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Advances in Paleoimaging-Applications For Paleoanthropology, Bioarchaeology, Forensics, and Cultural Artifacts 1st Edition Gerald J. Conlogue (Author) Instant Download

The document discusses the book 'Advances in Paleoimaging,' which explores the application of imaging techniques in paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology, forensics, and cultural artifacts. It includes contributions from various experts and covers a range of imaging methods, including X-ray, CT, and MRI, emphasizing the importance of strategy and teamwork in conducting paleoimaging projects. The book serves as a comprehensive reference for those interested in the field, showcasing the evolution and integration of advanced imaging technologies.

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Advances in Paleoimaging
Advances in Paleoimaging
Applications for Paleoanthropology, Bioarchaeology,
Forensics, and Cultural Artifacts

Ronald G. Beckett and Gerald J. Conlogue


First edition published 2020
by CRC Press
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

and by CRC Press


2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

© 2021 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials
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ISBN: 978-1-138-70359-9 (hbk)


ISBN: 978-1-315-20308-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Minion
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Gerald J. Conlogue Ronald G. Beckett
It has been almost a decade since the first book, As with the first edition, this book is dedicated
Paleoimaging: Field Applications for Cultural not only to those many individuals who have
Remains and Artifacts (CRC Press, 2010), helped me to develop my endoscopic and scientific
was published. At that time, I recognized the skills, but also to those who have enhanced my
radiographers who were not only my teachers but understanding of pathophysiology among the living.
also role models. Of course, I continue to dedicate LeRoy Johansen, Steven McPherson, Bud Spearman,
this work to those individuals and all radiographers, Robert Kaczmarek, Dean Hess, and Harold
but for this edition I’d like to include the application McAlpine, who collectively taught me how to be a
specialist, David Bugg, and service engineers, Bob respiratory therapist and to never be satisfied with
Kowalski and Bob French, who made it possible for the status quo, and provided a model to follow in
me to attempt to master the Toshiba Aquilion® unit. research and scholarly work. To Drs. William Ludt
and Michael McNamee, who consistently challenged
The decision to not only revise but also expand
my understanding of clinical medicine and disease
the content required reverting to lessons learned
states and encouraged me to know more.
from very demanding and respected past mentors
and professors. Therefore, to Lawrence R. Penner, To Ralph “Buster” Beckett, whose early twentieth
Harvey Levine, Michael Adess, William J. Foreyt, century work in agricultural research sparked
Kenneth Kardong, E. Leon Kier, and John Ogden. my desire to understand the world around me.
To my parents, Howard and Terry Beckett, who
I’d like to repeat my dedication to my son, Byron,
taught and encouraged me to “play in the sand,”
his wife, Nicole, and my son, Michael, for their
no matter how old I was. To my sons, Matthew,
encouragement and continuing acceptance of my
Paul, stepson, James, and daughter, Julie, who
eccentricities. To my daughter, Keanau, who has
have always been supportive of my interests and
also demonstrated tolerance over the years, and
efforts and from whom I continue to learn so
to her husband, Kevo, and my grandson, Deion.
much. And to my wife, Katherine Harper-Beckett,
Finally, to my wife, Shar Walbaum, for her support
who has supported so many projects and helped
in every endeavor and adventure I’ve undertaken.
me find ways to get things done. Katherine has
Without her initial encouragement and inspiration,
held me up on so many occasions with her quiet
I never would have embarked on the path that
strength and sincere belief in me, and without her
has led me to the submission of this manuscript.
support my efforts would be less than complete.
Contents

Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Contributors xv

1 Photography Associated with Paleoimaging: With Notes on Videography,


LiDAR, Ground Penetrating Radar, and 3D Surface Scanning 1
RONALD G. BECKETT, FÁTIMA ALBA RENDÓN-HUERTA, AND MICHAEL J. WRIGHT

2 Endoscopy in Anthropological and Archaeological Applications 11


RONALD G. BECKETT

3 XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) 21


RONALD G. BECKETT

4 Plane Radiography, Digital Radiography, Mammography, Tomosyntheses,


and Fluoroscopy 27
GERALD J. CONLOGUE, ROBERT LOMBARDO, WILLIAM HENNESSY, MARK VINER,
AND ALICIA GIAIMO

5 Contrast Media 85
GERALD J. CONLOGUE AND RONALD G. BECKETT

6 Industrial Radiography 107


ROBERT LOMBARDO AND GERALD J. CONLOGUE

7 Computed Tomography (CT), Multi-Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT),


Micro-CT, and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) 111
GERALD J. CONLOGUE, ANDREW J. NELSON, AND ALAN G. LURIE

8 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) 179


JOHN POSH AND GERALD J. CONLOGUE

9 Development of Study Strategies 185

Section 1: Ethical Considerations 187


RONALD G. BECKETT AND ANDREW J. NELSON

Section 2: Determining Imaging Needs 193


GERALD J. CONLOGUE, RONALD G. BECKETT, AND MARK VINER

vii
viii Contents

Section 3: Workflow (Throughput)—Systems Design for Field Research 199


GERALD J. CONLOGUE, RONALD G. BECKETT, AND MARK VINER

Section 4: Radiographic Data Formats, Graphic Software, and Online


Data Repositories 203
ANDREW J. NELSON

Section 5: Interpretation Strategies 211


GERALD J. CONLOGUE, SAHAR N. SALEEM, AND PÉTER ZÁDORI

Section 6: Integration of Bioarchaeology and Bioarchaeology of Care Models 217


RONALD G. BECKETT

Section 7: Field Paleoimaging Safety and Health Challenges 221


RONALD G. BECKETT AND MARK VINER

Section 8: Radiation Protection and Safety 231


MARK VINER AND GERALD J. CONLOGUE

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Radiography Field Data Sheet 243


Appendix B: Recording Form for Multi-Detector Computed Tomography 245
Appendix C: Micro-CT Recording Form 247
Appendix D: Recording Form for XRF 249
Appendix E: Recording Form for Endoscopic Examination of Mummified or Skeletal
Remains (see Chapter 2) 251
Appendix F: Radiologist Report Form—Preliminary Interpretations 253
Appendix G: Example of Risk Assessment Documentation (see Chapter 9 Section 7) 257
Appendix H: Expedition Kit List—Papua New Guinea 265
Appendix I: Statement of Health 267
Appendix J: R
 adiation Protection Examples from the Oxford Project (see Chapter 9
Section 8) 269
Index 273
Foreword

Ron Beckett and Jerry Conlogue have assembled the quickly and efficiently. Chapter 9 of this edition is about
authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the field the development of specific strategies for different paleo-
of paleoimaging. This book is the culmination of two imaging projects. This approach reflects the years of
careers in the world of clinical imaging, with all that Beckett and Conlogue’s experience in the imaging suite,
expertise creatively and critically applied to the paleo- in the lab, in museums, and in remote field sites where
imaging world. This volume is firmly grounded in the the lack of planning can lead to the failure of a project.
basics. “The basics” including everything from the fun- Another organizing philosophy that underlies
damentals of X-radiation, to the “how to’s” of radiog- this volume is teamwork. Ron and Jerry have fostered
raphy in the field, to strategies for the most effective a wide and varied network of relationships with stu-
operation of sophisticated computed tomography (CT) dents and scholars, with specialists from the clinical
scanners. The worlds of industrial and medical imaging realm and those from the bioarchaeological realm,
are evolving at “light speed” and that evolution is well and with people from academia and the general pub-
captured here in the chapters that discuss the different lic. That is because everything that they do has the
forms of computed tomography, digital radiography, highest integrity, they incorporate others into high-
and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But we are also functioning teams, and they are generous with their
reminded that advanced digital infrastructure is not own talents and expertise. The contributors to chap-
available everywhere, so the plane radiography chapter ters in this volume include many members of that net-
includes an extensive discussion of the use of film and work and the richness of the chapters that arise from
the contrast media chapter includes specimens prepared this collaboration reflects the unique expertise that
decades ago, making techniques developed before the each contributor brings to the table. This network also
personal computer relevant to today’s paleoimagers. features strongly in the collaborative approach to the
I have been fortunate to work with Ron and Jerry for interpretation of paleoimages, which is encapsulated
over 20 years and I have witnessed the incorporation of in the phrase “diagnosis by consensus” (Beckett 2017;
cutting-edge technology into a well-grounded approach Wade et al. 2019).
to paleoimaging that can get the job done anywhere. I One very exciting feature of this volume is the sepa-
have seen darkrooms set up in bathrooms, closets, and rate volume Case Studies for Advances in Paleoimaging
snap-together tents. The technology changed in 2013, and Other Non-Clinical Applications. The breadth of the
when I joined Beckett, Conlogue, and other colleagues case studies is remarkable and, once again, it reflects
in Quito, Ecuador, to study a collection of mummy bun- the rich and diverse experience that Ron and Jerry have
dles originally from Peru. That project was a microcosm accumulated over the past decades. There are mummies
of this volume, starting with photography, endoscopy, and other paleoimaging subjects on every continent
and plane radiography and then, on a return visit, incor- (save perhaps Antarctica), and these two scientists have
porating CT of a select sample of mummies. Here the seen a good portion of them. These cases bring the dis-
plane radiography was done using computed radiogra- cussion of strategies and techniques vividly to light and
phy (CR) technology instead of traditional film, which they give the reader a view into the amazing experiences
greatly increased our efficiency, allowing us to shoot 37 that Ron and Jerry have had as they travel the world,
bundles in a week. Since then, Beckett and Conlogue endoscope and X-ray machine in hand, willing to take
have moved to digital radiography (DR) technology and on significant challenges with the goal of shedding new
their efficiency is even greater. light on the past lives of people and their artifacts.
The example of the project in Quito illustrates an This volume, with its accompanying volume of case
important factor that is also a key organizing principle studies, will become the must-have reference set for any-
of this volume—strategy. In Quito, we each had specific one with an interest in paleoimaging—whether seek-
tasks and were able to process the mummy bundles ing to do it themselves or to better understand how an

ix
x Foreword

imaging study has been done. This book is the distilla- References
tion of encyclopedic knowledge of imaging in general, of
1. Beckett, R.G. 2017. Digital data recording and interpre-
interesting and unusual applications, and of great talents tational standards in mummy science. International
in the areas of flexibility and adaptability. The breadth Journal of Paleopathology 19: 135–141.
of applications will be relevant to interested parties well 2. Wade, A.D., Beckett, R.G., Conlogue, G.J., Garvin,
beyond bioarchaeology. G.J., Saleem, S.N., Natale, G., Caramella, D., Nelson,
Andrew J. Nelson, Professor, Archaeology/ A.J. 2019. Diagnosis by consensus: A case study in the
Bioarchaeology, Department of Anthropology, Western importance of interdisciplinary interpretation of mum-
University, London, Ontario, Canada mified pathological conditions. International Journal of
Paleopathology 24: 144–153.
Preface

