ent away to Europe or back to her hills. When I saw
her last she was as sweet and blithe as a bobolink--we were on the
trail together, so far above the miasma of humankind that her girlhood
seemed uncontaminated by any death-affrighted soul. Why don't she go
back? She is vigorous and experienced in travel. Her step-father is
not poor; he is rich. Why don't she pull away and go back to her
valley?"

"Do you know what a 'control' is?"

"I believe that is the name they give the particular spirits which
assume to advise and guide a medium. Why?"

"Well, that poor thing is in mortal terror of her 'control,' who is
her grandfather. She was quite defiant till Clarke reminded her that
her guide would cut her down in her tracks if she refused. Then she
wilted--went right off into death-like sleep. It was pitiful to see
her. Clarke was terrible when he said it--he is a regular Svengali, I
believe, and the mother is completely dominated by him. One of the
spooks is her own father, the other her first husband. It seems that
they are willing to sacrifice the girl to _their_ science, for it
seems they are leagued to dig a hole through to us from their side,
and Viola is their avenue of communication. Then, too, the girl
believes in it all. She rebels at times, but she has been having these
trances ever since she was ten years old." As the memory of the
mother's tale freshened, Kate changed her tone. "You needn't tell me,
Morton Serviss, that these people are frauds. They may be mistaken,
but they're horribly in earnest. They believe in those spirits as you
do in germs, and Viola is absolutely helpless in their hands, if you
can say they have hands. They can throw her into a trance at any
moment. They've made her life a misery. She is absolutely enslaved to
them."

"That, too, could be a delusion--medical science is full of cases of
auto-hypnotism."

"Viola Lambert is not a medical case. It's astonishing what a
blooming beauty she is in the midst of it all. In fact, her health
gives Clarke and the mother an argument--they say 'it hasn't hurt her,
you see.' But what future has the poor girl? Think of going through
life in that way!"

Morton's eyes were sad as he said: "Her future is a dark one, from our
point of view, but she may be earning a crown to be given in the land
of shadows. She is beautiful, but it is the beauty of a blighted
flower."

Kate regarded him with affectionate eyes. "I don't wonder that she has
bewitched