Chapter XIV
The Birth-Mark
During my waiting for the summons to Mr. Trelawny's room, which I knewwould come, the time was long and lonely. After the first few momentsof emotional happiness at Margaret's joy, I somehow felt apart andalone; and for a little time the selfishness of a lover possessed me.But it was not for long. Margaret's happiness was all to me; and inthe conscious sense of it I lost my baser self. Margaret's last wordsas the door closed on them gave the key to the whole situation, as ithad been and as it was. These two proud, strong people, though fatherand daughter, had only come to know each other when the girl was grownup. Margaret's nature was of that kind which matures early.
The pride and strength of each, and the reticence which was theircorollary, made a barrier at the beginning. Each had respected theother's reticence too much thereafter; and the misunderstanding grew tohabit. And so these two loving hearts, each of which yearned forsympathy from the other, were kept apart. But now all was well, and inmy heart of hearts I rejoiced that at last Margaret was happy. WhilstI was still musing on the subject, and dreaming dreams of a personalnature, the door was opened, and Mr. Trelawny beckoned to me.
"Come in, Mr. Ross!" he said cordially, but with a certain formalitywhich I dreaded. I entered the room, and he closed the door again. Heheld out his hand, and I put mine in it. He did not let it go, butstill held it as he drew me over toward his daughter. Margaret lookedfrom me to him, and back again; and her eyes fell. When I was close toher, Mr. Trelawny let go my hand, and, looking his daughter straight inthe face, said:
"If things are as I fancy, we shall not have any secrets between us.Malcolm Ross knows so much of my affairs already, that I take it hemust either let matters stop where they are and go away in silence, orelse he must know more. Margaret! are you willing to let Mr. Ross seeyour wrist?"
She threw one swift look of appeal in his eyes; but even as she did soshe seemed to make up her mind. Without a word she raised her righthand, so that the bracelet of spreading wings which covered the wristfell back, leaving the flesh bare. Then an icy chill shot through me.
On her wrist was a thin red jagged line, from which seemed to hang redstains like drops of blood!
She stood there, a veritable figure of patient pride.
Oh! but she looked proud! Through all her sweetness, all her dignity,all her high-souled negation of self which I had known, and which neverseemed more marked than now--through all the fire that seemed to shinefrom the dark depths of her eyes into my very soul, pride shoneconspicuously. The pride that has faith; the pride that is born ofconscious purity; the pride of a veritable queen of Old Time, when tobe royal was to be the first and greatest and bravest in all highthings. As we stood thus for some seconds, the deep, grave voice of herfather seemed to sound a challenge in my ears:
"What do you say now?"
My answer was not in words. I caught Margaret's right hand in mine asit fell, and, holding it tight, whilst with the other I pushed back thegolden cincture, stooped and kissed the wrist. As I looked up at her,but never letting go her hand, there was a look of joy on her face suchas I dream of when I think of heaven. Then I faced her father.
"You have my answer, sir!" His strong face looked gravely sweet. Heonly said one word as he laid his hand on our clasped ones, whilst hebent over and kissed his daughter:
"Good!"
We were interrupted by a knock at the door. In answer to an impatient"Come in!" from Mr. Trelawny, Mr. Corbeck entered. When he saw usgrouped he would have drawn back; but in an instant Mr. Trelawny hadsprung forth and dragged him forward. As he shook him by both hands,he seemed a transformed man. All the enthusiasm of his youth, of whichMr. Corbeck had told us, seemed to have come back to him in an instant.
"So you have got the lamps!" he almost shouted. "My reasoning wasright after all. Come to the library, where we will be alone, and tellme all about it! And while he does it, Ross," said he, turning to me,"do you, like a good fellow, get the key from the safe deposit, so thatI may have a look at the lamps!"
Then the three of them, the daughter lovingly holding her father's arm,went into the library, whilst I hurried off to Chancery Lane.
When I returned with the key, I found them still engaged in thenarrative; but Doctor Winchester, who had arrived soon after I left,was with them. Mr. Trelawny, on hearing from Margaret of his greatattention and kindness, and how he had, under much pressure to thecontrary, steadfastly obeyed his written wishes, had asked him toremain and listen. "It will interest you, perhaps," he said, "to learnthe end of the story!"
We all had an early dinner together. We sat after it a good while, andthen Mr. Trelawny said:
"Now, I think we had all better separate and go quietly to bed early.We may have much to talk about tomorrow; and tonight I want to think."
