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 More maxreloius than the pov?er of the Magician's Wand, is the pover that
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( AMORC)
SAN JOSE, Addn
CALIFORNIA
W.T.— 145
 Pablisbed monthly by the Fopnlar Fiction Fnbliehins Company* 8467 B. Washinsrton Street*
Indianapolis, Ind. Bntered as second-class matter March 29. 1928. at the post office at Indianapolis*
Ind., under the act of March 8* 1879. Sinsle copies. 26 cents. Subscription* $2.50 a year in the
United States, $4.00 a year in Canada. EnsrHsh office; Charles Layell, 18* Serjeant's Inn* Fleet
Street* B, O. 4 X*ondon. The pul^ishers are not responsible for the loss of unsoIMted maousciipts*
although every care will be taken of sneh material white in their possession. The contents ot Uiis
masazine arc fully protected by copyrifirht and must not be reproduced either wholly or in x>art
without permission from the publishers.
NOTE—All manuscripts and commnnioatlons should be addressed to the publishers* Chicago
office at 840 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. 111.
FARNSWORTH WRIGHT, Editor.

Copyright 1032, by the Popular Fiction Publl^lng Company.

Contents for August, 1 932

Cover Design T. Wyatt Nelson

Illustrating a scene in "The Bride «f the Peacock"

The Eyrie 148

A chat with the readers

The Bride of the Peacock E. Hoffmann Price 152

A tale of devil-worship and the ghastly rhythms wherewith Abdul Mataak
sought to accomplish bis evil will

The Lair of the Star-Spawn August Derleth & Mark Schorer 184
The story of a dread menace to mankind, and a hideous city on the long-lost
Plateau of Sung

[CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE]

146 OOPYRIQHTm XN GBEAT BBITAIN

 [(x>NTmx7BD VBtm twmaomQ page]

The Maker of Gargoyles — dark

hoted upon a mediaeml Pfenei
Ashtos Sautfa 1S>8
Tit tfP*y «i 4 nigitmtTt b«rwt vilhtft by
Blaise Reytsiml tie stoete-ntter

A Jifidoight Confession J,
Paul Sitter 208
At Htteily different ghost story —a teeitd simmons that tame from tie death
cell ht the big prison

Arkham Robert E. Howard 217

Verse

The Dork Angel

A poumful story
— Seabury Quinn
aysteriofu deatht, and the marks of a gsgantic goat's-
218

hoof found on the brows of the victims ,

Tlie Haunted Room Cristel Hastings 24J

Verse

The Phantom Hand (part 2) Victor Rousseau 244

An astounding five-part novel of Black Magic, eery murders, and the king-
dom of shadows

No Eye-Witnesses Henry S. Whitehead 259

Everard Simon had a weird experience in Plathush vjhen his shoes were
raked with blood and forest mold

Old Clothes * John D. Whiting 265

> A short, strange tale about an old inventor who learned the truth about life
from his marvelous radio receiver

The Ardafiend’s Fingers Kirk Mashbom 267

John Po wers blundered into a weird adventure during the Mardi Gras tar-
nivai in New Orleans

Pirate’s Hoard Alfred I. Tooke 270

Verse

Weird Story Reprint:

Frankenstein (part 4) Maty WoUstonecraft Shelly 272

A famous novel
that for more than a century has been acclaimed a master-
piece of weird horror

Toe AdTCitiKbur Kates in WEIRD TAl^S Apply Direct to

WEIRD TALES
Western Advertlsini- Offlee: Central Ac'Tertislns Office: Elastem Advertising Offleet
MORAIAN C. NODBSB: HAJctLBY li. WAUDs INC. D. P. KIKBR, Mgr.
1031 8. Broadwair 300 V. Miohtgan Ave. 303 Ponrth Atq.
IdOS Anfreles, C^if. Chicaq;Oy HI. New York, N. Y.
Plume, C«^r»l 6260 Phone, Omnkercy 5380

t47
 ETTERS are still pouring in to the Eyrie about the reprinting of serials in Weird

I Tales. Frankenstein is liked by most of you who write in, but we have decided
.

not to run Dracula when Frankenstein is ended, because too many of you
have already read Bram Stoker’s great vampire novel. Those of you who suggest that
we drop the reprint department entirely are so far only a small minority; but many
of you think we should abandon the policy of using serials in the Weird Story Re-
print department, a policy which we began last year by printing Alexandre Dumas’
interesting werewolf novel, Fhe Wolf-Leader. But the question is still open as to
whether we shall reprint some of tlie lesser known weird novels. Let us hear from
you on this question.
"I wish to make a plea for the small town readers, of which I am one,” writes
Donald Allgeier, of Mountain Grove, Missouri. "I am sure that there are many read-
ers of your wonderful magazine who can not get Dracula or Frankenstein an)rwhere.
For instance, in my home town we have a public library whidi opens twice a week.
New books are a rarity, and to find the book you want you must search all the shelves,
and probably diere is no copy of it there. I would probably faint if I found any
weird novels there. And as for book stores, there are no such things here. One per-
son here had a copy of Dracula, and as soon as this became known every one wanted
to borrow it I was surprized to see the number of protests against your reprinting
Dracula. 'Oh certainly, every one can get this novel at the library or the book store,’
tiiey say. But those who protest certainly do not live in small towns.”

Ralph Slater, of Hobart, Oklahoma, writes to the %rie: "I am heartily in favor
of your reprinting Dracula, Frankenstein and other weird classics in Weird Tales.
Your magazine contains enough material exclusive of the reprints to satisfy the read-
ers that have already read them, and the reprints will make permanent friends of the
readers that have not read them.”
A letter from Richard Tooker, of Bismarck, North Dakota, says: "The current
'
issue of Weird Tales makes it necessary for even the jaded reader to remaris that
tfiere is something new under the sun. The vampire story is a peach, and Franken-
stein is unbeatable. I urge the publication of Dracula and all the rest of the old mas-
terpieces.”

"Please do not publish serial reprints, especially Dracula," writes Harold Hay-
worth, of Lynch, Kentudcy. "It is most effective when read all in one night. I would
(Please turn to page 150)^
iMt
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150 WEIRD TALES
(Cpnrimed from page 14%)
ISce to see Andreyeff’s tasums and Merritt's The Woman of the Wood in your xeprtirt
section. Lazarus is, in my opinion, the greatest weird taie ever written.” [We haw
already printed Lazarus in our Wdrd Story Reprint department. —The Editors.]
Writes Robert C Sandisoo, of Denver: “My vote is emphatically for reprints, biri

personally I rather favor Tories over novels. Prrmhenstein, for instance, drags ter>
ribly, and so does Dracula. But on the other hand. The Wolf-Leader was a pippin.
If all serials could be like that, I don’t see how anyone could object. So many of die
very old stories, thou^, seem rather ludicrous nowadays. There is Poe’s story,
Berenice. After reading the adventures of de Grandin, I, for one, was more incOsod
to lau^ than to shudder at the idea of a maniac digging up a body, even diough
a living one, and pulling all die teeth out of it What I actually did was yawn.”
Frederick John Walsen, of Denver, writes to die Eyrie: "I have ever been an
ardent reader of your unsurpassable magazine, and have been delighted with every
issue. It is a real joy to read the stories, as dwy ate most certainly the best of weird

fiction. The best story that you have ever publidied was one by Robert E. Howard,

a fine audior, called Kings of the Night. The current issue of Weird Tales is the
finest yet. There were three outstanding stories therein, namely, The Brotherhood of
Blood by Hugh B. Cave, The Last Magician by David H. Keller, and The Nameless
Mammy by Arlton Eadie. Of these three, perhaps the best was The Last Magician.’'
Harold Dunbar, of Chadiam, Massachusetts, writes to the Eyrie: “I found it ex-
ceedingly difiicult to select between The Ghoul Gallery and The Brain-Eaters for
ranking place in the June issue. After long thought, I feel that the h<mor should go

to the Hugh B. Cave story for its vivid descriptive passages and masterful climax.
This author has a fine rolling style and a depth which few writers of weird fiction
can rival. His Brotherhood of Blood in die May issue (which went into my file of
stories worth saving) was outstanding for human interest and brilliant color, and
now the author has shown remarkable versatility in presenting a grim and diuddeiy
type of horror with equal effectiveness. I hope we nuy have more of Mr. Cave. The
Brain-Baters, by Frank Bedmap Long, Jr., easily takes second place, and Seabury
Quinn’s serial Aird. Hie final paragraph of dark Ashton Smith’s little story, The
Weird of Avoosl Wutboqquan, should be classed among the few great dimaxes of
all time.”
"Please accept this as another vote against reprinting the book Dracula,” writes
Ernest H. Ormsbee, of Albany, New York. "I have a copy of Dracula in my library,
and each of my friends who read weird stories has one. The public library reading
rooms have copies; so it does not seem as though there would be many readers of this
type of fiction who are unfamiliar with this great story. But I will second the request
of a recent reader who asks that some other story by Bram Stoker be substituted.”
“I am delighted to see Hugji B. Cave’s name in Weird Tales,” writes Doctor
Frank L. Mead, of Medford, Massachusetts. "I never read the magazine before and
was surprized at the array of talent. I have been reading Cave’s stories since they
first appeared in ’Classmate’ some years ago. His stories get one, if you see what I

mean. Give The Brotherhood of Blood a vote for me and put The Ghoul Gallery
down as even better.”
(Please turn to page 271
 APPLING-
MYSTERY
TORIES
GIVEN
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HERE THEY ARE
I The TftUey of Miseingr Men—
.
R how Experlenee Smith, master detective, solved the
—
baffling mystery of **Disappeariotf Bullets’* a swift-action
story wi^ dramatic situations. Each one an exciting de-
'

tective story. These novels formerly sold for the regular prioe
Head how Parkinson dt8COTl^fed of $1.00 per set. Now, for a limited time only, we are giving
—
this baffiins mystery a story pul- them away absolutely free with a year’s subscription to
satinsr with bair<^al8ins inoidents. OaiENTAL Stories, the latest magazine of billing myriery ad-
. Raff—A cub reporter and a venture stories.
death mystery —
a story that
works up to a crashing otlmax.
3. The Triangle of Terror —A SPECIAL INTROOUCTORT OFFER
goosefleah story that wtll send OsiBJtTAL Stories fs rapidly growing in circulation because of
the cold shivers up your spine. its fascinating stories of the East, The Orient makes a roman-
4. Crimson PopiriM— Dr. Howes tic appe^ to the imagination that no other part of the world can
evolvoB a flendish plot to inherit equal. The inscmtable mystery of Tibet, the veiled allure of
the wealth of a luhatlo million^ Oriental harems, the charge of fierce Arab tribesmen, the
aire.
. The Sign of tile Toad An — singing of almond-eyed maidens under a Japanese moon, the
whlriing of dervishes, the barbaric splendor of mediaeval sul-
eerie detective story, full of ex-
citing situations and znjrsterious —
tans, the ageless life of Egypt from all these the story^writers
deatba weave charms to shut out the humdrum world of everyday life,
6. The Mystery at BagleLodge and transport the reader into a fairyland of imagination, but
Soul-gripping, fascinating, tensoi a f^iriand that exists In its full reality in Asia. Simply send
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7. The Web—This tale threads
the sinister net that was tom A $2.00 value for $1.00. You receive the
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Blake. of charge. The supply of novels Is limited, so
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 of the Peacock
By E. HOFFMANN PRICE
A powtrful toeird HOvele$te of devil-worship and the hellish underground
fastnesses where Abdul Mdaak and his crew concoct
their ghastly rhythms

ADEMOISELLE,” said Pierre And somehow I felt that it was Bienne

d’ Artois after a oaoment’s re- who called me. You know. Monsieur
flection, "there is really no rea- d’ Artois, I was very fond of Etienne, and
son for your being alarmed at repeatedly living in that house he gave me, it was
dreaming that you are opening a grave. only natural that I’d have him on my
After all, a dream mind.”
"Monsieur" she demanded, "does one "When,” queried Pierre, "did Etienne
in a dream break one’s finger nails? Just give you that house on Rue Lachepaillet?"
look!” "It’s two years ago.
over Several
She thrust her hands, fingers extended, months after he disappeared, I received a
squarely before our eyes. The nails were letter from him, from Marrakesh, saying

ragged and broken, and beneath them that he was seriously wounded, and that if
was a distinct trace of verdigris. he died, he wanted me to live in his house
"I left them just as they were this on Rue Lachepaillet. Then, a month or
morning, verdigris and all, to show you so later, I learned tfiat he was dead. Just
how r ve been pawing at that door again. a clipping from a paper in Marrakesh
My new slippers and gown were tom, and a French newspaper, you imderstand
soiled with green mold from kneeling and a note in Arabic, which I had Doctor
before it. It’s driving me mad!” Delaronde translate. It confirmed flie

In her eyes was a terrible, haunted look words

clipping, saying that Etienne’s last
that made them a starless, somber mid- had been that he wanted me to have his
night. house in Bayonne and the personal effects
Pierre d’ Artois studied first the slim in it.

white fingers with their marred nails, and "So,” she continued, "living in that leg-
then the dark, surpassing loveliness of acy, and missing him terribly, I would
Diane Livaudais. easily dream of him, and woke with the
"But where do you walk?” asked d’ Ar- sense of having heard his voice. I felt his
tois. presence, as though he were seeking to
She shrugged her faultless shoulders, speak some final thought that his friend
and made a despairing gesture of the had not included in that scrap of Arabic
hand. script.”
"If I only knew! But I don’t. First "By the way,” said Pierre, "have you
there was some one talking to me in my those bits of paper?”
sleep. Though I couldn’t ever recollect, And then, as Mademoiselle Livaudais
exactly, what the voice said to me, I took them from her handbag, d’ Artois
always had the impression when I awoke continued, '"Ilie voice became more in-
that there was a grave that I was to open. sistent?”
122
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 133

'VitTft^s hlad* pro^ecud a foot beyond hh

opponent’s hack."

“Yes. Thou^ it wasn’t really a voice. I loved him. But this is relentless, inhu-
I would awake with the feeling that scrnie man. Yet I sense Etienne in it.

one had given an order. An overpower- "And . .

.” She again extended her
ing will forcing me to some vague task I fingers, '"niis proves that just last ni^t
couldn’t quite remember except for some- I was trying to open the door of a vault.
how associating it always with a grave. A As on so many other nights. Gown tat-

task I couldn’t accomplish and couldn’t tered. Verdigris under

Slippers soiled.
evade.” my nails.I’m weary. Weary to deatfi.”
“And always Etienne’s presence?” "You should have seen me sooner.”
“Yes and no,” she answered. "I don’t "It was so outrageous. So I kept it to
know. An oppressing confusion. A dom- myself. But now I want you to find out
inant, crushing will. Not like Etienne at where I am going, and why, before I lose
all. He was domineering —you may have my mind entirely.”
known him —but not in that remorseless Pierre rose and from a drawer in his
way. He loved me. Almost as much as desk took a tiny vial, a part of whose
154 WEIRD TALES
amber-colored contents he poured into a Pierre leaned forward. His long fin-

small, stemmed glass. gers gripped the carved arms of his chair.
"Drink,” he suggested. "It is a sed- Perspiration aopped out on his brow, now
ative. It will make you relax. You must cleft with a saber-slash of a frown. Diane
relax. Look me full in the eye . . . bet- stirred uneasily, made a gestiure of pro-
ter yet, look intently at the ring on my test.

finger . . . then think of nothing at "You will speak and tell me. I com-
.”
all. . . mand and you must obey!” he said sol-
I noted then that Pierre had seated his emnly and deeply as the chanted ritual
visitor so that she faced a strong, glaring of a high priest.
light.
I myself was ready to leap or yell from
"You are weary from trying to remem- the terrific tension that moment by mo-
ber. . . . Cease trying, and it will come ment had been becoming mote and more
to you. .
I sensed a Power that was ham-
,
acute.
Pierre's voice was droning monot- mering at Pierre through Diane’s resist-
onously.
ance.
"Don’t try to remember . . . you are
Then Pierre prevailed. 'The tension
weary . , .weary weary of try-
. . .
eased. She spoke in painfully clear-cut,
ing . . . think of nothing noth- . . .
mechanical syllables: and in Persian! Not
ing . . . nothing at all,” he persisted in
the colloquial Persian of which I knew a
soporific accents.
smattering, but the rich language of the

H er eyes were staring fixedly at the

stone that flamed and pulsed daz-
zlingly on Pierre’s hand. I’d never known
old days.
"Now, answer,” demanded
you have been answering.”
Pierre, "as

Pierre to wear a diamond of any kind, "Etienne,” she began in French, but
much less that obtrusive, massive clot of as mechanical as before, "I can’t find the
fire. spring. But I’ll return tomorrow ni^t
Her lips half parted, and her breath and try again ... I can’t understand
came very slowly and rhythmically in ca- what you are saying the drums are
. . .

dence to Pierre’s measured, purring sylla- too loud, and tiiey don’t want me to un-
bles. derstand. ...”
She was in a trante, induced by a drop Etienne, Marquis de la Tour de Ma-
of a hypnotic, and Pierre’s compelling racq, not dead in far-oflF Morocco, in some
will. obscure tomb beyond the red walls of
Again he spoke, still with that murmur- Marrakesh, but buried in one of the
ing monotony. honeycomb the foundations of
crypts that

"You are sleeping . . . soundly . . .

Bayonne. And she spent her nights an-
deeply ... so deeply that you won’t swering him, and seeking him.
waken until I call you. ... Do you un- "But it couldn’t be. 'The dead don’t
derstand.^” chant from their graves. It must be the
"Yes,” she murmured, "I won’t awak- hysteria of a woman mourning a dead
en .. . until . . .
you calL” lover,” I insisted to myself as I heard
Then Pierre spoke in a voice of com- those outrageous words.
mand. And then I looked at Pierre. My in-
“It is now last night. 'The voice is sistence mocked me. He trembled vi-
speaking. Repeat it to me!” olently. His lips moved soundlessly, and
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 155

be He w«s exerting his sian, ehfaer to your ear or to your mind at

wpretne effort; hut not anotlier word some time.
OHild he drag from Dime. Pierre was "Tell me, did y<w ever hear this, m any
heaten to a standrtill. language?”
He relaxed, and sighed deqily. And Pierre recited:
"Never to be too much damned rev- '‘When 1 «m dead, open iny grave and see

enant, I willmeet you face to face, and The smoke that auls about thy teeti
In my dead hean the fire still burns for thee:
you wHI speak to me!" he exclaimed. Yea, the smoke rises from my winding sheet.”
He smiled that grim, cold smile I once Diane shuddered.
saw on his face as he crossed blades one "Beautiful. But ghastly!”
unforgotten night with one who on that As for me, I had heard and often ad-
night ceased to be the roost deadly swords- mired that macabre Persian conceit. Yet
man in France. this time an evil lurked in the amorous
Pierre struck his hands sharply together. fancy that Hafiz chanted to some girl in a
"Enough! Awaken!” he ordered. garden of Shiraz nine hundred years ago.
And, as Diane started, and blinked, and "And you replied, ‘I can’t find 3ie
spring.’ You said that the drums kept you
kx)ked confusedly about her: "Tell me,
mademoiselle, do you understand Per- from understanding. You did well to
Sian?
come to me. I will fight this to a finish,
i/s or mine.”
"Of course not,” replied Diane. "But
"Do you really think it’s Etienne calling
why?”
from his grave?”
"You spoke Persian when I asked you
’’ Diane asked this question in a hesitant
to repeat
voice, abashed at her outlandish query.
"Oh, did I say anything?”
"Mademoiselle,” replied Pierre, "I am
"Mats, certainement! I commanded, an old man, and am none
I too positive
and you spoke. And half the population
iffiout the impossibility of anything. Yet
of hell’s back yard fought to break my con- if he is speaking from Satan's throne
trol. But you spoke. Listen!”
room, I him and silence him, for
will find
Pierre repeated Diane’s words.
no honest lover would haunt you Ais
"Did 7 say that?” she demanded inaed- way.”
ulously.
Pietre rang for his man, Raoul.
"Indeed you did, mademoiselle,” I as-
"My good friend, Landon, will join me
sured her. in this campaign. We will be your guard-
"Why, who ever heard of such a ians. Raoul will drive you home. And
thing?”
Ais evening we may see you, London
"J, for one,” affirmed Pierre. "An il- and I!”
literate servant girl, delirious from fever, Diane graciously offered her hand.
chanted ancient Hebraic, to the mystifica- "Monsieur d’ Artois, and you. Monsieur
tion of the doctors. It developed, finally, Landon, have restored my courage. I
that she had once lived with the family of feel ever so much better. And do call to-
a German and used to hear him
savant, night if you wish. A bientot!”
reciting Hebraic texts; and this was im- WiA a wave of her hand, and a smile
pressed upon her subconscious mind, for Ae moment free from Ae shadow of
which was released in her delirium. Ae grave, she followed Raoul to Ae Lssot-
"Similarly, some one has spoken Per- ta coupe.
156 WEIRD TALES
“piERRE," I said as the door clicked be- lover calls her to God knows what terrible
i hind Diane, "when she was in that festival among the dead. Or .Something
trance, you might have commanded her to impersonates the dead Marquis, for some
ignore the voice.” purpose beyond imagining, some linger-
"Not at all! That would be like put- ing trace of an ancient force that has come
ting a plaster cast over an ulcer. I must to life and strengthened itself through
rather find and exterminate the cause of feeding on her susceptible mind.
this outrageous thing that talks to her "And now please dispense with my
and makes her sleep a wandering night- company while I study various things.
mare. Never think that she told us more Notably this clipping, and this scrap of a
than a fraction of what she does and hears note.

and says in her sleep. Something fought "Those Partagas cigars are at your el-
me face to face as I commanded her to bow, and there is a decanter of Atma-
speak: and as she spoke, I suddenly lost gnac.”
control.” So saying, Pierre left me to my own re-
sources.
"The devil you say! I felt it my-
”
self. . , . Do you believe PROWLED about his study, peering at
"Anything is possible in Bayonne,” re- I the titles of books ranged row after
plied Pierre. "Anything may thunder and row on their shelves; scrutinizing the clus-
whisper from the ancient night of the pas- tered simitars, ripple-edged kreeses, keen
sages and labyrinths that undermine Ba- tulwars, and the sheaves of lances and as-
yonne. Bayonne was founded by the Ro- segais standing in a comer. And here and
mans, whose legionaries worshipped Mith- there were epees, with their bell guards
ra and Cybele in subterranean crypts. The and slim, three-cornered blades: each a
Saracens, the Spanish, the French, the Bear- trophy of some encounter of Pierre’s
nais have made
playground of
this the younger days, when the duel was not the
armies, and have enriched the earth with comic opera affair it is today.
dead. This is all soil well raked over, and Raoul entered, presented Pierre’s com-
alive with strange seeds. Apostate priests pliments, and left a tray of cold meats,
have chanted the terrible foulness of the cheese, and a bottle of thin, dry wine.
Black Mass, and mediasval necromancers Strange, how a fellow that keeps such ex-
and thaumaturgists have pursued their cellent brandy would have such terrible
crafts in those unremembered red pas- sour wine! But it wasn’t so bad . . .

sages and vaults. and neither was Bayonne with a . . .

"Sometimes the Church hounded them quietmonth or so the most of which was
to the surface, and roasted them at the to be devoted to acting as Pierre’s second
stake, good and evil alike: but more re- in fencing with a dead marquis who de-
mained intaa than ever were unearthed. claimed the Diwan Hafe from his
of
"I myself once saw a vault opened up grave in Marrakesh. But I didn’t blame
when builders excavated for the founda- the marquis. That girl would make any
”
tion of a house, many years ago one turn over in his grave!
Pierre shuddered. And then Pierre reappeared.
"It is not so much what I saw as the in- "I see that you have survived those
ferences I was compelled to draw. Now sandwiches ^ I’ americain whidi Raoul
from beliind some brazen gate a Presence constmeted. Good! But I have a task for
commands Diane to enter. Her dead you.”
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 157

"Lead on,” I replied. "By no means, I am here merely to

"Alors, my good Raoul will drive you follow you if you wander tonight.”
to Mademoiselle Diane’s house, whet© you "Splendid. Then I shall bid you good-
will take your post at the door of her bed-
night. Surely you’ 11 forgive my being such
room. You will stand watch, and if she an anything but gracious hostess? You
walks in her sleep, follow her, even to the know, it’s been a trying day. ’There on
fuming hinges of hell’s bade door, but by the table is a decanter of Grenache, and
no means wake her. And here,” he con- cigarettes.”
tinued, "is a pistol and a dip of cartridges,
"Perhaps you might show me the
and a flashlight.”
switches that control the lights,” I sug-
I thrust the Luger into my hip-pocket,
gested. "I prefer to watch in the dark,
tested the flashlight and found it in good
but I may need light in a hurry,”
order.
"It seems,” I commented, "that we ate
After showing me the switch. Made-

not dealing entirely with dead men mut- moiselle Livaudais Sade me good-night.
I selected the most imcomfortable chair
tering in their graves.”
"From what I learned
— — possibly I
in the living-room; not such a difficult
task, with that array of somber teak,
should say, inferred ^while you were ab-
carved by artizans who, since they sat
sorbing the most of that decanter of Ar-
magnac,” replied Pierre, "there is some- cross-legged on the floor, had no con-
ception of comfort as applied to chairs
thing in what you say. In the meanwhile,
keep your mind strialy on your work, and
and set it near the bedroom door. Then
do not be too free with that pistol. I will I took a length of heavy thread Td
brought for that purpose, and tied one end
be on hand later to relieve you, and I pre-
of it to the door-knob and the other to a
fer not to have you riddle me in error.”
heavy bronze ash-tray which I set on a
"Shall we leave the door open?”
chair at the other side of the door. ’Thus
"No,” answered Pierre, "I have a most
if she opened the door, and caugfit “le
accomplished pass key. A
tantdt!”
napping, die fall of the ash-tray would
And Pierre returned to his holy of ho-
arouse me. !^ot that I expected to doze;
lies to answer the telephone as I followed
but rather th^ I didn’t want to take any
Raoul to the Isotta.
chances.
“Tt^ONSiEUR LANDON," greeted the I settled dowR to watch. It wasn’t like
i-VA lovely Livaudais as she admitted military sentry duty, where a moment of
me, "you don’t know how relieved I am drowsiness might cost the lives of an en-
diat Monsieur d’ Artois has taken things in tire outpost. 'There was nothing to do
hand. But what is he doing this eve- but sit there in that exquisitely carved teak
ning?” strait jacket, with my reflections for com-
"Lord alone knows, beyond busily pany.
studying that clipping and that note from And I wasn’t the least bit drowsy. My
the marquis’ unknown friend in Morocco. mission effectively prevented that. I won-
And his telephone rang continually. He’s dered if the dead marquis materialized
hot on the trail of something, or he and led her to a hidden panel, or called
wouldn’t have sent me to stand guard at from the street, or tapped on her window-
your door tonight.” pane. The whole thing was outrageous:
"Good God! Am I then in such dan- so much so that the marquis murmuring in
ger?” his grave occupied a much smaller place
198 WEIRD TALES
in nay dioughte than ttiis exceedingly love- armed as an. ape. But 1 eluded hb chitdi,
ly Diane. and drove a fast one to hb jaw that sent
In fact, I began to think with decided him reeling back into the daiicness. It

disapproval of the nurquis; although, to ^ook him. It should have laid him out
be honest about it, he was handics^ped, in cold. But he came back for more.
a way. As he recovered and closed in, a fredi
And thus and thus. . . . poniard in hand, I drew my pistol and
Then I wondered at the sweetness that fired.

subtly pervaded the room. Strange I I saw him sag in the middle and crum-
hadn't noticed it before. 'Well, those Par- ple, riddled by that hail of lead at close

tagas cigars of Pierre’s had been heavy range; saw another shape emerge from the
enough to dull my sense of smell for a darkness at my
But before I could
left.

while. Certainly I’d not notice that del- shift my fire, there was a heavy impact

icate perfume.
Like the ghost of incense. behind my ear: and tfien I saw nothing
The very ashes of an odor. at all save abysmal blackness shot with
livid streaks and dazzling flashes.
I'm sure I wasn’t asleep, and haxln’t
been even for a moment of that watch. "Where’s Pierre?’’ was my last diought
And yet as I look back at it all, I couldn’t as I met the floor, still clutching the pistol.
have been awake.
Something was emerging from the don't know how long I was out. My
darkness of Diane’s living-room. I sat I head was spinning crazily as I opened
there, contemplating the ma- shadow that my eyes and saw Pierre regarding me with
terialized from the shadows, as though of mingled solicitude and amusement.
all things in the world there was oodiiog "So,” he railed, "I leave you on guard
more commcmplace than that the black- and here I find you, flat on your face.
ness should coalesce into a shape. No matter! Your stout skul! seems none
I regarded with mild curiosity the sil- the worse.
very gleam that deliberately drew closer. "But what happened to the corpse?”
I wondered what mummery was in prog- •queried d’Artob, as I clambered to lOf
ress. feet and dropped into a chair.
It might of course be a knife. Perhaps "What corpse?”
I should really shift a bit to one side, or He indicated the pistol lying on the
else would pin me to the back of my
it floor where it had slipped from my fin-
chair. It came nearer. . . . gers when my grip had relaxed, and
Hien something within me snapped. I pointed at the empty cartridge-cases glit-
knew that I had been sleeping, with my tering on the rug.
eyes open and fully conscious. With a "Some one . how would you say
. .

terrific start I moved, just in time to evade it? . . . was polished off. You never
the stroke. miss.”
The intruder instinctively sought for an Flattering, but true.
instant to wrench his dagger free from the 'That dark splash that stained the pol-
unyielding hardwood which held it fast: ished hardwood fl(X)r at the edge of the
so that had him well by the throat before
I rug did indicate some one seriously rid-
he abandoned his weapon and met me dled.
hand to hand. It all came back to me.
He was lean as a serpent and long- ’"rhey crept up on me. I was asleep
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 159

with my eyes open. I came to in the nick "Through the floor or the wall, per-
of time. And number two slugged me haps,” I hinted.
just as I accounted for number one.” D’ Artois tock me at my word. On
I wrenched the poniard from the chair. hands and knees he explored the floor
"Lucky I snapped out of it/’ I con- and the tiled hearth, poking and thrusting
tinued. "Good Lord, but I can’t under- about with the blade of his penknife, sedc-
stand how I watched that fellow slip up ing for some trace of a catch or spring
0*1 me without my moving until it was whidi would release a trap-d(X)r or sliding
almost too late. wonder
I if it could panel. And then he devoted his attention
” to the paneled walls;
have been that perfume but in vain. If

"What perfume.^” queried Pierre.

there was any secret exit, secret indeed it

was.
I sniffed, twice, thrice.
But Pierre was by no means discour-
"Be damned, Pierre, but it’s gone.
aged.
'That must have been it.”
"Let this rest for the moment,” he di-
But d’ Artois was looking at the pon-
rected, "and we will search the rest of the
iard, and had nothing to say about van-
apartment.”
ished doors.
"But,” I protested, "that isn’t finding
"Mais regardez done! Here! Take the Diane.”
slant!” "Finding Diane,” he replied, "may not
He pointed at the inlay in delicate be the most important thing at present.
hair-lines of pale gold that decorated the She has been carrying on her nocturnal
slim, curved blade. wanderings for some time, and from each
"Very pretty job of inlaying,” I ad- trip she has returned. It is likely that she
mitted. "Never saw a peacock more will return this time also,”
beautifully drawn.”
"How about trailing those assassins tfiat
"Imbecile!” fumed Pierre. "So it’s me off?”
nearly polished
only a pretty bit of engraving to you, this "Eminently sensible,” admitted d’ Ar-
peacock! But it’s a wonder Mademoiselle tois. "If we could follow them the trail
Diane hasn’t been disturibed with aH the would doubtless lead to the source of the
rioting and shooting. Could she have deviltry. Your letting moonlight through
walked out before our very eyes?” one of them must have been most discon-
"No. Look at that string knotted to certing. Look! 'They left through the
the door-knob and the ash-tray. It’s not d(X)r, and none too deliberately.”
been disturbed. She’s still asleep.” Pierre pointed at the trail of blood, and
"Nevertheless, I must look.” a footprint on the hardwood floor.
Pierre opened the dexjr.
"But this will have to be investigated by
"Death and damnation! She’s gone!” daylight,” he continued. "And that would
he exclaimed. "Walked right out before advertise our moves to the enemy. Fin-
your eyes!” ally, I suspect that the trail would be lost
Gone she was. Not through the door very soon after it is picked up in the street.
Ihad watched. And not through the win- Let us rather inspect this house of the
dows, between whose bars nothing larger dead marquis.”
than a cat could have crept.” And while Pierre did the serious in-
"No, and not up the chimney,” an- specting, I prowled about, admiring the
nounced Pierre. ’"Iten where?” antique Feraghan carpet that shimmered
l£0 WEIRD TALES
silidly (Older my the floor lanrp of
feet, dreamlessly while bis viceroy rules at
saw-pierced damascene btasswork, the seemeth good to him"
oddly carved teak statuettes from Tibet, "Odd enough, ” I admitted, "but what
curious bits of jade and lacquer: and on of it? Except that the evening is super-
the mantel was a silver peacock with out- abundant with peacocks. First they tty to
spread fan.
ream me out with a blade inlaid wi^ a
“Look}” exclaimed Kerte, intemqi- peacock; and then I stand here, admir-
ting my contemplatioo of the rare and ing the silver image of a peacock on the
strange adornments of the room. “Be- mantel, and now you read me of Malik
Iwld! Unusual, n‘est-€e pas?"^ Tawus. Say, now, was that maltk or
1 tocdc the book he offered me, thumbed malaak?"
its pages.
"Malik," replied Pierre. "Although he
"What’s so unusual about that? Looks has been called Maiaak as welL”
like Arabic or Persian. . . . Good God,
"And you end,” I resumed, "by favor-
Pierre, it’s bound . . . damned if it isn’t!
ing me with a rich passage about ffie
Human skin!”
King, Lord, or Angel Peacock, according
"I saw that also. But I referred to the
as the scribe splashed his reed or the tra-
tide.” ”
dition garbled the story
’’But that’s the back cover.”
"I heard something in her room,” Pi-
"Que voulez'vous? Where would you
erre interrupted.
have it in such a language? But look at the
title itself.”
And Pierre, who had preceded me,
’’You forget that I can’t read this
halted and whirled to face me at Diane’s
door.
scratching,” I reminded Pierre. “Try it

yourself.” "She has returned. While we babbled

^Pardon! Wdl then, it is entitled, of black books.”
Kitab ul Aswad," "Impossible!”
"Of course. Tlie Black Bode. Man- "Then take a look,” challenged Pierre.
ifestly appropriate. Tide matches the I looked, and I saw.
color of Ae cover. Now this one,” I con-
Diane lay curled up in her great can-
tinued, indicating a red-bound American opied bed, sound asleep. On her feet
best seller, "should be called Kitab ul were satin boudoir slippers, tom and
Ahhmary scarred and soiled.
"Idiot!” growled Pierre. "Have you
"She went, and she returned, before
ever heard of THE Black Book?”
our eyes.”
And to forestall any further irrelevant
replies, Pierre opened the book and read
And then Diane spoke: but not to us.

aloud in sonorous Arabic: "I found the spring, Etienne. But I

“Which is to say,” he translated, know- couldn’t move the panel. I’ll return to-
morrow night. . .
.”
ing that the old, literary Arabic is too
much for any but a scholar, "God created "Gewd Lord, it’s got her!”

of fire seven bright spirits, even as a man “Don’t wake her,” commanded Pierre.
one after the other: and
lights seven tapers “Let her sleep. We’ve been outman-
the chief of these was Malik Tawus, to euvered. Alors, we will retire in confu-
whom he gave the dominion of the world sion, get ourselves some sleep, and tomor-
and all that therein is: so that God steeps row —we shall see what we shall see.”
W. T.—
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 161

A fteh a later breakfast, Pierre

t drove across the river

Guard’s Cemetery, turned back to town,

and I
to the Third
the Spring of

press upon you

St.

struments and the like?

L6cwi with surveyor’s in-

that they are by

And ne^ I
no means
im-

and then duou^ the Mousserole Gate, surveying, and that those instruments are
across the drawbridge, and into the hills. by no means transits and levels? Alors,
D’ Artois apparently was idling away his why need we pause and stare at those good
time; but having seen him open and smoke men?”
his way through the second pack of Bas- All of which suggested that Pierre
tos, which smelled no less of burning knew more about the goings on at the
rags than the first pack, I knew that he Spring of St L6on than he cared to pub-
was far from loa^g. Whenever we lic in the papers.
passed the obsolete gun emplacements, "Well, perhaps Vauban didn’t build
casemates, or lunettes in the surrounding the whole works,” I began, seeing that
hills, Pierre would slow up, stare a mo* surveyors had been definitely dismissed.
ment, refer to a sketch, mutter to himself, "I would imagine that we’d find the en-
and step on the gas again. trance somewhere near the ancient part of
"Vauban built that . . . and that also the city,not far from the cathedral. Pos-
”
was erected by Vauban . .
.” was the sibly near that fountain
sum of his comments. "Erected on the site of the castle of the
We were retracing our course. 'The Hastingues, taken by assault in the
bearded and mitered statue of Car-
jovial, Eleventh Century by the Bayonnais,”
dinal Lavigeriewelcomed us to Place de quoted Pierre mockingly from the guide
Th^tre. l^k.
"Doubtless we should pause for a I ignored the jibe, and continued,
drink.” "And to find it, we’ll have to cover the
‘The ants del oso is not so bad,” I sec- ground stone by stone.”
onded. But Pierre was taking no hints that af-
But in vain. ternoon.
Pierre drew away from the curb, and "Impossible!” he exclaimed. "It would
thence to the left, skirting the park that take weeks. And then we’d be too late.”
lies outside the walls and moat on the side "What do you mean, too late?”
toward the Biarritz road. Again to the "Very much what I say, mon vieux. In
”
left, turning our backs to Biarritz, we a word
headed into Porte d’Espagne and the old Pierre’s gesture was painfully expres-
guard house, driving across the causeway sive.
that at this point blocks the moat. "Well,” said I, "the whole thing sounds
"Vauban, it seems, built the whole like a Chinese dream. All of it.”

works,” I remarked. And then, "Hello! "Un reve cbinois, do you say? Com-
”
What’s this? Stop a moment ment? Was it a Mongolian vision that
But d’ Artois cleared the breach in the came so close to pinning you to the back
wall, utterly ignoring my desire to pause of your chair after you, an old campaigner,
and look. went to sleep with your eyes open an hour
And then he spoke: after taking your post? An Asiatic dream
"Jackass! Do
you fancy that I didn’t thatyou shot to ribbons when you awcke
see those several men roaming abcHit the from your unaccountable sleep? We
green between the edge of the moat and must work fast. And this time there shall
W. T.—
 162 WEIRD TALES
be no jugglery of taking her away and re- "Your servant,” began our visitor after
turning her under our very eyes.” a pause that was just long enough to be
"What do you propose?” bow, "doubtless an-
as impressive as his
"We will both stand watch in her nounced me as Nmreddin Zenghi, an emit
room.” from Kurdistan.”
"After what happened last night,” I He glanced sharply about him, stared
objected, "they may get both of us with at me for a moment, and found my pres-
some devil’s trick. Like that whiff of per- ence acceptable: all this while d’ Artois re-
fume.” turned the emir’s bow with one of equal
"I have considered that,” replied d’ Ar- profundity and rigidity.
tois. "And we will see. 'There was never "But in all fairness,” he continued,
a peacock hatched who can twice in the picking his words with just the suggestion
same way outwit Pierre d’ Artois. Nor is of an effort, "I must confess that I am
it likely that the enemy would repeat that somewhat more than an emir. 'The fact
same device. They have too many tricks.” ”
of it is that I am
He lowered his voice almost to a whis-

R aoul
admitted us.
"Monsieur,” he began, "a visitor
.

waiting for you in the study.”

is
per.
"I am the Keeper of the Sanctuary.”
"Ah Monseigneur le "
"Magnifque! And is she handsome?”
.
. .

"Mats, monsieur, he
D’ Artois paused to select a suitable
is a foreign dig-
title. Propriety above all else, was Pierre.
nitary. An emir.”
"Emir, if you must be formal. Mon-
"Then offer him a drink, and assure
sieur d’ Artois. Although I am incognito.
him that in but one moment I will have
Extremely so, in fact.”
the honor of greeting him.”
In Pierre’s study we found the guest, a
"A votre service, monsieur I’emir,”
acknowledged Pierre, and again bowed in
lean, wiry fellowwith a predatory nose
his inimitable fashion, which I endeav-
and the keen eye of a bird of prey. A
ored to duplicate as he presented me.
broad, seamed scar ran from his right eye
to the point of his chin; and another It is difficult to bow elegantly while
stretched diagonally across his forehead. seeking to keep a couple of fingers near
Strangely familiar mustaches fringed his the butt of a pistol in one’s hip pocket.
lip. And then I-remembered that during “As I said,” resumed our visitor, "I am
the past few days I had fancied seeing Keeper of the Sanctuary at Djeb el

foreign faces in Bayonne, where scarcely Ahhmar, in Kurdistan, the center of the

any face is Yet those were lean

foreign. Faith. Viceroy, so to speak, of Malik
and swarthy in a different manner, and Tawus.”
were set off with mustaches whose droop Peacocks, I thought, were becoming
and cut were decidedly outlandish. And monotonous. I thought of that dagger I

just this afternoon I intercepted a glance had barely escaped last night, and that
that was too casual to be convincingly book in Diane’s parlor.
casual. "Moreover,” continued the emir, "I am
'There was nothing after all remaricably a friend of France.”
strange about those fellows. Only 'The emir was impressive, but not ex-
well, they didn’t wear coat and trousers cessively coherent, I thought. But Pierre
with the manner of those bom to our was equal to waiting without committing
stupid costume. himself.
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 163

"All of whidi I appreoate and respect. ing, gifted woman, acceptable and ac-
But pray continue, my Lord Keeper.” cepted in the best circles: but in fact she
I wondered just what ax the emir will be no more than an automaton, her
wished to grind on the friendliness to every thought and word dictated by Ab-
France. dul Malaak, who sits in a solitarium be>-

"Therefore,” continued the emir, "I

hind the throne in the hall where the con-
clave meets.”
am here to sedc your aid in doing France
a signal service, and at the same time
"Ah .. indeed .
. most interest-
. .

overthrow a malignant impostor.” ing, monsieur rSmir,” replied d’ Artois.

"A pretender, I fancy, to the custody of
"And is it presumptuous to inquire as to

the nature of Abdul Malaak’s plans?”

the Sanctuary?” suggested Pierre, fencing
like the master swordsman that he was, "By no means,” assured the emir. "I
with word and steel alike.
am a friend of France.”
There was the stone. Now for the ax
"Precisely. And it will be very much
he wished to grind thereOn.
to your interest to help me. Monsieur
“Abdul Malaak has assembled a circle
d* Artois, Indeed, the welfare of your
of adepts in occult science,” explained the
'protegSe, Mademoiselle Diane Livaudais,
emir. "Some from Hindustan. Others
is closelylinked with my own success.”
from Tibet and High Asia. Many from
Pierre essayed a feint.
Kurdistan and Armenia, and Azerbaijan,
"You mean, monseigneur, that you will
the land of fire. And each a master in
lead me to the hidden vault where Made- the science of fundamental vibration.
moiselle Diane spends her nights seeking
"To give you example
a crude
to riiter the presence that asks her to open though to a mind like yours, an example
his grave?”

The emir’s brows rose in saracenic

is scarcely needed —
a company of troops
on foot marching in cadence can wreck a
arches. bridge. The note of a violin string which
'"ITiat is interesting, of course, but most is attuned to the fundamental vibration of
obscure,” evaded the emir. "In fact, I am a goblet will cause the goblet to shiver to
by no means certain that I understand fragments.”
what you have in mind. "Precisely,” agreed d’ Artois.
"But,” continued the emir, "this is "And going from the physical to the
what I have in mind: Abdul Malaak, man in a theater rise and
mental, let one
who came from Kurdistan three years ago shout 'Fire!’ there will be a panic.
—
to seize the local sanctuary ^yes, as you "Thus these adepts will concentrate in
sutely have learned from the events of the unison on whatever thought they wish to
past few days, the servants of Malik Ta- project: so that through the principle of
wus gather in conclave here in Bayonne resonance they will uncork the vast reser-
Abdul Malaak has succeeded in using his voir of hidden discontent with society, re-
occult science to gain control of the mind ligion and politics that exists in France as
and will of your protegee, Mademoiselle in every country, and in the end effect the
Livaudais. And when his control is com- overthrow of established rule.”
plete, he will use her as an outside agent "As in Russia,” I interposed.
to operate in his cause in France, as a "Exactly,” assented the emir. "You
spy, tmearthing information from various also are a person of rare comprehension.
prominent persons he will designate. She And, to bring us up to date, I was not
will to all intents and ptirposes be a diarm- amazed at what happened in Spain not
164 S)5TEIRD TALES

long ago to the Bourbons. And being a days had likewise made me wary of altru-
friend of France, I am here to seek your istic Kurds. I loosened my pistol.
aid in thwarting this powerful engine of D’ Artois caught the move from the
destruction. Single-handed, I would be side of his eye, and shrugged his shoul-
hopelessly outnumbered, for while I have ders negligently.
friends in the circle, they have been cor- "Start at Porte d’Espagne,” began the
rupted by Abdul Malaak and turned ”
emir, as he traced a line. "'Then
against me.” But he spoke no further.
Something flickered through the open
“T T ERY well, monsieur I’ emir, I am with
window the emir faced. He pitched for-
T you, heart and soul. But tell me, is
ward, clawing at his chest. I drew and
it true that the Marquis de la Tour de
fired, then leaped to the window, and
Maracq is dead?”
fired again, not with any hope of hitting
"Who says that he is dead?” countered
the figure that was disappearing around
the emir.
the first turn of the alley just as I pressed
"It has been written,” replied Pierre.
the trigger, but at least to give him my
"What is written may be history, or
blessing.
prophecy. Who can say?”
"Give me a hand,” said d’ Artois.
tore one for the emir. He didn’t
The hilt of a dagger projected from the
know whether Pierre was for or against
emir’s chest. He shuddered, coughed
the marquis. He was sure of Pierre’s in-
blood which joined the stain on his shirt-
terest in Diane, and in friends of France.
"May I ask —
and I trust again that I
front.

do not presume,” said Pierre, " why it — "Porte d’Espagne

great peril . . .
.

take
.

.
.

.
to the left
. many .
. .

.
.

.
is that you are so anxious to thwart Ab- ”
armed . . . men
dul Malaak’s plans? I mean, you com-
prehend, aside from your friendship for
He clutched the hilt of the dagger, tore
open the front of his shirt, and with a
France.”
final effort, snatched from about his throat
'"That is simple. Our cult is divided by
a thin golden chain from which depended
a schism. There are those who seek tem-
a tiny amulet: a silver peacock with tail
poral power, and those who care only for
peaceful spreading of the cult of Malik
fanned out and jewelled with emeralds.
Tawus, the Lord of the World. be- We Neither d’ Artois nor I could under-
lieve that He has no need of or desire for stand the utterance that was cut off by
political machinations in His behalf, and another gush of blood.
that in due course, the Lord of the Painted "Tout fni!” exclaimed Pierre. "He of-
Fan will Himself assume the throne of the fered us this when he knew he couldn’t
world, and exalt those who believe in give us even another scrap of information.

—
Him just as your early Qiristians said 'This glittering
admittance.”
fowl must be a token of
of the Nazarene.
"Nowbe pleased to give me a pencil "Draw the shades!” commanded d’ Ar-
and paper. I will msdce you a sketch.” tois. "And get away from that window.
The emir hitched his chair up to Pi- Likewise, stand guard until I return. On
erre’s desk. your life, admit no one. Not any one.”
was a bit too good to be true. I
'This "The police?” I suggested. "I fired
remembered that saying about Greeks two shots.”
bearing gifts. The events of the past two "I will handle the police. No one must
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 165

know that the Keeper of tiie Sanctuary is ’Then I wondered how Diane’s phan-
dead. As long as they are in doubt, we tom lover tied into the psychic-vibration
have a weapon against them: for they scheme of turning France upside down.
thought him important enough to kill him Now that I’d mulled over the felonious
before he could tell his story.” assaults and successful assassination, I
As d’ Artois dashed out, I barred the couldn’t help but have several thoughts
door after him. concerning this exceptionally lovely Diane.
The click-clack of the knocker startled
COULD hardly share Pierre’s optimism
me.
I about the police. Here we had a
"Qui vive?” I demanded.
stranger in the house, neatly harpooned
"It is I. Pierre,” came the reply.
with a knife. And what a story we’d have
"Enter, with your hands in the air.”
Some one tossed a dagger through
to tell!
But I recognized the voice, and re-
Ae open window just as the Keeper of turned my pistol.
the Sanctuary was to explain where Diane
"Eh bien, she is ’fixed. Monsieur le
wandered every night to claw at the door
Prefet was reasonable.”
of a vault whose occupant commanded her
"Do you mean that he swallowed that
to open his grave. Even an American
wild tale?”
jury would choke at a tale like that!
"Mm, certainement. Though there
I picked up one of the drab little things
was of course some talk of what in your
whiA in France pass as magazines, and
charming country one calls a lunacy com-
come across an article on the prevalence
mission; but in the end I prevailed.”
of murder in the United States.
"This is good,” I reflected. "Now here
in law-abiding Bayonne, I sit peacefully at
the door of a lady’s bedroom, and some
T hat evening
the lovely Livaudais.
"Mademoiselle,"
Pierre

began
and I

Pierre
called

after
on

one tries to dissea me with a nicely dec- acknowledging Diane’s greeting, "you
orated dagger. 'The next day, a visitor eluded us last night. But this time we
has his conversation punctuated by a knife will be more vigilant.”
thrown through the window by parties D’Artois deposited a large and very
unknown. ...” heavy suitcase on the floor.
I shifted a bit more out of range of the "Oh, but you must be planning an ex-
window, and checked up on the cartridges tended visit, with all that luggage!”
in the Luger. laughed Diane.
"To crown it. I’ll get buck fever and "And why not? Monsieur Landon
let daylight through Raoul or Pierre when and I keeping you under surveillance all the
they enter. Or maybe they’ll find me way around the clock, n’est-ce pas? But
here, deftly disembowelled and marked, tell me, did we disturb you last night?
”
'opened by mistake.’ Am I forgiven
"Open my grave and see the smoke that curls "And so it was you that broke my cut-
about thy feet .”
! . .
glass decanter and spilled wine all over
was developing a marked dislike for
I the rug. But no, I didn’t hear a sound.”
Hafiz. 'That old Persian was distinctly "
’Tis well!” exclaimed Pierre. "I
macabre. Then this one: would have been desolate had we awak-
"If the scent of her hair were to blow over the ened you. And I shall send you a new
place where I had lain dead an hundred years, my
would
decanter, all filled with my own Oporto.”
bones come dancing forth from their
grave. . ,
’’
"Monsieur d’ Artois, you’re a darling.
166 WEIRD TALES
But how in the world am I to sleep to- Diane opened the door and revealed
night, with the both of you standing negligw of blue silk curiously
herself in a
guard, staring at me as though I were a shot with gold. I wondered that Etienne

dodo come to life?” hadn't bequeathed her his chateau as well

"Simple enough. Take a bit of this as hishouse in Bayonne.
sedative. It won’t drug you so that you "But I assure you it was complimenta-
won't hear the voice.” ry,” replied Pierre. "And here is your
"Well, why not give her a heavy shot potion.”
of it,” I suggested, "so that she won’t hear She accepted the glass, sampled its con-
the voice at all, and leave that devil be- tents, drained it, stood there, the smile
hind his sepulcher door chanting in vain.” slowly fading from her features. Ihen
"Not at all!” objected Pierre. "She she shuddered.
must hnd the way to open the door, and '"niese engagements with the dead . . .

pass through, and fulfil that which has I’m so glad I won’t be alone tonight. . . .

been impressed upon her subconscious Good-night, messieurs!”

mind. Then, after she has done that, we Vainly enough, we wished her a good-
shall land like a ton of those bricks. I, night also, this incredible girl who could
Pierre d’ Artois, will land in person; and still, at times, smile.
henceforth. Mademoiselle will see no Then d’ Artois took from his suitcase a
tombs by night.” coil of flexible insulated wire, very much
'Then, to Diane: "It is now passably like the extension cord they use to in-
late. Suppose that when you have ar- crease the range of a vacuum cleaner. In
rayed yourself in should I most ap-
. . . addition to die lamp and reflector at one
propriately say, walking-costume? . . . end, there was a small portable snap-
take a bit of this sedative. And then we switch, and a tiny globe scarcely larger
will stand guard, we two.” than those used as Christmas tree decora-
As the door of Diane’s bedroom closed, tions. plugged in at a
'This layout Pierre
I turned to (f Artois. baseboard outlet, a convenience which is
"Why that suitcase? It’s heavy as a most unusual in Bayonne.
locomotive.”
"That you will understand before the
evening is over. I have there various

things which I may 'need on a moment’s

A s
w
PIERRE uncoiled the wire and pulled
it along the wall, I glanced again

at the chair I had occupied the night be-

notice: though I can not say at what mo- fore. Diane had accepted Pierre’s myth
ment. about the shattered decanter, and hada’t
"We are fighting an organization that noticed the scar in the bade of the diair.
has infiltrated its members into every But that one look was enough to bring out
stratum of society.And by this time you a sweat on me.
have no doubt that you and I are marked 'Then I thought of the hurled knife
and sentenced on account of our associa- which had cut short the remarks of Nur-
tion with Diane. reddin.
"We are not only contending with en- "Mademoiselle from Bar le Due, parlez
emies skilled in armed encounter, but vous ..." I hummed as I fidgeted about.

equally gifted in psychic conflicts. Wit- "Tais-toi, imbecile!” snapped d’ Artois.

ness, for example, how this so lovdy "Bawdy to the last.”

