“Unorna and I had strolled into the Jewish Cemetery,” he said. “While
we were talking there, Israel Kafka suddenly came upon us and spoke and
acted very wildly. He is madly in love with her. She became very angry
and would not let me interfere. Then, by way of punishment for his
intrusion I suppose, she hypnotised him and made him believe that he was
Simon Abeles, and brought the whole of the poor boy’s life so vividly
before me, as I listened, that I actually seemed to see the scenes. I
was quite unable to stop her or to move from where I stood, though I was
quite awake. But I realised what was going on and I was disgusted at her
cruelty to the unfortunate man. He fainted at the end, but when he came
to himself he seemed to remember nothing. I took him home and Unorna
went away by herself. Then he questioned me so closely as to what had
happened that I was weak enough to tell him the truth. Of course, as
a fervent Hebrew, which he seems to be, he did not relish the idea of
having played the Christian martyr for Unorna’s amusement, and amidst
the graves of his own people. He there and then impressed me that he
intended to take Unorna’s life without delay, but insisted that I should
warn her of her danger, saying that he would not be a common murderer.
Seeing that he was mad and in earnest I went to her. There was some
delay, which proved fortunate, as it turned out, for we left the
conservatory by the small door just as he was entering from the other
end. We locked it behind us, and going round by the passages locked the
other door upon him also, so that he was caught in a trap. And there he
is, unless some one has let him out.”
“And then you took Unorna to the convent?” Keyork had listened
attentively.
“I took her to the convent, promising to come to her when she should
send for me. Then I saw that I must consult you before doing anything
more. It will not do to make a scandal of the matter.”
“No,” answered Keyork thoughtfully. “It will not do.”
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account