STATEMENT OF DR. DAMAR GREEFE (CONTINUED)
As I walked along through the deserted native streets, for the hour
was late, I reviewed mentally the circumstances of that affair,
already several months old, to which I have referred. Since it proved
to have a very important bearing upon my own life and unfortunately
the lives of many others, I will briefly recount it here.
Sir Burnham and Lady Coverly, having arrived at Port Said, were
proceeding by rail to Cairo when an accident farther up the line
necessitated their breaking their journey at Zagazig.
Now, for a time in the spring of the previous year, I had devoted much
labor to an inquiry in this place, which stands of course roughly upon
the site of the ancient Egyptian city of _Bubastis_. In those myths,
or so-called myths, of the Ancient Egyptian religion which represented
the various attributes of man in the guises of animals, I had
perceived a nucleus of wisdom pointing to the possibility that the law
which I had so laboriously established might have been known to the
early Egyptian priesthood. Indeed I was partly induced to inquire into
the myths of Bâst, the cat-headed goddess to whom of old this town was
dedicated, by the following two things: first, a chance reference in
the pages of Herodotus; and, second, a persistent superstition that
during a certain season of the year, _psycho-hybrids_ occurred in this
town.
By dint of close research I discovered that the date favored by the
inhabitants of Zagazig, as that upon which such creatures were born
there, corresponded very closely with the Sacred Sothic month,
formerly sacred to Bâst, the titulary goddess of the place,
corresponded in short with the ancient Feast of Bâst.
My inquiries at the time, however, proved futile, and beyond the fact
that the town was remarkable for a singular number of semi-wild cats,
I discovered nothing to support my theory. However, as I have already
stated, a native acquaintance there, a very learned Moslem, to whom I
had imparted during my residence some idea of the nature of my
studies, sent me a long communication containing particulars of the
event which had befallen Lady Coverly during her one-night's sojourn
in Zagazig.
Briefly, she had learned from a native attached to the one possible
hotel which the town boasted, of the tradition associated with the
place. Some other member of the party (for quite a large company had
been detained in Zagazig by the mishap) unwisely pointed out to her
that the favored date was that upon which they had arrived in the
town.
Nothing might have resulted from this; but by a strange fatality (or
because of the operation of some unsuspected law understood by the
ancients but misapprehended to-day) the matter was sealed in a very
extraordinary fashion.
Lady Coverly's room opened upon a balcony, and during the night one of
those huge cats of the kind which I had observed myself to infest the
neighborhood, gained access to this balcony. Since the appearance of
the creature produced so singular and disastrous an effect, it must
certainly have been an unusually large specimen of its kind. I may add
that according to my Moslem friend--who, although a man of great
culture, was soaked in the traditions of his religion--it was none
other than a member of the _ginn_, an _efreet_ or evil spirit, and not
a cat of flesh and blood which appeared to Lady Coverly. I leave each
to choose his own explanation, but let it suffice that Lady Coverly
was awakened some time during the night by the appearance at her
bedside of this gaunt and hungry-eyed creature. The result was an
illness of a kind very dangerous to one in her delicate state of
health.
Reflecting, then, upon these matters, I presently came to the official
residence of Sir Burnham Coverly, and my expectations regarding the
nature of the case were realized....[1]
[Footnote 1: Part of the statement which immediately followed, being
of a purely technical nature, is omitted here.]
* * * * *
My house in the narrow street so near to the Bâb-es-Zuwêla and the
minarets of Muayyâd was admirably adapted for my new purpose. For here
in the very heart of native Cairo, with my great house (which had been
built, as are all Oriental houses, to guard secrets) I was as safe
from unwelcome intrusion as one upon a desert island, whilst at the
same time I was denied none of the conveniences and facilities of
civilization.
Lady Coverly, then, never set eyes upon her firstborn, and Sir
Burnham, who did, readily reconciled himself to the loss of such a
daughter. The announcement which should have appeared joyfully under
the press-heading "Births" was unobtrusively inserted under "Deaths,"
and Sir Burnham being fortunately far from the haunts of the social
paragraph writers, this unfortunate event aroused comparatively little
comment in the English journals; beyond one or two formal condolences
it passed unnoticed.
The fever of research at last had led me into my first definite crime
against society--if so it can be called. I had rescued alive the most
perfect example of a _psycho-hybrid_ with which throughout my
extensive special inquiries, I had ever come in contact. Lady Coverly
never knew her unnatural child, and Sir Burnham--as well as the old
family nurse who had accompanied them out from England--never doubted
that it had died in the hour of birth.
I set to work with enthusiasm upon my last and greatest experiment.
