Slowly the dead marabout stepped from his tomb and stood erect before
me.
He glided mechanically, rigidly; his limbs did not bend, neither did his
eyes move. In his grave-clothes he looked hideous, for so thin was his
face that the bones could be seen beneath the brown withered skin, and
his fleshless fingers with long nails had the appearance of talons.
"Thou hast never before witnessed the return of the dead to the world!"
Zoraida exclaimed, noticing how scared I was.
"Is he really dead?" I asked, feeling somewhat sceptical, and beginning
to think I was being imposed upon by some ingenious trickery.
"Dead? I call thee to witness!" she cried, and again drawing her long,
keen dagger, she plunged it for the second time into his side.
There was no doubt that it had penetrated.
"Enough!" I gasped. "It is sickening."
"Thou art at last convinced. Good!" she said, withdrawing the knife.
Then, turning to the man she had recalled from the grave, she addressed
him--
"Greeting to thee who followeth the guidance. Thou who hast enjoyed the
pleasures of the Garden of Delights among the Companions of the Right
Hand, and hast tasted the sweet waters of Salsabil, knowest the Secret
of the Crescent. I, who fear the Omnipotent Avenger, command thee to
intercede, that I may gain knowledge whereby to triumph over the Satans
of Eblis--on whom may the Merciful not have mercy--and henceforward find
perfect peace."
Zoraida looked frightened herself, trembling like a slender cord
suspended in a well, yet standing erect and queenly, with her jewels
flashing and gleaming with dazzling brilliancy. To her words, however,
the marabout made no reply. He remained motionless as a statue, gazing
straight at me with his black glassy eyes.
Picking up an asp, a symbol of the Aissawa, that was darting over the
carpet, Zoraida placed it in his icy hand. His bony fingers gripped the
reptile as in a vice as slowly he moved across the strange apartment,
and, without uttering a sound, sacrificed it on the blazing brazier.
Motioning me to kneel, and sinking upon her knees at my side, the woman
I adored twisted a serpent around her head, and flung herself forward
with her lips pressed to the sable carpet. Venomous reptiles were
around us, but none ventured to attack. Indeed, she had kicked a viper
aside with her bare foot as unconcernedly as if it had been an almond
husk.
Strange passes were being made by the dead saint, standing at the altar
with his back to us, and as he performed the mystic rite in silence I
noticed that the smoke from the censer became thicker, and the fire in
the brazier glowed until the iron seemed at white heat. Bowing slowly
three times, the marabout stretched forth his hands above his head, and,
turning, faced us.
Zoraida's strained voice broke the silence.
"Blessed be he to whom the lifetime of the ruby is as the lifetime of
the rose. O thou of exalted dignity, behold me, the least and least
worthy of all them that praise the One worthy of praise. May I never
endure prosperity as a gift from the accursed, for I seek the Secret of
the Crescent, and ask of the One of unbounded favour and infinite bounty
that which thou alone canst reveal."
Again the marabout faced the altar, again he made passes over the fierce
fire. The censer, still kept swinging by some unseen power, emitted a
column of thick smoke, the odour of which, at first sulphurous, then
sensuous and overpowering, caused me to feel intolerably drowsy. Then
suddenly, with a noise as loud as the firing of a pistol, a great rent
appeared in the stone front of the altar, as the slab of jasper broke in
twain and a portion fell to the ground.
"Lo! it is at last revealed!" cried Zoraida, turning to me excitedly.
"Life remaineth unto us! The poison will take no further effect, since
we shall possess the Great Secret."
Bowing to earth, the marabout approached close to the altar, and,
dropping upon one knee, placed his hand in the aperture that had been so
suddenly created. From the hole he drew forth a semicircular box of
time-stained leather, about twelve inches across, and, opening it
carefully, took therefrom a piece of rusted iron, shaped in the form of
a crescent, about two inches wide in the centre and tapering to horns at
each end. Its form was almost like a sickle, covered with strange
hieroglyphics deeply graven, and it was about a quarter of an inch in
thickness in every part, with a notch in the centre, as if another
portion that had once been welded to it had been broken away.
