CHAPTER IV
THIEVES IN THE NIGHT
This time he was very much awake. In fact, his sense of wakefulnessseemed almost superhuman. His faculties were preternaturally alert, andhe had a feeling of what might properly be called mental extension--itwas not exaltation--- which seemed to widen his mental visionenormously. Problems which had puzzled him to desperation suddenlybecame as obvious as the first axioms of geometry. In short, he felt asthough he had become a new man, re-born, or re-incarnated, into anotherworld which contained the one he had so far lived in, but which wasinfinitely vaster in some undefined way which was not yet plain to him.
He lay for some time thinking over the extraordinary happenings of theevening and his dream, which he remembered with astonishing exactness ofdetail. Then a sudden turn of thought carried his mind to the subject ofmiracles, apparitions, ghosts, and mathematical impossibilities such assquaring the circle and doubling the cube--and to his amazement he foundthat the impossible of yesterday had become the possible--nay, thealmost absurdly obvious of to-night.
He went on thinking and wondering until he began to half-believe that hewas dreaming again, so he got up and switched on the electric light.Then he turned involuntarily towards the wardrobe, which, as usual, hada long mirror running down the middle of it. To his amazement he did notsee himself reflected in it. The mirror seemed to have vanished, and inits place was a window looking into his study.
He saw the mummy-case leaning up against the wall, but it was empty. Infront of it stood a man and a woman. Both were plainly, almost meanly,dressed; the man in a tightly-buttoned black frock-coat and baggy greytrousers; the woman in a plain gown of dark stuff, and a shawl which wasdraped round her head and shoulders in somewhat Eastern fashion.
He could see their faces distinctly in profile. They were of the classicCoptic type which so persistently reproduces the features of the oldEgyptians as we see them outlined in the wall-paintings of the templesand the half-mutilated carvings and statues. The window of the study wasopen, but the door was shut; so was the door of his own room, but forall that he distinctly heard the man say to the woman in Coptic, which,curiously enough, sounded as familiar to his ears as the faces seemed tohis eyes:
"Neb-Anat, it is gone! These heathen ravishers have not been contentwith stealing the body of our Queen from its sacred resting-place andbringing it here, whither we have traced it with so much labour. See, ithas been stolen again; hidden, no doubt, so that the servants of theKing could not find it. It may be that even we have been suspected andwatched, in spite of all our care. Yet it must be found, or the doomthat may not be revoked will be ours."
"Even so, Pent-Ah," replied the woman in a soft, musical voice whichwell suited the comeliness of her face; "but though the pricelesstreasure has been taken from its casket, it cannot have been carried outof the house, for you know that every approach has been watched closelysince it was brought here. Come, in this house it must be, and to findit is our task. Every one is asleep; take off thy shoes and let ussearch."
She took off her own shoes as she spoke, and he saw the man do the same.Then, as the man opened the door and they passed out of the study, thepicture vanished from the mirror.
Amazement at what he had seen and heard--the disappearance of the Mummy,the presence of the man and woman, evidently charged with what theybelieved to be the sacred mission of stealing it back again, and theirevident purpose of searching the house for it--instantly gave place to aquick thrill of fear.
His daughter's bedroom was on the same floor as the study, only acouple of doors away round the corner of the landing. These people wouldsearch every room. What if she had not locked her door securely, or ifthey had some means of opening it? She was the living image of the deadNitocris. He did not dare to think of what might happen to her. Wouldthese new-found, strangely-given powers of his suffice to protect her?If not, he would have but little use for them, since she was his nearestand dearest on earth.
He pulled his stockings over the pants of his pyjamas and put on hisvelvet working jacket, forgetting for the moment that, if these thingswere true, it would be perfectly easy for him to make himself invisibleto beings in the ordinary world of three dimensions. Then he turned outthe light, opened the door very softly, and crept downstairs.
