by Bram Stoker
CHAPTER XXVII--ON THE TURRET ROOF
The storm which was coming was already making itself manifest, not onlyin the wide scope of nature, but in the hearts and natures of humanbeings. Electrical disturbance in the sky and the air is reproduced inanimals of all kinds, and particularly in the highest type of themall--the most receptive--the most electrical. So it was with EdgarCaswall, despite his selfish nature and coldness of blood. So it waswith Mimi Salton, despite her unselfish, unchanging devotion for thoseshe loved. So it was even with Lady Arabella, who, under the instinctsof a primeval serpent, carried the ever-varying wishes and customs ofwomanhood, which is always old--and always new.
Edgar, after he had turned his eyes on Mimi, resumed his apatheticposition and sullen silence. Mimi quietly took a seat a little wayapart, whence she could look on the progress of the coming storm andstudy its appearance throughout the whole visible circle of theneighbourhood. She was in brighter and better spirits than she had beenfor many days past. Lady Arabella tried to efface herself behind the nowopen door.
Without, the clouds grew thicker and blacker as the storm-centre camecloser. As yet the forces, from whose linking the lightning springs,were held apart, and the silence of nature proclaimed the calm before thestorm. Caswall felt the effect of the gathering electric force. A sortof wild exultation grew upon him, such as he had sometimes felt justbefore the breaking of a tropical storm. As he became conscious of this,he raised his head and caught sight of Mimi. He was in the grip of anemotion greater than himself; in the mood in which he was he felt theneed upon him of doing some desperate deed. He was now absolutelyreckless, and as Mimi was associated with him in the memory which drovehim on, he wished that she too should be engaged in this enterprise. Hehad no knowledge of the proximity of Lady Arabella, and thought that hewas far removed from all he knew and whose interests he shared--alonewith the wild elements, which were being lashed to fury, and with thewoman who had struggled with him and vanquished him, and on whom he wouldshower the full measure of his hate.
The fact was that Edgar Caswall was, if not mad, close to theborder-line. Madness in its first stage--monomania--is a lack ofproportion. So long as this is general, it is not always noticeable, forthe uninspired onlooker is without the necessary means of comparison. Butin monomania the errant faculty protrudes itself in a way that may not bedenied. It puts aside, obscures, or takes the place of somethingelse--just as the head of a pin placed before the centre of the iris willblock out the whole scope of vision. The most usual form of monomaniahas commonly the same beginning as that from which Edgar Caswallsuffered--an over-large idea of self-importance. Alienists, who studythe matter exactly, probably know more of human vanity and its effectsthan do ordinary men. Caswall's mental disturbance was not hard toidentify. Every asylum is full of such cases--men and women, who,naturally selfish and egotistical, so appraise to themselves their ownimportance that every other circumstance in life becomes subservient toit. The disease supplies in itself the material for self-magnification.When the decadence attacks a nature naturally proud and selfish and vain,and lacking both the aptitude and habit of self-restraint, thedevelopment of the disease is more swift, and ranges to farther limits.It is such persons who become imbued with the idea that they have theattributes of the Almighty--even that they themselves are the Almighty.
Mimi had a suspicion--or rather, perhaps, an intuition--of the true stateof things when she heard him speak, and at the same time noticed theabnormal flush on his face, and his rolling eyes. There was a certainwant of fixedness of purpose which she had certainly not noticed before--aquick, spasmodic utterance which belongs rather to the insane than tothose of intellectual equilibrium. She was a little frightened, not onlyby his thoughts, but by his staccato way of expressing them.
Caswall moved to the door leading to the turret stair by which the roofwas reached, and spoke in a peremptory way, whose tone alone made herfeel defiant.
"Come! I want you."
She instinctively drew back--she was not accustomed to such words, moreespecially to such a tone. Her answer was indicative of a new contest.
"Why should I go? What for?"
He did not at once reply--another indication of his overwhelming egotism.She repeated her questions; habit reasserted itself, and he spoke withoutthinking the words which were in his heart.
"I want you, if you will be so good, to come with me to the turret roof.I am much interested in certain experiments with the kite, which wouldbe, if not a pleasure, at least a novel experience to you. You would seesomething not easily seen otherwise."
