," she said, and the very calmness of her voice
went to the boy's heart. "I've given up all hope of being anything but
an instrument--a thing whose wishes do not count. Good-bye, Clint,"
and she gave her hand.

He took it and pressed it hard and went out into the street,
staggering under the weight of the revelation he had received.

Viola was fond of Clinton--his simple, wholesome, untroubled nature
appealed to her--and yet this very ingenuousness, this ready
confidence, made her own life and daily habit seem the more
forbidding. She understood now the insuperable barrier which had been
raised between herself and the careless youth of the normal world.

In this hour of depression, as in many others, her mind went out
towards Morton Serviss. Britt's mention of the young scientist's name
seemed to bring him very near, and she wondered again for the
hundredth time whether he had entirely forgotten her or not. Would he
call, now that he was informed of her presence in the city? She knew
(almost as well as if he had written it) the reason for his hasty
flight from Colorow, and with a knowledge that he considered her a
freak if not something worse she could not write to him, although she
still had his card and address.

He was a greater man in the world than when he visited their mountain
home, for he had written a book which the critics called "a great and
implacable study of diseases and their uses." She had not been able to
read it, but she treasured it, nevertheless, and longed to meet him
again, to lay her case before him, to ask his advice, not with regard
to whether she should go on with her music, but whether her life was
worth continuing--for there were times when she secretly considered
the morality of making an end of it. It was in the hope of drawing him
again to her side that she asked Clarke to include him in the list of
scientific men to whom he was planning to send a printed copy of his
oration and challenge--after their delivery--and to her mother she
said: "I would not be so nervous if I knew that Dr. Serviss were on
the committee; I know he would be just and considerate, even if he
does despise mediums."

"He's exactly the one," responded Mrs. Lambert, with enthusiasm. "I
wonder Tony hasn't spoken of him. Grandfather will be delighted, I'm
sure."

V

KATE VISITS VIOLA

Towards Simeon's portal, held sacred to "The Keepers of the Keys of
the Silent House," Kate Rice and Dr. Britt set their