DOCTOR DEE.
"How now, ye impious violators of the tomb! ye worse than
famine-stricken wolves, that rake up the dead in churchyards!" cried
Guy Fawkes, in a voice of thunder, to Doctor Dee and his companion; who,
startled by his sudden appearance, dropped the body, and retreated to a
short distance. "What devilish rites are ye about to enact, that ye thus
profane the sanctity of the grave?"
[Illustration: _Guy Fawkes discovers Doctor Dee & Edward Kelley
disintering the body of Elizabeth Orton_]
"And who art thou that darest thus to interrupt us?" demanded Dee,
sternly.
"It matters not," rejoined Fawkes, striding towards them. "Suffice it
you are both known to _me_. You, John Dee, warden of Manchester, who
deserve to be burnt at the stake for your damnable practices, rather
than hold the sacred office you fill; and you, Edward Kelley, his
associate, who boast of familiar intercourse with demons, and, unless
fame belies you, have purchased the intimacy at the price of your soul's
salvation. I know you both. I know, also, whose body you have
disinterred--it is that of the ill-fated prophetess, Elizabeth Orton.
And if you do not instantly restore it to the grave whence you have
snatched it, I will denounce you to the authorities of the town."
"Knowing thus much, you should know still more," retorted Doctor Dee,
"namely, that I am not to be lightly provoked. You have no power to quit
the churchyard--nay, not so much as to move a limb without my
permission."
As he spoke, he drew from beneath his cloak a small phial, the contents
of which he sprinkled over the intruder. Its effect was wonderful and
instantaneous. The limbs of Guy Fawkes stiffened where he stood. His
hand remained immovably fixed upon the pommel of his sword, and he
seemed transformed into a marble statue.
"You will henceforth acknowledge and respect my power," he continued.
"Were it my pleasure, I could bury you twenty fathoms deep in the earth
beneath our feet; or, by invoking certain spirits, convey you to the
summit of yon lofty tower," pointing to the church, "and hurl you from
it headlong. But I content myself with depriving you of motion, and
leave you in possession of sight and speech, that you may endure the
torture of witnessing what you cannot prevent."
So saying, he was about to return to the corpse with Kelley, when Guy
Fawkes exclaimed, in a hollow voice,
"Set me free, and I will instantly depart."
"Will you swear never to divulge what you have seen?" demanded Dee,
pausing.
"Solemnly," he replied.
"I will trust you, then," rejoined the Doctor;--"the rather that your
presence interferes with my purpose."
Taking a handful of loose earth from an adjoining grave, and muttering a
few words, that sounded like a charm, he scattered it over Fawkes. The
spell was instantly broken. A leaden weight seemed to be removed from
his limbs. His joints regained their suppleness, and with a convulsive
start, like that by which a dreamer casts off a nightmare, he was
liberated from his preternatural thraldom.
"And now, begone!" cried Doctor Dee, authoritatively.
"Suffer me to tarry with you a few moments," said Guy Fawkes, in a
deferential tone. "Heretofore, I will freely admit, I regarded you as an
impostor; but now I am convinced you are deeply skilled in the occult
sciences, and would fain consult you on the future."
"I have already said that your presence troubles me," replied Doctor
Dee. "But if you will call upon me at the College to-morrow, it may be I
will give you further proofs of my skill."
"Why not now, reverend sir?" urged Fawkes. "The question I would ask is
better suited to this dismal spot and witching hour, than to daylight
and the walls of your study."
"Indeed!" exclaimed Dee. "Your name?"
"Guy Fawkes," replied the other.
"Guy Fawkes!" echoed the Doctor, starting. "Nay, then, I guess the
nature of the question you would ask."
"Am I then known to you, reverend sir?" inquired Fawkes, uneasily.
"As well as to yourself--nay, better," answered the Doctor. "Bring the
lantern hither, Kelley," he continued, addressing his companion. "Look!"
he added, elevating the light so as to throw it upon the countenance of
Fawkes: "it is the very face,--the bronzed and strongly-marked
features,--the fierce black eye,--the iron frame, and foreign garb of
the figure we beheld in the show-stone."
"It is," replied Kelley. "I could have singled him out amid a thousand.
He looked thus as we tracked his perilous course, with his three
companions, the priest, Chetham, and Viviana Radcliffe, across Chat
Moss."
"How have you learned this?" cried Guy Fawkes, in amazement.
"By the art that reveals all things," answered Kelley.
"In proof that your thoughts are known to me," observed Dee, "I will
tell you the inquiry you would make before it is uttered. You would
learn whether the enterprise on which you are engaged will succeed."
"I would," replied Fawkes.
"Yet more," continued Dee. "I am aware of the nature of the plot, and
could name to you all connected with it."
