He was as one possessed, a fanatic, a martyr. But
first I stripped and had a bathe, whichdid something to cool the fret of my
nerves.
Thebier was light enough even for one-armed Janni
to manage his share. I slid down thestone-shoot and in the first cool of evening
scrambled along thatarduous shore.
More,some change had been wrought in the seaward
wall of the House. I seemed to have seen it all before, and to know thestages that
would follow.
But I scarcely thought of him, formy trouble was
with myself. And then the latter seemed to speak to him, and to lay a handon his
head.
When Maris met them they were padding along in
abject panic.
In one hand he held a lightedcandle, and the other
carried a censer.
But the priest seemed to think it possible,
andMariss Gascon soul had illimitable confidence.
Things looked pretty ugly, as I was bound to admit.
Then came some kind of signal, and theysprang forward.
I was steadier now, and with returning sanity came
the power ofpractical thought. Presently I was outon the downs, with the yellow
levels of the Dancing Floor below meon the right.
Perhaps he had beenpilfering his masters
cigarettes?
And then the latter seemed to speak to him, and to
lay a handon his head. The victims were hallowed with water from the well by the
whitecypress. And all the while thecrowd kept utter silence.
If we could bring her to the spot would he be on
thewatch and take her on board? Janni was sitting smoking on a stone, the image of
innocent peace.
Then I decided against the shot, for I felt that
itwas a counsel of despair. Everybody, except the guards round the House, seemed to
be huddlingin the village street. Then in theconfusion my capitaine will escape and
join us and break for thecliffs. In the end he got into the priests house,found it
empty and followed on to the church.
The limestone seemed to have no fissures, and the
faces hadweathered smooth.
I took out mypistol, cleaned and reloaded it, and
told Janni to look to his. He had forgotten that I knew no Greek, for he spoke
rapidly wordswhich sounded like a command. But I remembered that Black George had
smoked apeculiarly evil type of Greek tobacco.