El libraryotny and, ‘m' was -' '
curious room.'It'w i" ' " “ '
a. .. mm ... 2* he .7»...
rest of the-grep a: ”“1““th with the
whose narrow-marched ' ' ‘
, _ , , wind w
:nsinss prepared one innaorulr'ayugr 6:1:
“It"! room-to which it’ led ’
When I came ' '
.Uncle Adrian's.
world there could
so explore and}
wasrfilled with tre '
four .cornera of tife'ém “the“ from the
'wlpture Dose white as?!“ i “’9 pieces at
niches and pedestals: d “am“! from “I":
on the walls along with faded tapestry:
as]! gods and id 1
grinned out of (grail-:1? t" away lands
porce ain filler than I htood in ' ' i
. i
fiezsies. and rare and old books; ”it'll;
e mi glare and locked‘cases, others lying
carelessly it On t
to see and Iit"cad.he "a“ tam. I“: In! one
, I .might write
Adrian‘s treasures.
would be many r and even then the"
left mmoted. 0E Ne and unique treasures ;
tb '
stoory deals I shall beem‘illlflte‘tuh “blah a“.
, . n a teak-wood stand carved ’ ‘
it
figures, ball.’ men, half beasts,‘:tn: $23k:
lotus border" of - .
. .lwgyg Tested ll “underful beauty, there
ornament—designs
Due could tell.
paper weight;
devote such del
,flon 0‘ Wofk_fo
d for what purpose no
witspbvious. use was as a
and yet'no artisan would
llcacy of design and perfec-
so common
’ The hand was that of a £32: “diluim
armed and beautiful; the forefinger ex-
tended and the others resting lightly o' the
tips. Every delicate bone and dimplsnw
reproduced in the rosy bronze. ' I -"
It seemed alioost a living hand. so realistic
was it. . and the wrist of this brouss
hand was a singular ornament—a bracelet
of gold-a serpent formed of tiny golden
scales—and holding between its outstretched
jaws a curious atone+—a dark' stone almost
opaque. but with glints of red and green
light below the surface, like a flicker of
angle behind _a curtain of heavy smoke.
o”uncle Adl'lan thought it was a black
part of the bronze so firml w
about the round wrist. I use’d toaislirtUatzl:
Ahdtzanmtoh tags it o! for me. but he'd
s a e s es and answer
meant to be taken oil. a“ it WI. I!"
OhCE I heard him talking to some friends
about the bronze hand. and he said
that It was a curious thing that the history
of it could never be traced. They. I re-
member. did not agree at all about it. One
called it Indian wOrk; another Moorish;
while a third laughed at their interest and ‘
”id it “'3' ”Nem'filllt in some ordinary
Place-Jar the_ fake curlo dealer.
Uncle Adrian smiled and placed his hand
lightly upon the bronze one and answered.
"What it is, or whence it came. does not
matter; it is’mine now." He seemed over
to have a great fondness for the hand, and
once mother, ”coming in to' consult. him
about some matter (rarely did she come
into the library), found him before the fire
with the bronze piece upon his knee and
his fingers stroking it softly as if it had
been a living hand.
And mother declared that the atone in the
curious bracelet was glowing like a coal of
fire. Afterward she often jested with him
about it. and'he said. gravely that until he
found a living hand to mate with that, no
woman's hand should rest in his. and so
it seemed he would ever remain a solitaire.
I was but a small child when we came to
Uncle Adrian's. my mother and I, and. in
truth, be was not my uncle. but a distant
cousin of father's; who. hearing of our
destitution after my father's death. had.
for pity’s sake. come for as and taken us
. to his homs'and set himself to straighten
out. if possible, our tangled aflairs. Since I
could not call so grave and gray a man
cousin, I addressed him ever as uncle. which
title pleased him. I was a quiet. dreamy
childfand being a cripple could not run
and laugh as healthy children will. so I
was permitted to I“! in “'0 mm" all I
chose.