Doctor Winchester went away, taking, with a courteous forethought, Mr.Corbeck with him, and leaving me behind. When the others had gone Mr.Trelawny said:
"I think it will be well if you, too, will go home for tonight. I wantto be quite alone with my daughter; there are many things I wish tospeak of to her, and to her alone. Perhaps, even tomorrow, I will beable to tell you also of them; but in the meantime there will be lessdistraction to us both if we are alone in the house." I quiteunderstood and sympathised with his feelings; but the experiences ofthe last few days were strong on me, and with some hesitation I said:
"But may it not be dangerous? If you knew as we do--" To my surpriseMargaret interrupted me:
"There will be no danger, Malcolm. I shall be with Father!" As shespoke she clung to him in a protective way. I said no more, but stoodup to go at once. Mr. Trelawny said heartily:
"Come as early as you please, Ross. Come to breakfast. After it, youand I will want to have a word together." He went out of the roomquietly, leaving us together. I clasped and kissed Margaret's hands,which she held out to me, and then drew her close to me, and our lipsmet for the first time.
I did not sleep much that night. Happiness on the one side of my bedand Anxiety on the other kept sleep away. But if I had anxious care, Ihad also happiness which had not equal in my life--or ever can have.The night went by so quickly that the dawn seemed to rush on me, notstealing as is its wont.
Before nine o'clock I was at Kensington. All anxiety seemed to floataway like a cloud as I met Margaret, and saw that already the pallor ofher face had given to the rich bloom which I knew. She told me thather father had slept well, and that he would be with us soon.
"I do believe," she whispered, "that my dear and thoughtful Father haskept back on purpose, so that I might meet you first, and alone!"
After breakfast Mr. Trelawny took us into the study, saying as hepassed in:
"I have asked Margaret to come too." When we were seated, he saidgravely:
"I told you last night that we might have something to say to eachother. I dare say that you may have thought that it was about Margaretand yourself. Isn't that so?"
"I thought so."
"Well, my boy, that is all right. Margaret and I have been talking,and I know her wishes." He held out his hand. When I wrung it, andhad kissed Margaret, who drew her chair close to mine, so that we couldhold hands as we listened, he went on, but with a certainhesitation--it could hardly be called nervousness--which was new to me.
"You know a good deal of my hunt after this mummy and her belongings;and I dare say you have guessed a good deal of my theories. But theseat any rate I shall explain later, concisely and categorically, if itbe necessary. What I want to consult you about now is this: Margaretand I disagree on one point. I am about to make an experiment; theexperiment which is to crown all that I have devoted twenty years ofresearch, and danger, and labour to prepare for. Through it we maylearn things that have been hidden from the eyes and the knowledge ofmen for centuries; for scores of centuries. I do not want my daughterto be present; for I cannot blind myself to the fact that there may bedanger in it--grea
t danger, and of an unknown kind. I have, however,already faced very great dangers, and of an unknown kind; and so hasthat brave scholar who has helped me in the work. As to myself, I amwilling to run any risk. For science, and history, and philosophy maybenefit; and we may turn one old page of a wisdom unknown in thisprosaic age. But for my daughter to run such a risk I am loth. Heryoung bright life is too precious to throw lightly away; now especiallywhen she is on the very threshold of new happiness. I do not wish tosee her life given, as her dear mother's was--"
He broke down for a moment, and covered his eyes with his hands. In aninstant Margaret was beside him, clasping him close, and kissing him,and comforting him with loving words. Then, standing erect, with onehand on his head, she said:
"Father! mother did not bid you stay beside her, even when you wantedto go on that journey of unknown danger to Egypt; though that countrywas then upset from end to end with war and the dangers that followwar. You have told me how she left you free to go as you wished; thoughthat she thought of danger for you and and feared it for you, is provedby this!" She held up her wrist with the scar that seemed to runblood. "Now, mother's daughter does as mother would have done herself!"Then she turned to me:
"Malcolm, you know I love you! But love is trust; and you must trustme in danger as well as in joy. You and I must stand beside Father inthis unknown peril. Together we shall come through it; or together weshall fail; together we shall die. That is my wish; my first wish to myhusband that is to be! Do you not think that, as a daughter, I amright? Tell my Father what you think!"
She looked like a Queen stooping to plead. My love for her grew andgrew. I stood up beside her; and took her hand and said:
"Mr. Trelawny! in this Margaret and I are one!"
