Doc Ardan and The Abominable Snowman

by Guy d'Armen

  “I climbed the rock by hanging onto the vines, and discovered I was in front of a long, narrow crevasse, from which a few more bird escaped.

  I lit my electric torch and began my exploration, which soon seemed as if it would be quite fruitful. Indeed, I found a large quantity of eggs of all sizes, and naturally chose the largest.

  “This continued until I slipped on the stone, which had been polished smooth over the years by the water. I felt as if the current was carrying me faster and faster, and the terrifying thought that I’d never be able to climb up the slippery walls of the crevasse overtook me.

  “A brutal shock announced that I’d struck a wall. It seemed to me that I heard the loud fluttering of wings all around me. I imagined that I’d disturbed the slumber of a flock of bats, but I realized my mistake as soon as I was once again able to light my torch, which had gone out when I’d fallen in the water.

  “What I saw was a giant vampire bat, whose folded wings seemed almost demonic. I shuddered, because I’d lost my rifle when I’d fallen and I realized I had no way of defending myself, other than with a kriss, which is a Malaysian ceremonial knife. On top of that, I had been badly bruised and that slowed down my ability to react and maneuver.

  “Several minutes went by with the vampire remaining quiet, which left me hoping I’d be able to escape without a fight.

  “But that hope was soon dashed when the horrible beast suddenly became took on such an aggressive air that I quickly realized this would be no easy battle. The creature attacked me with such ferocity that I was only able to fend it off by kicking at it furiously. The vampire immediately unfurled its massive wings as it fought back. It easily avoided the light that I tried shining in its eyes to blind it, and it flew around the cave making a hideous and terrifying noise.

  “I knew that if my lamp went out, I was doomed. Indeed, I had noticed that its light was becoming paler, and in total blackness the vampire would have all the advantage.

  “My fears soon proved to be well-founded, and several minutes later I was in complete and terrifying obscurity. I backed up to the end of the cavern and stood with my back to the wall so I wouldn’t risk being turned around in the dark. It was the only tactic I could imagine which stood any chance of helping me escape.

  “The vampire returned to the charge and I felt a painful bite on my arm. I shook it off with a violent movement and stabbed blindly with my knife. My hand felt only emptiness and I heard the creature beating its wings farther away from me.

  “I was overtaken by a terrible fury, and began striking haphazardly in the feeble hope that I would somehow be able to wound the beast, who must have clearly seen all my efforts, thanks to its ability to see in the dark.

  “Exhausted, I was soon forced to stop. I suddenly felt something run across my face and felt a sharp pain as something bit me; it was a red ant. I had a flashing vision of the terrible fate that awaited me, and it was even more terrifying than that of the vampire bat.

  “The ants were everywhere on the archipelago, and they were three or four times as large as their European brethren. Their powerful mandibles could rip through the skin and they could devour even the strongest man if he could not escape them.

  “Mad with fear, I again tried to climb the steep walls to flee this new danger. But I slipped once more and had to resolve myself to tolerate the horrible bites of the red ants, which had started to crawl around on my body.

  “Terrified, I reflected on my pitiful situation. No one would expect me to be in this fissure, since even I had not seen any trail through the vines at the base of the rock. So, it appeared as if I was fated to be devoured by the ants or annihilated by the vampire.

  “The latter must have been nearby, waiting for signs of fatigue before once again renewing its attack. That thought caused me to try lighting my torch again, something that was impossible, as the battery had obviously run out.

  “Then I remembered that I had, in my pocket, a wick and a lighter. I took them out and lit the wick.

  “In its feeble light I was able to see that the vampire was in a far corner of the cave. He had again folded his wings and sat like a demon, watching for the best moment to torture his human victim.

  “I just wanted it to be over, so I launched myself at him, but he took off with a rapidity that I would never have suspected of him. I had nothing to show for my effort.

  “I saw him suspended upside down from the cavern’s ceiling, as if he was taunting me, knowing I was unable to reach him.

