on condition that you obey my
commands implicitly in this matter of a _seance_. If you fail me in one
particular, if you disobey one tiny detail, or, if you so much as hint a
word to your--your other employer,--I mean the one who has bribed you to
certain frauds,--then, I shall show you up, even if it does distress Mr.
and Mrs. Crane."

Madame Parlato thought in silence for a moment. Then she said, astutely,
"I don't know who you are, Mr. Bartram, but I am quite certain you are
something more than you wish to tell. I mean a bigger factor in the
Crane affair than you admit. I ask no questions, I agree to your terms,
and I will do exactly as you direct, relying on your promise that if I
do so, you will not tell of any--any insincerity you may notice."

"Wait a moment,--that promise may lead to complications. If the result
of my proposed procedure is to reveal your--er,--insincerity--I cannot
be responsible for the consequences. Those you will have to bear. But I
will admit that my interests are those of Benjamin Crane, and I shall do
all in my power to preserve his secrets and, thereby, yours."

"I think, then, you may go ahead and tell me your plans that you wish me
to carry out."

"I've revised them,'" Peter said, thoughtfully, "they may, as I now see
it, call for more than one _seance_. But here's for a starter. When do
you expect Mr. Crane again?"

"To-morrow."

"All right. Merely give him a further materialization. And let the
object be this,"--he laid a small paper parcel before her, which he had
taken from his pocket,--"yes,--and this," and he produced a second
parcel.

She opened the papers, and found the first to be a handkerchief, the
duplicate of the one already "materialized" and bearing the monogram
Carly had so painstakingly embroidered.

The other parcel contained a silver quarter of a dollar, one side of
which had been smoothed off and engraved with the entwined letters P. C.

"These belonged to the son?" Madame exclaimed, excitedly. "Where did you
get them?"

"From the son," replied Louis Bartram; "but remember you are under oath
of secrecy. You are merely to produce these things as materializations
at your next session with Mr. Crane, and also,--I want to be
present,--unseen. Can it be managed?"

"Of course, that's easy enough."

Further arrangements were made, terms were agreed on, and Louis Bartram
went away from the house of the medium in New York and returned to his
hotel in Brooklyn