A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, April 1950 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

20 A. MERRITT’S FANTASY “T cannot tell you what or whom we had,” his father retorted stiffly. “Only that this woman; whom J had never seen before, would be at Mena House, dressed in a certain way, and I was to assure my- self of her identity by a series of pass words. “T got to the gardens of Mena House and found her, as I thought, alone at one of the tables. I joined her with an apology —which was a part of the passwords. In all, I remember, we had six sentences each to say and she made no mistake whatever in her replies. I was fully sat- isfied.”’ ‘He sat silent for so long, then, that Gees ventured a: “Well?” 66Q‘HE said we must wait, and we did,” the general resumed. “It was very late, then. I—I had all the confidence in myself that one loses with experience, and—this part I doubt if you can under- stand—I found that woman very attrac- tive. She seemed so utterly sincere, and dependent on me for the ultimate outcome of the night’s work—”’ “And she was the living image of Cleo Kefra,” Gees said in the pause. “What made you suspect that?’ his father demanded. He shrugged. “I don’t know. But she was, eh?” “She even gave me that name—Kefra, not the other. Colonel—the man who had sent me there had not told me her name, 1 realized later. In that service, we used not to deal very largely in names among ourselves. Perhaps she and I sat there an iour, talking on various subjects, and then one of the waiters came and spoke to her, in Arabic. Then she told me it was time to go, to make the capture, and we went to my gharrt. “She shoved me a small revolver she carried in her bag, and insisted on coming with me, for my safety, she said. “And that is very nearly all I can tell you, except that I was taken to Sher- hard’s two days later, in a complete am- nesia, and the woman I should have met was found dead on the bank of the Nile - with her throat torn to pieces as if a tiger had mangled it. Oh, and the agent provo- cateur we should have captured made a clear escape.” “Drugged,” Gees observed thought- fully. “And that is all?” “Nearly. For the period of amnesia, I shall never be sure whether dreams came back to my mind, or whether—but they must have been dreams. “One I’m certain was a dream—a wom- an with the head of a lioness, purring like a cat. Another of the woman who told me her name was Kefra, with her arms round me, holding me back from some- thing—or holding me to keep something off from me. And another of my being intensely grateful to her—heaven only knows why !—and embracing her passion- ately. “T would not have told you that last one, except that when I saw your Miss Kefra today it was forced back into my mind as a reality, not as a dream, and I’m so far away from youth and all it means, now, as to confess that it may have been real. For I’m perfectly certain that girl could tempt Saint Anthony himself, if she wished,”’ “And is tempting the Anthony without - the Saint,’’ Gees commented. “Undoubtedly! But now you see. The amazing, perfect likeness, as if that girl who fooled me—oh, she fooled me com- pletely !—as if she had been resurrected exactly as she was then. Gordon, she’s no wife for your friend, whatever her own record may be. With the same name, she belongs to a family that only a gen- eration back consorted with your coun- try’s enemies, and belonged in a gang which could kill another woman by maul- ing her as might a tiger. No, it’s a tainted source.’ “And if the taint persists, , Tony Briggs is in no state to perceive it,” Gees added. “A woman with the head of a lioness, purring like a cat. Yes. Yes, I see.” “That was obviously a dream, though a vivid one,”’ the general said. “One that you were not meant to re- member,” Gees told him. “You mean—confound it, boy, what do you mean?” “I mean this is the most interesting thing I’ve struck since Hector was a pup,” Gees answered with sudden and incautious enthusiasm. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe it. Father, my confidential agency is going to work free ‘gratis and all a €omi ebook <S)