"I will come," she answered simply; Edgar moved in the direction of thestair, she following close behind him.
She did not like to be left alone at such a height, in such a place, inthe darkness, with a storm about to break. Of himself she had no fear;all that had been seemed to have passed away with her two victories overhim in the struggle of wills. Moreover, the more recentapprehension--that of his madness--had also ceased. In the conversationof the last few minutes he seemed so rational, so clear, so unaggressive,that she no longer saw reason for doubt. So satisfied was she that evenwhen he put out a hand to guide her to the steep, narrow stairway, shetook it without thought in the most conventional way.
Lady Arabella, crouching in the lobby behind the door, heard every wordthat had been said, and formed her own opinion of it. It seemed evidentto her that there had been some rapprochement between the two who had solately been hostile to each other, and that made her furiously angry.Mimi was interfering with her plans! She had made certain of her captureof Edgar Caswall, and she could not tolerate even the lightest and mostcontemptuous fancy on his part which might divert him from the mainissue. When she became aware that he wished Mimi to come with him to theroof and that she had acquiesced, her rage got beyond bounds. She becameoblivious to any danger there might be in a visit to such an exposedplace at such a time, and to all lesser considerations, and made up hermind to forestall them. She stealthily and noiselessly crept through thewicket, and, ascending the stair, stepped out on the roof. It wasbitterly cold, for the fierce gusts of the storm which swept round theturret drove in through every unimpeded way, whistling at the sharpcorners and singing round the trembling flagstaff. The kite-string andthe wire which controlled the runners made a concourse of weird soundswhich somehow, perhaps from the violence which surrounded them, acting ontheir length, resolved themselves into some kind of harmony--a fittingaccompaniment to the tragedy which seemed about to begin.
Mimi's heart beat heavily. Just before leaving the turret-chamber shehad a shock which she could not shake off. The lights of the room hadmomentarily revealed to her, as they passed out, Edgar's face,concentrated as it was whenever he intended to use his mesmeric power.Now the black eyebrows made a thick line across his face, under which hiseyes shone and glittered ominously. Mimi recognised the danger, andassumed the defiant attitude that had twice already served her so well.She had a fear that the circumstances and the place were against her, andshe wanted to be forearmed.
The sky was now somewhat lighter than it had been. Either there waslightning afar off, whose reflections were carried by the rolling clouds,or else the gathered force, though not yet breaking into lightning, hadan incipient power of light. It seemed to affect both the man and thewoman. Edgar seemed altogether under its influence. His spirits wereboisterous, his mind exalted. He was now at his worst; madder than hehad been earlier in the night.
Mimi, trying to keep as far from him as possible, moved across the stonefloor of the turret roof, and found a niche which concealed her. It wasnot far from Lady Arabella's place of hiding.
Edgar, left thus alone on the centre of the turret roof, found himselfaltogether his own master in a way which tended to increase his madness.He knew that Mimi was close at hand, though he had lost sight of her. Hespoke loudly, and the sound of his own voice, though it was carried fromhim on the sweeping wind as fast as the words were spoken, s
eemed toexalt him still more. Even the raging of the elements round him appearedto add to his exaltation. To him it seemed that these manifestationswere obedient to his own will. He had reached the sublime of hismadness; he was now in his own mind actually the Almighty, and whatevermight happen would be the direct carrying out of his own commands. As hecould not see Mimi, nor fix whereabout she was, he shouted loudly:
"Come to me! You shall see now what you are despising, what you arewarring against. All that you see is mine--the darkness as well as thelight. I tell you that I am greater than any other who is, or was, orshall be. When the Master of Evil took Christ up on a high place andshowed Him all the kingdoms of the earth, he was doing what he thought noother could do. He was wrong--he forgot _Me_. I shall send you light,up to the very ramparts of heaven. A light so great that it shalldissipate those black clouds that are rushing up and piling around us.Look! Look! At the very touch of my hand that light springs into beingand mounts up--and up--and up!"
He made his way whilst he was speaking to the corner of the turret whenceflew the giant kite, and from which the runners ascended. Mimi lookedon, appalled and afraid to speak lest she should precipitate somecalamity. Within the niche Lady Arabella cowered in a paroxysm of fear.
