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Read book online ยซA Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay (the false prince series .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   David Lindsay



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two hundred yards farther north, a square tower of granite masonry, seventy feet in height.

The house and the shop were separated by an open yard, littered with waste. A single stone wall surrounded both, except on the side facing the sea, where the house itself formed a continuation of the cliff. No one appeared. The windows were all closed, and Maskull could have sworn that the whole establishment was shut up and deserted.

He passed through the open gate, followed by Nightspore, and knocked vigorously at the front door. The knocker was thick with dust and had obviously not been used for a long time. He put his ear to the door, but could hear no movements inside the house. He then tried the handle; the door was looked.

They walked around the house, looking for another entrance, but there was only the one door.

โ€œThis isnโ€™t promising,โ€ growled Maskull. โ€œThereโ€™s no one here.โ โ€Šโ โ€ฆ Now you try the shed, while I go over to that tower.โ€

Nightspore, who had not spoken half a dozen words since leaving the train, complied in silence, and started off across the yard. Maskull passed out of the gate again. When he arrived at the foot of the tower, which stood some way back from the cliff, he found the door heavily padlocked. Gazing up, he saw six windows, one above the other at equal distances, all on the east faceโ โ€”that is, overlooking the sea. Realising that no satisfaction was to be gained here, he came away again, still more irritated than before. When he rejoined his friend, Nightspore reported that the workshop was also locked.

โ€œDid we, or did we not, receive an invitation?โ€ demanded Maskull energetically.

โ€œThe house is empty,โ€ replied Nightspore, biting his nails. โ€œBetter break a window.โ€

โ€œI certainly donโ€™t mean to camp out till Krag condescends to come.โ€

He picked up an old iron bolt from the yard and, retreating to a safe distance, hurled it against a sash window on the ground floor. The lower pane was completely shattered. Carefully avoiding the broken glass, Maskull thrust his hand through the aperture and pushed back the frame fastening. A minute later they had climbed through and were standing inside the house.

The room, which was a kitchen, was in an indescribably filthy and neglected condition. The furniture scarcely held together, broken utensils and rubbish lay on the floor instead of on the dust heap, everything was covered with a deep deposit of dust. The atmosphere was so foul that Maskull judged that no fresh air had passed into the room for several months. Insects were crawling on the walls.

They went into the other rooms on the lower floorโ โ€”a scullery, a barely furnished dining room, and a storing place for lumber. The same dirt, mustiness, and neglect met their eyes. At least half a year must have elapsed since these rooms were last touched, or even entered.

โ€œDoes your faith in Krag still hold?โ€ asked Maskull. โ€œI confess mine is at vanishing point. If this affair isnโ€™t one big practical joke, it has every promise of being one. Krag never lived here in his life.โ€

โ€œCome upstairs first,โ€ said Nightspore.

The upstairs rooms proved to consist of a library and three bedrooms. All the windows were tightly closed, and the air was insufferable. The beds had been slept in, evidently a long time ago, and had never been made since. The tumbled, discoloured bed linen actually preserved the impressions of the sleepers. There was no doubt that these impressions were ancient, for all sorts of floating dirt had accumulated on the sheets and coverlets.

โ€œWho could have slept here, do you think?โ€ interrogated Maskull. โ€œThe observatory staff?โ€

โ€œMore likely travellers like ourselves. They left suddenly.โ€

Maskull flung the windows wide open in every room he came to, and held his breath until he had done so. Two of the bedrooms faced the sea; the third, the library, the upward-sloping moorland. This library was now the only room left unvisited, and unless they discovered signs of recent occupation here Maskull made up his mind to regard the whole business as a gigantic hoax.

But the library, like all the other rooms, was foul with stale air and dust-laden. Maskull, having flung the window up and down, fell heavily into an armchair and looked disgustedly at his friend.

โ€œNow what is your opinion of Krag?โ€

Nightspore sat on the edge of the table which stood before the window. โ€œHe may still have left a message for us.โ€

โ€œWhat message? Why? Do you mean in this room?โ โ€”I see no message.โ€

Nightsporeโ€™s eyes wandered about the room, finally seeming to linger upon a glass-fronted wall cupboard, which contained a few old bottles on one of the shelves and nothing else. Maskull glanced at him and at the cupboard. Then, without a word, he got up to examine the bottles.

There were four altogether, one of which was larger than the rest. The smaller ones were about eight inches long. All were torpedo-shaped, but had flattened bottoms, which enabled them to stand upright. Two of the smaller ones were empty and unstoppered, the others contained a colourless liquid, and possessed queer-looking, nozzle-like stoppers that were connected by a thin metal rod with a catch halfway down the side of the bottle. They were labelled, but the labels were yellow with age and the writing was nearly undecipherable. Maskull carried the filled bottles with him to the table in front of the window, in order to get better light. Nightspore moved away to make room for him.

He now made out on the larger bottle the words โ€œSolar Back Raysโ€; and on the other one, after some doubt, he thought that he could distinguish something like โ€œArcturian Back Rays.โ€

He looked up, to stare curiously at his friend. โ€œHave you been here before, Nightspore?โ€

โ€œI guessed Krag would leave a message.โ€

โ€œWell, I donโ€™t knowโ โ€”it may be a message, but it means nothing to us, or at all events to me. What are โ€˜back raysโ€™?โ€

โ€œLight that goes back to its source,โ€ muttered Nightspore.

โ€œAnd what kind of light would that be?โ€

Nightspore seemed unwilling

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