“Now, anyone, except you who know something of my methods of investigation, might consider all this a piece of useless and foolish superstition; but you all remember the Black Veil case, in which I believe my life was saved by a very similar form of protection, whilst Aster, who sneered at it, and would not come inside, died.  I got the idea from the Sigsand Ms., written, so far as I can make out, in the 14th century.  At first, naturally, I imagined it was just an expression of the superstition of his time; and it was not until a year later that it occurred to me to test his ‘Defense,’ which I did, as I’ve just said, in that horrible Black Veil business.  You know how that turned out.  Later, I used it several times, and always I came through safe, until that Moving Fur case.  It was only a partial ‘defense’ therefore, and I nearly died in the pentacle.  After that I came across Professor Garder’s ‘Experiments with a Medium.’  When they surrounded the Medium with a current, in vacuum, he lost his power—­almost as if it cut him off from the Immaterial.  That made me think a lot; and that is how I came to make the Electric Pentacle, which is a most marvelous ‘Defense’ against certain manifestations.  I used the shape of the defensive star for this protection, because I have, personally, no doubt at all but that there is some extraordinary virtue in the old magic figure.  Curious thing for a Twentieth Century man to admit, is it not?  But, then, as you all know, I never did, and never will, allow myself to be blinded by the little cheap laughter.  I ask questions, and keep my eyes open.

“In this last case I had little doubt that I had run up against a supernatural monster, and I meant to take every possible care; for the danger is abominable.

“I turned-to now to fit the Electric Pentacle, setting it so that each of its ‘points’ and ‘vales’ coincided exactly with the ‘points’ and ‘vales’ of the drawn pentagram upon the floor.  Then I connected up the battery, and the next instant the pale blue glare from the intertwining vacuum tubes shone out.

“I glanced about me then, with something of a sigh of relief, and realized suddenly that the dusk was upon me, for the window was grey and unfriendly.  Then ’round at the big, empty room, over the double barrier of electric and candle light.  I had an abrupt, extraordinary sense of weirdness thrust upon me—­in the air, you know; as it were, a sense of something inhuman impending.  The room was full of the stench of bruised garlic, a smell I hate.

“I turned now to the camera, and saw that it and the flashlight were in order.  Then I tested my revolver, carefully, though I had little thought that it would be needed.  Yet, to what extent materialization of an ab-natural creature is possible, given favorable conditions, no one can say; and I had no idea what horrible thing I was going to see, or feel the presence of.  I might, in the end, have to fight with a materialized monster.  I did not know, and could only be prepared.  You see, I never forgot that three other people had been strangled in the bed close to me, and the fierce slamming of the door I had heard myself.  I had no doubt that I was investigating a dangerous and ugly case.