CHAPTER XIII
REELING OFF THE THREAD
It was fortunate for all parties that Geoffrey was possessed of strongnerves, or he would have been certain to betray himself and them.
Since he had left school at the time when the unseen terror first beganto oppress Ravenspur, he had known nothing of the world; he had learntnothing beyond the power to suffer silently and the power of love.
To confide in him was, perhaps, a daring thing on the part of RalphRavenspur. But, then, Ralph knew his world only too deeply and too well,and he rarely made a mistake in a man. All the same, he followed asclosely as possible the meeting between Marion and Geoffrey thefollowing morning.
Marion came down a little pale, a little quieter and more subdued thanusual. Geoffrey rallied her in the spirit of mingled amusement andaffection that he always assumed to Marion. His voice was natural andunaffected. Ralph was grimly satisfied. He knew now that his ally hadbrains as well as courage.
"I believe you have been sitting up writing poetry," Geoffrey laughed.
"Indeed, I had a very long night's rest," Marion responded. "And I can'timagine why I look so pale and washed-out this morning!"
"Bad dreams and an evil conscience," Vera suggested demurely.
Marion laughed. Usually at meal times the young people had theconversation entirely to themselves. Sometimes the elders joined in;sometimes they listened and smiled at the empty badinage; usually theywere wrapped in their gloomy thoughts. Ralph's face had the expressionof a stone idol, yet he followed every word that was said with intenseand vivid interest.
"Bad dreams, indeed," Marion admitted. "They were with me all night. Itseemed to me that I was wandering about all night looking for something.And I had nothing on but my nightdress. In India as a child I used towalk in my sleep. I hope I am not going to do that again."
Marion laughed and passed on to another subject. Curiously enough, sheseemed to shrink from speaking of her life in India. Of her dead parentsshe would discourse freely; of her own early life she said nothing. Ithad always seemed to Geoffrey that Marion's childhood had been unhappy.There was an air of gentle melancholy when her features were in repose,an air far older than her years.
Meanwhile Ralph had been following all this keenly. He appeared to beinterested in his breakfast. The streaming sunshine filtered through thegreat stained glass windows full upon his scarred face; his head wasbent down upon his plate.
But the man's mind was at work. He had his opportunity to speak toGeoffrey presently.
"You will do," he said approvingly. "Keep up that easy, cheerful mannerof yours. Whatever happens, try to ignore it; try to keep up thatirresponsible boyish manner. You will find it invaluable in disarmingsuspicion later, when one false move may dash all our delicate plans tothe ground."
"I will do anything you require of me, uncle."
"That is right; that is the spirit in which to approach the problem.And, remember, that what may appear to you to be the most trivial detailmay prove to be of the utmost importance to our case. For instance, I amgoing to ask you to do something now that may produce big results. Iwant you to get your grandfather's permission to use the top room overthe tower."
"But what can I want it for? It is useless to me."
"At present, yes; but later it will be useful. You require it for anobservatory. You are going to try to repair the big telescope. You areenthusiastic on the subject, you are hot-foot to get to work at once.There is nothing but lumber there."
"Boxes belonging to Marion, uncle. Cases that have remained unpackedever since she came over from India."
Ralph smiled in his most inscrutable manner.
"Mere trifles," he croaked. "But, there, I am one of the men who denythere are such things as trifles. You may lose a pin out of your watch,a trifle hardly visible to the eye a yard off. And yet your costlywatch, with its marvelous mechanism, is useless without that 'trifle.'Now go."
An hour later and Geoffrey was busy in the corridor with the bigtelescope, the telescope that nobody had troubled about at Ravenspur formany years. Geoffrey, in his shirt sleeves, was polishing up thebrasses. Vera was with her mother somewhere.
There had been no trouble in getting permission from Rupert Ravenspur.It was doubtful if he even heard Geoffrey's request. Everything theyoung people asked they got, as a rule. Why not, when a day might cutoff their lives and their little pleasures for all time! The head of thefamily was fast becoming a fatalist. So far as he was concerned, therewas no hope that the terror would ever lift. He had escaped once; thenext time the foe would not fail. But there would be rest in the grave.
