"STAR" TALES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9914, 1 August 1910, Page 4

"STAR" TALES.

THE BROKEN SWORD. . (By FENTON ASH.) ' Author oi "A King of Mars," Strange Foes," etc. [All Eights Reserved.] (ft lay in a long, narrow glass case,, apon a cushion of Crimson velvet ornamented with tassels and filigree work • that- had once been golden but had now turned a dingy, yellowish black. , The ' 'gold of tho liilt was tarnished, and even , tho precious stones with which it was ■ set had lost their lustre. As to the "iblade itself—long, slender, tapering— Ithat, too, which had doubtless been 'once bright and' polished, was now inwith rust. It had been broiken off short not far from the hilt, six inches or so now attached, with a jagged end where the fracture . had taken place. k Tho hilt was curiously fashioned. •Chased bands of gold.and dark crimson ; 'iplush wound round it alternately, like (poiled serpents, and this idea was furjthor carried out by the serpent's head which finished it off. This had for eves two greenish-yellow emeralds, -which looked up at you with the fixed, deadly, baJoful glare of the eyes of the rattlesnake itself. My friend, to whom this 'anoient curio belonged, smiled as he iioted mv interested gaze. Though now jau Englishman through and through, . : (Philip Lorenzo Aguila—to give him his jfuill name—was. upon one side, of Span- ; pbh descent, as his name,' indeed, in , some way suggests; and this old sword :jvas one of the relics brought from ' rfranada years ago, when his family Had firat settled in England. ' . >;"lt's "funny,. Sefton," hoav said ■Philip, " how quickly and surely yon Jiave scented .out that piece of anti'feuityl I somehow guessed that you ,Would, and I was waiting quietly to' Vee- You are a regular sleuth-hound Sn' regard to whatever savonrs of tho «, ■ Sveird or bizarre!" And as I looked up .quickly ho went on, in answer to the he road in my eyes: "Yes, !you are quite right! There is a story 'attached to it—and a very queer old ' lyarn, too. Just the sort of thing your soul will delight in! I will feh it out'for you presently from the ■ library, and it will help to amuse you Iwhilo I am absent this afternoon upon ■the visit I, have to pay to our country lawyer in, the village." >■. ■ llius it came about that I found myself that afternoon in the private room ..which had been set apart for me, porjing over a parchment manuscript which showed evety sign of age, and was written in old Spanish. Or, rather, I • had put the original aside, and was poring over an English translation of S . it, which, fortunately for me, . some Ba-vant had made for the benefit of Dthers less erudite who might come . ifter-him. | ' Outside the window the dull Decern- , ber day was draAving, near to evening. I could see, across the park* in which • t.Jie.houso stood, vistas of leafless trees, f and beneath them could catch glimpses ■now and again of the deer which wan- - dered across the snow-covered ground: in my room a bright fire blazed and ' - 'crackled and hissed as the flames play- ' 'ed- around tho wood logs. In front of /'•at lay the broken sword itself, which ;L had brought from the museum. I thad been giving it a scrub up to see if 'I. could bring out more clearly the •mystic characters which had been enlgrayed upon the hilt and blade; and j i 5 lafter, doing my best in this direction 3 had laid it down inside the fender to Iget it. thoroughly dry again. Then I ' [became immersed in 1 the strange story ' (there unfolded; and this is what I' read: ;i. I • "I. Bon Ferdinand do Miebla, know- ' ~ (ing-that- I a.m to die, to-morrow for 1 Waving killed my best friend in an unfair duel, do hereby declare my innocenco of tha foul and hateful crime imputed to mo; and I solemnly swear by tho Holy Mother, whose picture stands > in "front of me as I write, that the fol- ;. lowing narrative is a .true and faithful •" statement of what actually took place; I "It is well known our ifriends • - .that th'e young noble, "Don Alvarez ' (whose'death is placed to my account), * land myself have "at all times been as brothers. From the time when we first knew each other—when he- was a stripling- and I already a grown man—' ■ an affection grew up between us such - - as seldom exists between two men. It is true that there came a time when

tliero was for a while some coolness be-

tween, us, when we both were smitten , tvith-the charms of the fair Lady Lucia. But I say that that was but a passing - cloud, and one which left no bitterness behind, and Alvarez, could he now rise ■ up.- and speak, would declare to you all that I tell the truth. x

