Latest / The Land of Mist / Chapter 9. Which Introduces Some Very Physical Phenomena

Transcript

Chapter 9. Which Introduces Some Very Physical Phenomena · The Land of Mist

• 0:00
  Chapter nine of the Land of Mist. This is a LibriVox recording. All
• 0:05
  LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 0:10
  please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Amanda Leung the Land of Mist by
• 0:15
  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which introduces some very physical phenomena. Malone seemed destined
• 0:23
  to be entangled in the affairs of the Lyndon family, for he had hardly
• 0:27
  seen the last of the unfortunate Tom before he became involved in a very much
• 0:31
  more unpleasant fashion with his unsavory brother. The episode began by a telephone ring
• 0:36
  in the morning, and the voice of Aldrenon maylie at the far end of
• 0:39
  the wire. Are you clear for this afternoon? At your service? I
• 0:44
  say, Malone? You are a hefty man. You played rugger for Ireland,
• 0:47
  do you not? You don't mind a possible rough and tumble, do
• 0:50
  you? Malone grinned over the receiver. You can count me in. It
• 0:55
  may really be rather formidable. We shall have to possibly tackle a prize fighter,
• 0:59
  right, oh, said Malone cheerfully. And we want another man for
• 1:03
  the job. Do you know any fellow who'd come along just for the sake
• 1:04
  of the adventure. If he knows anything about psychic matters, all the better.
• 1:08
  Malone puzzled for a moment. Then he had an inspiration. There is
• 1:12
  Roxton said he He's not a chicken, but he is a useful man in
• 1:18
  a row. I think I could get him. He's been keen on your
• 1:21
  subject since his Dortscher experience. Right, bring him along. If he can't
• 1:25
  come, we shall have to tackle the job ourselves. Forty one Bellshaw Gardens,
• 1:29
  Southwest, near Earl's Court Station three p m. Right. Malone at
• 1:33
  once rang up Lord Roxton and soon heard the familiar voice, what's that,
• 1:37
  young fella? A scrap? Why? Certainly? What I mean? I
• 1:41
  had a golf match at Richmond Deer Park, but this sounds more attractive.
• 1:44
  What very good? I'll meet you there. And so it came about that
• 1:48
  at the hour of three maye, Lord Roxton and Malone found themselves seated round
• 1:53
  the fire in the comfortable drawing room of the barrister. His wife, a
• 1:57
  sweet and beautiful woman who was his helpmate in his is spiritual as well as
• 2:00
  his material life, was there to welcome them. Now, dear, you're
• 2:05
  not in on this act said, Maylie, you will retire discreetly into the
• 2:07
  wings. Don't worry if you hear a row. But I do worry,
• 2:12
  dear, you'll get hurt. Meylee laughed. I think your furniture may possibly
• 2:15
  get hurt. You have nothing else to fear, dear, And it's all
• 2:19
  for the good of the cause. That always settles it, he explained,
• 2:23
  as his wife reluctantly left the room. I really think she would go to
• 2:25
  the stake for the cause. Her great, lovingly womanly heart knows what it
• 2:30
  would mean for this gray earth if people could get away from the shadow of
• 2:32
  death and value this great happiness that is to come. By Jove, she
• 2:37
  is an inspiration to me. Well, he went on with a laugh,
• 2:39
  I must not get on to that subject. We have something very different to
• 2:43
  think of, something as hideous and vile as she is beautiful and good.
• 2:46
  It concerns Tom Lindon's brother. I've heard of the fellow, said Malone.
• 2:52
  I used to box a bit, and I am still a member of the
• 2:54
  n sc silas Lyndon was very nearly champion in the Welters. That's the man.
• 3:00
  He's out of a job and thought he would take up mediumship naturally.
• 3:02
  I and the other spiritualist took him seriously, for we all love his brother,
• 3:07
  and these powers often run in families, so that his claim seemed reasonable.
• 3:10
  So we gave him a trial last night. Well what happened. I
• 3:15
  suspected the fellow from the first. You understand that it is hardly possible for
• 3:19
  a medium to deceive, it, experienced spiritualist. When there is deception,
• 3:23
  it is at the expense of outsiders. I watched him carefully from the first,
• 3:27
  and I seated myself near the cabinet. Presently he emerged, clad in
• 3:30
  white. I broke the contact by pre arrangement with my wife, who sat
• 3:35
  next to me, and I felt him as he passed me. He was,
• 3:38
  of course in white. I had a pair of scissors in my pocket,
• 3:40
  and I snipped off a bit from the edge. Maylie drew a triangular
• 3:45
  piece of linen from his pocket. There it is, you see, very
• 3:49
  ordinary linen. I have no doubt the fellow was wearing his night gown.
