d across
the lawn.
  With  the  agility  of lemurs they swung up the  branches  of  the
laburnum-on  to  the  wall-and dropped to the far  side.  Then  they
pelted down the lane as fast as their legs could carry them, and  on
until  a  full street away they paused, breathless and  panting,  to
face each other under the friendly glow of a street lamp.
  De  Richleau's breath came in choking gasps. It was years since he
had  subjected himself to such physical exertion, and his  face  was
grey  from  the  strain which it had put upon  him.  Rex  found  his
evening  collar limp from the sweat which had streamed from  him  in
his  terror, but his lungs were easing rapidly, and he was the first
to recover.
  'God! we're mighty lucky to be out of that!'
  The Duke nodded, still unable to speak.
  'I  take back every word I said,' Rex went on hurriedly. 'I  don't
think  I've  ever been real scared of anything in my life before-but
that was hellish!'
  'I  panicked  too-towards the end-couldn't help it, but  I  should
never  have taken you into that place-never,' De Rich-leau  muttered
repentantly as they set off down the street.
  'Since  we've got out safe it's all to the good. I've a real  idea
what we're up against now.'
  The  Duke  drew Rex's arm through his own with a friendly gesture.
Far from desiring to say 'I told you so!' he was regretting that  he
had  been so impatient with Rex's previous unbelief, Most people  he
knew regarded devil worship and the cultivation of mystic powers  as
sheer superstitions due to the ignorance of the Middle Ages. It  had
been too much to expect Rex to accept his contention that their sane
and  sober friend Simon was mixed up in such practices, but  now  he
had  actually witnessed a true instance of Saiitii De Richleau  felt
that his co-operation would be ten times as valuable as before.
  In  the St. John's Wood Road they picked up a belated taxi, and on
the  way back to Curzon Street he questioned Rex carefully as to the
form  the  Thing  had  taken. When he had heard the  description  he
nodded, 'It was Mocata's black servant, undoubtedly.'
  'What did you say he was?'
  'A  Malagasy.  They  are a strange people.  Half  Negro  and  half
Polynesian. A great migration took place many centuries ago from the
South  Seas to the East African Coast by way of the Malay  Peninsula
and  Ceylon.  Incredible though it may seem,  they  covered  fifteen
thousand  miles  of open ocean in their canoes,  and  most  of  them
settled  in  Madagascar, where they intermarried with the aborigines
and  produced  this  half-breed type,  which  often  has  the  worst
characteristics of both races.'
  'And Madagascar is the home of Voodoo-isn't it?'
  'Yes.  Perhaps he is a Witch doctor himself . . , and yet I wonder
. . .'The Duke broke off as the taxi drew up before Errol House.
  As  they entered the big library Rex glanced at the clock and  saw
that  it was a Little after three. Not a particularly late hour  for
him, since he often danced until the night clubs emptied, nor for De
Richleau, who believed that the one time when men opened their minds
and  conversation became really interesting was in the  quiet  hours
before  the  dawn. Yet both were so exhausted by their  ordeal  that
they  felt  as  though a month had passed since  they  sat  down  to
dinner.
  Rex  remade  the  remnants of the fire while the  Duke  mixed  the
drinks  and uncovered the sandwiches which Max always left for  him.
Then  they both sank into armchairs and renewed the discussion,  for
despite  their weariness, neither had any thought of bed. The  peril
in which Simon stood was far too urgent.
  'You  were  postulating  that  he  might  be  a  Madagascar  Witch
doctor,' Rex began. 'But I've a hunch I've read some place that such
fellows  have no power over whites, and surely that is so, else  how
could settlers in Africa and places keep the blacks under?'
  'Broadly  speaking, you are right, and the explanation is  simple.
What  we call Magic-Black or White-is the Science and Art of Causing
Change to occur in conformity with Will, Any required Change may  be
effected  by the application of the proper kind and degree of  Force
in  the proper manner and through the proper medium. Naturally,  for
causing any Change it is requisite to have the practical ability  to
set  the  necessary  Forces in right motion, but  it  is  even  more
important   to   have  a  thorough  qualitative   and   quantitative
understanding of the conditions. Very few white men can  really  get
inside a Negro's mind and know exactly what he is thinking-and  even
fewer blacks can appreciate a white's mentality. In consequence,  it
is  infinitely harder for the Wills of either to work on  the  other
than on men of their own kind.
  'Another  factor  which adds to the difficulty  of  a  Negroid  or
Mongolian  Sorcerer  working  his spells  upon  a  European  is  the
question  of vibrations. Their variation in human beings is governed
largely  by  the  part of the earth's surface in  which  birth  took
place.  To  use a simple analogy, some races have long wave  lengths
and others short-and the greater the variation the more difficult it
is  for  a  malignant will to influence that of an intended  victim.
Were it otherwise, you may be certain that the white races, who have
neglected  spiritual  growth for material achievement,  would  never
have come to dominate the world as they do today.'
  'Yet  that  devil  of Mocata's got me down all  right.  Ugh!'  Rex
shuddered slightly at the recollection.
  True-but I was only speaking generally. There are exceptions,  and
in  the  highest grades-the Ipsissimus, the Magus and  the  Magister
Templi-those  who have passed the Abyss, colour and race  no  longer
remain  a  bar, so such Masters can work their will upon any  lesser
human  unless  he  is protected by a power of equal  strength.  This
associate  of Mocata's may be one of the great Adepts  of  the  Left
Hand  Path. However, what I was really wondering was-is he  a  human
being at all?'
  'But  you said you saw him yourself-when you paid a call on  Simon
weeks back.'
  'I  thought I saw him-so at first I assumed that the Thing you saw
tonight  was his astral body, sent by Mocata to prevent our removing
his  collection of Devil's baubles; but perhaps what we both saw was
a  disembodied entity, an actual Satanic power which is not governed
by  Mocata,  but has gained entry to our world from the  other  side
through his evil practices,'
  'Oh  Lord!'  Rex groaned. 'All this stuff is so new, so fantastic,
so  utterly  impossible to me-I just can't grasp  it;  though  don't
think  I'm doubting now. Whether it was an astral body or  what  you
say,  I saw it all right, and it wasn't a case of any stupid parlour
tricks-I'll swear to that. It was so evil that my bones just  turned
to  water on me in sheer blue funk-and there's poor Simon all  mixed
up in this. Say, now-what the hell are we to do?'
  De  Richleau sat forward suddenly. 'I wish to God I knew what  was
at  the  bottom of this business. I am certain that it is  something
pretty foul for them to have gone to the lengths of getting hold  of
a  normal  man like Simon but, if it is the last thing we  ever  do,
we've got to find him and get him away from these people.'
  'But  how?' Rex flung wide his arms. 'Where can we even  start  in
on  the hope of picking up the trail? Simon's a lone wolf-always has
been.  He's got no father; his mother lives abroad; unlike  so  many
Jews, he hasn't even got a heap of relatives who we can dig out  and
question?'
  'Yes,  that is the trouble. Of course he is almost certain  to  be
with  Mocata,  but  I  don't see how we are  to  set  about  finding
somebody who knows Mocata either. If only we had the address of  any
of those people who were there this evening we might...'
  'I've  got  it!' cried Rex, leaping to his feet. 'We'll trace  him
through Tanith.'