| "Ask yourselves—ye who deem me ".guilty of this atrocious crime—who ibenefits by it? The' Lady Lucia, as is Sfell ' known, was heiress to great .-wealth. Had she lived but a few weeks more she would have become possessed nf enormous riches. Had she wedded, her husband would have been one of , the richest men in all the land. Thai mau might have been either Alvarez or myself. I stood aside for his sake; r but now he is dead, and the Lady Lucia jisi dead. She hath died of a. broken ■ [heart,' of grief at the death of her •affianced husband, and horror at th©

.thought that I slew him! And who now owns her wealth? Has it not pass- ■/■■■ , ed into the J3c«ession of her guardian, jDon Antonio do Magrada? He is, to- - .day, almost the richest man in Spain; 'und to-morrow I must die for the . f tragedy whioli hath been the means of ■ enriching him. Yet men believe .that I alone am guilty, and that he had no hand in bringing about the Catastrophe which hath enriched him. But I declare before Heaven that he }iad Bome hand in it; and I do charge to' him, before ifll men, that he brought ■ It about by some devilish wit-chcraft.' i " He dia invite us both, Alvarez and myself, to his houso that night for the 1 jast time before the wedding that was to take place between my friend and Don Antonio's ward. We had a wondrous good repast, with the rarest wine from his cellars, and afterwards there Was 'music performed by a band of hired musicians. Then tlie Lady Lu- . feia. and her attendants retired/ and v left the three of us alone. And as we jpt together in amicable converse Don lAeNhuo began to talk or fencing and swordsmanship, and presently nothing tarould please him but he must try a pout with the buttoned practiceswords, first with Alvarez and then With me. He showed himself indifferently good, and "vve both beat him easily. Then he opened a case and drew forth la Toledo sword or raspar, of marvellous workmanship. Its four sides were 'damascened with wondrous skill, and ,th'e hilt was set with jewels of great ▼aluo. ) " ' This is for thee, Don Ferdinand,' laiih he. ' It is a present from your unworthy servant. I brought it here this night to present to the best jwofdsman; and that you have shown ronrself to be. It is therefore jours." i " Now, this sounded vastly strange In my ears." I could not understand yhy he should wish to present so

costly a sword to anyone, :;iuich less to I me, tor i novcr did iiiui any particular service; and, as all men know, .he has ;wo great reputation for generosity. ! Apart from that, though I could not but admire the workmanship, yet iu i some way the sword was not to iny i taste. There was a serpent's head on the hilt, . with emorald. eyes which I seemed to stare at mo with an evil, ! malicious glitt-er, which I liked not the look of. . So I would have declined the gift, but he would have no denial. " ' Nay, take it, Don,' said he. ' Try the blade! You will find it bends like tho spring of a clock. It is made from the costliest 'Toledo steel. No man—above all, no .swordsman such as thou art—should refuse suoh a gift. Try it! Don Alvarez has the button-sword in his hand. Try this against it, and . you will know its quality at: once by the feel of steel against steel.' " - " Now • that, of course, is true. Every good swordsman ban quickly and surely tell, by the .mere feel, as it were, when his sword clashes against another, which is the best tempered blade. So to please Don Antonio,, because ho was our host, I took the sword from him, and Alvarez stood up against mo with the button-sword. For a minute or two we played together,as practised swordsmen often do, and then a strange feeling began to come ovi-r me. As the heat of my hand warmed the hilt of the sword I' was holding 1 felt >n most curious tingling, which grew and grew, and rah up my anil and round'myShoulders and over my body, and soon mounted ! to my head ; and then an awful feeling came upon me,' and I felt as if I were possessed of a devil. At first, in horror, I tried to,throw the accursed weapon from me, hut found I'could'not loose my hold on it. My head grew hot, my brain was inflamed as. in; delirium. I could 110 longer see Alvarez. In' his place there stood a monstrous shape, some evil being, which seenied to be trying to kill me. I seemed to hear voices which cried in my_ ears, ' Kill "him! Kill, him, or lie will kill y.ou!' Who it was I was fighting with I knew not; lino longer remembered. I "only heard those voices crying to me that' I. should be killed if I did not kill. Then suddenly I heard - a terrible shriek. Someone soreamed, £ 0 God above, have mercy !' I knew the voice for that of the Lady Lucia, and at the sound a shook went through me, and the sword dropped from my hand. Then I seenied partially to awake as sick and faint and dizzy, and as I caught sight of a seat, and was staggering towards it. rough hands seized me, passing oords round me, and bound me, while! heard the words "Murderer ! Murderer! Assassin ■!" breathed around me by many people. Above all, to_ my utter amazement, I heard it cried in horror and execration by the Lady Lucia herself I >. . , j "Then my ,bra in cleared somewhat more, -and my proper eyesight and my senses came hack to me, and I looked, "and there before me lay my friend Alvarez upon the floor, dead—killed, they screamed oyt at .me, by my hand. Tho Lady Lucia was kneeling beside iiim: one moment sobbing .out her grief, and the next hurling out at me cruel words of hatred and detestation, and calling down curses on my head. Many others were there. They had come in," I afterwards learned, alarmed at the sound of the furious combat they had heard raging, and, attracted by Don Antonio's shouts for someone to come and help him to separate the two fighters. Arid they_ had.seen me—so they all declared—with mad hatred and wickedness in my eyes, attacking, with a raspar, a inan armed only' with a button-sword! !

