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I CHAPTER II A NEW IMPETUS • • 45 CHAPTER III THE MYSTERIOUS CHINAMAN . , • • 79 CHAPTER IV THE chinaman's ESCAPE • 'ou. I dare not think of it my.self There is one thing I must ask of you. I want \-ou to keep the books and to let the amount you gave me for them be a loan, which I will repay as soon as I possibly can." 3 20 DR. NIKOLAS EXPERIMENT ii I was aware that he was a passionate man : for I had once or twice seen him fly into a rage, but never into a greater one than now. " Let it be what you please," he cried, turning from me. " Only for pity's sake drop the subject : I've had enough of it." With this explosion he stalked away, leaving me standing looking after him, divided between gratitude and amazement. I have narrated this incident for two reasons : firstly because it will furnish you with a notion of my own character, which I am prepared to admit exhibits but few good points ; and in the second because it will serve to introduce to you a queer individual, now a very great person, whom I shall always regard as the Good Angel of my life, and, indirectly it is true, the bringer about of the one and only real happiness I have ever known. From the time of the episode I have just des- cribed at such length to the present day, I can safely say I have never touched a card nor owed a man a penny-piece that I was not fully prepared to pay at a moment's notice. And with this assertion I must revert to the statement made at the commencement of this chapter — the saddest a TIRED OF LIFE 21 man can make. As I said then, there could be no doubt about it that I was a failure. For though I had improved in the particulars iust stated, Fate was plainly against me. I worked hard and passed my examinations with comparative ease ; yet it seemed to do me no good with those above me. The sacred fire of enthusiasm, which had at first been so conspicuously absent, had now taken complete hold of me ; I studied night and day, grudging myself no labour, yet by some mischance everything I touched recoiled upon me, and, like the serpent of the fable, stung the hand that fos- tered it. Certainly I was not popular, and, since it was due almost directly to Kelleran's influence that I took to my work with such assiduity, it seems strange that I should also have to attribute my non-success to his agency. As a matter of fact, he was not a good leader to follow. From the very first he had shown himself to be a man of strange ideas. He was no follower or stickler for the orthodox ; to sum him up in plainer words, he was what might be described as an experimentalist. Ip return, the authorities of the hospital looked somewhat askance upon him. Finally he passed out into the world, and the same term saw me 22 DR. NIKOLAS EXPERIMENT S ! appointed to the position of House Surgeon. Almost simultaneously my father died ; and, to the horror of the family, an examination of his affairs proved that instead of being the wealthy man we had supposed him there was barely sufficient, when his liabilities were paid, to meet the expenses of his funeral. The shock of his death and the knowledge of the poverty to which she had been so suddenly reduced proved too much for my mother, and she followed him a few weeks later. Thus I was left, so far as I knew, without kith or kin in the world, with but few friends, no money, and the poorest possible prospects of ever making any. To the circumstances under which I lost the position of House Surgeon I will not allude. Let it suffice that I did lose it, and that, although the authorities seemed to think otherwise, I am in a position to prove, whenever I desire to do so, that 1 was not the real culprit. The effect, however, was the same. I was disgraced beyond hope of redemption, and the proud career I had mapped out for myself was now beyond my reach for good and all. Over the next twelve months it would perhaps TIRED OF LIFE 23 be better that I should draw a veil. Even now I scarcely like to think of them. It is enough for me to say that for upwards of a month I remained in London, searching 1 igh and low for employment. This, however, was easier looked for than dis- covered. Try how I would, I could hear of no- thing. Then, wearying of the struggle, I accepted an offer made me, and left England as surgeon on board an outward-bound passenger steamer for Australia. Ill luck, however, still pursued me, for at the end of my second voyage the Company went into liquidation, and its vessels were sold. I shipped on board another boat in a similar capacity, made two voyages in her to the Cape, where on a friend's advice I bade her goodbye, and started for Ashanti as surgeon to an Inland Trading Company. While there I was wounded in the neck by a spear, was compelled to leave the Company's