Sax Rohmer

“ To speak disrespectfully of a woman in his presence was like uttering blasphemy in the study of a cardinal. Tchériapin very quickly detected the Scotsman’s weakness, and one night he launched out into a series of amorous adventures, which set Andrews writhing.
On this occasion the party was a small one, comprising myself, Doctor Kreener, Andrews, and Tchériapin. I could feel the storm brewing, but was powerless to check it. How presently it was to break in tragic violence I could not foresee. Fate had not meant that I should foresee. ”

“ Muffled, as though reaching me through fog, I heard the words:
“A perfect human body in miniature. Every organ intact, by means of a process rendered indestructible. Tchériapin, as he was in life, may be seen by the curious ten thousand years hence. Incomplete—in one respect—here in this box.”
The spell was broken by a horrifying shriek from the man whom my companion had addressed as Colquhoun, and whom I could only suppose to be the painter of the celebrated picture which rested upon the mantel.
“Take him awa’, Kreener! He is reaching for the violin!” ”

“ Tchériapin laughed and lighted a fresh cigarette.
“Can you believe that a man could he so stupid? He never knew of my existence, this big, red booby. He never knew that I existed until—until his ‘dream’ had fled with me! In a week we were in Paris, that dream girl and I—in a month we had quarreled. I always end these matters with a quarrel; it makes the complete finish. ”

“ Tchériapin became a regular visitor to Doctor Kreener’s laboratory. The doctor prevailed upon Andrews to tolerate him, but I could not help noticing how Tchériapin skillfully and deliberately goaded the Scotsman, seeming to take a fiendish delight in disagreeing with his pet theories and in discussing any topic which he had found to be distasteful to Andrews.
Chief among these was that sort of irreverent criticism of women, in which male parties so often indulge. Bitter cynic though he was, women were sacred to Andrews. ”

“ Then, looking around me at the cosmopolitan groups surrounding the many tables and catching snatches of conversations dealing with subjects so diverse as politics, painting, and the Russian ballet, common sense reasserted itself.
I looked into the gray face of my acquaintance. “I cannot believe,” I said slowly, “that human ingenuity could so closely duplicate the handiwork of nature. Surely the gem is unique—possibly one of those magical talismans of which we read in Eastern stories?” ”

“ He died in an endeavor to save some of the working people.”
“I remember.”
“He was the inventor of the process, but it was never put upon the market. He was a singular man, sir; as was once said of him, ‘A Don Juan of science.’ Dame Nature gave him her heart unwooed. He trifled with science, as some men trifle with love, tossing aside with a smile discoveries which would have made other men famous. This”—tapping his breast pocket—“was one of them.”
“You astound me. Do I understand you to mean that Doctor Kreener had invented a process of reducing any form of plant life to this condition?” ”

“ Thus far the stranger’s appalling story had progressed when that singular cloak, in which, hypnotically, he had enwrapped me, seemed to drop, and I found myself clutching the edge of the marble table and staring into the gray face of the speaker. ”

“ The favorite meeting place for these oddly assorted boon companions of his was the doctor’s laboratory in Regent's Park. Here on a Sunday evening one might meet the very “latest” composer, the sculptor bringing a new “message,” or the man destined to supplant with the ballet the time-worn operatic tradition. ”

“ So much for Tchériapin.
At the time of the episode to which I refer, Doctor Kreener occupied a house in Regent’s Park. He was a favorite with the painters, sculptors, poets, and social reformers who have made of Soho a new Mecca. No movement in art was so modern that Doctor Kreener was not conversant with it; no political development so violent or so secret that Doctor Kreener could not speak of it complacently and with inside knowledge. ”

“ He spoke in the hard, incisive manner, which I had heard him use in the lecture theater, and it was evident enough that his design was to prepare Andrews for something which he contemplated. Facing the Scotsman, where he sat hunched up in the big armchair, dully watching the speaker, Doctor Kreener said:
“There is one experiment which I have never before had a suitable opportunity of attempting. Of its result I am personally confident, but science always demands proof.” ”