Doctor Nikola, etc

Front matter

Hppletons' Gown and Country Xibrarg No. 197 DR. NIKOLA DR. NIKOLA BY GUY BOOTHBY AUTHOR OF A BID FOR FORTUNE, THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER, ETC. NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Copyright, 1896, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE Introduction i I. — HOW I CAME TO MEET DR. NlKOLA ... 5 II. — Nikola's offer 25 III. — " Nikola's scheme " 41 IV. — We set out for Tientsin 65 V. — I RESCUE A YOUNG LADY 84 VI. — ON THE ROAD TO PEKIN IOI VII. — A SERIOUS TIME 114 VIII. — How Prendergast succeeded .... 134 IX. — The Llamaserai 150 X. — An exciting night in the Llamaserai . . 168 XI. — En route to Thibet 186 XII. — Through the mountains 203 XIII. — The monastery 220 XIV. — An ordeal 238 XV. — How Nikola was installed .... 254 XVI. — A terrible experience 268 XVIL— Conclusion

Introduction

. Mv dear William George Craigie : / have no doubt at all as to your surprise, on receiving this letter, after so long and unjustifiable a period of silence, from one whom you must have come to consider either a dead man or at least a permanent refugee. When last we met it was on the deck of Tremor den s yacht, in the harbour of Honolulu. I had been down to Kauai, I remember, and the day following, you — you lucky dog ! — were going off to England by the Royal Mail, to be married to the girl of your heart. Since then I have heard, quite by chance, that you have settled down to a country life, as if to the manner born, take an absorbing interest in mangel wurzels, and, while you strike terror into the hearts of poachers and other rustic evil-doers, have the reputation of making your wife the very best of husbands.

Consequently you are to be envied, and con sidered by such awful barbarians as myself the happiest of men. While, however, things have been moving thus prosper ously with you, I am afraid I can not truthfully say that they have behaved so well for me. At the termination of our pleasant South Sea cruise, fust referred to, when our i Whether I shall ever again see Dr. Nikola, the prin cipal character in it, is more than I can tell you : but I sincerely trust not. It is for the sake of the circumstances brought about by that extraordinary man that I have doomed myself to perpetual exile, still I have no desire that he should know of my sacrifice. Sometimes, lying awake in the quiet watches of the night, I can hardly be lieve that the events of the last two years are real. The horror of that time still presses heavily upon me, and, if I live to be a hundred, I doubt if I shall outgrow it.

When I tell you that even the things — / mean the mysteries and weird experiences into which we thrust our im pertinent noses in bygone days — were absolutely as nothing compared with those I have passed through since then in Nikola's company, you will at first feel inclined to believe that I am romancing. But I know this, that when you have got my curious story by heart, all doubt on that score will have been swept away. Now, one last entreaty : after you have read this book do not attempt to find me, or to set my position right with the world. Take my word for it, it is better as it is. And now, without further preamble, let us come to the story itself. God bless you, and give you every happiness ! Speak kindly of me to your wife, and believe vie, until death, if there is such a thing, Your affectionate friend, Wilfred Bruce.

Chapter I. How

I CAME TO MEET DR. NIKOLA. It was Saturday afternoon, about a quarter past four o'clock, if my memory serves me, and the road, known as the Maloo, leading to the Bubbling Well — that single breathing place of Shanghai — was crowded. Fashionable barouches, C-spring buggies, spider-wheel dogcarts, to say nothing of every known genus of 'rickshaw, bicycle, and pony, were following each other in one long procession toward the Well. All the European portion of Shanghai, and a considerable percentage of the native, had turned out to witness the finish of the paper hunt, which, though not exciting in itself, was important as being the only amusement the settlement boasted that afternoon. I had walked as far as the Horse Bazaar myself, and taken a 'rickshaw from there, more from pride than because I could afford it.

To tell the truth, which will pop out sooner or later, however much I may try to prevent it, I was engaged in keeping up appearances, and though I lay back in my vehicle and smoked my cheroot with a princely air, I was painfully conscious of the fact that when the ride should be paid for the exchequer would scarcely survive the shock. Since my arrival in Shanghai I had been more than usually unfortunate. I had tried for every billet that had become vacant, from those choice pickings at the top of the tree among the high gods to the secretaryship of an Eurasian club of commu nistical tendencies, located somewhere on the confines of the native city, but without good fortune. For the one I had not the necessary influence, for the other I lacked that peculiar gift of obsequiousness which is so necessary to success in that line of business.

