An Eye for an Eye
Page 3
suppose?"
"No," he answered, controlling the smile which played about his lips."But the thing's too serious for joking, as you'll recognise when I'vetold you all. Well, the squirming reptile, as soon as it saw me, coileditself round, and with head erect and swelled, commenced hissingviciously. I saw that there was considerable danger in a thing likethat being at large, and surmising that it had escaped from the house,having been kept in captivity by somebody fond of such pets, I openedthe gate, passed it, not, however, without it making a dart at me, andwalking up to the door, rang the bell. The house was in total darkness,but daylight had only just faded, and in many of the houses in the sameterrace the gas in the hall had not yet been lit. I rang and rang, butthere was no response. In a large house of that character it seemedstrange that no servant was about. Indeed, most of the houses there,large, roomy and old-fashioned, let furnished apartments, but this oneseemed to be superior to its neighbours, inasmuch as it has a balcony onthe first floor, and the small front garden is well-kept in comparisonto the patches of bald, weedy grass with which the others are content.As I stood on the doorstep, trying to arouse the inmates, I watched thereptile squirming about the paved path, apparently enjoying its libertyimmensely. I placed my ear attentively at the door, trying to detectsome sound of movement, but failed, until suddenly I heard within theringing of an electric bell, subdued by reason of the closed door. Itwas certain that, after all, some one was within."
"Was your summons answered?" I asked eagerly.
"No. I rang fully a dozen times, but nobody came. It occurred to methat within might be an invalid, and that, hearing my ring, he or shehad rung the bell to the kitchen, but the servants were absent. Therewas an area door, so I descended, and tried that. The handle yielded.It was unlocked. Therefore I pushed it open and went in, though I wascertainly not prepared for the discovery I afterwards made. As Ientered, the electric bell commenced ringing again, but it wasapparently above me, on the ground floor, and not in the kitchen where Istood. In the cooking-stove the fire was dying out, and there wereother signs that servants had been about recently. Finding no one inthe basement I ascended to the first floor, when there greeted mynostrils a most delicious fragrance, very similar to the incense whichthe Roman Catholics burn. The place smelt like the Brompton Oratory."
"Well, what did you do next?" I asked, excited at his extraordinarynarrative.
"I searched the two big rooms--a dining-room and a back sitting-room--onthe ground floor, but finding no one, I stood at the bottom of thestairs and shouted, thinking to discover the whereabouts of the invalidwho had rung the bell. There was no answer. The place was dark, so Istruck a match, ascended to the first floor and entered the front room,which proved to be a good-sized, well-furnished drawing-room, dimly litby the street-lamp opposite shining through the windows. At the furtherend, suspended from the ceiling, a curious lamp was burning in redglass, just like those one sees in Roman Catholic churches, and onexamining it I found it to be a little float in oil, so arranged that itwould burn continuously for many days and nights without attention. Itlooked strange and weird, a red spot in the darkness at the end of theroom; but what was stranger and more amazing was a discovery I made amoment later when, my eyes having grown used to the semi-obscurity ofthe room, I discerned two human forms, one that of a woman lying back inan armchair as if asleep, and the other a man, who had fallen close byand was lying outstretched upon the carpet. Even the faint light of thematch I struck told me that both were dead, and so startled was I bythis unexpected revelation that with scarcely a second glance round theweird place I hastened downstairs and left by the front door."
"You went on to the station at once, I suppose?"
"Yes," he answered; then after a pause he looked straight into my face,adding, "but to tell the truth, Urwin, you and I are the only personswho know of this affair. I haven't reported it."
"Haven't reported it?" I echoed. "Why not? Delay may prevent themystery being unravelled."
"I know it's absurd and foolish," he faltered in an unsteady voice, "butthe fact is, I entertain a deep-rooted superstition about snakes. Mypoor wife was always dreaming of snakes before she died, and strangelyenough, whenever I have seen those reptiles in my dreams some bad luck,catastrophe or bereavement has always fallen upon me immediatelyafterwards."
