I do not assert that what I am about to relate is in all its particulars
absolutely true. Not, understand me, that it is not true, but I do not
feel that I care to make an assertion that is more than likely to be
received by a sceptical age with sneers of incredulity. I will content
myself with a simple narration of the events of that evening, the memory
of which is so indelibly impressed upon my mind, and which, were I able to
do so, I should forget without any sentiments of regret whatsoever.
The affair happened on the night before I fell ill of typhoid fever, and
is about the sole remaining remembrance of that immediate period left to
me. Briefly the story is as follows:
Notwithstanding the fact that I was overworked in the practice of my
profession--it was early in March, and I was preparing my contributions
for the coming Christmas issues of the periodicals for which I write--I
had accepted the highly honorable position of Entertainment Committeeman
at one of the small clubs to which I belonged. I accepted the office,
supposing that the duties connected with it were easy of performance, and
with absolutely no notion that the faith of my fellow-committeemen in my
judgment was so strong that they would ultimately manifest a desire to
leave the whole programme for the club's diversion in my hands. This,
however, they did; and when the month of March assumed command of the
calendar I found myself utterly fagged out and at my wits' end to know
what style of entertainment to provide for the club meeting to be held on
the evening of the 15th of that month. I had provided already an unusually
taking variety of evenings, of which one in particular, called the
"Martyrs' Night," in which living authors writhed through selections from
their own works, while an inhuman audience, every man of whom had suffered
even as the victims then suffered, sat on tenscore of camp-stools puffing
the smoke of twenty-five score of free cigars into their faces, and
gloating over their misery, was extremely successful, and had gained for
me among my professional brethren the enviable title of "Machiavelli
Junior." This performance, in fact, was the one now uppermost in the minds
of the club members, having been the most recent of the series; and it had
been prophesied by many men whose judgment was unassailable that no man,
not even I, could ever conceive of anything that could surpass it.
Disposed at first to question the accuracy of a prophecy to the effect
that I was, like most others of my kind, possessed of limitations, I came
finally to believe that perhaps, after all, these male Cassandras with
whom I was thrown were right. Indeed, the more I racked my brains to think
of something better than the "Martyrs' Night," the more I became convinced
that in that achievement I had reached the zenith of my powers. The thing
for me to do now was to hook myself securely on to the zenith and stay
there. But how to do it? That was the question which drove sleep from my
eyes, and deprived me for a period of six weeks of my reason, my hair
departing immediately upon the restoration thereof--a not uncommon
after-symptom of typhoid.
[Illustration]
It was a typical March night, this one upon which the extraordinary
incident about to be related took place. It was the kind of night that
novelists use when they are handling a mystery that in the abstract would
amount to nothing, but which in the concrete of a bit of wild, weird, and
windy nocturnalism sends the reader into hysterics. It may be--I shall not
attempt to deny it--that had it happened upon another kind of an
evening--a soft, mild, balmy June evening, for instance--my own experience
would have seemed less worthy of preservation in the amber of publicity,
but of that the reader must judge for himself. The fact alone remains that
upon the night when my uncanny visitor appeared, the weather department
was apparently engaged in getting rid of its remnants. There was a large
percentage of withering blast in the general make-up of the evening; there
were rain and snow, which alternated in pattering upon my window-pane and
whitening the apology for a wold that stands three blocks from my flat on
Madison Square; the wind whistled as it always does upon occasions of this
sort, and from all corners of my apartment, after the usual fashion, there
seemed to come sounds of a supernatural order, the effect of which was to
send cold chills off on their regular trips up and down the spine of their
victim--in this instance myself. I wish that at the time the hackneyed
quality of these sensations had appealed to me. That it did not do so was
shown by the highly nervous state in which I found myself as my clock
struck eleven. If I could only have realized at that hour that these
symptoms were the same old threadbare premonitions of the appearance of a
supernatural being, I should have left the house and gone to the club, and
so have avoided the visitation then imminent. Had I done this, I should
doubtless also have escaped the typhoid, since the doctors attributed that
misfortune to the shock of my experience, which, in my then wearied state,
I was unable to sustain--and what the escape of typhoid would have meant
to me only those who have seen the bills of my physician and druggist for
services rendered and prescriptions compounded are aware. That my mind
unconsciously took thought of spirits was shown by the fact that when the
first chill came upon me I arose and poured out for myself a stiff bumper
of old Reserve Rye, which I immediately swallowed; but beyond this I did
not go. I simply sat there before my fire and cudgelled my brains for an
idea whereby my fellow-members at the Gutenberg Club might be amused. How
long I sat there I do not know. It may have been ten minutes; it may have
been an hour--I was barely conscious of the passing of time--but I do know
that the clock in the Dutch Reformed Church steeple at Twenty-ninth Street
and Fifth Avenue was clanging out the first stroke of the hour of midnight
when my door-bell rang.
