"Well, then," said the mule, savagely, "you"ll find it in the top right-hand drawer of my writing-table: the key is in that diorite bowl on the mantelpiece."

The Jinnee unlocked the drawer, and took out the metal cap, which he placed in the breast pocket of his incongruous frock-coat. "So far, well," he said; "next thou must deliver up to me the transcription thou hast made, and swear to preserve an inviolable secrecy regarding the meaning thereof."

"Do you know what you"re asking, sir?" said the mule, laying back his ears viciously. "Do you think that to oblige you I"m going to suppress one of the most remarkable discoveries of my whole scientific career?

Never, sir--never!"

"Since if thou refusest I shall a.s.suredly deprive thee of speech once more and leave thee a mule, as thou art now, of hideous appearance,"

said the Jinnee, "thou art like to gain little by a discovery which thou wilt be unable to impart. However, the choice rests with thee."

The mule rolled his one eye, and showed all his teeth in a vicious snarl. "You"ve got the whip-hand of me," he said, "and I may as well give in. There"s a transcript inside my blotting-case--it"s the only copy I"ve made."

Fakrash found the paper, which he rubbed into invisibility between his palms, as any ordinary conjurer might do.

"Now raise thy right forefoot," he said, "and swear by all thou holdest sacred never to divulge what thou hast learnt"--which oath the Professor, in the vilest of tempers, took, clumsily enough.

"Good," said the Jinnee, with a grim smile. "Now let one of thy women bring me a cup of fair water."

Sylvia went out, and came back with a cup of water. "It"s filtered," she said anxiously; "I don"t know if that will do?"

"It will suffice," said Fakrash. "Let both the women withdraw."

"Surely," remonstrated Mrs. Futvoye, "you don"t mean to turn his wife and daughter out of the room at such a moment as this? We shall be perfectly quiet, and we may even be of some help."

"Do as you"re told, my dear!" snapped the ungrateful mule; "do as you"re told. You"ll only be in the way here. Do you suppose he doesn"t know his own beastly business?"

They left accordingly; whereupon Fakrash took the cup--an ordinary breakfast cup with a Greek key-border pattern in pale blue round the top--and, drenching the mule with the contents, exclaimed, "Quit this form and return to the form in which thou wast!"

For a dreadful moment or two it seemed as if no effect was to be produced; the animal simply stood and shivered, and Ventimore began to feel an agonising suspicion that the Jinnee really had, as he had first a.s.serted, forgotten how to perform this particular incantation.

All at once the mule reared, and began to beat the air frantically with his fore-hoofs; after which he fell heavily backward into the nearest armchair (which was, fortunately, a solid and capacious piece of furniture) with his fore-legs hanging limply at his side, in a semi-human fashion. There was a brief convulsion, and then, by some gradual process unspeakably impressive to witness, the man seemed to break through the mule, the mule became merged in the man--and Professor Futvoye, restored to his own natural form and habit, sat gasping and trembling in the chair before them.

CHAPTER XIV

"SINCE THERE"S NO HELP, COME, LET US KISS AND PART!"

As soon as the Professor seemed to have regained his faculties, Horace opened the door and called in Sylvia and her mother, who were, as was only to be expected, overcome with joy on seeing the head of the family released from his ign.o.ble condition of a singularly ill-favoured quadruped.

"There, there," said the Professor, as he submitted to their embraces and incoherent congratulations, "it"s nothing to make a fuss about. I"m quite myself again, as you can see. And," he added, with an unreasonable outburst of ill-temper, "if one of you had only had the common sense to think of such a simple remedy as sprinkling a little cold water over me when I was first taken like that, I should have been spared a great deal of unnecessary inconvenience. But that"s always the way with women--lose their heads the moment anything goes wrong! If I had not kept perfectly cool myself--"

"It was very, very stupid of us not to think of it, papa," said Sylvia, tactfully ignoring the fact that there was scarcely an undamaged article in the room; "still, you know, if _we_ had thrown the water it mightn"t have had the same effect."

"I"m not in a condition to argue now," said her father; "you didn"t trouble to try it, and there"s no more to be said."

"No more to be said!" exclaimed Fakrash. "O thou monster of ingrat.i.tude, hast thou no thanks for him who hath delivered thee from thy predicament?"

"As I am already indebted to you, sir," said the Professor, "for about twenty-four hours of the most poignant and humiliating mental and bodily anguish a human being can endure, inflicted for no valid reason that I can discover, except the wanton indulgence of your unholy powers, I can only say that any grat.i.tude of which I am conscious is of a very qualified description. As for you, Ventimore," he added, turning to Horace, "I don"t know--I can only guess at--the part you have played in this wretched business; but in any case you will understand, once for all, that all relations between us must cease."

