the name of a village five miles from it where he can meet you on one condition.' 'Let's hear it.' 'That neither of you seek to restrain me in any way once we reach our destination.' 'No. I'll not agree to that.' 'Then I certainly will not give you any information which will enable your friend to appear on the scene and help you.' 'I'll get him there some way-don't you worry.' 'That leaves me a free hand to prevent you if I can-doesn't it?' As he swallowed his cocktail she glanced at the clock. 'It's ten past now, so unless you prefer not to go we must start at once.' Consoling himself with the thought that De Richleau could have got no more out of her even if he had questioned her himself, Rex led her out and settled her in the Rolls then, before starting up the engine, he listened intently for a moment, hoping that even yet he might catch the low, steady purr of the big Hispano which would herald the Duke's eleventh hour arrival, but the evening silence brooded unbroken over the trees and lane. Reluctantly he set the car in motion and as they ran down the gravel sweep, Tanith said quietly, 'Please drive to New-bury.' 'But that's no more than twenty miles from here!' 'Oh, I will give you further directions when we reach it,' she smiled, and for a little time they drove in silence through the quiet byways until they entered the main Bath Road at Theale. At Newbury, she gave fresh instructions. 'To Hungerford now,' and the fast, low touring Rolls sped out of the town eating up another ten miles of the highway to the west. 'Where next?' he asked, scanning the houses of the market town for its most prosperous-looking inn and mentally registering The Bear. It was just seven o'clock-another few miles and they would be about half-way to the secret rendezvous. He did not dare to stop in the town in case she gave him the slip and hired another car or went on by train, but when they were well out in the country again he meant to telephone the Duke, who must have arrived at Pangbourne by this time, and urge him to follow as far as Hungerford at once-then sit tight at The Bear until he received further information. Tanith was studying the map. 'There are two ways from here,' she said, 'but I think it would be best to keep to the main road as far as Maryborough.' A few miles out of Hungerford the country became less populous with only a solitary farmhouse here and there, peaceful and placid in the evening light. Then these, too, were left behind and they entered a long stretch of darkening woodlands, the northern fringe of Savernake Forest. Both were silent, thinking of the night to come which was now so close upon them and the struggle of wills that must soon take place. Rex brought the car down to a gentle cruising speed and watched the road-sides intently. At a deserted hairpin bend, where a byway doubled back to the south-east, he found just what he wanted, a telephone call-box. Turning the car off the main road he pulled up, and noted with quick appreciation that they had entered one of the most beautiful avenues he had even seen. As far as the eye could see it cut clean through the forest, the great branches meeting overhead in the sombre gloom of the falling night, it looked like the nave of some titanic cathedral deserted by mankind; but he had no leisure to admire it to the full, and stepping out, called to Tanith over his shoulder: 'Won't be a minute-just want to put through'a call.' She smiled, but the queer look that he had seen earlier in the day came into her eyes again. 'So you mean to trick me and let De Richleau know the direction we have taken?' 'I wouldn't call it that,' he protested. 'In order to get in touch with Simon I bargained to take you to this place you're so keen to get to, but I reserved the right to stop you taking any part yourself, and I need the Duke to help me.' 'And I agreed, because it was the only way in which I could get away from Pangbourne, but I reserved the right to do all in my power to attend the meeting. However,' she shrugged lightly, 'do as you will.' 'Thanks.' Rex entered the box, spoke to the operator, and having inserted the necessary coins, secured his number. Next minute he was speaking to De Richleau. 'Hello! Rex here. I've got the girl and she's agreed- Oh, Hell!' He dropped the receiver and leapt out of the box. While his back was turned Tanith had moved into the driver's seat. The engine purred, the Rolls slid forward. He clutched frantically at the rear mudguard but his fingers slipped and he fell sprawling in the road. When he scrambled to his feet the long blue car was almost hidden by a trail of dust as it roared down the avenue, and while he was still cursing his stupidity, it disappeared into the shadows of the forest. 