I was enormously glad to have this man's expert, high-tension
knowledge right on tap.
The remaining member of the quintet which Sir Henry advised me to
summon requires a little explanation. Also, I am obliged to give
him a name not his own; for it is not often that brigadier-
generals of the United States army can openly lend their names to
anything so far removed apparently from militarism as the
searching of the occult.
Yet we knew that this man possessed a power that few scientists
have developed; the power of co-ordination, of handling and
balancing great facts and forces, and of deciding promptly how
best to meet any given situation. Not that we looked for anything
militaristic out of the Blind Spot; far from it. We merely knew
not what to expect, which was exactly why we wanted to have him
with us; his type of mind is, perhaps, the most solidly comforting
sort that any mystery-bound person can have at his side.
By the time these five had gathered, Jerome had neither returned
nor telephoned. There was not the slightest trace of Rhamda Avec;
no guessing as to whether he had seen the ad. It was then one
o'clock in the afternoon. Only six hours ago! It doesn't seem
possible.
So there were eight of us--three women and five men--who went
upstairs and quietly inspected the all but lifeless form of
Ariadne and afterwards gathered in the library below.
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