never been to the opera at Bayreuth; but I th in k it m ust be like

  that — yet a happy, quick tu n e .”

  She paused, and for an instant her sm ile recovered the remem bered

  music. “T here are pillars, an d a grand entrance, w ith broad steps. I

  run u p — I am so happy to be there — and throw open the door. It is

  brightly lit inside; a wave of golden light, alm ost like a wave from

  the ocean, strikes me. T h e room is a great hall, w ith a h ig h ceiling. A

  long table is set in the m iddle an d there are hundreds of people seated

  at it, but one place, the one nearest me, is em pty. I cross to it and sit

  down; there are beautiful golden loaves on the table, an d bowls of

  honey w ith roses floating at their centers, an d crystal carafes of wine,

  and m any other good things I cannot rem em ber w hen I awake.

  Everyone is eating and d rin k in g and talking, and I begin to eat too.”

  I said, “ It is only a dream , Fraulein. T here is no reason to w eep.”

  “ I dream this each n ig h t— I have dream ed so every n ig h t for

  m o n th s.”

  “ Go o n .”

  “T h en he comes. I am sure he is the one w ho is causing me to

  dream like this because I can see his face clearly, an d rem em ber it

  w hen the dream is over. Sometimes it is very vivid for an h o u r or

  m ore after I wake — so vivid that I have only to close my eyes to see it

  before m e.”

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  “ I will ask you to describe him in detail later. For the present,

  co n tin u e w ith your dream .”

  ‘‘He is tall, and robed like a king, and there is a strange crow n on

  his head. He stands beside me, an d th o u g h he says n o th in g , I know

  that the etiquette of the place dem ands that I rise and face him . I do

  this. Sometim es I am sucking my fingers as I get up from his table.”

  “ He owns the dream palace, th e n .”

  “ Yes, I am sure of that. It is his castle, his hom e; he is my host. I

  stand and face him , and I am conscious of w a n tin g very m uch to

  please him , but no t know ing w hat it is I should d o .”

  “ T h a t m ust be p a in fu l.”

  " It is. But as I stand there, I become aw are of how I am clothed,

  and — ”

  “ H ow are you clothed?”

  “ As you see me now. In a plain , dark dress — the dress I wear here at

  the arcade. But the others — all u p and dow n the hall, all u p and down

  the table — are w earing the dresses I sell here. T hese dresses.” She held

  one u p for me to see, a beautiful creation of m any layers of lace, w ith

  buttons of polished jet. “ I know then that I cannot rem ain; bu t the king

  signals to the others, and they seize me and p u sh me tow ard the d o o r.”

  “ You are hum iliated then?”

  “ Yes, but the worst th in g is that I am aw are that he knows that I

  could never drive myself to leave, and he wishes to spare me the

  struggle. But outside — some terrible beast has entered the garden. I

  sm ell i t — like the hyena cage at the Tiergarten—as the door opens.

  And then I wake u p .”

  “ It is a harrow ing dream .”

  “ You have seen the dresses I sell. W ould you credit it th at for weeks

  I slept in one, and then another, and then an o th er of them ?”

  “ You reaped no benefit from that?”

  “ No. In the dream I was clad as now. For a time I wore the dresses

  always — even here to the stall, and w hen I b ought food at the

  m arket. But it did no good.”

  “ Have you tried sleeping som ewhere else?”

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  “ W ith my cousin w ho lives on the other side of the city. T h a t

  m ade no difference. I am certain that this m an I see is a real m an. He

  is in my dream , and the cause of it; but he is not sleeping.”

  “ Yet you have never seen him w hen you are aw ake?”

  She paused, and I saw her bite at her full lower lip. “ I am certain I

  have.”

  “A h!”

  “ But I cannot rem em ber when. Yet I am sure I have seen him — that

  I have passed him in the street.”

  “ T hink! Does his face associate itself in your m ind w ith some

  particu lar section of the city?”

  She shook her head.

  W hen I left her at last, it was w ith a description of the

  Dream-M aster less precise than I had hoped, th o u g h still detailed. It

  tallied in alm ost all respects w ith the one given me by Baron H ___;

  but that proved n othing, since the b aro n ’s description m ight have

  been based largely on Fraulein A___ ’s.

  T h e bank of H err R___ was a private one, as all the greatest banks

  in E urope are. It was located in w hat had once been the town house

  of some noble fam ily (their arms, overgrow n now w ith ivy, were still

  visible above the door) and bore no identification other than a small

  brass plate engraved w ith the nam es of H err R___ and his partners.

  W ithin, the atm osphere was more d ig n ified —even if, perhaps, less

  tasteful — than it could possibly have been in the noble fam ily’s time.

  Dark pictures in gilded frames lined the walls, and the clerks sat at

  inlaid tables u p o n chairs upholstered in tapestry. W hen I asked for

  H err R

  I was told that it w ould be im possible to see him that

  afternoon; I sent in a note w ith a sidelong allu sio n to “ u n q u iet

  dream s,” and w ith in five m inutes I was ushered in to a luxurious

  office th at m ust once have been the bedroom of the head of the

  household.

