Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Radio -- Fiction; Science fiction; Spiritualism -- Fiction; Wills -- Fiction
Directly behind the house we unwrapped two of the packages. One proved
to be a set of surveyor’s instruments which the civil engineer quickly
assembled. The other looked very much like a radio set with its loop
aerials and dials, although there was no speaker or headphone with it.
The radio set was placed on a small folding table, and Mr. Easton
sighted from that point, while I acted as roadman and Mr. Brandon as
chainman. We measured off a distance of two thousand feet in a straight
line along the beach, the doctor following with the other package. At
that point, the other radio-like machine was assembled and placed on a
folding table. We left Mr. Brandon with this machine, and went back to
the first one.
“Now, Evans,” said my friend. “You and Mr. Easton go back to the house
and keep Miss Van Loan company. As soon as it begins to get dark go into
the living room and occupy the same positions as last night. Mr. Easton
has a false beard with him, and will be disguised to look like me.
Caution Miss Van Loan, when she is inside the house, to address Mr.
Easton by my name. Do not, under any circumstances, tell her this while
you are in the house. When you hear my motor racing outside, come out.
Mr. Easton will remain. Rafferty will then go in to take your place. Is
everything clear?”
“Perfectly.”
We found Miss Van Loan on the porch, and I whispered our plans to her
while Easton adjusted his whiskers. He was about the same build and
height as the doctor, and thus disguised, bore considerable resemblance
to him.
We chatted on the porch until dusk, then went into the living room and
took our seats. Presently the door opened and closed as on the night
before. Then the lights went out. Hearing a rustling sound near the
door, I looked, and saw the gleaming print of a human foot forming on
the carpet. In a moment another had formed in front of it while the
rustling sound continued. The first footprint disappeared and a third
formed in front of the second. It was as if some invisible entity were
walking toward the center of the room, leaving luminous tracks which
disappeared each time a foot was lifted.
The footprints stopped, and drew together, side by side, in the center
of the room. Then there was a slight thump, and a wispy form, similar to
the one we had seen the night before, began to materialize while the two
footprints slowly faded. The thing reached a height of more than six
feet, wabbling this way and that as if scarcely able to support its own
weight, while the horrible odor we had noticed the night before
permeated the room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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