The police and Wentworth
were tremendously interested, and I took the opportunity to warn them
that this was no piece of silly mumming on my part; but done with a
definite intention of erecting a barrier between us and any ab-human
thing that the night might show to us. I warned them that, as they
valued their lives, and more than their lives it might be, no one must
on any account whatsoever pass beyond the limits of the barrier that I
was making. "After I had drawn the circle, I took a bunch of the garlic, and smudged
it right 'round the chalk circle, a little outside of it. When this was
complete, I called for candles from my stock of material. I set the
police to lighting them, and as they were lit, I took them, and sealed
them down on the floor, just within the chalk circle, five inches apart. As each candle measured approximately one inch in diameter, it took
sixty-six candles to complete the circle; and I need hardly say that
every number and measurement has a significance. "Then, from candle to candle I took a 'gayrd' of human hair, entwining it
alternately to the left and to the right, until the circle was
completed, and the ends of the hair shod with silver, and pressed into
the wax of the sixty-sixth candle. "It had now been dark some time, and I made haste to get the 'Defense'
complete. To this end, I got the men well together, and began to fit the
Electric Pentacle right around us, so that the five points of the
Defensive Star came just within the Hair Circle. This did not take me
long, and a minute later I had connected up the batteries, and the weak
blue glare of the intertwining vacuum tubes shone all around us. I felt
happier then; for this Pentacle is, as you all know, a wonderful
'Defense.' I have told you before, how the idea came to me, after reading
Professor Garder's 'Experiments with a Medium.' He found that a current,
of a certain number of vibrations, _in vacuo,_ 'insulated' the medium. It
is difficult to suggest an explanation non-technically, and if you are
really interested you should read Carder's lecture on 'Astral Vibrations
Compared with Matero-involuted Vibrations below the Six-Billion Limit.' "As I stood up from my work, I could hear outside in the night a constant
drip from the laurels, which as I have said, come right up around the
house, very thick. By the sound, I knew that a 'soft' rain had set in;
and there was absolutely no wind, as I could tell by the steady flames of
the candles. "I stood a moment or two, listening, and then one of the men touched my
arm, and asked me in a low voice, what they should do. By his tone, I
could tell that he was feeling something of the strangeness of it all;
and the other men, including Wentworth, were so quiet that I was afraid
they were beginning to get shaky. "I set-to, then, and arranged them with their backs to one common center;
so that they were sitting flat upon the floor, with their feet radiating
outward. Then, by compass, I laid their legs to the eight chief points,
and afterward I drew a circle with chalk around them; and opposite to
their feet, I made the Eight Signs of the Saaamaaa Ritual. The eighth
place was, of course, empty; but ready for me to occupy at any moment;
for I had omitted to make the Sealing Sign to that point, until I had
finished all my preparations, and could enter the Inner Star. "I took a last look 'round the great hall, and saw that the two big
hounds were lying quietly, with their noses between their paws. The fire
was big and cheerful, and the candles before the two rows of doors, burnt
steadily, as well as the solitary ones in the corners. Then I went 'round
the little star of men, and warned them not to be frightened whatever
happened; but to trust to the 'Defense'; and to let nothing tempt or
drive them to cross the Barriers. Also, I told them to watch their
movements, and to keep their feet strictly to their places. For the rest,
there was to be no shooting, unless I gave the word. "And now at last, I went to my place, and, sitting down, made the Eighth
sign just beyond my feet. Then I arranged my camera and flashlight handy,
and examined my revolver. "Wentworth sat behind the First Sign, and as the numbering went 'round
reversed, that put him next to me on my left. I asked him, in a low
voice, how he felt; and he told me, rather nervous; but that he felt
confidence in my knowledge and was resolved to go through with the
matter, whatever happened. "We settled down to wait. There was no talking, except that, once or
twice, the police bent toward one another, and whispered odd remarks
concerning the hall, that appeared queerly audible in the intense
silence. But in a while there was not even a whisper from anyone, and
only the monotonous drip, drip of the quiet rain without the great
entrance, and the low, dull sound of the fire in the big fireplace. "It was a queer group that we made sitting there, back to back, with our
legs starred outward; and all around us the strange blue glow of the
Pentacle, and beyond that the brilliant shining of the great ring of
lighted candles. Outside of the glare of the candles, the large empty
hall looked a little gloomy, by contrast, except where the lights shone
before the sealed doors, and the blaze of the big fire made a good honest
mass of flame. And the feeling of mystery! Can you picture it all? "It might have been an hour later that it came to me suddenly that I was
aware of an extraordinary sense of dreeness, as it were, come into the
air of the place. Not the nervous feeling of mystery that had been with
us all the time; but a new feeling, as if there were something going to
happen any moment. "Abruptly, there came a slight noise from the east end of the hall, and I
felt the star of men move suddenly. 'Steady! Keep steady!' I shouted, and
they quietened. I looked up the hall, and saw that the dogs were upon
their feet, and staring in an extraordinary fashion toward the great
entrance. I turned and stared, also, and felt the men move as they craned
their heads to look. Suddenly, the dogs set up a tremendous barking, and
I glanced across to them, and found they were still 'pointing' for the
big doorway. They ceased their noise just as quickly, and seemed to be
listening. In the same instant, I heard a faint chink of metal to my
left, that set me staring at the hook which held the great door wide. It
moved, even as I looked. Some invisible thing was meddling with it. A
queer, sickening thrill went through me, and I felt all the men about me,
stiffen and go rigid with intensity. I had a certainty of something
impending: as it might be the impression of an invisible, but
overwhelming, Presence. The hall was full of a queer silence, and not a
sound came from the dogs. _Then I saw the hook slowly raised from out of
its hasp, without any visible thing touching it._ Then a sudden power of
movement came to me. I raised my camera, with the flashlight fixed, and
snapped it at the door.