CHAPTER III.
A WIZARD'S TRICK.
All New York, that afternoon, was treated to a sensational account inthe afternoon "Extra" newspapers, of the supposed holocaust of thesuspected murderer of Mabel Sloane. Yet in truth not only was Dr.Medjora safe and well, but he had never been in any serious danger.
As soon as the police had abandoned the effort to batter in the door,Dr. Medjora turned and said to young Barnes:
"It would serve you right were I to leave you in here to be burned, inpunishment for your audacity in spying upon me. Instead of that, Ishall take you out with me, if only to convince you that I am not amurderer. Give me your hand!"
Barnes obeyed, satisfied that even though treachery were intended, hispredicament could not be made worse than it already was. By the dimlight which occasionally illuminated the passageway, as the flamesflared up, momentarily freed from the smoke, and shone through thecrack in the door, already burned considerably, Barnes now saw theDoctor stoop and feel along the wainscoting, finally lifting up asliding panel, which disclosed a dark opening beyond.
"Fear nothing, but follow me," said the Doctor. "Step lightly though,as these stairs are old and rickety." Much astonished, Barnes followedthe Doctor into the opening, and cautiously descended the narrowwinding stairs, still holding one hand of the man who preceded him. Hecounted the steps, and calculated that he must be nearing thebasement, when a terrible crash overhead made him look up. For onemoment he caught a glimpse of blue sky, which in a second was hiddenby lurid flames, and then darkness ensued, whilst a shower of debrisfalling about him plainly indicated that the burning building wastumbling in. The hand which held his, gripped it more tightly andtheir descent became more rapid, but beyond that, there was no signfrom the Doctor that he was disturbed by the destroying element abovethem. In a few more moments they stood upon a flat cemented floor.
"It seems odd," said the Doctor, with a laugh that sounded ghoulish,considering their position, "that I should need to ask you for a matchwhen there is so much fire about us. But I used my last one upstairs."Barnes fumbled in his pocket, and finding one, drew it along histrouser leg until it ignited. As the flame flared up, a dull red glareillumined the face of Dr. Medjora, making him seem in his companion'sfancy the prototype of Mephistopheles himself. Again the Doctorlaughed.
"Afraid to trust me with fire, eh? Is that why you lighted ityourself? Never mind. I only wished to get my bearings. It is longsince I have been in this place. See, here is a door to the right." Hegrasped the iron handle, and after some exertion the bolt shot back,but when he pushed against it the door did not yield. At the samemoment the match spluttered and the flame died.
"Help me push this door," said the Doctor. Barnes obeyed mostwillingly, but their combined efforts still failed to move it.
"Well," said the Doctor, "my young friend, it looks as though we weredoomed, after all. In case we should fail to escape, when we are thusunexpectedly hurried into the presence of the secretary of the otherworld, in making your statement, I trust you will not forget that youcannot blame me for the accident which curtails your earthlyexistence. It was no fault of mine that you were in the passagewayabove, nor could I foresee that we could not open this door."
This sacrilegious speech, made in a tone of voice which showed in whatcontempt the speaker held the great mystery of life and death, chilledyoung Barnes so that he shivered. It made him more than convinced thatthis man was fully capable of committing the murder which had beenattributed to him. At the same time, as the Doctor appeared to haveabandoned the effort to escape, despair rendered Barnes morecourageous and sharpened his senses so that he could think forhimself. Freeing his hand from the other's grasp, he felt about untilhe found the edge of the door, and rapidly searched for the hinges. Ina few moments a cry of gladness escaped from him.
"It is all right, Doctor. The hinges are on our side. We must pull thedoor to open it, and not push it as we have been doing."
"Good!" said the Doctor. "I knew that. I was only trying you. You areclever. And courageous. Too much so for me to run any risks." The lastwords were spoken as though to himself. He continued: "Come. We mustget out of this before it is too late!" He opened the door, whichmoved so easily that Barnes readily comprehended that the Doctor musthave held it firmly shut whilst the two had been trying to open it,else his own shaking would have disclosed the fact that it openedinward. Thus he saw that Dr. Medjora spoke truly, and had only beensubmitting him to a test. He followed through the door, glad once moreto have hope before him, for had the Doctor intended to destroy him,it would have been easy enough to shut the door, leaving him behind,fastening it, as he did now, with a heavy bolt.
