Transcriber's Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold
text by =equal signs=.
[Illustration:
The Black Cat
December 1895
=THE GREAT STAR RUBY.=
BARNES MACGREGGOR.
=THE INTERRUPTED BANQUET.=
RENÉ BACHE.
=THE ARCHANGEL.=
JAMES Q. HYATT.
=ASLEEP AT LONE MOUNTAIN.=
H. D. UMBSTAETTER.
=KOOTCHIE.=
HAROLD KINSABBY.
=FRAZER'S FIND.=
ROBERTA LITTLEHALE.
5
CENTS
THE SHORTSTORY PUBLISHING CO. 144 HIGH ST., BOSTON, MASS.
No. 3. Copyright 1895 by The Shortstory Publishing Co.
]
[Illustration:
Mason & Hamlin Co.
_The Mason and Hamlin Pianos are the only pianos manufactured
containing the patented Screw Stringer, by virtue of which they do
not require one quarter as much tuning as any other piano made: thus
reducing expense of keeping and inconvenience to a minimum._
_Full particulars and catalogues mailed free on application._
Mason & Hamlin Co.
BOSTON. NEW YORK. CHICAGO.
]
[Illustration:
High Grade
Salad for
High Grade
People
Book about real Olive Oil—Nature's best refined—appreciated by folks
of educated taste—free if you mail us your calling card—we don't want
postal card folks—A. G. Belden & Co., 145 Maiden Lane, New York.
Importers.
]
[Illustration:
Lablache Face Powder
The Queen of Toilet Powders.
THE purest and most perfect Face Powder that science and skill can
produce. Makes the skin soft and beautiful and removes Sun-burn, Tan,
Freckles, and all shiny appearance. Invisible on closest inspection.
Absolutely harmless. We invite chemical analysis and the closest
search for injurious ingredients. It is used and indorsed by the most
prominent society and professional ladies in Europe and America. Insist
upon having Lablache Powder; or risk the consequences produced by cheap
powders. Flesh, White, Pink, and Cream Tints.
Price, 50c. per box.
Of all druggists, or by mail.
BEN. LEVY & CO., French Perfumers,
34 WEST STREET, BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A.
]
[Illustration:
O
TO
O
Everything in Carpets, Rugs, Hangings, and Upholstery, from
the Oriental to the Occidental, from the superb antique to the
attractive modern, from the choicest luxury to the plainest every-day
necessity—if it's worth having, you'll find it among our stock, and at
prices that bring wholesale and retail buyers from everywhere. John H.
Pray, Sons & Co., 658 Washington St., opposite Boylston St., Boston,
Mass.
]
The Black Cat (Vol. I, No. 3)
A Monthly Magazine of Original Short Stories.
No. 3. DECEMBER, 1895. 5 cents a copy.
50 cents a year.
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston, Mass., as second-class matter.
Copyright, 1895, by The Shortstory Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
CONTENTS
Title Author Page
The Great Star Ruby. BARNES MACGREGGOR. 1
The Interrupted Banquet. RENÉ BACHE. 11
The Archangel. JAMES Q. HYATT. 19
Asleep at Lone Mountain. H. D. UMBSTAETTER. 24
Kootchie. HAROLD KINSABBY. 37
Frazer's Find. ROBERTA LITTLEHALE. 40
Advertisements. 47
The Great Star Ruby.
BY BARNES MACGREGGOR.
IT was late in the evening of Melbourne Cup Day. In one of the
dining-rooms of the Victoria Club three men sat smoking and talking
earnestly together. Certainly the events of the last sixteen hours
furnished ample subject for conversation. Melbourne Cup Day means to
the Australian all that Derby Day does to the Englishman. It means,
also, many things that even the greatest sporting event of the English
year cannot mean to the inhabitants of the compact little island,
provided with so many other facilities for amusement and intercourse.
In this land of tremendous distances—where four million people occupy
an area equal to that of the United States,—in this island continent
of opposites—where Christmas comes in midsummer and Fourth of July in
midwinter, where swans are black and birds are songless,—this is the
one day when all classes and conditions assemble at one place and take
their pleasures as a unit.
From Victoria and New South Wales, from North, South, and West
Australia, from Queensland, even from Tasmania and the sister colony
of New Zealand, separated from the continent by miles of water,
visitors of all kind and degree had flocked by the thousands. When
the starting flag fell that morning there were assembled about the
track picturesque miners and rugged bushmen, self-made capitalists,
book-makers, and millionaire wool growers, charming women and
well-groomed men, to the number of almost a quarter of a million.
To all of these the occasion was one anticipated and planned for
during twelve months past. It was the occasion when their long pent
Anglo-Saxon sporting taste—for nine out of every ten Australians are
of English ancestry—intensified by the free, out-of-door life, and by
the absence of the outlets furnished in a more concentrated state of
civilization, found exuberant expression. To each it carried, besides,
some special significance, according to his rank and occupation. To the
betting man it meant that a single firm of book-makers had on deposit
in the banks of Melbourne and Sidney wagers to the amount of over one
hundred thousand pounds sterling; for, like the English Derby, this
is a "classical" event, upon which bets are often made for the coming
year the very day after the preceding race has been run. Among the
women it meant triumphs of millinery, gowns that had been ordered from
London and Paris many months or even a year in advance, the fashionable
display of Goodwood, the Derby, and the Ascot all compressed into a
single day.
