Once everyone was settled in to the four rooms Sir Cosmo obtained, they quickly fell to sleep, even Miss Sinclair. It was very comforting to hear everyone resting so peacefully. I began my usual evening meditations, with certain modifications as I contemplated the new lesson learned on the trip down river. I varied the cadence of the mantras to match the breathing patterns of first one, and then another, of my charges. Implications of the revelation unfolded before my mind's eye like a blooming flower.

My medications were interrupted by the intrusion of an alien spirit. The presence of my old master, Jerrold Moriarty, suddenly became as tangible as if he had entered the room. Since he has come back from the dead before, this was not unthinkable, though I thought it far more likely a visitation from his ghost, perhaps with vengeful intent. Quickly ascertaining that he was not physically in the room I shared with the Marquis and Dr. Wilson, and noting that both of those gentlemen were sleeping soundly, I left the room. I could hear Mrs. Cuthbert and Miss Whitnell waking up, so I tapped on their door first.

I told them that I sensed the proximity of Jerrold Moriarty, and asked if they were both well. They immediately volunteered that they had been awakened by a strage dream which had included Moriarty, and were getting dressed so as to join me in a search of the rooms. I preceeded to the room where Miss Sinclair and Miss Chigwidgeon slept, only to hear Miss Chigwidgeon already speaking of a disturbing dream. They assured me they were both unharmed. I proceeded to the room where Mr. Cuthbert, Sir Cosmo, Edward, and George were sleeping, and heard Edward writing very rapidly, while George explained that he and Edward had been awakened by similarly disturbing dreams.

By this time Dr. Wilson and the Marquis had awakened and come into the hallway. I explained the situation. The Marquis went downstairs to see if he could find some brandy. Dr. Wilson went to search the immediate environs for any physical danger. George and I also did a quick patrol around the building. By the time we had returned, the entire household was in the common room of the inn. Fortunately the kitchen staff had already begun making breakfast for the early risers.

There was a long discussion of the dreams. Miss Chigwidgeon, Mrs. Cuthbert, Miss Whitnell, Edward, George, and Sir Cosmo all had similar dreams, though each differed somewhat from the other in particulars.

Mrs. Cuthbert's dream began at the wedding of Sir Cosmo to Miss Chigwidgeon, where she was spoken to by Lt. Wooster, Jerrold Moriarty, and the priest. Lt. Wooster spoke of his grandfather's death (Sir Cosmo mentioned that Wooster's grandfather, the Viscount Yaxley, is of a similar age as Lord Greyminister, and so may pass on in the near future). Moriarty spoke to Mrs. Cuthbert about her ability to speak with the dead, and about Kali's blood, which could save Sir Cosmo and Miss Chigwidgeon, though from what they would be saved, he didn't say. The priest spoke some nonsense about cheese.

Mrs. Cuthbert said the wedding guests left the church, and she found herself outside, watching Miss Whitnell and some of the others playing croquet. Edward and Owen were also nearby, working on one of Edward's machines on the shore of a pond. Miss Chigwidgeon and Sir Cosmo were in a rowboat on the pond. Moriary repeated his suggestion about Kali's blood, then walked away. Mrs. Cuthbert woke up.

Miss Whitnell's dream began at the croquet game, which she was playing with Miss Sinclair, Inspector MacGregor, and her Great-Aunt. Lady Miranda was also there, digging a large hole in the lawn, looking for something. Moriary appeared and made comments to the effect that he was being punished in the afterlife. He warned Miss Whitnell that Lady Miranda was looking for swords, and if she found them, they would all be in danger. A strange man interrupted and started talking about cheese. Lady Miranda was upset at Moriarty for helping Miss Whitnell, because he should be helping her. Moriarty made a comment about the only help he needed was prayer, and that no one should follow where he had gone. The man with the cheese kept interrupting, so Miss Whitnell's aunt, after commenting that there are more annoying things than gods and demons, attacked him in some way with her croqhet ball. When the ball destroyed the man, the aunt said, "Never mess with an old witch" and made some comment about not approving of gods. Moriarty then quoted a proverb about being driven by the devil, and walked away. At some point in Miss Whitnell's dream, she also noticed Edward working on a machine, and Miss Chigwidgeon and Sir Cosmo in a rowboat. When Miss Whitnell started to go toward the rowboat, she was stopped by her aunt, who said that they other two were married. Miss Whitnell also said that I walked through the croquet game and warned her about hidden dangers.

