Inspector4 Weymouth called one morning, shortly after the Van Roon episode, and entered upon a surprising account of a visit to a house at Hampstead which enjoyed the sinister5 reputation of being uninhabitable.
"But in what way does the case enter into your province?" inquired Nayland Smith, idly tapping out his pipe on a bar of the grate.
We had not long finished breakfast, but from an early hour Smith had been at his eternal smoking, which only the advent2 of the meal had interrupted.
"Well," replied the Inspector, who occupied a big armchair near the window, "I was sent to look into it, I suppose, because I had nothing better to do at the moment."
"Ah!" jerked Smith, glancing over his shoulder.
The ejaculation had a veiled significance; for our quest of Dr. Fu-Manchu had come to an abrupt6 termination by reason of the fact that all trace of that malignant7 genius, and of the group surrounding him, had vanished with the destruction of Cragmire Tower.
"The house is called The Gables," continued the Scotland Yard man, "and I knew I was on a wild-goose chase from the first—"
"Why?" snapped Smith.
[185]
"Because I was there before, six months ago or so—just before your present return to England—and I knew what to expect."
Smith looked up with some faint dawning of interest perceptible in his manner.
"I was unaware," he said with a slight smile, "that the cleaning-up of haunted houses came within the province of New Scotland Yard. I am learning something."
"In the ordinary way," replied the big man good-humouredly, "it doesn't. But a sudden death always excites suspicion, and—"
"A sudden death?" I said, glancing up; "you didn't explain that the ghost had killed any one!"
"I'm afraid I'm a poor hand at yarn-spinning, doctor," said Weymouth, turning his blue, twinkling eyes in my direction. "Two people have died at The Gables within the last six months."
"You begin to interest me," declared Smith, and there came something of the old, eager look into his gaunt face, as, having lighted his pipe, he tossed the match-end into the hearth8.
"I had hoped for some little excitement, myself," confessed the Inspector. "This dead-end, with not a shadow of a clue to the whereabouts of the Yellow fiend, has been getting on my nerves—"
"Although Dr. Fu-Manchu had been in England for some months, now," continued Weymouth, "I have never set eyes upon him; the house we raided in Museum Street proved to be empty; in a word, I am wasting my time. So that I volunteered to run up to Hampstead and look into the matter of The Gables, principally as a distraction10. It's a queer business, but more in the Psychical11 Research Society's line than mine, I'm afraid. Still, if there were no Dr. Fu-Manchu it might be of interest to you—and to you, Dr. Petrie—because it illustrates12 the fact that, given the right sort of subject, death
[186]
can be brought about without any elaborate mechanism—such as our Chinese friends employ."
"You interest me more and more," declared Smith, stretching himself in the long, white cane13 rest-chair.
"Two men, both fairly sound, except that the first one had an asthmatic heart, have died at The Gables without any one laying a little finger upon them. Oh! there was no jugglery14! They weren't poisoned, or bitten by venomous insects, or suffocated15, or anything like that. They just died of fear—stark fear."
With my elbows resting upon the table cover, and my chin in my hands, I was listening attentively16, now, and Nayland Smith, a big cushion behind his head, was watching the speaker with a keen and speculative17 look in those steely eyes of his.
"You imply that Dr. Fu-Manchu has something to learn from The Gables?" he jerked.
"I can't work up anything like amazement19 in these days," continued the latter; "every other case seems stale and hackneyed alongside the case. But I must confess that when The Gables came on the books of the Yard the second time, I began to wonder. I thought there might be some tangible20 clue, some link connecting the two victims; perhaps some evidence of robbery or of revenge—of some sort of motive21. In short, I hoped to find evidence of human agency at work, but, as before, I was disappointed."
"It's a legitimate22 case of a haunted house, then?" said Smith.
"Yes; we find them occasionally, these uninhabitable places, where there is something, something malignant and harmful to human life, but something that you cannot arrest, that you cannot hope to bring into court."
"Ah," replied Smith slowly; "I suppose you are right. There are historic instances, of course:
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Glamys Castle and Spedlins Tower in Scotland, Peel Castle, Isle23 of Man, with its Maudhe Dhug, the grey lady of Rainham Hall, the headless horses of Caistor, the Wesley ghost of Epworth Rectory and others. But I have never come in personal contact with such a case, and if I did I should feel very humiliated24 to have to confess that there was any agency which could produce a physical result—death,—but which was immune from physical retaliation25."
Weymouth nodded his head again.
"I might feel a bit sour about it, too," he replied, "if it were not that I haven't much pride left in these days, considering the show of physical retaliation I have made against Dr. Fu-Manchu."
"A home-thrust, Weymouth!" snapped Nayland Smith, with one of those rare boyish laughs of his. "We're children to that Chinese doctor, Inspector, to that weird26 product of a weird people who are as old in evil as the Pyramids are old in mystery. But about The Gables?"
"Well, it's an uncanny place. You mentioned Glamys Castle a moment ago, and it's possible to understand an old stronghold like that being haunted, but The Gables was only built about 1870; it's quite a modern house. It was built for a wealthy Quaker family, and they occupied it, uninterruptedly and apparently27 without anything unusual occurring for over forty years. Then it was sold to a Mr. Maddison—and Mr. Maddison died there six months ago."
"Maddison?" said Smith sharply, staring across at Weymouth. "What was he? Where did he come from?"
"Colombo?"