Among the mine owners and wool growers it meant journeys by rail, boat,
or private coach, extending over hundreds, sometimes thousands of
miles, and lasting for days and weeks, even months. Australia has well
been called "The Land of the Golden Fleece." Its flocks of sheep are
the largest, its gold mines and coal mines the richest in the world.
Its flocks are counted not merely by hundreds or thousands, but by
hundreds of thousands; and a single sheep station often extends over
a hundred thousand acres. But with this immensity of interests there
is linked the familiar loneliness of grandeur. The greater a country
gentleman's possessions, the farther he is removed from society, until
the largest proprietors are often separated by forty or fifty miles
from their nearest neighbors. For this solitude the one outlet is the
journey to Melbourne for the annual cup races.
Upon this particular day the fashionable parade had eclipsed in size
and splendor that of any previous year. In addition to the races,
there had been the notable first night of the Grand Opera House, opened
now for the first time to the public; and the day had culminated in an
evening of such brilliancy and distinction that the three men who sat
talking at the Victoria Club found superlatives too weak to express
their enthusiasm.
"Rather than miss this day, I would have lost five years of my life,"
said one of the group. Then, turning to beckon the waiter, in order
that he might emphasize his words by some refreshment, he observed
a guest of the club—evidently a stranger—sitting alone at an
adjoining table. With the exuberant new-world hospitality of a man who
had evidently not been a loser in the day's exchange of wealth, he
stretched out a welcoming hand, with, "Stranger, won't you join us?"
Without waiting for further formality, the solitary man strode up to
the group and seated himself at their table.
"Gentlemen," he began, "I couldn't help overhearing what you said. I,
too, would have given a good deal to have been a spectator. In fact, I
had been looking forward to this event for a whole year, and, as luck
would have it, missed it by the delay of an hour. If the steamer from
Calcutta had reached Sydney half an hour before sundown yesterday,
instead of half an hour after, I should have been in Melbourne early
this morning, instead of late to-night. As it is, I arrived only ten
minutes ago, and, having a card to your club from the Wanderer's in
London, I came here to take the edge off my disappointment. The next
best thing to being on the scene of action is to hear about it from an
eye-witness. So I depend upon you to give me an account of the affair.
At any rate, I only hope the races aren't finished."
"Oh, of course there will be more races," said the spokesman of the
party; "but such a sight as the opening of the Opera House Melbourne
isn't likely to see again. There were stars, of course, but no one
noticed what was going on on the stage, you understand; the real show
was in the house, which was simply packed. Such women! Such stunning
gowns! And the jewels—why, it looked as though half the kingdoms of
Europe had lent their crown jewels for the occasion.
"In all that gorgeousness it was mighty hard to pick out the handsomest
face or the finest ornaments. But of course there was one woman here,
just as there is everywhere, who carried off the palm. It wasn't only
that she was beautiful, though in her dark, stately fashion she was far
and away the handsomest woman present; and it wasn't only that she sat
where she did in the front of the stage box, with her solitary escort
in the background, when every other box in the theater was crammed; but
upon the bodice of her gown—it was a gorgeous gold and white brocaded
and lace-trimmed affair, so I heard it whispered among the women—she
wore the most striking and gorgeous ornament in the entire audience.
This was a jockey-cap made entirely of precious stones; the peak was a
solid mass of diamonds, the band a row of sapphires, while the crown
consisted of an enormous ruby. 'Twas rather showy, of course, but so
appropriate for this particular race night that no woman could have
resisted wearing it. Of course it stood out wonderfully—it was as big
as a half-crown piece, you understand,—and it wasn't long before every
glass in the house was fixed upon that pin and the beautiful woman that
wore it.
"I turned my glass on it with the rest," he added, laughing, "and
that's how I got such a good photograph of it."
"Speaking of precious stones," said the stranger, who so far had
listened without comment, "reminds me of a fifty-thousand-pound ruby
that once involved a daring young Englishman in a series of strange
adventures."
"Give us the adventures," said the spokesman of the party, scenting at
once a stirring tale that would make a fitting wind-up to the day's
varied excitements. "A jewel always serves as a magnet for romance,
especially if the jewel is a fifty-thousand-pound ruby."
"To begin with," said the strange man, apparently unmoved by his host's
last remarks, "you must understand that, while there are millions of
rubies mined every year, a really first-class stone is one of the
rarest as well as the most valuable gems in the world. In Ceylon, where
some of the largest ruby mines in the world are located, the Moormen,
who have a monopoly of the gem trade, often bring down from the north
country bullock cartloads of uncut rubies, but probably in handling
ten million gems not one will be found of the desired fineness and of
flawless purity and luster. These Moormen are the shrewdest, with a
few exceptions the most unscrupulous, and always the most wonderful
judges of gems in the world, and they are without exception rich.
They have parceled out the gem-fields in the Tamil districts, and the
natives whom they hire to hunt gems along the river bottoms, where the
finest are found, are subjected to the most rigid scrutiny and daily
search; for, though the diggers are always naked, they often attempt to
conceal gems in their ears, nostrils, armpits, or elsewhere, with the
end in view of disposing of them to rival Moormen. For, though these
Moormen are openly fair dealers among themselves, they cannot resist
buying gems smuggled from their neighbors' fields. Consequently, a
complete detective service is attached to each one of these diggings,
and woe to the Tamil who is caught attempting to smuggle gems across
the lines! He simply disappears, that's all. No one is ever called
to account, and the awful secrecy of his captors and the mystery
surrounding his end appal his fellows, keeping them in a subjection
that is all but slavery, and in some respects infinitely worse.