14 The Duke de Richleau Takes the Field At 7.20. Rex was through again to the Duke, gabbling out the idiotic way in which he had allowed Tanith to fool him and leave him stranded in Savernake Forest. At 7.22. De Richleau had heard all he had to tell and was ordering him to return to Hungerford as best he could, there to await instructions at The Bear. At 7.25. Tanith was out of the Forest and on a good road again, some five miles south-east of Marlborough, slowing down to consult her map. At 7.26. The Duke was through to Scotland Yard. At 7.28. Rex was loping along at a steady trot through the gathering darkness, praying that a car would appear from which he could ask a lift. At 7.30. De Richleau was speaking to the Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, a personal friend of his. 'It's not the car that matters,' he said, 'but the documents which are in it. Their immediate recovery is of vital importance to me and I should consider it a great personal favour if any reports which come in may be sent at once to the Police Station at Newbury.' At 7.32. Tanith was speeding south towards Tidworth, having decided that to go round Salisbury Plain via Amesbury would save her time on account of the better roads. At 7.38. Scotland Yard was issuing the following communique by wireless: 'All stations. Stolen. A blue touring Rolls, 1934 model. Number OA 1217. Owner, Duke de Richleau. Last seen in Savernake Forest going south-east at 19 hours 15, but reported making for Marlborough. Driven by woman. Age twenty-three-attractive appearance-tall, slim, fair hair, pale face, large hazel eyes, wearing light green summer costume and small hat. Particulars required by Special Department. Urgent. Reports to Newbury,' At 7.42. De Richleau received a telephone call at Pang-bourne. 'Speakin' fer Mister Clutterbuck,' said the voice, 'bin tryin' ter get yer this lars' arf hour, sir. The green Daimler passed through Camberley goin' south just arter seven o'clock.' At 7.44. Tanith was running past the military camp at Tid-worth still going south. At 7.45. Rex was buying a second-hand bicycle for cash at three times its value from a belated farm-labourer. At 7.48. The Duke received another call. 'I have a special from Mr. Clutterbuck,' said a new voice. 'The Yellow Sports Sunbeam passed Devizes going south at 7.42.' At 7.49. Tanith reached the Andover-Amesbury road and turned west along it. At 7.54. De Richleau climbed Into his Hispano. 'My night glasses-thank you,' he said as he took a heavy pair of binoculars from Max. 'Any messages which come in for me up to 8.25 are to.be relayed to the police at Newbury, after that to Mr. Van Ryn at the Bear Inn, Hungerford, up till 8.40, and from then on to the police at Newbury again.' At 7.55. Tanith was approaching a small cross-roads on the outskirts of Amesbury. A Police-Sergeant who had left the station ten minutes earlier spotted the number of her car, and stepping out into the road called on her to halt. She swerved violently, missing him by inches, but managed to swing the car into the by-road leading north. At 7.56. Rex was pedalling furiously along the road to Hungerford with all the strength of his muscular legs. At 7.58. Tanith, livid with rage that Rex should have put the police on to her as though she were a common car thief, had spotted another policeman near the bridge in Bulford village. Not daring to risk his holding her up in the narrow street, she switched up another side-road leading north-east At 7.59. The Amesbury Police-Sergeant dropped off a lorry beside the constable on duty at the main cross-roads of the town and warned him to watch out for a Blue Rolls, number OA 1217, recklessly driven by a young woman who was wanted by the Yard. At 8.1. Tanith had slowed down and was wondering desperately if she dared risk another attempt to pass through Amesbury. Deciding against it she ran on, winding in and out through the narrow lanes, to the north-eastward. At 8.2. Rex had abandoned his bicycle outside the old Alms-houses at Froxfield and was begging a lift from the owner of a rickety Ford who was starting into Hungerford. At 8.3. The Amesbury Police-Sergeant was reporting to Newbury the appearance of the 'wanted' Rolls. At 8.4. Tanith pulled up, hopelessly lost in a tangle of twisting lanes. At 8.6, De Richleau swung the Hispano on to the main Bath Road. His cigar tip glowed red in the twilight as he sank his chin into the collar of his coat and settled down to draw every ounce out of the great powerful car. At 8.8. Tanith had discovered her whereabouts on the map and found that she had been heading back towards the And-over Road. At 8.5. The Amesbury Police-Sergeant was warning the authorities at Andover to keep a look-out for the stolen car in case it headed back in that direction. At 8.10. Tanith had turned up a rough track leading north through some woods in the hope that it would enable her to get past the Military Camp at Tidworth without going through