The Monkey's Paw ..............................................................................................................................................1

William Wyman Jacobs...........................................................................................................................1

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The Monkey's Paw

William Wyman Jacobs

III

WITHOUT, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlor of Lakesnam Villa the blinds were drawn and

the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game

involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked

comment from the whitehaired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.

"Hark at the wind," said Mr. White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably

desirous of preventing his son from seeing it.

"I'm listening," said the latter, grimly surveying the board as he stretched out his hand. "Check."

"I should hardly think that he'd come tonight," said his father, with his hand poised over the board.

"Mate," replied the son.

"That's the worst of living so far out," bawled Mr. White, with sudden and unlookedfor violence; "of all the

beastly, slushy, outoftheway places to live in, this is the worst. Pathway's a bog, and the road's a torrent. I

don't know what people are thinking about. I suppose because only two houses on the road are let, they think

it doesn't matter."

"Never mind, dear," said his wife, soothingly; "perhaps you'll win the next one."

Mr. White looked up sharply, just in time to intercept a knowing glance between mother and son. The words

died away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin gray beard.

"There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came towards the door.

The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was heard condoling with the new arrival. The

new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White said, "Tut, tut!" and coughed gently as her

husband entered the room, followed by a tall burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage.

"SergeantMajor Morris," he said, introducing him.

The sergeantmajor shook hands, and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his

host got out whiskey and tumblers and stood a small copper kettle on the fire.

At the third glass his eyes got brighter, and he began to talk, the little family circle regarding with eager

interest this visitor from distant parts, as he squared his broad shoulders in the chair and spoke of strange

scenes and doughty deeds, of wars and plagues and strange peoples.

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"Twentyone years of it," said Mr. White, nodding at his wife and son. "When he went away he was a slip of

a youth in the warehouse. Now look at him."

"He don't look to have taken much harm," said Mrs. White, politely.

"I'd like to go to India myself," said the old man, "just to look round a bit, you know."

"Better where you are," said the sergeantmajor, shaking his head. He put down the empty glass, and sighing

softly, shook it again.

"I should like to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers," said the old man. "What was that you started

telling me the other day about a monkey's paw or something, Morris?"

"Nothing," said the soldier, hastily. "Leastways nothing worth hearing."

"Monkey's paw?" said Mr. White, curiously.

"Well, it's just a bit of what you might call magic, perhaps," said the sergeantmajor, offhandedly.

His three listeners leaned forward eagerly. The visitor absentmindedly put his empty glass to his lips and

then set it down again. His host filled it for him.

"To look at," said the sergeantmajor, fumbling in his pocket, "it's just an ordinary little paw, dried to a

mummy."

He took something out of his pocket and proffered it. Mrs. White drew back with a grimace, but her son,

taking it, examined it curiously.

"And what is there special about it?" inquired Mr. White as he took it from his son, and having examined it,

placed it upon the table.

"It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that

fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so

that three separate men could each have three wishes from it."

His manner was so impressive that his hearers were conscious that their light laughter jarred somewhat.

"Well, why don't you have three, sir?" said Herbert White, cleverly.

The soldier regarded him in the way that middle age is wont to regard presumptuous youth. "I have," he said,

quietly, and his blotchy face whitened.

"And did you really have the three wishes granted?" asked Mrs. White.

"I did," said the sergeantmajor, and his glass tapped against his strong teeth.

"And has anybody else wished?" inquired the old lady.

"The first man had his three wishes, yes," was the reply. "I don't know what the first two were, but the third

was for death. That's how I got the paw."

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His tones were so grave that a hush fell upon the group.

"If you've had your three wishes, it's no good to you now, then, Morris," said the old man at last. "What do

you keep it for?"

The soldier shook his head. "Fancy, I suppose," he said, slowly. "I did have some idea of selling it, but I don't

think I will. It has caused enough mischief already. Besides, people won't buy. They think it's a fairytale,

some of them, and those who do think anything of it want to try it first and pay me afterwards."

"If you could have another three wishes," said the old man, eying him keenly, "would you have them?"

"I don't know," said the other. "I don't know."

He took the paw, and dangling it between his front finger and thumb, suddenly threw it upon the fire. White,

with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off.

"Better let it burn," said the soldier, solemnly.

