forbidding old place, with flowers and turrets
found himself, creeping in the protection of
that had no apparent part in the scheme of life, hedges and shrubbery, until he gained a piazza
except architecturally. The grounds covered
that extended beneath the drawing-room
five acres that were set with trees of dense
windows. Having explored the premises on
foliage, many of them sempervirent and the previous evening, he now proceeded softly beautiful, but long neglected. Here and there a to the darkest end, where, with a tool of his
huge weeping willow reared its ghostly form
own invention, he deftly found the window
and gave a graveyard aspect to the place.
lock through the crevice between the sashes.
Abburton himself was as gray and A minute later, he was inside.
melancholy as the great house—a widower
To explore a strange house in the dark
living alone with his servants. Of the latter he was not an agreeable task, but Nast was
kept only three, all of them as old as himself, accustomed to doing it in the interests of
and as unapproachable. For thirty years he had
justice. In the present case he had no
lived thus, in growing seclusion, and although
compunction, for was he not working to dispel
not wholly a recluse, he spent most of his time the nameless terror that hung over Litchfield?
at The Turrets. He had no intimates, and only
On his hands and knees, he crept across the
occasionally did any one call on him. Such
immense room toward an uncertain light that
calls as he had were usually connected with
shone from the corridor. Here, on
requests for contributions to charity and the
reconnoitering, he found he had reasoned
church. Of late, a number of persons who
correctly in timing his visit; Abburton was at
solicited such funds of Abburton had met with
dinner. From the keyhole of an adjoining
very ungracious rebuffs, and it was gossiped
room Nast saw the somber old man sitting
that the old man’s fortunes had suffered in
alone in state, while an infirm and white-
some way.
haired man-servant attended him.
In early life, Abburton had inherited
This much determined, the detective
the family property, married, and thrown open
lost no time in exploring the upper part of the the house to the most brilliant functions ever
house, and especially Abburton’s personal
seen in Litchfield. For a few years The Turrets apartments. Guided by his electric torch, he
was the social centre of the city, during which surveyed the bedroom and dressing-room off
period a son was born; but then came disaster
it, the appointments of which were, with a few
of the blackest sort—the death of wife and
striking exceptions, such as a gentleman of his child in a runaway accident. After that, the
refinement and station would have. The chief
house was never opened to any one except in
difference lay in the presence of a baby’s bed, the most formal way.
finished in snow-white enamel apparently
Some of the ruder children of quite new. Laid out upon the counterpane Litchfield called the lonely man “Old Hawk
were the freshly laundered garments of a small
Short Stories
6
child. Scattered about the rooms were other
witnessed extraordinary things. I am sending full evidences of strong philoprogenitiveness,
details by mail. Important to keep a close shadow although decades had passed since the small
on Abburton day and night. Send three more men
son had slept in that crib for the last time.
at once and have Louise Dennison here by to-
Proceeding to the study farther down
morrow afternoon. Indications are that the trap will be ready to set by to-morrow night. If Miss the upper hall, Nast cast the rays of his Dennison is willing to act, your plan is likely to searchlight upon a large mahogany desk. It
work out. Diabolical things brewing anyway.
was locked, but he opened it with the third key he tried. The first thing that met his eyes was a NAST,
small gold object, which he scrutinized closely but did not disturb. In one of the recesses of
To this Hazard answered by wire, in
the desk he next unearthed some papers, the
the Agency cipher:
inscriptions upon which he copied rapidly into
his note book.
Louise Dennison is game and will put our theory He had scarcely finished this task to the test. Run no chances but have her well when his alert ears caught the shuffle of guarded. If it comes to a showdown, take footsteps on the carpeted stairs. Closing the
Abburton dead or alive.
desk, he concealed himself behind some
draperies and watched Abburton switch on the
light, open the desk, and take from it some of
V
the papers. Then turning off the light,
Abburton left the room.
JUST before dusk the next day a stylishly
It was a hazardous situation, but Nast
dressed young woman rang the gate bell of the
followed, risking the danger of discovery. The
Abburton mansion, and, to the manservant
hall was dimly lighted, anyway, and he might
who answered, presented a card bearing the
pass for a servant should Abburton turn name of Mrs. Louise Merton, special financial unexpectedly. This he did not do, but kept
agent of the Society for the Extension of
straight ahead except for a jog in the corridor.
