"But it's perfectly charming of you!" some one put in.

"Perfectly delicious!" said Marie.

"Now, who shall I take first?" Emmeline asked, puzzled.

"Oh, me, of course!" Marie Deschamps replied without a hesitation or a

doubt, though she and I had come in last. And the others acquiesced,

because Marie was on the topmost bough of all.

"Come along, then," said Emmeline, relieved.

I made as if to follow them.

"No, Mr. Foster," said Marie. "You just stay here, and don't listen."

The two women disappeared behind the portière, and a faint giggle,

soon suppressed, came through the portière from Marie.

I obeyed her orders, but as I had not the advantage of knowing a

single person in that outer room, I took myself off for a stroll, in

the hope of encountering Rosetta Rosa. Yes, certainly in the hope of

encountering Rosetta Rosa! But in none of the thronged chambers did I

discover her.

When I came back, the waiting-room for prospective crystal-gazers was

empty, and Emmeline herself was just leaving it.

"What!" I exclaimed. "All over?"

"Yes," she said; "Sullivan has sent for me. You see, of course, one

has to mingle with one's guests. Only they're really Sullivan's

guests."

"And what about me?" I said. "Am I not going to have a look into the

crystal?"

I had, as a matter of fact, not the slightest interest in her crystal

at that instant. I regarded the crystal as a harmless distraction of

hers, and I was being simply jocular when I made that remark.

Emmeline, however, took it seriously. As her face had changed when

she first saw me in the box at the Opera, and again to-night when she

met me and Marie Deschamps on my arm, so once more it changed now.

"Do you really want to?" she questioned me, in her thrilling voice.

My soul said: "It's all rubbish--but suppose there is something in it,

after all?"

And I said aloud: "Yes."

"Come, then."

We passed through the room with the red Japanese lantern, and lo! the

next room was perfectly dark save for an oval of white light which

fell slantingly on a black marble table. The effect was rather

disconcerting at first; but the explanation was entirely simple. The

light came from an electric table-lamp (with a black cardboard shade

arranged at an angle) which stood on the table. As my eyes grew

accustomed to the obscurity I discovered two chairs.

"Sit down," said Emmeline.

And she and I each took one of the chairs, at opposite sides of the

table.

Emmeline was magnificently attired. As I looked at her in the dimness

across the table, she drummed her fingers on the marble, and then she

bent her face to glance within the shade of the lamp, and for a second

her long and heavy, yet handsome, features were displayed to the

minutest part in the blinding ray of the lamp, and the next second

they were in obscurity again. It was uncanny. I was impressed; and all

the superstition which, like a snake, lies hidden in the heart of

every man, stirred vaguely and raised its head.




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