There is, or used to be, a belief in this part of the world that the
Caswall family had some strange power of making the wills of other
persons subservient to their own. There are many allusions to the
subject in memoirs and other unimportant works, but I only know of one
where the subject is spoken of definitely. It is _Mercia and its
Worthies_, written by Ezra Toms more than a hundred years ago. The
author goes into the question of the close association of the then Edgar
Caswall with Mesmer in Paris. He speaks of Caswall being a pupil and the
fellow worker of Mesmer, and states that though, when the latter left
France, he took away with him a vast quantity of philosophical and
electric instruments, he was never known to use them again. He once made
it known to a friend that he had given them to his old pupil. The term
he used was odd, for it was 'bequeathed,' but no such bequest of Mesmer
was ever made known. At any rate the instruments were missing, and never
turned up." A servant came into the room to tell Adam that there was some strange
noise coming from the locked room into which he had gone when he came in. He hurried off to the place at once, Sir Nathaniel going with him. Having
locked the door behind them, Adam opened the packing-case where the boxes
of the two mongooses were locked up. There was no sound from one of
them, but from the other a queer restless struggling. Having opened both
boxes, he found that the noise was from the Nepaul animal, which,
however, became quiet at once. In the other box the new mongoose lay
dead, with every appearance of having been strangled! CHAPTER X--THE KITE


On the following day, a little after four o'clock, Adam set out for
Mercy. He was home just as the clocks were striking six. He was pale and upset,
but otherwise looked strong and alert. The old man summed up his
appearance and manner thus: "Braced up for battle." "Now!" said Sir Nathaniel, and settled down to listen, looking at Adam
steadily and listening attentively that he might miss nothing--even the
inflection of a word. "I found Lilla and Mimi at home. Watford had been detained by business
on the farm. Miss Watford received me as kindly as before; Mimi, too,
seemed glad to see me. Mr. Caswall came so soon after I arrived, that
he, or someone on his behalf, must have been watching for me. He was
followed closely by the negro, who was puffing hard as if he had been
running--so it was probably he who watched. Mr. Caswall was very cool
and collected, but there was a more than usually iron look about his face
that I did not like. However, we got on very well. He talked pleasantly
on all sorts of questions. The nigger waited a while and then
disappeared as on the other occasion. Mr. Caswall's eyes were as usual
fixed on Lilla. True, they seemed to be very deep and earnest, but there
was no offence in them. Had it not been for the drawing down of the
brows and the stern set of the jaws, I should not at first have noticed
anything. But the stare, when presently it began, increased in
intensity. I could see that Lilla began to suffer from nervousness, as
on the first occasion; but she carried herself bravely. However, the
more nervous she grew, the harder Mr. Caswall stared. It was evident to
me that he had come prepared for some sort of mesmeric or hypnotic
battle. After a while he began to throw glances round him and then
raised his hand, without letting either Lilla or Mimi see the action. It
was evidently intended to give some sign to the negro, for he came, in
his usual stealthy way, quietly in by the hall door, which was open. Then
Mr. Caswall's efforts at staring became intensified, and poor Lilla's
nervousness grew greater. Mimi, seeing that her cousin was distressed,
came close to her, as if to comfort or strengthen her with the
consciousness of her presence. This evidently made a difficulty for Mr.
Caswall, for his efforts, without appearing to get feebler, seemed less
effective. This continued for a little while, to the gain of both Lilla
and Mimi. Then there was a diversion. Without word or apology the door
opened, and Lady Arabella March entered the room. I had seen her coming
through the great window. Without a word she crossed the room and stood
beside Mr. Caswall. It really was very like a fight of a peculiar kind;
and the longer it was sustained the more earnest--the fiercer--it grew. That combination of forces--the over-lord, the white woman, and the black
man--would have cost some--probably all of them--their lives in the
Southern States of America. To us it was simply horrible. But all that
you can understand. This time, to go on in sporting phrase, it was
understood by all to be a 'fight to a finish,' and the mixed group did
not slacken a moment or relax their efforts. On Lilla the strain began
to tell disastrously. She grew pale--a patchy pallor, which meant that
her nerves were out of order. She trembled like an aspen, and though she
struggled bravely, I noticed that her legs would hardly support her. A
dozen times she seemed about to collapse in a faint, but each time, on
catching sight of Mimi's eyes, she made a fresh struggle and pulled
through. "By now Mr. Caswall's face had lost its appearance of passivity. His
eyes glowed with a fiery light. He was still the old Roman in
inflexibility of purpose; but grafted on to the Roman was a new Berserker
fury. His companions in the baleful work seemed to have taken on
something of his feeling. Lady Arabella looked like a soulless, pitiless
being, not human, unless it revived old legends of transformed human
beings who had lost their humanity in some transformation or in the sweep
of natural savagery. As for the negro--well, I can only say that it was
solely due to the self-restraint which you impressed on me that I did not
wipe him out as he stood--without warning, without fair play--without a
single one of the graces of life and death. Lilla was silent in the
helpless concentration of deadly fear; Mimi was all resolve and
self-forgetfulness, so intent on the soul-struggle in which she was
engaged that there was no possibility of any other thought. As for
myself, the bonds of will which held me inactive seemed like bands of
steel which numbed all my faculties, except sight and hearing. We seemed
fixed in an _impasse_. Something must happen, though the power of
guessing was inactive. As in a dream, I saw Mimi's hand move restlessly,
as if groping for something. Mechanically it touched that of Lilla, and
in that instant she was transformed. It was as if youth and strength
entered afresh into something already dead to sensibility and intention. As if by inspiration, she grasped the other's band with a force which
blenched the knuckles. Her face suddenly flamed, as if some divine light
shone through it. Her form expanded till it stood out majestically. Lifting her right hand, she stepped forward towards Caswall, and with a
bold sweep of her arm seemed to drive some strange force towards him.