Chapter XIX. The Lesson of the 'Ka'

by Bram Stoker

　　That night we all went to bed early. The next night would be ananxious one, and Mr. Trelawny thought that we should all be fortifiedwith what sleep we could get. The day, too, would be full of work.Everything in connection with the Great Experiment would have to begone over, so that at the last we might not fail from any unthought-offlaw in our working. We made, of course, arrangements for summoning aidin case such should be needed; but I do not think that any of us hadany real apprehension of danger. Certainly we had no fear of suchdanger from violence as we had had to guard against in London duringMr. Trelawny's long trance.For my own part I felt a strange sense of relief in the matter. Ihad accepted Mr. Trelawny's reasoning that if the Queen were indeedsuch as we surmised--such as indeed we now took for granted--therewould not be any opposition on her part; for we were carrying out herown wishes to the very last. So far I was at ease--far more at easethan earlier in the day I should have thought possible; but there wereother sources of trouble which I could not blot out from my mind. Chiefamongst them was Margaret's strange condition. If it was indeed thatshe had in her own person a dual existence, what might happen when thetwo existences became one? Again, and again, and again I turned thismatter over in my mind, till I could have shrieked out in nervousanxiety. It was no consolation to me to remember that Margaret washerself satisfied, and her father acquiescent. Love is, after all, aselfish thing; and it throws a black shadow on anything between whichand the light it stands. I seemed to hear the hands go round the dialof the clock; I saw darkness turn to gloom, and gloom to grey, and greyto light without pause or hindrance to the succession of my miserablefeelings. At last, when it was decently possible without the fear ofdisturbing others, I got up. I crept along the passage to find if allwas well with the others; for we had arranged that the door of each ofour rooms should be left slightly open so that any sound of disturbancewould be easily and distinctly heard.One and all slept; I could hear the regular breathing of each, andmy heart rejoiced that this miserable night of anxiety was safelypassed. As I knelt in my own room in a burst of thankful prayer, I knewin the depths of my own heart the measure of my fear. I found my wayout of the house, and went down to the water by the long stairway cutin the rock. A swim in the cool bright sea braced my nerves and made memy own man again.As I came back to the top of the steps I could see the brightsunlight, rising from behind me, turning the rocks across the bay toglittering gold. And yet I felt somehow disturbed. It was all toobright; as it sometimes is before the coming of a storm. As I paused towatch it, I felt a soft hand on my shoulder; and, turning, foundMargaret close to me; Margaret as bright and radiant as the morningglory of the sun! It was my own Margaret this time! My old Margaret,without alloy of arty other; and I felt that, at least, this last andfatal day was well begun.But alas! the joy did not last. When we got back to the house from astroll around the cliffs, the same old routine of yesterday wasresumed: gloom and anxiety, hope, high spirits, deep depression, andapathetic aloofness.But it was to be a day of work; and we all braced ourselves to itwith an energy which wrought its own salvation.After breakfast we all adjourned to the cave, where Mr. Trelawnywent over, point by point, the position of each item of ourparaphernalia. He explained as he went on why each piece was so placed.He had with him the great rolls of paper with the measured plans andthe signs and drawings which he had had made from his own and Corbeck'srough notes. As he had told us, these contained the whole of thehieroglyphics on walls and ceilings and floor of the tomb in the Valleyof the Sorcerer. Even had not the measurements, made to scale, recordedthe position of each piece of furniture, we could have eventuallyplaced them by a study of the cryptic writings and symbols.Mr. Trelawny explained to us certain other things, not laid down onthe chart. Such as, for instance, that the hollowed part of the tablewas exactly fitted to the bottom of the Magic Coffer, which wastherefore intended to be placed on it. The respective legs of thistable were indicated by differently shaped uraei outlined on the floor,the head of each being extended in the direction of the similar uraeustwined round the leg. Also that the mummy, when laid on the raisedportion in the bottom of the sarcophagus, seemingly made to fit theform, would lie head to the West and feet to the East, thus receivingthe natural earth currents. 'If this be intended,' he said 'as Ipresume it is, I gather that the force to be used has something to dowith magnetism or electricity, or both. It may be, of course, that someother force, such, for instance, as that emanating from radium, is tobe employed. I have experimented with the latter, but only in suchsmall quantity as I could obtain: but so far as I can ascertain thestone of the Coffer is absolutely impervious to its influence. Theremust be some such unsusceptible substances in nature. Radium does notseemingly manifest itself when distributed through pitchblende; andthere are doubtless other such substances in which it can beimprisoned. Possibly these may belong to that class of "inert" elementsdiscovered or isolated by Sir William Ramsay. It is therefore possiblethat in this Coffer, made from an aerolite and therefore