Maurice Leblanc

“ How could they do other than think of that inscription, of the words written ages ago on the pages of the missal and on the stone of the dolmen? If destiny had as yet provided only twenty-seven victims for the thirty coffins of Sarek, were the last three not there, ready to complete the sacrifice, all three imprisoned, all three captive-and in the power of the sacrificial murderers? And if, at the top of the knoll, near the Grand Oak, there were as yet but three crowes, would the fourth not soon be prepared, to receive a fourth victim?
“Francois is a very long time,” said Veronique, presently. ”

“ I have a feeling that we are flung into the midst of a great tragedy which has continued for years, for centuries, and in which we have begun to play our parts only at the moment of the crisis, at the moment of the terrific cataclysm prepared by generations of men. ”

“ The God-Stone?”
“That riddle is hardly less obscure,” said Stephane, “and also depends entirely on the last line of the inscription: 'The God-Stone which gives life or death.' What is this God-Stone? Tradition says that it is a miraculous stone; and, according to M. d'Hergemont, this belief dates back to the remotest periods. People at Sarek have always had faith in the existence of a stone capable of working wonders. In the middle ages they used to bring puny and deformed children and lay them on the stone for days and nights together, after which the children got up strong and healthy. ”

“ Barren women resorted to this remedy with good results, as did old men, wounded men and all sorts of degenerates. Only it came about that the place of pilgrimage underwent changes, the stone, still according to tradition, having been moved and even, according to some, having disappeared. In the eighteenth century, people venerated the Fairies' Dolmen and used still sometimes to expose scrofulous children there.”
“But,” said Veronique, “the stone also had harmful properties, for it gave death as well as life?” ”

“ What is the connection between the present and the past, between our persecutors of to-day and the men who lived in these caves in days of old and whose actions are prolonged into our own time, in a manner so impossible to understand? ”

“ Intuition perhaps, presentiment, divination, or subconscious knowledge: you can choose any explanation that you please. As for Maguennoc, who did not despise the practices of the most antiquated magic, he would tell you that he knew it from the flight of a bird or the entrails of a fowl. However, his prophecy was based on something more serious. ”

“ But, on going to the wicket, he saw no one in the passage outside.
“Ah,” he said, “if we are to be rescued, the sooner it happens the better. They may come at any moment now.”
“Is any help really possible?” asked Veronique.
“Well,” Stephane answered, “we must not attach too much importance to it, but it's rather curious all the same. You know, Sarek has often been visited by officers or inspectors with a view to exploring the rocks and beaches around the island, which were quite capable of concealing a submarine base. ”

“ It is expressed in the line and part of a line inscribed on the Fairies' Dolmen: 'Four women crucified,' and 'For thirty coffins victims thirty times!'”
“Very well; but people have gone on living all the same, normally and peaceably. Why did the outburst of terror suddenly take place this year?”
“Maguennoc was largely responsible. ”