eel that I'm
in the power of some supernatural being who takes a fiendish delight in
torturing me. I'm not a coward, Dr. Owen," Penelope lifted her head
proudly, "for I truly have no fear of real danger that I can see and
face squarely, but the unseen, the unknown----" She broke off suddenly,
a strained, listening look on her face. Then she shivered though the
glowing fire in the grate was making the room almost uncomfortably warm.

"Do you mind giving me some details?" Dr. Owen spoke in his gentlest
manner, for he realized that he must gain her confidence.

Penelope continued with an effort:

"For several months I have heard voices about me, sometimes when no one
is present, sometimes in crowds on the street, at church, anywhere. But
the voices that I hear are not the voices of real persons."

"What kind of voices are they? Are they loud? Are they distinct? Or are
they only vague whispers?"

"They are perfectly distinct voices, just as clear as ordinary voices.
And they are voices of different persons. I can tell them apart; but
none of them are voices of persons that I have ever seen or known."

"Hm! I suppose you have heard, as a trained nurse, of what we call
clairaudient hallucinations?"

"Yes, doctor, and I know that those hallucinations often appear in the
early stages of insanity. That is what distresses me."

"How often do you hear these voices--not all the time? Do you hear them
in the night?"

"I hear them at any time--day or night. I have tried not to notice them,
I pretend that I do not hear them. I do my best to forget them. I have
prayed to God that He will make these voices cease troubling me, that He
will make them go away; but nothing seems to do any good."

"What kind of things do these voices say? Do they seem to be talking to
you directly?"

"Sometimes they do, sometimes they seem to be talking about me, as if
two or three persons were discussing me, criticizing me. They say very
unkind things. It seems as if they read my thoughts and make
mischievous, wicked comments on them. Sometimes they say horrid things,
disgusting things. Sometimes they give me orders. I am to do this or
that; or I am not to do this or that. Sometimes they say the same word
over and over again, many times. It was that way when I went out on the
battlefield to help Captain Herrick. As I ran along, stumbling over the
dead and wounded, I heard these voices crying out: 'Fool! Fool! Don't do
it! You mustn't do it! You