• 3:53
  Why did you not have a show up at once, asked Lord Roxton.
• 3:57
  There were several ladies there, and I was the only really able in the
• 4:00
  room. Well, what do you propose I have appointed that he come here
• 4:04
  at three thirty. He is due now, unless he has noticed the small
• 4:08
  cut in his linen. I don't think he has any suspicion why I want
• 4:11
  him. What will you do? Well? That depends on him. We
• 4:15
  will have to stop him at any cost. That is the way our cause
• 4:17
  gets bemired. Some villain who knows nothing about it comes into it for the
• 4:21
  money, and so the labors of honest mediums get discounted. The public very
• 4:25
  naturally brackets them altogether. With your help, I can talk to this fellow
• 4:29
  on equal terms, which I certainly could not do if I were alone.
• 4:31
  By jove, here he is. There was a heavy step outside. The
• 4:35
  door was opened, and Silas Lindon, fake medium and ex prize fighter walked
• 4:41
  in. His small, piggy gray eyes under their shaggy brows, looked round
• 4:45
  with suspicion at the three men. Then he forced a smile and nodded to
• 4:49
  Maylie. Good day, mister Maylie. We had a good evening last night.
• 4:54
  Had we not sit down, Lindon, said Maylie, indicating a chair.
• 4:58
  It is about last night that I wanted to talk to you. You
• 5:00
  cheated us, Silas Lindon's heavy face flushed red with anger. What's that?
• 5:05
  He cried sharply. You cheated us, You dressed up and pretended to be
• 5:11
  a spirit. You're a damn liar, cried Lindon. I did nothing of
• 5:15
  the sort. Meylie took the rag of linen from his pocket and spread it
• 5:19
  on his knee. What about that, he asked, Well, what about
• 5:23
  it? It was cut out of the white gown you wore. I cut
• 5:26
  it out myself as you stood in front of me. If you examine the
• 5:29
  gown you will find the place. It's no use, Linden, the game
• 5:32
  is up. You can't deny it for a moment. The man was completely
• 5:35
  taken aback. Then he burst into a stream of horrible profanity. What's the
• 5:41
  game? He cried, glaring round him. Do you think I'm easy and
• 5:46
  that you can play me for a sucker? Is it a frame up?
• 5:47
  A what? You've chose the wrong man for a try on of that sort.
• 5:53
  There is no use being noisy or violent, Lindon said Meaie quietly.
• 5:58
  I could bring you up in the police corp tomorrow. I don't want any
• 6:00
  public scandal for your brother's sake, but you don't leave this room until you
• 6:04
  have signed a paper that I have here on my desk. Oh I don't,
• 6:09
  don't I Who will stop me? We will? The three men were
• 6:13
  between him and the door. You will well try that. He stood before
• 6:17
  them, with rage in his eyes and his great hands nodded, will you
• 6:21
  get out of the way. They did not answer, but they all three
• 6:25
  gave the fighting snarl, which is perhaps the oldest of all human expressions.
• 6:30
  The next instant, Lindon was upon them, his fists flashing out with terrific
• 6:33
  force. Maylie, who had boxed in his youth, stopped one blow,
• 6:38
  but the next beat in his guard, and he fell with a crash against
• 6:41
  the door. Lord Roxton was hurled to one side, but Malone, with
• 6:45
  a footballer's instinct, ducked his head and caught the prize fighter round the knees.
• 6:49
  If a man is too good for you on his feet, then put
• 6:51
  him on his back, for he cannot be scientific. There over went Lindon,
• 6:56
  crashing through an armchair. Before he reached the ground. He stacked to
• 7:00
  one knee and got in a short jolt to the chin, but Malone had
• 7:02
  him down again, and Roxton's bony hand had closed upon his throat. Silas
• 7:08
  Lindon had a yellow streak in him, and he was cowed. Let up,
• 7:13
  he cried, that's enough. He lay now spread eagold upon his back.
