The Road to En-dor

by E. H. Jones

  The Pimple told us, very gently and very sympathetically, that the Control wanted to put us in prison. Hill and I were, of course, suitably horror-stricken – but we gradually allowed ourselves to be persuaded to endure even prison if necessary. For we admitted that there seemed to be no other way of finding the treasure, and that I was pledged to the Commandant to do my best. Besides, Hill let out casually, he had had one experience in Australia of thwarting a Spook’s wishes, and not for all the wealth of the Indies would he risk such a thing again. Moïse naturally asked what the experience was, but Hill could only cover his face with his hands and shudder. It was TOO DREADFUL to be told.

  So insistent had been the Pimple in persuading us to adopt the Spook’s plan that we thought we had won our point in the first round. But we had reckoned without the Commandant. It has already been indicated that we knew nothing of that gentleman’s real character. He revealed it now. An autocrat and a tyrant to all under his sway, he was the most abject slave of his own superiors. The post of Commandant in a prisoner of war camp was highly coveted, hard to obtain, and correspondingly easy to lose. To lose it might mean having to face the music at the front. Bimbashi Kiazim Bey did not want that. So next day the Pimple explained to us with tears in his eyes that the Commandant would not, on any account, risk his position by putting us into prison without cause. He feared a reprimand from Constantinople.

  We replied that it must be prison or nothing, for who were we to improve upon the suggestions of our Control? No, we certainly would not assault a sentry or do anything that would justify our conviction. That was not a fair proposition to us. But we would go to jail, without any fuss, if he cared to send us.

  Thus we struggled with the Pimple for eleven days, but in the end saw it was hopeless. The Commandant would forego the treasure rather than risk anything. He had not yet acquired the faith in us which made him, later on, snap his fingers at his own War Office. The furthest he was willing to go was to re-open what was known as ‘the Colonels’ House’, a building, now empty, which had formerly formed part of the camp. Hill and I could then go and stay there. But if other prisoners also wanted to go, the Commandant would not prevent them, as it would look suspicious. He must not show favouritism as it would get him into trouble!

  The Cook and the Pimple danced with rage – especially the Cook – over their superior’s pusillanimity. But there it was. To tell the truth, Hill and I were equally disgusted. We wanted prison. We wished heartily that the Cook was our Commandant! But we pretended to be grateful to Kiazim Bey for taking up such a bold stand against carrying out the Spook’s wishes. We told the Pimple that we ourselves would never have dared to do so, knowing, as we did, the Power of the Control. We sent him our thanks, and as he had incurred so much danger on our behalf, to save us from the vileness of a Turkish jail, we allowed ourselves to be persuaded to undergo a little danger for him. We would hold one more séance and put to the Spook his suggestion about the re-opening of the Colonels’ House.

  The séance was held in the Dispensary on the 17th of February. Hill and I had made our preparations with considerable care.

  The Spook repeated its suggestion of prison. Moïse explained that it was impossible, and suggested the Colonels’ House, at the same time pointing out that other prisoners might want to go there and that we saw no way of preventing them.

  On the Raymond model, the next part of the séance is quoted verbatim from our records.

  SPOOK: ‘If I tell you how to do it, will you obey?’

  MOÏSE: ‘If it is possible and does not involve too much hardship. Will you please tell us what we are to do?’

  SPOOK: ‘First, in order to conceal from others the real reason of the mediums being placed apart and to safeguard the Superior, they will be formally arrested.’

  MOÏSE: ‘My objection to that is the Superior cannot arrest them without excuse.’

  SPOOK: ‘Moïse must say he found a letter incriminating them.’

  MOÏSE: ‘Yes, but the objection to that is, supposing Colonel Maule, the Senior Officer (of the camp) asks to see the letter?’

  SPOOK: ‘If I show my power, will you cease arguing?’

  MOÏSE (in alarm): ‘Are you going to manifest, or do us any harm?’

  SPOOK: ‘No. Merely a wonderful thing.’