"If you don't want it, Morris," said the old man, "give it to me."

"I won't," said his friend, doggedly. "I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don't blame me for what happens.

Pitch it on the fire again, like a sensible man."

The other shook his head and examined his new possession closely. "How do you do it?" he inquired.

"Hold it up in your right hand and wish aloud," said the sergeantmajor, "but I warn you of the

consequences."

"Sounds like the Arabian Nights," said Mrs. White, as she rose and began to set the supper. "Don't you think

you might wish for four pairs of hands for me?"

Her husband drew the talisman from his pocket, and then all three burst into laughter as the sergeantmajor,

with a look of alarm on his face, caught him by the arm.

"If you must wish," he said, gruffly, "wish for something sensible."

Mr. White dropped it back into his pocket, and placing chairs, motioned his friend to the table. In the

business of supper the talisman was partly forgotten, and afterwards the three sat listening in an enthralled

fashion to a second instalment of the soldier's adventures in India.

"If the tale about the monkey paw is not more truthful than those he has been telling us," said Herbert, as the

door closed behind their guest, just in time for him to catch the last train, "we sha'n't make much out of it."

"Did you give him anything for it, father?" inquired Mrs. White, regarding her husband closely.

"A trifle," said he, coloring slightly. "He didn't want it, but I made him take it. And he pressed me again to

throw it away."

"Likely," said Herbert, with pretended horror. "Why, we're going to be rich, and famous, and happy. Wish to

be an emperor, father, to begin with; then you can't be henpecked."

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He darted round the table, pursued by the maligned Mrs. White armed with an antimacassar.

Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a

fact," he said, slowly. "It seems to me I've got all I want."

"If you only cleared the house, you'd be quite happy, wouldn't you?" said Herbert, with his hand on his

shoulder. "Well, wish for two hundred pounds, then; that'll just do it."

His father, smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity, held up the talisman, as his son, with a solemn face

somewhat marred by a wink at his mother, sat down at the piano and struck a few impressive chords.

"I wish for two hundred pounds," said the old man, distinctly.

A fine crash from the piano greeted the words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man. His wife

and son ran towards him.

"It moved," he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor. "As I wished, it twisted in my

hands like a snake."

"Well, I don't see the money," said his son as he picked it up and placed it on the table, "and I bet I never

shall."

"It must have been your fancy, father," said his wife, regarding him anxiously.

He shook his head. "Never mind, though; there's no harm done, but it gave me a shock all the same."

They sat down by the fire again while the two men finished their pipes. Outside, the wind was higher than

ever, and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and

depressing settled upon all three, which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.

"I expect you'll find the cash tied up in a big bag in the middle of your bed," said Herbert, as he bade them

goodnight, "and something horrible squatting up on top of the wardrobe watching you as you pocket your

illgotten gains."

In the brightness of the wintry sun next morning as it streamed over the breakfast table Herbert laughed at his

fears. There was an air of prosaic wholesomeness about the room which it had lacked on the previous night,

and the dirty, shrivelled little paw was pitched on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened no great

belief in its virtues.

"I suppose all old soldiers are the same," said Mrs. White. "The idea of our listening to such nonsense! How

could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?"

"Might drop on his head from the sky," said the frivolous Herbert.

"Morris said the things happened so naturally," said his father, "that you might if you so wished attribute it to

coincidence."

"Well, don't break into the money before I come back," said Herbert as he rose from the table. "I'm afraid it'll

turn you into a mean, avaricious man, and we shall have to disown you."

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His mother laughed, and following him to the door, watched him down the road, and returning to the

breakfast table, was very happy at the expense of her husband's credulity. All of which did not prevent her

from scurrying to the door at the postman's knock, nor prevent her from referring somewhat shortly to retired

sergeant majors of bibulous habits when she found that the post brought a tailor's bill.

"Herbert will have some more of his funny remarks, I expect, when he comes home," she said as they sat at

dinner.

"I dare say," said Mr. White, pouring himself out some beer; "but for all that, the thing moved in my hand;

that I'll swear to."

"You thought it did," said the old lady, soothingly.

"I say it did," replied the other. "There was no thought about it; I had just What's the matter?"

His wife made no reply. She was watching the mysterious movements of a man outside, who, peering in an

undecided fashion at the house, appeared to be trying to make up his mind to enter. In mental connection with

the two hundred pounds, she noticed that the stranger was well dressed and wore a silk hat of glossy newness.

