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diff --git a/78750-0.txt b/78750-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3c047c --- /dev/null +++ b/78750-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8191 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78750 *** + + + + + FAMOUS MYSTERY STORIES + + + + +_The “Mystery” Library_ + +EDITED BY + +J. WALKER McSPADDEN + + + FAMOUS GHOST STORIES + FAMOUS PSYCHIC STORIES + FAMOUS DETECTIVE STORIES + FAMOUS MYSTERY STORIES + +A Library of quite unusual tales culled from the most powerful writers, +chiefly American, English, and French. Each book contains special +introduction. + + +THOMAS Y. CROWELL CO., NEW YORK + + + + + FAMOUS + MYSTERY STORIES + + EDITED BY + J. WALKER McSPADDEN + + Editor of “Famous Ghost Stories,” “Famous + Psychic Stories,” “Famous Detective + Stories,” etc. + + + NEW YORK + THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY + PUBLISHERS + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1922, + BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + THE SPECTRE OF TAPPINGTON _Richard Harris Barham_ 1 + + THE MYSTERIOUS SKETCH _Erckmann-Chatrian_ 34 + + THE DESERTED HOUSE _Ernest T. W. Hoffmann_ 58 + + THE ADELANTADO OF THE SEVEN CITIES _Washington Irving_ 86 + + THE PIPE _Anonymous_ 110 + + THE UPPER BERTH _F. Marion Crawford_ 139 + + THE DIAMOND LENS _Fitz-James O’Brien_ 172 + + THE HORLA _Guy de Maupassant_ 210 + + THE MUMMY’S FOOT _Théophile Gautier_ 248 + + THE THIEF _Anna Katharine Green_ 266 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +“Famous Mystery Stories” completes a tetralogy begun a few years ago +with “Ghost Stories” and continued with “Detective” and “Psychic +Stories.” The responsive chord that each successive volume has struck +has emboldened the editor to continue a line of research which has +revealed many fascinating channels. A mass of enticing material has +been brought to light, which would fill many books of the present size; +and the problem has been one of selection and elimination. The group of +four books now complete under the title of the “The Mystery Library,” +while in no sense an anthology of the subject, will be found to contain +many typical examples of the bizarre and unusual, culled from the +ablest pens of America and Europe. + +It is interesting to note the different methods of approach to your +true mystery story. Every such tale conceals a definite problem which +may or may not be solved; and when tested in the crucible of widely +divergent minds, the result is of value from more than one aspect. + +In the present volume the reader will find representative stories +from American, English, Irish, French and German writers. Aside +from the individual merit of each tale, they afford a striking +study in contrasts, both in style and method of approach. By way of +illustration, no two stories could be more dissimilar in treatment +than the French and German examples herewith included. “The Mysterious +Sketch” by Erckmann-Chatrian, like its successor, “The Deserted House,” +by Hoffmann, is an excellent type of pure mystery tale, with the +mystery unexplained; but there the resemblance ends. The French joint +authors are concerned only with a hypothetical case. An artist draws a +fanciful sketch which proves to be the depiction of an actual tragedy. +Its effect upon the artist himself, rather than the how and why of the +drawing, is the concern of the story. Hoffmann’s tale also presents a +definite problem which is only half explained. It is a fantasy with +a touch of psychology, and affords its own raison d’être. “Hoffmann +preferred to remain a riddle to himself,” wrote a friend, “a riddle +which he always dreaded to have solved.” + +Three stories involving a vein of humor are “The Spectre of +Tappington,” that delightful skit from “The Ingoldsby Legends”; +Irving’s tale of the Adelantado who sought the lost cities of the +Spanish Main; and “The Pipe.” Each may be commended as an after-dinner +solace, “The Pipe” providing a pleasant “smoke” although not altogether +harmless in its effects. It is by our old friend, Anonymous, who +has given us some of the best examples of literature in every age. +Irving on his part is always like a draught of ruddy wine; and in the +adventures of the misguided Adelantado we are reminded of our old +friend Rip Van Winkle. The author himself is not concerned with a +mystery per se, but is indulging in a characteristic flight of fancy +tinged with a quiet, ironical humor. + +By way of contrast come a grisly tale of the sea from the masterly pen +of F. Marion Crawford. In “The Upper Berth” he weaves a mystery of +horror and haunting fear. It is redolent of stagnant seawater and slimy +sea-weeds. He is a hardened reader indeed who can read a yarn such as +this without a shudder. And yet the reader is led deliberately on to +the final climax. Unlike other mysteries it does not depend for its +power upon the unexpected. The narrator says in effect, “Gentlemen, +prepare for a shock!”--and his audience are shocked nevertheless. + +“The Diamond Lens,” by Fitz-James O’Brien, is a classic of imagination +raised to the _nth_ degree. Through the manufacture of a microscope of +incalculable power, its possessor is enabled to discover worlds far +beyond the ken of man, and to find therein lovely beings. The height of +the fantastic is reached when the scientist falls in love with the tiny +animalcule--truly a hopeless passion! On re-reading this story one is +struck by the fact that even murder itself can be held subordinate to +other elements in a piece of fiction. + +De Maupassant’s strange tale, “The Horla,” carries with it more than +a literary interest. It has a certain autobiographical flavor. De +Maupassant wielded one of the most powerful and versatile pens in +France of the last half century, and yet had a morbid, haunting fear of +going mad--a fear which was actually realized. “The Horla” is one of +the first vivid presentiments of a sinister personality overshadowing +his own. In another story, “Lui,” not here included, he also reveals +evidences of this overmastering terror. “I am afraid of the walls, +of the furniture, of the familiar objects which seem to me to assume +a kind of animal life. Above all I fear the horrible confusion of my +thought, of my reason escaping, entangled and scattered by an invisible +and mysterious anguish.” + +A mystery story of more conventional type is that one by Anna Katharine +Green, one of America’s most prolific writers in this vein. In “The +Thief,” we have an example of circumstantial evidence, which wellnigh +brings its victim to social and spiritual ruin. He is saved only by the +faith of those who believe in him despite appearances. + +“The Mummy’s Foot,” by Gautier, is a delightful example of Gallic +humor. Nothing could be more fanciful than the picture of the long-dead +Egyptian princess coming to reclaim her foot, which was being used as +a paper weight, and the assumption of its owner that he was thereby +entitled to claim her hand. + +In the preparation of this work the editor has been constantly indebted +to publishers and writers for the use of special material. Thanks are +particularly due to The Macmillan Company and the heirs of F. Marion +Crawford for permission to use his work; and to Dodd, Mead & Company +and Anna Katharine Green, for the use of her story. + + J. W. McS. + + MONTCLAIR, N. J. + March 1, 1922. + + + + +THE SPECTRE OF TAPPINGTON + +By RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM + +[Attribution: From “The Ingoldsby Legends, by Thomas Ingoldsby Esq.”] + + +“It is very odd, though; what can have become of them?” said Charles +Seaforth, as he peeped under the valance of an old-fashioned +bedstead, in an old-fashioned apartment of a still more old-fashioned +manor-house; “’tis confoundedly odd, and I can’t make it out at all. +Why, Barney, where are they?--and where the devil are you?” + +No answer was returned to this appeal; and the lieutenant, who was, in +the main, a reasonable person--at least as reasonable a person as any +young gentleman of twenty-two in “the service” can fairly be expected +to be--cooled when he reflected that his servant could scarcely reply +extempore to a summons which it was impossible he should hear. + +An application to the bell was the considerate result; and the +footsteps of as tight a lad as ever put pipe-clay to belt, sounded +along the gallery. + +“Come in!” said his master. An ineffectual attempt upon the door +reminded Mr. Seaforth that he had locked himself in. “By Heaven! +this is the oddest thing of all,” said he, as he turned the key and +admitted Mr. Maguire into his dormitory. + +“Barney, where are my pantaloons?” + +“Is it the breeches?” asked the valet, casting an inquiring eye round +the apartment--“is it the breeches, sir?” + +“Yes; what have you done with them?” + +“Sure then your honor had them on when you went to bed, and it’s +hereabout they’ll be, I’ll be bail;” and Barney lifted a fashionable +tunic from a cane-backed arm-chair, proceeding in his examination. +But the search was vain: there was the tunic aforesaid; there was a +smart-looking kerseymere waistcoat; but the most important article of +all in a gentleman’s wardrobe was still wanting. + +“Where can they be?” asked the master, with a strong accent on the +auxiliary verb. + +“Sorrow a know I knows,” said the man. + +“It must have been the devil, then, after all, who has been here and +carried them off!” cried Seaforth, staring full into Barney’s face. + +Mr. Maguire was not devoid of the superstition of his countrymen, still +he looked as if he did not quite subscribe to the _sequitur_. + +His master read incredulity in his countenance. “Why, I tell you, +Barney, I put them there, on that arm-chair, when I got into bed; and, +by heaven! I distinctly saw the ghost of the old fellow they told me +of, come in at midnight, put on my pantaloons, and walk away with them.” + +“May be so,” was the cautious reply. + +“I thought, of course, it was a dream; but then--where the devil are +the breeches?” + +The question was more easily asked than answered. Barney renewed his +search, while the lieutenant folded his arms, and, leaning against the +toilet, sank into a reverie. + +“After all, it must be some trick of my laughter-loving cousins,” said +Seaforth. + +“Ah! then, the ladies!” chimed in Mr. Maguire, though the observation +was not addressed to him; “and will it be Miss Caroline or Miss Fanny, +that’s stole your honor’s things?” + +“I hardly know what to think of it,” pursued the bereaved lieutenant, +still speaking in soliloquy, with his eye resting dubiously on the +chamber-door. “I locked myself in, that’s certain; and--but there must +be some other entrance to the room--pooh! I remember--the private +staircase; how could I be such a fool?” and he crossed the chamber to +where a low oaken doorcase was dimly visible in a distant corner. He +paused before it. Nothing now interfered to screen it from observation; +but it bore tokens of having been at some earlier period concealed by +tapestry, remains of which yet clothed the walls on either side of the +portal. + +“This way they must have come,” said Seaforth; “I wish with all my +heart I had caught them!” + +“Och! the kittens!” sighed Mr. Barney Maguire. + +But the mystery was yet as far from being solved as before. True, there +_was_ the “other door”; but then that, too, on examination, was even +more firmly secured than the one which opened on the gallery--two +heavy bolts on the inside effectually prevented any coup de main on the +lieutenant’s bivouac from that quarter. He was more puzzled than ever; +nor did the minutest inspection of the walls and floor throw any light +upon the subject; one thing only was clear--the breeches were gone! “It +is _very_ singular,” said the lieutenant. + + * * * * * + +Tappington (generally called Tapton) Everard is an antiquated but +commodious manor-house in the eastern division of the county of Kent. A +former proprietor had been high-sheriff in the days of Elizabeth, and +many a dark and dismal tradition was yet extant of the licentiousness +of his life, and the enormity of his offenses. The Glen, which the +keeper’s daughter was seen to enter, but never known to quit, still +frowns darkly as of yore; while an ineradicable bloodstain on the oaken +stair yet bids defiance to the united energies of soap and sand. But it +is with one particular apartment that a deed of more especial atrocity +is said to be connected. A stranger guest--so runs the legend--arrived +unexpectedly at the mansion of the “bad Sir Giles.” They met in +apparent friendship; but the ill-concealed scowl on their master’s brow +told the domestics that the visit was not a welcome one; the banquet, +however, was not spared; the wine cup circulated freely--too freely, +perhaps, for sounds of discord at length reached the ears of even the +excluded serving-men, as they were doing their best to imitate their +betters in the lower hall. Alarmed, some of them ventured to approach +the parlor; one an old and favored retainer of the house, went so far +as to break in upon his master’s privacy. Sir Giles, already high in +oath, fiercely enjoined his absence, and he retired; not, however, +before he had distinctly heard from the stranger’s lips a menace that +“there was that within his pockets which could disprove the knight’s +right to issue that or any other command within the walls of Tapton.” + +The intrusion, though momentary, seemed to have produced a beneficial +effect; the voices of the disputants fell, and the conversation was +carried on thenceforth in a more subdued tone, till, as evening closed +in, the domestics, when summoned to attend with lights, found not only +cordiality restored, but that a still deeper carouse was meditated. +Fresh stoups, and from the choicest bins, were produced; nor was it +till at a late, or rather early hour, that the revelers sought their +chambers. + +The one allotted to the stranger occupied the first floor of the +eastern angle of the building, and had once been the favorite apartment +of Sir Giles himself. Scandal ascribed this preference to the facility +which a private staircase, communicating with the grounds, had afforded +him, in the old knight’s time, of following his wicked courses +unchecked by parental observation; a consideration which ceased to be +of weight when the death of his father left him uncontrolled master +of his estate and actions. From that period Sir Giles had established +himself in what were called the “state apartments,” and the “oaken +chamber” was rarely tenated, save on occasions of extraordinary +festivity, or when the yule log drew an unusually large accession of +guests around the Christmas hearth. + +On this eventful night it was prepared for the unknown visitor, who +sought his couch heated and inflamed from his midnight orgies, and +in the morning was found in his bed a swollen and blackened corpse. +No marks of violence appeared upon the body; but the livid hue +of the lips, and certain dark-colored spots visible on the skin, +aroused suspicions which those who entertained them were too timid to +express. Apoplexy, induced by the excesses of the preceding night, Sir +Giles’s confidential leech pronounced to be the cause of his sudden +dissolution. The body was buried in peace; and though some shook their +heads as they witnessed the haste with which the funeral rites were +hurried on, none ventured to murmur. Other events arose to distract the +attention of the retainers; men’s minds became occupied by the stirring +politics of the day; while the near approach of that formidable +armada, so vainly arrogating to itself a title which the very elements +joined with human valor to disprove, soon interfered to weaken, if +not obliterate, all remembrance of the nameless stranger who had died +within the walls of Tapton Everard. + +Years rolled on: the “bad Sir Giles” had himself long since gone to his +account, the last, as it was believed, of his immediate line; though +a few of the older tenants were sometimes heard to speak of an elder +brother, who had disappeared in early life, and never inherited the +estate. Rumors, too, of his having left a son in foreign lands, were at +one time rife; but they died away, nothing occurring to support them; +the property passed unchallenged to a collateral branch of the family, +and the secret, if secret there were, was buried in Denton churchyard, +in the lonely grave of the mysterious stranger. One circumstance +alone occurred, after a long-intervening period, to revive the memory +of these transactions. Some workmen employed in grubbing an old +plantation, for the purpose of raising on its site a modern shrubbery, +dug up, in the execution of their task, the mildewed remnants of what +seemed to have been once a garment. On more minute inspection, enough +remained of silken slashes and a coarse embroidery, to identify the +relics as having once formed part of a pair of trunk hose; while a few +papers which fell from them, altogether illegible from damp and age, +were by the unlearned rustics conveyed to the then owner of the estate. + +Whether the squire was more successful in deciphering them was never +known; he certainly never alluded to their contents; and little would +have been thought of the matter but for the inconvenient memory of +an old woman, who declared she heard her grandfather say, that when +the “stranger guest” was poisoned, though all the rest of his clothes +were there, his breeches, the supposed repository of the supposed +documents, could never be found. The master of Tapton Everard smiled +when he heard Dame Jones’s hint of deeds which might impeach the +validity of his own title in favor of some unknown descendant of some +unknown heir; and the story was rarely alluded to, save by one or +two miracle-mongers, who had heard that others had seen the ghost of +Old Sir Giles, in his night-cap, issue from the postern, enter the +adjoining copse, and wring his shadowy hands in agony, as he seemed to +search vainly for something hidden among the evergreens. The stranger’s +deathroom had, of course, been occasionally haunted from the time of +his decease; but the periods of visitation had latterly become very +rare--even Mrs. Botherby, the housekeeper, being forced to admit that +during her long sojourn at the manor, she had never “met with anything +worse than herself”; though, as the old lady afterwards added upon more +mature reflection, “I must say I think I saw the devil once.” + +Such was the legend attached to Tapton Everard, and such the story +which the lively Caroline Ingoldsby detailed to her equally mercurial +cousin, Charles Seaforth, lieutenant in the Hon. East India Company’s +second regiment of Bombay Fencibles, as arm-in-arm they promenaded a +gallery decked with some dozen grim-looking ancestral portraits, and, +among others, with that of the redoubted Sir Giles himself. The gallant +commander had that very morning paid his first visit to the house of +his maternal uncle, after an absence of several years passed with his +regiment on the arid plains of Hindoostan, whence he was now returned +on a three years’ furlough. He had gone out a boy--he returned a man; +but the impression made upon his youthful fancy by his favorite cousin +remained unimpaired, and to Tapton he directed his steps, even before +he sought the home of his widowed mother--comforting himself in this +breach of filial decorum by the reflection that, as the manor was so +little out of his way, it would be unkind to pass, as it were, the door +of his relatives, without just looking in for a few hours. + +But he found his uncle as hospitable, and his cousin more charming +than ever; and the looks of one, and the requests of the other, soon +precluded the possibility of refusing to lengthen the “few hours” into +a few days, though the house was at the moment full of visitors. + +The Peterses were there from Ramsgate; and Mr., Mrs., and the two Miss +Simpkinsons, from Bath, had come to pass a month with the family; +and Tom Ingoldsby had brought down his college friend, the Honorable +Augustus Sucklethumbkin, with his groom and pointers, to take a +fortnight’s shooting. And then there was Mrs. Ogleton, the rich young +widow, with her large black eyes, who, people did say, was setting +her cap at the young squire, though Mrs. Botherby did not believe +it; and, above all, there was Mademoiselle Pauline, her femme de +chambre, who “mon Dieu’d” everything and everybody, and cried “Quelle +horreur!” at Mrs. Botherby’s cap. In short, to use the last-named and +much-respected lady’s own expression, the house was “choke-full” to +the very attics--all save the “oaken chamber,” which, as the lieutenant +expressed a most magnanimous disregard of ghosts, was forthwith +appropriated to his particular accommodation. Mr. Maguire meanwhile +was fain to share the apartment of Oliver Dobbs, the squire’s own man; +a jocular proposal of joint occupancy having been first indignantly +rejected by “Mademoiselle,” though preferred with the “laste taste in +life” of Mr. Barney’s most insinuating brogue. + + * * * * * + +“Come, Charles, the urn is absolutely getting cold; your breakfast +will be quite spoiled; what can have made you so idle?” Such was the +morning salutation of Miss Ingoldsby to the militaire as he entered the +breakfast-room half-an-hour after the latest of the party. + +“A pretty gentleman, truly, to make an appointment with,” chimed +in Miss Frances. “What is become of our ramble to the rocks before +breakfast?” + +“Oh! the young men never think of keeping a promise now,” said Mrs. +Peters, a little ferret-faced woman with underdone eyes. + +“When I was a young man,” said Mr. Peters, “I remember I always made a +point of----” + +“Pray, how long ago was that?” asked Mr. Simpkinson from Bath. + +“Why, sir, when I married Mrs. Peters, I was--let me see--I was----” + +“Do pray hold your tongue, P., and eat your breakfast!” interrupted +his better half, who had a mortal horror of chronological references; +“it’s very rude to tease people with your family affairs.” + +The lieutenant had by this time taken his seat in silence--a +good-humored nod, and a glance, half-smiling, half-inquisitive, being +the extent of his salutation. Smitten as he was, and in the immediate +presence of her who had made so large a hole in his heart, his manner +was evidently distrait, which the fair Caroline in her secret soul +attributed to his being solely occupied by her agrémens: how would she +have bridled had she known that they only shared his meditations with a +pair of breeches! + +Charles drank his coffee and spiked some half-dozen eggs, darting +occasionally a penetrating glance at the ladies, in hope of detecting +the supposed waggery by the evidence of some furtive smile or conscious +look. But in vain; not a dimple moved indicative of roguery, nor did +the slightest elevation of eyebrow rise confirmative of his suspicions. +Hints and insinuations passed unheeded--more particular inquiries were +out of the question--the subject was unapproachable. + +In the meantime, “patent cords” were just the thing for a morning’s +ride; and, breakfast ended, away cantered the party over the downs, +till, every faculty absorbed by the beauties, animate and inanimate, +which surrounded him, Lieutenant Seaforth of the Bombay Fencibles +bestowed no more thought upon his breeches than if he had been born on +the top of Ben Lomond. + +Another night had passed away; the sun rose brilliantly, forming with +his level beams a splendid rainbow in the far-off west, whither the +heavy cloud, which for the last two hours had been pouring its waters +on the earth, was now flying before him. + +“Ah! then, and it’s little good it’ll be the claning of ye,” +apostrophized Mr. Barney Maguire, as he deposited, in front of his +master’s toilet, a pair of “bran new” jockey boots, one of Hoby’s +primest fits, which the lieutenant had purchased in his way through +town. On that very morning had they come for the first time under the +valet’s depurating hand, so little soiled, indeed, from the turfy ride +of the preceding day, that a less scrupulous domestic might perhaps +have considered the application of “Warren’s Matchless,” or oxalic +acid, altogether superfluous. Not so, Barney: with the nicest care had +he removed the slightest impurity from each polished surface, and there +they stood, rejoicing in their sable radiance. No wonder a pang shot +across Mr. Maguire’s breast, as he thought on the work now cut out for +them, so different from the light labors of the day before; no wonder +he murmured with a sigh, as the scarce dried window-panes disclosed +a road now inch deep in mud. “Ah! then, it’s little good the claning +of ye!”--for well had he learned in the hall below that eight miles +of a stiff clay soil lay between the manor and Bolsover Abbey, whose +picturesque ruins, “Like ancient Rome, majestic in decay,” the party +had determined to explore. The master had already commenced dressing, +and the man was fitting straps upon a light pair of crane-necked spurs, +when his hand was arrested by the old question--“Barney, where are the +breeches?” + +They were nowhere to be found! + +Mr. Seaforth descended that morning, whip in hand, and equipped in +a handsome green riding-frock, but no “breeches and boots to match” +were there; loose jean trousers, surmounting a pair of diminutive +Wellingtons, embraced, somewhat incongruously, his nether man, vice the +“patent cords,” returned, like yesterday’s pantaloons, absent without +leave. The “top-boots” had a holiday. + +“A fine morning after the rain,” said Mr. Simpkinson from Bath. + +“Just the thing for the ’ops,” said Mr. Peters. “I remember when I was +a boy--” + +“Do hold your tongue, P.,” said Mrs. Peters--advice which that +exemplary matron was in the constant habit of administering to “her +P.,” as she called him, whenever he prepared to vent his reminiscences. +Her precise reason for this it would be difficult to determine, unless +indeed, the story be true which a little bird had whispered into Mrs. +Botherby’s ear--Mr. Peters, though now a wealthy man, had received a +liberal education at a charity school, and was apt to recur to the days +of his muffin-cap and leathers. As usual, he took his wife’s hint in +good part, and “paused in his reply.” + +“A glorious day for the ruins!” said young Ingoldsby. “But Charles, +what the deuce are you about? you don’t mean to ride through our lanes +in such toggery as that?” + +“Lassy me!” said Miss Julia Simpkinson, “won’t you be very wet?” + +“You had better take Tom’s cab,” quoth the squire. + +But this proposition was at once overruled; Mrs. Ogleton had already +nailed the cab, a vehicle of all others the best adapted for a snug +flirtation. + +“Or drive Miss Julia in the phaeton?” No; that was the post of Mr. +Peters, who, indifferent as an equestrian, had acquired some fame as +a whip while travelling through the midland countries for the firm of +Bagshaw, Snivelby, and Grimes. + +“Thank you, I shall ride with my cousins,” said Charles, with as much +nonchalance as he could assume--and he did so; Mr. Ingoldsby, Mrs. +Peters, Mr. Simpkinson from Bath, and his eldest daughter with her +album, following in the family coach. The gentleman-commoner “voted the +affair d--d slow,” and declined the party altogether in favor of the +gamekeeper and a cigar. “There was ‘no fun’ in looking at old houses!” +Mrs. Simpkinson preferred a short séjour in the still-room with Mrs. +Botherby, who had promised to initiate her in that grand arcanum, the +transmutation of gooseberry jam into Guava jelly. + + * * * * * + +But what had become of Seaforth and his fair Caroline all this while? +Why, it so happened that they had been simultaneously stricken with +the picturesque appearance of one of those high and pointed arches, +which that eminent antiquary, Mr. Horseley Curties, has described in +his “Ancient records,” as “a Gothic window of the Saxon order”; and +then the ivy clustered so thickly and so beautifully on the other side, +that they went round to look at that; and then their proximity deprived +it of half its effect, and so they walked across to a little knoll, a +hundred yards off, and in crossing a small ravine, they came to what +in Ireland they call “a bad step,” and Charles had to carry his cousin +over it; and then when they had to come back, she would not give him +the trouble again for the world, so they followed a better but more +circuitous route, and there were hedges and ditches in the way, and +stiles to get over and gates to get through, so that an hour or more +had elapsed before they were able to rejoin the party. + +“Lassy me!” said Miss Julia Simpkinson, “how long you have been gone!” + +And so they had. The remark was a very just as well as a very natural +one. They were gone a long while, and a nice cosy chat they had; and +what do you think it was about, my dear miss? + +“O, lassy me! love no doubt, and the moon, and eyes, and nightingales, +and----” + +Stay, stay, my sweet young lady; do not let the fervor of your feelings +run away with you! I do not pretend to say, indeed, that one or more +of these pretty subjects might not have been introduced; but the +most important and leading topic of the conference was--Lieutenant +Seaforth’s breeches. + +“Caroline,” said Charles, “I have had some very odd dreams since I have +been at Tappington.” + +“Dreams, have you?” smiled the young lady, arching her taper neck like +a swan in pluming. “Dreams, have you?” + +“Ay, dreams--or dream, perhaps, I should say; for, though repeated, it +was still the same. And what do you imagine was its subject?” + +“It is impossible for me to divine,” said the tongue:--“I have not the +least difficulty in guessing,” said the eye, as plainly as ever eye +spoke. + +“I dreamt--of your great-grandfather.” + +There was a change in the glance--“My great-grandfather?” + +“Yes, the old Sir Giles, or Sir John, you told me about the other day: +he walked into my bedroom in his short cloak of murrey-colored velvet, +his long rapier, and his Raleigh-looking hat and feather, just as the +picture represents him; but with one exception.” + +“And what was that?” + +“Why, his lower extremities, which were visible, were those of a +skeleton.” + +“Well?” + +“Well, after taking a turn or two about the room, and looking round him +with a wistful air, he came to the bed’s foot, stared at me in a manner +impossible to describe--and then he--he laid hold of my pantaloons; +whipped his long, bony legs into them in a twinkling; and, strutting +up to the glass, seemed to view himself in it with great complacency. +I tried to speak, but in vain. The effort, however, seemed to excite +his attention; for, wheeling about, he showed me the grimmest-looking +death’s head you can well imagine, and with an indescribable grin +strutted out of the room.” + +“Absurd! Charles. How can you talk such nonsense?” + +“But, Caroline--the breeches are really gone.” + + * * * * * + +On the following morning, contrary to his usual custom, Seaforth +was the first person in the breakfast parlor. A serious, not to say +anxious, expression was visible upon his good-humored countenance, and +his mouth was fast buttoning itself up for an incipient whistle, when +little Flo, a tiny spaniel of the Blenheim breed--the pet object of +Miss Julia Simpkinson’s affections--bounced out from beneath a sofa, +and began to bark at--his pantaloons. + +They were cleverly “built” of a light-gray mixture, a broad stripe +of the most vivid scarlet traversing each seam in a perpendicular +direction from hip to ankle--in short, the regimental costume of the +Royal Bombay Fencibles. The animal, educated in the country, had +never seen such a pair of breeches in her life--Omne ignotum pro +magnifico! The scarlet streak, inflamed as it was by the reflection of +the fire, seemed to act on Flora’s nerves as the same color does on +those of bulls and turkeys; she advanced at the pas de charge, and her +vociferation, like her amazement, was unbounded. A sound kick from the +disgusted officer changed its character, and induced a retreat at the +very moment when the mistress of the pugnacious quadruped entered to +the rescue. + +“Lassy me! Flo, what _is_ the matter?” cried the sympathizing lady, +with a scrutinizing glance levelled at the gentleman. + +It might as well have lighted on a feather bed. His air of +imperturbable unconsciousness defied examination; and as he would not, +and Flora could not, expound, that injured individual was compelled +to pocket up her wrongs. Others of the household soon dropped in, and +clustered round the board dedicated to the most sociable of meals; +the urn was paraded “hissing hot,” and the cups which “cheer, but not +inebriate,” steamed redolent of hyson and pekoe; muffins and marmalade, +newspapers and finnan haddies, left little room for observation on +the character of Charles’s warlike “turn-out.” At length a look from +Caroline, followed by a smile that nearly ripened to a titter, caused +him to turn abruptly and address his neighbor. It was Miss Simpkinson, +who, was deeply engaged in sipping her tea and turning over her album. +The entreaties of the company were of course urgent. Mr. Peters, “who +liked verses,” was especially persevering, and Sappho, at length +compliant. After a preparatory hem, and a glance at the mirror to +ascertain that her look was sufficiently sentimental, the poetess +began:-- + + “There is a calm, a holy feeling, + Vulgar minds can never know, + O’er the bosom softly stealing,-- + Chasten’d grief, delicious woe! + Oh! how sweet at eve regaining + Yon lone tower’s sequester’d shade-- + Sadly mute and uncomplaining----” + +--“Yow!--yeough!--yeough!--yow!--yow!” yelled a hapless sufferer from +underneath the table. It was an unlucky hour for quadrupeds; and if +“every dog will have his day,” he could not have selected a more +unpropitious one than this. Mrs. Ogleton, too, had a pet--a favorite +pug--whose squab figure, black muzzle, and tortuosity of tail, that +curled like a head of celery in a salad-bowl, bespoke his Dutch +extraction. Yow! yow! yow! continued the brute--a chorus in which Flo +instantly joined. Sooth to say, pug had more reason to express his +dissatisfaction than was given him by the muse of Simpkinson; the other +only barked for company. Scarcely had the poetess got through her first +stanza, when Tom Ingoldsby, in the enthusiasm of the moment, became so +lost in the material world, that, in his abstraction, he unwarily laid +his hand on the cock of the urn. Quivering with emotion, he gave it +such an unlucky twist, that the full stream of its scalding contents +descended on the gingerbread hide of the unlucky Cupid. The confusion +was complete; the whole economy of the table disarranged--the company +broke up in the most admired disorder--and “vulgar minds will never +know” anything more of Miss Simpkinson’s ode till they peruse it in +some forthcoming Annual. + +Seaforth profited by the confusion to take the delinquent who had +caused this “stramash” by the arm, and to lead him to the lawn, where +he had a word or two for his private ear. The conference between the +young gentlemen was neither brief in its duration nor unimportant +in its results. The subject was what the lawyers call tripartite, +embracing the information that Charles Seaforth was over head and +ears in love with Tom Ingoldsby’s sister; secondly, that the lady +had referred him to “papa” for his sanction; thirdly and lastly, his +nightly visitations, and consequent bereavement. At the two first items +Tom smiled auspiciously; at the last he burst out into an absolute +guffaw. + +“Steal your breeches! Miss Bailey over again, by Jove,” shouted +Ingoldsby. “But a gentleman, you say--and Sir Giles too. I am not sure, +Charles, whether I ought not to call you out for aspersing the honor of +the family.” + +“Laugh as you will, Tom--be as incredulous as you please. One fact is +incontestable--the breeches are gone! Look here--I am reduced to my +regimentals; and if these go, to-morrow I must borrow of you!” + +Rochefoucault says, there is something in the misfortunes of our very +best friends that does not displease us; assuredly we can, most of us, +laugh at their petty inconveniences, till called upon to supply them. +Tom composed his feature on the instant, and replied with more gravity, +as well as with an expletive, which, if my Lord Mayor had been within +hearing, might have cost him five shillings. + +“There is something very queer in this, after all. The clothes, you +say, have positively disappeared. Somebody is playing you a trick; +and, ten to one, your servant has a hand in it. By the way, I heard +something yesterday of his kicking up a bobbery in the kitchen, and +seeing a ghost, or something of that kind, himself. Depend upon it, +Barney is in the plot.” + +It now struck the lieutenant at once, that the usually buoyant spirits +of his attendant had of late been materially sobered down, his +loquacity obviously circumscribed, and that he, the said lieutenant, +had actually rung his bell three several times that very morning before +he could procure his attendance. Mr. Maguire was forthwith summoned, +and underwent a close examination. The “bobbery” was easily explained. + +Mr. Barney had seen a ghost. + +“A what? you blockhead!” asked Tom Ingoldsby. + +“Sure then, and it’s meself will tell your honor the rights of it,” +said the ghost-seer. “Meself and Miss Pauline, sir,--or Miss Pauline +and meself, for the ladies comes first anyhow,--we got tired of the +hobstroppylous scrimmaging among the ould servants, that didn’t know a +joke when they seen one; and we went out to look at the comet--that’s +the rorybory-alehouse, they calls him in this country--and we walked +upon the lawn--and divil of any alehouse there was there at all; +and Miss Pauline said it was bekase of the shrubbery maybe, and why +wouldn’t we see it better beyonst the trees? and so we went to the +trees, but sorrow a comet did meself see there, barring a big ghost +instead of it.” + +“A ghost? And what sort of a ghost, Barney?” + +“Och, then, divil a lie I’ll tell your honor. A tall ould gentlemen +he was, all in white, with a shovel on the shoulder of him, and a big +torch in his fist--though what he wanted with that it’s meself can’t +tell, for his eyes like gig-lamps, let alone the moon and the comet, +which wasn’t there at all--and ‘Barney,’ says he to me--’cause why he +knew me--‘Barney,’ says he, ‘what is it you’re doing with the colleen +there, Barney?’--Divil a word did I say. Miss Pauline screeched, and +cried murther in French, and ran off with herself; and of course +meself was in a mighty hurry after the lady, and had no time to stop +palavering with him any way: so I dispersed at once, and the ghost +vanished in a flame of fire!” + +Mr. Maguire’s account was received with avowed incredulity by both +gentlemen; but Barney stuck to his text with unflinching pertinacity. +A reference to Mademoiselle was suggested, but abandoned, as neither +party had a taste for delicate investigations. + +“I’ll tell you what, Seaforth,” said Ingoldsby, after Barney had +received his dismissal, “that there is a trick here, is evident; and +Barney’s vision may possibly be a part of it. Whether he is most knave +or fool, you best know. At all events, I will sit up with you to-night, +and see if I can convert my ancestor into a visiting acquaintance. +Meanwhile your finger on your lip!” + + * * * * * + +Gladly would I grace my tale with recent horror, and therefore I do +beseech the “gentle reader” to believe, that if all the details to +this mysterious narrative are not in strict keeping, he will ascribe +it only to the disgraceful innovations of modern degeneracy upon the +sober and dignified habits of our ancestors. I can introduce him, it is +true, into an old and high-roofed chamber, its walls covered on three +sides with black oak wainscoting, adorned with carvings of fruit and +flowers long anterior to those of Grinling Gibbons; the fourth side +is clothed with a curious remnant of dingy tapestry, once elucidatory +of some Scriptural history, but of which not even Mrs. Botherby could +determine. Mr. Simpkinson, who had examined it carefully, inclined to +believe the principal figure to be either Bathsheba, or Daniel in the +lion’s den; while Tom Ingoldsby decided in favor of the King of Bashan. +All, however, was conjecture, tradition being silent on the subject. A +lofty arched portal led into, and a little arched portal led out of, +this apartment; they were opposite each other, and each possessed the +security of massy bolts on its interior. The bedstead, too, was not one +of yesterday, but manifestly coeval with days ere Seddons was, and when +a good four-post “article” was deemed worthy of being a royal bequest. +The bed itself, with all the appurtenances of palliasse, mattresses, +etc., was of far later date, and looked most incongruously comfortable; +the casements, too, with their little diamond-shaped panes and iron +binding, had given way to the modern heterodoxy of the sash-window. Nor +was this all that conspired to ruin the costume, and render the room a +meet haunt for such “mixed spirits” only as could condescend to don at +the same time an Elizabethan doublet and Bond-Street inexpressibles. + +With their green morocco slippers on a modern fender, in front of +a disgracefully modern grate, sat two young gentlemen, clad in +“shawl-pattern” dressing-gowns and black silk stocks, much at variance +with the high cane-backed chairs which supported them. A bunch of +abomination, called a cigar, reeked in the left-hand corner of the +mouth of one, and in the right-hand corner of the mouth of the +other--an arrangement happily adapted for the escape of the noxious +fumes up the chimney, without that unmerciful “funking” each other +which a less scientific disposition of the weed would have induced. +A small pembroke table filled up the intervening space between them, +sustaining, at each extremity, an elbow and a glass of toddy--thus in +“lonely pensive contemplation” were the two worthies occupied, when the +“iron tongue of midnight had tolled twelve.” + +“Ghost-time’s come!” said Ingoldsby, taking from his waistcoat pocket a +watch like a gold half-crown, and consulting it as though he suspected +the turret-clock over the stables of mendacity. + +“Hush!” said Charles; “did I not hear a footstep?” + +There was a pause--there was a footstep--it sounded distinctly--it +reached the door--it hesitated, stopped, and--passed on. + +Tom darted across the room, threw open the door, and became aware of +Mrs. Botherby toddling to her chamber, at the other end of the gallery, +after dosing one of the housemaids with an approved julep from the +Countess of Kent’s _Choice Manual_. + +“Good-night, sir!” said Mrs. Botherby. + +“Go to the devil!” said the disappointed ghost-hunter. + +An hour--two--rolled on, and still no spectral visitation; nor did +aught intervene to make night hideous; and when the turret-clock +sounded at length the hour of three, Ingoldsby, whose patience and grog +were alike exhausted, sprang from his chair, saying-- + +“This is all infernal nonsense, my good fellow. Deuce of any ghost +shall we see to-night; it’s long past the canonical hour. I’m off to +bed; and as to your breeches, I’ll insure them for the next twenty-four +hours at least, at the price of the buckram.” + +“Certainly.--Oh! thank’ee--to be sure!” stammered Charles, rousing +himself from a reverie, which had degenerated into an absolute snooze. + +“Good-night, my boy! Bolt the door behind me; and defy the Pope, the +Devil, and the Pretender!” + +Seaforth followed his friend’s advice, and the next morning came down +to breakfast dressed in the habiliments of the preceding day. The charm +was broken, the demon defeated; the light grays with the red stripe +down the seams were yet in rerum naturâ, and adorned the person of +their lawful proprietor. + +Tom felicitated himself and his partner of the watch on the result of +their vigilance; but there is a rustic adage, which warns us against +self-gratulation before we are quite “out of the wood.”--Seaforth was +yet within its verge. + +A rap at Tom Ingoldsby’s door the following morning startled him as he +was shaving--he cut his chin. + +“Come in and be damned to you!” said the martyr, pressing his thumb on +the sacrificed epidermis. The door opened, and exhibited Mr. Barney +Maguire. + +“Well, Barney, what is it?” quoth the sufferer, adopting the vernacular +of his visitant. + +“The master, sir--” + +“Well, what does he want?” + +“The loanst of a breeches, plase your honor.” + +“Why, you don’t mean to tell me----By Heaven, this is too good!” +shouted Tom, bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. “Why, +Barney, you don’t mean to say the ghost has got them again?” + +Mr. Maguire did not respond to the young squire’s risibility; the cast +of his countenance was decidedly serious. + +“Faith, then, it’s gone they are, sure enough! Hasn’t meself been +looking over the bed, and under the bed, and _in_ the bed, for the +matter of that, and divil a ha’p’orth of breeches is there to the fore +at all:--I’m bothered entirely!” + +“Hark’ee! Mr. Barney,” said Tom, incautiously removing his thumb, and +letting a crimson stream “incarnadine the multitudinous” lather that +plastered his throat,--“this may be all very well with your master, but +you don’t humbug _me_, sir:--tell me instantly what have you done with +the clothes?” + +This abrupt transition from “lively to severe” certainly took Maguire +by surprise, and he seemed for an instant as much disconcerted as it is +possible to disconcert an Irish gentleman’s gentleman. + +“Me? is it meself, then, that’s the ghost to your honor’s thinking?” +said he after a moment’s pause, and with a slight shade of indignation +in his tones: “is it I would stale the master’s things--and what would +I do with them?” + +“That you best know:--what your purpose is I can’t guess, for I +don’t think you mean to ‘stale’ them, as you call it; but that you +are concerned in their disappearance, I am satisfied. Confound this +blood!--give me a towel, Barney.” + +Maguire acquitted himself of the commission. “As I’ve a sowl, your +honor,” said he, solemnly, “little is it meself knows of the matter; +and after what I seen----” + +“What you’ve seen! Why, what _have_ you seen?--Barney, I don’t want to +inquire into your flirtations; but don’t suppose you can palm off your +saucer eyes and gig-lamps upon me!” + +“Then, as sure as your honor’s standing there, I saw him: and why +wouldn’t I, when Miss Pauline was to the fore as well as meself, +and----” + +“Get along with your nonsense; leave the room, sir!” + +“But the master?” said Barney, imploringly; “and without a +breeches?--sure he’ll be catching cowld!----” + +“Take that, rascal!” replied Ingoldsby, throwing a pair of pantaloons +at, rather than to, him: “but don’t suppose, sir, you shall carry on +your tricks here with impunity; recollect there is such a thing as a +treadmill, and that my father is a county magistrate.” + +Barney’s eye flashed fire; he stood erect, and was about to speak; but, +mastering himself, not without an effort, he took up the garment, and +left the room as perpendicular as a Quaker. + +“Ingoldsby,” said Charles Seaforth, after breakfast, “this is now past +a joke; to-day is the last of my stay; for, notwithstanding the ties +which detain me, common decency obliges me to visit home after so long +an absence. I shall come to an immediate explanation with your father +on the subject nearest my heart, and depart while I have a change of +dress left. On his answer will my return depend! In the meantime tell +me candidly,--I ask it in all seriousness, and as a friend,--am I not +a dupe to your well-known propensity to hoaxing? have you not a hand +in----” + +“No, by heaven, Seaforth; I see what you mean: on my honor, I am as +much mystified as yourself; and if your servant----” + +“Not he:--if there be a trick, he at least is not privy to it.” + +“If there be a trick? why, Charles, do you think----” + +“I know not what to think, Tom. As surely as you are a living man, so +surely did that spectral anatomy visit my room again last night, grin +in my face, and walk away with my trousers: nor was I able to spring +from my bed, or break the chain which seemed to bind me to my pillow.” + +“Seaforth!” said Ingoldsby, after a short pause, “I will----But hush! +here are the girls and my father.