it. At 8.12. Rex was hurrying into The Bear Inn at Hungerford. At 8.14. Tanith was stuck again, the track having come to an abrupt end at a group of farm buildings. At 8.17. The Duke was hurtling along the straight, about five miles east of Newbury. At 8.19. Tanith was back at the entrance of the track and turning into a lane that led due east. At 8.20. The Amesbury Police-Sergeant left the station again. He had completed his work of warning Salisbury, Devizes, Warminster and Winchester to watch for the stolen Rolls. At 8.21, Tanith came out on the main Salisbury-Marl -borough road and, realising that there was nothing for it but to chance being held up at Tidworth, turned north. At 8.22. Rex had sunk his second tankard of good Berkshire ale and took up his position in the doorway of The Bear to watch for the Duke. At 8.23. Tanith, possessed now, it seemed, by some inhuman glee, chortled with laughter as a Military Policeman leapt from the road to let her flash past the entrance of Tidworth Camp. At 8.24. De Richleau entered Newbury Police Station and learned that the Blue Rolls had been sighted in Amesbury half an hour earlier. At 8.25. Tanith had pulled up, a mile north of Tidworth, and was studying her map again. She decided that her only hope bf reaching the secret rendezvous now lay in taking the by-roads across the northern end of Salisbury Plain. At 8.26. The Duke was reading two messages which had been handed to him by the Newbury Police. One said: 'Green Daimler passed through Basingstoke going west at 7.25. Max per Clutterbuck,' and the other, 'Green Daimler passed through Andover going west at 8.0. Max per Clutterbuck.' He nodded, quickly summing up the position to himself. 'Green is heading west through Amesbury by now, and Blue was seen making in the same direction, while Yellow took the other route and is coming south from Devizes-most satisfactory so far.' He then turned to the Station Sergeant: 'I should be most grateful if you would have any further messages which may come for me relayed to Amesbury. Thank you-Good night.' At 8.27. Tanith had reached a cross-road two miles north of Tidworth and turning west took a dreary wind-swept road which crosses one of the most desolate parts of the Plain. Dusk had come and with it an overwhelming feeling that whatever happened she must be present at the meeting. The fact that she was about seventeen miles farther from her destination than she had been at Amesbury did not depress her, for she had misled Rex as to the vital necessity of her being there by sunset, and the actual Sabbat did not begin until midnight. At 8.32. Rex was taking a message over the telephone of The Bear at Hungerford. At 8.35. Tanith was passing the Aerodrome at Upavon, and forced to slow down owing to the curving nature of the road At 8.37. De Richleau's Hispano roared into Hungerford, and Rex, who had resumed his position in the doorway of The Bear, ran out to meet it. 'Any messages?' the Duke asked as he scrambled in. 'Yep-Max called me. A bird named Clutterbuck says a Yellow Sunbeam passed through Westbury heading south at five minutes past eight.' 'Good,' nodded the Duke, who already had the car in motion again. At 8.38. Tanith was free of the twisting patch of road by Upavon and out on the straight across the naked Plain once more. If only she could keep clear of the police, she felt that she would be able to reach the meeting-place in another forty-five minutes. A wild, unnatural exaltation drove her on as the Blue Rolls ate up the miles towards the west. At 8.39. Rex was asking; 'What is all this about a Yellow Sunbeam anyway? It was a Blue Rolls I got stung for,' And the Duke replied, with his grey eyes twinkling: 'Don't worry about the Rolls. The police saw your young friend with it in Amesbury a little after eight. They will catch her for us you may be certain.' At 8.40. The police at Newbury were relaying a message from Max for the Duke to their colleagues at Amesbury. At 8.41, De Richleau was saying: 'Don't be a fool, Rex. I only said that I could not call in the police unless these people committed some definite breach of the law. Car stealing is a crime, so I have been able to utilise them in this one instance -that's all.' At 8.44. Two traffic policemen on a motor-cycle combination, which had set out from Devizes a quarter of an hour before, spotted the back number-plate of Blue Roils number OA 1217 as it switched to the left at a fork road where they were stationed, but Tanith had caught sight of them, and her headlights streaked away, cutting a lane through the darkness to the south-westward. At 8.45. The Hispano was rocking from side to side as it flew round the bends of the twisting road south-west of Hungerford. The Duke had heard Rex's account of the way Tanith had tricked him but refused to enlighten him about the Yellow Sunbeam. 