”
Mademoiselle Diane Which of course was unjust in the ex-
"Taking my name in vain again?” treme, as I’d spent hours. trying to teach
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 167

Pierre proper rendition of that classic.

tiie my eyes open, and whether d’ Artois could
"Surely, she is asleep by now,” he con- resist that damnable influence, whatever
tinued. "And like you, I likewise would it had been.
whistle to keep up my courage. But give Have you ever been in Morocco and
me your pistol,” said d’ Artois. heard the drums thump-thumping in the
"How come.^” I demanded as quietly as hills, calling the tribesmen to revolt? My
I could at that outrageous order. heart was giving a perfect imitation.
"You no less on edge than I am.
are Diane’s breathing was soft and quiet
And you shoot damnably straight. If by and normal.
mistake you pointed that siege gun at me Silence from Pierre’s post. Once in a
or Diane, you would have long regrets. while I caught a passing glance of the
And anyway, we want no disturbance or bluish-green pilot light, as he noiselessly
shooting. The enemy can’t see us, though shifted in his chair. Lucky he told me
they must know we are here; and they about that light! And once I heard him
must not hear us.” draw a deep breath. 'Just a deep breath.
I surrendered the pistol. Pierre was But infinitely expressive!
right, of course, but with the start I made It was getting d’ Artois too. Not a com-

last night, I had begun to take an inter- forting thought.

est in that excellent gun. ’The clock in the cathedral chimed
"Eh bien, let us take our posts,” di- twelve. And then the quarter, ages later.

rected Pierre. Then the tension eased. It is born in us

I followed him into Diane’s room, to place all diablerie at midnight: and that
where he set up the reflector and lamp in having passed uneventfully, I felt that
a comer so that if the circuit were com- nothing would happen until tomorrow
pleted, the entire room would be illumi- night, when I’d be in a much better frame
nated. of mind. Thoughts would be so much
"Take that chair and draw it up. 'Thus. more collected. . . .

Now mark well the position of mine.” My relief was premature.

Pierre stood at the wall switch. I felt rather than heard a vibration
"Should you catch a glimpse of a very pulsing through the room. It was as
faint bluish light, don’t dive for it. It’s though I watched some one beating a ket-
just the pilot light of this lamp I’ve set tle-dnun at great distance, getting the
up in the corner. As long as it glows. rhythm by seeing the drummer’s body
I’ll know that the . . . what do you call sway to the cadence instead of actually
her? . . . the juice is on, and that I can hearing it.

depend on light when I need it. Then, finally, the pitch increased into
"Ready? Good!” the lower limits of audible vibration. I
'The wall switch clicked us into dark- could hear it.Tum-tumpa-tumtum-tumpa-
ness. The sinister watch was on. tum . . . low and massive thundering
from across the wastes of space. 'The
ITTING in a lady’s bedroom in Bayonne drumming of Abaddon of the Black
S does not sound so terrifying. But Hands.
when the lady is awaiting summons from It filled the room. It was an earth-
the dead, and when the dead sends living quake set to a cadence.
envoys with keen knives, it is yet again I heard a soft, sulfurous cursing from
something else. Pierre’s side of the room.
I wondered whether I’d fall asleep with Then a hand on my shoulder.
168 WURD TALES
"It is I. The pilot ligjit is out. They itars. And both stared sigjitlessty; yet as
have cut the house wires. We are certainly as though they saw, they poised
watched. And there will be some one themselves like great cats, gathered for the
sent for ms.” final leap to overwhelm us.
The dnunming was reaching a more re- Great Gol! Noise or no noise, why
sonant pitch, so that the walk of the room didn’t d’ Artois fire.?

amplihed it. "Use your gun!” I croaked, trying to

Diane stirred in her bed. The voice yell and whisper at die same time.
was calling her to the hidden tomb. Facing those blades, empty-handed
Christ! Was Pierre asleep with his
"When I am dead, open my grave and see . .
.”
eyes (^n, as I had been the night before?
I could almost hear that sweet, rkh Per- ’Thm a glittering streak from the dark-
sian verse as an overtone of that sonorous my side, and the first one dropped,
ness at
dnunming. shorn half asunder by Pierre’s simitar
"They are here!” whispered d’ Artois. stroke.
"I can feel them.” "Two!” gnmted d’Artois, and drew
"And we’re in the dark.” back on his guard for an instant, just out
"Here, take this flashlight.” Pierre of the beam of the light.
thrust it into my hand. "Quick, toward But before he could advance, the third
the window!” leaped forward, covered in his charge by
The of light revealed a white-
circle a circle of flaming, hissing steel
robed intruder armed with a drawn sim- Clack-clack-clack!
itar. Pierre was partying that blind assault,
"Shoot him!” I whispered to Pierre. cut for cut. Parrying a desperate, reckless
"No. Hold the light! And stand whirlwind of steel, stroke after stroke.
clear!” Then he slipped through the mill, and
The intruder stared full and unblink- sank forward in a lunge.
ing into the brilliant flashlight. His eyes I saw Pierre’s blade projecting a foot
were sightless and staring. He advanced beyond his opponent’s back. 'The enemy
with the fluent, slinking motion of a pan- was too close to use his simitar. I pideed
ther, straight toward us. up a blade and struck his weapon from
Then it all happened in an instant. his grasp, lest he maul Pierre to a pulp
D’ Artois with his chair parried the with it, since he couldn’t slice him to
sweeping cut of his adversary’s simitar, pieces.
and as he parried, he sank, squatting on But that didn’t stop him. He gripped
his left heel and simultaneously kicking Pierre’s shoulder and drew himself for-
upward with his right foot. ward, pulling Pierre’s blade still further
Perfea, and deadly. through his own body in order to close in.
'The enemy dropped in his tracks. His I hacked again and again, in a frenzy
blade fell ringing to the floor, and in a lest that madman tear d’Artois to pieces
had the simitar.
flash d’ Artois with his bare hands.
"Keep the light on the window!” cried "Tenez!” gasped d’Artois. "C’est pni.”
Pierre. He disentangled himself from the
The companion of the first invader slashed, hacked body. As a surgeon or
dropped fully into the circle of light. butcher. I’d never qualify, the way I man-
After him came a second. Both were gle things when I hurry,
”
robed like tbe first, and armed with sim- "Quick! That first one
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 169

D’ Artois snatched the red blade from edge, and palled m ?self
3
up. In spite of
my hand, and with a single stroke decap- our knowl^ge of the thick walls of these
itsaed the one who was rising to his knees old houses, the existence of such a shaft
and groping for his blade. would never have been suspected. 'The
"Look!” exclaimed Pierre. flashlight revealed a narrow passage not
Diane, sitting on the edge of her bed, over ten feet long. Atits end was a shaft

was slipping her feet into a pair of satin leading down. 1 ventured a flash down
mules. It had seemed several lifetimes its depth, and sav/ a ladder leading to a
to me, from the time that (f Artois had level thatwas well below the first floor
advanced, armed with a chair, against the of the house. At the bottom I turned,
first intruder, until he had finished the and faced a low archway which opened
third; but so swiftly had he worked that into a passage leading straight ahead.
Diane had scarcely time to get out of bed, Some twenty paces ahead of me was
and find and don her robe and slippers. Diane. I slopped along as fast as I could
"She’s on the way.” in the loose red slippere of the enemy, and
"But where?” as I advanced, I wound my turban as
"Idiot! She will leave the same way well as I could on the march.
our three visitors entered. Look!” Diane was walking with a slow, almost

W E FOLLOWED Diane with the beam

of the flashlight.
She went straight toward the window,
mechanical
<juite
stride, or she would have been
out of sight.
overtook her, and then snapped out the
flashlight.
As

deep in her trat^e,

Diane,
it was, I quickly

grasped the bars, and pulled herself to the was utterly unaware of my seizing her
sill. robe so that she could guide me through
"Follow her!” commanded Pierre. the darkness.
"Strip this one — his robe isn’t bloody.” She was stepping to the cadence of
I stripped the one cleanly decapitated. those drums.
'Those fellows didn’t drop from the I could distinguish now that the sound
ceiling, but came down a diaft through was of many drums: the roll and purr and
the wall, whose opening was concealed by sputter of tiny tom-toms against a back-
the window-casing. ground of solemn booming that made the
"How about a turban?” masonry quiver beneath my feet. Yet the
one will do. Wind it with the
"’This source of the sound was still far away.
stained end in. Quick, now! Follow Although the incline was not steep, it
her. Put that damned turban on as you was perceptibly down-grade. We were
go. Allezr turning ever so slowly to the left. The
Diane had pulled herself up. A air was becoming damp and musty and
glimpse of her heels, and she was out of cool. Our descent must now be taking
si^t. us far beneath the uttermost foundations
"Now my pistol.” of Bayonne. Somewhere, below and to
"Take it. But hurry. "I’ll be busy the was the brazen door that guarded
left,
”
here the one who chanted in Persian and in-
"What?” vited Diane to a conclave of the dead that
"Va-t-eni” commanded Pierre. "Have were lonely in their deep vaults.
I ever failed? Go!” Ahead of us was a faint glow. I halted
I leaped to the window-sill, felt, and Diane gain a few paces, and then,
to let
found a void over my head, grasped the hugging the left wall so as to gain the
170 WEIRD TALES
maximum from the door- jamb
protection men might be marching from any of them.
in case there should be a reception com- Swordsmen, or worse. . . .

mittee waiting, I crept forward as silently Then Diane spoke; not to me, but to
os possible. the dead behind the door.
Then it occurred to me that imseeing "I’m trying, Etienne, but I can’t find
automatons like those that Pierre had the spring.”
stopped only by hacking them to pieces She rose from her task and retreated,
would hardly be susceptible to surprize. turning away. Her eyes stared sightless-
And if more swordsmen, bound in a deep ly at me. ’Then she wavered, tottered,
trance and directed by some master mind and retraced her steps. Some compelling
to overwhelm me, were waiting. I’d have power was forcing her to resume her task.
my hands full. I wondered if a pistol I followed her, and looking over her
would stop them the Moro jurmen-
. . .
shoulder, studied the embossing her fin-
tados down in Sulu, riddled with dum- gers traced. Each curve, each figure, each
dum bullets, continue their, charge until floral and foliateform that could conceal
they hack to fragments the enemy who the hidden catch she tapped, fingered, dug
hoped to stop them with rifle fire.
with her nails: but there was one she did
Well, at least those three swordsmen not touch. And that one of all others
had been alive, and their blood was like seemed the only one that could con-
any other blood when spilled. trol the lock: the center of a lotus blos-
I ventured a peep around the door-
som, close to the left edge. Even in that
jamb. 'The passage opened into a small dim red light I could clearly distinguish
alcove which was illuminated by the red a line of demarcation that separated the
flames of a pair of tall black candles set substance of the lotus center from the sur-
one at each side of a brazen door. Diane rounding metal. 'Then why didn’t Diane
was alone before the door. press it? Why had she avoided it, night
She hesitated, half swaying on her feet after night?
for a moment, then knelt on the second of
But had she avoided it?
the three steps that led to the door.
It was smooth and polished. Some one
Where her fingers traced the arabesques
had fingered and touched it.
and embossed on the bronze, the
scrolls
Diane herself. It all came to me: the
verdigris had been worn away. How
door would not open until the Presence
many hours had shd spent in wearing the
Or was ready for her arrival.
seasoned bronze to its original color?
I watched her fingers working their
were there then others who sought the
way back and forth over the traceries of
same doorway? And if there were, when
bronze, toward the center of the lotus
might they appear?
blossom. She was touching it
Evidently she was seeking the hidden
I took a hitch in my belt, slid the sim-
catch whidi would open the door; the
itar and its scabbard back toward my hip,
gateway of the tomb.
shifted the Luger.
Surely Diane needed no light to further
her quest. Then why these lurid candles? Click!

Had they a ritualistic significance, or were ’The door yielded, swinging inward on
they for sentries, or acolytes that served silent hinges. 'The drums boomed and
the Presence behind the panel? I knew roared and thundered. ’Their vibrations

not what cross-passages I had unknowing- smote me in the face like the blast of a
ly passed in the dark, and what swords- typhoon. An overwhelming perfume
 THE BRIDE OP THE PEACOCK 171

surged forlii, stifling me with its heavy "Landon, it is not good that you have
sweetness. meddled and entered the solitarium be-
1 leaped in ahead of Diane, advanced a hind the throne. Even the elect dare not
”
pace toward the blank wall before me, enter here. But since you are here
then wheeled to my right, and saw him He smiled a slow, sinister smile. His
who made a madness of Diane’s ni^ts. long lean arm extended like the undulant
advance of a serpent.

H
on his
e sat cross-legged on a pedestal of
carven stone.
breast.
His arms were crossed
He was nude, save for a
"Look!”
I followed his compelling gesture with

my eyes, and saw the brazen door swing

yellow loin-cloth that flamed like golden slowly shut. It closed with a elide of om-
Are in the purple light of the vault. His inous finality.

face was emaciated and his ribs were hid- I stared for a moment too long, held
eously prominent. If he breathed, it was by the voice and the gesture. Just a mo-
not deeply enough to be perceptible. ment too long. 'There was some one be-
The drumming thunder ceased abrupt- hind me. But before I could move, strong
ly; and the silence was more terrific than hands gripped my arms.
^e savage roaring pulse that had halted. 'Hie Presence murmured a command.
Dead? My simitar and pistol and flashlight were
Dead, save for those fixed, glittering taken from me. 'The hands released me:
eyes that stared through and past me. and all with such incredible swiftness tiiat

But they lived, fiercely, with a smolder- I turned just in time to see my four mo-
ing, piercing intentness. mentary captors filing into an exit that
Then some one stepped in between me pierced the wall, carrying with them my
and the Presence. blade and pistol. As the last one cleared
Diane had followed me, and standing the threshold, a panel slid silently into
in front of me, faced him. place.
Like him, she crossed her arms on her I had been a splendid guardian of the
breast. Then she advanced with slow lovely girl who knelt at the feet of that
steps, not halting until within a few paces creature on the throne!
of the Presence. She knelt on the tiles, "'That door,” resumed the Presence,
and bowed. Then she spoke in the ex- speaking so deliberately that the moment
pressionless voice of one who recites by of my disarming was scarcely an inter-
rote a speech in a foreign language he ruption, “is easily opened from the out-
does not understand. side, by those we wish to admit.”
"Etienne, I am here. I heard you from Again he smiled that slow, curved smile
across the Border, and I have obeyed. I of menace.
have opened your grave.” He looked down at Diane, and spoke to
I stood there like a wooden image, her in purring syllables. She rose from
neither drawing my simitar to cleave that the tiles, and stood there, vacantly regard-
living mummy asunder, nor my pistol to ing us, Diane’s body devoid of Diane’s
riddle him to ribbons. This couldn’t be spirit.

the Marquis de la Tour de Maracq; not and I,” said the Presence,
'"This girl
this blasphemy from somewhere in High "have a few things to discuss. You will
Asia, that might have followed the Gold- therefore be pleased to excuse us. . .
.”

en-Horde, ages ago. Yet she had called He inclined his head, and smiled his
him Etienne. 'Then he spoke; reptilian smile.
172 lWEIRD tales
I saw his fingers caress the carvings near self, and with a running leap, charged the
tire top of the pedestal on which he sat. gate. The chain snapped. The gate
I leaped, but too late. The floor opened opened. I pitched headlong ahead of me,
beneath me. As I dropped into the abys- amid a clatter of links and the clang of
mal blacknesses below, I caught a glimpse the gate’s crashing against the wall.
of the purple light above being cut off by Before I could regain my feet, some one
the trap-door lifting back into place. landed on me.
I landed on my feet with force enough
me fallen arches, and pitched for-
to give
ward on my face. The stones were cold
and damp and slippery. I rose to my
C LEAN, manly fighting may have its
place in the prize ring, and possibly
even in the wrestling arena: but in hell’s
hands and knees, and crept cautiously basement it is a needless grace. I shifted
along, feeling for openings in the floor, just in time to avoid the unknown’s knee
and hoping to locate a wall which I could fouling me. Not
to be outdone in cour-
follow to anywhere at all. A comer, or tesy, I closedand located his eyes, but
in,

an angle, anywhere to get out of the heavy before I my thumbs to the

could apply
blackness and near something that would best advantage, he broke my attack.
give me a sense of direction. Here there Finally I backheeled him, and we both
was only up and down, and neither north, crashed to the paving. Luckily, he ab-
south, east, nor west. sorbed the shock, but it didn’t stop him.

Caged in the subcellar of this subter- He simian strength and ter-

lacJced the
ranean vault; locked in the basement of rible arms of the assassin of the night be-
hell’s private office. And Diane in the fore, but he made up for it in agility and
hands of that animated mummy! devastating rage. We both were ap-
Finally I butted head-first into a wall. proaching exhaustion from the fury of at-
The stars unfortunately weren’t of suf- tack, defense, and counter-attack.
ficient duration to let me see where I was. I yielded suddenly, to throw him off his

So I crept along, following the cold, moist balance; but I tripped on the loose piece
stones. of chain, lost my own balance, and failed
My fingers touched a vertical bar: one to nail him as he pitched forward.
member of a grillework which blocked And I couldn’t locate him. My own
my advance. I reached forward with my heavy breathing kept me from hearing
other hand and grasped another bar, felt him. I was trembling violently, and my
my way along, right and left. It was a mouth was dry as cotton. And if my heart
gate, hinged to the masonry at one side, pounded any more heavily, I’d burst wide
and chained shut at the other. open. Well, he must be in the same
Something tangible at last. Something shape. So I sank to the floor, hoping to
to grip and struggle with. The gate catA him with a low tackle, or to thwart
yielded protestingly for a few inches un- him in a similar maneuver on his part.
til the chain drew taut. I could feel the But I couldn’t find him.
heavy scale of mst and corrosion on the "Come here, damn your hide!” I

links. I tugged and pulled and pushed, frothed, finally getting enough breath to
but in vain. relieve my wrath.
Then I removed my borrowed robe, "Thank God, a Christian!” panted a
folded it into a compact pad which I ap- voice not far from me. "And by your
plied to my shoulder. I backed off, care- speech, an American. Let us be allies,

fully measuring my retreat, gathered my- what is left of us.”

 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCX 173

"And who might you be?” I demanded. "You look strangely familiar,” I be-
"A prisoner like yourself. Let’s declare gan. "I’ve never seen you, but somehow
a truce, and if we must fight, follow me to it is as . had seen a portrait, or
though I
where there is enough light.” photograph, or heard you compared for
The fellow sounded convincing enough. likeness to some one I did once see, some-
His English was the meticulously correct where.”
speech of an educated foreigner. "No one has seen me for two years or
"Done. Lead on.” more. But how did you run afoul of Ab-
"Then put your hand on my shoulder, dul Malaak? Are you also an aspirant to
and I will lead the way,” he continued. the custody of the Sanctuary?”
"To show my good faith, I will let you He made a curious, fleeting gesture
follow. Keep your head down. The ma- with his left hand.
sonry here is low, and very hard.” "Hell’s fire, monsieur,” I replied, "how
My enemy chuckled. many custodians, aspirant and actual, does
"Mordieu! but I have been deceived this devil-haunted toWn hold?”
about American sportsmanship. You ’Then, without pausing for an answer,
would have gouged my eyes out. You I threw it at him:
bit a nice morsel from my throat apro-
"When I am dead, open my grave and see
pos, I’ll show you the right way to do that The smoke that curls about thy feet.”
some day, if we get out of here alive. . . .
"Comment?” he exclaimed.
Steady, now! On your hands and knees . . .
A home run! I continued:
here we are.”
I followed him through a low, narrow "In my dead heart the fire still burns for thee,
Yea, the smoke rises from my winding-sheet."
opening that had been made by prying a
few blocks of masonry out of place, and He met his stare.
stared. I

into a tiny cell illuminated with a slim "Que he finally exclaimed.

diable!”

taper. The ceiling was vaulted, and over "Who or what you are,
I don’t know.

a dozen feet above the floor. But you know who I am: de la Tour de
"This has been my grave for some Maracq.”
time.” "And I am Davis Landon. This meet-
He indicated the brazen panel in the ing with the gentleman who has chanted
wall. Mademoiselle Diane to the edge of mad-
'"There has been entirely too much talk ness is certainly a pleasure.”

of graves in the past few days,” I replied. The marquis smiled wearily.

"Graves with living occupants.” "Qianted, and to what end? From

He stared at me curiously, almost re- your quotation of Hafiz, I know that she
plied. 'Then, seeing me eyeing the bra- must have heard me, but she couldn’t get
zen panel: "Mais non! Even with your my thought. Certainly not thus far, at
bulk and hard head, you couldn’t budge least. So I am buried here, and awaiting
that bronze. It doesn’t corrode and waste the bowstring, or the fire, or the saw and
away like the iron in this devil’s nest.” plank: whatever Abdul Malaak in his
"Well then,” said I, "how do they feed kindness orders when he has suj£ciently
you?” poisoned my friends against me. I

"They let food down through a trap thought a while ago that they had dis-

in the ceiling. Look!” covered my loophole and were trying to

I looked up, and saw the outline of a stop my private explorations. So I gave
”
trap-door. you a good fight
174 WEIRD TALES
For an instant a fierce light flamed
just "When I quoted Hafiz you seemed to
in his eye; and then that thin, weary smile hear familiar words.”
again. "Certainly. I did chant them. I also
‘This is puazling,” I protested. "I am an adept. And I chanted the verse of
happen to know that she did get your Hafiz for the sake of the rhythm; not to
message which you ‘willed’ or projected, give her a command
come and release
to
or whjrtever means you used. Every ni^t me, which she couldn’t possibly do, but
she wanders in her sleep to obey a sum- to ask her to conununicate with Nureddin
•”
mons, and claws at a brazen panel Zenghi, in Kurdistan.”
"What’s that you say?’’ demanded the "Why the verse, did you say? What
marquis. "Wanders in obedience to my has it to do with Nureddin? 'That is
summons? Wanders?” dense to me.”
"Yes. From your house to the door of "Pardon. You are not an adept. But
the room where that living mummy sits to put it simply, it acted merely as a car-
"
on his pedestal rier wave, as your radio experts would
”]isu! From »>y house?’’ put it. It gave me a rhythm on which to
"Yes. From yom house which you impress my thought. I can’t explain it

willed to her on your deathbed in Marra- briefly. But go into Tibet, and High
kesh.’’ Asia; to Hindustan, among the jaqirs.
"But, monsieur, I never died in Mar- Study at the feet of one who might still

rakesh.’’ be found sitting at the feet of a column in

"’That I can readily believe,’’ I admit- the vast ruins of incredible Ankor Wat.
ted. "But she showed me that letter from Speak with the priests of the Eightfold
you, and a newspaper clipping announc- Path. Piece all your gleanings together,
ing your death, and a note in Arabic from and you will finally be able to project your
the companion of your last hours. And thou^ts to one with whom you are en
thus she accepted your legacy, the house rapport —
if you have the strength of will.

«n Remparts de Lachepaillet, where she ’The knowledge is jealously guarded.

was very conveniently situated to leave by But I found it.
a secret passageway to hell’s front door.” "Had I gone further with the art, I
could have projected myself from my

T "I,
hroughout my
stared at me, bewildered.
speedh, the marquis

dying in Marrakesh, willed her that

body, and spoken to her. But I couldn’t.
Can’t yet. And shan’t live long enough
to learn how.
house ? . .
.” "When I was reported dead, I was
"Yes, damn it, and hoodooed her with actually in this cell. My enemy tricked
strange dreams of graves to be opened, me in a contest of occult arts, and here I
and voices chanting in Persian. And to- am. Abdul Malaak. . . . Servant of
night I followed her through the gate- the Angel, as he calls himself. I see it all

now. He forged that and clipping

letter

"How’s that? Followed her? Is she to get her into my house from which he
there?” could summon her to make the trip im-
"Yes. And that devil touched a spring observed. And his concentrated thought,
and dropped me into that dungeon before aided by the circle of adepts in the great
1 could say aye, yes, or no. So you migjit hall, overpowered my message.”
tell me what started her wanderings.” "But Nureddin did come to town.”
"Helas, monsieur, what can I tell "Magnifique! Maybe she did send for
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 175

him. And he will take the place by as- "But would that release her, breaking
”
sault He will not fail them up, and him also?”
"Nureddin has failed.” "Yes. And I will die happy if I per-
And I told what had happened in Pi- sonally attend his breaking up. Into small
erre’s study. bits.Monsieur Landon. If we get out of
"Then we are doomed,” said the mar- here alive, I will dismember him with my

quis. bare hands! And since she has obeyed

"Doomed, hell!” I said. "You sug- the command, she can be awakened from
”
gested that we be allies. Now let me take the influence of the Power
command. Is it near your feeding-time?” "There they are now!”
"Yes. So says my stomach,” replied The marquis beckoned me to be silent.
the marquis. And then, as he saw me In my turn, I motioned him to crawl
glance once more at the trap-door in the out of sight of the trap, and followed him.
crown of the vault: "Even if I leaped to "Qu’est-ceque c’est?” muttered the mar-
your shoulders, I couldn’t reach it.” quis, obedient, but puzzled.
"Who said that you had to reach it?” I "Wait and see.”
queried. We heard the trap open. A basket was
"How then?” demanded the marquis. descending at the end of a slim cord.
'"They don’t get close enough for you to "Pull tiiat basket up and let down a
take the guard by surprize as he gives me rope. That isn’t heavy enough,” I di-

my food. If they only passed it through rected in Arabic.

that door there!” "Why not, ya marqees?” queried the
"I have an idea. Stand close to the voice, somewhat taken aback.
wall, out of sight. Better yet, back out "This isn’t el marqees, ya hu!" I
”
through that hole in the wall shouted. "Let down that rope and pull
”
"But him up. He’s still breathing, but he won’t
"Be damned! Ask no questions, mon- be when you come back with a rope.”
sieur, or my inspiration will leave me. I From above I heard a mutter of voices.
have a himch. Are you with me?” "And who are you?” demanded the
"To the death and to the uttermost.” spokesman.
I accepted the hand he extended. I heard the clank of arms. My un-
"And there is another: Pierre d’ Ar- usual request had been passed along to
tois.” the guard, doubtless. But as Pierre said,
"None better,” admitted the marquis. toujours audace!
'"There is no love between us, but
lost "G)me down and see, O heap of offal!
he will not begrudge me any help given One of the master’s guests, O eater of
you and Diane. But even that d’ Artois pork! Would you argue with me?”
risks his head if he dares enter.” And then, aside to the marquis, "I’ve
"Never fear about d’ Artois,” I reas- got ’em going.”
sured the marquis. "But while we have The marquis grinned, and the fire re-
time, tell me this: who has the hold over turned to his eyes.
Diane’s mind? Is it you, or that dried-up "Give me your rags," I continued, "and
thing on the pedestal?” we’ll fool ’em proper.”
"Both, it seems. Though he is aided "Just a moment, ya sidi," resumed the
by his circle of adepts. With them bro- voice, "while we get a strong rope.”
ken up, his power would be comparatively "Make haste then, eater of unclean
little." food! I have much else to do than to
176 WEIRD TALES
butcher Ferhtghi swine, down here in the that rope down. Drop him anywhere.
cellar.” He won’t hurt you.”
"Patience, master,” said the voice. "Shall we hoist you, ya sahib?”
I dug up from my memory a few ep- "Let that rope down, and silence, ya
ithets collected in Mindanao, and growled humar!”
them in They couldn’t under-
return. So far, so good. I had them buffaloed.
stand it, and were duly impressed with I leaped at die rope, and hand over
my importance. By tihe subbed and re- hand, pulled myself up. As I approached
spectful murmurings, they must by that the opening, I gripped its edge with one
time have identified me as one of the mas- hand, heaved myself through, and
ter’s pet assassins. sprawled face down on the floor.
But the occasional tinkle of accouter- "He still breathes, master,” said one, as
ments and soft note of steel didn’t reas- he sought to help me to my feet.
sure me. The death of the marquis and “I forgot my simitar. Give me yours
the lifting up of his body doubtless was and I’ll tend to that.”
of suflficient importance to detain a part And was solicitously assisted to my
as I
of the guard. knees, the hilt of a blade was thrust into
my hand.

A "Give
HEAVY
diameter,
rope, several centimeters in

me more
was let

slack!
down.
Pigs and fa-
Ileaped and slashed.
"Give ’em hell, Etienne!”
And I laid about me, right and
I shouted.
left.
thers of many little pigs, how can I tie 'The marquis closed in on the one near-
this fellow’s carcass with that little? And est hkn, lifted him over his head, and
anchor it firmly up there. When you get dashed him head-first to tfie tiles. Then
him up. I’m coming after.” he snatched a blade from the floor, and
'Then, to the marquis: “I’ll go first, came on guard.
and you follow.” 'The four survivors faced us, dazed by
"No, them haul me up.
let I can’t the swift turn. And then they charged. I
climb a rope,” he whispered. hacked and slashed clumsily and desper-
"You’re a damned liar, but since you ately. Parried, and nussed my riposte.
want the first crack at them, go ahead. Lashed out again, and had my blade
But remember youire dead. Don’t start dashed from my hand by a sweeping cut.
the show until I get there.” Etienne, crouched on guard behind his
I tied a running noose and drew it up whirlwind of steel, faced half to his right,
beneath his arms. saw my peril, and with a dazzling snick of
"All right up there! Heave away! his blade, sliced my adversary’s sword
And wait for me. I’ll tell you what to arm half off: and bade again to his party.
do with him.” As I booted my disabled enemy into
They heaved away. insensibility, I marveled at the incredible
"Well,” I reflected, "I’ll be in a pretty skill with which he held those three fierce

jam if something goes haywire and that Kurds at bay.

rope doesn’t come down again. 'That hot- I gave my opponent’s head one farewell
”
head bounce against the paving, picked up his
By the time the marquis reached the blade, and joined Etienne.
trap, I was in a sweat and a fidget. "Gardez-vous!” he snapped. "I have
"Hurry up there!” I roared. "And let him!”
.W. T.—
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 177

He slipped forward in a lunge, blade "Where is the girl, and what is the mas-
slicing upward to disembowel his adver- ter doing?”
sary; and back on guard again, with but The Kurd writhed, and groaned.
two to face him. "Speak up, dungheap, or I’ll roast you
They were too dazzled by that terrific alive!”
attack to be aware of my presence. Thus The smell of flesh roasted before it is
my neck-cut to the one on the right was dead is not pleasant.
most creditable. "I will speak, sahib!”
"Tenez!” commanded Etienne, as he "Very well. What is happening in the
confronted the survivor. "I need him.” Throne Room, and what of the girl?”
Standing as though his feet were "The master sits on the high throne.
spiked to the floor, he waved me aside,
The girl is as one dead, awaiting the com-
engaged his enemy, parrying cut after des- mand to pass through the veils of fire to
perate cut as coolly and effortlessly as
become the Bride of th? Peacock. It is the
though fencing with a blunt foil instead night of power.”
of with blades tliat sheared from shoul-
"The night of power . . . and here
der to hip with one stroke.
we two against a company.
are, Landon,
The Kurd fought with the savagery of
will you join me in dying like a man?”
one whose doom stares him in the face.
"I don’t relish this dying stuff any too
But in vain. He could not crowd or
damned much, Etienne,” I confessed.
break through the hedge of steel that
"But I’ll go any reasonable length with
Etienne built with his leaping, flashing
you. So lead on.”
simitar. ”
" Magnifque! Let us go
Then the Kurd stood there, blinking
And then he turned.
and bewildered, staring at his empty
"This roasted pig here will spread no
hand. His blade clanged against the tiles
a dozen feet away.
alarm,” he growled as his blade de-
scended.
"Now, son of a disease, throw this ref-
use into the pit. And you, Landon, strip We thrust this last body down the trap-
this fellow you kicked senseless. I need door.
his clothes.”
The survivor complied without a mur-
mur, and one by one thrust the dead and
dismembered down the trap-door.
T he marquis wiped
led the way.
the passage until the
his simitar,
Torches illuminated
first turn, and there-
and

"Tie that pig!” snapped the marquis. after it was lighted by an indirect glow,

I obeyed, using a coil of the rope with emanating from a molding along the
which we had been hoisted up. arched ceiling.
"And now,” said the marquis, "tell us "Your Arabic is acceptable. A lot of
several things, or I will dismember you these fellows speak only Kurdish or dia-
slice by slice.” lects of Turki, but stick to your own, and
The fellow growled. all will be well. And very few will
"What? Tongue-tied? Well, then . . . recognize me in that purple light. None,
but no, I will not slice you to pieces in fact. They’ve not seen me for better
"Landon, pass me that torch.” than two years, and my very existence has
I plucked the flaming torch from its been forgotten except by a few jailors.”
socket in the wall. Etienne applied it to "There was one who evidently had not
the Kurd’s feet. forgotten you.”
W, T.—
178 .WEIRD TALES
I felt for the little peacock amulet, and "But,” continued the marquis, "if you
found it still about my throat. from the beginning, you may hold
resist it
"Nureddin was speechless. Handed your own. We may break it up. To-
it to me, and coughed his life out. Since night's conclave deals with Diane, and
he was yovur friend, take it.” thus our escape may not be noted.”
"Another vengeance to exaa. But re- As we turned a comer, crossed sim-
member: on your life speak not the Ara- itars barred our progress.
bic word for Satan. Whoever inadvert- Etienne made a curious, fleeting ges-
ently pronounces it must then and there ture with his left hand.
be torn to pieces. Nor say any word re- The sentries raised their blades in sa-
sembling it. That would be fatal to you, luteand advanced us. As we entered the
and would draw attention to me.” arched doorway of the Throne Rcwm,
“What is your pian?” their blades clicked behind us.
"I have none. Even as I had none but
an urge to explore when I wandered into
the darkness and found you. This laby-
rinth is not entirely known to me. Keep-
A SMOLDERING, somber mist, red as the
embers of a plundered city, hung
in the air of that great domed hall. A
er of the Sanctuary before Abdul Malaak. heavy sweetness surged about us, wave on
But this part of it I know well enough, wave. Bearded adepts sat cross-legged be-
and our wits will do the rest.” neath three-decked, gilded parasols, and
The marquis led the way, down wind- caressed with knuckles and finger tips and
ing passages, up stairways, down others, the heels of their hands the drums of
curving and twisting, never once hesitat- varying sizes which they balanced on their
ing at a branch or cross passage. Sentries knees. As they played, they swayed in
posted at intersections sduted us perfunc- cadence. Their eyes stared feedly to the
torily; and the marquis negligently re- front. They were dead men driven by a
turned their salutes. terrific will.

As we advanced, I picked up the deep Against the wall of the circular hall
booming of the drums. Mingled with it towered a pyramid terraced in steps of
was the wail of reed pipes, and the whines glistening black. Tongues of flame quiv-
of single-stringed kemenjahs, ered up from orifices along the stairway
"Fight it,” said the marquis. "Don’t that led to the dais at the apex. The dais
let itget a hold oh you. Abdul Malaak was canopied with gold-threaded damask,
sitsnodding there on that tall throne, im- and crowned with the monstrous efl&gy of
pressing his will on the circle of adepts. a peacock, tail fanned out, and enameled
They receive and amplify it a thousand- in natural colors.
fold, and on that a thousandfold more, On the dais sat the cadaverous Abdul
increasing in geometrical progression. Malaak, that animated mummy that was
They have but to attune their minds to to smite all France with the devastating
the vibration frequency.” thought waves of his adepts. He sat there
"Once I saw them project their thought like a high god. He nodded to the colos-
to take material form.” sal thunder of the dmms, and the whin-

"Jugglery!” he scoffed. ing strings, and the wind instruments that

"Jugglery if you will. But I saw what moaned of the blacknesses across the
I saw: a material entity formed in the Border.
vortex of that resonating, countiessly am- We took our places near the foot of
plified thought.” the pyramid, so that we could see the en-
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 179

trance which faced Abdul Malaak. ing with one thought could of itself de-

Through a steady stream of dev-

it filed vise. 'The puny blasphemies and petty
otees, all robed in white, with scarlet filthinesses of mediaeval devil-worship
girdles from which hung simitars. As were childish against this monumental
they took their places on the cinnabar- array of satanism from Kurdistan,
powdered floor, they caught the cadence "Fight Landon, fight it!” whispered
it,

of the music and swayed to its rhythm. the marquis. "Don’t let it get you, or
From their ranks, row after row in a cres- you’ll join them. Malik Tawus devised
cent facing the throne, came a hoarse no such evil; not in Kurdistan and Ar-
whispering which grew to a solemn chant. menia, where I learned the true faith to
Acolytes marched up and down through bring it to France.”
the ranks of the communicants, swinging
An acolyte approached with a tray of
fuming censers. Others, robed in crim-
wafers. The marquis and I both accepted.
son, followed them, bearing copper trays
"On your life, don’t swallow it,” he
laden with small, curiously shaped loz-
cautioned. "Palm it. With that music
enges and wafers which they offered the
you couldn’t stand the drug it contains.
followers of the Peacock.
The stones beneath us quivered. I "And to think that I brought all this

could feel the world rocking on its foun-

into France,” he continued. "Not this,

dations. That maddening music finally tonight, but paved the way for that devil

spoke in a wordless language of riot and

up there to get this hold. His death is

more important than your life, or mine,

pillage and chaos. And high above the
or hers, even.
adepts, arms crossed on his breast, sat
Abdul Malaak, directing the doom. "If Nureddin were alive, . .

I thought of the violin note that would And then, "Look!” exclaimed Etienne.

shiver a wine-glass; of the ram’s-hom "Over there!”

trumpets that leveled the walls of Jer- Diane, arrayed in wisps of scarlet and
icho. It wasn’t the sound. It was the silver, and crowned with a strange, tall

thought that was in resonance, the mind head-dress that flamed and smoldered

of each individual hammering relentless- with rubies and frosty diamonds, and
ly in cadence, doubling and redoubling glowed with great pearls lurid in that sul-
the sum whenever another of the circle try light, was escorted by acolytes toward

put himself completely in tune. Reso- the steps of the pyramid.

nance; perfect timing; until the hatred of Tongues of flame now spurted waist-
one shriveled adept from High Asia high along the dais and encircled it; and
would be magnified a millionfold and on the jets of flame rose taller along the steps.
that yet again as much more. Pace by pace Diane approached the
The air was tenanted with presences steep ascent of the pyramid.
from over the Border by that de-
called "She is to pass through the veil of fire
mon on his tali black terraced throne. and become the Bride of the Peacock,”
Distinctly above that deep, world-shaking whispered Etienne. "The flames will not
roll and thunder I began to hear twitter- hurt her body, but she will be enslaved
ings and chirpings and murmurings. beyond all redemption.”
They were gathering, drawn by the mas- "Maybe we can make a fast break and
ter’s resistless vortex of power. We were charge up the steps and finish Abdul Ma-
being henuned in by a congress of evil in- laak before these fellows come out of their
finitely greater than all humanity work- trance,” I suggested. "Do you know of
180 WEIRD TALES
any way of getting away after we’ve done Etienne leaped to his feet, and three
that?” steps up the terrace.

"Yes. A door behind the throne opens I followed him, drawing my blade.
into the solitarium where he sits, most of
the time, in meditation
"Well, then. . .
.”
on his pedestal.”
A MURMUR rose from the devotees.
Abdul Malaak stared, for once dis-
concerted.Then he shouted a command.
"The flames won’t hurt her body,” re-
The swordsmen stirred in their trance.
sumed the marquis. "But if one of us
Abdul Malaak smote a brazen gong at the
starts up there, all he has to do is to press
side of the dais. Its deep clang touched
a small catch, and the nature of the flame
them to life. They rose. Blades flashed.
will change entirely. There are those who
Two against of madmen.
that host
have passed through the veil unbidden,
Pierre had failed me. And I was glad
but they didn’t live long.”
that Be had failed. Why should he also
Diane had begun the ascent.
die in this butchery?
'Then Abdul Malaak spoke in a great Abdul Malaak leaned forward in his
voice, incongruously deep for that ema- throne. His fingers found and touched
ciated frame. a knob: and the flames rose high about
"Servants of Malik Tawus, I have sum- the dais, fierce, consuming fire.

moned you to witness the Night of Power. "Hold them until I get Abdul Malaak.
Thus we have failed because your
far lips “rhen take her away while I cover your
served me while your hearts betrayed me. shouted Etienne as he passed Di-
retreat!”
Some of you still think of El Marqees ane on the stairs.
who would not honor me and the message He leaped through that deadly, blind-
I carried from across the border. ing flame and at Abdul Malaak on his
throne.
"Others think of Nureddin, who would
'Then came a voice loud and clear above
have kept you in Kurdistan, oppressed by
the roar of the swordsmen: "Nureddin
the Moslem, and worshipping the Bright
Angel as fugitives hidden in caverns. has returned! Nureddin with the assas-
sin’s knife in his chest!”
"But Nureddin was slain in the act of
I turned, just two leaps from the
betraying us to the Feringhi so that he
flame-girt dais, where I had overtaken
could liberate Et Marqees. But I have
Diane and caught her in my free arm.
devised a doom for El Marqees; I, Abdul
And Nureddin it was, drooping mus-
Malaak, have thwarted his power, and
taches, scar-seamed cheek and forehead: a
behold, she is seeking me instead of him.
Kurd from Kurdistan. He flung aside
Behold, and believe, and give him freely
doom, even comrade in trea-
his robe. A jeweled hilt gleamed from
to his as his
his chest: the very dagger I had seen im-
son was doomed.”
pale him in Pierre’s study!
"We seeand we believe, and we give "Who will exact blood indemnity for
freely!” came the deep response. the death of Nureddin?”
Etieime clutched my arm. He strode through the milling throng
’"rhere is but one chance. I will go wide for him.
that parted
first, and settle with Abdul Malaak, and "What? Must I rise from the dead to
extinguish the flames. You follow, and exact the diyat?O dogs and sons of dogs,
when the flames subside, take Diane have you forgotten the bread and salt of
through the door behind the throne.” Nureddin?”
 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 181

And die wave of steel that was to over- And then Nureddin rained his gren-
take and overwhelm us subsided. There ades into the mob below.
was an instant of silence. Then at the Even in this damned place of madness,
feet of the terrace the apparition halted, I knew now that this was no dead man.
faced about, clutched at his chest, and “We’re out of fire!” he growled in gut-
wrenched the dagger free. tural Arabic. “Some high explosive!”
There came a low murmur from the
And Kurd, withdrawing the
that fierce
crowd.
safety pins and holding the grenades to
Nureddin hurled the dagger among the
the last split second, hurled them so that
dazed swordsmen.
they burst as they landed, rending and
“Take it and avenge Nureddin!”
blasting the enemy.
"Ya Nureddin!” shouted one.
“He is our father and grandfather!”
"Nureddin has come from the dead!”
“Fraud and trickery!” shouted another.
T he friends of
advancing,
Nureddin were now
slaying-mad
zied by the fire and explosive that dead
and fren-
“That’s no dead man!”
“Kill the impostor!”
Nureddin had hurled at the enemy.

“It’s Nureddin himself!” "Ya Nureddin!” they shouted. “Nu-

The adherents of Nureddin were form- reddin has returned with the fires of
ing in a cluster. A simitar rose and Jehannum! Ya Nureddin!”
flashed swiftly down. Another, and I glanced at the throne. The terrific,

another. The friends of Nureddin, shoul- searing heat had subsided, and flames
der to shoulder, were cutting their way were scarcely ankle-high. Etienne was
into the company. Their number was clambering to his feet. He reeled, and
growing every instant; but still they were tottered. Blood streamed from his mouth.
outnumbered ten to one. His smile was terrible.
Nureddin was ascending the terrace, Then he stooped, picked an armful
three steps at a time. He halted where I from the throne, and advanced down the
stood, simitar in my sword hand, and my terrace toward us.
free arm supporting Diane. “I told you I’d do it. Sorry you
'The battle at the foot of the terrace couldn’t watch and take your lesson.” He
was waxing hotter every moment. 'The laughed as he wiped his lips. “Look!”
friends of Nureddin were being forced
I saw from the torn throat of his bur-
back toward the wall. A dozen or twenty
den that he had made good his boast.
of the enemy were charging up the terrace
Then Etienne with a sunreme effort
to cut down the impostor, and me also.
pitched the remains of Aboul Malaak
Nureddin thrust at me a pair of Bou-
headlong into the bedlam below.
khara saddle-bags.
I dropped my blade, and took them. The Kurd was hurling his last grenade.

Each of his hands emerged with an One last detonation, muffled by the

object a little larger than a goose egg.

bodies it blasted and seared.

Then he tossed them, one with each hand: “Etienne,” I demanded, “before we
grenades! They burst full among the get into that butchery, release her so that
enemy, halting the charge with their her mind will be free.”

deadly, flaming phosphorus. Another "Tres bien!"

grenade. And yet another. The assault He turned to Diane, stroked her
broke and fled, howling and aflame. cheeks, whispered in her ear, shook her
182 WEIRD TALES
sharply, whispered again, tapped her I half carried, half dragged Diane

here and there with his knuckles. through the panel behind the throne, into
Her scream was piercingly natural and the solitarium of Abdul Malaak, and
feminine. Diane the automaton had be- thence, finally, through the winding pas-
come a woman again. sages to Diane’s apartment.

