The Ghost: A Modern Fantasy
Page 27"Of course I'm not."
"Then you shall look into the crystal and try to see what I saw. I
will not tell you. You shall try to see for yourself. You may succeed,
if I help you. Now, try to free your mind from every thought, and look
earnestly. Look!"
I drew the globe towards me from under her fingers.
"Rum!" I murmured to myself.
Then I strenuously fixed my eyes on the glinting depths of the
crystal, full of strange, shooting fires; but I could see nothing
whatever.
"Patience. There is time yet. Look again. Take my hand in your right
hand."
I obeyed, and we sat together in the tense silence. After a few
minutes, the crystal darkened and then slowly cleared. I trembled with
an uneasy anticipation.
"You see something," she breathed sorrowfully in my ear.
"Not yet, not yet," I whispered. "But it is coming. Yes, I see
myself, and--and--a woman--a very pretty woman. I am clasping her
hand."
a lamentation in my ear. I did recognize the woman, and the sweat
stood on my brow.
"It is Rosetta Rosa!"
"And what else do you see?" my questioner pursued remorselessly.
"I see a figure behind us," I stammered, "but what figure I cannot
make out. It is threatening me. It is threatening me! It is a horrible
thing. It will kill me! Ah--!"
I jumped up with a nervous movement. The crystal, left to itself,
rolled off the table to the floor, and fell with a thud unbroken on
At that moment the double portière was pulled apart, and some one
stood there in the red light from the Japanese lantern.
"Is Mr. Foster here? I want him to come with me," said a voice. And it
was the voice of Rosa.
Just behind her was Sullivan.
"I expected you'd be here," laughed Sullivan.