I dragged him up the steps, along -the corridor, and into the Major's study. The result was extraordinary. -I think I have never seen a dog in quite the same condition; he -whimpered and whined most piteously. At the door he struggled furiously, -and even tried to snap at my hand. Then, as I still kept a firm grip -upon him, he set out upon a series of howls which must have been audible -for miles around. Finally I released him, having first closed the study -door, and lowered the window. What followed was really amazing. - -The Airedale hurled himself upon the closed door, scratching at it -furiously, with intermittent howling; then, crouching down, he turned -his eyes upon me with a look in them, not savage, but truly piteous. -Seeing that I did not move, the dog began to whimper again; when, -suddenly making up his mind, as it seemed, he bounded across the room -and went crashing through the glass of the closed window into the rose -bushes, leaving me standing looking after him in blank wonderment. - - -III - -Aubrey Wales stayed to dinner, and since he had no opportunity of -dressing, his presence afforded a welcome excuse for the other members -of the party. The night was appallingly hot; the temperature being such -as to preclude the slightest exertion. The Major was an excellent host, -but I could see that the presence of the younger man irritated him, and -at times the conversation grew strained; there was an uncomfortable -tension. So that altogether I was not sorry when Mrs. Dale left the -table and the quartet was broken up. On closer acquaintance I perceived -that Wales was even younger than I had supposed, and therefore I was the -more inclined to condone his infatuation for the society of Mrs. Dale, -although I felt less sympathetically disposed toward her for offering -him the encouragement which rather openly she did. - -Ere long, Wales left Major Dale and myself for the more congenial -society of the hostess; so that shortly afterwards, when the Major, -who took at least as much wine as was good for him, began to doze in -his chair, I found myself left to my own devices. I quitted the room -quietly, without disturbing my host, and strolled around on to the lawn -smoking a cigarette, and turning over in my mind the matters responsible -for my presence at Low Fennel. - -With no definite object in view, I had wandered towards the orchard, -when I became aware of a whispered conversation taking place somewhere -near me, punctuated with little peals of laughter. I detected the words -"Aubrey" and "Marjorie" (Mrs. Dale's name), and, impatiently tossing my -cigarette away, I returned to the house, intent upon arousing the Major -and terminating this tête-à-tête. That it was more, on Mrs. Dale's -part, than a harmless flirtation, I did not believe; but young Wales was -not a safe type of man for that sort of amusement. - -The Major, sunk deep in his favourite chair in the study, was snoring -loudly, and as I stood contemplating him in the dusk, I changed my mind, -and retracing my steps, joined the two in the orchard, proclaiming my -arrival by humming a popular melody. - -"Has he fallen asleep?" asked Mrs. Dale, turning laughing eyes upon me. - -I studied the piquant face ere replying. Her tone and her expression had -reassured me, if further assurance were necessary, that my old friend's -heart was in safe keeping; but she was young and gay; it was a case for -diplomatic handling. - -"India leaves its mark on all men," I replied lightly; "but I have no -doubt that the Major is wide-awake enough now." - -My words were an invitation; to which, I was glad to note, she responded -readily enough. - -"Let's come and dig him out of that cavern of his!" she said, and -linking her right arm in that of Wales, and her left with mine, she -turned us about toward the house. - -Dusk was now fallen, and lights shone out from several windows of Low -Fennel. Suddenly, an upper window became illuminated, and Mrs. Dale -pointed to this. - -"That is my room," she said to me; "isn't it delightfully situated? The -view from the window is glorious." - -"I consider Low Fennel charming in every way," I replied. - -Clearly she knew nothing of the place's sinister reputation, which -seemed to indicate that she employed herself little with the domestic -side of the household; otherwise she must undoubtedly have learnt of the -episode of the man with the contorted face, if not from the housekeeper, -from the maid. It was a tribute to the reticence of the servants that -the story had spread no further; but the broken study window and the -sadly damaged Airedale already afforded matter for whispered debate -among them, as I had noted with displeasure. - -The "digging out" of the Major did not prove to be an entire success. He -was in one of his peculiar moods, which I knew of old, and rather surly, -being pointedly rude on more than one occasion to Wales. He had some -accounts to look into, or professed to have, and the three of us -presently left him alone. It was now about ten o'clock, and Aubrey Wales -made his departure, shaking me warmly by the hand and expressing the -hope that we should see more of one another. He could not foresee that -the wish was to be realised in a curious fashion. - -Mrs. Dale informed me that the Major in all probability would remain -immured in his study until a late hour, which I took to be an intimation -that she wished to retire. I therefore pleaded weariness as a result -of my journey, and went up to my room, although I had no intention of -turning-in. I opened the two windows widely, and the heavy perfume -of some kind of tobacco plant growing in the beds below grew almost -oppressive. The heat of the night was truly phenomenal; I might have -been, not in an English home county, but in the Soudan. An absolute -stillness reigned throughout Low Fennel, and, my hearing being -peculiarly acute, I could detect the chirping of the bats which flitted -restlessly past my windows. - -It was difficult to decide how to act. My experience of so-called -supernatural appearances had strengthened my faith in the theory -set forth in the paper "Chemistry of Psychic Phenomena"--which had -attracted unexpected attention a year before. Therein I classified -hauntings under several heads, basing my conclusions upon the fact that -such apparitions are invariably localised; often being confined, not -merely to a particular room, for instance, but to a certain wall, door, -or window. I had been privileged to visit most of the famous haunted -homes of Great Britain, and this paper was the result; but in the case -of Low Fennel I found myself nonplussed, largely owing to lack of data. -I hoped on the morrow to make certain inquiries along lines suggested by -oddities in the structure of the house itself and by the nature of the -little valley in which it stood. - -When meditating I never sit still, and whilst marshalling my ideas I -paced the room from end to end, smoking the whole time. Both windows -and also the door, were widely opened. The amazing heat-wave which we -were then experiencing promised to afford me a valuable clue, for I had -proved to my own satisfaction that the apparitions variously known as -"controls" and "elementals," not infrequently coincided with abrupt -climatic changes, thunder-storms, or heat waves, or with natural -phenomena, such as landslides and the like. - -This pacing led me from end to end of the room, then, between the open -door and the large dressing-table facing it. It was as I returned from -the door towards the dressing-table that I became aware of the presence -of the _contorted face_. - -My peculiar studies had brought me into contact with many horrible -apparitions, and if familiarity had failed to breed contempt, at least -it had served to train my nerves for the reception of such sudden and -ghastly appearances. I should be avoiding the truth, however, if I -claimed to have been unmoved by the vision which now met me in the -mirror. I drew up short, with one sibilant breath, and then stood -transfixed. - -Before me was a reflection of the open door, and of part of the landing -and stairs beyond it. The landing lights were extinguished, and -therefore the place beyond the door lay in comparative darkness. But, -crawling in, serpent-fashion, inch by inch, silently, intently, so that -the head, throat, and hands were actually across the threshold, came a -creature which seemed to be entirely naked! It had the form of a man, -but the face, the dreadful face which was being pushed forward slowly -across the carpet with head held sideways so that one ear all but -touched the floor, was the face, not of a man, but of a ghoul! - -I clenched my teeth hard, staring into the mirror and trying to force -myself to turn and confront, not the reflection, but the reality. -Yet for many seconds I was unable to accomplish this. The baleful, -protruding eyes glared straight into mine from the glass. The chin and -lower lip of this awful face seemed to be drawn up so as almost to -meet the nose, entirely covering the upper lip, and the nostrils were -distended to an incredible degree, whilst the skin had a sort of purple -tinge unlike anything I had seen before. The effect was grotesque in the -true sense of the word; for the thing was clearly grimacing at me, yet -God knows there was nothing humorous in that grimace! - -Nearer it came and nearer. I could hear the heavy body being drawn -across the floor; I could hear the beating of my own heart ... and I -could hear a whispered conversation which seemed to be taking place -somewhere immediately outside my room. - -At the moment that I detected the latter sound, it seemed that the -apparition detected it also. The protruding eyes twisted in the head, -rolling around ridiculously but horribly. Despite the dread which held -me, I identified the whisperers and located their situation. Mrs. Dale -was at her open window and Aubrey Wales was in the garden below. - -The thought crossed my mind and was gone--but gone no quicker than the -contorted face. By a sort of backward, serpentine movement, the thing -which had been crawling into my room suddenly retired and was swallowed -up in the shadows of the landing. - -I turned and sprang toward the open door, the fever of research hot -upon me, and my nerves in hand again. At the door I paused and listened -intently. No sound came to guide me from the darkened stair, and when, -stepping quietly forward and leaning over the rail, I peered down into -the hall below, nothing stirred, no shadow of the many there moved to -tell of the passage of any living thing. I paused irresolute, unable to -doubt that I was in the presence of an authentic apparition. But how to -classify it? - -Slowly I returned to my room, and stood there, thinking hard, and all -the while listening for the slightest sound from within or without the -house. - -The whispered conversation continued, and I stole quietly to one of the -windows and leant out, looking to the left, in the direction of the -new wing. A light burnt in the Major's study, whereby I concluded that -he was still engaged with his accounts, if he had not fallen asleep. -Between my window and the new wing, and on a level with my eyes, was the -window of Mrs. Dale's room; and in the bright moonlight I could see her -leaning out, her elbows on the ledge. Her bare arms gleamed like marble -in the cold light, and she looked statuesquely beautiful. Wales I could -not see, for a thick, square-clipped hedge obstructed my view ... but I -saw something else. - -Lizard fashion, a hideous unclad shape crawled past beneath me amongst -the tangle of ivy and low plants about the foot of the fir trees. The -moonlight touched it for a moment, and then it was gone into denser -shadows.... - -A consciousness of impending disaster came to me, but, because of its -very vagueness, found me unprepared. Then suddenly I saw young Wales. He -sprang into view above the hedge, against which, I presume, he had been -crouching; he leapt high in the air as though from some menace on the -ground beneath him. I have never heard a more horrifying scream than -that which he uttered. - -"My God!" he cried, "Marjorie! Marjorie!" and yet again: "Marjorie! -_save me!_" - -Then he was down, still screaming horribly, and calling on the woman -for aid--as though she could have aided him. The crawling thing made -no sound, but the dreadful screams of Wales sank slowly into a sort -of sobbing, and then into a significant panting which told of his dire -extremity. - -I raced out of the room, and down the dark stair into the hall. -Everywhere I was met by locked doors which baffled me. I had hoped to -reach the garden by way of the kitchens, but now I changed my plan and -turned my attention to the front-door. It was bolted, but I drew the -bolts one after the other, and got the door open. - -Outside, the landscape was bathed in glorious moonlight, and a sort of -grey mist hovered over the valley like smoke. I ran around the angle -of the house on to the lawn, and went plunging through flower-beds -heedlessly to the scene of the incredible conflict. - -I almost fell over Wales as he lay inert upon the gravel path. The -shadows veiled him so that I could not see his face; but when, groping -with my hands, I sought to learn if his heart still pulsed, I failed -to discover any evidence that it did. With my hand thrust against his -breast and my ear lowered anxiously, I listened, but he gave no sign of -life, lying as still as all else around me. - -Now this stillness was broken. Excited voices became audible, and doors -were being unlocked here and there. First of all the household, Mrs. -Dale appeared, enveloped in a lace dressing-gown. - -"Aubrey!" she cried tremulously, "what is it? where are you?" - -"He is here, Mrs. Dale," I answered, standing up, "and in a bad way, I -fear." - -"For Heaven's sake, what has happened to him? Did you hear his awful -cries?" - -"I did," I said shortly. - -Standing with the moonlight fully upon her, Mrs. Dale sought him in the -shadows of the hedge--and I knew that by the manner of his frightened -outcry the man lying unconscious at my feet had forfeited whatever of -her regard he had enjoyed. She was dreadfully alarmed, not so much -on his behalf, as by the mystery of the attack upon him. But now she -composed herself, though not without visible effort. - -"Where is he, Mr. Addison?" she said firmly, "and what has happened to -him?" - -A man, who proved to be a gardener, now appeared upon the scene. - -"Help me to carry him in," I said to this new arrival; "perhaps he has -only fainted." - -We gathered up the recumbent body and carried it through the kitchens -into the breakfast-room, where there was a deep couch. All the servants -were gathered at the foot of the stairs, frightened and useless, but the -outcry did not seem to have aroused Major Dale. - -Mrs. Dale and I bent over Wales. His face was frightfully congested, -whilst his tongue protruded hideously; and it was evident, from the -great discoloured weals which now were coming up upon his throat, that -he had been strangled, or nearly so. I glanced at the white face of my -hostess and then bent over the victim, examining him more carefully. I -stood upright again. - -"Do you know first aid, Mrs. Dale?" I asked abruptly. - -She nodded, her eyes fixed intently upon me. - -"Then help to employ artificial respiration," I said, "and let one -of the girls get ammonia, if you have any, and a bowl of hot water. -We can patch him up, I think, without medical aid--which might be -undesirable." - -Mrs. Dale seemed fully to appreciate the point, and in business-like -fashion set to work to assist me. Wales had just opened his eyes and -begun to clutch at his agonized throat, when I heard a heavy step -descending from the new wing--and Major Dale, in his dressing-gown, -joined us. His red face was more red than usual, and his eyes were round -with wonder. - -"What the devil's the matter?" he cried; "what's everybody up for?" - -"There has been an accident, Major," I said, glancing around at the -servants, who stood in a group by the door of the breakfast-room; "I can -explain more fully later." - -Major Dale stepped forward and looked down at Wales. - -"Good God!" he said hoarsely, "it's young Wales, by the Lord -Harry!--what's he doing here?" - -Mrs. Dale, standing just behind me, laid her hand upon my arm; and, -unseen by the Major, I turned and pressed it reassuringly. - - -IV - -The following day I lunched alone with the Major, Mrs. Dale being absent -on a visit. It had been impossible to keep the truth from her (or what -we knew of it) and at present I could not quite foresee the issue of -last night's affair. Young Wales, who had been driven home in a car sent -from his place at a late hour, had not since put in an appearance; and -it was sufficiently evident that Mrs. Dale would not welcome him should -he do so, the hysterical panic which he had exhibited on the previous -night having disgusted her. She had not said so in as many words, but I -did not doubt it. - -"Well, Addison?" said the Major as I entered, "have you got the facts -you were looking for?" - -"Some of them," I replied, and opening my notebook I turned to the pages -containing notes made that morning. - -The Major watched me with intense curiosity, and almost impatiently -awaited my next words. The servant having left the room: - -"In the first place," I began, glancing at the notes, "I have been -consulting certain local records in the town, and I find that in the -year 1646 a certain Dame Pryce occupied a cabin which, according to one -record, 'stood close beside unto ye Lowe Fennel.'" - -"That is, close beside this house?" interjected the Major excitedly. - -"Exactly," I said. "She attracted the attention of one of the many -infamous wretches who disfigure the history of that period: Matthew -Hopkins, the self-styled Witch-Finder General. This was a witch-ridden -age, and the man Hopkins was one of those who fattened on the credulity -of his fellows, receiving a fee of twenty shillings for every unhappy -woman discovered and convicted of witchcraft. Poor Pryce was 'swum' in a -local pond (a test whereby the villain Hopkins professed to discover if -the woman were one of Satan's band, or otherwise) and burnt alive in -Reigate market-place on September 23, 1646." - -"By God!" said the Major, who had not attempted to commence his lunch, -"that's a horrible story!" - -"It is one of the many to the credit of Matthew Hopkins," I replied; -"but, without boring you with the details of this woman's examination -and so forth, I may say that what interests me most in the case is the -date--September 23." - -"Why? I don't follow you." - -"Well," I said, "there's a hiatus in the history of the place after -that, except that even in those early days it evidently suffered from -the reputation of being haunted; but without troubling about the -interval, consider the case of Seager, which you yourself related to -me. Was it not in the month of August that he was done to death here?" - -"By Gad!" cried the Major, his face growing redder than ever, -"you're right!--and hang it all, Addison! it was in September--last -September--that the Ords cleared out!" - -"I remember your mentioning," I continued, smiling at his excitement, -"that it was a very hot month?" - -"It was." - -"From a mere word dropped by one of the witnesses at the trial of poor -Pryce I have gathered that the month in which she was convicted of -practising witchcraft in her cabin adjoining Low Fennel (as it stood in -those days) was a tropically hot month also." - -Major Dale stared at me uncomprehendingly. - -"I'm out of my depth, Addison--wading hopelessly. What the devil has the -heat to do with the haunting?" - -"To my mind everything. I may be wrong, but I think that if the glass -were to fall to-night, there would be no repetition of the trouble." - -"You mean that it's only in very hot weather--" - -"In phenomenally hot weather, Major--the sort that we only get in -England perhaps once in every ten years. For the glass to reach the -altitude at which it stands at present, in two successive summers, is -quite phenomenal, as you know." - -"It's phenomenal for it to reach that point at all," said the Major, -mopping his perspiring forehead; "it's simply Indian, simply Indian, -sir, by the Lord Harry!" - -"Another inquiry," I continued, turning over a leaf of my book, "I have -been unable to complete, since, in order to interview the people who -built your new wing, I should have to run up to London." - -"What the blazes have they to do with it?" - -"Nothing at all, but I should have liked to learn their reasons for -raising the wing three feet above the level of the hall-way." - -Between the heat and his growing excitement, Major Dale found himself at -a temporary loss for words. Then: - -"They told me," he shouted at the top of his voice, "they told me at the -time that it was something about--that it was due to the plan--that it -was----" - -"I can imagine that they had some ready explanation," I said, "but it -may not have been the true one." - -"Then what the--what the--is the true one?" - -"The true one is that the new wing covers a former mound." - -"Quite right; it does." - -"If my theory is correct, it was upon this mound that the cabin of Dame -Pryce formerly stood." - -"It's quite possible; they used to allow dirty hovels to be erected -alongside one's very walls in those days--quite possible." - -"Moreover, from what I've learnt from Ord--whom I interviewed at the -Hall--and from such accounts as are obtainable of the death of Seager, -this mound, and not the interior of Low Fennel as it then stood, was the -scene of the apparitions." - -"You've got me out of my depth again, Addison. What d'you mean?" - -"Seager was strangled outside the house, not inside." - -"I believe that's true," agreed the Major, still shouting at the top of -his voice, but gradually growing hoarser; "I remember they found him -lying on the step, or something." - -"Then again, the apparition with the contorted face which peered in at -Mrs. Ord----" - -"Lies, all lies!" - -"I don't agree with you, Major. She was trying to shield her husband, -but I think she saw the contorted face right enough. At any rate it's -interesting to note that the visitant came from outside the house -again." - -"But," cried the Major, banging his fist upon the table, "it wanders -about inside the house, and--and--damn it all!--it goes outside as -well!" - -"Where it goes," I interrupted quietly, "is not the point. The point is, -where it comes from." - -"Then where do you believe it comes from?" - -"I believe the trouble arises, in the strictest sense of the word, from -the same spot whence it arose in the days of Matthew Hopkins, and from -which it had probably arisen ages before Low Fennel was built." - -"What the--" - -"I believe it to arise from the ancient barrow, or tumulus, above which -you have had your new wing erected." - -Major Dale fell back in his chair, temporarily speechless, but breathing -noisily; then: - -"Tumulus!" he said hoarsely; "d'you mean to tell me the house is built -on a dam' burial ground?" - -"Not the whole house," I corrected him; "only the new wing." - -"Then is the place haunted by the spirit of some uneasy Ancient Briton -or something of that sort, Addison? Hang it all! you can't tell me a -fairy tale like that! A ghost going back to pre-Roman days is a bit too -ancient for me, my boy--too hoary, by the Lord Harry!" - -"I have said nothing about an Ancient British ghost--you're flying off -at a tangent!" - -"Hang it all, Addison! I don't know what you're talking about at all, -but nevertheless your hints are sufficiently unpleasant. A tumulus! No -man likes to know he's sleeping in a graveyard, not even if it is two or -three thousand years old. D'you think the chap who surveyed the ground -for me knew of it?" - -"By the fact that he planned the new wing so as to avoid excavation, -I think probably he did. He was wise enough to surmise that the order -might be cancelled altogether and the job lost if you learnt the history -of the mound adjoining your walls." - -"A barrow under the study floor!" groaned the Major--"damn it all! I'll -have the place pulled down--I won't live in it. Gad! if Marjorie knew, -she would never close her eyes under the roof of Low Fennel again--I'm -sure she wouldn't, I know she wouldn't. But what's more, Addison, the -thing, whatever it is, is dangerous--infernally dangerous. It nearly -killed young Wales!" he added, with a complacency which was significant. - -"It was the fright that nearly killed him," I said shortly. - -Major Dale stared across the table at me. - -"For God's sake, Addison," he said, "what does it mean? What unholy -thing haunts Low Fennel? You've studied these beastly subjects, and I -rely upon you to make the place clean and good to live in again." - -"Major," I replied, "I doubt if Low Fennel will ever be fit to live -in. At any time an abnormal rise of temperature might produce the most -dreadful results." - -"You don't mean to tell me----" - -"If you care to have the new wing pulled down and the wall bricked up -again, if you care to keep all your doors and windows fastened securely -whenever the thermometer begins to exhibit signs of rising, if you avoid -going out on hot nights after dusk, as you would avoid the plague--yes, -it may be possible to live in Low Fennel." - -Again the Major became speechless, but finally: - -"What d'you mean, Addison?" he whispered; "for God's sake, tell me. What -is it?--what is it?" - -"It is what some students have labelled an 'elemental' and some a -'control,'" I replied; "it is something older than the house, older, -perhaps, than the very hills, something which may never be classified, -something as old as the root of all evil, and it dwells in the Ancient -British tumulus." - - -V - -As I had hoped, for my plans were dependent upon it, the mercury towered -steadily throughout that day, and showed no signs of falling at night; -the phenomenal heat-wave continued uninterruptedly. The household was -late retiring, for the grey lord--Fear--had imposed his will upon all -within it. Every shadow in the rambling old building became a cavern of -horrors, every sound that disturbed the ancient timbers a portent and a -warning. - -That the servants proposed to leave _en masse_ at the earliest possible -moment was perfectly evident to me; in a word, all the dark old stories -which had grown up around Low Fennel were revived and garnished, and new -ones added to them. The horror of the night before had left its mark -upon every one, and the coming of dusk brought with it such a dread -as could almost be felt in the very atmosphere of the place. Ghostly -figures seemed to stir the hangings, ghostly sighs to sound from every -nook of the old hall and stairway; baleful eyes looked in at the open -windows, and the shrubberies were peopled with hosts of nameless things -who whispered together in evil counsel. - -Mrs. Dale was as loath to retire as were the servants, more especially -since the Major and I were unable to disguise from her our intention of -watching for the strange visitant that night. But finally we prevailed -upon her to depart, and she ran upstairs as though the legions of the -lost pursued her, slamming and locking her door so that the sound echoed -all over the house. - -We had told her nothing, of course, of my discoveries and theories, but -nevertheless the cat was out of the bag; the affair of the night before -had spoilt our scheme of secrecy. - -In the Major's study we made our preparations. The windows were widely -opened, and the door was ajar. Not a breath of wind disturbed the -stillness of the night, and although Major Dale had agreed to act -exactly as I might direct, he stared in almost comic surprise when he -learnt the nature of these directions. - -Placing two large silk handkerchiefs upon the table, I saturated them -with the contents of a bottle which I had brought in my pocket, and -handed one of the handkerchiefs to him. - -"Tie that over your mouth and nostrils," I said, "and whatever happens -don't remove it unless I tell you." - -"But, Addison...." - -"You know the compact, Major? If you aren't prepared to assist I must -ask you to retire. To-night might be the last chance, perhaps, for -years." - -Growling beneath his breath, Major Dale obeyed, and, a humorous figure -enough, stretched himself upon the couch, staring at me round-eyed. I -also fastened a handkerchief about my head. - -"It would perhaps be better," I said, my voice dimmed by the wet silk, -"if we avoided conversation as much as possible." - -Standing up, I rolled back a corner of the carpet, exposing the -floor-planks, and with a brace-and-bit, which I had in my pocket, I -bored a round hole in one of these. Into it I screwed the tube, attached -to a little watch-like contrivance, twisting the face of the dial so -that I could study it from where I proposed to sit. Then I took up my -post, smothering a laugh as I noted the expression upon that part of the -Major's red face which was visible to me. - -Thus began the business of that strange night. Half an hour passed in -almost complete silence, save for the audible breathing of the Major--by -no means an ideal companion for such an investigation. But, having -agreed to assist me, in justice to my old friend I must say that he did -his best to stick to the bargain, and to play his part in what obviously -he regarded as an insane comedy. - -At about the expiration of this thirty minutes, I thought I heard a door -open somewhere in the house. Listening intently, and glancing at my -companion, I received no confirmation of the idea. Evidently the Major -had heard nothing. Again I thought I heard a sound--as of the rustling -of silk upon the stair, or in an upper corridor; finally I was almost -certain that the floor of the room above (viz. the Major's bedroom) -creaked very slightly. - -At that I saw my companion glance upward, then across at me, with a -question in his eyes. But not desiring to disturb the silence, I merely -shook my head. - -An hour passed. There had been no repetition of the slight sounds to -which I have referred, and the stillness of Low Fennel was really -extraordinary. A thermometer, which I had placed upon the table near to -my elbow, recorded the fact that the temperature of the room had not -abated a fraction of a point since sunset, and, sitting still though I -was, I found myself bathed in perspiration. Despite the open door and -windows, not a breath of air stirred in the place, but the room was -laden with the oppressive perfume of those night-scented flowers which -I have mentioned elsewhere, for it was faintly perceptible to me, -despite the wet silk. - -Once, a bat flew half in at one of the windows, striking its wings -upon the glass, but almost immediately it flew out again. A big moth -fluttered around the room, persistently banging its wings against the -lamp-shade. But nothing else within or without the house stirred, if I -except the occasional restless movements of the Major. - -Then all at once--and not gradually as I had anticipated--the meter at -my feet began to register. Instantly, I looked to the thermometer. It -had begun to fall. - -I glanced across at Major Dale. He was staring at something which seemed -to have attracted his attention in a distant corner of the room. -Glancing away from the meter, the indicator of which was still moving -upward, I looked in the same direction. There was much shadow there, but -nevertheless I could not doubt that a very faint vapour was forming in -that corner ... rising--rising--rising--slowly higher and higher. - -It proceeded from some part of the floor concealed by the big saddle-bag -chair--the Major's favourite dozing-place (probably from a faulty -floor-board), and it was rising visibly, inch upon inch, as I watched, -until it touched the ceiling above. Then, like a column of smoke, it -spread out, mushroom fashion; it crept in ghostly coils along the -cornices, spreading, a dim grey haze, until it obscured a great part of -the ceiling. - -Again I looked across at the Major. He was staring at the phenomenon -with eyes which were glassy with amazement. I could see that momentarily -he expected the vapour to take shape, to form into some ghoulish thing -with a contorted face and clutching, outstretched fingers. - -But this did not happen. The vapour, which was growing more fine and -imperceptible, began to disperse. I glanced from corner to corner of the -room, then down to the meter on the floor. The indicator was falling -again. - -Still I made no move, although I could hear Major Dale fidgeting -nervously, but I looked across at him ... and a dreadful change had come -over his face. - -He was sitting upright upon the couch, the edge of which he clutched -with one hand, whilst with the other he combed the air in a gesture -evidently meant to attract my attention. He was trying to speak, but -only a guttural sound issued from his throat. His staring eyes were set -in a glare of stark horror upon the door of the study. - -Swiftly I turned--to see the door slowly opening; to see, low down upon -the bare floor--for I had removed the carpet from that corner of the -room--a ghastly, contorted face, held sideways with one ear almost -touching the ground, and with the lower lip and the chin drawn up as -though they were of rubber, almost to the tip of the nose! - -The eyes glared up balefully into mine, the hair hung a dishevelled mass -about the face, and I had a glimpse of one bare shoulder pressed upon -the floor. - -Wider and wider opened the door; and further into the room crept the -horrible apparition.... - -The light gleamed equally upon the hideous, contorted face and upon the -rounded shoulders and slim, white arms, on one of which a heavy gold -Oriental bangle was clasped. - -It was a woman! - -In a flash of inspiration--at sight of the bangle--my doubts were -resolved; _I understood_. Leaning across the table, I extinguished the -lamp ... in the same instant that Major Dale, uttering an inarticulate, -choking cry, sprang to his feet and toppled forward, senseless, upon the -floor! - -The study became plunged in darkness, but into the long corridor, beyond -the open door, poured the cold illumination of the moon. Framed in the -portal, uprose a slim figure, seeming like a black silhouette upon a -silvern background, or a wondrous statue in ebony. Elfin, dishevelled -locks crowned the head; the pose of the form was as that of a startled -dryad or a young Bacchante poised for a joyous leap.... - -Thus, for an instant, like some exquisite dream of Phidias visualised, -the figure stood ... then had fled away down the corridor and was gone! - - -VI - -Close upon a month had elapsed. Major Dale and I sat in my study in -London. - -"Young Aubrey Wales has gone abroad," I said. "He's ashamed to show up -again, I suppose." - -"H'm!" growled the Major--"I've got nothing to crow about, myself, -by the Lord Harry! There's courage and courage, sir! I've led more -than one bayonet attack, but I'd never qualify for the D.S.O. as a -ghost-hunter!