Theretofore--if I may be allowed the word--the tintinnabulation of my
door-bell had been invariably pleasing unto me. I am fond of company,
and company alone was betokened by its ringing, since my creditors
gratify their passion for interviews at my office, if perchance they
happen to find me there. But on this occasion--I could not at the moment
tell why--its clanging seemed the very essence of discord. It jangled
with my nervous system, and as it ceased I was conscious of a feeling of
irritability which is utterly at variance with my nature outside of
business hours. In the office, for the sake of discipline, I frequently
adopt a querulous manner, finding it necessary in dealing with
office-boys, but the moment I leave shop behind me I become a different
individual entirely, and have been called a moteless sunbeam by those
who have seen only that side of my character. This, by-the-way, must be
regarded as a confidential communication, since I am at present engaged
in preparing a vest-pocket edition of the philosophical works of
Schopenhauer in words of one syllable, and were it known that the
publisher had intrusted the magnificent pessimism of that illustrious
juggler of words and theories to a "moteless sunbeam" it might seriously
interfere with the sale of the work; and I may say, too, that this
request that my confidence be respected is entirely disinterested,
inasmuch as I declined to do the work on the royalty plan, insisting
upon the payment of a lump sum, considerably in advance.
But to return. I heard the bell ring with a sense of profound disgust. I
did not wish to see anybody. My whiskey was low, my quinine pills few in
number; my chills alone were present in a profusion bordering upon
ostentation.
"I'll pretend not to hear it," I said to myself, resuming my work of
gazing at the flickering light of my fire--which, by-the-way, was the only
light in the room.
"Ting-a-ling-a-ling" went the bell, as if in answer to my resolve.
"Confound the luck!" I cried, jumping from my chair and going to the door
with the intention of opening it, an intention however which was speedily
abandoned, for as I approached it a sickly fear came over me--a sensation
I had never before known seemed to take hold of my being, and instead of
opening the door, I pushed the bolt to make it the more secure.
[Illustration]
"There's a hint for you, whoever you are!" I cried. "Do you hear that bolt
slide, you?" I added, tremulously, for from the other side there came no
reply--only a more violent ringing of the bell.
"See here!" I called out, as loudly as I could, "who are you, anyhow. What
do you want?"
There was no answer, except from the bell, which began again.
"Bell-wire's too cheap to steal!" I called again. "If you want wire, go
buy it; don't try to pull mine out. It isn't mine, anyhow. It belongs to
the house."
Still there was no reply, only the clanging of the bell; and then my
curiosity overcame my fear, and with a quick movement I threw open the
door.
"Are you satisfied now?" I said, angrily. But I addressed an empty
vestibule. There was absolutely no one there, and then I sat down on the
mat and laughed. I never was so glad to see no one in my life. But my
laugh was short-lived.
"What made that bell ring?" I suddenly asked myself, and then the feeling
of fear came upon me again. I gathered my somewhat shattered self
together, sprang to my feet, slammed the door with such force that the
corridors echoed to the sound, slid the bolt once more, turned the key,
moved a heavy chair in front of it, and then fled like a frightened hare
to the sideboard in my dining-room. There I grasped the decanter holding
my whiskey, seized a glass from the shelf, and started to pour out the
usual dram, when the glass fell from my hand, and was shivered into a
thousand pieces on the hardwood floor; for, as I poured, I glanced through
the open door, and there in my sanctum the flicker of a random flame
divulged the form of a being, the eyes of whom seemed fixed on mine,
piercing me through and through. To say that I was petrified but dimly
expresses the situation. I was granitized, and so I remained, until by a
more luminous flicker from the burning wood I perceived that the being
wore a flaring red necktie.
