diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | 57294-0.txt (renamed from 57294-8.txt) | 406 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 57294-h/57294-h.htm | 2744 |
2 files changed, 12 insertions, 3138 deletions
diff --git a/57294-8.txt b/57294-0.txt index 4de8f10..8cc925e 100644 --- a/57294-8.txt +++ b/57294-0.txt @@ -1,31 +1,7 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Under Lock and Key, Volume I (of 3), by T. W. Speight +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57294 *** -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. -Title: Under Lock and Key, Volume I (of 3) - A Story -Author: T. W. Speight - -Release Date: June 9, 2018 [EBook #57294] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER LOCK AND KEY, VOLUME I *** - - - - -Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the -Internet Archive (Library of the University of Illinois -at Urbana-Champaign) @@ -878,7 +854,7 @@ through which Lady Pollexfen had come and gone. For the rest, it was a gloomy place enough, with its flagged floor, and its diamond-paned windows high up in the semicircular roof. A few rusty full-lengths graced the walls; the stairs were guarded by two effigies in armour; a -marble bust of one of the Cæsars stood on a high pedestal in the +marble bust of one of the Cæsars stood on a high pedestal in the middle of the floor; and that was all. I was glad to get away from this dismal spot and to find myself in the @@ -2325,7 +2301,7 @@ A few tears would come when the moment arrived for me to say farewell to the major. He tried his best, in his hearty affectionate way, to cheer me up. I flung my arms round his neck and kissed him tenderly. He turned abruptly, seized his hat, and rushed from the room. -Whereupon, Madame Duclos, who had been trying to look _sympathétique_, +Whereupon, Madame Duclos, who had been trying to look _sympathétique_, drew herself up, frowned, and pinched one of my ears viciously. Forty-eight hours later I was safely shut up in the Pension Clissot. @@ -2464,7 +2440,7 @@ vulturine--long, lean, narrow, with a thin high-ridged nose, and a chin that was pointed with a tuft of thick black hair. Except for this tuft he was clean shaven. His black hair, cropped close at back and sides, was trained into an elaborate curl on the top of the forehead -and there fixed with _cosmètique_. Both hair and chin-tuft were of +and there fixed with _cosmètique_. Both hair and chin-tuft were of that uncompromising blue-black which tells unmistakably of the dye-pot. His skin was yellow and parchment-like, and stretched tightly over his forehead and high cheek bones, but puckering into a perfect @@ -2782,7 +2758,7 @@ likely that his purposes might be served by me: for a man like that must have purposes that want serving. Nous verrons. Meanwhile, I am his obedient servant to command." -Captain Ducie, hunting about among the débris of the train, was not +Captain Ducie, hunting about among the débris of the train, was not long in finding the fragments of M. Platzoff's despatch box. Its contents were scattered about. Ducie spent ten minutes in gathering together the various letters and documents which it had contained. @@ -3381,7 +3357,7 @@ led the way to the dining-room. Platzoff in his suit of black and white cravat, with his cadaverous face, blue-black hair, and chin-tuft, and the elaborate curl on the top of his forehead, looked, at the first glance, more like a ghastly undertaker's man, or a waiter -at a foreign café, than the host of an English country house. But a +at a foreign café, than the host of an English country house. But a second glance would have shown you his embroidered linen, and the flashing gems on his fingers; and you could not be long with him without being made aware that you were in the company of a thorough @@ -3506,7 +3482,7 @@ owed my life to him. Once in South America, when a couple of brigands had got me at their mercy, and were about to try the temper of their knives on my throat. He potted them both one after the other. On the second occasion be rescued me from a tiger in the jungle, who was -desirous of dining _à la Russe_. I have not made a favourite of Cleon +desirous of dining _à la Russe_. I have not made a favourite of Cleon without having my reasons for so doing." "He seems to me a shrewd fellow, and one who understands his @@ -4090,7 +4066,7 @@ whatever company he might have, when that meal was over, it was his invariable custom to retire for an hour or two to the room consecrated to the uses of the Great Herb, and his guests seldom or never declined to accompany him. To Captain Ducie, as an inveterate smoker, these -_séances_ were very pleasant. +_séances_ were very pleasant. On the very first evening of the captain's arrival at Bon Repos, M. Platzoff had intimated that he was an opium smoker, and that at no @@ -4254,7 +4230,7 @@ so the struggle went on, and was still going on, when I opened my eyes and found myself again at Bon Repos." As Platzoff ceased speaking, Cleon applied the light, and Ducie in his -eagerness drew a little nearer. Platzoff was dressed _à la Turk_, and +eagerness drew a little nearer. Platzoff was dressed _à la Turk_, and sat with crossed legs on the low divan that ran round the room. Slowly and deliberately he inhaled the smoke from his pipe, expelling it a moment later, in part through his nostrils and in part through his @@ -5436,366 +5412,4 @@ END OF VOL. I. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Lock and Key, Volume I (of 3), by T. W. Speight -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER LOCK AND KEY, VOLUME I *** - -***** This file should be named 57294-8.txt or 57294-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/2/9/57294/ - -Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the -Internet Archive (Library of the University of Illinois -at Urbana-Champaign) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57294 *** diff --git a/57294-h/57294-h.htm b/57294-h/57294-h.htm index 6b2f006..3ae7d26 100644 --- a/57294-h/57294-h.htm +++ b/57294-h/57294-h.htm @@ -41,43 +41,7 @@ p.hang2 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:0em;} <body> -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Under Lock and Key, Volume I (of 3), by T. W. Speight - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Under Lock and Key, Volume I (of 3) - A Story - -Author: T. W. Speight - -Release Date: June 9, 2018 [EBook #57294] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER LOCK AND KEY, VOLUME I *** - - - - -Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the -Internet Archive (Library of the University of Illinois -at Urbana-Champaign) - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57294 ***</div> <br> <br> @@ -3187,2711 +3151,7 @@ more clearly comprehensible:</p> <p>The following is a counterpart of the first few lines of the MS.:</p> <br> <div style="margin-left:-15px"> -<pre> - - 253.12 59.29 14.5 96.14 158.49 1.29 465.1 28.53 - 4 1 6 10 4 12 9 1 - ____________________________________ - 16.36 151.18 58.7 14.29 368.1 209.18 43.11 1.31 1.1 - ____________________________________ - 11 3 9 8 - 29.6 186.9 204.11 86.19 43.16 348.14 196.29 203.5 - 4 5 10 6 1 5 6 2 - 186.9 1.31 21.10 143.18 200.6 29.40 408.9 61.5 - 5 9 4 8 3 12 11 4 - 209.11 496.1 24.24 28.59 69.39 391.10 60.13 200.1 - 2 6 4 1 10 11 3 3 - -</pre> -</div> -<br> -<p>The following is Mr. Bexel's reply to his friend Captain Ducie:</p> -<br> - -<p>"<span class="sc">My Dear Ducie</span>,--With this note you will receive back your confounded -MS., but without a translation. I have spent a good deal of time and -labour in trying to decipher it, and the conclusions at which I have -arrived may be briefly laid before you.</p> - -<p>"1. Each group of three sets of figures represents a word.</p> - -<p>"2. Each group of two sets of figures--those with a line above and a -line below--represents a letter only.</p> - -<p>"3. Those letters put together from the point where the double line -begins to the point where it ceases, make up a word.</p> - -<p>"4. In the composition of this cryptogram _a book_ has been used as the -basis on which to work.</p> - -<p>"5. In every group of three sets of figures the first set represents -the page of the book; the second, the number of the line on that page, -probably counting from the top; the third the position in ordinary -rotation of the word on that line. Thus you have the number of the -page, the number of the line, and the number of the word.</p> - -<p>"6. In the case of the interlined groups of two sets of figures, the -first set represents the number of the page; the second set the number -of the line, probably counting from the top, of which line the -required letter will prove to be the initial one.</p> - -<p>"7. The words thus spelled out by the interlined groups of double -figures are, in all probability, proper names, or other uncommon words -not to be found in their entirety in the book on which the cryptogram -is based, and consequently requiring to be worked out letter by -letter.</p> - -<p>"8. The book in question is not a dictionary, nor any other work the -words of which come in alphabetical rotation. It is probably some -ordinary book which the writer of the cryptogram, and the person for -whom it is written, have agreed upon beforehand to make use of as a -key. I have no means of judging whether the book in question is an -English or a foreign one, but by it alone, whatever it may be, can the -cryptogram be read.</p> - -<p>"Now, my dear Ducie, it would be wearisome for me to describe, and -equally wearisome for you to read, the processes of reasoning by means -of which the above deductions have been arrived at. But in order to -satisfy you that my assumptions are not entirely fanciful or destitute -of sober sense, I will describe to you, as briefly as may be, the -process by means of which I have come to the conclusion that the book -used as the basis of the cryptogram was not a dictionary or other work -in which the words come in alphabetical rotation: and such a -conclusion is very easy of proof.</p> - -<p>"In a document so lengthy as the MS. of your friend the Scotch laird -there must of necessity be many repetitions of what may be called -'indispensable words'--words one or more of which are used in the -composition of almost every long sentence. I allude to such words as -_a, an, and, as, of, by, the, their, them, these, they, you, I, it_, -&c. The first thing to do was to analyse the MS., and classify the -different groups of figures for the purpose of ascertaining the number -of repetitions of any one group. My analysis showed me that these -repetitions were surprisingly few. Forty groups were repeated twice, -fifteen three times, and nine groups four times. Now, according to my -calculation, the MS. contains 1283 words. Out of those 1283 words -there must have been more than the number of repetitions shown by my -analysis, and not of one only, but of several of what I have called -'indispensable words.' Had a dictionary been made use of by the writer -of the MS. all such repetitions would have been referred to one -particular page, and to one particular line of that page: that is to -say, in every case where a word repeated itself in the MS. the same -group of numbers would in every case have been its _valuer_. As the -repetitions were so few I could only conclude that some book of an -ordinary kind had been made use of and that the writer of the -cryptogram had been sufficiently ingenious not to repeat his numbers -very frequently in the case of 'indispensable words,' but had in the -majority of cases given a fresh group of numbers at each repetition of -such a word. I might, perhaps, go further and say that in the majority -of cases where a group of figures is repeated such group refers to -some word less frequently used than any of those specified above, and -that one group was obliged to do duty on two or more occasions, simply -because the writer was unable to find the word more than once in the -book on which his cryptogram was based.</p> - -<p>"Having once arrived at the conclusion that some book had been used as -the basis of the cryptogram, my next supposition that each group of -three sets of numbers showed the page of the book, the number of the -line from the top, and the position of the required word in that line, -seemed at once borne out by an analysis of the figures themselves. -Thus, taking the first set of figures in each group, I found that in -no case did they run to a higher number than 500 which would seem to -indicate that the basis-book was limited to that number of pages. The -second set of figures ran to no higher number than 60, which would -seem to limit the lines on each page to that number. The third set of -figures in no case yielded a higher number than 12; which numerals, -according to my theory, would indicate the maximum number of words in -each line. Thus you have at once (if such information is of any use to -you) a sort of a key to the size of the required volume.</p> - -<p>"I think I have now written enough, my dear Ducie, to afford you some -idea of the method by means of which my conclusions have been arrived -at. If you wish for further details I will supply them--but by word of -mouth, and it be all the same to your honour; for this child detests -letter-writing, and has taken a vow that if he reach the end of his -present pen-and-ink venture in safety, he will never in time to come -devote more than two pages of cream note to even the most exacting of -friends: the sequitur of which is, that if you want to know more than -is here set down you must give the writer a call, when you shall be -talked to to your heart's content.</p> - -<p style="text-indent:50%">"Your exhausted friend,</p> - -<p style="text-indent:70%">"<span class="sc">Geo. Bexell</span>.</p> - -<p>"Captain Ducie."</p> -<br> - -<p>Captain Ducie had too great a respect for the knowledge of his friend -Bexell in matters like the one under review, to dream for one moment -of testing the validity of any of his conclusions. He accepted the -whole of them as final. Having got the conclusions themselves, he -cared nothing as to the processes by which they had been deduced: the -details interested him not at all. Consequently he kept out of the way -of his friend, being in truth considerably disgusted to find that, so -far as he was himself concerned, the affair had ended in a fiasco. He -could not look upon it in any other light. It was utterly out of the -range of probability that he should ever succeed in ascertaining on -what particular book the cryptogram was based, and no other knowledge -was now of the slightest avail. He was half inclined to send back the -MS. anonymously to Platzoff, as being of no further use to himself; -but he was restrained by the thought that there was just a faint -chance that the much-desired volume might turn up during his -forthcoming visit to Bon Repos--that even at the eleventh hour the key -might be found.</p> - -<p>He was terribly chagrined to think that the act of genteel petty -larceny, by which he had lowered himself more in his own eyes than he -would have cared to acknowledge, had been so absolutely barren of -results. That portion of his moral anatomy which he would have called -his conscience pricked him shrewdly now and again, but such pricks had -their origin in the fact of his knavery having been unsuccessful. Had -his wrong-doing won for him such a prize as he had fondly hoped to -gain by its means, Conscience would have let her rusted spear hang -unheeded on the wall, and beyond giving utterance now and then to a -faint whisper in the dead of night, would have troubled him not at -all.</p> - -<p>It was some time in the middle of the night, about a week after Bexell -had sent him back the papers, that he awoke suddenly and completely, -and there before him, as clearly as though it had been written in -letters of fire on the black wall, he saw the title of the wished-for -book. It was the book mentioned by Platzoff in his prefatory note: -_The Confessions of Parthenio the Mystic_. The knowledge had come to -him like a revelation. How stupid he must have been never to have -thought of it before! That night he slept no more.</p> - -<p>Next morning he went to one of the most famous bookdealers in the -metropolis. The book inquired for by Ducie was not known to the man. -But that did not say that there was no such work in existence. Through -his agents at home and abroad inquiry should be made, and the result -communicated to Captain Ducie. Therewith the latter was obliged to -content himself. Three days later came a pressing note of invitation -from Platzoff.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4><a name="div1_11" href="#div1Ref_11">CHAPTER XI.</a></h4> -<h5>BON REPOS.