THE DOINGS OF MORTIMER KANE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 7

THE DOINGS OF MORTIMER KANE.

THE STRANGE OCCURRENCES AT DELHI LODGE.

(By Cecil Hay tor.) Kane emerged slowly from behind a heap of crumpled newspapers as I catered his room. As usual, his breakfast was freezing quietly and untasted on the table, and a pile of unopened letters testified to the fact that he had either been preoccupied or “resting,” more probably the latter. !/.- /"' r /•

For the past week or more, the papers, having nothing particular to write about, had been filling then* columns with ex-; * traordinary accounts of- a so-called, “Haunted house at Wimbledon,” known! as Delhi Lodge. Some months ago- there had been rumours of a suspicious death in the house, but public interest had been attracted elsewhere, and the affair made no particular stir.

Since that date other stories of scared servants, and a governess driven into temporary insanity had got spread abroad, and quite recently a second death had occurred under circumstances equally -suspicious. . C A halfpenny evening paper was the first to exploit the matter; then more serious and reliable journals took it up, till it had become the nine days’ wander of London. • “You’ve read the story?” asked Kane. ‘Bits of it,” said I, but not with any particular attention.” “It has a few points a little out of the ordinary,” h© answered. “The house originally belonged to an old India merchant, who amassed a fortune in the days of the East India company. He, it seems, had two sons of about the

same age; both survived him. The money was divided equally between the two, but the elder received in addition this house, Delhi Dodge, with its con-tea-os. and so forth. The youngster returned to India to carry on the branch o>f thg business out there. “Two or three years ago both brothers retired from business, and the younger, being then a man of about fifty, was l"Sfc •sight of, but it is believed that he came home to England. ”The elder brother, whose name is Thomas Davitt, had married meanwhile, and has lived for* many years as a widower with his two daughters at \\ imoledon . ■

“Now several mouths, ago. as you will' remember, a case got into the papers of tihe mysterious death of a man-servant in the"house. The man had apparently died of suffocation from noxious gas, and his features were described as bearing an expression of most absolute mental terror after death. There was an inquiry, of course, but nothing definite resulted. The drains were examined, and the household generally turned topsy turvy. Since that period at odd intervals the servants in the house have gone on strike and left in a body, declaring the place to he haunted, though the family themselves have never been molested in any way. Later came the case of the governess, apparently a weakminded, rather hysterical little woman. She evidently received some severe mental shock, for one morning she was round gibbering in her bed, a raving lunatic for the time being. Now there has been a second death, in every way similar to the first to all appearances, only this time the victim is an old housekeeper. The family have deserted the house in a hurry; not a servant can be induced to go near the place, and the Press is rampant. I applied to- Mr Davitt for leave to visit the place and spend a night there. I thought it might prove interesting. Here is his cabled reply: ‘vKaiie, “‘Golden-square, Regent street. “ ‘Certainly, if you wish. Keys with caretaker at side entrance. Have wired him instructions. Please take due precautions;—Davitt.’”' “Are you going down?” I asked. “X think I shail drive down to-night after dinner—that is to say, if you are free and care to come, too.” “Yes, I should like it immensely. I’m doing nothing particular. Better cab for me, say, at half-past seven, and we’ll have a bit of food together.” Consequently, after a dinner of comfortable dimensions, and having started a good-sized cigar, I followed Kane into a hansom we had waiting, and we drove off at a brisk pace, for Wimbledon. “What do you think is likely to be tire cause of all this fuss?” I asked. “I haven’t the vaguest notion,” said Kane. “I expect the explanation will he fairly simple. It generally is whm the facts are out of the ordinary. The two things that puzzle me most, are the apparent lack of motive and the seeming immunity of the actual members of He family. It it were being done from spite or malice, one would be inclined to think that the very first object of attack would be Davitt himself, especially since the originator of all this disturbance doesn’t seem inclined to stick at even murder.”

“You seem convinced that it is murder, then?”

"In so far that tli© two people died prematurely through the direct agency of some unknown individual, I certainly do. Unless/’ he added, smiling, ‘‘you prefer to adopt a theory of supernatural manifestations or drains.” I had had too good a dinner to he argumentative, so I did not attempt to uphold my theory that the whole thing might possibly be due to sucli a prosaic thing as defective sanitation. Meanwhile, we liad crossed Putney Bridge and were bowling rapidly up the long hill beyond. Once out on the common, the driver, in obedience to Kane's directions, turned sharply to rhe left, and another five minutes brought us to a, standstill opposite a drive-gate, on which the words "Delhi Lodge” were barely visible in shabby gold letters. "I expect it is the other entrance we have to make for,” said Kane. ‘There are no signs of a caretakers lodge here.” But even as he spoke there was a crunching of footsteps on the gravel, path, and a white face loomed out of the darkness above the gate. “Mr Kane?” asked a voice, inquiringly. "Yes. Did you get my telegram?” "Yes, sir, and one from the master, too. Uve the keys here with me. There’s been something goin’ on up at. the house this very night, sir. I live in the little lodge over by the far gate yonder, sir, and as I was going rny rounds half an hour back I heard most ’orful noises, sir, screeching and suchlike.” ' The man was evidently badly scared, and his lips were dry and bloodless. I’ve little doubt that he looked on our arrival as a merciful dispensation of Providence. "All right,” said Kane. "If there is a seance in progress, so much the better.” He dismissed the cab, and wo followed the caretaker up the drive. It was evident that nothing short of physical force would drag the man a step nearer the house, so Kane took the keys with him, and after a little did - culty we effected an entrance by a side door, the front door being heavily bolted. We both carried walking-sticks. I had an abundant supply of matches and a candle or so, and Kane had brought

