When I was a little boy I once went with my father to call on Adrian Borlsover . I played on the floor with a black spaniel while my father appealed for a subscription . Just before we left my father said , " Mr . Borlsover , may my son here shake hands with you ? It will be a thing to look back upon with pride when he grows to be a man . " I came up to the bed on which the old man was lying and put my hand in his , awed by the still beauty of his face . He spoke to me kindly , and hoped that I should always try to please my father . Then he placed his right hand on my head and asked for a blessing to rest upon me . " Amen ! " said my father , and I followed him out of the room , feeling as if I wanted to cry . But my father was in excellent spirits . " But I saw his eyes , " I said . " They were ever so black and shiny ; they weren 't shut up like Nora 's puppies . Can 't he see at all ? " That was the only time I saw Adrian Borlsover . I soon forgot about him and the hand which he laid in blessing on my head . But for a week I prayed that those dark tender eyes might see . Adrian Borlsover , as my father had said , was a wonderful man . He came of an eccentric family . Borlsovers ' sons , for some reason , always seemed to marry very ordinary women , which perhaps accounted for the fact that no Borlsover had been a genius , and only one Borlsover had been mad . But they were great champions of little causes , generous patrons of odd sciences , founders of querulous sects , trustworthy guides to the bypath meadows of erudition . Adrian was an authority on the fertilization of orchids . He had held at one time the family living at Borlsover Conyers , until a congenital weakness of the lungs obliged him to seek a less rigorous climate in the sunny south coast watering - place where I had seen him . Occasionally he would relieve one or other of the local clergy . My father described him as a fine preacher , who gave long and inspiring sermons from what many men would have considered unprofitable texts . " An excellent proof , " he would add , " of the truth of the doctrine of direct verbal inspiration . " Adrian Borlsover was exceedingly clever with his hands . His penmanship was exquisite . He illustrated all his scientific papers , made his own woodcuts , and carved the reredos that is at present the chief feature of interest in the church at Borlsover Conyers . He had an exceedingly clever knack in cutting silhouettes for young ladies and paper pigs and cows for little children , and made more than one complicated wind instrument of his own devising . When he was fifty years old Adrian Borlsover lost his sight . In a wonderfully short time he had adapted himself to the new conditions of life . He quickly learned to read Braille . So marvelous indeed was his sense of touch that he was still able to maintain his interest in botany . The mere passing of his long supple fingers over a flower was sufficient means for its identification , though occasionally he would use his lips . I have found several letters of his among my father 's correspondence . In no case was there anything to show that he was afflicted with blindness and this in spite of the fact that he exercised undue economy in the spacing of lines . Towards the close of his life the old man was credited with powers of touch that seemed almost uncanny : it has been said that he could tell at once the color of a ribbon placed between his fingers . My father would neither confirm nor deny the story . Like his uncle , he was a remarkable man . The Borlsovers had always been born naturalists , but Eustace possessed in a special degree the power of systematizing his knowledge . He had received his university education in Germany , and then , after post - graduate work in Vienna and Naples , had traveled for four years in South America and the East , getting together a huge store of material for a new study into the processes of variation . Uncle and nephew saw little of each other . The visits of Eustace were confined to a week in the summer or autumn : long weeks , that dragged almost as slowly as the bath - chair in which the old man was drawn along the sunny sea front . In their way the two men were fond of each other , though their intimacy would doubtless have been greater had they shared the same religious views . Adrian held to the old - fashioned evangelical dogmas of his early manhood ; his nephew for many years had been thinking of embracing Buddhism . Both men possessed , too , the reticence the Borlsovers had always shown , and which their enemies sometimes called hypocrisy . With Adrian it was a reticence as to the things he had left undone ; but with Eustace it seemed that the curtain which he was so careful to leave undrawn hid something more than a half - empty chamber . Two years before his death Adrian Borlsover developed , unknown to himself , the not uncommon power of automatic writing . Eustace made the discovery by accident . Adrian was sitting reading in bed , the forefinger of his left hand tracing the Braille characters , when his nephew noticed that a pencil the old man held in his right hand was moving slowly along the opposite page . He left his seat in the window and sat down beside the bed . The right hand continued to move , and now he could see plainly that they were letters and words which it was forming . " Adrian Borlsover , " wrote the hand , " Eustace Borlsover , George Borlsover , Francis Borlsover Sigismund Borlsover , Adrian Borlsover , Eustace Borlsover , Saville Borlsover . B , for Borlsover . Honesty is the Best Policy . Beautiful Belinda Borlsover . " " It seems to me , " said his uncle , closing the book , " that you had much better make the most of the afternoon sunshine and take your walk now . " " I think perhaps I will , " Eustace answered as he picked up the volume . " I won 't go far , and when I come back I can read to you those articles in Nature about which we were speaking . " He went along the promenade , but stopped at the first shelter , and seating himself in the corner best protected from the wind , he examined the book at leisure . Nearly every page was scored with a meaningless jungle of pencil marks : rows of capital letters , short words , long words , complete sentences , copy - book tags . The whole thing , in fact , had the appearance of a copy - book , and on a more careful scrutiny Eustace thought that there was ample evidence to show that the handwriting at the beginning of the book , good though it was was not nearly so good as the handwriting at the end . But on his return he was at first disappointed . His uncle , he thought , looked older . He was listless too , preferring others to read to him and dictating nearly all his letters . Not until the day before he left had Eustace an opportunity of observing Adrian Borlsover 's new - found faculty . The old man , propped up in bed with pillows , had sunk into a light sleep . His two hands lay on the coverlet , his left hand tightly clasping his right . Eustace took an empty manuscript book and placed a pencil within reach of the fingers of the right hand . They snatched at it eagerly ; then dropped the pencil to unloose the left hand from its restraining grasp . " Ten minutes before four . Put your book away , Eustace . Adrian mustn 't find us working at this sort of thing . He doesn 't know what to make of it , and I won 't have poor old Adrian disturbed . Au revoir . " " I 've been dreaming again , " he said ; " such queer dreams of leaguered cities and forgotten towns . You were mixed up in this one , Eustace , though I can 't remember how . Eustace , I want to warn you . Don 't walk in doubtful paths . Choose your friends well . Your poor grandfather - - " A fit of coughing put an end to what he was saying , but Eustace saw that the hand was still writing . He managed unnoticed to draw the book away . " I 'll light the gas , " he said , " and ring for tea . " On the other side of the bed curtain he saw the last sentences that had been written . " Nonsense , uncle ! " said his nephew . " You have got over your difficulties in a way not one in a hundred thousand would have done . Every one marvels at your splendid perseverance in teaching your hand to take the place of your lost sight . To me it 's been a revelation of the possibilities of education . " " Education , " said his uncle dreamily , as if the word had started a new train of thought , " education is good so long as you know to whom and for what purpose you give it . But with the lower orders of men , the base and more sordid spirits , I have grave doubts as to its results . Well , good - by , Eustace , I may not see you again . You are a true Borlsover , with all the Borlsover faults . Marry , Eustace . Marry some good , sensible girl . And if by any chance I don 't see you again , my will is at my solicitor 's . I 've not left you any legacy , because I know you 're well provided for , but I thought you might like to have my books . Oh , and there 's just one other thing . You know , before the end people often lose control over themselves and make absurd requests . Don 't pay any attention to them , Eustace . Good - by ! " and he held out his hand . Eustace took it . It remained in his a fraction of a second longer than he had expected , and gripped him with a virility that was surprising . There was , too , in its touch a subtle sense of intimacy . The question occurred to him again with greater force when three days later he found himself standing in the library at Borlsover Conyers , a huge room built for use , and not for beauty , in the year of Waterloo by a Borlsover who was an ardent admirer of the great Napoleon . It was arranged on the plan of many college libraries , with tall , projecting bookcases forming deep recesses of dusty silence , fit graves for the old hates of forgotten controversy , the dead passions of forgotten lives . At the end of the room , behind the bust of some unknown eighteenth - century divine , an ugly iron corkscrew stair led to a shelf - lined gallery . Nearly every shelf was full . " Hullo ! " said Eustace , standing before the fire with his hands in his pockets . " How goes the world , Saunders ? Why these dress togs ? " He himself was wearing an old shooting - jacket . He did not believe in mourning , as he had told his uncle on his last visit ; and though he usually went in for quiet - colored ties , he wore this evening one of an ugly red , in order to shock Morton the butler , and to make them thrash out the whole question of mourning for themselves in the servants ' hall . Eustace was a true Borlsover . " The world , " said Saunders , " goes the same as usual , confoundedly slow . The dress togs are accounted for by an invitation from Captain Lockwood to bridge . " " You 'll find your correspondence in the library , " went on Saunders . " Most of it I 've seen to . There are a few private letters I haven 't opened . There 's also a box with a rat , or something , inside it that came by the evening post . Very likely it 's the six - toed albino . I didn 't look , because I didn 't want to mess up my things but I should gather from the way it 's jumping about that it 's pretty hungry . " " We 'll have all the lights on at any rate , " he said , as he turned the switches . " And , Morton , " he added , when the butler brought the coffee , " get me a screwdriver or something to undo this box . Whatever the animal is , he 's kicking up the deuce of a row . What is it ? Why are you dawdling ? " " If you please , sir , when the postman brought it he told me that they 'd bored the holes in the lid at the post - office . There were no breathin ' holes in the lid , sir , and they didn 't want the animal to die . That is all , sir . " " It 's culpably careless of the man , whoever he was , " said Eustace , as he removed the screws , " packing an animal like this in a wooden box with no means of getting air . Confound it all ! I meant to ask Morton to bring me a cage to put it in . Now I suppose I shall have to get one myself . " To search for it did indeed seem hopeless . He tried to follow the sound of the scuttling in one of the recesses where the animal seemed to be running behind the books in the shelves , but it was impossible to locate it . Eustace resolved to go on quietly reading . Very likely the animal might gain confidence and show itself . Saunders seemed to have dealt in his usual methodical manner with most of the correspondence . There were still the private letters . " I wonder if something has gone wrong with the fuse , " said Eustace , as he went to the switches by the door . Then he stopped . There was a noise at the other end of the room , as if something was crawling up the iron corkscrew stair . " If it 's gone into the gallery , " he said , " well and good . " He hastily turned on the lights , crossed the room , and climbed up the stair . But he could see nothing . His grandfather had placed a little gate at the top of the stair , so that children could run and romp in the gallery without fear of accident . This Eustace closed , and having considerably narrowed the circle of his search , returned to his desk by the fire . How gloomy the library was ! There was no sense of intimacy about the room . The few busts that an eighteenth - century Borlsover had brought back from the grand tour , might have been in keeping in the old library . Here they seemed out of place . They made the room feel cold , in spite of the heavy red damask curtains and great gilt cornices . " Very well ; you 'll starve for this , my beauty ! " he said . " We 'll do some little experiments on the metabolism of rats deprived of water . Go on ! Chuck them down ! I think I 've got the upper hand . " He turned once again to his correspondence . The letter was from the family solicitor . It spoke of his uncle 's death and of the valuable collection of books that had been left to him in the will . " There was one request , " he read , " which certainly came as a surprise to me . As you know , Mr . Adrian Borlsover had left instructions that his body was to be buried in as simple a manner as possible at Eastbourne . He expressed a desire that there should be neither wreaths nor flowers of any kind , and hoped that his friends and relatives would not consider it necessary to wear mourning . The day before his death we received a letter canceling these instructions . He wished his body to be embalmed ( he gave us the address of the man we were to employ - Pennifer , Ludgate Hill ) , with orders that his right hand was to be sent to you , stating that it was at your special request . The other arrangements as to the funeral remained unaltered . " Someone was in the gallery . Someone had pulled the cord attached to one of the blinds , and it had rolled up with a snap . Someone must be in the gallery , for a second blind did the same . Someone must be walking round the gallery , for one after the other the blinds sprang up , letting in the moonlight . " I haven 't got to the bottom of this yet , " said Eustace , " but I will do before the night is very much older , " and he hurried up the corkscrew stair . He had just got to the top when the lights went out a second time , and he heard again the scuttling along the floor . Quickly he stole on tiptoe in the dim moonshine in the direction of the noise , feeling as he went for one of the switches . His fingers touched the metal knob at last . He turned on the electric light . About ten yards in front of him , crawling along the floor , was a man 's hand . Eustace stared at it in utter astonishment . It was moving quickly , in the manner of a geometer caterpillar , the fingers humped up one moment , flattened out the next ; the thumb appeared to give a crab - like motion to the whole . While he was looking , too surprised to stir , the hand disappeared round the corner Eustace ran forward . He no longer saw it , but he could hear it as it squeezed its way behind the books on one of the shelves . A heavy volume had been displaced . There was a gap in the row of books where it had got in . In his fear lest it should escape him again , he seized the first book that came to his hand and plugged it into the hole . Then , emptying two shelves