"Oh, Etienne, I did find you! You

” me,” I demanded of d’ Artois
weren’t dead after all
"Found me, but not for long. Follow
A the next day, "why you ordered me
to follow Diane into that den of mad-
Landon out of here. Quick! I’m a dead
ness?”
man. Breathed too much of that flame.
"That was an error which I didn’t
I’m following Nureddin.’’
recognize imtil after it was all over,” ad-
He kissed her and broke away from her mitted Pierre. "But since you acquitted
arms.
yourself as you did, I claim a free pardon
"Well, if you’re following Nureddin, for having unwittingly sent you to face
you’re going in the wrong direction,’’ said the Keeper of the Sanctuary instead of
a calm voice at our side, not in guttural going myself.
Arabic, but in French. "And here’s your "I had what you call the hunch,” he
pistol, Landon.” continued. "It came to me in a flash that
Nureddin, nothing! Pierre d’ Artois! my idea of impersonating Nureddin
"Stand fast, fool!” he shouted, seizing would succeed. You understand, I had

Etienne’s shoulder. "Nureddin’s friends toyed with the notion from the day of his
are winning. And dead Nureddin is death. I knew that Nureddin would have

avenged.” enough of a following to divide the con-

'"nien,” retorted Etienne, as he recog- he suddenly appeared, risen from
clave if
nized Pierre, "take Diane out of here. the grave.
'This time I won’t return to haunt her.” "'The disguise was easy. My nose is
about right by nature. Those scars on the
Etienne saluted us with his blade.
cheek and forehead, and the mustaches,
"Swear not to follow me! The last

don’t want to waste

and the eyebrows were simple. Just a
will of the dead. I
” few touches, and the essentials were there.
what little life is left

Pierre stared at him for a moment, and

And that dagger — well, that was one of
those flexible-bladed weapons ixsed on the
saw that Etienne spoke the truth.
stage, in sword-swallowing acts. But
"You have my word.”
convincing, hein?”
Pierre’s blade rose in salute; and then Pierre grinned gleefully, and continued,
he turned to the throne. "Finding my way into that den was not
"Oh, Etienne!” cried Dkne, at that so diflicult. Nureddin before his death
moment realizing his intentions. mentioned Porte d’Espagne. I checked
But Etienne did not hear her. against Vauban’s plans, and then made
As I followed Pierre, I glanced over soundings with instruments such as pros-
her shoulder and saw Etienne, blade flam- pectors use in your country to locate those
ing in a great arc, charge headlong into oil domes. —
My men ^you saw them, and
the melee. His simitar rose and fell, remarked, that afternoon as we drove by
shearing and slashing. His voice rang — found considerable subterranean cav-
exultant with slaughter. 'Then we heard ities where the plans showed none.

his voice no more. "And since I knew enough of the rit-

 THE BRIDE OF THE PEACOCK 183

ual of Malik Tawus, my detection as an would know that she was truly in his
impostor was very improbable.” power, and ready for the next step, be-
"But what set you on the trail, orig- coming an automaton whose activities as
inally.^” I asked. a spy could be controlled no matter where
she went.
"Etienne’s letter,” replied Pierre. "I
knew it for a forgery the moment I no-
"But, grace <5 Dieu —with certain credit

it had been written by some one

ticed that to Pierre d’ Artois —^Mademoiselle Diane’s
who, being used to Arabic, which is writ- mind is freed, not only by the death of

ten from right to left, forgot in his care-
ful forging that Etienne would
t’s from left to right.
”Alors, that sufficed. 'Then
ephoned Paris headquarters, where they
have a file of every newspaper in the
world. 'There was no such article in any
paper printed in Morocco as the one
Diane gave me.
’"Thus I knew that some one was using
Etienne’s alleged death as a means of get-
ting Diane into Etienne’s house, where
memories of him would make her an easy
victim to the psychic influences that were
directed toward her.
"And according to his remarks before
you two escaped from his cell, the mar-
quis had also been seeking to project a
thought to her. And between the two
”
forces
moment,” I interrupted. "Why
"Just a
did Abdul Malaak go to all the trouble of
projecting his thought to Diane when a
couple of his men could have seized and
Etienne and Abdul Malaak, but also by
cross his having obeyed the command which had
been impressed so firmly on her subcon-
scious mind.
I tel-
"And therefore, mon vieux,” he con-
tinued, "since she is <ione for ever with
opening graves in her sleep, you must
during the remainder of your stay in Ba-
yonne divert her mind from those gme-
some memories. So out of my sight for
the evening. I have work to attend to.
Allez!’’ And thus on that, and on other
evenings, 1 sought Diane with more con-
fidence than I had any right to have. . . .
“ O OMEHOW,” said Diane one night as
O we sat on the tall gray wall of Lache-
paillet, watching the moon-silvered mists
rise from the moat and roll into the park,
far below, "that moment’s meeting with
Etienne was so unreal. It was as if he’d
appeared from the dead to put my mind
at rest rather than that he was actually
alive. In a way, he died two years ago,
instead of on that mad, terrible night . . .

dragged her down there? Why bother to not a fresh grief, but the calming of an
prepare the stage setting of Etienne’s old sorrow ... if you know what I
death? Just oriental indirectness?” ”
mean
"Not at Don’t you see,” ex-
all! And then and there, as Pierre would
plained Pierre, "that they wanted not put it, I had the hunch.
merely Diane in person; they wanted her "You mean,” said I, "that the Bride of
as a slave of the will of Abdul Malaak. the Peacock could be pleased with a much
And when she had succumbed to his will less colorful bird?”
sufficiently to begin her nocturnal wan- Which was precisely what Diane had in
derings and pick her way to the door, he mind.

(*m£)
 of
the StapSpawn
By AUGUST W. DERLETH and MARK SCHORER
The story of a dread menace to mankind on the long-lost Plateau of Sung

(The extraordinary paper, now for the announced, not three months after the set-

firsttime published below, was found ting-out from New York, the tragic end of
among the private documents of the late that expedition. In the files of any news-
Eric Marsh, whose death followed so sud- paper may be found the story of how the
denly upon his return from that mysteri- expedition was attacked by what were ap-
ous expedition into Burma, from which parently bandits, and killed to the last
only he returned alive almost three dec- man, mercilessly and brutally, the party
ades ago.) looted, and the bodies left exposed to the
hot, unwavering rays of the Burma sun.
\

1
In most chronicles, there were two addi-
tional details —the first telling of the dis-

F THERE ever be a reader to this, my covery of the body of a native guide about

and only word on that matter a mile or more from the scene of the
I first

which has robbed me of all hope of ghastly slaughter, and the second of the
security in this world, I ask him only to Marsh, student
utter disappearance of Eric

read what I have written, and then, if he and Hawks, famed

assistant to Geoffrey

is incredulous, to go himself to that moun- explorer and scholar, whose life was lost

tainous expanse of Burma, deep in its in the unfortunate Burmese expedition.

most secret places, and see there the wreck I am Eric Marsh. My return was chron-
of the greenstone city in the center of the icled almost a month later, less sensation-

Lake of Dread on the long-lost Plateau of ally, for which I am grateful. Yet, while
Sung. And if he is not yet satisfied, to go these papers state the manner in which I

to the village of Bangka in the province found my way once more into civilization,
of Shan-si and ask for the philosopher and tliey laugh at me a little when they say I

scientist. Doctor Fo-Lan, once far-famed will not talk, and condole with me a little
among the scholars of the world and now less when they say that my mind is no
lost to them of his own volition. Doctor longer sound. Perhaps my mind has been
Fo-Lan may tell what I will not. For I affected; I can no longer judge.
write in the hope of forgetting; I want to It is with the events of that period be-
put away from me for all time the things tween the murderous attack on the Hawks
that I chronicle in this document. Expedition and my own return to the
Well within the memory of my genera- known world with which this document
tion, the Hawks Expedition set out for the is concerned. Of the beginning, I need
little-explored secret fastnesses of Burma. tell little. For the very curious, there are
In all the newspapers of the world was the easily obtained periodical accounts.
184
 THE LAIR OF THE STAR-SPAWN 185

Let me only say at the outset that our at- at his belt when we started. Some one had
tackers were not bandits. On the con- to go back, for the compasses were indis-
trary, they were a horde of little men, the pensable to us. We looked to one of the
tallest of them no more than four feet, natives to return quickly along the trail,

with singularly small eyes set deep in but to our surprize every native we had
dome-like, hairless heads. These queer with us refused point-blank to return
attackers fell upon the party and had alone. A strange uneasiness had been cur-
killed men and animals with their bright rent among them for all of the last day,

swords almost before our men could ex- ever since we had come within sight of the
tract their weapons. range of high hills where lay the so-called
My own escape occurred only through lost Plateau of Sung. It is true that
the merest chance. It had so happened strange legends had reached us even be
that my Hawks, had somehow
superior. fore we had left Ho-Nan province of a
lost his compass case, which he always weird race of little people, to whom the
carried at his side. We had been travel- natives applied the odd name, "Tcho-
ling no more than two hours that morn- Tcho,” supposedly living near or on the
ing, and he knew that the case had been Plateau of Sung. Indeed, it had been oiu
186 WEIRD TALES
intention to pry into these legends if pos- many canteens of water and packets of
sible, despite the reticence and obvious fear food as I could carry on my horse, and
of the natives, who looked upon the lost started away.
plateau as a place of evil. had one of two routes of return open
I

Annoyed at this delay, and yet desirous to me: either I could go back the way we
of pushing on, Hawks was not favorable had come, and risk death on the long
toward the plan that we all return, and in journey over uninhabited land, or I could
the end I volunteered to cover the distance forge ahead and cross the plateau and the
myself while the party went on more slow- high hills; for I knew that uninhabited
ly untilmy return. I found the case of land lay immediately beyond the range be-
compasses without trouble lying in the fore me. The distance beyond the range
center of our trail only five miles back, was less than half that which I would have
and veered my mount to rejoin the party. to recover, were I to retrace the party’s
A mile away, I heard their screams, and course. Yet it was an unknown route,
the few shots they were enabled to fire. and there was danger of again encounter-
At the momentwas screened from view
I ing the little people whose ruthlessness I
of the party by a low mound on which had witnessed. The factor that finally de-
grew short bushes. I stopped the horse cided me was the still flowering hope that
and dropped to the ground. I crawled I might by some accident stumble upon
slowly up the slope and looked across the the ruins of the forgotten city of Alaozar,
flat land beyond to where the party was which century-old legends traced to the
being massacred. Through my glasses I plateau before me. Accordingly, I went
saw that the attackers outnumbered the ahead.
party by at least four to one, that they had I had not gone far, following as best I

had a great advantage, for they had could the direction the compass indicated,
evidently attacked just as the party was when heard a low call a
I little to my left.

stringing out to enter a defile at the base I pulled up my horse to It came listen.

of the range of high hills beyond. I re- again, half call, half Dismount-
moan.
alized at once that I could do nothing to ing, I walked to the and there I
spot,
help. Consequently I remained hidden found the native whom the journals have
until the strange little men had vanished; mentioned as having made his way from
then I rode cautiously forward to the scene the scene of the massacre. He was badly
of the carnage. wounded in the abdomen by the same
I found there only dead bodies; no liv- blades that had killed my companions,
ing thing had been left behind. The cav- and he was obviously near death. I knelt
alcade, I discovered at once, had been beside him and raised his agonized body
plundered,but fortunately for me, the in my arms.
marauders had taken neither food nor His eyes flashed recognition, and he
water, contenting themselves, curiously stared up into my face as memory returned
enough, with our plans and implements. to him, and unutterable horror crossed his
Thus I was without even a shovel with features. “Tcho-Tcho,” he muttered.
which I might have given my companions "Little men —
from Lake of Dread . . .

something like a burial. walled city.”

I felt his body go limp in my arms, and,

T here was nothing left for

but to return to civilization;
not go on alone. Consequently
me to

I
I

took as
do
could
looking into his face,
I took his wrist in
pulse. Laying him
I thought him dead.
my hand and
carefully
felt
on
no
the
 THE LAIR OF THE STAR-SPAWN 187

groxmd, away from him. As I

I started in the tales and legends of frightened na-
walked through the low underbrush, a call tives!

much weaker than the first caused me to
turn abruptly. The native was still lying
on the ground, but his head was slightly
raised with what must have been a tre-
mendous effort, and one arm pointed
Whether the city stood on an island and
was surrounded by water the Lake of —
—
Dread as natives also believed, I could
not tell, for it was at least five miles away,
at a spot which I estimated should be the

weakly in the direction of the hills ahead. center of the Plateau of Sung. In the

"Not there!” he rasped, "Not ... to

morning I would venture there, and go
alone into the city deserted for centuries
. . . hills.” Then he fell back, shudder-
ing, and lay still.
by men. The sim threw its last long rays
over the waste expanse even as I looked
For a moment was disconcerted, but
I
toward the fabled city of Burma, and the
I could not afford to ponder his warning.
shadows of dusk crept- upon the plateau.
I went on, toiling all afternoon up that The city faded from sight.
ever-steepening slope before me, through
almost impassable defiles and up sheer HOBBLED my horse in a near-by spot
walls. Occasional trees, low, stunted I where a reddish-brown grass grew,
growths, grew from the brush and waste- gave it as much of the water as I could
land, but these impeded my progress not spare, and prepared for the night. I did
at all. not sit long in the glow of my fire, for I

When I reached the crest of the range, was tired after my long climb, and sleep
the sun was setting. Looking into the red would wipe away or make less real the
bla2 e that tinted the desolate expanse be- memory of my dead friends and the haunt-
fore me, the monotonous, uninhabited ing fear of danger. But when I lay down
waste of unknown Burma, my mind re- under the star-filled sky, I fell asleep not
verted to the fate of my companions and amid dreams of those dead, but of others
my own plight. Grief mingled with fear — those who had gone from Alaozar, the
of the oncoming night. But suddenly I shiuined and unknown.
started. Was it the sun in my eyes that How long I slept I can not say. I awoke
created the strange sightwhich grew out suddenly, almost at once alert, feeling that
of the wasteland far ahead on the Plateau I was no longer alone. My horse was
of Sung? But as I continued to stare whinnying uncannily. Then, as my eyes
ahead, the moving red before my eyes became accustomed to the star-swept dark-
dimmed away, and I knew that what I saw ness, I saw something that brought all my
existed, was no
illusion, no fantasm. Far senses to focus. Far ahead of me against
away across the plateau on whose very the sky I saw a faint white line, flame-like,
edge I stood rose a grove of tall trees, and wavering up, up into the sky toward the
beyond the trees, yet set in their midst, I distant stars. It was like a living thing,
saw the walls and parapets of a city, red like an electrical discharge, surging always
in the glare of the dying sun, rising alone upward. And it came from somewhere
in the plateau like a single monument in on the plateau before me. Abruptly, I
a burial ground. I hardly dared believe sat up. The white line came from the
what my mind thrust forward, yet there earth far ahead of me, in the spot where
was no alternative before me lay the — I had seen the city in the trees, or close

long-lost cit}' of Alaozar, the shunned beside it.

dead city which for centuries had figured Then, as 1 looked, something happened
188 WEIRD TALES
my attention from the light. A
to distract the men and animals of the Hawks Ex-
moving shadow crossed my vision and for pedition! The creature advanced solemn-
an instant blotted out the wavering line ly and put the lamp, which gave off a
ahead. At the same moment my horse weird green light, on a stone table near
neighed suddenly, wildly, and shied away, the bed in which I lay. Then I saw some-
tearing at the rope which held him. There thing else.
was some one close to me —man or an- In my amazement, I had failed to notice
imal, I could not telL the man who walked behind the creature
Even as I started to rise to my feet carrying the lamp. Now, when the little
something struck me a crushing blow on man bowed suddenly in his direction, and
the back of my head. The last thing I scurried away, closing the door of the
knew was a faint, far-away knowledge room behind him, I saw what in propor-
that around me there was suddenly the tion to my first visitor seemed a giant.
sound of many little feet pattering, press- Yet the man was in reality only slightly
ing close to me. Then I sank into black- over six feet in height.
ness. He stood at the side of my bed, looking
2 down me
in the glow of the green
at
lamp. He
was a Chinaman, already well
AWOKE in a bed. past middle age. His green-white face
When last I had lain down to sleep seemed to leap out from the black of his
on the Plateau of Sung, I know I had been gown, and his white hands with their
over a day’s journey from even the rough- long, delicate fingers seemed to hang in
est native mats; yet I awoke in a bed, and black space. On his head he wore a black
instinctively I knew that only a compara- skull-cap, from beneath the rim of which
tively short time had passed since the projected a few straggling white hairs.
mysterious attack made on me. For a few moments he stood looking
For some moments I lay perfectly still, down at me in silence. Then he spoke,
not knowing what danger might lurk near and to my astonishment, addressed me in
me. Then I essayed to move about. flawless English.
There was still a sharp pain in my head. "How do you feel now, Eric Marsh.^’’
I put up my hand to feel the wound I The voice was soft, sibilant, pleasant.
felt sure must be jthere —
and encountered The man, I felt, was a doctor; I looked at
a bandage! My exploring fingers told me him more intently, seeking to draw him
that was not only a skilful bandage but
it closer. There was something alarmingly
also a thoroughly done job. Yet I could familiar about his face.
not have been taken out of the secret fast- "I feel better,” I said. ’"There is still

nesses of Burma in such a short time, slight pain.” The man offered no com-
could not have been moved to civilization! ment, and went on, after a brief pause.
I

But my ruminations were cut short, for "Can you tell me where I am.? How you
abruptly a door opened into the room, and know my name?”
a light entered. I say a light entered, for My strange visitor closed his eyes re-
that is was
exactly the impression I got. It flectively for a moment; then again came
an ordinary lamp, and seemed to float
it his soft voice. "Your baggage is here; it
along without human guidance. But as it identifies you.”He paused. Then he said,
came closer, I saw that it was held aloft "As where you are, perhaps if I told
to
by a very little man, certainly of that same you, you would not know. You are in the
company which had only so recently slain city of Alaozar on the Plateau of Sung.”
 THE LAIR OF THE STAR-SPAWN 189

Yes, that was the explanation. I was in From that time until Fo-Lan returned at
the lost and it was not deserted. Per-
city, dusk, I was not interrupted again.
haps I should have guessed that the
strange
silent city.
I
little people had come from this
I said, "I know.” Abruptly,
looked at the impassive face above me, a
as T he short walk in the streets of Alao-
zar which followed fascinated me.
Fo-Lan led me first to his apartments,
memory returned. "Doctor,” I said, "you which were not far from the room in
remind me of a certain dead man.” which I had spent the day, and there al-
His eyes gazed kindly at me; then he lowed me to look out over tlie city and to
looked away, closing his eyes dreamily. "I the plateau beyond. I saw at once that the
had not hoped that any one might remem- walled city was indeed on an island in the
ber,” he murmured. "Yet ... of whom midst of a lake, the surface of which was
do I remind you, Eric Marsh.^” covered by heavy moving mists, present,
"Of Doctor Fo-Lan, who was murdered I was informed, all day long despite the
at his home in Peiping a few years ago.” burning sun. The water, where it could be
He nodded almost imperceptibly.
seen, was green-black, the same strange
"Doctor Fo-Lan was not murdered, Eric color of the ancient masonry that made up
the city of Alaozar.
Marsh. His brother was left there in his
stead, but he was kidnapped and taken Fo-Lan at my side said, "Not without
from the world. I am Doctor Fo-Lan.” base do ancient legends of China speak of

"These little people,” I murmured.

the long-lost city on the Isle of the Stars
in the Lake of Dread.”
"They took you?” I thought for a fleeting
instant of his standing among them. "Why do they call it the Isle of the
"Then you are not their leader!” Stars?” I asked, looking curiously at Fo-
Lan.
The suggestion of a smile haunted Fo-
Lan’s lips. "No,
"Leader,” he repeated. The doctor’s expression was inscrut-

I am their servant. Tcho-Tcho

I serve the able. He hesitated before answering, but

people in onemost diabolic

of the finally spoke. "Because long before the
schemes ever formulated on the face of time of man, strange beings from the stars
the earth!” —from Rigel, Betelgeuze the stars in —
The came to
astonished questions that
Orion, lived here. And some of them
live here yet!"
my were abruptly quieted by the si-
lips
lent opening of the door, and the entrance I was nonplussed at the intensity of his
of two of the Tcho-Tcho people. At the voice, and then I did not understand, did
same moment, Doaor Fo-Lan said, as if not dream of his meaning. "What do
nothing had happened, "You will rest you mean?” I asked.

until tonight. Then we will walk about He made a vague gesture with his
Alaozar; this has been arranged for you.” hands, and with his eyes bade me be cau-
One of the little people spoke crisply tious. "You were saved from death only
in a language I did not imderstand; I did so that you might help me,” Fo-Lan said.
however, catch the name "Fo-Lan.” The "And I, Eric Marsh, have for years been
doctor turned without a further word helping these little them
people, directing
and left the room, and the two Tcho-Tcho to penetrate the deep and unknown cav-
people followed him. erns beneath the Lake of Dread and the
Presently the door opened once more, surrounding Plateau of Sung where Lloi-
and food and drink were brought me. gor and Zhar, ancient evil ones, and their
190 WEIRD TALES
minions await the day when they can once marked upon the scarcity of the Tcho-
more sweep over the earth to bring death Tcho people.
and destruction and incredible age-old "There are not many of them,” Fo-Lan
evil!" said, "but they are powerful in their own
monstrous way. Yet there are ou-ious lapses in their
I shuddered, and despite its
intelligence. Yesterday, for instance, after
and unbelievable implications, I felt truth
spying your party from the top of this
in Fo-Lan’s amazing statement. Yet I said,
tower, and after going out and annihilat-
"You do not speak like a scientist.
ing it, they returned with two of their
Doctor.”
number dead; they had been shot. The
He gave a curt brittle laugh. "No,” he Tcho-Tcho people could not believe them
replied, "not as you understand a scien- dead, since it is impossible for them to
tist. But what I knew before I came to this conceive of such a weapon as a gun. At
place is small in comparison to what I
base, they are a very simple people; yet
learned here. And the science that men in they are inherently malevolent, for they
the outer world know even now is noth- know that they are working for the de-
ing but a child’s mental play. Hasn’t it struction of all that is good in the world.”
sometimes occurred to you that after all "I do not quite understand,” I said.
we may be the playthings of intelligences "I can feel that you do not believe in
so vast that we are imable to conceive this monstrous fable,” Fo-Lan replied.
them?” "How can I explain it to you; you are
Fo-Lan made a slight gesture of annoy- bound by conventions long established?
ance and silenced the protest on my lips Yet I will try. Perhaps you wish to think
with a sign. Then we began the descent that it is all a legend; but I will offer you
into the streets. Only when I was outside, tangible proof that there is more than
standing in the narrow streets scarcely legend here.
wide enough for four men walking
abreast, did I realize that Fo-Lan’s apart- ONS ago, a strange race of elder be-
“'P'
ment was in the highest tower in Aloazar, ings lived on Earth; they came from
to which, indeed, the other turrets were Rigel and Betelgeuze to take up their
very small in comparison. 'There were few abode here and upon other planets. But
hi^ them crouching
buildings, most of they were followed by those who had
low on the ground. The city was very been their slaves on the stars, those who
small, and took up most of the island, had set up opposition to the Elder Ones
save for a very inconsiderable fringe of the evil followers of Cthulhu, Hastur the
land just beyond the ancient walls, on Unspeakable, Lloigor and Zhar, the twin
which grew the trees I had seen at sunset Obscenities, and others. The Ancient
the day before, trees which I now noticed Ones fought these evil beings for posses-
were different from any others I had ever sion of the earth, and after many cen-
seen, having a strange reddish-green foli- turies, they conquered. Hastur fled into

age and green-black trunks. 'The sibilant outer space, but Cthulhu was banished to
whispering of their curious leaves accom- the lost sea kingdom of R’lyeh, while
panied us in our short walk, and it was Lloigor and Zhar were buried alive deep
not untilwe were once more in Fo-Lan’s in the inner fastnesses of Asia —beneath
apartment that I remembered there had the accursed Plateau of Sung!
been no wind of any kind; yet the leaves "Then the Old Ones, the Elder Gods,
had moved continually! Tlien, too, I re- returned to the stars of Orion, leaving be-
 THE LAIR OF THE STAR-SPAWN 191

hind them ever-damned Cthulhu, Lloigor, ments; through us the things below will
Zhar, and others. But the evil ones left die.”
seeds on the plateau, on the island in the "You are speaking in riddles. Doctor,”
Lake of Dread which the Old Ones I said.
caused to be put there. And from these
"Nightly for many months I have tried
seeds have sprung the Tcho-Tcho people,
to call for help witli the force of my
the spawn of elder evil, and now these
mind, have tried to get through the cos-
people await the day when Lloigor and
mos to those who alone can help in the
Zhar will rise again and sweep over all titanic struggle before us. Last night I
the earth!”
found a way, and soon I myself will go
I had to summon all my restraint to forth and demand the assistance we
keep from shrieking my disbelief aloud. need.”
After some hesitation I forced myself to
"Still I do not understand,” I said.
say in as calm a voice as I could assume,
Fo-Lan closed his eyes for a moment.
"What you have told me is impossible,
Then he said, "You do not want to un-
Fo-Lan.”
derstand me, or you are afraid to. I am
Fo-Lan smiled wearily. He moved suggesting that by telepathy I will sum-
closer tome, put his hand gently on my mon help from those who first fought the
arm, and said, "Have they never taught
things imprisoned below us.”
you, Eric Marsh, that there lives no man
"There exists no proof of telepathy.
who may say what and what
is possible
Doctor.”
What I have
not.^ you is true; it is
told
impossible only because you are incapable . It was a foolish thing Fo-Lan
to say, as

of thinking of this earth in any terms but

immediately pointedto me.
out He
those suggested by the little science the
smiled, a little "Try to throw
scornfully.
off your shackles, Eric Marsh. You come
outer world knows.”
to a place you did not know existed, and
I felt myself rebuked. "And I must
you see things which are to you impos-
help you raise these dead things, pene-
sible; yet you seek to deny something so
trate the subterranean caverns below Alao-
close and conceivable as telepathy.”
zar and bring up the creatures that lie
"I'm sorry,” I said. "I’m afraid I’m
there to destroy the earth?” I asked in-
not going to be much of a help to you.
credulously.
How am I to help you? And how will
Fo-Lan looked at me impassively. Then you go forth?”
his voice sank to a whisper, and he said, "You are to watch over my body when
"Yes . and no. The Tcho-Tcho people
. .
upward
I travel to seek the help of those
believe you will help me to raise them,
above.”
and so they must continue to believe; but Dimly, intelligence began to come to
you and I, Eric Marsh you and I are
. . .
me. "Last night,” I murmured, "out there
going to destroy the things below!” on the plateau, I saw a white line waver-
Iwas bewildered. For a moment I en- ing into the sky.”
tertained the idea that my companion was Fo-Lan nodded. "That was the way,”
—
mad. "Two of us against a host of crea- he said, "made visible by the power of
tures and the Tcho-Tcho people and our — my desire. Soon I shall travel it.”
only weapon my gun, wherever that is?” I leaned forward eagerly, wanting to

Fo-Lan shook his head. "You antici- ask him a score of questions. But Fo-Lan
pate me. You and I will be but the instru- held up his hand for silence. "Have you
192 WEIRD TALES
heard nothing, Eric Marsh?” he said. "All ried the lamp in one hand, and its green-
this while it has been growing.” ish glow served as illumination for our
The moment Fo-Lan mentioned it, I perilous journey, for the steps were un-
realized that Ihad heard something, had even and steep. As we descended, the
been hearing ever since we had re-
it sounds from below grew noticeably
entered the doctor’s apartment. It was a louder. Now the humming sound was
low humming, a disturbing sound as of frequently cut into by another, the sound
a chant, which seemed to well up from of many voices murmuring together in
far below, and yet seemed equally present some long-forgotten language.
from all sides. And at the same time I Then, abruptly, Fo-Lan stopped. He
was conscious of a distinct atmospheric gave the lamp to me, and with a brief
change, something which Fo-Lan did not caution to me not to speak, gave his atten-
perhaps notice, since he had been here tion to the wall before him. Raising the
now for years. It was a growing tension, lamp above my head, I saw that the stone
a pressing, feverish tension in the chill steps went no farther, that we were, in
night air. Slowly there grew in me a feel- fact, within two feet of solid masonry.

ing of great fear; the very air, I felt, was Suddenly Fo-Lan reached back and ex-
'

noxious with cosmic evil. tinguished the light, and at the same time
"What is it?” I murmured. I was conscious of an opening in the wall

Fo-Lan did not answer.
to be listening intently to the chant or
humming sound mounting from below,
smiling to himself. Then he looked
cryptically at me and abruptly stepped to
He appeared before us, where Fo-Lan had moved aside
an old stone. "Look down, and with care,”
he whispered. Then he stepped aside,
and I peered downward.
I looked into a gigantic cavern, illumi-

the outer wall. There he pulled hard at
one of the ancient stones in the wall, and
in amoment, a large section of the wall
swung slowly inward, revealing a dark
passage beyond, a secret way leading
downward. Fo-Lan came swiftly back to-
ward me, taking up one of the little green
lamps with which J had once before come
in contact, and lighting it as he spoke
me.
"I have not been idle in these past
years. I fashioned that way myself, and
only I know of it. Come, Eric Marsh; I
nated by a huge green lamp seemingly
suspended in space, and by at least a hun-
dred smaller ones. The first thing that
caught my eye was the horde of Tcho-
Tcho people prostrate on the floor; it was
from them that the low murmuring sound
was coming. Then I saw an upright fig-
ure among them. It was that of a Tcho-
to Tcho man, slightly taller than the others,
I thought, disfigured by a hump on his
back, and incredibly old. He was stalking
slowly forward, supported by a crooked
black Behind me, Fo-Lan, noticing
stick.

will show you what no Tcho-Tcho sus- the direction of my glance, murmured,
pects I have ever seen, what will silence "That is E-poh, leader of the Tcho-Tcho
all protest or disbelief in you.” people; he is seven thousand years old!”
I could not help turning in utter surprize.

T he found myself de-

stairs which I

scending in a few moments led

downward along the round wall of a
Fo-Lan motioned forward. "You have
seen nothing. Look beyond them, beyond
E-poh, in the half-darkness forward, but
shaft that pierced the earth. Down, do not crjf out.”
down we went, feeling the walls on both My gaze swept those prostrate figures,
sides of us with our hands. Fo-Lan car- passed beyond E-poh, and began to ex-
W. T.~8
 THE LAIR OF THE STAR-SPAWN 193

plofe the dusk beyond. I think I must shall destroy, and my

dead brother will
have been looking for some moments at be avenged!’’ He spoke with an intensity
the thing that crouched there before I I had not imagined him capable of.

actually realized it; that was because the He did not wait for any comment from
creature was so large. I hesitate to write me. Passing beyond me, he put the lamp
of it, for I can blame no one for not be- down on a small table near the door.
lieving me. Yet it was there. I saw it 'Then he went into the bedroom and Ik
first because my gaze fixed upon the green another lamp; I saw its green light on die
gleaming from its eyes. Then, abruptly, I wall as he came once more into the room
saw it entirely. I thank Providence that where I stood.
the light was not strong, that only its "Mind,” said Fo-Lan as he stood be-
vaguest outlines were clear to me, and I fore me, "is all-powerful. Mind is every-
regret only that my innate doubt of Fo- thing, Eric Marsh. This evening you saw
Lan’s strange story made the shock c>f this things of which you hesitated to speak,
revelation accordingly sharper. even before you saw the thing in the cav-
For the thing that crouched in the —
ern below Lloigor. You saw leaves
weird green dusk was a living mass of —
move on trees and they moved by the
shuddering horror, a gfiastly mountain of power of evil intelligences far Wow
sensate, quivering flesh, whose tentacles, —
them, deep in the earth a living proof of
dim reaches of the subter-
fiur-fluog in the the existence of Lloigor and Zhar.
ranean cavern, emitted a strange hum- "E-poh has a mind of great power, but
ming sound, while from the depths of the the knowledge I have endows me with
creature’s body came a weird and horrific greater power despite his tremendous age.
ululation. Then I fell back into Fo-Lan’s Long hours I have sought to penetrate
arms. My mouth opened to cry out, but cosmic space, and so powerful has my
I felt the doctor’s firm hand clapped across mind become that even you could see the
my lips, and from a great distance I thought-thread that wavered upward from
seemed to hear his voice. Alaozar last night! And mind, Erk
"That ti Uoigor!" Marsh, exists independent of body.
"I will wait no longer. Tonight I will
go forth, now, while the worship is in
3
progress. And you must watch my body.”
o-lan’s story was true! Colossal as his plan was, I could only
I found myself suddenly in Fo- believe. What I had seen during the short
Lan’s apartment. I know I must have space of my visit was unbelievable, impos-
cliihbed the long winding steps, but I do sible, yet was!
not remember climbing them, for the Fo-Lan continued. "My body will r«t
tumultuous thoughts that troubled me on the bed in the chamber beyond, but my
and the hideous memory of the thing I mind will go where I wish it with a speed
had seen served to drive from my mind incomparable to anything we know. I will
all consciousness of what I was doing. think myself on Rigel, and I shall be
Fo-Lan came quiddy away from the there. You must watch that none disturbs
wall and stood before me, his face trium- my body while I am gone. It will not be
phant in the green lamplight. "For three long.”
years I have helped them penetrate into Fo-Lan drew from his voluminous robe
the eardi, into die caverns below, have a small pistol, which I recognized im-
helped them in their evil purpose; now I mediately as one I had been carrying in
W. T.—
194 WEIRD TALES
my pack. "You will kill any one who "That is to inform E-poh that I must
tries to enter, Eric Marsh.” speak to him about an urgent matter
Beckoning me to follow him, Fo-Lan concerning the things below.”
led the way into his chamber, and despite "And your quest?” I asked. "Has it

my feeble protest, stretched himself on the been successful?”

bed. Almost at once his body went rigid, He
smiled wryly. "It will be successful
and at tlie same moment I saw a gray out- only if I can convince E-poh to open the
line of Fo-Lan standing before me, a way for Lloigor and Zhar and their count-
smile on his thin lips, his eyes turned up- less —
hordes tonight now! The way must
ward. Then he was gone, and I was alone be open, otherwise even the Star-Warriors
with his body. are helpless to penetrate earth.”
The sound of running feet in the cor-
or over an hour I sat in Fo-Lan’s apart- ridor cut shortmy questions. The door
F ment, my terror moimting with each opened inward and on the threshold I saw
second. Only in that hour was I capable two of the Tcho-Tcho people, dressed in
of approaching in my thoughts the cata- long green robes and wearing on their
clysmic which confronted the
horror foreheads curious five-pointed star-
world Fo-Lan was vinsuccessful in his
if designs. They ignored me completely, ad-
daring quest. Once, too, while I sat there, dressing themselves to Fo-Lan. A rapid
pattering footsteps halted beyond the conversation in their strange language fol-
outer door; then, to my unspeakable re- lowed, and in a moment the two little

lief, passed on. Toward the end of my people turned to lead the way.
watch, the abrupt cessation of the chant- Fo-Lan started motioning
after them,
ing soimds from below, followed by the me to follow. "From E-poh,” he whis-
noises of movement throughout the island pered. Then he added in a quick voice,
city, indicated that the worship was over. "Be careful and speak no English before
Then for the first time I left the chamber E-poh, for he understands it. Also, be
to take up my position at the outer door, certain you still have the gun, for E-poh
where I stood, gun in hand, waiting for will not let us go beyond Alaozar without
the interruptions my terrified mind told an escort. And those little people you and
me must come. I will have to kill.”

But I never had cause to use the wea- We went rapidly down the corridor,
pon, for suddenly* I heard the sound of and after a long descent, found ourselves
feet behind me. I whirled —and saw Fo- on the street level, and deep in the tower.
Lan! He had returned. He stood quietly, At last we entered an apartment similar
listening; then he nodded to himself and in many respects to Fo-Lan’s, but neither
said, "We must leave Alaozar, Eric so small nor so civilized in its aspect.
Marsh. Alone, we can not do it, and we There we confronted E-poh, surrounded
have little time to waste. We must see by a group of little people dressed simi-
E-poh, and have his permission to go be- larly to our guides. Fo-Lan bowed low,
yond to the Plateau of Sung.” and I did the same imder the stress of
Fo-Lan moved forward now, and those curious little eyes turned on me.
tugged at a long rope which hung quite E-poh was seated on a sort of raised
near me along the wall. From somewhere dais, suggestive of his leadership, but be-
far below there came the abrupt clang of yond the evidence of his great age in his
a gong. Once more Fo-Lan pulled the lined face and his withered hands, and
rope, and again the gong sounded. the servile attitude of the Tcho-Tcho peo-
 THE LAIR OF THE STAR-SPAWN 193

pie ne«
him, there was no indication that Lake of Dread, then Eric Marsh and I
he was the ruler of the little people must return to Alaozar, to plan for them
around us. the way beyond, into the outer world.”
"E-poh,” said Fo-Lan, speaking in E-poh pondered this statement. In me
English for my benefit, "I have had intel- uneasiness was beginning to grow when
from those below.”
ligence at last the Tcho-Tcho leader said, "It will
E-poh dosed his eyes slowly, saying in be as you wish, Fo-Lan, but four of my
a strange whistling voice, "And this in- people must go with you and the Amer*
telligence —what is it, Fo-Lan?” ican.”
Fo-Lan chose to i^ore his question, Fo-Lan bowed. "It is pleasing to me
"Lloigor and Zhar themselves have spok- that four others accompany us. But it is
en to my mind!” he said. necessary also for us to take with us food
E-poh opened his eyes and looked at and water, for there is no way of telling

the doctor iii disbelief. "Even to me Thds how many hours it may take the Old
has never spoken, Fo-Lan. How can it Ones to rise from below.”
be that he has spoken to you?” E-poh acquiesced without question.
"Because I have fashioned the way, Within a half-hour the six of us found
mine have been the bands that groped be- ourselves pushing off the Isle of the Stars
low and found Lloigor and those others. into the Lake of Dread, heavily shrouded
7hit is greater than Lloigor, and of in thick mists which gave off a strange
greater age, and his word is Hw to those putrescent odor. The barge-like boat in
below.” which we rode was strangely suggestive
"And what has Zhar conununicated to of ancient Roman galleys, yet very differ*
you, Fo-Lan?” ent. The Tcho-Tcho people sculled their
"It is written below that tonight is the way across the lake, and in a few moments
time when the buried ones wish to come we had readied the opposite shore and
forthj and it is decreed that the servants were pushing rapidly across the Plateau
of E-prfr miBt go beyond Alaozar, beyond of Sung.
the Lake of Dread to the Plateau of Sung,
there to await the
from below.”
E-poh peered
comihg of the Old Ones

intently at Fo-Lan, his

perplexity evident, "Toni^t
with Lloigor; it is strange that he told
nothing of this plan, Fo-Lan.”
Fo-Lan bowed again. "That is because
the decision is Zhar’s, and of this Lloigor
did not know until now.”
"And it is strange that the
did not address themselves to me.”
For a moment Fo-Lan hesitated; then
he said, "That is because !^ar wishes me
to go beyond Alaozar, to address those be-
low Sung, while E-poh and his people
must summon the Gods below from the
towers and house-tops of Alaozar. When
Lloigor and Zhar have come above the
W
call,
E HAD not gcHie far, when from be-
hind us came a weird whistling
then another and another, and finally
I spoke long a ghastly assembly was piping weirdly
me from the towers of Alaozar. And from
below there came suddenly tlie terrifying
sound of movements under the earth.
"They have opened the vast caverns be*
low the dty,” murmured Fo-Lan, "and
Old Ones they are calling fortii Lloigor and Zhar
and those below them.”
Then Fo-Lan looked swiftly arOund,
calculating the distance we had coveted.
Abruptly he turned to me, whispering,
"Give me ffie gun; ffiey will not heat in
the city.”
Silently I handed die doctor the wea-
pon, and following his sign, backed away.
196 WEIRD TALES
Sharply the sound of the first shot cut into their sides grew three pairs of flailing
the night; immediately after, a second growths similar to arms, yet not arms, and
shot rang out. Two of our little com- in these growths they carried curious tube-
panions were dead. But the other two, like weapons. And in size, these beings
seeing what had happened to their com- were monstrous.
panions, and sensing their own fate, "My God!’’ I exclaimed, when I could
jumped nimbly away, drawing their sharp my voice. "What is it, Fo-Lan.?’’
find
little two-edged swords. Then, together, Fo-Lan’s eyes were gleaming in tri-

they came at Fo-Lan. The revolver spat umph. "They are the Star-Warriors sent
again, and one of them went down, claw- by the Ancient Ones from Orion. Up
ing wildly at the air. But the last of them there they listened to my plea, for they
—
came on and the revolver jammed. know and Zhar and their evil
that Lloigor
Fo-Lan leaped aside at the same in- spawn man; they know
are deathless to
stant that I flung myself forward, falling that only the ancient weapons of the Elder
on the Tcho-Tcho man from behind. Tire Gods can punish and destroy.’’
force of my attack caused him drop the
to I looked once more into the sky. The
weapon he held in his hand, and I glowing beings were now much closer,
thought for a moment that his death was and I saw that the things they rode were
certain. But I had reckoned without his limbless — that they were exactly like long
strength. He whirled at once, catching me tubes, pointed at both ends, travelling
unaware, and with the greatest ease flung evidently only in the power of the ray of
me five feet from him. But this short lightemanating from the stars far above.
pause had been sufficient for Fo-Lan; "The ululations from beneath the earth
darting forward, he seized the weapon the —
have guided them here and now they
Tcho-Tcho man had dropped. Then, just will destroy!"
as the little man turned, Fo-Lan plunged
the weapon into his body. He dropped O-lan’s voice was drowned out abrupt-
instantly. F by the terrific clamor that rose from
ly

I staggered to my feet, bruised from Alaozar. For the Star-Warriors had sur-
the shock of being thrown to the ground rounded the city, and now from their tube-
with such force; I had not imagined that like appendages shot forth great beams of
these little men could be so powerful, de- annihilation and death! And the age-old
spite Fo-Lan's early wa':nipg. Fo-Lan was masonry of Alaozar was crumbling into
standing quite still, an almost ecstatic, ruin. Then suddenly the Star-Warriors
smile on his face. I looked at him, and descended, entering into the city, and pen-
opened my lips to speak —and then a etrating the vast caverns beneath.
movement far behind him caught my eye. And then two things happened. The
At the same instant Fo-Lan turned. entire skybegan to glow with a weird
Far up in the sky a brilliant beam of purple and in the ray that descend-
light,
light was growing —
and it did not come ed from above I saw a file of beings even
from the earth! Then suddenly, so swiftly stranger than the Star-Warriors. 'They
the light grew, the surrounding country were great, writhing pillars of light, mov-
was as light as day, and in the sky I saw ing like tremendous flames, colored pur-
countless hordes of strange, fiery crea- ple and white, dazzling in their intensity.
tures, apparently mounted on creatures of These gigantic beings from outer space
burden. The were oddly
riders in the sky descended swiftly, circling the Plateau of
like men in construction, save that from Sung, and from them great rays of stab-
 THE LAIR OF THE STAR-SPAWN 197

bing light shot out toward the hidden several observatories in the Orient, seem-
fastnesses below. And at the same time, ingly centered in its elemental force some-
the earth began to tremble. where in Burma. Still another paragraph
Shuddering, I put out my hand to touch concerns an apparition (thus it is called)
Fo-Lan’s arm. He was utterly unmoved, supposedly seen in the night during which
save in triumphant joy at the spectacle of Doctor Fo-Lan and Eric Marsh so myste-
"The Ancient
the destruction of Alaozar. riously returned to Bangka; it was that of
Ones themselves have come!” he cried out. a gigantic pillar of light, towering far into
I remember wanting to say something, the sky, and alive with movement; it was
but I saw suddenly one of those incon- seen by forty-seven persons in and around
ceivable pillars of light bending over Fo- Bangka.
Lan and me, and I felt slithering tentacles The was dated ten days
final clipping
gently reaching around me; then I knew later; it was taken from an eminent Lon-
no more. don paper, and is the verbatim report of
There is little more came to
to write. I an aviator who flew over Burma in the
my senses near Bangka, milesfrom the endeavor to trace the source of a fetid
Plateau of Sung, and at my side was Fo- odor which was sweeping the country,
Lan, unhurt and smiling. We had been nauseating India and China for hundreds
transported within the second by the of miles around. The heart of this report
Ancient God who had bent to save us is briefly:

from the destruction of the things beneath "The odor I traced to the so-called Pla-
the earth. teau of Sung, to which I was attracted by
accidental sight of hitherto unknown
4
ruins in the heart of the plateau. I found,

T he statement of Eric Marsh ends thus

abruptly. However, what surmises
might be made from it, this paper will not
to my amazement, that for
the earth of the plateau had been broken
some reason

and torn up for its entire area, save for one

state. Mr. Marsh had appended to his
curious statement several newspaper clip-
pings, all of them dated within ten days
of his appearance at Bangka, where he
evidently stayed for a while with Doctor
Fo-Lan before returning to America.
There is room for only a brief summary
of the clippings.
The first was from a Tokyo paper an-
nouncing the strange reappearance of
Doctor Fo-Lan. Another clipping from
the same issue of that paper tells of a
curious electrical display witnessed
spot not far from a deep cavern near the
ruins, which bears evidence of once hav-
ing been a lake. On this spot I managed
to effect a landing. I left the machine in
order to determine the meaning of the
great green-black masses of rotting flesh
which greeted my eyes at once. But the
odor forced a quick retreat. Yet this I
know; the remains on the Plateau of Sung
are those of what must have been gigantic
animals, apparently boneless, and utterly
unknown to man. And they must have
from met death in battle with mortal enemiesl"
 Hhe story of a mad horror loosed upon a mediaeval village by Blaise Reynard
the stone-cutter

A MONO the many gargoyles that were little more than vague, anony-
tioiis

frowned or leered from the roof
^ ^ of the new-built cathedral
Vyones, two were pre-eminent above the
rest by virtue of their fine workmanship
and supreme grotesquery. These
their
two had been wrought by the stone-carver
Blaise Reynard, a native of Vyones,
had lately returned from a long sojourn
in the cities of Provence, and had secured
employment on the cathedral when the
its construction and
three years’ task of
ornamentation was well-nigh completed.
In view of the wonderful artistry shown
by Reynard, it was regretted by Ambro-
sius,the archbishop, that it had not been
possible to commit the execution of all
the gargoyles to this delicate and accom-
plished workman; but other people, with
than Ambrosius, were
less liberal tastes
heard to express a different opinion.
This opinion, perhaps, was tinged by
mous rumors, even to the end, throu^
Of lack of veritable evidence.
However, the people who suspected
Reynard of diabolic afiiliations were wont
for awhile to instance the two gargoyles
as sufficient proof. No man, they con-
who tended, who was not inspired by the
Arch-Enemy, could have carven anything
so sheerly evil and malignant, could have
embodied so consummately in mere stone
the living lineaments of the most demoni-
acal of all the deadly Sins.
The two gargoyles were perched on op-
posite corners of a high tower of the ca-
thedral. One was a snarling, murderous,
cat-headed monster, with retracted lips re-
vealing formidable fangs, and eyes that
glared intolerable hatred from beneath
ferine brows. This creature had the claws
and wings of a griffin, and seemed as if
it were poised in readiness to swoop down

the personal dislike that had been gen- on the city of Vyones, like a harpy on its
toward Aeynard in Vyones even
erally felt prey. Its companion was a horned satyr,
from boyhood; and which had been
his with the vans of some great bat such as
revived with some virulence on his re- might roam the nether caverns, with
turn. Whether rightly or unjustly, his sharp, clenching talons, and a look of
very physiognomy had always marked him Satanically brooding lust, as if it were
out for public disfavor: he was inordi- gloating above the helpless object of its
nately dark, with hair and beard of a unclean desire. Both figures were com-
preternatural bluish-black, and slanting, plete, even to the hindquarters, and were
ill-matched eyes that gave him a sinister not mere conventional adjuncts of the’
and cunning air. His taciturn and satur- roof. One would have expected them to
nine ways were such as a superstitious peo- start at any moment from the stone in

ple would identify with necromantic which they were mortised.

knowledge or complicity; and there were Ambrosius, a lover of art, had been
those who covertly accused him of being openly delighted with these creations,
in league with Satan; though the accusa- because of their high technical merit and
198
 THE MAKER OF GARGOYLES 199

|.»(»VA4

'There came a thunderous crash, and

the panes of the window were shat-
tered to fragments."

their verisimilitude as works of sculp- through mere everyday familiarity; and

ture. But others, including many humbler eventually they were almost forgotten.
dignitaries of the Church, were more or The scandal of opposition died down,
less scandalized, and said that the work- and the stone-carver himself, though the
man had informed these figures with the townsfolk continued to eye him askance,
visible likeness of his own vices, to the was able to secure other work through the
glory of Belial rather than of God, and favor of discriminating patrons. He re-

had thus perpetrated a sort of blasphemy. mained in Vyones; and paid his ad-
Of course, they admitted, a certain dresses, albeit without visible success, to
amount of grotesquery was requisite in a taverner’s daughter, one Nicolette Vil-
gargoyles; but in this case the allowable lom, of whom, it was said, he had long
bounds had been egregiously overpassed. been enamored in his own surly and reti-
However, with the completion of the cent fashion.
cathedral,and in spite of all this adverse But Reynard himself had not forgotten
criticism, the high-poised gargoyles of the gargoyles. Often, in passing the
Blaise Reynard, like all other details of superb pile of the cathedral, he would
the building, were soon taken for granted gaze up at them with a secret satisfaction
200 WEIRD TALES
whose cause he could hardly have as- place of equivocal legends, of loups-garous
signed or delimited. They seemed to re- and phantoms, approached to the very
tain for him a rare and mystical meaning, walls and flung its umbrage upon them at

to signalize an obscure but pleasurable early forenoon and evening. On the other
triumph. sides there lay cultivated fields, and gen-
He would have said, if asked for the tle streams that meandered among wil-
reason of hts satisfaction, that he was lows or poplars, and roads that ran
proud of a skilful piece of handiwork. He through an open plain to the high
would not have said, and perhaps would
chateaux of noble lords and to regirms
not even have known, that in one of the
beyond Averoigne.
gargoyles he had imprisoned all his fes-
'The town itself was prosperous, and
tering rancor, all his answering spleen
and hatred toward the people of Vyones,
had never shared in the ill-fame of the
who had always hated him; and had set bordering forest.It had long been sancti-
fied by the presence of two nunneries
the image of this rancor to peer venom-
ously down from a lofty place.
for ever and a monastery; and now, with the com-
And perhaps he would not even have pletion of the long-planned cathedral, it

dreamt that in the second gargoyle he had was thought that Vyones would have
somehow expressed his own dour and henceforward the additional protection of
satyr-like passion for the girl Nkolette a more august holiness; that demon and
a passion that had brought him back to stryge and incubus would keep their dis-
the detested city of his youth after years tance from its heaven-favored purlieus
of wandering; a passion singularly tena- with a more meticulous caution than
cious of one object, and differing in this before.
regard from the ordinary lusts of a na- Of course, as in all mediaeval towns,
ture so brutal as Reynard’s. there had been occasional instances of
Always to the stone-cutter, even more alleged sorcery or demoniacal possession;
than to those who had criticized and ab- and, once or twice, the perilous tempta-
horred his productions, the gargoyles tions of succubi had made their inroads
were alive, they possessed a vitality and a on the pious virtue of Vyones. But this
seotiency of their own. And most of all was nothing more than might be ex-
did they seem to Jive when the summer pected, in a world where the Devil and
drew an end and the autumn rains had
to his works were always more or less ram-
gathered upon Vyones. Then, when the pant. No one could possibly have antici-
full cathedral gutters poured above the pated the reign of infernal horrors that
streets, one mi^t have thought that the was to make hideous the latter month of
actual spittle of a foul malevolence, the autumn, following the cathedral’s erec-
very slaver of an impure lust, had some- tion.
how been mingled with the water that ran To make the matter even more inex-
in rills from the mouths of the gargoyles. plicable, and more blasphemously dread-
ful than it would otherwise have been,
2 the first of these horrors occurred in the
neighborhood of the cathedral itself and
A t that time, in the year of our Lord,
1138, Vyones was the principal town
of the province of Averoigne. On two
almost beneath its sheltering shadow.
Two men, a respectable clothier named
sides the great, shadow-haunted forest, a Guillaume Maspier and an equally repu-
 THE MAKER OF GARGOYLES 201

