r. We
studied them when I was at college, mainly to click our tongues--'poor
old chaps!'" He smiled. "You understand? Of course, I can't go the
whole length, but I must say I don't know what you're going to do with
the evidence Crookes collected."

"But Slade and Home and the Fox sisters, from whom he drew his
'facts,' were exposed again and again, and one of the Fox sisters
confessed to fraud, didn't she?"

"M--yes. But afterwards recanted and re-recanted. They were all a
dubious lot, I'll admit. That is why I hate to see a girl like Viola
Lambert put in their class by a self-seeking fakir like Clarke."

"_Is_ he self-seeking--or is he only a fanatic?" asked Kate. "I
believe him to be quite sincere--that's why he's so dangerous. He is
willing to walk hot plough-shares to advance his faith. What _are_ his
relations to Viola? Do you suppose she has actually promised to marry
him?"

Serviss waited for his reply in such suspense that his hands clutched
his chair. Britt's face lost its gleam. "I'm afraid she has--or at
least she feels herself 'sealed to him' by her 'controls.'" Serviss
rose and took a turn about the room as Britt went on. "You see, this
sweet-tempered old ghost McLeod is anxious to have his granddaughter
unite her powers with Clarke's in order to 'advance the Grand Cause.'
McLeod, it seems, was a Presbyterian clergyman himself here 'on the
earth plane,' and has carried his granitic formation right along with
him. I've argued with the old man by the hour, but his egotism is
invincible."

Serviss faced him abruptly. "Now, see here, Britt. You've seen a good
deal of Miss Lambert's performances--what's your honest opinion of
them?"

"Frankly, I don't know," he answered, with a smile. "Since rereading
Zoellner and Crookes and going over my notes and those of Dr. Randall,
I'm a little shaken, I confess. So far as human evidence goes these
men prove that there is a world of phenomena ignored by science. I
don't go so far as to say that these doings were the work of
disembodied spirits, but I do admit that I am puzzled by things which
I have witnessed with one sense or another. The things seem to tally
in a most convincing way. This girl is repeating, substantially, the
same phenomena witnessed by Crookes twenty-five years ago. The
singular thing about the whole subject is that one man can't convince
another by any amount of evidence. A personal revelation is necessary
for each individual."

"Isn't that