of their contents , he took the wooden boards and propped them up in front to make his barrier doubly sure . " I wish Saunders was back , " he said ; " one can 't tackle this sort of thing alone . " It was after eleven , and there seemed little likelihood of Saunders returning before twelve . He did not dare to leave the shelf unwatched , even to run downstairs to ring the bell . Morton the butler often used to come round about eleven to see that the windows were fastened , but he might not come . Eustace was thoroughly unstrung . At last he heard steps down below . " Thanks , " said Eustace , as he emptied the glass . " Don 't go to bed yet , Morton . There are a lot of books that have fallen down by accident ; bring them up and put them back in their shelves . " Morton had never seen Borlsover in so talkative a mood as on that night . " Here , " said Eustace , when the books had been put back and dusted , " you might hold up these boards for me , Morton . That beast in the box got out , and I 've been chasing it all over the place . " " I think I can hear it chawing at the books , sir . They 're not valuable , I hope ? I think that 's the carriage , sir ; I 'll go and call Mr . Saunders . " It seemed to Eustace that he was away for five minutes , but it could hardly have been more than one when he returned with Saunders . " All right , Morton , you can go now . I 'm up here , Saunders . " " What 's all the row ? " asked Saunders , as he lounged forward with his hands in his pockets . The luck had been with him all the evening . He was completely satisfied , both with himself and with Captain Lockwood 's taste in wines . " What 's the matter ? You look to me to be in an absolute blue funk . " " That old devil of an uncle of mine , " began Eustace - " oh , I can 't explain it all . It 's his hand that 's been playing old Harry all the evening . But I 've got it cornered behind these books . You 've got to help me catch it . " " All right , " said Saunders ; " but wait till I 've rolled up my sleeve . The accumulated dust of centuries , eh ? " He took off his coat , knelt down , and thrust his arm along the shelf . " There 's something there right enough , " he said . " It 's got a funny stumpy end to it , whatever it is , and nips like a crab . Ah , no , you don 't ! " He pulled his hand out in a flash . " Shove in a book quickly . Now it can 't get out . " " No good . It would be too smart for us . I tell you , Saunders , it can cover the ground far faster than I can walk . But I think I see how we can manage it . The two books at the end of the shelf are big ones that go right back against the wall . The others are very thin . I 'll take out one at a time , and you slide the rest along until we have it squashed between the end two . " It certainly seemed to be the best plan . One by one , as they took out the books , the space behind grew smaller and smaller . There was something in it that was certainly very much alive . Once they caught sight of fingers pressing outward for a way of escape . At last they had it pressed between the two big books . " There 's muscle there , if there isn 't flesh and blood , " said Saunders , as he held them together . " It seems to be a hand right enough , too . I suppose this is a sort of infectious hallucination . I 've read about such cases before . " It was not altogether easy , but they were successful at last . " Drive in the screws , " said Eustace , " we won 't run any risks . Put the box in this old desk of mine . There 's nothing in it that I want . Here 's the key . Thank goodness , there 's nothing wrong with the lock . " They sat up together until early morning . Saunders had no desire for sleep . Eustace was trying to explain and to forget : to conceal from himself a fear that he had never felt before - the fear of walking alone down the long corridor to his bedroom . " Whatever it was , " said Eustace to Saunders on the following morning , " I propose that we drop the subject . There 's nothing to keep us here for the next ten days . We 'll motor up to the Lakes and get some climbing . " " And see nobody all day , and sit bored to death with each other every night . Not for me thanks . Why not run up to town ? Run 's the exact word in this case , isn 't it ? We 're both in such a blessed funk . Pull yourself together Eustace , and let 's have another look at the hand . " " As you like , " said Eustace ; " there 's the key . " They went into the library and opened the desk . The box was as they had left it on the previous night . " I am waiting for you to volunteer to open the lid . However , since you seem to funk it , allow me . There doesn 't seem to be the likelihood of any rumpus this morning , at all events . " He opened the lid and picked out the hand . " Tepid . A bit below blood - heat by the feel . Soft and supple too . If it 's the embalming , it 's a sort of embalming I 've never seen before . Is it your uncle 's hand ? " " Oh , yes , it 's his all right , " said Eustace . " I should know those long thin fingers anywhere . Put it back in the box , Saunders . Never mind about the screws . I 'll lock the desk , so that there 'll be no chance of its getting out . We 'll compromise by motoring up to town for a week . If we get off soon after lunch we ought to be at Grantham or Stamford by night . " " Don 't Mr . Saunders ! Don 't ! How perfectly horrid ! Now tell us another one , do . Only a