service, and eventually found myself back once more in London tramping the streets in search of employ- ment. Fortunately, however, I had managed to save a small sum from my pay, so that I was not altogether destitute ; but it was not long before this was exhausted, and then things looked blacker 24 DR. NIKOLAS EXPERIMENT than they had ever done before. What to do I knew not. I had long since cast my pride to the winds, and was now prepared to take anything, no matter what. Tiien an idea struck me, and on it I acted. Leaving my lodgings on the Surrey side of the river, I crossed Blackfriars Bridge, and made my way along the Embankment in a westerly direc- tion. As I went I could not help contrasting my present appearance with that I had shown on the last occasion I had walked that way. Then I had been as spruce and neat as a man could well be ; boasted a good coat to my back and a new hat upon my head. Now, however, the coat and hat, instead of speaking for my prosperity, as at one time they might have done, bore unmistakable evidence of the disastrous change which had taken place in my fortunes. Indeed, if the truth must be confessed, I v/as about as sorry a specimen of the professional man as could be found in the length and breadth of the Metropolis. Reaching the thoroughfare in which I had heard that Kelleran had taken up his abode, I cast about me for a means of ascertaining his number. Com- pared with that in which I myself resided, this JL mgil ' i j" -f^ ii^ I I TIRED OF LIFE 27 was a street of palaces, but it seemed to me I could read the characters of the various tenants in the appearance of each house-front. The par- ticular one before which I was standing at the moment was frivolous in the extreme : the front door was artistically painted, an elaborate knocker ornamented the centre panel, while the windows were without exception curtained with dainty ex- pensive stuffs. Everything pointed to the mistress being a lady of fashion ; and having put one thing and another together, I felt convinced I should not find my friend there. The next I came to was a residence of more substantial type. Here every- thing was solid and plain, even to the borders of severity. If I could sum up the owner, he was a successful man, a lawyer for choice, a bachelor, and possibly, and even probably, a bigot on matters of religion. He would have two or three friends — not more — all of whom would be advanced in years, and, like himself, successful men of business. He would be able to appreciate a glass of dry sherry, and would have nothing to do with anything that did not bear the impress of a gilt-edged security. As neither of these houses seemed to suggest that they would be ir'1 ^ 28 DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT ; ! -II 'i^i i :■■'■ likely to know anything of the man I wanted, I made my way further down the street, looking about me as I proceeded. At last I came to a standstill before one that I was prepared to swear was inhabited by my old friend. His character was stamped unmistakably upon every inch of it : the untidy windows, the pile of books upon a table in the bow, the marks upon the front door where his impatient foot had often pressed while he turned his latchkey : all these spoke of Kelleran, and I was certain my instinct was not misleading me. Ascending the steps, I rang the bell. It was answered by a tall and somewhat auste/e woman of between forty and fifty years of age, upon whom a coquettish frilled apron and cap sat with incongruous effect. As I afterwards learnt, she had been Kelleran's nurse in bygone years, and since he had become a householder had taken charge of his domestic arrangements, and ruled both himself and his maidservants with a rod of iron. "Would you be kind enough to inform me if Mr. Kelleran is at home ? " I asked, after we had taken stock of each other. " He has been abroad for more than three TIRED OF LIFE 29 months," the woman answered abruptly. Then, seeing the disappointment upon my face, she added, " I dont know when we may expect him home. He may be here on Saturday, and it's just possible we may not see him for two or three weeks to come. But perhaps you'll not mind telling me what your business with him may be ? " " It is not very important," I answered humbly, feeling that my position was, to say the least of it, an invidious one. " I am an old friend, and I wanted to see him for a few minutes. Since, however, he is not at home, it does not matter, I assure you. I shall have other opportunities of communicating with him. At the same time, you might be kind enough to tell him I called." "You'd better let me know your name first," she replied, with a look that suggested as plainly as any words could speak that she did not for an instant believe my assertion that I was a friend of her master's. "My name is Ingleby," I said. " Mr. Kelleran will be sure to remember me. We were at the same hospital." She gave a scornful sniff as if such a thing would i. :: 1 I ! I in !