Dr. Rumsey's Patient Part 27

"Yes, the old thing but with a certain difference. There is the immense globe of light and the picture in the middle."

"The old picture, Awdrey?"

"Yes, yes, but with a difference. The two men are fighting. As a rule they stand motionless in the picture, but to-night they seem to have come alive--they struggle, they struggle hard; one stands with his back to me. The face of the other I can recognize distinctly. It is the face of that young fellow who stayed a few years ago at the inn in our village. Ah! yes, of course, I know his name, Frere--Horace Frere. He has met some one on Salisbury Plain. It is night; the moon is hidden behind clouds. Ha! now it comes out. Now I can see them distinctly. Dr.

Rumsey, don't you hear the blows? I do. They seem to beat on my brain.

That man who stands with his back to us carries my stick in his hand. I know it is mine, for the whole thing is so intensely plain that I can even see the silver tablet on which my name is engraved. My G.o.d! the man also wears my clothes. I would give all that I possess to see his face.

Let us get on the Plain as fast as we can. I may be able to see the reverse side of the picture from there. Come with me, come at once."

"Poor fellow! matters get worse and worse," thought the doctor. "Well, I must see this thing out."

Aloud he said:

"How soon did this vision come to torment you to-night?"

Awdrey rubbed his eyes.

"At first when I went to my room I was sleepy," he said. "I began to take off my things. Then I saw a globe of light in the further end of the room. At first it was merely light with no picture in the centre.

Then faint shadows began to appear, and by slow degrees the perfect and intensely clear picture which I am now looking at became visible. I stared at it quite motionless for a time. I was absorbed by the deepest interest. Then a mad longing to see the face of the man who stands with his back to us, came over me. I walked about the room trying hard to get even a side view of him, but wherever I went he turned so as to keep his face away; wherever I went the face of Frere was the only one I could see. Then in a sort of despair, almost maddened in fact, I rushed from the room.

"Did you not leave the vision behind you?"

"Not I--it went straight in front of me. When I reached your room and opened the door it came in before me. I know now what I must do. I have been always standing more or less to the right of the picture. I must get to the left. I am going to follow it on to the Plain--I am going to trace it to the exact spot where that murder was committed. Will you come with me?"

"Yes, only first you must return to your room, and get into the rest of your clothes. At present you are without a coat."

"Am I? And yet I burn with heat. Well, I'll do what you want. I will do anything which gives me a chance of seeing that man's face."

A few moments later Rumsey and his patient found themselves in the white moonlight of the outer world. Awdrey was now quite silent, but Rumsey noticed that his footsteps faltered once or twice, and that he often paused as if to get his breath. He appeared to be like a man in a frantic hurry; he gazed straight before him, as if he were looking intently at one fixed object.

"It goes before me, and guides me to the spot," he said at last, in a choking voice. He panted more violently than ever. Heavy sighs came from him--these seemed to be wrung from his very heart.

In about ten minutes the men got upon the borders of the Plain. Awdrey then turned abruptly to his left; each moment he walked faster and faster; the doctor had now almost to run to keep up with him. At last they reached the rise of ground. A great clump of alder-trees stood to the left; at the right, a little way off, was a dense belt of undergrowth. On the rising ground itself was short gra.s.s and no other vegetation. A little way off, nearly one hundred feet lower down, was a pond. The light of the moon was fully reflected here; across the smooth surface of the pond was a clear path as if of silver. When they reached the brow of this slight elevation, Awdrey stood still.

"There--it was done there," he said, pointing with his finger. "See, the picture does not move any more, but settles down upon the ground. Now we shall see the whole thing. Good G.o.d, Rumsey, fancy looking at a murder which was committed five years ago! It is going on there now all over again. There stand the two men life-size. Can't we stop them? Can we do nothing?"

"No, it is only a vision," said the doctor; "but tell me exactly what you see."

"It is too marvellous," said Awdrey. "The men move, and I hear the sound of the blows. It is extraordinary how that fellow keeps his back to me.

