Page:Weird Tales Volume 2 Number 2 (1923-09).djvu/26

Rh the soul exists, but that it exists also as a tangible entity."

I said no more; for, after all, why should I? The experiment was eminently proper. The phenomena of telepathy, apparitions of the living and dead, messages from discarnate intelligences are being constantly investigated; why should not a scientist of the first class investigate this profound and vital problem, the enigma of enigmas, from the standpoint of those sciences which have most to do with the manifestations of life and death—biology and physiology?

An investigation carried to a successful issue along these lines would do more to convince the skeptical than any amount of the so called "evidence" offered by spiritualistic investigators.

We proceeded at once with the work in hand. At Dr. Johnstone's direction, I shaved the nape of the animal's neck and also a tonsure-shaped area on the top of the head. I then adjusted a cap-shaped electrode that was held in place by tapes tied firmly under the chin. It was not necessary to shave the man, as he was sufficiently bald to allow a similar electrode to be fitted without the hair interfering with the contact.

He then had me fasten his legs and arms with leather straps attached to the table on which he lay; the beast was not restrained. I then connected the two electrodes by means of a non-insulated wire of some metallic substance having a peculiar luminous lustre—radio active I would say—and very cold to the touch.

I also attached to the posts of the battery two longer wires of the same material, one each from the two electrodes, thus completing the circuit. The battery, if I may call it such, for I do not know whether it generated electricity or some other force, I cannot describe, because the units of which it was composed were encased in a wooden box. It was placed on a small stand between the two glass-topped tables on which the man and beast reclined.

"All set!" I exclaimed.

"Turn on the switch."

I did so. There was a slight crackling noise, not unlike that made by a D'Arsonval current, and instantly both bodies became rigid. The respiratory movements ceased, as well as the apex beat of the heart. The eyes remained open and stony and staring, with the pupils widely dilated. On the face of the man and on that of the beast there seemed to come the change of death. Their features became pinched and sank in, the lips livid and drawn tight over the teeth. Theirs was the facies Hippocratica, the sure harbinger of death, described by the great father of medicine long ago.

It was as if the vital organs—the heart and lungs—no longer functioned and the glow of life was gone. This phase lasted exactly one minute and twenty-two seconds, for I timed it with my watch. Then the heart of each began to beat again: slowly and feebly at first, but the force and number of the beats increased with each passing second.

They began to breathe. They lived; although unconscious. For awhile they seemed to sleep; to sleep with that profoundness that is observed only in children or the aged, or in those who are utterly exhausted by physical exertion. This second phase lasted for a few seconds less than five minutes.

Then came another change. A change that was subtle and terrible to see. It was as if life was coming back, but in each it was a different life and this difference was indelibly stamped upon their features. The countenance of the ape shone with a light that was new and strange; the countenance of the man was transformed by a look that was not human. I was awed; for what I saw was stranger far than anything I had ever beheld.

The ape turned his eyes toward me. The cavernous mouth opened, the black snout grimaced, in husky, guttural tones came the words, "Where am I?"

I did not answer; I simply stared at him. The beast sat up and stretched his arms, and then clambered to the floor and shambled toward me. I stepped back I could not help it.

"Don't be afraid. It's only I—Johnstone." The wrinkled face broke into a hideous smile. "Help me to unloose the other."

The man by this time was tugging at the straps in an endeavor to get free. As I unbuckled the strap that held his shoulders down, he tried to bite me.

"Stop that!" croaked the ape, and he struck the man a sharp blow in the face. He cowered from the blow and made an angry grimace, and when the leg straps were unloosed sprang to the floor with a wild yell and began capering about the room with body bent and hanging arms—like an ape. If it were not horrible, it would have seemed grotesque, but as it was it sickened me.

The beast clutched me by the arm, and in a voice that trembled with emotion, hoarse and raucous though it was, said, "See! his soul is in my body and my soul is in his body. I have proved that the soul exists—that there is an ego in all living things,"

N SILENCE we stood and watched the bestial thing, and it came home to me how much the body reflects the soul within. Round and round the room it ran; peering, muttering, fingering, smelling. Suddenly it approached and stopped at the table where the battery stood.

With a cry of alarm, the one at my side leaped forward to drive it away. But it was too late. As the beast leaped, the man swept the apparatus to the floor. It fell with a crash. From the broken jars a fuming, greenish vapor arose that filled the room with a pungent, acrid odor. The wires gave off faint, red lights and turned to white, ashlike streaks.

The ape gripped him. The man yelled and bit and struggled. The body of Johnstone was that of a powerful man in the prime of life and he put up a fierce fight. Over and over they rolled, upsetting chairs and tables, now the man, now the beast, on top. Slowly but surely, the animal strength overcame that of the human. The man was down and the beast was on top.

In vain the man's fists beat the broad, black face and tore at the hairy chest. The short, thick fingers clutched his throat tighter and tighter, his face turned blue and his tongue stuck out to a sickening length, and his eyes seemed as if they were bursting from their sockets.

I watched the fearful struggle without attempting to interfere, because it was impossible to do so. It was not like a fight between man and man but a fight between two beasts. I was fascinated by it, but when I realized that the man was dying—that the beast was choking him to death, I came to myself.

"Stop it! for God's sake stop it!" I cried, "You're killing him—you're killing yourself!" and I grasped the ape by the shoulder and tried to pull him off.

"Let go of him!" He understood and relaxed his hold and stood up. The man still breathed feebly.

"What is the matter with you?" I asked with heat. "If you kill him, how can you return to your own body?"

The ape turned and looked at me.

"Yes," he groaned, "I know; but he has broken the bridge over which we must pass to enter into our own."

"What!" I cried. "Do you mean to tell me that you can't go back? Can't the apparatus be repaired? We can keep this," and I pointed to the prostrate form on the floor, "locked up until I can get what you need."