name, and the occult powers with which she was credited, had indicated
her as heroine of the piece.

On this particular afternoon the game had begun prosperously, with
Christian as the Witch of Endor, and John as a blend of the Prophet
Samuel and the Head Inquisitor of Spain. A smouldering saucer of
sulphur, purloined by the witch herself from the kennels
medicine-cupboard, gave a stimulating reality to the scene, even
though it had driven the fox terriers, who habitually acted as the
Witch's cats, to abandon their parts, and to hurry, sneezing and
coughing indignantly, to the kitchen. The twins, Jimmy and Georgy,
however, obligingly took their parts, and all was going according to
ritual, when one of the sudden and annoying attacks of rebellion to
which she was subject, came upon the Witch of Endor. The orthodox
conclusion involved a penitential march through the kitchen regions,
the Witch swathed in a sheet, and carrying lighted candles, while she
was ceremonially flagellated by the Prophet with one of his father's
hunting crops. This crowning moment was approaching, Christian had but
to reply suitably to the intimidating riddles of the hymn, and the
final act would open in all its solemnity. For, as has been said, the
spirit of revolt whispered to her, and ingeniously persuaded her that
the required recantation committed her to a falsehood.

As she told John, when the formal inquisition had passed through acrid
dispute to torture, she didn't tell lies.




CHAPTER II