In the meantime my personal expenditure was going remorselessly on, and I very soon saw that unless something happened, and that quickly, too, I had every prospect of finding myself deprived of my belongings, sleeping on the Bund, and finally figur ing in that mixed court in the magistrates' Yamen, which is so justly dreaded by every Englishman as the debtor of a Cochin-China Jew. The position was not a cheerful one, look at it in whatever light I would ; but I had experienced it a good many times before, and had come out of it, if not with an in creased amount of self-respect, certainly without any very great degree of personal embarrassment. Arriving at the Well, I paid off my coolie and took up a position near the last jump, which I no ticed was a prepared fence and ditch of considerable awkwardness.

A moment later the horses came at it with a rush ; some cleared it, some refused it, while others, adopting a middle course, jumped on the top of it, blundered over, and finally sent their riders spinning over their heads into the mud at the feet of their fairest friends. It was not exactly an æsthetic picture, but it was a very amusing one. When the last horse had landed, thinking the sport was over, I was in the act of moving away, when there was a shout to stand clear, and, wheeling round again, I was just in time to see a last horse man come dashing at the fence. Though he rode with considerable determination and was bent upon putting a good finish to his day's amusement, his horse was not of the same way of thinking, and for this reason, when he was distant about half a dozen yards from the fence, he broke his stride, stuck his feet into the mud, and endeavoured to come to a standstill.

The result was not at all what he had expected ; he slid toward the fence, received his rider's quirt, viciously administered round his flank, made up his mind to jump too late, hit the top rail with his forehead, turned a complete somersault, and landed with a crash at my feet. His rider fell into the arms of the ditch, out of which I presently dragged him. When I landed him on the bank he did not look a pretty sight ; but, on the other hand, that did not prevent him from recognising me. " Wilfred Bruce, by all that's glorious ! " he cried, at the same time rising to his feet, and mopping his streaming face with a very muddy pocket handker chief. " This is a fortunate encounter, for, do you know, I spent two hours this morning looking for you." " I am sorry you should have had so much trouble," I answered; "but just at present my resi dences are a little uncertain."

He winked knowingly, and, having done so, turned to his horse, which had struggled to his feet and was gazing stupidly about him. "Let me first send this clumsy brute home," he said, " then I'll find my cart, and after that, if you'll let me, I'll take you back to town with me." We saw the horse led away, and when we had discovered his dogcart among the crowd of vehicles waiting for their owners, mounted to our seats and set off, after a few preliminary antics on the part of the leader, on our return to the settlement. Once we were comfortably on our way, George Barkston, whom I had known for more than ten years, placed his whip back in the bucket, and turned to me. "Look here, Bruce," he said, flushing a little in anticipation of what he was going to say, "I'm not going to mince matters with you, so let us come straight to the point; we are old friends, and though we've not seen as much of each other during this visit to Shanghai as we used to do in the old days, when you were deputy commissioner of whatever it was, I think I am pretty well conversant with your present condition.

I don't want you to think me impertinent, but I do want you to let me help you if I can." " That's very good of you," I answered, not with out a little tremor, however, as he shaved a well built American buggy by a hair's breadth. " To tell the honest truth, I want to get something to do pretty badly. There's a serious deficit in the exchequer, my boy. And though I'm a fairly old hand at the game of poverty, I've still a sort of pride left, and I have no desire to figure in the mixed court next Wednesday on a charge of inability to pay an Eurasian landlord twenty dollars for board and lodging." "Of course you don't," said Barkston warmly; "and so, if you'll let me help you, I've an idea that I can put you on to the right track to something. The fact is, you must know, last night there was a chap in the smoking room at the club with whom I got into conversation.

He interested me, for he was one of the most curious beings, I should imagine, who has ever visited the East. I never saw such an odd-looking fellow in my life. Talk about eyes — well, his were — augh ! Why, he looked you through and through. You know old Benwell, of the revenue cutter Y-chang; well, while I was talking to this fellow, after a game of pool, in he came. "'Hallo, Barkston!' said he, as he brought up alongside the table, 'I thought you were shooting with Jimmy Woodrough, up the river. By the way, have you seen ' He had got as far as this before he became aware of the presence of the man with whom I had been talking. Then his jaw dropped, he looked hard at him, said something under his breath, and, shaking me by the hand, made a feeble excuse, and finally fled the room. Not being able to make it out at all, I went after him and found him looking for his hat in the hall. ' Come, I say now, Benwell,' I cried, 'what's up?

