21) “The Messenger” by Robert W. Chambers

Plot:

In 1896 on the Breton coast where Dick Darrel has settled down with his beloved Lys, a gruesome discovery of a mass grave, the remains of English invaders is revealed in a wheatfield. The men of Bannalaec retrieve thirty-eight skulls with bullet holes, plus other human bones, weapons, military badges, and a brass cylinder with a scroll written not in French but in Breton dated 1760.

Only a few people wrote in Breton at that date. One of them was l’Abbé Sorgue, commonly known as the Black Priest, who betrayed the fort to the English invaders. He forced a local girl to give him the password. In the scroll, he curses her and her descendants, one of whom is Dick’s wife, Lys. He also says he will return when an Englishman touches his remains. His captors branded his forehead with an arrowhead so severely it marked his skull.

Darrel, being the understanding sort he is, mocks those who tremble at the words of the Black Priest and want to bury the scroll with his remains. Why would any of those people believe this in the year of grace 1896? Darrel kicks a stone into the pit. He’s surprised it’s still there. It’s a skull. With an arrow brand on its forehead.

Nah.

Now where’s Môme? Where’s that dog gotten to? And is that stone following him home?

Thoughts:

This is the third in the Dick Darrel series, so there are mentions of the first two adventures, one of which involve butterflies. The “messenger” of the title is a moth referred to as “death’s head messenger” because its markings resemble a skull. Seeing one in one’s house is supposed to portend a death. Of course, Darrel scoffs at the notion. He scoffs a lot.

Until he finds one banging at his window.

Darrel, who narrates the story, is a snob and a know-it-all. Such an unpleasant person makes the reading unpleasant at times. His wife ultimately shows him up but remains suitably humble about it.

The resurrected Black Priest is creepy and terrifying even if the idea of rolling skull following Darrel home is a bit ludicrous. Darrel is especially worried about his wife after he finds her embroidering clothing far too small for her.

“Will we need it?” he asks.

She tells him yes.

Dick Darrel is a materialist. It’s the nineteenth century after all! None of this medieval nonsense about ghosts and curses. A second look would have saved him some trouble.

Other characters are given silly or annoying traits. For example, the mayor of Bannalaec, in whose wheatfield the remains were discovered, speaks with a high, whistling voice. Darrel refers to the town pharmacist (chemist) and “the little chemist.”

Having said that, this was a fun read, though frankly I wasn’t interested as much in the Black Priest getting his comeuppance as I was in watching someone take Darrel down a peg or two.


The story can be found on YouTube:

Bio: Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933) was a playwright, artist, and illustrator who turned to writing supernatural and weird fiction. His best-known book is The King in Yellow, which was influenced by Ambrose Bierce and in turn influenced H. P. Lovecraft. Told in vignettes that jump forward and backward in time, it describes a play that drives its readers mad.

Title: “The Messenger”
Author: Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933)
First published: The Mystery of Choice, October 15, 1897