Weird Tales volume 30 number 04 Read online

  I thought that I understood part of it. The latest master came to her for the key to the cellar, and then, when he once passed through the door he never left. She and her servants were not there to welcome me that night, because she did not know that I had a key.

  The thought came to me that perhaps one of those sleeping men was George Seabrook. He and I used to play tennis together and we knew each other like brothers. He had a large scar on the back of his right hand; a livid star-shaped scar. "With that in mind, I walked carefully from sleeping man to sleeping man, looking at their right hands. And I found a right hand with a scar that was shaped like the one I knew so well. But that blind man, only a skin-covered skeleton, chained to a bed of stone! That could not be my gay young tennis player, George!

  The discover)' nauseated me. What did it mean? What could it mean? If the Donna Marchesi was back of all that misery, what was her motive?

  Down the long cave-like room I went. There seemed to be no end to it, though many of the columns were surrounded with empty 7 chains. Only those near the door had their human flies in the trap. In the opposite direction the rows of pillars stretched into a far oblivion. I thought that at the end there was the black mouth of a tunnel, but I could not be sure and dared not go that far to explore the truth. Then, out of that tunnel, I heard a voice come, a singing voice. Slipping my shoes off, I ran back near the door and hid as best I could in a dark recess, back of a far piece of stone. I stood there in the darkness, my torch out, the handle of the revolver in my hand.

  The singing grew louder and louder, and then the singer came into view. It was none other than Donna Marchesi! She carried a lantern in one hand and a basket in the other. Hanging the lantern on a nail, she took the basket and went from one sleeping man to another. With each her performance was the same; she awakened them with a kick in the face, and then, when they sat up crying with pain, she placed a hard roll of bread in their blind, trembling, outstretched hand. With all fed, there was silence save for gnawing teeth breaking through the hard crusts. The poor devils were hungry, starving slowly to death, and how they wolfed the bread! She laughed with animal delight as they cried for more. Standing under the lamp, a lovely devil in her decollete dress, she laughed at them. I swear I saw her yellow eyes, dilated in the semi-darkness!

  Suddenly she gave the command,

  "Up! you dogs, up!'''

  Iike well-trained animals they rose to «* their feet, clumsily, but as fast as they could under the handicap of trembling limbs and heavy chains. Two were slow in obeying, and those she struck across

  TIGER CAT

  393

  the face with a small whip, till they whined with pain.

  They stood there in silence, twenty odd blind men, chained against as many pillars of stone; and then the woman, standing in the middle of them, started to sing. It was a well-trained voice, but metallic, and her high notes had in them the cry of a wild animal. No feminine softness there. She sang from an Italian opera, and I knew that I had heard that song before. While she sang, her audience waited silently. At last she finished, and they started to applaud. Shrunken hands beat noisily against shrunken hands.

  She seemed to watch them carefully, as though she were measuring the degree of their appreciation. One man did not satisfy her. She went over and dug into his face with long strokes of those long red nails until his face was red and her fingers bloody. And when she finished her second song that man clapped louder than any of them. He had learned his lesson.

  She ended by giving them each another roll and a dipper of water. Then, lantern and basket in her hands, she walked away and disappeared down the tunnel. The blind men, crying and cursing in their impotent rage, sank down on their stone beds.

  I went to any friend, and took his hand.

  "George! George Seabrook!" I whispered.

  He sat up and cried, "Who calls me? Who is there?"

  I told him, and he started to cry. At last he became quiet enough to talk to me. What he told me, with slight variants, was the story of all the men there and all the men who had been there but who had died. Each man had been master for a day or a week. Each had found the cellar door and had come to the Donna Marchesi for the key. Some had been suspicious and had written their thoughts

  on the wall of their bedroom. But one and all had, in the end, found their curiosity more than they could resist and had opened the door. On the other side they had been overpowered and chained to a pillar, and there they had remained till they died. Some of them lived longer than the rest. Smith of Boston had been there over two years, though he was coughing badly and did not think that he could last much longer. Seabrook told me their names. They were the best blood of America, with three Englishmen and one Frenchman.