Medical and industrial imaging methods have become technologies. The authors began this work to provide a
powerful tools in both the documentation and data col- basis for understanding the application of various imag-
lection procedures found in many non-traditional set- ing modalities in archaeological, anthropological, bio-
tings. In this book, two of the most preeminent experts in anthropological, and forensic settings. Filled with over
the field serve as volume editors, providing an in-depth 350 images, the writing draws on the editors’ global
examination of the current and growing range of imag- experience in the paleoimaging of cultural remains and
ing tools and techniques currently available on the mar- artifacts, offering a view of the diverse environments
ket. These editors and their contributing authors—top in which field paleoimaging is conducted. The book
practitioners in the field—explain how these techniques will be an essential reference for conservators, museum
can be applied to all aspects of forensic and archaeo- archivists, forensic anthropologists, paleopathologists,
logical analysis. In addition to providing useful data for archaeologists, and anyone looking to gather imaging
analysis, these powerful tools have the added benefit of information and perform non-destructive research on
being non-destructive, thereby preserving the remains historical or culturally significant artifacts or remains,
or artifacts for future analysis with yet-to-be-developed or in the process of a forensic investigation.

xi
Acknowledgments

All paleoimaging work is teamwork. We have been fortu- Joe Mullins


nate to have been invited to collaborate on a great many Paul Nader, DVM
research endeavors around the globe. We need to acknowl- Warren Raymond
edge many researchers and colleagues from whom we Eddy Rosenblatt, MD
have learned so very much about the exciting “time travel” Andrea Gernon
we all get to experience through our common interests. Andrew Wade
Anna Dhody
Yvette Bailey, MD Josh Berstein
Jelena Bekvalac Bruce Kaiser, PhD
Nicholas Bellantoni Bob Brier
Dario Piombino-Mascali Roger Colton
Jeff Sorobello Janet Monge
Larry Pernick Sonia Guillen
Jane Buikstra Bernardo Ariaza
Maureen Daros Ripley’s Believe it or Not®
George Grigonis Bruker
Hanna Polasky Mütter Museum
Emad Hamid, MD National Geographic Channel USA
Anthony Fishetti, DVM National Geographic Channel International
Victoria McCoy National Geographic Society
Dick Horn Paleopathology Association
David Hunt Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Lorna Tilley Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

xiii
Contributors

James Adams, DO John Posh, RT(R)(MR)


Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine Metrasens
Kirksville, Missouri Lisle, Illinois

Kyler Douglas, BS Fátima Alba Rendón-Huerta


Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine Guanajuato City, Mexico
Kirksville, Missouri
Sahar N. Saleem, MBBCH, MSc, MD
Alicia Giaimo, MBA-HCM, MHS, Department of Radiology—Kasr Al Ainy Faculty of Medicine
RT(R)(M)(BD), ARRT Cairo University
Radiologic Sciences Program Cairo, Egypt
Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Quinnipiac University
Hamden, Connecticut Solomon Segal, MD
Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
Ramón Gonzalez, MD Kirksville, Missouri
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging
School of Medicine, Yale University Mark Viner, FCR, MSc, HDCR(R), DipFMS,
New Haven, Connecticut DipFHID, MCSFS
Cranfield Forensic Institute
William Hennessy, MHS, RT(R)(M)(QM), ARRT Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
Department of Radiologic Sciences Shrivenham, United Kingdom
Quinnipiac University
and
Hamden, Connecticut
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Robert Lombarbo, BSRT(R), ARRT Queen Mary University
Adjunct Faculty London, United Kingdom
Diagnostic Imaging Program Quinnipiac University
Hamden, Connecticut Michael J. Wright
Director – Vestigium Lux S.A de C.V
and
Guanajuato City, Mexico
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Connecticut
Farmington, Connecticut Bruce Young, PhD
Department of Anatomy
Alan G. Lurie, DDS, PhD Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences Kirksville, Missouri
University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine
Farmington, Connecticut Péter Zádori, PhD, MD
Moritz Kaposi Teaching Hospital
Andrew J. Nelson, PhD Dr. József Baka Diagnostic, Radiation Oncology, Research and
Department of Anthropology and Chemistry Teaching Center
University of Western Ontario Kaposvár, Hungary
London, Canada
and
Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto, Canada

xv
Photography Associated with Paleoimaging:
With Notes on Videography, LiDAR, Ground
Penetrating Radar, and 3D Surface Scanning 1
RONALD G. BECKETT, FÁTIMA ALBA RENDÓN-HUERTA,
AND MICHAEL J. WRIGHT

Contents
Photography 1
Videography 5
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) 6
Ground Penetrating Radar 7
3D Surface Scans 8
Summary 8
References 8

Photography evidentiary documentation of subject, context, proce-


dure, and field adaptation or modifications. The intent is
Photography has had a close interwoven relationship to to provide a more objective application rather than using
anthropology for many years. Ever since the inception it as a tool to elicit some type of deep human response.
of the field of anthropology as a science, photography With that said, photography as one of the multimodal
has played a role. Photography ‘demonstrated’ what was tools in paleoimaging not only provides scientific docu-
being described in research reports and helped make mentation but may also produce images that can move
findings concrete. Photography in anthropology has the heart as well. Although the ideal would be to have a
evolved into a subspecialty within the broader context professional photographer who also possesses skills in
of the field. Debates continue on whether a professional, anthropology as a paleoimaging team member, this is
trained in the skills and art of photography, should be not always feasible. Typically, the paleoimagers them-
employed in field studies or rather if photographs taken selves act as the project photographers. Photography, in
by other experts can suffice. most scientific fields, is usually considered as an artistic
Photography tries to capture on film two major discipline—as if art did not imply rigorous methodolo-
aspects of a field research study. One is to provide, via gies or technical explorations. Rather, photography is a
the photograph, evidence and documentation of the conceptual vehicle for global comprehension of field-
research and context as it relates to the specific objec- work and for the measurement and control of the vari-
tives. The second is to try to capture the ‘experience’ of ables around archaeological finds or museum pieces.
the field study and its subjects. It is the intent of photo- With the advent of digital photography, images can
graphic documentation to objectify that which is being be reviewed, discarded, re-shot, cropped, and stored in
observed. In doing so, photography documents the a very short period of time. A basic knowledge of photo-
experience as well as the subject matter. It is difficult to graphic variables and their manipulation to maximize
see a photograph of an elaborate tomb with ample grave data collection is required.
goods and a mummified human being and not have an Photography in paleoimaging is grounded in the
emotional experiential response. We are all only human forensics approach of evidence collection. The photo-
after all. graph should be objective, not staged, and honest. Each
It is not the intent of this chapter to debate or describe photograph should contain an image with and then
the role of photography in the broader anthropological without a scale. Photography should be objective-driven
or archaeological context, but rather to describe its role and the photographic images should be utilized in the
as an adjunct to paleoimaging. The use of photography daily review of data. Radiographic, endoscopic, observa-
as an adjunct to paleoimaging is less concerned with tional, and photographic data will all, in their own way,
its place in visual anthropology and more focused on contribute to the case at hand. The photographic record

1
2 Advances in Paleoimaging

can be used to justify a novel approach to problem solv- at the same time serve to record and describe the culture
ing in the field and visually explain abstract situational of science. Another observer may see the photograph of
variables or contextual settings. Furthermore, the paleo- the busy research team as an invasion of the sanctity of
photographer has to self-question how photographs sup- the dead. One picture speaks a thousand words and may
port the research and all the members of a professional evoke as many human responses as well.
team involved in a project. The photographs invite them The basic intent of paleophotography in support of
to observe the subject with different perspectives for paleoimaging projects is not to manipulate study envi-
professional empathy and complementarity. The pho- ronments or create works of art, but some essential
tograph further serves to present research project data photographic approaches are helpful in gathering the
to other professionals who could not be in the field. In appropriate objective-based images. These images exist
this way, additional professional input may be acquired to authenticate objects, to provide evidence regarding
through examination of the photographic image. The conservation efforts and deterioration, to act as surro-
electronic age has made this an even greater possibility. gate collections for research duties, to amass documen-
Messaging or emailing a photograph to a colleague far tary evidence, or as potential objects of art, all to inform
away during the course of the study can provide instruc- science or technology with essential didactic purposes.
tive feedback as to what additional data need to be col- The first approach is that of standard photogra-
lected while the team is still on site. phy using ambient lighting. The standard photograph
While the photographic data should be collected records what is there and at times captures important
with objectivity in mind, the area of anthropological features that the observer may have missed during direct
research is filled with images that may serve to describe observational methods. As an example, using standard
the human species’ journey on this planet. Objective- photography in a case of a mummy prepared with an
based photographs have the potential to evoke an emo- arsenic solution and using the forensic photography
tional response. Consider the radiographic image of principle of documenting everything from every aspect,
the mummified remains of an infant under study by a a photograph was taken of the posterior surface of the
team of anthropologists and paleoimagers (Figure 1.1). mummy under investigation. The photograph revealed
Photographs of this type document study activities while parallel linear depressions on the buttocks of the
mummy, suggesting that in this case the mummy was
prepared or dried on a rack (Figure 1.2). The research
team had examined this mummy several times prior
to this investigation and yet it was the photograph that
‘saw’ what was not observed.
Filtered photography can be very useful as well.
Filtered photography as a documentary tool to image
cultural modifications such as tattoos will better dif-
ferentiate the target from the background. While many

Figure 1.2 A photograph of the underside of a mummy


known as ‘Sylvester’ demonstrated several impressions
Figure 1.1 Photography used to capture the ‘culture’ of (arrows) indicating that this mummy was likely placed on
research in action. a drying rack during the mummification process.
Photography Associated with Paleoimaging 3

filters exist and their applications are well beyond the the physical conditions of the study environ-
scope of this text, infrared filtering in photography is ment, the cultural and physical context of the
quite useful in bringing out a tattooed image from the regional area often supports the understanding
surrounding skin, whereas ultraviolet light may help of the paleoimaging data collected. For exam-
differentiate among tissue types or surface structures ple, in a large population, paleoimaging study
not discernible to the naked eye. findings indicate that there are a lot of healed
Lighting is an important aspect of photography. fractures that are typically associated with falls.
While most photography used in support of paleoim- It would be critical that the terrain surround-
aging projects employ ambient light, additional light- ing the burial area or near the archaeological
ing may be required. When additional lighting is used context associated with the burials be photo
it should be staged to reduce any shadowing or over- documented as the photographs inform the
dramatizing of the setting. Another useful lighting paleoimaging interpreters about the possible
technique in support of paleoimaging projects is that of nature and cause of the fracture patterns being
raking the light over the subject. Because of the behavior disclosed by the radiographs.
of light, raking can often improve the observer’s under- The general environment associated with
standing of the textures on the surface of the subject the study at hand should be photographed with
(Figure 1.3). respect to those environmental features that
As stated, the use of photography associated with may impact the work to be done. In addition,
paleoimaging projects should be objective-based. While the context from where the cultural remains
not limited to these objectives, photography should or artifacts came is critical as it may assist in
include the following traits as a minimum: the interpretation of paleoimaging data. The
environmental conditions may help to explain
1) The subject(s)—The subject should be photo taphonomic characteristics of the cultural
documented from every angle possible without remains as artifacts, as well as human and ani-
harming the subject. The varied views of the mal remains, continue to interact with their
subject(s) provide paleoimagers with additional environment over time (Aufderheide, 2003).
information from which to develop approaches These photographs may include documentation
to the imaging tasks at hand. The initial pho- of nearby waterways, urban sprawl, evidence of
tographs are intended to be a general survey of flood plains, landslides or cave ins, and docu-
the subject(s). However, if a particular entrance mentation of current climatic characteristics
route for the endoscopic procedure is seen, for to name a few. Photographs of where the cul-
example, it can be documented using an appro- tural material was found is also critical, as often
priate photographic technique, such as macro a microclimate exists that can further explain
photography. Later in the study, a more scien- the condition of the remains or artifacts. These
tific or forensic approach will be used. photographs may include tombs, a cliffside, or
2) The context—The context of the imaging study other burial aspects, such as wrappings and
should be photo documented. In addition to enclosures that may have impacted mummifica-
tion or the state of preservation of the remains.
If radiographic or endoscopic images are later
transported to specialists in other countries,
photographs of the regional environmental
conditions and the specific burial sites may
be critical in interpreting what is seen on the
paleoimaging data.
3) Work environment/conditions—Of equal
importance is the photographic documenta-
tion of the specific paleoimaging environment,
exactly where the work is to be conducted. On
many occasions, field paleoimaging is conducted
in very tight settings, such as in caves, tombs,
Figure 1.3 A photograph demonstrating the lighting tech-
nique known as ‘raking,’ which accentuated the target and remote research facilities. Photographic
observation. Additionally, macro photography contributed documentation of these variables not only pro-
to the detail of the target anomaly. vides a record of the working conditions but
4 Advances in Paleoimaging