Edgar took up a small wooden box, through a hole in which the wire of therunner ran. This evidently set some machinery in motion, for a sound asof whirring came. From one side of the box floated what looked like apiece of stiff ribbon, which snapped and crackled as the wind took it.For a few seconds Mimi saw it as it rushed along the sagging line to thekite. When close to it, there was a loud crack, and a sudden lightappeared to issue from every chink in the box. Then a quick flameflashed along the snapping ribbon, which glowed with an intense light--alight so great that the whole of the countryside around stood out againstthe background of black driving clouds. For a few seconds the lightremained, then suddenly disappeared in the blackness around. It wassimply a magnesium light, which had been fired by the mechanism withinthe box and carried up to the kite. Edgar was in a state of tumultuousexcitement, shouting and yelling at the top of his voice and dancingabout like a lunatic.
This was more than Lady Arabella's curious dual nature could stand--theghoulish element in her rose triumphant, and she abandoned all idea ofmarriage with Edgar Caswall, gloating fiendishly over the thought ofrevenge.
She must lure him to the White Worm's hole--but how? She glanced aroundand quickly made up her mind. The man's whole thoughts were absorbed byhis wonderful kite, which he was showing off, in order to fascinate herimaginary rival, Mimi.
On the instant she glided through the darkness to the wheel whereon thestring of the kite was wound. With deft fingers she unshipped this, tookit with her, reeling out the wire as she went, thus keeping, in a way, intouch with the kite. Then she glided swiftly to the wicket, throughwhich she passed, locking the gate behind her as she went.
Down the turret stair she ran quickly, letting the wire run from thewheel which she carried carefully, and, passing out of the hall door,hurried down the avenue with all her speed. She soon reached her owngate, ran down the avenue, and with her key opened the iron door leadingto the well-hole.
She felt well satisfied with herself. All her plans were maturing, orhad already matured. The Master of Castra Regis was within her grasp.The woman whose interference she had feared, Lilla Watford, was dead.Truly, all was well, and she felt that she might pause a while and rest.She tore off her clothes, with feverish fingers, and in full enjoyment ofher natural freedom, stretched her slim figure in animal delight. Thenshe lay down on the sofa--to await her victim! Edgar Caswall's lifeblood would more than satisfy her for some time to come.
CHAPTER XXVIII--THE BREAKING OF THE STORM
When Lady Arabella had crept away in her usual noiseless fashion, the twoothers remained for a while in their places on the turret roof: Caswallbecause he had nothing to say, Mimi because she had much to say andwished to put her thoughts in order. For quite a while--which seemedinterminable--silence reigned between them. At last Mimi made abeginning--she had made up her mind how to act.
"Mr. Caswall," she said loudly, so as to make sure of being heard throughthe blustering of the wind and the perpetual cracking of the electricity.
Caswall said something in reply, but his words were carried away on thestorm. However, one of her objects was effected: she knew now exactlywhereabout on the roof he was. So she moved close to the spot before shespoke again, raising her voice almost to a shout.
"The wicket is shut. Please to open it. I can't get out."
As she spoke, she was quietly fingering a revolver which Adam had givento her in case of emergency and which now lay in her breast. She feltthat she was caged like a rat in a trap, but did not mean to be taken ata disadvantage, whatever happened. Caswall also felt trapped, and allthe brute in him rose to the emergency. In a voice which was raucous andbrutal--much like that which is heard when a wife is being beaten by herhusband in a slum--he hissed out, his syllables cutting through theroaring of the storm:
"You came of your own accord--without permission, or even asking it. Nowyou can stay or go as you choose. But you must manage it for yourself;I'll have nothing to do with it."
Her answer was spoken with dangerous suavity
"I am going. Blame yourself if you do not like the time and manner ofit. I daresay Adam--my husband--will have a word to say to you aboutit!"
"Let him say, and be damned to him, and to you too! I'll show you alight. You shan't be able to say that you could not see what you weredoing."
