"I know, but what else can it be?"
"Out of the Dark Ages," he muttered. "An echo of the Black Mass and
witchcraft, but--"
"What did they do," asked the girl, "to people they thought were
possessed?"
"Exorcism!" he whispered.
"And how did they--exorcise?"
"I don't know," he said in a low voice. "Pat, that's an impossible
idea, but--I don't know!" he ended.
"We'll try," she murmured, still covering his hand with her own. "What
else can we do, Nick?"
"What's done I'll do alone, Pat."
"But I want to help!"
"I'll not let you, Dear. I won't have you exposed to a repetition of
those indignities, or perhaps worse!"
"I'm not afraid."
"Then I am, Pat! I won't have it!"
"But what'll you do?"
"I'll go away. I'll battle the thing through once for all, and I'll
either come back free of it or--" He paused and the girl did not
question him further, but sat staring at him with troubled eyes.
"I won't write you, Pat," he continued. "If you should receive a letter
from me, burn it--don't read it. It might be from--the other, a trap or
a lure of some sort. Promise me! You'll promise that, won't you?"
She nodded; there was a glint of tears in her eyes.
"And I don't want you to wait, Pat," he proceeded. "I don't want you to
feel that you have any obligations to me--God knows you've nothing to
thank me for! When--If I come back and you haven't changed, then we'll
try again."
"Nick," she said in a small voice, "how do you know the--the other
won't come back here? How can you promise for--it?"
"I'm still master!" he said grimly. "I won't be dominated long enough
at any time for that to happen. I'll fight it down."
"Then--it's good-bye?"