Fergus Hume

“ In obedience to the instructions, Adrian closed his eyes and felt the acrid odour of the smoke titillate his nostrils, while the doctor resumed his measured chant. The strange melody which sounded like the wailing of a lost spirit seemed to recede further and further away as the senses of the young man became clouded by the fumes spreading through the apartment. Suddenly his whole body felt contorted with extreme pain, every muscle, every nerve seemed to be wrenched asunder, and in a paroxysm of terror he strove to cry out, but was unable to do so. ”

“ He would be lying under the earth a living man, and would die by that most terrible of all deaths—suffocation.
The bare idea of such an appalling death made a cold sweat break out on his forehead, and leaning his arms on the mantelpiece he groaned with anguish. He would die two horrible deaths, first on the gallows, as Dr. Roversmire, and then in the narrowness of the coffin, as Adrian Lancaster. What was he to do—consent to Dentham's offer and be saved, or give himself up and try to explain the whole affair? ”

“ When Adrian awoke next morning he half thought that the fantastic events of the night were but the outcome of some strange dream, but a single glance in the mirror soon disillusioned him as he saw reflected back the countenance of Dr. Michael Roversmire. It was true then—he had voluntarily placed his soul in the outward semblance of the old man, and would have to lead his life, be bound by his physical restrictions and be to all intents and purposes another person, until such time as the worn-out body died and he could return once more to his own frame. ”

“ Dentham, of course, felt nothing, as his soul was too sensual and his body too gross to vibrate or come in contact with spiritual things, but Adrian's body being strange to him, was not under his control, and he felt as though he stood on neutral ground between two worlds, powerless to leave the one and equally powerless to enter the other.
"I'll go mad if this continues," he said to himself as he directed the envelope, "it is like putting a savage to live among people highly cultivated. ”

“ Adrian Lancaster, who is at Monte Carlo . . . . a handsome face certainly, but no brains, and if he has any, he never uses them . . he seems to me to lead a debauched life—ah, the pity that such a soiled soul should seek union with the stainless, spiritual part of Olive Maunders. It will be like fire and water coming together, and the mastery will be with the strongest. ”

“ Roversmire, casting a satisfied look around, "and here you can leave your body until such time as it is fated mine should die, when your soul will of course return to its former dwelling-place, but as the body left so long without action or food will be weak, you will find the wine and bread of great service in restoring your vital powers."
"But suppose your body dies soon and I have to return to my own," said the young man miserably. "I will then be arrested."
"That, of course, will be your own look out," retorted the doctor, shrugging his shoulders. ”

“ No, I am not sorry; the change to me will be like that of a beggar man passing suddenly from abject poverty to kingly affluence."
"But reflect," said Adrian earnestly, "if I accept your offer, think of what I am—I have committed a crime. According to my own showing I am not a good man; my soul in your body may commit many foolish actions, and yet you will be held guilty of them."
"My body will, not my soul," replied Roversmire coolly. ”

“ This was Dentham, the servant alluded to by Doctor Roversmire, and his appearance by no means impressed Adrian in a favourable manner. Tall, thin and supple, his movements seemed to have the sinuosity of a serpent, and his pallid face, clean shaven and serious, looked cold and cunning under a sparse crop of thin red hair, giving the young man an uneasy feeling of repulsion, similar to that provoked by the sight of a noxious animal. ”

“ She, however, was already in love with a young man about her own age, and, not finding my ancient years and my scarred and emaciated body sufficiently attractive, refused to marry me—so, after many trials, failing to shake her resolution, I gave up all thought of attaining my object and returned here to await in patience the period of my solution, when my soul will at last leave this body and reside for ever in the unseen world which it loves. ”

“ Now I think everything has been explained, so if you will lie down on that couch I will release my own soul and accomplish the transformation of yours into my body."
"One moment," cried Adrian, as he sat down on the couch, "how can I sign your name to cheques and imitate your handwriting?"
"You will do so mechanically," said Roversmire, who was lighting a fire in a small brazier; "writing is an operation of the body, not of the soul. ”