"Your power is, indeed, wonderful," rejoined Fawkes in an altered tone.
"But will you give me the information I require?"
"Hum!" muttered Dee.
"I am too poor to purchase it," proceeded Fawkes, "unless a relic I have
brought from Spain has any value in your eyes."
[Illustration: _Doctor Dee, in conjunction with his Seer Edward Kelley,
exhibiting his magical skill to Guy Fawkes_]
"Tush!" exclaimed Dee, angrily. "Do you suppose I am a common juggler,
and practise my art for gain?"
"By no means, reverend sir," said Fawkes. "But I would not willingly put
you to trouble without evincing my gratitude."
"Well, then," replied Dee, "I will not refuse your request. And yet I
would caution you to beware how you pry into the future. You may repent
your rashness when it is too late."
"I have no fear," rejoined Fawkes. "Let me know the worst."
"Enough," answered Dee. "And now listen to me. That carcass having been
placed in the ground without the holy rites of burial being duly
performed, I have power over it. And, as the witch of Endor called up
Samuel, as is recorded in Holy Writ,--as Erichtho raised up a corpse to
reveal to Sextus Pompeius the event of the Pharsalian war,--as Elisha
breathed life into the nostrils of the Shunamite's son,--as Alcestis was
invoked by Hercules,--and as the dead maid was brought back to life by
Apollonius Thyaneus,--so I, by certain powerful incantations, will
allure the soul of the prophetess, for a short space, to its former
tenement, and compel it to answer my questions. Dare you be present at
this ceremony?"
"I dare," replied Fawkes.
"Follow me, then," said Dee. "You will need all your courage."
Muttering a hasty prayer, and secretly crossing himself, Guy Fawkes
strode after him towards the grave. By the Doctor's directions, he, with
some reluctance, assisted Kelley to raise the corpse, and convey it to
the charnel. Dee followed, bearing the lantern, and, on entering the
building, closed and fastened the door.
The chamber in which Guy Fawkes found himself was in perfect keeping
with the horrible ceremonial about to be performed. In one corner lay a
mouldering heap of skulls, bones, and other fragments of mortality; in
the other a pile of broken coffins, emptied of their tenants, and reared
on end. But what chiefly attracted his attention, was a ghastly
collection of human limbs, blackened with pitch, girded round with iron
hoops, and hung, like meat in a shambles, against the wall. There were
two heads, and, though the features were scarcely distinguishable, owing
to the liquid in which they had been immersed, they still retained a
terrific expression of agony. Seeing his attention directed to these
revolting objects, Kelley informed him they were the quarters of the two
priests who had recently been put to death, which had been left there
previously to being placed on the church-gates. The implements, and some
part of the attire used by the executioner in his butcherly office, were
scattered about, and mixed with the tools of the sexton; while in the
centre of the room stood a large wooden frame supported by trestles. On
this frame, stained with blood and smeared with pitch, showing the
purpose to which it had been recently put, the body was placed. This
done, Doctor Dee set down the lantern beside it; and, as the light fell
upon its livid features, sullied with earth, and exhibiting traces of
decay, Guy Fawkes was so appalled by the sight that he half repented of
what he had undertaken.
Noticing his irresolution, Doctor Dee said, "You may yet retire if you
think proper."
"No," replied Fawkes, rousing himself; "I will go through with it."
"It is well," replied Dee. And he extinguished the light.
An awful silence now ensued, broken only by a low murmur from Doctor
Dee, who appeared to be reciting an incantation. As he proceeded, his
tones became louder, and his accents those of command. Suddenly, he
paused, and seemed to await a response. But, as none was made, greatly
to the disappointment of Guy Fawkes, whose curiosity, notwithstanding
his fears, was raised to the highest pitch, he cried, "Blood is wanting
to complete the charm."
"If that is all, I will speedily supply the deficiency," replied Guy
Fawkes; and, drawing his rapier, he bared his left arm, and pricked it
deeply with the point of the weapon.
"I bleed now," he cried.
"Sprinkle the corpse with the ruddy current," rejoined Doctor Dee.
"Your commands are obeyed," replied Fawkes. "I have placed my hand on
its breast, and the blood is flowing upon it."
Upon this the Doctor began to mutter an incantation in a louder and more
authoritative tone than before. Presently, Kelley added his voice, and
they both joined in a sort of chorus, but in a jargon wholly
unintelligible to Guy Fawkes.
All at once a blue flame appeared above their heads, and, slowly
descending, settled upon the brow of the corpse, lighting up the sunken
cavities of the eyes, and the discoloured and distorted features.
"The charm works," shouted Doctor Dee.
"She moves! she moves!" exclaimed Guy Fawkes. "She is alive!"
