CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE MONK'S PLAN
"My inquiries in the Manuscript Room of the British Museum," saidNayland Smith, his voice momentarily growing stronger and some of theold fire creeping back into his eyes, "have proved entirely successful."
Sir Lionel Barton, Dr. Hamilton, and myself hung upon every word; andoften I fond myself glancing at the old-fashioned clock on thedoctor's mantel-piece.
"We had very definite proof," continued Smith, "of the fact thatFu-Manchu and company were conversant with that elaborate system ofsecret rooms and passages which forms a veritable labyrinth, in, about,and beneath Graywater Park. Some of the passages we explored. ThatSir Lionel should be ignorant of the system was not strange,considering that he had but recently inherited the property, and thatthe former owner, his kinsman, regarded the secret as lost. Astarting-point was discovered, however, in the old work on hauntedmanors unearthed in the library, as you remember. There was areference, in the chapter dealing with Graywater, so a certain monkishmanuscript said to repose in the national collection and to contain aplan of these passages and stairways.
"The Keeper of the Manuscripts at the Museum very courteously assistedme in my inquiries, and the ancient parchment was placed in my hands.Sure enough, it contained a carefully executed drawing of the hiddenways of Graywater, the work of a monk in the distant days whenGraywater was a priory. This monk, I may add--a certain Brother Anselm--afterwards became Abbot of Graywater."
"Very interesting!" cried sir Lionel loudly; "very interesting indeed."
"I copied the plan," resumed Smith, "with elaborate care. That labor,unfortunately, was wasted, in part, at least. Then, in order toconfirm my suspicions on the point, I endeavored to ascertain if themonk's MS. had been asked for at the Museum recently. The Keeper ofthe Manuscripts could not recall that any student had handled the work,prior to my own visit, during the past ten years.
"This was disappointing, and I was tempted to conclude that Fu-Manchuhad blundered on to the secret in some other way, when the AssistantKeeper of Manuscripts put in an appearance. From him I obtainedconfirmation of my theory. Three months ago a Greek gentleman--possibly,Sir Lionel, your late butler, Homopoulo--obtained permission to consultthe MS., claiming to be engaged upon a paper for some review or another.
"At any rate, the fact was sufficient. Quite evidently, a servant ofFu-Manchu had obtained a copy of the plan--and this within a day orso of the death of Mr. Brangholme Burton--whose heir, Sir Lionel, youwere! I became daily impressed anew with the omniscience, theincredible genius, of Dr. Fu-Manchu.
"The scheme which we know of to compass the death, or captivity, ofour three selves and Karamaneh was put into operation, and failed.But, with its failure, the utility of the secret chambers was by nomeans terminated. The local legend, according to which a passageexists, linking Graywater and Monkswell, is confirmed by the monk'splan."
"What?" cried Sir Lionel, springing to his feet--"a passage betweenthe Park and the old tower! My dear sir, it's impossible! Such apassage would have to pass under the River Starn! It's only a narrowstream, I know, but----"
"It _does_, or _did_, pass under the River Starn!" said Nayland Smithcoolly. "That it is still practicable I do not assert; what interestsme is the spot at which it terminates."
He plunged his hand into the pocket of the light overcoat which hewore over the borrowed suit of pyjamas in which the kindly Dr. Hamiltonhad clothed him. He was seeking his pipe!
"Have a cigar, Smith!" cried Sir Lionel, proffering his case--"if you_must_ smoke; although I think our medical friends frowning!"
Nayland Smith took a cigar, bit off the end, and lighted up. He beganto surround himself with odorous clouds, to his evident satisfaction.
"To resume," he said; "the Spanish priest who was persecuted atGraywater in early Reformation days and whose tortured spirit is saidto haunt the Park, held the secret of this passage, and of thesubterranean chamber in Monkswell, to which it led. His confession--which resulted in his death at the stake!--enabled the commissionersto recover from his chamber a quantity of church ornaments. For thesefacts I am indebted to the author of the work on haunted manors.
"Our inquiry at this point touches upon things sinister andincomprehensible. In a word, although the passage and a part of theunderground room are of unknown antiquity, it appears certain thatthey were improved and enlarged by one of the abbots of Monkswell--ata date much later than Brother Anselm's abbotship--and the place wasconverted to a secret chapel----"
"A _secret_ chapel!" said Dr. Hamilton.
"Exactly. This was at a time in English history when the horriblecult of Asmodeus spread from the Rhine monasteries and gainedproselytes in many religious houses of England. In this secret chapel,wretched Churchmen, seduced to the abominable views of the abbot,celebrated the Black Mass!"
"My God!" I whispered--"small wonder that the place is reputed to behaunted!"
"Small wonder," cried Nayland Smith, with all his old nervous vigor,"that Dr. Fu-Manchu selected it as an ideal retreat in times of danger!"
"What! the chapel?" roared Sir Lionel.
"Beyond doubt! Well knowing the penalty of discovery, those olddevil-worshipers had chosen a temple from which they could escape inan emergency. There is a short stair from the chamber into the cavewhich, as you may know, exists in the cliff adjoining Monkswell."
Smith's eyes were blazing now, and he was on his feet, pacing thefloor, an odd figure, with his bandaged skull and inadequate garments,biting on the already extinguished cigar as though it had been a pipe.
"Returning to our rooms, Petrie," he went on rapidly, "who should I runinto but Summers! You remember Summers, the Suez Canal pilot whom youmet at Ismailia two years ago? He brought the yacht through the Canal,from Suez, on which I suspect Ki-Ming came to England. She is a bigboat--used to be on the Port Said and Jaffa route before a wealthyChinaman acquired her--through an Egyptian agent--for his personal use.
"All the crews, Summers told me, were Asiatics, and little groups ofnatives lined the Canal and performed obeisances as the vessel passed.Undoubtedly they had that woman on board, Petrie, the Lady of theSi-Fan, who escaped, together with Fu-Manchu, when we raided themeeting in London! Like a fool I came racing back here withoutadvising you; and, all alone, my mind occupied with the tremendousimport of these discoveries, started, long after dusk, to walk toGraywater Park."
He shrugged his shoulders whimsically, and raised one hand to hisbandaged head.
"Fu-Manchu employs weapons both of the future and of the past," hesaid. "My movements had been watched, of course; I was mad. Some one,probably a dacoit, laid me low with a ball of clay propelled form asling of the Ancient Persian pattern! I actually saw him ... then saw,and knew, no more!
"Smith!" I cried--whilst Sir Lionel Barton and Dr. Hamilton stared atone another, dumbfounded--"you think _he_ is on the point of flyingfrom England----"
"The Chinese yacht, _Chanak-Kampo,_ is lying two miles off the coastand in the sight of the tower of Monkswell!"