may also assist future researchers who are plan- 5) Macro photography of specific targets—As the
ning a field paleoimaging project in the same study or subject dictates, close-up photography
or a similar environment. Photographic docu- should be conducted (see Figure 1.3). This may
mentation of how logistical challenges were be required for a variety of reasons. Impressions
resolved is also useful information to future from wrapping textiles present on the skin,
research teams. Any feature of the environmen- anomalous findings such as tattoos, apparent
tal setting that may pose a safety risk should be entry wounds, burns or fractures, are all exam-
photographed as well. Paths, walkways, stairs, ples of when macro photography should be
ladders, streams, electrical supply outlets, and employed. Also, should any damage to the sub-
generators are just a few examples of what ject occur during the course of the study, photo
should be photographed in order to document documentation should be made.
the challenges and adaptations used to get the 6) Before and after—Each subject involved in the
paleoimaging project underway. study should have before- and after-study pho-
4) Technology and technique—Field conditions tographs taken. These photographs will serve to
often present the paleoimaging team with document the condition of the study subject and
unique challenges regarding the application of to assure that no damage was done in the course
the imaging instrumentation. Specific ways in of the paleoimaging project. Time stamping the
which field problems are solved with regards to photographs is important as well.
the set up and application of imaging modali- a. Before and after: Case study—While we were
ties should be documented in order to pro- researching the collection of medical mum-
vide future researchers with ideas on how to mies in Modena, Italy, on display were two
solve complex technological problems in the preserved full human integumentary sys-
field. Photography in association with radio- tems. During our paleoimaging study, the
graphic paleoimaging should include photo museum curator accused our team of causing
documentation of the available utilities, the cracks in one of the specimens. Fortunately,
X-ray tube support system, the image recep- our team included a professional photog-
tor support system, the exam ‘table’ as the rapher who was able to produce a time-
subjects are radiographed, and a photograph stamped digital photograph of the subject in
from the perspective of the X-ray tube projec- question and document that the cracks were
tion angle. This tube perspective photograph there before our paleoimaging study began
helps those who are not familiar with reading (Figure 1.4). The curator was satisfied with
radiographic images to gain a sense of orien- this evidence and withdrew his accusation.
tation using the photograph of the part of the
subject’s anatomy as a guide to understanding A critical aspect of the photographer’s roll is for the
the X-ray image. Photography in association image capture process to be informed by publication
with endoscopic paleoimaging should include imaging integrity and standards. One critical aspect
photographic documentation of the technical of such standards is to assure that the photographer
set up and instrumentation. Of great impor- reports all technical settings, lighting used, special tech-
tance is a photograph of each entry point used niques, software details, and an accurate documentation
to introduce the endoscope. These entrance of any post-processing applied to a given image. The
points should be photographed with scale. If chronology and location of image acquisition should be
an artificial opening is made to provide access reported reserving alternate location images for com-
to the internal cavities, before and after pro- parison purposes only. Post-processing of an image
cedure photographs must be taken to docu- requires special attention in that contrast and brightness
ment the changes to the subject. Any unique manipulation should not be used to cause data to ‘dis-
instrumentation should be photo documented appear.’ In some situations, such manipulations may be
as well as any new or innovative technique. If required to highlight or accentuate critical features not
a biopsy procedure is conducted, photographs clearly visible on the original image. In these cases, the
of the sample need to be taken with scale to original must be presented along with the manipulated
document the approximate size of the sample. image, demonstrating the justification for such manipu-
The labeled container holding the biopsy mate- lations as related to the study objectives. Post-processing
rial too should be photo documented, creating manipulations must always be justified and reported.
a chain of evidence. Post-processing is a critical concern when dealing with
Photography Associated with Paleoimaging 5

studies. Video documentation has the advantage of cap-


turing the research in process and may assure ethical
practice. Digital video formats have allowed research-
ers in the field to collaborate in real time with other
researchers across the globe. Smart phones, computer
cameras, hand-held cameras, GoPro®-type devices, as
well as high-end professional video instrumentation
have all become commonplace in the field.
The value added to the research efforts of a given
project is that the video record allows the researchers
to review when and what was done as well as the condi-
tions. The videos can also be used to critique how the
work was accomplished in terms of efficiency. Basically,
the video provides an additional perspective to the
still photography in terms of documenting the subject,
context, technology application, targeted documenta-
tion, and care in handling the subjects. Video has the
advantage of producing real-time audio commentary
associated with the image, allowing for a valid record of
research-in-motion.
While paleoimaging research is often focused on
specific biological questions, such as sex, age at death,
paleopathology, funerary practices, and so on, videog-
raphy contributes to yet an additional layer of depth
Figure 1.4 A photograph taken before paleoimaging in a given research setting by providing data for visual
examination verifying the condition of the subject prior to
anthropological analysis. Any given research project
the study.
has a mini-culture related to the context, the individu-
als involved, the subjects, and the many contributors
images captured from advanced paleoimaging methods
from the broader current culture. This allows research-
such as digital radiography, computed radiography, and
ers to frame additional research questions targeting the
magnetic resonance, and will be discussed in the appro-
research ‘experience’ itself.
priate chapters of this text.
Visual anthropology is the collection of anthro-
The manipulation of images using image-processing
pological and ethnographical data representing com-
software can in fact be a form of intentional or uninten-
munication-in-context while studying perception and
tional scientific misconduct. Because of this potential,
significance. Visual anthropology research uses images
most professional publications have drafted strict guide-
for the description, analysis, communication, and
lines for the acquisition and publication of images. Not
interpretation of human behavior (Edwards, 1992). It
understanding how the data acquisition and analysis soft-
encompasses the use of still photography, film, video,
ware work and not reporting any manipulations can eas-
and non-camera-generated images, in the recording of
ily lead to unintended interpretations. Examples of such
ethnographic, archaeological, and other anthropologi-
guidelines are provided to authors from most scientific
cal contexts. In the case of paleoimaging field research,
journals. An excellent example of these guidelines can be
visual anthropology contributes to understanding the
found at the following website https://www.nature.com/
culture of the research experience and how it can be
authors/policies/image.html. Referring to these guidelines
visually interpreted and expressed (Collier and Collier,
for image acquisition and reporting helps to maintain the
1986). These images become artifacts of the paleoim-
ethical integrity of a given study and supports the argu-
aging research culture while further documenting the
ment for having a professional photographer familiar with
nature of the remains and associated artifacts.
such requirements as a member of the research team.
While qualitative in nature, analysis can produce
quantitative research questions as well. For example,
Videography initial videography can be used to review methods and
practices with an eye toward the examination of work
Video documentation of procedures and workflow has efficiency and team interactions. Modifications to ‘work’
been increasingly utilized in bioarchaeological field can be hypothesized, put into practice, and evaluated in
6 Advances in Paleoimaging

terms of outcomes and efficiency, thus contributing to LiDAR, instrumentation includes a laser, a special GPS
the overall current and future research efforts. receiver, and a scanner, which are typically attached to
In one such case, our team was researching 38 an airplane or helicopter for use over a wide area. LiDAR
mummy bundles from the Maranga culture at the is a remote sensing method that uses light to measure
Museo Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño in Quito, Ecuador. The distances to Earth. These distances vary according to
team was multidisciplinary and included two bioarchae- the topography and structure on the surface. The light
ologists, two paleoimagers (computed radiography and is a pulsated laser. These pulses can be used to produce
endoscopy), and two documentarians (still photography exact data about the characteristics of Earth’s surface.
and videography). The research plan included four dis- Primarily used in archaeology to locate other-
tinct stations with the intent of establishing an efficient wise unseen sites of archaeological interest, LiDAR is
work-flow pattern (Figure 1.5). After reviewing the video included in the arsenal of paleoimaging methods since it
documentation at the end of the first day, modifications creates an image of past cultural centers associated with
to the flow were deemed necessary to avoid down time cultural remains and artifacts.
for any of the four stations. The changes resulted in The principle of operation of LiDAR devices is
greater efficiency and use of time and space. straightforward and is based on the principle of light
Videography also contributes to knowledge mobi- reflection. The laser uses rapid pulses of laser light at
lization. Videographs can provide documentation of a surface, some at up to 150,000 pulses per second. A
active research for educational purposes, future research sensor then measures the time it takes for each pulse to
approaches, and museum display presentations as well reflect back. Given that the speed of light is a constant
as public media dissemination. Videography is a valued and known, the LiDAR instrument can then calculate
addition to the paleoimaging research process and com- the distance between itself and the surface. (Figure 1.6).
plements the field photography efforts. The basic conceptual formula for the principle of opera-
tion is Distance = (Speed of Light × Time of Flight)/2.
The accuracy is very high. Using different wavelengths,
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) features such as tree canopies can be factored out of
the image, resulting in a ‘scan’ or complex map of the
Images from photographic ‘drones’ are being con- underlying surface (Figure 1.7). It is important to recall
verted to topographical and photogrammetry data in that LiDAR does not penetrate the surface but only
order to construct 3D models of an archaeological area. scans what is on the surface.
Satellite documentation adds additional data from a LiDAR has made great contributions to the discov-
variety of light-detecting and sensing technologies that ery of new or suspected sites of archaeological interest.
go beyond the visible spectrum (Rowlands and Sarris, Given its use in archaeology regarding the location of
2006; Lasaponara and Masini, 2011; Chase et al, 2011; otherwise unseen sites, LiDAR is included in the arsenal
Corns and Shaw, 2009). Light detection and ranging, or of paleoimaging methods, since it locates and creates an

Figure 1.5 A photograph showing the workflow of a study in Quito, Ecuador. Stations shown are endoscopy (A), radiog-
raphy (B), and anthropometry/archaeometry (C). The image also captures the ‘culture’ of research in action.
Photography Associated with Paleoimaging 7

Figure 1.6 Laser light of specific wavelengths is transmitted to a target structure with the reflected beam returning to
the receiver. The distance to the object from the transmitter can then be calculated.

