The Gloved Hand

by Burton Egbert Stevenson

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE SUMMONS

  I was confused and shaken; I had no idea of the hour; I did not knowwhether that vision had lasted a minute or a thousand years. But whenI blundered up the path to Godfrey's house, I found him and Simmondssitting on the porch together.

  "I had Godfrey bring me out," said Simmonds, as he shook hands,"because I wanted another look at those midnight fireworks. Did youcome up on the elevated?"

  "Yes," I answered; and I felt Godfrey turn suddenly in his chair, atthe sound of my voice, and scrutinise my face. "I had dinner in townand came up afterwards."

  "What time was that?" asked Godfrey, quietly.

  "I got up here about eight o'clock. I had an engagement with MissVaughan."

  "You have been with her since?"

  "With her and Silva," and I dropped into a chair and mopped my facewith my handkerchief. "The experience was almost too much for me," Iadded, and told them all that had occurred.

  They listened, Godfrey motionless and intent, and Simmonds with amurmur of astonishment now and then.

  "I'm bound to confess," I concluded, "that my respect for Silva hasincreased immensely. He's impressive; he's consistent; I almostbelieve he's sincere."

  "Have you considered what that belief implies?" asked Godfrey.

  "What does it imply?"

  "If Silva is sincere," said Godfrey, slowly; "if he is really what hepretends to be, a mystic, a priest of Siva, intent only on makingconverts to what he believes to be the true religion, then our wholetheory falls to the ground; and Swain is guilty of murder."

  I shivered a little, but I saw that Godfrey was right.

  "We are in this dilemma," Godfrey continued, "either Silva is a fakirand charlatan, or Swain is a murderer."

  "I wish you could have witnessed that horrible scene, as I did," Ibroke in; "it would have shaken your confidence, too! I wish you couldhave seen his face as he glanced back over his shoulder! It wasfiendish, Godfrey; positively fiendish! It made my blood run cold. Itmakes it run cold now, to remember it!"

  "How do you explain all that crystal sphere business, anyway?" askedSimmonds, who had been chewing his cigar perplexedly. "It stumps me."

  "Lester was hypnotised and saw what Silva willed him to see," answeredGodfrey. "You'll remember he sat facing him."

  "But," I objected, "no one remembers what happens during hypnosis."

  "They do if they are willed to remember. Silva willed you to remember.It was cleverly done, and his explanation of the origin of the visionwas clever, too. Moreover, it had some truth in it, for the secret ofcrystal-gazing is that it awakens the subjective consciousness, orGreat Spirit, as Silva called it. But you weren't crystal-gazing,to-night, Lester--you were simply hypnotised."

  "You may be right," I admitted; "I remember how his eyes stared at me.But it was wonderful--I'm more impressed with him than ever."

  "It isn't the fact that he hypnotised you that bothers me," saidGodfrey, after a moment. "It's the fact that he has also hypnotisedMiss Vaughan."

  The words startled me.

  "You think that's the reason of her behaviour?" I asked, quickly.

  "What other reason can there be?" Godfrey demanded. "Here we have agirl who thinks herself in danger and summons to her aid the man wholoves her and whom, presumably, she loves. And two days later, when hehas been imprisoned for a crime of which she declares it is absurd tosuspect him, instead of hastening to him or trying to carry out hiswishes, she turns her back on him and deliberately walks into thedanger from which, up to that moment, she had shrunk with loathing.Contrast her behaviour of Saturday, when she declared her faith inSwain and begged your assistance, with her behaviour of yesterday andto-day, when she throws you and Swain aside and announces that she isgoing to follow Silva--to become a priestess of Siva. Do you know whatthat means, Lester--to become a priestess of Siva?"

  "No," I answered, slowly; "I don't know. Silva said it was a greatdestiny; yes, and that it meant turning one's back on marriage."

  "That is right," said Godfrey, in an indescribable tone, "there is nomarriage--there are only revolting, abominable, unspeakable rites andceremonies. I ran across Professor Sutro, the Orientalist, to-day, andhad a talk with him about it. He says the worship of Siva is merelythe worship of the reproductive principle, as it runs through allcreation, and that the details of this worship are inconceivablydisgusting. That is the sort of destiny Miss Vaughan has chosen."

  My hands were clammy with the horror of it.

  "We must save her!" I said, hoarsely. "Of course she doesn'tknow--doesn't suspect! We must get her away from Silva!"

  "Undoubtedly we must do something," Godfrey agreed. "I don't know howwe can get her away from Silva, but we might get Silva away from her.Couldn't you arrest him on suspicion and keep him locked up for two orthree days, Simmonds?"

  "I might," Simmonds grunted.

  "And while he's away, you can work with her, Lester; take Mrs. Royceto see her, give her a hint of what Saivaism really is--or get Mrs.Royce to. If that doesn't have any effect, we can try strongermeasures; but I believe, if we can get her away from Silva's influencefor a few days, she will be all right again."

  "I hope so," I agreed, "but I'm not at all certain. She didn't behavelike a hypnotised person, Godfrey; she seemed to be acting of her ownfree will. I couldn't see that Silva was trying to influence her inany way. She said she was trying to carry out her father's wish. Andit certainly was his wish--the will proves that. If anybody ishypnotising her, I should say it was he."

  "Well, I can't arrest him," said Simmonds, with a grin.

  "Her father's wishes may have had some weight with her at the outset,"admitted Godfrey, "but they couldn't have driven her to the length towhich she has gone. And about the will. If Vaughan had not beenkilled, if he had been found insane, the will would have been at onceinvalidated. Don't you get the glimmer of a motive for his murderthere, Lester?"

  "It can be invalidated now, if Miss Vaughan contests it," I pointed out.

