Bat Wing by Sax Rohmer (ereader for android .TXT) π
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- Author: Sax Rohmer
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Colonel Menendez seemed to be on the point of speaking again, but he checked himself and in silence led the way through the ornate library to a smaller room which opened out of it, and which was furnished as a study.
Here the motif was distinctly one of officialdom. Although the Southern element was not lacking, it was not so marked as in the library or in the hall. The place was appointed for utility rather than ornament. Everything was in perfect order. In the library, with the blinds drawn, one might have supposed oneself in Trinidad; in the study, under similar conditions, one might equally well have imagined Downing Street to lie outside the windows. Essentially, this was the workroom of a man of affairs.
Having settled ourselves comfortably, Paul Harley opened the conversation.
βIn several particulars,β said he, βI find my information to be incomplete.β
He consulted the back of an envelope, upon which, I presumed during the afternoon, he had made a number of pencilled notes.
βFor instance,β he continued, βyour detection of someone watching the house, and subsequently of someone forcing an entrance, had no visible association with the presence of the bat wing attached to your front door?β
βNo,β replied the Colonel, slowly, βthese episodes took place a month ago.β
βExactly a month ago?β
βThey took place immediately before the last full moon.β
βAh, before the full moon. And because you associate the activities of Voodoo with the full moon, you believe that the old menace has again become active?β
The Colonel nodded emphatically. He was busily engaged in rolling one of his eternal cigarettes.
βThis belief of yours was recently confirmed by the discovery of the bat wing?β
βI no longer doubted,β said Colonel Menendez, shrugging his shoulders. βHow could I?β
βQuite so,β murmured Harley, absently, and evidently pursuing some private train of thought. βAnd now, I take it that your suspicions, if expressed in words would amount to this: During your last visit to Cuba you (a) either killed some high priest of Voodoo, or (b) seriously injured him? Assuming the first theory to be the correct one, your death was determined upon by the sect over which he had formerly presided. Assuming the second to be accurate, however, it is presumably the man himself for whom we must look. Now, Colonel Menendez, kindly inform me if you recall the name of this man?β
βI recall it very well,β replied the Colonel. βHis name was Mβkombo, and he was a Benin negro.β
βAssuming that he is still alive, what, roughly, would his age be to-day?β
The Colonel seemed to meditate, pushing a box of long Martinique cigars across the table in my direction.
βHe would be an old man,β he pronounced. βI, myself, am fifty-two, and I should say that Mβkombo if alive to-day would be nearer to seventy than sixty.β
βAh,β murmured Harley, βand did he speak English?β
βA few words, I believe.β
Paul Harley fixed his gaze upon the dark, aquiline face.
βIn short,β he said, βdo you really suspect that it was Mβkombo whose shadow you saw upon the lawn, who a month ago made a midnight entrance into Crayβs Folly, and who recently pinned a bat wing to the door?β
Colonel Menendez seemed somewhat taken aback by this direct question. βI cannot believe it,β he confessed.
βDo you believe that this order or religion of Voodooism has any existence outside those places where African negroes or descendents of negroes are settled?β
βI should not have been prepared to believe it, Mr. Harley, prior to my experiences in Washington and elsewhere.β
βThen you do believe that there are representatives of this cult to be met with in Europe and America?β
βI should have been prepared to believe it possible in America, for in America there are many negroes, but in Englandβββ
Again he shrugged his shoulders.
βI would remind you,β said Harley, quietly, βthat there are also quite a number of negroes in England. If you seriously believe Voodoo to follow negro migration, I can see no objection to assuming it to be a universal cult.β
βSuch an idea is incredible.β
βYet by what other hypothesis,β asked Harley, βare we to cover the facts of your own case as stated by yourself? Now,β he consulted his pencilled notes, βthere is another point. I gather that these African sorcerers rely largely upon what I may term intimidation. In other words, they claim the power of wishing an enemy to death.β
He raised his eyes and stared grimly at the Colonel.
βI should not like to suppose that a man of your courage and culture could subscribe to such a belief.β
βI do not, sir,β declared the Colonel, warmly. βNo Obeah man could ever exercise his will upon me!β
βYet, if I may say so,β murmured Harley, βyour will to live seems to have become somewhat weakened.β
βWhat do you mean?β
Colonel Menendez stood up, his delicate nostrils dilated. He glared angrily at Harley.
βI mean that I perceive a certain resignation in your manner of which I do not approve.β
βYou do not approve?β said Colonel Menendez, softly; and I thought as he stood looking down upon my friend that I had rarely seen a more formidable figure.
Paul Harley had roused him unaccountably, and knowing my friend for a master of tact I knew also that this had been deliberate, although I could not even dimly perceive his object.
βI occupy the position of a specialist,β Harley continued, βand you occupy that of my patient. Now, you cannot disguise from me that your mental opposition to this danger which threatens has become slackened. Allow me to remind you that the strongest defence is counter-attack. You are angry, Colonel Menendez, but I would rather see you angry than apathetic. To come to my last point. You spoke of a neighbour in terms which led me to suppose that you suspected him of some association with your enemies. May I ask for the name of this person?β
Colonel Menendez sat down again, puffing furiously at his cigarette, whilst beginning to roll another. He was much disturbed, was fighting to regain mastery of himself.
βI apologize from the bottom of my heart,β he said, βfor a breach of good behaviour which really was unforgivable. I was angry when I should have been grateful. Much that you
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