This state of affairs naturally gave an awful aspect to the place, and kept the inquisitive villagers at a distance, while the mischievous youngsters gave the place no trouble from trespassing. The only incident which reached the public was told by a precocious youth who, with grim determination, strived to unravel the mysteries of the place, on a cloudy night had crawled into the garden, climbed a tree, and hidden himself until later on, when the full moon appeared above the horizon and cast its hazy light through the clouds. Then an uncanny sight was unfurled before his eyes; there, sitting under the shadow of a weeping willow tree, the Hindoo Doctor, apparently, was in the act of hypnotizing a goat, with weird gestures and incantations. Unnerved by this strange sight, the intruder, losing his grip and footing, fell to the ground. The hooting of an owl and a fiendish howl from the Doctor gave the youth a further impetus to scamper for life, over shrubberies and picket fence, out of the domain of the Hindoo vampire!
Upon the youth’s recital of his experience, the feeling of mystery and fear increased among the unsophisticated people of the neighborhood and they kept shy of the place. But the climax of their apprehension was reached when, shortly after, the following curious sign adorned the main gate to the house:
DR. HYDER BEN RAABA
VIVISECTIONIST AND RE-INCARNATOR
What was the meaning of these significant words on his shingle, “Vivisectionist and Re-incarnator?” What was the mission of this mysterious man? To what line of surgical science did this assortment of animals contribute, whose piteous wails ever and anon emanated from his laboratory? Up to that time a chain of wonderful discoveries and marvelous achievements had been attained by profound savants in surgical and pathological subjects: The creation of life germ cells: The trepanning of skulls and the re-arrangement of the brains: The grafting of skin, nose and ear: The infusion of new blood: The pre-natal determination of sexes: The separation of mind from the body, by subjecting persons in a cataleptic state by hypnotism: And last but not least, the hibernation for an indefinite period of living bodies by suspended animation.
These amazing triumphs, each more startling than the other, were the records of past achievements.
Could there be anything more astounding?
Even so, Dr. Hyder Ben Raaba, who was conversant with all the above mentioned exploits of experimenters, had conceived one of the boldest and extraordinarily audacious of surgical feats, the successful demonstration of which would startle the world and make men stand aghast with wonder. In fact, by the display of his professional sign, it was a foregone conclusion that he had succeeded in his experiments.
By the aid of science, occultism and wonderful magic, he had transformed the sexes!