perhapscontaining some element unknown in our world, maybe contained somemighty power which is to be released on its opening.'This appeared to be an end of this branch of the subject; but as hestill kept the fixed look of one who is still engaged in a theme we allwaited in silence. After a pause he went on:'There is one thing which has up to now, I confess, puzzled me. Itmay not be of prime importance; but in a matter like this, where all isunknown, we must take it that everything is important. I cannot thinkthat in a matter worked out with such extraordinary scrupulosity such athing should be overlooked. As you may see by the ground-plan of thetomb the sarcophagus stands near the north wall, with the Magic Cofferto the sound of it. The space covered by the former is left quite bareof symbol or ornamentation of any kind. At the first glance this wouldseem to imply that the drawings had been made after thesarcophagus had been put into its place. But a more minute examinationwill show that the symbolization on the floor is so arranged that adefinite effect is produced. See, here the writings run in correctorder as though they had jumped across the gap. It is only from certaineffects that it becomes clear that there is a meaning of some kind.What that meaning may be is what we want to know. Look at the top andbottom of the vacant space, which lies West and East corresponding tothe head and foot of the sarcophagus. In body are duplications of thesame symbolization, but so arranged that the parts of each one of themare integral portions of some other writing running crosswise. It isonly when we get a coup d'oeil from either the head or the footthat you recognize that there are symbolizations. See! they are intriplicate at the corners and the centre of body top and bottom. Inevery case there is a sun cut in half by the line of the sarcophagus,as by the horizon. Close behind each of these and faced away from it,as though in some way dependent on it, is the vase which inhieroglyphic writing symbolizes the heart--"Ab" the Egyptians calledit. Beyond each of these again is the figure of a pair of widespreadarms turned upwards from the elbow; this is the determinative of the"Ka" or "Double". But its relative position is different at top andbottom. At the head of the sarcophagus the top of the "Ka" is turnedtowards the mouth of the vase, but at the foot the extended arms pointaway from it.'The symbolization seems to mean that during the passing of the Sunfrom West to East--from sunset to sunrise, or through the Under World,otherwise night--die Heart, which is material even in the tomb andcannot leave it, simply revolves, so that it can always rest on "Ra"the Sun-God, the origin of all good; but that the Double, whichrepresents the active principle, goes whither it will, the same bynight as by day. If this be correct it is a warning--a caution--areminder that the consciousness of the mummy does not rest but is to bereckoned with.'Or it may be intended to convey that after the particular night ofthe resurrection, the "Ka" would leave the heart altogether. Thustypifying that in her resurrection the Queen would be restored to alower and purely physical existence. In such case what would become ofher memory and the experiences of her wide-wandering soul? The chiefestvalue of her resurrection would be lost to the world! This, however,does not alarm me. It is only guesswork after all, and is contradictoryto the intellectual belief of the Egyptian theology, that the "Ka" isan essential portion of humanity.' He paused and we all waited. Thesilence was broken by Doctor Winchester:'But would not all this imply that the Queen feared intrusion of hertomb?' Mr. Trelawny smiled as he answered:'My dear sir, she was prepared for it. The grave-robber is no modernapplication of endeavour; he was probably known in the Queen's owndynasty. Not only was she prepared for intrusion, but, as shown inseveral ways, she expected it. The hiding of the lamps in the serdab,and the institution of the avenging "treasurer" shows that there wasdefence, positive as well as negative. Indeed, from the manyindications afforded in the clues laid out with the most consummatethought, we may almost gather that she entertained it as a possibilitythat others--like ourselves, for instance--might in all seriousnessundertake the work which she had made ready for her own hands when thetime should have come. This very matter that I have been speaking of isan instance. The clue is intended for seeing eyes!'Again we were silent. It was Margaret who spoke:'Father, may I have that chart? I should like to study it during theday!''Certainly, my dear!' answered Mr. Trelawny heartily, as he handedit to her. He resumed his instructions in a different tone, a morematter-of-fact one suitable to a practical theme which had no mysteryabout it:'I think you had better all understand the working of the electriclight in case any sudden contingency should arise. I dare say you havenoticed that we have a complete supply in every part of the house, sothat there need not be a dark corner anywhere. This I had speciallyarranged. It is worked by a set of turbines moved by the flowing andebbing tide, after the manner of the turbines at Niagara. I hope bythis means to nullify accident and to have without fail a full supplyready at any time. Come with me and I will explain the system ofcircuits, and point out to you the taps and the fuses.' I could not butnotice, as we went with him all over the house, how absolutely completethe system was, and how he had guarded himself against any disasterthat human thought could