  MOÏSE: ‘Yes. We will be quite willing to see that.’

  SPOOK (emphatically): ‘If I do this you must obey.’

  MOÏSE: ‘It will not prevent Colonel Maule asking to see the letter.’

  SPOOK: ‘It will satisfy Col. Maule and solve your difficulty.’

  MOÏSE: ‘Very good. Please tell us what we are going to do?’

  SPOOK: ‘Take a clean sheet of paper.’

  MOÏSE (picking up a half sheet of notepaper out of a number that were lying about): ‘Here is one.’

  SPOOK: ‘Examine it.’

  MOÏSE: ‘There is a watermark and the words “English Manufacture” stamped.’

  SPOOK: ‘Each of you fold it once squarely, with the sun.’

  (Moïse folded it, handed it to Hill, who again folded it, and handed it to me. I folded it for the third time and placed it on the table. All this was done openly, above the table, in broad daylight.)

  MOÏSE: ‘We have done it.’

  SPOOK: ‘Next let Moïse hold it on his head.’

  (Picking up the paper between finger and thumb I handed it to Moïse.)

  MOÏSE: ‘In which hand? With or without cap?’

  SPOOK: ‘Left. Without cap.’

  (Moïse removed his balaclava – an English-made one, no doubt stolen from one of our parcels.)

  MOÏSE: ‘I have put it on my head’ (holding it there).

  SPOOK: ‘This is the letter you found, remember.’

  MOÏSE (after a pause, during which the glass moved violently in circles and the mediums grew more and more exhausted): ‘May I take it off now?’

  SPOOK: ‘Yes.’

  MOÏSE: ‘May I open it?’

  SPOOK: ‘Have you promised to obey?’

  MOÏSE: ‘We all promised whatever we can to obey it.’

  SPOOK: ‘Open it.’

  (Note by Moïse in record: ‘Both mediums under very high strain.’)

  MOÏSE (in great excitement, seeing the paper was now written on): ‘May I read it?’

  SPOOK: ‘Yes.’

  This is what the Pimple read out, written in a good feminine hand:

  I think the experiment has been successful. Last night at the stated time we received a telepathic message through two fellow prisoners. It said ‘Forces being sent South from Caucasus.’ Let me know if this was the exact message sent. If it is correct there is no need to incur further danger of discovery by writing messages. The rest of our arrangements can be made by telepathy. The mediums have been sworn to secrecy and can be absolutely trusted. Put your reply in the usual place. IMPORTANT.

  CZHUFGCGCAVYHCYACAKL

  RMTUODUFUHIZLTOEPCCV. 25

  When this was read aloud to us by the Pimple, Hill and I grew greatly alarmed, and questioned the Spook.

  JONES (in alarm): ‘Can Hill and I withdraw, because this might do us harm?’

  SPOOK: ‘If you withdraw now you are doomed.’

  JONES (much agitated): ‘I will not withdraw. What are we to do?’

  SPOOK: ‘Obey.’

  (Note by Moïse: Both mediums were cold, giddy, and shivering at this point.)

  The Spook went on writing. Moïse, who was recording the letters touched by the glass, suddenly gave an exclamation of surprise.

  ‘The Spook says this is all true,’ he said to us. ‘It says this letter is word for word the same as one which has actually been sent.’

  Hill and I simulated great agitation.

  ‘I know it is true,’ I replied; ‘that is why we wanted to withdraw!’

  ‘But I thought this letter was merely an invention of the Spook,’ said Moïse.

  ‘I wish it was,’ I said, ‘for he has given away what we had inte
nded to keep as a deep secret, as it involves others.’

  ‘Jones and I got that telepathic message about the Caucasus troops last night,’ said Hill.

  ‘This becomes very serious and very complicated,’ said the Pimple.

  ‘I know it does,’ I said. ‘Haven’t I tried to withdraw? But the Spook threatens us, and we can’t! What are we to do?’

  ‘If Moïse will keep quiet about what we have said,’ Hill suggested, ‘perhaps the Commandant will still think it all an invention of the Spook’s.’