"He is human," I thought; and with the thought the tension on my nervous
system relaxed, and I was able to feel a sufficiently well-developed sense
of indignation to demand an explanation. "This is a mighty cool proceeding
on your part," I said, leaving the sideboard and walking into the sanctum.
[Illustration]
"Yes," he replied, in a tone that made me jump, it was so extremely
sepulchral--a tone that seemed as if it might have been acquired in a damp
corner of some cave off the earth. "But it's a cool evening."
"I wonder that a man of your coolness doesn't hire himself out to some
refrigerating company," I remarked, with a sneer which would have
delighted the soul of Cassius himself.
"I have thought of it," returned the being, calmly. "But never went any
further. Summer-hotel proprietors have always outbid the refrigerating
people, and they in turn have been laid low by millionaires, who have
hired me on occasion to freeze out people they didn't like, but who have
persisted in calling. I must confess, though, my dear Hiram, that you are
not much warmer yourself--this greeting is hardly what I expected."
"Well, if you want to make me warmer," I retorted, hotly, "just keep on
calling me Hiram. How the deuce did you know of that blot on my
escutcheon, anyhow?" I added, for Hiram was one of the crimes of my family
that I had tried to conceal, my parents having fastened the name of Hiram
Spencer Carrington upon me at baptism for no reason other than that my
rich bachelor uncle, who subsequently failed and became a charge upon me,
was so named.
"I was standing at the door of the church when you were baptized,"
returned the visitor, "and as you were an interesting baby, I have kept an
eye on you ever since. Of course I knew that you discarded Hiram as soon
as you got old enough to put away childish things, and since the failure
of your uncle I have been aware that you desired to be known as Spencer
Carrington, but to me you are, always have been, and always will be,
Hiram."
"Well, don't give it away," I pleaded. "I hope to be famous some day, and
if the American newspaper paragrapher ever got hold of the fact that once
in my life I was Hiram, I'd have to Hiram to let me alone."
"That's a bad joke, Hiram," said the visitor, "and for that reason I like
it, though I don't laugh. There is no danger of your becoming famous if
you stick to humor of that sort."
"Well, I'd like to know," I put in, my anger returning--"I'd like to know
who in Brindisi you are, what in Cairo you want, and what in the name of
the seventeen hinges of the gates of Singapore you are doing here at this
time of night?"
"When you were a baby, Hiram, you had blue eyes," said my visitor. "Bonny
blue eyes, as the poet says."
"What of it?" I asked.
"This," replied my visitor. "If you have them now, you can very easily see
what I am doing here. _I am sitting down and talking to you._"
"Oh, are you?" I said, with fine scorn. "I had not observed that. The fact
is, my eyes were so weakened by the brilliance of that necktie of yours
that I doubt I could see anything--not even one of my own jokes. It's a
scorcher, that tie of yours. In fact, I never saw anything so red in my
life."
"I do not see why you complain of my tie," said the visitor. "Your own is
just as bad."
"Blue is never so withering as red," I retorted, at the same time
caressing the scarf I wore.
"Perhaps not--but--ah--if you will look in the glass, Hiram, you will
observe that your point is not well taken," said my vis-a-vis, calmly.
I acted upon the suggestion, and looked upon my reflection in the glass,
lighting a match to facilitate the operation. I was horrified to observe
that my beautiful blue tie, of which I was so proud, had in some manner
changed, and was now of the same aggressive hue as was that of my visitor,
red even as a brick is red. To grasp it firmly in my hands and tear it
from my neck was the work of a moment, and then in a spirit of rage I
turned upon my companion.
"See here," I cried, "I've had quite enough of you. I can't make you out,
and I can't say that I want to. You know where the door is--you will
oblige me by putting it to its proper use."
[Illustration]
"Sit down, Hiram," said he, "and don't be foolish and ungrateful. You are
behaving in a most extraordinary fashion, destroying your clothing and
acting like a madman generally. What was the use of ripping up a handsome
tie like that?"
"I despise loud hues. Red is a jockey's color," I answered.