He took both our hands and held them hard. Presently he said with deepemotion:
"It is as her mother would have done!"
Mr. Corbeck and Doctor Winchester came exactly at the time appointed,and joined us in the library. Despite my great happiness I felt ourmeeting to be a very solemn function. For I could never forget thestrange things that had been; and the idea of the strange things whichmight be, was with me like a cloud, pressing down on us all. From thegravity of my companions I gathered that each of them also was ruled bysome such dominating thought.
Instinctively we gathered our chairs into a circle round Mr. Trelawny,who had taken the great armchair near the window. Margaret sat by himon his right, and I was next to her. Mr. Corbeck was on his left, withDoctor Winchester on the other side. After a few seconds of silence Mr.Trelawny said to Mr. Corbeck:
"You have told Doctor Winchester all up to the present, as we arranged?"
"Yes," he answered; so Mr. Trelawny said:
"And I have told Margaret, so we all know!" Then, turning to theDoctor, he asked:
"And am I to take it that you, knowing all as we know it who havefollowed the matter for years, wish to share in the experiment which wehope to make?" His answer was direct and uncompromising:
"Certainly! Why, when this matter was fresh to me, I offered to go onwith it to the end. Now that it is of such strange interest, I wouldnot miss it for anything which you could name. Be quite easy in yourmind, Mr. Trelawny. I am a scientist and an investigator of phenomena.I have no one belonging to me or dependent on me. I am quite alone,and free to do what I like with my own--including my life!" Mr.Trelawny bowed gravely, and turning to Mr. Corbeck said:
"I have known your ideas for many years past, old friend; so I need askyou nothing. As to Margaret and Malcolm Ross, they have already told metheir wishes in no uncertain way." He paused a few seconds, as thoughto put his thoughts or his words in order; then he began to explain hisviews and intentions. He spoke very carefully, seeming always to bearin mind that some of us who listened were ignorant of the very root andnature of some things touched upon, and explaining them to us as hewent on:
"The experiment which is before us is to try whether or no there is anyforce, any reality, in the old Magic. There could not possibly be morefavourable conditions for the test; and it is my own desire to do allthat is possible to make the original design effective. That there issome such existing power I firmly believe. It might not be possible tocreate, or arrange, or organise such a power in our own time; but Itake it that if in Old Time such a power existed, it may have someexceptional survival. After all, the Bible is not a myth; and we readthere that the sun stood still at a man's command, and that an ass--nota human one--spoke. And if the Witch at Endor could call up to Saulthe spirit of Samuel, why may not there have been others with equalpowers; and why may not one among them survive? Indeed, we are told inthe Book of Samuel that the Witch of Endor was only one of many, andher being consulted by Saul was a matter of chance. He only sought oneamong the many whom he had driven out of Israel; 'all those that hadFamiliar Spirits, and the Wizards.' This Egyptian Queen, Tera, whoreigned nearly two thousand years before Saul, had a Familiar, and wasa Wizard too. See how the priests of her time, and those after ittried to wipe out her name from the face of the earth, and put a curseover the very door of her tomb so that none might ever discover thelost name. Ay, and they succeeded so well that even Manetho, thehistorian of the Egyptian Kings, writing in the tenth century beforeChrist, with all the lore of the priesthood for forty centuries behindhim, and with possibility of access to every existing record, could noteven find her name. Did it strike any of you, in thinking of the lateevents, who or what her Familiar was?" There was an interruption, forDoctor Winchester struck one hand loudly on the other as he ejaculated:
"The cat! The mummy cat! I knew it!" Mr. Trelawny smiled over at him.
