'Alone? I didn't understand that.'
'I must see him alone. If you arrange for me to do that it will be a
five-pound note in your pocket.
'Sure?'
'Certain.'
'Then you hang about as the people are going, and I'll pass you
accidental-like into his dressing-room. As you go in you give me the
fiver.'
'I will.'
'No kid?'
'None whatever. You do as you say and I will give you a five-pound
note as certainly as I gave you a sovereign on Thursday.'
'You place yourself where I can keep an eye on you, and I'll earn that
fiver.' He raised his voice to trumpet tones. 'Ladies and gentlemen.
The greatest feat of modern times is now drawing to a close. The
critical moment is at hand. In less than half an hour the boasted
miracles of the Indian fakirs will be more than paralleled. Out of the
silence Mr. Montagu Babbacombe will come; back from the misty plains.
After being dead for thirty days he will resume existence. Already the
dews of life are forming on his brow. The few remaining tickets
admitting to this wonderful spectacle only two-and-sixpence each.'
I did not know what Mr. FitzHoward meant by 'the dews of life,' but so
far as I could see, no change whatever had taken place in the
appearance of the sleeping man. He retained the same rigidity of
attitude, and bore, to the full, the same uncomfortable resemblance to
a corpse.
We were a curious crowd. I fancy that, before the proceedings closed,
there were several there who rather wished that they had stayed away.
I noticed about the people an odd air of repression; a tendency to
speak in whispers; or not to speak at all. A good many seemed doubtful
whether they were not standing in the actual presence of Death. I
confess to some feeling of the kind myself. The man in the white
pyjamas, lying on the mattress under the glass case, exercised a not
altogether agreeable fascination over all of us. We had to look at
him, whether we would or would not. Two young men by me were betting
in undertones as to whether he was or was not dead. It seemed to me a
fantastically droll idea that the subject of their wager was quite
possibly Leonard, Marquis of Twickenham.
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