Nightmare Tales Page 3

  THE LUMINOUS SHIELD

  We were a small and select party of light-hearted travelers. We hadarrived at Constantinople a week before from Greece, and had devotedfourteen hours a day ever since to toiling up and down the steepheights of Pera, visiting bazaars, climbing to the tops of minarets andfighting our way through armies of hungry dogs, the traditional mastersof the streets of Stamboul. Nomadic life is infectious, they say, andno civilization is strong enough to destroy the charm of unrestrainedfreedom when it has once been tasted. The gipsy cannot be temptedfrom his tent, and even the common tramp finds a fascination in hiscomfortless and precarious existence, that prevents him taking to anyfixed abode and occupation. To guard my spaniel Ralph from falling avictim to this infection, and joining the canine Bedouins that infestedthe streets, was my chief care during our stay in Constantinople. Hewas a fine fellow, my constant companion and cherished friend. Afraidof losing him, I kept a strict watch over his movements; for thefirst three days, however, he behaved like a tolerably well-educatedquadruped, and remained faithfully at my heels. At every impudentattack from his Mahomedan cousins, whether intended as a hostiledemonstration or an overture of friendship, his only reply would be todraw in his tail between his legs, and with an air of dignified modestyseek protection under the wing of one or other of our party.

  As he had thus from the first shown so decided an aversion to badcompany, I began to feel assured of his discretion, and by the endof the third day I had considerably relaxed my vigilance. Thiscarelessness on my part, however, was soon punished, and I was made toregret my misplaced confidence. In an unguarded moment he listened tothe voice of some four-footed syren, and the last I saw of him was theend of his bushy tail, vanishing round the corner of a dirty, windinglittle back street.

  Greatly annoyed, I passed the remainder of the day in a vain searchafter my dumb companion. I offered twenty, thirty, forty francs rewardfor him. About as many vagabond Maltese began a regular chase, andtowards evening we were invaded in our hotel by the whole troop, everyman of them with a more or less mangy cur in his arms, which he triedto persuade me was my lost dog. The more I denied, the more solemnlythey insisted, one of them actually going down on his knees, snatchingfrom his bosom an old corroded metal image of the Virgin, and swearinga solemn oath that the Queen of Heaven herself had kindly appeared tohim to point out the right animal. The tumult had increased to suchan extent that it looked as if Ralph's disappearance was going to bethe cause of a small riot, and finally our landlord had to send fora couple of Kavasses from the nearest police station, and have thisregiment of bipeds and quadrupeds expelled by main force. I began tobe convinced that I should never see my dog again, and I was themore despondent since the porter of the hotel, a semi-respectableold brigand, who, to judge by appearances, had not passed more thanhalf-a-dozen years at the galleys, gravely assured me that all my painswere useless, as my spaniel was undoubtedly dead and devoured too bythis time, the Turkish dogs being very fond of their more toothsomeEnglish brothers.

  All this discussion had taken place in the street at the door of thehotel, and I was about to give up the search for that night at least,and enter the hotel, when an old Greek lady, a Phanariote who had beenhearing the fracas from the steps of a door close by, approached ourdisconsolate group and suggested to Miss H----, one of our party, that weshould inquire of the dervishes concerning the fate of Ralph.

  "And what can the dervishes know about my dog?" said I, in no mood tojoke, ridiculous as the proposition appeared.

  "The holy men know all, Kyrea (Madam)," said she, somewhatmysteriously. "Last week I was robbed of my new satin pelisse, thatmy son had just brought me from Broussa, and, as you all see, I haverecovered it and have it on my back now."

  "Indeed? Then the holy men have also managed to metamorphose your newpelisse into an old one by all appearances," said one of the gentlemenwho accompanied us, pointing as he spoke to a large rent in the back,which had been clumsily repaired with pins.

  "And that is just the most wonderful part of the whole story," quietlyanswered the Phanariote, not in the least disconcerted. "They showed mein the shining circle the quarter of the town, the house, and even theroom in which the Jew who had stolen my pelisse was just about to ripit up and cut it into pieces. My son and I had barely time to run overto the Kalindjikoulosek quarter, and to save my property. We caught thethief in the very act, and we both recognized him as the man shown tous by the dervishes in the magic moon. He confessed the theft and isnow in prison."

