ictim to impress. In
fact, it has ceased already. There was no star last night."

"But you know why," I pointed out. "The yogi spent the night in
contemplation. We can bear witness to that."

"We can't bear witness to when he started in," said Godfrey, drily.
"We didn't see him till after half-past twelve. However, accepting his
explanation, there would be no reason for omitting the phenomenon
to-night, if it's a genuine one."

"No," I agreed.

"And if it _is_ omitted," Godfrey went on, "it will be pretty
conclusive evidence that it isn't genuine. Although," he went on
hurriedly, "I don't need any proof of that--anything else would be
unbelievable." He glanced at his watch. "It's ten minutes to twelve,"
he said. "Come along."

I followed him out of the house and through the grove with very mixed
sensations. If the star _didn't_ fall, it would tend to prove that it
was, as Godfrey had said, merely a fake arranged to impress a
credulous old man; but suppose it _did_ fall! That was a part of the
test concerning which Godfrey had said nothing. Suppose it _did_ fall!
What then?

So it was in silence that I followed Godfrey up the ladder and took my
place on the limb. But Godfrey seemed to have no uneasiness.

"We won't have long to wait," he said. "We'll wait till five minutes
after twelve, just to make sure. It must be twelve now. I wish I could
persuade that fellow to show me how the fake was worked, for it was
certainly a good one--one of the best...."

He stopped abruptly, staring out into the darkness. I was staring,
too, for there, against the sky, a light began to glow and brighten.
It hung for a moment motionless, and then began slowly to descend,
steadily, deliberately, as of set purpose. Lower and lower it sank, in
a straight line, hovered for an instant, and burst into a million
sparks.

In the flare of light, a white-robed figure stood, gazing upwards, its
arms strained toward the sky.

As we went silently down the ladder, a moment later, it seemed to me
that I could hear Godfrey's theory crashing about his ears.

CHAPTER XIII

FRANCISCO SILVA

It was not quite ten o'clock when Godfrey and I turned in at the gates
of Elmhurst, next morning, and made our way up the drive to the house,
but in the library we found a considerable company already assembled.
Goldberger was there, with Freylinghuisen his physician, his clerk,
his stenographer, and the men who were to constitute the jury;
Simmo