Page 12 (1/2)

BATTLE BEGUN

"I CAN&039;T see a thing," said Jane

"This rain is spoiling the whole plan," said Dimble from the back seat "Is this still Eaton Road, Arthur?"

"I thinkyes, there&039;s the toll-house," said Denniston, as driving

"I say!" said Jane suddenly "Look! Look! What&039;s that? Stop"

"I can&039;t see a white gate," said Denniston

"Oh, it&039;s not that," said Jane "Look over there"

"Do you ht?" said Denniston

"Yes, of course, that&039;s the fire"

"What fire?"

"It&039;s the light," she said, " the fire in the hollow Yes, I know: I never told Grace, or the Director I&039;d forgotten that part of the dream till this moment That was how it ended It was the most important part That here I found hi by a fire in a little wood After I caround Oh, come quickly!"

"What do you think, Arthur?" said Dio wherever Jane leads," answered Denniston

"Oh, do hurry," said Jane "There&039;s a gate here It&039;s only one field away"

All three of theate and went into the field Di He had, perhaps, a clearer idea than the others of what sort of things ht happen when they reached the place

Jane, as guide, went first, and Denniston beside her, giving her his arround Die fro into a phantasmal world They realised that they had not really believed in Merlin till now They had thought they were believing the Director in the kitchen; but they had been ht ahead and the black all round, one began to accept as fact this tryst with so exhumed from that dark pit of history which lies between the ancient Roht Dihtly one had read and written those words

Suddenly all that Britain which had been so long fa He could see it all Little dwindling cities where the light of Rome still rested-little Christian sites, Gamalodunum, Kaerleon, Glastonbury-a church, a villa or two, a huddle of houses, an earthwork And then, beginning a stone&039;s-throw beyond the gates, the wet, tangled, endless woods; wolves slinking, beavers building, wide shallow s, eyes in the thickets, eyes of men not only Pre-Roman but Pre-British, ancient creatures, unhappy and dispossessed, who becares and ooses of the later tradition But worse than the forests, the clearings Little strongholds with unheard-of kings Little colleges and covines of Druids Houses whose mortar had been ritually mixed with babies&039; blood

Then cae They had co way out of their course before they found a gate It would not open, and as they ca it, they went ankle-deep into water

Hitherto Jane had scarcely atteht lie before the of that scene in the kitchen began to dawn on her He had told the oodbye to their wives He had blessed the walk on a wet night across a ploughed field- ht of all she had heard since she left Edgestow She had long ceased to feel any resentment at the Director&039;s tendency, as it were, to dispose other-to give her, at one time or in one sense, to Mark, and in another to Maleldil; never in any sense to keep her for hiht of Maleldil either She did not doubt that the eldils existed; nor did she doubt the existence of this stronger andwhoh him the whole household, even MacPhee If it had ever occurred to her to question whether all these things ht at school as " religion ", she had put the thought aside But this tiht would not be put aside Because it now appeared that al Maleldil ht be a life after death: a Heaven: a Hell "Butthis is unbearable," she thought, "I should have been told"

"Look out, Jane," said Denniston "That&039;s a tree"

"I-I think it&039;s a cow," said Jane

"No It&039;s a tree Look There&039;s, another"

"Hush," said Dimble "This is Jane&039;s little wood We are very close now"

The ground rose in front of theainst the firelight They walked slowly and quietly up to the edge and stopped Below the at the bottoing shadows, as the flames rose and fell, made it difficult to see clearly Beyond the fire there see and an upturned cart In the foreground there was a kettle

"Is there anyone here?" whispered Dimble to Denniston

"Look!" said Jane suddenly "There! When the flame blew aside"

"What?" said Dimble

"Didn&039;t you see hiht I saw a man," said Denniston

"I saw an ordinary tramp," said Dimble "A man in modern clothes"

"What did he look like?"

"I don&039;t know"

"We et down?" said Denniston

"Not this side," said Dimble "It looks as if a sort of path caht"

Cautiously they began to skirt the lip of the hollow, stealing from tree to tree

"Stop!" whispered Jane suddenly

"What is it?"

"There&039;s so"

"Where?"

"In there Quite close"

"Wait a moment," said Denniston "It&039;s just there Look!-damn it, it&039;s only an old donkey!"

"That&039;s what I said," said Di This is his donkey Still, we o down"

And in less than a le and past the fire And there was the tent, and a fewinside it, and a tin plate, and soround, and the dottle of a pipe, but they could see no man

"What I can&039;t understand, Wither," said Fairy Hardcastle, " is why you don&039;t letpup All these ideas of yours are so halfhearted keeping hi hiht in the cells to think it over Twenty minutes of my treatment would turn his mind inside out I know the type"

Miss Hardcastle was talking, at about ten o&039;clock that saht, to the Deputy Director in his study There was a third person present-Professor Frost

"I assure you, Miss Hardcastle," said Wither, fixing his eyes not on her but on Frost&039;s forehead, " you need not doubt that your views on this, or any other matter, will always receive the fullest consideration But youyou-not, of course, that I assu the point-that we need the woreatest value to welco us-chiefly on account of the re the word psychical, I a myself to any particular theory"

"You mean these dreams?"

"It is very doubtful," said Wither, " what effect it ht here under coh no doubt temporarily, abnormal condition which we should have to anticipate as a result of your scientific methods of examination One would run the risk of a profound emotional disturbance on her part"

"We have not yet had Major Hardcastle&039;s report," said Professor Frost quietly

"No good," said the Fairy "He was shadowed into Northue after him-Lancaster, Lyly, and Dimble I put them in that order of probability Lancaster is a Christian, and a very influential man He&039;s in the Lower House of Convocation He had a lot to do with the Repton "Conference" He has a real stake in their side Lyly is rather the saerous men Dimble is quite a different type Except that he&039;s a Christian, there isn&039;t ainst him He&039;s purely academic Impracticalhe&039;d be too full of scruples to be much use to them"

"You should tell Major Hardcastle that we have access to most of these facts already," said Professor Frost