--never, by Gad!--never!" - -He reached out for the decanter; then withdrew his hand. "Doctor's -orders," he muttered. "Discipline must be maintained!" - -"It was the sudden excitement which precipitated the seizure," I said, -glancing at the altered face of my old friend. "I was wrong to expose -you to it; but of course I did not know that the doctor had warned you." - -"And now," said the Major, sighing loudly as he filled his tumbler with -plain soda-water--"what have you to tell me?" - -"In the first place--have you definitely decided to leave Low Fennel, -for good?" - -"Certainly--not a doubt on the point! We're leasing a flat in town here -whilst we look around." - -"Good! Because I very much doubt if the place could ever be rendered -tenable...." - -"Then it's really haunted?" - -"Undoubtedly." - -"By what, Addison? Tell me that!--by what?" - -"By a grey vapour." - -Major Dale's eyes began to protrude, and:-- - -"Addison," he said hoarsely--"don't joke about it!--don't joke. It was -not a grey vapour that strangled Seager...." - -"Certainly it was not. Seager was strangled by some wholly inoffensive -person--we shall probably never know his identity--who had fallen asleep -amongst the bushes on the mound, close beside the house...." - -"But man alive! I've _seen_ the beastly thing, with my own eyes! You've -seen it! Wales saw it! Mrs. Ord saw it!..." - -"Mrs. Ord saw her husband." - -"Ah! you're coming round to my belief about the Ords!" - -"Decidedly I am." - -"But what did Wales see--eh? And what did _I_ see!" - -"You saw the vapour in operation." - -The Major fell back in his chair with an expression upon his face which -I cannot hope to describe. Words failed him altogether. - -"I had come prepared for something of the sort," I continued rapidly; -"for I have investigated several cases of haunting--notably in the Peak -district--which have proved to be due to an emanation from the soil--a -vapour. But the effect of such vapour, in the other cases, was to -induce delusions of sight, in nearly every instance (although, in two, -the delusions were of hearing). - -"In other words, the person affected by this vapour was drugged, and, -during the drugged state, perceived certain visions. I made the mistake, -at first, of supposing that Low Fennel came within the same category. -The classical analogy, of course, is that of the Sibyls, who delivered -the oracular responses from the tripod, under the afflatus of a vapour -said to arise from the sacred subterranean stream called Kassotis. The -theory is, therefore, by no means a new one!" - -Major Dale stared dully, but made no attempt to interrupt me. - -"There are probably many spots, in England alone," I continued, -"thus affected; but, fortunately, few of them have been chosen as -building-sites. Barrows and tumuli of the stone and bronze age, and -also Roman shrines, seem frequently to be productive of such emanations. -The barrow beside Low Fennel (and now under the new wing) is a case in -point. - -"Sudden atmospheric changes seem to be favourable to the formation -of the vapour. The barrow in Peel Castle, Isle of Man, is peculiarly -susceptible to thunder-storms, for instance, whilst that at Low Fennel -emits a vapour only after a spell of intense heat, and at the exact -moment when the temperature begins to fall again. In the case of a -sustained heat-wave, this would take place at some time during each -night. - -"And now for the particular in which the vapour at Low Fennel differs -from other, similar emanations. It is not productive of delusions of -sight; it induces a definite and unvarying form of transient insanity!" - -Major Dale moved slightly, but still did not speak. - -"Dame Pryce was the first recorded victim of the vapour. She was accused -of witchcraft by a neighbour who testified to having seen her transform -herself into a hideous and unrecognizable hag--whereas, in her proper -person, she seems to have been a comely old lady. Lack of evidence -compels us to dismiss the case of Seager, but consider that of the Ords. -The man Ord, on his own confession, had fallen asleep outside the house. -He became a victim of the vapour--and his own wife failed to recognize -him. - -"To what extent the mania so produced is homicidal remains to be proved; -the gas is rare and difficult to procure, so that hitherto analysis has -not been attempted. My own theory is that the subject remains harmless -provided that, whilst under the mysterious influence, he does not -encounter any person distasteful to him. Thus, Seager may have met his -death at the hands of some tramp who had been turned away from the -house. - -"As to the symptoms: they seem to be quite unvarying. The subject -strips, contorts his face out of all semblance to humanity (and always -in a particular fashion) and crawls, lizard-like upon the ground, with -the head held low, in an attitude of listening. That it is possible so -to contort the face as to render it unrecognizable is seen in some cases -of angina pectoris, of course. - -"The subject apparently returns to the spot from whence he started and -sinks into profound sleep, as is seen in some cases of somnambulism; -and--like the somnambulist, again--he acquires incredible agility. How -you yourself came, twice, under the influence of the vapour, is easily -explained. The first time--when the housekeeper saw you--you had -actually been in bed; and the second time, as you have told me, you had -gone upstairs, undressed, and then slipped on your dressing-gown in -order to complete some work in the study. Instead of completing the -work, you dozed in your chair--and we know what followed! In the case -of--Mrs. Dale...." - -"God! Addison," said the Major huskily, and stood up, clutching the -chair-arms--"Addison! You are trying to tell me that--what I saw was ... -_Marjorie_!..." - -I nodded gravely. - -"Without letting her suspect my reason for making the inquiries, I -learnt that on that last night at Low Fennel, feeling dreadfully lonely -and frightened, she determined to run along to the new wing--which -seemed a safer place--and to wait in your room until you came up. She -fell asleep, and...." - -"Addison ... can a mere 'vapour' produce such...." - -"You mean, is the vapour directed or animated, by some discarnate, evil -intelligence? My dear Major, you are taking us back to the theory of -Elemental spirits, and I blankly refuse to follow you!" - - - - -The Valley of the Just - -A Story of the Shan Hills - - -I - -The merciless sun beat down upon the little caravan, winding its way -upward and ever upward to the hill-land. Beneath stretched a panorama -limned in feverish greens and unhealthy yellows; scarlike rocks striated -the jungle, clothing the foothills, and through the dancing air, viewed -from the arid heights, they had the appearance of running water. Swamps -to the south-east showed like unhealing wounds upon the face of the -landscape; beyond them spread the muddy river waters, the bank of the -stream proper being discernible only by reason of a greater greenness -in the palm-tops: venomous green slopes beyond them again, a fringe of -dwarfed forest, and the brazen skyline. - -On the right of the path rose volcanic rock, gnarled, twisted, and -contorted as with the agonies of some mighty plague, which in a -forgotten past had seized upon the very bowels of the world, and had -contorted whole mountains, and laid waste vast forests and endless -plains. Above, the cruel sun; ahead, more plague-twisted rocks, with -sandy scars dancing like running water; and, all around, the breathless -stillness, the swooning stillness of tropical midday. North, south, -east, and west, that haze of heat, that silence unbroken, lay like an -accursed mantle upon Burma. - -Moreen Fayne could scarcely support herself upright in the saddle; her -head throbbed incessantly, and the veil which she wore could not protect -her eyes from the maddening glare of the sun. But although at any moment -during the past hour she could have slipped insensible from her saddle, -she sat stiffly upright, her dauntless eyes looking straight ahead, her -small mouth set with masculine sternness, and her hands clenched--the -physical reflection of the mental effort whereby, alone, she was enabled -to pursue the journey. - -Just in front of her paced Ramsa Lal. His stride had not varied from -the lowlands, through the foothills, nor on the rocky mountain paths. -He had looked neither right nor left, but had walked, walked, walked. -At times Moreen had been hard put to it to choke down the hysterical -screams which had risen in her throat; madness had threatened her, as -she watched, in dumb misery, that silent striding man. Yet she knew that -it was only the presence of this tireless, immobile guide which had -enabled her to go on; although he never directed one glance towards her, -she knew that his steady march was meant for encouragement. - -Behind, like the tail of a scorpion, trailed the native retinue, and on -the end of the tail, where the sting would be, rode her husband. This -simile had occurred to her at once, and she allowed her mind to dwell -upon the idea as an invalid will consider imaginary designs upon the -wall-paper of the sick-room. - -Sometimes there was a sliding of hoofs and a sound of stumbling; -sometimes her own pony lost his footing. On such occasion, there would -be mechanical cries of encouragement from the natives, and perhaps -a growling curse from the man who brought up the rear of the little -company. The road wound through a frowning chasm, where lizards and -other creeping things darted into holes to right and left of their -progress. Grateful shadow ruled a while, and a stifled sigh escaped -from Moreen's lips. Ramsa Lal paced straightly onward, the others came -stumbling behind; fifty yards ahead the ravine opened out, and once more -the deathly heat poured unchecked upon their heads. - -Again Moreen all but lost control of herself; her fortitude threatened -to slip from her; so that she bit her lips until the pain filled -her eyes with burning tears. The effort to control herself proved -successful, but left her white and quivering. She felt impelled to speak -to Ramsa Lal, and constrained herself only with a second effort of which -her will was barely capable. Then she saw that speech, which would be -dangerous, was unnecessary; the man's wonderful intuition had enabled -him to hear that crying of the soul, and he was answering her. - -His brown fingers were clutching and unclutching convulsively, and as he -swung his arm, he would clench his right fist and beat the air. For a -moment he acted thus, and then, as if he knew that she had seen, and -understood, his fingers hung limply again, and his arm swung loosely -as before. - -A sort of plateau was reached, and in a natural clearing, where giant -bamboos ranged back to the tangled, creeper-laden boughs of the forest -trees, the voice of Major Fayne cried a halt. Ramsa Lal was beside -Moreen's pony in a trice, and he so screened her exhausted descent from -the saddle, setting her down upon an hospitable bank hard by, that she -was enabled to maintain her inflexible attitude, when presently her -husband came striding along to stand looking down on her, where she sat. -His blackly pencilled brows were drawn together, and the pale blue eyes -shone out, saturnine, from cavernous sockets. His handsome face was -heavily lined, and in the appearance, in the whole attitude of the man, -was something aggressive, a violence markedly repellent. Moreen locked -her hands behind her, the fingers twining and intertwining, but she -raised a pale face to his, from which by a last supreme effort of will -she had driven all traces of emotion. - -So they remained for a moment, whilst the servants busied themselves -with the baggage; he, with feet wide apart, staring down at her, and -slashing at the air with a fly-whisk, and she meeting his gaze with a -stony calm pitiful to behold, had there been any soul capable of pity -to see her. Ramsa Lal was directing operations. - -"Here," said Major Fayne, "we camp." - -His voice would have told a skilled observer that which the facial lines -and a certain odd puffiness of skin more than suggested, that Major -Fayne was not a temperate man. - -Moreen made no sign, but simply sat watching the speaker. - -"It's a delightful situation," continued he, "and your ambition, -frequently expressed in Mandalay, to see something of Burma other than -bridge parties and polo-matches, at last is realised." - -He spoke with a seeming sincerity that had carried conviction to any, -save the most sceptical. But Moreen made no sign. - -"Here," continued Major Fayne, "you may feast your eyes upon the glories -of a Burma forest. Those flowering creepers yonder, festooned from bough -to bough, are peculiar to this district, and if you care to explore -further, you will be rewarded by the discovery of some fine orchids. -Note, also, the perfume of the flowers." - -He twirled his slight moustache, and turned away to supervise the work -of camping. - -Ramsa Lal already had one of the tents nearly erected, and Moreen -watched his deft fingers at work, with an anxiety none the less because -it was masked. She knew that collapse was imminent. The cruel march -under the pitiless sun had had due effect, but it had not broken her -spirit. She knew that she had reached the end of her strength, but she -showed no sign of weakness before her husband. - -It was done at last, and Ramsa Lal held the tent-cloth aside, and bowed. - -Moreen stood up, clenched her teeth together grimly, and staggered -forward. As the tent-flap was dropped, she sank down beside the camp -bedstead, and her head fell upon the covering. - - -II - -Dusk fell, a quick curtain, and the lamps of night shone out with -glorious brilliancy, illuminating the little plateau. The tents gleamed -whitely in the cold radiance; there was a dancing redness to show where -the fire had been built, with figures grouped dimly around it. On a -jagged rock, which started up from the very heart of a thicket, black -against the newly risen moon, was silhouetted the figure of Major Fayne. -Night things swept the air about him, and rustled in the cane brake -below him; the fire crackled in the neighbouring camp; sometimes a -murmur came from the group of natives. - -But, heedless of these matters, Moreen's husband stood on the rocky -eminence looking back upon the way they had come, looking down to the -distant river valley. - -For many minutes he remained so, but presently, clambering down, heavily -forced his way through the undergrowth to the little camp. Passing the -tents, he walked back to the dip of the pathway, and paused again, -watching and listening; then turned and strode to the fire, grasped -Ramsa Lal by the shoulder, and drew him away from the others. - -"Come here!" he directed tersely. - -At the head of the pathway he bade him halt. - -"Listen!" he directed. - -Ramsa Lal stood in an attitude of keen attention, and the Major watched -him with feverish anxiety, which he was wholly unable to conceal. - -"Do you hear it?" he demanded--"hoofs on the path!" - -Ramsa Lal shook his head. - -"I hear nothing, Sahib." - -"Put your ear to the ground, and listen. I tell you that I saw figures -moving away below there, and I heard--hoofs, stumbling hoofs." - -The man knelt down upon the ground, and, bending forward, lowered his -head. Major Fayne watched him, and with growing anxiety, so that, what -with this and the pallid moonlight, his face appeared ghastly. - -But again Ramsa Lal stood up, shaking his head. - -"Nothing, Sahib," he repeated. - -Major Fayne suddenly grasped him by the shoulders, spinning him about, -and dragging him forward, so that the dusky face was but inches removed -from his own. He glared into the man's eyes. - -"Are you lying to me?" he demanded, "are you lying?" - -"I swear it is the truth: why should I lie to you, Sahib?" - -"You want them----" - -Major Fayne broke off abruptly and thrust the man away from him. A -different expression had crept into his face, an expression in which -there was something furtive. He spun around upon his heel and stepped -to the tent where Moreen was. Raising the flap slightly: - -"Good-night," he called, and turned away. - -Ramsa Lal had gone back to the fireside; and Fayne, following a moment -of hesitancy, strode with his swaggering military gait to the tent -erected in the furthermost corner of the clearing. He had stooped to -enter, when he hesitated, remaining there bent forward--and listening. - -From the opposite side of the distant fire, Ramsa Lal, though few would -have suspected the fact, was watching. Evidently enough, the leader -of the little company was obsessed with his delusion that some one or -something clambered up the steep path beneath. Suddenly shrugging his -shoulders, he stooped yet lower, and dived into the tent. - -One of the natives threw fresh fuel upon the fire, and a stream of -sparks sped up through the clear air in a widening trail ever growing -fainter. - -There was a crackling, a murmur of voices, and then a new silence. This -in turn was broken by the distant howling of dogs, and in the near -stillness one might have heard the faint shrieking of the bats, who now -were embarked upon their nocturnal voyagings. - -A shrill, wild scream burst suddenly from the heart of the trees in the -east, rose eerily upon the night, and died away. But the group about the -fire moved not at all, for this dreadful screaming but marked an animal -tragedy of the Burma forests. So furred things howled and screamed and -moaned in the woodlands, feathered things piped and hooted around and -above, and the bats, uncanny creatures of the darkness, who seem to have -kinship neither with fur nor feather, chirped faintly overhead. - -Once there was a distant, hollow booming like the sound of artillery, -which echoed down the mountain gorges, and seemed to roll away over the -lowland swamps, and die, inaudible, by the remote river-bank. - -Yet no one stirred; for this mysterious gunnery is a phenomenon met with -in that district, inexplicable, weird, but no novelty to one who has -camped in the Shan Hills. - -A second time later in the night the phantom guns boomed; and again -their booming died away in the far valleys. The fire was getting low, -now. - - -III - -Moreen lay, sleepless, wide-eyed, staring up at the roof of the tent. -She had eaten, could eat, nothing, but she was consumed by a parching -thirst. The sounds of the night had no terrors for her; indeed, she -scarcely noticed them, for she had other and more dreadful things to -think of. - -Ramsa Lal had been her father's servant; him she could trust. But the -others--the others were Major Fayne's. They were no more than spies upon -her; guards. - -What did it mean, this sudden dash from the bungalow into the hills? -It amused her husband to pretend that it was a pleasure-trip, but the -equipment was not of the sort one takes upon such occasions, and one is -not usually dragged from bed at midnight to embark upon such a journey. -It was additionally improbable in view of the fact that up to the moment -of departure Major Fayne had not spoken to her, except in public, for -six months. The dreadful, forced marches were breaking her down, and she -knew that her husband was drinking heavily. What, in God's name, would -be the end of it? - -Weakly, she raised herself into a sitting position, groping for and -lighting a candle. From the bosom of her dress she took out a letter, -the last she had received from home before this mad flight. There was -something in it which had frightened her at the time, but which, viewed -in the light of recent events, was unspeakably horrifying. - -During the long estrangement between her husband and herself she had -learnt, and had paid for her knowledge with bitter tears, that there was -a side to the character of Major Fayne which he had carefully concealed -from her before marriage; the dark, saturnine part of her husband's -character had dawned upon her suddenly. That had been the beginning of -her disillusionment, the disillusionment which has come to more than one -English girl during the first twelve months of married life in an Indian -bungalow. - -Then, perforce, the gap had widened, and six months later had become a -chasm quite impassable except in the interests of social propriety. -Anglo-Indian society is notable for divorces, and poor Moreen very early -in her married life fully understood the reason. - -She held the letter to the dim light and read it again attentively. -Allowing a certain discount for her mother's changeless animosity -towards Major Fayne, it yet remained a startling letter. Much of it -consisted in feckless condolences, characteristic but foolish; the -passage, however, which she read and re-read by the dim, flickering -light was as follows: - -"Mr. Harringay in his last letter begged of me to come out by the -next boat to Rangoon," her mother wrote. "He has quite opened my eyes -to the truth, Moreen, not in such a way as to shock me all at once, -but gradually. I always distrusted Ralph Fayne and never disguised -the fact from you. I knew that his previous life had been far -from irreproachable, but his treatment of you surpasses even _my_ -expectations. I know _all_, my poor darling! and I know something which -you do not know. His father did not die in Colombo at all; he died in a -madhouse! and there are two other known dipsomaniacs in Ralph Fayne's -family----" - -A hand reached over Moreen's shoulder and tore the letter from her. - -She turned with a cry--and looked up into her husband's quivering face! -For a moment he stood over her, his left fist clenching and unclenching -and his pale blue eyes glassy with anger. Then chokingly he spoke: - -"So you carry one of his letters about with you?" - -The veins were throbbing visibly upon his temples. Moreen clutched at -the blanket but did not speak, dared not move, for if ever she had -looked into the face of a madman it was at this moment when she looked -into the face of Ralph Fayne. - -He suddenly grabbed the candle and, holding it close to the letter, -began to read. His hands were perfectly steady, showing the tremendous -nerve tension under which he laboured. Then his expression changed, but -nothing of the maniac glare left his eyes. - -"From your mother," he said hoarsely, "and full of two things--your -wrongs, _your_ wrongs! and Jack Harringay--Jack Harringay--always Jack -Harringay! Damn him!" - -He put down the candle and began to tear the letter into tiny fragments, -pouring forth the while a stream of coarse, blasphemous language. -Moreen, who felt that consciousness was slipping from her, crouched -there with a face deathly pale. - -Fayne began to laugh softly as he threw the torn-up letter from him -piece by piece. - -"Damn him!" he said again. He turned the blazing eyes towards his wife. -"You lying, baby-faced hypocrite! Why don't you admit that he is----" - -He stopped; the sinister laughter died upon his lips and he stood there -shaking all over and with a sort of stark horror in his eyes dreadful -to see. - -"Why don't you?" he muttered--and looked at her almost -pathetically,--"why of course you can't--no one can----" - -He reeled and clutched at the tent-flap, then stumblingly made his way -out. - -"No one can," came back in a shaky whisper--"no one can----" - -Moreen heard him staggering away, until the sound of his uncertain -footsteps grew inaudible. A distant howling rose upon the night, and, -nearer to the clearing, sounded a sort of tapping, not unlike that of a -woodpecker. Some winged creature was fluttering over the tent. - - -IV - -Dawn saw the dreadful march resumed. Major Fayne now exhibited -unmistakable traces of his course of heavy drinking. He brought up the -rear as hitherto, and often tarried far behind where some peculiar -formation of the path enabled him to study the country already -traversed. He had altered the route of the march, and now they were -leaving the Shan Hills upon the north-east and dipping down to a -chasm-like valley through which ran a tributary of the Selween River. -Since the dry season was commenced the entire country beneath them -showed through a haze of heat and dust. - -They had partaken of a crude and hasty breakfast as strangers having -nothing in common who by chance share a table. Moreen no longer doubted -that her husband was mad, for he muttered to himself and was ever -glancing over his shoulder. This and his constant watching of the path -behind spoke of some secret terror from which he fled. - -Towards noon, they skirted a village whose inhabitants poured forth _en -bloc_ to watch the passing of this unfamiliar company. A faint hope -that some European might be there died in Moreen's breast. Her position -was a dreadful one. Led by a madman--of this she was persuaded--and -surrounded by natives who, if not actively hostile, were certainly -unfriendly, with but one man to whom she could look for the slightest -aid, she was proceeding further and further from civilisation into -unknown wildernesses. - -What her husband's purpose might be she could not conceive. She was -unable to think calmly, unable to formulate any plan. In the dull misery -of a sick dream she rode forward speculating upon the awakening. - -The midday heat in the valley was so great that a halt became -imperative. They camped at the edge of a dense jungle where banks of -rotten vegetation, sun-dried upon the top, lay heaped about the bamboo -stems. None but a madman would have chosen to tarry in such a spot; and -Major Fayne's servants went about their work with many a furtive glance -at their master. Ramsa Lal's velvety eyes showed a great compassion, but -Moreen offered no protest. She was in an unreal frame of mind and her -will was merely capable of a mute indifference: any attempt to assert -herself would have meant a sudden breakdown. Something in her brain was -strained to utmost tension; any further effort must have snapped it. - -In the hour of the greatest heat Major Fayne went out alone, offering no -explanation of his intentions and leaving no word as to the time of his -return. Moreen only learnt of his departure from Ramsa Lal. She received -the news with indifference and asked no questions. Inert she lay in -the little tent looking out at the wall