Nonsense Novels | Page 6

it passed on, and quite suddenly
disappeared around the corner of a stone wall, as if hidden by the bricks.
What made the thing still more mysterious was that Miss M's mother,
who is partially blind, had only partially seen the dog."
Annerly paused a moment. Then he went on:
"This singular occurrence was interpreted by Q, no doubt correctly, to
indicate his own approaching death. I did what I could to remove this
feeling, but it was impossible to do so, and he presently wrung my hand
and left me, firmly convinced that he would not live till morning."
"Good heavens!" I exclaimed, "and he died that night?"
"No, he did not," said Annerly quietly, "that is the inexplicable part of
it."
"Tell me about it," I said.
"He rose that morning as usual, dressed himself with his customary
care, omitting none of his clothes, and walked down to his office at the
usual hour. He told me afterwards that he remembered the

circumstances so clearly from the fact that he had gone to the office by
the usual route instead of taking any other direction."
"Stop a moment," I said. "Did anything unusual happen to mark that
particular day?"
"I anticipated that you would ask that question," said Annerly, "but as
far as I can gather, absolutely nothing happened. Q returned from his
work, and ate his dinner apparently much as usual, and presently went
to bed complaining of a slight feeling of drowsiness, but nothing more.
His stepmother, with whom he lived, said afterwards that she could
hear the sound of his breathing quite distinctly during the night."
"And did he die that night?" I asked, breathless with excitement.
"No," said Annerly, "he did not. He rose next morning feeling about as
before except that the sense of drowsiness had apparently passed, and
that the sound of his breathing was no longer audible."
Annerly again fell into silence. Anxious as I was to hear the rest of his
astounding narrative, I did not like to press him with questions. The
fact that our relations had hitherto been only of a formal character, and
that this was the first occasion on which he had invited me to visit him
at his rooms, prevented me from assuming too great an intimacy.
"Well," he continued, "Q went to his office each day after that with
absolute regularity. As far as I can gather there was nothing either in
his surroundings or his conduct to indicate that any peculiar fate was
impending over him. He saw Miss M regularly, and the time fixed for
their marriage drew nearer each day."
"Each day?" I repeated in astonishment.
"Yes," said Annerly, "every day. For some time before his marriage I
saw but little of him. But two weeks before that event was due to
happen, I passed Q one day in the street. He seemed for a moment
about to stop, then he raised his hat, smiled and passed on."

"One moment," I said, "if you will allow me a question that seems of
importance--did he pass on and then smile and raise his hat, or did he
smile into his hat, raise it, and then pass on afterwards?"
"Your question is quite justified," said Annerly, "though I think I can
answer with perfect accuracy that he first smiled, then stopped smiling
and raised his hat, and then stopped raising his hat and passed on."
"However," he continued, "the essential fact is this: on the day
appointed for the wedding, Q and Miss M were duly married."
"Impossible!" I gasped; "duly married, both of them?"
"Yes," said Annerly, "both at the same time. After the wedding Mr. and
Mrs. Q---"
"Mr. and Mrs. Q," I repeated in perplexity.
"Yes," he answered, "Mr. and Mrs. Q--- for after the wedding Miss M.
took the name of Q--- left England and went out to Australia, where
they were to reside."
"Stop one moment," I said, "and let me be quite clear--in going out to
settle in Australia it was their intention to reside there?"
"Yes," said Annerly, "that at any rate was generally understood. I
myself saw them off on the steamer, and shook hands with Q, standing
at the same time quite close to him."
"Well," I said, "and since the two Q's, as I suppose one might almost
call them, went to Australia, have you heard anything from them?"
"That," replied Annerly, "is a matter that has shown the same
singularity as the rest of my experience. It is now four years since Q
and his wife went to Australia. At first I heard from him quite regularly,
and received two letters each month. Presently I only received one
letter every two months, and later two letters every six months, and
then only one letter