whereon I would
refresh myself. Be not afraid. I know much of Madame Riennes and I will
leave her flat as that," and with surprising alacrity he jumped on a
large black beetle which, unhappily for itself, just then ran across
the observatory floor to enjoy the warmth of the stove. "Wait," he
added, as Godfrey was leaving. "First kneel down, I have memory of the
ancient prayer, or if I forget bits, I can fill in the holes."

Godfrey obeyed in a rather abject fashion, whereon the old Pasteur,
waving the pipe above his head, from which emerged lines of blue smoke
such as might have been accessory to an incantation, repeated over him
something in Latin, that, owing to the foreign accent, he could not in
the least understand. It ended, however, with the sign of the cross
made with the bowl of the pipe, which the Pasteur forgot still remained
in his hand.

Fortified by the accession of this new ally, Godfrey slept fairly well,
till within a little while of dawn, when he was awakened by a sound of
rapping. At first he thought that these raps, which seemed very loud
and distinct, were made by someone knocking on the door, perhaps to
tell him there was a fire, and faintly murmured "_Entrez_." Then to his
horror he became aware that they proceeded, not from the door, but from
the back of his wooden bedstead, immediately above him, and at the same
time recollected that he had heard similar noises while sitting at the
little table in the Villa Ogilvy, which the mystics gathered there
declared were produced by spirits.

His hair rose upon his head, a cold perspiration trickled down him; he
shook in every limb. He thought of lighting a candle, but reflected
that it was on the chest of drawers at the other side of the room, also
that he did not know where he had put the matches. He thought of flying
to the Pasteur, but remembered that to do so, first he must get out of
bed, and perhaps expose his bare legs to the assault of ghostly hands,
and next that, to reach the chamber of Monsieur and Madame Boiset, he
must pass through the sanctuary of the room occupied by Juliette. So he
compromised by retiring under the clothes, much as a tortoise draws its
head into its shell.

This expedient proved quite useless, for there beneath the blankets the
raps sounded louder than ever. Moreover, of a sudden the bed seemed to
be filled with a cold and unnatural air, which blew all about him,
especially upon his hands, though he tried to protect t