had chosen were too hostile to allow the desired manifestation; the soul
would then withdraw, with the physical result of [141] miscarriage, still-birth,
or, where the embryo, deserted by the human soul, becomes open to the
obsession of some other thing, such as a Vampire or what the Bible calls a
"dumb spirit," the production of monsters or idiots.
Cyril Grey, by insisting upon constant devotion to the human ideal, hoped
to ward off all other types of soul, just as the presence of a pack of wolves
would frighten away a lamb; and he further trusted to attract potent forces,
who would serve as a kind of lighthouse to his harbour. He imagined his
desired Moon-soul, afloat in space, vehemently spurred towards the choir of
sympathetic intelligences whom it could hardly fail to perceive, by reason of
the intensity of the concentration of the magical forces of the operators upon
the human idea.
Two days before the beginning of the operation, a telegram from Paris
reached him. It stated that, as he suspected, Balloch and Douglas were the
forces behind the attack; further, that Grey's presence in Naples was known,
and that three members of the Black Lodge had left Paris for Italy.
He thought it undesirable to communicate the news to Lisa.
But he renewed his general warnings to her.
"Child!" he said, "you are now ready for our great experiment. On
Monday, the day of the New Moon, you take the oath of dedication; and we
shall be able to resume those relations which we temporarily renounced. Now
let me say to you that you are absolutely guarded in every way but one. The
weak spot is this: we cannot abolish unsuitable thoughts entirely from your
mind. It is for you to do that, and we have done our best to make the
conditions as favourable as possible; but I warn you that the struggle may be
bitter. You will be amazed at the possibilities of your own mind, its fertility
of [142] cunning, its fatally false logic, its power of blinding you to facts that
ought to be as clear as daylight — yes, even to the things before your very
eyes. It will seek to bewilder you, to make you lose your mental balance —
every trick is possible. And you will be so beaten and so blind that you have
only one safe — guard; which is, to adhere desperately to the literal terms of
your oath.
"Do that, and in a little while the mind will clear; you will understand what
empty phantoms they were that assailed you. But if you fail, your only
standard is gone; the waters will swirl about you and carry you away to the
abyss of madness. Above all, never distinguish between the spirit and the