, I felt that the mesmeric trick, or whatever
artifice had been practised upon me by Brande and Grey, had now assumed
its true proportion. I laughed at my fears, and was thankful that I had
not described them to the strong-minded young woman to whose kindly
society I owed so much. What an idiot she would have thought me!

A servant met me in the hall.

"Telegram, sir. Just arrived at this moment."

I took the telegram, and went upstairs with it unopened in my hand. A
strange fear overcame me. I dared not open the envelope. I knew
beforehand who the sender was, and what the drift of the message would
be. I was right. It was from Brande.

"I beg you to be more cautious. Your discussion with Miss M. this
evening might have been disastrous. I thought all was over at nine
o'clock.

"BRANDE."

I sat down stupefied. When my senses returned, I looked at the table
where I had thrown the telegram. It was not there, nor in the room. I
rang for the man who had given it to me, and he came immediately.

"About that telegram you gave me just now, Phillips--"

"I beg your pardon, sir," the man interrupted, "I did not give you any
telegram this evening."

"I mean when you spoke to me in the hall."

"Yes, sir. I said 'good-night,' but you took no notice. Excuse me, sir,
I thought you looked strange."

"Oh, I was thinking of something else. And I remember now, it was
Johnson who gave me the telegram."

"Johnson left yesterday, sir."

"Then it was yesterday I was thinking of. You may go, Phillips."

So Brande's telepathic power was objective as well as subjective. My own
brain, unaccustomed to be impressed by another mind "otherwise than
through the recognised channels of sense," had supplied the likeliest
authority for its message. The message was duly delivered, but the
telegram was a delusion.

CHAPTER VII.

GUILTY!

As to protecting Natalie Brande from her brother and the fanatics with
whom he associated, it was now plain that I was powerless. And what
guarantee had I that she herself was unaware of his nefarious purpose;
that she did not sympathise with it? This last thought flashed upon me
one day, and the sting of pain that followed it was so intolerable, I
determined instantly to prove its falsity or truth.

I telegraphed to Brande that I was running down to spend a day or two
with him, and followed my message without waiting for