Sax Rohmer

“ Cairn did not hesitate to turn and run for the stair, and as he did so the spiders began to drop. Indeed, they seemed to leap toward the intruders, until the floor all about them, and the bottom steps of the stair, presented a mass of black, moving insects.
A perfect panic fear seized upon them. At every step spiders crunched beneath their feet. The poisonous insects seemed to come from nowhere, to be conjured up out of the darkness, until the whole cellar, the stairs, the very fetid air about them, became black and nauseous. ”

“ It was by the agency of Antony Ferrara that I dreamed a strange dream to-night. In fact, it was no true dream, for I was under the influence of—what shall I term it?—hypnotic suggestion. To what extent that malign will was responsible for you and me being placed in rooms communicating by means of a balcony, we probably shall never know; but if this proximity was merely accidental, the enemy did not fail to take advantage of the coincidence. I lay watching the stars before I slept, and one of them seemed to grow larger as I watched. ”

“ He took up the dagger and ran a critical glance over it, from the keen point to the enameled hilt.
“This is unique!” he muttered, whilst his son, spellbound, watched him. “The blade is as keen as if tempered but yesterday; yet it was made full five thousand years ago, as the workmanship of the hilt testifies. Rob, we deal with powers more than human! We have to cope with a force which might have awed the greatest masters whom the world has ever known. It would have called for all the knowledge and all the power of Apollonius of Tyana to have dealt with—him!”
“Antony Ferrara?” ”

“ They ran down the rickety stairs and crossed the narrow street, and Robert Cairn cautiously looked in around the door which had been left ajar.
The old man's stooping figure showed black against the dim light of another door at the farther end of the large and barn-like apartment. Tap, tap, tap, went the stick, and the aged Egyptian disappeared around a corner.
“Where can we hide?” whispered Dr. Cairn. “He is evidently making a tour of inspection.”
The sound of footsteps mounting to the upper apartments came to their ears. ”

“ Dawn would break ere long, and there was a curious rawness in the atmosphere. Robert Cairn seated himself upon the side of the bed, and watched his father intently, while the latter related his strange nocturnal experience.
“You think, sir,” said Robert, at the conclusion of his father's story, “that no part of your dream was real?”
Dr. Cairn held up the antique dagger, glancing at the speaker significantly.
“On the contrary,” he replied, “I do know that part of it was dreadfully real. My difficulty is to separate the real from the phantasmal.” ”

“ A piece of candle, stuck in a crude wooden holder, lay upon the topmost. Dr. Cairn, taking a box of matches from his pocket, quickly lighted the candle, and, holding it in his left hand, began to descend. His head was not yet below the level of the upper apartment when he paused.
“You have your revolver?” he said.
Robert nodded grimly, and took the weapon from his pocket.
A singular and most disagreeable smell was arising from the trap which they had opened. Ignoring this, they descended, and presently stood side by side in a low cellar. Here the odor was almost insupportable. ”

“ His soul was up in arms against the man whose evil schemes had led to his presence in Port Said, at a time when many sufferers required his ministrations in Half Moon Street. He was haunted by a phantom, a ghoul in human shape—Antony Ferrara, the adopted son of his dear friend, the adopted son who had brought about the death of his adoptive father. ”

“ Silence fell for a moment.
“It is almost certain,” said the younger man, frowning thoughtfully, “that you did not actually leave the hotel, but merely passed from your room to mine by way of the balcony.”
Dr. Cairn stood up, walked to the open window, and looked out. Then he turned and faced his son again.
“I believe I can put that matter to the test,” he declared. “In my dream, as I turned into the lane where the house was—the house of the mummy—there was a patch covered with deep mud, where at some time during the evening a quantity of water had been spilled. ”

“ A man mentally overtired either sleeps dreamlessly, or dreams with a vividness greater than that of the visions of normal slumber. Dr. Cairn dreamed a vivid dream.
He fancied that he was awakened by the sound of a gentle rapping. Opening his eyes, he peered through the cloudy netting. Then he started up and wrenched back the curtain.
The rapping was repeated; and, peering again across the room, he very distinctly perceived a figure upon the balcony by the open window. ”

“ He accepted the room which was offered to him at the hotel, without troubling to inspect it. Having left instructions that he was to be called in time for the early train to Cairo, he swallowed a whisky and soda at the buffet, and wearily ascended the stairs.
There were tourists in the hotel, English and American, marked by a gaping wonderment, and loud with plans of sight-seeing; but Port Said—nay, all Egypt—had nothing of novelty to offer Dr. Cairn. He was there at great inconvenience. A practitioner of his repute may not easily arrange to quit London at a moment's notice ”

“ Dr. Cairn stared at his son with an odd expression in his eyes.
“Some histories ignore her existence entirely,” he said. “I shall return to my room to dress now,” he added, with an evident desire to change the subject. “Do you dress also. We cannot afford to sleep while the situation of that house remains unknown to us.”
Robert Cairn nodded. His father stood up, and went out of the room.
Dawn saw the two of them peering from the balcony upon the streets of Port Said, already dotted with moving figures, for the Egyptian is an early riser. ”

“ An old man, stooping beneath the burden of years, and resting much of his weight upon a staff, came tottering into sight. The watchers crouched back, breathless with excitement, as the newcomer paused before the iron-studded door, and from beneath his cloak took out a big key. ”

“ He stood looking to right and left, and seemed to be undecided.
“We will try turning to the right,” he finally determined.
They set off along the narrow way. Once clear of the hotel wall, high buildings rose upon either side, so that at no time during the day could the sun have penetrated to the winding lane. Suddenly Robert Cairn stopped.
“Look!” he said, and pointed. “The mosque! You spoke of a mosque near to the house.” ”

“ Her long almond eyes had an evil beauty which seemed to chill, and her brilliantly red mouth was curved in a smile which must have made any man forget the evil in her eyes; but when we move in a dream world, our emotions, too, become dreamlike. She placed a sandaled foot upon the mud floor and stepped out of the sarcophagus, advancing toward Dr. ”

“ Swathed in white wrappings, Antony Ferrara lay motionless before them.
The seconds passed one by one, until a whole minute was told, and still the two remained inert and the cold light shone full upon that ivory face.
“Is he dead?”
Robert Cairn spoke huskily, grasping his father's shoulders.
“I think not,” was the equally hoarse reply. “He is in the state of trance mentioned in—certain ancient writings. He is absorbing evil force from the sarcophagus of the witch queen.” [1]
There was a faint rustling sound in the cellar, which seemed to grow louder and more insistent; but Dr. ”