</h5> -<br> - -<p>On a certain fine morning towards the end of May, Captain Ducie took -train at Euston-square, and late the same afternoon was set down at -Windermere. A fly conveyed himself and his portmanteau to the edge of -the lake. Singling out one from the tiny fleet of pleasure boats -always to be found at the Bowness landing-stage, Captain Ducie seated -himself in the stern, and lighted his cigar. The boatman's sinewy arms -soon pulled him out into the middle of the lake, when the head of the -little craft was set for Bon Repos.</p> - -<p>The sun was dipping to the western hills. In his wake he had left a -rack of torn and fiery cloud, as though he had rent his garments in -wrath and cast them from him. Soft, grey mists and purple shadows -were beginning to strike upward from the vales, but on the great -shoulders of Fairfield, and on the scarred fronts of other giants -further away, the sunshine lingered lovingly. It was like the hand of -Childhood caressing the rugged brows of Age.</p> - -<p>With that glorious panorama which crowns the head of the lake before -his eyes, with the rhythmic beat of the oars and the soft pulsing of -the water in his cars, with the blue smoke-rings of his cigar rising -like visible aspirations through the evening air, an unwonted peace, -a soft brooding quietude, began to settle down upon the captain's -world-worn spirit; and through the stillness came a faint whisper, -like his mother's voice speaking from the far-off years of childhood, -recalling to his memory things once known, but too long forgotten; -lessons too long despised, but with a vital truth underlying them -which he seemed never to have realized till now. Suddenly the boat's -keel grazed the shingly strand, and there before him, half shrouded in -the shadows of evening, was Bon Repos.</p> - -<p>A genuine north-country house, strong, rugged, and homely-looking, -despite its Gallic cognomen. It was built of the rough grey stone of -the district, and roofed with large blue slates. It stood at the head -of a small lawn that sloped gently up from the lake. Immediately -behind the house a precipitous hill covered with a thick growth of -underwood and young trees swept upward to a considerable height. A -narrow, winding lane, the only carriage approach to the house, wound -round the base of this hill, and joined the high road a quarter of a -mile away. The house was only two stories high, but was large enough -to have accommodated a numerous and well-to-do family. The windows -were all set in a framework of plain stone, but on the lower floor -some of them had been modernized, the small square bluish panes having -given place to polished plate glass, of which two panes only were -needed for each window. But this was an innovation that had not spread -far. The lawn was bordered with a tasteful diversity of shrubs and -flowers, while here and there the tender fingers of some climbing -plant seemed trying to smooth away a wrinkle in the rugged front of -the old house.</p> - -<p>Captain Ducie walked up the gravelled pathway that led from the lake -to the house, the boatman with his portmanteau bringing up the rear. -Before he could touch either bell or knocker, the door was noiselessly -opened, and a coloured servant, in a suit of plain black, greeted him -with a respectful bow.</p> - -<p>"Captain Ducie, sir, if I am not misinformed?"</p> - -<p>"I am Captain Ducie."</p> - -<p>"Sir, you are expected. Your room is ready. Dinner will be served in -half an hour from now. My master will meet you when you come -downstairs."</p> - -<p>The portmanteau having been brought in, and the boatman paid and -dismissed, said the coloured servant, "I will show you to your rooms -if you will allow me to do so. The man appointed to wait upon you will -follow with your luggage in a minute or two." He led the way, and -Ducie followed in silence.</p> - -<p>The tired captain gave a sigh of relief and gratitude, and flung -himself into an easy-chair as the door closed behind his conductor. -His two rooms were _en suite_, and while as replete with comfort as -the most thorough-going Englishman need desire, had yet about them a -touch of lightness and elegance that smacked of a taste that had been -educated on the Continent, and was unfettered by insular prejudices.</p> - -<p>"At Stapleton I had a loft that was hardly fit for a groom to sleep -in; here I have two rooms that a cardinal might feel proud to occupy. -Vive la Russe!"</p> - -<p>M. Platzoff was waiting at the foot of the staircase when Ducie went -down. A cordial greeting passed between the two, and the host at once -led the way to the dining-room. Platzoff in his suit of black and -white cravat, with his cadaverous face, blue-black hair, and -chin-tuft, and the elaborate curl on the top of his forehead, looked, -at the first glance, more like a ghastly undertaker's man, or a waiter -at a foreign café, than the host of an English country house. But a -second glance would have shown you his embroidered linen, and the -flashing gems on his fingers; and you could not be long with him -without being made aware that you were in the company of a thorough -man of the world--of one who had travelled much and observed much; of -one whose correspondents kept him _au courant_ with all the chief -topics of the day. He knew, and could tell you, the secret history of -the last new opera; how much had been paid for it, what it had cost to -produce, and all about the great green-room cabal against the new -prima donna. He knew what amount of originality could be safely -claimed for the last new drama that was taking the town by storm, and -how many times the same story had been hashed up before. He had read -the last French novel of any note, and could favour you with a few -personal reminiscences of its author not generally known. As regarded -political knowledge--if all his statements were to be trusted--he was -informed as to much that was going on behind the great drop-scene. He -knew how the wires were pulled that moved the puppets who danced in -public, especially those wires which were pulled at Paris, Vienna, and -St. Petersburg. Before Ducie had been six hours at Bon Repos he knew -more about political intrigues at home and abroad than he had ever -dreamt of in the whole course of his previous life.</p> - -<p>The dining-room at Bon Repos was a long low-ceilinged apartment, -panelled with black oak, and fitted up in a rich and sombre style that -was yet very different from the dull heavy formality that obtains -among three-fourths of the dining-rooms in English country houses. -Indeed, throughout the appointments and fittings of Bon Repos there -was a touch of something Oriental grafted on to French taste, combined -with a thorough knowledge and appreciation of insular comfort. From -the dining-room windows a lovely stretch of the lake could be seen -glimmering in the starlight, and our two friends sat this evening over -their wine by the wide open sash, gazing out into the delicious night. -Behind them, in the room, two or three candles were burning in silver -sconces; but at the window they were sitting in that sort of half -light which seems exactly suited for confidential talk. Captain Ducie -took advantage of it after a time to ask his host a question which he -would perhaps have scarcely cared to put by broad daylight.</p> - -<p>"Have you heard any news of your lost manuscript?"</p> - -<p>"None whatever," answered Platzoff. "Neither do I expect, after this -lapse of time, to hear anything further concerning it. It has probably -never been found, or if found, has (as you suggested at the 'Golden -Griffin') fallen into the hands of some one too ignorant, or too -incurious, to master the secret of the cipher."</p> - -<p>"It has been much in my thoughts since I saw you last," said Ducie. -"Was the MS. in your own writing, may I ask?"</p> - -<p>"It was in my own writing," answered the Russian. "It was a -confidential communication intended for the eye of my dearest friend, -and for his eye only. It was unfinished when I lost it. I had been -staying a few days at one of your English spas when I joined you in -the train on the day of the accident. The MS., as far as it went, had -all been written before I left home, but I took it with me in my -despatch-box, together with other private papers, although I knew that -I could not add a single line to it while I should be from home. I -have wished a thousand times since that I had left it behind me."</p> - -<p>"I have heard of people to whom cryptography is a favourite study," -said the captain; "people who pride themselves on their ability to -master the most difficult cipher ever invented. Let us hope that your -MS. has not fallen into the hands of one of these clever individuals."</p> - -<p>Platzoff shrugged his shoulders. "Let us hope so, indeed," he said. -"But I will not believe in any such untoward event. Too long a time -has elapsed since the loss for me not to have heard something -respecting the MS., had it been found by any one who knew how to make -use of it. Besides, I would defy the most clever reader of cryptography -to master my MS. without----Ah, bah! where's the use of talking about -it? Should not you like some tobacco? Daylight's last tint has -vanished, and there is a chill air sweeping down from the hills."</p> - -<p>As they left the window, Platzoff added: "One of the most annoying -features connected with my loss arises from the fact that all my -labour will have to be gone through again--and very tedious work it -is. I am now engaged on a second MS., which is, as nearly as I can -make it, a copy of the first one; and it is a task which must be done -by myself alone. To have even one confidant would be to stultify the -whole affair. Another glass of claret, and then I will introduce you -to my sanctum."</p> - -<p>The coloured man who had opened the door for Captain Ducie had been in -and out of the dining-room several times. He was evidently a favourite -servant. Platzoff had addressed him as Cleon, and Ducie had now a -question or two to ask concerning him.</p> - -<p>Cleon was a mulatto, tall, agile, and strong. Not bad-looking by any -means, but carrying with him unmistakable traces of the negro blood in -his veins. His hair was that of a genuine African--crisp and black, -and was one mass of short curls; but except for a certain fulness of -the lips his features were of the ordinary Caucasian type. He wore no -beard, but a thin straight line of black moustache. His complexion was -yellow, but a different yellow from that of his master--dusky, -passionate, lava-like; suggestive of fiery depths below. His eyes, -too, glowed with a smothered fire that seemed as if it might blaze out -at any moment, and there was in them an expression of snake-like -treachery that made Captain Ducie shudder involuntarily, as though he -had seen some loathsome reptile, the first time he looked steadily -into their half-veiled depths. One look into each other's eyes was -sufficient for both these men.</p> - -<p>"Monsieur Cleon and I are born enemies, and he knows it as well as I -do," murmured Ducie to himself, after the first secret signal of -defiance had passed between the two. "Well, I never was afraid of any -man in my life, and I'm not going to begin by being afraid of a -valet." With that he shrugged his shoulders, and turned his back -contemptuously on the mulatto.</p> - -<p>Cleon in his suit of black and white tie, with his quiet stealthy -movements and unobtrusive attentions, would have been pronounced bon -style as a gentleman's gentleman in the grandest of Belgravian -mansions. Had he suddenly come into a fortune, and gone into society -where his antecedents were unknown, five-sixths of his male associates -would have pronounced him "a deuced gentlemanly fellow." The remaining -one-sixth might have held a somewhat different opinion.</p> - -<p>"That coloured fellow seems to be a great favourite with you," -remarked Ducie, as Cleon left the room.</p> - -<p>"And well he may be," answered Platzoff. "On two separate occasions I -owed my life to him. Once in South America, when a couple of brigands -had got me at their mercy, and were about to try the temper of their -knives on my throat. He potted them both one after the other. On the -second occasion be rescued me from a tiger in the jungle, who was -desirous of dining _à la Russe_. I have not made a favourite of Cleon -without having my reasons for so doing."</p> - -<p>"He seems to me a shrewd fellow, and one who understands his -business."</p> - -<p>"Cleon is not destitute of ability. When I settled at Bon Repos I made -him major-domo of my small establishment, but he still retains his old -position as my body-servant. I offered long ago to release him; but he -will not allow any third person to come between himself and me, and I -should not feel comfortable under the attentions of any one else."</p> - -<p>Platzoff opened the door as he ceased speaking and led the way to the -smoking-room.</p> - -<p>As you lifted the curtain and went in, it was like passing at one step -from Europe to the East--from the banks of Windermere to the shores of -the Bosphorus. It was a circular apartment with a low cushioned divan -running completely round it, except where broken by the two doorways, -curtained with hangings of dark brown. The floor was an arabesque of -different coloured tiles covered here and there with a tiny square of -bright-hued Persian carpet. The walls were panelled with stamped -leather to the height of six feet from the ground; above the panelling -they were painted of a delicate cream colour with here and there a -maxim or apothegm from the Koran, in the Arabic character, picked out -in different colours. From the ceiling a silver lamp swung on chains -of silver. In the centre of the room was a marble table on which were -pipes and hookahs, cigars and tobaccos of various kinds. Smaller -tables were placed here and there close to the divan for the -convenience of smokers.</p> - -<p>Platzoff having asked Ducie to excuse him for five minutes, passed -through the second doorway, and left the captain to an undisturbed -survey of the room. He came back in a few minutes, but so transformed -in outward appearance that Ducie scarcely knew him. He had left the -room in the full evening costume of an English gentleman: he came back -in the turban and flowing robes of a follower of the Prophet. But -however comfortable his Eastern habit might be, M. Platzoff lacked the -quiet dignity and grave repose of your genuine Turkish gentleman.</p> - -<p>"I am going to smoke one of these hookahs; let me recommend you to try -another," said Platzoff as he squatted himself cross-legged on the -divan.</p> - -<p>He touched a tiny gong, and Cleon entered.</p> - -<p>"Select a hookah for Monsieur Ducie, and prepare it."</p> - -<p>So Cleon, having chosen a pipe, tipped it with a new amber mouthpiece, -charged the bowl with fragrant Turkish tobacco, handed the stem to -Ducie, and then applied the light. The same service was next performed -for his master. Then he withdrew, but only to reappear a minute or two -later with coffee served up in the Oriental fashion--black and strong, -without sugar or cream.</p> - -<p>"This is one of my little smoke-nights," said Platzoff as soon as they -were alone. "Last night was one of my big smoke-nights."</p> - -<p>"You speak a language I do not understand."</p> - -<p>"I call those occasions on which I smoke opium my big smoke-nights."</p> - -<p>"Can it be true that you are an opium smoker?" said Ducie.</p> - -<p>"It can be and is quite true that I am addicted to that so-called -pernicious habit. To me it is one of the few good things this world -has to offer. Opium is the key that unlocks the golden gates of -Dreamland. To its disciples alone is revealed the true secret of -subjective happiness. But we will talk more of this at some future -time."</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4><a name="div1_12" href="#div1Ref_12">CHAPTER XII.</a></h4> -<h5>THE AMSTERDAM EDITION OF 1698.</h5> -<br> - -<p>Captain Ducie soon fell into the quiet routine of life at Bon Repos. -It was not distasteful to him. To a younger man it might have seemed -to lack variety, to have impinged too closely on the verge of dulness; -but Captain Ducie had reached that time of life when quiet pleasures -please the most, and when much can be forgiven the man who sets before -you a dinner worth eating. Not that Ducie had anything to forgive. -Platzoff had contracted a great liking for his guest, and his -hospitality was of that cordial quality which makes the object of it -feel himself thoroughly at home. Besides this, the captain knew when -he was well off, and had no wish to exchange his present pleasant -quarters, his rambles across the hills, and his sailings on the lake, -for his dingy bedroom in town with the harassing hunted-down life of a -man upon whom a dozen writs are waiting to be served, and who can -never feel certain that his next day's dinner may not be eaten behind -the locks and bars of a prison.</p> - -<p>Sometimes on horseback, sometimes on foot, sometimes accompanied by -his host, sometimes alone, Ducie explored the lovely country round Bon -Repos to his heart's content. Another source of pleasure and healthful -exercise he found in long solitary pulls up and down the lake in a -tiny skiff which had been set apart for his service. In the evening -came dinner and conversation with his host, with perhaps a game or two -of billiards to finish up the day.