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o goodness we shan't see any spectral trees or striped figures--I've had enough of them," Kelson said. "Then take care you don't do anything that might lead to the breaking of the compact," Hamar retorted, "otherwise you'll see something far worse." Shortly before midnight, Hamar, Curtis and Kelson, obeying the injunctions Hamar had received, set off to Berners Street, where they had little difficulty in finding Karaver's house. To their astonishment Karaver was expecting them. "How did you know we were coming," Curtis asked. "A gentleman called here early this morning and told me," Karaver explained. "He said three friends of his particularly wished to be on the Astral Plane, at twelve o'clock this evening, and that they would each pay me a hundred guineas, if I would show them how to get there. I demurred. The secrets that have come down to me through generations of my Cashmere ancestors, I tell only to a chosen few--those born under the sign of Dejellum Brava. "The stranger showing me the sign--written plainer than I have ever seen it--in the palm of his hand, I at once consented, and I had no sooner done so than he vanished. I knew then that I had been speaking to an Elemental--a spirit of my native mountains." "My nerves are not in a condition to stand much. Is there anything very alarming in this astral business?" Kelson asked. "It depends on what you call alarming," the Indian said coldly. "I shouldn't be alarmed." "Don't be a fool, Matt," Hamar interposed. "I never saw such a frightened idiot in my life. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Think of what there is at stake." "Think of Lilian Rosenberg," Curtis whispered, "and be comforted." Karaver took them upstairs into a dimly lighted attic. In the centre of the carpetless floor was a tripod, around which the three were told to sit. Karaver then proceeded to pour into an iron vessel a mixture composed of: 1/2 oz. of hemlock, 3/4 oz. of henbane, 2 oz. of opium, 1 oz. of mandrake roots, 2 oz. of poppy seeds, 1/2 oz. of assafoetida, and 1/4 oz. of saffron. "Are these preparations absolutely necessary?" Kelson asked. "Absolutely," Karaver said. "English clairvoyants will, doubtless, tell you they are not necessary. It is their custom, with a few slipshod instructions, to lead you to suppose that getting on the Astral Plane is mere child's play. It is not! It is extremely difficult and can only be done, in the first place, through the
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