“ The figure on the couch stirred and sighed—the hands raised themselves off the breast, and the flowers fell with a muffled sound on the floor. The onlookers gazed at this awesome resurrection in paralyzed silence, and it was only when Adrian opened his eyes, and languidly tried to rise, that the spell broke, and Olive fell on the floor, while the three men rushed forward in a state of uncontrollable agitation.
"He lives! he lives!" cried Sir John, placing his arm under Adrian's head, and cautiously lifting him to an erect sitting position. ”

“ This bright July afternoon, was the day upon which Dentham was due at 40, Beryle Square, to give his information regarding Adrian Lancaster's whereabouts, and Mrs. Bickles was seated in the kitchen, moralizing over a glass of ale, and the remnants of the frugal meal, which she dignified with the name of luncheon. Like most old people, she was very garrulous, and in default of a better listener, talked to herself when alone, so she ran no chance of interruption, but had it all her own way. ”

“ I have told you all my past life, but should you need to know more there are plenty of papers in my desk which will tell you every action of mine since my arrival in England; with my Indian life you have nothing to do, as no trouble will come from there; my reputation is that of a savant and a recluse; when you occupy my body you can indulge in whatever pranks you like, but I warn you, that however youthful your soul may be, the body is old and weak, and if you play with it you will kill it and thus lose your city of refuge sooner than you expect, so your safety rests entirely with yourself. ”

“ Roversmire said suicide was punished bitterly in the spiritual world, but he surely cannot blame me for taking the life of his body in order to escape two terrible deaths. No! I have bitterly expiated the sins of Adrian Lancaster in this old body, and I will destroy it without fear of the consequence. It will at least restore me to my proper self and to the arms of the woman I love."
At this moment the door was pushed roughly open and Dentham made his appearance in swaggering triumph. ”

“ Roversmire saw Olive, fell in love with her, and recorded his impressions in a series of broken paragraphs, which were anything but pleasant reading to the fastidious mind of Adrian Lancaster, seeing that they were about the girl whom he intended to make his wife.
". . . . She is certainly a most beautiful woman, but it is not her outward form which attracts me, fair though it be as the lotus floating on the wave of the holy Ganges. The pure crystal of her body encloses the still purer flower of her soul, a soul which possesses strong masculine characteristics . ”

“ You have committed a murder, and in your own body are in danger of being hanged. I therefore propose that you should conceal yourself in my frame and work out my allotted span of life, so that my soul can leave the world without sin and mingle for ever with the pure spirits who inhabit the unseen universe. ”

“ Roversmire had indeed been able to draw entertainment from his stores of knowledge, his vast experience, and his power of releasing his soul from his body whenever earthly things grew too irksome to him, but Adrian, having lived all his life in a frivolous world, had not a well-stored mind to draw upon, consequently being debarred by his strange position from his ordinary pleasures he did not know how to employ his time. ”

“ I have one servant, whom I hired when I first settled down, and he serves me sufficiently well—that is, he does everything necessary for my material wants, and speaks to no one about the life I lead. I frequently leave my body for days, and soar, untrammelled, through the wide expanse of the infinite—I have strange visions, wild dreams, unexplainable ecstacies—and my only regret is, that being bound by the laws of the universe, which are fixed and unalterable, I have to return at certain intervals to this body. ”

“ Dentham was quite exasperated by the quiet tone in which the doctor spoke. He had expected to find a terrified man, who would give any sum to be placed in safety, instead of which, the proposed victim talked as calmly and sedately as if no terrible charge of murder was hanging over him.
"If what I've told you don't convince you, nothing will," he said sarcastically. "Ain't I said all your being asked to Marlow was a blind? I found out Mr. Lancaster had been with you on that night by means of the stick."
"Which you denied having seen," interpolated Adrian quietly. ”

“ It was curious that he should take so much trouble in learning all the tricks, manners and daily actions of his usual body, seeing that it was impossible anyone could comprehend the change that had taken place, and however strikingly he altered his habits it would be put down by every person to the well-known eccentricities of the doctor. Assuming a new body as a disguise is very different from assuming a new garb, and it was this very novelty that made Adrian so painfully careful, as it seemed almost impossible to him that no one should notice the transformation. ”