Edward's dream involved him working on a machine on the shore of a pond. Miss Chigwidgeon and Sir Cosmo were on the pond in a boat. Miss Whitnell and Miss Sinclair were playing croquet. Mrs. Cuthbert was walking toward the croquet game. Moriarty was sitting beside Edward, handing him tools and commenting on his project. Moriarty told Edward that he used to think that ignorance was the only sin, but now he knew differently. He warned Edward not to follow in his footsteps. Edward also dreamed that I walked by and warned him about spirits. The cheese man appeared in Edward's dream talking "nonsense."

Miss Chigwidgeon's dream began in the rowboat with Sir Cosmo. She could see Edward and Owen on the shore, working on a machine. She could also see the croquet game and Mrs. Cuthbert walking toward it. Nigel was also in the dream, standing on a platform in the middle of the pond. He was encircled with heavy chains, each of which was weighed down with a large bible or a cross or another religious symbol. Nigel made some comment about how he had condemned himself, and then he stepped off the platform and sank into the pond. Sir Cosmo built a crane to try to rescue Nigel. Meanwhile, Moriarty appeared, standing on the platform, and told Miss Chigwidgeon that only Nigel could save himself. Another man rowed up in another boat, and began talking to Miss Chigwidgeon about cheese. Moriarty told her to ignore the cheese man, and told her about Kali's blood, and how half a drop could save them. I swam out to them and dove in to try to save Nigel. Sir Cosmo also dove in to save Nigel. Moriarty then told Miss Chigwidgeon he had many sins for which to make amends, and little time to do it.

Sir Cosmo's dream began on the rowboat. He and Miss Chigwidgeon had a nice afternoon boat ride. He remembers seeing Edward and Owen and the others on shore. But he says he saw no signs of Moriarty, Lady Miranda, Nigel, or the cheese man. "It was just a pleasant boat ride," he said.

George's dream was similar to visions he has had of Moriarty before. Moriarty appeared to him in the training room of the old headquarters. He warned him that Edward and the others were in danger. He warned him that Master Tandu, the Widows, and other members of the old organization could not be trusted. He told him that I and George were the only people he could trust to guard Edward's life. As George said, "It wasn't anything I didn't already know."

It seemed clear that at least one spirit, persumably Moriarty's, was trying to tell them all something specific. As they were talking about the frequent mentions of Kali's blood, I realized what the message probably referred to. I told them of the story of when Kali bled during a battle with a demon, and how the drops of her blood that struck the earth each turned into a beautiful, magical ruby. Moriarty had owned two ceremonial daggers he had brought back from India. Each was inlaid with a large ruby which, legend had it, were from those drops of Kali's blood. The daggers, I said, did have mystical power, which I had sensed on the few occasions I had seen them, but I did not know the nature of that power.

Everyone agreed that Moriarty's references to swords that Lady Miranda was looking for and to Kali's blood which could save members of the household from danger probably referred to these daggers. But where would we find them.

George spoke up sheepishly. A few days after Moriarty died, Master Tandu gave George two large packages, of about the right shape and size to be the daggers. He was to deliver one to an address in Stepney. He was to take the other to the railway station and send to the address on the package. He did not remember mcuh about the names or addresses. He was certain he could lead us to the one location. He was less certain about the other. He thought the name on the package was Apple-something, or maybe another kind of fruit. It was going to General Delivery, in some county or town whose name ended in "-wich." Unfortunately that hardly narrows things down.

The captain of the steam tug awakened and came down to breakfast. By this point it was clear that any further progress in deciphering the dreams, or otherwise dealing with the difficulties before us, could best be done in London. We began packing and otherwise preparing for the return trip. While we were packing, Miss Wilhelmina asked me to give her more specific instructions in meditation from now on. I agreed that might be a wise decision.

On the return trip I asked the ladies to join me for their usual lessons. The limited space and unsteady surface provided by the deck offered an unusual opportunity for their lessons. Miss Bertilde, who apparently suffers from some sort of seasickness, had asked Mrs. Cuthbert for "a little something" and was sleeping peacefully, so we left her to it. The lessons went rather well.

Once returned to London there was much to do. As always, there was mail. Both Mr. Ramsay and Inspector MacGregor had left messages with Mr. Graves. Since no one had had a change of clothes with them in Gravesend, there was also a lot of cleaning up and freshening up to be done, as well as lunch to be served and eaten. In the midst of all that, Lt. Lochsley and Lt. Pellew, from the Griffin, arrived at the doorstep. Lochsley was expected, as he has written Mrs. Cuthbert several times concerning coming for a visit. Pellew apparently was along for the ride.

