“And you talk of superstitious villagers! Let’s have one thing straight before we go any further. Lavery and I do not believe in the supernatural, not as the misinformed majority understand it. We believe that there are other planes of existence, yes, and that they are inhabited; and further, that occasionally we may glimpse alien areas and realms beyond the ones we were born to. In this we are surely nothing less than scientists, men who have been given rare talents, and each experi ment we take part in leads us a little further along the paths of discovery. No ghosts or demons, sir, but scientific phenomena which may one day open up whole new vistas of knowledge. Let me repeat once more: there is nothing to fear in this, nothing at all!”
“There I cannot agree,” I answered. “You must be aware, as I am, that there are well-documented cases of….”
“Self-hypnotism!” Lavery broke in. “In almost every case where medium experimenters have come to harm, it can be proved that they were the victims of self-hypnosis.”
“And that’s not all,” Turnbull added. “You’ll find that they were all believers in the so-called supernatural. We, on the other hand, are not—”
“But what of these well-documented cases you mentioned?” Old Danford spoke up. “What sort of cases?”
“Cases of sudden, violent death!” I answered. “The case of the medium who slept in a room once occupied by a murderer, a strangler, and who was found the next morning strangled—though the room was windowless and locked from the inside! The case of the exorcist,” (I paused briefly to glance at Danford) “who attempted to seek out and put to rest a certain grey thing which haunted a Scottish graveyard. Whatever it was, this monster was legended to crush its victims’ heads. Well, his curiosity did for him: he was found with his head squashed flat and his brains all burst from his ears!”
“And you think that all of—” Danford began.
“I don’t know what to think,” I interrupted him, “but certainly the facts seem to speak for themselves. These men I’ve mentioned, and many others like them, all tried to understand or search for things which they should have left utterly alone. Then, too late, each of them recognized…something…and it recognized them! What I think really does not matter; what matters is that these men are no more. And yet here, tonight, you would commence just such an experiment ,to seek out something you really aren’t meant to know. Well, good luck to you. I for one want no part of it. I’ll leave before you begin.”
At that Lord Marriot, solicitous now, came over and laid a hand on my arm. “Now you promised me you’d see this thing through with me.”
“I did not accept your money, David,” I reminded him.
“I respect you all the more for that,” he answered. “You were willing to be here simply as a friend. As for this change of heart…. At least stay awhile and see the thing under way.”
I sighed and reluctantly nodded. Our friendship was a bond sealed long ago, in childhood. “As you wish—but if and when I’ve had enough, then you must not try to prevent my leaving.”
“My word on it,” he immediately replied, briskly pumping my hand. “Now then: a bite to eat and a drink, I think, another log on the fire, and then we can begin….”
2.
The late-autumn evening was setting in fast by the time we gathered around a heavy, circular oak table set centrally upon the library’s parquet flooring, in preparation for Lavery’s demonstration of his esoteric talent. The other three guests were fairly cheery, perhaps a little excited—doubtless as a result of David’s plying them unstintingly with his excellent sherry—and our host himself seemed in very good spirits; but I had been little affected and the small amount of wine I had taken had, if anything, only seemed to heighten the almost tangible atmosphere of dread which pressed in upon me from all sides. Only
“There I cannot agree,” I answered. “You must be aware, as I am, that there are well-documented cases of….”
“Self-hypnotism!” Lavery broke in. “In almost every case where medium experimenters have come to harm, it can be proved that they were the victims of self-hypnosis.”
“And that’s not all,” Turnbull added. “You’ll find that they were all believers in the so-called supernatural. We, on the other hand, are not—”
“But what of these well-documented cases you mentioned?” Old Danford spoke up. “What sort of cases?”
“Cases of sudden, violent death!” I answered. “The case of the medium who slept in a room once occupied by a murderer, a strangler, and who was found the next morning strangled—though the room was windowless and locked from the inside! The case of the exorcist,” (I paused briefly to glance at Danford) “who attempted to seek out and put to rest a certain grey thing which haunted a Scottish graveyard. Whatever it was, this monster was legended to crush its victims’ heads. Well, his curiosity did for him: he was found with his head squashed flat and his brains all burst from his ears!”
“And you think that all of—” Danford began.
“I don’t know what to think,” I interrupted him, “but certainly the facts seem to speak for themselves. These men I’ve mentioned, and many others like them, all tried to understand or search for things which they should have left utterly alone. Then, too late, each of them recognized…something…and it recognized them! What I think really does not matter; what matters is that these men are no more. And yet here, tonight, you would commence just such an experiment ,to seek out something you really aren’t meant to know. Well, good luck to you. I for one want no part of it. I’ll leave before you begin.”
At that Lord Marriot, solicitous now, came over and laid a hand on my arm. “Now you promised me you’d see this thing through with me.”
“I did not accept your money, David,” I reminded him.
“I respect you all the more for that,” he answered. “You were willing to be here simply as a friend. As for this change of heart…. At least stay awhile and see the thing under way.”
I sighed and reluctantly nodded. Our friendship was a bond sealed long ago, in childhood. “As you wish—but if and when I’ve had enough, then you must not try to prevent my leaving.”
“My word on it,” he immediately replied, briskly pumping my hand. “Now then: a bite to eat and a drink, I think, another log on the fire, and then we can begin….”
2.
The late-autumn evening was setting in fast by the time we gathered around a heavy, circular oak table set centrally upon the library’s parquet flooring, in preparation for Lavery’s demonstration of his esoteric talent. The other three guests were fairly cheery, perhaps a little excited—doubtless as a result of David’s plying them unstintingly with his excellent sherry—and our host himself seemed in very good spirits; but I had been little affected and the small amount of wine I had taken had, if anything, only seemed to heighten the almost tangible atmosphere of dread which pressed in upon me from all sides. Only