  ‘Could you delete from your record that last sentence where the Spook says it is all true?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes,’ said Moïse, and drew his pencil lightly through it.

  ‘And you promise not to tell the Commandant we have really been working this telepathy business with somebody outside the camp, won’t you? We fear he will be seriously angry and really punish us. If it wasn’t for the Spook’s threats we would stop now!’

  The Pimple soothed our fears, gave us his promise – and broke it (as we hoped he would) as soon as the séance was ended.

  All this was not merely gratuitous by-play. We were making a strong bid to capture the Commandant’s full belief, and every step in the séance had been carefully planned beforehand. The manner in which the magic letter was written, in broad daylight and on a piece of paper selected by Moïse himself, seemed of itself something of a miracle. It was quite enough to impress the Commandant with the belief that he was up against supernatural forces. (Of course it really was nothing more than an extremely fine specimen of Hill’s sleight-of-hand. So deft were his movements that even I, who knew what to expect, had missed seeing the actual substitution of the prepared letter for Moïse’s blank paper, which had been ‘forced’ on him, watermark and all, much as one ‘forces’ the choice of a card.)

  Figure 15: The episode of the ‘Magic Letter’. Moïse, the interpreter, was instructed to hold a piece of paper, apparently blank, on his head. When he removed it he found, to his astonishment, that it bore a written communication!

  Then the matter of the magic letter, if true, was of extreme importance to the Commandant, for it indicated that amongst his prisoners of war were two mediums capable of sending and receiving messages of military importance. Our agitation, our attempt at withdrawal, our confession to the Pimple and our request that he should hide from the Commandant the fact that the contents were really true – all these were certain to be reported to Kiazim Bey, and we hoped that our anxiety for him to consider the contents of the letter as pure spiritistic fiction would have exactly the opposite effect.

  Once he believed the contents of the letter were true, he must necessarily conclude that Hill and I were the tools of the mysterious agency which had written it and not vice versa. So we pretended It had given away a secret which we had wished to be kept hidden, and which endangered our safety. The central idea on which our whole plan pivoted, and on which not only our success but our very safety would depend, was that we were mere mouthpieces of the Spook, unconscious of what was being said through us and quite incapable of altering or adding to it of our own will. The Commandant must learn to treat us as impersonally as he would treat a telephone on his office table.

  After the interlude of the confession, the Pimple asked the Spook to explain what was to be done with this mysterious letter, and how it was going to attain for us the seclusion necessary for ‘our thoughts to become one thought, and our minds one mind.’

  The Spook gave full instructions. It pointed out that the letter referred to two mediums who had received a telepathic message. It reminded the Turks that Hill and I had recently given a public exhibition of telepathy. We were known as telepathists to the whole camp, and there were no others. Therefore we two must be the mediums indicated. And it informed them that the camp believed in our powers as thought-readers and thought-transmitters, and would admit that belief if properly taxed with it, thereby justifying the Commandant in sentencing us to solitary confinement.

  The obvious course was, therefore, for the Commandant to set about obtaining this admission of belief, without the camp knowing beforehand the purpose for which he required it. The Spook advised him to set a trap, and showed him how to do it. He should say he was interested in telepathy, and having heard of the recent exhibition, he would like to talk over the matter with the two principals and with any other officers who cared to come. The Spook suggested that the Doctor in particular, as a ‘man of science,’ should be invited. Having got the company into the office, the Commandant would question them as to the possibility of telepathy. He would find that they all considered it perfectly possible, and that they regarded Jones and Hill as exponents of the new science. On the strength of this confession of faith he could produce the Spook letter and ask of Jones and Hill if the telepathic message therein referred to had been received by them. They would admit having received it. He would then demand the names of their confederates, which they would refuse. He could then formally charge them with being in telepathic communication on military matters with persons outside, and as their fellow officers had already given evidence that Jones and Hill could send and receive thoughts, he could convict and sentence them without any fear of local disapprobation or of unpleasant consequences from Constantinople. ‘If you do not carry out the plan,’ said the Spook in conclusion, ‘there will be trouble.’