I " And then tbev dragged me .off, loaded me with chains, and cast me into this dungeon; and to-morrow I must die! That, however, troubles me not. Now that my friend is dead—killed by my band, that much at least is true—l have no wish to live longer. But all the same, I vow and declare, in . these my last hours, that I am no murderer. I declare my solemn- conviction that the sword which Don Antonio put into my hand had been obtained by him through some foul bargain with the Evil One,, expressly in order to bring about 'what has happened, and thus cause the Lady Lucia s wealth to go to. him instead of to the o'ne sho 'had chosen for her husband." .. • :. . Thus endod the translation ' of. the strange manuscript-- or, to be exaet, that part of it which related to the experience of the hapless Don Ferdinand. The original M.S. itself was much longer, and went on, so far as I could gather, to narrate other weird stories connected with the history of the Wondrous.sword; but I confess I was not able easily to decipher the oldworld Spanish in which'it was written. It was also getting too dark to read. I laid down the M.S., and, going over to the fireplace, picked up the hilt then, seiating myself in a luxurious armchair before the fire, began examining it as well as the firelight allowed. The hilt had become so hot from lying in the fender that at first I' ooula scarcely hold it. I rubbed once, more at the tarnished metal, and tried again to decipher the mystic characters engraved upon it. This was a task in which I had had some experience, .for I am by way of being a bit of an antiquarian, and th© solution of little mysteries of the sort had long been one of my hobbies. Now, however, my thoughts wandered off to the strange tale I had been reading; aud I suppose that th© warmth, of the fire in front of which I had been. sitting, must have had a. soporific effect, for, without intending it, I somehow dropped off to sieej). And then I dreamt, and strange fancies came to me as I dreamt. I thought 1 was in a largo chamber, which was in darkness save for the dim gleam of a very feeble lamp and the ruddy glow of a furnac© at oh© end. Upon, benches around were glass and earthenware vessels of curious forms and various sizes. From beams and rafters above hung dried, shrivelled forms, which I made out to be' th© dead, mummified bodies of many creatures. There were owls and bats, shakes aaixl lizards, monkeys, toads, and cats, and many more as to which I could only guess at what they had been when alive. There were bundles or dried herbs, too. and instruments of qiieer shapes which I had never, soon the like of before. Looking at these and other things that were unusual, and, in a, sense, what w© should calli uncanny, it was borne in upon nie.tha-t I was in, tho workshop or laboratory of some alchemist of old. And a little later, when someone entered who was evidently the owner of the place, this idea received full confirmation. He was a tali, thin, old man, with long grey beard and shrivelled faicp, whose steps were tottery; yet, when T saw lug eyes, 1 was almost startled at the fire and vigour which seemed to flash irom tlmm. How or why he took no notice of me wp« a matter that did not puzzle me just then. He evidently did not see me, was unaware that I was there (whore I was standing I did not myself exactly know) watching ium. As is often the case in dreams, it seemed quit© natural that I should bo there, seeing everything, yet being nn self unseen. The alchemist—as I felt sure he was—went to the furnace.and worked a bellows, which blow the flames and produced a heat that was almost blinding, so white was it. Into this he plunged a crucible which he

