Boolba has told his story, there seems to be a special reason for this
urgent search. They would, of course, have communicated----"

He fell silent.

"Has Boolba any special reasons, other than those we know?" he asked.

Malcolm remembered the "Book of All-Power" and nodded.

"Have you something of Kensky's?" asked Malinkoff quickly. "Not that
infernal book?"

He looked so anxious that Malcolm laughed.

"Yes, I have that infernal book. As a matter of fact, it is the infernal
book of the Grand Duchess now."

"Mine?" she said in surprise.

"Kensky's last words to me were that this book should become your
property," said Malcolm, and she shivered.

"All my life seems to have been associated with the search for that
dreadful book," she said. "I wonder if it is one of Kensky's own
binding. You know," she went on, "that Israel Kensky bound books for a
hobby? He bound six for me, and they were most beautifully decorated."

"He was a rich man, was he not?" asked Malcolm.

She shook her head.

"He was penniless when he died," she said quietly. "Every store of his
was confiscated and his money was seized by order of the new Government.
I once asked him definitely why he did not turn to his 'Book of
All-Power' for help. He told me the time had not yet come."

"May I see the book?"

Malcolm took the volume with its canvas cover from his pocket, and the
girl looked at it seriously.

"Do you know, I have half a mind to throw it into the fire?" she said,
pointing to the smouldering wood where the bomb had fallen. "There seems
something sinister, something ominous about its possession that fills me
with terror."

She looked at it for a moment musingly, then handed it back to Malcolm.

"Poor Israel!" she said softly, "and poor Russia!"

They waited until darkness fell before they moved on. Malinkoff had an
idea that there was a crossroad before the town was reached, and
progress was slow in consequence, because he was afraid of passing it.
He was determined now not to go through the village, which lay directly
ahead. The fact that the aeroplane had been able to procure a recruit,
pointed to the existence of a camp of considerable dimensions in the
neighbourhood and he was anxious to keep away from armed authority.

It was a tense hour they spent--tense for all except Cherry Bim, who had
improvised a cushion on the baggage carrier at the back of the car, and
had affixed himself so that he could doze without fallin