THE summer I was. 10 there came to the
village near us, a traveling circus. and
mother, in great glee, prepared to go.
had no desire to mingle in the noisy crowds
and breathe the dust'snd hear the chatter
and music. so I begged her to let are re.
main at home. and grumblingly she con-
seated. Uncle Adrian and I spent a happy
afternoon in the library. each occupied in
his own way. each silent and content. In
an alcove not far from the grestred lacquer
cabinet (the cabinet which was a miniature
temple and whose halls and room! contained
curious bits of clolsonpe and ivory carvings)
was t e mummy casc-
thoughh slightly afraid to linger near what:
the shadows were failing, when I was al .. .
this afternoon. I,sat in peace
copying on my drawing pad the curious
markings and ”$813015 on “30 0“” '1‘”: 9;
playing with the scar-abs and blue bi?“
green figurines which were’ kept in t 9W
near. I could hear the pageant Uncle s . .
turning slowly.“ and sometimes be- would
read aloud a passage in seams '1 3 .
t as. . , r, , .
ml: was late alteration. and the alabaster
lamp above 3:! reading
glow. when. a; ,
from the passage was throat;
clung and mother,can\em _
“0h. cousin.” she or! ,
”9"" '57 s mussew/
an a small child to live at- -
g’ttgzught that in all the"
so delightful a place '
a"! in as this‘lib'ra’ry. It ’
“Ch “hunk! , hung :
treat vases of "
pages concerning my Uncle ‘
'bronze band-a .1“...th ‘
The bracelet seemed to be almost a»
Ande
and this I loved. ,
10,1191???“
,in'the large one.” She"
paused for breath and than
hurrieddn. ‘
“There was a girl—a
;* child, the old, man's assist-
'aut-_-and she seized the-
creaturo—va most horrible-
looking reptile it was—and
wrapped it about her like
a scarf and then fell on her
knees by the old man and
Wept _and wept. «But [the
great serpent—it was a bor-
rihle sight—coiled itself
partly about the dead man.
and there they were, the
dead man and the living‘
child, linked together by " , ,, .
that horrible twisting ser- 1 "
pent. They could not aep— ‘
arste them, for the child would not leave
him and no. one dared force her."= ' .
Uncle Adrian closed his book.- ”Tell
Peter. to bring the carriage," he said.
“I will go to town and see." ’
_, '31! you would," cried mother,
4[night speak to.he_r in her own In!) age.
you know so many of the dialects of age .
_ countries. Poor child—I felt so sorry for
her." and then, seeing my white face and
great eyes staring out from behind the
mummy case, (she ran to me and, clasping
me in her arms, kissed me,many times.’
greatly to my discomfiturc.
When Uncle Adrian came back from
town that night‘he was not alone in the
carriage and he walked into the great hall
bearing :1 slight figure in his arms.
knew, as did my l’llOfllCl‘f that it was the
Indian child, and her first words were, “I
am glad you‘bruught'hcr, but I hope the
snakes are'not along too." Uncle Adrian
frownfihnnd shook his head at her, and
the child turned her face on his shoulder.
and after one look at us and the amused
servants behind us, closed her eyes again
with a weary sigh.
. I called her child. she was so slim and
nniormed. but she must have been 14 or
18 years of age. Her hair was jet black
and a mass of curls. her brows were deli-
cate and finely marked, and her lashes
long and thick.
Her eyes seemed to change from gray
to brown or black, and she looked at us
all with a look of aloofncss, of pride. For
Uncle Adrian alone came that change of
glance, that exquisite smile curving her
red lips undithose lights ‘of love glowing in
her mysterious cycs._ lie bade my mother
take her and let her be bathed and dressed
and soiled, and he brought from one of the
old carved chests a robe of linen: an Indian
princess had once worn it. “This," said
he, "will do until we find her proper
v clothes.” And, s'o well did it fit, that it
might have been designed for her.
When w-
he had kill.» the serpent and unwound it
from the living and the dead, and tinding
the circus people had no use for the child
he had offered to take her and give her
a home.
Before long the strange girl was as much
at home in the great house as those whose
years there had numbered ‘more than her
hours. Her name was Nourmadee. and
that is what Uncle Adrian ever called her,
but to the rest she was simply Norma. She
was a quiet girl, unobtrusive, and seemed
to love best to spend her days in the
great vaulted library. Sometimes. ' but
rarely, she worfld play with me -quiet
games of fancy, but she loved best of all
to sit upon an Indian stool at Uncle
Adrian's'knee and listen as he read, fixing
adoring eyes upon him as he studied some
of the old tomes. There was a rare com-
panionship between them. and it was un-
broken until after she had been with us a
year or more.
