A thrill runs through the nerves of an entomologist when he puts his
hand on a specimen unknown, undescribed. The hunter trembles when he
espies in the thicket the royal hart whose existence has been called a
fable. My emotion was all of this, intensified; nearer, perhaps, to
the feeling of the elected mortal who has discovered a new continent.
For I had discovered a new world.
Had I not cause for exultation? I sat on the window-seat in the
alternate light and darkness, with one hand clenched, the other arm
curved in the air; my left held fast a slender wrist, while my right
was cast about a pair of delicate shoulders; the invisible but
tangible figure was crouched away into the smallest space in the
corner of the window.
With awe I now realized that my capture was a woman. The delicate
moulding of the shoulders and hand was proof enough, but I also felt
on my arm a light flood of the silkiest hair. This was a shock to one
who had lived apart from women for several years, and had good cause
to expect nothing but disaster from their influence. For a moment the
impulse was strong to release the captive; luckily reason prevailed,
and I tightened my grip on the frail prize, whose frame was shaken
with sobs and whose bearing denoted the most abject despair. I gave
many timid reassurances by word and hand before the sobs came slower
and fear began to loose its hold. As she raised her head I took
occasion to pass my right hand lightly over her face. Rendered
sensitive by strong excitement, my palm read her features as the blind
read the raised print of their books, and of this at least I was sure:
the features were human, straight, the eyes large; a full chin and a
mouth of unspeakable fineness were divined rather than felt by my
flying touch; but I found no trace of tears.
After this I do not know how long we sat. It seemed peaceful and
homelike, so that I wondered how it was possible so quickly to forget
wonder. A protective warmth toward the creature whose soft breathing
came and went slower and slower near my face took a quiet hold on all
my senses. At last the gentle head drooped like a tired child's, the
delicate shoulders heaved in a long, peaceful sigh, and to my
amazement the strange captive fell asleep in my arms.
So while she slept I sat motionless and thinking, thinking. Who was
she? whence and of what order of beings? What was her language; how
and how long did she live. Was she really alive in our sense of the
word, that is, human with the exception of her transparency? and was
her shape like that of ordinary mortals, or did she end in some
monstrosity like a mermaid? Such were the questions agitating me when
interruption came with a knock at the door. My captive awoke and
instinctively started away, at the same time giving a low, articulate
cry; but I held her firmly, and called to Rachel to bring me a certain
relic of slavery which had been brought from the South. I had profited
by the discovery my prisoner's awakening furnished: the invisible, I
argued, could articulate, then why should she not understand and speak
the language of the people among whom she was found? Accordingly a few
rapid questions were put to her, which were unanswered. Then I
bethought me of a proof that at any rate she understood my words.
"My dear child, it is mere perverseness in you to refuse an answer. I
am sure you understand. You are in my power for good or evil, and if
you refuse to speak I must consider you worthy of the following
treatment: you shall be made an example to the crowd of the reality of
invisible life."
Under cruel treatment of this kind, conjecture became certainty; I
felt her shudder at the idea, and she laid her hand appealingly on
mine. This was all I wanted; speech was now a mere affair of time.
Rachel entered with the rusty handcuffs and handed them to me as if
she were conscious and acquiescent in what I did. Not a feature moved,
only her eyes shone with inner excitement, in a way I had seen before,
while I clasped one link about the unseen wrist.
"Pardon," I whispered, "I do not know you yet. I cannot trust you."