</p> - -<p>Captain Ducie found no scope for the exercise of his gambling -proclivities at Bon Repos. Platzoff never touched card or dice. He -could handle a cue tolerably well, but beyond a half-crown game, Ducie -giving him ten points out of fifty, he could never be persuaded to -venture. If the captain, when he went down to Bon Repos, had any -expectation of replenishing his pockets by means of faro and unlimited -loo, he was wretchedly mistaken. But whatever secret annoyance he -might feel, he was too much a man of the world to allow his host even -to suspect its existence.</p> - -<p>Of society in the ordinary meaning of that word there was absolutely -none at Bon Repos. None of the neighbouring families by any chance -ever called on Platzoff. By no chance did Platzoff ever call on any of -the neighbouring families. "They are too good for me, too orthodox, -too strait-laced," exclaimed the Russian one day in his quiet jeering -way. "Or it may be that I am not good enough for them. Any way, we do -not coalesce. Rather are we like flint and steel, and eliminate a -spark whenever we come in contact. They look upon me as a pagan, and -hold me in horror. I look upon three-fourths of them as Pharisees, and -hold them in contempt. Good people there are among them no doubt; -people whom it would be a pleasure to know, but I have neither time, -health, nor inclination for conventional English visiting--for your -ponderous style of hospitality. I am quite sure that my ideas of men -and manners would not coincide with those of the quiet country ladies -and gentlemen of these parts; while theirs would seem to me terribly -wearisome and jejune. Therefore, as I take it, we are better apart."</p> - -<p>By and by Ducie discovered that his host was not so entirely isolated -from the world as at first sight he appeared to be. Occasional society -there was of a certain kind, intermittent, coming and going like birds -of passage. One, or sometimes two visitors, of whose arrival Ducie had -heard no previous mention, would now and again put in an appearance at -the dinner table, would pass one, or at the most two, nights at Bon -Repos, and would then be seen no more, having gone as mysteriously as -they had come. These visitors were always foreigners, now of one -nationality, now of another; and were always closeted privately with -Platzoff for several hours. In appearance some of them were strangely -shabby and unkempt, in a wild un-English sort of fashion, while others -among them seemed like men to whom the good things of this world were -no strangers. But whatever their appearance, they were all treated by -Platzoff as honoured guests for whom nothing at his command was too -good. As a matter of course, they were all introduced to Captain -Ducie, but none of their names had been heard by him before--indeed, -he had a dim suspicion, gathered, he could not have told how, that the -names by which they were made known to him were in some cases -fictitious ones, and appropriated for that occasion only. But to the -captain that fact mattered nothing. They were people whom he should -never meet after leaving Bon Repos, or if he did chance to meet them, -whom he should never recognise.</p> - -<p>One other noticeable feature there was about these birds of passage. -They were all men of considerable intelligence--men who could talk -tersely and well on almost any topic that might chance to come -uppermost at table, or during the after-dinner smoke. Literature, art, -science, travel--on any or all of these subjects they had opinions to -offer; but one subject there was that seemed tabooed among them as by -common consent: that subject was politics. Captain Ducie saw and -recognised the fact, but as he himself was a man who cared nothing for -politics of any kind, and would have voted them a bore in general -conversation, he was by no means disposed to resent their extrusion -from the table talk at Bon Repos.</p> - -<p>As to whom and what these strangers might be, no direct information -was vouchsafed by the Russian. Captain Ducie was left in a great -measure to draw his own conclusions. A certain conversation which he -had one day with his host seemed to throw some light on the matter. -Ducie had been asking Platzoff whether he did not sometimes regret -having secluded himself so entirely from the world; whether he did not -long sometimes to be in the great centres of humanity, in London or -Paris, where alone life's full flavour can be tasted.</p> - -<p>"Whenever Bon Repos becomes Mal Repos," answered Platzoff,--"whenever -a longing such as you speak of comes over me,--and it does come -sometimes,--then I flee away for a few weeks, to London oftener than -anywhere else--certainly not to Paris: that to me is forbidden ground. -By-and-by I come back to my nest among the hills vowing there is no -place like it in the world's wide round. But even when I am here, I am -not so shut out from the world and its great interests as you seem to -imagine. I see History enacting itself before my eyes, and I cannot -sit by with averted face. I hear the grand chant of Liberty as the -beautiful goddess comes nearer and nearer and smites down one -Oppressor after another with her red right hand; and I cannot shut my -ears. I have been an actor in the great drama of Revolution ever -since, a lad of twelve, I saw my father borne off in chains to -Siberia, and heard my mother with her dying breath curse the tyrant -who had sent him there. Since that day, Conspiracy has been the very -salt of my life. For it I have fought and bled; for it I have suffered -hunger, thirst, imprisonment, and dangers unnumbered. Paris, Vienna, -St. Petersburg, are all places that I can never hope to see again. For -me to set foot in any one of the three would be to run the risk of -almost certain detection, and in my case detection would mean hopeless -incarceration for the poor remainder of my days. To the world at large -I may seem nothing but a simple country gentleman, living a dull life -in a spot remote from all stirring interests. But I may tell you, sir -(in strictest confidence, mind) that although I stand a little aside -from the noise and heat of the battle, I work for it with heart and -brain as busily, and to better purpose let us hope, than when I was a -much younger man. I am still a conspirator, and a conspirator I shall -remain till Death taps me on the shoulder and serves me with his last -great writ of _habeas corpus_."</p> - -<p>These words recurred to Ducie's memory a day or two later when he -found at the dinner-table two foreigners whom he had never seen -before. "Is it possible that these bearded gentlemen are also -conspirators?" asked the captain of himself. "If so, their mode of -life must be a very uncomfortable one. It never seems to include the -use of a razor, and very sparingly that of comb and brush. I am glad -that I have nothing to do with what Platzoff calls _The Great Cause_."</p> - -<p>But Captain Ducie was not a man to trouble himself with the affairs of -other people unless his own interests were in some way affected -thereby. M. Paul Platzoff might have been mixed up with all the plots -in Europe for anything the captain cared: it was a mere question of -taste, and he never interfered with another man's tastes when they did -not clash with his own. Besides, in the present case, his attention -was claimed by what to him was a matter of far more serious interest. -From day to day he was anxiously waiting for news from the London -bookseller who was making inquiries on his behalf as to the -possibility of obtaining a copy of "_The Confessions of Parthenio the -Mystic_." Day passed after day till a fortnight had gone, and still -there came no line from the bookseller.</p> - -<p>Ducie's impatience could no longer be restrained: he wrote, asking for -news. The third day brought a reply. The bookseller had at last heard -of a copy. It was in the library of a monastery in the Low Countries. -The coffers of the monastery needed replenishing; the abbot was -willing to part with the book, but the price of it would be a sum -equivalent to fifty guineas of English money. Such was the purport of -the letter.</p> - -<p>To Captain Ducie, just then, fifty guineas were a matter of serious -moment. For a full hour he debated with himself whether or no he -should order the book to be bought. Supposing it duly purchased; -supposing that it really proved to be the key by which the secret of -the Russian's MS. could be mastered; might not the secret itself prove -utterly worthless as far as he, Ducie, was concerned? Might it not be -merely a secret bearing on one of those confounded political plots in -which Platzoff was implicated--a matter of moment no doubt to the -writer, but of no earthly utility to any one not inoculated with such -March-hare madness? These were the questions that it behoved him to -consider. At the end of an hour he decided that the game was worth the -candle: he would risk his fifty guineas.</p> - -<p>Taking one of Platzoff's horses, he rode without delay to the nearest -telegraph station. His message to the bookseller was as under:</p> - -<p>"Buy the book, and send it down to me here by confidential messenger."</p> - -<p>The next few days were days of suspense, of burning impatience. The -messenger arrived almost sooner than Ducie expected, bringing the book -with him. Ducie sighed as he signed the cheque for fifty guineas, with -ten pounds for expenses. That shabby calf-bound worm-eaten volume -seemed such a poor exchange for the precious slip of paper that had -just left his fingers. But what was done could not be undone, so he -locked the book away carefully in his desk and locked up his -impatience with it till nightfall.</p> - -<p>He could not get away from Platzoff till close upon midnight. When he -got to his own room he bolted the door, and drew the curtains across -the windows, although he knew that it was impossible for any one to -spy on him from without. Then he opened his desk, spread out the MS. -before him, and took up the volume. A calf-bound volume with red -edges, and numbering five hundred pages. It was in English, and the -title-page stated it to be "The Confessions of Parthenio the Mystic: a -Romance. Translated from the Latin. With Annotations, and a Key to -Sundrie Dark Meanings. Imprinted at Amsterdam in he Year of Grace -1698." It was in excellent condition.</p> - -<p>Captain Ducie's eagerness to test his prize would not allow of more -than a very cursory inspection of the general contents of the volume. -So far as he could make out it seemed to be a political satire veiled -under the transparent garb of an Eastern story. Parthenio was -represented as a holy man--a Spiritualist or Mystic--who had lived for -many years in a cave in one of the Arabian deserts. Commanded at -length by what he calls the "inner voice," he sets out on his travels -to visit sundry courts and kingdoms of the East. He returns after five -years, and writes, for the benefit of his disciples, an account of the -chief things he has seen and learned while on his travels. The courts -of England, France, and Spain, under fictitious names, are the chief -marks for his ponderous satire, and some of the greatest men in the -three kingdoms are lashed with his most scurrilous abuse. Under any -circumstances the book was not one that Captain Ducie would have cared -to wade through, and in the present case, after dipping into a page -here and there, and finding that it contained nothing likely to -interest him, he proceeded at once to the more serious business of the -evening.</p> - -<p>The clocks of Bon Repos were striking midnight as Captain Ducie -proceeded to test the value of the first group of figures on the MS., -according to the formula laid down for him by his friend Bexell. The -first group of figures was 253.12/4. Turning to page two hundred and -fifty-three of the Confessions, and counting from the top of that -page, he found that the fourth word of the twelfth line gave him -_you_. The second clump of figures was 59.25/1. The first word of the -twenty-fifth line of page fifty-nine gave him _will_. The third clump -of figures gave him _have_, and the fourth _gathered_. These four -words ranged in order read: _You will have gathered_. Such a sequence -of words could not arise from mere accident. When he had got thus far -Ducie knew that Platzoff's secret would soon be a secret no longer, -that in a very little while the heart of the mystery would be laid -bare.</p> - -<p>Encouraged by his success, Ducie went to work with renewed vigour, and -before the clock struck one he had completed the first sentence of the -MS., which ran as under:--</p> - -<p>_You will have gathered from the foregoing note, my dear Carlo, that I -have something of importance to relate to you--something that I am -desirous of keeping a secret front every one but yourself_.</p> - -<p>As his friend Bexell surmised, Ducie found that the groups of figures -distinguished from the rest by two horizontal lines, one above and one -below, as thus</p> -<pre> - --------------------------------- - 58.7 14.29 368.1 209.18 43.11, - --------------------------------- -</pre> -<p class="continue">were the _valeurs_ of some proper name or other word for which there -was no equivalent in the book. Such words had to be spelt out letter -by letter in the same way that complete words were picked out in other -cases. Thus the marked figures as above, when taken letter by letter, -made up the word _Carlo_--a name to which there was nothing similar in -the Confessions.</p> - -<p>It had been broad daylight for two hours before Captain Ducie grew -tired of his task and went to bed. He went on with it next night, and -every night till it was finished. It was a task that deepened in -interest as he proceeded with it. It grew upon him to such a degree -that when near the close he feigned illness and kept his room for a -whole day, so that he might the sooner get it done.</p> - -<p>If Captain Ducie had ever amused himself with trying to imagine the -nature of the secret which he had now succeeded in unravelling, the -reality must have been very different from his expectations. One -gigantic thought, whose coming made him breathless for a moment, took -possession of him, as a demon might have done, almost before he had -finished his task, dwarfing all other thoughts by its magnitude. It -was a thought that found relief in six words only: "It must and shall -be mine!"</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4><a name="div1_13" href="#div1Ref_13">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h4> -<h5>M. PLATZOFF'S SECRET--CAPTAIN DUCIE'S TRANSLATION<br> -OF M. PAUL PLATZOFF'S MS.</h5> -<br> - -<p>"You will have gathered from the foregoing note, my dear Carlo, that I -have something of importance to relate to you; something that I am -desirous of keeping a secret from every one but yourself. From the -same source you will have learned where to find the key by which alone -the lock of my secret can be opened.</p> - -<p>"I was induced by two reasons to make use of 'The Confessions of -Parthenio the Mystic' as the basis of my cryptographic communication. -In the first place, each of us has in his possession a copy of the -same edition of that rare book, viz. the Amsterdam edition of 1698. In -the second place, there are not more thou half a dozen copies of the -same work in England; so that if this document were by mischance to -fall into the hands of some person other than him for whom it is -intended, such person, even if sufficiently acute to guess at the -means by which alone the cryptogram can be read, would still find it a -matter of some difficulty to obtain possession of the requisite key.</p> - -<p>"I address these lines to you, my dear Lampini, not because you and I -have been friends from youth, not because we have shared many dangers -and hardship together, not because we have both kept the same great -object in view throughout life; in fine, I do not address them to you -as a private individual, but in your official capacity as Secretary of -the Secret Society of San Marco.</p> - -<p>"You know how deeply I have had the objects of the Society at heart -ever since, twenty-five years ago, I was deemed worthy of being made -one of the initiated. You know how earnestly I have striven to forward -its views both in England and abroad; that through my connexion with -it I am _suspect_ at nearly every capital on the Continent--that I -could not enter some of them except at the risk of my life; that -health, time, money--all have been ungrudgingly given for the -furtherance of the same great end.