CHAPTER XXX
A LEAF FROM THE PAST
Ralph Ravenspur, with Tchigorsky and Geoffrey, sat smoking in thebilliard room until Vera came in to say good-night and drive them off tobed. As they were about to separate at the head of the stairs Ralph gavethem a sign to follow him.
"Come to my room for half an hour," he said.
The others complied. Tchigorsky slipped away for a while, and on hisreturn he laid the end of a long silk thread on the white table cover.
"Part of a little scheme," he said. "This is one end of the silk thread.Where the other end is matters nothing for the present. Ralph, everybodyhas retired?"
"Everybody," Ralph replied as he filled his pipe.
"I fancy you said that no servants sleep in the house."
"They have not done so for a long time," Geoffrey explained. "Not thatwe entertain the least suspicion of any of them. We merely made thechange for safety's sake."
Tchigorsky nodded his approval. He arranged the silk thread neatly onthe table, coiling the end round a daisy pattern worked into the damaskcloth.
"For Mrs. May's benefit?" Geoffrey asked.
"Precisely," Tchigorsky said gravely. "I take a great interest in her."
Geoffrey smoked a whole cigarette before he spoke again.
"By the way," he exclaimed, "who and what is Mrs. May?"
"The devil fairly disguised," Ralph croaked. "A beautifulMephistopheles, a fascinating Beelzebub, a dark-eyed fiend, a--a----"
He pulled up choking with all-consuming rage. His arm was sawing the airas if feeling for the white throat of his lovely foe.
"Steady, there," Tchigorsky muttered. "Steady, Ralph, my friend. Shallwe enlighten Master Geoffrey a little as to the kind of woman she is?"
Ralph nodded over his pipe.
"If you like," he said. "Only the tale shall be yours. When I come tothink of it, I go out of my mind, as I did that night in the BlackValley. Tell him, Tchigorsky; tell him by all means--but not all."
"Ay, ay, I shall know where to leave off. I'll sit here where I canwatch the table. I am interested in that silk thread. So long as itremains simply coiled up there I can go on talking. When it moves----"
"You are wasting time," Geoffrey suggested.
"True. But to make amends I am going to interest you from the veryoutset. Doubtless you are curious to know the meaning of those scars onmy face and on the face of your uncle. Lately he has managedartistically to disguise his for reasons that will appear later. Therewas nothing to gain by hiding mine and pretty ugly they are.
"These scars were branded on us both at the same time by the priests ofthe great temple in the hills beyond Lassa. Three of us had penetratedthere, but the other one knew nothing of the mysteries of Buddha, forthe simple reason that he was the servant of your uncle--one Elphick byname. Elphick is doing good work for us elsewhere, but you shall see himin time.
"Now, these two men, who had disguised themselves as Buddhist priestsand had penetrated all the mysteries of that most mysterious creed, hadmade a boast two years before at Lahore of what they meant to do. Andthe words of their vaporings were carried to the ears of a woman who wasa Brahmin, though it appeared as if she had abandoned her religion andhad married an Englishman.
"This Englishman had been to Lassa himself and, when a girl, his wifehad fallen in love with him and he married her. There was a good deal ofscandal about it at the time, but there are so many scandals in Indiathat this one was quickly buried under a layer of other slanders. Somesaid that that officer had managed to pick up some of the holiestmysteries of Buddha, and that the lovely native had married him to closehis lips. Certainly, he would never speak of Lassa and when the placewas mentioned he always showed signs of agitation.
"Well, we went. We were not afraid. Both of us knew the East, we spokemany languages, we could assume any disguise. And in a short time, ashonored pilgrims from a far land, we were free of the holy temple in thehills beyond Lassa. Soon we were picking up all the mysteries."
"Are there any mysteries?" Geoffrey asked.
Ralph gave a quick barking laugh like the snap of a pistol shot. Allthis time his grave, wooden smile never relaxed.
"Ay," Tchigorsky went on, "mysteries! The things we saw and the thingswe learned would have driven many a strong man mad. Occult sciences!What do we know of them? I tell you the greatest man who walks theearth, a whole regiment of the finest scientists in Europe, would be aset of chattering monkeys alongside a Buddhist priest. We have seen thedead rise from their graves and heard them speak. We came near to learnthe secret of eternal life. And yet everlasting life and the unveilingof the future would not tempt me there again."
Tchigorsky's voice had fallen to a harsh whisper. As Geoffrey glanced atRalph he saw that the latter's face was bathed in a profoundperspiration.