"There is little chance of our being followed," said the Doctor, as hethus barred the way behind them, "but it is as well to be careful. Andnow that we are safe, for this vault is fire-proof, I will let you seewhere you are." In a moment the Doctor had found a match and lighted alamp, and Barnes gazed about him bewildered.
At most he had expected to find himself in some forgotten vault or oldwine-cellar. What he saw was quite different. The apartment, if such aterm may be employed was spacious, and formed in a perfect circle,with a hemispherical roof. This dome was covered with what, in the dimlight, appeared to be hieroglyphical sculpture. What puzzled Barnesmost was that no seams appeared, from which he concluded that theentire cavern must have been hewn out of the solid rock. The flooralso was of stone, elaborately carved, and, appearing continuous withthe ceiling, at once presented an impossible problem in engineering.For the door through which they had entered evidently had noconnection with the original design of the structure, since it was ofmodern style, and, moreover, the doorway, cut for its insertion, haddestroyed the continuity of the carvings on the wall, which, to theheight of this doorway, represented a seemingly endless procession,interrupted only by the cutting of the opening, which thus showedcuriously divided bodies of men and women along its two edges. In thecentre of the place was a singular stone, elaborately carved, with apolished upper surface. Upon this Dr. Medjora seated himself, afterhaving lighted the lamp which hung like a censer from the centre ofthe roof. Barnes looked at him, awed into silence. Allowing him a fewminutes to contemplate his surroundings, the Doctor said:
"You are Jack Barnes, the assistant of Dudley & Bliss. You areambitious to become a detective. Therefore, when you read my name onmy card this morning, you thought it a good opportunity to track amurderer, did you not? Answer me, and tell me no lies!"
"Yes," said Barnes, surprised to find that a curious sensation in histhroat, as though he were parching, precluded his saying more.
"Well, you have tracked the murderer to his den. What do you think ofthe place. Safe enough from the police, eh!" The Doctor laughed in asoft congratulatory way, which grated upon his hearer's ear. Hecontinued, as though to himself: "And Dudley & Bliss warned me that Icould not escape from the police. I, Emanuel Medjora! I could notescape!" Then he burst out into a prolonged ringing peal of laughterwhich made Barnes tremble affrighted, as a hundred echoes for themoment made his imagination picture myriads of demons chiming in withthe merriment of their master.
"Come here," cried the Doctor, checking his laugh. Barnes hesitatedand then retreated. "Come here, you coward!" said the Doctor, in asterner voice. The taunt made the blood course more swiftly throughthe young man's veins, and the laugh of the demon echo having diedaway, he threw his head up and approached the stone, stopping within afew feet of Dr. Medjora, and looking him in the eye.
"Ah! As I thought. A strong will, for a youngster. I must usestrategy." This so softly that Barnes did not comprehend the sense ofthe words. Then the Doctor spoke in his most alluring manner:
"You are plucky, Mr. Barnes. This is a gruesome place, and I havebrought you here under such peculiar circumstances that you might wellbe alarmed. But I see that you are not, and I admire you for yourcourage. It is his courage that has made man the master of all theanimal world. By that he controls beasts, who could rend him
to athousand bits, with ease: only they dare not. So, for your courage, Iforgive your impudence, and I might say imprudence, in following methis morning."
Barnes was mystified by this alteration of manner, and was not such afool that he did not suspect that it boded him no special favor. Hedid not reply, not knowing what to say. The Doctor jumped up from hisseat, saying pleasantly:
"I am forgetting my politeness. You are my guest, and I am occupyingthe only available seat. Pardon me, and be seated." Barnes hesitated,and the Doctor said, "Oblige me!" in a tone which made Barnes think itwise to comply. He therefore seated himself on the stone, and theDoctor muttered low to himself:
"How innocently he goes to the sacrifice," words which Barnes did nothear and would not have understood had he done so. Then the Doctorlaughed with a muffled, gurgling sound, which, answered by the echoes,again made Barnes feel uncomfortable.