foresee.But out of the very completeness came a fear! In such an enterpriseas ours the bounds of human thought were but narrow. Beyond it lay thevast of Divine wisdom, and Divine power!When we came back to the cave, Mr. Trelawny took up another theme:'We have now to settle definitely the exact hour at which the GreatExperiment is to be made. So far as science and mechanism go, if thepreparations are complete, all hours are the same. But as we have todeal with preparations made by a woman of extraordinary subtle mind,and who had full belief in magic and had a cryptic meaning ineverything, we should place ourselves in her position before deciding.It is now manifest that the sunset has an important place in thearrangements. As those suns, cut so mathematically by the edge of thesarcophagus, were arranged of full design, we must take our cue fromthis. Again, we find all along that the number seven has had animportant bearing on every phase of the Queen's thought and reasoningand action. The logical result is that the seventh hour after sunsetwas the time fixed on. This is borne out by the fact that on each ofthe occasions when action was taken in my house, this was the timechosen. As the sun sets tonight in Cornwall at eight, our hour is to bethree in the morning!' He spoke in a matter-of-fact way, though withgreat gravity; but there was nothing of mystery in his words or manner.Still, we were all impressed to a remarkable degree. I could see thisin the other men by the pallor that came on some of their faces, and bythe stillness and unquestioning silence with which the decision wasreceived. The only one who remained in any way at ease was Margaret,who had lapsed into one of her moods of abstraction, but who seemed towake up to a note of gladness. Her father, who was watching herintently, smiled; her mood was to him a direct confirmation of histheory.For myself I was almost overcome. The definite fixing of the hourseemed like the voice of Doom. When I think of it now, I can realizehow a condemned man feels at his sentence, or at the last sounding ofthe hour he is to hear.There could be no going back now! We were in the hands of God!The hands of God...! And yet...! What other forces were arrayed?... What would become of us all, poor atoms of earthly dust whirled inthe wind which cometh whence and goeth whither no man may know. It wasnot for myself...! Margaret...!I was recalled by Mr. Trelawny's firm voice:'Now we shall see to the lamps and finish our preparations.'Accordingly we set to work, and under his supervision made ready theEgyptian lamps, seeing that they were well filled with the cedar oil,and that the wicks were adjusted and in good order. We lighted andtested them one by one, and left them ready so that they would light atonce and evenly. When this was done we had a general look round; andfixed all in readiness for our work at night.All this had taken time, and we were I think all surprised when aswe emerged from the cave we heard the great clock in the hall chimefour.We had a late lunch, a thing possible without trouble in the presentstate of our commissariat arrangements. After it, by Mr. Trelawny'sadvice, we separated; each to prepare in our own way for the strain ofthe coming night. Margaret looked pale and somewhat overwrought, so Iadvised her to lie down and try to sleep. She promised that she would.The abstraction which had been upon her fitfully all day lifted for thetime; with all her old sweetness and loving delicacy she kissed megoodbye for the present! With the sense of happiness which this gave meI went out for a walk on the cliffs. I did not want to think; and I hadan instinctive feeling that fresh air and God's sunlight, and themyriad beauties of the works of His hand would be the best preparationof fortitude for what was to come... When I got back, all the partywere assembling for a late tea. Coming fresh from the exhilaration ofnature, it struck me as almost comic that we, who were nearing the endof so strange--almost monstrous--an undertaking, should be yet bound bythe needs and habits of our lives.All the men of the party were grave; the time of seclusion, even ifit had given them rest, had also given opportunity for thought.Margaret was bright, almost buoyant; but I missed about her somethingof her usual spontaneity. Towards myself there was a shadowy air ofreserve, which brought back something of my suspicion. When tea wasover, she went out of the room; but returned in a minute with the rollof drawing which she had taken with her earlier in the day. Comingclose to Mr. Trelawny, she said:'Father, I have been carefully considering what you said today aboutthe hidden meaning of those suns and hearts and "Kas", and I have beenexamining the drawings again.''And with what result, my child?' asked Mr. Trelawny eagerly.'There is another reading possible!''And that?' His voice was now tremulous with anxiety. Margaret spokewith a strange ring in her voice; a ring that cannot be unless there isthe consciousness of truth behind it:'It means that at the sunset the "Ka" is to enter the "Ab"; and itis only at the sunrise that it will leave it!' 'Go on!' said her father hoarsely. 