Page:Richard Marsh--The goddess a demon.djvu/265

Rh "Yes. So are we all fools; perhaps that's why some of us are wise."

I liked to hear her voice; to feel her hand upon my arm. Yet, every moment, my concern was getting greater. The crowd was growing, both in numbers and in impudence. Any second they might make an ugly rush, then there would be trouble; and that was not a scene in which I should wish the lady to play a part. Lawrence was marching on as if he meant to march for ever. I began seriously to ask myself if he was not playing us still another of his tricks; if he was not leading us he himself did not know where. On a sudden, he determined the question by stopping before a building which, outwardly, was more like a warehouse than a private residence.

"At last," he cried, "we are arrived. The Goddess waits for us within."

"Is this your place?"

"It is—and hers. Enter omnes!"

He threw open the door as if he were offering the whole crowd the freedom of the premises. I placed myself in front of it.

"I'm hanged if it shall be enter omnes! In you go." I thrust him in. "Now you and I together!"

The lady and I were across the threshold. I was about to slam the door in the face of the