held-by means of a pair of long tongs. It was withdrawn and replaced several times, till at last tho worker seemed satisfied, for ho carried the crucible over to a bench and poured the contents into a stone mortar. To it he added other things which lie brought from various places, and there aroso from the mixture such clouds of rosetinted vapour that for a while 1 entirely lost sight of both mortar and worker. When I saw him again he was holding in one hand a sword—a long, slender, shining rapier, with a gold hilt set with jewels—and it flashed upon me that this was tho sword which I had seen and had been reading about a little while before. I knew that much instinctively ; though it did not occur to mo that it was m any way remarkable. Then I saw him unscrew the serpent's head, at the top of the hilt, and there I could distinguish that the handle part, which the hand grasps, was hollow. Now into the mortar he plunged a long, spoon-shaped tool, ancl proceeded to ladle out tho mixture within'and push it down into the hole in the hilt. The compound had a powdery appearance, and from tim© to time he stamped it down, and so continued until the hollow was quite filled. Then he replaced the serpent's head and laid the sword down in a beautifully ornamented case, which had been lying open on tho bench ready to receive it. Scarcely had he done this when the door opened and another person entered. The newcomer was a man of imposing presence, so far as his figure and dress were concerned. His dress was that of an old-time Spanish Grandee, and his mien had, at every turn, all the haughty, swaggering insolence which one might expect from such a great personage. He strode across the floor with an air of lofty contempt for the place and the man in it. As to the latter, ho bowed obsequiously, and handed over the open case with the sword lying in it. What was said I could not hear, but the newcomer seemed to clap his hands and at once two lackeys appearedj bearing heavy bags. Their masters took these _ from them arid flung, them superciliously upon the bench beside the worker. As they fell upon it one burst open, and from it there came forth a number of gold coins, which ran. about on the bench and rolled off on to the floor. Then the whole scene became dim and indistinct, and finally faded into nothingness. What followed took tho form of a confused phantasmagoria—a shifting panorama of weirdy fantastic happenings, which I saw only "as in a glass darkly," but which I knew to be a succession.of scenes in the after history of the sword. They were scenes of passion, jealousy, greed, revenge, and of murders and killings. That much I knew; but the details were jumbled, as it were, together, and grew moro and more disordered. Finally, I seemed to be baclc in my own room, with fieveral people round, calling out to me; but all was still so confused that I knew not who they were. Then, all suddenly, there appeared from some-, where a horrible shape that seemed to me like a fiend incarnate from the lower regions. This wild-looking, terrible creature rushed to attack me, as it seemed to me, with murderous ferocity; and I struck out blindly, in self-defence, with the broken sword, the hilt of which I had all this tim© been holding in my hand. ' There was a .struggle, during which it was wrenched from me by main force., and I reeled backwards, helpless and bewildered, against the wall of the room. A mist' seemed to pass from before ray ©yes, and at the same moment I was conscious of great weakness, such as of ton'follows upon a state of undue strain or over-excitement. I beard voices raised in amazement, anger, warning, remonstrance; and as the mist cleared away further I saw that several of tho servants of the house were assembled in the room, including old Dunn, the butler, who was bending over someone lying on the floor. At niy feet, where it had rolled, lay tho hilt of the sword, with the piece of jagged blade attached. Standing close to me, keeping a watchful eye upon my movements, as if fearing I should break away, were two footmen.

liien I saw that the one lying on the floor ivas Philip Aguila. I caught sight of some blood upon a handkerchief, and a great horror took possession of me. The remembrance of the scene described by Don Ferdinand de Miebla in the manuscript ] had read

rushed into My mind. There he doscribed -how he had awakened from what had seemed to he a wild nightmare to find that in a frenzy ho, had killed his.best friend. Was it possible that that terrible stpry had repeated itself Ae.ru?- Had f been seized .with a homicidal fit. and, without knowing it, attacked Philip Aguila with tho broken sword?