'No, no,' he said impatiently. 'I want to hear every single thing you learned from the girl-I'll tell you my end later.' At 8.46. The traffic policemen had their machine going all out and were in full cry after the recklessly driven Rolls, At 8.47, The Police at Newbury were relaying a second message from Max for the Duke to their colleagues at Ames-bury. At 8.48, Tanith saw the lights of Easterton village looming up in the distance across the'treeless grassland as she hurtled south- westward in the Rolls. At 8.49. The traffic policeman in the side-car said: 'Steady, Bill-we'll get her in a minute.' At 8.50. The Hispano had passed the cross-roads nine miles south- west of Hungerford and come out on to the straight. De Richleau had now heard everything of importance which Rex had to tell and replied abruptly to his renewed questioning: 'For God's sake don't pester me now. It's no easy matter to keep this thing on the road when we're doing eighty most of the time.' At 8.51. Tanith clutched desperately at the wheel of the Rolls as with screaming tyres it shot round the comer of the village street. The police siren in her ears shrilled insistently for her to halt. She took another bend practically on two wheels, glimpsed the darkness of the open country again for a second then, with a rending, splintering crash, the off-side mudguards tore down a length of wooden palings. The car swerved violently, dashed up a steep bank then down again, rocking and plunging, until it came to rest, with a sickening thud, against the back of a big barn. At 9.8. The Duke, with Rex beside him, entered Amesbury Police Station and the two messages which had been 'phoned through from Newbury were handed to him. The first read: 'Green Daimler passed through Amesbury going west at 8.15,' and the second, 'Yellow Sunbeam halted Chilbury 8.22.' Both were signed 'Max per Clutterbuck.' As De Richleau slipped them into his pocket an Inspector came out of an inner room. 'We've got your car, sir,' he said cheerfully. 'Heard the news only this minute. Two officers spotted the young woman at the roads south of Devizes and gave chase. She made a mucker of that bad bend in Easterton village. Ran it through a garden and up a steep bank.' 'Is she hurt?' asked Rex anxiously. 'No, sir-can't be. Not enough to prevent her hopping out and running for it. I reckon it was that bank that saved her and the car too-for I gather it's not damaged anything to speak of.' 'Has she been caught?' inquired the Duke. 'Not yet, sir, but I expect she will be before morning.' As De Richleau nodded his thanks, and spread out a map to find the village of Chilbury, the desk telephone shrilled. The constable who answered it scribbled rapidly on a pad and then passed the paper over to him. 'Here's another message for you, sir.' Rex glanced over the Duke's shoulder and read, 'Green Daimler halted Chilbury 8.30. Other cars parked in vicinity and more arriving. Will await you cross-roads half a mile south of village. Clutterbuck.' De Richleau looked up and gave a low chuckle. 'Got them!' he exclaimed. 'Now we can talk.' At 9.14. They were back in the car. 15 The Road to the Sabbat The big Hispano left the last houses of Amesbury behind and took the long, curving road across the Plain to the west. De Richleau, driving now at a moderate pace, was at last able to satisfy Rex's curiosity. 'It is quite simple, my dear fellow. Immediately I learned from you that Madame D'Urfe was leaving Claridges for the Sabbat at four o'clock, I realised that in her we had a second line of inquiry. Having promised to meet you at Pangbourne, I couldn't very well follow her myself, so I got in touch with an ex-superintendent of Scotland Yard named Clutterbuck, who runs a Private Inquiry Agency.' 'But I thought you said we must handle this business on our own,' Rex protested. That is so, and Clutterbuck has no idea of the devilry that we are up against. I only called him in for the purpose of tracing cars and watching people, which is his normal business. After I had explained what I wanted to him he arranged for are highly potent against evil my friend, and if we can only secure Simon they will prove a fine protection for him. Here, take this crucifix.' 'What'll I do with it?' Rex asked, admiring for a moment the beautiful carving on the sacred symbol. 'Hold it in your hand from the moment we go over this wall, and before your face if we come upon any of these devilish people.' While De Richleau was speaking, he had taken a little plush box from the suitcase, and out of it a rosary from which dangled a small, gold cross. Reaching up, he hung it about Rex's neck, explaining as he did so: 'Should you drop the big one, or if it is knocked from your hand by some accident, this will serve as a reserve defence. In addition, I want you to set another above a horse-shoe in your aura.' 