of jungle, where it uprose but -twenty yards away. So the day wore on. Mechanically she partook of food -when Ramsa Lal placed it before her, but, although the man's attitude -palpably was one of uneasiness, she did not question him, and he -departed in silence. It was an incredible situation. - -Throughout the afternoon nothing occurred to break this dread monotony -save that once there arose a buzz of conversation, and she became dimly -aware that some one from the native village which they had passed in -the morning had come into the camp. After a time the sounds had died -away again, and Ramsa Lal had stepped into view, looking towards her -interrogatively; but although she recognized his wish to speak to her, -the inertia which now claimed her mind and body prevailed, and she -offered him no encouragement to intrude upon her misery. - -Thus the weary hours passed, until even to the dulled perceptions of -Moreen the sounds of unrest and uneasiness pervading the camp began to -penetrate. Yet Major Fayne did not return. The insect and reptile life -of a Burmese jungle moved around her, but she was curiously indifferent -to everything. Without alarm she brushed a venomous spider, fully one -inch in girth, from the camp-bedstead, and dully watched it darting away -into the jungle undergrowth. - -Darkness swept down and tropical night things raised their mingled -voices; then came Ramsa Lal. - -"Forgive me, Mem Sahib," he said, "but I must speak to you." - -She half reclined, looking at him as he stood, a dimly seen figure, -before her. - -"The men from the village," continued he, "come to say that we may -not camp. It is holy ground from this place away"--he waved his arm -vaguely--"to the end of the jungle where the river is." - -"I can do nothing, Ramsa Lal." - -"I fear--for him." - -"Major Fayne?" - -"He goes into the jungle to look for something. What does he go to look -for? Why does he not return?" - -Moreen made no reply. - -"All of them there"--he indicated the direction of the native -servants--"know this place. They are already afraid, and, with those -from the village coming to warn us, they get more afraid still. This is -a haunted place, Mem Sahib." - -Moreen sat up, shaking off something of the lassitude which possessed -her. - -"What do you mean?" she asked. - -"In that jungle," replied Ramsa Lal, "there is buried a temple, a very -old temple, and in the temple there is buried one who was a holy man. -His spirit watches over this place, and none may rest here because of -him----" - -"But the men of the village came here," said Moreen. - -"Before sunset, Mem Sahib. No man would come here after dark. Look! you -will see--they are frightened." - -Languidly, but with some awakening to the necessities of the situation, -Moreen stepped out of the tent and looked across to where, about a great -fire, the retinue huddled in a circle. Ramsa Lal stood beside her with -something contemptuous in the bearing of his tall figure. - -"A spell lies upon all this valley, Mem Sahib," he said. "Therefore it -is called the Valley of the Just." - -"Why?" - -"Because only the just can stay within its bounds through the night." - -Moreen stared affrightedly. - -"Do you mean that they die in the night, Ramsa Lal?" - -"In the night, Mem Sahib, before the dawn." - -"By what means?" - -Ramsa Lal spread his palms eloquently. - -"Who knows?" he replied. "It is a haunted place." - -"And are you afraid?" - -"I am not afraid, for I have passed a night in the Valley of the Just -many years ago, and I live." - -"You were alone?" - -"With two others, Mem Sahib." - -"And the others?" - -"One was bitten by a snake an hour before dawn, and the other, who was -an upright man, lives to-day." - -Moreen shuddered. - -"Do you know"--she still hesitated to broach this subject with the -man--"do you know where--Major Fayne has gone?" - -"It is said, Mem Sahib, that a stream runs through the jungle close -beside the old temple, a stream which bubbles up from a cavern and which -is supposed to come underground from the Ruby Mine plateau. He goes -early in the morning to look for rubies--so I think." - -Moreen tapped the ground with her foot. - -"Do you think"--again she hesitated--"that Major Fayne is afraid of -something? Of something--where we have come from?" - -Ramsa Lal bowed low. - -"I cannot tell," he replied, "but we shall know ere sunrise." - -For a moment Moreen scarcely grasped the significance of his words; then -their inner meaning became apparent to her. - -"Make me some coffee, Ramsa Lal," she said; "I am cold--very cold." - -She re-entered the tent, lighting the lamp. - -The Valley of the Just! What irony, that her husband should have -selected that spot to camp in! She sat deep in thought, when presently -Ramsa Lal entered with coffee. He had just set down the tray when the -sound of a distant cry brought him rigidly upright. He stood listening -intently. The sound was repeated--nearer it seemed--a sort of hoarse -scream, terrible to hear--impossible to describe. - -Moreen rose to her feet and followed the man out of the tent. Some -one--some one who kept crying out--was plunging heavily through the -jungle towards the camp. - -The men about the fire were on their feet now. Obviously they would have -fled, but the prospect of flight into the haunted darkness was one more -terrible than that of remaining where they were. - -It ceased, that strange cry; but whoever was approaching could be heard -alternately groaning and laughing madly. - -Then out from the thicket on the west, into the red light of the fire, -burst a fearful figure. It was that of Major Fayne, wild eyed, and with -face which seemed to be of a dull grey. He staggered and almost fell, -but kept on for a few more paces and then collapsed in a heap almost at -Moreen's feet, amid the clatter of the strange loot wherewith he was -laden. - -This consisted in a number of golden vessels heavily encrusted with -gems, a huge golden salver, and a dozen or more ropes of gigantic -rubies! - -Amid these treasures, the ransom of a Sultan, the price of a throne, he -lay writhing convulsively. - -Ramsa Lal was the first to recover himself. He leapt forward, seized -the prostrate man by the shoulders and dragged him into the tent, past -Moreen. Having effected this he raised his eyes in a mute question. -She nodded, and whilst Ramsa Lal seized the Major's shoulders, Moreen -grasped his ankles, and together they lifted him up on to the bed. - -He lay there, rolling from side to side. His eyes were wide open, glassy -and unseeing; a slight froth was upon his lips, his fists rose and -fell in regular, mechanical beats, corresponding with the convulsive -movements of his knees. - -Moreen dropped down beside him. - -"Ramsa Lal! Ramsa Lal! What shall I do? What has happened to him?" - -Ramsa Lal ripped the collar from Major Fayne's neck in order to aid his -respiration. Then, quietly signing to Moreen to hold the lamp, he began -to search the entire exposed surface of the Major's skin. Evidently he -failed to find that for which he was looking. He glanced down at the -ankles, but the Major wore thick putties and Ramsa Lal shook his head in -a puzzled way. - -"It is like the bite of a hamadryad," he said softly, "but there is no -mark." - -"What shall I do!" moaned Moreen--"what shall I do!" - -There was a frightened murmur from the entrance, where the native -servants stood in a group, peering in. Moreen stood up. - -"Hot water, Ramsa Lal!" she said. "We must give him brandy." - -"But it is useless, Mem Sahib; he has not been bitten--there is no mark; -it may be a fever from the jungle." - -Moreen beat her hands together helplessly. - -"We must do _something_!" she said; "we must do _something_." - -A sudden change took place in Major Fayne. The convulsive movements -ceased and he lay quiet, and breathing quite regularly. The glassy look -began to fade from his eyes, and with every appearance of being in full -possession of his senses, he stared at Moreen and spoke: - -"You shall repent of your words, Harringay," he said in a quiet voice. -"You have deliberately accused me of faking the cards. I care nothing -for any of you. Why should I attempt such a thing? I could buy and sell -you all!..." - -Moreen dropped slowly back upon her knees again, white to the lips, -watching her husband. With the same appearance of perfect sanity, but -now addressing the empty air, he continued: - -"In my tent--my wife will tell you it is true--my wife, Harringay, do -you hear?--I have jewelled cups and strings of rubies, enough to buy up -Mandalay! I blundered on to them in that old ruined temple back in the -jungle, not five hundred yards from your bungalow. Harringay--think of -it--a treasure-room like that within sight of your verandah! There are -snakes there, snakes, you understand, in hundreds; but it is worth -risking for a big fortune like mine." - -"He mixes time and place," murmured Ramsa Lal. "He talks to the -Commissioner Sahib in Mandalay of what is here in the Valley of the -Just." - -Moreen nodded, catching her breath hysterically. - -"You see," continued the delirious man, "I am as rich as Midas. Why -should _I_ want to cheat you! Don't talk to me of what you would do for -my wife's sake! Keep your favours, curse you!" - -With a contemptuous smile, Major Fayne threw his head back upon the -pallet. Then came another change; the look of stark horror which Moreen -had seen once before crept into the grey face; and her husband raised -himself in bed, glaring wildly into the shadows beyond the lamp. - -"You are a spirit!" The words came in a thrilling, eerie whisper. "Oh -God! I understand. Yes! I came away from Harringay's bungalow. My wife -was asleep and I sat drinking until I had emptied the whisky decanter." - -He bent forward as if listening. - -"Yes, I went back. I went back to reason with him. No! as God is my -witness I did not plan it! I went back to reason with him." - -Again the uncanny attitude was resumed. Then: - -"I stepped in through the verandah, and there he sat with Moreen's -photograph in his hand. Listen to me--_Listen!_" There was an agony of -entreaty in his voice; it rose to a thin scream--"My wife's photograph! -Do you hear me? Do you understand? _Moreen's_ photograph--and as I stood -behind him, he raised it to his lips--he----" - -Major Fayne stopped abruptly, as if checked by a spoken word; and with -wildly beating heart Moreen found herself listening for the phantom -voice. She could hear the breathing of the natives clustered behind her; -but no other sound save a distant howling in the jungle was audible, -until her husband began again: - -"I struck him down--from behind, yes, from behind. His blood poured over -the picture. You understand I was mad. If you are just--and is not this -called the Valley of the Just?--you cannot condemn me. Why did I fly? -I was not in my right mind; I had--been drinking, as I told you; I -was mad. If I was not mad I should never have fled, never have drawn -suspicion--on myself." - -He fell back as if exhausted, then once more struggled upright and began -to peer about him. When he spoke again, his voice, though weak, was -more like his own. - -"Moreen!" he said--"where the devil are you? why can't you give me a -drink?" - -Suddenly, he seemed to perceive her, and he drew his brows together in -the old, ugly frown. - -"Curse you!" he said. "I have found you out! I am a rich man now, and -when I have gone to England, see what Jack Harringay will do for you. I -will paint London red! I have looted the old temple, and they are after -me, they----" - -The words merged into a frightful scream. Major Fayne threw up his hands -and fell back insensible upon the bed. - -"Mem Sahib! Mem Sahib, you must be brave!" It was Ramsa Lal who spoke; -he supported Moreen with his arm. "There is a spell upon this place. No -medicine, nothing, can save him. There is only one thing----" - -Moreen controlled herself by one of those giant efforts of which she was -capable. - -"Tell me," she whispered--"what must we do?" - -Ramsa Lal removed his arm, saw that she could stand unsupported, and -bent forward over the unconscious man. Following a rapid examination, -he signed to her to leave the tent. They came out into the white blaze -of the moonlight--and there at their feet lay the glittering loot of the -haunted temple, a dazzlement of rainbow sparks. - -"Only for such a thing as this," said Ramsa Lal, "dare I go, but not one -of us will see another dawn if we do not go." He pointed to the heap of -treasure. "Mem Sahib must come also." - -"But--my husband----" - -"He must remain," he said. "It is of his own choosing." - - -V - -The temple stood in a kind of clearing. Grotesquely horrible figures -guarded the time-worn entrance. Moreen drew a deep breath of relief on -emerging from the jungle path by which, amid the rustle of retreating -snakes, they had come, but shrank back affrighted from the blackness -of the ruined doorway. Ramsa Lal stood the lantern upon the stump of a -broken pillar, where its faint yellow light was paled by the moon-rays. - -"It is _you_ who must restore," he said. - -One by one he handed her the jewel-encrusted vessels and hung the ropes -of rubies upon her arm. - -She nodded, and as Ramsa Lal took up the lantern and began to descend -the steps within followed him. - -"No foot save his," came back to her, "has trod these sacred steps for -ages, for the secret of the jungle path is known only to the few...." - -"How do you--know the way?" - -Ramsa Lal did not reply. - -They traversed a short tunnel; a heavy door was thrust open; and Moreen -found herself standing in a small pillared hall. Through a window high -in one wall, overgrown with tangled vegetation, crept a broken moonbeam. -Directly before her was the carven figure of a grotesque deity. A long, -heavily clamped chest stood before it like an altar step. - -She staggered forward, deposited her priceless burden upon the floor, -and mechanically began to raise the lid of the chest. - -"Not that one, Mem Sahib!" The voice of Ramsa Lal rose shrilly--"not -that one!..." - -But he spoke too late. Moreen realised that there were three divisions -in the chest, each having a separate lid. As she raised the one in the -centre, a breath of fetid air greeted her nostrils, and she had a vague -impression that this was no chest but the entrance to a deep pit. Then -all these thoughts were swept away by the crowning horror which rose out -of the subterranean darkness. - -A great winged creature, clammily white, rose towards her, passed -beneath her upraised hands and sailed into the darkness on the right. -She heard it flapping its great bat wings against the wall--heard them -beating upon a pillar--then saw it coming back towards her into the -moonlight--and knew no more. - - -VI - -"Mem Sahib!" - -Moreen opened her eyes. She lay, propped against a saddle, at the camp -beside the jungle. She shuddered icily. - -"Ramsa Lal--how----" - -"I carried the Mem Sahib! the treasures of the temple I restored to -their resting-place----" - -"And the--the other----" - -"The door that the Mem Sahib opened she opened by the decree of Fate. It -was not for Ramsa Lal to close it. That is a passage----" - -"Yes?" - -"--To the tomb of the great one who is buried in the temple!" - -"Oh! heavens! that white thing----" She raised her hands to her face. -"But--the camp----" - -"The camp is deserted! they all fled from----" - -Moreen sat up, rigidly. - -"From what?" - -"From something that came for what we forgot!" - -"My husband----" - -"There was a ring upon his finger. I saw it, and knew where it came -from, but forgot to remove it." - -Moreen stood up, and turned towards the nearer tent. Ramsa Lal gently -detained her. - -"Not that way, Mem Sahib." - -"But I must see him! I must, I _must_ tell him that he wrongs me, -cruelly, wickedly! You heard his words-- Oh, God! can he have----" - -"It would be useless to tell him, Mem Sahib,--he could not hear you! But -that what you would tell him is true I know well; for see--it is the -dawn!" - -"Ramsa Lal!..." - -"The unjust cannot stay in this valley through a night and live to see -the dawn, Mem Sahib!" - - -VII - -At about that same hour, Deputy-Commissioner Jack Harringay opened his -eyes and looked wonderingly at a grey-haired, white-aproned nurse who -sat watching him. - -"Don't speak, Mr. Harringay," she said soothingly. "You have been very -ill, but you are on the high road to recovery now." - -"Nurse!..." - -"Please don't speak; I know what you would ask. There has been no -scandal. The attack upon you was ascribed to robbers. You have been -delirious, Mr. Harringay, and have told me--many things. I am old -enough, or nearly old enough, to be your mother, so you will not mind my -telling you that a love like yours deserves reward. God has spared your -life; be sure it was with a purpose----" - - - - -The Blue Monkey - - -I - -A tropically hot day had been followed by a stuffy and oppressive -evening. In the tiny sitting-room of our tiny cottage, my friend--who, -for the purposes of this story, I shall call Mr. East--by the light -of a vapour lamp was busily arranging a number of botanical specimens -collected that morning. His briar fumed furiously between his teeth, -and, his grim, tanned face lowered over his work, he brought to bear -upon this self-imposed task all the intense nervous energy which was -his. - -I sat by the open window alternately watching my tireless companion and -the wonderful and almost eerie effects of the moonlight on the heather. -Then: - -"We came here for quiet--and rest, East," I said, smiling. - -"Well!" snapped my friend. "Isn't it quiet enough for you?" - -"Undeniably. But I don't remember to have seen you rest from the moment -that we left London! I exclude your brief hours of slumber--during -which, by the way, you toss about and mutter in a manner far from -reposeful." - -"No wonder. My nerves are anything but settled yet, I grant you." - -Indeed, we had passed through a long and trying ordeal, the particulars -whereof have no bearing upon the present matter, and in renting -this tiny and remote cottage we had sought complete seclusion and -forgetfulness of those evil activities of man which had so long engaged -our attention. How ill we had chosen will now appear. - -I had turned again to the open window, when my meditations were -interrupted by a sound that seemed to come from somewhere away behind -the cottage. Cigarette in hand, I leaned upon the sill, listening, then -turned and glanced toward the littered table. East, his eyes steely -bright in the lamplight, was watching me. - -"You heard it?" I said. - -"Clearly. A woman's shriek!" - -"Listen!" - -Tense, expectant, we sat listening for some time, until I began to -suspect that we had been deceived by the note of some unfamiliar denizen -of the moors. Then, faintly, chokingly, the sound was repeated, -seemingly from much nearer. - -"Come on!" snapped East. - -Hatless, we both hurried around to the rear of the cottage. As we came -out upon the slope, a figure appeared on the brow of a mound some two -hundred yards away and stood for a moment silhouetted against the -moonlit sky. It was that of a woman. She raised her arms at sight of -us--and staggered forward. - -Just in the nick of time we reached her, for her strength was almost -spent. East caught her in his arms. - -"Good God!" he said, "it is Miss Baird!" - -What could it mean? The girl, who was near to swooning and inarticulate -with fatigue and emotion, was the daughter of Sir Jeffrey Baird, our -neighbour, whose house, The Warrens, was visible from where we stood. - -East half led, half carried her down the slope to the cottage; and there -I gave her professional attention, whilst, with horror-bright eyes and -parted lips, she fought for mastery of herself. She was a rather pretty -girl, but highly emotional, and her pathetically weak mouth was -doubtless a maternal heritage, for her father, Sir Jeffrey, had the -mouth and jaw of the old fighter that he was. - -At last she achieved speech. - -"My father!" she whispered brokenly; "oh, my poor father!" - -"What!" I began---- - -"At Black Gap!..." - -"Black Gap!" I said; for the place was close upon half a mile away. -"Have you come so far?" - -"He is lying there! My poor father--dead!" - -"What!" cried East, springing up--"Sir Jeffrey--dead? Not drowned?" - -"No, no! he is lying on the path this side of the Gap! I ... almost -stumbled over ... him. He has been ... murdered! Oh, God help me!..." - -East and I stared at one another, speechless with the sudden horror of -it. Sir Jeffrey murdered! - -Suddenly the distracted girl turned to my friend, clutching frenziedly -at his arm. - -"Oh, Mr. East!" she cried, "what had my poor father done to merit such -an end? What monster has struck him down? You will find him, will you -not? I thank God that you are here--for although I know you as 'Mr. -East,' my father confided the truth to me, and I am aware that you are -really a Secret Service agent, and I even know some of the wonderful -things you have done in the past...." - -"Very indiscreet!" muttered East, and his jaws snapped together -viciously. But--"My dear Miss Baird," he added immediately, in the -kindly way that was his own, "rely upon me. Myself and my fellow-worker, -the doctor here, had sought to escape from the darker things of life, -but it was willed otherwise. I esteemed Sir Jeffrey very highly"--his -voice shook--"very highly indeed. I, too, thank God that I am here." - - -II - -Five minutes later, East and I set out across the moor, leaving Miss -Baird at the cottage. By reason of the lonely situation, and the fact -that the nearest house, The Warrens, was fully a mile and a half -away, no other arrangement was possible, since delay could not be -entertained. - -East had managed to glean some few important facts. Sir Jeffrey, whose -museum at The Warrens was justly celebrated, had been to London that day -to attend an auction at Sotheby's. His Greek secretary, Mr. Damopolon, -and his daughter had accompanied him. Returning by train to Stanby, the -nearest station, Miss Baird had called upon friends in the village (Mr. -Damopolon had remained in London on business), and Sir Jeffrey had set -out in the dusk to walk the two miles to The Warrens; for the car was -undergoing repairs. - -Pursuing the same path later in the evening, the girl had come upon the -body of her father in the dramatically dreadful manner already related. -He had no enemies, she declared, or none known to her. She did not -believe that her father was carrying a large sum of money, nor--although -she had scarcely trusted herself to look at him--did she believe that -robbery had been the motive of the crime. - -Sir Jeffrey had been carrying a large parcel containing one of his -purchases, and I remembered, as we silently pursued our way to the scene -of the murder, how East's keen eyes had seemed to dance with excitement -when Miss Baird, in reply to a question, had told us what this parcel -contained. It was a large figure, in blue porcelain, of a sacred ape, -and was of Burmese or Chinese origin; she was uncertain which. - -Her father had apparently attached great importance to this strange -purchase, and had elected to bear it home in person rather than to trust -it to railway transport. - -"Did you notice if this parcel was there," East had inquired eagerly, -"when you discovered him?" - -Miss Baird had shaken her head in reply. - -And now we were come to Black Gap, a weird feature in a weird landscape. -This was a great hole in the moor, having high clay banks upon one side -descending sheer to the tarn, and upon the other being flanked by low, -marshy ground about a small coppice. The road from Stanby to The Warrens -passed close by the coppice on the south-east. - -Regarding this place opinions differed. By some it was supposed to be a -natural formation, but it was locally believed to mark the site of an -abandoned mine, possibly Roman. Its depth was unknown, and the legend -of the coach which lay at the bottom, and which could be seen under -certain favourable conditions, has found a place in all the guide-books -to that picturesque and wild district. - -Whatever its origin, Black Gap was a weird and gloomy spot as one -approached and saw through the trees the gleam of the moonlight on -its mystic waters. And here, passing a slight southerly bend in the -track--for it was no more--we came upon Sir Jeffrey. - -He lay huddled in a grotesque and unnatural attitude. His right hand was -tightly clenched, whilst with his left he clutched a tuft of rank grass. -Strangely enough, his soft hat was still upon his head. His tweed suit, -soft collar and, tie all bore evidence of the fierce struggle which the -old baronet had put up for his life. A quantity of torn brown paper lay -scattered near the body. - -I dropped on my knees and made a rapid examination, East directing the -ray of a pocket-lamp upon the poor victim. - -"Well?" rapped my friend. - -"He was struck over the head by some heavy weapon," I said slowly, -"and perhaps partly stunned. His hat protected him to a degree, and -he tackled his assailant. Death was actually due, I should say, to -strangulation. His throat is very much bruised." - -East made no reply. Glancing up from my gruesome task, I observed that -he was looking at a faint track, which, commencing amid the confused -marks surrounding the body, led in the direction of the coppice. East's -steely eyes were widely opened. - -"In heaven's name, what have we here!" he said. - -A kindred amazement to that which held East claimed me, as I studied -more closely the mysterious tracks. - -The spot where Sir Jeffrey had fallen was soft ground, whereon the -lightest footstep must have left a clear impression. Indeed, around the -recumbent figure the ground showed a mass of indistinguishable marks. -But proceeding thence, as I have said, in the direction of the -neighbouring coppice, was this faint trail. - -"It looks," I said, in a voice hushed with something very like awe, "it -looks like the track of ... _a child_!" - -"Look again!" snapped East. - -I stooped over the first set of marks. Clearly indented, I perceived the -impressions of two small, bare feet, and, eighteen or twenty inches -ahead, those of two small hands. I experienced a sudden chill; my blood -seemed momentarily to run coldly in my veins, and I longed to depart -from the shadow of the trees, from the neighbourhood of the Black Gap, -and from the neighbourhood of the man who had died there. For it seemed -to me that a barefooted infant had recently crawled from the side of the -dead man into the coppice overhanging the tarn. - -Looking up, I found East's steely eyes set upon me strangely. - -"Well!" said he, "do you not miss something that you anticipated -finding?" - -I hesitated, fearfully. Then: - -"Sir Jeffrey carries no cane," I began---- - -"Good! I had failed to note that. Good! But what else?" - -Closely I surveyed the body, noting the disarranged garments, the -discoloured face. - -"What of this torn brown paper?" snapped my friend. - -"Good heavens!" I cried; and like a flash my glance sought again those -mysterious tracks--those tracks of _something_ that had crawled away -from the murdered man. - -"Where," inquired East deliberately, "is the Burmese porcelain ape of -which we have heard? And, since there are no tracks _approaching_ the -body, where did the creature come from that made those retiring from it, -and ... what manner of creature was it?" - - -III - -At East's request (for my friend was a man of very great influence) the -police, beyond the unavoidable formalities, took no steps to apprehend -the murderer of Sir Jeffrey. East had a long interview with the dead -man's daughter, and, shortly afterwards, went off to London, leaving me -to my own devices. - -The subject of the strange death of the baronet naturally engrossed -my attention to the exclusion of all else. Especially, my mind kept -reverting to the tracks which we had discovered leading from the dead -man's body into the coppice. I scarcely dared to follow my ideas to what -seemed to be their logical conclusion. - -That the track was that, not of a child, but of an _ape_, I was now -convinced. No such track approached where the victim had lain; no track -of any kind, other than that of his own heavy footprints, led to the -spot ... but the track of an ape receded from it; and the baronet had -been carrying an ape (inanimate, certainly, according to all known -natural laws), which was missing when his body was found! - -"These are the reflections of a madman!" I said aloud. "Am I seriously -considering the possibility of a blue porcelain monkey having come to -life? If so, since no other footprints have been discovered, I shall be -compelled, logically, to assume that the blue porcelain monkey strangled -Sir Jeffrey!" - -My friend, East, attached very great importance to the missing curio; -this he had not disguised from me. But, beyond spending half an hour or -so among the trees of the coppice and around the margin of the Black -Gap, he had not to my knowledge essayed any quest for it. - -Finding my thoughts at once unpleasant and unprofitable company, I -suddenly determined to make a call at The Warrens, in order to inquire -about the health of poor Miss Baird, and incidentally to learn if there -were any new development. - -Off I set, and failed to repress a shudder, despite the blazing -sunlight, as I passed the gap and the spot where we had found the dead -man. A tropical shower in the early morning had quite obliterated the -mysterious tracks. Coming to The Warrens, I was shown into the fine old -library. That air of hush, so awesome and so significant, prevailed -throughout the house whose master lay dead above, and when presently Mr. -Damopolon entered, attired in black, he seemed to complete a picture -already sombre. - -As East and I had several times remarked, he was a singularly handsome -man, and moreover, a very charming companion, widely travelled and -deeply versed in those subjects to which the late baronet had devoted so -many years of his life. I had always liked Damopolon, though, as a rule, -I am distrustful of his race; and now, seeing at a glance how hard the -death of Sir Jeffrey had hit him, I offered no unnecessary word of -condolence, but immediately turned the conversation upon Miss Baird. - -"She has but just hurried off to London, doctor," he said, to my -surprise. "A telegram from the solicitors rendered her immediate -departure unavoidable." - -"She has sustained this dreadful blow with exemplary fortitude," I -replied. "Are you sure she was strong enough for travel?" - -"I myself escorted her to the station; and Mrs. Grierson, the late -baronet's