really creepy one , please ! " " Here 's a pretty mess ! " said Eustace on the following day as he threw a letter across the table to Saunders . " It 's your affair , though . Mrs . Merrit , if I understand it , gives a month 's notice . " " Oh , that 's quite absurd on Mrs . Merrit 's part , " Saunders replied . " She doesn 't know what she 's talking about . Let 's see what she says . " " Dear Sir , " he read , " this is to let you know that I must give you a month 's notice as from Tuesday the 13th . For a long time I 've felt the place too big for me , but when Jane Parfit , and Emma Laidlaw go off with scarcely as much as an ' if you please , ' after frightening the wits out of the other girls , so that they can 't turn out a room by themselves or walk alone down the stairs for fear of treading on half - frozen toads or hearing it run along the passages at night , all I can say is that it 's no place for me . So I must ask you , Mr . Borlsover , sir , to find a new housekeeper that has no objection to large and lonely houses , which some people do say , not that I believe them for a minute , my poor mother always having been a Wesleyan , are haunted . " Of course she shan 't go , " said Saunders . " She 's probably only angling for a rise in salary . I 'll write to her this morning . " " No ; there 's nothing like a personal interview . We 've had enough of town . We 'll go back to - morrow , and you must work your cold for all it 's worth . Don 't forget that it 's got on to the chest , and will require weeks of feeding up and nursing . " But Mrs . Merrit was more obstinate than he had thought . She was very sorry to hear of Mr . Saunders 's cold , and how he lay awake all night in London coughing ; very sorry indeed . She 'd change his room for him gladly , and get the south room aired . And wouldn 't he have a basin of hot bread and milk last thing at night ? But she was afraid that she would have to leave at the end of the month . " If you please , sir , I was going to mention it myself . I have a confession to make , sir . When I found your note asking me to open that desk and take out the box with the rat , I broke the lock as you told me , and was glad to do it , because I could hear the animal in the box making a great noise , and I thought it wanted food . So I took out the box , sir , and got a cage , and was going to transfer it , when the animal got away . " " Get a hammer , Morton , " he read , " or some other tool , and break open the lock in the old desk in the library . Take out the box that is inside . You need not do anything else . The lid is already open . Eustace Borlsover . " " Oh , no , sir , a grayish white . It crept along in a very funny way , sir . I don 't think it had a tail . " " I tried to catch it , but it was no use . So I set the rat - traps and kept the library shut . Then that girl Emma Laidlaw left the door open when she was cleaning , and I think it must have escaped . " " Well , no , sir , not quite . They said it was - you 'll excuse me , sir - a hand that they saw . Emma trod on it once at the bottom of the stairs . She thought then it was a half - frozen toad , only white . And then Parfit was washing up the dishes in the scullery . She wasn 't thinking about anything in particular . It was close on dusk . She took her hands out of the water and was drying them absent - minded like on the roller towel , when she found that she was drying someone else 's hand as well , only colder than hers . " " Oh , that 's simple enough , " said Eustace . " See the paper it 's written on ? I stopped using that years ago , but there were a few odd sheets and envelopes left in the old desk . We never fastened up the lid of the box before locking it in . The hand got out , found a pencil , wrote this note , and shoved it through a crack on to the floor where Morton found it . That 's plain as daylight . " " Well , " said Saunders , " in that case we have at least an explanation of the legacy . It was the hand which wrote unknown to your uncle that letter to your solicitor , bequeathing itself to you . Your uncle had no more to do with that request than I . In fact , it would seem that he had some idea of this automatic writing , and feared it . " " We 'll keep our eyes open , " said Saunders , " and try to catch it . If we can 't do that , we shall have to wait till the bally clockwork runs down . After all , if it 's flesh and blood , it can 't live for ever . " For two days nothing happened . Then Saunders saw it sliding down the banister in the hall . He was taken unawares , and lost a full second before he started in pursuit , only to find that the thing had escaped him . Three days later , Eustace , writing alone in the library at night , saw it sitting on an open book at the other end of the room . The fingers crept over the page , feeling the print as if it were reading ; but before he had time to get up from his seat , it had taken the alarm and was pulling itself up the curtains . Eustace watched it grimly as it hung on to the cornice with three fingers , flicking thumb and forefinger at him in an expression of scornful derision . " It 's jolly good idea , " he said ; " only we won 't wait till we find it out of doors . We 'll get the dogs . There are the two terriers and the under - keeper 's Irish mongrel that 's on to rats like a flash . Your spaniel has not got spirit enough for this sort of game . " They