Figure 1.7 LiDAR suspended from an aircraft creates signal return at each level of reflection. In this example, levels 1
and 2 are factored out, leaving only the ‘image’ of the surface demonstrating contours and structures, if any.

image of past cultural centers, road systems, and struc- than light waves. The radio waves are in the microwave
tures associated with water mobilization, which are then band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the radio spectrum.
associated with the cultural remains and artifacts of a The radio waves penetrate the earth’s surface and a
given study. receiver determines how long it took that sound wave
to return, indicating structural variations below the
surface. Subsurface structures and stratigraphy cause
Ground Penetrating Radar reflections that are picked up by the receiver. Data may
be plotted as profiles, as plan-view maps isolating spe-
LiDAR assists in locating objects on the large scale such cific depths, or as 3D models. Some of the uses in the
as surface and some subsurface structures, roads, and so bioarchaeological field are the location and characteris-
on. Another tool, ground penetrating radar (GPR), has tics of subterranean structures, tombs, and burials.
been used to assist in locating and imaging subsurface While GPR has proven to be useful, the method
features within the bioarchaeological construct (Zhao has a variety of limitations. Generally, in bioarchaeol-
et al, 2013). The principle of operation is conceptually ogy settings, low-frequency antennas are used. One of
the same as LiDAR, except GPR uses radio waves rather the greatest limitations to the utility of GPR is when
8 Advances in Paleoimaging

the subterranean environment has a highly ‘reflective’ as an actual model to pose and answer broader research
make up. Moisture or wet soil inhibits the effective- questions. Given the potential for a virtual examination,
ness of GPR. Depth penetration may also be a limiting there is great benefit in educational settings.
factor. GPR has good penetration when there are dry
sandy soils or massive dry materials like granite, lime-
stone, and concrete. If there are moist or clay-like soils, Summary
penetration is limited. Additionally, sub-grade debris
can reflect the radar signal minimizing depth penetra- The relationship between photography and the docu-
tion. Rocky or heterogeneous subsurface environments mentation needs of paleoimaging research is clear.
scatter the GPR signal, weakening the signal and thus During a paleoimaging project, the photographer must
decreasing the reliability of the findings. When using be aware not only of what needs to be documented but
low-frequency GPR, the size of the target may limit its also of when the documentation should take place. This
detection. Generally, the smaller the object, the more knowledge comes only from ample fieldwork experience
challenging it would be to identify. Since the images can as a member of the paleoimaging team. We have used
be rendered in 3D, GPR can be a useful tool in the paleo- forensic photographers as well as professional photog-
imaging arsenal. With that said, the interpretation of raphers experienced in anthropological and archaeo-
the images can be very challenging and requires that the logical settings as paleoimaging team members, with
user possess a unique set of skills including archaeology, excellent results. New photographers or students may
geophysics, geology, and statistical physics. also function as the team photographer only if the team
Those readers wanting to learn more about GPR are anthropologist, paleoimager, or seasoned fieldwork pho-
referred to the literature. A good starting point would tographer properly mentors them. A key point of this
be Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy (Eds. R. I. chapter is that there must be a team member who is
Kostov, B. Gaydarska, M. Gurova). 2008. Proceedings responsible for the photographic documentation needs
of the International Conference, 29–30 October 2008 of the team and associated project. Each team member
Sofia, Publishing House ‘St. Ivan Rilski,’ Sofia, 320–324. has his or her own area of expertise. If the paleoradiog-
rapher or endoscopist also tries to serve as the team
photographer, important information will potentially
3D Surface Scans be missed. An individual dedicated to and skilled in
photography will make critical contributions to the out-
Another method of data collection can be found in 3D come of the paleoimaging research project.
surface scanning. 3D surface scans provide a way for the
researchers to create a 3D digital model (stereolithogra-
phy) of a real object or environment. The scans allow for References
analysis of shape, appearance, and condition. Aufderheide, A.C. 2003. The Scientific Study of Mummies.
There are a variety of scanning devices ranging from Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
simple hand-held units and mounted turntable units, to Chase, A.F., Chase, D.Z., Weishampel, J.F., Drake, J.B.,
large environment scanners. Additionally, the technology Shrestha, R.L., Slatton, K.C., Awe, J.J., and Carter, W.E.
varies, and each device has its own limitations. A device Airborne LiDAR archaeology, and the ancient Maya
based on optical technologies will be challenged to image landscape at Coracol, Belize. Journal of Archaeological
shiny, mirrored, or transparent objects, for example. Science. 2011;38:328–398.
Collier, J., and Collier, M. 1986. Visual Anthropology:
Collected 3D data is useful for a wide variety of Photography as a Research Method (revised and
applications in bioarchaeology. 3D laser surface scan- expanded edition). Albuquerque, NM: University of
ning provides documentation of cultural remains and New Mexico Press.
artifacts and assists in the preservation of museum col- Corns, A., and Shaw, R. High resolution 3-dimensional
lections. The data can be used to conduct facial recon- documentation of archaeological monuments and
structions, approximate features of deceased individuals, landscapes using airborne LiDAR. Journal of Cultural
and create 3D models of materials that can be used for Heritage. 2009;10:72–77.
student practice or display (Kuminsky and Gardiner, Edwards, E. (ed.) 1992. Anthropology and Photography, 1860–
1920. London: Royal Anthropological Institute.
2012). There is great value in 3D modeling in that many
Kuminsky, S., and Gardiner, M. Three-dimensional laser
eyes can view the object, providing a more rigorous scanning; Potential uses for museum conservation and
analysis and interpretation. Research potentials can be scientific research. Journal of Archaeological Science.
expanded by using the objects in either digital format or 2012;39:2744–2751.
Photography Associated with Paleoimaging 9

Lasaponara, R., Masini, N. Satellite remote sensing in archae- Zhao, W., Forte, E., Pipan, M., Tian, G. Ground pen-
ology: past, present and future perspective. Journal of etrating radar (GPR) attribute analysis for archaeo-
Archaeological Science. 2011;38:1995–2002. logical prospection. Journal of Applied Geophysics.
Rowlands, S., and Sarris, A. 2006. Detection of exposed and 2013;97:107–117.
subsurface archaeological remains using multi-sen- https://www.nature.com/authors/policies/image.html
sor remote sensing. Journal of Archaeological Science.
2006;34:795–803.
Endoscopy in Anthropological and
Archaeological Applications
RONALD G. BECKETT
2
Contents
Description of Method and Rationale 11
Instrumentation 12
Medical versus Industrial Endoscopes 13
Anatomy of a Video Endoscope 14
Light Source 15
Camera Control Unit 15
Biopsy and Retrieval Tools 16
Data Recording 16
Limitations of Method 16
Technologic Limitations Associated with Endoscopy 17
Limitations of Personnel 18
References 18

Description of Method and Rationale unlike other imaging modalities, the instrument is
passed directly into the target structure.
Anthropological and archaeological research often Endoscopy has been employed in bioarchaeological
relies on what can be seen using direct or macroscopic research to gather data from mummified and skeletal
examination. This method is limited to what can be human remains, archaeological objects such as ceramics,
seen on the surface or through existing openings into and archaeological sites prior to excavation for a num-
the remains or objects. The direct observation approach ber of years. Endoscopy has a long history of application
does not inform researchers as to what lies below the in anthropological and archaeological research settings.
surface or within remains or objects of interest. In the Its first use was soon after the development of the flex-
past, destructive approaches such as autopsies have ible fiber optic endoscopes (FFEs) in the1970s (Tapp
allowed researchers access to internal environments et al.,1984; Beckett and Guillen 2000). More recently, an
(Aufderheide and Rodriguez-Martin, 1998). For the increased variety of applications for endoscopic tech-
last two decades non-destructive methods of visual nology have been realized. Endoscopy has been used to
data collection have become methods of choice as they assist in data collection for a variety of anthropological
preserve the remains for future study and avoid ethical research questions. Among these are assisting in the
challenges. Endoscopy is a non-destructive approach determination of age at the time of death (Duclos et al.
that can gather images from within objects of inter- 2000; Beckett et al. 1999a), imaging biomechanical stress
est, providing otherwise inaccessible data for inter- (Bravo et al. 2003a,b), assessment of paleopathological
pretation and allowing for a more rigorous scientific conditions (Conlogue et al. 2008a; Beckett et al. 1999b;
study of past peoples and artifacts. While endoscopy is Beckett et al. 2003), analysis of burial practices and mum-
invasive, when applied correctly it can be a powerful mification technique (Nelson et al. 2007; Conlogue et al.
non-destructive method for data collection within the 2008b; Beckett and Nelson 2015; Ordonez et al. 2015;
context of anthropological and archaeological research Beckett et al. 2017), dentition analysis, and soft tissue
(Aufderheide 2003). or bone biopsy for histological and pathological deter-
Endoscopy is a method that ‘looks inside’ bodies or minations (Ventura et al. 2004). Additionally, biopsy or
objects. In medical practice, endoscopy is employed in material collection for chemical analysis or radiocarbon
a variety of medical procedures for both diagnostic and dating, as well as artifact analysis of objects wrapped
therapeutic purposes. The images allow access to and within mummy bundles, have been accomplished using
visualization of body organs or cavities with air space. endoscopy. Endoscopy has been used in extreme field
The nature of the application of endoscopy is such that, settings and in pre-excavation tomb evaluation (Beckett

11
12 Advances in Paleoimaging

and Conlogue 2010). Endoscopy has also been used in


conjunction with light reflectance/absorption methods
(Beckett et al. 2007). Newer applications for endoscopy
continue to be developed.
The major advantage of the endoscopic method lies
in its flexibility and portability. Endoscopic instrumenta-
tion has a wide variety of technological variations that can
be applied to unique settings. When used in conjunction
with varied imaging technologies, the video endoscope
(VE) has been able to assist with the collection of other-
wise unavailable data. Because the endoscope is seeing
‘what cannot be seen’ within an enclosed body cavity or
space, the method is best used in conjunction with other
imaging modalities (Kim et al. 2006). In fieldwork, X-ray
systems work well in concert with endoscopy (Beckett
and Conlogue 1998). In laboratory settings, advanced
imaging methods such as computed tomography (CT)
scanning and fluoroscopy are complementary to endo-
scopic applications (Beckett and Conlogue 2010; Posh
and Beckett 2000). Endoscopic images may alleviate
the need to autopsy mummified human remains, which
helps researchers maintain appropriate respect for the
Figure 2.1 Portable flexible VE employed in a museum
deceased while increasing our understanding of the path collections room setting.
of human life on earth. The limitations of the method
will be described later in this chapter. It is the intent of this chapter to provide the reader
Early in its application to bioanthropological stud- with application guidelines regarding the use of endos-
ies, endoscopy was conducted using the medical model copy in anthropological and archaeological research.
in that the remains were brought to the hospital, a tar- This section includes an examination of the technical
get was determined by analysis of imaging data, and aspects and principles of operation of endoscopic instru-
a biopsy was conducted or an artifact was retrieved. mentation, data collection, and recording methods,
The major drawback to the medical model is that the and an examination of the limitations of this method.
remains require transportation, risking not only dam- Endoscopic applications to bioarchaeological research
age but also shifting of contents within the remains or are presented in the companion case studies book by the
within the wrappings, thus altering the internal spatial same editors.
relationships, which in turn could lead to misinterpreta- There are multiple technological variations that are
tion of collected data. important to consider regarding the use and limitations
More recently, endoscopy has been employed in of this method. Of those, diameter of the insertion tube,
museums and in the field in remote research locations lens variability, and portability are the greatest con-
adopting the anthropological and archaeological model siderations. Both medical and industrial endoscopes
for data collection (Figure 2.1). Data has been collected have been used in research projects involving mum-
on site at the point of excavation, which helps to main- mies, ancient artifacts, and archaeological excavations.
tain the original context of the discovery. Data collected Biopsies or artifact retrieval are often conducted with
in this fashion maintains the original position and spa- endoscopy. A more detailed description of this method
tial relationship of the information, which decreases can be found in Paleoimaging: Field Applications
the potential for misinterpretation. The techniques of for Cultural Remains and Artifacts, by Beckett and
endoscopy are minimally invasive and typically do not Conlogue, CRC Press, 2010.
require openings to be made into the remains as such
openings usually already exist. Using the anthropo-
logical and archaeological model, large sample sizes are Instrumentation
researched, improving the interpretability and statisti-
cal power of the collected data. This is in stark contrast Endoscopy can be described as looking inside an object,
to the medical model, which cannot accomplish the person, or an animal with a tool designed to provide
same goals. direct visualization of a target object or cavity. Endoscopy
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
"Comment, cher major," cried the latter in tones of unaffected
disappointment; "you leave to-morrow? And I who had so much
pleasure in the renewing of our acquaintance. It is not possible we
part thus."
"Que diable," the psychologist was saying to himself, "c'est
comme ça que l'on arrange ces petites affaires-là en Angleterre? Le
mari arrive, vous trouve en tête-à-tête, et l'amant part. Voilà tout.
C'est inouï! Je m'attendais, je l'avoue, à un dénouement plus
palpitant. Mais malgré tout..." Bethune had gone, without a word.
The door was closed. M. Châtelard was resuming his seat: "N'y-a-t'il
pas, quand même, quelque chose de fort intéressant dans cette
simple solution?—oui, un caractère exclusivement Britannique dans
cette simplicité; comme qui dirait un vestige, au milieu du désordre
même, de la vertu puritaine qui tenait si fort aux apparences, de
cette horreur du shocking si profondément enracinée dans l'Anglo-
Saxon?"
As he raised his musing eye, he found Lady Aspasia's bright
grey orb fixed upon him with a world of meaning.