sister, has accompanied her to London." - -"By the way," I said, "whilst I remember--was Sir Jeffrey carrying a -cane at the time of his death?" - -"He had with him a heavy ash stick, as usual, when we parted at -Sotheby's, doctor; but, of course, he may have left it there, as he had -a large parcel to take." - -"Ah! that parcel! You can no doubt enlighten me, Mr. Damopolon? What, -roughly, were the dimensions of this Burmese idol?" - -"The monkey? I don't think it was actually an idol, doctor; it was, -rather, a grotesque ornament. Oh, it was about the size of a small -Moorish ape, hollow, and weighing perhaps six or seven pounds." - -"Was it upon a pedestal?" - -"No. It was completely modelled, even to the soles of the feet and the -nails." - -"Extraordinary!" I muttered. "Uncanny!" - -Some little while longer I remained, and then set out, my doubts in no -measure cleared up, for the cottage. To my surprise--for I had no idea -that I had tarried so long--dusk was come. I will frankly confess it--I -experienced a thrill of supernatural dread at the thought that my path -led close beside Black Gap. However, it was a glorious evening, and I -should have plenty of light for my return journey. I walked briskly -across the moorpath toward the scene of the mysterious crime, hoping -that I should find East returned when I gained the cottage. - -Perhaps in a wandering life I have known more thrilling moments than -some men; but never while memory serves shall I forget that, when, -coming abreast of the coppice, and glancing hurriedly into the shadow of -the trees ... I saw a crouching figure looking out at me! - -Speech momentarily failed me; I stood rooted to the spot. Then: - -"All right, old man!" I heard. "Shall be with you in a moment!" - -It was East! - -Fear changed to the wildest astonishment. Carrying a strange-looking -bundle, he came out and joined me on the path. - -"Did I frighten you?" - -"Is it necessary to ask!" I cried. "But--whatever were you doing there -by the Black Gap?" - -"Fishing! Look what I have caught!" - -He held up for my inspection the object which he carried, by means of -two loops of stout cord bound about it. It was a large china figure of -an ape! - -"The blue monkey!" he snapped. "Come! I am going to The Warrens." - - -IV - -Again I sat in the fine old library of The Warrens. At the further -end of the long, book-laden table, facing me, sat East; Mr. Damopolon -occupied a chair on the right, and midway between us, in the centre of -the table, presiding over that strange meeting, was the fateful blue -monkey. - -"You see, Mr. Damopolon," said East, "I knew that Sir Jeffrey was -carrying this thing"--he indicated the image--"at the time of his death, -and, since it had disappeared, I assumed at first that it had been the -motive of the crime. Sir Jeffrey had money and other valuables upon him; -therefore we were obviously dealing with no ordinary thief. - -"Accordingly, I made inquiries respecting the history of the thing, -and found that it possessed but little market value and next to -no historical importance. It was of comparatively modern Chinese -workmanship, and Sir Jeffrey had bought it, apparently, because it -amused him, though why he should have taken the trouble to carry it -home, heaven only knows. My first idea--that the curio was a very rare -and costly piece--was thus knocked on the head. - -"I sought another motive for a crime so horrible and, by a stroke of -intuition, I found one. You may not have had an opportunity of studying -the mysterious tracks which so puzzled us, Mr. Damopolon, before they -were obliterated, but my friend, the doctor, will bear me out. They -commenced, then, close beside the body of the murdered man, and they -were, as I now perceive, made by the feet of this blue monstrosity upon -the table here!" - -"Impossible," murmured the secretary incredulously. - -"So it appeared to me at the time, when, although I had not then -seen the image of the monkey, I perceived, by the absolutely regular -character of the impressions, that they were made, not by a living -creature, but by the model of one which had been firmly pressed into -the soft ground at slightly varying intervals. Since no footprints -other than those of Sir Jeffrey were to be found in the vicinity, I was -unable to account for the presence of the person who had made these -impressions. I devoted myself to a close scrutiny of those footprints -of Sir Jeffrey's which led up to the scene of the attack. It became -apparent, immediately, that some one had _followed_ him ... some one who -crept silently along behind the unsuspecting victim ... some one so -clever that he placed his feet _almost exactly_ in the marks made by the -baronet! - -"Good! I had accounted for the presence of the murderer. He struck Sir -Jeffrey with some heavy implement, but failed to stun him. Then began -the struggle, which so churned up the ground that all tracks were lost. -The murderer prevailed. He was a man of wonderful nerve. Never once did -he place his foot upon virgin ground; not one imprint by which he might -be identified did he leave behind him!" - -"Then how," inquired Damopolon, who was hanging upon every word, "did he -leave the scene if----" - -"Listen," snapped East. "I found by the body the torn paper in which the -china image had been wrapped--but no string! I went all the way to -London to learn if the parcel had been tied with string and if Sir -Jeffrey had been carrying a stick!" - -"But surely," said Damopolon, "I could have saved you the journey, since -I was with the late baronet immediately before he set out for home." - -"Quite so--but I had another reason for my visit." - -East shot a sudden glance from Damopolon to myself, and there ensued a -moment of electric silence. - -"Beside the track made by the feet of the image," he resumed slowly, "I -found a series of wedge-shaped holes, one on either side of each -monkey-impression. Do you follow me, Mr. Damopolon?" - -"Perfectly," replied the Greek, taking up and lighting a cigarette. -"Wedge-shaped holes, you say?" - -"They were the clue for which I sought! I saw it all! The china ape had -been used as a _stepping-stone_! The cunning criminal had thus gained -the firm ground in the coppice without leaving a footprint behind!..." - -"But, my dear East," I interrupted, "I cannot follow you. He stepped -from beside the body on to the image, which he had placed at a -convenient distance?" - -"Yes. Then, by means of loops of string--see, they are still -attached!--he lifted it forward with his feet----" - -"But----" - -"Supporting his weight upon two sticks--Sir Jeffrey's and his own! Hence -the wedge-shaped holes beside the track! He had actually reached firm -ground when his own stick snapped off short, and he made the fatal error -of leaving the fragment and the ferrule, imbedded in the hole! Here is -the fragment!" - -On the table East laid a fragment of an ebony cane, broken off short -some three inches above the nickel ferrule. - -"Ebony is so brittle, is it not, Mr. Damopolon?" he said. - -"It is indeed," agreed Damopolon, standing up as though he believed East -to have finished. - -"Yet this stick was made of a particularly fine piece," added East. -"Carter!" he cried loudly. - -The library door opened ... and Detective Sergeant Carter, of New -Scotland Yard, entered, carrying a broken ebony stick. Damopolon dropped -his cigarette, and, whilst he stooped to recover it: - -"Carter and I went fishing this afternoon," said East, "in the Black -Gap. The criminal had sought to hide the broken cane--which bears his -monogram--and also the image. He had tied them together, filled the -image with clay, and dropped them into the water. Fortunately, they -stuck upon an outstanding mass of weeds, and we did not fish in vain. -Is there any point, Mr. Damopolon, which I have not made clear? I don't -know what implement you used to strike Sir Jeffrey, nor do I know what -you did with his ash-stick!..." - -Clutching wildly at the table, I rose to my feet, my gaze set amazedly -upon the man thus accused, upon the man I had called my friend, upon -the man who owed so much to the dead baronet. And he?... He tossed his -cigarette into the hearth and shrugged his shoulders. But, now, I saw -that he was deathly pale. He began speaking, in a hoarse, mechanical -voice: - -"I struck him with a broken elm branch," he said. "His hat saved him. I -completed the matter with my bare hands. I was desperate. You need not -tell me that Olive--Miss Baird--has confessed to our secret marriage, -nor shall I weary you with the many reasons I had to hate her father and -the pressing need I had for the fortune which she inherits at his death. -It is finished; I have lost, and----" - -"Carter!" cried East. "Quick! quick!" - -But though the detective, who had been edging nearer and nearer to the -speaker, now sprang upon him with the leap of a panther, he was too -late. The sound of a muffled shot echoed through The Warrens, and the -Greek fell with an appalling crash fully over the library table, so that -the blue monkey slid across its polished surface and was shattered to -bits upon the oaken floor! - - - - -The Riddle of Ragstaff - - -I - -"Well, Harry, my boy, and what's the latest news from Venice?" - -Harry Lorian stretched his long legs and lay back in his chair. - -"I had a letter from the governor this morning, Colonel. He appears -to be filling his portfolio with studies of windows and doorways and -stair-rails and the other domestic necessities dear to his architectural -soul!" - -Colonel Reynor laughed in his short, gruff way, as my friend, Lorian, -gazing sleepily about the quaint old hall in which we sat, but always -bringing his gaze to one point--a certain door--blew rings of smoke -straightly upward. - -"I suppose," said our host, the Colonel, "most of the material will be -used for the forthcoming book?" - -"I suppose so," drawled Lorian, glancing for the twentieth time at -the yet vacant doorway by the stair-foot. "The idea of architects and -artists and other constitutionally languid people, having to write -books, fills my soul with black horror." - -"He had a glorious time with our old panelling, Harry," laughed the -Colonel, waving his cigar vaguely toward the panelled walls and nooks -which gradually were receding into the twilight. - -"Yes," said my friend. "He was here quite an unconscionable time--even -for an old school chum of the proprietor. I hope you counted the spoons -when he left!" - -Lorian's disrespectful references to Sir Julius, his father, were -characteristic; for he reverences that famous artist with the double -love of a son and a pupil. - -"Of course we did," chuckled Reynor. "Nothing missing, my boy!" - -"That's funny," drawled Lorian. "Because if he didn't steal it from here -I can't imagine from where he stole it!" - -"Stole what, Harry?" - -"Whatever some chap broke into his studio for last night!" - -"Eh!" cried the Colonel, sitting suddenly very upright. "Into your -father's studio? Burglars?" - -"Suppose so," was the reply. "They took nothing that I was aware to be -in his possession, though the place was ransacked. I naturally concluded -that they had taken something that I was _unaware_ to be in his----Ah!" - -Sybil Reynor entered by the door which, for the past twenty minutes, -had been the focus of Lorian's gaze. The gathering dusk precluded the -possibility of my seeing with certainty, but I think her face flushed as -her dark eyes rested upon my friend. Her beauty is not of the kind which -needs deceptive half-lights to perfect it, but there in the dimness, as -she came towards us, she looked very lovely and divinely graceful. I did -not envy Lorian his good fortune; but I suppressed a sigh when I saw how -my existence had escaped the girl's notice and how the world in her -eyes, contained only a Henry Lorian, R.I. - -Her mother entered shortly afterwards and a general conversation arose, -which continued until the arrival of Ralph Edie and his sister. They -were accompanied by Felix Hulme; and their advent completed the small -party expected at Ragstaff Park. - -"You late arrivals," said Lorian, "have only just time to dress, unless -you want to miss everything but the nuts!" - -"Oh, Harry!" said Mrs. Reynor, "you are as bad as your father!" - -"Worse," said Lorian promptly. "I am altogether more rude and have a -bigger appetite!" - -With such seeming trivialities, then, opened the drama of Ragstaff, the -drama in which Fate had cast four of us for leading rôles. - - -II - -Following dinner, the men--or, as my friend has it, "the -gunners"--drifted into the hall. The hall at Ragstaff Park is fitted -as a smoking lounge. It dates back to Tudor days and affords some -magnificent examples of mediæval panelling. At every point the eye meets -the device of a man with a ragged staff--from which the place derives -its name, and which is the crest of the Reynors. - -A conversation took place to which, at the time, I attached small -importance, but which, later, assumed a certain significance. - -"Extraordinary business," said Felix Hulme--"that attempted burglary at -Sir Julius's studio last night." - -"Yes," replied Lorian. "Who told you?" - -Hulme appeared to be confused by the abrupt question. - -"Oh," he replied, "I heard of it from Baxter, who has the next studio, -you know." - -"When did you see Baxter?" asked Lorian casually. - -"This morning." - -"I suppose," said Colonel Reynor to my friend, "a number of your -father's drawings are there?" - -"Yes," answered Lorian slowly; "but the more valuable ones I have at my -own studio, including those intended for use in his book." - -Something in his tone caused me to glance hard at him. - -"You don't think they were the burglar's objective?" I suggested. - -"Hardly," was the reply. "They would be worthless to a thief." - -"First I've heard of this attempt, Lorian," said Edie. "Anything -missing?" - -"No. The thing is an utter mystery. There were some odds and ends lying -about which no ordinary burglar could very well have overlooked." - -"If any loss had been sustained," said the Colonel, half jestingly, "I -should have put it down to the Riddle!" - -"Don't quite follow you. Colonel," remarked Edie. "What riddle?" - -"The family Riddle of the Ragstaffs," explained Lorian. "You've seen -it--over there by the staircase." - -"Oh!" exclaimed the other, "you mean that inscription on the -panel--which means nothing in particular? Yes, I have examined it -several times. But why should it affect the fortunes of Sir Julius?" - -"You see," was the Colonel's reply, "we have a tradition in the family, -Edie, that the Riddle brings us luck, but brings misfortune to anyone -else who has it in his possession. It's never been copied before; but I -let Lorian--Sir Julius--make a drawing of it for his forthcoming book -on Decorative Wood-carving. I don't know," he added smilingly, "if the -mysterious influence follows the copy or only appertains to the -original." - -"Let us have another look at it," said Edie. "It has acquired a new -interest!" - -The whole party of us passed idly across the hall to the foot of the -great staircase. From the direction of the drawing-room proceeded the -softly played strains of the _Duetto_ from _Cavalleria_. I knew Sybil -Reynor was the player, and I saw Lorian glance impatiently in the -direction of the door. Hulme detected the glance, too, and an expression -rested momentarily upon his handsome face which I found myself at a loss -to define. - -"You see," said the Colonel, holding a candle close to the -time-blackened panel, "it is a meaningless piece of mediæval doggerel -roughly carved in the wood. The oak-leaf border is very fine, so your -father tells me, Harry"--to Lorian--"but it is probably the work of -another hand, as is the man and ragged staff which form the shield at -the top." - -"Has it ever occurred to you," asked Hulme, "that the writing might be -of a very much later date--late Stuart, for instance?" - -"No," replied the Colonel abruptly, and turned away. "I am sure it is -earlier than that." - -I was not the only member of the party who noticed the curt tone of his -reply; and when we had all retired for the night I lingered in Lorian's -room and reverted to the matter. - -"Is the late Stuart period a sore point with the Colonel?" I asked. - -Lorian, who was in an unusually thoughtful mood, lighted his pipe and -nodded. - -"It is said," he explained, "that a Reynor at about that time turned -buccaneer and became the terror of the two Atlantics! I don't know what -possessed Hulme to say such a thing. Probably he doesn't know about the -piratical page in the family records, however. He's a strange chap." - -"He is," I agreed. "Everybody seems to know him, yet nobody knows -anything _about_ him. I first met him at the Travellers' Club. I was -unaware, until I came down here this time, that the Colonel was one of -his friends." - -"Edie brought him down first," replied Lorian. "But I think Hulme had -met Sybil--Miss Reynor--in London, before. I may be a silly ass, but -somehow I distrust the chap--always have. He seems to know altogether -too much about other people's affairs." - -I mentally added that he also took too great an interest in a -certain young lady to suit Lorian's taste. We chatted upon various -matters--principally upon the manners, customs, and manifold beauties -of Sybil Reynor--until my friend's pipe went out. Then I bade him good -night and went to my own room. - - -III - -With that abruptness characteristic of the coast and season, a high wind -had sprung up since the party had separated. Now a continuous booming -filled the night, telling how the wrath of the North Atlantic spent -itself upon the western rocks. - -To a town-dweller, more used to the vaguely soothing hum of the -metropolis, this grander music of the elements was a poor sedative. -Sleep evaded me, tired though I was, and I presently found myself -drifting into that uncomfortable frame of mind between dreaming and -waking, wherein one's brain becomes a torturing parrot-house, filled -with some meaningless reiteration. - -"The riddle of the ragged staff--the riddle of the ragged staff," was -the phrase that danced maddeningly through my brain. It got to that pass -with me, familiar enough to victims of insomnia, when the words began to -go to a sort of monotonous melody. - -Thereupon, I determined to light a candle and read for a while, in the -hope of inducing slumber. - -The old clock down in the hall proclaimed the half-hour. I glanced at my -watch. It was half-past one. The moaning of the wind and the wild song -of the sea continued unceasingly. - -Then I dropped my paper--and listened. - -Amid the mighty sounds which raged about Ragstaff Park it was one slight -enough which had attracted my attention. But in the elemental music -there was a sameness which rendered it, after a time, negligible. -Indeed, I think sleep was not far off when this new sound detached -itself from the old--like the solo from its accompaniment. - -Something had fallen, crashingly, within the house. - -It might be some object insecurely fastened which had been detached -in the breeze from an open window. And, realising this, I waited and -listened. - -For some minutes the wind and the waves alone represented sound. Then my -ears, attuned to this stormy conflict, and sensitive to anything apart -from it, detected a faint scratching and tapping. - -My room was the first along the corridor leading to the west wing, and -therefore the nearest to the landing immediately above the hall. I -determined that this mysterious disturbance proceeded from downstairs. -At another time, perhaps, I might have neglected it, but to-night, -and so recently following upon Lorian's story of the attempt upon his -father's studio, I found myself keenly alive to the burglarious -possibilities of Ragstaff. - -I got out of bed, put on my slippers, and, having extinguished the -candle, was about to open the door when I observed a singular thing. - -A strong light--which could not be that of the moon, for ordinarily the -corridor beyond was dark--shone under the door! - -Even as I looked in amazement it was gone. - -Very softly I turned the knob. - -Careful as I was, it slipped from my grasp with a faint _click_. To -this, I think, I owed my failure to see more than I did see. But what I -saw was sufficiently remarkable. - -Cloud-banks raced across the sky tempestuously, and, as I peered over -the oaken balustrade down into the hall, one of these impinged upon the -moon's disc and, within the space of two seconds or less, had wholly -obscured it. Upon where a long, rectangular patch of light, splashed -with lozenge-shaped shadows spread from a mullioned window across -the polished floor, crept a band of blackness--widened--claimed -half--claimed the whole--and left the hall in darkness. - -Yet, in the half-second before the coming of the cloud, and as I first -looked down, I had seen something--something indefinable. All but -immediately it was lost in the quick gliding shadow--yet I could be sure -that I had seen--what? - -A gleaming, metallic streak--almost I had said a sword--which leapt from -my view into the bank of gloom! - -Passing the cloud, and the moon anew cutting a line of light through the -darkness of the hall, nothing, no one, remained to be seen. I might have -imagined the presence of the shining blade, rod, or whatever had seemed -to glitter in the moon-rays; and I should have felt assured that such -was the case but for the suspicion (and it was nearly a certainty) that -a part of the shadow which had enwrapped the mysterious appearance had -been of greater depth than the rest--more tangible; in short, had been -no shadow, but a substance--the form of one who lurked there. - -Doubtful how to act, and unwilling to disturb the house without good -reason, I stood hesitating at the head of the stairs. - -A grating sound, like that of a rusty lock, and clearly distinguishable -above the noise occasioned by the wind, came to my ears. I began slowly -and silently to descend the stairs. - -At the foot I paused, looking warily about me. There was no one in the -hall. - -A new cloud swept across the face of the moon, and utter darkness -surrounded me again. I listened intently, but nothing stirred. - -Briefly I searched all those odd nooks and corners in which the rambling -place abounded, but without discovering anything to account for the -phenomena which had brought me there at that hour of the night. The big -doors were securely bolted, as were all the windows. Extremely puzzled, -I returned to my room and to bed. - -In the morning I said nothing to our host respecting the mysterious -traffic of the night, since nothing appeared to be disturbed in any way. - -"Did you hear it blowing?" asked Colonel Reynor during breakfast. "The -booming of the waves sounded slap under the house. Good job the wind has -dropped this morning." - -It was, indeed, a warm and still morning, when on the moorland strip -beyond the long cornfield, where the thick fir-tufts marked the warren -honeycomb, partridges might be met with in many coveys, basking in the -sandy patches. - -There were tunnels through the dense bushes to the west, too, which led -one with alarming suddenness to the very brink of the cliff. And here -went scurrying many a hare before the armed intruder. - -Lorian and I worked around by lunch-time to the spinneys east of -the cornfield, and, nothing loath to partake of the substantial -hospitalities of Ragstaff, made our way up to the house. There is a kind -of rock-garden from which you must approach from that side. It affords -an uninterrupted view of the lower part of the grounds from the lawn up -to the terrace. - -Only two figures were in sight; and they must have been invisible from -any other point, as we, undoubtedly, were invisible to them. - -They were those of a man and a girl. They stood upon the steps -leading down from the lawn to the rose-garden. It was impossible to -misunderstand the nature of the words which the man was speaking. But -I saw the girl turn aside and shake her head. The man sought to take -her hand and received a further and more decided rebuff. - -We hurried on. Lorian, though I avoided looking directly at him, -was biting his lip. He was very pale, too. And I knew that he had -recognized, as I had recognized, Sybil Reynor and Felix Hulme. - - -IV - -During lunch, a Mr. Findon, who had driven over with one of the -Colonel's neighbours, asked Sybil Reynor whether the peculiar and far -from beautiful ring which she invariably wore was Oriental. From his -conversation I gathered that he was something of an expert. - -"It is generally supposed to be Phoenician, Mr. Findon," she answered; -and slipping it from her finger she passed it to him. "It is my lot in -life to wear it always, hideous though it is!" - -"Indeed! An heirloom, I suppose?" - -"Yes," replied the girl; "and an ugly one." - -In point of fact, the history of the ring was as curious as that of the -Riddle. For generations it had been worn by the heir of Ragstaff from -the day of his majority to that of his eldest son's. Colonel Reynor -had no son. Hence, following the tradition as closely as circumstances -allowed, he had invested Sybil with the ring upon the day that she came -of age--some three months prior to the time of which I write. - -As Mr. Findon was about to return the ring, Lorian said: - -"Excuse me. May I examine it for a moment?" - -"Of course," replied Sybil. - -He took it in his hand and bent over it curiously. I cannot pretend to -explain what impelled me to glance towards Hulme at that moment; but I -did do so. And the expression which rested upon his dark and usually -handsome face positively alarmed me. - -I concluded that, beneath the cool surface, he was a man of hot -passions, and I would have ascribed the fixed glare to the jealousy of -a rejected suitor in presence of a more favoured rival, had it centred -upon Lorian. But it appeared to be focused, particularly, upon the ring. - -The incident impressed me very unfavourably. A sense of mystery was -growing up around me--pervading the atmosphere of Ragstaff Park. - -After lunch Lorian and I again set out in company, but my friend -appeared to be in anything but sporting humour. We bore off at a sharp -angle from the Colonel and some others who were set upon the rough -shooting on the western rim of the moors and made for the honeycombed -ground which led one upward to the cliff edge. - -Abruptly, we found ourselves upon the sheer brink, with the floor of the -ocean at our feet and all the great Atlantic before us. - -"Let us relent of our murderous purpose," said Lorian, dropping -comfortably on to a patch of velvety turf and producing his pipe. "I -have dragged you up here with the malicious intention of talking to -you." - -I was not sorry to hear it. There was much that I wished to discuss with -him. - -"I should have stayed to say something to some one," he added, carefully -stuffing his briar, "but first I wanted to say something to you." He -paused, fumbling for matches. "What," he continued, finding some and -striking one, "is Felix Hulme's little game?" - -"He wants to marry Miss Reynor." - -"I know; but he needn't get so infernally savage because she won't -accept him. He looked at me in a positively murderous way at lunch -to-day." - -"So you noticed that?" - -"Yes--and I saw that you noticed it, too." - -"Listen," I said. "Leaving Hulme out of the question, there is an -altogether more mysterious business afoot." And I told him of the -episode of the previous night. - -He smoked stolidly whilst I spoke, frowning the while; then: - -"Old chap," he said, "I begin to have a sort of glimmering of -intelligence. I believe I am threatened with an idea! But it's such an -utterly fantastic hybrid that I dare not name it--yet." - -He asked me several questions respecting what I had seen, and my replies -appeared to confirm whatever suspicion was gathering in his mind. We saw -little enough sport, but came in later than anyone. - -During dinner there was an odd incident. Lorian said: - -"Colonel, d'you mind my taking a picture of the Riddle?" - -"Eh!" said the Colonel. "What for? Your father made a drawing of it." - -"Yes, I know," replied Lorian. "I mean a photograph." - -"Well," mused the Colonel, "I don't know that there can be much -objection, since it has been copied once. But have you got a camera -here?" - -"Ah--no," said my friend thoughtfully, "I haven't. Can anybody lend me -one?" - -Apparently no one could. - -"If you care to drive over to Dr. Mason's after dinner," said our host, -"he will lend you one. He has several." - -Lorian said he would, and I volunteered to accompany him. Accordingly -the Colonel's high dogcart was prepared; and beneath a perfect moon, -swimming in a fleckless sky which gave no hint of the storm to come, -we set off for the doctor's. - -My friend's manoeuvres were a constant source of surprise to me. -However, I allowed him to know his own business best, and employed my -mind with speculations respecting this mystery, what time the Colonel's -spirited grey whisked us along the dusty roads. - -We had just wheeled around Dr. Mason's drive, when the fact broke in -upon my musings that a Stygian darkness had descended upon the night, -as though the moon had been snuffed, candle-wise. - -"Devil of a storm brewing," said Lorian. "Funny how the weather changes -at night." - -Two minutes after entering the doctor's cosy study, down came the rain. - -"Now we're in for it!" said Mason. "I'll send Wilkins to run the dogcart -into the stable until it blows over." - -The storm proved to be a severe one; and long past midnight, despite the -doctor's hospitable attempts to detain us, we set off for Ragstaff Park. - -"We can put up the grey ourselves," said Lorian. "I love grooming -horses! And by going around into the yard and throwing gravel up at -his window, we can awaken Peters without arousing the house. This plan -almost startles me by its daring originality. I fear that I detect -within myself the symptoms of genius." - -So, with one of Dr. Mason's cameras under the seat, we started back -through the sweet-smelling lanes; and, at about twenty minutes past one, -swung past the gate lodge and up the long avenue, the wheels grinding -crisply upon the newly wetted gravel. There was but little moon, now, -and the house stood up, an irregular black mass, before us. - -Then, from three of the windows, there suddenly leapt out a dazzling -white light! - -Lorian pulled up the grey with a jerk. - -"Good God!" he said. "What's that! An explosion!" - -But no sound reached us. Only, for some seconds, the hard, white glare -streamed out upon the steps and down on to the drive. Suddenly as it