Tales of Terror and Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Brazilian Cat

None

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Tales of Terror and Mystery by Arthur Conean Doyle The
Brazilian Cat. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. Tales of Terror and Mystery

(00:26):
by Arthur Conan Doyle The Brazilian Cat. It is hard
luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great expectations,
aristocratic connections, but no actual money in his pocket, and
no profession by which he may earn any. The fact

(00:48):
was that my father, a good, sanguine, easy going man,
had such confidence in the wealth and benevolence of his
bachelor elder brother, Lord Southerton, that he took it for
granted that I, his own issas, would never be called
upon to earn a living for myself. He imagined that
if there were not a vacancy for me on the
great Southern Estates, at least there would be found some

(01:10):
post in the diplomatic service, which still remained the special
preserve of our privileged classes. He died too early to
realize how false his calculations had been. Neither my uncle
nor the state took the slightest notice of me or
shared any interest in my career. An occasional brace of
pheasants or basket of hares was all that ever reached

(01:33):
me to remind me that I was heir to Otwell
House and one of the richest estates in the country.
In the meantime, I found myself a bachelor, a man
about town, living in a suite of apartments in Grosvenor mansions,
with no occupation save that of pigeon shooting and polo
playing at Hurlingham. Months by month I realized that it

(01:55):
was more and more difficult to get the brokers to
renew my bills or to cash any further post. A
bit upon an unentailed property ruin lay right across my path,
and every day I saw it clearer, nearer and more
absolutely unavoidable. What made me feel my own poverty the
more was that, apart from the great wealth of Lord Southerton,

(02:18):
all my other relations were fairly well to do. The
nearest of these was Everard King, my father's nephew, my
own first cousin, who'd spent an adventurous life in Brazil
and had now returned to this country to settle down
on his fortune. We never knew how he made his money,
but he appeared to have plenty of it, for he

(02:40):
bought the estate of Greylands, near Clipton on the Marsh
in Suffolk. For the first year of his residence in England.
He took no more notice of me than my misly uncle.
But at last, one summer morning, to my very great
relief and joy, I received a letter asking me to
come down that very day and spend a short visit
at Grayland's court. I was expecting a rather long visit

(03:05):
to bankruptcy caught at the time, and this interruption seemed
almost providential. If I could only get on terms with
this unknown relative of mine, I might pull through. Yet,
for the family credit, he could not let me go
entirely to the wall. I ordered my valet to pack
my valise and I set off the same evening for

(03:26):
Clipton on the Marsh. After changing an ipswich. A little
local train deposited me at a small deserted station lying
amidst a railing grassy country with a sluggish and winding
river curving in and out amidst the valleys between high
silted banks, which showed that we were within reach of
the tide. No carriage was awaiting me. I found afterwards

(03:50):
that my telegram had been delayed, so I hard a
dog cart at the local inn. The driver, an excellent fellow,
was full of my relative's praises, and I learned from
him that mister Everard King was already a named conjure
with in that part of the county. He had entertained
the school children, he'd thrown his grounds open to visitors,

(04:10):
He'd subscribed to charities. In short, his benevolence had been
so universal that my driver could only account for it
on the supposition he had parliamentary ambitions. My attention was
drawn away from my driver's panegyric by the appearance of
a very beautiful bird, which settled on a telegraph post
beside the road. At first I thought it was a jay,

(04:34):
but it was larger with a brighter plumage. The driver
accounted for its presence at once by saying that it
belonged to the very man whom we were about to visit.
It seems that the acclimatization of foreign creatures was one
of his hobbies, and that he'd brought with him from
Brazil a number of birds and beasts which he was
endeavoring to rear in England. When once we had passed

(04:57):
the gates of Graylands Park, we had ample evidence of
this taste of his. Some small spotted deer, a curious
wild pig known I believe as a peccary, a gorgeously
feathered aureole, some sort of armoreddillo, and a singular, lumbering,
intowed beast like a very fat badger, were among the
creatures which I observed as we drove along the winding avenue.

(05:21):
Mister Everard King, my unknown cousin, was standing in person
upon the steps of his house, for he had seen
us in the distance and had guessed that it was I.
His appearance was very homely, a benevolent, short and stout
forty five years old, perhaps with a round, good human face,
burned brown with the tropical sun and shot with a
thousand wrinkles. He wore white linen clothes in true planter style,

(05:46):
with a cigar between his lips and a large panama
hat upon the back of his head. It was such
a figure as one associates with a verandered bungalow, and
it looked curiously out of place in front of this
broad stone English mansion, with its solid wings and its
palladio pillars before the doorway. My dear, he cried, glancing