"There was a link with the East, certainly, if that's what you are thinking; and it was this fact which interested me at the time, and which led me
[188]
to waste precious days and nights on the case. But there was no mortal connection between this liverish individual and the schemes of Dr. Fu-Manchu. I'm certain of that."
"And how did he die?" I asked interestedly.
"He just died in his chair one evening, in the room which he used as a library. It was his custom to sit there every night, when there were no visitors, reading, until twelve o'clock or later. He was a bachelor, and his household consisted of a cook, a housemaid, and a man who had been with him for thirty years, I believe. At the time of Mr. Maddison's death, his household had recently been deprived of two of its members. The cook and housemaid both resigned one morning, giving as their reason the fact that the place was haunted."
"In what way?"
"I interviewed the precious pair at the time, and they told me absurd and various tales about dark figures wandering along the corridors and bending over them in bed at night, whispering; but their chief trouble was a continuous ringing of bells about the house."
"Bells?"
"They said that it became unbearable29. Night and day there were bells ringing all over the house. At any rate, they went, and for three or four days The Gables was occupied only by Mr. Maddison and his man, whose name was Stevens. I interviewed the latter also, and he was an altogether more reliable witness; a decent, steady sort of man whose story impressed me very much at the time."
"Did he confirm the ringing?"
"He swore to it—a sort of jangle, sometimes up in the air, near the ceilings, and sometimes under the floor, like the shaking of silver bells."
Nayland Smith stood up abruptly30 and began to pace the room, leaving great trails of blue-grey smoke behind him.
[189]
"Your story is sufficiently31 interesting, Inspector," he declared, "even to divert my mind from the eternal contemplation of the Fu-Manchu problem. This would appear to be distinctly a case of an 'astral bell' such as we sometimes hear of in India."
"It was Stevens," continued Weymouth, "who found Mr. Maddison. He (Stevens) had been out on business connected with the household arrangements, and at about eleven o'clock he returned, letting himself in with a key. There was a light in the library, and getting no response to his knocking, Stevens entered. He found his master sitting bolt upright in a chair, clutching the arms with rigid32 fingers and staring straight before him with a look of such frightful33 horror on his face, that Stevens positively34 ran from the room and out of the house. Mr. Maddison was stone dead. When a doctor, who lives at no great distance away, came and examined him, he could find no trace of violence whatever; he had apparently died of fright, to judge from the expression on his face."
"Anything else?"
"Only this: I learnt, indirectly35, that the last member of the Quaker family to occupy the house had apparently witnessed the apparition36, which had led to his vacating the place. I got the story from the wife of a man who had been employed as gardener there at that time. The apparition—which he witnessed in the hall-way, if I remember rightly—took the form of a sort of luminous37 hand clutching a long, curved knife."
"Oh, heavens!" cried Smith, and laughed shortly; "that's quite in order!"
"This gentleman told no one of the occurrence until after he had left the house, no doubt in order that the place should not acquire an evil reputation. Most of the original furniture remained, and Mr. Maddison took the house furnished. I don't think
[190]
there can be any doubt that what killed him was fear at seeing a repetition—"
"Of the fiery hand?" concluded Smith.
"Quite so. Well, I examined The Gables pretty closely, and, with another Scotland Yard man, spent a night in the empty house. We saw nothing; but once, very faintly, we heard the ringing of bells."
"You can swear to that?" he snapped.
"I can swear to it," declared Weymouth stolidly. "It seemed to be over our heads. We were sitting in the dining-room. Then it was gone, and we heard nothing more whatever of an unusual nature. Following the death of Mr. Maddison, The Gables remained empty until a while ago, when a French gentleman, named Lejay, leased it—"
"Furnished?"
"Yes; nothing was removed—"
"Who kept the place in order?"
"A married couple living in the neighbourhood undertook to do so. The man attended to the lawn and so forth39, and the woman came once a week, I believe, to clean up the house."
"And Lejay?"
"He came in only last week, having leased the house for six months. His family were to have joined him in a day or two, and he, with the aid of the pair I have just mentioned, and assisted by a French servant he brought over with him, was putting the place in order. At about twelve o'clock on the Friday night this servant ran into a neighbouring house screaming 'the fiery hand!' and when at last a constable40 arrived and a frightened group went up the avenue of The Gables, they found M. Lejay, dead in the avenue, near the steps just outside the hall door! He had the same face of horror...."
"What a tale for the Press!" snapped Smith.
"The owner has managed to keep it quiet so far,
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but this time I think it will leak into the Press—yes."
There was a short silence; then—
"And you have been down to The Gables again?"
"I was there on Saturday, but there's not a scrap41 of evidence. The man undoubtedly42 died of fright in the same way as Maddison. The place ought to be pulled down; it's unholy."
"Unholy is the word," I said. "I never heard anything like it. This M. Lejay had no enemies?—there could be no possible motive?"
"None whatever. He was a business man from Marseilles, and his affairs necessitated43 his remaining in or near to London for some considerable time; therefore, he decided44 to make his headquarters here, temporarily, and leased The Gables with that intention."
Nayland Smith was pacing the floor with increasing rapidity; he was tugging45 at the lobe46 of his left ear and his pipe had long since gone out.
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1
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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psychical
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| adj.有关特异功能现象的；有关特异功能官能的；灵魂的；心灵的 | |
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illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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13
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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14
jugglery
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| n.杂耍，把戏 | |
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15
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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31
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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32
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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41
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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42
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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necessitated
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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45
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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lobe
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| n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶 | |
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