  Although none of us had the least comprehension of what she meantby the magic moon and the shining circle, and were all thoroughlymystified by her account of the divining powers of the "holy men," westill felt somehow satisfied from her manner that the story was notaltogether a fabrication, and since she had at all events apparentlysucceeded in recovering her property through being somehow assisted bythe dervishes, we determined to go the following morning and see forourselves, for what had helped her might help us likewise.

  The monotonous cry of the Muezzins from the tops of the minarets hadjust proclaimed the hour of noon as we, descending from the heightsof Pera to the port of Galata, with difficulty managed to elbow ourway through the unsavory crowds of the commercial quarter of the town.Before we reached the docks we had been half deafened by the shouts andincessant ear-piercing cries and the Babel-like confusion of tongues.In this part of the city it is useless to expect to be guided by eitherhouse numbers, or names of streets. The location of any desired placeis indicated by its proximity to some other more conspicuous building,such as a mosque, bath or European shop; for the rest, one has to trustto Allah and his prophet.

  It was with the greatest difficulty, therefore, that we finallydiscovered the British ship-chandler's store, at the rear of whichwe were to find the place of our destination. Our hotel guide was asignorant of the dervishes' abode as we were ourselves; but at last asmall Greek, in all the simplicity of primitive undress, consented fora modest copper backsheesh to lead us to the dancers.

  When we arrived we were shown into a vast and gloomy hall that lookedlike a deserted stable. It was long and narrow, the floor was thicklystrewn with sand as in a riding school, and it was lighted only bysmall windows placed at some height from the ground. The dervishes hadfinished their morning performances, and were evidently resting fromtheir exhausting labors. They looked completely prostrated, some lyingabout in corners, others sitting on their heels staring vacantly intospace, engaged, as we were informed, in meditation on their invisibledeity. They appeared to have lost all power of sight and hearing, fornone of them responded to our questions until a great gaunt figure,wearing a tall cap that made him look at least seven feet high, emergedfrom an obscure corner. Informing us that he was their chief, the giantgave us to understand that the saintly brethren, being in the habit ofreceiving orders for additional ceremonies from Allah himself, muston no account be disturbed. But when our interpreter had explained tohim the object of our visit, which concerned himself alone, as he wasthe sole custodian of the "divining rod," his objections vanished andhe extended his hand for alms. Upon being gratified, he intimated thatonly two of our party could be admitted at one time into the confidenceof the future, and led the way, followed by Miss H---- and myself.

  Plunging after him into what seemed to be a half subterranean passage,we were led to the foot of a tall ladder leading to a chamber underthe roof. We scrambled up after our guide, and at the top we foundourselves in a wretched garret of moderate size, with bare walls anddestitute of furniture. The floor was carpeted with a thick layer ofdust, and cobwebs festooned the walls in neglected confusion. In thecorner we saw something that I at first mistook for a bundle of oldrags; but the heap presently moved and got on its legs, advanced to themiddle of the room and stood before us, the most extraordinary lookingcreature that I ever beheld. Its sex was female, but whether she was awoman or child it was impossible to decide. She was a hideous-lookingdwarf, with an enormous head, the shoulders of a grenadier, witha wa
ist in proportion; the whole supported by two short, lean,spider-like legs that seemed unequal to the task of bearing the weightof the monstrous body. She had a grinning countenance like the face ofa satyr, and it was ornamented with letters and signs from the Koranpainted in bright yellow. On her forehead was a blood-red crescent;her head was crowned with a dusty tarbouche, or fez; her legs werearrayed in large Turkish trousers, and some dirty white muslin wrappedround her body barely sufficed to conceal its hideous deformities. Thiscreature rather let herself drop than sat down in the middle of thefloor, and as her weight descended on the rickety boards it sent up acloud of dust that set us coughing and sneezing. This was the famousTatmos known as the Damascus oracle!