(06:07):
over his shoulder, My dear, here is our guest. Welcome,
Welcome to Grayland's I am delighted to make your acquaintance,
Cousin Marshall, and I take it as a great compliment
that you should honor this sleepy little country place with
your presence. Nothing could be more hearty than his manner,
and he set me at my ease in an instant.
But it needed all his cordiality to atone for the

(06:29):
frigidity and even rudeness of his wife, a tall, haggard
woman who came forward at his summons. She was, I believe,
of Brazilian extraction, though she spoke some excellent English, and
I accused her manners on the score of her ignorance
of our customs. She did not attempt to conceal, however,
either then or afterwards, that I was no very welcome

(06:52):
visitor at Grayland's court. Her actual words were, as a
rule courteous, but she was the possessed of a pair
of particularly expressive dark eyes, and I read in them
very clearly from the first that she heartily wished me
back in London once more. However, my debts were too pressing,

(07:13):
and my designs upon my wealthy relative were too vital
for me to allow them to be upset by the
ill temper of his wife. So I disregarded her coldness
and reciprocated the extreme cordiality of his welcome. No pains
had been spared by him to make me comfortable. My
room was a charming one. He implored me to tell

(07:35):
him anything which could add to my happiness. It was
on the tip of my tongue to inform him that
a black check would materially help towards that end, but
I felt that it might be premature in the present
state of our acquaintance. The dinner was excellent, and as
we sat together afterwards over his ferners and coffee, later
he told me was specially prepared upon his own plantation.

(07:55):
It seemed to me that all my driver's eulages were justified,
and that I had no I ever met a more
large hearted and hospitable man. But in spite of his
cheery good nature, he was a man with a strong
will and a fiery temper of his own. Of this
I had an example upon the following morning. The curious

(08:17):
aversion which missus Everard King had conceived towards me was
so strong that her manner at breakfast was almost fensive,
but her meaning became unmistakable when her husband had quitted
the room. The best train in the day is at
twelve fifteen, said she. But I wasn't thinking of going
to day, I answered, frankly, perhaps even defiantly, for I

(08:40):
was determined not to be driven out by this woman.
Oh if it rests with you, said she, and she
stopped with a most insolent expression in her eyes. I'm sure,
I answered that mister Everard King would tell me if
I were outstaying my welcome. What's this? What's this? Said
a voice, And there he was in the room. He

(09:03):
had overheard my last words, and a glance at our
faces had told him the rest. In an instant, his chubby,
cheery face set into an expression of absolute ferocity. Might
I trouble you to walk outside, Marshall? Said he. I
may mention that my own name is Marshall King. He
closed the door behind me, and then for an instant

(09:26):
I heard him talking in a low voice of concentrated
passion to his wife. This gross breach of hospitality had
evidently hit upon his tenderest point. I'm no eavesdropper, and
so I walked out on the lawn. Presently I heard
a hurried step behind me, and there was the lady,
her face pale with excitement and her eyes red with tears.

(09:48):
My husband has asked me to apologize to you, mister
Marshall King, said she, standing with downcast eyes before me.
Please do not say another word, missus King. Her dark
eyes suddenly blazed out at me, You fool, she hissed
with frantic vehemence, and, turning on her heel, swept back

(10:11):
to the house. The insult was so outrageous, so insufferable,
that I could only stand staring after her in bewilderment.
I was still there when my host joined me. He
was his cheery, chubby self once more. I hope that
my wife has apologized to her foolish remarks, said he. Oh, yes, yes, certainly.

(10:36):
He put his hand through my arm and walked with
me up and down the lawn. You must not take
it seriously, said he. It would grieve me inexpressibly if
you curtailed your visit by one hour. The fact is
there is no reason why there should be any concealment
between relatives. That my poor dear wife is incredibly jealous.
She hates that any one male or female should, for

(10:58):
an instant come between us. Her ideal is a desert
highland and an eternal tete, a tete that gives you
the clue to her actions, which are I confess upon
this particular point, not very far removed from Mania. Tell
me you will think no more of it, No, no,
certainly not. Then light the cigar and come round with
me and see my little menagerie. The whole afternoon was

(11:22):
occupied by this inspection, which included all the birds, beasts,
and even reptiles which he had imported. Some were free,
some in cages, a few actually in the house. He
spoke with enthusiasm of his successes and his failures, his
births and his deaths, and he would cry out in
his delight like a schoolboy when as we walked, some

(11:43):
gaudy bird would flutter up from the grass, or some
curious beast slink into the cover. Finally, he led me
down a corridor which extended from one wing of the house.
At the end of this there was a heavy door
with a sliding shutter in it, and beside it there
projected from the wall an iron handle attached to a

(12:04):
wheel and drum. A line of stout bars extended across
the passage. I am about to show you the duel
of my collection, said he. There is only one other
specimen in Europe, now that the rotterdam Carb is dead.
It is a Brazilian cat. But how does that differ

