CHAPTER IX--SMELLING DEATH
Adam Salton, though he talked little, did not let the grass grow
under his feet in any matter which he had undertaken, or in which he
was interested. He had agreed with Sir Nathaniel that they should
not do anything with regard to the mystery of Lady Arabella's fear
of the mongoose, but he steadily pursued his course in being
PREPARED to act whenever the opportunity might come. He was in his
own mind perpetually casting about for information or clues which
might lead to possible lines of action. Baffled by the killing of
the mongoose, he looked around for another line to follow. He was
fascinated by the idea of there being a mysterious link between the
woman and the animal, but he was already preparing a second string
to his bow. His new idea was to use the faculties of Oolanga, so
far as he could, in the service of discovery. His first move was to
send Davenport to Liverpool to try to find the steward of the WEST
AFRICAN, who had told him about Oolanga, and if possible secure any
further information, and then try to induce (by bribery or other
means) the nigger to come to the Brow. So soon as he himself could
have speech of the Voodoo-man he would be able to learn from him
something useful. Davenport was successful in his missions, for he
had to get another mongoose, and he was able to tell Adam that he
had seen the steward, who told him much that he wanted to know, and
had also arranged for Oolanga to come to Lesser Hill the following
day. At this point Adam saw his way sufficiently clear to admit
Davenport to some extent into his confidence. He had come to the
conclusion that it would be better--certainly at first--not himself
to appear in the matter, with which Davenport was fully competent to
deal. It would be time for himself to take a personal part when
matters had advanced a little further.
If what the nigger said was in any wise true, the man had a rare
gift which might be useful in the quest they were after. He could,
as it were, "smell death." If any one was dead, if any one had
died, or if a place had been used in connection with death, he
seemed to know the broad fact by intuition. Adam made up his mind
that to test this faculty with regard to several places would be his
first task. Naturally he was anxious, and the time passed slowly.
The only comfort was the arrival the next morning of a strong
packing case, locked, from Ross, the key being in the custody of
Davenport. In the case were two smaller boxes, both locked. One of
them contained a mongoose to replace that killed by Lady Arabella;
the other was the special mongoose which had already killed the
king-cobra in Nepaul. When both the animals had been safely put
under lock and key, he felt that he might breathe more freely. No
one was allowed to know the secret of their existence in the house,
except himself and Davenport. He arranged that Davenport should
take Oolanga round the neighbourhood for a walk, stopping at each of
the places which he designated. Having gone all along the Brow, he
was to return the same way and induce him to touch on the same
subjects in talking with Adam, who was to meet them as if by chance
at the farthest part--that beyond Mercy Farm.
The incidents of the day proved much as Adam expected. At Mercy
Farm, at Diana's Grove, at Castra Regis, and a few other spots, the
negro stopped and, opening his wide nostrils as if to sniff boldly,
said that he smelled death. It was not always in the same form. At
Mercy Farm he said there were many small deaths. At Diana's Grove
his bearing was different. There was a distinct sense of enjoyment
about him, especially when he spoke of many great deaths. Here,
too, he sniffed in a strange way, like a bloodhound at check, and
looked puzzled. He said no word in either praise or disparagement,
but in the centre of the Grove, where, hidden amongst ancient oak
stumps, was a block of granite slightly hollowed on the top, he bent
low and placed his forehead on the ground. This was the only place
where he showed distinct reverence. At the Castle, though he spoke
of much death, he showed no sign of respect.
There was evidently something about Diana's Grove which both
interested and baffled him. Before leaving, he moved all over the
place unsatisfied, and in one spot, close to the edge of the Brow,
where there was a deep hollow, he appeared to be afraid. After
returning several times to this place, he suddenly turned and ran in
a panic of fear to the higher ground, crossing as he did so the
outcropping rock. Then he seemed to breathe more freely, and
recovered some of his jaunty impudence.
All this seemed to satisfy Adam's expectations. He went back to
Lesser Hill with a serene and settled calm upon him. Sir Nathaniel
followed him into his study.
