Robert Cairn

“ Before him stood the most dangerous man in Europe—a man who had done murder and worse; a man only in name, a demon in nature. His long black eyes half closed, his perfectly chiseled ivory face expressionless, and his blood-red lips parted in a mirthless smile, Antony Ferrara watched Robert Cairn—Robert Cairn, whom he had sought to murder by means of hellish art. ”

“ This well ordered household, so modern, so typical of twentieth century culture and refinement, presented none of the appearances of a beleaguered garrison; yet the house of Dr. Cairn in Half Moon Street was nothing less than an invested fortress.
A peal of distant thunder boomed from the direction of Hyde Park. Robert Cairn looked up at the lowering sky, as if seeking a portent. To his eyes it seemed that a livid face, malignant with the malignancy of a devil, looked down upon him out of the clouds.
Myra Duquesne came into the breakfast room. ”

“ Sime, who had been listening to this strange conversation, cried out from the rear:
"We cannot reach it before sunset!"
"No," replied Dr. Cairn, turning in his saddle, "but that does not matter. Inside the pyramid, day and night make no difference."
Having crossed a narrow wooden bridge, they turned now fully in the direction of the great ruin, pursuing a path along the opposite bank of the cutting. They rode in silence for some time, Robert Cairn deep in thought.
"I suppose that Antony Ferrara actually visited this place last night," he said suddenly, "although I cannot follow your reasoning. ”

“ Dr. Cairn's voice rose barely above a whisper. With fingers quivering, Robert Cairn managed to light a third match. His father, from a second tub, tore out a smaller plant and ground its soft tentacles beneath his feet. The place smelt like an operating theatre. The doctor swayed dizzily as the third match became extinguished, clutching at his son for support.
"Her life was in it, boy!" he whispered. "She would have died in the hour that it bloomed! The priestesses—were consecrated to this.... Let me get into the air—"
Mr. Saunderson, silent with amazement, met them. ”

“ He felt that somewhere in the darkness surrounding him there was a speck of light, if he could but turn in the right direction to see it. So, whilst Robert Cairn walked restlessly about the big room, the doctor sat with his chin resting in the palm of his hand, seeking to concentrate his mind upon that vague memory, which defied him, whilst the hand of the library clock crept from twelve towards one; whilst he knew that the faint life in Myra Duquesne was slowly ebbing away in response to some mysterious condition, utterly outside his experience. ”

“ Robert Cairn went out into Half-Moon Street. The night was perfect, and the cloudless sky lavishly gemmed with stars. He walked on heedlessly, scarce noting in which direction. An awful conviction was with him, growing stronger each moment, that some mysterious menace, some danger unclassifiable, threatened Myra Duquesne. What did he suspect? He could give it no name. How should he act? He had no idea.
Sir Elwin Groves, whom he had seen that evening, had hinted broadly at mental trouble as the solution of Sir Michael Ferrara's peculiar symptoms. ”

“ Myra Duquesne came under an arch of roses to the wooden seat where Robert Cairn awaited her. In her plain white linen frock, with the sun in her hair and her eyes looking unnaturally large, owing to the pallor of her beautiful face, she seemed to the man who rose to greet her an ethereal creature, but lightly linked to the flesh and blood world. ”

“ Robert Cairn was silent, stupefied.
"Give me time to see my way clearly, Rob. At the moment I cannot reconcile my duty and my conscience; I confess it. But give me time. If only as a move—as a matter of policy—keep in touch with Ferrara. You loathe him, I know; but we must watch him! There are other interests—" [27]
"Myra!" Robert Cairn flushed hotly. "Yes, I see. I understand. By heavens, it's a hard part to play, but—"
"Be advised by me, Rob. Meet stealth with stealth. My boy, we have seen strange ends come to those who stood in the path of someone. ”

