FEBRUARY 299 



directed them at imagihary upper windows, and 

 presently he rejoiced when he detected by the 

 sound of broken glass that a missile had reached 

 its goal. A light appeared through the curtain, 

 and in answer to his shouting he heard feet 

 clumping down the stairs. The bolts of the door 

 were drawn by an aged man. 



"Ask your pardon," said Sterculus. 



The man only looked at him. He was a shock- 

 headed creature with wild, bloodshot eyes, low of 

 stature, and shaking with palsy. When he had 

 satisfied his curiosity about his disturber he tried 

 to shut the door again, but Sterculus had put his 

 hob -nailed boot against it. The shock -headed 

 man exploded in fits of cackling laughter, and 

 shufHed upstairs with his candle, leaving Sterculus 

 to enter or not as he would. It was a choice 

 between a night in the open or the company of an 

 imbecile, and he made the only decision possible. 

 He stepped inside, bolted the door, lighted himself 

 to the living-room with a match, and sat down in 

 the elbow-chair by the fireside. There were a 

 few live embers, and he drew them together and 

 fell asleep over them, impelled by sheer exhaus- 

 tion. 



He awoke with a start, not knowing how long 

 he had slept, and it was some moments before he 

 realised his position. The hearth was black, but 

 the room was illumined by a light not of earth 

 a light diffused dimly and equally through the 

 kitchen. By his chair there stood a tall figure clad 

 in garments such as his own grandfather had worn 

 fifty years ago. The face was pale and stern, and 