"By the way, I forgot to ask you details about one thing. When that
extraordinary staring episode of Mr. Caswall went on, how did Lilla
take it--how did she bear herself?"
"She looked frightened, and trembled just as I have seen a pigeon
with a hawk, or a bird with a serpent."
"Thanks. It is just as I expected. There have been circumstances
in the Caswall family which lead one to believe that they have had
from the earliest times some extraordinary mesmeric or hypnotic
faculty. Indeed, a skilled eye could read so much in their
physiognomy. That shot of yours, whether by instinct or intention,
of the hawk and the pigeon was peculiarly apposite. I think we may
settle on that as a fixed trait to be accepted throughout our
investigation."
When dusk had fallen, Adam took the new mongoose--not the one from
Nepaul--and, carrying the box slung over his shoulder, strolled
towards Diana's Grove. Close to the gateway he met Lady Arabella,
clad as usual in tightly fitting white, which showed off her slim
figure.
To his intense astonishment the mongoose allowed her to pet him,
take him up in her arms and fondle him. As she was going in his
direction, they walked on together.
Round the roadway between the entrances of Diana's Grove and Lesser
Hill were many trees, with not much foliage except at the top. In
the dusk this place was shadowy, and the view was hampered by the
clustering trunks. In the uncertain, tremulous light which fell
through the tree-tops, it was hard to distinguish anything clearly,
and at last, somehow, he lost sight of her altogether, and turned
back on his track to find her. Presently he came across her close
to her own gate. She was leaning over the paling of split oak
branches which formed the paling of the avenue. He could not see
the mongoose, so he asked her where it had gone.
"He slipt out of my arms while I was petting him," she answered,
"and disappeared under the hedges."
They found him at a place where the avenue widened so as to let
carriages pass each other. The little creature seemed quite
changed. He had been ebulliently active; now he was dull and
spiritless--seemed to be dazed. He allowed himself to be lifted by
either of the pair; but when he was alone with Lady Arabella he kept
looking round him in a strange way, as though trying to escape.
When they had come out on the roadway Adam held the mongoose tight
to him, and, lifting his hat to his companion, moved quickly towards
Lesser Hill; he and Lady Arabella lost sight of each other in the
thickening gloom.
When Adam got home, he put the mongoose in his box, and locked the
door of the room. The other mongoose--the one from Nepaul--was
safely locked in his own box, but he lay quiet and did not stir.
When he got to his study Sir Nathaniel came in, shutting the door
behind him.
"I have come," he said, "while we have an opportunity of being
alone, to tell you something of the Caswall family which I think
will interest you. There is, or used to be, a belief in this part
of the world that the Caswall family had some strange power of
making the wills of other persons subservient to their own. There
are many allusions to the subject in memoirs and other unimportant
works, but I only know of one where the subject is spoken of
definitely. It is MERCIA AND ITS WORTHIES, written by Ezra Toms
more than a hundred years ago. The author goes into the question of
the close association of the then Edgar Caswall with Mesmer in
Paris. He speaks of Caswall being a pupil and the fellow worker of
Mesmer, and states that though, when the latter left France, he took
away with him a vast quantity of philosophical and electric
instruments, he was never known to use them again. He once made it
known to a friend that he had given them to his old pupil. The term
he used was odd, for it was 'bequeathed,' but no such bequest of
Mesmer was ever made known. At any rate the instruments were
missing, and never turned up."
A servant came into the room to tell Adam that there was some
strange noise coming from the locked room into which he had gone
when he came in. He hurried off to the place at once, Sir Nathaniel
going with him. Having locked the door behind them, Adam opened the
packing-case where the boxes of the two mongooses were locked up.
There was no sound from one of them, but from the other a queer
restless struggling. Having opened both boxes, he found that the
noise was from the Nepaul animal, which, however, became quiet at
once. In the other box the new mongoose lay dead, with every
appearance of having been strangled!
