Latest / Occult & Supernatural Audiobooks: Forbidden Rituals, Esoteric Texts & Paranormal Tales / 🟡 Jewel of Seven Stars (Full Audiobook) | Bram Stoker (Part 2 of 2)

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🟡 Jewel of Seven Stars (Full Audiobook) | Bram Stoker (Part 2 of 2) · Occult & Supernatural Audiobooks: Forbidden Rituals, Esoteric Texts & Paranormal Tales

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But now, when she is voluntarily abandoned for the time
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: her astral power, there can be no doubt on the subject.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Margaret's face cleared all right, father, she said, as she
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: kissed him. But oh, it seems horrible indignity to a
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: queen and a woman. I was moving away to the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: staircase when she called me, where are you going? I
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: came back and took her hand and stroked it as
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I answered, I shall come back when the unrolling is over.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: She looked at me long and a faint suggestion of
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: a smile came over her face as she said, perhaps
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: you had better stay too. It may be useful to
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: you in your work as a barrister. She smiled out
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: as she met my eyes, but in an instant she
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: changed her face grew grave and deadly white. In a
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: far away voice, she said, Father is right. It is
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: a terrible occasion. We need all to be serious over it.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: But all the same, nay, for that very reason, you
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: had better stay, Malcolm. You may be glad later on
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: that you were present to night. My heart sank down
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: down at her words, but I thought it better to
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: say nothing. Fear was stalking openly enough amongst us already.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: By this time mister Trelawney, assisted by mister Korbeck and
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: doctor Winchester, had raised the lid of the ironstone sarcophagus
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: which contained the mummy of the Queen. It was a
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: large one, but it was none too big. The mummy
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: was both long and broad and high, and was of
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: such weight that it was no easy task even for
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the four of us to lift it out. Under mister
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Trelawney's direction, we laid it out on the table prepared
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: for it. Then, and then only did the full horror
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: of the whole thing burst upon me. There, in the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: full glare of the light, the whole material and sordid
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: side of death seemed staringly real. The outer wrappings, torn
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: and loosened by rude touch, and with the color either
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: darkened by dust or worn light by friction, seemed creased
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: as by rough treatment. The jagged edges of the wrapping
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: cloths looked fringed, The painting was patchy, and the varnish chipped.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: The coverings were evidently many, for the bulk was great,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: But through all showed that unhideable human figure, which seems
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to look more horrible when partially concealed. Than at any
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: other time. What was before us was death and nothing else.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: All the romance and sentiment of fancy had dised. The
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: two elder men enthusiasts who had often done such work,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: were not disconcerted, and Doctor Winchester seemed to hold himself
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: in a business like attitude, as if before the operating table.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: But I felt low spirited and miserable and ashamed, And
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: besides I was pained and alarmed by Margaret's ghastly pallor.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Then the work began. The unrolling of the mummy cat
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: had prepared me somewhat for it, But this was so
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: much larger, and so infinitely more elaborate, that it seemed
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: a different thing. Moreover, in addition to the ever present
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: sense of death and humanity, there was a feeling of
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: something finer in all this. The cat had been embalmed
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: with coarser materials. Here all, when, once the outer coverings
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: were removed, was more delicately done. It seemed as if
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: only the finest gums and spices had been used in
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: this embalming. But there were the same surroundings, the same
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: attendant red dust and pungent presence of bitumen. There was
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: the same sound of rending which marked the tearing away
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: of the bandages. There were an enormous number of these,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: and their bulk, when opened was great. As the men
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: unrolled them, I grew more and more excited. I did
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: not take a part in it myself. Margaret had looked
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: at me gratefully. As I drew back. We clasped hands
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and held each other hard. As the unrolling went on,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: the wrappings became finer, and the smell less laden with bitumen,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: but more pungent. We all, I think, began to feel
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: it as though it caught or touched us in some
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: special way. This, however, did not interfere with the work.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: It went on uninterruptedly. Some of the inner wrappings bore
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: symbols or pictures. These were done, sometimes wholly in pale
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: green color, sometimes in many colors, but always with a
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: prevalence of green. Now and again mister Trelawney or mister
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Korbeck would point out some special drawing before laying the
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: bandage on the pile behind them, which kept growing to
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: a monstrous height. At last we knew that the wrappings
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: were coming to an end. Already the proportions were reduced
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: to those of a normal figure of the manifest height
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: of the queen, who was more than average height. And
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: as the end drew nearer, so Margaret's pallor grew, and
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: her heart beat more and more wildly, till her breast
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: heaved in a way that frightened me. Just as her
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: father was taking away the last of the bandages, he
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: happened to look up and caught the pained and anxious