--I will carry off the females, and +leave you a clear field with the governor: carry your point with him, +and we will talk about your breeches afterwards.” + +Tom’s diversion was successful; he carried off the ladies en masse +while Seaforth marched boldly up to the encounter, and carried “the +governor’s” outworks by a coup de main. + +Seaforth was in the seventh heaven; he retired to his room that night +as happy as if no such thing as a goblin had ever been heard of, and +personal chattels were as well fenced in by law as real property. Not +so Tom Ingoldsby: the mystery, for mystery there evidently was,--had +not only piqued his curiosity, but ruffled his temper. The watch of +the previous night had been unsuccessful, probably because it was +undisguised. To-night he would “ensconce himself,” not indeed “behind +the arras,”--for the little that remained was, as we have seen, nailed +to the wall,--but in a small closet which opened from one corner of +the room, and by leaving the door ajar, would give to its occupant a +view of all that might pass in the apartment. Here did the young ghost +hunter take up a position, with a good stout sapling under his arm, +a full half-hour before Seaforth retired for the night. Not even his +friend did he let into his confidence, fully determined that if his +plan did not succeed, the failure should be attributed to himself alone. + +At the usual hour of separation for the night, Tom saw, from his +concealment, the lieutenant enter his room, and after taking a few +turns in it, with an expression so joyous as to betoken that his +thoughts were mainly occupied by his approaching happiness, proceed +slowly to disrobe himself. The coat, the waistcoat, happiness, +the black silk stock, were gradually discarded; the green morocco +slippers were kicked off, and then--ay, and then--his countenance grew +grave; it seemed to occur to him all at once that this was his last +stake,--nay, that the very breeches he had on were not his own,--that +to-morrow morning was his last, and that if he lost them----A glance +showed that his mind was made up; he replaced the single button he +had just subducted, and threw himself upon the bed in a state of +transition,--half chrysalis, half grub. + +Wearily did Tom Ingoldsby watch the sleeper by the flickering light of +the night-lamp, till, the clock striking one, induced him to increase +the narrow opening which he had left for the purpose of observation. +The motion, slight as it was, seemed to attract Charles’s attention; +for he raised himself suddenly to a sitting posture, listened for a +moment, and then stood upright upon the floor. Ingoldsby was on the +point of discovering himself, when, the light flashing full upon his +friend’s countenance, he perceived that, though his eyes were open, +“their sense was shut,”--that he was yet under the influence of sleep. +Seaforth advanced slowly to the toilet, lit his candle at the lamp that +stood on it, then, going back to the bed’s foot, appeared to search +eagerly for something which he could not find. For a few moments he +seemed restless and uneasy, walking round the apartment and examining +the chairs, till, coming fully in front of a large swing glass that +flanked the dressing-table, he paused as if contemplating his figure +in it. He now returned towards the bed; put on his slippers, and with +cautious and stealthy steps, proceeded towards the little arched +doorway that opened on the private staircase. + +As he drew the bolt, Tom Ingoldsby emerged from his hiding-place; +but the sleep-walker heard him not; he proceeded softly downstairs, +followed at a due distance by his friend; opened the door which led +out upon the gardens; and stood at once among the thickest of the +shrubs, which there clustered round the base of a corner turret, and +screened the postern from common observation. At this moment Ingoldsby +had nearly spoiled all by making a false step: the sound attracted +Seaforth’s attention,--he paused and turned; and, as the full moon shed +her light directly upon his pale and troubled features, Tom marked, +almost with dismay, the fixed and rayless appearance of his eyes. + +The perfect stillness preserved by his follower seemed to reassure +him; he turned aside; and from the midst of a thicket laurustinus +drew forth a gardener’s spade, shouldering which he proceeded with +greater rapidity into the midst of the shrubbery. Arrived at a certain +point where the earth seemed to have been recently disturbed, he +set himself heartily to the task of digging, till, having thrown up +several shovelfuls of mould, he stopped, flung down his tool, and very +composedly began to disencumber himself of his pantaloons. + +Up to this moment Tom had watched him with a wary eye: he now advanced +cautiously, and, as his friend was busily engaged in disentangling +himself from his garment, made himself master of the spade. Seaforth, +meanwhile, had accomplished his purpose: he stood for a moment with +“his streamers waving in the wind,” occupied in carefully rolling up +the small-clothes into as compact a form as possible, and all heedless +of the breath of heaven, which might certainly be supposed at such a +moment, and in such a plight, to “visit his frame too roughly.” + +He was in the act of stooping low to deposit the pantaloons in the +grave which he had been digging for them, when Tom Ingoldsby came close +behind him, and with the flat side of the spade---- + +The shock was effectual--never again was Lieutenant Seaforth known +to act the part of a somnambulist. One by one, his breeches,--his +trousers,--his pantaloons,--his silk-net tights,--his patent +cords,--his showy grays with the broad red stripe of the Bombay +Fencibles were brought to light,--rescued from the grave in which they +had been buried, like the strata of a Christmas pie; and after having +been well aired by Mrs. Botherby, became once again effective. + +The family, the ladies especially, laughed--the Peterses laughed--the +Simpkinsons laughed--Barney Maguire cried “Botheration!” and Ma’mselle +Pauline, “Mon Dieu!” + +Charles Seaforth, unable to face the quizzing which awaited him on all +sides, started off two hours earlier than he had proposed:--he soon +returned, however; and having, at his father-in-law’s request, given up +the occupation of Rajah-hunting and shooting Nabobs, led his blushing +bride to the altar. + + + + +THE MYSTERIOUS SKETCH + +By ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN + + +I + +Opposite the chapel of Saint Sebalt in Nuremberg, at the corner of +Trabaus Street, there stands a little tavern, tall and narrow, with +a toothed gable and dusty windows, whose roof is surmounted by a +plaster Virgin. It was there that I spent the unhappiest days of my +life. I had gone to Nuremberg to study the old German masters; but in +default of ready money, I had to paint portraits--and such portraits! +Fat old women with their cats on their laps, big-wigged aldermen, +burgomasters in three-cornered hats--all horribly bright with ochre and +vermilion. From portraits I descended to sketches, and from sketches to +silhouettes. + +Nothing is more annoying than to have your landlord come to you every +day with pinched lips, shrill voice, and impudent manner to say: “Well, +sir, how soon are you going to pay me? Do you know how much your bill +is? No; that doesn’t worry you! You eat, drink, and sleep calmly +enough. God feeds the sparrows. Your bill now amounts to two hundred +florins and ten kreutzers--it is not worth talking about.” + +Those who have not heard any one talk in this way can form no idea +of it; love of art, imagination, and the sacred enthusiasm for the +beautiful are blasted by the breath of such an attack. You become +awkward and timid; all your energy evaporates, as well as your feeling +of personal dignity, and you bow respectfully at a distance to the +burgomaster Schneegans. + +One night, not having a sou, as usual, and threatened with imprisonment +by this worthy Mister Rap, I determined to make him a bankrupt by +cutting my throat. Seated on my narrow bed, opposite the window, in +this agreeable mood, I gave myself up to a thousand philosophical +reflections, more or less comforting. + +“What is man?” I asked myself. “An omnivorous animal; his jaws, +provided with canines, incisors, and molars, prove it. The canines +are made to tear meat; the incisors to bite fruits; and the molars +to masticate, grind, and triturate animal and vegetable substances +that are pleasant to smell and to taste. But when he has nothing to +masticate, this being is an absurdity in Nature, a superfluity, a fifth +wheel to the coach.” + +Such were my reflections. I dared not open my razor for fear that the +invincible force of my logic would inspire me with the courage to make +an end of it all. After having argued so finely, I blew out my candle, +postponing the sequel till the morrow. + +That abominable Rap had completely stupefied me. I could do nothing but +silhouettes, and my sole desire was to have some money to rid myself +of his odious presence. But on this night a singular change came over +my mind. I awoke about one o’clock--I lit my lamp, and, enveloping +myself in my grey gabardine, I drew upon the paper a rapid sketch after +the Dutch school--something strange and bizarre, which had not the +slightest resemblance to my ordinary conceptions. + +Imagine a dreary courtyard enclosed by high dilapidated walls. These +walls are furnished with hooks, seven or eight feet from the ground. +You see, at a glance, that it is a butchery. + +On the left, there extends a lattice structure; you perceive through +it a quartered beef suspended from the roof by enormous pulleys. Great +pools of blood run over the flagstones and unite in a ditch full of +refuse. + +The light falls above, between the chimneys where the weathercocks +stand out from a bit of the sky the size of your hand, and the roofs of +the neighboring houses throw bold shadows from story to story. + +At the back of this place is a shed, beneath the shed a pile of wood, +and upon the pile of wood some ladders, a few bundles of straw, some +coils of rope, a chicken-coop, and an old dilapidated rabbit-hutch. + +How did these heterogeneous details suggest themselves to my +imagination? I don’t know; I had no reminiscences, and yet every stroke +of the pencil seemed the result of observation, and strange because it +was all so true. Nothing was lacking. + +But on the right, one corner of the sketch remained a blank. I did not +know what to put there.... Something suddenly seemed to writhe there, +to move. Then I saw a foot, the sole of a foot. Notwithstanding this +improbable position, I followed my inspiration without reference to my +own criticism. This foot was joined to a leg--over this leg, stretched +out with effort, there soon floated the skirt of a dress. In short, +there appeared by degrees an old woman, pale, dishevelled, and wasted, +thrown down at the side of a well, and struggling to free herself from +a hand that clutched her throat. + +It was a murder scene that I was drawing. The pencil fell from my hand. + +This woman, in the boldest attitude, with her thighs bent on the curb +of the well, her face contracted by terror, and her two hands grasping +the murderer’s arm, frightened me. I could not look at her. But the +man--he, the person to whom that arm belonged--I could not see him. It +was impossible for me to finish the sketch. + +“I am tired,” I said, my forehead dripping with perspiration; “there +is only this figure to do; I will finish it tomorrow. It will be easy +then.” + +And again I went to bed, thoroughly frightened by my vision. + +The next morning, I got up very early. I was dressing in order to +resume my interrupted work, when two little knocks were heard on my +door. + +“Come in!” + +The door opened. An old man, tall, thin, and dressed in black, appeared +on the threshold. This man’s face, his eyes set close together and +his large nose like the beak of an eagle, surmounted by a high bony +forehead, had something severe about it. He bowed to me gravely. + +“Mister Christian Vénius, the painter?” said he. + +“That is my name, sir.” + +He bowed again, adding: + +“The Baron Frederick Van Spreckdal.” + +The appearance of the rich amateur, Van Spreckdal, judge of the +criminal court, in my poor lodging, greatly disturbed me. I could not +help throwing a stealthy glance at my old worm-eaten furniture, my damp +hangings and my dusty floor. I felt humiliated by such dilapidation; +but Van Spreckdal did not seem to take any account of these details; +and sitting down at my little table: + +“Mister Vénius,” he resumed, “I come----” But at this instant his +glance fell upon the unfinished sketch--he did not finish his phrase. + +I was sitting on the edge of my little bed; and the sudden attention +that this personage bestowed upon one of my productions made my heart +beat with an indefinable apprehension. + +At the end of a minute, Van Spreckdal lifted his head: + +“Are you the author of that sketch?” he asked me with an intent look. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“What is the price of it?” + +“I never sell my sketches. It is the plan for a picture.” + +“Ah!” said he, picking up the paper with the tips of his long yellow +fingers. + +He took a lens from his waistcoat pocket and began to study the design +in silence. + +The sun was now shining obliquely into the garret. Van Spreckdal never +said a word; the hook of his immense nose increased, his heavy eyebrows +contracted, and his long pointed chin took a turn upward, making a +thousand little wrinkles in his long, thin cheeks. The silence was so +profound that I could distinctly hear the plaintive buzzing of a fly +that had been caught in a spider’s web. + +“And the dimensions of this picture, Mister Vénius?” he said without +looking at me. + +“Three feet by four.” + +“The price?” + +“Fifty ducats.” + +Van Spreckdal laid the sketch on the table, and drew from his pockets +a large purse of green silk shaped like a pear; he drew the rings of +it---- + +“Fifty ducats,” said he, “here they are.” + +I was simply dazzled. + +The Baron rose and bowed to me, and I heard his big ivory-headed cane +resounding on each step until he reached the bottom of the stairs. +Then recovering from my stupor, I suddenly remembered that I had not +thanked him, and I flew down the five flights like lightning; but when +I reached the bottom, I looked to the right and left; the street was +deserted. + +“Well,” I said, “this is strange.” + +And I went upstairs again all out of breath. + + +II + +The surprising way in which Van Spreckdal had appeared to me threw me +into deep wonderment. “Yesterday,” I said to myself, as I contemplated +the pile of ducats glittering in the sun, “yesterday I formed the +wicked intention of cutting my throat, all for the want of a few +miserable florins, and now today Fortune has showered them from the +clouds. Indeed it was fortunate that I did not open my razor; and, if +the same intention ever comes to me again, I will take care to wait +until the morrow.” + +After making these judicious reflections, I sat down to finish the +sketch; four strokes of the pencil and it would be finished. But here +an incomprehensible difficulty awaited me. It was impossible for me +to take those four sweeps of the pencil; I had lost the thread of my +inspiration, and the mysterious personage no longer stood out in my +brain. I tried in vain to evoke him, to sketch him, and to recover him; +he no more accorded with the surroundings than with a figure by Raphael +in a Teniers inn-kitchen. I broke out into a profuse perspiration. + +At this moment, Rap opened the door without knocking, according to his +praiseworthy custom. His eyes fell upon my pile of ducats and in a +shrill voice he cried: + +“Eh! eh! so I catch. Will you persist in telling me, Mr. Painter, that +you have no money?” + +And his hooked fingers advanced with that nervous trembling that the +sight of gold always produces in a miser. + +For a few seconds I was stupefied. + +The memory of all the indignities that this individual had inflicted +upon me, his covetous look, and his impudent smile exasperated me. With +a single bound, I caught hold of him, and pushed him out of the room, +slamming the door in his face. + +This was done with the crack and rapidity of a spring snuff-box. + +But from outside the old usurer screamed like an eagle: + +“My money, you thief, my money!” + +The lodgers came out of their rooms, asking: + +“What is the matter? What has happened?” + +I opened the door suddenly and quickly gave Mister Rap a kick in the +spine that sent him rolling down more than twenty steps. + +“That’s what’s the matter!” I cried quite beside myself. Then I shut +the door and bolted it, while bursts of laughter from the neighbors +greeted Mister Rap in the passage. + +I was satisfied with myself; I rubbed my hands together. This adventure +had put new life into me; I resumed my work, and was about to finish +the sketch when I heard an unusual noise. + +Butts of muskets were grounded on the pavement. I looked out of my +window and saw three soldiers in full uniform with grounded arms in +front of my door. + +I said to myself in my terror: “Can it be that that scoundrel of a Rap +has had any bones broken?” + +And here is the strange peculiarity of the human mind: I, who the +night before had wanted to cut my own throat, shook from head to foot, +thinking that I might well be hanged if Rap were dead. + +The stairway was filled with confused noises. It was an ascending flood +of heavy footsteps, clanking arms, and short syllables. + +Suddenly somebody tried to open my door. It was shut. + +Then there was a general clamor. + +“In the name of the law--open!” + +I arose trembling, and weak in the knees. + +“Open!” the same voice repeated. + +I thought to escape over the roofs; but I had hardly put my head out +of the little snuff-box window, when I drew back, seized with vertigo. +I saw in a flash all the windows below with their shining panes, their +flowerpots, their bird-cages, and their gratings. Lower, the balcony; +still lower, the street-lamp; still lower again, the sign of the “Red +Cask” framed in iron-work; and, finally three glittering bayonets, +only awaiting my fall to run me through the body from the sole of my +foot to the crown of my head. On the roof of the opposite house a +tortoise-shell cat was crouching behind a chimney, watching a band of +sparrows fighting and scolding in the gutter. + +One cannot imagine to what clearness, intensity, and rapidity the human +eye acquires when stimulated by fear. + +At the third summons I heard: + +“Open, or we shall force it!” + +Seeing that flight was impossible, I staggered to the door and drew the +bolt. + +Two hands immediately fell upon my collar. A dumpy little man, smelling +of wine, said: + +“I arrest you!” + +He wore a bottle-green redingote, buttoned to the chin, and a stovepipe +hat. He had large brown whiskers, rings on every finger, and was named +Passauf. + +He was the chief of police. + +Five bull-dogs with flat caps, noses like pistols, and lower jaws +turning upward, observed me from outside. + +“What do you want?” I asked Passauf. + +“Come downstairs,” he cried roughly, as he gave a sign to one of his +men to seize me. + +This man took hold of me, more dead than alive, while several other men +turned my room upside down. + +I went downstairs supported by the arms like a person in the last +stages of consumption--with hair dishevelled and stumbling at every +step. + +They thrust me into a cab between two strong fellows, who charitably +let me see the ends of their clubs, held to their wrists by a leather +string--and then the carriage started off. + +I heard behind us the feet of all the urchins of the town. + +“What have I done?” I asked one of my keepers. + +He looked at the other with a strange smile and said: + +“Hans--he asks what he has done!” + +That smile froze my blood. + +Soon a deep shadow enveloped the carriage; the horses’ hoofs resounded +under an archway. We were entering the Raspelhaus. Of this place one +might say: + + “Dans cet antre, + Je vois fort bien comme l’on entre, + Et ne vois point comme on en sort.” + +All is not rose-colored in this world; from the claws of Rap I fell +into a dungeon, from which very few poor devils have a chance to escape. + +Large dark courtyards and rows of windows like a hospital, and +furnished with gratings; not a sprig of verdure, not a festoon of ivy, +not even a weathercock in perspective--such was my new lodging. It was +enough to make one tear his hair out by the roots. + +The police officers, accompanied by the jailer, took me temporarily to +a lock-up. + +The jailer, if I remember rightly, was named Kasper Schlüssel; with his +grey woollen cap, his pipe between his teeth, and his bunch of keys at +his belt, he reminded me of the Owl-God of the Caribs. He had the same +golden yellow eyes, that see in the dark, a nose like a comma, and a +neck that was sunk between the shoulders. + +Schlüssel shut me up as calmly as one locks up his socks in a cupboard, +while thinking of something else. As for me, I stood for more than ten +minutes with my hands behind my back and my head bowed. At the end of +that time I made the following reflection: “When falling, Rap cried +out, ‘I am assassinated,’ but he did not say by whom. I will say it was +my neighbor, the old merchant with the spectacles: he will be hanged in +my place.” + +This idea comforted my heart, and I drew a long breath. Then I looked +about my prison. It seemed to have been newly whitewashed, and the +walls were bare of designs, except in one corner, where a gallows had +been crudely sketched by my predecessor. The light was admitted through +a bull’s-eye about nine or ten feet from the floor; the furniture +consisted of a bundle of straw and a tub. + +I sat down upon the straw with my hands around my knees in deep +despondency. It was with great difficulty that I could think clearly; +but suddenly imagining that Rap, before dying, had denounced me, my +legs began to tingle, and I jumped up coughing, as if the hempen cord +were already tightening around my neck. + +At the same moment, I heard Schlüssel walking down the corridor; +he opened the lock-up, and told me to follow him. He was still +accompanied by the two officers, so I fell into step resolutely. + +We walked down long galleries, lighted at intervals by small windows +from within. Behind a grating I saw the famous Jic-Jack, who was going +to be executed on the morrow. He had on a strait-jacket and sang out in +a raucous voice: + + “Je suis le roi de ces montagnes.” + +Seeing me, he called out: + +“Eh! comrade! I’ll keep a place for you at my right.” + +The two police officers and the Owl-God looked at each other and +smiled, while I felt the goose-flesh creep down the whole length of my +back. + + +III + +Schlüssel shoved me into a large and very dreary hall, with benches +arranged in a semicircle. The appearance of this deserted hall, with +its two high grated windows, and its Christ carved in old brown oak +with His arms extended and His head sorrowfully inclined upon His +shoulder, inspired me with I do not know what kind of religious fear +that accorded with my actual situation. + +All my ideas of false accusation disappeared, and my lips trembling +murmured a prayer. + +I had not prayed for a long time; but misfortune always brings us to +thoughts of submission. Man is so little in himself! + +Opposite me, on an elevated seat, two men were sitting with their backs +to the light, and consequently their faces were in shadow. However, I +recognized Van Spreckdal by his aquiline profile, illuminated by an +oblique reflection from the window. The other person was fat, he had +round, chubby cheeks and short hands, and he wore a robe, like Van +Spreckdal. + +Below was the clerk of the court, Conrad; he was writing at a low table +and was tickling the tip of his ear with the feather-end of his pen. +When I entered, he stopped to look at me curiously. + +They made me sit down, and Van Spreckdal, raising his voice, said to me: + +“Christian Vénius, where did you get this sketch?” + +He showed me the nocturnal sketch which was then in his possession. It +was handed to me. After having examined it, I replied: + +“I am the author of it.” + +A long silence followed; the clerk of the court, Conrad, wrote down my +reply. I heard his pen scratch over the paper, and I thought: “Why did +they ask me that question? That has nothing to do with the kick I gave +Rap in the back.” + +“You are the author of it?” asked Van Spreckdal. “What is the subject?” + +“It is a subject of pure fancy.” + +“You have not copied the details from some spot?” + +“No, sir; I imagined it all.” + +“Accused Christian,” said the judge in a severe tone, “I ask you to +reflect. Do not lie.” + +“I have spoken the truth.” + +“Write that down, clerk,” said Van Spreckdal. + +The pen scratched again. + +“And this woman,” continued the judge--“this woman who is being +murdered at the side of the well--did you imagine her also?” + +“Certainly.” + +“You have never seen her?” + +“Never.” + +Van Spreckdal rose indignantly; then, sitting down again, he seemed to +consult his companion in a low voice. + +These two dark profiles silhouetted against the brightness of the +window, and the three men standing behind me, the silence in the +hall--everything made me shiver. + +“What do you want with me? What have I done?” I murmured. + +Suddenly Van Spreckdal said to my guardians: + +“You can take the prisoner back to the carriage; we will go to +Metzerstrasse.” + +Then, addressing me: + +“Christian Vénius,” he cried, “you are in a deplorable situation. +Collect your thoughts and remember that if the law of man is +inflexible, there still remains for you the mercy of God. This you can +merit by confessing your crime.” + +These words stunned me like a blow from a hammer. I fell back with +extended arms, crying: + +“Ah! what a terrible dream!” + +And I fainted. + +When I regained consciousness, the carriage was rolling slowly down +the street; another one preceded us. The two officers were always with +me. One of them on the way offered a pinch of snuff to his companion; +mechanically I reached out my hand toward the snuff-box, but he +withdrew it quickly. + +My cheeks reddened with shame, and I turned away my head to conceal my +emotion. + +“If you look outside,” said the man with the snuff-box, “we shall be +obliged to put handcuffs on you.” + +“May the devil strangle you, you infernal scoundrel!” I said to myself. +And as the carriage now stopped, one of them got out, while the other +held me by the collar; then, seeing that his comrade was ready to +receive me, he pushed me rudely to him. + +These infinite precautions to hold possession of my person boded no +good; but I was far from predicting the seriousness of the accusation +that hung over my head until an alarming circumstance opened my eyes +and threw me into despair. + +They pushed me along a low alley, the pavement of which was unequal and +broken; along the wall there ran a yellowish ooze, exhaling a fetid +odor. I walked down this dark place with the two men behind me. A +little further there appeared the chiaroscuro of an interior courtyard. + +I grew more and more terror-stricken as I advanced. It was no natural +feeling: it was a poignant anxiety, outside of nature--like a +nightmare. I recoiled instinctively at each step. + +“Go on!” cried one of the policemen, laying his hand on my shoulder; +“go on!” + +But what was my astonishment when, at the end of the passage, I saw the +courtyard that I had drawn the night before, with its walls furnished +with hooks, its rubbish-heap of old iron, its chicken-coops, and its +rabbit-hutch. Not a dormer window, high or low, not a broken pane, not +the slightest detail had been omitted. + +I was thunderstruck by this strange revelation. + +Near the well were the two judges, Van Spreckdal and Richter. At their +feet lay the old woman extended on her back, her long, thin, gray hair, +her blue face, her eyes wide open, and her tongue between her teeth. + +It was a horrible spectacle! + +“Well,” said Van Spreckdal, with solemn accents, “what have you to say?” + +I did not reply. + +“Do you remember having thrown this woman, Theresa Becker, into this +well, after having strangled her to rob her of her money?” + +“No,” I cried, “no! I do not know this woman; I never saw her before. +May God help me!” + +“That will do,” he replied in a dry voice. And without saying another +word he went out with his companion. + +The officers now believed that they had best put handcuffs on me. They +took me back to the Raspelhaus, in a state of profound stupidity. I did +not know what to think; my conscience itself troubled me; I even asked +myself if I really had murdered the old woman! + +In the eyes of the officers I was condemned. + +I will not tell you of my emotions that night in the Raspelhaus, when, +seated on my straw bed with the window opposite me and the gallows in +perspective, I heard the watchmen cry in the silence of the night: +“Sleep, people of Nuremberg; the Lord watches over you. One o’clock! +Two o’clock! Three o’clock!” + +Every one may form his own idea of such a night. There is a fine saying +that it is better to be hanged innocent than guilty. For the soul, +yes; but for the body, it makes no difference; on the contrary, it +kicks, it curses its lot, it tries to escape, knowing well enough that +its rôle ends with the rope. Add to this, that it repents not having +sufficiently enjoyed life and at having listened to the soul when it +preached abstinence. + +“Ah! if I had only known!” it cried, “you would not have led me +around by a string with your big words, your beautiful phrases, and +your magnificent sentences! You would not have allured me with your +fine promises. I should have had many happy moments that are now lost +forever. Everything is over! You said to me: ‘Control your passions.’ +Very well! I did control them. Here I am now. They are going to hang +me, and you--later they will speak of you as a sublime soul, a stoical +soul, a martyr to the errors of Justice. They will never think about +me!” + +Such were the sad reflections of my poor body. + +Day broke; at first, dull and undecided, it threw an uncertain light +on my bull’s-eye window with its crossbars; then it blazed against +the wall at the back. Outside the street became lively. This was a +market-day; it was Friday. I heard the vegetable wagons pass and also +the country people with their baskets. Some chickens cackled in their +coops in passing and some butter sellers chattered together. The market +opposite opened, and they began to arrange the stalls. + +Finally it was broad daylight and the vast murmur of the increasing +crowd, housekeepers who assembled with baskets on their arms, coming +and going, discussing and marketing, told me that it was eight o’clock. + +With the light, my heart gained a little courage. Some of my black +thoughts disappeared. I desired to see what was going on outside. + +Other prisoners before me had managed to climb up to the bull’s-eye; +they had dug some holes in the wall to mount more easily. I climbed +in my turn, and, when seated in the oval edge of the window, with my +legs bent and my head bowed, I could see the crowd, and all the life +and movement. Tears ran freely down my cheeks. I thought no longer of +suicide--I experienced a need to live and breathe, which was really +extraordinary. + +“Ah!” I said, “to live what happiness! Let them harness me to a +wheelbarrow--let them put a ball and chain around my leg--nothing +matters if I may only live!” + +The old market, with its roof shaped like an extinguisher, supported +on heavy pillars, made a superb picture: old women seated before their +panniers of vegetables, their cages of poultry and their baskets of +eggs; behind them the Jews, dealers in old clothes, their faces the +color of old boxwood; butchers with bare arms, cutting up meat on their +stalls; countrymen, with large hats on the backs of their heads, calm +and grave with their hands behind their backs and resting on their +sticks of hollywood, and tranquilly smoking their pipes. Then the +tumult and noise of the crowd--those screaming, shrill, grave, high, +and short words--those expressive gestures--those sudden attitudes that +show from a distance the progress of a discussion and depict so well +the character of the individual--in short, all this captivated my mind, +and notwithstanding my sad condition, I felt happy to be still of the +world. + +Now, while I looked about in this manner, a man--a butcher--passed, +inclining forward and carrying an enormous quarter of beef on his +shoulders; his arms were bare, his elbows were raised upward and his +head was bent under them. His long hair, like that of Salvator’s +Sicambrian, hid his face from me; and yet, at the first glance, I +trembled. + +“It is he!” I said. + +All the blood in my body rushed to my heart. I got down from the window +trembling to the ends of my fingers, feeling my cheeks quiver, and the +pallor spread over my face, stammering in a choked voice: + +“It is he! he is there--there--and I, I have to die to expiate his +crime. Oh, God! what shall I do? What shall I do?” + +A sudden idea, an inspiration from Heaven, flashed across my mind. I +put my hand in the pocket of my coat--my box of crayons was there! + +Then rushing to the wall, I began to trace the scene of the murder with +superhuman energy. No uncertainty, no hesitation! I knew the man! I had +seen him! He was there before me! + +At ten o’clock the jailer came to my cell. His owl-like impassibility +gave place to admiration. + +“Is it possible?” he cried, standing at the threshold. + +“Go, bring me my judges,” I said to him, pursuing my work with an +increasing exultation. + +Schlüssel answered: + +“They are waiting for you in the trial-room.” + +“I wish to make a revelation,” I cried, as I put the finishing touches +to the mysterious personage. + +He lived; he was frightful to see. His full-faced figure, foreshortened +upon the wall, stood out from the white background with an astonishing +vitality. + +The jailer went away. + +A few minutes afterward the two judges appeared. They were stupefied. +I, trembling, with extended hand, said to them: + +“There is the murderer!” + +After a few minutes of silence, Van Spreckdal asked me: + +“What is his name?” + +“I don’t know; but he is at this moment in the market; he is cutting up +meat in the third stall to the left as you enter from Trabaus Street.” + +“What do you think?” said he, leaning toward his colleague. + +“Send for the man,” he replied in a grave tone. + +Several officers retained in the corridor obeyed this order. The judges +stood, examining the sketch. As for me, I had dropped on my bed of +straw, my head between my knees, perfectly exhausted. + +Soon steps were heard echoing under the archway. Those who have never +awaited the hour of deliverance and counted the minutes, which seem +like centuries--those who have never experienced the sharp emotions of +outrage, terror, hope, and doubt--can have no conception of the inward +chills that I experienced at that moment. I should have distinguished +the step of the murderer, walking between the guards, among a thousand +others. They approached. The judges themselves seemed moved. I raised +up my head, my heart feeling as if an iron hand had clutched it, and +I fixed my eyes upon the closed door. It opened. The man entered. His +cheeks were red and swollen, the muscles in his large contracted jaws +twitched as far as his ears, and his little restless eyes, yellow like +a wolf’s, gleamed beneath his heavy yellowish red eyebrows. + +Van Spreckdal showed him the sketch in silence. + +Then that murderous man, with the large shoulders, having looked, grew +pale--then, giving a roar which thrilled us all with terror, he waved +his enormous arms, and jumped backward to overthrow the guards. There +was a terrible struggle in the corridor; you could hear nothing but the +panting breath of the butcher, his muttered imprecations, and the short +words and the shuffling feet of the guard, upon the flagstones. + +This lasted only about a minute. + +Finally the assassin re-entered, with his head hanging down, his eyes +bloodshot, and his hands fastened behind his back. He looked again at +the picture of the murderer; he seemed to reflect, and then, in a low +voice, as if talking to himself: + +“Who could have seen me,” he said, “at midnight?” + +I was saved! + + * * * * * + +Many years have passed since that terrible adventure. Thank Heaven! I +make silhouettes no longer, nor portraits of burgomasters. Through hard +work and perseverance, I have conquered my place in the world, and I +earn my living honorably by painting works of art--the sole end, in my +opinion, to which a true artist should aspire. But the memory of that +nocturnal sketch has always remained in my mind. Sometimes, in the +midst of work, the thought of it recurs. Then I lay down my palette and +dream for hours. + +How could a crime committed by a man that I did not know--at a place +that I had never seen--have been reproduced by my pencil, in all its +smallest details? + +Was it chance? No! And moreover, what is chance but the effect of a +cause of which we are ignorant? + +Was Schiller right when he said: “The immortal soul does not +participate in the weaknesses of matter; during the sleep of the body, +it spreads its radiant wings and travels, God knows where! What it then +does, no one can say, but inspiration sometimes betrays the secret of +its nocturnal wanderings.” + +Who knows? Nature is more audacious in her realities than man in his +most fantastic imagining. + + + + +THE DESERTED HOUSE + +By ERNEST T. W. HOFFMANN + + +You know already that I spent the greater part of last summer in +X----, began Theodore. The many old friends and acquaintances I found +there, the free, jovial life, the manifold artistic and intellectual +interests--all these combined to keep me in that city. I was happy +as never before, and found rich nourishment for my old fondness for +wandering alone through the streets, stopping to enjoy every picture +in the shop windows, every placard on the walls, or watching the +passers-by and choosing some one or the other of them to cast his +horoscope secretly to myself. + +There is one broad avenue leading to the ---- Gate and lined with +handsome buildings of all descriptions, which is the meeting place +of the rich and fashionable world. The shops which occupy the ground +floor of the tall palaces are devoted to the trade in articles of +luxury, and the apartments above are the dwellings of people of wealth +and position. The aristocratic hotels are to be found in this avenue, +the palaces of the foreign ambassadors are there, and you can easily +imagine that such a street would be the centre of the city’s life and +gaiety. + +I had wandered through the avenue several times, when one day my +attention was caught by a house which contrasted strangely with the +others surrounding it. Picture to yourselves a low building but four +windows broad, crowded in between two tall, handsome structures. Its +one upper story was a little higher than the tops of the ground-floor +windows of its neighbors, its roof was dilapidated, its windows patched +with paper, its discolored walls spoke of years of neglect. You can +imagine how strange such a house must have looked in this street of +wealth and fashion. Looking at it more attentively I perceived that +the windows of the upper story were tightly closed and curtained, and +that a wall had been built to hide the windows of the ground floor. The +entrance gate, a little to one side, served also as a doorway for the +building, but I could find no sign of latch, lock, or even a bell on +this gate. I was convinced that the house must be unoccupied, for at +whatever hour of the day I happened to be passing I had never seen the +faintest signs of life about it. + +You all, the good comrades of my youth, know that I have been prone to +consider myself a sort of clairvoyant, claiming to have glimpses of +a strange world of wonders, a world which you, with your hard common +sense, would attempt to deny or laugh away. I confess that I have often +lost myself in mysteries which after all turned out to be no mysteries +at all. And it looked at first as if this was to happen to me in the +matter of the deserted house, that strange house which drew my steps +and my thoughts to itself with a power that surprised me. But the +point of my story will prove to you that I am right in asserting that I +know more than you do. Listen now to what I am about to tell you. + +One day, at the hour in which the fashionable world is accustomed to +promenade up and down the avenue, I stood as usual before the deserted +house, lost in thought. Suddenly I felt, without looking up, that some +one had stopped beside me, fixing his eyes on me. It was Count P----, +who told me that the old house contained nothing more mysterious than a +cake bakery belonging to the pastry cook whose handsome shop adjoined +the old structure. The windows of the ground floor were walled up to +give protection to the ovens, and the heavy curtains of the upper story +were to keep the sunlight from the wares laid out there. When the +Count informed me of this I felt as if a bucket of cold water had been +suddenly thrown over me. But I could not believe in this story of the +cake and candy factory. Through some strange freak of the imagination I +felt as a child feels when some fairy tale has been told it to conceal +the truth it suspects. I scolded myself for a silly fool; the house +remained unaltered in its appearance, and the visions faded in my +brain, until one day a chance incident woke them to life again. + +I was wandering through the avenue as usual, and as I passed the +deserted house I could not resist a hasty glance at its close-curtained +upper windows. But as I looked at it, the curtain on the last window +near the pastry shop began to move. A hand, an arm, came out from +between its folds. I took my opera glass from my pocket and saw a +beautifully formed woman’s hand, on the little finger of which a large +diamond sparkled in unusual brilliancy; a rich bracelet glittered on +the white, rounded arm. The hand set a tall, oddly-formed crystal +bottle on the window ledge and disappeared again behind the curtain. + +I stopped as if frozen to stone; a weirdly pleasurable sensation, +mingled with awe, streamed through my being with the warmth of an +electric current. I stared up at the mysterious window and a sigh +of longing arose from the very depths of my heart. When I came to +myself again, I was angered to find that I was surrounded by a crowd +which stood gazing up at the window with curious faces. I stole away +inconspicuously, and the demon of all things prosaic whispered to me +that what I had just seen was the rich pastry cook’s wife, in her +Sunday adornment, placing an empty bottle, used for rose-water or the +like, on the window sill. Nothing very weird about this. + +Suddenly a most sensible thought came to me. I turned and entered the +shining, mirror-walled shop of the pastry cook. Blowing the steaming +foam from my cup of chocolate, I remarked: “You have a very useful +addition to your establishment next door.” The man leaned over his +counter and looked at me with a questioning smile, as if he did not +understand me. I repeated that in my opinion he had been very clever +to set his bakery in the neighboring house, although the deserted +appearance of the building was a strange sight in its contrasting +surroundings. “Why, sir,” began the pastry cook, “who told you that the +house next door belongs to us? Unfortunately every attempt on our part +to acquire it has been in vain, and I fancy it is all the better so, +for there is something queer about the place.” + +You can imagine, dear friends, how interested I became upon hearing +these words, and that I begged the man to tell me more about the house. + +“I do not know anything very definite, sir,” he said. “All that we +know for a certainty is that the house belongs to the Countess S----, +who lives on her estates and has not been to the city for years. This +house, so they tell me, stood in its present shape before any of the +handsome buildings were raised which are now the pride of our avenue, +and in all these years there has been nothing done to it except to keep +it from actual decay. Two living creatures alone dwell there, an aged +misanthrope of a steward and his melancholy dog, which occasionally +howls at the moon from the back courtyard. According to the general +story the deserted house is haunted. In very truth my brother, who is +the owner of this shop, and myself have often, when our business kept +us awake during the silence of the night, heard strange sounds from +the other side of the walls. There was a rumbling and a scraping that +frightened us both. And not very long ago we heard one night a strange +singing which I could not describe to you. It was evidently the voice +of an old woman, but the tones were so sharp and clear, and ran up to +the top of the scale in cadences and long trills, the like of which I +have never heard before, although I have heard many singers in many +lands. It seemed to be a French song, but I am not quite sure of that, +for I could not listen long to the mad, ghostly singing, it made the +hair stand erect on my head. And at times, after the street noises are +quiet, we can hear deep sighs, and sometimes a mad laugh, which seem +to come out of the earth. But if you lay your ear to the wall in our +back room, you can hear that the noises come from the house next door.” +He led me into the back room and pointed through the window. “And do +you see that iron chimney coming out of the wall there? It smokes so +heavily sometimes, even in summer when there are no fires used, that +my brother has often quarrelled with the old steward about it, fearing +danger. But the old man excuses himself by saying that he was cooking +his food. Heaven knows what the queer creature may eat, for often, when +the pipe is smoking heavily, a strange and queer smell can be smelled +all over the house.” + +The glass doors of the shop creaked in opening. The pastry cook hurried +into the front room, and when he had nodded to the figure now entering +he threw a meaning glance at me. I understood him perfectly. Who else +could this strange guest be, but the steward who had charge of the +mysterious house! Imagine a thin little man with a face the color of +a mummy, with a sharp nose, tight-set lips, green cat’s eyes, and a +crazy smile; his hair dressed in the old-fashioned style with a high +toupet and a bag at the back, and heavily powdered. He wore a faded +old brown coat which was carefully brushed, gray stockings, and broad, +flat-toed shoes with buckles. And imagine further, that in spite of +his meagreness this little person is robustly built, with huge fists +and long, strong fingers, and that he walks to the shop counter with +a strong, firm step, smiling his imbecile smile, and whining out: “A +couple of candied oranges--a couple of macaroons--a couple of sugared +chestnuts----” + +The pastry cook smiled at me and then spoke to the old man. “You do +not seem to be quite well. Yes, yes, old age, old age! It takes the +strength from our limbs.” The old man’s expression did not change, +but his voice went up: “Old age?--Old age?--Lose strength?--Grow +weak?--Oho!” And with this he clapped his hands together until the +joints cracked, and sprang high up into the air until the entire shop +trembled and the glass vessels on the walls and counters rattled and +shook. But in the same moment a hideous screaming was heard; the old +man had stepped on his black dog, which, creeping in behind him, had +laid itself at his feet on the floor. “Devilish beast--dog of hell!” +groaned the old man in his former miserable tone, opening his bag and +giving the dog a large macaroon. The dog, which had burst out into a +cry of distress that was truly human, was quiet at once, sat down on +its haunches, and gnawed at the macaroon like a squirrel. When it +had finished its tidbit, the old man had also finished the packing up +and putting away of his purchases. “Good night, honored neighbor,” he +spoke, taking the hand of the pastry cook and pressing it until the +latter cried aloud in pain. “The weak old man wishes you a good night, +most honorable Sir Neighbor,” he repeated, and then walked from the +shop, followed closely by his black dog. The old man did not seem to +have noticed me at all. I was quite dumbfounded in my astonishment. + +“There, you see,” began the pastry cook. “This is the way he acts +when he comes in here, two or three times a month, it is. But I can +get nothing out of him except the fact that he was a former valet of +Count S----, that he is now in charge of this house here, and that +every day--for many years now--he expects the arrival of his master’s +family.” The hour was now come when fashion demanded that the elegant +world of the city should assemble in this attractive shop. The doors +opened incessantly, the place was thronged, and I could ask no further +questions. + +This much I knew, that Count P----’s information about the ownership +and the use of the house were not correct; also, that the old steward, +in spite of his denial, was not living alone there, and that some +mystery was hidden behind its discolored walls. How could I combine +the story of the strange and gruesome singing with the appearance +of the beautiful arm at the window? That arm could not be part of +the wrinkled body of an old woman; the singing, according to the +pastry cook’s story, could not come from the throat of a blooming +and youthful maiden. I decided in favor of the arm, as it was easy +to explain to myself that some trick of acoustics had made the voice +sound sharp and old, or that it had appeared so only in the pastry +cook’s fear-distorted imagination. Then I thought of the smoke, the +strange odors, the oddly-formed crystal bottle that I had seen, and +soon the vision of a beautiful creature held enthralled by fatal magic +stood as if alive before my mental vision. The old man became a wizard +who, perhaps quite independently of the family he served, had set up +his devil’s kitchen in the deserted house. My imagination had begun +to work, and in my dreams that night I saw clearly the hand with the +sparkling diamond on its finger, the arm with the shining bracelet. +From out thin, gray mists there appeared a sweet face with sadly +imploring blue eyes, then the entire exquisite figure of a beautiful +girl. And I saw that what I had thought was mist was the fine steam +flowing out in circles from a crystal bottle held in the hands of the +vision. + +“Oh, fairest creature of my dreams,” I cried in rapture, “reveal to me +where thou art, what it is that enthralls thee. Ah, I know it! It is +black magic that holds thee captive--thou art the unhappy slave of that +malicious devil who wanders about brown-clad and bewigged in pastry +shops, scattering their wares with his unholy springing and feeding his +demon dog on macaroons, after they have howled out a Satanic measure in +five-eighth time. Oh, I know it all, thou fair and charming vision. +The diamond is the reflection of the fire of thy heart. But that +bracelet about thine arm is a link of the chain which the brown-clad +one says is a magnetic chain. Do not believe it, O glorious one! See +how it shines in the blue fire from the retort. One moment more and +thou art free. And now, O maiden, open thy rosebud mouth and tell +me----” In this moment a gnarled fist leaped over my shoulder and +clutched at the crystal bottle, which sprang into a thousand pieces in +the air. With a faint, sad moan, the charming vision faded into the +blackness of the night. + +When morning came to put an end to my dreaming I hurried through +the avenue, seeking the deserted house as usual and I saw something +glistening in the last window of the upper story. Coming nearer I +noticed that the outer blind had been quite drawn up and the inner +curtain slightly opened. The sparkle of a diamond met my eye. O kind +Heaven! The face of my dream looked at me, gently imploring, from above +the rounded arm on which her head was resting. But how was it possible +to stand still in the moving crowd without attracting attention? +Suddenly I caught sight of the benches placed in the gravel walk in the +centre of the avenue, and I saw that one of them was directly opposite +the house. I sprang over to it, and leaning over its back, I could +stare up at the mysterious window undisturbed. Yes, it was she, the +charming maiden of my dream! But her eye did not seem to seek me as I +had at first thought; her glance was cold and unfocused, and had it +not been for an occasional motion of the hand and arm, I might have +thought that I was looking at a cleverly painted picture. + +I was so lost in my adoration of the mysterious being in the window, +so aroused and excited throughout all my nerve centres, that I did +not hear the shrill voice of an Italian street hawker, who had been +offering me his wares for some time. Finally he touched me on the arm; +I turned hastily and commanded him to let me alone. But he did not +cease his entreaties, asserting that he had earned nothing today, and +begging me to buy some small trifle from him. Full of impatience to get +rid of him I put my hand in my pocket. With the words: “I have more +beautiful things here,” he opened the under drawer of his box and held +out to me a little, round pocket mirror. In it, as he held it up before +my face, I could see the deserted house behind me, the window, and the +sweet face of my vision there. + +I bought the little mirror at once, for I saw that it would make it +possible for me to sit comfortably and inconspicuously, and yet watch +the window. The longer I looked at the reflection in the glass, the +more I fell captive to a weird and quite indescribable sensation, which +I might almost call a waking dream. It was as if a lethargy had lamed +my eyes, holding them fastened on the glass beyond my power to loosen +them. And now at last the beautiful eyes of the fair vision looked at +me, her glance sought mine and shone deep down into my heart. + +“You have a pretty little mirror there,” said a voice beside me. I +awoke from my dream, and was not a little confused when I saw smiling +faces looking at me from either side. Several persons had sat down upon +the bench, and it was quite certain that my staring into the window, +and my probably strange expression, had afforded them great cause for +amusement. + +“You have a pretty little mirror there,” repeated the man, as I did not +answer him. His glance said more, and asked without words the reason +of my staring so oddly into the little glass. He was an elderly man, +neatly dressed, and his voice and eyes were so full of good nature +that I could not refuse him my confidence. I told him that I had been +looking in the mirror at the picture of a beautiful maiden who was +sitting at a window of the deserted house. I went even farther; I asked +the old man if he had not seen the fair face himself. “Over there? In +the old house--in the last window?” He repeated my questions in a tone +of surprise. + +“Yes, yes,” I exclaimed. + +The old man smiled and answered: “Well, well, that was a strange +delusion. My old eyes--thank Heaven for my old eyes! Yes, yes, sir. I +saw a pretty face in the window there, with my own eyes; but it seemed +to me to be an excellently well-painted oil portrait.” + +I turned quickly and looked toward the window; there was no one there, +and the blind had been pulled down. “Yes,” continued the old man, “yes, +sir. Now it is too late to make sure of the matter, for just now the +servant, who, as I know, lives there alone in the house of the Countess +S----, took the picture away from the window after he had dusted it, +and let down the blinds.” + +“Was it, then, surely a picture?” I asked again, in bewilderment. + +“You can trust my eyes,” replied the old man. “The optical delusion +was strengthened by your seeing only the reflection in the mirror. And +when I was in your years it was easy enough for my fancy to call up the +picture of a beautiful maiden.” + +“But the hand and arm moved,” I exclaimed. “Oh, yes, they moved, indeed +they moved,” said the old man smiling, as he patted me on the shoulder. +Then he arose to go, and bowing politely, closed his remarks with the +words, “Beware of mirrors which can lie so vividly. Your obedient +servant, sir.” + +You can imagine how I felt when I saw that he looked upon me as a +foolish fantast. I hurried home full of anger and disgust, and promised +myself that I would not think of the mysterious house. But I placed +the mirror on my dressing-table that I might bind my cravat before it, +and thus it happened one day, when I was about to utilize it for this +important business, that its glass seemed dull, and that I took it up +and breathed on it to rub it bright again. My heart seemed to stand +still, every fiber in me trembled in delightful awe. Yes, that is all +the name I can find for the feeling that came over me, when, as my +breath clouded the little mirror, I saw the beautiful face of my dreams +arise and smile at me through blue mists. You laugh at me? You look +upon me as an incorrigible dreamer? Think what you will about it--the +fair face looked at me from out of the mirror! But as soon as the +clouding vanished, and face vanished in the brightened glass. + +I will not weary you with a detailed recital of my sensations the next +few days. I will only say that I repeated again the experiments with +the mirror, sometimes with success, sometimes without. When I had not +been able to call up the vision, I would run to the deserted house +and stare up at the windows; but I saw no human being anywhere about +the building. I lived only in thoughts of my vision; everything else +seemed indifferent to me. I neglected my friends and my studies. The +tortures in my soul passed over into, or rather mingled with, physical +sensations which frightened me, and which at last made me fear for my +reason. One day, after an unusually severe attack, I put my little +mirror in my pocket and hurried to the home of Dr. K----, who was noted +for his treatment of those diseases of the mind out of which physical +diseases so often grow. I told him my story; I did not conceal the +slightest incident from him, and I implored him to save me from the +terrible fate which seemed to threaten me. He listened to me quietly, +but I read astonishment in his glance. Then he said: “The danger is +not as near as you believe, and I think that I may say that it can be +easily prevented. You are undergoing an unusual psychical disturbance, +beyond a doubt. But the fact that you understand that some evil +principle seems to be trying to influence you, gives you a weapon by +which you can combat it. Leave your little mirror here with me, and +force yourself to take up with some work which will afford scope for +all your mental energy. Do not go to the avenue; work all day, from +early to late, then take a long walk, and spend your evenings in the +company of your friends. Eat heartily, and drink heavy, nourishing +wines. You see I am endeavoring to combat your fixed idea of the face +in the window of the deserted house and in the mirror, by diverting +your mind to other things, and by strengthening your body. You yourself +must help me in this.” + +I was very reluctant to part with my mirror. The physician, who had +already taken it, seemed to notice my hesitation. He breathed upon the +glass and holding it up to me, he asked: “Do you see anything?” + +“Nothing at all,” I answered, for so it was. + +“Now breathe on the glass yourself,” said the physician, laying the +mirror in my hands. + +I did as he requested. There was the vision even more clearly than ever +before. + +“There she is!” I cried aloud. + +The physician looked into the glass, and then said: “I cannot see +anything. But I will confess to you that when I looked into this glass, +a queer shiver overcame me, passing away almost at once. Now do it once +more.” + +I breathed upon the glass again and the physician laid his hand upon +the back of my neck. The face appeared again, and the physician, +looking into the mirror over my shoulder, turned pale. Then he took +the little glass from my hands, looked at it attentively, and locked it +into his desk, returning to me after a few moments’ silent thought. + +“Follow my instructions strictly,” he said. “I must confess to you that +I do not yet understand those moments of your vision. But I hope to be +able to tell you more about it very soon.” + +Difficult as it was to me, I forced myself to live absolutely according +to the doctor’s orders. I soon felt the benefit of the steady work +and the nourishing diet, and yet I was not free from those terrible +attacks, which would come either at noon, or, more intensely still, +at midnight. Even in the midst of a merry company, in the enjoyment +of wine and song, glowing daggers seemed to pierce my heart, and all +the strength of my intellect was powerless to resist their might +over me. I was obliged to retire, and could not return to my friends +until I had recovered from my condition of lethargy. It was in one of +these attacks, an unusually strong one, that such an irresistible, +mad longing for the picture of my dreams came over me, that I hurried +out into the street and ran toward the mysterious house. While still +at a distance from it, I seemed to see lights shining out through +the fast-closed blinds, but when I came nearer I saw that all was +dark. Crazy with my desire I rushed to the door; it fell back before +the pressure of my hand. I stood in the dimly lighted vestibule, +enveloped in a heavy, close atmosphere. My heart beat in strange fear +and impatience. Then suddenly a long, sharp tone, as from a woman’s +throat, shrilled through the house. I know not how it happened that I +found myself suddenly in a great hall brilliantly lighted and furnished +in old-fashioned magnificence of golden chairs and strange Japanese +ornaments. Strongly perfumed incense arose in blue clouds about me. +“Welcome--welcome, sweet bridegroom! the hour has come, our bridal +hour!” I heard these words in a woman’s voice, and as little as I +can tell, how I came into the room, just so little do I know how it +happened that suddenly a tall, youthful figure, richly dressed, seemed +to arise from the blue mists. With the repeated shrill cry: “Welcome, +sweet bridegroom!” she came toward me with outstretched arms--and a +yellow face, distorted with age and madness, stared into mine! I fell +back in terror, but the fiery, piercing glance of her eyes, like the +eyes of a snake, seemed to hold me spellbound. I did not seem able to +turn my eyes from this terrible old woman, I could not move another +step. She came still nearer, and it seemed to me suddenly as if her +hideous face were only a thin mask, beneath which I saw the features +of the beautiful maiden of my vision. Already I felt the touch of her +hands, when suddenly she fell at my feet with a loud scream, and a +voice behind me cried: + +“Oho, is the devil playing his tricks with your grace again? To bed, to +bed, your grace. Else there will be blows, mighty blows!” + +I turned quickly and saw the old steward in his night clothes, swinging +a whip above his head. He was about to strike the screaming figure at +my feet when I caught at his arm. But he shook me from him, exclaiming: +“The devil, sir! That old Satan would have murdered you if I had not +come to your aid. Get away from here at once!” + +I rushed from the hall, and sought in vain in the darkness for the +door of the house. Behind me I heard the hissing blows of the whip and +the old woman’s screams. I drew breath to call aloud for help, when +suddenly the ground gave way under my feet; I fell down a short flight +of stairs, bringing up with such force against a door at the bottom +that it sprang open, and I measured my length on the floor of a small +room. From the hastily vacated bed, and from the familiar brown coat +hanging over a chair, I saw that I was in the bedchamber of the old +steward. There was a trampling on the stair, and the old man himself +entered hastily, throwing himself at my feet. “By all the saints, sir,” +he entreated with folded hands, “whoever you may be, and however her +grace, that old Satan of a witch has managed to entice you to this +house, do not speak to anyone of what has happened here. It will cost +me my position. Her crazy excellency has been punished, and is bound +fast in her bed. Sleep well, good sir, sleep softly and sweetly. It is +a warm and beautiful July night. There is no moon, but the stars shine +brightly. A quiet good night to you.” While talking, the old man had +taken up a lamp, had led me out of the basement, pushed me out of the +house door, and locked it behind me. I hurried home quite bewildered, +and you can imagine that I was too much confused by the gruesome secret +to be able to form any explanation of it in my own mind for the first +few days. Only this much was certain, that I was now free from the evil +spell that had held me captive so long. All my longing for the magic +vision in the mirror had disappeared, and the memory of the scene in +the deserted house was like the recollection of an unexpected visit +to a madhouse. It was evident beyond a doubt that the steward was the +tyrannical guardian of a crazy woman of noble birth, whose condition +was to be hidden from the world. But the mirror? and all the other +magic? Listen, and I will tell you more about it. + +Some few days later I came upon Count P---- at an evening +entertainment. He drew me to one side and said, with a smile, “Do +you know that the secrets of our deserted house are beginning to be +revealed?” I listened with interest; but before the Count could say +more the doors of the dining-room were thrown open, and the company +proceeded to the table. Quite lost in thought at the words I had +just heard, I had given a young lady my arm, and had taken my place +mechanically in the ceremonious procession. I led my companion to the +seats arranged for us, and then turned to look at her for the first +time. The vision of my mirror stood before me, feature for feature, +there was no deception possible! I trembled to my innermost heart, as +you can imagine; but I discovered that there was not the slightest +echo even, in my heart, of the mad desire which had ruled me so +entirely when my breath drew out the magic picture from the glass. My +astonishment, or rather my terror, must have been apparent in my eyes. +The girl looked at me in such surprise that I endeavored to control +myself sufficiently to remark that I must have met her somewhere +before. Her short answer, to the effect that this could hardly be +possible, as she had come to the city only yesterday for the first time +in her life, bewildered me still more and threw me into an awkward +silence. The sweet glance from her gentle eyes brought back my courage, +and I began a tentative exploring of this new companion’s mind. I found +that I had before me a sweet and delicate being, suffering from some +psychic trouble. At a particularly merry turn of the conversation, +when I would throw in a daring word like a dash of pepper, she would +smile, but her smile was pained, as if a wound had been touched. “You +are not very merry to-night, Countess. Was it the visit this morning?” +An officer sitting near us had spoken these words to my companion, +but before he could finish his remarks his neighbor had grasped him +by the arm and whispered something in his ear, while a lady at the +other side of the table, with glowing cheeks and angry eyes, began to +talk loudly of the opera she had heard last evening. Tears came to the +eyes of the girl sitting beside me. “Am I not foolish?” She turned to +me. A few moments before she had complained of headache. “Merely the +usual evidences of a nervous headache,” I answered in an easy tone, +“and there is nothing better for it than the merry spirit which +bubbles in the foam of this poet’s nectar.” With these words I filled +her champagne glass, and she sipped at it as she threw me a look of +gratitude. Her mood brightened, and all would have been well had I not +touched a glass before me with unexpected strength, arousing from it a +shrill, high tone. My companion grew deadly pale, and I myself felt a +sudden shiver, for the sound had exactly the tone of the mad woman’s +voice in the deserted house. + +While we were drinking coffee I made an opportunity to get to the side +of Count P----. He understood the reason for my movement. “Do you know +that your neighbor is Countess Edwina S----? And do you know also that +it is her mother’s sister who lives in the deserted house, incurably +mad for many years? This morning both mother and daughter went to see +the unfortunate woman. The old steward, the only person who is able to +control the Countess in her outbreaks, is seriously ill, and they say +that the sister has finally revealed the secret to Dr. K----.” + +Dr. K---- was the physician to whom I had turned in my own anxiety, and +you can well imagine that I hurried to him as soon as I was free, and +told him all that had happened to me in the last days. I asked him to +tell me as much as he could about the mad woman, for my own peace of +mind; and this is what I learned from him under promise of secrecy. + +“Angelica, Countess Z----,” thus the doctor began, “had already passed +her thirtieth year, but was still in full possession of great beauty, +when Count S----, although much younger than she, became so fascinated +by her charm that he wooed her with ardent devotion and followed her +to her father’s home to try his luck there. But scarcely had the Count +entered the house, scarcely had he caught sight of Angelica’s younger +sister, Gabrielle, when he awoke as from a dream. The elder sister +appeared faded and colorless beside Gabrielle, whose beauty and charm +so enthralled the Count that he begged her hand of her father. Count +Z---- gave his consent easily, as there was no doubt of Gabrielle’s +feelings toward her suitor. Angelica did not show the slightest anger +at her lover’s faithlessness. “He believes that he has forsaken me, +the foolish boy! He does not perceive that he was but my toy, a toy +of which I had tired.” Thus she spoke in proud scorn, and not a look +or an action on her part belied her words. But after the ceremonious +betrothal of Gabrielle to Count S----, Angelica was seldom seen by +the members of her family. She did not appear at the dinner table, +and it was said that she spent most of her time walking alone in the +neighboring wood. + +“A strange occurrence disturbed the monotonous quiet of life in the +castle. The hunters of Count Z----, assisted by peasants from the +village, had captured a band of gypsies who were accused of several +robberies and murders which had happened recently in the neighborhood. +The men were brought to the castle court-yard, fettered together on +a long chain, while the women and children were packed on a cart. +Noticeable among the last was a tall, haggard old woman of terrifying +aspect, wrapped from head to foot in a red shawl. She stood upright in +the cart, and in an imperious tone demanded that she should be allowed +to descend. The guards were so awed by her manner and appearance that +they obeyed her at once. + +“Count Z---- came down to the courtyard and commanded that the gang +should be placed in the prisons under the castle. Suddenly Countess +Angelica rushed out of the door, her hair all loose, fear and anxiety +in her pale face. Throwing herself on her knees, she cried in a +piercing voice, ‘Let these people go! Let these people go! They are +innocent! Father, let these people go! If you shed one drop of their +blood I will pierce my heart with this knife!’ The Countess swung a +shining knife in the air and then sank swooning to the ground. ‘Yes, my +beautiful darling--my golden child--I knew you would not let them hurt +us,’ shrilled the old woman in red. She cowered beside the Countess +and pressed disgusting kisses to her face and breast, murmuring crazy +words. She took from out the recesses of her shawl a little vial in +which a tiny goldfish seemed to swim in some silver-clear liquid. +She held the vial to the Countess’s heart. The latter regained +consciousness immediately. When her eyes fell on the gypsy woman, she +sprang up, clasped the old creature ardently in her arms, and hurried +with her into the castle. + +“Count Z----, Gabrielle, and her lover, who had come out during this +scene, watched it in astonished awe. The gypsies appeared quite +indifferent. They were loosed from their chains and taken separately to +the prisons. Next morning Count Z---- called the villagers together. +The gypsies were led before them and the Count announced that he had +found them to be innocent of the crimes of which they were accused, +and that he would grant them free passage through his domains. To the +astonishment of all present, their fetters were struck off and they +were set at liberty. The red-shawled woman was not among them. It +was whispered that the gypsy captain, recognizable from the golden +chain about his neck and the red feather in his high Spanish hat, had +paid a secret visit to the Count’s room the night before. But it was +discovered a short time after the release of the gypsies, that they +were indeed guiltless of the robberies and murders that had disturbed +the district. + +“The date set for Gabrielle’s wedding approached. One day, to her great +astonishment, she saw several large wagons in the courtyard being +packed high with furniture, clothing, linen, with everything necessary +for a complete household outfit. The wagons were driven away, and the +following day Count Z---- explained that, for many reasons, he had +thought it best to grant Angelica’s odd request that she be allowed to +set up her own establishment in his house in X----. He had given the +house to her, and had promised her that no member of the family, not +even he himself, should enter it without her express permission. He +added also, that, at her urgent request, he had permitted his own valet +to accompany her, to take charge of her household. + +“When the wedding festivities were over, Count S---- and his bride +departed for their home, where they spent a year in cloudless +happiness. Then the Count’s health failed mysteriously. It was as +if some secret sorrow gnawed at his vitals, robbing him of joy and +strength. All efforts of his young wife to discover the source of +his trouble were fruitless. At last, when the constantly recurring +fainting spells threatened to endanger his very life, he yielded to the +entreaties of his physicians and left his home, ostensibly for Pisa. +His young wife was prevented from accompanying him by the delicate +condition of her own health. + +“And now,” said the doctor, “the information given me by Countess S---- +became, from this point on, so rhapsodical that a keen observer only +could guess at the true coherence of the story. Her baby, a daughter, +born during her husband’s absence, was spirited away from the house, +and all search for it was fruitless. Her grief at this loss deepened to +despair, when she received a message from her father stating that her +husband, whom all believed to be in Pisa, had been found dying of heart +trouble in Angelica’s home in X----, and that Angelica herself had +become a dangerous maniac. The old Count added that all this horror had +so shaken his own nerves that he feared he would not long survive it. + +“As soon as Gabrielle was able to leave her bed, she hurried to her +father’s castle. One night, prevented from sleeping by visions of the +loved ones she had lost, she seemed to hear a faint crying, like that +of an infant, before the door of her chamber. Lighting her candle she +opened the door. Great Heaven! there cowered the old gypsy woman, +wrapped in her red shawl, staring up at her with eyes that seemed +already glazing in death. In her arms she held a little child, whose +crying had aroused the Countess. Gabrielle’s heart beat high with +joy--it was her child--her lost daughter! She snatched the infant from +the gypsy’s arms, just as the woman fell at her feet lifeless. The +Countess’ screams awoke the house, but the gypsy was quite dead and no +effort to revive her met with success. + +“The old Count hurried to X---- to endeavor to discover something that +would throw light upon the mysterious disappearance and reappearance +of the child. Angelica’s madness had frightened away all her female +servants; the valet alone remained with her. She appeared at first to +have become quite calm and sensible. But when the Count told her the +story of Gabrielle’s child she clapped her hands and laughed aloud, +crying: ‘Did the little darling arrive? You buried her, you say? How +the feathers of the gold pheasant shine in the sun! Have you seen the +green lion with the fiery blue eyes?’ Horrified the Count perceived +that Angelica’s mind was gone beyond a doubt, and he resolved to take +her back with him to his estates, in spite of the warnings of his old +valet. At the mere suggestion of removing her from the house Angelica’s +ravings increased to such an extent as to endanger her own life and +that of the others. + +“When a lucid interval came again Angelica entreated her father, with +many tears, to let her live and die in the house she had chosen. +Touched by her terrible trouble, he granted her request, although he +believed the confession which slipped from her lips during this scene +to be a fantasy of her madness. She told him that Count S---- had +returned to her arms, and that the child which the gipsy had taken +to her father’s house was the fruit of their love. The rumor went +abroad in the city that Count Z---- had taken the unfortunate woman to +his home; but the truth was that she remained hidden in the deserted +house under the care of the valet. Count Z---- died a short time ago, +and Countess Gabrielle came here with her daughter Edwina to arrange +some family affairs. It was not possible for her to avoid seeing her +unfortunate sister. Strange things must have happened during this +visit, but the Countess has not confided anything to me, saying merely +that she had found it necessary to take the mad woman away from the +old valet. It had been discovered that he had controlled her outbreaks +by means of force and physical cruelty; and that also, allured by +Angelica’s assertions that she could make gold, he had allowed himself +to assist her in her weird operations. + +“I would be quite unnecessary,” thus the physician ended his story, +“to say anything more to you about the deeper inward relationship of +all these strange things. It is clear to my mind that it was you who +brought about the catastrophe, a catastrophe which will mean recovery +or speedy death for the sick woman. And now I will confess to you that +I was not a little alarmed, horrified, even, to discover that--when I +had set myself in magnetic communication with you by placing my hand on +your neck--I could see the picture in the mirror with my own eyes. We +both know now that the reflection in the glass was the face of Countess +Edwina.” + +I repeat Dr. K----’s words in saying that, to my mind also, there is +no further comment that can be made on all these facts. I consider it +equally unnecessary to discuss at any further length with you now the +mysterious relationship between Angelica, Edwina, the old valet, and +myself--a relationship which seemed the work of a malicious demon who +was playing his tricks with us. I will add only that I left the city +soon after all these events, driven from the place by an oppression I +could not shake off. The uncanny sensation left me suddenly a month or +so later, giving way to a feeling of intense relief that flowed through +all my veins with the warmth of an electric current. I am convinced +that this change within me came about in the moment when the mad woman +died. + + + + +THE ADELANTADO OF THE SEVEN CITIES + +[Attribution: From “Wolfert’s Roost.”] + +A LEGEND OF ST. BRANDAN, THE PHANTOM ISLE + +By WASHINGTON IRVING + + +In the early part of the fifteenth century, when Prince Henry of +Portugal was pushing the career of discovery along the western coast +of Africa, and the world was resounding with reports of golden regions +on the mainland, and new-found islands in the ocean, there arrived at +Lisbon an old bewildered pilot of the seas, who had been driven by +tempests, he knew not whither, and raved about an island far in the +deep, upon which he had landed, and which he had found peopled with +Christians and adorned with noble cities. + +The inhabitants, he said, having never before been visited by a ship, +gathered round, and regarded him with surprise. They told him they were +descendants of a band of Christians, who fled from Spain when that +country was conquered by the Moslems. They were curious about the state +of their fatherland, and grieved to hear that the Moslems still held +possession of the kingdom of Granada. They would have taken the old +navigator to church, to convince him of their orthodoxy; but, either +through lack of devotion, or lack of faith in their words, he declined +their invitation, and preferred to return on board of his ship. He was +properly punished. A furious storm arose, drove him from his anchorage, +hurried him out to sea, and he saw no more of the unknown island. + +This strange story caused great marvel in Lisbon and elsewhere. Those +versed in history remembered to have read, in an ancient chronicle, +that, at the time of the conquest of Spain, in the eighth century, when +the blessed cross was cast down and the crescent erected in its place, +and when Christian churches were turned into Moslem mosques, seven +bishops, at the head of seven bands of pious exiles, had fled from the +peninsula, and embarked in quest of some ocean island, or distant land, +where they might found seven Christian cities, and enjoy their faith +unmolested. + +The fate of these saints errant had hitherto remained a mystery, +and their story had faded from memory; the report of the old +tempest-tossed pilot, however, revived this long-forgotten theme; and +it was determined by the pious and enthusiastic that the island thus +accidentally discovered was the identical place of refuge whither the +wandering bishops had been guided by a protecting Providence, and where +they had folded their flocks. + +This most excitable of worlds has always some darling object of +chimerical enterprise; the “Island of the Seven Cities” now awakened as +much interest and longing among zealous Christians as has the renowned +city of Timbuctoo among adventurous travelers, or the Northeast passage +among hardy navigators; and it was a frequent prayer of the devout, +that these scattered and lost portions of the Christian family might be +discovered and reunited to the great body of Christendom. + +No one, however, entered into the matter with half the zeal of Don +Fernando de Ulmo, a young cavalier of high standing in the Portuguese +court, and of most sanguine and romantic temperament. He had recently +come to his estate, and had run the round of all kinds of pleasures and +excitements when this new theme of popular talk and wonder presented +itself. The Island of the Seven Cities became now the constant subject +of his thoughts by day and his dreams by night; it even rivaled his +passion for a beautiful girl, one of the greatest belles of Lisbon, to +whom he was betrothed. At length his imagination became so inflamed on +the subject, that he determined to fit out an expedition, at his own +expense, and set sail in quest of this sainted island. It could not +be a cruise of any great extent; for, according to the calculations +of the tempest-tossed pilot, it must be somewhere in the latitude +of the Canaries; which at that time, when the new world was as yet +undiscovered, formed the frontier of ocean enterprise. Don Fernando +applied to the crown for countenance and protection. As he was a +favorite at court, the usual patronage was readily extended to him; +that is to say, he received a commission from the king, Don Ioam II., +constituting him Adelantado, or military governor, of any country he +might discover, with the single proviso, that he should bear all the +expenses of the discovery, and pay a tenth of the profits to the crown. + +Don Fernando now set to work in the true spirit of a projector. He sold +acre after acre of solid land, and invested the proceeds in ships, +guns, ammunition, and sea-stores. Even his old family mansion in Lisbon +was mortgaged without scruple, for he looked forward to a palace in one +of the Seven Cities, of which he was to be Adelantado. This was the +age of nautical romance, when the thoughts of all speculative dreamers +were turned to the ocean. The scheme of Don Fernando, therefore, drew +adventurers of every kind. + +One person alone regarded the whole project with sovereign contempt +and growing hostility. This was Don Ramiro Alvarez, the father of the +beautiful Serafina, to whom Don Fernando was betrothed. He was one +of those perverse, matter-of-fact old men, who are prone to oppose +everything speculative and romantic. He had no faith in the Island of +the Seven Cities; regarded the projected cruise as a crack-brained +freak; looked with angry eye and internal heart-burning on the conduct +of his intended son-in-law, chaffering away solid lands for lands in +the moon; and scoffingly dubbed him Adelantado of Cloud Land. In fact, +he had never really relished the intended match, to which his consent +had been slowly extorted by the tears and entreaties of his daughter. +It is true he could have no reasonable objections to the youth, for Don +Fernando was the very flower of Portuguese chivalry. No one could excel +him at the tilting match, or the riding at the ring; none was more bold +and dexterous in the bull fight; none composed more gallant madrigals +in praise of his lady’s charms, or sang them with sweeter tones to the +accompaniment of her guitar; nor could any one handle the castanets +and dance the bolero with more captivating grace. All these admirable +qualities and endowments, however, though they had been sufficient to +win the heart of Serafina, were nothing in the eyes of her unreasonable +father. + +The engagement to Serafina had threatened at first to throw an obstacle +in the way of the expedition of Don Fernando, and for a time perplexed +him in the extreme. He was passionately attached to the young lady; +but he was also passionately bent on this romantic enterprise. How +should he reconcile the two passionate inclinations? A simple and +obvious arrangement at length presented itself,--marry Serafina, enjoy +a portion of the honeymoon at once, and defer the rest until his return +from the discovery of the Seven Cities! + +He hastened to make known this most excellent arrangement to Don +Ramiro, when the long smothered wrath of the old cavalier burst forth. +He reproached him with being the dupe of wandering vagabonds and wild +schemers, and with squandering all his real possession, in pursuit of +empty bubbles. Don Fernando was too sanguine a projector, and too young +a man, to listen tamely to such language. A high quarrel ensued; Don +Ramiro pronounced him a madman, and forbade all farther intercourse +with his daughter until he should give proof of returning sanity by +abandoning this madcap enterprise; while Don Fernando flung out of +the house, more bent than ever on the expedition, from the idea of +triumphing over the incredulity of the graybeard, when he should return +successful. Don Ramiro’s heart misgave him. Who knows, thought he, but +this crack-brained visionary may persuade my daughter to elope with +him, and share his throne in this unknown paradise of fools? If I could +only keep her safe until his ships are fairly out at sea! + +He repaired to her apartment, represented to her the sanguine, unsteady +character of her lover and the chimerical value of his schemes, and +urged the propriety of suspending all intercourse with him until he +should recover from his present hallucination. She bowed her head +as if in filial acquiescence, whereupon he folded her to his bosom +with parental fondness and kissed away a tear that was stealing over +her cheek, but as he left the chamber quietly turned the key in the +lock; for though he was a fond father and had a high opinion of the +submissive temper of his child, he had a still higher opinion of the +conservative virtues of lock and key, and determined to trust to them +until the caravels should sail. Whether the damsel had been in anywise +shaken in her faith as to the schemes of her father’s eloquence, +tradition does not say; but certain it is, that, the moment she heard +the key turn in the lock, she became a firm believer in the Island of +the Seven Cities. + +The door was locked; but her will was unconfined. A window of the +chamber opened into one of those stone balconies, secured by iron bars, +which project like huge cages from Portuguese and Spanish houses. +Within this balcony the beautiful Serafina had her birds and flowers, +and here she was accustomed to sit on moonlight nights as in a bower, +and touch her guitar and sing like a wakeful nightingale. From this +balcony an intercourse was now maintained between the lovers, against +which the lock and key of Don Ramiro were of no avail. All day would +Fernando be occupied hurrying the equipments of his ships, but evening +found him in sweet discourse beneath his lady’s window. + +At length the preparations were completed. Two gallant caravels lay at +anchor in the Tagus ready to sail at sunrise. Late at night by the pale +light of a waning moon the lover had his last interview. The beautiful +Serafina was sad at heart and full of dark forebodings; her lover full +of hope and confidence. “A few short months,” said he, “and I shall +return in triumph. Thy father will then blush at his incredulity, and +hasten to welcome to his house the Adelantado of the Seven Cities.” + +The gentle lady shook her head. It was not on this point she felt +distrust. She was a thorough believer in the Island of the Seven +Cities, and so sure of the success of the enterprise that she might +have been tempted to join it had not the balcony been high and the +grating strong. Other considerations induced that dubious shaking +of the head. She had heard of the inconstancy of the seas, and the +inconstancy of those who roam them. Might not Fernando meet with other +loves in foreign ports? Might not some peerless beauty in one or other +of those Seven Cities efface the image of Serafina from his mind? + +She ventured to express her doubt, but he spurned at the very idea. +“What! be false to Serafina! He bow at the shrine of another beauty? +Never! Never!” Repeatedly did he bend his knee, and smite his breast, +and call upon the silver moon to witness his sincerity and truth. + +He retorted the doubt, “Might not Serafina herself forget her plighted +faith? Might not some wealthier rival present himself while he was +tossing on the sea; and, backed by her father’s wishes, win the +treasure of her hand!” + +The beautiful Serafina raised her white arms between the iron bars +of the balcony, and, like her lover, invoked the moon to testify her +vows. Alas! how little did Fernando know her heart. The more her father +should oppose, the more would she be fixed in faith. Though years +should intervene, Fernando on his return would find her true. Even +should the salt sea swallow him up, never would she be the wife of +another! Never, _never_, NEVER! She drew from her finger a ring gemmed +with a ruby heart, and dropped it from the balcony, a parting pledge +of constancy. + +With the morning dawn the caravels dropped down the Tagus, and put +to sea. They steered for the Canaries, in those days the regions +of nautical discovery and romance, and the outposts of the known +world, for as yet Columbus had not steered his daring barks across +the ocean. Scarce had they reached those latitudes when they were +separated by a violent tempest. For many days was the caravel of Don +Fernando driven about at the mercy of the elements; all seamanship was +baffled, destruction seemed inevitable and the crew were in despair. +All at once the storm subsided; the ocean sank into a calm; the clouds +which had veiled the face of heaven were suddenly withdrawn, and the +tempest-tossed mariners beheld a fair and mountainous island, emerging +as if by enchantment from the murky gloom. They rubbed their eyes and +gazed for a time almost incredulously, yet there lay the island spread +out in lovely landscapes, with the late stormy sea laving its shores +with peaceful billows. + +The pilot of the caravel consulted his maps and charts; no island like +the one before him was laid down as existing in those parts; it is true +he had lost his reckoning in the late storm, but, according to his +calculations, he could not be far from the Canaries; and this was not +one of that group of islands. The caravel now lay perfectly becalmed +off the mouth of a river, on the banks of which, about a league from +the sea, was descried a noble city, with lofty walls and towers, and a +protecting castle. + +After a time, a stately barge with sixteen oars was seen emerging from +the river, and approaching the caravel. It was quaintly carved and +gilt; the oarsmen were clad in antique garb, their oars painted of a +bright crimson, and they came slowly and solemnly, keeping time as they +rowed to the cadence of an old Spanish ditty. Under a silken canopy in +the stern, sat a cavalier richly clad, and over his head was a banner +bearing the sacred emblem of the cross. + +When the barge reached the caravel, the cavalier stepped on board. He +was tall and gaunt; with a long Spanish visage, moustaches that curled +up to his eyes, and a forked beard. He wore gauntlets reaching to his +elbows, a Toledo blade strutting out behind, with a basket hilt, in +which he carried his handkerchief. His air was lofty and precise, and +bespoke indisputably the hidalgo. Thrusting out a long spindle leg, he +took off a huge sombrero, and swaying it until the feather swept the +ground, accosted Don Fernando in the old Castilian language, and with +the old Castilian courtesy, welcoming him to the Island of the Seven +Cities. + +Don Fernando was overwhelmed with astonishment. Could this be true? Had +he really been tempest-driven to the very land of which he was in quest? + +It was even so. That very day the inhabitants were holding high +festival in commemoration of the escape of their ancestors from the +Moors. The arrival of the caravel at such a juncture was considered +a good omen, the accomplishment of an ancient prophecy through which +the island was to be restored to the great community of Christendom. +The cavalier before him was grand chamberlain, sent by the alcayde to +invite him to the festivities of the capital. + +Don Fernando could scarce believe that this was not all a dream. He +had known his name and the object of his voyage. The grand chamberlain +declared that all was in perfect accordance with the ancient prophecy, +and that the moment his credentials were presented, he would be +acknowledged as the Adelantado of the Seven Cities. In the meantime +the day was waning; the barge was ready to convey him to the land, and +would as assuredly bring him back. + +Don Fernando’s pilot, a veteran of the seas, drew him aside and +expostulated against his venturing, on the mere word of a stranger, to +land in a strange barge on an unknown shore. “Who knows, Señor, what +land this is, or what people inhabit it?” + +Don Fernando was not to be dissuaded. Had he not believed in this +island when all the world doubted? Had he not sought it in defiance +of storm and tempest, and was he now to shrink from its shores when +they lay before him in calm weather? In a word, was not faith the very +corner-stone of his enterprise? + +Having arrayed himself, therefore, in gala dress befitting the +occasion, he took his seat in the barge. The grand chamberlain seated +himself opposite. The rowers plied their oars, and renewed the +mournful old ditty, and the gorgeous but unwieldly barge moved slowly +through the water. + +The night closed in before they entered the river, and swept along past +rock and promontory, each guarded by its tower. At every post they were +challenged by the sentinel. + +“Who goes there?” + +“The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.” + +“Welcome, Señor Adelantado. Pass on.” + +Entering the harbor they rowed close by an armed galley of ancient +form. Soldiers with crossbows patroled the deck. + +“Who goes there?” + +“The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.” + +“Welcome, Señor Adelantado. Pass on.” + +They landed at a broad flight of stone steps, leading up between two +massive towers, and knocked at the water-gate. A sentinel, in ancient +steel casque, looked from the barbican. + +“Who is there?” + +“The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.” + +“Welcome, Señor Adelantado.” + +The gate swung open, grating upon rusty hinges. They entered between +two rows of warriors in Gothic armor, with crossbows, maces, +battle-axes, and faces old-fashioned as their armor. There were +processions through the streets, in commemoration of the landing of the +seven bishops and their followers, and bonfires at which effigies of +Moors expiated their invasion of Christendom by a kind of auto-da-fé. +The groups round the fires, uncouth in their attire, looked like the +fantastic figures that roam the streets in carnival time. Even the +dames who gazed down from Gothic balconies hung with antique tapestry, +resembled effigies dressed up in Christmas mummeries. Everything, in +short, bore the stamp of former ages, as if the world had suddenly +rolled back for several centuries. Nor was this to be wondered at. +Had not the Island of the Seven Cities been cut off from the rest of +the world for several hundred years; and were not these the modes and +customs of Gothic Spain before it was conquered by the Moors? + +Arrived at the palace of the alcayde, the grand chamberlain knocked at +the portal. The porter looked through a wicket, and demanded who was +there. + +“The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.” + +The portal was thrown wide open. The grand chamberlain led the way up +a vast, heavily molded, marble staircase, and into a hall of ceremony, +where was the alcayde with several of the principal dignitaries of the +city, who had a marvelous resemblance, in form and feature, to the +quaint figures in old illuminated manuscripts. + +The grand chamberlain stepped forward and announced the name and title +of the stranger guest, and the extraordinary nature of his mission. The +announcement appeared to create no extraordinary emotion or surprise, +but to be received as the anticipated fulfilment of a prophecy. + +The reception of Don Fernando, however, was profoundly gracious, though +in the same style of stately courtesy which everywhere prevailed. He +would have produced his credentials, but this was courteously declined. +The evening was devoted to high festivity; the following day, when he +should enter the port with his caravel, would be devoted to business, +when the credentials would be received in due form, and he inducted +into office as Adelantado of the Seven Cities. + +Don Fernando was now conducted through one of those interminable suites +of apartments, the pride of Spanish palaces, all furnished in a style +of obsolete magnificence. In a vast saloon, blazing with tapers, was +assembled all the aristocracy and fashion of the city,--stately dames +and cavaliers, the very counterpart of the figures in the tapestry +which decorated the walls. Fernando gazed in silent marvel. It was a +reflex of the proud aristocracy of Spain in the time of Roderick the +Goth. + +The festivities of the evening were all in the style of solemn and +antiquated ceremonial. There was a dance, but it was as if the old +tapestry were put in motion, and all the figures moving in stately +measure about the floor. There was one exception, and one that +told powerfully upon the susceptible Adalantado. The alcayde’s +daughter--such a ripe, melting beauty! Her dress, it is true, like +the dresses of her neighbors, might have been worn before the flood, +but she had the black Andalusian eye, a glance of which, through its +long dark lashes, is irresistible. Her voice, too, her manner, her +undulating movements, all smacked of Andalusia, and showed how female +charms may be transmitted from age to age, and clime to clime, without +ever going out of fashion. + +Don Fernando sat beside her at the banquet! such an old-world feast! +such obsolete dainties! At the head of the table the peacock, that +bird of state and ceremony, was served up in full plumage on a golden +dish. As Don Fernando cast his eyes down the glittering board, what a +vista presented itself of odd heads and head-dresses; of formal bearded +dignitaries, and stately dames, with castellated locks and towering +plumes! Is it to be wondered at that he should turn with delight from +these antiquated figures to the alcayde’s daughter, all smiles and +dimples, and melting looks and melting accents? Besides, he was in a +particularly excitable mood from the novelty of the scene before him, +from this realization of all his hopes and fancies, and from frequent +draughts of the wine-cup, presented to him at every moment by officious +pages during the banquet. + +In a word--there is no concealing the matter--before the evening was +over, Don Fernando was making love outright to the alcayde’s daughter. +They had wandered together to a moon-lit balcony of the palace, and he +was charming her ear with one of those love-ditties with which, in a +like balcony, he had serenaded the beautiful Serafina. + +The damsel hung her head coyly. “Ah! Señor, these are flattering words; +but you cavaliers, who roam the seas, are unsteady as its waves. +To-morrow you will be throned in state, Adelantado of the Seven +Cities; and will think no more of the alcayde’s daughter.” + +Don Fernando in the intoxication of the moment called the moon to +witness his sincerity. As he raised his hand in adjuration, the chaste +moon cast a ray upon the ring that sparkled on his finger. It caught +the damsel’s eye. “Signor Adelantado,” said she archly, “I have no +great faith in the moon, but give me that ring upon your finger in +pledge of the truth of what you profess.” + +The gallant Adelantado was taken by surprise; there was no parrying +this sudden appeal; before he had time to reflect, the ring of the +beautiful Serafina glittered on the finger of the alcayde’s daughter. + +At this eventful moment the chamberlain approached with lofty demeanor, +and announced that the barge was waiting to bear him back to the +caravel. I forbear to relate the ceremonious partings with the alcayde +and his dignitaries, and the tender farewell of the alcayde’s daughter. +He took his seat in the barge opposite the grand chamberlain. The +rowers plied their crimson oars in the same slow and stately manner, +to the cadence of the same mournful old ditty. His brain was in a +whirl with all that he had seen, and his heart now and then gave him +a twinge as he thought of his temporary infidelity to the beautiful +Serafina. The barge sallied out into the sea, but no caravel was to be +seen; doubtless she had been carried to a distance by the current of +the river. The oarsmen rowed on; their monotonous chant had a lulling +effect. A drowsy influence crept over Don Fernando. Objects swam before +his eyes. The oarsmen assumed odd shapes as in a dream. The grand +chamberlain grew larger and larger, and taller and taller. He took off +his huge sombrero, and held it over the head of Don Fernando, like an +extinguisher over a candle. The latter cowered beneath it; he felt +himself sinking in the socket. + +“Good night! Señor Adelantado of the Seven Cities!” said the grand +chamberlain. + +The sombrero slowly descended--Don Fernando was extinguished! + +How long he remained extinct no mortal man can tell. When he returned +to consciousness, he found himself in a strange cabin, surrounded by +strangers. He rubbed his eyes, and looked round him wildly. Where +was he?--On board a Portuguese ship, bound to Lisbon. How came he +there?