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