(12:25):
from any other cat? You will soon see that, said he, laughing.
Will you kindly draw that shutter and look through. I
did so, and find that I was gazing into a
large empty room with stone flags and small barred windows.
Upon the further wall. In the center of the room,
lying in the middle of a golden patch of sunlight,

(12:48):
there was stretched a huge creature, as large as a tiger,
but as black and sleek as ebony. It was simply
a very enormous and very well kept black cat. And
it cuddled up and basked in that yellow pool of light,
exactly as a cat would do. It was so graceful,

(13:08):
so sinewy, and so gently and smoothly diabolical, that I
could not take my eyes from the opening isn't he splendid?
Said my host, enthusiastically glorious. I never saw such a
noble creature. Some people call it a black puma, but

(13:29):
really it is not a puma at all. That fellow
is nearly eleven feet from tail to tip. Four years ago,
he was a little ball of black fluff with two
yellow eyes staring out of it. He was sold me
as a new born cub up in the wild country
at the headwaters of the Rio Negro. They speared his
mother to death after she'd killed a dozen of them.

(13:49):
They are ferocious, then, the most absolutely treacherous and bloodthirsty
creatures upon earth. You talk about a Brazilian cat to
an up country Indian and see him get the jumps.
They prefer humans to game. This fellow has never tasted
living blood yet, but when he does he'll be a terror.
At present, he won't stand any one but me in
his den. Even Baldwin the groom dare not go near him,

(14:12):
as to me, I am his mother and father in one.
As he spoke, he suddenly, to my astonishment, opened the
door and slipped in, closing it instantly behind him. At
the sound of his voice, the huge lithe creature rose
yawned and rubbed its round black head affectionately against his

(14:33):
side while he patted and fondled it. Now, Tommy, into
your cage, said he. The monstrous cat walked over to
one side of the room and coiled itself up under
a grating everard King came out, and taking the iron
handle which I have mentioned, he began to turn it.

(14:53):
As he did so, the line of bars in the
corridor began to pass through a slot in the wall
and closed up the front of this great so as
to make an effective cage. When it was in position,
he opened the door once more and invited me into
the room, which was heavy with the pungent, musty smell
peculiar to the great Carnivora. That's how we work, it,

(15:15):
said he. We give him the run of the room
for exercise, and that at night we put him in
his cage. You can let him out by turning the
handle from the passage, or you can, as you have seen,
coop him up in the same way. No, no, you
should not do that. I had put my hand between
the bars to pat the glossy heaving flank. He pulled

(15:35):
it back with a serious face. I assure you that
he is not safe. Don't imagine that because I can
take liberties with him, any one else can. He is
very exclusive in his friends, aren't you Tommy? Ah? He
hears his lunch coming to him, don't you boy? A
step sounded in the stone flagged passage, and the creature
had sprung to his feet and was pacing up and

(15:57):
down in the narrow cage, his yellow eyes gleaming, his
scarlet tongue rippling and quivering over the white line of
his jagged teeth. A groom entered with a coarse joined
upon a tray and thrust it through the bars to him.
He pounced lightly upon it and carried it off to
the corner, and there, holding it between his paws, tore

(16:20):
and wrenched at it, raising his bloody muzzle every now
and then look at us. It was a malignant and
yet fascinating sight. You can't wonder that I'm fond of him,
can you? Said my host as we left the room,
Especially when you consider that I have had the rearing
of him. It was no joke bringing him over from

(16:40):
the center of South America. But here he is safe
and sound, and, as I have said, far the most
perfect specimen in Europe. The people at the zoo are
dying to have him. But I really can't part with
him now. I think that I have inflicted my hobby
upon you long enough, so we cannot do better than
follow Tommy's example and go to our lunch. My South

(17:03):
American relative was so engrossed by his grounds and their
curious occupants that I hardly gave him credited first for
having any interests outside them. That he had some and
pressing ones. Was soon borne in upon me by the
number of telegrams which he received. They arrived at all hours,
and were always opened by him with the utmost eagerness

(17:26):
and anxiety upon his face. Sometimes I imagined that it
must be the turf, and sometimes the stock exchange. But
certainly he had some very urgent business going forwards, which
was not transacted upon the downs of Suffolk. During the
six days of my visit, he had never fewer than
three or four telegrams a day, sometimes as many as

(17:47):
seven or eight. I had occupied these six days so
well that by the end of them I had succeeded
in getting upon the most cordial terms with my cousin.
Every night we had sat up late in the billige
at Rome, he telling me the most extraordinary stories of
his adventures in America, stories so desperate and reckless that
I could hardly associate them with the brown, little chubby