'It means that for this night theQueen's Double, which is otherwise free, will remain in her heart,which is mortal and cannot leave its prison-place in the mummyshrouding. It means that when the sun has dropped into the sea, QueenTera will cease to exist as a conscious power, till sunrise; unless theGreat Experiment can recall her to waking life. It means that therewill be nothing whatever for you or others to fear from her in such wayas we have all cause to remember. Whatever change may come from theworking of the Great Experiment, there can come none from the poor,helpless, dead woman who has waited all those centuries for this night;who has given up to the coming hour all the freedom of eternity, won inthe old way, in hope of a new life in a new world such as she longedfor...!' She stopped suddenly. As she had gone on speaking there hadcome with her words a strange pathetic, almost pleading, tone whichtouched me to the quick. As she stopped, I could see, before she turnedaway her head, that her eyes were full of tears.For once the heart of her father did not respond to her feeling. Helooked exultant, but with a grim masterfulness which reminded me ofthe set look of his stern face as he had lain in the trance. He did notoffer any consolation to his daughter in her sympathetic pain. He onlysaid:'We may test the accuracy of your surmise, and of her feeling, whenthe time comes!' Having said so, he went up the stone stairway and intohis own room. Margaret's face had a troubled look as she gazed afterhim.Strangely enough her trouble did not as usual touch me to the quick.When Mr. Trelawny had gone, silence reigned. I do not think that any ofus wanted to talk Presently Margaret went to her room, and I went outon the terrace over the sea. The fresh air and the beauty of all beforeme helped to restore the good spirits which I had known earlier in theday. Presently I felt myself actually rejoicing in the belief that thedanger which I had feared from the Queen's violence on the coming nightwas obviated. I believed in Margaret's belief so thoroughly that it didnot occur to me to dispute her reasoning. In a lofty frame of mind, andwith less anxiety than I had felt for days, I went to my room and laydown on the sofa.I was awaked by Corbeck calling to me, hurriedly:'Come down to the cave as quickly as you can. Mr. Trelawny wants tosee us all there at once. Hurry!'I jumped up and ran down to the cave. All were there exceptMargaret, who came immediately after me carrying Silvio in her arms.When the cat saw his old enemy he struggled to get down; but Margaretheld him fast and soothed him. I looked at my watch. It was close toeight.When Margaret was with us her father said directly, with a quietinsistence which was new to me:'You believe, Margaret, that Queen Tera has voluntarily undertakento give up her freedom for this night? To become a mummy and nothingmore, till the Experiment has been completed? To be content that sheshall be powerless under all and any circumstances until after all isover and the act of resurrection has been accomplished, or the efforthas failed?' After a pause Margaret answered in a low voice:'Yes! In the pause her whole being, appearance, expression, voice, mannerhad changed. Even Silvio noticed it, and with a violent effort wriggledaway from her arms; she did not seem to notice the act. I expected thatthe cat, when he had achieved his freedom, would have attacked themummy; but on this occasion he did not. He seemed too cowed to approachit. He shrunk away, and with a piteous 'miaou' came over and rubbedhimself against my ankles. I took him up in my arms, and he nestledthere content Mr. Trelawny spoke again:'You are sure of what you say! You believe it with all your soul?'Margaret's face had lost the abstracted look; it now seemed illuminatedwith the devotion of one to whom is given to speak of great things. Sheanswered in a voice which, though quiet, vibrated with conviction:'I know it! My knowledge is beyond belief!' Mr. Trelawny spoke again.'Then you are so sure, that were you Queen Tera herself, you wouldbe willing to prove it in any way that I might suggest?''Yes, any way!' the answer rang out fearlessly. He spoke again, in avoice in which was no note of doubt:'Even in the abandonment of your Familiar to death-- toannihilation.'She paused, and I could see that she suffered--suffered horribly.There was in her eyes a haunted look, which no man can, unmoved, ace inthe eyes of his beloved. I was about to interrupt, when her father'seyes, glancing round with a fierce determination, met mine. I stoodsilent, almost spellbound; so also the other men. Something was goingon before us which we did not understand!With a few long strides Mr. Trelawny went to the west side of thecave and tore back the shutter which obscured the window. The cool airblew in, and the sunlight streamed over them both, for Margaret was nowby his side. He pointed to where the sun was sinking into the sea in ahalo of golden fire, and his face was as set as flint. In a voice whoseabsolute uncompromising hardness I shall hear in my ears at times tillmy dying day; he said:'Choose! Speak! When the sun has dipped below the sea, it will betoo late!' The glory of the dying sun seemed to light up Margaret'sface, till it shone as if lit from within by a noble light, as sheanswered:'Even that!'Then stepping over to where the mummy cat stood on the little table,she placed her hand on it. She had now left the sunlight, and theshadows looked dark and deep over her. In a clear voice she said:'Were I Tera, I would say "Take all I have! This night is for theGods alone!" 'As she spoke the sun dipped, and the cold shadow suddenly fell onus. We all stood still for a while. Silvio jumped from my arms and ranover to his mistress, rearing himself up against her dress as if askingto be lifted. He took no notice whatever of the mummy now.Margaret was glorious with all her wonted sweetness as she saidsadly:'The sun is down, Father! Shall any of us see it again? The night ofnights is come!'