'How d'you mean?' Rex frowned, obviously puzzled. 'Just imagine if you can that you are actually wearing a horse- shoe surmounted by a crucifix on your forehead. Think of it as glowing there in the darkness an inch or so above your eyes. That is an even better protection than any ordinary material symbol, but it is difficult to concentrate sufficiently to keep it there without long practice, so we must wear the sign as well.' The Duke placed a similar rosary round his own neck and took two small phials from the open case. 'Mercury and Salt,' he added. 'Place one in each of your breast pockets!' Rex did as he was bid. 'But why are we wearing crucifixes when you put a swastika on Simon before?' he asked. 'I was wrong. That is the symbol of Light in the East, where I learned what little I know of the Esoteric Doctrine. There, it would have proved an adequate barrier, but here, where Christian thoughts have been centred on the Cross for many centuries, the crucifix has far more potent vibrations.' He took up the bottJe and went on: 'This is holy water from Lourdes, and with it I shall seal the nine openings of your body that no evil may enter it at any one of them. Then you must do the same for me.' With swift gestures, the Duke made the sign of the cross in holy water upon Rex's eyes, nostrils, lips, etc., and then Rex performed a similar service for him. De Richleau picked up the other crucifix and shut the case. 'Now we can start,' he said. 'I only wish that we had a fragment of the Host apiece. That is the most powerful defence of all, and with it we might walk unafraid into hell itself. But it can only be obtained by a layman after a special dispensation, and I had no time to plead my case for that today.' The night was fine and clear, but only a faint starlight lit the surrounding country, and they felt rather than saw the rolling slopes of the Plain which hemmed in the village and the house, where they were set in a sheltered dip. The whole length of the high stone wall was fringed, as far as they could see, by the belt of trees, and through their thick, early-summer foliage no glimpse of light penetrated to show the exact position of the house. Since no sound broke the stillness-although a hundred people were reported to be gathered there-they judged the place to be somewhere in the depths of the wood at a good distance from the wall; yet despite that, as they walked quickly side by side down the chalky lane, they spoke only in whispers, lest they disturb the strange stillness that brooded over that night-darkened valley. At length they found the thing that they were seeking, a place where the old wall had crumbled and broken at the top. A pile of masonry had fallen into the lane, making a natural step a couple of feet in height, and from it they found no difficulty in hoisting themselves up into the small breach from which it had tumbled. As they slipped down the other side, they paused for a moment, peering through the great tree-trunks, but here on the inside of the wall beneath the wide-spreading branches of century-old oaks and chestnuts they were in pitch darkness, and could see nothing ahead other than the vague outline of the trees. 'In manus tuas, domine,' murmured the Duke, crossing himself; then holding their crucifixes before them they moved forward stealthily, their feet crackling the dry twigs with a faint snapping as they advanced. After a few moments the darkness lightened and they came out on the edge of a wide lawn. To their left, two hundred yards away, they saw the dim, shadowy bulk of a rambling old house, and through a shrubbery which separated them from it, faint chinks of light coming from the ground floor windows. Now, too, they could hear an indistinct murmur, which betrayed the presence of many people. Keeping well within the shadow of the trees, they moved cautiously along until they had passed the shrubbery and could get a clear view of the low, old-fashioned mansion. Only the ground-floor windows showed lights and these were practically obscured by heavy curtains. The upper stories were dark and lifeless. Still in silence, and instinctively agreeing upon their movements, the two friends advanced again and began to make a circle of the house. On the far side they found the cars parked just as Clutterbuck had described, upon a gravel sweep, and counted up to fifty-seven of them. 'By Jove,' Rex breathed. 