"But these Tamil diggers are very wise, and they know when they happen
upon a grand uncut gem. Perhaps they will bury it again and spend a
whole year maneuvering to get the jewel over the lines to the rival
buyers, finally giving it up, and turning it over to the owners of the
fields. As the really fine ones are rarely larger than a hazelnut, and
each is worth from twenty to one hundred times as much as a diamond of
the same size, it is worth the digger's while to make a lifelong study
of the relative values, and then profit thereby.
"Now, this young Englishman had a curious hobby. For years he had
desired to possess one of these almost priceless rubies, and it was
partly with the hope of obtaining one that he visited Ceylon, where he
had left orders with the Moormen gem dealers to reserve for him the
finest and largest stone that could be found.
"Meantime he headed an exploring party, whose way lay through the
jungles about a hundred miles north of Kandy, toward the ancient
Buddhist city Anarajapoora, the throne of the famous King Tissa, the
shrine of the oldest tree in the world,—the sacred Bo. It was a long
and tedious march. The travelers usually halted at mid-morning, slept
till the shadows cooled the air a little, then resumed the journey
as far into the night as possible, sometimes continuing till the next
mid-morning, when the sun's heat again brought them to a standstill.
On this particular daybreak they had halted beside a swift stream,
doubtful at which point to attempt to ford it. The leader had sent men
both up and down the stream to search for a suitable spot, and wandered
along its banks, more occupied with the glories of the tropic sunrise,
the sparkle of the dew on the giant spider-threads stretched from limb
to limb, the stir of rare birds and animals with which the jungle was
more than alive, than with the problem of fording the stream. Upon
reaching an inviting nook, he sat down to roll a cigarette, first
taking care to search for any jungle enemies in ambush which might make
him legitimate prey. Suddenly he heard a great crashing of branches in
the thicket on the opposite side of the river. Then, like a flash of
lightning, a naked Tamil, red with blood, a look of desperation and
hopeless despair on his face, plunged out of the avalanche of green
beyond, and, leaping headlong into the water, struck out across the
stream. The traveler had risen to his feet, and stood watching amazedly
the course of the swimmer, which was aimless, like that of a desperate
man wandering through a totally unfamiliar country. His head was shaven
closely, though the natives usually wear their hair long. He swam with
great effort. Indeed, the watcher on the bank saw that it was ten to
one against the swimmer's success, and instinctively his heart went
out in pity. The unfortunate wretch was now being carried rapidly down
stream and toward the man on the bank, who could see the straining
of every fiber in the Tamil's body, even the look of despair in his
bloodshot eyes. Suddenly, just as success seemed assured, the swimmer
threw up his hands, uttered a strange moan, and went down. The man on
the bank rushed down the stream, stopped at a point where a huge banyan
tree spread its branches far over the swollen waters, and climbed out
on a thick limb. A moment later he saw the body of the Tamil rise
almost directly beneath him. Clinging with one hand to the tree, he
lowered himself over the treacherous torrent, and with a mighty effort
seized the drowning man by the ankle and so dragged him to the shore.
"Back into ambush he half carried the poor wreck, and, laying him
on the sod, began the task of reviving him. In less than ten minutes
the Tamil opened his eyes, discharged a gallon of water, then gasped,
struggled up into a half-sitting posture, and looked about him. When
he saw the Englishman bending over him, and comprehended, he uttered
the most pitiful wails of gratitude imaginable, groveling in the dust,
kissing his preserver's feet. The water had washed the blood from him,
but he was a mass of wounds, scars, bruises, lash marks, and bullet
cuts. How he ever managed to go as far as he must have gone, leaving a
trail of blood behind him, was a mystery. But what specially attracted
the Englishman's attention was a blood-stained bandage around the
fugitive's leg, midway between the knee and thigh, which was the only
rag on the poor fellow's body. He was about to question him, by signs
and syllables, for his knowledge of the Tamil patois was very limited,
when he heard another great crashing of the thicket across the stream,
accompanied by the sound of voices. Instantly, there flashed across
the poor creature's face a look of unspeakable terror, as he panted
out in hoarse gutturals, 'Sa-ya-ta! Sa-ya-ta!' an appeal for salvation
which would have moved a heart of stone. Motioning to him to remain
quiet—an unnecessary precaution, since he was scarcely able to lift
his head from the marshy ground—his preserver gave him brandy; then,
by a circuitous route, ran up stream, coming out directly opposite four
mounted Moormen who were ranting up and down the shore.
"Upon his appearance, the horsemen approached, and asked if he had
seen any one go by. They were on the track, they explained, of a Tamil
gem-digger, who was smuggling a ruby worth fifty thousand pounds over
the lines of the Bakook-Khan gem-fields, and with the owner of the
fields had chased him sixty miles. The man could be recognized, they
said, because his head was shaven, and he was quite naked, except for a
bandage tied around one leg, in which he had cut a hole and buried the
ruby.