"Now then, Mr. Barnes," began Dr. Medjora, "I have no doubt that yourcuriosity has been aroused, and that you would like to know what sortof place this is, and how it came here. It is a very curious storyaltogether, and as we shall find time hang heavily on our hands whilstthe fire is burning upstairs, I cannot entertain you better, perhaps,than with the tale. You know, of course, or you have heard, that I ama physician. But no one knows how thoroughly entitled I am to thename. I am a lineal descendant of the great AEsculapius himself."Barnes stared, wondering whether the man were mad. Having begun hisrecital, Dr. Medjora apparently took no more notice of Barnes thanthough he had not been present. But whilst he spoke, with his handsclasped behind his back, he began to pace around the room, thuswalking in a circle about Barnes, as he sat upon the stone in thecentre.
"The ancient Mexicans worshipped a god to whom they built pyramids.This was no other than my great ancestor AEsculapius. He was also knownto many of the races that inhabited the great North country. Here inthis place, a powerful tribe built a great pyramid, the top of whichwas this dome, hewn from a single rock, and carved, as you see, withcharacters which, translated would tell secrets which would astoundthe world. The man who acquires all the knowledge here inscribed, maywell call himself the master of this century. I will be that man!"
He had increased his pace as he walked around, so that during thisspeech he had made three circles about Barnes, who, astonished as muchby his actions as by his words, had followed him with his eyes,turning his head as far as possible in one direction to accomplishthis, and then rapidly turning it to the opposite side so that hemight not lose sight of the Doctor. As the last words were uttered,the Doctor stopped suddenly before him, and hurled the words at him asthough they contained a menace. But Barnes flinched only slightly, andthe Doctor continued his walk and his narrative.
"Yes, for here on these rocks are graven the sum of all the knowledgeof the past, which the great cataclysm lost to us for so manycenturies. This dome was the summit of the great temple. This floorwas a hundred feet below it, and was the floor of the edifice. Thencame the flood. The earth quaked, the waters rose, the earth parted,the temple was riven, and the dome fell, here upon this floor, and therecord of the greatest wisdom in the world was buried beneath theearth. Lost! Lost! Lost!!"
His gyrations had increased in rapidity, so that he had run aroundBarnes six times during the above speech, and, as before, he stoppedto confront him, fairly screaming the last words. Barnes began to feelodd in his head from turning it to watch this man who, he had nowdecided, was surely a madman, and as the Doctor screamed out "Lost!Lost! Lost!" almost in his face, he started to his feet, standing uponthe stone and prepared to defend himself if necessary. As though muchamused at this action, Dr. Medjora threw back his head and laughed.Laughed long and loud! Laughed until the answering echoes reverberatedthrough the place as though a million tongues had been hidden in therecesses. Stopping suddenly, he began racing around again, and resumedhis story:
"And so came that great cataclysm which all corners of the worldrecord as the flood. So the great Atlantis, the centre of thecivilization of the world, was lost for centuries, until at lastre-discovered and re-christened America. AEsculapius perished, and hiswisdom died. His records were hidden. But he left a son, and that sonanother, and from him sprung another, and another, and another, and soon, and on, as time sped, until to-day I am the last of the greatline. Ha! You doubt it. You think that I am lying. Then how comes itthat I am here? Here in the treasure house of my great ancestor?Because among my people there are traditions, and one told of thistemple. I studied it, and worked it out, until I located it. Then Icame here and found this old house built over it. And I knew that itcovered the greatest secret in all the world. But it contained anothersecret too. A simple, easy secret for a man like me to solve. A secretstaircase, built by some stupid old colonist, to lead him down to asecret wine-cellar, which is on the other side of that stairway. ButProvidence would not permit the old drunkard to turn to the right, indigging for his vault, or he would have entered this chamber, as Ihave done. I found this staircase, and cut my way into this place,which I closed with that iron door. And you, you fool, thought that Idid not know how to open a door that I had built myself." His laughrang out again, and the piercing shrieks, coming back from the echoes,darted through Barnes's brain, confused by his pivotal turning on thestone as he tried to follow the Doctor racing around the chamber, andas the man now rushed at him screaming:
