XI
BAFFLED
Was it a dream? The next I knew somebody was dousing water down my neck.It was Hobart Fenton. "Lord," he was saying, "I thought you were nevercoming to. What hit us? You are pretty well cut up. That was some fight.This Rhamda, who is he? Can you figure him out? Did you hear that bell?What was it?"
I sat up. "Where is the Nervina?" I asked. "The who?" He was bewildered."Oh, down at the cafe, I suppose. Thought you had forgotten her. Wasn'ther mate enough? It might be healthy to forget his Nervina."
He was a fine sight; his clothes were in ribbons; his plump figure wasbreaking out at the seams. He regarded me critically.
"What d'you think of the Blind Spot?" he asked. "Who is the Rhamda? Heput us out pretty easily."
"But the girl?" I interrupted. "The girl? Confound it, the girl?"
It was sometime before I could make him understand; even then he refusedto believe me.
"It was all a dream," he said; "all a dream."
But I was certain.
Fenton began prodding about the room. I do not believe any apartment wasever so thoroughly ransacked. We even tore up the carpet. When we werethrough he sat in the midst of the debris and wiped his forehead.
"It's no use, Harry--no use. We might have known better. It can't bedone. Yet you say you saw a string of incandescence."
"A single string; the form of Watson; a blur--then nothing," I answered.
He thought. He quoted the professor:
"'Out of the occult I shall bring you the proof and the substance. Itwill be concrete--within the reach of your senses.' Isn't that what thedoctor said?"
"Then you believe Professor Holcomb?"
"Why not? Didn't we see it? I know a deal of material science; butnothing like this. I always had faith in Dr. Holcomb. After all, it'snot impossible. First we must go over the house thoroughly."
We did. Most of all, we were interested in that bell. We did not think,either of us, that so much noise could come out of nothing. It was toomaterial. The other we could credit to the occult; but not the sound. Ithad drowned our consciousness; perhaps it had saved us from the Rhamda.But we found nothing. We went over the house systematically. It was muchas it had been previously described, only now a bit more furnished. Thesame dank, musty smell and the same suggestive silence. We returned tothe lower floor and the library. It was a sorry sight. We straightenedup the shelves and returned the books to their places.
It was getting along toward morning. Hobart sailed at nine o'clock. Wemust have new clothing and some coffee; likewise we must collect ourwits. I had the ring, and had given my pledge to Watson. I was muddled.We must get down to sane action. First of all we must return to ourrooms.
The fog had grown thicker; one could almost taste it. I couldn'tsuppress a shudder. It was cold, dank, repressive. Neither of us spokea word on our way downtown. Hobart opened the door to our apartment; heturned on the lights.
In a few moments we had hot, steaming cups of coffee. Still we did notspeak. Hobart sat in his chair, his elbows on the table and his headbetween his hands. My thoughts ran back to that day in college when hesaid "I was just thinking, Harry, if I had one hundred thousand dollars,I would solve the Blind Spot."
That was long ago. We had neither of us thought that we would come tothe fact.
"Well," I spoke, "have you got that hundred thousand dollars? You had anidea once."
He looked up. "I've got it yet. I am not certain. It is merely a theory.But it's not impossible."
"Well, what is it?"
He took another drink of coffee and settled back in his chair.
"It is energy, Harry--force. Nothing but energy--and Nature."
"Then it's not occult?" I asked.
"Certainly it is. I didn't say that. It is what the professor promised.Something concrete for our senses. If the occult is, it can certainly beproven. The professor was right. It is energy, force, vibration. It hasa law. The old doctor was caught somehow. We must watch our step andsee that we aren't swallowed up also. Perhaps we shall go the way ofWatson."
I shuddered.
"I hope not. But explain. You speak in volumes. Come back to earth."
"That's easy, Harry. I can give you my theory in a few short words.You've studied physiology, haven't you? Well, that's where you can getyour proof--or rather let me say my theory. What is the Blind Spot?"
"In optics?"
"We'll forgo that," he answered. "I refer to this one."
I thought for a moment.
"Well," I said, "I don't know. It was something I couldn't see. Watsonwent out before our eyes. He was lost."
"Exactly. Do you get the point?"
"No."
"It is this. What you see is merely energy. Your eye is merely amachine. It catches certain colours. Which in turn are merely rates ofvibration. There is nothing to matter but force, Harry; if we could getdown deep enough and know a few laws, we could transmute it."
"What has it to do with the occult?"
"Merely a fact. The eye machine catches only certain vibration speeds ofenergy. There are undoubtedly any number of speeds; the eye cannot seethem."
"Then this would account for the Blind Spot?"
"Exactly. A localised spot, a condition, a combination of phenomena,anything entering it becomes invisible."
"Where does it go to?"