  “I then gathered up the pebbles that were around my feet and threw them at him, forcing him to fly off anew.

  “Meanwhile, the ants continued to bite me and I was becoming mad with rage. I started shouting, as if my shouts could be heard outside. I thought I heard a shout in return, but thought this was due to the fever that was now burning within me,

  “Soon, the vampire attacked me again, and this time bit my thigh painfully. The pain was so bad that I passed out.

  “When I awoke, I was horribly weak. I could barely move and felt extremely cold. My head was spinning and I thought I heard a voice nearby, a voice that seemed amplified by the cavern’s echo.

  “Suddenly, it seemed as if a blinding light had invaded the cave and I heard an explosion followed by a harsh cry.

  “Then I saw before me a tall Malaysian who walked on the glistening rocks in his bare feet, not seeming to be the least bit perturbed by their slippery surface, which had caused me to fall.

  “I was incapable of articulating a single word, but close to me I heard him say in Malaysian:

  “ ‘The demon is dead! You’re safe!’

  “In my stupor, I understood that the vampire was dead. And, indeed, the native lifted the body of the hideous beast and threw it into a corner.

  “He took a rope that had been wrapped around his waist and tied it around me. Then, he climbed up the slope and I felt myself pulled along behind him. I was too weak to handle the effort and fainted again. When I awoke, I found myself inside the hut of the Malaysian who had saved me,

  “He was busy rubbing my body with an unguent, which had the effect of soothing the pain from my multiple ant bites.

  “He gave a potion that seemed to give me back some of my strength. Then I noticed that he had brought the vampire’s body back, too, and I was able to get a better idea of its size, which was impressive. Its wingspan looked like it was at least four meters long!

  “The Malaysian at last told me how he had found me:

  “ ‘I was fishing nearby,’ he said. ‘The sea was calm and I saw the swallows flying towards the rock, then suddenly turning and flying off with cries of alarm.

  “ ‘I know those birds well, because I collect their nests to sell to the Chinese, who like them, as you know. I realized that there was something wrong in the area. That’s why I headed for the fissure that you used to get to the cavern. There’s a legend around here that there’s an evil genie who lives in that fissure, but I’m not superstitious. I decided I would look inside from the entrance and see what was what.

  “ ‘That’s when I heard you calling out. I had already found your hat, that you’d lost when you went inside. That made me think there was someone who might have been attacked by the bats, but I never thought that there was a vampire, especially not one of this size.

  “ ‘As I descended into the cavern, I found your rifle, which was what allowed me to kill the beast. ‘ “

  Someone asked Ardan if there were many people attacked by vampire bats in the Sunda Islands.

  “A fair number have had encounters with the beasts,” he continued, “but I doubt there are many who have been confronted by one of that size. The one that bit me was exceptionally large. I’m lucky that the Malaysian showed up when he did, because that horrible monster would have sucked me dry. But there is something even stranger in this affair, and that is that I became an object of great curiosity in the region, where they believed that a demon lived in that cave. They couldn’t understand how I
had survived the monster’s bite. I tried to explain that I’d been saved by one of their countrymen, but they insisted that I must have been under the protection of the gods.”

  3. The Vampire of the Hamada

  Doctor Francis Ardan was excited. Earlier that morning, he had bought himself a camel in the southern Algerian village of El-Guerbi. His new means of transportation would allow him to quickly reach the hamada (rocky plateau) where he hoped to study a set of significant ruins.

  The young man had already developed a certain reputation during his multiple voyages to Africa, and had several reports that had been well-received at the Société Secrète des Aventuriers and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belle-Lettres.21

  Brave and endowed with remarkable energy, his father had given him an eclectic education with an emphasis on physical perfection. He had excelled at all of his studies, and had a doctorate in medicine as well as in archaeology.

  Ardan set out early and stopped once, only briefly, to eat and rest his animal before continuing on his way. He reached the hamada several hours later. The ground was covered in flat, shiny black stones.