"It isn't like you to speak thus, Patterson," I said, knowing him to bea fearless man who more than once had boldly faced a burglar's revolver.
"I really don't know what to do," he said. "It's nearly two hours agosince I entered the place. I was so upset when I came out that I wentto the telegraph office and wired to you, in the hope that you might beable to suggest some plan of action."
"Report at once and let's thoroughly investigate it," I said promptly.
"No. I can't report it on account of that snake. If I did, I feelassured that some fatality would fall upon me."
"You're unnerved by what you've seen," I said. "It certainly was not anice position to unexpectedly find oneself alone with the dead in a darkdeserted house like that. In any case, however, the matter is a queerone and must be sifted."
"Yes," he said, "it appears to be a most remarkable affair."
"Well," I exclaimed, "if you are determined not to report it just atpresent I'm ready to go with you and search the place. The area door isstill unlocked, you say?"
He hesitated, pale and agitated. The effect of this discovery upon himhad been really remarkable.
"Yes, the door is still unlocked, of course," he said reflectively, "butpersonally I don't care about returning."
"Rubbish, my dear chap," I exclaimed. "I don't believe insuperstitions. The finding of the snake was curious, no doubt, but thisisn't the first time snakes have been found in the streets of London.Lots have been discovered about Covent Garden Market, having come overin baskets of fruit."
He was silent. Evidently his discovery had been a very unusual one. Iknow well the row of houses he had indicated, the most old-fashioned,perhaps, in the district, for they had formed a part of old Kensingtonover a century ago, and even now the great iron extinguishers ornamentedsome of the doorways, mute remembrancers of the days of sedan chairs andlinkmen.
"Let's go and explore the place, and report afterwards," I urged, myappetite for adventure whetted by his strong disinclination to return."I'll report it as a discovery of my own if you are disinclined to doso."
"Very well," he answered at last, "let's go. But before we enter I tellyou that it is a very mysterious house. Recollect that strange ringingI heard."
"We'll look into all that later on," I said, surprised at his unusualagitation. There, facing one of the busiest thoroughfares of the WestEnd, little harm surely could come to us. "Come along," I said, andthus persuaded, he quickened his footsteps. We passed along AbingdonVillas into Earl's Court Road, where, meeting a constable on duty, heborrowed his lamp; then turning into the Kensington Road we at lengthreached the house of mystery, which, as he had said, was agloomy-looking place in total darkness.
We peered eagerly inside the gate, but could distinguish no sign of thereptile which had so strangely attracted my friend's attention in thefirst instance. It had no doubt withdrawn among the plants and shrubsin the little smoke-dried garden, and was watching us unseen. Withouthesitation, in order not to attract the curiosity of any passer-by whoseattention might be arrested by Patterson's uniform, we walked straightto the area door, and gaining the kitchen, at once lit the gas. As hehad said, there was every sign that the place had been recentlyoccupied, but with only a cursory examination of the basement we passedupstairs to the dining-room. Here we also lit the gas and saw that thetable had been laid for three persons in a manner quite luxurious, withreal silver, cut glass and tiny vases of fresh flowers arrangedartistically. Beside each plate were blue glass finger-bowls filledwith water which gave out a strong perfume of roses. The chairs hadbeen placed, and the _hors d'oeuvres_, olives, anchovies and caviarewere already on the table,
showing that all preparations for dinner hadbeen made. Yet strangely enough, in the kitchen the greater part of themeat and vegetables remained uncooked.
From this room we passed into the smaller one adjoining, lighting thegas as we went, but this seemed to have been used as a smoking-room, andcontained nothing of note.
It was, however, in the drawing-room above where we made the mostastounding discoveries. The apartment was spacious for the size of thehouse, upholstered in pale-blue with furniture of expensive character,and large growing palms placed on stands. In the centre was a greatcircular settee, and in the corners wide soft