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moments he swayed himself backwards and forwards, seemed to breathe with
difficulty, and finally became almost rigid. Then came a long pause, lasting
perhaps three minutes, at the end of which time he opened his eyes, raised
his right arm, and pointed with his forefinger at
Dr. Nikola Returns
Chapter XIV. An Ordeal
104
the dead man's face. As he did so, to my horror, I saw the eyes open! Again
he seemed to pray, then he pointed at the right arm, whereupon the dead man
lifted it and folded it upon his breast, then at his left, which followed
suit. When both the white hands were in this position he turned to Nikola and
said, "Is there aught in thy learning can give thee the power to do that? "
"There is nothing," said Nikola, whom I could see was as much amazed as I
was.
"But our power does not end there," said the old man.
"Oh, wonderful father! what further canst thou teach me? " asked Nikola. The
man did not answer, but again closed his eyes for a few moments. Then, still
holding the handles but pointing them towards the dead man, he cried in a
loud voice, "Ye who are dead, arise! "
And thenbut I do not expect you will believe me when I tell itthat man who
had been ten hours dead, rose little by little from his bier and at last
stood before us. I continued to watch what happened. I saw Nikola start
forward as if carried out of himself. I saw the second man extend his arm to
hold him back, and then the corpse fell in a heap upon the floor. The two men
instantly sprang forward, lifted it up, and placed it upon the stretcher
again.
"Art thou satisfied? " inquired the old man.
"I am filled with wonder. Is it possible that I can see more? " said Nikola.
"Thou wouldst see more? " asked the chief of the Two in a sepulchral tone. "
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Then, as a last proof of our power, before thou takest upon thee the final
vows of our order, when all our secrets must be revealed to thee, thou shalt
penetrate the Land of Shadows, and see, as far as is possible for human eyes,
the dead leaders of our order, of all ages, stand before you."
With that he took from a bag hanging round his waist a handful of what looked
like dried herbs. These he threw upon the fire, and almost instantly the room
was filled with a dense smoke. For some few seconds I
could distinguish nothing, then it drew slowly off, and little by little I
seemed to see with an extraordinary clearness. Whether it was that I was
hypnotized, and fancied I saw what I am about to describe, or whether it
really happened as I say, I shall never know. One thing, however, is
certainthe room was filled with the shadowy figures of men. They were of all
ages, and apparently of all nations. Some were Chinese, some were
Cingalese, some were Thibetans, while one or two were certainly Aryans, and
for all I knew to the contrary, might have been English. The room was filled
with them, but there was something plainly unsubstantial about them. They
moved to and fro without sound, yet with regular movements. I watched them,
and as I
watched, a terror, such as I had never known in my life before, came over me.
I felt that if I did not get out of the room at once I should fall upon the
floor in a fit. In this state I made my way towards the door by which I
had entered, fled up the ladder, through the crypt, and then across the cave
to the place where I had stood when Nikola had left me, and then fell
fainting upon the floor.
How long I remained in this swoon I cannot tell, but when I came to myself
again I was still alone.
It must have been quite an hour later when Nikola joined me. The monk who had
brought us into the hall accompanied him, and led us towards the tunnel.
There the dwarf received us and conducted us back to our apartments.
Dr. Nikola Returns
Chapter XIV. An Ordeal
105
Once there, Nikola, without vouchsafing me a word, retired into the inner
room. I was too dazed, and, I will confess, too frightened by what I had seen
to feel equal to interviewing him, so I left him alone.
Presently, however, he came into my room, and crossing to where I sat on my
bed, placed his hand kindly upon my shoulder. I looked up into his face,
which was paler than I had ever seen it before.
"Bruce," he said, not without a little touch of regret in his voice, " how
was it that you did not do what you were told? "
"It was my cursed curiosity," I said bitterly. " But do not think I am not
sorry. I would give all I possess in the world not to have seen what I saw in
that room."
"But you have seen, and nothing will ever take away that knowledge from you.
You will carry it with you to the grave."
"The grave," I answered bitterly. "What hope is there even in the grave after
what we have seen tonight? Oh, for Heaven's sake, Nikola, let us get out of
this place tonight if possible."
"So you are afraid, are you? " he answered with a strange expression on his
face. " I did not think you would turn coward, Bruce."
"In this I
am a coward," I answered. " Give me something to do, something human to
fight, some tangible danger to face, and I am your man! But I am not fit to
fight against the invisible."
"Come, come, cheer up! " said Nikola. " Things are progressing splendidly
with us. Our identity has not been questioned; we have been received by the
heads of the sect as the people we pretend to be, and tomorrow I
am to be raised to the rank of one of the Three. The remaining secrets will
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then be revealed to me, and when I
have discovered all I want to know, we will go back to civilization once
more. Think of what I may have achieved by this time tomorrow. I tell you,
Bruce, such an opportunity might never come to a Western man again. It will be
invaluable to me. Think of this, and then it will help your pluck to go
through with it to the end!"
"If I am not asked to see such things as I saw tonight, it may," I answered,
" but not unless."
"You must do me the credit to remember you were not asked to see them."
"I know that, and I have paid severely for my disobedience."
"Then let us say no more about it. Remember, Bruce, I trust you."
"You need have no fear," I said, after a pause, lasting a few moments. " Even [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]