"Papa," said Sylvia, tremulously, "Horace and I have already agreed that--that we must separate."

"At my bidding," explained Fakrash, suavely; "for such an alliance would be totally unworthy of his merits and condition."

This frankness was rather too much for the Professor, whose temper had not been improved by his recent trials.

"n.o.body asked for your opinion, sir!" he snapped. "A person who has only recently been released from a term of long and, from all I have been able to ascertain, well-deserved imprisonment, is scarcely ent.i.tled to pose as an authority on social rank. Have the decency not to interfere again with my domestic affairs."

"Excellent is the saying," remarked the imperturbable Jinnee, ""Let the rat that is between the paws of the leopard observe rigidly all the rules of politeness and refrain from words of provocation." For to return thee to the form of a mule once more would be no difficult undertaking."

"I think I failed to make myself clear," the Professor hastened to observe--"failed to make myself clear. I--I merely meant to congratulate you on your fortunate escape from the consequences of what I--I don"t doubt was an error of justice. I--I am sure that, in the future, you will employ your--your very remarkable abilities to better purpose, and I would suggest that the greatest service you can do this unfortunate young man here is to abstain from any further attempts to promote his interests."

"Hear, hear!" Horace could not help throwing in, though in so discreet an undertone that it was inaudible.

"Far be this from me," replied Fakrash. "For he has become unto me even as a favourite son, whom I design to place upon the golden pinnacle of felicity. Therefore, I have chosen for him a wife, who is unto this damsel of thine as the full moon to the glow-worm, and as the bird of Paradise to an unfledged sparrow. And the nuptials shall be celebrated before many hours."

"Horace!" cried Sylvia, justly incensed, "why--_why_ didn"t you tell me this before?"

"Because," said the unhappy Horace, "this is the very first I"ve heard of it. He"s always springing some fresh surprise on me," he added, in a whisper--"but they never come to anything much. And he can"t marry me against my will, you know."

"No," said Sylvia, biting her lip. "I never supposed he could do that, Horace."

"I"ll settle this at once," he replied. "Now, look here, Mr. Jinnee," he added, "I don"t know what new scheme you have got in your head--but if you are proposing to marry me to anybody in particular----"

"Have I not informed thee that I have it in contemplation to obtain for thee the hand of a King"s daughter of marvellous beauty and accomplishments?"

"You know perfectly well you never mentioned it before," said Horace, while Sylvia gave a little low cry.

"Repine not, O damsel," counselled the Jinnee, "since it is for his welfare. For, though as yet he believeth it not, when he beholds the resplendent beauty of her countenance he will swoon away with delight and forget thy very existence."

"I shall do nothing of the sort," said Horace, savagely. "Just understand that I don"t intend to marry any Princess. You may prevent me--in fact, you _have_--from marrying this lady, but you can"t force me to marry anybody else. I defy you!"

"When thou hast seen thy bride"s perfections thou wilt need no compulsion," said Fakrash. "And if thou shouldst refuse, know this: that thou wilt be exposing those who are dear to thee in this household to calamities of the most unfortunate description."

The awful vagueness of this threat completely crushed Horace; he could not think, he did not even dare to imagine, what consequences he might bring upon his beloved Sylvia and her helpless parents by persisting in his refusal.

"Give me time," he said heavily; "I want to talk this over with you."

"Pardon me, Ventimore," said the Professor, with acidulous politeness; "but, interesting as the discussion of your matrimonial arrangements is to you and your--a--protector, I should greatly prefer that you choose some more fitting place for arriving at a decision which is in the circ.u.mstances a foregone conclusion. I am rather tired and upset, and I should be obliged if you and this gentleman could bring this most trying interview to a close as soon as you conveniently can."

"You hear, Mr. Fakrash?" said Horace, between his teeth, "it is quite time we left. If you go at once, I will follow you very shortly."

"Thou wilt find me awaiting thee," answered the Jinnee, and, to Mrs.

Futvoye"s and Sylvia"s alarm, disappeared through one of the bookcases.

"Well," said Horace, gloomily, "you see how I"m situated? That obstinate old devil has cornered me. I"m done for!"

"Don"t say that," said the Professor; "you appear to be on the eve of a most brilliant alliance, in which I am sure you have our best wishes--the best wishes of us all," he added pointedly.