NCLE ADRIAN sent her away to
school. She left us reluctantly. and.
strange and silent as she had ever been,
her going made a break in our lives. When
the school years were over she was sent
'to us in the autumn. and as she entered
our hall the night of her return. and stood
tall and graceful as some fair princess of
the East. Uncle Adrian's face changed as
we had never seen it. and be held out his
3m. toward her. unmindful of us, who
stared even as We had on that other night
when he had brought her, a. ragged, dusty
’ child, to us.
' .Then I cried, as she held out her slender
hands toward the log fire in the great fire-
place. "Uncle Adrian! Uncle ‘Adrlaul
Her bend in like the bronze hand—just ex-
actly 1" They all started. And Uncle
Adrian,'taking her hand in his. said softly.
"And if it is, Lancelot,
tary days are over." . _
I Norma seemed'to dislike the.bronze hand.
She» never touched it or seemed curious
about it.'snd now. as I ran to fetch it
from the table. she shivered and drew back.
But mother, laughing, took her hand in
there and. placing it upon. the broad arm
of the great oak settee, laid the bronze be.
side it, and it even as I had cried, the
hands were exact, and Uncle Adrian, turn.
lug her slender palm upward. traced upon,
the to” am , _
tugs, and bending his courtly head.,,he kissed
"the header-Norma ‘35 he said,‘ “You all
/ knowthe words I have ever said.. Hex-Q is
v ’ " hand, and it: is mihég" ' - j 7; e
j “333‘ guinea; hsrfrsre. beautiful smile
' ’ ‘ ' {'11: is yourm'lfAnd '
very low)?
~ id
anon . ,wruvwithyr-eum' ""
{has . . , ,
‘.,‘-'1’aks it away.
mo.
many 'wouldzllave been killed except for the , .
fact. that the side tent Xvas not full pf peo- '7'
pie. the performancebeing in full swing \
"’70:“. l '
I,
anew, for her tinsclcd drapings were torn .
were alone he told us that_
I believe my sull- »
'.speak to them. _ .
that mother, who complained of these cold -
. lovers. should be in my place to see them.
Norma twined her arms lovingly about his *
the same lines and mug.
- stunted" my body. but had left a.
Lancelot. 71 ,love— it ..
harem norms muffle to; 1...
* lure chillsme' and there . . ,
' i -. . would it»_could,be,so.','s;
At that instant a low.‘wailing cry broke from the girl
Uncle Adrian, smiling happily. an
1'91“]. “ 'Tis but the stone they call black
opal—an odd stone—but with no power for
harm within it, but take it back. Lancelot.
What care I for the hand of bronze when
I hold in mine its living replica?"
As'I took it, the stone in the serpent’a
mouth seemed to bless strangely—green and
crimson, but it must have been only my
fancy, or the fire, for when I placed it on
its tenkwood stand there were no colors
there.
There was a great difference in yearn
between Uncle Adrian and Nourmadee, but
that mattered not to them. for they were
one in heart, and’I have ever believed that
souls have no knowledge of our reckoned
time. -
M? mother was glad it was so, for now
that Uncle Adrian would have a wife. ail
the great house a mistress. she could leave
him and live abroad, such sis she had long
desired to do. Only gratitude had kept her
' there so long.‘and since. by his skillful wis-
dom, our shattered fortune had been. rt
trieved. we would not want for money to
lead as guy a life as she chose. I. the
cripple Lancelot, was of two minds. Hy
heart was here, in the quiet house. and yet -
I loved my mother, and I was all she had.
so‘I was to go with her for a. while and
perhaps return to them later. _
WAS beautiful to see the two so in-
terested in each other. and yet so an-
demonatrative. My mother would jest and
cry. “What a pair of lovers! Instead a!
fragrant flowers. hebringa her musty books:
instead of bonbons. strange crystals and;
broken stones!
“And pray Norma, has he_ever kissed
you?" But they minded not. her words.
Sometimes, in the twilight. she would take
one at the strange harps which were hung
around the walls, and striking the strings
softly. would sing to him sad. weird songs
in some unknown tongue. It was thus
until the date set for their marriage.
To please my mother there was to be a
wedding supper. and the rector of the v'd‘
lags church was to marry them. They let
her plan it. all for them, and showed no
interest in aught but each other.
