"He crossed the room. There was a table, with a candlestick. He went around it and pressed his hand against the wall, beside the wood-box. The panel slid aside. It was very dark within. He ducked his head, because the opening was not large, and stepped inside...." "That would be the east wall ... to the left of the back door?" "Yes." "Now, Miss Carroll, can you remember exactly what Bram said to you that night? Something about fighting something, wasn't it?" "I've tried for sixty years to put it out of my mind, James. But I remember every word, I think." She was silent for a moment. * * * * * "I was beside him on the buggy seat. It was a warm evening, late in spring. I had told him that I loved him, and ... he had responded. He said that he would have spoken long before, but that he had not dared. Now there was that which I must know. "His life was not his own, he said. He was not ... native to this world. He was an agent of a mighty power, and he had trailed a band of criminals...." She broke off. "I could not truly understand that part, James. I fear it was too incoherent. He raved of evil beings who lurked in the shadows of a cave. It was his duty to wage each night an unceasing battle with occult forces." "What kind of battle? Were these ghosts, or demons, or what?" "I don't know. Evil powers which would be unloosed on the world, unless he met them at the portal as the darkness fell and opposed them." "Why didn't he get help?" "Only he could stand against them. I knew little of abnormal psychology, but I understood the classic evidence of paranoia. I shrank from him. He sat, leaning forward, his eyes intent. I wept and begged him to take me back. He turned his face to me, and I saw the pain and anguish in his eyes. I loved him ... and feared him. And he would not turn back. Night was falling, and the enemy awaited him." "Then, when you got to the house...?" "He had whipped up the horses, and I remember how I clung to the top braces, weeping. Then we were at the house. Without a word he jumped down and ran to the door. I followed. He lit a lamp and turned to me. From somewhere there was a wailing call, like an injured animal. He shouted something--an unintelligible cry--and ran toward the back of the house. I took up the lamp and followed. In the kitchen he went to the wall, pressed against it. The panel opened. He looked at me. His face was white. "'In the name of the High God. Linda Carroll, I entreat you....' "I screamed. And he hardened his face, and went down ... and I screamed and screamed again...." Miss Carroll closed her eyes, drew a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry to have put you through this, Miss Carroll," Tremaine said. "But I had to know." Faintly in the distance a siren sounded. In the mirror, headlights twinkled half a mile behind. Tremaine stepped on the gas. The powerful car leaped ahead. "Are you expecting trouble on the road, James?"