  H err R___ was a large m an — tall, and heavier (I thou g h t) than his

  physician was likely to have approved. He appeared to be about fifty;

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  there was strength in his wide, fleshy face; his high forehead and

  capacious cran iu m suggested intellect; and his sm all, dark eyes,

  forever flickering as they took in the appearance of my person, the

  expression of my face, and the positio n of my hands and feet,

  ingenuity.

  N o pretense was ap t to be of service w ith such a m an, and I told

  him flatly th at I had com e as the emissary of Baron H ___, that I

  knew w hat troubled him , an d th at if he w ould cooperate w ith me I

  w ould h elp him if I could.

  “ I know you, m o n sieu r,” he said, “by repu tatio n . A business w ith

  w hich I am associated em ployed you three years ago in the m atter of

  a certain m u m m y .” He nam ed the firm. “ I should have th o u g h t of

  you m yself.”

  “ I did no t know that you were connected w ith th em .”

  “ I am not, w hen you leave this room . I do not know w hat reward

  Baron H ___has offered you should you apprehend the m an w ho is

  oppressing me, but I w ill give you, in addition to that, a sum equal

  to th at you were paid for the m um m y. You should be able to

  retire to the south then, should you choose, w ith the rent of a dozen

  villas.”

  “ I do not choose,” I told him , “ and I could have retired long

  before. But w hat you ju st said interests me. You are certain th at your

  persecutor is a living m an?”

  “ I know m en.” H err R___ leaned back in his chair and stared

  at the painted ceiling. “ As a boy I sold stuffed cabbage-leaf rolls

  in the street—did you know that? My m other cooked them over

  w ood she collected herself where buildings were being dem olished,

  and I sold them from a little cart for her. I lived to see her w ith

  h alf a score of footm en and the finest house in L indau. I never

  w ent to school; I learned to add and subtract in the streets—w hen

  I m ust m u ltip ly and divide I have my clerk do it. But I learned

  men. Do you think that now, after forty years of practice, I could

  be deceived by a phantom ? No, he is a m an — let me confess it, a

  stronger m an than I — a m an of flesh and blood and brain, a m an

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  I have seen somewhere, som etime, here in this city — and more

  than once.”

  “ Describe h im .”

  “ As tall as I. Younger— perhaps thirty or thirty-five. A brown,

  forked beard, so lo n g .” (H e held his h and about fifteen centim eters

  beneath his chin.) “ Brown hair. H is h air is no t yet grey, but I think

  it may be th in n in g a little at the tem ples.”

  “ D on’t you rem em ber?”

  “ In my dream he wears a g arland of roses — I cannot be sure.”

  “ Is there an y th in g else? Any scars or identifying m arks?”

  H err R ___nodded. “ He has h u rt his hand. In my dream , w hen he

  holds out his han d for the money, I see blood in i t — it is his own,

  you understand, as th o u g h a recent injury had reopened and was

  beg in n in g to bleed again. H is hands are lo n g and slender— like a

  p ia n ist’s.”

  “ Perhaps you had better tell me your dream .”

  “ Of course.” H e paused, an d his face clouded, as th o u g h to

  recount the dream were to return to it. “ I am in a great house. I am a

  person of im portance there, alm ost as th o u g h I were the owner; yet I

  am not the o w n er— ”

  “ W ait,” I interrupted. “ Does this house have a b anquet hall? has it

  a pillared portico, an d is it set in a garden?”

  For a m om ent H err R___ ’s eyes widened. “ Have you also had such

  dream s?”

  “ N o,” I said. “ It is only that I th in k I have heard of this house

  before. Please c o n tin u e.”

  “T here are m any servants — some w ork in the fields beyond

  the garden. I give instructions to th em — the details differ each night,

  you understand. Sometimes I am concerned w ith the kitchen,

  sometimes w ith the livestock, sometimes w ith the d ra in in g of a field.

  We grow wheat, principally, it seems; but there is a vineyard too, and

  a kitchen garden. And of course the house itself m ust be cleaned and

  swept and kept in repair. T here is no wife; the o w n er’s m other lives

  w ith us, I think, but she does not m uch concern herself w ith the

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  housekeeping— that is u p to me. To tell the truth, I have never

  actually seen her, th o u g h I have the feeling that she is there.”

  ‘‘Does this house resem ble the one you b o u g h t for your ow n

  m other in L in d au ?”

  ‘‘O nly as one large house m ust resem ble an o th er.”

  “ I see. Proceed.”

  “ For a long time each n ig h t I co n tin u e like that, giving

  orders, and sometimes going over the accounts. T h e n a servant,

  usually it is a m aid, arrives to tell me that the ow ner wishes

  to speak to me. I stand before a m irro r—I can see myself there as

  p lain ly as I see you now — and arrange my clothing. T h e m aid

  brings rose-scented water and a cloth, and I w ipe my face; then I go

  in to him.

  “ H e is always in one of the u p p er room s, seated at a table w ith his

  own account book spread before him . T here is an open w indow

  behind him , an d th ro u g h it I can see the top of a cherry tree in

  bloom. For a long tim e—oh, I suppose ten m inutes — I stand before

  him w hile he turns over the pages of his ledger.”

