No sooner had the flash of light passed than that controlling will was expressed by a voice, harsh and hollow, coming from a little distance outside the plantation, and pronouncing a strange word in a
“THE FLASH CAME, AND THE SIGHT IT REVEALED I SHALL NEVER FORGET. THERE STOOD CRYSTAL IN THE PATH BEFORE ME, DRAPED IN HER NIGHT GARMENTS.”
language unknown to me. At the sound Crystal attempted to move past me in the darkness, evidently impelled by the suggestion that she must follow. But with one arm I caught her round the waist and held her back. She struggled violently with all her strength to follow the voice as it repeated the strange word from further in the field, and it dawned upon me, from what little I knew of this old and new world black magic of control by suggestion, that if I restrained her by force the result might be some strange twist of the brain or aberration of the nervous centres. So I let her move on, retaining one of her hands and walking by her side for a short distance into the field. A flash revealed a figure gliding ahead of us, and in order to make him glide a little quicker, I fired four revolver shots in succession after him. Then, acting upon an idea which had occurred to me, I tried to imitate the voice and the strange word he had used. After two or three attempts beneath my breath, I made the peculiar sound, coming to a halt at the same time.
It was effective: Crystal stopped also and turned towards me.
Repeating the word I drew her gently back towards the plantation, and she followed obediently. It was with the idea that her sense of sight might contradict her sense of hearing that I pressed her eyelids down and bound my handkerchief over her eyes, lest, when the lightning flashed, she should see me and become aware of this deception within a deception.
Thus reiterating the guiding sound which, by the bond of suggestion placed upon her by the infernal negro wizard, represented his will, I wrapped the mackintosh about her and led her through the plantation, over the lawn, and into the house. There, obedient to my instructions, given to her in the harsh voice of the negro, she remained in the care of Grey and the servants, with whom I succeeded in placing her in touch, while I, having hidden the reed tube in a safe place, hurried out to look for Tiki.
The storm had passed over, and was grumbling itself out in the distance. A bright star shone down through a break in the clouds, but it was still too dark to see clearly, and it was with difficulty I made my way to the place where Tiki had been standing.
After searching about for a long time and finding nothing, I was favoured by the moon in its last quarter rising over the hills inland and showing through the heavy cloud drift. By this pale light I corrected my position and searched again. But there was no sign of Tiki. Had he recovered and gone after the negro to kill him, or had he followed obediently under the influence of the poison and the voice?