“ Whitening streaks showed where the doctor's pellets, melting, had trickled down the curtains!
“Lift Myra upon the settee.”
It was Dr. Cairn speaking, calmly, but in a strained voice.
As if emerging from a mist, Robert Cairn turned to the recumbent white form upon the carpet. Then, with a great cry, he leaped forward and raised the girl's head.
“Myra!” he groaned. “Myra, speak to me!”
“Control yourself, boy,” rapped Dr. Cairn sternly. “She cannot speak until you have revived her. She has swooned—nothing worse.” ”

“ Then a faint acrid smell was wafted to his nostrils, perceptible even above the heavy odour of the incense from the barn.
"Relock the door!" came the cry.
Robert Cairn reclosed the door, snapped the padlock fast, and began to fumble with the skeleton keys with which they had come provided. He discovered that to reclose the padlock was quite as difficult as to open it. His hands were trembling too; he was all anxiety to see what had taken place behind him. ”

“ Robert Cairn groaned, dropping into the big leathern armchair, and burying his face in his hands.
“Our position is maddening,” continued the elder man. “We know that Ferrara visits Mr. Saunderson's house; we know that he is laughing at our vain attempts to trap him. Crowning comedy of all, Saunderson does not know the truth, and is not the type of man who could ever understand. In fact, we dare not tell him, and we dare not tell Myra. The result is that those whom we would protect are unwittingly working against us, and against themselves.”
“That perfume!” burst out Robert Cairn. ”

“ Even at that distance and in that brief time, Robert Cairn could see the ivory face, the abnormal, red lips, and the long black eyes of this arch fiend, this monster masquerading as a man. He had much ado to restrain his rising passion; but, knowing that all depended upon his cool action, he waited until Ferrara had entered the photographer's. ”

“ Cairn. “I could believe once more in the justice of Heaven, if the great knowledge of Sir Michael Ferrara should prove to be the weapon to destroy the fiend whom we raised—he and I—may we be forgiven!”
Robert Cairn's excitement was dreadful.
“Can you tell me nothing?” he cried. “What do you hope? What do you fear?”
“Don't ask me, Rob,” replied his father. “You will know within five minutes.”
The car was leaping along the dark suburban roads at a speed little below that of an express train. ”

“ Cairn, his son, and Myra Duquesne met together in the library. The girl looked rather pale.
An odor of incense pervaded the house, coming from the doctor's study, wherein he had locked himself early in the evening, after issuing instructions that he was not to be disturbed. The exact nature of the preparations which he had been making, Robert Cairn was unable to conjecture; and some instinct warned him that his father would not welcome any inquiry upon the matter. He realized that Dr. Cairn proposed to fight Antony Ferrara with his own weapons. ”

“ He was about to switch on the reading lamp, for it was now too dark to write, when his mind wandered off along another channel of reflection. He found himself picturing Myra as she had looked the last time that he had seen her.
She was seated in Mr. Saunderson's garden, still pale from her dreadful illness, but beautiful—more beautiful in the eyes of Robert Cairn than any other woman in the world. The breeze was blowing her rebellious curls across her eyes—eyes bright with a happiness which he loved to see. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Dr. Cairn shook his head.
"To think that whilst we have been scouring Egypt from Port Said to Assouan—he has been laughing at us in London!" he said. "Directly after the affair at Méydûm he must have left the country—how, Heaven only knows. That letter is three weeks old, now?"
Robert Cairn nodded. "What may have happened since—what may have happened!"
"You take too gloomy a view. James Saunderson is a Roman guardian. Even Antony Ferrara could make little headway there."
"But Myra says that—Ferrara is—a frequent visitor." ”

“ 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. ”

“ Cairn. "Jermyn has decided that our fears are well-founded."
"You mean, sir, that the will—?"
"Antony Ferrara would have an almost unassailable case in the event of—of Myra—"
"You mean that her share of the legacy would fall to that fiend, if she—"
"If she died? Exactly."
Robert Cairn began to stride up and down the room, clenching and unclenching his fists. He was a shadow of his former self, but now his cheeks were flushed and his eyes feverishly bright.
"Before Heaven!" he cried suddenly, "the situation is becoming unbearable. A thing more deadly than the Plague is abroad here in London. ”