"To all of this the Englishman answered that he had seen such a man
leap from the jungle and plunge into the river only a few moments ago,
adding that they would better wait until the flood went down before
searching the river bottom, as it would be impossible to find even an
elephant in that muddy water. At this the Moormen set up a howl of
rage, and, after an angry consultation, passed on down the stream,
scanning the river bank. The traveler was about to return to the Tamil,
realizing the man's immediate danger, when another crowd burst through
the jungle opposite, and at the sight of the Englishman approached
him with much the same story as had the first, except that, according
to their tale, the gem-digger had been smuggling from the Sabat-Keel
fields. To them he made the same reply, adding that another party had
just been there from the Bakook-Khan fields, making a similar claim. At
this the spokesman set up a terrific wail, denouncing them as rogues,
thieves, impostors, and heaven knows what not. But just in the midst of
his tirade he was cut short by the approach of still another band of
claimants, and immediately the three groups of angry Moormen were in
the midst of a wrangle over the ownership of the disputed gem.
"In their absorption the Englishman saw his chance to escape. With an
occasional glance backward to make sure that he was not observed, he
made his way stealthily to that spot in the ambush where he had left
the wounded Tamil.
"The man was gone!
"For a moment his rescuer stood nonplussed. Then, as he looked first
one way and then the other, his eye caught the gleam, a few yards
away, of the silver top of the brandy flask that he had left with his
patient by way of a comforter. As he stooped to recover it, he detected
a fresh blood stain on the grass, and farther on still another.
Evidently the Tamil, overcome by his fear of capture, had attempted
flight,—an undertaking that in his enfeebled state meant certain and
early death. Without stopping to consider the danger of following his
ill-fated protégé alone into the unknown depths of the jungle, the
Englishman started in pursuit. Before he had gone five steps, however,
he realized his peril. Beyond him, creeping along on all fours, he saw
the blood-stained fugitive, moving, unconscious of his peril, into the
very jaws of a huge tiger, crouched ready to spring upon his prey."
"And the Tamil was killed?" cried the party.
"No," said the stranger; "the Tamil was saved from this horrible
death, though only after his rescuer had passed through a hand-to-hand
struggle with the tiger, in which he was almost killed. As it was, he
lost the use of his right arm for the rest of his life. But, in spite
of all that he could do, the fugitive died a few hours later, overcome
by fright and fatigue."
"And the ruby?"
"The ruby, of course, fell into the hands of the Englishman, who,
convinced that, owing to the multiplicity of claimants, it would be
impossible ever to ascertain the stone's rightful owner, concealed
it in his tobacco pouch before he was joined by his party. These, he
learned when he was brought to his senses, had returned several hours
ago from the other side of the river, to which they had retired,
frightened by the many outcries of the mounted Moormen, and had found
their leader only after a long search, which would have been hopeless
except for the blood trail left by the wounded Tamil.
"For a few days after his return to their camp, wounded as he was, and
weakened by his encounter with the tiger, he gave little thought to the
stone that had fallen into his hands, as if from the sky. But with his
earliest convalescence, his jewel mania returned, intensified by the
actual possession of a ruby that it afterwards proved was, no doubt,
the finest in the world. By the time that he reached Amsterdam, to
which he had taken passage at his earliest opportunity, with the idea
of having his treasure cut by an expert, this mania had reached such a
pitch that it was only with the greatest effort that he could finally
make up his mind to leave it in the hands of a jewel cutter; and from
the moment that it was out of his possession he began to suspect every
person that he met, the jewel cutter included, of a desire to rob him
of his treasure. What gave color to his suspicions was the fact that at
the shop where he left the ruby delay followed delay, and postponement
succeeded postponement, the dealer putting him off each time with vague
excuses and never-fulfilled promises. At length, after five weeks of
these mysterious delays and excuses, almost crazed by wearing anxiety,
he confided his secret to one of a firm of private detectives, a man
whom he employed to watch and investigate the movements of the jewel
cutter.
"On the very night of the day in which he had taken this step, the
jewel was returned to him; it had proved to be a stone not only
magnificent in size and color, but curiously ribbed with white
rays,—that is, a star ruby, pronounced to be the finest in existence.
But the reaction from his fright and anxiety, joined with the effect
of his recent adventure, from which he had not yet fully recovered,
cut short his joy. He was seized with brain fever, and for days lay
unconscious in the room of his lodging-house, unattended except by his
doctor and landlady. When he finally returned to his senses he found
that the jewel was gone. At a time when his life was despaired of, the
detective employed to protect his interests called at his lodging, and,
thinking the man as good as dead, stole the gem, and—"
Suddenly the eyes of the listeners turned to the door behind the
speaker. There was a rustle of skirts and the whispered exclamation:
"There she is now."
The story teller started, flushing at the interruption, but only for an
instant. Then he faced about, leaped to his feet, and, rushing forward
like a maniac, tore from the breast of the mysterious beauty of the
opera the glittering ornament upon which, an hour before, had been
focused the attention of an entire audience.
"Here," he cried, brandishing a handful of lace and satin from which
gleamed the jeweled jockey-cap, "is the stolen star ruby!—and there,"
pointing to a man's figure that appeared in the doorway, "is the
cowardly wretch that stole it!"
It was not until then that his companions observed that the stranger's
right arm hung useless at his side.
[Illustration]
The Interrupted Banquet.
BY RENÉ BACHE.