"Now! Now! You fool, you are mine! Mine! All mine!" Barnes felt asthough something in his brain had snapped, and, tottering, he threw uphis arms, and then sank down, to be caught by Dr. Medjora, who liftedhim as though he had been a child, and laid him upon the floor.Placing his ear to his heart a moment, the Doctor arose to his feetwith a satisfied expression and speaking low, said:
"He is now thoroughly frightened, but the shock will not kill him.When he wakes he will be mine indeed! I will play the little trick,and I can be safe without fear from this." He kicked the prostrateform lightly with his foot, and then lifted Barnes up and sat him uponthe stone as he slowly revived, supporting him until he hadsufficiently recovered not to need assistance. Then he placed himselfin front of Barnes, and as soon as the young man seemed to haveregained his senses he folded his arms and said sternly:
"Look at me!" Barnes obeyed for a moment and then turned away andwould have risen, but the doctor called out authoritatively:
"You cannot get up! You have no legs!" Barnes reached down with hishands towards his legs, only to be stopped by the words:
"You cannot feel! You have no hands! Now look at me! Look! I commandyou!" Barnes gazed helplessly into the Doctor's eyes, and the lattercontinued, in a voice of peremptory sternness:
"Now answer me when I speak to you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand. I will answer!" The voice did not seem to be thenormal tones of the young man, and a smile passed over the Doctor'sface as he went on.
"Do you know who you are? If so, tell me!"
"I am Jack Barnes!"
"And who am I?"
"Doctor Medjora!"
"Do you know where you are?"
"Yes! In the chamber of AEsculapius!"
"If I let you go from here, what will you do?"
"I would tell the police what I know!"
"Good! Now listen to me!"
"I am listening!"
"You wish to escape?"
"Yes!"
"I am your master?"
"You are my master!"
"You must obey my commands! You understand that?"
"I must obey your commands. I understand that!"
"You are asleep now?"
"Yes, I am asleep!"
"But if I give you a command now when you are asleep, you will obey itwhen I allow you to awaken?"
"What you command when I am asleep, I will do when you let me beawake!"
"You followed me to-day?"
"I followed you."
"You will forget that?"
No answer came from the sleeper. The crucial test had come. Thecontest of wills. The Doctor, howe
ver, was determined to succeed.Success meant a great deal to him, for he must either kill this man,or else control him. He did not consider the first expedient. Murderwas not even in his thought. He stepped up to Barnes and took his twohands.
"You will forget that you followed me?"
Still no reply. The Doctor gently closed the open eyes of the sleeper,and rubbed them with a rotary movement of the thumb. Again heventured:
"You will forget that you followed me?You--will--forget--that--you--followed--Dr. Medjora?" A pause, aquiver of the released eyelids, which opened slowly, allowing the eyesto gaze at the Doctor; then the lids closed again, a shiver passedover the sleeper's body, and the voice spoke:
"I will obey! I will forget!"
"You will forget that you followed me?"
"I will forget!"
"Repeat what I say. You will forget that you followed me?"
"I will forget that I followed you!"
"You will forget that you saw me and heard me speaking to a woman?"
"I will forget that you were speaking to a woman!"
"You will forget that there was a fire?"
"I will forget the fire!"
"You will forget the secret staircase?"
"I will forget the staircase!"
"The secret staircase!" The Doctor was determined to take no risk.
"I will forget the secret staircase!" said the sleeper.
"You will forget this room?"
"I will forget this room!"
"Finally, you will forget that you have been asleep?"
"Finally, I will forget that I have been asleep!"
"Good! That ought to be safe enough!" This the Doctor said to himself,but the sleeper replied:
"Good! That ought to be safe enough!"
