'Good work, Iziah, good work,' smiled his master. 'Bring the bum in, so I can run my eye over him.'
Two minutes later all three coloured boys hustled in a short broad tousled figure, still only partly conscious, as was evident from the fact that his chin was on his chest and his head of short dark curls stuck forward rolling slightly. Yet the moment he appeared in the doorway Mary realized that it was Barney.
For his having been caught while surreptitiously reconnoitring the house there could be only one explanation. Somehow he had learned that she had been carried off to it and had come there to rescue her. During the past week she had thought many harsh thoughts about him. This wiped them all out in an instant. But he had bungled it. That was no fault of his. How could anyone foresee that a garage hand would suddenly emerge from a house at eleven o'clock at night to make sure that a car was in perfect running order? Nevertheless, he had been caught. And Colonel Hendrik G. Washington was not the sort of man who would take lightly being spied upon. Certain of his activities were definitely of such a kind that he would go to any lengths to prevent their discovery.
Mary felt certain that the giant American would not hand Barney over to the police. It was much more likely that he would have the boys give him a terrible beating, then throw him out - more likely still that Wash would not rest content until he learned what had led Barney to act the spy, and use torture on him to find out.
Frantically she searched her mind for some way to save Barney from the results of his ill-starred attempt to come to her help. Suddenly a possible though dangerous line occurred to her. If it did not come off, if Barney failed to pick up her lead, or made a mess of things while trying to follow it up, they would both pay a price that she did not allow herself to contemplate. But there was no other way of attempting to explain his presence. Swallowing hard, she forced a smile and exclaimed,
'What in the world are you doing here?' Then, swinging round on Wash, she cried with a laugh, 'This is a boy-friend of mine; and I've got it. As I've been missing from my flat for a week he must have become worried about me. How lovely! Learning that you'd carried me off he must have come here to play the Knight Errant and rescue me.'
The big American frowned. 'How come he learned it was me who took you from - from you know where - and that I'd brought you this place?�
'From Ratnadatta, of course,' she replied quickly. 'Our visitor is a neophyte. He was attending Mrs. Wardeel's evenings at the same time as myself. That blow you hit Ratnadatta couldn't have broken his neck, and I expect he was only too glad of a chance to...'
'Couldn't be,' Wash cut in. 'Ratnadatta doesn't know my real name or where I am stationed.'
Barney was still groggy, but his wits were coming back to him and he had taken in every word Mary had said. Seizing the lifeline she had thrown him, he said, a trifle thickly,
'Oh yes he does. And Margot's right. Your blow didn't kill him; but he's got a bandage as thick as a board round his neck. I didn't know how to get hold of him till tonight; but I was with him not much over an hour and a half ago. He's got it in for you. He ferreted out particulars about you from the secret list, and came down here yesterday himself to make a recce. Of course he hadn't got the guts to come in and have a crack at you, but he jumped at giving me the chance to do it for him.'
With a nod of thanks to the boys, their master told them to release their prisoner and get back to the kitchen. Standing up, he towered over Barney, and said with a wide smile, 'Well, you've made it, buddy. Now you are here I'm invitin' you to take a crack at me.'
'No.' Barney declined the honour with a slightly sheepish grin. 'But as Margot went off without leaving any sort of message you can't blame me for having been anxious about her.'
'I've nothing against that, son,' Wash threw out generously. 'Even if you have been wasting your time; shows your good taste. As you're a neophyte you'll no doubt have chosen your Satanic name. Mine's Twisting Snake; what's yours?'
That was a facer. Barney had no idea how to reply, but Mary had had more time to become knowledgeable about the history of the Black Art, so she swiftly stepped into the breach and said to Wash, 'I'm sorry; I ought to have introduced him. He is taking the name of Doctor Dee.'
'After the ace-high Elizabethan wizard, eh?' The American held out his huge hand. 'Glad to be acquainted, Doc! Put it there. You've driven quite a way already tonight. Right now we were about to sit down to supper. Reckon you'd better join us and stoke up a little 'fore you hit the trail back.'
Feeling that to accept was the natural, and therefore least dangerous, line to take, Barney, who, apart from a headache, had now fully recovered, replied, 'Thanks, that's very kind of you. I'd like to.'
'You're welcome,' said his host, and led the way through the door at the far end of the room, which gave directly on to the smaller dining-room, where Jim was waiting for the signal to serve supper.
Mary was aghast at Barney's having accepted. That they had avoided disaster even for so short a time seemed to her a miracle. Silently she cursed him for a fool for not having said that he meant to stay the night in Cambridge, apologize for his intrusion and get out while the going was good. She thanked her stars now that she had not said that he was an initiate. If she had, knowing next to nothing of the Satanic cult he could never have got by. As a neophyte he would not be expected to know more than the rudiments, but she feared that he would never be able to sustain even that role for half an hour in conversation with such a penetrating mind as Wash possessed.
Being very far from a fool, Barney was fully conscious of that danger. In consequence, as soon as they were seated he quickly got off the subject of the occult and led his host into a discussion about the respective prospects of the Republicans and the Democrats in the forthcoming elections in the United States.
The topic served for ten minutes, and the gulf between the British and American methods of democratic government served for another ten; but then Wash asked Barney who had sponsored him as a neophyte and when. Barney replied to the first question, 'Ratnadatta', which was safe enough, but he had to take a chance on the second and, having swiftly worked back the dates to a suitable Saturday, said: 'The 9th of March.'
That was the night that Ratnadatta had given Mary dinner, then taken her on for her first visit to the Temple. And that night the giant American had been there. He said he felt sure he had, but had no recollection of a neophyte resembling Barney having been introduced. He admitted that his memory might have let him down about the date, but that such lapses did not often occur with him. Then he asked Barney if it had been Abaddon or the Great Ram who had cut the penitent's clothing off from him.
For Mary and Barney it was a case of being saved by the gong, for at that very minute Jim came in to tell his master that the visitor he was expecting had arrived and had been shown into the sitting-room.
Without waiting for an answer to the question he had just asked, Wash came quickly to his feet and said: 'Both of you may chalk this up as one of your lucky nights. The Great Ram is here, and I'll make you known to him. Quit eating now and come with me.'
Obediently they left the remains of the foie gras and toast with which they had been finishing their supper, and followed him back into the sitting-room.
Standing in front of the fireplace was a tallish slim figure. On the only previous occasion when Mary had seen the Great Ram he had been wearing his big curly-horned mask, but she recognized his cruel, beautifully curved mouth and strong, deeply dimpled chin. Owing to his extraordinary resemblance to Otto, Barney, who had never seen him before, recognized him as Lothar.
Wash took a couple of strides forward and said: 'Exalted One, it's great to have you with us. I've two neophytes here, Circe and Doctor Dee. They'd be mighty pleased to have your blessing.