--He had been taken senseless from a wreck drifting about the +ocean. + +Don Fernando was more and more confounded and perplexed. He recalled, +one by one, everything that had happened to him in the Island of the +Seven Cities, until he had been extinguished by the sombrero of the +grand chamberlain. But what had happened to him since? What had become +of his caravel? Was it the wreck of her on which he had been found +floating? + +The people about him could give no information on the subject. He +entreated them to take him to the Island of the Seven Cities, which +could not be far off; told them all that had befallen him there; that +he had but to land to be received as Adelantado; when he would reward +them magnificently for their services. + +They regarded his words as the ravings of delirium, and in their honest +solicitude for the restoration of his reason, administered such rough +remedies that he was fain to drop the subject and observe a cautious +taciturnity. + +At length they arrived in the Tagus, and anchored before the famous +city of Lisbon. Don Fernando sprang joyfully on shore, and hastened +to his ancestral mansion. A strange porter opened the door, who knew +nothing of him or his family; no people of the name had inhabited the +house for many a year. + +He sought the mansion of Don Ramiro. He approached the balcony beneath +which he had bidden farewell to Serafina. Did his eyes deceive him? No! +There was Serafina herself among the flowers in the balcony. He raised +his arms toward her with an exclamation of rapture. She cast upon him a +look of indignation, and hastily retiring, closed the casement with a +slam that testified her displeasure. + +Could she have heard of his flirtation with the alcayde’s daughter? But +that was mere transient gallantry. A moment’s interview would dispel +every doubt of his constancy. + +He rang at the door; as it was opened by the porter he rushed +up-stairs; sought the well-known chamber, and threw himself at the feet +of Serafina. She started back with affright, and took refuge in the +arms of a youthful cavalier. + +“What mean you, Señor,” cried the latter, “by this intrusion?” + +“What right have you to ask the question?” demanded Don Fernando +fiercely. + +“The right of an affianced suitor!” + +Don Fernando started and turned pale. “Oh, Serafina! Serafina!” cried +he, in a tone of agony; “is this thy plighted constancy?” + +“Serafina? What mean you by Serafina, Señor? If this be the lady you +intend, her name is Maria.” + +“May I not believe my senses? May I not believe my heart?” cried Don +Fernando. “Is not this Serafina Alvarez, the original of yon portrait, +which, less fickle than herself, still smiles on me from the wall?” + +“Holy Virgin!” cried the young lady, casting her eyes upon the +portrait. “He is talking of my great-grand-mother!” + +An explanation ensued, if that could be called an explanation which +plunged the unfortunate Fernando into tenfold perplexity. If he might +believe his eyes, he saw before him his beloved Serafina; if he might +believe his ears, it was merely her hereditary form and features, +perpetuated in the person of her great-granddaughter. + +His brain began to spin. He sought the office of the Minister of +Marine, and made a report of his expedition, and of the Island of the +Seven Cities, which he had so fortunately discovered. Nobody knew +anything of such an expedition, or such an island. He declared that he +had undertaken the enterprise under a formal contract with the crown, +and had received a regular commission, constituting him Adelantado. +This must be matter of record, and he insisted loudly that the books +of the department should be consulted. The wordy strife at length +attracted the attention of an old gray-headed clerk, who sat perched +on a high stool, at a high desk, with iron-rimmed spectacles on the +top of a thin, pinched nose, copying records into an enormous folio. +He had wintered and summered in the department for a great part of a +century, until he had almost grown to be a piece of the desk at which +he sat; his memory was a mere index of official facts and documents, +and his brain was little better than red tape and parchment. After +peering down for a time from his lofty perch, and ascertaining the +matter in controversy, he put his pen behind his ear, and descended. +He remembered to have heard something from his predecessor about an +expedition of the kind in question, but then it had sailed during the +reign of Don Ioam II., and he had been dead at least a hundred years. +To put the matter beyond dispute, however, the archives of the Tore +do Tombo, that sepulchre of old Portuguese documents, were diligently +searched, and a record was found of a contract between the crown and +one Fernando de Ulmo, for the discovery of the Island of the Seven +Cities, and of a commission secured to him as Adelantado of the country +he might discover. + +“There!” cried Don Fernando, triumphantly, “there you have proof, +before your own eyes, of what I have said. I am the Fernando de Ulmo +specified in that record. I have discovered the Island of the Seven +Cities, and am entitled to be Adelantado, according to contract.” + +The story of Don Fernando had certainly, what is pronounced the best +of historical foundation, documentary evidence; but when a man, in the +bloom of youth, talked of events that had taken place above a century +previously, as having happened to himself, it is no wonder that he was +set down for a madman. + +The old clerk looked at him from above and below his spectacles, +shrugged his shoulders, stroked his chin, reascended his lofty +stool, took the pen from behind his ears, and resumed his daily and +eternal task, copying records into the fiftieth volume of a series of +gigantic folios. The other clerks winked, at each other shrewdly, and +dispersed to their several places, and poor Don Fernando, thus left to +himself, flung out of the office, almost driven wild by these repeated +perplexities. + +In the confusion of his mind, he instinctively repaired to the mansion +of Alvarez, but it was barred against him. To break the delusion under +which the youth apparently labored, and to convince him that the +Serafina about whom he raved was really dead, he was conducted to her +tomb. There she lay, a stately matron, cut out in alabaster; and there +lay her husband beside her, a portly cavalier, in armor; and there +knelt on each side, the effigies of a numerous progeny. Even the very +monument gave evidence of the lapse of time; the hands of her husband, +folded as if in prayer, had lost their fingers, and the face of the +once lovely Serafina was without a nose. + +Don Fernando felt a transient glow of indignation at beholding this +monumental proof of the inconstancy of his mistress; but who could +expect a mistress to remain constant during a whole century of absence? +And what right had he to rail about constancy, after what had passed +between himself and the alcayde’s daughter? The unfortunate cavalier +performed one pious act of tender devotion; he had the alabaster nose +of Serafina restored by a skillful statuary, and then tore himself from +the tomb. + +He could now no longer doubt the fact that, somehow or other, he had +skipped over a whole century, during the night he had spent at the +Island of the Seven Cities; and he was now as complete a stranger in +his native city, as if he had never been there. A thousand times did he +wish himself back to that wonderful island, with its antiquated banquet +halls, where he had been so courteously received; and now that the +once young and beautiful Serafina was nothing but a great-grandmother +in marble, with generations of descendants, a thousand times would he +recall the melting black eyes of the alcayde’s daughter, who doubtless, +like himself, was still flourishing in fresh juvenility, and breathe a +secret wish that he was seated by her side. + +He would at once have set on foot another expedition, at his own +expense, to cruise in search of the sainted island, but his means +were exhausted. He endeavored to rouse others to the enterprise, +setting forth the certainty of profitable results, of which his own +experience furnished such unquestionable proof. Alas! no one would +give faith to his tale; but looked upon it as the feverish dream of +a shipwrecked man. He persisted in his efforts; holding forth in all +places and all companies, until he became an object of jest and jeer +to the light-minded, who mistook his earnest enthusiasm for a proof of +insanity; and the very children in the streets bantered him with the +title of “The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.” + +Finding all efforts in vain, in his native city of Lisbon, he took +shipping for the Canaries, as being nearer the latitude of his former +cruise, and inhabited by people given to nautical adventure. Here he +found ready listeners to his story; for the old pilots and mariners of +those parts were notorious island-hunters, and devout believers in all +the wonders of the seas. Indeed, one and all treated his adventure as a +common occurrence, and turning to each other, with a sagacious nod of +the head, observed, “He has been at the island of St. Brandan.” + +They then went on to inform him of that great marvel and enigma of the +ocean; of its repeated appearance to the inhabitants of their islands; +and of the many but ineffectual expeditions that had been made in +search of it. They took him to a promontory of the island of Palma, +whence the shadowy St. Brandan had oftenest been descried, and they +pointed out the very tract in the west where its mountains had been +seen. + +Don Fernando listened with rapt attention. He had no longer a doubt +that this mysterious and fugacious island must be the same with that of +the Seven Cities; and that some supernatural influence connected with +it had operated upon himself, and made the events of a night occupy the +space of a century. + +He endeavored, but in vain, to rouse the islanders to another +attempt at discovery; they had given up the phantom island as indeed +inaccessible. Fernando, however, was not to be discouraged. The +idea wore itself deeper and deeper in his mind, until it became the +engrossing subject of his thoughts and object of his being. Every +morning he would repair to the promontory of Palma, and sit there +throughout the livelong day, in hopes of seeing the fairy mountains of +St. Brandan peering above the horizon; every evening he returned to his +home, a disappointed man, but ready to resume his post on the following +morning. + +His assiduity was all in vain. He grew gray in his ineffectual attempt; +and was at length found dead at his post. His grave is still shown in +the island of Palma, and a cross is erected on the spot where he used +to sit and look out upon the sea, in hopes of the reappearance of the +phantom island. + + + + +THE PIPE + +ANONYMOUS + + +I + + “RANDOLPH CRESCENT, N. W. + + “MY DEAR PUGH--I hope you will like the pipe which I send with this. + It is rather a curious example of a certain school of Indian carving. + And is a present from + + “Yours truly, JOSEPH TRESS.” + +It was really very handsome of Tress--very handsome! The more +especially as I was aware that to give presents was not exactly in +Tress’s line. The truth is that when I saw what manner of pipe it +was, I was amazed. It was contained in a sandalwood box, which was +itself illustrated with some remarkable specimens of carving. I use +the word “remarkable” advisedly, because, although the workmanship was +undoubtedly, in its way, artistic, the result could not be described +as beautiful. The carver had thought proper to ornament the box with +some of the ugliest figures I remember to have seen. They appeared to +me to be devils. Or perhaps they were intended to represent deities +appertaining to some mythological system with which, thank goodness, +I am unacquainted. The pipe itself was worthy of the case in which it +was contained. It was of meerschaum, with an amber mouthpiece. It was +rather too large for ordinary smoking. But then, of course, one doesn’t +smoke a pipe like that. There are pipes in my collection which I should +as soon think of smoking as I should of eating. Ask a china maniac to +let you have afternoon tea out of his Old Chelsea, and you will learn +some home truths as to the durability of human friendships. The glory +of the pipe, as Tress had suggested, lay in its carving. Not that I +claim that it was beautiful, any more than I make such a claim for the +carving on the box, but, as Tress said in his note, it was curious. + +The stem and the bowl were quite plain, but on the edge of the bowl was +perched some kind of lizard. I told myself it was an octopus when I +first saw it, but I have since had reason to believe that it was some +almost unique member of the lizard tribe. The creature was represented +as climbing over the edge of the bowl down toward the stem, and its +legs, or feelers, or tentacula, or whatever the things are called, +were, if I may use a vulgarism, sprawling about “all over the place.” +For instance, two or three of them were twined about the bowl, two or +three of them were twisted round the stem, and one, a particularly +horrible one, was uplifted in the air, so that if you put the pipe in +your mouth the thing was pointing straight at your nose. + +Not the least agreeable feature about the creature was that it was +hideously lifelike. It appeared to have been carved in amber, but +some coloring matter must have been introduced, for inside the amber +the creature was of a peculiarly ghastly green. The more I examined +the pipe the more amazed I was at Tress’s generosity. He and I are +rival collectors. I am not going to say, in so many words, that his +collection of pipes contains nothing but rubbish, because, as a matter +of fact, he has two or three rather decent specimens. But to compare +his collection to mine would be absurd. Tress is conscious of this, +and he resents it to such an extent that he has been known, at least +on one occasion, to declare that one single pipe of his--I believe he +alluded to the Brummagem relic preposterously attributed to Sir Walter +Raleigh--was worth the whole of my collection put together. Although +I have forgiven this, as I hope I always shall forgive remarks made +when envious passions get the better of our nobler nature, even of a +Joseph Tress, it is not to be supposed that I have forgotten it. He +was, therefore, not at all the sort of person from whom I expected to +receive a present. And such a present! I do not believe that he himself +had a finer pipe in his collection. And to have given it to me! I had +misjudged the man. I wondered where he had got it from. I had seen his +pipes; I knew them off by heart--and some nice trumpery he has among +them, too! but I had never seen _that_ pipe before. The more I looked +at it, the more my amazement grew. The beast perched upon the edge of +the bowl was so lifelike. Its two bead-like eyes seemed to gleam at me +with positively human intelligence. The pipe fascinated me to such an +extent that I actually resolved to--smoke it! + +I filled it with Perique. Ordinarily I use Birdseye, but on those +very rare occasions on which I use a specimen I smoke Perique. I lit +up with quite a small sensation of excitement. As I did so I kept my +eyes perforce fixed upon the beast. The beast pointed its upraised +tentacle directly at me. As I inhaled the pungent tobacco that +tentacle impressed me with a feeling of actual uncanniness. It was +broad daylight, and I was smoking in front of the window, yet to such +an extent was I affected that it seemed to me that the tentacle was +not only vibrating, which, owing to the peculiarity of its position, +was quite within the range of probability, but actually moving, +elongating--stretching forward, that is, farther toward me, and toward +the tip of my nose. So impressed was I by this idea that I took the +pipe out of my mouth and minutely examined the beast. Really, the +delusion was excusable. So cunningly had the artist wrought that he +succeeded in producing a creature which, such was its uncanniness, I +could only hope had no original in nature. + +Replacing the pipe between my lips I took several whiffs. Never had +smoking had such an effect on me before. Either the pipe, or the +creature on it, exercised some singular fascination. I seemed, without +an instant’s warning, to be passing into some land of dreams. I saw the +beast, which was perched upon the bowl, writhe and twist. I saw it lift +itself bodily from the meerschaum. + + +II + +“Feeling better now?” + +I looked up. Joseph Tress was speaking. + +“What’s the matter? Have I been ill?” + +“You appear to have been in some kind of swoon.” + +Tress’s tone was peculiar, even a little dry. + +“Swoon! I never was guilty of such a thing in my life.” + +“Nor was I, until I smoked that pipe.” + +I sat up. The act of sitting up made me conscious of the fact that I +had been lying down. Conscious, too, that I was feeling more than a +little dazed. It seemed as though I was waking out of some strange, +lethargic sleep--a kind of feeling which I have read of and heard +about, but never before experienced. + +“Where am I?” + +“You’re on the couch in your own room. You _were_ on the floor; but +I thought it would be better to pick you up and place you on the +couch--though no one performed the same kind office to me when I was on +the floor.” + +Again Tress’s tone was distinctly dry. + +“How came _you_ here?” + +“Ah, that’s the question.” He rubbed his chin--a habit of his which has +annoyed me more than once before. “Do you think you’re sufficiently +recovered to enable you to understand a little simple explanation?” I +stared at him, amazed. He went on stroking his chin. “The truth is +that when I sent you the pipe I made a slight omission.” + +“An omission?” + +“I omitted to advise you not to smoke it.” + +“And why?” + +“Because--well, I’ve reason to believe the thing is drugged.” + +“Drugged!” + +“Or poisoned.” + +“Poisoned!” I was wide awake enough then. I jumped off the couch with a +celerity which proved it. + +“It is this way. I became its owner in rather a singular manner.” He +paused, as if for me to make a remark; but I was silent. “It is not +often that I smoke a specimen, but, for some reason, I did smoke this. +I commenced to smoke it, that is. How long I continued to smoke it is +more than I can say. It had on me the same peculiar effect which it +appears to have had on you. When I recovered consciousness I was lying +on the floor.” + +“On the floor?” + +“On the floor. In about as uncomfortable a position as you can easily +conceive. I was lying face downward, with my legs bent under me. I was +never so surprised in my life as I was when I found myself _where_ I +was. At first I supposed that I had had a stroke. But by degrees it +dawned upon me that I didn’t _feel_ as though I had had a stroke.” +Tress, by the way, has been an army surgeon. “I was conscious of +distinct nausea. Looking about, I saw the pipe. With me it had fallen +on to the floor. I took it for granted, considering the delicacy of the +carving, that the fall had broken it. But when I picked it up I found +it quite uninjured. While I was examining it a thought flashed to my +brain. Might it not be answerable for what had happened to me? Suppose, +for instance, it was drugged? I had heard of such things. Besides, in +my case were present all the symptoms of drug poisoning, though what +drug had been used I couldn’t in the least conceive. I resolved that I +would give the pipe another trial.” + +“On yourself? or on another party, meaning me?” + +“On myself, my dear Pugh--on myself! At that point of my investigations +I had not begun to think of you. I lit up and had another smoke.” + +“With what result?” + +“Well, that depends on the standpoint from which you regard the thing. +From one point of view the result was wholly satisfactory--I proved +that the thing was drugged, and more.” + +“Did you have another fall?” + +“I did. And something else besides.” + +“On that account, I presume, you resolved to pass the treasure on to +me?” + +“Partly on that account, and partly on another.” + +“On my word, I appreciate your generosity. You might have labeled the +thing as poison.” + +“Exactly. But then you must remember how often you have told me that +you _never_ smoke your specimens.” + +“That was no reason why you shouldn’t have given me a hint that the +thing was more dangerous than dynamite.” + +“That did occur to me afterwards. Therefore I called to supply the +slight omission.” + +“_Slight_ omission, you call it! I wonder what you would have called it +if you had found me dead.” + +“If I had known that you _intended_ smoking it I should not have been +at all surprised if I had.” + +“Really, Tress, I appreciate your kindness more and more! And where +is this example of your splendid benevolence? Have you pocketed it, +regretting your lapse into the unaccustomed paths of generosity? Or is +it smashed to atoms?” + +“Neither the one nor the other. You will find the pipe upon the table. +I neither desire its restoration nor is it in any way injured. It +is merely an expression of personal opinion when I say that I don’t +believe that it _could_ be injured. Of course, having discovered its +deleterious properties, you will not want to smoke it again. You will +therefore be able to enjoy the consciousness of being the possessor of +what I honestly believe to be the most remarkable pipe in existence. +Good day, Pugh.” + +He was gone before I could say a word. I immediately concluded, from +the precipitancy of his flight, that the pipe _was_ injured. But when I +subjected it to close examination I could discover no signs of damage. +While I was still eyeing it with jealous scrutiny the door reopened, +and Tress came in again. + +“By the way, Pugh, there is one thing I might mention, especially as I +know it won’t make any difference to you.” + +“That depends on what it is. If you have changed your mind, and want +the pipe back again, I tell you frankly that it won’t. In my opinion, a +thing once given is given for good.” + +“Quite so; I don’t want it back again. You may make your mind easy on +that point. I merely wanted to tell you _why_ I gave it you.” + +“You have told me that already.” + +“Only partly, my dear Pugh--only partly. You don’t suppose I should +have given you such a pipe as that merely because it happened to be +drugged? Scarcely! I gave it you because I discovered from indisputable +evidence, and to my cost, that it was haunted.” + +“Haunted?” + +“Yes, haunted. Good day.” + +He was gone again. I ran out of the room, and shouted after him down +the stairs. He was already at the bottom of the flight. + +“Tress! Come back! What do you mean by talking such nonsense?” + +“Of course it’s only nonsense. We know that that sort of thing always +is nonsense. But if you should have reason to suppose that there is +something in it besides nonsense, you may think it worth your while +to make inquiries of me. But I won’t have that pipe back again in my +possession on any terms--mind that!” + +The bang of the front door told me that he had gone out into the +street. I let him go. I laughed to myself as I reëntered the room. +Haunted! That was not a bad idea of his. I saw the whole position at a +glance. The truth of the matter was that he did regret his generosity, +and he was ready to go any lengths if he could only succeed in cajoling +me into restoring his gift. He was aware that I have views upon certain +matters which are not wholly in accordance with those which are +popularly supposed to be the views of the day, and particularly that +on the question of what are commonly called supernatural visitations I +have a standpoint of my own. Therefore, it was not a bad move on his +part to try to make me believe that about the pipe on which he knew I +had set my heart there was something which could not be accounted for +by ordinary laws. Yet, as his own sense would have told him it would +do, if he had only allowed himself to reflect for a moment, the move +failed. Because I am not yet so far gone as to suppose that a pipe, a +thing of meerschaum and of amber, in the sense in which I understand +the word, _could_ be haunted--a pipe, a mere pipe. + +“Hollo! I thought the creature’s legs were twined right round the bowl!” + +I was holding the pipe in my hand, regarding it with the affectionate +eyes with which a connoisseur does regard a curio, when I was induced +to make this exclamation. I was certainly under the impression that, +when I first took the pipe out of the box, two, if not three of the +feelers had been twined about the bowl--twined _tightly_, so that +you could not see daylight between them and it. Now they were almost +entirely detached, only the tips touching the meerschaum, and those +particular feelers were gathered up as though the creature were in the +act of taking a spring. Of course I was under a misapprehension: the +feelers _couldn’t_ have been twined; a moment before I should have +been ready to bet a thousand to one that they were. Still, one does +make mistakes, and very egregious mistakes, at times. At the same +time, I confess that when I saw that dreadful-looking animal poised +on the extreme edge of the bowl, for all the world as though it were +just going to spring at me, I was a little startled. I remembered +that when I was smoking the pipe I did think I saw the uplifted +tentacle moving, as though it were reaching out to me. And I had a +clear recollection that just as I had been sinking into that strange +state of unconsciousness, I had been under the impression that the +creature was writhing and twisting, as though it had suddenly become +instinct with life. Under the circumstances, these reflections were not +pleasant. I wished Tress had not talked that nonsense about the thing +being haunted. It was surely sufficient to know that it was drugged and +poisonous, without anything else. + +I replaced it in the sandalwood box. I locked the box in a cabinet. +Quite apart from the question as to whether that pipe was or was not +haunted, I know it haunted me. It was with me in a figurative--which +was worse than actual--sense all the day. Still worse, it was with me +all the night. It was with me in my dreams. Such dreams! Possibly I +had not yet wholly recovered from the effects of that insidious drug, +but, whether or no, it was very wrong of Tress to set my thoughts +into such a channel. He knows that I am of a highly imaginative +temperament, and that it is easier to get morbid thoughts into my +mind than to get them out again. Before that night was through I +wished very heartily that I had never seen the pipe! I woke from one +nightmare to fall into another. One dreadful dream was with me all +the time--of a hideous, green reptile which advanced toward me out +of some awful darkness, slowly, inch by inch, until it clutched me +round the neck, and, gluing its lips to mine, sucked the life’s blood +out of my veins as it embraced me with a slimy kiss. Such dreams are +not restful. I woke anything but refreshed when the morning came. And +when I got up and dressed I felt that, on the whole, it would perhaps +have been better if I never had gone to bed. My nerves were unstrung, +and I had that generally tremulous feeling which is, I believe, an +inseparable companion of the more advanced stages of dipsomania. I ate +no breakfast. I am no breakfast eater as a rule, but that morning I ate +absolutely nothing. + +“If this sort of thing is to continue, I will let Tress have his pipe +again. He may have the laugh of me, but anything is better than this.” + +It was with almost funereal forebodings that I went to the cabinet in +which I had placed the sandalwood box. But when I opened it my feelings +of gloom partially vanished. Of what phantasies had I been guilty! It +must have been an entire delusion on my part to have supposed that +those tentacula had ever been twined about the bowl. The creature was +in exactly the same position in which I had left it the day before--as, +of course, I knew it would be--poised, as if about to spring. I was +telling myself how foolish I had been to allow myself to dwell for a +moment on Tress’s words, when Martin Brasher was shown in. + +Brasher is an old friend of mine. We have a common ground--ghosts. +Only we approach them from different points of view. He takes the +scientific--psychological--inquiry side. He is always anxious to hear +of a ghost, so that he may have an opportunity of “showing it up.” + +“I’ve something in your line here,” I observed, as he came in. + +“In my line? How so? _I’m_ not pipe mad.” + +“No; but you’re ghost mad. And this is a haunted pipe.” + +“A haunted pipe! I think you’re rather more mad about ghosts, my dear +Pugh, than I am.” + +Then I told him all about it. He was deeply interested, especially +when I told him that the pipe was drugged. But when I repeated Tress’s +words about its being haunted, and mentioned my own delusion about the +creature moving, he took a more serious view of the case than I had +expected he would do. + +“I propose that we act on Tress’s suggestion, and go and make inquiries +of him.” + +“But you don’t really think that there is anything in it?” + +“On these subjects I never allow myself to think at all. There are +Tress’s words, and there is your story. It is agreed on all hands +that the pipe has peculiar properties. It seems to me that there is a +sufficient case here to merit inquiry.” + +He persuaded me. I went with him. The pipe, in the sandalwood box, went +too. Tress received us with a grin--a grin which was accentuated when I +placed the sandalwood box on the table. + +“You understand,” he said, “that a gift is a gift. On no terms will I +consent to receive that pipe back in my possession.” + +I was rather nettled by his tone. + +“You need be under no alarm. I have no intention of suggesting anything +of the kind.” + +“Our business here,” began Brasher--I must own that his manner is a +little ponderous--“is of a scientific, I may say also, and at the same +time, of a judicial nature. Our object is the Pursuit of Truth and the +Advancement of Inquiry.” + +“Have you been trying another smoke?” inquired Tress, nodding his head +toward me. + +Before I had time to answer, Brasher went droning on: + +“Our friend here tells me that you say this pipe is haunted.” + +“I say it is haunted because it _is_ haunted.” + +I looked at Tress. I half suspected that he was poking fun at us. But +he appeared to be serious enough. + +“In these matters,” remarked Brasher, as though he were giving +utterance to a new and important truth, “there is a scientific and +nonscientific method of inquiry. The scientific method is to begin at +the beginning. May I ask how this pipe came into your possession?” + +Tress paused before he answered. + +“You may ask.” He paused again. “Oh, you certainly may ask. But it +doesn’t follow that I shall tell you.” + +“Surely your object, like ours, can be but the Spreading About of the +Truth?” + +“I don’t see it at all. It is possible to imagine a case in which the +spreading about of the truth might make me look a little awkward.” + +“Indeed!” Brasher pursed up his lips. “Your words would almost lead one +to suppose that there was something about your method of acquiring the +pipe which you have good and weighty reasons for concealing.” + +“I don’t know why I should conceal the thing from you. I don’t suppose +either of you is any better than I am. I don’t mind telling you how I +got the pipe. I stole it.” + +“Stole it!” + +Brasher seemed both amazed and shocked. But I, who had previous +experience of Tress’s methods of adding to his collection, was not at +all surprised. Some of the pipes which he calls his, if only the whole +truth about them were publicly known, would send him to jail. + +“That’s nothing!” he continued. “All collectors steal! The eighth +commandment was not intended to apply to them. Why, Pugh there has +‘conveyed’ three-fourths of the pipes which he flatters himself are +his.” + +I was so dumbfounded by the charge that it took my breath away. I sat +in astounded silence. Tress went raving on: + +“I was so shy of this particular pipe when I had obtained it, that I +put it away for quite three months. When I took it out to have a look +at it something about the thing so tickled me that I resolved to smoke +it. Owing to peculiar circumstances attending the manner in which the +thing came into my possession, and on which I need not dwell--you don’t +like to dwell on those sort of things, do you, Pugh?--I knew really +nothing about the pipe. As was the case with Pugh, one peculiarity I +learned from actual experience. It was also from actual experience that +I learned that the thing was--well, I said haunted, but you may use any +other word you like.” + +“Tell us, as briefly as possible, what it was you really did discover.” + +“Take the pipe out of the box!” Brasher took the pipe out of the box +and held it in his hand. “You see that creature on it. Well, when I +first had it, it was underneath the pipe.” + +“How do you mean that it was underneath the pipe?” + +“It was bunched together underneath the stem, just at the end of the +mouthpiece, in the same way in which a fly might be suspended from the +ceiling. When I began to smoke the pipe I saw the creature move.” + +“But I thought that unconsciousness immediately followed.” + +“It did follow, but not before I saw that the thing was moving. It +was because I thought that I had been, in a way, a victim of delirium +that I tried the second smoke. Suspecting that the thing was drugged I +swallowed what I believed would prove a powerful antidote. It enabled +me to resist the influence of the narcotic much longer than before, and +while I still retained my senses I saw the creature crawl along under +the stem and over the bowl. It was that sight, I believe, as much as +anything else, which sent me silly. When I came to, I then and there +decided to present the pipe to Pugh. There is one more thing I would +remark. When the pipe left me the creature’s legs were twined about the +bowl. Now they are withdrawn. Possibly you, Pugh, are able to cap my +story with a little one which is all your own.” + +“I certainly did imagine that I saw the creature move. But I supposed +that while I was under the influence of the drug imagination had played +me a trick.” + +“Not a bit of it! Depend upon it, the beast is bewitched. Even to my +eye it looks as though it were, and to a trained eye like yours, Pugh! +You’ve been looking for the devil a long time, and you’ve got him at +last.” + +“I--I wish you wouldn’t make those remarks, Tress. They jar on me.” + +“I confess,” interpolated Brasher--I noticed that he had put the pipe +down on the table as though he were tired of holding it--“that, to _my_ +thinking, such remarks are not appropriate. At the same time what you +have told us is, I am bound to allow, a little curious. But of course +what I require is ocular demonstration. I haven’t seen the movement +myself.” + +“No, but you very soon will do so, if you care to have a pull at the +pipe on your own account. Do, Brasher, to oblige me! There’s a dear!” + +“It appears, then, that the movement is only observable when the pipe +is smoked. We have at least arrived at step No. 1.” + +“Here’s a match, Brasher! Light up, and we shall have arrived at step +No. 2.” + +Tress lit a match and held it out to Brasher. Brasher retreated from +its neighborhood. + +“Thank you, Mr. Tress, I am no smoker, as you are aware. And I have no +desire to acquire the art of smoking by means of a poisoned pipe.” + +Tress laughed. He blew out the match and threw it into the grate. + +“Then I tell you what I’ll do--I’ll have up Bob.” + +“Bob--why Bob?” + +“Bob”--whose real name was Robert Haines, though I should think he must +have forgotten the fact, so seldom was he addressed by it--was Tress’s +servant. He had been an old soldier, and had accompanied his master +when he left the service. He was as depraved a character as Tress +himself. I am not sure even that he was not worse than his master. I +shall never forget how he once behaved toward myself. He actually had +the assurance to accuse me of attempting to steal the Wardour Street +relic which Tress fondly deludes himself was once the property of Sir +Walter Raleigh. The truth is that I had slipped it with my handkerchief +into my pocket in a fit of absence of mind. A man who could accuse _me_ +of such a thing would be guilty of anything. I was therefore quite at +one with Brasher when he asked what Bob could possibly be wanted for. +Tress explained. + +“I’ll get him to smoke the pipe,” he said. + +Brasher and I exchanged glances, but we refrained from speech. + +“It won’t do him any harm,” said Tress. + +“What--not a poisoned pipe?” asked Brasher. + +“It’s not poisoned--it’s only drugged.” + +“_Only_ drugged!” + +“Nothing hurts Bob. He is like an ostrich. He has digestive organs +which are peculiarly his own. It will only serve him as it served +me--and Pugh--it will knock him over. It is all done in the Pursuit of +Truth and for the Advancement of Inquiry.” + +I could see that Brasher did not altogether like the tone in which +Tress repeated his words. As for me, it was not to be supposed that +I should put myself out in a matter which in no way concerned me. If +Tress chose to poison the man, it was his affair, not mine. He went to +the door and shouted: + +“Bob! Come here, you scoundrel!” + +That is the way in which he speaks to him. No really decent servant +would stand it. I shouldn’t care to address Nalder, my servant, in +such a way. He would give me notice on the spot. Bob came in. He is a +great hulking fellow who is always on the grin. Tress had a decanter of +brandy in his hand. He filled a tumbler with the neat spirit. + +“Bob, what would you say to a glassful of brandy--the real thing--my +boy?” + +“Thank you, sir.” + +“And what would you say to a pull at a pipe when the brandy is drunk!” + +“A pipe?” The fellow is sharp enough when he likes. I saw him look +at the pipe upon the table, and then at us, and then a gleam of +intelligence came into his eyes. “I’d do it for a dollar, sir.” + +“A dollar, you thief?” + +“I meant ten shillings, sir.” + +“Ten shillings, you brazen vagabond?” + +“I should have said a pound.” + +“A pound! Was ever the like of that! Do I understand you to ask a pound +for taking a pull at your master’s pipe?” + +“I’m thinking that I’ll have to make it two.” + +“The deuce you are! Here, Pugh, lend me a pound.” + +“I’m afraid I’ve left my purse behind.” + +“Then lend me ten shillings--Ananias!” + +“I doubt if I have more than five.” + +“Then give me the five. And, Brasher, lend me the other fifteen.” + +Brasher lent him the fifteen. I doubt if we shall either of us ever see +our money again. He handed the pound to Bob. + +“Here’s the brandy--drink it up!” Bob drank it without a word, draining +the glass of every drop. “And here’s the pipe.” + +“Is it poisoned, sir?” + +“Poisoned, you villain! What do you mean?” + +“It isn’t the first time I’ve seen your tricks, sir--is it now? And +you’re not the one to give a pound for nothing at all. If it kills me +you’ll send my body to my mother--she’d like to know that I was dead.” + +“Send your body to your grandmother! You idiot, sit down and smoke!” + +Bob sat down. Tress had filled the pipe, and handed it, with a lighted +match, to Bob. The fellow declined the match. He handled the pipe very +gingerly, turning it over and over, eying it with all his eyes. + +“Thank you, sir--I’ll light up myself if it’s the same to you. I carry +matches of my own. It’s a beautiful pipe, entirely. I never see the +like of it for ugliness. And what’s the slimy-looking varmint that +looks as though it would like to have my life? Is it living, or is it +dead?” + +“Come, we don’t want to sit here all day, my man!” + +“Well, sir, the look of this here pipe has quite upset my stomach. I’d +like another drop of liquor, if it’s the same to you.” + +“Another drop! Why, you’ve had a tumblerful already! Here’s another +tumblerful to put on top of that. You won’t want the pipe to kill +you--you’ll be killed before you get to it.” + +“And isn’t it better to die a natural death?” + +Bob emptied the second tumbler of brandy as though it were water. I +believe he would empty a hogshead without turning a hair! Then he gave +another look at the pipe. Then, taking a match from his waistcoat +pocket, he drew a long breath, as though he were resigning himself to +fate. Striking the match on the seat of his trousers, while, shaded by +his hand, the flame was gathering strength, he looked at each of us in +turn. When he looked at Tress I distinctly saw him wink his eye. What +my feelings would have been if a servant of mine had winked his eye at +me I am unable to imagine! The match was applied to the tobacco, a puff +of smoke came through his lips--the pipe was alight! + +During this process of lighting the pipe we had sat--I do not wish to +use exaggerated language, but we had sat and watched that alcoholic +scamp’s proceedings as though we were witnessing an action which would +leave its mark upon the age. When we saw the pipe was lighted we gave a +simultaneous start. Brasher put his hands under his coat tails and gave +a kind of hop. I raised myself a good six inches from my chair, and +Tress rubbed his palms together with a chuckle. Bob alone was calm. + +“Now,” cried Tress, “you’ll see the devil moving.” + +Bob took the pipe from between his lips. + +“See what?” he said. + +“Bob, you rascal, put that pipe back into your mouth, and smoke it for +your life!” + +Bob was eyeing the pipe askance. + +“I dare say, but what I want to know is whether this here varmint’s +dead or whether he ain’t. I don’t want to have him flying at my +nose--and he looks vicious enough for anything.” + +“Give me back that pound, you thief, and get out of my house, and +bundle.” + +“I ain’t going to give you back no pound.” + +“Then smoke that pipe!” + +“I am smoking it, ain’t I?” + +With the utmost deliberation Bob returned the pipe to his mouth. He +emitted another whiff or two of smoke. + +“Now--now!” cried Tress, all excitement, and wagging his hand in the +air. + +We gathered round. As we did so Bob again withdrew the pipe. + +“What is the meaning of all this here? I ain’t going to have you +playing none of your larks on me. I know there’s something up, but I +ain’t going to throw my life away for twenty shillings--not quite I +ain’t.” + +Tress, whose temper is not at any time one of the best, was seized with +quite a spasm of rage. + +“As I live, my lad, if you try to cheat me by taking that pipe from +between your lips until I tell you, you leave this room that instant, +never again to be a servant of mine.” + +I presume the fellow knew from long experience when his master meant +what he said, and when he didn’t. Without an attempt at remonstrance he +replaced the pipe. He continued stolidly to puff away. Tress caught me +by the arm. + +“What did I tell you? There--there! That tentacle is moving.” + +The uplifted tentacle _was_ moving. It was doing what I had seen it do, +as I supposed, in my distorted imagination--it was reaching forward. +Undoubtedly Bob saw what it was doing; but, whether in obedience to his +master’s commands, or whether because the drug was already beginning +to take effect, he made no movement to withdraw the pipe. He watched +the slowly advancing tentacle, coming closer and closer toward his +nose, with an expression of such intense horror on his countenance that +it became quite shocking. Farther and farther the creature reached +forward, until on a sudden, with a sort of jerk, the movement assumed a +downward direction, and the tentacle was slowly lowered until the tip +rested on the stem of the pipe. For a moment the creature remained +motionless. I was quieting my nerves with the reflection that this +thing was but some trick of the carver’s art, and that what we had seen +we had seen in a sort of nightmare, when the whole hideous reptile was +seized with what seemed to be a fit of convulsive shuddering. It seemed +to be in agony. It trembled so violently that I expected to see it +loosen its hold of the stem and fall to the ground. I was sufficiently +master of myself to steal a glance at Bob. We had had an inkling of +what might happen. He was wholly unprepared. As he saw that dreadful, +human-looking creature, coming to life, as it seemed, within an inch or +two of his nose, his eyes dilated to twice their usual size. I hoped, +for his sake, that unconsciousness would supervene, through the action +of the drug, before through sheer fright his senses left him. Perhaps +mechanically he puffed steadily on. + +The creature’s shuddering became more violent. It appeared to swell +before our eyes. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the shuddering +ceased. There was another instant of quiescence. Then the creature +began to crawl along the stem of the pipe! It moved with marvelous +caution, the merest fraction of an inch at a time. But still it moved! +Our eyes were riveted on it with a fascination which was absolutely +nauseous. I am unpleasantly affected even as I think of it now. My +dreams of the night before had been nothing to this. + +Slowly, slowly, it went, nearer and nearer to the smoker’s nose. Its +mode of progression was in the highest degree unsightly. It glided, +never, so far as I could see, removing its tentacles from the stem of +the pipe. It slipped its hind-most feelers onward until they came up +to those which were in advance. Then, in their turn, it advanced those +which were in front. It seemed, too, to move with the utmost labor, +shuddering as though it were in pain. + +We were all, for our parts, speechless. I was momentarily hoping that +the drug would take effect on Bob. Either his constitution enabled him +to offer a strong resistance to narcotics, or else the large quantity +of neat spirit which he had drunk acted--as Tress had malevolently +intended that it should--as an antidote. It seemed to me that he would +_never_ succumb. On went the creature--on, and on, in its infinitesimal +progression. I was spellbound. I would have given the world to scream, +to have been able to utter a sound. I could do nothing else but watch. + +The creature had reached the end of the stem. It had gained the amber +mouthpiece. It was within an inch of the smoker’s nose. Still on it +went. It seemed to move with greater freedom on the amber. It increased +its rate of progress. It was actually touching the foremost feature +on the smoker’s countenance. I expected to see it grip the wretched +Bob, when it began to oscillate from side to side. Its oscillations +increased in violence. It fell to the floor. That same instant the +narcotic prevailed. Bob slipped sideways from the chair, the pipe still +held tightly between his rigid jaws. + +We were silent. There lay Bob. Close beside him lay the creature. A few +more inches to the left, and he would have fallen on and squashed it +flat. It had fallen on its back. Its feelers were extended upward. They +were writhing and twisting and turning in the air. + +Tress was the first to speak. + +“I think a little brandy won’t be amiss.” Emptying the remainder of the +brandy into the glass, he swallowed it at a draught. “Now for a closer +examination of our friend.” Taking a pair of tongs from the grate he +nipped the creature between them. He deposited it upon the table. “I +rather fancy that this is a case for dissection.” + +He took a penknife from his waistcoat pocket. Opening the large +blade, he thrust its point into the object on the table. Little or no +resistance seemed to be offered to the passage of the blade, but as it +was inserted the tentacula simultaneously began to writhe and twist. +Tress withdrew the knife. + +“I thought so!” He held the blade out for our inspection. The point was +covered with some viscid-looking matter. “That’s blood! The thing’s +alive!” + +“Alive!” + +“Alive! That’s the secret of the whole performance!” + +“But----” + +“But me no buts, my Pugh! The mystery’s exploded! One more ghost is +lost to the world! The person from whom I _obtained_ that pipe was an +Indian juggler--up to many tricks of the trade. He, or some one for +him, got hold of this sweet thing in reptiles--and a sweeter thing +would, I imagine, be hard to find--and covered it with some preparation +of, possible, gum arabic. He allowed this to harden. Then he stuck +the thing--still living, for that sort of gentry are hard to kill--to +the pipe. The consequence was that when anyone lit up, the warmth was +communicated to the adhesive agent--again some preparation of gum, no +doubt--it moistened it, and the creature, with infinite difficulty, was +able to move. But I am open to lay odds with any gentleman of sporting +taste that _this_ time the creature’s traveling days _are_ done. It +has given me rather a larger taste of the horrors than is good for my +digestion.” + +With the aid of the tongs he removed the creature from the table. He +placed it on the hearth. Before Brasher or I had a notion of what it +was he intended to do, he covered it with a heavy marble paper weight. +Then he stood upon the weight, and between the marble and heart he +ground the creature flat. + +While the execution was still proceeding, Bob sat up upon the floor. + +“Hollo!” he asked, “what’s happened?” + +“We’ve emptied the bottle, Bob,” said Tress. “But there’s another where +that came from. Perhaps you could drink another tumblerful, my boy?” + +Bob drank it! + +FOOTNOTE + +“Those gentry are hard to kill.” Here is fact, not fantasy. Lizard +yarns no less sensational than this Mystery Story can be found between +the covers of solemn, zoölogical textbooks. + +Reptiles, indeed, are far from finicky in the matters of air, space, +and especially warmth. Frogs and other such sluggish-blooded creatures +have lived after being frozen fast in ice. Their blood is little warmer +than air or water, enjoying no extra casing of fur or feathers. + +Air and food seem held in light esteem by lizards. Their blood need +not be highly oxygenated; it nourishes just as well when impure. In +temperate climes lizards lie torpid and buried all winter; some species +of the tropic deserts sleep peacefully all summer. Their anatomy +includes no means for the continuous introduction and expulsion of +air; reptilian lungs are little more than closed sacs, without cell +structure. + +If any further zoölogical fact were needed to verify the dénouement of +“The Pipe,” it might be the general statement that lizards are abnormal +brutes anyhow. Consider the chameleons of unsettled hue. And what is +one to think of an animal which, when captured by the tail, is able to +make its escape by willfully shuffling off that appendage?--EDITOR. + + + + +THE UPPER BERTH + +By F. MARION CRAWFORD + +[Attribution: Reprinted by permission of the publishers (in England, +T. Fisher Unwin, and in America, The Macmillan Company) from F. Marion +Crawford’s “Wandering Ghosts,” copyright, 1911.] + + +I + +Somebody asked for the cigars. We had talked so long, and the +conversation was beginning to languish, the tobacco smoke had got into +the heavy curtains, the wine had got into those brains which were +liable to become heavy, and it was already perfectly evident, unless +somebody did something to rouse our oppressed spirits, the meeting +would soon come to its natural conclusion, and we, the guests, would +speedily go home to bed, and most certainly to sleep. No one had +said anything very remarkable, it may be no one had anything to say. +Jones had given us every particular of his last hunting adventure in +Yorkshire. Mr. Tompkins, of Boston, had explained at elaborate length +those working principles by the due and careful maintenance of which +the Atchison, Topeka, and Sante Fe Railroad not only extended its +territory, increased its departmental influence, and transported live +stock without starving them to death before the day of actual delivery, +but also, had for years succeeded in deceiving those passengers who +bought its tickets into the fallacious belief that the corporation +aforesaid was really able to transport human life without destroying +it. Signor Tombola had endeavored to persuade us, by arguments which +we took no trouble to oppose, that the unity of his country in no way +resembled the average modern torpedo, carefully planned, constructed +with all the skill of the greatest European arsenals, but, when +constructed, destined to be directed by feeble hands into a region +where it must undoubtedly explode, unseen, unfeared, and unheard, into +the illimitable wastes of political chaos. + +It is unnecessary to go into further details. The conversation had +assumed proportions which would have bored Prometheus on his rock, +which would have driven Tantalus to distraction, and which would +have impelled Ixion to seek relaxation in the simple but instructive +dialogues of Herr Ollendorf, rather than submit to the greater evil of +listening to our talk. We had sat at a table for hours; we were bored, +we were tired, and nobody showed signs of moving. + +Somebody called for cigars. We all instinctively looked toward the +speaker. Brisbane was a man of five-and-thirty-years of age, and +remarkable for those gifts which chiefly attract the attention of men. +He was a strong man. The external proportions of his figure presented +nothing extraordinary to the common eye, though his size was above the +average. He was a little over six feet in height, and moderately broad +in the shoulder; he did not appear to be stout, but, on the other hand +he was certainly not thin; his small head was supported by a strong and +sinewy neck; his broad, muscular hands seemed to possess a peculiar +skill in breaking walnuts without the assistance of the ordinary +cracker, and, seeing him in profile, one could not help remarking the +extraordinary breadth of his sleeves and the unusual thickness of his +chest. He was one of those men who are commonly spoken of among men as +deceptive; that is to say, that though he looked exceedingly strong, +he was in reality very much stronger than he looked. Of his features +I need say little. His head is small, his hair is thin, his eyes are +blue, his nose is large, he has a small mustache and a square jaw. +Everybody knows Brisbane, and when he asked for a cigar everybody +looked at him. + +“It is a very singular thing,” said Brisbane. + +Everybody stopped talking. Brisbane’s voice was not loud, but possessed +a peculiar quality of penetrating general conversation and cutting +it like a knife. Everybody listened. Brisbane perceiving that he +had attracted their general attention, lighted his cigar with equal +equanimity. + +“It is very singular,” he continued, “that thing about ghosts. People +are always asking whether anybody has seen a ghost. I have.” + +“Bosh! What, you? You don’t mean to say so, Brisbane? Well, for a man +of his intelligence!” + +A chorus of exclamations greeted Brisbane’s remarkable statement. +Everybody called for cigars, and Stubbs, the butler, suddenly appeared +from the depths of nowhere with a fresh bottle of dry champagne. The +situation was saved; Brisbane was going to tell a story. + +“I am an old sailor,” said Brisbane, “and as I have to cross the +Atlantic pretty often, I have my favorites. Most men have their +favorites. I have seen a man wait in a Broadway bar for three-quarters +of an hour for a particular car which he liked. I believe the barkeeper +made at least one-third of his living by that man’s preference. I have +a habit of waiting for certain ships when I am obliged to cross that +duckpond. It may be a prejudice, but I was never cheated out of a good +passage but once in my life. I remember it very well; it was a warm +morning in June, and the custom house officials, who were hanging about +waiting for a steamer already on her way up from quarantine, presented +a peculiarly hazy and thoughtful appearance. I had not much luggage--I +never have. I mingled with the crowd of passengers, porters, and +officious individuals in blue coats and brass buttons, who seemed to +spring up like mushrooms from the deck of a moored steamer to obtrude +their unnecessary services upon the independent passengers. I have +often noticed with a certain interest the spontaneous evolution of +these fellows. They are not there when you arrive; five minutes after +the pilot has called ‘Go ahead!’ they, or at least their blue coats and +brass buttons, have disappeared from deck and gangway as completely +as though they had been consigned to that locker which tradition +unanimously ascribes to Davy Jones. But, at the moment of starting, +they are there, clean-shaved, blue-coated, and ravenous for fees. I +hastened on board. The ‘Kamtschatka’ was one of my favorite ships. I +say was, because she emphatically no longer is. I cannot conceive of +any inducement which could entice me to make another voyage in her. +Yes, I know what you are going to say. She is uncommonly clean in the +run aft, she has enough bluffing off in the bows to keep her dry, +and the lower berths are the most of them double. She has a lot of +advantages, but I won’t cross in her again. Excuse the digression. I +got on board. I hailed the steward, whose red nose and redder whiskers +are equally familiar to me. + +“‘One hundred and five, lower berth,’ said I, in the business-like tone +peculiar to men who think no more of crossing the Atlantic than taking +a whiskey cocktail at downtown Delmonico’s. + +“The steward took my portmanteau, great coat, and rug. I shall never +forget the expression on his face. Not that he turned pale. It is +maintained by the most eminent divines that even miracles cannot change +the course of nature. I have no hesitation in saying that he did not +turn pale; but, from his expression, I judged that he was either about +to shed tears, to sneeze, or to drop my portmanteau. As the latter +contained two bottles of particularly fine old sherry, presented to +me for my voyage by my old friend Snigginson van Pickyns, I felt +extremely nervous. But the steward did none of these things. + +“‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ said he in a low voice, and led the way. + +“I supposed my Hermes, as he led me to the lower regions, had had a +little grog, but I said nothing, and followed him. One hundred and five +was on the port side, well aft. There was nothing remarkable about the +stateroom. The lower berth, like most of those upon the ‘Kamtschatka,’ +was double. There was plenty of room; there was the usual washing +apparatus, calculated to convey an idea of luxury to the mind of a +North American Indian; there were the usual inefficient racks of brown +wood, in which it is more easy to hang a large-sized umbrella than the +common toothbrush of commerce. Upon the uninviting mattresses were +carefully folded together those blankets which a great modern humorist +has aptly compared to cold buckwheat cakes. The question of towels +was left entirely to the imagination. The glass decanters were filled +with a transparent liquid faintly tinged with brown, but from which +an odor less faint, but not more pleasing, ascended to the nostrils, +like a far-off seasick reminiscence of oily machinery. Sad-colored +curtains half closed the upper berth. The hazy June daylight shed a +faint illumination upon the desolate little scene. Ugh! How I hate that +stateroom! + +“The steward deposited my traps and looked at me as though he wanted to +get away--probably in search of more passengers and more fees. It is +always a good plan to start in favor with those functionaries, and I +accordingly gave him certain coins there and then. + +“‘I’ll try and make yer comfortable all I can,’ he remarked, as he put +the coins in his pocket. Nevertheless, there was a doubtful intonation +in his voice which surprised me. Possibly his scale of fees had gone +up, and he was not satisfied; but on the whole I was inclined to think +that, as he himself would have expressed it, he was ‘the better for a +glass.’ I was wrong, however, and did the man injustice. + + +II + +“Nothing especially noteworthy of mention occurred during the day. We +left the pier punctually, and it was very pleasant to be fairly under +way, for the weather was warm and sultry, and the motion of the steamer +produced a refreshing breeze. + +“Everybody knows what the first day at sea is like. People pace the +decks and stare at each other, and occasionally meet acquaintances +whom they did not know to be on board. There is the usual uncertainty +as to whether the food will be good, bad, or indifferent, until the +first two meals have put the matter beyond a doubt, there is the usual +uncertainty about the weather, until the ship is fairly off Fire +Island. The tables are crowded at first, and then suddenly thinned. +Pale-faced people spring from their seats and precipitate themselves +toward the door, and each old sailor breathes more freely as his +seasick neighbor rushes from his side, leaving him plenty of elbow room +and an unlimited command over the mustard. + +“One passage across the Atlantic is very much like another, and we who +cross very often do not make the voyage for the sake of novelty. Whales +and icebergs are indeed always objects of interest, but, after all, one +whale is very much like another whale, and one rarely sees an iceberg +at close quarters. To the majority of us, the most delightful moment of +the day on board an ocean steamer is when we have taken our last turn +on deck, have smoked our last cigar, and having succeeded in tiring +ourselves, feel at liberty to turn in with a clear conscience. On that +first night of the voyage I felt particularly lazy, and went to bed +in one hundred and five rather earlier than I usually do. As I turned +in, I was amazed to see that I was to have a companion. A portmanteau, +very like my own, lay in the opposite corner, and in the upper berth +had been deposited a neatly folded rug with a stick and umbrella. I +had hoped to be alone, and I was disappointed; but I wondered who my +roommate was to be, and I determined to have a look at him. + +“Before I had been long in bed he entered. He was, as far as I +could see, a very tall man, very thin, very pale, with sandy hair +and whiskers, and colorless gray eyes. He had about him, I thought, +an air of rather dubious fashion; the sort of man you might see in +Wall Street, without being able precisely to say what he was doing +there--the sort of man who frequents the Café Anglais, who always +seems to be alone, and who drinks champagne; you might meet him on +a race-course, but he would never appear to be doing anything there +either. A little overdressed--a little odd. There are three or four of +his kind on every ocean steamer. I made up my mind that I did not care +to make his acquaintance, and I went to sleep saying to myself that I +would study his habits in order to avoid him. If he rose early, I would +rise late; if he went to bed late, I would go to bed early. I did not +care to know him. If you once know people of that kind they are always +turning up. Poor fellow! I need not have taken the trouble to come to +so many decisions about him, for I never saw him again after that first +night in one hundred and five. + +“I was sleeping soundly when I was suddenly waked by a loud noise. To +judge from the sound, my roommate must have sprung with a single leap +from the upper berth to the floor. I heard him fumbling with the latch +and bolt of the door, which opened almost immediately, and then I heard +his footsteps as he ran at full speed down the passage, leaving the +door open behind him. The ship was rolling a little, and I expected to +hear him stumble or fall, but he ran as though he were running for his +life. The door swung on its hinges with the motion of the vessel, and +the sound annoyed me. I got up and shut it, and groped my way back to +my berth in the darkness. I went to sleep again; but I have no idea +how long I slept. + +“When I awoke it was still quite dark, but I felt a disagreeable +sensation of cold, and it seemed to me that the air was damp. You +know the peculiar smell of a cabin which has been wet with sea water. +I covered myself up as well as I could and dozed off again, framing +compliments to be made the next day, and selecting the most powerful +epithets in language. I could hear my roommate turn over in the upper +berth. He had probably returned while I was asleep. Once I thought I +heard him groan, and I argued that he was seasick. That is particularly +unpleasant when one is below. Nevertheless I dozed off and slept till +early daylight. + +“The ship was rolling heavily, much more than on the previous evening, +and the gray light which came in through the porthole changed in tint +with every movement according as the angle of the vessel’s side turned +the glasses seaward or skyward. It was very cold--unaccountably so for +the month of June. I turned my head and looked at the porthole, and +saw to my surprise that it was wide open and hooked back. I believe I +swore audibly. Then I got up and shut it. As I turned back I glanced at +the upper berth. The curtains were drawn close together; my companion +had probably felt as cold as I. It struck me that I had slept enough. +The stateroom was uncomfortable, though, strange to say, I could not +smell the dampness which had annoyed me in the night. My roommate was +still asleep--excellent opportunity for avoiding him, so I dressed at +once and went on deck. The day was warm and cloudy, with an oily smell +on the water. It was seven o’clock as I came out--much later than I +had imagined. I came across the doctor, who was taking his first sniff +of the morning air. He was a young man from the West of Ireland--a +tremendous fellow, with black hair and blue eyes, already inclined to +be stout; he had a happy-go-lucky, healthy look about him which was +rather attractive. + +“‘Fine mornin’,’ I remarked by way of introduction. + +“‘Well,’ said he, eyeing me with an air of ready interest, ‘it’s a +fine morning and it’s not a fine morning. I don’t think it’s much of a +morning.’ + +“‘Well, no--it is not so very fine,’ said I. + +“‘It’s just what I call fuggly weather,’ replied the doctor. + +“‘It was very cold last night, I thought,’ I remarked. ‘However, when +I looked about, I found that the porthole was wide open. I had not +noticed it when I went to bed. And the stateroom was damp, too.’ + +“‘Damp!’ said he. ‘Whereabouts are you?’ + +“‘One hundred and five--’ + +“To my surprise the doctor started visibly, and stared at me. + +“‘What is the matter?’ I asked. + +“‘Oh--nothing,’ he answered; ‘only everybody has complained of that +stateroom for the last three trips.’ + +“‘I shall complain, too,’ I said. ‘It has certainly not been properly +aired. It is a shame!’ + +“‘I don’t believe it can be helped,’ answered the doctor. ‘I believe +there is something--well, it is not my business to frighten passengers.’ + +“‘You need not be afraid of frightening me,’ I replied. ‘I can stand +any amount of damp. If I should get a bad cold I will come to you.’ + +“I offered the doctor a cigar, which he took and examined very +critically. + +“‘It is not so much the damp,’ he remarked. ‘However, I dare say you +will get on very well. Have you a roommate?’ + +“‘Yes; a deuce of a fellow, who bolts out in the middle of the night +and leaves the door open.’ + +“Again the doctor glanced curiously at me. Then he lighted the cigar +and looked grave. + +“‘Did he come back?’ he asked presently. + +“‘Yes. I was asleep, but I waked up and heard him moving. Then I felt +cold and went to sleep again. This morning I found the porthole open.’ + +“‘Look here,’ said the doctor, quietly, ‘I don’t care much for this +ship. I don’t care a rap for her reputation. I tell you what I will do. +I have a good-sized place up here. I will share it with you, though I +don’t know you from Adam.’ + +“I was very much surprised at the proposition. I could not imagine +why he should take such a sudden interest in my welfare. However, his +manner as he spoke of the ship was peculiar. + +“‘You are very good, Doctor,’ I said. ‘But really, I believe even now +the cabin could be aired, or cleaned out, or something. Why do you not +care for the ship?’ + +“‘We are not superstitious in our profession, sir,’ replied the doctor. +‘But the sea makes people so. I don’t want to prejudice you, and I +don’t want to frighten you, but if you will take my advice you will +move in here. I would as soon see you overboard,’ he added, ‘as know +that you or any other man was to sleep in one hundred and five.’ + +“‘Good gracious! Why?’ I asked. + +“‘Just because on the last three trips the people who have slept there +actually have gone overboard,’ he answered gravely. + +“The intelligence was startling and exceedingly unpleasant, I confess. +I looked hard at the doctor to see whether he was making game of me, +but he looked perfectly serious. I thanked him warmly for his offer, +but told him I intended to be the exception to the rule by which +everyone who slept in that particular stateroom went overboard. He did +not say much, but looked as grave as ever, and hinted that before we +got across, I should probably reconsider his proposal. In the course +of time we went to breakfast, at which only an inconsiderable number +of passengers assembled. I noticed that one or two of the officers +who breakfasted with us looked grave. After breakfast I went into my +stateroom in order to get a book. The curtains of the upper berth +were still closely drawn. Not a word was to be heard. My roommate was +probably still asleep. + +“As I came out I met the steward whose business it was to look after +me. He whispered that the captain wanted to see me, and then scuttled +away down the passage as if very anxious to avoid any questions. I went +toward the captain’s cabin, and found him waiting for me. + +“‘Sir,’ said he, ‘I want to ask a favor of you.’ + +“I answered that I would do anything to oblige him. + +“‘Your roommate has disappeared,’ he said. ‘He is known to have turned +in early last night. Did you notice anything extraordinary in his +manner?’ + +“The question coming, as it did, in exact confirmation of the fears the +doctor had expressed half an hour earlier, staggered me. + +“‘You don’t mean to say that he has gone overboard?’ I asked. + +“‘I fear he has,’ answered the captain. + +“‘This is the most extraordinary thing--’ I began. + +“‘Why?’ he asked. + +“‘He is the fourth, then?’ I explained. In answer to another question +from the captain, I explained, without mentioning the doctor, that I +had heard the story concerning one hundred and five. He seemed very +much annoyed at hearing that I knew of it. I told him what had occurred +in the night. + +“‘What you say,’ he replied, ‘coincides almost exactly with what was +told me by the roommates of two of the other three. They bolt out of +bed and run down the passage. Two of them were seen to go overboard +by the watch, we stopped, and lowered boats, but they were not found. +Nobody, however, saw or heard the man who was lost last night--if he +is really lost. The steward, who is a superstitious fellow, perhaps, +and expected something to go wrong, went to look for him this morning, +and found his berth empty, but his clothes lying about, just as he had +left them. The steward was the only man on board who knew him by sight, +and he has been searching everywhere for him. He has disappeared! Now, +sir, I want to beg you not to mention the circumstance to any of the +passengers; I don’t want the ship to get a bad name, and nothing hangs +about an ocean-goer like stories of suicides. You shall have your +choice of any one of the officers’ cabins you like, including my own, +for the rest of the passage. Is that a fair bargain?’ + +“‘Very,’ I said; ‘and I am much obliged to you. But since I am alone, +and have the stateroom to myself, I would rather not move. If the +steward will take out that unfortunate man’s things, I would as lief +stay where I am. I will not say anything about the matter, and I think +I can promise you that I will not follow my roommate.’ + +“The captain tried to dissuade me from my intention, but I preferred +having a stateroom alone to being the chum of any officer on board. I +do not know whether I acted foolishly, but if I had taken his advice +I should have had nothing more to tell. There would have remained the +disagreeable coincidence of several suicides occurring among men who +had slept in the same cabin, but that would have been all. + +“That was not the end of the matter, however, by any means. I +obstinately made up my mind that I would not be disturbed by such +tales, and I even went so far as to argue the question with the +captain. There was something wrong about the stateroom, I said. It was +rather damp. The porthole had been left open last night. My roommate +might have been ill when he came on board, and he might have become +delirious after he went to bed. He might even now be hiding somewhere +on board, and might be found later. The place ought to be aired and the +fastening of the port looked to. If the captain would give me leave, I +would see that what I thought necessary was done immediately. + +“‘Of course you have a right to stay where you are if you please,’ he +replied, rather petulantly; ‘but I wish you would turn out and let me +lock the place up, and be done with it.’ + +“I did not see it in the same light, and left the captain, after +promising to be silent concerning the disappearance of my companion. +The latter had had no acquaintances on board, and was not missed in the +course of the day. Toward evening I met the doctor again, and he asked +me whether I had changed my mind. I told him I had not. + +“‘Then you will before long,’ he said, very gravely. + + +III + +“We played whist in the evening, and I went to bed late. I will confess +now that I felt a disagreeable sensation when I entered my stateroom. +I could not help thinking of the tall man I had seen on the previous +night, who was now dead, drowned, tossing about in the long swell, two +or three hundred miles astern. His face rose very distinctly before me +as I undressed, and I even went so far as to draw back the curtains +of the upper berth, as though to persuade myself that he was actually +gone. I also bolted the door of the stateroom. Suddenly I became aware +that the porthole was open and fastened back. This was more than I +could stand. I hastily threw on my dressing-gown, and went in search of +Robert, the steward of my passage. I was very angry, I remember, and +when I found him I dragged him roughly to the door of one hundred and +five, and pushed him toward the open porthole. + +“‘What the deuce do you mean, you scoundrel, by leaving that port open +every night? Don’t you know it is against the regulations? Don’t you +know that if the ship heeled and the water began to come in, ten men +could not shut it? I will report you to the captain, you blackguard, +for endangering the ship!’ + +“I was exceedingly wroth. The man trembled and turned pale, and then +began to shut the round glass plate with the heavy brass fittings. + +“‘Why don’t you answer me?’ I said roughly. + +“‘If you please, sir,’ faltered Robert, ‘there’s nobody on board as +can keep this ‘ere port shut at night. You can try it yourself, sir. +I ain’t a-going to stop hany longer on board o’ this vessel, sir; I +ain’t, indeed. But if I was you, sir, I’d just clear out and go and +sleep with the surgeon, or something, I would. Look ’ere, sir, is that +fastened what you may call securely, or not, sir? Try it, sir, see if +it will move a hinch.’ + +“I tried the port, and found it perfectly tight. + +“‘Well, sir,’ continued Robert, triumphantly; ‘I wager my reputation +as an A 1 steward, that in arf an hour it will be open again; fastened +back, too, sir, that’s the horful thing--fastened back!’ + +“I examined the great screw and the looped nut that ran on it. + +“‘If I find it open in the night, Robert, I will give you a sovereign. +It is not possible. You may go.’ + +“Soverin, did you say, sir? Very good, sir. Thank ye, sir. Good-night, +sir. Pleasant reepose, sir, and all manner of hinchantin’ dreams, sir.’ + +“Robert scuttled away, delighted at being released. Of course, I +thought he was trying to account for his negligence by a silly story, +intended to frighten me, and I disbelieved him. The consequence was +that he got his sovereign, and I spent a very peculiarly unpleasant +night. + +“I went to bed, and five minutes after I had rolled myself up in my +blankets the inexorable Robert extinguished the light that burned +steadily behind the ground-glass pane near the door. I lay quite still +in the dark trying to go to sleep, but I soon found that impossible. +It had been some satisfaction to be angry with the steward, and the +diversion had vanished that unpleasant sensation I had at first +experienced when I thought of the drowned man who had been my chum; but +I was no longer sleepy, and I lay awake for some time, occasionally +glancing at the porthole, which I could just see from where I lay, +and which, in the darkness, looked like a faintly luminous soup-plate +suspended in blackness. I believe I must have lain there for an hour, +and, as I remember, I was just dozing into sleep, when I was roused by +a draught of cold air, and by distinctly feeling the spray of the sea +blown upon my face. I started to my feet, and not having allowed in +the dark for the motion of the ship, I was instantly thrown violently +across the stateroom upon the couch which was placed beneath the +porthole. I recovered myself immediately, however, and climbed upon my +knees. The porthole was again wide open and fastened back! + +“Now these things are facts. I was wide awake when I got up, and +I should certainly have been waked by the fall had I been dozing. +Moreover, I bruised my elbows and knees badly, and the bruises were +there on the following morning to testify to the fact, if I myself had +doubted it. The porthole was wide open and fastened back--a thing so +unaccountable, that I remember very well feeling astonishment rather +than fear when I discovered it. I at once closed the plate again, and +screwed down the loop nut with all my strength. It was very dark in +the stateroom. I reflected that the port had certainly been opened +within an hour after Robert had at first shut it in my presence, and +I determined to watch it and see whether it would open again. Those +brass fittings are very heavy and by no means easy to move; I could not +believe that the clamp had been turned by the shaking of the screw. I +stood peering out through the thick glass at the alternate white and +gray streaks of the sea that foamed beneath the ship’s side. I must +have remained there a quarter of an hour. + +“Suddenly, as I stood, I distinctly heard something moving behind +me in one of the berths, and a moment afterward, just as I turned +instinctively to look--though I could, of course, see nothing in the +darkness--I heard a very faint groan. I sprang across the stateroom, +and tore the curtains of the upper berth aside, thrusting in my hands +to discover if there were any one there. There was some one. + +“I remember that the sensation as I put my hands forward was as though +I were plunging them into the air of a damp cellar, and from behind the +curtain came a gust of wind that smelled horribly of stagnant seawater. +I laid hold of something that had the shape of a man’s arm, but was +smooth, and wet, and icy cold. But suddenly, as I pulled, the creature +sprang violently forward against me, a clammy, oozy mass, as it seemed +to me, heavy and wet, yet endowed with a sort of supernatural strength. +I reeled across the stateroom, and in an instant the door opened and +the thing rushed out. I had not had time to be frightened, and quickly +recovering myself, I sprang through the door and gave chase at the top +of my speed, but I was too late. Ten yards before me I could see--I +am sure I saw it--a dark shadow moving in the dimly lighted passage, +quickly as the shadow of a fast horse thrown before a dog-cart by the +lamp on a dark night. But in a moment it had disappeared, and I found +myself holding on to the polished rail that ran along the bulkhead +where the passage turned toward the companion. My hair stood on end, +and the cold perspiration rolled down my face. I am not ashamed of it +in the least: I was very badly frightened. + +“Still I doubted my senses, and pulled myself together. It was absurd, +I thought. The Welsh rarebit I had eaten had disagreed with me. I had +been in a nightmare. I made my way back to my stateroom, and entered +it with an effort. The whole place smelled of stagnant seawater, as it +had when I had waked on the previous evening. It required my utmost +strength to go in and grope among my things for a box of wax lights. +As I lighted a railway reading-lantern which I always carry in case I +want to read after the lamps are out, I perceived that the porthole was +again open, and a sort of creeping horror began to take possession of +me which I never felt before, nor wish to feel again. But I got a light +and proceeded to examine the upper berth, expecting to find it drenched +with seawater. + +But I was disappointed. The bed had been slept in, and the smell of +the sea was strong, but the bedding was as dry as a bone. I fancied +that Robert had not had the courage to make the bed after the accident +of the previous night--it had all been a hideous dream. I drew the +curtains back as far as I could, and examined the place very carefully. +It was perfectly dry. But the porthole was open again. With a sort +of dull bewilderment of horror, I closed it and screwed it down, and +thrusting my heavy stick through the brass loop, wrenched it with all +my might, till the thick metal began to bend with the pressure. Then I +hooked my reading-lantern into the red velvet at the head of the couch, +and sat down to recover my senses if I could. I sat there all night, +unable to think of rest--hardly able to think at all. But the porthole +remained closed, and I did not believe it would now open again without +the application of a considerable force. + +“The morning dawned at last, and I dressed myself slowly, thinking +over all that had happened in the night. It was a beautiful day and +I went on deck, glad to get out in the early pure sunshine, and to +smell the breeze from the blue water, so different from the noisome, +stagnant odor from my stateroom. Instinctively I turned aft, toward the +surgeon’s cabin. There he stood with a pipe in his mouth, taking his +morning airing precisely as on the preceding day. + +“‘Good-morning,’ said he quietly, but looking at me with evident +curiosity. + +“‘Doctor, you were quite right,’ said I. ‘There is something wrong +about that place.’ + +“‘I thought you would change your mind,’ he answered, rather +triumphantly. ‘You have had a bad night, eh? Shall I make you a +pick-me-up? I have a capital recipe.’ + +“‘No, thanks,’ I cried. ‘But I would like to tell you what happened.’ + +“I then tried to explain as clearly as possible precisely what had +occurred, not omitting to state that I had been scared as I had never +been scared in my whole life before. I dwelt particularly on the +phenomenon of the porthole, which was a fact to which I could testify, +even if the rest had been an illusion. I had closed it twice in the +night, and the second time I had actually bent the brass in wrenching +it with my stick. I believe I insisted a good deal on this point. + +“‘You seem to think I am likely to doubt the story,’ said the doctor, +smiling at the detailed account of the state of the porthole. ‘I do not +doubt it in the least. I renew my invitation to you. Bring your traps +here, and take half my cabin.’ + +“‘Come and take mine for half of one night,’ I said. ‘Help me to get at +the bottom of this thing.’ + +“‘You will get at the bottom of something else if you try,’ answered +the doctor. + +“‘What?’ I asked. + +“‘The bottom of the sea. I am going to leave the ship. It is not canny.’ + +“‘Then you will not help me to find out--’ + +“‘Not I,’ said the doctor quickly. ‘It is my business to keep my wits +about me--not to go fiddling about with ghosts and things.’ + +“‘Do you really believe it is a ghost?’ I inquired, rather +contemptuously. But as I spoke, I remembered very well the horrible +sensation of the supernatural which had got possession of me during the +night. The doctor turned sharply on me: + +“‘Have you any reasonable explanation of these things to offer?’ he +asked. ‘No, you have not. Well, you say you will find an explanation. I +say that you won’t, sir, simply because there is not any.’ + +“‘But, my dear sir,’ I retorted, ‘do you, a man of science, mean to +tell me that such things can not be explained?’ + +“‘I do,’ he answered, stoutly. ‘And if they could, I would not be +concerned in the explanation.’ + +“I did not care to spend another night alone in the stateroom, and yet +I was obstinately determined to get at the root of the disturbances. +I do not believe there are many men who would have slept there +alone, after passing two such nights. But I made up my mind to try +it, if I could not get any one to share a watch with me. The doctor +was evidently not inclined for such an experiment. He said he was +a surgeon, and that in case any accident occurred on board, he +must always be in readiness. He could not afford to have his nerve +unsettled. Perhaps he was quite right, but I am inclined to think +that this precaution was prompted by his inclination. On inquiry, he +informed me that there was no one on board who would be likely to join +me in my investigations, and after a little more conversation I left +him. A little later I met the captain, and told him my story. I said +that if no one would spend the night with me, I would ask leave to have +the light burning all night, and would try it alone. + +“‘Look here,’ said he, ‘I will tell you what I will do. I will share +your watch myself, and we will see what happens. It is my belief that +we can find out between us. There may be some fellow skulking on board +who steals a passage by frightening the passengers. It is just possible +that there may be something queer in the carpentering of that berth.’ + +“I suggested taking the ship’s carpenter below and examining the place; +but I was overjoyed at the captain’s offer to spend the night with me. +He accordingly sent for the workman and ordered him to do anything I +required. We went below at once. I had all the bedding cleared out of +the upper berth, and we examined the place thoroughly to see if there +was a board loose anywhere, or a panel which could be opened or pushed +aside. We tried the planks everywhere, tapped the flooring, unscrewed +the fittings of the lower berth and took it to pieces--in short, there +was not a square inch of the stateroom which was not searched and +tested. Everything was in perfect order, and we put everything back in +its place. As we were finishing our work, Robert came to the door, and +looked in. + +“‘Well, sir--find anything, sir?’ he asked with a ghastly grin. + +“‘You were right about the porthole, Robert,’ I said, and I gave +him the promised sovereign. The carpenter did his work silently and +skilfully, following my directions. When he had done he spoke. + +“‘I’m a plain man, sir,’ he said. ‘But it’s my belief you had better +just turn out your things and let me run half a dozen four-inch screws +through the door of this cabin. There’s no good never came o’ this +cabin yet, sir, and that’s all about it. There’s been four lives lost +out o’ here to my own remembrance, and that in four trips. Better give +it up, sir--better give it up!’ + +“‘I will try it for one night more,’ I said. + +“‘Better give it up, sir--better give it up! It’s a precious bad job,’ +repeated the workman, putting his tools in his bag and leaving the +cabin. + +“But my spirits had risen considerably at the prospect of having the +captain’s company, and I made up my mind not to be prevented from going +to the end of the strange business. I abstained from Welsh rarebits +and grog that evening, and did not even join in the customary game of +whist. I wanted to be quite sure of my nerves, and my vanity made me +anxious to make a good figure in the captain’s eyes. + + +IV + +“The captain was one of those splendidly tough and cheerful specimens +of seafaring humanity, whose combined courage, hardihood, and calmness +in difficulty leads them naturally into high positions of trust. He +was not the man to be led away by an idle tale, and the mere fact +that he was willing to join me in the investigation was proof that +he thought there was something seriously wrong, which could not be +accounted for on ordinary theories, nor laughed down as a common +superstition. To some extent, too, his reputation was at stake, as well +as the reputation of the ship. It is no light thing to lose passengers +overboard, and he knew it. + +“About ten o’clock that evening, as I was smoking a last cigar, he came +up to me and drew me aside from the beat of the other passengers who +were patrolling the deck in the warm darkness. + +“‘This is a serious matter, Mr. Brisbane,’ he said. ‘We must make up +our minds either way--to be disappointed or to have a pretty rough time +of it. You see, I cannot afford to laugh at the affair, and I will ask +you to sign your name to a statement of whatever occurs. If nothing +happens to-night, we will try it again to-morrow and next day. Are you +ready?’ + +“So we went below and entered the stateroom. As we went in I could +see Robert, the steward, who stood a little further down the passage, +watching us, with his usual grin, as though certain that something +dreadful was about to happen. The captain closed the door behind us and +bolted it. + +“‘Suppose we put your portmanteau before the door,’ he suggested. ‘One +of us can sit on it. Nothing can get out then. Is the port screwed +down?’ + +“I found it as I had left it in the morning. Indeed, without using +a lever, as I had done, no one could have opened it. I drew back the +curtains of the upper berth so that I could see well into it. By the +captain’s advice, I lighted my reading-lantern, and placed it so that +it shone upon the white sheets above. He insisted upon sitting on the +portmanteau, declaring that he wished to be able to swear that he had +sat before the door. + +“Then he requested me to search the stateroom thoroughly, an operation +very soon accomplished, as it consisted merely in looking beneath the +lower berth and under the couch below the porthole. The spaces were +quite empty. + +“‘It is impossible for any human being to get in,’ I said, ’or for any +human being to open the port.’ + +“‘Very good,’ said the captain, calmly. ‘If we see anything now, it +must be either imagination or something supernatural.’ + +“I sat down on the edge of the lower berth. + +“‘The first time it happened,’ said the captain, crossing his legs and +leaning back against the door, ‘was in March. The passenger who slept +here, in the upper berth, turned out to have been a lunatic--at all +events, he was known to have been a little touched, and he had taken +his passage without the knowledge of his friends. He rushed out in the +middle of the night, and threw himself overboard, before the officer +who had the watch could stop him. We stopped and lowered a boat, it was +a quiet night, just before that heavy weather came on; but we could not +find him. Of course his suicide was afterward accounted for on the +ground of his insanity.’ + +“‘I suppose that often happens?’ I remarked, rather absently. + +“‘Not often--no,’ said the captain; ‘never before in my experience, +though I have heard of it happening on board of other ships. Well, as I +was saying, that occurred in March. On the very next trip--What are you +looking at?’ he asked, stopping suddenly in his narration. + +“I believe I gave no answer. My eyes were riveted upon the porthole. +It seemed to me that the brass loop-nut was beginning to turn very +slowly upon the screw--so slowly, however, that I was not sure it moved +at all. I watched it intently, fixing its position in my mind, and +trying to ascertain whether it changed. Seeing where I was looking, the +captain looked too. + +“‘It moves!’ he exclaimed, in a tone of conviction. ‘No, it does not,’ +he added, after a minute. + +“‘If it were the jarring of the screw,’ said I, ‘it would have opened +during the day; but I found it this evening jammed tight as I left it +this morning.’ + +“I rose and tried the nut. It was certainly loosened, for by an effort +I could move it with my hands. + +“‘The queer thing,’ said the captain, ‘is that the second man who was +lost is supposed to have got through that very port. We had a terrible +time over it. It was in the middle of the night, and the weather was +very heavy; there was an alarm that one of the ports was open and the +sea running in. I came below and found everything flooded, the water +pouring in every time she rolled, and the whole port swinging from the +top bolts--not the porthole in the middle. Well, we managed to shut +it, but the water did some damage. Ever since that the place smells +of seawater from time to time. We supposed the passenger had thrown +himself out, though the Lord only knows how he did it. The steward +kept telling me that he could not keep anything shut here. Upon my +word--I can smell it now, cannot you?’ he inquired, sniffing the air +suspiciously. + +“‘Yes--distinctly,’ I said, and I shuddered as that same odor of +stagnant seawater grew stronger in the cabin. ‘Now, to smell like this, +the place must be damp,’ I continued, ‘and yet when I examined it with +the carpenter this morning, everything was perfectly dry. It is most +extraordinary--hallo!’ + +“My reading-lantern, which had been placed in the upper berth, was +suddenly extinguished. There was still a good deal of light from the +pane of ground-glass near the door, behind which loomed the regulation +lamp. The ship rolled heavily, and the curtain of the upper berth swung +far out into the stateroom and back again. I rose quickly from my seat +on the edge of the bed, and the captain at the same moment started to +his feet with a loud cry of surprise. I had turned with the intention +of taking down the lantern to examine it, when I heard his exclamation, +and immediately afterward his call for help. I sprang toward him. He +was wrestling with all his might with the brass loop of the port. It +seemed to turn against his hands in spite of all his efforts. I caught +up my cane, a heavy oak stick I always used to carry, and thrust it +through the ring and bore on it with all my strength. But the strong +wood snapped suddenly, and I fell upon the couch. When I rose again the +port was wide open, and the captain was standing with his back against +the door pale to the lips. + +“‘There is something in that berth!’ he cried, in a strange voice, his +eyes almost starting from his head. ‘Hold the door, while I look--it +shall not escape us, whatever it is!’ + +“But instead of taking his place, I sprang upon the lower bed and +seized something which lay in the upper berth. + +“It was something ghostly, horrible beyond words, and it moved in my +grip. It was like the body of a man long drowned, and yet it moved +and had the strength of ten men living; but I gripped it with all my +might--the slippery, oozy, horrible thing. The dead white eyes seemed +to stare at me out of the dusk; the putrid odor of rank seawater was +about it, and its shiny hair hung in foul wet curls over its dead face. +I wrestled with the dead thing; it thrust itself upon me and forced +me back and nearly broke my arms; it wound its corpse’s arms about my +neck, the living death, and overpowered me, so that I, at last, cried +aloud and fell and left my hold. + +“As I fell, the thing sprang across me and seemed to throw itself upon +the captain. When I last saw him on his feet, his face was white and +his lips set. It seemed to me that he struck a violent blow at the +dead being, and then he, too, fell forward upon his face, with an +inarticulate cry of horror. + +“The thing paused an instant, seeming to hover over his prostrate +body, and I could have screamed again for very fright, but I had no +voice left. The thing vanished suddenly, and it seemed to my disturbed +senses that it made its exit through the open port, though how that +was possible, considering the smallness of the aperture, is more than +any one can tell. I lay a long time upon the floor, and the captain +lay beside me. At last I partially recovered my senses and moved, and +I instantly knew that my arm was broken--the small bone of the left +forearm near the wrist. + +“I got upon my feet somehow, and with my remaining hand I tried to +raise the captain. He groaned and moved, and at last came to himself. +He was not hurt, but he seemed badly stunned. + +“Well, do you want to hear any more? There is nothing more. That is the +end of my story. The carpenter carried out his scheme of running half a +dozen four-inch screws through the door of one hundred and five, and if +ever you take a passage in the ‘Kamtschatka,’ you may ask for a berth +in that stateroom. You will be told that it is engaged--yes--it is +engaged by that dead thing. + +“I finished the trip in the surgeon’s cabin. He doctored my broken arm, +and advised me not to ‘fiddle about with ghosts and things’ any more. +The captain was very silent, and never sailed again in that ship, +though it is still running. And I will not sail in her either. It was +a very disagreeable experience, and I was very badly frightened, which +is a thing I do not like. That is all. That is how I saw a ghost--if it +was a ghost. It was dead, anyhow.” + + + + +THE DIAMOND LENS + +By FITZ-JAMES O’BRIEN + +[Attribution From “The Diamond Lens, and Other Stories,” edited by +William Winter, 1885.] + + +I + +THE BENDING OF THE TWIG + +From a very early period of my life the entire bent of my inclinations +had been towards microscopic investigations. When I was not more than +ten years old, a distant relative of our family, hoping to astonish +my inexperience, constructed a simple microscope for me, by drilling +in a disk of copper a small hole, in which a drop of pure water was +sustained by capillary attraction. This very primitive apparatus, +magnifying some fifty diameters, presented, it is true, only indistinct +and imperfect forms, but still sufficiently wonderful to work up my +imagination to a preternatural state of excitement. + +Seeing me so interested in this rude instrument, my cousin explained +to me all that he knew about the principles of the microscope, related +to me a few of the wonders which had been accomplished through its +agency, and ended by promising to send me one regularly constructed, +immediately on his return to the city. I counted the days, the hours, +the minutes, that intervened between that promise and his departure. + +Meantime I was not idle. Every transparent substance that bore the +remotest resemblance to a lens I eagerly seized upon, and employed +in vain attempts to realize that instrument, the theory of whose +construction I as yet only vaguely comprehended. All panes of +glass containing those oblate spheroidal knots familiarly known as +“bull’s-eyes” were ruthlessly destroyed, in the hope of obtaining +lenses of marvellous power. I even went so far as to extract the +crystalline humor from the eyes of fishes and animals, and endeavored +to press it into the microscopic service. I plead guilty to having +stolen the glasses from my Aunt Agatha’s spectacles, with a dim idea of +grinding them into lenses of wondrous magnifying properties,--in which +attempt it is scarcely necessary to say that I totally failed. + +At last the promised instrument came. It was of that order known +as Field’s simple microscope, and had cost perhaps about fifteen +dollars. As far as educational purposes went, a better apparatus could +not have been selected. Accompanying it was a small treatise on the +microscope,--its history, uses, and discoveries. I comprehended then +for the first time the “Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.” The dull +veil of ordinary existence that hung across the world seemed suddenly +to roll away, and to lay bare a land of enchantments. I felt towards +my companions as the seer might feel towards the ordinary masses of +men. I held conversations with nature in a tongue which they could not +understand. I was in daily communication with living wonders, such as +they never imagined in their wildest visions. I penetrated beyond the +external portal of things, and roamed through the sanctuaries. Where +they beheld only a drop of rain slowly rolling down the window-glass, +I saw a universe of beings animated with all the passions common to +physical life, and convulsing their minute sphere with struggles as +fierce and protracted as those of men. In the common spots of mold, +which my mother, good housekeeper that she was, fiercely scooped away +from her jam pots, there abode for me, under the name of mildew, +enchanted gardens, filled with dells and avenues of the densest foliage +and most astonishing verdure, while from the fantastic boughs of these +microscopic forests, hung strange fruits glittering with green, and +silver, and gold. + +It was no scientific thirst that at this time filled my mind. It was +the pure enjoyment of a poet to whom a world of wonders has been +disclosed. I talked of my solitary pleasures to none. Alone with my +microscope, I dimmed my sight, day after day and night after night, +poring over the marvels which it unfolded to me. I was like one who, +having discovered the ancient Eden still existing in all its primitive +glory, should resolve to enjoy it in solitude, and never betray to +mortal the secret of its locality. The rod of my life was bent at this +moment. I destined myself to be a microscopist. + +Of course, like every novice, I fancied myself a discoverer. I was +ignorant at the time of the thousands of acute intellects engaged in +the same pursuit as myself, and with the advantage of instruments a +thousand times more powerful than mine. The names of Leeuwenhoek, +Williamson, Spencer, Ehrenberg, Schultz, Dujardin, Schact, and +Schleiden were then entirely unknown to me, or if known, I was ignorant +of their patient and wonderful researches. In every fresh specimen of +cryptogamia which I placed beneath my instrument I believed that I +discovered wonders of which the world was as yet ignorant. I remember +well the thrill of delight and admiration that shot through me the +first time that I discovered the common wheel animalcule (_Rotifera +vulgaris_) expanding and contracting its flexible spokes, and seemingly +rotating through the water. Alas! as I grew older, and obtained some +works treating of my favorite study, I found that I was only on the +threshold of a science to the investigation of which some of the +greatest men of the age were devoting their lives and intellects. + +As I grew up, my parents, who saw but little likelihood of anything +practical resulting from the examination of bits of moss and drops of +water through a brass tube and a piece of glass, were anxious that I +should choose a profession. It was their desire that I should enter the +counting-house of my uncle, Ethan Blake, a prosperous merchant, who +carried on business in New York. This suggestion I decisively combated. +I had no taste for trade; I should only make a failure; in short, I +refused to become a merchant. + +But it was necessary for me to select some pursuit. My parents were +staid New England people, who insisted on the necessity of labor; and +therefore, although, thanks to the bequest of my poor Aunt Agatha, I +should, on coming of age, inherit a small fortune sufficient to place +me above want, it was decided that, instead of waiting for this, +I should act the nobler part, and employ the intervening years in +rendering myself independent. + +After much cogitation I complied with the wishes of my family, and +selected a profession. I determined to study medicine at the New York +Academy. This disposition of my future suited me. A removal from my +relatives would enable me to dispose of my time as I pleased without +fear of detection. As long as I paid my Academy fees, I might shirk +attending the lectures if I chose; and, as I never had the remotest +intention of standing an examination, there was no danger of my being +“plucked.” Besides, a metropolis was the place for me. There I could +obtain excellent instruments, the newest publications, intimacy with +men of pursuits kindred with my own,--in short, all things necessary +to insure a profitable devotion of my life to my beloved science. I +had an abundance of money, few desires that were not bounded by my +illuminating mirror on one side and my object-glass on the other; what, +therefore, was to prevent my becoming an illustrious investigator of +the veiled worlds? It was with the most buoyant hope that I left my New +England home and established myself in New York. + + +II + +THE LONGING OF A MAN OF SCIENCE + +My first step, of course, was to find suitable apartments. These I +obtained, after a couple of days’ search, in Fourth Avenue; a very +pretty second-floor unfurnished, containing sitting-room, bedroom, +and a smaller apartment which I intended to fit up as a laboratory. +I furnished my lodgings simply, but rather elegantly, and then +devoted all my energies to the adornment of the temple of my worship. +I visited Pike, the celebrated optician, and passed in review his +splendid collection of microscopes,--Field’s Compound, Hingham’s, +Spencer’s, Nachet’s Binocular (that founded on the principles of the +stereoscope), and at length fixed upon that form known as Spencer’s +Trunnion Microscope, as combining the greatest number of improvements +with an almost perfect freedom from tremor. Along with this I purchased +every possible accessory,--draw-tubes, micrometers, a _camera-lucida_, +lever-stage, achromatic condensers, white cloud illuminators, prisms, +parabolic condensers, polarizing apparatus, forceps, aquatic boxes, +fishing-tubes, with a host of other articles, all of which would have +been useful in the hands of an experienced microscopist, but, as I +afterwards discovered, were not of the slightest present value to me. +It takes years of practice to know how to use a complicated microscope. +The optician looked suspiciously at me as I made these wholesale +purchases. He evidently was uncertain whether to set me down as some +scientific celebrity or a madman. I think he inclined to the latter +belief. I suppose I was mad. Every great genius is mad upon the subject +in which he is greatest. The unsuccessful madman is disgraced and +called a lunatic. + +Mad or not, I set myself to work with a zeal which few scientific +students have ever equalled. I had everything to learn relative to the +delicate study upon which I had embarked,--a study involving the most +earnest patience, the most rigid analytic powers, the steadiest hand, +the most untiring eyes, the most refined and subtile manipulation. + +For a long time half my apparatus lay inactively on the shelves of my +laboratory, which was now most amply furnished with every possible +contrivance for facilitating my investigations. The fact was that +I did not know how to use some of my scientific implements,--never +having been taught microscopics,--and those whose use I understood +theoretically were of little avail, until by practice I could attain +the necessary delicacy of handling. Still, such was the fury of my +ambition, such the untiring perseverance of my experiments, that, +difficult of credit as it may be, in the course of one year I became +theoretically and practically an accomplished microscopist. + +During this period of my labors, in which I submitted specimens of +every substance that came under my observation to the action of my +lenses, I became a discover--in a small way, it is true, for I was +very young, but still a discover. It was I who destroyed Ehrenberg’s +theory that the _Volvox globator_ was an animal, and proved that his +“nomads” with stomachs and eyes were merely phases of the formation +of a vegetable cell, and were, when they reached their mature state, +incapable of the act of conjugation, or any true generative act, +without which no organism rising to any stage of life higher than +vegetable can be said to be complete. It was I who resolved the +singular problem of rotation in the cells and hairs of plants into +ciliary attraction, in spite of the assertions of Mr. Wenham and +others, that my explanation was the result of an optical illusion. + +But notwithstanding these discoveries, laboriously and painfully made +as they were, I felt horribly dissatisfied. At every step I found +myself stopped by the imperfections of my instruments. Like all active +microscopists, I gave my imagination full play. Indeed, it is a common +complaint against many such, that they supply the defects of their +instruments with the creations of their brains. I imagined depths +beyond depths in nature which the limited power of my lenses prohibited +me from exploring. I lay awake at night constructing imaginary +microscopes of immeasurable power, with which I seemed to pierce +through the envelopes of matter down to its original atom. How I cursed +those imperfect mediums which necessity through ignorance compelled me +to use! How I longed to discover the secret of some perfect lens, whose +magnifying power should be limited only by the resolvability of the +object, and which at the same time should be free from spherical and +chromatic aberrations, in short from all the obstacles over which the +poor microscopist finds himself continually stumbling! I felt convinced +that the simple microscope, composed of a single lens of such vast +yet perfect power was possible of construction. To attempt to bring +the compound microscope up to such a pitch would have been commencing +at the wrong end; this latter being simply a partially successful +endeavor to remedy those very defects of the simple instrument which, +if conquered, would leave nothing to be desired. + +It was in this mood of mind that I became a constructive microscopist. +After another year passed in this new pursuit, experimenting on every +imaginable substance,--glass, gems, flints, crystals, artificial +crystals formed of the alloy of various vitreous materials,--in short, +having constructed as many varieties of lenses as Argus had eyes, I +found myself precisely where I started, with nothing gained save an +extensive knowledge of glass-making. I was almost dead with despair. My +parents were surprised at my apparent want of progress in my medical +studies (I had not attended one lecture since my arrival in the city), +and the expenses of my mad pursuit had been so great as to embarrass me +very seriously. + +I was in this frame of mind one day, experimenting in my laboratory +on a small diamond,--that stone, from its great refracting power, +having always occupied my attention more than any other,--when a young +Frenchman, who lived on the floor above me, and who was in the habit of +occasionally visiting me, entered the room. + +I think that Jules Simon was a Jew. He had many traits of the Hebrew +character: a love of jewelry, of dress, and of good living. There was +something mysterious about him. He always had something to sell, and +yet went into excellent society. When I say sell, I should perhaps have +said peddle; for his operations were generally confined to the disposal +of single articles,--a picture, for instance, or a rare carving in +ivory, or a pair of duelling-pistols, or the dress of a Mexican +_caballero_. When I was first furnishing my rooms, he paid me a visit, +which ended in my purchasing an antique silver lamp, which he assured +me was a Cellini,--it was handsome enough even for that,--and some +other knick-knacks for my sitting-room. Why Simon should pursue this +petty trade I never could imagine. He apparently had plenty of money, +and had the _entrée_ of the best houses in the city,--taking care, +however, I suppose, to drive no bargains within the enchanted circle of +the Upper Ten. I came at length to the conclusion that this peddling +was but a mask to cover some greater object, and even went so far as +to believe my young acquaintance to be implicated in the slave-trade. +That, however, was none of my affair. + +On the present occasion, Simon entered my room in a state of +considerable excitement. + +“_Ah! mon ami!