As he spoke, he was lighting another piece of the magnesium ribbon, whichmade a blinding glare in which everything was plainly discernible, downto the smallest detail. This exactly suited Mimi. She took accuratenote of the wicket and its fastening before the glare had died away. Shetook her revolver out and fired into the lock, which was shivered on theinstant, the pieces flying round in all directions, but happily withoutcausing hurt to anyone. Then she pushed the wicket open and ran down thenarrow stair, and so to the hall door. Opening this also, she ran downthe avenue, never lessening her speed till she stood outside the door ofLesser Hill. The door was opened at once on her ringing.
"Is Mr. Adam Salton in?" she asked.
"He has just come in, a few minutes ago. He has gone up to the study,"replied a servant.
She ran upstairs at once and joined him. He seemed relieved when he sawher, but scrutinised her face keenly. He saw that she had been in someconcern, so led her over to the sofa in the window and sat down besideher.
"Now, dear, tell me all about it!" he said.
She rushed breathlessly through all the details of her adventure on theturret roof. Adam listened attentively, helping her all he could, andnot embarrassing her by any questioning. His thoughtful silence was agreat help to her, for it allowed her to collect and organise herthoughts.
"I must go and see Caswall to-morrow, to hear what he has to say on thesubject."
"But, dear, for my sake, don't have any quarrel with Mr. Caswall. I havehad too much trial and pain lately to wish it increased by any anxietyregarding you."
"You shall not, dear--if I can help it--please God," he said solemnly,and he kissed her.
Then, in order to keep her interested so that she might forget the fearsand anxieties that had disturbed her, he began to talk over the detailsof her adventure, making shrewd comments which attracted and held herattention. Presently, _inter alia_, he said:
"That's a dangerous game Caswall is up to. It seems to me that thatyoung man--though he doesn't appear to know it--is riding for a fall!"
"How, dear? I don't understand."
"Kite flying on a night like this from a place like the tower of CastraRegis is, to say the least of it, dangerous. It is not merely courtingdeath or other accident from lightning, but it is bringing the lightninginto where he lives. Every cloud that is blowing up here--and they allmake for the highest point--is bound
to develop into a flash oflightning. That kite is up in the air and is bound to attract thelightning. Its cord makes a road for it on which to travel to earth.When it does come, it will strike the top of the tower with a weight ahundred times greater than a whole park of artillery, and will knockCastra Regis into pieces. Where it will go after that, no one can tell.If there should be any metal by which it can travel, such will not onlypoint the road, but be the road itself."
"Would it be dangerous to be out in the open air when such a thing istaking place?" she asked.
"No, little woman. It would be the safest possible place--so long as onewas not in the line of the electric current."
"Then, do let us go outside. I don't want to run into any foolishdanger--or, far more, to ask you to do so. But surely if the open issafest, that is the place for us."
Without another word, she put on again the cloak she had thrown off, anda small, tight-fitting cap. Adam too put on his cap, and, after seeingthat his revolver was all right, gave her his hand, and they left thehouse together.
"I think the best thing we can do will be to go round all the placeswhich are mixed up in this affair."
"All right, dear, I am ready. But, if you don't mind, we might go firstto Mercy. I am anxious about grandfather, and we might see that--as yet,at all events--nothing has happened there."
So they went on the high-hung road along the top of the Brow. The windhere was of great force, and made a strange booming noise as it swepthigh overhead; though not the sound of cracking and tearing as it passedthrough the woods of high slender trees which grew on either side of theroad. Mimi could hardly keep her feet. She was not afraid; but theforce to which she was opposed gave her a good excuse to hold on to herhusband extra tight.
At Mercy there was no one up--at least, all the lights were out. But toMimi, accustomed to the nightly routine of the house, there were manifestsigns that all was well, except in the little room on the first floor,where the blinds were down. Mimi could not bear to look at that, tothink of it. Adam understood her pain, for he had been keenly interestedin poor Lilla. He bent over and kissed her, and then took her hand andheld it hard. Thus they passed on together, returning to the high roadtowards Castra Regis.
At the gate of Castra Regis they were extra careful. When drawing near,Adam stumbled upon the wire that Lady Arabella had left trailing on theground.
Adam drew his breath at this, and spoke in a low, earnest whisper:
"I don't want to frighten you, Mimi dear, but wherever that wire is thereis danger."