                                  7

                    De Richleau Plans a Campaign

  'Tanith,' the Duke repeated; 'but you don't know where she is,  do
you?'
  'Sure.'  Rex laughed, for the first time in several hours. 'Having
got  acquainted with her after all this while, I wouldn't be such  a
fool as to quit that party without nailing her address.'
  'I must confess that I'm surprised she gave it to you.'
  'She  hadn't  fallen to it that I wasn't one of their  bunch-then!
She's staying at Claridges.'
  'Do you think you can get hold of her?'
  'Don't you worry-I meant to, anyhow.'
  'You  must be careful, Rex. This woman is very lovely, I  know-but
she's probably damnably dangerous.'
  'I've  never been scared of a female yet, and surely these  people
can't do me much harm in broad daylight?'
  'No,  except for ordinary human trickery they are almost powerless
between sunrise and sunset.'
  Tine.  Then  I'll go right round to Claridges as soon  as  she  is
likely to be awake tomorrow-today, rather.'
  'You don't know her real name though, do you?'
  'I  should  worry.  There aren't two girls  like  her  staying  at
Claridges-there aren't two like her in all London.'
  De  Richleau stood up and began to pace the floor like  some  huge
cat. 'What do you intend to say to her?' he asked at length.
  'Why,  that  we're  just worried stiff about Simon-and  that  it's
absolutely imperative that she should help us out. I'll give  her  a
frank  undertaking not to do anything against Mocata or any  of  her
pals  if she'll come clean with me-though Heaven knows I can't think
she's got any real friends in a crowd like that.'
  'Rex!  Rex!' The Duke smiled affectionately down into  the  honest
attractive, ugly face of the young giant stretched in the  armchair.
'And  what,  may I ask, do you intend to do should this lovely  lady
refuse to tell you anything?'
  'I  can  threaten to call in the cops, I suppose, though I'd  just
hate to do anything like that on her.'
  De  Richleau gave his eloquent expressive shrug. 'My dear  fellow,
unless  we  can  get  some  actual  evidence  of  ordinary  criminal
activities against Mocata and his friends, the police are absolutely
ruled out of this affair-and she would know it.'
  'I  don't  see why,' Rex protested stubbornly. 'These people  have
kidnapped Simon, that's what it boils down to, and that's as much  a
crime as running a dope joint or white slaving.'
  'Perhaps,  and  if they had hit him on the head our problem  would
be  easy. The difficulty is that to all outward appearances  he  has
joined them willingly and in his right mind. Only we know that he is
acting under some powerful and evil influence which has been brought
to  bear on him, and how in the world are you going to charge anyone
with raising the devil-or its equivalent-in a modern police court?'
  'Well, what do you suggest?'
  'Listen.'  The  Duke perched himself on the arm  of  Rex's  chair.
'Even  if  this girl is an innocent party like Simon, she  will  not
tell  you anything willingly-she will be too frightened. As a matter
of  fact,  now that she knows you are not a member of their infernal
circle  it  is  doubtful  if  she will even  see  you,  but  if  she
does-well, you've got to get hold of her somehow.'
  'I'll  certainly have a try-but it's not all that easy  to  kidnap
people in a city Like London.'
  'I  don't  mean  that exactly, but rather that you  should  induce
her,  by fair means or foul, to accompany you to some place where  I
can  talk  to  her at my leisure. If she is only a neophyte  I  know
enough  of this dangerous business to frighten her out of her  wits.
If  she is something more there will be a mental tussle, and  I  may
learn  something from the cards which she is forced to throw on  the
table.'
  'O.K. I'll pull every gun I know to persuade her into coming  here
with me for a cocktail.'
  De  Richleau  shook  his  head. 'No, I'm  afraid  that  won't  do,
immediately  she realised the reason she had been brought  here  she
would  insist on leaving, and we couldn't stop her. If we tried  she
would  break a window and yell Murder! We have got to get her  to  a
place where she will see at once the futility of trying to call  for
outside  help.  I have itl Do you think you could get  her  down  to
Pangbourne?'
  'What? To that river place of yours?'
  'Yes; I haven't been down there yet this year, but I can send  Max
down  first  thing  in the morning to open it  up  and  give  it  an
airing.'
  'You  talk  as though I were falling off a log to get  a  girl  to
come  boating  on  the  Thames at what's practically  a  first  meet
ing-can't you weigh in and lend a hand yourself?'
  'No.  I shall be at the British Museum most of the day. It  is  so
many  years  since I studied the occult that there  are  a  thousand
things  I have forgotten. It is absolutely imperative that I  should
immerse myself in some of the old key works for a few hours and  rub
up  my  knowledge of protective measures. I must leave you to handle
the  girl,  Rex,  and  remember, Simon's safety will  depend  almost
wholly on your success. Get her there somehow, and I'll join you  in
the late afternoon-say about six.'
  Rex  grinned. 'It's about as stiff a proposition as sending me  in
your place to study the Cabbala, but I'll do rny best.'
  'Of  course  you  will.' The Duke began to pace hurriedly  up  and
down  again. 'But go gently with her-I beg you. Avoid any  questions
about  this  horrible  business as you would the  plague.  Play  the
lover.  Be  just the nice young man who has fallen in  love  with  a
beautiful girl. If she asks you about our having abducted Simon from
the  party, say you were completely in the dark about it.  That  you
have  known me for years-and that I sprung some story on  you  about
his  having fallen into the hands of a gang of blackmailers, so  you
just  blindly followed my lead without a second thought. Not a  word
to  her about the supernatural-you know nothing of that. You must be
as incredulous as you were with me when I first talked to you of it.
And,  above  all, if you can get her to Pang-bourne, don't  let  her
know that I am coming down.'
  'Surely-I get the line you want me to play all right.'
  'Good. You see, if I can only squeeze some information out of  her
which will enable us to find out where Mocata is living, we will  go
down  and keep the place under observation for a day or two.  He  is
almost  certain to have Simon with him. We will note the times  that
Mocata leaves the house and plan our raid accordingly. If we can get
Simon  into  our hands again I swear Mocata shan't get  him  back  a
second time.'
  That's certainly the idea.'
  'There  is  only  one thing I am really frightened  of.'   'What's
that?'
  De  Richleau  paused  opposite Rex's chair.  'What  I  heard  this
evening  of  Simon's  approaching change  of  name-to  Abraham,  you
remember.  That, of course, would be after Abraham the Jew,  a  very
famous  and learned mystic of the early centuries. He wrote  a  book
which  is  said to be the most informative ever compiled  concerning
the  Great Work. It was lost sight of for several hundred years, but
early  in  the  fifteenth  century came into  the  possession  of  a
Parisian  bookseller named Nicolas Flamel who, by its aid, performed
many  curious rites. Flamel was buried in some magnificence,  and  a
few  years  later  certain persons who were anxious  to  obtain  his
secrets opened his grave to find the book which was supposed to have
been  buried  with him. Neither Flamel nor the book was  there,  and
there  is  even  some evidence to show that he was  still  living  a
hundred years later in Turkey, which is by no means unbelievable  to
those who have any real knowledge of the strange powers acquired  by
the  true  initiate such as those in the higher orders of  the  Yoga
sects. That is the last we know of the Book of Abraham the Jew,  but
it  seems that Simon is about to take his name in the service of the
Invisible.'
  'Well-what'll happen then?'
  'That  he  will be given over entirely to the Power  of  Evil,  be
cause he will renounce his early teaching and receive his re-baptism
at  the  hands of a high adept of the Left Hand Path. Until that  is
done we can still save him, because all the invisible powers of Good
will be fighting on our side, but after-they will withdraw, and what
we call the Soul of Simon Aron will be dragged down into the Pit.'
  'Are  you  sure of that? Baptism into the Christian Faith  doesn't
ensure  one going to Heaven, why should this other sprinkling  be  a
guarantee of anyone going to Hell?'
  'It's  such  a  big question, Rex, but briefly it  is  like  this.
Heaven  and  Hell  are  only  symbolical  of  growth  to  Light   or
disintegration to Darkness. By Christian-or any other true religious
baptism, we renounce the Devil and all his Works, thereby erecting a
barrier  which  it  is difficult for Evil forces  to  surmount,  but
anyone  who  accepts Satanic baptism does exactly the reverse.  They
wilfully  destroy the barrier of astral Light which is  our  natural
protection and offer themselves as a medium through which the powers
of Darkness may operate on mankind.
  'They  are  tempted to it, of course, by the belief that  it  will
give them supernatural powers over their fellow-men, but few of them
realise the appalling danger. There is no such person as the  Devil,
but  there  are vast numbers of Earthbound spirits, Elementals,  and
Evil Intelligences of the Outer Circle floating in our midst. Nobody
who  has even the most elementary knowledge of the Occult can  doubt
that.  They  are blind and ignorant, and except for the last,  under
comparatively rare circumstances, not in the least dangerous to  any
normal  man or woman who leads a reasonably upright life,  but  they
never  cease to search in a fumbling way for some gateway back  into
existence  as we know it. The surrender of one's own volition  gives
it  to them, and, if you need an example, you only have to think  of
the  many terrible crimes which are perpetrated when reason and will
are  entirely absent owing to excess of alcohol. An Elemental seizes
upon  the unresisting intelligence of the human and forces  them  to
some   appalling  deed  which  is  utterly  against  their   natural
instincts.
  'That,  then, is the danger. While apparently only passing through
an  ancient  barbarous  and  disgusting  ritual,  the  Satanist,  by
accepting  baptism, surrenders his will to the domination of  powers
which  he believes he will be able to use for his own ends,  but  in
actual fact he becomes the spiritual slave of an Elemental, and  for
ever after is nothing but the instrument of its evil purposes.'
  'When do you figure they'll try to do this thing?'
  'Not  for  a week or so, I trust. It is essential that  it  should
take place at a real Sabbat, when at least one Coven of thirteen  is
present,  and after our having broken up their gathering  tonight  I
hardly  think  they  will risk meeting again for some  little  time,
unless there is some extraordinary reason why they should.'
  'That  gives us a breathing space then; but what's worrying me  is
that it's so early in the year to ask a young woman to go picnicking
on the river.'
  'Why? The sunshine for the last few days has been magnificent.'
  'Still, it's only April 29th-the 30th, I mean.'
  'What!'  De  Richleau stood there with a new and terrible  anxiety
burning in his eyes. 'Good God! I never realised!'
  'What's the trouble?'
  'Why,  that  was  only  one Coven we saw tonight,  and  there  are
probably a dozen scattered over England. The whole pack are probably
on  their way by now to the great annual gathering. It's a certainty
they  will  take Simon with them. They'd never miss  the  chance  of
giving him his Devil's Christening at the Grand Sabbat of the year.'
  'What  in  the  world are you talking about?' Rex hoisted  himself
swiftly out of his chair.
  'Don't  you  understand,  man?' De Richleau  gripped  him  by  the
shoulder. 'On the last night of April every peasant in Europe  still
double-locks his doors. Every latent force for Evil in the world  is
abroad.  We've  got to get hold of Simon in the next  twenty  hours.
This coming night-April 30th-is Saint Walburga's Eve.'