(18:10):
man before me. In return, I ventioned upon some of
my own reminiscences of London life, which interested him so
much that he vowed he'd come up to Grove the
mansions and stay with me. He was anxious to see
the faster side of city life, and certainly, though I said,
he could not have chosen a more competent guide. It
was not until the last day of my visit that

(18:33):
I ventured to approach that which was on my mind.
I told him frankly about my pecuniary difficulties and my
impending ruin, and I asked his advice, though I hoped
for something more solid. He listened attentively, puffing hard at
his cigar, but surely said he you are the heir
of our relative, Lord Southerton. I have every reason to

(18:56):
believe so, but he would never make me any allowance. No, no,
I have heard of his miserly ways. My poor Marshal,
your position has been a very hard one. By the way,
have you heard any news of Lord Southton's health recently.
He has always been in a critical condition ever since
my childhood. Exactly a creaking hinge, if ever there was one.

(19:18):
Your inheritance may be a long way off, dear me,
how awkwardly situated you are. I had some hopes, sir,
that you, knowing all the facts, might be inclined to advance.
Don't say another word, my dear boy, he cried, with
the utmost cordiality. We shall talk it over to night,
and I give you my word that whatever is in

(19:40):
my power shall be done. I was not sorry that
my visit was drawing to a close, for it is
unpleasant to feel that there is one person in the
house who eagerly desires your departure. Missus King's sallow face
and forbidding eyes had become more and more hateful to me.
She was no longer actively rude. Her fear of her

(20:02):
husband prevented her, but she pushed her insane jealousy to
the extent of ignoring me, never addressing me, and in
every way making my stay at Greylands as uncomfortable as
she could. So offensive was her manner during that last
day that I should certainly have left had it not
been for that interview with my host in the evening,
which would I hope, retrieve my broken fortunes. It was

(20:26):
very late when it occurred, for my relative, who had
been receiving even more telegrams than usual during the day,
went off to his study after dinner, and only emerged
when the household retired to bed. I heard him go round,
locking the doors, as custom was of a night, and
finally he joined me in the billiard room. His stout
figure was wrapped in a dressing gun, and he wore

(20:46):
a pair of red Turkish slippers without any heels. Settling
down into an arm chair, he brewed himself a glass
of grog, in which I could not help noticing that
the whisky considerably predominated over the water. My words, said he,
what a night it was. Indeed, the wind was howling

(21:07):
and screaming round the house, and the latticed windows rattled
and shook as if they were coming in the glow
the yellow lamps, and the flavor of our cigars seemed
the brighter and more fragrant. For the contrast, Now, my boy,
said my host, we have the house and the knight
to ourselves. Let me have an idea of how your
affairs stand, and I will see what can be done

(21:29):
to set them in order. I wish to hear every detail.
Thus encouraged, I entered into a long exposition in which
all my tradesmen and creditors, from my landlord to my valet,
figured in turn. I had notes in my pocket book,
and I marshaled my facts and gave I flattered myself
a very businesslike statement of my own unbusinesslike ways and

(21:52):
lamentable position. I was depressed, however, to notice that my
companion's eyes were vacant, and his attention elsewhere. When he
did occasionally throw out a remark, it was so entirely
perfunctory and pointless that I was sure he had not
in the least followed my remarks ernan. Then he roused

(22:14):
himself and put on some show of interest, asking me
to repeat or explain more fully, But it was always
to sink once more into the same brand studdy. At
last he rose, through the end of his cigar into
the grate. I'll tell you what my boy said. He
I never had a head for figures, so you will
excuse me. You must jot it or down upon paper,

(22:36):
and let me have a note of the amount. I'll
understand it when I see it in black and white.
The proposal was encouraging. I promised to do so, and
now it's time. We were in bed. By jove, there's
one o'clock striking in the hall. The tingling of the
chiming clock broke through the deep roar of the gale.
The wind was sweeping past with the rush of a

(22:58):
great river. I must see my cat before I go
to bed, said my host. A high wind excites him.
Will you come certainly? Said I. Then tread softly and
don't speak, for everyone is asleep. We passed quietly down
the lamp lit persian rugged hall and through the door
at the farther end. All was dark in the stone corridor,

(23:20):
but a stable lantern hung on a hook, and my
host took it down and lit it. There was no
grating visible in the passage, so I knew that the
beast was in its cage. Come in, said my relative,
and opened the door. A deep growling as we entered
showed that the storm had really excited the creature. In

(23:43):
the flickering light of the lantern, we saw it, a
huge black mass coiled in the corner of its den.
And throwing a squat uncouth shadow upon the whitewashed wall.
Its tail twitched angrily among the straw. Poor Tommy is
not in the best of tempers, said Everard King, holding
up the lantern and looking in at him. What a

(24:04):
black devil he looks, doesn't he? I must give him
a little supper to put him in a better humor?
Would you mind holding the lantern for a moment. I
took it from his hand, and he stepped to the door.
His larder is just outside here, said he. You will
excuse me for an instant, won't you. He passed out,
and the door shut with a sharp metallic click behind him.

