nd out about them."

This time the crowd laughed when the embarrassed woman turned pale and
rushed up the aisle toward the exit.

No further hands were raised and the show ended with a short address
by the runner: "I hope you have enjoyed these truly marvelous and
mysterious demonstrations. Now the mystic, Lima, is available for a
short time for personal interviews. The fee is very reasonable--one
dollar a minute. Anyone wishing an interview please step forward."

The mystic pulled the hood from her head, smiled, bowed at the crowd,
and left the stage.

Bennett gasped.

"The woman of the city of Thone!"

* * * * *

"You have paid in advance for twenty-five minutes of my time," Lima
said, as she smiled in amusement. "Perhaps you had better begin your
questions, instead of merely staring at me."

Bennett brought his thoughts back with an effort. "Your performance
was exceptionally good," he said very soberly. "I enjoyed it. And so,
apparently did the other customers. It is a clever routine. I'll admit
I can't figure out how you do it."

"Remember what Barnum said," Lima replied lightly.

"At least you do not take yourself too seriously," Bennett observed.

"On the contrary." Lima countered, "I take myself very seriously. You,
however, do not. You are paying for my time and the customer is always
right."

"Tell me," Bennett asked abruptly, "have we ever met before?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Have you any objections to telling me about yourself during our
interview? Who are you? What is your background?"

"I will be glad to tell you about myself, if you think it will be
interesting," she replied, after a barely perceptible pause. "How I
came by this exceptional ability of mine, I have no slightest
conception. I only remember that when I was young, and still without
the intellect to evaluate social mores and customs, I was often placed
in positions of awkwardness by my ability to read minds. At an early
age, however, through the council of my parents, I learned to keep
this knowledge to myself.

"By the time I reached my twentieth birthday, my parents were both
dead and I was alone in the world. I had never learned any occupation.
I made some attempts to use my mind-reading to some advantage to
myself, but soon found that I encountered the opposition of the
medical associations as well as the law. As a consequence, I turned to
show business as the one means of earning a leg