                                  8

                    Rex Van Ryn Opens the Attack

  Six  hours  later, Rex, still drowsy with sleep,  lowered  himself
into  the  Duke's sunken bath. It was a very handsome bathroom  some
fifteen  feet by twelve; black glass, crystal mirrors, and chromium-
plated fittings made up the scheme of decoration.
  Some  people might have considered it a little too striking to  be
in  perfect  taste, but De Richleau did not subscribe to  the  canon
which  has  branded  ostentation  as  vulgarity  in  the  last   few
generations, and robbed nobility of any glamour which  it  may  have
possessed in more spacious days.
  His  forbears had ridden with thirty-two footmen before them,  and
it  caused  him considerable regret that modern conditions  made  it
impossible  for him to drive in his Hispano with no  more  than  one
seated  beside  his chauffeur on the box. Fortunately his  resources
were considerable and his brain sufficiently astute to make good, in
most  years,  the  inroads which the tax gatherers made  upon  them.
'After him,' of course 'the Deluge' as he very fully recognised, but
with  reasonable  good fortune he considered that private  ownership
would  last out his time, at least in England where he had made  his
home; and so he continued to do all things on a scale suitable to  a
De  Richleau, with the additional lavishness of one who  had  had  a
Russian  mother,  as  far as the restrictions  of  twentieth-century
democracy would allow.
  Rex,  however,  had used the Duke's ?1,000 bathroom  a  number  of
times  before,  and  his only concern at the moment  was  to  wonder
vaguely what he was doing there on this occasion and why he had such
an appalling hangover. Never, since he had been given two glasses of
bad  liquor  in  the  old  days  when  his  country  laboured  under
prohibition, had he felt so desperately ill.
  A  giant  sponge placed on the top of his curly head  brought  him
temporary  relief  and full consciousness of the  events  which  had
taken  place  the  night  before. Of  course  it  was  that  ghastly
experience  he  had  been through in Simon's empty  house  that  had
sapped  him of his vitality and left him in this wretched state.  He
remembered  that  he had kept up all right until they  got  back  to
Curzon  Street, and even after, during a long conversation with  the
Duke; then, he supposed, he must have petered out from sheer nervous
exhaustion.
  He  lay  back in the warm, faintly scented water, and gave himself
a  mental shaking. The thought that he must have fainted shocked him
profoundly. He had driven racing cars at 200 miles an hour, had  his
colours for the Cresta run, had flown a plane 1,500 miles, right out
of  the Forbidden Territory down to Kiev in one hop. He had shot men
and  been shot at in return both in Russia and in Cuba, where he had
found himself mixed up with the Revolution, but never before had  he
been in a real funk about anything, much less collapsed like a spine
less fool.
  He  recalled  with  sickening vividness, that loathsome,  striking
manifestation  of  embodied evil that had come upon  them-  and  his
thoughts flew to Simon. How could their shy nervous, charming friend
have got himself mixed up in all this devilry? For Rex had no doubts
now that, incredible as it might seem, the Duke was right, and Satan
worship  still a living force in modern cities, just as the infernal
Voodoo  cult  was  still secretly practised by the  Negroes  in  the
Southern States of his own country. He thought again of their  first
visit to Simon's house as unwelcome guests at that strange party. Of
the Albino, the old Countess D'Urfe, the sinister Chinaman, and then
of Tanith, except for Simon the only normal person present, and felt
convinced  that,  but  for  the intervention  of  De  Richleau  some
abominable  ceremony would certainly have taken place,  although  he
had laughed at the suggestion at the time.
  Sitting  up he began to soap himself vigorously while he  restated
the  situation briefly in his mind. One: Mocata was an adept of what
De  Richleau called the Left Hand Path, and for some reason  unknown
he  had  gained control over Simon. Two: owing to their intervention
the  Satanists  had abandoned Simon's house-taking  him  with  them.
Three:  Simon was shortly to be baptised into the Black Brotherhood,
after which, according to the Duke, he would be past all help. Four:
today  was May Day Eve when, according to the Duke, the Grind Sabbat
of  the year took place. Five: following from four, it was almost  a
certainty  that Mocata would seize this opportunity of the Walpurgis
Nacht  celebrations to have Simon re-christened. Six:  in  the  next
twelve hours therefore, Mocata had to be traced and Simon taken from
him. Seven: the only possibility of getting on Mocata's trail lay in
obtaining information by prayers, cajolery, or threats from Tanith.
  Rex  stopped soaping and groaned aloud at the thought that the one
woman  he had been wanting to meet for years should be mixed  up  in
this  revolting  business.  He loathed deception  in  any  form  and
resented  intensely the necessity for practising it on her,  but  De
Richleau's  last instructions to him were still clear in  his  mind,
and the one thing which stood out above all others, was the fact  of
his  old  and  clear  friend being in some intangible  but  terrible
peril.
  Feeling slightly better by the time he had shaved and dressed,  he
noted  from  the  windows of the flat that at least  they  had  been
blessed with a glorious day. Summer was in the air and there  seemed
a promise of that lovely fortnight which sometimes graces England in
early May.
  To  his surprise he found that De Richleau, who habitually was not
visible  before  twelve,  had  left the  fiat  at  half-past  eight.
Evidently  he  meant  to  put  in  a  long  day  among  the  ancient
manuscripts  at  the  British Museum, rubbing up  his  knowledge  of
strange cults and protective measures against what he termed the Ab-
human monsters of the Outer Circle.
  Max  proffered breakfast, but Rex declined it until, with  a  hurt
expression, the servant produced his favourite omelet.
  'The chef will be so disappointed, sir,' he said.
  Reluctantly  Rex sat down to eat while Max, busy with the  coffee-
pot,  permitted himself a hidden smile. He had had orders  from  the
Duke, and His Excellency was a wily man. None knew that better  than
his personal servitor, the faithful Max.
  Noting  that  Rex had finished, he produced a wine-glass  full  of
some  frothy  mixture on a salver. 'His Excellency  said,  sir.'  he
stated blandly, 'that he finds this uncommon good for his neuralgia.
I  was distressed to hear that you are sometimes a sufferer too, and
if   you'd   try   it  the  taste  is,  if  I  may   say   so,   not
unpleasant-somewhat resembling that of granadillas I believe.'
  With  a suspicious look Rex drank the quite palatable potion while
Max added suavely: 'Some gentleman prefer prairie-oysters I am told,
but I've a feeling, sir, that His Excellency knows best.'
  'You  old  humbug.' Rex grinned as he replaced the glass.  'Anyhow
last  night wasn't the sort of party you think-I wish to God it  had
been.'
  'No,  sir!  Well, that's most regrettable I'm sure, but  I  had  a
feeling that Mr. Aron was not quite in his usual form, if I  may  so
express it-when he er-joined us after dinner.'
  'Yes-of course you put Simon to bed-I'd forgotten that.'
  Max  quickly  lowered  his eyes. He was  quite  certain  that  his
innocent action the night before had been connected in some way with
Simon  Aron's sudden disappearance from the bedroom later, and  felt
that  for once he had done the wrong thing, so he deftly turned  the
conversation. 'His Excellency instructed me to tell you,  sir,  that
the  touring  Rolls  is  entirely at your disposal  and  the  second
chauffeur if you wish to use him.'
  'No-I'll  drive  myself; have it brought round  right  away-  will
you?'
  'Very  good,  sir, and now if you will excuse me I must  leave  at
once  in  order to get down to Pangbourne and prepare the house  for
your reception.'
  'O.K.,  Max-See-yer-later-I hope.' Rex picked up a  cigarette.  He
was feeling better already. 'A whole heap better,' he thought, as he
wondered what potent corpse-reviver lay hidden in the creamy  depths
of De Richleau's so-called neuralgia tonic. Then he sat down to plan
out his line of attack on the lady at Claridges.
  If  he  could only talk to her he felt that he would  be  able  to
intrigue  her into a friendly attitude. He could, of course,  easily
find  out  her real name from the bureau of the hotel, but the  snag
was  that  if  he sent up his name and asked to see her the  chances
were  all  against  her  granting him an interview.  After  all,  by
kidnapping  Simon, he and the Duke had wrecked the  meeting  of  her
Circle the night before, and if she was at all intimately associated
with  Mocata, she probably regarded him with considerable hostility.
Only  personal contact could overcome that, so he must not risk  any
rebuff through the medium of bell-hops, but accept it only if  given
by her after he had managed to see her face to face.
  His  plan,  therefore,  eventually  boiled  down  to  marching  on
Claridges,  planting himself in a comfortable chair within  view  of
the  lifts  and  sitting there until Tanith made her appearance.  He
admitted  to  himself that his proposed campaign  was  conspicuously
lacking in brilliance but, he argued, few women staying in a  London
hotel  would remain in their rooms all day, so if he sat there  long
enough it was almost certain that an opportunity would occur for him
to  tackle  her direct. If she did turn him down-well,  De  Richleau
wasn't  the only person in the world who had ideas-and Rex flattered
himself that he would think of something.
  Immediately the Rolls was reported at the door, he left  the  flat
and  drove  round  to Claridges in it. A short conversation  with  a
friendly  commissionaire ensured that there would be no  trouble  if
the  car was left parked outside, even for a considerable time,  for
Rex  thought  it necessary to have it close at hand since  he  might
need it at any moment.
  As  he  entered the hotel from the Davies Street entrance he noted
with  relief  that it was only a little after ten. It  was  unlikely
that Tanith would have gone out for the day so early, and he settled
himself  to wait for an indefinite period with cheerful optimism  in
the  almost  empty lounge. After a moment it occurred  to  him  that
somebody  might come up to him and inquire his business  if  he  was
forced  to  stay  there for any length of time, but an  underporter,
passing  at  the moment, gave him a swift smile and  little  bow  of
recognition,  so  he  trusted  that having  been  identified  as  an
occasional client of the place he would not be unduly molested.
  He  began  to  consider what words he should  use  if,  and  when,
Tanith  did step out of the lifts, and had just decided on a formula
which   contained  the  requisite  proportions  of  respect,  subtle
admiration,  and  gaiety when a small boy in buttons  came  marching
with a carefree swing down the corridor.
  'Mister  Vine  Rine-Mister Vine Rine,' he chanted in a  monotonous
treble.
  Rex  looked  at  the  boy  suspiciously. The  sound  had  a  queer
resemblance to the parody of his own name as he had often  heard  it
shrilled  out by bell-hops in clubs and hotel lounges.  Yet  no  one
could   possibly  be  aware  of  his  presence  at  Claridges   that
morning-except, of course, the Duke. At the thought that De Richleau
might  be  endeavouring to get in touch with  him  for  some  urgent
reason  he  turned,  and  at the same moment  the  page  sidetracked
towards him.
  'Mr. Van Ryn, sir?' he inquired, dropping into normal speech.
  'Yes.' Rex nodded.
  Then  to  his  utter  astonishment the boy  announced:  'The  lady
you've  called  to  see sent down to say she's  sorry  to  keep  you
waiting, but she'll join you in about fifteen minutes.'
  With  his  mouth  slightly open Rex stared stupidly  at  the  page
until  that  infant turned and strutted away. He did not doubt  that
the  message came from Tanith-who else could have sent it,  yet  how
the  deuce did she know that he was there? Perhaps she had seen  him
drive   up   from  her  window  -that  seemed  the  only  reasonable
explanation. Anyhow that 'she was sorry to keep him waiting' sounded
almost too good to be true.
  Recovering  a  little he stood up, marched out into  Brook  Street
and  purchased a great sheaf of lilac from a florist's a  few  doors
down.  Returning with it to the hotel he suddenly realised  that  he
still did not know Tanith's real name, but catching sight of the boy
who had paged him, he beckoned him over.
  'Here  boy-take  these up to the lady's room with  Mr.  Van  Ryn's
compliments.'  Then  he resumed his seat near the  lift  with  happy
confidence.
  Five  minutes later the lift opened. An elderly woman leaning upon
a  tall  ebony cane stepped out. At the first glance Rex  recognised
the  parrot-peaked nose, the nut-cracker chin and the piercing black
eyes  of the old Countess D'Urfe. Before he had time to collect  his
wits she had advanced upon him and extended a plump, beringed hand.
  'Monsieur  Van Ryn,' she croaked. 'It is charming that you  should
call upon me-sank you a thousand times for those lovely flowers.'


