XXX
UNCLE AND NEPHEW
"So, uncle, you have decided to live at Neuilly?"
"Oh, it's quite settled. Your aunt finds the place charming, andbesides, it would be so pleasant to have a garden. Also, the land issure to grow more valuable in this neighbourhood and the purchase of ahouse here would be a good speculation!"
The stout man, as he uttered the word "speculation," beamed. The meresight of him suggested the small tradesman grown rich by dint of longand arduous years of toil, retired from business and prone to fancy hewas a man of genius.
Compared with him the young man he styled nephew, slim, elaboratelyelegant, his little moustache carefully curled, gave the impression ofcoming out of a draper's shop and wanting to be taken for a swell.Evidently the nephew courted the uncle and flattered him.
"You are right, land speculations are very sure and very profitable. Soyou wrote to the caretaker of the house to let you view it?"
"I did, and he answered, 'Come to-day or to-morrow. I shall be at yourorders.' That is why I sent you word to go with me, for since you arethe sole heir of my fortune----"
"Oh, uncle, you may be sure----"
The Madeleine tramway where the two men were talking aloud, heedinglittle the amused notice of the other passengers, pulled up a moment inthe Place de l'Eglise at Neuilly.
"Let us get down. Boulevard Inkermann begins here."
With the pantings and gaspings of a man whose stoutness made allphysical exercise irksome, the uncle lowered himself off the footboardof the tram. The young man sprang to his side. After five minutes' walkthe two men were in front of Lady Beltham's house, the identical houseto which Juve and Fandor had previously come before to make exhaustiveinquiries.
"You see, my boy," declared the stout party, "it is not at all a badlooking house. Evidently it has not been lived in for a long time, itsstate of outside dilapidation shows how neglected it has been, but itis possible that inside there may not be many repairs to be made."
"In any case, the garden is very fine."
"Yes, the grounds are large enough. And then what I like is itswonderful seclusion: the wall surrounding it on all sides is very high,and the entrance gate would be hard for robbers to tackle."
"Shall I ring?"
"Yes, ring."
The young man pressed the button, a peal rang out in the distance:presently the porter appeared. He was a big fellow with long whiskersand a distinguished air, the perfect type of the high-class servant.
"You gentlemen have come to see the house?"
"Exactly. I am M. Durant. It is I who wrote to you."
"To be sure, sir, I remember."
The porter showed the two visitors into the garden, and forthwith thestout man drew his nephew along the paths. The sense of proprietorshipcame over him at once; he spared his relative none of the points of theproperty.
"You see, Emile, it isn't big, but still it is amply sufficient. Notrees before the house, which allows a view of the Boulevard from allthe windows. The servants' quarters being in the far part of the gardencan in no way annoy the people in the house: Notice, too, that the treesare quite young and their foliage thin. I don't care for too luxuriantgardens which are apt to block the view."
"That's right, Uncle."
The porter, who was following the two, broke in upon the ecstasy of theprospective owner.
"Would you gentlemen like to see the house?"
"Why, certainly, certainly."
The stout man, however, before entering, was bent on going round it. Henoticed the smallest details, growing more and more enthusiastic.
"Look, Emile, it is very well built. The ground floor is sufficientlyraised so as not to be too damp. This big terrace, on which the threeFrench windows open, must be very cheerful in summer. Oh, there aredrain pipes at the four corners! And we mustn't fail to see the cellars.I'm sure they are very fine. Bend down over the air-holes; what do youthink of the gratings that close them? And, now, shall we go in?"
The porter led them to the main entrance door.
"Here is the vestibule, gentlemen, to the left, the servants' hall andkitchen; to the right, the dining-room; facing you a small drawing-room,then the large drawing-room, and, lastly, the double staircase leadingto the first floor."
The stout man dropped into a chair.
"And to whom does this place belong?"
"Lady Beltham, sir."
"She does not live here?"
"Not now. At this moment she is travelling."
In the wake of the porter, uncle and nephew went through the rooms onthe ground floor. As happens in all untenanted houses, the damp hadwrought terrible havoc. The flooring, worm-eaten, creaked under theirfeet, the carpets had large damp spots on them, the paper hung loose onthe walls, while the furniture was covered with a thick coat of dust.
"Don't pay any attention to the furniture, Emile, it matters little;what we must first look at is the arrangement of the rooms. Why, thereare iron shutters--I like that."
"To be sure, Uncle, they are very practical."
"Yes, yes; to begin with, when those shutters are closed it would beimpossible from the outside to see anything in the rooms. Not even theleast light."
The porter proceeded to show them the first floor of the house.
"There is only one staircase?" asked the stout man.
"Yes, only one."
"And what is the cause of the unusual dampness? We are far from theSeine; the garden is not very leafy."
"There is a leaky cistern in the cellars, sir. Here is the largestbedroom. It was my Lady's."
"Yes, one sees it has been the last room to be lived in."
At this harmless remark the porter seemed very upset.
"What makes you think that, sir?"