Yes, what he had seen was true. He heard the soft, shuffling patter ofstockinged feet along the landing, though he could see nothing in thedark. A door opened gently. His sense of location told him that it wasthe door of the spare bedroom next but one to the study. He felt his waysilently and softly along the wall, and as he did so his hand touchedthe electric switch. Should he turn the light on and alarm the house?Whoever was there had "broken and entered" after midnight, and wastherefore outside the law. No, he would not do that. If what he hadseen was true, the intruders believed that their mission was a sacredone. No doubt the man was armed, and perhaps the woman also, and whatwould a knife-stab mean to them on such a desperate quest?
As these thoughts ran at lightning speed through his mind, he saw afaint glow inside the room. He crept forward and looked round the sideof the doorway. The man had a little electric lamp in his hand and wasflashing the slender rays all over the room. He drew his head backquickly as he heard him say:
"There is nothing here, Anat. Come, let us try the next room. Neitherlock nor bolt nor even human life must stand in the way of our searchnow that we have begun it!"
He heard them coming towards the door. Instinctively he shrank back, andhis heart stood still as he thought of what would happen if the manchanced to turn the little ray of his lamp on him. Almost involuntarilyhis thoughts went back to the promise of Queen Nitocris, and somethinglike a prayer that it might be kept rose to his lips.
They came out, and the man flashed the thin electric ray up and down thepassage. It wavered hither and thither, and at last fell directly on hisface. He was anything but a coward, but he was thinking of Niti--andwhat if a knife-stab left her undefended? But to his amazement, althoughthey were both looking straight at him, the expression of neither facechanged in the slightest. They had not seen him. The Queen had answeredhis prayer. He was no longer in the world of three dimensions, and so hewas invisible to all dwellers in it. For him, then, there was evidentlyno danger--but Niti----?
They moved along to the next door. That was hers. The woman put her handon the knob and turned it. To his horror, the door opened. She hadforgotten to lock it. They both crept in, and he followed them boldlyenough now, knowing what he did. The ray leapt rapidly about the roomtill it fell on the bed with its pale blue silken coverlet, and then onthe pillow, on which rested the head of the sleeping, breathing image ofthe long-dead Queen.
With a half-stifled gasp the man shrank back and dropped the lamp, andthe Professor heard him say to the woman in a shuddering whisper:
"By the High Gods, Neb-Anat, it is a miracle! Do you not see her? It isshe--the Queen--alive again, as the ancient prophecy said she should be.What magic have these heathens used?"
"Yes," replied the woman, whispering lower, "truly it is the Queen, andshe is alive and sleeping--no doubt passing from the sleep of deaththrough the sleep of life to life again. Now, O Pent-Ah, is our taskmuch harder, yet will its accomplishment be all the more glorious foryou and me, and greatly will our Lord reward us if we can restore to hiskeeping, not the ravished mummy of Nitocris, but the Queen herself,warm and breathing and beautiful, as she was in the ancient days of thegreat Rameses."
"I'll be hanged if you do!" said the Professor to himself, "not, atleast, if Her Majesty's legacy to me is worth anything. Abduct mydaughter at the dead of night, would you, you scoundrels? We'll seeabout that. If you don't leave this house as thoroughly frightened asever you were in your lives, I know nothing about the fourth dimension."
Meanwhile he heard them both groping about the floor after the lamp. Thewoman found it, and pressed the button. The ray fell on the man's face,and he saw that the olive of his skin had turned to a ghastly grey. Hiseyes were wide ope
n, and his mouth and nostrils were working withintense excitement. Then the woman turned the ray on Niti's face again.
"They will wake her if this goes on much longer," said the Professor tohimself again. "I had better stop this little comedy before it becomes atragedy. Poor Niti would go half mad if she found these two scoundrelsby her bedside--and yet if I do anything out of the way they will yell.Ah, I think I have it!"
He walked softly out of the room, and when he got into the passage hewhispered in the tongue that had become so strangely familiar to him:
"Pent-Ah, Neb-Anat, come hither instantly! Who are you that you shoulddisturb the slumbers of your Lady the Queen!"
He saw them stare at each other with eyes wide with fear and wonder.
"It is the command of the Mighty One," whispered the woman, taking holdof the man's hand and drawing him towards the door.
"And He must be obeyed," said he in reply, bowing his head and followingher.
They closed the door very softly behind them.
