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your ear to the Devil's back fence and listenin' to his lies.'

'Get out!' said Mr Brisbeau; he picked up a stove lid and menaced Papa with it.

'In good time,' said Papa calmly. 'Miss Otille would like the pleasure of your company, Brother Harrison, and that of your fair lady. I've been authorized to convey you to Maravillosa at once if it suits. That's her country place over on Bayou Rigaud.'

'I don't think so,' said Donnell; he sipped his coffee. 'But you tell her I'm intrigued as well.'

'She'll be tickled to hear it.' He half-turned to leave. 'You know, I might be able to satisfy your curiosity somewhat. Me and Miss Otille have spent many an evenin' together, and I've been privy to a good bit of the family history.'

'Don't bullshit me,' said Donnell. 'You're supposed to tell me all about her. That's part of the message.'

Papa perched on the arm of the sofa and stared at Donnell. 'As a fellow professional, brother, you mind tellin' me what you see that's givin' me away?'

'Your soul,' said Donnell; he stepped to the window and tossed his coffee into the rain. At this point his voice went through a peculiar change, becoming hollow and smooth for half a sentence, reverting to normal, hollowing again; it was not an extreme change, just a slight increase in resonance, the voice of a man talking in an empty room, and it might not have been noticeable in a roomful of voices. 'Want to know what it looks like? It's shiny black, and where there used to be a face, a face half spider and half toad, there's a mass of curdled light, only now it's flowing into helical patterns and rushing down your arms.'

Papa was shaken; he, too, had heard the change. 'Brother,' he said, 'you wastin' yourself in the bayou country. Take the advice of a man who's been in the business fifteen years. Put your show on the road. You got big talent!' He shook his head in awe. 'Well' - he crossed his legs, leaned back and sighed - 'I reckon the best way to fill you in on Otille is to start with ol' Valcours Rigaud. He was one of Lafitte's lieutenants, retired about the age of forty from the sea because of a saber cut to his leg, and got himself a fine house outside New Orleans. Privateerin' had made him rich, and since he had time on his hands and a taste for the darker side of earthly pleasures, it wasn't too surprisin' that he fell under the influence of one Lucanor Aime, the leader of the Nanigo sect. You ever hear 'bout Nanigo?'

Mr Brisbeau threw down the stove lid with a clang, muttered something, and stumped into the back room, slamming the door after him. Papa snorted with amusement.

'Voodoo,' he said. 'But not for black folks. For whites only. Valcours was a natural, bein' as how he purely hated the black man. Wouldn't have 'em on his ships. Anyway, ol' Lucanor set Valcours high in his service, taught him all the secrets, then next thing you know Lucanor ups and disappears, and Valcours, who's richer than ever by this time, picks up and moves to Bayou Rigaud and builds Maravillosa.' Papa chuckled. 'You was askin' how rich Miss Otille was. Well, she's ten-twenty times as rich as Valcours, and to show you how well off he was, when his oldest girl got herself engaged, he went and ordered a cargo of spiders from China, special spiders renowned for the intricacy and elegance of their webs, and he set them to weavin' in the pines linin' the avenue to the main house. Then he had his servants sprinkle the webs with silver dust and gold dust, all so that daughter of his could walk down the aisle beneath a canopy of unrivalled splendour.'

The wind was blowing more fiercely; rain eeled between the planking and filmed over the pictures and the walls, making them glisten. Jocundra closed and latched the shutters, half-listening to Papa, but listening also for repetitions of the change in Donnell's voice. He didn't appear to notice if himself, though it happened frequently, lasting a few seconds, then lapsing, as if he were passing through a strange adolescence. Probably, she thought, it was just a matter of the bacteria having spread to the speech centers; as they occupied the various centers, they operated the functions with more efficiency than normal. Witness his eyes. Still, she found it disturbing.