THOUGH quite familiar with the street, I could not remember having seen
that particular house before. My recollection had been that there was a
vacant lot just there. But I must have been mistaken, for the dwelling
before me was substantial enough, though old-fashioned, with high front
steps and large windows. A trifle out of repair it looked, by the way,
and I even noticed that two or three panes of glass were gone. On the
whole, the mansion presented a somewhat mournful appearance, as if
fallen from an old-time respectability into a condition of decay and
decrepitude.
I am sure that it would never have occurred to me to enter, had it not
been that the young lady who accompanied me turned and deliberately
mounted the steps towards the front door. Of course I followed. She did
not ring the bell; for, in truth, there seemed to be no bell to pull.
But the portal was noiselessly thrown wide from within, and we entered.
I looked in vain for the servant who, I supposed, would receive our
cards; but, to my surprise, Mabel walked straight ahead through the
wide hall, without hesitation, appearing quite familiar with the place.
There should have been a light, I thought, though it was only two
o'clock in the afternoon; for the interior of this strange mansion was
very dark, and I could only make out in an indistinct sort of way the
faces that looked down upon me from some old portraits, obviously fine
works of art, as I passed.
Mabel had introduced me to most of her friends, for we had been engaged
for six months and were to be married very soon; but she had never
spoken to me of these people, who, perhaps, were rather out of the
fashion and had been forgotten. As these reflections passed through my
mind, we ascended a broad staircase to the second floor, and then it
was that I heard a sound of revelry which came from a room which I
correctly judged to be the dining-room of the house. The heavy oaken
doors of the room were slightly ajar, and through them was cast a
strong beam of light that fell full upon an object which startled me
for an instant. It was a headless human figure. A second later I smiled
at my own alarm, inasmuch as the figure was nothing but a suit of old
armor without the helmet.
If I had had a chance, I should have questioned Mabel, in order to
make sure that our unannounced entrance was not an intrusion; also, I
might have asked why, after starting out for a day's yachting trip, we
had returned so early and for so strange an entertainment. But either
query would have been out of place just then. Very likely, I thought,
she had some surprise in store for me,—a lunch party, maybe, arranged
by some friends in our honor; for quite a series of dinners and other
entertainments had been given to us in celebration of our engagement.
Moreover, all that I have related took place within less than a minute
and a half, and in another moment I found myself in the large and
brilliantly lighted dining-room. If the rest of the mansion was dark,
there was no lack of illumination here. I was fairly dazzled by the
numerous lights, clusters of which, arranged in silver candelabra,
helped to adorn a long table, at which twenty-five or thirty people
were seated. There were flowers in profusion, with a great display of
silver and cut glass.
To my astonishment, not one of the people present seemed to take the
slightest notice of our entrance. Near one end of the table were two
vacant chairs together. Mabel quietly took one of them, and I, deeming
the time hardly proper for an explanation, seated myself in the other.
Soup was immediately placed before us—evidently we were not very
late—and I took two or three spoonsful of it. It struck me as being
singularly tasteless.
The courses followed each other in the usual mechanical fashion. What
there was to eat I do not remember with any distinctness, for I was so
absorbed in wonder and in studying the other guests that I took little
notice of the viands. Opposite me was a funny-looking old lady in white
silk, cut low at the neck to such a degree, I thought, as would have
been more appropriate to a younger and plumper person. I particularly
recall the fact that she wore camellias in her hair—a fashion which
I had heard of as belonging to a generation ago. It was palpable,
too, that her front hair was false. Withal she was most agreeable and
amiably disposed, as I presently discovered from her conversation. She
was the first person who addressed any remark to me, abruptly making
some inquiry about my grandfather, and stating in the same breath that
she was from Philadelphia.
At her left sat a gentleman of rather more than middle age, as I
judged, with a remarkably pink nose and a great expanse of shirt-front,
who was devoting himself so assiduously to his plate that not a word
escaped his lips. On the other side of the old lady with the camellias
was an extremely thin man, with a peaked countenance, who so strongly
reminded me of an undertaker that I felt almost tempted to ask him a
question or two about the state of the market in respect to coffins and
other funeral equipments. His necktie was black and likewise his hair,
while his expression was one of extreme solemnity. Mabel was seated at
my right, while on my other hand was a buxom matron of forty or so,
who manipulated knife and fork with an activity that suggested a most
excellent digestion.
Among the guests these were the first whom I noticed particularly. As
I looked along the table, I was rather surprised to find that not a
face was known to me. There was a cadaverous-looking young man with a
prematurely bald head whom I pointed out to Mabel, asking who he was;
for I had noticed that a sign of recognition passed between them.
"My brother," she replied quietly and, as I imagined, sadly.
Now this was a surprise, for I did not know that Mabel had a brother.
Perhaps, I thought, he was not an especially estimable youth, and so
was ignored by her family. If that were so, why should he be present on
this occasion? Here was another puzzle, to be solved when a suitable
opportunity offered for questioning my fianceé.
On the left of Mabel's brother was a remarkably pretty, though very
pale young lady, who wore in her hair, oddly enough, what looked to me
like a bridal wreath. But the handsomest woman present was she whom
I supposed to be our hostess. She was of regal presence, and, with
her velvety eyes and coronet of black braids, resembled a Spanish
señorita. Though I had never seen her before, I took it for granted
that she must know who I was, and repeatedly I tried to catch a glance
from her; but it was in vain, for her conversation and attention were
addressed almost exclusively to an elderly man on her right, apparently
a foreign diplomat, as half a dozen orders glittered upon his breast.
