LAIR OF THE SPIDERS
"We must find that house, find the sarcophagus--for I no longer doubt
that it exists--drag it out, and destroy it."
"Should you know it again, sir?"
"Beyond any possibility of doubt. It is the sarcophagus of a queen."
"What queen?"
"A queen whose tomb the late Sir Michael Ferrara and I sought for many
months, but failed to find."
"Is this queen well known in Egyptian history?"
Dr. Cairn stared at him with an odd expression in his eyes.
"Some histories ignore her existence entirely," he said; and, with an
evident desire to change the subject, added, "I shall return to my
room to dress now. Do you dress also. We cannot afford to sleep whilst
the situation of that house remains unknown to us."
Robert Cairn nodded, and his father stood up, and went out of the
room.
Dawn saw the two of them peering from the balcony upon the streets of
Port Said, already dotted with moving figures, for the Egyptian is an
early riser.
"Have you any clue," asked the younger man, "to the direction in which
this place lies?"
"Absolutely none, for the reason that I do not know where my dreaming
left off, and reality commenced. Did someone really come to my window,
and lead me out through another room, downstairs, and into the street,
or did I wander out of my own accord and merely imagine the existence
of the guide? In either event, I must have been guided in some way to
a back entrance; for had I attempted to leave by the front door of the
hotel in that trance-like condition, I should certainly have been
detained by the _bowwab_. Suppose we commence, then, by inquiring if
there is such another entrance?"
The hotel staff was already afoot, and their inquiries led to the
discovery of an entrance communicating with the native servants'
quarters. This could not be reached from the main hall, but there was
a narrow staircase to the left of the lift-shaft by which it might be
gained. The two stood looking out across the stone-paved courtyard
upon which the door opened.
"Beyond doubt," said Dr. Cairn, "I might have come down that staircase
and out by this door without arousing a soul, either by passing
through my own room, or through any other on that floor."
They crossed the yard, where members of the kitchen staff were busily
polishing various cooking utensils, and opened the gate. Dr. Cairn
turned to one of the men near by.
"Is this gate bolted at night?" he asked, in Arabic.
The man shook his head, and seemed to be much amused by the question,
revealing his white teeth as he assured him that it was not.
A narrow lane ran along behind the hotel, communicating with a maze of
streets almost exclusively peopled by natives.
"Rob," said Dr. Cairn slowly, "it begins to dawn upon me that this is
the way I came."
He stood looking to right and left, and seemed to be undecided. Then:
"We will try right," he determined.
They set off along the narrow way. Once clear of the hotel wall, high
buildings rose upon either side, so that at no time during the day
could the sun have penetrated to the winding lane. Suddenly Robert
Cairn stopped.
"Look!" he said, and pointed. "The mosque! You spoke of a mosque near
to the house?"
Dr. Cairn nodded; his eyes were gleaming, now that he felt himself to
be upon the track of this great evil which had shattered his peace.
They advanced until they stood before the door of the mosque--and
there in the shadow of a low archway was just such an ancient,
iron-studded door as Dr. Cairn remembered! Latticed windows overhung
the street above, but no living creature was in sight.
He very gently pressed upon the door, but as he had anticipated it was
fastened from within. In the vague light, his face seemed strangely
haggard as he turned to his son, raising his eyebrows interrogatively.
"It is just possible that I may be mistaken," he said; "so that I
scarcely know what to do."
He stood looking about him in some perplexity.
Adjoining the mosque, was a ruinous house, which clearly had had no
occupants for many years. As Robert Cairn's gaze lighted upon its
gaping window-frames and doorless porch, he seized his father by the
arm.
"We might hide up there," he suggested, "and watch for anyone entering
or leaving the place opposite."
"I have little doubt that this was the scene of my experience,"
replied Dr. Cairn; "therefore I think we will adopt your plan. Perhaps
there is some means of egress at the back. It will be useful if we
have to remain on the watch for any considerable time."
They entered the ruined building and, by means of a rickety staircase,
gained the floor above. It moved beneath them unsafely, but from the
divan which occupied one end of the apartment an uninterrupted view of
the door below was obtainable.
"Stay here," said Dr. Cairn, "and watch, whilst I reconnoitre."
He descended the stairs again, to return in a minute or so and
announce that another street could be reached through the back of the
house. There and then they settled the plan of campaign. One at a time
they would go to the hotel for their meals, so that the door would
never be unwatched throughout the day. Dr. Cairn determined to make no
inquiries respecting the house, as this might put the enemy upon his
guard.
"We are in his own country, Rob," he said. "Here, we can trust no
one."