"Why, the chairs are pushed about as though recently used. There is muchless dust on the furniture. And--there's a print--look at the desk,there is a trace of dust on the diary. The blotting paper has been movedlately, some one has been writing there--why, what's wrong with you?"
As he listened to the stout man's remarks the porter grew strangelypale.
"Oh," he stammered, "it's nothing, nothing at all."
"One would say you were afraid."
"Afraid? No, sir. I am not afraid--only----"
"Only what?"
"Well, gentlemen, it is best not to stay here--Lady Beltham is sellingthe house because it is--haunted!"
Neither of the visitors seemed impressed by the statement of theirguide. The elder laughed a jolly laugh.
"Are there ghosts?"
"Why, sir, 'spirits' come here."
"Have you seen them?"
"Oh! certainly not, sir. When they are there, I shut myself up in thelodge, I can assure you----"
"When do they appear?"
"They come almost always on Tuesday nights."
And warming to his subject the porter gave details. He got theimpression first on one occasion when her Ladyship was absent. She hadleft some days before for Italy. It was Sunday, and then during Tuesdaynight while walking in the garden he heard movements inside the house.
"I went to fetch my keys and when I came back I found nobody! I thoughtat first it was burglars, but I saw nothing had been taken away. Yet, Iwas not mistaken, furniture had been moved. There were bread crumbs onthe floor."
The young man roared with laughter.
"Bread crumbs! Then your spirits come and sup here?"
The uncle, equally amused, asked:
"And what did Lady Beltham think when you told her that?"
"Lady Beltham laughed at me. But, sir, I had my own ideas. I watched inthe garden daily and I heard the same sounds and always on Tuesdaynights. At last I laid a trap; I put a chalk mark round the chairs inLady Beltham's room, she being still away. Well, sir, when I came to thehouse again on Thursday the chairs had been moved. I told Lady Beltham,and this time she seemed very much frightened. It is since then she madeup her mind to sell the house."
"For all th
at, what makes you say they are spirits?"
"What else could it be, sir. I also heard the sounds of chains jangling.One night I even heard a strange and terrible hiss."
"Well!" cried the stout man, beginning to go down the staircase, "sincethe house is haunted I shall have to pay less for it; eh, Emile?"
"You will buy, sir, in spite of that?"
"To be sure. Your phantoms alarm me less than the damp."
"Oh, the damp? That can be easily remedied. You will see that we have acentral heating stove installed."
The porter led his visitors down a narrow stair to the cellars.
"Take care, gentlemen, the stairs are slippery."
Then he observed: "You don't need a candle, the gratings are big enoughto give plenty of light."
"What is that?" asked the young man, pointing to a huge iron cylinderembedded in the earth and rising some four-and-a-half feet above thefloor.
"The cistern of which I spoke, as you can see for yourselves, it is allbut full."
The porter hurried them on.
"That is the heating stove. There are conductors throughout the house.When it is in full blast the house is even too warm."
"But your grate stove is in pieces!" objected the stout man, pointingwith his stick to iron plates torn out of one side of the centralfurnace.
"Oh, sir, that happened at the time of the floods. But it won't costmuch to put it right. If you gentlemen will examine the inside of theapparatus you will see that the pipes are in perfect order."
The uncle followed the porter's suggestion.
"Your pipes are as big as chimneys; a man could pass through them."
The inspection ended, uncle and nephew bestowed a liberal tip on theirguide. They would think it over and write or come again soon.
The two relatives retraced their steps to Boulevard Inkermann.
"Fandor?"
"Juve?"
"We have got them!"
Uncle and nephew--that is to say, Juve and Fandor--could talk quitefreely now.
"Juve, are you certain that we have got them?"
Juve pushed his friend into a wine-shop and ordered drinks. He then drewfrom his pocket a piece of paper, quite blank.
"What is that?"
"A bit of paper I picked up on Lady Beltham's desk while the porter'sback was turned. It will serve for a little experiment. If it is notlong since a hand rested on it, we shall find the print."
"On this blank paper?"
"Yes, Fandor. Look!"
Juve drew a pencil from his pocket and scratched off a fine dust ofgraphite which he shook over the paper. Gradually the outline of a handappeared, faint, but quite visible.
"That is how," resumed Juve, "with this very simple process, you candecipher the finger prints of persons who have written or rested theirhands on anything--paper, glass, even wood. According to the clearnessof this outline which is thrown up by the coagulation of theplumbago--thanks to the ordinary moisture of the hand--which was laidon the paper, I can assure you that some one wrote on Lady Beltham'sdesk about ten days ago."
"It is wonderful," said Fandor. "Here, then, is proof positive that herLadyship visits her house from time to time."
"Correct--or at least that some one goes there, for that is a man'shand."
"Well, what are you going to do now, Juve?"
"Now? I'm off to the Prefecture to get rid of my false embonpoint, whichbothers me no end. I have never been so glad that I am not naturallystout."
Fandor laughed.
"And I own to you that I shan't be sorry to get rid of my falsemoustache. All the while I was inspecting that cursed house, thismoustache kept tickling my nose and making me want to sneeze."
"You should have done so."
"But suppose my moustache had come off?"