ONSTERNATION was rife on the mor-

table cooper, one Gerome Mazzal, were
returning to their lodgings in the late C row, when the story became gen-
known; and rites of exorcism
hours of a November eve, after imbibing erally

both the red and white wines of the coun- against the invading demon were per-

tryside in more than one tavern. Accord- formed by the clergy in all public places
ing to Maspier, who alone survived to and before thresholds. But the sprinkling
of holy water and the mumbling of stated
tell the tale, they were passing along a
forms were futile; for the evil spirit was
street that skirted the cathedral square,
still abroad, and its malignity was proved
and could see the bulk of the great build-
once more, on the night following the
ing against the stars, when a flying mon-
ghastly death of Gerome Mazzal.
ster, black as the soot of Abaddon, had
The time, it claimed two victims,
descended upon them from the heavens burghers of high probity and some conse-
and assailed Gerome Mazaal, beating him quence, on whom it descended in a nar-
down with its heavily flapping wings and row alley, slaying ond of them instantane-
seizinghim with its inch-long teeth and ously, and dragging down the other from
talons. behind as he sought to flee. The shrill
cries of the helpless men, and the guttural
Maspier was unable to describe the
growling of the demon, were heard by
he had seen
creature witih minuteness, for
people in the houses along the alley; and
it but dimly and partially in the unlit
some, who were hardy enough to peer
street; and moreover, the fate of his com-
from their windows, had seen the depar-
panion, who had fallen to the cobble-
ture of the infamous assailant, blotting
stones with the black devil snarling and
out the autumn stars with the sable and
tearing at his throat, had not induced
misshapen foulness of its wings, and
Maspier to linger in that vicinity. He hovering in execrable menace above the
had betaken himself from the scene witfi
house-tops.
all the celerity of which he was capable, After this, few people would venture
and had stopped only at the house of a abroad at night, unless in case of dire and
priest, many streets away, where be had exigent need; and those who did venture
related his adventure between shudder- went in armed companies and were all
ings and hiccuppings. furnished with flambeaux, thinking thus

Armed with holy water and aspergillus, to frighten away the demon, which they
adjudged a creature of darkness that
and accompanied by many of the towns-
would abhor the light and shrink there-
people carrying torches, staves and hal-
from, through the nature of its kind. But
berds, the priest was led by Maspier to
the boldness of this fiend was beyond
the place of the horror; and there they
measure; for proceeded to attack more
it
had found the body of Mazzal, with fear-
than one company of worthy citizens, dis-
fully mangled face, and throat and bosom
regarding the flaring torches that were
lined with bloody lacerations. The de-
thrust in its face, or putting them out
moniac assailant had flown, and it was not with the stenchful wind of its wide vans.
seen or encountered again that night; but Evidently it was a spirit of homicidal
those who had beheld its work returned on whom it seized
hate; for all the people
aghast to their homes, feeling that a crea- were grievously mangled or torn to num-
ture of nethermost hell had come to visit berless shreds by its teeth and talons.
the city, and perchance to abide therein. Those who saw it, and survived, were
202 lWEIRD tales

wont to describe it variously and with and tapers burnt, the demon invaded the
much ambiguity; but all agreed in attrib- high nave through the open door, ex-
uting to it the head of a ferocious animal tinguished all the candles with one flap
and tlie wings of a monstrous bird. Some, of its sooty wings, and dragged down no
the most learned in demonology, were less than three of the officiating priests to
fain to identify k with Modo, the spirit an unholy death in the darkness.
of murder; and others took it for one of Every one now felt that a truly formid-
the great lieutenants of Satan, perhaps able assault was being made by the powers
Amaimon or Alastor, gone mad with of Evil on the Christian probity of
exasperation at the impregnable suprem- Vyones. In the condition of abject terror,
acy of Qirist in the holy city of Vyones. of extreme disorder and demoralization
The terror that soon prevailed, be- that followed upon this new atrocity,
neath the widening scope of these Satan- there was a deplorable outbreak of human
ical incursions and depredations, was be- crime, of murder and rapine and thievery,
yond all belief — a clotted, seething, devil-
together with covert manifestations of
ridden gloom of superstitious obsession,
Satanism, and celebrations of the Black
not to be hinted in modern language.
Mass attended by many neophytes.
Even by daylight, the Gothic wings of
Then, in the midst of all this pande-
nightmare seemed to brood in luidepart-
moniacal fear and confusion, it was ru-
ing oppression above the city; and fear
was everywhere, like the foul contagion mored that a second devil had been seen

of some epidemic plague. The inhabi-
tants went their way in prayer and trem-
bling; and the archbishop himself, as well
as the subordinate clergy, confessed
ability to cope with the ever-growing hor-
ror. An emissary was sent to
procure water that had been specially
sanctified by the Pope. This alone, it was
thought, would be efficacious enough to
drive away the dreadful visitant.
In the meanwhile; the horror waxed,
and mounted to its culmination. One eve,
toward the middle of November, the ab-
bot of the local monastery of Cordeliers,
in Vyones; that the murderous fiend was
accompanied by a spirit of equal de-
formity and darkness, whose intentions
an in- were those of lechery, and which mo-
none but women. This creature had
lested
Rome, to frightened several dames and demoiselles
and maid-servants into a veritable hysteria
by peering through their bedroom win-
dows; and had sidled lasciviously, with
uncouth mows and grimaces, and gro-
tesque flappings of its bat-shaped wings,
toward others who had occasion to fare
from house to house across the nocturnal
streets.

who had gone forth to administer extreme •

However, strange to say, there were no
imction to a dying friend, was seized by authentic instances in which the chastity of
the black devil just as he approached the any woman had suffered actual harm from
threshold of his destination, and was slain this noisome incubus. Many were ap-
in the same atrocious manner as the other proached by it, and were terrified immod-

victims. erately by the hideousness and lustfulness

To this doubly infamous deed, a scarce- of its demeanor; but no one was ever
believable blasphemy was soon added. On touched. Even in that time of horror, both
the very next night, while the torn body spiritual and corporeal, there were those
of the abbot lay on a rich catafalque in who made a ribald jest of this singular
the cathedral, and masses were being said abstention on the part of the demon, and
 THE MAKER OF GARGOYLES
said was seeking throughout
that it
Vyones for some one whom it had not
yet found.
3
T he lodgings of Blaise Reynard were
separated only by the length of a
dark and crooked alley from the tavern
kept by Jean Villom, fte father of Nico-
lette. In this tavern, Reynard had been
wont to spend his evenings; though his
suit was frowned upon by Jean Villom,
Mid had received but scant encouragement
from the girl herself. However, because
of his well-filled purse and his almost
limitable capacity for wine, Reynard was
tolerated. He came early each night, with
the falling of darkness, and would sit
silence hour after hour, staring with hot
and sullen eyes at Nicolette, and gulping
joylessly the potent vintages of Ave-
roigne. Apart from their desire to retain
his custom, the people of the tavern were
a little afraid of him, on account of his
dubious and semi-sorcerous reputation,
and also because of his surly temper. They
did not wish to antagonize him more than
was necessary.
Like everyone else in Vyones, Reynard
had felt the suffocating burden of super-
stitious terror during those nights when
the fiendish marauder was hovering above
the town and might descend on the luck-
less wayfarer at any moment, in any lo-
cality. Nothing less urgent and impera-
tive than the obsession of his half-bestial
longing for Nicolette could have induced
him to traverse after dark the length of
that winding alley to the tavern door.
The autumn nights had been moonless.
Now, on the evening that followed the
desecration of the cathedral itself by tlie
murderous devil, a new-born crescent was
lowering its fragile, sanguine-colored
horn beyond the house-tops as Reynard
went forth from his lodgings at the ac-
customed hour. He lost sight of its com-
203
forting beam in the high-walled and nar-
row alley, and shivered with dread as he
hastened onward through shadows that
were dissipated only by the rare and timid
ray ftom some lofty window. It seemed
to him, at each turn and angle, that the
gloom was curded by the unclean um-
brage of Satanic wings, and might reveal
in another instant the gleaming of abhor-
rent eyes ignited by the everlasting, coals
of the Pit. When he came forth at the
alley’s end, he saw with a start of fresh
panic that the crescent moon was blotted
out by a cloud that had the semblance of
il- uncouthly arched and pointed vans.
He reached the tavern with a sense of
supreme relief, for he had begun to feel
in a distinct intuition that someone or some-
thing was following him, unheard and in-
visible —
a presence that seemed to load
the dusk with prodigious menace. He en-
tered, and closed the door behind him
very quickly, as if he were shutting It in
the face of a dread pursuer.
There Were few people in the tavern
that evening. The girl Nicolette was
serving wine to a mercer’s assistant, one
Raoul Coupaln, a personable youth and a
newcomer in the neighborhood, and Ae
was laughing with what Reynard con-
sidered unseenffy gayety at the broad jests
and amorous sallies of this Raoul. Jean
Villom was discussing in a low voice the
latest enormities of the demons with two
cronies at a table in the farthest corner,
and was drinking fully as much liquor as
his customers.
Glowering with jealousy at the pres-
ence of Raoul Coupairt, whom he suspect-
ed of being a favored rival, Reynard
seated himself in silence and stared ma-
lignly at the flirtatious couple. No one
seemed to have noticed his entrance; for
Villom went on talking to his cronies
without pause or interruption, and Nko-
lefte and her companion were equally
oblivious. To his jealous rage, Reynafd
204 WEIRD TALES
soon added the resentment of one who Raoul Coupain had also consumed a
feels that he is being deliberately ignored. liberal quantity of wine. As a result, he
He began to pound on the table with his soon became bolder in his love-making,
heavy fists, to attract attention. and strove to kiss the hand of Nicolette,
Villom, who had been sitting all the who had now seated herself on the bench
while with his back turned, now called beside him. The hand was playfully with-
out to Nicolette without even troubling held; and then, after its owner had cuflFed
to face around on his stool, telling her to Raoul very lightly and briskly, was grant-
serve Reynard. Giving a backward smile ed to the claimant in a fashion that struck
at Coupain, she came slowly and with Reynard as being no less than wanton.
open reluctance to the stone-carver’s table. Snarling inarticulately, with a mad im-
She was small and buxom, with red- pulse to rush forward and slay the suc-
dish-gold hair that curled luxuriantly cessful rival with his bare hands, he
above the short, delicious oval of her face; started to his feet and stepped toward the
and she was gowned in a tight-fitting playful pair. His movement was noted by
dress of apple-green that revealed the one of the men in the far corner, who
firm, seductive outlines of her hips and spoke warningly to Villom. The tavern-
bosom. Her air was disdainful and a little keeper arose, lurching a little from his
cold, for she did not like Reynard and potations, and came warily across the
had taken small pains at any time to con- room with his eyes on Reynard, ready to
ceal her aversion. But to Reynard she was interfere in case of violence.
lovelier and more desirable than ever, and
he felt a savage impulse to seize her in
his arms and carry her bodily away from
the tavern before the eyes of Raoul Cou-
R eynard paused with momentary
. resolution, and then went on, half
insane with a mounting hatred for
ir-

them
pain and her father. all. He longed to kill Villom and Cou-
"Bring me a pitcher of La Frenaie,” he pain, to kill the hateful cronies who sat
ordered gruffly, in a voice that betrayed staring from the corner; and then, above
his mingled resentment and desire. their throttled corpses, to ravage with
Tossing her head lightly and scorn- fierce kisses and vehement caresses the
fully, with more glances at Coupain, the shrinking lips and body of Nicolette.
girl She placed the fiery, blood-
obeyed. Seeing the approach of the stone-
dark wine before R^nard without speak- carver,and knowing his evil temper and
ing, and then went back to resume her dark jealousy, Coupain also rose to his
bantering with the mercer’s assistant. feet and plucked stealthily beneath his
Reynard began to drink, and the potent cloak at the hilt of a little dagger which
vintage merely served to inflame his he carried. In the meanwhile, Jean Vil-
smoldering enmity and passion. His eyes lom had interposed his burly bulk be-
became venomous, his curling lips malig- tween the rivals. For the sake of the tav-
nant as those of the gargoyles he had ern’s good repute, he wished to prevent
carved on the new cathedral. A baleful, the possible brawl.
primordial anger, like the rage of some "Back to your table, stone-cutter,’’ he
morose and thwarted faun, burned within roared belligerently at Reynard.
him with its slow red fire; but he strove Being unarmed, and seeing himself
to repress it, and sat silent and motionless, outnumbered, Reynard paused again,
except for the frequent filling and empty- though his anger still simmered within
ing of his wine-cup. him like the contents of a sorcerer’s caul-
 THE MAKER OF GARGOYLES 205

dron. With ruddy points of murderous eyes were fixed upon Nicolette as it hung
flame in his hollow, slitted eyes, he glared in air beside the first intruder.
at the tliree people before him, and saw Reynard, as well as the other men, was
beyond them, with instinctive rather than petrified by a feeling of astonishment and
conscious awareness, the leaded panes of consternation so extreme as almost to pre-
the tavern window, in whose glass the clude terror. Voiceless and motionless,
room was dimly reflected with its glowing they beheld the demoniac intrusion; and
tapers, glimmering tableware, the
its the consternation of Reynard, in particu-
heads of Coupain and Villom and the girl lar, was mingled with an element of un-
Nicolette, and his own shadowy face speakable surprize, together with a dread-
among them. ful recognizance. But the girl Nicolette,
it would seem, incon-
Strangely, and, with a mad scream of horror, turned and
sequently, he remembered at that moment started to flee across the room.
the dark, ambiguous cloud he had seen As if her cry had be^ the one provoca-
across the moon, and the insistent feeling tion needed, the two demons swooped
of obscure pursuit while he had traversed upon their victims. One, with a ferocious
the alley. slash of its outstretched claws, tore open
Then, as he gazed irresolutely at
still the throat of Jean Villom, who fell with
the group before him, and its vague re-
a gurgling, blood-choked groan; and
flection in the glass beyond, there came a then, in the same fashion, it assailed
thunderous crash, and the panes of the
Raoul Coupain. The other, in the mean-
window with their pictured scene were while, had pursued and overtaken the
shattered inward in a score of fragments. fleeing girl, and had seized her in its
Ere the litter of falling glass had reached bestial forearms, with the ribbed wings
the tavern floor, a swart and monstrous enfolding her like a hellish drapery.
form flew into the room, with a beating
The room was filled by a moaning
of heavy vans that caused the tapers to
whirlwind, by a chaos of wild cries and
flare troublously, and the shadows to
tossing, struggling shadows. Reynard
dance like a sabbat of misshapen devils.
heard the guttural snarling of the mur-
The thing hovered for a moment, and
derous monster, muffled by the body of
seemed to tower in a great darkness
Coupain, whom it was tearing with its
higher than the ceiling above the heads of
teeth; and he heard the lubricous laughter
Reynard and the others as they turned to-
of the incubus, above the shrieks of the
ward it. They saw the malignant burning
hysterically frightened girl. Then the gro-
of its eyes, like coals in the depth of Tar-
tesquely flaring tapers went out in a gust
tarean pits, and the curling of its hateful
of swirling air, and Reynard received a
lips on the bared teeth that were longer
and sharper than serpent-fangs.
violent blow in the darkness —
the blow
of some rushing object, perhaps of a pass-
Behind it now, another shadowy flying
ing wing, that was hard and heavy as
monster came in through the broken win-
stone. He fell, and became insensible.
dow with a loud flapping of its ribbed
and pointed wings. There was something
4
lascivious in the very motion of its flight,
even as homicidal hatred and malignity
were manifest in the flight of the other.
Its satyr-like face was twisted in a hor-
D ully and confusedly, with
Reynard struggled back to con-
fort,

sciousness.For a brief interim, he could

much ef-

rible, never-changing leer, and its lustful not remember where he was nor what had
206 WEIRD TALES
happened. He
was troubkd by the pain- was locked in the seething pit of his tor-
ful throbbing of his head, by the hum- tured and devil-ridden soul.
ming of agitated voices about him, by the Somehow, he left the ravaged inn, he
glaring of many lights and the thronging pushed his way through the gathering
of many faces when he opened his eyes; crowd with its terror-muted murmurs,
and, above all, by the sense of nameless and found himself alone on the midni^t
but grievous calamity and uttermost hor- streets. Heedless of his own possible
weighed him down from the
ror that first peril, and scarcely knowing where he
dawning of sentiency. went, he wandered through Vyones for
Memory returned to him, laggard and many hours; and somewhile in his wan-
reluctant; and with it, a full awareness of derings, to his own workshop.
he came
his surroundings and situation. He was With no act, he
assignable reason for the
lying on the tavern floor, and his own entered, and re-emerged with a heavy
warm, sticky blood was rilling across his hammer, which he carried with him dur-
face from the wound on his aching head. ing his subsequent peregrinations. Then,
The long room was half filled witli people driven by his awful and unremissive tor-
of the neighborhood, bearing torches and ture, he went on till the pale dawn had
knives and halberds, who had entered and touclied the spires and the house-tops
were peering at the corpses of Villom and with a ghostly glimmering.
G)upain, which lay amid pools of wine- By a half-conscious compulsion, his
diluted blood and the wreckage of the steps had led him to the square before the
shattered furniture and tableware. cathedral. Ignoring the amazed verger,
Nicolette, with her green gown in who had just opened the doors, he en-
shreds, and her body crushed by the em- tered and sought a stairway that wound
braces of the demon, was moaning feebly tortuously upward to the tower on which
while women crowded about her with in- his own gargoyles were ensconced.
effectual cries and questions which she In the chill and livid light of sunless
could not even hear or understand. The morning, he emerged on the roof; and
two cronies of Villom, horribly clawed leaning perilously from the verge, he ex-
and mangled, were dead beside their over- amined the carven figures. He felt no sur-
turned table. prize, only the hideous confirmation of a
Stupefied with horror, and still dizzy named, when he saw
fear too ghastly to be
from the blow that had laid him uncon- that the teethand claws of the malign, cat-
scious, Reynard staggered to his feet, and headed griffin were stained with darken-
found himself surrounded at once by in- ing blood; and that shreds of apple-green
quiring faces and voices. Some of the peo- cloth were hanging from the talons of the
ple were a little suspicious of him, since lustful, bat-winged satyr.
he was the sole survivor in the tavern, and It seemed to Reynard, in the dim ashen
bore an ill repute; but his replies to their light, that a look of unspeakable triumph,
questions soon convinced them that the of intolerable irony, was imprinted on the
new aime was wholly the work of the face of this latter creature. He stared at
same demons that had plagued Vyones in it with fearful and agonizing fascination,
so monstrous a fashion for weeks past. while impotent rage, abhorrence, and re-
Reynard, however, was unable to tell pentance deeper than that of the damned
them all he had seen, or to confess
that arose within him in a smothering flood.
the ultimate sources of his fear and stupe- He was hardly aware that he had raised
faction, The secret of that which he knew the iron hammer and had struck wildly at
 'IHE MAKER OF GARGOYLES 207

the satyr’s homed he heard the

profile, till mate madness and distortion of delirium.
sullen, angry clang of impact, and found Even as he struck, the vertiginous turn-
that he was tottering on the edge of the ing movement continued, and he felt the
roof to retain his balance. talons dragging him outward on empty
The furious blow had merely chipped air. In his cramped, recumbent position,

the features of the gargoyle, and had not the blow fell short of the hateful face and
wiped away the malignant lust and exulta- came down with a dull clangor on the
tion. Again Reynard raised the heavy foreleg whose curving talons were fixed
hammer. in his shoulder like meat-hooks. The
It fell on empty air; for, even as he clangor ended in a sharp cracking sound;
stmck, the stone-carver felt himself lifted and the leaning gargoyle vanished from
and drawn backward by something that Reynard’s vision as he fell. He saw noth-
sank into his flesh like many separate ing more, except the dark mass of the ca-
knives. He staggered helplessly, his feet thedral tower, that seemed to soar away
slipped, and then he was lying on the from him and to rush upward unbeliev-
granite verge, with his head and shoul- ably in the livid, starless heavens to which
ders over the dark, deserted street. the belated sun had not yet risen.
Half swooning, and sick with pain, he
saw above him the other gargoyle, the T WAS the archbishop Ambrosius, on
claws of whose right foreleg were firmly I his way to early mass, who found the
embedded in his shoulder. They tore shattered body of Reynard lying face
deeper, as if with a dreadful clenching. downward in the square. Ambrosius
The monster seemed to tower like some crossed himself in startled horror at die
fabulous beast above its prey; and he felt sight; and then, when he saw the object
himself slipping dizzily across the cathe- that was still clinging to Reynard’s shoul-
dral gutter, with the gargoyle twisting der, he repeated the gesture with a more
and turning as if to resume its normal than pious promptness.
position over the gulf. Its slow, inexor- He bent down to examine the thing.
able movement seemed to be part of his With the infallible memory of a true art-
vertigo. The very tower was tilting and lover, he recognized it at once. Then,
revolving beneath him in some unnatural through the same clearness of recollection,
nightmare fashion. he saw that the stone foreleg, whose
Dimly, in n daze of fear and agony, claws were so deeply buried in Reynard’s
Reynard saw the remorseless tiger-face had somehow undergone a most un-
flesh,

bending toward him with its horrid teeth natural alteration.The paw, as he re-
laid bare in an eternal rictus of diabolic membered it, should have been slightly
hate. Somehow, he had retained the ham- bent and relaxed; but now it was stiffly
mer. With an instinctive impulse to de- outthrust and elongated, as if, like the
fend himself, he struck at the gargoyle, paw of a living limb, it had reached for
whose cruel features seemed to approach something, or had dragged a heavy bur-
him like something seen in the ulti- den with its ferine talons.
 /jT lidnight Confession
^ By J. PAUL SUTER
From the death eetl in the big prison came a weird summons to right
a grave wrong

D
hand.
octor MADDERN
the gray hair
with a petulant
He had
from
flick
threw back
his forehead
of his long
been impatient with the
prim old mansion. Some nimble reporter
had dubbed her the "gossiping widow,”
in recognition of what her tongue had
done to bring her next-door neighbor to
telephone receiver, too, snapping it back the gallows. But for her, Crawford might
upon the hook had been to blame.
as if it still have been leading his free, sophisti-

Now his ruddy face crinkled in a little cated life. She had started the stories
sardonic smile at the futility of both ges- which had led the police first to incline
tures. The telephone was not at fault. their ears incredulously, then to exhume
Neither was his hair. Nevertheless, even the remains; and hard upon that, follow-
a doctor, inured as doctors are to unpleas- ing the discovery of arsenic in the stom-
ant scenes, should not be expected to wel- ach, had come the indictment and the trial
come an interview with a patient con- — with Carrie Trelevant as chief witne^
demned to be hanged within two weeks. for the state.
Of course, he would go. The warden As he descended his own steps, Mad-
had said "at once,” and had rather in- dern could look directly across the aristo-
sisted on a promise. And delay would not square at her house and Crawford’s,
cratic
help matters. Every day, Maddem con- side by side, and at Crawford’s garage,
jectured, would make Crawford a little over which John Chubbs, his chauffeur,
more desperate, a little harder to talk to. lived —another witness for the state. Nor
The shadow of the gallows would sink was that the limit of the curious "Cra.w-
deeper into his soul, ^^at a fool the man ford Case” congestion. Tor Warden Ster-
had been! There had been nothing
really ling, of the penitentiary, resided not two
to hinder his illicit love affair. Mrs. Craw- blocks from the doctor’s. He, too, was a
ford had been too ill to interfere, and she patient of Maddern’s. And little Nonnie
would have died in a year or so, anyway. Jones had lived at the extreme southern
.Why should he have poisoned her? edge of the half-mile circle, in the poor
Maddern shrugged his stylishly coated Smoky Gulch district. Maddern’s rather
shoulders, and rose to answer his wealthy he thought
stern face softened a trifle as

patient’s appeal.He had not far to go. It of her. She was Mrs. Crawford, now.
was one of the curious features of the sen- The poor devil had done the right thing.
sational Crawford case —
a feature which He had married her shortly after his
the newspapers had not overlooked ^that — wife’s death.

a circle with less than a quarter-mile But one grim piece of stage property
radius included the abodes of all the prin- remained to complete the grouping for
cipal participants, including even the that sinister circle, and it was there. For
chief witnesses. Appropriately in the cen- a brisk twenty minutes’ walk, directly past
ter of the circle stood Mrs. Trelevant’s the Crawford and the Trelevant places,
208 W. T.—
 A MIDNIGHT CONFESSION 209

brought Maddem to the penitentiary, jovial tone: "Crawford wants to talk to

where Crawford resided now, where he you. Awfully sad case! It will seem like
was to die. hanging one’s own brother. He wants to
Warden Sterling was ticketed in Mad- see you in his cell. In his cell, he says. I

dern’s mind as an inn-keeper of coaching told him he’d have to talk pretty low not

days, who had come a century too late to to be overhead, but he kept on insisting.

his fat perfection. In his office to the left Is it all right, d(K? You’ll see him there?’’
of the main corridor, he wheezed and Madderh nodded, and slipped in a
blinked hospitality. His sides quivered. query as to how the warden’s liver had
His small, bright eyes twinkled. Maddern been behaving. That delayed the inter-
reflected unpleasantly as he shook the war- view ten minutes more; but wifh what
den’s welcoming hand that doubtless the seemed undue speed, nevertheless, he
same cordial reception had greeted Craw- found himself sitting side by side on a
ford. Sterling prided himself on making cot, alone with the cotrdemned man, and

his charges feel at home. Could the man the cell door locked.
be decently funereal, the doctor wondered,
when he hanged them?
"You walked, doc? Yes, yes! Nothing
T he
was
light was bad. The
actually
fact that
within a cell in the
death row caused the doctor a
he

little in-

like it, nothing like it! I do as much as

you, Aough you wouldn’t think it. Not
so many steps, but the exercise is there.
Three times as much weight lifted with
each step. Get it, doc?’’ He
prodded the
tall, silent doctor in the ribs, and brought

up a deep chuckle from the region of his

Stomach. 'Ihen, with no change in his

'*Read Mt,” the said abntfilf.

.W.T.—
210 WEIRD TALES
ward panic — after no one knows what
all, the same circumstances. I’d believe you
the future will —
bring him Lem Craw- guilty. Certainly, I should!”
ford would not have guessed anything He grinned into the fascinated but
like this, a year before. Life in the cell half-averted eyes of the doctor.
seemed stiff and unnatural, like the open-
"Don’t look so serious, Mad! It’s not
ing and closing of dead fingers under gal-
going to be very awful. A little darkness
vanic force. Yet, for all that, Maddern before the eyes, a little annoying tightness
found himself
old patient had changed.
startled at how
Crawford had
little his
around the neck, a jerk, —
and bye-bye!
That’s all. I am actually looking forward
and his curly brown
gone through this,
hair was still carefully brushed, his face
to it. It will be a new sensation — I’ve had
all the old ones. All except suicide, and
cleanly shaven. There was still about his
I’ve been tempted at times to try that. I
rounded person the sleekness and poise of nearly drowned once, in my school days
the high-bred gentleman. Even his voice,
carefully lowered to the requirements of
down for the third time —and I’m mak-
ing a bet with myself this won’t be so
the cell, had lost little of its careless lan-
rotten as that. Wish you could hold the
guor. Many an evening, in the well-
stakes, old man. Still, there is something
fumished Crawford library, the man now
you can do for me.”
condemned to die had talked with him Maddern was beginning to murmur
over the cigars in just that tone. As if to
that he would be delighted, when the
bring the past back even more strikingly,
prisoner’s sardonic grin stopped him.
Crawford began the conversation with
"Don’t be too sure. I’m going to ask
one of his infectious laughs. you to believe me innocent for the next
*'Perk up a little. Mad,” he entreated. ten minutes. Can you do it?”
"You’re not going to be hanged, you "I’ll try.”
know!” "Very good. To make it easier for you.
"I wish you were not,” the doctor re- Mad, I am going to say to you, as one
sponded, stiffly.
gentleman to another, that I didn’t kill
Crawford grinned maliciously at the my wife. 'This needn’t affect your conclu-
inane reply. sions from the evidence. It is merely my
"I was sure you’d never have wished assurance to you, as a gentleman. If I
anything like this on me. But tell me were really guilty, I could not reasonably
something, old man.” He darted a keen ask you to believe me innocent, even for
glance into Maddern’s embarrassed face. ten minutes. You see that?”
"On your honor, now! Cross your heart, The physician nodded. Crawford
and all that! Do you think I’m a mur- grinned again, somewhat more maliciously
derer?” than before.
The doctor was terribly perturbed. His "Do you know. I’m sorry for you.
eyes dropped. He was framing an evasive Mad,” he went on. "You old, hidebound,
reply, when the prisoner laughed, dryly. religious bachelor, with your spiritistic
"Thanks, Mad. You have a beautifully theories and all the rest of it! You’re due

expressive face. But don’t you see how to be horribly shocked, in another minute.
my question clears the air? We under- I’m going to confess to you that all they
stand each other, now. I can’t say that I said about little Nonnie and me was true
blame you.” He looked off, reminiscently, — in a general way, that is. I think most
into the gray twilight of the cell. "Under of Carrie Trelevant’s evidence was made
 A MIDNIGHT CONFESSION 211

up out of het bead. She had no diance to serve,” he agreed. "It seems hardly
see my goings on, except when I visited strong enough, but I don’t know a
her. But Chubbs, my diauffeur —he was stronger. The thing happened in her
a damned poor sport to say what he did, drawing-room. I had gone over there to
after the way I treated him he had it — —
pay her a neighborly visit ^to chat a little.
tight. Oh, yes, he had it right.” Craw- We had a good many interests in com-
fotd stroked his smooth cheek with his mon, and she isn’t dull, you know. I
{dump, weft-manicured hand, and made a won’t tell you what she did, or exactly
wty face. "I married Nonnie immediately what she said. It hardly seems fair for me
after Mabel died; that was the thing to do. to tell you that. But v^en it was all over
But we kept the marriage a secret, be- — when she understood, beyond doubt,
cause ” He laughed. "Well, you’d that I valued her as a friend and irothing
have k^
it a secret, wouldn’t you?” —
more she simply stood up, white and
“I suppose so,” Maddem admitted, dumb, and motioned me from toe room.
shortly. I think she could have killed me at that
•
"So much for that, then. Does it startle moment. I’m sure she could, some weeks
you to know that, within two weeks after later, when the news of my marriage

—
Mabel died which, by the way, was a leaked out. It was just after that news
week aft«: I married Nonnie —-Carrie that she began talking about me.”
Trelevant proposed marriage to me? Does "When she began to tell about your
that startle you, oldman?” administering the medicine to Mrs. Craw-
The doctor nodded ^which indicator — ford?” the doctor demanded.
of his feelings was made more convincing Crawford nodded.
by the fact that he actually had started at "She told it like an artist. I couldn’t’
the disclosure. deny a word. Sie did run over to tea with
"I thought it might,” Crawford went Mabel, just as she said. And I did mix
on, with a flitting smile. "She’s such a the medicine. She left the inference that I
proper 'old maid.’ I’ll bet dlie talks :^rit- mixed some arsenic in with it, and what
ism and higher life to you by (he hour could I say to that but deny It? Of course,
when you call to treat her nerves. But I had opportunity. I use it in my garden.

she had taken it for granted taken it for —

So does she so do you. The damning
granted., mind you! — that I had been in thing against me at toe trial was, that I

love with her all along, and had only been seemed to have motive. She had motive,
waiting for Mabel to die so I’d be free to too. She might easily have dropped toe
marry her. Now, Mad, she has been your poison into Mabel’s tea. But who was to
patient for years. Can you surmise how believe she had proposed to me? I had no
she acted when I declined her overtures witnesses to that.”
which I was obliged to do rather violently He stopped, suddenly, and shrugged
before she would believe me In earnest?” his shoulders with a laugh.
Doctor Maddern gazed thoughtfully at "You attended Mabel, old man. Why
the bare floor of the cell, then at the smil- didn’t you call it death by poisoning?” he
ingly expectant face of the condemned demanded.
man. "Because, in her condition, any irrita-

''I should say that she mustiiave been tion of toe stomach could have caused
furious,” he said, at last. those symptoms, and have hastened the
Crawford grinned. end,” Maddem replied.
"1 suppose 'furious’ will have 10 "Did toe idei of arsenic occur to you?"
 212 WEIRD TALES
The doctor hesitated; then he said: licious grin of the condemned man broad-
"Later. After your second marriage be- ened.
came public.” "Answer the question just as it stands.
"But you were too good a sport to ad- Mad. I’ve a good reason for asking it.”
”
vertise it?” "Well 'The doctor passed a long
"Why
should I? It was only a suspi- hand thoughtfully over his forehead.
cion.She had eaten both strawberries and "Taking your question at its face value,
my orders. That
pickles at lunch, against then, I should say this: that if Carrie
would have been quite sufficient.” Trelevant should be guilty, such an ap-
Crawford levelled a whimsical glance you mention very likely would
parition as
at his guest. bring her to confess. But if she should
”
'Tm afraid my ten minutes is up. Give not be guilty
me a renewal for another ten. I want you Crawford leaned forward, with a sud-
to continue believing in me until I’m den brightening of the eyes.
through.
if I
What would you
suggested a plan by which you might
say, old chap, "If
What
she
then?”
should not be guilty — yes.

possibly get me clear of the noose?” "She wouldn’t confess, even for a
The doctor looked up with utter in- ghost. She is too strong-minded. She’d
credulity on his face. want to know why, if the thing was super-
” he began. natural, it should be accusing her falsely.”
"I fear

"Of course you do. You fear it^an’t

'"That’s fine, old chap.” Crawford’s in-
fectious laugh rang through the cell,
be done. And perhaps it can’t. But for-
though he was careful not to raise his
,
get that for a minute and answer a ques-
voice when he spoke again. "If you think
tion for me. You know Carrie. You know
her kinks and her hobbies. What’s the the lady would not confess unless she

chief one of them all?”

really is guilty, you shouldn’t object to
help me Could you
induce a confession.
"You mean spiritism?” Doctor Mad-
call here tomorrow?”
dern inquired, slowly.
"Probably,” the doctor answered, dubi-
Crawford nodded, with a little chuckle
ously.
of satisfaction.
"I knew two answers
there couldn’t be "Drop in at my house on the way over.
to that question. had some dealings
I’ve Get my keys from Wilson I’ve kept him—
with the lady, too. any one be-
If ever on. 'liiere’s one key in the bunch which
lieved in ghosts, she does! Very well fits the Trelevant grade door. Mabel
suppose a ghost appeared to her, and found it out, months ago, by chance she —
commanded her to confess in writing and Carrie were always visiting back and
would she do it?” forth, you know. I’ll fix the details witli

"Whose ghost?” the doctor demanded. old Sterling, then you can talk with Carrie
late tomorrow evening.”
"Mine.”
Doctor Maddern looked blank, and the

A g<X)D

confessor
many years of active practise,
during which he had been father
to most human quirks and
condemned man went on, with a trace of
his mischievous grin.

"Perhaps I had better explain, before

weaknesses, had inoculated Doctor Mad- you try to save me on a lunacy plea. You’ll
dem quite effectively against surprize. Yet call upon Mrs. Carrie Trelevant tomor-

he started slightly, seeing which the ma- row evening. Inform her that I am dead.
 A MIDNIGHT CONFESSION 213

Explain that committed suicide in my

I it.” He smiled, and shrugged his shoul-
cell. Opening a vein will answer as well ders. "When I came in here, Lem, I
as anything else. Add any frills you wish, thought you guilty. Now, I’m not so sure.
but make the matter of my death perfectly If Mrs. Trelevant did it —
and if she be-
clear. Will you do that.^” lieves you dead, and out of the reach of
"Go on with the rest of your plan,” her vengeance — —
who knows? she might
Maddern said. confess.”
"The rest depends somewhat on old He was met in the lower hall by the
Sterling. He has known me for years jovial warden, whose round face was al-
ever since I was a youngster. He doesn’t most serious.
believe me guilty. This is confidential, of "Are you going to do it, doc?” he whis-
course, but” — ^he lowered his voice to a
— "he pered; and, when Maddern nodded:
barely audible whisper offered to let "Don’t think I’m taking a chance. I’ve
me escape, after the governor refused a known him all his life, and he’s a gentle-
commutation — said he’d take the conse- man. He’ll come back. I’ll spend the
quences himself. Of course, I wouldn’t night here myself so as to fix his getting
accept. Even if I could have made a get- out and coming in. Not a single, solitary
away, would have been a rotten thing
it soul will be a bit the wiser, doc. It’s a
to do to poor old Sterling. But he knows craay thing to do, but” —he repeated the
about this plan. He going to me out doctor’s own words of a few minutes be-
at midnight tomorrow night.
is let
You can fore
— "it might work.”
wait at home for a telephone call from
— TRELEVANT
Carrie Trelevant.
trick
written
It

has worked. When you have her

confession— you have — bring
if
will come

it
if the
C ARRIE
stretched
Usually she amused him
hand
rose with
to greet the doctor.
— all her move-
Out-

it to old Sterling. He deserves the first ments seemed so carefully calculated to

sight of it. He is going to spend the night show her to the best advantage. She had
in his office. I will be back in my cell long her day and her night technique ^the lat- —
before that, and he will bring the news up ter being in evidence just now. Did she
to me.” ever, he wondered, vary her initial posi-
Maddern stared. tion in the big Turkish chair by more than
"Do you think this wild, hair-brained the fraction of an inch? When he called
scheme is likely to succeed.^” he de- upon her after nightfall, that was where
manded, slowly. she was to be found curled up in it, like
:

"It’s a forlorn hope, I admit. Suppose
it doesn’t work. Who will be most likely
to suffer — besides myself?”
'The doctor hesitated.
"Probably I shall be though I can al-
ways take refuge under misinformation.”
"Are you willing to accept the chance?”
Strangely enough, upon that, the most
momentous question of all. Doctor Mad-
dern did not hesitate. He rose, and ex-
tended his hand.
"It might work,” he conceded, doubt-
fully. "At any rate, I am willing to chance
a girl; her face drooped pensively over a
book —but not drooped too far, lest the
yellow light of the piano lamp should
emphasize her over-high forehead. She al-
— ways looked up, with an unsophisticated
start which gave excuse for a moment of
surprized, rounded eyes —
she had pretty
black eyes. Next, she ran half a dozen
steps toward the door, then suddenly re-
membered to be dignified. Maddern saw
her go through it all, as he had seen it
before. 'The usual reflection crossed his
mind — that the kittenish tricks of the girl
214 3J7EIRD TALES
of twenty should have been lost some- "Has his sentence been commuted?”
tvhere on the road to thirty-five; but to- she blazed at him.
night she frightened him a little, too. Was He smiled, sadly; slowly shook his
she, after all, dangerous? Suppose she head.
should read his mind? His conscience "You don’t mean a pardon?”—
troubled him slightly, because of the trick "Neither a commutation nor a pardon.
he was about to play upon her; because, Lem is no longer in the penitentiary. He
loo,of his visit to the penitentiary that has escaped.”
morning, when he had left Lem Craw- He
could see her relax, and hear the
ford the bunch of keys. He had been outrush of her breath.
treating her for five years — ^with the end- "They’ll catch him,” she said, lightly.
less treatments demanded by a wealthy He paused a moment, then let her have
woman whose illness is mainly of the it.
imagination. He knew her well. At least, "Not where Jbe has gone. Lem com-
he thought that he did. But he had never mitted suicide this evening in his cell. I
Considered her dangerous. thought you would like me to be the first
"Oh, you busy man!” she began, in her to tell you, —
have all been
Carrie ^we
low contralto. This was her bantering friends together, in days gone by.
technique — ^he knew that, too. "You She lock it nicely. He found her even
. .

have so many really important engage- willing to talk about Crawford, now that
ments tomorrow. You can’t spare a mo-
ment for little me. So you are here to-
he was dead — to comment on his pleasing
personality, his and such
wasted life,
night, instead. That was why you tel- things. She avoided certain phases of the
—
ephoned, wasn’t it Doctor Maddern?” subject: Mabel; little Nonnie; her own
Even the last two words were carefully testimony at the trial.
calculated —drawled, teasingly, as if she But when he remarked, airily: "You
had almost a mind to call him by his first and I are the ones who have always ^>eca-
name, but dared not. Sometimes he en- lated dDOut the other world—hut old
jc^ed her teasing. Tonight it seemed out Lem, who never speculated in his life, i
of place. imagine, is the first to know ...” She
"This isn’t a professional call,” he said, shivered, and darted a fleering, half-
gravely. "I have news.” ashamed glance toward the doorway^
"News?” A rising, nicely moduia:ted where silken hangings framed the black-
The rounded eye technique.
inflection. ness of the big hall. He tried to command
"News of Lem Crawford.” his features while she rang for the maid,
"Oh.” and directed the hall light to be lit.
No technique at all about that mono- Usually, she preferred the room she was
^laNe. She had thrown ifrto neutral. She in to be the litde oasis of li^t in a dark-
was watching him narrowly as she sub- ened house.
sided again into her Tutkish chair, and Maddern was too good a psychologist
he disposed hhnself in a pliant wicker^ to spoil his work by lingering. He teft,
which was a favorite of his. promising to make his usual professional
“Lam is not going to be hanged, afta: call In the morning. She followed him

all.” girlishly to the big front door, which was

That got her! She was sitting upright her tPegular tediniqae For taking leave of
in a second. Mm, and he answaed Itor wave as he tttn
 A MIDNIGHT CONFESSION 215

down the stone steps; but when the door twelve, he could expect a telephone call.
dosed behind her, and he was walking But at five minutes after twelve the bell
across the soft grass of the square, he said rang. He snatched up the receiver. Here
to himself, with a grim tightening of the was a complication! Who else was calling
lips: him? But it was Carrie Trelevant.
"She did it!” She was incoherent. Correct enuncia-
tion, studied modulation, her fine con-

H
eleven
e
work
was rather late in cleaning
for the
when he found himself a
day. It was
up the
after
book,
tralto
winds.
nuances, all were flung to the
Yet she made herself clear. She
wanted Maddern.
and settled down to be comfortable in his 'This time, he drove over, so as to have
library until Carrie should telephone — if his car ready for ase if need be. 'The house
she did telephone. He thought she would, blazed with light. She met him at the
for he had paved the way rather nicely for front door, took hij hand, and dragged
Crawford’s little theatricals. She would him into her drawing-room. She had
certainly need a doctor after they were never done that before, even in her most
over. He wondered how the warden girlish moments.
would pass Lem through the gate without "Read this,” she said abruptly, and
arousing the suspicion of the guard.
collapsed upon the davenport.
Doubtless they would go out together, and
'The paper she flung him was in her
Lem would be disguised in some way.
writing, but not in the even, precise hand
Suppose Crawford should meet one of the
she usually wrote. This writing was
Trelevant servants? The doctor specu-
barely legible. The letters tumbled over
lated on that possibility, too, but finally
one another, with vertical strokes which
dismissed it with a shrug. Old Lem would
trembled in their short descent, wobbling,
be equal to it. As he had said, himself,
infirm capitals, "t’s” without a cross. Yet
there weren’t many experiences he hadn’t
it was her hand. It contained a confes-
gone through. Probably he would fright-
sion, in detail, of Mabel Crawford’s
en the servant into hysterics. Suppose,
murder.
too, that Carrie should not send for her
She must have been watching him,
doctor? But she would. Crawford had
from the heap into which she had crum-
it in mind, no doubt, to direct her to do
pled on the davenport. For, as he finished
so, in order that her confession should be
and looked up, she came to him, without
properly witnessed.
a word, took the paper from his hand, and
Maddern yawned, threw down his
signed it.
book, and listened to the deep voice of his
library clock chiming midnight. It was "Sign as a witness,” she directed, hand-
time for the "apparition” to leave the ing him the pen; then, as he did so: "Now
.”
penitentiary. He wondered what sort of take it . She hesitated. For a moment
.

ghost Crawford would make. Possibly he looked into her eyes. He never forgot
Carrie would favor him with a few de- them, afterward. '"Take it to the prose-

tails, but he fancied not. He could get cuting attorney.”

them later, from Lem. She was literally pushing him from the
He picked up the book again. Craw- room, when she paused and spoke. Her
ford would require at least fifteen minutes voice was calm, but there was no timbre to
to make the trip, and maybe another ten it. It was the skeleton of a voice.

for the performance. At about half -past "You have often speculated. Doctor
216 cWEJRD TALES
Maddern, whether the dead return,”
as to his hand, as he looked up. His jaw
she said. "They do!” sagged, and there was sweat on his fore-
That was all. He was tempted at that head.
moment to tell her the truth, but he "Where did you get this?” he de-
yielded instead to her wordless urge, and manded.
left the room. Looking back from the "You saw the signature,” the doctor
brilliantly lighted hallway, he saw her retorted, dryly. "Crawford’s trick worked
there. She stood holding to the library — that’s all. I feel like a cad, and I
table. Her hair was unkempt. A streak rather think he will, too. My God, Ster-
of gray he had never seen stuck out ling!” He grinned, ruefully. "She re-
prominently. Her cheeks were dead white. minded me how we used to speculate as
Yet, as she caught him joking at her, she to whether the dead return and assured —
tried to smile. It was the wreck of her me that they do!”
technique. The warden had risen shakily to his
feet. He seemed bewildered.

T
a
hroughout
warden’s
man who
office,

has struck a
the short drive to the
he felt ignoble, like
woman. Reason
"She said they return?” he repeated.
"What did she mean by that?”
—
"Why” Doctor Maddern felt a trifle
did not enter into the feeling. He should impatient with the old man "you know
—
have been elated, he told himself, to have the arrangement. Sterling. had the stage I
helped save an innocent man, and that all set. She thought
Crawford dead.
man his friend, from the gallows. But he Naturally, then, when he
called on her,
was not elated. He remembered Carrie she took him for a ghost. You can’t blame
Trelevant's eyes. her, when you consider that she believes
Once the paper had been delivered to ”
in ghosts, anyway. She
old Sterling, the matter would be out of "Wait a moment.” The warden was
his hands. Sterling would turn it over to breathing heavily. His face had lost its
the prosecuting attorney. Then would fol- usual color. "You say Crawford called on
low the trial — that taste of hell again her?"
but this trial would be brief. He won- 'The doctor glared.
dered, however, whether there would be a
"You know he called. Sterling. The
trial. Possibly he had already seen the last
thing was all arranged among us. Are
Carrie Trelevant.
you growing absent-minded?”
Old Sterling was sprawled in the
But the old man ignored his tone, and
swivel chair at his desk. The pouches of
his rosy cheeks hung loosely. He seemed
continued, doggedly: "What time did he
call?”
tired. He glanced up as Maddern stepped
into the office, and pointed to an arm- "Well —she telephoned me at five min-

chair. utes after twelve, and everything was

"Hadn’t any trouble getting in, I sup- over. That’s something I don’t under-

pose? I left word at the gate. Thought stand, either. You were to let him out at

maybe you were on your way here, when midnight. He couldn’t possibly have got

I cDuldn’t get pu at the house, so I over there in five minutes. You must have
waited.” slipped on the time.”
Maddern unfolded ttie confession and 'The warden sat down, heavily. His big
silently handed it to the warden. cheeks sagged more than ever, but his
The old man read it. It fluttered from eyes looked across brightly at the doctor.
 A MIDNIGHT CONFESSION 217,

with a peculiar shade of horror in their certain, yetwhich would not greatly com-
depths. promise either you or me. Would he have
"You visited him again this morning, taken it?”
doctor,” he said, slowly. "Did you, by "I should have taken it, in his place,”
any chance, leave a bunch of keys in his MaHdern returned.
cell.?” "Doctor Maddern.” The old man’s
"They were his k^s. One of them voice had sunk to a whisper. His bright
fitted Carrie Trelevant’s grade door. That eyes were fastened on the doctor’s face.
—
was why I came to bring that key.” "There was a little pen-knife on the ring
"But you left the whole bunch?” among the bunch of keys you left this
Doctor Maddern nodded. morning. You remember it?”
"Let me ask you something.” Sterling The doctor nodded, with a start.
seemed to be following a definite line of "The understanding was that I should
reasoning. "Did Crawford strike you as release him at midnight. I went up to his
being convinced of Carrie Trelevant’s cell. It was just midnight —
I didn’t slip

guilt?” on the time. But he was gone.”

"Well—yes.” "You mean he had broken out?” the
"Was he sure he could make her con- doctor demanded, almost shouting in his
fess?” astonishment; but the warden shook his
'The doctor hesitated a moment, to pick head.
his words. "He had escaped by the one sure way.
"Perhaps not sure, but confident.” The little knife showed him how. He
The warden nodded. "Suppose a sure used it just back of the left ear, doctor.
means of escape had presented itself to When I went up at midnight, he was
—
him -a means which would be absolutely dead.”

rkham
By ROBERT E. HOWARD
Drowsy and dull with age the houses blink
On aimless streets the rat-gnawed years forget
But what inhiunan figures leer and slink
Down the old allejrs when the naoon has set?
 Angel
By SEABURY QUINN
A tale of seemingly inexplicable murders, a terrible visitant that spreads weird
death, and a daring exploit of Jules de Grandin

lENS, my friend,” Jules de Gran- and bone-crushing grip for each of us.
din selected an Hoyo de Monterey "Jerry’s been tellin’ me ye might be will-
from the humidor and set it alight in’ to give me a lift wid th’ damndest
with gusto, "say what you will, there is —
beg pardon th’ most puzzlin’ case I’ve
no combination more satisfying to the ever had th’ evil luck to run agin.”
soul and body than that of the processes De Grandin transferred his cigar to his
of digestion and slow poisoning by nico- left hand and tweaked the needle points
tine. No.” He regarded the gleaming of his tightly waxed blond mustache with
tip of his diminutive patent-leather eve- his right. "If the good Sergeant Costello
ning pump with marked satisfaction, and vouches for the case, mon chef, I make no
wafted a smoke-wreath slowly toward the doubt that it will me,” he
intrigue
ceiling. "To make our happiness com- answered. "Tell us of you please.”
it, if

plete,” he added, "needs only the pres- "Well, sor,” Chief O’Toole lowered
”
ence of himself ponderously into a chair and re-
"Detective Sergeant Costello, if ye garded the gray imiform cap he had re-
please, sor,” interrupted Nora McGinnis, moved with a stare which seemed to in-
my household factotum, appearing at the dicate he sought inspiration from its silk-
drawing-room door with the unexpected lined depths, "well, sor, it’s this way.
suddenness of a specter taking shape from Over to Norfolk Downs we’ve been hav-
nothingness. in’ —
one hell o’ one most distressful time
"Eh, do you say so, petite?” the little o’ it, an’ none o’ us seems able to say

Frenchman answered with a chuckle. what it’s all about.” He paused, twisting
"Bid him enter, by all means.” the cap between his large, white hands
The big, red-hfeaded plain-clothes man and examining its peaked vizor as though
advanced in Nora’s wake, a smile of real he’d never seen the thing before.
Frenchman on his face.
affection for the "U’m?” de Grandin shot a quick glance
Behind him marched an equally big man, at the visitor. "This is of interest, but
ruddy-faced, white-haired, with that look not instructive. If you will amplify your
”
of handsome distinction so many com- statement
monplace Irishmen acquire at middle life. "Beg pardon, sor, maybe I could help,”
"Shake hands wid me friend. Chief Costello interrupted. "Timmie —
Chief
O’Toole, o’ th’ Norfolk Downs force, O’Toole — an’ me’s been friends for
gentlemen,” Costello bade with a nod twenty year an’ more. We wuz harness
toward his companion. "Timmie, this is bulls together an’ got our detectives’
Doctor de Grandin I’ve been tellin’ ye badges at th’ same time. When they
about, an’ Doctor Trowbridge.” started that swell real estate development
"Pleased meet yez, gentlemen,”
to over to Norfolk Downs, they put in a
Chief O’Toole acknowledged with a smile paid police force, an’ offered th’ job o’
218
 THE DARK ANGEL 21S>

chief to Timtnie. He’s a good officer, sor, ployment office bench. He wuz over to
as none knows better than I, but keepin’ me house this evenin’ to talk things over,
burglars in their place an’ nabbin’ spi- an’ th’ minute I heard about it I says to
ers is more in his line than handlin’ this meself, 'Here’s a case fer Doctor de Gran-
sort o’ trouble. There’s been some mighty din, or I’m a Dutchman.’ So here we are,
queer doin’s at Norfolk Downs o’ late, sor.”
an’ th’ whole community’s terrified. Not O’Toole took up the explanation. "If
only that; they’re sayin’ Timmie’s not ye’re askin’ me about it. I’ll say di’ Divil’s
competent, an’ one more killin’ like in it, sor,” he told de Grandin solemnly.
dicy’vehad an’ he’ll be warmin’ some em- '"The Devil.^” de Grandin eyed him
220 WEIRD TALES
narrowly. "You mean that Satan has a Furthermore, there wuz th’ smell o’ brim-
hand in it, or do you use an idiom?” stone in th’ air.”