To be brief, that is what had actually happened; though, to my unspeakable relief, I quickly learnt that tho results were less tragical. For, as I called hisname in agonised tones, Philip himself rose and came towards me.

Don't worry, old chap," he said, cheerily. lam all 'right! It's only a slight cut!"

He was holding a handkerchief to the side of his head ; and I feared that tho wound must he a nasty one, for i. could see that it had bled a food deal.

"B—but—what did I do?" I asked, still bewildered. " X was asleep!" Before replying, Aguila sent the servants out of the room.

" How do you feel now?" lie then asked, turning to me. ''l'm all right—er— except that I am a hit flustered, and have an unpleasant feeling that T have somehow made a fool of myself in my sleep. You look at me as though you thought I had had a fit!"

Something like that/ 5 returned Aguila, composedly. ' •' Good heavens'!" I cried. " I don't r understand! Tell ine exactly what I happened. 5 '

Well, it was this way. I caine in here and found you raving and gesticulating, with Dunn and some other servants standing round, staring at you in dismay. You held in .your hand that confounded old sword-hilt, and were flourishing it about as though you were defending yourself against an imaginary foe. As I came towards you to inquire what was amiss you made a sudden rush at mo, and gave m© such a bang on the head, with the hilt that I went down like a ninepin. I think I must have been a bit stunned, for I didn't 6eo exactly what followed. The others, however, wrenched the blessed thing out of your hand, it seems, and by the time I came to my senses I saw that you had come to yours, and were quiet- enough. So that's all; except that a corner of one of those stones in the hilt has cut the side of my head." "Well, by way of answer I told him all that had occurred—how I had scrubbed the relic., and put it to dry in the fender, while 1 1 road the manuscript; and how I had afterwards fallen asleep with it in my hand and " dreamed dreams."

" Upon, my word," I exclaimed, at the end of the recital, " it, almost makes mo believe that medieval old buffer—the luckless Don Ferdinand do something "or other—was not far out when lie declared that the sword had some diabolical spell in it! How else can one account for the effect the thing had on raeP" Aguila was silent awhile. Then he said, thoughtfully: "It is strange! I have handled the thing myself "many times —so have others— and always without anything unusual happening. You say you laid it in the fender to dry. Did it get warm, think you?" " Yes j almost ix>o hot to liold. Ha ! I think I see your meaning. You think— —"

""Why," lie answered, slowly, "see her©! Without exactly attributing anything to witchcraft, it se&ms just possible that something might he concealed in the handle which had, in course of time, lost—not its viitue, but very much the opposite—its malignant qualities. But the wanning up you gave it might have revived it—.—"

' The recollection of the old alchemist of my dream, and how I had ween him unscrew the end-piece and put something into the hollow, came into my mind like a flash.

"I believe you've hit it, Phil!" I exclaimed. " I believe this serpent's head comes off! Let's find out what's inside!" We set to work at once to unscrew it, but it was not. until Aguila had fetched some tools that Ve succeeded. Then we could see that £h©. part which the hand grasps was hoUow, and that it .was filled with, a dark green powder which had beeu converted, in the course of years, into a mass that was almost solid.

Wo picked it all out, and then discovered that the parts underneath tho .spiral plush bnnd were not of gold—as was the rest of tho handle—but strips fitted in between, composed of some strange and, to us, unknown metal, as to which I can only say that it was surprisingly thin. " There you hare itl" cried. Aguila, triumphantly. "There's the secret! Tin's stuff we're picked out must have been some vile compound which excites and fevers tho blood, and which is so ■powerful as to turn some men; for the time being, into raging mamacs! The plush band was cunningly placed' there to hide the strips of specially thin metal, and the head of the hand, passing through them, was formerly sufficient to excite the horrid property of the stuff packed inside. But nowadays it has so far lost its strength as to require a roasting before the fire such aa you gave it, to revive its diro powers and bring them into action I l ' And with that conjecture we had to remain content; for our further investigation suggested no other plausible theory. It canaiot be said to be altogether satisfactory, for there is obviously much that remains veiled in doubt and myst-ery ; hut it is the only explanation I have to offer of what. I have here set down concerning that relic of ancient days the Broken. Sword.