CHAPTER XX

"Hush!" said Jani, "Missie Sahib ill. Must not be disturbed."


"Is she in bed?" whispered Aspasia. "Don't be a stupid, Jani. I
shan't do her any harm."
With her hand on the door handle, Jani shook her head till the
monstrous gold ear-rings waggled against her cheeks.
"Missie Sahib, no more disturbed to-night," she repeated
emphatically. Her opaque eyes were fixed with triumphant
resentment upon Aspasia's countenance. Aspasia, the off-hand
young lady, who flouted old Jani's vested right, who had taken upon
herself to do Lady Gerardine's hair this very night, must learn that
her presence was not always desirable.
"Who is there?" cried Rosamond's voice, high and strained, from
within. "I can see no one. Jani, you must let no one in."
"There, missie," said the old woman.
Aspasia pushed the claw-like hand ruthlessly from the door
knob.
"It is I, Aunt Rosamond," said she, tapping the panels with soft
consolatory palms. "You'll let me in, darling, won't you? I'll do police,
too, never fear, and better than Jani."
"Oh, you! Come in," bade the voice within, faintly, but with an
unmistakable accent of relief.
Aspasia made a face at Jani, but passed in with something less
than her usual flounce. Lady Gerardine was seated before the fire in
her white dressing-gown, her arms hanging, her hair loose about
her. Jani had evidently been interrupted in the act of brushing by the
sound of the approaching footsteps, and had flown to her sentry
post.
"Stay outside, Jani. Lock the door, Baby."
Lady Gerardine just turned her head sufficiently to give these
orders, then relapsed into her brooding attitude, her eyes hard, dry,
encircled, fixed unseeingly upon the fire, her face livid, save for the
burning spot on either cheekbone. Aspasia, aghast, stopped a
second to survey her.
"She does look very ill," she thought hopelessly. "Worse than
ill." And her heart contracted.
"Darling," she said, approaching timidly, "just let me plait this
dear hair, and then you must get to bed."
"I wish it were shrivelled on my head!" said Lady Gerardine,
staring before her, and sending out her words, it seemed, as
aimlessly as her glance. "It is accursed."
"Aunt Rosamond, what are you saying!"
"Harry loved it. It was his hair, his golden hair, and that other
man has put his horrible touch upon it."
"There's no doubt of it," said Baby to herself, as with the
gentlest of touches she gathered the long strands together, "though
I'll never admit it to any one; darling Aunt Rosamond is mad. Those
dreadful letters, the poor dead husband, and the horrid old living
one have driven her mad between them! They shan't shut her up,
though, not while I live, not while I can fight."
The child had no fear in her heart for herself. How could any
one, she thought with a great gush of compassion, have fear of this
poor, desolate, beautiful creature? She finished the plait, while the
figure before her maintained its sinister immobility. Then she leaned
forward and slipped her arms round it in a close embrace.
"My angel, how cold you are! Only your cheeks are hot—hot."
"Don't kiss me," said Lady Gerardine. "You don't know what
defilement you are holding."
"Dear Aunt, come to bed."
"I was his, his consecrate—body and soul, and I gave myself to
another."
"Oh, Aunt Rosamond," cried the girl, with a sudden upspringing
of tears, as a glimmering realisation of the other's anguished mind
broke, upon her. "He is a happy spirit. He understands."
"It is you who cannot understand," angrily answered the
woman. "Even in life he wrote: 'my flesh rebels against the thought.'
It was the worst sting of death to him. And I never knew. Now I
have lost him, I am lost."
Baby took the nerveless hands in hers, and chafed them while
her tears rolled slowly.
"Pray to God, dearest," she whispered. "He will help you."
Rosamond drew away her hand with a great cry.
"God? There is no God!"
"Oh, Aunt!"
"Yes—there is, there is—a God of unsparing justice. Only a God
could be so merciless and so just. It is just, it is just. I have sinned
irremediably. I am punished for ever. What can you—you child, you
child, what can you know of my sin?"
"I know this," cried Baby, kneeling down and gathering the
cowering form to her strong embrace; "that you are ill, that you
don't know what you're saying. But God is mercy," sobbed Aspasia,
very reverently—she was shy of her religion, and spoke low, even
amid her tears; "I know that God is mercy, and that those who are
with Him must be merciful too."
"Do you cry for me?" said Lady Gerardine, a sort of wonder in
her weary tones, as the wet cheeks were pressed against her face.
"I cannot cry for myself. I am beyond tears."
With this, she suffered herself to be helped to rise, and made a
feeble movement towards the bed. But at the sound of a closing
door beneath, of steps on the stairs, she started violently and
clutched the girl's arm.
"You will not let anybody in.... Nobody must come into my room
—Aspasia—Aspasia!"
"No, no! The door is locked. Darling, don't be so frightened;
how your teeth chatter! Aunt, I promise you shall be left in peace. I
will watch. Can't you trust me? They'd better not!" she added
convincingly, if vaguely.
The long convulsive shudders continued even after Baby had
coaxed her to bed, and piled the bedclothes over her. She sat a long
while by the sick woman, still rubbing the bloodless fingers, speaking
soothingly from time to time. But Rosamond herself spoke no more.
At last silence fell upon the Old Ancient House. Steps ceased to
resound along the echoing oak. Doors were definitely closed; even
Lady Aspasia's pervading voice seemed to be hushed for the night.
Then Lady Gerardine suddenly turned to her niece with something of
her old gentle look:
"Go to bed, my child," she said. "Sleep, at least while you can.
Your little face looks tired!"
"I'll sleep here with you, if you'll have me," said Aspasia, kissing
the hand she held.
"No, no," said the other. "I must be alone. I shall have Jani, she
will watch. Good night."
Poor healthy Baby was in truth ready to tumble over with
fatigue, and had found her head, to her own fierce displeasure,
nodding portentously from time to time. She went forth with the
uncertain gait of the sleep-drunken, but paused at the door to give
Jani minute and repeated instructions, which the latter, vividly alert,
received with undisguised scorn. With much satisfaction the ayah re-
entered her mistress' room, and locked the door upon her drowsy
rival.

CHAPTER XXI

Aspasia awoke from a heavy dreamless sleep with a sense of panic.