| 30 DR. NIKOLAS EXPERIMKNT be very unlikely, and then made as if she would shut the door in my face. I was not, however, to be put off in this fashion. Taking a card from my pocket, one of the last I possessed, I scrawled my name and present address upon it and handed it to her. " Perhaps if you will show that to Mr. Kelleran he would not mind writing to me when he comes home," I said. "That is where I am living just now." She glanced at the card, and, noting the locality, sniffed even more scornfully than before. It was evident that this was the only thing wanting to confirm the bad impression I had already created in her mind. For some seconds there was an ominous silence. " Very well," she answered, at length, " I'll give it to him. But — why. Heaven save us ! what's the matter? You're as white as a sheet. Why didn't you say you were feeling ill ? " I had been nnning it rather close for more . an a week past, an».l the news that Kelleran, my last hope, was absent from England had unnerved me altogether. A sudden giddiness seized me, and I believe I should have fallen to the ground had I not clutched at the railings by my side. It ■ !:ll;! would ;ver, to 3m my led my ided it elleran comes t now." reality, It was incf to :reated as an 11 give what's Why e . an ly last ed mc e, and id had le. It ( '' |: I ' i' • ' - i^' I' < ' I UIU TIRED OF LIFE 33 was then that the real nature of the woman became apparent. Like a ministering^ angel she half led, half supported me into the house, and seated me on a chair in the somewhat sparsely furnished hall. " Friend of the master, or no friend," I heard her say to herself, '* I'll take the risk of it." I heard no more, for my senses had left me. When tlie)' returned I found myself lying upon a sofa in Kelleran's study, the housekeeper standing by my side, and a maid-servant casting syniputhetic glances at me from the doorway. " I'm afraid I have put you to a lot of trouble," 1 said, as soon as I had recovered myself suf- ficiently to speak. " I cannot think what made me go off like that. I have never done such a thing in my life before." "You can't think?" queried the woman, with a curious intonation that was not lost upon me. " Then it's very plain you've not much wit about you. I think, young man, I could make a very good guess at the truth if I wanted to. How- somever, let that be as it may, I'll put a bit o*" it right before you leave this house, or my name's not what it is." Then turning to the maid, who was still watching me, she continued sharply, *' lie Hi i'ii i^r I ' ll I 34 ^R. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT off about your business, miss, and do as I told you. Are you going to waste all the afternoon standing there staring about you like a gaby?" The girl tossed her head and disappeared, only to return a few minutes later with a tray, upon which was set out a substantial meal of cold meat. On the old woman's ordering me to do so I sat down to it, and dined as i had not done for months past. " There," she said, with an air of triumph as I finished, " that will make a new man of you," Tli jn, having done all she could for me, and repenting, perhaps, of the leniency she had shown me, she returned to her former abrupt demeanour, and informed me, in terms there was no mistaking, that her time was valuable, and it behoved me to be off about my business as soon as possible. While she had been speaking, my eyes had travelled round the room until they lighted upon the mantelpiece (it was covered with pipes, books, photographs, and all the innumerable odds and ends that accumulate in a bachelor's apart- ment), where I discovered my own portrait with several others. I remembered having given, it to Kelleran two sears before. It was not a very I ii I TIRED OF LIFE 35 as I nting, ;, she and iking, ne to jsible. had hted )ipes, odds part- with it to very good one, but with its assistance I proposed to estabHsh my identity and prove to my stern benefactress that I was not altogether the .'mpostor she believed me to be. " I cannot tell you how grateful I am to you for all you have done," I said, as I rose and [jicpared to take my departure from the house. " At the same time I am very much afraid you do not altogether believe that I am the friend of your master's that I pretend to be." " Tut, tut ! " she answered. *' If I were in your place I'd say no more about that. Least said soonest mended, is my motto. I trust, however, I'm a Christian woman, and do my best to help folk in distress. But I've warned ye already that I've eyes in my head and wit enough to tell what's o'clock just as well as my