'This lot would rejoice an automobile salesman's heart.' The Duke nodded. Not more than half a dozen out of the whole collection were ordinary, moderately-priced machines. The rest bore out De Richleau's statement that the practitioners of the Black Art in modern times were almost exclusively people of great wealth. A big silver Rolls stood nearest to them; beyond it a golden Bugatti. Then a supercharged Mercedes, another Rolls, an Isotta Fraschini whose bonnet alone looked as big as an Austin Seven, and so the line continued with Alfa Romeos, Daimlers, Hispanos and Bentleys, nearly every one distinctive of its kind. At a low estimate there must have been ?100,000 worth of motor-cars parked in that small area. As they paused there for a moment a mutter of voices and a sudden burst of laughter came from a ground-floor window. Rex tip-toed softly forward across the gravel. De Richleau followed and, crouching down with their heads on a level with the low sill, they were able to see through a chink in the curtains into the room. It was a long, low billiards-room with two tables, and the usual settees ranged along the walls. Both tables were covered with white cloths upon which were piles of plates, glasses, and an abundant supply of cold food. About the room, laughing, smoking and talking, were some thirty chauffeurs who, having delivered their employers at the rendezvous, were being provided with an excellent spread to keep them busy and out of the way. The Duke touched Rex on the shoulder, and they tiptoed quietly back to the shelter of the bushes. Then, making a circle of the drive, they passed round the other side of the house, which was dark and deserted, until they came again to the lighted windows at the back which they had first seen. The curtains of these had been more carefully drawn than those of the billiards-room where the chauffeurs were supping, and it was only after some difficulty that they found a place at one where they were able to observe a small portion of the room. From what little they could see, the place seemed to be a large reception-room, with parquet floor, painted walls and Italian furniture. The head of a man, who was seated with his back to the window, added to their difficulty in seeing into the room but the glimpse they could get was sufficient to show that all the occupants of it were masked and their clothes hidden under black dominoes, giving them all a strangely funereal appearance. As the man by the window turned his head De Richleau, who was occupying their vantage point at the time, observed that his hah- was grey and curly and that he had lost the top portion of his left ear, which ended in a jagged piece of flesh. The Duke felt that there was something strangely familiar in that mutilated ear, but he could not for the life of him recall exactly where he had seen it. Not at Simon's party, he was certain but, although he watched the man intently, no memory came to aid his recognition. The others appeared to be about equal numbers of both sexes as far as the Duke could judge from the glimpses he got of them as they passed and repassed the narrow orbit of his line of vision. The masks and dominoes made it particularly difficult for him to pick out any of the Satanists whom he had seen at the previous party but, after a little, he noticed a man with a dark-skinned, fleshy neck and thin, black hair whom he felt certain was the Babu, and a little later a tall, lank, fair-haired figure who was undoubtedly the Albino. After a time Rex took his place at their observation post. A short, fat man was standing now in the narrow line of sight. A black mask separated his pink, bald head from the powerful fleshy chin-it could only be Mocata. As he watched, another domino came up, the beaky nose, the bird-like head, the narrow, stooping shoulders of which must surely belong to Simon Aron. 'He's here,' whispered Rex. 'Who-Simon?' 'Yes. But how we're going to get at him in this crush is more than I can figure out.' That has been worrying me a lot,' De Richleau whispered back. 'You see, I have had no time to plan any attempt at rescue. My whole day has been taken up with working at the Museum and then organising the discovery of this rendezvous, I had to leave the rest to chance, trusting that an opportunity might arise where we could find Simon on his own if they had locked him up, or at least with only a few people, when there would be some hope of our getting him away. All we can do for the moment is to bide our time. Are there any signs of them starting their infernal ritual?' 'None that I can see. It's only a "conversation piece" in progress at the moment.' De Richleau glanced at his watch. 'Just on eleven,' he murmured, 'and they won't get going until midnight, so we have ample time before we need try anything desperate. Something may happen to give us a better chance before that.' For another ten minutes they watched the strange assembly. There was no laughter but, even from outside the window, the watchers could sense a tenseness in theatmosphereanda strange suppressed excitement. De Richleau managed to identify the Eurasian, the Chinaman and old Madame D'Urfe with her parrot beak. Then it seemed to him that the room was gradually emptying. The man with the mutilated ear, whose head had obscured their view, stood up and moved away and the low purr of a motor-car engine came to them from the far side of the house. 