icate mystery of worship, as wholesome as the
morning song of birds. I do not know how the Semites found Ashtaroth's
ritual; to them it may well have been more rapt and passionate than it
seemed to me. For I saw in it only the sweet simplicity of Nature, and
all riddles of lust and terror soothed away as a child's nightmares are
calmed by a mother. I found my legs able to move, and I think I took
two steps through the dusk towards the tower.

And then it all ended. A cock crew, and the homely noises of earth
were renewed. While I stood dazed and shivering, Lawson plunged
through the Grove toward me. The impetus carried him to the edge, and
he fell fainting just outside the shade.

My wits and common-sense came back to me with my bodily strength. I
got my friend on my back, and staggered with him towards the house. I
was afraid in real earnest now, and what frightened me most was the
thought that I had not been afraid sooner. I had come very near the
"abomination of the Zidonians."

At the door I found the scared valet waiting. He had apparently done
this sort of thing before.

"Your master has been sleep-walking and has had a fall," I said. "We
must get him to bed at once."

We bathed the wounds as he lay in a deep stupor, and I dressed them as
well as I could. The only danger lay in his utter exhaustion, for
happily the gashes were not serious, and no artery had been touched.
Sleep and rest would make him well, for he had the constitution of a
strong man. I was leaving the room when he opened his eyes and spoke.
He did not recognize me, but I noticed that his face had lost its
strangeness, and was once more that of the friend I had known. Then I
suddenly bethought me of an old hunting remedy which he and I always
carried on our expeditions. It is a pill made up from an ancient
Portuguese prescription. One is an excellent specific for fever. Two
are invaluable if you are lost in the bush, for they send a man for
many hours into a deep sleep, which prevents suffering and madness,
till help comes. Three give a painless death. I went to my room and
found the little box in my jewel-case. Lawson swallowed two, and
turned wearily on his side. I bade his man let him sleep till he woke,
and went off in search of food.

IV

I had business on hand which would not wait. By seven, Jobson, who had
been sent for, was waiting for me in the library. I knew by his grim
face that here I had a very good