Quest of the Golden Ape Page 4

  CHAPTER IV

  _John Pride's Story_

  "I am a member," John Pride began, "of a firm called Pride, Conroy,and Wilson. We are a very old firm of private bankers with offices inWall Street. Both Conroy and Wilson died before I was born, leaving noissue, so the company has been controlled by a Pride for many years.

  "This affair in which we are interested had its inception one hundredyears ago. At that time, a man came to see my great grandfather in hisoffice. He was a most remarkable man and gained my grandfather'srespect and confidence from the very first. He never stated fromwhence he came, being more interested in the future than in the past.He put up at a New York City hotel and my great grandfather knew therewere three in his party; the man himself, another man and a woman bothsomewhat older than he.

  "At one time when my great grandfather visited them in their hotelsuite, he saw the woman fleetingly as she was leaving the room. Shewas carrying something that he thought could have been an infantsnuggled in a blanket. He could not be sure however and he did not askquestions.

  "The man was interested in obtaining a place of abode, a place thathad to possess certain definite qualifications. First, it had to bebuilt upon solid rock and set in the most secluded location possible.

  "Second, it had to be so completely free of legal involvements thatwhen he secured title, no possible claim of another could ever betaken seriously enough to even cause the property to be visited. Inshort, the strange man said, details relevant to the property mustintegrate to a point where no one would visit it for one hundredyears."

  At this place in his narrative, John Pride stopped a moment to resthis voice. After a pause, the young man in the purple robe inquired,"Why do you smile?"

  "At the recollection. My great grandfather had just a whiteelephant--"

  "A white elephant?"

  "Merely a descriptive term. A place that had been built before theRevolution but which even at that early time had been bypassed by thetrend of progress until it was completely isolated. No one wanted it.No one would ever want it so far as my great grandfather could judge."

  "Except this strange man you speak of."

  "Precisely. He was delighted with the place and when my greatgrandfather pointed out that even with the location and the highsurrounding wall there was no guarantee that wandering adventurersmight not move in and take possession at some distant date, the mansmiled cryptically and said he would see to it that that did notoccur."

  * * * * *

  The young man was scowling. "I know that man. He is somewhere back inmy mind, but he will not come forward."

  John Pride regarded his listener for a moment and then went on. "Theman seemed in ample funds and paid for the property with a giant rubythe like of which my great grandfather had never before set eyes on.

  "But the affair was far from ended. The man moved his _menage_ intothe mansion saying he would call upon my great grandfather later.

  * * * * *

  "All the legal formalities had been of course taken care of--anindisputable deed, guaranteed by the strongest trust company in theland. But that was not enough.

  "After a few weeks, during which time the man had inquired of my greatgrandfather where certain materials could be obtained, he returned tothe old gentleman's office with the most startling request of all.

  "He said that he had set in motion a procedure that would terminate inexactly one hundred years from a given moment and that he wished toretain grandfather's firm as trust agents in relation to thatprocedure. The duties of the firm would be negligible during thehundred-year period. My great grandfather and his issue were merely toremain completely away from the property which was certainly a simplething to do.

  "But knowledge of what had taken place must be passed down to his sonand in case the latter did not survive the one hundred years, to hisson's son.

  "At this point my great grandfather interposed reality in the form ofa question: 'I have a son but suppose he is so inconsiderate as to notduplicate with a male heir?'

  "The man smiled and said he was sure that would not be the case. Hewas right, but whether it was a gamble on his part or whether he spokefrom a knowledge beyond us, we never knew.

  "But regardless--at the end of one hundred years the surviving issuewas, by sacred trust, to be present in this mansion. The door of avault beneath it would open and the trustee was to enter and delivertherein a written account of the series of events leading up to thatmoment.

  "In payment for this service, the man insisted upon presenting mygreat grandfather with jewels the value of which on a yearly basistranscended all our other income combined. My great grandfatherdemurred but the man said nothing brightens memory so much asmaterial gain and he did not want the agreement to be forgotten."

  "What happened to the man?" the young listener asked.

  John Pride shook his head sadly. "We never knew. When all thearrangements were made, he came again to the office, thanked my greatsire for his services, and was never seen again."

  "He must have given you his name."

  John Pride frowned. "He used a name of course but there was theimpression of its not being his true one. The book mentions this. Thename he used was C. D. Bram."

  "Portox!" the young man cried suddenly.

  "What did you say?"

  "Portox. The name is back in my mind. I used it as I awoke."

  "A strange name."

  "And stranger still is the fact that I know nothing of it--wait!" Theyoung man's handsome features strained as he concentrated with all hispower. Sweat stood out on his forehead. But then a look ofdisappointment came into his face and his broad shoulders sagged. "No.The knowledge is somewhere back in my mind but I cannot capture it."

  John Pride was about to speak but the young man stayed him with asudden intense look. "One thing however is very clear to me."

  "And that is--?"

  "The face of my mother."

  "The woman who held you in her arms in the hotel suite?"

  "No, I do not think so. But I see a face clearly in my mind. A sad andbeautiful face. There is a marked resemblance between it and what Isee in that mirror. She is the most beautiful woman who ever lived andI yearn to find her and take her in my arms."

  "I hope you succeed."

  * * * * *

  A tragic light appeared in the young man's eyes. "But where is she?How can I find her? Why did she leave me in this place?"

  "I do not have the answers to those questions. But I have a theoryconcerning you and the elapsed years."

  "Tell me!"

  John Pride spoke firmly but with obvious awe. "I think you werebrought here as an infant for some reason known only to the one whocalled himself C. D. Bram."

  "Or Portox."

  "Perhaps. I think you were placed in that bed and left there for onehundred years."

  "But--"

  "Consider. That door has never been opened. There is certainly noother exit to this cavern."

  "And I have no recollection of ever having lived before," the youngman said slowly.

  "Yet you can converse with me. You obviously have been given aneducation."

  "But how?"

  "It is known that knowledge can be injected into the subconsciouswhile the receiver sleeps. I'm sure the man you insist upon callingPortox was aware of this--this and perhaps other scientific miracles.Who are we to say that you were not nourished by some means beyond ourknowledge?"

  But that investigation was never to be made because as John Prideextended his hand to touch the box it suddenly burst into a glow andhe withdrew his fingers quickly.

  Before the younger man could answer a glowing point of light spranginto being and brightened and a wave of searing heat erupted from thewalls of the room, searing the eyes of John Pride and leaving him togrope helplessly as in the heart of a furnace. The younger man wasbeyond his reach. Blinding pain caused him to reel.