had -come--it was gone, and the whole of Ragstaff was in darkness as before! - -The horse started nervously, but my friend held him with a firm hand, -turning and looking at me queerly. - -"That's what shone under your door last night!" he said. "That light was -in the hall!" - - -V - -Peters was awakened, the horse stabled and ourselves admitted without -arousing another soul. As we came around from the back of the house (we -had not entered by the main door), and, candles in hand, passed through -the hall, nothing showed as having been disturbed. - -"Don't breathe a word of our suspicions to anyone," counselled Lorian. - -"What _are_ our suspicions?" said I. - -"At present," he replied, "indefinable." - -To-night the distant murmur of the sea proved very soothing, and I slept -soundly. I was early afoot, however, but not so early as Lorian. As I -passed around the gallery above the hall, on my way to the bathroom, I -saw him folding up the tripod of the camera which he had borrowed from -Dr. Mason. The morning sun was streaming through the windows. - -"Hullo!" Lorian called to me. "I've got a splendid negative, I think. -Peters is rigging up a dark-room in the wine-cellar--delightful site for -the purpose! Will you join me in developing?" - -Although I was unable to conjecture what my friend hoped to gain by his -photographic experiments, I agreed, prompted as much by curiosity as -anything else. So, after my tub, I descended to the cellar and splashed -about in Hypo., until Lorian declared himself satisfied. - -"The second is the best," he pronounced critically, holding the negative -up to the red lamp. "I made three exposures in all; but the reflection -from the polished wood has rather spoiled the first and also the third." - -"Whatever do you want with this photograph, anyway," I said, "when the -original is available?" - -"My dear chap," he replied, "one cannot squat in the hall fixedly -regarding a section of panel like some fakir staring at a palm leaf!" - -"Then you intend to study it?" - -"Closely!" - -As a matter of fact, he did not join us during the whole of the day; but -since he spent the greater part of the time in his own room, I did not -proffer my aid. From a remark dropped by the Colonel, I gathered that -Sybil had volunteered to assist, during the afternoon, in preparing -prints. - -I was one of the first in to tea, and Lorian came racing out to meet me. - -"Not a word yet," he said, "but if the Colonel is agreeable, I shall -tell them all at dinner!" - -"Tell them what?" I began---- - -Then I saw Sybil Reynor standing in the shadow of the porch, and, even -from that distance, saw her rosy blushes. - -I understood. - -"Lucky man!" I cried, and wrung his hand warmly. "The very best of good -wishes, old chap. I am delighted!" - -"So am I!" replied Lorian. "But come and see the print." - -We went into the house together; and Sybil blushed more furiously than -ever when I told her how I envied Lorian--and added that he deserved the -most beautiful girl in England, and had won her. - -Lorian had a very clear print of the photograph pinned up to dry on the -side of his window. - -"We shall be busy to-night!" he said mysteriously. - -He had planned to preserve his great secret until dinner-time; but, of -course, it came out whilst we sat over tea on the balcony. The Colonel -was unfeignedly delighted, and there is nothing secretive about Colonel -Reynor. Consequently, five minutes after he had been informed how -matters were between his daughter and Lorian, all the house knew. - -I studied the face of Hulme, to see how he would take the news. But -he retained a perfect mastery of himself, though his large dark eyes -gleamed at discord with the smile which he wore. - -Our photographic experiments were forgotten; and throughout dinner, -whereat Sybil looked exquisitely lovely and very shy, and Lorian -preserved an unruffled countenance, other topics ruled. - -It was late before we found ourselves alone in Lorian's room, with the -print spread upon the table beneath the light of the shaded lamp. - -We bent over it. - -"Now," said Lorian, "I assume that this is some kind of cipher!" - -I stared at him surprisedly. - -"And," he continued, "you and I are going to solve it if we sit up all -night!" - -"How do you propose to begin?" - -"Well, as it appears to mean nothing in particular, as it stands, I -thought of beginning by assuming that the letters have other values -altogether. Therefore, upon the basis that _e_ is the letter which most -frequently occurs in English, with _a_, _o_, _i_, _d_, _h_, _n_, _r_, -afterwards, I had thought of resolving it into its component letters." - -"But would that rule apply to mediæval English?" - -"Ah," said Lorian thoughtfully, "most sage counsellor! A wise and timely -thought! I'm afraid it wouldn't." - -"What now?" - -Lorian scratched his head in perplexity. - -"Suppose," he suggested, "we write down the words plainly, and see if, -treating each one separately, we can find other meanings to them." - -Accordingly, upon a sheet of paper, I wrote: - - Wherso eer thee doome bee - Looke untoe ye strypped tree - Offe ragged staffe. Upon itte ley - Golde toe greene ande kay toe kay. - -Our efforts in the proposed direction were rewarded with poor success. -Some gibberish even less intelligible than the original was the only -result of our labour. - -Lorian threw down his pencil and began to reload his pipe. - -"Let us consider possible meanings to the original words," he said. "Do -you know of anything in the neighbourhood which might answer to the -description of a 'strypped tree'?" - -I shook my head. - -"What has occasioned your sudden interest in the thing?" I asked -wearily. - -"It is a long story," he replied; "and I have an idea that there's no -time to be lost in solving the Riddle!" - -However, even Lorian's enthusiasm flagged at last. We were forced to -admit ourselves hopelessly beaten by the Riddle. I went to my own room -feeling thoroughly tired. But I was not destined to sleep long. A few -minutes after closing my eyes (or so it seemed), came a clamouring at -the door. - -I stumbled sleepily out of bed, and, slipping on my dressing-gown, -admitted Lorian. Colonel Reynor stood immediately behind him. - -"Most extraordinary business!" began the latter breathlessly. "Sybil -had--_you_ tell him, Harry!" - -"Well," said Lorian, "it is not unexpected! Listen: Sybil woke up a -while ago, with the idea that she had forgotten something or lost -something--you know the frame of mind! She went to her dressing-table -and found the family ring missing!" - -"_The_ ring!" burst in the Colonel excitedly. "Amazing!" - -"She remembered having taken it off, during the evening, to--er--to put -another one on! But she was unable to recall having replaced it. She -determined to run down and see if she had left it upon the seat in the -corner of the library. Well, she went downstairs in her dressing-gown, -and, carrying a candle, very quietly, in order to wake no one, crossed -to the library and searched unavailingly. She heard a faint noise -outside in the hall." - -Lorian paused. Felix Hulme had joined the party. - -"What's the disturbance?" he asked. - -"Oh," said Lorian, turning to him, "it's about Sybil. She was down in -the library a while ago to look for something, and heard a sort of -grating sound out in the hall. She came out, and almost fell over an -iron-bound chest, about a foot and a half long, which stood near the -bottom of the staircase!" - -"Good heavens, Lorian!" I cried, "how had it come there?" - -"Sybil says," he resumed, "that she could not believe her eyes. She -stooped to examine the thing ... and with a thrill of horror saw it to -be roughly marked _with a skull and cross-bones_!" - -"My dear Lorian," said Hulme, "are you certain that Miss Reynor was -awake?" - -"She woke _us_ quickly enough!" interrupted the Colonel. "Poor girl, she -was shaking dreadfully. Thought it was a supernatural appearance. She's -with her mother now." - -"But the box!" I cried. "Where is the box?" - -"That's the mystery," answered Colonel Reynor. "I was downstairs two -minutes later, and there was nothing of the kind to be seen! Has our -Ragstaff ghost started walking again, I wonder? You ought to know, -Hulme; you're in the Turret Room--that is the authentic haunted -chamber!" - -"I was aroused by the bell ringing," replied Hulme. "I am a very light -sleeper. But I heard or saw nothing supernatural." - -"By the way, Hulme," said my friend, "the Turret Room is directly above -the hall. I have a theory. Might I come up with you for a moment?" - -"Certainly," replied Hulme. - -We all went up to the Turret Room. Having climbed the stairs to this -apartment, you enter it by descending three steps. It is octagonal and -panelled all around. My friend tapped the panels and sounded all the -oaken floor-boards. Then, professing himself satisfied, he bade Hulme -good night, and accompanied me to my room. - - -VI - -Ragstaff Park slumbered once more. But Lorian sat upon the edge of my -bed, smoking and thinking hard. He had been to his own room for the -print of the Riddle, and it lay upon a chair before him. - -"Listen to this," he said suddenly: "(_a_) Some one breaks into the -governor's studio, and takes nothing. His drawings of the Ragstaff -Riddle happen to be at my studio. (_b_) You hear a noise in the night, -and see (1) a bright light; (2) a gleaming rod. (_c_) You and I see a -bright light on the following night, and presumably proceeding from -the same place; i.e., the hall. (_d_) Something I have not mentioned -before--Hulme has a camera in his kit! And he doesn't want the fact -known!" - -"What do you mean?" - -"I tested him the other night, by inquiring if anyone could lend me -a camera. He did not volunteer! The morning following the mysterious -business in the hall, observed by you, I saw a photographic printing -frame in his window! He must have one of those portable developers with -him." - -"And to what does all this point?" - -"To the fact that he has made at least three attempts to obtain a copy -of the Riddle, and has at last succeeded!" - -"Three!" - -"I really think so. The evidence points to him as the person who broke -into the studio. He made a bad slip. He referred to the matter, and -cited Horace Baxter as his informant. Baxter is away!" - -"But this is serious!" - -"I should say so! He couldn't attempt to photograph the panel in -daylight, so he employed magnesium ribbon at night! First time his -tripod slipped. It is evidently one of the light, telescopic kind. His -negative proved useless. It was one of the metal legs of the tripod -which you saw shining! The second time he was more successful. That was -the light of his magnesium ribbon you and I saw from the drive!" - -"But, Lorian, I went down and searched the hall!" - -"Now we come on to the, at present, conjectural part," explained Lorian. -"My theory is that Hulme, somewhere or other, has come across some old -documents which give the clue to those secret passages said to exist in -Ragstaff, but which the Colonel has never been able to locate. I feel -assured that there is some means of secret communication between the -Turret Room and the hall. I further believe that Hulme has in some way -got upon the track of another secret--that of the Riddle." - -"But what _is_ the secret of the Riddle?" - -"In my opinion the Riddle is a clue to another hiding-place, evidently -not connected with the maze of passages; possibly what is known as a -Priest's Hole. As you know, Hulme asked Sybil to marry him. I believe -the man to be in financial straits; so that we must further assume the -Riddle to conceal the whereabouts of a treasure, since the Reynors are -far from wealthy." - -"The _chest_! Lorian! The chest!" I cried. - -"Quite so. But what immediately preceded its appearance? The loss of the -family ring! If I am not greatly in error, Hulme found that ring! And -the ring is the key to the riddle! Do you recall the shape of the bezel? -Simply _a square peg of gold_! Look at the photograph!" - -He was excited, for once. - -"What does it say?" he continued: "'Ye strypped tree!' That means the -device of leaves, twigs, and acorns--stripped _from_ a tree--see? Here, -at the bottom of the panel, is such a group, and (this is where we have -been so blind!) intertwined with the design is the word _CAEG_--Ancient -Saxon for _key_! Look! 'Golde toe Greene and kay toe kay'! Amongst the -_green_ leaves is a square hole. The _gold_ knob on the ring fits it!" - -For a moment I was too greatly surprised for speech. Then: - -"You think Hulme discovered this?" - -"I do. And I think Sybil's mislaying her ring gave him his big chance. -He had got the chest out whilst she was in the library. He must have -been inside somewhere looking for it when she passed through the hall. -Then, hearing her approach from the library, he was forced to abandon -his heavy 'find' and hide in the secret passage which communicates with -his room. Directly she ran upstairs he returned for the chest!" - -I looked him hard in the face. - -"We don't want a scene, Lorian," I began. "Besides, it's just possible -you may be wrong." - -"I agree," said Lorian. "Come up to his room, now." - -Passing quietly upstairs, we paused before the door of the Turret Room. -A faint light showed under it. Lorian glanced at me--then knocked. - -"Who's there?" came sharply. - -"Lorian," answered my friend. "I want a chat with you about the secret -passage and the old treasure chest--_before speaking to the Colonel_!" - -There was a long silence, then: - -"Just a moment," came hoarsely. "Don't come in until I call." - -We looked at one another doubtfully. A long minute passed. I could hear -a faint sound within. At last came Hulme's voice: - -"All right. Come in." - -As Lorian threw the door open, a faint _click_ sounded from somewhere. - -The Turret Room was empty! - -"By heaven! he's given us the slip!" cried my friend. - -We glanced around the room. A candle burnt upon the table. And upon the -bed stood an iron-barred chest, with a sheet of notepaper lying on its -lid! - -Lorian pounced upon the note. We read it together. - -"Mr. Henry Lorian" (it went), "I realize that you have found me out. I -will confess that I had no time to open the chest. But as matters stand -I only ask you not to pursue me. I have taken nothing not my own. The -ring, and an interesting document which I picked up some years ago, are -on the table. Offer what explanation of my disappearance you please. I -am in your hands." - -We turned again to the table. Upon a piece of worn parchment lay the -missing ring. Lorian spread out the parchment and bent over it. - -"Why," I cried, "it is a plan of Ragstaff Park!" - -"With a perfect network of secret passages!" added my friend, "and some -instructions, apparently, as to how to enter them. It bears the initials -'R. R.' and, in brackets, 'Capt. S.' I begin to understand." - -He raised the candle and stepped across to the ancient chest. It bore -a roughly designed skull and cross-bones, and, in nearly defaced red -characters, the words: - -"_CAPTAIN SATAN_." - -"Captain Satan!" I said. "He was one of the most bloodthirsty pirates -who ever harried the Spanish Main!" - -"He was," agreed Lorian; "and his real name was Roderick Reynor. He -evidently solved the riddle some generations earlier than Hulme--and -stored his bloodstained hoard in the ancient hiding-place. Also, you -see, he knew about the passages." - -"What shall we do?" - -"Hulme has surrendered. You can see that the chest has not been opened. -Therefore there is only one thing that we _can_ do. We must keep what we -know to ourselves, return the chest to its hiding-place, and proclaim -that we have found the missing ring!" - -Down to the hall we bore the heavy chest. The square knob on the ring -fitted, as Lorian had predicted, into the hole half hidden among the -oak leaves of the design. Without much difficulty we forced back the -fastening (it proved to be of a very simple pattern), and slid the whole -panel aside. A small, square chamber was revealed by the light of the -candle--quite empty. - -"As I had surmised," said my friend; "a Priest's Hole." - -We carried the chest within, and reclosed the panel, which came to with -a sharp _click_. - - * * * * * - -The story which we invented to account for Hulme's sudden departure -passed muster; for one topic usurped the interests of all--the ghostly -box, with its piratical emblem. - -"My boy," Colonel Reynor said to Lorian, "I cannot pretend to explain -what Sybil saw. But it bears curiously upon a certain black page in the -family history. If the chest had been tangible, and had contained a -fortune, I would not have opened it. Let all pertaining to that part of -our records remain buried, say I." - -"Which determines our course," explained Lorian to me. "The chest is not -ours, and the Colonel evidently would rather not know about it. I regret -that I lack the morals of a burglar." - - - - -The Master of Hollow Grange - - -I - -Jack Dillon came to Hollow Grange on a thunderous black evening when an -ebony cloud crested the hill-top above, and, catching the upflung rays -of sunset, glowed redly like the pall of Avalon in the torchlight. -Through the dense ranks of firs cloaking the slopes a breeze, presaging -the coming storm, whispered evilly, and here in the hollow the birds -were still. - -The man who had driven him from the station glanced at him, with a -curiosity thinly veiled. - -"What about your things, sir?" he inquired. - -Dillon stared rather blankly at the ivy-covered lodge, which, if -appearances were to be trusted, was unoccupied. - -"Wait a moment; I will ring," he said curtly; for this furtive -curiosity, so ill concealed, had manifested itself in the manner of the -taxi-driver from the moment that Dillon had directed him to drive to -Hollow Grange. - -He pushed open the gate and tugged at the iron ring which was suspended -from the wall of the lodge. A discordant clangour rewarded his efforts, -the cracked note of a bell that spoke from somewhere high up in the -building, that seemed to be buffeted to and fro from fir to fir, until -it died away, mournfully, in some place of shadows far up the slope. In -the voice of the bell there was something furtive, something akin to the -half-veiled curiosity in the eyes of the man who stood watching him; -something fearful, too, in both, as though man and bell would whisper: -"Return! Beware of disturbing the dwellers in this place." - -But Dillon angrily recalled himself to the realities. He felt that -these ghostly imaginings were born of the Boche-maltreated flesh, were -products of lowered tone; that he would have perceived no query in the -glance of the taxi-driver and heard no monkish whisper in the clang of -the bell had he been fit, had he been fully recovered from the effects -of his wound. Monkish whisper? Yes, that was it--his mind had supplied, -automatically, an aptly descriptive term: the cracked bell spoke with -the voice of ancient monasteries, had in it the hush of cloisters and -the sigh of renunciation. - -"Hang it all!" muttered Dillon. "This won't do." - -A second time he awoke the ghostly bell-voice, but nothing responded to -its call; man, bird, and beast had seemingly deserted Hollow Grange. He -was conscious of a sudden nervous irritation, as he turned brusquely and -met the inquiring glance of the taxi-man. - -"I have arrived before I was expected," he said. "If you will put my -things in the porch here I will go up to the house and get a servant to -fetch them. They will be safe enough in the meantime." - -His own words increased his irritability; for were they not in the -nature of an apology on behalf of his silent and unseen host? Were they -not a concession to that nameless query in the man's stare? Moreover, -deep within his own consciousness, some vague thing was stirring; so -that, the man dismissed and promptly departing, Dillon stood glancing -from the little stack of baggage in the lodge porch up the gloomy, -narrow, and over-arched drive, indignantly aware that he also carried -a question in his eyes. - -The throb of the motor mounting the steep, winding lane grew dim and -more dim until it was borne away entirely upon the fitful breeze. -Faintly he detected the lowing of cattle in some distant pasture; the -ranks of firs whispered secretly one to another, and the pall above the -hills grew blacker and began to extend over the valley. - -Amid that ominous stillness of nature he began to ascend the cone-strewn -path. Evidently enough, the extensive grounds had been neglected for -years, and that few pedestrians, and fewer vehicles, ever sought Hollow -Grange was demonstrated by the presence of luxuriant weeds in the -carriage way. Having proceeded for some distance, until the sheer -hillside seemed to loom over him like the wall of a tower, Dillon -paused, peering about in the ever-growing darkness. He was aware of -a physical chill; certainly no ray of sunlight ever penetrated to -this tunnel through the firs. Could he have mistaken the path and be -proceeding, not toward the house, but away from it and into the midnight -of the woods mantling the hills? - -There was something uncomfortable in that reflection; momentarily -he knew a childish fear of the darkening woods, and walked forward -rapidly, self-assertively. Ten paces brought him to one of the many -bends in the winding road--and there, far ahead, as though out of some -cavern in the very hillside, a yellow light shone. - -He pressed on with greater assurance until the house became visible. Now -he perceived that he had indeed strayed from the carriage-sweep in some -way, for the path that he was following terminated at the foot of a -short flight of moss-covered brick steps. He mounted the steps and found -himself at the bottom of a terrace. The main entrance was far to his -left and separated from the terrace by a neglected lawn. That portion -of the place was Hanoverian and ugly, whilst the wing nearest to him -was Tudor and picturesque. Excepting the yellow light shining out from -a sunken window almost at his feet, no illuminations were visible about -the house, although the brewing storm had already plunged the hollow -into premature night. - -Indeed, there was no sign of occupancy about the strange-looking -mansion, which might have hidden forgotten for centuries in the -horseshoe of the hills. He had sought for rest and quiet; here he should -find them. The stillness of the place was of that sort which almost -seems to be palpable; that can be seen and felt. A humid chill arose -apparently from the terrace, with its stone pavings outlined in moss, -crept up from the wilderness below and down from the fir-woods above. - -A thought struggled to assume form in his mind. There was something -reminiscent about this house of the woods, this silent house which -struck no chord of human companionship, in which was no warmth of life -or love. Suddenly, the thought leapt into complete being. - -This was the palace of the sleeping beauty to which he had penetrated. -It was the fairy-tale dear to childhood which had been struggling for -expression in his mind ever since he had emerged from the trees on to -the desolate terrace. With the departure of the station cab had gone the -last link with to-day, and now he was translated to the goblin realm of -fable. - -He had crossed the terrace and the lawn, and stood looking through an -open French window into a room that evidently adjoined the hall. A -great still darkness had come, and on a little table in the room a -reading-lamp was burning. It had a quaint, mosaic shade which shut in -much of the light, but threw a luminous patch directly on a heap of -cushions strewn upon the floor. Face downward in this silken nest, her -chin resting upon her hands and her elfin curly brown hair tousled -bewitchingly, lay a girl so audaciously pretty that Dillon hesitated to -accept the evidence of his eyes. - -The crunching of a piece of gravel beneath his foot led to the awakening -of the sleeping beauty. She raised her head quickly and then started -upright, a lithe, divinely petite figure in a green velvet dress, having -short fur-trimmed sleeves that displayed her pretty arms. For an instant -it was a startled nymph that confronted him; then a distracting dimple -appeared in one fair cheek, and: - -"Oh! how you frightened me!" said the girl, speaking with a slight -French accent which the visitor found wholly entrancing. "You must be -Jack Dillon? I am Phryné." - -Dillon bowed. - -"How I envy Hyperides!" he said. - -A blush quickly stained the lovely face of Phryné, and the roguish eyes -were lowered, whereby the penitent Dillon, who had jested in the not -uncommon belief that a pretty girl is necessarily brainless, knew that -the story of the wonder-woman of Thespiæ was familiar to her modern -namesake. - -"I am afraid," declared Phryné, with a return of her mischievous -composure, "that you are very wicked." - -Dillon, who counted himself a man of the world, was temporarily at a -loss for a suitable rejoinder. The cause of his hesitancy was twofold. -In the first place he had reached the age of disillusionment, whereat a -man ceases to believe that a perfectly lovely woman exists in the flesh, -and in the second place he had found such a fabulous being in a house of -gloom and silence to which, a few moments ago, he had deeply regretted -having come. - -His father, who had accepted the invitation from an old college friend -on his son's behalf, had made no mention of a Phryné, whereas Phryné -clearly took herself for granted and evidently knew all about Jack -Dillon. The latter experienced a volcanic change of sentiment; Hollow -Grange was metamorphosed, and assumed magically the guise of a Golden -House, an Emperor's pleasure palace, a fair, old-world casket holding -this lovely jewel. But who was she?--and in what spirit should he -receive her bewildering coquetries? - -"I trust," he said, looking into the laughing eyes, "that you will learn -to know me better." - -Phryné curtsied mockingly. - -"You have either too much confidence in your own character or not enough -in my wisdom," she said. - -Dillon stepped into the room, and, stooping, took up a book which lay -open upon the floor. It was a French edition of _The Golden Ass_ of -Apuleius. - -The hollow was illuminated by a blinding flash of lightning, and -Phryné's musical laughter was drowned in the thunder that boomed and -crashed in deepening peals over the hills. In a sudden tropical torrent -the rain descended, as Dr. Kassimere entered the room. - - -II - -Jack Dillon leant from his open window and looked out over the valley to -where a dull red glow crowned the hill-top. There was a fire somewhere -in the neighbourhood of the distant town; probably a building had been -struck by lightning. The storm had passed, although thunder was still -audible dimly, like the roll of muffled drums or a remote bombardment. -Stillness had reclaimed Hollow Grange. - -He was restless, uneasy; he sought to collate his impressions of the -place and its master. Twelve years had elapsed since his one previous -meeting with Dr. Kassimere, and little or no memory of the man had -remained. So much had intervened; the war--and Phryné. Now that he was -alone and could collect his ideas he knew of what Dr. Kassimere's gaunt, -wide-eyed face had reminded him: it was of Thoth, the Ibis-headed god -whose figure he had seen on the walls of the temples during his service -in Egypt. - -"Kassimere was always a queer fish, Jack," his father had said; "but -most of his eccentricities were due to his passion for study. The Grange -is the very place Sir Francis" (the specialist) "would have chosen for -your convalescence, and you'll find nothing dangerously exciting in -Kassimere's atmosphere!" - -Yet there was that about Dr. Kassimere which he did not and could not -like; his quietly cordial welcome, his courteous regret that his guest's -arrival by an earlier train (a circumstance due to reduced service) had -led to his not being met at the station; the charming simplicity with -which he confessed to the smallness of his household, and to the -pleasure which it afforded him to have the son of an old chum beneath -his roof--all these kindly overtures had left the bird-like eyes cold, -hard, watchful, calculating. The voice was the voice of a friend and a -gentleman, but the face was the face of Thoth. - -The mystery of Phryné was solved in a measure. She was Dr. Kassimere's -adopted daughter and the orphaned child of Louis Devant, the famous -Paris cartoonist, who had died penniless in 1911, at the height of his -success. In his selection of a name for her, the brilliant and dissolute -artist had exhibited a breadth of mind which Phryné inherited in an -almost embarrassing degree. - -Her mental equipment was bewildering: the erudition of an Oxford don -spiced with more than a dash of Boul' Mich', which made for complexity. -Her curious learning was doubtless due to the setting of a receptive -mind amid such environment, but how she had retained her piquant -vivacity in Hollow Grange was less comprehensible. The servants -formed a small and saturnine company, only two--the housekeeper, Mrs. -Harman, a black and forbidding figure, and Madame Charny, a French -companion--sleeping in the house. Gawly, a surly creature who neglected -the gardens and muttered savagely over other duties, together with his -wife, who cooked, resided at the lodge. There were two maids, who lived -in the village.... - -The glow from the distant fire seemed to be reflected upon the firs -bordering the terrace below; then Dillon, watching the dull, red light, -remembered that Dr. Kassimere's laboratory adjoined the tiny chapel, and -that, though midnight drew near, the doctor was still at work there. - -Owls and other night birds hooted and shrieked among the trees and -many bats were in flight. He found himself thinking of the pyramid -bats of Egypt, and of the ibis-headed Thoth who was the scribe of the -under-world. - -Dr. Kassimere had made himself medically responsible for his case, and -had read attentively the letters which Dillon had brought from his own -physician. He was to prescribe on the following day, and to-night the -visitor found Morpheus a treacherous god. Furtive activities disturbed -the house, or so it seemed to the sleepless man tossing on his bed; -alert intelligences within Hollow Grange responded to the night-life of -the owls without, and he seemed to lie in the shadow of a watchfulness -that never slumbered. - - -III - -"There's many a fine walk hereabouts," said the old man seated in the -arm-chair in the corner of the _Threshers' Inn_ bar-parlour. - -Dillon nodded encouragingly. - -"There's