To a half-caste woman upon whom I knew I could rely--for she was
deeply indebted to me--I entrusted the fostering of the infant hybrid.
I personally supervised every detail of the secret nursery, Cassim
procuring for me everything necessary for the rearing of this delicate
and fragile creature.
Over the early years of her life I will hasten. On three occasions I
despaired of preserving her existence, which, from the beginning, had
hung by a thread. The first crisis came when she was only four months
old, the second on the occasion of her fourth birthday, and the third
(most serious of all) when she was eleven, at which age she had become
a woman in the Oriental sense and was physically and mentally
comparable with an ordinary European girl of nineteen or twenty.
With what scientific ardor did I study her development, noting how the
_cat_ traits at certain periods (corresponding to the Feast of Bâst)
proclaimed themselves above the human traits, whilst at other times
the psychic-felinism sank into a sort of sub-conscious quietude,
leaving the subject almost a normal woman. Of the physical reflections
which were the visible evidence of her hybrid mentality I have already
spoken at length (_this refers to a portion of the statement which has
been deleted_). She invariably wore gloves out of doors and a veil to
conceal the chatoyant eyes. She could, as I have explained, see as
well in the dark as in daylight, and her agility was phenomenal as was
her power of climbing. Having her hands and feet bare I have
repeatedly seen her climb to the top platform of the ivy-clad tower of
Friar's Park.
At the age of eleven, then, I recognized that the balance of character
was definitely established, and that the two outstanding
characteristics of the subject were--firstly (a hereditary trait of
the Coverlys) an intense pride of race and a fierce jealousy of any
infringement upon what she regarded as prerogatives of birth;
secondly, a susceptibility to sudden infatuations which invariably
terminated in a mood of ferocious cruelty.
To one unacquainted with the Orient, thus to speak of this girl--in
years a mere child--as one speaks of a mature woman, would seem
strange, if not unnatural. But in the East, of course, at the age of
ten a girl is counted marriageable; at the age of fourteen she is not
infrequently the devoted mother of a family.
Significantly--from the point of view of the Damar Greefe Law--my ward
had grown up, not as English girls grow, but, like the Easterners, as
the hot-house flower grows. The point has intense interest for the
scientist. At the age of twelve she was a tall, slender woman,
beautifully formed and with a natural elegance and taste which came
from the Coverly stock, or possibly from her mother's side.
During eleven months of every year it would have been possible---
although I considered it undesirable--for her to have appeared in
public unveiled. She possessed features of perfect _Ancient Egyptian
regularity_. I emphasize the point. Her eyes, during the day, were
those of a handsome native woman--almond-shaped and of a wonderful
amber color. At night they appeared green.
Of her fingers, toes, and the peculiar formation of certain teeth I
have spoken at length (_another reference to a deleted passage_). I
will deal, now, with those manifestations which proclaimed themselves
during the Sothic month of each year formerly associated with the
Feast of Bâst.
At such times, which I always dreaded, and with good cause, her innate
love of admiration became so excessive as to approach nearly to mania.
She hungered for homage, for praise--I had almost said for adoration.
What I may term, for convenience, the _psychic_ side of her hybrid
mentality at these periods undoubtedly bordered closely upon true
insanity; and learning from the Eurasian nurse to whom I have referred
the whole history of her birth, my charge, to whom I had given the
name of Nahémah (students will recognize its significance), began to
display even more marked evidence of a sort of monomania. Bâst, the
cat-goddess, became an obsession with her, and she finally conceived
the idea that the attributes of that mystical and partly-understood
deity were active within her; that she was Bâst, re-born. And,
certainly, during one month of every year, her condition closely
resembled that which was termed in the Middle Ages "possession."
At such times, moreover (a phenomenon with which I have dealt at
length in my work on the subject), she evinced an antipathy towards
the whole of the _canine_ species which was reciprocated in a singular
way. Thus, when, contrary to my express orders, she has wandered
abroad during the Sothic period, I have been enabled to trace her
movements by the progressive howling of dogs.
Since I had enjoined the nurse to be silent upon all things bearing
upon Nahémah's birth, I was enraged at this breach of faith and sent
the woman away. But a new situation had been created which I found
myself called upon immediately to face.
Nahémah demanded news of her family. As I have made sufficiently
evident, it was often difficult, if not impossible, to thwart the
desires of my protegée. To condense into a few words a matter which
occasioned me long and anxious thought, I may say that I made the
necessary arrangements for quitting the house near to the Mosque of
Muayyâd which had been my home for fifteen years.
