Later, he found occasion to ship it off to England. Shortly after this, his life was attempted, and his time of service being up, he came home.
Here it ended, and yet I was no nearer to the solution than I had been when first I opened the book.
Standing up, I placed it on the table; then, as I reached for my hat, I noticed on the floor a half-sheet of paper, which had evidently fallen from the diary as I read. Stooping, I picked it up. It was soiled and, inparts illegible, but what I saw there filled me with astonishment. Here, at last, in my hands, I held the key to the horrible mystery that surrounded us!
Hastily I crumpled the paper into my pocket and, opening the door, rushed from the room. Reaching the hotel, I bounded upstairs to where Will sat reading.
"I've found it out! I've found it out!" I gasped. Will sprang from his seat, his eyes blazing with excitement. I seized him by the arm and, without stopping to explain, dragged him hatless into the street.
"Come on," I cried.
As we ran through the streets, people looked up wonderingly, and many joined in the race.
At last we reached the open space and the empty pedestal. Here I paused a moment to gain breath. Will looked at me curiously. The crowd formed round in a semi-circle, at some little distance.
Then, without a word, I stepped up to the altar and, stooping, reached up under it. There was a loud click and I sprang back sharply. Something rose from the centre of the pedestal with a slow, stately movement. For a second no one spoke; then a great cry of fear came from the crowd:
"The image! the image!" and some began to run. There was another click and Kali, the Goddess of Death, stood fully revealed.
Again I stepped up to the altar. The crowd watched me breathlessly, and the timid ceased to fly. For a moment I fumbled. Then one side of the pedestal swung back. I held up my hand for silence. Someone procured a lantern, which I lit and lowered through the opening. It went down some ten feet, then rested on the earth beneath. I peered down, and as my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, I made out a square-shaped pit in the ground directly below the pedestal.
Will came to my side and looked over my shoulder.
"We must get a ladder," he said. I nodded, and he sent a man for one.
When it came, we pushed it through until it rested firmly; then, after a final survey, we climbed cautiously down.
I remember feeling surprised at the size of the place. It was as big as a good-sized room. At this moment as I stood glancing round, Will called to me. His voice denoted great perplexity. Crossing over, I found him staring at a litter of things which strewed the ground: tins, bottles, cans, rubbish, a bucket with some water in it and, further on, a sort of rude bed.
"Someone's been living here!" and he looked at me blankly. "It wasn't-" he began, then hesitated. "It wasn't that after all," and he indicated with his head.
"No," I replied, "it wasn't that." I assented. Will's face was a study.
Then he seemed to grasp the full significance of the fact, and a great look of relief crossed his features.
A moment later, I made a discovery. On the left-hand side in the far corner was a low-curved entrance like a small tunnel. On the opposite side was a similar opening. Lowering the lantern, I looked into the righthand one, but could see nothing. By stooping somewhat we could walk along it, which we did for some distance, until it ended in a heap of stones and earth. Returning to the hollow under the pedestal, we tried the other, and after a little, noticed that it trended steadily downwards.
"It seems to be going in the direction of the lake," I remarked. "We had better be careful."
A few feet further on the tunnel broadened and heightened considerably, and I saw a faint glimmer which, on reaching, proved to be water.
"Can't get any further," Will cried. "You were right. We have got down to the level of the lake."
"But what on earth was this tunnel designed for?" I asked, glancing around. "You see it reaches below the surface of the lake."
"Goodness knows," Will answered. "I expect it was one of those secret passages made centuries ago-most likely in Cromwell's time. You see, Colonel Whigman's was a very old place, built I can't say how long ago. It belonged once to an old baron. However, there is nothing here; we might as well go."
"Just a second, Will," I said, the recollection of the statue's wild leap into the lake at the moment recurring to me.
I stooped and held the lantern close over the water which blocked our further progress.
As I did so I thought I saw something of an indistinct whiteness floating a few inches beneath the surface. Involuntarily my left hand took a firmer grip of the lantern, and the fingers of my right hand opened out convulsively.
What was it I saw? I could feel myself becoming as icy cold as the water itself. I glanced at Will. He was standing disinterestedly a little behind me. Evidently he had, so far, seen nothing.
Again I looked, and a horrible sensation of fear and awe crept over me as I seemed to see, staring up at me, the face of Kali, the Goddess of Death.
"See, Will!" I said quickly. "Is it fancy?"
Following the direction of my glance, he peered down into the gloomy water, then started back with a cry.
"What is it, Herton? I seemed to see a face like-"
"Take the lantern, Will," I said as a sudden inspiration came to me.
"I've an idea what it is." And, leaning forward, I plunged my arms in up to the elbows and grasped something cold and hard. I shuddered, but held on, and pulled, and slowly up from the water rose a vast white face which came away in my hands. It was a huge mask-an exact facsimile of the features of the statue above us.
Thoroughly shaken, we retreated to the pedestal with our trophy, and from thence up the ladder into the blessed daylight.
Here, to a crowd of eager listeners, we told our story; and so left it.
Little remains to be told.
Workmen were sent down and from the water they drew forth the dead body of an enormous Hindoo, draped from head to foot in white. In the body were a couple of bullet wounds. Our fire had been true that night, and he had evidently died trying to enter the pedestal through the submerged opening of the passage.
Who he was, or where he came from, no one could explain.
Afterwards, among the colonel's papers, we found a reference to the High Priest, which led us to suppose that it was he who, in vengeance for the sacrilege against his appalling deity, had, to such terrible purpose, impersonated Kali, the Goddess of Death.
