Both man and woman now attacked Shiel, who, placing himself
with his back against the railings, defended himself as best he could. The hour was late, there were no police about, and it seemed only too
probable that the fracas would end in a tragedy. The labourer was a
burly fellow, shorter than Shiel, but far broader and heavier, and any
one could see at a glance that Shiel stood no chance against him. Lilian Rosenberg, at her wits' end to know what to do, ran into Oakley
Street, and as there was no one in sight, she made for the nearest
lighted house and rang the bell furiously. A man came to the door,
whom, unheeding his expostulations, she caught by the arm and dragged
into the street. They arrived on the scene of action, just as the ruffian, breaking
through Shiel's guard, struck him a terrific blow on the forehead,
which sent him reeling against the railings. The newcomer (upon whom,
both man and woman, seeing Shiel incapacitated, instantly turned)
would probably have shared the same fate, had not the occupants of
several of the neighbouring houses--amongst whom were some half-dozen
athletic young men--roused by the noise, come out into the street, and
the ruffian and his companion, seeing the odds were against them,
decamped. Shiel had not fully regained consciousness, when Lilian Rosenberg,
regardless of propriety, led him into her sitting-room, bathed his
forehead, dosed him with brandy, and making up a bed for him on the
sofa, bade him rest there, till the morning. When he took his departure, he had quite recovered, and Lilian
Rosenberg had, at last, realized that she loved him. FOOTNOTES:

  [Footnote 23: There is no doubt that Moses inflicted the plagues,
  with which he tormented Pharaoh, in this way.] [Footnote 24: In stage two this might have been performed by
  ethereal projection, but Hamar could not resort to this method as
  the power of projection had now passed from him.] CHAPTER XXIV

THE SUBPOENA


A few days after the incident in Margaret Terrace, Shiel had an
inspiration. He was lunching with an old schoolfellow whom, quite by
chance, he had met in Lincoln's Inn, having previously lost sight of
him for many years, and the conversation, which had at first been
confined to the old days, had gradually drifted to what was ever
uppermost in Shiel's mind--namely, the Modern Sorcery Company, _i.e._
Hamar, Kelson and Curtis. "Did you know," his friend remarked, "that the old statute, introduced
in Henry the Fifth's reign against sorcery, has never been repealed?" "You don't mean to say so," Shiel cried excitedly--a vague idea
dawning on him. "Tell me all about it." "Well, that's rather a long order. For one thing, it imposes all kinds
of penalties from capital punishment to fines. For another, it was in
force up to the beginning of George the Third's reign, when the last
case of a person being burned for witchery in England occurred, and
since then it has fallen into disuse." "Could it be revived?" Shiel asked, a sudden wild hope surging through
him. "For all I know to the contrary, it could," his friend--who, by the
way, was a barrister--replied. "Of course no one could be burned or
hanged under it, but they might be fined or imprisoned." "Then I wish to goodness you would file a case against the Modern
Sorcery Company! I'd move heaven and earth to get the scoundrels sent
to prison!" And he told his friend how matters stood between Gladys
and Hamar. The barrister--whose name was Sevenning--H.V. Sevenning, of T.C.D. and
Cheltenham College renown--was keenly interested. It was not only that
his sense of chivalry was stirred, but he saw sport. Consequently, the
foregoing conversation resulted in a prosecution which, taking place
some four weeks later, was reported in the London Herald as follows--

    EXTRAORDINARY CHARGE HEARD AT THE OLD BAILEY. REVIVAL OF AN ANCIENT STATUTE. Yesterday, at the Old Bailey, before His Honour Judge Rosher, Leon
    Hamar, Edward Curtis and Matthew Kelson, of the Modern Sorcery
    Company Ltd., were indicted under the 23rd of Henry the Fifth, C.
    15, which makes it a capital offence to practise and administer
    spells. The case for the prosecution promises to be a lengthy one. An enormous number of witnesses, who are most anxious to make
    statements, will be called; and it is anticipated that much of
    their evidence will be of a most extraordinary nature. The accused are cited with having worked spells to the
    injury--which injury, in many instances, has been fatal--of a vast
    number of people, representative of every rank in life. Hilda, Countess of Ramsgate, who appeared in heavy mourning, was
    the first witness called. In her evidence she stated, that it was
    owing to an advertisement she had seen in the _Ladies' Meadow_,
    that she had consulted the Modern Sorcery Company Ltd., with the
    object of buying a spell to prevent her Pekingese pet, Brutus,
    catching colds on his liver. She had hoped to see Mr. Kelson, as
    she had heard that he was more sympathetic, where ladies were
    concerned, than either Mr. Hamar or Mr. Curtis, but as Mr. Kelson
    was engaged, she had consulted Mr. Edward Curtis instead. The
    latter had given her a spell which he had assured her would have
    the desired effect, but directly she got home, her adored Brutus
    developed melancholia, and died raving mad, after having bitten
    her child, who, by the way, had died, too. For the defence, Gerald Kirby, K.C., declared that the spell his
    client had given the Countess was perfectly harmless; that it
    could not possibly have produced either melancholia or madness. "Can any dependence," he said, "be placed on a woman, who
    obviously thinks more of her dog's death than that of her child!" The Court was adjourned till to-morrow. In the following day's paper, the evidence for the prosecution was
continued. Lady Marjorie Tatler, who, in the weekly and illustrated
journals, for no other reason than her reputed beauty, was reintroduced
over and over again to the long-suffering public, was the first to
step into the witness-box. She declared that Edward Curtis, instead of giving her a spell to
    make Florillda win the Derby, had given her a diabolical something
    that had brought out spots all over her face, and that she had to
    undergo a most expensive treatment before they could be got rid
    of. In cross-examination, Lady Marjorie Tatler admitted that she had
    asked Edward Curtis for a spell that would cause all the horses
    running in that particular race, save Florillda, to be taken ill.

    For the defence, Gerald Kirby, K.C., explained that his client was
    so disgusted at the immorality of Lady Marjorie's request, that he
    had purposely given her a spell that would have no effect upon a
    horse, and could not possibly bring out spots on her Ladyship's
    face.