"You are right! There is every indication that the Familiar of theWizard Queen was that cat which was mummied when she was, and was notonly placed in her tomb, but was laid in the sarcophagus with her.That was what bit into my wrist, what cut me with sharp claws." Hepaused. Margaret's comment was a purely girlish one:
"Then my poor Silvio is acquitted! I am glad!" Her father stroked herhair and went on:
"This woman seems to have had an extraordinary foresight. Foresightfar, far beyond her age and the philosophy of her time. She seems tohave seen through the weakness of her own religion, and even preparedfor emergence into a different world. All her aspirations were for theNorth, the point of the compass whence blew the cool invigoratingbreezes that make life a joy. From the first, her eyes seem to havebeen attracted to the seven stars of the Plough from the fact, asrecorded in the hieroglyphics in her tomb, that at her birth a greataerolite fell, from whose heart was finally extracted that Jewel ofSeven Stars which she regarded as the talisman of her life. It seemsto have so far ruled her destiny that all her thought and care circledround it. The Magic Coffer, so wondrously wrought with seven sides, welearn from the same source, came from the aerolite. Seven was to her amagic number; and no wonder. With seven fingers on one hand, and seventoes on one foot. With a talisman of a rare ruby with seven stars inthe same position as in that constellation which ruled her birth, eachstar of the seven having seven points--in itself a geologicalwonder--it would have been odd if she had not been attracted by it.Again, she was born, we learn in the Stele of her tomb, in the seventhmonth of the year--the month beginning with the Inundation of the Nile.Of which month the presiding Goddess was Hathor, the Goddess of her ownhouse, of the Antefs of the Theban line--the Goddess who in variousforms symbolises beauty, and pleasure, and resurrection. Again, inthis seventh month--which, by later Egyptian astronomy began on October28th, and ran to the 27th of our November--on the seventh day thePointer of the Plough just rises above the horizon of the sky at Thebes.
"In a marvellously strange way, therefore, are grouped into thiswoman's life these various things. The number seven; the Pole Star,with the constellation of seven stars; the God of the month, Hathor,who was her own particular God, the God of her family, the Antefs ofthe Theban Dynasty, whose Kings' symbol it was, and whose seven formsruled love and
the delights of life and resurrection. If ever therewas ground for magic; for the power of symbolism carried into mysticuse; for a belief in finites spirits in an age which knew not theLiving God, it is here.
"Remember, too, that this woman was skilled in all the science of hertime. Her wise and cautious father took care of that, knowing that byher own wisdom she must ultimately combat the intrigues of theHierarchy. Bear in mind that in old Egypt the science of Astronomybegan and was developed to an extraordinary height; and that Astrologyfollowed Astronomy in its progress. And it is possible that in thelater developments of science with regard to light rays, we may yetfind that Astrology is on a scientific basis. Our next wave ofscientific thought may deal with this. I shall have something specialto call your minds to on this point presently. Bear in mind also thatthe Egyptians knew sciences, of which today, despite all ouradvantages, we are profoundly ignorant. Acoustics, for instance, anexact science with the builders of the temples of Karnak, of Luxor, ofthe Pyramids, is today a mystery to Bell, and Kelvin, and Edison, andMarconi. Again, these old miracle-workers probably understood somepractical way of using other forces, and amongst them the forces oflight that at present we do not dream of. But of this matter I shallspeak later. That Magic Coffer of Queen Tera is probably a magic boxin more ways than one. It may--possibly it does--contain forces thatwe wot not of. We cannot open it; it must be closed from within. Howthen was it closed? It is a coffer of solid stone, of amazinghardness, more like a jewel than an ordinary marble, with a lid equallysolid; and yet all is so finely wrought that the finest tool made todaycannot be inserted under the flange. How was it wrought to suchperfection? How was the stone so chosen that those translucent patchesmatch the relations of the seven stars of the constellation? How isit, or from what cause, that when the starlight shines on it, it glowsfrom within--that when I fix the lamps in similar form the glow growsgreater still; and yet the box is irresponsive to ordinary lighthowever great? I tell you that that box hides some great mystery ofscience. We shall find that the light will open it in some way:either by striking on some substance, sensitive in a peculiar way toits effect, or in releasing some greater power. I only trust that inour ignorance we may not so bungle things as to do harm to itsmechanism; and so deprive the knowledge of our time of a lesson handeddown, as by a miracle, through nearly five thousand years.
"In another way, too, there may be hidden in that box secrets which,for good or ill, may enlighten the world. We know from their records,and inferentially also, that the Egyptians studied the properties ofherbs and minerals for magic purposes--white magic as well as black.We know that some of the wizards of old could induce from sleep dreamsof any given kind. That this purpose was mainly effected by hypnotism,which was another art or science of Old Nile, I have little doubt. Butstill, they must have had a mastery of drugs that is far beyondanything we know. With our own pharmacopoeia we can, to a certainextent, induce dreams. We may even differentiate between good andbad--dreams of pleasure, or disturbing and harrowing dreams. But theseold practitioners seemed to have been able to command at will any formor colour of dreaming; could work round any given subject or thought inalmost any was required. In that coffer, which you have seen, may resta very armoury of dreams. Indeed, some of the forces that lie withinit may have been already used in my household." Again there was aninterruption from Doctor Winchester.