neighbours. Why, bless my soul, you don't think I've been all my years in the world without knowing what's what, or who's who ? " She paused as if for breath ; and, embracing the opportunity, I cros.sed the room and took from the chimneypiece the photograjjh to which 1 have just alluded. "Possibly this may help to reassure you," I 36 DR. NIKOLA'S EXPEKIiMENT said, as I placed it before her. " I do not think I have changed so much, since it was taken, that you should fail to recognise me." She picked up the photo and looked at it, reading the signature at the bottom with a puzzled face. " I leaven save us, so it is ! " she cried, when the meaning of it dawned upon her. "You are Mr. Ingleby, after all? Well, I am a softy, to be sure. I thought )-ou were trxiiig to take me in. So many people come here asking to see him, saying they were at the hospital with him that you've got to be more than careful. If I'd have thought it really was )'ou, I'd have biUcii my tongue out before I'd have said what I did. Wh)', sir, the master talks of }ou to this day : it's Ingleby this, and Ingleby that, from morning till night. Many's the time he's made inquiries from gentlemen who've been here, in the hopes of finding out what has become of ye." "God bless him!" I said, my luart warming at the news that he had not forgotten me. *' We were the best of friends once." "But, Mr. Ingleb)'," coiitinueil the old woman after a pause, "if you'll allow me to say so, I don't Wc m '1 \)r'k I'll J':: W I'll •H't i?i r I. TIRED OF LIFE 39 like to see you like this. You must have seen a lot of trouble, sir, to have got in such a state." "The world has not treated me very kindly," I answered, with an attempt at a smile, "but I'll tell Kelleran all about it when I see him. You think it is possible he may be home on Satur- day ? " " I hope so, sir, I'm sure," she replied. " You may be certain I'll give him your address, and tell him you've called, the moment I see him." I thanked her again for her trouble, and took my departure, feeling a very different man as I went down the steps and turned my face city- wards. In my own heart I felt certain Kelleran would do something to help me. Had I known, however, what that something was destined to be, I wonder whether I should have awaited his coming with such eagerness. As it transpired, it was on the Friday following my call at his house that, on returning to my lodgings after another day's fruitless search for employment, I found the following letter awaiting me. The handwriting was as familiar to me as my own. and it may be imagined with what ! 'iii si: *! 'Ill; Jlli km w , I, a,!;: I" '■• ,1 I !l 40 DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT eagerness I tore open the envelope and scanned the contents. It ran : — "My dear Ingleby, " It was a pleasant welcome home to find that you are in England once more. I am sorry, however, to learn from m\' housekeeper that affairs have not been prospering with you. This must be remedied, and at once. I flatter myself I am just the man to do it It is possible you may consider me unfeeling when I say that there never was such luck as your being in want of employment at this particular moment. I've a billet standing ready and waiting for you ; one of the very sort you are fitted for, and one that you will enjoy, unless you have lost your former tastes and inclinations. You have never met Dr. Nikola, but you must do so without delay. I tell you, Ingleby, he is the most wonderful man with whom I have ever been brought in contact. We chanced upon each other in St. Petersburg three months ago, and since then he's fascinated me as no other man has ever done. I have spoken of you to him, and in consequence he dines with me to-night in the hope of meeting TIRED OF LIFE 41 you. Whatever else you do, therefore, do not fail to put in an appearance. You cannot guess the magnitude of the experiment upon which he is at work. At first glance, and in any other man, it would seem incredible, impossible, I might almost say absurd. When, however, you have seen him, I venture to think you will not doubt that he will carry it through. Let me count upon you to-night, then, at seven. " Always your friend, "Andrew Fairfax Kelleran." I read the letter again. What did it mean ? At any rate, it contained a ray of hope. It would have to be a very curious billet, I told mysel'' under present circumstances, that I would refuse. But who was this extraordinary individual, Dr Nikola, who seemed to have exercised such a fascination over my enthusiastic friend ? Well, that I had to find out for myself. if M A NEW IMPETUS IS llltf I I H< ,f ' ! 