</p> - -<p>"Heaven knows, I am not penning these lines in any self-gratulatory -frame of mind--I who write from this happy haven among the hills. -Self-gratulation would ill become such as me. Where I have given gold, -others have given their blood. Where I have given time and labour, -others have undergone long and cruel imprisonments, have been -separated from all they loved on earth, and have seen the best years -of their life fade hopelessly out between the four walls of a living -tomb. What are my petty sacrifices to such as these?</p> - -<p>"But not to every one is granted the happiness of cementing a great -cause with his heart's blood. We must each work in the appointed -way--some of us in the full light of day; others in obscure corners, -at work that can never be seen, putting in the stones of the -foundation painfully one by one, but never destined to share in the -glory of building the roof of the edifice.</p> - -<p>"Sometimes, in your letters to me, especially when those letters -contained any disheartening news, I have detected a tone of -despondency, a latent doubt as to whether the cause, to which both of -us are so firmly bound, was really progressing; whether it was not -fighting against hope to continue the battle any longer; whether it -would not be wiser to retreat to the few caves and fastnesses that -were left us, and leaving Liberty still languishing in chains, and -Tyranny still rampant in the high places of the world, to wage no -longer a useless war against the irresistible Fates. Happily, with you -such moods were of the rarest: you would have been more than mortal -had not your soul at times sat in sackcloth and ashes.</p> - -<p>"Such seasons of doubt and gloom have come to me also; but I know -that in our secret hearts we both of us have felt that there was a -self-sustaining power, a latent vitality in our cause that nothing -could crush out utterly; that the more it was trampled on the more -dangerous it would become, and the faster it would spread. Certain -great events that have happened during the last twelve months have -done more towards the propagation of the ideas we have so much at -heart than in our wildest dreams we dare have hoped only three short -years ago. Gravely considering these things, it seems to me that the -time cannot be far distant when the contingent plan of operations as -agreed upon by the Central Committee two years ago, to which I gave in -my adhesion on the occasion of your last visit to Bon Repos, will have -to replace the scheme at present in operation, and will become the -great lever in carrying out the Society's policy in time to come.</p> - -<p>"When the time shall be ripe, but one difficulty will stand in the way -of carrying out the proposed contingent plan. That difficulty will -arise from the fact that the Society's present expenses will then be -trebled or quadrupled, and that a vast accession to the funds at -command of the Committee for the time being will thus be imperatively -necessitated. As a step, as a something towards obviating whatever -difficulty may arise from lack of funds, I have devised to you, as -Secretary of the Society, the whole of my personal estate, amounting -in the aggregate to close upon fifteen thousand pounds. This property -will not accrue to you till my decease; but that event will happen no -very long time hence. My will, duly signed and witnessed, will be -found in the hands of my lawyer.</p> - -<p>"But it was not merely to advise you of this bequest that I have -sought such a roundabout mode of communication. I have a greater and a -much more important bequest to make to the Society, through you, its -accredited agent. I have in my possession a green DIAMOND, the -estimated value of which is a hundred and fifty thousand pounds. This -precious gem I shall leave to you, by you to be sold after my death, -the proceeds of the sale to be added to the other funded property of -the Society of San Marco.</p> - -<p>"The Diamond in question became mine during my travels in India many -years ago. I believe my estimate of its value to be a correct one. -Except my confidential servant, Cleon (whom you will remember), no one -is aware that I have in my possession a stone of such immense value. I -have never trusted it out of my own keeping, but have always retained -it by me, in a safe place, where I could lay my hands upon it at a -moment's notice. But not even to Cleon have I entrusted the secret of -the hiding-place, incorruptibly faithful as I believe him to be. It is -a secret locked in my own bosom alone.</p> - -<p>"You will now understand why I have resorted to cryptography in -bringing these facts under your notice. It is intended that these -lines shall not be read by you till after my decease. Had I adopted -the ordinary mode of communicating with you, it seemed to me not -impossible that some other eye than the one for which it was intended -might peruse this statement before it reached you, and that through -some foul play or underhand deed the Diamond might never come into -your possession.</p> - -<p>"It only remains for me now to point out where and by what means the -Diamond may be found. It is hidden away in----"</p> -<br> - -<p>Here the MS., never completed, ended abruptly.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4><a name="div1_14" href="#div1Ref_14">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h4> -<h5>DRASHKIL-SMOKING.</h5> -<br> - -<p>"It must and shall be mine!"</p> - -<p>So spoke Captain Ducie on the spur of the moment as he wrote the last -word of his translation of M. Platzoff's MS. And yet there was a keen -sense of disappointment working within him. His blood had been at -fever heat during the latter part of his task. Each fresh sentence of -the cryptogram as he began to decipher it would, he hoped, before he -reached the end of it reveal to him the hiding-place of the great -Diamond. Up to the very last sentence he had thus fondly deluded -himself, only to find that the abrupt ending of the MS. left him still -on the brink of the secret, and left him there without any clue by -which he could advance a single step beyond that point. He was -terribly disappointed, and the longer he brooded over the case the -more entirely hopeless was the aspect it put on.</p> - -<p>But there was an elasticity of mind about Captain Ducie that would not -allow him to despair utterly for any length of time. In the course of -a few days, as he began to recover from his first chagrin, he at the -same time began to turn the affair of the Diamond over and over in his -mind, now in one way, now in another, looking at it in this light and -in that; trying to find the first faint indications of a clue which, -judiciously followed up, might conduct him step by step to the heart -of the mystery. Two questions naturally offered themselves for -solution. First: Did Platzoff habitually carry the Diamond about his -person? Second: Was it kept in some skilfully-devised hiding-place -about the house? These were questions that could be answered only by -time and observation.</p> - -<p>So Captain Ducie went about Bon Repos like a man with half a dozen -pairs of eyes, seeing, and not only seeing but noting, a hundred -little things such as would never have been observed by him under -ordinary circumstances. But when, at the end of a week, he came to sum -up and classify his observations, and to consider what bearing they -had upon the great mystery of the hiding-place of the Diamond, he -found that they had no bearing upon it whatever; that for anything -seen or heard by him the world might hold no such precious gem, and -the Russian's letter to Signor Lampini might be nothing more than an -elaborate hoax.</p> - -<p>When the access of chagrin caused by the recognition of this fact had -in some degree subsided, Ducie was ready enough to ridicule his own -foolish expectations. "Platzoff has had the Diamond in his possession -for years. For him there is nothing of novelty in such a fact. Yet -here have I been foolish enough to expect that in the course of one -short week I should, discover by some sign or token the spot where it -is hidden, and that too after I knew from his own confession that the -secret was one which he guarded most jealously. I might be here for -five years and be not one whit wiser at the end of that time as -regards the hiding-place of the Diamond than I am now. From this day I -give up the affair as a bad job."</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, he did not quite do that. He kept up his habit of seeing -and noting little things, but without any definite views as to any -ulterior benefit that might accrue to him therefrom. Perhaps there was -some vague idea floating in his mind that Fortune, who had served him -so many kind turns in years gone by, might befriend him once again in -this matter--might point out to him the wished-for clue, and indicate -by what means he could secure the Diamond for his own.</p> - -<p>The magnitude of the temptation dazzled him. Captain Ducie would not -have picked your pocket, or have stolen your watch, or your horse, or -the title-deeds of your property. He had never put another man's name -to a bill instead of his own. You might have made him trustee for your -widow or children, and have felt sure that their interests would have -been scrupulously respected at his hands. Yet with all this--strange -contradiction as it may seem--if he could have laid surreptitious -fingers on M. Platzoff's Diamond, that gentleman would certainly never -have seen his cherished gem again. But had Platzoff placed it in his -hands and said, "Take this to London for me and deposit it at my -bankers," the commission would have been faithfully fulfilled. It -seemed as if the element of mystery, of deliberate concealment, made -all the difference in Captain Ducie's unspoken estimate of the case. -Besides, would there not be something princely in such a theft? You -cannot put a man who steals a diamond worth a hundred and fifty -thousand pounds in the category of common thieves. Such an act verges -on the sublime.</p> - -<p>One of the things seen and noticed by Captain Ducie was the absence, -through illness, of the mulatto, Cleon, from his duties, and the -substitution in his place of a man whom Ducie had never seen before. -This stranger was both clever and obliging, and Platzoff himself -confessed that the fellow made such a good substitute that he missed -Cleon less than he at first feared he should have done. He was indeed -very assiduous, and found time to do many odd jobs for Captain Ducie, -who contracted quite a liking for him.</p> - -<p>Between Ducie and Cleon there existed one of those blind unreasoning -hatreds which spring up full-armed and murderous at first sight. Such -enmities are not the less deadly because they sometimes find no relief -in words. Cleon treated Ducie with as much outward respect and -courtesy as he did any other of his master's guests; no private -communication ever passed between the two, and yet each understood the -other's feelings towards him, and both of them were wise enough to -keep as far apart as possible. Neither of them dreamed at that time of -the strange fruit which their mutual enmity was to bear in time to -come. Meanwhile, Cleon lay sick in his own room, and Captain Ducie was -rather gladdened thereby.</p> -<br> - -<p>M. Platzoff rarely touched cigar or pipe till after dinner; but, -whatever company he might have, when that meal was over, it was his -invariable custom to retire for an hour or two to the room consecrated -to the uses of the Great Herb, and his guests seldom or never declined -to accompany him. To Captain Ducie, as an inveterate smoker, these -_séances_ were very pleasant.</p> - -<p>On the very first evening of the captain's arrival at Bon Repos, M. -Platzoff had intimated that he was an opium smoker, and that at no -very distant date he would enlighten Ducie as to the practice in -question. About a week later, as they sat down to their pipes and -coffee, said Platzoff, "This is one of my big smoke-nights. To-night I -go on a journey of discovery into Dreamland--a country that no -explorations can exhaust, where beggars are the equals of kings, and -where the Fates that control our actions are touched with a fine -eccentricity that in a more commonplace world would be termed madness. -But there nothing is commonplace."</p> - -<p>"You are going to smoke opium?" said Ducie, interrogatively.</p> - -<p>"I am going to smoke drashkil. Let me, for this once, persuade you to -follow my example."</p> - -<p>"For this once I would rather be excused," said Ducie, laughingly.</p> - -<p>Platzoff shrugged his shoulders. "I offer to open for you the golden -gates of a land full of more strange and wondrous things than were -ever dreamed of by any early voyager as being in that new world on -whose discovery he was bent; I offer to open up for you a set of -experiences so utterly fresh and startling that your matter-of-fact -English intellect cannot even conceive of such things. I offer you all -this, and you laugh me down with an air of superiority, as though I -were about to present you with something which, however precious it -might be in my eyes, in yours was utterly without value."</p> - -<p>"If I sin at all," said Ducie, "it is through ignorance. The -subject is one respecting which I know next to nothing. But I must -confess that about experiences such as you speak of there is an -intangibility--a want of substance--that to me would make them seem -singularly valueless."</p> - -<p>"And is not the thing we call life one tissue of intangibilities?" -asked the Russian. "You can touch neither the beginning nor the end -of it. Do not its most cherished pleasures fly you even as you are in -the very net of trying to grasp them? Do you know for certain that -you--you yourself--are really here?--that you do not merely dream that -you are here? What do you know?"</p> - -<p>"Your theories are too far-fetched for me," said Ducie. "A dream can -be nothing more than itself--nothing can give it backbone or -substance. To me such things are of no more value than the shadow I -cast behind me when I walk in the sun."</p> - -<p>"And yet without substance there could be no shadow," snarled the -Russian.</p> - -<p>"Do your experiences in any way resemble those recorded by De -Quincey?"</p> - -<p>"They do and they do not," answered Platzoff. "I can often trace, or -fancy that I can, a slight connecting likeness, arising probably from -the fact that in the case of both of us a similar, or nearly similar -agent was employed for a similar purpose. But, as a rule, the -intellectual difference between any two men is sufficient to render -their experiences in this respect utterly dissimilar."</p> - -<p>"It does not follow, I presume, that all the visions induced by the -imbibition of opium, or what you term drashkil, are pleasant ones?"</p> - -<p>"By no means. You cannot have forgotten what De Quincey has to say on -that score. But whether they are pleasant or the contrary, I accept -them as so much experience, and in so far I am satisfied. You look -incredulous, but I tell you, sir, that what I see, and what I undergo -subjectively--while under the influence of drashkil, make up for me an -experience as real, that dwells as vividly in my memory and that can -be brought to mind like any other set of recollections, as if it were -built up brick by brick, fact by fact, out of the incidents of -everyday life. And all such experiences are valuable in this wise: -that whatever I see while under the influence of drashkil, I see, as -it were, with the eyes of genius. I breathe a keener atmosphere; I -have finer intuitions; the brain is no longer clogged with that part -of me which is mortal; in whatever imaginary scenes I assist, whether -as actor or spectator matters not, I seem to discern the underlying -meaning of things--I hear the low faint beating of the hidden pules of -the world. To come back from this enchanted realm to the dull -realities of everyday life is like depriving some hero of fairyland of -his magic gifts and reducing him to the level of common humanity."</p> - -<p>"At which pleasant level I pray ever to be kept," said Ducie; "I have -no desire to soar into those regions of romance where you seem so -thoroughly at home."</p> - -<p>"So be it," said Platzoff, drily. "The intellects of you English have -been nourished on beef and beer for so many generations, that there is -no such thing as spiritual insight left among you. We must not expect -too much." This was said not ill-naturedly, but in that quiet jeering -tone which was almost habitual with Platzoff.</p> - -<p>Ducie maintained a judicious silence and went on puffing gravely at -his meerschaum. Platzoff touched the gong and Cleon entered, for this -conversation took place before the illness of the latter. The Russian -held up two fingers, and Cleon bowed. Then Cleon opened a mahogany box -in one corner of the room, and took out of it a pipe-bowl of red clay, -into which he fitted a flexible tube five or six yards in length and -tipped with amber. The bowl was then fixed into a stand of black oak -about a foot high, and there held securely, and the mouthpiece handed -to Platzoff. Cleon next opened an inlaid box, and by means of a tiny -silver spatula he cut out a small block of some black greasy-looking -mixture, which he proceeded to fit into the bowl of the pipe. On the -top of this he sprinkled a little aromatic Turkish tobacco, and then -applied an allumette. When he saw that the pipe was fairly alight, he -bowed and withdrew.