At the other end of the festive board sat a gentleman with a huge gray
moustache, presumably our host. I heard no remarks from him, save now
and then a request to "pass the decanter," addressed to one or another
of the guests near him. I had no opportunity for speech with him,
inasmuch as Mabel and I were divided from him by almost the length of
the table.
On the whole, the affair struck me as entirely extraordinary. Here we
were, myself completely a stranger, at a banquet in a house which I had
never visited before! Indeed, had it not been for Mabel's assurance of
welcome and the two seats apparently reserved for us, I should have
supposed that we had made some mistake. Mabel herself was singularly
silent, though ordinarily quite talkative and even jolly, and offered
no explanation of the situation. But perhaps what astonished me more
than anything else was my discovery, some time after we were seated
at the table, of a young man, some distance away, who bore a striking
resemblance to my chum at college. Upon my word, I was on the point of
shouting at him across the board. In fact, the words, "Why, Bill, old
man, how did you get here?" were on my lips, when I checked myself in
time, owing to a remembrance of the fact that Bill had been dead for
eight years, having met a most untimely fate in a railway disaster.
While engaged in wondering whether the young man could be a near
relation of my former chum's, I was startled at seeing a telegram in
the familiar Western Union envelope laid beside my plate. Some people,
notably stock brokers and newspaper men, are accustomed to telegrams,
and for that reason are not alarmed by them. But habit had not rendered
me thus callous, and with some haste I tore open the envelope and
glanced over the contents. It read:—
"Mabel died this morning of acute congestion of the lungs.
"AMELIA PARKER."
I declare that I trembled as if I had a chill. If Mabel had not been
by my side, I should have been overcome by the shock. Holding the
telegram before Mabel's eyes, I exclaimed in a voice that trembled
with conflicting emotions of horror and anger: "This is carrying a
practical joke too far. Here, some brainless wretch telegraphs me in
your mother's name that you are dead."
Careless of the almost frenzied energy with which I spoke, I looked
around upon the faces of my fellow-guests as one does who is confident
of sympathy. To my amazement, in response to my speech, there arose
a cackle of laughter which was presently transformed into a general
ripple of mirth. And such mirth! The like of it I had never heard
before, and, please heaven, I hope I never may again. It was not like
real laughter, but rather the empty and strident cachinnation of beings
lost to the feelings of humanity.
Pale with anger, I rose to my feet and, steadying myself with one hand
on the back of my chair, exclaimed:
"What does this mean?"
Dead silence was the only response. Conversation had ceased, but I felt
that every eye was fixed upon me. Aghast, I looked at Mabel, but she
did not return my gaze. At length, the old woman with the camellias in
her hair, who sat opposite, addressed me, saying:
"Why do you think that Mabel is not dead?"
"Good God!" I replied. "Here she is. Don't you see her? What do these
people mean?"
The old woman grinned and waved her feather fan at me, playfully,
saying:
"Ask her if she isn't dead?"
I turned to Mabel in wonderment, but she only shook her head sadly.
"Why, of course she's dead!" said the old woman. "Don't you know that
all of us here are dead?"
"Indeed, yes; we are all dead," cried the other guests in general
chorus.
"This is getting beyond patience!" I exclaimed. "You, too, are pleased
to joke with me, but I tell you frankly that I fail to see the fun
of it. Perhaps, since you possess such a fund of humor, you will be
telling me next that I am dead, also."
Then came that laugh again. I never shall forget it. Beginning with a
cackling titter, it spread until the whole table was in a roar, making
my very flesh creep. Then all at once it ceased, and again there was
dead silence.
"Certainly you are dead," said the old lady with the camellias. "She's
dead, and all of us are dead. She died this morning of acute congestion
of the lungs, but I have been dead for these twenty years, and he,
too," indicating with her fan the elderly gentleman with the pink nose.
"My own complaint was cerebrospinal meningitis."
My legs gave way under me and I sank into my chair. As I did so my
hand touched Mabel's, and I grasped hers tightly. It was cold as ice.
Leaning toward me, she whispered in my ear:
"Don't make a scene! It is all quite true. You were run over an hour
ago by a trolley car."
Not daring to believe my senses, I replied:
"And this house—?"
"Sh—h!" said Mabel. "It is only the ghost of a house,—the phantasmal
reproduction of an old mansion that used to stand on this spot, where
there has been an empty lot for fifteen years past."
"I—I think I understand," I gasped. Then, though my brain swam, I made
a tremendous effort to summon up my courage and face composedly this
dreadful situation. Addressing myself to the old woman opposite, I said:
"Perchance you were acquainted with the former occupants of this
dwelling?"
"Oh, yes," she answered pleasantly. "I am somewhat distantly related to
our host and hostess of this evening. They were drowned—lost on the
ill-fated _Ville de Paris_. This house belonged to them, and not very
long afterwards it was torn down."
"But suppose that the present owner of the lot were to build upon
it?" I suggested. "It would be necessary to hold these charming
entertainments elsewhere?"
"Not at all," she said, laughing and waving her fan. "The occupancy of
the site by a real house would not interfere. It frequently happens,
of course, that a building is put up on ground previously occupied by
another dwelling. You must understand, though I might have supposed
you knew it, that, while the material parts of a tenement may be
removed at any time, its astral shell remains in perpetuity. Thus
the ghosts of half a dozen or more dwellings may remain on the site
occupied by a new and substantial structure. They are none the less
real for being invisible to living eyes. The most remarkable instances
of haunted houses that you have heard about are due to conditions of
that sort,—several families of phantasms, perhaps, tenanting premises
topographically coincident with a mansion which affords physical
accommodation to people in the flesh. I trust I make myself clear?"
