"I knelt again in the center of the pentacles, watching myself with more
fear, almost, than the monster; for I knew now that, unless I guarded
myself from every sudden impulse that came to me, I might simply work my
own destruction. Do you see how horrible it all was? "I spent the rest of the night in a haze of sick fright, and so tense
that I could not make a single movement naturally. I was in such fear
that any desire for action that came to me might be prompted by the
Influence that I knew was at work on me. And outside of the barrier that
ghastly thing went 'round and 'round, grabbing and grabbing in the air at
me. Twice more was the body of the dead cat molested. The second time, I
heard every bone in its body scrunch and crack. And all the time the
horrible wind was blowing upon me from the corner of the room to the left
of the bed. "Then, just as the first touch of dawn came into the sky, that unnatural
wind ceased, in a single moment; and I could see no sign of the hand. The
dawn came slowly, and presently the wan light filled all the room, and
made the pale glare of the Electric Pentacle look more unearthly. Yet, it
was not until the day had fully come, that I made any attempt to leave
the barrier, for I did not know but that there was some method abroad, in
the sudden stopping of that wind, to entice me from the pentacles. "At last, when the dawn was strong and bright, I took one last look
'round, and ran for the door. I got it unlocked, in a nervous and clumsy
fashion, then locked it hurriedly, and went to my bedroom, where I lay on
the bed, and tried to steady my nerves. Peter came, presently, with the
coffee, and when I had drunk it, I told him I meant to have a sleep, as I
had been up all night. He took the tray, and went out quietly, and after
I had locked my door I turned in properly, and at last got to sleep. "I woke about midday, and after some lunch, went up to the Grey Room. I
switched off the current from the Pentacle, which I had left on in my
hurry; also, I removed the body of the cat. You can understand I did not
want anyone to see the poor brute. After that, I made a very careful
search of the corner where the bedclothes had been thrown. I made several
holes, and probed, and found nothing. Then it occurred to me to try with
my instrument under the skirting. I did so, and heard my wire ring on
metal. I turned the hook end that way, and fished for the thing. At the
second go, I got it. It was a small object, and I took it to the window. I found it to be a curious ring, made of some greying material. The
curious thing about it was that it was made in the form of a pentagon;
that is, the same shape as the inside of the magic pentacle, but without
the 'mounts,' which form the points of the defensive star. It was free
from all chasing or engraving. "You will understand that I was excited, when I tell you that I felt sure
I held in my hand the famous Luck Ring of the Anderson family; which,
indeed, was of all things the one most intimately connected with the
history of the haunting. This ring was handed on from father to son
through generations, and always--in obedience to some ancient family
tradition--each son had to promise never to wear the ring. The ring, I
may say, was brought home by one of the Crusaders, under very peculiar
circumstances; but the story is too long to go into here. "It appears that young Sir Hulbert, an ancestor of Anderson's, made a
bet, in drink, you know, that he would wear the ring that night. He did
so, and in the morning his wife and child were found strangled in the
bed, in the very room in which I stood. Many people, it would seem,
thought young Sir Hulbert was guilty of having done the thing in drunken
anger; and he, in an attempt to prove his innocence, slept a second night
in the room. He also was strangled. Since then, as you may imagine, no
one has ever spent a night in the Grey Room, until I did so. The ring had
been lost so long, that 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 Electric Pentacle
once more all about me. From then, onward, for about two hours, I sat
quietly, facing the corner from which the wind came. About eleven o'clock
a queer knowledge came that something was near to me; yet nothing
happened for a whole hour after that. Then, suddenly, I felt the cold,
queer wind begin to blow upon me. To my astonishment, it seemed now to
come from behind me, and I whipped 'round, with a hideous quake of fear. The wind met me in the face. It was blowing up from the floor close to
me. I stared down, in a sickening maze of new frights.