I had gone to the library to be out or
the way of the decorators. and mounting
the stairs to the narrow gallery which ran
across ‘one side of the room, I was soon
"absorbed in examining a curious book 0!
vellum, which was kept incone of the
. cases behind the gallery. ,Frcm the banister
hung soft Persian rugs ‘and silken catfish. ‘
and as I sat upon the top step. I was lnv
visible from the room 'below. I’vras‘ ac
engrossed that I did not hear then enter.
and when I did realize, they were beneath
me in the Turkish corner. I did notcsll or
I glanced down and thought
neck. and her queenly head rested on? his
shoulder, as _ they \sat together 'on the
broad divan. beneath the velvet tumble.» ‘
“Adrian. Adrian.” she cried 9'9? and over. .
as he‘ kissed her, and the name sounded
as if each letter in it was a love word.
I watched a moment and sighed, for well ‘:
I hour that I. the cripple,- could mug U
have such in my life. _
head .aside and thought bitterly of that-
'I‘hen I turned my
fever which had twisted‘ my limbs Tang!
brain to, think.~-,and heart-to lover,
I know theta-bracelet causes
mi I know it usuia
7 Adrian i
' mun , than words?”
I did
not {note “what the [lovers beneath 'me 3‘“
‘till‘presently I hearihercry. “Nettles?“
. -Adrian.:do not‘speskelt." _ ’
“nun gm: Ln. tags. (coma. fancy can
"Tell me 'truly." she said. “ would it
make you very _hnppy?" and he! who .
had strange'tones in it. ”It: would. in-
deed." he answered. "for I have been a
sentimental boy about the thing ever since
I found it far across the water, and new
that the living, hand, the hand In perfect in
contour as the bronse model. is to be mine
forever. I know no gift I could bestow
which would give me so much pleasure as
to be able to clasp about this dainty wrist”
(here there came to me the sour! o! a
caressl—“the‘ golden serpent which en~
circles that other youder. ., It is but a
fancy, Noumadee: have patience with
x‘ne, for I know it cannot be removed save
by cutting or breakinglt .and tint would
mar its perfection. Stay—why leave me?"
‘fI will return." she said. and bending
d6’wn,’I saw her softly loose his clinging
arm and cross the room.
She wore that night a gown of gang
white, and about he's she had wound
scarf of net sewed thickly with gold sequins
which glittered and. clung about her slander V
form. She had ever a fancy for winding
about her courts of ,a fantastic pattern
which made even her modern gowns appear
odd and oriental. Nourmadee was not
of dark skin: and rose tints were. in her
cheeks and lips and her movements wen
all of wonderful grace. ' '
She passed slowly across the soft carpet
with head bent and. as she came to.t.bs
teakwood stand. I saw her raise her clasped
hands before her with a gesture of despair.
than she returned to the divan- with that
same slow. hesitating movement.
OLE Adrian‘looked a bar with a
smile: then she dropped [on her kna-
before him, and held- out her arms." 0n
the smooth skin of her left wrist slithered
a new ornament. He bent toward ht.
then started back. ’
. “It is the bracelet." he cried. "How
did you get it!"
"Ah," she said, "my fingers touched a
secret spring. perchance. and‘ it was in
my hand. Is it pleasing you. Adrian, hoses
it here?" and she held her palm upward
'with' a motion of slow grace.
The curious
stone. the black opal. was on the inner
side of her wrist 'and gleamed like an
‘ emerald. ‘ ‘
“Look!" he cried. “even the dull stone
is transformed when it is near y'ou. .See it
‘flash and glow!" And bending. his head. he" ,
raised the hand in his and pressed his
lips upon her wrist. ' l "
,At that instant, a low. walling cry
broke from the girl and. rising to her feet.
she raised her arms again "in that strange
gesture of ‘despair and cried. “ That sting
of the serpent! The rating of the serpentl
V Adrian! Adrian l" .
At her cry, Uncle Adrian had risen from
the couch in amusement and she flung. Mt .
saltedown upon it. The hand with the
l, bracelet was thrown outward and lirkpelt
beside her and held it closely.g’iooklngsat ,
her in surprise.
“'Nonrmadee." he said: softly, “what
"mstheswift death," she W
"‘Even' now? I feel me chill creeping up,
my, veins. Mime. lisp/not my hand ‘, «
:kissing it tat-vastly.