Pellew and Lochsley had planned to spend part of the afternoon visiting with Lt. Wooster, who was released from police custody last night. However, Wooster was preparing to have his brother and his sister over to tea, and could not have additional guests. The Marquis, having gone from the docks directly to his home, arrived at the house after luncheon. He had developed his photographic film. Among the many odd and blurry images, he had at least one clear image of Baron Blackhall's coach, along with a blurred image of Blackhall himself, and some of his sorceress pariphenalia. Mr. Ramsay arrived around the same time to inform us that Nigel Graham had sent him a brief note, indicating he had seen the "white-skinned assassin" and was following him. This caused a great deal of worry and fretting among the household. Spells had to be cast, and scrying needed to be done. Ramsay was quite upset to learn that Baron Blackhall had attempted to kill the Marquis and Dr. Wilson, and that his attempts had resulted in the death of the balloon operator.

Young Graham's situation seemed the higher priority to most of the League. The scrying seemed to indicate that he was sitting in a pub across a street from the club where Mr. Chigwidgeon had earlier indicated Miss Chigwidgeon's brother is employed. He didn't appear to be in any actual danger at the moment, but that did nothing to allay anyone's fears. When it was suggested that a small group of us could take a carriage to retrieve him, the plan was met with angry rejection. When Sir Cosmo proposed that, if everyone was determined to go, perhaps this would be an opportunity to form an alliance with Mr. Xanthus against the more dangerous factions, it was not met with enthusiasm. Although the plan itself looked rather promising on the chalk board, I found I agreed with Miss Whitnell and Miss Chigwidgeon that Xanthus' past murderous inclinations made the plan's long-term success unlikely.

I was instructed to sort us out into vehicles, so that no carriage would be bereft of fighting ability and that the mystics would all be in a single carriage, as there was more spell-casting to be done. We were loading up into the barouche, Mr. Cuthbert's coach, and the Marquis' gig when Inspector MacGregor arrived with some interesting news about the women of the Molloy and Billingham clans, respectively. He also had some evidence, admissible in court, which would tie Claude Moriarty to the the french diplomat's death.

We arrived in Southwerk. The Marquis' vehicle being swiftest, they arrived first, without any idea of who they were their to retrieve. They performed a discrete reconnasance and determined no gangs of thuggees or similar dangers were lying in wait for the rest of us. Inspector MacGregor, myself, and Mr. Cuthbert went into the pub and retrieved Graham quiet easily. While we were about this, Mr. Chigwidgeon happened by. He recognized Edward and came over to speak to Miss Chigwidgeon. Miss Chigwidgeon went with him to meet her brother.

Once Miss Chigwidgeon's visit was finished, and the sorcerer's had cast another spell to determine the approximate location of the Cobb's Daggers, we returned to Charles Street to discuss further actions.

Graham had not seen Mr. Xanthus in person, but had rather had one or more of his prophetic dreams and had recognized the location where Xanthus will be, according to the dreams some time today: the same burlesque where Miss Chigwidgeon's brother works. Fortuitously, Inspector MacGregor hopes to find an eyewitness to Le Rothiere's murder at the same club this evening. A plan was eventually concocted whereby Edward (accompanied by George and Miss Bertilde) would return to the neighborhood and organize his friends to keep a watch for Xanthus. If Xanthus arrives, to take note of what business he conducts, who he sees, and where he goes. MacGregor would proceed with his investigation. The rest of the household will arrive at the club after it opens for business, and continue the Xanthus watch from inside, thus being on hand to assist MacGregor should a need arise.

When Edward and his party went off, Lt. Pellew apparently decided to attach himself, and followed along. The rest of the household had an early supper, and then we were off.

When we arrived, there were two police wagons and a crowd of constables across the street. Lt. Pellew and Inspector MacGregor were among the constables. George, Miss Bertilde, and Edward joined us from a nearby alley, and told us what had happened.

Claude had confronted Edward. Meanwhile, a group of his thuggees had attacked Miss Bertilde and Lt. Pellew in the alley. According to Miss Bertilde, Pellew was exceptionally good at unarmed combat, though once half of the thuggees were taken out, he made a comment about how she seemed to have things in hand, pulled off his boots, and scaled the building toward the spot where Edward was keeping an eye peeled for Xanthus. Pellew, Edward, and George took out Claude and the remaining thuggees. It appears that Claude is not Jerrold Moriarty's son. Rather, Pellew claims to be Moriarty's son. I learned most of this from George later, as, though Miss Bertilde guessed that Pellew must be related to Edward, all the Edward would say on the matter at the time was, "I knew he was too stupid to be my father!"

Claude was severely injured, perhaps even dying, because of the fight with Pellew and Edward. Mr. Frazer and Inspector MacGregor were anxious to question him, so Mrs. Cuthbert healed him enough to reduce the chance of death, then Mr. Frazer went off in the wagon with him to question him.