with him a little pocket electric lamp, something like those occasionally used by the inspectors on omnibuses. I was going to throw my cigar away when wo got inside, but Kane motioned me not to. In fact, rather to my surprise, ho seemed absolutely indifferent as to whether his presence in the house were known or not, always assuming tliar there was some one there to know. By his directions I lighted a candle, and wo strolled leisurely through the passages and up the main staircase. It was only a three-story house, including the attics, all the sitting-rooms being on the ground floor. Above them were the bedrooms, with a. long passage running the lull length of the building. Kane moved quickly down this, talking all the time in his natural tones, and not bothering to deaden his footsteps. But just as we got opposite to the room which Lad been pointed out to us as that of 1 lie governess he blew out the light, and, beckoning to me, slipped inside. He closed the door behind us, and turning on a small ray from his lamp, just enough to enable us to find our way among the furniture, lie selected two chairs, one for himself and one for me. which lie placed side by side, facing different angles of the room. Then, after a close examination of the window fastening, he once more switched off the tiny lamp, and groped his wav to the chair next me.

“Sst!” said he, whispering very low. “Listen if you hear anything, or notice any change in the atmosphere, any difficulty in breathing. Keep quite still, and hold out as long as you can, unless you feel yourself becoming giddy or choking. Breathe through your nose as much as possible, and keep your mouth closed—the air will get filtered more in that way, and you won’t take so much directly into your lungs. When \ou feel you can’t stand it any longer, touch my arm—so.” Three or four minutes passed in absolute stillness, and then the weirdness of the situation began to make itself forcibly felt. To sit in complete darkness and silence in a strange house at the dead of night doesn’t sound much ; but let those who are inclined to scoff try it for themselves, and as the minutes and quarter hours wear slowly away, they will find themselves longing and hungering for a light, if only the tiny flare of a lucifer match, to relieve for a moment the impenetrable black curtain. They peer with aching eyes till nerves and senses on the rack, the creak of a floor board, or the rustle of a. curtain in the draughtwrings the- imagination to an agony of tension; and the shoulder muscles strain and quiver with a desire for instant action cf some sort. The clock of some distant church boomed out a quarter to one, and the deep vibrations came fitfully to us on the rising wind. I was conscious that the atmosphere of the room was becoming close and stuffy, and I felt, rather than heard, Kane lean a- little forward in his choir and take two or three quick breaths through his nostrils, and at the same time a very faint hissing noise became audible, something like a limelight being worked under low pressure, or the sound the lay mind associates with anaesthetics.

After the first second or two the soft monotony became pleasing, and I found myself- half-consciously wandering off into dreamland. I had forgotten the room, my surroundings; indeed, I was mentally in a place very far removed from Wimbledon Common, when a sudden jerk at my elbow recalled me. "Stand up to your full height, quickly!” whispered Kane, "and hold your head well up.” He was already on his feet, and dazed and; confused I followed bis example. The atmosphere of the room was becoming stifling, and to draw a clear breath was almost impossible. I felt dizzy, and my legs seemed clogged ancl heavy. Kane passed his arm round me, and as he did ,so I heard the click of the door latch. "Now,” said Kane, "rush for it. Hold your breath.” With his arm still round me we charged at the now open door into the deeper blackness of the passage beyond. There was a. shock and a crash, and something went down before us with a dull thud. We all fell together, and went rolling on the corridor floor in a huddled mass. Kane was first up. "Move down a few yards and light a candle.” I did as he ordered with some difficulty, as I was much dazed and shaken. By the time I had got the candle fairly alight Kane was busy dragging the body of a man towards me. A second glance showed that our antagonist was a big-boned native, a Pa than, momentarily stunned by his fall. A few minutes sufficed to bind his hands with a bell rope torn from one of the other bed looms. But before we had finished a fourth figure had joined the little group. A strange, fantastic creature, in a gorgeous Oriental dressing gown, with a yellow, shrunken face, who gibbered and mowed at us, and cracked its fingers in an ecstasy of mad rage.

"Mr William Davitt,” said Kane, "be quiet; you’ve caused enough mischief as it is,” The sound of the name seemed to stagger the little man. "William Davitt,” he repeated slowly. "William Davitt ; yes, that’s my name; but William Davitt’s dead, you know,” and lie leered at us with a senile chuckle. "Poor William Davit’s dead.”

I turned away with a shudder of disgust, and my eye fell on the figure of the Pa than—lie had recovered from the blow, and had contrived to work one hand loose. Just as I looked he was raising something to his mouth. “Quick!” I shouted, and sprang towards him, hut it. was too late. His hand fell limply back grasping a little phial from which arose an acrid, pungent smell. Before Kane and I could do anything to help him the man was as good as dead. It was only after ages of patient questioning and deduction that we could arrive at the whole story. William Davitt. the younger of the two brothers, h..d been a, great collector, and was furious when' the whole of his father's valuable curios ha-cl been left, together with the house, to the elder son. After his return to- India, he had had a severe sunstroke, which affected his brain; this, followed by other illnesses, through all cf which he had been attended by his faithful native servant, so upset his health that he became literally a harmless idiot with one passion in life—namely, to regain the coveted collection. Jibe idea was to half stupefy them, with an odourless gas from some unused attics above, to which the two of them had obtained access; then Mirza used to creep softly down in the dead of night and scare them cut of their wits.

Unfortunately, on two occasions they had gone -too far. "Illustrated Mail.”