The whole life treatment had been wrong because of its mechanical
nature. He had found himself without the strength to manipulate the
machine, and had consequently resorted to hand massage. When tired he
would sit for hours, concentrating his mind upon the desire that the
freak would awaken--would see, hear, taste, smell, or feel. Then he
would resume the massage.
It worked. The creature opened its eyes one day about a week back
and moved its limbs. With the wakening of the motor nerves came a
correlative wakening of the sensory and optic nerves. He could see and
feel.
But the sensations were too much for him and, like a new-born infant,
he set up the loud, discordant wailing I had heard. A little further
treatment brought to life the sense of hearing, and after a few simple
experiments it was proved that he could taste and smell.
I went up and inspected the baby. He lay on his cot, dressed in
dungaree jumper and overalls, twiddling his toes and fingers, and
sticking out his tongue at the ceiling; but at the sight of me he set
up a roar that drove us out into the open. He could certainly "take
notice."
"His lungs are all right," I said. "He'll make a good bo'sun's mate
when he grows up. Think he'll start growing now?"
"Oh, no," said Dartmoor seriously. "He's got his growth. But we are
teaching him to walk, and we must teach him to talk. His intelligence
and memory will come with the accumulation of perceptions."
"He will talk soon," said the old missionary hopefully. "He is very
imitative. This morning he repeated 'Now I lay,' but could go no
farther. His first speech must be prayer, to give thanks for his rescue
from darkness."
"He'll learn to swear," I said unsympathetically, "if I catch him
around my pearls. Think he'll be an idiot, Dartmoor? Has he a soul
after all these years of unconsciousness?"
"He has always possessed a subconscious mind," said Dartmoor
didactically, "and now has the beginning of consciousness. But if he
has a soul, depend upon it, it is my soul. I brought him to life, and
he will feel what I feel and do what I do to the extent of his power.
"Why, that is proved now. I can quiet him by a word, or even a fixed
thought of disapproval. He smiles or laughs when I do. I was frightened
by a shark yesterday--just a momentary shock--but his wailings were
pitiable. Yet he was out of sight of me."
"Well, all this is beyond me," I said. "But now that you've got him
alive what will you do with him? Take him back to the coast and exhibit
him? He'd make a fine dime-museum star."
"Nothing so cheap. I do not care to take him back until I have fully
demonstrated my theory. But, in his development he will need more than
my care and Mr. Pfeffer's. He needs the tender ministrations of a
mother. A woman's instinct alone can tell when to punish and when to
reward.
"I want you to go back home, captain, and bring Ella to me, with her
mother. Mr. Pfeffer can marry us, and then you can take the mother
back."
"Dartmoor, you inhuman devil," I answered with what restraint I could,
"would you condemn a civilized young woman to companionship with that
brute?"
"In the interest of science, yes. My wife will work with me."
"She won't come," I answered explosively. "In justice and fairness I
shall warn her of what is ahead. She won't come, depend upon it."
"She will. I will write her a letter which you can deliver to her."
I acceded--I do not know why. I had sworn to drown him in the lagoon
before I would lend a hand toward his marrying that girl. I only came
back to myself when three days out, homeward bound.
I was obeying his orders; yet, as the days went on, I found my will
power and determination growing. If I took that girl out, I vowed she
would go as my wife.
Nothing of the sort happened. When she read his letter she insisted
upon going, and her weak old mother fell in line. In vain did I beg and
storm. Nothing I could say availed against that letter.
I could not recognize Dartmoor's right to that girl over my own,
though I was compelled to yield to his greater power. On that run out
to sea I did all I could to sway her. I prayed to her and argued with
her, representing as strongly as I could her life with a heartless,
bloodless scientist and a man-baby--a repulsive, incongruous parody on
the human race; but I finally had to give up in despair.
As we sailed into the lagoon I observed through the glass the whole
colony, Dartmoor, the missionary, and the gang of coolies mustered on
the beach. And with them was the baby. They had taught him to walk.
Clumsy and huge, he lumbered around among them, and occasionally
dropped to all-fours. Even at the distance I could hear his thundering
"Da, da da!"
"Nice prospect for Ella," I thought gloomily. "Heaven help the poor
girl!"
I lowered the quarter-boat and sent mother and daughter ashore, for I
was determined not to witness Dartmoor's meeting with the girl I loved.
Yet the jealous devils in my soul were too strong for my determination.
I looked through the glass at Dartmoor assisting Ella ashore, and swore
dismally as he took her in his arms, kissed her on the cheek, and
turned away from her to the mother.
A scream, either from Ella or her mother, interrupted the second
greeting, and I shifted my glass. There was the brute baby, with his
huge arms around Ella, attempting to follow the example of Dartmoor.
The missionary shouted, and the coolies danced around at a safe
distance.
Dartmoor acted. With a bound he had the brute by the throat and pulled
him clear. Then I saw them clench, and at this I dropped the glass and
sprang into the dingey.
I took only one look behind as I pulled furiously on the oars. They
were on the ground in a mad struggle, the brute uppermost. Ella had
fainted and her mother was bending over her, while the missionary and
the coolies were well up the hill.
As I grounded and sprang out with an oar, the brute slowly rose erect,
looking at Dartmoor.
"Get out of here!" I yelled. "Clear out!" and brandished the oar.
He stumbled away a short distance, dropped and crawled a little
farther, then lay down on the sand. I made toward Ella.
"Is she hurt?" I asked anxiously.
"Only fainted away," answered the mother. "That creature frightened her
so. He is simply terrible."