What on earth made you bolt off like that ? Have I offended you ? ' He led me on one side so that the servants should not hear, and, having done so, said confidentially : 'Barkston, I am not a coward. In my time I've tackled Europeans, Zulus, Somalis, Malays, Japa nese, and Chinese, to say nothing of Manilla and Solomon boys, and, what's more, I don't mind fac ing them all again ; but when I find myself face to face with Dr. Nikola, 1 tell you I don't think twice I bolt! Take my tip and do the same.' As he might just as well have talked to me in Low Dutch for all I should have understood, I tried to question him; but I might have spared myself the trouble, for I could get nothing satisfactory out of him. He simply shook me by the hand, told the boy in the hall to call him a 'rickshaw, and, as soon as it drew up at the steps, jumped into it and departed.

When I went back into the billiard room Nikola was still there, practising losing hazards of extraordinary dif ficulty. ' I've an opinion I've seen your friend be fore,' he said, as I sat down to watch him. ' He is Benwell, of the Y-chang; and, if I mistake not, Ben well, of the Y-chang, remembers me.' 'Have you ever met him before ? ' I asked, surprised at the calm way he referred to it. 'Yes,' Nikola answered, 'I have had the pleasure of being in Mr. Benwell's company once before. It was in Saigon' — then, with peculiar emphasis — 'I don't know what he thinks of the place, of course, but somehow I have an idea your friend will not willingly go near Sai gon again.' After he had said this he remained silent for a little while; then he took a letter out of his pocket, read it carefully, examined the envelope, and, having done so, glanced up at me. ' I want to ask you a question,' he said, putting the cue he had been using back into the rack. 'You know a man named Bruce, don't you ? — a man who used to be in the civil service, and who can disguise himself so like a Chinaman that Li-Hung-Chang himself would not know him for a European.' ' I do,' I answered. ' He is an old friend of mine; and, what is more, he is in Shanghai at the present moment.

It was only this morning I heard of him.' 'Bring him to me,' said Nikola quickly. 'I am told he wants a billet, and if he sees me before twelve to-morrow night I think I can put him in the way of obtaining a good one.' Now, there you are, Bruce, my boy. I have done my best for you." "And I am sincerely grateful to you, I an swered." " But who is this man Nikola?" I asked, "and what sort of a billet do you think he can find me ?" " Who he is, I can no more tell you than I can fly. But if he is not the first cousin of the old gentleman himself, well, all I can say is that I'm no hand at finding relationships." " I am afraid that doesn't tell me very much," I answered. " What's he like to look at ? " " Well, in appearance he might be described as tall, though you must not run away with the idea that he's at all a big-boned man.

On the contrary, he is most slimly built. Anything like the symmetry of his figure, however, I don't remember to have met with before. His face is clean shaven, and is always deadly pale ; a sort of toadskin paleness that is worse than any ordinary sickly pallor ; his eyes and hair are as black as night, and he is as neat and natty as a new pin. When he looks at you, he seems to look through the back of your head into the wall behind; and when he speaks you've just got to pay atten tion, whether you want to or not. All things con sidered, the less I see of him the better I shall be pleased." " But what on earth can he want with me ? " " He's Apollyon himself," laughed Barkston, " and wants a maitre d' hotel. I suppose he imagines you'll suit." By this time we had left the Maloo and had en tered the town again.

" Where shall I find this extraordinary man ? " I asked, as we drew near to the place where I ought to alight. " We'll drive to the club and see if he's there," said Barkston, whipping up his horses. "But putting all joking aside, he really seemed most anxious to find you, and, as he knew I was going to look for you, I don't doubt that he will have left some mes sage for one of us there." Having reached the Wanderer's Club, which is too well known to need any description, Barkston went inside, leaving me to look after the horse. Five minutes later he emerged again, carrying a letter in his hand. " Look here, I'm sorry, Bruce," he said, with a disappointed expression upon his handsome face. " Nikola was here until ten minutes ago ; he's gone home now, but has left this for us. If I find you, he begs that I will send you on to his bungalow without delay.

I have discovered that it is Fere's old place in the French Concession, Rue de Lafa yette, you know it, the third house on the right-hand side, just past where that renegade French marquis shot his wife. If you would care about it, I'll give you a note to him, and you can dine, think it over quietly, and, if you wish to do so, take it on yourself this evening." " That would be the better plan," I said, wanting to have a little time to collect my thoughts before seeing Nikola. Thereupon Barkston went back into the building, and when he returned, in something under a quarter of an hour, he brought the letter he had promised me in his hand. He jumped up and took the reins, the Chinese groom sprang out of the way, and we were off. " Can I drive you round to where you are stay ing ? " he asked. .