(24:28):
That hard, crisp sound made my heart stand still. A
sudden wave of terror passed over me. A vague perception
of some monstrous treachery turned me curled. I sprang to
the door, but there was no handle upon the inner
side here, I cried, Let me out, all right, don't
make a rowse, said my host from the passage. You've

(24:48):
got the light, all right, yes, But I don't care
about being locked in alone like this, don't you, I
heard his hearty chuckling laugh. You won't be alone long.
Let me out, Sir, I repeated angrily. I tell you
I don't allow practical jokes of this sort. Practical is
the word, said he, with another hateful chuckle. And then

(25:09):
suddenly I heard, amidst the roar of the storm, the
creak and whine of the winch handle turning, and the
rattle of the grating as it passed through the slot.
Great God, he was letting loose the Brazilian cat. In
the light of the lantern, I saw the bars sliding
slowly before me. Already there was an opening a foot

(25:30):
wide at the further end. With a scream, I seized
the last bar with my hands and pulled with the
strength of a madman. I was a madman with rage
and horror. For a minute or more, I held the
thing motionless. I knew that he was straining with all
his force upon the handle, and that the leverage was
sure to overcome me. I gave inch by inch, my
feet sliding along the stones, and all the time I

(25:51):
begged and prayed this inhuman monster to save me from
this horrible death. I conjured him by his kinship. I
reminded him that I was his guest. I begged to
know what harm I had ever done him. His only
answers were the tugs and jerks upon the handle, each
of which, in spite of all my struggles, pulled another
bar through the opening. Clinging and clutching, I was dragged

(26:12):
across the whole front of the cage, until at last,
with aching wrists and lacerated fingers, I gave up the
hopeless struggle. The grating clanged back as I released it,
and an instant later I heard the shuffle of the
Turkish slippers in the passage, and the slam of the
distant door. Then everything was silent. The creature had never

(26:39):
moved during this time. He lay still in the corner,
and his tail had ceased switching. This apparition of a
man adhering to his bars and dragged screaming across him
had apparently filled him with amazement. I saw his great
eyes staring steadily at me. I had dropped the lantern

(27:02):
when I seized the bars, but it still burned upon
the floor, and I made a movement to grasp it,
with some idea that its light might protect me. But
the instant I moved, the beast gave a deep and
menacing growl. I stopped and stood still, quivering with fear
in every limb. The cat, if one may call so

(27:25):
fearful a creature, by so homely a name, was not
more than ten feet from me. The eyes glimmered like
two disks of phosphorus in the darkness. They appalled and
yet fascinated me. I could not take my own eyes
from them. Nature plays strange tricks with us at such
moments of intensity, and those glimmering lights waxed and waned

(27:46):
with a steady rise and fall. Sometimes they seemed to
be tiny points of extreme brilliancy, little electric sparks in
the black obscurity. Then they would widen and widen, until
all that corner of the room was filled with their
shifting and sinister light. And then suddenly they went out altogether.

(28:06):
The beast had closed its eyes. I do not know
whether there may be any truth in the old idea
of the dominance of the human gaze, or whether the
huge cat was simply drowsy. But the fact remains that,
far from showing any symptom of attacking me, it simply
rested its sleek black head upon its huge forepaws and
seemed to sleep. I stood, fearing to move lest I

(28:31):
should rouse it into malignant life once more. But at
least I was able to think clearly now that the
baleful eyes were off me. Here I was shut up
for the night with the ferocious beast. My own instincts,
to say nothing of the words of the plausible villain
who laid this trap for me, warned me that the
animal was as savage as its master. How could I

(28:52):
stave it off until morning? The door was hopeless, and
so were the narrow barred windows. There was no shelter
anywhere in the bare stone room. To cry for assistance
was absurd. I knew that this den was an outhouse,
and that the corridor which connected it with the house
was at least a hundred feet long. Besides, with the
gale thundering outside, my cries were not likely to be heard.

