The-Crawling-Death-Chapter-03

JIM sprang to his feet, and with a cry of rage threw the whole weight of his body against the heavy door.

He was frantic with fury. I leaped upon him and by sheer strength carried him, kicking and cursing, the length of the hall where I threw him into a settee.

“There, you confounded chump!” I shouted. “For two cents I’d punch your face in. What do you mean by disobey-
ing orders?”

We glared at each other for a moment, and then a sheepish look crept into his face.

“I’m sorry, old man,” he said, “but I was dead sure there was some one in there and I wanted to find out who, or what, it was.”

“Well, I hope you found out to your satisfaction.”

“Not to my satisfaction, no. But I found out that there is some one, or something, in that room.”

“Jim, are you getting crazy, or is it just plain drunk?”

“It’s neither, Dick, and you know it. And you also know there is something on the other side of that door, and if you were half a man you would help me find out what it is.”

“I’m man enough to keep my word, and that I hope will be the final word on this subject. Your fool yelling has scared the boy into a panic, and I sup-
pose we’ll never see him again.”

And with that I marched him down to the main floor, where I started him to dusting the furniture, hoping that he would not forget the cobwebs in his brain. But I am free to confess that I cast more than one curious glance at the room with the red paneled door, while I was performing a like service upstairs.

Before the inspection of the premises was half completed on the following day, Mrs. Avery declared enthusiastically in its favor. She was young and pretty and romantic, and the fine old place, with its historical associations, appealed strongly to her nature. On the way back to the machine, Jim detained me with a look. When we were out of hearing of the oth-
ers he turned to me impetuously.

“You are not going to rent that house to those people,” he asserted.

“I am not?”

“No, you are not!”

“Why?”

“Because I won’t have it,” he de-
clared. “It would be criminal.”

“Since when did you acquire the right to dictate the policy of the firm?”

“Damn the firm, and you, too! I say you will not allow that pretty young thing to live in this devilish place. It might mean her death, or worse. I stopped here last night!”

“You?” I demanded in amazement. “How did you get in?”

“Window,” he announced.

“And did you go into the forbidden room?”

“No, I did not because I couldn’t get in. I tried, I’ll admit. And I guess I’m glad I didn’t succeed. Now, Dick, see here. You just cool off and listen. I felt and heard things last night that convinced me that that room is occupied by something that is not human!”

“By what?”

“I don’t know what. I wish I did. You believe in the supernatural, Dick, only you call it by some other name. Put these people off for a week and let’s in-
vestigate. It is worth the effort, and it might save a tragedy.”

“I can’t, Jim,” I said, somewhat im-
pressed, and considerably mollified, by his serious manner. “They have taken the place and are going to remain to-
night, and have their effects and ser-
vants come on from New York at once.”

“Then,” said Jim with decision, “I’ll tell Mrs. Avery just exactly what has happened and scare her off.”

“Jim, you’re a fool,” I retorted. “Can’t you see that Mrs. Avery is just the kind of woman who would be de-
lighted to have a ‘ghost’ in the house? You just leave this to me. I’ll tell Avery about the whole affair and your suspic-
ions, and advise him to keep it from his wife. I’m bound to tell him about the room, anyway, and entrust him with the key. It will be a matter of honor with him, but judging from his looks his curi-
osity won’t get the better of it. I wouldn’t say the same for his wife. Not that she isn’t strictly honorable, you know, but a woman’s curiosity—”

“By the way, Jim,” I added, “what did you see last night?”

“Nothing. I felt and heard it. But I won’t tell you what. You politely sug-
gested yesterday that I was drunk or crazy, and I don’t care to invite a second criticism of my habits or mentality. I’ll simply say this, that the danger, or evil influence, or whatever it is, is confined to the one room. The rest of the house seems to be free from it.”

I left Jim brooding, and rejoined the Averys somewhat worried, I admit, and regretting the restrictions that prohib-
ited me from entering the room. I had always taken a deep interest in all that pertained to the supernatural, but had never had any actual demonstration of its existence. All matters pertaining to the unknown, or the unseen life, or to life after death, held a strange interest for me. Not that I was a spiritualist in any sense of the word, or at least not in the sense in which the term is generally understood, but I did believe that there were unseen forces, not human, con-
stantly present and working among us.

That this influence or power worked for both good and evil I had no doubt. What these forces were—whether they were human souls after transition to the spirit form, and shackled for some un-
known cause to the earth life, or the product of some other sphere, or whether they were purely demoniacal—I did not know, nor do I know now. I simply know that they exist, and that they exert a con-
stant influence upon mankind.

That something out of the ordinary was amiss with the room with the red paneled door I had no doubt. Mr. Or-
mond’s peculiar attitude and the ex-
traordinary effect made upon Jim, hard-
headed, practical Jim, convinced me of this. But what was it?

On some pretext I got Mr. Avery away from his wife and told him all the cir-
cumstances. He looked annoyed at first and then anxiously at his wife. Finally he burst into a hearty laugh.

“All right,” he said, “I’ll accept the key and the secret and will agree to keep both from my wife. I don’t take a bit of stock in all of this rot your friend has been telling you. At the same time I know what effect this story and these conditions would have upon my wife, who is emotional and very romantic. Fur-
thermore, I don’t want anything to inter-
fere with the pleasure of our honeymoon here.”

And when I left them, envious of their happiness and beautiful surroundings, I breathed a prayer that if any sinister presence were in that house, they might not come under its baneful influence.