                                  9

          The Countess D'Urfe Talks of Many Curious Things

  'Ha! ha!-not a bit of it-it's great to see you again.'
  Rex  gave a weak imitation of a laugh. He had only spoken  to  the
old crone for two minutes on the previous evening and that, when  he
had  first  arrived at Simon's party, for the purpose  of  detaching
Tanith from her. Even if she had seen him drive up to Claridges what
in  the world could have made her imagine that he had come to  visit
herl  If  only  he hadn't sent up that lilac he might have  politely
excused  himself-but he could hardly tell her now that he had  meant
it for someone else.
  'And  how  is  Monseigneur  le Due this  morning?'  the  old  lady
inquired, sinking into a chair he placed for her.
  'He  asked  me  to present his homage, Madame,' Rex lied  quickly,
instinctively  picking a phrase which De Richleau  might  have  used
himself.
  'Ca,  c'est  tres gentille.'E is a charming man-charming  an'  'is
cigars they are superb,' The Countess D'Urfe' produced a square case
from her bag and drew out a fat, dark Havana. As Rex applied a match
she  went  on  slowly: 'But it ees not right that one Circle  should
make  interference with the operations of another. What 'ave you  to
say of your be'aviour lars' night my young frien'?'
  'My  hat,' thought Rex, 'the old beldame fancies we're an opposing
faction  in  the same line of business-I'll have to use  this  if  I
can;'  so  he answered slowly: 'We were mighty sorry to have  to  do
what we did, but we needed Simon Aron for our own purposes.'
  'So!-you also make search for the Talisman then?'
  'Sure-that is, the Duke's taking a big interest in it.'
  'Which  of us are not-and 'oo but le petit Juif shall lead  us  to
it.'
  'That's true.'
  'Ave you yet attempted the Rite to Saturn?'
  'Yes,  but things didn't pan out quite as we thought they  would,'
Rex replied cautiously, -not having the faintest idea what they were
talking about.
  'You  'ave  satisfy  yourselves that the  aloes  and  mastic  were
fresh, eh?' The wicked old eyes bored into his.
  'Yes, I'm certain of that,' he assured her.
  'You  choose a time when the planet was in the 'ouse of Capricorn,
of course?'
  'Oh, surely!'
  'An'  you  'ave not neglect to make Libation to Our  Lady  Babalon
before'and?'
  'Oh, no, we wouldn't do that!'
  'Then per'aps your periods of silence were not long enough?'
  'Maybe  that's  so,' he admitted hurriedly, hoping to  close  this
madhatter's conversation before he completely put his foot into it.
  Countess  D'Urfe  nodded, then after drawing thoughtfully  at  her
cigar she looked at him intently. 'Silence,' she murmured. 'Silence,
that  ees always essential in the Ritual of Saturn-but you 'ave much
courage to thwart Mocata-'e is powerful, that one.'
  'Oh,  we're  not afraid of him,' Rex declared and,  recalling  the
highest grade of operator from his conversation with De Richleau, he
added:  'You  see  the  Duke  knows all  about  this  thing-he's  an
Ipsissimus.'
  The  old  lady's eyes almost popped out of their sockets  at  this
announcement,  and  Rex feared that he had gone  too  far,  but  she
leaned  forward and placed one of her jewelled claws upon  his  arm.
'An  Ipsissimus!-an' I 'av studied the Great Work for  forty  years,
yet  I  'ave reached only the degree of Practicus. But no, 'e cannot
be, or 'ow could 'e fail with the Rite to Saturn?'
  'I  only  said  that it didn't pan out quite as we expected,'  Rex
hastened  to remind her, 'and for the full dress business he'd  need
Simon Aron anyway.'
  'Of  course,'  she  nodded  again and continued  in  an  awestruck
whisper,  'an' De Richleau is then a real Master. You  must  be  far
advanced for one so young-that 'e allow you to work with 'im.'
  He  flicked  the ash off his cigarette but maintained  a  cautious
silence.
  'I  am  not-'ow you say-associated with Mocata long-since  I  'ave
arrive only recently in England, but De Richleau will cast 'im  down
into  the Abyss-for 'ow shall 'e prevail against one who is  of  ten
circles and a single square?'
  Rex nodded gravely.
  'Could  I not-' her dark eyes filled with a new eagerness,  'would
it  not  be possible for me to prostrate before your frien'? If  you
spoke  for  me also, per'aps 'e would allow that I should  occupy  a
minor place when 'e proceeds again to the invocation?'
  'Ho!  Ho!'  said Rex to himself, 'so the old rat wants to  scuttle
from the sinking ship, does she. I ought to be able to turn this  to
our  advantage,' while aloud he said with a lordly air: 'All  things
are possible-but there would be certain conditions.'
  'Tell me,' she muttered swiftly.
  'Well, there is this question of Simon Aron.'
  'What  question?-Now that you 'ave 'im with you-you  can  do  with
'im as you will.'
  Rex  quickly  averted  his  gaze from  the  piercing  black  eyes.
Evidently Mocata had turned the whole party out after they  had  got
away with Simon. The old witch obviously had no idea that Mocata had
regained  possession of him later. In another second he  would  have
given  away  their whole position by demanding Simon's  whereabouts.
Instead-searching  his  mind  desperately  for  the  right  bits  of
gibberish  he  said:  'When  De  Richleau  again  proceeds  to   the
invocation it is necessary that the vibrations of all present should
be attuned to those of Simon Aron.'
  'No  matter-willingly  I  will place  myself  in  your  'ands  for
preparation.'
  'Then  I'll put it up to him, but first I must obey his order  and
say  a  word  to  the  lady who was with you at  Aron's  house  last
night-Tanith.'  Having at last manoeuvred the conversation  to  this
critical  point, Rex mentally crossed his thumbs and  offered  up  a
prayer  that he was right in assuming that they were staying at  the
hotel together.
  She  smiled,  showing two rows of white false teeth. 'I  know  it,
and you must pardon, I beg, that we 'ave our little joke with you.'
  'Oh, don't worry about that,' he shrugged, wondering anxiously  to
what new mystery she was alluding, but to his relief she hurried on.
  'Each  morning we look into the crystal an' when she see you  walk
into  the  'otel  she  exclaim, 'It is  for  me  'e  comes-the  tall
American,"  but  we  'ave no knowledge that  you  are  more  than  a
Neophyte  or a Zelator at the most, so when you send up the  flowers
she  say to me, "You shall go down to 'im instead an' after we  will
laugh at the discomfiture of this would-be lover."'
  The  smile  broadened on Rex's full mouth as he  listened  to  the
explanation  of much that had been troubling him in the  last  hour,
but  it  faded  suddenly as he realised that, natural as  it  seemed
compared to all this meaningless drivel which he had been exchanging
with the old woman, it was in reality one more demonstration of  the
occult.  These two women had actually seen him walk into  the  hotel
lounge when they were sitting upstairs in their room peering into  a
piece of glass.
  'In  some ways I suffer the disappointment,' said the old Countess
suddenly,   and  Rex  found  her  studying  turn  with  a   strange,
disconcerting  look. 'I know well that promiscuity  gives  a  greaty
power  for  all 'oo follow the Path an' that 'uman love 'inders  our
development, but nevair 'ave I been able to free myself  from  a  so
stupid sentimentality-an' you would, I think, 'ave made a good lover
for 'er.'
  Rex  stared  in astonished silence, then looked quickly  away,  as
she  added: 'No matter-the other ees of real importance. I will send
for 'er that you may give your message.'
  With  a  little  jerk  she stood up and gripping  her  ebony  cane
stumped  across  to  the hall porter's desk  while  he  relaxed,  un
utterably glad that this extraordinary interview was over.
  However,  he  felt a glow of satisfaction in the thought  that  he
kad duped her into the belief that De Richleau and himself were even
more  powerful  adepts than Mocata, and at having played  his  cards
sufficiently  well  to  secure  a meeting  with  Tanith  under  such
favourable circumstances. If only he could get into his car, he  was
determined  to  inveigle  her into giving him  any  information  she
possessed  which might lead to the discovery of Simon's whereabouts,
although, since Madame D'Urfe was ignorant of the fact that  he  was
no  longer  with  the Duke, it was hardly likely that  Tanith  would
actually be able to take them to him.
  With  new anxiety Rex realised the gravity of the check. They  had
practically  counted on Tanith having the knowledge,  if  only  they
could  get it out of her, and even if he could persuade her to  talk
about Mocata the man might have a dozen haunts. If so it would be no
easy  task to visit all before sundown and the urgency of the Duke's
instructions still rang in his ears.
  Today was May Day Eve. The Great Sabbat of the year would be  held
tonight.  It  was absolutely imperative that they should  trace  and
secure Simon before dusk or else, under the evil influence which now
dominated his mentality, he would be taken to participate  in  those
unholy  rites and jeopardise for ever the flame of goodness,  wisdom
and right thinking which men term the soul.
  After  a  moment  Madame  D'Urfe rejoined  him.  'For  tonight  at
least,'  she whispered, 'things in dispute between the followers  of
the  Path  will  be in abeyance-is it not?-for all must  make  their
'omage to the One.'
  He  nodded  and  she bent towards him, lowering  her  voice  still
further:  'If  I  could  but  see De Richleau  for  one  moment-  as
Ipsissinus 'e must possess the unguent?'
  That's  so,'  Rex  agreed, but he was horribly  uncertain  of  his
ground again as he added cryptically: 'But what of the Moon?'
  'Ah,  fatality,' she sighed. 'I 'ad forgotten that we are  in  the
dark quarter.'
  He  blessed the providence which had guided his tongue as she went
on sadly: 'I 'ave try so often but nevair yet 'ave I
  succeeded.  I  know all things necessary to its  preparation,  an'
'ave  gathered every 'erb at the right period. I 'ave even  rendered
down  the fat, but they must 'ave cheated me. It was from a mortuary
per'aps-but not from a graveyard as it should 'ave been.'
  Rex  felt  the hair bristle on the back of his neck and his  whole
body stiffened slightly as he heard this gruesome confession. Surely
it  was  inconceivable  that people still practised  these  medieval
barbarities-yet he recalled the terrible manifestation that  he  had
witnessed with the Duke on the previous night. After that  he  could
no  longer  employ  modern standards of belief or  unbelief  to  the
possibilities  which  might result from  the  strange  and  horrible
doings  of  these  people who had given themselves over  to  ancient
cults.
  The   old  Countess  was  regarding  him  again  with  that  queer
disconcerting  look. 'It matters not,' she murmured. 'We  shall  get
there  just  the same, Tanith and I-an' it should be interesting-for
nevair before 'as she attended the Great Sabbat.'
  The  lift gates clicked at that moment and Tanith stepped out into
the  corridor.  For a fleeting instant Rex caught a glimpse  of  her
wise,  beautiful  face,  over  the old  woman's  shoulder,  but  the
Countess was speaking again in a husky whisper, so he was forced  to
look back at her.
  'Nevair  before,' she repeated with unholy glee,  'and  after  the
One 'as done that which there is to do, 'oo knows but you may be the
next-if you are quick.'
  Forcing  himself  out  of  his chair Rex  shut  his  ears  to  the
infernal implication. His general reading had been enough for him to
be aware that in the old. days the most incredible orgies took place
as  the  climax  to every Sabbat, and his whole body  crept  at  the
thought  of Tanith being subjected to such abominations. His impulse
was  to seize this iniquitous old woman by the throat and choke  the
bestial  life  out  of her fat body, but with a  supreme  effort  he
schooled himself to remain outwardly normal.
  As  Tanith  approached, and taking his hand smiled into his  eyes,
he  knew  that she, as well as Simon, must be saved before nightfall
from-yes, the old biblical quotation leapt to his mind-'The Power of
the Dog,' that was strong upon them.