“ The crawling things, then, which reeked abominably might be Elementals (so Dr. Cairn reasoned) superimposed upon Robert Cairn's consciousness by a directing, malignant intelligence. On the other hand they might be mere glamours—or thought-forms—thrust upon him by the same wizard mind; emanations from an evil, powerful will.
His reflections were interrupted by the ringing of the 'phone bell. He took up the receiver.
"Hullo!" [43]
"That you, sir? All's clear here, now. I'm turning in." ”

“ And you will be surprised to hear that Antony is back in London ... and is a frequent visitor here. It is quite like old times...."
Raising his haggard eyes, Robert Cairn saw that his father was watching him.
"Keep calm, my boy," urged the doctor; "it can profit us nothing, it can profit Myra nothing, for you to shatter your nerves at a time when real trials are before you. You are inviting another breakdown. Oh! I know it is hard; but for everybody's sake try to keep yourself in hand."
"I am trying, sir," replied Robert hollowly. ”

“ Cairn suddenly opened the library door and entered.
“Well?” he said eagerly.
Robert Cairn leaped forward.
“I have tracked him, sir!” he cried. “My God, while Myra was at Saunderson's, she was almost next door to the beast! His den is in a field no more than a thousand yards from the garden wall—from Saunderson's orchid houses!”
“He is daring,” muttered Dr. Cairn; “but his selection of that site served two purposes. The spot was suitable in many ways, and we were least likely to look for him next door, as it were. It was a move characteristic of the accomplished criminal that he is.” ”

“ Robert Cairn nodded.
“It is the place of which Myra dreamed, sir—I have not the slightest doubt about that. What we have to find out is at what times of the day and sight he goes there.”
“I doubt,” interrupted Dr. Cairn, “if he often visits the place during the day. ”

“ There is a courage which is not physical, nor is it entirely moral—a courage often lacking in the most intrepid soldier. This was the kind of courage which Robert Cairn now called up to his aid. The occult inquirer can face, unmoved, horrors which would turn the brain of a man who wears the V.C.; on the other hand, it is questionable if the possessor of this peculiar type of bravery could face a bayonet charge. Pluck of the physical sort Cairn had in plenty ”

“ A week later Robert Cairn quitted Oxford to take up the newspaper appointment offered to him in London. It may have been due to some mysterious design of a hidden providence that Sime 'phoned him early in the week about an unusual case in one of the hospitals.
"Walton is junior house-surgeon there," he said, "and he can arrange for you to see the case. She (the patient) undoubtedly died from some rare nervous affection. I have a theory," etc.; the conversation became technical.
Cairn went to the hospital, and by courtesy of Walton, whom he had known at Oxford, was permitted to view the body. ”

“ Half-Moon Street was very still; midnight had sounded nearly half-an-hour; but still Robert Cairn paced up and down his father's library. He was very pale, and many times he glanced at a book which lay open upon the table. Finally he paused before it and read once again certain passages.
"In the year 1571," it recorded, "the notorious Trois Echelles was executed in the Place de Grève. He confessed before the king, Charles IX.... that he performed marvels.... Admiral de Coligny, who also was present, recollected ... the death of two gentlemen.... ”

“ The whole horrible phantasmagoria—together with the odour of ancient rottenness—faded like a fevered dream, at the moment that Dr. Cairn had burst in upon the creator of it.
Robert Cairn stood up, weakly, trembling; then dropped upon his knees and sobbed out prayers of thankfulness that came from his frightened soul.
[49]
CHAPTER VII SIR ELWIN GROVES' PATIENT
When a substantial legacy is divided into two shares, one of which falls to a man, young, dissolute and clever, and the other to a girl, pretty and inexperienced, there is laughter in the hells. ”