</p> - -<p>While these preparations were going on Platzoff had not been silent. -"I have spoken to you of what I am about to smoke, both as opium and -as drashkil," he said. "It is not by any means pure opium. With that -great drug are mixed two or three others that modify and influence the -chief ingredient materially. I had the secret of the preparation from -a Hindoo gentleman while I was in India. It was imparted to me as an -immense favour, it being a secret even there. The enthusiastic terms -in which he spoke of it have been fully justified by the result, as -you would discover for yourself if you could only be persuaded to try -it. You shake your head. Eh bien! mon ami; the loss is yours not -mine."</p> - -<p>"Some of what you have termed your 'experiences' are no doubt very -singular ones?" said Ducie, interrogatively.</p> - -<p>"They are, very singular," answered Platzoff. "In my last -drashkil-dream, for instance, I believed myself to be an Indian fakir, -and I seemed to realize to the full the strange life of one of those -strange beings. I was stationed in the shade of a large tree just -without the gate Of some great city where all who came and went could -see me. On the ground, a little way in front of me, was a wooden bowl -for the reception of the offerings of the charitable. I had kept both -my hands close shut for so many years that the nails had grown into -the flesh, and the muscles had hardened so that I could no longer open -them; and I was looked upon as a very holy man. The words of the -passers-by were sweet in my ears, but I never spoke to them in return. -Silent and immovable, I stood there through the livelong day,--and in -my vision it was always day. I had the power of looking back, and I -knew that, in the first instance, I had been led by religious -enthusiasm to adopt that mode of life. I should be in the world but -not of it, I should have more time for that introspective -contemplation the aim and end of which is mental absorption in the -divine Brahma; besides which, people would praise me, and all the -world would know that I was a holy man. But the strangest part of the -affair remains to be told. In the eyes of the people I had grown in -sanctity from year to year; but in my own heart I knew that instead of -approaching nearer to Brahma, I was becoming more depraved, more -wicked, with a great inward wickedness, as time went on. I struggled -desperately against the slough of sin that was slowly creeping over -me, but in vain. It seemed to me as if the choice were given me either -to renounce my life of outward-seeming sanctity, and becoming as other -men were, to feel again that inward peace which had been mine long -years before; or else, while remaining holy in the eyes of the -multitude, to feel myself sinking into a bottomless pit of wickedness -from which I could never more hope to emerge. My mental tortures while -this struggle was going on, I can never forget: they are as much a -real experience to me as if they had made up a part of my genuine -waking life. And still I stood with closed hands in the shade of the -tree; and the people cried out that I was holy, and placed their -offerings in my bowl; and I could not make up my mind to abnegate the -title they gave me and become as they were. And still I grew in inward -wickedness, till I loathed myself as if I were some vile reptile; and -so the struggle went on, and was still going on, when I opened my eyes -and found myself again at Bon Repos."</p> - -<p>As Platzoff ceased speaking, Cleon applied the light, and Ducie in his -eagerness drew a little nearer. Platzoff was dressed _à la Turk_, and -sat with crossed legs on the low divan that ran round the room. Slowly -and deliberately he inhaled the smoke from his pipe, expelling it a -moment later, in part through his nostrils and in part through his -lips. The layer of tobacco at the top of the bowl was quickly burnt to -ashes. By this time the drug below was fairly alight, and before long -a thick white sickly smoke began to ascend in rings and graceful -spirals towards the roof of the room. Cleon was gone, and a solemn -silence was maintained by both the men. Platzoff's eyes, black and -piercing, were fixed on vacancy; they seemed to be gazing on some -picture visible to himself alone. Ducie was careful not to disturb -him. His inhalations were slow, gentle, and regular. After a time, a -thin film or glaze began to gather over his wide-open eyes, dimming -their brightness, and making them seem like the eyes of some one dead. -His complexion became livid, his face more cadaverous than it -naturally was. Then his eyes closed slowly and gently, like those of -an infant dropping to sleep. For a little time longer he kept on -inhaling the smoke, but every minute the inhalations became fainter -and fewer in number. At length the hand that held the pipe dropped -nervelessly by his side, the amber mouthpiece slipped from between his -lips, his jaw dropped, and, with an almost imperceptible sigh, his -head sank softly back on to the cushions behind, and M. Paul Platzoff -was in the opium-eater's paradise.</p> - -<p>Ducie, who had never seen any one similarly affected, was frightened -by his host's death-like appearance. He was doubtful whether Platzoff -had not been seized with a fit. In order to satisfy himself he touched -the gong and summoned Cleon. That incomparable domestic glided in, -noiseless as a shadow.</p> - -<p>"Does your master always look as he does now after he has been smoking -opium?" asked the captain.</p> - -<p>"Always, sir."</p> - -<p>"And how long does it take him to come round?"</p> - -<p>"That depends, sir, on the strength of the dose he has been smoking. -The preparation is made of different strengths to suit him at -different times; but always when he has been smoking drashkil I leave -him undisturbed till midnight. If by that time he has not come round -naturally and of his own accord, I carry him to bed and then -administer to him a certain draught, which has the effect of sending -him into a natural and healthy sleep, from which he awakes next -morning thoroughly refreshed."</p> - -<p>"Then you will come to-night at twelve, and see how your master is by -that time?" said Ducie.</p> - -<p>"It is part of my duty to do so," answered Cleon.</p> - -<p>"Then I will wait here till that time," said the captain. Cleon bowed -and disappeared.</p> - -<p>So Ducie kept watch and ward for four hours, during the whole of which -time Platzoff lay, except for his breathing, like one dead. As the -last stroke of midnight struck, Cleon reappeared. His master showed -not the slightest symptom of returning consciousness. Having examined -him narrowly for a moment or two, he turned to Ducie.</p> - -<p>"You must pardon me, sir, for leaving you alone," he said, "but I must -now take my master off to bed. He will scarcely wake up for -conversation to-night."</p> - -<p>"Proceed as though I were not here," said Ducie. "I will just finish -this weed, and then I too will turn in."</p> - -<p>Platzoff's private rooms, forming a suite four in number, were on the -ground floor of Bon Repos. From the main corridor the first that you -entered was the smoking-room already described. Next to that was the -dressing-room, from which you passed into the bedroom. The last of the -four was a small square room, fitted up with book-shelves, and used as -a private library and study.</p> - -<p>Cleon, who was a strong, muscular fellow, lifted Platzoff's shrivelled -body as easily as he might have done that of a child, and so carried -him out of the room.</p> - -<p>Ducie met his host at the breakfast-table next morning. The latter -seemed as well as usual, and was much amused when Ducie told him of -his alarm, and how he had summoned Cleon under the impression that -Platzoff had been taken dangerously ill.</p> - -<p>Platzoff rarely indulged in the luxury of drashkil-smoking oftener -than once a week. His constitution was delicate, and a too frequent -use of so dangerous a drug would have tended to shatter still further -his already enfeebled health. Besides, as he said, he wished to keep -it as a luxury, and not, by a too frequent indulgence in it, to take -off the fine edge of enjoyment and render it commonplace. Ducie -had several subsequent opportunities of witnessing the process of -drashkil-smoking and its effects, but one description will serve for -all. On every occasion the same formula was gone through, precisely as -first seen by Ducie. The pipe was charged and lighted by Cleon (after -he became ill, by the new servant Jasmin). Precisely at midnight Cleon -returned, and either conducted or carried his master to bed, as the -necessities of the case might require. It was his knowledge of the -latter fact that stood Ducie in such good stead later on, when he came -to elaborate the details of his scheme for stealing the Great Mogul -Diamond.</p> - -<p>But as yet his scheme was in embryo. His visit was drawing to a close, -and he was still without the slightest clue to the hiding-place of the -Diamond.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4><a name="div1_15" href="#div1Ref_15">CHAPTER XV.</a></h4> -<h5>THE DIAMOND.</h5> -<br> - -<p>Captain Ducie had been six weeks at Bon Repos; his visit would come to -a close in the course of three or four days, but he was still as -ignorant of the hiding-place of the Diamond as on that evening when he -learned for the first time that M. Platzoff had such a treasure in his -possession.</p> - -<p>Since the completion of his translation of the stolen MS. he had -dreamed day and night of the Diamond. It was said to be worth a -hundred and fifty thousand pounds. If he could only succeed in -appropriating it, what a different life would be his in time to come! -In such a case, he would of course be obliged to leave England for -ever. But he was quite prepared to do that. He was without any tie of -kindred or friendship that need bind him to his native land. Once safe -in another hemisphere, he would dispose of the Diamond, and the -proceeds would enable him to live as a gentleman ought to live for the -remainder of his days. Truly, a pleasant dream.</p> - -<p>But it was only a dream after all, as he himself in his cooler moments -was quite ready to acknowledge. It was nothing but a dream even when -Platzoff wrung from him an unreluctant consent to extend his visit at -Bon Repos for another six weeks. If he stayed for six months, there -seemed no likelihood that at the end of that time he would be one whit -wiser on the one point on which he thirsted for information than he -was now. Still, he was glad for various reasons to retain his pleasant -quarters a little while longer.</p> - -<p>Truth to tell, in Captain Ducie M. Platzoff had found a guest so much -to his liking that he could not make up his mind to let him go again. -Ducie was incurious, or appeared to be so; he saw and heard, and asked -no questions. He seemed to be absolutely destitute of political -principles, and therein he formed a pleasant contrast both to M. -Platzoff himself and to the swarm of foreign gentlemen who at -different times found their way to Bon Repos. He was at once a good -listener and a good talker. In fine, he made himself in every way so -agreeable, and was at the same time so thorough a gentleman, that -Platzoff was as glad to retain him as he himself was pleased to stay.</p> - -<p>Three out of the Captain's second term of six weeks had nearly come to -an end when, on a certain evening, as he and Platzoff sat together in -the smoke-room, the latter broached a subject which Ducie would have -wagered all he possessed--though that was little enough--that his host -would have been the last man in the world even to hint at.</p> - -<p>"I think I have heard you say that you have a taste for diamonds and -precious stones," remarked Platzoff. Ducie had hazarded such a remark -on one or two occasions as a quiet attempt to draw Platzoff out, but -had only succeeded in eliciting a little shrug, and a cold smile, as -though for him such a statement could have no possible interest.</p> - -<p>"If I have said so to you I have only spoken the truth," replied -Ducie. "I am passionately fond of gems and precious stones of every -kind. Have you any to show me?"</p> - -<p>"I have in my possession a green diamond said to be worth a hundred -and fifty thousand pounds," answered the Russian, quietly.</p> - -<p>The simulated surprise with which Captain Ducie received this -announcement was a piece of genuine comedy. His real surprise arose -from the fact of Platzoff having chosen to mention the matter to him -at all.</p> - -<p>"Great heaven!" he exclaimed. "Can you be in earnest? Had I heard such -a statement from the lips of any other man than you, I should have -questioned either his sanity or his truth."</p> - -<p>"You need not question either one or the other in my case," answered -Platzoff, with a smile. "My assertion is true to the letter. Some -evening when I am less lazy than I am now, you shall see the stone and -examine it for yourself."</p> - -<p>"I take it as a great proof of your friendship for me, monsieur," said -Ducie warmly, "that you have chosen to make me the recipient of such a -confidence."</p> - -<p>"It _is_ a proof of my friendship," said the Russian. "No one of my -political friends--and I have many that are dear to me, both in -England and abroad--is aware that I have in my possession so -inestimable a gem. But you, sir, are an English gentleman, and my -friend for reasons unconnected with politics; I know that my secret -will be safe in your keeping."</p> - -<p>Ducie winced inwardly, but he answered with grave cordiality, "The -event, my dear Platzoff, will prove that your confidence has not been -misplaced."</p> - -<p>After this the Russian went on to tell Ducie that the MS. lost at the -time of the railway accident had reference to the great Diamond; that -it contained secret instructions, addressed to a very dear friend of -the writer, as to the disposal of the Diamond after his, Platzoff's, -death; all of which was quite as well known to Ducie as to the Russian -himself; but the captain sat with his pipe between his lips, and -listened with an appearance of quiet interest that impressed his host -greatly.</p> - -<p>That night Ducie's mind was too excited to allow of sleep. He was -about to be shown the great Diamond; but would the mere fact of seeing -it advance him one step towards obtaining possession of it? Would -Platzoff, when showing him the stone, show him also the place where it -was ordinarily kept. His confidence in Ducie would scarcely carry him -as far as that. In any case, it would be something to have seen the -Diamond, and for the rest, Ducie must trust to the chapter of -accidents and his own wits. On one point he was fully determined, to -make the Diamond his own at any cost, if the slightest possible chance -of doing so were afforded him. He was dazzled by the magnitude of the -temptation; so much so, indeed, that he never seemed to realize in his -own mind the foulness of the deed by which alone it could become his -property. Had any man hinted that he was a thief either in act or -intention, he would have repudiated the term with scorn--would have -repudiated it even in his own mind, for he made a point of hoodwinking -and cozening himself as though he were some other person, whose good -opinion must on no account be forfeited.</p> - -<p>Captain Ducie awaited with hidden impatience the hour when it should -please M. Platzoff to fulfil his promise. He had not long to wait. -Three evenings later, as they sat in the smoke-room, said Platzoff, -"To-night you shall see the Great Mogul Diamond. No eyes save my own -have seen it for ten years. I must ask you to put yourself for an hour -or two under my instructions. Are you minded so to do?"</p> - -<p>"I shall be most happy to carry out your wishes in every way," -answered Ducie. "Consider me as your slave for the time being."</p> - -<p>"Attend then, if you please. This evening you will retire to your own -rooms at eleven o'clock. Precisely at one-thirty a.m., you will come -back here. You will be good enough to come in your slippers, because -it is not desirable that any of the household should be disturbed by -our proceedings. I have no further orders at present."</p> - -<p>"Your lordship's wishes are my commands," answered Ducie with a mock -salaam.</p> - -<p>They sat talking and smoking till eleven; then Ducie left his host as -if for the night. He lay down for a couple of hours on the sofa in his -dressing-room. Precisely at one thirty he was on his way back to the -smoke-room, his feet encased in a pair of Indian moccasins. A minute -later he was joined by Platzoff in dressing-gown and slippers.