• 7:16
  Malone and Roxton were bending over him. Maylie had gathered himself together,
• 7:21
  pale and shaken after his fall. I'm all right, he cried in answer
• 7:26
  to a feminine voice at the other side of the door. No, not
• 7:30
  yet, dear, but we shall soon be ready for you. Now,
• 7:32
  Lyndon, there's no need for you to get up before you could talk very
• 7:35
  nicely where you are. You've got to sign this paper before you leave the
• 7:40
  room. What is the paper? Croaked Lyndon, as Roxton's grip upon his
• 7:45
  throat relaxed. I'll read it to you. Maylie took it from the desk
• 7:47
  and read aloud. I, Silas Lindon hereby admit that I have acted as
• 7:53
  a rogue and a scoundrel by simulating to be a spirit, and I swear
• 7:58
  that I will never again in my life pretend to be a medium. Should
• 8:01
  I break this oath, then this signed confession may be used for my conviction
• 8:05
  in the police court. Will you sign that no, I'm damned if I
• 8:09
  will, shall I give him another squeeze, asked Lord Roxton. Perhaps I
• 8:13
  could choke some sense into him? What not at all? Said Maylie.
• 8:18
  I think that his case now would do good in the police court, for
• 8:20
  it would show the public that we are determined to keep our house clean.
• 8:24
  I'll give you one minute for consideration, Lindon, and then I ring up
• 8:26
  the police. But it did not take a minute for the impostor to make
• 8:31
  up his mind. All right, said he in a sulky voice. I'll
• 8:35
  sign. He was allowed to rise, with a warning that if he played
• 8:39
  any tricks he would not get off so lightly the second time. But there
• 8:43
  was no kick left in him, and he scrawled a big coarse silas Lindon
• 8:46
  at the bottom of the paper without a word. The three men signed as
• 8:50
  witnesses. Now get out, said Maylie. Sharply find some honest trade in
• 8:56
  future, and leave sacred things alone. If your bloody can't to yourself,
• 9:01
  Lyndon answered, and so departed, grumbling and swearing into the outer darkness from
• 9:05
  which he had come. He had hardly passed before missus Maylie had rushed into
• 9:09
  the room to reassure herself as to her husband. Once satisfied as to this,
• 9:15
  she mourned over her broken chair, for like all good women, she
• 9:18
  took a personal pride and joy in every detail of her little minage. Never
• 9:22
  mind, dear, it's a cheap price to pay in order to get that
• 9:24
  blackguard out of the movement. Don't go away, you, fellows. I
• 9:28
  want to talk to you, and tea is just coming in. Perhaps something
• 9:31
  stronger would be better, said Maylie. And indeed all three were rather exhausted,
• 9:37
  for it was sharp while it lasted. Roxton, who had enjoyed the
• 9:41
  whole thing immensely, was full of vitality, but Malone was shaken, and
• 9:46
  Maylie had narrowly escaped serious injury from that ponderous blow. I have heard,
• 9:50
  said Maylie, as they all settled down round the fire, that this blackguard
• 9:54
  has sweated money out of poor Tom Lindon for years. It was a f
• 10:00
  form of blackmail, for he was quite capable of denouncing him. By Jove,
• 10:05
  he cried with sudden inspiration, that would account for the police raid.
• 10:09
  Why should they pick Lindon out of all the mediums in London. I remember
• 10:13
  now that Tom told me the fellow had asked to be taught to be a
• 10:16
  medium, and that he had refused to teach him. Could he teach him?
• 10:20
  Asked Malone. Maylie was thoughtful over this question. Well perhaps he could,
• 10:26
  he said at last. But Silas Lindon as a false medium would be
• 10:30
  very much less dangerous than Silas Lindon as a true medium. I don't follow
• 10:35
  you. Mediumship can be developed, said missus Maylie. One might almost say
• 10:39
  it was catching. That was what the laying on of hands meant in the
• 10:43
  early church. Meylie explained, it was the conferring of theumaturgic powers. We
• 10:48
  can't do it now as rapidly as that, But if a man or woman
• 10:52
  sits with the desire of development, and especially if that sitting is in the
• 10:56
  presence of a real medium, the chances that powers will come. But why
• 11:01
  do you say that would be worse than false mediumship because it could be used
• 11:05
  for evil. I assure you alone that the talk of black magic and of
• 11:07
  evil entities is not an invention of the enemy. Such things do happen and
• 11:13
  center round the wicked medium. You can get down into a region which is
• 11:16
  akin to the popular idea of witchcraft. It is dishonest to deny it like
• 11:22
  attracts light, explained Missus Maylie, who was quite as capable an exponent as
• 11:26
  her husband. You get what you deserve. If you sit with wicked people,
• 11:31
  you get wicked visitors. Then there is a dangerous side to it.
• 11:35
  Do you know anything on earth which has not a dangerous side? If it
• 11:39
  is mishandled, then exaggerated. This dangerous side exists quite apart from orthodox spiritualism,
• 11:43
  and our knowledge is the surest way to counteract it. I believe that
• 11:48
  the witchcraft of the Middle Ages was a very real thing, and that the
• 11:52
  best way to meet such practices is to cultivate the higher powers of the spirit.
