ut--now----"

The Canon stared at him almost sternly.

"We'd better not waste time," he said. "I wish you'd gone in then."

And he turned bruskly. He had opened the door, and was about to step on
to the broad path which divided the front of the house from the lawn,
when he heard steps approaching swiftly on the gravel.

"Some one coming!" he said. "Stop where you are, Darlington. I believe
its . . ."

Before he could finish his sentence Rosamund came upon him out of
the darkness. Her face was distorted, so distorted that he scarcely
recognized it. It seemed to have shrunk and sharpened, and it had the
look of fierceness which is characteristic of the faces of starving
people. She put out both her hands as she came up to him, pushed him
with violence into the house, and followed him.

"Lock the door!" she whispered. "Lock it! Lock it!"

"But----"

Her voice rose. She seemed savage with fear.

"Lock it, I tell you!"

A long arm shot out and a bony hand turned the key in the door.

"It's the only thing to be done for the moment," said Mr. Darlington to
the Canon. "She's mad with fear."

Both the maids had disappeared, terrified by the face of their mistress.
Rosamund caught hold of the stair-rail and began to hurry upstairs, but
Mr. Darlington followed her and seized her by the arm.

"Rosamund! Rosamund! What is it?"

She turned.

"I'm going to find Robin. That man's killed Robin! Keep him out! Keep
him away from me!"

A dreadful surreptitious expression made her face hideous. She leaned
forward, nodding her head, and whispered in Mr. Darlington's ear:

"_You_ keep him away from me while I find Robin. He's killed Robin!"

Her whole body began to shake. Mr. Darlington put one arm round her.

"But, Rosamund----"

Below, the handle of the door leading to the garden was turned, the door
was shaken, and there came a knocking on the wood.

Then Mr. Darlington heard again the cry which had come to him that
evening as he passed the garden of Little Cloisters. His arm dropped.

Rosamund went frantically up the stairs and disappeared on the dark
landing above.

BOOK IV -- THE UNKNOWN GOD

CHAPTER I

In June of the following year two young Englishmen, who were making a
swift tour of the near East, were sitting one evening in a public garden
at Pera. The west wind, which had been blowing all day, had gone down
with the coming of night. The air was deliciously warm, but not sultry.
The trave