1 ' " T ' r CHAPTER II A NEW IMPETUS 'T^HE clocks in the neighbourhood had scarcely -■■ ceased striking as I ascended the steps of Kelleran's house and rang the bell. Even had he not been so impressive in his invitation there was small likelihood of my forgetting the appointment. I had been waiting for it, hour by hour, with an impatience that can only be understood when I say that each one was bringing me nearer the only satisfying meal I had had since I last visited his abode. The door was opened to me by the same faith- ful housekeeper wlio had proved herself such a ministering angel on the previous occasion. She greeted me as an old friend, but with a greater respect than she had shown when we had last talked together. This did not prevent her, how- ever, from casting a scrutinising eye over me, as ■* tl m iy * 1 t 45 I '1:* m^ 1:1^' 46 DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT m. Ik' M' 1: If much as to say, " You look a bit more respectable, my lad, but your coat is very faded at the seams, your collar is frayed at the edge, and you sniff the smell of dinner as if you have not had a decent meal for longer than you care to think about " ; all of which, had she put it into so many words, would have been perfectly true. " Step inside," she said ; " Mr. Kelleran's waiting for you in the study, I know." Then sinking her voice to a whisper she added : " There's duck and green pea-j for dinner, and as soon as the other gentleman arrives I shall tell cook to dish. He'll not be long now." What answer I should have returned I cannot say, but as she finished speaking a door farther down the passage ojjened, and my old friend made his appearance, with the same impetuosity that always characterised him. " Ingleby, my dear felkjw," he cried, as he ran with outstretched hand to greet me, " I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you again. It seems years since I last set eyes on you. Come in here ; I want to have a good look at you. We've hundreds of things to say to each other, and heaps of questions to ask, haven't we ? And, by A NEW IMPETUS 47 Jove, we must look sharp about it too, for in a few minutes Nikola will be here. I asked him to come at a quarter past seven, in order that we might have a little time alone together first." So saying, he led me into his study, the same in which 1 had returned to my senses after my faint- ing fit a few days before, and when he had done so he bade me seat myself in an easy chair. " You can't thint how good it is to see you again, Kelleran," I said, as soon as I could get in a word. " I had begun to think myself forgotten by all my friends." " Bosh ! " was his uncompromising reply. " Talk about your friends — why, you never know who they are till )'ou're in trouble ! At least, that's what I think. And, by the way, let me tell you that you do look a bit pulled down. I wonder what idiocy you've been up to sinct I saw you last. Tell me about it. Vou won't smoke a ci- . '* Si] . -^Sl m (':! Itr^i h ' 50 DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT ' > ■ .': i^ r'i I: ::fi-: f-'r: it^ |! I i4 of assisting him in the work upon which he was so exhaustively engaged. Never before had I seen such eyes ; they seemed to look me through and through, and to read my inmost thoughts. '* This gentleman, my dear Kelleran," he began, after they had shaken hands, and without waiting for me to be introduced to him, " should be your friend Ingleby, of whom you have so often spoken to me. How do you do, Mr. Ingleby? I don't think there is much doubt but that we shall work admirably together. You have lately been in Ashanti, I perceive." I admitted that I had, and went on to inquire how he had become aware of it ; for as Kelleran had not known it until a few minutes before, I did not see how he could be acquainted with the fact. " It is not a very difficult thing to tell," he answered, with a smile at my astonishment, "see- ing that you carry about with you the mark of a Gwato spear. If it were necessary I could tell you some more tliinj^s that would surprise you : for instance, I could tell you that the man who cut the said spear out for you was an amateur at his work, that he was left-iianded, that he was short- sighted, and that he was recovering from malaria A NEW IMPETUS 51 at the time. All this is plain to the eye ; but I see our friend Kelleran fancies his dinner is getting cold, so we had better postpone our investigations for a more convenient opportunity." We accordingly left the stud)' and proceeded to the dining-room. All day long I had been looking forward to that moment with the eagerness of a starving man, yet when it arrived I scarcely touched anything. If the truth must be confessed, there was somethincf about this man that made me forget such mundane matters as mere eating and drinking. And I noticed that Nikola himself was even more abstemious. For this reason, save for the fact that he himself enjoyed it, the bounti- ful spread Kelleran