• 11:56
  To leave the thing entirely alone, is to embed and in the field
• 12:01
  to the forces of evil. Lord Roxton interposed in an unexpected way when I
• 12:07
  was in Paris last year, said he there was a fella called La Pey
• 12:11
  who dabbled in the black magic business. He held circles and the like.
• 12:16
  What I mean, there was no great harm in the thing, but it
• 12:20
  wasn't what she would call very spiritual either. It's a side that I,
• 12:24
  as a journalist, would like to see something of if I am to report
• 12:26
  impartially upon this subject, said Malone. Quite right. Mealy agreed, we
• 12:33
  want all the cards on the table. Well, young fella, if you
• 12:35
  give me a week of your time and come to Paris, I'll introduce you
• 12:39
  to La Pay said Roxton. It is a curious thing, but I also
• 12:43
  had a Paris visit in my mind for our friend here, said Meylie.
• 12:46
  I have been asked over by doctor mar Pui of the Institute Metaphysique to see
• 12:50
  some of the experiments which he is conducting upon a Gaulisian medium. It is
• 12:56
  really the religious side of this matter which interests me, and it isuously wanting
• 13:01
  in the minds of these scientific men of the continent. But for accurate,
• 13:03
  careful examination of the psychic facts, they are head of any one except poor
• 13:07
  Crawford of Belfast, who stood in a class by himself. I promised Mapuis
• 13:13
  to run across, and he has certainly been having some wonderful in some respects
• 13:16
  some rather alarming results. Why alarming, Well, his materializations lately have not
• 13:22
  been human at all. That is confirmed by photographs. I won't say more,
• 13:28
  for it is best that if you go, you should approach it with
• 13:31
  an open mind. I shall certainly go, said Malone. I am sure
• 13:35
  my chief would wish it. Tea had arrived to interrupt the conversation in the
• 13:39
  irritating way that our bodily needs intrude upon our higher pursuits, but Malone was
• 13:43
  too keen to be thrown off the scent you speak of these evil forces?
• 13:48
  Have you ever come in contact with them? Maylie looked at his wife and
• 13:52
  smiled continually. He said, it is part of our job. We specialize
• 13:56
  in it. I understood that when there was an intrusion of that kind you
• 14:01
  drove it away, not necessarily. If we can keep any lower spirit,
• 14:05
  we do so, and we can only do it by encouraging it to tell
• 14:09
  us its troubles. Most of them are not wicked. They are poor,
• 14:13
  ignorant, stunted creatures who are suffering the effects of the narrow and false views
• 14:16
  which they have learned in this world. We try to help them, and
• 14:20
  we do. How do you know that you do? Because they report to
• 14:22
  us afterwards and register their progress. Such methods are often used by our people.
• 14:28
  They are called rescue circles. I have heard of rescue circles. Where
• 14:31
  could I attend one? This thing attracts me more and more. Fresh gulfs
• 14:35
  seem always opening. I would take it as a great favor if you would
• 14:39
  help me to see this fresh side of it. Mainly became thoughtful. We
• 14:43
  don't want to make a spectacle of these poor creatures. On the other hand,
• 14:46
  though we can hardly claim you yet as a spiritualist, you have treated
• 14:48
  the subject with some understanding and sympathy. He looked inquiringly at his wife,
• 14:52
  who smiled and nodded, Ah, you have permission. Well, then you
• 14:56
  must know that we run our own little rescue circle, and that it f
• 15:00
  five o'clock to day. We have our weekly sitting. Mister Tabain is our
• 15:03
  medium. We don't usually have any one else except mister Charles Mason, the
• 15:05
  clergyman. But if you both care to have the experience, we shall be
• 15:09
  very happy. If you will stay. Tabain should be here immediately after tea.
• 15:13
  He is a railway porter, you know, so his time is not
• 15:16
  his own. Yes, psychic power, in its varied manifestations, is found
• 15:20
  in humble quarters. But surely that has been its main characteristic from the beginning.
• 15:24
  Fishermen, carpenters, tent makers, camel drivers. These were the profits
• 15:28
  of old. At this moment, some of the highest psychic gifts in England
• 15:33
  lie in a miner, a cotton operative, a railway porter, a bargeman
• 15:37
  and a chowoman. Thus does history repeat itself? And that foolish beak with
• 15:43
  Tom Lindon before him, was but Felix judging Paul. The old wheel goes
• 15:48
  round end of Chapter nine,