</p> - -<p>"I need hardly tell you, my dear Ducie," began the latter, "that with -a piece of property in my possession no larger than a pigeon's egg, -and worth so many thousands of pounds, a secure place in which to -deposit that property (since I choose to have it always near me) is an -object of paramount importance. That secure place of deposit I have at -Bon Repos. This you may accept as one reason for my having lived in -such an out-of-the-world spot for so many years. It is a place known -to myself alone. After my death it will become known to one person -only--to the person into whose possession the Diamond will pass when I -shall be no longer among the living, The secret will be told him that -he may have the means of finding the Diamond, but not even to him -will it become known till after my decease. Under these circumstances, -my dear Ducie, you will, I am sure, excuse me for keeping the -hiding-place of the Diamond a secret still--a secret even from you. -Say--will you not?"</p> - -<p>With a malediction at his heart, but with a smile on his lips, Captain -Ducie made reply. "Pray offer no excuses, my dear Platzoff, where none -are needed. What I want is to see the Diamond itself, not to know -where it is kept. Such a piece of information would be of no earthly -use to me, and it would involve a responsibility which, under any -circumstances, I should hardly care to assume."</p> - -<p>"It is well; you are an English gentleman," said the Russian, with a -ceremonious inclination of the head, "and your words are based on -wisdom and truth. It is necessary that I should blindfold you: oblige -me with your handkerchief."</p> - -<p>Ducie with a smile handed over his handkerchief, and Platzoff -proceeded to blindfold him--an operation which was rapidly and -effectually performed by the deft fingers of the Russian.</p> - -<p>"Now, give me your hand, and come with me, but do not speak till you -are spoken to."</p> - -<p>So Ducie laid a finger in the Russian's thin cold palm, and the latter -taking a small bronze hand-lamp, conducted his bandaged companion from -the room.</p> - -<p>In two minutes after leaving the smoke-room Ducie's geographical ideas -of the place were completely at fault. Platzoff led him through so -many corridors and passages, turning now to the right hand, and now to -the left,--he guided him up and down so many flights of stairs, now of -stone and now of wood, that he lost his reckoning entirely, and felt -as though he were being conducted through some place far more spacious -than Bon Repos. He counted the number of stairs in each flight that he -went up or down. In two or three cases the numbers tallied, which -induced him to think that Platzoff was conducting him twice over the -same ground, in order perhaps the more effectually to confuse his -ideas as to the position of the place to which he was being led.</p> - -<p>After several minutes spent thus in silent perambulation of the old -house, they halted for a moment while Platzoff unlocked a door, after -which they passed forward into a room, in the middle of which Ducie -was left standing while Platzoff relocked the door, and then busied -himself for a minute in trimming the lamp he had brought with him, -which had been his only guide through the dark and silent house, for -the servants had all gone to bed more than an hour ago.</p> - -<p>Ducie thus left to himself for a little while had time for reflection. -The floor on which he was standing was covered with a thick soft -carpet, consequently he was in one of the best rooms in the house. -The atmosphere of this room was penetrated with a very faint aroma of -pot-pourri, so faint that unless Captain Ducie's nose had been more -than ordinarily keen he would never have perceived it. To the best of -his knowledge there was only one room in Bon Repos that was permeated -with the peculiar scent of pot-pourri. That room was M. Platzoff's -private study, to which access was obtained through his bedroom. Ducie -had been only twice into this room, but he remembered two facts in -connexion with it. First, the scent already spoken of: secondly, that -besides the door which opened into it from the bedroom, there was -another door which he had noticed as being shut and locked both times -that he was there. If the room in which they now were was really M. -Platzoff's study, they had probably obtained access to it through the -second door.</p> - -<p>While silently revolving these thoughts in his mind, Captain Ducie's -fingers were busy with the formation of two tiny paper pellets, each -no bigger than a pea. Unseen by Platzoff he contrived to drop these -pellets on the carpet.</p> - -<p>"I must really apologize," said the Russian, next moment, "for keeping -you waiting so long; but this lamp will not burn properly."</p> - -<p>"Don't hurry yourself on my account," said Ducie. "I am quite jolly. -My eyes are ready bandaged: I am only waiting for the axe and the -block."</p> - -<p>"We are not going to dispose of you in quite so summary a fashion," -said the Russian. "One minute more and your eyesight shall be restored -to you."</p> - -<p>Ducie's quick ears caught a low click, as though some one had touched -a spring. Then there was a faint rumbling, as though something were -being rolled back on hidden wheels.</p> - -<p>"Lend me your hand again, and bend that tall figure of yours. Step -carefully. There is another staircase to descend--the last and the -steepest of all."</p> - -<p>Keeping fast hold of Platzoff's hand, Ducie followed slowly and -cautiously, counting the steps as he went down. They were of stone, -and were twenty-two in number. At the bottom of the staircase another -door was unlocked. The two passed through, and the door was shut and -relocked behind them.</p> - -<p>"Be blind no longer!" said Platzoff, taking off the handkerchief and -handing it to Ducie with a smile. A few seconds elapsed before the -latter could discern anything clearly. Then he saw that he was in a -small vaulted chamber about seven feet in height, with a flagged -floor, but without furniture of any kind save a small table of black -oak on which Platzoff's lamp was now burning. The atmosphere of this -dungeon had struck him with a sudden chill as he went in. At each end -was a door, both of iron. The one that had opened to admit them was -set in the thick masonry of the wall; the one at the opposite end -seemed built into the solid rock.</p> - -<p>"Before we go any farther," said Platzoff, "I may as well explain to -you how it happens that a respectable old country-house like Bon Repos -has such a suspicious-looking hiding-place about its premises. You -must know that I bought the house, many years ago, of the last -representative of an old north-country family. He was a bachelor, and -in him the family died out. Three years after I had come to reside -here the old man, at that time on his death-bed, sent me a letter and -a key. The letter revealed to me the secret of the place we are now -exploring, of which I had no previous knowledge; the key is that of -the two iron doors. It seems that the old man's ancestors had been -deeply implicated in the Jacobite risings of last century. The house -had been searched several times, and on one occasion occupied by -Hanoverian troops. As a provision against such contingencies this -hiding-place (a natural one as far as the cavern beyond is concerned, -which has probably existed for thousands of years) was then first -connected with the interior of the house, and rendered practicable at -a moment's notice; and here on several occasions, certain members of -the family, together with their plate and title-deeds, lay concealed -for weeks at a time. The old gentleman gave me a solemn assurance that -the secret existed with him alone; all who had been in any way -implicated in the earlier troubles having died long ago. As the -property had now become mine by purchase, he thought it only right -that before he died these facts should be brought to my knowledge. You -may imagine, my dear Ducie, with what eagerness I seized upon this -place as a safe depository for my Diamond, which, up to that time, I -had been obliged to carry about my person. And now, forward to the -heart of the mystery!"</p> - -<p>Having unlocked and flung open the second iron door, Platzoff took up -his lamp, and, closely followed by Ducie, entered a narrow winding -passage in the rock. After following this passage, which tended -slightly downwards for a considerable distance, they emerged into a -large cavernous opening in the heart of the hill.</p> - -<p>Platzoff's first act was, by means of a long crook, to draw down -within reach of his hand a large iron lamp that was suspended from the -roof by a running chain. This lamp he lighted from the hand-lamp he -had brought with him. As soon as released, it ascended to its former -position, about ten feet from the ground. It burned with a clear white -flame that lighted up every nook and cranny of the place. The sides of -the cave were of irregular formation. Measuring by the eye, Ducie -estimated the cave to be about sixty yards in length, by a breadth, in -the widest part, of twenty. In height it appeared to be about forty -feet. The floor was covered with a carpet of thick brown sand, but -whether this covering was a natural or an artificial one Ducie had no -means of judging. The atmosphere of the place was cold and damp, and -the walls in many places dripped with moisture; in other places they -scintillated in the lamplight as though thousands of minute gems were -embedded in their surface.</p> - -<p>In the middle of the floor, on a pedestal of stones loosely piled -together, was a hideous idol, about four feet in height, made of wood, -and painted in various colours. In the centre of its forehead gleamed -the great Diamond.</p> - -<p>"Behold!" was all that Platzoff said, as he pointed to the idol. Then -they both stood and gazed in silence.</p> - -<p>Many contending emotions were at work just then in Ducie's breast, -chief of which was a burning, almost unconquerable desire to make that -glorious gem his own at every risk. In his ear a fiend seemed to be -whispering.</p> - -<p>"All you have to do," it seemed to say, "is to grip old Platzoff -tightly round the neck for a couple of minutes. His thread of life is -frail, and would be easily broken. Then possess yourself of the -Diamond and his keys. Go back by the way you came and fasten -everything behind you. The household is all abed, and you could get -away unseen. Long before the body of Platzoff would be discovered, if -indeed it were ever discovered, you would be far away and beyond all -fear of pursuit. Think! That tiny stone is worth a hundred and fifty -thousand pounds."</p> - -<p>This was Ducie's temptation. It shook him inwardly as a reed is shaken -by the wind. Outwardly he was his ordinary quiet impassive self, only -gazing with eyes that gleamed on the gleaming gem, which shone like a -new-fallen star on the forehead of that hideous image.</p> - -<p>The spell was broken by Platzoff, who, going up to the idol, and -passing his hand through an orifice at the back of the skull, took the -Diamond out of its resting-place, close behind the hole in the -forehead, through which it was seen from the front. With thumb and -forefinger he took it daintily out, and going back to Ducie dropped it -into the outstretched palm of the latter.</p> - -<p>Ducie turned the Diamond over and over, and held it up before the -light between his forefinger and thumb, and tried the weight of it on -his palm. It was in the simple form of a table diamond, with only -sixteen facets in all, and was just as it had left the fingers of some -Indian cutter a couple of centuries ago. It glowed with a green fire, -deep, yet tender, that flashed through its facets and smote the duller -lamplight with sparkles of intense brilliancy. This, then, was the -wondrous gem that many a time and oft had felt the touch of great -Aurengzebe's hand! Ducie seemed to be examining it most closely; but, -in truth, at that very moment he was debating in his own mind the -terrible question of murder or no murder, and scarcely saw the stone -itself at all.</p> - -<p>"Ami, you do not seem to admire my Diamond!" said the Russian -presently, with a touch of pathos in his voice.</p> - -<p>Ducie pressed the Diamond back into Platzoff's hands. "I admire it so -much," said he, "that I cannot enter into any commonplace terms of -admiration. I will talk to you to-morrow respecting it. At present I -lack fitting words."</p> - -<p>The Russian took back the stone, pressed it to his lips, and then went -and replaced it in the forehead of the idol.</p> - -<p>"Who is your friend there?" said Ducie, with a desperate attempt to -wrench his thoughts away from that all-absorbing temptation.</p> - -<p>"I am not sufficiently learned in Hindu mythology to tell you his name -with certainty," answered Platzoff. "I take him to be no less a -personage than Vishnu. He is seated upon the folds of the snake Jesha, -whose seven heads bend over him to afford him shade. In one hand he -holds a spray of the sacred lotus. He is certainly hideous enough to -be a very great personage. Do you know, my dear Ducie," went on -Platzoff, "I have a very curious theory with regard to that Hindu -gentleman, whoever he may be. Many years ago he was worshipped in some -great Eastern temple, and had, priests and acolytes without number to -attend to his wants; and then, as now, the great Diamond shone in his -forehead. By some mischance the Diamond was lost or stolen--in any -case, he was dispossessed of it. From that moment he was an unhappy -idol. He derived pleasure no longer from being worshipped, he could -rest neither by night nor day--he had lost his greatest treasure. When -he could no longer endure this state of wretchedness he stole out of -the temple one fine night unknown to any one, and set out on his -travels in search of the missing Diamond. Was it simple accident or -occult knowledge, that directed his wanderings after a time to the -shop of a London curiosity dealer, where I saw him, fell in love with -him, and bought him? I know not: I only know that he and his darling -Diamond were at last re-united, and here they have remained ever -since. You smile as if I had been relating a pleasant fable. But tell -me if you can how it happens that in the forehead of yonder idol there -is a small cavity lined with gold into which the Diamond fits with the -most exact nicety. That cavity was there when I bought the idol and -has in no way been altered since. The shape of the Diamond, as you -have seen for yourself, is rather peculiar. Is it therefore possible -that mere accident can be at the bottom of such a coincidence? Is not -my theory of the Wandering Idol much more probable as well as far more -poetical? You smile again. You English are the greatest sceptics in -the world. But it is time to go. We have seen all there is to be seen, -and the temperature of this place will not benefit my rheumatism."</p> - -<p>So the lamp was put out, and Idol and Diamond were left to darkness -and solitude. In the vaulted room, at the entrance to the winding way -that led to the cavern, Ducie's eyes were again bandaged. Then up the -twenty-two stone stairs, and so into the carpeted room above, where -was the scent of _pot-pourri_. From this room they came by many -passages and flights of stairs back to the smoking-room, where Ducie's -bandage was removed. One last pipe, a little desultory conversation, -and then bed.</p> - -<p>M. Platzoff being out of the way for an hour or two next afternoon, -Captain Ducie contrived to pay a surreptitious visit to his host's -private study. On the carpet he found one of the two paper pellets -which he had dropped from his fingers the previous evening. There, -too, was the same faint, sickly smell that had filled his nostrils -when the handkerchief was over his eyes, which he now traced to a huge -china jar in one corner, filled with the dried leaves of flowers -gathered long summers before.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4><a name="div1_16" href="#div1Ref_16">CHAPTER XVI.</a></h4> -<h5>JANET'S RETURN.</h5> -<br> - -<p>"There he is! there is dear Major Strickland!"</p> - -<p>The tidal train was just steaming into London Bridge station on a -certain spring evening as the above words were spoken. From a window -of one of the carriages a bright young face was peering eagerly, a -face which lighted up with a smile of rare sweetness the moment Major -Strickland's soldierly figure came into view. A tiny gloved hand was -held out as a signal, the major's eye was caught, the train came to a -stand, and next moment Janet Holme was on the platform with her arms -round the old soldier's neck, and her lips held up for a kiss.