“Partly, beyond question. She wore his ring, and material things have great power on things spiritual, just as spiritual things have much influence on the material. Also it might well have been a case of utter frustration. She might have said in effect, ‘What is the use?’ Her lover had been killed, her hopes of happiness blasted, her whole world knocked to pieces. She might well have reasoned: ‘I am powerless to fight against my fate. The strength of the Green God is too great. I am doomed; why not admit it; why struggle hopelessly and helplessly? Why not go to Kabanta and admit my utter defeat, the extinction of my personality, and take whatever punishment awaits me, even though it be death? Sooner or later I must yield. Why not sooner than later? To struggle futilely is only to prolong the agony and make his final triumph all the greater.’ These things she may have said to herself. Indeed, did she not intimate as much to us when we interviewed her?
“Yes,” he nodded like a china mandarin on a mantelpiece, “it is unquestionably so, my friends, and but for Jules de Grandin—and the Lord Gautama Buddha assisted by my good friends Trowbridge and Costello—it might have been that way. Eh bien, I and the Buddha, with your kind assistance, put an end to their fine schemes, did we not?”
“You seriously think it was the force of the Green God that killed Wade Hardison?” I asked.
“I seriously do, my friend. That and naught else. The Green One was a burning glass that focused rays of hatred as a lens does sunlight, and through his power the never-to-be-sufficiently-anathematized Kabanta was enabled to destroy the poor young Hardison completely.”
He stabbed a small, impressive forefinger at me. “Consider, if you please: What was the situation tonight? Siva had triumphed. He had received a blood-sacrifice in the person of the poor young Hardison; he was about to have another in the so unfortunate Mademoiselle Melanie, then pouf comes Jules de Grandin and Friend Trowbridge and Friend Costello to repeat the chant which in the olden days had driven him from power. Before the potency of our chant to the Buddha the Green One felt his power ebbing slowly from him as he retreated to that far place where he had been driven aforetime by the Lord Gautama. And what did he do as he fell back? Tenez, he took revenge for his defeat on Kabanta. He cast the statue of himself—a very flattering likeness, no doubt—down from its altar place and utterly crushed the man who had almost but not quite enabled him to triumph. He was like a naughty child that kicks or bites the person who has promised it a sweet, then failed to make good the promise—”
“But that idol was a senseless piece of carved stone,” I protested. “How could it—”
“Ah bah, you irritate me, my friend. Of course the idol was a senseless piece of stone, but that for which it stood was neither stone nor senseless. The idol was but the representation of the evil power lurking in the outer darkness as the tiger lurks in ambush. Let us put it this way: The idol is the material and visible door through which the spiritual and invisible force of evil we call Siva is enabled to penetrate into our human world.
“Through that doorway he came into the world, through it he was forced to retreat before the power of our denial of his potency. So to speak, he slammed the door as he retreated—and caught Kabanta between door and jamb. En tout cas, he is dead, that miserable Kabanta. We are well rid of him, and the door is fast closed on the evil entity which he and the unwitting and unfortunate Mademoiselle Melanie let back into the world for a short time.
“Yes,” be nodded solemnly again. “It is so. I say it. I also say that I should like my glass refilled, if you will be so gracious, Friend Trowbridge.”
MORE JULES DE GRANDIN STORIES
THE HORROR ON THE LINKS
978-1-59780-893-4
Hardcover / $34.99 (available now)
The first of five volumes collecting the stories of Jules de Grandin, the supernatural detective made famous in the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales.
Collected for the first time in trade editions, The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, edited by George Vanderburgh, presents all ninety-three published works featuring the supernatural detective. Presented in chronological order over five volumes, this is the definitive collection of an iconic pulp hero.
The first volume, The Horror on the Links, includes all of the Jules de Grandin stories from “The Horror on the Links” (1925) to “The Chapel of Mystic Horror” (1928), as well as an introduction by George Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg.
AVAILABLE FROM NIGHT SHADE BOOKS
WWW.NIGHTSHADEBOOKS.COM
MORE JULES DE GRANDIN STORIES
THE DEVIL’S ROSARY
978-1-59780-927-6
Hardcover / $34.99 (available now)
The second of five volumes collecting the stories of Jules de Grandin, the supernatural detective made famous in the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales.
Collected for the first time in trade editions, The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, edited by George Vanderburgh, presents all ninety-three published works featuring the supernatural detective. Presented in chronological order over five volumes, this is the definitive collection of an iconic pulp hero.
The second volume, The Devil’s Rosary, includes all of the Jules de Grandin stories from “The Black Master” (1929) to “The Wolf of St. Bonnot” (1930), as well as a foreword by Stefan Dziemianowicz.
AVAILABLE FROM NIGHT SHADE BOOKS
WWW.NIGHTSHADEBOOKS.COM
MORE JULES DE GRANDIN STORIES
THE DARK ANGEL
978-1-59780-944-3
Hardcover / $34.99 (available now)
The third of five volumes collecting the stories of Jules de Grandin, the supernatural detective made famous in the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales.
Collected for the first time in trade editions, The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, edited by George Vanderburgh, presents all ninety-three published works featuring the supernatural detective. Presented in chronological order over five volumes, this is the definitive collection of an iconic pulp hero.
The third volume, The Dark Angel, includes all of the Jules de Grandin stories from “The Lost Lady” (1931) to “The Hand of Glory” (1933), as well as “The Devil’s Bride”, the only novel featuring de Grandin, which was originally serialized over six issues of Weird Tales. It also includes a foreword by Darrell Schweitzer and an introduction by George Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg.
AVAILABLE FROM NIGHT SHADE BOOKS
WWW.NIGHTSHADEBOOKS.COM
MORE JULES DE GRANDIN STORIES
A RIVAL FROM THE GRAVE
978-1-59780-968-9
Hardcover / $34.99 (available now)
The fourth of five volumes collecting the stories of Jules de Grandin, the supernatural detective made famous in the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales.
Collected for the first time in trade editions, The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, edited by George Vanderburgh, presents all ninety-three published works featuring the supernatural detective. Presented in chronological order over five volumes, this is the definitive collection of an iconic pulp hero.
The fourth volume, A Rival from the Grave, includes all the stories from “The Chosen of Vishnu” (1933) to “Incense of Abomination” (1938), as well as an introduction by George Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg and a foreword by Mike Ashley.
AVAILABLE FROM NIGHT SHADE BOOKS
WWW.NIGHTSHADEBOOKS.COM
MORE JULES DE GRANDIN STORIES
BLACK MOON
978-1-59780-985-6
Hardcover / $34.99 (available now)
The fifth of five volumes collecting the stories of Jules de Grandin, the supernatural detective made famous in the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales.
Collected for the first time in trade editions, The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, edited by George Vanderburgh, presents all ninety-three published works featuring the supernatural detective. Presented in chronological order over five volumes, this is the definitive collection of an iconic pulp hero.
The fifth volume, Black Moon, in
cludes all the stories from “Suicide Chapel” (1938) to “The Ring of Bastet” (1951), as well as an introduction by George Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg and a foreword by Stephen Jones.
AVAILABLE FROM NIGHT SHADE BOOKS
WWW.NIGHTSHADEBOOKS.COM
The Best of Jules de Grandin Page 81