I can't see his face if I stand here. Come, let us go downhill--if we get near the pond we can look up, and I shall get a view of him in another position."

"Come," said Rumsey. He took Awdrey's arm, and they went down the slope of ground until they almost reached the borders of the pond.

"Now is it any better?" asked the doctor. "Can you see the man's face now?"

"No, he has turned; he still keeps his back to me, the scoundrel. But oh, for G.o.d's sake see--he fights harder than ever. Ha! He has thrown Horace Frere to the ground. Now Frere is up--what a strong chap he is!

Now the other man is down. No, he has risen again. Now they both stand and fight, and--Dr. Rumsey, did you see that? The man with his back to us uses his stick, straight in front of him like a bayonet, and--oh, my G.o.d!"

Awdrey covered his face with his shaking hands. In a moment he looked up again.

"Can't you see for yourself?" he cried. "Frere is on his back--in my opinion he is dead. What has happened?"

Awdrey swayed from side to side. His excitement was so intense that he would have fallen if Dr. Rumsey had not caught him. The night was a chilly one, but the terrified and stricken man was bathed in perspiration.

"Come, Awdrey, you have told me everything, and it is fully time to return home," said the doctor.

"I vow I won't go back until I see that man's face, Dr. Rumsey. What name did they give him at the trial? Frank--Frank Everett--was he the man convicted of the murder?"

"Yes, of course, you must remember that--he is serving his time now in Portland."

Awdrey faced round suddenly, and looked into the doctor's eyes.

"It is all a mistake then," he said, in a queer sort of whisper. "I swear that before G.o.d. I saw Everett once--he was a thickly made man--that fellow is slighter, taller, younger. He carries my stick and wears my clothes. Why in the name of Heaven can't I see his face? What are you saying, doctor?"

"Only that I must take you home, my good fellow. You are my patient, and I cannot permit this excitement any longer."

"But the murder is still going on. Can't you see the whole thing for yourself? That fellow with his back to us is the murderer. He uses his stick as a bayonet. What did I once hear about that? Oh that I could remember! There is a cloud before my mind--oh, G.o.d in Heaven, that I could rend it! Do not speak to me for a moment, doctor, I am struggling with a memory."

Awdrey flung himself on the ground--he pressed his hands before his eyes--he looked like a demented man. Suddenly he sprang to his feet.

"I have it," he said with a laugh, which sounded hollow. "If I look in the pond I shall see the man's face. His face must be reflected in it.

Stay where you are, doctor, I'll be back with you in a minute. I am getting at it--light is coming--it is all returning to me. He uses his stick as a bayonet, prodding him in the mouth. Old, old--what am I saying?--who told me that long ago? Yes I shall see his face in the pond."

Awdrey ran wildly to the edge of the water. He paused just where the silver light fell full across the dark pond. Rumsey followed him in hot haste. He knew that his patient was in the condition when he might leap into the pond at any moment.

Catching on to an alder-tree, Awdrey now bent forward until he caught the reflection in the water--he slid down on his knees to examine it more carefully.

"Take care, Awdrey, you'll slip in if you are not careful," cried Rumsey.

Awdrey was silent for a moment--his own reflection greeted him--he looked straight down at his own face and figure. Suddenly he rose to his feet: a long s.h.i.+ver ran through his frame. He went up to Rumsey with a queer unsteady laugh.

"I have seen the man's face," he said.

"It was your own face, my dear fellow," said the doctor. "I saw it reflected distinctly in the water."

"I am satisfied," said Awdrey, in a changed and yet steady voice. "We can go home now."

"Well, have you really seen what you wanted to see? Who was the murderer?"

"Frank Everett, who is serving his time in Portland prison. Dr. Rumsey, I believe I have been the victim of the most horrible form of nightmare which ever visited living man. Anyhow it has vanished--the vision has completely disappeared."

"I am glad to hear you say so, Awdrey."

"I do not see it any longer--I know what I wanted to know. Let us go back to the Court."

CHAPTER XVII.