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: look of her pale face. He paused, and, taking her
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: concern to be as to the outrage unmodesty, said in
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: a comforting way, do not be uneasy, dear. See, there
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: is nothing to harm you. The queen has on a robe, ay,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: and a royal robe too. The wrapping was a wide piece,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: the whole length of the body. It being removed, a
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: profusely full robe of white linen had appeared, covering the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: body from the throat to the feet. And such linen
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: we all bent over to look at it. Margaret lost
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: her concern in her woman's interest in fine stuff. Then
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the rest of us looked with admiration, for surely such
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: linen was never seen by the eyes of our age.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: It was as fine as the finest silk, but never
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: was spun or woven silk, which lay in such gracious folds,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: constrict though they were, by the close wrappings of the
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: mummy cloth, and fixed into hardness by the passing of
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: thousands of years. Round the neck it was delicately embroidered
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: in pure gold with tiny sprays of sycamore, and round
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: the feet similarly worked was an endless line of lotus
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: plants of unequal height and with all the graceful abandon
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: of natural growth. Across the body, but manifestly not Surrounding
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: it was a girdle of jewels, a wondrous girdle which
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: shone and glowed with all the forms and faces and
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: colors of the sky. The buckle was a great yellow
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: stone round of outline, deep and curved as if a
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: yielding globe had been pressed down. It shone and glowed
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: as though a veritable sun lay within of its light
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: seemed to strike out and illumine all around. Flanking it
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: were two great moonstones of lesser size, whose glowing beside
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: the glory of the sunstone, was like the silvery sheen
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: of moonlight. And then on either side, linked by golden
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: clasps of exquisite shape, was a line of flaming jewels,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: of which the colors seemed to glow. Each of these
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: stones seemed to hold a living star, which twinkled in
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: every phase of changing light. Margaret raised her hands in ecstasy.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: She bent over to examine more closely, but suddenly drew
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: back and stood fully erect at her grand height. She
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: seemed to speak with the conviction of absolute knowledge, as
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: she said, that is no seerment. It was not meant
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: for the clothing of death. It is a marriage robe.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Mister Trelawney leaned over and touched the linen robe. He
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: lifted a fold at the neck, and I knew from
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: the quick intake of his breath that something had surprised him.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: He lifted yet a little more, and then he too
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: stood back and pointed, saying, Margaret is right. That dress
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: is not intended to be worn by the dead. See
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: her figure is not robed in it. It is but
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: laid upon her. He lifted the zone of jewels and
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: handed it to Margaret. Then, with both hands he raised
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: the ample robe and laid it across the arms, which
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: she extended in a natural impulse. Things of such beauty
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: were too precious to be handled with any but the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: greatest care. We all stood awed at the beauty of
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: the figure, which, save for the face cloth, now lay
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: completely nude before us. Mister Trelawney bent over, and, with
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: hands that trembled, slightly raised this linen cloth, which was
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: of the same fineness as the robe. As he stood
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: back and the whole glorious beauty of the queen was revealed,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: I felt a rush of shame sweep over me. It
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: was not right that we should be there, gazing with
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: irreverent eyes on such unclad beauty. It was indecent, It
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: was almost sacrilegious. And yet the white wonder of that
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: beautiful form was something to dream of. It was not
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: like death at all. It was like a statue carven
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: in ivory by the hand of prexidiles. There was nothing
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: of that horrible shrinkage which death seems to effect in
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: a moment. There was none of the wrinkled toughness which
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: seems to be a leading characteristic of most mummy. There
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: was not the shrunken attenuation of a body dried in
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: the sand, as I had seen before in museums. All
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: the pores of the body seemed to have been preserved.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: In some wonderful way. The flesh was full and round
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: as in a living person, and the skin was as
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: smooth as satin. The color seemed extraordinary. It was like ivory,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: new ivory, except with a right arm with shattered, blood
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: stained wrist and missing hand had lain bare to exposure
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: in the sarcophagus for so many tens of centuries. With
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: a womanly impulse, with a mouth that drooped with pity,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: with eyes that flashed with anger, and cheeks that flamed,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Margaret threw over the body the beautiful robe, which lay
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: across her arm. Only the face was then to be seen.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: This was more startling even than the body, for it
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: seemed not dead but alive. The eyelids were closed, but
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the long black, curling lashes lay over on the cheeks.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: The nostrils, said in grave pride, seemed to have the
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: repose which, when it is seen in life, is greater
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: than the repose of death. The full red lips, though