THE END
**********************
ホジスンのデビュー作の全文です。
ただ、作品としては、それほど読むべきところのある作品でもないかもしれませんね。
Here it ended, and yet I was no nearer to the solution than I had been when first I opened the book.
Standing up, I placed it on the table; then, as I reached for my hat, I noticed on the floor a half-sheet of paper, which had evidently fallen from the diary as I read. Stooping, I picked it up. It was soiled and, inparts illegible, but what I saw there filled me with astonishment. Here, at last, in my hands, I held the key to the horrible mystery that surrounded us!
Hastily I crumpled the paper into my pocket and, opening the door, rushed from the room. Reaching the hotel, I bounded upstairs to where Will sat reading.
"I've found it out! I've found it out!" I gasped. Will sprang from his seat, his eyes blazing with excitement. I seized him by the arm and, without stopping to explain, dragged him hatless into the street.
"Come on," I cried.
As we ran through the streets, people looked up wonderingly, and many joined in the race.
At last we reached the open space and the empty pedestal. Here I paused a moment to gain breath. Will looked at me curiously. The crowd formed round in a semi-circle, at some little distance.
Then, without a word, I stepped up to the altar and, stooping, reached up under it. There was a loud click and I sprang back sharply. Something rose from the centre of the pedestal with a slow, stately movement. For a second no one spoke; then a great cry of fear came from the crowd:
"The image! the image!" and some began to run. There was another click and Kali, the Goddess of Death, stood fully revealed.
Again I stepped up to the altar. The crowd watched me breathlessly, and the timid ceased to fly. For a moment I fumbled. Then one side of the pedestal swung back. I held up my hand for silence. Someone procured a lantern, which I lit and lowered through the opening. It went down some ten feet, then rested on the earth beneath. I peered down, and as my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, I made out a square-shaped pit in the ground directly below the pedestal.
Will came to my side and looked over my shoulder.
"We must get a ladder," he said. I nodded, and he sent a man for one.
When it came, we pushed it through until it rested firmly; then, after a final survey, we climbed cautiously down.
I remember feeling surprised at the size of the place. It was as big as a good-sized room. At this moment as I stood glancing round, Will called to me. His voice denoted great perplexity. Crossing over, I found him staring at a litter of things which strewed the ground: tins, bottles, cans, rubbish, a bucket with some water in it and, further on, a sort of rude bed.
"Someone's been living here!" and he looked at me blankly. "It wasn't-" he began, then hesitated. "It wasn't that after all," and he indicated with his head.
"No," I replied, "it wasn't that." I assented. Will's face was a study.
Then he seemed to grasp the full significance of the fact, and a great look of relief crossed his features.
A moment later, I made a discovery. On the left-hand side in the far corner was a low-curved entrance like a small tunnel. On the opposite side was a similar opening. Lowering the lantern, I looked into the righthand one, but could see nothing. By stooping somewhat we could walk along it, which we did for some distance, until it ended in a heap of stones and earth. Returning to the hollow under the pedestal, we tried the other, and after a little, noticed that it trended steadily downwards.
"It seems to be going in the direction of the lake," I remarked. "We had better be careful."
A few feet further on the tunnel broadened and heightened considerably, and I saw a faint glimmer which, on reaching, proved to be water.
"Can't get any further," Will cried. "You were right. We have got down to the level of the lake."
"But what on earth was this tunnel designed for?" I asked, glancing around. "You see it reaches below the surface of the lake."
"Goodness knows," Will answered. "I expect it was one of those secret passages made centuries ago-most likely in Cromwell's time. You see, Colonel Whigman's was a very old place, built I can't say how long ago. It belonged once to an old baron. However, there is nothing here; we might as well go."
"Just a second, Will," I said, the recollection of the statue's wild leap into the lake at the moment recurring to me.
I stooped and held the lantern close over the water which blocked our further progress.
As I did so I thought I saw something of an indistinct whiteness floating a few inches beneath the surface. Involuntarily my left hand took a firmer grip of the lantern, and the fingers of my right hand opened out convulsively.
What was it I saw? I could feel myself becoming as icy cold as the water itself. I glanced at Will. He was standing disinterestedly a little behind me. Evidently he had, so far, seen nothing.
Again I looked, and a horrible sensation of fear and awe crept over me as I seemed to see, staring up at me, the face of Kali, the Goddess of Death.
"See, Will!" I said quickly. "Is it fancy?"
Following the direction of my glance, he peered down into the gloomy water, then started back with a cry.
"What is it, Herton? I seemed to see a face like-"
"Take the lantern, Will," I said as a sudden inspiration came to me.
"I've an idea what it is." And, leaning forward, I plunged my arms in up to the elbows and grasped something cold and hard. I shuddered, but held on, and pulled, and slowly up from the water rose a vast white face which came away in my hands. It was a huge mask-an exact facsimile of the features of the statue above us.
Thoroughly shaken, we retreated to the pedestal with our trophy, and from thence up the ladder into the blessed daylight.
Here, to a crowd of eager listeners, we told our story; and so left it.
Little remains to be told.
Workmen were sent down and from the water they drew forth the dead body of an enormous Hindoo, draped from head to foot in white. In the body were a couple of bullet wounds. Our fire had been true that night, and he had evidently died trying to enter the pedestal through the submerged opening of the passage.
Who he was, or where he came from, no one could explain.
Afterwards, among the colonel's papers, we found a reference to the High Priest, which led us to suppose that it was he who, in vengeance for the sacrilege against his appalling deity, had, to such terrible purpose, impersonated Kali, the Goddess of Death.
THE END
**********************
ホジスンのデビュー作の全文です。
ただ、作品としては、それほど読むべきところのある作品でもないかもしれませんね。