"I don't think you can," I answered, "and for reasons which would be sure to commend themselves to you if I were to tell them. But I am very much obliged to you all the same. I'll think the whole matter carefully out this evening, and if I approve, after dinner I'll walk over and present this letter personally." I thereupon descended from the dogcart at the corner of the road, and having again warmly thanked my friend for the kindness he had shown to me, bade him good-bye, and took myself off. Reaching the Bund, I sat myself down on one of the seats under a tree, and dispassionately reviewed the situation. All things considered, it was a pretty complicated one. Though I had not revealed as much to Barkston, who derived such happiness from his position of guide, philosopher, and friend, this was not the first time I had heard of Nikola.

Such a personality as his could not expect to go unmarked in a gossip-loving community, and all sorts of curious stories had been circulated concerning him. Though I knew the East too well to place credence in half of them, it was impossible for me to prevent myself from feeling a considerable amount of curi osity about the man. Leaving the Bund I went home, made a frugal tea, and about eight o'clock donned my hat again and set off in the direction of the French Concession. It was not a pleasant night, being dark and inclined toward showery. The wind blew in fitful gusts down the streets, and whistled the dust like hail against one's face. Though I stood a good chance of obtaining what I wanted so much — employment — . I can not affirm with any degree of truth that I felt easy in my mind. Was I not going to become the servant of a man who was almost universally feared, and about whom the most curious stories were circulated ?

This thought in itself was not of a reassur ing nature; but in the face of my poverty I could not afford to be too squeamish. Leaving the Rue de la Paix on my left hand, I turned into the Rue de Lafayette, where Nikola's bungalow was located, and having picked it out, went toward it. The compound and the house itself were in total darkness, but after I had knocked at the door a light came slowly down the passage toward me. The door was opened, and a China boy stood before me, holding a candle in his hand. " Does Dr. Nikola live here ? " I inquired in very much the same tone as our boyhood's hero Jack of beanstalk-climbing fame might have adopted when he asked to be admitted to the residence of the giant Fee-fo-fum. The boy nodded, whereupon I handed him my letter and ordered him to convey it to his master without delay.

With such celerity did he accomplish this that in less than two minutes he had returned and was beckoning me to follow him. I accordingly accompanied him down a long passage toward the door of a small room on the left-hand side. Through this I passed, and it was immediately closed behind me. There was no one in the apart ment, and I was thus permitted an opportunity of examining it to my own satisfaction, and drawing my own conclusions before any one entered. As I have said, it was not large, nor was its fur niture, with a few exceptions, in any way extraor dinary. The greater part of it was of the usual bungalow type, neither better nor worse. On the left hand side, as one entered, was a window, which I observed was heavily barred and shuttered ; between that and the door stood a tall bookshelf, filled with works on almost every conceivable subject, from the elementary principles of bimetallism to abstract Con fucianism.

A thick matting covered the floor, and a heavy curtain sheltered a doorway on the opposite side to that by which I had entered. On the walls were several good engravings, but I noticed they were all based on uncommon subjects, such as the visit of Saul to the witch of Endor ; a performance of the magicians before Pharaoh ; and the convert ing of the dry bones into men in the desert. A clock ticked on the shelf of the bookcase, but, with that exception, not a sound disturbed the silence of the room. I suppose I must have waited fully five minutes before my ears caught the sound of a soft footstep in an adjoining apartment; then the second door opened, the curtain which covered it was drawn slowly aside, and a man, who could have been none other than Dr. Nikola, entered. His description was exactly what Barkston had given me, even to the extent of the peculiar eyes, and, what proved to be an apt illustration, the white, toad-coloured skin.

He was attired in faultless evening dress, and its deep black harmonized well with his dark eyes and hair. What his age might have been I could not possibly tell, but I afterward discovered that he was barely thirty-four. He crossed the room to where I stood, holding out his hand, and saying : " Mr. Wilfred Bruce, I believe ?" "That is my name," I answered, "and I believe you are Dr. Nikola ? " " Exactly," he said. "I am Dr. Nikola, and, now that we have settled that much, let us get to business." So saying, he moved, with the peculiar walk that always characterized him, across to the door by which he had entered ; having opened it, he signed to me to pass through. I did so, and found myself in another large room, possibly forty feet long by twenty wide. At the farther end was a lofty win dow, the material of which looked to my eyes very much like stained glass ; the walls were hung with Japanese tapestry, and were ornamented with swords, battle-axes, two or three specimens of antique ar mour, and a quantity of exceedingly valuable china ; while the whole apartment was lit by three hanging lamps of rare workmanship and design.