                                 10

                       Tanith Proves Stubborn

  After  the  muttering of the old Countess and her veiled allusions
to  unspeakable  depravities Rex felt that even the  air  had  grown
stale and heavy, as though charged with some subtle quality of evil,
but  on  the coming of Tanith the atmosphere seemed to lighten.  The
morning  sunshine  was  lending a pale golden  glow  to  the  street
outside and in her hand she held one of the sprays of lilac which he
had  sent  up  to her. She lifted it to her face as he returned  her
smile.  'So  I' she said in a low clear voice, her eyes mocking  him
above the fragrant bloom: 'You insisted then that Madame should  let
you see me?'
  'I'd  have  sat  around this place all day  if  she  hadn't,'  Rex
confessed frankly, 'because now we've met at last I'm hoping  you'll
let me see something of you.'
  'Perhaps-but not today. I have many things to do and already I  am
late for the dressmaker.'
  Rex  thanked  his  stars that the old woman had unwittingly  given
him  a lever in assuming the Duke to be an Adept of great power, and
himself  his  envoy. 'It's mighty important that I  should  see  you
today,'  he  insisted. There are certain things we've  got  to  talk
about.'
  'Got  to!'  A  quick  frown  clouded  Tanith's  face.  'I  do  not
understand!'
  'Ma  petite, it is you 'oo do not understan',' Madame D'Urfe broke
in  hastily. Then she launched into a torrent of low speech in  some
foreign  language, but Rex caught De Richleau's name  and  the  word
Ipsissimus, so he guessed that she was giving Tanith some version of
the  events which had taken place the night before, based on his own
misleading statements, and wondered miserably how long he  would  be
able to keep up the impersonation which had been thrust upon him.
  Tanith  nodded several times and studied him with a  new  interest
as she nibbled a small piece of the lilac blossom between her teeth.
Then she said with charming frankness: 'You must forgive me-I had no
idea you were such an important member of the Order.'
  'Forget it please,' he begged, 'but if you're free I'd be glad  if
you could join me for lunch.'
  'That  puts  me  in  a  difficulty because I  am  supposed  to  be
lunching with the wife of the Roumanian Minister.'
  'How about this afternoon then?'
  Her  eyes showed quick surprise. 'But we shall have to leave  here
by  four o'clock if we are to get down by dusk-and I have my packing
to do yet.'
  He  realised that she was referring to the meeting and covered his
blunder  swiftly.  'Of  course-I'm  always  forgetting  that   these
twisting English roads don't permit of the fast driving I'm used  to
back  home.  How would it be if I run you along to your dress  place
now and then we took'a turn round the Park after?'
  'Yes-if you will have lots of patience with me, because I take  an
almost idiotic interest in my clothes.'
  'You're telling me! He murmured to himself as he admired the  slim
graceful  lines of her figure clad so unostentatiously  and  yet  so
suitably for the sunshine of the bright spring day. He picked up his
hat and beamed at her. 'Let's go-shall we?'
  To  his  amazement  he  found himself  taking  leave  of  the  old
Countess  just as though she were a nice, normal, elderly  lady  who
was  chaperoning  some  young woman to whom  he  had  been  formally
introduced  at  a  highly respectable dance.  And  indeed,  as  they
departed, her dark eyes had precisely the same look which had  often
scared  him in mothers who possessed marriageable daughters. Had  he
not  known  that such thoughts were anathema to her creed  he  would
have  sworn that she was praying that they would be quick about  it,
so  that  she could book a day before the end of the season  at  St.
George's,  Hanover Square, and was already listing in her  mind  the
guests who should be asked to the reception.
  'Where  does  the great artist hang out?' he asked  as  he  helped
Tanith into the car.
  'I  have two,' she told him. 'Schiaparelli just across the square,
where  I shall be for some twenty minutes, and after I have also  to
visit  Artelle in Knightsbridge- Are you sure that you do  not  mind
waiting for me?'
  'Why, no! we've a whole heap of time before us.'
  'And  tonight as well,' she added slowly. 'I am glad that you will
be there because I am just a little nervous.'
  'You  needn't be!' he said with a sudden tightening of his  mouth,
but  she  seemed satisfied with his assurance and had no inkling  of
his real meaning.
  As  she  alighted in Upper Grosvenor Street he called gaily  after
her: 'Twenty minutes mind, and not one fraction over,' then he drove
across the road and pulled up at the International Sportsman's  Club
of which he was a member.
  The  telephone  exchange put him through  to  the  British  Museum
quickly enough, but the operator there nearly drove him frantic.  It
seemed  that it was not part of the Museum staff's duties to  search
for  visitors  in the Reading Room, but after urgent  prayers  about
imaginary  dead and dying they at last consented to  have  the  Duke
hunted  out.  The  wait  that followed seemed  interminable  but  at
last'De Richleau came to the line.
  'I've  got  the girl,' Rex told him hurriedly, 'but how long  I'll
be  able  to keep her I don't know. I've had a long talk, too,  with
the  incredible old woman who smokes cigars-you know the  one-Madame
D'Urfe.  They're staying at Claridges together and both of them  are
going  to  the party you spoke of tonight. Where it's to be  held  I
don't  know,  but they're leaving London by car at four o'clock  and
hope  to  make  the place by nightfall. I've spun 'em  a  yarn  that
you're  the high and mighty Hoodoo in the you-know-what-a fat bigger
bug than Mocata ever was-so the old lady's all for giving him the go-
by  and sitting in round about your feet, but neither of them  knows
where  Simon is-I'm certain. In fact they've no idea that he made  a
getaway last night after we got him to your flat-so what's the drill
now?'
  'I  see-well,  in  that case you must. . .' but Rex  never  learnt
what De Richleau intended him to do for at that moment they were cut
off. When he got through to the Museum again it was to break in on a
learned  conversation about South American antiques which was  being
conducted  on  another  line  and, realising  that  he  had  already
exceeded  his twenty minutes, he had no option but to  hang  up  the
receiver and dash out into the street.
  Tanith  was  just  coming down the steps of Schiaparelli's  as  he
turned  the  car  to meet her. 'Where now?' he asked  when  she  had
settled herself beside him.
  'To Artelle. It is just opposite the barracks in Knightsbridge.  I
will not be more than five minutes this time, but she has a new idea
for  me. She is really a very clever woman, so I am anxious to  hear
what she has thought of.'
  It  was the longest speech he had so far heard her make, as  their
conversation  the  night  before  had  been  brief  and   frequently
interrupted by Mocata. Her idiom was perfect, but the way  in  which
she  selected her words and the care with which she pronounced  them
made him ask suddenly. 'You're not English-are you?'
  'Yes,'  she smiled as they turned into Hyde Park, 'but  my  mother
was  Hungarian  and I have lived abroad nearly all my  life.  Is  my
accent very noticeable?'
  'Well-in  a  way, but it sounds just marvellous to me. Your  voice
has  got that deep caressing note about it which reminds me of-well,
if you want the truth, it's like Marlene Dietrich on the talkies.'
  She  threw back her head and gave a low laugh. 'If I believed that
I  should be tempted to keep it, and as it is I have been working so
hard  to  get  rid of it ever since I have been in  England.  It  is
absurd  that  I  should  not  be  able  to  speak  my  own  language
perfectly-yet  I  have talked English so little, except  to  foreign
governesses when I was a young girl.'
  'And how old are you now, or is that a piece of rudeness?'
  'How old do you think?'
  'From  your  eyes you might be any age, but I've  a  feeling  that
you're not much over twenty-two.'
  'If I were to live I should be twenty-four next January.'
  'Come  now,' he protested, laughing, 'what a way to put it, that's
only  a  matter of nine months and no one could say you  don't  look
healthy.'
  'I  am,'  she assured him gravely, 'but let us not talk of  death.
Look at the colour of those rhododendrons. They are so lovely.'
  'Yes,  they've jerked this Park up no end since I first saw it  as
a  boy.'  As the traffic opened he turned the car into Knightsbridge
and  two  minutes later Tanith got out at the discreet door  of  her
French dressmaker.
  While  she  was  inside  Rex considered the position  afresh,  and
endeavoured to concoct some cryptic message purporting to come  from
the Duke, to the effect that she was not to attend the Sabbat but to
remain in his care until it was all over, Yet he felt that she would
never believe him. It was quite evident that she meant to be present
at  this  unholy Walpurgis-Nacht gathering, and from  what  the  old
woman  had said all Satanists regarded it with such importance  that
even warring factions among them sank their differences-for this one
night of the year-in order to attend.
  Obviously  she  could have no conception of what she  was  letting
herself  in for, but the very idea of her being mishandled  by  that
ungodly crew made his big biceps tighten with the desire to lash out
at  someone.  He  had  got to keep her with him  somehow,  that  was
clear-but how?
  He  racked  his  mind in vain for a plausible story  but,  to  his
dismay,  she rejoined him almost immediately and he had  thought  of
nothing by the time they had turned into the Park again.
  'Well-tell me,' she said softly.
  Tell you what?' he fenced. 'That I think you're very lovely?'
  'No,  no. It is nice that you should have troubled to make  pretty
speeches  about my accent and Marlene Dietrich, but it is  time  for
you  to tell me now of the real reason that brought you to Claridges
this morning.'
  'Can't you guess?'
  'No.'
  'I wanted to take you out to lunch.'
  'Oh, please! Be serious-you have a message forme?'
  'Maybe,  but even if I hadn't, I'd have been right on the  mat  at
your hotel just the same.'
  She  frowned slightly. 'I don't understand. Neither of us is  free
to give our time to that sort of thing.'
  'I've  reached  a  stage where I'm the best  judge  of  that,'  he
announced,  with the idea of trying to recover some of the  prestige
which seemed to be slipping from him.
  'Have  you  then crowned yourself with the Dispersion of Choronzon
already?'
  Rex  suppressed  a groan. Here they were off on  the  Mumbo  Jumbo
stuff  again. He felt that he would never be able to keep it up,  so
instead of answering he turned the car with sudden determination out
into the Kensington Road and headed towards Hammersmith.
  'Where are you taking me?' she asked quickly.
  To  lunch with De Richleau,' he lied. 'I've got no message for you
but  the Duke sent me to fetch you because he wants to talk  to  you
himself.'  It was the only story he could think of which just  might
get over.
  'I see-where is he?'
  'At Pangbourne.'
  'Where is that?'
  'Little place down the Thames-just past Reading.'
  'But that is miles away!'
  'Only about fifty.'
  'Surely he could have seen me before he left London.'
  He  caught  her  eyes, quick with suspicion, on his  face,  so  he
answered  boldly: 'I know nothing of that, but he sent me  to  fetch
you-and what the Duke says goes.'
  'I  don't believe you!' she exclaimed angrily. 'Stop this  car  at
once! -I am going to get out.'