"No, sor, I mean exactly what I said,”

the chief replied.

three
Qiristmas
"

—
’Twas a matter o’
months or so ago th’ night afther
—when Mike Scarsci got his’n.
D grandin raised the narrow black
e
brows which showed such marke-d
contrast to his wheat-blond hair. "Eh
Everybody in th’ Downs knew Mike, and bien, mon chef,” he murmured, '"rhis

no one knew much good o’ him. Some devil of yours would seem to be a most

said he wuz a bootlegger, and some a run- discriminating demon; at least in Mon-
ner fer a joint down Windsor way th’ — sieur Scarsci’s case. Am I to understand

kind o’ place where ye git what ye pay fer that you give credence to the story?”

an’ no questions asked, an’ if ye feel th’ A tinge of red showed in O’Toole’s
want o’ womanly sympathy, there’s a broad face. "Ye are, sor,” he returned.
young an’ pretty hostess to give ye what "I wuz brought up amongst goats, sor; I’d
ye crave. However that might be, sor, we know their tracks when I seen ’em, even
used to see Mike sliding round th’ place, if me were tight shut; an’ I recog-
eyes
whispering to th’ respectable folks who nized th’ on Scarsci’s forehead.
print
might not be so good when they thought Besides ” he paused a moment, swal-
no one wuz lookin’, an’ I’d ’a’ run him lowing imeasily, and a dogged, stubborn
out o’ town, only I didn’t dast oflfend his look came in his eyes. "Besides, I seen
customers. So I wuz content to keep a th’ thing meself, sor.” O’Toole breathed
eye on him, just until he pulled oflf sumpin quickly, pantingly, as one who shifts a
I could rightly pinch him fer. burden from his chest.

"Well, that night we heard him drive "We all it mighty queer how
thought
up th’ Edgemere Road in that big, ex- Mike got he went on, "but th’
kilt,”

pensive roadster o’ his, an’ seen him turn coroner said he must ’a’ run into a tree

th’ corner like he wuz headed fer one o’ —

or sumpin though th’ saints knows
th’ big houses on th’ hill. I didn’t see it there wuz no tree there so we had to —
meself, sor, but one o’ me men, name o’ let it pass. But widin another week, sor.

Gibbons, wuz near by when it happened. Old Man Withers wuz found layin’ dead
He seen th’ car go round th’ bend an’ dis-
furninst th’ gate o’ his house, an’ he died

appear behind some rhododendron til’ same way Mike did wid th’ top —
bushes, an’ all of a sudden he heard some-
mashed out o’ his head an’ th’ mark o’ th’
beast on his brow. 'There warn’t no pos-
body give a yell as if th’ Divil’s self wuz
on ’im, an’ then two shots come close
sibility o’ his runnin’ into no tree —not
together. Next moment wuz a flash o’
even a tree as wuzn’t there, sor — for there
he wuz, spread-eagled on sidewalk wid
fire so bright it blinded him, an’ — that
his mouth wide open, an’
th’
his eyes a-starin’
wuz all.
at th’ sky, an’ there wuz blood an’ brains
"But when he came a-runnin’ to th’ oozin’ from a hole in his head big enough
place where Scarsci’s car wuz stalled, he to put yer fist into.
found Mike wid his gun still in his hand, "There wuz plenty said th’ old man
an’ th’ front mashed out o’ his head wuz a bad lot; it’s certain he never let a
most of it wuz gone, but
leastwise, nickel get away once he got his hands on
enough remained to show th’ footprint it, an’ many a one as borrowed money

of a monster goat stamped on ’im, sor. from him lived to regret it; but that’s
 THE DARK ANGEL 221 ]

not here nor there. Th’ fact is he wuz fumes o’ sulfur in me loose, an’ when I
dead, an’ th’ jury had to bring it in as gits so I can see again, there’s no one
homicide, though, o’ course, they couldn’t there but Mr. Roscoe, an’ he’s
a-tall

blame no one specifically. me on th’ sidewalk

stretched out beside
"Then, last o’ all, wuz Mr. Roscoe. A wid his skull mashed in an’ th’ Divil’s
harmless, inoffensive sort o’ cuss he wuz, mark upon his brow. Dead he were, sor;
sor; quiet-spoken an’ gentleman-like as dead as yesterday’s newspaper.
any that ye’d meet. He had some money "I’d made shift to snatch me gun out
an’ didn’t need to work, but he wuz a sort whilst th’ fire wuz still blindin’ me, an’
o’ nut on atheism, an’ ran some kind o’ had fired at where I thought th’ thing
paper pokin’ fun at th’ churches fer his must be, but all I ever found to show
’’
own amusement. that I’d hit sumpin wuz this thing
"
’Twas about midnight, ten days ago, From his blouse pocket he withdrew an
when th’ thing got him. I’d finished up envelope, and from it took a small, dark
me work at th’ Borough Hall, an’ wuz object.
headin’ fer home when I passed th’ bus De Grandin took it from him, exam*
station. Mr. Roscoe gits off’n th’ last bus ined it a moment, then passed it on to me.

from Bloomfield, an’ we walks along It was a portion of a quill, clipped across
together. As we wuz walkin’ past St. the shaft some three or four inches from
Michael’s church we seen th’ light which the tip, the barbs a brilliant black which
burns before th’ altar, an’, ’O’Toole,’ shone with iridescent luster in the lamp-
'

says Mr. Roscoe, ’tis a shame that they light. Somewhat heavier than any feather
should waste th’ price o’ oil to keep that I had ever felt, it was, and harder, too,

thing a-goin’ when there’s so much mis- for when I ran my thumb across its edge
ery an’ sufferin’ in th’ world. If I could it rasped my skin almost like the teeth of
have me way,’ says he, 'I’d raise th’ divil a fine saw. Indeed, the thing was more
’
wid like the scale from some gigantic reptile,

"An’ then it wuz upon us, sor. Taller cut in foliations to simulate a quill, than
than me by a good foot, it wuz, an’ all any feather had ever
I seen.
covered wid scales, like a serpent. Two "I never saw a quill like this, before,’*
horns wuz growin’ from its head, an’ its I told O’Toole, and:
eyes wuz flashin’ fire. I couldn’t rightly "Here’s hopin’ that ye never do again,
say it had a tail, fer there wuz small sor,’’ he responded earnestly, "fer as
chance to look at it; but may I never stir sure as ye’re a-settin’ on that chair, that
from this here chair if it didn’t have a there’s a feather from a Divil’s Angel’s
pair o’ big, black wings — an’ it flew right wing!”
at us.

"Mr. Roscoe give a funny sort o’ cry “"D eggin’ yer pardon, sor,” Nora Mc-
an’ put his caneup to defend hisself. I •t# Ginnis once more appeared abrupt-
wuz yankin’ at me gun, but me fingers ly at the door, "there’s a young man wid
wuz all stiff wid cold, an’ th’ holster a special delivery letter fer Doctor de
wouldn’t seem to come unsnapped. Grandin. Will ye be afther lookin’ at it

"Th’ next I knew, somethin’ give a now, sor, or will it wait.^”

awful, screamin’ laugh, an’ then there "Bring it in at once, if you will be so
wuz a flash o’ fire right in me face, an’ good,” the Frenchman answered. "All
I’m a-coughin’ an’ a-chokin’ wid th’ special letters merit quick attention.”
222 .WEIRD TALES

Bowing mute apologf to us, he slit Elizabetlian,Tudor, Jacobean, with here

the envelope and glanced quidcly through and there an example of the Georgian or
dte brief typewritten missive. "Parbleu, Regency periods, set well back in taste-
’tis very strange!” he exclaimed as he fin- fully planted grounds along wide, tree-
ished reading. "You come to me regard- bordered rOads which trailed gracefully
ing these so strange events, tnon chef, in curves and avoided every hint of the
and on your heels comes this. Attend me, perpendicularity of city streets. Com-
ifyou please: mercial buildings were restricted to such
My dear Doctor de Grandifi: few shops were essential to the con-
as
I have heard of your ability to arrive at explana-
tions of cases which apparently possess a super-
venience of the community a grocery, —
drug store, delicatessen and motor service
natural aspect, and am writing you to ask if you
will take the Borough of Norfolk Downs as client
in a case which will undoubtedly command the
station —
and these were confined to a df-
cumscribed zone and eflfectually disguised
limit of your talents.
Our police force admit their helplessness, special as private dwellings, their show windows
investigators hired from the best detective agencies fashioned as oriels, neatly sodded yards,
have failed to give us any satisfaaion. Our peo-
ple are terrified and the entire Community lives in set with flower beds and planted with
a feeling of constant insecurity. evergreens, before them.
In view of this I am authorized to offer you a
retainer of one thousand dollars immediately upon Mayor Wilcox occupied a villa in Edge-
your acceptance of the case, and an additional fee
of fifty dollars a day, plus reasonable expenses,
mere Road, a great, rambling house of
provided you arrive at a solution of the mystery the half-timbered English style with
which is not only causing our citizens much
Romantic chimneys, stuccoed walls and
anxiety but has already reached the newspapers in
a garbled form and is causing much unfavorable many low, broad windows. A smug, well-
publicity for Norfolk Downs as a residential center.
kept formal garden, fenced in by neatly
Your promptness in replying will be appreci-
ated by trimmed hedges of box and privet, was in
Yours faithfully,
Rolland Wilcox,
front; at the sidewas a pergola and rose
Mayor of Norfolk Downs. garden where marble statues, fountains
and a lily-pond stood in incongruous con-
“An’ will ye take th’ case, sor?”
trast to tfie Elizabethan house and Vic-
O'Toole asked eagerly.
torian front-garden.
"Sure, Doctor de Grandin, sor, ye’ll be
"I understand you’ve had some of the
doin’ me a favor, an’ Timmie, too, if
details of the case already from O’Toole,
ye’ll say yes,” Costello added.
Doctor de Grandin,” Mayor Wilcox said
“Assuredly,” de Grandin answered
when we had been escorted to his study
with a vigorous nod. “Tomorrow after-
at the rear of the villa’s wide central hafl.
noon the good Doctor Trowbridge and I
'The Frenchman inclined his head.
shall wait upon Monsieur le Maire and
“Quite so,” he answered. ”1 was most
say to him: 'Voila, Monsieur, here we
solemnly assured you were suffering from
are. Where is the thousand dollars, and
diabolic visitation.Monsieur le Maire."
where the mystery that you would have
” Wilcox laughed shortly, mirthlessly.
us solve? But yes; certainly.’
"I’m not so sure he’s wrong,” he
answered.
2
"Eh, yOu have some reason to be-

T he wealthy realtors
architects who mapped out Norfolk
and expensive

Downs had done their work artistically.

lieve ” de Grandin started, then broke
off questioningly.
The mayor looked from one of us to
Houses of approved English architecture. the other with a Sort Of shamefaced ex-
 THE DARK ANGEL 223

pression, "It’s really very odd,” he re- porch. But just before the first of these
turned at length. "Folloilott rather in- mysterious killings took place the stone
clines to the diabolical theory, too, but fetter which bound the Devil became
he’s so mediasval-minded, anyway, broken in some way. Folloilott was the
”
that first to notice it, and directed my attention

"And this —
Monsieur Fol ^this Mon- to the missing links. He seemed in a
sieur with the funny name, who is he, if dreadful state of funk when he to4d us
you please.^” the bits of missing stone were nowhere
"Our rector —the priest in charge of St. to be found.
"
Michael and All Angels’; queer sort of 'Well, we’ll have a stone-cutter over
chap; modern and all that, you know, but and have new ones carved,’ I told him,
believes in all sorts of supernatural non- but it seemed that wouldn’t do at all.
”
sense, and Unless the identical links which were
"One little if you please,” de
moment, missing could be found and reset right
Grandin interrupted. "Let us hear the away, something terrible would descend
reasons for the good man’s assumptions, on the community, he assured me. I’d
if you will. Me, I know the by-ways of have laughed at him, but he was so
ghostland as I know my own pocket, and earnest about it any one could see he was
I solemnly assure you there is no such sincere.
"
thing as the supernatural. 'There is un- 'I tell you, Wilcox,’ he said, 'those

doubtedly the superphysical; there is also links are symbolical. The Archfiend is
that class of natural phenomena which we unchained upon the earth, and dreadful
do not understand; but the supernatural? things will come to us unless we can con-
Non, it is not so.” fine him in those sacred fetters right

Mayor Wilcox, who was bald to the away!’ You have to know Folloilott to

ears and affected a pointed beard and understand the impressive way he said
curling mustache which gave him a it. Why, I almost believed it, myself, he
Shakespearian appearance, glanced sharp- was so serious about it all.

ly at the Frenchman, as though in doubt "Well, the upshot of it all was we

of his sincerity, then, as he met the ear- searched the churchyard and all the
nest gaze of the small, blue eyes, re- ground around, but couldn’t find a sin-
sponded with a shrug; gle trace of those stone links. Next night
"It was the Michael which started him. the boot — the Scarsci man was killed in
Our church, you know, is largely con- the way O’Toole told you, and since that
structed from bits of ruined abbeys time we’ve had two other inexplicable
brought from England. The font is Six- murders.
teenth Century, the altar even earlier, and "No one can offer any explanation, and
some of the carvings date back to pre- the detectives we hired were as much at

Tudor times. 'The name-saint, the Arch- sea as any of us. What do you think of
angel Michael, is represented by a par- it, sir?”

ticularly fine bit of work showing the ''U’m,” de Grandin took his narrow
Champion of Heaven overcoming the chin between a thoughtful thumb and
Fiend and binding him in chains. It was finger and pinched it till the dimple in its
in first-rate shape despite its age when we tip deepened to a cleft. "I think we
received it, and every precaution was should do well to see this statue of St.
taken when we set it over the church Michael and also the so estimable clergy-
224 WEIRD TALES
man with the unpronounceable name. one-tracked mind, as you call him in
Can this be done at once?” American, hiin^ And this St. Michael of
Wilcox consulted his watch. "Yes,” he whom you spoke, where is he, if you
answered. "Folloilott says evensong about please?”
this time every day, rain, shine or measles. "There,” Wilcox answered, pointing
We’ll be in time to see him if we step his blackthorn stick to a sculptured group
over to the church right away.’' set in the wall above the pentice.
The group, upon a

W
cut in high relief
INTER was dying hard. The late plinth of stone, represented the Arch-
afternoon was bitter for so late in angel, accoutered in cuirass and greaves,
March. A leaden sky, piled high with erect above the fallen demon, one foot
asphalt-colored clouds, held a menace of upon his adversary’s throat, his lance
snow, and along the walks curled yellow poised for a thrust in his fight hand, the
leaves from the wayside trees scuttered, leftholding a chain which was made fast
and paused and scuttered on again as to manacles latched around the fiend’s
thou^ they fled in hobbled fear from the wrists. ’Ihe whole thing, rather crudely
wind that came hallooing from the north. carved, had an appearance of immense
Chimes were playing softly in the age, and even from our point of view,
square bell-tower of the church as we ap- some forty feet away, we could see dial
proached, their vibrant notes scarce audi- several links of the chain, as well as the
ble against the wind’s wild shouting: bracelets binding the Devil’s hands, had
Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
weathered and chipped away.
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. . . . "And Monsteuf t’Abbi insists this has
A look of almost ineffable sadness connection with these so strange deaths?”
swept across de Grandin’s features, swift the Frenchman asked musingly.
as the passing of a drought. "Have her "He affects to believe so; yes,” Wilcmc
ever in ’Ihy gracious keeping. Lord!” he answered, impatience in his voice.
murmured, and signed the cross before "Eh bten, in former limes men have
his face, so quickly one might have believed in stranger ’
ings,” de Grandift
drought him stroking his mustache. returned. "Come, kt us go in; I would
"’There’s Folloilott, now!” Wilcox ex- observehim more dosely, if you please.”
”
claimed. "I say, Mr. Folloilott, here Like too many churches, St. Michael
A tall young man in shovel hat and and All Angels’ did not boast impressive
Inverness coat strode quiddy across the congregations at ordinary serdees. A
patch of lawn separating the church from verger in a black-serge robe, three or four
the brick-and-sandstone rectory. If he elderlyand patently virgin ladies in ex-
heard the mayor’s greeting above the wind pensive but frumpish costumes and a
he gave no sign as he thrust the nail- young and slender girl almost nun-like in
studded door of the vestry aside and her subdued gray coat and hat were the
entered the sacred edifice. sole attendants besides ourselves.
"Humph, he’s a sacerdotal fool!” our *1116 organ prelude finished as we found
companion exclaimed half angrily. "You seats in a forward pew, and the Reverend
might as well try to get a number on a Mr. Folloilott entered from die vestry,
broken telephone as attract his attention genuflected to the altar and began to in-
vdien he’s about his parish duties.” tone the service. Rather to my surprize,
’TTm?” de Grandin murmured. '"The he chose the long, or Hicene Creed, in
W. T.—
 THE DARK ANGEL 223

preference to the shorter one usually re- "And who is Janet, may one ask? Ma-
cited at the evening service, and at the dame Fol — the reverend gentleman's
words, "and was incarnate by the Holy wife?”
Ghost," his genuflection was so profound "Lord, no!” the mayor responded,
that it was almost a prostration. "Folloilott’s a dedicated celibate. Janet’s
Immediately following the collect for his ward.”
peace he descended from the diancel to "Ah?” the Frenchman answered with a
the body of the church and began the barely perceptible rising inflection. I

oflice of general supplication. drove my elbow he say

in his ribs lest
It was chilly to the point of frostiness more. The frank expressions of de Gran-
in the church, but perspiration streaked din’s thoughts were not always acceptable
the cleric’s face as in a voice vibrant with to American ears, as I well knew from
intense emotion he cantillated the en- certain contretemps in which he had in-
treaty: volved me in the past!
Oholy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three per-
sons and one God ; have mercy upon us miserable
3
sinners. . . .

From our seats in the transept

almost abreast of the priest as he knelt
at the litany desk, and I caught de Gran-
we were
din studying him covertly while the inter-
minable oflice was recited. Mr. Folloilott’s
face was cameo-sharp in profile, pale, but
not with poor health; lean rather than
thin, with a high, narrow brow, deep-set,
almost piercingly clear eyes of gray, high-
E ight of us gathered at the Jacobean
oak table in Mr. Wilcox’s dining-
room that evening: the mayor and his
wife, a slender, dark young man of
scholarly appearance with refined, Semitic
features, George, Wilcox’s son, recently
admitted to the bar and his father’s part-
ner in practise, the Reverend Basil Follo-
ilott and his ward, Janet Payne, de Gran-

bridged, prominent nose and long, point- din and 1. The meal was good, thou^
ed chin. The mouth was large, but thin- simple: clear soup, fried sole, a saddle of
lipped, and the hair which grew well for- Canada hare, sal^ and an ice; white wine
ward at the temples intensely black. A with the fish, claret with the roast.
rather strong, intelligent face, I thought, De Grandin studied each of the guests
but one marked by asceticism, the face of with his quick, stock-taking glance, but
one who might be either unflinching Janet excited my curiosity most of all.
martyr or relentless inquisitor, as occasion She was slight and unmistakably attrac-
might direct. tive, but despite her smooth and fresh-
"No use trying to see him now," Wil- colored complexion she somehow con-
cox told uswhen benediction was pro- veyed an impression of colorlessness. Her
nounced and the congregation rose from long, fair hair was simply arranged in a
their knees after a respectful interval. figure 8 knot at the nape of her neck; her
"He'll be about his private devotions for large, blue, heavy-lidded eyes seemed to
the next half-hour, and — ah, by George, convey nothing but disinterested weari-
I have it! I’m having another friend for ness. Her lips were a thought too full
dinner tonight: what d’ye say we have for beauty, but she had a sweet, rather
Folloilott and Janet in as well.^ You’ll pathetic smile, and she smiled often but
have all the chance you want to talk with talked rarely. "H’m,” I wondered pro-
him." fessionally, "is she anemic, or recovering
"Excellent," de Grandin acquiesced, from an illness?”
W.T.—
226 WEIRD TALES
The sound of Wilcox’s voice broke 'The other cut him ofiF. "Janet has no
through my saw Withers’
revery: "I place for earthly love in her life,” he
executors today, Mr. he told
Silverstein,” answered. "Hers is one of those devoted
the young Jewish gentleman, "and I don’t souls which long for sweet commimion
think there’s much doubt that they’ll re- with the Heavenly Bridegroom. As soon
new the loan." as she has come of age she will become

To us he added in explanation, "Mr. a postulate in the order of the Resurrec-

Silverstein is Rabbi of the Congregation tion. All plans are made; it is her life’s

Beth Israel. Withers held a mortgage on vocation. She has been trained to look
their temple and was pressing them for for nothing else since she was a little
payment in full when he was —when he girl.”

died. The executors seem nwre leniently De Grandin shot a doubtful, question-
inclined.” ing glance at me, and I nodded confirma-

A sharp kick on my shin made me tion. St. Chrystosom’s, where I had

wince with pain, but before I could cry served as vestryman for nearly thirty years,

out, de Grandin’s hand was pressing mine

was "moderate,” being neither Method-
istically "low” nor ritualistically "high,”
and his eyes beckoning my attention to
the clergyman across the table. 'The rev-
but in a vague way I knew the ritualistic

erend gentleman’s face had gone an branch of the Episcopal Church supported
almost sickly gray, and an expression of
monastic and conventual orders with dis-
cipline and rules as strict as any sponsored
something like consternation was on his
features.
by the Greek and Latin churches, espe-
cially women’s orders, where the mem-
I was about to ask if I could be of serv-
bers took their vows for life and lived as
ice when our hostess rose, and with her
closely cloistered as mediaeval nuns.
Janet went into the drawing-room. Evi-
An awkward pause ensued. De Gran-
dently the custom of leaving the gentle-
din tweaked the points of his mustache
men at table with their cigars still ob-
and seemed meditating a reply, and
tained in Wilcox’s house. For just an in-
knowing him as I did, my teeth were on
stant as she passed the girl’s glance rested
edge with apprehension, but Wilcox
on young Wilcox, and in it was tender- saved the situation. "I was telling Doctor
ness and such yearning that I almost cried
de Grandin your theory of the strange
aloud, for it was like the look of a pau-
per’s child before a toyshop window at
deaths —how the breaking of the fetter in
St.Michael’s hand might be responsible,”
Christmas time.
he told the clergyman.
De Grandin noted the look, too.''Tiens, Young Rabbi Silverstein looked puz-
Monsieur I’Abbe," he said genially as he zled. "Surely, you’re not serious, Mr.
lighted his cigar, "unless I greatly miss he asked. "You can’t mean
Folloilott?”
my guess, you shall soon celebrate a most you believe there’s some connection
joyous ceremony.” between a graven image and these mur-
’The clergyman looked pu22led. "How ”
ders. Why, it’s

do you mean?” he asked. Folloilott rose,face drawn and

his
"Why, when Mademoiselle Jeannette working with half-suppressed emotion.
marries with Monsieur Georges, to be "To one of your religion, sir,” he an-
sure, you will most certainly perform the swered cuttingly, "the statue of the Arch-
cero angel Michael may be a 'graven image’ j
 THE DARK ANGEL 227

to */

as you
a holy thing, endued with
it

call
is

heavenly powers. As for these 'murders,'

them, I am convinced no earth-
T he clergyman excused himself a short
while afterward, and
alone before the fire.
we were Irft

ly agency has anything to do with them; "I think your rector needs a rest,” I
no human hand struck the blows which told the mayor. "His nerves are all un-
rid the world of those moral lepers. They strung from overwork. I’d say. Once or
are unquestionably the visitations of an twice I fancied he was on the verge of a
outraged Heaven upon contemners of breakdown this evening.”
Divine authority. The call to repentance
"He did look rather seedy,” Wilcox
has gone forth, even as it did in the days
admitted. "Guess we’ll have to send him
of the Patriarch Noah. Heaven is out-
off to Switzerland again this summer.
raged at the iniquity of man, and the
He’s a great mountain-climber, you know;
Dark Angel of Death is abroad; you may quite a hunter, too. Some years ago he
almost hear the beating of his dreadful
went exploring in the Andes and brought
sable wings. There is no one as when back some rare specimens. They say he’s
the first-born was slain of old, to sprinkle
one of the few men who ever succeeded
blood upon the lintels of ouc doors that
in bringing down a condor in full flight.”
he may spare us and pass on. Repent-
De Grandin glanced up sharply. "A
ance the only way No mortal
man
is

can stay his

to safety.
flight, no mortal dare
condor, did you say, Monsieur — one- of
those great Andean vultures?” he de-
impede him in his awful errand!”
manded.
"Tiens, there you do make the great
"Yes,” Wilcox answered. "He risked
mistake. Monsieur," de Grandin answered
his life todo it; but he shot one down
with one of his quick, elfin grins. "I dare
from an eminence of several thousand
do so. The law forbids such killings, and
feet. Got two of ’em, in fact, but one
be he angel or devil, he who has com- was lost. The other’s stuffed and mount-
mitted them must answer to the law.
ed in the museum at Harrisonville.”
Furthermore, which is of more immediate
"A condor?” murmured Jules de Gran-
importance, he must answer to Jules de
din musingly. "He shot a condor, this
Grandin. Certainly; of course.” ”
one, and
"You?" the tall cleric looked down at
Furious knocking at the followed
dcx)r,
the little Frenchman incredulously.
by the tread of heavy boots in the tiled
"Even as you say. Monsieur I’ Abbe” passage cuthim short. "Doctor de Gran-
For a moment they faced each other din, sor,” Chief O’Toole burst into the
across the table, Folloilott’s piercing gaze dining-room, amazement and something
seeking to beat down de Grandin’s level strangely lilce terror in his florid face,

and failing as the wind may fail to

stare, "there’s another one been kilt. We just

move a firmly planted rock. At length; got th’ word!”

"You take grave risks lightly, sir,” the "Mille tonnerres — another? Beneath
clergyman admonished. our very noses?” The Frenchman leaped
"It a habit of long standing. Mon-
is from bounced ball rises in
his seat as a
sieur,” de Grandin answered in a toneless, the and fairly rushed toward the coat
air,

level voice. His little, round blue eyes set closet where his outdoor wraps were
in a fixed, unwinking state against the hung. "Come, Friend Trowbridge, rush,
other’s burning gaze. hasten; fly!” he bade me. To O’Toole:
228 WEIRD TALES
"Lead on, mon chef, we follow close bottles that wuz carted from his place.
behind!” I’ve heard tell as how some o’ his little
"
’Tis Misther Bostwick, this time, playmates had husbands o’ their own,
sor,” the chief confided as we walked too, but as ’twas all done quiet an’ order-
”
along the frosty street. "Not five minutes ly-like, I never interfered, an’
ago I took a call at headquarters, an’, 'Is "No matter, one understands,” de
this th’ chief o’ police.^’ a lady asks, all Grandin cut him short. "Are we arrived?”
scared and trembly-like.
"
'It is,’ says I, 'an’ what can I be doin’ 4
fer ye. Miss?’
"
'Come over
yez please,’ she tells me.
has happened!’
to Misther Bostwick’s, if
'Sumpin terrible
W E WERE. Ablaze with lights, the
big, brick house in which Theodore
Bostwick had lived his gay and not par-
ticularly righteous life stood before us, a
"So over to Misther Bostwick’s house
I goes, an’ she wam’t exaggeratin’ none,
uniformed policeman at the door, another
waiting in the hall. Crouched on a settle
sor. I’ll say that fer her. 'Th’ place is a
holy wreck, an’ pore Bostwick’s a-settin’
by the fire, shaking with sobs and plainly
in an agony of fear, a very pretty little
there in his wid th’ back
livin’ -room
lady in a very pretty pajama ensemble
mashed out head an’ th’ mark o’
o’ his
raised a tear-stained face to us.
th’ Divil on his brow.”
DeGrandin took a few steps in thought-
my name
—
"Oh, don’t please don’t let them give
to the papers!” she besought as
ful silence; then: "And what was Mon-
sieur Bostwick’s besetting sin, mon chef?” de Grandin paused before her.
he asked. "Softly, Mademoiselle,” he soothed,
"Eh?” tactfully ignoring the platinum-and-di-
"What was it this one did which amond band encircling the third finger
might offend a straight-laced moralist?” of her left hand. "We do but seek the
O’Toole returned a short, hard laugh. facts. Where were you when it hap-
"How’d ye guess it, sor?” he asked. pened, if you please?”
"Name of an old and thoroughly de- "I — I’d come downstairs to get some
caying cheese — ajk you, not you me!” ice,” the little woman answered, dabbing
the Frenchman almost shouted. at her eyes with a wisp of rose-colored
"Well, sor, Norfolk Downs ain’t like cambric. —
"Ted Mr. Bostwick, wanted
some places; we don’t go pokin’ too much some ice for the cocktails, and I said I’d
into th’ private life o’ th’ citizens as pays come down and get it from the Frigidaire,
” ” She paused and shivered as
our salaries, an’ and
”A bos the explanations and apologies! though a chill had laid its icy finger on
What was it this one did, I ask to know!” her, despite the superheated room.
"Yes, Mademoiselle, and ” de
"Well, sor, if ye must know, they do
say as how he wuz uncommon fond o’ th’ Grandin prompted softly.

ladies. Time afther time I seen th’ pretty "I heard Ted call out once — I couldn’t
ladies shteppin’ out o’ their cars before understand him, and called back, 'What?’
his door, an’ late o’ nights th’ light wuz and then there was a dreadful clatter in

goin’ in his house. Yet he were a bache- the big room upstairs, as if everything
lor, sor, an’ his bootlegger’s bill must ’a’ were being smashed, and I was fright-
been tremenjous, judgin’ be th’ empty ened.
 THE DARK ANGEL 229

'T waited moment, then went

for a terest, certainly. And then, if you
upstairs, and —
oh, it was dreadful!” please
”

"Precisement, one understands as "Then I fainted again. I don’t know

much; but what was it you saw?” how long I lay on the floor, but as soon
"You’ll see it for yourself, when you as I came to I called police headquarters.”
go up. Ted was sitting there looking — De Grandin turned to Qiief O’Toole.
straight at me —
and everything around "You came at once?” he asked.
him was all broken. I took one look at "Yes, sor.”
him and turned to run, but on the steps "Who came with you?”
I must have fainted, for I fell, and when "Kelley an’ Shea, sor.”
I came to I was lying at the bottom of "Trh bien. You searched the place in-
”
the stairs, and sideand out? What of the doors and
"What did you do next?” he asked as windows?”
she paused again. "Locked, sor; locked tight as wax. 'Th’
"I — I fainted.” little lady here let us in, afther askin’
"Morhleu, again?” who we wuz, an’ we heard her throw
"Yes, again!” something half stubborn, th’ lock an’ draw th’ inside bolt an’ chain-

half hysterical was in her answer. "I was fastener. Th’ back door wuz tight locked,
going to the telephone to call the ofl&cers an’ every windy in th’ place but one wuz
when I chanced to glance up, and closed an’ latched. 'Th’ big windy in th’

there ” Once more her voice trailed livin’ -room upstairs wuz shut, but not
off to nothingness, and the color drained latched, sor.”
from her pink cheeks, leaving them ghast- "Very good. And that window there
ly-white beneath the rouge. — the one through which Mademoiselle
The little Frenchman looked at her, declares she saw the face — ^what of it?”
compassion in his gaze. "What was it "It’s more’n ten foot from th’ ground,
that you saw, ma pauvre?" he asked sor, an’ fixed — ^th’ frame’s set fast in th’

gently. jamb, so’s it can’t be opened a-tall.”

"A —a face, sir. It looked at me "Very good. Let us ascend and see
through the window for just an instant, what we shall see above.”
but I’ll not forget it if I live to be a hun-
dred.
ing below
like the
it
was nothing above it, noth-
'There
—
it seemed to hang tliere,

head of a decapitated man sus-

T he upstairs living-room of Bostwidc’s
house was a blaze of light, for Chief
O’Toole and his aides had turned on every
—
pended in the air and it glared at me. available bulb when they made their pre-
It was long —
^twice as big as any face I’ve liminary search.
ever seen —
and a sort of awful grayish "Ah?” de Grandin murmured softly as
color — like the imderside of a toad! we paused upon the threshold "A-ah?”
and great tusks protruded from its mouth. Facing us through the doorway which
'The eyes were green and glowing with gave upon the upper hall, his chin sunk
some dreadful light, and there were on his breast, hands clenched into rigid
horns growing from the forehead. I tell fists upon the arms of his chair, a man sat
you there were!” She paused a moment staring endlessly at nothing with sight-
while she fought for breath; then, very less, film-glazed eyes. He had been in
softly: "It was the Devil!” early middle life — forty-five, perhaps,
"Eh bien, Mademoiselle, this is of in- possibly fifty years old — ^with profuse.
250 .WEIRD TALES

gray-streaked hair and a Vandyke beard "An’ — an’ d’ye notice th’ shmell, sor?”
in which the brown was thidcly fledred O’Toole added diffidently,
with gray. In life his face must have De Grandin’s narrow nostrils contract-
been florid, but now it shone under the ed and expanded nervously as he snifl^ed
glowing electric bulbs with the ash-gray the air. I, too, inhaled, and down the
pallor which belongs only to death, his back of my neck and through my cheeks
parted lips almost as blanched as his ran tiny ripples of horror-chills. There
cheeks, little gouts of perspiration, glisten- —
was no mistaking it ^trust one who’d
ing like beads of oil, dewing his high, served a term as city health officer to
white forehead. know! Faint, but clearly perceptible,
The room behind him was a welter of there was the pungent, acrid scent of
confusion. Chairs were overturned, even burning sulfur in the room.
broken, the contents of the center table De Grandin’s small blue eyes were very
bits of expensive bric-a-brac and objects round and almost totally expressionless as
of vertu — ^were strewn upon the rich Tur- he looked from O’Toole to me and back
key carpet, the pieces of an almost price- again. At length: "Out-da,” he agreed,
less K’angshi vase lay scattered in one cor- 'West le soufre, vraiment. No matter, we
ner. have other tilings to do than inhale silly

De Grandin advanced and slowly sur- scents.”

"But, sor ” O’Toole began.
veyed the corpse, walking round it, ob-
serving it from every side. A little to the "But be grilled upon the grates of hell,
left and above the right ear a deep, mon vieux. What make you of this?” he
wedge-shaped depression showed in the pointed to a splash of blood, roughly cir-

skull, blood, a little ruptured brain-sub- cular in and some four or five
shape,

stance and serous cerebrospinal fluid es- inches in diameter, which disfigured the
carpet almost underneath the window.
caping from the wound. The Frenchman
looked at me with elevated brows and
"Huh? Why that’s where he bled,
sor,” the Irishman replied, after a mo-
nodded questioningly. I nodded back.
ment’s study of the ruddy spot.
Death must have been instantaneous.
"D’ye see it, sor?” O’Toole demanded
"Exactement, my friend — ^where he
bled. Now, consider this ” Wheel-
in an awed whisper, pointing to the dead
ing, he led us bads to the seated body,
man’s forehead.
and pointed in turn to the dead man’s
There was no denying it. Impressed collarand the back of the chair. Scarcely
upon the flesh, as though stamped there a bloodstain showed on them.
with almost crushing force, was the bifur-
"I don’t think I quite git ye, sor,” the
cated imprint of 4 giant goat’s hoof.
chief admitted after a long scrutiny.
"They must ’a’ had th’ divil of a fight,” "Ah bah, my friend, are you then
O’Toole opined as he surveyed the devas- blind?” the Frenchman asked him almost
tated room. angrily. "Consider: One window was
De Grandin looked about him care- open, or unlatched, at least; and by that
fully. "It seems so,” he agreed, "but why window we find blood. It is almost the
the Evil One should vent his wrath upon only blood we find. But Monsieur Bost-
the poor man’s chattels when he had widc is seated in his chair, almost as
killed the owner gives one to wonder though awaiting visitors. Is that the way
n’est-ce-fas?’ a man would be if he had died in fight?”
 THE DARK ANGEt 231

"Well, sor”—O’Toole put up a hand To the trembling, half-hysterical girl

to saatch his head
—
"he might ’a’ stag- he announced: "You are free to go at
gered to that chair an’ died there, afther will, petite, and were I you, I should not
’’
he’d been struck long remain here; one never knows who
"Name of a blue rat, my friend, how may come, and having come, depart and
can you say so?” de Grandin interrupted. retail gossip.”

"The blow which killed this poor one "You mean I may go —now?” she
caused instant death. Doctor Trowbridge asked in incredulous delight.
will bear me out in that. No human man "Perfectly, my little cabbage, to go and
could live three seconds following such a sin — ^with more discretion in the future.”
blow. Besides, if the man had staggered
across the room, there would be blood 5
upon the floor if he leant forward as he
ALE daylight had scarcely dawned
crawled toward the chair, or blood upon
his collar if he stood upright; yet we see
P when de Grandin nudged and kicked
me into wakefulness. "Have you forgot-
none save in this single spot. That is the
ten that we inspect Monsieur Bostwick’s
spot where he bled, my friend. He was
house today?” he asked reproachfully.
undoubtlessly struck dead close by the
"Come, my friend, rush, hasten, make the
window, then and
carried to that chair
hurry; we have much to do and I would
placed there with both feet upon the flat
be about while there are not too many
it
floor, and hands composed upon the
to observe our actions.”
arms, and then the one who killed him
Our hasty toilets made and a call put
smashed the furniture to bits. The testi-
through to ask O’Toole to meet us, we
mony of the room can be interpreted no
hurried to the house of death, and while
other way.”
we waited for the chief, de Grandin made
The Irishman glanced round the room, a careful circuit of the place. "'This is
then at the dead man. "Howly Mither,” undoubtlessly the window where the lit-
he exclaimed at length, "I’m damned if tle lady with the fragile morals saw the
I don’t think th’ dominie is right, sor. It
evil face look through,” he mused, paus-
were th’ Divil as done this thing. No ing under the big chimney which reared
mortal man could fly up to that windy an’ itself along the southern wall.
kill th’ pore felly in that way!” He paused "Yes,” I agreed, "and it’s directly
to bless himself, then: "Let’s be goin’, underneath the window of the room
sor. ’There’s no good cornin’ from our where Bostwick’s body was found, too;
stayin’ here!” the window Chief O’Toole said was
De Grandin nodded in agreement. closed but unlocked.”
’Then, as we reached the lower hall: 'We "Excellent,” he clapped his hands, as
shall not need the pretty lady’s testimony. though applauding at a play. "I shall
Chief. I believe her story absolutely make something of you yet. Friend Trow-
she was too frightened to be lying and — bridge. You have right, now ah? Que —
nothing she can tell us will throw light diable?"
upon the case. Meantime, if you will He broke off sharply, aouched sud-
have a strict watch kept, and see that no denly upon the frozen lawn and crq)t
one comes or goes, except the under- forward quickly, as though intent upmi
taker’s men when they come for the body, taking something by surprize. "You see?*'
I shall be greatly in your debt.” he asked in a tense whisper.
232 WEIRD TALES
A tiny coppice ofdwarf spruce was Norfolk Downs retained me for that
planted in the angle of the chimney and purpose.^ Come, let us go. I see the good
the house-wall, and as he pointed I saw O’Toole approaching, and he will surely
that one or two small branches were be made ill if he should see this thing.’*
freshly broken, the tender wood showing Once more we searched the house as
white and pallid through the ruptured carefully as a jeweler might search a gem
bark. for hidden flaws, but nowhere was there
Following him, I saw him part the any clue to help us. At length: "We
lower boughs, examine the frosty ground must look de Grandin said.
at the roof,”
with his nose almost thrust into it, then "It may be we some little, so
shall find
saw him straighten like a coiled spring small thing to aid us there; the good God
suddenly released from tension. "Be- knows we have not found it here.”
hold!” he bade me, seizing my wrist and "Arra, Doctor de Grandin, sor, 'tain’t
dragging me forward. Upon the hard Christmastime fer nigh anodier year,”
earth showed a tiny stain, a dull, brown- O’Toole objected.
colored stain, no larger than a split bean, "Eh, what is it that you tell me
but unmistakable. Blood! noel?” the Frendunan answered sharply.
"How ’’
I began, but: "Why, sor, ye must be afther thinkin’
"And look at this — ^ten thousand small it wuz Santy Claus as did in Misther
blue devils! —look at this, my friend, and Bostwick, instead o’ — instead o’ Satan.”
tell me what it is you see!” he ordered He looked quiddy round, as though he
sharply. Nearer the house, where the feared some hidden listener, dien signed
chimney’s warmth had kept the frost from himself furtively with the cross.
hardening the earth to any great extent, De Grandin grinned acknowledgment
there showed two prints — footprints —but of the sally, but led the way micompro-
sudi footprints! misingly to the attic from which a trap-
One was obviously human, a long and door let upon the steep, tiled roof. Paus-
slimly aristocratic foot, shod with a moc- ing for a moment to survey die serrated
casin or some sort of soft shoe, for there rows of semi-cylindrical tiles with which
was no well-defined impression of a built- the housetop was covered, he threw a leg
up heel. But close beside it, so placed it over the ridgepole and began slowly
must have been left by the same person, working his way toward the chimney.
was the clear-cut, unmistakable impres- Early as it was, several small boys loiter-

sion of a hoof —
a cloven hoof as though — ing in the street, the policeman on guard
an ox or giant goat had stamped there. outside the house and a dog of highly
"Well!” I exclaimed, then paused for doubtful ancestry were on hand to wit-
very want of words in which to frame my ness his aerial performance, and as he
reeling thoughts. reached the chimney and clung to it, both
"Non,” he denied emphatically. "It is arms encircling the tall terra-ootta pot
most unwell. Friend Trowbridge. It is with which the flue was capped, we cau^t
diabolical, no less. Tout la tnetn ^' he — a flash of black and saw the Reverend
raised his narrow shoulders in a shrug Basil Folloilott pause in a rapid walk and
"I shall not be dissuaded. Thou^ Satan’s gaze up wonderingly.
self has done these things. I’ll not desist De
Grandin hugged the chimney some
until I have him clapped in jail, my three minutes, crooked his knee across
friend. Consider, has not the mayor of the angle of the roof and leant as fafi
 THE DARK ANGEL 233

downward as was possible, examining snapped shut upon the words. "I know
the glaaed, round tiles, then slowly he was. Time after time, night after
hitched himself back to the trap-door night, I saw his paramours arriving at his
where O’Toole and I were waiting. door as I watched from my study win-
"Find anythin’, sor?’’ the chief inquired dow, and I went to him with messages of
good-humoredly. —
peace redemption and release through
"Enough to justify the risk of breaking hearty and unfeigned repentance. But
’’
the most valuable neck which I possess,’’ he
the Frenchman answered with a smile. "Eh bien, Monsieur, one can guess
"Parbleu, enough to give one food for without great difficulty what he said to
speculation, too, I am inclined to think!’’ you,’’ the Frenchman answered with a
"What WU2 it?’’ laugh.
The Frenchman opened his hand, and "One can,’’ the cleric answered hotly.
in the palm of his gray glove we saw a "He told me to go to the devil ^me, the —
slim, dark object resting, a little wisp of messenger of holiness. There was no
horsehair, I supposed. hope for such as he. He led a life of sin;
"What ’’
O’Toole began, but: in sin he died, and God can find no pity
"No whats, my friend, no whys, not for a wretch like him. The Lord Him-
’’
even any wherefores, if you please,’’ the self
other cut him short. "Me, I shall cogitate "It seems I have read somewhere of a
upon this matter — ^this and some others. lady whose behavior was not all a lady's
Anon I may announce the goal to which conduct ought to be, yet who was counted
my thoughts have led. Meantime 1 am of some worth in later days,” de Grandin
too well aware that it is villainously cold interrupted softly.
up here and I am most tremendously in An ugly sneer gathered at the corners
need of food.’’ of Folloilott’s mouth. "Indeed?’’ he asked
"She was a countrywoman
sarcastically.
reakfast was laid in the pleasant
B room adjoining Wilcox’s kitchen
when we returned, and de Grandin did
of yours, no doubt. Monsieur de Gran-
din?”
"No-o,” the Frenchman answered slow-
full justice to the meal. He was com- ly, while a malicious twinkle flickered in
mencing his fifth cup of well-creamed
coffee when a maid announced the Rev-
bis eyes. "She was from Magdala the —
Scriptures call her Mary Magdalene, and
erend Basil Folloilott. somewhere I have heard the Blessed
Despite the coldness of the day, the Master did not bar her out of Paradise,
clergyman’s pale face was even paler although her life had been at least as bad
than its usual wont as he came into the as that of Monsieur Bostwick.”
breakfast room, still a little short of
breath from rapid walking. "Dreadful “T SAY, de Grandin, you seem to take
news of Mr. Bostwick,’’ he announced as -8- delight in getting a rise out of Fol-
he greeted us reservedly. "The poor un- Wilcox accused when the clergy-
loilott,”
fortunate, cut off in deadly sin — if
’’
only man had taken a hasty and offended leave.
he had seen the light in time The almost boorish manner of the
"Who he was cut off in sin, Mon-
says preacher puzzled me. "Perhaps the man’s
sieur?” de Grandin broke in suddenly. a pious hypocrite,” I hazarded but:
“I do,’’ the clergyman’s pale lips "Mms non," denied the Frenchman.
234 WEIRD TALES
"Pious he is, I freely grant — ^but a hypo- next May she starts on her novitiate at
crite? No, it is not so. He is in deadly Carlinville. I suppose he knows best, he’s
”
earnest, that one. How much his deadli- such a thoroughly good man, but
ness exceeds his earnestness I should not She broke off with another sigh, as
care to guess, but ” He lapsed into though she felt herself a heretic for ques-
a moody silence. tioning the rector’s wisdom.
"What d’ye mean?”
”
I urged. "Are We played bridge after dinner, but de
you implying that Grandin’s mind was not upon the game.
"Ah bah, I did but let my wits go He lost consistently, and shortly after ten
wool-gathering — there is a black dog run- o’clock excused himself on the plea he
ning through my brain. Friend Trow- had a busy day before him, paid his losses
bridge,” he apologized. "Forget what I and furtively beckoned me to join him in
have said; I was conversing through the our room.
hat, as you so drolly say.” "Friend Trowbridge,” he informed
me earnestly, "we must do something for
6 those children. It is an outrage two young

