REELING OFF THE THREAD
It was fortunate for all parties that Geoffrey was possessed of strong
nerves, or he would have been certain to betray himself and them.
Since he had left school at the time when the unseen terror first began
to oppress Ravenspur, he had known nothing of the world; he had learnt
nothing beyond the power to suffer silently and the power of love.
To confide in him was, perhaps, a daring thing on the part of Ralph
Ravenspur. But, then, Ralph knew his world only too deeply and too well,
and he rarely made a mistake in a man. All the same, he followed as
closely as possible the meeting between Marion and Geoffrey the
following morning.
Marion came down a little pale, a little quieter and more subdued than
usual. Geoffrey rallied her in the spirit of mingled amusement and
affection that he always assumed to Marion. His voice was natural and
unaffected. Ralph was grimly satisfied. He knew now that his ally had
brains as well as courage.
"I believe you have been sitting up writing poetry," Geoffrey laughed.
"Indeed, I had a very long night's rest," Marion responded. "And I can't
imagine why I look so pale and washed-out this morning!"
"Bad dreams and an evil conscience," Vera suggested demurely.
Marion laughed. Usually at meal times the young people had the
conversation entirely to themselves. Sometimes the elders joined in;
sometimes they listened and smiled at the empty badinage; usually they
were wrapped in their gloomy thoughts. Ralph's face had the expression
of a stone idol, yet he followed every word that was said with intense
and vivid interest.
"Bad dreams, indeed," Marion admitted. "They were with me all night. It
seemed to me that I was wandering about all night looking for something.
And I had nothing on but my nightdress. In India as a child I used to
walk in my sleep. I hope I am not going to do that again."
Marion laughed and passed on to another subject. Curiously enough, she
seemed to shrink from speaking of her life in India. Of her dead parents
she would discourse freely; of her own early life she said nothing. It
had always seemed to Geoffrey that Marion's childhood had been unhappy.
There was an air of gentle melancholy when her features were in repose,
an air far older than her years.
Meanwhile Ralph had been following all this keenly. He appeared to be
interested in his breakfast. The streaming sunshine filtered through the
great stained glass windows full upon his scarred face; his head was
bent down upon his plate.
But the man's mind was at work. He had his opportunity to speak to
Geoffrey presently.
"You will do," he said approvingly. "Keep up that easy, cheerful manner
of yours. Whatever happens, try to ignore it; try to keep up that
irresponsible boyish manner. You will find it invaluable in disarming
suspicion later, when one false move may dash all our delicate plans to
the ground."
"I will do anything you require of me, uncle."
"That is right; that is the spirit in which to approach the problem.
And, remember, that what may appear to you to be the most trivial detail
may prove to be of the utmost importance to our case. For instance, I am
going to ask you to do something now that may produce big results. I
want you to get your grandfather's permission to use the top room over
the tower."
"But what can I want it for? It is useless to me."
"At present, yes; but later it will be useful. You require it for an
observatory. You are going to try to repair the big telescope. You are
enthusiastic on the subject, you are hot-foot to get to work at once.
There is nothing but lumber there."
"Boxes belonging to Marion, uncle. Cases that have remained unpacked
ever since she came over from India."
Ralph smiled in his most inscrutable manner.
"Mere trifles," he croaked. "But, there, I am one of the men who deny
there are such things as trifles. You may lose a pin out of your watch,
a trifle hardly visible to the eye a yard off. And yet your costly
watch, with its marvelous mechanism, is useless without that 'trifle.'
Now go."
An hour later and Geoffrey was busy in the corridor with the big
telescope, the telescope that nobody had troubled about at Ravenspur for
many years. Geoffrey, in his shirt sleeves, was polishing up the
brasses. Vera was with her mother somewhere.
There had been no trouble in getting permission from Rupert Ravenspur.
It was doubtful if he even heard Geoffrey's request. Everything the
young people asked they got, as a rule. Why not, when a day might cut
off their lives and their little pleasures for all time! The head of the
family was fast becoming a fatalist. So far as he was concerned, there
was no hope that the terror would ever lift. He had escaped once; the
next time the foe would not fail. But there would be rest in the grave.