"Pah! He is a mere automaton," said the Doctor.
"A mere automaton!" repeated Barnes.
At this last sally the Doctor burst out into uncontrolled laughter, somuch heartier than before that it was plain that his previous laughinghad been but a part of his scheme to overawe the strong young will ofhis companion, by raising up the affrighting echoes. The sleeperjoined in with this laughing, imitating it almost note for note, andthe answering echoes adding to the bedlam, made the place indeed likesome dwelling-place of evil spirits. The Doctor's hilarity passed, andplacing one hand upon Barnes's shoulder, in a voice of command hecried!
"Silence!" At once the stillness of death ensued, as though eachgibbering demon had scurried back into his hiding-place. The Doctortook the young man's head in both hands, the palms open against thetemples, and a thumb over each eye. Rubbing the closed lids gently, atthe same time pressing the temples, he spoke in deep resonant tones.
"Sleep! Sleep more deeply! Sleep unconscious! Sleep oblivious! Sleepas though dead, but awaken when I call upon you to awaken!"
He continued his manipulations a few moments, and then removed hishands. The eyelids released, slowly opened, and the sleeper gazed athim. Then as slowly they closed again, and being shut, twitched andfluttered as the heart of a dying bird might do. More and more quietthe movements became, till at length all was still. Then the erecthead sank gently down, until it rested upon the breast, and the bodyswayed, and slipped by easy stages from the stone to the floor, where,as it turned over and lay prone upon the face, a long-drawn sighescaped, and Barnes lay as one dead. The Doctor gazed silent,satisfied, yet as though awed by his own work. Then he lost himself inreverie.
"And this thing is a man. A strong healthy body encasing a powerfulwill. Yet where now is that will? What has become of the soul thattenants this shell, which now seems empty, dead. Escaped, gone, and atmy bidding! 'He sleeps, he is not dead,' says the scientist. What wilyexcuses men make for their ignorance. If he sleeps, he is dead, forsleep is death, different only because there is an awakening. Yet inthe true death is there not an awakening? All analogy cries out 'Yes!'Now this man sleeps, and I have made him thus temporarily dead. Exceptat my bidding there can be no awakening on this earth. Then if I donot bid him rise, am I a murderer? The law would say so. The law! Thelaw! Pah! The law that says that, is but a written token of man'signorance. For if I leave him here, he still must awaken. And who cansay that if I leave him to awaken in another world he might not thankme so much, that his spirit in gratitude would become my attendantguardian, until his foolish fellow-men, having hanged my body to agibbet, by a rope, should send my soul into eternity beside him. Mysoul! Have I a soul? Yes! and not yet is it prepared to pass beyondthe limit of this life. No, despite the laws, and the minions of thelaws, I will live to reap the harvest which my great ancestor hasgarnered here. So this fellow must be awakened and restored to hisplace amongst his kind! Will it be safe? I have made his mind a blank.But will it so remain? His will is strong. He offered more resistancethan any upon whom I have tried my power. Had I not first numbed hisbrain by twisting it into knots, I doubt that I should have controlledhim. So if I release him, to-morrow in his waking senses he willperceive that several hours of his life are as a blank. He willrealize that during that time something must have occurred that he hasforgotten, and all his energy will be aroused to force remembrance.There is a vivid danger should he recall his experience, before mytrial occurs and ends. And with our stupid laws who may say when thatmay be? Ah! I have the trick. His mind is now a blank, and these fewhours will be a void. I have charged him to forget. Now I must bid himto remember, and furnish him with the incidents with which to accountfor the lapse of time. I will take him near the truth. So near thatfluctuating recollection will be unable to disentangle fact fromfiction. Thus what he recalls will bear no menace to my safety, andyet will so satisfy his will to know what has passed, that no greateffort will be made to delve deeper into the records of this day. Butfirst I must take him from this sacred place. It will be safer."