"Quite so," I replied politely.
This conversation was interrupted by the elderly gentleman with the
pink nose, who seemed to be dissatisfied with something. Having poured
out a water goblet half full of sherry from a decanter, he called for
brandy, and with those strong spirits filled it to the brim. Then he
took a caster of red pepper and sprinkled its contents liberally on the
surface of the mixture. Raising the goblet to his lips, he drained its
contents to the last drop and set it down with a sigh.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, "it has no strength. If only I could get a schooner
of real beer."
The old lady regarded this performance attentively, with a lorgnette
held to her nose. Said she sympathetically:
"That is the way with all pleasures in the after world. They seem to
have no savor. Even the milk is chalk and water."
"I suppose that is why this mince pie tastes so insipid," I responded,
toying absently with a bit of pastry on my plate.
"Of course it is," she said. "Don't you see it is only the ghost of a
mince pie."
"Then it seems that—"
But at this point the banquet was suddenly interrupted by a convulsive
swaying and creaking of timbers. The table rocked, the lights in the
silver candelabra flickered, and all was darkness. Then, through a ray
of brilliant sunlight, I saw the strange dining-hall, the gleaming
table, the ghostly banqueters all fade into the distance. Another
moment of utter darkness, of creaking and swaying, during which I
made a desperate effort to grasp and steady Mabel's chair. To my
bewilderment, my hand touched a coil of rope. I heard familiar voices.
There was a burst of sunlight. I sat propped up by cushions on the
deck of the pleasure yacht _Undine_, surrounded by solicitous friends.
Mabel, with her warm hand reassuringly clasped in mine, told me of my
half hour's unconsciousness. I had fallen overboard in my attempt to
recover her hat, and had been rescued only after sinking for the third
time. Not until I had heard all this, could I banish from my mind my
horrible experience in the house of the dead.
[Illustration]
The Archangel.
BY JAMES Q. HYATT.
CRAWFORD and I had gone up into the foot-hills of the Sierras to shoot.
It was autumn; yet the sun unscrewed us so immediately when we walked
abroad that we were forced to seek the shelter of pines and dusty scrub
oaks, as often as they fell across our path.
We were lying, one afternoon, under a row of young firs on the crest
of a ridge, when the gaunt figure of an old man labored up the slope
toward us.
"If all the world'd lay about in the shade like you 'uns and me—not
interferin' with Nature—she'd get her hand in again on her own hook,"
he said, throwing himself down beside us.
What he may have looked like when his features were normal we never
knew. At this advanced period he wore so inflated a nose of such
eccentric modeling that his eyes couldn't count for much, and his mouth
was only suggested under a flippant gray beard.
"I'm the Archangel," he said sweetly, and smiled at us.
Crawford shrugged himself a trifle nearer his gun and smiled back again.
"There's no crack," he assured us immediately. "That's been my title
for three years. I got it because I held my hand from gorin' a man
under false provocation."
"Tell us about it," we said.
He found a stone to rest his back against, and threw open his shirt at
the throat.
"These hot summer days sizzle just as they did then—crisp your throat
like coals curl bacon. I'd mined all this country in the gold days, and
held my own with the dizziest dog of 'em all in findin' the color and
epicuring the liquids. I run a drinking fountain in opposition to the
Dead Falls, up Mokelumne way, and counted on Joaquin and his band for
makin' a pot for me regular once a week—but t'aint what I started out
to say."
The old man fell into a reverie. He seemed to see only the ends of his
toes.
"About the Archangel," Crawford prodded.
"Yes—the Archangel. That's a matter of three short years aback."
This gentle old man stood up, and hitched savagely at his trouser band
before he sat down again.
"Adolphe—his name'd tell you, wouldn't it? Chin beard—juicy
voice—and hands a-curvin' through the air. Well, Adolphe and me set up
backin' and minin' together five years aback. I stayed on and on with
him because his bread'd make you hungry in your sleep.
"'Twas flour for that very bread that I went a-ridin' into town for,
one summer day. There was a real estate dude'd come up. 'Socks'
we called him. Actual—he went round in wormy-lookin' things held
up by garters! Well, Socks, he tucked a folded newspaper under my
saddle-flap, just as I was tightening up to go home.
"'Read that,' says he. 'It's time all you fellers settled down
to raisin' families, so's we could have a population, and school
districts, and churches, and sich. Never no hope of doin' anything with
a lot of bachelors.'
"Well, d'you know, it struck me like wisdom from the mouth of babes?
I rode along a-tryin' of my best to read that paper. Not bein' over
profuse in acquaintance with learnin', and the sun strikin' the white
clay like a lookin'-glass, I tucked it away and whistled till the
barkin' of the dog realized me I was home.
"Later, when the smoke went out of the chimney, curlin' through the
trees, Adolphe and me sat out on the saw-bucks a-readin' of that
paper,—the _Matrimonial Messenger_.
"By your names, sirs, there was three pages of 'um saying how
enchantin' they was!
"Tall women and short women, and young women and old women, women with
children and women without, women that could work, and sew, and cook,
and women that could sing, and dance, and talk. Every blamed one of
'em willin' to send their photograph, swearin' their faces was their
fortunes all their life!