D e grandin was busy all that day,

making a hasty trip to the city, re-
turning for luncheon, then dashing off to
hearts should thus be pried apart.
saw the look she gave him yesternight at
table —
a look in which her very heart
You

consult Qiief O’Toole till nearly dinner beat for release against the fetters of her
time. eyes. You saw the look on young Mon-
He kept the table in an uproar with his sieur^s face this evening. Our business is

witty sallies throughout the meal, and to help them to each other.”
when dessert was served young George "Our business is to find out who’s per-
Wilcox pulled a long face. "I’d rather petrating these murders — if it’s not the

sit right here and talk with you than go Devil himself, as O’Toole and Folloilott
out tonight, Doctor de Grandin,” he de- seem to think,” I broke in roughly. '"This
”
clared, "but boy-and-girl affair’s just puppy love. They
"Ah-ha; ah-ha-ha I see him!” — may think
”
their hearts are broken,
laughed de Grandin. "I too was young but
upon a time, my friend. I know the "Zut, who says it?” he cried sharply.
ecstasy of the little hand’s soft pressure, "I tell you, good Friend Trowbridge, a
the holy magic which can be found with- man’s heart breaks but once, and then it
in the loved one’s glance. Go to her with is forever. Misere deDieu, do I not know

speed, mon vieux; you were not half a it? As for these killings, my friend, I am
man you delayed your tryst to talk with
if the wiser, though not sadder, man to-
such a silly one as Jules de Grandin. Hold night. Attend me: At Harrisonville I
her hand gently, mon brave, it is a fragile had the tiny flecks of hard-dried liquid
thing, I make no doubt.” which we found outside Monsieur Bost-
The boy retreated with a sheepish grin wick’s window analyzed. They were, as
and heightened color. I suspected, blood —^human blood. Also,
"I wish George wouldn’t see her,” while he was absent on some parish duty,
Mrs. Wilcox sighed plaintively. "They’re I did feloniously and most unlawfully in-
terribly in love, of course, but Mr. Fol- sert myself into the reverend gentleman’s
loilott won’t hear of it — ^he’s mapped the study, and made a careful search. Behold
poor girl’s life for her, you know, and what I have found ” From the pocket
 THE DARK ANGEL 235

of his dinner coat he took several small, pull the blankets over you, but do not
twisted things, grayish, curved objects sleep; we shall have need of wakefulness
which looked for all the world like sec- before the ni^t is done, I damn think.”
tions of a hard, gray doughnut. Despite his admonition, I dropped off.
’’
"What the deuce I began, but 'The respite from the cares of my practise
he stoppedme with a grin. and the dull evening at cards combined
"Qiains, my friend chains — of the to wear down my will to stay awake. How
devil, no less. The mystery of the holy long I slept I do not know, but something
Michael’s tether for the Devil is ex- — that odd sixth sense which rouses sleep-
plained. I would not go so far as to de- ing cats, dogs and physicians brought —
clare that the good cleric broke that me full-conscious from the fairyland of
carven chain, then spread the story of im- dreams. No time was needed to orient
pending doom about; but unquestionably myself; my eyes turned unbidden to the
he had possession of the missing links, window which de Grandin had left open.
even while he helped search for them in The steady southwest w’ind had chased
pl2U£S where he knew that they were not. the clouds before it, and the moonii^t
What do you make of that.^’’ fell as bright, almost, as midday on the
"Why ’’
I looked at him in open- planted lawn outside. Bars of the silvery
’’
mouthed amazement. "WTiy luminance struck through the open case-
"Exactly, precisely; quite so. It is our ment and lay along the floor, as bright
task to find out why, and unless I am —
and unobscured as ^stay, there was a
more mistaken than I think I am, we shadow blotting out the moonlight, some-
shall know something ere we see another thing was moving very slowly, sound-
morning.” lessly, outside the window.
Yawning, he stripped and
off his jacket I strained my eyes to pierce the inter-
waistcoat, pulled his pajama coat on vening gloom, then sat bolt-upright, hor-
above his shirt, and proceeded to snap on ror gripping at my throat, chill, grisly
every available bulb in the room. Once fear dragging at my scalp.
more he yawned prodigiously, went to Across the eighteen-inch-wide sill it
the window and vmbarred it, flinging came, as quiet as a creeping snake; a
wide the casement and spreading wide great, black thing, the moonlight glinting
his arms in a tremendous stretch. I evilly on the polished scales which over-
yawned in sympathy as he stood there laid its form. From its shoulders, right
with jaws agape, the personification of a and left, spread great, black wings,
man who can withstand the urge to sleep gleaming with a sort of horrid, half-
no longer. dulled luster, and as they grasped the
A moment he stood thus, then, snap- window-sill I caught a glimpse of long,
ping off the light, leaped quiddy in the curved talons,pitiless as those of any vul-
bed and pulled the comforter about his ture, but larger and more cruel by far
neck. than those of any bird.
"Good Lord, you’re not going to sleep But awful as the dread form was, the
that way, are you.^” I asked, amazed. countenance was more so. ghastly sort A
"Pardieu, I shall not sleep at all, my of white it was, not white as snow or
friend!” he answered in a whisper. "And polished bone is white, not white as
you will please have the goodness not to death’s pale visage may be white, but a
shout Qimb into bed if you desire, and leprous, unclean white, the sort of pallor
236 WEIRD TALES
which can not be dissociated from dis- man lay upon his bed, his head crushed
ease, corruption and decay. Through the in, his gallant spirit gone for ever from
pale mask of horror looked two brilliant, his slender, gallant body.
glaring eyes, like corpse-lights shining "Tiens, my friend, you battled him
through the sockets of a fleshless skull, right manfully. I dare assert his belly is
and from the forehead reared a pair of most villainously sore where you hit it
curving, pointed horns. A dreadful mem- with the bottle,” de Grandin’s voice came
ory rushed across the years, a memory of tome from the farther end of the room,
childish fearwhich had laid dormant but and as my light-burned eyes regained
undead for nearly half a century. With their sight, I saw him crawl forth from
my own eyes I saw in living form the behind an overstuffed armchair.
figure of Apollyon out of Pilgrim’s Pro-
My first impulse was to rush upon him
gress!
and clasp him in my arms; then sudden
I tried to cry aloud, to warn de Gran- hot resentment rose within me. "You
din of the visitant’s approach, but only a were there all the time,” I accused. "Sup-
dull, aoaking sound, scarce louder than ”
pose it had struck me instead of
a sigh, escaped my palsied lips.
"Of the pillow which I so artistically
Low as the utterance was, it seemed to
arranged within the bed to simulate my-
carry to the creeping horror. With a wild,
self.^” he interrupted with an impish
demoniac laugh it launched itself upon
grin. "In such a case I should have
the bed where my little friend lay sleep-
brought this into play.” He waved the
ing, and in an instant I heard the sicken-
—
ing impact of a blow another blow
heavy French army revolver which he
held in his right hand. "I could have
and then a high, cracked voice crying:
dropped him at any time, but I desired to
"Accursed of God, go now and tell your
seewhat he was about. It was a gallant
master who keeps watch and ward upon
show, n’est-ce-pas?”
the earth!”
Weapon had none, but at the bedside
I
—
"But but was it really human?” I de-
manded, shuddering at the dreadful
stood a table with a chromium carafe of
memory of the thing. "D’ye suppose a
chilled spring water, and this I hurled
bullet could have reached it? I could
with all my might straight at the awful ”
have sworn
face.
"Assuredly you could,” he acquiesced
A second marrow-freezing cry went up,
and then a flash of blinding light — bright
and chuckled. "So can the good O’Toole,
and so can our most reverend friend, the
as asummer storm’s forked lightning on ”
—
a dark night flared in my eyes, and I
abbe with the funny name, but

choked and gasped as strangling fumes A thunderous knocking at the door

of burning sulfur filled my mouth and broke through his words. "Doctor de
nostrils. Grandin, is everything all right?” Mayor
"De Grandin, oh, de Grandin!” I Wilcox called anxiously. "I thought I

wailed, leaping from the bed and blun- heard a noise in your room, and —noth-
dering against furniture as I sought the ing’s happened, has it?”

light.Too well I knew that Jules de "Not yet,” the Frenchman answered
Grandin could not hear my voice, already coolly. "Nothing of any consequence.
I had seen the effects of such flailing Monsieur le Moire; but something of im-
blows as I had heard; the little French- portance happens shortly, or Jules de
 THE DARK ANGEL 237

Grandin will eat turnips for next Qirist- ,7

mas dinner.”
"That’s
swered. "At
good,”
first I
Mayor Wilcox
might be
thought it
an- T here was something vaguely
we set out; a chill not
in the night as
wholly due to the shrewd wind which
sinister

George stumbling over something as he blew in from the meadows was biting at
”
came in, but my we walked
nerves as quickly down the
"Ha? Petit Monsieur Georges he is — winding, darkened road. Some half a
still out.^” the Frenchman interrupted
dozen blocks beyond the house we came
shrilly.
” on a parked car, but when de Grandin
"Yes, but
flashed his searchlight toward it the angry
"Grand Dieu des pores, grand Dieu question of a strange young man
des coqs; grand Dieu des artichauts — formed us we had failed to find the pair
in-

come. Friend Trowbridge, for your life,

we sought. Nevertheless:
for his life, for their lives; we must '"The thing responsible for the deaths
hasten, rush, fly to warn them of the hor- which have terrorized the town is out to-
ror which stalks by night! Oh, make night, my friends,” the little Frenchman
haste, my friend; make haste, I beg of warned. "We ourselves have seen it but
you!” ”
a moment since, and
Wondering, I got into my hat and '"rhen you stay here and see it by your”
overcoat while de Grandin thrust the self, old chap!” the young man bade, as
heavy pistol in his outer pocket and beat he disengaged himself from the clinging
his hands together as he urged me fever-
arms of his companion, shot his self-
ishly to hurry.
starter and set his car in motion.
"Tell me. Monsieur," he asked the Three other amorous couples took to
mayor, "where does Monsieur Georges flight as we gave warning, and de Gran-
make the assignation with his sweetheart? din was close upon hysteria when the
Not at the rectory, I hope?” darting shaft of luminance from his flash-
"That’s the worst of it,” Wilcox an- light at last picked out the dark-blue body
swered. "Folloilott’s forbidden him the of young Wilcox’s modish roadster. As
house, so Janet slips out and meets him we crept softly forward we heard a
somewhere and they drive around; I woman’s voice, rich, deep contralto,
shouldn’tbe surprized if they were husky with emotion:
parked along the roadside somewhere; "My darling, more to me than this
but only Heaven knows where. With all world and the next, it must — it has to be
and bootlegging and
this reckless driving — ^good-bye. 'There is no way I can avoid
hijacking going on. I’m in a perfect jit- it, no other way, my — dear. It’s fate the
ter every night till he gets
”
home, will of God —whatever we may choose to
and call it, dear; but it has to be. If it were
"Name of a mannerless small blue pig, any one might be different, but
else, it

our task is ten times harder!” the French- you know him; you know how much he
man interrupted. "Come, Friend Trow- hates the world and how much such
bridge, we must search the secret paths, things mean to him. And if it were only
seek out the cars secluded by the roadside that he wanted me to do it, I might defy
and warn them of their peril. Pardieu, I —
him though I never did before. Love
should have warned him of it ere he left might make me brave enough to do it
the house!” but it’s more than that. I’m vowed and
238 WEIRD TALES
dedicated, dear; long, long ago I took an slowly bade, tottered uncertainly a mo-
oath upon my naked knees to do this ment, then fell to earth with a sharp,
thing, and I can not — I dare not break it. metallic rattle and lay there motionless,
Oh, my dearest one, why why —did I its wide, black wings outspread, its scale-

have to meet you before they had me clad arms outflung, its legs grotesquely
safely in the sisterhood? I might have twisted under it.

been happy, for you can’t miss the sun- "Tiens. I did not shoot too soon, it

shine if you’ve always been blind, but seems,” de Grandin told young Wilcox
“
now Sbe paused, and in a faint cheerfully as he neared the roadster and
glow of the dashboard light we saw her smiled upon the startled lovers. "Had I
take his face between her hands, draw his delayed a second longer I damn think that
head to her and kiss him on the lips. the papers would have told the story of
"Monsieur —
Mademoiselle "
the another murder in the morning.”
Frenchman started, but never finished I walked up to the supine monster, a
speaking. sort of grisly terror tugging at my nerves,
Out of the blackness of surrounding even though my reason reassured me it
night, its body but a bare shade lighter was dead.
than the gloom, dreadful, fleshless head The eyeholes in the skull-like face still
and horrid eyes agleam, emerged the glared malevolently, but a closer look
phantom-thing we'd seen a half-hour convinced me that nothing more uncanny
earlier in our bedroom. The night wind than luminous paint was responsible for
whistled with a kind of hellish glee be- their sullen gleam. i

tween the sable pinions of the thing’s ex-

tended wings, and the gleam of phos-
phorescence in its hollow, orbless eye-
holes was like the staring of a basilisk.
stood immobile, rooted inmy tracks, and
watched destruction bearing down upon
the hapless lovers.
Not so de Grandin. "Sa-ha, Monsieur
I’ Assistant du Diable, it
again —unhappily for you!” he an-
nounced in a deadly, quiet voice, and as
he spoke the detonation of his pistol split
the quiet night as summer thunder rends
a lowering rain-cloud. Crash crash! the
pistol roared again; the phantom-thing
paused, irresolute as though a wall of
hidden steel had suddenly been reared in
its path, and as it halted momentarily, the
Frenchman fired again, coolly, deliber-
ately, taking careful aim before he
squeezed the trigger of his heavy weapon.
A sort of crackling, like the scutteriiig
of dry, dead leaves along the autumn
roads, sounded as the fearsome thing bent
Half timidly, half curiously, I bent
and touched the thing. The face was but
a mask of some plaster-like substance, and
I
this was cracked and broken just above
the eyes, and through the fissure, where
de Grandin’s ball had gone there came a
stream of blood, dyeing the gray-
little
white surface of the plaster mask a sick-
seems we meet ening rusty-red. About the body and the
limbs was drawn a tightly-fitting suit of
tough, black knitted fabric, similar to the
costume of an acrobat, and to the cloth
was sewn row after row of overlapping
— metal scales. One foot was clothed in
what looked like a heavy stocking of the
same material as the suit, while to the
other was affixed two plinths of solid rub-
ber — evidently the halves of a split rub-
ber heel. Here was the explanation of the
cloven footprint we had seen impressed
upon the earth by Bostwick’s house.
Still grasped within the thing’s right
hand there lay the handle of the oddest-
looking hammer I had ever seen —
heavg
 THE DARK ANGEt 239

as a blacksmith’s sledge, but fashioned "you are two fools —two mutton-headed,
like an anvil, one end a sharp and pointed senseless fools. How dare you trifle with
cone, the other flat, but fitted with a sort the love the good God gives you? Would
of die shaped like the hoof of a gigantic you despise His priceless gift? Ah bah,
goat. "That’s it!” I murmxired, as if I I had thought better of you!”
would convince myself. "That’s what was "But, Doctor de Grandin,” Janet
used to stamp the Devil’s mark upon the Payne’s reply was like a wail, "I can’t do
victims’ faces. First smash the skull with otherwise; I’m vowed and dedicated to a
the pointed end,and then reverse the life of penance and renunciation. He
”
weapon and stamp the victim with the made me take an oath, and
Devil’s brand!” "A-ah?” the Frenchman’s voice cut
Again I bent to touch the ghastly head, through her explanation. "He made you,
and at my touch the mask rolled sidewise, hein? Very good; tell us of it, if you will
then, shattered as it had been by de Gran- be so kind.”
din’s bullet, split in two parts, laying bare "I was a little girl v/hen he first took
the face beneath. me,” she answered, her voice growing
"De —de Grandin!” I croaked hoarse- calmer as she spoke. "My parents and I
ly, "it — it’s
”
were traveling in Ecuador when we came
"Of course he supplied as my
it is,” down with fever. We were miles from
lips refused to frame the name. "I have any city and medical help could not be
known for some timeit was the reverend had. Mr. Folloilott came along while we
gentleman — who else could it have were lying at the point of death in a na-
been?” tive’s hut, and nursed us tenderly. He
He turned his shoulder toward me and risked his death from fever every mo-
called across it: "Leave him as he lies, ment he was with us, but showed no sign
my friend; he will make interesting ma- of fear. Mother died the day he came,
terial for the coroner.” and Father realized he had not long to
"But —but don’t you even want to live; so when the kind clergyman offered
look?” I expostulated, horrified by his to take me as his ward, he gladly con-
indifference. sented and signed a document Mr. Fol-
"For why?” he answered. "I saw him loilott prepared. 'Then he died.
when he tried to batter out my brains. "It was a long, long time before I was
That look was quite enough, my friend; strong enough to travel, but finally my
let the others gaze on him and marvel; strength came back, and we got throu^
let us return to Monsieur Wilcox’s house to the coast. Mr. Folloilott had tlie paper
with these ones; there is something I Father signed validated at the consul’s
would say to them anon.” ofl5ce, then brought me back to this coun-
try. I never knew if I had any relatives
8 or not. know my guardian never looked
I

D e grandin called O’Toole and told

him briefly what had happened,
then having notified him where the body
for them.
"For a long time, till I was nearly
twelve years old, he never let me leave
lay, hung up the telephone and turned a the house alone. I never had a playmate,
level stare upon young Wilcox and the and Mr. Folloilott acted as my tutor. I
girl. spoke French and Spanish fluently and
"My friends,” he told them sternly, could read the hardest Greek and Latin
240 WEIRD TALES
was eleven, and had
texts at sight before I progressing to the novitiate and finally
gone through calculus when I was twelve. making my profession as a nun.
The Book of Common Prayer and the "It was shortly after that Mr. Folloi-
Hymnal were my text-books, and I could lott received the call to Norfolk Downs
repeat every hymn from New Every and I met George, and ” her voice
hioming Is the Love to There is a Blessed trailed off, and once again sobs choked
Home Beyond this Land of Wo by her words.
heart.”
"Mon
pityingly.
Dieu!" exclaimed de Grandin

"When I had reached thirteen he sent

D
"I
grandin tweaked the ends of his
e
mustache and smiled a trifle grimly.
wish I had not shot him dead so

me to a sisters’ school," the girl con- quickly,” he muttered to himself; then, to

tinued. "I boarded there and didn’t leave the girl:
during vacation; so I was much more ad- "A promise such as that is no promise
vanced than any of the other pupils, and at all. Mademoiselle. As you yourself
when wasI fifteen they sent me home — have said, it was a trick, and a most des-
back to Mr. Folloilott, I mean. picable one, at that. Now listen to my
"Of coming bade to the lonely
course, testimony. Mademoiselle:
rectory with no company but my guardian "When Monsieur Wilcox called me to
was hard after school, and I was home- this place to look into these so strange
sick for the convent. He noticed it, and murders, was most greatly puzzled. The
I
one day asked me if I shouldn’t like to go evidence of Chief O’Toole all pointed to
back to Carlinville to stay. I told him some superphysical agency at work, and
”
that I would, and as I’d had much practise as a phantom-
She paused a moment and a thought- fighter, it was for me to say what tactics I
ful pucker gathered between her brows, should use, for what may rout a ghostly
as though an idea had struck her for the enemy is often useless when opposed to
first time. "Why” —she exclaimed human foes, while what will kill a hu-
"why, it was no better than a trick, man being dead is useless as a pointed
”
and finger when directed at a spirit. You ap-
"Eh we. do digress. Mademoi-
bien, prehend? Very good.
selle" the Frenchman interrupted with a "So when I learned that Monsieur your
smile, '"rhe evidence first, if you please, guardian with the funny name I can not
the verdict afterward. You told the rev- say had laid the onus of these killings on
erend gentleman you should like to re- a piece of broken sculpture, I was most
’’
turn to the good sisters, and greatly interested. Stranger things had
"And me to the church,”
then he took happened in the past; things quite as
she answered, "and led me to the chancel, strange will doubtless happen in the fu-
where he made me stop and turn my ture. The theory that the Devil was xm-
stockings down so that I knelt on my bare loosed seemed ten^le but for one little

knees, while he held a Bible out to me, single thing; Every one this Devil killed
and made me put my hands on it and was some one of an evil life. "This is the
swear that I would dedicate myself to very devil of a Devil, Jules de Grandin,'
holy poverty, chastity and obedience, and I tell me. 'Most times the Evil One at-
as soon as had reached eighteen, would
I tacks the good; this time the Evil One
go to Carlinville and enter as a postulant, has singled out the evil for attack. It
W.T.-6
 THE DARK ANGEL 241

does not hang together; it has the smell in flight. 'Ah-ha,’ I say to me, 'what does
of fish upon it. Out-da, but of course.’ this mean, if anything?’

"Accordingly, I made the careful study "The police chief has shown to me a
of your guardian. He is a very pious feather clipped by his bullet from the
man; that much one sees while both his dreadful being which commits these mur-
eyes are closed. Ha, but piety and good- ders. I have looked at it and recognized
ness are not of necessity the same. By no it. Although it has been metallized by a
means. Gille de Retz, the greatest mon- process of electro-plating, I have recc^-
ster ever clothed in flesh, he was a pious nized it instantly. It is the feather of a
man, but far from being good. Cbtton condor. U’m-m. Once more one won-
Mather, who hanged poor, inoffensive
ders, Mademoiselle.
women on th« gallows tree, he was a

pious man; so was Totquemada, who "And whilewe sit and talk before the
fouled the pure air of heaven with the
fire, there come the tidings of another
burnings of the luckless Jews in Spain. killing. Monsieur Bostwick has been
They all were pious too pious to be — slain.

truly good, parbleu! "Wego at once and find him in his

'The evening when met your guard- I
chair, dead like a mutton, and very peace-
ian at dinner, I studied him some more.
goods and chat-
ful in his pose; yet all his
tels have been smashed to bits. ’The blow
I hear Monsieur Wilcox tell the young

rabbi that the debt upon his temple is ex-

which killed him had done so instantly,
tended. How does Monsieur your guard- and there is blood to mark the spot where
ian take that statement? It makes him —
he fell ^yet he sits in his chair. I look
iU, by blue! Furthermore, he has upon
around and come to a conclusion. The
his face the look of one who finds too smashing of the furniture is but a piece
late that he had made a great and terrible of window-dressing to cover up the man-
mistake. The loan would have been called ner of the killing.
had not the money-lender died. Now, for "But who can enter in a house where
the first time, the clergyman finds the all the windows, save a single one upon
hated Jews have profited by the Shylock’s the second floor, are latched, strike down
death —
and he looks as if he were about a man, then vanish in thin air? I ask to
to die! 'Jules de Grandin, this are know. Moreover, what was it that was
^ange,’ I tell me. 'You must keep the seen to look into a window ten feet from
eye on tliis one, Jules de Grandin.' And, the ground? I can not answer, but the
'Jules de Grandin, I shall do so,’ I reply next day I find that which helps me to-
to me. ward conclusions.

"Meanwhile, he has been at great pains "There is blood upon the ground by
to tell us all once mere that these killings Monsieur Bostwick’s house; a little, tiny
are the work of righteous Heaven. Is it drop, it is, but I tedre it that it fell from
more superstition —or something else off the murderer’s weapcHi. There are also
which makes him tell me this? One won- footprints —
most extraordinary footprints
ders. — in the soft earth by the house, "rhe

"When he had gone I learn that he murderer have stood here,’ I inform me.
"
has been a hunter and a mountain- 'Quite so,’ I agree with me, 'but
climber, that he has shot a condor down where was he before he stood there?*
W. T.—
242 WEIRD TALES
"So up upon the roof I go, and there bridge knodcs tlie wind from him with a
I find a strand of horsehair. I think: carafe.

Monsieur your guardian is a skilled "And then, too late, I learn that you
mountain-climber; he had been to South and Monsieur Georges have the assigna-
America. In that land the vaqueros, or tion. All well I know howthat one will
herdsmen, use lariats of plaited horsehair attack you if he finds you. To such an
in theirwork; they find them lighter and one the greatest insult is the thwarting of
stronger than hemp. That I remember. his will. And so I rush to warn you. The
I remember something else: A skilled rest you know.’’
mountaineer might have lassoed the '"The man was mad!’’ I exclaimed.
chimney of that house, have drawn him- "Of course,’’ replied the Frenchman.
self up to the roof, then lowered himself
"He was fanatically ascetic, and you can-
to the open window of the second-story
not make the long nose at Dame Nature
room. He might have struck down Mon- with impunity, my friend. As your Mon-
sieur Bostwick from the window, then
sieur John Hay has said:
smashed the furniture to make it seem a
struggle had been had. That done, he ... he who Nature scorns and mocks
By Nature is mocked and scorned.
might have closed the window after him,
lowered himself to the ground by his "He brou^t his madness on himself,
’’

lariat, and made off while no one was the and

wiser. To disengage the lasso from the "But that sulfurous, blinding fire we
chimney would have been an easy task, —
saw O’Toole saw it, too. What was
I know, for i have seen it done when that?’’

jutting rocks, instead of chimneys, held "Have you never attended a banquet,
the mountain-climbers’ ropes. my friend?’’ he asked with a grin.
"As he slid down his rope he looked "A banquet — ^whatever are you talking
into the window of the hall, and when about?”
his evil mask was seen, they said it was "About a banquet, parbleu —znA about
the Devil. Yes, it were entirely possible. the photographs they take of such festiv-
"Now, while I stood upon the roof ities. Do you not recall the magnesium
sedcing that little strand of horsehair flares the photographers set oflF to take

upon which hung my theory, who passed their indoor pictures?”

but your good guardian? He sees me "You— ^you mean it was only flashlight
there, and realizes I am hot upon the ex- powder?” I stammered.
planation of the crime. Anon he comes "Only that, my friend; nothing more
to Monsieur Wilcox’s house ^perhaps to
talk with me and find out what I know
— fantastic, I assure you. Blazing in the
dark, it blinded those who saw it; they
— and I exert myself to be most disagree- smelled the acrid, pungent smoke, and
able. I wish to sting him into overt imagination did the rest. Voila; we have
action. the 'fires of hell’ of vyhich tlie good
"Parbleu, I have not long to wait! This O’Toole did tell us.”
very night he comes into my room and Young Wilcox turned to Janet. "You
would have served me as he did the see, dear,” he urged, "that promise was
others, but I am not beneath his hammer extracted from you by a trick. It can’t be
”
when it falls, and good Friend Trow- binding, and I love you so much
 THE DARK ANGEL 243

De Grandin intermpted. ’'There is an- A blush suffused her face, but: "I’ll
other vow that yoa must take, ray child,” tidke that vow, if George still wants me,”
he told the girl solemnly. she replied.
—
"A a vow?” she faltered. "Why, I "Wants you? Par la harbe ^un
cochon
—
thought I was beginning to think
”
vert, of a surety he wants you!” the
"Then think of this: Can you repeat: Frenchman almost shouted. "And me,
T Janet, take thee, George, to my wedded pardteu, I greatly want a drink of
husband ?” brandy!”

Vhe
5^unted Room
By aUSTEL HASTINGS
What is it that goes aeeping through this room.
Trailing its dusty garments as it crawls?
Why does the air seem like an icy breath
That penetrates the dim and empty halls ?

They say that Death came once into this room

That old four-poster in the corner there
They whisper^ too, of shrieks that pierce the night.
Of banging doors, and blue light everywhere.

A rose that hung outside the shuttered pane

Withered and died one night when shrill winds moaned
The queer blue Eght hovered a while, and then
The very timbers of the old house groaned.

Weeds now run riot in the somber path

Like snares for careless feet that wander through.
But no one comes, for no one ventures near —
Always there is the dim light, pale and blue.

The low winds moan even on summer nights

There is a sighing sound in every room.
The mice have full possession of the halls
And hold their ghostly dance in shadowed gloom.

They say each night when sane folk’s clocks strike twelve
The Uue Nght glows a while throu^ shuttered panes,
And then it is the Thing comes aawling back
And tries to rid the flocur of aimsoa stains.
 Uhe 0
CA^hantom Hand
By VICTOR ROUSSEAU
^An astounding novel of Black Magic, eery murders, and weird occult happenings

The Story Thus Par When the lights are turned on, he is

H
found dead, with finger-marks about his
urrying home to Loma West,
throat. The story continues:
to whom he is engaged, Don
Wentworth has the night vision
of her father being executed by hanging,
and awakes to find himself choking and “'YT’ou saw the same picture that I
gasping in his stateroom. Loma had sum-
X did.^” demanded Don of the Per-
sian, as the car purred back along the
moned Don a year before, when he was
lonely road across the swamp.
in China,begging him to come to her at
once, but he was captured by brigands, "Isaw the same, and so did Moore, but
and held in bondage. In the morning not Moroni, for he was marked for death
Don reads a radio message to the effect from the beginning. And his death was
that Senator Lemuel West has paid the Godfrey Moore’s challenge to us."

last penalty of the law. "You mean to say that Moroni was
At San Francisco he learns that West actually strangled by the phantom.^’’ asked
was convicted on circumstantial evidence Don incredulously.
of the murder of Police Captain Morse, "Do not forget that you yourself had
who had the goods on him and his asso- a narrow escape on board the President
ciates. He hurries to Cannonville, where Harrison," replied the other. "Yes, I
West had lived, and meets one Sudh mean to say that Godfrey Moore finds
Hafi[2, a Persian in charge of a Babist himself hard-pressed, and probably black-
temple. mailed by his confederates, who joined
Hafiz takes Don out to the house of with him in sending poor West to his
Godfrey Moore, a millionaire, in a lonely death. Remember, it was at Moore’s own
part of the country, warning him that house that West was drugged, and from
Moore practises the Black Art. Moore is that house he was carried back to his own
taking care of Lorna, who has become apartment, where the evidence had
mentally deranged. Don can see that she already been prepared that was to send
knows him.
hardly him to the gallows.”
Moore shows his new television set to "Who killed Captain Morse?”
Hafiz, Don, and his bootlegger, Moroni, "I believe the murderer has already
who had been mixed up in Senator West’s paid the penalty,” replied Sudh Hafiz.
affairs. Don, horrified, sees, in place of "You mean itwas Moroni?”
the stage of the grand opera, which the "In all probability. Well, what is the
others see, the scene of West’s hanging situation now? The gang believe that
in the penitentiary yard. Suddenly the they have Moore at their mercy. He has
phantom West grows to life size and determined to kill them that is to say, —
leavesthe saeen. Moroni cries out. Gus Walstein, the Democratic boss of
XUa 0toi7 began in WBIBD XAIiES for July
244
 THE PHANTOM HAND 245 ,

Caimonville, and Abner Wells, the silk- darkness. He does not know just what
stocking district’s candidate for mayor has happened to him. But he sees a light,
last fall. Moroni is already gone.” and struggles toward it. This light is his
"But —but how —assuming what you daughter, Loma, who draws him by her
suggest is correct, how could a phantom love for him. He
manages, in the clumsy
kill Moroni?” asked Don. "And why way of the newly dead, to take posses-
”
should West, who was sent to his deatli sion of her
by Godfrey Moore, as you claim, oblige "Ah!” exclaimed Don.
him by killing off all the participants in "You saw the transformation of her
the conspiracy?” face? Well, my friend, that very hatred
"I shall answer your last question that he feels toward all his former asso-
first,” replied the Persian, giving the ciates enables him to materialize a phan-
wheel a twist as the car wabbled danger- tom that strangles Moroni.”
ously near the sucking mud beside the "And why not Moore?”
causeway. "I likened West to a bull in a "Moore knows how to protect himself.
china shop, and that is a good simile. He West is striking out blindly. Our task
passed out of this life — I know it, for I is to bring West to an understanding of

was with him toward tlie last burning — his situation, to bid him direct his powers
with hatred toward the men who had intelligently; in short, to make an ally of
railroaded him. A simple soul, not bad, him.”
but primitive, and with all primitive Don fell silent, while the car, leaving
man’s loves and hatreds. the swamp, began to take the toad back
"Now he finds himself in a place of through the pine forests.
246 WEIRD TALES
"Why didn’t Moore attempt some "Not consciously. Not willingly. West
trickery against us?’’ asked Don suddenly. was on intimate terms with Moore. In a
"Moore is not omnipotent. He had —
moment of confidence and even a man
achieved his purpose —which, I may say, like Moore has his weaknesses ^he had —
I should have prevented had I foreseen aroused West’s interest in the Black Art.
his object. He scored a decided victory One of the tests of a Master, the first
over me in that. And he knows how to test that is required, is the ability to sqja-
bide his time.” rate the astral double from the physical
"Iwish I’d insisted on taking Lorna body. West had permitted Moore to
with me,” Don blurted out. hypnotize him and to withdraw his astral.
Little by little Moore gained sufficient
"It could not have been done. But she
control over West to be able to dispatch
will never come to any harm at Moore’s
his double on errands, to force it to obey
hands.”
"Why not?”
his will unquestioningly. It is my belief
that on the night of the tragedy, while
"Some day I’ll tell you,” answered
West was in a drugged sleep at Moore’s
Sudh Hafiz.
house, Moore sent his astral to murder
Captain Morse.”

T he
it all

Hafiz was cracked.

car ran on.
over in his mind.
Don was

And yet,
revtrfving
Of course
Don had
"With a gavel?” asked Don
lously.
incredu-

seen too much that night to be any "Have you ever sat at an amateur
longer imcompromising materialist.
an seance and seen a table smashed to pieces
Trickery whole thing might have
the by the psychic powers about you?”
been, must have been, and yet ”
'Tve heard of such things, but
Suppose Moroni had died of a sudden "The astral counterpart possesses
heart attack, how could Moore have pro- strength such no human
as being is
jected the phantom from the radio? And capable of. West’s double smashed
how could materialism explain the vision Morse’s skull to pieces. ’Ihe gavel was
he had seen on board the ship, repeated in part of the evidence manufactured by
every detail in that room? He was Moroni.”
aroused by Sudh Hafiz’s voice. The Per-
Again Don fell into silence, but now
sian spoke hesitantly, almost timidly.
he was conscious of a definite resentment
"When you I believed that
I told
against the Persian, as we feel resentment
Moroni was the murderer of Captain
against those who endeavor to shake us
Morse, was not entirely frank with you,
I
out of our preconceived ideas. He said
Wentworth,” he said. "As a matter of
not another word until the car drew up
fact, it was Moroni who prepared the
outside Sudh Hafiz’s house.
stage effects in West’s apartment, the
"You’ll be my guest tonight?”
circumstantial evidence that condemned
him. It was not his hand that struck the "No, I’m much obliged,” answered
blow.” Don, "but I think I’ll go to a hotel. I
"Whose, then?” asked Don. want to mull over all this business.”
"It was Lemuel West’s,” answered "As you please, Westworth. Of course
Hafiz. there may be an inquest, but I don’t think
"What? You mean that Senator West so, and you’re not likely to be called upon.
actually was the murderer?” It looks like a simple case of death from
 THE PHANTOM HAND 247

heart disease. May I ask what you are before morning, that the picture he had
planning to do?” seen on the radio was the result of an
"I think Walstein and Abner Wells overwrought brain, that the year of
should be warned somehow,” said Don. brooding over Lorna, and the shock of
reading of her father’s execution, must
"It wouldn’t do the slightest good.
have produced visual hallucinations.
You would simply get yourself in trouble.
Remember, town is sewed up tight
this But he was sane enough now, he told
politically, and Godfrey Moore runs it.
himself, as he lookedfrom the window of
G)me and see me before you do anything.” his bedroom at the street, with its bright
lights, and the winking electric signs in
He spoke in Persian to the lad who had
the amusement district a few blocks away.
appeared, and the lad ran back into the
house and returned with Don’s suitcase. Sane enough to make his plans. These
centered, for the present, exclusively
"I beg of you to do nothing until we
about Lorna. To hunt down the men
have had the opportunity of a further
who had Lemuel West to his death,
sent
chat,” continued
hotel, there’s a
Sudh Hafiz. "As for a
good one, the Parmclee,
—
and clear her name ^that was secondary,
but first he resolved to get Lorna out of
just around the corner on the right. May
an environment which, he was convinced,
I drive you there?”
was retarding her recovery. He did not
"No, thanks. I’ll walk,” Don answered.
altogether trust Godfrey Moore, and he
"I need a breath of air.”
did not believe that Lorna was getting
"I think,” said Sudh Hafiz deliberately,
the right sort of treatment in his home.
"that you may receive an important ’phone
He determined to go out again in the
call in If you require a car,
the morning.
morning and see Lorna, and ask her to
on my services. No taxi driver
please call
become his wife. She had promised to
would take you out to Moore’s place for
marry him as soon as he returned from
any amount of money.”
Qiina. Even if she was mentally ill, who
had a stronger right than he to undertake

D on slept not at all that night, but

then he had no desire to sleep.
events that had happened since his arrival
The
the task of caring for her?
With which resolution, Don lit a pipe
and waited for the coming of dawn.
at Cannonville, hitherto an unassimilated
It came at last, and Don had a good
mass, gradually began to assume coherence
hot bath, shaved, and dressed. He was
In his mind during the long night watch.
feeling pretty fit, in spite of the night’s
And tlie result was a decided hardening experiences. He was about to go down
against Sudh Hafiz.
to breakfast when his telephone rang.
But that the Persian had been the means "’This Godfrey Moore,” came the
is
of bringing him to Lorna, Don would voice. "How are you after last night’s dis-
have felt an even deeper resentment tressing experience, Wentworth?”
against hkn. He was, in fact, at the part- "I’m feeling about as well as could be
ing of the ways. Either he had to swallow expected,” answered Don.
everything that Sudh Hafiz had told him, "'That’s good. Well, I’m phoning you
or else he must reject the supernatural about Lorna. I’m sorry to say she’s had
element in toto. And, like most men in rather a bad relapse. In fact, I had my
his position, he chose the latter course. physician out here soon after you left,

He succeeded in convincing himself, and he thinks she should be removed to

248 WEIRD TALES
some institution where Ae can have com- all the best strategists, he doesn’t believe
plete rest.” in taking on too many adversaries at
"When do you propose to move her?” once.”
queried Don. "I’m going right out there. I remem-
'Tve already engaged a room for her bered your kind offer of a car. By the
at the State Institution for the Insane,” way, you seemed to anticipate my receiv-
came Moore’s voice in bland tones. ing an important telephone call.”

Don was horrified. "A public institu- "Yes,” smiled the Persian in his enig-
tion?” he demanded. matic way. Don knew it was useless to
“Yes, and an excellent one. I am c«ie question him.
of the governing body.” "1 may as well admit to you tlrat last

"I’d like to see her —

and you first.” — night I ” he began.

"By all means, my dear fellow. Come "My dear sir, it is unnecessary to tell
out as soon as you like; in fact, the soon- me that! You Westerners have not the
er the better. I’ve already arranged for a Oriental faculty of keeping the face from
nurse to come out here and take her away expressing the thoughts. And you stiil

on the afternoon train.” believe that I am —^may I say unhinged?”

"Frankly, I don’t know what I be-

A ll
1 .
Don’s
Hafiz
resentment against Sudli
had disappeared with
conversation. His fears for Lorna
this
rose
lieve,”
get
clutches.”
answered Don. "All I want is to
Lorna out of Godfrey Moore’s

paramount. He snatched a mouthful of "And I don’t anticipate the slightest

breakfast and hurried round to the Per- difficulty, as I was saying,” answered
sian’s house, where he found Sudh Hafiz Hafiz. "I can start with you right away.”
smoking a cigarette over the morning 'Three minutes later the two were again
paper. Something in the man’s manner on the road running out toward the house.
indicated to Don that he had been await- About half-way, however, a strange
ing him. vehicle appeared among the trees, coming
Don recounted the telephone conversa- in their direction. It turned out to be a
tion. "I can’t imderstand it,” he said. motor-hearse. Sudh Hafiz slowed down
"Apparently he proposes to wash his and signalled the driver to stop.
hands of her, since he’s sending her to a "You’ve got Mr. Moroni’s body in-
public institution.Of course I won’t tol- side?” he asked.
erateIt. I’ve got a few thousand put by, "Yep, got a call a coupla hours ago.
and I’m going right out to ask her to ’The coroner was there and said there
marry me. Do you think I’ll have any didn’t need to be no inquest since it was
trouble with Moore?” a case of heart disease. But say, I
"I should say not the slightest,” wouldn’t trust myself in that there
answered Sudh Hafiz. "In fact, I think he ha’nted house at night for all the money
was just baiting a hook to get you to do in the world. I seen a feller killed by
exactly that.” ha’nts once before, and he looked jest
"You mean you think he wants me to like —
Moroni fleck of foam on his lips
marry her?” asked Don. and all the horrors of hell in his eyes.
"I think he wants to get her and you — Yep, and, between you and me, heart
— out of his immediate course. Godfrey disease don’t leave finger-prints on the
Moore is playing a shrewd game, and like throat. But it ain’t my business, and I
 THE PHANTOM HAND 249

ain’t interferin’. I’m jest tellin’ you, Mr. her with him, that poor insane girl. He
Halffish, because my wife goes to your most have been mad himself to dare at-
temple.” tempt this outrage!”

'Td keep it strictly to yourself, if I "Who?”

were you,” said Sudh Hafiz, and the
.
"WTio? Gu6 Walstein, the political
driver nodded and started the hearse boss of Cannonville, and one of Lemuel
again. West’s most intimate associates. show
I’ll

him who’s got more power here.

D on had
aster
into sight, so that
queer premonitions of dis-
long before the house came
it was almost a shock
I’ll
”

"Where has he taken her? What does

to him to see it standing just as it had
been on the night before. Hafiz drew
up at the door, and rang the bell. But
the peal, which could be heard within the
house, elicited no answer. He rang again
with like result, and looked at Don as if
in perplexity.
"We’ve got to get in,” said Don, look-
ing about him. He saw that one of the
windows on the ground floor was not
quite closed, and that a solid trunk of
creeper tanupward past the sill. He set
foot on it and quickly scrambled up,
Sudh Hafiz following him.
was only the work of a moment to
It
push the window up and drop to the
floor inside. The two found themselves
k a pantry, with the kitchen leading ofl
it. Tliey hurried through and saw the
series of drawing-rooms in front of them.
A faint groaning became audible. Don
ran through the blue velvet portieres. On
the floor of the room in which they had
sat the evening before lay Godfrey
Moore. He was tightly trussed and
gagged, but his eyes were open, and
from the violent attempts to free himself
that he was making, it did not seem that
his injuries were very serious ones.
Don pulled out a pocket-knife and
slashed the gag over his mouth, and God-
frey Moore instantly became violently
vocal.
"Where’s Loma?” cried Don.
’’Gone!” spluttered Godfrey. "He
he mean to do with her?” cried Don,
while Sudh Hafiz took the pocket-knife
from his hand and began cutting at th'e
table<over which, ripped into strips, had
been used to truss up Moore very effi-
ciently. "Tell me what happened, quick!”
"Gus Walstein came here about an
hour ago. He’d heard of Moroni’s sud-
den death last night, and he believed Mo-
roni had been carrying certain papers that
would implicate Walstein in the murder
of Captain Morse, and that I’d got hold
of them. He knows I’ve been at work
ever since the trial trying to bring Gus
Walstein to justice. I know his was the
guiding hand behind that murder,” con-
tinued Moore, his old glibness of speech
rapidly returning to him.
"He came here just after the coroner
and the hearse-driver had left. Mu^ have
been waiting for them to go. He threat-
ened me with death unless I gave
those papers. I told him I’d ^en no
papers from Moroni, and that I wouldn’t
give them up Then he struck
if I had.
me over the head with some blunt in-
strument, and half stunned me.”
Don glanced at Godfrey Moore’s head,
but saw no signs of any contusions; still
that proved nothing.
me about Lorna,” he said, trying
"Tell
to keep his voice steady.
"She came into the room half-dazed.
I was barely conscious, and Walstein was
going through my pockets. He seemed
took desperate, and when he saw her, I tblok
250 WEIRD TALES
he got some sort of idea that she knew enough to get her out of Gus Walstein’s
where the papers were, or else he may clutches, Tm going to take her straight
have thought he was holding her as a into Guinonville and marry her.”
hostage, or to prevent her giving evidence Godfrey Moore’s eyes lit up. "You
that he had attacked me. He may have mean that, Wentworth?” he cried eagerly.
thought I was dead, and, anyway, he was "You don’t intend to offer any objec-
not in the frame of mind to reason. tion?”
"He took her away with him, and she "Not the least in the world. It will be
made no resistance. Poor girl, she’s been the only possible solution of the problem
little more than an automaton since that about her, for I have felt my own re-
unfortunate aflfair last night.’’
sponsibilities very keenly. I congratulate
"Where’s his place, his home, his you on your fine sense of honor, Went-
hangout?” shouted Don. worth.”
"You won’t find him in any of those "I love her,” answered Don simply,
places. But I can guess where he’s gone. but thawing under Moore’s praise, de-
Mike Moroni had a place at the head of spite his suspicions of the man, which
the creek, an old trapper’s cabin in the had been growing steadily.
marshes that he rebuilt and used in his "But let me ’phone the police any-
rum-running operations. I think he’s way,” persisted the millionaire. "You
gone there to ransack it.” are running up against a desperate gang
"I know it,” said Sudh Hafiz. —two gangs, Walstein’s and Moroni’s.
"But it’s no use following him there. No? But are you armed? I have a re-
Walstein’s desperate. More than likely volver in my desk which Walstein over-
he’s brought some of his gang with him. looked.”
'They’ll shoot without hesitation.” He crossed the room and, pressing a
By this time Sudh Hafiz had got God- somewhere in the large ma-
secret spring
frey Moore free of his bonds. The mil- hogany desk, opened a drawer and took
lionaire got up stiffly, rubbing his head. out a handy-looking forty-five revolver,
"I’ll ’phone the police,” he said, "and which he placed in Don’s hands.
have the place surrounded. ’They’ll be "It’s loaded in every chamber,” he

out here in a couple of hours at said. "I wish you better luck than I had
”
most with Walstein. I shall await the first news
"I think not,” answered Don decisively. from you with the greatest anxiety.”
"I’m going to get Loma, and every min-
ute is important.” “T T IS only about four miles from here,”
"If you could save her, poor girl! The •1- said Sudh Hafiz, as they got into the
nurse will be out here for her this after- car. "But this road ends a mile farther
noon. It will be a terrible weight off my on, and we shall probably have to walk.
mind if I can turn her over to her un- There is only a trail along the shore.
harmed.” Don’t be alarmed for her, Wentworth.
"Loma not going to be turned over
is Of course you see now that the whole
to any nurse, or sent to any institution,” business was a fake?”
said Don, speaking as calmly as he could. "I got the idea that Moore tied him-
"We’ve been engaged nearly two years, self up, or had some one tie him up de-
and she promised to marry me as soon as liberately,” answered Don. "But I don’t
”
I returned from Qiina. If I am fortunate yet see
 THE PHANTOM HAND 251

"More than that. Moore sent Loma found, and why he gave me this gun?”
West with Walstein, and she accom- he asked suddenly.
panied him because, as Moore said, she Sudh Hafiz shrugged bis shoulders.
was in a condition of automatism. Wal- "He knows you are to be his most power-
stein was the dupe. Moore sent her under ful enemy,” he answered. "Therefore, to
some pretext that would be very accepta- send you against Walstein, and to send
ble to Walstein, who appreciates the com- you armed, is a mere matter of poUcy.
pany of a pretty woman. But he won’t If either of you kills the other, be is that
dare harm her. Just keep cool, and we’ll much better off. There is nothing deep or
save her. I think I Imow which way esoteric in that.”
Moore’s mind is working. Only keep The end of the concrete road came sud-
cool, Wentworth —remember last night denly into view. Beyond it was a mere
and keep cool, whatever happens.” track, winding along the shore, an im-
"But what was Moore’s purpose?” passable muddy trail, so far as the car was
"Walstein,” replied the Persian, "is concerned. There was a circle of con-
the second of the trio whom Moore has aete for turning on, and Sudh Hafiz
marked for death, and only a miracle can rounded it and parked the machine fadng
save him now. Certainly I could not if I in the direction of Ginnonville.
would, for the forces that Godfrey Moore "We’re in for a brisk walk — ^and a
has set in motion can not be stayed.” brisk shower, I think,” he said, glancing
There was an intense solemnity in the up at the sky.
Persian’s manner of speaking that almost
convinced
"You mean
Don

stein to his death?”

in spite of himself.

that Loma
he asked.
is taking Wal- T
80
he mud was

Don stopped
ankle-deep. After they
had proceeded a hundred yards or
suddenly. "Walstein
"Yes, but not consciously. She never brought Lorna this way this morn-
is a
ing,” he said. "There arc no footprints
mere agent of the Evil Powers.”
in front of us. Besides, where did he
"Once I get her in my hands, I’ll never
leave his car?”
let her go again,” said Don. "All this is
"We passed his car returning to Can-
enigmatic to me. How many men do you
nonville just after leaving,” answered the
suppose we shall meet at Moroni’s
Persian. "It was empty, save for the
place?”
driver. Evidently he sent it back. 'There-
"It makes no difference; you shall get
fore he must have gone to Moroni’s place
Loma West back unharmed if you will in Godfrey Moore’s gasoline launch,
be guided by me,” answered Sudh Hafiz. which, as a matter of fact, I did not sec
Don sat beside him It was
in silence. in its usual place on the
sea-front,” he
impossible to believe Sudh Hafiz’s
in concluded, smiling. "Forgive me, Went-
prophecies, and yet they had an uncanny worth, but I saw no reason to trouble you
knack of being fulfilled. He took refuge with all these details. We’ll find them at
from bis doubts in thoughts of Loma. Moroni’s place. I hope they’re there by
To save her, make her his wife, restore now, for the girl’s sak^ for this lodb
her reason — that was all that mattered more like a storm than a .shower,” he
hnmediately, and the rest could wait. added.
"Will you me why
you think
tell As he spoke, the whips of the rain be-
Moore told us where Walstein was to be gan to lash them. An immense dark thun-
252 WEIRD TALES
dercloud rolled muttering overhead- The twilight; the violence of the storm had
stinging rainbecame almost a cloudburst, ceased, but the rain still fell in sheets.
and it grew steadily in violence. In a few A light was shining through the single
moments Don and Hafiz were soaked to window in the rear of the cabin, as if
the skin. from a candle. There was a rear door,
The wind roared from the sea, driving too, and silhouetted against the panes, the
it in great breakers upon the flats, and two could see the shadows of men sev- —
sending showers of drenching spray eral men, who seemed to be gesticulating
across the road, which here ran close to violently.
the water’s edge. The two men shivered Creeping out of the scrub up to the
as they trudged through the muddy rear door,Don and Sudh Hafiz stood,
swamp. It was almost as dark as mid- the former fingering the revolver that
night. Godfrey Moore had given him. Through
*'I hope they’ve not been caught out at the ill-fitting door they could hear every

sea in this storm,” said Don. word that was spoken within.
"The sea hasn’t had time to grow "You leave the girl alone,” rumbled a
tough yet,” answered Sudh Hafiz. "And man’s bass voice. "Dummy.? Yeah, and
there’s the creek,” he added, pointing to she ain’t pretendin’, neither. Godfrey
an inlet beyond a headland. said for to take her down into the base-
'They ascended it steadily, the wind ment and she’ll maybe git a spark of rea-
growing worse as they advanced. At the son there, seein’ she follered Moroni
top they were hardly able to keep their there that night to try to git him to save
feet, so violent was the gale. But the her dad. That’s what drove her bug-
darkness was slowly dissipating, and, house. Godfrey says it’s the only chance
looking down, they could see the cabin to git her to remember what she knows,
at the head of the creek, which was filled to put her in the same place as where she
with dark, churning, oily water, and the got the shock.”
motor-launch drawn up beside it, as well "Shock? How come shock?” asked an-
used by Mo-
as a larger vessel, evidently other voice with a sneer.
roni in hisrum-running expeditions. "Wasn’t it a shock to the girl when she
A trail led down from the headland caught Moroni sortin’ out his papers, and
toward the cabin? which was fringed at he refused to help save her dad’s life?
the rear with a repulsive-looking low He’d have killed her then and there if
scrub. Godfrey hadn’t been trailin’ him. ’That’s
"I think we’d best keep under cover of what Godfrey told me anyways, but he’s a
that,” said Don, pointing. "No need to slick liar. However, we’re goin’ to search
advertise our approach, and it’s getting this basement from end to end.”
light.” "And s’posin’ we say you ain’t?” asked
Sudh Hafiz agreed. They left the trail a third voice. "Unless you come across
and made their way toward the cabin by with a coupla grand each.”
a circuitous route among the great boul- ’The answer came in an inaudible snarl.
ders that studded the sides of the head- Don knew that this speaker must be Wal-
land. In a little while they had reached stein, and whatever he said, it seemed to

the scrub, and found a trail running beat down the other’s opposition eflFec-

through it in the direction of the cabin. tively, for the reply came in agrudging
The darkness had now become a sort of whisper of assent 'There seemed to be
 THE PHANTOM HAND 253

four men within the cabin, two of them like this. I can not rely on ambuscades,
apparently Walstein and one of his aides or my powers go.
”
I do not know — it is

from town, while the two others were all misty

evidently part of Moroni’s crew of rum- Don, without answering him, opened
runners. the door quietly and stepped inside. It

"Smart idea of Moroni’s, diggin’ this was all dark, and his first impression was
basement for his stock,’’ came Walstein’s that the upper floor of the cabin was
voice. "Nobody’ d guess there was a con- empty.
crete foundation under this mud. Cus- ’Then a step sounded close beside him,
toms guys wouldn’t find it in a score of and, as he whirled, a figure leaped at him
years.’’ out of the darkness. He felt the violent
’The candle flickered. Walstein’s steps impact of some weapon upon his head.
could be heard as he moved about inside He tried to raise his revolver, but his
the hut, and he was evidently carrying hand was powerless, ,and he went plung-
the candle, for it changed its position as ing down into darkness.
he moved.
"See there, Benny," he said to his
sistant. "Now who in hell
there was a flight of steps behind this
as-
would guess H
long.
ow
idea,
long
but
He came
Don was
it
out he bad no
could not have been veiy
back to himself with a
plank.? Moroni had a head on him. Pity racking pain in his head, to find himself
he croaked last night.” tied up with and seated in a comer
ropes,
"Croaked.?” grinned the other. "You’re of a cellar.far away was Sudh Hafiz,
Not
woozy, Mr. Walstein. "Croaked? Yeah, Four men were in the cel-
similarly tied.
but who croaked him? ’That Godfrey lar, two of whom were searching among

Moore is a damn sight too slick for my a heap of papers at the foot of an over-
taste. Why didn’t he come with us? You turned desk, by the light of the candle.
took his word for it no
that there wasn’t The two others were lounging sullenly
papers on Moroni. It’s my belief he near.

croaked him somehow, and he’s gettin’ And then Don saw Loma. She was
away with the goods.” seated in a chair, unbound, her ej'es star-

"Listen,” growled Walstein, "Godfrey ing in front of her, as lifeless as if she

knows if anything happened to me I got had been a waxen figure.
evidence enough to put him where West "So you’re snappin’ out of it, huh?”
went. Savvy? He wouldn’t have sent me asked one of the two loungers, speaking
here on a fool’s errand imless he was with an Italian accent, and coming up to
aimin’ to croak me. And who’s goin’ to Don.
croak me here? 'Them two bums over It was easy to distinguish the two as
there? Hey, you two, get down the stairs, the late Moroni’s assistants, while Wal-
and we’ll follow you, and if you got any stein was self-evident in the burly form
fancy stunts roamin’ round in your heads, in the flashy suit snarling over the papers.
fergit them!” The man beside him was a flash city
'The voices faded, as if the four were crook, evidently his aide. The farther end
going down into the basement. When of the cellar was stocked with cases.
all was silent, Don put his hand on the "Snappin’ out, are they?” jeered Wal-
door. But Sudh Hafiz stopped him. stein, rising and coming toward Don. "I
"Take care,” he whispered. ”1 do not reckon I know you, Mister Wentworth.
234 WEIRD TALES
Snoopin’ on me, huh? Whadya expect to seemed in a state of profound uncon-
find? Who yuh workin’ for Godfrey — sdousnass.
Moore? Or mebbe you heard your broad He was quietly working at the ropes
had taken a fancy to me and come here that bound him. Tight as they were, he
with me, huh?”
had managed to relax them sufficiently to
He kicked Don savagely in the side get his fingers about what seemed to be
with his heavy shoe, and shook his fist in the main knot. But he was still partly
Don’s face. paralyzed by the blow upon the head that

"Listen, bo! You and

the dago parson he had received, and was perforce com-
have got just about half an hour to live. pelled to desist until he could gather a

I’m holdin’ you till I’ve gone through little more of his strength.

