第 31 页

For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, were

within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, after

all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, that we

were in the country. I paced up and down the room, humming a

tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling that I was

thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee.

"Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the

utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The

woman was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall

behind her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her

eager and beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick

with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up

one shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few

whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing

back, like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her.

" 'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to

speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no

good for you to do.'

" 'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for.

I cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.'

" 'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can

pass through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I

smiled and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her con-

straint and made a step forward, with her hands wrung together.

'For the love of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here

before it is too late!'

"But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more

ready to engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the

way. I thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey,

and of the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was

it all to go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having

carried out my commission, and without the payment which was

my due? This woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac.

With a stout bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken

me more than I cared to confess, I still shook my head and

declared my intention of remaining where I was. She was about

to renew her entreaties when a door slammed overhead, and the

sound of several footsteps was heard upon the stairs. She listened

for an instant, threw up her hands with a despairing gesture, and

vanished as suddenly and as noiselessly as she had come.

"The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short

thick man with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of

his double chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson.

" 'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By

the way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just

now. I fear that you have felt the draught.'

" 'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because

I felt the room to be a little close.'

"He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had

better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I

will take you up to see the machine.'

" 'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.'

" 'Oh, no, it is in the house.'

" 'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?'

" 'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind

that. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let

us know what is wrong with it.'

"We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp,

the fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old

house, with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and

little low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by

the generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets

and no signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the

plaster was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking

through in green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as uncon-

cerned an air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of

the lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye

upon my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose

and silent man, but I could see from the little that he said that he

was at least a fellow-countryman.

"Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door,

which he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which

the three of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained

outside, and the colonel ushered me in.

" 'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press,

and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone

were to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the

end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force

of many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral

columns of water outside which receive the force, and which

transmit and multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you.

The machine goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in

the working of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you

will have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we

can set it right.'

"I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very

thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exercis-

ing enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and

pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by

the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which al-

lowed a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders.

An examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which

was round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to

fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause

of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who

followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical

questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I

had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the

machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity.

It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth was

the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose that so

powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a pur-

pose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a large

iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a crust of

metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was scraping at

this to see exactly what it was when I heard a muttered exclama-

tion in German and saw the cadaverous face of the colonel

looking down at me.

" 'What are you doing there?' he asked.

"I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as

that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,'

said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to

your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it

was used.'

"The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness

of my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in

his gray eyes.

" 'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the ma-

chine.' He took a step backward, slammed the little door, and

turned the key in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the

handle, but it was quite secure, and did not give in the least to

my kicks and shoves. 'Hello!' I yelled. 'Hello! Colonel! Let me

out!'

"And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent

my heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the

swish of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The

lamp still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when

examining the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling

was coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew

better than myself, with a force which must within a minute

grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against

the door, and dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the

colonel to let me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers

drowned my cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my

head, and with my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough

surface. Then it flashed through my mind that the pain of my

death would depend very much upon the position in which I met

it. If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine,

and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other

way, perhaps; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that

deadly black shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was

unable to stand erect, when my eye caught something which

brought a gush of hope back to my heart.

"I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the

walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I

saw a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which

broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward.

For an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door

which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself

through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had

closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few

moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me

how narrow had been my escape.

"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist,

and I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow

corridor, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her

left hand, while she held a candle in her right. It was the same

good friend whose warning I had so foolishly rejected.

" 'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in

a moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste

the so-precious time, but come!'

"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to

my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding

stair. The latter led to ancther broad passage, and just as we

reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of

two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we

were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked

about her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open

a door which led into a bedroom, through the window of which

the moon was shining brightly.

" 'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be

that you can jump it.'

"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of

the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark

rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a

butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, flung

open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and

wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not

be more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but

I hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed be-

tween my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were

ill-used, then at any risks I was determined to go back to her

assistance. The thought had hardly flashed through my mind

before he was at the door, pushing his way past her; but she

threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back.

" 'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise

after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be

silent! Oh, he will be silent!'

" 'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away

from her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let

me pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the

window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go,

and was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I

was conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into

the garden below.

"I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up

and rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I

understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Sud-

denly, however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came

over me. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing

painfully, and then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had

been cut off and that the blood was pouring from my wound. I

endeavoured to tie my handkerchief round it, but there came a

sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell in a dead

faint among the rose-bushes.

"How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have

been a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright

morning was breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were

all sodden with dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with

blood from my wounded thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an

instant all the particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang

to my feet with the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from

my pursuers. But to my astonishment, when I came to look round

me, neither house nor garden were to be seen. I had been Iying

in an angle of the hedge close by the highroad, and just a little

lower down was a long building, which proved, upon my ap-

proaching it, to be the very station at which I had arrived upon

the previous night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon my

hand, all that had passed during those dreadful hours might have

been an evil dream.

"Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the

morning train. There would be one to Reading in less than an

hour. The same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there

when I arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of

Colonel Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he

observed a carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had

not. Was there a police-station anywhere near? There was one

about three miles off.

"It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I