of the phenomena, remains
as yet an open question. I have a theory of my own about it, and
although it may be absurd and fantastical, it is certainly no more so
than that which would have us believe the spirits of the dear old lazy
dead come back to the scenes of their lives and miseries to pull our
noses and play tambourines."

"And may I ask you," inquired the Prince, with a touch of sarcasm in his
voice, "what this theory of yours may be?"

"I will give you," said the Duke, ignoring the sneer, and stretching
himself back in his chair as he sent a ring of smoke curling daintily
toward the ceiling--"I will give you with great pleasure the result of
my reflection about this matter. It is my belief that the things--the
tangible things we create, or rather cause to appear, come from within
ourselves, and are portions of ourselves. We produce them, in the first
instance, generally with hands linked, but afterward when our nervous
organizations are more harmonized to them, they come to us of
themselves, and even against our wills. It is my belief that these are
what we term our passions and our emotions, to whose existence the
electric fluid and nervous ecstasy we cause to circulate and induce by
sitting with hands linked, merely gives a tangible and corporeal
expression. We all know that grief, joy, remorse, and many other
sensations and emotions can kill as surely and in many cases as quickly
as an assassin's dagger, and it is a well known scientific fact that
there are certain nerves in the hand between certain fingers which have
a distinct _rapport_ with the mind, and by which the mind can be
controlled. Since this is so, why is it that under certain given
conditions, such as sitting with hands linked--that thus sitting, and
while the electric fluid, drawn out by the contact of our hands, forms a
powerful medium between the inner and the outward being--why is it, I
say, that these strong emotions I have mentioned should not take
advantage of this strange river flowing to and fro between the
conceptional and the visual to float before us for a time, and give us
an opportunity of seeing and touching them, who influence our every
action in life? It is my belief that I can shake hands with my emotions;
that my conscience can become tangible and pinch my ear just as surely
as it can and does keep people awake at night by agitating their nervous
system, or in other words, by mentally pinching their ears."

"That is certai