_” he cried, before I could even offer him the ordinary +salutation, “it has occurred to me to be the witness of the most +astonishing things in the world. I promenade myself to the house of +Madame--how does the little animal--_le renard_--name himself in the +Latin?” + +“Vulpes,” I answered. + +“Ah! yes,--Vulpes. I promenade myself to the house of Madame Vulpes.” + +“The spirit medium?” + +“Yes, the great medium. Great heavens! what a woman! I write on a slip +of paper many of questions concerning affairs the most secret,--affairs +that conceal themselves in the abysses of my heart the most profound; +and behold! by example! what occurs? This devil of a woman makes me +replies the most truthful to all of them. She talks to me of things +that I do not love to talk of to myself. What am I to think? I am fixed +to the earth!” + +“Am I to understand you, M. Simon, that this Mrs. Vulpes replied to +questions secretly written by you, which questions related to events +known only to yourself?” + +“Ah! more than that, more than that,” he answered, with an air of some +alarm. “She related to me things--But,” he added, after a pause, and +suddenly changing his manner, “why occupy ourselves with these follies? +It was all the biology, without doubt. It goes without saying that it +has not my credence-- But why are we here, _mon ami_? It has occurred +to me to discover the most beautiful thing as you can imagine,--a vase +with green lizards on it, composed by the great Bernard Palissy. It is +in my apartment; let us mount. I go to show it to you.” + +I followed Simon mechanically; but my thoughts were far from Palissy +and his enamelled ware, although I, like him, was seeking in the dark +a great discovery. This casual mention of the spiritualist, Madame +Vulpes, set me on a new track. What if this spiritualism should be +really a great fact? What if, through communication with more subtile +organisms than my own, I could reach at a single bound the goal, which +perhaps a life of agonizing mental toil would never enable me to attain? + +While purchasing the Palissy vase from my friend Simon, I was mentally +arranging a visit to Madame Vulpes. + + +III + +THE SPIRIT OF LEEUWENHOEK + +Two evenings after this, thanks to an arrangement by letter and the +promise of an ample fee, I found Madame Vulpes awaiting me at her +residence alone. She was a coarse-featured woman, with keen and rather +cruel dark eyes, and an exceedingly sensual expression about her mouth +and under jaw. She received me in perfect silence, in an apartment on +the ground floor, very sparely furnished. In the centre of the room, +close to where Mrs. Vulpes sat, there was a common round mahogany +table. If I had come for the purpose of sweeping her chimney, the woman +could not have looked more indifferent to my appearance. There was +no attempt to inspire the visitor with awe. Everything bore a simple +and practical aspect. This intercourse with the spiritual world was +evidently as familiar an occupation with Mrs. Vulpes as eating her +dinner or riding in an omnibus. + +“You come for a communication, Mr. Linley?” said the medium, in a dry, +business-like tone of voice. + +“By appointment,--yes.” + +“What sort of communication do you want--a written one?” + +“Yes--I wish for a written one.” + +“From any particular spirit?” + +“Yes.” + +“Have you ever known this spirit on this earth?” + +“Never. He died long before I was born. I wish merely to obtain from +him some information which he ought to be able to give better than any +other.” + +“Will you seat yourself at the table, Mr. Linley,” said the medium, +“and place your hands upon it?” + +I obeyed,--Mrs. Vulpes being seated opposite to me, with her hands also +on the table. We remained thus for about a minute and a half, when a +violent succession of raps came on the table, on the back of my chair, +on the floor immediately under my feet, and even on the window-panes. +Mrs. Vulpes smiled composedly. + +“They are very strong to-night,” she remarked. “You are fortunate.” She +then continued, “Will the spirits communicate with this gentleman?” + +Vigorous affirmative. + +“Will the particular spirit he desires to speak with communicate?” + +A very confused rapping followed this question. + +“I know what they mean,” said Mrs. Vulpes, addressing herself to me; +“they wish you to write down the name of the particular spirit that +you desire to converse with. Is that so?” she added, speaking to her +invisible guests. + +That it was so was evident from the numerous affirmatory responses. +While this was going on, I tore a slip from my pocket-book, and +scribbled a name, under the table. + +“Will this spirit communicate in writing with this gentleman?” asked +the medium once more. + +After a moment’s pause, her hand seemed to be seized with a violent +tremor, shaking so forcibly that the table vibrated. She said that a +spirit had seized her hand and would write. I handed her some sheets +of paper that were on the table, and a pencil. The latter she held +loosely in her hand, which presently began to move over the paper with +a singular and seemingly involuntary motion. After a few moments had +elapsed, she handed me the paper, on which I found written, in a large, +uncultivated hand, the words, “He is not here, but has been sent for.” +A pause of a minute or so now ensued, during which Mrs. Vulpes remained +perfectly silent, but the raps continued at regular intervals. When the +short period I mention had elapsed, the hand of the medium was again +seized with its convulsive tremor, and she wrote, under this strange +influence, a few words on the paper, which she handed to me. They were +as follows:-- + +“I am here. Question me. Leeuwenhoek.” + +I was astounded. The name was identical with that I had written beneath +the table, and carefully kept concealed. Neither was it at all probable +that an uncultivated woman like Mrs. Vulpes should know even the name +of the great father of microscopics. It may have been biology; but +this theory was soon doomed to be destroyed. I wrote on my slip--still +concealing it from Mrs. Vulpes--a series of questions, which, to avoid +tediousness, I shall place with the responses, in the order in which +they occurred:-- + +I.--Can the microscope be brought to perfection? + +Spirit.--Yes. + +I.--Am I destined to accomplish this great task? + +Spirit.--You are. + +I.--I wish to know how to proceed to attain this end. For the love +which you bear to science, help me! + +Spirit.--A diamond of one hundred and forty carats, submitted to +electro-magnetic currents for a long period, will experience a +rearrangement of its atoms _inter se_, and from that stone you will +form the universal lens. + +I.--Will great discoveries result from the use of such a lens? + +Spirit.--So great that all that has gone before is as nothing. + +I.--But the refractive power of the diamond is so immense, that the +image will be formed within the lens. How is that difficulty to be +surmounted? + +Spirit.--Pierce the lens through its axis, and the difficulty is +obviated. The image will be formed in the pierced space, which will +itself serve as a tube to look through. Now I am called. Good-night. + +I cannot at all describe the effect that these extraordinary +communications had upon me. I felt completely bewildered. No biological +theory could account for the _discovery_ of the lens. The medium might, +by means of biological _rapport_ with my mind, have gone so far as to +read my questions, and reply to them coherently. But biology could +not enable her to discover that magnetic currents would so alter the +crystals of the diamond as to remedy its previous defects, and admit +of its being polished into a perfect lens. Some such theory may have +passed through my head, it is true; but if so, I had forgotten it. In +my excited condition of mind there was no course left but to become a +convert, and it was in a state of the most painful nervous exaltation +that I left the medium’s house that evening. She accompanied me to +the door, hoping that I was satisfied. The raps followed us as we went +through the hall, sounding on the balusters, the flooring, and even +the lintels of the door. I hastily expressed my satisfaction, and +escaped hurriedly into the cool night air. I walked home with but one +thought possessing me,--how to obtain a diamond of the immense size +required. My entire means multiplied a hundred times over would have +been inadequate to its purchase. Besides, such stones are rare, and +become historical. I could find such only in the regalia of Eastern or +European monarchs. + + +IV + +THE EYE OF MORNING + +There was a light in Simon’s room as I entered my house. A vague +impulse urged me to visit him. As I opened the door of his sitting-room +unannounced, he was bending, with his back toward me, over a carcel +lamp, apparently engaged in minutely examining some object which he +held in his hands. As I entered, he started suddenly thrust his hand +into his breast pocket, and turned to me with a face crimson with +confusion. + +“What!” I cried, “poring over the miniature of some fair lady? Well, +don’t blush so much; I won’t ask to see it.” + +Simon laughed awkwardly enough, but made none of the negative +protestations usual on such occasions. He asked me to take a seat. + +“Simon,” said I, “I have just come from Madame Vulpes.” + +This time Simon turned as white as a sheet, and seemed stupefied, as +if a sudden electric shock had smitten him. He babbled some incoherent +words, and went hastily to a small closet where he usually kept his +liquors. Although astonished at his emotion, I was too preoccupied with +my own idea to pay much attention to anything else. + +“You say truly when you call Madame Vulpes a devil of a woman,” I +continued. “Simon, she told me wonderful things to-night, or rather was +the means of telling me wonderful things. Ah! if I could only get a +diamond that weighed one hundred and forty carats!” + +Scarcely had the sigh with which I uttered this desire died upon +my lips, when Simon, with the aspect of a wild beast, glared at me +savagely, and, rushing to the mantelpiece, where some foreign weapons +hung on the wall, caught up a Malay creese, and brandished it furiously +before him. + +“No!” he cried in French, into which he always broke when excited. “No! +you shall not have it! You are perfidious! You have consulted with that +demon, and desire my treasure! But I will die first! Me! I am brave! +You cannot make me fear!” + +All this, uttered in a loud voice trembling with excitement, astounded +me. I saw at a glance that I had accidentally trodden upon the edges of +Simon’s secret, whatever it was. It was necessary to reassure him. + +“My dear Simon,” I said, “I am entirely at a loss to know what you +mean. I went to Madame Vulpes to consult with her on a scientific +problem, to the solution of which I discovered that a diamond of the +size I just mentioned was necessary. You were never alluded to during +the evening, nor, so far as I was concerned, even thought of. What +can be the meaning of this outburst? If you happen to have a set of +valuable diamonds in your possession, you need fear nothing from me. +The diamond which I require you could not possess; or, if you did +possess it, you would not be living here.” + +Something in my tone must have completely reassured him; for his +expression immediately changed to a sort of constrained merriment, +combined, however, with a certain suspicious attention to my movements. +He laughed, and said that I must bear with him; that he was at certain +moments subject to a species of vertigo, which betrayed itself in +incoherent speeches, and that the attacks passed off as rapidly as +they came. He put his weapon aside while making this explanation, and +endeavored, with some success, to assume a more cheerful air. + +All this did not impose on me in the least. I was too much accustomed +to analytical labors to be baffled by so flimsy a veil. I determined to +probe the mystery to the bottom. + +“Simon,” I said, gayly, “let us forget all this over a bottle of +Burgundy. I have a case of Lausseure’s _Clos Vougeot_ downstairs, +fragrant with the odors and ruddy with the sunlight of the Côte d’Or. +Let us have up a couple of bottles. What say you?” + +“With all my heart,” answered Simon, smilingly. + +I produced the wine and we seated ourselves to drink. It was of +a famous vintage, that of 1848, a year when war and wine throve +together,--and its pure but powerful juice seemed to impart renewed +vitality to the system. By the time we had half finished the second +bottle, Simon’s head, which I knew was a weak one, had begun to yield, +while I remained calm as ever, only that every draught seemed to send a +flush of vigor through my limbs. Simon’s utterance became more and more +indistinct. He took to singing French _chansons_ of a not very moral +tendency. I rose suddenly from the table just at the conclusion of one +of those incoherent verses, and fixing my eyes on him with a quiet +smile, said: “Simon, I have deceived you. I learned your secret this +evening. You may as well be frank with me. Mrs. Vulpes, or rather one +of her spirits, told me all.” + +He started with horror. His intoxication seemed for the moment to fade +away, and he made a movement towards the weapon that he had a short +time before laid down. I stopped him with my hand. + +“Monster!” he cried, passionately, “I am ruined! What shall I do? You +shall never have it! I swear by my mother!” + +“I don’t want it,” I said; “rest secure, but be frank with me. Tell me +all about it.” + +The drunkenness began to return. He protested with maudlin earnestness +that I was entirely mistaken,--that I was intoxicated; then asked me to +swear eternal secrecy, and promised to disclose the mystery to me. I +pledged myself, of course, to all. With an uneasy look in his eyes, and +hands unsteady with drink and nervousness, he drew a small case from +his breast and opened it. Heavens! How the mild lamplight was shivered +into a thousand prismatic arrows, as it fell upon a vast rose-diamond +that glittered in the case! I was no judge of diamonds, but I saw at a +glance that this was a gem of rare size and purity. I looked at Simon +with wonder, and--must I confess it?--with envy. How could he have +obtained this treasure? In reply to my questions, I could just gather +from his drunken statements (of which, I fancy, half the incoherence +was affected) that he had been superintending a gang of slaves engaged +in diamond-washing in Brazil; that he had seen one of them secrete a +diamond, but, instead of informing his employers, had quietly watched +the negro until he saw him bury his treasure; that he had dug it up +and fled with it, but that as yet he was afraid to attempt to dispose +of it publicly,--so valuable a gem being almost certain to attract too +much attention to its owner’s antecedents,--and he had not been able +to discover any of those obscure channels by which such matters are +conveyed away safely. He added, that, in accordance with oriental +practice, he had named his diamond with the fanciful title of “The Eye +of Morning.” + +While Simon was relating this to me, I regarded the great diamond +attentively. Never had I beheld anything so beautiful. All the glories +of light, ever imagined or described, seemed to pulsate in its +crystalline chambers. Its weight, as I learned from Simon, was exactly +one hundred and forty carats. Here was an amazing coincidence. The +hand of destiny seemed in it. On the very evening when the spirit of +Leeuwenhoek communicates to me the great secret of the microscope, the +priceless means which he directs me to employ start up within my easy +reach! I determined, with the most perfect deliberation, to possess +myself of Simon’s diamond. + +I sat opposite to him while he nodded over his glass, and calmly +revolved the whole affair. I did not for an instant contemplate so +foolish an act as a common theft, which would of course be discovered +or at least necessitate flight and concealment, all of which must +interfere with my scientific plans. There was but one step to be +taken,--to kill Simon. After all, what was the life of a little +peddling Jew, in comparison with the interests of science? Human beings +are taken every day from the condemned prisons to be experimented on +by surgeons. This man, Simon, was by his own confession a criminal, a +robber, and I believed on my soul a murderer. He deserved death quite +as much as any felon condemned by the laws: why should I not, like +government, contrive that his punishment should contribute to the +progress of human knowledge? + +The means for accomplishing everything I desired lay within my reach. +There stood upon the mantelpiece a bottle half full of French laudanum. +Simon was so occupied with his diamond, which I had just restored to +him, that it was an affair of no difficulty to drug his glass. In a +quarter of an hour he was in a profound sleep. + +I now opened his waistcoat, took the diamond from the inner pocket in +which he had placed it, and removed him to the bed, on which I laid him +so that his feet hung down over the edge. I had possessed myself of +the Malay creese, which I held in my right hand, while with the other +I discovered as accurately as I could by pulsation the exact locality +of the heart. It was essential that all the aspects of his death should +lead to the surmise of self-murder. I calculated the exact angle at +which it was probable that the weapon, if levelled by Simon’s own hand, +would enter his breast; then with one powerful blow I thrust it up to +the hilt in the very spot which I desired to penetrate. A convulsive +thrill ran through Simon’s limbs. I heard a smothered sound issue from +his throat, precisely like the bursting of a larger air-bubble, sent up +by a diver, when it reaches the surface of the water; he turned half +round on his side, and, as if to assist my plans more effectually, his +right hand, moved by some mere spasmodic impulse, clasped the handle +of the creese, which it remained holding with extraordinary muscular +tenacity. Beyond this there was no apparent struggle. The laudanum, +I presume, paralyzed the usual nervous action. He must have died +instantly. + +There was yet something to be done. To make it certain that all +suspicion of the act should be diverted from any inhabitant of the +house to Simon himself, it was necessary that the door should be found +in the morning _locked on the inside_. How to do this, and afterwards +escape myself? Not by the window; that was a physical impossibility. +Besides, I was determined that the windows _also_ should be found +bolted. The solution was simple enough. I descended softly to my own +room for a peculiar instrument which I had used for holding small +slippery substances, such as minute spheres of glass, etc. This +instrument was nothing more than a long slender hand-vise, with a very +powerful grip, and a considerable leverage, which last was accidentally +owing to the shape of the handle. Nothing was simpler than, when the +key was in the lock, to seize the end of its stem in this vise, through +the keyhole, from the outside, and lock the door. Previously, however, +to doing this, I burned a number of papers on Simon’s hearth. Suicides +almost always burn papers before they destroy themselves. I also +emptied some more laudanum into Simon’s glass,--having first removed +from it all traces of wine--cleaned the other wine-glass, and brought +the bottles away with me. If traces of two persons drinking had been +found in the room, the question naturally would have arisen, Who was +the second? Besides, the wine-bottles might have been identified as +belonging to me. The laudanum I poured out to account for its presence +in his stomach, in case of a post-mortem examination. The theory +naturally would be, that he first intended to poison himself, but, +after swallowing a little of the drug, was either disgusted with its +taste, or changed his mind from other motives, and chose the dagger. +These arrangements made, I walked out, leaving the gas burning, locked +the door with my vise, and went to bed. + +Simon’s death was not discovered until nearly three in the afternoon. +The servant, astonished at seeing the gas burning,--the light streaming +on the dark landing from under the door,--peeped through the keyhole +and saw Simon on the bed. She gave the alarm. The door was burst open, +and the neighborhood was in a fever of excitement. + +Everyone in the house was arrested, myself included. There was an +inquest; but no clew to his death beyond that of suicide could be +obtained. Curiously enough, he had made several speeches to his friends +the preceding week, that seemed to point to self-destruction. One +gentleman swore that Simon had said in his presence that “he was tired +of life.” His landlord affirmed that Simon, when paying him his last +month’s rent, remarked that “he should not pay him rent much longer.” +All the other evidence corresponded,--the door locked inside, the +position of the corpse, the burnt papers. As I anticipated, no one +knew of the possession of the diamond by Simon, so that no motive was +suggested for his murder. The jury, after a prolonged examination, +brought in the usual verdict, and the neigborhood once more settled +down into its accustomed quiet. + + +V + +ANIMULA + +The three months succeeding Simon’s catastrophe I devoted night and +day to my diamond lens. I had constructed a vast galvanic battery, +composed of nearly two thousand pairs of plates,--a higher power I +dared not use, lest the diamond should be calcined. By means of this +enormous engine I was enabled to send a powerful current of electricity +continually through my great diamond, which it seemed to me gained in +lustre every day. At the expiration of a month I commenced the grinding +and polishing of the lens, a work of intense toil and exquisite +delicacy. The great density of the stone, and the care required to be +taken with the curvatures of the surfaces of the lens, rendered the +labor the severest and most harassing that I had yet undergone. + +At last the eventful moment came; the lens was completed. I stood +trembling on the threshold of new worlds. I had the realization of +Alexander’s famous wish before me. The lens lay on the table, ready +to be placed upon its platform. My hand fairly shook as I enveloped a +drop of water with a thin coating of oil of turpentine, preparatory to +its examination,--a process necessary in order to prevent the rapid +evaporation of the water. I now placed the drop on a thin slip of glass +under the lens, and throwing upon it, by the combined aid of a prism +and a mirror, a powerful stream of light, I approached my eye to the +minute hole drilled through the axis of the lens. For an instant I saw +nothing save what seemed to be an illuminated chaos, a vast luminous +abyss. A pure white light, cloudless and serene, and seemingly as +limitless as space itself, was my first impression. Gently, and with +the greatest care, I depressed the lens a few hair’s-breadths. The +wondrous illumination still continued, but as the lens approached the +object a scene of indescribable beauty was unfolded to my view. + +I seemed to gaze upon a vast space, the limits of which extended far +beyond my vision. An atmosphere of magical luminousness permeated the +entire field of view. I was amazed to see no trace of animalculous +life. Not a living thing, apparently, inhabited that dazzling expanse. +I comprehended instantly that, by the wondrous power of my lens, I had +penetrated beyond the grosser particles of aqueous matter, beyond the +realms of infusoria and protozoa, down to the original gaseous globule, +into whose luminous interior I was gazing, as into an almost boundless +dome filled with a supernatural radiance. + +It was, however, no brilliant void into which I looked. On every side +I beheld beautiful inorganic forms, of unknown texture, and colored +with the most enchanting hues. These forms presented the appearance of +what might be called, for want of a more specific definition, foliated +clouds of the highest rarity; that is, they undulated and broke into +vegetable formations, and were tinged with splendors compared with +which the gilding of our autumn woodlands is as dross compared with +gold. Far away into the illimitable distance stretched long avenues of +these gaseous forests, dimly transparent, and painted with prismatic +hues of unimaginable brilliancy. The pendent branches waved along the +fluid glades until every vista seemed to break through half-lucent +ranks of many-colored drooping silken pennons. What seemed to be either +fruits or flowers, pied with a thousand hues lustrous and ever varying, +bubbled from the crowns of this fairy foliage. No hills, no lakes, no +rivers, no forms animate or inanimate, were to be seen, save those vast +auroral copses that floated serenely in the luminous stillness, with +leaves and fruits and flowers gleaming with unknown fires, unrealizable +by mere imagination. + +How strange, I thought, that this sphere should be thus condemned +to solitude! I had hoped, at least, to discover some new form of +animal life--perhaps of a lower class than any with which we are at +present acquainted, but still, some living organism. I found my newly +discovered world, if I may so speak, a beautiful chromatic desert. + +While I was speculating on the singular arrangements of the internal +economy of Nature, with which she so frequently splinters into atoms +our most compact theories, I thought I beheld a form moving slowly +through the glades of one of the prismatic forests. I looked more +attentively, and found that I was not mistaken. Words cannot depict the +anxiety with which I awaited the nearer approach of this mysterious +object. Was it merely some inanimate substance, held in suspense in the +attenuated atmosphere of the globule, or was it an animal endowed with +vitality and motion? It approached, flitting behind the gauzy, colored +veils of cloud-foliage, for seconds dimly revealed, then vanishing. At +last the violet pennons that trailed nearest to me vibrated; they were +gently pushed aside, and the form floated out into the broad light. + +It was a female human shape. When I say human, I mean it possessed the +outlines of humanity,--but there the analogy ends. Its adorable beauty +lifted it illimitable heights beyond the loveliest daughter of Adam. + +I cannot, I dare not, attempt to inventory the charms of this divine +revelation of perfect beauty. Those eyes of mystic violet, dewy and +serene, evade my words. Her long, lustrous hair following her glorious +head in a golden wake, like the track sown in heaven by a falling star, +seems to quench my most burning phrases with its splendors. If all the +bees of Hybla nestled upon my lips, they would still sing but hoarsely +the wondrous harmonies of outline that enclosed her form. + +She swept out from between the rainbow-curtains of the cloud-trees +into the broad sea of light that lay beyond. Her motions were those +of some graceful naiad, cleaving, by a mere effort of her will, the +clear, unruffled waters that fill the chambers of the sea. She floated +forth with the serene grace of a frail bubble ascending through the +still atmosphere of a June day. The perfect roundness of her limbs +formed suave and enchanting curves. It was like listening to the most +spiritual symphony of Beethoven the divine, to watch the harmonious +flow of lines. This, indeed, was a pleasure cheaply purchased at any +price. What cared I if I had waded to the portal of this wonder through +another’s blood? I would have given my own to enjoy one such moment of +intoxication and delight. + +Breathless with gazing on this lovely wonder, and forgetful for an +instant of everything save her presence, I withdrew my eye from the +microscope eagerly,--alas! As my gaze fell on the thin slide that lay +beneath my instrument, the bright light from mirror and from prism +sparkled on a colorless drop of water! There, in that tiny bead of dew, +this beautiful being was forever imprisoned. The planet Neptune was not +more distant from me than she. I hastened once more to apply my eye to +the microscope. + +Animula (let me now call her by that dear name which I subsequently +bestowed on her) had changed her position. She had again approached +the wondrous forest, and was gazing earnestly upwards. Presently one +of the trees--as I must call them--unfolded a long ciliary process, +with which it seized one of the gleaming fruits that glittered on its +summit, and, sweeping slowly down, held it within reach of Animula. The +sylph took it in her delicate hand and began to eat. My attention was +so entirely absorbed by her, that I could not apply myself to the task +of determining whether this singular plant was or was not instinct with +volition. + +I watched her, as she made her repast, with the most profound +attention. The suppleness of her motions sent a thrill of delight +through my frame; my heart beat madly as she turned her beautiful +eyes in the direction of the spot in which I stood. What would I not +have given to have had the power to precipitate myself into that +luminous ocean, and float with her through those groves of purple and +gold! While I was thus breathlessly following her every movement, she +suddenly started, seemed to listen for a moment, and then cleaving +the brilliant ether in which she was floating, like a flash of light, +pierced through the opaline forest, and disappeared. + +Instantly a series of the most singular sensations attacked me. It +seemed as if I had suddenly gone blind. The luminous sphere was +still before me, but my daylight had vanished. What caused this +sudden disappearance? Had she a lover or a husband? Yes, that was the +solution! Some signal from a happy fellow-being had vibrated through +the avenues of the forest, and she had obeyed the summons. + +The agony of my sensations, as I arrived at this conclusion, startled +me. I tried to reject the conviction that my reason forced upon me. I +battled against the fatal conclusion,--but in vain. It was so. I had no +escape from it. I loved an animalcule! + +It is true that, thanks to the marvellous power of my microscope, she +appeared of human proportions. Instead of presenting the revolting +aspect of the coarser creatures, that live and struggle and die, in the +more easily resolvable portions of the water-drop, she was fair and +delicate and of surpassing beauty. But of what account was all that? +Every time that my eyes was withdrawn from the instrument, it fell on a +miserable drop of water, within which, I must be content to know, dwelt +all that could make my life lovely. + +Could she but see me once! Could I for one moment pierce the mystical +walls that so inexorably rose to separate us, and whisper all that +filled my soul, I might consent to be satisfied for the rest of my +life with the knowledge of her remote sympathy. It would be something +to have established even the faintest personal link to bind us +together,--to know that at times, when roaming through those enchanted +glades, she might think of the wonderful stranger, who had broken the +monotony of her life with his presence, and left a gentle memory in her +heart! + +But it could not be. No invention of which human intellect was capable +could break down the barriers that nature had erected. I might feast +my soul upon the wondrous beauty, yet she must always remain ignorant +of the adoring eyes that day and night gazed upon her, and, even when +closed, beheld her in dreams. With a bitter cry of anguish I fled from +the room, and, flinging myself on my bed, sobbed myself to sleep like a +child. + + +VI + +THE SPILLING OF THE CUP + +I arose the next morning almost at daybreak, and rushed to my +microscope. I trembled as I sought the luminous world in miniature +that contained my all. Animula was there. I had left the gas-lamp, +surrounded by its moderators, burning when I went to bed the night +before. I found the sylph bathing, as it were, with an expression +of pleasure animating her features, in the brilliant light which +surrounded her. She tossed her lustrous golden hair over her shoulders +with innocent coquetry. She lay at full length in the transparent +medium, in which she supported herself with ease, and gambolled with +the enchanting grace that the nymph Salmacis might have exhibited when +she sought to conquer the modest Hermaphroditus. I tried an experiment +to satisfy myself if her powers of reflection were developed. I +lessened the lamplight considerably. By the dim light that remained, +I could see an expression of pain flit across her face. She looked +upward suddenly, and her brows contracted. I flooded the stage of the +microscope again with a full stream of light, and her whole expression +changed. She sprang forward like some substance deprived of all weight. +Her eyes sparkled and her lips moved. Ah! if science had only the +means of conducting and reduplicating sounds, as it does the rays of +light, what carols of happiness would then have entranced my ears! what +jubilant hymns to Adonais would have thrilled the illumined air! + +I now comprehend how it was that the Count de Gabalis peopled his +mystic world with sylphs,--beautiful beings whose breath of life was +lambent fire, and who sported forever in regions of purest ether and +purest light. The Rosicrucian had anticipated the wonder that I had +practically realized. + +How long this worship of my strange divinity went on thus I scarcely +know. I lost all note of time. All day from early dawn, and far into +the night, I was to be found peering through that wonderful lens. I saw +no one, went nowhere, and scarce allowed myself sufficient time for my +meals. My whole life was absorbed in contemplation as rapt as that of +any of the Romish saints. Every hour that I gazed upon the divine form +strengthened my passion,--a passion that was always overshadowed by the +maddening conviction that, although I could gaze on her at will, she +never, never could behold me! + +At length I grew so pale and emaciated from want of rest and continual +brooding over my insane love and its cruel conditions, that I +determined to make some effort to wean myself from it. “Come,” I said, +“this is at best but a fantasy. Your imagination has bestowed on +Animula charms which in reality she does not possess. Seclusion from +female society has produced this morbid condition of mind. Compare her +with the beautiful women of your own world, and this false enchantment +will vanish.” + +I looked over the newspapers by chance. There I beheld the +advertisement of a celebrated _danseuse_ who appeared nightly at +Niblo’s. The Signorina Caradolce had the reputation of being the most +beautiful as well as the most graceful woman in the world. I instantly +dressed and went to the theatre. + +The curtain drew up. The usual semicircle of fairies in white muslin +were standing on the right toe around the enamelled flower-bank, of +green canvas, on which the belated prince was sleeping. Suddenly a +flute is heard. The fairies start. The trees open, the fairies all +stand on the left toe, and the queen enters. It was the Signorina. She +bounded forward amid thunders of applause, and, lighting on one foot, +remained poised in air. Heavens! was this the great enchantress that +had drawn monarchs at her chariot-wheels? Those heavy muscular limbs, +those thick ankles, those cavernous eyes, that stereotyped smile, those +crudely painted cheeks! Where were the vermeil blooms, the liquid +expressive eyes, the harmonious limbs of Animula? + +The Signorina danced. What gross, discordant movements! The play of her +limbs was all false and artificial. Her bounds were painful athletic +efforts; her poses were angular and distressed the eye. I could bear +it no longer; with an exclamation of disgust that drew every eye +upon me, I rose from my seat in the very middle of the Signorina’s +_pas-de-fascination_, and abruptly quitted the house. + +I hastened home to feast my eyes once more on the lovely form of +my sylph. I felt that henceforth to combat this passion would be +impossible. I applied my eye to the lens. Animula was there,--but +what could have happened? Some terrible change seemed to have taken +place during my absence. Some secret grief seemed to cloud the lovely +features of her I gazed upon. Her face had grown thin and haggard; +her limbs trailed heavily; the wondrous lustre of her golden hair had +faded. She was ill!--ill, and I could not assist her! I believe at that +moment I would have gladly forfeited all claims to my human birthright, +if I could only have been dwarfed to the size of an animalcule, and +permitted to console her from whom fate had forever divided me. + +I racked my brain for the solution of this mystery. What was it that +afflicted the sylph? She seemed to suffer intense pain. Her features +contracted, and she even writhed, as if with some internal agony. The +wondrous forests appeared also to have lost half their beauty. Their +hues were dim and in some places faded away altogether. I watched +Animula for hours with a breaking heart, and she seemed absolutely to +wither away under my very eye. Suddenly I remembered that I had not +looked at the water-drop for several days. In fact, I hated to see it; +for it reminded me of the natural barrier between Animula and myself. +I hurriedly looked down on the stage of the microscope. The slide was +still there,--but, great heavens! the water-drop had vanished! The +awful truth burst upon me; it had evaporated; until it had become so +minute as to be invisible to the naked eye; I had been gazing on its +last atom, the one that contained Animula,--and she was dying! + +I rushed again to the front of the lens, and looked through. Alas! the +last agony had seized her. The rainbow-hued forests had all melted +away, and Animula lay struggling feebly in what seemed to be a spot +of dim light. Ah! the sight was horrible; the limbs once so round and +lovely shrivelling up into nothings; the eyes,--those eyes that shone +like heaven--being quenched into black dust; the lustrous golden hair +now lank and discolored. The last throe came. I beheld that final +struggle of the blackening form--and I fainted. + +When I awoke out of a trance of many hours, I found myself lying amid +the wreck of my instrument, myself as shattered in mind and body as it. +I crawled feebly to my bed, from which I did not rise for months. + +They say now that I am mad; but they are mistaken. I am poor, for I +have neither the heart nor the will to work; all my money is spent, and +I live on charity. Young men’s associations that love a joke invite me +to lecture on Optics before them, for which they pay me and laugh at me +while I lecture. “Linley, the mad microscopist,” is the name I go by. I +suppose that I talk incoherently while I lecture. Who could talk sense +when his brain is haunted by such ghastly memories, while ever and anon +among the shapes of death I behold the radiant form of my lost Animula! + + + + +THE HORLA + +By GUY DE MAUPASSANT + + +May 8th. What a lovely day! I have spent all the morning lying in the +grass in front of my house, under the enormous plantain tree which +covers it, and shades and shelters the whole of it. I like this part of +the country and I am fond of living here because I am attached to it by +deep roots, profound and delicate roots which attach a man to the soil +on which his ancestors were born and died, which attach him to what +people think and what they eat, to the usages as well as to the food, +local expression, the peculiar language of the peasants, to the smell +of the soil, of the villages and of the atmosphere itself. + +I love my house in which I grew up. From my windows I can see the Seine +which flows by the side of my garden, on the other side of the road, +almost through my grounds, the great and wide Seine which goes to Rouen +and Havre, and which is covered with boats passing to and fro. + +On the left, down yonder, lies Rouen, that large town with its blue +roofs, under its pointed Gothic towers. They are innumerable, delicate +or broad, dominated by the spire of the cathedral, and full of bells +which sound through the blue air on fine mornings, sending their sweet +and distant iron clang to me; their metallic sound which the breeze +wafts in my direction, now stronger and now weaker, according as the +wind is stronger or lighter. + +What a delicious morning it was! + +About eleven o’clock, a long line of boats drawn by a steam tug, as big +as a fly, and which scarcely puffed while emitting its thick smoke, +passed my gate. + +After two English schooners, whose red flag fluttered toward the sky, +there came a magnificent Brazilian three-master; it was perfectly white +and wonderfully clean and shining. I saluted it, I hardly know why, +except that the sight of the vessel gave me great pleasure. + +_May 12th._ I have had a slight feverish attack for the last few days, +and I feel ill, or rather I feel low-spirited. + +Whence do these mysterious influences come, which change our happiness +into discouragement, and our self-confidence into diffidence? One might +almost say that the air, the invisible air, is full of unknowable +Forces, whose mysterious presence we have to endure. I wake up in the +best spirits, with an inclination to sing in my throat. Why? I go down +by the side of the water, and suddenly, after walking a short distance, +I return home wretched, as if some misfortune were awaiting me there. +Why? Is it a cold shiver which, passing over my skin, has upset my +nerves and given me low spirits? Is it the form of the clouds, or the +color of the sky, or the color of the surrounding objects which is so +changeable, which have troubled my thoughts as they passed before my +eyes? Who can tell? Everything that surrounds us, everything that we +see without looking at it, everything that we touch without knowing it, +everything that we handle without feeling it, all that we meet without +clearly distinguishing it, has a rapid, surprising and inexplicable +effect upon us and upon our organs, and through them on our ideas and +on our heart itself. + +How profound that mystery of the Invisible is! We cannot fathom it +with our miserable senses, with our eyes which are unable to perceive +what is either too small or too great, too near to, or too far from +us; neither the inhabitants of a star nor of a drop of water ... with +our ears that deceive us, for they transmit to us the vibrations of +the air in sonorous notes. They are fairies who work the miracle of +changing that movement into noise, and by that metamorphosis give birth +to music, which makes the mute agitation of nature musical ... with our +sense of smell which is smaller than that of a dog ... with our sense +of taste which can scarcely distinguish the age of a wine! + +Oh! If we only had other organs which would work other miracles in our +favor, what a number of fresh things we might discover around us! + +_May 16th._ I am ill, decidedly! I was so well last month! I am +feverish, horribly feverish, or rather I am in a state of feverish +enervation, which makes my mind suffer as much as my body. I have +without ceasing that horrible sensation of some danger threatening me, +that apprehension of some coming misfortune or of approaching death, +that presentiment which is, no doubt, an attack of some illness which +is still unknown, which germinates in the flesh and in the blood. + +_May 18th._ I have just come from consulting my medical man, for I +could no longer get any sleep. He found that my pulse was high, my eyes +dilated, my nerves highly strung, but no alarming symptoms. I must have +a course of shower-baths and of bromide of potassium. + +_May 25th._ No change! My state is really very peculiar. As the evening +comes on, an incomprehensible feeling of disquietude seizes me, just as +if night concealed some terrible menace toward me. I dine quickly, and +then try to read, but I do not understand the words, and can scarcely +distinguish the letters. Then I walk up and down my drawing-room, +oppressed by a feeling of confused and irresistible fear, the fear of +sleep and fear of my bed. + +About ten o’clock I go up to my room. As soon as I have got in I double +lock, and bolt it: I am frightened--of what? Up till the present time +I have been frightened of nothing--I open my cupboards, and look under +my bed; I listen--I listen--to what? How strange it is that a simple +feeling of discomfort, impeded or heightened circulation, perhaps +the irritation of a nervous thread, a slight congestion, a small +disturbance in the imperfect and delicate functions of our living +machinery, can turn the most lighthearted of men into a melancholy one, +and make a coward of the bravest! Then, I go to bed, and I wait for +sleep as a man might wait for the executioner. I wait for its coming +with dread, and my heart beats and my legs tremble, while my whole +body shivers beneath the warmth of the bedclothes, until the moment +when I suddenly fall asleep, as one would throw oneself into a pool of +stagnant water in order to drown oneself. I do not feel coming over me, +as I used to do formerly, this perfidious sleep which is close to me +and watching me, which is going to seize me by the head, to close my +eyes and annihilate me. + +I sleep--a long time--two or three hours perhaps--then a dream--no--a +nightmare lays hold on me. I feel that I am in bed and asleep--I +feel it and I know it--and I feel also that somebody is coming close +to me, is looking at me, touching me, is getting on to my bed, is +kneeling on my chest, is taking my neck between his hands and squeezing +it--squeezing it with all his might in order to strangle me. + +I struggle, bound by that terrible powerlessness which paralyzes us in +our dreams; I try to cry out--but I cannot; I want to move--I cannot; I +try, with the most violent efforts and out of breath, to turn over and +throw off this being which is crushing and suffocating me--I cannot! + +And then, suddenly, I wake up, shaken and bathed in perspiration; I +light a candle and find that I am alone, and after that crisis, which +occurs every night, I at length fall asleep and slumber tranquilly +till morning. + +_June 2d._ My state has grown worse. What is the matter with me? The +bromide does me no good, and the shower-baths have no effect whatever. +Sometimes, in order to tire myself out, though I am fatigued enough +already, I go for a walk in the forest of Roumare. I used to think at +first that the fresh light and soft air, impregnated with the odor of +herbs and leaves, would instill new blood into my veins and impart +fresh energy to my heart. I turned into a broad ride in the wood, and +then I turned toward La Bouille, through a narrow path, between two +rows of exceedingly tall trees, which placed a thick, green, almost +black roof between the sky and me. + +A sudden shiver ran through me, not a cold shiver, but a shiver of +agony, and so I hastened my steps, uneasy at being alone in the wood, +frightened stupidly and without reason, at the profound solitude. +Suddenly it seemed to me as if I were being followed, that somebody was +walking at my heels, close, quite close to me, near enough to touch me. + +I turned round suddenly, but I was alone. I saw nothing behind me +except the straight, broad ride, empty and bordered by high trees, +horribly empty; on the other side it also extended until it was lost in +the distance, and looked just the same, terrible. + +I closed my eyes. Why? And then I began to turn round on one heel very +quickly, just like a top. I nearly fell down, and opened my eyes; the +trees were dancing round me and the earth heaved; I was obliged to sit +down. Then, ah! I no longer remembered how I had come! What a strange +idea! What a strange, strange idea! I did not the least know. I started +off to the right, and got back into the avenue which had led me into +the middle of the forest. + +_June 3d._ I have had a terrible night. I shall go away for a few +weeks, for no doubt a journey will set me up again. + +_July 2d._ I have come back, quite cured, and have had a most +delightful trip into the bargain. I have been to Mont Saint-Michel, +which I had not seen before. + +What a sight, when one arrives as I did, at Avranches toward the end +of the day! The town stands on a hill, and I was taken into the public +garden at the extremity of the town. I uttered a cry of astonishment. +An extraordinary large bay lay extended before me, as far as my eyes +could reach, between two hills which were lost to sight in the mist; +and in the middle of this immense yellow bay, under a clear, golden +sky, a peculiar hill rose up, sombre and pointed in the midst of the +sand. The sun had just disappeared, and under the still flaming sky the +outline of that fantastic rock stood out, which bears on its summit a +fantastic monument. + +At daybreak I went to it. The tide was low as it had been the night +before, and I saw that wonderful abbey rise up before me as I +approached it. After several hours’ walking, I reached the enormous +mass of rocks which supports the little town, dominated by the great +church. Having climbed the steep and narrow street, I entered the most +wonderful Gothic building that has ever been built to God on earth, as +large as a town, full of low rooms which seem buried beneath vaulted +roofs, and lofty galleries supported by delicate columns. + +I entered this gigantic granite jewel which is as light as a bit of +lace, covered with towers, with slender belfries to which spiral +staircases ascend, and which raise their strange heads that bristle +with chimeras, with devils, with fantastic animals, with monstrous +flowers, and which are joined together by finely carved arches, to the +blue sky by day, and to the black sky by night. + +When I had reached the summit, I said to the monk who accompanied me: +“Father, how happy you must be here!” And he replied: “It is very +windy, Monsieur”; and so we began to talk while watching the rising +tide, which ran over the sand and covered it with a steel cuirass. + +And then the monk told me stories, all the old stories belonging to the +place, legends, nothing but legends. + +One of them struck me forcibly. The country people, those belonging +to the Mornet, declare that at night one can hear talking going on in +the sand, and then that one hears two goats bleat, one with a strong, +the other with a weak voice. Incredulous people declare that it is +nothing but the cry of the sea birds, which occasionally resembles +bleatings, and occasionally human lamentations; but belated fishermen +swear that they have met an old shepherd, whose head, which is covered +by his cloak, they can never see, wandering on the downs, between two +tides, round the little town placed so far out of the world, and who +is guiding and walking before them, a he-goat with a man’s face, and +a she-goat with a woman’s face, and both of them with white hair; +and talking incessantly, quarrelling in a strange language, and then +suddenly ceasing to talk in order to bleat with all their might. + +“Do you believe it?” I asked the monk. “I scarcely know,” he replied, +and I continued: “If there are other beings besides ourselves on this +earth, how comes it that we have not known it for so long a time, or +why have you not seen them? How is it that I have not seen them?” He +replied: “Do we see the hundred thousandth part of what exists? Look +here; there is the wind, which is the strongest force in nature, which +knocks down men, and blows down buildings, uproots trees, raises the +sea into mountains of water; destroys cliffs and casts great ships onto +the breakers; the wind which kills, which whistles, which sighs, which +roars--have you ever seen it, and can you see it? It exists for all +that, however.” + +I was silent before this simple reasoning. The man was a philosopher, +or perhaps a fool; I could not say which exactly, so I held my tongue. +What he had said, had often been in my own thoughts. + +_July 3d._ I have slept badly; certainly there is some feverish +influence here, for my coachman is suffering in the same way as I am. +When I went back home yesterday, I noticed his singular paleness, and I +asked him: “What is the matter with you, Jean?” “The matter is that I +never get any rest, and my nights devour my days. Since your departure, +monsieur, there has been a spell over me.” + +However, the other servants are all well, but I am very frightened of +having another attack, myself. + +_July 4th._ I am decidedly taken again; for my old nightmares have +returned. Last night I felt somebody leaning on me who was sucking my +life from between my lips with his mouth. Yes, he was sucking it out of +my neck, like a leech would have done. Then he got up, satiated, and I +woke up, so beaten, crushed and annihilated that I could not move. If +this continues for a few days, I shall certainly go away again. + +_July 5th._ Have I lost my reason? What has happened? What I saw last +night is so strange that my head wanders when I think of it! + +As I do now every evening, I had locked my door, and then, being +thirsty, I drank half a glass of water, and I accidentally noticed that +the water bottle was full up to the cut-glass stopper. + +Then I went to bed and fell into one of my terrible sleeps, from which +I was aroused in about two hours by a still more terrible shock. + +Picture to yourself a sleeping man who is being murdered and who wakes +up with a knife in his chest, and who is rattling in his throat, +covered with blood, and who can no longer breathe, and is going to die, +and does not understand anything at all about it--there it is. + +Having recovered my senses, I was thirsty again, so I lit a candle +and went to the table on which my water bottle was. I lifted it up +and tilted it over my glass, but nothing came out. It was empty! It +was completely empty! At first I could not understand it at all, and +then suddenly I was seized by such a terrible feeling that I had to +sit down, or rather I fell into a chair! Then I sprang up with a bound +to look about me, and then I sat down again, overcome by astonishment +and fear, in front of the transparent crystal bottle! I looked at it +with fixed eyes, trying to conjecture, and my hands trembled! Somebody +had drunk the water, but who? I? I without any doubt. It could surely +only be I? In that case I was a somnambulist, I lived, without knowing +it, that double mysterious life which makes us doubt whether there are +not two beings in us, or whether a strange, unknowable and invisible +being does not at such moments, when our soul is in a state of torpor, +animate our captive body which obeys this other being, as it does us +ourselves, and more than it does ourselves. + +Oh! Who will understand my horrible agony? Who will understand the +emotion of a man who is sound in mind, wide awake, full of sound sense, +and who looks in horror at the remains of a little water that has +disappeared while he was asleep, through the glass of a water bottle? +And I remained there until it was daylight, without venturing to go to +bed again. + +_July 6th._ I am going mad. Again all the contents of my water bottle +have been drunk during the night--or rather, I have drunk it! + +But is it I? Is it I? Who could it be? Who? Oh! God! Am I going mad? +Who will save me? + +_July 10th._ I have just been through some surprising ordeals. +Decidedly I am mad! And yet!