Ganton-on-the-Hill," continued the ancient. "You can see the -sea from there in clear weather; and many's the time I've heard the guns -in France from Upper Crobury of a still night. Then, four mile away, -there's the haunted Grange, though nobody's allowed past the gate. Not -as nobody wants to be," he added, reflectively. - -"The haunted Grange?" questioned Dillon. "Where is that?" - -"Hollow Grange?" said the old man. "Why, it lies----" - -"Oh, Hollow Grange--yes! I know where Hollow Grange is, but I was -unaware that it was reputed to be haunted." - -"Ah," replied the other, pityingly, "you're new to these parts; I see -that the minute I set eyes on you. Maybe you was wounded in France, and -you're down here to get well, like?" - -"Quite so. Your deductive reasoning is admirable." - -"Ah," said the sage, chuckling with self-appreciation, "I ain't lived in -these here parts for nigh on seventy-five years without learning to use -my eyes, I ain't. For seventy-four years and seven months," he added -proudly, "I ain't been outside this here county where I was born, and -I can use my eyes, I can; I know a thing I do, when I see it. Maybe it -was providence, as you might say, what brought you to the _Threshers_ -to-day." - -"Quite possibly," Dillon admitted. - -"He was just such another as you," continued the old man with apparent -irrelevance. "You don't happen to be stopping at Hainingham Vicarage?" - -"No," replied Dillon. - -"Ah! he was stopping at Hainingham Vicarage and he'd been wounded in -France. How he got to know Dr. Kassimere I can't tell you; not at -parson's, anyway. Parson won't never speak to him. Only last Sunday week -he preached agin him; not in so many words, but I could see his drift. -He spoke about them heathen women livin' on an island--sort of female -Robinson Crusoes, I make 'em out, I do--as saves poor shipwrecked -sailors from the sea and strangles of 'em ashore." - -Dillon glanced hard at the voluble old man. - -"The sirens?" he suggested, conscious of a sudden hot surging about his -heart. - -"Ah, that's the women I mean." - -"But where is the connection?" - -"Ah, you're new to these parts, you are. That Dr. Kassimere he keeps a -siren down in Hollow Grange. They see her--these here strangers (same as -the shipwrecked sailors parson told about)--and it's all up with 'em." - -Dillon stifled a laugh, in which anger would have mingled with contempt. -To think that in the twentieth century a man of science was like to meet -with the fate of Dr. Dee in the days of Elizabeth! Truly there were dark -spots in England. But could he credit the statement of this benighted -elder that a modern clergyman had actually drawn an analogy between -Phryné Devant and the sirens? It was unbelievable. - -"What was the unhappy fate," he asked, masking his intolerance, "of the -young man staying at the Vicarage?" - -"The same as them afore him," came the startling reply; "for he warn't -the first, and maybe"--with a shrewd glance of the rheumy old eyes--"he -won't be the last. Them sirens has the powers of darkness. I know, -'cause I've seen one--her at the Grange; and though I'm an old man, nigh -on seventy-five, I'll never forget her face, I won't, and the way she -smiled at me!" - -"But," persisted Dillon, patiently, "what became of this particular -young man, the one who was staying at the Vicarage?" - -The ancient sage leant forward in his chair and tapped the speaker upon -the knee with the stem of his clay pipe. - -"Ask them as knows," he said, with impressive solemnity. "Nobody else -can tell you!" - -And, having permitted an indiscreet laugh to escape him, not another -word on the subject could Dillon induce the old man to utter, he -strictly confining himself, in his ruffled dignity, to the climatic -conditions and the crops. - -When Dillon, finally, set out upon the four-mile walk back to the -Grange, he realised, with annoyance, that the senile imaginings of his -bar-parlour acquaintance lingered in his mind. That Dr. Kassimere dwelt -outside the social life of the county he had speedily learnt; but for -this he had been prepared. That he might possibly be, not a recluse, but -a pariah, was a new point of view. Trivial things, to which hitherto he -had paid scant attention, began to marshal themselves as evidence. The -two village "helpers," he knew, received extravagant wages, because, as -Phryné had confessed, they had "found it almost impossible to get girls -to stay." Why? - -Of the earlier guest, or guests, who had succumbed to the siren lure of -Phryné, he had heard no mention. Why? Save at meal-times he rarely saw -his host, who frankly left him to the society of Phryné. Again--why? Dr. -Kassimere, in his jealously locked laboratory, was at work day and night -upon his experiments. What were these experiments? What was the nature -of the doctor's studies? - -He had now been for nearly three weeks at Hollow Grange, and never had -Dr. Kassimere spoken of his work. And Phryné? The sudden, new thought of -Phryné was so strange, so wonderful and overwhelming, that it reacted -physically; and he pulled up short in the middle of a field-path, as -though some palpable obstacle blocked the way. - -Why had he set out alone that day, when all other days had been spent -in the girl's company? He had deliberately sought solitude--because -of Phryné; because he wanted to think calmly, judicially, to arraign -himself before his own judgment, remote from the witchery of her -presence. He had tried to render his mind a void, wherein should linger -not one fragrant memory of her delicate beauty and charm, so that he -might return unbiased to his judgment. He had returned; he was judged. - -He loved Phryné madly, insanely. His future, his life, lay in the hollow -of her hands. - - -IV - -"Yes," admitted Phryné, "it is true. There were two of them." - -"And"--Dillon hesitated--"were they in love with you?" - -"Of course," said Phryné, naïvely. - -"But you----" - -Phryné shook her curly head. - -"I rather liked the French boy, but I do not believe anything that a -Frenchman says to a girl; and Harry, the other, was handsome, but so -silly...." - -"So you did not love either of them?" - -"Of course not." - -"But," said Dillon, and impulsively he swept her into his arms, "you are -going to love me." - -One quick upward glance she gave, but instantly lowered her eyes and -withheld her bewitching face from him. - -"Am I?" she whispered. "You are so conceited." - -But as she spoke the words he kissed her, and she surrendered sweetly, -nestling her head against his shoulder for a moment. Then, leaping back, -bright-eyed and blushing, she turned and ran like a startled fawn across -the terrace and into the house. - -He saw no more of her until dinner-time, and spent the interval in a -kind of suspended consciousness that was new and perturbing. Within him -life pulsed at delirious speed, but the universe seemed to have slowed -upon its course so that each hour became as two. Throughout dinner, -Phryné was deliciously shy to the point of embarrassment; and Dillon, -who several times surprised the bird-eyes of Dr. Kassimere studying the -girl's face, detained his host, and being a young man of orderly mind, -formally asked his consent to an engagement. - -The doctor's joy was seemingly so unfeigned that Dillon almost liked him -for a moment. He placed no obstacle in the path of the suitor for his -adopted daughter's hand, graciously expressing every confidence in the -future. His joy was genuine enough, Dillon determined; but from what -source did it actually spring? The Thoth-like eyes were exultant, and -all the old mistrust poured back in a wave upon the younger man. Was -this distrust becoming an obsession? Why should he eternally be seeking -an ulterior motive for every act in this man's life? - -He went to look for Phryné, and found her in the spot where he had first -seen her, prone in a nest of cushions. She sprang up as he entered the -room, and glanced at him in that new way which set his heart leaping.... - -And because of the magic of her presence, it was not until later, when -he stood alone in his own room, that he could order the facts gleaned -from her. - -There was some grain of truth in the story of the ancient gossip at -the _Threshers_ after all. A young French lieutenant of artillery had -received an invitation to spend a leave at Hollow Grange. His Gallic -soul had been fired by Phryné's beauty, and although his advances had -been met with rebuff, he had asked Dr. Kassimere's permission to pay his -court to the girl. On the same evening he had departed hurriedly, and -Phryné had supposed, since the doctor never referred to him again, that -he had been sent about his business. Then came a strange letter, which -Phryné had shown to Dillon. Its tone throughout was of passionate anger, -and one passage recurred again and again to Dillon's mind. "I would give -my life for you gladly," it read, "but my soul belongs to God...." - -Phryné had counted him demented and Dr. Kassimere had agreed with her. -But there was Harry Waynwright, the nephew of the vicar of St. Peter's -at Hainingham. An accidental meeting with Phryné had led to a courtesy -call--and the inevitable. It had all the seeming of a case of -love-sickness, and the unhappy youth grew seriously ill. From pestering -her daily he changed his tactics to studiously avoiding her, until, -meeting her in the village one morning, he greeted her with, "I can't do -it, Phryné! tell him I can't do it. He can rely upon my word; but I'm -going away to try to forget!" - -Dr. Kassimere had professed entire ignorance of the meaning of the -words. A faint shadow had crossed Phryné's face as she spoke of these -matters, but, as a result of her extraordinary beauty, she was somewhat -callous where languishing admirers were concerned, and she had dismissed -the gloomy twain with a shrug of her charming shoulders. - -"Mad!" she had said. "It seems my fate always to meet mad-men!" - -The night silence had descended again upon Hollow Grange, disturbed only -by the mournful cry of the owl and the almost imperceptible note of the -bat. But to the nervous alertness of Dillon, a deep unrest seemed to -stir within the house; yet--an unrest not physical but spiritual; it was -as the shadow of a sleepless watcher--a shadow creeping over his soul. - -What was the explanation lying at the back of it all? Vainly he sought -for a theory, however wild, however improbable, that should embrace all -the facts known to him and serve either to banish his black doubts or to -focus them. Upon one thing he had determined: There was some thing or -some one in Hollow Grange that he _feared_, some centre from whence fear -radiated. - -Phryné, for one fleeting moment, had revealed to him that she, too, had -known this formless dread, but only latterly; probably from lack of a -more definite date, she had spoken of this fear as first visiting her at -about the time of the Frenchman's advent. - -"Slowly, he has changed towards me," she had whispered, referring to Dr. -Kassimere. "He watches me, sometimes, in a strange way. Oh, he has been -so good, so very kind and good, but--I shall be glad when----" - -Could some part of the mystery be explained away by the doctor's -increasing absorption in his studies, which led him to regard the charge -of a ward, and a wayward one at that, as unduly onerous and disturbing? -Might it not fairly be supposed that ignorant superstition and the -ravings of unrequited passion accounted for the rest? - -At the nature of Dr. Kassimere's studies he could not even guess. The -greater number of the works in the library related to mysticism in one -form or another, although there was a sprinkling of exact science to -leaven the whole. - -"He can rely upon my word," Waynwright had said. Regarding what, or -regarding whom, had he given his word? - -The cry of a night-hawk came, as if in answer; the hoot of an owl, as if -in mockery. Out beyond the terrace a dull red light showed from Dr. -Kassimere's laboratory. - - -V - -Enlightenment came about in this fashion--seeking to quench a feverish -thirst, Dillon discovered that no glass had been left in his room. He -determined to fetch one from the buffet cupboard downstairs. Softly, in -slippered feet, he descended the stairs and was crossing the hallway -when he kicked something--a small book, he thought--that lay there upon -the floor. Groping, he found it, slipped it into the pocket of his -dressing-gown, and entered the dining-room. He found a tumbler without -difficulty, in the dark, noted the presence of a heavy, oppressive -odour, and returned upstairs. Now he made another discovery. He had -forgotten the nightly draught of medicine prescribed by Dr. Kassimere; -a new unopened phial stood upon the dressing-table. - -He mixed himself a mild whisky and soda from the decanter and siphon -which his host's hospitality caused nightly to be placed in his room, -and then, seized by a sudden thought, took out the little book which he -had found in the hall. - -It was a faded manuscript, in monkish Latin; a copy of an unpublished -work of Paracelsus. Many passages had been rendered into English, and -the translations, in Dr. Kassimere's minute, cramped writing, were -interposed between the bound pages. In these again were interpolated -marginal notes, some in the shape of unintelligible symbols, others in -that of chemical formulæ. Several passages were marked in red ink. -And, having perused the first of these which he chanced upon, a clammy -moisture broke out upon his skin, accompanied by so marked a nervous -trembling that he was forced to seat himself upon the bed. - -The secret of this man's ghastly life-work was in his hands; he knew, -now, what bargain Dr. Kassimere had proposed to the Frenchman and to -the other; he knew why he had adopted the lovely daughter of Louis -Devant--and he knew why he, Jack Dillon, had been invited to Hollow -Grange. That such a ghoul in human shape could live and have his being -amid ordinary mankind was a stupendous improbability which, ten minutes -earlier, he would have laughed to scorn. - -"My God!" he whispered. "My God!" - -His glance fell upon the unopened phial on his dressing-table, and from -his soul a silent thanksgiving rose to heaven that he had left that -potion untasted. He realised that his own case differed from those of -his predecessors in two particulars: He was actually in residence under -Dr. Kassimere's roof and receiving treatment from the man's hands. No -option was to be offered to _him_; the great experiment, the _Magnum -Opus_, was to be performed without his consent! - -And Phryné!--Phryné, the other innocent victim of this fiend's lust -for knowledge! The thought restored his courage. More than life itself -depended upon his coolness and address; he must act, at once. The -monstrous possibility hinted at by von Hohenheim--in his earliest -published work, _Practica D. Theophrasti Paracelsi_, printed at Augsburg -in 1529, was, in this hideous pamphlet, elaborated and brought within -the bounds of practical experiment. - -He crept to the door, opened it, and stood listening intently. That -silence which seemed like a palpable cloud--a cloud masking the presence -of one who watched--lay over the house. Slowly he descended to the -hall and dropped the horror which the evil genius of von Hohenheim had -conceived, upon the spot where it had lain when his foot had discovered -it. - -A creaking sound warned him of some one's approach, and he had barely -time to slip behind some draperies ere a cowled figure bearing a lantern -came out into the hall. It was Dr. Kassimere, wearing a loose gown -having a monkish hood--and he was searching for something. - -Nothing in his experience--not the blood-lust seen in the eyes of men -in battle--had prepared him for that which transfigured the face of -Dr. Kassimere. The strange semblance of Thoth was there no more; it had -given place to another, more active malevolence, to a sort of Satanic -_eagerness_ indescribably terrifying; it was the face of one possessed. - -Like some bird of prey he pounced upon the book, thrust it into the -pocket of his gown, and began furtively to retrace his steps. As he -entered the big dining-room, Dillon was close upon his heels. - -Dr. Kassimere passed into the small room beyond and turned from thence -into the library. Dillon, observing every precaution, followed. From the -library the doctor entered the short, narrow passage leading to that -quaint relic of bygone days and ways--the tiny chapel. At the entrance -Dillon paused, watchful. Once, the man in the monkish robe turned, on -the time-worn step of the altar, and looked back over his shoulder, -revealing a face that might well have been that of Asmodeus himself. - -On the left of the altar was the cupboard wherein, no doubt, in past -ages, the priest had kept his vestments. The oppressive odour which -Dillon had first observed in the dining-room was very perceptible in the -chapel; and as Dr. Kassimere opened the door of the cupboard and stepped -within, an explanation of the presence of this deathly smell in the -house occurred to Dillon's mind. The laboratory adjoined the Grange on -this side; here was a private entrance known to, and used by, Dr. -Kassimere alone. - -His surmise proved to be correct. Occasioning scarcely a sound, the -secret door opened, and a fiery glow leapt out across the altar steps, -accompanied by a wave of heated air laden with the nauseous, unnameable -smell. Within the redly lighted doorway, Dr. Kassimere paused, and -glanced at a watch which he wore upon his wrist. Then for a moment he -disappeared, to reappear carrying a small squat bottle and a contrivance -of wire and gauze the sight of which created in Dillon a sense of -physical nausea. It was a chloroform-mask! Both he placed upon a vaguely -seen table and again approached the door. - -Weakly, Dillon fell back, pressing himself, closely against the chapel -wall, as the doctor, this time leaving the secret entrance open--with a -purpose in view which the watcher shudderingly recognized--recrossed the -chapel and went off, softly treading, in the direction of the library. - -All his courage, moral and physical, was called upon now, and knowing, -by some intuition of love, what and whom he should find there, he -stepped unsteadily into Dr. Kassimere's laboratory.... - -That there were horrors--monstrosities that may not be described, -whose names may not be written--in the place, he realised, in some -subconscious fashion; but--prone upon a low, metal couch of most curious -workmanship lay Phryné, in her night-robe, still--white; perfect in her -pale beauty as her namesake who posed for Praxiteles. - -Dillon reeled, steadied himself, and sank upon his knees by the couch. - -"Phryné!" he whispered, locking his arms about her--"my Phryné!..." - -Then he remembered the gauze mask and even detected the sickly, sweet -smell of the anaesthetic. Anger gave him new strength; he raised the -girl in his arms and turned towards the door communicating with the -chapel. - -Framed in the opening was the hooded figure of Dr. Kassimere, -confronting him. His face was immobile again, with the immobility of -ibis-headed Thoth; his eyes were hard, his voice was cold. - -"What is the meaning of this outrage?" he demanded sternly. "Phryné has -been taken suddenly ill; an immediate operation may be necessary----" - -"Out of my way!" said Dillon, advancing past a huge glass jar filled -with reddish liquid that stood upon a pedestal between the couch and the -door. - -"Be careful, you fool!" shrieked Dr. Kassimere, frenziedly, his calm -dropping from him like a cloak and a new and dreadful light coming into -the staring eyes. - -But he was too late. Dillon's foot had caught the pedestal. With a -resounding crash the thing overturned; as Dr. Kassimere sprang forward, -he slipped in the slimy stream that was pouring over the laboratory -floor--and fell.... - -Laying Phryné upon the altar, her head resting against the age-worn -communion rails, Dillon turned and closed the secret door dividing the -house of God from the house of Satan. One glimpse, in the red furnace -glow, he had of Dr. Kassimere, writhing upon the slimy floor, shrieking, -blaspheming--and fighting, fighting madly, as a man fights for life and -more than life.... - -He had not yet carried the unconscious girl beyond the dining-room, -when, above that other smell, he detected the odour of burning wood. A -fire had broken out in the laboratory. - - * * * * * - -Mrs. Jack Dillon mourns her guardian (no trace of whom was ever found in -the charred remains of Hollow Grange) to this day; for she retains no -memory of the night of the great fire, but believes that, overcome by -the fumes, she was rescued and carried insensible from the house, by -her lover. In the latter's bosom the grim secret is locked, with the -memory of a demoniac figure, fighting, fighting.... - - - - -The Curse of a Thousand Kisses - - -Introductory - -Saville Grainger will long be remembered by the public as a brilliant -journalist and by his friends as a confirmed misogynist. His distaste -for the society of women amounted to a mania, and to Grainger a pretty -face was like a red rag to a bull. This was all the more extraordinary -and, for Grainger, more painful, because he was one of the most -handsome men I ever knew--very dark, with wonderful flashing eyes and -the features of an early Roman--or, as I have since thought, of an -aristocratic Oriental; aquiline, clean-cut, and swarthy. At any mixed -gathering at which he appeared, women gravitated in his direction as -though he possessed some magnetic attraction for the sex; and Grainger -invariably bolted. - -His extraordinary end--never explained to this day--will be remembered -by some of those who read of it; but so much that affected whole -continents has occurred in the interval that to the majority of the -public the circumstances will no longer be familiar. It created a -considerable stir in Cairo at the time, as was only natural, but -when the missing man failed to return, the nine days' wonder of his -disappearance was forgotten in the excitement of some new story or -another. - -Briefly, Grainger, who was recuperating at Mena House after a rather -severe illness in London, went out one evening for a stroll, wearing a -light dust-coat over his evening clothes and smoking a cigarette. He -turned in the direction of the Great Pyramid--and never came back. That -is the story in its bald entirety. No one has ever seen him since--or -ever reported having seen him. - -If the following story is an elaborate hoax--perpetrated by Grainger -himself, for some obscure reason remaining in hiding, or by another well -acquainted with his handwriting--I do not profess to say. As to how it -came into my possession, that may be told very briefly. Two years after -Grainger's disappearance I was in Cairo, and although I was not staying -at Mena House I sometimes visited friends there. One night as I came -out of the hotel to enter the car which was to drive me back to the -Continental, a tall native, dressed in white and so muffled up that -little more of his face than two gleaming eyes was visible, handed me -a packet--a roll of paper, apparently--saluted me with extraordinary -formality, and departed. - -No one else seemed to have noticed the man, although the chauffeur, of -course, was nearly as close to him as I was, and a servant from the -hotel had followed me out and down the steps. I stood there in the dusk, -staring at the packet in my hand and then after the tall figure--already -swallowed up in the shadow of the road. Naturally I assumed that the man -had made some mistake, and holding the package near the lamp of the car -I examined it closely. - -It was a roll of some kind of parchment, tied with a fragment of thin -string, and upon the otherwise blank outside page my name was written -very distinctly! - -I entered the car, rather dazed by the occurrence, which presented -several extraordinary features, and, unfastening the string, began -to read. Then, in real earnest, I thought I must be dreaming. Since I -append the whole of the manuscript I will make no further reference to -the contents here, but will content myself with mentioning that it was -written--with dark-brown ink--in Saville Grainger's unmistakable hand -upon some kind of parchment or papyrus which has defied three different -experts to whom I have shown it, but which, in short, is of unknown -manufacture. The twine with which it was tied proved to be of finely -plaited reed. - -That part of Grainger's narrative, if the following amazing statement -is really the work of Grainger, which deals with events up to the time -that he left Mena House--and the world--I have been able to check. The -dragoman, Hassan Abd-el-Kebîr, was still practising his profession at -Mena House at the time of my visit, and he confirmed the truth of -Grainger's story in regard to the heart of lapis-lazuli, which he had -seen, and the meeting with the old woman in the Mûski--of which Grainger -had spoken to him. - -For the rest, the manuscript shall tell Grainger's story. - - -THE MANUSCRIPT - -I - -Two years have elapsed since I quitted the world, and the presence in -Egypt of a one-time colleague, of which I have been advised, prompts me -to put on record these particulars of the strangest, most wonderful, and -most beautiful experience which has ever befallen any man. I do not -expect my story to be believed. The scepticism of the material world of -Fleet Street will consume my statement with its devouring fires. But I -do not care. The old itching to make a "story" is upon me. As a "story" -let this paper be regarded. - -Where the experience actually began I must leave to each reader to judge -for himself. I, personally, do not profess to know, even now. But the -curtain first arose upon that part of the story which it is my present -purpose to chronicle one afternoon near the corner of the Street -of the Silversmiths in Cairo. I was wandering in those wonderful -narrow, winding lanes, unaccompanied, for I am by habit a solitary -being; and despite my ignorance of the language and customs of the -natives I awakened to the fact that a link of sympathy--of silent -understanding--seemed to bind me to these busy brown men. - -I had for many years cherished a secret ambition to pay a protracted -visit to Egypt, but the ties of an arduous profession hitherto had -rendered its realisation impossible. Now, a stranger in a strange land, -I found myself _at home_. I cannot hope to make evident to my readers -the completeness of this recognition. From Shepheard's, with its throngs -of cosmopolitan travellers and its hosts of pretty women, I had early -fled in dismay to the comparative quiet of Mena House. But the only real -happiness I ever knew--indeed, as I soon began to realise, had ever -known--I found among the discordant cries and mingled smells of perfume -and decay in the native city. The desert called to me sweetly, but it -was the people, the shops, the shuttered houses, the noise and the -smells of the Eastern streets which gripped my heart. - -Delightedly I watched the passage of those commercial vehicles, narrow -and set high upon monstrous wheels, which convey loads of indescribable -variety along streets no wider than the "hall" of a small suburban -residence. The Parsees in the Khân Khalîl with their carpets and -shining silk-ware, the Arab dealers, fierce swarthy tradesmen from the -desert, and the smooth-tongued Cairenes upholding embroidered cloths and -gauzy _yashmaks_ to allure the eye--all these I watched with a kind of -gladness that was almost tender, that was unlike any sentiment I had -ever experienced toward my fellow-creatures before. - -Mendicants crying the eternal "_Bakshîsh!