  “ You appear som ew hat at a loss, H err R___ — not a com m on

  condition for you, I believe. W hat happens then?”

  “ He says, ‘You o w e ...’” H err R___paused. " T h a t is the problem ,

  m onsieur, I can never recall the am ount. But it is a large sum. He

  says, ‘And I m ust require that you make paym ent at once.’

  “ I do not have the am ount, and I tell him so. He says, ‘T h e n you

  m ust leave my em ploym ent.’ I fall to my knees at this and beg th at he

  w ill retain me, p o in tin g ou t that if he dismisses me I w ill have lost

  my source of incom e, and will never be able to make paym ent. I do

  not enjoy telling you this, but I weep. Sometim es I beat the floor

  w ith my fists.”

  “ C ontinue. Is the Dream-M aster moved by your pleading?”

  “ No. H e again dem ands that I pay the entire sum. Several times I

  have told him that I am a wealthy m an in this w orld, an d th at if

  only he w ould perm it me to make paym ent in its currency, I w ould

  do so im m ediately.”

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  Plan[e]t Engineering

  “T h a t is in terestin g — m ost of us lack your presence of m in d in

  our nightm ares. W hat does he say then?”

  “ U sually he tells me no t to be a fool. But once he said, ‘T h a t is a

  d re am —you m ust know it by now. You cannot expect to pay a real

  debt w ith the currency of sleep.’ He holds ou t his han d for the money

  as he speaks to me. Ii is then that I see the blood in his p a lm .”

  “ You are afraid of him ?”

  “ O h, very m uch so. I understand that he has the m ost com plete

  pow er over me. I weep, an d at last I throw myself at his feet—w ith

  my head under the table, if you can credit it, crying like an infant.

  “T h en he stands and p u lls me erect, an d says, ‘You w ould never be

  able to pay all you owe, an d you are a false an d dishonest servant.

  But your debt is forgiven, forever.’ And as I w atch, he tears a leaf

  from his account book and hands it to m e.”

  “Your dream has a happy conclusion, th e n .”

  “ No. It is no t yet over. I th ru st the p aper into the front of my shirt

  and go out, w ip in g my face on my sleeve. I am conscious that if any

  of the other servants should see me, they will know at once w hat has

  happened. I hurry to reach my ow n co u n tin g room ; there is a brazier

  there, and I wish to bu rn the page from the o w n er’s b o o k .”

  “ I see.”

  “ But ju st outside the door of my ow n room , I meet an o th er

  servant—an upper-servant like myself, I think, since he is well dressed.

  As it happens, this m an owes me a considerable sum of m oney, and

  to conceal from him w hat I have ju st endured, I dem and that he pay

  at once.” H err R---- rose from his chair and began to pace the room ,

  looking som etimes at the painted scenes on the w alls, som etim es at

  the T urkish carpet at his feet. “ I have had reason to dem and money

  like th at often, you understand. Here in this room .

  “T h e m an falls to his knees, w eeping an d begging for additional

  time; but I reach dow n, like this, and seize him by the th ro a t.”

  “A nd then?”

  “A nd then the door of my c o u n tin g room opens. But is is no t my

  co u n tin g room w ith my desk and the charcoal brazier, bu t the

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  The Detective of Dreams

  o w n er’s ow n room . H e is stan d in g in the doorway, and behind him

  I can see the open w indow , and the blossoms of the cherry tree.”

  “ W hat does he say to you?”

  “ N othing. He says n o th in g to me. I release the other m an's throat,

  and he slinks aw ay.”

  “ You aw aken then?”

  “ H ow can I explain it? Yes, I wake up. But first we stand there; and

  w hile we do I am conscious o f .. .certain sounds.”

  “ If it is too p ain fu l for you, you need no t say m ore.”

  H err R___drew a silk handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his

  face. “ H ow can I exp lain ?” he said again. “ W hen I hear those

  sounds, I am aw are that the ow ner possesses certain other servants,

  w ho have never been under my direction. It is as th o u g h I have

  always know n this, but had no reason to th in k of it before.”

  “ I understan d .”

  “T hey are quartered in an o th er part of the h o u se— in the vaults

  beneath the w ine cellar, I th in k sometimes. I have never seen them , but

  I know — then — that they are hideous, vile an d cruel; I know too

  that he thinks me but little better th an they, an d that as he perm its me

  to serve him , so he allow s them to serve him also. I stand — we

  stand — and listen to them com ing th ro u g h the house. At last a door

  at the end of the hall begins to sw ing open. T here is a h an d like the

  paw of some filthy reptile on the latch .”

  “ Is that the end of the dream ?”

  “ Yes.” H err R___threw him self into his chair again, m o p p in g his

  face.

  “You have this experience each n ig h t? ”

  “ It differs,” he said slowly, “ in some d etails.”

  “ You have told me that the orders you give the under-servants

  vary.”

  “T here is an o th er difference. W hen the dream s began, I woke when

 

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