'It looks as if they're leaving,' muttered the Duke; 'perhaps the Sabbat is not to be held here after all. In any case, this may be the chance we're looking for. Come on.' Stepping as lightly as possible to avoid the crunching of the gravel, they stole back to the shrubbery and round the house to the place where the cars were parked. As they arrived a big car full of people was already running down the drive. Another was in the process of being loaded up with a number of hampers and folding tables. Then that also set off with two men on the front seat. Rex and De Richleau, crouching in the bushes, spent the best part of half an hour watching the departure of the assembly. Every moment they hoped to see Simon. If they could only identify him among those dark shapes that moved between the cars they meant to dash in and attempt to carry him off. If would be a desperate business but there was no time left in which to make elaborate plans; under cover of darkness and the ensuing confusion there was just a chance that they might get away with it. No chauffeurs were taken and a little less than ha!f the number of cars utilised. Where me guests had presumably arrived in ones, twos, and threes, they now departed crowded five and six apiece in the largest of the cars. When only a dozen or so of the Satanists were left the Duke jogged Rex's arm. 'We've missed him I'm afraid. We had better make for our own car now or we may lose track of them,' and, filled with growing concern at the difficulties which stood between them and Simon's rescue, they turned and set off at a quick pace through the trees to the broken place in the wall. Scrambling over, they ran at a trot down the lane. Once in the car, De Richleau drove it back on to the main road and then pulled up as far as possible in the shadow of the overhanging trees. A big Delage came out of the park gates a hundred yards farther along the road and turning east sped away through the village. 'Wonder if that's the last,' Rex said softly. 'I hope not,' De Richleau replied. They have been going off at about two-minute intervals, so as not to crowd the road and make too much of a procession of it. If it is the last, they would be certain to see our lights and become suspicious. With any luck the people in the Delage will take us for the following car if we can slip in now, and the next to follow will believe our rear light to be that of the Delage.' He released his brake, and the Hispano slid forward. On the far side of the village they picked up the rear light of the Delage moving at an easy pace and followed to the cross-roads where they had met Clutterbuck an hour and a half earlier. Here the car turned north along a by-road, and they followed for a few miles upward on to the higher level of the desolate rolling grassland, unbroken by house or farmstead, and treeless except for, here and there, a coppice set upon a gently sloping hillside. Rex was watching out of the back window and had assured himself that another car was following in their rear, for upon that open road motor headlights were easily visible for miles. They passed through the village of Chitterne St. Mary, then round the steep curve to the entrance of its twin parish, Chitterne All Saints. At the latter the car which they were following switched into a track runinng steeply uphill to the northeast, then swiftly down again into a long valley bottom and up the other side on to a higher crest. They came to a crossroads where four tracks met in another valley and turned east to run on for another mile, bumping and skidding on the little-used, pathlike way. After winding a little, the car ahead suddenly left the track altogether and ran on to the smooth short turf. After following the Delage for a mile or more across the grass, De Richleau saw it pull up on the slope of the downs where the score or so of cars which had brought the Satanists to this rendezvous were parked in a ragged line. He swiftly dimmed his lights, and ran slowly forward, giving the occupants of the Delage time to leave their car before he pulled up the Hispano as far from it as he dared without arousing suspicion in the others. The car following, which seemed to be the last in the procession, passed quite close to them and halted ten yards ahead, also disgorging its passengers, Rex and the Duke waited for a moment, still seated in the darkness of the Hispano, then after a muttered conference, Rex got out to go forward and investigate. He returned after about ten minutes to say that the Satanists had gone over the crest of the hill into the dip beyond, carrying their hampers and their gear with them. 'We had better drive on then,' said the Duke, 'and park our car with theirs. It's likely to be noticed if the moon gets up.' 