                                 11

                      The Truth Will Always Out

  For  a second Rex thought of ignoring her protest and jamming  his
foot  on the accelerator, but the traffic in Kensington High  Street
was thick, and to try to abduct her in broad daylight would be sheer
madness.  She  could signal a policeman and have him stopped  before
he'd gone two hundred yards.
  Reluctantly  he drew hi to the side of the road, but he  stretched
his long arm in front of her and gripped the door of the car so that
she could not force it open.
  Tanith  stared  at him with angry eyes: 'You are lying  to  me  -I
will not go with you.'
  'Wait  a  moment.'  He thrust out his chin pugnaciously  while  he
mustered  all his resources to reason with her. If he once  let  her
leave  the  car  the  chances were all against  his  having  another
opportunity  to  prevent  her reaching the secret  rendezvous  where
those  horrible Walpurgis ceremonies would take place in the  coming
night.  His  determination  to prevent her  participating  in  those
barbaric rites, of which he was certain she could not know the  real
nature,  quickened his brain to an unusual cunning: 'You  know  what
happened to Simon Aron?' he said.
  'Yes, you kidnapped him from his own home last night.'
  'That's so-but do you know why?'
  'Madame  D'Urfe said that it was because the Duke is also  seeking
for the Talisman of Set. You needed him for your own invocations.'
  'Exactly.'  Rex  paused for a moment to wonder what  the  Talisman
could  be. This was the second time he had heard it mentioned.  Then
he  went  on slowly: 'It's him being born under certain stars  makes
his  presence essential. We'd hunt for years before we found  anyone
else who's suitable to do the business and born in the same hour  of
the same day and year. Well, we need you too.'
  'But my number is not eight!'
  'That  doesn't  matter-you're under  the  Moon,  aren't  you?'  He
risked  the shot on what he remembered of De Richleau's words  about
her name.
  'Yes,' she admitted. 'But what has that to do with it?'
  'A  whole heap-believe you me. But naturally you'd know nothing of
that. Even Mocata doesn't realise the importance of the Moon in this
thing and that's why he's failed to make much headway up to date.'
  'Mocata  would be furious if I left his Circle-you see  I  am  his
favourite medium-so attuned to his vibrations that he would have the
very  greatest difficulty in replacing me. Perhaps -perhaps he would
punish me in some terrible manner.' Tanith's face had gone white and
her  eyes were staring slightly at the thought of some nameless evil
which might befall her.
  'Don't  worry. De Richleau will protect you-and he's an Ipsissimus
remember.  If you don't come right along, now he wants to  see  you,
maybe  he'll do something to you that'll be far worse.' As Rex  lied
and threatened he hated himself for it, but the girl had just got to
be  saved from herself and this form of blackmail was the only  line
that offered.
  'How  am I to know? How am I to know?' she repeated quickly.  'You
may  be  lying. Think what might happen to me if Mocata  proved  the
stronger.'
  'You  had the proof last night. We got Simon Aron away from  under
his very nose-didn't we?'
  'Yes, but will you be able to keep him?'
  'Sure,'  Rex declared firmly, but he felt sick with misery  as  he
remembered  that  by Mocata's power Simon had been taken  from  them
under  the hour. And where was Simon now? The day was passing, their
hope  of  Tanith being able to put them on his track  had  proved  a
failure.  How would they find him in time to save him too  from  the
abominations of the coming night?
  'Oh,  what shall I do?' Tanith gave a little nervous sob.  'It  is
the first tune I have heard of any feud in our Order. I thought that
if  I  only  followed the Path I should acquire power and  now  this
hideously dangerous decision is thrust on me.'
  Rex  saw  that  she was weakening so he pressed the  self-starter.
'You're  coming  with me and you're not going to  be  frightened  of
anything. Get that now-I mean it.'
  She  nodded. 'All right. I win trust you then,' and the  car  slid
into motion.
  For  a  few  moments they sat in silence, then as the car  entered
Hammersmith Broadway he turned and smiled at her. 'Now let's cut out
all  talk  about  this business till we see the  Duke  and  just  be
normal-shall we?'
  'If you wish-tell me about yourself?'
  He  smothered a sigh of relief at her acquiescence.  At  least  he
would  be  free  for an hour or so from the agonising  necessity  of
skating  on thin ice of grim parables which had no meaning for  him.
With all his natural gaiety restored he launched into an account  of
his  life  at home in the States, his frequent journeys abroad,  and
his love of speed in cars and boats and planes and bob-sleighs.
  As  they  sped through Brentford and on to Slough he  got  her  to
talk  a  little about herself. Her English father had died when  she
was  still a baby and the Hungarian mother had brought her  up.  All
her childhood had been spent in an old manor house, dignified by the
name  of Castle, in a remote village on the southern slopes  of  the
Carpathians, shut in so completely from the world by steep mountains
on  every  side that even the War had passed it by almost unnoticed.
After  the  peace  and the disintegration of the  Austrian-Hungarian
Empire  their lands had become part of the new state of Jugo-Slavia,
but  her  life had gone on much the same for, although the  War  had
cost  them a portion of their fortune, the bulk of it had been  left
safe  by  her father in English Trustee securities. Her  mother  had
died three years before and it was then, having no personal ties and
ample  money,  that  she  had  decided to  travel.  'Isn't  it  just
marvellous that I should have seen you such
  different places about the world,' he laughed.
  'The  first time that you speak of in Budapest I do not remember,'
she  replied, 'but I recall the day outside Buenos Aires  well.  You
were  in  a long red car and I was riding a roan mare. As  you  drew
into the side of the track to let us pass I wondered why I knew your
face,  and  then I remembered quite clearly that our cars  had  been
locked side by side in a traffic jam, months before, in New York.'
  'Seems as if we were just fated to meet sometime-doesn't it?'
  'We  both  know that there is no such thing as Chance,'  she  said
slowly.  'I  believe you have a wax image of me somewhere  and  have
worked upon it to bring today about.'
  The  day  before he would have instantly assumed her to be joking,
despite her apparent seriousness, but now, he realised with a little
shock,  he  no longer considered it beyond the bounds of possibility
that  actual  results  might be procured by  doing  certain  curious
things to a little waxen doll, so greatly had his recent experiences
altered  his outlook. He hesitated, unable to confess his  ignorance
of  such practices, and unwilling to admit that he had not done  his
best  to  bring about a meeting, but he was saved from the necessity
of a reply by Tanith suddenly exclaiming:
  'I had forgotten!-luncheon-I shall never be back in time.'
  'Easy, put through a call and say you've suddenly been called  out
of  Town,' he told her, and a few miles farther on he pulled  up  at
Skindles Hotel in Maidenhead.
  While  Tanith  was telephoning he stood contemplating  the  river.
Although  it  was early in the year a period of drought had  already
checked  the  spate  of  the current sufficiently  to  make  boating
pleasureable, and he noted that in the gardens of the Hungaria River
Club,  on  the  opposite  bank, they  were  setting  out  their  gay
paraphernalia  preparatory to opening for  the  Season.  Immediately
Tanith rejoined him they set off again.
  The  straggling  suburbs of Greater London had already  been  left
behind  them before Slough and now, after Maidenhead, the  scattered
clusters of red-roofed dwellings on the new building estates,  which
have  spread  so far afield, also disappeared, giving place  to  the
real  country. On certain portions of the road, the fresh  green  of
the  beech  trees formed a spring canopy overhead and between  their
trunks,  dappled with sunlight, patches of bluebells gave  glory  to
the  silent  woods;  at others they ran between meadows  where  lazy
cattle nibbled the new grass, or fields where the young corn, strong
with life, stretched its vivid green shoots upwards to the sun.
  The  sight  and  smell  of the countryside,  unmarred  by  man  or
carefully  tended in his interests, windswept and  clean,  gave  Rex
fresh confidence. He banished his anxiety about Simon for the moment
and,  thrusting from his mind all thoughts of this gruesome business
into which he had been drawn, began to talk all the gay nonsense  to
Tanith  which  he  would have aired to any other girl  whom  he  had
induced  to  steal a day out of London in which to see  the  country
preparing its May Day garb.
  Before  they reached Reading he had her laughing, and by the  time
they  entered the little riverside village of Pangbourne,  her  pale
face was flushed with colour and her eyes dancing with new light.
  They  crossed to the Whitchurch side where the Duke's house stood,
some  way  back  from  the river, its lawns sloping  gently  to  the
water's edge.
  Max  received them, and while a maid took Tanith upstairs to wash,
Rex had a chance to whisper quick instructions to him.
  When  she  entered  the low, old-fashioned lounge  with  its  wide
windows  looking out over the tulip beds to the trees on the further
bank  she  found  Rex  whistling  gaily.  He  was  shooting  varying
proportions  of  liquor  out of different bottles  into  a  cocktail
shaker. Max stood beside him holding a bowl of ice.
  'Where  is  the  Duke?'  she asked, with a new  soberness  in  her
voice.
  He  had  been  waiting  for the question,  and  keeping  his  face
averted answered cheerfully: 'He's not made it yet-what time are you
expecting him, Max?'
  'I  should  have  told you before, sir. His Excellency  telephoned
that I was to present his excuses to the lady, and ask you, sir,  to
act  as  host  in his stead. He has been unavoidably  detained,  but
hopes to be able to join you for tea.'
  'Well,   now,  if  that  isn't  real  bad  luck!'  Rex   exclaimed
feelingly.  'Never mind, we'll go right in to lunch the moment  it's
ready.' He tasted the concoction which he had been beating up with a
large spoon and added: 'My! that's good!'
  'Yes,  sir-in  about  five minutes, sir,' Max  bowed  gravely  and
withdrew.
  Rex  knew that there was trouble corning but he presented a  glass
of  the  frothing liquid with a steady hand. 'Never give  a  girl  a
large cocktail,' he cried gaily, 'but plenty of 'em. Make 'em strong
and  drink  'em  quick-come on now! It takes a  fourth  to  make  an
appetite- Here's to crime!'
  But  Tanith  set  down the glass untasted. All the  merriment  had
died  out  of her eyes and her voice was full of a fresh anxiety  as
she  said  urgently:  'I can't stay here till  tea-time-  don't  you
realise that I must leave London by four o'clock.'
  It  was  on  the  tip of his tongue to say, 'Where is  this  place
you're  going  to?' but he caught himself in time  and  substituted:
'Why  not  go  from here direct?' Then he prayed silently  that  the
secret meeting place might not be on the other side of London.
  Her  face  lightened for a moment. 'Of course, I forgot  that  you
were  going  yourself, and the journey must be so much shorter  from
here. If you could take me it seems stupid to go all the way back to
London-but what of Madame D'Urfe- she expects me to motor down  with
her-and I must have my clothes.'
  'Why  not call her on the phone. Ask her to have your stuff packed
up  and  say we'll meet her there. You've got to see the  Duke,  and
whatever happens he'll turn up here because he and I are going  down
together.'
  She  nodded. 'If I am to place myself under his protection  it  is
vital that I should see him before the meeting, for Mocata has  eyes
hi the ether and will know that I am here by now.'
  'Come  on  then!'  He took her hand and pulled her  to  her  feet.
'Well get through to Claridges right away.'
  Tanith  allowed him to lead-her out into the hall and when he  had
got the number he left her at the telephone. Then he returned to the
lounge, poured himself another cocktail and began to do a gay little
dance  to  celebrate his victory. He felt that he had got  her  now,
safe  for  the day, until the Duke turned up. Then trust De Richleau
to  get  something  out of her which would enable  them  to  get  on
Simon's track after all.
  At  his  sixth pirouette he stopped suddenly. Tanith was  standing
in  the doorway, her face ashen, her big eyes blazing with a mixture
of anger and fear.
  'You  have  lied to me,' she stammered out, 'Mocata  is  with  the
Countess at this moment-he got Simon Aron away from you last  night.
You  and  your precious Duke are impostors- charlatans- You  haven't
even the power to protect yourselves, and for this Mocata may tie me
to the Wheel of Ptah- oh, I must get back!' Before he could stop her
she had turned and fled out of the house.