"Danger! How?"
"That is the track where the lightning will go; at any moment, even nowwhilst we are speaking and searching, a fearful force may be loosed uponus. Run on, dear; you know the way to where the avenue joins thehighroad. If you see any sign of the wire, keep away from it, for God'ssake. I shall join you at the gateway."
"Are you going to follow that wire alone?"
"Yes, dear. One is sufficient for that work. I shall not lose a momenttill I am with you."
"Adam, when I came with you into the open, my main wish was that weshould be together if anything serious happened. You wouldn't deny methat right, would you, dear?"
"No, dear, not that or any right. Thank God that my wife has such awish. Come; we will go together. We are in the hands of God. If Hewishes, we shall be together at the end, whenever or wherever that maybe."
They picked up the trail of the wire on the steps and followed it downthe avenue, taking care not to touch it with their feet. It was easyenough to follow, for the wire, if not bright, was self-coloured, andshowed clearly. They followed it out of the gateway and into the avenueof Diana's Grove.
Here a new gravity clouded Adam's face, though Mimi saw no cause forfresh concern. This was easily enough explained. Adam knew of theexplosive works in progress regarding the well-hole, but the matter hadbeen kept from his wife. As they stood near the house, Adam asked Mimito return to the road, ostensibly to watch the course of the wire,telling her that there might be a branch wire leading somewhere else. Shewas to search the undergrowth, and if she found it, was to warn him bythe Australian native "Coo-ee!"
Whilst they were standing together, there came a blinding flash oflightning, which lit up for several seconds the whole area of earth andsky. It was only the first note of the celestial prelude, for it wasfollowed in quick succession by numerous flashes, whilst the crash androll of thunder seemed continuous.
Adam, appalled, drew his wife to him and held her close. As far as hecould estimate by the interval between lightning and thunder-clap, theheart of the storm was still some distance off, so he felt no presentconcern for their safety. Still, it was apparent that the course of thestorm was moving swiftly in their direction. The lightning flashes camefaster and faster and closer together; the thunder-roll was almostcontinuous, not stopping for a moment--a new crash beginning before theold one had ceased. Adam kept looking up in the direction where the kitestrained and struggled at its detaining cord, but, of course, the dullevening light prevented any distinct scrutiny.
At length there came a flash so appallingly bright that in its glareNature seemed to be standing still. So long did it last, that there wastime to distinguish its configuration. It seemed like a mighty treeinverted, pendent from the sky. The whole country around within theangle of vision was lit up till it seemed to glow. Then a broad ribbonof fire seemed to drop on to the tower of Castra Regis just as thethunder crashed. By the glare, Adam could see the tower shake andtremble, and finally fall to pieces like a house of cards. The passingof the lightning left the sky again dark, but a blue flame fell downwardfrom the tower, and, with inconceivable rapidity, running along theground in the direction of Diana's Grove, reached the dark silent house,which in the instant burst into flame at a hundred different points.
At the same moment there rose from the house a rending, crashing sound ofwoodwork, broken or thrown about, mixed with a quick scream so appallingthat Adam, stout of heart as he undoubtedly was, felt his blood turn intoice. Instinctively, despite the danger and their consciousness of it,husband and wife took hands and listened, trembling. Something was goingon close to them, mysterious, terrible, deadly! The shrieks continued,though less sharp in sound, as though muffled. In the midst of them wasa terrific explosion, seemingly from deep in the earth.
The flames from Castra Regis and from Diana's Grove made all aroundalmost as light as day, and now that the lightning had ceased to flash,their eyes, unblinded, were able to judge both perspective and detail.The heat of the burning house caused the iron doors to warp and collapse.Seemingly of their own accord, they fell open, and exposed the interior.The Saltons could now look through to the room beyond, where the well-hole yawned, a deep narrow circular chasm. From this the agonisedshrieks were rising, growing ever more terrible with each second thatpassed.