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the mouth was not open, showed the tiniest white line
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: of pearly teeth. Within her hair, glorious in quantity and
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: glossy black as the raven's wing, was piled in great
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: masses over the white forehead, on which a few curling
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: tresses strayed like tendrils. I was amazed at the likeness
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: to Margaret, though I had had my mind prepared for
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: this by mister Corbeck's quotation of her father's statement. This woman,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: I could not think of her as a mummy or
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: a corpse. Was the image of Margaret as my eyes
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: had first lit on her. The lightness was increased by
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: the jeweled ornament which she wore in her hair, the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: disk and plumes, such as Margaret too had worn. It
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: too was a glorious jewel, one noble pearl of moonlight,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: luster flanked by carven pieces of moonstone. Mister Trelawney was
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: overcome as he looked. He quite broke down, And when
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Margaret flew to him and held him close in her
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: arms and comforted him, I heard him murmur brokenly, it
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: looks as if you were dead, my child. There was
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: a long silence I could hear without the roar of
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: the wind, which was now risen to a tempest, and
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: the furious dashing of the waves far below. Mister Trelawney's
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: voice broke the spell. Later on, we must try and
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: find out the process of embalming. It is not like
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: any that I know. There does not seem to have
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: been any opening cut for the withdrawing of the viscera
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: and organs, which apparently remain intact within the body. Then again,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: there is no moisture in the flesh, but its place
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: is supplied with something else, as though wax or steer
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: in had been conveyed into the veins by some subtle process.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I wonder could it be possible that at that time
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: they could have used paraffin. It might have been by
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: some process that we know not pumped into the veins
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: where it hardened. Margaret, having thrown a white sheet over
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: the queen's body, asked us to bring it to her
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: own room, where we laid it on her bed. Then
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: she sent us away, saying, leave her alone with me.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: There are still many hours to pass, and I do
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: not like to leave her lying there all stark in
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: the glo of light. This may be the bridle she
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: prepared for the bridle of death, and at least she
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: shall wear her pretty robes. When presently she brought me
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: back to her room, the dead queen was dressed in
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: the robe of fine linen, with the embroidery of gold,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: and all her beautiful jewels were in place. Candles were
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: lit around her, and white flowers lay upon her breast.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Hand in hand, we stood looking at her for a while.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Then with a sigh, Margaret covered her with one of
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: her own snowy sheets. She turned away, and, after softly
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: closing the door of the room, went back with me
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: to the others who had now come into the dining room.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Here we all began to talk over the things that
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: had been and that were to be. Now and again,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I could feel that one or other of us was
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: forcing conversation, as if we were not sure of ourselves.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: The long wait was beginning to tell on our nerves.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: It was apparent to me that mister Trelawney had suffered
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: in that strange trance more than we suspected, or than
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: he cared to show. True, his will and his determination
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: were as strong as ever, but the purely physical side
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: of him had been weakened somewhat. It was indeed only
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: natural that it should be. No man can go through
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: a period of four days of absolute negation of life
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: without being weakened by it. Somehow, As the hours crept by,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: the time passed more and more slowly. The other men
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: seemed to get unconsciously a little drowsy. I wondered if,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: in the case of mister Trelawney and mister Korbeck, who
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: had already been under the hypnotic influence of the Queen,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: the same dormance was manifesting itself. Doctor Winchester had peered
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: periods of distraction, which grew longer and more frequent as
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: the time wore on. As to Margaret, the suspense told
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: on her exceedingly as might have been expected in the
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: case of a woman. She grew paler and paler still,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: till at last about midnight I began to be seriously
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: alarmed about her. I got her to come into the
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: library with me, and tried to make her lie down
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: on a sofa for a little while. As mister Trelawney
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: had decided that the experiment was to be made exactly
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: at the seventh hour after sunset, it would be as
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: nearly as possible three o'clock in the morning when the
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: great trial should be made, even allowing a whole hour
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: for the final preparations, we had still two hours of
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: waiting to go through. And I promised faithfully to watch
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: her and to wake her at any time she might
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: name she would not hear of it. However, she thanked
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: me sweetly and smiled at me as she did so.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: But she assured me that she was not sleepy, and
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: that she was quite able to bear up, that it
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: was only the suspense and excitement of waiting that made
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: her pale. I agreed, perforce, But I kept her talking