  "And are you all blind?" I whispered, dreading the answer.

  "Yes. That happens the first night we are here. She does it with her nails."

  "And she comes every night?"

  "Ever)' night. She feeds us and sings to us and we applaud. When one of us dies, she unchains the body, and throws it down a hole somewhere. She talks to us about that hole sometimes and brags that she is going to fill it up before she stops."

  "But who is helping her?"

  "I think it is the real-estate man. Of course, the old devils upstairs help. I think that they must drug us. Some of the men say that they went to sleep in their beds and woke, chained to their posts."

  My voice trembled as I bent over and whispered in his ear, What would you do, George, if she came and sang, and you found that you were not chained? You and the other men not chained? What would you men do, George?"

  "Ask them," he snarled. "Ask them, one at a time. But I knew what I would do. I know!"

  And he started to cry, because he could not do it the next second; cried from rage and helplessness till the tears ran from his empty sockets.

  WEIRD TALES

  "Does she always come at the same time?"

  "As far as I know. But time is nothing to us. We just wait for death."

  "Are the chains locked?"

  "Yes. And she must have die key. But ■we could file the links if only we had files. If only each of us had a file, we could get free, Perhaps the man upstairs has a key, but I hardly think so."

  "Did you write on that pretty wall upstairs, the whitewashed wall?"

  "I did; I think we all did. One man wrote a sonnet to the woman, verses in her honor, telling about her beautiful q r es. He raved about that poem for hours while he was dying. Did you ever see it on the wall?"

  "I did not see it. The old people ■whitewash the walls before each new master comes."

  "I thought so."

  "Are you sure you would know what to do, George, if she sang to you and you were loose?"

  "Yes, we would know."

  So I left him, promising an end to the matter as soon as I could arrange it.

  The next day saw me calling on the Donna Marchesi. I took her flowers that time, a corsage of vivid purple and scarlet orchids. She entertained me in her music room and I, taking the hint, asked her to sing. Shyly, almost with reluctance, she did as I asked. She sang the selection from the Italian opera that I knew so well. I was generous in my applause.

  She smiled.

  "You like to hear me sing?"

  "Indeed! I want to hear you again. I could hear you daily without growing tired."

  "You're nice," she purred. "Perhaps it could be arranged."

  "You are too modest. You have a won-

  derful voice. Why not give it to the world?"

  "I sang once in public," she sighed. "It was in New York, at a -private musical. There were many men there. Perhaps it was stage fright; my voice broke badly, and the audience, especially the men, were not kind. I am not sure, but I thought that I heard some of them hiss me."

  "Surely not!" I protested.

  "Indeed, so. But no man has hissed my singing since then."

  "I hope not!" I replied indignantly. "You have a wonderful voice, and, when
I applauded you, I was sincere. By the way, may I change my mind and ask for the key to the door in the cellar?"

  "Do you want it, really want it, my friend?"

  "I am sure I do. I may never use it, but it will please me to have it. Little things in life make me happy, and this key is a little thing."

  "Then you shall have it. Will you do me a favor? Wait till Sunday to use it. Today is Friday, and you will not have to wait many hours."

  "It will be a pleasure to do as you desire," I replied, kissing her hand. "And shall I hear you sing again? May I come often to hear you sing?"

  "I promise you that," she sighed. "I am sure that you will hear me sing often in the future. I feel that in some way our fates approach the same star."

  I looked into her eyes, her yellow cat-eyes, and I was sure that she spoke the truth. Destiny had certainly brought me to find her in Sorona.

  I bought two dozen rat-tailed files, and dashed across the mountains to Milan. There I was closeted with the consuls of three nations: England, France and my own. They did not want to believe my story. I gave them names, and

  TIGER CAT

  395

  they had to admit that there had been inquiries, but they felt that the main details were nightmares, resulting from an over-use of Italian wines. But I insisted that I was not drunk with new wine. At last, they called in the chief of the detective bureau. He knew Franco, the real-estate agent; also the lady in question. And he had heard something of the villa; not much, but vague whisperings.