Marion found Geoffrey in the corridor. The yellow and purple lights from
the leaded windows filled the place with a soft, warm glow. Marion's
dark hair was shot with purple; her white dress, as she lounged in a
window seat, was turned to gold. She formed a wonderfully fair and
attractive picture, if Geoffrey had only heeded it. But, then, Geoffrey
had no eyes for any one but Vera.
"What are you going to do?" Marion asked. "Read your fortune in the
stars? Get inspiration from the heavenly bodies to combat the power of
darkness?"
"I'm going to have a shot at astronomy again," Geoffrey replied, in his
most boyish and most enthusiastic manner. "I was considered a bit of
swell at it at school. And when I saw this jolly old telescope lying
neglected here, I made up my mind to polish my knowledge. I'm going to
set it up in the tower turret."
"But it is packed full of boxes--my boxes."
"Well, there is plenty of room for those boxes elsewhere--in fact, we've
got space enough to give every box a room to itself. There is an empty
bedroom just below. Presently I'm going to shunt all your lumber in
there."
Marion nodded approvingly. Of course if Geoffrey said a thing it was
done. He might have turned the castle upside down and the girls would
have aided and abetted him.
"I should like to be present when those boxes are moved," she said.
"There are hundreds of rare and curious things that belonged to my
mother--things that the British Museum would long to possess. Remember,
my ancestors were rulers in Tibet for thousands of years. Some day I'll
show you my curios. But don't begin to move those boxes till I am ready
to assist."
"I shall not be ready for an hour, Marion."
"Very well, then, I shall be back in an hour, astronomer."
Geoffrey finished his work presently. Then he ran up to the turret-room
and opened the door. The place was dusty and dirty to a degree, and
filled with packing-cases. Apparently they were all of foreign
make--wooden boxes, with queer inscriptions, lacquered boxes, and one
fragile wooden box clamped and decorated in filigree brass.
"A queer thing," Geoffrey murmured. "And old, very old, too."
"Over a thousand years. There is only one more like it in the world, and
no Christian eyes save four have ever looked upon it. When you take that
box from the room, see that it is the last, Geoffrey. You hear?"
It was Ralph who spoke. He had appeared silently and mysteriously as
usual. He spoke calmly, but his twitching lips were eloquent of
suppressed excitement.
"Very well," Geoffrey said carelessly. He was getting used to these
strange quick appearances and these equally strange requests. "It shall
be as you desire, uncle."
Ralph nodded. He gave a swift turn of his head as if looking for some
one unconsciously, then he crossed the room and stooped down beside the
brass-bound box, which was at the bottom of a pile of packages. His long
fingers felt over the quaint brasses.
"A most remarkable-looking pattern," said Geoffrey.
"It is not a pattern at all," Ralph replied.
"The quaint filigree work is a language--the written signs of old Tibet,
only you are not supposed to know that; indeed, I only found it out
myself a few days ago. It had been a long search; but, as I can only see
with my fingers, you can understand that. But this is part of the
secret."
Geoffrey was profoundly interested.
"Tell me what the language says?" he asked.
"Not now--perhaps not at all. It is a ghastly and terrible thing, and
even your nerves are not fireproof. There is only one thing I have to
ask you before I efface myself for the present. When you take up that
box to carry it down stairs it is to slip through your fingers. You are
to drop it."
"I am to drop that box. Is there anything else?"
"Not for the present. You are smiling; I feel that you are smiling. For
Heaven's sake take this seriously; take everything that I say seriously,
boy. Oh, I know what is in your mind--I am going in a clumsy way to get
something. I might so easily get what I require by a little judicious
burglary. That is what your unsophisticated mind tells you. Later you
will know better."
Ralph turned cheerfully round and left the room. He paused in the
doorway. "Don't forget," he said, "that my visit here is a secret. In
fact, everything is a secret until I give you permission to make it
public."
This time he left. Geoffrey had managed to drag one or two of the boxes
away before Marion appeared. She reproached him gently that he had not
waited for her. There might be spooks and bogies in those packages
capable of harm.
"I dare say there are," Geoffrey laughed. "But you were such a long
time. Every girl seems to imagine that an hour is like a piece of
elastic--you can stretch it out as long as you like. At any rate I have
done no harm. As far as I can judge there's only one good thing here."
"And what is that?" Marion asked.
Geoffrey pointed to the floor.
"That one," he said. "The queer brass-bound box at the bottom."