(29:15):
I had only my own courage and my own wits
to trust to. And then, with a fresh wave of horror,
my eyes fell upon the lantern. The candle burned lowe
was already beginning to gutter. In ten minutes, it will
be out. I had only ten minutes then in which
to do something, for I felt that if I were

(29:37):
once left in the dark with that fearful beast, I
shall be incapable of action. The very thought of it
paralyzed me. I cast my despairing eyes round this chamber
of death, and they rested upon one spot which seemed
to promise, I will not say safety, but less immediate
and imminent danger than the open floor. I have said

(30:00):
that the cage had a top as well as a front,
and this top was left standing when the front was
wound through the slot in the wall. It consisted of
bars at a few inches interval, with stout wire netting between,
and it rested upon a strong stanchion at each end.
It stood now as a great barred canopy over the
crouching figure in the corner. The space between this iron

(30:24):
shelf and the roof may have been from two or
three feet. If I could only get up there, squeezed
in between bars and ceiling, I should have only one
vulnerable side. I should be safe from below, from behind,
and from each side. Only on the open face of it.
Could I be attacked there. It is true I had

(30:46):
no protection whatever, But at least I shall be out
of the brute's path. When he began to pace about
his den, he should have to come out of his
way to reach me. It was now or never, for
if once the light were out, it will be impossible.
With gulp in my throat, I sprang up, seized the
iron edge of the top, and swung myself, panting on

(31:07):
to it. I writhed in face downwards, and found myself
looking straight up into the terrible eyes and yawning jaws
of the cat. Its fetid breath came up into my
face like the steam from some foul pot. It appeared, however,
to be rather curious than angry. With the sleek ripple

(31:31):
of its long black back, it rose stretched itself, and then,
rearing itself on its hind legs, With one forepaw against
the wall, it raised the other and drew its claws
across the wire meshes beneath me. One sharp white hook
tore through my trousers. For I may mention that I
was still in evening dress and dug a furrow in

(31:52):
my knee. It was not meant as an attack, but
rather as an experiment, for upon my giving a sharp
cry of pain, he dropped down again, and, springing lightly
into the room, he began walking swiftly round it, looking
up every now and again in my direction. For my part,
I shuffled backwards until I lay with my back against

(32:15):
the walls, screwing myself into the smallest space possible. The
further I got, the more difficult it was for him
to attack me. He seemed more excited now that he
had begun to move about, and he ran swiftly and
noiselessly round and round the den, passing continually underneath the
iron couch upon which I lay. It was wonderful to

(32:37):
see so great a bulk passing like a shadow with
hardly the softest thudding of velvety pads. The candle was
burning low, so low that I could hardly see the creature,
and then with the last flare and splutter, it went out. Altogether.
I was alone with the cat in the dark. It

(32:59):
helps one to face a danger when one knows that
one has done all that can possibly be done. There
is nothing for it, then, but to quietly await the result.
In this case, there was no chance of safety anywhere
except the precise spot where I was. I stretched myself
out therefore, and lay silently, almost breathlessly, hoping that the
beast might forget my presence. If I did nothing to

(33:21):
remind him. I reckoned that it must already be two o'clock,
but for it would be full dawn. I had not
more than two hours to wait for daylight. Outside, the
storm was still raging, and the rain lashed continually against
the little windows. Inside, the poisonous and fetid air was overpowering.

(33:45):
I could neither hear nor see the cat. I tried
to think about other things, but only one had power
enough to draw my mind from my terrible position. That
was the contemplation of my cousin's villainy, his unparalleled hypocrisy,
his malignant hatred of me. Beneath that cheerful face, there
lurked the spirit of a medieval assassin. And as I

(34:08):
thought of it, I saw more clearly how cunningly the
thing had been arranged. He had apparently gone to bed
with the others, no doubt he had his witness to
prove it. Then, unknown to them, he had slipped down,
had lured me into his den and abandoned me. His
story would be so simple. He had left me to
finish my cigar in the billiard room. I had gone

(34:28):
down on my own account to have a last look
at the cat. I had entered the room without observing
that the cage was opened and I had been caught.
How could such a crime be brought home to him?
Suspicion perhaps, but proof never. How slowly those dreadful two
hours went by. Once I heard a low, rasping sound,

(34:51):
which I took to be the creature licking its own fur.
Several times those greenish eyes gleamed at me through the darkness,
but never in a fixed air, and my hopes grew
stronger that my presence had been forgotten or ignored. At last,
the least faint glimmer of light came through the windows.

(35:11):
I first dimly saw them as two gray squares upon
the black wall. Then gray turned to white, and I
could see my terrible companion once more, and he alas
could see me. It was evident to me at once
that he was in a much more dangerous and aggressive
mood than when I had seen him last. The cold
of the morning had irritated him, and he was hungry

(35:34):
as well. With a continual growl, he paced swiftly up
and down the side of the room which was farthest
from my refuge, his whiskers bristling angrily, and his tail
switching and lashing as he turned at the corners, his
savage eyes always looked upward at me with a dreadful menace.
I knew then that he meant to kill me. Yet

(35:56):
I found myself, even at that moment, admiring the sinuous
grace of the devilish thing, its long, undulating, rippling movements,
the glass of its beautiful flanks, the vivid, palpitating scarlet
of the glistening tongue which hung from the jet black muzzle.
And all the time that deep, threatening growl was rising
and rising in an unbroken crescendo. I knew that the