had arranged for us was com- pletely wasted. During the progress of the meal no mention was made of the great experiment upon which our host had informed me Nikola was emir jd. Our con- versation wa^ mainly devoted to travel. Nikola, I soon discovered, had been everywhere, and had seen everything. There appeared to be no place on the face of the habitable gk)bc with which he was not acquainted, and of which he could not speak with the authority of an old resident. China */.''' i I i 52 DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT r 4' ri l[ India, Australia, South America, North, South, East, and West Africa, were as familiar to him as Piccadilly, and it was in connection with one of the last-named Contments that a curious incident occurred. We had been discussing various cases of ccita- lepsy ; and to illustrate an argument he was adducing, Kelleran narrated a curious instance of lethargy with which he had become acquainted in Southern Russia. While he was s^oeaking I noticed that Nikola's face wore in expression that was partly one of derision and partly of amusement. " I think I can furni«h you with an instance that is even more extraordinary," I said, when our host had finished ; and as I did so, Nikola leaned a little towards me. " In fairness to your argument, however, Kelleran, I must admit that while it comes under the same category, the malady in question confines itself almost ex- clusively to the black races on the West Coast of Africa." " You refer to the Sleeping Sickness, I pre- sume?" said Nikola, whose eyes were fixed upon me, and who was paying the greatest attention to all I said. A NEW IMPETUS "Exactly — the Sleeping Sickness," I answered. " I was fortunate enough to see several intances of it when I was on the West Coast, though the one to which I am referring did not come before me personally, but was described to me by a man, a rather curious character, who happened to be in the district at the time. The negro in question, a fine healthy fellow of about twenty years of age, was servant to a Portuguese trader at Cape Coast Castle. He had been up country on some trading expedition or other, and during the whole time had enjoyed the very best of health. For the first few days after his return to the coast, however, he was unusually depressed. Slight swelling of the cervical glands set in, accom- panied by a tendency to fall asleep at any time. This somnolency gradually increased ; cutaneous stimulation was tried, at first with comparative success ; the symptoms, nowever, soon recurred, thi periods of sleep became longer and /lore frequent, until at last the patient could -carceiy have been said to be ever awake. The case, so my informant said, was an extremely interesting one." " But what was the result ? " inquired Kelleran, :ll|' 54 DR. NIKOLAS EXPERIMENT a little impitiently. " You have not told us to what all this is leading." " Well, the result was that in due course the patient became extremely emaciated — a perfect skeleton, in fact. He would take no food, answered no questions, and did not open his eyes from morning till night. To make a long story short, just as my 'nformant was beginning ;o think that the end was approaching, there appeared in Cape Coast Castle a mysterious stranger who pat forward claims to a knowledge of medicine. He forgathered with my man, and after a while obtained permission to try his hand upon the negro." " And killed him at once, of course? " " Nothing of the sort. The result was one that you will scarcely credit. The whole business was most irregular, I believe, but my friend was not likely to worry himself much about that. This new man had his own pharmacopoeia — a collection of essences in small bottles, more like what they used in the Middle Ages than anything else, I should imagine. Having obtained possession of the patient, he carried him away to a hut outside the town and took him in hand there and then. ji! A NEW IMPETUS 55 The man who told me about it, and who, I should have said, had had a good experience of the disease, assured me that he was as certain as any one possibly could be that the chap could not live out the week ; and yet when the new comer, ten days later, invited him to visit the hut, there was the man acting as his servant, waiting at table, if you please, and to all intents and pu) pose:?, though very thin, as well as ever he had been in his life." " But, my dear fellow," protested Kelleran, " Guerin says that out of the 148 cases that came under his notice 148 died." " I can't help what Guerin says," I answered, a little warmly I am afraid. " I am only telling you what my friend told me. He gave me his word of honour that the result was as he described. The strangest part of the whole business, however, has yet to be told. It appears that the