I recognized the danger of Nahémah's traveling in the ordinary way,
and she performed the journey to England in the character of an
invalid under my professional care. Equally, residence at any public
establishment was out of the question, and although I found myself
compelled for a time to court discovery by lodging Nahémah in a
private suite in an obscure hotel, I hastened to seek a house in some
quiet suburb which should reproduce as nearly as possible the
advantages of my abode in Cairo.
Such a house I discovered after about a week of feverish questing (for
apart from the ordinary dangers of discovery to which my protegée was
subject, her proclivity for adventures at the most unseasonable times
greatly enhanced the danger which I apprehended). Judge, then, of my
satisfaction when I succeeded in obtaining the lease of a small
villa--indeed I might almost term it a bungalow--in one of those odd
survivals of less crowded days which are yet counted suburbs or parts
of greater London.
This house stood alone in some two acres of ground, and because of its
lack of modern conveniences and the comparative inaccessibility of its
position, my application was eagerly entertained by the agent
interested in the leasing of the property. One week later I entered
into possession, Cassim, Nahémah and myself comprising the entire
household. Much of my valuable--indeed I may say unique--collection, I
had been compelled to store; for my new quarters lacked the necessary
space for the purpose. But although I was unaware of the fact at the
time, I was not destined to be long deprived of a suitable home for
the records of my life's work.
Nahémah's demand for some understanding between herself and her family
grew daily more insistent; but I might have continued to oppose her
wishes had it not been for the fact that by this time my slender
resources were almost exhausted.
It suddenly became evident to me that I held in my hand an instrument
whereby I might force Sir Burnham Coverly to finance the new
experiments upon which I had entered at this time with all the
enthusiasm that a love for science inspires in the student! You may
judge me unscrupulous, but the wheel of progress is at least as
unrelenting. It was not, however, without much searching self-analysis
that one day I presented myself before Sir Burnham Coverly at Friar's
Park.
If I had had any scruples prior to that visit they were instantly
dispelled by the manner of my reception. Forgetful of the service
which (as he believed) I had done him in the past, Sir Burnham allowed
all the prejudice of the Anglo-Indian to reveal itself in his first
greeting.
Because I am an Eurasian, the worst traits which attach to such a
parentage--and of which I am only too painfully conscious--revealed
themselves in me. My heart hardened towards this man whose treatment
of an intellectual superior was so icily, so offensively
condescending. Knowing that I had it in my power to deal him a blow
from which he might never recover, I toyed with him for a time; and,
his manner growing momentarily more objectionable, I rejoiced to know
that his very life and career were in my keeping.
His son, Roger Coverly, at that time a boy only about nine years old,
as the prospective heir to Friar's Park was cherished as an only child
is always cherished in these circumstances. I pictured to myself the
meeting of brother and sister! Yes! because of the refined and
deliberate cruelty which Sir Burnham displayed towards myself, I
retaliated with a poisoned blade. Having led the conversation in the
direction of the heir, I threw away the scabbard of pretense--I
launched my challenge.
Never shall I forget Sir Burnham's change of countenance. He tottered,
a stricken man. With a sentence of ten words I had won my battle. Upon
the details of the arrangement which presently was come to between us,
I need not linger. For this statement is intended not as a
defense--for what I have done I pay the price--but as a résumé of
this crowning inquiry of my scientific career.
* * * * *
At this point the speaker was seized with an alarming spasm of pain.
His black eyes opened widely and his face became contorted with agony.
I sprang to his assistance. For, villain self-confessed though he was,
humanity would not allow of any man's witnessing unmoved such
paroxysms in a fellow creature.
But, ere I could reach his side, Damar Greefe, clenching his teeth and
clutching at the chair-arms so that his knuckles gleamed in the
lamp-light like white marbles, turned his glance upon me, and:
"Be seated, sir," he whispered. "I desire you to be seated."
Something repellent, yet something powerful, there was in word and
glance. Gatton, who also had sprung forward, hesitated. Damar Greefe
raised one hand from the chair-arm and waved to us to return to our
chairs. Exchanging wondering glances, we both obeyed.
Thereupon, the Eurasian doctor, whose high, bony forehead was dewed
with a deathly perspiration and whose hawk-face had assumed an
indescribable leaden hue, drew from his pocket a heavy gold watch (his
every movement intently followed by the alert Inspector) and consulted
it. His hand shook wildly as he returned the timepiece to its place.
Then:
"I must hasten," he said hoarsely. "I have--only nineteen
minutes...." Gatton looked at me questioningly, but I could only
shake my head. The significance of the Eurasian's words escaped me
entirely; but as Damar Greefe begun, slowly and with palpable effort,
to speak again, I saw a queer expression stealing over the face of the
watchful Gatton.