"'Twasn't long before we'd settled between two of 'em, but Adolphe, he
was for one, and me for the other.
"'What's it to you?' sez I. 'You aint marryin' of her, are you?'
"He couldn't but admit the fact.
"'Still—there's my livin' round her,' he says.
"'Twas a widder, I remember, Adolphe was set on. She'd raven locks,
and what she'd most pride in was her cookin', and her sewin', and her
lovin' heart. I argued long. I needed him favorable, if it was to be
peaceful-like. I remember tellin' of him that we didn't need cookin'
and sewin', being used all our lives to managin' these. What we wanted
was somethin' amusin' and up in learnin', so's we could feel spiritual
proud, you know. I asked him if we'd ever strike it rich, what'd we do
with a wife that couldn't go dance and talk with the best of 'em.
"Anyway, seein' it was my business, and I was set like a jumper on a
claim, Adolphe, he give in. The woman what made my heart feel empty
said she was eighteen. She was decorated with yellow hair and eyes like
copper-ore. She could talk French, and understood German, and could
play the pianner. She'd marry a man that wanted a companion and not a
cook.
"Sez I to myself continual: 'That's you, Daniel.'
"Well, Adolphe and me, we talked this thing, wakin' and sleepin'. I'd
more plans than a cow has capers.
"We got up a letter'd melt snow, and then we waited.
"First, nuthin' was said to the boys, but when they caught on to my
hangin' round the post-office they began to josh. I always stepped up
gallant to the post-mistress, sirs—I've turned the cheeks of most
women pink in my day—and I said, said I:
"'Letter, please?' with a doffin' of my hat, and a risin' inflection
very polite but understandin'. It got to be so that when there never
was anythin' handed out the boys'd take to coughin' down a laugh.
"After awhile it grew so's none of 'em turned up or paid any attention.
Even Adolphe—he took to goin' to sleep when I talked her.
"Then a whole year ran out to summer again, and I couldn't unthrone her
that reigned in my heart.
"One day I said to Adolphe, a-workin' away:
"'Blamed if I can forget her, the ornamint,' I said.
"Adolphe he went in for grub that day and came out late, a-holdin' of a
envelope.
"'Here's your letter,' he called.
"Sure enough! I went out on the saw-buck and read it alone. Then he sat
down by me and we read it over again.
"'Twas only that she'd arrive on the afternoon train on the fifth, and
to have a Methodist minister.
"Well, sirs, it meant a good deal for me to supply the necessaries for
a sparklin' jewel—let alone the settlin' down for her to sparkle on!
but luck come my way. There'd been a milliner up from San Francisco
and fitted her a elegant place. She'd failed, and quick's a winkin' I
bought her lookin'-glass and red plush easy-chair. You'd ought to seen
that cabin! There hung the thing opposite the stove, all shinin' an'
smilin' and gildin'. Right in front of it my red plush chair, so's you
could set down and put your feet up on another an' see how you'd look
in heaven.
"On the fourth, Adolphe revealed he'd business in a little town a mile
up the railway. He suffered a crampy kind of desperation not to be on
hand to support me, he said, but he'd come in with the girl. Then he
baked up bread and a cake and rode away.
"Sun come up on the fifth like a bull's-eye lantern. I'd set up all the
night before, not to disturb anythin', and there was the mornin' for me
to shave and git into my riggin'. A calf-skin vest, with the hair on,
aint a thing to slight, sirs, ceremonies or no ceremonies.
"When I rode my mule up to the depot the boys was out, to the puniest
scrub of 'em all. They give me cheers that'd blast rock.
"And there was an arch, sirs—all flowered! My legs wanted to sit down
more than me!
"The train whistled in the distance. There was no slaknin' off round
the corner, for the boys braced me everywhere.
"Out she stepped, sirs, and whether she was the sorriest or the
likeliest lookin' critter, I couldn't 'a' told for the flunk I was in!
"After the blackness I see her long yellow hair and red cheeks. All the
conquerin' of my youth rose up within me, and I up and held her to me
for a kiss.
"By the great snake mine, but women don't shave beards off and drink
whisky!
"I dropped her like a nettle, but she went forward with the crowd,
smilin' an' smirkin' through the cheerin' an' the uproar.
"'To the parson's,' the boys yelled.
"I was forced off my feet, but out came my gun.
"'Halt!' I cried, in a voice that brought 'em all on their haunches and
still as colts raised on the spur.
"'I mean to shoot the wig off your head and the paint off your face,
Adolphe Lefevre, and leave you for the slimiest viper that crawls
without legs.'
"The sight of my gun lay between his eyes an' the crowd was as still as
the barrel.
"Of a sudden came a voice in my ear. To this day God only knows from
where.
"'Be like unto the archangels.'
"My arm fell to my side. They lifted me onto their shoulders.
"'The Archangel,' they sent out a-echoin' in the hills.
"And it stuck, sirs, from that day to this, though I've lived alone,
sirs, ever since."
[Illustration]
Asleep at Lone Mountain.
BY H. D. UMBSTAETTER.
IT occurred nearly fourteen years ago, yet I never enter a sleeping-car
without being confronted by that innocent face. It clings to me all
the more because I have always looked upon partings and leave-takings
as mile-posts of sorrow in the journeys of life. I dislike good-bys. I
hate farewells.