man had not only cured the fellow, but that he had the power of returning him to the condition in which he found him, at will. It wasn't hypnotism, but what it was is more that I Cc^n s.y. My informant described it to me a^ being about the uncanniest performance he had ever witnessed." \ I i- llvi^ • r ,'7(1 i i: ' 2*1 'Mi t ' §\i i> i 56 DR. NIKOLA'S E^'.FHRIMENT " In what way ? " asked Kelleran. " Furnish us with a more detailed account There was a time when you were a famous hand at a diagnosis." " I would willingly do so," I answered ; " un- fortunately, however, I can't remember it all. It appears that he was always saying the most mysterious things and putting the strangest questions. On one occasion he asked my friend, as they were standing by the negro's bedside, if there was any one whose image he would care to see? Merton at first thought he was making fun of him, but seeing that he ..as in earnest he con- sidered for a moment, and eventually answered that he would very much like to see the portrait of an old shipmate who had perished at sea some six or seven years prior to his arrival on the West Coast. As soon as he had said this the man stooped over the bed and opened the sleeping nigger's eyes. * Examine the retina,' he said, * and I think you will sec what you want' My friend looked." "With what result?" inquired Kelleran. Ni- kola said nothing, but smiled, as I thought, a trifle sceptically. " It seems an absurd thing to say, I know," I iiii A NEW IMPETUS 57 continued, " but he swore to me that he had before him the exact picture of the man he had referred to ; and what is more, standing on the deck of tlie steamer just as he had last seen him. It was as clear and distinct as if it had been a photograph." " And all the time the negro was asleep ? " " Fast asleep ! " I answered. " I should very much like to meet your friend," said Kelleran emphatically. " A man with an imagination like that must be an exceedingly interesting companion. But seriously, my dear Ingleby, you don't mean to say you wish us to believe that all this really happened ? " " I am telling you what he told me," I answered. *' I cannot swear to the truth of it, of course, but I will go so far as to say that I do not think he was intentionally deceiving me." Kelleran shrugged his shoulders incredulously, and for some moments an uncomfortable silence ensued. This was broken by Nikola. " My dear Kelleran," he said, " I don't think you are altogether fair to our friend Ingleby. As he admits, he was only speaking on hearsay, and under these circumstances he might very easily have been deceived. Fortunately, however, for 5 i i J-' 58 DR. NIKOLA'S EXFEKIMENT life ^ the sake of his reputation I am in a position to corroborate all he has said." " The deuce you are ! " cried Kelleran ; while I was too much astonished to speak, and could only stare at him in complete surprise. " What on earth do you mean ? Pray explain." " I can only do so by saying that I was the man who did this apparently wonderful thing." Kelleran and I continued to stare at him in amazement. It was too absurd. Could he be laughing at us? And yet his face was serious enough. " You do not seem to credit my assertion," said Nikola, quietly. "And yet I assure you it is correct. I was the mysterious individual who appeared in Cape Coast Castle, who brought with him his own pharmacopoeia, and who wrought the miracle which our friend appears to have considered so wonderful." " The coincidence is too extraordinofy," I answered, as if in protest. "Coincidences are necessarily extraordinary," Nikola replied. " I do not see that this one is more so than usual." " And the miracle ? " w it A NEW impf:tus 59 "Was in reality no miracle at all," he answered ; " it was merely the logical outcome of a perfectly natural process. I'niv do not look so incredulous, I am aware that my statement is difficult to believe, but I assure you, my dear Ingleby, that it is quite true. However, proof is always better than mere assertion, so, since you are still sceptical, let me make my position right with you. For reasons that will be self-evident I cannot produce the effect in a negro's eye, but I can do so in a way that will strike you as being scarcely less extraordinary. If you will draw up your chairs I will endeavour to explain." Needless to remark, we did as he desired ; and when we were seated on either side of him waited for the manifestation he had promised us. Taking a small silver box, but little larger than a caid-case, from his pocket, he opened it and tipped what might have been a teaspoonful of black powder ir.to the centre of a dessert plate. I watched it closely, in the hope of being able to discover of what it was composed. My efforts, however, were unavailing. It was black, as I have already said, and