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: of many things in the library for more than an hour,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: so that at last, when she insisted on going back
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: to her father's room, I felt that I had at
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: least done something to help her pass the time. We
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: found the three men sitting patiently in silence, with manlike fortitude.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: They were content to be still when they felt they
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: had done all in their power, and so we waited.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: The striking of two o'clock seemed to freshen us all up.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Whatever shadows had been settling over us during the long
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: hours proceeding seemed to lift at once, and we went
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: about our separate duties alert and with all alacrity. We
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: looked first to the windows to see that they were closed,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: and we got ready our respirators to put them on.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: When the time should be close at hand. We had
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: from the first arranged to use them, for we did
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: not know whether some noxious fume might not come from
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the magic coffer when it should be opened. Somehow, it
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: never seemed to occur to any of us that there
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: was any doubt as to its opening. Then, under Margaret's guidance,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: we carried the mummied body of Queen Terra from her
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: room into her father's and laid it on a couch.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: We put the sheet lightly over it, so that if
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: she should wake, she could at once slip from under it.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: The severed hand was placed in its true position on
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: her breast, and under it the jewel of seven Stars,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: which mister Trelawney had taken from the Great safe. It
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: seemed to flash and blaze as he put it in
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: its place. It was a strange sight and a strange experience.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: The group of grave, silent men carried the white still figure,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: which looked like an ivory statue. When through our moving
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: the sheet fell back away from the lighted candles and
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: the white flowers, we placed it on the couch in
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: that other room, where the blaze of the electric lights
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: shone on the great sarcophagus fixed in the middle of
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: the room. Ready for the final experiment, the great experiment
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: consequent on the researches during a lifetime of these two
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: traveled scholars. Again, the startling likeness between Margaret and the mummy,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: intensified by her own extraordinary pallor, heightened the strangeness of
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: it all. When all was finally fixed, three quarters of
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: an hour had gone, for we were deliberate in all
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: our doings. Margaret beckoned me, and I went out with
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: her to bring in Silvio. He aim to her, purring.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: She took him up and handed him to me, and
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: then did a thing which moved me strangely and brought
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: home to me keenly the desperate nature of the enterprise
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: on which we were embarked. One by one, she blew
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: out the candles carefully and placed them back in their
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: usual places. When she had finished, she said to me
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: they are done with now. Whatever comes life or death,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: there will be no purpose in their using now, then
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: taking Silvio into her arms and pressing him close to
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: her bosom, where he purred loudly, we went back to
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: the room. I closed the door carefully behind me, feeling
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: as I did so a strange thrill as of finality,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: there was to be no going back now. Then we
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: put on our respirators and took our places as had
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: been arranged. I was to stand by the taps of
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: the electric lights beside the door, ready to turn them
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: off or on, as mister Trelawney should direct. Doctor Winchester
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: was to stand behind the couch, so that he should
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: not be between the mummy and the sarcophagus. He was
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: to watch carefully what should take place with regard to
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: the Queen. Margaret was to be beside him. She held Sylvia,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: ready to place him upon the couch or beside it
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: when she might think right. Mister Trelawney and mister Korbeck
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: were to attend to the lighting of the lamps. When
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: the hands of the clock were close to the hour.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: They stood ready with their linen stocks. The striking of
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: the silver bell in the clock seemed to smite on
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: her hearts like a knell of doom. One, two, three.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Before the third stroke, the wits of the lamps had caught,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: and I had turned out the electric light. In the
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: dimness of the struggling lamps, And after the bright glow
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: of the electric light, the room and all within it
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: took weird shapes, and all seemed in an instant to change.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: We waited with our hearts beating. I know mine did,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and I fancied I could hear the pulsation of the others.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: The second seemed to pass with leaden wings. It were
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: as though all the world were standing still. The figures
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: of the others stood out dimly, Margaret's white dress alone
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: showing clearly in the gloom. The thick respirators which we
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: all wore, added to the strange appearance. The thin light
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: of the lamps showed mister Trelawney's square jaw and strong mouth,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: and the brown shaven face of mister Korbeck. Their eyes
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: seemed to glaze in the light across the room. Doctor
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Winchester's eyes twinkled like stars, and Margaret's blazed like black suns.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Silvio's eyes were like emeralds. Would the lamps never burn up?
