CHAPTER V—A MODERN GHOST

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 43 (Supplement)

CHAPTER V— A MODERN GHOST

I spent another restless night, pondering the situation and wondering what I could or should do; and as I lay awake I could hear the rain drip, drip on the iron roof with a persistence that was at once aggravating and depressing. All the gutters ran, the tanks were overflowing, and the gurgle from a leak in the piping close to the head of my bed fell drop by drop on to the sodden ground. It seemed to me that I could bear every individua drop, and that I followec it from the leaden skj to the iron roof, ther along the spouting through the hole, anc so to the soaked earth beneath. The more " tried to concentrate mj attention on the situa? tion, the more I was compelled to follow the drip, drip without. If only the weathei would clear. If the wine ■would rise, and the sur break through the clouds Everything would thei be comparatively easy I could get Anna oui into the fresh air; sh( would get stronger, anc we could go— go where That was the question. I fell into an uneasj dose. The rain changec into Mozart's Requiem and I woke with the tones of a great organ ringing in my ears. In one bound I was oul of bed and listening in tently. The wind had risen and the rush and crash of falling branches was all round, but still the rain fell, not quietly but in sudden violeni swirls against the win dow panes, as the wine blew it hither and thither in great gusts. I looked out. All was dark as a wolf's mouth ; neither moon nor stars were visible. I lighted my candle, and put on my dressing-gown. I had an uneasy feeling that Anna wanted mej that I heard her calling to me in the storm. I went downstairs softly, but a regiment of soldiers would hardly have been heard on such a night. In the lower floor the storm was scarcely audible. Anna was awake, though her eyes were closed, and great tears forced themselves one by one under her heavy lids and rolled down her pale cheeks. It made my heart ache to see her. " Oh, Rhoda, is it you ? lam glad ; come and lie here beside me." " Anna, what is the matter? Why are you crying? " " I have told you I don't know ; but it seems to me that I have some great and secret trouble. And a little while ago I thought that I was a broken-hearted mother, and that some cruel person had stolen my child. I, who never had a child, and never shall have a child." I shuddered. "Did you dream it?" " Oh no, I was quite awake, but hardly conscious of my own identity. Rhoda, what does it mean ? Am I going mad ? " " No, no, no, you are sane as I am. But it means that you must get out of this room, out. of this house, as soon as possible, and at any cost. Come, go to sleep, and I will lie beside you." She closed her eyes obediently, but in less than half an hour started up in wild terror. , " There it is again. Oh, Rhoda, do you not hear it ? The little baby that they have stolen from me. Oh, save it ! Save it ! " She clutched me with extraordinary force. There was a black bruise on my arm next day where her thin, fragile fingers had pressed it, and big drops of perspiration stood out on her forehead.

She gave another cry, sighed heavily, and fell back in a dead faint. The next morning Anna was distinctly worse, and who could wonder. The wind had fallen, and there was no chance of clearing. Inside and out the prospect was alike hopeless. That was the 18th of December. Could we wait for the doctor's answer to my letter? Would he write, or would he come ? I hoped that he would come, and yet even if he did so, what could he do? Could he take his patient out of the hands of her parents and guardians, and forcibly remove her from the spot; or would he not rather laugh my fears to scorn, and scoff at them as absurd fancies. Many medical men — indeed most — would do so, but I felt that Dr Lomax would not. He was essentially modei-n, interested in all sorts of psychic phenomena, and thought it unscientific to condemn as impossible that which he did not understand. I counted the days, the hours, before he could receive my letter and answer it. My letter, all being well, would reach town that evening. He would get it on the following day (the 19th), and if he answered it at once by letter or in person, he could reach Moana on the evening of the 20th ; but of course he might be out of town. Thinking this I wished that I had telegraphed, but a telegram says so little, and I wanted to put him in possession of the facts so far as I knew them. Anna lay still in a half-dose from which it was not easy to rouse her. Her face was colourless, even to the lips, and her pulse was very low. She complained of no pain, merely desiring to be let alone. Nothing that I could say or do would induce her to take hold of life. She was drifting fast into the Unknown. Every few hours Mrs Gresham came in, in her jerky way, asking questions and making suggestions ; altering the disposition of every chair and table, and the very window blinds. Sometimes she would sit down and talk in a load,