  "Yes; but unless she _does_ contest it, it will stand. But if Vaughanhad been declared insane, the will could never have been probated--nocontest would have been necessary. Do you see the difference?"

  "I see what you mean; but I don't think it amounts to much. Silvadeclares that if Miss Vaughan contests the will, he will not defendit."

  "But he knows perfectly well that she will not contest it. The surestway to prevent a contest is by adopting just such an attitude.Besides, if we don't save her, he'll get her share, too. Vaughan'sestate and Vaughan's daughter and everything else that was Vaughan'swill disappear into his maw. Oh, he's playing for a big stake,Lester, and it looks to me as though he were going to win it!"

  It looked so to me, too, and I fell into gloomy thought.

  "You've got your men watching the house, I suppose?" I asked, at last,turning to Simmonds.

  "Yes; and we managed to score one little point to-day."

  "What was that?"

  "I found out that Annie Crogan, the housemaid over there, had a cousinon the force, so I got him out here and he managed to have a talk withher. He didn't find out anything," he added; "that is, anything wedon't know; but she promised to leave the door of her bedroom open atnight, and, if anything happened, to show a light at her window."

  "Splendid!" I said. "And of course she'll keep her eyes open in thedaytime."

  "Sure she will. She's a bright girl. The only thing I'm afraid of isthat the Hindu will get on to her and fire her. But she's been warnedto be mighty careful. If they don't suspect her, maybe she'll havesomething to tell us, in a day or two."

  "Perhaps she will," I agreed; and I drew a breath of relief. Surelywith all these guardians, inside the house and out, Miss Vaughan wassafe. The least outcry would bring swift assistance. Besides, I couldnot bring myself to believe that Silva was such a brute as Godfreyseemed to think him. I had been attracted by him, not repelled, and Ihave always believed in the accuracy of these instinctive feelings.

 
And Godfrey himself, I reflected, did not seem to be very clear in thematter. If Silva was merely a fakir and a charlatan, there was noreason why he should wish to induct Miss Vaughan into the mysteries ofa religion which he wore only as a cloak, to be dropped as soon as hisplans were accomplished. On the other hand, if he was sincere andreally wished to convert the girl, it was only reasonable to supposethat he was sincere in other things as well.

  "It reduces itself to this," I said finally to Godfrey. "If Silva is acharlatan, there is no reason why he should hypnotise Miss Vaughan;but if he really wishes to make a priestess of her, then, by the sametoken, he is sincere and not a charlatan at all."

  Godfrey nodded.

  "There's a twist there which I can't seem to get straight," headmitted. "We'll have to watch Silva a little longer to find out whathis game really is. Of course, it's just possible that he'd be gladto get rid of the girl, but that she really is obsessed by the idea ofcarrying out her father's wish. If that's the case, Silva is rather upa tree."

  "That's where _we'd_ better be getting," broke in Simmonds, who hadtaken out his watch and held it up to the light. "It's nearly twelveo'clock, and I don't want to miss the fireworks. Besides, you fellowsdon't gain anything by all this jawing. You've been at it for an hour,and you're more tangled up now than when you started. My motto with acase of this kind is just to sit quiet and watch it; and pretty soonthe rat thinks the coast is clear, and pokes out his head, and you nabhim."

  "There's a good deal in that," agreed Godfrey, with a little laugh. "Iadmit that our arguing doesn't seem to lead anywhere. Come along," andhe led the way out among the trees.

  "Now take these fireworks," went on Simmonds, in a low tone, when wewere sitting side by side on the limb. "I don't understand what theymean; but they must mean something. Am I laying awake nights worryingabout them? Not me! I'm just going to keep on watching till I find outwhat the meaning is. I know you're a great fellow for theory anddeduction, and all that sort of thing, Godfrey, and I know you'vepulled off some mighty clever stunts; but, after all, there's nothinglike patience."

  "Yes--'it's dogged as does it,'" agreed Godfrey. "Patience is a greatthing. I only wish I had more of it."

  "It would be a good thing," assented Simmonds, candidly; and then wefell silent, gazing out into the darkness.

  "Surely," said Godfrey, at last, "it must be twelve o'clock."

  Simmonds got out his watch and flashed upon it a ray from his electrictorch.

  "Yes," he said, "it's four minutes after."

  I felt Godfrey's hand stiffen on my arm.

  "Then there's something wrong," he whispered. "You remember, Lester,what happened the other time that light failed to appear. A man wasmurdered!"

  The darkness into which I stared seemed suddenly to grow threateningand sinister, full of vague terrors. Even Simmonds grew uneasy, and Icould feel his arm twitching.

  Godfrey put his foot on the ladder, and began to descend. Simmonds andI followed him silently.

  "I'm going over the wall," he said, when we were on the ground."Something's wrong, and we've got to find out what it is."

  "How will we get down?" asked Simmonds. "There's no ladder there."

  Godfrey considered a moment.

  "We can stand on the top of the wall," he said, at last, "and liftthis ladder over. It won't be easy, but it can be done. Go ahead,Lester, and be careful of the glass."

  I mounted the ladder, felt cautiously along the top of the wall andfound a place where I could put my feet; Simmonds followed me, andthen came Godfrey. His was the difficult part, to draw up the ladderand lower it again. As for me, it was all I could do to keep fromfalling. I felt absurdly as though I were standing on a tremuloustight-rope, high in the air; but Godfrey managed it somehow andstarted down.

  And at that instant, there shrilled through the night the high,piercing note of a police-whistle. It rose and fell, rose and fell,rose and fell; and then came poignant silence. The sound stabbedthrough me. Without hesitation or thought of peril, I let myself goand plunged downward into the darkness.