"That's it. Where? It's one of the things that man has been guessing atdown the ages. The professor is the first philosopher with sound sense.He went after it. It's a pity he was trapped."
"By the Rhamda?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Who is he?"
Hobart smiled.
"How do I know? Where did he come from? If we knew that, we would knoweverything. 'A phantom,' so Watson says. If so, it only strengthensour theory. It would make a man and matter only a part of creation.Certainly it would clear up a lot of doubts."
"And the ring?"
"It controls the Blind Spot."
"In what way?"
"That's for us to find out."
"And Watson? He is in this land of doubt?"
"At least he is in the Blind Spot. Let me try the ring."
He struck a match.
It was much as it had been in the restaurant, only a bit more startling.Then the blue faded, the colour went out, and it became transparent. Fora moment. There was an effect of space and distance that I had not notedbefore, almost marvellous. If I could describe it at all, I would saya crystal corridor of a vastness that can scarcely be imagined. Itmade one dizzy, even in that bit of jewel: one lost proportion, it washeight, distance, space immeasurable. For an instant. Then the wholething blurred and clouded. Something passed across the face; thetransparency turned to opaqueness, and then--two men. It was as suddenas a flash--the materialisation. There was no question. They were alive.Watson was with the professor.
It was a strange moment. Only an hour before one of them had beenwith us. It was Watson, beyond a doubt. He was alive; one could almostbelieve him in the jewel. We had heard his story: "The screen of theoccult; the curtain of shadow." We had seen him go. There was an elementof horror in the thing, and of fascination. The great professor! Thefaithful Watson! Where had they gone?
It was not until the colour had come back and the blue had regained itslustre that either of us looked up. Could such a thing be unravelled?Fenton turned the stone over thoughtfully. He shook his head.
"In that jewel, Harry, lies the secret. I wish I knew a bit more aboutphysics, light, force, energy, vibration. We have got to know."
"Your theory?"
"It still holds good."
I thought.
"Let me get it clear, Hobart. You say that we catch only certainvibrations."
"That's it. Our eyes are instruments, nothing else. We can see light,but we cannot hear it. We hear sound, but we cannot see it. Of coursethey are not exactly parallel. But it serves the point. Let's go abit further. The eye picks up certain vibrations. Light is nothing butenergy vibr
ating at a tremendous speed. It has to be just so high forthe eye to pick it up. A great deal we do not get. For instance, we canonly catch one-twelfth of the solar spectrum. Until recently we havebelieved only what we could see. Science has pulled us out of the rut.It may pull us through the Blind Spot."
"And beyond."
Hobart held up his hands.
"It is almost too much to believe. We have made a discovery. We mustwatch our step. We must not lose. The work of Dr. Holcomb shall not gofor nothing."
"And the ring?"
He consulted his watch.
"We have only a short time left. We must map our action. We have threethings to work on--the ring, the house, Bertha Holcomb. It's all up toyou, Harry. Find out all that is possible; but go slow. Trace downthat ring; find out everything that you can. Go and see Bertha Holcomb.Perhaps she can give you some data. Watson said no; but perhaps you mayuncover it. Take the ring to a lapidary; but don't let him cut it. Lastof all, and most important, buy the house of the Blind Spot. Draw on me.Let me pay half, anyway."
"I shall move into it," I answered.
He hesitated a bit.
"I am afraid of that," he answered. "Well, if you wish. Only be careful.Remember I shall return just as soon as I can get loose. If you feelyourself slipping or anything happens, send me a cable."
The hours passed all too quickly. When day came we had our breakfastand hurried down to the pier. It was hard to have him go. His last wordswere like Hobart Fenton. He repeated the warning.
"Watch your step, Harry; watch your step. Take things easy; be cautious.Get the house. Trace down the ring. Be sure of yourself. Keep meinformed. If you need me, cable. I'll come if I have to swim."
His last words; and not a year ago. It seems now like a lifetime. As Istood upon the pier and watched the ship slipping into the water, I feltit coming upon me. It had grown steadily, a gloom and oppression not tobe thwarted; it is silent and subtle and past defining--like shadow. Thegrey, heavy heave of the water; the great hull of the steamer backinginto the bay; the gloom of the fog bank. A few uncertain lines, theshrill of the siren, the mist settling; I was alone. It was isolation.
I had been warned by Watson. But I had not guessed. At the momentI sensed it. It was the beginning. Out of my heart I could feelit--solitude.
In the great and populous city I was to be alone, in all its teeminglife I was to be a stranger. It has been almost a year--a year! It hasbeen a lifetime. A breaking down of life!
I have waited and fought and sought to conquer. One cannot fight againstshadow. It is merciless and inexorable. There are secrets that may belocked forever. It was my duty, my pledge to Watson, what I owed to theprofessor. I have hung on grimly; what the end will be I do not know. Ihave cabled for Fenton.