grating whisper, calculated to ruffle the nerves of the most healthy person, and perfectly maddening to one in Anna's state ; and always her conversation ran on the same subject — the evil doings of servants and such like — " low people; their insufferable assumption in daring to have the same aches, pains, likes and dislikes, as their employers ; their insolence, selfishness, and greed " — faults which should apparently have been reserved for their superiors. It was a wearisome style of conversation, and to me, detestable. I longed to tell her exactly what I thought on those subjects, and air a few of my socialist views; but I did not dare. I knew she would gladly take advantage of any dispute to send me away, and I was prepared to endure all for Anna's dear sake. Occasionally Mr G-resham would visit us. Those were terrible moments. He would stand and glare at the patient, with an expression which said as plainly as words : " I hate you; I wish you were dead.'" And then he would say in his suavest and most insinuating tones : "And how are we to-day, my dear Anna? Better, I hope. You are looking much better — a little pale, perhaps, but what could one expect in such weather. It's a d — d i nuisance this rain. We ought to be in the middle of the shearing." And every time he came he noted the failing pulse, the emaciated cheeks, the sunken eyes, and scarcely tried to conceal his triumph at these signs of approaching dissolution. I looked him through and through, and read his thoughts. Once I had suspected him of the design to poison his stepdaughter, but he was too clever and subtle a schemer to do that. His own evil thoughts and the terrible influence of the haunted room were steadily working his will without any other agency. If Anna died it would be impossible for anyone to accuse him of being the cause. Had he not done everything he could? — taken her to town to see a specialist, engaged a professional nurse, given her the best room in the house? If she died of sheer weakness, and

because she had a poor constitution, it would not be his fjiult; he had done all that he could. And so, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, he daily assured her and her mother : " That she was better, much better, and would soon be well." She, herself, rarely answered him, and when she did made no complaint. The 19th of December passed slowly; every hour like two. A dense, clammy fog hung over everything, the air was hot and close ; it was impossible to breathe freely ; all iron and steel ornaments were rusting ; the woodwork was covered with a, fine dew, and from every leaf and twig in the garden a big drop of moisture hung ready to fall, while another formed to take its place. On the sodden earth the moisture stood in pools, and odours of decaying animal and vegetable organisms loaded the heavy air. The country roads were almost impassable, axle deep in mud, and sometimes we caught the sound of the swollen creek as it thundered down the gully, and the rattle of great boulders, as they hustled and over-leaped each other in the effort to escape. They were the only things that really seemed alive, for an indescribable gloom and oppression weighed on the spirits of every sentient creature, and the very cats and dogs seemed stricken with inertia. Anna lay still, making no effort to speak or move, and 1 could with difficulty induce her to swallow and nourishment. At 1 o'clock I went into the kitchen to beat the cream. Mrs Mac met me. How is she. I shook my head. " Weaker." " Do you expect the doctor to-day? " " Not before to-morrow at the earliest, and he may not came even then. He may be out of town. Still I think he will come, if not to-morrow then the next day. If he comes how are we to get him from the station? " " I have thought of that, and have formed a plan." "Ah ! that's good ; tell me what it is." "Go on beating, the mistress may come in at any time. My idea is this : I have a nephew, a rising young fellow, who is manager of a small sheep station a few miles from this. His wife is dead, and his mother, my sister, came up to keep house for him the very day that you and the family came to Moana." " Ah ! " I remembered the . friendly woman in the train, and understood the vague likeness which had always puzzled me, and made Mrs Mac's face curiously familiar. I mentioned the meeting, and what had passed. " Yes, that was my sister, Betsy Bruce. Well, her son is here now; he came for a load of chaff. He's a good fellow, and willing to help anyone in trouble. I'll get him to meet the doctor. He has a buggy and a comfortable home, and could easily bring the doctor here, and afterwards put him up for the night." A window seemed suddenly opened in heaven. I continued to beat the cream smartly, and dropped my voice to a whisper. " And if the doctor does not come ? " She looked steadily into my face. It was not necessary to tell her the suggestion which had suddenly flashed into my mind, i " Dare you do it? " " Yes, I dare do anything to get Anna away. If we delay much longer it will be too late." " Listen," she said quickly, in a low, hissing whisper that was scarcely audible above the steady flop, flop of the cream as it rose under my hand. " Wait one more day, give Alec Bruce a telegram for the doctor in case he does not come to-morrow. On the day after — the 21st — master is going to have a small dinner party. While he is entertaining his friends we will slip out. Alec will help us. You understand ? " "Yes, yes." I said no more; I did not dare to linger. Mrs Gresham was no doubt on the watch. I caught up the bowl and left the kitchen. Hope, like a ray of sunlight, illumined my soul, and I seemed to tread on air. For the first time escape from that death-trap seemed possible, and although the way was beset by a thousand difficulties I refused to take count of any of them. I saw that Anna herself could not help us. Nay, more; I felt sure that the evil influence of that accursed room was so strong, that if she knew what we intended doing she would oppose it with all her feeble strength. I knew that I must act on my own responsibility. The 20th came and went. Alec Bruce went to the station. No doctor, no letter. He contrived to let his aunt know this without driving up to the house. My heart sank. I had counted so firmly on the doctor's replying immediately to my letter that this disappointment was the more crushing ; l>ut he would now have the telegram urging him to come in person, and I could not doubt that he would obey it if possible.