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: It was only a few seconds in all till they
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: did blaze up, a slow, steady light, growing more and
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: more bright and changing in color from blue to crystal white.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: So they stayed for a couple of minutes without change
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: in the coffer, till at last there began to appear
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: all over it a delicate glow. This grew and grew
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: till it became like a blazing jewel, and then like
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: a living thing whose essence of life was light. We
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: waited and waited, our heart seeming to stand still. All
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: at once there was a sound like a tiny muffled explode,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: and the cover lifted right up on a level plain
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: a few inches. There was no mistaking anything now, for
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: the whole room was full of a blaze of light.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Then the cover, staying fast at one side, rose slowly
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: up on the other, as though yielding to some pressure
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: of balance. The coffer still continued to glow from it
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: began to steal a faint, greenish smoke. I could not
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: smell it fully on account of the respirator, but even
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: through that I was conscious of a strange, pungent odor.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Then the smoke began to grow thicker, and to roll
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: out in volumes of ever increasing density, till the whole
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: room began to get obscure. I had a terrible desire
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: to rush over to Margaret, whom I saw through the smoke,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: still standing erect behind the couch. Then as I looked,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: I saw doctor Winchester sink down. He was not unconscious,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: for he waved his hand back and forward, as though
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: to forbid anyone to come to him. At this time,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: the figures of mister Trelawney and mister Korbeck were becoming
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: indistinct in the smoke which rolled round them in thick,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: billowy clouds. Finally I lost sight of them all together.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: The coffer still continued to glow, but the lamps began
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: to grow dim. At first I thought that their light
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: was being overpowered by the thick black smoke, but presently
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: I saw that they were one by one burning out.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: They must have burned quickly to produce such fierce and
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: vivid flames. I waited and waited, expecting every instant to
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: hear the command to turn up the light, but none came.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: I waited still and looked with harrowing intensity at the
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: rolling billows of smoke still pouring out of the glowing casket,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: whilst the lamps sank down and went out one by one.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Finally there was but one lamp a light, and that
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: was dimly blue and flickering. The only effective light in
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: the room was from the glowing casket. I kept my
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: eyes fixed toward Margaret. It was for her now that
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: all my anxiety was claimed. I could just see her
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: white frock beyond the still white shrouded figure on the couch.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Silvio was troubled. His piteous meowing was the only sound
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: in the room. Deeper and denser grew the black mist
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: and its pungency began to assail my nostrils as well
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: as my eyes. Now, the volume of smoke coming from
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: the coffer seemed to lessen, and the smoke itself to
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: be less dense. Across the room, I saw something white
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: move where the couch was. There were several movements. I
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: could just catch the quick glint of white through the
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: dense smoke in the fading light. For now, the glow
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: of the coffer began quickly to subside. I could still
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: hear Silvio, but his meowing came from close under. A
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: moment later, I could feel him piteously crouching on my foot.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Then the last spark of light disappeared, and through the
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Egyptian darkness I could see the faint line of white
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: around the window blinds. I felt that the time had
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: come to speak, so I pulled off my respirator and
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: called out, Shall I turn up the light? There was
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: no answer, So before the thick smoke choked me, I
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: called again, but more loudly, mister Trelawney, shall I turn
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: up the light? He did not answer, but from across
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: the room I heard Margaret's voice, sounding as sweet and
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: clear as a bell. Yes, Malcolm. I turned the tap,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: and the lamps flashed out, but they were only dim
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: points of light in the midst of that murky ball
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: of smoke. In that thick atmosphere, there was little possibility
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: of illumination. I ran across to Margaret, guided by her
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: white dress, and caught hold of her and held her hand.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: She recognized my anxiety and said at once I am
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: all right. Thank God, I said, how are the others quick?