Marion found Geoffrey in the corridor. The yellow and purple lights fromthe leaded windows filled the place with a soft, warm glow. Marion'sdark hair was shot with purple; her white dress, as she lounged in awindow seat, was turned to gold. She formed a wonderfully fair andattractive picture, if Geoffrey had only heeded it. But, then, Geoffreyhad no eyes for any one but Vera.
"What are you going to do?" Marion asked. "Read your fortune in thestars? Get inspiration from the heavenly bodies to combat the power ofdarkness?"
"I'm going to have a shot at astronomy again," Geoffrey replied, in hismost boyish and most enthusiastic manner. "I was considered a bit ofswell at it at school. And when I saw this jolly old telescope lyingneglected here, I made up my mind to polish my knowledge. I'm going toset it up in the tower turret."
"But it is packed full of boxes--my boxes."
"Well, there is plenty of room for those boxes elsewhere--in fact, we'vegot space enough to give every box a room to itself. There is an emptybedroom just below. Presently I'm going to shunt all your lumber inthere."
Marion nodded approvingly. Of course if Geoffrey said a thing it wasdone. He might have turned the castle upside down and the girls wouldhave aided and abetted him.
"I should like to be present when those boxes are moved," she said."There are hundreds of rare and curious things that belonged to mymother--things that the British Museum would long to possess. Remember,my ancestors were rulers in Tibet for thousands of years. Some day I'llshow you my curios. But don't begin to move those boxes till I am readyto assist."
"I shall not be ready for an hour, Marion."
"Very well, then, I shall be back in an hour, astronomer."
Geoffrey finished his work presently. Then he ran up to the turret-roomand opened the door. The place was dusty and dirty to a degree, andfilled with packing-cases. Apparently they were all of foreignmake--wooden boxes, with queer inscriptions, lacquered boxes, and onefragile wooden box clamped and decorated in filigree brass.
"A queer thing," Geoffrey murmured. "And old, very old, too."
"Over a thousand years. There is only one more like it in the world, andno Christian eyes save four have ever looked upon it. When you take thatbox from the room, see that it is the last, Geoffrey. You hear?"
It was Ralph who spoke. He had appeared silently and mysteriously asusual. He spoke calmly, but his twitching lips were eloquent ofsuppressed excitement.
"Very well," Geoffrey said carelessly. He was getting used to thesestrange quick appearances and these equally strange requests. "It shallbe as you desire, uncle."
Ralph nodded. He gave a swift turn of his head as if looking for someone unconsciously, then he crossed the room and stooped down beside thebrass-bound box, which was at the bottom of a pile of packages. His longfingers felt over the quaint brasses.
"A most remarkable-looking pattern," said Geoffrey.
"It is not a pattern at all," Ralph replied.
"The quaint filigree work is a language--the written signs of old Tibet,only you are not supposed to know that; indeed, I only found it outmyself a few days ago. It had been a long search; but, as I can only seewith my fingers, you can understand that. But this is part of thesecret."
Geoffrey was profoundly interested.
"Tell me what the language says?" he asked.
"Not now--perhaps not at all. It is a ghastly and terrible
thing, andeven your nerves are not fireproof. There is only one thing I have toask you before I efface myself for the present. When you take up thatbox to carry it down stairs it is to slip through your fingers. You areto drop it."
"I am to drop that box. Is there anything else?"
"Not for the present. You are smiling; I feel that you are smiling. ForHeaven's sake take this seriously; take everything that I say seriously,boy. Oh, I know what is in your mind--I am going in a clumsy way to getsomething. I might so easily get what I require by a little judiciousburglary. That is what your unsophisticated mind tells you. Later youwill know better."
Ralph turned cheerfully round and left the room. He paused in thedoorway. "Don't forget," he said, "that my visit here is a secret. Infact, everything is a secret until I give you permission to make itpublic."
This time he left. Geoffrey had managed to drag one or two of the boxesaway before Marion appeared. She reproached him gently that he had notwaited for her. There might be spooks and bogies in those packagescapable of harm.
"I dare say there are," Geoffrey laughed. "But you were such a longtime. Every girl seems to imagine that an hour is like a piece ofelastic--you can stretch it out as long as you like. At any rate I havedone no harm. As far as I can judge there's only one good thing here."
"And what is that?" Marion asked.
Geoffrey pointed to the floor.
"That one," he said. "The queer brass-bound box at the bottom."
The Mystery of the Ravenspurs Page 13