But it was not only the heart-rending sound that almost paralysed poorMimi with terror. What she saw was sufficient to fill her with evildreams for the remainder of her life. The whole place looked as if a seaof blood had been beating against it. Each of the explosions from belowhad thrown out from the well-hole, as if it had been the mouth of acannon, a mass of fine sand mixed with blood, and a horrible repulsiveslime in which were great red masses of rent and torn flesh and fat. Asthe explosions kept on, more and more of this repulsive mass was shot up,the great bulk of it falling back again. Many of the awful fragmentswere of something which had lately been alive. They quivered andtrembled and writhed as though they were still in torment, a suppositionto which the unending scream gave a horrible credence. At moments somemountainous mass of flesh surged up through the narrow orifice, as thoughforced by a measureless power through an opening infinitely smaller thanitself. Some of these fragments were partially covered with white skinas of a human being, and others--the largest and most numerous--withscaled skin as of a gigantic lizard or serpent. Once, in a sort of lullor pause, the seething contents of the hole rose, after
the manner of abubbling spring, and Adam saw part of the thin form of Lady Arabella,forced up to the top amid a mass of blood and slime, and what looked asif it had been the entrails of a monster torn into shreds. Several timessome masses of enormous bulk were forced up through the well-hole withinconceivable violence, and, suddenly expanding as they came into largerspace, disclosed sections of the White Worm which Adam and Sir Nathanielhad seen looking over the trees with its enormous eyes of emerald-greenflickering like great lamps in a gale.
At last the explosive power, which was not yet exhausted, evidentlyreached the main store of dynamite which had been lowered into the wormhole. The result was appalling. The ground for far around quivered andopened in long deep chasms, whose edges shook and fell in, throwing upclouds of sand which fell back and hissed amongst the rising water. Theheavily built house shook to its foundations. Great stones were thrownup as from a volcano, some of them, great masses of hard stone, squaredand grooved with implements wrought by human hands, breaking up andsplitting in mid air as though riven by some infernal power. Trees nearthe house--and therefore presumably in some way above the hole, whichsent up clouds of dust and steam and fine sand mingled, and which carriedan appalling stench which sickened the spectators--were torn up by theroots and hurled into the air. By now, flames were bursting violentlyfrom all over the ruins, so dangerously that Adam caught up his wife inhis arms, and ran with her from the proximity of the flames.
Then almost as quickly as it had begun, the whole cataclysm ceased,though a deep-down rumbling continued intermittently for some time. Thensilence brooded over all--silence so complete that it seemed in itself asentient thing--silence which seemed like incarnate darkness, andconveyed the same idea to all who came within its radius. To the youngpeople who had suffered the long horror of that awful night, it broughtrelief--relief from the presence or the fear of all that washorrible--relief which seemed perfected when the red rays of sunrise shotup over the far eastern sea, bringing a promise of a new order of thingswith the coming day.
* * * * *
His bed saw little of Adam Salton for the remainder of that night. Heand Mimi walked hand in hand in the brightening dawn round by the Brow toCastra Regis and on to Lesser Hill. They did so deliberately, in anattempt to think as little as possible of the terrible experiences of thenight. The morning was bright and cheerful, as a morning sometimes isafter a devastating storm. The clouds, of which there were plenty inevidence, brought no lingering idea of gloom. All nature was bright andjoyous, being in striking contrast to the scenes of wreck anddevastation, the effects of obliterating fire and lasting ruin.
The only evidence of the once stately pile of Castra Regis and itsinhabitants was a shapeless huddle of shattered architecture, dimly seenas the keen breeze swept aside the cloud of acrid smoke which marked thesite of the once lordly castle. As for Diana's Grove, they looked invain for a sign which had a suggestion of permanence. The oak trees ofthe Grove were still to be seen--some of them--emerging from a haze ofsmoke, the great trunks solid and erect as ever, but the larger branchesbroken and twisted and rent, with bark stripped and chipped, and thesmaller branches broken and dishevelled looking from the constant stressand threshing of the storm.