_", _Sakhas_ with their skins -of Nile water, and the other hundred and one familiar figures of the -quarter filled me with a great and glad contentment. - -I purposely haunted the Mûski during the heat of the day because at -that hour it was comparatively free from the presence of Europeans and -Americans. Thus, on the occasion of which I write, coming to the end -of the street in which the shops of the principal silversmiths are -situated, I found myself to be the only white man (if I except the -Greeks) in the immediate neighbourhood. - -A group of men hurrying out of the street as I approached it first -attracted my attention. They were glancing behind them apprehensively -as though at a rabid dog. Then came a white-bearded man riding a tiny -donkey and also glancing back apprehensively over his shoulder. He all -but collided with me in his blind haste; and, stepping quickly aside to -avoid him, I knocked down an old woman who was coming out of the street. - -The man who had been the real cause of the accident rode off at headlong -speed and I found myself left with the poor victim of my clumsiness -in a spot which seemed miraculously to have become deserted. If the -shopkeepers remained in their shops, they were invisible, and must -have retreated into the darkest corners of the caves in the wall which -constitute native emporiums. Pedestrians there were none. - -I stooped to the old woman, who lay moaning at my feet ... and as I did -so, I shrank. How can I describe the loathing, the repulsion which I -experienced? Never in the whole of my career had I seen such a hideous -face. A ragged black veil which she wore had been torn from its brass -fastenings as she fell, and her countenance was revealed in all its -appalling ugliness. Yellow, shrivelled, toothless, it was scarcely -human; but, above all, it repelled because of its aspect of _extreme -age_. I do not mean that it was like the face of a woman of eighty; -it was like that of a woman who had miraculously survived decease for -several centuries! It was a witch-face, a deathly face. - -And as I shrank, she opened her eyes, moaning feebly, and groping with -claw-like hands as if darkness surrounded her. Furthermore I saw a new -pain, and a keener pain, light up those aged eyes. She had detected my -involuntary movement of loathing. - -Those who knew me will bear testimony to the fact that I was not an -emotional man or one readily impressionable by any kind of human appeal. -Therefore they will wonder the more to learn that this pathetic light in -the old woman's eyes changed my revulsion to a poignant sorrow. I had -roughly knocked her from her feet and now hesitated to assist her to -rise again! Truly, she was scorned and rejected by all. A wave of -tenderness, that cannot be described, that could not be resisted, swept -over me. My eyes grew misty and a great remorse claimed me. - -"Poor old soul!" I whispered. - -Stooping, I gently raised the shrivelled, ape-like head, resting it -against my knee; and, bending down, I kissed the old woman on the brow! - -I record the fact, but even now, looking back upon its happening, and -seeking to recapture the cold, solitary Saville Grainger who has left -the world, I realise the wonder of it. That _I_ should have given rein -to such an impulse! That such an impulse should have stirred me! Which -phenomenon was the more remarkable? - -The result of my act--regretted as soon as performed--was singular. The -aged, hideous creature sighed in a manner I can never forget, and an -expression that almost lent comeliness to her features momentarily crept -over her face. Then she rose to her feet with difficulty, raised her -hands as if blessing me, and muttering something in Arabic went -shuffling along the deserted street, stooping as she walked. - -Apparently the episode had passed unnoticed. Certainly if anyone -witnessed it he was well concealed. But, conscious of a strange -embarrassment, with which were mingled other tumultuous emotions, I -turned out of the Street of the Silversmiths and found myself amid the -normal activities of the quarter again. The memory of the Kiss was -repugnant, I wanted to wipe my lips--but something seemed to forbid the -act; a lingering compassion that was almost a yearning. - -For once in my life I desired to find myself among normal, healthy, -moderately brainless Europeans. I longed for the smell of cigar-smoke, -for the rattle of the cocktail-maker and the sight of a pretty face. I -hurried to Shepheard's. - - -II - -The same night, after dinner, I walked out of Mena House to look for -Hassan Abd-el-Kebîr, the dragoman with whom I had contracted for a -journey, by camel, to Sakhâra on the following day. He had promised to -attend at half-past eight in order to arrange the time of starting in -the morning, together with some other details. - -I failed to find him, however, among the dragomans and other natives -seated outside the hotel, and to kill time I strolled leisurely down the -road toward the electric-tram terminus. I had taken no more than ten -paces, I suppose, when a tall native, muffled to the tip of his nose in -white and wearing a white turban, appeared out of the darkness beside -me, thrust a small package into my hand, and, touching his brow, his -lips and his breast with both hands, bowed and departed. I saw him no -more! - -Standing there in the road, I stared at the little package stupidly. It -consisted of a piece of fine white silk fastened about some small, hard -object. Evidently, I thought, there had been a mistake. The package -could not have been intended for me. - -Returning to the hotel, I stood near a lamp and unfastened the silk, -which was delicately perfumed. It contained a piece of lapis-lazuli -carved in the form of a heart, beautifully mounted in gold and bearing -three Arabic letters, inlaid in some way, also in gold! - -At this singular ornament I stared harder than ever. Certainly the -muffled native had made a strange mistake. This was a love-token--and -emphatically not for _me_! - -I was standing there lost in wonderment, the heart of lapis-lazuli in my -palm, when the voice of Hassan disturbed my stupor. - -"Ah, my gentleman, I am sorry to be late but----" - -The voice ceased. I looked up. - -"Well?" I said. - -Then I, too, said no more. Hassan Abd-el-Kebîr was glaring at the -ornament in my hand as though I had held, not a very choice example of -native jewellery, but an adder or a scorpion! - -"What's the matter?" I asked, recovering from my surprise. "Do you know -to whom this amulet belongs?" - -He muttered something in guttural Arabic ere replying to my question. -Then: - -"It is the heart of lapis," he said, in a strange voice. "It is the -heart of lapis!" - -"So much is evident," I cried, laughing. "But does it alarm you?" - -"Please," he said softly, and held out a brown hand--"I will see." - -I placed the thing in his open palm and he gazed at it as one might -imagine an orchid hunter would gaze at a new species of _Odontoglossum_. - -"What do the figures mean?" I asked. - -"They form the word _alf_," he replied. - -"_Alf?_ Somebody's name!" I said, still laughing. - -"In Arab it mean ten hundred," he whispered. - -"A thousand?" - -"Yes--one thousand." - -"Well?" - -Hassan returned the ornament to me, and his expression was so strange -that I began to grow really annoyed. He was looking at me with a -mingling of envy and compassion which I found to be quite insufferable. - -"Hassan," I said sternly, "you will tell me all you know about this -matter. One would imagine that you suspected me of stealing the thing!" - -"Ah, no, my gentleman!" he protested earnestly. "But I will tell you, -yes, only you will not believe me." - -"Never mind. Tell me." - -Thereupon Hassan Abd-el-Kebîr told me the most improbable story to which -I had ever listened. Since to reproduce it in his imperfect English, -with my own frequent interjections, would be tedious, I will give it in -brief. Some of the historical details, imperfectly related by Hassan as -I learned later, I have corrected. - -In the reign of the Khalîf El-Mamûn--a son of Hárûn er-Rashîd and -brother of the prototype of Beckford's _Vathek_--one Shâwar was Governor -of Egypt, and the daughter of the Governor, Scheherazade, was famed -throughout the domains of the Khalîf as the most beautiful maiden in the -land. Wazîrs and princes sought her hand in vain. Her heart was given -to a handsome young merchant of Cairo, Ahmad er-Mâdi, who was also the -wealthiest man in the city. Shâwar, although an indulgent father, would -not hear of such a union, however, but he hesitated to destroy his -daughter's happiness by forcing her into an unwelcome marriage. Finally, -passion conquered reason in the breasts of the lovers and they fled, -Scheherazade escaping from the palace of her father by means of a -rope-ladder smuggled into the _harêm_ apartments by a slave whom Ahmad's -gold had tempted, and meeting Ahmad outside the gardens where he waited -with a fleet horse. - -Even the guard at the city gate had been bought by the wealthy merchant, -and the pair succeeded in escaping from Cairo. - -The extensive possessions of Ahmad were confiscated by the enraged -father and a sentence of death was passed upon the absent man--to be -instantly put into execution in the event of his arrest anywhere within -the domain of the Khalîf. - -Exiled in a distant oasis, the Sheikh of which was bound to Ahmad by -ties of ancient friendship, the prospect which had seemed so alluring to -Scheherazade became clouded. Recognising this change in her attitude, -Ahmad er-Mâdi racked his brains for some scheme whereby he might recover -his lost wealth and surround his beautiful wife with the luxury to -which she had been accustomed. In this extremity he had recourse to a -certain recluse who resided in a solitary spot in the desert far from -the haunts of men and who was widely credited with magical powers. - -It was a whole week's journey to the abode of the wizard, and, unknown -to Ahmad, during his absence a son of the Khalîf, visiting Egypt, -chanced to lose his way on a hunting expedition, and came upon the -secret oasis in which Scheherazade was hiding. This prince had been one -of her most persistent suitors. - -The ancient magician consented to receive Ahmad, and the first boon -which the enamoured young man craved of him was that he might grant him -a sight of Scheherazade. The student of dark arts consented. Bidding -Ahmad to look into a mirror, he burned the secret perfumes and uttered -the prescribed incantation. At first mistily, and then quite clearly, -Ahmad saw Scheherazade, standing in the moonlight beneath a tall palm -tree--her lips raised to those of her former suitor! - -At that the world grew black before the eyes of Ahmad. And he, who had -come a long and arduous journey at the behest of love, now experienced -an equally passionate hatred. Acquainting the magician with what he had -seen, he demanded that he should exercise his art in visiting upon the -false Scheherazade the most terrible curse that it lay within his power -to invoke! - -The learned man refused; whereupon Ahmad, insane with sorrow and anger, -drew his sword and gave the magician choice of compliance or instant -death. The threat sufficed. The wizard performed a ghastly conjuration, -calling down upon Scheherazade the curse of an ugliness beyond that of -humanity, and which should remain with her not for the ordinary span of -a lifetime but for incalculable years, during which she should continue -to live in the flesh, loathed, despised, and shunned of all! - -"Until one thousand compassionate men, unasked and of their own free -will, shall each have bestowed a kiss upon thee," was the exact text of -the curse. "Then thou shalt regain thy beauty, thy love--and death." - -Ahmad er-Mâdi staggered out from the cavern, blinded by a hundred -emotions--already sick with remorse; and one night's stage on his return -journey dropped dead from his saddle ... stricken by the malignant will -of the awful being whose power he had invoked! I will conclude this wild -romance in the words of Hassan, the dragoman, as nearly as I can recall -them. - -"And so," he said, his voice lowered in awe, "Scheherazade, who was -stricken with age and ugliness in the very hour that the curse was -spoken, went out into the world, my gentleman. She begged her way from -place to place, and as the years passed by accumulated much wealth in -that manner. Finally, it is said, she returned to Cairo, her native -city, and there remained. To each man who bestowed a kiss upon her--and -such men were rare--she caused a heart of lapis to be sent, and upon the -heart was engraved in gold the number of the kiss! It is said that -these gifts ensured to those upon whom they were bestowed the certain -possession of their beloved! Once before, when I was a small child, -I saw such an amulet, and the number upon it was nine hundred and -ninety-nine." - -The thing was utterly incredible, of course; merely a picturesque -example of Eastern imagination; but just to see what effect it would -have upon him, I told Hassan about the old woman in the Mûski. I had to -do so. Frankly, the coincidence was so extraordinary that it worried -me. When I had finished: - -"It was she--Scheherazade," he said fearfully. "And it was the _last_ -kiss!" - -"What then?" I asked. - -"Nothing, my gentleman. I do not know!" - - -III - -Throughout the expedition to Sakhâra on the following day I could not -fail to note that Hassan was covertly watching me--and his expression -annoyed me intensely. It was that compound of compassion and resignation -which one might bestow upon a condemned man. - -I charged him with it, but of course he denied any such sentiment. -Nevertheless, I knew that he entertained it, and, what was worse, I -began, in an uncomfortable degree, to share it with him! I cannot make -myself clearer. But I simply felt the normal world to be slipping -from under my feet, and, no longer experiencing a desire to clutch at -modernity as I had done after my meeting with the old woman, I found -myself to be reconciled to my fate! - -To my fate? ... to what fate? I did not know; but I realised, beyond -any shade of doubt, that something tremendous, inevitable, and ultimate -was about to happen to me. I caught myself unconsciously raising the -heart of lapis-lazuli to my lips! Why I did so I had no idea; I seemed -to have lost identity. I no longer knew myself. - -When Hassan parted from me at Mena House that evening he could not -disguise the fact that he regarded the parting as final; yet my plans -were made for several weeks ahead. Nor did I quarrel with the man's -curious attitude. _I_ regarded the parting as final, also! - -In a word I was becoming reconciled--to something. It is difficult, all -but impossible, to render such a frame of mind comprehensible, and I -shall not even attempt the task, but leave the events of the night to -speak for themselves. - -After dinner I lighted a cigarette, and avoiding a particularly -persistent and very pretty widow who was waiting to waylay me in the -lounge, I came out of the hotel and strolled along in the direction of -the Pyramid. Once I looked back--bidding a silent farewell to Mena -House! Then I took out the heart of lapis-lazuli from my pocket and -kissed it rapturously--kissed it as I had never kissed any object or -any person in the whole course of my life! - -And why I did so I had no idea. - -All who read my story will be prepared to learn that in this placid and -apparently feeble frame of mind I slipped from life, from the world. It -was not so. The modern man, the Saville Grainger once known in Fleet -Street, came to life again for one terrible, strenuous moment ... and -then passed out of life for ever. - -Just before I reached the Pyramid, and at a lonely spot in the path--for -this was not a "Sphinx and Pyramid night"--that is to say, the moon was -not at the full--a tall, muffled native appeared at my elbow. He was the -same man who had brought me the heart of lapis-lazuli, or his double. I -started. - -He touched me lightly on the arm. - -"Follow," he said--and pointed ahead into the darkness below the -plateau. - -I moved off obediently. Then--suddenly, swiftly, came revolt. The modern -man within me flared into angry life. I stopped dead, and - -"Who are you? Where are you leading me?" I cried. - -I received no reply. - -A silk scarf was slipped over my head by some one who, silently, must -have been following me, and drawn tight enough to prevent any loud -outcry but not so as to endanger my breathing. I fought like a madman. I -knew, and the knowledge appalled me, that I was fighting for life. Arms -like bands of steel grasped me; I was lifted, bound and carried--I knew -not where.... - -Placed in some kind of softly padded saddle, or, as I have since -learned, into a _shibrîyeh_ or covered litter on a camel's back, I felt -the animal rise to its ungainly height and move off swiftly. As suddenly -as revolt had flamed up, resignation returned. I was contented. My bonds -were unnecessary; my rebellion was ended. I yearned, wildly, for the end -of the desert journey! Some one was calling me and all my soul replied. - -For hours, as it seemed, the camel raced ceaselessly on. Absolute -silence reigned about me. Then, in the distance I heard voices, and the -gait of the camel changed. Finally the animal stood still. Came a word -of guttural command, and the camel dropped to its knees. Pillowed among -a pile of scented cushions, I experienced no discomfort from this -usually painful operation. - -I was lifted out of my perfumed couch and set upon my feet. Having been -allowed to stand for a while until the effects of remaining so long in a -constrained position had worn off, I was led forward into some extensive -building. Marble pavements were beneath my feet, fountains played, and -the air was heavy with burning ambergris. - -I was placed with my back to a pillar and bound there, but not harshly. -The bandage about my head was removed. I stared around me. - -A magnificent Eastern apartment met my gaze--a great hall open on one -side to the desert. Out upon the sands I could see a group of men who -had evidently been my captors and my guards. The one who had unfastened -the silk scarf I could not see, but I heard him moving away behind the -pillar to which I was bound. - -Stretched upon a luxurious couch before me was a woman. - -If I were to seek to describe her I should inevitably fail, for her -loveliness surpassed everything which I had ever beheld--of which I had -ever dreamed. I found myself looking into her eyes, and in their depths -I found all that I had missed in life, and lost all that I had found. - -She smiled, rose, and taking a jewelled dagger from a little table -beside her, approached me. My heart beat until I felt almost suffocated -as she came near. And when she bent and cut the silken lashing which -bound me, I knew such rapture as I had hitherto counted an invention of -Arabian poets. I was raised above the joys of common humanity and tasted -the joy of the gods. She placed the dagger in my hand. - -"My life is thine," she said. "Take it." - -And clutching at the silken raiment draping her beautiful bosom, she -invited me to plunge the blade into her heart! - -The knife dropped, clattering upon the marble pavement. For one instant -I hesitated, watching her, devouring her with my eyes; then I swept her -to me and pressed upon her sweet lips the thousand and first kiss.... - -(NOTE.--The manuscript of Saville Grainger finishes here.) - - - - -The Turquoise Necklace - - -I - -"He is the lord of the desert, Effendi," declared Mohammed the dragoman. -"From the Valley of Zered to Damascus he is known and loved, but feared. -They say"--he lowered his voice--"that he is a great _welee_, and that -he is often seen in the street of the attars, having the appearance of a -simple old man; but in the desert he is like a bitter apple, a viper and -a calamity! Overlord is he of the Bedouins, and all the sons of the -desert bow to Ben Azreem, Sheikh of the Ibn-Rawallah." - -"What is a _welee_, exactly?" asked Graham. - -"A man of God, Effendi, favoured beyond other men." - -"And this Arab Sheikh is a _welee_?" - -"So it is said. He goes about secretly aiding the poor and afflicted, -when he may be known by his white beard----" - -"There are many white beards in Egypt," said Graham. - -But the other continued, ignoring the interruption: - -"And in the desert, Ben Azreem, a horseman unrivalled, may be known by -the snow-white horse which he rides, or if he is not so mounted, by his -white camel, swifter than the glance of envy, more surefooted than the -eager lover who climbs to his enslaver's window." - -"Indeed!" said Graham dryly. "Well, I hope I may have the pleasure of -meeting this mysterious notability before I leave the country." - -"Unless you journey across the sands for many days, it is unlikely. For -when he comes into Egypt he reveals himself to none but the supremely -good,"--Graham stared--"and the supremely wicked!" added Mohammed. - -The poetic dragoman having departed, Graham leaned over to his wife, who -had sat spellbound, her big blue eyes turned to the face of Mohammed -throughout his romantic narrative. - -"These wild native legends appeal to you, don't they?" he said, smiling -and patting her hand affectionately. "You superstitious little -colleen!" - -Eileen Graham blushed, and the blush of a pretty Irish bride is a very -beautiful thing. - -"Don't you believe it at all, then?" she asked softly. - -"I believe there may be such a person as Ben Azreem, and possibly he's a -very imposing individual. He may even indulge in visits, incognito, to -Cairo, in the manner of the late lamented Hárûn er-Rashîd of _Arabian -Nights_ memory, but I can't say that I believe in _welees_ as a class!" - -His wife shrugged her pretty shoulders. - -"There is something that _I_ have to tell you, which I suppose you will -also refuse to believe," she said, with mock indignation. "You remember -the Arabs whom we saw at the exhibition in London?" - -Graham started. - -"The gentlemen who were advertised as 'chiefs from the Arabian Desert'? -I remember _one_ in particular." - -"That is the one I mean," said Eileen. - -Her husband looked at her curiously. - -"Your explanation is delightfully lucid, dear!" he said jocularly. -"My memories of the gentleman known as El-Suleym, I believe, are -not pleasant; his memories of me must be equally unfavourable. He -illustrated the fact that savages should never be introduced into -civilised society, however fascinating they may be personally. Mrs. -Marstham was silly enough to take the man up, and because of the way he -looked at you, I was wise enough to knock him down! What then?" - -"Only this--I saw him, to-day!" - -"Eileen!" There was alarm in Graham's voice. "Where? Here, or in Cairo?" - -"As we were driving away from the mosque of the Whirling Dervishes. He -was one of a group who stood by the bridge." - -"You are certain?" - -"Quite certain." - -"Did he see you?" - -"I couldn't say. He gave no sign to show that he had seen me." - -John Graham lighted a cigarette with much care. - -"It doesn't matter, anyway," he said, carelessly. "You are as safe here -as at the _Ritz_." - -But there was unrest in the glance which he cast out across the prospect -touched by moon-magic into supernatural beauty. - -In the distance gleamed a fairy city of silvern minarets, born, it -seemed, from the silvern stream. Beyond lay the night mystery of the -desert, into whose vastness marched the ghostly acacias. The discordant -chattering and chanting from the river-bank merged into a humming song, -not unmusical. The howling of the dogs, even, found a place in the -orchestral scheme. - -Behind him, in the hotel, was European and American life--modernity; -before him was that other life, endless and unchanging. There was -something cold, sombre, and bleak in the wonderful prospect, something -shocking in the presence of those sight-seeing, careless folk, the -luxurious hotel, _all_ that was Western and new, upon that threshold of -the ancient, changeless desert. - -A menace, too, substantial yet cloaked with the mystery of the -motherland of mysteries, had arisen now. Although he had assured Eileen -that Gizeh was as safe as Piccadilly, he had too much imagination to be -unaware that from the Egypt of Cook's to the Egypt of secrets is but a -step. - -None but the very young or very sanguine traveller looks for adventure -nowadays in the neighbourhood of Mena House. When the intrepid George -Sandys visited and explored the Great Pyramid, it was at peril of his -life, but Graham reflected humorously that the most nervous old ladies -now performed the feat almost daily. Yet out here in the moonlight where -the silence was, out beyond the radius of "sights," lay a land unknown -to Europe, as every desert is unknown. - -It was a thought that had often come to him, but it came to-night with a -force and wearing a significance which changed the aspect of the sands, -the aspect of all Egypt. - -He glanced at the charming girl beside him. Eileen, too, was looking -into the distance with far-away gaze. The pose of her head was -delightful, and he sat watching her in silence. Within the hotel the -orchestra had commenced softly to play; but Graham did not notice the -fact. He was thinking how easily one could be lost out upon that grey -ocean, with its islands of priestly ruins. - -"It is growing rather chilly, dear," he said suddenly; "even for fur -wraps. Suppose we go in?" - - -II - -The crowd in the bazaar was excessive, and the bent old figure which -laboured beneath a nondescript burden, wrapped up in a blue cloth, -passed from the noisiness out into the narrow street which ran at -right-angles with the lane of many shops. - -Perhaps the old Arab was deaf, perhaps wearied to the point of -exhaustion; but, from whatever cause, he ignored, or was unaware of, the -oncoming _arabeeyeh_, whose driver had lost control of his horse. Even -the shrill scream of the corpulent, white-veiled German lady, who was -one of its passengers, failed to arouse him. Out into the narrow roadway -he staggered, bent almost double. - -Graham, accompanied by Mohammed, was some distance away, haggling with a -Greek thief who held the view that a return of three hundred and fifty -per cent. spelled black ruination. - -Eileen, finding the air stifling, had walked on in the direction of the -less crowded street above. Thus it happened that she, and the poor old -porter, alone, were in the path of the onward-whirling carriage. - -Many women so placed would have stood, frozen with horror, have been -struck down by the frantic animal; some would have had sufficient -presence of mind to gain the only shelter attainable in time--that of a -deep-set doorway. Few would have acted as Eileen acted. - -It was under the stimulus of that Celtic impetuosity--that generous -madness which seems to proceed, not from the mind, but from the -heart--that she leapt, not back, but forward. - -She never knew exactly what took place, nor how she escaped destruction; -but there was a roaring in her ears, above it rising the Teutonic -screams of the lady in the _arabeeyeh_; there was a confused chorus of -voices, a consciousness of effort; and she found herself, with wildly -beating heart, crouching back into the recess which once had held a -_mastabah_. - -From some place invisible, around a bend in the tortuous street, came -sounds of shouting and that of lashing hoofs. The runaway was stopped. -At her feet lay a shapeless bundle wrapped in a blue cloth, and beside -her, leaning back against the whitewashed wall, and breathing with -short, sobbing breaths, was the old porter. - -Now, her husband had his arms about her, and Mohammed, with frightened -eyes, hovered in the background. Without undue haste, all the bazaar -gradually was coming upon the scene. - -"My darling, are you hurt?" - -John Graham's voice shook. He was deathly pale. - -Eileen smiled reassuringly. - -"Not a bit, dear," she said breathlessly. "But I am afraid the poor old -man is." - -"You are quite sure you are not hurt?" - -"I was not so much as touched, though honestly I don't know how either -of us escaped. But do see if the old man is injured." - -Graham turned to the rescued porter, who now had recovered his -composure. - -"Mohammed, ask him if he is hurt," he directed. - -Mohammed put the question. A curious group surrounded the party. But the -old man, ignoring all, knelt and bowed his bare head to the dust at -Eileen's feet. - -"Oh, John," cried the girl, "ask him to stand up! I feel ashamed to see -such a venerable old man kneeling before me!" - -"Tell him it is--nothing," said Graham hastily to Mohammed, -"and--er----"--he fumbled in his pocket--"give him this." - -But Mohammed, looking ill at ease, thrust aside the proffered -_bakshîsh_--a novel action which made Graham stare widely. - -"He would not take it, Effendi," he whispered. "See, his turban lies -there; he is a _hadj_. He is praying for the eternal happiness of his -preserver, and he is interceding with the Prophet (_Salla--'lláhu -'aleyhi wasellum_), that she may enjoy the delights of Paradise equally -with all true Believers!" - -"Very good of him," said Graham, who, finding the danger passed and his -wife safe, was beginning to feel embarrassed. "Thank him, and tell him -that she is greatly indebted!" - -He took Eileen's arm, and turned to force a way through the strangely -silent group about. But the aged porter seized the hem of the girl's -white skirt, gently detaining her. As he rose upon his knees, Mohammed, -with marks of unusual deference, handed him his green turban. The old -man, still clutching Eileen's dress, signed that his dirty bundle should -likewise be passed to him. This was done. - -Graham was impatient to get away. But---- - -"Humour him for a moment, dear," said Eileen softly. "We don't want to -hurt the poor old fellow's feelings." - -Into the bundle the old man plunged his hand, and drew out a thin gold -chain upon which hung a queerly cut turquoise. He stood upright, raised -the piece of jewellery to his forehead and to his lips, and held it out, -the chain stretched across his open palms, to Eileen. - -"He must be some kind of pedlar," said Graham. - -Eileen shook her head, smiling. - -"Mohammed, tell him that I cannot possibly take his chain," she -directed. "But thank him all the same, of course." - -Mohammed, his face averted from the statuesque old figure, bent to her -ear. - -"Take it!" he whispered. "Take it! Do not refuse!" - -There was a sort of frightened urgency in his tones, so that both Graham -and his wife looked at him curiously. - -"Take it, then, Eileen," said Graham quickly. "And, Mohammed, you must -find out who he is, and we will make it up to him in some way." - -"Yes, yes, Effendi," agreed the man readily. - -Eileen accordingly accepted the present, glancing aside at her husband -to intimate that they must not fail to pay for it. As she took the chain -in her hands, the donor said something in a low voice. - -"Hang it round your neck," translated Mohammed. - -Eileen did so, whispering: - -"You must not lose sight of him, Mohammed." - -Mohammed nodded; and the old man, replacing his turban and making a low -obeisance, spoke rapidly a few words, took up his bundle, and departed. -The silent bystanders made way for him. - -"Come on," said Graham; "I am anxious to get out of this. Find a -carriage, Mohammed. We'll lunch at Shepheard's." - -A carriage was obtained, and they soon left far behind them the scene of -this odd adventure. With Mohammed perched up on the box, Graham and his -wife could discuss the episode without restraint. Graham, however, did -most of the talking, for Eileen was strangely silent. - -"It is quite a fine stone," he said, examining the necklace so curiously -acquired. "We must find some way of repaying the old chap which will not -offend his susceptibilities." - -Eileen nodded absently; and her husband, with his eyes upon the dainty -white figure, found gratitude for her safety welling up like a hot -spring in his heart. The action had been characteristic; and he longed -to reprove her for risking her life, yet burned to take her in his arms -for the noble impulse that had prompted her to do so. - -He wondered anxiously if her silence could be due to the after-effects -of that moment of intense excitement. - -"You don't feel unwell, darling?" he whispered. - -She smiled at him radiantly, and gave his hand a quick little squeeze. - -"Of course not," she said. - -But she remained silent to the end of the short drive. This was not due -to that which her husband feared, however, but to the fact that she had -caught a glimpse, amongst the throng at the corner of the bazaar, of the -handsome, sinister face of El-Suleym, the Bedouin. - - -III - -The moon poured radiance on the desert. At the entrance to a camel-hair -tent stood a tall, handsome man, arrayed in the picturesque costume of -the Bedouin. The tent behind him was upheld by six poles. The ends and -one side were pegged to the ground, and the whole of that side before -which he stood was quite open, with the exception of a portion before -which hung a goat-hair curtain. - -This was the "house of hair" of the Sheikh El-Suleym, of the -Masr-Bishareen--El-Suleym, "the Regicide" outcast of the great tribe of -the Bishareen. At some distance from the Sheikh's tent were some half a -dozen other and smaller tents, housing the rascally following of this -desert outcast. - -Little did those who had engaged the picturesque El-Suleym, to display -his marvellous horsemanship in London, know that he and those that came -with him were a scorn among true sons of the desert, pariahs of that -brotherhood which extends from Zered to the Nile, from Tanta to the Red -Sea; little did those who had opened their doors in hospitality to the -dashing horseman dream that they entertained a petty brigand, sought -for by the Egyptian authorities, driven out into ostracism by his own -people. - -And now before his tent he stood statuesque in the Egyptian moonlight, -and looked towards Gizeh, less than thirty miles to the north-east. - -As El-Suleym looked towards Gizeh, Graham and his wife were seated -before Mena House looking out across the desert. The adventure of the -morning had left its impression upon both of them, and Eileen wore the -gold chain with its turquoise pendant. Graham was smoking in silence, -and thinking, not of the old porter and his odd Eastern gratitude, but -of another figure, and one which often came between his mental eye and -the beauties of that old, beautiful land. Eileen, too, was thinking of -El-Suleym; for the Bedouin now was associated in her mind with the old -pedlar, since she had last seen the handsome, sinister face amid the -throng at the entrance to the bazaar. - -Telepathy is a curious fact. Were Graham's reflections _en rapport_ with -his wife's, or were they both influenced by the passionate thoughts of -that other mind, that subtle, cunning mind of the man who at that moment -was standing before his house of hair and seeking with his eagle glance -to defy distance and the night? - -"Have you seen--him, again?" asked Graham abruptly. "Since the other day -at the bridge?" - -Eileen started. Although he had endeavoured to hide it from her, she was -perfectly well aware of her husband's intense anxiety on her behalf. -She knew, although he prided himself upon having masked his feelings, -that the presence of the Bedouin in Egypt had cast a cloud upon his -happiness. Therefore she had not wished to tell him of her second -encounter with El-Suleym. But to this direct question there could be -only one reply. - -"I saw him again--this morning," she said, toying nervously with the -pendant at her neck. - -Graham clasped her hand tensely. - -"Where?" - -"Outside the bazaar, in the crowd." - -"You did not--tell me." - -"I did not want to worry you." - -He laughed dryly. - -"It doesn't worry me, Eileen," he said carelessly. "If I were in -Damascus or Aleppo, it certainly might worry me to know that a man, no -doubt actively malignant towards us, was near, perhaps watching; but -Cairo is really a prosaically safe and law-abiding spot. We are as -secure here as we should be at--Shepherd's Bush, say!" - -He laughed shortly. Voices floated out to them, nasal, guttural, -strident; voices American, Teutonic, Gallic, and Anglo-Saxon. The -orchestra played a Viennese waltz. Confused chattering, creaking, and -bumping sounded from the river. Out upon the mud walls dogs bayed the -moon. - -But beyond the native village, beyond the howling dogs, beyond the -acacia ranks out in the silver-grey mystery of the sands hard by, an -outpost of the Pharaohs, where a ruined shrine of Horus bared its secret -places to the peeping moon, the Sheikh of the Masr-Bishareen smiled. - -Graham felt strangely uneasy, and sought by light conversation to shake -off the gloom which threatened to claim him. - -"That thief, Mohammed," he said tersely, "has no more idea than Adam, I -believe, who your old porter friend really is." - -"Why do you think so?" asked Eileen. - -"Because he's up in Cairo to-night, searching for him!" - -"How do you know?" - -"I cornered him about it this afternoon, and although I couldn't force -an admission from him--I don't think anybody short of an accomplished -K.C. could--he was suspiciously evasive! I gave him four hours to -procure the name and address of the old gentleman to whom we owe the -price of a turquoise necklace. He has not turned up yet!" - -Eileen made no reply. Her Celtic imagination had invested the morning's -incident with a mystic significance which she could not hope to impart -to her hard-headed husband. - -A dirty and ragged Egyptian boy made his way on to the verandah, -furtively glancing about him, as if anticipating the cuff of an unseen -hand. He sidled up to Graham, thrusting a scrap of paper on to the -little table beside him. - -"For me?" said Graham. - -The boy nodded; and whilst Eileen watched him interestedly, Graham, -tilting the communication so as to catch the light from the hotel -windows, read the following: - -"He is come to here but cannot any farther. I have him waiting the boy -will bring you. - - "Your obedient Effendi, - MOHAMMED." - -Graham laughed grimly, glancing at his watch. - -"Only half an hour late," he said, standing up, "Wait here, Eileen; I -shall not be many minutes." - -"But I should like to see him, too. He might accept the price from me -where you would fail to induce him to take it." - -"Never fear," said her husband; "he wouldn't have come if he meant to -refuse. What shall I offer him?" - -"Whatever you think," said Eileen, smiling; "be generous with the poor -old man." - -Graham nodded and signed to the boy that he was ready to start. - -The night swallowed them up; and Eileen sat waiting, whilst the band -played softly and voices chatted incessantly around her. - -Some five minutes elapsed; ten; fifteen. It grew to half an hour, and -she became uneasy. She stood up and began to pace up and down the -verandah. Then the slinking figure of the Egyptian youth reappeared. - -"Graham Effendi," he said, showing his gleaming teeth, "says you come -too." - -Eileen drew her wrap more closely about her and smiled to the boy to -lead the way. - -They passed out from the hotel, turned sharply to the left, made in the -direction of the river, then bore off to the right in the direction of -the sand-dunes. The murmuring life of Mena House died into remoteness; -the discordance of the Arab village momentarily took precedence; then -this, in turn, was lost, and they were making out desert-ward to the -hollow which harbours the Sphinx. Great events in our lives rarely leave -a clear-cut impression; often the turning-point in one's career is a -confused memory, a mere clash of conflicting ideas. Trivial episodes -are sharp silhouettes; unforgettable; great happenings but grey, vague -things in life's panorama. Thus, Eileen never afterwards could quite -recall what happened that night. The thing that was like to have wrecked -her life had no sharp outlines to etch themselves upon the plate of -memory. Vaguely she wondered to what meeting-place the boy was leading -her. Faintly she was conscious of a fear of the growing silence, of -a warning instinct whispering her to beware of the loneliness of the -desert. - -Then the boy was gone; the silence was gone; harsh voices were in her -ears--a cloth was whipped about her face and strong arms lifted her. She -was not of a stock that swoon or passively accept violence. She strove -to cry out, but the band was too cunningly fastened to allow of it; -she struck out with clenched fists and not unshrewdly, for twice her -knuckles encountered a bearded face and a suppressed exclamation told -that the blows were not those of a weakling. She kicked furiously and -drew forth a howl of pain from her captor. Her hands flew up to the -bandage, but were roughly seized, thrust down and behind her, and tied -securely. - -She was thrown across a saddle, and with a thrill of horror knew herself -a captive. Out into the desert she was borne, into that unknown land -which borders so closely upon the sight-seeing track of Cook's. And her -helplessness, her inability to fight, broke her spirit, born fighter -that she was; and the jarring of the saddle of the galloping horse, the -dull thud of the hoofs on the sand, the iron grip which held her, fear, -anger, all melted into a blank. - - -IV - -Mohammed the dragoman, with two hotel servants, came upon Graham some -time later, gagged and bound behind a sand hillock less than five -hundred yards from Mena House. They had him on his feet in an instant, -unbound; and his face was ghastly--for he knew too well what the outrage -portended. - -"Quick!" he said hoarsely. "How long is she gone?" - -Mohammed was trembling wildly. - -"Nearly an hour, Effendi--nearly an hour. Allah preserve us, what shall -we do? I heard it in Cairo to-night--it is all over the bazaars--the -Sheikh El-Suleym with the Masr-Bishareen is out. They travel like the -wind, Effendi. It is not four days since they stopped a caravan ten -miles beyond Bir-Amber, now they are in Lower Egypt. Allah preserve -her!" he ran on volubly--"who can overtake the horsemen of the -Bishareen?" - -So he ran on, wildly, panting as they raced back to the hotel. The place -was in an uproar. It was an event which furnished the guests with such a -piece of local colour as none but the most inexperienced tourist could -have anticipated. - -An Arab raid in these days of electric tramways! A captive snatched from -the very doors of Mena House! One would as little expect an Arab raid -upon the _Ritz_! - -The authorities at headquarters, advised of the occurrence, found -themselves at a loss how to cope with this stupendous actuality. The -desert had extended its lean arm and snatched a captive to its bosom. -Cairo had never before entirely realised the potentialities of that -all-embracing desert. There are a thousand ways, ten thousand routes, -across that ruin-dotted wilderness. Justly did the ancient people -worship in the moon the queenly Isis; for when the silver emblem of the -goddess claims the sands for her own, to all save the desert-born they -become a place of secrets. Here is a theatre for great dramas, wanting -only the tragedian. The outlawed Sheikh of the Bishareen knew this full -well, but, unlike others who know it, he had acted upon his convictions -and revealed to wondering Egypt what Bedouin craft and a band of -intrepid horsemen can do, aided by a belt of sand, and cloaked by night. - -Graham was distracted. For he was helpless, and realised it. Already the -news was in Cairo, and the machinery of the Government at work. But what -machinery, save that of the Omniscient, could avail him now? - -A crowd of visitors flocked around him, offering frightened consolation. -He broke away from them violently--swearing--a primitive man who wanted -to be alone with his grief. The idea uppermost in his mind was that of -leaping upon a horse and setting out in pursuit. But in which direction -should he pursue? One declared that the Arabs must have rode this way, -another that, and yet another a third. - -Some one shouted--the words came to him as if through a thick -curtain--that the soldiers were coming. - -"What the hell's the good of it!" he said, and turned away, biting his -lips. - -When a spruce young officer came racing up the steps to gather -particulars, Graham stared at him dully, said, "The Arabs have got -her--my wife," and walked away. - -The hoof-clatter and accompanying martial disturbance were faint in the -distance when Mohammed ran in to where Graham was pacing up and down in -an agony of indecision--veritably on the verge of insanity. The dragoman -held a broken gold chain in his hand, from which depended a big -turquoise that seemed to blink in the shaded light. - -"Effendi," he whispered, and held it out upon trembling fingers, "it is -her necklet! I found it yonder,"--pointing eastward. "_Sallee 'a-nebee!_ -it is her necklet!" - -Graham turned, gave one wild glance at the thing, and grasped the man -by the throat, glaring madly upon him. - -"You dog!" he shouted. "You were in the conspiracy! It was you who sent -the false messages!" - -A moment he held him so, then dropped his hands. Mohammed fell back, -choking; but no malice was in the velvet eyes. The Eastern understands -and respects a great passion. - -"Effendi," he gasped--"I am your faithful servant, and--I cannot write! -_Wa-llah!_ and by His mercy, this will save her if anything can!" - -He turned and ran fleetly out, Graham staring after him. - -It may seem singular that John Graham remained thus inert--inactive. But -upon further consideration his attitude becomes explainable. He knew the -futility of a blind search, and dreaded being absent if any definite -clue should reach the hotel. Meanwhile, he felt that madness was not far -off. - -"They say that they have struck out across the Arabian Desert, Mr. -Graham--probably in the direction of the old caravan route." - -Graham did not turn; did not know nor care who spoke. - -"It's four hundred miles across to the caravan route," he said slowly; -"four hundred miles of sand--of sand." - - -V - -The most simple Oriental character is full of complexity. Mohammed the -dragoman, by birth and education a thief, by nature a sluggard, spared -no effort to reach Cairo in the shortest space of time humanly possible. -The source of his devotion is obscure. Perhaps it was due to a humble -admiration which John Graham's attempt to strangle him could not alter, -or perhaps to a motive wholly unconnected with mundane matters. Certain -it is that a sort of religious fervour latterly had possessed the man. -From being something of a scoffer (for Islam, like other creeds, daily -loses adherents), he was become a most devout Believer. To what this -should be ascribed I shall leave you to judge. - -Exhausted, tottering with his giant exertions, he made his way through -the tortuous streets of Old Cairo--streets where ancient palaces and -mansions of wealthy Turks displayed their latticed windows, and, at that -hour, barred doors to the solitary, panting wayfarer. - -Upon one of these barred doors he beat. It was that of an old palace -which seemed to be partially in ruins. After some delay, the door was -opened and Mohammed admitted. The door was reclosed. And, following upon -the brief clamour, silence claimed the street again. - -Much precious time had elapsed since Eileen Graham's disappearance from -the hotel by the Pyramids, when a belated and not too sober Greek, -walking in the direction of Cairo, encountered what his muddled senses -proclaimed to be an apparition--that of a white-robed figure upon a -snow-white camel, which sped, silent, and with arrow-like swiftness, -past him towards Gizeh. About this vision of the racing camel (a more -beautiful creature than any he had seen since the last to carry the -Mahmal), about the rider, spectral in the moonlight, white-bearded, -there was that which suggested a vision of the Moslem Prophet. Ere the -frightened Greek could gather courage to turn and look after the phantom -rider, man and camel were lost across the sands. - -Mena House was in an uproar. No one beneath its roof had thought -of sleep that night. Futile searches were being conducted in every -direction, north, south, east, and west. Graham, feeling that another -hour of inactivity would spell madness, had succumbed to the fever to -be up and doing, and had outdistanced all, had left the boy far behind -and was mercilessly urging his poor little mount out into the desert, -well knowing that in all probability he was riding further and further -away from the one he sought, yet madly pressing on. He felt that to -stop was to court certain insanity; he must press on and on; he must -search--search. - -His mood had changed, and from cursing fate, heaven, everything and -every one, he was come to prayer. - -He, then, was the next to see the man on the white camel, and, like -the Greek, he scarcely doubted that it was a wraith of his tortured -imagination. Indeed, he took it for an omen. The Prophet had appeared -to him to proclaim that the desert, the home of Islam, had taken Eileen -from him. The white-robed figure gave no sign, looked neither to the -right nor to the left, but straight ahead, with eagle eyes. - -Graham pulled up his donkey, and sat like a shape of stone, until the -silver-grey distance swallowed up the phantom. - -Out towards the oasis called the Well of Seven Palms, the straggling -military company proceeded in growing weariness. The officer in charge -had secured fairly reliable evidence to show that the Arabs had struck -out straight for the Red Sea. Since he was not omniscient, he could not -know that they had performed a wide detour which would lead them back -an hour before dawn to the camp by the Nile beside the Temple of Horus, -where El-Suleym waited for his captive. - -It was at the point in their march when, to have intercepted the -raiders, they should have turned due south instead of proceeding toward -the oasis, that one of them pulled up, rubbed his eyes, looked again and -gave the alarm. - -In another moment they all saw it--a white camel; not such a camel -as tourists are familiar with, the poor hacks of the species, but a -swan-like creature, white as milk, bearing a white-robed rider who -ignored utterly the presence of the soldiers, who answered by no word or -sign to their challenge, but who passed them like a cloud borne along by -a breeze and melted vaporously into the steely distances of the desert. -The captain was hopelessly puzzled. - -"Too late to bring him down," he muttered, "and no horse that was ever -born could run down a racing camel. Most mysterious." - -Twenty miles south of their position, and exactly at right-angles to -their route, rode the Bishareen horsemen, the foremost with Eileen -Graham across his saddle. And now, eighteen miles behind the Bishareen, -a white camel, of the pure breed which yearly furnishes the stately -bearer of the Mahmal, spurned the sand and like a creature of air gained -upon the Arabs, wild riders though they were, mile upon mile, league -upon league. - -Within rifle-shot of the camp, and with the desert dawn but an hour -ahead, only a long sand-ridge concealed from the eyes of the Bishareen -troupe that fleet shape which had struck wonder to the hearts of all -beholders. Despite their start of close upon two hours, despite the fact -that the soldiers were now miles, and hopeless miles, in their rear, the -racer of the desert had passed them! - -Eileen Graham had returned to full and agonizing consciousness. For -hours, it seemed, her captives had rode and rode in silence. Now a -certain coolness borne upon the breeze told her that they were nearing -the river again. Clamour sounded ahead. They were come to the Arab -camp. But ere they reached it they entered some lofty building which -echoed hollowly to the horses' tread. She was lifted from her painful -position, tied fast against a stone pillar, and the bandage was -unfastened from about her head. - -She saw that she was lashed to one of the ruined pillars which once -had upheld the great hall of a temple. About her were the crumbling -evidences of the sacerdotal splendour that was Ancient Egypt. The moon -painted massive shadows upon the debris, and carpeted the outer place -with the black image of a towering propylæum. Upon the mound which once -had been the stone avenue of approach was the Bedouin camp. It was -filled with a vague disturbance. She was quite alone; for those who had -brought her there were leading their spent horses out to the camp. - -Eileen could not know what the hushed sounds portended; but actually -they were due to the fact that the outlaw chief, wearied with that most -exhausting passion--the passion of anticipation--had sought his tent, -issuing orders that none should disturb him. Many hours before he knew -they could return, he had stood looking out across the sands, but at -last had decided to fit himself, by repose, for the reception of his -beautiful captive. - -A sheikh's tent has two apartments--one sacred to the lord and master, -the other sheltering his harem. To the former El-Suleym had withdrawn; -and now his emissaries stood at the entrance, where the symbolic spear -was stuck, blade upward, in the sand. Those who had thrown in their lot -with El-Suleym, called the Regicide, had learnt that a robber chief -whose ambitions have been whetted by a sojourn in Europe is a hard -master, though one profitable to serve. They hesitated to arouse him, -even though their delicate task was well accomplished. - -And whilst they debated before the tent, which stood alone, as is usual, -at some little distance from the others, amid which moved busy figures -engaged in striking camp, Eileen, within the temple, heard a movement -behind the pillar to which she was bound. - -She was in no doubt respecting the identity of her captor, and the -author of the ruse by which she had been lured from the hotel, and now, -unable to turn, it came to her that this was _he_, creeping to her -through the moon-patched shadows. With eyes closed, and her teeth -clenched convulsively, she pictured the sinister, approaching figure. -Then, from close beside her, came a voice: - -"Only I can save you from him. Do not hesitate, do not speak. Do as I -tell you." - -Eileen opened her eyes. She could not see the speaker, but the voice was -oddly familiar. Her fevered brain told her that she had heard it before, -but speaking Arabic. It was the voice of an old man, but a strong, -vibrant voice. - -"It is the will of Allah, whose name be exalted, that I repay!" - -A lean hand held before her eyes a broken gold chain, upon which -depended a turquoise. She knew the voice, now: it was that of the old -pedlar! But his English, except for the hoarse Eastern accent, was -flawless, and this was the tone of no broken old man, but of one to be -feared and respected. - -Her reason, she thought, must be tricking her. How could the old pedlar, -however strong in his queer gratitude, save her now? Then the hand came -again before her eyes, and it held a tiny green phial. - -"Be brave. Drink, quickly. They are coming to take you to him. It is the -only escape!" - -"Oh, God!" she whispered, and turned icily cold. - -This was the boon he brought her. This was the road of escape, escape -from El-Suleym--the road of death! It was cruel, unspeakably horrible, -with a bright world just opening out to her, with youth, beauty, and---- -She could not think of her husband. - -"God be merciful to him!" she murmured. "But he would prefer me dead -to----" - -"Quick! They are here!" - -She placed her lips to the phial, and drank. - -It seemed that fire ran through every vein in her body. Then came chill. -It grew, creeping from her hands and her feet inward and upward to her -heart. - -"Good-bye ... dear...." she whispered, and sobbed once, dryly. - -The ropes held her rigidly upright. - - -VI - -"_Wa-llah!_ she is dead, and we have slain her!" - -El-Suleym's Bedouins stood before the pillar in the temple, and fear -was in their eyes. They unbound the girl, beautiful yet in her marble -pallor, and lowered her rigid body to the ground. They looked one at -another, and many a glance was turned toward the Nile. - -Then the leader of the party extended a brown hand, pointing to the -tethered horses. They passed from the temple, muttering. No one among -them dared to brave the wrath of the terrible sheikh. As they came out -into the paling moonlight, the camp seemed to have melted magically; for -ere dawn they began their long march to the lonely oasis in the Arabian -Desert which was the secret base of the Masr-Bishareen's depredatory -operations. - -Stealthily circling the camp, which buzzed with subdued activity--even -the dogs seemed to be silent when the sheikh slept--they came to the -horses. Solitary, a square silhouette against the paling blue, stood the -sheikh's tent, on top of the mound, which alone was still untouched. - -The first horseman had actually leapt into the saddle, and the others, -with furtive glances at the ominous hillock, were about to do likewise, -when a low wail, weird, eerie, rose above the muffled stirring of the -camp. - -"_Allah el-'Azeen!_" groaned one of the party--"what is that?" - -Again the wail sounded--and again. Other woman voices took it up. It -electrified the whole camp. Escape, undetected, was no longer possible. -Men, women, and children were abandoning their tasks and standing, -petrified with the awe of it, and looking towards the sheikh's tent. - -As they looked, as the frightened fugitives hesitated, looking also, -from the tent issued forth a melancholy procession. It was composed of -the women of El-Suleym's household. They beat their bared breasts and -cast dust upon their heads. - -For within his own sacred apartment lay the sheikh in his blood--a -headless corpse. - -And now those who had trembled before him were hot to avenge him. Riders -plunged out in directions as diverse as the spokes of a wheel. Four of -them rode madly through the temple where they had left the body of their -captive, leaping the debris, and circling about the towering pillars, as -only Arab horsemen can. Out into the sands they swept; and before them, -from out of a hollow, rose an apparition that brought all four up short, -their steeds upreared upon their haunches. - -It was the figure of a white-bearded man, white-robed and wearing the -green turban, mounted upon a camel which, to the eyes of the four, -looked in its spotless whiteness a creature of another world. Before -the eagle-eyed stranger lay the still form of Eileen Graham, and as the -camel rose to its feet, its rider turned, swung something high above -him, and hurled it back at the panic-stricken pursuers. Right amongst -their horses' feet it rolled, and up at them in the moonlight from out a -mass of blood-clotted beard, stared the glassy eyes of El-Suleym! - -The sun was high in the heavens when the grey-faced and haggard-eyed -searchers came straggling back to Mena House. Two of them, who had come -upon Graham ten miles to the east, brought him in. He was quite passive, -and offered no protest, spoke no word, but stared straight in front of -him with a set smile that was dreadful to see. - -No news had come from the company of soldiers; no news had come from -anywhere. It was ghastly, inconceivable; people looked at one another -and asked if it could really be possible that one of their number had -been snatched out from their midst in such fashion. - -Officials, military and civil, literally in crowds, besieged the hotel. -Amid that scene of confusion no one missed Mohammed; but when all the -rest had given up in despair, he, a solitary, patient figure, stood out -upon a distant mound watching the desert road to the east. He alone saw -the return of the white camel with its double burden, from a distance -of a hundred yards or more; for he dared approach no closer, but stood -with bowed head pronouncing the _fáthah_ over and over again. He saw it -kneel, saw its rider descend and lift a girl from its back. He saw him -force something between her lips, saw him turn and make a deep obeisance -toward Mecca. At that he, too, knelt and did likewise. When he arose, -camel and rider were gone. - -He raced across the sands as Eileen Graham opened her eyes, and -supported her as she struggled to her feet, pale and trembling. - - * * * * * - -"I don't understand it at all," said Graham. - -Eileen smiled up at him from the long cane chair. She was not yet -recovered from her dreadful experience. "Perhaps," she said softly, "you -will not laugh in future at my Irish stories of the 'good people'!" - -Graham shook his head and turned to Mohammed. - -"What does it all mean, Mohammed?" he said. "Thank God it means that -I have got her back, but how was it done? She returned wearing the -turquoise necklace, which I last saw in your hand." - -Mohammed looked aside. - -"I took it to him, Effendi. It was the token by which he knew her need." - -"The pedlar?" - -"The pedlar, Effendi." - -"You knew where to find him, then?" - -"I knew where to find him, but I feared to tell you; feared that you -might ridicule him." - -He ceased. He was become oddly reticent. Graham shrugged his shoulders, -helplessly. - -"I only hope the authorities will succeed in capturing the Bishareen -brigands," he said grimly. - -"The authorities will never capture them," replied the dragoman with -conviction. "For five years they have lived by plunder, and laughed at -the Government. But before another moon is risen"--he was warming to his -usual eloquence now--"no Masr-Bishareen will remain in the land, they -will be exterminated--purged from the desert!" - -"Indeed," said Graham; "by whom?" - -"By the Rawallah, Effendi." - -"Are they a Bedouin tribe?" - -"The greatest of them all." - -"Then why should they undertake the duty?" - -"Because it is the will of the one who saved her for you, Effendi! I -am blessed that I have set eyes upon him, spoken with him. Paradise is -assured to me because my hand returned to him his turban when it lay in -the dust!" - -Graham stared, looking from his wife, who lay back smiling dreamily, to -Mohammed, whose dark eyes burnt with a strange fervour--the fervour of -one mysteriously converted to an almost fanatic faith. - -"Are you speaking of our old friend, the pedlar?" - -"I am almost afraid to speak of him, Effendi, for he is the chosen of -heaven, a cleanser of uncleanliness; the scourge of God, who holds His -flail in his hand--the broom of the desert!" - -Graham, who had been pacing up and down the room, paused in front of -Mohammed. - -"Who is he, then?" he asked quietly. "I owe him a debt I can never hope -to repay, so I should at least like to know his real name." - -"I almost fear to speak it, Effendi." Mohammed's voice sank to a -whisper, and he raised the turquoise hanging by the thin chain about -Eileen's throat, and reverently touched it with his lips. "He is the -_welee_--Ben Azreem, Sheikh of the Ibn-Rawallah!" - - -_Printed in Great Britain by_ Butler & Tanner Ltd., _Frome and London_ - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Small capitals have been replaced by all capitals. - -The following corrections have been made, on page - - 48 ...." added (But, Addison....") - 74 "he" changed to "her" (looked up into her husband's quivering - face!) - 97 ' changed to " (and rest, East," I said) - 126 . added (lighted his pipe and nodded.) - 142 "then" changed to "than" (blushed more furiously than ever when - I told her) - 144 . added (I asked wearily.) - 172 " added ("Nobody else can) - 190 "posesssion" changed to "possession" (how it came into my - possession, that may) - 208 , removed (and avoiding a particularly persistent) - 236 "Mahommed" changed to "Mohammed" (when Mohammed ran in to where - Graham was). - -Otherwise the original has been preserved, including inconsistent -hyphenation. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAUNTING OF LOW FENNEL*** - - -******* This file should be named 41619-8.txt or 41619-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/6/1/41619 - - - -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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