Part 35 (1/2)
”How did she lose them?” asked Vand almost in a whisper, as though fearful of breaking the charm. Apparently--as Mrs. Vand guessed--this was not the first time he had a.s.sisted at so weird a ceremony.
”Fierce warriors in green turbans took them--warriors of Arabia. The jewels travel south, still with the warriors. There are many fights. The jewels pa.s.s from one hand to another, still in the ivory box. Now a savage has them--a savage, in a wild forest. They are buried in the earth at the place where victims are sacrificed to the G.o.ds. Long years pa.s.s: centuries glide by. The box of jewels is found: it is in the hands of another savage, who wears European clothes. He gives the jewels to a white man for services rendered.”
Mrs. Vand interrupted with a strangled cry of terror. ”Jabez--is he Jabez?”
”He is not Jabez Huxham, but a man called Maxwell Faith. But see”--the dull voice of the gipsy suddenly became emotional and loud--”they pa.s.s into the hands of Jabez Huxham, and the hands that bear away the jewels are stained with blood. The jewels pa.s.s with him across the sea to this land. In London first; then in this house. They are placed in a carved chest; it is in the attic. Now they are in the safe in the study, and now----”
Vand interrupted. ”How did they pa.s.s out of Huxham's possession?”
Granny Tunks did not reply for a few minutes, during which Mrs. Vand clutched her husband's hand still tighter, and pa.s.sed her tongue over her dry lips. ”They pa.s.s from Jabez Huxham, as they came to him--by murder,” went on the clairvoyant. ”I see the study. Huxham is at the desk, and the ivory box of jewels is before him. There is a knife on the floor by the door, and the knife is b.l.o.o.d.y.”
”But Huxham is not dead,” said Vand, quickly and softly.
”There is blood on the knife,” said Mrs. Tunks, without taking any notice of the question. ”Huxham is so engaged in looking at the jewels that he does not see the door softly open. A man enters. He sees the knife and picks it up. He glided behind Huxham, who suddenly turns.
Now--now the blow has fallen, and the jewels, the jewels----” She paused.
”What more?” gasped Mrs. Vand. ”What more, in G.o.d's name?”
”There is no G.o.d here, but only evil,” came the reply. ”I can see no more. I see, however, that the man who struck the blow is a cripple, and----”
There came a cry, apparently from behind the wall. Vand and his wife turned astonished and terror-struck. On the left of the fire-place a sliding panel was pushed back, and they beheld Bella, pale but triumphant.
”So you murdered Captain Huxham!” she cried, ”you and your wife. O G.o.d----”
”There is no G.o.d here,” breathed Mrs. Tunks again, ”only evil.”
CHAPTER XIX
AN AWKWARD POSITION
The appearance and accusation of Bella were so unexpected that Mrs. Vand and her husband became perfectly white, and obvious fear robbed them of all powers of movement. Granny Tunks sat up, rubbed her eyes, and stared at Bella with the open panel behind her in great surprise.
”Where have you come from, deary?” she asked, rising unsteadily.
”Never mind,” said Bella, with her eyes on the guilty faces of the married couple. ”It is enough that I am here to accuse these two of murder.”
Mrs. Tunks uttered a screech. ”What are you talking about, lovey? This good gentleman and kind lady have murdered no one.”
Bella glanced at her in a puzzled way. ”You declared that Henry Vand murdered my father,” she remarked quietly, and keeping up the fiction of her being Huxham's daughter; ”you said that a cripple----”
”Me!” screeched Granny again. ”I never said such a thing.”
”Of course not,” chimed in Vand, who was the first to recover his powers of speech. ”It's all nonsense.”
”Your face showed that it was the truth just now,” said Bella sharply, ”when Mrs. Tunks talked in her sleep.”
”Sleep? No lovey, no sleep. I sent my spirit away to learn things. What did I say? Tell me, my good gentleman, what did I say?”