My daily work ceased. To the few inquiries from the great city Rachel
had evasive answers ready; they were soon over, and I was left to
experience the fascination of a beautiful woman whom I had never seen
nor could hope ever to see. To be sure, in certain lights and under
certain angles of reflection an indistinct outline of a not large,
slender girl, which told of pure contours, could be made out, but this
was like following the glassy bells that pulsate far down in the waves
of northern seas, or the endeavor to catch the real surface of a
mirror. Moreover, the slim captive herself resented any attempt to
gain acquaintance with her through the eyes. But by degrees the
reserve which had taken the place of her terror melted away before
gentle and respectful management, and from her own lips I learned much
concerning her marvelous race, before the love which presently
overwhelmed us put an end to the cooler interests of reason. Thus she
astonished me by speaking of her race as widely spread through almost
every inhabited land. They never work or educate their children; their
food, which is chiefly in liquid form, is taken from the stores laid
up by human beings, and such education as they get is picked up by
continual contact with mortals. While their passions would seem to be
calm, their only laws relate to the observance of secrecy as to their
presence on the earth. To secure this end they meet at stated periods
and renew their solemn vows, keep a watch upon each other, and
disperse again to a settled or wandering life, but one always
dependent on the labors of other beings. This alone would explain the
paramount importance attaching to secrecy. And as it is impossible to
keep always all hint of their existence from human beings, the
penalties for disclosure in the latest days have increased to far
greater severity than was used in simpler ages; Manmat'ha could not be
brought to tell me the fate which awaited her should it be discovered
that she had revealed the great secret of her nation, and the very
quiet with which she gave me to understand how vast was the danger
impressed me more than the most violent words.
It must have been the pain that the thought of any harm befalling her
produced in me, which opened my eyes to the strength of my passion.
The time for questions had passed, and the days were long only that we
might love. One day glided after another unheeded, while we strolled
about the neighboring woody hills to catch a broad glimpse of the sea
from this point, or to examine in that swampy valley the minute
wonders of life in plants and insects. At an early stage of our
intimacy I had begged to free her wrist from the handcuffs, but she
had implored me to continue at least the appearance of slavery, to
serve, in case of need, as a partial excuse for violation of her vows.
This did not prevent her daily disappearance during the middle hours
when the sun was strongest; but these absences only served to give a
time for reflection on her beauties and to involve me deeper in the
love which now mastered all my thoughts. There was one subject which
was long in broaching, but when the necessary courage was summoned,
found in Manmat'ha neither objection nor response. She did not
comprehend its force. The subject was our marriage.
I had resolved on legal marriage, even if it were necessary to be
content with only one witness to the ceremony; that witness could be
no one except Rachel. My housekeeper had regarded my preparations and
subsequent conduct with a consistent interest and without the least
shadow of surprise, and once I remarked that she had caught sight in
the twilight of a cup raised without hands; yet no hint fell from her
lips to make me feel she was intruding on my affairs. The old blur was
in her eyes; the only change in manner was her treatment of me: she
regarded me with a kind of awe. And after it had proved abortive to
tell her something and not all, because the pleasure of unbosoming
myself of so much love was too great to restrain, I found Rachel not
only full of faith, but even surpassing me. She looked upon Manmat'ha
as a supernatural being, and plainly invested me with reflected
holiness. Some sort of worship she thought due to Manmat'ha, whilst I,
as high priest and mortal consort, was entitled to a share; and indeed
it was with some difficulty that I persuaded her not to show her faith
by uncouth rites. It was as if her life had been a preparation for
some such affair as this, and found her enthusiastic, but not
astonished.
Our favorite resort was the couch of pine needles looking south from
the hillside where we first met. The same hawk, to me the most blessed
of birds, would often sail as before in the middle distance, or
night-hawks would cut their strange curves in the evening sky. Far out
beyond, sea-gulls, mere specks of white, would wheel and plunge into
the bay, and at our backs the woodcock, shy enough in any other
presence, would whir fantastically through the woods. All nature was
the same, but I was no longer its solitary admirer, for I held in my
arms a gentle framework of delight such as no other man before or
since has known. She was finer than the finest silk, smoother than the
smoothest glass, as if the rays of light, falling on the amazing
texture of her skin, found no inequalities from which to reflect.
One evening we had been drawing in long breaths of that delight of
which the woods and the great bowl of landscape before us were so
full, and I had been trying to convince Manmat'ha of the importance
of the marriage ceremony. "What," I asked with some trouble in my
heart, "what will they do to you in case members of your nation
discover your position? I do not mean to ask you what you would not
tell me before, but what would be their first step?"
"They would imprison me somewhere under a guard," said Manmat'ha. "It
would be many months before a tribunal could be collected together,
and still longer before I should be judged. What my fate would be
then, it is not well to say."
Had I desired, there is little doubt that I could have compelled
Manmat'ha to tell me all she knew, for I had found that my will was
much the stronger. But what was curiosity compared with the delight of
warming her into responsive love? When I now covered her delicious
lips with kisses, she returned the pressure, instead of merely
suffering me, as at first, with a mild surprise.