Thereupon they commenced their singular and self-imposed task. In
turn they went back to the hotel for breakfast, and watched
fruitlessly throughout the morning. They lunched in the same way, and
throughout the great midday heat sat hidden in the ruined building,
mounting guard over that iron-studded door. It was a dreary and
monotonous day, long to be remembered by both of them, and when the
hour of sunset drew nigh, and their vigil remained unrewarded, they
began to doubt the wisdom of their tactics. The street was but little
frequented; there was not the slightest chance of their presence being
discovered.
It was very quiet, too, so that no one could have approached unheard.
At the hotel they had learnt the cause of the explosion during the
night; an accident in the engine-room of a tramp steamer, which had
done considerable damage, but caused no bodily injury.
"We may hope to win yet," said Dr. Cairn, in speaking of the incident.
"It was the hand of God."
Silence had prevailed between them for a long time, and he was about
to propose that his son should go back to dinner, when the rare sound
of a footstep below checked the words upon his lips. Both craned their
necks to obtain a view of the pedestrian.
An old man stooping beneath the burden of years and resting much of
his weight upon a staff, came tottering into sight. The watchers
crouched back, breathless with excitement, as the newcomer paused
before the iron-studded door, and from beneath his cloak took out a
big key.
Inserting it into the lock, he swung open the door; it creaked upon
ancient hinges as it opened inward, revealing a glimpse of a stone
floor. As the old man entered, Dr. Cairn grasped his son by the wrist.
"Down!" he whispered. "Now is our chance!"
They ran down the rickety stairs, crossed the narrow street, and
Robert Cairn cautiously looked in around the door which had been left
ajar.
Black against the dim light of another door at the further end of the
large and barn-like apartment, showed the stooping figure. Tap, tap,
tap! went the stick; and the old man had disappeared around a corner.
"Where can we hide?" whispered Dr. Cairn. "He is evidently making a
tour of inspection."
The sound of footsteps mounting to the upper apartments came to their
ears. They looked about them right and left, and presently the younger
man detected a large wooden cupboard set in one wall. Opening it, he
saw that it contained but one shelf only, near the top.
"When he returns," he said, "we can hide in here until he has gone
out."
Dr. Cairn nodded; he was peering about the room intently.
"This is the place I came to, Rob!" he said softly; "but there was a
stone stair leading down to some room underneath. We must find it."
The old man could be heard passing from room to room above; then his
uneven footsteps sounded on the stair again, and glancing at one
another the two stepped into the cupboard, and pulled the door gently
inward. A few moments later, the old caretaker--since such appeared to
be his office--passed out, slamming the door behind him. At that, they
emerged from their hiding-place and began to examine the apartment
carefully. It was growing very dark now; indeed with the door shut, it
was difficult to detect the outlines of the room. Suddenly a loud cry
broke the perfect stillness, seeming to come from somewhere above.
Robert Cairn started violently, grasping his father's arm, but the
older man smiled.
"You forget that there is a mosque almost opposite," he said. "That is
the _mueddin_!"
His son laughed shortly.
"My nerves are not yet all that they might be," he explained, and
bending low began to examine the pavement.
"There must be a trap-door in the floor?" he continued. "Don't you
think so?"
His father nodded silently, and upon hands and knees also began to
inspect the cracks and crannies between the various stones. In the
right-hand corner furthest from the entrance, their quest was
rewarded. A stone some three feet square moved slightly when pressure
was applied to it, and gave up a sound of hollowness beneath the
tread. Dust and litter covered the entire floor, but having cleared
the top of this particular stone, a ring was discovered, lying flat in
a circular groove cut to receive it. The blade of a penknife served to
raise it from its resting place, and Dr. Cairn, standing astride
across the trap, tugged at the ring, and, without great difficulty,
raised the stone block from its place.
A square hole was revealed. There were irregular stone steps leading
down into the blackness. A piece of candle, stuck in a crude wooden
holder, lay upon the topmost. Dr. Cairn, taking a box of matches from
his pocket, very quickly lighted the candle, and with it held in his
left hand began to descend. His head was not yet below the level of
the upper apartment when he paused.
"You have your revolver?" he said.
Robert nodded grimly, and took his revolver from his pocket.
A singular and most disagreeable smell was arising from the trap which
they had opened; but ignoring this they descended, and presently stood
side by side in a low cellar. Here the odour was almost insupportable;
it had in it something menacing, something definitely repellent; and
at the foot of the steps they stood hesitating.
Dr. Cairn slowly moved the candle, throwing the light along the floor,
where it picked out strips of wood and broken cases, straw packing and
kindred litter--until it impinged upon a brightly painted slab.
Further, he moved it, and higher, and the end of a sarcophagus came
into view. He drew a quick, hissing breath, and bending forward,
directed the light into the interior of the ancient coffin. Then, he
had need of all his iron nerve to choke down the cry that rose to his
lips.
"By God! _Look_!" whispered his son.
Swathed in white wrappings, Antony Ferrara lay motionless before them.