“ I don't believe in these jugglers myself—perhaps he's killed him to read a fortune in his inside, like them coves in history."
Dentham was so excited with this idea that he walked up and down his chamber chuckling.
"I thought he was a forger or a robber—but he ain't. No!—he's a murderer, and that's worse nor either of the other two. I'll go to this young lady to-morrow, and I'll show her the walking-stick—that'll show Mr. Adrian Lancaster's been here, at all events, and if they search the house perhaps they'll find him, though I don't say," said Mr. Dentham sagaciously, "that he'll be alive. ”

“ Roversmire, during his tenancy of his earthly body had been constantly visited by his friends of the spirit world, and sometimes a weird feeling would seize Adrian as if he was in the centre of a crowd of ethereal beings whose bodies, impalpable and invisible, were pressing around him on all sides. ”

“ Roversmire had rendered his body peculiarly sensitive to spiritual influences, and now that he had transferred this body to Adrian, the material soul of the unhappy young man felt strange to the subtle contact he seemed to feel with the unseen world about which he knew absolutely nothing. ”

“ He shrank from the idea of suicide, but it was the only way to avoid two terrible deaths, by hanging and suffocation, so he saw that the only means of escape was to at once destroy the body of Roversmire.
Thinking that such a contingency might occur—although it had come sooner than he expected—Adrian had provided himself with a phial of deadly poison, distilled from some rare Eastern herb, which he had found in the medicine-chest of Dr. Roversmire. He always carried it about with him, and now, producing it from his pocket, held it up towards the light. ”

“ Lancaster leave the room."
"Quite sure, mum," replied Dentham decisively, "my room is above, but I wasn't in it, as I came out and looked over the stairs, so if either of 'em left the room I'd have seen as well as heard."
"Then," observed Olive disconsolately, "this disintegration theory—"
"Is all bosh," interrupted Teddy angrily. "I don't believe in theosophy, and as I told you, even if they can disintegrate bodies they can only meddle with their own and not with those of other people—there must be some secret hiding-place to which the entrance is from this room." ”

“ Although Teddy pushed and shook the grate it remained immovable and there certainly seemed no possibility that such a heavy mass could be moved at all.
"Perhaps there's a spring," suggested Olive, and began to feel among the carvings of the mantelpiece with deft fingers. The attempt proved successful, for by chance her fingers came in contact with the spring; there was a click as she pressed it, almost involuntarily, and the three present gave a cry of surprise as the whole of the grate swung round upon a central pivot, disclosing the space beyond. ”

“ I have only to touch a bell and my servants will come in—I can give you in charge as a burglar and then, once in the clutches of the law, who knows what truths may be revealed?"
Adrian drew a long breath and looked earnestly at his host, who on his part eyed him in a masterful manner, which seemed to compel him to answer even against his will. He sank back in his chair with a groan, feeling that in this room he was utterly powerless and at the absolute disposal of Dr. Roversmire.
"Come," said the latter quietly, "why set your will against mine? you are sure to be overpowered. ”

“ Sir John, a genial-looking old gentleman, was always delighted to surround himself with young people, as he said they made life look bright to him, and certainly there was plenty of laughing and talking as the party on the lawn chatted about the events of the day, listened to the voice of the wind stirring the leaves overhead or watched the boats floating past on the sunlit river, with their loads of young men in flannels and pretty girls daintily costumed in river fashion. ”

“ He knew he'd be quite safe with you, and besides there was a paragraph in several papers stating that Trevanna was getting well and had exonerated him."
"That's what makes me fear Adrian is dead," said Olive, turning her pale face towards him.
"Dead!—nonsense," cried Teddy hastily. "Why should he be dead? He wouldn't commit suicide, it is unlikely he has met with an accident, and no one would harm him, for he hadn't an enemy in the world."
"No, that's true. Adrian has no enemy, but there is a man who does not like me, so out of revenge he might harm Adrian."
"A man who does not like you?" ”

“ I can give you a new body but not a new soul, so whatever acts of evil you have done in your past life the remembrance will always cling to you; but if you expiate your crime on earth by prayers and repentance in my body and in your own, it will purify your spirit for the world beyond. ”