  Without losing time in idle talk, the dervish produced a piece ofchalk, and traced around the girl a circle about six feet in diameter.Fetching from behind the door twelve small copper lamps which he filledwith some dark liquid from a small bottle which he drew from his bosom,he placed them symmetrically around the magic circle. He then broke achip of wood from a panel of the half ruined door, which bore the marksof many a similar depredation, and, holding the chip between his thumband finger he began blowing on it at regular intervals, alternatingthe blowing with mutterings of some kind of weird incantation, tillsuddenly, and without any apparent cause for its ignition, thereappeared a spark on the chip and it blazed up like a dry match. Thedervish then lit the twelve lamps at this self-generated flame.

  During this process, Tatmos, who had sat till then altogetherunconcerned and motionless, removed her yellow slippers from her nakedfeet, and throwing them into a corner, disclosed as an additionalbeauty, a sixth toe on each deformed foot. The dervish now reached overinto the circle and seizing the dwarf's ankles gave her a jerk, as ifhe had been lifting a bag of corn, and raised her clear off the ground,then, stepping back a pace, held her head downward. He shook her asone might a sack to pack its contents, the motion being regular andeasy. He then swung her to and fro like a pendulum until the necessarymomentum was acquired, when letting go one foot, and seizing the otherwith both hands, he made a powerful muscular effort and whirled herround in the air as if she had been an Indian club.

  My companion had shrunk back in alarm to the farthest corner. Roundand round the dervish swung his living burden, she remaining perfectlypassive. The motion increased in rapidity until the eye could hardlyfollow the body in its circuit. This continued for perhaps two or threeminutes, until, gradually slackening the motion, he at length stoppedit altogether, and in an instant had landed the girl on her kneesin the middle of the lamp-lit circle. Such was the Eastern mode ofmesmerization as practised among the dervishes.

  And now the dwarf seemed entirely oblivious of external objects and ina deep trance. Her head and jaw dropped on her chest, her eyes wereglazed and staring, and altogether her appearance was even more hideousthan before. The dervish then carefully closed the shutters of the onlywindow, and we should have been in total obscurity, but that there wasa hole bored in it, through which entered a bright ray of sunlight thatshot through the darkened room and shone upon the girl. He arranged herdrooping head so that the ray should fall upon the crown, after whichmotioning us to remain silent, he folded his arms upon his bosom, and,fixing his gaze upon the bright spot, became as motionless as a stoneimage. I, too, riveted my eyes on the same spot, wondering what was tohappen next, and how all this strange ceremony was to help me to findRalph.

  By degrees, the bright patch, as if it had drawn through the sunbeama greater splendor from without and condensed it within its ownarea, shaped itself into a brilliant star, sending out rays in everydirection as from a focus.

  A curious optical effect then occurred: the room, which had beenpreviously partially lighted by the sunbeam, grew darker and darker asthe star increased in radiance, until we found ourselves in an Egyptiangloom. The star twinkled, trembled and turned, at first with a slowgyratory motion, then faster and faster, increasing its circumferenceat every rotation until it formed a brilliant disk, and we no longersaw the dwarf, who seemed absorbed into its light. Having graduallyattained an extremely rapid velocity, as the girl had done when whirledby the dervish, the motion began to decrease and finally merged intoa feeble vibration, like the shimmer of moonbeams on rippling water.Then it flickered for a moment longer, emitted a few last flashes, andassuming the density and iridescence of an immense opal, it remainedmotionless. The disk now radiated a moon-like luster, soft and silvery,but instead of illuminating the garret, it seemed only to intensifythe darkness. The edge of the circle was not penumbrous, but on thecontrary sharply defined like that of a silver shield.

