The Beetle: A Mystery

d that some astonishing alteration had taken place in his appearance. To begin with, he seemed younger,-the decrepitude of age had given place to something very like the fire of youth. His features h

elty was that about the face there was something which was essentially feminine; so feminine, indeed, that I wondered if I could by any possibility have blundered, and mi

rne away uncomfortable proofs of his opponent's prowess. His antagonist could hardly have been a chivalrous fighter, for his countenance was marked by a dozen different scratches which seemed to suggest that the weapons used had been someone's finger-nails. It was, perhaps, because the heat of the battle was still in his veins that he was in such a state of excitement. He seemed to be almost o

of all things, to cease to strive and to cease to weep, to cease to want and to cease to have, to cease to annoy and to cease to long, to no more care,-no!-not for anything, to put from you the curse of lif

from my torpor, as he put it, I came out of death, and was alive again. I was far, yet, from being my own man; I realised that he exercised on me a degree of mesmeric fo

ading the thoughts which occupied my

lt, you ar

am

startled me,-it was so long s

t it is well that you came through the window,-well you are a thief,-well for me! for me! It is you that I am wanting,-at the happy moment you have drop

ur of his near neighbourhood; only get one or two square meals and have an opportunity of recovering from the enervating stress of mental and bodily fatigue;-I felt that then I might be something like his match, and that,

ough a window for mine,-not this window, but another.' Where the jest lay I did not perceive; but it tickled him, for a gra

inking eyes never for an instant quitted my face. With what a f

ew intonation in his speech,-some

ow Paul Le

e hated it,-and yet as if he l

aul Les

l Lessingham! THE Paul

Lessi

thought, for the moment, that he was going to spring on me and rend me. I shook

ul Lessingham,-the poli

ood in expectation of a physical assault. But,

oing through his wi

arently, judging from his next words, I l

ht-to-night!-you are going through his window like a thief. You came through my wi

confidence, to carry through that great work of constitutional and social reform which he has set himself to do. I daresay that my tone, in speaking of him, savoured of laudation,-which, plainly, the

ame into his tone another note,-a note of tendern

, Paul Lessingham,-is

s not prepared for the assertion of the fact in such a quarter,-nor for the manner i

ow that he is strong-how strong!-oh yes! Is there a better thing than to be his wife? his well-beloved?

countenance was changed. A look of longing came into his face-of savage, frantic longing-w

the wife of his scorn! th

ure such as he was should go out of his way to apostrophise, in such a manner, a publicist of Mr Lessingham's eminence, surpassed

ve of lies,-he is all treachery. Her whom he has taken to his bosom he would put away from him as if she had never been,-he would steal from her like a thief in the night,-he would forget sh

ntly he became a trifle calmer. Reverting to his recumbent position, resting his head upon his hand, he eyed me

of the great Paul Lessingham,

do

ie!-yo

t of snarl,-as if he would have la

e residences of men in his. I may, at some time, have se

as if to learn if I spoke the truth; and a

show it you,-I will show the hou

mething hardly human; something which, for want of a better phrase, I would call vulpine. In his tone there was a mixture of m

ntion. Hearken to my bidding, so that you may do as

ully realise the picture of my hel

you, and will lead you to where I would have you go.-You will go just as you are, with bare feet, and head uncovered, and with but a single garment to hide your nakedness. You will be cold, your feet will be cut and bleeding,-but what better does a thief deserve? If any see yo

ndescribable way, seemed, as they came from his lips, to warp my limbs; to enwrap themselves about me; to confine me, tighter and tighter, within, as it were, swaddl

ntry. It may be that you will find one open, as you did mine; if not, you will open one. How,

speech,-endowed me with the power to show that there still was in me something of a man; though every second the

ill

. The pupils of his eyes dilat

you hear?-I

m an honest man,-why s

se I b

e me

-Who, at any time, has shown mercy unto

g his former incredible suggestion with an emp

is house; and, being in, will listen. If all be still,

it? I know nothi

I felt that the sweat was stan

show i

you go

I shall be with you. You will not see m

othing less, was, on the face of it, preposterous, but, then, I

which is in a certain bureau, in a corner of the room-I see it n

it be

ll will

I open it if

s skilled. I say to you again tha

ich nature had to such a dangerous degree endowed him, to carry the adventure to a certain stage, since he could hardly, at an instant's notice, endow me with the

to reflect-'some letters; it may be two or three,-I know not just how many,-they are bound about by a silken ribbon. You will tak

these nefarious proceedings,-for instance, shou

u need have no fear

ds me, in his own house, at dea

have no fe

my own?-At least he will

ve no fear of him.

? He is not the man to suffer a midnight robber to

him with a finger,-n

ll shall I p

pell of t

ords ar

thief, and should seek to stay you from whatever it is you may be at, you wi

g weird and ominous, caused my heart to press against my

ha

BEE

esence of the night before. Two bright specks gleamed in front of me; something flopped from off the bed on to the ground; the thing was coming towards me across the floor. It came slowly on, and on, and on. I stood

e lamp flamed out again, and there, lying, as before, in bed, glaring at me with his baleful eyes, was the being whom, in

till persist in interference, or seek to hinder you, you will say those two words again. You need do no more. Twice will suffice, I promise you.-Now go.-Dr