Her heart was beating violently. She sat up in bed, listening eagerly,
through the hammering of her pulses.
It is the nature of such old haunted places as Saltwoods that
they impress you with their stillness by day and their stirring by
night. Then the old boards creak as if to the tread of forgotten
steps; old echoes answer to voices long silent; there is a rustle down
the narrow passages as of garments the very texture of which is
forgotten; there are sighs in the night airs, and little cold blasts
wandering round corners, even on the stillest night. You tell yourself
that it is the crumbling brick and wood work setting ever a little
more towards destruction; but it seems rather as if the years-laden
habitation had acquired a sentient being of its own; that when, like
the aged, it lies wakeful in the night, the memories of the past come
back to it; that it laments, with sighs, lost life, lost mirth, lost dignity.
But Baby would at no time, have had, in her practical young
mind, room for such fancies as these; and now, the very real well-
grounded fears which were strong upon her lent every stealthy creak
about her a hideous material significance, every sighing breath the
echo of a present tragedy.
Supposing Muhammed were really to creep into the Runkle's
room—Sir Arthur might not have locked his door. It is all very well, in
a fit of rage, to wish an irritating relative disposed of; it is a very
different thing to wake in the middle of the night and think of the
murderer at his work. Poor old Runkle...! Or, suppose Lady Gerardine
were to do herself a mischief, were to ... there are ideas to which
one cannot bear to give concrete shape, even in one's own
imagination.
The girl lit a candle, sprang out of bed, and huddled on a
dressing-gown. How foolish, how selfish, how wicked she had been
to leave the fevered woman alone with Jani—Jani, the most helpless
and unreasoning of human beings!
The old house might have been in league with the evil passions
it housed that night, so loudly did it seem to protest against
Aspasia's interference.
Heard any one ever door so groan on its hinges, ever boards so
complain under tread of light foot? What menacing shadows leapt
from every corner! It was enough to scare any less courageous heart
from its purpose. But on went Baby, down the little stairs, past Lady
Aspasia's door (the creature snored—it was quite what Baby
expected of her); round the corner of the passage, past Sir Arthur's
little room. What a dead silence in there! She was afraid to listen to
the suggestion, and scurried by, past M. Châtelard's room. Her
aunt's door at last in sight. Baby stopped with a great start, her
heart in her mouth, the candle almost dropping from her grasp—
what was that black thing lying at such sinister length across the
threshold? A heap of clothes? ... Jani? No—diminutive Jani could
never spread to such bulk. Then what?
The thing moved slowly, reared itself to its knees, turned a wild
black head, a wild black-bearded face, fierce eyes, towards Aspasia;
then rose, with a spring.
Aspasia, in her mind, flung the light from her and ran into the
darkness, shrieking: "The Panther, the Panther!" But Aspasia, in the
flesh, stood rooted to the spot, in a paralysis of terror, unable to
move a muscle.
The thing came close to her on its noiseless feet. And she saw
that the panther was Muhammed. This was no surprise; she had
known it.
But, under his dishevelled locks, from out of the barbaric wings
of his beard, the savage being's face was gazing upon her—as it
gradually filtered to her panic-stricken mind—with no sort of
savageness; rather, indeed, a gentle, a pathetic anxiety.
"Miss Cuningham..." said the Pathan.
To her bewildered ears it was the voice of no Pathan that spoke,
but the high-bred accents of an English gentleman. The girl rubbed
her eyes with her left hand. ("Wake up, Aspasia, wake up. You are
still asleep, and in the middle of some ridiculous dream!")
"Miss Cuningham," pursued the dream-creature that was
panther and Pathan, and yet looked and spoke like one of her own
sober kin; "are you going to her?"
"I was going," answered the girl, abandoning herself to her
dream. Then she began suddenly to tremble, and with knees giving
way beneath her, advanced uncertainly towards the door, all her
energies bent on reaching safety within. But he, with an outflung
gesture of prayer, cried to her, in that low English voice that was so
amazing, yet which, in spite of its incongruity, soothed her frantic
fear.
"In pity, stop one second. Do you hear how she is crying within?
Tell me, what is her trouble?" And, as Baby fell from amazement to
amazement, as even in dreams one falls, and could find no thought,
much less words for answer, he went on in his pleading undertone:
"Is the old man not good to her? Oh, do not stop to wonder why I
should ask you! Answer me, in the name of God, as one fellow-
creature to another: Whom, or what, is she mourning for?"
Aspasia saw how, between the sweep of his moustache and the
great fans of his beard, the man's lips quivered as he spoke: she felt
his haggard eyes imploring, compelling; and she made answer, as
she was bidden, "as one fellow-creature to another," with a
solemnity which she herself was scarce aware of:
"She is mourning for her dead husband."
When she had spoken, Baby had a vision so swift that she had
hardly time to seize it, of Muhammed's eyes lightening upon her with
an extraordinary illumination. The next instant he had dropped his
lids. Then he turned and, running, left her; and she heard the crazy
boards creak, the stairs groan under his flying unshod feet.
Utter chaos possessed her thoughts as she turned the handle of
the locked door and gently knocked, calling upon Jani; the fantastic
terrors of her inexplicable experience, and the sounds of Rosamond's
moans and sobs within driving her to urgency. As still in a sort of
nightmare she found herself repeating her own phrase to the
Pathan, and an odd speech of her aunt's, as if in answer to it: "She
is mourning for her dead husband.... He is not really dead, Baby...."
Here an idea so extraordinary, so utterly impossible, suddenly
tapped at her brain that, added to all the rest, a new fear of her own
self came upon her.
"I think I am going mad, too," said the poor child to herself.
"Jani, Jani," she cried louder, "let me in!"
And Jani, hearing, did so—this time, it seemed, with alacrity.
The candles on Lady Gerardine's dressing-table had been lit,
and the portrait on the panel was in full illumination.
Rosamond was crouching in bed, her head on her knees, her
hair in long strands about her. She did not move upon Aspasia's
entrance; she did not seem to have heard it. Now and again a moan
escaped her.
"Why did you not call me?" cried the girl, turning angrily upon
Jani.
The ayah shook her head, her face was wrinkled into a
thousand lines of dismay. She made a helpless gesture with both
hands.
"Has she been like that all night?" asked Aspasia.
"All night," answered Jani, adding apologetically: "quieter now."
"Quiet!" echoed Baby.
Quiet! It was indeed this very quietude of suffering that terrified
her. From such an extremity of pain she felt herself separated by all
her own young vitality as from death itself. Here the science of her
heart failed her. This inert woman, moaning like a suffering animal,
seemed something horribly different from her beautiful aunt. Baby
dared not touch her; she could not even find a word for her.
"Speak to her, you, Jani," she whispered.
Jani obediently approached the bed and, bending towards her
mistress, poured forth a flood of Hindustani. Failing to make an
impression, she seized the clasped hands in her claw-like grip and
shook them.
Then Rosamond raised her head and turned a vacant look. Her
face was drawn beyond recognition; Baby saw a slow tear gather
and roll down into the open mouth. Anything more forlorn, more
hopeless, the girl thought she had never beheld. As the golden head
drooped once more into its broken attitude, Baby, her own tears
springing scalding to her eyes, turned determinedly to Jani:
"I will get old Mary," she cried; and, seizing her candle again,
pattered from the room, all her previous terrors swallowed up in the
single huge anxiety. Instinctively Aspasia felt that if Lady Gerardine's
reason, nay, her life itself, were to be saved, help must be
forthcoming. And the only help she could think of was that of the
mystic sorrow-experienced old servant of the family.
Old Mary, whose spirit seemed already a dweller of those
regions where from the point of view of the eternal nothing finite
can surprise, was soon ready at Aspasia's summons.
"Yes, Miss Cuningham, I'll come. Eh, the poor lady! Don't you
fret yourself, miss, she's in God's hands."
The very sight of her, so promptly robed in her everyday black
with the white cap tied under her chin, and the familiar little shawl
over her shoulders, was enough to inspire confidence. Baby's
tremors were calming down into hopefulness when they entered
Lady Gerardine's room together.
"Eh, the poor lady," cried old Mary again, after one glance at the
bed. Then she approached, and took her mistress' hands into hers:
"My Lady," she said, "what ails you?"
If anything could have called Rosamond back from her deep
slough of despond it was this appellation from lips that had hitherto
so sweetly acknowledged her only as widow. The voice and words
pierced to her brain. She reared her head quickly.
"Why do you call me that?"
"My Lady!"
The arrival of Sir Arthur Gerardine had made a distinct
impression upon the housekeeper's half-dreaming mind. Lady
Gerardine wrenched her hands from the withered clasp, and clapped
them over her ears.
"My Lady! my Lady!" she cried wildly, "I am not Lady Gerardine,
I never was Lady Gerardine; I am Mrs. English, Mrs. English. Don't
you know it?—you of all women!"
"Ma'am!" ejaculated old Mary, while Aspasia nipped her arm,
with warning fingers.
"Oh, Mary," wailed Rosamond, and broke into a storm of sobs,
"do you think he will ever understand, do you think he will ever
forgive me? Oh, Mary, you who have felt his presence here, ask him
—ask him if he will forgive me!"
Now Mary hardly needed Aspasia's agitated whispers; she had
understood. Her blue eyes became illumined.
"In God's heaven," she said solemnly, "where dwell the happy
spirits who have entered into life, all is peace and understanding—
there is no need to forgive. Eh, Ma'am," she went on, while
Rosamond stifled her sobs to hang upon her words, "do you think
these poor things of earth can hurt those that have gone before? In
heaven there is no marriage or giving in marriage!"
A moment Rosamond stared with blazing eyes; then she struck
at the woman with both hands.
"How dare you!" she cried hoarsely. "How dare you! Out of my
sight! I want none of your God who can make such cruel laws, none
of your heaven that can hold such coldness. Oh, Harry, Harry, Harry!
Somewhere you are. Hear me—come to me. Come!"
Fiercely, as if madness were indeed upon her, she flung her
glance from one to the other of the helpless watchers.
"I must see him! Send old Mary away, she is keeping him from
me. Send her away. Harry, Harry, come to me. Tell me you forgive
me... Jani, your people can raise the dead, they say. Call him back to
me. By your gods or your devils call his spirit to me. Jani, will you let
your child die and not help her?"
The fluent Hindustani of her childhood rushed back to her lips.
Aspasia, after having huddled old Mary out of sight, stood, feeling
again as if one hideous dream had been succeeded by another still
more hideous; feeling, while the unknown cry rang out, and the dear
voice grew hoarse and feeble, more abjectly useless herself than in
her teeming energy she could ever have thought possible. All at
once the ayah, who had listened at first bewildered, then with an air
of darkling attention, suddenly interrupted the failing accents of her
mistress by a few harsh words.
Rosamond fell back upon her pillows with a sigh of exhaustion.
The Hindoo turned, and went stealthily from the room, and Aspasia
sank into a chair; her limbs would no longer support her.
Rosamond lay very still, almost like death, the girl thought, her
eyelids only half closed over her dulled eyes. Never had minutes
seemed so interminable; never silence so charged with boding
sounds, as during this span of expectation. Never would Aspasia
know whether it were hours or minutes that she sat, expecting she
knew not what.
At length the shuffling tread of the ayah sounded without the
door, and Jani entered. She had thrown a long white veil over her
head, and between her hands she held the chafing-dish in which she
was wont to cook her own food. The glimmer of the hot charcoal
shone fitfully on her dark intent face. A thrill of superstitious terror
ran through Aspasia.
"Jani," she cried, catching at the woman's veil, "what are you
going to do?" She thought the black eyes were lit with an evil spark
as they looked back at her:
"Do my Missie Sahib's will," whispered Jani.
Baby gave a shivering cry.
"Oh—but, Jani, no one can call back the dead!"
Jani was crouching before the hearth. Without replying, she set
her little tripod, and balanced the earthen pan on the top of it. In
this lay divers herbs and other substances unknown to the watcher.
A fine blue fume, with an aromatic odour, began to rise in the room.
Suddenly Jani looked up from her manipulations and spoke
again. It was a belated answer to the girl's expostulation.
"Who knows," said she, in her slow difficult English, "where the
spirits dwell, or how close they live to us? I will pray my gods! And
you, Missie Sahib, pray yours, pray hard that she may have her
wish."
The aromatic steam rose and circled. Jani drew a bag from her
bosom and began to shake its contents over the pan.
"See, missie, see," she went on, her eyes fixed, "this is the good
medicine. Behold, Missie Sahib shall dream, and in her dream, she
shall be happy." She folded her hands, rocked herself backwards and
forwards, low croonings and mutterings escaping from her lips. Now,
like her who soothes a babe to rest, now with a passionate hypnotic
fervour as before one of her own world-old shrines. Once she called
sharply to Aspasia again:
"Pray, pray!"
Then Aspasia folded her hands, and obediently began to pray.
Her first thought was to plead that she and her aunt be protected
against what evil might be called into being by these unholy Eastern
doings. She heard Rosamond turn in the bed, and saw dreamily,
through the floating mists, that she was lying with her eyes fixed on
the burning charcoal. Then the girl's thoughts began to wander. She
would find herself earnestly petitioning for something, wanting
something; and suddenly become aware that she knew not what it
was. From where she sat the illumined portrait of Harry English
looked down upon her: as once before in the dusk, it now, through
the vapours, began to assume airs of life; seemed to smile, to frown.
The lips quivered; then, she told herself, they spoke; the very words
were ringing in her ears.
"In God's name, tell me, who is she mourning for?" It was no
longer a picture, it was a living presence. Baby's eyelids drooped;
her ideas grew less and less coherent. Finally it was the merest
wisps of consciousness that floated through her brain. The old house
seemed to hold its breath as in expectation. The stillness seemed to
become palpable.
Presently, through her stupor, she felt herself called by a
moaning voice and made painful clutches towards consciousness.
She knew that Rosamond wanted her and struggled bravely in spirit
to break the bonds that held the body.
"Oh," pleaded the voice, "he is dead indeed, and it is I who
have made him dead: Harry—Harry!"

* * * * *

All at once Aspasia found herself awake—a blast of cold air had
rushed into the drowsy secret atmosphere. The door had been flung
open and one had entered—a man who came with quick clean tread,
whose face was pale, as if indeed risen from the dead, but whose
eyes shone with a wonderful light of life.
The woman in the bed reared herself up with outflung arms,
and, as he who entered went straight to her, she cast herself upon
his breast with a great cry.
"Oh, Harry, Harry, Harry!"
Such a cry had the walls of the manor-house surely never held
before. It might have been the voice of all the anguish and all the
ecstasies it had known these centuries. It rang round the old walls;
every echo took it up and answered it, as if they had been waiting
for it.

