"I may escape yet, in spite of you."
"Oh, will you?" scoffed Dentham. "I daresay you're a juggler, ain't
you? Perhaps you can get through the keyhole, but all your juggles
won't get you out of this mess, unless you pay me well," and with this
parting shot Dentham took his departure and closed the door after him.
Left alone in the dirty, ill-lighted little room, Adrian walked up and
down, pondering over the situation. He saw plainly he was in Dentham's
power, and if he refused to accede to his demand, he would be at once
arrested, tried--in the person of Dr. Roversmire--for the murder of
Adrian Lancaster, and as the proofs were so strong against him,
ultimately hanged. But it was not this prospect that made him shudder;
no, it was something far more terrible, for he knew that his own body,
being to all intents and purposes dead, would be duly buried, and
then--Oh, God, how terrible!--when he was hanged as Dr. Roversmire,
his soul would have to go back to find its original body, and find
it!--where?--in the darkness of the coffin. He would be lying under
the earth a living man, and would die by that most terrible of all
deaths--suffocation.
The bare idea of such an appalling death made a cold sweat break out
on his forehead, and leaning his arms on the mantelpiece he groaned
with anguish. He would die two horrible deaths, first on the gallows,
as Dr. Roversmire, and then in the narrowness of the coffin, as Adrian
Lancaster. What was he to do--consent to Dentham's offer and be saved,
or give himself up and try to explain the whole affair?
Alas, he knew that if he did so he would be looked upon as a madman,
and even if his life was spared, he would be put in a lunatic asylum.
Sooner or later the life of Dr. Roversmire's body would end, and then
he would most certainly, by returning to his own, die a terrible death
in the grave.
On the other hand he recognised fully the treacherous nature of
Dentham, and foresaw that even if he did pay him what he asked, the
valet would first make certain of his money by cashing the cheque, and
then betray him into the hands of the police in the hope of further
reward. There seemed no escape--on all sides he was hemmed in by
perils, and he was the helpless sport of circumstances.
He raised his head from his arms and stared steadily at the old
wrinkled face that looked at him from the dimness of the mirror. As
Adrian Lancaster he had been accused of murder, and hidden his
personality in the body of Michael Roversmire to escape, but now he
was accused of murder as Michael Roversmire, and where could he hide
now--where?
Like a flash of light a solution of the problem broke on his
bewildered brain. The old man whose personality he had assumed had
told him that if the body of Dr. Roversmire died by accident or
suicide, the soul would have to go back to its own body. Well, he
would do so--he would kill himself in the body of Dr. Roversmire and
wake as from a trance in the body of Adrian Lancaster.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account