The Lair of the White Worm/Chapter 20

THE MYSTERY OF “THE GROVE”

WHEN ADAM, AFTER leaving Lady Arabella, went on his own road outside Castra Regis, Oolanga followed him in secret. Adam had at first an idea, or rather a suspicion, that he was being followed, and looked around a good many times in the hope of making discovery of his pursuer. Not being successful in any of these attempts, he gradually gave up the idea, and accepted the alternative that he had been mistaken. He wondered what had become of the negro, whom he had certainly seen at first, so kept a sharp look-out for him as he went on his way. As he passed through the little wood outside the gate of Diana’s Grove, he thought he saw the African’s face for an instant. He knew it must be him; otherwise, there must be a devil wandering loose somewhere in the neighborhood. So he went deeper into the undergrowth, and followed along parallel to the avenue to the house. He was, in a way, glad that there was no workman or servant about, for he did not care that any of Lady Arabella’s people should find him wandering about her grounds at such an hour. Taking advantage of the thickness of the trees, he came close to the house and skirted round it. He was repaid for his trouble, for on the far side of the house, close to where the rocky frontage of the cliff fell away, he saw Oolanga crouched behind the irregular trunk of a great oak. The man was so intent on watching someone, or something, that he did not guard against being himself watched. This suited Adam, for he could thus make scrutiny at will. The thick wood, though the trees were mostly of small girth, threw a heavy shadow, in addition to that made by the early sun being in the east, so that the steep declension, in front of which grew the tree behind which the African lurked, was almost in darkness. Adam drew as close as he could, and was amazed to see a patch of light on the ground before him; when he realised what it was, he was determined more than ever to follow on his quest. Oolanga had a dark lantern in his hand, and was throwing the light down the steep incline. The glare showed that the decline, which was in a sort of sunken way, emerged on a series of stone steps, which ended in a low-lying heavy iron door fixed against the side of the house. His mind was in a whirl. All the strange things he had heard from Sir Nathaniel, and all those, little and big, which he had himself noticed, crowded into his mind in a chaotic way, such as mark the intelligence conveyed in a nightmare. Instinctively he took refuge from the possibility of Oolanga seeing him behind a thick oak stem, and set himself down, to watch what might occur.
After a very short time it was apparent that the African was trying to find out what was behind the heavy door. There was no way of looking in, for the door fitted tight into the massive stone slabs. The only opportunity for the entrance of light was through a small hole left in the building between the great stones above the door. This hole was much too high up to look through from the ground level. The negro was so intent on his effort to see beyond this, that Adam found there was a considerable help to him in his task. Oolanga, having tried standing tiptoe on the highest point near, and holding the lantern as high as he could, threw the light round the edges of the door to see if he could find anywhere a hole or a flaw in the metal through which he could obtain a glimpse. Foiled in this, he brought from the shrubbery a plank, which he leant against the top of the door and then climbed up with great dexterity. This did not bring him near enough to the window-hole to look in, or even to throw the light of the lantern through it, so he climbed down and carried the plank back to the place from which he had got it. Then he concealed himself near the iron door and waited, manifestly with the intent of remaining there till someone came near. Presently Lady Arabella, moving noiselessly through the shade, approached the door. When he saw her close enough to touch it, Oolanga stepped forward from his concealment, and said in a whisper, which through the gloom sounded like a hiss:
“I want to see you, missy—soon and secret.”
Her lip curled in scorn as she answered:
“You see me now. What do you want? What is it?”
“You know well, missy; I told you already.”
She turned on him with her eyes blazing, so that the green tint in them shown like emeralds.
“Come, none of that. If there is anything sensible which you may wish to say to me, you can see me here, just where we are, at seven o’clock.”
He made no reply in words, but, putting the backs of his hands together, bent lower and lower still till his forehead touched the earth. She stood stone-still, which seeing, he rose and went slowly away. Adam Salton, from his hiding-place, saw and wondered. In a few minutes he moved from his place and went home to Lesser Hill, fully determined that seven o’clock would find him in some hidden place behind Diana’s Grove.