Sir Cosmo suggested the rest should go inside the cabaret. There was a sudden resistance from Miss Sinclair and Miss Whitnell. Apparently it had not occured to them that "watching for Xanthus from inside" would require someone other than Mr. Cuthbert going into the burlesque. I am not sure why they thought that their own reputations would somehow be less questionable if they were seen lurking about outside the burlesque for several hours rather than inside in a semi-private box, but then again, I do not understand many things about English society.

George, myself, and Mr. Cuthbert's coachman were left outside with the vehicles. Everyone else went into the club. It was during this time that George was able to describe the fight between Pellew and Claude. Although Pellew doesn't bear much of a physical resemblance to the Cobb, his intellect and some aspects of his personality are much closer to Jerrold Moriarty's. I can't imagine Claude possessing a library half the size of Pellew's navigational and geographical book collection that we saw on the Griffin, for one thing.

The street seemed to contain the usual traffic for the time of night and the neighborhood. With a few exceptions.

An english gentleman, very finely dressed, arrived at the bulesque just moments before the League entered. I thought at first he was a sorcerer, as his spirit shown in a strange manner. Closer examination showed that the man is, indeed, endowed with some sort of magickal properties, but wholly unlike anything I have seen before. Miss Whitnell and Mr. Ramsey took notice of the same gentleman, and exchanged a few words about him. His name is Mr. Dorian Grey, and he is not unknown to the Order of St. Jerome, though Mr. Ramsey was not aware of the particulars.

After the league entered, three "gentleman" arrived in a four-wheeled cab. They had the look of a vetala or a ghul. Physically, all three were pale and dressed in expensive, if somewhat out of fashion clothing. One was auburn-haired with eyes that were so pale blue as to be almost colourless. The second had black, curling hair and dark eyes. The third was brown-haired and brown-eyed. I hastened into the club after them, afraid that they might endanger the league. I saw Miss Whitnell, Mr. Ramsay, and young Mr. Graham all reacting to the arrival of the creatures. They were obviously alerting the other members of the league to the presence of the undead creatures, so I returned to the carriages.

Not long after, the three gentlemen exited the building in considerable haste. The auburn-haired one and the black-haired one were half carrying the third man, who was on fire, almost as if he had been doused with kerosene and set alight. The other two dragged him to a large puddle in the middle of the street, through their burning companion into the water, and stomped the fire out as if he were a burning rug.

Several passersby took notice of this unusual behavior, but only one man was foolhardy enough to approach him. The auburn man fixed this person with a steely glare and ordered him to go away. As if mesmerized, the would-be samaritan turned and shuffled away, with the a most disturbingly blank expression. The auburn creature glared at the other gawkers, and that time I felt a hint of mysical power come from him, and most everyone suddenly become uninterested in their further actions.

I had noticed that Miss Whitnell, with a most mischeivous expression of curiousity on her face, as stepped out of the burlesque, just far enough to watch the two undead men extinguish their companion.

While the auburn creature was sending away the crowd, his black-haired companion had lifted the charred body of the third man from the water. He scarcely was recognizable as a man, he was so badly burned. Most of his skin was the color of charcoal. The auburn man took a firm hold of the other two, and with another exertion of mystical power, the three were transformed into a swarm of bats, which disappeared into the night.

Miss Whitnell returned to the inside of the bulesque, apparently satisfied.

Finally, a black landau, drawn by a matched pair of bay stallions. The coach bore no markings, though it could scarcely go unnoticed, as the coachman, instead of sporting a typical English coachman's attire, was dressed as a Muhammdan Turk, complete with turban and a large knife at his side. The two footman were similarly dressed. I was not at all surprised when an albino man, dressed in the dark evening clothes of a wealthy Englishman stepped out of the landau. Graham's dream had been correct: Mr. Xanthus was attending the burlesque this evening. He showed no signs of sorcerous power or any other mystical taint. He entered the building.

Not long after he entered, the League exited. Xanthus had apparently concluded some business with Mr. Grey and departed to one of the other music halls or bars within the block, which inter-connect with the burlesque cabaret. Edward, George, and Miss Bertilde were to remain behind in Southwark to coordinate the street boys who will follow Xanthus' coach. The rest of us returned to Charles Street.

During the trip home I learned that the conflagration was caused by slipping "holy water" into the wine of the three creatures. The one who was so gravely effected is, or rather was, Miss Sinclair's prodigal cousin, Peter Sinclair. He is now, according to Miss Whitnell and Mr. Ramsey, a "vampire," like his two companions. Mr. Ramsey believes the other two are simply older and therefore somewhat immune to the effects of holy water.

We have apparently taken more or less permanent custody of Mr. Graham, though I don't believe the situation is quite comfortable for him. The ladies do not want to leave him to his own devices, fearing that he shall only get himself into trouble. Which seems to be a far more dire situation, in their estimation, than getting into trouble while with us.

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