BOOK III
CHAPTER I

Bethune had soon packed his simple baggage; then he went straight
to bed, setting his will upon sleep, against thought.
But what mind perturbed can command repose? Every ugly
demon of disquiet that his situation could breed took form and sat
beside him on the narrow bed. Three there were of a special
torment. One with the eyes of hatred that Lady Gerardine had fixed
upon him that evening. A twin demon that for ever repeated in his
ear: "You should have died, that he might live." And a third, whose
face was veiled, whose immutable hand pointed towards the empty
sandy desert of the future.
When at last, far on in the watches of the night, sleep did fall
upon him, it was in trouble and confusion of mind—a dream-struggle
with fate, more painful even than the reality.
He was back in the midst of the siege—one of the starving,
thirst-plagued, harassed garrison. They were hard pressed, piling
sandbags on a newly defiladed rampart, but his men were a leaden
weight upon him. He could not stir them to activity; when he tried to
shout orders or expostulation, he could bring forth nothing but a
whisper. Always the barricades melted away beneath his touch, his
very rifle twisted like wax when he handled it, and then there sprang
into the breach Muhammed Saif-u-din, one of an endless chain of
leaping swordsmen: and Muhammed stood with folded arms smiling
at him ironically.
Once again the siege. They were going to bury Vane. A file of
little Goorkhas were picking the grave, and he was working at it too
with the shot whistling overhead. Never was grave so hard to dig.
They toiled, it seemed to him, for years, and still the stones rolled
back into the hole and all was to begin again. Then suddenly it was
ready: they were lowering the stiff figure, rolled in a cerement of
tent canvas, into the shallow ditch. And a flap of the cloth fell back
from over the face of the dead. It was not the face of Vane, but the
face of Harry English. Then, with the awful knowledge of the
dreamer, Bethune knew that Harry was not dead. But when he tried
to call out to the others to stop, again he had no voice. He saw a
little brown Goorkha twist the cloth over the livid countenance. They
began shovelling the stony earth upon his friend; and while he felt in
his own lungs the suffocation of him that is buried alive, a voice said
in his ear: "What is it to you? You, who should have died that he
might live!"
The suffocation continued so intense as to drown in physical
torture even the workings of the over-active brain. Then, out of the
blank, dream-consciousness struggled back to him. And again it was
the siege. He was on his hard and narrow couch; it was the middle
of the night, there was a great anxious rumour about him; sentries
were calling; the enemy were upon them. In spite of anguished
struggle, Bethune remained bound, hand and foot, while never had
his spirit been more vividly awake. He could hear the running
footsteps of the men in the passages, the thud, thud of the soft-
shod Easterns. He could hear some one break into his room, hear
himself called: "Raymond, Raymond!" And with the curious double
personality of the sleeper, he told himself that it was years since any
one had called him by that name—long and forlorn years of solitary
life.
"Raymond!" called the voice, and the red light as of a torch
burned through his closed eyelids. "Wake, Raymond!"
He knew who it was. It was Harry; his comrade who wanted
him in the danger. What shame to be sleeping at such a moment!
Bethune wrenched himself from his pillow and sat upright. The
room was full of light to his dazzled eyes; and the voice, the voice of
Harry English, was still ringing in his ears.
Muhammed Saif-u-din, who had been bending over the bed,
one hand on the sleeper's shoulder, withdrew his touch and
straightened himself. In his left hand he held a candle. The light
flickered upon his dense black beard. But he was turbanless, and the
tossed crisp hair was boyishly loose over his brow. His eyes were
fixed upon Bethune, and Bethune stared back. Then Muhammed
spoke:
"Raymond," he said.
For a moment that was heavier in the scales of time than most
hours of men's lives, the two plunged their gaze into each other.
"My God," said Bethune, in a whisper then, "you!"
A dream! Another dream of torture! Nay, no dream this time; he
was awake. The unbelievable had happened. The grave had yawned
and given out a living man. Harry English was alive. He had come
back from the bourne whence no traveller returns, to claim his own
—to claim his wife. As in a sudden vision, more vivid than any of his
troubled fancies had been to-night, Bethune saw them in each
other's arms, and was himself stabbed through and through by
daggers of fire—he, the man whose misery it was to love his friend's
wife! ...
The dead had heard her call. He could see it all now, with
horrible lucidity. All was clear to him. He himself had brought Lady
Gerardine, the forgetful, back to the memory of her love. She had
called, and Harry had come—from death.
And here he stood, Harry English, looking into his friend's eyes,
reading his friend's soul. Suddenly Bethune grew cold to the marrow.
He would have given everything he had, his life by inches, to be
able at that instant to veil those tell-tale eyes of his. But in vain; he
could not drop the lids between them. At last, with a short laugh,
Harry English turned away and released him, and Bethune covered
his face with his hands.
Oh life, more cruel than death! These two had been closer than
brothers; it was eternity itself that was giving them back to each
other. And thus did they meet!
"Bethune," said he that had been the Pathan, in brief decided
accents which once again whirled Raymond back to the hours when
all had hung upon their leader in the crucial emergency, "there is no
time for explanation. Every moment just now is precious. I must
have this beard off—I want scissors, razors." As he spoke he tore his
long coat from his back; he caught up the razors on the dressing-
table with impatient hands. "Scissors, man, scissors! And for the
Lord's sake, give me some more light!"
Bethune sprang out of bed as if he had indeed gone back to
that past of which he had been dreaming and his commanding
officer had called upon his services.
No stranger scene had ever been enacted within the narrow
limits of this antique room, nor one more fraught with vital
significance: though here, perchance, life had been born, and from
here, surely, life had departed.
A silence as heavy as the last doom lay between the comrades;
and every second as it passed was ticked off, it seemed, by
Bethune's heart. Death they had faced together often—it was at the
test of life that friendship had faltered.
Swiftly the glossy wings of the Pathan's beard fell under the
snipping blades. And when he had exhausted what aid he could
render, Bethune sat on the edge of the bed and watched the passing
of Saif-u-din and the rising of Harry English from the dead.
There was one moment of outward triviality which yet, to the
looker-on, was charged with a pain almost beyond bearing; it was
when English, with the lather white upon his chin and cheek, turned
quickly round upon him with hands outstretched for a towel. How
often had not he seen his comrade thus, in the old days, when they
had lived together, marched together, laughed and fought and
suffered together, and he had been so happy!
The shaving accomplished, Captain English bent forward to the
mirror and occupied himself with minute care in trimming and
combing the flaunting, upturned moustache of the Pathan back to
the old sober limits. There was not a quiver in the strong busy
hands.
Vaguely Bethune, in the chaos of his thoughts, wondered how
he could ever have believed this man dead. Such as he did not die,
so long as they were wanted in life.
Then it was Harry English, indeed, that looked round. If
Bethune's brain had had room for any doubt, the doubt must have
died at that instant. Harry English, pallid, where for years the
Eastern beard had grown so close—almost as with the pallor of the
cheek upon which the earth has lain—worn, not so much by these
same years as by a devouring impatience sternly held: but the old
leader nevertheless, with such a light in his dark eyes as had been
wont to kindle there when he called his men into the heart of the
fight.
He spoke suddenly, abruptly; and the other found once more
the exorbitant situation heightened rather than lowered by the very
triviality of the words that marked it:
"I suppose," he said, "that you can lend me a coat. Where is it?
In your bag?"
He could not wait for his companion to draw his wits together.
In a couple of movements the whole contents of the portmanteau
were on the floor, and his arm was already in the sleeve of a
shooting-jacket.
This urgency of haste, under strong control though it was,
awoke an answering fever in Bethune's veins. Oh, there was no need
of words to make him understand! When he thought of her to whom
the husband was hastening, his own heart beat to madness.
In two steps Harry was at the door, when Bethune, with an
inarticulate sound, flung himself before him, stretching out his arms.
So poignantly familiar did the old comrade look in the shabby
shooting-jacket that his heart was all dissolved within him for ruth
and tenderness.
A second English fixed his friend with cold and steel-bright
glance, inquiring: then his face relaxed.
"Not now, Raymond," said he, put him on one side with quick
but kindly touch, and was gone.
CHAPTER II