The seconds passed one by one, until a whole minute was told, and
still the two remained inert and the cold light shone fully upon that
ivory face.
"Is he dead?"
Robert Cairn spoke huskily, grasping his father's shoulder.
"I think not," was the equally hoarse reply. "He is in the state of
trance mentioned in--certain ancient writings; he is absorbing evil
force from the sarcophagus of the Witch-Queen...."[A]
[Footnote A: _Note_.--"It seems exceedingly probable that ... the
mummy-case (sarcophagus), with its painted presentment of the living
person, was the material basis for the preservation of the ... _Khu_
(magical powers) of a fully-equipped Adept."
_Collectanea Hermetica_. Vol. VIII.]
There was a faint rustling sound in the cellar, which seemed to grow
louder and more insistent, but Dr. Cairn, apparently, did not notice
it, for he turned to his son, and albeit the latter could see him but
vaguely, he knew that his face was grimly set.
"It seems like butchery," he said evenly, "but, in the interests of
the world, we must not hesitate. A shot might attract attention. Give
me your knife."
For a moment, the other scarcely comprehended the full purport of the
words. Mechanically he took out his knife, and opened the big blade.
"Good heavens, sir," he gasped breathlessly, "it is _too_ awful!"
"Awful I grant you," replied Dr. Cairn, "but a duty--a duty, boy, and
one that we must not shirk. I, alone among living men, know whom, and
_what_, lies there, and my conscience directs me in what I do. His end
shall be that which he had planned for you. Give me the knife."
He took the knife from his son's hand. With the light directed upon
the still, ivory face, he stepped towards the sarcophagus. As he did
so, something dropped from the roof, narrowly missed falling upon his
outstretched hand, and with a soft, dull thud dropped upon the mud
brick floor. Impelled by some intuition, he suddenly directed the
light to the roof above.
Then with a shrill cry which he was wholly unable to repress, Robert
Cairn seized his father's arm and began to pull him back towards the
stair.
"Quick, sir!" he screamed shrilly, almost hysterically. "My God! my
God! _be quick_!"
The appearance of the roof above had puzzled him for an instant as the
light touched it, then in the next had filled his very soul with
loathing and horror. For directly above them was moving a black patch,
a foot or so in extent ... and it was composed of a dense moving mass
of tarantula spiders! A line of the disgusting creatures was mounting
the wall and crossing the ceiling, ever swelling the unclean group!
Dr. Cairn did not hesitate to leap for the stair, and as he did so the
spiders began to drop. Indeed, they seemed to leap towards the
intruders, until the floor all about them and the bottom steps of the
stair presented a mass of black, moving insects.
A perfect panic fear seized upon them. At every step spiders
_crunched_ beneath their feet. They seem to come from nowhere, to be
conjured up out of the darkness, until the whole cellar, the stairs,
the very fetid air about them, became black and nauseous with spiders.
Half-way to the top Dr. Cairn turned, snatched out a revolver and
began firing down into the cellar in the direction of the sarcophagus.
A hairy, clutching thing ran up his arm, and his son, uttering a groan
of horror, struck at it and stained the tweed with its poisonous
blood.
They staggered to the head of the steps, and there Dr. Cairn turned
and hurled the candle at a monstrous spider that suddenly sprang into
view. The candle, still attached to its wooden socket, went bounding
down steps that now were literally carpeted with insects.
Tarantulas began to run out from the trap, as if pursuing the
intruders, and a faint light showed from below. Then came a crackling
sound, and a wisp of smoke floated up.
Dr. Cairn threw open the outer door, and the two panic-stricken men
leapt out into the street and away from the spider army. White to the
lips they stood leaning against the wall.
"Was it really--Ferrara?" whispered Robert.
"I hope so!" was the answer.
Dr. Cairn pointed to the closed door. A fan of smoke was creeping from
beneath it.
* * * * *
The fire which ensued destroyed, not only the house in which it had
broken out, but the two adjoining; and the neighbouring mosque was
saved only with the utmost difficulty.
When, in the dawn of the new day, Dr. Cairn looked down into the
smoking pit which once had been the home of the spiders, he shook his
head and turned to his son.
"If our eyes did not deceive us, Rob," he said, "a just retribution at
last has claimed him!"
Pressing a way through the surrounding crowd of natives, they returned
to the hotel. The hall porter stopped them as they entered.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, "but which is Mr. Robert Cairn?"
Robert Cairn stepped forward.
"A young gentleman left this for you, sir, half an hour ago," said the
man--"a very pale gentleman, with black eyes. He said you'd dropped
it."
Robert Cairn unwrapped the little parcel. It contained a penknife, the
ivory handle charred as if it had been in a furnace. It was his
own--which he had handed to his father in that awful cellar at the
moment when the first spider had dropped; and a card was enclosed,
bearing the pencilled words, "With Antony Ferrara's Compliments."