-- + +On July 6th, before going to bed, I put some wine, milk, water, +bread and strawberries on my table. Somebody drank--I drank--all the +water and a little of the milk, but neither the wine, bread nor the +strawberries were touched. + +On the seventh of July I renewed the same experiment, with the same +results, and on July 8th, I left out the water and the milk and nothing +was touched. + +Lastly, on July 9th I put only water and milk on my table, taking care +to wrap up the bottles in white muslin and to tie down the stoppers. +Then I rubbed my lips, my beard and my hands with pencil lead, and went +to bed. + +Irresistible sleep seized me, which was soon followed by a terrible +awakening. I had not moved, and my sheets were not marked. I rushed to +the table. The muslin round the bottles remained intact; I undid the +string, trembling with fear. All the water had been drunk, and so had +the milk! Ah! Great God!-- + +I must start for Paris immediately. + +_July 12th._ Paris. I must have lost my head during the last few days! +I must be the plaything of my enervated imagination, unless I am really +a somnambulist, or that I have been brought under the power of one +of those influences which have been proved to exist, but which have +hitherto been inexplicable, which are called suggestions. In any case, +my mental state bordered on madness, and twenty-four hours of Paris +sufficed to restore me to my equilibrium. + +Yesterday after doing some business and paying some visits which +instilled fresh and invigorating mental air into me, I wound up my +evening at the _Théâtre Français_. A play by Alexandre Dumas the +Younger was being acted, and his active and powerful mind completed my +cure. Certainly solitude is dangerous for active minds. We require men +who can think and can talk, around us. When we are alone for a long +time we people space with phantoms. + +I returned along the boulevards to my hotel in excellent spirits. Amid +the jostling of the crowd I thought, not without irony, of my terrors +and surmises of the previous week, because I believed, yes, I believed, +that an invisible being lived beneath my roof. How weak our head is, +and how quickly it is terrified and goes astray, as soon as we are +struck by a small, incomprehensible fact. + +Instead of concluding with these simple words: “I do not understand +because the cause escapes me,” we immediately imagine terrible +mysteries and supernatural powers. + +_July 14th._ Fête of the Republic. I walked through the streets, and +the crackers and flags amused me like a child. Still it is very foolish +to be merry on a fixed date, by a Government decree. The populace is +an imbecile flock of sheep, now steadily patient, and now in ferocious +revolt. Say to it: “Amuse yourself,” and it amuses itself. Say to it: +“Go and fight with your neighbor,” and it goes and fights. Say to it: +“Vote for the Emperor,” and it votes for the Emperor, and then say to +it: “Vote for the Republic,” and it votes for the Republic. + +Those who direct it are also stupid; but instead of obeying men they +obey principles, which can only be stupid, sterile, and false, for the +very reason that they are principles, that is to say, ideas which are +considered as certain and unchangeable, in this world where one is +certain of nothing, since light is an illusion and noise is an illusion. + +_July 16th._ I saw some things yesterday that troubled me very much. + +I was dining at my cousin’s Madame Sablé, whose husband is colonel of +the 76th Chasseurs at Limoges. There were two young women there, one of +whom had married a medical man, Dr. Parent, who devotes himself a great +deal to nervous diseases and the extraordinary manifestations to which +at this moment experiments in hypnotism and suggestion give rise. + +He related to us at some length, the enormous results obtained by +English scientists and the doctors of the medical school at Nancy, and +the facts which he adduced appeared to me so strange, that I declared +that I was altogether incredulous. + +“We are,” he declared, “on the point of discovering one of the most +important secrets of nature, I mean to say, one of its most important +secrets on this earth, for there are certainly some which are of a +different kind of importance up in the stars, yonder. Ever since man +has thought, since he has been able to express and write down his +thoughts, he has felt himself close to a mystery which is impenetrable +to his coarse and imperfect senses, and he endeavors to supplement the +want of power of his organs by the efforts of his intellect. As long as +that intellect still remained in its elementary stage, this intercourse +with invisible spirits assumed forms which were commonplace though +terrifying. Thence sprang the popular belief in the supernatural, the +legends of wandering spirits, of fairies, of gnomes, ghosts, I might +even say the legend of God, for our conceptions of the workman-creator, +from whatever religion they may have come down to us, are certainly the +most mediocre, the stupidest and the most unacceptable inventions that +ever sprang from the frightened brain of any human creatures. Nothing +is truer than what Voltaire says: ‘God made man in His own image, but +man has certainly paid Him back again.’ + +“But for rather more than a century, men seem to have had a +presentiment of something new. Mesmer and some others have put us on an +unexpected track, and especially within the last two or three years, we +have arrived at really surprising results.” + +My cousin, who is also very incredulous, smiled, and Dr. Parent said to +her: “Would you like me to try and send you to sleep, Madame?” “Yes, +certainly.” + +She sat down in an easy-chair, and he began to look at her fixedly, so +as to fascinate her. I suddenly felt myself somewhat uncomfortable, +with a beating heart and a choking feeling in my throat. I saw that +Madame Sablé’s eyes were growing heavy, her mouth twitched and her +bosom heaved, and at the end of ten minutes she was asleep. + +“Stand behind her,” the doctor said to me, and so I took a seat behind +her. He put a visiting card into her hands, and said to her: “This is +a looking-glass; what do you see in it?” And she replied: “I see my +cousin.” “What is he doing?” “He is twisting his moustache.” “And now?” +“He is taking a photograph out of his pocket.” “Whose photograph is +it?” “His own.” + +That was true, and that photograph had been given me that same evening +at the hotel. + +“What is his attitude in this portrait?” “He is standing up with his +hat in his hand.” + +So she saw on that card, on that piece of white pasteboard, as if she +had seen it in a looking-glass. + +The young women were frightened, and exclaimed: “That is quite enough! +Quite, quite enough!” + +But the doctor said to her authoritatively: “You will get up at eight +o’clock to-morrow morning; then you will go and call on your cousin +at his hotel and ask him to lend you five thousand francs which your +husband demands of you, and which he will ask for when he sets out on +his coming journey.” + +Then he woke her up. + +On returning to my hotel, I thought over this curious _séance_ and I +was assailed by doubts, not as to my cousin’s absolute and undoubted +good faith, for I had known her as well as if she had been my own +sister ever since she was a child, but as to a possible trick on the +doctor’s part. Had not he, perhaps, kept a glass hidden in his hand, +which he showed to the young woman in her sleep, at the same time as +he did the card? Professional conjurers do things which are just as +singular. + +So I went home and to bed, and this morning, at about half past eight, +I was awakened by my footman, who said to me: “Madame Sablé has asked +to see you immediately, Monsieur,” so I dressed hastily and went to her. + +She sat down in some agitation, with her eyes on the floor, and without +raising her veil she said to me: “My dear cousin, I am going to ask a +great favor of you.” “What is it, cousin?” “I do not like to tell you, +and yet I must. I am in absolute want of five thousand francs.” “What, +you?” “Yes, I, or rather my husband, who has asked me to procure them +for him.” + +I was so stupefied that I stammered out my answers. I asked myself +whether she had not really been making fun of me with Doctor Parent, +if it were not merely a very well-acted farce which had been got +up beforehand. On looking at her attentively, however, my doubts +disappeared. She was trembling with grief, so painful was this step to +her, and I was sure that her throat was full of sobs. + +I knew that she was very rich and so I continued: “What! Has not your +husband five thousand francs at his disposal! Come, think. Are you sure +that he commissioned you to ask me for them?” + +She hesitated for a few seconds, as if she were making a great effort +to search her memory, and then she replied: “Yes ... yes, I am quite +sure of it.” “He has written to you?” + +She hesitated again and reflected, and I guessed the torture of her +thoughts. She did not know. She only knew that she was to borrow five +thousand francs of me for her husband. So she told a lie. “Yes, he has +written to me.” “When, pray? You did not mention it to me yesterday.” +“I received his letter this morning.” “Can you show it me?” “No; no +... no ... it contained private matters ... things too personal to +ourselves.... I burnt it.” “So your husband runs into debt?” + +She hesitated again, and then murmured: “I do not know.” Thereupon I +said bluntly: “I have not five thousand francs at my disposal at this +moment, my dear cousin.” + +She uttered a kind of cry as if she were in pain and said: “Oh! oh! I +beseech you, I beseech you to get them for me....” + +She got excited and clasped her hands as if she were praying to me! I +heard her voice change its tone; she wept and stammered, harassed and +dominated by the irresistible order that she had received. + +“Oh! oh! I beg you to ... if you knew what I am suffering.... I want +them to-day.” + +I had pity on her: “You shall have them by and by, I swear to you.” +“Oh! thank you! thank you! How kind you are!” + +I continued: “Do you remember what took place at your house last +night?” “Yes.” “Do you remember that Doctor Parent sent you to sleep?” +“Yes.” “Oh! Very well then; he ordered you to come to me this morning +to borrow five thousand francs, and at this moment you are obeying that +suggestion.” + +She considered for a few moments, and then replied: “But as it is my +husband who wants them....” + +For a whole hour I tried to convince her, but could not succeed, and +when she had gone I went to the doctor. He was just going out, and he +listened to me with a smile, and said: “Do you believe now?” “Yes, I +cannot help it.” “Let us go to your cousin’s.” + +She was already dozing on a couch, overcome with fatigue. The doctor +felt her pulse, looked at her for some time with one hand raised toward +her eyes which she closed by degrees under the irresistible power of +this influence, and when she was asleep, he said: + +“Your husband does not require the five thousand francs any longer! You +must, therefore, forget that you asked your cousin to lend them to you, +and, if he speaks to you about it, you will not understand him.” + +Then he woke her up, and I took out a pocketbook and said: “Here is +what you asked me for this morning, my dear cousin.” But she was so +surprised that I did not venture to persist; nevertheless, I tried to +recall the circumstance to her, but she denied it vigorously, thought +that I was making fun of her, and in the end very nearly lost her +temper. + + * * * * * + +There! I have just come back, and I have not been able to eat my lunch, +for this experiment has altogether upset me. + +_July 19th._ Many people to whom I have told the adventure have laughed +at me. I no longer know what to think. The wise man says: Perhaps? + +_July 21st._ I dined at Bougival, and then I spent the evening at a +boatmen’s ball. Decidedly everything depends on place and surroundings. +It would be the height of folly to believe in the supernatural on the +_île de la Grenouillière_[1] ... but on the top of Mont Saint-Michel? +... and in India? We are terribly under the influence of our +surroundings. I shall return home next week. + +[1] Frog Island. + +_July 30th._ I came back to my own house yesterday. Everything is going +on well. + +_August 2d._ Nothing fresh; it is splendid weather, and I spend my days +in watching the Seine flow past. + +_August 4th._ Quarrels among my servants. They declare that the glasses +are broken in the cupboards at night. The footman accuses the cook, who +accuses the needlewoman, who accuses the other two. Who is the culprit? +A clever person, to be able to tell. + +_August 6th._ This time I am not mad. I have seen ... I have seen ... I +have seen!... I can doubt no longer ... I have seen it!... + +I was walking at two o’clock among my rose trees, in the full sunlight +... in the walk bordered by autumn roses which are beginning to fall. +As I stopped to look at a _Géant de Bataille_, which had three splendid +blooms, I distinctly saw the stalks of one of the roses bend, close to +me, as if an invisible hand had bent it, and then break, as if that +hand had picked it! Then the flower raised itself, following the curve +a hand would have described in carrying it toward the mouth, and it +remained suspended in the transparent air, all alone and motionless, a +terrible red spot, three yards from my eyes. In desperation I rushed +at it to take it! I found nothing; it had disappeared. Then I was +seized with furious rage against myself, for it is not allowable for a +reasonable and serious man to have such hallucinations. + +But what is an hallucination? I turned round to look for the stalk, +and I found it immediately under the bush, freshly broken, between two +other roses which remained on the branch, and I returned home then, +with a much disturbed mind; for I am certain now, as certain as I am +of the alternation of day and night, that there exists close to me +an invisible being that lives on milk and on water, which can touch +objects, take them and change their places; which is, consequently, +endowed with a material nature, although it is impossible to our +senses, and which lives as I do, under my roof.... + +_August 7th._ I slept tranquilly. He drank the water out of my +decanter, but did not disturb my sleep. + +I ask myself whether I am mad. As I was walking just now in the sun +by the riverside, doubts as to my own sanity arose in me; not vague +doubts such as I have had hitherto, but precise and absolute doubts. +I have seen mad people, and I have known some who have been quite +intelligent, lucid, even clear-sighted in every concern of life, except +on one point. They spoke clearly, readily, profoundly, on everything, +when suddenly their thoughts struck upon the breakers of their madness +and broke to pieces there, and were dispersed and foundered in that +furious and terrible sea, full of bounding waves, fogs and squalls, +which is called _madness_. + +I certainly should think that I was mad, absolutely mad, if I were +not conscious, did not perfectly know my state, if I did fathom it +by analyzing it with the most complete lucidity. I should, in fact, +be a reasonable man who was laboring under an hallucination. Some +unknown disturbance must have been excited in my brain, one of those +disturbances which physiologists of the present day try to note and fix +precisely, and that disturbance must have caused a profound gulf in my +mind and in the order and logic of my ideas. Similar phenomena occur +in the dreams which lead us through the most unlikely phantasmagoria, +without causing us any surprise, because our verifying apparatus and +our sense of control have gone to sleep, while our imaginative faculty +wakes and works. Is it not possible that one of the imperceptible keys +of the cerebral finger-board has been paralyzed in me? Some men lose +the recollection of proper names, or of verbs, or of numbers, or merely +of dates, in consequence of the accident. The localization of all the +particles of thought have been proved nowadays; what then would there +be surprising in the fact that my faculty controlling the uncertain +reality of my hallucinations should be destroyed for the time being! + +I thought of all this as I walked by the side of the water. The sun +was shining brightly on the river and made earth delightful, while it +filled my looks with love for life, for the swallows, whose agility is +always delightful in my eyes, for the plants by the riverside, whose +rustling is a pleasure to my ears. + +By degrees, however, an inexplicable feeling of discomfort seized me. +It seemed to me as if some unknown force were numbing and stopping me, +were preventing me from going farther and were calling me back. I felt +that painful wish to return which oppresses you when you have left a +beloved invalid at home, and when you are seized by a presentiment that +he is worse. + +I, therefore, returned in spite of myself, feeling certain that I +should find some bad news awaiting me, a letter or a telegram. There +was nothing, however, and I was more surprised and uneasy than if I had +had another fantastic vision. + +_August 8th._ I spent a terrible evening yesterday. He does not show +himself any more, but I feel that he is near me, watching me, looking +at me, penetrating me, dominating me, and more redoubtable when he +hides himself thus than if he were to manifest his constant and +invisible presence by supernatural phenomena. However, I slept. + +_August 9th._ Nothing; but I am afraid. + +_August 10th._ Nothing; what will happen tomorrow? + +_August 11th._ Still nothing; I cannot stop at home with this fear +hanging over me and these thoughts in my mind; I shall go away. + +_August 12th._ Ten o’clock at night. All day long I have been trying to +get away, and have not been able. I wished to accomplish this simple +and easy act of liberty--go out--get into my carriage in order to go to +Rouen--and I have not been able to do it. What is the reason? + +_August 13th._ When one is attacked by certain maladies, all the +springs of our physical being appear to be broken, all our energies +destroyed, all our muscles relaxed, our bones to have become as soft as +our flesh, and our blood as liquid as water. I am experiencing that in +my moral being in a strange and distressing manner. I have no longer +any strength, any courage, any self-control, nor even any power to set +my own will in motion. I have no power left to _will_ anything, but +someone does it for me and I obey. + +_August 14th._ I am lost! Somebody possesses my soul and governs it! +Somebody orders all my acts, all my movements, all my thoughts. I am +no longer anything in myself, nothing except an enslaved and terrified +spectator of all the things which I do. I wish to go out; I cannot. He +does not wish to, and so I remain, trembling and distracted, in the +armchair in which he keeps me sitting. I merely wish to get up and +to rouse myself, so as to think that I am still master of myself: I +cannot! I am riveted to my chair, and my chair adheres to the ground in +such a manner that no force could move us. + +Then suddenly, I must, I must go to the bottom of my garden to pick +some strawberries and eat them, and I go there. I pick the strawberries +and I eat them! Oh! my God! my God! Is there a God? If there be one, +deliver me! save me! succor me! Pardon! Pity! Mercy! Save me! Oh! what +sufferings! what torture! what horror! + +_August 15th._ Certainly this is the way in which my poor cousin was +possessed and swayed, when she came to borrow five thousand francs of +me. She was under the power of a strange will which had entered into +her, like another soul, like another parasitic and ruling soul. Is the +world coming to an end? + +But who is he, this invisible being that rules me? This unknowable +being, this rover of a supernatural race? + +Invisible beings exist, then! How is it then that since the beginning +of the world they have never manifested themselves in such a manner +precisely as they do to me? I have never read anything which resembles +what goes on in my house. Oh! If I could only leave it, if I could +only go away and flee, so as never to return, I should be saved; but I +cannot. + +_August 16th._ I managed to escape to-day for two hours, like a +prisoner who finds the door of his dungeon accidentally open. I +suddenly felt that I was free and that he was far away, and so I gave +orders to put the horses in as quickly as possible, and I drove to +Rouen. Oh! How delightful to be able to say to a man who obeyed you: +“Go to Rouen!” + +I made him pull up before the library, and I begged them to lend me +Dr. Herrmann Herestauss’s treatise on the unknown inhabitants of the +ancient and modern world. + +Then, as I was getting into my carriage, I intended to say: “To the +railway station!” but instead of this I shouted--I did not say, but I +shouted--in such a loud voice that all the passers-by turned round: +“Home!” and I fell back onto the cushion of my carriage, overcome by +mental agony. He had found me out and regained possession of me. + +_August 17th._ Oh! What a night! what a night! And yet it seems to +me that I ought to rejoice. I read until one o’clock in the morning! +Herestauss, Doctor of Philosophy and Theogony, wrote the history and +the manifestation of all those invisible beings which hover around man, +or of whom he dreams. He describes their origin, their domains, their +power; but none of them resembles the one which haunts me. One might +say that man, ever since he has thought, has had a foreboding of, and +feared a new being, stronger than himself, his successor in this world, +and that, feeling him near, and not being able to foretell the nature +of that master, he has, in his terror, created the whole race of hidden +beings, of vague phantoms born of fear. + +Having, therefore, read until one o’clock in the morning, I went and +sat down at the open window, in order to cool my forehead and my +thoughts, in the calm night air. It was very pleasant and warm! How I +should have enjoyed such a night formerly! + +There was no moon, but the stars darted out their rays in the dark +heavens. Who inhabits those worlds? What forms, what living beings, +what animals are there yonder? What do those who are thinkers in those +distant worlds know more than we do? What can they do more than we +can? What do they see which we do not know? Will not one of them, some +day or other, traversing space, appear on our earth to conquer it, just +as the Norsemen formerly crossed the sea in order to subjugate nations +more feeble than themselves? + +We are so weak, so unarmed, so ignorant, so small, we who live on this +particle of mud which turns round in a drop of water. + +I fell asleep, dreaming this in the cool night air, and then, having +slept for about three quarters of an hour, I opened my eyes without +moving, awakened by I know not what confused and strange sensation. +At first I saw nothing, and then suddenly it appeared to me as if a +page of a book which had remained open on my table, turned over of +its own accord. Not a breath of air had come in at my window, and I +was surprised and waited. In about four minutes, I saw, I saw, yes +I saw with my own eyes another page lift itself up and fall down on +the others, as if a finger had turned it over. My armchair was empty, +appeared empty, but I knew that he was there, he, and sitting in my +place, and that he was reading. With a furious bound, the bound of an +enraged wild beast that wishes to disembowel its tamer, I crossed my +room to seize him, to strangle him, to kill him!... But before I could +reach it, my chair fell over as if somebody had run away from me ... +my table rocked, my lamp fell and went out, and my window closed as +if some thief had been surprised and had fled out into the night, +shutting it behind him. + +So he had run away: he had been afraid; he, afraid of me! + +So ... so ... to-morrow ... or later ... some day or other ... I should +be able to hold him in my clutches and crush him against the ground! Do +not dogs occasionally bite and strangle their masters? + +_August 18th._ I have been thinking the whole day long. Oh! yes, I will +obey him, follow his impulses, fulfill all his wishes, show myself +humble, submissive, a coward. He is the stronger; but an hour will +come.... + +_August 19th._ I know, ... I know ... I know all! I have just read the +following in the _Revue de Monde Scientifique_: “A curious piece of +news comes to us from Rio de Janeiro. Madness, an epidemic of madness, +which may be compared to that contagious madness which attacked the +people of Europe in the Middle Ages, is at this moment raging in the +Province of San-Paulo. The frightened inhabitants are leaving their +houses, deserting their villages, abandoning their land, saying that +they are pursued, possessed, governed like human cattle by invisible, +though tangible beings, a species of vampire, which feed on their life +while they are asleep, and who, besides, drink water and milk without +appearing to touch any other nourishment. + +“Professor Dom Pedro Henriques, accompanied by several medical savants, +has gone to the Province of San-Paulo, in order to study the origin +and the manifestations of this surprising madness on the spot, and to +propose such measures to the Emperor as may appear to him to be most +fitted to restore the mad population to reason.” + +Ah! Ah! I remember now that fine Brazilian three-master which passed in +front of my windows as it was going up the Seine, on the 8th of last +May! I thought it looked so pretty, so white and bright! That Being was +on board of her, coming from there, where its race sprang from. And it +saw me! It saw my house which was also white, and it sprang from the +ship onto the land. Oh! Good heavens! + +Now I know, I can divine. The reign of man is over, and he has come. +He whom disquieted priests exorcised, whom sorcerers evoked on dark +nights, without yet seeing him appear, to whom the presentiments of the +transient masters of the world lent all the monstrous or graceful forms +of gnomes, spirits, genii, fairies, and familiar spirits. After the +coarse conceptions of primitive fear, more clear-sighted men foresaw +it more clearly. Mesmer divined him, and ten years ago physicians +accurately discovered the nature of his power, even before he exercised +it himself. They played with that weapon of their new Lord, the sway of +a mysterious will over the human soul, which had become enslaved. They +called it magnetism, hypnotism, suggestion ... what do I know? I have +seen them amusing themselves like impudent children with this horrible +power! Woe to us! Woe to man! He has come, the ... the ... what does +he call himself ... the ... I fancy that he is shouting out his name +to me and I do not hear him ... the ... yes ... he is shouting it out +... I am listening ... I cannot ... repeat ... it ... Horla ... I have +heard ... the Horla ... it is he ... the Horla ... he has come!... + +Ah! the vulture has eaten the pigeon, the wolf has eaten the lamb; the +lion has devoured the buffalo with sharp horns; man has killed the lion +with an arrow, with a sword, with gunpowder; but the Horla will make +of man what we have made of the horse and of the ox: his chattel, his +slave and his food, by the mere power of his will. Woe to us! + +But, nevertheless, the animal sometimes revolts and kills the man who +has subjugated it.... I should also like ... I shall be able to ... but +I must know him, touch him, see him! Learned men say that beasts’ eyes, +as they differ from ours, do not distinguish like ours do.... And my +eye cannot distinguish this newcomer who is oppressing me. + +Why? Oh! Now I remember the words of the monk at Mont Saint-Michel: +“Can we see the hundred-thousandth part of what exists? Look here; +there is the wind which is the strongest force in nature, which knocks +down men, and blows down buildings, uproots trees, raises the sea into +mountains of water, destroys cliffs and casts great ships onto the +breakers; the wind which kills, which whistles, which sighs, which +roars--have you ever seen it, and can you see it? It exists for all +that, however!” + +And I went on thinking: my eyes are so weak, so imperfect, that they +do not even distinguish hard bodies, if they are as transparent as +glass!... If a glass without tinfoil behind it were to bar my way, I +should run into it, just as a bird which has flown into a room breaks +its head against the window panes. A thousand things, moreover, deceive +him and lead him astray. How should it then be surprising that he +cannot perceive a fresh body which is traversed by the light? + +A new being! Why not? It was assuredly bound to come! Why should we be +the last? We do not distinguish it, like all the others created before +us. The reason is, that its nature is more perfect, its body finer and +more finished than ours, that ours is so weak, so awkwardly conceived, +encumbered with organs that are always tired, always on the strain like +locks that are too complicated, which lives like a plant and like a +beast, nourishing itself with difficulty on air, herbs and flesh, an +animal machine which is a prey to maladies, to malformations, to decay; +broken-winded, badly regulated, simple and eccentric, ingeniously and +badly made, a coarse and a delicate work, the outline of a being which +might become intelligent and grand. + +We are only a few, so few in this world, from the oyster up to man. Why +should there not be one more, when once that period is accomplished +which separates the successive apparitions from all the different +species? + +Why not one more? Why not, also, other trees with immense, splendid +flowers, perfuming whole regions? Why not other elements besides +fire, air, earth and water? There are four, only four, those nursing +fathers of various beings! What a pity! Why are they not forty, four +hundred, four thousand! How poor everything is, how mean and wretched! +grudgingly given, dryly invented, clumsily made! Ah! the elephant and +the hippopotamus, what grace! And the camel, what elegance! + +But, the butterfly you will say, a flying flower! I dream of one that +should be as large as a hundred worlds, with wings whose shape, beauty, +colors, and motion I cannot even express. But I see it ... it flutters +from star to star, refreshing them and perfuming them with the light +and harmonious breath of its flight!... And the people up there look at +it as it passes in an ecstasy of delight!... + +What is the matter with me? It is he, the Horla who haunts me, and who +makes me think of these foolish things! He is within me, he is becoming +my soul; I shall kill him! + +_August 19th._ I shall kill him. I have seen him! Yesterday I sat down +at my table and pretended to write very assiduously. I knew quite well +that he would come prowling round me, quite close to me, so close that +I might perhaps be able to touch him, to seize him. And then! ... then +I should have the strength of desperation; I should have my hands, my +knees, my chest, my forehead, my teeth to strangle him, to crush him, +to bite him, to tear him to pieces. And I watched for him with all my +over-excited organs. + +I had lighted my two lamps and the eight wax candles on my mantelpiece, +as if by this light I could have discovered him. + +My bed, my old oak bed with its columns, was opposite to me; on my +right was the fireplace; on my left the door which was carefully +closed, after I had left it open for some time, in order to attract +him; behind me was a very high wardrobe with a looking-glass in it, +which served me to make my toilet every day, and in which I was in the +habit of looking at myself from head to foot every time I passed it. + +So I pretended to be writing in order to deceive him, for he also was +watching me, and suddenly I felt, I was certain that he was reading +over my shoulder, that he was there, almost touching my ear. + +I got up so quickly, with my hands extended, that I almost fell. Eh! +well?... It was as bright as at midday, but I did not see myself in +the glass!... It was empty, clear, profound, full of light! But my +figure was not reflected in it ... and I, I was opposite to it! I saw +the large, clear glass from top to bottom, and I looked at it with +unsteady eyes; and I did not dare to advance; I did not venture to make +a movement, nevertheless, feeling perfectly that he was there, but that +he would escape me again, he whose imperceptible body had absorbed my +reflection. + +How frightened I was! And then suddenly I began to see myself through a +mist in the depths of the looking-glass, in a mist as it were through +a sheet of water; and it seemed to me as if this water were flowing +slowly from left to right, and making my figure clearer every moment. +It was like the end of an eclipse. Whatever it was that hid me, did not +appear to possess any clearly defined outlines, but a sort of opaque +transparency, which gradually grew clearer. + +At last I was able to distinguish myself completely, as I do every day +when I looked at myself. + +I had seen it! And the horror of it remained with me and makes me +shudder even now. + +_August 20th._ How could I kill it, as I could not get hold of it? +Poison? But it would see me mix it with the water; and then, would our +poisons have any effect on its impalpable body? No ... no ... no doubt +about the matter.... Then?... then?... + +_August 21st._ I sent for a blacksmith from Rouen, and ordered iron +shutters of him for my room, such as some private hotels in Paris have +on the ground floor, for fear of thieves, and he is going to make me a +similar door as well. I have made myself out as a coward, but I do not +care about that!... + +_September 10th._ Rouen, Hotel Continental. It is done; ... it is done +... but is he dead? My mind is thoroughly upset by what I have seen. + +Well, then, yesterday the locksmith having put on the iron shutters and +door, I left everything open until midnight, although it was getting +cold. + +Suddenly I felt that he was there, and joy, mad joy, took possession of +me. I got up softly, and I walked to the right and left for some time, +so that he might not guess anything; then I took off my boots and put +on my slippers carelessly; then I fastened the iron shutters and going +back to the door quickly I double-locked it with a padlock, putting the +key into my pocket. + +Suddenly I noticed that he was moving restlessly round me, that in his +turn he was frightened and was ordering me to let him out. I nearly +yielded, though I did not yet, but putting my back to the door I half +opened it, just enough to allow me to go out backward, and as I am very +tall, my head touched the lintel. I was sure that he had not been able +to escape, and I shut him up quite alone, quite alone. What happiness! +I had him fast. Then I ran downstairs; in the drawing-room, which was +under my bedroom, I took the two lamps and I poured all the oil onto +the carpet, the furniture, everywhere; then I set fire to it and made +my escape, after having carefully double-locked the door. + +I went and hid myself at the bottom of the garden in a clump of laurel +bushes. How long it was! how long it was! Everything was dark, silent, +motionless, not a breath of air and not a star, but heavy banks of +clouds which one could not see, but which weighed, oh! so heavily on my +soul. + +I looked at my house and waited. How long it was! I already began to +think that the fire had gone out of its own accord, or that he had +extinguished it, when one of the lower windows gave way under the +violence of the flames, and a long, soft, caressing sheet of red flame +mounted up the white wall and kissed it as high as the roof. The light +fell onto the trees, the branches, and the leaves, and a shiver of +fear pervaded them also! The birds awoke; a dog began to howl, and it +seemed to me as if the day were breaking! Almost immediately two other +windows flew into fragments, and I saw that the whole of the lower part +of my house was nothing but a terrible furnace. But a cry, a horrible, +shrill, heartrending cry, a woman’s cry, sounded through the night, and +two garret windows were opened! I had forgotten the servants! I saw the +terrorstruck faces, and their frantically waving arms!... + +Then, overwhelmed with horror, I set off to run to the village, +shouting: “Help! help! fire! fire!” I met some people who were already +coming onto the scene, and I went back with them to see! + +By this time the house was nothing but a horrible and magnificent +funeral pile, a monstrous funeral pile which lit up the whole country, +a funeral pile where men were burning, and where he was burning also, +He, He, my prisoner, that new Being, the new master, the Horla! + +Suddenly the whole roof fell in between the walls, and a volcano of +flames darted up to the sky. Through all the windows which opened onto +that furnace I saw the flames darting, and I thought that he was there, +in that kiln, dead. + +Dead? perhaps?... His body? Was not his body, which was transparent, +indestructible by such means as would kill ours? + +If he was not dead?... Perhaps time alone has power over that Invisible +and Redoubtable Being. Why this transparent, unrecognizable body, this +body belonging to a spirit, if it also had to fear ills, infirmities +and premature destruction? + +Premature destruction? All human terror springs from that! After man +the Horla. After him who can die every day, at any hour, at any moment, +by any accident, he came who was only to die at his own proper hour and +minute, because he had touched the limits of his existence! + +No ... no ... without any doubt ... he is not dead. Then ... then ... I +suppose I must kill myself! + + [EDITOR’S NOTE. Students of this great genius among short story + writers contend that there is an autobiographical touch to “The + Horla.” De Maupassant had a haunting presentiment of going mad.] + + + + +THE MUMMY’S FOOT + +By THÉOPHILE GAUTIER + + +I had entered, in an idle mood, the shop of one of those curiosity +venders who are called _marchands de bric-à-brac_ in that Parisian +_argot_ which is so perfectly unintelligble elsewhere in France. + +You have doubtless glanced occasionally through the windows of some of +these shops, which have become so numerous now that it is fashionable +to buy antiquated furniture, and that every petty stock broker thinks +he must have his _chambre au moyen âge_. + +There is one thing there which clings alike to the shop of the dealer +in old iron, the ware-room of the tapestry maker, the laboratory of +the chemist, and the studio of the painter: in all those gloomy dens +where a furtive daylight filters in through the window-shutters the +most manifestly ancient thing is dust. The cobwebs are more authentic +than the guimp laces, and the old pear-tree furniture on exhibition is +actually younger than the mahogany which arrived but yesterday from +America. + +The warehouse of my bric-à-brac dealer was a veritable Capharnaum. +All ages and all nations seemed to have made their rendezvous there. +An Etruscan lamp of red clay stood upon a Boule cabinet, with ebony +panels, brightly striped by lines of inlaid brass; a duchess of the +court of Louis XV. nonchalantly extended her fawn-like feet under a +massive table of the time of Louis XIII., with heavy spiral supports of +oak, and carven designs of chimeras and foliage intermingled. + +Upon the denticulated shelves of several sideboards glittered immense +Japanese dishes with red and blue designs relieved by gilded hatching, +side by side with enamelled works by Bernard Palissy, representing +serpents, frogs, and lizards in relief. + +From disembowelled cabinets escaped cascades of silver-lustrous Chinese +silks and waves of tinsels which an oblique sunbeam shot through with +luminous beads; while portraits of every era, in frames more or less +tarnished, smiled through their yellow varnish. + +The striped breastplate of a damascened suit of Milanese armor +glittered in one corner; loves and nymphs of porcelain, Chinese +grotesques, vases of _céladon_ and crackle-ware, Saxon and old Sèvres +cups encumbered the shelves and nooks of the apartment. + +The dealer followed me closely through the tortuous way contrived +between the piles of furniture, warding off with his hand the hazardous +sweep of my coat-skirts, watching my elbows with the uneasy attention +of an antiquarian and a usurer. + +It was a singular face, that of the merchant; an immense skull, +polished like a knee, and surrounded by a thin aureole of white hair, +which brought out the clear salmon tint of his complexion all the +more strikingly, lent him a false aspect of patriarchal _bonhomie_, +counteracted, however, by the scintillation of two little yellow eyes +which trembled in their orbits like two louis d’or upon quicksilver. +The curve of his nose presented an aquiline silhouette, which suggested +the Oriental or Jewish type. His hands--thin, slender, full of nerves +which projected like strings upon the finger-board of a violin, and +armed with claws like those on the terminations of bats’ wings--shook +with senile trembling; but those convulsively agitated hands became +firmer than steel pincers or lobsters’ claws when they lifted any +precious article--an onyx cup, a Venetian glass, or a dish of Bohemian +crystal. This strange old man had an aspect so thoroughly rabbinical +and cabalistic that he would have been burnt on the mere testimony of +his face three centuries ago. + +“Will you not buy something from me to-day, sir? Here is a Malay kreese +with a blade undulating like flame. Look at those grooves contrived +for the blood to run along, those teeth set backward so as to tear +out the entrails in withdrawing the weapon. It is a fine character of +ferocious arm, and will look well in your collection. This two-handed +sword is very beautiful. It is the work of Josepe de la Hera; and this +_colichemarde_, with its fenestrated guard--what a superb specimen of +handicraft!” + +“No; I have quite enough weapons and instruments of carnage. I want a +small figure, something which will suit me as a paper-weight, for I +cannot endure those trumpery bronzes which the stationers sell, and +which may be found on everybody’s desk.” + +The old gnome foraged among his ancient wares, and finally arranged +before me some antique bronzes, so-called at least; fragments of +malachite, little Hindoo or Chinese idols, a kind of poussah-toys in +jade-stone, representing the incarnations of Brahma or Vishnoo, and +wonderfully appropriate to the very undivine office of holding papers +and letters in place. + +I was hesitating between a porcelain dragon, all constellated with +warts, its mouth formidable with bristling tusks and ranges of +teeth, and an abominable little Mexican fetich, representing the god +Vitziliputzili _au naturel_, when I caught sight of a charming foot, +which I at first took for a fragment of some antique Venus. + +It had those beautiful ruddy and tawny tints that lend to Florentine +bronze that warm living look so much preferable to the gray-green +aspect of common bronzes, which might easily be mistaken for statues in +a state of putrefaction. Satiny gleams played over its rounded forms, +doubtless polished by the amorous kisses of twenty centuries, for it +seemed a Corinthian bronze, a work of the best era of art, perhaps +molded by Lysippus himself. + +“That foot will be my choice,” I said to the merchant, who regarded me +with an ironical and saturnine air, and held out the object desired +that I might examine it more fully. + +I was surprised at its lightness. It was not a foot of metal, but in +sooth a foot of flesh, an embalmed foot, a mummy’s foot. On examining +it still more closely the very grain of the skin, and the almost +imperceptible lines impressed upon it by the texture of the bandages, +became perceptible. The toes were slender and delicate, and terminated +by perfectly formed nails, pure and transparent as agates. The great +toe, slightly separated from the rest, afforded a happy contrast, in +the antique style, to the position of the other toes, and lent it +an aërial lightness--the grace of a bird’s foot. The sole, scarcely +streaked by a few almost imperceptible cross lines, afforded evidence +that it had never touched the bare ground, and had only come in contact +with the finest matting of Nile rushes and the softest carpets of +panther skin. + +“Ha, ha, you want the foot of the Princess Hermonthis!” exclaimed the +merchant, with a strange giggle, fixing his owlish eyes upon me. “Ha, +ha, ha! For a paper-weight! An original idea!