"But you did not destroy the red tie," said he, with a smile. "You tore up
your blue one--look. There it is on the floor. The red one you still have
on."
Investigation showed the truth of my visitor's assertion. That flaunting
streamer of anarchy still made my neck infamous, and before me on the
floor, an almost unrecognizable mass of shreds, lay my cherished cerulean
tie. The revelation stunned me; tears came into my eyes, and trickling
down over my cheeks, fairly hissed with the feverish heat of my flesh. My
muscles relaxed, and I fell limp into my chair.
"You need stimulant," said my visitor, kindly. "Go take a drop of your Old
Reserve, and then come back here to me. I've something to say to you."
"Will you join me?" I asked, faintly.
"No," returned the visitor. "I am so fond of whiskey that I never molest
it. That act which is your stimulant is death to the rye. Never realized
that, did you?"
"No, I never did," I said, meekly.
"And yet you claim to love it. Bah!" he said.
And then I obeyed his command, drained my glass to the dregs, and
returned. "What is your mission?" I asked, when I had made myself as
comfortable as was possible under the circumstances.
"To relieve you of your woes," he said.
"You are a homoeopath, I observe," said I, with a sneer. "You are a
homoeopath in theory and an allopath in practice."
"I am not usually unintelligent," said he. "I fail to comprehend your
meaning. Perhaps you express yourself badly."
"I wish you'd express yourself for Zulu-land," I retorted, hotly. "What I
mean is, you believe in the _similia similibus_ business, but you
prescribe large doses. I don't believe troubles like mine can be cured on
your plan. A man can't get rid of his stock by adding to it."
[Illustration]
"Ah, I see. You think I have added to your troubles?"
"I don't think so," I answered, with a fond glance at my ruined tie. "I
know so."
"Well, wait until I have laid my plan before you, and see if you won't
change your mind," said my visitor, significantly.
"All right," I said. "Proceed. Only hurry. I go to bed early, as a rule,
and it's getting quite early now."
"It's only one o'clock," said the visitor, ignoring the sarcasm. "But I
will hasten, as I've several other calls to make before breakfast."
"Are you a milkman?" I asked.
"You are flippant," he replied. "But, Hiram," he added, "I have come here
to aid you in spite of your unworthiness. You want to know what to provide
for your club night on the 15th. You want something that will knock the
'Martyr's Night' silly."
"Not exactly that," I replied, "I don't want anything so abominably good
as to make all the other things I have done seem failures. That is not
good business."
"Would you like to be hailed as the discoverer of genius? Would you like
to be the responsible agent for the greatest exhibition of skill in a
certain direction ever seen? Would you like to become the most famous
_impresario_ the world has ever known?"
"Now," I said, forgetting my dignity under the enthusiasm with which I was
inspired by my visitor's words, and infected more or less with his
undoubtedly magnetite spirit--"now you're shouting."
"I thought so, Hiram. I thought so, and that's why I am here. I saw you on
Wall Street to-day, and read your difficulty at once in your eyes, and I
resolved to help you. I am a magician, and one or two little things have
happened of late to make me wish to prestidigitate in public. I knew you
were after a show of some kind, and I've come to offer you my services."
"Oh, pshaw!" I said. "The members of the Gutenberg Club are men of
brains--not children. Card tricks are hackneyed, and sleight-of-hand shows
pall."
[Illustration]
"Do they, indeed?" said the visitor. "Well, mine won't. If you don't
believe it, I'll prove to you what I can do."
"I have no paraphernalia," I said.
"Well, I have," said he, and as he spoke, a pack of cards seemed to grow
out of my hands. I must have turned pale at this unexpected happening, for
my visitor smiled, and said:
"Don't be frightened. That's only one of my tricks. Now choose a card," he
added, "and when you have done so, toss the pack in the air. Don't tell me
what the card is; it alone will fall to the floor."
"Nonsense!" said I. "It's impossible."
"Do as I tell you."
I did as he told me, to a degree only. I tossed the cards in the air
without choosing one, although I made a feint of doing so.
_Not a card fell back to the floor. They every one disappeared from view
in the ceiling._ If it had not been for the heavy chair I had rolled in
front of the door, I think I should have fled.
"How's that for a trick?" asked my visitor.