brought the dogs into the house , and the keeper 's Irish mongrel chewed up the slippers , and the terriers tripped up Morton as he waited at table ; but all three were welcome . Even false security is better than no security at all . For a fortnight nothing happened . Then the hand was caught , not by the dogs , but by Mrs . Merrit 's gray parrot . The bird was in the habit of periodically removing the pins that kept its seed and water tins in place , and of escaping through the holes in the side of the cage . When once at liberty Peter would show no inclination to return , and would often be about the house for days . Now , after six consecutive weeks of captivity , Peter had again discovered a new means of unloosing his bolts and was at large , exploring the tapestried forests of the curtains and singing songs in praise of liberty from cornice and picture rail . " It 's no use your trying to catch him , " said Eustace to Mrs . Merrit , as she came into the study one afternoon towards dusk with a step - ladder . " You 'd much better leave Peter alone . Starve him into surrender , Mrs . Merrit , and don 't leave bananas and seed about for him to peck at when he fancies he 's hungry . You 're far too softhearted . " " Well , sir , I see he 's right out of reach now on that picture rail , so if you wouldn 't mind closing the door , sir , when you leave the room , I 'll bring his cage in to - night and put some meat inside it . He 's that fond of meat , though it does make him pull out his feathers to suck the quills . They do say that if you cook - " " I 'm more likely to wring your neck if I get hold of you . " He looked up at the picture rail , and there was the hand holding on to a hook with three fingers , and slowly scratching the head of the parrot with the fourth . Eustace ran to the bell and pressed it hard ; then across to the window , which he closed with a bang . Frightened by the noise the parrot shook its wings preparatory to flight , and as it did so the fingers of the hand got hold of it by the throat . There was a shrill scream from Peter as he fluttered across the room , wheeling round in circles that ever descended , borne down under the weight that clung to him . The bird dropped at last quite suddenly , and Eustace saw fingers and feathers rolled into an inextricable mass on the floor . The struggle abruptly ceased as finger and thumb squeezed the neck ; the bird 's eyes rolled up to show the whites , and there was a faint , half - choked gurgle . But before the fingers had time to loose their hold , Eustace had them in his own . Then he went with the hand to the fire . There was a ragged gash across the back where the bird 's beak had torn it , but no blood oozed from the wound . He noticed with disgust that the nails had grown long and discolored . " I 'll burn the beastly thing , " he said . But he could not burn it . He tried to throw it into the flames , but his own hands , as if restrained by some old primitive feeling , would not let him . And so Saunders found him pale and irresolute , with the hand still clasped tightly in his fingers . " Do it yourself , " said Saunders . " I don 't mind helping you with guinea - pigs occasionally when there 's something to be learned ; partly because I don 't fear a guinea - pig 's revenge . This thing 's different . " " Don 't go , in heaven 's name . Cover it up , man , cover it up ! Shove a cloth over it ! Here ! " and he pulled off the antimacassar from the back of a chair and wrapped the board in it . " Now get the keys from my pocket and open the safe . Chuck the other things out . Oh , Lord , it 's getting itself into frightful knots ! and open it quick ! " He threw the thing in and banged the door . Mrs . Merrit departed at the end of the month . Her successor certainly was more successful in the management of the servants . Early in her rule she declared that she would stand no nonsense , and gossip soon withered and died . Eustace Borlsover went back to his old way of life . Old habits crept over and covered his new experience . He was , if anything , less morose , and showed a greater inclination to take his natural part in country society . " I shouldn 't be surprised if he marries one of these days , " said Saunders . " Well , I 'm in no hurry for such an event . I know Eustace far too well for the future Mrs . Borlsover to like me It will be the same old story again : a long friendship slowly made - marriage - and a long friendship quickly forgotten . " But Eustace Borlsover did not follow the advice of his uncle and marry . He was too fond of old slippers and tobacco . The cooking , too , under Mrs . Handyside 's management was excellent , and she seemed , too , to have a heaven - sent faculty in knowing when to stop dusting . Little by little the old life resumed its old power . Then came the burglary . The men , it was said , broke into the house by way of the conservatory . It was really little more than an attempt , for they only succeeded in carrying away a few pieces of plate from the pantry . The safe in the study was certainly found open and empty , but , as Mr . Borlsover informed the police inspector , he had kept nothing of value in it during the last six months . " Then you 're lucky in getting off so easily , sir , " the man replied . " By the way they have gone about their business , I should say they were experienced cracksmen . They must have caught the