When he got home he placed the box containing the mongoose in the gun-room. Not having any immediate intention of making use of the animal, it passed quite out of his mind.
At a little before seven Adam stole softly out of the house and took the back way to the rear of Diana’s Grove. The place seemed silent and deserted, so he took the opportunity of concealing himself near the spot whence he had seen Oolanga trying to investigate whatever was concealed behind the iron door. He was quite content when he found himself safely ensconced in his hiding-place. He waited, perfectly still, and at last saw a gleam of white passing soundlessly through the undergrowth. He was not surprised when he recognised the shape and colour of Lady Arabella’s dress. She came close and waited, with her face to the iron door. From some place of concealment near at hand Oolanga appeared, and came close to her. Adam noticed with surprised amusement that over his shoulder was his, Adam’s, box with the mongoose. Of course the African did not know that he was seen by anyone, least of all by the man whose property he had in possession. Silent-footed as he was, Lady Arabella heard him coming, and turned to meet him. It was somewhat hard to see in the gloom, for, as usual, he was all in black, only his collar and cuffs showing white. Lady Arabella opened the conversation which ensued between the two:
“I see you are her—what do you want? To rob me, or murder me?”
“No, to lub you!”
This, getting explicit so soon, frightened her a little, and she tried to change the tone:
“Is that a coffin you have with you? If so, you are wasting your time. It would not hold me.”
“Dis ain’t no coffin for nobody. Quite opposite. Dis box is for you. Somefin you lub. Me give him to you!”
Still anxious to keep off the subject of affection, on which she believed him to have become crazed, she made another effort to keep his mind elsewhere:
“Is this why you want to see me?”
He nodded.
She went on: “Then come round to the other door. But be quiet. I have no particular desire to be seen so close to my own house in conversation with a—a—a nigger like you!”
She had chosen the word of dishonor deliberately. She wished to meet his passion with another kind. Such would, at all events, help to keep him quiet. In the deep gloom she could not see the anger which suffused his face. Rolling eyeballs and grinding teeth are, however, sufficient indices of anger to be decipherable in the dark. She moved round the corner of the house to her right. Oolanga was following her, when she stopped him by raising her hand.
“No, not that door,” she said; “that is not for negros. The other door will do well enough for that!”
There was such scorn in her voice—scorn carried to a positive quality with malignity added—that the African writhed. Suddenly he stopped as if turned into stone, and said in a voice, whose very quietude was dangerous:
“Gib me your gun.”
Unthinkingly, she pulled out the revolver, which was in her breast, and handed it to him:
“Do you want to kill me?” she said. “Go on. I am not afraid of you; but, remember, you will swing for it. This is not Berlin or Ashantee—this is England!”
He answered in an even voice:
“Don’t fear, missee. Gun no kill nobody. Only to protect myself.”
He saw the wonder in her face, and explained:
“I heard this morning what master said in his room. You no thought I heard. He say, ‘If you have any fault to find with that infernal nigger’—he said that—‘shoot him on sight.’ Now you call me nigger, speak to me like a dog. And you want me to go into your house by door which I not know. Gun safer now with me. Safer for Oolanga if gun wanted to hurt him.”
“What have you in that box?”
“That is treasure for you, missee. I take care of it, and give it to you when we get in.”
Lady Arabella took in her hand a small key which hung at the end of her watch-chain, and moved to a small door, low down, round the corner, and a little downhill from the edge of the Brow. Oolanga, in obedience to her gesture, went back to the iron door. Adam looked carefully at the mongoose box as the African went by, and was glad to see that it was locked. Unconsciously, as he looked, he fingered the key that was in his waistcoat pocket. When Oolanga was out of sight, Lady Arabella, who had waited quite still said to him:
“Mr. Salton, will you oblige me by coming with me for a few minutes? I have to see that—that coloured person—on a matter of business, and I do not care to see him alone. I shall be happier with a witness. Do you mind obliging me, and coming? It will be very kind of you.”
He bowed, and walked with her to the door round the corner.