Religion in America. The footman gravely
Nast, at a judicious distance behind, paused a
ushered the caller into the drawing room,
moment at this turn to avoid getting too close.
requested her to be seated, and glided out. He
Then he followed—but Abburton had was quite accustomed to callers of this class, if disappeared. Nor could an hour’s search of the
not to social guests.
premises reveal any trace of him.
The room bore ample evidence of its
erstwhile magnificence, with its immense
IV
gilded mirrors, its paneled walls, rich
hangings and massive mahogany furniture;
A WEEK later Felix Hazard, pondering some
and time had scarcely dimmed the splendor of
mystery in his skull room, was handed a code
its decorations, though the air was heavy with
telegram which, on being translated, read as
the oppressiveness one finds in rooms long
follows:
unused to sun and air. The tragedy of the
Abburtons hung over it.
I have at last discovered the secret of
The caller shivered a bit, and sat for a
Abburton’s nightly disappearance within his own minute watching the door where the man had
house. Last night I gained access to his turret room disappeared. Then she arose and moved
through a panel door, and, in concealment, silently over to the side of the room where a
The Brain Jungle
7
massive divan stood against some draperies.
the divan, could avert it!
Seating herself on the divan, she said in a
But it was a woman’s impulse, and she
; whisper, apparently to the tapestry hangings:
conquered it. The die was cast, and she
“I rely on you, Nast!”
waited. Now she could not distinguish the
“Keep up your nerve, Louise,” came
objects in the room, though she could see the
the whispered answer. “The whole game is
opening into the reception hall. How many
now up to you—but have your barker on tap!”
doors were there in this drawing room, she
She was back in her chair a moment
wondered. Straining her eyes, she tried to
later, waiting for the expected development.
discover—and suddenly sprang to her feet, for
Hazard had reasoned it all out—that in the last vestige of light, she saw the Abburton, on getting her card, would come
powerful though gaunt form of a man before
down to see her. She was inclined to be her. It was not the servant. She knew it was skeptical herself, but she knew that her chief
Abburton himself.
had good analogies from which to reason. He
He spoke, in tones that were singularly
was not working blindly. Abburton would deep and melancholy: come down, he had said. Perhaps it was well
“You represent the Society for the
for her state of mind that she did not know
Extension of Religion in America, I believe.”
what he was doing upstairs at that moment.
“I do,” she replied, pulling her
However, some of Hazard’s spies were up
faculties together and keeping her right hand
there, watching. She knew that.
in her coat pocket. “The Society counts on
She waited five or ten minutes, and
your benevolence and generosity.”
found herself uneasily watching the darkening
“If you choose,” he said, after a
shadows of the room and wondering if the
moment’s pause, “you may tell me about the
crystal chandeliers bore any possibilities of
aims of this organization.”
light. The day was not entirely gone outside as The girl shuddered. The day before, in
she could see through the chinks in the time-
the skull room, Hazard had prophesied almost
checked window shades; but here in the these very words. Abburton would utter them, drawing room night was already at hand. The
he had said. And now, as she strove to see the
silence in the house was deep and oppressive,
features of the man before her she recalled the and she started as a gust of wind swept under
description of him as given her: the beak of an the roof of the piazza. For a moment she
eagle, a sinister mouth with a tortuous curve,
arose, and her hand went quickly to the pocket
and eyes that protruded slightly from their
of her coat, but she sank back, with a little
sockets and had the power to glare with the
laugh, upon the cushion of the chair. Had she
hate of a tiger. She imagined they were glaring not often braved the uncanniest of dangers in
at her now, and that the cruel fingers were
the pursuit of her calling? Then another gust
clutching for a spring at her throat. With an
rattled a window, and despite herself a chill
effort, she fought off her terror and spoke
fright swept over her. If Felix Hazard theory
calmly:
was true—and she well knew that it never
“The Society,” she said, “stands for
worked on idle guesses—then were not the
one of the noblest movements ever undertaken
horrors of this house sufficient to terrify any in the name of Christianity. It is a God-given
woman? She revolted at her profession, and
work we are doing—a work with heaven on
felt the impulse to flee from the house, one side and Satan on the other. We are screaming. Here in the darkness, the thing
fighting Satan, sir, with all the might of
might happen before even Nast, hidden near
goodness!”