                                 12

                          The Grim Prophecy

  In  one spring Rex was across the room, another and he had reached
the  garden.  Against those long legs of his Tanith had  no  chance.
Before she had covered twenty yards he caught her arm and jerked her
round to face him.
  'Let  me  go!' she panted. 'Haven't you endangered me enough  with
your lies and interference.'
  He  smiled  down into her frightened face but made  no  motion  to
release  her.  'I'm  awfully  sorry I had  to  tell  you  all  those
tarradiddles  to  get you to this place-but now you're  here  you're
going to stay-understand?'
  'It  is  you  who don't understand,' she flashed.  'You  and  your
friend,  the  Duke,  are like a couple of children  playing  with  a
dynamite bomb. You haven't a chance against Mocata. He will loose  a
power on you that will simply blot you out.'
  'I  wouldn't be too certain of that. Maybe I know nothing of  this
occult business myself and if anyone had suggested to me that  there
were  practising Satanists wandering around London  this  time  last
week,  I'd  have  said they had bats in the belfry. But  the  Duke's
different-and, believe you me, he's a holy terror when he once  gets
his teeth into a thing. Best save your pity for Mocata-he'll need it
before De Richleau's through with him.'
  'Is he-is he really an Ipsissimus then?' she hesitated.
  'Lord  knows-I  don't. That's just a word I  picked  out  of  some
jargon he was talking last night that I thought might impress  you.'
Rex  grinned broadly. All the lying and trickery which he  had  been
forced  to practise during the morning had taxed him to the  utmost,
but now that he was able to face the situation openly he felt at the
top of his form again.
  'I  daren't  stay  then-I daren't!' She tried  to  wrench  herself
free. 'Don't you see that if he is only some sort of dabbler he will
never be able to protect me.'
  'Don't  fret your sweet self. No one shall lay a finger on you  as
long as I'm around.'
  'But,  you great fool, you don't understand,' she waved miserably.
"The  Power of Darkness cannot be turned aside by bruisers  or  iron
bars.  If I don't appear at the meeting tonight, the moment  I  fall
asleep Mocata will set the Ab-humans on to me. In the morning I  may
be dead or possessed-a raving lunatic.'
  Rex did not laugh. He knew that she was genuinely terrified of  an
appalling  possibility. Instead he turned her towards the house  and
said   gently:  'Now  please  don't  worry  so.  De  Rich-leau  does
understand  just how dangerous monkeying with this business  is.  He
spent half the night trying to convince me of it, and like a fool  I
wouldn't believe him until I saw a thing I don't care to talk about,
but  I'm  dead  certain he'd never allow you to run  any  risk  like
that.'
  'Then let me go back to London!'
  'No.  He asked me to get you here so as he could have a word  with
you-and  I've done it. We'll have a quiet little lunch together  now
and  talk  this  thing  over when the Duke  turns  up.  Hell  either
guarantee to protect you or let you go.'
  'He  can't protect me I tell you-and in any case I wish to  attend
this meeting tonight.'
  'You  wish  to!' he echoed with a shake of the head.  'Well,  that
gets  me  beat,  but  you  can't even guess what  you'd  be  letting
yourself in for. Anyhow I don't mean to let you-so now you know.'
  'You mean to keep me here against my will?'
  'Yes!'
  'What is to stop me screaming for help?'
  'Nix,  but  since  the Duke's not here the servants  know  I'm  in
charge,  so they won't bat an eyelid if you start to yell the  house
down-and there's no one else about.'
  Tanith  glanced swiftly down the drive. Except at the white  gates
tall banks of rhododendrons, heavy with bloom, obscured the lane. No
rumble of passing traffic broke the stillness that brooded upon  the
well-kept garden. The house lay silent in the early summer sunshine.
The inhabitants of the village were busy over the midday meal.
  She  was  caught and knew it. Only her wits could get her  out  of
this, and her fear of Mocata was so great that she was determined to
use any chance that offered to free herself from this nice, meddling
fool.
  'You'll  not try to prevent me leaving if De Richleau says  I  may
when he arrives?' she asked,
  'No. I'll abide by his decision,' he agreed.
  'Then for the time being I will do as you wish.'
  'Fine-come  on.' He led her back to the house and  rang  for  Max,
who appeared immediately from the doorway of the dining-room.
  'We've  decided to lunch on the river,' Rex told him. 'Make  up  a
basket  and  have  it put in the electric canoe.' He  had  made  the
prompt  decision directly he sensed that Tanith meant to  escape  if
she  could.  Once  she was alone in a boat with him  he  felt  that,
unless  she was prepared to jump out and swim for it, he could  hold
her without any risk of a scene just as long as he wanted to.
  'Very good, sir-I'll see to it at once.' Max disappeared into  the
domain  of which he was lord and master, while Rex shepherded Tanith
back to the neglected cocktails.
  He  refreshed  the  shaker while she sat on the  sofa  eyeing  him
curiously, but he persuaded her to have one, and when he pressed her
she  had another. Then Max appeared to announce that his orders  had
been carried out.
  'Let's  go-shall  we?'  Rex  held  open  the  french-windows   and
together they crossed the sunlit lawn, gay with its beds of  tulips,
polyanthus,  wallflowers and forget-me-nots. At  the  river's  edge,
upon  a  neat, white painted landing-stage, a boatman held the  long
electric canoe ready for them.
  Tanith  settled  herself on the cushions and Rex  took  the  small
perpendicular  wheel. In a few moments they were chugging  out  into
midstream and up the river towards Goring, but he preferred  not  to
give  her  the  opportunity of appealing to the lock-keeper,  so  he
turned  the boat and headed it towards a small backwater  below  the
weir.
  Having  tied  up  beneath some willows, he began passing  packages
and  parcels out of the stern. 'Come on,' he admonished  her.  'It's
the  girl's  job to see to the commissariat. Just forget yourself  a
moment and see what they've given us to eat.'
  She  smiled  a little ruefully. 'If I really thought you  realised
what  you  were doing I should look on you as the bravest  man  I've
ever known.'
  He  turned  suddenly, still kneeling at the end of the  boat.  'Go
on-say it again. I love the sound of your voice.'
  'You  fool!' She coloured, laughing as she unwrapped the  napkins.
'There's  some  cheese here-and ham and tongue-and  brown  bread-and
salad-and a lobster. We shall never be able to eat all this  and-oh,
look,' she held out a small wicker basket, 'fraises des bois.'
  'Marvellous.  I  haven't  tasted a wood strawberry  since  I  last
lunched  at Fontainbleau. Anyhow, it's said the British Army  fights
on  its stomach, so I'm electing myself an honorary member of it for
the  day. Fling me that corkscrew-will you, and I'll deal with  this
bottle of Moselle.'
  Soon  they  were seated face to face propped against the cushions,
a little sticky about the mouth, but enjoying themselves just as any
nice  normal couple would in such circumstances; but when  the  meal
was  finished he felt that, much as he would have liked to laze away
the afternoon, he ought, now the cards were upon the table, to learn
what  he could of this grim business without waiting for the  coming
of  the Duke. He unwrapped another packet which he had found in  the
stern of the boat, and passing it over asked half humorously:
  Tell  me,  does a witch ever finish up her lunch with  chocolates?
I'd be interested to know on scientific grounds.'
  'Oh,  why  did  you bring me back-I have been enjoying  myself  so
much,'  her  face was drawn and miserable as she buried  it  in  her
hands.
  'I'm  sorry!'  He  put down the chocolates and bent  towards  her.
'But  we're both in this thing, so we've got to talk of it,  haven't
we,  and though you don't look the part, you're just as much a witch
as  any  old woman who ever soured the neighbour's cream-else  you'd
never  have  seen me in that crystal this morning as I  sat  in  the
lounge of your hotel.'
  'Of  course  I  am if you care to use such a stupid  old-fashioned
term.  She drew her hands away and tossed back her fair hair as  she
stared at him defiantly. 'That was only child's play-just to keep my
hand in-a discipline to make me fit to wield a higher power.'
  "For good?' he questioned laconically.
  'It  is  necessary  to pass through many stages before  having  to
choose whether one will take the Right or Left Hand Path.'
  'So  I  gather. But how about this unholy business in which you've
a wish to take part tonight?'
  'If  I  submit  to  the ordeal I shall pass the Abyss.'  The  low,
caressing voice lifted to a higher note, and the wise eyes  suddenly
took on a fanatic gleam.
  'You  can't  have a notion what they mean to do to  you  or  you'd
never even dream of it,' he insisted.
  'I  have,  but  you know nothing of these things so naturally  you
consider  me  utterly shameless or completely mad. You are  used  to
nice English and American girls who haven't a thought in their heads
except  to  get  you  to  marry them-if  you  have  any  money-which
apparently you have, but that sort of thing does not interest me.  I
have  worked  and  studied  to gain power  -real  power  over  other
people's  lives and destinies-and I know now that the  only  way  to
acquire it is by complete surrender of self. I don't expect  you  to
understand my motives but that is why I mean to go tonight.'
  He  studied her curiously for a moment, still convinced  that  she
could  not be fully aware of the abominations that would take  place
at  the  Sabbat. Then he broke out: 'How long is it since you became
involved in this sort of thing?'
  'I  was  psychic even as a child,' she told him slowly. 'My mother
encouraged me to use my gifts. Then when she died I joined a society
in Budapest. I loved her. I wanted to keep in touch with her still.'
  'What  proof have you got it was her?' he demanded with  a  sudden
renewal of scepticism as he recalled the many newspaper exposures of
spiritualistic seances.
  'I  had very little then, but since, I have been convinced  of  it
beyond all doubt.'
  'And  is  she-your  own  mother, still-yes, your  guide-I  suppose
you'd call it?'
  Tanith  shook her head. 'No, she has gone on, and it was  not  for
me to seek to detain her, but others have followed, and every day my
knowledge of the worlds which lie beyond this grows greater.'
  'But  it's extraordinary that a young girl like you should  devote
yourself  to  this  sort of thing. You ought to be dancing,  dining,
playing golf, going places-you're so lovely you could take your pick
among the men.'
  She  shrugged  a  little  disdainfully.  'Such  a  life  is  dull-
ordinary-after  a  year  I  tired of it, and  few  women  can  climb
mountains or shoot big game, but the conquest of the unknown  offers
the greatest adventure of all.'
  Again  her voice altered suddenly, and the inscrutable eyes  which
gave  her  a strange, serious beauty, so fitting for a lady  of  the
Italian Renaissance, gleamed as before.
  'Religions  and  moralities are man-made, fleeting  and  local;  a
scandalous  lapse  from virtue in London may be  a  matter  for  the
highest  praise  in Hong Kong, and the present Archbishop  of  Paris
would  be  shocked beyond measure if it was suggested  that  he  had
anything  in  common, beyond his religious office, with  a  Medieval
Cardinal.  One  thing  and  one  thing  only  remains  constant  and
unchanging, the secret doctrine of the way to power. That is a thing
to  work for, and if need be cast aside all inherent scruples for-as
I shall tonight.'
  'Aren't you-just a bit afraid?' He stared at her solemnly.
  'No, provided I follow the path which is set, no harm can come  to
me.'
  'But  it  is an evil path,' he insisted, marvelling at the  change
which  had come over her. It almost seemed as if it were a different
woman  speaking  or  one  who repeated a recitation,  learned  in  a
foreign  language,  with  all  the appropriate  expression  yet  not
understanding its true meaning, as she replied with a cynical little
smile.
  'Unfortunately  the  followers  of  the  Right  Hand  Path  obsess
themselves  only  with the well-being of the Universe  as  a  whole,
whereas  those of the Left exercise their power upon living  humans.
To bend people to your will, to cause them to fall or rise, to place
unaccountable obstacles in their path at every turn or smooth  their
way  to  a  glorious  success-that is more than  riches,  more  than
fame-the supreme pinnacle to which any man or woman can rise, and  I
wish to reach it before I die.'
  'Maybe-maybe.'  Rex  shook his head with  a  worried  frown,  'But
you're  young  and  beautiful-just breaking in on  all  the  fun  of
life-why not think it over for a year or two? It's horrible to  hear
you talk as though you were a disillusioned old woman.'
  Her  mouth  tightened still further. 'In a way I  am-and  for  me,
waiting is impossible because, although in your ignorance I  do  not
expect  you to believe it, as surely as the sun will set  tonight  I
shall be dead before the year is out.'


