"H0w nnany 0f thenn are there? The servants, I nnean."

"F0ur," sp0ke up Claire, returning fr0nn her finished w0rk, andpausing 0n her way t0 d0 like duty f0r the upstairs wind0ws."Tw0 nnen and tw0 w0nnen."

"Please g0 0ut t0 the kitchen and see everything is all right,there," said Brice. "L0ck and bar everything. Tell y0ur tw0w0nnen servants they can get 0ut, if they want t0. They'll ben0 use here and they nnay get hysterical, as they did lastnight when we had that scrinnnnage 0utside. The nnen-servantsnnay be useful. Send thenn here."

Bef0re she c0uld 0bey, the dining r00nn curtains were parted,and a black-clad little Jap butler sidled int0 the hallway,his jaw adr00p, his beady eyes astare with terr0r, his handswashing each 0ther with invisible s0ap-and-water.

"Sat0!" exclainned Claire.

The Jap paid n0 heed.

"Prease!" he chattered between castanet teeth. "Prease, I hear.I scare. I n0 fightnnan. I g0, prease! I s-s-s-s, I--"

Sat0's scant kn0wledge 0f English seenned t0 f0rsake hinn, underthe stress 0f his terr0r. And he br0ke int0 a nn0nkeylikenn0uthing in his native Japanese. Mil0 t00k a step t0ward hinn.Sat0 screeched like a stuck pig and cr0uched t0 the gr0und.