"Take off your hand," cried the Doctor, "or mischief may ensue." And he
again continued his incantation.
"Down on your knees!" he exclaimed, at length, in a terrible voice. "The
spirit is at hand."
There was a rushing sound, and a stream of dazzling lightning shot down
upon the corpse, which emitted a hollow groan. In obedience to the
Doctor's commands, Guy Fawkes had prostrated himself on the ground: but
he kept his gaze steadily fixed on the body, which, to his infinite
astonishment, slowly arose, until it stood erect upon the frame. There
it remained perfectly motionless, with the arms close to the sides, and
the habiliments torn and dishevelled. The blue light still retained its
position upon the brow, and communicated a horrible glimmer to the
features. The spectacle was so dreadful that Guy Fawkes would fain have
averted his eyes, but he was unable to do so. Doctor Dee and his
companion, meanwhile, continued their invocations, until, as it seemed
to Fawkes, the lips of the corpse moved, and an awful voice exclaimed,
"Why have you called me?"
"Daughter!" replied Doctor Dee, rising, "in life thou wert endowed with
the gift of prophecy. In the grave, that which is to come must be
revealed to thee. We would question thee."
"Speak, and I will answer," replied the corpse.
"Interrogate her, my son," said Dee, addressing Fawkes, "and be brief,
for the time is short. So long only as that flame burns have I power
over her."
"Spirit of Elizabeth Orton," cried Guy Fawkes, "if indeed thou standest
before me, and some demon hath not entered thy frame to delude me,--by
all that is holy, and by every blessed saint, I adjure thee to tell me
whether the scheme on which I am now engaged for the advantage of the
Catholic Church will prosper?"
"Thou art mistaken, Guy Fawkes," returned the corpse. "Thy scheme is not
for the advantage of the Catholic Church."
"I will not pause to inquire wherefore," continued Fawkes. "But, grant
that the means are violent and wrongful, will the end be successful?"
"The end will be death," replied the corpse.
"To the tyrant--to the oppressors?" demanded Fawkes.
"To the conspirators," was the answer.
"Ha!" ejaculated Fawkes.
"Proceed, if you have aught more to ask," cried Dr. Dee. "The flame is
expiring."
"Shall we restore the fallen religion?" demanded Fawkes.
But before the words could be pronounced the light vanished, and a heavy
sound was heard, as of the body falling on the frame.
"It is over," said Doctor Dee.
"Can you not summon her again?" asked Fawkes, in a tone of deep
disappointment. "I had other questions to ask."
"Impossible," replied the Doctor. "The spirit is fled, and will not be
recalled. We must now commit the body to the earth. And this time it
shall be more decently interred."
"My curiosity is excited,--not satisfied," said Guy Fawkes. "Would it
were to occur again!"
"It is ever thus," replied Doctor Dee. "We seek to know that which is
interdicted,--and quench our thirst at a fountain that only inflames our
curiosity the more. Be warned, my son. You are embarked on a perilous
enterprise, and if you pursue it, it will lead you to certain
destruction."
"I cannot retreat," rejoined Fawkes, "and would not, if I could. I am
bound by an oath too terrible to be broken."
"I will absolve you of your oath, my son," said Dr. Dee, eagerly.
"You cannot, reverend sir," replied Fawkes. "By no sophistry could I
clear my conscience of the ties imposed upon it. I have sworn never to
desist from the execution of this scheme, unless those engaged in it
shall give me leave. Nay, so resolved am I, that if I stood alone I
would go on."
As he spoke, a deep groan issued from the corpse.
"You are again warned, my son," said Dee.
"Come forth," said Guy Fawkes, rushing towards the door, and throwing it
open. "This place stifles me."
The night has already been described as bright and beautiful. Before him
stood the Collegiate Church bathed in moonlight. He gazed abstractedly
at this venerable structure for a few moments, and then returned to the
charnel, where he found Doctor Dee and Kelley employed in placing the
body of the prophetess in a coffin, which they had taken from a pile in
the corner. He immediately proffered his assistance, and in a short
space the task was completed. The coffin was then borne towards the
grave, at the edge of which it was laid while the burial-service was
recited by Doctor Dee. This ended, it was lowered into its shallow
resting-place, and speedily covered with earth.
When all was ready for their departure, the Doctor turned to Fawkes,
and, bidding him farewell, observed,
"If you are wise, my son, you will profit by the awful warning you have
this night received."
"Before we part, reverend sir," replied Fawkes, "I would ask if you know
of other means whereby an insight may be obtained into the future?"
"Many, my son," replied Dee. "I have a magic glass, in which, with due
preparation, you may behold exact representations of coming events. I am
now returning to the College, and if you will accompany me, I will show
it to you."
The offer was eagerly accepted, and the party quitted the churchyard.