He opened the iron door, lifted the body of the sleeper in his armsand bore it into the passage at the foot of the stairs. Immediatelyopposite, there was another door, dimly shown by the light from theswinging lamp. This he kicked open with his foot, without dropping hisburden. He walked straight across, through the darkness of this oldwine cellar, towards a dim ray of light which penetrated at theopposite end, presently coming to a low arch through which he passedwith lowered head, emerging into a greater light. They were now in anold cistern, and a circular opening above permitted the moonlight toenter. Here the Doctor laid the sleeper gently down, and retraced hissteps. Re-entering the domed chamber, he extinguished the lamp, andthen again emerged, closing the door behind him. From a corner underthe stairway he procured a long-handled, heavy, iron hammer, such asmen use who break large rocks. He next went into the wine cellar,closing the door behind him, and thence passed on through the archwayinto the cistern. Taking one glance at the still sleeping form of JackBarnes, he threw off his coat, and attacked the brick-work of thearch, raining upon it heavy blows, each of which demolished a part ofthe thick wall. At the end of half an hour the opening was choked withfallen debris, and the entrance into the wine vault thus effectuallyconcealed.
This task accomplished, the Doctor resumed his coat, and turned toexamine the sleeper. He raised him up, and stood him against that sideof the wall upon which the most light was shed. As the body was thussupported, the head hanging, and the weird half-light making the facemore ghastly, one might readily have supposed that this was a corpse.But the Doctor presently cried out:
"Awaken! Awaken! not entirely, but so that you may hear and speak!"
In an instant the head was lifted, the eyes opened, and the voicesaid:
"I am awake! I can hear and speak!"
"Good!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Tell me, what do you remember?"
"You commanded me to remember nothing!"
"True! I commanded! But do you remember?"
"You are the master! I have forgotten!"
"I am the master. Now I tell you to remember!"
"It is impossible! I cannot remember what I have forgotten, unless youtell it to me again!"
"V
ery true. I will tell you what you have forgotten, and you will thenremember it. You will remember even after you are awakened!"
"I will obey. I will remember what you tell me!"
"You left your office this afternoon to follow Dr. Medjora?"
"Yes! I followed Dr. Medjora!"
"He took a car, and you took another?"
"He took a car, and I took another!"
"He left the car, and you followed him to a house and saw him enter?"
"I saw him enter a house!"
"Then there was a fire and you watched the house burning?"
"I saw the house burning!"
"Then you rushed forward and fell into this well?"
"I rushed forward and fell into the well!"
"You will remember all this?"
"Yes, I will remember!"
"Everything else you have forgotten? Nothing else occurred?"
"Nothing else occurred!"
"Now sleep!" The Doctor passed his hands over the eyes and the deepsleep was resumed. The Doctor pressed his lips near the sleeper'sears, and said:
"You will awaken completely in two hours, climb out of this place, andreturn to your home!"
To this there was no reply, but the Doctor had no doubt that theinjunction would be followed. He laid Barnes down upon the bottom ofthe cistern so that his opening eyes would gaze directly at theorifice above, and then, climbing upon a lot of loose rubbish, heeasily reached the edge of the hole, and clutching it with his stronghands drew himself out.
Exactly two hours later, Barnes opened his eyes and slowly awakened toa sense of stiffness and pain in his limbs. He staggered up, and soonwas sufficiently aroused to see that he must climb out of the placewhere he was. This he did with some difficulty, and after wanderingabout for nearly an hour he found his way to the bridge and crossedthe river. Thence he went home, threw himself on his bed, and was soonwrapped in deep, but natural slumber.
In the morning he wondered why he had slept in his clothing. His headached, and his limbs felt bruised. Slowly he seemed to recall hisfollowing Dr. Medjora, his tracking him across the bridge, the houseafire, and his tumble into a well, from which he had climbed out lateat night. In fact nothing remained in his recollection except what hadbeen suggested by Dr. Medjora whilst he had been hypnotized. Still ina vague way he half doubted, until at breakfast he found seemingcorroboration in the newspaper account, which told that the suspectedman had been burned to death. How could he reject so good an authorityas his morning paper?