"My first love and my last!" I whispered. "They shall not get you from
me while I am alive, if they will only give us warning; but if they
rob me of you, I shall follow your trace and rescue you, if it be to
the bottom of the sea!"
Manmat'ha laughed a pleased laugh. We both started at an echo, a
moment after, which seemed to come from the lower hill, below where we
sat. There was no echo possible in that direction.
"Manmat'ha!" I whispered, "tell me quickly! Is some one coming?"
She sat apparently unable to speak, but trembling and cold to the
touch. I had enough presence of mind to take her up and place her on
the other side of the pine, on the ground, and throw my coat
carelessly over her. As once before I heard passing steps, but now my
more practiced ear caught them distinctly. They came lightly up the
steep hill and stopped a moment at a little distance from the tree.
With eyes fixed on the ocean I waited in an agony of suspense,
assuming the most unconscious air of which I was capable. The steps
hesitated only a moment; then they passed lower and lower into the
upper wood. For half an hour neither of us moved; at last, taking
heart, we stole home.
The event set me thinking. If at any moment we were liable to be
discovered and separated, the marriage must take place at once. A
consumptive hastens his wedding, a wounded tree is quick to bear, and
the fright we had experienced taught me how slight was the thread on
which my happiness hung; but Manmat'ha was calm with a maidenly
content with little, which in my hasty resentment at even a suspicion
of opposition to my plan, I was ready to call indifference.
When we entered I could tell by the unfailing sign of Rachel's eye
that she was agitated. Later in the evening I heard her chanting in a
discordant undertone an ancient formula of her savage ancestors, and
therefore it was with some misgivings that I called and informed her
that to-night she was to be the sole witness, by touch, if not by
sight, of the lawful ceremony of wedlock between Manmat'ha and me.
She listened in an awestruck silence, and left the room abruptly. As
no calling was of any avail, we were compelled to wait her pleasure,
which I did with great impatience; and when at last she did return, it
was in a shape grotesque almost beyond recognition. Her face and arms
were painted white and red in broad bands of coarse pigments; an old
embroidered robe fastened over one shoulder, with a close-fitting
skirt of buckskin, formed her whole attire. She had put feathers in
her hair, and with flaming eyes shook her favorite talisman, the
medicine-stick. At one bound she had returned to her ancient state of
savagery.
Finding Manmat'ha regarding her with interest, I did not oppose the
further proceedings. It struck me that it was not displeasing to my
invisible love to receive divine honors even in this wild rite, so I
held my peace. She seemed to receive them as her due.
The moon had risen, and gave light to the room through window and open
door; flooded by its rays, Rachel moved slowly across the room,
uttering in guttural tones a broken chant whose meaning I might have
once interpreted, but could not now. On a different occasion I might
not have been an entirely unsympathetic observer of the singular
sight, but here passion had overcome curiosity. I was an impatient
lover. With my arm about Manmat'ha, and filled with earnest emotions,
I could not help a feeling of disgust at the monotonous discord and
frantic gestures of the last of a superstitious race.
"This must end, Manmat'ha," I groaned. "I can wait no longer."
As I spoke, the Indian woman grew ungovernable in wild excitement.
"They are on you! They are here!" she screamed.
I felt Manmat'ha stiffen in my arms with deadly terror. Resistless
hands dragged us apart and held me absolutely motionless in spite of
the deadly agony which filled me, while Manmat'ha's stifled shriek
arose from midway across the room.
"Rachel!" I cried. "For God's sake, Rachel, bar the door!"
My cry roused the woman from a stupor; she sprang to the door. I heard
the noise of many light feet, the sound of a blow, a heavy fall; then
a deep silence came.
Bounding from the spot to which unseen hands up to that moment had
pressed me, I sprang from the room and followed into the night. The
earth reeled past me in my swift flight, until I suddenly stopped
myself to ask where I was going. Where indeed? As well follow the
wind. Wild as was the hope that moved me to return, I hurried back
again to the house. Rachel alone, clad in her poor Indian finery, the
medicine-stick broken by her side, lay stretched out dead in the
moonlight.