</p> - -<p>The publicity of this transaction seemed slightly to shock the -sensibilities of Miss Close, the English teacher, in whose charge -Janet had come over; but she was won to a quite different view of the -affair when the major, after requesting to be introduced to her, shook -her cordially by the hand, said how greatly obliged he was to her for -the care she had taken of "his dear Miss Holme," and invited her to -dine next day with himself and Janet. Then Miss Close went her way, -and the Major and Janet went theirs in a cab, to a hotel not a hundred -miles from Piccadilly.</p> - -<p>Janet's first words as they got clear of the station were:</p> - -<p>"And now you must tell me how everybody is at Dupley Walls."</p> - -<p>"Everybody was quite well when I left home, except one person--Sister -Agnes."</p> - -<p>"Dear Sister Agnes!" said Janet, and the tears sprang to her eyes in a -moment. "I am more sorry than I can tell to hear that she is ill."</p> - -<p>"Not ill exactly, but ailing," said the major. "You must not alarm -yourself unnecessarily. She caught a severe cold one wet evening about -three months ago, as she was on her way home from visiting some poor -sick woman in the village, and she seems never to have been quite well -since."</p> - -<p>"I had a letter from her five days ago, but she never hinted to me -that she was not well."</p> - -<p>"I can quite believe that. She is not one given to complain about -herself, but one who strives to soothe the complaints of others. The -good she does in her quiet way among the poor is something wonderful. -I must tell you what an old bedridden man, to whom she had been very -kind, said to her the other day. Said he, 'If everybody had their -rights in this world, ma'am, or if I was king of fairyland, you should -have a pair of angel's wings, so that everybody might know how good -you are.' And there are a hundred others who would say the same -thing."</p> - -<p>"If I had not had her dear letters to hearten me and cheer me up, I -think that many a time I should have broken down utterly under the -dreadful monotony of my life at the Pension Clissot. I had no -holidays, in the common meaning of the word; no dear friends to go and -see; none even to come once in a way to see me, were it only for one -happy hour. I had no home recollections to which I could look back -fondly in memory, and the future was all a blank--a mystery. But the -letters of Sister Agnes spoke to me like the voice of a dear friend. -They purified me, they lifted me out of my common work-a-day troubles, -and all the petty meannesses of school-girl existence, and set before -me the example of a good and noble life as the one thing worth -striving for in this weary world."</p> - -<p>"Tut, tut, my dear child!" said the major, "you are far too young to -call the world a weary world. Please heaven, it shall not be quite -such a dreary place for you in time to come. We will begin the change -this very evening. We shall just be in time to get a bit of dinner, -and then, heigh! for the play."</p> - -<p>"The play, dear Major Strickland!" said Janet, with a sudden flush and -an eager light in her eyes; "but would Sister Agnes approve of my -going to such a place?"</p> - -<p>"I scarcely think, poverina, that Sister Agnes would disapprove of any -place to which I might choose to take you."</p> - -<p>"Forgive me!" cried Janet, "I did not intend you to construe my words -in that way."</p> - -<p>"I have never construed anything since I was at school fifty years -ago," answered the major, laughingly. "Can you tell me now from your -heart, little one, that you would not like to go to the play?"</p> - -<p>"I should like very, very much to go, and after what has been said I -will never forgive you if you do not take me."</p> - -<p>"The penalty would be too severe. It is agreed that we shall go."</p> - -<p>"To me it seems only seven days instead of seven years since I was -last driven through London streets," resumed Janet, as they were -crawling up Fleet Street. "The same shops, the same houses, and even, -as it seems to me, the same people crowding the pathways; and, to -complete the illusion, the same kind travelling companion now as -then."</p> - -<p>"To me the illusion seems by no means so complete. To London Bridge, -seven years ago, I took a simple child of twelve: to-day I bring back -a young lady of nineteen--a woman, in point of fact--who, I have no -doubt, understands more of flirtation than she does of French, and -would rather graduate in coquetry than in crochet-work."</p> - -<p>"Take care then, sir, lest I wing my unslaked arrows at you."</p> - -<p>"You are too late in the day, dear child, to practise on me. I am your -devoted slave already--bound fast to the wheel of your triumphant car. -What more would you have?"</p> - -<p>The hotel was reached at last, and the major gave Janet a short -quarter of an hour for her toilette. When she got downstairs dinner -was on the point of being served, and she found covers laid for three. -Before she had time to ask a question, the third person entered the -room. He was a tall well-built man of six or seven-and-twenty. He had -light-brown hair, closely-cropped but still inclined to curl, and a -thick beard and moustache of the same colour. He had blue eyes, and a -pleasant smile, and the easy self-possessed manner of one who had seen -"the world of men and things." His left sleeve was empty.</p> - -<p>Janet did not immediately recognise him, he looked so much older, so -different in every way; but at the first sound of his voice she knew -who stood before her. He came forward and held out his hand--the one -hand that was left him.</p> - -<p>"May I venture to call myself an old friend, Miss Holme? and to hope -that even after all these years I am not quite forgotten?"</p> - -<p>"I recognise you by your voice, not by your face. You are Mr. George -Strickland. You it was who saved my life. Whatever else I may have -forgotten, I have not forgotten that."</p> - -<p>"I am too well pleased to find that I live in your memory at all to -cavil with your reason for recollecting me."</p> - -<p>"But--but, I never heard--no one ever told me--" Then she stopped with -tears in her eyes, and glanced at his empty sleeve.</p> - -<p>"That I had left part of myself in India," he said, finishing the -sentence for her. "Such, nevertheless, is the case. Uncle there says -that the yellow rascals were so fond of me that they could not bear to -part from me altogether. For my own part, I think myself fortunate -that they did not keep me there _in toto_, in which case I should not -have had the pleasure of meeting you here to-day."</p> - -<p>He had been holding her hand quite an unnecessary length of time. She -now withdrew it gently. Their eyes met for one brief instant, then -Janet turned away and seated herself at the table. The flush caused by -the surprise of the meeting still lingered on her face, the tear-drops -still lingered in her eyes, and as George Strickland sat down opposite -to her he thought that he had never seen a sweeter vision nor one that -appealed more directly to his imagination and his heart.</p> - -<p>Janet Holme at nineteen was very pleasant to look upon. Her face was -not one of mere commonplace prettiness, but had an individuality of -its own that caused it to linger in the memory like some sweet picture -that once seen cannot readily be forgotten. Her eyes were of a tender -luminous grey, full of candour and goodness. Her hair was a deep -glossy brown; her face was oval, and her nose a delicate aquiline. On -ordinary occasions she had little or no colour, yet no one could have -taken the clear pallor of her cheek as a token of ill health; it -seemed rather a result of the depth and earnestness of the life within -her.</p> - -<p>In her wardrobe there was a lack of things fashionable, and as she sat -at dinner this evening she had on a dress of black alpaca, made after -a very quiet and nun-like style; with a thin streak of snow-white -collar and cuff round throat and wrist; but without any ornament save -a necklace of bog-oak, cut after an antique pattern, and a tiny gold -locket in which was a photographic likeness of Sister Agnes.</p> - -<p>That was a very pleasant little dinner party. In the course of -conversation it came out that, a few days previously, Captain George -had been decorated with the Victoria Cross. Janet's heart thrilled -within her as the major told in simple unexaggerated terms of the -special deed of heroism by which the great distinction had been won. -The major told also how George was now invalided on half-pay; and -her heart thrilled with a still sweeter emotion when he went on -to say that the young soldier would henceforth reside with him at -Tydsbury--at Tydsbury which is only a short two miles from Dupley -Walls! The feeling with which she heard this simple piece of news was -one to which she had hitherto been an utter stranger. She asked -herself, and blushed as she asked, whence this new sweet feeling -emanated. But she was satisfied with asking the question, and seemed -to think that no answer was required.</p> - -<p>When dinner was over they set out for the play. Janet had never been -inside a theatre before, and for her the experience was an utterly -novel and delightful one.</p> - -<p>On the third day after Janet's arrival in London they all went down to -Tydsbury together--the major, and she, and George. But in the course -of those three days the major took Janet about a good deal, and -introduced her to nearly all the orthodox sights of the Great -City--and a strange kaleidoscopic jumble they seemed at the time, only -to be afterwards rearranged by Memory as portions of a bright and -sunny picture the like of which she scarcely dared hope ever to see -again.</p> - -<p>Captain Strickland parted from the major and Janet at Tydsbury -station. The two latter were bound for Dupley Walls, for the major -felt that his task would have been ill performed had he failed to -deliver Janet into Lady Pollexfen's own hands. As they rumbled along -the quiet country roads, which brought vividly back to Janet's mind -the evening when she saw Dupley Walls for the first time, said the -major: "Do you remember, poppetina, how, seven years ago, I spoke to -you of a certain remarkable likeness which you then bore to some one -whom I knew when I was quite a young man? or has the circumstance -escaped your memory?"</p> - -<p>"I remember quite well your speaking of the likeness, and I have often -wondered since who the original was of whom I was such a striking -copy. I remember, too, how positively Lady Pollexfen denied the -resemblance which you so strongly insisted upon."</p> - -<p>"Will her ladyship dare to deny it to-day?" said the major, sternly. -"I tell you, child, that now you are grown up, the likeness seen by me -seven years ago is still more clearly visible. When I look into your -eyes I seem to see my own youth reflected there. When you are near me -I can fancy that my lost treasure has not been really lost to me--that -she has merely been asleep, like the Princess in the story-book, and -that while time has moved on for me, she has come back out of her -enchanted slumber as fresh and beautiful as when I saw her last. Ah, -poverina! you cannot imagine what a host of recollections the sight of -your sweet face conjures up whenever I choose to let my day-dreams -have way for a little while."</p> - -<p>"I remember your telling me that my parents were unknown to you," -answered Janet. "Perhaps the lady to whom I bear so strong a -resemblance was my mother."</p> - -<p>"No, not your mother, Janet. The lady to whom I refer died unmarried. -She and I had been engaged to each other for three years; but Death -came and claimed her a fortnight before the day fixed for our wedding; -and here I am, a lonely old bachelor still."</p> - -<p>"Not quite lonely, dear Major Strickland," murmured Janet, as she -lifted his hand and pressed it to her lips.</p> - -<p>"True, girl, not quite lonely. I have George, whom I love as though he -were a son of my own. And there is Aunt Felicity, as the children used -to call her, who is certainly very fond of me, as I also am of her."</p> - -<p>"Not forgetting poor me," said Janet.</p> - -<p>"Not forgetting you, dear, whom I love like a daughter."</p> - -<p>"And who loves you very sincerely in return."</p> - -<p>A few minutes later they drew up at Dupley Walls.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4><a name="div1_17" href="#div1Ref_17">CHAPTER XVII.</a></h4> -<h5>DUPLEY WALLS AFTER SEVEN YEARS.</h5> -<br> - -<p>Major Strickland rang the bell, and the door was opened by a servant -who was strange to Janet.</p> - -<p>"Be good enough to inform Lady Pollexfen that Major Strickland and -Miss Holme have just arrived from town, and inquire whether her -ladyship has any commands."</p> - -<p>The servant returned presently. "Her ladyship will see Major -Strickland. Miss Holme is to go to the housekeeper's room."</p> - -<p>"I will see you again, poverina, after my interview with her -ladyship," said the major, as he went off in charge of the footman.</p> - -<p>Janet, left alone, threaded her way by the old familiar passages to -the housekeeper's room. Dance was not there, being probably in -attendance on Lady Pollexfen, and Janet had the room to herself. Her -heart was heavy within her.</p> - -<p>There was a chill sense of friendlessness, of being alone in the -world, upon her. Were these cold walls to be the only home her youth -would ever know? A few slow salt tears welled from her eyes as she sat -brooding over the little wood fire, till presently there came a sound -of footsteps, and the major's hand was laid caressingly on her -shoulder.</p> - -<p>"What, all alone!" he said; "and with nothing better to do than read -fairy tales in the glowing embers! Is there no one in all this big -house to attend to your wants? But Dance will be here presently, I -have no doubt, and the good old soul will do her best to make you -comfortable. I have been to pay my respects to her ladyship, who is in -one of her unamiable moods this evening. I, however, contrived to -wring from her a reluctant consent to your paying Aunt Felicity and -me a visit now and then at Tydsbury, and it shall be my business to -see that the promise is duly carried out."</p> - -<p>"Then I am to remain at Dupley Walls!" said Janet. "I thought it -probable that my visit might be for a few weeks only, as my first one -was."</p> - -<p>"From what Lady Pollexfen said, I imagine that the present arrangement -is to be a permanent one; but she gave no hint of the mode in which -she intended to make use of your services, and that she will make use -of you in some way, no one who knows her can doubt. And now, dear, I -must say good-bye for the present; good-bye, and God bless you! You -may look to see me again within the week. Keep up your spirits, -and----but here comes Dance, who will cheer you up far better than I -can."</p> - -<p>As the major went out, Dance came in. The good soul seemed quite -unchanged, except that she had grown older and mellower, and seemed to -have sweetened with age like an apple plucked unripe. A little cry of -delight burst from her lips the moment she saw Janet. But in the very -act of rushing forward with outstretched arms, she stopped. She -stopped, and stared, and then curtsied as though involuntarily. "If -the dead are ever allowed to come back to this earth, there is one of -them before me now!" she murmured.</p> - -<p>Janet caught the words, but her heart was too full to notice them just -then. She had her arms round Dance's neck in a moment, and her bright -young head was pressed against the old servant's faithful breast.</p> - -<p>"Oh! Dance, Dance, I am so glad you are come!"</p> - -<p>"Hush! dear heart; hush! my poor child; you must not take on in that -way. It seems a poor coming home for you--for I suppose Dupley Walls -is to be your home in time to come--but there are those under this -roof that love you dearly. Eh! but you are grown tall and bonny, and -look as fresh and sweet as a morning in May. Her ladyship ought to be -proud of you. But she gets that cantankerous and cross-grained in her -old age, that you never know what will suit her for two minutes at a -time. For all that, her spirit is just wonderful, and she is a real -lady every inch of her. And you, Miss Janet, you are a thorough lady; -anybody can see that, and her ladyship will see it as soon as anybody. -She will like you none the worse for being a gentlewoman. But here am -I preaching away like any old gadabout, and you not as much as taken -your bonnet off yet. Get your things off, dearie, and I'll have a cup -of tea ready in no time, and you'll feel ever so much better when you -have had it."</p> - -<p>Dance could scarcely take her eyes off Janet's face, so attracted was -she by the likeness which had wrung from her an exclamation on -entering the room.</p> - -<p>But Janet was tired, and reserved all questions till the morrow; all -questions, except one. That one was,</p> - -<p>"How is Sister Agnes?"