Moroni’s papers, in case I’m goin’ to need He sat there, trying to pull himself to-
you. But don’t bank on diat. Moroni’s gether.But suddenly a gasp came from
dead, and this place is goin’ to be your his Something was happening to
lips.

tomb. And these two fellers are goin' to Loma. Her face, her form, were growing
help croak you, so there won’t be no one misty.
to give evidence. And that goes for you,
too,”
ribs.
he said, kicking Sudh Hafiz in the

"Don’t be too sure, Mr. Walstein,” an-

A CRY of exultation broke from Wal-
stein’s lips as, after looking through
and tossing aside paper after paper, he
swered the Persian in an even voice. held one close up to the candle-flame.
"Sometimes the wisest of us are mis- "Benny, I got something!” he shouted.
taken.” "Here’s Godfrey Moore’s signature to
Walstein raised his foot again with an that note to Abner Wells! 'That’ II hold
oath, looked into Sudh Hafiz’s face, and the feller for a time!”
set it down again. Cursing, he turned He laid the paper aside with two or
away. three others that he had selected, and feU
"Let's get this business over, Benny,” to work with renewed haste. But Don’s
he said to his assistant. "Gimme a drink, eyes were fixed on Lorna. A faint, lam-
some one!” bent light was beginning to play about
One of the two rum-runners ran to an her features, a light that appeared to be
open case and pulled out a bottle. He invisible to the two Italians close beside

dexterously knocked off the glass rim at were chattering to each other
her, for they

the top without uncorking it, and handed

and glancing malevolently at Walstein
it to Walstein, who took a deep drink. and Benny, sorting the papers on the
Each of the others drank in turn, the last floor.

emptying the bottle and flinging it against By that light Don could see, to his hor-
the wall, breaking it in pieces. Walstein ror, a singular and fearful change pro-
and Benny resumed their task, while the ceeding. Lorna seemed to be awaking
two others, lounging by the wall, began from her sleep or trance. But it was like
to chatter in Italian. the awaking of a dead person. It was
'The little Eght of the candle Clarely like a corpse coming back to life.

illuminated the vault. Outside its periph- Slowly her q^elids were unclosing.
ery, all was shadow. Don, stating at Slowly the vacant lo<^ of the features was
Lofoa, could hardly see her face. She vanishing. And slowly there came an ex-
 THE PHANTOM HAND 255

presslon on the face. And, as on the imequal parts. From the upper and lower
night before in Moore’s drawing-room, a part respectively there issued two projec-
mask of hatred was spreading over the tions that became ill-defined arms and
sweet —
countenance a mask of such legs.
abominable hatred that Don shuddered 'Hie mist was assiuning human form
at the sight of it. And again, as before, — it was becoming a man — the form of
the features were slowly and in some in- the dead man, Lemuel West!
explicable way taking on the lineaments Don bit his tongue to keep from cry-
of the face of Lemuel West, as Don re- ing out in his horror as the figure of
membered it! West became momentarily more clearly
It was the most terrific metamorphosis defined. It faced Loma. Not flesh, and
that Don had ever seen. It made him for- yet not phantom, but more phantom than
get his bonds, his danger, and he could flesh. A tenuous outline, a stealthy
only crouch where he was and watch that shadow was gradually assuming per-
that
awful change that was taking place in the awaking to life as Lorna once
sonality,
woman he loved. more relapsed into trance, drawing upon
her vitality to give itself fictitious exist-
He believed now! He belie^'ed every-
ence.
thing that Sudh Hafi2 had told him. In
that moment all his preconceptions, all his
Lorna’s face relaxed. It became placid,

materialism broke down in the light of gentle.The look of hatred that she had
sturuiing reality. worn was now transferring itself to the
face of the phantom. 'There stood Lemuel
That look on Lorna’s face would have
West, the very incarnation of evil pas-
appalled the bravest man who ever lived.
sions, his hands clenched, his head lolling
And yet none of the four seemed to see
what was happening. They could not
crookedly upon his shoulder. On Lorna’s
face was now the waxen mask of sleep,
even see the steady blm'sh glow that threw
the girl’s face into clear relief.
or trance —or death. She had sunk ba^
into her chair.
Only the Persian, Sudh Hafiz, saw it,
Now Don could see what looked like
and he conveyed this knowledge by the
a thick band of radiant light connecting
faintest gesture as he half turned his face
the bodies of father and daughter. 'The
toward Don’s for a moment.
phantom bobbed and swayed, and with
But another change was taking place each movement the cord seemed to be
in Loma, for her outlines were growing elongated. It was beginning to thin at
momentarily more hazy. A swirling mist the middle. It waned to the thinness of
seemed to be enveloping her. It was coil- a hair. It snapped, and the phantom
ing up from her face, from her body, floated free.
eddying and revolving in front of her and Lemuel West st<x)d before his daugh-
above her, illumined by that same lam- ter. Don could see the glowing eyes of
bent light. And still none of tlie four the phantom fixed on her pale face, and
was aware of it. It was incredible, but for just an instant the look of hatred
it was true.
seemed to change one of pity or love.
to
The mist was thickening, condensing. And in that moment the phantom’s out-
It was gradually assuming the shape of a lines seemed to shrink, and Loma stirred
huge egg, swaying and rotating in front and faintly smiled.
of the girl. The egg bisected into two But the next moment Lemuel West
256 WEIRD TALES
stood there again, the same lodk of hate between them, like a bobbin on a loom,
upon his face, and Lorna had subsided as if weaving some fearful net that was
into her death-like trance once more. to entrap them. Yet it had come into
Lemuel West turned slowly in the clea.ter relief against the darkness, as if it

direction of the two men who were sort- were darker than the darkness.
ing papers upon the floor. At that mo- And now, straining his horrified eyes,
ment Gus Waktein raised his head, Don watched Lemuel West gaining
locked straight at the phantom and saw — strength and power. At first he bad
nothing. crouched and swayed, like a man seeking
"Well, we’re almost through. Hey, to gain his foothold. Then a succession
you two dagoes, bring some more drink!’’ of tremors had run through the shadowy
he shouted drunkenly. form, and all at once it had grown vigor-

One of the two Italians began moving ous, vital, gprilla-like. And Loma’s body
toward the broken case that contained the had become still more shrunken, until
whisky-bottles. He toc^ another bottle she looked like —
a child like the waxen
«)d brought it badk to Walstein. And he effigy of a child.
walked straight through the phantom Lemuel West was advancing toward
and never saw it! fists. Now he was
Walstein with clenched
standing immediately behind him, one

G us WAtsTEiN
lips, tilted

tong drink. He
raised the bottle to his
back his head, and todc a
handed it to Benny.
arm upraked. Walstein looked

he
"Well, that finishes the
said. "Br-r-r, it’s cold here!”
pile,
up.
Benny,’’

"Well, we ain’t got all we want, but The arm fell. Walstein yelped, stag-
we got something,’’ he shouted. "Le’s go gered to his feet, and stood swaying and
through this last pile, and then we’ll fix clutching at bis heart.
drem two butters-in here!’’ "They got me^ Benny!” he yelled. "Get
He reeled, and again squatted down them, the s!”
on the floor, sorting the last batch of Quick as a flash the man Benny
Moroni’s papers by the light of the candle. whirled, gun in hand. ’The roar of the
It was burning low, and the long, red- discharge followed, and one of the two
tipped wick sent up a wavering flame and Italians screechedand stumbled forward,
a stench of grease. *It broke off, leaving recovered himself, and whipped out a
only a tiny fragment in the tallow, to knife. He and his companion flung them-
which the little flame clung, trying to re- selves upon Benny.
establish itself. 'The cellar was almost Walstein had got a gun from his
dark. pocket. He fired, but the bullet went
Don saw the two Italians looking wild, and the next moment the four were
malevolently At Walstein and his com- engaged in a desperate mel6e, while
panion. He saw ffie hand
specter raise its behind them stood the phantom, arm still
and point toward them. One of the two upraised, a leer upon its shadowy face.
men raised his head, and his hand Yelling and cursing, the four strug-
dropped to his belt. gled to and fro, a murder-knot that twined
Waktein cursed at the darkness. Still and unfastened, disclosing knives that
neitherhe nor any of the others seemed flashed in the candle-light and guns that
aware rff the shadow flitting to and fro roared and sent up coils of aaid smoke.
W. T.—
 THE PHANTOM HAND 257

Benny’s gun spoke three times in quick boss of Cannonville dropped dead among
succession, and one of the Italians the three dead men.
dropped, half his face blown away. But All the while Don had been working
the next instant his companion’s knife intermittently at his bonds. Now he felt
flashed, and Benny dropped, a fearful, the knot begin to loosen in his fingers.
gaping wound in his chest. And suddenly, inexplicably, he was free.

Moaning like a wounded dog, he rolled He staggered to his feet. His head was
over and over until he came to rest at reeling, and he could only faintly see the

Don’s feet. He looked up at him, his outlines of the phantom in the flickering

spasm of fearful, candle-light.

features twisted in a
baffling hate and fear, and died. But he saw it turn toward him with
hate-distorted and raise its arm.
face,
Walstein and the second Italian were
'Then of a sudden the arm dropped, and
locked in a death struggle, each trying
the next moment Lemuel West was no
to get a grip on the other’s hand, and
longer there, but the swirl of mist was
both bleeding from half a dozen wounds.
again coiling about Loma’s body.
Don saw Wdstein wrench his hand free,

place the revolver to the Italian’s head, And Lorna seemed to be growing

and pull the trigger. But the hammer larger. She looked more life-like, too.
fell on an empty cartridge, and the next
Her featureswere no longer a waxen
moment the Italian’s knife went home. effigy, and she stirred and sighed.

Shrieking like a fiend, Walstein poised

his great bulk, seized the Italian in his
arms, ignoring the flashing knife whicli
D on
Hafiz.
impassively.
staggered to the side of Sudh
The
Don
Persian looked up
tried to find ffle
at him
knot
struck home again and again, and, with
the exercise of all his he broke
strength, in the cord thatbound him, but to his
the man in two, raised him, and hurled amazement saw that he was free.
the limp, quivering body against the Sudh Hafiz smiled and rose to his feet.
wall. thudding to the
It fell floor, neck He put out one hand and caught Don
and back broken. as he swayed.
Walstein stood rocking like a giant "I would have saved them,” he said,
tree about to fall, the blood streaming "but it would have meant to reverse the
down his body. And suddenly he seemed inexorable workings of divine retribution.
to grow aware of the mocking, leering You believe in me now, Wentworth?
shadow that stood behind him. You’ll work with me to save Lorna, and
He turned. 'The dead man and the to stamp out this nest of deviltry?”
dying one glared into each other’s eyes. "I’ll work with you to the end,” Don
A yell of horror broke from Walstein’s answered. And he staggered toward
lips. Lorna and gathered her into his arms.
"You?” he shrieked. "You — you She was awake. She sat up in her chair.
you?” She looked at him, but there was no recog-
The phantom’s lipsand itparted, nition in her eyes, which only stai^

seemed to Don as if there passed from blankly before her.

them some message that he could not "Don’t you know me, dear?” aked
hear. Walstein’s eyes grew lurid with Don. "I’ve come to take you away.”
horror, then filmed, and with a crash the She rose to her feet ol^diently, but no
W. T.—
258 WEIRD TALES
word came from her lips. Suddenly an able to kill within a few minutes after his
exclamation broke from Sudh Hafiz. death.

"Take care, Wentworth!” he cried. "I told you,” he added, seeing Don
"Face them! Walk backward to the door! didn’t understand, "that Moore
had
Don’t let them get behind you, and they’ll trained West’s double so that was ableit

be powerless!” to travel at will, to obey his commands,

Don swung about. By the faint light and even to kill Captain Morse with a
of the candle he could see four swirling blow? By the aid of the same infernal
shapes slowly materializing above the power he was able to control Walstein’s
bodies of the four dead men. phantom after his death, but Walstein
"Three of them seemed hover uncer-
to
had neither the strength nor the knowl-
tainly, as if unable to take form, but the edge. We shall meet him again. A dead

fourth had already assumed Walstein’s man is more potent for evil than a living
outlines, and was crouching with clenched one. Where are you thinking of taking

fists, as if about to strike, while the lips

Lorna?”
were drawn back in a bestial snarl. "Anywhere away from here,” said Don.
Suddenly the thing leaped, and Don "You’d better bring her to my house
felt as if he had been plunged into an icy for the present. Don’t be alarmed at her
bath. He struck at it, and his fist passed condition. Once we’ve destroyed that
through the phantom. viper’s nest, I think she’ll be her old self
He whirled as it tried to leap behind again.” He pointed to the boat. "We
him. Somehow he knew that if it could can pull round the shore to the car,” he
strikefrom behind he would be dead in said, "and be in Cannonville in a couple
a moment. He saw Sudh Hafiz at his side. of hours.”
He lifted Lorna in his arms. Step by step "Suppose Moore has taken our car?”
they fought their way backward until
Sudh Hafiz smiled. "He doesn’t work
they reached the cellar entrance. Backing He’s thrown the dice, and won
that way.
to the stairs, the Persian shut the
upon the interior.
door — and lost. Won, because he got rid of
Walstein. Lost, because I have the papers
"Now make for the open, Wentworth,” Walstein had sorted out, and Moore,
he shouted. « who was an interested spectator of the
A few moments later Don set Lorna whole proceedings, knows that the issues
down outside the cabin and tried to pull
are now fairly joined between us.”
himself together.
"Moore —saw?”
"Yes, that was not difficidt in his
T MUST have been hardly later than
I Akashic Mirror, which shows past, pres-
noon, but the same strange, dim twi-
ent, and a short way into the future. Of
light hung over land and sea, and sul-
w'hich more later. Now, Wentworth, the
furous, yellow clouds were heavy in the
first thing necessary is to get this girl to
sky. Sudh Hafiz came up to Don.
'We’re safe for the present,” he said.
my house, and then we’ll plan our course
of action.”
"That was a shrewd stroke of Moore’s,
but it had small chance of success. Wal- Using the dead Lemuel West as his tool. Godfrey
Moore has now rid himself of two of his confed-
stein’s hate might have enabled him to erates in crime. Will the third. Abner Wells, share
their fate? Can Sudh Haflz succeed in winning
strike home, had he had a little experi- I^muel West to his side, so as to destroy Moore?
ence, but you can’t expect a man to be
m
Do n*t iss the next Installment. Order your copy
of WSIEO TATARS from your dealer now.
 o Eye-Witnesses
By HENRY S. WHITEHEAD
Bverard Simon had a weird experience in Platbush when his shoes were caked
with blood and forest mold from the slaying of ferry the Wolf

HERE were blood stains on Ever- dub was American headquarters.

his real
ard Simon’s shoes. . . . 'There he received his mail. There he
Simon’s father had given up his usually lunched and often dined as well.
country house in Rye when his wife died, It was at the club that he received his

and moved into an apartment in Flatbush visitors and his telephone calls. The dub

among the rising apartment houses which was on Forty-Fourth Street, and to get
were steadily replacing the original rural there from the apartment he walked to
atmosphere of that residential section of the Church Avenue subway station,
swelling Brooklyn. changed at De Kalb Avenue, and then
Blood stains—and forest mold —on his
took a Times Square express train over the
Manhattan Bridge. 'Die time consumed
shoes!
between the door of the apartment and
The younger Simon —
was thirty-
^he
the door of the club was exadly three-
seven, his father getting on toward sev- quarters of an hour, barring delays. For
enty —always spent his winters in the the older man the arrangement was ideal.
West Indies, returning in the spring, go- He could be in his office, he boasted, in
ing back again in October. He was a pop- twenty minutes.
ular writer of informative magazine ar-
To avoid the annoyances of rush hours
ticles.As soon as his various visits for in the subway, Mr. Simon senior com-
week-ends and odd days were concluded, monly left home quite early in the morn-
he would move his trunks into the Flat- ing, about seven o’clock. He was a me-
bush apartment and spend a week or two, thodical person, always leaving before
sometimes longer, with his father. There seven in the morning, and getting his
was a room for him in the apartment, and breakfast in a downtown restaurant neat
this he would occupy i til it was time for
the office. Everard Simon rarely left the
him to leave for his ‘"immer camp in apartment until after nine, thus avoiding
the Adirondacks. Early in September he the morning rush-hour at its other end.
would repeat the process, always ending During the five or six weeks every year
his autumn United States with
stay in the
that they lived together the two men
his father until it was time to sail back to
really saw little of each other, although
St. Thomas or Martinique or wherever he
strong bonds of understanding, affection,
imagined he could write best for that par- and respect bound them together. Some-
ticular winter.
times the older man would awaken his son
’lliere was only one drawback in this early in the morning for a brief conversa-
arrangement. This was the long ride in tion. Occasionally the two would have a

the subway necessitated by his dropping meal together, evenings, or on Sundays;

in to his New York club every day. The now and then an evening would be spent
Copyright, 1982. by Henry 3. Whitehead. 259,
260 WEIRD TALES
in each other’scompany. They had little bell and the automatic closing of the side
to converse about. During the day they doors, while he was putting on his read-
would sometimes call each other up and ing-spectacles. He began on the article.
speak together briefly on the telephone He was dimly conscious of the slight
from club to office or office to club. On bustle of incoming passengers at Broad-
the day when Everard Simon sailed south, way and Canal Street, and again when the
his fatherand he always took a farewell train ran out on the Manhattan Bridge be-
luncheon together somewhere downtown. cause of the change in the light, but his
On the day of his return seven months closing of the magazine with a page-
later, his father always made it a point to corner turned down, and the replacing of
meet him at the dock. These arrange- the spectacles in his inside po^et when
ments had prevailed for eleven years. He the train drew in to De Kalb Avenue,
must get that blood wiped off. Blood! were almost entirely mechanical. He could
How ? make that change almost without thought.
During that period, the neighborhood He had to cross the platform here at De
of the apartment had changed out of all Kalb Avenue, get into a Brighton Beach
recognition. Open lots, commimity tennis- local train. The Brighton Beach expresses

courts, and many of the older one-family ran only in rush hours and he almost
houses had disappeared, to be replaced by never travelled during those periods.
the ubiquitous apartment houses. In 1928 He got into his train, found a seat, and
the neighborhood which had been almost resumed his reading. He paid no atten-
rural when the older Simon had taken up tion to the stations — Atlantic and Seventh
his abode "twenty minutes from his Wall Avenues. The next stop after that. Pros-
Street office” was solidly built up except pect Park, would give him one of his me-
for an occasional, and now incongruous, chanical signals, like coming out on the
frame house standing lonely and dwarfed bridge. 'The train emerged from its tun-
in its own grounds among the towering nel at Prospect Park, only to re-enter it

apartment houses, like a lost child in a again at Parkside Avenue, the next fol-
preoccupied crowd of adults whose busi- lowing station. After that came Church
ness caused them to look over the child’s Avenue, where he got out every evening.
head. As the train drew in to that station, he
repeated the mechanics of turning down a

O NE evening, not long before the end

of his autumn sojourn in Flatbush,
Everard Simon, having dined alone in his
page in the magazine, replacing his spec-
tacles in tljeir case,
his inside pocke*-.
and putting the case in
His mind entirely on
club, started for the Times Square subway he got up, left the train,
the article,
station about a quarter before nine. walked back toward the Caton Avenue
Doubled together lengthwise, and press- exit, started to mount the stairs.

ing the pocket of his coat out of shape, A few moments later he was walking,
was a magazine, out that day, which con- his mind still entirely occupied with his
tained one of his articles. He stepped on article, in the long-familiar direction of
board a waiting Sea Beach express train, his father’s apartment.
in the rearmost car, sat down, and opened The first matter which reminded him
the magazine, looking down the table of of his surroundings was the contrast in
contents to find his article. The train his breathing after the somewhat stuffy
started after the ringing of the warning air of the subway train. Consciously he
 NO EYE-WITNESSES 261

drew deep breath of the fresh, sweet

in a singer must come out of the screening ar-
outdoor air. There was a spiqr odor of ray of tree boles, Everard Simon was
wet leaves about it somehow. It seemed, startled by a crashing, quite near by, at his
as he noticed his environment with the right. The singer paused in the middle of
edge of his mind, darker than usual. The a note, and for an instant there was a
crossing of Church and Caton Avenues primeval silence undisturbed by the rustle
was a brightly lighted corner. Possibly of a single leaf.
something was temporarily wrong with Then a huge timber wolf burst through
the lighting system. He looked up. Great the underbrush to the right, paused,
trees nodded above his head. He could see crouched, and sprang, in a direction diag-
the stars twinkling above their lofty tops. onal to that in which Everard Simon was
The sickle edge of a moon cut sharply facing, toward the singer.
against black branches moving gently in a
fresh wind from the sea. TARTLED into a frigid immobility, Si-
He walked on several steps before he S mon stood as though petrified. He
paused, slackened his gait, then stopped heard an exclamation, in the singer’s
dead, his mind responding in a note of voice, a quick "heh”; then the sound of
quiet wonderment. a struggle. The great wolf, apparently,
Great trees stood all about him. From had failed to knock down his quarry.
some distance ahead a joyous song in a Then without warning, the two figures,
manly bass, slightly muffled by the wood man and wolf, came into plain sight; the
of the thick trees, came to It was
his ears. singer, for so Simon thought of him, a
a song new to him. He
found himself tall, robust fellow, in fringed deerskin,
listening to it eagerly. The song was en- slashing desperately with a hunting-knife,
tirely strange to him, the words unfamil- the beast crouching now, snapping with a
iar. He listened intently. The singer came tearing motion of a great punishing jaw.
nearer. He caught various words, Eng- Short-breathed "heh’s” came from the
lish words. He distinguished "merry,” man, as he parried dexterously the lashing
and "heart,” and "repine.” snaps of the wicked jaws.
It seemed entirely natural to be here, The two, revolving about each other,
and he glanced down at his brown
yet, as came very close. Everard Simon watched
clothes, his highly polished shoes, felt the the struggle, fascinated, motionless. Sud-
magazine bulging his pocket, the edge of denly the animal shifted its tactics. It

his mind caught a note of incongruity. He backed away stealthily, preparing for an-
remembered with a smile that strange other spring. The young woodsman
drawing of Aubrey Beardsley’s, of a lady abruptly dropped his knife, reached for
playing an upright cottage pianoforte in the great pistol which depended from his
the midst of a field of daisies! He stood, belt in a holster. 'There was
rough leather
he perceived, in a kind of rough path a blinding and the wolf slithered
flash,
worn by long usage. The groimd was down, its under it. A great
legs giving
damp underfoot. Already his polished cloud of acrid smoke drifted about Ever-
shoes were soiled with mold. ard Simon, cutting off his vision; choking
The singer came nearer and nearer. smoke which made him cough.
Obviously, as the fresh voice indicated, it But through it, he saw the look of hor-
was a young man. Just as the voice rified wonderment on the face of the
presaged that before many seconds the young woodsman; saw the pistol drop on
262 WEIRD TALES
the damp ground as the knife had He stepped along over familiar pave-
dropped; followed with his eyes, through ment, past well-known fagades. The en-
the dimming medium of the hanging trance to his father’s apartment loomed
smoke, the fascinated, round-eyed stare of before him. Mechanically he thrust his
the man who had fired the pistol. left hand into his trousers pcxket. He
There, a few feet away from him, he took out his key, opened the door, tra-
saw an eldritch change passing over the versed the familiar hallway with its rugs
beast, shivering now in its death-struggle. and marble walls and bracket side-wall
He saw the hair of the great paws dis- He moiuited the stairs, one
light-clusters.
solve, the jaws shorten and shrink, the turned the comer, reached the
flight,
body buckle and heave strangely. He
lithe door of the apartment, let himself in with
and when he opened them,
closed his eyes, his key.
he saw the figure in deerskins standing Itwas half-past nine and his father had
mutely over the body of a man, lying already retired. They talked through the
prone across tree-roots, a pool of blood old man’s bedroom door, monosyllabical-
spreading, spreading, from the concealed ly. ’The conversation ended with the
face, mingling with the damp earth under request from his father that he close the
the tree-roots. bedroom door. He did so, after wishing
Then the strange spell of quiescence the old man good-night.
which had held him in its weird thrall was
He satdown in an armchair in the liv-
dissolved, and, moved by a nameless ter-
ing-room, passed a hand over his forehead,
ror,he ran, wildly, straight down the
bemused. He sat for fifteen minutes.
narrow path between the trees. .
. .
Then he reached into his pocket for a cig-
arette. They were all gone. Then he
T SEEMED to him that he had been run-
I ning only remembered that he had meant to buy a
a short distance when some-
fresh supply on his way to the apartment.
thing, themoon above the trees, perhaps,
began to increase in size, to give a more
He had meant to get the cigarettes from
the drug-store between the Church
brilliant light. He sladcened his pace.
Avenue subway station and the apart-
The ground now felt firm underfoot, no
ment! He looked about the room for one.
longer damp, slippery. Other lights
His father’s supply, too, seemed depl^d.
joined that of the moon. Things became
brighter about him, and as this bril-
all
He rose, walked into the entry, put on
liance increased, the great trees all about his hat, stepped out again into the hall-

him turned dim and pale. The ground way, descended the one flight, went out
was now quite hard underfoot. He looked into the street. He walked into an un-
up. A bridk wall faced him. It was pierced wonted atmosphere of excitement. People
with windows. He looked down. He were conversing as they passed, in excited
stood on pavement. Overhead a street- tones; about the drug-store entrance a
light swung lightly in the late September crowd was gathered. Slightly puzzled, he
breeze. A faint smell of wet leaves was in walked toward it, paused, blocked, on the
the air, mingled now with the fresh wind outer edge.
from the sea. The magazine was clutched "What’s happened?’’ he inquired of a
tightly in his left hand. He had, it ap- young man whom he found standing just
peared, drawn it from his pocket. He beside him, a little to the fore.
looked at it ciuiously, put it back into the "It’s a shooting of some kind," the
pocket. young man explained. "I only just got
 NO EYE-WITNESSES 263

here myself. The fellow that got bumped bathroom and prepared for his morning
off is inside the drug-store, —what’s left shave.
of him. Some gang- war stuff, I guess.” Putting on his shoes, in his room, he
He walked away, skirting the rounded observed something amiss. He picked up
edge of the clustering aowd of curiosity- a shoe, examined it carefully. The soles
mongers, proceeded dovm the street, pro- of the shoes were caked with black mold,
cured the cigarettes elsewhere. He passed precisely like the mold from the wood-
the now enlarged crowd on the other paths about his Adirondack camp. Little <

side of the street on his way back, re- withered leaves and dried pine-needles
turned to the apartment, where he sat, clung to the mold. And on the side of
smoking and thinking, until eleven, when the right shoe were brownish stains, exact-
—
he retired. Curious a man shot; just at ly like freshly dried bloodstains. He
the time, or about the time, he had let shuddered as he carried the shoes into the
that imagination of his get the better of bathroom, wiped them- clean with a damp
him —those trees! towel, then rinsed out the towel. He put
them on, and shortly afterward, before he
entered the subway to go over to the club

H
held
IS father awakened him about
minutes before seven. The old
a newspaper in his hand.
five
man
He
for the day, he
The
had them polished.
bootblack spoke of the killing on
pointed to a scare-head on the front page. that comer the night before. The boot-
black noticed nothing amiss with the
"This must have happened about the
time you came in,” remarked Mr. Simon.
shoes, and when he had finished, there

"Yes — the crowd was around the drug-

was no trace of any stains.

store when I went out to get some cig-

IMON did not change at De Kalb
arettes,”
ing and yawning.
replied Everard Simon, stretch-
S Avenue that morning. An idea had
him between Church Avenue
occurred to
When his father was gone and ^e had and De Kalb, and he stayed on the
finished with his bath, he sat down, in a Brighton local, secured a seat after the
bathrobe, to glance over the newspaper
emptying process which took place at De
account. A phrase arrested him:
Kalb, and went on through the East River
". . . the body was identified as that tunnel.
of the Wolf,’ a notorious gangster
He sent in his name to Forrest, a col-
with a long prison record.” Then, lower lege acquaintance, now in the district at-
down, when he had resumed his reading: torney’s oflSce, and Forrest received him
"... a large-caliber bullet which, en- after a brief delay.
tering the lower jaw, penetrated the base
"I wanted to ask a detail about this
of the brain. ... no eye-witnesses. .”
. .
gangster who was killed in Flatbush last
Everard Simon sat for a long time after night,” said Simon. "I suppose you have
he had finished the account, the news- his record, haven’t you?”
paper on the floor by his chair. "No eye- "Yes, we know pretty well all about
witnesses!” He must, really, keep that him. What particular thing did you want
imagination of his within bounds, within to know?”
his control. "About his name,” replied Simon.
Slowly and reflectively, this good res- "Why was he called ^h® Wolf
olution uppermost, be went back to the that is, why "The Wolf particularly?”
264 • WEmD TALES

"That’s a very queer thing, Simon. Such his dedr. Both men bent over it curi-
a name is not, really, uncommon. There ously.
was that fellow, Goddard, you remember. "Notice that diameter, Simon,” said
They called him The Wolf of Wall Forrest. "It’s a hand-molded round ball
Street.’ There was the fiction criminal —belongs in a collection of curios, not in
known as 'The Lone Wolf.’ There have any gangster’s gat! Why, man, it’s lUce
been plenty of 'wolves’ among criminal the slugs they used to hunt the bison be-
'nHjnikers.’But this fellow, Jerry Goraff- fore the old Sharps was invented. It’s
rifle

sky, was a Hungarian, really. He was the kind of a ball Fenimore Cooper’s peo-
called 'The Wolf,’ queerly enough, be- ple used
—
'Deerslayer!’ It would take a

cause there were those in his gang who young cannon to throw that thing.
believed he was one of those birds who Smashed in the whole front of Jerry’s
could change himself into a wolf! It’s a ugly mug. The inside works of his head
queer combination, isn’t it? — for a New were spilled all over the sidewalk! It’s
York gangster?” what the newspapers always call a 'clue.'
"Yes,” said Everard Simon, "it is, very Who do you suppose resurrected the
queer, when you come to think of it. I’m horse-pistol — or the ship’s blunderbuss
much obliged to you for telling me. I to do that job on Jerry? Clever, in a way.
was curious about it somehow.” Hooked it out of some dime museum, per-

haps. There are still a few of those old

"That isn’t the only queer aspect of this
'pitches’ still operating, you know, at the
case, however,” resiuned Forrest, a light
frown suddenly showing on his keen face.
old stand —along East Fourteenth Street.”
"A flintlock, single-shot horse-pistol,
"In fact that wolf-thing isn’t a part of the
case —doesn’t concern us, of course, here
I’d imagine,” said Everard
the ounce lead ball bade on the
Simon, laying
mahogany
in the district attorney’s office. That’s
desk. He knew something of weapons,
nothing but blah. Gangsters are as super-
new and old. As a writer of informa-
stitious as sailors; more so, in fact!
was part of his per-
tional articles that
"No. 'Hie real mystery in this affair
manent equipment.
—
is the bullet, Simon. Want to see it?”
"Very likdy,” mused the assistant dis-
"Why — —
yes; of course -if you like, trict attorney. "Glad you came in, dd
Forrest. What’s.wrong with the bullet?” man.”
Forrest stepped out of the room, re- And Everard Simon went on uptown to
turned at once, laid a large, round ball on his dub.
 (^Id Clothes
By JOHN D. WHITING
The old inventor learns the truth about life from his
marvelous radio receiver

T he great inventor sank

couch, tired and rather depressed.
There, before him, was the
and greatest child of
upon

his brain, a radio

his

last
I

was.
had forgotten how very primitive

"The voyage down was really lovely,

a calm brilliant night with the planets
it

receiver many times more sensitive than glowing like fire in -a velvet black sky.
any other in the world. But, after all, As we approached it the dear old 'world,*
what was the use.^ Was the struggle lit by the full summer sun, was a dazzling

worth while? He was an old man, worn mirror of light touched with all the tints
out and sick and nearing the end. And of the spectrum on its curtain of clouds.
when he was gone, fools, he reflected, You know, I tliink that curtain is thinner
would misuse his invention, perhaps to than it was when we left. As I got into
getsome ungodly jazz from the far ends the mists, the radiation of light burst
of the earth. suddenly into a vast dome of dazzling
How stillwas the night! Not a breath blue, and the black sky with its millions
stirred in the maple trees outside his win- of stars was blotted from sight. You re-

dov/. And over them twinkled the stars,
countless incredible proofs of a universe
unbounded; a universe cruel as death, in-
finite, heartless, inhuman. The old man
bowed his white head to shut out the
stars.
Suddenly something began to come in
on his marvelous receiver. Strange, he
had tuned the thing so as to bar any or-
dinary wave length. All he had wanted
was silence and rest. But here it was,
faint as a breath but clear enough in the
silence, a message in Morse:
"Dear Girl:
"I hope this will reach you at Saturn.
I tuned it for Saturn, knowing that you
must be on your way there. I’ve had a
—
most .interesting trip where do you sup-
pose I’ve been? Why, you’d never guess:
back to that quaint little spot we
call 'the world.’ It was too funny for
member the same effect when we came
in to Venus?
“I couldn’t make out where I was at
first,but there was a great stretch of land
and I came down at once. Well, my dear,
what do you think, it proved to be 'home,'
that great field we used to call America
— —
remember? ^you called it the States’,
I travelled all over the globe for twenty-
four hours, refreshing my memory, Grace,
on the old haunts that we knew. Do you
remember dirty old London, and Paris,
or Italy —
my, it was lovely! and the —
poor little Alps? It was all so natural,
but so small and funny that I could have
laughed and cried. Good heavens! peo-
ple down there are still wearing the same
old 'bodies’ that we used to wear. Do you
remember them, dear? Why, they were
used to heavy as lead. Two 'legs’, think of it, we
used to go stalking along on those stilts;

words and, still, rather pathetic. My dear. it’s a wonder that we didn’t fall. And
265
266 WEIRD TALES
'bones’ to hold ’em together, great cum- they didn’t really care for us. It was
bersome bones; how did we ever stand pretty hard to read a person’s thought
it? They looked to me like ancient armor through all that camouflage; great masses
or some ungodly machine. of tallowy flesh,skulls, and, yes, even

"But then, each time we get a new

'whiskers’. Do you remember the whis-
kers? I laughed aloud when I saw some
dress the old one seems funny like that.
You must remember how, down on Venus, on the suit of an earthworm. It was a

we had a good laugh at the queer old clumsy suit worn by a man in that flat
motor suits we had used while on Mars. field we called 'Russia’. We used to think
And yet these poor earthworms, my dear, that the Russians were primitive; we,
stalking stiffly aroimd, fighting and wor-
hang to their suits like grim death, as if,
forsooth, life would be over when the
rying over our money — ^poor little, greedy,

machinery broke. It is pitiful and fun- — blind fools.

ny. I can dimly remember my horror, "They still use money down there
down on that stodgy old 'world’, when I isn’t it simply absurd? Of course their
foimd my suit was wearing out. Oh, you suits are so very hard to keep in condi-
may laugh, but it was really a terrible tion tliat theyneed a lot of fuel, but, my
fear. And you must remember, yourself, dear, most of those earthworms have
how those old bodies hurt us when any- money to burn. They don’t spend half
thing went wrong. They were so heavy of it on the upkeep of their 'bodies’. You
that of course it was a terrible struggle remember we used to buy savage orna-
to get out ofthem at all. How surprized ments, Grace, to hang upon our necks.
the earthworms would be if they could And yet we would worry and scurry over
know that today I had just slipped out the face of the 'world’ like a swarm of
of my suit to go up to Mars! It didn’t restless ants, searching for something
take five minutes. to do. We were blind, absolutely
.’’
"It might occur to the dears tliat their blind. . .

suits aren’t
wear the same
tropics. And
fit for changes.
clothes for Alaska
go along in their
yet they
noisy airplanes trying to get up to Mars
They don’t
and the
W HEN
in from
the inventor’s daughter came
a dance in the early hours
of the morning, she found her father
in bodies that are* suited to the 'world’. fast asleep on the couch beside his last
It is really very stupid. I saw some brok- invention. On his sunken, wrinkled face
en bodies, on earth, poor little huddles of was a gentle smile of understanding.
clothes, so very like cast-off overcoats that "My, how peaceful he looks,’’ she
one could hardly mistake them. How thought, "like a happy child! Poor dad,
very blind we were! You remember how he has worked too hard; he’s not long
we used to put them into boxes and stick for this world. I wonder if that receiver
them underground while a. parson prayed of his is really any good. He won’t make
before blubbering mourners in solemn much out of it anyway, he always
I guess;
black duds? Really, one might as well gets cheated. Well, money doesn’t mean
cry and say prayers over his last winter’s such a lot to him; he won’t need it very
suit. long. I hardly dare to wake him, he looks
"But was sad leaving old friends; I
it so unearthly, but he ought to get to bed.
left some, on earth, that I’ve never seen He’ll be awfully cramped, lying all night
again. We know now that, in those cas«, in his clothes.’’
Uhe
^Archfiend’s Fingers
By KIRK MASHBURN
]ohn Power blundered into a strange and weird adventure during the
Mardi Gras carnivd in New Orleans

W HAT place this was into which he

had stumbled, John Power neither
knew nor cared. It was some
shady cabaret; some dimly lighted dive of
sinister shadows, perhaps near to the
a none too clean waiter
the gesture.
A
drink that shimmered in
who answered

drink was brought, a palely green

its glass, as if
with flecks of gold in its depths. The
waterfront. stranger pressed the greenish drink upon
Slumped at a small table, he sensed the younger man with obdurate, if kindly
little of what went on around him, re- guised insistence. Power groaned weakly,
membered nothing of how he had become swallowed the virescent potion and nau-
separated from his friends. It was car- sea together; know*" he was shortly to
nival time, Mardi Gras Day in New be ill; hoping, with teeble malice, that he
Orleans. Vaguely, Power knew that he would be very unpleasantly ill. Then,
had celebrated too enthusiastically, had perhaps, they would let him alone.

drunk too freely. There was a blank in The draft stung his palate, seared his
his memory, and everything was rather throat, struck his stomach like flowing
more than hazy. He had no knowledge, fire. Amazingly, almost before he could
even, that the thinning backwash of ^e gasp for breath, nausea vanished; the
carnival crowds no longer eddied in the throbbing at his temples began to still, tire
street outside, had wearily dissolved in fog to lift from his wits.
the early night. "Ah, that is better!Is it not?” The
stranger nodded, smiled easily. Power
Something of his surroundings ob-
scurely troubled the bemused man. But
looked across athim with mixed emo-
tions, in which some trace of resentment
it was too weighty and painful an effort
lingered.
to think. His head throbbed dully; nausea
reached slyly, touched him with a tenta-
He took in the dark, saturnine coun-
tenance, about which there was some-
tive
spoke,
finger.
from
It seemed that some one
across the table
thing familiar —
^vaguely and disturbing]^
familiar. Somewhere, he thought, he had
"Your pardon, have no wish to
sir. I
seen that high forehead; the whisper of
intrude, but you appear in need of some- memory strove to identify that arrogant,
thing to lower your stomach, and raise narrow-bridged nose, the oddly arched
your spirits.” brows and the thin-lipped mouth that
In blurred, indistinct outline. Power presently wore a smile of tolerant amuse-
saw that there was indeed another person ment.
seated opposite him. The stranger laughed Only the eyes were unfamiliar. John
dryly, as though his indulgence might be Power felt that he had seen the face with-
tinged with faintly contemptuous amuse- out having looked into the dark, glitter-
ment. He beckoned, spoke succinctly to ing eyes: his memory could not otherwise
267
268 WEIRD TALES
have escaped some record of their chill "Surely you will not leave so early?”
fascination. It was as if he remembered It was the stranger who spoke; but the

a picture of the face, rather than the liv- simple question seemed, to Power’s tor-
ing countenance. tured fancy, fraught with irony and all
"I feel better,” Power belatedly ac- the weight of a command. Giddily he
knowledged. "That is — I don’t feel ill, sought to focus his thoughts. Thickly he
nor stupid, as I did. But” —he—brushed a repeated his intention of departing; think-
hand uncertainly across his eyes "I don’t ing he spoke so low
that, despite himself,
” that his words were almost whispered.
know
The stranger —he made no move to
Then he wondered whether, instead, he
had shouted: every one in the place ap-
identify himself; nor, strangely, did the
thought occur Power the stranger
to — peared to have centered attention sudden-
ly in his direction.
laughed again. His was an enfolding
laugh, a laugh of comprehension. It was As Power peered about him, each face
as if he knew and understood all the in- among those present flared into startling
sidious perplexities of mankind and was — distinctness —
and what faces they were!
glad of mankind’s human frailty. There were nightmare visages of horror;
r grotesque, distorted faces that worked
The more of the green
waiter brou' '

drinks. The stranger talked to Power with slavering malice as they approached.

while they were coming, and the latter . . . ( God! What place was this into
listened. They drank often, always the
which he had blundered?) There were
other faces, pale with the pallor of death,
green drinks; but Power had never felt
more alive, his mind had never before set masks of wo and utter, horrible
despair.
seemed quite so active. Occasionally the
stranger passed him cigarettes, apparently One fantastic shape detached itself and
of tobacco in which the blending gave a came forward, apart from its fellows. It
peculiar distinctive taste that was not, wore a Spanish helmet and breastplate ol
however, displeasing at the moment. antique design, and was shod in high
At length the bracing effect Power had Spanish boots. The shadowing helmet
experienced with the first draft of the blurred the face beneath, and that but in-
green liquor began to wear off. His head tensified an impression of hideous fear-
was resuming its tlirobbing, and thinking someness. As the monster came beneath
was again an effort. A feeling of uneasi- a ceiling light or was there a light there?
ness assailed him with recurring insist- was there even a ceiling? Power ob- —
ence. He sensed something disturbing in served that its armor, its garments even to
something that included
his surroundings; the high boots, looked to be splotched and
his unknown yet oddly familiar table —
smeared with red bloody splotches that
companion. spread and merged until they wholly
enveloped the sinister figure.

H e decided to go while the effort

still possible —wondered
not taken his leave after that revitalizing
that
was
he had
"Who
easy anger.
are you?” Power snarled
There was no answer.
an easy and natural transition, in Power’s
in un-
It was

first drink. With he gained his

difficulty, irrational condition, from disturbed peev-
feet, hastened by a sudden, rising impulse ishness to sudden, flaring rage.
of dread: instinctive, insinuating dread, Still snarling,he staggered up, seized
that came unsummoned and unexplained. his chair and raised it to hurl at the mo-
 THE ARCHFIEND’S FINGERS 269

tionless figure in ancient Spanish armor. Clanging shut and latching the gate in
But his table companion, who had sat the faces of the foremost of the racing
motionless until the moment, sprang for- figures at his Power bounded
back.
ward with outstretched hands. across Jackson Square, where the hero of
Suddenly it seemed to Power that he Chalmette sat his charger in bronze dis-

saw the Stranger with blinding clearness, dain of the turmoil boiling in his shadow.

as if a veil had been torn aside saw him, — The gate stopped pursuit for a precious
and knew him for what he was! At the moment. Power made for the opposite
sight of those reaching talons, fear side of the square, where Saint Louis’
snapped the last shreds of his control. He Cathedral loomed out of the shadows,
screamed aloud in panic across a narrow street. He was spent; a
"Help!” and again, "Help!” myriad aches racked his heaving chest,
From a door in the rear of the place but he knew that he must cross that street,
leaped a figure, and Power shouted with gain the cathedral. 'Shey could never
joy upon recognizing the waiter who had enter there!
served his table. But no! Before his — He staggered into the open vestibule
eyes, an awful metamorphosis occurred. as the chimes pealed on the stroke of mid-
. The attendant was but another demon
. . night. The period of carnival was over;
come to join the grim, silently encircling Ash Wednesday and Lenten penitence
throng. were ushered in, while Power beat against
"Away, fiends!” Power shrieked, again the inner doors. The patter of pursuing
raising the chair he held. Before he could feet sounded without, as their spent quar-
fling it, the Stranger had seized his wrist. ry sagged and crumpled to the floor.
To Power, it felt as if those taloned fin- "Sanctuary!” he sobbed. "Sanctuary!”
gers seared through his flesh to the bone. A sound as of roshing waters filled his
"Back! All of you stand back!” cried ear-drums almost to bursting; darkness
he of the clutching hands. "Let me deal crowded in, encompassed him. The gasp-
with him alone!” ing figure in the cathedral vestibule sank
The words seared Power’s brain: He into merciful oblivion.
was claimed by the Archfiend himself!
The thought gave final impetus to his
madness. Wrenching violently from the P OWER recovered his senses in what
seemed a few seconds. Trip-hammers
grasp that pained his wrist, and swinging pounded inside his head, and he was con-
the chair before him. Power swept a scious of acute and consuming thirst.
path of havoc to a door. Still dominating every other thought was

'The door opened. Power gained the the urge to crawl farther into the cathe-
street with a bound, fled over ancient dral.

flagstones down dim, narrow, cobbled It had been so much darker a moment
streets. What course he covered in ago, he thought with vague wonder as
twisted flight, he never afterward knew. he strove to drag himself forward. Some-
At the moment, he cared only that it was thing interfered with his effort; he peered
away from the clamorous pursuit upon dazedly to see what it was. Then Power
his heels. At lengtli, looking up, the sat up with a jerk that nearly burst his
fugitive recognized an enclosure within a head, filling him v/ith giddiness. He
high iron fence —a fence in which gaped groaned aloud.
an open gate. He was in a small white bed, in a
270 WEIRD TALES
white-walled room with other small, "Sisal— ^hasheesh,” crisply affirmed the
white beds ... a hospital ward! At his nurse, turning away. "Will you please lie

movement, a white-uniformed nurse came down?”

briskly forward. But Power had become aware of a dull
"What happened.?” Power croaked, pain that was apart from the bursting of
ignoring the nurse’s injunction to lie his head. Lifting a hand, he stared at the
down and be quiet. "How long have I bandage swathing his wrist. He would
been here?” never be jd>le to forget the Stranger who
"Since last night, when you were found had shared his table, uninvited, in a
collapsed at the doors of Saint Louis’ shadowed, unknown place; hazily, he re-
Cathedral,” the nurse replied. Her voice membered smoking cigarettes of a pead-
was brittle with disapproval. iar, acrid taste.
"Why was I brought here?” Power de- But premonition whispered that drink
manded, gropingly insistent. nor drug would ever explain the reason
"Because you were suffering from the for the gauze wrapped about his wrist.
effects of acute alcoholism,” tartly re- Slowly, Power removed the bandage.
turned the nurse. "And also” —
— "you were ^her tone Except that they were burned like a
was definitely accusing rav- brand into the ffesh, the marks upon his
ing as the result of smoking mart juana.” wristwere the livid imprint of a thund)
"Mari juana?’’ Power stupidly repeated. and four long, pointed fingers.

cPiirate’s Hoard
By ALFRED 1. TOOKE
Seven skulls upon the sand.
White as any coral;
This one was a captain’s skull.
Cracked in bloody quarrel.
'This one was a cabin boy’s;
These were mutineers’.
Seven skulls upon the sand.
Bleaching through the years.

Seven chests of treasure strewn

On the coral strand;
Seven skeletons on guard
In the sifting sand.
Golden goblets, silver coins.
Strings of precious stones;
Seven grinning skulls that watdi
Piles of bleaching bones.
 THE EYRIE 271

The Eyrie
(Continued from page 130)
HymanVinunsky, of Cleveland, writes to the Eyrie: "The Devil’s Bride is again
the best story in the June issue. And Black Invocation by Paul Ernst what a story —
that is! When the Latin formula is read, I can just imagine what a scene of weird
power it makes. A wonderful story!”
"My curiosity is aroused —
is there a Jules de Grandin, or did Seabury Quinn just

create him?” writes Evelyn Martin, of Heltonville, Indiana. "I have been greatly en-
joying The Devil’s Bride. Please don’t leave Jules de Grandin out of any more issues.”
"I have been a reader of Weird Tales for the past four years and in that time I
have come to enjoy each issue better than the one which preceded it,” writes Wil-
liam H. Waters, Jr., of Gaithersburg, Maryland. "If I were to vojce a preference
for any of your authors (all of whom are good), it would certainly be Seabury
Quinn. His Doctor de Grandin is a veritable Sherlock Holmes of the occult.”

"In the name of Allah and a thousand minor deities,” writes Andr^ Galet, of New
York) City, "will you please tell us why you propose to reprint such well-known
stories as Frankenstein and Dracula when they can be secured in almost every public
library or bookstore? If you are really sincere in your desire to please us (the read-
ers) and if it is humanly possible, why not publish in your reprint department Von
Junzt’s Nameless Cults, or the Necronomicon by Abdul Alhazred? Yours for more
stories like Kings of the Night, The Outsider, and The Picture.”