The Professor could not repress a sigh of thankfulness for Niti's escapefrom what, at best, would have been a very terrible fright.
"And now, my friends," he went on to himself, "I think I can teach younot to come into an English gentleman's house again with an idea ofstealing his property, to say nothing of abducting his daughter."
The man and woman were still staring at each other by the light of thelamp, each holding each other's trembling hand, when the lamp wassuddenly snatched away from the woman and went out. Then, to theirhorror, the ray shot out again in front of them as though the lamp werefloating by itself in the air. It flashed from face to face, bothghastly with fear. Then an invisible hand gripped the man's, and drewhim with irresistible force along the passage. The woman grasped hiscoat, and followed with shuffling feet and shaking limbs, dumb withwonder and fear. The hand led them down the passage, round the corner,and into the study. Then it released them. They heard the door shut andthe key turn in the lock. Then there was a click, and the electriccluster above the writing-table shone out, apparently of its ownvolition. The woman uttered a low scream, and cowered down in a cornerof a big sofa that stood by the bay-window. The man, after one terrifiedglance round the room, began to creep towards the open sash; but theinvisible hand gripped him by the collar and pulled him back. Histrembling knees gave way under him, and he rolled in a heap on thefloor.
Then, to his wondering horror, he saw a stout blackthorn stick which wasstanding in a corner of the room, jump up into the air and leap towardshim. He put his head down on to the carpet, covered his eyes with hishands, and began to moan with terror. The stick came down with whatseemed to him superhuman force again and again on his back andshoulders. He whimpered and moaned, and at last howled with pain. Herolled over and looked up, and there was the stick hanging in the airabove him. He put up his hands clasped as though in prayer, and down itcame on his knuckles. He did not howl this time. His hands unclasped anddropped beside him; his head went back, and he fainted in sheer terror.
"There, my friend," said the Professor aloud, forgetting the presence ofthe woman for the moment; "mummy or no mummy, I don't think you willcome into this house again. And as for you, madam," he went on, "ofcourse, I can't give you a hiding, so the sight of his punishment willhave to be enough for you. Still, I think you have had enough ofattempted mummy-stealing to last you some time."
The woman stared up into the vacancy out of which the voice came, hereyes dilated, and her lips trembling with the movement of her lower jaw.She saw a jug of water get up off the table and empty itself over hercompanion's face. Then she fainted, too.
When Pent-Ah came to himself and sat up, he saw an elderly gentleman,tall and erect as a man in the prime of life, standing over him with theblackthorn in one hand and the water-jug in the other.
"I am not going to ask what you two are doing here," he said sternly,"because I know already. If I called the police I could send you both toprison for house-breaking and attempted robbery; but I don't want anyfuss, and perhaps you have been punished enough for the present. Ah, Isee your accomplice is coming round. You came in by the window, Isuppose. Now get out by it as quick as you can, and mind you keep yourmouths shut as to what has happened to-night. If you don't," he went on,suddenly changing into Coptic, "beware of the anger of your Lord--of Himwho never forgives!"
The man scrambled to his feet, whimpering:
"I go, Lord, I go, and my lips shall be silent as the lips of----"
He cast a frightened glance towards the mummy-case, and then, graspingthe woman roughly by the arm, he dragged her towards the open window,saying:
"Come, Neb-Anat, come ere the wrath of our Lord consumes us!"
* * * * *
"Why, where's the Mummy, Dad?" said Miss Nitocris, as she came into herfather's study just before breakfast the next morning, and looked inamazement at the empty case.
"Stolen, my dear, I am sorry to say," replied the Professor gravely."Did you hear any noises in the house last night, or were you sleepingtoo soundly?"
"I seem to have an idea that I did," she said, "but only a dim one; Ithought I only dreamt it. But did you, Dad? Do tell me all about it.What a horrible shame to steal that lovely Mummy! And it was so like me,too. I believe I should have got quite fond of it."
"Yes, dear," continued the Professor, speaking, as she thought, a littlenervously. "There was a noise, and I heard it. I came down here andturned the light on. I found the window open and the Mummy gone--andthat is all I can tell you about it."