"The Captain Sahib! the Captain Sahib!" cried Jani in shrill tones;
and prostrated herself before the brazier, her face on the floor.
"Does she think she has called him from the dead?" wondered
Baby. Her thoughts danced in a mist; she would have liked to have
caught one and clung to it, but they kept whirling beyond all control.
She sat as if tied to her chair, staring stupidly at the two who held
each other clasped so close—at the black head bent upon the golden
head. Then she saw how the grip of Rosamond's hands relaxed; how
the whole clinging figure fell inertly, while he—man or ghost—
seemed to let it slip from him as though in surprise.
He turned his head and looked at Aspasia. There was indeed,
something unearthly about his countenance; in the ashen pallor on
cheek and chin, in contrast to the bronze of the rest of the face,
which seemed still to hold the touch of that Indian sun under which
he had died. His eyes burnt with fierce light in their dark hollows.
Aspasia felt that she ought to shudder with terror, that the situation,
at least, ought to be one of desperate interest, but she was only
conscious of a numb curiosity. She sat and stared. Then her gaze
wandered from the mysterious presence to the figure lying on the
bed. She saw the sharp outline of Rosamond's chin upturned, and
thought, without the least emotion, that perhaps her aunt was dead.
The very gold of the hair seemed lifeless, turning to ash. That cry
still ringing in her ears must have been a death-cry. It had been as
the cry of a soul that is passing.
She watched the man lay his hand on the still forehead, saw
him look sharply about him and inhale the air with deep breath.
Suddenly, in two great strides, he was across the room. There
was a noise of tearing curtains and jingling glass; and Aspasia found
herself inhaling icy breaths of air in gasps. Heavily, with a sob of
pain, she woke from her stupor. She seemed to be drawing this
delicious coldness into herself as if it were new life. The man passed
before her once again. He was holding Jani's tripod high in his
hands. A trail of aromatic vapour swept against her face; and, as she
involuntarily breathed it, she had a nauseating sense of suffocation,
and the vanishing stupor returned upon her momentarily, like the
shadow of some huge bird's wings. With an effort she turned her
eyes, saw the man hoist the brazier in his hands and hurl it through
the open window, saw the charcoal scattered apart like a shower of
falling stars, heard a crash without. Then she knew it was no ghost.
The singular white and bronze face bent over her.
"You are better, Miss Cuningham?" said a voice. She knew that
voice, too; she smiled lazily.
"Now I know you," she said. "You are Muhammed."
He smiled back at her, a fugitive smile, mixed sweetness and
sadness.
"By-and-by you will know me better—by-and-by," he said. "Now
try and wake up, if you can, and help me."
He had left her and was again at the bed. Aspasia did as she
was bidden. She shook herself from her torpor and stood up,
somewhat dizzy, somewhat sick, but yet herself.
The man, Muhammed or another, she did not allow herself to
think out the matter further, was hanging over Rosamond's
inanimate form. Now he laid down the hand he held and bent his
dark head to her breast. Baby flung one look of horror at the rigid
upturned chin.
"She's dead!" she screamed.
He raised himself abruptly, his countenance grey even under the
bronze.
"She is not dead," he answered her quickly, with a gesture that
forbade her words, "but I have been too sudden with her, and Jani
has been playing devil's tricks with her drugs. Is there any brandy
——?" He wheeled round as he spoke, for the door had opened and
old Mary's figure appeared.
The Ancient House was now full of rumours. Old Mary's blue
eyes were fixed in a stare of uttermost ecstasy. Her trembling hands
were lifted as if in invocation; all at once she stretched them out,
with an inarticulate cry of exaltation. Then her voice faltered into
homely accents:
"My lamb!" she stammered.
"Oh, Mary," said the man, and his tones rang with boyish note.
"Mary dear, brandy! Mary, if you love me, quick."
He sat down on the side of the bed chafing Rosamond's fingers.
Silently Aspasia held up a bottle of essence, taken from the dressing-
table. He nodded, and she began to lave her aunt's temples, not
daring to let her thoughts or eyes rest on the waxen face, on the
ominous air of irrevocable repose about the long relaxed figure. She
wished the silent lips did not wear that mysterious smile.
Determinedly arresting her mind on those strong words: "She is not
dead," she felt that so long as she could hold this confidence it
would help to keep the dread angel at bay.
"I was too sudden with her," said the man again, "but when I
heard her call me, I think I went mad—I had waited so long!"
Then it seemed to Aspasia that, from the first moment since he
had spoken to her in the passage to-night, she had known him.
"You are Harry English," she said. And saying this, she began to
cry. She looked down at the piteous fixed smile. He had waited so
long! Was it not now too late?
"Oh," she said aloud, sobbing, "is it now not too late?"
Then he flung himself on his knees beside the bed, and she
drew back, for none should come between them. He gathered the
inanimate form into his arms; his lips were close to the deaf ear, and
he was speaking into it.
"Rosamond, my wife, Rosamond, I have come back to you—
come back to me. Rosamond, beloved!"
The room was suddenly full of people.
Was it possible, Aspasia asked herself, that between that cry of
Rosamond and this gathering of the inmates of the house so short a
time had lapsed. She felt as if she had lived a span of years.
"My goodness," cried Lady Aspasia. "Who was screaming? Any
one hurt? I never heard such a scream in my life!"
Then speech and movement alike left the eager lady. Gazing at
the bed, she stood open-mouthed with stupefaction—an odious
inclination to laugh barely stifled, for decency's sake, in her throat.
Sir Arthur also had halted on the threshold. His eyes were fixed,
as if he could hardly credit their evidence, upon the figure of the
man in the shooting-jacket who knelt at the side of the low bed,
almost covering the unconscious body with his embrace. And,
indeed, Sir Arthur's eyes at the moment were playing him false.
"Bethune!" ... he exclaimed. "Major Bethune!"
Not a thought, not a glance had he for the death-like stillness of
his wife's face against the crisp black head—to him that head
appeared sleek, close-cropped, indefinitely brown. He cried out
again loudly:
"You infernal scoundrel..." and caught the intruder roughly by
the shoulder.
The kneeling man merely turned his head.
"What ... what ... the devil!——" The words died on Sir Arthur's
lips. His eyes protruded. "Who the devil are you, sir?"
"Who is it?" came Lady Aspasia's whisper, more penetrating
than natural tones.
"Oh hush, hush," said Baby, rebuking she knew not what spirit
of sacrilegious curiosity. "Hush! It is Harry English, uncle!"
Slowly the man got up from his knees and looked round; then
his eye came back to Sir Arthur.
"Harry English!" repeated Lady Aspasia's lips, voicelessly.
Her mind leaped; an irrepressible lightning satisfaction wrote
itself on her harsh, handsome face; then her glance swept over the
bed, and the corners of her mouth went down in a grimace. There
lay Death—Death already, or very near, or she had never seen it. A
double release! This double release was unnecessary—nay, a
complication. Fate played such tricks at times! But Sir Arthur had
staggered and reeled, and Lady Aspasia, ever practical, had to
postpone thought for action. She caught him firmly by the elbow:
"Hold up, Arty; be a man."
The Lieutenant-Governor's first impulse had naturally been to
deny the monstrous thought, to wither Aspasia for her impious
suggestion. Then a look at the black and white portrait over the
dressing-table, fitfully but vividly illumined by the flames of the
draught-blown candles—a look from that strong presentment to the
pallid-faced, black-haired man by the bed, brought an overwhelming
conviction. He faltered under it. For a while he could collect no
words, no thought; but presently, as the tide of blood began slowly
to recede, eddying, from his brain, broken phrases escaped him,
almost in a whisper:
"Your—your conduct is infamous, sir," he babbled,
"ungentlemanly—ungentlemanly in the extreme!" ...
Harry English, with one hand on Rosamond's quiet breast as if
mutely claiming his own, spoke then, his eyes on the creature who
had robbed him.
"Your place, sir, is no longer here," he said. His voice was very
low, but it contained an authority which Sir Arthur instinctively felt
with a fresh spasm of indignation and self-pity, trembling upon tears.
"Your place is no longer here," repeated English. "Leave the room."
The Lieutenant-Governor fairly suffocated:
"How long has she known it?" cried he, panting, as he pointed
to the bed. "No wonder I thought her mad. You have killed her!" he
exclaimed acridly, upon another revulsion of thought.
"Had you not better have a doctor?" came Lady Aspasia's
dispassionate accents. "If it's not too late," she added cynically.
Baby called out as if she had been struck, and burst into fresh
tears.
The inert figure on the bed was all the girl had of home, all she
had of certain love. This marble woman, no longer kin to her, had
lavished on her more than a mother's care; from those lips, now so
silent, except in the last sad days of trouble, Aspasia had never
heard an ungentle word.
"She must not die," sobbed she.
"She will not die," said Harry English.
He shifted his hand till it rested over Rosamond's heart. Then he
looked down at the face, with its faint smile of secret joy, pitifully
exposed to all these eyes; and his own countenance took an
expression of tenderness so infinite that weeping Baby, catching
sight of it, held her breath. He moved and stood with his back to the
bed, to shelter in some measure the unconscious woman from the
violation of curious looks.
"I must beg you all to go," he said.
Sir Arthur, who had been gradually growing, within and without,
to the purple stage of fury, now exploded. Portrait or no portrait, the
story was preposterous. This fellow was an impostor!
"Turn me out! ... 'Tis you, sir, I'll turn out. I'll have you
committed, sir, I'll——"
"Please," said a voice from the door, "if any one is ill, let it not
be forgotten that I am a doctor. I offer my services," said Monsieur
Châtelard.

CHAPTER III

Monsieur Châtelard, compact in self-possession, precisely attired, as


if he had not been called from slumber at the worst hour of the
night by a sense of mortal emergency! And yet a very different
Châtelard, either from the eager traveller or the genial raconteur and
table companion they had known: this was Châtelard the physician—
the world-renowned specialist.
There was a weighty professional seriousness about him as he
advanced into the room, fixing his spectacles with thumb and
forefinger; an air of confident responsibility. He wasted not a second
upon curiosity at the singular group by the bed, but sent his keen
direct gaze straight to the patient.
"She's killed herself," was his first thought. "Poison," he
murmured aloud, and his gesture was enough to clear the bedside
for his own approach.
"No," said a voice close to him. "Not poison-shock."
M. Châtelard looked up quickly, and immediately became aware
of a stranger's presence.
"Monsieur?" he exclaimed. He, too, had instantly concluded that
the second man in the room must be Bethune. He was shaken into
surprise. "In the name of Heaven, who are you?"
"I am her husband, whom she thought dead. I took her by
surprise; she fainted."
M. Châtelard formed his lips for a noiseless whistle. Affairs, at
one bound, had complicated themselves with a vengeance.
Incredibly interesting! ... But the emergency claimed him. He bent
over the bed, and there was silence all through the room.
Even Sir Arthur, recalled from his undignified attitude, was
stilled; not so much indeed from the sense that a human life was
trembling in the balance, but from the demands which the presence
of a new witness made upon decorum.
The doctor raised himself and held out his hand.
"A candle," he said briefly.
It was given to him, and again the silence reigned.
M. Châtelard, with deft and gentle touch, lifted the heavy eyelid,
passed the flame before it, and peered for some seconds into the
fixed pupil, abnormally dilated. Then he handed back the light. Harry
English took it, and held it aloft while the doctor once more
consulted pulse and heart.
Muttering that he would never travel without his stethescope
again, M. Châtelard laid his cropped head on the fair bosom. Again
the seconds ticked by with nightmare slowness. The brown hand
that held the candle was shaken with slight tremor. At last M.
Châtelard straightened himself with the final air of one who
pronounces a verdict.
"This is no mere syncope," he said. "This is brain trouble. Shock,
as you said, sir," with a grave inclination of his head towards Captain
English.
Old Mary, back from her errand, here proffered some brandy in
a glass.
"What is that?" cried the physician, sharply. "Brandy," he said,
sniffing. "Heaven preserve us, 'tis well I am here! Above all things
she must not be roused. Mon cher Monsieur," he went on, turning
again to Harry English, "here all our efforts must be to help nature,
not to oppose her. Let all those lights be extinguished," he added
authoritatively. "We must have darkness and quiet. How come all
these people in the room?" He spoke with the doctor's immediate
irritation at surroundings injurious to his patient.
There are situations passing the endurance of human nature,
especially when it is the human nature of a person of high political
importance. Here was M. Châtelard actually addressing yonder
infernal interloper as the leading person!
"I call you to witness, M. Châtelard," Sir Arthur cried excitedly,
"that this is some conspiracy that I by no means acknowledge——"
Old Mary interposed, subdued yet urgent.
"Oh, sir, it is indeed my master!"
"Hush, Arty, come away now!" whispered Lady Aspasia; and
once more clasped his elbow with strong sensible hand. "There will
be plenty of time for all this by-and-by."
"Unless you want to kill her altogether, Sir Gerardine," said Dr.
Châtelard, gravely, "you will make no scenes here."
Harry English stood sentinel by his wife's bed, disdaining
speech.
"Unless you want to kill her," had said the doctor. As the words
had been spoken Sir Arthur looked quickly at her whom he had
called wife. "Better she should die," thought he. The whole measure
of his love for the woman in whose beauty he had gloried was in
that mean thought. Better she should die, since her existence was
no longer an honour but a shame to him, Sir Arthur. He had loved
her as part of himself; no longer his, what was she to him? Nothing
more than the amputated limb to its owner, a thing to hide out of
sight with all speed, a thing to bury away.
"I beg of you again," resumed Dr. Châtelard, in tones of
restrained impatience; "I can have no one remain."
A couple of servant girls, who stood huddled whispering in their
corner, slid away one after the other.
Lady Aspasia, by some moral force and a good deal of muscular
pressure, succeeded in dragging the protesting Sir Arthur in their
wake. The doctor looked at old Mary—she dropped her curtsey.
"I might be of use, sir."
He considered her a second in silence.
"You may stay," he said.
"And I?" said Aspasia, her pallid tear-stained face was thrust
pleadingly forward.
"You will do better to go, my child," said the Frenchman,
paternally.
"Doctor ... she will not die?"
"Assuredly not this night at least," he replied, evasive yet
consoling. From the door she flung back a piteous look at English,
and once again his eyes answered her: "She will not die."
Harry English took the last unextinguished candle and laid it on
the floor. Outside, the yellow grey dawn was breaking.
"I want hot bottles," ordered Dr. Châtelard of Mary; and when
she had left the room, he turned to the strange man who had called
himself Lady Gerardine's husband.
"You, too, sir," he said. "You must leave us."
Harry English started. For the first time, that evening,
discomposure laid hold of him.
"I? ... but I cannot go. She will want me."
"My dear sir," said the other, his tone softening into compassion
(here was one who loved as few love, or he knew not how to read
countenances), "this affair is very strange, but I, as doctor, am here
to judge of nothing but the good of my patient. She has had a
shock, and the shock has been caused by you. I repeat, all I can do
here is to aid nature—nature demands repose. She is as one who
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