Scattered about the room were numberless cushioned chairs and divans, beside one of which I noticed a beauti fully inlaid huga from Istamboul. " Pray sit down," said Dr. Nikola, and as he spoke he signed me to a chair at the farther end. I seated myself and wondered what would come next. " This is not your first visit to China, I am given to understand," he continued as he seated himself in a chair opposite mine, and regarded me steadfastly with his extraordinary eyes. " It is not," I answered. " I am an old resident in the East, and I think I may say I know China as well as any living Englishman." " Quite so. You were present at the meeting of Quongsha's house in the Wanhsien on the 23d of August, 1889, and you eventually assisted Mah Poo to evade capture by the Mandarins the week following."

"How on earth did you know that?" I asked, my surprise quite getting the better of me, for I had always convinced myself that no other soul, save the man himself, was aware of my participation in it. " One becomes aware of many strange things in the East," said Nikola, hugging his knee and looking at me over the top of it, "and yet that little circumstance I have just referred to is apt to teach one how small, after all, our average human knowledge is. One could almost expect as much common sense from brute beasts." " I'm afraid I don't quite follow you," I said. " Don't you ? " he answered. " And yet it is very simple, after all. Let me give you an illustration of what I mean. If you see anything in it other than I intend, the blame must be upon your own head." On a table close to his hand lay a large sheet of white paper.

This he placed upon the floor. Having done so, he took a stick of charcoal in his hand, and presently uttered a long and very peculiar whistle. Next moment, without any warning, an enor mous cat, with fur as black as its master's coat, leaped down from somewhere on to the floor, and stood swishing its tail before us. " There are some people in the world," said Ni kola calmly, at the same time stroking the great beast's soft back, " who would endeavour to convince you that this cat is my familiar spirit, and that, wiih his assistance, I work all sorts of strange and peculiar magic. You, of course, would not be so silly as to believe such idle tales. But, to bear out what I was saying just now, let us try an experiment." Here he stooped and wrote a number of figures, up to ten, with the charcoal upon the paper, dupli cating them in a line below.

Having done this, he took the cat on his knee, stroked it carefully, and finally whispered something into its ear. Instantly the brute sprang down, placed its paw upon one of the numerals of the top row, while, whether by chance or magic I can not say, it performed a similar action with its left foot on the row below. " Twenty-four," said Nikola, with one of his peculiar smiles. Then taking the bit of charcoal once more in his hand, and turning the paper over, he wrote upon it the names of the different months of the year. Plac ing it on the floor, he again said something to the cat, who this time stood on June. The alphabet fol lowed, and, letter by letter, the uncanny beast spelled out "Apia." "On the 24th of June," said Nikola, "of a year undetermined, you were in Apia. Let us see if we can discover the year."

Again he wrote the numerals up to ten, and im mediately the cat with devilish precision worked out 1875- "Is that correct?" asked this extraordinary per son, when the cat had finished his performance. It was quite correct, and I told him so. " I'm glad of that, and now do you want to know any more ? " he asked. I did not. And I can only ask you to believe that I had very good reasons for not doing so. Nikola laughed softly, and pressed the tips of his long, white fingers together. " Now tell me, truthfully, what do you think of my cat ? " said he. " One might be excused if one thought him super human," I answered. "And yet, though you think it so wonderful, it is only because I have subjected him to a curious form of education. Do you know, Mr. Bruce, I should be very much interested to find out exactly how far you think the human intelligence can penetrate into the regions of what is generally called the occult?"

" Again I must make the excuse," I said, " that I do not quite follow you." "Well, then, let me place it before you in a little simpler form. To commence, if I may put it so bluntly, where should you be inclined to say that this world begins and ends?" "I should say," I replied, this time without hesi tation, " that it begins with birth and ends with death." " And after death ? " " Well, what happens then is a question of theology and one for the parsons to decide. "You have no individual opinion ?' "I have the remnants of what I learned as a boy." - "Then, that being so, you of course believe that, as soon as the breath has forsaken this mortal body, a certain indescribable part of you, which for the sake of argument we denominate soul, leaves this mundane sphere and enters upon a new existence in one or another of two places."