  ‘As a matter of fact,’ the Pimple said, buttoning the record of the séance inside his coat, ‘you and Hill can be honestly tried for obtaining this war news. You have been doing it, so the Spook is not telling lies.’

  ‘But don’t tell the Commandant that,’ I begged.

  ‘You are again doing as in Kut,’ said Moïse knowingly.

  ‘As in Kut?’ I was genuinely at a loss for the moment.

  ‘Yes! When Townshend employed you to read the minds of our Turkish generals,’ said Moïse, resurrecting Freak’s lie of six months before.

  ‘The devil!’ I exclaimed. ‘Who told you that?’

  The Pimple looked very proud of himself. ‘Never mind,’ he said. ‘I, too, know things.’

  ‘I wish I was out of this,’ Hill said. ‘It is too dangerous. I would like to withdraw from the whole business.’

  The Pimple laughed at him. ‘But you dare not, you fear too much the Spook!’

  Chapter X

  How We Were Tried and Convicted For Telepathy

  There followed a delightfully busy fortnight for Hill and myself. We made a minute study of a large book on mental diseases, purloined from the Doctor’s library, and improved our minds with other medical lore anent an illness to which the Commandant was subject. Under a specious plea we borrowed from Spink an Armenian-French dictionary – a treasured possession which he kept hidden under a movable plank in the floor of his room. Spink was an industrious and painstaking youth. With a view to a possible escape, and with the aid of George Borrow’s Lavengro, he had transliterated the Armenian alphabet. This was to prove most useful. He had also drawn up an Armenian phrase book, which I studied with such diligence and profit that later on the Spook of the murdered owner of the treasure appeared and spoke to us in the Armenian tongue! But for the present the use of the dictionary was to enable Hill to manufacture two brief but extremely interesting Armenian documents. These we enclosed, along with some ashes from our charcoal brazier and two Turkish gold sovereigns, in two small tin cases. The cases were buried by Hill, three miles apart, while he was out skiing. As the Ski-Club was also due to Spink’s initiative, we owe that ornament of the Indian Public Works Department a deep debt of gratitude.

  While Hill was busy with his document-making and his burying, it was my duty to inculcate a proper respect for telepathy in the chosen witnesses of the forthcoming trial. Doc. O’Farrell was already converted. He would do ‘as he was’ for one witness at our trial; but we threw in a private exhibition to make all secure. Almost any of the juniors would do for a second. We also required at least two field officers, preferably with Red Tabs, and o
ne of the two ought to have an official position in the camp. A couple of days of the Socratic method convinced Peel. A ‘practical experiment’ in which Hill conveyed to me ‘by telepathy’ that he had been shown a black-handled knife when two miles away from the camp, satisfied the Adjutant, Gilchrist, who owned and had shown the knife. We had our four ‘witnesses’ for the trial ready, and knew they would all swear to the possibility of telepathy in all genuineness. En passant, it is worthy of remark that one witness who believes that what he says is true (though it may be as false as Ananias’s best effort) is worth ten of a conscious liar in any Court of Law.

  Then, in case the Turks saw fit to test the accuracy of the Spook’s assertion concerning the telepathic receipt of the message about the movement of troops from the Caucasus, it became necessary to receive such a message at a séance. Mundey and Edmonds, both true believers, were victimized. We received the message in their presence, and at the bidding of the Spook gave our words of honour to keep its source a secret. This ‘word of honour’ came in most usefully later on.

  Lastly, there were two men in the camp – Barton and Nightingale – who knew the secret of our telepathic code. It was quite possible that if the Turks arrested us for telepathy these two men would expose the code in order to obtain our release. We could easily have trusted them with the whole story, but on our principle to implicate nobody and tell nobody – until it became absolutely necessary – we decided to keep quiet. A hint to say nothing, whatever happened, was sufficient for these two loyal friends.