HAT now?” inquired Latham.
“Now,” Harley replied, “my great experiment begins; and I have no time to lose in commencing. Therefore, Latham, will you be good enough to seat yourself in the rest chair before the fireplace.”
“What?” said Latham, not comprehending.
“Just sit there for a moment, and do as I direct. That's all.”
“Right,” the other agreed, impressed by the urgency of Harley's manner.
He crossed to the chair, and sank down into its cushions.
“Now,” continued Harley, “look around. You can see the image of Káli quite plainly, can you not?”
“Yes, quite plainly.”
Harley grasped the heavy pedestal on which the strange figure rested and, moving it much nearer to the French windows, asked, “See it now?”
“Yes, I can still see it. But surely, Harley,” he protested, “you have done all this before?”
“No,” was the reply, “not this part!”
He moved the figure yet farther.
“Can you see it now?”
“No.”
“What obstructs your view?”
“The lacquer cabinet, at the foot of the stairs.”
“Good,” said Harley. “Operation No. 1 completed. Now we will leave the library for a moment, first turning all the lights out.”
“Right!” said Latham, smiling slightly. “This is all frightfully mysterious. But no doubt you know what you're about.”
Accordingly the two men left the library, extinguishing the lights from the switch inside the door.
“The room which has been placed at your disposal for tonight,” Harley inquired when they were in the corridor, “is right at the top of the house, is it not?”
“Yes, above Mrs. Moody's.”
“Good. I will see you to your room.”
With no further explanation to the puzzled Latham, Harley led the way upstairs and on the top landing halted, looking upward at a trap in the ceiling of the top corridor, which clearly gave access to the roof.
“Ah!” he muttered, whilst Latham watched him in silence. “There's probably a ladder somewhere for reaching that trap. I should have located it; it was careless of me.”
“What about the cupboard at the end there?” suggested Latham.
Harley nodded, went along to the cupboard, opened the door, and sure enough, in addition to a quantity of spare linen, there was a short ladder.
“Excellent, Latham,” he said, pulling it out. “We must not make too much noise. Now—” he placed the ladder against the wall under the trap—“the other two rooms on this corridor are at present unoccupied, I believe. Therefore, provided no one comes upstairs, we shall not be interrupted. You will mount guard during my absence. If anyone comes up—anyone, mind—it will be your job to invent some story to account for your presence and to induce the inquirer to return, without giving him, or her, an opportunity of seeing this ladder and the open trap. Do you understand?”
“Quite,” said Latham, entering into the spirit of the thing. “Count upon me absolutely.”
“Good!”
Harley nodded, mounted the ladder, and without very much difficulty, raised the wooden trap.
“Look out,” he said softly, as he did so. “I'm afraid I can't avoid a shower bath, but there's no reason why you should not dodge it.”
As he had anticipated, a stream of rain water fell upon the carpet as the trap was raised; but, not heeding this, Harley climbed through and disappeared onto the roof. Latham peered upward, but could see no stars, whereby he concluded that the night was black. Ominous rumblings sounded in the distance; from some quality in the atmosphere it was easy to predict that sooner or later, at some point not far from the Abbey, the electrical disturbance would culminate in a tremendous storm.
The object of Paul Harley's behavior, Latham was utterly unable to imagine. Neither his moving of the figure of Káli, nor his present excursion upon the roof, conveyed anything to Latham's mind. He could detect no association of ideas; but, recognizing that he did not know the root of the mystery, he wisely refrained from useless theorizing and, taking up his post at the head of the stairs, he patiently waited for Harley's return.
He had not long to wait. Harley was not gone more than two minutes. When he came back, however, and, lowering himself onto the top of the ladder, succeeded in replacing the trap and climbing down into the corridor, it was evident that the expedition had been successful, There was an almost fierce look in his gray eyes, but a grim smile upon his lips.
“Have you discovered something?” asked Latham.
“Yes.”
“What?”