  "We will be there Saturday night," he promised. "That leaves you tonight. The lady will not try to trap you till Sunday. Can you attend to the old people?"

  "They will be harmless. See that Franco does not have a chance to escape. Here is the extra key to the door. I will go through before twelve. When I am ready, I will open the door. If I am not out by one in the morning, you come through with your police. Do we all understand?"

  "I understand," said the American consul. "But I still think you are dreaming."

  Back at the villa, I again drugged the old people, not much, but enough to insure their sleep that night. They liked me. I was liberal with my gold, and I carelessly showed them where I kept my reserve.

  Then I went through the door. Again I heard the Donna Marchesi sing to an audience that would never hiss her. She left, and I started to distribute the files. From one blind wretch to the next I went, whispering words of cheer and instruction for the next night. They were to cut through a link in the chain, but in such a way that the Tiger Cat would not suspect that they had gained their liberty. Were they pleased to have a hope of freedom? I am not sure, but they were delighted at another prospect.

  The next night I doubled the tips to

  the old servants. With tears of gratitude in their eyes, they thanked me as they called me their dear master. I put them to sleep as though they were babies. In fact, I wondered at the time if they would ever recover from the dose of chloral I gave them. I did not even bother to tie them, but just tossed them on their beds.

  At half past ten, automobiles began to arrive with darkened lights. We had a lengthy conference, and soon after eleven I went through the door. I lost no time in making sure that each of the blind mice was a free man, but I insisted that they act as though bound till the proper time. They were trembling, but it was not from fear, not that time.

  Back in my hiding-place I waited, and soon I heard the singing voice. Ten minutes later the Donna Marchesi had her lantern hung on the nail. Ah! She was more beautiful that night than I had ever seen her. Dressed in filmy white, her beautiful body, lovely hair, long lithe limbs would have bound any man to her through eternity. She seemed to sense that beauty, for, after giving out the first supply of rolls, she varied her program. She told her audience how she had dressed that evening for their special pleasure. She described her jewels and her costume. She almost became grandiose as she told of her beauty, and, driving in the dagger, she twisted it as she reminded them that never would they be able to see her, never touch her or kiss her hand. All they could do was to hear her sing, applaud and at last die.

  Of all the terrible things in her life that little talk to those blind men was the climax.

  And then she sang. I watched her closely, and I saw what I suspected. She sang with her eyes closed. Was she in fancy seeming that she was in an opera-house before thousands of spellbound admirers? Who knows? But ever as she

  WEIRD TALES

  sang that night her eyes were closed, and even as she came to a close, waiting for the usual applause, her eyes were closed.

  She waited in the silence for the clap of hands. It did not come. With terrific anger, she whirled to her basket and reached for her whip.

  "Dogs!" she cried. "Have you so soon forgot your lesson?"

  And then she realized that the twenty blind men were closing in on her. They were silent, but their outstretched hands were feeling for something that they wanted very much. Even when her whip started to cut, they were silent. Then one man touched her. To her credit, there was no sign of fear. She knew what had happened. She must have known, but she was not afraid. Her single scream was nothing but the battle-cry of the tiger cat going into action.

  There was a single cry, and that was all. The men reached for what they wanted in silence. For a while they were all in a struggling group on their feet, but soon they were all on the ground. It was simply a mass, and under that mass was a biting, scratching, fighting, dying animal.

  I couldn't stand it. I had planned it

  all, I wanted it all to happen, but when it came, I just couldn't stand it. Covered with the sweat of fear, I ran to the door and unlocked it. I swung it open, went through the doorway, closed it and locked it again. The men, waiting for me in the cellar, looked on with doubt. It seemed that they were right in thinking that my tale was an alcoholic one.

  "Give me whisky!" I gasped, as I dropped on the floor.