  Caravans had left paths, called medjebels, by removing all the stones in a width of eight or ten meters, then piling them to the right and left of the road. Thus, Ardan was able to take one of the medjebels, which led him straight to a wadi, or dry riverbed, where he decided to camp for the night.

  The young explorer hadn’t chosen this location by chance. He had noticed that near the wadi there was a well where several date palms grew, as well as bushes, the leaves of which his camel seemed to particularly enjoy. He had also been stuck by the peculiarities of the hamada’s rocks. Their color reminded him of jet, and the ground of the area was comprised of red clay and covered in cracks.

  After tying his camel to the trunk of a palm tree, Ardan began to look around the area. That was when he noticed an astonishing mirage. It caused him to see some of the plants as trees and he had the impression that a Chamba22 horseman was watching him. By precaution, he grabbed his rifle and waited. But, since the rider didn’t move, the young man decided he would approach him instead.

  He smiled at his own foolishness when he realized that the “horseman” was nothing more than a large, black asparagus plant, or el-ebsioui. Because the plant was growing next to a rock, the mirage had so deformed and enlarged the two objects that they had appeared as something entirely different,

  “Now it’s time for me to settle in for the night,” Ardan told himself. “I should be sheltered from a sudden storm if I keep to the wadi.”

  He found a crevasse near the well and simply covered himself with a blanket and went to sleep.

  But, two hours later a strong wind blowing down the wadi awakened the sleeping explorer. He saw that the moon was ringed by a halo and noticed that the temperature had fallen dramatically. Still, he was so tired that he was about to fall back asleep when he saw something so unexpected that he was immediately wide awake.

  Ten steps from where he was sheltered, he saw someone dressed in a white robe holding a cup up towards the moon. He stood there, immobile, as if paying homage to a respected deity.

  What could the strange individual be doing? At first sight, it seemed clear that he was one of the Chambas, as he was dressed in their fashion. But it was odd that he was alone, as the Chambaa horsemen traveled in groups.

  Deeply intrigued, Ardan waited breathlessly.

  He saw the mysterious man bring the cup to his lips and drink in large gulps. Then, the stranger moved towards the well, coming so close to the young explorer that he could have reached up and touched him.

  When he passed, Ardan realized with horror that the man’s face was covered in bleeding wounds. He saw him climb over wall of the well, that was built from palm trunks, and disappear!

  “My word!” Francis exclaimed to himself, “that was the most extraordinary thing. Even though this has nothing to do with archeology, I need to find out if that stranger went into some sort of hidden passage.”

  He quickly arose and looked around him he shivered when he saw a small, dark puddle on one of the stones. Kneeling down he touched it with a finger. There was no doubt about it: it was blood!

  “That man might be severely wounded,” thought Ardan, “perhaps he was drinking some type of elixir before. At any rate, I need to find out.”

  He approached the well and leaned over the edge. He was able to see a pale light reflecting on the water below.

  He grabbed his electric torch and a heavy rope, which he attached to a solid palm trunk. Then he carefully climbed over the edge of the well and lowered himself towards the water, slowing his progress by using his feet as brakes against the walls.

  Ardan stopped suddenly. He found himself in front of an opening from which came the light of a lantern. He waited, silently, until the light disappeared. Then he began his reconnaissance. He moved slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. He followed a roughly-hewn, horizontal tunnel, which was high enough that he could walk without too much discomfort. So as to not take a chance on being surprised because of using too bright a light, he had veiled his torch with his handkerchief.

  In this way, he eventually arrived at a short staircase comprised of four steps. His attention was drawn to a small, dirt-spotted basin standing on one of the steps. He picked it up to examine it. It took all of his strength to stifle a cry of horror; the basin was filled with blood!

  Nearby, the young explorer saw a cup that resembled the one used earlier by the mysterious man, and at its bottom was also a small amount of blood.