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Let us open all the windows and get rid of
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: this smoke. To my surprise, she answered, in a sleepy way,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: they will be all right. They won't get any harm.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: I did not stop to inquire how or on what
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: ground she formed such an opinion, but threw up the
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: lower sashes of all the windows and pulled down the upper.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Then I threw a open the door. A few seconds
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: made a perceptible change as the thick black smoke began
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: to roll out of the windows. Then the lights began
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: to grow into strength, and I could see the room.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: All the men were overcome. Beside the couch, Doctor Winchester
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: lay on his back as though he had sunk down
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: and rolled over, and on the farther side of the
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: sarcophagus where they had stood lay mister Trelawney and mister Korbeck.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: It was a relief to me to see that, though
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: they were unconscious, all three were breathing heavily, as though
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: in a stupor. Margaret still stood behind the couch. She
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: seemed at first to be in a partially dazed condition,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: but every instant appeared to get more command of herself.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: She stepped forward and helped me to raise her father
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: and drag him close to the window. Together we placed
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: the others similar, and she flew down to the dining
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: room and returned with a decanter of brandy. This we
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: proceeded to administer to them all in turn. It was
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: not many minutes after we had opened the windows when
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: all three were struggling back to consciousness. During this time,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: my entire thoughts and efforts had been concentrated on their
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: restoration But now that this strain was off, I looked
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: round the room to see what had been the effect
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: of the experiment. The thick smoke had nearly cleared away,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: but the room was still misty and was full of
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: a strange, pungent, acrid odor. The great sarcophagus was just
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: as it had been. The coffer was open, and in
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: it scattered through certain divisions or partitions wrought in its
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: own substance, was a scattering of black ashes. Overall sarcophagus, coffer,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and indeed all the room was a sort of black
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: film of greasy soot. I went over to the couch.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: The white sheet still lay over part of it, but
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: it had been thrown back, as might be when one
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: is stepping out of bed. But there was no sign
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: of Queen Terra. I took Margaret by the hand and
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: led her over. She reluctantly left her father, to whom
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: she was administering, but she came docilely enough. I whispered
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: to her as I held her hand, what has become
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: of the Queen? Tell me you were close at hand
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: and must have seen if anything happened. She answered me
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: very softly. There was nothing that I could see until
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: the smoke grew too dense. I kept my eyes on
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: the couch, but there was no change. Then, when all
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: grew so dark that I could not see, I thought
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: I heard a movement close to me. It might have
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: been doctor Winchester, who had sunk down overcome, but I
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: could not be sure. I thought that it might be
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: the Queen waking, so I put down poor Silvio. I
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: did not see what became of him, but I felt
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: as if he had deserted me when I heard him
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: yowing over by the door. I hope he is not
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: offended with me. As if in answer, Sylvio came running
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: into the room and reared himself against her dress, pulling
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: it as though clamoring to be taken up. She stooped
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: down and took him up, and began to pet and
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: comfort him. I went over and examined the couch and
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: all around it most carefully. When mister Trelawney and mister
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Korbeck recovered sufficiently, which they did quickly, though doctor Winchester
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: took longer to come round, we went over it afresh.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: But all we could find was a sort of ridge
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: of impalpable dust, which gave a strange dead odor. On
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: the couch lay the jewel of the disk and plumes,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: which the Queen had worn in her hair, and the
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: star jewel, which had words to command the gods. Other
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: than this, we never got clue to what had happened.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: There was just one thing which confirmed our idea of
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the physical annihilation of the mummy. In the sarcophagus in
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: the hall where we had placed the mummy of the
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: Cat was a small patch of similar dust. In the autumn,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Margaret and I were married. On the occasion, she wore
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: the mummy robe and zone, and the jewel in which
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: Queen Tera had worn in her hair on her breast,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: set in a ring of gold made like a twisted
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: lotus stock. She wore the strange jewel of seven stars,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: which held words to command the God of all the worlds.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: At the ma marriage, the sunlight streaming through the chancel
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: windows fell on it, and it seemed to glow like
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: a living thing. The graven words may have been of efficacy,
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: for Margaret holds to them, and there is no other
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: life in all the world so happy as my own.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: We often think of the Great Queen, and we talk
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: of her freely. Once when I said with a sigh
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: that I was sorry she could not have waked into
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: a new life in a new world. My wife, putting
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: both her hands in mine and looking into my eyes
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: with that far away, eloquent, dreamy look which sometimes comes
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: into her own, said lovingly, do not grieve for her,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: who knows, but she may have found the joy she sought.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Love and patience are all that make for happiness in
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: this world, or in the world of the past, or
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: of the future, of the living or the dead. She
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: dreamed her dream, and that is all that any of
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: us can ask the end end of Chapter nineteen recording
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: by Roger Moline. End of The Jewel of Seven Stars
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: by Bram Stoker