“I
growing cold?“
“It’ll." he replied
.“Butl will warm it us and'.4thll&_’-,'
' "Abound”.“shi” um :“Pnt‘
your?» 3;. V i'.
'0; “Sledthc
[J
3N0, it is of no use; letourlastmom-h
be together and alone." she said Quietly.
.I had half risentto descend them
but at that I paused. [could not let them
know that they were.not alone. “Int at
rest in your arms until it is ever." she
said. placing her head with a grant.“
on his shoulder and raising her arms heavily
to place them about his neck. “This." also
said, "I saw in a dream long before the
day you brought me here. I knew it was
to come, but I hoped not thus quickly."
'Andnsher eyes closed, he clasped be:
closely and kissed her frantically. She
smiled with white lips.
“When I can no longer speak to you."
she said. very slowly. ”place your use
against mine and keep them there until my
heart is still. I can feel you near while
there is life in me, and now. beloved. I
seenothlngbutadarkrtverzltisereeplng
, up slowly—elowly—‘but your arms can hold
’me above the Iood.~ It is dark and cold.
and the serpents. now' they are coming-
the glittering demon serpents—but they can-
nothurtmswlth you nearly
"0n the other side. in the twilight land.
I will await you, Adrian. It will not be
long; something tells me this. Why—yon
mnearmestill? Thattsgoodsyonale
coming with me; all the way. The evil
powers—the fiends of darkness—we can
face them together without fearl Kl- me
now. Adrian. and stay near me, beloved—
belo ."
ERE was a silence. I leaned over and.
watching. saw the arm about his nod
slipplns down across his shoulder. His
gray head was bent closely over her be...
hiding it. I was in deadly terror—afield
adventure together.
‘ one ever the other.
. frowning a .tcntion.
. connected with
. our remaining.
, I
it is a curious thing: the, II
rare. Look, Lancelot, how t salafit
, There must be a saeeal
clean to unite the head find tall, and as
{Lean be made to fit the wearer who".
Jhs, may be. A unique thing: let III III.
the clasp.” ‘ 7 _
‘ 'As'he turned‘it over in his palm. be 351'
i mat‘stnrt. his-face changed.
\“Aha!".l:c cried. ”I think that pet'hlfls
inner all. this is no harmless thing.
me again all that you saw that day."
And 1 mid him while he listened m
At the c:.l of it. he
lifted the serpent bracelet by the tip 0! “I
tail’fas if it lind‘been alive, and said. “Coma.
Lancelot, le: us‘go. I wish to take thh
thing about it which I fear;" ‘
“Will you tell me truly—what it is semi
time?" I said. and he answered that he
would. .' .
I had hoped to remain attbe old house.
but my .mother was eager to depart. She
could not carry out her cherished desire
I livm' 'g abroad. for there ‘vvere matters
o the estate which compelled
but the tragedy had so af-
fected her that she determined to like I'
short trip despite that.
I wrote a short note to Dr. Paul. telling
I * him we were going hurriedly and begging
him to come to see us.
E SAT before the fireplkct in the II-
ngary the (vesting of his visit. It w“
noted room now. but I had a sick
an: to be there, _and mother humored me.
.but the place seemed thick with shadows
in spite of the light and ”Munro:
few words Dr. Paul said to mo .
area. a underuood there was a mys-
3a sing: your cousin's death?"
"'Why, no." said mother.
jugular coincidence: but: we know what til.
“$25.21: do not always know." said Dr.
Paul gravely. “I might have given yum
the same verdict as your village phyll-
clan. And yet, I thought from the first
therewnsamyltery. Hadlknownthe
circumstances. or of any
I will tell you.
deadly poison ‘
agency." Andvtaking from his pocket a
case. he opened it, revealing the golden
bracelet with the opal black and dull within
its jaws.
MW mhgetherandthen, a. a... , ,
“perv fiesta: outward: g g ,jio enter - ,
(back-t0 the city with me: there is aoms- 7
no
“The bracelet from the bronco hand." _
cried mother. “Bow-dd
in surprise.
ring." he said.
time could. by
:3» the tiny needle laden with poised
in the victim's vein? That is the principle
upon which this devilish ornament was con-
structed. Beneath that stone. whatever it
maybe.isthepoison receptacle. andtks
poison-laden needle is even now . (after
claimingoncofwhichweknow,andeod
alone'knowe how many more) still deadly
awful: to end a dozen lives. As for the
manner in which she received it. I fear
my poor friend killed liar when he kisaad
the bracelet as it clasped about her wrist.