--an artistic idea! Old +Pharaoh would certainly have been surprised had some one told him +that the foot of his adored daughter would be used for a paper-weight +after he had had a mountain of granite hollowed out as a receptacle +for the triple coffin, painted and gilded, covered with hieroglyphics +and beautiful paintings of the Judgment of Souls,” continued the queer +little merchant, half audibly, as though talking to himself. + +“How much will you charge me for this mummy fragment?” + +“Ah, the highest price I can get, for it is a superb piece. If I had +the match of it you could not have it for less than five hundred +francs. The daughter of a Pharaoh! Nothing is more rare.” + +“Assuredly that is not a common article, but still, how much do you +want? In the first place let me warn you that all my wealth consists of +just five louis. I can buy anything that costs five louis, but nothing +dearer. You might search my vest pockets and most secret drawers +without even finding one poor five-franc piece more.” + +“Five louis for the foot of the Princess Hermonthis! That is very +little, very little indeed. ’Tis an authentic foot,” muttered the +merchant, shaking his head, and imparting a peculiar rotary motion to +his eyes. “Well, take it, and I will give you the bandages into the +bargain,” he added, wrapping the foot in an ancient damask rag. “Very +fine! Real damask--Indian damask which has never been re-dyed. It is +strong, and yet it is soft,” he mumbled, stroking the frayed tissue +with his fingers, through the trade-acquired habit which moved him to +praise even an object of such little value that he himself deemed it +only worth the giving away. + +He poured the gold coins into a sort of mediæval alms-purse hanging at +his belt, repeating: + +“The foot of the Princess Hermonthis to be used for a paper-weight!” + +Then turning his phosphorescent eyes upon me, he exclaimed in a voice +strident as the crying of a cat which has swallowed a fish-bone: + +“Old Pharaoh will not be well pleased. He loved his daughter, the dear +man!” + +“You speak as if you were a contemporary of his. You are old enough, +goodness knows! but you do not date back to the Pyramids of Egypt,” I +answered, laughingly, from the threshold. + +I went home, delighted with my acquisition. + +With the idea of putting it to profitable use as soon as possible, I +placed the foot of the divine Princess Hermonthis upon a heap of papers +scribbled over with verses, in themselves an undecipherable mosaic work +of erasures; articles freshly begun; letters forgotten, and posted +in the table drawer in stead of the letter-box, an error to which +absent-minded people are peculiarly liable. The effect was charming, +_bizarre_, and romantic. + +Well satisfied with this embellishment, I went out with the gravity +and pride becoming one who feels that he has the ineffable advantage +over all the passers-by whom he elbows, of possessing a piece of the +Princess Hermonthis, daughter of Pharaoh. + +I looked upon all who did not possess, like myself, a paper-weight so +authentically Egyptian as very ridiculous people, and it seemed to me +that the proper occupation of every sensible man should consist in the +mere fact of having a mummy’s foot upon his desk. + +Happily I met some friends, whose presence distracted me in my +infatuation with this new acquisition. I went to dinner with them, for +I could not very well have dined with myself. + +When I came back that evening, with my brain slightly confused by a +few glasses of wine, a vague whiff of Oriental perfume delicately +titillated my olfactory nerves. The heat of the room had warmed the +natron, bitumen, and myrrh in which the _paraschistes_, who cut open +the bodies of the dead, had bathed the corpse of the princess. It was +a perfume at once sweet and penetrating, a perfume that four thousand +years had not been able to dissipate. + +The Dream of Egypt was Eternity. Her odors have the solidity of granite +and endure as long. + +I soon drank deeply from the black cup of sleep. For a few hours all +remained opaque to me. Oblivion and nothingness inundated me with their +sombre waves. + +Yet light gradually dawned upon the darkness of my mind. Dreams +commenced to touch me softly in their silent flight. + +The eyes of my soul were opened, and I beheld my chamber as it actually +was. I might have believed myself awake but for a vague consciousness +which assured me that I slept, and that something fantastic was about +to take place. + +The odor of the myrrh had augmented in intensity, and I felt a slight +headache, which I very naturally attributed to several glasses of +champagne that we had drunk to the unknown gods and our future +fortunes. I peered through my room with a feeling of expectation which +I saw nothing to justify. Every article of furniture was in its proper +place. The lamp, softly shaded by its globe of ground crystal, burned +upon its bracket; the water-color sketches shone under their Bohemian +glass; the curtains hung down languidly; everything wore an aspect of +tranquil slumber. + +After a few moments, however, all this calm interior appeared to +become disturbed. The woodwork cracked stealthily, the ash-covered log +suddenly emitted a jet of blue flame, and the disks of the pateras +seemed like great metallic eyes, watching, like myself, for the things +which were about to happen. + +My eyes accidentally fell upon the desk where I had placed the foot of +the Princess Hermonthis. + +Instead of remaining quiet, as behooved a foot which had been embalmed +for four thousand years, it commenced to act in a nervous manner, +contracted itself, and leaped over the papers like a startled frog. One +would have imagined that it had suddenly been brought into contact with +a galvanic battery. I could distinctly hear the dry sound made by its +little heel, hard as the hoof of a gazelle. + +I became rather discontented with my acquisition, inasmuch as I wished +my paper-weights to be of a sedentary disposition, and thought it very +unnatural that feet should walk about without legs, then I commenced to +experience a feeling closely akin to fear. + +Suddenly I saw the folds of my bed-curtain stir, and heard a bumping +sound, like that caused by some person hopping on one foot across the +floor. I must confess I became alternately hot and cold, that I felt a +strange wind chill my back, and that my suddenly rising hair caused my +night-cap to execute a leap of several yards. + +The bed-curtains opened and I beheld the strangest figure imaginable +before me. + +It was a young girl of a very deep coffee-brown complexion, like the +bayadere Amani, and possessing the purest Egyptian type of perfect +beauty. Her eyes were almond-shaped and oblique, with eyebrows so black +that they seemed blue; her nose was exquisitely chiselled, almost Greek +in its delicacy of outline; and she might indeed have been taken for a +Corinthian statue of bronze but for the prominence of her cheek-bones +and the slightly African fulness of her lips, which compelled one to +recognize her as belonging beyond all doubt to the hieroglyphic race +which dwelt upon the banks of the Nile. + +Her arms, slender and spindle-shaped like those of very young girls, +were encircled by a peculiar kind of metal bands and bracelets of +glass beads; her hair was all twisted into little cords, and she wore +upon her bosom a little idol-figure of green paste, bearing a whip +with seven lashes, which proved it to be an image of Isis; her brow +was adorned with a shining plate of gold, and a few traces of paint +relieved the coppery tint of her cheeks. + +As for her costume, it was very odd indeed. + +Fancy a _pagne_, or skirt, all formed of little strips of material +bedizened with red and black hieroglyphics, stiffened with bitumen, and +apparently belonging to a freshly unbandaged mummy. + +In one of those sudden flights of thought so common in dreams I +heard the hoarse falsetto of the bric-à-brac dealer, repeating like +a monotonous refrain the phrase he had uttered in his shop with so +enigmatical an intonation: + +“Old Pharaoh will not be well pleased. He loved his daughter, the dear +man!” + +One strange circumstance, which was not at all calculated to restore +my equanimity, was that the apparition had but one foot; the other was +broken off at the ankle! + +She approached the table where the foot lay, starting and fidgetting +about more than ever, and there supported herself upon the edge of the +desk. I saw her eyes fill with pearly gleaming tears. + +Although she had not as yet spoken, I fully comprehended the thoughts +which agitated her. She looked at her foot--for it was indeed her +own--with an exquisitely graceful expression of coquettish sadness, but +the foot leaped and ran hither and thither, as though impelled on steel +springs. + +Twice or thrice she extended her hand to seize it, but could not +succeed. + +Then commenced between the Princess Hermonthis and her foot--which +appeared to be endowed with a special life of its own--a very fantastic +dialogue in a most ancient Coptic tongue, such as might have been +spoken thirty centuries ago by the sphinxes of the land of Ser. +Luckily I understood Coptic perfectly well that night. + +The Princess Hermonthis cried, in a voice sweet and vibrant as the +tones of a crystal bell: + +“Well, my dear little foot, you always flee from me, yet I always +took good care of you. I bathed you with perfumed water in a bowl of +alabaster; I smoothed your heel with pumice-stone mixed with palm +oil; your nails were cut with golden scissors and polished with a +hippopotamus tooth; I was careful to select _tatbebs_ for you, painted +and embroidered and turned up at the toes, which were the envy of all +the young girls in Egypt. You wore on your great toe rings bearing the +device of the sacred Scarabæus, and you supported one of the lightest +bodies that a lazy foot could sustain.” + +The foot replied in a pouting and chagrined tone: + +“You know well that I do not belong to myself any longer. I have been +bought and paid for. The old merchant knew what he was about. He bore +you a grudge for having refused to espouse him. This is an ill turn +which he has done you. The Arab who violated your royal coffin in the +subterranean pits of the necropolis of Thebes was sent thither by him. +He desired to prevent you from being present at the reunion of the +shadowy nations in the cities below. Have you five pieces of gold for +my ransom?” + +“Alas, no! My jewels, my rings, my purses of gold and silver were all +stolen from me,” answered the Princess Hermonthis, with a sob. + +“Princess,” I then exclaimed, “I never retained anybody’s foot +unjustly. Even though you have not got the five louis which it cost me, +I present it to you gladly. I should feel unutterably wretched to think +that I were the cause of so amiable a person as the Princess Hermonthis +being lame.” + +I delivered this discourse in a royally gallant, troubadour tone which +must have astonished the beautiful Egyptian girl. + +She turned a look of deepest gratitude upon me, and her eyes shone with +bluish gleams of light. + +She took her foot, which surrendered itself willingly this time, like a +woman about to put on her little shoe, and adjusted it to her leg with +much skill. + +This operation over, she took a few steps about the room, as though to +assure herself that she was really no longer lame. + +“Ah, how pleased my father will be! He who was so unhappy because of my +mutilation, and who from the moment of my birth set a whole nation at +work to hollow me out a tomb so deep that he might preserve me intact +until that last day, when souls must be weighed in the balance of +Amenthi! Come with me to my father. He will receive you kindly, for you +have given me back my foot.” + +I thought this proposition natural enough. I arrayed myself in a +dressing-gown of large-flowered pattern, which lent me a very Pharaonic +aspect, hurriedly put on a pair of Turkish slippers, and informed the +Princess Hermonthis that I was ready to follow her. + +Before starting, Hermonthis took from her neck the little idol of +green paste, and laid it on the scattered sheets of paper which covered +the table. + +“It is only fair,” she observed, smilingly, “that I should replace your +paper-weight.” + +She gave me her hand, which felt soft and cold, like the skin of a +serpent, and we departed. + +We passed for some time with the velocity of an arrow through a fluid +and grayish expanse, in which half-formed silhouettes flitted swiftly +by us, to right and left. + +For an instant we saw only sky and sea. + +A few moments later obelisks commenced to tower in the distance; pylons +and vast flights of steps guarded by sphinxes became clearly outlined +against the horizon. + +We had reached our destination. + +The princess conducted me to a mountain of rose-colored granite, in the +face of which appeared an opening so narrow and low that it would have +been difficult to distinguish it from the fissures in the rock, had not +its location been marked by two stelæ wrought with sculptures. + +Hermonthis kindled a torch and led the way before me. + +We traversed corridors hewn through the living rock. These walls +covered with hieroglyphics and paintings of allegorical processions, +might well have occupied thousands of arms for thousands of years in +their formation. These corridors of interminable length opened into +square chambers, in the midst of which pits had been contrived, through +which we descended by cramp-irons or spiral stairways. These pits +again conducted us into other chambers, opening into other corridors, +likewise decorated with painted sparrow-hawks, serpents coiled in +circles, the symbols of the _tau_ and _pedum_--prodigious works of art +which no living eye can ever examine--interminable legends of granite +which only the dead have time to read through all eternity. + +At last we found ourselves in a hall so vast, so enormous, so +immeasurable, that the eye could not reach its limits. Files of +monstrous columns stretched far out of sight on every side, between +which twinkled livid stars of yellowish flame; points of light which +revealed further depths incalculable in the darkness beyond. + +The Princess Hermonthis still held my hand, and graciously saluted the +mummies of her acquaintance. + +My eyes became accustomed to the dim twilight, and objects became +discernible. + +I beheld the kings of the subterranean races seated upon thrones--grand +old men, though dry, withered, wrinkled like parchment, and blackened +with naphtha and bitumen--all wearing _pshents_ of gold, and +breast-plates and gorgets glittering with precious stones, their eyes +immovably fixed like the eyes of sphinxes, and their long beards +whitened by the snow of centuries. Behind them stood their peoples, +in the stiff and constrained posture enjoined by Egyptian art, all +eternally preserving the attitude prescribed by the hieratic code. +Behind these nations, the cats, ibixes, and crocodiles, contemporary +with them--rendered monstrous of aspect by their swathing bands--mewed, +flapped their wings, or extended their jaws in a saurian giggle. + +All the Pharaohs were there--Cheops, Chephrenes, Psammetichus, +Sesostris, Amenotaph--all the dark rulers of the pyramids and sphinxes. +On yet higher thrones sat Chronos and Xixouthros, who was contemporary +with the deluge, and Tubal Cain, who reigned before it. + +The beard of King Xixouthros had grown seven times around the granite +table, upon which he leaned, lost in deep reverie, and buried in dreams. + +Farther back, through a dusty cloud, I beheld dimly the seventy-two +pre-adamite kings, with their seventy-two peoples, forever passed away. + +After permitting me to gaze upon this bewildering spectacle a few +moments, the Princess Hermonthis presented me to her father Pharaoh, +who favored me with a most gracious nod. + +“I have found my foot again! I have found my foot!” cried the princess, +clapping her little hands together with every sign of frantic joy. “It +was this gentleman who restored it to me.” + +The races of Kemi, the races of Nahasi--all the black, bronzed, and +copper-colored nations repeated in chorus: + +“The Princess Hermonthis has found her foot again!” + +Even Xixouthros himself was visibly affected. + +He raised his heavy eyelids, stroked his moustache with his fingers, +and turned upon me a glance weighty with centuries. + +“By Oms, the dog of Hell, and Tmei, daughter of the Sun and of Truth, +this is a brave and worthy lad!” exclaimed Pharaoh, pointing to me with +his sceptre, which was terminated with a lotus-flower. “What recompense +do you desire?” + +Filled with that daring inspired by dreams in which nothing seems +impossible, I asked him for the hand of the Princess Hermonthis. The +hand seemed to me a very proper antithetic recompense for the foot. + +Pharaoh opened wide his great eyes of glass in astonishment at my witty +request. + +“What country do you come from, what is your age?” + +“I am a Frenchman, and I am twenty-seven years old, venerable Pharaoh.” + +“Twenty-seven years old, and he wishes to espouse the Princess +Hermonthis who is thirty centuries old!” cried out at once all the +Thrones and all the Circles of Nations. + +Only Hermonthis herself did not seem to think my request unreasonable. + +“If you were even two thousand years old,” replied the ancient king, +“I would willingly give you the princess, but the disproportion is too +great; and, besides, we must give our daughters husbands who will last +well. You do not know how to preserve yourselves any longer. Even those +who died only fifteen centuries ago are already no more than a handful +of dust. Behold, my flesh is solid as basalt, my bones are bones of +steel! + +“I will be present on the last day of the world with the same body +and the same features which I had during my lifetime. My daughter +Hermonthis will last longer than a statue of bronze. + +“Then the last particles of your dust will have been scattered abroad +by the winds, and even Isis herself, who was able to find the atoms of +Osiris, would scarce be able to recompense your being. + +“See how vigorous I yet remain, and how mighty is my grasp,” he added, +shaking my hand in the English fashion with a strength that buried my +rings in the flesh of my fingers. + +He squeezed me so hard that I awoke, and found my friend Alfred shaking +me by the arm to make me get up. + +“Oh, you everlasting sleeper! Must I have you carried out into the +middle of the street, and fireworks exploded in your ears? It is +afternoon. Don’t you recollect your promise to take me with you to see +M. Aguado’s Spanish pictures?” + +“God! I forgot all, all about it,” I answered, dressing myself +hurriedly. “We will go there at once. I have the permit lying there on +my desk.” + +I started to find it, but fancy my astonishment when I beheld, instead +of the mummy’s foot I had purchased the evening before, the little +green paste idol left in its place by the Princess Hermonthis! + + + + +THE THIEF + +By ANNA KATHARINE GREEN + +[Attribution By permission of the author. From “Masterpieces of +Mystery,” by Anna Katharine Green, copyright 1913, by Dodd, Mead & Co.] + + +“And now, if you have all seen the coin and sufficiently admired it, +you may pass it back. I make a point of never leaving it off the shelf +for more than fifteen minutes.” + +The half-dozen or more guests seated about the board of the genial +speaker, glanced casually at each other as though expecting to see the +object mentioned immediately produced. + +But no coin appeared. + +“I have other amusements waiting,” suggested their host, with a smile +in which even his wife could detect no signs of impatience. “Now let +Robert put it back into the cabinet.” + +Robert was the butler. + +Blank looks, negative gestures, but still no coin. + +“Perhaps it is in somebody’s lap,” timidly ventured one of the younger +women. “It doesn’t seem to be on the table.” + +Immediately all the ladies began lifting their napkins and shaking +out the gloves which lay under them, in an effort to relieve their own +embarrassment and that of the gentlemen who had not even so simple a +resource as this at their command. + +“It can’t be lost,” protested Mr. Sedgwick, with an air of perfect +confidence. “I saw it but a minute ago in somebody’s hand. Darrow, you +had it; what did you do with it?” + +“Passed it along.” + +“Well, well, it must be under somebody’s plate or doily.” And he began +to move about his own and such dishes as were within reach of his hand. + +Each guest imitated him, lifting glasses and turning over spoons till +Mr. Sedgwick himself bade them desist. “It’s slipped to the floor,” he +nonchalantly concluded. “A toast to the ladies, and we will give Robert +the chance of looking for it.” + +As they drank this toast, his apparently careless, but quietly astute, +glance took in each countenance about him. The coin was very valuable +and its loss would be keenly felt by him. Had it slipped from the table +some one’s eye would have perceived it, some hand would have followed +it. Only a minute or two before, the attention of the whole party had +been concentrated upon it. Darrow had held it up for all to see, while +he discoursed upon its history. He would take Darrow aside at the +first opportunity and ask him--But--ah! how could he do that? These +were his intimate friends. He knew them well, more than well, with one +exception, and he--Well, he was the handsomest of the lot and the most +debonair and agreeable. A little more gay than usual to-night, possibly +a trifle too gay, considering that a man of Mr. Blake’s social weight +and business standing sat at the board; but not to be suspected, no, +not to be suspected, even if he was the next man after Darrow and had +betrayed something like confusion when the eyes of the whole table +turned his way at the former’s simple statement of “I passed it on.” +Robert would find the coin; he was a fool to doubt it; and if Robert +did not, why, he would simply have to pocket his chagrin, and not let a +triviality like this throw a shadow over his hospitality. + +All this, while he genially lifted his glass and proposed the health of +the ladies. The constraint of the preceding moment was removed by his +manner, and a dozen jests caused as many merry laughs. Then he pushed +back his chair. + +“And now, some music!” he cheerfully cried, as with lingering glances +and some further pokings about of the table furniture, the various +guests left their places and followed him into the adjoining room. + +But the ladies were too nervous and the gentlemen not sufficiently +sure of their voices to undertake the entertainment of the rest at a +moment of such acknowledged suspense; and notwithstanding the exertions +of their host and his quiet but much discomfited wife, it soon became +apparent that but one thought engrossed them all, and that any attempt +at conversation must prove futile so long as the curtains between the +two rooms remained open and they could see Robert on his hands and +knees searching the floor and shoving aside the rugs. + +Darrow, who was Mr. Sedgwick’s brother-in-law and almost as much at +home in the house as Sedgwick himself, made a move to draw these +curtains, but something in his relative’s face stopped him and he +desisted with some laughing remark which did not attract enough +attention, even, to elicit any response. + +“I hope his eyesight is good,” murmured one of the young girls, edging +a trifle forward. “Mayn’t I help him look? They say at home that I am +the only one in the house who can find anything.” + +Mr. Sedgwick smiled indulgently at the speaker (a round-faced, +round-eyed, merry-hearted girl whom in days gone by he had dandled on +his knees) but answered quite quickly for him: + +“Robert will find it if it is there.” Then, distressed at this +involuntary disclosure of his thought, added in his wholehearted way: +“It’s such a little thing, and the room is so big, and a round object +rolls unexpectedly far, you know. Well, have you got it?” he eagerly +demanded, as the butler finally showed himself in the door. + +“No, sir; and it’s not in the dining-room. I have cleared the table and +thoroughly searched the floor.” + +Mr. Sedgwick knew that he had. He had no doubts about Robert. Robert +had been in his employ for years and had often handled his coins and, +at his order, sometimes shown them. + +“Very well,” said he, “we’ll not bother about it any more to-night; you +may draw the curtains.” + +But here the clear, almost strident voice of the youngest man of the +party interposed. + +“Wait a minute,” said he. “This especial coin is the great treasure +of Mr. Sedgwick’s valuable collection. It is unique in this country, +and not only worth a great deal of money, but cannot be duplicated at +any cost. There are only three of its stamp in the world. Shall we +let the matter pass, then, as though it were of small importance? I +feel that we cannot; that we are, in a measure, responsible for its +disappearance. Mr. Sedgwick handed it to us to look at, and while it +was going through our hands it vanished. What must he think? What has +he every right to think? I need not put it into words; you know what +you would think, what you could not help but think, if the object +were yours and it was lost in this way. Gentlemen--I leave the ladies +entirely out of this--I do not propose that he shall have further +opportunity to associate me with this very natural doubt. I demand the +privilege of emptying my pockets here and now, before any of us have +left his presence. I am a connoisseur in coins myself and consequently +find it imperative to take the initiative in this matter. As I propose +to spare the ladies, let us step back into the dining-room. Mr. +Sedgwick, pray don’t deny me; I’m thoroughly in earnest, I assure you.” + +The astonishment created by this audacious proposition was so great, +and the feeling it occasioned so intense, that for an instant all +stood speechless. Young Hammersley was a millionaire himself, and +generous to a fault, as all knew. Under no circumstances would any one +even suspect him of appropriating anything, great or small, to which he +had not a perfect right. Nor was he likely to imagine for a moment that +any one would. That he could make such a proposition then, based upon +any such plea, argued a definite suspicion in some other quarter, which +could not pass unrecognized. In vain Mr. Sedgwick raised his voice in +frank and decided protest, two of the gentlemen had already made a +quick move toward Robert, who still stood, stupefied by the situation, +with his hand on the cord which controlled the curtains. + +“He is quite right,” remarked one of these, as he passed into the +dining-room. “I shouldn’t sleep a wink to-night if this question +remained unsettled.” The other, the oldest man present, the financier +of whose standing and highly esteemed character I have already spoken, +said nothing, but followed in a way to show that his mind was equally +made up. + +The position in which Mr. Sedgwick found himself placed was far from +enviable. With a glance at the two remaining gentlemen, he turned +towards the ladies now standing in a close group at the other end of +the room. One of them was his wife, and he quivered internally as he +noted the deep red of her distressed countenance. But it was the other +he addressed, singling out, with the rare courtesy which was his by +nature, the one comparative stranger, Darrow’s niece, a Rochester +girl, who could not be finding this, her first party in Boston, very +amusing. + +“I hope you will appreciate the dilemma in which I have been placed by +these gentlemen,” he began, “and will pardon--” + +But here he noticed that she was not in the least attending; her eyes +were on the handsome figure of Hugh Clifford, her uncle’s neighbor +at table, who in company with Mr. Hammersley was still hesitating +in the doorway. As Mr. Sedgwick stopped his useless talk, the two +passed in and the sound of her fluttering breath as she finally turned +a listening ear his way, caused him to falter as he repeated his +assurances and begged her indulgence. + +She answered with some conventional phrase which he forgot while +crossing the room. But the remembrance of her slight satin-robed +figure, drawn up in an attitude whose carelessness was totally belied +by the anxiety of her half-averted glance, followed him into the +presence of the four men awaiting him. Four? I should say five, for +Robert was still there, though in a corner by himself, ready, no +doubt, to share any attempt which the others might make to prove their +innocence. + +“The ladies will await us in the music-room,” announced the host +on entering; and then paused, disconcerted by the picture suddenly +disclosed to his eye. On one side stood the two who had entered first, +with their eyes fixed in open sternness on young Clifford, who, quite +alone on the rug, faced them with a countenance of such pronounced +pallor that there seemed to be nothing else in the room. As his +features were singularly regular and his almost perfect mouth was +accentuated by a smile as set as his figure was immobile, the effect +was so startling that not only Mr. Sedgwick, but every other person +present, no doubt, wished that the plow had never turned the furrow +which had brought this wretched coin to light. + +However, the affair had gone too far now for retreat, as was shown by +Mr. Blake, the elderly financier whom all were ready to recognize as +the chief guest there. With an apologetic glance at Mr. Hammersley, the +impetuous young millionaire who had first proposed this embarrassing +procedure, he advanced to an empty side-table and began, in a quiet, +business-like way, to lay on it the contents of his various pockets. +As the pile rose, the silence grew, the act in itself was so simple, +the motive actuating it so serious and out of accord with the standing +of the company and the nature of the occasion. When all was done, he +stepped up to Mr. Sedgwick, with his arms raised and held out from his +body. + +“Now accommodate me,” said he, “by running your hands up and down my +chest. I have a secret pocket there which should be empty at this time.” + +Mr. Sedgwick, fascinated by his look, did as he was bid, reporting +shortly: + +“You are quite correct. I find nothing there.” + +Mr. Blake stepped back. As he did so, every eye, suddenly released +from his imposing figure, flashed towards the immovable Clifford, to +find him still absorbed by the action and attitude of the man who +had just undergone what to him doubtless appeared a degrading ordeal. +Pale before, he was absolutely livid now, though otherwise unchanged. +To break the force of what appeared to be an open, if involuntary, +self-betrayal, another guest stepped forward; but no sooner had he +raised his hand to his vest-pocket than Clifford moved, and in a high, +strident voice totally unlike his usual tones remarked: + +“This is all--all--very interesting and commendable, no doubt. But +for such a procedure to be of any real value it should be entered +into by all. Gentlemen”--his rigidity was all gone now and so was his +pallor--“I am unwilling to submit myself to what, in my eyes, is an act +of unnecessary humiliation. Our word should be enough. I have not the +coin--” Stopped by the absolute silence, he cast a distressed look into +the faces about him, till it reached that of Mr. Sedgwick, where it +lingered, in an appeal to which that gentleman, out of his great heart, +instantly responded. + +“One _should_ take the word of the gentleman he invites to his house. +We will excuse you, and excuse all the others from the unnecessary +ceremony which Mr. Blake has been good enough to initiate.” + +But this show of favor was not to the mind of the last-mentioned +gentleman, and met with instant reproof. + +“Not so fast, Sedgwick. I am the oldest man here and I did not feel it +was enough simply to state that this coin was not on my person. As to +the question of humiliation, it strikes me that humiliation would lie, +in this instance, in a refusal for which no better excuse can be given +than the purely egotistical one of personal pride.” + +At this attack, the fine head of Clifford rose, and Darrow, remembering +the girl within, felt instinctively grateful that she was not here to +note the effect it gave to his person. + +“I regret to differ,” said he. “To me no humiliation could equal that +of demonstrating in this open manner the fact of one’s not being a +thief.” + +Mr. Blake gravely surveyed him. For some reason the issue seemed no +longer to lie between Clifford and the actual loser of the coin, but +between him and his fellow guest, this uncompromising banker. + +“A thief!” repeated the young man, in an indescribable tone full of +bitterness and scorn. + +Mr. Blake remained unmoved; he was a just man but strict, hard to +himself, hard to others. But he was not entirely without heart. +Suddenly his expression lightened. A certain possible explanation of +the other’s attitude had entered his mind. + +“Young men sometimes have reasons for their susceptibilities which the +old forget. If you have such--if you carry a photograph, believe that +we have no interest in pictures of any sort to-night and certainly +would fail to recognize them.” + +A smile of disdain flickered across the young man’s lip. Evidently it +was no discovery of this kind that he feared. + +“I carry no photographs,” said he; and, bowing low to his host, he +added in a measured tone which but poorly hid his profound agitation, +“I regret to have interfered in the slightest way with the pleasure +of the evening. If you will be so good as to make my excuses to the +ladies, I will withdraw from a presence upon which I have made so poor +an impression.” + +Mr. Sedgwick prized his coin and despised deceit, but he could not let +a guest leave him in this manner. Instinctively he held out his hand. +Proudly young Clifford dropped his own into it; but the lack of mutual +confidence was felt and the contact was a cold one. Half regretting his +impulsive attempt at courtesy, Mr. Sedgwick drew back, and Clifford +was already at the door leading into the hall, when Hammersley, who by +his indiscreet proposition had made all this trouble for him, sprang +forward and caught him by the arm. + +“Don’t go,” he whispered. “You’re done for if you leave like this. +I--I was a brute to propose such an asinine thing, but having done so +I am bound to see you out of the difficulty. Come into the adjoining +room--there is nobody there at present--and we will empty our pockets +together and find this lost article if we can. I may have pocketed it +myself, in a fit of abstraction.” + +Did the other hesitate? Some thought so; but, if he did, it was but +momentarily. + +“I cannot,” he muttered; “think what you will of me, but let me go.” +And dashing open the door he disappeared from their sight just as light +steps and the rustle of skirts were heard again in the adjoining room. + +“There are the ladies. What shall we say to them?” queried Sedgwick, +stepping slowly towards the intervening curtains. + +“Tell them the truth,” enjoined Mr. Blake, as he hastily repocketed his +own belongings. “Why should a handsome devil like that be treated with +any more consideration than another? He has a secret if he hasn’t a +coin. Let them know this. It may save some one a future heartache.” + +The last sentence was muttered, but Mr. Sedgwick heard it. Perhaps that +was why his first movement on entering the adjoining room was to cross +over to the cabinet and shut and lock the heavily paneled door which +had been left standing open. At all events, the action drew general +attention and caused an instant silence, broken the next minute by an +ardent cry: + +“So your search was futile?” + +It came from the lady least known, the interesting young stranger whose +personality had made so vivid an impression upon him. + +“Quite so,” he answered, hastily facing her with an attempted smile. +“The gentlemen decided not to carry matters to the length first +proposed. The object was not worth it. I approved their decision. +This was meant for a joyous occasion. Why mar it by unnecessary +unpleasantness?” + +She had given him her full attention while he was speaking, but her eye +wandered away the moment he had finished and rested searchingly on the +other gentlemen. Evidently she missed a face she had expected to find +there, for her color changed and she drew back behind the other ladies +with the light, unmusical laugh women sometimes use to hide a secret +emotion. + +It brought Mr. Darrow forward. + +“Some were not willing to subject themselves to what they considered an +unnecessary humiliation”, he curtly remarked. “Mr. Clifford--” + +“There! let us drop it,” put in his brother-in-law. “I’ve lost my coin +and that’s the end of it. I don’t intend to have the evening spoiled +for a thing like that. Music! ladies, music and a jolly air! No more +dumps.” And with as hearty a laugh as he could command in face of the +somber looks he encountered on every side, he led the way back into the +music-room. + +Once there the women seemed to recover their spirits; that is, such as +remained. One had disappeared. A door opened from this room into the +main hall and through this a certain young lady had vanished before the +others had had time to group themselves about the piano. We know who +this lady was; possibly, we know, too, why her hostess did not follow +her. + +Meanwhile, Mr. Clifford had gone upstairs for his coat, and was +lingering there, the prey of some very bitter reflections. Though he +had encountered nobody on the stairs, and neither heard nor saw any +one in the halls, he felt confident that he was not unwatched. He +remembered the look on the butler’s face as he tore himself away from +Hammersley’s restraining hand, and he knew what that fellow thought +and also was quite able to guess what that fellow would do, if his +suspicions were farther awakened. This conviction brought an odd and +not very open smile to his face, as he finally turned to descend the +one flight which separated him from the front door he was so ardently +desirous of closing behind him for ever. + +A moment and he would be down; but the steps were many and seemed to +multiply indefinitely as he sped below. Should his departure be noted, +and some one advance to detain him! He fancied he heard a rustle in +the open space under the stairs. Were any one to step forth, Robert +or-- With a start, he paused and clutched the banister. Some one had +stepped forth; a woman! The swish of her skirts was unmistakable. He +felt the chill of a new dread. Never in his short but triumphant career +had he met coldness or disapproval in the eye of a woman. Was he to +encounter it now? If so, it would go hard with him. He trembled as he +turned his head to see which of the four it was. If it should prove to +be his hostess-- But it was not she; it was Darrow’s young friend, the +pretty inconsequent girl he had chatted with at the dinner-table, and +afterwards completely forgotten in the events which had centered all +his thoughts upon himself. And she was standing there, waiting for him! +He would have to pass her,--notice her,--speak. + +But when the encounter occurred and their eyes met, he failed to +find in hers any sign of the disapproval he feared, but instead a +gentlewomanly interest which he might interpret deeply, or otherwise, +according to the measure of his need. + +That need seemed to be a deep one at this instant, for his countenance +softened perceptibly as he took her quietly extended hand. + +“Good-night,” she said; “I am just going myself,” and with an +entrancing smile of perfect friendliness, she fluttered past him up the +stairs. + +It was the one and only greeting which his sick heart could have +sustained without flinching. Just this friendly farewell of one +acquaintance to another, as though no change had taken place in his +relations to society and the world. And she was a woman and not a +thoughtless girl! Staring after her slight, elegant figure, slowly +ascending the stair, he forgot to return her cordial greeting. What +delicacy, and yet what character there was in the poise of her spirited +head! He felt his breath fail him, in his anxiety for another glance +from her eye, for some sign, however small, that she had carried the +thought of him up those few, quickly mounted steps. Would he get it? +She is at the bend of the stair; she pauses--turns, a nod--and she is +gone. + +With an impetuous gesture, he dashed from the house. + +In the drawing-room the noise of the closing door was heard, and +a change at once took place in the attitude and expression of +all present. The young millionaire approached Mr. Sedgwick and +confidentially remarked: + +“There goes your precious coin. I’m sure of it. I even think I can +tell the exact place in which it is hidden. His hand went to his left +coat-pocket once too often.” + +“That’s right. I noticed the action also,” chimed in Mr. Darrow, who +had stepped up, unobserved. “And I noticed something else. His whole +appearance altered from the moment this coin came on the scene. An +indefinable half-eager, half-furtive look crept into his eye as he saw +it passed from hand to hand. I remember it now, though it didn’t make +much impression upon me at the time.” + +“And I remember another thing,” supplemented Hammersley in his anxiety +to set himself straight with these men of whose entire approval he was +not quite sure. “He raised his napkin to his mouth very frequently +during the meal and held it there longer than is usual, too. Once he +caught me looking at him, and for a moment he flushed scarlet, then +he broke out with one of his witty remarks and I had to laugh like +everybody else. If I am not mistaken, his napkin was up and his right +hand working behind it, about the time Mr. Sedgwick requested the +return of his coin.” + +“The idiot! Hadn’t he sense enough to know that such a loss wouldn’t +pass unquestioned? The gem of the collection; known all over the +country, and he’s not even a connoisseur.” + +“No; I’ve never even heard him mention numismatics.” + +“Mr. Darrow spoke of its value. Perhaps that was what tempted him. I +know that Clifford’s been rather down on his luck lately.” + +“He? Well, he don’t look it. There isn’t one of us so well set up. +Pardon me, Mr. Hammersley, you understand what I mean. He perhaps +relies a little bit too much on his fine clothes.” + +“He needn’t. His face is his fortune--all the one he’s got, I heard +it said. He had a pretty income from Consolidated Silver, but that’s +gone up and left him in what you call difficulties. If he has debts +besides--” + +But here Mr. Darrow was called off. His niece wanted to see him for +one minute in the hall. When he came back it was to make his adieu +and hers. She had been taken suddenly indisposed and his duty was to +see her immediately home. This broke up the party, and amid general +protestations the various guests were taking their leave when the whole +action was stopped by a smothered cry from the dining-room, and the +precipitate entrance of Robert, asking for Mr. Sedgwick. + +“What’s up? What’s happened?” demanded that gentleman, hurriedly +advancing towards the agitated butler. + +“Found!” he exclaimed, holding up the coin between his thumb and +forefinger. “It was standing straight up between two leaves of the +table. It tumbled and fell to the floor as Luke and I were taking them +out.” + +Silence which could be felt for a moment. Then each man turned and +surveyed his neighbor, while the women’s voices rose in little cries +that were almost hysterical. + +“I knew that it would be found, and found here,” came from the hallway +in rich, resonant tones. “Uncle, do not hurry; I am feeling better,” +followed in unconscious näiveté, as the young girl stepped in, showing +a countenance in which were small signs of indisposition or even of +depressed spirits. + +Mr. Darrow, with a smile of sympathetic understanding, joined the +others now crowding about the butler. + +“I noticed the crack between these two leaves when I pushed about the +plates and dishes,” he was saying. “But I never thought of looking in +it for the missing coin. I’m sure I’m very sorry that I didn’t.” + +Mr. Darrow, to whom these words had recalled a circumstance he had +otherwise completely forgotten, anxiously remarked: “That must have +happened shortly after it left my hand. I recall now that the lady +sitting between me and Clifford gave it a twirl which sent it spinning +over the bare tabletop. I don’t think she realized the action. She was +listening--we all were--to a flow of bright repartee going on below us, +and failed to follow the movements of the coin. Otherwise, she would +have spoken. But what a marvel that it should have reached that crack +in just the position to fall in!” + +“It wouldn’t happen again, not if we spun it there for a month of +Sundays.” + +“But Mr. Clifford!” put in an agitated voice. + +“Yes, it has been rather hard on him. But he shouldn’t have such keen +sensibilities. If he had emptied out his pockets cheerfully and at the +first intimation, none of this unpleasantness would have happened. +Mr. Sedgwick, I congratulate you upon the recovery of this valuable +coin, and am quite ready to offer my services if you wish to make Mr. +Clifford immediately acquainted with Robert’s discovery.” + +“Thank you, but I will perform that duty myself,” was Mr. Sedgwick’s +quiet rejoinder, as he unlocked the door of his cabinet and carefully +restored the coin to its proper place. + +When he faced back, he found his guests on the point of leaving. Only +one gave signs of any intention of lingering. This was the elderly +financier who had shown such stern resolve in his treatment of Mr. +Clifford’s so-called sensibilities. He had confided his wife to the +care of Mr. Darrow, and now met Mr. Sedgwick with this remark: + +“I’m going to ask a favor of you. If, as you have intimated, it is your +intention to visit Mr. Clifford to-night, I should like to go with +you. I don’t understand this young man and his unaccountable attitude +in this matter, and it is very important that I should. Have you any +objection to my company? My motor is at the door, and we can settle +the affair in twenty-minutes.” + +“None,” returned his host, a little surprised, however, at the +request. “His pride does seem a little out of place, but he was among +comparative strangers, and seemed to feel his honor greatly impugned by +Hammersley’s unfortunate proposition. I’m sorry way down to the ground +for what has occurred, and cannot carry him our apologies too soon.” + +“No, you cannot,” retorted the other shortly. And so seriously did he +utter this that no time was lost by Mr. Sedgwick, and as soon as they +could get into their coats, they were in the motor and on their way to +the young man’s apartment. + +Their experience began at the door. A man was lolling there who told +them that Mr. Clifford had changed his quarters; where he did not know. +But upon the production of a five-dollar bill, he remembered enough +about it to give them a number and street where possibly they might +find him. In a rush, they hastened there; only to hear the same story +from the sleepy elevator boy anticipating his last trip up for the +night. + +“Mr. Clifford left a week ago; he didn’t tell me where he was going.” + +Nevertheless the boy knew; that they saw, and another but smaller bill +came into requisition and awoke his sleepy memory. + +The street and number which he gave made the two well-to-do men +stare. But they said nothing, though the looks they cast back at the +second-rate quarters they were leaving, so far below the elegant +apartment house they had visited first, were sufficiently expressive. +The scale of descent from luxury to positive discomfort was proving a +rapid one and prepared them for the dismal, ill-cared-for, altogether +repulsive doorway before which they halted next. No attendant waited +here; not even an elevator boy; the latter for the good reason that +there was no elevator. An uninviting flight of stairs was before them! +and on one the few doors within sight a simple card showed the name of +the occupant. + +Mr. Sedgwick glanced at his companion. + +“Shall we go up?” he asked. + +Mr. Blake nodded. “We’ll find him,” said he, “if it takes all night.” + +“Surely he cannot have sunk lower than this.” + +“Remembering his get-up, I do not think so. Yet who knows? Some mystery +lies back of his whole conduct. Dining in your home, with this to come +back to! I don’t wonder--” + +But here a thought struck him. Pausing with his foot on the stair, he +turned a flushed countenance towards Mr. Sedgwick. “I’ve an idea,” said +he. “Perhaps--” He whispered the rest. + +Mr. Sedgwick stared and shook his shoulders. “Possibly,” said he, +flushing slightly in his turn. Then, as they proceeded up, “I feel like +a brute, anyway. A sorry night’s business all through, unless the end +proves better than the beginning.” + +“We’ll start from the top. Something tells me that we shall find him +close under the roof. Can you read the names by such a light?” + +“Barely; but I have matches.” + +And now there might have been witnessed by any chance home-comer the +curious sight of two extremely well-dressed men pottering through the +attic hall of this decaying old domicile, reading the cards on the +doors by means of a lighted match. + +And vainly. On none of the cards could be seen the name they sought. + +“We’re on the wrong track,” protested Mr. Blake. “No use keeping this +up,” but found himself stopped, when about to turn away, by a gesture +of Sedgwick’s. + +“There’s a light under the door you see there untagged,” said he. “I’m +going to knock.” + +He did so. There was a sound within and then utter silence. + +He knocked again. A man’s step was heard approaching the door, then +again the silence. + +Mr. Sedgwick made a third essay, and then the door was suddenly +pulled inward and in the gap they saw the handsome face and graceful +figure of the young man they had so lately encountered amid palatial +surroundings. But how changed! how openly miserable! and when he saw +who his guests were, how proudly defiant of their opinion and presence. + +“You have found the coin,” he quietly remarked. “I appreciate your +courtesy in coming here to inform me of it. Will not that answer, +without further conversation? I am on the point of retiring and--and--” + +Even the hardihood of a very visible despair gave way for an instant as +he met Mr. Sedgwick’s eye. In the break which followed, the older man +spoke. + +“Pardon us, but we have come thus far with a double purpose. First, +to tender our apologies, which you have been good enough to accept; +secondly, to ask, in no spirit of curiosity, I assure you, a question +that I seem to see answered, but which I should be glad to hear +confirmed by your lips. May we not come in?” + +The question was put with a rare smile such as sometimes was seen on +this hard-grained handler of millions, and the young man, seeing it, +faltered back, leaving the way open for them to enter. The next minute +he seemed to regret the impulse, for backing against a miserable table +they saw there, he drew himself up with an air as nearly hostile as one +of his nature could assume. + +“I know of no question,” said he, “which I feel at this very late hour +inclined to answer. A man who has been tracked as I must have been for +you to find me here, is hardly in a mood to explain his poverty or +the mad desire for former luxuries which took him to the house of one +friendly enough, he thought, to accept his presence without inquiry as +to the place he lived in or the nature or number of the reverses which +had brought him to such a place as this.” + +“I do not--believe me--” faltered Mr. Sedgwick, greatly embarrassed +and distressed. In spite of the young man’s attempt to hide the +contents of the table, he had seen the two objects lying there--a piece +of bread or roll, and a half-cocked revolver. + +Mr. Blake had seen them, too, and at once took the word out of his +companion’s mouth. + +“You mistake us,” he said coldly, “as well as the nature of our errand. +We are here from no motive of curiosity, as I have before said, nor +from any other which might offend or distress you. We--or rather +I--am here on business. I have a position to offer to an intelligent, +upright, enterprising young man. Your name has been given me. It was +given me before this dinner, to which I went--if Mr. Sedgwick will +pardon my plain speaking--chiefly for the purpose of making your +acquaintance. The result was what you know, and possibly now you can +understand my anxiety to see you exonerate yourself from the doubts +you yourself raised by your attitude of resistance to the proposition +made by that headlong, but well-meaning, young man of many millions, +Mr. Hammersley. I wanted to find in you the honorable characteristics +necessary to the man who is to draw an eight thousand dollars a year +salary under my eye. I still want to do this. If then you are willing +to make this whole thing plain to me--for it is not plain--not wholly +plain, Mr. Clifford--then you will find in me a friend such as few +young fellows can boast of, for I like you--I will say that--and where +I like--” + +The gesture with which he ended the sentence was almost superfluous, in +face of the change which had taken place in the aspect of the man he +addressed. Wonder, doubt, hope, and again incredulity were lost at last +in a recognition of the other’s kindly intentions toward himself, and +the prospects which they opened out before him. With a shamefaced look, +and yet with a manly acceptance of his own humiliation that was not +displeasing to his visitors, he turned about and pointing to the morsel +of bread lying on the table before them, he said to Mr. Sedgwick: + +“Do you recognize that? It is from your table, and--and--it is not the +only piece I had hidden in my pockets. I had not eaten in twenty-four +hours when I sat down to dinner this evening. I had no prospect of +another morsel for to-morrow and--and--I was afraid of eating my +fill--there were ladies--and so--and so--” + +They did not let him finish. In a flash they had both taken in the +room. Not an article which could be spared was anywhere visible. His +dress-suit was all that remained to him of former ease and luxury. That +he had retained, possibly for just such opportunities as had given +him a dinner to-night. Mr. Blake understood at last, and his iron lip +trembled. + +“Have you no friends?” he asked. “Was it necessary to go hungry?” + +“Could I ask alms or borrow what I could not pay? It was a position +I was after, and positions do not come at call. Sometimes they come +without it,” he smiled with the dawning of his old-time grace on his +handsome face, “but I find that one can see his resources go, dollar +by dollar, and finally, cent by cent, in the search for employment no +one considers necessary to a man like me. Perhaps if I had had less +pride, had been willing to take you or any one else into my confidence, +I might not have sunk to these depths of humiliation; but I had not the +confidence in men which this last half hour has given me, and I went +blundering on, hiding my needs and hoping against hope for some sort +of result to my efforts. This pistol is not mine. I did borrow this, +but I did not mean to use it, unless nature reached the point where it +could stand no more. I thought the time had come to-night when I left +your house, Mr. Sedgwick, suspected of theft. It seemed the last straw; +but--but--a woman’s look has held me back. I hesitated and--now you +know the whole,” said he; “that is, if you can understand why it was +more possible for me to brave the contumely of such a suspicion than to +open my pockets and disclose the crusts I had hidden there.” + +“I can understand,” said Mr. Sedgwick; “but the opportunity you have +given us for doing so must not be shared by others. We will undertake +your justification, but it must be made in our own way and after the +most careful consideration; eh, Mr. Blake?” + +“Most assuredly; and if Mr. Clifford will present himself at my office +early in the morning, we will first breakfast and then talk business.” + +Young Clifford could only hold out his hand, but when, his two friends +gone, he sat in contemplation of his changed prospects, one word and +one only left his lips, uttered in every inflection of tenderness, +hope, and joy. “Edith! Edith! Edith!” + +It was the name of the sweet young girl who had shown her faith in him +at the moment when his heart was lowest and despair at its culmination. + + + + + Transcriber's Notes: + + Italics are shown thus: _sloping_. + + Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained. + + Perceived typographical errors have been changed. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78750 *** |