ed over five years before.
The girl was dressed in white and her clothes were dripping wet, and she
carried in her hand a monkey-wrench."

"A monkey-wrench!" cried Patty. "What on earth--"

"I don't know any more than you do," said Evalina impatiently. "I'm just
telling what happened. The Medium couldn't get her full name, but she
said her first name commenced with 'S.' And instantly, it came over me
that it was my Cousin Susan who fell into a well and was drowned. I
hadn't thought of her for years, but the description answered perfectly.
And I asked the medium, and after a little, she said yes, it was Susan,
and that she had come to send me a warning."

Evalina allowed an impressive pause to follow, while her auditors leaned
forward in strained attention.

"A warning!" breathed Florence Hissop.

"Yes. She told me never to eat lemon pie."

Patty choked with sudden laughter. Evalina cast her a look and went on.

"The medium shivered again and came out of the trance, and she couldn't
remember a thing she had said! When I told her about the monkey-wrench
and the lemon pie, she was just as much puzzled as I was. She said that
the messages that came from the spirit world were often inexplicable;
though they might seem to deal with trivial things, yet in reality they
contained a deep and hidden truth. Probably some day I would have an
enemy who would try to poison me with lemon pie, and I must never, on
_any_ account, taste it again."

"And haven't you?" Patty asked.

"Never," said Evalina sadly.

Patty composed her features into an expression of scientific inquiry.

"Do you think the medium told the truth?"

"I've never had any cause to doubt it."

"Then you really believe in ghosts?"

"In spirits?" Evalina amended gently. "Many strange things happen that
cannot be explained in any other manner."

"What would you do if her spirit should appear to you? Would you be
scared?"

"Certainly not!" said Evalina, with dignity. "I was very fond of Cousin
Susan. I have no cause to fear her spirit."

The smell of boiling molasses penetrated from below; Patty excused
herself and turned toward the kitchen. The spiritual heights on which
Evalina dwelt, she found a trifle too rare for ordinary breathing.

The candy was on the point of being poured into pans.

"Here, Patty!" Priscilla ordered, "you haven't done any work. Run down
to the storeroom and get some butter to keep our hands from sticking."

Patty obligingly