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diff --git a/76261-0.txt b/76261-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbe7997 --- /dev/null +++ b/76261-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11619 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76261 *** + + + + + +DICK DONOVAN’S DETECTIVE STORIES. + +Post 8vo. illustrated boards, 2_s._ each; cloth, 2_s._ 6_d._ each. + THE MAN-HUNTER. + CAUGHT AT LAST! + TRACKED AND TAKEN. + A DETECTIVE’S TRIUMPHS. + WHO POISONED HETTY DUNCAN? + IN THE GRIP OF THE LAW. + WANTED! + LINK BY LINK. + FROM INFORMATION RECEIVED. + SUSPICION AROUSED + DARK DEEDS. + RIDDLES READ. + +Crown 8vo. cloth extra, 3_s._ 6_d._ each; post 8vo. illustrated boards, +2_s._ each; cloth limp, 2_s._ 6_d._ each. + TRACKED TO DOOM. With 6 Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. + THE MAN FROM MANCHESTER. With 23 Illustrations by J. H. RUSSELL. + THE MYSTERY OF JAMAICA TERRACE. + THE CHRONICLES OF MICHAEL DANEVITCH. + +Crown 8vo. cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ each. + THE RECORDS OF VINCENT TRILL. + TALES OF TERROR. + +London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 St. Martin’s Lane, W.C. + + + + +TALES OF TERROR + + + + + PRINTED BY + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE + LONDON + + + + + TALES OF TERROR + + BY + DICK DONOVAN + + AUTHOR OF + ‘A DETECTIVE’S TRIUMPHS’ ‘THE RECORDS OF VINCENT TRILL’ + ETC. + + [Illustration] + + LONDON + CHATTO & WINDUS + 1899 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + I. THE WOMAN WITH THE ‘OILY EYES’ 1 + + II. THE STORY OF ANNETTE: BEING THE SEQUEL TO + THE WOMAN WITH THE ‘OILY EYES’ 41 + + III. THE CORPSE LIGHT 51 + + IV. THE RED LILY 66 + + V. THE PIRATE’S TREASURE 95 + + VI. THE LEGEND OF WOLFSPRING 117 + + VII. THE WHITE RAVEN 131 + + VIII. WITH FIRE AND DEATH 144 + + IX. THE SPECTRE OF RISLIP ABBEY 168 + + X. THE CAVE OF BLOOD 180 + + XI. A NIGHT OF HORROR 207 + + XII. THE ASTROLOGER 225 + + XIII. THE DANCE OF THE DEAD 243 + + XIV. THE MYSTIC SPELL 256 + + XV. THE DOOMED MAN 291 + + + + +TALES OF TERROR + + + + +I + +THE WOMAN WITH THE ‘OILY EYES’ + +THE STORY AS TOLD BY DR. PETER HASLAR, F.R.C.S.LOND. + + +Although often urged to put into print the remarkable story which +follows I have always strenuously refused to do so, partly on account +of personal reasons and partly out of respect for the feelings of the +relatives of those concerned. But after much consideration I have come +to the conclusion that my original objections can no longer be urged. +The principal actors are dead. I myself am well stricken in years, and +before very long must pay the debt of nature which is exacted from +everything that lives. + +Although so long a time has elapsed since the grim tragedy I am about +to record, I cannot think of it even now without a shudder. The +story of the life of every man and woman is probably more or less a +tragedy, but nothing I have ever heard of can compare in ghastly, +weird horror with all the peculiar circumstances of the case in point. +Most certainly I would never have put pen to paper to record it had +it not been from a sense of duty. Long years ago certain garbled +versions crept into the public journals, and though at the time I did +not consider it desirable to contradict them, I do think now that +the moment has come when I, the only living being fully acquainted +with the facts, should make them known, otherwise lies will become +history, and posterity will accept it as truth. But there is still +another reason I may venture to advance for breaking the silence of +years. I think in the interest of science the case should be recorded. +I have not always held this view, but when a man bends under the weight +of years, and he sniffs the mould of his grave, his ideas undergo a +complete change, and the opinions of his youth are not the opinions of +his old age. There may be exceptions to this, but I fancy they must be +very few. With these preliminary remarks I will plunge at once into my +story. + +It was the end of August 1857 that I acted as best man at the wedding +of my friend Jack Redcar, C.E. It was a memorable year, for our hold +on our magnificent Indian Empire had nearly been shaken loose by a +mutiny which had threatened to spread throughout the whole of India. +At the beginning of 1856 I had returned home from India after a three +years’ spell. I had gone out as a young medico in the service of the +H.E.I.C., but my health broke down and I was compelled to resign my +appointment. A year later my friend Redcar, who had also been in the +Company’s service as a civil engineer, came back to England, as his +father had recently died and left him a modest fortune. Jack was not +only my senior in years, but I had always considered him my superior in +every respect. We were at a public school together, and both went up to +Oxford, though not together, for he was finishing his final year when I +was a freshman. + +Although erratic and a bit wild he was a brilliant fellow; and while +I was considered dull and plodding, and found some difficulty in +mastering my subjects, there was nothing he tackled that he failed to +succeed in, and come out with flying colours. In the early stage of +our acquaintance he made me his fag, and patronised me, but that did +not last long. A friendship sprang up. He took a great liking to me, +why I know not; but it was reciprocated, and when he got his Indian +appointment I resolved to follow, and by dint of hard work, and having +a friend at court, I succeeded in obtaining my commission in John +Company’s service. Jack married Maude Vane Tremlett, as sweet a woman +as ever drew God’s breath of life. If I attempted to describe her in +detail I am afraid it might be considered that I was exaggerating, +but briefly I may say she was the perfection of physical beauty. +Jack himself was an exceptionally fine fellow. A brawny giant with a +singularly handsome face. At the time of his wedding he was thirty or +thereabouts, while Maude was in her twenty-fifth year. There was a +universal opinion that a better matched couple had never been brought +together. He had a masterful nature; nevertheless was kind, gentle, and +manly to a degree. + +It may be thought that I speak with some bias and prejudice in Jack’s +favour, but I can honestly say that at the time I refer to, he was as +fine a fellow as ever figured as hero in song or story. He was the pink +of honour, and few who really knew him but would have trusted him with +their honour, their fortunes, their lives. This may be strong, but I +declare it’s true, and I am the more anxious to emphasise it because +his after-life was in such marked contrast, and he presents a study in +psychology that is not only deeply interesting, but extraordinary. + +The wedding was a really brilliant affair, for Jack had troops of +friends, who vied with each other in marking the event in a becoming +manner, while his bride was idolised by a doting household. Father and +mother, sisters and brothers, worshipped her. She was exceedingly well +connected. Her father held an important Government appointment, and +her mother came from the somewhat celebrated Yorkshire family of the +Kingscotes. Students of history will remember that a Colonel Kingscote +figured prominently and honourably as a royalist during the reign of +the unfortunate Charles I. + +No one who was present on that brilliant August morning of 1857, when +Jack Redcar was united in the bonds of wedlock to beautiful Maude +Tremlett, would have believed it possible that such grim and tragic +events would so speedily follow. The newly-married pair left in the +course of the day for the Continent, and during their honeymoon I +received several charming letters from Jack, who was not only a +diligent correspondent, but he possessed a power of description and a +literary style that made his letters delightful reading. Another thing +that marked this particular correspondence was the unstinted--I may +almost say florid--praise he bestowed upon his wife. To illustrate what +I mean, here is a passage from one of his letters:-- + + ‘I wish I had command of language sufficiently eloquent to speak of + my darling Maude as she should be spoken of. She has a perfectly + angelic nature; and though it may be true that never a human being + was yet born without faults, for the life of me I can find none in my + sweet wife. Of course you will say, old chap, that this is honeymoon + gush, but, upon my soul, it isn’t. I am only doing scant justice to + the dear woman who has linked her fate with mine. I have sometimes + wondered what I have done that the gods should have blest me in such + a manner. For my own part, I don’t think I was deserving of so much + happiness, and I assure you I am happy--perfectly, deliciously happy. + Will it last? Yes, I am sure it will. Maude will always be to me what + she is now, a flawless woman; a woman with all the virtues that turn + women into angels, and without one of the weaknesses or one of the + vices which too often mar an otherwise perfect feminine character. I + hope, old boy, that if ever you marry, the woman you choose will be + only half as good as mine.’ + +Had such language been used by anyone else I might have been disposed +to add a good deal more than the proverbial pinch of salt before +swallowing it. But, as a matter of fact, Jack was not a mere gusher. He +had a thoroughly practical, as distinguished from a sentimental, mind, +and he was endowed with exceptionally keen powers of observation. And +so, making all the allowances for the honeymoon romance, I was prepared +to accept my friend’s statement as to the merits of his wife without a +quibble. Indeed, I knew her to be a most charming lady, endowed with +many of the qualities which give the feminine nature its charm. But I +would even go a step farther than that, and declare that Mrs. Redcar +was a woman in ten thousand. At that time I hadn’t a doubt that the +young couple were splendidly matched, and it seemed to me probable that +the future that stretched before them was not likely to be disturbed +by any of the commonplace incidents which seem inseparable from most +lives. I regarded Jack as a man of such high moral worth that his +wife’s happiness was safe in his keeping. I pictured them leading an +ideal, poetical life--a life freed from all the vulgar details which +blight the careers of so many people--a life which would prove a +blessing to themselves as well as a joy to all with whom they had to +deal. + +When they started on their tour Mr. and Mrs. Redcar anticipated being +absent from England for five or six weeks only, but for several reasons +they were induced to prolong their travels, and thus it chanced I was +away when they returned shortly before Christmas of the year of their +marriage. My own private affairs took me to America. As a matter of +fact a relative had died leaving me a small property in that country, +which required my personal attention; the consequence was I remained +out of England for nearly three years. + +For the first year or so Jack Redcar wrote to me with commendable +regularity. I was duly apprised of the birth of a son and heir. This +event seemed to put the crown upon their happiness; but three months +later came the first note of sorrow. The baby died, and the doting +parents were distracted. Jack wrote:-- + + ‘My poor little woman is absolutely prostrated, but I tell her we + were getting too happy, and this blow has been dealt to remind + us that human existence must be chequered in order that we may + appreciate more fully the supreme joy of that after-life which we + are told we may gain for the striving. This, of course, is a pretty + sentiment, but the loss of the baby mite has hit me hard. Still, + Maude is left to me, and she is such a splendid woman, that I ought + to feel I am more than blest.’ + +This was the last letter I ever received from Jack, but his wife wrote +at odd times. Hers were merely gossipy little chronicles of passing +events, and singularly enough she never alluded to her husband, +although she wrote in a light, happy vein. This set me wondering, and +when I answered her I never failed to inquire about her husband. I +continued to receive letters from her, though at long intervals, down +to the month of my departure from America, two years later. + +I arrived in London in the winter, and an awful winter it was. London +was indeed a city of dreadful night. Gloom and fog were everywhere. +Everybody one met looked miserable and despondent. Into the public +houses and gin palaces such of the poor as could scratch a few pence +together crowded for the sake of the warmth and light. But in the +streets sights were to be seen which made one doubt if civilisation +is the blessing we are asked to believe it. Starving men, women and +children, soaked and sodden with the soot-laden fog, prowled about +in the vain hope of finding food and shelter. But the well-to-do +passed them with indifference, too intent on their own affairs, and +too wrapped in self-interests to bestow thought upon the great city’s +pariahs. + +Immediately after my arrival I penned a brief note to Jack Redcar, +giving him my address, and saying I would take an early opportunity of +calling, as I was longing to feel once more the hearty, honest grip of +his handshake. A week later a note was put into my hand as I was in the +very act of going out to keep an appointment in the city. Recognising +Mrs. Redcar’s handwriting I tore open the envelope, and read, with what +feelings may be best imagined, the following lines:-- + + ‘For God’s sake come and see me at once. I am heartbroken and am + going mad. You are the only friend in the world to whom I feel I can + appeal. Come to me, in the name of pity. + ‘MAUDE REDCAR.’ + +I absolutely staggered as I read these brief lines, which were so +pregnant with mystery, sorrow, and hopelessness. What did it all mean? +To me it was like a burst of thunder from a cloudless summer sky. +Something was wrong, that was certain; what that something was I could +only vaguely guess at. But I resolved not to remain long in suspense. +I put off my engagement, important as it was, and hailing a hansom +directed the driver to go to Hampstead, where the Redcars had their +residence. + +The house was detached and stood in about two acres of ground, and I +could imagine it being a little Paradise in brilliant summer weather; +but it seemed now in the winter murk, as if a heavy pall of sorrow and +anguish enveloped it. + +I was shown into an exquisitely furnished drawing-room by an old and +ill-favoured woman, who answered my knock at the door. She gave me the +impression that she was a sullen, deceptive creature, and I was at a +loss to understand how such a woman could have found service with my +friends--the bright and happy friends of three years ago. When I handed +her my card to convey to Mrs. Redcar she impertinently turned it over, +and scrutinised it, and fixed her cold bleared grey eyes on me, so that +I was induced to say peremptorily, ‘Will you be good enough to go to +your mistress at once and announce my arrival?’ + +‘I ain’t got no mistress,’ she growled. ‘I’ve got a master’; and with +this cryptic utterance she left the room. + +I waited a quarter of an hour, then the door was abruptly opened, and +there stood before me Mrs. Redcar, but not the bright, sweet, radiant +little woman of old. A look of premature age was in her face. Her eyes +were red with weeping, and had a frightened, hunted expression. I +was so astounded that I stood for a moment like one dumbfounded; but +as Mrs. Redcar seized my hand and shook it, she gasped in a nervous, +spasmodic way: + +‘Thank God, you have come! My last hope is in you.’ + +Then, completely overcome by emotion, she burst into hysterical +sobbing, and covered her face with her handkerchief. + +My astonishment was still so great, the unexpected had so completely +paralysed me for the moment, that I seemed incapable of action. But of +course this spell quickly passed, and I regained my self-possession. + +‘How is it I find this change?’ I asked. It was a natural question, and +the first my brain shaped. + +‘It’s the work of a malignant fiend,’ she sobbed. + +This answer only deepened the mystery, and I began to think that +perhaps she was literally mad. Then suddenly, as if she divined my +thoughts, she drew her handkerchief from her face, motioned me to be +seated, and literally flung herself on to a couch. + +‘It’s an awful story,’ she said, in a hoarse, hollow voice, ‘and I look +to you, and appeal to you, and pray to you to help me.’ + +‘You can rely upon my doing anything that lies in my power,’ I +answered. ‘But tell me your trouble. How is Jack? Where is he?’ + +‘In her arms, probably,’ she exclaimed between her teeth; and she +twisted her handkerchief up rope-wise and dragged it backward and +forward through her hand with an excess of desperate, nervous energy. +Her answer gave me a keynote. She had become a jealous and embittered +woman. Jack had swerved from the path of honour, and allowed himself +to be charmed by other eyes to the neglect of this woman whom he +had described to me as being angelic. Although her beauty was now a +little marred by tears and sorrow, she was still very beautiful and +attractive, and had she been so disposed she might have taken an army +of men captive. She saw by the expression on my face that her remark +was not an enigma to me, and she added quickly: ‘Oh, yes, it’s true, +and I look to you, doctor, to help me. It is an awful, dreadful story, +but, mind you, I don’t blame Jack so much; he is not master of himself. +This diabolical creature has enslaved him. She is like the creatures +of old that one reads about. She is in possession of some devilish +power which enables her to destroy men body and soul.’ + +‘Good God! this is awful,’ I involuntarily ejaculated; for I was aghast +and horror-stricken at the revelation. Could it be possible that my +brilliant friend, who had won golden opinions from all sorts and +conditions of men, had fallen from his pedestal to wallow in the mire +of sinfulness and deception. + +‘It is awful,’ answered Mrs. Redcar. ‘I tell you, doctor, there is +something uncanny about the whole business. The woman is an unnatural +woman. She is a she-devil. And from my heart I pity and sorrow for my +poor boy.’ + +‘Where is he now?’ I asked. + +‘In Paris with her.’ + +‘How long has this been going on?’ + +‘Since a few weeks after our marriage.’ + +‘Good heavens, you don’t say so!’ + +‘You may well look surprised, but it’s true. Three weeks after our +marriage Jack and I were at Wiesbaden. As we were going downstairs to +dinner one evening, we met this woman coming up. A shudder of horror +came over me as I looked at her, for she had the most extraordinary +eyes I have ever seen. I clung to my husband in sheer fright, and I +noted that he turned and looked at her, and she also turned and looked +at him. + +‘“What a remarkable woman,” he muttered strangely, so strangely that +it was as if some other voice was using his lips. Then he broke into a +laugh, and, passing his arm round my waist, said: “Why, my dear little +woman, I believe you are frightened.” + +‘“I am,” I said; “that dreadful creature has startled me more than an +Indian cobra would have done.” + +‘“Well, upon my word,” said Jack, “I must confess she is a +strange-looking being. Did ever you see such eyes? Why, they make one +think of the fairy-books and the mythical beings who flit through their +pages.” + +‘During the whole of the dinner-time that woman’s face haunted me. +It was a strong, hard-featured, almost masculine face, every line of +which indicated a nature that was base, cruel, and treacherous. The +thin lips, the drawn nostrils, the retreating chin, could never be +associated with anything that was soft, gentle, or womanly. But it was +the eyes that were the wonderful feature--they absolutely seemed to +exercise some magic influence; they were oily eyes that gleamed and +glistened, and they seemed to have in them that sinister light which is +peculiar to the cobra, and other poisonous snakes. You may imagine the +spell and influence they exerted over me when, on the following day, +I urged my husband to leave Wiesbaden at once, notwithstanding that +the place was glorious in its early autumn dress, and was filled with +a fashionable and light-hearted crowd. But my lightest wish then was +law to Jack, so that very afternoon we were on our way to Homburg, and +it was only when Wiesbaden was miles behind me that I began to breathe +freely again. + +‘We had been in Homburg a fortnight, and the incident of Wiesbaden had +passed from my mind, when one morning, as Jack and I were on our way +from the Springs, we came face to face with the woman with the oily +eyes. I nearly fainted, but she smiled a hideous, cunning, cruel smile, +inclined her head slightly in token of recognition, and passed on. +I looked at my husband. It seemed to me that he was unusually pale, +and I was surprised to see him turn and gaze after her, and she had +also turned and was gazing at us. Not a word was uttered by either of +us, but I pressed my husband’s arm and we walked rapidly away to our +apartments. + +‘“It’s strange,” I remarked to Jack as we sat at breakfast, “that we +should meet that awful woman again.” + +‘“Oh, not at all,” he laughed. “You know at this time of the year +people move about from place to place, and it’s wonderful how you keep +rubbing shoulders with the same set.” + +‘It was quite true what Jack said, nevertheless, I could not help the +feeling that the woman with the oily eyes had followed us to Homburg. +If I had mentioned this then it would have been considered ridiculous, +for we had only met her once, and had never spoken a word to her. What +earthly interest, therefore, could she possibly take in us who were +utter strangers to her. But, looked at by the light of after events, my +surmise was true. The creature had marked Jack for her victim from the +moment we unhappily met on the stairs at Wiesbaden. I tell you, doctor, +that that woman is a human ghoul, a vampire, who lives not only by +sucking the blood of men, but by destroying their souls.’ + +Mrs. Redcar broke down again at this stage of her narrative, and I +endeavoured to comfort her; but she quickly mastered her feelings +sufficiently to continue her remarkable story. + +‘Some days later my husband and I moved along with the throng that +drifted up and down the promenade listening to the band, when we met +a lady whom I had known as a neighbour when I was at home with my +parents. We stopped and chatted with her for some time, until Jack +asked us to excuse him while he went to purchase some matches at a +kiosk; he said he would be by the fountain in ten minutes, and I was to +wait for him. + +‘My lady friend and I moved along and chatted as women will, and then +she bade me good-night as she had to rejoin her friends. I at once +hurried to the rendezvous at the fountain, but Jack wasn’t there. I +waited some time, but still he came not. I walked about impatiently +and half frightened, and when nearly three-quarters of an hour had +passed I felt sure Jack had gone home, so with all haste I went to +our apartments close by, but he was not in, and had not been in. Half +distracted, I flew back to the promenade. It was nearly deserted, for +the band had gone. As I hurried along, not knowing where to go to, and +scarcely knowing what I was doing, I was attracted by a laugh--a laugh +I knew. It was Jack’s, and proceeding a few yards further I found him +sitting on a seat under a linden tree with the woman with the oily +eyes. + +‘“Why, my dear Maude,” he exclaimed, “wherever have you been to? I’ve +hunted everywhere for you.” + +‘A great lump came in my throat, for I felt that Jack was lying to +me. I really don’t know what I said or what I did, but I am conscious +in a vague way that he introduced me to the woman, but the only name +I caught was that of Annette. It burnt itself into my brain; it has +haunted me ever since. + +‘Annette put out her white hand veiled by a silk net glove through +which diamond rings sparkled. I believe I did touch the proffered +fingers, and I shuddered, and I heard her say in a silvery voice that +was quite out of keeping with her appearance: + +‘“If I were your husband I should take you to task. Beauty like yours, +you know, ought not to go unattended in a place like this.” + +‘Perhaps she thought this was funny, for she laughed, and then +patted me on the shoulder with her fan. But I hated her from that +moment--hated her with a hatred I did not deem myself capable of. + +‘We continued to sit there, how long I don’t know. It seemed to me a +very long time, but perhaps it wasn’t long. When we rose to go the +promenade was nearly deserted, only two or three couples remained. +The moon was shining brilliantly; the night wind sighed pleasantly in +the trees; but the beauty of the night was lost upon me. I felt ill +at ease, and, for the first time in my life, unhappy. Annette walked +with us nearly to our door. When the moment for parting came she again +offered me the tips of her fingers, but I merely bowed frigidly, and +shrank from her as I saw her oily eyes fixed upon me. + +‘“Ta, ta!” she said in her fatal silvery voice; “keep a watchful guard +over your husband, my dear; and you, sir, don’t let your beautiful +little lady stray from you again, or there will be grief between you.” + +‘Those wicked words, every one of which was meant to have its effect, +was like the poison of asps to me; you may imagine how they stung me +when I tell you I was seized with an almost irresistible desire to +hurl the full weight of my body at her, and, having thrown her down, +trample upon her. She had aroused in me such a feeling of horror that +very little more would have begotten in me the desperation of madness, +and I might have committed some act which I should have regretted all +my life. But bestowing another glance of her basilisk eyes upon me +she moved off, and I felt relieved; though, when I reached my room, I +burst into hysterical weeping. Jack took me in his arms, and kissed and +comforted me, and all my love for him was strong again; as I lay with +my head pillowed on his breast I felt once more supremely happy. + +‘The next day, on thinking the matter over, I came to the conclusion +that my suspicions were unjust, my fears groundless, my jealousy +stupid, and that my conduct had been rude in the extreme. I resolved, +therefore, to be more amiable and polite to Annette when I again met +her. But, strangely enough, though we remained in Homburg a fortnight +longer we did not meet; but I know now my husband saw her several times. + +‘Of course, if it had not been for subsequent events, it would have +been said that I was a victim of strong hysteria on that memorable +night. Men are so ready to accuse women of hysteria because they are +more sensitive, and see deeper than men do themselves. But my aversion +to Annette from the instant I set eyes upon her, and the inferences I +drew, were not due to hysteria, but to that eighth sense possessed by +women, which has no name, and of which men know nothing. At least, I +mean to say that they cannot understand it.’ + +Again Mrs. Redcar broke off in her narrative, for emotion had got the +better of her. I deemed it advisable to wait. Her remarkable story had +aroused all my interest, and I was anxious not to lose any connecting +link of it, for from the psychological point of view it was a study. + +‘Of course, as I have begun the story I must finish it to its bitter +end,’ she went on. ‘As I have told you, I did not see Annette again in +Homburg, and when we left all my confidence in Jack was restored, and +my love for him was stronger than ever if that were possible. Happiness +came back to me. Oh! I was so happy, and thinking I had done a cruel, +bitter wrong to Jack in even supposing for a moment that he would be +unfaithful to me. I tried by every little artifice a woman is capable +of to prove my devotion to him. + +‘Well, to make a long story short, we continued to travel about for +some time, and finally returned home, and my baby was born. It seemed +to me then as if God was really too good to me. I had everything in the +world that a human being can reasonably want. An angel baby, a brave, +handsome husband, ample means, hosts of friends. I was supremely happy. +I thanked my Maker for it all every hour of my life. But suddenly +amongst the roses the hiss of the serpent sounded. One day a carriage +drove up to our door. It brought a lady visitor. She was shown into +our drawing-room, and when asked for her name made some excuse to +the servant. Of course, I hurried down to see who my caller was, and +imagine my horror when on entering the room I beheld Annette. + +‘“My dear Mrs. Redcar,” she gushingly exclaimed, emphasising every +word, “I am so delighted to see you again. Being in London, I could not +resist the temptation to call and renew acquaintances.” + +‘The voice was as silvery as ever, and her awful eyes seemed more oily. +In my confusion and astonishment I did not inquire how she had got +our address; but I know that I refused her proffered hand, and by my +manner gave her unmistakably to understand that I did not regard her +as a welcome visitor. But she seemed perfectly indifferent. She talked +gaily, flippantly. She threw her fatal spell about me. She fascinated +me, so that when she asked to see my baby I mechanically rang the bell, +and as mechanically told the servant to send the nurse and baby in. +When she came, the damnable woman took the child from the nurse and +danced him, but he suddenly broke into a scream of terror, so that I +rushed forward; but the silvery voice said: + +‘“Oh, you silly little mother. The baby is all right. Look how quiet he +is now.” + +‘She was holding him at arm’s length, and gazing at him with her +basilisk eyes, and he was silent. Then she hugged him, and fondled him, +and kissed him, and all the while I felt as if my brain was on fire, +but I could neither speak nor move a hand to save my precious little +baby. + +‘At last she returned him to his nurse, who at once left the room by +my orders, and then Annette kept up a cackle of conversation. Although +it did not strike me then as peculiar, for I was too confused to have +any clear thought about anything--it did afterwards--she never once +inquired about Jack. It happened that he was out. He had gone away +early that morning to the city on some important business in which he +was engaged. + +‘At last Annette took herself off, to my intense relief. She said +nothing about calling again; she gave no address, and made no request +for me to call on her. Even had she done so I should not have called. +I was only too thankful she had gone, and I fervently hoped I should +never see her again. + +‘As soon as she had departed I rushed upstairs, for baby was screaming +violently. I found him in the nurse’s arms, and she was doing her +utmost to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted, and I took +him and put him to my breast, but he still fought, and struggled, +and screamed, and his baby eyes seemed to me to be bulging with +horror. From that moment the darling little creature began to sicken. +He gradually pined and wasted, and in a few weeks was lying like a +beautiful waxen doll in a bed of flowers. He was stiff, and cold, and +dead. + +‘When Jack came home in the evening of the day of Annette’s call, and +I told him she had been, he did not seem in the least surprised, but +merely remarked: + +‘“I hope you were hospitable to her.” + +‘I did not answer him, for I had been anything but hospitable. I had +not even invited her to partake of the conventional cup of tea. + +‘As our baby boy faded day by day, Jack seemed to change, and the +child’s death overwhelmed him. He was never absolutely unkind to me at +that period, but he seemed to have entirely altered. He became sullen, +silent, even morose, and he spent the whole of his days away from me. +When I gently chided him, he replied that his work absorbed all his +attention. And so things went on until another thunderbolt fell at my +feet. + +‘One afternoon Jack returned home and brought Annette. He told me +that he had invited her to spend a few days with us. When I urged an +objection he was angry with me for the first time in our married life. +I was at once silenced, for his influence over me was still great, and +I thought I would try and overcome my prejudice for Annette. At any +rate, as Jack’s wife I resolved to be hospitable, and play the hostess +with grace. But I soon found that I was regarded as of very little +consequence. Annette ruled Jack, she ruled me, she ruled the household. + +‘You will perhaps ask why I did not rise up in wrath, and, asserting +my position and dignity, drive the wicked creature out of my home. But +I tell you, doctor, I was utterly powerless. She worked some devil’s +spell upon me, and I was entirely under the influence of her will. + +‘Her visit stretched into weeks. Our well-tried and faithful servants +left. Others came, but their stay was brief; and at last the old +woman who opened the door to you was installed. She is a creature of +Annette’s, and is a spy upon my movements. + +‘All this time Jack was under the spell of the charmer, as I was. +Over and over again I resolved to go to my friends, appeal to them, +tell them everything, and ask them to protect me; but my will failed, +and I bore and suffered in silence. And my husband neglected me; he +seemed to find pleasure only in Annette’s company. Oh, how I fretted +and gnawed my heart, and yet I could not break away from the awful +life. I tell you, doctor, that that woman possessed some strange, +devilish, supernatural power over me and Jack. When she looked at me I +shrivelled up. When she spoke, her silvery voice seemed to sting every +nerve and fibre in my body, and he was like wax in her hands. To me he +became positively brutal, and he told me over and over again that I was +spoiling his life. But, though she was a repulsive, mysterious, crafty, +cruel woman, he seemed to find his happiness in her company. + +‘One morning, after a restless, horrible, feverish night, I arose, +feeling strangely ill, and as if I were going mad. I worked myself up +almost to a pitch of frenzy, and, spurred by desperation, I rushed +into the drawing-room, where my husband and Annette were together, and +exclaimed to her: + +‘“Woman, do you not see that you are killing me? Why have you come +here? Why do you persecute me with your devilish wiles? You must know +you are not welcome. You must feel you are an intruder.” + +‘Overcome by the effort this had cost me, I sank down on the floor on +my knees, and wept passionately. Then I heard the silvery voice say, in +tones of surprise and injured innocence: + +‘“Well, upon my word, Mrs. Redcar, this is an extraordinary way to +treat your husband’s guest. I really thought I was a welcome visitor +instead of an intruder; but, since I am mistaken, I will go at once.” + +‘I looked at her through a blinding mist of tears. I met the gaze of +her oily eyes, but only for a moment, as I cowered before her, shrank +within myself, and felt powerless again. I glanced at my husband. He +was standing with his head bowed, and, as it seemed to me, in a pose +of shame and humiliation. But suddenly he darted at me, and I heard +him say: “What do you mean by creating such a scene as this? You must +understand I am master here.” Then he struck me a violent blow on the +head, and there was a long blank. + +‘When I came to my senses I was in bed, and the hideous old hag who +opened the door to you was bending over me. It was some little time +before I could realise what had occurred. When I did, I asked the woman +where Mr. Redcar was, and she answered sullenly: + +‘“Gone.” + +‘“And the ---- Annette; where is she?” I asked. + +‘“Gone, too,” was the answer. + +‘Another blank ensued. I fell very ill, and when my brain was capable +of coherent thought again I learnt that I had passed through a crisis, +and my life had been in jeopardy. A doctor had been attending me, +and there was a professional nurse in the house; but she was a hard, +dry, unsympathetic woman, and I came to the conclusion--wrongly so, +probably--she, too, was one of Annette’s creatures. + +‘I was naturally puzzled to understand why none of my relatives and +friends had been to see me, but I was to learn later that many had +called, but had been informed I was abroad with my husband, who had +been summoned away suddenly in connection with some professional +matters. And I also know now that all letters coming for me were at +once forwarded to him, and that any requiring answers he answered. + +‘As I grew stronger I made up my mind to keep my own counsel, and not +let any of my friends know of what I had gone through and suffered; +for I still loved my husband, and looked upon him as a victim to be +pitied and rescued from the infernal wiles of the she-demon. When I +heard of your arrival in England, I felt you were the one person in the +wide world I could appeal to with safety, for you can understand how +anxious I am to avoid a scandal. Will you help me? Will you save your +old friend Jack? Restore him to sanity, doctor, and bring him back to +my arms again, which will be wide open to receive him.’ + +I listened to poor Mrs. Redcar’s story patiently, and at first was +disposed to look upon it as a too common tale of human weakness. Jack +Redcar had fallen into the power of an adventuress, and had been unable +to resist her influence. Such things had happened before, such things +will happen again, I argued with myself. There are certain women who +seem capable of making men mad for a brief space; but under proper +treatment they come to their senses quickly, and blush with shame as +they think of their foolishness. At any rate, for the sake of my old +friend, and for the sake of his poor suffering little wife, I was +prepared to do anything in reason to bring back the erring husband to +his right senses. + +I told Mrs. Redcar this. I told her I would redress her wrongs if I +could, and fight her battle to the death. She almost threw herself at +my feet in her gratitude. But when I suggested that I should acquaint +her family with the facts, she begged of me passionately not to do so. +Her one great anxiety was to screen her husband. One thing, however, I +insisted upon. That was, the old woman should be sent away, the house +shut up, and that Mrs. Redcar should take apartments in an hotel, so +that I might be in touch with her. She demurred to this at first, but +ultimately yielded to my persuasion. + +Next I went to the old woman. She was a German Suisse--her name was +Grebert. I told her to pack up her things and clear out at once. She +laughed in my face, and impertinently told me to mind my own business. +I took out my watch and said, ‘I give you half an hour. If you are not +off the premises then, I will call in the police and have you turned +out. Any claim you have on Mrs. Redcar, who is the mistress here--shall +be settled at once.’ + +She replied that she did not recognise my authority, that she had been +placed there by Mr. Redcar, who was her master, and unless he told her +to go she should remain. I made it plain to her that I was determined +and would stand no nonsense. Mr. Redcar had taken himself off, I said; +Mrs. Redcar was his lawful wife, and I was acting for her and on her +behalf. + +My arguments prevailed, and after some wrangling the hag came to the +conclusion that discretion was the better part of valour, and consented +to go providing we paid her twenty pounds. This we decided to do rather +than have a scene, but three hours passed before we saw the last of +the creature. Mrs. Redcar had already packed up such things as she +required, and when I had seen the house securely fastened up I procured +a cab, and conveyed the poor little lady to a quiet West-end hotel, +close to my own residence, so that I could keep a watchful eye upon her. + +Of course, this was only the beginning of the task I had set myself, +which was to woo back the erring husband, if possible, to his wife’s +side, and to restore him to the position of happiness, honour, and +dignity from which he had fallen. I thought this might be comparatively +easy, and little dreamed of the grim events that were to follow my +interference. + +Three weeks later I was in Paris, and proceeded to the Hotel de +l’Univers, where Mrs. Redcar had ascertained through his bankers her +husband was staying. But to my chagrin, I found he had departed with +his companion, and the address he had given for his letters at the +post-office was Potes, in Spain. As I had taken up the running I had +no alternative but to face the long, dreary journey in pursuit of the +fugitives, or confess defeat at the start. + +It is not necessary for me to dwell upon that awful journey in the +winter time. Suffice to say I reached my destination in due course. + +Potes, it is necessary to explain, is a small town magnificently +situated in the Liebana Valley, in the Asturian Pyrenees, under the +shadow of Picos de Europa. Now, what struck me as peculiar was the +fugitives coming to such a place at that time of the year. Snow lay +heavily everywhere. The cold was intense. For what reason had such a +spot been chosen? It was a mystery I could not hope to solve just then. +There was only one small hotel in the village, and there Annette and +Redcar were staying. My first impulse was not to let them know of my +presence, but to keep them under observation for a time. I dismissed +that thought as soon as formed, for I was not a detective, and did not +like the idea of playing the spy. But even had I been so disposed, +there would have been a difficulty about finding accommodation. +Moreover, it was a small place, and the presence of a foreigner at +that time of year must necessarily have caused a good deal of gossip. +The result was I went boldly to the hotel, engaged a room, and then +inquired for Redcar. I was directed to a private room, where I found +him alone. My unexpected appearance startled him, and when he realised +who I was, he swore at me, and demanded to know my business. + +He had altered so much that in a crowd I really might have had some +difficulty in recognising him. His face wore a drawn, anxious, nervous +look, and his eyes had acquired a restless, shifty motion, while his +hair was already streaked with grey. + +I began to reason with him. I reminded him of our old friendship, and +I drew a harrowing picture of the sufferings of his dear, devoted, +beautiful little wife. + +At first he seemed callous; but presently he grew interested, and when +I referred to his wife he burst into tears. Then suddenly he grasped my +wrist with a powerful grip, and said: + +‘Hush! Annette mustn’t know this--mustn’t hear. I tell you, Peter, she +is a ghoul. She sucks my blood. She has woven a mighty spell about me, +and I am powerless. Take me away; take me to dear little Maude.’ + +I looked at him for some moments with a keen professional scrutiny, for +his manner and strange words were not those of sanity. I determined to +take him at his word, and, if possible, remove him from the influence +of the wicked syren who had so fatally lured him. + +‘Yes,’ I said, ‘we will go without a moment’s unnecessary delay. I will +see if a carriage and post-horses are to be had, so that we can drive +to the nearest railway station.’ + +He assented languidly to this, and I rose with the intention of making +inquiries of the hotel people; but simultaneously with my action +the door opened and Annette appeared. Up to that moment I thought +that Mrs. Redcar had exaggerated in describing her, therefore I was +hardly prepared to find that so far from the description being an +exaggeration, it had fallen short of the fact. + +Annette was slightly above the medium height, with a well-developed +figure, but a face that to me was absolutely repellent. There was not +a single line of beauty nor a trace of womanliness in it. It was hard, +coarse, cruel, with thin lips drawn tightly over even white teeth. +And the eyes were the most wonderful eyes I have ever seen in a human +being. Maude was right when she spoke of them as ‘oily eyes.’ They +literally shone with a strange, greasy lustre, and were capable of +such a marvellous expression that I felt myself falling under their +peculiar fascination. I am honest and frank enough to say that, had it +been her pleasure, I believe she could have lured me to destruction as +she had lured my poor friend. But I was forearmed, because forewarned. +Moreover, I fancy I had a much stronger will than Redcar. Anyway, I +braced myself up to conquer and crush this human serpent, for such I +felt her to be. + +Before I could speak, her melodious voice rang out with the query, +addressed to Jack: + +‘Who is this gentleman? Is he a friend of yours?’ + +‘Yes, yes,’ gasped Jack, like one who spoke under the influence of a +nightmare. + +She bowed and smiled, revealing all her white teeth, and she held forth +her hand to me, a delicately shaped hand, with clear, transparent skin, +and her long lithe fingers were bejewelled with diamonds. + +I drew myself up, as one does when a desperate effort is needed, and, +refusing the proffered hand, I said: + +‘Madame, hypocrisy and deceit are useless. I am a medical man, my name +is Peter Haslar, and Mr. Redcar and I have been friends from youth. +I’ve come here to separate him from your baneful influence and carry +him back to his broken-hearted wife. That is my mission. I hope I have +made it clear to you?’ + +She showed not the slightest sign of being disturbed, but smiled on me +again, and bowed gracefully and with the most perfect self-possession. +And speaking in a soft gentle manner, which was in such startling +contrast to the woman’s appearance, she said: + +‘Oh, yes; thank you. But, like the majority of your countrymen, you +display a tendency to arrogate too much to yourself. I am a Spaniard +myself, by birth, but cosmopolitan by inclination, and, believe me, I +do not speak with any prejudice against your nationality, but I have +yet to learn, sir, that you have any right to constitute yourself Mr. +Redcar’s keeper.’ + +Her English was perfect, though she pronounced it with just a slight +foreign accent. There was no anger in her tones, no defiance. She spoke +softly, silvery, persuasively. + +‘I do not pretend to be his keeper, madame; I am his sincere friend,’ I +answered. ‘And surely I need not remind you that he owes a duty to his +lawful wife.’ + +During this short conversation Jack had sat motionless on the edge of a +couch, his chin resting on his hands, and apparently absorbed with some +conflicting thoughts. But Annette turned to him, and, still smiling, +said: + +‘I think Mr. Redcar is quite capable of answering for himself. Stand +up, Jack, and speak your thoughts like a man.’ + +Although she spoke in her oily, insidious way, her request was a +peremptory command. I realised that at once, and I saw as Jack rose he +gazed at her, and her lustrous eyes fixed him. Then he turned upon me +with a furious gesture and exclaimed, with a violence of expression +that startled me: + +‘Yes, Annette is right. I am my own master. What the devil do you mean +by following me, like the sneak and cur that you are? Go back to Maude, +and tell her that I loathe her. Go; relieve me of your presence, or I +may forget myself and injure you.’ + +Annette, still smiling and still perfectly self-possessed, said: + +‘You hear what your friend says, doctor. Need I say that if you are a +gentleman you will respect his wishes?’ + +I could no longer control myself. Her calm, defiant, icy manner +maddened me, and her silvery voice seemed to cut down on to my most +sensitive nerves, for it was so suggestive of the devilish nature of +the creature. It was so incongruous when contrasted with her harsh, +horribly cruel face. I placed myself between Jack and her, and meeting +her weird gaze, I said, hotly: + +‘Leave this room. You are an outrage on your sex; a shame and a +disgrace to the very name of woman. Go, and leave me with my friend, +whose reason you have stolen away.’ + +She still smiled and was still unmoved, and suddenly I felt myself +gripped in a grip of iron, and with terrific force I was hurled into a +corner of the room, where, huddled up in a heap, I lay stunned for some +moments. But as my senses returned I saw the awful woman smiling still, +and she was waving her long white bejewelled hand before the infuriated +Jack, as if she were mesmerising him; and I saw him sink on to the sofa +subdued and calmed. Then addressing me she said: + +‘That is a curious way for your friend to display his friendship. I may +be wrong, but perhaps as a medical man you will recognise that your +presence has an irritating effect on Mr. Redcar, and if I may suggest +it, I think it desirable that you should depart at once and see him no +more.’ + +‘Devil!’ I shouted at her. ‘You have bewitched him, and made him +forgetful of his honour and of what he owes to those who are dear to +him. But I will defeat you yet.’ + +She merely bowed and smiled, but deigned no reply; and holding her arm +to Jack, he took it, and they passed out of the room. She was elegantly +attired. Her raven hair was fascinatingly dressed in wavy bands. There +was something regal in her carriage, and gracefulness in her every +movement; and yet she filled me with a sense of indefinable horror; a +dread to which I should have been ashamed to own to a little while ago. + +I tried to spring up and go after them, but my body seemed a mass of +pain, and my left arm hung limp and powerless. It was fractured below +the elbow. There was no bell in the room, and I limped out in search +of assistance. I made my way painfully along a gloomy corridor, and +hearing a male voice speaking Spanish, I knocked at a door, which +was opened by the landlord. I addressed him, but he shook his head +and gave me to understand that he spoke no English. Unhappily I spoke +no Spanish. Then he smiled as some idea flitted through his mind, and +bowing me into the room he motioned me to be seated, and hurried away. +He returned in about five minutes accompanied by Annette, whom he had +brought to act as interpreter. I was almost tempted to fly at her and +strangle her where she stood. She was undisturbed, calm, and still +smiled. She spoke to the man in Spanish, then she explained to me that +she had told him I had slipped on the polished floor, and falling over +a chair had injured myself, and she had requested him to summon the +village surgeon if need be. + +Without waiting for me to reply she swept gracefully out of the room. +Indeed, I could not reply, for I felt as if I were choking with +suppressed rage. The landlord rendered me physical assistance and took +me to my bedroom, where I lay down on the bed, feeling mortified, ill, +and crushed. Half an hour later a queer-looking old man, with long hair +twisted into ringlets, was ushered into my room, and I soon gathered +that he was the village surgeon. He spoke no English, but I explained +my injury by signs, and he went away, returning in a little while with +the necessary bandages and splints, and he proceeded rather clumsily to +bandage my broken arm. I passed a cruel and wretched night. My physical +pain was great, but my mental pain was greater. The thought forced +itself upon me that I had been defeated, and that the fiendish, cunning +woman was too much for me. I felt no resentment against Jack. His act +of violence was the act of a madman, and I pitied him. For hours I +lay revolving all sorts of schemes to try and get him away from the +diabolical influence of Annette. But though I could hit upon nothing, +I firmly resolved that while my life lasted I would make every effort +to save my old friend, and if possible restore him to the bosom of his +distracted wife. + +The case altogether was a very remarkable one, and the question +naturally arose, why did a man so highly gifted and so intelligent +as Jack Redcar desert his charming, devoted, and beautiful wife, to +follow an adventuress who entirely lacked physical beauty. Theories +without number might have been suggested to account for the phenomenon, +but not one would have been correct. The true answer is, Annette was +not a natural being. In the ordinary way she might be described as a +woman of perverted moral character, or as a physiological freak, but +that would have been rather a misleading way of putting it. She was, +in short, a human monstrosity. By that I do not mean to say her body +was contorted, twisted, or deformed. But into her human composition had +entered a strain of the fiend; and I might go even further than this +and say she was more animal than human. Though in whatever way she may +be described, it is certain she was an anomaly--a human riddle. + +The morning following the outrage upon me found me prostrated and ill. +A night of racking pain and mental distress had told even upon my good +constitution. The situation in which I found myself was a singularly +unfortunate one. I was a foreigner in an out-of-the-way place, and my +want of knowledge of Spanish, of course, placed me at a tremendous +disadvantage. + +The landlord came to me and brought his wife, and between them they +attended to my wants, and did what they could for my comfort. But they +were ignorant, uncultivated people, only one remove from the peasant +class, and I realised that they could be of little use to me. Now the +nearest important town to this Alpine village was Santander, but that +was nearly a hundred miles away. As everyone knows who has been in +Spain, a hundred miles, even on a railway, is a considerable journey; +but there was no railway between Santander and Potes. An old ramshackle +vehicle, called a diligence, ran between the two places every day in +the summer and twice a week in the winter, and it took fourteen hours +to do the journey. Even a well-appointed carriage and pair could not +cover the distance under eight hours, as the road was infamous, and +in parts was little better than a mule track. I knew that there was +a British consul in Santander, and I was hopeful that if I could +communicate with him he might be able to render me some assistance. +In the meantime I had to devise some scheme for holding Annette in +check and saving my friend. But in my crippled and prostrate condition +I could not do much. While lying in my bed, and thus revolving all +these things in my mind, the door gently opened and Annette glided +in--‘glided’ best expresses her movement, for she seemed to put forth +no effort. She sat down beside the bed and laid her hand on mine. + +‘You are ill this morning,’ she said softly. ‘This is regrettable, +but you have only yourself to blame. It is dangerous to interfere in +matters in which you have no concern. My business is mine, Mr. Redcar’s +is his, and yours is your own, but the three won’t amalgamate. Jack and +I came here for the sake of the peace and quietness of these solitudes; +unhappily you intrude yourself and disaster follows.’ + +Her voice was as silvery as ever. The same calm self-possessed air +characterised her; but in her oily eyes was a peculiar light, and I +had to turn away, for they exerted a sort of mesmeric influence over +me, and I am convinced that had I not exerted all my will power I +should have thrown myself into the creature’s arms. This is a fact +which I have no hesitation in stating, as it serves better than any +other illustration to show what a wonderful power of fascination the +remarkable woman possessed. Naturally I felt disgusted and enraged, +but I fully recognised that I could not fight the woman openly; I must +to some extent meet her with her own weapons. She was cunning, artful, +insidious, pitiless, and the basilisk-like power she possessed not only +gave her a great advantage but made her a very dangerous opponent. +At any rate, having regard to all the circumstances and my crippled +condition, I saw that my only chance was in temporising with her. So I +tried to reason with her, and I pointed out that Redcar had been guilty +of baseness in leaving his wife, who was devoted to him. + +At this point of my argument Annette interrupted me, and for the first +time she displayed something like passion, and her voice became hard +and raucous. + +‘His wife,’ she said with a sneer of supreme contempt. ‘A poor fool, +a fleshly doll. At the precise instant I set my eyes upon her for the +first time I felt that I should like to destroy her, because she is a +type of woman who makes the world common-place and reduce all men to a +common level. She hated me from the first and I hated her. She would +have crushed me if she could, but she was too insignificant a worm to +do that, and I crushed her.’ + +This cold, brutal callousness enraged me; I turned fiercely upon her +and exclaimed: + +‘Leave me, you are a more infamous and heartless wretch than I believed +you to be. You are absolutely unworthy the name of woman, and if you +irritate me much more I may even forget that you have a woman’s shape.’ + +She spoke again. All trace of passion had disappeared. She smiled the +wicked insidious smile which made her so dangerous, and her voice +resumed its liquid, silvery tones: + +‘You are very violent,’ she said gently, ‘and it will do you harm +in your condition. But you see violence can be met with violence. +The gentleman you are pleased to call your friend afforded you +painful evidence last night that he knows how to resent unjustifiable +interference, and to take care of himself. I am under his protection, +and there is no doubt he will protect me.’ + +‘For God’s sake, leave me!’ I cried, tortured beyond endurance by her +hypocrisy and wickedness. + +‘Oh, certainly, if you desire it,’ she answered, as she rose from her +seat. ‘But I thought I might be of use. It is useless your trying to +influence Mr. Redcar--absolutely useless. His destiny is linked with +mine, and the human being doesn’t exist who can sunder us. With this +knowledge, you will do well to retrace your steps; and, if you like, +I will arrange to have you comfortably conveyed to Santander, where +you can get a vessel. Anyway, you will waste your time and retard your +recovery by remaining here.’ + +‘I intend to remain here, nevertheless,’ I said, with set teeth. ‘And, +what is more, madame, when I go my friend Redcar will accompany me.’ + +She laughed. She patted my head as a mother might pat the head of her +child. She spoke in her most insidious, silvery tones. + +‘We shall see, mon cher--we shall see. You will be better to-morrow. +Adieu!’ + +That was all she said, and she was gone. She glided out of the room as +she had glided in. + +I felt irritated almost into madness for some little time; but as I +reflected, it was forced upon me that I had to deal with a monster of +iniquity, who had so subdued the will of her victim, Redcar, that he +was a mere wooden puppet in her hand. Force in such a case was worse +than useless. What I had to do was to try and circumvent her, and I +tried to think out some plan of action. + +All that day I was compelled to keep my bed, and, owing to the clumsy +way in which my arm had been bandaged, I suffered intolerable pain, +and had to send for the old surgeon again to come and help me to reset +the fracture. I got some ease after that, and a dose of chloral sent +me to sleep, which continued for many hours. When I awoke I managed to +summon the landlord, and he brought me food, and a lantern containing a +candle so that I might have light. And, in compliance with my request, +he made me a large jug of lemonade, in order that I could have a drink +in the night, for I was feverish, and my throat was parched. He had no +sooner left the room than Annette entered to inquire if she could do +anything for me. I told her that I had made the landlord understand all +that I desired, and he would look after me, so she wished me good-night +and left. Knowing as I did that sleep was very essential in my case, I +swallowed another, though smaller, dose of chloral, and then there was +a blank. + +How long I slept I really don’t know; but suddenly, in a dazed sort of +way, I saw a strange sight. The room I occupied was a long, somewhat +meagrely furnished, one. The entrance door was at the extreme end, +opposite the bed. Over the doorway hung a faded curtain of green +velvet. By the feeble light of the candle lantern I saw this curtain +slowly pulled on one side by a white hand; then a face peered in; next +Annette entered. Her long hair was hanging down her back, and she wore +a nightdress of soft, clinging substance, which outlined her figure. +With never a sound she moved lightly towards the bed, and waved her +hand two or three times over my face. I tried to move, to utter a +sound, but couldn’t; and yet what I am describing was no dream, but +a reality. Slightly bending over me, she poured from a tiny phial +she carried in the palm of her hand a few drops of a slightly acrid, +burning liquid right into my mouth, and at that instant, as I believe, +it seemed to me as if a thick, heavy pall fell over my eyes, for all +was darkness. + +I awoke hours later. The winter sun was shining brightly into my +room. I felt strangely languid, and had a hot, stinging sensation +in my throat. I felt my pulse, and found it was only beating at +the rate of fifty-eight beats in the minute. Then I recalled the +extraordinary incident of the previous night, which, had it not been +for my sensations, I might have regarded as a bad dream, the outcome +of a disturbed state of the brain. But as it was, I hadn’t a doubt +that Annette had administered some subtle and slow poison to me. My +medical knowledge enabled me to diagnose my own case so far, that I +was convinced I was suffering from the effects of a potent poisonous +drug, the action of which was to lower the action of the vital forces +and weaken the heart. Being probably cumulative, a few doses more or +less, according to the strength of the subject, and the action of the +heart would be so impeded that the organ would cease to beat. Although +all this passed through my brain, I felt so weak and languid that I had +neither energy nor strength to arouse myself, and when the landlord +brought me in some food I took no notice of him. I knew that this +symptom of languor and indifference was very characteristic of certain +vegetable poisons, though what it was Annette had administered to me I +could not determine. + +Throughout that day I lay in a drowsy, dreamy state. At times my brain +was clear enough, and I was able to think and reason; but there were +blanks, marked, no doubt, by periods of sleep. + +When night came I felt a little better, and I found that the heart’s +action had improved. It was steadier, firmer, and the pulse indicated +sixty-two beats. Now I had no doubt that if it was Annette’s intention +to bring about my death slowly she would come again that night, and +arousing myself as well as I could, and summoning all my will power, +I resolved to be on the watch. During the afternoon I had drunk milk +freely, regarding it as an antidote, and when the landlord visited me +for the last time that evening I made him understand that I wanted a +large jug of milk fresh from the cow, if he could get it. He kept cows +of his own; they were confined in a chalet on the mountain side, not +far from his house, so that he was able to comply with my request. +I took a long draught of this hot milk, which revived my energies +wonderfully, and then I waited for developments. I had allowed my watch +to run down, consequently I had no means of knowing the time. It was +a weary vigil, lying there lonely and ill, and struggling against the +desire for sleep. + +By-and-by I saw the white hand lift the curtain again, and Annette +entered, clad as she was on the previous night. When she came within +reach of me I sprang up in the bed and seized her wrist. + +‘What do you want here?’ I demanded angrily. ‘Do you mean to murder me?’ + +Her imperturbability was exasperating. She neither winced nor cried +out, nor displayed the slightest sign of surprise. She merely remarked +in her soft cooing voice, her white teeth showing as her thin lips +parted in a smile: + +‘You are evidently restless and excited to-night, and it is hardly +generous of you to treat my kindly interest in such a way.’ + +‘Kindly interest!’ I echoed with a sneer, as, releasing her wrist, I +fell back on the bed. + +‘Yes; you haven’t treated me well, and you are an intruder here. +Nevertheless, as you are a stranger amongst strangers, and cannot speak +the language of the country, I would be of service to you if I could. I +have come to see if you have everything you require for the night.’ + +‘And you did the same last night,’ I cried in hot anger, for, knowing +her infamy and wickedness, I could not keep my temper. + +‘Certainly,’ she answered coolly; ‘and I found you calmly dozing, so +left you.’ + +‘Yes--after you had poured poison down my throat,’ I replied. + +She broke into a laugh--a rippling laugh, with the tinkle of silver in +it--and she seemed hugely amused. + +‘Well, well,’ she said; ‘it is obvious, sir, you are not in a fit state +to be left alone. Your nerves are evidently unstrung, and you are +either the victim of a bad dream or some strange delusion. But there, +there; I will pardon you. You are not responsible just at present for +your language.’ + +As she spoke she passed her soft white hand over my forehead. There was +magic in her touch, and it seemed as if all my will had left me, and +there stole over me a delightful sense of dreamy languor. I looked at +her, and I saw her strange eyes change colour. They became illumined, +as it were, by a violet light that fascinated me so that I could not +turn from her. Indeed, I was absolutely subdued to her will now. +Everything in the room faded, and I saw nothing but those marvellous +eyes glowing with violet light which seemed to fill me with a feeling +of ecstasy. I have a vague idea that she kept passing her hand over +my face and forehead; that she breathed upon my face; then that she +pressed her face to mine, and I felt her hot breath in my neck. + +Perhaps it will be said that I dreamed all this. I don’t believe it was +a dream. I firmly and honestly believe that every word I have written +is true. + +Hours afterwards my dulled brain began to awake to things mundane. +The morning sun was flooding the room, and I was conscious that +somebody stood over me, and soon I recognised the old surgeon, who +had come to see that the splints and bandages had not shifted. I felt +extraordinarily weak, and I found that my pulse was beating very slowly +and feebly. Again I had the burning feeling in the throat and a strange +and absolutely indescribable sensation at the side of the neck. The old +doctor must have recognised that I was unusually feeble, for he went to +the landlord, and returned presently with some cognac which he made me +swallow, and it picked me up considerably. + +After his departure I lay for some time, and tried to give definite +shape to vague and dreadful thoughts that haunted me, and filled me +with a shrinking horror. That Annette was a monster in human form I +hadn’t a doubt, and I felt equally certain that she had designs upon +my life. That she had now administered poison to me on two occasions +seemed to me beyond question, but I hesitated to believe that she was +guilty of the unspeakable crime which my sensations suggested. + +At last, unable longer to endure the tumult in my brain, I sprang out +of bed, rushed to the looking-glass, and examined my neck. I literally +staggered back, and fell prostrate on the bed, overcome by the hideous +discovery I had made. It had the effect, however, of calling me back to +life and energy, and I made a mental resolution that I would, at all +hazards, save my friend, though I clearly recognised how powerless I +was to cope with the awful creature single-handed. + +I managed to dress myself, not without some difficulty; then I summoned +the landlord, and made him understand that I must go immediately to +Santander at any cost. My intention was to invoke the aid of the consul +there. But the more I insisted, the more the old landlord shook his +head. At length, in desperation, I rushed from the house, hoping to +find somebody who understood French or English. As I almost ran up +the village street I came face to face with a priest. I asked him in +English if he spoke my language, but he shook his head. Then I tried +him with French, and to my joy he answered me that he understood a +little French. I told him of my desire to start for Santander that +very day, but he said that it was impossible, as, owing to the unusual +hot sun in the daytime there had been a great melting of snow, with +the result that a flooded river had destroyed a portion of the road; +and though a gang of men had been set to repair it, it would be two or +three days before it was passable. + +‘But is there no other way of going?’ I asked. + +‘Only by a very hazardous route over the mountains,’ he answered. And +he added that the risk was so great it was doubtful if anyone could be +found who would act as guide. ‘Besides,’ he went on, ‘you seem very ill +and weak. Even a strong man might fail, but you would be certain to +perish from exhaustion and exposure.’ + +I was bound to recognise the force of his argument. It was a maddening +disappointment, but there was no help for it. Then it occurred to me +to take the old priest into my confidence and invoke his aid. Though, +on second thoughts, I hesitated, for was it not possible--nay, highly +probable--that if I told the horrible story he and others would think +I was mad. Annette was a Spanish woman, and it was feasible to suppose +she would secure the ear of those ignorant villagers sooner than I +should. No, I would keep the ghastly business to myself for the present +at any rate, and wait with such patience as I could command until I +could make the journey to Santander. The priest promised me that on +the morrow he would let me know if the road was passable, and, if so, +he would procure me a carriage and make all the preparations for the +journey. So, thanking him for his kindly services, I turned towards +the hotel again. As I neared the house I observed two persons on the +mountain path that went up among the pine trees. The sun was shining +brilliantly; the sky was cloudless, the air crisp and keen. The two +persons were Annette and Redcar. I watched them for some minutes until +they were lost to sight amongst the trees. + +Suddenly an irresistible impulse to follow them seized me. Why I know +not. Indeed, had I paused to reason with myself it would have seemed +to me then a mad act, and that I was risking my life to no purpose. +But I did not reason. I yielded to the impulse, though first of all I +went to my room, put on a thicker pair of boots, and armed myself with +a revolver which I had brought with me. During my extensive travelling +about America a revolver was a necessity, and by force of habit I +put it up with my clothes when packing my things in London for my +Continental journey. + +Holding the weapon between my knees, I put a cartridge in each barrel, +and, providing myself with a stick in addition, I went forth again +and began to climb the mountain path. I was by no means a sanguinary +man; even my pugnacity could only be aroused after much irritation. +Nevertheless, I knew how to defend myself, and in this instance, +knowing that I had to deal with a woman who was capable of any crime, +and who, I felt sure, would not hesitate to take my life if she got the +chance, I deemed it advisable to be on my guard against any emergency +that might arise. As regards Redcar, he had already given me forcible +and painful evidence that he could be dangerous; but I did not hold +him responsible for his actions. I regarded him as being temporarily +insane owing to the infernal influence the awful woman exercised over +him. Therefore it would only have been in the very last extremity that +I should have resorted to lethal weapons as a defence against him. My +one sole aim, hope, desire, prayer, was to rescue him from the spell +that held him in thrall and restore him to his wife, his honour, his +sanity. With respect to Annette, it was different. She was a blot on +nature, a disgrace to humankind, and, rather than let her gain complete +ascendency over me and my friend, I would have shot her if I had reason +to believe she contemplated taking my life. It might have involved me +in serious trouble with the authorities at first, for in Spain the +foreigner can hope but for little justice. I was convinced, however, +that ultimately I should be exonerated. + +Such were the thoughts that filled my mind as I painfully made my way +up the steep mountain side. My fractured arm was exceedingly painful. +Every limb in my body ached, and I was so languid, so weak that it was +with difficulty I dragged myself along. But worse than all this was an +all but irresistible desire to sleep, the result, I was certain, of the +poison that had been administered to me. But it would have been fatal +to have slept. I knew that, and so I fought against the inclination +with all my might and main, and allowed my thoughts to dwell on poor +little Maude Redcar, waiting desolate and heartbroken in London for +news. This supplied me with the necessary spur and kept me going. + +The trees were nearly all entirely bare of snow. It had, I was +informed, been an unusually mild season, and at that time the sun’s +rays were very powerful. The path I was pursuing was nothing more than +a rough track worn by the peasants passing between the valley and their +hay chalets dotted about the mountain. Snow lay on the path where it +was screened from the sun by the trees. I heard no sound, saw no sign +of those I was seeking save here and there footprints in the snow. I +frequently paused and listened, but the stillness was unbroken save for +the subdued murmur of falling water afar off. + +In my weakened condition the exertion I had endured had greatly +distressed me; my heart beat tumultuously, my pulses throbbed +violently, and my breathing was stertorous. I was compelled at last to +sit down and rest. I was far above the valley now, and the pine trees +were straggling and sparse. The track had become very indistinct, but I +still detected the footsteps of the people I was following. Above the +trees I could discern the snow-capped Picos de Europa glittering in +the brilliant sun. It was a perfect Alpine scene, which, under other +circumstances, I might have revelled in. But I felt strangely ill, +weak, and miserable, and drowsiness began to steal upon me, so that +I made a sudden effort of will and sprang up again, and resumed the +ascent. + +In a little time the forest ended, and before me stretched a sloping +plateau which, owing to its being exposed to the full glare of the sun, +as well as to all the winds that blew, was bare of snow. The plateau +sloped down for probably four hundred feet, then ended abruptly at the +edge of a precipice. How far the precipice descended I could not tell +from where I was, but far far below I could see a stream meandering +through a thickly wooded gorge. I took the details of the scene in with +a sudden glance of the eye, for another sight attracted and riveted my +attention, and froze me with horror to the spot. Beneath a huge boulder +which had fallen from the mountain above, and lodged on the slope, +were Annette and Redcar. He was lying on his back, she was stretched +out beside him, and her face was buried in his neck. Even from where +I stood I could see that he was ghastly pale, his features drawn and +pinched, his eyes closed. Incredible as it may seem, horrible as it +sounds, it is nevertheless true that that hellish woman was sucking +away his life blood. She was a human vampire, and my worst fears were +confirmed. + +I am aware that an astounding statement of this kind should not be made +lightly by a man in my position. But I take all the responsibility of +it, and I declare solemnly that it is true. Moreover, the sequel which +I am able to give to this story more than corroborates me, and proves +Annette to have been one of those human problems which, happily for the +world, are very rare, but of which there are several well authenticated +cases. + +As soon as I fully realised what was happening I drew my revolver from +the side pocket of my jacket and fired, not at Annette, but in the air; +my object being to startle her so that she would release her victim. +It had the desired effect. She sprang up, livid with rage. Blood--his +blood--was oozing from the sides of her mouth. Her extraordinary +eyes had assumed that strange violet appearance which I had seen once +before. Her whole aspect was repulsive, revolting, horrible beyond +words. Rooted to the spot I stood and gazed at her, fascinated by the +weird, ghastly sight. In my hand I still held the smoking revolver, +levelled at her now, and resolved if she rushed towards me to shoot +her, for I felt that the world would be well rid of such a hideous +monster. But suddenly she stooped, seized her unfortunate victim in her +arms, and tore down the slope, and when the edge of the precipice was +reached they both disappeared into space. + +The whole of this remarkable scene was enacted in the course of a few +seconds. It was to me a maddening nightmare. I fell where I stood, and +remembered no more until, hours afterwards, I found myself lying in +bed at the hotel, and the old surgeon and the priest sitting beside +me. Gradually I learnt that the sound of the shot from the revolver, +echoing and re-echoing in that Alpine region, had been heard in the +village, and some peasants had set off for the mountain to ascertain +the cause of the firing. They found me lying on the ground still +grasping the weapon, and thinking I had shot myself they carried me +down to the hotel. + +Naturally I was asked for explanations when I was able to talk, and I +recounted the whole of the ghastly story. At first my listeners, the +priest and the doctor, seemed to think I was raving in delirium, as +well they might, but I persisted in my statements, and I urged the +sending out of a party to search for the bodies. If they were found my +story would be corroborated. + +In a short time a party of peasants started for the gorge, which was +a wild, almost inaccessible, ravine through which flowed a mountain +torrent amongst the débris and boulders that from time to time had +fallen from the rocky heights. After some hours of searching the party +discovered the crushed remains of Jack Redcar. His head had been +battered to pieces against the rocks as he fell, and every bone in his +body was broken. The precipice over which he had fallen was a jagged, +scarred, and irregular wall of rock at least four thousand feet in +height. The search for Annette’s body was continued until darkness +compelled the searchers to return to the village, which they did +bringing with them my poor friend’s remains. Next day the search was +resumed, and the day after, and for many days, but with no result. The +woman’s corpse was never found. The theory was that somewhere on that +frightful rock face she had been caught by a projecting pinnacle, or +had got jammed in a crevice, where her unhallowed remains would moulder +into dust. It was a fitting end for so frightful a life. + +Of course an official inquiry was held--and officialism in Spain is +appalling. It was weeks and weeks before the inevitable conclusion of +the tribunal was arrived at, and I was exonerated from all blame. In +the meantime Redcar’s remains were committed to their eternal rest in +the picturesque little Alpine village churchyard, and for all time +Potes will be associated with that grim and awful tragedy. Why Annette +took her victim to that out-of-the-way spot can only be guessed at. She +knew that the death of her victim was only a question of weeks, and +in that primitive and secluded hamlet it would arouse no suspicion, +she being a native of Spain. It would be easy for her to say that she +had taken her invalid husband there for the benefit of his health, +but unhappily the splendid and bracing air had failed to save his +life. In this instance, as in many others, her fiendish cunning would +have enabled her to score another triumph had not destiny made me its +instrument to encompass her destruction. + +For long after my return to England I was very ill. The fearful +ordeal I had gone through, coupled with the poison which Annette had +administered to me, shattered my health; but the unremitting care and +attention bestowed upon me by my old friend’s widow pulled me through. +And when at last I was restored to strength and vigour, beautiful Maude +Redcar became my wife. + + NOTE BY THE AUTHOR.--The foregoing story was suggested by a tradition + current in the Pyrenees, where a belief in ghouls and vampires is + still common. The same belief is no less common throughout Styria, + in some parts of Turkey, in Russia, and in India. Sir Richard Burton + deals with the subject in his ‘Vikram and the Vampire.’ Years ago, + when the author was in India, a poor woman was beaten to death one + night in the village by a number of young men armed with cudgels. + Their excuse for the crime was that the woman was a vampire, and had + sucked the blood of many of their companions, whom she had first + lured to her by depriving them of their will power by mesmeric + influence. + + + + +II + +SEQUEL TO THE WOMAN WITH THE ‘OILY EYES’ + +THE STORY OF ANNETTE + +FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS + + +At the time the inquiry was held into the circumstances of Jack +Redcar’s death, the authorities deemed it their duty to find out +something of Annette’s past history. In this they were aided by certain +documents discovered amongst her belongings, and, by dint of astute and +patient investigation, they elicited the following remarkable facts. +Her real name was Isabella Ribera, and she was born in a little village +in the Sierra Nevada, of Andalusia. Her mother was a highly respectable +peasantwoman, of a peculiarly romantic disposition, and fond of +listening to and reading weird and supernatural stories. Her father +was also a peasant, but intellectual beyond his class. By dint of hard +work, he acquired a considerable amount of land and large numbers of +cattle, and ultimately became the mayor of his village. + +There were two peculiarities noticed about Isabella Ribera when she was +born. She had an extraordinary amount of back hair, and the lids of +her eyes remained fast sealed until she was a year old. An operation +was at first talked about, but the child was examined by a doctor of +some repute in the nearest town, and he advised against the operation, +saying that it was better to let nature take her course. When the girl +was in her thirteenth month she one day suddenly opened her eyes, and +those who saw them were frightened. Some people said that they were +seal’s eyes, others that they were the eyes of a snake, and others, +again, that ‘the devil looked through them.’ The superstitious people +in the village urged the parents to consult the priest, and this was +done, with the result that the infant was subjected to a religious +ceremony, with a view to exorcising the demon which was supposed to +have taken possession of her. + +As the girl grew she displayed amazing precocity. When she was only +four she was more like a grown woman in her acts and ways than a child, +and the intuitive knowledge she exhibited only served to increase the +superstitious dread with which she inspired people. One day, when she +was nearly five, her father had a pig killed. The girl witnessed the +operation, and seemed to go almost mad with delight. And suddenly, to +the horror and consternation of those looking on, she threw herself +on the dying animal and began to drink the blood that flowed from the +cut throat. Somebody snatched her up and ran screaming with her to her +mother, who was distracted when she heard the story. + +The incident, of course, soon became known all over the village, and +indeed far beyond it, and a fierce hatred of the child seized upon the +people. The consequence was, the parents had to keep a very watchful +eye over her. They were seriously advised to have the girl strangled, +and her body burnt to ashes with wood that had been blessed and +consecrated by the priests. Fearing that an attempt would be made upon +her life by the villagers, Isabella’s parents secretly conveyed her +away and took her to Cordova, where she was placed in the care of the +mother superior of a convent. + +At this place she was carefully trained and taught, but was regarded +as an unnatural child. She seemed to be without heart, feeling, or +sentiment. Her aptitude for learning was looked upon as miraculous, +and a tale of horror or bloodshed afforded her an infinite amount of +enjoyment. + +When she was a little more than twelve she escaped from her guardians +and disappeared. + +For a long time no trace of her was forthcoming, then it became known +that she had joined a band of gipsies, and gained such a dominating +influence and power over them, that she was made a queen and married +a young man of the tribe. A month afterwards he was found dead one +morning in his tent. The cause of his death remained a mystery, but +it was noticed that there was a peculiar blue mark at the side of his +neck, from which a drop or two of blood still oozed. + +A few weeks after her husband’s death, Isabella, queen of the gipsies, +announced to her tribe that she was going to sever herself from them +for a time and travel all over Europe. Where she went to during the +succeeding two years will never be known; but she was next heard of in +Paris, where she was put upon her trial, charged with having caused the +death of a man whom she alleged was her husband. She was then known as +Madame Ducoudert. The husband had died in a very mysterious manner. He +seemed to grow bloodless, and gradually faded away. And after his death +certain signs suggested poison. An autopsy, however, failed to reveal +any indications of recognised poisons. Nevertheless madame was tried, +but no evidence was forthcoming to convict her, and she was acquitted. + +Almost immediately afterwards she quitted Paris with plenty of money, +her husband, who was well off, having left her all his property. The +Paris police, through their agents and spies, ascertained that she +proceeded direct to Bordeaux, where, in a very short time, she united +herself to a handsome young man, the only son of an exceedingly wealthy +Bordeaux wine-merchant. She had changed her name at this stage to Marie +Tailleux. She had a well-developed figure, an enormous quantity of jet +black hair, and perfect teeth. In other respects she was considered +to be ugly, by some even repulsive. And yet she exercised a fatal +fascination over men, though women feared and hated her. + +She went from Bordeaux to London with the wine-merchant’s son, and +six months later the English people were treated to a sensation. +‘Madame and Monsieur Tailleux’ travelled extensively about England and +Scotland. Monsieur fell ill, soon after arriving, of some nameless +disease. His illness was characterised by prostration, languor, +bloodlessness. He consulted several doctors, who prescribed for him +without effect. + +The pair at last took up their residence at a very well-known +metropolitan hotel, where they lived in great style, spent money +lavishly, and were supposed to be people of note. But one morning +monsieur was found dead in bed, and as no doctor had been treating +him for some time, and the cause of death could not be certified, an +inquest was ordered and a post-mortem became necessary. Those who made +the examination had their suspicions aroused. They believed there had +been foul play--at any rate, the man had died of poison. The police +were communicated with: result, the arrest of madame, and columns and +columns of sensational reports in the papers. + +Amongst madame’s belongings was found a little carved ebony box +containing twelve receptacles for twelve tiny phials. Some of these +phials were empty, others full of liquid that varied in colour; that +is, in one phial it was yellow, in another red, in another green, in +another blue, and yet another held what seemed to be clear water. + +The chemical analysis of the contents of the stomach quite failed +to justify the suspicions of poison. But the blood had a peculiar, +watery appearance; the heart was flabby and weak. Madame accounted for +possession of the phials by saying they contained gipsy medicine of +great efficacy in certain diseases. There was such a small quantity in +each phial as to make analysis practically impossible; certain animals, +however, were treated with some of the contents, and seemed actually to +improve under the treatment. Under the circumstances, of course, there +was nothing for it but to release madame, as the magistrate said there +was no case to go before a jury. + +It is worth while to quote the following description of the woman at +this time. It appeared in a report in the _Times_. + +‘The prisoner is a most extraordinary looking woman, and appears to +be possessed of some wonderful magnetic power, which half fascinates +one. It is difficult to say wherein this power lies, unless it be in +her eyes. They are certainly remarkable eyes, that have a peculiar, +glistening appearance like oil. Then her voice is a revelation. +Until she speaks one would be disposed to say the voice of such a +harsh-featured woman would be hard, raucous, and raspy. But its tones +are those of a silver bell, or a sweet-toned flute. Her self-possession +is also marvellous, and she smiles sweetly and fascinatingly. Somehow +or another she gives one the impression that she has some of the +attributes of the sirens of old, who were said to lure men to their +destruction. Possibly this is doing the woman an injustice; but it is +difficult to resist the idea. Her hands, too, are in striking contrast +to her general physique. They are long, thin, lithe, and white. Taken +altogether, she cannot certainly be described as an ordinary type +of woman, and we should be disposed to say that, allied to great +intelligence, was a subtle cunning and a cruelty of disposition that +might make her dangerous.’ + +This description was written during the time the woman was a prisoner. +The writer showed that he had a keen insight, and had he but known +some of her past history he would probably have written in a much more +pronounced way. + +‘Madame Tailleux’ was discharged for the want of legal evidence, and +Madame Tailleux soon afterwards left England and went to America, where +she became ‘Miss Anna Clarkson’; and though nobody knew anything at +all about her, she had no difficulty in making her way into so-called +Society; but not as an associate and companion of women, who shunned +and hated her as she hated them; but men followed her, as men are +alleged to have followed Circe. Indeed, in some respects, the classical +description of Circe with her magic and potions might apply to +Isabella Ribera, with the many aliases. + +In a very little while Phineas Miller fell a victim to her potent +spells. Phineas was a young man, a stockbroker, and rich. The twain +journeyed to Florida, from whence Phineas wrote to an intimate friend +that he was strangely ill, and he believed the climate was affecting +him. He looked like a corpse, he said. He was languid. He took no +interest in anything. He suffered from a peculiar prostration, and +found a difficulty in moving about. Yet he experienced no pain, and at +times sank into a dreamy state that was pleasant. He thought, however, +as soon as he left that part of the country he would be all right. + +He was doomed, however, never to leave that part of the country. He +went out one day with Miss Anna Clarkson, and an old negro, to shoot +in the swamps. They had a boat which was in charge of the negro. That +evening, Miss Clarkson returned alone. She was drenched and covered +with slime and mud. There had been an accident. The boat had capsized +by striking against a sunken tree. They were all thrown into the +water. She managed to cling to the boat, and ultimately to right it, +but her companions disappeared. The negro, she thought, was taken by a +crocodile. + +A search-party went out to try and recover the bodies. The negro was +never found, Miller was. He presented an extraordinary appearance, +and those who examined him said he had not died by drowning. This +theory, however, found no favour. Men were often drowned in the swamps, +which swarmed with alligators and crocodiles, huge snakes, and other +repulsive things. When a man once got into the water he had no chance. +It was a perfect miracle how Miss Clarkson escaped. ‘Poor thing, she +must have had an awful time of it.’ + +It is true that crocodiles, alligators, and snakes did swarm in the +swamps, and the remarkable thing was that Miller’s body was recovered. +Much sympathy was shown for Miss Clarkson; Miller was duly buried and +forgotten in a week. + +Amongst the lady’s most pronounced sympathisers was a Mr. Lambert +Lennox, an Englishman engaged in fruit-farming. He was about +forty-five, a widower with two daughters and a son. It was generally +agreed that he was one of the finest men in Florida. He was an athlete. +He stood six feet two in his stockings. His health was perfect. It was +his boast that he had never been laid up a day with illness. + +Mr. Lennox had some business to transact in Jamaica, West Indies, and +sailed for that island in one of the trading vessels. In the same +vessel went ‘poor’ Miss Clarkson. A month or two later Mr. Lennox, +Jun., received from Mr. Lennox, Sen., a letter dated from Jamaica, in +the West Indies. Amongst much other news the writer told his son that +he had not been well. He had a strange anæmic appearance, felt weak +and languid, had no energy, suffered from unquenchable thirst, and +was constantly falling asleep suddenly, often at the most inopportune +moments. He had consulted a doctor, who was of opinion that the +climate of Jamaica didn’t suit him, and he advised him to get away as +soon as possible. ‘I shall therefore be home in about six weeks,’ Mr. +Lennox added. But in the meantime he departed for his long home. Mr. +Lambert Lennox died somewhat suddenly one morning, and was buried in +the evening. The doctor who had been attending him certified that he +had succumbed to low fever. The next mail that went out bore the sad +intelligence to his family, and people marvelled much when they heard +that handsome Lambert Lennox, the man with the iron constitution, had +slipped away so quickly, more particularly as long residence in Florida +had inured him to a hot climate and miasma. + +It was found difficult to trace Miss Clarkson’s movements during the +next two or three years, but there were grounds for believing that she +travelled extensively, and amongst other places visited India, and in +this connection there was a somewhat vague and legendary story told. At +a hill station a strange and mysterious woman put in an appearance. +She was thought to be either a Spaniard or a Portuguese. She was known +as Mademoiselle Sassetti, though why ‘Mademoiselle,’ if Spanish or +Portuguese, was not explained. But that is a detail. + +This mysterious lady claimed to have occult powers. She could read +anyone’s future. She could perform miracles. The women kept away from +her because they were afraid of her, though there was no definite +statement as to how this fear arose. But the men showed no fear, as +became them, and amongst others who consulted her was a handsome, +much beloved young military officer. His frequent visits to the +sorceress caused a good deal of talk, as it was bound to do in an +Indian hill station. Grey-bearded men shook their heads sadly, and +wise and virtuous women turned up their noses and muttered mysterious +interjections such as ‘Ah!’ ‘Oh!’ ‘Umph.’ + +One day the station was startled by a report that the young officer had +been found dead in a jungle in one of the valleys. He had been bitten +by a cobra, so the report said, for there was a peculiar little blue +mark at the side of his neck. + +If the virtuous ones didn’t actually say it served him right, they +thought it; and the grey beards looked more knowing than ever, and +mumbled that the young officer had been dining somewhere not wisely +but too well, and had mistaken the jungle for his bedroom, and gone to +sleep, otherwise how did the cobra manage to bite him in the neck. + +It seemed a plausible theory. Anyway it got over a difficulty, and +it brought an unpleasant little scandal to a tragic and abrupt end. +So the virtuous ones went about their many occupations again, and +the atmosphere was purer when it was known that the sorceress had +disappeared as mysteriously as she had come. + +The next direct evidence we got was that under the name of Isabella +Rodino the adventuress turned up in Rome, where she rented a small but +expensive villa in the fashionable Via Porta Pia. Everyone who knows +Rome knows how exclusive society is, but while Isabella Rodino made no +attempt to be received by Roman society she attracted to her villa +some of the male representatives of the best families in the city. +Amongst these gentlemen was the scion of one of the oldest Roman houses. + +Now it may be said boldly here, and that without any reflections, that +the young gentlemen of Rome, as of most other continental cities, are +allowed a good deal more latitude than would be accorded to the same +class in, say, cold-blooded, unromantic, prosaic, and commonplace +London, whose soot and grime, somehow, seem to grind their way into +people’s brains and hearts. Anyway the young gentleman referred to, +whose baptismal name was Basta, did not at first provoke any very +severe criticism, but he was destined ultimately to give the Romans a +sensation to talk about for the proverbial nine days, for one Sunday +morning a humble fisherman, having some business on the Tiber, fished +out of that classic river the stark body of the scion. Over Rome flew +the news, and those who loved him, and looked to him to uphold the +honour and dignity of his family, were horror-stricken. + +Now, it’s a very curious thing that his distracted relatives firmly +believed that the young prodigal had in a moment of remorse, after a +night’s debauch, flung himself into eternity _via_ the Tiber, and so +mighty was their pride that they used their wealth, their influence, +and their power to stifle inquiry, and caused a report to be circulated +that Basta had met his end through accident. It is no less curious that +the family doctor who examined the body was of opinion that there was +something mysterious about the lad’s death, for he certainly had not +died by drowning, and on one side of the neck was a peculiar little +bluish puncture. But as the family persisted in _their_ view, the +doctor, not wishing to lose their influential patronage, observed a +discreet silence. + +A week later, however, an agent of the police called on Isabella +Rodino, and did something more than hint that it was desirable +that within twenty-four hours she should leave Rome as quietly and +unobtrusively as possible. The result of this functionary’s call was +that Isabella Rodino journeyed to Florence by that night’s mail train. +It was known that she only sojourned two days in the fair city on the +Arno. + +After that there is another hiatus of something like two years in her +known career, and it is not easy to fill it up. And this brings us to +that fatal night at Wiesbaden, when ill-starred Jack Redcar met the +enchantress on the hotel stairs. From that point to the moment when, +her rôle being finished, she disappeared for ever from the ken of men, +the reader of the story can fill in for himself. She played out her +last act under the name of Annette. In selecting her many names she +seemed actuated by a fine sense of poetic euphony, and in selecting her +victims she was guided by a ‘damnable’ discrimination. + +‘Annette,’ as we will now call her, was a human riddle, and she +illustrates for the millionth time the trite adage that ‘Truth is +stranger than Fiction,’ besides which she presents the world with an +object lesson in the study of the occult. + + + + +III + +THE CORPSE LIGHT + + +My name is John Patmore Lindsay. By profession I am a medical man, and +a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Member of the Royal +College of Physicians, London. I am also the author of numerous medical +works, the best known, perhaps, being ‘How to Keep in Good Health and +Live Long.’ I was educated at one of the large public schools, and took +my degree at Oxford. I have generally been regarded as ‘a hard-headed +man,’ and sceptical about all phenomena that were not capable of +being explained by rational and known laws. Mysticism, occultism, +spiritualism, and the like only served to excite my ridicule; and I +entertained anything but a flattering opinion of those people who +professed belief in such things. I was pleased to think it argued a +weakness of mind. + +I have referred to the few foregoing facts about myself because I +wish to make it clear that I do not belong to that class of nervous +and excitable people who fall a prey to their own fancies; conjure up +shapes and scenes out of their imaginings, and then vow and declare +that they have been confronted with stern realities. What I am about +to relate is so marvellous, so weird and startling, that I am fain +to begin my story in a half apologetic way; and even now, as I dwell +upon it all, I wonder why I of all men should have been subjected to +the unnatural and unearthly influence. But so it is, and though in a +sense I am only half convinced, I no longer scoff when somebody reminds +me that there is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in our +philosophy. + +But to my story, and when it is told the reader can judge for himself +how powerful must have been the effect of what I witnessed, when it +could induce a man of my mental fibre to commit to paper so astounding +a narrative as the one I now pen. It is about twenty years ago that I +took up a practice in the old-fashioned and picturesque little town of +Brinton-on-sea. At that time there was no railway into Brinton, the +nearest station being some seven or eight miles away. The result was, +the town still retained a delightful old-time air, while the people +were as primitive and old-fashioned as their town. Nevertheless, +Brinton was far ahead of its neighbours, and, though in a purely +agricultural district, was enterprising and business-like, while its +weekly Tuesday market brought an enormous influx of the population of +the district for miles around, and very large sums of money changed +hands. Being the chief town of the parish, and boasting of a very +curious and ancient church, and a still more ancient market cross, to +say nothing of several delightful old hostelries, and a small though +excellent museum of local curiosities, consisting principally of Roman +remains and fossils, for which the district was renowned, it attracted +not only the antiquary and the gourmand, but artists, tourists, and +lovers of the picturesque, as well as those in search of quietude and +repose. The nearest village was High Lea, about three miles away. +Between the two places was a wide sweep of magnificent rolling down, +delightful at all times, but especially so in the summer. Many an +ancient farmhouse was dotted about, with here and there a windmill. +The down on the seaside terminated in a high headland, from which a +splendid lighthouse sent forth its warning beams over the fierce North +Sea. Second only in conspicuousness to this lighthouse was an old and +half-ruined windmill, known all over the country side as ‘The Haunted +Mill.’ + +When I first went to live in Brinton this mill early attracted my +attention, for it was one of the most picturesque old places of its +kind I had ever seen; and as I had some artistic instincts, and could +sketch with, as my too flattering friends said, ‘no mean ability,’ +the haunted mill appealed to me. It stood on rising ground, close to +the high-road that ran between Brinton and High Lea. I gathered that +there had been some dispute about the ownership, and, as is usually the +case, the suckers of the harpies of the law had fastened upon it, so to +speak, and drained all its vitality away after the manner of lawyers +generally. The old-fashioned, legal luminaries of the country were a +slow-going set, and for over a quarter of a century that disputed claim +had remained unsettled; and during that long period the old mill had +been gradually falling into ruin. The foundations had from some cause +sunk, throwing the main building out of the perpendicular. Part of the +roof had fallen in, and the fierce gales of a quarter of a century had +battered the sails pretty well to match-wood. A long flight of wooden +steps led up to the principal door, but these steps had rotted away in +places, and the door itself had partly fallen inwards. Needless to say, +this mill had become the home of bats and owls, and, according to the +yokels, of something more fearsome than either. It was a forlorn and +mournful-looking place, anyway, even in the full blaze of sunshine; +but seen in moonlight its appearance was singularly weird, and well +calculated to beget in the rustic mind a feeling of horror, and to +produce a creepy and uncanny sensation in anyone susceptible to the +influence of _outre_ appearances. To me it did not appeal in any of +these aspects. I saw in it only subject matter for an exceedingly +effective picture, and yet I am bound to confess that even when +transferred to board or canvas there was a certain grim suggestiveness +of things uncanny, and I easily understood how the superstitious and +unreasoning rustic mind was awed into a belief that this mouldering old +mill was haunted by something more creepy and harrowing than bats and +owls. Anyway, I heard wonderful tales, at which I laughed, and when I +learned that the country people generally gave the mill a wide berth +at night, I blamed them for their stupidity. But it was a fact that +worthy, and in other respects intelligent, farmers and market folk +coming or going between Brinton and High Lea after dark preferred the +much longer and dangerous route by the sea cliffs, even in the wildest +weather. + +I have dwelt thus long on the ‘Haunted Mill’ because it bulks largely +in my story, as will presently be seen, and I came in time to regard it +with scarcely less awe than the rustics did. + +It was during the second year of my residence in Brinton that a young +man named Charles Royce came home after having been absent at sea +for three years. Royce’s people occupied Gorse Hill Farm, about two +miles to the south of Brinton. Young Charley, a fine, handsome, but +rather wild youngster, had, it appears, fallen desperately in love +with Hannah Trowzell, who was a domestic in the employ of the Rector +of the parish. But Charley’s people did not approve of his choice, +and, thinking to cure him, packed him off to sea, and after an absence +of three years and a month the young fellow, bronzed, hearty, more +rollicking and handsome than ever, returned to his native village. I +had known nothing of Charles Royce or his history up to the day of his +return; but it chanced on that very day I had to pay a professional +visit to the Rectory, and the Rector pressed me to lunch with him. +Greatly interested in all his parishioners, and knowing something of +the private history of most of the families in his district, the rev. +gentleman very naturally fell to talking about young Royce, and he told +me the story, adding, ‘Hannah is a good girl, and I think it’s rather a +pity Charley’s people objected to his courting her. I believe she would +have made him a capital wife.’ + +‘Has she given him up entirely?’ I asked. + +‘Oh, yes, and is engaged to Silas Hartrop, whose father owns the +fishing smack the “North Sea Beauty.” I’ve never had a very high +opinion of Silas. I’m afraid he is a little too fond of skittles and +beer. However, Hannah seems determined to have him in spite of anything +I can say, so she must take her course. But I hope she will be able +to reform him, and that the marriage will be a happy one. I really +shouldn’t be a bit surprised, however, if the girl took up with her old +lover again, for I have reason to know she was much attached to him, +and I fancy Charley, if he were so minded, could easily influence her +to throw Silas overboard.’ + +This little story of love and disappointment naturally interested me, +for in a country town the affairs of one’s neighbours are matter of +greater moment than is the case in a big city. + +So it came to pass that a few weeks after Charley’s return it was +pretty generally known that, even as the Rector had suggested it might +be, young Royce and pretty Hannah Trowzell were spooning again, and +Silas had virtually been told to go about his business. It was further +known that Silas had taken his dismissal so much to heart that he had +been seeking consolation in the beer-pot. Of course, folk talked a +good deal, and most of them sympathised with Silas, and blamed Hannah. +Very soon it began to be bruited about that Royce’s people no longer +opposed any objections to the wooing, and that in consequence Hannah +and Charley were to become husband and wife at Christmas, that was +in about seven weeks’ time. A month of the time had passed, and the +‘askings’ were up in the parish church, when one day there went forth +a rumour that Charles Royce was missing. Rumour took a more definite +shape a few hours later when it was positively stated that two nights +previously Charles had left his father’s house in high spirits and the +best of health to visit Hannah, and walk with her, as she was going +into the town to make some purchases. On his way he called at the ‘Two +Waggoners,’ a wayside inn, where he had a pint of beer and purchased +an ounce of tobacco. From the time he left the inn, all trace of him +was lost, and he was seen no more. Hannah waited his coming until long +past the appointed hour, and when he failed to put in an appearance, +she became angry and went off to the town by herself. Next day her +anger gave place to anxiety when she learnt that he had left his home +to visit her, and had not since returned; and anxiety became alarm +when two and three days slipped by without bringing any tidings of +the truant. On the night that he left his home, the weather was very +tempestuous, and it had been wild and stormy since. It was therefore +suggested that on leaving the ‘Two Waggoners’ he might have got +confused when he reached the common, which he had to cross to get to +the Rectory; and as there were several pools and treacherous hollows on +the common, it was thought he had come to grief, but the most diligent +search failed to justify the surmise. + +Such an event as this was well calculated to cause a sensation, not +only in Brinton and its neighbourhood, but throughout the county. +Indeed, for many days it was a common topic of conversation, and at +the Brinton weekly market the farmers and the rustics dwelt upon it to +the exclusion of other things; and, of course, everybody, or nearly +everybody, had some wonderful theory of his or her own to account for +the missing man’s disappearance. One old lady, who every week for +twenty years had trudged in from a village five miles off with poultry +and eggs for the Brinton market, declared her belief that young Royce +had been spirited away, and she recommended an appeal to a wondrous +wise woman, locally known as ‘Cracked Moll,’ but whose reputation for +solving mysteries and discovering lost persons and things was very +great. Ultimately Royce’s people did call in the services of this +ancient fraud, but without any result. And despite wide publicity +and every effort on the part of the rural and county police, to say +nothing of a hundred and one amateur detectives, the mystery remained +unsolved. Charles Royce had apparently disappeared from off the face of +the earth, leaving not a trace behind. + +In the process of time the nine days’ wonder gave place to something +else, and excepting by those directly interested in him, Charles Royce +was forgotten. Hannah took the matter very seriously to heart, and for +a while lay dangerously ill. Silas Hartrop, who was much affected by +his disappointment with regard to Hannah, went to the dogs, as the +saying is, and drank so heavily that it ended in an attack of delirium +tremens. I was called in to attend him, and had hard work to pull him +through. On his recovery his father sent him to an uncle at Yarmouth, +who was in the fishing trade, and soon afterwards news came that young +Hartrop had been drowned at sea. He was out in the North Sea in his +uncle’s fishing smack, and, though nobody saw him go, it was supposed +that he fell overboard in the night. This set the local tongues wagging +again for a time, but even the affairs of Brinton could not stand still +because the ne’er-do-weel Silas Hartrop was drowned. So sympathy was +expressed with his people, and then the affair was dismissed. + +About two years later I received an urgent message late one afternoon +to hasten with all speed to High Lea, to attend to the Squire there, +who had been taken suddenly and, as report said, seriously ill. I had +had rather a heavy day of it, as there had been a good deal of sickness +about for some time past, and it had taken me several hours to get +through my list of patients. I had just refreshed myself with a cup of +tea and was about to enjoy a cigar when the messenger came. Telling him +to ride back as quickly as possible and say that I was coming, I busied +myself with a few important matters which had to be attended to, as I +might be absent for some hours, and then I ordered my favourite mare, +Princess, to be saddled. + +I set off from Brinton soon after seven. It was a November night, +bitterly cold, dark as Erebus, while every now and then violent squalls +swept the land from seaward. Princess knew the road well, so I gave +the mare her head, and she went splendidly until we reached the ruined +mill, when suddenly she wheeled round with such abruptness that, though +I was a good horseman, I was nearly pitched from the saddle. At the +same moment I was struck in the face by something that seemed cold and +clammy. I thought at first it was a bat, but remembered that bats do +not fly in November; an owl, but an owl would not have felt cold and +clammy. However, I had little time for thought, as my attention had to +be given to the mare. She seemed disposed to bolt, and was trembling +with fear. Then, to my intense astonishment, I noticed what seemed to +be a large luminous body lying on the roadway. It had the appearance +of a corpse illuminated in some wonderful and mysterious manner. Had +it not been for the fright of my mare I should have thought I was the +victim of some optical delusion; but Princess evidently saw the weird +object, and refused to pass it. So impressed was I with the idea that +a real and substantial body was lying on the road, notwithstanding the +strange unearthly light, that I slipped from the saddle, intending to +investigate the matter, when suddenly it disappeared, and the cold and +clammy _something_ again struck me in the face. + +I confess that for the first time in my life I felt a strange, nervous, +unaccountable fear. I say ‘unaccountable’ because it would have been +difficult for me to have given any explanation of my fear. Why and of +what was I afraid? Now, whatever the phenomenon was, there was the +hard, stern fact to face that my horse had seen what I had seen, and +was terrified. There was something strangely uncanny about the whole +business, and when a terrific squall, bringing with it sleet and rain, +came howling from the sea, it seemed to emphasise the uncanniness, +and the ruined mill, looming gaunt and grim in the darkness, caused +me to shake with an involuntary shudder. The next moment I was trying +to laugh myself out of my nervousness. ‘Princess and I,’ I mentally +argued, ‘have been the victims of some atmospheric delusion.’ That was +all very well, but the _something_ cold and clammy that struck me in +the face, and which _may_ have struck the mare in the face also, was +no atmospheric delusion. With an alacrity I did not often display, I +sprang into the saddle, spoke some encouraging words to the mare, for +she was still trembling, and when she bounded forward, and the haunted +mill was behind me, I experienced a positive sense of relief. + +I found my patient at High Lea in a very bad way. He was suffering from +an attack of apoplexy, and though I used all my skill on his behalf +he passed away towards midnight. His wife very kindly offered me a bed +for the night, but as I had important matters to attend to early in the +morning I declined the hospitality, though I was thankful for a glass +or two of generous port wine and some sandwiches. It was half-past +twelve when I left the house on my return journey. The incident by the +haunted mill had been put out of my head by the case I had been called +upon to attend, but as I mounted my mare the groom, who had brought her +round from the stable, said, ‘It be a bad night, doctor, for riding; +the kind o’ night when dead things come out o’ their graves.’ + +I laughed, and replied: + +‘Tom, lad, I am surprised to hear you talk such rubbish. I thought you +had more sense than that.’ + +‘Well, I tell ’ee what, doctor; if I had to ride to Brinton to-night +I’d go by the cliffs and chance being drowned, rather than pass yon old +mill.’ + +These words for the moment unnerved me, and I honestly confess that I +resolved to go by the cliffs, dangerous as the road was in the dark. +Nevertheless, I laughed at Tom’s fears, and ridiculed him, though +when I left the squire’s grounds I turned the mare’s head towards the +cliffs. In a few minutes I was ridiculing myself. + +‘John Patmore Lindsay,’ I mentally exclaimed, ‘you are a fool. All your +life you have been ridiculing stories of the supernatural, and now, at +your time of life, are you going to allow yourself to be frightened by +a bogey? Shame on you.’ + +I bucked up, grew bold, and thereupon altered my course, and got into +the high-road again. + +There had been a slight improvement in the weather. It had ceased to +rain, but the wind had settled down into a steady gale, and screeched +and screamed over the moorland with a demoniacal fury. The darkness, +however, was not so intense as it was, and a star here and there was +visible through the torn clouds. But it was an eerie sort of night, +and I was strangely impressed with a sense of my loneliness. It was +absolutely unusual for me to feel like this, and I suggested to myself +that my nerves were a little unstrung by overwork and the anxiety +the squire’s illness had caused me. And so I rode on, bowing my head +to the storm, while the mare stepped out well, and I anticipated +that in little more than half an hour I should be snug in bed. As we +got abreast of the haunted mill the mare once more gibbed, and all +but threw me, and again I was struck in the face by the cold clammy +_something_. + +I have generally prided myself on being a bold man, but my boldness had +evaporated now, and I almost think my hair rose on end as I observed +that the illuminated corpse was lying in the roadway again; but now it +appeared to be surrounded by a lake of blood. It was the most horrible, +weird, marrow-curdling sight that ever human eyes looked upon. I tried +to urge Princess forward, but she was stricken with terror, and, +wheeling right round, was setting off towards High Lea again. But once +more I was struck in the face by the invisible _something_, and its +coldness and clamminess made me shudder, while there in front of us lay +the corpse in the pool of blood. The mare reared and plunged, but I got +her head round, determining to make a wild gallop for Brinton and leave +the horrors of the haunted mill behind. But the corpse was again in +front of us, and I shrank back almost appalled as the _something_ once +more touched my face. + +I cannot hope to describe what my feelings were at this supreme moment. +I don’t believe anything human could have daunted me; but I was +confronted by a supernatural mystery that not only terrified me but the +mare I was riding. Whichever way I turned, that awful, ghastly object +confronted me, and the blow in the face was repeated again and again. + +How long I endured the unutterable horrors of the situation I really +don’t know. Possibly the time was measured by brief minutes. It seemed +to me hours. At last my presence of mind returned. I dismounted, and +reasoned with myself that, whatever the apparition was, it had some +import. I soothed the mare by patting her neck and talking to her, and +I determined then to try and find a solution of the mystery. But now a +more wonderful thing happened. The corpse, which was still made visible +by the unearthly light, rose straight up, and as it did so the blood +seemed to flow away from it in great, gurgling streams, for I solemnly +declare that I distinctly heard gurgling sounds. The figure glided +past me, and a sense of extraordinary coldness made me shiver. Slowly +and gracefully the shining corpse glided up the rotting steps of the +old mill, and disappeared through the doorway. No sooner had it gone +than the mill itself seemed to glow with phosphorescent light, and to +become transparent, and I beheld a sight that took my breath away. I +am disposed to think that for some moments my brain became so numbed +that insensibility ensued, for I am conscious of a blank. When the +power of thought returned, I was still holding the bridle of the mare, +and she was cropping the grass at her feet. The mill loomed blackly +against the night sky. It had resumed its normal appearance again. The +wind shrieked about it. The ragged scud raced through the heavens, and +the air was filled with the sounds of the raging wind. At first I was +inclined to doubt the evidence of my own senses. I tried to reason +myself into a belief that my imagination had played me a trick; but I +didn’t succeed, although the mystery was too profound for my fathoming. +So I mounted the mare, urged her to her fastest pace, galloped into +Brinton, and entered my house with a feeling of intense relief. + +Thoroughly exhausted by the prolonged physical and mental strain I had +endured, I speedily sank into a deep though troubled slumber as soon as +I got into bed. I was unusually late in rising the next day. I found +that I had no appetite for breakfast. Indeed, I felt ill and out of +sorts; and, though I busied myself with my professional duties, I was +haunted by the strange incidents of the preceding night. Never before +in the whole course of my career had I been so impressed, so unnerved, +and so dispirited. I wanted to believe that I was still as sceptical +as ever, but it was no use. What I had seen might have been unearthly; +but I _had seen it_, and it was no use trying to argue myself out of +that fact. The result was, in the course of the afternoon I called on +my old friend, Mr. Goodyear, who was chief of the county constabulary. +He was a strong-minded man, and, like myself, a hardened sceptic about +all things that smacked of the supernatural. + +‘Goodyear,’ I said, ‘I’m out of sorts, and I want you to humour a +strange fancy I have. Bring one of your best men, and come with me to +the haunted mill. But first let me exact from you a pledge of honour +that, if our journey should result in nothing, you will keep the matter +secret, as I am very sensitive to ridicule.’ + +He looked at me in amazement, and then, as he burst into a hearty +laugh, exclaimed: + +‘I say, my friend, you are over-working yourself. It’s time you got a +_locum tenens_, and took a holiday.’ + +I told him that I agreed with him; nevertheless, I begged him to humour +me, and accompany me to the mill. At last he reluctantly consented to +do so, and an hour later we drove out of the town in my dog-cart. There +were four of us, as I took Peter, my groom, with me. We had provided +ourselves with lanterns, but Goodyear’s man and Peter knew nothing of +the object of our journey. + +When we got abreast of the mill I drew up, and giving the reins to +Peter, I alighted, and Goodyear did the same. Taking him on one side, +I said, ‘I have had a vision, and unless I am the victim of incipient +madness we shall find a dead body in the mill.’ + +The light of the dog-cart was shining full on his face, and I saw the +expression of alarm that my words brought. + +‘Look here, old chap,’ he said in a cheery, kindly way, as he put his +arm through mine, ‘you are not going into that mill, but straight home +again. Come, now, get into the cart, and don’t let’s have any more of +this nonsense.’ + +I felt disposed to yield to him, and had actually placed my foot on +the step to mount, when I staggered back and exclaimed-- + +‘My God! am I going mad, or is this a reality?’ + +Once again I had been struck in the face by the cold clammy +_something_; and I saw Goodyear suddenly clap his hand to his face as +he cried out--‘Hullo, what the deuce is that?’ + +‘Aha,’ I exclaimed exultantly, for I no longer thought my brain was +giving way, ‘you have felt it too?’ + +‘Well, something cold and nasty-like struck me in the face. A bat, I +expect. Confound ’em. + +‘Bats don’t fly at this time of the year,’ I replied. + +‘By Jove, no more they do.’ + +I approached him, and said in a low tone-- + +‘Goodyear, this is a mystery beyond our solving. I am resolved to go +into that mill.’ + +He was a brave man, though for a moment or two he hesitated; but on my +insisting he consented to humour me, and so we lit the lantern, and +leaving the groom in charge of the horse and trap, I, Goodyear, and +his man made our way with difficulty up the rotting steps, which were +slimy and sodden with wet. As we entered the mill an extraordinary +scene of desolation and ruin met our gaze as we flashed the light +of the lantern about. In places the floor had broken away, leaving +yawning chasms of blackness. From the mouldering rafters huge festoons +of cobwebs hung. The accumulated dust and dampness of years had given +them the appearance of cords. And oh, how the wind moaned eerily +through the rifts and crannies and broken windows! If ever there was a +place on this earth where evil spirits might dwell it was surely that +ghoul-haunted old mill. The startling aspect of the place impressed us +all, perhaps me more than the other two. We advanced gingerly, for the +floor was so rotten we were afraid it would crumble beneath our feet. + +My companions were a little bewildered, I think, and were evidently at +a loss to know what we had come there for. But some strange feeling +impelled me to seek for something; though if I had been asked to +define that something, for the life of me I could not have done it. +Forward I went, however, taking the lead, and holding the lantern above +my head so that its rays might fall afar. But they revealed nothing +save the rotting floor and slimy walls. A ladder led to the upper +storey, and I expressed my intention of mounting it. Goodyear tried to +dissuade me, but I was resolute, and led the way. The ladder was so +creaky and fragile that it was not safe for more than one to be on it +at a time. When I reached the second floor and drew myself up through +the trap, I am absolutely certain I heard a sigh. You may say it was +the wind. I swear it was not. The wind was moaning drearily enough, +but the sigh was a distinctive note, and unmistakable. As I turned the +lantern round so that its light might sweep every hole and corner of +the place, I noticed what seemed to be a sack full of something lying +in a corner. I approached and touched it with my foot, and drew back in +alarm, for touch and sound told me it contained neither corn nor chaff. +I waited until my companions had joined me. Then I said to Goodyear, +‘Unless I am mistaken there is something dreadful in that sack.’ + +He stooped and placed his hand on the sack, and I saw him start back. +In another moment he recovered himself, and whipping out his knife cut +the string which fastened up the mouth of the sack, and revealed a +human skull with the hair and shrivelled mummified flesh still adhering +to it. + +‘Great heavens!’ he exclaimed, ‘here is a human body.’ + +We held a hurried conversation, and decided to leave the ghastly +thing undisturbed until the morrow. So we scuttled down as fast as we +could, and went home. I did not return to the mill again myself. My +part had been played. Investigation made it absolutely certain that +the mouldering remains were those of poor Charley Royce, and it was +no less absolutely certain that he had been foully murdered. For not +only was there a bullet-hole in the skull, and a bullet inside, but his +throat had been cut. It was murder horrible and damnable. The verdict +of the coroner’s jury pronounced it murder, but there was no evidence +to prove who had done the deed. Circumstances, however, pointed to +Charley’s rival, Silas Hartrop. Was it a guilty conscience that drove +him to drink? And did the Furies who avenge such deeds impel him on +that dark and stormy night in the North Sea to end the torture of his +accursed earthly life? Who can tell? The sea holds its secrets, and +not a scrap of legal evidence could be obtained. But though the law +declined the responsibility of fixing the guilt of the dark deed on +Silas, there was a consensus of opinion that he was the guilty party. +It was a mystery, but the greatest mystery of all was that I, the +sceptic, should have been selected by some supernatural power to be the +instrument for bringing the foul crime to light. For myself, I attempt +no explanation. I have told a true story. Let those who can explain it. +I admit now that ‘there are more things in heaven and earth than are +dreamt of in our philosophy.’ + + + + +IV + +‘RED LILY’ + + +On one of the wildest nights for which the Bay of Biscay is notorious, +the sailing ship ‘Sirocco’ was ploughing her way under close-reefed +topsails across that stormy sea. The ‘Sirocco’ was a large, full-rigged +vessel, bound from Bombay towards England, her destination being +London. She had a mixed cargo, though a large percentage of it was +composed of jute. Four months had passed since she cleared from her +port of lading, and was towed out of the beautiful harbour of Bombay +in a dead calm. For many days after the tug left her the ‘Sirocco’ did +nothing but drift with the current. She was as ‘a painted ship upon a +painted ocean.’ No breath came out of the sultry heavens to waft her +towards her haven in far-away England. It was a bad beginning to the +voyage. The time was about the middle of August, and all on board were +anxiously looking forward to reaching their destination in time to +spend Christmas at home. But as August wore out and September came in, +and still the horrid calms continued, pleasant anticipations gave place +to despair, for many a thousand leagues of watery wastes had to be +sailed before the white cliffs of Albion would gladden the eyes of the +wanderers. + +The crew of the vessel numbered sixty hands all told, and in addition +there were twenty saloon passengers. With two of these passengers we +have now to deal. The one is a fair young girl, slender, tall, and +delicate. She is exceedingly pretty. Her features are regular and +delicately chiselled. Her hair is a soft, wavy, golden brown, and her +brown eyes are as liquid and gentle as a fawn’s. The pure whiteness of +her neck and temples is contrasted by the most exquisite tinge of rose +colour in the cheeks, which puts, as it were, a finish upon a perfect +picture. The whiteness of her skin, the delicate flush in the face, +the brown, flossy hair, the tall, slender, graceful figure were all so +suggestive of the purest of flowers that her friends for many years +had called her ‘Red Lily.’ Her name was Lily Hetherington, and she yet +wanted some months to the completion of her twenty-first birthday. +Lily was the daughter of an officer of the Hon. East India Company’s +Service--his only daughter, and by him worshipped. For many years he +had been stationed in India, and at last, seeing no chance of returning +to his wife and family, which consisted of two sons in addition to +the girl, he requested them to join him in the East. This request +was quickly and gladly complied with, and Mrs. Hetherington and her +children started on their journey. Mr. Hetherington at that time was +well off, for he had invested all his savings in the Agra and Masterman +Bank, and held shares to a large amount in the concern, the stability +of which, at that period, no one would have dared to have doubted. +Indian officers throughout India swore by it, and they congratulated +themselves, as they entrusted their hard won money to the Bank, that +they were making splendid provision for their wives and children when +those wives and children should become widows and orphans. + +As Mr. Hetherington possessed considerable influence he had no +difficulty in quickly procuring his sons suitable appointments. Fond +as he was of his lads, who were aged respectively twenty-two and +twenty-four, his love for them was as nothing when compared with that +he bore for his beautiful daughter, his ‘Bonnie Red Lily,’ as he called +her. Nor was Lily less fond of her father. She was a mere child when he +left England, but she had never forgotten him, and never a mail left +but it bore from Lily a long and loving epistle to the lonely officer, +who was bravely doing his duty in the distant eastern land. + +One day, soon after her arrival, Mr. Hetherington said to his daughter +as they sat in the verandah of the bungalow, ‘Lily, my pet, I have got +a little surprise for you.’ + +‘Have you, pa dear; and pray what is it?’ she answered. ‘You are such a +dear, good kind papa that you are always giving me pleasant surprises.’ + +‘Well, yes, of course, I like to give you pleasant surprises, but this +one is different from any of the others,’ he returned with a smile, at +the same time stroking her soft brown hair, and looking proudly into +her beautiful face. + +‘Oh, do tell me what it is,’ she exclaimed, as he paused in a +tantalising way; ‘do you hear, pa? Don’t keep me in suspense.’ + +‘Restrain that woman’s curiosity of yours, my darling, and don’t be +impatient.’ + +‘I declare you are awfully wicked, papa,’ she returned, with a pretty +pout of her red lips. ‘Tell me instantly what it is. I demand to know.’ + +‘And so you shall,’ he answered, as he kissed her fondly and patted her +head. ‘To-morrow, then, I have a visitor coming to stay with us for a +week or two.’ + +‘Indeed. Is it a lady or gentleman?’ + +‘A gentleman.’ + +‘Oh, do tell me what he’s like.’ + +‘Well, well, you are a little Miss Curious,’ Mr. Hetherington laughed +heartily as he blew a cloud of blue smoke from his cigar into the +stagnant air. ‘Not to keep you in suspense any longer, then, the +name of my visitor is Dick Fenton, Richard Cronmire Joyce Fenton, to +give him his full name. He is a year or two your senior, and a fine, +handsome, manly young fellow to boot.’ + +‘Indeed,’ muttered Lily, thoughtfully, as she fancied that her father’s +words had a hidden meaning. + +‘Yes. His father was a very old friend of mine, and we saw long service +together. He died some four or five years ago, but before dying he +made me promise I would look after his boy, who was an only child and +motherless. Of course, I gladly gave this promise, and have sacredly +carried it out.’ + +‘Ah, what a good, kind, generous man you are,’ Lily said, as she +nestled closer to him, and tightened her little white fingers round his +brown, hairy hand. + +‘I saw there was stuff in the lad, and I took to him almost as if he +had been my own son. Unfortunately, my good friend Fenton died poor, +and was only enabled to leave three thousand pounds, for which he had +insured his life, for his son’s education. I succeeded in getting Dick +into one of the Company’s training establishments, and the marked +ability he displayed very soon pushed him forward, and having gone +through his cadetship with honour and credit, he was appointed a year +ago to what in time will be a most lucrative post. I have watched the +lad closely, and seen with pride the many noble qualities he possesses, +and I have no doubt at all he will distinguish himself. During the +years that he has been my _protégé_ I have constantly said to myself, +“If my Lily should like Dick, and Dick should like my Lily, they shall +be man and wife.”’ + +‘Oh, papa!’ exclaimed Lily, as the beautiful tinge in her face deepened +to scarlet, that spread to her neck and temples. + +‘Why, my darling, why do you blush so? It is surely every honest +woman’s desire to become a wife, and I am very anxious to see you +comfortably married before I die. Men go off very suddenly in this +treacherous country, and I am well worn with service, and cannot hope +to last much longer. But, understand me, Lily, pet, your own will and +womanly instincts must guide you in this matter. I shall not seek to +influence you in any way, and if you have already given your heart to +another, if he is an honest and worthy man, even though he be poor as +a church mouse, I shall not offer the slightest opposition to your +wishes. It is your future happiness I study, and I am not selfish +enough to attempt to coerce you into an objectionable union.’ + +Lily rose and twined her arms round her father’s neck, and pressing her +soft, white face to his bronzed cheeks, said: + +‘My dear, dear father, I have not given my heart to anyone, and your +wishes are mine.’ + +On the morrow Fenton duly arrived at Mr. Hetherington’s bungalow. +He had travelled by dawk from a station near Calcutta; and when he +had refreshed himself with a bath, and made himself presentable, +Hetherington took him on one side, and said: + +‘Dick, lad, I have repeatedly spoken to you about my daughter, and +before I introduce you to her, let me say that I shall be proud to +have you as a son-in-law, providing that there is the most perfect +reciprocal feeling between you and my Lily. I am not a man of many +words, and I will content myself with remarking that your father was +the very soul of honour. Never disgrace him, and never betray the +confidence I repose in you.’ + +‘Do not doubt me, sir,’ said Dick. ‘I am indebted to you for +everything, and I should be base if I did anything that could inflict +pain upon you or yours.’ + +‘Bravely said, my boy. God prosper you. Win Lily if you can; but win +her as a man should.’ + +Hetherington had previously made known his wishes to his wife, and she +had readily acquiesced in them. + +Fenton was, as his guardian had described him, a fine, manly, handsome +young fellow. His frank, open bearing was well calculated to find +favour with women, even if he had not been possessed of good looks. + +Hetherington and his wife watched the young people narrowly, and +they soon saw that a mutual liking for each other was springing up, +and before Dick’s leave of two months had expired he and Lily were +betrothed, while the bond between them was that of the most perfect +love. + +Dick returned to his station, and Mr. and Mrs. Hetherington +congratulated themselves on having, so far as they were able, provided +for their daughter’s future, a future that seemed likely to be one +of unclouded happiness. ‘L’homme propose, et Dieu dispose,’ says +the French proverb, and never was the proverb more fully borne out +than in this case. Within six months of Dick’s return to his duties, +all civilised India was shocked to its inmost heart by a terrific +commercial convulsion--for so only can it be described. Through the +length and breadth of the land, the fearful rumour spread on the wings +of the wind that the great bank of Agra and Masterman had broken. +Men stood aghast, and women paled with fright, for, to hundreds and +thousands of households in all parts of the world, it meant utter ruin, +as many and many a one at the present day knows to his bitter cost. +Many a widow living in poverty now might have reposed in the lap of +luxury, and many a young man and woman, now in ignorance and want, +might have been otherwise but for this cruel collapse of the great +banking firm. It was so essentially an Indian bank, a depository for +the earnings of Indian servants of the Company, that it affected a +class of people who for the most part had been tenderly nurtured and +led to believe that they occupied, and were destined to occupy so long +as they might live, a good position in life, and to take their stand +among the great middle class of society. + +At first men doubted the rumour, but soon the awful truth became too +apparent to be longer questioned, and those who had grown grey and +feeble beneath the burning Indian sun saw now that their few remaining +days must be passed in poverty and misery. It was bitter, very bitter, +but it was fate, and could not be averted. + +Amongst the greatest sufferers was Mr. Hetherington. He had invested, +one way and another, nearly one hundred thousand pounds in that bank, +and now every penny piece was gone. The shock came upon him with great +severity. His health had long been failing, and he had looked forward +with great eagerness to retiring from the service in another year and +‘going home’ with his family. But that was never to be now. For a time +he was stunned. He tried to bear up against the blow, but he was only +human; his brain gave way, and in a moment of temporary aberration he +shot himself. + +This new grief almost crushed the unhappy widow and her family. +Fortunately ‘the boys’ had good appointments that held out every +promise of improvement, but their incomes at that time were scarcely +sufficient for their own needs, though they generously curtailed their +expenses in every way in order to contribute towards the support of +their sister and mother. + +The shock of her father’s death threw Lily into a dangerous illness, +and for some time her life was threatened; but there was one who never +lost an opportunity of cheering her with his love, and that was Dick +Fenton. + +When she was convalescent she one day said to him: + +‘Dick, I have something to say to you.’ + +‘Nothing very serious, darling,’ he answered, laughingly. + +‘Yes, very serious. When I was first engaged to you my father was +considered to be a wealthy man, and I understand that he promised +you that my dowry should be something handsome. That is all changed +now. We are ruined, and my dear father is in his grave. Under these +circumstances I can no longer hold you to your engagement, and +therefore release you from every promise. You must give me up and seek +for someone better suited for you than I am.’ + +She fairly broke down here, and burst into violent weeping. Dick’s +arm stole around her waist, he pressed her head to his breast, and, +whispering softly to her said, with deep earnestness: + +‘Lily, there is one thing, and only one thing, that shall break our +engagement.’ + +‘What is that?’ she stammered between her sobs. + +‘The death of one of us!’ he answered, with strong emphasis. + +She needed no further assurance. There was that in his manner and tone +that convinced more than words could possibly have done. And so, save +for the shadow which hung over the little household, she would have +been perfectly happy. + +A year went by and Mrs. Hetherington still lingered in India, for she +did not like to leave her sons; but failing health at length rendered +it necessary that she should return to England. At this time Dick +had just been granted two years’ leave of absence, and he urged Lily +to become his wife before they left India, as he too was going home. +She had asked him, however, to postpone the event, and made a solemn +promise that the wedding should take place on Christmas Day, adding: + +‘It is not long to wait, dear. It is now the middle of July, and, +as we sail in a fortnight, the vessel is sure to be home by that +time. Besides, I am so fond of Christmas. It is so full of solemn +and purifying associations, and a fitting season for a man and woman +to take upon themselves the responsibility of the marriage state. A +wedding on Christmas Day brings good luck. Of course you will say this +is stupid superstition. So it may be, but I am a woman, and you must +let me have my way.’ + +Pressing his lips to hers, he made answer: + +‘And so you shall, my own Red Lily; but, remember, come what may, +you’ll be my wife on Christmas Day.’ + +‘Come what may, I will be your wife on Christmas Day,’ she returned +solemnly. + +August arrived, and Dick, Lily, and Mrs. Hetherington were passengers +on board the good ship ‘Sirocco.’ Their fellow-passengers were a +miscellaneous lot, and included several Indian officers, a planter or +two, a clergyman, and some merchants, who, having amassed fortunes, +were going home to end their days. + +The second officer of the ‘Sirocco’ was a young man, of about eight +or nine-and-twenty, Alfred Cornell. He was a wild, reckless, daring +fellow, with a splendid physique. His hair was almost black, his +eyes the very darkest shade of brown, and small, keen, and piercing +as a hawk’s. In those eyes the character of the man was written. For +somehow they seemed to suggest a vain, heartless, selfish, vindictive +nature, and the firm lips told of an iron will. He was every inch a +sailor, bold as a lion, and a magnificent swimmer. The crew, however, +hated him, for he was the hardest of task-masters, but was an especial +favourite with the captain, as such men generally are, for he was +perfect in every department of his profession, and the sailors under +his control were kept to their duties with an iron hand. + +About this man--Alfred Cornell--there was something that amounted +almost to weirdness. The strange, keen eyes exercised a sort of +fascination over some people. This was especially the case with women. +In fact, he made a boast that he had never yet seen the woman he could +not subdue. From the moment that he and Dick Fenton stood face to +face a mutual dislike sprang up in their hearts for each other. Dick +could not exactly tell why he did not take to the man, but he had an +instinctive dislike for him. The fact was there, the cause was not easy +to determine, but instincts are seldom wrong. The moment that Alfred +Cornell and Lily Hetherington met each other a shadow fell upon her, +and a devil came into his heart. She had an instinctive dread of him, +and yet felt fascinated. He thought to himself: + +‘By heavens, that’s a splendid girl, and I’ll win her if I die for it.’ + +For the first week or two he paid her no more than the most ordinary +attentions, and the dread she at first felt for him began to wear off; +she could not help admitting to herself that he was certainly handsome +and attractive. The pet name by which she was known amongst her +family--the Red Lily--soon leaked out on board, as such things will, +and the passengers with whom she was most intimate frequently addressed +her in this style by way of compliment, for she was a favourite with +them all, and her beauty was a theme of admiration amongst the men, +even the ladies could not help but admit that she _was_ ‘good-looking,’ +though they said spiteful things about her, as women will say of each +other. Alfred Cornell had never addressed her in any other way but as +‘Miss Hetherington’; but one morning, when the ship was in the tropics, +she had gone on deck very early to see the sun rise. The heat in the +cabins was so great that she could not sleep, and as the sailors had +just finished holy-stoning and washing down she had thrown a loose robe +over her shoulders and gone quietly on to the poop. It was Cornell’s +watch, but in all probability she did not know that at the time. It was +a very long poop, and save for the man at the wheel not a soul was to +be seen. The sea was oily in its calmness, and the sky was aflame with +the most gorgeous colours, such colours as can be nowhere seen save in +the tropics, and only then when the sun with regal pomp and splendour +commences to rise. The sails hung in heavy folds against the masts, +and there was a rhythmical kind of motion in the ship as she rose and +fell ever so gently to the light swell which even in the calmest ocean +is never absent. Lily leaned pensively against the mizzen rigging, +gazing thoughtfully across the sleeping sea to where the gold, and +amethyst, and purples, and scarlets were blended together in one blaze +of dazzling colour. Suddenly she was startled by a voice speaking in a +subdued tone close to her ear, and which said: + +‘The Red Lily is up early this morning.’ + +She recognised the voice as that of Cornell, and turning quickly round +said, with much dignity: + +‘Excuse me, sir, I am Miss Hetherington to you.’ + +‘Miss Hetherington,’ he answered, strongly emphasising the words. ‘I +beg your pardon, but the pretty name so fits you that I made bold to +use it. I trust I have not offended you.’ + +‘Oh, no,’ she said, as she averted her gaze from his piercing eyes, for +she felt like a bird before the fabled basilisk. She would have rushed +away, but was spellbound. The strange man held her in a thrall. + +‘How charming you look this morning,’ he remarked. ‘Why, you put even +the glory of the sunrise to shame.’ + +‘Really, Mr. Cornell,’ she exclaimed indignantly, and blushing to the +very roots of her hair, ‘you insult me by such extravagant and stupid +compliments. I don’t like men who talk nonsense, and think that all a +girl wants is to be flattered. Of course plenty of empty headed girls +do, but I’m not one of them.’ + +‘Don’t be angry with me, please; I am sincere. Can the wretched moth +that flutters into the flame of the candle help itself? Not a bit of +it. You would pity the moth; why not pity me?’ + +‘This is audacity, Mr. Cornell, and I will complain to the captain +about you,’ she exclaimed as she made a movement to go. But ever so +lightly, and without any effort, he touched her hand. What was the +fearful magic of that touch that she should thrill so? What was the +power in his voice that held her in a spell? She did not go, but stood +there. Her left hand resting on one of the rattlings of the rigging, +her right hanging down by her side, his large powerful fingers touching +hers, her head averted, for she felt as if she dare not look at him. + +‘It is not in your nature to be cruel, Miss Hetherington’--he spoke +low, so that there should be no possibility of the man at the wheel +catching his words, though he was so far off there was not much fear of +that--‘why, then, should you be cruel with me?’ + +‘I am not cruel, but you are rude, very rude,’ she answered with a +voice that trembled from suppressed emotion. + +‘I am _not_ rude, and you _are_ cruel,’ he returned, dwelling +deliberately on every word. ‘You are a beautiful young woman, and I am +a man. Surely I should be less than a man if I failed to admire you? +Do you not admire the beauty of the sky there? why, then, should I do +less than you, though in your face I find more to admire than in those +glowing colours.’ + +‘If you do not instantly leave me I will call out for assistance,’ she +said. She felt faint and powerless, and as though she would certainly +fall down on the deck if she let go her hold of the rigging. + +‘No, you must not do that,’ he answered, coolly. ‘How can I possibly +help feeling for you what I do feel. I am not a stone statue, but a +man with a heart, and though a bolt from heaven should strike me into +the sea for speaking the words, I tell you now, though I never utter +another syllable to you, _that I love you_.’ + +He had never taken his fingers from hers, and now he pressed her +hand. The sea seemed to be going round and round before her eyes. The +wonderful colours in the sky were all blended in one confused mass. The +ship appeared to be sinking beneath her feet, and yet she managed to +murmur in a low, weak voice: + +‘For God’s sake leave me!’ + +Without another word he walked away, and then she seemed to breathe +more freely, and in a few minutes had quite recovered herself. She +turned and went towards the companion-way, and as she did so she saw +Cornell talking to the captain, who had just come on deck. The captain +bade her good-morning, but Cornell was as immovable and impassive as a +piece of sculpture. + +Oh! what a sense of relief she experienced when she got down to her +cabin. The spell seemed to be lifted at last, and, closing the door, +she threw herself into the bunk and wept passionately. When the +hysterical fit had passed she was relieved, and she determined to tell +her mother what had happened, but this determination only lasted for +a few minutes, as on reflection she thought that it could but lead to +unpleasantness, and in a little floating world such as a ship is the +slightest things are looked upon as legitimate food for scandal to +batten upon. Therefore, her second thoughts were to keep the matter to +herself. Still she was very unhappy, and Dick noticed it. He naturally +asked her the cause, but she made an excuse by saying that she was a +little out of sorts. She was strongly tempted to tell him all, but was +restrained by a fear that it might lead to a quarrel between him and +the second mate. + +For several days after the unpleasant incident with Cornell she +studiously avoided going on deck alone for fear of meeting him, but +whenever he had occasion to pass her she would shudder, for his strange +eyes seemed to exercise a power over her which was simply marvellous. +She felt, in fact, when he was looking at her that she could grovel at +his feet at his mere bidding. It was a dreadful feeling, and her health +naturally suffered. Her mother and lover were both concerned about her, +but she endeavoured to remove any anxiety they might have had by saying +that her indisposition was of a very trivial character. One evening +she had been sitting on the poop with Fenton. The weather was fine, +but a strong breeze was blowing, and the vessel was tearing through +the water. The daylight had almost faded out, and it was impossible to +distinguish people who were standing or sitting only a few yards away. +Fenton left her for a few minutes to go down to his cabin for some +cigars, and scarcely had he disappeared when she was startled by the +sudden appearance of Cornell. It seemed almost as though he had risen +up out of the deck. She was seated on a camp stool, and he bent his +head low until she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. He whispered +to her in a voice that could not possibly have been heard by anyone +else, however near they might have been; but she heard every word, +every syllable, as it was poured into her ear, and it seemed to burn +into her brain. + +‘Lily, you are cruel,’ he said; ‘I love you madly, and yet you avoid +me. You must give me some encouragement, or I will drown myself; and +if you breathe a word of what I have said to you to any living soul, I +tell you in God’s name that I will throw myself overboard, and my death +will lie at your door. Remember what I say. I am a determined man, and +nothing on earth will stop me carrying out my will.’ + +Once again his fingers touched her hand; then in a moment he was +gone as suddenly as he had appeared. He seemed to fade away into the +darkness like a spectre, but almost immediately afterwards she heard +him bawling some orders in stentorian tones to the watch. + +When Fenton came back she was trembling and faint, and though she +struggled hard to conceal from him that she was agitated, he could not +fail to observe it, and in a tone of alarm asked the cause. + +‘Oh, nothing, dear--nothing,’ she answered; ‘at least, nothing of any +consequence. A slight feeling of faintness has come over me; but really +it is not worth bothering about.’ + +Oh, how she longed to tell him all; but the words of the strange man +who was exercising such a powerful influence over her were still +ringing in her ears, and she was silent. + +Fenton did not make any further remark then on the subject, but he +felt uneasy. He was convinced that there was some mystery, but what it +was he could not for the life of him determine. The thought did flash +through his brain that she was deceiving him, but instantly he put it +away as unworthy of him. It seemed so preposterous to associate deceit +with the Red Lily, who was as pure as the beautiful flower after which +she was called. + +When he escorted her down to the cabin a little later, he said: + +‘Darling, I am uneasy about you. Something is wrong, I am sure, but +your gentle heart prompts you to keep it from me for fear of giving +me pain. Do be good to yourself for my sake. Why don’t you take your +mother into your confidence, and tell her if you have any trouble, +since you do not apparently care to confide it to me.’ + +‘Do not be uneasy,’ she answered. ‘Believe me, oh, do believe me, when +I say that my indisposition is of a very trifling character. I have +nothing to tell my mother, and you know perfectly well, Dick, you have +my full confidence.’ + +She felt a little guilty as she said this, for she knew that she +ought to have told him at once of Cornell’s conduct. But, firstly, +the strange fascination he exercised over her kept her silent; and, +secondly, she was really afraid of causing a scene between the two +men. Besides, she comforted herself with the thought that the voyage +would soon be over, and once clear of the ship it would be good-bye to +Cornell for ever. She regarded him as a vain, presumptuous fellow, who +imagined that every girl he looked at must be in love with him. + +As soon as her lover had left her, and she had been to wish her mother +good-night, the Red Lily once again gave unrestrained vent to her +feelings, and wept passionately. She could not help it. She felt almost +as if she would die if she did not weep, and weep she did bitterly +until she fretted herself to sleep. + +The following morning she was weak and pale, and did not put in +an appearance at breakfast. The beautiful pink had faded from her +face, and she had the look of one who was jaded and unhappy. Mrs. +Hetherington visited her daughter, and naturally felt alarmed. There +was a doctor on board, and Mrs. Hetherington expressed a determination +to consult him; but Lily pleaded with such earnestness, and at last +expressed such a strong determination not to see him, that her mother +yielded, and Lily kept in her cabin all that day. + +On the following day she was better. Cornell’s influence had passed +away, and she had to a considerable extent regained her spirits. + +The weather was now very chilly, and unfortunately the wind was +unfavourable, so that the ship had to sail on long and short tacks. It +was worse than tantalising to those who had looked forward so eagerly +to spending Christmas with their friends in the dear old country. The +hope of doing that was now past, for the distance was too great to +cover in the time that intervened between them and the great Christian +Festival. Well wrapped in rugs, Lily was once more seated on deck in +company with Dick. She had been doing some fancy needlework, and he had +been sketching a large vessel that had been in company with them two or +three days. Presently he laid down his sketching block on the deck, and +looking up into the fair face of his companion, he said: + +‘Lily, pet, do you remember the promise you made to me before we left +India?’ + +‘What was that, Dick?’ she asked. + +‘That you would become my wife on Christmas Day.’ + +‘Oh, yes,’ she said quickly, and with some slight agitation; ‘but we +shall not be home by that time.’ + +‘That is true; but it need not affect your promise.’ + +‘I don’t understand you,’ she answered. + +‘You are surely aware, Lily, that a marriage on board of a ship is +perfectly legal. Even a captain has the power to marry people; but it +fortunately happens, as you know, that we have a Church of England +clergyman amongst us, and therefore I claim the fulfilment of your +promise.’ + +‘Oh, Dick, it cannot be.’ + +‘Cannot be!’ he echoed in some astonishment. ‘Were your words, then, +_only_ words after all?’ + +‘Ah, love, do not be harsh with me. I should so much prefer that our +wedding took place in the regular way on shore, and it is to be hoped +that we shall arrive in England by the New Year.’ + +‘I am far from being harsh with you, Lily,’ answered Dick, a little +sadly; ‘but you yourself expressed a wish to be married on the +Christmas morning, even saying that you were superstitious about it. +Although there is every prospect now that we shall be at sea on that +day, there is no reason at all why we should not be married on board; +and if you like we will go through the ceremony again when we reach +England. The mere circumstance of being married in or out of a church +cannot possibly affect our union, and I am sure you have too much +good sense to be influenced by the stupid idea which possesses some +small-brained people--that a marriage performed out of a church cannot +be sanctified.’ + +‘I have no such idea,’ she said. ‘I should be ashamed of myself if I +had.’ + +‘Very well, then, Lily, say that you will be my wife on Christmas +morning, even though we are at sea.’ + +‘How long does it want to Christmas, Dick?’ + +‘Three weeks exactly.’ + +‘Then I promise you that if mamma offers no objection I will gratify +your wish.’ + +‘I am perfectly satisfied that your mother will willingly let us have +our own way, so on Christmas Day we will become man and wife, if we are +both living.’ + +‘On Christmas Day we will become man and wife if we are both living,’ +she repeated solemnly, but the words had scarcely left her lips when +she almost uttered a scream, for close beside her stood Cornell. He had +his sextant in his hand, and had come up the companion-way (near which +Dick and Lily were sitting) with the captain to take the sun. + +‘Make eight bells,’ said the captain, ‘we shall get no sun to-day.’ + +‘Eight bells,’ roared out Cornell. + +‘Come, dear, let us go down to luncheon,’ said Dick as he rose, +gathered up the wraps, and offered his arm to his _fiancée_. + +She had to pass Cornell to reach the companion-way, and she saw his +hawk-like eyes fixed upon her, although he pretended to be examining +the figures on his sextant. Those eyes burned into her soul, as it +were, and the strange hysterical feeling came back again so that she +felt as if she must weep, but by a powerful effort she controlled +herself, and Dick did not notice how she was affected. + +The question of the marriage being put to Mrs. Hetherington, that lady +said that she should offer no objection to the wishes of the young +people. Consequently it was soon understood that the monotony of the +voyage would be relieved by a wedding on Christmas morning. In which +case there would be a double occasion for rejoicing and festivities. + +Christmas at sea is always a festive time, but this particular one on +board the ‘Sirocco’ promised to be unusually lively. The captain gave +orders to the steward that he was to reserve a good supply of his best +champagne for the occasion, and the cook was ordered to make plenty +of cakes and fancy things; while the butcher was instructed to kill +the fattest geese of the few that remained, and the last pig was to +be slaughtered in order to add to the feast. The lady and gentlemen +passengers rummaged amongst their boxes to try and fish out suitable +little presents to give to the young couple, and there was much fun and +laughter as all sorts of odd suggestions were made; while the ladies +further busied themselves in improvising suitable decorations for the +saloon. In fact, this coming marriage was looked upon as a blessing +almost, for the voyage had been so long and tedious, that the little +excitement caused by the prospective union of the Red Lily and Dick +Fenton was most welcome. + +As the second mate seemed to purposely avoid Lily now, she recovered +her spirits; in fact, several days passed without her seeing him, and +she began to laugh at her stupidity in allowing him to have such an +influence over her. Dick could not fail to notice the change, and, +attributing it to the pleasure she anticipated at the near prospect of +their union, he was delighted also. + +Christmas Day was now anxiously looked forward to by all the +passengers, and as it only wanted eight days to the time great +preparations were going on, and ladies busied themselves in stoning +raisins and performing other incidental necessaries in connection with +the concoction of those mysteries--Christmas puddings. The gentlemen +found occupation in dressing the saloon with flags, and decorations +ingeniously constructed by the fair sex out of the most likely and +unlikely things. No one who has not been on a long voyage in a +passenger ship can imagine with what avidity every little incident +calculated to relieve the monotony of life at sea--if it can truthfully +be said to be monotonous--is seized upon. Therefore, Christmas tide and +a marriage in the bargain were such important events, that the little +floating world which the ‘Sirocco’ represented was agitated to its very +centre, and the excitement rose to fever heat. + +Life at sea, however, is influenced by laws which do not affect it +on land. Changes in the weather; changes from calm to rough weather +have a marked effect on a floating community, and a few hours often +produce the most extraordinary transformations. An oily sea may become +raging mountains of water, and the steadiness of a ship is turned into +violent pitching and tossing that renders walking to all but the most +experienced a matter of great difficulty. At such times soup plates +will perform somersaults into your lap, and joints of meat evince a +decided objection to remain in their proper positions. While, as for +poultry, wine bottles, &c., they suddenly acquire an agility for flying +through the air, so that what with dodging these missiles, and holding +on like grim death to the table or the back of the settee, one’s life +at meal time on board of a ship in stormy weather is by no means as +comfortable as it might be in a well-appointed dining-room on shore. + +Within a week of Christmas it became manifest that the ‘Sirocco’ was +destined to encounter some bad weather. There had been sullen calms +succeeded by fitful bursts of storm, but the good ship had crept on +and on until she had reached the verge of the Bay of Biscay. The bay, +although it bears such a bad character, is suggestive of nearing home +to those who come from afar, and consequently the passengers were +high-spirited, notwithstanding that it was pretty certain that a good +deal of knocking about was in store for them. + +One night during the middle watch a furious squall suddenly burst upon +the vessel, and as she had all sail set she heeled over almost on +to her beam ends. Several sails were rent to fragments by the force +of the wind, and the long strips flying out in the tempest made a +tremendous cracking like the cracking of stock whips. ‘All hands’ were +called on deck, and there were all the noise, and shouting, and uproar +incidental to a sudden squall in the dead of night. To the timid and +the inexperienced this is particularly alarming, for as the ship flies +along on her side the waters hiss in a strange manner, the shouting and +tramp of the sailors, the orders given hastily and in stentorian tones, +the cracker-like reports of the torn sails, the groaning and creaking +of the rudder chains, the indescribable howling of the wind, and the +extreme angle of the vessel, are sufficiently alarming to produce +nervousness even in those whose acquaintance with the sea is not of +recent date. And this is more particularly the case when such a squall +occurs at night; then the sky is inky in its blackness, and nothing can +be seen save the spectral-like outlines of the rigging and the masts, +and such objects as are immediately near the spectator. When this +particular squall struck the ship it happened that the Red Lily’s cabin +was on the weather side, and so suddenly did the ship heel over that +Lily narrowly escaped being thrown from her bunk. Although this was not +her first experience of a squall at night she felt unusually alarmed, +for the vessel was lying over at such an unusual angle, and there was +so much noise on deck. + +Hastily throwing on a few articles of clothing, and covering them with +a dressing-gown, she encased her feet in slippers, and rushed over to +her mother’s cabin, which was on the lee side. Undisturbed by the shock +Mrs. Hetherington was sleeping soundly, and so, not wishing to wake +her, the first impression of alarm having passed away, Lily closed the +cabin door gently, and then went up the companion-way and peeped out +into the darkness. The white waters were flying past, and the vessel +was lying over almost to her lee scuppers. Lily stepped on to the deck, +holding on to the handle of the companion-way door. There was a babel +of mingled sounds, and the wind was blowing a perfect hurricane. She +had stood there but a few minutes when suddenly she became aware that +Cornell was standing beside her. He was superintending the stowing +of the mizzen to’gallant sail. He was evidently surprised to see her +there. She was about to descend again, for his presence brought back +all her old fears, when he caught her arm, and with gentle force +restrained her. + +‘This is fortunate,’ he said. ‘The opportunity I have longed for this +squall has at last given me.’ + +‘Let me go,’ she exclaimed, ‘or I will scream.’ She was trembling with +fear and excitement, but he still held her. + +‘You dare not,’ he answered in a strange tone. Then, after a pause, he +added, ‘You have been cruel to me, but you must be so no longer or I +shall die. I cannot live without you.’ + +‘Are you mad?’ she said with a shudder. + +‘Perhaps I am. If I am you have made me so.’ He passed his arm round +her waist and held her closely. + +She struggled to free herself, but she was powerless in his strong +grasp. The mysterious influence he exercised over her now kept her +tongue tied so that she could not scream, could not cry out. He bent +low and pressed his lips to hers, and yet that did not break the spell +which bound her. + +‘You are to be married on Christmas Day,’ he said in a whisper. ‘I hope +before then _he_ or I will be dead. If I live you shall become _my_ +wife. Do you hear? my wife. You may think I am talking mere words, but +you will see.’ + +He released her and she found herself in her cabin. How she got down +she did not know. She was burning with indignation and shame. His +polluting lips had touched hers, and she shivered as she thought of it. +She rubbed her lips with her handkerchief as though he had left some +stain which she was trying to wipe away. She yearned to go at once to +Fenton’s cabin and tell him all, but a deadly fear of Cornell withheld +her, the spell of his extraordinary power was upon her, and she felt +that she _dare not_ open her mouth to tell aught of what had occurred. +The man’s influence, whatever it was, was paramount. She feared and +hated him, and yet dare not denounce him. Of course she was weak, but +then he was no ordinary man. His strength of will was enormous, and +subdued her. + +During the rest of the night she could not sleep, and she longed for +Christmas Day to come, so that, as Dick’s wife, she might be free from +the persecutions of the mysterious Cornell. + +When the morning broke the storm had died away, leaving a gentle wind +that wafted the ship along at about eight knots an hour. + +‘We shall have steady weather now,’ the captain observed at breakfast +time, as he examined the barometer that swung over the cabin table. + +His prognostication proved correct. The wind increased day by day until +it was blowing a strong gale, but as it was favourable a large spread +of canvas was carried upon the ship. + +The day preceding Christmas Day arrived; the ‘Sirocco’ was in the +Bay of Biscay, off the inhospitable Cape Finisterre. By Christmas +Eve the wind had increased very much, so that the ship was ‘snugged +down.’ Extra lookouts were kept, for a great number of outward and +homeward bound vessels were in the Bay. The night promised to be a +very ‘dirty one,’ but there was merriment on board, and many a toast +to ‘Sweethearts and Wives’ was drunk, both in the cabin and in the +forecastle, for a liberal allowance of grog had been served out to the +crew. + +The preparations for the wedding were all complete. The saloon was +gaily decorated, and it was arranged that the marriage ceremony was +to be performed at eleven o’clock in the morning. But before eleven +o’clock strange things were to happen. + +The night waned, and as eight bells sounded Dick Fenton went on deck to +smoke a cigar before turning in. The ladies had all retired, and only +a single night lamp burned in the saloon. The wind had drawn ahead a +good deal, and the vessel could only carry close-reefed main-topsail +and fore-topsail, so that she was making very little way, simply +‘forging,’ as sailors say, at the rate of about two knots an hour. A +favourite seat with Dick when he went on deck to smoke his cigar was on +the rail near the mizzen shrouds. There he was under the shelter of the +captain’s gig, which was slung outside on davits, and his feet rested +on a hencoop that ran along the poop. Sitting there now pensively +dreaming of his Red Lily, and the happiness that awaited him on the +morrow when she would become his wife, he had no thought of danger. +There was music in the rush of the wild waters and the screaming sweep +of the wind. The vessel had that short, jerky motion which a ship has +in a rough sea when under reefed topsails. + +Suddenly there rose up before Dick’s vision the dark figure of a man. + +‘Hallo! is that you, captain?’ exclaimed Dick. + +‘No,’ was the answer, and in the gruff voice Dick recognised the second +mate. + +‘Oh, it’s you, Cornell,’ he said. ‘This is a wild night. Do you think +the wind will free at all before the morning?’ + +‘It may, and may not,’ was the somewhat surly answer, and in the husky +tones Cornell betrayed that he was the worse for liquor. ‘I suppose you +were thinking of the Red Lily,’ he remarked. + +‘Really, Mr. Cornell, you are a little familiar,’ Dick said, not +unkindly, for he was willing to make every allowance at such a time. + +‘Bah, why am I familiar?’ sneered the second mate. ‘I suppose the night +before his marriage every man thinks of the woman who is to be his +wife.’ + +‘I suppose he does,’ Dick answered curtly, for he was not anxious to +prolong the conversation seeing the strange humour Cornell was in. + +‘You have quite made up your mind that she is to be your wife?’ asked +Cornell. + +‘Well, please God that nothing happens between now and the morning, +Miss Hetherington will certainly become Mrs. Fenton.’ + +‘But it is destined that _something_ shall happen,’ Cornell exclaimed, +‘and you will never see the morrow.’ + +The words were spoken rapidly, and with a lightning-like movement he +threw the whole weight of his body against Dick, who, unprepared for +such an assault, was pressed backwards, and falling between the boat +and the side of the vessel was lost in the dark, hissing waters. + +‘A man overboard!’ cried the second mate with all the power of his +lusty lungs, and instantly the dreadful cry was taken up, and the watch +came rushing aft. The captain, who was in his cabin, tore on deck, and +in a moment all was confusion. + +‘Who is it, who is it?’ exclaimed the captain. + +‘Mr. Fenton, I think, for I saw him sitting on the rail a few minutes +before,’ said Cornell. + +‘Clear away the boat, men, quick!’ cried the captain. Then he and +Cornell cut away lifebuoys and cast them into the sea. + +‘I will try and save him, sir,’ said Cornell, as he divested himself of +his heavy sea boots and his oil skins. + +Divining his motives the captain laid hold of his arm and said: + +‘Are you mad, man? It is enough that one life should be sacrificed.’ +But Cornell, making no reply, shook himself free, mounted the rail, and +dived headlong into the black waters. + +The excitement was now intense. Everyone on board knew what had +happened, but everyone did not know that it was Dick who had gone. The +Red Lily was in this state of blissful ignorance, though she with the +other ladies crowded up the companion-way, and waited in breathless and +painful anxiety. + +The boat was manned and lowered. Lamps were brought and held up so as +to throw a light as far as possible over the sea. The boat was away +about an hour. It was a fearful agony of suspense that hour. The ship +was hove to, and everything done that could be done. The searchers +returned at last, bringing with them the second mate in an exhausted +condition, but not Dick; he had gone, and as nothing more could be +done, sail was again set, and the ‘Sirocco’ went upon her way with one +soul less. + +Christmas morning dawned. The gaiety was changed to sorrow, and the +marriage decorations were taken down and signs of mourning appeared. + +Tenderly and gently the sad news was broken to the Red Lily, and those +who told her did not fail to tell how ‘nobly’ the second mate had +risked his life to try and save that of her lover. Tenderly as the news +was broken, the shock stunned her, and for days she lay in a state of +partial coma. But there were loving hands to tend, and loving voices to +soothe, and gradually she came round. All the sunshine, however, seemed +to have gone out of her nature, and she was a crushed woman. + +For the first time for many days she went on deck, and was propped with +pillows in a sofa-chair, and for the first time since that terrible +night she saw Cornell. All her feeling of revulsion for him had +changed, and, stretching forth her white hand to him, she said in her +loving, sweet voice: + +‘Mr. Cornell, I have been unjust to you. You must forgive me. You are a +brave and generous man.’ + +He took her hand and answered: + +‘I grieve with you, Miss Hetherington. I did my best to save him, but +it was not to be. No man can prevent his fate. It is not for me to say +why, at such a moment, your lover should have met his doom. It was +Destiny; but, though I battled with the waves and the darkness of the +night, it was not my destiny to drown.’ + +Lily shuddered. The man spoke so strangely. There was such a weird +appearance about him, and his influence over her was as strong as +ever. And yet a fearful thought came to her. Was it not probable that +Cornell had hurled her lover into the sea, and then, seized with sudden +remorse, had dived after him? + +Oh, how that dreadful thought troubled and pained her! She struggled +with it for days, and wept and wept and wept again. At one moment she +resolved to take her mother into her confidence, and tell her all. But +whenever this feeling came upon her the mysterious Cornell seemed to be +at her side, and then all her will power went again. She felt that she +hated him one moment, but the next she could and would have grovelled +at his feet, overcome by a curious fascination, mingled with a sort of +admiration, for the daring, reckless, wicked, iron-willed fellow. + + * * * * * + +A week later the ship was in the London docks. + +Lily and her mother went on shore at Gravesend. The poor girl was +bowed with sorrow, and she felt as though she would never again hold up +her head. Before she left the ship Cornell begged hard to be allowed to +call upon her. She wanted to refuse him, but could not, and, with the +consent of her mother, she gave him permission to do so, for the mother +felt she was indebted to him. + +Lily and Mrs. Hetherington went to reside in the west-end of London, +and Cornell, availing himself of their permission, was almost a daily +visitor. He announced his intention of not going to sea again for some +time, and the old fascination he had exercised over Lily was exerted +now to a greater degree; and though she was sure she possessed no love +for him, she felt drawn towards him in a strange manner. One day, four +months after their arrival home, he pressed her to become his wife, +and she reluctantly gave her consent. She would have said ‘No’ if she +could, but she was powerless; and believing that she had previously +misjudged him and done him a wrong, she said: + +‘I will be a dutiful and faithful wife to you, but you must never hope +to win my love. _That_ is buried in the cruel sea.’ + +It was arranged that the wedding was to take place in a few months’ +time. He objected to the delay, but she was firm on the point, for she +felt that it would not be respectful to her dead love to marry so soon +after the calamity. Many a girl who knew Lily and her lover envied +her. Cornell was so ‘handsome,’ so ‘fascinating,’ so ‘manly,’ ‘such a +splendid type of a sailor’; but when her friends congratulated her she +only sighed. She felt as if she were sacrificing herself; but then her +affianced husband had so nobly risked his life for her lover’s sake, +notwithstanding his previous strange conduct, and on that account alone +she was going to give him her hand. She little dreamed that his jumping +overboard was only part of his diabolical plan, and was meant to avert +suspicion--which it did most effectually. So far as the risk to himself +was concerned, it was reduced to a minimum, for he was a magnificent +and powerful swimmer, and before he took the leap he was careful to +see that plenty of lifebuoys had been dropped over, and that the boat +was all ready for lowering. + +In the course of the next few months Mrs. Hetherington and her daughter +removed to the village of Bowness, on the banks of Windermere, as they +had friends living there; and it was arranged that the marriage should +take place in the parish church of that place. + +The wedding day came. It was a glorious summer’s morning, and the +air was filled with the music of birds and the scent of flowers. The +wedding was to be very quiet, and but few guests had been invited. +Those who knew Lily well said that the ‘Red Lily had drooped.’ All the +brightness was out of her life, for she felt that her heart was beneath +the waves of the Bay of Biscay. + +The wedding party had assembled in the church, and the ceremony had +commenced. When the grey-haired clergyman asked if anyone knew any just +cause or impediment why the man and woman should not be joined together +in the bonds of holy matrimony, there rose up a man in the body of the +church, and in a loud and steady voice exclaimed: + +‘I forbid this marriage.’ + +Had a thunderbolt fallen through the roof the consternation and +confusion could not have been greater. With a great cry the Red Lily +threw up her arms, and then fell forward on her face in a swoon. For a +few moments Cornell stood as if petrified. His face was ghastly pale. +By this time the man had come forward to the altar rails, and then +Cornell found tongue. + +‘Good God!’ he exclaimed, ‘is it possible that the dead can come to +life?’ + +‘No; but the living can thwart the machinations of a villain, and I +am here to do that,’ said Dick Fenton, for he it was. ‘This man,’ +continued Dick, addressing the astonished spectators, ‘attempted to +murder me.’ + +No one moved. They were dumb with amazement, for they naturally thought +a madman was amongst them. Dick himself stooped and lifted up the +inanimate form of the Lily, and bore her into the vestry. Taking +advantage of the confusion--for everyone seemed bewildered--Cornell +stole from the church, got clear away, and was never heard of more. + +It was some time before Lily recovered consciousness. It is better to +leave the reunion of the lovers to the imagination of the reader, for +words always fail to convey anything like an adequate notion of such +a scene. The news of the affair had rapidly spread over the village; +an enormous crowd had gathered about the church, and the uproar was +immense. The wedding party had to wait a considerable time before they +could get back to their homes; then explanations were given. + +On that dreadful night in the Bay of Biscay Dick had escaped death +almost by a miracle, as it were. He was a good swimmer, but was a +little stunned by striking his head against the side of the vessel +in his descent. He had a recollection, however, of making a powerful +effort to swim, and in a little while he felt something touch his hand, +and found it was a lifebuoy. On this he supported himself for a long +time--it seemed to him two or three hours. Then he saw the outlines +of a vessel, which he took to be the ‘Sirocco,’ and he shouted with +all his might, and presently had the satisfaction to hear the plash of +oars. He had only a faint recollection of hearing a human voice, and +feeling the grasp of hands about him. Then ensued a blank. When next +he opened his eyes he found himself in a comfortable cabin, and he +soon learnt that it was not the ‘Sirocco’ that had picked him up, but +an outward bound ship, called the ‘Golden Fleece.’ She was bound for +the Cape, and so Dick was mortified to find that he must accompany her +there, unless a homeward bounder should be fallen in with, and he could +get on board. This chance did not occur, and so to the Cape he went, +but the vessel made a long voyage. As soon after arrival as possible he +took ship for England, and on reaching there he soon discovered to his +amazement that the Red Lily was on the eve of being married to Cornell. +He hurried down to the Lake district, and was there a whole week +determining not to declare himself until the last moment, so that the +discomfiture of his enemy might be the more complete. + +For some months after this strange and startling incident Lily remained +in such delicate health that grave fears were at one time entertained. +Sudden joy is almost as bad as great sorrow at times, and the +unexpected return of her lost lover had been too great a shock. Care, +attention, and change of air, however, gradually restored her, and +again she made preparations for her marriage, which was to take place +on Christmas Day, twelve months after the terrible scene in the Bay of +Biscay, when Dick was hurled into the sea. + +The day came at last--cold, crisp, and bright. The earth was wrapped +in a robe of spotless white, and the church was decorated with holly +and winter flowers. As the bells pealed forth merrily, and the winter +sun shone out from the dull sky, Dick Fenton led his bride down the +pathway to the carriage that waited them at the gate, and the crowd +of villagers that had gathered in the old churchyard declared that no +bonnier bride had ever been seen than the Red Lily. + + + + +V + +THE PIRATE’S TREASURE + +A TRUE AND DRAMATIC STORY OF THE SEA + + +At the time the startling events I am about to relate occurred, I had +but recently passed my final examination in medicine, after what I may +modestly say was a successful course of study in Glasgow, of which +city I am a native. For some time I had been anxiously expecting my +diploma, which would give me the right to practice my profession, and +I was trying to obtain an appointment as surgeon on board a splendid +East Indiaman, known as the ‘Clydesdale.’ Singularly enough, on the +very day that I received the intimation that my application had +been favourably considered, I was placed in possession of a letter +from a dear friend in London, asking me if I would proceed on his +behalf with all possible speed to Surinam, on a very delicate and +important mission. For an hour or two I was exercised in my mind as +to the proper course I ought to pursue in my own interests; that is, +whether I should accept the ‘Clydesdale’ appointment, or undertake my +friend’s commission. Something prompted me to choose the latter, and +I immediately communicated my decision to London. In a post or two I +received my instructions, with a bank draft for my expenses, and I was +told to secure a berth in a vessel if possible proceeding direct to +the place where my business was to be transacted. I therefore lost no +time in making inquiries about a ship, and at last heard of one called +the ‘Ariadne.’ She had been chartered by a Glasgow company, and was +then loading up at the West Quay, and was to sail in a few days. I at +once secured a passage in her, and went down to see the vessel for +the first time the very day she was to leave. Little did I dream then +how strangely my destiny was to be affected by the fact of my having +undertaken my friend’s commission. While I stood examining her from the +pier, two sailors, who seemed to be roaming idly about, stopped and +began to converse by my side. + +‘Has the “Ariadne” shipped all her hands, Jack?’ asked the one; ‘I see +she has the Blue Peter flying. Somebody told me she has been sold to a +Dutch firm now. How would you like to sail in her?’ + +‘Not me, mate,’ replied the other; ‘I know too much about her. I made +a voyage in her four years ago, and a cleaner or livelier craft is not +on the sea! But there is a limb of the devil in her as skipper that is +enough to cause her to sink to the bottom. It was in my voyage that +he did for Bill Burnet with the pump-sounding rod, because the little +fellow snivelled a bit, and was not handy to jump when he was ordered +aloft to set the fore-royal. It was his first voyage, and the boy was +mortal afraid to venture; but the captain swore he would make him, and +in his passion hit him a rap with the iron rod and killed him. When he +saw what he had done he lifted the body while it was still quivering +and hove it over the side; and many a long day the men wondered what +had become of little Bill, for they were all below at dinner, and none +but myself saw the bloody deed. It was needless for me to complain and +get him overhauled, as there were no witnesses; but I left the ship, +and berths would be scarce before I would sail with him again or put my +foot on the deck of his ship. I tell you, mate, there’s a curse on her, +and them as sails in her will come to grief.’ + +Knowing what tyrants shipmasters are in general, and how much their +passengers’ comfort depends on them, I was somewhat startled by this +piece of information respecting the temper of the man I purposed to +sail with. But necessity has no law! The circumstance was probably +much misrepresented, I thought, and, from a simple act of discipline, +exaggerated to an act of wanton cruelty. But be that as it might--my +affairs were urgent. There was no other vessel for the same port--I +must either take my passage or run the risk of being superseded. The +thing was not to be thought of, so I went and secured my berth. As my +preparations were few and trifling, I had everything arranged and on +board just as the vessel was unmooring from the quay. During the night +we got down to the Clock Lighthouse, and stood off and on, waiting for +the captain, who had remained behind to get the ship cleared out at +the Custom House. Soon afterwards he joined us, and, the pilot leaving +us in the return-boat, we stood down the Forth under all our canvas. +Her beloved Majesty Queen Victoria had not long been on the throne, +and piracy on the high seas was still a lucrative pursuit. Every +merchantman, therefore, generally carried a fair amount of armament, +and our vessel was no exception, although I, for one, certainly never +anticipated any adventure. + +For four weeks we had a quick and pleasant passage. The ‘Ariadne’ was a +good sailer; for, being American-built, and originally intended for a +privateer, she sailed uncommonly fast, generally running at the rate of +twelve knots an hour in a good wind. + +As I expected, Captain Mahone, an Irishman by birth, proved to be, in +point of acquirements, not at all above the common run of skippers +in command of sailing ships at that period. He was haughty and +overbearing, and domineered over the crew with a high hand; in return +for which he was evidently feared and detested by them all. He had +been many years in the West Indies, and during most of that time had +commanded a local trader, and had, between the fervid suns of such +high latitudes and the copious use of grog, become of a rich mahogany +colour, or something between vermilion and the tint of a sheet of +new copper. He was a middle-sized man, square built, with a powerful +and muscular frame. His aspect, naturally harsh and forbidding, was +rendered more so by the sinister expression of his left eye, which had +been nearly forced out by some accident, and the lineaments of his +countenance expressed plainly that he was passionate and furious in the +extreme. In consequence of this I kept rather distant and aloof; and, +except at meals, we seldom exchanged more than ordinary civilities. + +By our reckoning, our ship had now got into the latitude of the +Bermudas, when one evening at sunset the wind, which had hitherto been +favourable, fell at once into a dead calm. The day had been clear and +bright; but now huge masses of dark and conical-shaped clouds began +to tower over each other in the western horizon, which, being tinged +with the rays of the sun, displayed that lurid and deep brassy tint +so well known to mariners as the token of an approaching storm. All +the sailors were of opinion that we should have a coarse night, and +every precaution that good seamanship could suggest was taken to make +the vessel snug before the gale came on. The oldest boys were sent +up to hand and send down the royal and top-gallant sails and strike +the yards, while the topsails and staysails were close-reefed. These +preparations were hardly accomplished when the wind shifted, and took +us aback with such violence as nearly to capsize the vessel. The ship +was put round as soon as possible, and lay to, while all hands remained +on deck in case of any emergency. About ten, in the interval of a +squall, we heard a gun fired as a signal of distress. The night was as +black as pitch, but the flash showed us that the stranger was not far +to leeward; so, to avoid drifting on the wreck during the darkness, +the main-topsail was braced round and filled, and the ship hauled to +windward. In this manner we kept alternately beating or heaving-to +as the gale rose or fell till the morning broke, when, through the +haze, we perceived a small vessel with her masts carried away. As the +wind had dropped, the captain had gone to bed; so it was the mate’s +watch on deck. The steersman, an old grey-headed seaman, named James +Gemmel, proposed to bear down and save the people, saying he had been +twice wrecked himself, and knew what it was to be in such a situation. +Owing to the captain being below, the mate was irresolute what to do, +being aware that the success of the speculation depended on their +getting to Surinam with all possible speed; however, he was at length +persuaded--the helm was put up, and the ship bore away. + +As we neared the wreck, and were standing by the mizzen shrouds with +our glasses, the captain came up from the cabin. He looked up with +astonishment to the sails and the direction of the vessel’s head, and +in a voice of suppressed passion said, as he turned to the mate, ‘What +is the meaning of this, Mr. Wyllie? Who has dared to alter the ship’s +course without my leave, when you knew very well that we shall hardly +be in time for the market, use what expedition we may?’ The young man +was confused by this unexpected challenge, and stammered out something +about Gemmel having persuaded him. ‘It was me, sir,’ respectfully +answered the old sailor, wishing to avert the storm from the mate; +‘I thought you wouldn’t have the heart to leave the wreck, and these +people to perish, without lending a hand to save them! We should be +neither Christians nor true seamen to desert her, and----’ + +‘Damn you and the wreck, you old canting rascal! Do you dare to stand +there and preach to me?’ thundered the captain, his fury breaking +out. ‘I’ll teach you to disobey my orders! I’ll give you something to +think of!’ and seizing a capstan-bar which lay near him he hurled it +at the steersman with all his might. The blow was effectual--one end +of it struck him across the head with such force as to sweep him in an +instant from his station at the wheel, and to dash him with violence +against the lee-bulwarks, where he lay bleeding and motionless. ‘Take +that, and be damned to you!’ exclaimed the wretch, as he seized the +helm and sang out to the men: ‘Stand by sheets and braces--hard +a-lee--let go!’ In a twinkling the yards were braced round, and the +ship, laid between six points to the wind, was flying through the water. + +Meanwhile Gemmel was lying without anyone daring to assist him, for +the crew were so confounded that they seemed quite undetermined how to +act. I stepped to him, therefore, and the mate following my example, +we lifted him up. As there was no appearance of respiration, I placed +my hand to his heart, but pulsation had entirely ceased--the old man +was dead! The bar had struck him directly on the temporal bone, and had +completely fractured that part of the skull. + +‘He is a murdered man, Captain Mahone!’ said I, laying down the body, +‘murdered without cause or provocation.’ + +‘None of your remarks, sir!’ he retorted; ‘what the devil have you to +do with it? Do you mean to stir up my men to mutiny? Or do you call +disobeying my orders no provocation? I’ll answer it to those who have a +right to ask; but till then, let me see the man who dare open his mouth +to me in this ship.’ + +‘I promise you,’ returned I, ‘that though you rule and tyrannise here +at present, your power shall have a termination, and you shall be +called to account for your conduct in this day’s work. Rest assured +that this blood shall be required at your hands, though you have +hitherto escaped punishment for what has stained them already.’ This +allusion to the murder of little Bill Burnet seemed to stagger him +considerably; he stopped short before me, and, while his face grew +black with suppressed wrath and fury, whispered: + +‘I warn you again, young man, to busy yourself with your own matters. +Meddle not with what does not concern you; and belay your slack jaw, +or, by----! Rink Mahone will find a way to make it fast for you!’ He +then turned round, and walked forward to the forecastle. + +During this incident no attention had been paid to the wreck, though +the crew had set up a yell of despair on seeing us leave them. Signals +and shouts were still repeated, and a voice, louder in agony than the +rest, implored our help for the love of the blessed Virgin, and offered +riches and absolution to the whole ship’s company if they would but +come back. The captain was pacing fore and aft without appearing to +mind them, when, as if struck with some sudden thought, he lifted his +glass to his eye--seemed to hesitate--walked on--and then, all at once +changing his mind, he ordered the vessel again before the wind. + +On speaking the wreck, she proved to be a Spanish felucca from the +island of Cuba, bound for Curaçoa, on the coast of the Curaccas. As all +the boats had been lost in the storm, the people could not leave their +vessel, which had sprung a leak badly and was sinking fast; so our +captain lowered and manned our jolly-boat, and went off to them. + +After an absence of a couple of hours he returned with the passengers, +consisting of an elderly person in the garb of a Catholic priest, a +sick gentleman, a young lady, apparently daughter of the latter, and +a female servant. With the utmost difficulty, and writhing under some +excruciating pain, the invalid was got on board, and carried down to +the cabin, where he was laid on a bed on the floor. To the tender of my +professional services the suffering man returned his thanks, and would +have declined them, expressing his conviction of being past human aid, +but the young lady, eagerly catching at even a remote hope of success, +implored him with tears to accept my offer. On examination I found his +fears were but too well grounded. In his endeavours to assist the crew +during the gale he had been standing near the mast, part of which, or +the rigging, having fallen on him, had dislocated several of his ribs +and injured his spine beyond remedy. All that could now be done was to +afford a little temporary relief from pain, which I did; and, leaving +him to the care of the young lady and the priest, I left the cabin. + +On deck I found all bustle and confusion. The ship was still lying-to, +and the boats employed in bringing the goods out of the felucca, both +of which were the property of the wounded gentleman. The body of the +old man, Gemmel, had been removed somewhere out of sight; no trace of +blood was visible, and Captain Mahone seemed desirous to banish all +recollections both of our quarrel and its origin. + +As the invalid was lying in the cabin, and my state-room occupied by +the lady and her female attendant, I got a temporary berth in the +steerage made up for myself for the night. I had not long thrown +myself down on the cot, which was only divided from the main cabin by +a bulkhead, when I was awakened by the deep groans of the Spaniard. +The violence of his pain had again returned, and between the spasms +I heard the weeping and gentle voice of the lady soothing his agony, +and trying to impart hope--prospects to him which her own hysterical +sobs told plainly she did not herself feel. The priest also frequently +joined, and urged him to confess. To this advice he remained silent for +a while, but at length he addressed the lady: + +‘The Padre says true, Isabella. Time wears apace, and I feel that I +shall soon be beyond its limits and above its concerns. But ere I go I +would say that which it would impart peace to my mind to disclose--I +would seek to leave you at least one human being to befriend and +protect you in your utter helplessness. Alas! that Diego di Montaldo’s +daughter should ever be thus destitute! Go, my love! I would be alone a +little while with the father.’ + +An agony of tears and sobs was the only return made by the poor girl, +while the priest with gentle violence led her into the state-room. + +‘Now,’ continued the dying man, ‘listen to me while I have strength. +You have only known me as a merchant in Cuba; but such I have not +always been. Mine is an ancient and noble family in Catalonia; though I +unhappily disgraced it, and have been estranged from it long. I had the +misfortune to have weak and indulgent parents, who idolised me as the +heir of their house, and did not possess resolution enough to thwart +me in any of my wishes or desires, however unreasonable. My boyhood +being thus spoiled, it is no matter of wonder that my youth should have +proved wild and dissolute. My companions were as dissolute as myself, +and much of my time was spent in gambling and other extravagances. +One evening at play I quarrelled with a young nobleman of high rank +and influence. We were both of us hot and passionate, so we drew on +the spot and fought, and I had the misfortune to run him through the +heart, and leave him dead. Not daring to remain longer at home, I fled +in disguise to Barcelona, where I procured a passage in a vessel for +the Spanish Main. On our voyage we were captured by Moorish pirates; +and the roving and adventurous mode of life of these bold and daring +men suiting both my inclinations and finances, I agreed to make one of +their number. For many months we were successful in our enterprises; we +ranged the whole of these seas, and made a number of prizes, some of +which were rich ships of our own colonies. In course of time we amassed +such a quantity of specie as to make us unwilling to venture it in one +bottom; so we agreed to hide it ashore, and divide it on our return +from our next expedition. But our good fortune forsook us this time. +During a calm the boats of the Guarda-costa came on us, overpowered the +ship, and made all the crew, except myself and two others, prisoners. +We escaped with our boat, and succeeded in gaining the island of Cuba, +where both of my comrades died of fever. Subsequent events induced me +to settle at St. Juan de Buenavista, where I married, and as a merchant +prospered and became a rich man. But my happiness lasted not! My wife +caught the yellow fever and died, leaving me only this one child. +I now loathed the scene of my departed happiness, and felt all the +longings of an exile to revisit my native country. For this purpose I +converted all my effects into money, and am thus far on my way to the +hidden treasure with which I intended to return to Spain. But the green +hills of Catalonia will never more gladden mine eyes! My hopes and +wishes were only for my poor girl. Holy father! you know not a parent’s +feelings--its anxiety and its fears. The thoughts of leaving my child +to the mercy of strangers--or, it may be, to their barbarities--is far +more dreadful than the anguish of my personal sufferings. With you +rests my only hope. Promise me your protection for her, and the half of +all my wealth is yours.’ + +‘Earthly treasures,’ replied the priest, ‘avail not with one whose +desires are fixed beyond the little handful of dust which perisheth. +My life is devoted to the service of my Creator, and the conversion of +ignorant men--men who have never heard of His salvation. I was bound on +an errand of mercy, and if the heathen receive the light of truth, how +much more a daughter of our most holy Church? I, therefore, on behalf +of our community, accept of your offer, and swear on this blessed +emblem to fulfil all your wishes to the best of my poor abilities.’ + +‘Enough; enough!’ said Montaldo. ‘I am satisfied. Among that +archipelago of desert islands, known by the name of the Roccas, +situated on the coast of the province of Venezuela, in New Grenada, +there is one called the Wolf Rock; it is the longest and most northern +of the group, and lies the most to seaward. At the eastern point, which +runs a little way into the sea, there stands an old vanilla tree, +blasted and withered, and retaining but a single solitary branch. +On the eve of the Festival of St. Jago the moon will be at her full +in the west. At twenty minutes past midnight she will attain to her +highest altitude in the heavens, and then the shadow of the tree will +be thrown due east. Watch till the branch and stem of the tree unite +and form only one line of shade. Mark its extremity; for there, ten +feet below the surface, the cask containing the gold is buried. The +gold, father, was sinfully got; but fasts and penances have been done, +masses without number have been said, and I trust that the blessed +Virgin has interceded for the forgiveness of that great wickedness! I +have now confessed all, and confide in your promise; and as you perform +your oath, so will the blessing or curse of a dying man abide with you. +I feel faint--dying. Oh! let me clasp my child once more to my heart +before I----’ + +Here the rest of the sentence became indistinct from the death-rattle +in his throat. I leaped off my cot and sprang up the hatchway, and had +my foot on the top of the companion ladder when a piercing shriek from +below making me quicken my steps I missed my hold, and fell against +some person crouching on the outside of the cabin door. It was pitch +dark, so that I could not see. ‘Who is that?’ I demanded, but there was +no answer, and the person with whom I had collided rose and, without +uttering a single word, softly ascended the companion-way ladder; but +as he emerged into the faint light which still lingered in the horizon +I fancied that I could distinguish him to be the captain. + +On my entering the cabin I found the Spaniard dead, and his daughter +lying in a state of insensibility by his side; while the black servant +was howling and tearing her hair like one in a frenzy. The priest was +entirely absorbed in his devotions, so, without disturbing him, I +lifted the lady and bore her into the state-room. The greater part of +the night was passed in trying to restore her to sensation. Fit after +fit followed each other in such quick succession that I began to have +fears for the result; but at length the hysterical paroxysm subsided, +and tears coming to her relief she grew somewhat composed, when I left +her in charge of her attendant. + +The next day was spent in taking out the remainder of the felucca’s +cargo. There seemed now no anxiety on the captain’s part to proceed on +his voyage. He appeared to have forgotten the necessity, expressed on +a former occasion, of being in port within a limited time. During the +days that followed he was often in a state of inebriety, for the wine +and spirits of the Spaniards were lavishly served out to the whole +ship’s company, with whom he also mixed more, and he changed that +haughtiness of bearing which had marked his conduct hitherto. + +Yielding to the passionate entreaties of Isabella, the old Spaniard’s +body was kept for several days, but at last she grew reconciled to +her father’s remains being committed to the deep, and one evening as +the sun was setting the body was brought on deck swathed in canvas, +and the priest conducted a mass, and solemnly intoned the following +prayer:--‘May the angels conduct thee into Paradise; may the martyrs +receive thee at thy coming; and mayst thou have eternal rest with +Lazarus, who was formerly poor!’ He then sprinkled the body with holy +water, and continued:--‘As it hath pleased God to take the soul of our +dear brother here departed unto Himself, we therefore commit his body +to the deep, in the sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection on +that day when the sea shall give up its dead. Let him rest in peace!’ +The Spaniards present responded ‘Amen!’ and the priest repeating ‘May +his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the +mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen!’ he made the sign of the Cross, +the end of the grating was gently elevated, and the corpse heavily +plunged into the water. The waves parted, heaving and foaming round +the body as it disappeared, when, to our horror and astonishment, we +beheld it the next minute slowly return to the surface deprived of the +canvas covering in which it had been sewed. The dead man came up as +he had gone down, in an upright position, and floated a little time +with his back to the vessel, but the motion of the water turned him +round by degrees till we distinctly saw his face. The head was thrown +back, and the eyes wide open, and under the strong stream of light +poured on them from the setting sun they seemed to glare ghastly and +fearfully upwards. His grey hair, long and dishevelled, floated about +his face, at times partially obscuring it; and one arm, stretched forth +and agitated by the action of the waves, appeared as if in the act of +threatening us. When the first burst of horror had subsided, I caught +hold of Isabella to prevent her seeing the body, and was leading her +off when some of our sailors whispered that it was the murdered man, +old James Gemmel. The captain had been hitherto looking on with the +rest without having apparently recognised him, but when the name struck +his ear he shrank back and involuntarily exclaimed, ‘It’s a lie! It’s +an infamous lie! Who dares to say he was murdered? But don’t let him +come on board; for God’s sake keep him down, or he’ll take us with +him to the bottom! Will nobody keep him down? Will nobody shove him +off? Helm a-lee!’ he bawled out, waving his hand to the man at the +wheel; but the man had deserted his post, eager to see what was going +on; the skipper, therefore, ran to the wheel himself, and again issued +his commands, ‘Let go the main-topsail weather-braces, and bring round +the yard! Let them go, I say!’ His orders were speedily executed. The +vessel gathered way, and we quickly shot past the body of the old man. + +For several days after this we pursued our course with a favourable +wind, which drove us swiftly forward on our voyage. The captain now +kept himself constantly intoxicated, seldom made his appearance in +the cabin, but left us altogether to the care of the steward. All +subordination was now at an end; his whole time was spent among +the seamen, with whom he mixed familiarly, and was addressed by +them without the slightest portion of that respect or deference +commonly paid to the captain of a vessel. The appearance of the men +also was much altered. From the careless mirth and gaiety, and the +characteristic good humour of sailors, there was now a sullenness and +gloom only visible. A constant whispering, a constant caballing was +going on, a perpetual discussion, as if some design of moment was in +agitation, or some step of deep importance was about to be taken. All +sociality and confidence towards each other were banished. In place of +conversing together in a body as formerly, they now walked about in +detached parties, and among them the boatswain and carpenter seemed +to take an active lead. Yet, in the midst of all this disorder, a few +of the crew kept themselves separate, taking no share in the general +consultation, but from the anxiety expressed in their countenances, +as well as in that of the mate, I foresaw some storm was brewing, and +about to burst on our heads. + +Since Montaldo’s death Isabella had been in the habit of leaving her +cabin after sunset to enjoy the coolness of the evening breeze, and +in this she was sometimes joined by the priest, but more frequently +was only attended by her woman. One evening she came up as usual, and +after walking backward and forward on deck with me till the dews +began to fall, she turned to go below, but just as she approached +the companion-way one of the sailors, whom we had rescued from the +felucca, who now, in the absence of all discipline, lounged about the +quarter-deck without rebuke, shut down the head, and throwing himself +on it, declared that none should make him rise without the reward of a +kiss. This piece of insolence was received with an encouraging laugh by +his fellows, and several slang expressions of wit were uttered, which +were loudly applauded by those around. Without a word of remonstrance, +Isabella timidly stooped, and would have attempted getting down the +ladder without disturbing the men, when, burning with indignation, +I seized the rascal by the collar, and pitched him head foremost +along the deck. In an instant he got on his legs, and pulling a long +clasp-knife out of his pocket, with a loud imprecation made towards +me. All the other sailors likewise made a motion to assist him, and I +expected to be assailed on all hands, when the mate interfered, and +laying hold of the marline-spike which I had caught up wherewith to +defend myself, pushed me back as he whispered: + +‘Are you mad that you interfere? For heaven’s sake keep quiet, for I +have no authority over the crew now!’ And he spoke the truth, for the +negro, brandishing his knife, and supported by his comrades, was again +advancing, when the hoarse voice of the boatswain, as he ran to the +scene of the action, arrested his progress. + +‘Hollo! you there; what’s the squall for? Avast! avast! Mingo. Off +hands is fair play. Ship that blade of yours, or I’ll send my fist +through your ribs, and make daylight shine through them in a minute.’ + +I related the behaviour of the fellow, and was requesting him to order +the others forward, when I was cut short by his exclaiming, to my +astonishment: + +‘We shall do as we like here, young man! We are all alike free in a +British ship. But damn his eyes for an insolent son of a sea cook. He +wants to kiss this pretty lady! I’ll let him know she belongs to his +betters! The black wench is good enough for him any day. Come, my +dear!’ he continued, turning to Isabella; ‘give me the same fee, and +I’ll undertake to clear the way for you myself.’ + +He made as if he meant to approach her, when, careless of what the +consequences might be to myself, I hastily stepped forward, and, +lifting up the head of the companion, allowed Isabella to run below. + +‘This lady is no fit subject for either wit or insolence,’ said I, +shutting the doors, ‘and he is less than man who would insult an +unprotected female.’ + +For a little while he stood eyeing me, as if hesitating whether he +should resent my interference or remain passive. At length he turned +slowly and doggedly away, as he uttered: + +‘You ruffle big, and crow with a brisk note, sir. But I’ve seen me do +as wonderful a thing as twist your windpipe, and send you over the side +to cool yourself a bit; and so I would serve you in the turning of a +wave, if it wasn’t that we may have use for you yet! I see in what +quarter the wind sets; but mind your eye! for sink me if I don’t keep a +sharp look-out ahead over you.’ + +I now saw that things had come to a crisis--that the crew meant to turn +pirates, and I was going to be detained among them for the sake of my +professional services. I could not without a shudder reflect on what +must be the fate of Isabella among such a gang of reckless villains; +but I firmly resolved that, come what might, my protection and care +over her should cease but with my life. + +To be prepared for the worst, I immediately went below, loaded two +pistols which I had brought on board with me, and concealed them in +my breast, securing at the same time all my money and papers about my +person. While thus employed, one of the cabin boys came down for a +telescope, saying that a sail had hove in sight to windward. Upon this +I followed him up, and found the crew collected together in a clamorous +consultation as to the course they should follow. Some were for laying +to till she came near enough, and seizing her if a merchantman; and +if not, they could easily sheer off. But this motion was overruled by +the majority, who judged it best to keep clear for fear of accidents. +Accordingly, all the spare canvas was set, and we were soon gaining +large before the wind. But the ‘Ariadne,’ though reckoned the fastest +vessel that ever left the Clyde when close hauled on a wind, was by no +means so fleet when squared and going free. She had now met with her +match, for the stranger was evidently gaining rapidly on us, and in two +hours we saw it was impossible for us to escape. The priest and I were +ordered down, with a threat of instant death if we offered to come on +deck, or made any attempt to attract observation. + +I now communicated to Isabella my apprehensions with respect to the +crew, along with my resolution to leave the vessel if the other proved +a man-of-war, and earnestly advised both her and the priest to take +advantage of it also. She thanked me with a look and a smile that told +me how sensible she was of the interest I took in her welfare, and +expressed her willingness to be guided by me in whatever way I thought +best. + +Shortly after this we heard a gun fired to bring us to, and the +‘Ariadne’ hailed and questioned as to her port and destination. The +answers, it appeared, were thought evasive and unsatisfactory, for +we were ordered to come close under the lee quarter of her Majesty’s +sloop-of-war ‘Tartar,’ while an officer was sent to examine our papers, +for it appeared the ‘Tartar’ had been specially detailed to keep a +look-out in those waters for a notorious pirate, who had committed +some extraordinary deeds of daring while flying the English flag, and +pretending to be a peaceful trader. This was now our only chance, and +I resolved that if the officer did not come below I would force the +companion door, and claim his protection. But I was not put to this +alternative. As soon as he arrived, I heard him desire the hatches to +be taken off, so that he could examine the hold. The inspection did +not satisfy him, for he hailed the sloop, and reported that there were +Spanish goods on board, which did not appear in the manifest. + +‘Then remain on board, and keep stern lights burning all night, and +take charge of the ship,’ was the reply. In a state of irksome suspense +we remained nearly two hours, expecting every moment to hear the +officer descending. At length, to our relief, the companion doors were +unlocked, and a young man, attended by our captain, entered the cabin. +He looked surprised on seeing us, and, bowing to Isabella, apologised +for intruding at such an unseasonable hour. + +‘But I was not given to understand,’ he added, ‘that there were +passengers in the ship--prisoners I should rather pronounce it, Captain +Mahone, for you seem to have had them under lock and key, which is +rather an unusual mode of treating ladies, at least in a vessel +supposed to be bound on a trading voyage. No wine, sir,’ he continued, +motioning away the bottle which the captain was hastily placing on the +table, ‘no wine, but be pleased to show me your register and bill of +lading.’ + +He had not been long seated to inspect them when a shuffling and +hurried sound of feet was heard overhead, and a voice calling on ‘Mr. +Wright’ for assistance showed that some scuffle had taken place above. +Instantaneously we all started to our feet, and the lieutenant was +in the act of drawing his sword, when, accidentally looking round, I +observed Mahone presenting a pistol behind. With a cry of warning, I +threw myself forward, and had just time to strike the weapon slightly +aside, when it went off. The ball narrowly missed the head of Wright, +for whom it had been aimed, but struck the priest over the right eye, +and the unfortunate man, making one desperate and convulsive leap as +high as the ceiling, sunk down dead, and before the captain could fire +again I discharged the contents of my pistol into his breast. We then +rushed up on deck, but it was only to find that the boat’s crew had +been mastered, and to behold the last of the men tumbled overboard. The +pirates then dispersed, and exerted themselves to get the ship speedily +under way, while the boatswain sang out to extinguish the stern lights +that the ‘Tartar’ might not be guided by them. + +‘It is all over with us!’ exclaimed my companion, ‘but follow me; we +have one chance for our lives yet. Our boat is still towing astern. +You throw yourself overboard and swim till I slide down the painter, +and cut her adrift. Come, bear a hand, and jump. Don’t you see them +hastening aft?’ and in an instant he pitched himself off the taffrail, +slid down the rope which held the boat, and cast her loose. But this +advice, however judicious, it was impossible for me to follow, for at +that moment repeated shrieks from Isabella put to flight all thoughts +for my own individual safety. I, therefore, hurried back to the cabin, +determined that if I could not rescue her along with myself, to remain +and protect her with my life. And in the nick of time I arrived. The +candles were still burning on the table, and through the smoke of the +pistols, which still filled the cabin, I beheld her struggling in the +arms of a Spanish sailor--the identical fellow who had displayed such +insolence in the early part of the evening. With one stroke of the +butt end of my pistol I fractured the cursed villain’s skull, caught +up Isabella in my arms, ran up the ladder, and had nearly gained the +side when the boatswain, attracted by her white garments, left the helm +to intercept me, and I saw the gleam of a dagger or knife of some sort +on the point of descending, when he was suddenly struck down by some +person from behind. I did not stop to discover who had done me this +good office, but hailing Wright, and clasping Isabella firmly in my +arms, I plunged into the water, followed by, at that moment, an unknown +ally. With the aid of my companion, whom I now found to be John Wyllie, +the mate, we easily managed to support our charge till the boat reached +us, when we found that the greater part of the ‘Tartar’s’ men, who also +jumped overboard, had been rescued in a similar manner. + +When the morning dawned we perceived the ‘Ariadne,’ like a speck in the +horizon, and the sloop-of-war in close chase. Our attention was next +turned to our own situation, which was by no means enviable. We had +escaped, it is true, with our lives, for the present, but without a +morsel of food, or a single drop of fresh water with us in the boat. +We could at best only expect to protract existence for a few days +longer, and then yield them up ultimately in horror and misery. By an +observation taken the day before, on board the ‘Tartar,’ Mr. Wright +informed us we were to the north-east of the Bahamas, and distant about +one hundred and seventy miles from Walling’s Island, which was the +nearest land. This was a long distance, but as despair never enters the +breast of a British sailor, even in situations of the utmost extremity, +we cheered up each other, and, as no other resource was left us, we +manned our oars, and pulled away with life, trusting to the chance of +meeting with some vessel, of which there was a strong probability, as +this was the common course of our leeward traders. And our hopes were +not disappointed, for next day we fortunately fell in with a brig from +the Azores, bound for Porto Rico, on board of which we were received +with much kindness, and in five days we found ourselves safely moored +in Porto-Real harbour. + +My first step on landing was to inquire for a boarding-house for +Isabella, and I had the good luck to be directed to one kept by a +respectable English family in Orange Terrace, and to this I conducted +her. My next transaction was to charter a small cutter, and to +communicate to Wright the secret of the hidden treasure, at the same +time asking him to adventure himself and his men on its recovery. I +also gave him to understand the probability of a rencontre with the +pirates, in the event of their having escaped the sloop, for I was +aware that Mahone had overheard the whole confession from my finding +him listening at the cabin door. Without hesitation the lieutenant at +once agreed to accompany me, and engaging some hands out of a vessel +newly arrived, we soon mustered a party of fourteen men, and we hired a +cutter. As it wanted only six days to the Festival of St. Jago, and the +distance across the Caribbean Sea was great enough to require all our +exertions to be there in time, we embarked and sailed that very night. + +Our cutter proved a very fast vessel, and though the winds were light +and variable we made the Roccas on the evening of the sixth day. As +the Spaniard had foretold, the moon was climbing the western sky, +and pouring the fulness of her splendour with a mild and beautiful +effulgence on the untroubled deep as we slowly drifted with the current +between the Wolf Rock and the adjacent isle. All was silent and calm +over the whole desert archipelago and the vast surrounding waters, +save now and then the flight of a sea fowl awakening from its slumbers +as we passed, or the occasional roar of the jaguar faintly wafted +from the mainland. We ran the cutter into a deep and narrow creek, +moored her safe, and proceeded, well-armed, to the eastern extremity. +There we found the projecting point of land, and the old vanilla tree +exactly in the situation described--its huge, twisted trunk was still +entire, and from the end of its solitary branch, which was graced by +a few scattered leaves, the body of a man in the garb of a sailor +hung suspended in irons. The clothes had preserved the body from the +birds of prey, but the head was picked clean and bare, leaving the +eyeless and bleached skull to glitter white in the moonlight. In +perfect silence, and with something of awe on our spirits, impressed +by the solitude and dreariness of the scene, we seated ourselves +on the rocks, and, with my watch in my hand, I began to mark the +progress of the shadow. For nearly three hours we watched in this +manner, listening attentively for the slightest sound from seaward; +but everything continued hushed and still, except the creaking of the +chain as the dead man swung to and fro in the breeze. Midnight was now +drawing near, the moon, radiant and full, was careering high through +the deep blue of heaven, and the shadows of the branch and stem were +approaching each other, and towards the desired point. At length the +hand of my watch pointed to within one minute of the time. It passed +over. The branch and stem now merged into one, and threw their shadow +due east, and the first spadeful of earth had been thrown out when the +man who had been stationed to keep a look-out came running to inform +us that a boat was rapidly approaching from the east. We immediately +concluded that they must be some of the ‘Ariadne’s’ crew; and their +long and vigorous strokes, as they stretched out to the full extent +of their oars, showed that they knew the importance of every minute +that elapsed. Our implements for digging were hastily laid aside, and +we concealed ourselves among the rocks till the pirates came within +reach. In a short time the boat was run ashore, and eight armed men +came forward, partly Spaniards and partly the ship’s crew, among whom I +recognised the boatswain, and, to my surprise, Mahone, whom I had shot +and left for dead in the cabin. Without giving them time to prepare +for the assault we quitted our shelter, and sprung among them at once, +laying about with the short swords we had provided ourselves with. For +a little space the skirmish was toughly and hotly contested, for the +pirates were resolute and reckless, and fought with the desperation +of men who knew that the only chance for their lives lay in their own +exertions. In the confusion of the fray I had lost sight of Wright, and +was closely engaged with one of the Spaniards, when the voice of the +boatswain, shouting forth a horrible imprecation, sounded immediately +behind me. I turned round, and sprang aside from the sweep of his +cutlass, and, as my pistols were both empty, retreated, acting upon +the defensive, when he pulled out his, fired, and hurled the weapon at +my head. The shot passed without injuring me, but the pistol, aimed +with better effect, struck me full on the forehead. A thousand sparks +of light flashed from my eyes, I felt myself reeling, and on the point +of falling, when a cut across the shoulder stretched me at once on +the ground. When I recovered from my stupor and opened my eyes, the +morning was far advanced, the sun was shining bright overhead, and I +found myself at sea, lying on the deck of the cutter, and Wright busily +engaged in examining my wounds. From him I learned that the pirates had +been mastered after a severe conflict, in which four had been slain and +left on the island, two had escaped unobserved during the fight, and +made off with their boat, and two had been wounded, and were prisoners +on board, one of whom was Mahone. On our arrival at Porto Rico we +delivered them over to the civil power, and soon afterwards Mahone +was tried for the murder of the priest, when he was convicted on our +evidence, condemned, and executed. + +Under good nursing and care I gradually recovered, and by the fall of +the season, without any further adventures, I once more landed safe in +Scotland. + +Isabella is not now that destitute and unprotected orphan whom I +first saw on the middle of the western ocean, but the happy mistress +of a happy home, diffusing life and gladness on all around her. My +friend Wright has lately been placed on the list of post-captains, +and is anxiously waiting for more bustling times, when there will be +more knocking about and more hard blows and quicker promotion than +can be hoped for in piping times of peace. John Wyllie, too, has had +advancement in his line, being now master of one of the finest ships +sailing out of the Clyde, and I have the additional satisfaction of +knowing that none of the crew of the cutter have had reason to regret +their having jeopardised their lives in fighting for the ‘Pirate’s +Treasure,’ which proved to be of far greater value than the confession +of the dying Spaniard had led me to believe. Altogether that voyage was +an extraordinary one, and at this period I can look back and feel the +truths of the saying that ‘Some men are born to strange destinies.’ + +In this present day we have become more prosaic, and true romances of +the sea such as I have described will soon be things of the past. + + + + +VI + +THE LEGEND OF WOLFSPRING + +A STORY OF THE BLACK FOREST + + +Wolfspring Castle stood in the very heart of the Black Forest, and for +centuries had been in possession of the Barons of Wolfspring, one of +the most powerful German families of the Middle Ages, and who, even at +the present day, although living on the wreck of their former greatness +only, still keep up a semblance of dignity. + +The seat of these territorial lords was a castellated Gothic mansion +built for strength and defence. It was a massive and imposing pile, +gloomy and forbidding as to its external aspects, but designed +internally with an eye to the comfort and luxury of its occupants. +Nevertheless, there were many dark, tortuous corridors and vaulted +tapestry rooms, in which there were ghostly echoes. There were also +secret stairways, concealed spring doors, and deep down in the basement +a number of gloomy dungeons, in which many a ghastly tragedy had been +enacted. + +A dark grove of pine and mountain ash encompassed the castle on every +side, and threw an aspect of weirdness around the scene, and even +shut out the sunshine, which failed to penetrate to that part of the +forest’s dark depths. + +The extraordinary and astounding events that are now about to be +related occurred long ago, but incredible as they may seem to the +modern sceptic, are still vouched for by those who have their homes in +the Black Forest at the present time. + +At the period referred to the then Baron of Wolfspring had an only +daughter, whose ravishing beauty had caused her to become the talk of +Germany, and suitors from all parts had sought her hand. As she was +the apple of her father’s eye, however, he had carefully guarded her, +in the hope that she would remain with him, as he could not bear the +idea of her parting from him. Nevertheless, he surrounded her with +nearly everything she desired, and was constantly devising new plans +for her amusement. On reaching her twenty-first year her father made +it the occasion for a fête, such as was rarely seen even in Germany, +and preparations were made for it months before the time. Invitations +were sent out lavishly, and it was calculated that the Black Forest +would witness a gathering of beauty and bravery which would pass +down to posterity as an historical event. The lady’s birthday fell +in the winter time, but that did not prevent the invited guests from +assembling in great numbers. + +The castle bells rang out a merry peal at the approach of a winter +twilight, and the warder was stationed with his retinue on the +battlements, to announce the arrival of the company who were invited +to share the amusements that reigned within the walls. The Lady +Marguerite, the baron’s only daughter, never looked more ravishing than +on this occasion. The large vaulted apartments were thrown open for +the reception of the numerous guests, and by midnight the castle was a +scene of gaiety and brilliancy, and the greatest good humour prevailed. + +Suddenly it was noted that amongst the guests in the ballroom was a +very remarkable-looking man, who had not been noticed before, and who +was an utter stranger to everyone present. He attracted attention by +his dignified bearing, his handsome features, and the magnificence +of his dress. The baron was appealed to, but had to confess that he +did not know the stranger, who, on being asked for his name and rank, +politely asked that he might be allowed to remain incognito, but he +hinted that his lineage was perhaps superior to any else present, +and his wishing to remain unknown for a time was a mere whim; but, +for convenience sake, he requested that he might be addressed as +the count. As may be supposed this mysterious stranger aroused no +little curiosity, and his boast of superiority engendered some amount +of ill-feeling. It would have been contrary to all traditions of +Wolfspring hospitality for the baron to request his strange guest +to retire, especially on such an occasion, and although he had come +without retinue or following of any kind, and not one of the retainers +could give any information as to when or how he arrived, he was treated +by the host with every consideration and respect. + +It soon became only too obvious, however, that the stranger’s +presence was likely to be productive of much heart-burning, if not of +actual mischief, for he bestowed all his attentions on the beautiful +Marguerite, and quite ignored the other ladies. This would probably +have led to a speedy open rupture, as some or other of the jealous +men would have been sure to have insulted him, and in that age insult +was quickly followed by blows and bloodshed. But somehow or other it +began to be whispered that the proud and uninvited guest was none +other than the king’s brother, who for certain family reasons had long +lived abroad, but his wealth, power, and possible succession to the +throne had caused him to be a very-much-talked-of personage in Germany, +although no one seemed to know anything about him. But there had been +stories of his handsome appearance and his eccentricity. As may be +supposed the mere suggestion that the unbidden guest was the mysterious +brother of the king at once silenced criticism, and there was a general +desire to pay him homage and treat him with respect. + +All these flattering attentions he acknowledged with lofty dignity, +and it was obvious that he was bent on winning the good opinion of the +host’s fair daughter, and equally obvious that she was fascinated by +his brilliancy and wit; and when he casually remarked, with a sigh, +that in another half-hour he must tear himself from her, and leave +the fair scene to ride forth again on his journey, she flew to her +father and begged of him to press the count to prolong his stay for +a few days. Not wishing to deny his daughter anything, the baron +approached the count, who, however, did not seem disposed to yield, +until beautiful Marguerite herself added her persuasions to those of +her father, and then, with a gracious bow, the count expressed his +intention of accepting the invitation. + +The festivities were prolonged far into the night. Outside the elements +waged war, for a terrific gale swept through the forest, bringing with +it the heaviest fall of snow that had been experienced for many years. +But the storm did not interfere with the comfort of the revellers, who +began to disperse to their respective rooms as the castle bell tolled +the hour of five. + +The day had far advanced when the guests reassembled for the morning +meal. Then experiences were exchanged, and strange stories told. One +averred that he had been the victim of remarkable phenomena in his +room, another that he had heard the flapping of wings at his window, +and when, out of a kindly feeling, he arose and opened the window, +thinking that some poor storm-beaten bird was in distress, he was +greeted with eldritch laughter and shrill screams that pealed through +the forest. Others, again, said that they had heard heavenly music; +but several, who occupied apartments near those in which the count had +been placed, affirmed that they were startled by awful and unearthly +sounds proceeding from his room, and yet they were unable to define +those sounds. The more level-headed guests smiled as they heard these +fantastic stories, and were disposed to attribute them to the figments +of wine-heated brains. The mysterious count was almost the last to +put in an appearance at the breakfast table, and when he gathered the +subject of the conversation a dark smile of unutterable meaning played +round his saturnine features, which then relapsed into an expression +of the deepest melancholy. He addressed his conversation principally +to Marguerite, and talked enthusiastically of the different climes he +had visited, of the sunny regions of Italy, where the very air breathes +the fragrance of flowers, and the summer breeze sighs over a land of +sweets. When he spoke to her of those delicious countries where the +smile of the day sinks into the softer beauty of the night, and the +loveliness of heaven is never for an instant obscured, he drew sighs +of regret from the bosom of his fair auditor, and for the first time +in her life she longed to leave her home and wander in the lands of +delight of which the count drew such graphic pictures. + +It soon became evident that the count was bent upon making an +impression upon the heart of Marguerite, and when a week had elapsed he +still lingered at the castle, although most of the guests had departed, +but he begged his host’s permission to be allowed to prolong his stay, +as he had never before experienced so much happiness. As the baron had +now quite come to believe he was entertaining the king’s brother, and +the probable future king, he was nothing loth that the stranger should +stay, and he even began to think that he could now reconcile himself +to the loss of his daughter, so long as there was a prospect of her +becoming a queen. For that high honour he was prepared to sacrifice +even his own feelings. + +Days rolled on, and every moment increased the fervour of the +inexpressible sentiments with which the stranger had inspired +Marguerite. He never discoursed of love, but he looked it in his +language, in his manner, in the insinuating tones of his voice, and in +the slumbering softness of his smile; and when he found that he had +succeeded in impressing her, a sneer of the most diabolical meaning +spoke for an instant, and died again on his dark-featured countenance. +When he met her in the company of her father he was at once respectful +and submissive, and it was only when alone with her, in her rambles +through the forest with her favourite hounds, that he assumed the guise +of the more impassioned admirer. + +As he was sitting one evening with the baron in a wainscoted apartment +of the library, the conversation happened to turn upon supernatural +agency. The stranger remained reserved and mysterious during the +discussion, but when the baron in a sneering manner denied the +existence of spirits, and satirically invoked their appearance, if +there was any truth in the many stories he had heard, the count’s eyes +seemed to glow with unearthly lustre, and his form to dilate to more +than its natural dimensions. When the conversation had ceased, to +the astonishment of everyone a chorus of celestial harmony was heard +pealing through the dark forest glade. The stranger was disturbed and +gloomy; he looked at his noble host with compassion, and something +like a tear swam in his dark eyes. After the lapse of a few seconds +the music died gently in the distance, and all was hushed as before. +The baron soon after quitted the apartment, and was followed almost +immediately by the stranger. He had not long been absent from the room +when harrowing groans were heard, as if some person was suffering the +agonies of an unusually painful death, and when the attendants and +others rushed out to ascertain the cause the baron was discovered +stretched dead in the corridor. His countenance was convulsed with +pain, and the grip of a human hand was clearly visible on his blackened +throat. The alarm was instantly given, the castle searched in every +direction, and, to the alarm and consternation of everyone, it was +found that the count had disappeared. Guests and servants alike mounted +their horses and scoured the forest in every direction, but not a trace +of the stranger could be discovered, and it was noted that the many +paths diverging from the castle were covered with the unsullied and +untrodden snow. There was no sign of either man or horse having passed. +How, then, had the count gone away? The mystery was profound, and a +strange fear fell upon the assembly. + +In due course the body of the baron was committed to the earth with +all the pomp and ceremony befitting the burial of a person of his high +rank, and then those who had remained behind to pay their last respects +to the dead host dispersed to their homes, and the remembrance of the +dreadful transaction was recalled but as a thing that should be spoken +of with bated breath. Men shuddered as they referred to it, and women +became hysterical. What was the awful mystery? Would it ever be cleared +up? Who was the strange count, and how had he disappeared? He had gone +as he came; no one knew how. + +After the disappearance of the stranger who had fascinated her and +won her love, the spirits of the gentle Marguerite declined. The loss +of her lover and the awfully mysterious death of her father threw the +girl into a profound melancholy, and she refused to be comforted. She +would walk early and late in the walks that he had once frequented so +that she might recall his last words, dwell on his honeyed smile, and +wander to the spot where she had once discoursed with him of love. She +avoided all society, and when alone in the solitude of her chamber she +gave vent to her affliction in tears, and the love that the pride of +maiden modesty concealed in public burst forth in the hours of privacy. +So beauteous, yet so resigned, was the fair mourner that she seemed +already an angel freed from the trammels of the world and prepared to +take her flight to heaven. + +The winter slowly passed. It lingered unusually long that year, but at +length the snow melted under the warm rays of the spring sunshine, and +in a little while thereafter summer burst in all its glory, and the +great forest was resonant with a thousand glad voices of revivified +nature. Marguerite had had a seat erected in a spot commanding a +magnificent view which had more than once called forth the admiration +of the count, although he had only seen it under its winter aspects. +Here one summer day she sat wrapped in thought, when she was suddenly +startled by someone approaching. She turned round quickly, and to her +infinite surprise beheld the count, looking even handsomer and more +fascinating than when she last beheld him. He stepped gaily to her +side, and commenced an animated conversation. + +‘You left me,’ exclaimed the delighted girl, ‘and I thought all +happiness was fled from me for ever; but you return, and shall we not +be happy?’ + +‘Happy,’ replied the stranger with a scornful burst of derision, ‘can +I ever be happy again? Can the--but excuse the agitation, my love, +and impute it to the pleasure I experience at our meeting. Oh! I have +many things to tell you; aye! and many kind words to receive. Is it +not so, sweet one? Come, tell me truly, have you been happy during my +absence? No! I see in that sunken eye, in that pallid cheek, that the +poor wanderer has at least gained some slight interest in the heart of +his beloved. I have roamed to other climes, I have seen other nations, +I have met with other women, beautiful and accomplished, but I have +met with but one angel, and she is here before me. Accept this simple +offering of my affection, dearest,’ continued the stranger, plucking a +heath-rose from its stem; ‘it is beautiful as yourself, and sweet as is +the love I bear thee.’ + +‘It is sweet, indeed,’ replied Marguerite, ‘but its sweetness must +wither ere night closes around. It is beautiful, but its beauty is +shortlived, as the love evinced by man. Let not this, then, be the type +of your attachment. Bring me the delicate evergreen, the sweet flower +that blossoms throughout the year, and I will say, as I wreathe it in +my hair, “The violets have bloomed and died, the roses have flourished +and decayed, but the evergreen is still young, and so is the love of my +wanderer.” Ah, don’t think me immodest if I confess my love for you. +You taught me love, why then should I conceal my feelings? You will +not--cannot desert me again. I live but in you; you are my hope, my +thoughts, my existence itself, and if I lose you I lose my all. I was +but a solitary wild flower in the wilderness of nature, and can you now +break the fond heart you first taught to glow with passion?’ + +‘Speak not thus,’ returned the stranger, suddenly changing his manner; +‘it rends my very soul to hear you. Leave me, forget me, avoid me for +ever, or your eternal ruin must ensue. I am a thing abandoned of God +and man, and did you but see the seared heart that scarcely beats +within this moving mass of deformity you would flee me as you would an +adder in your path. Here is my heart, love, feel how cold it is. There +is no pulse that betrays its emotion, for all is chilled and dead as +the friends I once knew.’ + +Marguerite was alarmed. ‘You are unhappy, love,’ she exclaimed; ‘but +do not think I am capable of abandoning you in your misfortunes. No! I +will wander with you through the wide world, and be your servant, your +slave, if you will have it so. I will be true to you, and though the +cold world may scorn you, though friends fall off and associates wither +in the grave, there shall be one fond heart who will love you better in +your misfortune, and cherish you, bless you still.’ + +She ceased, and her blue eyes swam in tears as she turned them +glistening with affection towards the stranger. He averted his head +from her gaze, and a scornful sneer of the darkest, the deadliest +malice passed over his fine countenance. In an instant the expression +subsided, his fixed glassy eye resumed its unearthly chillness, and he +turned once again to his companion. + +‘It is the hour of sunset,’ he exclaimed; ‘the soft, the beauteous +hour, when the hearts of lovers are happy, and Nature smiles in unison +with their feelings; but to me it will smile no longer. Ere the morrow +dawns I shall be far, very far, from the house of my beloved, from +the scenes where my heart is enshrined, as in a sepulchre. Must I +leave you, sweetest flower of the wilderness, to be the sport of the +whirlwind, the prey of the mountain blast?’ + +‘No, we will not part,’ replied the impassioned girl: ‘where thou goest +will I go; thy home shall be my home, and thy God shall be my God.’ + +‘Swear it, swear it,’ resumed the stranger, wildly grasping her by +the hand; ‘swear to the oath I shall dictate.’ He then desired her +to kneel, and holding his right hand in a menacing attitude towards +heaven, and throwing back his dark raven locks, he exclaimed with the +ghastly smile of an incarnate fiend, ‘May the curses of an offended +God haunt you, cling to you for ever, in the tempest and in the calm, +in the day and in the night, in sickness and in sorrow, in life and in +death, should you swerve from the promise you have made to be mine. May +the dark spirits of the damned howl in your ears the accursed chorus +of fiends; may despair rack your bosom with the quenchless flames of +hell! May your soul be as the lazar-house of corruption, where the +ghost of departed pleasure sits enshrined, as in a grave, where the +hundred-headed worm never dies, where the fire is never extinguished. +May a spirit of evil lord it over your brow, and proclaim as you pass +by, “This is the abandoned of God and man”; may fearful spectres haunt +you in the night season; may your dearest friends drop day by day into +the grave, and curse you with their dying breath; may all that is most +horrible in human nature, more solemn than language can frame or lips +can utter, may this, and more than this, be your eternal portion should +you violate the oath you have taken.’ He ceased, and hardly knowing +what she did, the terrified girl acceded to the awful adjuration, and +promised eternal fidelity to him who was henceforth to be her lord. + +‘Spirits of the damned, I thank you for your assistance,’ exclaimed the +count, as if he had become suddenly frenzied. ‘I have wooed my fair +bride bravely. She is mine--mine for ever. Aye, body and soul, both +mine; mine in life, and mine in death. What, in tears, my sweet one, +ere yet the honeymoon is past? Why! indeed, you have cause for weeping; +but when next we meet we shall meet to sign the nuptial bond.’ He then +imprinted a cold salute on the cheek of his young bride, and softening +down the unutterable horrors of his countenance, requested her to meet +him at eight o’clock on the ensuing evening in the chapel adjoining the +castle of Wolfspring. She turned round to him with a passionate cry of +pain, and as if to implore him to release her from her rash vow, but +he had gone--disappeared as suddenly as if the earth had opened and +swallowed him. + +Marguerite arose with a sense of unutterable horror weighing her +down. On entering the castle she was observed to be weeping, and her +relations vainly endeavoured to ascertain the cause of her uneasiness; +but the tremendous oath she had sworn completely paralysed her +faculties, and she was fearful of betraying herself by even the +slightest intonation of her voice or the least variable expression of +her countenance. When the evening was concluded the family retired to +rest; but Marguerite, who was unable to sleep, owing to the troubled +state of her mind, requested to be allowed to remain alone in the +library that adjoined her apartment. + +Midnight came; every domestic had long since retired to rest, and the +only sound that could be distinguished was the sullen howl of the +ban-dog as he bayed the waning moon. Marguerite remained in the library +in an attitude of deep meditation. The lamp that burnt on the table +where she sat was dying away, and the lower end of the apartment was +already more than half obscured. The clock from the northern angle of +the castle tolled out the hour of twelve, and the sound echoed dismally +in the solemn stillness of the night. Suddenly the oaken door at the +farther end of the room was gently lifted on its latch, and a bloodless +figure, apparelled in the habiliments of the grave, advanced slowly +up the apartment. No sound heralded its approach, as it moved with +noiseless steps to the table where the lady was stationed. She did not +at first perceive it, till she felt a death-cold hand fast grasped in +her own, and heard a solemn voice whisper in her ear, ‘Marguerite.’ +She looked up; a dark figure was standing beside her. She endeavoured +to scream, but her voice was unequal to the exertion; her eyes were +fixed, as if by magic, on the form, which slowly removed the garb that +concealed its countenance, and disclosed the livid eyes and skeleton +shape of her father. It seemed to gaze on her with pity and regret, and +mournfully exclaimed, ‘Marguerite, the dresses and the servants are +ready, the church bell has tolled, and the priest is at the altar, but +where is the affianced bride? There is room for her in the grave, and +to-morrow shall she be with me.’ + +‘To-morrow?’ faltered out the distracted girl. + +‘The spirits of hell shall have registered it,’ answered the spirit, +‘and to-morrow must the bond be cancelled.’ The figure ceased, slowly +retired, and disappeared. + +The morning--evening--arrived; and already, as the clock struck eight, +Marguerite was on her road to the chapel. It was a dark, gloomy night; +thick masses of dun clouds sailed across the firmament; and the roar of +the winter wind echoed awfully through the forest trees. She reached +the appointed place; a figure was in waiting for her; it advanced, and +disclosed the features of the count. ‘Why! this is well, my bride,’ he +exclaimed, with a sneer; ‘and well will I repay your fondness. Follow +me.’ They proceeded together in silence through the winding avenues +of the chapel, until they reached the adjoining cemetery. Here they +paused for an instant; and the count, in a softened tone, said, ‘But +one hour more, and the struggle will be over. And yet this heart of +incarnate malice can feel when it devotes so young, so pure a spirit to +the grave. But it must--it must be,’ he proceeded, as the memory of her +love for him rushed through his mind; ‘for the fiend whom I obey has so +willed it. Poor girl, I am leading you indeed to our nuptials; but the +priest will be death, thy parents the mouldering skeletons that rot in +heaps around, and the witnesses of our union the lazy worms that revel +on the rotting bones of the dead. Come, my young bride, the priest is +impatient for his victim.’ As they proceeded a dim blue light moved +swiftly before them, and displayed at the extremity of the churchyard +the portals of a vault. It was open, and they entered it in silence. +The hollow wind came rushing through the gloomy abode of the dead; and +on every side were piled the mouldering remnants of coffins, which +dropped piece by piece upon the damp earth. Every step they took was +on a dead body, and the bleached bones rattled horribly beneath their +feet. In the centre of the vault rose a heap of unburied skeletons, +whereon was seated a figure too awful even for the darkest imagination +to conceive. As they approached it the hollow vault rung with a hellish +peal of laughter; and every mouldering corpse seemed endued with +unearthly life. The count paused, and as he grasped his victim in one +hand, one sigh burst from his heart--one tear glistened in his eye. It +was but for an instant; the figure frowned awfully at his vacillation, +and waved his gaunt hand. + +The count advanced; he made certain mystic circles in the air, uttered +unearthly words, and paused in excess of terror. On a sudden he raised +his voice, and wildly exclaimed, ‘Spouse of the spirit of darkness, +a few moments are yet yours; you may know to whom you have consigned +yourself. I am the undying spirit of the wretch who cursed his Saviour +on the Cross. He looked at me in the closing hour of His existence, +and that look has not yet passed away, for I am cursed above all on +earth. I am eternally condemned to hell, and must cater for my master’s +taste till the world is parched as is a scroll, and the heavens and the +earth have passed away. I am he of whom you may have read, and of whose +feats you may have heard. A million souls has my master condemned me to +ensnare, and then my penance is accomplished, and I may know the repose +of the grave. You are the thousandth soul that I have damned. I saw +you in your hour of purity, and I marked you at once for my own. Your +father I killed for his temerity, and permitted him to warn you of your +fate; and yourself have I beguiled for your simplicity. Ha! the spell +works bravely, and you shall soon see, my sweet one, to whom you have +linked your undying fortunes, for as long as the seasons shall move on +their course of nature--as long as the lightning shall flash, and the +thunders roll--your penance shall be eternal. Look below and see to +what you are destined.’ + +She looked, with a sense of unutterable horror freezing the very blood +in her veins. The vault split in a thousand different directions; the +earth yawned asunder; and the roar of mighty waters was heard. A living +ocean of molten fire glowed in the abyss beneath her, and blending with +the shrieks of the damned and the triumphant shouts of the fiends, +rendered horror more horrible than imagination. Ten millions of souls +were writhing in the fiery flames, and as the boiling billows dashed +them against the blackened rocks of adamant, they cursed with the +blasphemies of despair, and each curse echoed in thunder across the +wave. The count rushed towards his victim. For an instant he held her +over the burning lake, looked fondly in her face, and wept as if he +were a child. This was but the impulse of a moment; again he grasped +her in his arms, strained her to his bosom passionately, as if some +finer emotion had overcome him; then, with a wild and sudden movement, +he dashed her from him to the ground, and as she fell, paralysed and +dying at his feet, he exclaimed fiercely, ‘Not mine is the crime, but +the religion you profess; for is it not said in that religion that +there is a fire of eternity prepared for the souls of the wicked, and +have you not deserved its torments? Had you spurned me at the first +hour we met, when I sought your destruction, you would have been saved. +But you were weak, and though good men and true sought to woo you, you +would not listen to them, but threw yourself into my arms, stranger +though I was.’ + +Stooping with these words he raised her insensible form as easily as +if she had been a child, poised her for an instant above his head, and +then, with an awful imprecation, he hurled her from him. Her delicate +form bounded from rock to rock, and the chorus of a thousand voices +seemed to shake the very earth in a fierce exultant cry. Then the tomb +closed. A darkness as of death fell, and a strange silence followed. +For a few minutes the count stood like a statue, a pale blue lambent +flame playing about him, until suddenly he turned, the light faded, he +drew his cloak about him, and went forth into the darkness, and was +seen no more. + +From that day the inhabitants of Wolfspring fled in horror from the +accursed spot, and the castle gradually crumbled into ruins. Nothing +now remains but a heap of grass-grown stones, where in summer time +the forest adder glides. The peasant passes the place with a shudder; +and around the wood fires on a winter night the humble forest folk +will recall the story, current for generations, of the Fair Maid of +Wolfspring and the Mysterious Count. + + + + +VII + +THE WHITE RAVEN + +THE STORY AS TOLD BY LYDIA STAINSBY. + + +It was generally said of my father--who was a son of the late Sir John +Mark Stainsby--that he was somewhat of an oddity. He certainly had +original ideas, and it was a favourite remark of his that he did not +care to baa, because the great family of human sheep baaed in chorus. +It was due, no doubt, to this faculty of originality that he became +the owner of Moorland Grange, which was situated on the edge of wild +Dartmoor. My father was a widower; I was his only daughter, but I had +four brothers, and I doubt if any girl’s brothers were more devoted to +her than mine were to me. We were a very united family, and had for +many years resided in London, and as my father had ample means we found +life very enjoyable. I was considered to be an exceedingly fortunate +young woman. My friends all too flatteringly told me I was beautiful, +and I know that when I looked into my mirror the reflection that met +my gaze was certainly not one to make me shudder. Of course this was +vanity, but then that is a woman’s especial privilege, and so I don’t +intend to make any apology for the remark, for I am quite sure that I +never was a plain-looking girl. + +When my father purchased Moorland Grange I was just turned twenty years +of age, and was looking forward with eager pleasure--what girl does +not?--to my marriage with one of the dearest and most devoted of men. +His name was Herbert Wilton. By profession he was a civil engineer, +and for some time he had been in the Brazils, surveying for a new line +of railroad which an English company had undertaken to construct. +Herbert’s engagement had nearly expired, and we were to be married on +the New Year’s Day following his return. + +My father had some relatives in Devonshire; he was exceedingly fond of +that part of the country. And on one occasion, after having been on a +visit there, he said: + +‘Lydia, how would you like to go and live in Devonshire?’ + +I told him that hardly anything could give me greater pleasure, and +then he astonished me by telling me that he had bought one of the +‘queerest, tumble-down, romantic, ghost-haunted old houses imaginable.’ +It was known as ‘Moorland Grange,’ and he had got it for, as he said, +‘an old song,’ as it had been without a tenant for twenty-five years. +The cause of this was, as I learnt, mainly attributable to an evil +reputation it had acquired, owing to a remarkable murder that had been +committed in the house at some remote period. That at least was the +current legend, and it certainly affected the interests of the owners +of the property. It was another instance of the truth of the adage +about giving a dog a bad name. This house had got a bad name, and +people shunned it as they might have shunned a leper. For some time the +estate had been in Chancery, and as no purchaser could be found for +it, my father had been able to secure it at a ridiculously low figure, +and he intended--as he told me cheerfully--to purge it of its evil +reputation. + +At this time only my two younger brothers--who were mere boys--were at +home, the others being in India; and so they, my father and I, with +three servants, started for Moorland Grange, so as to get it in order, +as we intended to reside there permanently. + +The time of year was April, and the nearest station to the Grange was +Tavistock, where we arrived about five in the afternoon, on as wild, +bleak, and windy a day as our fickle and varying climate is capable of +giving us even in tearful April. From the station we had a drive of +over three miles. My father had deputed an old man named Jack Bewdley +to meet us with a trap. Jack had been promised work on our new estate +as handy man, woodcutter, or anything else in which he could be useful. +He had nearly reached the allotted span, and was gnarled and twisted +like an ancient oak. Born and bred in the neighbourhood of Dartmoor, he +had never been fifty miles away from his native place in his life. He +was a blunt, rugged, honest rustic, very superstitious and very simple: +and as soon as he saw me he exclaimed, as he opened his bleared old +eyes to their fullest capacity: + +‘By goom, miss, but you be powerful handsome! I hope as how you won’t +be a seeing of the White Raven in th’ owd Grange.’ + +This compliment made me blush, and I asked him what the White Raven +was, whereupon he looked very melancholy, and answered: + +‘Ah, I woan’t be the chap to make your pretty face white wi’ fright, so +doan’t ye ask me, please.’ + +As I was in no way a nervous or superstitious girl, I was amused rather +than otherwise at old Jack’s mysterious air, and I did not question +him further then, as I felt pretty sure when we had become better +acquainted he would be more communicative. We reached the Grange after +a very cold and windy drive. The day was done, but there was just light +enough lingering in the angry sky to outline the place in ghostly +silhouette. It was a house of many gables, with all sorts of angles +and projecting eaves, and a grotesque gothic porch that was approached +by a flight of steps with stone balustrades. The whole building was +covered with a mantling of dense ivy, which obscured the windows and +hung down in ragged streamers, that swayed and rasped mournfully in the +chill wind. All around were gloomy woods, and the garden was a forlorn +wilderness of rank weeds. Old Jack’s wife had got a few of the rooms +cleaned out for our immediate use, and some furniture had been sent in, +so that we were enabled to make ourselves tolerably comfortable on this +the first night in our strange abode. + +The next day I set to work with my brothers to explore the house, +and soon I was quite able to endorse my father’s opinion that it was +the queerest, oddest, most romantic and ghostly place imaginable. I +have already said that I was neither nervous nor superstitious, but +I honestly confess that the rambling, draughty, echoing building +quite depressed me. The Grange was said to be over 400 years old, +though in some respects it had been modernised; nevertheless it was +full of surprises in the shape of nooks and corners, deep, dark +recesses, strange angles, dimly-lighted passages, winding staircases, +and wainscoted and raftered rooms. One of these rooms was long and +narrow, tapering away at one end almost to a point. The walls were +wainscoted right to the ceiling, and the ceiling itself panelled with +oak. There was a wide open fireplace, and a very massive carved mantel. +Two diamond-paned windows lighted the room, one of the windows being +filled in with blue and red glass. But at this time the windows were so +obscured by the hanging ivy that we had to cut it away to let in the +light. I became greatly interested in this antique chamber, and in a +spirit of fun and ridicule I at once dubbed it ‘the haunted chamber,’ +and declared I would use it as my bedroom. Afterwards, when talking +about it to my father, I said laughingly: + +‘If that room, pa, hasn’t got a ghost, it will have to have one, and we +must invent one for it.’ + +‘Oh,’ he added, ‘according to old Jack Bewdley that’s the room where +the White Raven shows itself.’ + +A little later I went to Jack, who was busy trying to clear some of the +weeds away from the long-neglected grounds, and I said to him: + +‘Look here, Bewdley, what’s this story about the White Raven? Come, +now, you must tell me.’ + +He paused in his work, leaned his grizzled chin on the handle of his +spade, and as a scared look spread itself over his shrivelled face, he +answered me thus: + +‘There be zum foak in these parts, miss, as vow they’ve seen th’ White +Raven, and they doa say as how them as sees it dies within th’ week. +But I doan’t know if them as said they’ve seen it died or not.’ + +‘Have you seen it, Jack,’ I asked, trying to look very serious, though +I could scarcely keep from laughing. + +‘Noa, noa, thank God, noa!’ he exclaimed with startling earnestness, +and mopping his bald head with his red handkerchief, although the +weather was cold, while his tanned and weather-beaten cheeks seemed to +me to become pale. Then he asked, ‘Have you been in what we foak call +the oak chamber?’ + +Guessing what room he referred to I told him that I had, and he at once +said that it was in that chamber that the mysterious White Raven always +showed itself to the doomed person. + +Of course I was incredulous, and ridiculed the whole idea; nor can I +say I was more deeply impressed when on a subsequent and more critical +examination of the chamber I found the following doggerel carved in old +English on one of the panels-- + + The stranger who beneath this roof shall lie, + And sees the White Raven is sure to die; + For a curse rests on the unhallowed place, + And the blood that was shed you here may trace. + So, stranger, beware, sleep not in the room, + Lest you should meet with a terrible doom. + +From people in the neighbouring villages I learned that in this very +room, which I had been prompted to call the haunted chamber, tradition +said that at some distant period a very beautiful lady had been +brutally done to death by a jealous and dissipated husband, who gave +out that she had eloped. He allowed her body to fester and moulder away +in the room, and many years afterwards her skeleton was found, and that +since then she had haunted the place in the shape of a white raven, +while to anyone to whom she appeared it was a fatal sign. But why that +should have been so nobody attempted to explain. + +Now I will honestly confess that the gruesomeness of the story--which, +however, I did not believe in its entirety--so far affected me that I +changed my mind about occupying the room myself, and my father said he +would take it for his own bedroom. But he also, for some reason or +other, did not occupy it, although it was made into a most luxurious +sleeping apartment. In the course of a few weeks the Grange began to +present a very different appearance, and where gloom and melancholy had +reigned, cheerfulness and light spread themselves. Under the fostering +care of three or four gardeners the gardens blazed with flowers; some +of the timber that encroached too much on the house was cut away, and +the windows of the building were cleared of the ivy. I came at last +to love the old place, for it was so bizarre, so unlike anything else +I had ever seen: and in spite of all the predictions and croakings of +the ignorant peasantry round about, who declared that sooner or later +the curse which had affected everyone who had ever lived there since +the poor lady was murdered would affect us, we were very comfortable +and very happy. The summer lingered long that year, but the autumn was +short, and winter set in with quite startling suddenness; by the end of +the first week in December snow began to fall, and it continued snowing +more or less for several days until the country round about was buried. + +During all the year I had been pining for my love, who came not, +although I knew that he was on his way home. But he had remained in +Brazil longer than he intended, owing to the death from yellow fever of +one of the surveying party, so that Herbert had been induced to renew +his engagement for another six months, to do the dead man’s work. With +painful suspense and anxiety I had for days been scanning the papers +for a report of the vessel which was bearing him to me, for she was +overdue, but the weather at sea had been fearful, and old seamen said +that vessels making for the Channel would have a hard time of it. As +she was to call at Plymouth I persuaded my father to take me there in +order that we might welcome Herbert as soon as ever he touched English +soil again. As papa denied me nothing, he readily consented to this, +but it was not until three days before Christmas that the welcome news +came to me that the vessel had entered the Sound. + +Need I dwell upon the joy I experienced when, after our long +separation, I felt Herbert’s dear arms around me once more. How +handsome and manly he looked! The sun had tanned him brown, the fine +sea voyage home had braced him up after the enervating Brazilian +climate, and he declared that he had never been in better health in +his life. He was possessed of a wonderful constitution, and during the +whole time he had been in Brazil had never had a day’s illness. + +Of course I told him that, selfish as it seemed, I was going to keep +him for Christmas Day, and on New Year’s Day I was to become his +bride, according to the long prior arrangement. He said that it was +necessary for him to go to London to see his friends and to make +some preparations, but he promised that he would be with me again on +Christmas Eve. And so I parted from him, and as we were to meet again +so soon, and in less than a fortnight he was to be my husband, I was +verily at that moment one of the happiest girls alive. + +As my father was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of old-fashioned +English hospitality he generally kept open house at Christmas time, +and this being our first Christmas at the Grange we had a large number +of visitors, so that the house was quite full. In order that Herbert, +when he came, might be fittingly bestowed as the bridegroom-elect, we +decided that he should occupy the haunted chamber, for it certainly was +the best sleeping room in the house; and though some silly and unusual +nervousness--as I believed then--had prevented my occupying it as I +intended, neither I nor my father attached the slightest importance to +the supernatural stories current in the district. With my own hands +I arranged the room for Herbert, filling it with nick-nacks and odds +and ends, and everything I could think of that was likely to give him +pleasure or add to his comfort. + +Christmas Eve of that year was marked by a snowstorm such as, the +country people said, had not been known for forty years. The train +that brought my love from London was very late, and I had become quite +anxious, but all anxiety was forgotten when I helped him to divest +himself of his snow-laden topcoat in the hall, and taking me in his +arms he kissed me in his hearty, cheery way. We were a very jovial +party, and that night was a happy, gladsome night, the memory of which +will never leave me. Nor shall I ever forget dear Herbert’s words, as +he kissed me good-night on the stairs as the great hall clock struck +one. + +‘Darling little woman,’ he whispered, ‘what joy, what happiness, what +ecstasy, to think that in a week’s time you will belong to me!’ + +I had no words. I could only sigh in token of the supreme happiness +that filled my heart to overflowing. + +Christmas morning broke bright, clear, and beautiful. The snow had +ceased to fall, and a hard frost had set in. It was veritable Canadian +weather--crisp, crystalline, and invigorating. As soon as breakfast was +over Herbert took me on one side and said: + +‘You know, Lydia, I am about one of the most practical men that you +could find in a day’s march, and hitherto I have been without, as I +believe, a scrap of superstition in my composition. But, by Jove! +after last night’s experience I’ll be hanged if I don’t believe with +Shakespeare that there are more things in heaven and earth than are +dreamt of in our philosophy.’ + +At these words I turned deadly pale. I scarcely knew why, but such was +the case, and I gasped out: + +‘What--what do you mean?’ + +‘Well,’ he answered, with a laugh that wasn’t sincere, for it was +obviously forced, ‘I believe that room in which I slept is positively +haunted.’ + +Now, I may state here that not a word of any kind had been mentioned to +Herbert about the stories that were current with regard to the house. +Both my father and I had resolved that the subject should be strictly +avoided, so that none of our lady guests might be alarmed. As he spoke, +I looked up into his brown face, and I saw that it was filled with a +puzzled and troubled expression, while his splendid eyes had an unusual +expression in them. + +‘Tell me,’ I said quickly, ‘what did you see or hear?’ + +‘Oh, don’t let us talk about it,’ he answered lightly. ‘Perhaps, after +all, I have simply been dreaming.’ + +‘Yes, yes--tell me--you must tell me, Herbert,’ I exclaimed. ‘You know +that I am strong-nerved.’ + +He seemed to hesitate; but laughing again, though it was the same +forced laugh, he said: + +‘Well, the fact is, if ever I saw a raven in my life, I saw one last +night, only it was white.’ + +At this I almost fainted, and he caught me by the arm. I made a +desperate effort, however, and recovered myself. + +‘Go on; tell me all about it,’ I said peremptorily. + +And the sum and substance of what he told me was this. He had seen +a white raven, or what appeared to be a white raven, flying round +and round the room. It made no noise, which amazed him and, as he +confessed, startled him. He tried to catch this mysterious and +noiseless bird, but it had no substantiality--it was an airy phantom; +but once or twice, when he appeared to grasp it, a deep groan and sigh +broke upon his ears. + +Although a strange fear seemed to turn my heart cold, I endeavoured not +to show it, nor could I bring myself to tell my lover of the tradition +so common all over the country side about the murdered lady and the +White Raven. + +If the extraordinary apparition had any real effect on Herbert, he soon +shook it off, and his hearty ringing laughter made music in the house, +and his eyes were filled again with the old look of love with which +they always greeted me. It had been arranged that the gentlemen were to +form a shooting party, to go out on to the moor and try and bag some +wild ducks. At first I was disposed to dissuade Herbert from going--ah, +would that I had done so!--but it seemed to me weak and foolish. +Moreover, he was so anxious to go for the novelty of the thing, and so +I whispered in his ear as he was standing on the steps: + +‘Take care of yourself, love, for my sake.’ + +‘Of course I will, darling; and you do the same,’ he answered cheerily. + +I watched his manly form until he was hidden from my sight by the +trees. He looked splendid in his perfect health, and his magnificent +physique was set off to every possible advantage by the superb coat of +Russian sable that he wore. How proud I felt of him! for truly he was a +man to be proud of. + +Three hours later the party returned, minus Herbert. They said he had +got separated from them in some way, and they quite thought he had come +back. Although a sense of something being wrong overcame me for the +moment, I tried to think that it was simply nervousness. Of course, +the gentlemen at once hurried back to the moor, and when they came +again they brought my lover mangled and shattered, and, as it seemed +then, in the agony of death. Oh, my God! how awful it was! I thought +I should have gone raving mad. It appears that Herbert had been found +in a hollow, whither he had fallen by the breaking away of the snow +under his feet. In his fall he had not only fractured an arm and some +of his ribs, but his gun had gone off full in his face, and, besides +disfiguring him frightfully, had destroyed both his eyes. + +It can be imagined what a terrible shock it was to the household, +and how the joy and mirth were turned to lamentations and moaning. +Doctors were procured, but they pronounced the sufferer’s condition as +critical; they left us no room to hope that the sight would be restored +under any circumstances. + +Ah, what a fearful dark Christmas that became to me! I think in my +agony of mind I cursed my fate, my God; and how I hated the house, and +shuddered as I thought of the horrible room where my beloved had seen +the strange apparition of the White Raven. + +Up to a short time previously, it would have been difficult to have +found a girl more sceptical than I was about anything that savoured of +superstition; but now I was filled with a strange dread, and feared my +own shadow. + +When I saw old Jack for the first time after the accident, he said to +me: + +‘Is it true, miss, that Meester Wilton’s been asleeping in the haunted +room?’ + +‘Yes, Jack; it is,’ I answered, in heartbroken tones. + +‘Then, maybe, he’s seen the White Raven?’ + +‘He has,’ I replied; whereupon I thought the old man would have fallen +down in a fit, so scared did he seem; and he mumbled out: + +‘God bless us and preserve us all! I wouldn’t sleep in that room, miss, +not if Queen Victoriey was to give me her golden crown. That there +room, miss, ought to be shut up, and no one ever allowed to go anigh it +agen.’ + +The shadow that had so suddenly and cruelly fallen upon us rendered +the Christmas festivities out of the question, and most of the guests +sorrowfully departed the following day. Many long weeks ensued--dark, +torturing weeks to me, for my loved one was suspended, as it were, by +a single hair over that profound abyss into which all living atoms +finally fall, and from which no sound ever comes to break the mystery. +But if they were dark weeks to me, how much, how infinitely, how +unspeakably darker to him who, in the pride of his manhood, had been +deprived of the power of ever again beholding the wonders of God’s +creation. And yet he murmured not, nor uttered complaint nor groan. To +me the one consolation I had in this hideous calamity was being near +him, being able to tend him, and hear his voice, which had lost none of +its old cheerfulness. Slowly, very slowly, as the summer drifted by, he +began to regain some of his lost strength, and we led him out beneath +the trees and into the sunlight, though it was ever, ever night to him, +for not a glimmer of vision remained. And as I looked at his sightless +orbs and his maimed and torn face, from which no human power could +banish the cruel and ghastly scars, I hated the Grange with a hate that +hath no words. + +One day he asked to be taken to where my father was, and, putting his +arm in mine, we entered my father’s presence. + +‘Mr. Stainsby,’ he began, with an attempt at a smile, ‘I am not +quite the same man I was when I came here last Christmas. But in my +misfortune an angel has watched over me in the person of your daughter, +who, but for this mishap, would now have been my wife. She has brought +me out of the shadow of the grave, and I owe a duty to her no less than +to you. That duty is to release her from all promises and vows, and +leave her perfectly free to bestow her heart on someone who is whole +and sound. I am now but a battered wreck, and all I can hope for is to +break up soon and drift away into the great and mysterious ocean of +eternal silence. But let me ask you, sir, to see to it that the man +upon whom you bestow your daughter is as near perfection as a man may +come; for no more perfect woman than she is walks the world. I have +nothing more to add further than, in such poor words as well up from my +stricken heart, to thank you for your hospitality.’ + +He had tried so hard to be strong and collected, and show no sign of +the awful despair that was crushing him. But is the man born who could +go through such an ordeal unmoved? His lips quivered, his voice grew +weak, and something like a spasm caught his breath. + +My own eyes were filled with blinding, scalding tears, and my heart +fluttered like the wing of a bird in pain. Gliding over to where he +stood, I placed my arms about his neck, and laying my cheek against his +scarred face, I found voice to say to my father, who was also deeply +affected and moved: + +‘Father, the man whom Herbert would have you choose for me need be +sought no further than this room. He is here. My heart beats to his +heart; my face is pressed to his.’ + +My father came to us. He laid one hand on Herbert’s shoulder, and the +other on my head; and thus he spoke: + +‘A woman’s love that clings not to a man when calamity overtakes him is +worthless. Freely do I bestow her upon you, Herbert, if it is her wish +and your wish that you should be united.’ + +‘My husband,’ I murmured, as I clung closer to him, and it was my only +answer. + +Herbert tried to persuade me that it was to my happiness and my +interest to abandon him; but he might as well have tried to convince +the winds of heaven that they should not blow. Externally the Herbert +as I had first known him had changed. His handsome face was handsome no +longer, and his wondrous eyes were sightless for ever. But his heart +was the same. What could change that--the bravest, truest, tenderest +that ever beat in man’s breast? And so ere the next Christmas had +dawned I was Herbert’s wife, and soon after that my father abandoned +the accursed Grange to the gloom and the silence and the melancholy +from which he had reclaimed it, and a little later it was burned to the +ground. We never knew how the fire originated; but it was generally +supposed that some of the superstitious people in the neighbourhood +wilfully set it alight, under the impression that a place that was +accursed by the spilling of human blood should no longer be allowed to +encumber the earth. When I heard of its destruction I confess that I +rejoiced, and I said to myself: + +‘Never again will the White Raven bring calamity to a household as it +has brought to ours.’ + +For five years I walked with my husband in his darkness, and let +him see the world through my eyes. Two children blessed--literally +blessed--our union, a girl and a boy. But my beloved husband never +fully recovered from the shock of the awful accident on that dark and +memorable Christmas Day; and, though he uttered no moan, his blindness +preyed upon his mind, and a short, brief illness took him from me. + +For long years the grass has waved over his grave. Other men have +praised my face and sought my hand; but to all I have turned a deaf +ear, for my love was buried in Herbert’s grave. But in my son the +father lives again, and when I gaze upon his handsome face and splendid +figure, I feel that God is very good, and that He chastens us to make +us more perfect in His sight. + + + + +VIII + +WITH FIRE AND DEATH + +A STORY OF A GREAT DEED. + + What though the field be lost? + All is not lost; th’ unconquerable will, + And study of revenge, immortal hate, + And courage never to submit or yield. + + +The scene of this story is Meerut, the time May Day, 1857, a year in +which England’s hold on India was well nigh shaken off. Meerut is +situated on a plain, and lies forty miles or so to the north and east +of Delhi. It is bounded on the east by the Ganges and on the west by +the Jumna, and covers an area of, roughly speaking, about five miles +in circumference. In the fateful ’57 it was one of the most important +military stations, and the largest cantonment in British India. A great +wall, or esplanade, which in its turn was cut in two by a deep nullah, +divided the town into two separate parallelograms, one of which was +occupied by the European force, the other by the natives. + +The hot day--and Meerut is hot--had closed, and the short Indian +twilight had given place to a night of exceeding beauty. A refreshing +breeze was blowing from the east, and the moon burnished with a sheen +that was almost dazzling the domes of the numerous mosques, and threw +into silhouette relief the palms and cocoa trees, and the masses of +native huts. The majority of the European population were taking their +airing as was customary after the sun had set, and the ‘Park Road’ +was a scene of gaiety. Strings of vehicles, numberless horsemen, and +crowds of natives moved to and fro. The air was filled with the murmur +of many voices; the laughter of women, the sweet prattle of children, +and wafted on the breeze came the monotonous sounds of tom-toms, and +the wail-like singing of groups of natives as they prepared their +suppers over the open braziers of charcoal that scented the atmosphere +with its fumes. Abutting on the Park Road, and commanding a wide and +extensive view, was a handsome bungalow surrounded with a well kept +garden. On the verandah were a party of ladies and gentlemen. The men +were military men, and the ladies were their relatives, and playing +about on the verandah, under the care of an old ayah, was a sweet +English child, fragile, and white of face, as most English children +are who are born in India, but of an exquisite beauty that promised a +magnificent womanhood. But though well and hearty then, that dear child +was in a few days to be lying dead, gashed and hacked almost beyond +recognition. From the roof of the verandah a swinging lamp threw a soft +light over the little group seated in a semicircle, with small tables +before them, on which were glasses and the inevitable brandy pawnee. +Two silent khitmurgars stood like dusky statues ready to obey the +slightest order given by their master or mistress. + +This bungalow was the home of an officer whom it is only necessary to +refer to as the colonel. The sweet child playing there was his only +daughter, and one of the ladies, whose beautiful face was clouded with +an expression that might be described as half fear, half anxiety, was +his wife. All the colonel’s male companions were officers, one of +them being Lieutenant George Willoughby, of the Ordnance Commissariat +Department. He was a young man, but was the officer in charge of the +great Delhi magazine. He looked every inch a soldier, and his face +expressed determination and force of character. Lounging there in +a large chair, toying with a fragrant cigar, and apparently deeply +interested in watching the little volumes of smoke curl upward as he +puffed them from under his moustache, his legs crossed, his head +thrown back, and one arm hanging listlessly over the rail of the chair, +he was the picture of a quiet, unobtrusive English gentleman. But a +slight study of the face would have convinced anyone that beneath that +calm exterior lay a tremendous latent power that once aroused could be +terrible and deadly to his enemies, and that this was really the case +was soon to be amply proved. + +Another of the group was a still younger man, handsome as Apollo, and +with a frame that seemed to be knit with steel. Although younger his +military rank was equal to Willoughby’s, for he too was a lieutenant +of the Bengal Artillery, and was also stationed at Delhi. His name +was Richard Shelton, and, like his friend and colleague, he had a +pronounced soldierly bearing, and his fine bright blue eyes, of the +true English type, and his clear cut features and firm mouth, spoke of +a frank, open, loyal, and brave nature. + +These two officers and friends had ridden over that afternoon from +Delhi on a visit to their friend, the colonel, with the object of +discussing the portentous signs of the times, for the air was filled +with rumours, and mutiny had displayed itself. Discontent was rampant +in the native regiments, and the question was to what extent would it +go? If there were those amongst the British who read the handwriting +on the wall with ill-concealed alarm, it is none the less true that +the majority of the officers in Upper India were rather disposed to +laugh these fears to scorn. For with the almost fatuous self-reliance +peculiar to the English, they believed they were powerful enough to +hold their own against any number of natives. With one exception, +perhaps, all the gentlemen there belonged to the first category. The +exception was Richard Shelton. He was young, and had but recently +received his promotion, and not only was he endowed with an unusual +share of animal spirits, but he was of a sanguine, almost enthusiastic +temperament, and moreover he was in love. On the first blush that may +seem a reason why he should have been more anxious, but love is ever +hopeful, and indisposed to look on the gloomy side of things. At any +rate, being full of the fire of youth, and not having yet acquired the +staid wisdom of his elders, young Shelton did not trouble himself much +about what the morrow or the next week might bring forth. Very likely, +if somebody had said to him-- + +‘I say, Shelton, old fellow, if the natives were to rise what would you +do?’ This answer would have come with a ringing laugh--‘Why, go for +them, and smash them. What else would you have me do?’ + +The young lady with whom Shelton was in love was the colonel’s niece, +Blanche Merton, an orphan girl of great beauty, and the colonel’s +ward. She had only come out to India a year before as governess to her +cousin--the colonel’s daughter. Blanche had been born and had spent +most of her life in one of the sweetest and breeziest of Hampshire +villages, and she had not resided long enough in India to become jaded +and enervated by the climate, which, in course of time, insidiously +undermines the constitutions of white women. A handsomer couple, and a +couple more suited to each other than Lieutenant Shelton and Blanche +Merton, could not have been found in the whole of British India. They +had known each other eight months, and been desperately in love nearly +the whole time. The conversation of the little party had flagged +somewhat, but suddenly Willoughby asked in a preoccupied way: + +‘What is going to be the upshot of matters, colonel, do you think?’ + +This question had reference to the mutinous spirit that had shown +itself. There had been a parade on the 24th of April, when eighty-five +out of ninety men had mutinied, and that very week, beginning with the +1st of May, they were to be tried, and the cantonment was accordingly +greatly excited. + +‘Well,’ answered the colonel, thoughtfully, as he stroked his moustache +and twirled his cigar between his long white fingers, ‘the prisoners +will be convicted on the clearest of evidence, and exemplary punishment +meted out to them.’ + +‘And what after that?’ asked Willoughby, significantly. + +‘Ah, that remains to be seen. I think and hope we are strong enough to +hold our own, but if there was a general rising, that is about all we +could do, and might succumb unless succour was speedily sent to us.’ + +This remark had rather a depressing effect, and there was silence +again; but Blanche had gone into the house for something, and Shelton, +thinking only of her, and how entrancingly beautiful she looked in her +white gauze dress, and with the bunch of Indian roses in her dark hair, +had slipped away after her. + +Presently Willoughby said: ‘Yes, we might hold our own for a time--a +short time, but it’s no use blinking the fact, we are weak in numbers.’ + +‘It seems to me,’ returned the colonel, with the same thoughtful air, +‘that you in Delhi are worse off than we are.’ + +‘True,’ said Willoughby, with a bitter little laugh, ‘for the first +thing the mutineers would do if they got the upper hand would be to +endeavour to loot the magazine to obtain the vast supplies of the +munitions of war that we’ve got there.’ + +‘It would be a terrible thing if they should succeed in doing that,’ +put in the colonel’s wife, and shuddering as she spoke. + +‘It would,’ answered Willoughby, quietly. + +‘And there are such a few of you to guard the magazine,’ added the lady. + +‘Very few,’ said Willoughby in the same quiet way. Then, after a pause, +he continued with a significant emphasis, ‘But, nevertheless, I don’t +think if all the regiments here and in Delhi were to mutiny they would +obtain possession of the magazine while I am in charge.’ + +‘Why not?’ asked the colonel’s wife. + +‘Because I would blow it up if I found that I couldn’t hold the place,’ +was the quiet but impressively emphatic answer. + +‘Well, well,’ said the colonel, wishing to change the subject, for he +saw that it was affecting the ladies, ‘it won’t come to that. We may +have a little trouble, but we shall get over it. Any mutinous spirit +will be put down with an iron hand. Besides, I really don’t think the +natives generally have any bad feeling for us.’ + +Backwards and forwards along the road went a continuous stream of +natives--Hindoos and Brahmins, high caste and low caste--mingling +freely with the Europeans. And could the colonel at that moment have +read the hearts that beat beneath those dusky skins he would have seen +how grievously in error he was, for the hatred and loathing for the +Feringhees were all but universal. And, though ‘white-robed peace’ +seemed to smile on all that fair scene, there was beneath a seething +mass of discontent, only wanting a tiny vent as a beginning, when the +whole mine might explode and spread desolation and ruin throughout +India. But little did any of those ladies and gentlemen sitting on that +verandah that hot May night dream of the volcano beneath their feet, +and least of all did Shelton and Blanche trouble themselves with the +portents in the air. These two young people, so full of life and health +and hope, were building castles in the air and dreaming of the day that +should see them united. + +There was a considerable pause again in the conversation, and then +Willoughby, in that quiet, emphatic way of his which was well +calculated to carry conviction, remarked in answer to what the colonel +had just said: + +‘I don’t altogether agree with you, colonel. My impression is the +natives hate us heartily, and if they can but get the chance will sweep +us out of the land.’ + +‘Ah, yes, if they can but get the chance,’ replied his host. ‘But +there’s the point. They will not get the chance.’ + +In a few minutes a khitmurgar came to announce that tea was served, +and the ladies and gentlemen went into the house, but the child +still played about, and the ayah remained. She was squatted down in +one corner of the verandah enjoying a few draws of a hubble-bubble. +The khitmurgars who had been waiting on the colonel and his party +commenced to clear the tables of the glasses and bottles; and one of +the men, a stern, sullen-looking fellow, said to the other: + +‘Heard you, Jewan, what these Feringhee dogs said?’ + +‘Some of it, Meerza,’ returned the man addressed. ‘But I understand not +so much of their hateful language as you.’ + +‘Well, the colonel sahib says we don’t hate his countrymen.’ + +Here the two men broke into a scornful laugh, and Jewan remarked: + +‘Poor fool. Ere the moon has waned he may have learnt differently. If +all goes well, the blood of all the white devils in Meerut shall dye +the streets, and even the Gunga over there shall run red with it. Shiva +the Destroyer has willed it, and it will be as I say.’ + +‘What is that you say, Jewan?’ asked the little girl, who had been +arrested in her play by the words that fell from the man’s lips. Her +question caused him to turn upon her with a look so wild and so full of +fierce hatred that she screamed and rushed towards her nurse. The ayah +sprang up and caught her in her arms, saying soothingly: + +‘What is it, Missy Baba? What has frightened the pet lamb?’ + +‘Oh! ayah, Jewan looks so dreadful he has frightened me.’ + +Alarmed by the scream of the child the colonel ran from the house, +asking excitedly what was the matter. + +‘Oh, papa, papa!’ exclaimed his daughter, as she flew to him, ‘I heard +Jewan say such dreadful things; and when I asked him what it was he had +said, he frightened me by the way he glared at me.’ + +‘What does this mean, you rascal?’ demanded the colonel, angrily, and +speaking in Hindostanee. ‘I am tempted to horsewhip your hide, you +black dog.’ + +The man drew himself up to every inch of his height. He was a tall, +commanding-looking man with a mobile face, and eyes that seemed to burn +like glowing coals. + +‘Sahib,’ he said, proudly and scornfully, ‘I am no dog.’ + +Then, without another word, he marched down the steps of the verandah +into the garden and disappeared into the darkness. + +The colonel was much distressed. It was another sign of the times. A +few months before no servant would have dared to have answered his +master in such a way. + +The other ladies and gentlemen had by this time appeared on the scene, +and many were the anxious inquiries as to the cause of the disturbance. +But for the sake of the ladies the colonel gave an evasive answer, and, +re-entering the house, leading his daughter by the hand, the others +followed all but two--Shelton and Blanche. They lingered. With the +artfulness of a lover he detained her by saying, ‘Oh, I say, Blanche, +isn’t this a splendid night? How brilliant the moon is.’ + +‘Yes,’ she answered, linking her hands in his arm, and turning her own +beautiful face up to his. ‘But I wish, dear, we were under an English +sky instead of this Indian one.’ + +‘Why?’ + +‘I--I hardly know. I don’t like this country. If the fears that I have +heard expressed that the natives may rise are realised how dreadful it +will be.’ + +‘Tut--little woman,’ answered the brave lad cheerily. ‘Don’t let any +gloomy forebodings trouble you. There is discontent, it is true, but we +shall calm it down.’ + +‘I hope so--I hope so,’ said Blanche, with an unusually thoughtful air. + +‘It will be so, my pet. But come, let us go in, for I heard the colonel +suggest cards.’ + +‘But shall I not have you to myself for a few minutes again this +evening? Remember that as you leave so early in the morning I shall not +see you before you go.’ + +‘Of course, darling, we shall have another spoon to-night,’ he said in +his hearty manner, and letting his lips come into contact with hers, +to which she made no objection. ‘You see Willoughby and I must report +ourselves in Delhi by eight o’clock, but I intend to come over next +Sunday and see you.’ + +‘Oh, you love,’ she murmured, allowing him to embrace her still more +closely, until they were suddenly startled by the voice of the colonel, +who, coming on to the verandah, said: + +‘I say, you young people, we want you, you know. You can surely manage +to tear yourselves from each other’s arms for a little while.’ + +‘Certainly, certainly, colonel,’ answered Shelton in an embarrassed +way. ‘But I was just drawing Blanche’s attention to that group of +stars, and----’ + +‘Ah, how very funny,’ interrupted the colonel with a laugh. ‘It seemed +to me you were trying to smother her, and I wasn’t sure which was your +head and which was hers. But come now, get in. We want to make up some +whist parties.’ + +A little later on Blanche did manage to get another few minutes alone +with her lover, and with many warm embraces they separated--not for +ever, for they were to meet again, but under circumstances that neither +dreamed of then. His promise to see her again on the Sunday remained +unfulfilled. Not from any fault of his, but for reasons that were not +explained an order was issued of a peremptory character which prevented +any officer or private going outside of Delhi. + +On the following Saturday, that is on May 9, there was enacted in +Meerut an extraordinarily dramatic scene, that was the prelude, though +the white people knew it not, of a ghastly drama such as India had +never before witnessed during the rule of the British. + +In the interval between the 1st and the 9th the mutineers had been +tried by a court-martial composed of native and British officers, +and sentenced to ten years’ hard labour. The first part of the +sentence--that of stripping them of their uniform in the presence of +all the regiment--was to be carried out, and on that eventful Saturday +morning, under a strong guard of rifles and carabineers, the disgraced +eighty-five were marched to the parade-ground to be still further +disgraced. + +It was a stirring scene, for when the _reveille_ had sounded long lines +of troops, mounted and on foot, marched towards the plain that for ever +afterwards was to be historic ground. The clattering of horses’ hoofs +and the rumbling of artillery added to the general commotion, and soon +the plain was swarming with armed men. It was no dress or drill parade, +but a terribly stern display of authority and power, that it was firmly +believed would overawe the mutinous spirit. Heavily shotted field guns +were placed in position, while the drawn sabres of the dragoons flashed +blindingly in the blazing sunlight. On three sides of the plain were +bodies of troops armed with the new grooved rifle, and were ready, +should the signal be given, to belch forth fire and send their rotary +messengers of death into the surging masses of natives. + +The mutineers belonged to the 3rd Native Cavalry, and their commanding +officer was Colonel Carmichael Smyth. All being ready, he stepped +forward, and in a loud, clear voice, that was not altogether free from +emotion, however, he read the sentence of the court-martial. That +formality ended, the accoutrements were taken from the mutineers, and +their uniforms stripped from their backs. Then came the armourers and +smiths with their shackles and tools, and, in the presence of that +great concourse of spectators, civilian and military, the disgraced +men were made to wear the chains of felons. They raised their arms +and cried aloud to their general to save them from such ignominy, but +the fiat had gone forth. They were doomed. There was not a Sepoy or +native civilian present but gasped for breath as he felt the rising +indignation in his throat. But what could they do in the presence of +those stern white soldiers, those shotted guns, those grooved rifles, +and the drawn sabres? Yes, they could do something--they could endure +and wait. + +When, after some hours, the ceremony was completed, the manacled felons +were consigned to the gaol, and over them was placed a native guard +only. Oh, fatuous act of folly! Who was responsible for it? History is +silent, and he or they who made the blunder have long since mouldered +to the dust from whence they sprang. + +The anxious and eventful day ended. The Europeans took their airing as +usual, and met each other at the dinner tables hopeful and cheerful. +They had struck such terror into the hearts of the natives, by the +stern and terrible act, that all fear of a rising had passed. Such was +the general feeling amongst the whites, but during the hours of the +short Indian night there was an unusual movement amongst the natives. +In the lines of the native soldiery, through the surrounding villages +and amongst the crowded bazaars, a fatal sign was passing. Fleet-footed +natives sped from place to place and put into the hands of the +principal men a small cake. It was a chupatty, and by prearrangement +was the signal for a rising. The broiling sun rose on the Sunday +morning, and the Europeans, having no thought of coming danger, wended +their way to the station church. Amongst them were the colonel and his +family, including his sweet little daughter and her pretty governess +Blanche, who looked prettier than ever, and was radiant with a sense +of happiness that found no expression in words, but showed itself in +her beaming eyes and flushed cheeks. And the cause of this was a letter +from her lover in Delhi, brought to her that morning by a coolie. In it +Shelton expressed his joy that the great ‘disarming and felon-marking +act’ of the day before had passed off so quietly; and he expressed a +belief that the lesson thus taught to the natives would be lasting, +and there would be no more mutinous conduct. But what had excited in +Blanche such a sense of joy was this line: ‘And now, sweetest of women, +to-morrow I shall hold you in my arms again, for I have got two days’ +leave, and am going to spend them in Meerut. You may look for me about +tiffin time.’ + +Full of the expectation that this great joy would be realised, how +eagerly did she look forward to the morrow. But, had she been gifted +with the power of prescience, and could have foreseen the events that +were to happen in a few hours, she would have shrunk with curdling +horror, and have cried aloud to God for protection. + +Divine service ended, and homeward the people returned again, laughing +and chatting and hand-shaking as friends met friends. And tiffin was +partaken of, and the siesta indulged in without a single thought of +insecurity. + +Alas, what fatal blindness! Was it not a cruel fate that dulled the +senses of every white man in the cantonment on that awful Sunday! Had +someone only suspected and been able to arouse the officers to a sense +of their danger, in all human probability history would never have +been called upon to record the ghastly horrors of the Indian Mutiny. +While the white people slept through the sweltering heat of that +May afternoon there was unusual stir in the native lines and in the +bazaars, and down the Ganges, as well as down the Jumna, a budgerow +slowly drifted, and at intervals of about five minutes on board of +that budgerow there were sounded three distinct and emphasised strokes +on a large tom-tom. That beating of the tom-tom was a signal to the +villagers and fishermen who dwelt on the banks of the rivers to repair +with all speed to the city in readiness for the great event. + +Still the white men slept! A fatuous belief in their might had +lulled them to a fatal slumber. Shiva, the Destroyer--the God of the +natives--had spoken, but the God of the Christians gave no sign. + +The white men slept! + +The afternoon waned. The evening breeze set in, and the Christians +rose and prepared for evening worship; and as they wended their way +to church they saw for the first time sights and sounds that paled +the faces of the women, and begot anxiety in the men. Columns of +illuminated smoke were rising to the darkening sky; and from afar off +came the sound of bugles calling to arms, and mingling with it was the +roll of musketry. Service in the church did not take place, and the +scared people hurried back; for now from lip to lip flew the news--‘The +native soldiers have risen!’ It had a dreadful sound, for under any +circumstances it meant a tremendous struggle, and many a brave man +would bite the dust ere the insurrection was quelled. + +That confusion ensued amongst the whites goes without saying, for +none knew exactly where the danger lay. Firm in his belief in his +dark-skinned comrades the white-haired colonel mounted his horse and +rode boldly into the midst of his regiment, which was assembled on the +plain. He tried to harangue the men, but ere he had spoken many words +there was a report, and a bullet shattered his arm. In a few seconds +he fell from his horse riddled with bullets. It was the first blood. +Then throwing off all reserve the black soldiers seemed to suddenly +transform themselves to fiends. With hideous cries and shouts, and +followed by a yelling rabble thirsting for the white men’s lives, they +rushed towards the town bent on slaughter. + +And almost at the same moment a young and beautiful woman, mounted on a +magnificent horse, her form concealed by a military cloak, crossed the +plain, and, urging the animal to its wildest gallop, sped towards Delhi. + + To every man upon this earth + Death cometh soon or late, + And how can man die better + Than facing fearful odds, + For the ashes of his fathers + And the temples of his gods. + +When the eighty-five condemned men were consigned to the gaol they +were placed under the care of a native guard only, and the prisoners +exclaimed to their guard: ‘Are you countrymen of ours that you can +calmly see us thus treated and disgraced by these accursed Feringhees?’ +And the taunt was taken up and carried from man to man, and it ran +like wildfire through the native regiments, and through the bazaars, +and through the villages. And it was borne down the rivers and up the +rivers, and over the dusty plain to Delhi men sped with the cry on +their lips. And when the sinking sun was reddening the rolling waters +of the Ganges, native eyes in Delhi were turning anxiously towards +Meerut for the flaming signal in the sky, that should announce to +them that fire and sword were doing their deadly work on the European +residents in the great cantonment. + +While the white men were sleeping the natives were acting. They surged +to the prison, civilians and soldiers alike. Some of the latter were +in uniform, some in their stable dress. Some were fully accoutred, and +bestrode their chargers all ready for war. Others rode their steeds +with only watering-rein and horse-cloth; but every soldier was armed +with sabre and pistol, and hundreds of the rabble had pistols and guns +of some sort. They met with no opposition at the prison. If the guard +did not help they looked on passively. The cells were forced open, +the prisoners brought forth, and native smiths were at hand to strike +off the shackles. Then the erstwhile prisoners mounted behind their +comrades and rode to the lines for more horses and arms, and Hindoos +and Mohammedans, high caste and low caste, women and children, joined +in one mighty shout, ‘Death to the Feringhees!’--‘Deen, deen!’ which +means ‘Death’--and was to become their rallying cry throughout the +great struggle. Forth they rushed like a destroying whirlwind. Wherever +a white soldier was met he was mercilessly slaughtered. Such Europeans +as were driving or riding were shot down, men, women, and children, +without mercy, without pity. And from the dens of infamy, and the +slums, and the bazaars, poured a stream of human beings pitiless as +the fabled ghouls, and all bent on plundering and burning. As the moon +rose it looked on an appallingly weird scene of horror and cruelty. +The blazing bungalows of the English officers roared and hissed, and +English women and English children, gashed and mutilated out of all +recognition, lay dead in the streets. One of the first bungalows to +be attacked was that of the colonel as he rode out to harangue his +men. His wife fell, shot through the heart, as she tried to shield her +child. Faithful to her trust, the old ayah endeavoured to carry the +child off from its dead mother and place it in a place of safety, if +there was such a place. But she was cut down with a sabre, and she and +the sweet little girl were slashed to pieces. Then the house was looted +and given to the flames. + +Blanche Merton would have fallen a victim at that first outbreak +of fury. But fearing the worst, she had not waited for the house +to be attacked. She was moved by an impulse to die with her lover +no less than to warn him and his comrades in Delhi, and, being a +superb horsewoman, she rushed to the stables, having first seized the +colonel’s military cloak, which was hanging in the hall. With her own +hands she saddled his favourite riding-horse, and, concealing her face +with a black veil, she rode towards the river undetected, and having +gained the highway beyond the Goomtee, she gave her horse the rein. + +That night was a night of horror in Meerut, the parallel for which +could hardly be found in history. The whole town seemed to be a +swirling furnace of many-coloured flames. The air was sultry. There was +not a breath of wind, and the stupendous column of smoke spread itself +out over the doomed town like a funeral pall. The shrieks of horses and +cattle as they were burned in their stables mingled with the gloating +cries of the infuriated natives; while the roar of the musketry made +itself heard above all, and proclaimed the carnage that was going +on. Women and children and non-combatants cried to God for pity, and +endeavoured to find shelter in the gardens, outhouses, stables, under +the trees, but all without avail. The black demons searched them out, +and shot them or hacked them to pieces. The streets were deluged with +blood; the river ran red. + +Many a heroic deed that has gone unrecorded was done that night by +white men; and many a half-maddened mother, with a prayer on her lips, +threw away her life in her fruitless endeavours to save the lives of +her little ones. + +But the scene of the story must shift. When the hellish work in Meerut +had been finished the mutineers sped away to Delhi. But before they +reached it the brave Blanche Merton had arrived. At such a pace had she +ridden that her horse died soon after she had dismounted at Lieutenant +Shelton’s quarters, and she was so excited and so exhausted that she +could scarcely speak. As soon as she got her voice she told them that +mutiny had broken out in Meerut, and the English were being massacred. +There was corroboration of her report in the flame-coloured sky away +to the north-east where the bungalows were burning, but otherwise +Shelton was disposed to think that her fears had led her to exaggerate +the extent of the revolt. Glad he was to see her, and as he kissed her +fondly he said: + +‘You are safe here, anyway, my darling, and I do not think there is any +danger of the tide of mutiny flowing thus far.’ + +He was hopeful and sanguine, but it was different with others to whom +the news was speedily communicated. They knew how weak the little force +was in Delhi, and that they could offer but small resistance if the +mutineers should get the upper hand in Meerut and attack Delhi. + +The great magazine and fort, with its tremendous stores of war +material, was no great distance from the palace; that superb home of +the Moghul kings that lifted its proud domes and turrets above the +Jumna. The entire place was under the charge of Willoughby, and he +had with him two other lieutenants--officers of the Bengal Artillery, +and six European conductors and commissariat sergeants, one of them +being an Irishman named Scully. There were nine in all. Nine only to +defend their precious charge! To us now it seems inconceivable that +the authorities could have been so fatuous as to leave so important +a place as Delhi unguarded. But so it was, save by a mere handful of +men. Lieutenant Willoughby, however, was of the stuff that makes all +Englishmen proud. Calling his little band together, he told them the +news, and said that it was certain the mutineers would attempt a dash +for the magazine, for they could do little without ammunition. But he +added: + +‘We will hold the place, boys, against a host. The black devils may +have a brief triumph in Meerut, and come here; but the garrison of +Meerut, which is a strong one, will soon recover, and will send us +succour; though, should the worst come to the worst, comrades, not a +shell, not a gun, nor an ounce of powder, if we can help it, shall fall +into the hands of the rebels, for we will blow the whole place into +ruins, and find our graves beneath them.’ + +A tremendous cheer was the answer he received, and then the gallant +band set to work to be prepared for whatever might happen. The outer +gate was closed, and strongly barricaded. Guns were brought out and +loaded with double charges of grape and canister, and placed in such a +position that they commanded the approaches. + +While these preparations were developing Shelton received orders to do +all in his power to hold a house which had been used as a Government +depôt, and contained accoutrements and other stores, besides a number +of rifles. He procured an ample supply of ammunition from the magazine, +and he had with him a sergeant and a corporal. Blanche would have +refused to have left him, even supposing he had wished it, but he +knew there was nowhere he could send her to where she was likely to +be safer than there. And so she insisted on being furnished with a +revolver--which she had learned to use since her arrival in India--and +she vowed that she would stand by his side to the death. + +The morning sun was rising in a glory of crimson splendour when +the mutineers, stained with blood and dust and grimed with powder, +swarmed over the Jumna and clattered into Delhi. Under the windows of +the palace they surged, and called for the king--that white-haired, +treacherous old villain, who believed that his hour of triumph had +struck, and that the house of Moghul would be restored to its ancient +splendour. The rebels were admitted by the Mohammedan guard, and then +they almost shook the wall with a thunderous shout of ‘Glory to the +Padishah and death to the Feringhees!’ + +Swelled now by their comrades of the palace they swarmed into the town, +cutting down every European they met, and a detachment rushed for the +house held by Shelton and his sweetheart and his two other companions. +The lower doors and windows had been barricaded; and from the upper +windows a well-delivered fire checked for a moment the onrush of the +mutineers. But it was only for a moment. Some of their number had gone +down into the dust, but that only served to still further madden the +survivors, who stormed the house, to be beaten back, however, once more +by the defenders’ fire. Recovering themselves, they fired a volley at +the windows, and one of the bullets struck the corporal dead. + +Shelton saw now that it would be impossible to hold the place for many +minutes, and he turned with anxious gaze to the beloved woman at his +side. Her face was pale as death, but she was calm, and in her hand she +still grasped the smoking revolver. Every barrel was empty, and she had +sent at least four of the rabble to their account. + +‘My beloved,’ he exclaimed in a tone of despair, ‘I fear that hope of +saving you has passed.’ + +‘Yes, darling,’ she said, quietly. ‘Hope for us in this world has gone; +but we shall be united in the next. Load the revolver again.’ + +He quickly thrust a cartridge into each barrel, and returned it to her, +and at the same moment he saw his brave and only remaining soldier +companion go down, shot through the head. Then he kicked in the head of +a barrel of powder he had taken the precaution to have brought up, and +passing his arm round Blanche’s waist he was about to fire his revolver +into the powder, when he suddenly changed his mind, and said hurriedly: + +‘Darling, I believe we can escape and find safety in the fort.’ + +‘Where you go, I will go,’ she answered. + +Hurriedly fixing a few feet of slow match to the powder barrel he +lighted the loose end; then taking Blanche’s hand they hurried down +the stairs, revolvers in hand. They gained the back door, which led +into the garden, and by almost superhuman effort they removed the +barricading of the door and rushed out and cleared the garden before +their escape was discovered. But at that moment there was a tremendous +explosion, and the house they had just left crumbled to ruins. For some +minutes the mutineers were scattered by the shock, and it seemed as if +the brave Shelton and the equally brave Blanche would gain shelter. +But they were seen, and a swarm of mounted soldiers sped after them. +Placing Blanche against a wall Shelton stood in front of her, and +emptied his revolver at the advancing horsemen, and two of their number +pitched from their saddles, but the next moment the faithful lovers +fell, clasped in each other’s arms, and riddled with bullets. In life +they had loved and hoped, and in death they were not divided; their +hopes would become fruition in a better and a brighter world. + +In the meantime how fared it with the brave defenders of the fort? + +Baffled in their attempt to obtain possession of the house the +mutineers rushed to the magazine with their rallying cry of ‘Deen, +deen!’ Willoughby and his noble band were prepared for them. They had +concentrated their nine-pounder guns, and behind them had piled up as +much ammunition as they had had time to procure. A few yards away was a +heap of powder, and a train carried from it into the magazine itself, +where the heads had been knocked out of many of the barrels and the +powder scattered, with loaded shells placed in it. There were tons of +powder, shells, and explosives of all kinds; and when further defence +was found to be impossible the train was to be fired. + +While the howling troopers on horse and foot were speeding to the fort, +mounted messengers were sent from the king to demand from Willoughby +the surrender of the place. + +‘Back to your royal master, slaves,’ was the haughty and defiant +answer, ‘and tell him to come himself and we will surrender the ruins, +together with our corpses, to him.’ + +The messenger made known this defiant answer to the mutineers, who were +now clamouring round in a surging, jostling mass, and a determined +rush was made for the gate. But they fell back as a withering storm +of grape shot tore through them. That storm was most destructive in +its effects; but the soldiers and the rabble that had joined them from +the slums and dens of the city were too strongly bent on slaying the +Feringhees to allow themselves to be defeated by the slaughter of some +of their number. So gathering themselves together again, they howled +‘Deen, deen!’ and made another rush, but once more they were hurled +back by the blast of fire and shot. + +Seldom in the annals of warfare has there been a more stubborn, more +heroic, defence made by a handful of men against a host of trained +soldiers than was made by Willoughby and his comrades; for, be it +remembered that they were fighting regiments of soldiers who had been +trained and drilled in the art of warfare by the English themselves, +and, as often proved before and since, the Sepoy makes almost as good +a fighting-man as his white brother, although he perhaps lacks in that +stubbornness and unconquerable determination which are peculiarly +characteristic of the Englishman. But in the case we are dealing with +the Sepoys were stubborn enough. They knew, indeed, that it was death +or victory with them. And they quite believed that if they could but +obtain the immense accumulation of ammunition stored in the Delhi +arsenal, not only could they hold the city of the Moghuls against all +the armies of England, but that they could actually conquer India. +For it was big guns and shot and shell they wanted, and from nowhere +else could they obtain them save Delhi. It was, therefore, their only +hope, and it may safely be asserted that not one amongst them deemed +it possible that the stores would not fall into their hands, as it was +well known that only nine men held the fort. But what they did not know +was that those nine men were unconquerable. + +It is no disparagement of the rest to say that Willoughby, by his +magnificent example, inspired the others to greater deeds of valour. +When on the evening of the 1st of May, as he sat on the verandah of +the colonel’s bungalow at Meerut, he had stated that he would blow the +magazine up rather than surrender it, he made no idle boast. But his +belief was, as he and his noble companions worked the guns and kept +the howling foe at bay, that the necessity to destroy the magazine +would not arise, since they would be able to hold out till succour +reached them from Meerut. For not knowing the extent of the disaster +which had overwhelmed that station, he naturally expected some portion +of its strong garrison would immediately be despatched to Delhi’s +relief. But, alas! when the hoofs of the mutinous troopers’ horses rung +upon the bridge that spanned the Jumna before Delhi, they sounded the +death-knell of every British resident in the city, with some three or +four exceptions. + +There is an expressive Hindostanee word, _lachar_, which means helpless +and something more; and at this awful crisis in our Indian rule the +English were certainly lachar. They might slay many of their foes, but +they could not save their lives or property. Such as were soldiers +knew that it was one of the risks attending their profession of arms +that they might be called upon at any moment to fight for and lay down +their lives. But it was hard, it was pitiable, it was maddening, that +the dear women and sweet children should fall a prey to the brutal and +tiger-like ferocity of the revolted soldiers, and there is no doubt +that the thought of their loved ones nerved many an arm to fight with +the heroism of desperate despair. + +For five long hours did Willoughby keep the host at bay; and often and +often during those dreadful hours did he rush to the bastion on the +river face and turn his gaze in the direction of Meerut, hoping to see +the succour he expected coming in the shape of a regiment of English +soldiers speeding on with all the speed their chargers were capable of. +But the plain was misty with dust and heat; and not a living thing was +in sight beyond the river save some vultures that hovered lazily in the +heated air as if waiting patiently for the feast they knew would soon +be theirs. + +And during those five hours the mutineers charged again and again at +the gate which was so ably defended, but each time they recoiled, +leaving a heap of their dead. No accurate record has come to us of the +number of their slain on that awful day, but it has been computed at +thousands, for mingling with the soldiers was an immense gathering +of civilians who had armed themselves with all sorts of weapons, +and poured forth to assist in massacring the English. But still the +enormous number of their dead did not deter them. Indeed, the sight +only served to frenzy them still more. Horses and men--soldiers and +civilians--encumbered the ground, victims to the grape and canister +belched forth by the nine-pounders. And the constantly accumulating +heaps made it difficult for the living to reach the gate which they +hoped to batter in. At last, however, they bethought themselves of +ladders. The marvel is that they had not thought of them before. Scores +of ladders were soon procured when once they had been suggested, and +then with shouts and cries that rent the very air the mutineers began +to swarm up the walls. + +And now brave Willoughby felt that the supreme moment had come at last. +Never had soldier more nobly, more devotedly, and more heroically done +his duty. But he saw, alas! that his efforts were useless. For the +last time he rushed to the bastion. One more look--a long, anxious +look--over that great plain that was all a quiver with the fierce +heat of the unchecked sun. But not a sign was there of the hoped-for +succour. Meerut had failed them, and there was nothing left now but to +die. Then the splendid hero went back to his guns. + +‘Comrades,’ he said, ‘we are abandoned to our fate. Meerut has not +sent, perhaps could not send, us help. But though we are defeated we +are not conquered. We have as soldiers done our duty, and defended +to the last the stores committed to our care. Further defence is +impossible, and there is but one more thing to do, and that is to die.’ + +He raised his sword as the prearranged sign, word was then passed by +one of his lieutenants to Scully, who stood ready. Scully lit his match +and fired the train. + +There was an awful pause. The minarets and domes of the wonderful city +glittered in the sunlight, and the face of heaven was without a cloud. +Nature was peaceful and at rest; but men were striving to tear their +fellow men to pieces, and there was a Babel of fierce, discordant +cries. The walls of the fort were black with hundreds of soldiers and +civilians who were struggling with each other as to who should be +first to cut down the Englishmen. Between the sweltering crowds on the +walls and the thousands below the scaling ladders formed a connecting +link, and they were black, too, with the writhing masses of men trying +to work their way up. Beyond the closely-wedged crowd that extended +from the walls outwards for something like fifty yards was a fringe of +rabble; the scouring of the gaols and the contributions of the places +of infamy with which the city abounded. And in this fringe was a large +percentage of women and young people of both sexes; though there wasn’t +one there but was athirst for the Feringhees’ blood. And when it was +seen that the rebel Sepoys had gained the summit of the surrounding +walls of the fort there arose from thousands of lips an exultant roar, +for it seemed that the Englishmen were at last in the power of the mob. +But suddenly that roar ceased with a quick and paralysing accession of +fear that struck the human mass dumb, for something had happened--a +convulsion of nature, as it seemed. The sun was darkened; the firm +earth rocked, and shook, and rose and fell, and concurrent with these +things was a compact, sullen, solid boom, that expanded and stretched +out as it were until it became a mighty and stupendous volume of sound. +Where a few seconds before the walls had stood black with hundreds +of fierce men on murder intent was a heap of ruins; and all around +not hundreds but thousands of human beings were hurled to the ground +maimed, shattered, and slain. And of those who had presence of mind to +turn and flee, some were overtaken and stricken senseless with flying +masonry, masses of iron, or baulks of timbers; while others fell dead +from fright, and others again went raving mad; and some rushed to the +river and threw themselves in, desperate with despair, for it seemed +as if their own god Shiva had turned upon his votaries and was bent +on wiping them off the face of the earth. The effects of this great +explosion were remarkable. The whole city was shaken. Ponderous houses +reeled and tottered, and buildings miles away were rent and split. +Every tree within a radius of a couple of hundred yards was blasted and +withered. Huge masses of masonry were hurled high into the air. Heavy +guns were tossed away as if they had been toys caught by a strong wind. +The six-feet walls of solid masonry were shattered to crumbling ruins, +burying many hundreds of natives, while hundreds more were blown up +into the air like wisps of straw. The destruction of the war material +was complete. Not a pound of powder, not a shell, not a gun, remained +for the natives to use against the white men. To that fact probably we +owe our ultimate success over the rebels. For if all that ammunition +and all those guns had fallen into the hands of the mutineers at that +moment, there is no telling what they might have accomplished. + +Willoughby had indeed nobly done his duty. To their disgrace, however, +be it said, there were those at home--the fireside politicians, the +little Englander and carpet-slipper travellers--who censured him for +the act. But Englishmen at heart admire courage and devotion to duty. +Generations yet unborn, when they read the pathetic story of Shelton +and Blanche Merton, will draw a sigh of pity, while around the memory +of Lieutenant George Willoughby will ever shine a halo of glory, and +Englishmen will refer to him with a sense of swelling pride as the Hero +of Delhi, who with fire and death helped to save India. + +NOTE.--Curiously enough Willoughby and a comrade, Lieutenant Forrest, +escaped from the fiery blast that scattered such ruin and death around. +Willoughby, however, was much burnt, and Forrest was severely wounded, +having been shot in the arm. The brave Scully who fired the train +must have been blown to atoms. It was estimated that 2,000 mutineers +at least were killed by the explosion, and as many perhaps had been +previously shot down by grape and canister which the heroic little +garrison poured forth with such deadly effect. + + + + +IX + +THE SPECTRE OF RISLIP ABBEY + + [The particulars of this story have been supplied by a well-known + member of Parliament from his own experience. The story is told + almost in his own words. He is the owner of a broad and fair estate + in central England, and has gained an enviable reputation for his + high intelligence, his administrative ability--which on more than one + occasion has been of great advantage to his party--as well as for his + princely hospitality.] + + +Up to about twenty years ago I was a comparatively poor man, and had +to supplement my income by literary work, which, being of a scientific +character, had not a very wide market. However, at that time, I +succeeded to a snug patrimony, which freed my mind at once from all +anxiety about the future. I had been married for seventeen years, and +had two daughters, Cynthia and Phyllis, aged thirteen and fifteen +respectively. My wife was an invalid, and our medical attendant had +frequently told me that her restoration to health depended to a large +extent on her living in the country, and indulging in country pursuits. +But want of adequate means had prevented our giving effect to this +advice, for circumstances rendered it important that I should reside +in London, and my wife resolutely refused to leave me. Consequently, +we had been living in a modest flat, and made the best we could of its +inconveniences and drawbacks. + +It was not surprising, therefore, that one of my first cares as soon as +I was in possession of my fortune was to seek for some suitable country +residence. We were all fond of the country, and my tastes inclined to +the life of a gentleman farmer. I therefore called one morning on my +friend, the late Mr. George R----, the well-known West-End auctioneer +and estate agent. He had a connection all over Great Britain, and I +knew that if anyone could find me the place I wanted he could. After +we had chatted for some time, and I had made known my requirements, he +began to discuss the pros and cons of several estates he had on his +books, but against all there was some objection to urge as far as I was +concerned, until at last he exclaimed with a chuckle: + +‘By Jove, I have it. Rislip Abbey, that’s the place for you.’ Then, +calling his head clerk, he desired him to bring the printed particulars +of Rislip, which were read out as follows:-- + +‘Rislip.--Containing about three thousand acres arable land, five +hundred acres pasture, one thousand timber (mostly oak and beech), the +rest park and ornamental grounds. The house is a quaint, old-fashioned, +turreted mansion, believed to have been built about the end of the +reign of Henry VIII. The place is without any historical interest. Most +of the land lies well. The house stands high, and commands splendid +views, but is in a dilapidated condition, not having had a tenant for +the last thirty years. The property has been the subject of litigation, +but the rightful ownership has now been determined.’ + +The foregoing were the crude particulars, so to speak, in outline, and +having listened to them I questioned my friend further, and asked him +if he had personally surveyed the property. + +‘I have,’ he answered. + +‘And what is your opinion about it?’ + +‘Well, at present it is a wilderness, and the house is well nigh a +ruin. Chancery, as you know, is like a blight and a curse--it ruins +every property it has anything to do with, as well as breaks the hearts +of men and women. Of course, the lawyers have done well while Rislip +has been going to decay, and now the owners are too poor to spend +any money on it, nor can they sell any portion of it for the next +twenty-five years. But they would grant you a lease for that period for +a merely nominal rent, and give you the option of purchase. It would +want a good deal of money laid out on it in the first instance, but my +opinion is you could soon bring the land under cultivation, and make +it profitable. Anyway, go down and see the property. I’ll go with you, +if you like. You will soon see if it is likely to suit you, and, of +course, you can get the ghost and all thrown in.’ + +‘Ghost!’ I exclaimed, with a laugh. + +‘Oh, yes. I understand there is a real, genuine ghost, according to +local tradition. The yokels swear that the place is haunted. But I +should say the only spirits you will find there are bats and owls.’ + +I laughed at the ghost idea. I was pleased to think myself a +hard-headed man, and my disposition was to view most things from +a severely critical and scientific point of view; while as for +spiritualism, I had nothing but contempt for those who professed to +believe in it. + +Now, the result of my interview with my friend the auctioneer was that +a week later we journeyed down to Rislip together, and spent three or +four days in examining the estate. It was certainly not an exaggeration +to call it a wilderness, while the house itself was crumbling to decay; +but I saw at once the potentialities of the place, and as the situation +of the house would have been hard to beat, while the rental asked was +little more than nominal, I secured the refusal of the property for a +fortnight. During that time I consulted my lawyers, took my wife and +daughter down to Rislip, and as they confessed themselves charmed, and +I found I could secure it almost on my own terms, I lost no time in +closing, and at once proceeded to get estimates for putting the house +in habitable condition. + +As may be imagined, I was very busy for the next three months, and +by means of a liberal expenditure and ample labour, a very different +aspect was imparted to the erstwhile wilderness, and the house was +ready for occupation by the early part of November. Though the prospect +of moving at such a period wasn’t very pleasant, we faced it boldly, +and by the end of the month were comfortably installed in our new +quarters. In carrying out the repairs and alterations in the house +I had been careful not to interfere in any way with its structural +arrangements, as its quaintness and rambling character appealed very +forcibly to my antiquarian instincts. One of the features of the house +was most certainly the dining-room. It was a room of really noble +proportions, unusually lofty for a building of that date, with three +straight windows on one side, and at one end a very deep bay, from +which there was a view second to none in the country. + +The floor, which had been laid with oak, was as level as a billiard +table, and in a perfect state of preservation. The walls were all +wainscoted from floor to ceiling, and as some of this had decayed, it +had been found necessary to restore it during the process of renovating +the house. In the course of this work the men discovered a sliding +door so artfully let in as a panel that anyone unacquainted with its +existence would never have found it out. Behind the sliding panel was +a narrow passage, leading to a flight of stone steps that descended to +a second passage, closed by a door. This door gave access to a short +tunnel that had its exit in the grounds, near a lake of considerable +dimensions. + +Romantic no doubt as all this may seem, there was really nothing very +remarkable in it, as very few country houses were built in Henry +VIII.’s time, and, indeed, for long after his reign, without a secret +passage, the object being to afford the occupants a means of escape in +case of need. The contractor who carried out the work for me suggested +that the passage should be blocked up, to this I would not give my +consent, but insisted on its being left in its original state, and in +this decision I was supported by my wife and daughters. I ought to add +that running parallel with the dining-room, and communicating by a +doorway, was another room of smaller dimensions, but so conveniently +situated and well lighted that I at once appropriated it as a library, +as I had a valuable collection of books. + +By the middle of December we had quite settled down, and all felt +charmed with our new home, then we began to send out invitations very +freely to our friends and relatives for Christmas, as we were desirous +of having a good house-warming. + +Of course, during the short time I had been in possession I had heard +much gossip and gathered a good many interesting anecdotes about the +property. The fact of its having at last changed hands aroused a great +deal of interest and curiosity over a very extended area, for the +history of Rislip was pretty well known, and the story of the Chancery +suit and the ruin it had brought about had caused general regret, as it +was regarded as a shame that so good a property should be allowed to +run to waste. I found that there was a very curious belief that Rislip +had its familiar spirit--in other words, that it was haunted. I tried +to find out the foundation for this belief, but, as is usually the +case, I was met with the reply-- + +‘Oh, I’ve never seen anything myself, but I’ve heard of people who +have.’ + +When I tried to find out these people who, by common account, had had +occular demonstration of the existence of disturbed spirits, I need +scarcely say I failed. It is always so. Neither my wife nor I attached +the slightest serious importance to the current stories. We were amused +by them, and possibly there was just a tendency on our part to regard +people who expressed belief in the supernatural as being far from what +is generally termed ‘strong-minded,’ to use a mild term. + +But now, to come to the strangest part of my narrative. I had been +dining one night with my family, and we had had a neighbouring +gentleman and his wife as guests. They had departed, and my wife and +the girls had retired. I had remained to indulge in a final cigar, +and enjoy the comfort of the brightly burning fire and the warm room. +Outside the weather was murky, cold, and dismal. My butler had been +to inquire if I wished for anything more, and my wants having been +attended to, he bade me good-night and went to his room. After that I +fell into a reverie. Possibly I may have dozed. Anyway, I was aroused +to a sense of things mundane by a cold draught of air blowing upon me, +and glancing round I saw, to my amazement, that the secret door or +panel in the wall to which I have already alluded was wide open. Then I +was still further amazed--I might almost say dumfounded--by _seeing a +hand_, only a hand, slowly draw the panel into its place again. + +It is almost impossible for me to describe the extraordinary sensation +that crept over me. There was something so uncanny in the whole +proceeding. Now, I have already said I was not a superstitious man, and +I think I may also assert that I was by no means lacking in courage. +Nevertheless, for the moment I was the prey to a feeling of absolute +funk. Then suddenly I thought that a trick was being tried upon me, and +anger got the better of my funk. I seized the poker from the fireplace, +rushed to the panel, got it open with some little difficulty, and +peered into the darkness, but saw nothing; listened intently, but heard +nothing. Next I snatched a candle from the table and proceeded down +the passage, but found no living thing, and the doors were properly +fastened. Returning to the dining-room, I sat down to think, and came +to the conclusion that I had been the victim of a trick of the brain, +and laughed at my own folly. But when a quarter of an hour later I went +upstairs to my bedroom I experienced an unaccountable and absolutely +unusual feeling of nervousness. The next day my first impulse was +to tell my wife of the remarkable incident of the night previous; +my second to do nothing of the sort, but keep it a locked secret in +my own breast. A week later my daughter Phyllis had been with me in +the library. She was a clever shorthand writer, and had been taking +some important letters down from my dictation. As the clock on the +mantelpiece chimed out midnight I told her to cease work and go to her +bed. She wished me good-night, and trotted off. + +A few minutes passed, then the door of the library was flung violently +open, and Phyllis, half fainting, looking ghastly pale, and with a +‘scared-to-death’ appearance of face, rushed in and clung wildly to me. + +‘What’s the matter, child; what’s the matter?’ I cried in alarm; +but she remained speechless. Moments, perhaps minutes, slipped by, +during which I kept urging her to speak. She found her voice at last +sufficient to jerk out in a breathless way: + +‘Oh, pa, I’ve had such a fright. When I got up to the first landing +such a strange-looking man was standing there. I was about to ask him +what he was doing, when he raised his hand in a sort of warning way and +disappeared.’ + +I laughed, but it wasn’t a genuine laugh, and I pretended to speak +lightly, as I said: + +‘My dear child, I’ve been over-working you and your poor tired brain +has seen visions. Come, let me take you upstairs to your room. You must +try and get a good night’s rest. You will be all right to-morrow.’ + +She gave me a look that was full of meaning. She said with her eyes +as plainly as possible, ‘Don’t try to turn it off in that way. I have +seen what I have seen.’ She had mastered her feelings by this time, +and though she spoke no words, she went upstairs with me until we +reached the first landing, which was lighted in the daytime by a long +stained-glass window. Edging a little closer to me, she whispered, +‘This was where I saw him.’ + +‘Nonsense, nonsense,’ I answered, though I was far from believing it +was nonsense, but I wanted to reassure her. I escorted her to her +door, saw that her lamp was burning, then kissed her good-night and +descended, and as I went down the last flight of stairs I turned +suddenly, for I was sure I heard footsteps. And close behind me was +a weird-looking man dressed in the costume of a gentleman of Charles +II.’s reign. He appeared to be about sixty-five years of age. Long, +grey, ringleted hair hung about his shoulders. His face wore an +expression of awful anguish. + +For a moment I experienced a shock, but I quickly recovered myself and +tried to grasp him, but he was as unsubstantial as the air, and the +uncanniness of the whole business made me involuntarily shrink back. +Then he raised his hands, and drawing down the large lace collar from +his neck, he bared his throat, showing me a tremendous gash that had +severed the windpipe, and from which the blood seemed to pour in a +stream. It was a fearsome sight, I must confess, and I had never before +in the whole course of my existence experienced such an utterly ‘gone’ +and helpless feeling as I did in the presence of that supernatural +visitant, and before I had pulled myself together, as the saying is, +the weird spectre raised his hand, pointed upward with an extended +finger, and in an instant had disappeared. + +I returned to my library and flung myself into a chair, and I asked +myself seriously whether the incidents of the last quarter of an hour +were not the result of some morbid condition of my own brain. That is +to say, I was disposed to doubt whether my daughter had really rushed +pale and fainting into the room, as I have described, or whether it +wasn’t a figment of my own imagination. But here let me say that I had +always been regarded as an unimaginative person, with, as I have before +said, a scientific mind, which required hard, stern facts to convince +it. How was it then I had come to see visions? + +I asked myself this question, and mentally argued the whole thing +out, trying to explain away the vision; but, firstly, there were the +mysterious hand and the sliding panel, and now here was a man of a +bygone age who had horrified me by showing me his throat gashed, and +rent, and bleeding. + +I don’t know really how long I sat revolving the problem in my brain, +but I do know that I crept up to bed at last feeling terribly fagged +mentally and physically. + +I slept far beyond my usual hour the following morning. My family had +already breakfasted, but Phyllis came and sat with me, and recounted +her previous night’s experiences. There was an unwonted paleness in her +pretty face and a scared look in her eyes. I felt it wise not to say +anything to her about what I myself had seen; but, moved by a sudden +impulse, I said I was going up to London by the next train and would +take her with me. + +It was no unusual thing for me to be called away from home at a +moment’s notice, so that my wife was not surprised. Phyllis expressed +her delight at going, and two hours later we were seated in the up +express. On arriving at our destination, I quartered Phyllis at the +house of my sister, while I went to an hotel where I was in the habit +of staying when in town. The following day I called on an old and +esteemed medical friend--a man not only eminent as a physician, but +famous as an author of several erudite works dealing with all forms +of mental disease. I detailed the experiences of myself and daughter +to him, and he looked very grave and puzzled, but before venturing to +express any opinion he said he would like to see Phyllis. So I drove +off at once to my sister’s, and took Phyllis back with me, and without +entering into any particulars I simply remarked that I wanted the +doctor to see her. She expressed surprise by her face, but remained +silent. On arriving at the doctor’s house I requested her to tell him +what she had seen, which she did in a plain, intelligent way. My friend +appeared more than ever puzzled, and, having sent Phyllis out of the +room, he delivered himself somewhat as follows: + +‘Well, now, my dear fellow, the facts of the case are these. Both you +and Phyllis are more impressionable than you imagine, and you have +gone through a great deal of excitement lately in connection with your +new quarters. Last night you overtaxed the girl’s brain, and what she +thought she saw was a pure fancy. Her sudden appearance in your room +in a state of nervous agitation, her story, her manner, made a great +impression on you, and what she told you she had seen suggested the +same thing to you.’ + +‘But how about the hand and the sliding panel?’ I asked. + +‘The result also of a morbid condition of the mind,’ he answered. +‘Fancy, fancy, all fancy, my dear sir. Now you and Phyllis go and make +a little journey somewhere. A trip to the South of France, a month at +Monte Carlo, will do you all the good in the world.’ + +I left my friend’s house far from satisfied. I knew he was sincere in +his belief, but he was wrong in his diagnosis. Nevertheless, I began to +think of carrying out his suggestion and visiting the Riviera. No doubt +I should have done that if it hadn’t been for the fact that three days +later I received a telegram from home, summoning me back at once, as my +wife had been taken ill. + +I began to fear now that Rislip was to prove a curse instead of a +blessing to me; and, depressed by an anxiety I had never known before, +I caught the next train out. Phyllis, of course, accompanied me, and +we reached Rislip about ten o’clock at night. I learnt that my wife +had had a fit. The cause nobody knew, but she told me. She had been +sitting in the dining-room alone, when she felt a draught as I had +done. Then to her horror she saw a deathly-white hand sliding the panel +back. Suddenly a quaintly-dressed man, with a haggard, anguished face, +appeared before her, and, baring his throat, displayed it gashed and +bleeding as he had done to me. She was conscious of uttering a loud, +shrill scream of terror. Then all was blank until she awoke to find a +doctor attending her. + +As she finished telling me her story, she expressed great anxiety lest +her brain was giving way, and she only grew calm when I assured her +that I had seen what she had seen, and that Phyllis had also met the +ghostly man on the stairs. My medical friend’s theory would not now +hold water, because my wife had been ignorant of my own and Phyllis’s +experiences, so that she was not influenced by a recital which might +have set up a morbid set of conditions in her own brain. + +Up to this time I had always regarded spiritualism so-called as +abominable quackery, and it always made me angry when I heard of the +antics and silly pranks which the spirits called up at the _séances_ +the professional humbugs indulged in. But now I myself had seen a +spirit, my daughter had also seen it, and my wife had seen it. We all +three claimed to be people of common sense, free from morbid taint, +and not given to conjuring up bogeys out of every shadow that came +in our path. And yet it seemed to me that the spirit that had made +itself manifest unto us had behaved in a very idiotic way, for if it +had a grievance why did it try to frighten us all to death. Of course, +the matter was too serious to be pooh-poohed with a scornful laugh +and a sceptical toss of the head. The statement of three persons, not +quite fools, could not be ignored. I began to feel deeply interested +in the psychological problem that was suggested to me, and after much +cogitation I mentally asked myself whether the ghostly visitor had any +particular reason for pointing upward. Anyway, I was prompted to try +and find out, and made my way to the top of the house, where there was +a range of garrets. Here I began to pry about in a very inquisitive +way, and after long and patient searching for I knew not what, I +chanced to strike a portion of the wall in a back garret with a stick +I carried, and was rather astonished to find that it gave out a hollow +sound. I rapped it again. The same sound; but a yard on either side and +there was solidity. + +I lost no time in getting the assistance of two of my men servants. I +simply told them that I had accidentally discovered what I believed +to be a door, and, prompted now more by curiosity than anything else, +I, with their help, tore off the paper, then a lining of canvas, then +more paper, till we got to some wood that had once been painted. Close +examination revealed that it was a door, and not without considerable +trouble we got it open, disclosing a deep recess. Lights were +procured, and from out the recess we dragged a heavy mass of dusty and +time-stained metal. It was apparently a bundle of lead rolled up. We +unrolled it, and brought to light a quantity of human bones, including +a singularly well preserved skull, to which a mass of hair still +adhered. + +What my feelings were I will not attempt to describe. Of course the +servants were amazed. I sent them to their duties, again cautioning +them to say nothing at present of our find. My next step was to lodge +information with the county police, and in due course the inevitable +coroner’s inquiry was held, but elicited nothing beyond the medical +opinion that the bones must have been where they were found for +generations. Whose bones they were no one could even conjecture. Why +they had been wrapped in lead, and hidden in the secret cupboard was +no less inscrutable. The coroner’s jury could return but one verdict. +The remains were those of some person unknown, and how he had met his +death it was impossible to say. The bones were ordered to be buried in +consecrated ground, and with Christian burial, and that was done. At my +own expense I placed a slab over the grave, bearing this line: + +‘Sacred to the memory of a stranger. Date of birth and death unknown.’ + +With the finding and burial of those bones the spectre of Rislip Abbey +departed, and troubled us no more. + +Now, the story I have told you is a true one. There is the independent +testimony of my wife and daughter to corroborate mine. My theory is +that in some far-off time a brutal crime had been committed, and the +murdered man’s body had been rolled in a sheet of lead and thrust in +the secret closet; but while the murderers could confine his body they +could not confine his spirit. Though why, after so many generations had +passed, I should have been selected to bring the matter to light I know +not, and cannot even possibly suggest a theory, nor can the mystery +of the crime be cleared up. Who the murdered man was, and why he was +murdered, will never be known until the secrets of all hearts are +revealed in the burning light of the Judgment Day. + + + + +X + +THE CAVE OF BLOOD + +THE STORY OF A DOUBLE CRIME + + +On the south-west coast of the Principality of Wales stands a romantic +little village, inhabited chiefly by the poorer class of people, +consisting of small farmers and oyster dredgers, whose estates are the +wide ocean, and whose ploughs are the small craft in which they glide +over its interminable fields in search of the treasures which they +wring from its bosom. It is built on the very top of a hill, commanding +on one side a view of an immense bay, and on the other of the peaceful +green fields and valleys, cultivated by the greater number of its quiet +inhabitants. At the period of this story distinctions were unknown in +the village--every man was the equal of his neighbour. + +But though rank and its unpolished distinctions were strange in the +village, the superiority of talent was felt and acknowledged almost +without a pause or a murmur. There was one who was as a king amongst +them, by the mere force of a mightier spirit than those with whom he +sojourned had been accustomed to feel among them. He was a dark and +moody man--a stranger--evidently of a higher order than those around +him, who had but a few months before, without any apparent object, +settled among them. Where he came from no one knew. He was a mystery, +and evidently knew how to keep his secrets to himself. He was not +rich, but followed no occupation. He lived frugally, but quite alone, +and his sole employments were to read during the day and wander out, +unaccompanied, into the fields or by the beach during the night. He was +a strange, silent, fearsome sort of man, with a certain uncanniness in +his appearance that commanded respect no less than fear. It soon became +a common belief that this man possessed miraculous powers, not only as +a healer of human ailments, but as a prophet. It was, therefore, not to +be wondered at that in that little community of simple fisher-folk he +was looked up to as a superior being, who not only held the power of +life and death in his hands, but was able to draw aside the veil that +screened the future. + +Sometimes he would relieve a suffering child or rheumatic old man by +medicinal herbs, reprove idleness and drunkenness in the youth, and +predict to all the good and evil consequences of their conduct. And in +his success in some cases, his foresight in others, and his wisdom in +all, won for him a high reputation among the cottagers, to which his +taciturn habits contributed not a little, for, with the vulgar as with +the educated, no talker was ever seriously taken for a magician, though +a silent man is often decided to be a wise one. + +There was but one person at all disposed to rebel against the despotic +sovereignty which John Morgan--such was the name he chose to be known +by--was silently establishing over the quiet village, and that was +precisely the person most likely to effect a revolution. She was a +beautiful young woman, the glory and boast of the village, who had been +the favourite of, and to a certain degree educated by, the late lady +of the manor; but the lady had died, and her _protégée_, with a full +consciousness of her intellectual superiority, had returned to her +native village, where she determined to have an empire of her own which +no rival should dispute. She laughed at the girls and women folk who +listened to the predictions of Morgan, and she refused her smiles to +the young men who consulted him upon their affairs and their prospects; +and as the beautiful Ruth was generally beloved, the silent Morgan was +soon in danger of being abandoned by all save doting men and paralytic +women, and feeling himself an outcast in the village. + +But it was soon made clear that Morgan had no intention of allowing +pretty Ruth to oust him from his position. He had essayed to rule +the village, and he was resolved to retain his hold over the people. +He knew, too, that from another point of view this ascendency was +necessary to his purposes, and as he had failed to establish it by +wisdom and benevolence, he determined to try the effect of fear. The +character of the people with whom he sojourned was admirably calculated +to assist his projects. His predictions were now uttered more clearly, +and his threats denounced in sterner tones and stronger and plainer +words, and when he predicted that old William Williams, who had been +stricken with the palsy, would die at the turn of the tide, three +days from that on which he spoke, and that the light little boat of +gay Griffy Morris, which sailed from the Bay on a bright winter’s +morning, would never again make the shore--the man died, and the storm +arose, even as he said--men’s hearts died within them, and they bowed +down before his words, as if he had been their general fate and the +individual destiny of each. + +Ruth’s beautiful face grew pale for a moment as she heard of these +things; in the next her spirit returned, and she told some friend that +she was going to Morgan to have her fortune told, and she would prove +to everyone that he was an impostor. She had no difficulty in getting +up a party of young men and women to accompany her, and she set off for +Morgan’s house with the avowed intention of ‘unmasking and humiliating +him.’ It was rather remarkable, seeing that the man had never done her +any harm, that she should have taken such a prejudice against him. +When they reached his residence they made it very evident that they +intended to insult him. They made jests at his expense, and rudely +and satirically alluded to his professed powers of prophecy. Had Ruth +been more observant and less self-conscious, she could not have failed +to note that Morgan was far removed above the common-place, and was +possessed of mental powers far above anyone else in the village. He +was greatly annoyed by her insulting manner and intentional rudeness, +but he concealed his feelings, though he silently resolved to humble +her pride. ‘I will make him tell my fortune,’ she said. His credit +was at stake; he must daunt his enemy, or surrender to her power; he +foretold sorrows and joys to the listening throng, and he made one of +the young men present and Ruth herself feel exceedingly uncomfortable +by revealing a secret which they themselves thought no human soul knew +beside themselves. Then for the first time Ruth began to think she had +made a mistake, and had underrated her opponent. Nevertheless, her +self-possession did not desert her, and in an easy, flippant manner, +in which there was a challenge as well as a sneer, she bade him read +her future. Morgan remained silent for some moments, and steadily +gazed at her. He had a large book before him, which he opened, shut, +opened again, and again looked sadly and fearfully upon her; she tried +to smile, but felt startled--she knew not why; the bright, inquiring +glance of her dark eye could not change Morgan’s manner. Her smile +could not melt, nor even temper, the hardness of his deep-seated +malice; he again looked sternly, and then coldly uttered these slow, +soul-withering words, ‘Woman, you are doomed to be a murderess!’ At +first she sneered at his prediction, and then laughed at him; but with +greater solemnity, and speaking as if he were inspired, he exclaimed, +‘I tell you, Ruth, you will become a murderess! I see blood upon your +hands and blood upon your face, and the black stain of awful guilt upon +your immortal soul.’ + +Her arrogance was subdued, her haughty spirit overcome, and with +something liked a groan she hurried away. But from that day she found +that she was a marked woman. The superstitious villagers shunned her, +and she became, as it were, an outcast. + +Abhorring Morgan, she yet felt drawn towards him, and while she sat +by his side felt as if he alone could avert the evil destiny which he +himself had foretold. With him only was she seen to smile; elsewhere, +sad, silent, stern; it seemed as if she were ever occupied in nerving +her mind for that which she had to do, and she grew melancholy and +morbid. + +But there were moments when her naturally strong spirit, not yet +wholly subdued, struggled against her conviction, and endeavoured to +find modes of averting her fate; it was in one of these, perhaps, that +she gave her hand to a wooer, from a distant part of the country, a +mariner, who either had not heard or did not regard the prediction, +upon condition that he should remove her far from her native village +to the home of his family and friends, for she sometimes felt as if +the decree which had gone forth against her could not be fulfilled +except upon the spot where she had heard it, and that her heart would +be lighter if men’s eyes would again look upon her in kindliness and +she no longer sat beneath the glare of those that knew so well the +secret of her soul. Thus thinking, she quitted the village with her +husband; and the tormentor, who had poisoned her repose, soon after +her departure, left the village as secretly and as suddenly as he had +entered it. + +But, though Ruth could depart from his corporeal presence, and look +upon his cruel visage no more, yet the eye of her soul was fixed upon +his shadow, and his airy form, the creation of her sorrow, still +sat by her side; the blight that he had breathed upon her peace had +withered her heart, and it was in vain that she sought to forget or +banish the recollection from her brain. Men and women smiled upon her +as before in the days of her joy, the friends of her husband welcomed +her to their bosoms, but they could give no peace to her heart; she +shrunk from their friendship, she shivered equally at their neglect, +she dreaded any cause that might lead to that which, it had been said, +she must do; nightly she sat alone and thought, she dwelt upon the +characters of those around her, and shuddered that in some she saw +violence and selfishness enough to cause injury, which she might be +supposed to resent to blood. Against the use of actual violence she had +disabled herself; she had never struck a blow--her small hand would +have suffered injury in the attempt; she did not understand the use of +firearms, she was ignorant of what were poisons, and a knife she never +allowed herself, even for the most necessary purposes. How, then, could +she slay? At times she took comfort from thoughts like these, and at +others she was plunged in the darkness of despair. + +Her husband went forth to and returned from the voyages which made +up the avocation and felicity of his life, without noticing the +deep-rooted sorrow of his wife. He was a common man, and of a common +mind; his eye had not seen the awful beauty of her whom he had chosen; +his spirit had not felt her power; and, if he had marked, he would not +have understood her grief; so she ministered to him as a duty. She was +a silent and obedient wife, but she saw him come home without joy, +and witnessed his departure without regret; he neither added to nor +diminished her sorrow. But destiny had one solitary blessing in store +for the victim of its decrees--a child was born to the hapless Ruth, a +lovely little girl soon slept upon her bosom, and, coming as it did, +the one lone and lovely rosebud in her desolate garden, she welcomed it +with a kindlier hope. + +A few years went by unsoiled by the wretchedness which had marked the +preceding; the joy of the mother softened the anguish of the condemned, +and sometimes when she looked upon her daughter she ceased to despair; +but destiny had not forgotten its claim, and soon its hand pressed +heavily upon its victim; the giant ocean rolled over the body of her +husband, poverty visited the cottage of the widow, and famine’s gaunt +figure was visible in the distance. Oppression came with these, arrears +of rent were demanded, and the landlord was brutal in his anger and +harsh in his language to the sufferer. + +Thus goaded, she saw but one thing that could save her--she fled from +her persecutor to the home of her youth, and, leading her little Rachel +by the hand, threw herself into the arms of her people. They received +her with distant kindness, and assured her that she should not want. +In this they kept their promise, but it was all they did for Ruth +and her daughter. A miserable subsistence was given to them, and that +was embittered by distrust, and the knowledge that it was yielded +unwillingly. + +Among the villagers, although she was no longer shunned as formerly, +her story was not forgotten. If it had been, her strange beauty, her +sorrow-stamped face, the flashing of her eyes, her majestic stature +and solemn movements, would have recalled it to their recollections. +She was a marked being, and all believed (though each would have +pitied her, had they not been afraid) that her evil destiny was not to +be averted. They declared that she looked like one fated to do some +dreadful deed. They saw she was not one of them, and though they did +not directly avoid her, yet they never threw themselves in her way, +and thus the hapless Ruth had ample leisure to contemplate and grieve +over her fate. One night she sat alone in her little hovel, and, with +many bitter ruminations, was watching the happy sleep of her child, +who slumbered tranquilly on their only bed. Midnight had long passed, +yet Ruth was not disposed to rest. She trimmed her dull light, and +said mentally, ‘Were I not poor such a temptation might not assail +me, riches would procure me deference; but poverty, or the wrongs it +brings, may drive me to this evil. Were I above want it would be less +likely to be. Oh, my child, for your sake would I avoid this doom more +than for mine own, for if it should bring death to me, what will it not +bring to you?--infamy, agony, scorn.’ + +She wept aloud as she spoke, and scarcely seemed to notice the +singularity (at that late hour) of someone without attempting to open +the door. She heard, but the circumstance made little impression. She +knew that as yet her doom was unfulfilled, and that, therefore, no +danger could reach her. She was no coward at any time, but now despair +had made her brave. She flung the door open, a stranger entered, +without either alarming or disturbing her, and it was not till he had +stood face to face with Ruth, and she discovered his features to be +those of William Morgan, that she sprung up from her seat and gazed +wildly and earnestly upon him. He gave her no time to question. + +‘Ruth Tudor,’ said he, ‘behold I come to sue for your pity and mercy. +I have embittered your existence, and doomed you to a terrible lot. +What first was dictated by vengeance and malice became truth as I +uttered it, for what I spoke I believed. Yet, take comfort, some of my +predictions have failed, and why may not this one be false? In my own +fate I have ever been deceived; perhaps I may be equally so in yours. +In the meantime have pity upon him who was your enemy, but who, when +his vengeance was uttered, instantly became your friend. I was poor, +and your scorn might have robbed me of subsistence in danger, and your +contempt might have given me up. Beggared by some disastrous events, +hunted by creditors, I fled from my wife and son because I could no +longer bear to contemplate their suffering. I have sought fortune in +many ways since we parted, and always has she eluded my grasp till last +night, when she rather tempted than smiled upon me. At an idle fair +I met the steward of this estate drunk and stupid, but loaded with +gold. He travelled towards home alone. I could not, did not, wrestle +with the fiend that possessed me, but hastened to overtake him in his +lonely ride. Start not! No hair of his head was harmed by me. Of his +gold I robbed him, but not of his life, though, had I been the greater +villain, I should now be in less danger, since he saw and marked my +person. Three hundred pounds is the result of my deed, but I must keep +it now or die. Ruth, you, too, are poor and forsaken, but you are +faithful and kind, and will not betray me to justice. Save me, and I +will not enjoy my riches alone. You know all the caves in the rocks, +those hideous hiding places, where no foot, save yours, has dared to +tread. Conceal me in one of these till the pursuit be passed, and I +will give you one half my wealth, and return with the other to gladden +my wife and son.’ + +The hand of Ruth was already opened, and in imagination she grasped the +wealth he promised. Oppression and poverty had somewhat clouded the +nobleness, but not the fierceness of her spirit. She saw that riches +would save her from wrath, perhaps from blood, and as the means to +escape from so mighty an evil she was not unscrupulous respecting a +lesser. Independently of this, she felt a great interest in the safety +of Morgan. Her own fate seemed to hang upon his. She hid the ruffian in +a cave which she had known from her youth, and supplied him with light +and food. + +There was a happiness now in the heart of Ruth, a joy in her thoughts +as she sat all the long day upon the deserted settle of her wretched +fireside, to which they had, for many years, been strangers. Many times +during the past years of her sorrow she had thought of Morgan, and +longed to look upon his face, and sit under his shadow, as one whose +presence could preserve her from the evil fate which he himself had +predicted. She had long since forgiven him his prophecy. She believed +he had spoken truth, and this gave her a wild confidence in his +power--a confidence that sometimes thought, ‘If he can foreknow, can he +not also avert?’ + +And she thought she would deserve his confidence, and support him in +his suffering. She had concealed him in a deep dark cave, hewn far in +the rock, to which she alone knew the entrance from the beach. There +was another (if a huge aperture in the top of the rock might be so +called) which, far from attempting to descend, the peasants and seekers +for the culprit had scarcely dared to look into, so perpendicular, +dark, and uncertain was the hideous descent into what justly appeared +to them a bottomless abyss. They passed over his head in their search +through the fields above, and before the mouth of his den upon the +beach below, yet they left him in safety, though incertitude and fear. + +It was less wonderful, the suspicionless conduct of the villagers +towards Ruth, than the calm prudence with which she conducted all +the details relating to her secret. Her poverty was well known, yet +she daily procured a double portion of food, which was won by double +labour. She toiled in the fields for the meed of oaken cake and +potatoes, or she dashed out in a crazy boat on the wide ocean, to +win with the dredgers the spoils of the oyster beds that lie on its +bosom. The daintier fare was for the unhappy guest, and daily did she +wander among the rocks, when the tides were retiring, for the shellfish +which they had flung among the fissures in their retreat, which she +bore, exhausted with fatigue, to her home, and which her lovely child, +now rising into womanhood, prepared for the luxurious meal. It was +wonderful, too, the settled prudence of the young girl, who made no +comment about the food with which she was daily supplied. If she +suspected the secret of her mother she respected it too much to allow +others to discover that she did so. + +Many sad hours did Ruth pass in that dark cave, where the man who had +blighted her life lay in hiding; and many times, by conversing with +him upon the subject of her destiny, did she seek to alleviate the +pangs its recollection gave her. But the result of such discussions +were by no means favourable to her hopes. Morgan had acknowledged that +his threat had originated in malice, and that he intended to alarm and +subdue, but not to the extent that he had effected. ‘I know well,’ said +he, ‘that disgrace alone would operate upon you as I wished, for I +foresaw you would glory in the thought of nobly sustaining misfortune. +I meant to degrade you with the lowest. I meant to attribute to you +what I now painfully experience to be the vilest of vices. I intended +to tell you you were destined to be a thief, but I could not utter the +words I had intended, and I was struck with horror at those I heard +involuntarily proceeding from my lips. I would have recalled them, but +I could not. I would have said, “Ruth, I did but jest,” but there was +something which seemed to withhold my speech and press upon my soul, +and a dumb voice whispered in my ears, “As thou hast said shall this +thing be.” But take comfort, Ruth. My own fortunes have ever deceived +me, and doubtlessly ever will, for I feel as if I should one day return +to this cave, and make it my final home.’ + +He spoke solemnly, and wept; but his companion was unmoved as she +looked on in wonder and contempt at his grief. ‘You know not how to +endure,’ said she to him, ‘and as soon as night shall again fall upon +our mountains I will lead you forth to freedom. The danger of pursuit +is now past. At midnight be ready for the journey, leave the cave, and +ascend the rocks by the path I showed you, to the field in which its +mouth is situated. Wait me there a few moments, and I will bring you +a fleet horse, ready saddled for the journey, for which you must pay, +since I must declare to the owner that I have sold it at a distance, +and for more than its rated value.’ + +Midnight came, and Morgan waited with trembling anxiety for the welcome +step of Ruth. At length he saw her, and hastily speaking as she +descended the rock: + +‘You must be speedy in your movements,’ said she. ‘When you leave me +your horse waits on the other side of this field, and I would have you +hasten, lest something should betray your purpose. But, before you +depart, there is an account to be settled between us. I have dared +danger and privation for you, that the temptations of the poor may not +assail me. Give me my reward, and go.’ + +Morgan pressed his leather bag containing his gold to his bosom, but +answered nothing. He seemed to be studying some evasion, for he looked +upon the ground, and there was trouble in the working of his lip. At +length he said cautiously, ‘I have it not with me. I buried it, lest it +should betray me, in a field some miles distant. When I leave here I +will dig it up, for I know the exact spot, and send you your portion as +soon as I reach a place of safety.’ + +Ruth gave him a glance of scorn. She had detected his meanness, and +smiled at his incapacity to deceive. ‘What do you press to your bosom +so earnestly,’ she demanded. ‘Surely you are not the wise man I deemed +you, thus to defraud me. Your friend alone you might cheat, and safely; +but I have been made wretched by you, guilty by you, and your life is +in my power. I could, as you know, easily raise the village, and win +half your wealth by giving you up to justice. But I prefer reward. +Give me my due, therefore, and be gone.’ + +But Morgan knew too well the value of the metal of sin to yield one +half of it to Ruth. He tried many miserable shifts and lies, and at +last, baffled by the calm penetration of his antagonist, boldly avowed +his intention of keeping all the spoil he had won with so much hazard. +Ruth looked at him with withering contempt. ‘Keep your gold,’ she said. +‘If it can thus harden hearts, I covet not its possession; but there +is one thing you must do, and that before you move a foot. I have +supported you with hard-earned industry--that I give you; more proud, +it would seem, in bestowing than I could be in receiving from such as +you. But the horse that is to bear you hence to-night I borrowed for a +distant journey. I must return with it, or its value. Open your bag, +pay me for it, and go.’ + +But Morgan seemed afraid to open his bag in the presence of her he had +wronged. Ruth understood his fears; but, scorning vindication of her +principles, contented herself with entreating him to be honest. ‘Be +more just to yourself and me,’ she persisted, ‘the debt of gratitude I +pardon; but, I beseech you, leave me not to encounter the consequence +of having stolen from my friend the animal which is his only means of +subsistence. I pray you not to condemn me to scorn.’ + +It was of no avail that Ruth humbled herself to entreaties. Morgan +answered not, and while she was yet speaking cast side-long looks +towards the spot where the horse was waiting, and seemed meditating +whether he should not dart from Ruth and escape her entreaties and +demands by dint of speed. Her stern eye detected this purpose, and, +indignant at his baseness, and ashamed of her own degradation, she +sprung suddenly towards him, made a desperate clutch at the leathern +bag, and tore it from his grasp. He made an attempt to recover it, +and a fierce struggle ensued, which drove them both back towards the +yawning mouth of the cave from which he had just ascended to the world. +On its very verge, on its very extreme edge, the demon who had so +long ruled his spirit, now instigated him to mischief, and abandoned +him to his natural brutality. He struck the unhappy Ruth a revengeful +and tremendous blow. At that moment a horrible thought glanced like +lightning through her soul. He was to her no longer what he had been. +He was a robber, ruffian, liar--one whom to destroy was justice, and +perhaps it was he---- + +‘Villain!’ she cried, ‘you predicted that I was doomed to be a +murderess; are you destined to be my victim?’ She flung him from her +with terrific force, as he stood close to the abyss, and the next +instant heard him dash against its sides, as he was whirled headlong +into the darkness. + +It was an awful feeling, the next that passed over the soul of +Ruth Tudor, as she stood alone in the pale, sorrowful moonlight, +endeavouring to remember what had chanced. She gazed on the purse, on +the chasm, wiped the drops of agony from her heated brow, and then, +with a sudden pang of recollection, rushed down to the cavern. The +light was still burning, as Morgan had left it, and served to show her +the wretch extended helpless beneath the chasm. Though his body was +crushed, the bones splintered, and his blood was on the cavern’s sides, +he was yet living, and raised his head to look upon her as she darkened +the narrow entrance in her passage. He glared upon her with the visage +of a demon, and spoke like a fiend in pain. ‘You have murdered me!’ he +said, ‘but I shall be avenged in all your life to come. Deem not that +your doom is fulfilled, that the deed to which you are fated is done. +In my dying hour I know, I feel, what is to come upon you. You are yet +again to do a deed of blood!’ + +‘Liar!’ shrieked the infuriated victim. + +‘I tell you,’ he gasped, ‘your destiny is not yet fulfilled. You will +yet commit another deed of horror. You will slay your own daughter. You +are yet doomed to be a double murderess!’ + +She rushed to him, but he was dead. + +Ruth Tudor stood for a moment by the corpse, blind, stupefied, deaf, +and dumb. In the next she laughed aloud, till the cavern rang with +her ghastly mirth, and many voices mingled with and answered it. But +the voices scared her, and in an instant she became stolidly grave. +She threw back her dark locks with an air of offended dignity, and +walked forth majestically from the cave. She took the horse by his +rein, and led him back to the stable. With the same unvarying calmness +she entered her cottage, and listened to the quiet breathings of her +sleeping daughter. She longed to approach her nearer, but some new +and horrid fear restrained her, and held her in check. Suddenly, +remembrance and reason returned, and she uttered a shriek so loud and +shrill that her daughter sprung from her bed, and threw herself into +her arms. + +It was in vain that the gentle Rachel supplicated her mother to find +rest in sleep. + +‘Not here,’ she muttered, ‘it must not be here; the deep cave and the +hard rock, these shall be my resting-place; and the bed-fellow, lo! now +he awaits my coming.’ Then she would cry aloud, clasp her Rachel to her +beating heart, and as suddenly, in horror, thrust her from it. + +The next midnight beheld Ruth Tudor in the cave, seated upon a point +of rock, at the head of the corpse, her chin resting upon her hands, +gazing earnestly upon the distorted face. Decay had already begun +its work, and Ruth sat there watching the progress of mortality, as +if she intended that her stern eye should quicken and facilitate its +operation. The next night also beheld her there, but the current of her +thoughts had changed, and the dismal interval which had passed appeared +to be forgotten. She stood with her basket of food. + +‘Will you not eat!’ she demanded; ‘arise, strengthen yourself for your +journey; eat, eat, sleeper; will you never awaken? Look, here is the +meat you love’; and as she raised his head and put the food to his lips +the frail remnant of mortality remained dumb and rigid, and again she +knew that he was dead. + +It was evident to all that a shadow and a change was over the senses +of Ruth; till this period she had been only wretched, but now madness +was mingled with her grief. It was in no instance more apparent than +in her conduct towards her beloved child; indulgent to all her wishes, +ministering to all her wants with a liberal hand, till men wondered +from whence she derived the means of indulgence, she yet seized every +opportunity to send her from her presence. The gentle-hearted Rachel +wept at her conduct, yet did not complain, for she believed it the +effect of the disease that had for so many years been preying upon her +soul. Ruth’s nights were passed in roaming abroad, her days in the +solitude of her hut; and even this became painful when the step of her +child broke upon it. At length she signified that a relative of her +husband had died and left her wealth, and that it would enable her to +dispose of herself as she had long wished; so, leaving Rachel with her +relatives, she retired to a hut upon a lonely heath, where she was less +wretched, because there were none to observe her awful grief. + +In many of her ravings she had frequently spoken darkly of her crime, +and her nightly visits to the cave; and more frequently still she +addressed some unseen thing, which she asserted was for ever at her +side. But few heard these horrors, and those who did called to mind the +early prophecy and deemed them the workings of insanity in a fierce +and imaginative mind. So thought also the beloved Rachel, who hastened +daily to visit her mother, but not now alone, as formerly. A youth of +the village was her companion and protector, one who had offered her +worth and love, and whose gentle offers were not rejected. Ruth, with +a hurried gladness, gave her consent, and a blessing to her child; and +it was remarked that she received her daughter more kindly and detained +her longer at the cottage when Evan was by her side than when she went +to the gloomy heath alone. Rachel herself soon made this observation, +and as she could depend upon the honesty and prudence of him she loved, +she felt less fear at his being a frequent witness of her mother’s +terrific ravings. Thus all that human consolation was capable to afford +was offered to the sufferer by her sympathising children. + +But the delirium of Ruth Tudor appeared to increase with every nightly +visit to the secret cave of blood; some hideous shadow seemed to follow +her steps in the darkness and sit by her side in the light. Sometimes +she held strange parley with this creation of her frenzy, and at +others smiled upon it in scornful silence; now her language was in the +tones of entreaty, pity, and forgiveness; anon it was the burst of +execration, curses, and scorn. To the gentle listeners her words were +blasphemy; and, shuddering at her boldness, they deemed, in the simple +holiness of their own hearts, that the Evil One was besetting her, and +that religion alone could banish him. Possessed by this idea, Evan one +day suddenly interrupted her tremendous denunciations upon her fate +and him who, she said, stood over her to fulfil it, with imploring her +to open the book which he held in his hand, and seek consolation from +its words and its promises. She listened, and grew calm in a moment; +with an awful smile she bade him open and read at the first place which +should meet his eye: ‘From that, the word of truth, as thou sayest, I +shall know my fate; what is there written I will believe.’ He opened +the book and read: + +‘“Whither shall I go from Thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy +presence? If I go up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in +hell, Thou art there; if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in +the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me, and +Thy right hand shall hold me.”’ + +Ruth laid her hand upon the book. ‘It is enough; its words are truth; +it has said there is no hope, and I find comfort in my despair. I have +already spoken thus in the secrecy of my heart, and I know that He will +be obeyed; the unnamed sin must be----’ + +Evan knew not how to comfort, so he shut up his Bible and retired; +and Rachel kissed the cheek of her mother as she bade her a tender +good-night. Another month, and she was to be the bride of Evan, and she +passed over the heath with a light step, for the thought of her bridal +seemed to give joy to her mother. ‘We shall all be happy then,’ said +the smiling girl, as the youth of her heart parted from her hand for +the night; ‘and heaven kindly grant that happiness may last.’ + +The time appointed for the marriage of Rachel Tudor and Evan Edwards +had long passed away, and winter had set in with unusual sternness, +even on that stormy coast, when, during a land tempest, on a dark +November afternoon, a stranger to the country, journeying on foot, lost +his way in endeavouring to find a short route to his destination, over +stubble fields and meadow lands, by following the footmarks of those +who had preceded him. The stranger was a young man, of a bright eye +and a hardy look, and he went on buffeting the elements, and buffeted +by them, without a thought of weariness or a single expression of +impatience. Night descended upon him as he walked, and the snowstorm +came down with unusual violence, as if to try the temper of his mind, +a mind cultivated and enlightened, though cased in a frame accustomed +to hardships, and veiled by a plain, almost rustic exterior. The +storm roared loudly above him, the wind blowing tremendously, raising +the new-fallen snow from the earth, which mingling with that which +fell, raised a shroud about his head which bewildered and blinded the +traveller, who, finding himself near some leafless brambles and a few +clustered bushes of the mountain broom, took shelter under them to +recover his senses and reconnoitre his position. ‘This storm cannot +last long,’ he mused, ‘and when it slackens I shall hope to find my +way to shelter and comfort.’ In this hope he was not mistaken. The +tempest abated, and, starting once more on his journey, he saw some +distance ahead what looked like a white-washed cottage, standing +solitary and alone on the miserable heath which he was now traversing. +Full of hope of a shelter from the storm, and lit onwards by a light +that gleamed like a beacon from the cottage window, the stranger trod +cheerily forwards, and in less than half an hour arrived at the white +cottage, which, from the low wall of loose lime-stones by which it was +surrounded, he judged to be, as he had already imagined, the humble +residence of some poor tenant of the manor. He opened the little +gate, and was proceeding to knock at the door, when his steps were +arrested by a singular and unexpected sound. It was a choral burst of +many voices, singing slowly and solemnly that magnificent dirge of the +Church of England, the 104th Psalm. The stranger loved music, and the +touching melody of that beautiful air had an instant effect upon his +feelings. He lingered in solemn and silent admiration till the strains +had ceased; he then knocked gently at the door, which was instantly and +courteously opened to his inquiry. + +On entering, he found himself in a cottage of a more respectable +interior than from its outward appearance he had been led to expect; +but he had little leisure or inclination for the survey of its effects, +for his senses and imagination were immediately and entirely occupied +by the scene which presented itself on his entrance. In the centre +of the room into which he had been so readily admitted stood, on its +trestles, an open coffin; lights were at its head and foot, and on each +side sat many persons of both sexes, who appeared to be engaged in the +customary ceremony of watching the corpse previous to its interment +in the morning. There were many who appeared to the stranger to be +watchers, but there were but two who, in his eye, bore the appearance +of mourners, and they had faces of grief which spoke too plainly of the +anguish that was reigning within. At the foot of the coffin was a pale +youth just blooming into manhood, who covered his eyes with trembling +fingers that ill-concealed the tears which trickled down his wan +cheeks; the other--but why should we again describe that still unbowed +and lofty form? The awful marble brow upon which the stranger gazed was +that of Ruth Tudor. + +There was much whispering and quiet talk among the people while +refreshments were handed to them; and so little curiosity was excited +by the appearance of the traveller that he naturally concluded that it +must be no common loss that could deaden a feeling usually so intense +in the bosoms of Welsh peasants. He was even checked from an attempt to +question; but one man--he who had given him admittance, and seemed to +possess authority in the circle--informed the traveller that he would +answer his questions when the guests should depart, but till then he +must keep silence. The traveller endeavoured to obey, and sat down in +quiet contemplation of the figure who most interested his attention, +and who sat at the coffin’s head. Ruth Tudor spoke nothing, nor did +she appear to heed aught of the business that was passing around her. +Absorbed by reflection, her eyes were generally cast to the ground; but +when they were raised, the traveller looked in vain for that expression +of grief which had struck him so forcibly on his entrance; there was +something wonderfully strange in the character of her perfect features. +Could he have found words for his thoughts, and might have been +permitted the expression, he would have called it triumphant despair, +so deeply agonised, so proudly stern, looked the mourner who sat by the +dead. + +The interest which the traveller took in the scene became more intense +the longer he gazed upon its action; unable to resist the anxiety +which had begun to prey upon his spirit, he arose and walked towards +the coffin, with the purpose of contemplating its occupant. A sad +explanation was given, by its appearance, of the grief and the anguish +he had witnessed. A beautiful girl was reposing in the narrow box, with +a face as calm and lovely as if she was sleeping a deep and refreshing +sleep, and the morning sun would again smile upon her awakening; salt, +the emblem of an immortal soul, was placed upon her breast; and in her +pale and perishing fingers a branch of living flowers were struggling +for life in the grasp of death, and diffusing their sweet and gracious +fragrance over the cold odour of mortality. These images, so opposite, +yet so alike, affected the spirit of the gazer, and he almost wept as +he continued looking upon them, till he was aroused from his trance by +the strange conduct of Ruth Tudor, who had caught a glimpse of his face +as he bent in sorrow over the coffin. She sprang up from her seat, and, +darting at him a terrible glance of recognition, pointed down to the +corpse, and then, with a hollow burst of frantic laughter, shouted: + +‘Behold, you double-dyed liar!’ + +The startled stranger was relieved from the necessity of speaking by +someone taking his arm and gently leading him to the farther end of +the cottage. The eyes of Ruth followed him, and it was not till he had +done violence to himself in turning from her to his conductor that he +could escape their singular fascination. When he did so, he beheld a +venerable man, the pastor of a distant village, who had come that night +to speak comfort to the mourners, and perform the last sad duty to the +dead on the morrow. + +‘Be not alarmed at what you have witnessed, my young friend,’ said he; +‘these ravings are not uncommon. This unhappy woman, at an early period +of her life, gave ear to the miserable superstitions of her country, +and a wretched pretender to wisdom predicted that she should become a +shedder of blood. Madness has been the inevitable consequence in an +ardent spirit, and in its ravings she dreams she has committed one sin, +and is still tempted to add to it another.’ + +‘You may say what you please, parson,’ said the old man who had given +admittance to the stranger, and who now, after dismissing all the +guests save the youth, joined the talkers, and seated himself on the +settle by their side. ‘You may say what you please about madness +and superstition, but I know Ruth Tudor was a fated woman, and the +deed that was to be I believe she has done. Aye, aye, her madness is +conscience; and if the deep sea and the jagged rocks could speak, they +might tell us a tale of other things than that. But she is judged +now; her only child is gone--her pretty Rachel. Poor Evan! he was her +suitor. Ah! he little thought two months ago, when he was preparing +for a gay bridal, that her slight sickness would end thus. He does +not deserve it; but for her--God forgive me if I do her wrong, but I +think it is the hand of God, and it lies heavy, as it should.’ And the +grey-haired old man hobbled away, satisfied that in thus thinking he +was showing his zeal for virtue. + +‘Alas! that so white a head should acknowledge so hard a heart!’ +said the pastor. ‘Ruth is condemned, according to his system, for +committing that which a mightier hand compelled her to do. How harsh +and misjudging is age! But we must not speak so loud,’ continued he; +‘for see, the youth Evan is retiring for the night, and the miserable +mother has thrown herself on the floor to sleep. The sole domestic +is rocking on her stool, and therefore I will do the honours of this +poor cottage to you. There is a chamber above this containing the only +bed in the hut; thither you may go and rest, for otherwise it will +certainly be vacant to-night. I shall find a bed in the village, and +Evan sleeps near you with some of the guests in the barn. But, before I +go, if my question be not unwelcome and intrusive, tell me who you are, +and whither you are bound.’ + +‘I was ever somewhat of a subscriber to the old man’s creed of +fatalism,’ said the stranger, smiling, ‘and I believe I am more +confirmed in it by the singular events of this day. My father was of +a certain rank in society, but of selfish and disorderly habits. A +course of extravagance and idleness was succeeded by difficulties and +distress. Instead of exertion, he had recourse to flight, and left +us to face the difficulties from which he shrunk. He was absent for +years, while his family toiled and struggled with success. Suddenly +we heard that he was concealed in this part of the coast. The cause +which made that concealment necessary I forbear to mention; but he +suddenly disappeared from the eyes of men, though we never could trace +him beyond this part of the country. I have always believed that I +should one day find my father, and have lately, though with difficulty, +prevailed upon my mother to allow me to make my residence in this +neighbourhood. But my search is at an end to-day. I believe that I have +found my father. Roaming along the beach, I penetrated into several +of those dark caverns. Through the fissures of one I discovered, in +the interior, a light. Surprised, I penetrated to its concealment, +and discovered a man sleeping on the ground. I advanced to awake him, +and found but a fleshless skeleton, cased in tattered and decaying +garments. He had probably met his death by accident, for exactly over +the corpse I observed, at a great height, the daylight, as if streaming +down from an aperture above. Thus the wretched man must have fallen, +but how long since, or who had discovered his body, and left the light +which I beheld, I knew not, though I cannot help cherishing a strong +conviction that it was the body of William Morgan that I saw.’ + +‘Who talks of William Morgan?’ demanded a stern voice near the coffin, +‘and of the cave where the outcast rots?’ They turned quickly at the +sound, and beheld Ruth Tudor standing up, as if she had been intently +listening to the story. + +‘It was I who spoke,’ said the stranger, gently, ‘and I spoke of my +father--of William Morgan. I am Owen, his son.’ + +‘Son! Owen Morgan!’ said the bewildered Ruth, passing her hand over +her forehead, as if to enable her to recover the combination of these +names. ‘Why speak you of living things as pertaining to the dead? +Father! He is father to nought save sin, and murder is his only +begotten!’ + +She advanced to the traveller as she spoke, and again caught a view of +his face. Again he saw the wild look of recognition, and an unearthly +shriek followed the convulsive horror of her face. ‘There! there!’ she +said, ‘I knew it must be. Once before to-night have I beheld you. Yet +what can your coming bode? Back with you, ruffian, for is not your dark +work done!’ + +‘Let us leave her,’ said the good pastor, ‘to the care of her +attendant. Do not continue to meet her gaze. Your presence may +increase, but cannot allay her malady. Go up to your bed and rest.’ + +He retired as he spoke, and Owen, in compliance with his wish, ascended +the rickety stair which led to his chamber, after he had beheld Ruth +Tudor quietly place herself in her seat at the open coffin’s head. The +room to which he mounted was not of the most cheering aspect, yet he +felt he had often slept soundly in a worse. It was a gloomy, unfinished +chamber, and the wind was whistling coldly and drearily through the +uncovered rafters above his head. Like many of the cottages in that +part of the country, it appeared to have grown old and ruinous before +it had been finished, for the flooring was so crazy as scarcely to +support the huge wooden bedstead, and in many instances the boards were +entirely separated from each other; and in the centre, time, or the +rot, had so completely devoured the larger half of one that through the +gaping aperture Owen had an entire command of the room and the party +below, looking down immediately above the coffin. Ruth was in the same +attitude as when he left her. Owen threw himself upon his hard couch, +and endeavoured to compose himself to rest for the night. His thoughts, +however, still wandered to the events of the day, and he felt there was +some strange connection between the scene he had just witnessed and +the darker one of the secret cave. He grew restless, and watched, and +amidst the tossings of impatient anxiety fatigue overpowered him, and +he sunk into a perturbed and heated sleep. His slumber was broken by +dreams that might well be the shadows of his waking reveries. He was +alone--as in reality--upon his humble bed, when imagination brought to +his ear the sound of many voices again singing the slow and monotonous +psalm. It was interrupted by the outcries of some unseen things who +attempted to enter his chamber, and, amid yells of fear and execrations +of anger, bade him ‘Arise, and come forth, and aid.’ Then the coffined +form which slept so quietly below stood by his side, and, in beseeching +accents, bade him ‘Arise and save her.’ In his sleep he attempted to +spring up, but a horrid fear restrained him, a fear that he should be +too late. Then he crouched like a coward beneath his coverings, to +hide from the reproaches of the spectre, while shouts of laughter and +shrieks of agony were poured like a tempest around him. He sprung from +his bed, and awoke. + +It was some moments before he could recover himself, or shake off the +horror which had seized upon his soul. He listened, and with infinite +satisfaction observed an unbroken silence throughout the house. He +smiled at his own terrors, attributed them to the events of the day or +the presence of the corpse, and determined not to look down into the +lower room till he should be summoned thither in the morning. He walked +to the casement, and peered through at the night. The clouds were many, +black, and lowering, and the face of the sky looked angry, while the +wind moaned with a strange and eerie sound. He turned from the window, +with the intention of again trying to sleep, but the light from below +attracted his eye, and he could not pass the aperture without taking +one glance at the coffin and its lonely watcher. + +Ruth was earnestly gazing at the lower end of the room upon something +without the sight of Owen. His attention was next fixed upon the +corpse, and he thought he had never seen any living thing so lovely; +and so calm was the aspect of her repose that it more resembled a +temporary suspension of the faculties than the eternal stupor of death. +Her features were pale, but not distorted, and there was none of the +livid hue of death in her beautiful mouth and lips; but the flowers +in her hand gave stronger demonstration of the presence of the power +before whose potency their little strength was fading--drooping with a +mortal sickness, they bowed down their heads in submission, as one by +one they dropped from her pale and perishing fingers. Owen gazed till +he thought he saw the grasp of her hand relapse, and a convulsive smile +pass over her cold and rigid features. He looked again. The eyelids +shook and vibrated like the string of some fine-strung instrument; the +hair rose, and the head cloth moved. He started up ashamed. + +‘Does the madness of this woman affect all who would sleep beneath her +roof?’ he thought. ‘What is this that disturbs me, or am I yet in a +dream? Hark!’ he muttered aloud, ‘What is that?’ + +It was the voice of Ruth. She had risen from her seat, and was standing +near the coffin, apparently addressing someone who stood at the lower +end of the room. + +‘To what purpose is your coming now?’ she asked in a low and melancholy +voice, ‘and at what do you laugh and gibe? Lo! behold. She is here, and +the sin you know of cannot be. How can I take the life which another +has already withdrawn? Go, go, hence, to your cave of night, for this +is no place of safety for you.’ Her thoughts now took another turn. +She seemed as if trying to hide someone from the pursuit of others. +‘Lie still! Lie still!’ she whispered. ‘Put out your light! So, so, +they pass by, and do not see you. You are safe; good-night, good-night. +Now will I home to sleep,’ and she seated herself in her chair, as if +composing her senses to rest. + +Owen was again bewildered in the chaos of thought, but for the time +he determined to subdue his imagination, and, throwing himself upon +his bed, again gave himself up to sleep. But the images of his former +dreams still haunted him, and their hideous phantasms were more +powerfully renewed. Again he heard the solemn psalm of death, but +unsung by mortals. It was pealed through earth up to the high heaven by +myriads of the viewless and the mighty. Again he heard the execrations +of millions for some unremembered sin, and the wrath and hatred of a +world was rushing upon him. + +‘Come forth! Come forth!’ was the cry, and amid yells and howls they +were darting upon him, when the pale form of the beautiful dead arose +between them and shielded him from their malice. But he heard her say +aloud: + +‘It is for this that thou wilt not save me. Arise, arise, and help!’ + +He sprang up as he was commanded. Sleeping or waking he never knew, +but he started from his bed to look down into the chamber, as he heard +the voice of Ruth loud in terrific denunciation. He looked. She was +standing, uttering yells of madness and rage, and close to her was a +well-known form of appalling recollection--his father, as he had seen +him last. He darted to the door. + +‘I am mad!’ said he. ‘I am surely mad, or this is still a continuation +of my dream.’ + +Some strange and unholy fascination drew him back again to the +aperture, and he looked down once more. Ruth was still there, though +alone. + +But though no visible form stood by the maniac, some fiend had entered +her soul and mastered her spirit. She had armed herself with an axe, +and, shouting: + +‘Liar! liar! hence!’ pursued an imaginary foe to the darker side of +the cottage. Owen strove hard to trace her motions, but as she had +retreated to the space occupied by his bed he could no longer see her, +and his eyes involuntarily fastened themselves upon the coffin. There +a new horror met them. The corpse had risen, and with wild and glaring +eyes was watching the scene before her. Owen distrusted his senses till +he heard the terrific voice of Ruth, as she marked the miracle he had +witnessed. + +‘The fiend, the robber!’ she yelled, ‘it is he who hath entered the +pure body of my child. Back to your cave of blood, you lost one! Back +to your own dark hell!’ + +Owen flew to the door. It was too late. He heard the shriek, the blow. +He rushed into the room, but only in time to hear the second blow, and +see the cleft head of the hapless Rachel fall back upon its bloody +pillow. His terrible cries brought in the sleepers from the barn, +headed by the wretched Evan, and for a time the roar of the storm +was drowned in the clamorous grief of those present. No one dared to +approach the miserable Ruth, who now, in utter frenzy, strode round +the room, brandishing, with diabolical laughter, the bloody axe. Then +she broke into a wild song of triumph and fierce joy. All fell back, +appalled with horror, and the wild screeching of the wind was like the +exultant cry of the damned. Then an extraordinary thing happened--a +blinding flash of lightning, as if the heavens themselves had burst +into flame, illuminated every nook and cranny, and imparted an awful, +ghastly, and weird effect to the dramatic scene. In a few seconds the +lightning was followed by a terrific peal of thunder. The house seemed +to rock to its foundations. The inmates were blinded and stunned, and, +moved by some strange impulse, they all fell upon their knees and +murmured a prayer. Presently, as their self-possession returned, they +rose one by one, and then a feeling of unutterable horror held them +spell bound. Ruth Tudor lay stretched upon the floor, half of her body +under the coffin, her face distorted and horrible, while hanging half +out of the coffin was the now dead body of her resuscitated daughter, +a stream of hot blood flowing from an awful wound in the skull. Ruth +Tudor was also stone dead, and in her hand she still grasped the axe +with which she had battered out the life of her child, who had awakened +from a trance to meet death at the hands of her maniac mother. + +The predictions of William Morgan had been literally fulfilled. + + + + +XI + +A NIGHT OF HORROR + + + ‘Bleak Hill Castle. + +‘MY DEAR OLD CHUM,--Before you leave England for the East I claim the +redemption of a promise you made to me some time ago that you would +give me the pleasure of a week or two of your company. Besides, as you +may have already guessed, I have given up the folly of my bachelor +days, and have taken unto myself the sweetest, dearest little woman +that ever walked the face of the earth. We have been married just six +months, and are as happy as the day is long. And then, this place +is entirely after your own heart. It will excite all your artistic +faculties, and appeal with irresistible force to your romantic nature. +To call the building a castle is somewhat pretentious, but I believe +it has been known as the Castle ever since it was built, more than +two hundred years ago. Hester--need I say that Hester is my better +half!--is just delighted with it, and if either of us was in the least +degree superstitious, we might see or hear ghosts every hour of the +day. Of course, as becomes a castle, we have a haunted room, though +my own impression is that it is haunted by nothing more fearsome than +rats. Anyway, it is such a picturesque, curious sort of chamber that +if it hasn’t a ghost it ought to have. But I have no doubt, old chap, +that you will make one of us, for, as I remember, you have always had +a love for the eerie and creepy, and you cannot forget how angry you +used to get with me sometimes for chaffing you about your avowed belief +in the occult and supernatural, and what you were pleased to term +the “unexplainable phenomena of psychomancy.” However, it is possible +you have got over some of the errors of your youth; but whether or +not, come down, dear boy, and rest assured that you will meet with the +heartiest of welcomes. + ‘Your old pal, + ‘DICK DIRCKMAN.’ + + * * * * * + +The above letter was from my old friend and college chum, who, having +inherited a substantial fortune, and being passionately fond of the +country and country pursuits, had thus the means of gratifying his +tastes to their fullest bent. Although Dick and I were very differently +constituted, we had always been greatly attached to each other. In the +best sense of the term he was what is generally called a hard-headed, +practical man. He was fond of saying he never believed in anything he +couldn’t see, and even that which he could see he was not prepared to +accept as truth without due investigation. In short, Dick was neither +romantic, poetical, nor, I am afraid, artistic, in the literal sense. +He preferred facts to fancies, and was possessed of what the world +generally calls ‘an unimpressionable nature.’ For nearly four years I +had lost sight of my friend, as I had been wandering about Europe as +tutor and companion to a delicate young nobleman. His death had set +me free; but I had no sooner returned to England than I was offered +and accepted a lucrative appointment in the service of his Highness +the Nyzam of Chundlepore, in Northern India, and there was every +probability of my being absent for a number of years. + +On returning home I had written to Dick to the chambers he had formerly +occupied, telling him of my appointment, and expressing a fear that +unless we could snatch a day or two in town I might not be able to see +him, as I had so many things to do. It was true I had promised that +when opportunity occurred I should do myself the pleasure of accepting +his oft-proffered hospitality, which I knew to be lavish and generous. +I had not heard of his marriage; his letter gave me the first +intimation of that fact, and I confess that when I got his missive I +experienced some curiosity to know the kind of lady he had succeeded +in captivating. I had always had an idea that Dick was cut out for a +bachelor, for there was nothing of the ladies’ man about him, and he +used at one time to speak of the gentler sex with a certain levity and +brusqueness of manner that by no means found favour with the majority +of his friends. And now Dick was actually married, and living in a +remote region, where most town-bred people would die of ennui. + +It will be gathered from the foregoing remarks that I did not hesitate +about accepting Dick’s cordial invitation. I determined to spare a few +days at least of my somewhat limited time, and duly notified Dick to +that effect, giving him the date of my departure from London, and the +hour at which I should arrive at the station nearest to his residence. + +Bleak Hill Castle was situated in one of the most picturesque parts of +Wales; consequently, on the day appointed I found myself comfortably +ensconsed in a smoking carriage of a London and North-Western train. +And towards the close of the day--the time of the year was May--I was +the sole passenger to alight at the wayside station, where Dick awaited +me with a smart dog-cart. His greeting was hearty and robust, and when +his man had packed in my traps he gave the handsome little mare that +drew the cart the reins, and we spanked along the country roads in rare +style. Dick always prided himself on his knowledge of horseflesh, and +with a sense of keen satisfaction he drew my attention to the points of +the skittish little mare which bowled along as if we had been merely +featherweights. + +A drive of eight miles through the bracing Welsh air so sharpened our +appetites that the smell of dinner was peculiarly welcome; and telling +me to make a hurried toilet, as his cook would not risk her reputation +by keeping a dinner waiting, Dick handed me over to the guidance of a +natty chambermaid. As it was dark when we arrived I had no opportunity +of observing the external characteristics of Bleak Hill Castle; but +there was nothing in the interior that suggested bleakness. Warmth, +comfort, light, held forth promise of carnal delights. + +Following my guide up a broad flight of stairs, and along a lofty and +echoing corridor, I found myself in a large and comfortably-furnished +bedroom. A bright wood fire burned upon the hearthstone, for although +it was May the temperature was still very low on the Welsh hills. +Hastily changing my clothes, I made my way to the dining-room, where +Mrs. Dirckman emphasised the welcome her husband had already given +me. She was an exceedingly pretty and rather delicate-looking little +woman, in striking contrast to her great, bluff, burly husband. A few +neighbours had been gathered together to meet me, and we sat down, a +dozen all told, to a dinner that from a gastronomic point of view left +nothing to be desired. The viands were appetising, the wines perfect, +and all the appointments were in perfect consonance with the good +things that were placed before us. + +It was perhaps natural, when the coffee and cigar stage had arrived, +that conversation should turn upon our host’s residence, by way of +affording me--a stranger to the district--some information. Of course, +the information was conveyed to me in a scrappy way, but I gathered +in substance that Bleak Hill Castle had originally belonged to a +Welsh family, which was chiefly distinguished by the extravagance and +gambling propensities of its male members. It had gone through some +exciting times, and numerous strange and startling stories had come to +centre round it. There were stories of wrong, and shame, and death, +and more than a suggestion of dark crimes. One of these stories turned +upon the mysterious disappearance of the wife and daughter of a young +scion of the house, whose career had been somewhat shady. His wife +was considerably older than he, and it was generally supposed that +he had married her for money. His daughter, a girl of about twelve, +was an epileptic patient, while the husband and father was a gloomy, +disappointed man. Suddenly the wife and daughter disappeared. At +first no surprise was felt; but, then, some curiosity was expressed +to know where they had gone to; and curiosity led to wonderment, and +wonderment to rumour--for people will gossip, especially in a country +district. Of course, Mr. Greeta Jones, the husband, had to submit to +much questioning as to where his wife and child were staying. But being +sullen and morose of temperament he contented himself by brusquely and +tersely saying, ‘They had gone to London.’ But as no one had seen them +go, and no one had heard of their going, the statement was accepted as +a perversion of fact. Nevertheless, incredible as it may seem, no one +thought it worth his while to insist upon an investigation, and a few +weeks later Mr. Greeta Jones himself went away--and to London, as was +placed beyond doubt. For a long time Bleak Hill Castle was shut up, +and throughout the country side it began to be whispered that sights +and sounds had been seen and heard at the castle which were suggestive +of things unnatural, and soon it became a crystallised belief in men’s +minds that the place was haunted. + +On the principle of giving a dog a bad name you have only to couple +ghosts with the name of an old country residence like this castle for +it to fall into disfavour, and to be generally shunned. As might have +been expected in such a region the castle _was_ shunned; no tenant +could be found for it. It was allowed to go to ruin, and for a long +time was the haunt of smugglers. They were cleared out in the process +of time, and at last hard-headed, practical Dick Dirckman heard of the +place through a London agent, went down to see it, took a fancy to +it, bought it for an old song, and, having taste and money, he soon +converted the half-ruined building into a country gentleman’s home, and +thither he carried his bride. + +Such was the history of Bleak Hill Castle as I gathered it in outline +during the post-prandial chat on that memorable evening. + +On the following day I found the place all that my host had described +it in his letter to me. Its situation was beautiful in the extreme; +and there wasn’t one of its windows that didn’t command a magnificent +view of landscape and sea. He and I rambled about the house, he evinced +a keen delight in showing me every nook and corner, in expatiating +on the beauties of the locality generally, and of the advantages of +his dwelling-place in particular. Why he reserved taking me to the +so-called haunted chamber until the last I never have known; but so +it was; and as he threw open the heavy door and ushered me into the +apartment he smiled ironically and remarked: + +‘Well, old man, this is the ghost’s den; and as I consider that a +country mansion of this kind should, in the interests of all tradition +and of fiction writers, who, under the guise of truth, lie like +Ananias, have its haunted room, I have let this place go untouched, +except that I have made it a sort of lumber closet for some antique and +mouldering old furniture which I picked up a bargain in Wardour Street, +London. But I needn’t tell you that I regard the ghost stories as rot.’ + +I did not reply to my friend at once, for the room absorbed my +attention. It was unquestionably the largest of the bedrooms in +the house, and, while in keeping with the rest of the house, had +characteristics of its own. The walls were panelled with dark oak, the +floor was oak, polished. There was a deep V-shaped bay, formed by an +angle of the castle, and in each side of the bay was a diamond-paned +window, and under each window an oak seat, which was also a chest +with an ancient iron lock. A large wooden bedstead with massive +hangings stood in one corner, and the rest of the furniture was of a +very nondescript character, and calls for no special mention. In a +word, the room was picturesque, and to me it at once suggested the +_mise-en-scène_ for all sorts of dramatic situations of a weird and +eerie character. I ought to add that there was a very large fireplace +with a most capacious hearthstone, on which stood a pair of ponderous +and rusty steel dogs. Finally, the window commanded superb views, and +altogether my fancy was pleased, and my artistic susceptibilities +appealed to in an irresistible manner, so that I replied to my friend +thus: + +‘I like this room, Dick, awfully. Let me occupy it, will you?’ + +He laughed. + +‘Well, upon my word, you are an eccentric fellow to want to give up the +comfortable den which I have assigned to you for this mouldy, draughty, +dingy old lumber room. However’--here he shrugged his shoulders--‘there +is no accounting for tastes, and as this is liberty hall, my friends do +as they like; so I’ll tell the servants to put the bed in order, light +a fire, and cart your traps from the other room.’ + +I was glad I had carried my point, for I frankly confess to having +romantic tendencies. I was fond of old things, old stories and legends, +old furniture, and anything that was removed above the dull level of +commonplaceness. This room, in a certain sense, was unique, and I was +charmed with it. + +When pretty little Mrs. Dirckman heard of the arrangements she said, +with a laugh that did not conceal a certain nervousness, ‘I am sorry +you are going to sleep in that wretched room. It always makes me +shudder, for it seems so uncomfortable. Besides, you know, although +Dick laughs at me and calls me a little goose, I am inclined to +believe there may be some foundation for the current stories. Anyway, +I wouldn’t sleep in the room for a crown of gold. I do hope you will +be comfortable, and not be frightened to death or into insanity by +gruesome apparitions.’ + +I hastened to assure my hostess that I should be comfortable enough, +while as for apparitions, I was not likely to be frightened by them. + +The rest of the day was spent in exploring the country round about, +and after a _recherché_ dinner Dick and I played billiards until one +o’clock, and then, having drained a final ‘peg,’ I retired to rest. +When I reached the haunted chamber I found that much had been done to +give an air of cheerfulness and comfort to the place. Some rugs had +been laid about the floor, a modern chair or two introduced, a wood +fire blazed on the hearth. On a little ‘occasional table’ that stood +near the fire was a silver jug, filled with hot water, and an antique +decanter containing spirits, together with lemon and sugar, in case +I wanted a final brew. I could not but feel grateful for my host and +hostess’s thoughtfulness, and, having donned my dressing-gown and +slippers, I drew a chair within the radius of the wood fire’s glow, and +proceeded to fill my pipe for a few whiffs previous to tumbling into +bed. This was a habit of mine--a habit of years and years of growth, +and, while perhaps an objectionable one in some respects, it afforded +me solace and conduced to restful sleep. So I lit my pipe, and fell to +pondering and trying to see if I could draw any suggestiveness as to my +future from the glowing embers. Suddenly a remarkable thing happened. +My pipe was drawn gently from my lips and laid upon the table, and at +the same moment I heard what seemed to me to be a sigh. For a moment or +two I felt confused, and wondered whether I was awake or dreaming. But +there was the pipe on the table, and I could have taken the most solemn +oath that to the best of my belief it had been placed there by unseen +hands. + +My feelings, as may be imagined, were peculiar. It was the first time +in my life that I had ever been the subject of a phenomenon which was +capable of being attributed to supernatural agency. After a little +reflection, and some reasoning with myself, however, I tried to believe +that my own senses had made a fool of me, and that in a half-somnolent +and dreamy condition I had removed the pipe myself, and placed it on +the table. Having come to this conclusion I divested myself of my +clothing, extinguished the two tall candles, and jumped into bed. +Although usually a good sleeper, I did not go to sleep at once, as was +my wont, but lay thinking of many things, and mingling with my changing +thoughts was a low, monotonous undertone--nature’s symphony--of booming +sea on the distant beach, and a bass piping--rising occasionally to +a shrill and weird upper note--of the wind. From its situation the +house was exposed to every wind that blew, hence its name ‘Bleak Hill +Castle,’ and probably a south-east gale would have made itself felt +to an uncomfortable degree in this room, which was in the south-east +angle of the building. But now the booming sea and wind had a lullaby +effect, and my nerves sinking into restful repose I fell asleep. How +long I slept I do not know, and never shall know; but I awoke suddenly, +and with a start, for it seemed as if a stream of ice-cold water was +pouring over my face. With an impulse of indefinable alarm I sprang up +in bed, and then a strange, awful, ghastly sight met my view. + +I don’t know that I could be described as a nervous man in any sense of +the word. Indeed, I think I may claim to be freer from nerves than the +average man, nor would my worst enemy, if he had a regard for truth, +accuse me of lacking courage. And yet I confess here, frankly, that the +sight I gazed upon appalled me. Yet was I fascinated with a horrible +fascination, that rendered it impossible for me to turn my eyes away. +I seemed bound by some strange weird spell. My limbs appeared to have +grown rigid; there was a sense of burning in my eyes; my mouth was +parched and dry; my tongue swollen, so it seemed. Of course, these were +mere sensations, but they were sensations I never wish to experience +again. They were sensations that tested my sanity. And the sight that +held me in the thrall was truly calculated to test the nerves of the +strongest. + +There, in mid-air, between floor and ceiling, surrounded or made +visible by a trembling, nebulous light, that was weird beyond the power +of any words to describe, was the head and bust of a woman. The face +was paralysed into an unutterably awful expression of stony horror; the +long black hair was tangled and dishevelled, and the eyes appeared to +be bulging from the head. But this was not all. Two ghostly hands were +visible. The fingers of one were twined savagely in the black hair, and +the other grasped a long-bladed knife, and with it hacked, and gashed, +and tore, and stabbed at the bare white throat of the woman, and the +blood gushed forth from the jagged wounds, reddening the spectre hand +and flowing in one continuous stream to the oak floor, where I heard +it drip, drip, drip until my brain seemed as if it would burst, and I +felt as if I was going raving mad. Then I saw with my strained eyes +the unmistakable sign of death pass over the woman’s face; and next, +the devilish hands flung the mangled remnants away, and I _heard_ a +low chuckle of satisfaction--heard, I say, and swear it, as plainly +as I have ever heard anything in this world. The light had faded; the +vision of crime and death had gone, and yet the spell held me. Although +the night was cold, I believe I was bathed in perspiration. I think +I tried to cry out--nay, I am sure I did--but no sound came from my +burning, parched lips; my tongue refused utterance; it clove to the +roof of my mouth. Could I have moved so much as a joint of my little +finger, I could have broken the spell; at least, such was the idea that +occupied my half-stunned brain. It was a nightmare of waking horror, +and I shudder now, and shrink within myself as I recall it all. But the +revelation--for revelation it was--had not yet reached its final stage. +Out of the darkness was once more evolved a faint, phosphorescent glow, +and in the midst of it appeared the dead body of a beautiful girl with +the throat all gashed and bleeding, the red blood flowing in a crimson +flood over her night-robe, which only partially concealed her young +limbs; and the cruel, spectral hands, dyed with her blood, appeared +again, and grasped her, and lifted her, and bore her along. Then that +vision faded, and a third appeared. This time I seemed to be looking +into a gloomy, damp, arched cave or cellar, and the horror that froze +me was intensified as I saw the hands busy preparing a hole in the wall +at one end of the cave; and presently they lifted two bodies--the body +of the woman, and the body of the young girl--all gory and besmirched; +and the hands crushed them into the hole in the wall, and then +proceeded to brick them up. + +All these things I saw as I have described them, and this I solemnly +swear to be the truth as I hope for mercy at the Supreme Judgment. + +It was a vision of crime; a vision of merciless, pitiless, damnable +murder. How long it all lasted I don’t know. Science has told us that +dreams which seem to embrace a long series of years, last but seconds; +and in the few moments of consciousness that remain to the drowning man +his life’s scroll is unrolled before his eyes. This vision of mine, +therefore, may only have lasted seconds, but it seemed to me hours, +years, nay, an eternity. With that final stage in the ghostly drama +of blood and death, the spell was broken, and flinging my arms wildly +about, I know that I uttered a great cry as I sprang up in bed. + +‘Have I been in the throes of a ghastly nightmare?’ I asked myself. + +Every detail of the horrific vision I recalled, and yet somehow it +seemed to me that I had been the victim of a hideous nightmare. I felt +ill; strangely ill. I was wet and clammy with perspiration, and nervous +to a degree that I had never before experienced in my existence. +Nevertheless, I noted everything distinctly. On the hearthstone there +was still a mass of glowing red embers. I heard the distant booming of +the sea, and round the house the wind moaned with a peculiar, eerie, +creepy sound. + +Suddenly I sprang from the bed, impelled thereto by an impulse I was +bound to obey, and by the same impulse I was drawn towards the door. +I laid my hand on the handle. I turned it, opened the door, and gazed +into the long dark corridor. A sigh fell upon my ears. An unmistakable +human sigh, in which was expressed an intensity of suffering and sorrow +that thrilled me to the heart. I shrank back, and was about to close +the door, when out of the darkness was evolved the glowing figure of +a woman clad in blood-stained garments and with dishevelled hair. She +turned her white corpse-like face towards me, and her eyes pleaded with +a pleading that was irresistible, while she pointed the index finger +of her left hand downwards, and then beckoned me. Then I followed +whither she led. I could no more resist than the unrestrained needle +can resist the attracting magnet. Clad only in my night apparel, and +with bare feet and legs, I followed the spectre along the corridor, +down the broad oak stairs, traversing another passage to the rear of +the building until I found myself standing before a heavy barred door. +At that moment the spectre vanished, and I retraced my steps like one +who walked in a dream. I got back to my bedroom, but how I don’t quite +know; nor have I any recollection of getting into bed. Hours afterwards +I awoke. It was broad daylight. The horror of the night came back to me +with overwhelming force, and made me faint and ill. I managed, however, +to struggle through with my toilet, and hurried from that haunted room. +It was a beautifully fine morning. The sun was shining brightly, and +the birds carolled blithely in every tree and bush. I strolled out on +to the lawn, and paced up and down. I was strangely agitated, and asked +myself over and over again if what I had seen or dreamed about had any +significance. + +Presently my host came out. He visibly started as he saw me. + +‘Hullo, old chap. What’s the matter with you?’ he exclaimed. ‘You look +jolly queer; as though you had been having a bad night of it.’ + +‘I have had a bad night.’ + +His manner became more serious and grave. + +‘What--seen anything?’ + +‘Yes.’ + +‘The deuce! You don’t mean it, really!’ + +‘Indeed I do. I have gone through a night of horror such as I could not +live through again. But let us have breakfast first, and then I will +try and make you understand what I have suffered, and you shall judge +for yourself whether any significance is to be attached to my dream, or +whatever you like to call it.’ + +We walked, without speaking, into the breakfast room, where my charming +hostess greeted me cordially; but she, like her husband, noticed my +changed appearance, and expressed alarm and anxiety. I reassured her by +saying I had had a rather restless night, and didn’t feel particularly +well, but that it was a mere passing ailment. I was unable to partake +of much breakfast, and both my good friend and his wife again showed +some anxiety, and pressed me to state the cause of my distress. As I +could not see any good cause that was to be gained by concealment, +and even at the risk of being laughed at by my host, I recounted the +experience I had gone through during the night of terror. + +So far from my host showing any disposition to ridicule me, as I quite +expected he would have done, he became unusually thoughtful, and +presently said: + +‘Either this is a wild phantasy of your own brain, or there is +something in it. The door that the ghost of the woman led you to is +situated on the top of a flight of stone steps, leading to a vault +below the building, which I have never used, and have never even had +the curiosity to enter, though I did once go to the bottom of the +steps; but the place was so exceedingly suggestive of a tomb that I +mentally exclaimed, “I’ve no use for this dungeon,” and so I shut it +up, bolted and barred the door, and have never opened it since.’ + +I answered that the time had come when he must once more descend into +that cellar or vault, whatever it was. He asked me if I would accompany +him, and, of course, I said I would. So he summoned his head gardener, +and after much searching about, the key of the door was found; but even +then the door was only opened with difficulty, as lock and key alike +were foul with rust. + +As we descended the slimy, slippery stone steps, each of us carrying a +candle, a rank, mouldy smell greeted us, and a cold noisome atmosphere +pervaded the place. The steps led into a huge vault, that apparently +extended under the greater part of the building. The roof was arched, +and was supported by brick pillars. The floor was the natural +earth, and was soft and oozy. The miasma was almost overpowering, +notwithstanding that there were ventilating slits in the wall in +various places. + +We proceeded to explore this vast cellar, and found that there was an +air shaft which apparently communicated with the roof of the house; +but it was choked with rubbish, old boxes, and the like. The gardener +cleared this away, and then, looking up, we could see the blue sky +overhead. + +Continuing our exploration, we noted that in a recess formed by the +angle of the walls was a quantity of bricks and mortar. Under other +circumstances this would not, perhaps, have aroused our curiosity or +suspicions. But in this instance it did; and we examined the wall +thereabouts with painful interest, until the conviction was forced +upon us that a space of over a yard in width, and extending from floor +to roof, had recently been filled in. I was drawn towards the new +brickwork by some subtle magic, some weird fascination. I examined it +with an eager, critical, curious interest, and the thoughts that passed +through my brain were reflected in the faces of my companions. We +looked at each other, and each knew by some unexplainable instinct what +was passing in his fellow’s mind. + +‘It seems to me we are face to face with some mystery,’ remarked Dick, +solemnly. Indeed, throughout all the years I had known him I had +never before seen him so serious. Usually his expression was that of +good-humoured cynicism, but now he might have been a judge about to +pronounce the doom of death on a red-handed sinner. + +‘Yes,’ I answered, ‘there is a mystery, unless I have been tricked by +my own fancy.’ + +‘Umph! it is strange,’ muttered Dick to himself. + +‘Well, sir,’ chimed in the gardener, ‘you know there have been some +precious queer stories going about for a long time. And before you come +and took the place plenty of folks round about used to say they’d seen +some uncanny sights. I never had no faith in them stories myself; but, +after all, maybe there’s truth in ’em.’ + +Dick picked up half a brick and began to tap the wall with it where the +new work was, and the taps gave forth a hollow sound, quite different +from the sound produced when the other parts of the wall were struck. + +‘I say, old chap,’ exclaimed my host, with a sorry attempt at a smile, +‘upon my word, I begin to experience a sort of uncanny kind of +feeling. I’ll be hanged if I am not getting as superstitious as you +are.’ + +‘You may call me superstitious if you like, but either I have seen what +I have seen, or my senses have played the fool with me. Anyway, let us +put it to the test.’ + +‘How?’ + +‘By breaking away some of that new brickwork.’ + +Dick laughed a laugh that wasn’t a laugh, as he asked: + +‘What do you expect to find?’ I hesitated what to say, and he added +the answer himself--‘Mouldering bones, if your ghostly visitor hasn’t +deceived you.’ + +‘Mouldering bones!’ I echoed involuntarily. + +‘Gardener, have you got a crowbar amongst your tools?’ Dick asked. + +‘Yes, sir.’ + +‘Go up and get it.’ + +The man obeyed the command. + +‘This is a strange sort of business altogether,’ Dick continued, after +glancing round the vast and gloomy cellar. ‘But, upon my word, to tell +you the truth, I’m half ashamed of myself for yielding to anything like +superstition. It strikes me that you’ll find you are the victim of a +trick of the imagination, and that these bogey fancies of yours have +placed us in rather a ridiculous position.’ + +In answer to this I could not possibly resist reminding Dick that even +scientists admitted that there were certain phenomena--they called them +‘natural phenomena’--that could not be accounted for by ordinary laws. + +Dick shrugged his shoulders and remarked with assumed indifference: + +‘Perhaps--perhaps it is so.’ He proceeded to fill his pipe with +tobacco, and having lit it he smoked with a nervous energy quite +unusual with him. + +The gardener was only away about ten minutes, but it seemed infinitely +longer. He brought both a pickaxe and a crowbar with him, and in +obedience to his master’s orders he commenced to hack at the wall. A +brick was soon dislodged. Then the crowbar was inserted in the hole, +and a mass prized out. From the opening came forth a sickening odour, +so that we all drew back instinctively, and I am sure we all shuddered, +and I saw the pipe fall from Dick’s lips; but he snatched it up quickly +and puffed at it vigorously until a cloud of smoke hung in the fœtid +and stagnant air. Then, picking up a candle from the ground, where it +had been placed, he approached the hole, holding the candle in such a +position that its rays were thrown into the opening. In a few moments +he started back with an exclamation: + +‘My God! the ghost hasn’t lied,’ he said, and I noticed that his face +paled. I peered into the hole and so did the gardener, and we both drew +back with a start, for sure enough in that recess were decaying human +remains. + +‘This awful business must be investigated,’ said Dick. ‘Come, let us +go.’ + +We needed no second bidding. We were only too glad to quit that place +of horror, and get into the fresh air and bright sunlight. We verily +felt that we had come up out of a tomb, and we knew that once more the +adage, ‘Murder will out,’ had proved true. + +Half an hour later Dick and I were driving to the nearest town to lay +information of the awful discovery we had made, and the subsequent +search carried out by the police brought two skeletons to light. +Critical medical examination left not the shadow of a doubt that they +were the remains of a woman and a girl, and each had been brutally +murdered. Of course it became necessary to hold an inquest, and the +police set to work to collect evidence as to the identity of the bodies +hidden in the recess in the wall. + +Naturally all the stories which had been current for so many years +throughout the country were revived, and the gossips were busy in +retailing all they had heard, with many additions of their own, of +course. But the chief topic was that of the strange disappearance of +the wife and daughter of the once owner of the castle, Greeta Jones. +This story had been touched upon the previous night, during the +after-dinner chat in my host’s smoking room. Morgan, as was remembered, +had gambled his fortune away, and married a lady much older than +himself, who bore him a daughter who was subject to epileptic fits. +When this girl was about twelve she and her mother disappeared from the +neighbourhood, and, according to the husband’s account, they had gone +to London. + +Then he left, and people troubled themselves no more about him and his +belongings. + +A quarter of a century had passed since that period, and Bleak Hill +Castle had gone through many vicissitudes until it fell into the hands +of my friend Dick Dirckman. The more the history of Greeta Jones was +gone into the more it was made clear that the remains which had been +bricked up in the cellar were those of his wife and daughter. That +the unfortunate girl and woman had been brutally and barbarously +murdered there wasn’t a doubt. The question was, who murdered them? +After leaving Wales Greeta Jones--as was brought to light--led a wild +life in London. One night, while in a state of intoxication, he was +knocked down by a cab, and so seriously injured that he died while +being carried to the hospital; and with him his secret, for could there +be any reasonable doubt that, even if he was not the actual murderer, +he had connived at the crime. But there was reason to believe that he +killed his wife and child with his own hand, and that with the aid of +a navvy, whose services he bought, he bricked the bodies up in the +cellar. It was remembered that a navvy named Howell Williams had been +in the habit of going to the castle frequently, and that suddenly he +became possessed of what was, for him, a considerable sum of money. For +several weeks he drank hard; then, being a single man, he packed up his +few belongings and gave out that he was going to California, and all +efforts to trace him failed. + +So much for this ghastly crime. As to the circumstances that led to +its discovery, it was curious that I should have been selected as the +medium for bringing it to light. Why it should have been so I cannot +and do not pretend to explain. I have recorded facts as they occurred; +I leave others to solve the mystery. + +It was not a matter for surprise that Mrs. Dirckman should have been +deeply affected by the terrible discovery, and she declared to her +husband that if she were to remain at the castle she would either go +mad or die. And so poor Dick, who was devoted to his charming little +wife, got out as soon as he could, and once more Bleak Hill Castle +fell into neglect and ultimate ruin, until at last it was razed to the +ground and modern buildings reared on its site. As for myself, that +night of horror I endured under Dick’s roof affected me to such an +extent that my hair became prematurely grey, and even now, when I think +of the agony I endured, I shudder with an indefinable sense of fear. + + + + +XII + +THE ASTROLOGER + + +The Black Forest is rich in story and tradition of a weird and +thrilling kind, but nothing can excel in ghastly horror that which is +told of the sole heir of the once illustrious family of Di Venoni. For +generations this family had held tyrannical sway over the district. +Their power was tremendous; their word was law; they ruled with a hand +of iron, and the peasants were their slaves. They were exceedingly +wealthy. Their men were said to be brave, their women beautiful. But, +as seems to be the fate of all powerful families sooner or later, +they began to decay. The fatuous habit of intermarrying produced the +usual result, and the curse of insanity fell upon them. Many were the +tragedies that this led to; and the time came at last when there was +but one sole remaining male representative. This was a youth, handsome +and well proportioned, but of eccentric habits, and occasionally +displaying those fatal signs which were only too well known. +Nevertheless, it was believed that Reginald Di Venoni might escape the +curse. The best medical advice was sought, and the opinion was that the +chances were strongly in his favour, and he would escape. + +Reginald was brought up under the care of his mother, who had been +left a widow for some years. She was a haughty, austere, proud, and +disdainful lady, who guarded her son with peculiar jealousy; for on +him, as she knew, depended the existence of her house. If he failed, +then indeed the power of the Di Venonis would be gone, and the family +would crumble to decay. + +The lady and her son lived in a large castle, which for generations had +been the Di Venonis’ stronghold, and had withstood and repelled many a +determined attack. It was a gloomy pile, distinguished for its strength +rather than its beauty, although internally much had been done for +the comfort of the occupants. The castle was situated in Suabia, just +on the borders of the forest. It stood on elevated ground, and anyone +standing on the turrets commanded an immense panorama of great beauty. + +At some little distance rose the ruins of the once powerful castle of +Rudstein. This had originally been the home of the Di Venonis; but an +evil genius seemed to enter into it, and for two or three generations +such ill-luck attended the family that they decided to desert their +ancestral home. It was unroofed, and left to wind and weather and the +evil things that haunt the great forest. One tower was left standing +only, as a sort of landmark. In the meantime the new castle had risen, +and here the family installed themselves. Here many of them paid the +debt of nature, and here the last male representative was born. Here in +lonely grandeur the widowed mother lived, surrounded by a retinue of +servants and retainers, and having for companion her one sister--a much +younger woman, of great beauty and lively disposition. She was known +as the Lady Hilda, and it was said that she and her sister were by no +means always in accord. She protested against the gloomy surroundings +in which the scion of the noble house was being brought up, and she +urged Madame Di Venoni to keep more company, and relieve the castle, if +possible, of the air of brooding melancholy which seemed to envelope +it. But madame had her own notions. She wanted to mould her son after +her own fashion. She was afraid of exposing him to evil influences. She +would not depart from the traditions of her race. + +One day, when Reginald was about six years of age, a traveller came +to the castle and begged for hospitality. It had been a terrible +day--wild, stormy, and wet. The traveller was a mysterious looking +man, who seemed to have travelled far on foot, and was weary, wet, and +hungry. He was a foreigner, and spoke but little German. He was invited +into the servants’ great hall, where food and drink were set before +him, and as night approached he was conducted to a chamber situated on +the top of a tower. That night a very violent storm, which had been +threatening all day, burst over the country and did enormous damage. +The thunder was terrific; the lightning incessant; the rain descended +in a deluge. During the time that the storm was at its height a female +servant, happening to glance from her window, which commanded a full +view of the tower where the traveller was lodged, averred that she saw +him walking about on the flat roof of the tower, and exposed to the +full fury of the storm. She declared that he had more the appearance +of a fiend than a man; that occasionally he broke into wild eldritch +laughter, and ever and anon raised his hands aloft, as if daring the +heavens and defying the lightning. + +Frightened almost into a fit, and yet fascinated, the woman watched him +for some time, and at last saw him conversing with the arch enemy of +man himself. The following morning the servant hurried to her mistress, +and told her this silly story, the outcome of ignorance, superstition, +and fear; and she insisted that the traveller who had been entertained +and lodged in the castle was an evil being, who held converse with the +devil, and that unless he were put to death some terrible calamity +would result from his visit. + +The lady, who was only a degree or two less superstitious than +the menial, was much impressed, for she lived in a district where +superstition was very rife. People travelled very little in those days, +and credence was given to the wildest and most outrageous stories; +while a belief in the power of certain persons to hold communication +with Satan was very common, especially in the Black Forest district. +Indeed, even at the present day, when railways and telegraphs encircle +the globe, natives of some of the remote districts in the forest +still cling to this belief, and have all sorts of charms to protect +themselves against the malignant influences of witches, warlocks, and +forest demons. + +Madame Di Venoni, having listened to the wild and weird story of the +servant, summoned her major domo, and bade him bring the stranger to +her. This was done, and when the stranger was ushered into her presence +he bowed low and reverentially to the mistress of the castle, who, +however, regarded him with something like awe, for truly enough he was +a striking and remarkable man, and calculated to unfavourably impress +anyone who was superstitious. He had a dark, swarthy face. His eyes +were intensely black and piercing, his hair like jet. + +‘Whence come you?’ demanded the lady, imperiously. + +‘From Rhenish Prussia,’ answered the man proudly, and drawing himself +up as if by gesture he would resent the manner in which she addressed +him. + +‘And whither go you?’ + +‘To Russia.’ + +‘With what object?’ + +‘In search of knowledge.’ + +Madame was incensed by his proud air, and eyeing him suspiciously, said: + +‘Unless I am mistaken, you are a man of evil nature, and in +communication with the enemies of the human race.’ + +The man laughed. + +‘No, madame,’ he answered, ‘unless the stars that shine so gloriously +in the heavens above are enemies of the human race, for it is from the +stars I derive my knowledge.’ + +This apparently mysterious answer appalled the lady, for she felt no +doubt now that the man was a fiend, and she was about to summon her +attendants and have him expelled when her little son burst into the +room, followed by his aunt. The child was laughing merrily, and had +come to show his mother some grotesque heads he had been drawing on a +sheet of paper. But, catching sight of the stranger, he was instantly +silenced and clung to his aunt’s skirts, while the Lady Hilda regarded +the man with intense interest. + +‘Is that your son?’ he asked. + +‘No,’ answered Lady Hilda, ‘I am a single woman. He is the son of my +sister there, the Lady Di Venoni.’ + +The man turned to madame, and speaking in a strange, far-away voice, +and as if inspired by some strange prophetic instinct, he said: + +‘That boy is the hope and prop of your race. But have a care, have a +care, for a curse is upon him. Take him from this gloomy dwelling. +Show him the bright and fair scenes of the earth. Teach him charity +and tolerance. Strengthen his body and broaden his mind, and watch his +footsteps lest he stray. His life hangs by a thread only.’ + +Madame was horrified. She no longer doubted that this audacious +stranger was an evil thing whose death would be a benefit to all +men. As she caught her son up in her arms she screamed, and when her +attendants rushed in she ordered them to beat the stranger and set the +dogs upon him. Folding his arms he stood like a rock, and gazed at her +with scorn and defiance. But he was dragged from the apartment and +roughly hurried down the great stairs to the courtyard, where a call +was made to let the dogs loose, but at that instant the Lady Hilda +appeared upon the scene, and interposed to save the stranger from the +fury and violence of the menials. She peremptorily ordered them to +release him, and when that was done she bade him depart at once, saying: + +‘Your safety, your life, depends upon the speed with which you leave +this castle behind you. You have spoken well and truly, and your advice +is the advice of a wise man; but ignorance and tradition are powerful +factors; they are difficult to counteract.’ + +The man bent his knee, and taking Lady Hilda’s hand, kissed it +gracefully, saying: + +‘I thank you, lady, and do not doubt that this generous act of yours +will go unrewarded; but, I pray you let me have a word with you out of +earshot of these human wolves, who seem panting to rend me to pieces.’ + +Unmindful of the angry looks darted at her, and the menacing attitude +of the menials, she retired for a moment or two to a corner of the +courtyard with the stranger, who, availing himself of the opportunity, +said: + +‘Have you the courage to meet me alone in the forest, in order that I +may give you some information?’ + +‘Yes.’ + +‘Good. Meet me, then, to-night at the tower of the ruins of Rudstein, +as the moon rises. No harm shall befall you, but good will come out of +it.’ + +She pledged herself to meet him. Then she ordered the gates to be +thrown open, and the man departed, followed by the jeers and taunts +of the people. Lady Hilda turned furiously upon them and upbraided +them for their cowardice in attacking a defenceless man. She was not a +favourite with them, but she had power, and they were silenced. + +That night, as the moon was rising, Lady Hilda slipped out of the +castle by a secret door, and hastily made her way to the ruins of +Rudstein, where the stranger was waiting for her. For two hours they +talked together, and, loving her nephew as she did, she anxiously +inquired about his future. + +‘His hope lies in separating him from his mother,’ said the stranger. +‘It may seem unnatural and cruel, but she is too strongly influenced +in the traditions of her race to see that the boy’s welfare depends on +every means being taken to save him from the curse of his ancestors.’ + +‘But how know you all this?’ she answered, somewhat awed, and yet +recognising the soundness of his advice. + +‘I read it in the stars,’ he answered mysteriously. ‘They are wondrous +books in which the past and the future of men can be read for those who +have eyes to see.’ + +Many more questions were asked and answered, and Lady Hilda returned +to the castle deeply impressed by the strange man’s manner. Again and +again she visited him, and his influence over her became all-powerful. +Of course, these visits were secret ones, and she kept her own +counsel. The stranger took up his abode in the tower, where there was +no fear of his being disturbed, for people had a dread of the ruins, as +they said they were haunted. Lady Hilda procured him books and other +things that he said he wanted, and she kept him supplied with food and +money. During the time that this was taking place she was urging her +sister to quit the castle, retire to the capital, and there bring up +her son in the shadow of the court. But this the mother strenuously +refused to do, while the ill-feeling between her and her sister +increased. At last Lady Hilda disappeared, and with her her nephew. +She was ultimately traced to Cologne after some months’ absence, and +she and the boy were brought back. Within a week of her return she was +found dead in her bed. She had been poisoned. + +The burial of a dead Di Venoni was invariably an imposing sight, and +there was no exception in Lady Hilda’s case. None of the mummery and +pomp and ceremony were omitted, and for three days the body lay in +state in the great entrance hall, and those who were entrusted with +watching the corpse at night averred that one night as the great bell +of the castle was tolling the solemn midnight hour a peculiar dark-eyed +man suddenly appeared. There was something so weird and strange in his +appearance that they were dumbfounded with horror, and their horror was +increased when they saw him lift the shrouded corpse from its coffin, +press it to his breast, fondle it and kiss it, and lavish upon it all +the manifestations of extreme love and affection. At last he replaced +the body and disappeared as mysteriously as he came. This wonderful +story soon spread from lip to lip, with additions and exaggerations, +and great was the consternation when, as the unhappy lady was being +borne to the burial vault of the Di Venoni in the neighbouring church, +the remarkable stranger was recognised amongst the crowd. He seemed +bowed in sorrow, but when an attempt was made to seize him he avoided +it, and, as everyone declared, made himself invisible. + +Years passed away. Reginald Di Venoni grew into manhood. He had become +a self-willed, passionate, gloomy man, who avoided his mother--now an +old and decrepid woman--and made no secret of the fact that he disliked +her. For a long time he had abandoned himself to the pleasures of the +chase, and he tried to give some colour and tone to his gloomy and +monotonous life by riotous living. + +One evening he had been out hunting, and having got separated from +his followers, he was returning alone when, on reaching the ruins of +Rudstein, his horse shied, and Reginald beheld a weird-looking old man +standing amidst the ruins. His hair was white, and he had a long, grey +beard. + +‘Who are you?’ demanded Reginald boldly, for he was courageous and +daring to recklessness at times. + +‘One who has watched you from childhood, and who would now speak into +your ear words of wisdom. Make your horse fast to that tree and follow +me.’ + +Curiosity, no less than some spell which he seemed incapable of +resisting, prompted him to do the bidding of the stranger, who led the +way up the mouldering stairs of the tower. On arriving at the top he +threw open a door and revealed an apartment, the floor of which was +strewn with books written in strange characters. In one corner stood +a large vase engraved with the signs of the Zodiac, and encircled by +mysterious letters. A huge telescope was placed in the centre of the +room, and pointed through a small aperture in the ceiling. As the old +man entered he took up an ebony wand from a table near and with it drew +circles in the air, then, turning to Reginald, said in a solemn and +warning voice: + +‘Man of ill-starred fortune, you were born under an unlucky planet, and +your future is involved in darkness. But for the sake of her whom I +loved, your aunt, the Lady Hilda, I would save you from your doom.’ + +Reginald laughed somewhat scornfully. Although he was not without +superstition he placed little faith in the wild stories which he had +heard from his childhood, and he was in the habit of saying that there +was little that was called supernatural that could not be explained by +natural laws. + +‘Ah, now I remember you,’ he exclaimed. ‘Years ago, when I was a child, +you came to my mother’s castle. You frightened me then, and strangely +impressed me.’ + +‘And yet why should that have been?’ asked the stranger. ‘I was a +simple student of the occult, and was travelling the world in quest of +knowledge. I had heard something of your family. I knew the curse that +rested upon your house, and even then I would have tried to avert it; +but your mother would have set her dogs upon me as she set her menials. +To your aunt I owed my life, and my love for her grew. By my advice she +took you away to the capital, but that act cost her her life. For her +sake I would now save you. Since her death I have made long journeys +into different countries, but have always been drawn back here by some +influence I could not resist. My days, nay, my hours are numbered now; +but before I join the sweet Lady Hilda I would render you a service.’ + +Reginald was far from impressed, and laughed again, saying: + +‘It is kind of you, but suppose I decline your good offices. Indeed, +I am capable of taking care of myself and my fortunes; and, frankly, +do not desire any service at the hands of a half-witted imposter, as I +believe you to be. For myself, I have no belief either in God or Devil, +therefore am not likely to be frightened by anything you can tell me or +anything you can do.’ + +The old man’s face assumed a look of sorrow and distress, and, speaking +in a voice that betrayed his emotion, he said: + +‘Sad indeed it is that you should lack reverence. But have a care, +have a care! I warn you against infidelity, and against those sins +which, if indulged in, will bring you to ruin. Listen, I say, and take +heed. The star of your destiny already wanes in the heavens, and the +fortunes of the proud family of Venoni must decline with it. When the +stars shine to-night look to the west, and you will see your planet, +distinguishable by its unusual brilliancy. Look to it, I say, and let +your thoughts wander from it to the God who rules the universe, and to +Him put up a prayer of repentance and a cry for light and guidance. But +should you see a dull red meteor shoot across the face of your star of +nativity, it will be a sign that a deed of blood will be done, and you +will perpetrate it.’ + +For a moment or two Reginald was really impressed by the awe-inspiring +tone and manner of the old man. But once more he broke into a scornful +laugh, and said: + +‘If this is all you have brought me here for, you do but waste my time, +and I will depart.’ + +‘Go!’ answered the old man. ‘You pronounce your doom. But let me exact +a promise from you. On the night of the third day from now return +to this apartment, and, if you find me dead, give my body Christian +burial.’ + +‘Yes; you shall have burial, as one of my dogs should,’ Reginald +replied. ‘But since you are an unwelcome tenant in this ruined tower, +which is part of my property, I shall give instructions to have you +driven away. However, as you confess to having liked my aunt, whom I +loved better than I loved my mother, I will see that you do not want. +You shall be furnished with means sufficiently ample to enable you to +live where your inclinations prompt, only you must quit the tower.’ + +‘This is my living place, as it is to be my death place,’ exclaimed the +old man. ‘And again I charge you, return here in three days, or fail at +your peril.’ + +Reginald was exasperated. His temper was aroused now, as he thought the +old man was defying him, and he strode hastily from the room, hurried +down the stairs, and, flinging himself on his horse, galloped to the +castle, with the intention of giving orders to eject the strange old +man from the tower at once. But by the time he reached the courtyard he +had changed his mind, and he could not help confessing to himself that +some indefinable sense of fear restrained him. At any rate, he would +let the old fellow remain where he was for a few days longer. + +Three days passed away, and the night came. Then Reginald remembered +the man’s request; at first he had no intention of returning to the +ruins. As the evening wore on, however, he felt impelled by a feeling +of overmastering curiosity to pay another visit to the wizard, if +wizard he was. So, without making known his intention to anyone, he +armed himself with a formidable spear used in boar hunting, and, +calling his faithful boarhound ‘Wanga’ to his side, he set off for the +tower. + +The night was beautifully fine. The air was still, the sky was +cloudless, the stars shone with extraordinary brilliancy. As Reginald +pursued his way he looked to the west, and saw an unusually bright +star, and knew, according to what the old man had told him, that it +was the star of his nativity. He reached the ruins in about half an +hour’s rapid walking. A weird silence seemed to pervade the place. No +light was visible. There wasn’t a sign of the old man’s existence. +Reginald told ‘Wanga’ to precede him up the mouldering stairs, but the +great hound whined and drew back and crouched at his master’s feet, and +remained unmoved even by the vigorous kick which his master gave him. +So, with a muttered oath, Reginald mounted the stairs alone. He pushed +open the door and peered in. The window of the chamber was screened by +a curtain, on a shelf burned a small lamp, at the table sat the old +man. He was dressed in a suit of black velvet embroidered with gold, +while round his waist was a massive belt of silver. He wore a skull-cap +on his head, in his thin white hand he grasped the ebony rod, while the +index finger of the right hand was fixed on a passage in an open book +that lay on the table before him. + +Reginald spoke to him. There was no answer, no movement. For the first +time he felt a sense of fear. He spoke again, but still no answer came. +He advanced a few steps into the room. + +‘Do you not see I am here?’ he exclaimed. + +The old man rose up, not as a living being, but like a mechanical +figure. The face was the face of a corpse. The eyes were dull and +glazed, but for an instant they lighted up as they turned upon the +speaker, though the light faded immediately, and without a sound the +old man sank to the floor, dead. + +The situation was so weird, so ghastly, so dramatic, that Reginald’s +fears were now fully aroused, and with a suppressed moan of horror he +turned and fled. The dog was still crouching at the foot of the stairs, +but rose with a cry of joy as his master appeared. As Reginald left +the ruins he glanced at the west. His star of nativity was burning +brilliantly, but suddenly a dull red meteor shot across it, and +remembering then the old man’s prophecy, he was so overcome that he +dropped senseless to the ground in a faint. In a few minutes, finding +that something was wrong, the faithful hound rushed back to the castle, +and by his howling and barking attracted attention. When the servants +hurried to the great gateway he indicated that something was wrong; +so torches were procured and the dog was followed to where his master +still lay insensible on the ground. He was raised up and carried back, +but when he came to his senses he was in a raging fever. He frequently +became delirious, and in the hour of his lunacy was accustomed to talk +of an evil spirit that had visited him in his slumbers. His mother was +shocked at such evident symptoms of derangement. She remembered the +fate of her husband, and implored Reginald, as the last descendant of +a great house, to recruit his health and raise his spirits by travel. +Only with great difficulty was he induced to quit the home of his +infancy. The expostulations of his mother, however, at last prevailed, +and he left the Castle di Venoni for the sunny land of Italy. + +Months passed, and a constant succession of novelty had produced +so beneficial an effect, that scarcely any traces remained of the +mysterious malady which had so suddenly overtaken him. Occasionally, +however, his mind was disturbed and gloomy, but a perpetual recurrence +of amusement diverted the influence of past recollection, and rendered +him at least as tranquil as it was in the power of his nature to +permit. He continued for years abroad, during which time he wrote +frequently to his mother, who still continued at the Castle di Venoni, +and at last announced his intention of settling at Venice. He had +remained but a few months in the city, when, at the gay period of the +Carnival, he was introduced, as a foreign nobleman, to the beautiful +daughter of the Doge. She was amiable, accomplished, and endowed with +every requisite to ensure permanent felicity. Reginald was charmed +with her beauty, and infatuated with the excelling qualities of her +mind. After a time he confessed his attachment, and was informed with a +blush that the affection was mutual. Nothing, therefore, remained but +application to the Doge, who was instantly addressed on the subject, +and implored to consummate the felicity of the young couple. The +request was attended with success, and the happiness of the lovers was +complete. + +On the day fixed for the wedding, a brilliant assemblage of beauty +thronged the ducal palace of St. Mark. All Venice crowded to the +festival, and, in the presence of the gayest noblemen of Italy, +Reginald Count di Venoni received the hand of Marcelia, the envied +daughter of the Doge. In the evening, a masqued festival was given at +the palace; but the young couple, anxious to be alone, escaped from the +scene of revelry, and hurried in a gondola to the old palace that had +been prepared for their reception on the grand canal. + +It was a fine moonlight night. The stars were reflected in the silver +bosom of the Adriatic. The sounds of music and sweet voices singing, +mellowed and softened by distance, were wafted to them on the gentle +breeze. Venice seemed to glitter with tens of thousands of lamps, and +the gondoliers, as they passed and repassed, uttered their peculiar +cries. + +The young couple felt supremely happy, and they directed their +boatman to propel the boat leisurely along, that they might enjoy the +enrapturing beauty of the scene; for Venice--the sea set jewel--had +never looked more beautiful, and the languid air of the summer night +begot a delicious sense of dreaminess and a forgetfulness of the pain +and misery of the world. + +As Reginald lay back with his head pillowed in the lap of his bride +he happened to turn his eyes to the west, and there beheld his star +of nativity as brilliant as ever. Instantly his mind reverted to that +awful night when the old wizard died, and he remembered the dull red +meteor, and the weird prophecy. He became so agitated that his wife was +alarmed, and inquired the reason of it; but he only laughed, said it +was merely a passing memory that disturbed him, and soon her kisses and +caresses restored him to serenity. + +The succeeding six months were uninterrupted by a single untoward +incident. He passionately loved Marcelia, and was beloved in return. +His rough, uncouth nature had been smoothed down and refined by his +wife and the society in which he moved. He felt supremely happy, and +though at times a remembrance of the awful night in the ruins of +Rudstein disturbed him, he managed to shake off the influence, and find +a soothing balm in the caresses of his young bride. + +One day, however, there came to him an urgent message to repair to his +birthplace without delay, as his mother lay at the point of death. +Although he had never borne her any very strong affection, he felt it +was his duty to obey the summons, and so in company with his wife he +journeyed with all speed to the Black Forest. + +On reaching the castle he found that his mother was already in the +throes of death, and delirious; as soon as he entered her presence she +rose up in her bed, without seeming to recognise him, and cursed him +for being an unnatural and unfilial son. It was an awful scene, and +affected Reginald in an appalling manner. Without recanting a word, +or, indeed, noticing him in any way, she fell back on her pillow and +expired. + +For some days Reginald was prostrated, and when his gentle and loving +wife tried to soothe and comfort him he repulsed her furiously, until +she was broken-hearted. But when he recovered his senses he lavished +caresses upon her, and gave every manifestation that he loved her +devotedly. A few days later, however, he was wandering with Marcelia +through a very picturesque and beautiful part of the forest, when +they seated themselves on a bank overlooking a stream. For some little +time Reginald remained absorbed in thought, then he began to pick up +handfuls of earth and scatter them in the water, and, with a wild glare +in his eyes, he mumbled: + +‘This is a hateful world. All is dust and vanity. Nothing brings joy, +or contentment, or peace. I am the last of my race. Why seek longer to +support a rotten fabric. My kindred have squandered their substance, +and destroyed the vitality of the family. Let us follow my mother +through the gates of death. Come, give me your hand, Marcelia, and we +will die together.’ + +His wife was horribly alarmed, and used every endeavour to soothe him; +presently he grew calmer, and rose and allowed her to lead him away. +They continued to wander further afield, at his request, until night +closed, and the stars were burning. Brilliant above all the rest shone +the fatal western planet, the star of Reginald’s nativity. He gazed +at it for some time with horror, and pointed it out to the notice of +Marcelia. + +‘The hand of heaven is in it!’ he mentally exclaimed, ‘and the proud +fortunes of Venoni hasten to a close.’ At this instant the ruined tower +of Rudstein appeared in sight, with the moon shining fully upon it. ‘It +is the place,’ resumed the maniac, ‘where a deed of blood must be done, +and I am fated to perpetrate it! But fear not, my poor girl,’ he added, +in a milder tone, while the tears sprang to his eyes, ‘your husband +cannot harm you; he may be wretched, but he never shall be guilty!’ +Although Marcelia was dreadfully alarmed she concealed her feelings as +much as possible, and induced him to hurry back. When he reached the +castle he looked ghastly ill, and, going to bed, sank into a sort of +coma. + +Night waned, morning dawned on the upland hills of the scenery, and +with it came a renewal of Reginald’s disorder. The day was stormy, and +in unison with the troubled feeling of his mind. He rose with the dawn, +and, without a word to anyone, went off into the forest, nor did he +return until the evening. Distressed beyond measure at his absence, +she waited in dread suspense for his return, and sat at her casement +gazing across the vast expanse of forest, which the westering sun was +now flooding with a crimson light. Suddenly her door flew open, and +Reginald made his appearance. His eyes were red and seemed to blaze +with the light of madness, while his whole frame was convulsed as if he +suffered from agonising spasms of pain. + +‘It was not a dream,’ he exclaimed, ‘I have seen her, and she has +beckoned us to follow.’ + +‘Seen her, seen who?’ asked Marcelia, alarmed at his frenzy. + +‘My mother,’ replied the maniac. ‘Listen while I tell you the strange +story. I thought, as I was wandering in the forest, a sylph of heaven +approached, and revealed the countenance of my mother. I flew to join +her, but was withheld by a wizard, who pointed to the western star. +On a sudden loud shrieks were heard, and the sylph assumed the guise +of a demon. Her figure towered to an awful height, and she pointed in +scornful derision to you; yes, to you, my wife. With rage she drew you +towards me. I seized--I murdered you, and strange cries and groans +filled the air. I heard the voice of the fiendish astrologer shouting +as from a charnel house, “Your destiny is accomplished, and the victim +may retire with honour.” Then, I thought, the fair front of heaven was +obscured, and thick gouts of clotted clammy blood showered down in +torrents from the blackened clouds of the west. The star shot through +the air, and--the phantom of my mother again beckoned me to follow.’ + +The maniac ceased, and rushed in agony from the apartment. Marcelia +followed, and discovered him leaning in a trance against the wainscot +of the library. With gentlest motion she drew his hand in hers, and +led him into the open air. They rambled on, heedless of the gathering +storm, until they discovered themselves at the base of the tower of +Rudstein. Suddenly the maniac paused. A horrid thought seemed flashing +across his brain, as with giant grasp he seized Marcelia in his arms, +and bore her to the fatal apartment. In vain she shrieked for help, +for pity. ‘Dear Reginald, it is Marcelia who speaks, you cannot surely +harm her.’ He heard--he heeded not, nor once staid his steps till +he reached the room of death. On a sudden his countenance lost its +wildness, and assumed a more fearful, but composed look of determined +madness. He advanced to the window, dragged away the rotting curtain, +and gazed on the stormy face of heaven. Dark clouds flitted across the +horizon, and thunder echoed in the distance. To the west the fatal star +was still visible, but shone with sickly lustre. At this instant a +flash of lightning illumined the whole apartment, and threw a broad red +glare upon a skeleton that mouldered upon the floor. Reginald observed +it with affright, and remembered the unburied astrologer. He advanced +to Marcelia, and, pointing to the rising moon, ‘A dark cloud is sailing +by,’ he shudderingly exclaimed, ‘but ere the full orb again shines +forth you shall die; I will accompany you in death, and hand in hand +will we pass into the presence of our people.’ + +The poor girl shrieked for pity, but her voice was lost in the angry +ravings of the storm. + +The cloud in the meantime sailed on--it approached--the moon was +dimmed, darkened, and finally buried in its gloom. The maniac marked +the hour, and rushed with a fearful cry towards his victim. With +murderous resolution he grasped her throat, while the helpless hand +and half-strangled articulation implored his compassion. After one +final struggle the hollow death-rattle announced that life was +extinct, and that the murderer held a corpse in his arms. An interval +of reason now occurred, and on the partial restoration of his mind +Reginald discovered himself the unconscious murderer of Marcelia. +Madness--deepest madness again took possession of his faculties. He +laughed--he shouted aloud with the unearthly yellings of a fiend, and +in the raging violence of his delirium he rushed out, climbed to the +summit of the tower, and hurled himself headlong from it. + +In the morning the bodies of the young couple were discovered, and +buried in the same tomb. The fatal ruin of Rudstein still exists, +but is now commonly avoided as the residence of the spirits of the +departed. Day by day it slowly crumbles to earth, and affords a shelter +for the night raven or the wild things of the forests. Superstition +has consecrated it to herself, and the tradition of the country has +invested it with all the awful appendages of a charnel house. The +wanderer who passes at nightfall shudders while he surveys its utter +desolation, and exclaims as he travels on: + +‘Surely this is a spot where guilt may thrive in safety, or bigotry +weave a spell to enthral her misguided votaries.’ + + + + +XIII + +THE DANCE OF THE DEAD + +FOUNDED ON A WELL-KNOWN GERMAN LEGEND + + +Neisse is a small town in Silesia. At the period of this story it lay +somewhat out of the beaten track, and its inhabitants led a simple, +primitive sort of life, although bickerings and wranglings, cheating +and knavery were not altogether unknown among them. On the whole, +however, they were a fairly virtuous people, and the town earned an +enviable reputation for hospitality, in spite of the fact that the +mayor was far from being hospitable himself, but he did not hesitate to +dispense hospitality with a lavish hand when he could do so out of the +town funds. + +This mayor, whose name was Hertzstein, was an exceedingly proud and +ambitious man. He had been born in very humble circumstances indeed, +his father having been a charcoal burner; but Rupert Hertzstein was +endowed with more than average intelligence, though even as a lad he +displayed a grasping, covetous disposition that made him many youthful +enemies. As he grew in years he by no means changed, but he managed to +make his way. Before he was fifteen he went to Saxony and apprenticed +himself to a worker in precious metals, and showed so much intelligence +that before he had completed the term of his apprenticeship he was +master of his trade. + +He was twenty-two when he returned to his native town, with a little +money and a young wife. A daughter was born to him, and grew to be +the most beautiful girl in Neisse. Her father prospered, made money, +and became mayor. Indeed, he was a little king in his own way, but was +tyrannical and exacting, and while everybody adored Brunhelda, his +pretty daughter, he was far from being respected. When any of the young +men of the village tried to win his favour in the hope of gaining the +daughter’s hand, he ordered them off with a peremptoriness that left no +doubt about his determination. + +‘My girl,’ he used to boast, ‘shall marry a lord. My father was a +charcoal burner, and in my youth I knew the curse of poverty. Now I +am going to be the founder of a family, and rather than let Brunhelda +marry a humble person I would carry her to her grave.’ + +Although he expressed himself thus forcibly and emphatically, he did +not explain how he hoped to get a lord as a son-in-law, but that was a +detail; and, being a deep, designing, and crafty man, he probably had +some matured plan in his own mind. + +Now it chanced that when Brunhelda was two-and-twenty a young artist +came to Neisse, which was famed for a very ancient church and for +marvellous views, which were to be obtained from different parts of +the town, for it stood on an eminence in a very beautiful and fertile +country. It was, therefore, no uncommon thing for artists to visit the +place. This particular one became known as Robert Kuno, and he took up +his quarters at the village inn. One day he was in the ancient church +sketching a very picturesque archway, when Brunhelda entered with +a number of other girls, laden with flowers, as they were going to +decorate the church in honour of some festival. + +Robert was at once attracted by Brunhelda’s beauty, and, getting into +conversation with her, he begged that she would pose for him while he +made a drawing. She was by no means loth to do this. Indeed, she felt +flattered, for she knew she was good-looking, and she would have been +a strange woman if she had had no vanity. Robert placed her in the +position he wanted near the archway, and produced a sketch, which he +promised to turn into a painting, and he asked her to favour him again +on the morrow, which she did, and the next day, and the day after that, +and as a natural result the young artist began to talk to her in a way +which by no means displeased her, although she knew that her father +would be furious if he came to hear of it. And sure enough he did hear +of it. Some envious jade went to him, and told him that Brunhelda was +going day after day to the church to meet the artist. + +The day following the mayor repaired to the church, and screened +himself behind a pillar and witnessed the flirtation between Brunhelda +and the artist, until at length, losing his self-control, he suddenly +presented himself before them, and there was a scene. He used some +very harsh terms to the young man, and, seizing the sketch he had been +making of the girl, he stamped on it, and vowed if Robert did not leave +Neisse within twelve hours he would have him arrested as a vagabond and +confined in the stocks. Then he took his daughter home and lectured +her on the monstrous wickedness of her conduct in allowing a ‘vulgar, +common artist fellow’ to talk love to her. + +As Robert failed to comply with the order to clear off, the mayor, true +to his word, had him arrested as a vagabond, having no visible means of +subsistence, and he was placed in the stocks which stood on the green +opposite the mayor’s house. The tyrannical magistrate thought that when +his daughter saw her admirer in such an undignified position she would +be disgusted, and think no more of him. But herein he was mistaken, for +he caught her kissing her hand to him from her window, and manifesting +every sign of sympathy. So Robert was at once set at liberty, on +condition that he immediately left the place, which he consented to do, +much to the joy and comfort of the mayor. + +It was nearly a year after that an old bag-piper one day entered the +town of Neisse. He was a strange, weird-looking old man, with great +masses of white hair hanging about his shoulders, and heavy, beetling +eyebrows screening his keen, grey eyes. His pipes, which seemed older +than himself, were unlike any that had been seen before, and when +the old piper tuned them up he awoke the most marvellous melody. +Whence he came and whither he was going no one knew, and being by no +means communicative, they were left in ignorance. But one thing he +made clear--he did not lack money, and as there happened to be a very +pretty little cottage to let, whose owner had recently died, the piper +bargained for it and bought it, and soon after a young man came to live +with him, and rumour soon had it that this young man was the strange +piper’s foster-son. Apparently the son was nearly blind, for he wore +large blue goggle glasses, and always went about with a stick. + +The son was very reserved and would not mix with the people, but the +old piper became such a favourite owing to the sweet music he was able +to discourse, that he was invited every evening, when the weather was +fine, to repair to the village green, where the people were wont to +dance. He was so wonderfully well-informed, too, and seemed to have +travelled so extensively, that the old citizens invited him to their +dinners, and he was petted and flattered. He played his pipes at +christenings and wedding feasts, as well as pathetic and solemn airs +when the dead were committed to the earth. + +One marvellous tune that he played was known as ‘Grandfather’s Dance,’ +and so inspiriting was this, such a wild, mad, rhythmical jingle, that +even the oldest of men and women who could move their limbs at all +could not resist its strains, and fell to dancing. Indeed, the strains, +it was averred, restored youth to the old, and even the paralytic and +the rheumatic threw away their crutches when they heard them. + +Now, strangely enough, the effect of the old man’s art on his +foster-son was _nil_. He remained silent and mournful at the most +mirth-inspiring tunes the piper played to him; and at the balls, to +which he was often invited, he rarely mingled with the gay, but would +retire into a corner, and fix his eyes on the loveliest fair one that +graced the room, neither daring to address, nor to offer her his hand. +This one was Brunhelda, and occasionally he managed to get speech with +her, and it was noted that she was by no means averse to talk to him. +And at such times she easily read in his brightening face the eloquent +gratitude of his heart; and although she turned blushingly away, the +fire on her cheeks, and the sparkling in her eyes, kindled new flames +of love and hope in her lover’s bosom, for this young man was none +other than the artist who had resorted to this stratagem to woo her. +And he was neither blind nor near sighted, but the goggles afforded him +a disguise. + +Willibald, such was the name of the piper, had for a long time promised +to assist the love-sick youth in obtaining his soul’s dearest object. +Sometimes he intended, like the wizards of yore, to torment the +mayor with an enchanted dance, and compel him by exhaustion to grant +everything; sometimes, like a second Orpheus, he proposed to carry +away, by the power of his harmony, the sweet bride from the Tartarian +abode of her father. But Robert always had objections: he never would +allow the parent of his fair one to be harmed by the slightest offence, +and hoped to win him by perseverance and complacency. + +Willibald said to him one day, ‘You are an idiot, if you hope to win, +by an open and honourable sentiment, the approbation of a rich and +proud old fool. He will not surrender without some of the plagues of +Egypt are put in force against him. When once Brunhelda is yours, +and he no more can change what has happened, then you will find him +friendly and kind. He will bow to the inevitable. I blame myself for +having promised to do nothing against your will, but death acquits +every death, and still I shall help you in my own way.’ + +Poor Robert was not the only one on the path of whose life the mayor +strewed thorns and briars. The whole town had very little affection for +their chief, and delighted to oppose him at every opportunity; for he +was harsh and cruel, and punished severely the citizens for trifling +and innocent mirth, unless they purchased pardon by the means of heavy +penalties and bribes. After the yearly wine-fair in the month of +January he was in the habit of obliging them to pay all their earnings +into his treasury, to make amends for their past merriments. One day +the tyrant of Neisse had put their patience to too hard a trial, and +broken the last tie of obedience from his oppressed townsmen. The +malcontents had created a riot, and filled their persecutor with deadly +fear; for they threatened nothing less than to set fire to his house, +and to burn him, together with all the riches he had gathered by +oppressing them. + +At this critical moment, Robert went to Willibald, and said to him, +‘Now, my old friend, is the time when you may help me with your art, as +you frequently have offered to do. If your music be really so powerful +as you say it is, go then and deliver the mayor by softening the +enraged mob. As a reward he certainly will grant you anything you may +request. Speak then a word for me and my love, and demand my beloved +Brunhelda as the price of your assistance.’ + +The bag-piper laughed at this speech, and replied: + +‘We must satisfy the follies of children in order to prevent them +crying.’ And so he took his bag-pipe and walked slowly down to the +town-house square, where the rioters, armed with pikes, lances, and +lighted torches, were laying waste the mansion of the worshipful head +of the town. + +Willibald placed himself near a pillar, and began to play his +‘Grandfather’s Dance.’ Scarcely were the first notes of this favourite +tune heard, when the rage-distorted countenances became smiling and +cheerful, the frowning brows lost their dark expression, pikes and +torches fell out of the threatening fists, and the enraged assailants +moved about marking with their steps the measure of the music. At last, +the whole multitude began to dance, and the square, that was lately the +scene of riot and confusion, bore now the appearance of a gay dancing +assembly. The piper, with his magic bag-pipe, led on through the +streets, all the people danced behind him, and each citizen returned +jumping to his home, which shortly before he had left with very +different feelings. + +The mayor, saved from this imminent danger, knew not how to express +his gratitude; he promised to Willibald everything he might demand, +even were it half his property. But the bag-piper replied, smiling, +saying his expectations were not so lofty, and that for himself he +wanted no temporal goods whatever; but since his lordship, the mayor, +had pledged his word to grant to him everything he might demand, so he +beseeched him, with due respect, to grant fair Brunhelda’s hand for his +foster-son. + +The haughty mayor was highly displeased at this proposal. He made +every possible excuse; and as Willibald repeatedly reminded him of his +promise, he did what the despots of those dark times were in the habit +of doing, and which those of our enlightened days still practise, he +declared his dignity offended, pronounced Willibald to be a disturber +of the peace, an enemy of the public security, and allowed him to +forget in a prison the promises of his lord, the mayor. Not satisfied +herewith, he accused him of witchcraft, caused him to be tried by +pretending he was the very bag-piper and rat-catcher of Hameln, who +was, at that time, and is still in so bad a repute in the German +provinces, for having carried off by his infernal art all the children +of that ill-fated town. + +‘The only difference,’ said the wise mayor, between the two cases was, +that at Hameln only the children had been made to dance to his pipe, +but here young and old seemed under the same magical influence. By +such artful delusions, the mayor turned every merciful heart from the +prisoner. The dread of necromancy, and the example of the children of +Hameln, worked so strongly, that sheriffs and clerks were writing day +and night. The secretary calculated already the expense of the funeral +pile, for necromancers, witches and wizards were burnt in those days; +the sexton petitioned for a new rope to toll the dead-bell for the poor +sinner; the carpenters prepared scaffolds for the spectators of the +expected execution; and the judges rehearsed the grand scene, which +they prepared to play at the condemnation of the famous bag-piper. But +although justice was sharp, Willibald was still sharper; for as he +laughed very heartily over the important preparations for his end, he +now laid himself down upon his straw and died! + +Shortly before his death, he sent for his beloved Robert, and addressed +him for the last time. + +‘Young man,’ said he, ‘you seest that in your way of viewing mankind +and the world I can render you no assistance. I am tired of the whims +your folly has obliged me to perform. You have now acquired experience +enough fully to comprehend that nobody should calculate, or at least +ground, his designs on the goodness of human nature, even if he himself +should be too good to lose entirely his belief in the goodness of +others. I, for my own part, would not rely upon the fulfilment of my +last request to you, if your own interest would not induce you to its +performance. When I am dead, be careful to see that my old bag-pipe is +buried with me. To detain it would be of no use to you, but it may be +the cause of your happiness, if it is laid under ground with me.’ + +Robert promised to observe strictly the last commands of his old +friend, who shortly after closed his eyes. Scarcely had the report of +Willibald’s sudden death spread, when old and young came to ascertain +the truth. The mayor was more pleased with this turn of the affair than +any other; for the indifference with which the prisoner had received +the news of his approaching promotion to the funeral pile, induced +his worship to suppose the old bag-piper might some fine day be found +invisible in his prison, or rather be found not there at all; or the +cunning wizard, being at the stake, might have caused a wisp of straw +to burn instead of his person, to the eternal shame of the court of +Neisse. He therefore ordered the corpse to be buried as speedily as +possible, as no sentence to burn the body had yet been pronounced. An +unhallowed corner of the churchyard, close to the wall, was the place +assigned for poor Willibald’s resting-place. The jailor, as the lawful +heir of the deceased prisoner, having examined his property, asked what +should become of the bag-pipe, as a _corpus delicti_. + +Robert, who was present, was on the point to make his request, when the +mayor, full of zeal, thus pronounced his sentence: + +‘To avoid every possible mischief, this wicked, worthless tool shall +be buried together with its master.’ So they put it into the coffin at +the side of the corpse, and early in the morning pipe and piper were +carried away and buried. + +But strange things happened in the following night. The watchmen on the +tower were looking out, according to the custom of the age, to give the +alarm in case of fire in the surrounding country, when about midnight +they saw, by the light of the moon, Willibald rising out of his tomb +near the churchyard wall. He held his bag-pipe under his arm, and +leaning against a high tombstone upon which the moon shed her brightest +rays he began to blow, and fingered the pipes just as he was accustomed +to do when he was alive. + +While the watchmen, astonished at this sight, gazed wisely on one +another, many other graves opened; their skeleton-inhabitants peeped +out with their bare skulls, looked about, nodded to the measure, rose +afterwards wholly out of their coffins, and moved their rattling limbs +into a nimble dance. At the church windows, and the grates of the +vaults, other empty eye-holes stared on the dancing place: the withered +arms began to shake the iron gates, till locks and bolts sprung off, +and out came the skeletons, eager to mingle in the dance of the dead. +Now the light dancers stilted about, over the hillocks and tombstones, +and whirled around in a merry waltz, that the shrouds waved in the wind +about the fleshless limbs, until the church clock struck twelve, when +all the dancers, great and small, returned to their narrow cells; the +player took his bag-pipe under his arm, and likewise returned to his +vacant coffin. + +Long before the dawn of the day, the watchmen awoke the mayor, and made +to him, with trembling lips and knocking knees, the awful report of the +horrid night scene. He enjoined strict secrecy on them, and promised to +watch with them the following night on the tower. Nevertheless, the +news soon spread through the town, and at the close of the evening, +all the surrounding windows and roofs were lined with virtuosi and +cognoscenti of the dark fine arts, who all beforehand were engaged in +discussions on the possibility or impossibility of the events they +expected to witness before midnight. + +The bag-piper was not behind his time. At the first sound of the bell +announcing the eleventh hour, he rose slowly, leaned against the +tombstone, and began his tune. The ball guests seemed to have been +waiting for the music, for at the very first notes they rushed forth +out of the graves and vaults, through grass hills and heavy stones. +Corpses and skeletons shrouded and bare, tall and small, men and women, +all running to and fro, dancing and turning, wheedling and whirling +round the player, quicker or more slowly according to the measure he +played, till the clock tolled the hour of midnight. Then dancers and +piper withdrew again to rest. + +The living spectators, at their windows and on their roofs, now +confessed that ‘there are more things in heaven and earth than are +dreamt of in our philosophy.’ The mayor had no sooner retired from the +tower, than he ordered Robert to be cast into prison that very night, +hoping to learn from his examination, or perhaps by putting him to the +torture, how the magic nuisance of his foster-father might be removed. + +Robert did not fail to remind the mayor of his ingratitude towards +Willibald, and maintained that the deceased troubled the town, bereft +the dead of their rest and the living of their sleep, only because he +had received, instead of the promised reward for the liberation of the +mayor, a scornful refusal, and moreover had been thrown into prison +most unjustly, and buried in a degrading manner. This speech made a +very deep impression upon the minds of the magistrates; they instantly +ordered the body of Willibald to be taken out of his tomb, and laid in +a more respectable place. + +The sexton, to show his penetration on the occasion, took the bag-pipe +out of the coffin, and hung it over his bed. For he reasoned thus: +if the enchanting or enchanted musician could not help following his +profession even in the tomb, he at least would not be able to play to +the dancers without his instrument. + +But at night, after the clock had struck eleven, he heard distinctly a +knock at his door; and when he opened it, with the expectation of some +deadly and lucrative accident requiring his skill, he beheld the buried +Willibald _in propriâ persona_. + +‘My bag-pipe,’ said he, very composedly, and passing by the trembling +sexton, he took it from the wall where it was hung up; then he returned +to his tombstone, and began to blow. The guests, invited by the tune, +came like the preceding night, and were preparing for their midnight +dance in the churchyard. But this time the musician began to march +forward, and proceeded with his numerous and ghastly suite through the +gate of the churchyard to the town, and led his nightly parade through +all the streets, till the clock struck twelve, when all returned again +to their dark abodes. + +The inhabitants of Neisse now began to fear lest the awful night +wanderers might shortly enter their own houses. Some of the chief +magistrates earnestly entreated the mayor to lay the charm by making +good his word to the bag-piper. But the mayor would not listen to it; +he even pretended that Robert shared in the infernal arts of the old +piper, and added, ‘The son deserves rather the funeral pile than the +bridal bed.’ + +But in the following night the dancing spectres came again into the +town, and although no music was heard, yet it was easily seen by their +motions that the dancers went through the figure of the ‘Grandfather’s +Dance.’ This night they behaved much worse than before, for they +stopped at the house wherein a betrothed damsel lived, and here they +turned in a wild whirling dance round a shadow, which resembled +perfectly the spinster in whose honour they moved the nightly bridal +dance. Next day the whole town was filled with mourning, for all +the damsels whose shadows were seen dancing with the spectres had +died suddenly. The same thing happened again the following night. The +dancing skeletons turned before the houses, and wherever they had been, +there was, next morning, a dead bride lying on the bier. + +The citizens were determined no longer to expose their daughters and +mistresses to such an imminent danger. They threatened the mayor to +carry Brunhelda away by force and to lead her to Robert, unless the +mayor would permit their union to be celebrated before the beginning of +the night. The choice was a difficult one, for the mayor disliked the +one just as much as the other, but as he found himself in the uncommon +situation where a man may choose with perfect freedom, he, as a free +being, declared freely his daughter to be Robert’s bride. + +Long before the spectre hour the guests sat at the wedding table. The +first stroke of the bell sounded, and immediately the favourite tune +of the well-known bridal dance was heard. The guests, frightened to +death, and fearing the spell might still continue to work, hastened +to the windows, and beheld the bag-piper, followed by a long row of +figures in white shrouds, moving to the wedding-house. He remained at +the door and played, but the procession went on slowly, and proceeded +even to the festive hall. Here the strange pale guests rubbed their +eyes, and looked about them full of astonishment, like sleep walkers +just awakened. The wedding guests fled behind the chairs and tables; +but soon the cheeks of the phantoms began to colour, their white lips +became blooming like young rosebuds; they gazed at each other full of +wonder and joy, and well-known voices called friendly names. They were +soon known as revived corpses, now blooming in all the brightness of +youth and health: and who should they be but the brides whose sudden +death had filled the whole town with mourning, and who, now recovered +from their enchanted slumber, had been led by Willibald with his magic +pipe out of their graves to the merry wedding feast. The wonderful old +man blew a last and cheerful farewell tune, and disappeared. He was +never seen again. + +Robert was of opinion, the bag-piper was no other than the famous +Spirit of the Silesian Mountains.[1] The young painter had originally +met him once when he travelled through the hills, and acquired his +goodwill by rendering him some service, for the old man was, or +pretended to be, in great distress, and Robert gave him wine and +food, and housed him for many days. Then suddenly the strange piper +disappeared, but shortly returned and promised the youth he would grant +him anything he wished if he could, and he declared that with his magic +pipes he could subdue anyone to his will. Then it was that Robert +beseeched him to help him to win the consent of the Mayor of Neisse to +wed his daughter. Willibald promised the youth to assist him in his +love-suit, and he kept his word, although after his own jesting fashion. + +Robert remained all his lifetime a favourite with the Spirit of the +Mountains. He grew rich, and became celebrated. His dear wife brought +him every year a handsome child, his pictures were sought after even +in Italy and England; and the ‘Dance of the Dead,’ of which Basil, +Antwerp, Dresden, Lubeck, and many other places boast, are only copies +or imitations of Robert’s original painting, which he had executed +in memory of the real ‘Dance of the Dead at Neisse!’ But, alas! this +picture is lost, and no collector of paintings has yet been able to +discover it, for the gratification of the cognoscenti, and the benefit +of the history of the art. + + [1] The Spirit of the Silesian Mountains plays a great part in the + German Popular Tales. He always appears full of mirth and whims. + The people know him best by his nickname Rubezahl, the turnip + counter. The accident which gave rise to this nickname has been + related in a masterly manner in _Musäus’s German Popular Tales_. + + + + +XIV + +THE MYSTIC SPELL + +A WEIRD STORY OF BRAZIL + +TOLD BY SIGNOR DON ALONZO RODERICK, SPANISH CONSUL AT RIO DE JANEIRO. + + +Rio and its neighbourhood is perhaps one of the most beautiful spots +on the face of the globe. Indeed, I am not sure but what it may claim +to be absolutely without a rival, for it has features that are unique. +Nature would almost seem to have exhausted her efforts to build up a +scene which lacks no single detail necessary for imposing pictorial +effect, though, as most people know, hidden beneath all this entrancing +beauty death lurks in a hundred forms; and he who is not wary and ever +on his guard is liable to be struck down with appalling suddenness. + +My predecessor had suffered much in his health, and succumbed at last +to the scourge of yellow fever. When I arrived to take up his work I +found everything in such confusion that I had to labour very hard to +reduce chaos to order and put the consular business shipshape. It thus +came about that for many months I was unable to leave my post in Rio, +and as a consequence my health began to suffer. Soon after my arrival +I made the acquaintance of a Portuguese gentleman named Azevedo Souza, +a merchant of high standing in Rio. His business was of a very mixed +character, and amongst other things he was an orchid exporter. In this +branch of his trading he had been exceptionally successful. Through his +instrumentality collectors had had brought under their notice some +wonderful and hitherto unknown specimens of these marvels of nature. +His collecting station was far up north in the interior. He spoke of +it enthusiastically as an earthly paradise, and gave me many pressing +invitations to be his guest, when he paid his periodical visits to look +after his affairs in that region. + +Senhor Souza was an estimable gentleman, and very highly respected. He +had a charming family, amongst them being a daughter, Juliette by name, +and one of the sweetest young ladies I have ever had the pleasure of +associating with. At this period Juliette was about seven-and-twenty, +and as the apple of his eye to her father. She was invaluable to him +in his business, at any rate to the orchid branch of it; for not only +had she an all-round cleverness, but probably she knew more about +orchids than any living woman. She herself was the means of introducing +to the scientific world an entirely new orchid, the flower of which +was of such transcendent beauty that the Brazilians, used as they are +to floral glories, said that this particular bloom must have been +‘specially cultivated in God’s own garden.’ Juliette made a most +arduous and hazardous journey into the depths of virgin forests in +search of this plant, and narrowly escaped losing her life. + +Perhaps, when I say that I was a bachelor the reader will readily +guess that my acquaintance with Juliette aroused in me an admiration +which I devoutly hoped would find its consummation in a happy union, +for she was by no means indifferent to my attentions. Not only was she +highly cultivated, but had astonishing linguistic powers, and spoke +many languages fluently. She was perfectly acquainted with Spanish, and +had read the beautiful literature of Spain extensively. Senhor Souza +encouraged my suit, and at last the time came when I was emboldened +to tell Juliette she was the one woman in the world who could make +me happy. Ah, I shall never forget that night until the grave closes +over me. We were seated in the veranda of Senhor Souza’s splendid +villa, situated just on the outskirts of the town, and commanding an +enchanting view of the bay of Rio, with its remarkable Sugar Loaf +Mountain and the marvellous range beyond it. And what a night it was! +The glory of the stars, shining as they can only shine in the tropics; +the sparkling moonlit sea; the soft, flower-perfumed breeze that +stirred the foliage to a languorous _susurrus_; the fireflies that like +living jewels filled the air, begot in one a feeling of reverence, and +strengthened one’s faith in the Great God who created such a world of +beauty. Those who have never experienced such a night under a tropical +sky know nothing of what the true poetry of nature means. It stirs one +with a ravishing, ecstatic feeling of delight which is a foretaste of +the joys of heaven. + +I had been sitting for some time with Juliette’s hand in mine. We were +silent, being deeply impressed with the magical beauty of the night, +for we both had poetical instincts; indeed, Juliette’s was a highly +strung romantic temperament, and she was able to express her thoughts +in language that could stir the pulses and move to tears. + +But this night of all nights was a night for love, and as I pressed +her hand I asked her to crown my happiness by becoming my wife. To my +astonishment she shuddered, sighed deeply, and then in a tone of the +most touching pathos exclaimed: + +‘Oh, why--oh, why have you asked me that?’ + +‘Juliette,’ I answered in amazement, ‘is it not a natural question for +a man to ask a woman sooner or later, when every beat of his heart +tells him that he loves her?’ + +‘Yes, yes,’ she replied in distressful tones, and shuddering again +violently, ‘but, but----’ + +‘But what?’ I asked as she paused. + +‘I pray you press me not for an answer.’ + +‘This is extraordinary!’ I remarked, feeling distressed beyond the +power of words to express; and yet, distressed as I was, she was +infinitely more troubled; she sobbed like one whose heart was rent. +‘You know that I love you, Juliette,’ I went on. ‘You have encouraged +me. You have tacitly bidden me to hope; and now----’ + +‘Oh, yes, yes,’ she cried with a catching of her breath, and a +spasmodic closing of her fingers round mine. ‘And I love you, I +love you. But I have been living in a fool’s paradise. I have been +dreaming dreams. I thought that the sweet delicious time would go on +indefinitely. You waken me now abruptly, and I no longer dream. I must +not, cannot be your wife.’ + +‘Juliette, what is this mystery?’ I exclaimed, growing excited, for I +was sure some extraordinary influence was at work, and that she was +under a spell. + +She laughed, though it wasn’t the light laugh of joy peculiar to her, +but a little forced spasmodic laugh of bitterness and despair. + +‘I will tell you,’ she answered, trying to master her emotions by a +mighty effort of will. ‘It is better that you should know, otherwise +you may deem me fickle, and think that I have trifled with your +feelings. Years ago, when I was a little girl, I had a nurse, a strange +old Brazilian crone who had been in the family service for many years. +She was very fond of all my brothers and sisters, but for some reason +I could never understand took a strong dislike to me. I think this +dislike was mutual, for I remember that she used to make me shudder at +times, and fill me with a nameless dread. This, perhaps, was hardly to +be wondered at, for she treated me roughly and unkindly, and many a +time I complained to my father. He, however, shared my mother’s belief +in the old woman’s fidelity and gentleness, and would chide me for +what he termed my unfounded, childish fears. Consequently I ceased to +complain, and kept my little sorrows to myself. + +‘The name of this old nurse was Joanna Maria. One day she and I and +an elder sister who was about two years my senior had been down to +the bay, and wandering about the sea-shore in search of the beautiful +shells which are often thrown up after a storm. Old Joanna was +peculiarly irritable and fretful that morning. Once, when I stumbled +over a rock and fell into a pool of sea-water, she snatched me up +fiercely, and shook me until nearly all the life was frightened out +of me. Then she sat down, made me sit beside her, and, looking at me +fixedly with her bleared eyes, said: + +‘“I am going to tell you your future. It grows dark, very dark; a +foreigner will come from over the sea and will talk love to you, but if +you listen to him and become his wife, a sudden and awful death will +overtake you; you will leave him a widow while yet he is a bridegroom. +Love and wifedom are not for you. I put a curse upon you.”’ + +In spite of the fact that dear Juliette told me this with moving +solemnity and gravity, I burst into laughter, and taking her in my arms +said: + +‘Juliette, my beloved, what nonsense all this is! Surely you, with +your high intelligence and great learning, do not attach the slightest +importance to the malicious and spiteful utterances of an ignorant old +crone. No, no, I am sure you don’t. You are too sensible. Put these +phantom fears away, darling, and trust to my great love to shield you +from all harm. Say you love me; say you will be my bride. Do not send +me from you on this wonderful night of beauty with a great load of +sorrow at my heart. Speak, Juliette, my love, my life--comfort me. Tell +me you will link your fate with mine.’ + +She sighed in response to my appeal. Then pressing her soft, fair cheek +against mine, she tightened her arms around my neck and murmured low +and sweetly: + +‘Yes, beloved, you are right. I will put the foolish, superstitious +fear behind me. Old Joanna has long been dead, and I ought never to +have allowed her empty, spiteful words to have influenced me. Take me, +dear, when you will. I am yours only. I will be your wife! I will be +faithful unto death!’ + +Scarcely had she uttered the words when she broke from me, and uttering +a shrill scream of terror, sank into her chair, and, pointing to the +far end of the veranda like one distraught, cried: + +‘There she is, there she is! Take her away, take her away, for I am +horrified!’ + +Naturally my eyes turned to where she pointed, and though I was +neither a nervous nor a superstitious man, I started with a feeling of +horror, for I beheld the shadowy form of an old negress. The moonlight +fell full upon her repulsive face, which was filled with a look of +hatred, while her eyes, glowing like a wild cat’s, glared at me with a +spite that would be difficult to describe. In a few moments her lips +parted, revealing the white teeth that glistened in the pale light, and +distinctly and unmistakably I heard these words: ‘Shun her, the curse +is on her! She will die as I foretold.’ + +Juliette heard this too, and with a pitiable scream of fright she fell +in a swoon on the floor. The scream brought the servants and her father +rushing from the house, and as they raised the prostrate lady up, they +directed angry glances at me, as though they thought that I had done +some wrong. + +I was confused and trembling. I glanced towards the end of the veranda +to where I had seen the vision, but there was nothing in sight, and I +was recalled to my senses by the voice of Senhor Souza, who somewhat +peremptorily demanded to know what had caused his daughter’s illness. + +‘Senhor Souza,’ I answered, thinking it was better to be perfectly +frank with him, ‘as you know, Juliette and I love each other. To-night +I have asked her to be my wife. She consented. Immediately afterwards +we heard a sigh, and turning beheld a vision which so alarmed your +daughter that she screamed and fainted.’ + +‘This is a strange story, very strange,’ he muttered; ‘and it is +ominous. Tell me more about it?’ The Brazilians are all more or less +superstitious, and Senhor Souza was no exception. Having seen his +daughter borne into the house and attended to by her maid and the +female servants, he returned to me and made me relate minutely all that +had passed. + +As I felt that I ought not to conceal anything I gave him a plain, +straightforward statement of the facts. He was much impressed and +evidently uneasy. Again and again he asked me if I had seen the vision. +Of course I had no alternative but to assure him that I could not have +been mistaken, although I had no explanation to offer. I told him I was +not given to seeing visions, that up to that night I had always been +very sceptical; but now I was either a victim of a trick of the brain +or I had seen what I had described. Moreover, I was certain, I said, +that Juliette had seen it too. Otherwise, why did she scream and faint? + +Senhor Souza showed decided reluctance to discuss the subject further +that night, for he was evidently deeply affected, and much concerned +about his daughter. So when I had been assured that Juliette was +recovering, and would probably be all right in the morning, I returned +to the town. As I drove along in the moonlight, I recalled all that had +transpired, and I confess to a feeling of decided uneasiness. The fact +is, I was unnerved a little. I had received a shock and its effects +were not easily shaken off. + +I did not sleep very well that night, but with the coming day my fears +dispelled, and I quite recovered my wonted buoyancy when a special +messenger brought me a little note from my Juliette to say that she was +much better. That cheered me, and I was inclined to rate myself for +having been so weak. But, of course, we are always brave in the day. +Darkness makes cowards of us. + +As soon as my duties permitted I rode out to Senhor Souza’s villa and +was pleased at being met on the threshold by Juliette. She looked pale +and anxious, and a trace of fear still lingered in her beautiful eyes. +We wandered into the garden together, and when the psychological moment +had arrived, as I thought, I renewed my love-vows, and again urged +her to consent to become my wife. Something of the previous night’s +agitation affected her, and as she clung to my arm as though she was +afraid an unseen force might attempt to pluck her from my side, she +said: + +‘Are we justified, think you, in defying fate, and in linking our lives +together in spite of the curse?’ + +‘Yes, undoubtedly,’ I answered. ‘The curse is nonsense. We can afford +to laugh at the curse of a human being.’ + +‘You saw the vision last night?’ she asked. + +‘Yes.’ + +‘And heard it speak?’ + +‘I did.’ + +‘You know then that I am not the victim of a delusion. At least, if I +am so are you.’ + +‘Beloved,’ I cried, ‘we are both victims of a delusion. It is well that +we should think so. Curses avail not, neither can the dead harm us. +Our happiness is in each other’s keeping. Why should we throw it away? +Surely we are strong-minded enough to be indifferent to the meaningless +croakings of a spiteful and imbecile old woman. Hesitate, therefore, no +longer; say that you will be my wife.’ + +Although my argument evidently told with her, she could not quite +make up her mind, and she murmured, like one who was still under the +influence of a great fear: + +‘I should like to, I should like to, dear one; but supposing that +dreadful prophecy _should_ come true?’ + +‘It won’t, my own love,’ I answered. ‘We have nothing to fear from the +living, and the dead--well, the dead are done with.’ + +‘Ah, you don’t know. Perhaps, perhaps not. Who knows, who can tell? +It may be that those who have passed away may still have the power to +injure us. The old nurse hated me, and I fear that she has carried her +hate beyond the grave.’ + +I used every argument I could to comfort and calm her. I urged her +again and again to speak the word that would make my happiness +complete. I told her that I was then suffering in health as a result +of the climate, and weakened as I was, her refusal to comply with my +request would probably have a fatal effect. + +This latter argument appealed so forcibly to her that even her +superstitious fears were overcome, and she said at last that if her +father offered no objection she would not. Speaking for myself, +although the night previous I had been much impressed, I was no longer +so; nor was I inclined to attach any importance to the supernatural +incident which had so alarmed us, consequently I felt perfectly +justified in leaving nothing undone to overcome Juliette’s scruples and +fears. And now, as I had gained her consent, I suggested that we should +go at once to her father and get his sanction, for the time had come +when the state of my health demanded imperatively that I should seek a +change; that I should go away into the highlands to recoup. But I was +resolved not to go alone. + +By this time I had completely won her, and so we went to Senhor Souza +and told him of our wishes and desires. I noticed that his olive cheeks +blanched a little, and a look of ineffable love and tenderness filled +his eyes as he gazed on his child, whose beauty at that moment seemed +to me the beauty of heaven, not of earth. The Senhor appealed to her to +speak her mind freely and candidly, holding nothing in reserve. So she +turned to me, and laid both her soft white hands in mine, saying: + +‘Father, this man has my heart. My body, therefore, belongs to him. +Give me to him with your blessing, for I love him.’ + +The Senhor was deeply affected, and his voice was broken by emotion as +he spoke. He stepped towards us and placed one hand on my head and the +other on hers, and looking at me with misty eyes, said: + +‘I give her to you; take her. Guard her, watch over her, for she is my +life; she is the core of my heart, the apple of my eye. Be good to each +other, be true, loyal, and upright; and may God in His infinite mercy +and wisdom bless and prosper you, and give you long years of peace, +joy, and contentment. God bless you, God bless you,’ he repeated with +great fervency. + +The old man ceased. He could say no more, emotion choked him. Juliette +and I muttered a fervent ‘Amen, amen!’ and then we were alone; the +Senhor had hurried from the room. I took my affianced wife in my arms, +and kissing her passionately, told her that every dark cloud had gone. +She sighed a sigh of joy, and nestled to me; but instantly the joy was +turned to a cry of horror and alarm, for a mocking, bitter, fiendish +laugh broke on our ears, and turning from whence the sound came, we saw +a nebulous form defined against a background of velvet curtain that +hung as a portière before a door. It was impossible to recognise the +figure, and it faded in a few moments like a passing shadow. The laugh, +however, was unmistakable. We both heard it. It struck against our +hearts; it beat in on our brains. + +‘My love, my love!’ I whispered in Juliette’s ear, as she seemed as if +she would swoon in my arms; ‘be strong, be brave. God will smile upon +us. The saints will watch over us.’ + +‘Ah, dear one,’ she exclaimed; ‘let me go from you for ever, for it is +destined I shall bring you woe and life-long sorrow.’ + +‘Juliette, not all the fiends in the nether world shall part me from +you,’ I answered firmly. ‘We are pledged to each other, and your father +has blessed us. We will have no fear, but go on our way with light +hearts, and put our trust in God.’ + +She seemed comforted, and I remained there until late. The morrow was +to see the commencement of the preparations for our nuptials. + +During the ensuing weeks Juliette quite recovered her spirits. Or, at +any rate, whatever her feelings and thoughts were, she was at pains to +conceal them. It was arranged that our honeymoon was to be spent in the +highlands, at the Senhor’s orchid station. I was looking forward to +the time of my departure from Rio with intense joy, as I was terribly +enervated, and yearned to breathe the pure and bracing air of the +mountain lands. + +At length our marriage morning came, as bright and brilliant a day as +ever broke on the fair earth. A few fleecy clouds flecked the deep blue +sky, and a fresh wind blowing in from the sea tempered the great heat +of the sun. Surely no woman ever looked more divinely beautiful than +did my sweet wife on that her bridal morn. It seemed to me that she was +touched with a spiritual beauty that was not of the earth. The pure +white lilies that lay upon her heaving bosom were not more wondrous +fair than she. When the ceremony had ended, she expressed a wish to +retire with me to a little chapel. There for a brief space we might +offer up silent prayer, and commune with our hearts. Devoutly did she +cross herself, and fervently did she pray that she might make me happy. + +Ah, sweet Juliette, as I think, even at this far-off time, of that +morning, my heart turns to lead, and my brain would give way, were it +not that your sweet and gentle spirit is ever near me, and bids me be +of good cheer. + +When we had done justice to the sumptuous repast provided for us by my +father-in-law at the principal Rio hotel, we left by the railway known +as the _Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro_, and travelled for many hours to +the extreme northern limit of the line, a place called Carandahy. My +father-in-law was to follow us in a few days. He would have started +with us, but was compelled to remain behind to settle up certain +business matters. My love and I remained that night at Carandahy, at +the house of Senhor Oliveira, a great friend of my wife’s father, who +had kindly placed his house at our disposal. + +We spent three days in that bracing mountain station, where every +breath I drew seemed to put new life into my enervated frame. And my +dear wife had now quite recovered her spirits, and was as blithe and +happy as a lark. Everyone was so kind; the scenery was so wonderful; +the air so invigorating, and we twain were so perfectly happy that we +felt a thankfulness which could find no expression in mere words. But +there is a dumb eloquence which is greater than speech; and there are +moments of ecstasy when one can only express one’s feelings by silence. +Such moments were those we passed at the mountain station of Carandahy. +The joy was great; alas! too great to last, as was soon to be proved. + +As our destination was Paraúna, on the banks of the river of the same +name, we left Carandahy on horseback, with a number of servants and +attendants, while our baggage was to be brought on by ox waggon. + +At Paraúna Senhor Souza had one of his orchid collecting stations, and +in due course we arrived at the place, which is magnificently situated, +while the dense forests in the neighbourhood are the homes of some of +the most beautiful orchids in the world. It is a small town, but of +no small importance, as in the neighbouring mountains there are some +mines of precious stones which, though worked in a very desultory and +half-hearted way, produce considerable wealth. + +The Senhor’s station was situated a little distance from the town, in +a rather lonely spot on the banks of the river. It was in charge of a +foreman named Chrispiniano Soares, and he had under him five or six +Brazilian packers, and many orchid hunters, mostly Indians, who were +intimately acquainted with the country round about for leagues and +leagues. + +My dear Juliette knew the place well also, as she had been there +before; and now she displayed the greatest interest in the work that +was being carried on, while her knowledge of the various species of +plants brought in was wonderful. She could classify and name every +plant. + +Those were long delightful happy days. I was her willing, loving, +devoted student, and she was my worshipped teacher. It made her so +happy to explain to me the names and habits of the plants; and it +filled me with happiness to see her happy. Neither of us ever reverted +to the strange visitation in Rio, nor to the prophecy of the old +nurse. Indeed, I don’t think we thought of it--at least I didn’t--our +happiness was too great. No shadow fell upon it, and yet an awful, +damnable shadow was creeping up. Oh, if I had only had some faint +warning! Why was there no angel in heaven to give me some sign so +that I might have saved my darling. But no sound came. No sign arose. +It seemed as if all the people worshipped my sweet wife. She was so +beautiful, so kind, so gentle, so womanly. But no one was possessed +with prescience to utter a word of alarm to put me on my guard, so that +I might have striven to avert the awful doom. + +One day it chanced that a mule I was riding stumbled over a piece +of timber and threw me, somewhat injuring my right leg, so that I +had to lay up for a little while. I urged my dear one not to let my +enforced imprisonment--which I was assured would only be of a few +days’ duration--prevent her from taking her accustomed exercise. She +said that she should remain by my side; but, oh, poor blind being +that I was, the fiend prompted me to insist that she should go out +and enjoy herself. It was not the custom of the country for ladies to +go out alone, but in Juliette’s case the circumstances were somewhat +different. Firstly, her father, who had travelled a good deal, had +brought her up more in the English fashion, and she was accorded +vastly more liberty than is generally accorded to Brazilian girls. And +secondly, she had proved herself so useful in the orchid branch of her +father’s business that he had allowed her to do much as she liked; and +she had on more than one occasion gone out with some of the hunters +into the very depths of the virgin forests, braving all the terrible +dangers incidental to the pursuit of the blooms, and braving the +hardships inseparable from it. In many ways Juliette was a wonderful +woman. She was as clever as she was beautiful, and I who pen these +lines declare solemnly that she was without a fault. Of course you will +say I speak with a lover’s enthusiasm. Very well, let it be so. But I +think of her, and I see her, as an angel of God, with the golden light +of heaven upon her wings. In the first hours of my awful sorrow, when +my heart was rent in twain and my poor brain was bursting, I think I +cursed God, and called impiously upon Heaven to justify the act which +plunged me suddenly from the happiest man on earth to the depths of a +blank, maddening, damnable despair. But Heaven was silent, and God in +His infinite wisdom let me suffer until the awful revelation was made +to me which I shall presently record. Then I bowed my head and prayed +to Him to smite me. But I lived. And it is only now, when long years +have passed, and I draw nearer and nearer to the hour when I shall take +my departure to my love, who waits for me with outstretched arms on +heaven’s frontiers, that I am able to write calmly and think calmly. + +In this necessarily brief record I have shown no disposition to +moralise; but I would venture to observe here that some lives are +mysteries from their beginning to their end. The majority of people +perhaps lead common, humdrum, vulgar, unemotional lives. And they die, +never having known what it is to live; but few I fancy could be found +who will venture to deny that in the words of the great English poet, +‘There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our +philosophy.’ We are after all but poor weak things, with but a limited +vision, and to few only is it given to pierce the veil that screens us +from Sheol. But to return to the thread of my story. + +Juliette yielded to my persuasions, and one morning she said, if I +could spare her, she was going with an old and faithful attendant, one +Jocelino who all his life had been in her father’s employ, to a fazenda +(farm), about a two leagues’ ride, to see a negro who, according +to a report, had secured a specimen of an orchid not at that time +classified. In my sweet love’s interest, as I thought then, I bade her +go. And so her dear lips pressed mine, and promising that before the +sun was below the horizon she would be at my side again, she went from +me, and I looked upon her living face for the last time. + +The sun gradually declined, and sank in gold and blood-red glory, +but my love came not. One by one the great stars defined themselves +in the deep blue heavens, but my love came not. The moon climbed up +and flooded the earth with a mystic silver sheen, and yet she who +was my heart and soul was still absent. A deadly fear stole upon me, +and a strange foreboding turned me cold. I summoned Chrispiniano to +my side and commanded him to get as many of his men together as he +could, and, dividing them into parties, send them out to search for my +missing love. He tried to reassure me that all was well. She had been +benighted, he said, and had found refuge at some fazenda. Old Jocelino, +he declared, knew every inch of the country for scores of leagues, and +was so devotedly attached to the young mistress that he would gladly +yield up his life for her. + +‘Yes, Senhor,’ continued Chrispiniano, ‘take my word for it. Your dear +lady is safe with old Jocelino, and the morrow will be but young when +your eyes will again be gladdened with the sight of your wife.’ + +I admit that the foreman’s words did afford me some comfort. Juliette, +I thought, had allowed her enthusiasm to make her forgetful of the +flight of time; and as night travelling in that country is out of the +question, owing to the hundred and one dangers that beset the traveller +who ventures to go forth in the darkness, she had sought the shelter +of some hospitable roof, and so I countermanded the order for the +search parties. But I passed an awful, restless night. No sleep came +to me, and when the morning dawned I uttered a fervent ‘Thank God!’ +But that day was to prove worse than the preceding night--a day of +awful, brain-corroding suspense. Instead of my love coming to me with +the golden morn, no tidings of her were obtainable when the day was +darkening to its close. Crippled as I was, I insisted on a horse being +saddled, as I was determined to go and seek her; but when I attempted +to mount into the saddle I found it to be physically impossible. So I +had myself lifted up, but was unable to grip with my legs, and fell off +again. I was therefore perforce compelled to desist in my attempt, but +I sent into the town of Paraúna and offered a big reward to anyone who +would go in search of my dear one, and bring me tidings. In less than +an hour a party of two dozen mounted men was formed, and, dividing into +sixes, each set off in a different direction. + +I will make no attempt to describe the horrible suspense of that +night. When the sun began to glow again in the heavens it found me +feverish and well nigh distraught. The people at the station did their +best to comfort me. They tried to cheer me; they spoke hopefully; +they expressed themselves as certain that all would be well. But all +their good-intentioned efforts were fruitless; some strange foreboding +possessed me. If I looked up to the heavens it seemed to me as if +I were looking through smoked glass; and during those heavy hours I +fancied I heard a weird and hollow voice repeating in my ears these +words: + +‘At last it is fulfilled! At last it is fulfilled!’ + +I had had myself placed on a couch in the veranda which commanded a +view of the wood, and there I sat, and endured and suffered--not from +the physical pain of my injured limb, for I felt nothing of it, but +from mental torture. + +As the afternoon waned I suddenly saw an Indian rushing down the road +in an excited state. My heart leapt into my mouth, for I was sure he +was the bearer of tidings. He tore up the steps of the veranda without +any ceremony, and falling at my feet began to smite his breast, as is +the custom of these people when they are the bearers of bad news. Then +he wailed out his message: + +‘They have been found, and are being brought here; but they are both +dead.’ + +The words beat in upon my tortured brain like the blows from a +sledge-hammer. I have only a vague, dream-like knowledge of what +followed. In my frenzy I rose like a giant in wrath, and I hurled the +poor Indian from me with such terrific force that concussion of the +brain, as I understand, ensued, and for days his life was despaired +of. But I knew naught of all this. A merciful Providence stunned me, +and day after day went by and I lay like one entranced. During this +blank, my sweet wife and old Jocelino were hidden from the sight of men +for ever and ever, for quick burial in that climate is imperatively +necessary. + +Senhor Souza, my father-in-law, arrived in time to attend to the +funeral of his child, but the poor old man’s heart was broken. They +aver that when he turned from the graveside he looked twenty years +older. All the light had gone out of his eyes, his back was bent, and +he tottered and reeled and staggered like one who had the palsy. But +a strong will power upheld him for a time, because he had a duty to +fulfil, which was to endeavour to bring the murderer or murderers to +justice, for my dear one and Jocelino were both barbarously done to +death. + +You who have never suffered a great wrong at the hands of your fellow +man may preach against vengeance; but as it is no virtue for a man to +be honest when he has well-filled coffers, so he who decries vengeance +when he has not been wronged is but an idle preacher. Let someone rob +you of your most precious inheritance, and see then if you can sit +calmly and exclaim ‘Kismet!’ + +Now listen to the story as it was gradually revealed to me when, after +lying stunned and dazed for nearly three weeks, I began to realise +once more that I was in the world of the living. Listen to it, I say, +and you will not be surprised that I thirsted for vengeance. Up above +the valley of Paraúna was a wild, barren, sun-scorched plateau which, +after some three leagues or so, dipped abruptly into a gorge of great +extent filled with virgin forest. Just where the plateau joined this +belt of vegetation, the searchers found the bodies of Juliette and +Jocelino. They were lying on their backs, and between them was a huge +dead coral snake, one of the most deadly reptiles found in the Brazils. +As it is not unusual for those who are bitten by this hideous creature +to die almost immediately, so virulent and powerful is the venom it +injects into the blood of its victims, that it was not an unnatural +thought that both Juliette and the old servant had been bitten by the +reptile. But two things served to almost instantly dispel this belief. +The head of the snake was crushed, and on the bosom of sweet Juliette’s +dress, as well as on the shirt of the man, was a great patch of blood. +And when the bodies were brought down and examined by a doctor it was +discovered that both had died by being stabbed to the heart with a long +thin knife, and there was no sign or symptom of snake-bite. + +The dead coral snake lying between them, therefore, only added to +the mystery. The horses they had ridden returned after many days by +themselves. They had evidently wandered far and suffered much, but +they were dumb and could tell nothing of the awful tale. They still +carried their saddles and trappings. Nothing had been stolen. The +mystery deepened, but about the mode of death there was no mystery. It +was murder. Murder, cruel, revolting, damnable. Where the bodies were +found a diligent search was made for the weapon with which the crime +was committed, but it was not discovered. Jocelino, like all Brazilians +who live in the country, carried a hunting knife, but it was long and +broad, and it was resting unstained in its sheath attached to his belt. + +Again I say it was murder--cruel, fiendish, deliberate murder. A crime +so foul that it must have made the angels weep, and yet no angel in +heaven stretched forth his hand to save my beloved from her awful end. + +Bowed and broken though he was, Senhor Souza thirsted for vengeance +on the slayer of his child, whom he loved with a tenderness passing +words, and he offered a lavish reward to anyone who would track the +murderer down. To any individual of the people of that region the +reward would have been a fortune, and Brazilian and Indian alike were +stimulated to almost superhuman exertion. But the mystery defied their +solving. The bodies lying side by side and the dead snake between them +were elements in the puzzle to which no brain in that community seemed +capable of finding an answer. As days went by and there was no result +the reward was increased. The authorities themselves, usually lethargic +and indifferent in Brazil, bestirred themselves in an unusual manner; +but nothing came of it all. And as I began to drift back slowly to the +living world, the old Senhor took to his bed, for his heart was broken. +And it was decreed that he should rise no more as a man amongst men, +for after lingering helpless and imbecile for many months, they carried +him forth one golden day amidst the lamentations of his people, and +laid him to rest beside his daughter. + +And now what of myself? I have that still to tell which, for ghastly +horror, has scarcely any parallel. + +When I was able to realise the full measure of my sorrow, I knew that +my beloved wife had been foully slain, and the motive for the crime +was hard to define. But it seemed to me as I examined into the matter +that probably she and the old servant had fallen victims to some +strange superstition, and that might account for the dead snake being +found between them. But whatever the motive that led to this diabolical +destruction of two human beings, it was exceedingly desirable that the +criminal should be discovered, so that he might be made an example +of, as a terror to others who were inclined to evil-doing. In Brazil, +unhappily, crime is common, but detection rare; at least, it is so in +the wilder parts of the country. Money, however, is so greedily coveted +by Brazilian and Indian alike that I watched with feverish yet hopeful +anxiety the result of my father-in-law’s large reward. And when I found +there were no results, I added to it considerably myself, and I sent +to Rio for a man who bore a high reputation as a detective. He was a +half-breed in the Government employ, but he was just as much a failure +as anyone else. He learnt nothing. The mystery remained a mystery. + +After this it seemed to me that further effort would be useless, +for weeks had passed since the commission of the deed, and every +day that went by only served to increase the difficulty. Around us +was an immense tract of country consisting of valley, mountain, and +virgin forest. Most of the tract was sparsely populated. There were no +telegraph wires, no railways. + +As may be supposed, I felt reluctant to tear myself away from the spot +where my sweet one slept--notwithstanding that the place was hateful to +me, for it was associated with her mysterious death. But duty called, +and I had already been too long absent from my post. Everything, +however, seemed hateful to me. Life itself had lost its savour, for +the light of my life had gone out. No man could have been happier than +I when I arrived in Paraúna. A few short weeks and that happiness +had been turned to a sorrow so deep, so overwhelming that I solemnly +declare I would have faced death with the most perfect resignation, +and with the sure and certain hope that I should meet my darling in +a world where there is neither sorrow nor sighing. But my departure +could no longer be delayed, and my preparations being completed I had +arranged to start on the morrow. + +That night, after my evening meal, I sat alone, feeling miserable, +dejected, broken-hearted, when there came to me old José, one of the +station hands. He had been born and brought up in the Paraúna district, +and had never travelled fifty leagues away from his birthplace. He +was intensely superstitious, intensely devout, and no less intensely +bigoted; but he had been a faithful servitor, and though he was then +bowed and frail he was still retained in the service. + +‘Senhor,’ he began, making a profound obeisance, ‘truly it is sad that +the mystery of your sweet lady’s and Jocelino’s death has not been +solved. But what money has failed to accomplish devilry may do.’ + +He looked so strange that I thought he must have been indulging too +freely in the native wine, and I asked sharply, ‘What do you mean?’ + +‘Let not your anger fall on me, Senhor. I do not practise devilry +myself; the saints guard me from it.’ Here he shuddered and crossed +himself. ‘But I have heard some wonderful stories of Anita, though, God +be praised, I have given her a wide berth.’ He crossed himself again. + +‘Anita! who is Anita?’ I exclaimed impatiently. + +‘The devil’s agent, Senhor,’ he answered, ‘as all the country knows for +miles round; but few can look upon her and live.’ + +‘Do not befool me with this nonsense,’ I said. ‘I am sick at heart, and +weary. Go. Leave me. I am in no mood to listen to silly stories.’ + +‘Nay, Senhor, I have no desire to befool you. But Anita--may the Virgin +guard us from evil--is a witch, and they do say she has power over life +and death. Perhaps--I only say perhaps--she might help you to bring the +murderer to justice.’ + +Although I was irritated and annoyed, and inclined to peremptorily +order the old fellow out of my presence, I restrained myself, he seemed +so earnest, so sincere. So I was induced to question him further, and +I learnt that somewhere up in the mountains an old and withered woman +dwelt in a cavern, and consorted with snakes and wild animals, but was +shunned by human beings as a rule, for she was said to possess the evil +eye, and it was generally believed that she could assume any shape, +and drive men mad with fear. Anyway she was accredited with superhuman +powers, and could show you your future as well as read your past. + +I suppose that the frame of mind I was then in, coupled with a +remembrance of the extraordinary incidents in Rio, had something to do +with my desire to know more of this witch-woman, and I asked José if he +could take me to her. But he seemed startled by the bare suggestion, +and again made the sign of the cross on his breast and forehead. No, +he could not, and would not, though I poured gold in sackfuls at his +feet; but there was Torquato, the negro in the village, he might for a +consideration conduct me to Anita. Torquato was a dissolute, drunken +fellow; by calling, a hunter, and used to making long and lonely +journeys over the prairies and into the depths of the virgin forests. +He was daring withal, and he had boasted in his cups that he had often +sat with Anita, and she had shown him wonders. But of course no one +believed him. They called him braggart and liar. Anxious to test if +there was any truth in José’s wonderful stories of Anita’s power, I +bade him fetch Torquato to me. What I had witnessed in Rio and what +had happened since had removed my scepticism, if ever I had been +sceptical, and now I was disposed to clutch at any desperate chance +that promised to solve the mystery. In about an hour Torquato was +introduced to me. He was a pure negro of powerful build, but beyond +that was not remarkable. He was ignorant, but intelligent, and had the +instincts of the born hunter. I questioned him closely. Yes, he knew +Anita, he assured me, and could guide me to her. She was undoubtedly in +league with the Evil One, he averred, and could perform miracles. The +only way I could propitiate her would be by taking her an offering of +tobacco and rum, for which she had a great partiality. My curiosity +being aroused, I resolved to postpone my journey, and start off at +daybreak, with Torquato as guide, to visit Anita, for he undertook to +guide me, and said that as he had always propitiated the witch-woman +he did not fear her, but he would not be answerable for me. I must +take all risk. The weather, which up to then had been exceptionally +fine, changed in the night, and the morning broke with a threatening +and lowering sky. The natives predicted a great storm, but in that +region a storm threatens long before it breaks, so I started off with +Torquato, for I could not restrain my impatience; he carrying on his +broad shoulders a knapsack containing, amongst other things, a quantity +of rum and tobacco, in accordance with his advice. I had taken the +precaution to fully arm myself. I had a double-barrelled hunting rifle, +a six-chambered revolver, and a formidable hunting knife, as well as +a plentiful supply of ammunition. Our road lay by a rough track that +wound up precipitous slopes; then across a strip of prairie and forest; +and finally we had to toil up a sun-smitten, weather-scarred mountain +side. But during our journey we had caught no glimpse of the sun. The +overcast sky had been growing blacker and blacker, and when we reached +the mountain heavy drops of rain began to patter down, and from out +the darkened heavens there leapt a blinding flash of fire that seemed +to extend from horizon to horizon; it was followed instantly by a peal +of thunder that crashed and reverberated until one could almost have +imagined that the end of all things had come. So terrific are these +storms in the highlands of Brazil that they are very alarming to anyone +unaccustomed to them; moreover, the deluge of rain that falls makes a +shelter not only desirable but necessary. Fortunately, the rain was +only spitting then, but Torquato began to look round anxiously for +shelter, when, with quite startling suddenness, and as if she had risen +from the earth, a woman stood before us, and demanded to know what we +wanted there. She was the wildest, weirdest, strangest looking woman +I have ever set eyes upon. She was almost a dwarf in stature, with +misshapen limbs, and long skinny arms out of all proportion to the +rest of her body. Her face--I declare it solemnly--was hardly human. +It was more like a gargoyle from some old cathedral. A few scant grey +hairs covered her head; and her chin and lips were also covered with a +growth of wiry grey hair. Curiously enough, she had excellent teeth, +which were in striking contrast to the rest of her appearance, and her +eyes, deep sunk in their sockets and overhung with a pent-house fringe +of wiry hair, were keen and brilliant as a hawk’s, and seemed to look +not at you but through you. The upper part of her body was clothed with +a blanket, tied with a piece of rope at the waist, but her arms, legs, +and feet were bare. + +This singular-looking being was the woman we were seeking. Torquato +recognised and saluted her, and spoke some words in the Indian language +which I did not understand. She then addressed me in Portuguese, and as +I marvelled at her perfect teeth and brilliant eyes, I marvelled still +more at the clearness of her voice. Its tones were the dulcet tones of +a young girl’s. Indeed, I am not sure if that is a right description, +for a girl’s voice is often harsh, whereas Anita’s was sweet and +mellow. But in general appearance no more repulsive being could be +imagined, and it was easy to understand how great an influence she +could exert over the minds of superstitious people; nor am I ashamed to +confess that I myself regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and fear. + +‘The Senhor seeks me?’ she said. + +‘Yes.’ + +‘Follow then, and I will give you shelter from the storm.’ + +She turned and led the way up the mountain. Although her feet were +bare, the rocks made no impression upon her, and yet my feet were +hurt, well shod as I was. Suddenly we came upon a sort of rocky +platform before the entrance to a cave. It was on the very edge of a +deep ravine--a rent in the earth, caused probably by an earthquake in +the first instance, and gradually widened and deepened by the action +of water. The sides of this ravine went down in broken precipices +for thousands of feet, and were clothed with dense undergrowth and +monstrous ferns, the home, as one could well imagine, of every reptile +and loathsome insect to be found in Brazil. At the bottom of the ravine +was a brawling river. + +We had scarcely gained the shelter of the cave, at the mouth of which +some wood ashes still smouldered, when the storm burst with appalling +fury. We could see the lightning occasionally smite the rocks, tearing +off great masses and hurling them into the dark depths of the ravine, +where probably human foot had never yet trod; while the roll of the +thunder was so awful that it seemed like the bursting up of the +universe. Anita appeared to delight in the storm, and now and again she +raised her long skinny arms straight up above her head and laughed like +one demented. Presently she turned and motioned us to follow her, and +led the way into the depths of the cavern, having first lighted a pine +torch which she drew from a recess in the rocks, and plunged it into +the glowing ashes. We went along a kind of corridor, but had to stoop +low to avoid battering our skulls against the jagged roof. The floor +was wet and soft, and Anita, in answer to my inquiries, said it was due +to a natural spring of water which gave her a supply all the year round. + +When we had traversed about a dozen yards, the roof got higher in the +passage, and after another few yards we found ourselves in a spacious +chamber, with an almost perfectly level floor. Looking up, one could +see nothing but darkness, so high was the roof, and beyond was what +appeared to be another passage. The cavern, according to Anita, +penetrated into the bowels of the mountains for more than a league, +but she alone knew the secrets of those inner passages and chambers, +and would reveal them to no one. I was led to inquire the cause of +a strange rumbling noise I heard, and she told me it was due to a +subterranean river. + +In the chamber in which we found ourselves a hammock was stretched +from two opposite points of rock, and afforded the witch good sleeping +quarters, no doubt. There were also two or three wooden stools about, +and on the floor, arranged on what appeared to be a square of carpet, +was a miscellaneous collection of articles, including an old-fashioned +sword, some peculiarly shaped goblets, a large wooden bowl, some human +bones, several knives, including a hunting knife, an old gun, and +various boxes. In another corner of the chamber I noticed a quantity +of cooking utensils, which seemed to indicate that there was a good +deal of the human about the old witch after all, and that if she loved +solitude she also liked a certain amount of comfort. In such a country +a woman of that kind was sure to get an evil reputation, whether she +deserved it or not. + +At my bidding Torquato unpacked his knapsack, and I presented my +peace-offering of tobacco and rum, which the hag accepted with every +sign of gratification, and filling a wooden cup with some of the rum, +tossed it off at a draught. She had stuck the torch in a niche or +hole in the rock, and its flickering, dancing flame threw a Rembrandt +weirdness over the scene; and every time the woman’s eyes caught the +flame they glowed and glistened with such an unnatural light that +I experienced a sense of creepiness which is hard to describe. The +woman’s whole appearance was so uncanny that while the hammock and the +cooking utensils proclaimed her human, she seemed altogether unnatural, +and, I am bound to add, devilish. She squatted on the floor while I and +Torquato occupied stools. I told her the purpose of my errand; and the +whole of the time while I was speaking she fixed her glowing eyes upon +me, but they did not look at me, but through me. When I had finished my +story she drew her knees up, rested her chin on them, and became very +thoughtful; and though I spoke to her several times, she made no reply, +and Torquato said she was in a trance. Whether that was really so or +not I don’t know. But when the silence had remained unbroken for nearly +half an hour, she rose up slowly, and not without a certain dignity and +grace, and turning her glowing eyes on me, said: + +‘In three days the Senhor will come here again when the sun is +declining, and I will talk with him.’ + +‘But why not now,’ I asked, beginning to regard her as a humbug whose +strange and uncouth appearance helped her to pass as a witch-woman. + +‘I have spoken. In three days,’ she replied, in such a decisive, +commanding manner that I felt further parley would be useless. + +‘And can Torquato come with me?’ I asked. + +‘Yes. ’Tis well he should. Go.’ + +There was no mistaking that peremptory order to depart; and, led by +the negro, I groped my way back along the corridor, and was thankful +to get into the open air. The rain had ceased, but the thunder still +growled, the lightning still flashed; the air was delightful and +refreshing after the rain. We stood for a few minutes at the entrance +to the cavern, drinking in pure draughts of the cool fresh air, when +suddenly there issued from the cave an eldritch scream, so piercing, so +agonising that it seemed to indicate suffering beyond human endurance, +so startling that I instinctively made a movement to rush back into +the interior of the cavern with a view to ascertaining the cause of +that awful cry. But Torquato gripped my arm like a vice, and drew me +forcibly away. His eyes were filled with a scared expression, and his +face told of deadly fear working within. + +‘Come away, come,’ he whispered with suppressed excitement. ‘Anita is +quarrelling with her master the Devil, and he is scourging her.’ + +I could hardly refrain from bursting into laughter at this statement; +but Torquato looked so serious, so terribly in earnest, and evidently +so firmly believed in what he said that I refrained. He continued to +drag me along for some distance before he released my arm. He was then +breathless and agitated, and sat down on a rock, and removing his large +grass hat, he scraped the beads of perspiration from his forehead. + +I was sorry, when I came to think of it, that I had allowed myself +to be baulked in my intention to learn the cause of the strange wild +cry which presumably came from Anita’s lips; and for an instant I was +tempted to reascend the mountain and enter the cavern again. But a +glance at Torquato’s scared face caused me to alter my mind, and in a +few minutes we recommenced the descent, and in due time got back to the +station. I had then come to feel a conviction that Anita was a humbug, +and the scream was part of her imposition. + +It was with something like feverish anxiety that I waited for the three +days to pass. I really had no faith at that time in Anita’s powers +to tell me what I wished to know; but she was a remarkable creature, +so uncanny and weird and wild in her aspects, so interesting as a +study of abnormity that I was anxious to know more of her. I think I +may safely say curiosity prompted me more than anything else, though +I thought there was a bare possibility she _might_ be able to clear +up the mystery. When the morning of the third day came I found that +Torquato was reluctant to again visit Anita, but at last I overcame +his reluctance and scruples by the medium of silver dollars liberally +bestowed, and without making known the objects of our journey we set +off, well-armed as before, and well-provided with food in case of need. +We hadn’t the advantage of a clouded sky as on the previous visit, +and the sun beat down with pitiless rays from the clear blue heavens. +The heat was intense and tried my powers of endurance very much, but +Torquato, being a child of the sun, was indifferent to the heat. As +I suffered a good deal our progress was necessarily slow. Moreover, +we had to exercise extreme caution on account of the numerous deadly +snakes that lay in our path basking in the broiling sun, amongst them +being the brilliant dazzling coral snake, one of the most beautiful +but most deadly of the serpent tribe. It is a very vicious brute, and +is said to be the only snake in Brazil that will attack a man without +provocation--though in some districts the same thing is said about +the Sorocotinga, which is also terribly deadly, and with no beauty to +fascinate as in the case of the coral. + +So slow was our progress that the sun was far down towards the western +horizon when we reached our destination. We were startled by suddenly +and unexpectedly coming upon Anita squatted on her haunches before the +entrance to the cavern, while round her right arm was coiled a coral +snake, its head moving backwards and forwards with a rhythmical sway. +Instinctively I drew back, for the sight was so repulsive, but Anita +rose and told us to follow her, and when I expressed my dislike of the +snake, she waved her left hand before it, and its head and neck dropped +straight down as if it were dead. I was amazed, for this power over +the deadly reptile proved in itself that she was no ordinary being, +although she might be an impostor in other respects. + +Both Torquato and myself hesitated to follow the hag; when noticing +this she turned angrily and cried: + +‘Why come you here if you are afraid? You seek knowledge which I alone +can give you. If you are cowards, go at once and come here no more.’ + +The taunt had its effect. I did my best to overcome the repugnance +and even horror that I felt and entered the cavern with boldness, or +at any rate assumed boldness, and Torquato followed. We reached the +inner chamber where we had been on the previous visit. A burning torch +was stuck in the rock, and threw a blood-red glare over the scene. I +noted that the carpet was no longer there, but in its place stood a +peculiarly shaped brazier containing living charcoal that gave off +unpleasant fumes. + +The old woman uncoiled the snake from her arm. It offered no +resistance. It appeared to be perfectly passive. Then she coiled it +into the figure of 8 at her feet, and told us to sit cross-legged on +the ground as she did. + +‘You seek to know the past,’ she said, fixing her awful eyes upon me. + +‘Yes.’ + +‘But not the future?’ + +‘No.’ + +‘’Tis well.’ + +She began to make eccentric movements with both her hands before our +eyes, and what followed was as a dream. I was conscious of a peculiar +sense of languor stealing over me that was far from unpleasant. +Presently I saw the woman snatch the burning torch from the niche in +the rock and extinguish it, and we were plunged in Cimmerian gloom. A +few minutes, as it seemed to me, passed, when a startling and peculiar +light permeated the cavern. It proceeded from the brazier, from which +rose a slender blue column of vapour that gave off apparently a +phosphorescent glow. Anita was still standing, the snake was hanging +from her neck, its head darting backwards and forwards viciously as +if it were attacking its prey, while the woman with her long skinny +arms described figures in the air. The blue, flowing column of smoke +or vapour rose slowly, for it was dense and spread out mushroom shape +until it filled every corner and crevice, and I seemed at last to be +gazing through the medium of blue glass at a rolling prairieland over +which the sun was shining brightly. The woman, the snake, the brazier, +had faded away now, and only that vast stretch of sun-scorched prairie +was visible. But presently, afar off, I saw two people on horseback. +They gradually came nearer, and I recognised my sweet wife and +Jocelino. Juliette was laughing merrily and seemed blithe and happy. +They halted in the shadow of a rock, and hobbling their horses partook +of their midday meal. That finished, and after a short siesta, they +mounted their steeds and rode at a gallop towards a belt of virgin +forest which they entered and were lost to my view. Presently they +emerged, each bearing a mass of a peculiar orchid with flowers of the +most brilliant colours. They dismounted again and knelt down on the +ground to arrange the flowers in a more convenient way for carrying. +From out of the forest, and all unobserved by them, a tall, powerful +Indian hunter stole, and crept stealthily towards them. I wanted to cry +out, to warn them, but I couldn’t; I was spellbound. The Indian reached +them, and with an extraordinarily rapid sweep of his arm he plunged a +long knife into my loved one’s bosom. Jocelino half started up, but +before he could offer resistance the arm swept round and the knife was +plunged into his breast. With a grim sardonic grin on his features, +the murderer wiped his dripping blade, and returned to the forest, +reappearing after some lapse of time grasping a writhing coral snake, +which he suddenly flung high into the air, and when it fell with a dull +thud at his feet he struck it on the head with the handle of his knife. + +He next dropped upon his knees and seemed to go through some form of +incantation, throwing dirt upon his head, bowing his forehead to the +ground, and raising his hand to heaven alternately, until at last he +rose, laid the bodies side by side on their backs, and placed the snake +at full length between them. Then the whole scene faded, and there was +a blank. + +Once more the same scene came before my eyes, but this time it was +moonlight. The soft silver light threw a mysterious sheen over the +landscape. I saw a man come out of the forest. It was the murderer. +His face was filled with a look of concentrated horror, and he began +to move slowly across the prairie, glancing about him in a nervous, +agitated way. I became conscious at last that he was coming towards me, +and I was filled with a fierce joy at the thought that when he came +within reach I could strangle him where he stood. The strangeness of it +all is I could not move; I appeared to be rooted to the spot, but the +Indian ever approached nearer to me, drawn by some power which he tried +to resist, but against which he was helpless. And so nearer and nearer +he came, and all the while that expression of concentrated horror was +on his face. Although I could not move from the spot where I seemed to +be rooted, fiercer and fiercer grew my joy, and I waved my hands about +in expectant eagerness at the thought of being able at last to crush +the worthless life out of the murderer of my sainted wife. On he came. +I got frantic, I tugged and strained, but could not break away from the +power that held me; my eyes ached with the strain put upon them, my +pulses beat with a loud, audible noise, so it seemed to me; there was +a burring and buzzing in my ears, an awful burning sensation was in my +brain. I felt as if I were going mad with the horror of suspense. + +At length the murderer came within my reach. I flung out my hands to +seize him, when suddenly the moonlight faded, and there was total +darkness. How long this darkness lasted I know not, but gradually light +began to spread over the landscape again; the moon shone full once +more. At my feet the Indian lay on his back. One knee was drawn up; +one arm was bent under his body, the other was raised up as if he were +appealing to Heaven; his face was twisted and contorted with agony. +He made no motion; he was stark and dead. Some strange irresistible +fascination caused me to fix my gaze upon him, and as I watched I saw +the face wither, the eyes fall into the sockets. Then the flesh of the +arm turned green, and blue, and yellow, and gradually dropped rotten +from the bones. Next the rest of the body began to rot away leaving the +bones bare. Loathsome crawling things fed upon the decaying flesh, and +cobras twisted themselves round his legs and arms. + +The maddening, ghastly, gruesome horror of the scene was more than +human brain could stand; and when a huge vulture suddenly descended +and tore out the entrails and began to gorge upon them the climax was +reached. With a mighty effort I burst the spell that enthralled me; +uttered a great cry, and fell prone upon the ground. + +What happened after that I know not. What I do know is I seemed +suddenly to awake from a deep sleep. Above me the stars and moon were +shining. From somewhere, far below, came the sound of falling water. +The air was deliciously cool. I was covered with the skin of an animal, +and squatted near me was Anita waving a palm leaf to keep the insects +from my face. I glanced round and recognised that I was lying at the +entrance to the cave. + +‘What does all this mean?’ I asked. + +‘You have dreamed dreams,’ she answered. ‘You have seen that which is. +Seek to know no more. But sleep, sleep, sleep.’ She repeated the word +‘sleep’ with a sort of drowsy croon that seemed to lull and soothe me. + +There was another blank. When I next awoke it was broad daylight and +the sun was already high. I was lying on a bed of skins at the entrance +to the cave. I sat up, and the sound of the falling water far below in +the ravine sounded pleasantly. I called ‘Anita, Anita!’ but there was +no response. Presently I saw a figure crawling from the cavern. It was +Torquato. He suddenly flung himself upon me, and wept and moaned like +one distraught. + +‘Oh, master, master, what horrors!’ he cried. + +‘Of what do you speak?’ I asked. ‘Tell me all.’ + +Gradually he regained control of himself. Then he recited to me all +he had witnessed. It was identical with what I had seen. The murder, +the mystery of the snake, the rotting corpse, the loathsome maggots, +the vulture gnawing the entrails. Again I called Anita, but there +was no response. I bade Torquato go into the cave and seek her, but +he flatly refused. I struggled to my feet. I felt strangely ill and +weak, and every now and then I shuddered as a remembrance of the +horror came back. Still I was anxious to see Anita again and question +her. I entered the cavern, but all was dark and silent. I groped my +way forward for some distance and called once more. Only the echoes +answered me. It was all so solemn, so awe-inspiring, so mysterious that +I was glad to return to the fresh air again and to hear the voice of +my companion. It was evident Anita did not intend to come to us, and +so we slowly made our way down the mountain and reached the station at +midday. And I had resolved by that time to make another visit to Anita. +For several days, however, I had to keep my bed as I was feverish and +ill. Then I summoned Torquato. He had also been ill, and when I asked +him if he would go with me to Anita once more, he said, ‘No, not for +a ton of gold’; so I sent to the little town for a notary. When he +came I requested Torquato to tell the notary his marvellous experience +and what he had seen. The notary wrote it down; Torquato signed it, +and I appended a note over my own signature to the effect that I had +witnessed the same scene. We next went before the Mayor of Paraúna +and testified on oath to the correctness of our narrative, and that +done, the strange document was deposited in the municipal archives of +the town, where no doubt it can still be seen by the curious. My next +step was to send out a party of trained hunters to the place where the +bodies had been found, with instructions to search for miles round for +any indications of a human skeleton. They returned after many days, +and reported that two leagues or so from the spot where the crime was +committed, in a sandy sun-smitten waste, where only a few cacti grew, +they came across the bleached skeleton of a man. The bones were falling +apart, but it seemed as if one leg had been drawn up, one arm bent +under the body, the other raised. Beside the body lay a long, rusty +knife. Who the man was we never discovered. Even the knife was unlike +those in use in that part of the country. That the skeleton was the +skeleton of my wife’s murderer I haven’t a shadow of a doubt. Why he +murdered her must remain a mystery until the secrets of all hearts be +known. Who Anita was, and by what marvellous power she was able to show +me the horrors she did, I have no knowledge. There are mysteries of the +earth which the human brain cannot comprehend. It is given to only a +few to see as I have seen and live. + +For many years I have kept the awful secrets to myself, but the sands +of my life are running low, and I resolved to give to the world the +story of my strange experiences. To those who may be inclined to scoff +I would repeat, ‘There are more things in heaven and earth than are +dreamt of in your philosophy.’ + + * * * * * + +NOTE TO ‘THE MYSTIC SPELL.’--Although Signor Roderick, who supplies the +material for the foregoing remarkable story, suggests no theory for the +murder of his wife and her attendant, anyone who has travelled in the +interior of Brazil will have no difficulty in doing so. The Indians +are exceedingly superstitious, resentful, and blood-thirsty, as they +are in many parts of Mexico. In the case of the Brazilians who inhabit +the wild parts of the country, they regard certain parts of the virgin +forests as their own special domains. As mentioned in the story, it is +very unusual for a lady of good social position to be seen abroad, and +the freedom which Juliette enjoyed in this respect was an innovation. +Now if the vision that Signor Roderick saw, and which was conjured up +by the mystic power of the witch-woman, was an accurate representation +of the crime, it is easy to understand that some savage Indian, who had +seen Juliette and Joceline enter the forest and carry off the orchid +bloom, resented it. Moreover, he may have regarded Juliette as an +unnatural being, for probably he had never seen a white woman before. +No women--save Indian women, and they but rarely--ever entered those +deadly forests, the haunts and homes of the most venomous reptiles and +the most savage animals, where there are plants exuding so virulent a +poison that if but one drop falls on the flesh gangrene ensues; where +loathsome insects fall upon the intruder from the trees and eat their +way into his body; where the very air is deadly to those who breathe +it, other than the native born. Juliette’s presence, therefore, in such +a place must have filled the Indian with dire alarm, and inflamed him +with a desire to slay her. To him, no doubt, the crime would appear as +a justifiable one. Anyway, with the stealth and cunning of his kind +he crept after her, and his cruel knife drank her blood, and having +killed her, it followed as a matter of course that he should kill her +companion. + +Now these Indians worship strange gods and sacrifice to them, and snake +sacrifice is common, not only in the interior of Brazil, but in Mexico. +The slaying of the coral snake was therefore a sacrifice on the part +of the murderer. How he met his own death must ever remain a mystery. +Probably he himself perished from snake-bite, for though these Indians +show an extraordinary fearlessness of poisonous reptiles, and will +catch them and handle them in a way that makes a stranger shudder, +they are not proof against their bites, although they boast that they +possess infallible antidotes against the venom of the serpent. This, +however, may be regarded as no more than a boast. In the forests of +Brazil are to be found some of the most horrible snakes the world +produces. Apart from the Cobra coral, or to give it its scientific +name, _Elaps maregravii_, rattle snakes of the most virulent kind are +found, and then there is the hideous Cascavel. It is said that death +follows the bite of this snake almost immediately. The victim goes +suddenly blind, and the flesh commences to peel off his bones through +gangrene even before the breath is out of his body. The annual death +roll from snake-bite in all parts of South America is appalling; and, +as might be supposed, the Indians who roam the forests and prairies, +either as animal or orchid hunters, furnish a large percentage of the +victims. It is a feasible theory, therefore, that the cruel murderer of +Juliette and Joceline lost his life through snake-bite, probably the +bite of the Cascavel. + +As regards Anita, one can only suppose that she was possessed of some +strange mesmeric or hypnotic power; but even if that were so, one is +puzzled to understand how she was able to show her subjects the scene +and incidents of the crime unless she herself knew them. The theory +that suggests itself here is that during the three days’ interval +between Signor Roderick consulting her and his second visit, she had +learned the story of the crime from some of the wandering Indians. She +herself was an Indian and would be regarded by her tribe as ‘a wise +woman.’ But whatever theory one likes to accept, it is a well-known +fact attested over and over again by travellers that some of the +Indian women of South America, especially in the neighbourhood of the +Amazon, are gifted with the power of second sight and of forecasting +the future. Such women are held in veneration by their own people, but +Christians believe that they have an unholy alliance with the common +enemy of mankind. + + + + +XV + +THE DOOMED MAN + +FROM THE PAPERS OF THE LATE MR. RICHARD JOHN GIBLING, MERCHANT, OF THE +CITY OF LONDON + + +As to whether this story shall or shall not see the light of publicity +I leave to the discretion of my executor. I am resolved that in my +time it shall remain my own secret. I am partly actuated to this +course by a peculiar and constitutional sensitiveness to anything like +ridicule; while for a man in my position, a sober, prosaic merchant, +engaged in trade in London, to confess to belief in the supernatural, +would not only subject me to a good deal of chaff, but might possibly, +indeed I think it is highly probable that it would, do me a good deal +of injury in my business. City life is a hard, stern struggle for +existence. The City man is governed by immutable conventional laws, +and woe betide anyone who transgresses them. Men engaged in business +generally become slaves to custom. You must don a tall hat and frock +coat; you must assume a smug respectability; you must go to church +on Sunday; your name must appear occasionally in charitable lists; +you must speak deferentially of your mayor and corporation; you must +conform to all the traditions and customs of the City, as prescribed +by the unwritten laws; you must periodically be seen at Guild dinners; +your holidays must be taken at a fixed time, and be of a specified +duration. In a word, ‘must’ may be said to be the text of your life. +You must do this and mustn’t do that. And if you have the hardihood +and boldness to set your face against the stern and fast rules to which +you tacitly bind yourself when you become a City man, well then, all +the worse for you. Now with a knowledge of these facts, which cannot +be gainsaid, it will be understood why I have been so reluctant to +make known the extraordinary incidents which I here note down for the +interest of those who are curious in such things. But extraordinary as +they are, I set them forth as matter of hard, solid, undeniable truth. +Throughout my life I have taken ‘Truth’ as my watchword, as my father +and grandfather did before me. It has been my proud boast, warranted by +facts, that my word has been as good as my bond. And in all my dealings +with men of many complexions of mind, no one could or would have +thought of impugning my honour, my _bona fides_, or my veracity. The +business in which I was brought up, after a course at a public school, +and to which I succeeded on the death of my esteemed father, was a very +old-established one, having been founded by my paternal grandfather and +his brother at the beginning of the seventeenth century. + +It was in the year 1847, as our business and trade were spreading, that +I opened a branch of our London house in Cuba, and placed a trusted +and experienced manager in charge. Unfortunately this gentleman died +in 1850, after a few days’ illness, of yellow fever, and it became +imperatively necessary that I should proceed at once to Cuba to look +into matters, and appoint a successor to the deceased manager. A City +friend recommended me to take passage in a rather noted sailing vessel +called the _Pride of the Ocean_, belonging to a Liverpool firm, and +then loading in the Liverpool docks, being chartered to proceed direct +to Cuba. I thereupon applied to the owners, and being informed by them +that the ship would be ready to sail in a week at the latest, I engaged +my passage in her. She was a full-rigged ship of about a thousand tons, +and was reputed to be able to sail with a fair wind seventeen knots an +hour, being clipper built. + +I arrived in Liverpool on the very day that the ship was advertised to +sail. I was informed that she would warp out of the dock at midnight, +when it would be high-water, and that two tugs would at once take hold +of her and tow her beyond Holyhead. I did not reach Liverpool until +the evening, and drove at once from the railway station to the vessel +and went on board. Of course, everything was in the wildest confusion, +and the noise and hubbub deafening; so, on receiving an assurance from +the mate that I still had three or four hours at my disposal, I drove +to the Adelphi Hotel, dined, played a game of billiards with a London +gentleman with whom I had a passing acquaintance, and at eleven o’clock +once more drove down to the docks and got on board the ship as the dock +gates were being opened. Being very tired I went straight to bed, and +the next morning, as the sea was very rough, I could not get up, as +I am a poor sailor, and generally ill for three or four days at the +commencement of a voyage. On this occasion I was a full week before I +found my sea legs and sea stomach, and one morning I took my place at +the breakfast table for the first time, and was welcomed and greeted by +the captain, whom I had not seen before. We were a very small party, +as there were only three passengers beside myself, one being a Spanish +lady who had been transacting some business in England on behalf of her +husband, who was a Cuban planter. + +The captain’s name was Jubal Tredegar, a native of Cornwall, as I +gathered. He was about fifty years of age, and had been at sea for +over thirty. He had a swarthy sunburnt face, very dark hair, and black +eyes, with a full, rounded beard, but clean-shaven upper lip. In +every respect he was a typical sailor, save in one thing--he was the +most melancholy seaman I have ever come across. It is proverbial of +sailors that they are a rollicking, jovial set; but this man was the +exception to the rule, and he at once gave me the impression that he +had something on his mind. My sympathies were in consequence of this +aroused, and I mentally resolved that I would endeavour to win his +confidence, in the hope that I might be of use to him. + +At first, however, I found that he was inclined to be taciturn, and +resent any attempt to draw him out; but I learnt from the mate that +Tredegar had commanded the ship for three voyages, and was highly +respected by the owners. He was a thoroughly experienced navigator, and +studied his owners’ interests. There was one thing I could not fail +to note; he showed a disposition to talk more to me than to anyone +else, and discovering that he played a good game at cribbage--a game I +was particularly partial to--I got into closer touch with him, as one +evening he accepted my invitation to a game, and after that we played +whenever opportunity offered. But still he became neither communicative +nor talkative, and no subject I could start appeared to have any +interest for him. + +We were playing, as was now our wont, one night in the cuddy after +supper, when I noticed that he seemed more than usually depressed, and +kept examining the barometer and casting an anxious eye up through the +skylight. + +‘What does the glass say, captain?’ I asked at last. + +‘Well,’ he answered, ‘I think we are going to have a blow. There is +dirty weather about somewhere.’ + +When four bells (ten o’clock) struck we finished our game and he +went into his cabin, while I mounted the companion-way to the poop, +intending to smoke my usual cigar before turning in. I had run short +of cigars, and the captain had promised to let me have a box of good +Havanas, but not until I reached the deck did I remember that I had not +a single weed in my case, so I went below again, and to the skipper’s +room, intending to ask him for the cigars. Getting no response to my +knock I pushed the door open and was surprised to see him seated at his +table, so absorbed in gazing at the photograph of a lady that he had +not heard my knock. On perceiving me, he hastily thrust the photograph +into a drawer and jumped up. I noticed him pass his hands over his eyes +and turn away as if ashamed, pretending to search for something on the +top of a chest of drawers. I thought it was an opportunity not to be +lost so I said to him: + +‘Pray excuse my intrusion; I knocked but you didn’t hear me. I would +also take the liberty of saying I respect your emotion. A man need not +be ashamed of moist eyes when he gazes on the face of some loved one +who is far away. It’s human. It shows a kindly heart, an impressionable +mind!’ + +He turned suddenly and, putting out his hand to me, said: ‘Thank +you, thank you, Mr. Gibling! You are a good sort. A little sympathy +sometimes is not a bad thing, and, hardened old shellback as I am, I +suppose I’ve got a soft spot somewhere. But, excuse me, I must go on +deck.’ + +I made known my errand, and having procured the box of cigars for me +from his locker, I carried them to my cabin, and he went on deck, and +when I had opened the box and taken two or three cigars out I followed +him. The night was very dark. Nearly all the sails were set. There was +an unpleasant, lumpy sea, and the wind was blowing in fitful gusts. + +The captain ordered the watch to shorten sail, but before the order +was entirely carried out a squall struck us, and the vessel heeled +over tremendously and commenced to fly through the water, churning +the sea around her into white, flashing, phosphorescent froth. Anyone +who has ever made a voyage in a sailing ship knows the apparent, and +often real, confusion that ensues when a sudden squall strikes the +vessel. At such times the wind will frequently blow for a few minutes +with hurricane force, and it is no unusual thing for sails to be split +to ribbons--even for spars to be carried away. Given a dark night, +a heavy squall, a rough sea, rent sails, and the land lubber who is +unmoved must be made of very stern stuff. The rifle-like report and +cracking of the long shreds of the torn sail are alarming enough to +the inexperienced; but when you add to this the rattling of the ropes, +the banging of blocks, the groaning of the ship’s timbers, the harsh +creaking of the spars, the roar, swish and hiss of the waves, the +great masses of boiling white foam that spread around, and the hoarse +voices of men on deck to unseen men up above on the yard-arms in the +mysterious darkness, there is at once a scene which tests the nerves of +the landsman to a very considerable extent. + +The squall that struck the _Pride of the Ocean_ was a very heavy one, +and the main-topsail went to ribbons. The skipper, who was a perfect +seaman, issued his orders rapidly, but with judgment and a display of +self-possession, while his officers ably seconded him. Three or four +times he came close to me as he shifted his position on the poop, the +better to make his voice heard above the howling of the wind, and the +noises incidental to the tossing ship. I did not attempt to address +him, knowing full well that at such a moment he required to concentrate +all his attention on his duties. Once, when he came near me, I heard +him mutter to my intense astonishment--‘My God, my God, have pity +on me!’ It may be imagined to what an extent I was affected by this +utterance. Had he said, ‘Have pity on us,’ I should at once have jumped +to the conclusion that we were all in danger, but the cry for pity was +for himself alone. It set me pondering, and connecting it with his +usual melancholy, and the sad and distressful expression of his face, I +was not only puzzled but anxious. A few minutes later, as the ship did +not pay off as rapidly as she should have done, Captain Tredegar ran +to the wheel to help the helmsman to jam the rudder harder over, and +as he glanced at the binnacle and his features were illumined by the +light from the lamp, I was perfectly startled by his ghastly pallor. To +such an extent was I moved that I rushed to him and asked in an excited +way if he was ill. With a powerful sweep of his right arm he moved +me from before him, and in tones of terror exclaimed--‘There it is +again! There, out there on the crest of that wave!’ I peered into the +darkness, but could see nothing save the phosphorescent gleam of the +tumbling sea. + +By this time I was quite unnerved, for a dreadful thought took +possession of me. I thought that the skipper was suffering from +incipient madness. + +In a few minutes, having got the wheel well over, he called one of the +watch aft to assist the steersman, and he himself went forward to the +break of the poop, and continued to give his orders. By this time the +men had got the flying ropes and flapping sails under control, and, the +dark scud in the heavens driving to leeward before the hurricane blast, +the moon peeped through the ragged film and threw a weird, ghostly +gleam of shimmering light over the swirling waters, while the track of +the squall could be followed as it drove down the heavens to strike +some other wanderer on the deep. + +As is often the case, at the tail of the great blast was a deluge. It +was as if some huge door in the sky had been opened and the waters fell +out in a cataract. I hurried below, as I had no desire to be soaked +to the skin, and when I reached the cuddy I found the Spanish lady +passenger seated at the table, looking very scared and unhappy. + +‘Oh, Mr. Gibling,’ she exclaimed, ‘is there any danger? What an awful +storm!’ + +I assured her that all was well, and that the rain would probably bring +a dead calm. + +‘Did you see the captain?’ she asked, still displaying great agitation. + +There was something in her manner and the tone of her voice that struck +me as peculiar, and I replied: + +‘Yes. I saw him on deck.’ + +‘Ah, but I mean here. He has just come down and gone to his room. I +spoke to him, but he would not answer me. He looked awful. I am sure +there is something queer about him. His eyes seemed bulging from his +head, and if he had seen a ghost he couldn’t have been whiter. He is +either ill or going mad. Do go to him.’ + +The lady’s words did not tend to allay my own fears and suspicions, +but, anxious not to add to her alarm, I said with an air of assumed +indifference: + +‘The fact is, I suppose, he is over-anxious. Not that there is anything +to fear, I am sure. We are in the squall zone, you know, but there is +every prospect of making a good passage. However, I will go and talk to +the captain.’ + +So saying, I left her, and made my way to the skipper’s state-room. +I knocked as usual, but again there was no response; so I pushed the +door open, and found Captain Tredegar seated in his chair, half his +body bent over the table, and his face hidden by his arms. His cap had +fallen off his head and was lying on the table, and I noted that his +hands were opening and shutting in a spasmodic, nervous way. It was no +time for ceremony. I should have been dull indeed not to recognise that +the man was suffering. I therefore went to his side, and laying my hand +on his shoulder said sympathetically: + +‘Excuse me, Captain Tredegar, but you are not well. Can I do anything +for you? Do make a confidant of me. Believe me I am not actuated by +mere vulgar curiosity. Pray command my services if I can be of any use.’ + +He lifted his head up. I had never seen before in any human face such +a pronounced look of nervous horror. His eyes wandered about the room; +the corners of his mouth twitched, and he sobbed like a child that had +cried itself into a state of physical exhaustion. I was positively +alarmed, and my first impulse was to run for assistance. As if divining +my thoughts he seized my wrist in his powerful hand, thereby detaining +me, and said in a broken voice: + +‘Pardon me, sir, you are very good. I am suffering from an attack +to which I am at rare intervals subject; but I shall be all right +directly. Please don’t make a scene. There is some rum there in that +bottle, give me a little neat. It will set me up.’ + +Although I was doubtful whether neat rum was the proper remedy in such +a case, I could not resist his appealing manner, and taking the bottle +from the rack I poured into a glass about a table-spoonful. + +‘Oh, more than that, more than that,’ he cried. ‘Fill the glass nearly.’ + +Perhaps at any other time I should have argued against his request, +but I let the rum run from the bottle until the tumbler was quite +half-full. He clutched it with trembling hand, and poured the contents +at one gulp down his throat. + +‘Thanks, thanks,’ he said, as he recovered his breath and placed the +glass on the table. ‘That will put new life into me. I feel better +already.’ + +He rose, shook with a shudder as he did so, and taking his sou’-wester +and oilskin from a peg donned himself in them. He put a hand on each +of my shoulders, and looking me in the face, said with an impressive +earnestness: + +‘Mr. Gibling, I am more than obliged to you. Add to my obligation, will +you, by promising not to mention to anyone that you have seen me in one +of my strange moods.’ + +‘Certainly I will,’ I replied with perfect frankness. ‘You may trust +me. And, as I have said, if I can be of service command me.’ + +‘Very well; some day I may put you to the test,’ he answered; +‘good-night, and God bless you.’ + +He left me, and I heard him clatter up the gangway in his great boots. +As I crossed towards my own cabin the Spanish lady was still sitting at +the cuddy table. + +‘Have you been with the captain?’ she asked. + +‘I have,’ I replied. + +‘How is he?’ + +‘He is all right,’ I answered lightly. + +She glanced about the cuddy as if to make sure no one was listening, +and then, bending towards me as if inviting confidence, she said in a +half whisper: + +‘Do you know, Mr. Gibling, when the captain came down from the deck +a little while ago there was such a peculiar look in his face that I +could almost have fancied he----’ + +She stopped suddenly in her speech, visibly shuddered, and put her +pretty white fingers before her eyes. After an awkward pause I broke +the silence by saying: + +‘Almost fancied he--what?’ + +‘He had seen some gruesome and unnatural sight.’ + +I laughed, though I had an inkling of her meaning, for strangely enough +a vague, phantom-like thought had been troubling me; but I could not +define it, could not give it shape; now at her words it was clear +enough, and an uncontrollable impulse impelled me to give it utterance: + +‘Ghosts, you mean,’ and I laughed at my own words, for the idea +seemed to me--a prosy, staid, unromantic, London citizen--so utterly +ridiculous. But not so to the lady. Her face assumed a graver aspect, +and her eyes betrayed that whatever my views might be her mind was made +up. + +‘What I mean is, he has seen a vision,’ she remarked, with awe in her +voice. + +‘Oh, nonsense,’ I exclaimed. ‘Hobgoblins and bogeys belong to the +period of our childhood. When we come to years of discretion we should +cease to be childish.’ + +My remark annoyed her. She rose and curled her lip disdainfully. ‘I am +not childish and I don’t talk nonsense,’ she said, as she swept past me +without so much as giving me a chance to apologise. I felt annoyed with +myself for having been so tactless, but otherwise laughed mentally at +what I considered the absurdity of the position. + +A few minutes later I went on deck to finish my final smoke before +turning in. The rain had ceased. The air was delightfully cool. The +wind had gone, but cats-paws came up every now and then, bellying the +sails out for a moment or two with a great jerk, but dropping suddenly +the canvas fell back against the masts with a bang and rattle of blocks +and creaking of sheaves. The sky was a mass of picturesque clouds +with fantastic outlines. Here and there groups of stars were visible, +and with chastened light, as if shining through gauze, the moon made +a silver pathway over the face of the deep until it blended with the +horizon in impenetrable blackness, which rounded off, so to speak, the +weird scene. The captain had discarded his oilskins, which were lying +on the top of a hencoop, and he himself was leaning on his elbows over +the taffrail, complacently smoking a cigar, and absorbed apparently +in the contemplation of the phosphoric display that flashed and +glistened under the ship’s counter as she fell and rose to the swell. +I approached him. He straightened himself up, turned his back to the +rail, folded his arms across his breast, and puffing at his cigar as +he cast a scrutinising eye aloft at the flapping sails, he said in a +cheerful tone: + +‘Quite a contrast to a little while ago, isn’t it, Mr. Gibling? But +it’s the sort of weather we must expect in these latitudes.’ + +I was struck by his changed manner. He seemed so cheerful and +light-hearted. He wasn’t like the same man I had seen down in the cabin +half an hour ago. + +‘Yes, I suppose so,’ I remarked, for the sake of saying something. + +‘It’s not your first voyage to sea, is it?’ he asked. + +‘No.’ + +‘Have you been to Cuba before?’ + +‘Oh yes.’ + +‘Ah! then you will know pretty well what kind of voyage it is.’ + +I told him that I knew fairly well what one might expect on such a +voyage at that time of the year, and we continued to chat pleasantly +for a little while until six bells struck (eleven o’clock). ‘All’s +well!’ came in solemn tones from the look-out man on the fo’c’stle. + +‘Well, I think I shall turn in,’ said the captain, as he threw the +stump of his cigar overboard, glanced up aloft, then at the binnacle, +and calling the second officer who was on watch, and telling him to +keep the ship on the same course until the morning, he moved towards +the companion-way, and I followed. When we reached the saloon he put +out his hand. As I took it he said ‘Good-night,’ and immediately added +in lower tones, ‘Don’t forget your promise.’ + +I turned in and tried to sleep, but for a long time tossed about, +thinking of what had passed, and trying to account for the captain’s +strange behaviour; but the more I thought the more I got puzzled, and I +came to the conclusion there was some strange mystery about him. I saw +through my port the sun beginning to redden the eastern horizon before +sleep came to me. I did not waken until long after the usual breakfast +hour, so I breakfasted alone. The steward had kept something hot for me. + +When I went on deck I noticed the Spanish lady reclining in a deck +chair, near the companion-way. She was reading a book, and perhaps +that accounted for her taking no notice of me as I bowed and said +‘Good-morning.’ + +The sun was shining brilliantly. The sky was cloudless save on the +horizon, where there were woolly banks. A steady little breeze just +kept the sails full, and the short, choppy waves danced and flashed in +the sunlight with a suggestiveness of joy and gladness. The captain +was not on deck, and I was informed by the second mate, who had the +morning watch, that he had not turned out yet. Wishing to propitiate +the Spanish lady passenger, I carried a camp stool to where she was +sitting, and in the most fascinating manner I was capable of commanding +I asked if I could sit beside her. She smiled sweetly, and accorded her +gracious permission. We said some commonplace things about the weather; +she descanted on the tropical beauties of Cuba, and criticised rather +severely the English climate; while as for London, she spoke of it with +scorn and much shrugging of shoulders; and to my amusement, although +I must admit the truth of some of her strictures, she described it as +a grim and grimy city of revolting ugliness, a city without poetry, +without music, without sun. A city where the people struggled and +cursed and jostled each other for bare existence. A city where the +rich disdained to sniff the same air as the poor. A city of gin +palaces and churches, of hypocrisy and smug self conceit. A city of +leprous sores and devilish wickedness, of hateful shams and heartless +indifference, where the poor debtor was regarded as a criminal, and the +rich despoiler of the widow and orphan as a saint. A city of moans and +groans. A joyless, dark city, where Mammon was the only god that was +truly worshipped. + +These things, and many more of the same kind, she gave free vent to; +and as they seemed to afford her satisfaction and did me no harm, I +made no attempt to stop her flow of invective. Nor should I have noted +them down here were it not that they to some extent represent the +opinions which the majority of foreigners hold with regard to London. + +When at last she paused from sheer exhaustion, I embraced the +opportunity to turn the trend of conversation by saying: + +‘I am afraid, do you know, that I was a little rude to you last night,’ +but I hardly expected such a blunt reply as she made. + +‘Yes, you were exceedingly rude, and I hate rude men.’ + +‘I hope you don’t hate me,’ I cried, laughingly. + +‘Oh no, not quite. You’re a Londoner, you see.’ + +This was very severe. I confess I was hardly prepared for it, and I was +tempted to say something cutting in reply, but checked myself, bowed, +and merely remarked: + +‘Which is not my fault. Therefore pity me rather than blame me.’ + +‘Certainly I do that,’ she replied, with an amusing seriousness. ‘But +look here; answer me this. Why should you have been rude last night +when I said what I did about the captain?’ + +‘Madame,’ I said, as I laid my hand on my heart and bowed, ‘believe +me I had no intention of being rude; but the fact is, I am a somewhat +commonplace, matter-of-fact man, and I have no belief in anything that +is said to be due to supernatural causes.’ + +‘Supernatural or not supernatural,’ she retorted, ‘there are things +going on around us which certainly cannot be explained by any known +laws.’ + +‘Possibly, and yet I doubt it,’ I replied, with a sceptical smile. + +‘Well, your obtuseness is your own affair,’ she said, with a shrug of +her shoulders; ‘but now, look here, Mr. Gibling, permit me to make a +little prophecy. Captain Tredegar has something awful on his mind. He +sees visions, and will ultimately go mad.’ + +Her words startled me. For the first time I was inclined to regard her +seriously, in one respect at least; that was the ultimate madness of +the skipper. That thought had haunted me, but I had tried to put it +away. Even to my somewhat dulled perception it had been made evident +that a man who could act as Tredegar had acted on the previous night +was a victim to some obscure form of mental disease which might +ultimately destroy him. Now the lady spoke with such an absence of +vagueness, such a cocksureness, that I asked her if she had known the +captain long, and if she was acquainted with his past history. + +‘Indeed, no,’ she exclaimed. ‘I never saw the man in my life until I +joined the ship in Liverpool.’ + +‘Then why do you speak with such an air of self-conviction?’ + +‘I speak as I think. I think as I know.’ + +‘But how do you know?’ + +‘Well, you are stupid,’ she exclaimed, with a show of exasperation. ‘I +know, because I have a sense you don’t possess. You are a soot-sodden +Londoner. I was born where the sun shines. I have beliefs, you have +not. I believe that men who do evil in this world can be haunted into +madness by the disembodied spirits of those they injure. Now you may +laugh and sneer as much as you like, sir, but I tell you this: when +Captain Tredegar came down to the cabin last night his face clearly +indicated that he had been terrified by something not human, and I saw +madness written large in his eyes.’ + +I should be wanting in common honesty if I failed to say that this +woman’s remarks, rude as they were to some extent, put certain rambling +thoughts of my own into shape, impressed me in a way that a short +time previously I should have been ashamed to own to. They set me +pondering, and I tried to recall every act, word, look and gesture of +the captain’s, with the result that I had to admit there was something +strange about him. At that moment Captain Tredegar himself came on +deck, with his sextant in his hand, in order to take the noonday sights +for the reckoning. His breezy, jovial manner, and smiling bronzed +face, seemed to make the conversation about him ridiculous, and tended +to confound the prophet who had talked of madness. + +He bowed politely to the lady, and chatted to her pleasantly. He +greeted me with a cheery ‘Good-morning,’ and expressed a hope that +neither of us had been much alarmed by the squall of the previous +evening. He said the passage was going to be a splendid one; one of +the best he had ever made; and if, as he anticipated we should do, we +picked up a good slant of wind when we had made a little more westing, +we should reach Cuba several days before the time we were expected. + +The mate now came on deck also with his sextant, and he and the captain +walked to the break of the poop to take the sights. When he was out of +earshot I turned to the lady and said: + +‘He doesn’t look much like a man who is given to seeing visions and is +doomed to madness, does he?’ + +‘You cannot see beneath the mask,’ she replied, with another +contemptuous curl of her lip, and laying great stress on the ‘you’; +and she added somewhat mysteriously, ‘Wait, wait, wait,’ repeating the +word three times, with a rising inflection on each repetition. Then she +turned to her book again, as if she wished me to understand that she +had said her say and would say no more. I took the hint, and making a +show of stretching my limbs, I rose and began to pace up and down. The +subject of the conversation between me and the lady continued to occupy +my thoughts against my will and desire, and the more I thought the more +like a riddle did the captain appear to me. I was really astonished to +find myself taking so much interest in him. A passing interest in one +with whom you happen to be a fellow voyager is easily understood. But +if Captain Tredegar had been a relative of mine, my own brother, in +fact, I could hardly have felt more anxious or more desirous to solve +the mystery that seemed to surround him. His appearance that morning, +and his appearance and behaviour of the night before, were in such +violent contrast that to put it down to the merely varying moods to +which we are all liable was not satisfactory enough. What puzzled me +more than anything else was his behaviour during the storm. To suppose +that he was a coward and lost his nerve in a passing squall was absurd +on the face of it. In the very height of the storm he delivered his +orders with coolness and judgment, as I could testify, but what did he +mean by exclaiming: ‘There it is again! There, out there on the crest +of that wave’? Then again, why the appeal to God to pity him? Having +perplexed and fretted myself until I felt quite confused, I found +myself unable to alter the original opinion I had formed, which was +that Captain Tredegar was liable to attacks of mental aberration, and +that being so he was not a fitting person to have charge of a valuable +vessel and her living freight. + +Viewing the matter from this point, I came to the conclusion, rightly +or wrongly, that it was my bounden duty as an honest man to make +representations to his owners as to the skipper’s state of mind; for +surely no one would say that a man liable to attacks of temporary mania +was the proper person to be in charge of a ship. As I came to this +decision I heard the captain call out from the break of the poop: + +‘Make eight bells.’ + +The boatswain struck the hour on the bell, and ‘eight bells’ was roared +out by the men about the decks, while from the galley came the smell of +duff and pea soup as the cook put out the dinner for those now going +off duty. I was recalled to a sense of my surroundings by these little +matters, and as the skipper passed me as he was about to descend to +work out his sights and prick the chart, he said cheerily: + +‘Well, Mr. Gibling. It’s time to splice the main brace, isn’t it?’ + +I may explain for the benefit of those who have not made a voyage to +sea that it is customary in most passenger vessels for the passengers +to partake of a glass of liquor of some kind at noon, eight bells. +This, in nautical phraseology, is termed ‘splicing the main brace.’ +It is the most interesting period of the twenty-four hours to +lands-people, because the captain and his officers having taken their +sights, as it is called, they proceed to work them out, in order to +discover the position of the ship; that is, her latitude and longitude, +and that being done, it is marked on the chart. + +As I accompanied the skipper to the cuddy, I began to think that +perhaps after all I was doing him a wrong, and it would be unfair to +say anything to his owners until I had received stronger proof that my +suspicions were well founded. Certainly, as he sat at the table making +his calculations and working out the position, he not only seemed the +perfection of physical fitness, but fully endowed with keen and sound +intelligence. As I noted this I came to the conclusion that it was no +less my duty to suspend my judgment--than to watch closely and wait +patiently. + +Should it come to pass that this paper is made public, I wish it to be +distinctly understood that at this period of the voyage I was halting +between two opinions. On the one hand, I considered Captain Tredegar +peculiar in many respects--a man of mystery, in short--and on the +other, I was painfully anxious not to do him an injustice. It will +also be noted that the conclusions arrived at by the Spanish lady, who +was an emotional and superstitious woman, were not in accordance with +my own. For according to her views, the captain’s strange behaviour +was the result of seeing visions; according to mine, he suffered +from intermittent mania, which was probably traceable to a too free +indulgence in rum or other potent liquors. Not that I had ever seen him +the worse for drink, but he took a good deal more than was good for +him, in my opinion, though it did not affect him as it would have done +others who were not so case-hardened. + +For the next few days our progress was not very satisfactory, owing +to the light, variable winds. For a steamer it would have been almost +ideal weather, but dependent as we were on the winds entirely, it +was very tantalising. During this time the skipper continued in his +bright, cheery mood, and every evening at a fixed hour we sat down in +the cabin for a game of cribbage. I took to studying him very closely, +and from many little signs I saw I felt pretty certain that a great +deal of his light-hearted manner was assumed. Occasionally I noted a +strange wild look came into his eyes, and his cheeks paled as though +some deadly fear had seized upon him. A mere casual observer would have +failed to have seen these signs, but my perception had been quickened. +I was ever on the alert, on the watch, and there was not much that +escaped me. + +A change came at last. One evening when I expected the skipper to take +part in the usual game at cribbage he brusquely and rudely refused, and +I saw the half-sullen, half-terrified expression in his face again. I +thought it very peculiar that his mood should synchronise with a change +in the weather. The barometer had been falling all day, and it was only +too evident that we were going to have a dirty night. As the sun got +low in the heavens, heavy banks of clouds came up, and the wind rapidly +strengthened, until we had to shorten sail to such an extent that very +little canvas remained set. The captain seemed extremely anxious. He +walked up and down the poop in a restless, nervous way. Occasionally +he stopped to gaze windward, and sometimes he muttered to himself. I +resolved at last to speak to him, anxious and preoccupied as he was. So +I went boldly up to him and said: + +‘We are evidently in for a change, don’t you think so?’ + +He turned upon me with a dark, lowering face, his brow knit, and his +whole manner that of one straining under suppressed passion. + +‘Yes, I do,’ he answered excitedly, ‘and be d----d to you. Anyway, I’m +a doomed man.’ + +He walked rapidly away without another word, and I stood for some +little time dumfounded. Anyone who could speak in such a manner was +surely mad, and I seriously considered it was my business to take +counsel with my fellow-passengers, if not with the officers of the +ship, for a mad captain ought to be relieved of his responsible duties +in the interest of every soul on board. But before I could stir away +the man himself came back to me, and said in a most pathetic and +appealing way that went to my heart: + +‘Pray pardon my rudeness, Mr. Gibling. You don’t know how I’m troubled. +I am suffering dreadfully, and if you knew all you would pity rather +than blame me.’ + +‘Why not place me in possession of the information, then?’ I asked. He +put his hand to his eyes for a moment or two and shuddered. + +‘It is so dreadful, so horrible,’ he muttered mysteriously, speaking +rather to himself than me. + +‘All the more reason, then, why you should take me into your +confidence,’ I said. + +‘Yes--perhaps you are right. I will, I will. Come to my cabin in half +an hour and I will tell you the awful story.’ + +Further conversation was interrupted by the bursting of a squall +accompanied by heavy rain, while a long swell that came up from the +S.W. was a sure precursor of the coming gales, of which the squalls +were only the heralds. + +I at once descended to the cabin to get out of the rain, but quite +half an hour passed before the captain came down. He passed me without +speaking, but called the steward and ordered some tea to be taken to +his cabin. And when another half-hour had elapsed the steward brought +me a message to the effect that Captain Tredegar wished to see me +in his room. The weather had now become very bad and the ship was +labouring heavily. I found the captain seated at his table with a small +Bible open before him, but which he closed and tossed into his bunk as +I entered. He looked pale, ill, and careworn. He asked me to sit down, +and remarked: + +‘You have shown much interest in me, sir, and instinctively I feel I +can place confidence in you. The time has now come for me to speak, or +be dumb for evermore. I am a doomed man. My fate is sealed, and it is +that fearful certainty that weighs upon me like a ton of lead.’ + +His words and manner seemed to me unmistakably to indicate insanity, +and I could not repress a feeling of alarm. He must have guessed my +thoughts, for he said quickly: + +‘Don’t alarm yourself, and bear with me patiently; my brain is +perfectly clear, and I know what I am doing, although a stranger might +be disposed to think I was labouring under a distempered imagination. +But it is not so. An awful fear takes possession of me and unmans +me. It paralyses my faculties and renders life a curse instead of a +blessing.’ + +‘A fear of what?’ I asked. + +‘Of the dead,’ he answered solemnly. + +I looked hard at him again. That surely was not the answer of a sane +man. + +‘What nonsense,’ I said a little sharply. ‘What harm can the dead do +to the living? I gave you credit for being stronger minded than that. +It is clear to me now that you are allowing yourself to sink into a +morbid, nervous condition, that must end disastrously. Why on earth +should you embitter your existence by imaginary evils? Shake yourself +free of morbid, gloomy forebodings; be a man, and if you are a just one +you need fear nothing, not even the living, let alone the dead.’ + +He did not attempt to interrupt this little outburst on my part, which +perhaps was hardly justified. But I could not restrain myself. I was +compelled to give vent to my thoughts. + +‘You mean well, Mr. Gibling,’ he remarked, with perfect self-possession, +when I had finished speaking, ‘and I understand your feelings; but +before condemning me, before allowing your wrath to run away with your +judgment, be patient, forbearing, and listen to me as you promised to +do. This may be the only opportunity that will ever occur for me to +tell you my story.’ + +‘Pray proceed,’ I remarked; ‘perhaps I have been somewhat hasty; +you will find, however, that I am a good listener, and under any +circumstances you may count on my sympathy.’ + +He remained silent for some minutes, his elbows on the table, his +hands clasping his face, his eyes seemingly fixed on vacancy. He +started and came to himself again. + +‘Mr. Gibling,’ he began, ‘I have a very strange story to tell you if +you care to listen to it. Whatever your feelings are now, however +sceptical you may be, I fancy your views will undergo a change by the +time I have done. I repeat that I am a doomed man. My sands have nearly +run out, and I must say what I have to say now or never.’ + +‘Please go on,’ I said as he paused, evidently waiting for me to speak. + +‘Very well,’ he continued, ‘I’ll begin at the beginning. As you know, +I am a Cornishman; I come from a race of seamen; the salt of the sea +flows in my veins. What education I received was got at a school in +Devonshire, where I passed nearly nine years of my life. At that school +I had a chum. We were inseparable. We were more like brothers. His +name was Peter Gibson. He was three or four years my senior, and was a +rough, wild, boorish sort of fellow; not good at picking up the routine +knowledge of a school training, but as sharp as a needle, with an +insatiable thirst for stories of fighting and adventure. In this line +he would read everything he got hold of, and one day he said to me: +“Jubal, I intend to go to sea, and I’m going to be a devil; will you +stick to me?” he asked. + +‘“Yes,” I answered in a moment of boyish enthusiasm. He had great +influence over me. I looked up to him as my superior, and regarded him +as a leader. + +‘“You swear it?” he demanded. + +‘“Yes,” I said again. + +‘Whereupon he made me go down on my knees, hold both my hands up to +heaven, and take a solemn oath that I would stick to him, go with him +wherever he went, and do whatever he did. + +‘Now you must remember I was a youngster at this time, and what I did +was only what a boy might be expected to do. Gibson certainly had a +good deal of influence over me. He was a masterful sort of fellow, with +a great, bulky, powerful frame, while his pluck won my admiration. He +funked at nothing, and could lick every boy in the neighbourhood. + +‘We left school about the same time, and though his father, who was +pretty well off, wanted to put him in business, Peter declared he would +go to sea. I had been intended for a seafaring life from my cradle. The +males of my family always went to sea. The result of his determination +was that he and I found ourselves fellow apprentices on board a +full-rigged vessel going out to the East Indies. She was a trader, and +during a voyage of nearly four years we visited a great many places +in the East; saw a great deal of the world, and experienced fair and +foul weather from the very best to the very worst. As might have been +expected, Peter picked up seamanship very rapidly, and became one of +the smartest sailors on board. My regard for him and his liking for me +had never altered, and when we returned to Liverpool, from whence we +had sailed, we were as much chums as ever. + +‘We were only at home two months when we were transferred to another +ship belonging to the same owners, and rated as A.B.’s. This voyage +we sailed to Vancouver round the Horn, and from there we came down in +ballast to Monte Video, and loaded up with a general cargo for home. +At this time there was a civil war going on in the Argentine Republic, +and of course at Monte Video we heard a great deal of talk about it. +Gibson used to get very excited over the war news, and over and over +again he tried to persuade me to clear out from the ship and go with +him to do some fighting. He’d no sympathies with either one side or +the other, and I don’t think he even knew what the row was about, but +he wanted some fighting; fight was in his blood, and he was pining for +what he called fun. I preferred, however, to keep a straight course, as +my people before me had done. I wanted to gradually mount the ladder +until I reached the top, and I knew that the quixotic expedition he +proposed would have defeated my object. I therefore declined to fall in +with his views. It riled him for a time, but at last he admitted that +he had no right to try and persuade me against my will; but as far as +he was concerned he was going. And go he did, much to my regret, I must +confess. Although it went somewhat against my grain, I helped him to +secretly get his duds on shore, and some money that I had I handed over +to him. + +‘We spent our last night together at a _café_ in the town of Monte +Video; and when the time came for us to part he wrung my hand, and I +was cut up in a way I had never been before. After that I saw no more +of him, nor did I hear anything of him for ten years, when we met again +under very extraordinary circumstances. + +‘I was then mate of a splendid barque called the _Curlew_, hailing from +Bristol. We had taken out a cargo of iron to Bilbao, there the ship was +chartered by the Spanish Government to convey five hundred soldiers +and a quantity of specie to Havana. The _Curlew_ was an exceptionally +fine vessel, with unusually good ’tween deck space, and therefore very +suitable as a transport. We made a good passage to Havana, landed the +troops, but were told we should have to retain the specie for a few +days until some grandee or other came to receive it. He happened then +to be up the country, but was expected back in the course of a week. As +we had made a quicker passage than was expected, it had thrown him out +in his calculations. Well, of course, it didn’t matter to us much, as +our charter provided for our return to Bilbao; and, equally of course, +so long as we were employed by the Spanish authorities we sailed under +the Spanish flag. + +‘The second night after our arrival I went on shore, and in strolling +through the town my attention was arrested by a sign over the door of a +drinking-place. It read, “Old England, kept by Will Bradshaw.” This and +the sound of English voices induced me to enter, and I found the place +pretty well crowded with sailor men and Spanish women of a disreputable +class. I saw at once the sort of house it was, and as I did not not +consider it advisable for me as chief mate of a Government vessel to +be seen there, I was for clearing out again when I noticed a big, +brawny, powerfully-built fellow mixing drinks behind the bar. He was +unmistakably an Englishman. His face was burnt brown. He had a dark, +bushy beard, and looked like a man who had a large spice of the devil +in him. Despite the beard the face seemed familiar to me, and when I +heard him call out an order to one of his waiters, the voice left me no +longer in doubt. It was the voice of Peter Gibson. So I pushed my way +through the crowd to the counter, for it was not likely I could leave +without renewing acquaintance with my old chum, and I asked, “Isn’t +your name Peter Gibson?” + +‘“No, it isn’t,” he yelled. “I’m Will Bradshaw, the boss of this +place.” I was taken aback for a minute, for I was sure I couldn’t be +mistaken. Then it flashed on me that Peter had a reason for being known +as Will Bradshaw; so I pulled out a pocket-book, wrote my name on a +leaf, tore it out, and handed it to him. I saw a look of surprise come +into his eyes and his face change colour. Then he grasped my hand and +wrung it, told an assistant to look after the place, and asking me to +follow him, he led the way by a side entrance to a large garden at the +back of the house, where seats were placed under the palm trees, and a +few coloured lamps were hung up. Nearly every seat was occupied by men +and women, and negro waiters were attending to their wants. + +‘Peter took me to a remote corner of the garden, where there was a sort +of summer-house on a knoll. + +‘“We can have a quiet yarn here,” he said. Then he called one of the +negroes and told him to bring a bottle of wine, and that done, he began +in his old masterful way to ask me questions about my career during +the past ten years. I told him straight; but when I questioned him he +shirked my questions, simply saying, “Well, I’ve had a lot of roughing, +old chap, and have been in some queer corners. I drifted down here +about two years since, just as the former proprietor of this shanty +went off the hooks with Yellow Jack. I made a bid for the place and got +it, but had to give bills for the greater part of the purchase money, +and I’ve still got a lot of millstones round my neck. I’m rather sick, +and think of chucking it and going on the rampage again.” + +‘We yarned away for two hours, when I had to go, and naturally I asked +him to come and see me on board the vessel. He turned up the next +day, and the day after that; and I told him as an item of news that +my skipper was going into the country on the morrow for a few days to +shoot with a party of friends, and that I should be in charge; and I +invited him to come on board and have dinner with me in the evening, an +invitation he readily accepted. + +‘When he turned up he had a friend with him, a Spaniard who spoke +good English, and whom he introduced to me as Alonzo Gomez. He said +he wanted me to know this man, as he was a good sort, and might be of +use to me. He was described as a planter, but I couldn’t help thinking +there was a good deal more of the loafer than the planter about him. +However, he was very polite, as most Spaniards are, and as he seemed to +be rather an amusing cuss, I thought I had judged him too harshly. Of +course, I gave my guests a good feed, and made the steward open some +champagne. During the dinner Peter asked me a lot of questions about +the ship, and how much Spanish money we had on board, and where it was +kept. If it had been anyone else, and at any other time, I should have +resented these questions, but I felt there was no harm in answering my +old schoolfellow and shipmate. + +‘When the dinner was over Peter said that for old acquaintance sake +we must have a jorum of rum punch, and that he would make it. So I +told the steward to get the necessary ingredients, and Peter set to +work to concoct the liquor. I don’t remember much more after that. I +didn’t come to my senses until the next morning. I found on turning +out that the steward was ill, and on my going to him he told me that +my friends had given him some of the punch. It had made him sick at +first, and afterwards he fell into a heavy sleep from which he had +not long awakened, and that he was then suffering from a frightful +headache and a heavy, drowsy feeling. That was precisely my condition; +but I attributed it to not having drunk wisely, but too well. The +second mate, who had been on shore the previous night, undertook to +do certain work I had to attend to; and having given the steward some +medicine from the medicine chest, I went and turned in once more, and +slept pretty well the whole day. Anyway, I did not turn to again until +the following morning. + +‘In the course of that day, the high official who was to receive the +specie came on board with an escort, and commanded the strong room in +the afterpart of the cabin to be opened, and the specie brought out. I +at once procured the keys from a safe in the captain’s cabin, and on +going to the strong room, I was surprised and alarmed to find that the +various seals put upon the door at Bilbao were broken, and they had +been broken quite recently, as two or three days before I had examined +them and found them all right. My alarm and confusion increased when, +having got the door open, we discovered that two of the boxes, one +containing Bank of Spain notes and the other gold dollars, had been +burst open, and partly rifled of their contents. Altogether a sum in +notes and gold equivalent to twenty thousand pounds had been stolen. + +‘The big-wig was in a great state, and at once sent on shore for a +magistrate and a lot of military officers, and began an inquiry there +and then; and I, having been in charge of the ship for some days, was +practically put on trial. + +‘Perhaps I needn’t tell you that I felt I could at once name the thief. +His name was Peter Gibson, alias Will Bradshaw. He and his Spanish chum +had drugged me and the steward; of that I had no doubt then, and as +all the crew had gone on shore except the boatswain and the cook, and +two of the hands who were on duty at the gangway, it was easy for the +rascals to carry out their nefarious scheme of getting at the specie. + +‘Now, I’m not talking mere words to you when I tell you that it went +against my grain to denounce my old schoolfellow and shipmate, and +at first I resolved that I wouldn’t. But, after all, a chap’s own +interests have to be counted first, and as Gibson had been mean hound +enough to drug me and carry off money under my care, I didn’t see why +I should screen him. So I denounced him, and in a very short time he +was under arrest. But even then he might have escaped conviction had it +not been for his stupidity in keeping the bank-notes. His friend, who +was also arrested, turned out to be a notorious character with a most +evil reputation, and was looked upon as an expert in picking locks. The +task they had set themselves of stealing the money was comparatively +easy, as all the conditions were in their favour, and I fell a too easy +victim to their cunning. + +‘Well, of course, I had to attend the trial and give evidence. The +crime was considered very serious indeed, as Government property had +been stolen and Government seals unlawfully broken. The offence was +called a first-class one, and the penalty was death. No such sensation +had been provided for Havana for many a long day. It was considered +better than a bull-fight. + +‘To make a long story short, the result of it all was that the two +rascals were convicted and sentenced to be shot. The verdict cut me +to the heart, and as only a short shrift was allowed the culprits, as +the sentence was to be carried out in twenty-four hours, I obtained +permission to visit Gibson. I found him in rather a dejected state, +seated in a courtyard of the gaol which was guarded by soldiers. As +soon as he saw me he seemed to go mad, reviled me in language that was +of a pretty fiery character, then cursed me and swore that he would +haunt me and drive me to madness by appearing to me on dark nights at +sea. + +“You are a doomed man,” he said, “and will come to a sudden and +terrible end. I leave my curse to you.” + +‘I tried to reason with him, but I might as well have tried to reason +with an enraged wild cat in the jungle. He did nothing but utter curses +on me, and recognising how hopeless it was to try and appease him, I +withdrew, and the next morning he and his pal were shot at daybreak. + +‘Although I was much cut up by the way he had treated me, I did not +attach any importance to either his curses or his threats. I wasn’t +altogether free from superstition, what sailor is? but I quite believed +that when a person was dead he was done with. I soon began to find +out, however, that I was wrong, for some weeks later, when we were on +our passage back to Bilbao, I had the middle watch one night, just as +we got into the Bay of Biscay. It was a wild night, and we were close +hauled under double reefed topsails. Suddenly out of the waves came a +glowing figure. It was Gibson’s spectre. He shrieked at me, and I heard +his curses again, and again he told me I was doomed. + +‘Since then I’ve seen him often. He has kept his word. He has haunted +me, and is driving me mad and hounding me to death. Yes, I am doomed. I +feel it and know it. Nothing can avert the doom. + +‘You know my story now. Don’t ridicule it; don’t laugh at me; for to me +it’s a terribly serious business, and I feel that I shall never see the +dear woman I love again.’ + + * * * * * + +He ceased speaking, and I noticed the wild, scared look in his eyes +which I had seen before. The perspiration was streaming down his face, +he appeared to be suffering great mental agony. I tried to soothe him, +but it was no use, and he kept on repeating that he was doomed. + +Now let me say here at once that I did not believe the captain had +seen any real supernatural appearance. I regarded him as a highly +imaginative and sensitive man. On such a man Gibson’s curses and +threats would be sure to make a very deep impression. It could +hardly be otherwise, seeing that the two men had practically grown +up together. They had been schoolmates and shipmates, and Gibson’s +violent end must have affected his once friend in no ordinary degree. +Long dwelling upon the dramatic scene in the prison at Havana, the +day previous to the execution, had taken such a hold on the skipper’s +imagination that he had worried himself into a belief in a mere chimera +of the brain. To him, no doubt, the visions were real enough, although +they were nothing more than disturbed brain fancies. + +Such was the theory I consoled myself with, and I determined there +and then to use every possible endeavour to get the captain out of his +morbid condition, and prove to him by gentle reasoning that he was +simply a victim to his own gloomy fears. I was so far successful at +that moment that I induced him to turn in, having first of all called +the mate down and given him certain instructions; then I compounded him +a simple soothing draught from ingredients in the medicine chest, and +at his own request I sat by him and read certain passages in the Bible, +until he fell into a sound sleep. + +I was considerably exercised in my own mind as to the proper course I +ought to adopt, and I was tempted at first to take the Spanish lady +into my confidence, and discuss the matter with her. But this idea was +put out of my head at once, for she was sitting in the cuddy, as she +usually did in the evening, where she passed her time either reading or +in doing needlework. She saw that I came from the captain’s cabin, and +tackled me. + +‘How is the skipper?’ she asked. + +‘He is a little indisposed to-night, but will be all right to-morrow, +no doubt,’ I answered. + +‘Not he,’ she exclaimed. ‘I tell you that man’s a haunted man, and will +either go mad or commit suicide.’ + +Remembering how dogmatically she had expressed herself on a previous +occasion on the subject of supernatural visitations, I deemed it +desirable not to enter into any discussion, and I also made up my mind +that it would be a fatal mistake to let her know that captain’s story, +so I merely said, in answer to her statement, ‘I hope not,’ and passed +to my cabin. + +Now I want to repeat here, and for very obvious reasons, what were +the views I held at this stage. I considered that the captain was +suffering from a distressing nervous illness, the result of long +pondering over an incident which could not fail to make a tremendous +impression on him. But not for a moment did I entertain any belief in +the supernatural. Necessarily I was exceedingly anxious, for there was +no doctor on board, I had no medical knowledge myself, and we could not +hope to reach our destination for another three weeks. There was every +prospect then of the prognostications about a fine and rapid passage +being falsified. The barometer had been steadily falling for some time, +and all the indications were for bad weather. I knew that in that +latitude, at that time of year, heavy storms were not uncommon, and it +seemed likely that we should experience them. The anxious state of my +mind kept me awake for some time, revolving all sorts of schemes, but +nothing that seemed to me satisfactory. Eight bells midnight sounded, +and I heard the mate come out of his room and go on deck to take the +watch. I slipped out of bed, put on my dressing-gown and slippers, and +stole over to the captain’s cabin. To my intense relief I found he was +sleeping soundly. + +As the motion of the vessel made it evident there was a heavy sea on, +I went up the companion-way to see what the weather was like. It was a +wild, weird night. A south-west gale was blowing and a tremendous sea +running. There was no moon, but the stars shone with a superb lustre +wherever the ragged, storm-driven scud allowed them to be seen. I +passed a few words with the mate, and asked him what he thought of the +weather. + +‘It’s a bad wind for us,’ he answered, ‘and the heavy squalls that come +up every now and then prevent our setting much sail. But if I were +skipper, I would crack on and let things rip. I’d drive the ship even +at the risk of losing canvas.’ + +‘Why don’t you do so, as it is?’ I asked. ‘You’ve got charge of the +deck for the next four hours, and have practically a free hand.’ + +‘No I haven’t,’ he answered. ‘I’ve got to obey orders, though I think +sometimes, between you and me, sir, that the old man’s got a bee in his +bonnet, as they say in Scotland.’ + +‘What makes you think that?’ I queried, my interest in the skipper +making me anxious to hear what the mate had to say. I had not before +had any conversation with him about the captain’s condition. Indeed, +he was not a very talkative or communicative person. He was what is +termed a cautious Scotsman. + +‘Well, I think it’s because he’s given to seeing the devil, or +something as bad.’ + +I laughed, although I was serious enough; and being anxious to draw the +officer out, I remarked: + +‘Well, I shouldn’t say it’s quite as bad as that; but he is ill, there +is no doubt about it, and wants looking after.’ + +‘I should think he does,’ was the reply, given with peculiar +decisiveness. Then, bending his head towards me, the better to make +himself heard without raising his voice too much, for the howling of +the wind made it difficult to hear sometimes, he added, ‘Look here, Mr. +Gibling, will you give me your promise that, if I express an opinion, +it won’t go any farther?’ + +‘Yes, I think you may trust me,’ I answered. + +‘Well, look here, sir, if you have any influence with the old man, +you should persuade him to keep his room for the rest of the passage. +And if he won’t, I say that in his own interest and the interest of +everyone on board this craft, that he should be made to stay there.’ + +Never before had the mate been so outspoken to me, and it was further +evidence, if I needed any, that the skipper’s condition had not escaped +the observation of others; and I seriously determined to act on the +suggestion, and use every effort to induce the captain to keep his room. + +As a slight shift in the wind here necessitated the mate ordering +the watch to trim the yards, I went below, and, feeling thoroughly +exhausted, I drank a glass of whisky, and turning in, fell asleep. +I must have slept between three and four hours, when I awoke with +a start, for overhead was a tremendous hubbub. The tramping of +heavily-booted feet, the rattling of cordage, the shaking of sails; +while the ship, which was heeled over at an unusual angle, was +quivering. I hastily donned my dressing-gown, and rushed on deck. A +very heavy squall had struck us, and had torn the main-sail out of the +bolt ropes. ‘All hands’ had been called on deck, and what with the +shrieking wind and roaring sea, and the hoarse voices of the sailors, +the situation seemed alarming enough to a landsman like myself. A lurch +of the ship drove me down to the lee rail against the mizzen shrouds, +which I clung to for dear life. Suddenly I felt myself gripped round +the waist, and a body seemed to fall at my feet. I realised in an +instant that it was the captain. He had only his shirt and drawers on. +His feet were bare, his head was bare. So much I was able to make out +in the darkness that wasn’t altogether darkness, for a few stars still +shone. + +‘For the love of God, for the sake of the Christ that was crucified, +save me!’ shrieked the unhappy man, as he crouched on his knees and +linked his hands round my body. + +‘Don’t give way like this,’ I said, feeling almost distracted myself. +‘Come, let me lead you down to your cabin. The mate will look after the +ship. She is in good hands.’ + +It seemed as if the unhappy man did not understand what I had said to +him, for pointing to the sea, he cried in a voice of acute terror: + +‘There, there, don’t you see it? there on that wave? Oh, my God, it’s +awful!’ + +Mechanically I turned my eyes to where he pointed, and to my +astonishment I saw what appeared to me to be a pale, lambent flame, +shapeless and blue and nebulous. But I am conscious of thinking to +myself that this was some natural phenomenon, like the well-known St. +Elmo’s fire. Slowly, however, even as I watched (for my eyes were +riveted on that light by some strange fascination), I saw the shapeless +mass grow brighter. Then for the first time it seemed to dawn upon me +that I was gazing upon something unearthly. My heart leaped to my mouth +at the conviction, and a cold shivering thrilled through my body. I +tried to shut out the vision, but my eyes would not close; I was under +some spell, against which I had no power of resistance. + +As I gazed, the flame assumed shape; the shape of a human being. I +distinguished a face, wan and ghastly. The eyes were lustreless and +fixed, like those of a dead man. In the naked body were many wounds, +and from these wounds blood spurted out in streams, and as it seemed +to me made the sea around crimson. I shuddered with horror at this +dreadful sight; my knees bent under me, and I was on the point of +sinking down, when I made a supreme effort and rallied. For the skipper +was still clinging to me. I felt his weight, I heard his groans, but +I saw nothing save that spectral figure with the gory streams pouring +from its body. + +Panting and breathless, a cold perspiration bursting through every +pore, and with a feeling as if the scalp of my head was shrinking to +nothing, I continued to gaze. The figure remained motionless, but its +dull, glazed, dead eyes riveted themselves upon me as I thought, and +I could not endure their gaze. I felt my brain maddening with terror; +driven to frenzy I made a supreme effort to lift the captain in my arms +and carry him bodily down to his room. But he broke from me. He made as +it seemed a flying leap from the poop to the waist of the ship; then +another flying leap over the rail into the dark seething waters. I +heard the heavy splash his falling body made. One long, piercing shriek +as he floated astern filled the air. + +I remember little more. There was a cry of ‘Man overboard!’; a wild rush +of feet; a hasty cutting away of lifebuoys; hoarse voices mingling with +flapping sails. How I got below I don’t know, but I found myself lying +in my berth with the Spanish lady standing over me, putting eau de +cologne on my temples. + +‘Do you feel better now?’ she asked in a not unkindly way. + +‘Yes, thank you,’ I answered, feeling confused; ‘but tell me, what does +it mean? What has happened?’ + +‘Why, don’t you know?’ she exclaimed; ‘the captain has jumped +overboard. I told you what would happen. He was haunted and went mad, I +suppose. Anyway the poor fellow’s gone.’ + +‘And how did I get here?’ I asked, with a dreadful sinking sensation at +the heart and a dazed numb feeling in the brain. + +‘Well, you tumbled down the companion-way and were insensible when the +stewards picked you up. You fainted, I suppose, with fright, eh?’ + +‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ I murmured. ‘It’s all a dream.’ + +‘Now tell me and speak the truth?’ she said, in a commanding tone. ‘Did +you see anything?’ + +‘Yes’ + +‘What?’ + +‘The vision of a bleeding man.’ + +‘Ah!’ she exclaimed triumphantly, ‘how about your scepticism now, eh?’ + +I had to confess that, according to my belief, I had seen the spectre +of a man bleeding from several wounds; but still I thought it was +nothing more than a delusion. + +‘But the captain was with you?’ + +‘Yes.’ + +‘And he saw it?’ + +‘I have reason to think so.’ + +‘Then were you both deluded? Anyway, poor fellow, he was deluded to his +death. For he has perished.’ + +I could not enter into any argument. I felt too ill and distressed. I +thanked her for her attention, and begged that she would leave me, as +I thought I could sleep. She complied with this request, but I tossed +and dreamed nightmare dreams, and dreamed and tossed for hours. It took +me several days to recover from that awful shock to the nerves; indeed, +I don’t think I have ever quite recovered, or that I ever shall. I +need scarcely say that from the moment the poor demented captain took +that flying leap into the sea nothing more was ever seen of him, and +an entry of his suicide was made in the log-book, and I signed it. On +our arrival at Havana an inquiry was held by the British Consul, and +I was called upon to state what I knew. I confined myself to saying +that the captain believed himself that he saw a vision occasionally. +He was very greatly affected, and I presume his brain gave way. I did +not attempt to speak of my own awful experience. It was not necessary. +Even if I had done so how could I have hoped to be believed? And yet +I had seen with my own eyes. I, a scoffer in such matters, had been +convinced, and what I have written here I solemnly declare to be +true. Perhaps somebody cleverer than I, and more learned than I, may +be able to explain away the mystery, but for me it will remain an +awful, appalling mystery until I cease to breathe. Then, perhaps--who +knows?--I may be able to solve it. + + PRINTED BY + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE + LONDON + +[Illustration] + + + + +TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: + + + Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. + + Perceived typographical errors have been corrected. + + Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. + + Archaic or variant spelling has been retained. + + On page 181, the sentence "There was but one person at all disposed to + rebel against the despotic sovereignty which John Morgan--" appears. + The transcriber believes that the name should be William Morgan, but + has retained the text as printed. + + On page 222, the sentence "Morgan, as was remembered, had gambled his + fortune away..." appears. The transcriber believes that the name + should be Jones, but has retained the text as printed. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76261 *** |