Short Stories
8
Hazard had written out these words for
afraid who works in the great cause I serve?”
her, and she had learned them by rote. It was
She backed away from him and passed
quite a speech Hazard had composed for her,
into the vestibule, and, as he opened the door
up there in the skull room, and she had for her, she brushed against him. It seemed to rehearsed it to him until he was satisfied. She her as if a pair of demoniac eyes were burning
went through it now to the end, incongruously
into her back as she went down the path to the
toying with the trigger of her automatic pistol, gate, and her knees were weak under her. Had
concealed in her pocket.
she really done the thing so far and escaped?
“We are fighting the devil through the
At the gate she followed his directions,
underlying power of the church,” she repeated
and again at the turning of the wall, passing on at the end, as Hazard had told her to do.
into the deeper shadows that lay under an
He stood in silence for a few moments,
overhanging willow projecting from the
when she had finished, and she could hear him
walled yard.
breathing as if he had exercised. She imagined
that his face worked in contortions, though she VI
could not see it. Suddenly he stepped toward
her, and she backed away quickly, half No SOONER was the girl out of the house drawing the pistol. Whatever his impulse, he
than Abburton turned, and, with extraordinary
did not follow it up, but, turning, went to the agility for a man of his age, ran lightly down
side of the room. Evidently he touched an
the corridor to the back of the house, thence
electric button for the shade of a man descending a flight of steps to a door that led appeared in the doorway.
him outside. Skirting a row of lilacs that
“A light!” said the master of the place.
bordered the carriage drive, he made a detour
Then, to his caller: “This room is seldom used, to keep in the deepest shadows, and reached
and the fixtures are not in order.”
the wall just back of the garage. This he
The servant reappeared, bearing a followed, proceeding rapidly despite the lamp with a red shade, which he put on the
darkness, until he reached a small door in the
table. Abburton stood where his profile was
wall. Pulling the bolt, he opened it and,
revealed and perhaps accentuated. His mouth
crouched inside, peered out in direction from
seemed distorted momentarily, and his great
which the girl would approach. She was
oval eyes rested on the girl for a full minute
coming! Against the dim light of a gas lamp
before he spoke:
far up on the corner, he could see her skirts.
“You are staying in the city, I take it!”
Across the road was vacant land and clusters
“At the Grand Hotel.”
of trees—the night was quite dark.
“Very well. If on contemplation I
He breathed now in gasps that were
decide to contribute to the extension of hideous to hear, and some metallic thing he religion in America, I shall mail you a check.
held i
n his right hand beat a little tattoo on the You have a cab waiting?”
bricks against which he huddled. She was very
“The distance is short; I came afoot.”
close now.
“Then you will find the best path to
Abburton rose suddenly and stepped
your right as you go out of the gate. Follow
abruptly into the path, with his hand uplifted, the wall around the corner and proceed when suddenly he uttered a cry and staggered straight ahead. You are not afraid of the back, blinded by the glare of some brilliant darkness?”
light that shot out of the darkness into his
“I have no fear, sir. Why should one be
eyes. A moment later Felix Hazard was on
The Brain Jungle
9
Abburton’s back and three policemen had him
and women.”
in their clutches. A dagger fell from his
From a cell below came Abburton’s
loosened fingers, and then a pistol was taken
solemn voice, crying:
from him by the Chief of Police of Litchfield,
“Satan’s curses upon you!”
together with all the other contents of his
“The logical course,” Hazard went on,
pockets.
“was to study the people of Litchfield and, by
“Curses upon you!” said Abburton, as
a process of elimination, round up the possible they shackled him. “I am the Devil, working
paranoiacs, for in paranoia alone was it
evil upon everything good. How dare you put
reasonable to look for the source of these
bonds upon Satan himself? Release me, or my
deeds. We found six possible subjects. They
curse is upon every one of you!”
were all investigated, but from the start
“An extraordinary case of paranoia!”
Abburton presented the best clews. His family
said Hazard, to the men about him at the
The Brain Jungle by Edward Mott Woolley Page 2