The favorite story in the June issue, as shown by your letters and votes, is The
Devil’s Pool, that amazing werewolf novelette by Greye La Spina. 'The fifth install-
ment of Seabury Quinn’s powerful novel of devil-worship. The Devil’s Bride, was
your second choice. What is your favorite story in this issue?

(1)

—
MY FAVORITE STORIES IN THE AUGUST WEIRD TALES ARE;
Story Remarks

(
1)

(
2)

(3)

I do not like the following stories:

Why?

(
2

It will help us to know what kind of stories

Reader's name and address:
you want in Weird Tales if you will
fill out this coupon and mail it to The

Eyrie, Weird Tales, 840 N. Michigan Ave.,

Qiicago, 111.
I
 By MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY
The Story Thus Far houses and dissecting-rooms. The mon-
obert WALTON, ster was so terrible to look upon that

R
riage,
“
captain of a
ship seeking a passage through
the Arctic Ocean, saw a low car-
fixed on a sledge and drawn by
Frankenstein fled from
ster escaped.
Abandoned by its
it, and the mon-

creator, the monster

dogs, pass over the ice-field to the nordi. made its way to the vicinity of Franken-
In it being which had the shape of
sat a
stein’s home, where he murdered Frank-
enstein’s younger brother, William, mak-
a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.
The next morning, after the ice had ing it appear that Justine Moritz, a friend
broken, he rescued from an ice-field an- of the family, had committed the murder.

other man, greatly emaciated. Only one Justine was convicted and sentenced to
of his dogs remained alive, for he had
death; while Frankenstein, knowing that
been marooned for some time. The man if he told the tmth he would be con-
sidered a lunatic, was forced to keep si-
was Victor Frankenstein, a young scien-
lence.
tist, who related to Captain Walton the
Frankenstein met the monster in a hut
incredible story of his life and how he
came be on the ice-floe.
to
in the Alps,and there the monster began
Frankenstein had lived in Geneva with to tellhim how he had learned to talk,
and how he had changed from a being
his father and his adopted sister, Eliza-
with good impulses to a malevolent de-
beth, to whom he was betrothed. His
father sent him to school at Ingolstadt
mon, simply b^ause all hands were raised
against him on account of his frightful
with his chum, Henry Clerval. There he
appearance.
progressed in his studies of natural science
to such a point that he learned to create
life. CHAPTER 12
Without taking Qerval into his secret, “T LAY on my straw, but I could not
Frankenstein created a monster, eight feet sleep. I thought of the occurrences
tail and human in appearance, taking his of the day. What chiefly struck me was
materials from graveyards, slaughter- the gentle manners of these people; and I
This stoi7 In 1 IBB TAXJBS tor
272 W. T.—
 FRANKENSTOIN 273

longed to join them, but dared not. I re- "A considerable period elapsed before I
membered too well the treatment I had discovered one of the causes of the uneasi-
suffered the night before from the bar- ness of this amiable family: it was pov-
barous villagers, and resolved, whatever erty; and they suffered that evil in a very
course of conduct I might hereafter think distressing degree. Their nourishment
it right to pursue, that for the present I consisted entirely of the vegetables of
would remain quietly in my hovel, watch- their garden,and the milk of one cow,
ing, and endeavoring to discover the mo- which gave very little during the winter,
tives which influenced their actions. when its masters could scarcely procure
"The cottagers arose the next morning food to support it. They often, I believe,
before the sun. The young woman ar- suffered the pangs of hunger very poign-
ranged the cottage, and prepared the antly, especially the two younger cottag-
food; and the youth departed after the ers; for several times they placed food
first meal. before the old man vhen they reserved
"This day was passed in the same none for themselves.
routine as that which preceded it. The "This of kindness moved me sen-
trait
young man was constantly employed out sibly. I had been accustomed, during the
of doors, and the girl in various laborious night, to steal a part of their store for my
occupations within. The old man, whom own consumption; but when I found that
I soon perceived to be blind, employed his in doing this I inflicted pain on the cot-
leisure hours on his instrument or in con- tagers, I abstained, and satisfied myself
templation. Nothing could exceed the with berries, nuts, and roots, which I
love and respect which the younger cot- gathered from a neighboring wood.
tagers exhibited towards their venerable "I discovered also another means
companion. They performed towards through which I was enabled to assist their
him every little office of affection and duty labors. I found that the youth spent a
with gentleness; and he rewarded them by great part of each day in collecting wood
his benevolent smiles. for the family fire; and, during the night,
"They were not entirely happy. The I often took his tools, the use of whidi I
young man and his companion often went quickly discovered, and brought home fir-
apart, and appeared to weep. I saw no ing sufficient for the consumption of sev-
cause for their unhappiness; but I was eral days.
deeply affected by it. If such lovely crea- "I remember the first time that I did
tures were miserable, it was less strange this theyoung woman, when she opened
that I, an imperfect and solitary being, the door in the morning, appeared greatly
should be wretched. Yet why were these astonished on seeing a great pile of wood
gentle beings unhappy? They possessed a on the outside. She uttered some words in
delightful house (for such it was in my a loud voice, and the youth joined her,
eyes) and every luxury; they had a fire to who also expressed surprize. I observed,
warm them when chill, and delicious with pleasure, that he did not go to the
viands when hungry; they were dressed in forest that day, but spent it in repairing

excellent clothes; and, still more, they en-
joyed one another’s company and speech,
interchanging each day looks of affection
and kindness. What did their tears imply?
Did they really express pain? I was
first unable to solve these questions.
W. T.—
the cottage and cultivating the garden.
"By degrees I made a discovery of still
greater moment. I found that these peo-
ple possessed amethod of communicating
at their experience and feelings to one an-
other by articulate sounds. I perceived
274
that the words they spoke sometimes pro-
duced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness,
in the minds and countenances of the
hearers. This was indeed a god-like sci-
ence, and I ardently desired to
acquainted with it. But I was
every attempt I made for this purpose.
Their pronunciation was quick; and the
words they uttered, not having any appar-
ent connection with visible objects, I was
unable to discover any clue by which I
could unravel the mystery of their refer-
ence. By great application, however, and
after having remained during the space of
several revolutions of the moon in my
hovel, I discovered the names that were
given to some of the most familiar ob-
jects of discourse; I learned and applied
the words, fire, milk, bread, and wood. I
learned also the names of the cottagers
themselves. The youth and his companion
had each of them several names, but the
old man had only one, which was father.
The girl was called sister, or Agatha; and
the youth Velix, brother, or son. I can not
describe the delight I felt when
the ideas appropriated to each of these
sounds, and was able to pronounce them.
1 distinguished several otfier words, with-
out being able as yet to understand or
apply them; such as good, dearest, un-
happy.
“T SPENT the winter in this manner. The
1
-
. gentle manners and beauty of the
cottagers greatly endeared them
when they were unhappy, I felt depressed;
when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their
joys. I saw few human beings besides
them; and if any other happened to enter
the cottage, their harsh manners and rude
enhanced to me the superior ac-
gait only
complishments of my friends.
"The old man, I could perceive, often
endeavored to encourage his children, as
sometimes I found that he called them, to
cast off their melancholy. He would
WEIRD TALES
with an expression of
in a cheerful accent,
goodness that bestowed pleasure even
upon me. Agatha listened with respect,
her eyes sometimes filled with tears,
become which she endeavored to wipe away un-
baffled in perceived; but I generally found that her
countenance and tone were more cheerful
after having listened to the exhortations
of her father. It was not thus with Felix.
He was always the saddest of the group;
and, even to my unpractised senses, he ap-
peared to have suffered more deeply than
his friends. But if his countenance was
more sorrowful, his voice was more cheer-
ful than that of his sister, especially when
he addressed the old man.
“I could mention innumerable in-
stances, which, although slight, marked
the dispositions of these amiable cottag-
ers. In the midst of poverty and want,
Felix carried with pleasure to his sister the
firstlittle white flower that peeped out
from beneath the snowy ground. Early
in the morning, before she had risen, he
cleared away the snow that obstructed her
I learned path to the milk-house, drew water from
the well, and brought the wood from the
out-house, where, to his perpetual aston-
ishment, he found his store always re-
plenished by an invisible hand. In the day,
I believe,he worked sometimes for a
neighboring farmer, because he often
went and did not return until din-
forth,
ner, yet brought no wood with him. At
other times he worked in the garden; but,
to me: as there was little to do in the frosty sea-
son, he read to the old man and Agatha.
"This reading had puzzled me ex-
tremely at first; but, by degrees, I discov-
ered that he uttered many of the same
sounds when he read as when he talked.
I conjectured, therefore, that he found on
the paper signs for speech which he un-
derstood, and I ardently longed to com-
prehend these also; but how was that pos-
sible, when I did not even understand the
talk sounds for which they stood as signs? I

improved, however, sensibly in
ence, but not sufficiently to followup any
kind of conversation, dthough I applied
my whole mind to the endeavor: for I
easily perceived that, although I eagerly
longed to discover myself to the cottagers,
I ought not to make the attempt until I
had first become master of their language;
which knowledge might enable me to
make them overlook the deformity of my
figure; for with this also the
perpetually presented to my
made me acquainted.
“I had admired the perfect forms of
—
my cottagers their grace, beauty, and
delicate complexions: but how was I ter-
rified when I viewed myself in a transpar-
ent pool! At first I started back, unable
to believe that was indeed I who was
it
reflected in the mirror; and viffien I be-
came fully convinced that I was in reality
the monster that I am, I was filled with
the bitterest sensations of despondence
and mortification. Alas! I did not yet en-
tirely know the fatal effects of this miser-
able deformity.
"As the sun became warmer, and the
light of day longer, the snow vanished,
and I beheld the bare trees and the black
earth. From this time Felix was more
employed; and the heart-moving indica-
tions of impending famine disappeared.
‘•V’ Ihe old man, leaning on
Al
walked each day at noon, when it
did not rain, asI found it was called when
the heavens poured forth its waters. This
frequently took place; but a high wind
quickly dried the earth, and the season be-
came far more pleasant than it had been.
"My mode of life in my hovel was uni-
form. During the morning, I attended
the motions of the cottagers; and when
they were dispersed in various occupations
I slept: the remainder of the day was
spent in observing my friends.
they had retired to rest, if there
FRANKENSTEIN 275
this sci- moon, or the night was starli^t, I went
into the woods, and collected my own
food and fuel for the cottage. When I
returned, as often as it was necessary, I
cleared their path from the snow, and per-
formed those offices that I had seen done
by Felix. I afterwards found that these
labors, performed by an invisible hand,
greatly astonished them; and once or twice
I heard them, on these occasions, utter
contrast the words good spirit, wonderful; but I
eyes had did not then understand the signification
of these terms.
"My thoughts now j^ecame more active,
and I longed to discover the motives and
feelings of these lovely creatures; I was
inquisitive to know why Felix appeared
so miserable and Agatha so sad. I
thought (fpolidi wretch!) that it might
be in my power to restore happiness to
these deserving pwple. When I slept, or
was absent, the forms of the venerable
blind father, the gentle Agatha, and tfie
excellent Felix flitted before me. I locked
upon them as superior beings, who would
be the arbiters of my future destiny. I
formed in my imagination a thousand pic-
tures of presenting myself to them, and
their reception of me. I imagined that
they would be disgusted, until, by my
gentle demeanor and conciliating words, I
should first win their favor, and after-
ward* their love.
his son, "These thoughts exhilarated me, and
led me to apply with fresh ardor to the
acquiring the art of language. My organs
were indeed harsh, but supple; and al-
though my voice was very unlike the soft
music of their tones, yet I pronounced
such words as I understood with tolerable
ease.
"The pleasant showers and genial
warmth of spring greatly altered the
aspect of the earth. Men, who before ffiis
change seemed to have been hid in caves,
When dispersed themselves, and were employed
was any in various arts of cultivation. The birds
276 WEIRD TALES
sang in more cheerful notes, and the up hastily to the lady; who, when she saw
leaves began to bud forth on the trees. him, threw up her veil, and I beheld a
Happy, happy earth! fit habitation for countenance of angelic beauty and ex-
gods, which, so short a time before, was pression. Her hair was of a shining raven
bleak, damp, and unwholesome. My black, and curiously braided; her eyes
spirits were elevated by the enchanting were dark, but gentle, although animated;
appearance of nature; the past was blotted her features of a regular proportion, and
from my memory, the present was tran- her complexion wondrously fair, each
quil, and the future gilded by bright rays cheek tinged with a lovely pink.
of hope and anticipations of joy. "Felix seemed ravished with delight
when he saw her, every trait of sorrow
CHAPTER 13 vanished from his face, and it instantly
expressed a degree of ecstatic joy, of
“T NOW hasten to the more moving part
which could hardly have believed
A of my story. I shall relate events that
I
capable; his eyes sparkled as his cheek
it

impressed me with feelings which, from

flushed with pleasure; and at that moment
what I had been, have made me what I
I thought him as beautiful as the stranger.
am.
She appeared affected by different feel-
"Spring advanced rapidly; the weather ings; wiping a few tears from her lovely
became fine, and the skies cloudless. It eyes, she held out her hand to Felix, who
surprized me that what before was desert kissed it rapturously, and called her, as
and gloomy should now bloom with the well as I could distinguish, his sweet
most beautiful flowers and verdure. My Arabian. She did not appear to under-
senses were gratified and refreshed by a stand him, but smiled.
thousand scents of delight, and a thou- "He her to dismount, and dis-
assisted
sand sights of beauty. missing her guide, conducted her into the
"It was on one of these days, when my cottage. Some conversation took place be-
cottagers periodically rested from labor tween him and his father; and the young
the old man played on his guitar, and the stranger knelt at the old man’s feet, and
children listened to him — that I observed would have kissed his hand, but he raised
the countenance of Felix was melancholy her, and embraced her affectionately.
beyond expression; he sighed frequently; "I soon perceived that, although the
and once his father paused in his music, stranger uttered articulate soimds, and ap-
and I conjectured by his manner that he peared to have a language of her own,
inquired the cause of his son’s sorrow. she was neither understood by, nor her-
Felix replied in a cheerful accent, and the self understood, the cottagers. They made
old man was recommencing his music many signs which I did not comprehend;
when some one tapped at the door. but I saw that her presence diffused glad-
"It was a lady on horseback, accom- ness through the cottage, dispelling their
panied by a coimtryman as a guide. The sorrow as the sun dissipates the morning
lady was dressed in a dark suit, and cov- mists. Felix seemed peculiarly happy, and
ered with a thick black veil. Agatha asked with smiles of delight welcomed his
a question; to which the stranger only re- Arabian. Agatha, the ever-gentle Agatha,
pEed by pronouncing, in a sweet accent, kissed the hands of the lovely stranger;
the name of Felix. Her voice was mu-, and, pointing to her brother, made signs
sical, but unlike that of either of my which appeared to me to mean that he had
friends. On hearing this word, Felix came been sorrowful until she came.
 FRANKENSTEIN 277

"Some hours passed thus, while they, HE days now passed as peaceably as
by their countenances, expressed joy, the A before, with the sole alteration that
cause of which I did not comprehend. joy had taken place of sadness in the
Presently I found, by the frequent recur- countenances of my friends. Safie was al-
rence of some sound which the stranger ways gay and happy; she and I improved
repeated after them, that she was endeav- rapidly in the knowledge of language, so
oring to learn their language; and the idea that in two months I began to compre-
instantly occurred to me that I should hend most of the words uttered by my
make use of the same instructions to the protectors.
same end. The stranger learned about "In the meanwhile also the black
twenty words at the first lesson; most of ground was covered with herbage, and
them, indeed, were those which I had be- the green banks interspersed with innum-
fore understood, but I profited by the erable flowers, sweet to the scent and the
others. eyes, stars of pale radiance among the
"As night came on, Agatha and the moonlight woods; the sun became warm-
Arabian retired early. When they sepa- er, the nights clear and balmy; and my

rated, Felix kissed the hand of the nocturnal rambles were an extreme pleas-
stranger, and said, 'Good night, sweet ure to me, although they were considera-
Safie.’ He sat up much longer, conversing bly shortened by the late setting and early
with his father; and, by the frequent repe- rising of the sun; for I never ventured
tition of her name, I conjectured that abroad during daylight, fearful of meet-
their lovely guest was the subject of their ing with the same treatment I had for-
conversation. I ardently desired to under- merly endured in the first village which I
stand them, and bent every faculty to- entered.
wards that purpose, but found it utterly "My days were spent in close atten-
impossible. tion, that I might more speedily master
"The next morning Felix went out to the language; and I may boast that I im-
his work; and, after the usual occupations proved more rapidly than the Arabian,
of Agatha were finished, the Arabian sat who understood very little, and conversed
at the feet of the old man, and, taking his in broken accents, whilst I comprehended
guitar, played some airs so entrancingly and could imitate almost every word that
drew tears of
beautiful that they at once was spoken.
sorrow and delight from my eyes. She "While I improved in speech, I also
sang, and her voice flowed in a rich ca- learned the science of letters, as it was
dence, swelling or dying away, like a taught to the stranger; and this opened
nightingale of the woods. before me a wide field for wonder and
"When she had finished, she gave the delight.
guitar to Agatha, who at first declined it. "The book from which Felix instructed
She played a simple air, and her voice ac- Safie was Volney’s 'Ruins of Empires. I
companied it in sweet accents, but unlike should not have understood the purport
the wondrous strain of the stranger. The of this book, had not Felix, in reading it,

old man appeared enraptured, and said
some words, which Agatha endeavored to
explain to Safie, and by which he ap-
peared to wish to express that she be-
stowed on him the greatest delight by her
given very minute explanations. He had
chosen this work, he said, because the
declamatory style was framed in imitation
of the eastern authors. Through this work
I obtained a cursory knowledge of history,

music. and a view of the several empires at pres-

278 .WEIRD TALES
ent existing in the world; gave me an it
insight into the manners, governments,
and religions of the different nations of
the earth, I heard of the slothful Asiatics;
of the stupendous genius and mental
tivity of the Grecians; of the v.'ars
wonderful virtue of the early Romans
of their subsequent degenerating — of the
decline of that mighty empire; of chivalry,
and kings. I heard of the
Christianity,
discovery of the American hemisphere,
and wept with Safie over the hapless fate
of its original inhabitants.
"Tliese wonderful narrations inspired
me with strange feelings. Was man,
deed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and
magnificent, yet so vicious and base?
appeared at one time a mere scion of the
evil principle, and at another as all that
can be conceived of noble and god-like.
To be a great and virtuous man appeared
die highest honor that can befall a sensi-
tive being; tobe base and vicious, as many
on record have been, appeared the lowest
degradation, a condition more abject than
that of the blind mole or harmless worm.
For a long time I could not conceive hov/
one man could go forth murder his fel-
to
low, or even why there were laws and
governments; but when I heard details of
vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased,
and I turned away with disgust and loath-
ing.
"Every conversation of the cottagers
now opened new wonders to me. While I
listened to the instructions which Felix
bestowed upon the Arabian, the strange
system of human society was explained to
me. I heard of the division of property,
of immense wealth and squalid poverty;
of rank, descent, and noble blood.
"The words induced me to turn to-
wards myself. I learned that the posses-
sions most esteemed by your fellow-
aeatures were high and unsullied descent
united with riches. A
man might be re-
spected with only one of these advantages;
but, without either, he was considered,
except in very rare instances, as a vaga-
bond and a slave, doomed to waste his
ac- powers for the profits of the chosen fewl
and And what was I? Of my creation and
creator I was absolutely ignorant; but I
knew I possessed no money, no
that
friends, no kind of property. I was, be-
sides, endued with a figure hideously de-
formed and loathsome; I was not even of
the same nature as man. I was more agile
than they, and could subsist upon coarser
diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold
in- with less injury to my frjune; my stature
far exceeded theirs. When I locked
He around, saw and heard of ncme like me.
I
Was I then a monster, a blot upon the
earth, from which all men fled, and whom
all men disowned?
“T CAN not describe to you the agony
i that these reflections inflicted upon
me: I tried to dispel them, but sorrow
only increased with knowledge. Oh, that
I had for ever remained in my native
wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sen-
sations of hunger, thirst, and heat!
"Of what a strange nature is knowl-
edge! It clings to the mind, when it has
once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock.
I wished sometimes to shake off all
thought and feeling; but I learned that
there was but one means to overcome the
sensation of pain, and thatwas death —
state which I feared yet did not under-
stand. I admired virtue and good feel-
ings, and loved the gentle manners and
amiable qualities of my cottagers; but I
was shut out from intercourse with them,
except through means which I obtained
by stealth, when I was unseen and
unknown, and which rather increased
than satisfied the desire I had of becom-
ing one among my fellows. The gentle
words of Agatha, and the animated saailes

of the charming Arabian, were not for
me. The mild exhortations of the old
man, and the lively conversation of the
loved Felix, were not for me. Miserable,
unhappy wretch!
"Other lessons were impressed upon
me even more deeply. I heard of the dif-
ference of sexes; and the birth and
growth of children; how the father doted
on the smiles of the infant, and the lively
sallies of the older child; how all the life
and cares of the mother were wrapped up
in the precious charge; how the
youth expanded and gained knowledge;
of brother, and all the various re-
sister,
lationships which bind one human being
to another in mutual bonds.
"But where were my friends and rela-
tions? No father had watched my infant
days, no mother had blessed me with
smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my
past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy
in which I distinguished nothing. From
my earliest remembrance I had been as I
then was in height and proportion. I had
never yet seen a being resembling me, or
who claimed any intercourse with me.
What was I?
"I will soon explain to what these
ings tended; but allow me now
to the cottagers, whose story excited in
such various feelings of indignation, de-
light, and wonder, but which all termi-
nated in additional love and reverence for
my protectors (for so I loved, in an inno-
cent, half-painful self-deceit,
them).
CHAPTER 14
“^OME time elapsed before
•3 the history of my friends. It was one
which could not fail to impress itself
deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did
a number of circumstances, each interest-
ing and wonderful to one so utterly inex-
perienced as I was.
FRANKENSTEIN 279
"The name of the old man was De
Lacey. He was descended from a good
family in France, where he had lived for
many years in afiSuence, respected by his
superiorsand beloved by his equals. His
son was bred in the service of his country;
and Agatha had ranked with ladies of the
highest distinction. A few months before
my arrival they had lived in a large and
luxurious city called Paris, surrounded by
and possessed of every enjoyment
friends,
which virtue, refinement of intellect, or
mind of accompanied by a moderate fortune,
taste,
could afford.
"The father of Safie had been the cause
of their ruin. He was a Turkish merchant,
and had inhabited Paris for many years,
when, for some reason which I could not
learn, he became obnoxious to the govern-
ment. He was seized and cast into prison
the very day that Safie arrived from Con-
stantinople to join him. He was tried and
condemned to death. The injustice of his
sentence was very flagrant; all Paris was
indignant; and it was judged that his re-
ligion and wealth, rather than the crime
alleged against him, had been the cause
of his condemnation.
"Felix had accidentally been present at
feel-
the trial; his horror and indignation were
to return
uncontrollablewhen he heard the decision
me of the court.He made, at that moment, a
solemn vow to deliver him, and then
looked around for the means. After many
fruitless attempts to gain admittance to
the prison, he found a strongly grated
to call
window in an unguarded part of the
building which lighted the dungeon of
the unfortunate Mahometan; who, loaded
with chains, waited in despair the execu-
I learned tion of the barbarous sentence.
"Felix visited the grate at night, and
made known to the prisoner his intentions
in his favor. The Turk, amazed and de-
lighted, endeavored to kindle the zeal of
his deliverer by promises of reward and
wealth. Felix rejected his offers with con-
280 WEIRD TALES
tempt; yet when he saw the lovely Safie, in the walls of a harem, allowed only to
who was allowed to visit her father, and occupy herself with infantile amusements,
who, by her gestures, expressed her lively ill suited to the temper of her soul, now
gratitude, the youth could not help own- accustomed to grand ideas and a noble
ing to his own mind that the captive pos- emulation for virtue. The prospect of
sessed a treasure which would fully re- marrying a Qiristian, and remaining in a
ward his toil and hazard. country where women were allowed to
"The Turk quickly perceived the im- take a rank in society, was enchanting to
pression that his daughter had made on her.
the heart of Felix, and endeavored to se-
"The day for the execution of the Turk
cure him more entirely in his interests by
was fixed; but, on the night previous to
the promise of her hand in marriage, so
it, he quitted his prison, and before morn-
soon as he should be conveyed to a place ing was distant many leagues from Paris.
of safety. Felix was too delicate to ac- Felix had procured passports in the name
cept this offer; yet he looked forv'ard to
of his father, sister, and himself. He had
the probability of the event as to the con-
previously communicated his plan to the
summation of his happiness.
former, who aided the deceit by quitting
"During the ensuing days, while the
his house, under the pretense of a jour-
preparations were going forward for the
ney, and concealed himself, with his
escape of the merchant, the zeal of Felix
daughter, in an obscure part of Paris.
was warmed by several letters that he re-
ceived from this lovely girl, who found
“T7 eldc conducted the fugitives throu^
means to express her thoughts in the JT France to Lyons, and across Mont
language of her lover by the aid of an old
Cenis to Leghorn, where the merchant
man, a ser\’ant of her father, who under-
had decided to wait a favorable oppor-
stood French. She thanked him in the
tunily of passing into some part of the
most ardent terms for his intended serv-
Turkish dominions.
ices towards her parent; and at the same
time she gently deplored her own fate. "Safie resolved to remain with her
"Safie related that her mother was a father until the moment of his departure,
Qiristian Arab, seized and made a slave before which time the Turk renewed his

by the Turks; tecommended by her promise that she should be united to his
deliverer; and Felix remained with them
beauty, she had won the heart of the
father of Safie, who married her. The in expectation of that event; and in the

young girl spoke in high and enthusiastic meantime he enjoyed the society of the

terms of her mother, who, born in free- Arabian, who exhibited towards him the

dom, spurned the bondage to whidi she simplest and tenderest affection. They
was now reduced. She instructed her conversed with one another through the
daughter in the tenets of her religion, and means of an interpreter, and sometimes
taught her to aspire to higher powers of with the interpretation of looks; and Safie
intellect, and an independence of spirit, sang to him the divine airs of her native
forbidden to the female followers of Ma- country.

homet. "The Turk allowed this intimacy to

“This lady died; but her lessons were take place, and encouraged the hopes of
indelibly impressed on the mind of Safie, the youthful lovers, while in his heart he
who sickened at the prospect of again re- had formed far other plans. He loathed
turning to Asia and being immured with- the Idea that his daughter should be
 FRANKENSTEIN 281

united to a Qiristian; but he feared the quitted Italy with his daughter, insult-
resentment of Felix, if he should appear ingly sending Felix a pittance of money,
lukewarm; for he knew that he was still to aid him, as he said, in some plan of
in the power of his deliverer, if he should future maintenance.
choose to betray him to the Italian state "Such were the events that preyed qn
which they inhabited. He revolved a thou- the heart of Felix, and rendered him,
sand plans by which he should be enabled when I first saw him, the most miserable
to prolong the deceit until it might be no of his family. He could have endured
longer necessary, and secretly to take his poverty; and while this distress had been
daughter with him when he departed. His the meed of his virtue, he gloried in it:
plans were facilitated by the news which but the ingratitude of the Turk, and the
arrived from Paris. loss of his beloved Safie, were misfortunes
"The government of France were more bitter and irreparable. The arrival
greatly enraged at the escape of their vic- of the Arabian now infused new life into
tim, and spared no pains to detect and his soul.
punish his deliverer. The plot of Felix "When the news reached Leghorn that
was quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Felix was deprived of his wealth and rank,
Agatha were thrown into prison. The the merchant commanded his daughter to
news reached Felix, and roused him from think no more of her lover, but to prepare
his dream of pleasure. His blind and to return to her native country. The gen-
aged father, and his gentle sister, lay in a erous nature of Safie was outraged by this
noisome dungeon, while he enjoyed the command; she attempted to expostulate
free air and the society of her whom he with her father, but he left her angrily,
loved. This idea was torture to him. He reiterating his tyrannical mandate.
quickly arranged with the Turks that if "A few days after, the Turk entered his
the latter should find a favorable oppor- daughter’s apartment, and told her hastily
tunity for escape before Felix could re- that he had reason to believe that his resi-
turn to Italy, Safie shouldremain as a dence at Leghorn had been divulged, and
boarder at a convent at Leghorn; and then, thathe should speedily be delivered up to
quitting the lovely Arabian, he hastened the French government; he had, conse-
to Paris,and delivered himself up to the quently, hired a vessel to convey him to
vengeance of the law, hoping to free De Constantinople, for which city he should
Lacey and Agatha by this proceeding. sail in a few hours. He intended to leave
"He did not succeed. They remained his daughter under the care of a confiden-
confined for five months before the trial tial servant, to follow at her leisure with
took place; the result of which deprived the greater part of his property, which
them of their fortune, and condemned had not yet arrived at Leghorn.
them to a perpetual exile from their na- "When alone, Safie resolved in her own
tive country. mind the plan of conduct that it would
"They found a miserable asylum in the become her to pursue in this emergency.
cottage in Germany where I discovered A residence in Turkey was abhorrent to
them. Felix soon learned that the treach- her; her religion and her feelings were
erous Turk, for whom he and his family alike adverse to it. By some papers of her
endured such unheard-of oppression, on father, which into her hands, she
fell
discovering that his deliverer was thus re- heard of the exile of her lover, and learnt
duced to poverty and ruin, became a trai- tlie name of the spot where he then re-
tor to good feeling and honor, and had sided. She hesitated some time, but at
282 WEIRD TALES
length she formed her determination. books. I eagerly seized the prize, and re-
Taking with her some jewels that be- turned with it to my hovel. Fortunately
longed to her, and a sum of money, she the books were written in the language
quitted Italy with an attendant, a native the elements of which I had acquired at
of Leghorn, but who understood the com- the cottage; they consisted of Paradise
mon language of Turkey, and departed Lost, a volume of Plutarch’s Lives, and
for Germany. the Sorrows of Werther. The possession
"She arrived in safety at a town about of these treasures gave me extreme de-
twenty leagues from the cottage of De light; I now continually studied and ex-
Lacey, when her attendant fell danger- ercised my mind upon these histories,
ously ill. Safie nursed her with the most whilst my friends were employed in their
devoted affection; but the poor girl died, ordinary occupations.
and the Arabian was left alone, unac- "I can hardly describe toyou the effect
quainted with the language of the coun- of these books. They produced in me an
try, and utterly ignorant of the customs of infinity of new images and feelings that
the world. She fell, however, into good sometimes raised me to ecstasy, but more
hands. The Italian had mentioned the frequently sunk me into the lowest de-
name of the spot for which they were jection. In the Sorrows of Werther, be-
bound; and, after her death, the woman sides the interest of its simple and affect-
of the house in which they had lived took ing story, so many opinions are canvassed,
care that Safie should arrive in safety at and so many lights thrown upon what
the cottage of her lover. had hitherto been to me obscure subjects,
that I found in it a never-ending source of
CHAPTER 15 speculation and astonishment. The gentle
and domestic manners it described, com-
“ ^ UCH was
>3
the history of
cottagers. It impressed
my beloved
me deeply. I
bined with lofty sentiments and feelings,
which had for their object something out
learned, from the views of social life
of self, accorded well with my experience
which it developed, to admire their vir- among my protectors, and with the wants
tues, and to deprecate the vices of man-
which were for ever alive in my own
kind.
bosom. But I thought Werther himself a
"As yet I looked upon crime as a dis- more divine being than I had ever beheld
tant evil; benevolence and generosity were or imagined; his character contained no
ever present before me, inciting within me pretension, but it sunk deep. The dis-
a desire to become an actor in the busy quisitions upon death and suicide were
scene where so many admirable qualities, calculated to fill me
with wonder.
were called forth and displayed. But, in "As I read, however, I applied much
giving an account of the progress of my personally to my own feelings and con-
intellect, I must not omit a circumstance dition. I found myself similar, yet at the
which occurred in the beginning of the same time strangely imlike to the beings
month of August of the same year. concerning whom I read, and to whose
"One night, during my accustomed conversation I was a listener. I sympa-
visit to the neighboring wood, where I thized with, and partly understood them,
collected my own food, and brought home but I was unformed in mind; I was de-
firing for my protectors, I found on the pendent on none and related to none.
ground a leathern portmanteau, contain- 'The path of my departure was free;’ and
ing several articles of dress and some there was none to lament my annihilation.
 FRANKENSTEIN 283

My person was hideous and my stature had read the other volumes which had
gigantic What did this mean? Who fallen into my hands, as a true history. It

was I? What was I? Whence did I come? moved wonder and awe
every feeling of
What my destination? These ques-
w'as that the picture of an omnipotent God
tions continually recurred, but I was un- warring with his creatures was capable of
able to solve them. exciting. I often referred the several situ-
"The volume oiflutarch/s Lives, ations, as their similarity struck me, to my

I possessed, contained the histories of the
first founders of the ancient republics.
This book had a far different effect upon
me from the Sorrows of Werther. I
learned from Werther’s imaginations
despondency and gloom: but Plutarch
taught me high thoughts; he elevated me
above the wretched sphere of my own re-
flections to admire and love the heroes of
past ages.
"Many things I read surpassed
I had a very
derstanding and experience.
confused knowledge of kingdoms, wide
extents of country, mighty rivers, and
boundless seas. But I was perfectly unac-
quainted with towns, and large assem-
blages of men. The cottage of my pro-
own. Like Adam, I was apparently united
by no link to any other being in existence;
but his .state was far different from mine
in every other respect. He had come forth
from the hands of God a perfect creature,
happy and prosperous, guarded by the
especial care of his Creator; he was al-
lowed to converse with, and acquire
knowledge from, beings of a superior na-
ture; but I was wretched, helpless, and
my un- alone.
"Another circumstance strengthened
and confirmed these feelings. Soon after
my arrival in the hovel, I discovered some
papers in the pocket of the dress which I
had taken from your laboratory. At first
I had neglected them; but now that I was

tectors had been the only school in which able to decipher the characters in which
I had studied human nature; but this book they were written, I began to study them
developed new and mightier scenes of with diligence. It was your journal of the
action. I read of men concerned in public four months that preceded my creation.
affairs, governing or massacring their You minutely described in these papers
species. I felt the greatest ardor for vir- every step you took in the progress of your
tue rise within me, and abhorrence for work; this history was mingled with ac-
vice, as far as I understood the significa- counts of domestic occurrences. You,
tion of those terms, relative as they were, doubtless, recollect these papers. Here
as I applied them, to pleasure and pain they are. Everything is relat^ in them
alone. Induced by these feelings, I was which bears reference to my accursed
of course led to admire peaceable law- origin; the whole detail of that series of
givers, Numa, Solon, and Lycurgus, in disgusting circumstances which produced
preference to Romulus and Theseus. The it is set in view; the minutest descrip-
patriardial lives of my protectors caused tion of my odious and loathsome per-
these impressions to take a firm hold on son is given, in language which painted
my mind; perhaps, if my first introduction your own horrors and rendered mine in-
to humanity had been made by a young delible.
soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, "I sickened as I read. 'Hateful day
I should have been imbued with different when I received life!’ I exclaimed in
sensations. agony. did you
'Accursed creator! Why
"But Paradise Lusst excited different form a monster so hideous that even you
and far deeper emotions. I read it, as I turned from me in disgust? God, in pity,
284 WEIRD TALES
made man and alluring, after
beautiful "I endeavored to crush these fears, and
his own image; but my form is a filthy to fortify myself for the trial which in a
type of yours, more horrid even from the few months I resolved to undergo; and
very resemblance. Satan had his compan- sometimes I allowed my un-
thoughts,
ions, fellow-devils, to admire and encour- checked by reason, to ramble in the fields
age him; but I am solitary and abhorred.’ of Paradise, and dared to fancy amiable
and lovely creatures sympathizing with
HESE were the reflections of my my feelings, and cheering my gloom; their
A hours of despondency and solitude; angelic countenances breathed smiles of
but when I contemplated the virtues of consolation. But it was all a dream; no
the cottagers, their amiable and benevo- Eve soothed my sorrows, nor shared my
lent dispositions, I persuaded myself that thoughts; I was remembered
alone. I
when they should become acquainted with Adam’s supplication to his Creator. But
my admiration of their virtues, they where was mine? He had abandoned me:
would compassionate me, and overlook and, in the bitterness of my heart, I cursed
my personal deformity. Could they turn him.
from their door one, however monstrous, "Autumn passed thus. I saw, with
who solicited their compassion and surprize and grief, the leaves decay and
friendship? I resolved at least, not to fall, and nature again assume the barren
despair, but in every way to fit myself for and bleak appearance it had worn when I
an interview with them which would de- first beheld the woods and the lovely

cide my fate. moon. Yet I did not heed the bleakness

"I postponed this attempt for some of the weather; I was better fitted by my
months longer; for the importance at- conformation for the endurance of cold
tached to its success inspired me with a than heat. But my chief delights were the
dread lest I should fail. Besides, I found sight of the flowers, the birds, and all the
that my understanding improved so much gay apparel of summer; when those de-
with every day’s experience that I was un- serted me, I turned with more attention
willing to commence this undertaking towards the cottagers. 'Their happiness
until a few more months should have was not decreased by the absence of sum-
added to my sagacity. mer. They loved, and sympathized with
"Several changes, in the meantime, one another; and their joys, depending on
took place in the cottage. ’The presence each other, were not interrupted by the
of Safie diffused happiness among its in- casualties that took place around them.
habitants; and I also found that a greater The more I saw of them, the greater be-
degree of plenty reigned there. Felix and came my desire to claim their protection
Agatha spent more time in amusement and kindness; my heart yearned to be
and conversation, and were assisted in known and loved by these amiable crea-
their labors by servants. 'They did not ap- tures: to see their sweet looks directed
pear rich, but they were contented and towards me with affection was the utmost
happy; their feelings were serene and limit of my ambition. I dared not think
peaceful, while mine became every day that they would turn them from me with
more tumultuous. Increase of knowledge disdain and horror. 'The poor that stopped
only discovered to me more clearly what a at theirdoor were never driven away.
wretched outcast I was. I cherished hope, "The winter advanced, and an entire
it is true; but it vanished when I beheld revolution of the seasons had taken place
my person reflected in water, (Phase turn to page 286)
 Coming Next Month
A S SARDANAPALUS, King of Babylon, had feasted with his Magi, and women*
and favorites, and all the sycophants of a fabulously wealthy court, so did Prince
jL Dena ibn Zodh, in his black and scarlet robes of ceremony, sit with Evadne at
his side on the night of sacrifice.
Wild beasts, controlled by the magnetic power of the Magi, rolled in luxurious ease
on silken rugs; the great tables gleamed with jewelled goblets and golden dishes; a
thousand instruments mingled with the clamor of a thousand tongues waves of intoxi- ;

cating perfumes were wafted up from vaults beneath the palace; myriads of lamps
winked and blazed from roof and walls and pillars. At intervals a dancer would float
out on to the great white marble circle of floor, round which the tables were grouped,
veiled only in her cloud of hair, and moving like a blown leaf before the wind would
draw an outburst of applause that set the great beasts roaring until the domed hall rang.
Vast, sinister, marvellous as the dreams of a hashish-eater, the long orgy at last drew
to an end. The revellers lay back amidst their cushions, while Prince Dena rose from
his place and led Evadne to the center of the enclosed circle.
He held up a hand, and silence fell over the entire multitude of feasters ; not even a
beast but seemed suddenly turned to a lifeless statue. Sir Hugh Willett and Hadur,
who had sat watchful and silent during the long revel, looked up with tightening nerves
as the destined Bride stood facing the vast assembly.
A single garment of marvellously wrought gold tissue outlined her lovely slender-
ness. Her shining head was bound with a richly jewelled circlet of gold, and over her
eyes its clasp glittered bright and evil in the myriads of lamps. So brilliant were the
gems that formed this clasp that it had all the effea of a living flame, and Sir Hu^
shuddered as he saw the hatefully familiar symbol of Melek Taos flash, and flash again
about Evadne’s dreaming misted eyes.
"The Hour is at hand !" the High Priest’s ringing tones pierced even the wine-sod-
den senses of the revellers. "This is my Hour, my Hour of love, my Hour of fulfilment,
the Hour of mystic communion with Melek Taos, when he in me, and I in him, re-
joice in the Bride! . . .

This vivid narrative of the devil-worshipping Yezidees will be printed complete

in our next issue. Order your copy now at your favorite news stand.

THE ALTAR OF MELEK TAOS

By G. G. PENDARVES
—ALSO—
THE EMPIRE OF THE NECROMANCERS THE LAST OF PLACIDE’S WIFE
By Clakk Ashton Smith By Kirk Mashburn
An endless army of plague-eaten bodies, of tat- A of a fierce and bloody fight in n
thrill-tale
tered skeletons, poured in ghastly torrents through Louisiana swamp between a maddened group efl
the streets of the city. Cajuns and a horde of vampires.
THE EYE OF TRUTH
By Abxton Eadib THE SHERATON MIRROR
A fascinating story of a Greek who found strange By August W. Derleth
powers in the ruins of a temple in Bceotia. The and unearthly revenge ac-
story of a strange
complished from beyond the grave.
THE RAVENING MONSTER
By Harold Ward Also, another thrilling installment of Prankem*
A shuddery story about an electrocuted murderer stein, and Victor Rousseau’s exciting story, Tb4
who was raised from the dead and revivified. Phantom Hand.

September WEIRD TALES Out August 1

28S
286 WEIRD TALES
( Continued from page 284 tion, I approached the door of their cot-
tage.
since I awoke into life. My attention, at
“I knocked. 'Who
this time, was solely directed towards my
plan of introducing myself into the cot-
old man —'Come in.’
is there?’ said the

"I entered; 'Pardon this intrusion,’ said

tage of my protectors. I revolved many
projects; but that on which I finally fixed
I: 'I am want of a little rest;
a traveller in

when you would greatly oblige me if you would

was, to enter the dwelling the blind
allow me to remain a few minutes before
old man should be alone. I had sagacity
the fire.'
enough to discover that the unnatural "
hideousness of my person was the chief
'Enter,’ said De Lacey; 'and I will try

who had in what manner I can relieve your wants;

object of horror with those for-
merly beheld me. My voice, although
but, luifortunately, my children are from
harsh, had nothing terrible in it; I
home, and, as I am blind, I am afraid I
shall find it difficult to procure food for
thought, therefore, that if, in the absence
you.’
of his children, I could gain the good-will "
and mediation of the old De Lacey, I
'Do not trouble yourself, my kind
host, I have food; it is warmth and rest
might by this means, be tolerated by my
only that I need.’
younger protectors.
"One day, when the sun shone on the
“T SAT down, and a silence ensued. I
red leaves that strewed the ground, and
A knew that every minute was precious
diffused cheerfulness, although it denied
to me, yet I remained irresolute in what
warmth, Safie, Agatha, and Felix departed
manner to commence the interview; when
on a long country walk, and the old man,
the old man addressed me
at his own desire, was left alone in the "
'By your language, stranger, I sup-
cottage. When his children had departed,
he took up his guitar, and played several
pose you are my countryman; — aie you
French?'
mournful but sweet airs, more sweet and "
'No; but I was educated by a French
mournful than I had ever heard him play
family, and understand that language
before. At first his countenance was illu-
only. Iam now going to claim the pro-
minated with pleasure, but, as he con-
tection of some friends, whom I sincerely
tinued, thoughtfulness and sadness suc-
love, and cf whose favor I have some
ceeded; at length' laying aside the instru-
hopes.’
ment, he sat absorbed in reflection. "
'Are they Germans?’
"
"My heart beat quick; this was the hour 'No, they are French. But let us
and moment of trial which would decide change the subject. I am an unfortunate
my hopes or realize my fears. The ser- and deserted creature; I look around, and
vants were gone to a neighboring fair. I have no relation or friend upon earth.

All was silent in and around the cottage: These amiable people to whom I go have
it was an excellent opportunity; yet, when never seen me, and know little of me. I
I proceeded to execute my plan, my limbs am full of feaxs; for if I fail there, I am
failed me, and I sank to the ground. an outcast in the world for ever.’
"
Again I rose; and, exerting all the firm- 'Do not despair. To be friendless is
ness of which I was master, removed the indeed to be unfortunate; but the hearts of
planks which I had placed before my hovel men, when unprejudiced by any obvious
to conceal my retreat. The fresh air re- self-interest, are full of brotherly love and
vived me, and, with renewed determina- charity. Rely, therefore, on your hopes;
 WEIRD TALES 283

and if these friends are good and amiable,

do not despair.’
"
'They are kind — they are the most ex-
cellent creatures in the world; but, unfor-
timately, they are prejudiced against me.
I have good dispositions; my life has been
hitherto harmless, and in some degree
beneficial; but a fatal prejudice clouds
their eyes, and where they ought to see a
feeling and kind friend, they behold only
a detestable monster.’ ” A Uttle Qoat *

"
"That is indeed xmfortunate; but if
GaTe It* Maine to
you are really blameless, can not you un-
deceive them?’
TAXICAB
Taxkai it to tbbteviation of {aximtur<ab-
" ritUt— a Tchlcle carrying an instrument for
'I am about to undertake that task; automatically registering the fate.The name
caitioht is the diminutiTe of the French eab~
and it is on that account that I feel so rick, meaning "a leap" like that of a goat,
and was applied to this type of carriage
many overwhelming terrors. I tenderly
because of its light, bounding motion.

love these friends; I have, unknown to Cairhle came from the Italian eaprioit
meaning “a aomersault," from Latin capir
them, been for many months in the habits "a he^oaii" tapra "a ahe-goat." There ate
thousands of such stories about the origins
of daily kindness towards them; but they of English words in
believe that I wish to injure them, and it
that prejudice which I wish to over-
WEBSTER’S NEW
is

come.'
INTERNATIONAL
"
"Where do these friends reside?’
DICTIONARY
**Th€ Supreme Authority
*' Write tat gtee Booklet, trhlA
'Near this spot.’ lUDBota howj 30 miv obtain G
cooimaad or
he knowledge of word
"The old man paused, and then con- origins.

tinued, 'If you will unreservedly confide afiiCeMERRlAM

to me the particulars of your tale, I per- COMPANY
haps may ^ of use in imdeceiving them. Sprfa&gfidd* Mass*

I am blind, and can not judge of your

countenance, but there is something in
your words which persuades me that you
WITHOUT!
are sincere. I am poor, and an exile; but
IsLASSES!
it will afford me true pleasure to be in any
'NaturalEyesighl
way serviceable to a human creature.’
SystOfn Makes Them Unnecessory
"
'Excellent man! I thank you, and ^flowUiMlinov«r30CognlriM
_
accept your generous offer. You raise me Serid for FREE information telling how
from the dust by Revolutionary Invention makes it easy to
this kindness; and I trust
correct Nearsight, Farsight, Astigmatism
that, by your aid, I shall not be driven Eyestrain, Weak Eyes, Failing Vision,
from the society and sympathy of your Old Age Sight, Eye Muscle Trouble,
Etc., at home without glasses.
fellow-creatures.’ NATURAL EYESIGHT INSTITUTE, Inc.
" Oeat. as-F, U* JUceiM. Oeilt.
'Heaven forbid! even you were if
HYPNOTIZE INSTRtrCTION BOOK NOW lOo.
really aiminal; for that can only drive
you DeSala, 251SW. Portland, LoulsvlllOy Ey.

to desperation, and not instigate you to

virtue. I also am unfortunate; I and my
BACK ISSUES
For complete list and prices write to Weibs Tales,,
family have been condemned, although
S40 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IlL
268 WEIRD TALES
innocent: judge, therefore, if I do not feel
NEXT MONTH for your misfortunes.’
"
'How canthank you, my best and
I
only benefactor? From your lips first
The Ravening have I heard the voice of kindness directed
towards me; I shall be for ever grateful;
Monster and your present humanity assures
success with those friends whom I
me of
am on
By HAROLD WARD the point of meeting.’
"
'May I know the names and residence
of those friends?’
"I paused. This, I thought, was the

H ere
is a shuddety stoty that will

put goose-pimples on your flesh

and send shivers of horripilation up
moment
of, or
of decision, which was to rob
bestow happiness on me
me
for ever.
I struggled vainly for firmness sufficient to
your spine. It is the story of an electro-
cuted murderer who was raised from answer him, but the effort destroyed ail
the dead and brought to life by the my remaining strength; I sank on the
power of science. chair and sobbed aloud. At that moment I
heard the steps of my younger protectors.
y a I had not a moment to lose; but, seizing

B
again, but
miracle of brain-transplanta-
tion the wretch is

he proves to be a veritable
made to live the hand of the old man, I cried, 'Now is
the time! —
^save and protect me! You and

Frankenstein monster. This story of your family are the friends whom I seek.
the strange deaths and terrible mutila- Do not you desert me in the hour of trial!’
tions that plunged a whole country- "
'Great God!’ exclaimed the old man,
side into blind panic makes a narrative
'who are you?’
of absorbing interest. It will be pub-
"At that instant the cottage door was
lished complete
opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha en-
in the September issue of
tered. Who can describe their horror and
consternation on beholding me? Agatha

WEIRD TALES fainted; and Safie, unable to attend to her

friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix

On sale August 1st darted forward, and with supernatural

force tore me from whose
his father, to
To avoid missing your copy, clip and mail this knees I clung: in a transport of fury, he
coupon today for SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION dashed me to the ground and struck me
OFFER.
violently v/ith a stick. I could have t®rn
WSIBD TALKS him limb from limb, as the lion rends the
1^40 N. Avt.,
CUeago, 111. antelope. But my heart sunk within me
Bncloaed And $1.00 for which send xne the next as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. I
CiV issues of WEIRD TALES to begin with the
Heptember issue ($1.7S in Canada). I^>eclal offer saw him on the point of repeating his
void unless remittance is accompanied by coupon.
blow, when, overcome by pain and an-
Name..— —— guish, I quitted the cottage and in the

Address- — —— — general tumult escaped unperceived to my

hovel.’’
Ol$r — Stofce
(To be continued next month)
W. T.—
 WIDE AWAKE
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—
F. E. ARMSTRONG, Pres., Dept. 4060-E, Mobile, Ala,
A Sinister Voice from the Ether
Threatened the Lives

ot all Mankind

T he first warning of the stupen-

dous cataclysm that befell the
earth in the fourth decade of the
Twentieth Century was recorded
simultaneously in several parts of
America. At twelve minutes past 3
o’clock a. m., during a lull in the
night’s aerial business, several of
the larger stations of the Western
hemisphere began picking up
strange signals out of the ether.

They were faint and ghostly, as if

coming from a vast distance. As

far as anyone could learn, the sig-

nals originated nowhere upon the

earth. It was as if some phantom
were whispering through the ether
in the language of another planet.

Who Was This Dictator of Destiny?

ou months and book
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question.
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