'There isn't a rnoonfl Rex told him. 'We're in the dark quarter. But it would be best to have it handy all the same.' They drove on until they reached the other cars, all of whose lights had been put out, then, getting out, set off at a stealthy trot in the direction the Satanists had taken. Within a few moments, they arrived at the brow of the hill and saw that spread below them lay a natural amphitheatre. At the bottom, glistening faintly, lay a small tarn or lake, and De Richleau nodded understandingly. This is the place where the devilry will actually be done without a doubt. No Sabbat can be held except in a place which is near open water.' Then the two friends lay down in the grass to watch for Simon among the dark group of figures who were moving about the water's edge. Some were busy unpacking the hampers, and erecting the small folding-tables which they had brought. The light was just sufficient for Rex to see that they were spreading upon them a lavish supper. As he watched, he saw a group of about a dozen move over to the left towards a pile of ancient stones which, in the uncertain light, seemed to form a rugged, natural throne. De Richleau's eyes were also riveted upon the spot and, to his straining gaze, it seemed that there was a sudden stirring of movement in the shadows there. The whole body of masked, black-clad figures left the lake and joined those near the stones, who seemed to be their leaders. After a moment the watchers could discern a tall, dark form materialising on the throne and, as they gazed with tense expectancy, a faint shimmer of pale violet light began to radiate from it. Even at that distance, this solitary illumination of the dark hollow was sufficient for the two friends to realise that the thing which had appeared out of the darkness, seated upon those age-old rocks, was the same evil entity that De Richleau had once taken for Mocata's black servant, and which had manifested itself to Rex with such ghastly clarity in Simon's silent house. The Sabbat was about to commence. 16 The Sabbat Straining their eyes and ears for every sound and movement from the assembly in the dark shadows below, Rex and the Duke lay side by side on the rim of the saucer-shaped depression in the downland. As far as they could judge, they were somewhere about half-way between the two hamlets of Imber and Tilshead, with Chitterne All Saints in their rear and the village of Easterton, where Tanith had crashed, about five miles to the north. The country round about was desolate and remote. Once in a while some belated Wiltshire yokel might cross the plain by night upon a special errand created by emergency; but even if such a one had chanced to pass that way on this Walpurgis-Nacht, the hidden meeting-place-guarded by its surrounding hills-was far from the nearest track, and at that midnight hour no living soul seemed to be stirring within miles of the spot which the Satanists had chosen for the worship of their Infernal Master. In the faint starlight they could see that the tables were now heaped with an abundance of food and wine, and that the whole crowd had moved over towards the throne round which they formed a wide circle, so that the nearest came some little way up the slope and were no more than fifty yards from where the Duke and Rex lay crouched in the grass. 'How long does it last?' Rex asked, beneath his breath, a little nervously. 'Until cock-crow, which I suppose would be at about four o'clock at this time of the year. It is a very ancient belief that the crowing of a cock has power to break spells, so these ceremonies, in which the power to cast spells is given, never last longer. Keep a sharp look out for Simon.' 'I am, but what will they be doing all that time?' First, they will make their homage to the Devil. Then they will gorge themselves on the food that they have brought and get drunk on the wine; the idea being that everything must be done contrary to the Christian ritual. They will feast to excess as opposed to the fasting which religious people undergo before their services. Look! There are the leaders before the altar now.' Rex followed the Duke's glance, and saw that half a dozen black figures were placing tall candles-eleven of them in a circle and the twelfth inside it-at the foot of the throne. As they were lighted the twelve candles burned steadily in the windless night with a strong blue flame, illuminating a circle of fifty feet radius including the tables where the feast was spread. Outside this ring the valley seemed darker than before, filled with pitch-black shadows so that the figures in the area of light stood out clearly as though upon a bright circular stage. 'Those things they have lighted are the special black candles made of pitch and sulphur,' muttered the Duke. 'You will be able to smell them in a minute. But look at the priests: did