The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker (ebook and pdf reader .txt) 📖
- Author: Bram Stoker
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introspective rigidity had gone from her; and she clasped her hands
together till the knuckles were white.
Without a word Mr. Trelawny raised the Jewel, and hurried with it into
the next room. As quietly as he could he opened the door of the safe
with the key fastened to his wrist and placed the Jewel within. When
the heavy doors were closed and locked he seemed to breathe more freely.
Somehow this episode, though a disturbing one in many ways, seemed to
bring us back to our old selves. Since we had left London we had all
been overstrained; and this was a sort of relief. Another step in our
strange enterprise had been effected.
The change back was more marked in Margaret than in any of us. Perhaps
it was that she was a woman, whilst we were men; perhaps it was that she
was younger than the rest; perhaps both reasons were effective, each in
its own way. At any rate the change was there, and I was happier than I
had been through the long journey. All her buoyancy, her tenderness,
her deep feeling seemed to shine forth once more; now and again as her
father’s eyes rested on her, his face seemed to light up.
Whilst we waited for the carts to arrive, Mr. Trelawny took us through
the house, pointing out and explaining where the objects which we had
brought with us were to be placed. In one respect only did he withhold
confidence. The positions of all those things which had connection with
the Great Experiment were not indicated. The cases containing them were
to be left in the outer hall, for the present.
By the time we had made the survey, the carts began to arrive; and the
stir and bustle of the previous night were renewed. Mr. Trelawny stood
in the hall beside the massive ironbound door, and gave directions as to
the placing of each of the great packing-cases. Those containing many
items were placed in the inner hall where they were to be unpacked.
In an incredibly short time the whole consignment was delivered; and the
m en departed with a douceur for each, given through their foreman,
which made them effusive in their thanks. Then we all went to our own
rooms. There was a strange confidence over us all. I do not think that
any one of us had a doubt as the the quiet passing of the remainder of
the night.
The faith was justified, for on our re-assembling in the morning we
found that all had slept well and peaceably.
During that day all the curios, except those required for the Great
Experiment, were put into the places designed for them. Then it was
arranged that all the servants should go back with Mrs. Grant to London
on the next morning.
When they had all gone Mr. Trelawny, having seen the doors locked, took
us into the study.
“Now,” said he when we were seated, “I have a secret to impart; but,
according to an old promise which does not leave me free, I must ask you
each to give me a solemn promise not to reveal it. For three hundred
years at least such a promise has been exacted from everyone to whom it
ws told, and more than once life and safety were secured through loyal
observance of the promise. Even as it is, I am breaking the letter, if
not the spirit of the tradition; for I should only tell it to the
immediate members of my family.”
We all gave the promise required. Then he went on:
“There is a secret place in this house, a cave, natural originally but
finished by labour, underneath this house. I will not undertake to say
that it has always been used according to the law. During the Bloody
Assize more than a few Cornishmen found refuge in it; and later, and
earlier, it formed, I have no doubt whatever, a useful place for storing
contraband goods. ‘Tre Pol and Pen’, I suppose you know, have always
been smugglers; and their relations and friends and neighbours have not
held back from the enterprise. For all such reasons a safe hiding-place
was always considered a valuable possession; and as the heads of our
House have always insisted on preserving the secret, I am in honour
bound to it. Later on, if all be well, I shall of course tell you,
Margaret, and you too, Ross, under the conditions that I am bound to
make.”
He rose up, and we all followed him. Leaving us in the outer hall, he
went away alone for a few minutes; and returning, beckoned us to follow
him.
In the inside hall we found a whole section of an outstanding angle
moved away, and from the cavity saw a great hole dimly dark, and the
beginning of a rough staircase cut in the rock. As it was not pitch
dark there was manifestly some means of lighting it naturally, so
without pause we followed our host as he descended. After some forty or
fifty steps cut in a winding passage, we came to a great cave whose
further end tapered away into blackness. It was a huge place, dimly lit
by a few irregular slits of eccentric shape. Manifestly these were
faults in the rock which would readily allow the windows be disguised.
Close to each of them was a hanging shutter which could be easily swung
across by means of a dangling rope. The sound of the ceaseless beat of
the waves came up muffled from far below. Mr. Trelawny at once began to
speak:
“This is the spot which I have chosen, as the best I know, for the scene
of our Great Experiment. In a hundred different ways it fulfils the
conditions which I am led to believe are primary with regard to success.