  This seemed to prove that the moon worshipper had been drinking blood! But where had that blood come from? Indeed, there were no birds or animals on the hamada, other than those used by the caravans, that could account for it. The many tracks that crossed the plateau testified to the number of camels that had crossed its rocky surface. It was possible that one of them had been stolen.

  “I need to be sure,” the young man told himself.

  He checked his revolver, verified that his knife was still in place beneath his burnoose, then moved forward again. He climbed the few steps and entered a small chamber of less than three meters on each side.

  Just then, he felt a shiver run down his back. In front of him was a vision that he knew he would never forget: a man was curled up in the corner, his face drained of blood and a cutlass driven deep into his throat. He had been bled like a pig!

  There was the answer. A bandit, perhaps a dangerous madman, was drinking human blood!

  Overwhelmed by horror, Ardan took the handkerchief from his torch so he could better explore the chamber. He noticed that there was a low door in the left hand corner. But just as he made this discovery, he heard a string of curses in Arabic that he understood clearly, given his fluency in the language.

  But, before he had the time to turn and flee, there was a loud bang. The man he’d heard swearing had shot the long barreled rifle he carried. Furious at having missed his target, he continued his foul imprecations, all the while advancing on the young explorer.

  Luckily, Ardan had thrown himself to the side, after discovering that the firing pin on his revolver was jammed. He hurriedly pulled out his knife.

  The man kicked at the lantern, which was on the floor, but at the same time, the young man was able to hit him in the face with his own electric torch, hurting him badly.

  “Murderer!” yelled Ardan, as he barely managed to avoid being smashed in the face by the Chamba’s rifle, which he was now using like a club.

  Francis threw himself at his attacker, holding his right arm straight out in front of him. There was a cry of pain and the man crumpled to the ground, bleeding from a severe wound to the abdomen. Within minutes he was dead.

  The explorer used the lamp to examine the man more closely. He saw that he suffered from a skin condition that gave his face the repulsive appearance he had noticed earlier. But the key to the mystery was provided by a piece of paper that Ardan found i
n a metal box.

  The paper came from an Arab sorcerer. This was easy for him to decipher thanks to certain symbols on the seal, particularly one of a scorpion. The supposed sorcerer said that he’d studied the stars under which Mohammed Kantera had been born, and he had deduced that the only possibility of a cure was for him to not be exposed to the sun’s rays. He advised the sick man to live underground and to procure blood for his treatment at night.

  From that, the explanation for Mohammed Kantera’s behavior became clear: he was following the sorcerer’s prescription to the letter.

  Ardan, who was to spend a fair amount of time on the hamada, resolved to investigate amongst the passing caravans. And, a month later, he encountered some travelers who told them that one of their brethren had disappeared in the wadi valley. The description they provided perfectly matched the body that the young man had found in the cavern.

  But the mystery didn’t end there. One night, soon after he had questioned the caravan, the explorer saw a shape go to the well and disappear inside a few seconds later. He approached the well himself, and a few minutes later the stranger reappeared. In the interval, Ardan had prepared a rope, which he used as a lasso to capture the figure. But the man refused to speak.

  Francis tied him up and interrogated him, but the native remained silent.

  His exploration was reaching its end, so the young man loaded his prisoner onto the camel and took him to El-Guerbi, where the man was immediately identified by the police. He was an sorcerer named Moniav-Ali, who admitted that he had gone to the well to demand payment from the rich Chamba who he had been treating.

  The investigation revealed that the sorcerer had committed many crimes and he was found guilty and executed soon after. And that, at last, was the end of the vampire of the hamada.

  4. The Lair of the Javanese Witch-Doctor

  After leaving Risnak at dawn, Doctor Francis Ardan headed towards the center of the nearby forest to prospect for tin, which he estimated to be particularly rich in the area. He had brought his servant, Malais Kandaliah, who was not only devoted to him, but had a profound knowledge of the Javanese forest.