"We were thus situated for some months," Tchigorsky resumed. "Graduallyevery mystery connected with life and death was opening up before us,and the secret of universal knowledge was within our grasp. Then one daythere was a commotion in the city, and we found that there was to be agreat feast in honor of a princess of the royal blood who had come backto Lassa after a long pilgrimage. We were bidden to that feast and hadplaces of honor near to the seat of the princess.
"She came in presently, gorgeously attired in flowing robes and stringsof diamonds and emeralds in her hair. She was a magnificent creature. Ihave seen many a native queen on her throne, but none to compare withthat woman who sat flashing her lovely eyes round the table.
"As I looked at her again and again I had an odd feeling that I had seenher before. I turned to speak to Ralph here and beheld with distendedeyes and dropped jaw that he was regarding the princess.
"'What is it?' I asked. 'Do you know her, too?'
"Ralph whispered a few words in my ear--a few pungent words that turnedme cold. And what he saw was this. In the princess we had the woman fromLahore--the woman who had forsaken her tribe to marry an Englishofficer. We had heard before that she was in the habit of going away forlong periods, and we knew that her husband must have possessed himselfof Buddhist secrets, perhaps sacred Buddhist script, or that woman wouldnever have been allowed to come and go like this.
"Had she married an Englishman in the ordinary way and subsequentlyreturned to Lassa, she would have been torn to pieces. She had beengranted absolution on purpose to wrest those secrets from the Englishmanwho had stolen them. And we two had boasted in the hearing of this womanthat we were going to learn those secrets for ourselves.
"Would she recognize us? That was the question. Remember that we weremost carefully disguised, we spoke the language without flaw, we had thesame tale to tell--a tale that we had rehearsed over and over again.There was no reason why we should not pass muster.
"Hope began to revive. Then I looked up and caught that woman's eye andshe smiled. I dream of that smile sometimes at night, and wake up coldand wet and shivering from head to foot. Not that I have more fear thanmost men, but then I had seen men put to death in Tibet. The torture ofthe wheel would be a pleasant recreation alongside of death like that.
"We were recognized. No need to tell us that. Doubtless that woman hadfollowed us step by step, giving us all the latitude we required, andnow she had come to teach us the pains and penalties attaching to ouroffice. She favored us with no further glance until the feast hadconcluded and what passes for music had begun, when she honored both ofus with a summons to her side.
"Of course, we went. In the circumstances there was nothing else to do.She made room for us; she smiled dazzlingly upon us. And then slowly anddeliberately, as a cat with a mouse, she began to play with us.
"'I speak to you thus,' she said, 'because there are others who seek forthe secrets of the faith. There were two Christian dogs who came up fromLahore. One was called Tchigorsky, the other was called Mayton' (Maytonwas your uncle Ralph's pseudonym, Geoffrey), 'and they boasted what theywere going to do. They knew the language, they said. And, behold, theone called Tchigorsky wa
s very like you, holy man.'
"It was coming. I bowed gravely as if the comparison was not pleasing tome. A wild yell of hysterical laughter came to my lips, but I managed tosuppress that. There were no knives on the table, and I had not dared touse my revolver. Had there been a knife on the table I should havestabbed that woman to the heart and taken the consequences.
"But your revolver, Tchigorsky," Geoffrey suggested.
"My dear boy, holy fathers and shining lights of the Buddhist faith donot carry Regulation Army revolvers," Tchigorsky said grimly. "All Icould do was to wait."
"'Did you know those English at Lahore?' the princess asked.
"I disclaimed the knowledge, saying that at that time I was in Cawnpore.Then being closely questioned, I proceeded to give a detailed history ofthe movements of myself and my companion for the last year or so. I waslying glibly and easily, but I had no comfort from the knowledge. It waseasy to see that not one word was believed, and that I was walking intothe trap.
"'At Dargi you were,' said the princess. 'What are the five points ofthe temple there?'
"For the life of me I could not tell her. As a matter of fact, I hadnever been near Dargi in my life. And the question was one that anyBuddhist who had been there would have answered offhand.
"'I have forgotten,' I answered as calmly as possible. 'I have a badmemory. I forget all kinds of things.'
"Those dark eyes seemed to look me all through.
"'You will forget your own name next,' the princess said.
"'I'll remember that,' I replied. 'I am Rane el Den, at your service.'
"Then came the reply in excellent English. 'Your name is SergiusTchigorsky, and your companion is Ralph James Mayton. I have found youout. I have only to raise my hand and your fate is sealed.'
"It was all over. I said nothing. I asked no pity. Pity! You might aswell strive to soften the heart of the wounded tiger that has you downwith a handful of nuts. Then I----"
Tchigorsky paused. His eyes were on the table. He pointed to the silkenthread that was slowly moving in the direction of the door.
"Hush!" he said softly. "Blow out the light."