Here, we are, and shall be, as isolated as Queen Tera herself would have
been in her rocky tomb in the Valley of the Sorcerer, and still in a
rocky cavern. For good or ill we must here stand by our chances, and
abide by results. If we are successful we shall be able to let in on
the world of modern science such a flood of light from the Old World as
will change every condition of thought and experiment and practice. If
we fail, then even the knowledge of our attempt will die with us. For
this, and all else which may come, I believe we are prepared!” He
paused. No one spoke, but we all bowed our heads gravely in
acquiescence. He resumed, but with a certain hesitancy:
“It is not yet too late! If any of you have a doubt or misgiving, for
God’s speak it now! Whoever it may be, can go hence without let or
hindrance. The rest of us can go on our way alone!”
Again he paused, and looked keenly at us in turn. We looked at each
other; but no one quailed. For my own part, if I had had any doubt as
to going on, the look on Margaret’s face would have reassured me. It
was fearless; it was intense; it was full of a divine calm.
Mr. Trelawny took a long breath, and in a more cheerful, as well as in a
more decided tone, went on:
“As we are all of one mind, the sooner we get the necessary matters in
train the better. Let me tell you that this place, like all the rest of
the house, can be lit with electricity. We could not join the wires to
the mains lest our secret should become known, but I have a cable her
which we can attach in the hall and complete the circuit!” As he was
speaking, he began to ascend the steps. From close to the entrance he
took the end of a cable; this he drew forward and attached to a switch
in the wall. Then, turning on a tap, he flooded the whole vault and
staircase below with light. I could now see from the volume of light
streaming up into the hallway that the hole beside the staircase went
direct into the cave. Above it was a pulley and a mass of strong tackle
with multiplying blocks of the Smeaton order. Mr. Trelawny, seeing me
looking at this, said, correctly interpreting my thoughts:
“Yes! it is new. I hung it there myself on purpose. I knew we should
have to lower great weights; and as I did not wish to take too many into
my confidence, I arranged a tackle which I could work alone if
necessary.”
We set to work at once; and before nightfall had lowered, unhooked, and
placed in the positions designated for each by Trelawny, all the great
sarcophagi and all the curios and other matters which we had taken with
us.
It was a strange and weird proceeding, the placing of those wonderful
monuments of a bygone age in that green cavern, which represented in its
cutting and purpose and up-to-date mechanism and electric lights both
the old world and the new. But as time went on I grew more and more to
recognise the wisdom and correctness of Mr. Trelawny’s choice. I was
much disturbed when Silvio, who had been brought into the cave in the
arms of his mistress, and who was lying asleep on my coat which I had
taken off, sprang up when the cat mummy had been unpacked, and flew at
it with the same ferocity which he had previously exhibited. The
incident showed Margaret in a new phase, and one which gave my heart a
pang. She had been standing quite still at one side of the cave leaning
on a sarcophagus, in one of those fits of abstraction which had of late
come upon her; but on hearing the sound, and seeing Silvio’s violent
onslaught, she seemed to fall into a positive fury of passion. Her eyes
blazed, and her mouth took a hard, cruel tension which was new to me.
Instinctively she stepped towards Silvio as if to interfere in the
attack. But I too had stepped forward; and as she caught my eye a
strange spasm came upon her, and she stopped. Its intensity made me
hold my breath; and I put up my hand to clear your eyes. When I had
done this, she had on the instant recovered her calm, and there was a
look of brief wonder on her face. With all her old grace and sweetness
she swept over and lifted Silvio, just as she had done on former
occasions, and held him in her arms, petting him and treating him as
though he were a little child who had erred.
As I looked a strange fear came over me. The Margaret that I knew
seemed to be changing; and in my inmost heart I prayed that the
disturbing cause might soon come to an end. More than ever I longed at
that moment that our terrible Experiment should come to a prosperous
termination.
When all had been arranged in the room as Mr. Trelawny wished he turned
to us, one after another, till he had concentrated the intelligence of
us all upon him. Then he said:
“All is now ready in this place. We must only await the proper time to
begin.”
We were silent for a while. Doctor Winchester was the first to speak:
“What is the proper time? Have you any approximation, even if you are
not satisfied as to the exact day?” He answered at once:
“After the most anxious thought I have fixed on July 31!”
“May I ask why that date?” He spoke his answer slowly:
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