from a distance resembled powdered charcoal. This, however, it could not ! I p> H ?:» .1' (ft ■ i '.J I m 'M n ., 6o DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT have been, by reason of its strange liquidity, which was as great as that of quicksilver, and which only came into operation when it had been exposed to the air for some minutes. Hither and thither the jtufif ran about the dish, and I noticed that as it did so it gradually lost its original sombre hue and took to itself a variety of colours that were as brilliant as the component tints of the spectrum. These scintillated and quivered till the eyes were almost blinded by their radiance^ and yet they riveted the attention in such a manner that it was well-nigh, if not quite, impossible to look away or to think of anything else. In vain I tried to calm myself, in order that I might be a cool and collected observer of what was taking place. Whether there was any perfume thrown off by the stuff upon the plate I cannot say, but as I watched it my head began to swim and my eyelids felt as heavy as lead. That this was not fancy upon my part is borne out by the fact that Kelieran afterwards confessed to me that he ex- perienced exactly the same sensations. Nikola, however, was still manipulating the dish, turning it this way and that, as if he were anxious to produce as many varieties oi colour as possible A NEW IMPETUS It 6i given time, it must have been upwards of five minutes before he spoke. As he did so he gave the plate an extra tilt, so that the mixture ran down to one side. It was now a deep purple in colour. " I think if you will look into the centre of the fluid you will see something that will go a long way towards convincing you of the truth of the assertion I made just now," he said quietly, but without turning his head to look at me. I looked as he desired, but at first could see nothing save the mixture itself, whicli was fast turning from purple to blue. This blue grew gradually paler; and as I watched, to my astonish- ment, a picture formed itselt Hjfore my eyes. I saw a long wooden house, surrounded on all sides by a deep verandah. The latter was covered with a beautiful flowering creeper. On either side of the dwelling was a grove of palms, and to the rii;lit, showing like a j^ool of da/,/.ling (juicksilver between the trees, was the sea. And pervading ever}thiiig was the .sensation of intense heat. At first glance I could not recall the house, but it was not long before I recognised the residence of the man who had told me the story which had occasioned this PI >if ^m ■ ■*; 6a DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT tif miracle. I looked at it again, and could even see the window of the room in which I had re- covered from my first severe attack of fever, and from which I never tliought to have emerged alive. With the sight of it the recollection of that miserable time came back to me, and Kel- leran and even his friend Nikola were, for the moment, forgotten. "From the expression upon your face I gather that you know the place," said Nikola, after I had been watching it for a few moments. "Now look into the verandah, and tell me if you recog- nise the two men you see seated there." I looked again, and saw that one was myself, while the other, the man who was leaning against the verandah rail smoking a cigar, was the owner of the house itself There could be n(j mistake about it. The whole scene was as plain before my eyes as if it had been a photograph taken on the spot. "There," said Nikola, with a little note of triumph in his voice, " I ho|)e that will convince you that when I say 1 can do a thing, I mean it." So saying he tilted the saucer, and the picture A NEW IMPETUS 63 vanished in a whirl of colour. I tried to protest, but before I had time to say anything the liquid had in some strange fashion resolved itself once more into a powder, Nikola had tipped it back into the silver box, and Kelleran and I were left to put the best explanation we could upon it We looked at each other, and, feeling that I could not make head or tail of what I had seen, waited for him to speak. " I never saw such a thing in my life," he cried, when he had found sufficient voice. "If any one had told me that such a thing was possible I would not h.ive believed him. I can scarcely credit the evidence of my senses now," " In fact, you feel towards the little exhibition I have just given >'C)u very much as you did to Ingleby's story a quarter of an hour ago," said Nikola. '• What a doubting W(jrld it is, to be sure ! The ime world which ridiculed the notion that the;e could be anything in vaccina- tion, in the steam engine, in ciiloroform, the telegraph, the tclepi\onc, or tiie phonograph. For how many years has it scoffeil at the power of hypnotism ! How many of