</p> - -<p>Dance shook her head solemnly. "No worse and no better than she has -been for the last two months. There is something lingering about her -that I don't like. She is far from well, and yet not exactly what we -call ill. Morning, noon, and night, she seems so terribly weary, and -that is just what frightens me. She has asked after you I don't know -how many times, and when tea is over you must go and see her. Only I -must warn you, dear Miss Janet, not to let your feelings overcome you -when you see her--not to make a scene. In that case your coming would -do her not good but harm."</p> - -<p>Janet recovered her spirits in a great measure before tea was over. -She and Dance had much to talk about, many pleasant reminiscences to -call up and discuss. As if by mutual consent, Lady Pollexfen's name -was not mentioned between them.</p> - -<p>As soon as tea was over, Dance went to inquire when Sister Agnes would -see Miss Holme. The answer was "I will see her at once."</p> - -<p>So Janet went with hushed footsteps up the well-remembered staircase, -opened the door softly, and stood for a moment on the threshold. -Sister Agnes was lying on a sofa. She put her hand suddenly to her -side and rose to her feet as Janet entered the room. A tall wasted -figure robed in black, with a thin spiritualized face, the natural -pallor of which was just now displaced by a transient flush that faded -out almost as quickly as it had come. The white head-dress had been -cast aside for once, and the black hair streaked with silver, was tied -in a simple knot behind. The large dark eyes looked larger and darker -than they had ever looked before, and seemed lit up with an inner fire -that had its source in another world than ours.</p> - -<p>Sister Agnes advanced a step or two and held out her arms. "My -darling!" was all she said as she pressed Janet to her heart, and -kissed her again and again. They understood each other without words. -The feeling within them was too deep to find expression in any -commonplace greeting.</p> - -<p>The excitement of the meeting was too much for the strength of Sister -Agnes. She was obliged to lie down again. Janet sat by her side -caressing one of her wasted hands.</p> - -<p>"Your coming has made me very, very happy," murmured Sister Agnes -after a time.</p> - -<p>"Through all the seven dreary years of my school life," said Janet, -"the expectation of some day seeing you again was the one golden dream -that the future held before me. That dream has now come true. How I -have looked forward to this day none save those who have been -circumstanced as I have can more than faintly imagine."</p> - -<p>"Are you at all acquainted with Lady Pollexfen's intentions in asking -you to come to Dupley Walls?"</p> - -<p>"Not in the least. A fortnight ago I had no idea that I should so soon -be here. I knew that I could not stay much longer at the Pension -Clissot, and naturally wondered what instructions Madame Duclos would -receive from Lady Pollexfen as to my disposal. The last time I saw her -ladyship, her words seemed to imply that after my education should be -finished I should have to trust to my own exertions for earning a -livelihood; in fact, I have looked upon myself all along as ultimately -destined to add one more unit to the great tribe of governesses."</p> - -<p>"Such a fate shall not be yours if my weak arm has power to avert it," -said Sister Agnes. "For the present your services are required at -Dupley Walls, in the capacity of 'companion' to Lady Pollexfen--in -brief, to occupy the position held by me for so many years, but from -which I am now obliged to secede on account of ill health."</p> - -<p>Janet was almost too astounded to speak. "Companion to Lady Pollexfen! -Me! Impossible!" was all that she could say.</p> - -<p>"Why impossible, dear Janet?" asked Sister Agnes, with her low, sweet -voice. "I see no element of impossibility in such an arrangement. The -duties of the position have been filled by me for many years, they -have now devolved upon you, and I am not aware of anything that need -preclude your acceptance of them."</p> - -<p>"We are not all angels like you, Sister Agnes," said Janet. "Lady -Pollexfen, as I remember, is a very peculiar woman. She has no regard -for the feelings of others, especially when those others are her -inferiors in position. She says the most cruel things she can think -of, and cares nothing how deeply they may wound. I am afraid that she -and I would never agree."</p> - -<p>"That Lady Pollexfen is a very peculiar woman I am quite ready to -admit. That she will say things to you that may seem hard and cruel, -and that may wound your feelings, I will also allow. But granting all -this, I can deduce from it no reason why the position should be -refused by you. Had you gone out as governess, you would probably have -had fifty things to contend against quite as disagreeable as Lady -Pollexfen's temper and cynical remarks. You are young, dear Janet, and -life's battle has yet to be fought by you. You must not expect that -everything in this world will arrange itself in accordance with your -wishes. You will have many difficulties to fight against and overcome, -and the sooner you make up your mind to the acceptance of that fact, -the better it will be for you in every way. If I have found the -position of companion to Lady Pollexfen not quite unendurable, why -should it be found so by you? Besides, her ladyship has many claims -upon you--upon your best services in every way. Every farthing that -has been spent upon you from the day you were born to the present time -has come out of her purse. Except mere life itself, you owe everything -to her. And even if this were not so, there are other and peculiar -ties between you and her of which you know nothing (although you may -possibly be made acquainted with them by-and-by), which are in -themselves sufficient to lead her to expect every reasonable obedience -at your hands. You must clothe yourself with good temper, dear Janet, -as with armour of proof. You must make up your mind beforehand that -however harsh her ladyship's remarks may sometimes seem, you will not -answer her again. Do this, and her words will soon be powerless to -sting you. Instead of feeling hurt or angry, you will be inclined to -pity her--to pray for her. And she deserves pity, Janet, if any woman -in this sinful world ever did. To have severed of her own accord those -natural ties which other people cherish so fondly; to see herself -fading into a dreary old age, and yet of her own free will to shut out -the love that should attend her by the way and strew flowers on her -path; to have no longer a single earthly hope or pleasure beyond those -connected with each day's narrow needs or with the heaping together of -more money where there was enough before--in all this there is surely -room enough for pity, but none for any harsher feeling."</p> - -<p>"Dear Sister Agnes, your words make me thoroughly ashamed of myself," -said Janet, with tearful earnestness. "Arrogance ill becomes one like -me who have been dependent on the charity of others from the day of my -birth. Whatever task may be set me either by Lady Pollexfen or by you, -I will do it to the best of my ability. Will you for this once pardon -my petulance and ill temper, and I will strive not to offend you -again?"</p> - -<p>"I am not offended, darling; far from it. I felt sure that you had -good sense and good feeling enough to see the matter in its right -light when it was properly put before you. But have you no curiosity -as to the nature of your new duties?"</p> - -<p>"Very little at present, I must confess," answered Janet, with a wan -smile. "The chief thing for which I care just now is to know that so -long as I remain at Dupley Walls I shall be near you; and that of -itself would be sufficient to enable me to rest contented under worse -inflictions than Lady Pollexfen's ill temper."</p> - -<p>"You ridiculous Janet! Ah! if I only dared to tell you everything. But -that must not be. Let us rather talk of what your duties will be in -your new situation."</p> - -<p>"Yes, tell me about them, please," said Janet, "and you shall see in -time to come that your words have not been forgotten."</p> - -<p>"To begin: you will have to go to her ladyship's room precisely at -eight every morning. Sometimes she will not want you, in which case -you will be at liberty till after breakfast. Should she want you it -will probably be to read to her while she sips her chocolate, or it -may be to play a game of backgammon with her before she gets up. A -little later on you will be able to steal an hour or so for yourself, -as while her ladyship is undergoing the elaborate processes of the -toilette, your services will not be required. On coming down, if the -weather be fine, she will want the support of your arm during her -stroll on the terrace. If the weather be wet, she will probably attend -to her correspondence and bookkeeping, and you will have to fill the -parts both of amanuensis and accountant. When Mr. Madgin, her -ladyship's man of business, comes up to Dupley Walls, you will have to -be in attendance to take notes, write down instructions, and so on. -By-and-by will come luncheon, of which, as a rule, you will partake -with her. After luncheon you will be your own mistress for an hour -while her ladyship sleeps. The moment she awakes you will have to be -in attendance, either to play to her, or else to read to her--perhaps -a little French or Italian, in both of which languages I hope that you -are tolerably proficient. Your next duty will be to accompany her -ladyship in her drive out. When you get back, will come dinner, but -only when specially invited will you sit down with her ladyship. When -that honour is not accorded you, you and I will dine here, darling, by -our two selves."</p> - -<p>"Then I hope her ladyship will not invite me oftener than once a -month," cried impulsive Janet.</p> - -<p>"The number of your invitations to dinner will depend upon the extent -of her liking for you, so that we shall soon know whether or no you -are a favourite. She may or may not require you after dinner. If she -does require you, it may be either for reading or music, or to play -backgammon with her; or even to sit quietly with her without speaking, -for the mere sake of companionship. One fact you will soon discover -for yourself--that her ladyship does not like to be long alone. And -now, dearest, I think I have told you enough for the present. We will -talk further of these things to-morrow. Give me just one kiss, and -then see what you can find to play among that heap of old music on the -piano. Madame Duclos used to write in raptures of your style and -touch. We will now prove whether her eulogy was well founded."</p> - -<p>Janet found that she was not to occupy the same bedroom as on her -first visit to Dupley Walls, but one nearer that of Sister Agnes. She -was not sorry for this, for there had been a secret dread upon her of -having to sleep in a room so near to that occupied by the body of Sir -John Pollexfen. She had never forgotten her terrible experience in -connexion with the Black Room, and she wished to keep herself entirely -free from any such influences in time to come. The first question she -asked Dance when they reached her bedroom was:--</p> - -<p>"Does Sister Agnes still visit the Black Room every midnight?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, for sure," answered Dance. "There is no one but her to do it. -Her ladyship would not allow any of the servants to enter the room. -Rather than that, I believe she would herself do what has to be done -there. Sister Agues would not neglect that duty if she was dying."</p> - -<p>Janet said no more, but then and there she made up her mind to a -certain course of action, of which nothing would have made her believe -herself capable only an hour before.</p> - -<p>Early next forenoon she was summoned to an interview with Lady -Pollexfen. Her heart beat more quickly than common as she was ushered -by Dance into the old woman's dressing-room.</p> - -<p>Her ladyship was in demie-toilette--made up in part for the day, but -not yet finished. Her black wig, with its long corkscrew curls, was -carefully adjusted; her rouge and powder were artistically laid on, -her eyebrows elaborately pointed, and in so far she looked as she -always looked when visible to any one but her maid. But her figure -wanted bracing up, so to speak, and looked shrunken and shrivelled in -the old cashmere dressing-robe, from which at that early hour she had -not emerged. Her fingers--long, lean, and yellow--were decorated with -some half dozen valuable rings. Increasing years had not tended to -make her hands steadier than Janet remembered them as being when she -last saw her ladyship; and of late it had become a matter of some -difficulty with her to keep her head quite still: it seemed possessed -by an unaccountable desire to imitate the shaking of her hands. She -was seated in an easy chair as Janet entered the room. Her breakfast -equipage was on a small table at her elbow.</p> - -<p>As the door closed behind Janet, she stood still and curtsied.</p> - -<p>Lady Pollexfen placed her glass to her eye, and with a lean forefinger -beckoned to Janet to draw near. Janet advanced, her eyes fixed -steadily on those of Lady Pollexfen. A yard or two from the table she -stopped and curtsied again.</p> - -<p>"I hope that I have the happiness of finding your ladyship quite -well," she said, in a low clear voice, in which there was not the -slightest tremor or hesitation.</p> - -<p>"And pray, Miss Holme, what can it matter to you whether I am well or -ill? Answer me that if you please."</p> - -<p>"I owe so much to your ladyship, I have been such a pensioner on your -bounty ever since I can remember anything, that mere selfishness -alone, if no higher motive be allowed me, must always prompt me to -feel an interest in the state of your ladyship's health."</p> - -<p>"Candid, at any rate. But I wish you clearly to understand that -whatever obligation you may feel yourself under to me for what is past -and gone, you have no claim of any kind upon me for the future. The -tie between us can be severed by me at any moment."</p> - -<p>"Seven years ago your ladyship impressed that fact so strongly on my -mind that I have never forgotten it. I have never felt myself to be -other than a dependent on your bounty."</p> - -<p>"A very praiseworthy feeling, young lady, and one which I trust you -will continue to cherish. Not that I wish other people to look upon -you as a dependent. I wish----." She broke off abruptly, and stared -helplessly round the room. Suddenly her head began to shake. "Heaven -help me! what do I wish?" she exclaimed; and with that she began to -cry, and seemed all in a moment to have grown older by twenty years.</p> - -<p>Janet, in her surprise, made a step or two forward, but Lady Pollexfen -waved her fiercely back. "Fool! fool! why don't you go away?" she -cried. "Why do you stare at me so? Go away, and send Dance to me. You -have spoiled my complexion for the day."</p> - -<p>Janet left the room and sent Dance to her mistress, and then went for -a ramble in the grounds. The seal of desolation and decay was set upon -everything. The garden, no longer the choice home of choice flowers, -was weed-grown and neglected. The greenhouses were empty, and falling -to pieces for lack of a few simple repairs. The shrubs and evergreens -had all run wild for want of pruning, and in several places the -dividing hedges were broken down, and through the breaches sheep had -intruded themselves into the private grounds. Even the house itself -had a shabby out-at-elbows air, like a gentleman fallen upon evil -days. Several of the upper windows were shuttered, some of the others -showed a broken pane or two. Here and there a shutter had fallen away, -or was hanging by a solitary hinge, suggesting thoughts of ghostly -flappings to and fro in the rough wind on winter nights. Doors and -window frames were blistering and splitting for want of paint. -Close by the sacred terrace itself lay the fragments of a broken -chimney-pot, blown down during the last equinoctial gales and suffered -to lie where it had fallen. Everywhere were visible tokens of that -miserly thrift which, carried to excess, degenerates into unthrift of -the worst and meanest kind, from which the transition to absolute ruin -is both easy and certain. For a full hour Janet trod the weed-grown -walks with clasped hands and saddened eyes. At the end of that time -Dance came in search of her. Lady Pollexfen wanted to see her again.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>END OF VOL. I.</h4> -<br> -<br> -<br> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Lock and Key, Volume I (of 3), by -T. W. Speight - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER LOCK AND KEY, VOLUME I *** - -***** This file should be named 57294-h.htm or 57294-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/2/9/57294/ - -Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the -Internet Archive (Library of the University of Illinois -at Urbana-Champaign) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57294 ***</div> </body> </html> |