Page:Dumas - Tales of Strange adventure (Methuen, 1907).djvu/70

58 All the way across the courtyard I observed nothing specially out of the common in our leader's way of walking, beyond the afore-mentioned twisting about of the head, and a certain stately gravity in his fashion of putting one leg in front of the other. He moved along, as I have said, in the solemn way magpies do, when they do walk solemnly.

Presently we came to the garden,—a small botanical garden, square like the courtyard, but larger. It was filled with a host of flowers, duly labelled and planted out in a number of beds divided by walks, so that each one of the said beds could easily receive due and proper attention.

No sooner were we in the garden than our guide's whole demeanour altered. His solemn march became a series of hops. From three or four paces away he would catch sight of an insect,—a caterpillar, or a beetle; instantly, with a jerk of the loins impossible to describe, he would take two or three little jumps forward, both feet held together, then a jump to one side; alighting on one foot he would stoop suddenly on the same side, catch the creature, without ever missing, between thumb and finger, toss it on to the path and stamp down on it the foot he held suspended in the air with all the weight of his body. Thus there was not a second lost between discovery, capture and execution of the offender. Justice satisfied, he would jump back with a little sideways hop into the same path that we were following.

Every time he saw an insect of any sort or kind, the same operation was repeated,—but with such rapidity and address that we could pursue our way unhindered towards a detached building which seemed to be item No. 1 of the exhibition we had come to see.

The door stood wide open, showing the interior, which was square and fitted with a continuous series of pigeon-holes. At the first glance I concluded these receptacles were full of different sorts of seeds. I supposed I was about to examine the collection of some expert horticulturist, and expected to see interesting varieties of haricot beans, lentils and vetches. But on coming closer and looking carefully, I savr that what I had taken for botanical specimens were nothing more nor less than birds' eyes,—eagles' eyes, vultures' eyes, parrots' eyes, falcons' eyes, ravens' eyes, magpies' eyes, starlings' eyes, blackbirds' eyes, finches' eyes, sparrows' eyes, tomtits' eyes, eyes of every kind and species of feathered creature.

It looked for all the world like a stock of assorted ammunition, from balls of twelve to the pound down to the finest small shot. Thanks to a chemical preparation, no doubt the invention of the owner of the collection, the eyes had all preserved their colour, consistency, and one might almost say their expression. Only, removed as they were from their orbits and deprived of the eyelids, they had assumed one and all a ferocious, menacing aspect. Above each division a label indicated to what bird belonged the particular eyes in it.

Oh! Coppelius! Doctor Coppelius! thou fantastic creation of Hoffmann's brain, thou who wert always asking for oyes, fine oyes, hadst thou but come to Brussels, in what profusion wouldst thou have found the objects thou wast ever in persevering search of for thy daughter Olympia!

"Now, gentlemen," said our guide when he thought we had had time enough to examine this first section of the show, would you like to go on to the raven gallery?"

Never was name better deserved. Picture a long corridor, ten feet broad and twelve high, lighted by windows giving on a garden, the walls entirely covered by ravens nailed on their backs with wings outspread and legs and neck extended. The whole length of the room they formed a series of fantastic circles and extravagantly contorted arabesques.

Some were dropping to pieces, falling into dust, others were in every stage of putrefaction; others again were new and fresh, and some still writhing and screaming in their death agony. There might be eight or ten thousand of them altogether.

I turned to Biard, full of grateful thanks; it was quite true, I had never seen anything like it before.

"And it is your master," I asked the servant, "who devotes his time to tracing all these cabalistic shapes on the wall?"

"Oh! yes, sir, nobody but my master ever touches his ravens. He would be furious if anyone dared to interfere!"

"But then he has agents all over Belgium to supply him with birds?"