(36:20):
crisis was at hand. It was a miserable hour to
meet such a death, so cold, so comfortless, shivering in
my light dress clothes, upon this gridiron of torment upon
which I was stretched, I tried to brace myself to it,
to raise my soul above it, and at the same time,
with the lucidity that comes to a perfectly desperate man,

(36:43):
I cast round for some possible means of escape. One
thing was clear to me. If that front of the
cage was only back in its position once more, I
could find a sure refuge behind it, could I possibly
pull it back? I hardly dared to move for fear
of bringing the creature upon me. Slowly, very slowly, I

(37:07):
put my hand forward until it grasped the edge of
the front the final bar, which protruded through the wall.
To my surprise, it came quite easily, to my jerk.
Of course, the difficulty of drawing it out arose from
the fact that I was clinging to it. I pulled again,
and three inches of it came through. It ran apparently

(37:30):
on wheels. I pulled again, and then the cat sprang.
It was so quick, so sudden, I never saw it happen.
I simply heard the savage snarl, and in an instant afterwards,
the blazing yellow eyes the flattened black head with its
red tongue and flashing teeth were within reach of me,
and the impact of the creature shook the bars upon

(37:51):
which I lay, until I thought, as far as I
could think of anything at such a moment, that they
were coming down. The cat swayed there for an and
the head and front paws quite close to me, the
hind paws clawing to find a grip upon the edge
of the grating. I heard the claws rasping as they
clung to the wire netting, and the breath of the
beast made me sick. But its bound had been miscalculated.

(38:14):
It could not retain its position. Slowly, grinning with rage
and scratching madly at the bars, it swung backwards and
dropped heavily upon the floor with a growl. It instantly
faced round to me and crouched for another spring. I
knew that the next few moments would decide my fate.

(38:36):
The creature had learned by experience it would not miscalculate again.
I must act promptly, fearlessly, if I were to have
a chance for life. In an instant, I had formed
my plan. Pulling off my dress coat, I threw it
down over the head of the beast. At the same moment,
I dropped over the edge, seized the end of the
front grating, and pulled it frantically out of the wall.

(39:00):
It came more easily than I could have expected. I
rushed across the room, bearing it with me, But as
I rushed, the accident of my position put me upon
the outer side. Had it been the other way, I
might have come off scathless. As it was, there was
a moment's pause as I stopped it and tried to

(39:21):
pass in through the opening which I had left. That
moment was enough to give time to the creature to
toss off the coat with which I had blinded him,
and to spring upon me. I hurled myself through the
gap and pulled the rails to behind me, but he
seized my leg before I could entirely withdraw it. One

(39:41):
stroke of that huge paw tore off my calf as
a shaving of wood curls off before a plain. The
next morning, bleeding and fainting, I was lying among the
foul straw, with a line of friendly bars between me
and the creature, which ramped so frantically against them. Two
wounded to move and too faint to be conscious of fear,

(40:02):
I could only lie more dead than alive, and watch it.
It pressed its broad black chest against the bars and
angled for me with its crooked paws, as I have
seen a kitten do before a mouse trap. It ripped
my clothes, but stretched as it would, it could not
quite reach me. I have heard of the curious numbing

(40:23):
effect produced by wounds from the great Carnivora, and now
I was destined to experience it, for I had lost
all sense of personality and was as interested in the
cat's failure or success as if it were some game
which I was watching. And then gradually my mind drifted

(40:44):
away into strange, vague dreams, always with that black face
and red tongue coming back into them. And so I
lost myself in the nirvana of delirium, the blessed relief
of those who are too sorely tried tracing the course
of events. Afterwards, I conclude I must have been insensible

(41:04):
for about two hours. What roused me to consciousness once
more was the sharp, metallic click which had been the
precursor of my terrible experience. It was the shooting back
of the spring lock. Then, before my senses were clear
enough to entirely apprehend what they saw, I was aware

(41:25):
of the round, benevolent face of my cousin peering in
through the open door. What he saw evidently amazed him.
There was the cat crouching on the floor. I was
stretched upon my back, in my shirt sleeves within the cage,
my trousers torn to ribbons, and a great pool of
blood all round me. I can see his amazed face now,

(41:48):
with the morning sunlight upon it. He peered at me,
and peered again. Then he closed the door behind him
and advanced to the cage to see if I were
really dead. I cannot undertake to say what happened. I
was not in a fit state to witness or to
chronicle such events. I can only say that I was

(42:08):
suddenly conscious that his face was away from me, that
he was looking towards the animal. Good old Tommy, he cried,
good old Tommy. Then he came near the bars, with
his back still towards me. Down, you stupid beast, he
roared down, Sir, don't you know your master? Suddenly, even

