Chapter Eight Further Continued Sir,
Said the butler,
Do you not think I know my master after twenty years?
That thing in the mask was never Dr Jekyll.
God knows what it was,
But it was never Dr Jekyll.
It is my belief,
Of my heart,
That there was murder done.
Poop,
Replied the lawyer.
If you say that,
It will become my duty to make certain.
I shall consider it my duty to break in that door.
That's talking,
Cried the butler.
And now comes the second question.
Who is going to do it?
What?
You and me,
Sir.
That is very well said,
Returned the lawyer.
And whatever comes of it,
I shall make it my business to see you are no loser.
There's an axe in the theatre,
Continued Paul.
You might take the kitchen poker for yourself.
The lawyer took that rude but weighty instrument into his hand and balanced it.
Do you know,
Paul,
He said,
Looking up,
You and I are about to place ourselves in a position of some peril.
You may say so,
Sir,
Indeed,
Returned the butler.
It is well,
Then,
We should be frank.
We may both think more than we've said.
Let us make a clean breast.
This masked figure you saw,
Did you recognise it?
Well,
Sir,
It went so quick,
And the creature was so doubled up,
I could hardly swear to it,
Was the answer.
But if you mean,
Was it Mr Hyde?
Why,
Yes,
I think it was.
It was much of the same bigness.
It had the same quick light weight with it,
And who else could have got him by the laboratory door?
You've not forgot,
Sir,
At the time of the murder,
He still had the key with him.
But that's not all.
Have you ever met this Mr Hyde?
Yes,
Said Utterson,
I spoke once with him.
Then you must know,
As well as the rest of us,
There's something queer about him,
Something that gave a man a turn.
I don't likely know how to say it,
So beyond this,
You felt it in your marrow,
Kind of cold and thin.
I own I felt something of what you described,
Said Utterson.
Well,
That masked thing,
Like a monkey,
Jumped out from among the chemicals and went into the cabinet.
It went down my spine like ice,
Said the butler.
I'm book learned enough for that.
I know it's not evidence,
But a man has his feelings,
And I'll give you my Bible word,
It was Mr Hyde.
Aye,
Aye,
Said the lawyer.
My fear's inclined to the same point.
Well,
Let our name be vengeance.
Call Bradshaw.
The footman came at the summons.
He was very white and nervous.
Pull yourself together,
Bradshaw,
Said the lawyer.
This suspense is telling upon all of you,
I know,
But it's our intention to make an end to it.
Paul and I are going to force our way into the cabinet.
If all is well,
My shoulders are broad enough to bear the blame.
You and the boy must go round the corner with a pair of good sticks and take your post at the laboratory door.
We give you ten minutes to get to your stations.
Now,
Paul,
Let us get to ours,
He said.
The scud had banked over the moon,
And it was now quite dark.
The wind,
Which only broke in puffs and draughts into that deep well of building,
Tossed the light of the candle to and fro about their steps until they came into the shelter of the theatre,
Where they sat down silently to wait.
The ten minutes drew to an end.
Paul disinterred the axe from under a stack of packing straw.
The candle was set upon the nearest table,
And they drew near with bated breath to where the patient foot was still going up and down inside.
Jekyll,
Cried Utterson with a loud voice,
I demand to see you.
He paused a moment,
But there came no reply.
I give you fair warning,
Our suspicions are aroused,
And I must see you.
Utterson,
Said the voice,
For God's sake,
Have mercy.
That's not Jekyll's voice,
It's Hyde's,
Cried Utterson.
Down with the door,
Paul.
Paul swung the axe over his shoulder,
And the blow shook the building.
The red-bazed door leaped against the lock and the hinges,
And a dismal screech as if of a mere animal ran from the cabinet.
Up went the axe again,
And again the panels crashed and the frame bounded.
Four times the blow fell,
But the wood was tough,
And the fittings were of excellent workmanship.
The besiegers,
Appalled by their own riot and the stillness that had succeeded,
Stood back a little and peered in.
There lay the cabinet before their eyes in the quiet lamplight.
There was a good fire glowing and chattering on the hearth,
The kettle was singing in its thin strain.
A drawer or two was open,
Papers neatly set forth on the business table,
And nearer the fire the things were laid out for tea.
It was the quietest room,
You would have said,
But for the glazed presses full of chemicals,
The most commonplace that night in London.
Right in the midst,
There lay the body of a man sorely contorted and still twitching.
They drew near on tiptoe,
Turned it on its back and beheld the face of Edward Hyde.
He was dressed in clothes far too large for him,
Clothes of the doctor's size.
Utterson knew he was looking on the body of a self-destroyer.
We've come too late,
He said sternly,
Whether to save or to punish.
Hyde has gone to his account and it only remains for us to find the body of Jekyll.
He may have fled.
Utterson turned to examine the door in the by-street.
They found the key already stained with rust.
This does not look like use,
Observed the lawyer.
Do you not see it,
Sir?
It's broken,
Said Paul,
Much as if a man stamped on it.
This is beyond me,
Said the lawyer.
They looked around at the table,
Where there were traces of chemical work.
That is the same drug I was always bringing him,
Said Paul.
Even as he spoke,
The kettle with a startling noise boiled over.
This brought them to the fireside.
There were several books on a shelf,
One lay beside the teethings open,
And Utterson was amazed to find a copy of pious work,
For which Jekyll had several times expressed a great esteem.
It was annotated in his own hand with startling blasphemies.
My head goes round,
He said.
He's been here all these days in possession.
He must have raged to see himself displaced,
And he has not destroyed this document.
It was a will drawn in the same eccentric terms as the one which he'd returned six months earlier.
It served as a testament in case of death,
And as a deed of gift in case of disappearance.
But now,
In the place of the name of Edward Hyde,
Read the name of Gabriel John Utterson.
He was alive,
And here this day,
The lawyer cried,
And here is a brief note in the doctor's hand.
But why flee,
And how?
Can we venture to declare this suicide?
We must be careful,
I foresee we may yet involve your master in some dire catastrophe.
Why don't you read the note,
Sir?
Asked Poole.
Utterson brought the paper to his eye,
And read as follows.
My dear Utterson,
When this shall fall into your hands,
I shall have disappeared,
Under what circumstances I've knocked the penetration to foresee.
But my instincts and all the circumstances of my nameless situation tell me the end is sure,
And must be early.
Go then,
And first read the narrative which Lanyon warned me he was to place in your hands,
And if you care to hear more,
Turn to the confession of your unworthy and unhappy friend.
Henry Jekyll There was a third enclosure,
Asked Utterson.
Here,
Sir,
Said Poole,
And he gave the lawyer into his hands a considerable packet,
Sealed in several places.