  In a few minutes I had recovered.

  "Open the door," I ordered. "And bring the blind men out."

  One at a time they were brought to the kitchen, and identified. Some were terribly mutilated in the face, long deep scratches, and even pieces bitten out, and one had the corner of his mouth torn. Most of them were sobbing hysterically, but, in some way, though none said so, I judged that they were all happy.

  We went back to the cellar and through the door. On the stone floor was a clotted mass of red and white.

  "What's that?" asked the American consul.

  "I think that is the Donna Marchesi," I replied. "She must have met with an accident."

  "Good-bye for eternity!" we heard her sob.

  ledged to the Dead

  By SEABURY QUINN

  A tale of a lover who was pledged to a sweetheart who had been in her grave

  for more than a century, and of the striking death that

  menaced him — a story of fttles de Grandin

  THE autumn dusk had stained the sky with shadows and orange oblongs traced the windows in ray neighbors' homes as Jules de Grandin and I sat sipping kaiserschmarrn and coffee

  in the study after dinner. "Mon Dieu" the little Frenchman sighed, "I have the mal dtt pays, my friend. The little children run and play along the roadways at Saint Cloud, and on the He de France the 397

  WEIRD TALES

  pastry cooks set up their booths. Corbleu. it takes the strength of character not to stop and buy those cakes of so much taste and fancy! The Napoleons, they are crisp and fragile as a coquette's promise, the eclairs filled with cool, sweet cream, the cream-puffs all aglow with cherries. Just to see them is to love life better. They "

  The shrilling of the door-bell startled me. The pressure on the button must have been that of one who leant against it. "Doctor Trowbridge; I must see him right away!" a woman's voice demanded as Nora McGinnis, my household factotum, grudgingly responded to the hail.

  "Th' docthor's offiss hours is over, ma'am," Nora answered frigidly. "Ha'f past nine ter eleven in
th' marnin', an' two ter four in th' afthernoon is when he sees his patients. If it's an urgent case ye have there's lots o' good young doc-thors in th' neighborhood, but Docthor Trowbridge "

  "Is he here?" the visitor demanded sharply.

  "He is, an' he's afther digestin' his dinner—an' an illigant dinner it wuz, though I do say so as shouldn't—an' he can't be disturbed "

  "He'll see me, all right. Tell him it's Nella Bentley, and I've got to talk to him!"

  De Grandin raised an eyebrow eloquently. "The fish at the aquarium have greater privacy than we, my friend," he murmured, but broke off as the visitor came clacking down the hall on high French heels and rushed into the study half a dozen paces in advance of my thoroughly disapproving and more than semi-scandalized Nora.

  "Doctor Trowbridge, won't you help me?" cried the girl as she fairly leaped across the study and flung her arms about my shoulders. "I can't tell Dad or Mother, they wouldn't understand; so

  you're the only one—oh, excuse me, I thought you were alone!'' Her face went crimson as she saw de Grandin standing by the fire,

  "It's quite all right, my dear, ' I soothed, freeing myself from her almost hysterical clutch. "This is Doctor de Grandin, with whom I've been associated many times; I'd be glad to have the benefit of his advice, if you don't mind."

  She gave him her hand and a wan smile as I performed the introduction, but her eyes warmed quickly as he raised her fingers to his lips with a soft ''Encbante, Mademoiselle." Women, animals and children took instinctively to Jules de Grandin.

  Nella dropped her coat of silky shaven lamb and sank down on the study couch, her slim young figure molded in her knitted dress of coral rayon as revealingly as though she had been cased in plastic cellulose. She has long, violet eyes and a long mouth; smooth, dark hair parted in the middle; a small straight nose, and a small pointed chin. Every line of her is long, but definitely feminine; breasts and hips and throat and legs all delicately curved, without a hint of angularity.

  'I've come to see you about Ned," she volunteered as de Grandin lit her cigarette and she sent a nervous smoke-stream gushing from between red, trembling lips. "He—he's trying to run out on me!"