stion
(made at a time when he seemed to be getting morose and verging on
becoming a recluse) that he needed a child in the house; Frederik, his
nephew and heir; James Hartmann, his secretary, and Willem, the son of
Anne Marie, the daughter of Marta, the housekeeper.

Anne Marie had left home in disgrace and had sent Willem to her mother
after his father had deserted her. Who this man was had never been
revealed, and the whereabouts of Anne Marie herself were unknown at the
time I am writing of.

At those times when I leaned toward the conviction that communication
between earth and spirit land was possible, I was prone to think that if
it could be, it must be between a spirit and a mortal who in life
typified in their affection for each other the highest type of pure
love. If any mortal, I thought, could receive a spirit message, it must
be one whose heart and soul are spotless, whose love is as that of a
little child before it has grown to manhood and plucked at the leaves of
the Tree of Knowledge.

In the day Kathrien entered his home there was born in Peter Grimm a
great love for mankind, but especially for children. Not but that he
had always been kindly and charitable to those who deserved his aid, but
where before his life had been given up to his business, to making the
brown earth do his will, he now devoted his chief thought to making
Kathrien happy. This love for children was increased when Willem came to
him, and I think the most perfect affection that ever existed among
three persons was that which these three bore to each other.

Peter came to me recently to be treated for a cold which, while severe,
was not in itself dangerous. But in examining him I found that his heart
was in such a condition that a strong emotion, such as intense joy,
anger, or fear might cause instant death.

I determined, on discovering this, to ask him to enter into a compact
with me that whichever of us should die first should, after death,
communicate with the survivor. While I was not sure (although a strong
bond of affection existed between us) that I was a person fitted to
receive such a communication, I was convinced that either Kathrien or
Willem would understand a message sent to me from the spirit land by
Peter, and, if the thing were possible, that he, if he could not reach
me directly, would do so through one or the other of them.

I made the mistake of telling Colonel Lawton of Peter's condition. I
might have known