Three times he paused at the gate, and then walked on again. The fourth time he stood with his hand upon it,

and then with sudden resolution flung it open and walked up the path. Mrs. White at the same moment placed

her hands behind her, and hurriedly unfastening the strings of her apron, put that useful article of apparel

beneath the cushion of her chair.

She brought the stranger, who seemed ill at ease, into the room. He gazed furtively at Mrs. White, and

listened in a preoccupied fashion as the old lady apologized for the appearance of the room, and her

husband's coat, a garment which he usually reserved for the garden. She then waited as patiently as her sex

would permit for him to broach his business, but he was at first strangely silent.

"I was asked to call," he said at last, and stooped and picked a piece of cotton from his trousers. "I come

from 'Maw and Meggins.'"

The old lady started. "Is anything the matter?" she asked, breathlessly. "Has anything happened to Herbert?

What is it? What is it?"

Her husband interposed. "There, there, mother," he said, hastily. "Sit down, and don't jump to conclusions.

You've not brought bad news, I'm sure, sir," and he eyed the other wistfully.

"I'm sorry " began the visitor.

"Is he hurt?" demanded the mother.

The visitor bowed in assent. "Badly hurt," he said, quietly, "but he is not in any pain."

"Oh, thank God!" said the old woman, clasping her hands. "Thank God for that! Thank "

She broke off suddenly as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned upon her and she saw the awful

confirmation of her fears in the other's averted face. She caught her breath, and turning to her slowerwitted

husband, laid her trembling old hand upon his. There was a long silence.

"He was caught in the machinery," said the visitor at length in a low voice.

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"Caught in the machinery," repeated Mr. White in a dazed fashion, "yes."

He sat staring blankly out at the window, and taking his wife's hand between his own, pressed it as he had

been wont to do in their old courting days nearly forty years before.

"He was the only one left to us," he said, turning gently to the visitor. "It is hard."

The other coughed, and rising, walked slowly to the window. "The firm wished me to convey their sincere

sympathy with you in your great loss," he said, without looking round. "I beg that you will understand I am

only their servant and merely obeying orders."

There was no reply; the old woman's face was white, her eyes staring, and her breath inaudible; on the

husband's face was a look such as his friend the sergeant might have carried into his first action.

"I was to say that Maw and Meggins disclaim all responsibility," continued the other. "They admit no liability

at all, but in consideration of your son's service they wish to present you with a certain sum as

compensation."

Mr. White dropped his wife's hand, and rising to his feet, gazed with a look of horror at his visitor. His dry

lips shaped the words, "How much?"

"Two hundred pounds," was the answer.

Unconscious of his wife's shriek, the old man smiled faintly, put out his hands like a sightless man, and

dropped, a senseless heap, to the floor.

III

In the huge new cemetery, some two miles distant, the old people buried their dead, and came back to a house

steeped in shadow and silence. It was all over so quickly that at first they could hardly realize it, and

remained in a state of expectation as though of something else to happen something else which was to

lighten this load, too heavy for old hearts to bear.

But the days passed, and expectation gave place to resignation the hopeless resignation of the old,

sometimes miscalled apathy. Sometimes they hardly exchanged a word, for now they had nothing to talk

about, and their days were long to weariness.

It was about a week after that that the old man, waking suddenly in the night, stretched out his hand and

found himself alone. The room was in darkness, and the sound of subdued weeping came from the window.

He raised himself in bed and listened.

"Come back," he said, tenderly. "You will be cold."

"It is colder for my son," said the old woman, and wept afresh.

The sound of her sobs died away on his ears. The bed was warm, and his eyes heavy with sleep. He dozed

fitfully, and then slept until a sudden wild cry from his wife awoke him with a start.

"The monkey's paw!" she cried, wildly. "The monkey's paw!"

He started up in alarm. "Where? Where is it? What's the matter?"

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She came stumbling across the room towards him. "I want it," she said, quietly. "You've not destroyed it?"

"It's in the parlor, on the bracket," he replied, marvelling. "Why?"

She cried and laughed together, and bending over, kissed his cheek.

"I only just thought of it," she said, hysterically. "Why didn't I think of it before? Why didn't you think of it?"