(42:30):
in my bemuddled brain, a remembrance came of those words
of his, when he'd said that the taste of blood
would turn the cat into a fiend. My blood had
done it, but he was to pay the price. Get Away,
he screamed, get away, you devil. Baldwin, Baldwin, Oh my god.
And then I heard him fall and rise and fall again,

(42:52):
with a sound like the ripping of sacking. His screams
grew fainter till they were lost in the worryings nal.
And then, after I thought he was dead, I saw,
as in a nightmare, a blinded, tattered, blood soaked figure
running wildly round the room, and that was the last

(43:13):
glimpse which I had of him before I fainted once again.
I was many months in my recovery. In fact, I
cannot say that I have ever recovered, for to the
end of my days I shall carry a stick as
a sign of my night with the Brazilian cat. Baldwin.
The groom and the other servants could not tell what

(43:34):
had occurred. When drawn by the death cries of their master,
they found me behind the bars and his remains, or
what they afterwards discovered to be his remains, in the
clutch of the creature which he had reared. They stalled
him off with hot irons, and afterwards shot him through
the loophole of the door. Before they could finally extricate me,
I was carried to my bedroom, and there under the

(43:54):
roof of my would be murderer, I remained between life
and death for several weeks. They had sent for a
surgeon from Clipton and a nurse from London, and in
a month I was able to be carried to the station,
and so conveyed back once more to grove the mansions.
I have one remembrance of that illness, which might have

(44:15):
been part of the ever changing panorama conjured up by
a delirious brain, were it not so definitely fixed in
my memory. One night, when the nurse was absent, the
door of my chamber opened, and a tall woman in
blackest mourning slipped into my room. She came across to me,
and as she bent her sallow face, I saw by

(44:37):
the faint gleam of the night light that it was
the Brazilian woman whom my cousin had married. She stared
intently into my face, and her expression was more kindly
than I had ever seen it. Are you conscious, she asked?
I feebly nodded, for I was still very weak. Well, then,

(44:57):
I only wish to say to you that you have
your self to blame. Did I not do all I
could for you? From the beginning? I tried to drive
you from the house by every means short of betraying
my husband. I tried to save you from him. I
knew he had a reason for bringing you here. I
knew that he would never let you get away again.
No one knew him as I knew him, who had

(45:19):
suffered from him so often. I did not dare to
tell you all this. He would have killed me, but
I did my best for you. As things have turned out,
you have been the best friend that I have ever had.
You have set me free, and I fancied that nothing
but death would do that. I am sorry if you
are hurt, but I cannot reproach myself. I told you

(45:39):
you were a fool, and a fool you have been.
She crept out of the room, the bitter singular woman,
and I was never destined to see her again. With
what remained of her husband's property, she went back to
her native land, and I have heard that she afterwards
took the veil Lambuco. It was not until I had

(46:03):
been back in London for some time that the doctors
pronounced me well enough to do business. It was not
a very welcome permission for me, for I feared that
it would be the signal for an inrush of creditors.
But it was Somers, my lawyer, who first took advantage
of it. I am very glad to see that your
lordship is so much better, said he. I have been

(46:24):
waiting a long time to offer my congratulations. What do
you mean, Somers, This is no time for joking. I
mean what I say, he answered, you have been Lord
Southerton for the last six weeks. But we feared that
it would retard your recovery if you were to learn it.
Lord Southerton, one of the richest peers in England. I

(46:47):
couldn't believe my ears. And then suddenly I thought of
the time which had elapsed, and how it coincided with
my injuries. Then Lord Southerton must have died about the
same time that I was hurt. His death occurred upon
that very day. Somers looked hard at me as I spoke,
and I am convinced, for he was a very shrewd fellow,

(47:10):
that he had guessed the true state of the case.
He paused for a moment, as if awaiting a confidence
from me. But I could not see what was to
be gained by exposing such a family scandal. Yes, a
very curious coincidence, he continued with the same knowing look.
Of course, you are aware that your cousin, Everard King,

(47:30):
was the next heir to the Estates. Now if it
had been you instead of him who had been torn
to pieces by this tiger or whatever it was, then
of course he would have been Lord Southerton at the
present moment. No doubt said I, and he took such
an interest in it, said Somers. I happen to know

(47:51):
that the late Lord Southerton's valet was in his pay,
and that he used to have telegrams from him every
few hours to tell him how he was getting on.
Would be about the time when you were down there.
Was it not strange that he should wish to be
so well informed since he knew that he was not
the direct their very strange, said I. And now Somers,

(48:14):
if you will bring me my bills and a new
check book, we will begin to get things into order.
End of The Brazilian Cat by Arthur Kernan Doyle