Did she know the secret ofthe bronsas hand!
‘ That we mbgm!‘ know. Adrian could
never learn its history and yet she mud
have had. in some mysterious way. knowl-
edge which caused her to fear it.”
“Did that‘kill Adrian?" cried mother.
“I cannot say," replied Dr. Paul. "Pos-
‘ me just where and have it was."
to “H3” “ remain silent. A‘ I slbly it did for Innuelot saw him place
watched, I saw a small shining creator! his lips to the spot where the poison had
“’9 “mm a"? fold °t N°'“;:V‘°':‘onfi entered while the wound was quite fresh.
”'3'“ ‘° '1‘“ “PM ‘1“ HI ' And yet he had ever a heart weakness. It
thin with head °t fifl’ then I W .1 might have been only a natural giving out
mother‘sinflns in a“ corridor: under the stress of great emotion. I am
"Let no ill dreams my sleep posse- glad'sor his. sake that it was so. To
Nor powers of darkness me “M. ' live without her—that would have been too
. ' hard. and I—ecoifsr that I ans—cannot
She sang cheerfully and thewordsthawal think of them except as living snow at
”, frozen ”m” ”d ”mu" w '1 gather somewhere—some place—completing
cried.“'l'hcy are here. mothers—them lnharmo lif’ mm ,.
tdaknssal 'ra mam!" Istum- ”- °"‘ " ”‘3'
° " °’ "° _ And mother. her eyes wet with tun.
bled down the stairs. pitching forward and said am, “In their deaths they 81‘
falling in a faint as she entered. It was united." ’
after ‘I (woke in my room, 1011‘ m,
that they told me the two had been some finggmhgfitstnut; it.“
dead in each other's arms. The doctors in d g a
the image had found a small purple i" “u”- ”1 “’0 ruched it melt away.
mark upon the wrist‘ of Nomad.“ Out beyond, “a“ the shadow or a.
bruise or bite 0 some venomous insect—' men“: “1:“ “:9" rest together in their mam
but had pronounced her death as caused-by I 1 °" I, 33116 m’bh mhshsdow on dis
lambskin—sudden and tatal. Uncle m an t “"1” an l‘till mines
Add”. _ - they aid. had died [ the shoes. 0%me Lug?“ c
They thought I raved when 1 mm .1 7 . er 0...:
theers‘sture Iliad seen gliding across the ‘ - ‘
am, but one crunch Adrian's friends‘kwbo T038}! for Bubby
”a «out , in one as listened to me p.- OCTOB—Your husband '31 be I.“ right
now.
tiently andtoldmehewonldtryto‘findit.‘ ,
Wife—What do you meant You toldms
I closed my eyes at/ first. when ‘we
reached the library, for 1 could not bear heeoulda't live.
' to look poo in butthe weakness. passed and
Doctors—Well. Ihi golngto cure um.
_Suralyyouareglad? .
»Wlfe——Putsmeinahitofnhcls.rve
, . goneandsoldallhisclotheshoptyforhil
So"! showed himffwhere I had been that. funeral.
night. _ . ' w.
they were caisson.” I “
I conmlled my tears. . ‘
-“Whers was it?" saidVDr. Paul. J’Tsll
“It-was when m m Wife on Heel:~ ' 1.
”is, “Ind ism across, , i a newsmmiW-MRW
gndvdcwn ”2%!!!de A three-fourths of my salary to as“
i
dananditwasallsgiayandsmallandm. WW?" ’
- “We will see.” said'Dreranl. "Wow!!! .3. n... off“, ”33‘ ‘° "' ‘°
pagehtboroughlil‘andif'weflndlnggh“. , .2 , , _
you must’aever think of issgals. for it _ A Good mm 5‘ I" s;
HHWWT‘SOWW
- qut'tmfl m-rmhsnkaceaug :3
.a: f ‘ , Sound-Serious "i‘l
‘ ' Lm may... ...., mu.
m f m I ”Oh. mother; irons m;
”his! mother. may encased in the :-
‘ WWW-w. .
at... _._* _
t i
Norwalk Chronicler