Zoraida, still kneeling, eagerly watched the ghastly figure, who, bowing
once again, held the strange object over the flame until it became
heated.
"Beseech of the Power, O Sidi Mammar ben-Mokhala, if the secret may be
wholly revealed unto the Roumi," she said in a loud, clear voice.
Again the corpse that had been awakened from its sardonyx casket bowed
and raised its hands aloft in obedience to her request, as we all three
watched the censer. The thin column went slowly up, but the puff of
thick smoke--that seemed to be regarded as a sign of the affirmative--
was not emitted. Yet again the marabout bowed in silent intercession,
but, though we waited for some minutes, no reply was vouchsafed.
"Thou art not a True Believer, O Cecil," Zoraida said, in bitter
disappointment. "The Great Secret, although revealed unto me, is
withheld from thy knowledge. Alas that it should be so! Truly I bear
the yoke of misfortune and taste the venom of grief."
"Of what use is the Crescent?" I said, regarding with curiosity the
rusted relic in the bony hand of the aged marabout.
"It is the will of the Unseen that thou mayest not know its Secret," she
replied. "Therefore I can reveal nothing."
"But surely thou mayest tell me what it is for?"
"Not at present. Have patience until thou hast passed beyond the
portals of this, the Kingdom of Shades."
The silent priest, having heated the iron sufficiently, placed it upon a
great gold tray, which Zoraida procured from a corner of the chamber and
held for him; then she went out, bearing it with her, and announcing her
intention of returning again immediately. Before the broken altar the
man from the tomb stood immovable as a statue, his hands uplifted; and
there was no sound save the hissing of a snake, hiding in a corner where
the light did not penetrate.
Five minutes elapsed; they seemed an hour. When Zoraida re-entered, she
bore the mysterious Crescent in her hand, and, strangely enough, her
face had assumed much of its usual beauty. In her eyes a look of
happiness and contentment had succeeded that expression of mad despair
that had for the last half-hour spoiled her countenance, and she
appeared to have derived every satisfaction from the strange rites she
had practised.
"At last," she cried, "the Great Secret is again mine! A year ago I
discovered its existence, but the mere suggestion of its use seemed so
utterly absurd, that I hesitated to seek death by the deadly potion
until absolutely compelled."
"Wert thou compelled to-night?" I ventured to inquire.
"Yes. Thou knowest I love thee. It was for thy sake that I sought the
Great Secret. Thou wert not afraid, and gave me courage to knock at the
gate of the dreaded Kingdom of Shades--to face the King of Terrors."
"And yonder marabout? What of him?"
"He will return to the green banks of the river Al Cawthar, whence I
called him to do my bidding and act as intermediary. See! I will send
him back unto his sepulchre."
Advancing to where the ghastly figure was standing with transfixed gaze
without moving a muscle, she placed her hand firmly upon his shoulder.
"Know, O Sidi Mammar ben-Mokhala! thy work hath ended. Thou mayest
return to the Shadow of the Lote Tree, and to the houris awaiting thee
in the Garden beside the ever-flowing stream. May the blessing of
Allah--Gracious Bestower of abundant benefits--ever rest upon thee and
thy sons' sons, and may the Destroyer of Mankind--on whom may the
Merciful not have mercy--have no power over them. To thy grave I
command thee to return, to rest until I again seek thine aid to triumph
over Eblis."
She grasped his cold thin hand, and he allowed himself to be led to the
sarcophagus as meekly as a lamb. Into his stone coffin he stepped, and
then sank back and disappeared. A few moments later, Zoraida beckoned
me, and, standing beside the great sardonyx tomb, I peered in. The
marabout lay stretched out as before, with wide-open, sightless eyes,
and when I touched his cheek, it was hard and icy cold.
"There is no life. See!" she said, and, taking the knife, she once
again plunged it into the corpse, afterwards withdrawing it and
replacing it in the velvet sheath hanging at her girdle.
The old man had again returned to the Great Unknown, leaving Zoraida in
possession of the curiously-wrought piece of metal, the fantastic
inscription upon which puzzled me greatly.