  All being now ready, the dervish without uttering a word, or removinghis gaze from the disk, stretched out a hand, and taking hold of mine,he drew me to his side and pointed to the luminous shield. Looking atthe place indicated, we saw large patches appear like those on themoon. These gradually formed themselves into figures that began movingabout in high relief in their natural colors. They neither appearedlike a photograph nor an engraving; still less like the reflection ofimages on a mirror, but as if the disk were a cameo, and they wereraised above its surface and then endowed with life and motion. To myastonishment and my friend's consternation, we recognized the bridgeleading from Galata to Stamboul spanning the Golden Horn from the newto the old city. There were the people hurrying to and fro, steamersand gay caiques gliding on the blue Bosphorus, the many coloredbuildings, villas and palaces reflected in the water; and the wholepicture illuminated by the noon-day sun. It passed like a panorama,but so vivid was the impression that we could not tell whether it orourselves were in motion. All was bustle and life, but not a soundbroke the oppressive stillness. It was noiseless as a dream. It wasa phantom picture. Street after street and quarter after quartersucceeded one another; there was the bazaar, with its narrow, roofedpassages, the small shops on either side, the coffee houses withgravely smoking Turks; and as either they glided past us or we pastthem, one of the smokers upset the narghile and coffee of another,and a volley of soundless invectives caused us great amusement. Sowe traveled with the picture until we came to a large building that Irecognized as the palace of the Minister of Finance. In a ditch behindthe house, and close to a mosque, lying in a pool of mud with hissilken coat all bedraggled, lay my poor Ralph! Panting and crouchingdown as if exhausted, he seemed to be in a dying condition; and nearhim were gathered some sorry-looking curs who lay blinking in the sunand snapping at the flies!

  I had seen all that I desired, although I had not breathed a word aboutthe dog to the dervish, and had come more out of curiosity than withthe idea of any success. I was impatient to leave at once and recoverRalph, but as my companion besought me to remain a little while longer,I reluctantly consented. The scene faded away and Miss H---- placedherself in turn by the side of the dervish.

  "I will think of _him_," she whispered in my ear with the eager tonethat young ladies generally assume when talking of the worshipped _him_.

  There is a long stretch of sand and a blue sea with white waves dancingin the sun, and a great steamer is ploughing her way along past adesolate shore, leaving a milky track behind her. The deck is fullof life, the men are busy forward, the cook with white cap and apronis coming out of the galley, uniformed officers are moving about,passengers fill the quarter-deck, lounging, flirting or reading, and ayoung man we both recognize comes forward and leans over the taffrail.It is--_him_.

  Miss H---- gives a little gasp, blushes and smiles, and concentrates herthoughts again. The picture of the steamer vanishes; the magic moonremains for a few moments blank. But new spots appear on its luminousface, we see a library slowly emerging from its depths--a library withgreen carpet and hangings, and book-shelves round the sides of theroom. Seated in an arm-chair at a table under a hanging lamp, is an oldgentleman writing. His gray hair is brushed back from his forehead,his face is smooth-shaven and his countenance has an expression ofbenignity.

  The dervish made an hasty motion to enjoin silence; the light on thedis
k quivers, but resumes its steady brilliancy, and again its surfaceis imageless for a second.

  We are back in Constantinople now and out of the pearly depths of theshield forms our own apartment in the hotel. There are our papers andbooks on the bureau, my friend's traveling hat in a corner, her ribbonshanging on the glass, and lying on the bed the very dress she hadchanged when starting out on our expedition. No detail was lacking tomake the identification complete; and as if to prove that we were notseeing something conjured up in our own imagination, there lay uponthe dressing-table two unopened letters, the handwriting on which wasclearly recognized by my friend. They were from a very dear relativeof hers, from whom she had expected to hear when in Athens, but hadbeen disappointed. The scene faded away and we now saw her brother'sroom with himself lying upon the lounge, and a servant bathing hishead, whence, to our horror, blood was trickling. We had left the boyin perfect health but an hour before; and upon seeing this picture mycompanion uttered a cry of alarm, and seizing me by the hand draggedme to the door. We rejoined our guide and friends in the long hall andhurried back to the hotel.

  Young H---- had fallen downstairs and cut his forehead rather badly;in our room, on the dressing-table were the two letters which hadarrived in our absence. They had been forwarded from Athens. Orderinga carriage, I at once drove to the Ministry of Finance, and alightingwith the guide, hurriedly made for the ditch I had seen for the firsttime in the shining disk! In the middle of the pool, badly mangled,half-famished, but still alive, lay my beautiful spaniel Ralph, andnear him were the blinking curs, unconcernedly snapping at the flies.