hat it had become almost a myth; and it was most
extraordinary to stand there, with the actual thing in my hand, as you
can understand.

"It was whilst I stood there, looking at the ring, that I got an idea.
Supposing that it were, in a way, a doorway--You see what I mean? A sort
of gap in the world-hedge. It was a queer idea, I know, and probably was
not my own, but came to me from the Outside. You see, the wind had come
from that part of the room where the ring lay. I thought a lot about it.
Then the shape--the inside of a pentacle. It had no 'mounts,' and without
mounts, as the Sigsand MS. has it:--'Thee mownts wych are thee Five Hills
of safetie. To lack is to gyve pow'r to thee daemon; and surelie to
fayvor the Evill Thynge.' You see, the very shape of the ring was
significant; and I determined to test it.

"I unmade the pentacle, for it must be made afresh _and around_ the one
to be protected. Then I went out and locked the door; after which I left
the house, to get certain matters, for neither 'yarbs nor fyre nor waier'
must be used a second time. I returned about seven thirty, and as soon as
the things I had brought had been carried up to the Grey Room, I
dismissed Peter for the night, just as I had done the evening before.
When he had gone downstairs, I let myself into the room, and locked and
sealed the door. I went to the place in the center of the room where all
the stuff had been packed, and set to work with all my speed to construct
a barrier about me and the ring.

"I do not remember whether I explained it to you. But I had reasoned
that, if the ring were in any way a 'medium of admission,' and it were
enclosed with me in the Electric Pentacle, it would be, to express it
loosely, insulated. Do you see? The Force, which had visible expression
as a Hand, would have to stay beyond the Barrier which separates the Ab
from the Normal; for the 'gateway' would be removed from accessibility.

"As I was saying, I worked with all my speed to get the barrier completed
about me and the ring, for it was already later than I cared to be in
that room 'unprotected.' Also, I had a feeling that there would be a vast
effort made that night to regain the use of the ring. For I had the
strongest conviction that the ring was a necessity to materialization.
You will see whether I was right.

"I completed the barriers in about an hour, and you can imagine something
of the relief I felt when I felt the pale glare of the Electr