"Think of what?" he questioned.

"The other two wishes," she replied, rapidly. "We've only had one."

"Was not that enough?" he demanded, fiercely.

"No," she cried, triumphantly; "we'll have one more. Go down and get it quickly, and wish our boy alive

again."

The man sat up in bed and flung the bedclothes from his quaking limbs. "Good God, you are mad!" he cried,

aghast.

"Get it," she panted; "get it quickly, and wish Oh, my boy, my boy!"

Her husband struck a match and lit the candle. "Get back to bed," he said, unsteadily. "You don't know what

you are saying."

"We had the first wish granted," said the old woman, feverishly; "why not the second?"

"A coincidence," stammered the old man.

"Go and get it and wish," cried the old woman, and dragged him towards the door.

He went down in the darkness, and felt his way to the parlor, and then to the mantelpiece. The talisman was

in its place, and a horrible fear that the unspoken wish might bring his mutilated son before him ere he could

escape from the room seized upon him, and he caught his breath as he found that he had lost the direction of

the door. His brow cold with sweat, he felt his way round the table, and groped along the wall until he found

himself in the small passage with the unwholesome thing in his hand.

Even his wife's face seemed changed as he entered the room. It was white and expectant, and to his fears

seemed to have an unnatural look upon it. He was afraid of her.

"Wish!" she cried, in a strong voice.

"It is foolish and wicked," he faltered.

"Wish!" repeated his wife.

He raised his hand. "I wish my son alive again."

The talisman fell to the floor, and he regarded it shudderingly. Then he sank trembling into a chair as the old

woman, with burning eyes, walked to the window and raised the blind.

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He sat until he was chilled with the cold, glancing occasionally at the figure of the old woman peering

through the window. The candle end, which had burnt below the rim of the china candlestick, was throwing

pulsating shadows on the ceiling and walls, until, with a flicker larger than the rest, it expired. The old man,

with an unspeakable sense of relief at the failure of the talisman, crept back to his bed, and a minute or two

afterwards the old woman came silently and apathetically beside him.

Neither spoke, but both lay silently listening to the ticking of the clock. A stair creaked, and a squeaky mouse

scurried noisily through the wall. The darkness was oppressive, and after lying for some time screwing up his

courage, the husband took the box of matches, and striking one, went down stairs for a candle.

At the foot of the stairs the match went out, and he paused to strike another, and at the same moment a knock,

so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded on the front door.

The matches fell from his hand. He stood motionless, his breath suspended until the knock was repeated.

Then he turned and fled swiftly back to his room, and closed the door behind him. A third knock sounded

through the house.

" What's that?" cried the old woman, starting up.

"A rat," said the old man in shaking tones "a rat. It passed me on the stairs."

His wife sat up in bed listening. A loud knock resounded through the house.

"It's Herbert!" she screamed. "It's Herbert!"

"What's that?" Cried the old woman.

She ran to the door, but her husband was before her, and catching her by the arm, held her tightly.

"What are you going to do?" he whispered hoarsely.

"It's my boy; it's Herbert!" she cried, struggling mechanically. "I forgot it was two miles away. What are you

holding me for? Let go. I must open the door."

"For God's sake don't let it in," cried the old man, trembling.

"You're afraid of your own son," she cried, struggling. "Let me go. I'm coming, Herbert; I'm coming."

There was another knock, and another. The old woman with a sudden wrench broke free and ran from the

room. Her husband followed to the landing, and called after her appealingly as she hurried down stairs. He

heard the chain rattle back and the bottom bolt drawn slowly and stiffly from the socket. Then the old

woman's voice, strained and panting.

"The bolt," she cried loudly. "Come down. I can't reach it."

But her husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the paw. If he could

only find it before the thing outside got in. A perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house, and

he heard the scraping of a chair as his wife put it down in the passage against the door. He heard the creaking

of the bolt as it came slowly back, and at the same moment he found the monkey's paw, and frantically

breathed his third and last wish.

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The knocking ceased suddenly, although the echoes of it were still in the house. He heard the chair drawn

back and the door opened. A cold wind rushed up the staircase, and a long loud wail of disappointment and

misery from his wife gave him courage to run down to her side, and then to the gate beyond. The street lamp

flickering opposite shone on a quiet and deserted road.

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