were moments when she was decidedly of

the opinion that Mr. Cole was mad.

And she found these Visions of his some

LOH25

375

times very embarrassing. They recalled to

her certain outspoken passages in that very

modern German book on the Subconscious

Mind which she had read before coming

down to Devon.

Mr. Cole, his eyes glistening, his lips

twitching, began to talk excitedly.

"I had been meditating --reflecting on

the Fullness of Life, on the Supreme Joy of

Oneness --and then, you know, my eyes

were opened and I saw --"

Miss Carnaby braced herself and hoped

that what Mr. Cole had seen would not be

what he had seen the last time--which

had been, apparently, a Ritual Marriage in

ancient Sumeria between a god and goddess.

"I saw" --Mr. Cole leant towards her, breathing hard, his eyes looking (yes, really they did) quite mad --"the Prophet Elijah

descending from Heaven in his fiery

chariot."

Miss Carnaby breathed a sigh of relief.

Elijah was much better, she didn't mind

Elijah.

"Below," went on Mr. Cole, "were the

altars of Baal --hundreds and hundreds of

them. A Voice cried to me: "Look, write

376

and testify that which you shall see --) 3)

He stopped and Miss Carnaby murmured

politely :"Yes?"

"On the altars were the sacrifices, bound

there, helpless, waiting for the knife.

Virgins --hundreds of virgins --young

beautiful, naked virgins --"

Mr. Cole smacked his lips. Miss Carnaby

blushed.

"Then came the ravens, the ravens of

Odin, flying from the North. They met the

ravens of Elijah --together they circled in

the sky --they swooped, they plucked out

the eyes of the victims --there was wailing

and gnashing of teeth --and the Voice

cried: 'Behold a Sacrifice --for on this day

shall Jehovah and Odin sign blood brotherhood!'

Then the Priests fell upon their

victims, they raised their knives --they

mutilated their victims --"

Desperately Miss Carnaby broke away

from her tormentor who was now slavering

at the mouth in a kind of sadistic fervour:

"Excuse me one moment."

She hastily accosted Lipscomb, the man

who occupied the Lodge which gave

admission to Green Hills and who providentially

happened to be passing.

377

"I wonder,55 she said, "if you have

found a brooch of mine. I must have

dropped it somewhere about the grounds.39

Lipscomb, who was a man immune from

the general sweetness and light of Green

Hills, merely growled that he hadn't seen

any brooch. It wasn't his work to go about

looking for things. He tried to shake off

Miss Carnaby but she accompanied him, babbling about her brooch, till she had put a safe distance between herself and the

fervour of Mr. Cole.

At that moment, the Master himself came

out of the Great Fold and, emboldened by

his benignant smile. Miss Carnaby ventured

to speak her mind to him.

Did he think that Mr. Cole was quite - was quite - The Master laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You must cast out Fear,35 he said. "Perfect Love casteth out Fear. ..."