                                 13

                      The Defeat of Rex Van Ryn

  For  a moment they sat in silence. The river flowed gently on; the
sun  still dappled the lower branches of the willows and flecked the
water with points of light.
  Gradually  the  fire died out of Tanith's eyes and she  sank  back
against   the   cushions  of  the  canoe  as  Rex  stared   at   her
incredulously. It seemed utterly impossible that there could be  any
real  foundation for her grim prophecy, yet her voice had held  such
fatal certainty.
  'It isn't true!' Rex seized her hand and gripped it as though,  by
his  own  vitality, he would imbue her with continued life.  'You're
good  for  fifty  years to come. That's only some criminal  nonsense
this devil Mocata's got you to swallow.'
  'Oh,  you  dear  fool!' She took his other  hand  and  pressed  it
while,  for  a  moment, it seemed as if tears were starting  to  her
eyes. 'If things were different I think I might like you enormously,
but  I knew the number of my days long before I ever met Mocata, and
there  is  nothing which can be done to lengthen them  by  a  single
hour.'
  'Show me your hand,' he said suddenly. It was the only thing  even
remotely  connected with the occult of which Rex had any  knowledge.
The  year before he had ricked an ankle, while after Grizzly in  the
Rockies,  and had had to lie up for a week at a tiny inn  where  the
library  consisted of less than a dozen battered volumes. A book  on
Palmistry,  which he had discovered among them, had  proved  a  real
windfall  and  the  study of it had whiled away many  hours  of  his
enforced idleness.
  As  Tanith  held out her hand he saw at once that it  was  of  the
unusual  psychic  type.  Very long, narrow and  fragile,  the  wrist
small,  the  fingers smooth and tapering, ending  in  long,  almond-
shaped  nails.  The  length of the first, second and  third  fingers
exceeded  that  of the palm by nearly an inch, giving  the  whole  a
beautiful but useless appearance. The top phalange of the thumb,  he
noted,  was  slim  and pointed, another sign of lack  of  desire  to
grapple with material things.
  'You  see?'  she turned it over showing him the palm.  'The  Arabs
say  that "the fate of every man is bound about his brow," and  mine
is written here, for all who can, to read.'
  Rex's knowledge of the subject was too limited for him to do  much
but  read character and general tendencies by the various shapes  of
hands,  but  even  he was startled by the unusual  markings  on  the
narrow palm.
  On  the  cushion of the hand the Mount of the Moon stood out  firm
and  strong, seeming to spread over and dominate the rest,  a  clear
sign  of  an exceedingly strong imagination, refinement and love  of
beauty;  but  it  was  tinged with that rare  symbol,  the  Line  of
Intuition,  giving,  in connection with such a hand,  great  psychic
powers and a leaning towards mysticism of a highly dangerous kind. A
small star below the second finger, upon the Mount of Saturn, caused
him  additional uneasiness and he looked in vain for  squares  which
might  indicate preservation at a critical period. Yet worst of  all
the  Line  of Life, more clearly marked than he would have expected,
stopped short with a horrifying suddenness at only a little  over  a
third  of  the way from its commencement, where it was tied  to  the
Line of Head.
  He  stared  at  it in silence, not knowing what  to  say  to  such
sinister portents, but she smiled lightly as she withdrew her  hand.
'Don't worry please, but there is no appeal from the verdict of  the
Stars  and  you will understand now why marriage -children-a  lovely
home-all things connected with the future just mean nothing to me.'
  'So  that's  the  reason you let yourself get  mixed  up  in  this
horrible business?'
  'Yes.  Since I am to die so soon no ordinary emotion can  stir  me
any  more. I look as though I were already a great way from it,  and
what  happens  to  my physical body matters to me not  at  all.  Ten
months  ago  I began seriously to cultivate my psychic  sense  under
real  instruction,  and the voyages which I can make  now  into  the
immensity  of  the void are the only things left to me  which  still
have power to thrill.'
  'But, why in heaven's name involve yourself with Black Magic  when
you might practise White?'
  'Have  I  not told you? The adepts of the Right Hand Path  concern
themselves  only with the Great Work; the blending of the  Microcosm
with  the  Macrocosm; a vague philosophic entity in  which  one  can
witness  no  tangible results. Whereas, those of the  Left  practise
their  Art  upon human beings and can actually watch the working  of
their spells.'
  'I  can't  get  over your wanting to attend this Satanic  festival
tonight all the same.'
  'It should be an extraordinary experience.'
  'Any normal person would be terrified at what might happen.'
  'Well,  if  you  like,  I  will admit that  I  am  just  a  little
frightened  but  that is only because it is rny first participation.
By  surrendering myself I shall only suffer or enjoy, as most  other
women  do, under slightly different circumstances at some period  of
then- life.'
  'Slightly  different!'  he  exclaimed,  noting  again  the  sudden
change  of  eyes  and voice, as though she were  possessed  by  some
sinister  dual personality which appeared every time  she  spoke  of
these  horrible  mysteries,  and blotted  out  the  frank,  charming
individuality  which was natural to her. 'This  thing  seems  worlds
apart to me from picking a man you like and taking a sporting chance
about the rest.'
  'No,  in  ancient  Egypt every woman surrendered  herself  at  the
temple  before she married, in order that she might acquire  virtue,
and  sacred  prostitution is still practised in many  parts  of  the
world-for  that is what this amounts to. Regarded from the  personal
point  of view, of course, it is loathsome. If I thought of it  that
way  I should never be able to go through with it at all, but I have
trained  myself not to, and only think of it now as a  ritual  which
has to be gone through in order to acquire fresh powers.'
  'It's  mightly difficult for any ordinary person to  see  it  that
way-though I suppose the human brain can shut out certain aspects of
a  thing.' Rex paused, frowning: 'Still I was really speaking of the
hideous  danger you will incur from placing yourself  in  the  hands
of-well, the Devil if you like.'
  She  smiled.  'The  Devil is only a bogey invented  by  the  Early
Church to scare fools.'
  'Let's say the Power of Darkness then.'
  'You mean by receiving re-Baptism?'
  'By  attending  this Sabbat at all. I imagined from  your  strange
name you had received re-Baptism already.'
  'No,  Tanith  is  the name by which I was Christened.  It  was  my
mother's choice.'
  Rex  sat  forward  suddenly.  'Then you haven't-er-given  yourself
over completely yet?'
  'No,  but I shall tonight, for if De Richleau has a tenth  of  the
knowledge which you say he has he will realise the appalling  danger
to  which I should be exposed if he detained me here, so he will let
me  go immediately he arrives-and remember, you have promised not to
interfere with my freedom once he has seen me.'
  'But  listen,' he caught her hands again. 'It was bad enough  that
you  should  have  been  going to take a  part  in  this  abominable
business  as a graduate-it's a thousand times worse that you  should
do it while there's still time to back out.'
  'Mocata  would not allow me to now, even if I had the inclination,
but  you  are so nice it really distresses me that you should  worry
so.  The  Satanic  Baptism  is  only  an  old-fashioned  and  rather
barbarous ritual, but it will give me real status among adepts,  and
no possible harm can come to me as long as I do not deviate from the
Path which must be followed by all members of the Order.'
  'You're wrong-wrong-wrong,' Rex insisted boldly. 'De Richleau  was
explaining  the  real horror of this thing to me  last  night.  This
promise  of  strange  powers is only a filthy trap.  At  your  first
Christening  your Godparents revoked the Devil and  all  his  Works.
Once  you willingly rescind that protection, as you'll have  to  do,
something awful will take possession of you and force you into doing
its  will,  an Earthbound Spirit or an Elemental I think  he  called
it.'
  She  shrugged.  There are ways of dealing with  Elementals.'  'Aw,
hell.  Why can't I make you understand!' He wrung his hands together
desperately. 'It's easy to see they haven't called on you to do  any
real  devilry  yet. They've just led you on by a few  demonstrations
and  encouraging  your crystal gazing, but they will-once  you're  a
full  member-and then you'll be more scared than ever to refuse,  or
find  "it's  just impossible under the influence of this thing  that
will get hold of you.'
  'I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. It is I who will make use  of
them-not they of me, and quite obviously you don't know what you are
talking about.'
  'The Duke does,' he insisted, 'and he says that you can still  get
free  as  long as you haven't been actually re-baptised,  but  after
that all holy protection is taken from you. Why else d'you think  we
took  a  chance of breaking up that party last night -if not to  try
and save Simon from the self-same thing.'
  A  queer light came into Tanith's eyes. 'Yet Mocata willed him  to
return so he will receive his nom-du-Diable after all tonight.'
  'Don't  you be too certain. I've a hunch we'll save him yet.'  Rex
spoke with a confidence he was very far from feeling.
  'And  how do you propose to set about it?' she asked with a  quick
intuition  that  by  some  means she might utilise  this  factor  to
facilitate her own escape.
  'Ah!  that's just the rub,' he admitted. 'You see we thought maybe
you'd  know  his whereabouts and I'll be frank about it. That's  the
reason  I went round to Claridges this morning, to see if I couldn't
get  you  down  here some way so as De Richleau could  question  you
although  I  should have called on you anyway for a  very  different
reason.  Still you didn't even know Mocata had taken  Simon  off  us
till  you spoke to the old woman on the wire, so it's pretty obvious
you  don't know where he is. I believe you could give us a  line  on
Mocata though-if you choose to.'
  'I  was  under  the impression that it was at his house  that  the
party where we met was given.'
  'No,  that was Simon's place, though I gather Mocata's been living
there  with him for some little time. He must have a hideout of  his
own somewhere though and that's what we want to get at.'
  'I  know  nothing of his ordinary life, and if I  did,  I  do  not
think  I  should be inclined to tell you of it, but why are  you  so
interested  in this Mr. Aron? That was a lie you told me about  your
needing him because you are also searching for the Talisman of Set.'
  'He's  my  very greatest friend, and more than that he risked  his
life to come out to Soviet Russia and look for me, when I was gaoled
for poking my nose into the "Forbidden Territory," a few years back.
The Duke came too, and he looks on Simon almost as a son.'
  'That  does  not give you any right to interfere if, like  myself,
he elects to devote himseif to the occult.'
  'Maybe,  as long as he confines himself to the harmless side,  but
De  Richleau says the game that you and he are playing is  the  most
hideously  dangerous that's ever been known to  mankind,  and  after
what I saw last night I certainly believe him.'
  'Simon  Aron did not strike me as a fool. He must be aware of  the
risks  which  he  is  running and prepared  to  face  them  for  the
attainment of his desires.'
  'I  doubt  it-I  doubt if you do either. Anyhow, for  the  moment,
we're  regarding  him  as a person who's not quite  all  there,  and
nothing  you  can name is going to stop the Duke and me from  saving
him from himself if we get half a chance.'
  Tanith  felt  that now was the time to show the bait in  the  trap
which she had been preparing. So she leant forward and said, slowly:
'If  you really are so mad as to wish for a chance to pit yourselves
against Mocata, I think I could give it to you.'
  'Could  you?' Rex jerked himself upright and the water  gurgled  a
little at the sides of the canoe.
  'Yes,  I don't know if he has a house of his own anywhere,  but  I
do  know where he will be this evening-and your friend Simon will be
with him.'
  'You  mean the Sabbat eh? And you'll give me the name of the place
where it's being held?'
  'Oh,  no.'  The sunlight gleamed golden on her hair as  she  shook
her head. 'But I'll let you take me to it, if you agree to let me go
free once we are there.'
  'Nothing doing,' he said bluntly.
  'I  see,'  she smiled, 'you are afraid of Mocata after all.  Well,
that  doesn't  surprise me because he has ample means of  protecting
himself against anything you could attempt against him. That is why,
of  course,  I  feel  that, providing the place is  not  given  away
beforehand,  he  would prefer me to let you know it than  detain  me
here-I'm  quite  honest  you  see, but  evidently  you  are  not  so
confident of yourself or interested in your friend as I thought.'
  Rex  was  thinking quickly. Nothing but an actual order  from  the
Duke, based on his assurance that Mocata might punish Tanith in some
terrible manner if she failed to appear, would have induced  him  to
let  her  go  to the Sabbat, but on the other hand this was  a  real
chance  to reach Simon, in fact, the only one that offered. 'Do  you
require that I should actually hand you over to Mocata when  we  get
there?' he asked at length.
  'No.  If  you  take me to the place that will be  sufficient,  but
there must be no question of gagging me or tying me up.'
  In  an agony of indecision he pondered the problem again. Dare  he
risk  taking Tanith within the actual sphere of Mocata's  influence?
Yet  he  would have the Duke with him, so surely between  them  they
would  be able to restrain her from taking any part in the ceremony,
and it was impossible to throw away such a chance of saving Simon.
  'I'm  not giving any promise to let you join the party,' Rex  said
firmly.
  'Well, I intend to do so.'
  'That  remains  to  be seen-but I'll accept your  offer  on  those
conditions.'
  She   nodded,   confident  now  that  once  they   reached   their
destination  Mocata  would exercise his powers  to  relieve  her  of
restraint.
  'The  place must be about seventy miles from here,' she told  him,
'and I should like to be there by sundown, so we ought to leave here
by six.'
  'Wouldn't it be possible to start later?' A worried frown  clouded
Rex's face. 'The truth is, that message Max gave us before lunch was
phony-just a part of my plan for keeping you here. I never did count
on  De  Richleau arriving much before the tune you say we  ought  to
start-and I'd just hate to leave without him.'
  Tanith  smiled to herself. This was an unexpected piece  of  luck.
She  had  only met the Duke for a moment the night before,  but  his
lean,  cultured  face and shrewd, grey eyes had impressed  her.  She
felt  that  he would prove a far more difficult opponent  that  this
nice,  bronzed young giant, and if she could get away without having
to  face him after all, it would be a real relief, so she made a wry
face and proceeded to elaborate her story.
  'I'm  sorry, but there are certain preparations which have  to  be
made  before  the  gathering. They begin at sunset,  so  J  must  be
at-well, the place to which we are going by a quarter past eight. If
I  arrive later I shall not be eligible to participate-so I will not
go at all.'
  'In  that  case  I  guess  I'm in your hands.  Anyhow,  now  we've
settled  things, let's get back to the house.' Rex untied the  canoe
and, setting the motor in motion, steered back to the landing stage.
  His  first  thought was to inform De Richleau of the bargain  that
he  had made, but after pleading once more with the officials at the
British Museum to have the Duke sought for, he learned that  he  was
no  longer there, and when he got through to the Curzon Street  flat
the servants could tell him nothing of De Richleau's whereabouts, so
it was impossible to expedite his arrival.
  For  a  time  Rex strolled up and down the lawn with Tanith,  then
round  the  lovely garden, while he talked again of the places  that
they had both visited abroad and tried to recapture something of the
gaiety which had marked their drive down from London in the morning.
  Max  brought  them tea out onto the terrace, and  afterwards  they
played the electric gramophone, but even that failed to relieve  Rex
of  a  steadily deepening anxiety that the Duke might not arrive  in
time.
  The  shadows of the lilacs and laburnums began to lengthen on  the
grass. Tanith went upstairs to tidy herself, and when she came  down
asked  if he could find her a road map. He produced a set and for  a
time she studied two of them in silence, then she refolded them  and
said  quietly: 'I know so little of the- English country  but  I  am
certain now that I can find it. We must be leaving soon.'
  It  was already six o'clock, and he had put off shaking a cocktail
until  the last moment in order to delay their departure as long  as
possible.  Now,  he rang for ice as he said casually;  'Don't  fuss,
I'll get you there by a quarter after eight.'
  'I'll give you five miniutes-no more.
  'Well,  listen  now. Say De Richleau fails to make it.  Won't  you
give me a break? Let me know the name of the place so as I can leave
word for him to follow?'
  She  considered  for a moment. 'I will give  you