"But if in your case some of these imprisoned forces were used, whatset them free at the opportune time, or how? Besides, you and Mr.Corbeck were once before put into a trance for three whole days, whenyou were in the Queen's tomb for the second time. And then, as Igathered from Mr. Corbeck's story, the coffer was not back in the tomb,though the mummy was. Surely in both these cases there must have beensome active intelligence awake, and with some other power to wield."Mr. Trelawny's answer was equally to the point:
"There was some active intelligence awake. I am convinced of it. Andit wielded a power which it never lacks. I believe that on both thoseoccasions hypnotism was the power wielded."
"And wherein is that power contained? What view do you hold on thesubject?" Doctor Winchester's voice vibrated with the intensity of hisexcitement as he leaned forward, breathing hard, and with eyes staring.Mr. Trelawny said solemnly:
"In the mummy of the Queen Tera! I was coming to that presently.Perhaps we had better wait till I clear the ground a little. What Ihold is, that the preparation of that box was made for a specialoccasion; as indeed were all the preparations of the tomb and allbelonging to it. Queen Tera did not trouble herself to guard againstsnakes and scorpions, in that rocky tomb cut in the sheer cliff face ahundred feet above the level of the valley, and fifty down from thesummit. Her precautions were against the disturbances of human hands;against the jealousy and hatred of the priests, who, had they known ofher real aims, would have tried to baffle them. From her point ofview, she made all ready for the time of resurrection, whenever thatmight be. I gather from the symbolic pictures in the tomb that she sofar differed from the belief of her time that she looked for aresurrection in the flesh. It was doubtless this that intensified thehatred of the priesthood, and gave them an acceptable cause forobliterating the very existence, present and future, of one who hadoutrage their theories and blasphemed their gods. All that she mightrequire, either in the accomplishment of the resurrection or after it,were contained in that almost hermetically sealed suite of chambers inthe rock. In the great sarcophagus, which as you know is of a sizequite unusual even for kings, was the mummy of her Familiar, the cat,which from its great size I take to be a sort of tiger-cat. In thetomb, also in a strong receptacle, were the canopic jars usuallycontaining those internal organs which are separately embalmed, butwhich in this case had no such contents. So that, I take it, there wasin her case a departure in embalming; and that the organs were restoredto the body, each in its proper place--if, indeed, they had ever beenremoved. If this surmise be true, we shall find that the brain of theQueen either was never extracted in the usual way, or, if so taken out,that it was duly replaced, instead of being enclosed within the mummywrappings. Finally, in the sarcophagus there was the Magic Coffer onwhich her feet rested. Mark you also, the care taken in thepreservance of her power to control the elements. According to herbelief, the open hand outside the wrappings controlled the Air, and thestrange Jewel Stone with the shining stars controlled Fire. Thesymbolism inscribed on the soles of her feet gave sway over Land andWater. About the Star Stone I shall tell you later; but whilst we arespeaking of the sarcophagus, mark how she guarded her secret in case ofgrave-wrecking or intrusion. None could open her Magic Coffer withoutthe lamps, for we know now that ordinary light will not be effective.The great lid of the sarcophagus was not sealed down as usual, becauseshe wished to control the air. But she hid the lamps, which instructure belong to the Magic Coffer, in a place where none could findthem, except by following the secret guidance which she had preparedfor only the eyes of wisdom. And even here she had guarded againstchance discovery, by preparing a bolt of death for the unwarydiscoverer. To do this she had applied the lesson of the tradition ofthe avenging guard of the treasures of the pyramid, built by her greatpredecessor of the Fourth Dynasty of the throne of Egypt.
"You have noted, I suppose, how there were, in the case of her tomb,certain deviations from the usual rules. For instance, the shaft ofthe Mummy Pit, which is usually filled up solid with stones andrubbish, was left open. Why was this? I take it that she had madearrangements for leaving the tomb when, after her resurrection, sheshould be a new woman, with a different personality, and less inured tothe hardships that in her first existence she had suffered. So far aswe can judge of her intent, all things needful for her exit into theworld had been thought of, even to the iron chain, described by VanHuyn, close to the door in the rock, by which she might be able tolower herself to the ground. That she expected a long period to elapsewas shown in the choice of material. An ordinary rope would berendered weaker or unsafe in pr
ocess of time, but she imagined, andrightly, that the iron would endure.
"What her intentions were when once she trod the open earth afresh wedo not know, and we never shall, unless her own dead lips can softenand speak."