alarm when they were just beginning their evening 's work . " " I 've no doubt , " said the inspector , " that we shall be able to trace the men . I 've said that they must have been old hands at the game . The way they got in and opened the safe shows that . But there 's one little thing that puzzles me . One of them was careless enough not to wear gloves , and I 'm bothered if I know what he was trying to do . I 've traced his finger - marks on the new varnish on the window sashes in every one of the downstairs rooms . They are very distinct ones too . " " Oh , right every time . That 's the funny thing . He must have been a foolhardy fellow , and I rather think it was him that wrote that . " He took out a slip of paper from his pocket . " That 's what he wrote , sir . ' I 've got out , Eustace Borlsover , but I 'll be back before long . ' Some gaol bird just escaped , I suppose . It will make it all the easier for us to trace him . Do you know the writing , sir ? " " I 'm not going to stay here any longer , " said Eustace to Saunders at luncheon . " I 've got on far better during the last six months than ever I expected , but I 'm not going to run the risk of seeing that thing again . I shall go up to town this afternoon . Get Morton to put my things together , and join me with the car at Brighton on the day after to - morrow . And bring the proofs of those two papers with you . We 'll run over them together . " " I can 't say for certain , but be prepared to stay for some time . We 've stuck to work pretty closely through the summer , and I for one need a holiday . I 'll engage the rooms at Brighton . You 'll find it best to break the journey at Hitchin . I 'll wire to you there at the Crown to tell you the Brighton address . " The house he chose at Brighton was in a terrace . He had been there before . It was kept by his old college gyp , a man of discreet silence , who was admirably partnered by an excellent cook . The rooms were on the first floor . The two bedrooms were at the back , and opened out of each other . " Saunders can have the smaller one , though it is the only one with a fireplace , " he said . " I 'll stick to the larger of the two , since it 's got a bathroom adjoining . I wonder what time he 'll arrive with the car . " Saunders came about seven , cold and cross and dirty . " We 'll light the fire in the dining - room , " said Eustace , " and get Prince to unpack some of the things while we are at dinner . What were the roads like ? " " You oughtn 't to feel cold , Saunders , " said Eustace , " when you can afford to sport a great cat - skin lined coat like this . You do yourself very well , all things considered . Look at those gloves , for instance . Who could possibly feel cold when wearing them ? " " They are far too clumsy though for driving . Try them on and see , " and he tossed them through the door on to Eustace 's bed , and went on with his unpacking . A minute later he heard a shrill cry of terror . " Oh , Lord , " he heard , " it 's in the glove ! Quick , Saunders , quick ! " Then came a smacking thud . Eustace had thrown it from him . " I 've chucked it into the bathroom , " he gasped , " it 's hit the wall and fallen into the bath . Come now if you want to help . " Saunders , with a lighted candle in his hand , looked over the edge of the bath . There it was , old and maimed , dumb and blind , with a ragged hole in the middle , crawling , staggering , trying to creep up the slippery sides , only to fall back helpless . " Stay there , " said Saunders . " I 'll empty a collar box or something , and we 'll jam it in . It can 't get out while I 'm away . " " Yes , it can , " shouted Eustace . " It 's getting out now . It 's climbing up the plug chain . No , you brute , you filthy brute , you don 't ! Come back , Saunders , it 's getting away from me . I can 't hold it ; it 's all slippery . Curse its claw ! Shut the window , you idiot ! The top too , as well as the bottom . You utter idiot ! It 's got out ! " There was the sound of something dropping on to the hard flagstones below , and Eustace fell back fainting . " I don 't know what to make of it , " the doctor said to Saunders . " I can only suppose that Mr . Borlsover has suffered some great emotional shock . You had better let me send someone to help you nurse him . And by all means indulge that whim of his never to be left alone in the dark . I would keep a light burning all night if I were you . But he must have more fresh air . It 's perfectly absurd this hatred of open windows . " Eustace , however , would have no one with him but Saunders . " I don 't want the other men , " he said . " They 'd smuggle it in somehow . I know they would . " " Don 't worry about it , old chap . This sort of thing can 't go on indefinitely . You know I saw it this time as well as you . It wasn 't half so active . It won 't go on living much longer , especially after that fall . I heard it hit the flags myself . As soon as you 're a bit stronger we 'll leave this place ; not bag and baggage , but with only the clothes on our backs , so that it won 't be able to hide anywhere . We 'll escape it that way . We won 't give any address , and we won 't have any parcels sent after us . Cheer up , Eustace ! You 'll be well enough to leave in a day or two . The doctor says I can take you out in a chair to - morrow . " " What have I done ? " asked Eustace . " Why does it come after me ? I 'm no worse than other men . I 'm no worse than you , Saunders ; you know I 'm not . It was you who were at the bottom of that dirty business in San Diego , and that was fifteen years ago . " " It 's not that , of course , " said Saunders . " We are in the twentieth century , and even the parsons have dropped the idea of your old sins finding you out . Before you caught the hand in the library it was filled with pure malevolence - to you and all mankind . After you spiked it through with that nail it naturally forgot about other people , and concentrated its attention on you . It was shut up in the safe , you know , for nearly six months . That gives plenty of time for thinking of revenge . " The evening of August 31st was oppressively warm . Though at midday the windows had been wide open , they had been shut an hour or so before dusk . Mrs . Prince had long since ceased to wonder at the strange habits of the gentlemen on the first floor . Soon after their arrival she had been told to take down the heavy window curtains in the two bedrooms , and day by day the rooms had seemed to grow more bare . Nothing was left lying about . " No , leave well alone . We 're not a couple of boarding - school misses fresh from a course of hygiene lectures . Get the chessboard out . " They sat down and played . At ten o ' clock Mrs . Prince came to the door with a note . " I am sorry I didn 't bring it before , " she said , " but it was left in the letter - box . " " It was meant for me , " said Saunders . " There 's no answer , Mrs . Prince , " and he put the paper into his pocket . " A dunning letter from a tailor ; I suppose he must have got wind of our leaving . " " Check ! " said Eustace . The clock struck eleven . At the same time there was a gentle knocking on the door ; it seemed to come from the bottom panel . While Saunders sat with his eyes on the chessboard , Eustace walked over to the window and examined the fastenings . He did the same in Saunders 's room and the bathroom . There were no doors between the three rooms , or he would have shut and locked them too . " Now , Saunders , " he said , " don 't stay all night over your move . I 've had time to smoke one cigarette already . It 's bad to keep an invalid waiting . There 's only one possible thing for you to do . What was that ? " " It wasn 't the ivy , you idiot . It was someone tapping at the window , " and he pulled up the blind . On the outer side of the window , clinging to the sash , was the hand . " Well , let it try , " said Eustace . " Those fasteners screw down ; they can 't be opened that way . Anyhow , we 'll close the shutters . It 's your move , Saunders . I 've played . " But Saunders found it impossible to fix his attention on the game . He could not understand Eustace , who seemed all at once to have lost his fear . " What do you say to some wine ? " he asked . " You seem to be taking things coolly , but I don 't mind confessing that I 'm in a blessed funk . " " You 've no need to be . There 's nothing supernatural about that hand , Saunders . I mean it seems to be governed by the laws of time and space . It 's not the sort of thing that vanishes into thin air or slides through oaken doors . And since that 's so , I defy it to get in here . We 'll leave the place in the morning . I for one have bottomed the depths of fear . Fill your glass , man ! The windows are all shuttered , the door is locked and bolted . Pledge me my uncle Adrian ! Drink , man ! What are you waiting for ? " Saunders was standing with his glass half raised . " It can get in , " he said hoarsely ; " it can get in ! We 've forgotten . There 's the fireplace in my bedroom . It will come down the chimney . " " Quick ! " said Eustace , as he rushed into the other room ; " we haven 't a minute to lose . What can we do ? Light the fire , Saunders . Give me a match , quick ! " " Hurry , man , for goodness ' sake ! Look in the bookcase ! Look in the bathroom ! Here , come and stand here ; I 'll look . " " Then plug a sheet from your bed up the chimney . No , here 's a match . " He had found one at last that had slipped into a crack in the floor . " Is the fire laid ? Good , but it may not burn . I know - the oil from that old reading - lamp and this cotton - wool . Now the match , quick ! Pull the sheet away , you fool ! We don 't want it now . " There was a great roar from the grate as the flames shot up . Saunders had been a fraction of a second too late with the sheet . The oil had fallen on to it . It , too , was burning . " The whole place will be on fire ! " cried Eustace , as he tried to beat out the flames with a blanket . " It 's no good ! I can 't manage it . You must open the door , Saunders , and get help . " The key turned in the lock at last . For half a second Saunders stopped to look back . Afterwards he could never be quite sure as to what he had seen , but at the time he thought that something black and charred was creeping slowly , very slowly , from the mass of flames towards Eustace Borlsover . For a moment he thought of returning to his friend , but the noise and the smell of the burning sent him running down the passage crying , " Fire ! Fire ! " He rushed to the telephone to summon help , and then back to the bathroom - he should have thought of that before - for water . As he burst open the bedroom door there came a scream of terror which ended suddenly , and then the sound of a heavy fall .