Of the house as such, there was, even at the short distance from whichthey looked, no trace. Adam resolutely turned his back on thedevastation and hurried on. Mimi was not only upset and shocked in manyways, but she was physically "dog tired," and falling asleep on her feet.Adam took her to her room and made her undress and get into bed, takingcare that the room was well lighted both by sunshine and lamps. The onlyobstruction was from a silk curtain, drawn across the window to keep outthe glare. He sat beside her, holding her hand, well knowing that thecomfort of his presence was the best restorative for her. He stayed withher till sleep had overmastered her wearied body. Then he went softlyaway. He found his uncle and Sir Nathaniel in the study, having an earlycup of tea, amplified to the dimensions of a possible breakfast. Adamexplained that he had not told his wife that he was going over thehorrible places again, lest it should frighten her, for the rest andsleep in ignorance would help her and make a gap of peacefulness betweenthe horrors.
Sir Nathaniel agreed.
"We know, my boy," he said, "that the unfortunate Lady Arabella is dead,and that the foul carcase of the Worm has been torn to pieces--pray Godthat its evil soul will never more escape from the nethermost hell."
They visited Diana's Grove first, not only because it was nearer, butalso because it was the place where most description was required, andAdam felt that he could tell his story best on the spot. The absolutedestruction of the place and everything in it seen in the broad daylightwas almost inconceivable. To Sir Nathaniel, it was as a story of horrorfull and complete. But to Adam it was, as it were, only on the fringes.He knew what was still to be seen when his friends had got over theknowledge of externals. As yet, they had only seen the outside of thehouse--or rather, where the outside of the house once had been. Thegreat horror lay within. However, age--and the experience of age--counts.
A strange, almost elemental, change in the aspect had taken place in thetime which had elapsed since the dawn. It would almost seem as if Natureherself had tried to obliterate the evil signs of what had occurred.True, the utter ruin of the house was made even more manifest in thesearching daylight; but the more appalling destruction which lay beneathwas not visible. The rent, torn, and dislocated stonework looked worsethan before; the upheaved foundations, the piled-up fragments of masonry,the fissures in the torn earth--all were at the worst. The Worm's holewas still evident, a round fissure seemingly leading down into the verybowels of the earth. But all the horrid mass of blood and slime, oftorn, evil-smelling flesh and the sickening remnants of violent death,were gone. Either some of the later explosions had thrown up from thedeep quantities of water which, though foul and corrupt itself, had stillsome cleansing power left, or else the writhing mass which stirred fromfar below had helped to drag down and obliterate the items of horror. Agrey dust, partly of fine sand, partly of the waste of the falling ruin,covered everything, and, though ghastly itself, helped to mask somethingstill worse.
After a few minutes of watching, it became apparent to the three men thatthe turmoil far below had not yet ceased. At short irregular intervalsthe hell-broth in the hole seemed as if boiling up. It rose and fellagain and turned over, showing in fresh form much of the nauseous detailwhich had been visible earlier. The worst parts were the great masses ofthe flesh of the monstrous Worm, in all its red and sickening aspect.Such fragments had been bad enough before, but now they were infinitelyworse. Corruption comes with startling rapidity to beings whosedestruction has been due wholly or in part to lightning--the whole massseemed to have become all at once corrupt! The whole surface of thefragments, once alive, was covered with insects, worms, and vermin of allkinds. The sight was horrible enough, but, with the awful smell added,was simply unbearable. The Worm's hole appeared to breathe forth deathin its most repulsive forms. The friends, with one impulse, moved to thetop of the Brow, where a fresh breeze from the sea was blowing up.
At the top of the Brow, beneath them as they looked down, they saw ashining mass of white, which looked strangely out of place amongst suchwreckage as they had been viewing. It appeared so strange that Adamsuggested trying to find a way down, so that they might see it moreclosely.
"We need not go down; I know what it is," Sir Nathaniel said. "Theexplosions of last night have blown off the outside of the cliffs--thatwhich we see is the vast bed of china clay through which the Wormoriginally found its way down to its lair. I can catch the glint of thewater of the deep quags far down below. Well, her ladyship didn'tdeserve such a funeral--or such a monument."
* * * * *
The horrors of the last few hours had played such havoc with Mimi'snerves, that a change of scene was imperative--if a permanent breakdownwas to be avoided.
"I think," said old Mr. Salton, "it is quit
e time you young peopledeparted for that honeymoon of yours!" There was a twinkle in his eye ashe spoke.
Mimi's soft shy glance at her stalwart husband, was sufficient answer.